#thank you so much!!! I adore talking about Maude!

[eeblouissant]

I started watching Maude a while ago thanks partially to some of your art and I'm on season6 and. Maude and Vivian kissed. A peck. But they definitely kissed on the lips on purpose. And in another episode Maude is whispering things in Vivian's ear eith their faces pressed up against each other and her hand just creeps up her back. Nobody warned me about this!!! Or about how Maude is just soooooo. She's soooooo. You know? I'm in love. Thanks for inspiring me to watch it.

Oh my goodness anon I’m so happy to hear!!! Maude is a criminally under appreciated show (nowadays, at least) - you’re making me want to go back and binge watch 😂

ohhhhh Maude and Viv… ohhh boy. The episode where they ended up on a game show together lives in my head for a few reasons, but there’s one specific moment where Viv gives Maude this look and I just …. They’re married your honour. I had no idea I was going to be hit in the face with yet another wlw pairing I adored from media that both Bea and Rue happened to be in (although honestly, should have expected it haha - those two had insane chemistry!!!), going into my first Maude watch with 0 knowledge was a blessing. (And you mentioned it already but, don’t even get me started on how often Maude’s hands are all over her back like that!!!! Oh my!!!! I know exactly which scene you’re talking about there 🚶🏻‍♀️)

Also - (assuming you’re the same anon haha) I just saw your second ask about Maude being canonically bipolar & I know right!!!! This show was very ahead of its time, such a refreshing watch. Maude’s character in general was very ahead of her time, I don’t think you’d be seeing a lot of women with a personality like hers be the star of the show very often (when they absolutely should have been). I just adore her.

[daddycassie]

got 2 for u, no pressure for which one to write :]

lucy gray/reader where she takes reader home one night to formally meet the covey and reader is all shy and nervous because she wants to make a good impression so lg gives her a peptalk (and lots of kisses too <3)

OR tigris/reader where she's showing off some of her latest designs and rambling on and on about fashion but reader doesn't even care cuz she looks so damn cute while doing so, so reader just interrupts her with a nice kiss that leaves tigris flustered and causes her to lose her train of thought

Meeting the family 🖤🌧️🐦‍⬛

Lucy Gray x Gn! reader

You were freaking out. Sitting in your girlfriend’s room and absolutely losing it. You started the day perfectly calm and fine when Lucy Gray had approached you with the biggest smile on her face. You’d smiled back, at least up until she brought it up.

Lucy Gray walks into the room and giggles softly at the way you’re pacing. “Y/n. Calm down, you’re okay. You’ve met ‘em before.” You grab her shoulders and shake her a bit. “Not like this!” You practically wail. Lucy Gray laughs again. “They’re gonna love you darlin’.”

You sigh heavily and lean your head on Lucy Gray’s shoulder while she strokes your back soothingly. “Everythin’s gonna be perfect, ya hear?” You CANT help but crack a small smile. “You really believe that?” She nods firmly. “Yep! They’re gonna love you, and it’s gonna be jus’ right, because you’re wonderful, and beautiful, and amazing.”

You laugh at her words, blushing, and Lucy Gray smiles brighter. “Thank you Lu, having a vote of confidence helps. Means more coming from you.” She hums in response. “You’re gonna do great, we’re gonna do great.” You answer playfully, knowing what she’d say next. “Cause we’re the best?” Lucy Gray cups your face, and you feel like she’s squishing you. “Cause we’re the best!” She squeals her agreement.

You give her a hug, unsure how to show your adoration in any other way. “I’m still nervous though.” Lucy Gray sighs, but her smile doesn’t falter. “I get it, meetin’ your family made me go belly up. I was terrified, but you were there for me and I’m gonna be there for you all the same.” You run a hand through her hair, she was too endearing. “I love you so much.” Lucy Gray leans into your touch. “I love you lots too.”

Turned out — she was right, as usual. Tam Amber was quiet most of the time, but he didn’t seem specifically disapproving and Maude Ivory was perfectly on board since you were a fun babysitter, Clerk Carmine was quick to agree after that. Barb Azure was maybe the hardest to get through to, but if anything she only seemed protective. By the end of the night she gave you two her approval.

You sat out on the porch with Lucy Gray after dinner, she wanted to stargaze, but it was rainy and the darker clouds obscured the sky. Regardless, she didn’t complain, leaning on your shoulder. “I admit, you were right.” Lucy Gray stops mid-hum and gives you a sweet smile. “I know.” You wrap your arm around her comfortingly and you both watch the rain patter on the muddy, dirt roads of district 12.

———————————————

The cutie patootie 🎀🩷🌷

Tigris x Gn! reader

As per your usual day, you were spending your lunch break at your girlfriend’s little boutique. You listen on as she rambles about a glittery, yellow dress, which she was holding up to you. Tigris grins as she shows you each little seam and explains even the smallest details. She really did have a passion for her clothes.

Though… despite your staring and nodding along, you had zero idea what the actual heck she was saying. Tigris was just far too cute for her own good, and maybe yours too. You zone in enough to hear her talking about how she applied the glitter while also making it look smooth. You push aside your sandwich.

“Baby, whoever wears that dress is gonna be the luckiest person in Panem. Other than me, I get to date the gorgeous girl who made it.” Tigris blushes, and laughs in embarrassment. She wasn’t used to compliments. You weren’t entirely sure she ever would be. “Thank you dear.” You nod as she puts the dress away, she was just too cute.

“I made this other one for someone specific, she said it’ll be the first time she gets to openly wear a dress.” Tigris grins as she pulls out a pretty, dark green dress. “I told her I was so glad she came to me to get it and asked if she had any suggestions and—“ You kept up your nodding, trying to at least pretend you were comprehending anything she was saying.

You had a feeling Tigris knew you didn’t really understand anything about her work, but she seemed to appreciate you trying to listen regardless. That’s when you noticed your lunch break was just about up. You get up and walk over to your girlfriend and give her a soft kiss. She tenses, freezing for a moment before kissing you back.

You pull back and laugh at how red she is and the way her eyes were squeezed closed so tight. “I’ll see you later honey, okay?” Tigris opens her eyes again and nods fast. “Right! Um- I’ll make sure to get you something for dinner.” You smile and caress her cheek. “Alright, but you gotta finish off my sandwich for me.”

Tigris smiles back affectionately. “That won’t be a problem. I love you, see you later?” You give her a final kiss on the cheek. “Mhm, love you too.” It takes a lot of effort to pull away from her and walk out of the boutique, but with the image of the two of you having dinner together that night, you manage to head back to work.

———————————————

Note: I’ve never actually written for Tigris before but I loved this idea and had to bring it to life — but hey, didn’t wanna choose her over my main girl, so TAH DAH!!! You get both~ Thank you sm for requesting and I hope you enjoy them even if they’re a little short :)

and for anyone else my requests are OPEN!!! I do all of tbosbas ladies :)

[julietasgf]

since you already talked about marcus, asking about sejanus :)

re: ask game

hi backpacks, thank you for the ask!!! <33 (and sorry for taking so long, I needed to freak out abt the olympics before 😭). but let's go:

My first impression: "huh? a district person on the capitol? that's new.... I think I've never seen this before in the saga.... that's so interesting what the hell. he seems like a sweet boy, but let's see why he's hanging out with coriolanus."

My impression now: defending sejanus on tumblr is not enough, I need a gun. he became my favorite character in tbosas and probably is on my top 3 of the hunger games franchise. he changed the chemistry of my brain and I love him very much.

Favorite thing about that character: I really like how suzanne collins made it so clear how sejanus was just a teenager. he's so young, and he's a genuine kind soul. he was just a sweet boy from highschool and not only I think it's adorable seeing how youthful he is, but it makes everything that happens to him hurt even more and be more impactful.

Least favorite thing: look. I know sejanus was in a very bad situation, and that in his place, coriolanus was probably the only thing near to being treated with dignity and he clinged to it. however it bothered me how sejanus was so genuinely hyping him up in D12. and yes, even though I agree that he didn't know 100% to which extent coriolanus was evil, he did hear some of his takes on the games on the academy, and he did hear coriolanus saying some very evil things and went "lalala I'm not hearing it-". it makes me crazy that he slanders his father while hanging out with someone so alike strabo

Favorite line/scene: "I don’t care what you say. You’ve no right to starve people, to punish them for no reason. No right to take away their life and freedom. Those are things everyone is born with, and they’re not yours for the taking."

Favorite interaction that character has with another: his scenes with maude ivory and his little interactions with the covey are everything to me and I hold these close to my heart.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: lucy gray!!! without thinking twice. I'm a platonic bairdplinth at heart, and I would've loved seeing more of them together without some blonde people around side eyes coriolanus

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: historia reiss from attack on titan

A headcanon about that character: sejanus, just like his father (even tho his father got it more), got hearing loss. strabo didn't make him use ear protection when he was a child learning to shoot. also, this is random, but I like to imagine he got a collection of plushies in his bedroom.

A song that reminds of that character: i know the end by phoebe bridgers

An unpopular opinion about that character: this doesn't apply just to him, it applies to the plinths in general, but I really think people take coriolanus' words (you know, coriolanus, very much bitter that a district family has so much more money than him, and that a lot of times refers to district people as animals and savages and etc) too much to heart regarding the privilege the plinths have in the capitol. I'm not saying they aren't privileged, but I see some people going to say that sejanus should've pulled a plutarch and went into politics, when I hardly think he would be able to survive a year in a political landscape in the capitol because the system simply wouldn't let him do it lol. the plinths already need an INSANE amount of money to be able to live like "equals" in the capitol, and that while always giving and giving and giving to the capitol to compensate their presence. tl:dr; I think coriolanus overestimates too much the privilege and power that money brings to sejanus, because in the end, sejanus is still district, and in the end, that's what prevails and sends sejanus to his death.

Favorite picture: I don't go for the movie cast for imagining the characters :') however, here I give you a little sejanus sketch just because:

[goldrushenthusiast]

Have you read the hunger games prequel, the ballad of songbirds and snakes?

What's your opinion about it?

What's the most shocking revelation from the novel related to the original trilogy?

What's your favorite character from it?

Do you plan to see the tbosas movie in theaters?

Thank you

@curiousnonny

Definitely read it!! And loved it.

Honestly, it’s my favorite book in the series. It’s fascinating to read and everytime I do I just fall more in love with it. I used to have the entire first 3 pages memorized and could finish random sentences in my head and would quote it often (mostly to myself lol). I still do the former two but the first has gone down to just the first page lol because I had a three week reading break.

The best…connection, or revelation to the OG trio would have to be the hanging tree song. It’s perfect, and really shows us just how fearful that song makes Snow. It also gives us a look into the possibilities of a relationship between Katniss and Lucy Gray, due to the fact Lucy Gray wasn’t allowed to play it in public so only her kids would’ve known it.

My favorite character is hard. I don’t want to seem like I’m trying too hard to be different, or quirky or whatever, but genuinely it’s Ma Plinth or Tigris. Maude Ivory & Lucy Gray are also up there for sure.

Ma Plinth because she’s so real. As I feel like we all know, THG is definitely some sort of commentary on America/The modern age (reaping day July 4th, babies protected more than children, etc) and I feel like specifically her, and by extension Sejanus, really represent the immigrant struggle.

Two of my aunts (different sides of my family) were immigrants. One from Mexico, one from Canada, so definitely different experiences. While Ma Plinth is for sure more privileged than most immigrants, there’s still a lot of aspects I recognize in her I see in my aunts as well, such as only bringing small treasures, not always being able to pick up on the new places culture, always feeling like it’s obvious they’re not “really” from there, etc.

Sejanus I feel like represents the children of immigrant parents who try to reject their culture (hating his father’s use of money, constantly defying them, doing things to go against them, etc). I don’t like his character too much, but he’s definitely an interesting one.

Tigris is my favorite as an older sister. Coriolanus can barely begin to grasp what Tigris had to go through for him, what she goes through, and everything she does for him. She works her ass off every day to provide and I love her for it. It’s clear she actually cares about him, even if he can’t tell the full extent of it.

Maude Ivory just because she’s adorable and a total vibe and reminds me of my younger sister, who’s always singing lol. Like she’s just so cute and I feel like an amazing addition to the story and I just have to acknowledge that and her.

Lucy Gray…well that’s Lucy Gray. She’s badass, again the older sister struggle, and I love her! Like how could you not?? I love how she played Coriolanus so well and it just makes me happy to know she’s there and hopefully thriving.

Me & My Dad are going the very first night to see the movie! While I don’t like Coriolanus or Sejanus’ casting, there isn’t much to do about it, and the cinematography looks so impressive I couldn’t not see it in theaters or not see it all just because of that. I’m very excited for it.

Thank you for the question @curiousnonny !! I feel like I hardly get to talk about my personal relations to TBOSAS so I love getting questions like this. Sorry it took forever to answer lol.

As always, feel free to debate but not argue in the comments!

[linseymiller]

It’s recently occurred to me that the characters in your books are your OCs, and I LOVE to talk about my OCs, so is there anything about Lord Ruby (or the rest of the Left Hand) that wasn’t shared in the books, but you Know and want to share? 👀 (still obsessed with Mask of Shadows)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So much of my little thoughts are lost to time (by which I mean in notebooks on my shelf), but thank you for asking this, @sarcastic-fandomtastic-dragon!

Here are some general facts. Some I’ve talked about before and some I maybe haven’t:

Emerald had a pet squirrel in Ruin of Stars. She nursed it back to health after Five nearly killed it, and trained it to sit on her shoulder and fetch small things for her.

If the series had been a trilogy (it should not have been, but regardless), then Ruby and Sal would have spent book two developing a very close mentor-mentee bond.

Isidora is pregnant in Ruin and her son is named Rodolfo.

Rodolfo/Ruby was Nicolas’s apprentice when he was still at school.

Maud’s the sole provider for her and her siblings, and one absolutely adores Sal.

Amethyst is not from Erlend or Alona. She auditioned for her role after traveling through Erlend after the war (which she fought in) and witnessing an assassination attempt on Isidora while visiting Nic’shome. Amethyst was the only one who noticed Emerald killing the assassin.

Emerald was 100% aware that Amethyst was there and saw, and it was not an accident that Amethyst was told about the auditions by her employer once the old Amethyst retired.

The world of Mask of Shadows is the same world as the book I wrote before Mask. That story took place in Berengard and involved a magical smallpox, eight murdered gods and one god who was too busy reading to get murdered, and the origin of the shadows (called whispers in Berengard).

Some of those who went on to create Erlend were kicked out of Berengard because they tried to conquer it after accidentally destroying their own country.

In this world, immortality is usually a punishment. The time is meant to be spent atoning for past crimes.

In Belle, Laurence and Estrel foresaw their deaths and planned for them. They did not plan for Emilie and Annette.

Laurence’s mother was at the executions.

Emilie and Annette should really open that box.

In What We Devour, Crown of Strangling Vines reveals that he’s the Vile that cursed the original holder of Carlow’s curse, and he’s being honest when he tells her that it shouldn’t have gone on for so long. He was friends with a wrought and her wife back before the Door and Moon were created when Noble and Vile still existed in the world, but they were killed during a disagreement about the nature of wrought. He believed all of their children had been killed and cursed the person who had killed them. That’s the origin of Carlow’s curse.

He was locked behind the Door before he realized how long and how horrible the curse would be.

Alistair's boyfriend was one of several people Alistair tried to get close to, but he doesn't understand that his social and political power is a threat even when he is not being actively threatening, so his relationships never lasted long.

Delmond Creek was far older than he let on, cursed by the Noble Crown of A Time For All Seasons, and he did legitimately hate Carlow.

Vines was one of the first Vile to make a deal with mortals to prevent them from devouring him and to stop mortals from being wiped out. He didn’t want mortals to die because he thought they were fun. Now, though, he understands why they try to live forever and just dreads the day his latest crop of mortal acquaintances dies.

Franziska Carlow is never going to die unless she wants to. Lorena's on thin ice (if the ice is immortality). Vines likes Basil but knows they would hate immortality.

Noble sought perfect order to the point of physically altering whatever wasn’t perfect according to them, and that included mortals in mind, body, and soul. There’s a lot of body horror in that lore.

The lore of the Noble and Vile overlaps with another series I want to write, and if I do get to write it, there will be nods to Vines and Carlow in there.

If ice cream existed in Devour, Basil’s favorite would be mint chip.

And ignore the poor writing but enjoy the terrible rhyming.

[tsrookie]

Hi everyone! So it’s just a little while to Christmas here, and I just wanted to say some stuff.

I think I joined Tumblr roughly around the time when Chapter 6 of OH2 had released😅 And I think it’s safe to say that it’s been such a wild ride since then. There’s been so much of drama, so much love, and so much of talent that I’ve seen since then. And honestly, if I hadn’t found this fandom when I did, I don’t know what would’ve been the state of my life. When I joined the fandom, I was in the worst condition ever when it came to my life. Some of you know what it is, most of you don’t. Long story short, I never wanted to give friendship or love another chance. But then I joined this insanely crazy, yet loving family, and I’m doing better than I ever was (yes that was a CIWYW reference. My brain is practically wired that way at this point😁). No matter how much I spam, you guys put up with me, and I’m so so grateful for that.

@whimsicallywayward15 Girl you already know how I feel about you, so I’m not gonna include a speech in text form here😆 Thanks for being the best telepathic sister from another mother I could ask for💙

@justanotherrookie Believe it or not, Denise, ‘Dr. Patient’ from your AU was the first fic I’d read on Tumblr. Ever since then, your fics have been such a source of joy in my life, even when they rip my heart into a million shreds. I’m so thankful for our conversations, and thank you so much for raising my standards in men so high that I’m never gonna find him😒 (just kidding, I still love you😂💙). You gave me the best Christmas present ever, and I kid you not, I had literal tears in my eyes when you said that you’d love to take me with you to a T-Swift concert one day🥺 Thank you so much for being a ray of sunshine in this dark, dark year, despite what you have going on in your life💙

@caseyvalentineramsey Shiro I’ll be honest, I had no freaking idea as to how I was going to be friends with you when we first starting interacting on Instagram. You seemed like someone who everyone loved, and you know that I have zero idea as to how to start a conversation😂 But I’m so glad that you’ve become one of the best friends I’ve found this year, and that you’ve always been there for my rants and excessively thirsting over a certain British model. You’re an amazing person, and don’t ever doubt your abilities and awesomeness, no matter what people say💙 I hope all your dreams come true, and that we’ll get to meet each other someday. Thank you so much for coming into my life💙

@starrystarrytrouble You’ve been so insanely supportive of me since day one, and words can’t express how thankful I am for that. Your fics are some of my absolute faves, and you’ve honestly done god’s work by writing the missing parts of OH2. I can’t ever imagine the book without thinking about every single moment you’ve added in between. Thank you so so so much for being such a wonderful friend and person💙

@swiftlydarcy My Swiftie homie, you were there to witness me pass away, and come back to life when Mr. McGrumpy pulled off that legendary smooch. You were there to lose your freaking mind along with me over Taylor giving me back-to-back heart attacks for a few weeks in a row. Love you to the moon and Saturn, and continue being your wonderful self💙

@blossomanarchy Maud, you’re so freaking talented it blows my mind. I cherish every single one of our conversations so much, and wishing you all the very best in the upcoming year💙

@kcnnarys Queen thank you so much for making me laugh out loud every single day with your hilarious posts, and for being my favourite blog to blab spoilers to💙

@nikki-2406 I love love love every single ask you send me, and you’re such a fun and lovely person to talk to💙

@aarisa-frost I absolutely adore your works of art, and wishing you all the very best in the new year💙

@genevievemd We’ve only started talking, and you’ve already become one of my favourite people on this platform.

I’m including a couple of my favourite writers here, ‘cause you’ve all put a smile on my face countless times, whether you know it or not @jamespotterthefirst @utterlyinevitable @aylaramseycarrera @the-pale-goddess @mvalentine @drethanramslay @drariellevalentine @takemyopenheart @terrm9 @perriewinklenerdie @aworldoffandoms @eleanorbloom @eramsey28 @rookie-ramsey @usuallyamazinglyaverage @alwaysmychoices @missmiimiie @mysticaurathings @heauxplesslydevoted @lovealexhunt @plumeriavibes @openheart12 @openheartthot @parkerattano @poudredevie @brooks-eden @agent-breakdance @junggoku

Thank you all so much for bringing happiness into this gloomy year, and wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year💙

[spookymultimedia]

A Summer to Remember Ch4

CW: internalized homophobia

the f slur and queer used as a slur

[Ned Pov]

My eyes fluttered open to the sound of birds early in the morning. It was still dark outside. I looked down at Maude who was spooned into my arms. I recalled the conversation we had last night. As much as I wanted to hide from it, it was clear that I was homosexual. . .a queer. The word queer made me wince for some reason. I was gay, I was a gay man. It made too much sense. I bit my lip suddenly remembering something that happened in my youth. I remembered being in a group of.  . . secular non-Christian people. It was the early 70s and no one knew where I was. They didn't have to know. It was simple teen curiosity; there was a desire to explore the world that was kept away from me. Again, I always had an innate curiosity to understand. It's impossible for a person to be perfectly free from sin. It was only human nature to have sinful tendencies. What I'm trying to say is I tried marijuana. It wasn't that bad. I actually felt less stressed than I  usually was but let's not focus on that. There was this boy. This boy who was good with the guitar. He had long hair and wore blush from time to time. He called himself bisexual. I remembered how comfortable I had gotten with him one afternoon where we all were hanging out by a river. I remember the smoke and the lesbians who had made love in the shallow water. There were s'mores and homemade tea. By all logic I should have felt scared I was there; I wasn't. 

        I got up close to him by my own will, I remember. He asked me if I had ever kissed a boy before. I hadn't. He asked if I wanted to. Despite the quiet guilt in my soul I nodded. We kissed and kissed again and again until I got a hang of the rhythm. I liked it. The more I reflected on the memory, I remembered how much I enjoyed it. I stared at the window thinking while watching the warm glow of sunrise touch the curtains. I really am gay aren't I?

      I looked down when I felt Maude move and wake up. She stretched her arms and legs and blinked awake. She smiled at me, "Good morning." 

          "Mornin." 

She pressed a small kiss on my cheek and sat up. 

       "You don't have to do that kind of stuff to me if you're not comfortable." 

            "Hm? Oh. .I'm sorry it just felt natural I don't know. Are you uncomfortable?"

    "No, not at all. . .shouldn't I be uncomfortable?"She shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything inherently romantic to me. . .does that sound silly?" 

 I shook my head, "I don't think so. .but I get what you mean."

She rubbed her eyes and played with her hair. 

      "So. . when you said you where gay last night do you mean. .?"

         "That I'm a. . . lesbian? Yeah, yeah I think I'm a lesbian. Sounds right." 

  "That's just lovely Maude."

She frowned, "Is it? I. .thought it wasn't right to be. .-"

     I laid there thinking for a minute, "Is it really wrong?"

        "I'm not sure. . "

"It's just love. I can't see what's so wrong about it. . . Maude I. .I kissed a boy when I was younger." Why did I suddenly feel ashamed? It was just a kiss. Imagine what my uncle would say. He'd probably call me a f*gg*t or something. What would Reverend Lovejoy say? I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

     "Oh? Hm. . . was it nice?"

"Yeah. ." I stared at the wall again.

        "Are you going to tell them?"

"Me?"

    She nodded.

"I'm not sure. You?"

        "I'm too scared."

"I understand." I pet her upper back to comfort her.

[Maude pov]

      After breakfast we followed Tim and Helen led us to the Rock climbing area. There was this gigantic wall in front of us. It had multicolored rubber rocks that I adored. It wasn't my first rodeo with rock climbing. I had climbed with Ned plenty of times. I smiled up at them with anticipation. I had on some white tee from a church event and

jean shorts that reached my knees.

"Now this exercise is supposed to encourage teamwork and support in each other. When this world brings you down you need to have someone to encourage you." Helen explained as Timothy put on a harness. Helen looked at me puzzled as I put on one myself.

        "What? It's not on backwards is it?"

"Oh, no it's just that. . ." She trailed off looking at my harness. She bit her lip lightly for a second before her concentration quickly returned. "Well I was going to have Ned climbing the wall but that's fine that works. . .Maude, are you sure you can?"

      "I've done this many times." I smiled and laughed. 

"Oh. Okay." She said a bit surprised.

Was it just me or did she blush? Was she checking me out. . .? No, no it had to be my imagination. I dismissed any other possibility of why she looked at me like that.

      Once me and Tim were set up we started our climb. I made a speedy start grabbing onto each rock I saw available. It was fairly easy. I made a mental note of the colors. I loved them. Red pink yellow pink orange red blue green red turquoise. I focused on the rocks and moving.

  "You got this Maude!" Ned cheered. I smiled and kept on climbing. I glanced over at Timothy who was only a couple feet from the ground. It seemed I had more upper arm strength than him. I wouldn't have guessed. 

    "I believe in you Timothy! You're doing great. One at a time." Helen cheered, encouraging him. God bless her, she's so sweet. He nodded and slowly found himself a bit higher. At some point I got stuck. 

     "Go left, use your legs!" Ned coached. I nodded and did as he advised. Tim had caught up with me before I made my way ahead of him again. Before I knew it I was at the very top. 

I sat on the wall and smiled as Ned clapped for me. Helen was clapping too. So cute of her. I stared out at the trees and the shimmering lake as Tim was making the rest of his way up. Do I like Helen? I asked myself. Of course I did, she's been my best friend for years. But, Ned was also mine for longer. Yet, something in her sparkled that hadn't in Ned. Every time I had saw her, things we're better. I felt . .giddy. Oh. . .oh. I do love her. I love her more than anything. My chest had ached. Oh God, I love her. 

   "I'm so proud of you!" I looked down at Helen who was cheering at her husband who loved her too. She loved him. She loves him, not me. She's straight, I think. It didn't matter anyways. I sighed. Still I couldn't help but smile. I was in love and couldn't do anything about it. I wonder how Ned was coping with this yearning. I then faced the wall and quickly leaped my way down. With gravity and my emotions taking over me I couldn't help but laugh. I landed on the ground giggling. "That was fun." I snorted and covered my mouth blushing. But then she laughed too. "Oh Maude, that's adorable." She put an arm around my shoulder. Oh God I could kiss her right now. She's so close yet so far from reach. So I just stood there blushing and smiling. Tim slowly but surely came down with a bit of a dizzy stumble. Ned was close and caught him. For a moment the two men were arm in arm. Tim smiled bashfully and a tad embarrassed. 

       "Thanks." 

    Ned stared at him a moment before helping him stand-up straight. "You did great, Reverend." Neddy said smiling. The poor thing. He must feel the same ache in his soul. He has to. 

[Ned pov]

          Later that day I found Timothy by the river. He was just sitting there watching it flow. I had to ask. I needed to know what he thought on the matter. Despite everything, I felt in my soul it was right and only natural. But I just needed to know. You always need to know, it'll be death of you, Ned. I sighed and walked up to him before sitting by him on the grass by the sore. "Hi Reverend."

      "Ned, we're friends, you can just call me Timothy. Really I insist."

         "Of course. Timothy," his name was so intense. Calling him by his name was so tender and intimate it almost felt wrong. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Well, I at least wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter."

         "What is it?" He looked at me slightly exhausted. I felt a pang of guilt. He probably wanted a break from being asked things everyday. It had to be exhausting. But I needed to know. I knew it was important.

    "What do you think about homosexuality?"

                   "Hmm. . ." He hummed and looked out on the lake. "Sexual deviance isn't a good thing."

      "Deviance?" I felt a bit hurt. Was it really cheating if my wife knew how I felt. I mean, it would be if I kissed a married man. I wanted to kiss a married man. Am I lusting? Is this sin? The homosexuality couldn't be though. "Is it really deviance??"

    Tim paused to think again. "Well. Hm. There are some verses-"

            "I know, I've heard about them. But I don't think they're talking about homosexuality. It could be just an error. It could be referring to a completely different sin. But if you don't mind my boldness Reverend, I really don't think it's a sin at all."

     He nodded slowly, pensive. 

"There are verses that have forbidden the consumption of some meats that were unsafe at the time. . .hmm. That's not a sin at all anymore. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding. Prophets are still human after all." He stared at the water. "I suppose homosexuality isn't so bad. Why, it's not bad at all. I mean everyone feels sexuality . . .right?" He looked a bit confused. I wasn't sure why. Was he gay? No. . . was he?

          "I believe so."

He stared at the water thinking, I assume. I looked at those hands that tempted me. Guilt was burning me alive. 

      "Timothy I've been sinning!"

He looked at me startled at my outburst. 

      "Ned. . Ned, why are you asking me about this? Is. .this why you and Maude are having issues? Are you gay?"

I froze.

        "Ned you said it yourself and I agree, I don't think homosexuality is a legit sin."

"No. I mean, no that's not the issue." I felt my eyes water. 

"Ned. ."

        "I've been lusting after a married man! That's a sin!"

       "Ned. . .are you talking about me? Do you like me that way?" His eyes were wide. 

       "I do." I started to cry. 

"Why are you crying?"

         I looked at him like he was absurd. 

       "It's lusting!"

"Eh, well. You're not acting on it. I'm sure the Lord understands your intentions and will forgive them."

     I shrugged, "I understand if you're uncomfortable. ."

         "Not really. Don't worry about it."

"I just don't want to ruin anything."

          "I understand."

"How long have you felt like this?"

                   "I . .I don't know. Maybe I was born like this." 

      "Born??" He looked confused.

"Well not literally. I mean. I've just always liked men." I rubbed my arm anxiously. I was still trying to make peace with myself.

     Timothy stared at the ground, his eyes furrowed.

 "Like them?"

           "Yeah. Like I've just always wanted to.  . .kiss them and stuff. You know?"

 He slowly shook his head looking a bit lost.

   "I don't understand."

I suddenly felt sick. Did he think my attraction was that weird?

       "It's just the same feeling that you get  with women."

    He fiddled with his hands. He looked really uncomfortable.

    "What's wrong? Is it me?"

"No it's not you.  You're fine Ned I promise. I'm glad you decided to come to me about this." He closed his eyes and bit at his finger gingerly. I had seen him do this a couple times. It was usually when he got stressed or something. "Does Maude know?"

"Yeah. She took it well." 

        "Good." He stood up and walked off.

[misssophiachase]

Thanks to the talented @klarolineagainnaturally for the gorgeous cover, I am in love with it! So, in honour of Valentine’s Day, here is an UPDATE, thank you for the love you’ve all given me so far. Let me know what you think. 

Synopsis: One wedding involving a best man and maid of honour who've grown up together but don't know quite how to reconcile their unresolved feelings.

Mr Mikael and Mrs Esther Mikaelson and Dr Grayson and Mrs Miranda Pierce request the pleasure of your presence at the wedding of their children:

The Hon Elijah Edward Mikaelson and Dr Katherine Elena Pierce

On the twenty-third of June, twenty-twenty one, 1400h at Ely Cathedral followed by a reception at Mikaelson Manor, Ely Cambridgeshire

Dress: White Tie

23rd June 2021, Mikaelson Manor, Ely Cambridgeshire - 9:39am

“Okay, less trying to manhandle the cupcakes and instead more hustle, Mikaelson,” Caroline ordered, barely slowing down in the process.

Klaus, meanwhile, was trying to be annoyed but couldn’t stop thinking how adorable she was when taking charge. He’d met her in the kitchen as directed and was already in full ‘save the cake’ planning mode. She was in her element clearly.

He was a little disappointed she’d decided to change out of the shorts and robe combination into jeans and a t-shirt but Klaus decided that it was okay if he could spend even a little more time with her. Once the wedding started he doubted they’d have much time to talk, let alone anything else.

Which was unfortunate for Klaus because he had a lot he wanted to say. Over a decade’s worth of things, in fact.

The realisation that he’d liked her since high school but was too stupid to see it.

Then falling in love with her two years ago when they pseudo speed dated and watched romantic comedies on Valentine’s Day. He’d woken up with her cradled in his embrace and Klaus knew it probably wasn’t a coincidence they’d ended up that way.

The night had been unlike anything he’d ever experienced with anyone. When she pretended like nothing happened Klaus had no choice but to deny it too. He’d been in denial ever since until now.

The previous night’s events had been playing on repeat in his mind as he tried to sleep. She stole his sandwich and then they talked, like really talked.

Then there was that whole other thing that happened before Tully ate the wedding cake. Nobody knew about that yet and given it was his brother’s wedding day it was probably best.

Too much to say and too little time clearly.

“So, what exactly are these bonbons for anyway?” He asked, removing one from it’s white box and transferring it to the cake stand.

“It’s Bomboniere.”

“What now? We can’t all be wedding aficionados,” he joked.

“They are the gifts for the guests,” she explained. “We’ll make them the cake, not overly traditional but problem solved.”

“Well, not to nitpick love,” he murmured, she gave him a look which clearly meant she didn’t believe him. “But what are you going to give the guests instead? I mean I don’t need a gift, even if my presence is a gift in itself to the happy couple.”

“Ignoring that ego, I assumed people wouldn’t notice?”

“If you mean my grandmother as well as Mikael and Esther then good luck,” Klaus shared.

“Well, do you have any better ideas?”

8.5 hours earlier

“Well, do you have any better ideas?”

“I only mean that you could kill a few of the jokes and add some more sentimental content, I realise you do have that stand-up comedian dream but I’m sure it can wait a little longer,” Caroline teased, sandwich in hand. He’d long given up hope she’d return it to him.

“Sentimental? Have you met me, Forbes?”

“Oh come on, I’m sure you have something buried way deep, deep, deep down inside.”

“Cute.”

“He’s your brother, you must have something you could share about growing up together and…”

“Well, there was that time he wet his pants when Kol…”

“Not what I meant, Mikaelson, and you know that. He’s getting married, this is your only opportunity to do this and you have to get it right.”

“So, what have you written for your Maid-of-Honour speech?”

“Oh, so now you’re going to copy me? Trust me, I don’t think you could pull off half my speech.”

“Let me guess, you are going to say something like...'the best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.'

“Did you memorise The Notebook?”

“You made me watch it remember?”

“Yeah, like two years ago."

“What can I say, cheesy lines have this annoying ability to lodge themselves in my brain, unfortunately.”

“Let me guess you’d say: a wedding is a sacrament... a joyous celebration of love and commitment. In utopia. In the real world... it's an excuse to drink excessively and say things you shouldn't say.”

“Says the girl who’s judging me but using her own rom com lines.”

Klaus realised he was trying to play it cool and quoting the Notebook and recognising dialogue from The Wedding Date wasn’t a great look. Klaus didn’t want to admit it, especially to Caroline, but he might have watched those movies a few times since.

It was ridiculous, especially given he didn’t like them..much...but they reminded him of her. He figured if he couldn’t have the real thing he’d torture himself with romantic comedies instead. Messed up, right?

“ So it isn’t true?”

“That guy had the right idea.” Of course he knew the guy was called Nick but Klaus figured he’d already embarrassed himself enough.

“So, you don’t believe in marriage.”

It was faint but he could sense the change in her tone and strain in her voice. For a split second Klaus felt buoyed, like maybe he still had a chance with her. But at the same time he wasn’t sure if he was imagining things.

“I believe in marriage if it’s for the right reasons and with the right person,” he replied, noticing her face soften slightly. “I just think the concept that the wedding day is supposed to be the biggest and happiest day of your life is wrong. It’s about the commitment, not just one day.”

“I think that’s fair, everyone gets caught up in all of the wedding festivities and forgets about the real meaning behind it all.”

“As we hunt for wedding rings in the garden and madly try to perfect our speech the night before,” he teased. “Although that part about drinking excessively and saying things you shouldn’t has my Great Aunt Maude written all over it.”

“Noted,” she chuckled. “So, maybe that’s what you need to say in your speech then.”

“I’m not sure my mother would appreciate me insulting Great Aunt Maude during the speeches, even if she will probably be too drunk to remember.”

“Not that part,” she shot back, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. “The part about marriage being not just one day but a commitment shared for life.”

“Let’s hope everyone is too drunk to remember me saying that,” he joked. “I do have a reputation to protect, Forbes.”

“Well, maybe it’s time you stopped caring about what people think and be yourself. If there is anytime to do that it’s for your brother’s wedding.”

“You have this annoying habit of eating my food, making me watch romantic comedies and also making me feel guilty.”

“It was one sandwich, Mikaelson. If you don’t want me to eat it next time don’t add mayonnaise. As for the guilt, maybe that is just your conscience screaming to be heard in the form of a best man speech.”

“I never said I wasn’t taking notes.”

He held her gaze, a genuine smile that had been suppressed. Instead of looking away, Caroline’s blue eyes remained trained on his. It was as if there was no wedding or kitchen or mayo sandwiches. Just them. At this moment.

Klaus could pinpoint the exact moment he knowingly fell in love with Caroline Forbes, it was when she teased him about crying during the Notebook. The moment he unknowingly fell in love with her was when she rolled her eyes at him when he gave a smart ass comment during english class. Here and now, Klaus knew no one would ever compare to Caroline Forbes and that he needed to get out of his comfort zone and tell her just how he felt.

“Caroline…”

“Wow, is that the time?” She interrupted, her creamy cheeks tinged slight pink as she consulted her watch. “We should get to bed if we want to be functional tomorrow.”

Then she was gone as quickly as she’d arrived. Klaus wasn’t sure how to feel. Disappointed she’d interrupted him or relieved that he didn’t make a fool of himself.

Either way, sleep didn't come easily that night.

“Hello?”

“What did you say?” Klaus broke out of his trance wondering how long she’d been trying to reach him.

“I said, how are we going to fix the Bomboniere issue,” she pressed. “It’s T minus four hours until the ceremony starts. If only your grandmother and parents didn’t have such a keen eye for detail.”

“It’s not detail, it’s how things will look,” he drawled, knowing his parents’ motives all too well. “I’m surprised they thought a cupcake would suffice to be honest.”

“Well, Kat wanted to do a donation gift to the hospital for the Bomboniere and there was so much back and forth during the planning stages that a cupcake was a quick fix.”

“A donation gift?”

“In lieu of a gift, the happy couple donate to a chosen charity on the guest’s behalf.”

“That’s a brilliant idea.”

“Well, not to brag but it was my suggestion.”

“Of course it was,” he said warmly, thinking it was just another reason to love her for being so kind and generous. “What was their issue with a donation to a good cause? Oh hang on why am I even asking, it’s my parents, I know exactly why.”

“Well, apparently your father argued it would be showing favouritism to donate to one particular cause and given Elijah is supposed to represent all people and groups it wouldn’t be a good look.”

“Oh please,” Klaus scoffed. “That is a lie and we all know it. I love how my parents can still manipulate every situation to their benefit even years later.”

“To be fair to Kat and Elijah I think it was just easier to give in to avoid further disruption of the event plans which were already fairly delayed.”

“It’s their wedding and they should be able to choose what they want,” he growled. “Okay, I have an idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“We nominate a half a dozen different charities and it is up to the guests to choose where their donations go. Then father can’t say the bride and groom are being partial to one charity over others…”

“But that the decision is ultimately up to the guests.”

“Exactly.”

“But there’s not much time to make it happen.”

“I hate to stereotype but I’m going to,” he shared. “Men don’t take that long to get ready, with the exception of Kol, so we can get this done in time, I promise.”

“I’d like to help...”

“On the other hand, and not to stereotype, but some women take longer to get ready.”

“You’re talking about Rebekah aren’t you?”

“Apparently I am incredibly transparent too. How about I work on this and you find a cake or cupcake topper?”

“Wow, you know its name? Have you ever considered wedding planning as a new career direction, Mikaelson?”

“You tell anyone about my part in this and I will detail the almost wedding ring loss in my best man speech and that is a promise, Forbes.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” she mused, her smile widening and tugging at his heart more than he was expecting. “But I’ll take it.”

She held out her hand and Klaus was almost afraid to touch it given the feelings it would no doubt conjure up and now was neither the time or the place. He acted against his better judgment and enveloped his hand in hers.

Her skin was soft and enticing and as soon as she touched him, the feelings he was trying to ignore had made their way from bubbling below the surface to front and centre. But there was a wedding and Klaus wasn’t even sure if she felt what he did so it really wasn’t the time.

“Klaus...” the way she said it was so vulnerable and inviting and all he wanted to do was let her finish the sentence but he was also afraid at the same time. He couldn’t do rejection right now, that was for sure.

“I, uh, better get going if we are going to pull this off,” he smiled, albeit awkwardly given his heart was racing due to their unexpected contact. “We’ll compare notes in a few hours.”

He was the one to leave this time.

Klaus felt bad but at the same time he knew it was the right thing to do given the enormous job at hand.

Entering his bedroom, Klaus close the door quietly behind him. He leaned his head up against the door, willing his heart to stop racing and to return to normal so he could try and be productive. Klaus knew he needed to focus.

Then he let his eyes wander around the room. He could be messy at times but this was another level. His clothes were strewn across the whole space. Given he hadn’t packed that much, Klaus was wondering how his clothing seemed to have tripled in that time. 

Then he realised it, there wasn’t more of it, it was just cut into many pieces. He bent down and grabbed a few handfuls of material confirming the jagged edges weren’t a fashion statement but sabotage pure and simple.

Klaus knew exactly who had done it and why. Klaus knew he was to blame for her outburst, although he was certain she wasn’t that upset at the time given she couldn’t wait to get out of this ‘god forsaken place’ he’d dragged her to in the ‘middle of nowhere’ with ‘nobodies’ to ‘the detriment of her social media.’

Yes, he’d woken from a restless night after his time in the kitchen with Caroline and decided it was best to be honest and tell the truth. Klaus couldn’t in good conscience keep dating Hayley when he was madly in love with Caroline. Even if she didn’t reciprocate his feelings Klaus knew Hayley didn’t deserve that. She’d basically packed her bags on the spot while he tended to the Tully cake eating emergency. When he’d returned briefly she’d shut herself in the adjoining bathroom and wasn’t ready to talk.

Looks like she still wasn’t given the bathroom door was wide open and her luggage was missing. On the plus side she’d left but on the down side she’d shredded his entire wardrobe. Immediately Klaus felt sick, rushing to the wardrobe to check on his suit for the wedding. Needless to say it had been unceremoniously massacred and left in a pathetic heap at the bottom of the cupboard.

A woman scorned and all that.

Now, he didn’t just have Bomboniere to fix, as promised, but now he had a suit emergency too.

“Bloody weddings,” he muttered, wondering how he was going to fix this problem.

[minny5ca2018]

These HW executives are fools

These old Fogies are utter fools to think that real love between families and couples doesn't exist.

I am living proof that it does. I saw it first hand in my aunt and uncle, whom I lived with from the age of three.

I saw it in my other aunt --- she would get so angry at her husband when he was late. Love is two sides of a double edged sword --- you have to love someone to hate someone. You can only be angry at someone you care about.

Same with my parents. When my mother died when I was three, my father was devastated with grief. They'd go walking holding hands.

The following are excerpts from a fictional account of their lives. I am the little girl in this. Maureen is my aunt; Edward my dad and Lynette my older sister. These are fictional names though the places are real.

Blood, Sweat & Tears

^^^

But that had been a year ago now, and Martha, Edward’s wife was sick Maude had told her. She and Alfred were going down today to Rothesay and she, Maureen was going to see her sister in law and spend time with Martha’s youngest daughter Nadine. Each time Maureen saw the child she loved the little girl so much. She was so loveable and so different than her older sister. Her older sister Lynette was gorgeous but she would not let Maureen or anyone hardly make of her. She reminded Maureen of a china doll but that was Lynette’s personality, Maureen supposed. This time in fact Maureen was going to bring Nadine back to the house with her and Alfred to stay with them for a while. It was getting harder now for poor Edward to look after the little girl. He was moving back in with Lynette to his mother’s place. Truth was they did not expect Martha to last much longer. Poor Edward was so beside himself with grief. He had in fact asked Martha to take Nadine if and when Martha … passed away. She talked to Alfred extensively about it of course.

“Well what do you think Alfred? Should we do this? Can we? I don’t see how I can refuse my brother. She will go to Foster Care otherwise.” She asked her husband finally as they drove down to Rothesay that night.

“I don’t see that you have the choice either Maureen for she is your niece too. It will not be easy of course but we will make do as we always have.” He told her. “We will persevere.”

Maureen nodded, and reached out and lightly pressed her hand over her husband’s idle one and said no more just sitting quietly in the darkness of the car as they drove.

***

The wind raged across the hills and grounds of the cemetery as Edward Taylor stood there over his wife’s fresh grave. He stood there; his shoulders still shaking with grief and from his crying. The ceremonies long over and he stood there still; refusing to leave; his sisters surrounded him on both sides.

Freezing, Maureen finally with a move of both desperation and determination nodded and motioned to her sister, “Enough Edward, it is freezing here; you are doing no good here now; you are not helping yourself; we have to go.” She grabbed him firmly by one arm and her sister Maude at the same time on the other and together they determinedly pulled their brother toward the waiting car that held Brian and Alfred and their mother.

Reluctantly Edward allowed his sisters to pull him toward the car. His life was over he thought; his world the love of his life was gone. All he had was this huge feeling of grief and emptiness where his wife used to be. They would go down streets together hand in hand. And then the joy of the birth of Lynette and the struggle to get her born, then the second blessing in Nadine and then suddenly his wife was sick his life changing again forever. He would go back to his mother’s with Lynette and he could only hope Maureen would take Nadine, otherwise what would happen to the child? He just could not look after both and his mother Helen was too old for a three year old child. Holding back a sob Edward Taylor got into to the waiting car.

T

Edward stood in the little house in Rothesay where Edward lived with Martha and her parents. Maureen, Alfred, Maude and Brian stood there, facing him. Lynette went back to his mother Helen’s as had his younger brother Klaus. Nadine was in the living room playing still with Lizbet and Lola; they were doing their best to entertain his youngest daughter.

Edward looked at Maureen, “So you will take Nadine? For good this time?” he asked his sister.

Maureen nodded. “Yes Alfred and I will look after her but you may at some point want her back,” she hesitated, “you may remarry someday Bobby.” She told her brother gently.

Edward hugged his sister fiercely as it was always Edward’s way to do. Edward hugged everybody. He pulled back and looked at her. “No. No. I want you to keep her.

Take care of her for me. Love her, she is yours, I give her to you.” He said finally with conviction.

Maureen nodded her eyes welling up with emotion. “You have no worries, Alfred and I will look after her. I love her already. I adore her. I have always loved her and always will.” Maureen told him smiling.

Edward hugged his sister a second time. “Thank you.” He said smiling back at her. Indeed he thought the best part of Maureen was her smile.

^^^

The scene was told to me by aunt, Maureen in this account. Her emotions, after all that time moved me enough to write a fictional account of her life.

My aunt was quite the lady.

So yes, you fools at Sony Tall Ships Productions and Starz Lionsgate et al, real love does exist.

I truly hope some of you are among the ones in HW coming down. I truly do.

Nothing can stop what's happening.

Nothing.

Real love where it exists cannot be denied or buried.

At the same time, it cannot be faked where it doesn't exist either.

It can't.

[lilly-and-alice]

OC Interview

Thank you for the tag @lusus--naturae and @r0xy-w0lf

I'm not sure who else hasn't done this but I'm tagging my girls @amina-celestial & @gangofgunslingers (But to anybody else - please feel to take part if this interests you)

📷: picture courtsey of @amina-celestial & @mrscharlessmith

Date of Interview: 1898

Name: "My full name is Alice Maud White"

Are you single: *sighs* "very much so"

Are you happy: *clears her throat* "Due to current family circumstances - no, not really. But being with my friends always puts a smile on my face"

Are you angry: "A little. When you grow up believing one thing, only to discover your whole life is a lie tends to make you a little angry"

Are your parents still married: "no, my Papa….sorry, I guess  I mean my step-father, he passed on some time ago."

Facts

Birthplace: "Rhodes, Lemoyne"

Hair color: ''Red''

Eye color: ''Green''

Birth date: ''1st April 1879"

Current Mood: "I'm getting one of my bad headaches and feel like I might need to have a nap soon"

Gender: ''Female"

Summer or winter: ''Being from Lemoyne,  Summer can be quite unbearable, but saying that, I would like more of a winter than the temperature dropping a few degrees''

Morning or afternoon: "Mornings are always a bit cooler and allow me to think a bit clearer"

Love life

Are you in love: “I have had crushes I guess, But I don't think I've ever been in love”

Do you believe in love at first sight: “Well, maybe not love, but infatuation perhaps” *starts daydreaming* "oh sorry...what's the next question?"

Who ended your last relationship: “Oh, I've never really been in a relationship”

Have you ever broken someone's heart: “I doubt it"

Are you afraid of commitment: "I don't think so, but at the same time - I don't really want to be tied down right now"

Have you hugged someone in the last week: “Each of my friends after a mammoth drinking session in our moonshine shack"

Have you ever had a secret admirer: “Not to my knowledge"

Have you ever broken your own heart: “Only by developing feelings for people that I know have no interest in me?”

Six Choices

Love or Lust: “Love, isn't that the ultimate dream?”

Lemonade or Iced Tea: “Iced tea, sitting on the porch of my childhood home"

Cats or Dogs: “Dogs” 

A few Best friends or Regular Friends: “While I adore all my fellow Death-Squad members - I can think of nothing better than just sitting around camp listening to my two best friends Irma & George discussing things they find interesting”

Wild night out or romantic night in: “Oh a romantic night in sounds absolutely delightful, do you know anybody who'd like to share one with me?"

Day or night: "Night, it’s much calmer then”

Have You Evers

Been caught sneaking out: “I've never snuck out. Plus, Rhodes is a small town and no doubt somebody would have spotted me and told my parents where I was”

Fallen Down/Up the Stairs: “I'm so clumsy that I could trip over a blade if grass”

Wanted someone/something so badly it hurt: “Unrequited love is one of painful things I've ever experienced”

Wanted to disappear: “Precisely the reason why I decided to leave Rhodes and start afresh elsewhere”

Four preferences

Smile or eyes: “Eyes, I feel like I tell what a person is really thinking by looking into their eyes”

Shorter or taller: “I'm not really bothered, but I suppose I quite like the idea of a tall, handsome man looking after me”

Intelligence or Attraction: “Intelligence definitely. honestly, somebody could be the most attractive person in the world, and the minute they open their mouth and say something stupid I lose interest"

Hook up or Relationship: “Relationships. I don't think hookups are my kind of thing”

Family

Do you and your family get along: “I was so close to Papa before he passed and while mother & I had a cordial relationship, I don't really want to speak with her right now”

"As for my sister Lilly? I really want to connect with her, but she just doesn't seem interested in developing a relationship with me at the moment. I just wish she would talk to me if only so I can find out more about my birth father."

Would you say you have a messed up life: "Used to think I had a normal life - growing up on a small farm with two loving parents….until I was told my whole life is in fact a lie and my real father is a con man who just so happened to passing through town and had a fling with my mother"

Have you ever got kicked out: “No, I chose to walk out after my mother's lies were finally revealed to me"

Friends

Do you secretly hate one of your friends: “No! Why would I?....Although…. my friendship with Emery can be a bit rocky at times 😬"

Do you consider all of your friends good friends: “We all look out for each other and have the other's backs, (even if we do sometimes operate outside the law sometimes)

Who are your best friends: “Irma Miller & George Wilder - they found me when I had nothing and they are always looking out for me when they can"

Who knows everything about you: “That would've been Papa, but now there's not really anybody ”

[eltvns]

  howdy  !  i’m  cosmo  .  thank  you  for  having  me  ,  i’m  super  excited  to  be  here  and  write  with  everyone  !  below  is  about  elton  ,  my  child  .  he  needs  all  the  love  (  and  angst  )  so  give  this  a  like  and  i’ll  message  you  for  plots   !  :~)  <3

 new    york’s    very    own    elton    kang    was    spotted    on    broadway    street    in    jadon    hi    dr.    martens    .    your    resemblance    to    jung    jaehyun    is    unreal    .    according    to    tmz    ,    you    just    had    your    twenty-third    birthday    bash    .    while    living    in    nyc    ,    you’ve    been    labeled    as    zany    ,    but    also    vehement    .    i    guess    being    an    aquarius    explains    that    .    3    things    that    would    paint    a    better    picture    of    you    would    be    black   turtle    necks    &    sunglasses      at      night ,    scuffed    dr.      martens  ,    cigarette      smoke      against    neon   lights  .

 ( i’ve      never      lasted      more      than      five      minutes      in      bed. )  

INSPIRATION.

carl  gallagher .  shameless .

sander driesen .  wtFOCK .

kyle  scheible . lady  bird .

eric  forman .  that  70′s  show .

STATS.

full name. elton “john” kang.

birth-place. bronx, new york.

age. twenty-two.

dob. 1/21/1996.

zodiac. aquarius.

orientation. pansexual.

korean / english.

ABOUT.

elton  was  born  elton  john  kang  the  third  .  he  was  born  to  a  decently  wealthy  family  in  new  york  .  his  mom  was  a  stay  at  home  mom  while  his  dad  worked  on  wall  street  .  during  elton’s  childhood  ,  he  was  homeschooled  by  his  mom  so  they  were  extremely  close  .  his  dad  ,  on  the  other  hand  ,  was  hardly  around  .

getting  into  art  at  a  young  age  ,  elton  loved  painting  on  the  walls  and  other  surfaces  he  wasn’t  supposed  to  ,  so  he  was  often  in  trouble  for  that  .  he  had  a  very  animated  personality  and  started  experimenting  with  other  forms  of  art  soon  after  ,  including  make-up  ,  which  his  father  was  not  happy  with  .

his  parents  separated  and  elton  was  then  raised  by  a  single  mom  , struggling  to  make  ends  meat  .  his  mother  went  wild  after  that  and  eventually  left  the  boy  on  his  own  in  the  middle  of  new  york  after  getting  arrested  for  drug  possession  and  illegal  sex  work  .  

elton  was  taken  in  by  his  wall  street  father  at  the  age  of  15  .  he  was  extremely  bitter  about  having  to  care  for  his  child  again  and  elton  wasn’t  any  happier  about  being  stuck  there  .  he  acted  out  ,  partied  ,  drank   and  smoked  too  much  ,  brought  drugs  into  his  home  ,  and  painted  as  much  as  he  could  onto  surfaced  he  wasn’t  allowed  to  ,  but  he  also  went  on  to  college  .  

once  he  turned  twenty-one  ,  elton  was  notoriously  known  for  partying  and  throwing  the  best  ones  .  his  father  retired  ,  left  to  some  tropical  country  ,  and  left  elton  with  all  of  his  assets  as  well  as  an  inheritance  .  now  ,  elton  is  an  extremely  well  known  artist  ,  as  well  as  his  for  face  going  viral  on  instagram  .

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

his few close friends !!! 

sometimes elton can be very strange and introverted. basically this person would have to be bubbly and help him really become more confident and happy with himself. kind of like a harold and maude relationship without the romance ( or with ) .

some familial connections, his dad’s side, prob cousins or another child that his father had and elton didn’t know about bc he lived in ny.

apartment / loft neighbors //

roommate ?? “THEY WERE ROOMMATES”

a possible love interest in the form of two stumbling over their words, goofy, yet adorable messes around each other. could definitely blossom into something!

maybe someone that charms/annoys him on his way home every late night at ½ am from the bar. lol he’s probably super grumpy and this person has to be like.. super bubbly ?? walking their dog ?? idk. 

WINE NIGHTS and shit talking ANDFGDF .

someone he gets high w often. 

maybe some friends that are actually into each other, but they’re too good of friends to say anything to each other, etc.

HEAD CANONS.

OLD MONEY

he just be out here spray painting and looking HOT on the gram

animated. very zany. loud and brash at times.

has a twt dedicated to his graffiti 

insta dedicated to his face mostly LKJKHFSD

VERY TOUCHY and affectionate to those he loves

loves WHITE WINE

speaks fluent korean

would definitely storm area 51.

loves make up… doesn’t wear it anymore tho.

low-key ashamed of himself

often tipsy or high or both

isn’t exactly mean, but he’s not rly the nicest person in the world and he prob wouldn’t go out of his way to do anything decent for someone he didn’t know.

definitely has hooked u p a lot ( i mean look at him ??? ) now he just wants to be loved tbh.

falls in love 5 times a day

he LOVES love. he believes being in love is the meaning of life and is getting depressed about never having been loved.

he’s a video gamer, a sports lover, and a chain smoker.

could be a lovable dumbass once he’s comfortable around someone.

does lack common sense at times.

leaves clean laundry on his bedroom floor for a week

prob doesn’t drink enough water

constantly wears dr. martens

will always be found with taco bell bags in his car.

[julietasgf]

1, 2, 5, 12 for Maude Ivory!

hello buddy thank you for the ask!!! <33 here you go:

1 - why do you like or dislike this character?

I absolutely adore maude ivory because she's simply the CUTEST character in the whole book!! every single time she appeared I wanted to hug her and kiss her forehead because she was so sweet and adorable!! she reminded me a lot of young cousins I've had, and her dynamic with the covey and the characters around her were always such a delight to read 🥹

2 - favorite canon thing about this character?

she's so talkative and sweet!! 🤏 I really liked all the scenes where coriolanus and sejanus were hanging with the covey, and she was around them! also when some covey members had to carry her on their back while they were walking too! again, reading every scene she was in felt like reading about a baby cousin I already know in real life and that's very heartwarming

5 - what's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

here comes the sun by the beatles

12 - what's a headcanon you have for this character?

she likes to braid the hair of other covey members!! she'll sit for hours and talk to them about anything, about her day, about the cute cat she saw on the street, about how the sky is blue, all while she keeps braiding their hair and putting flowers on it (the flowers, in specific, is why lucy gray started putting flowers on her own hair; it was because of maude ivory)

also thank you so much for sending maude ivory, I love her so much and barely talk about her 🥺 so I also did a mini fanart of her:

[suchagiantnerd]

48 Books, 1 Year

I was just two books shy of my annual goal of 50! You can blame the combination of my adorable newborn, who refused to nap anywhere except on me, and Hallmark Christmas movie season, during which I abandon books for chaste kisses between 30-somethings who behave like tweens at places called the Mistletoe Inn (which are really in Almonte, Ontario). 

Without further ado, as Zuma from Paw Patrol says, “Let’s dive in!”

1. Human Errors: A Panorama of Our Glitches, from Pointless Bones to Broken Genes / Nathan H. Lents

We have too many bones! We have to rely too much on our diet for survival! We suffer from too many cognitive biases! Reading about our design flaws was kind of interesting, but the best part of this book were the few pages toward the end about the possibility of alien life. Specifically this quote: "...some current estimates predict that the universe harbours around seventy-five million civilizations." WHAT?! This possibility more than anything else I've ever heard or read gives me a better idea of how infinite the universe really is.

2. The Fiery Cross / Diana Gabaldon

Compared to the first four books in the Outlander series, this fifth book is a real snooze. The characters are becoming more and more unlikeable. They're so self-centered and unaware of their privilege in the time and place they're living. Gabaldon's depictions of the Mohawk tribe and other First Nations characters (which I'm reading through her character's opinions of things) are pretty racist. The enslaved people at one character's plantation are also described as being well taken care of and I just.... can't. I think this is the end of my affair with Outlander.

3. Educated / Tara Westover

This memoir was a wild ride. Tara Westover grew up in a survivalist, ultra-religious family in rural Idaho. She didn’t go to school and was often mislead about the outside world by her father. She and her siblings were also routinely put in physical danger working in their father’s junkyard as their lives were “in god’s hands”, and when they were inevitably injured, they weren’t taken to the hospital or a doctor, but left to be treated by their healer mother. Thanks to her sheer intelligence and determination (and some support from her older brother), Tara goes to university and shares with us the culture shock of straddling two very different worlds. My non-fiction book club LOVED this read, we talked about it for a long, long time.

4. Imbolc: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for St. Brigid’s Day / Carl F. Neal

Continuing with my witchy education, I learned all about the first sabbat of the new year, Imbolc.

5. Super Sad True Love Story / Gary Shteyngart

This in-the-very-near-future dystopian novel got my heart racing during a few exciting moments, but overall, I couldn’t immerse myself fully because of the MISOGYNY. I think the author might not like women and the things women like (or the things he thinks they like?) In this near future, all the dudes are into finance or are media celeb wannabes, while all the women work in high-end retail. And onion-skin jeans are the new trend for women - they are essentially see-through. Gary….we don’t…want that? We don’t even want low-rise jeans to come back.

6. The Wanderers / Meg Howrey

Helen, Yoshi and Sergei are the three astronauts selected by a for-profit space exploration company to man the world’s first mission to Mars. But before they get the green light, they have to endure a 17-month simulation. In addition to getting insight into the simulation from all three astronauts via rotating narrators, we also hear from the astronauts’ family members and other employees monitoring the sim. At times tense, at times thoughtful, this book is an incisive read about what makes explorers willing to leave behind everything they love the most in the world.

7. Zone One / Colson Whitehead

The zombie apocalypse has already happened, and Mark is one of the survivors working to secure and clean up Zone One, an area of Manhattan. During his hours and hours of boring shifts populated by a few harrowing minutes here and there, the reader is privy to Mark’s memories of the apocalypse itself and how he eventually wound up on this work crew. Mark is a pretty likeable, yet average guy rather than the standard zombie genre heroes, and as a result, his experiences also feel like a more plausible reality than those of the genre.

8. Homegoing / Yaa Gyasi

One of my favourite reads of the year, this novel is the definition of “sweeping epic”. The story starts off with two half-sisters (who don’t even know about each other’s existence) living in 18th-century Ghana. One sister marries a white man and stays in Ghana, living a life of privilege, while the other is sold into slavery and taken to America on a slave ship. This gigantic split in the family tree kicks off two parallel and vastly different narratives spanning EIGHT generations, ending with two 20-somethings in the present day. I remain in awe of Gyasi’s talent, and was enthralled throughout the entire book.

9. Sweetbitter / Stephanie Danler

Tess moves to New York City right out of school (and seemingly has no ties to her previous life - this bothered me, I wanted to know more about her past) and immediately lands a job at a beloved (though a little tired) fancy restaurant. Seemingly loosely based on Danler’s own experiences as a server, I got a real feel for the insular, incestuous, chaotic life in “the industry”. Tess navigates tensions between the kitchen and the front of house, falls for the resident bad-boy bartender, and positions herself as the mentee of the older and more glamorous head server, who may not be everything she seems. This is a juicy coming-of-age novel.

10. The Autobiography of Gucci Mane / Gucci Mane and Neil Martinez-Belkin

Gucci Mane is one of Atlanta’s hottest musicians, having helped bring trap music to the mainstream. I’d never heard of him until I read this book because I’m white and old! But not knowing him didn’t make this read any less interesting. In between wild facts (if you don’t get your music into the Atlanta strip clubs, your music isn’t making it out of Atlanta) and wilder escapades (Gucci holing himself up in his studio, armed to the teeth, in a fit of paranoia one night) Gucci Mane paints on honest picture of a determined, talented artist fighting to break free of a cycle of systemic racism and poverty.

11. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer / Michelle McNamara

McNamara was a journalist and true crime enthusiast who took it upon herself to try and solve the mystery of the Golden State Killer’s identity. Amazingly, her interest in this case also sparked other people’s interest in looking back at it, eventually leading to the arrest of the killer (though tragically, McNamara died a few months before the arrest and would never know how her obsession helped to capture him). This is a modern true crime classic and a riveting read.

12. A Great Reckoning / Louise Penny

The 12th novel in Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery series sees our hero starting a new job teaching cadets at Quebec’s police academy. Of course, someone is murdered, and Gamache and his team work to dig the rot out of the institution, uncovering a killer in the process.

13. Any Man / Amber Tamblyn

Yes, this novel is by THAT Amber Tamblyn, star of “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants”! Anyway, this book is a tad bit darker, and follows five men who’ve been victimized by the female serial rapist, who calls herself Maude. Going into this read I though that it might be some sort of revenge fantasy, but dudes, not to worry - we really feel awful for the male victims and see them in all their complexity. Perhaps, if more men read this book, they might better understand the trauma female and non-binary victims go through? That would require men to read books by women though. Guys? GUYS???

14. Ostara: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for the Spring Equinox / Kerri Connor

Yet another witchy read providing more information about this Spring sabbat. 

15. Scarborough / Catherine Hernandez

This novel takes place in OUR Scarborough! Following the lives of a number of residents (adults and children alike), the plot centres around the families attending an Ontario Early Years program as well as the program facilitator. Hernandez looks at the ways poverty, mental illness, addiction, race, and homophobia intersect within this very multicultural neighbourhood. It’s very sad, but there are also many sweet and caring moments between the children and within each of the families.

16. The Glitch / Elisabeth Cohen

Shelley Stone (kind of a fictional Sheryl Sandberg type) is the CEO of Conch, a successful Silicon Valley company. Like many of these over-the-top real-life tech execs, Shelley has a wild schedule full of business meetings, exercise, networking and parenting, leaving her almost no time to rest. While on an overseas business trip, she meets a younger woman also named Shelley Stone, who may or may not be her younger self. Is Shelley losing it? This is a dark comedy poking fun at tech start-up culture and the lie that we can have it all.

17. The Thirteenth Tale / Diane Setterfield

This is my kind of book! A young and inexperienced bookworm is handpicked to write the biography of an aging famous author, Vida Wynter. Summoned to her sprawling country home around Christmastime, the biographer is absolutely enthralled by Vida’s tales of a crumbling gothic estate and an eccentric family left too long to their own whims. Looking for a dark, twisty fairytale? This read’s for you.

18. Love & Misadventure / Lang Leav

Leav’s book of poems looked appealing, but for me, her collection fell short. I felt like I was reading a teenager’s poetry notebook (which I’m not criticizing, I love that teen girls write poetry, and surprise, surprise - so did I - but I’m too old for this kind of writing now).

19. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows / Balli Kaur Jaswal

Hooo boy, my book club loved this one! Hoping to get a job more aligned with her literary interests, Nikki, the 20-something daughter of Indian immigrants to Britain, takes a job teaching writing at the community centre in London’s biggest Punjabi neighbourhood. The students are all older Punjabi women who don’t have much to do and because of their “widow” status have been somewhat sidelined within their community. Without anyone around to censor or judge them, the widows start sharing their own erotic fantasies with each other, each tale wilder than the last. As Nikki gets to know them better, she gains some direction in life and starts a romance of her own. (It should be noted that in addition to this lovely plot, there is a sub plot revolving around a possible honour killing in the community. For me, the juxtaposition of these two plots was odd, but not odd enough that it ruined the book.)

20. Beltane: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for May Day / Melanie Marquis

Beltane marks the start of the summer season in the witches’ year, and I learned all about how to ring it in, WITCH STYLE.

21. Summer of Salt / Katrina Leno

This book is essentially Practical Magic for teens, with a queer protagonist. All that to say, it’s enjoyable and sweet and a win for #RepresentationMatters, but it wasn’t a surprising or fresh story.

22. Too Like the Lightning / Ada Palmer

This is the first in the Terra Ignota quartet of novels, which is (I think) speculative fiction with maybe a touch of fantasy and a touch of sci-fi and a touch of theology and certainly a lot of philosophical ruminating too. I both really enjoyed it and felt so stupid while reading it. As a lifelong bookworm who doesn’t shy away from difficult reads, I almost never feel stupid while reading, but this book got me. The world building is next level and as soon as you think you’ve found your footing, Palmer pulls the rug out from under you and you’re left both stunned and excited about her latest plot twist. Interested in finding out what a future society grouped into ‘nations’ by interests and passions (instead of geographical borders and ethnicity) might be like? Palmer takes a hearty stab at it here.

23. The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay and Disaster / Sarah Krasnostein

When Sarah Krasnostein met Sandra Pankhurst, she knew she had to write her biography (or something like it - this book is part biography, part love letter, part reckoning). And rightly so, as Sandra has led quite a life. She grew up ostracized within her own home by her immediate family, married and had children very young, came out as a trans woman and begin living as her authentic self (but abandoning her own young family in the process), took to sex work and lived through a vicious assault, married again, and started up her own successful company cleaning uncleanable spaces - the apartments of hoarders, the houses of recluses, the condos in which people ended their own lives. Sandra is the definition of resilience, but all her traumas (both the things people have done to her and the things she’s done to others) have left their mark, as Krasnostein discovers as she delicately probes the recesses of Sandra’s brain.

24. Becoming / Michelle Obama

My favourite things about any memoir from an ultra-famous person are the random facts that surprise you along the way. In this book, it was learning that all American presidents travel with a supply of their blood type in the event of an assassination attempt. I mean OF COURSE they would, but that had never occurred to me. I also appreciated Michelle opening up about her fertility struggles, the difficult decision to put her career on hold to support Barack’s dreams, and the challenge of living in the spotlight with two young children that you hope to keep down to earth. Overall, I think Michelle was as candid as someone in her position can be at this point in her life.

25 and 26. Seven Surrenders, The Will to Battle / Ada Palmer

I decided to challenge myself and stick with Palmer’s challenging Terra Ignota series, also reading the second and third instalments (I think the fourth is due to be released this year). I don’t know what to say, other than the world-building continues to be incredible and this futuristic society is on the bring of something entirely new.

27. Even Vampires Get the Blues / Kate MacAlister

This novel wins for “cheesiest read of the year”. When a gorgeous half-elf detective (you read that right) meets a centuries-old sexy Scottish vampire, sparks fly! Oh yeah, and they’re looking for some ancient thing in between having sex.

28. A Case of Exploding Mangoes / Mohammed Hanif

A piece of historical fiction based on the real-life suspicious plane crash in 1988 that killed many of Pakistan’s top military brass, this novel lays out many possible culprits (including a crow that ate too many mangoes). It’s a dark comedy taking aim at the paranoia of dictators and the boredom and bureaucracy of the military (and Bin Laden makes a cameo at a party).

29. Salvage the Bones / Jesmyn Ward

This novel takes place in the steaming hot days before Hurricane Katrina hits the Mississippi coast. The air is still and stifling and Esch’s life in the small town of Bois Sauvage feels even more stifled. Esch is 14 and pregnant and hasn’t told anyone yet. Her father is a heavy drinker and her three brothers are busy with their own problems. But as the storm approaches, the family circles around each other in preparation for the storm. This is a jarring and moving read made more visceral by the fact that the author herself survived Katrina. It’s also an occasionally violent book, and there are particularly long passages about dog-fighting (a hobby of one of the brothers). The dog lovers in my book club found it hard to get through, consider this your warning!

30. Everything’s Trash, But It’s Okay / Phoebe Robinson

A collection of essays in the new style aka writing multiple pages on a topic as though you were texting your best friend about it (#ImFineWithThisNewStyleByTheWay #Accessible), Robinson discusses love, friendship, being a Black woman in Hollywood, being plus-ish-size in Hollywood, and Julia Roberts teaching her how to swim (and guys, Julia IS as nice in real life as we’d all hoped she was!) Who is Robinson? Comedy fans will likely know her already, but I only knew her as one of the stars of the Netflix film Ibiza (which I enjoyed). This is a fun, easy read!

31. Midsummer: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for Litha / Deborah Blake

After reading this book, I charged my crystals under the midsummer sun!

32. Fingersmith / Sarah Waters

So many twists! So many turns! So many hidden motives and long-held secrets! Think Oliver Twist meets Parasite meets Lost! (Full disclosure, I haven’t seen Parasite yet, I’m just going off all the chatter about it). Sue is a con artist orphan in old-timey London. When the mysterious “Gentleman” arrives at her makeshift family’s flat with a proposal for the con of all cons, Sue is quickly thrust into a role as the servant for another young woman, Maud, living alone with her eccentric uncle in a country estate. As Sue settles into her act, the lines between what she’s pretending at and what she’s really feeling start to blur, and nothing is quite what it seems. This book is JUICY!

33. Rest Play Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (Or Anyone Who Acts Like One) / Deborah MacNamara, PhD

I read approximately one parenting book a year, and this was this year’s winner. As my eldest approached her third birthday, we started seeing bigger and bigger emotions and I wasn’t sure how to handle them respectfully and gently. This book gave me a general roadmap for acknowledging her feelings, sitting through them with her, and the concept of “collecting” your child to prevent tantrums from happening or to help calm them down afterward. I’ll be using this approach for the next few years!

34. Lughnasadh: Rituals, Recipes and Lore for Lammas / Melanie Marquis

And with this read, I’ve now read about the entire witch’s year. SO MOTE IT BE.

35. In Cold Blood / Truman Capote

How had I not read this until now? This true-crime account that kicked off the modern genre was rich in detail, compassionate to the victims, and dug deep into the psyche of the killers. The descriptions of the midwest countryside and the changing seasons also reminded me of Keith Morrison’s voiceovers on Dateline. Is Capote his inspiration?

36. I’m Afraid of Men / Vivek Shraya

A quick, short set of musings from trans musician and writer Shraya still packs an emotional punch. She writes about love and loss, toxic masculinity, breaking free of gender norms, and what it’s like to exist as a trans woman.

37. The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You / Elaine N. Aron, PhD

Having long thought I might be a highly sensitive person (lots of us are!), I decided to learn more about how to better cope with stressful situations when I don’t have enough alone time or when things are too loud or when I get rattled by having too much to do any of the other myriad things that shift me into panic mode. Though some of the advice is a bit too new-agey for me (talking to your inner child, etc), some of it was practical and useful.

38. Swamplandia! / Karen Russell

The family-run alligator wrestling theme park, Swamplandia, is swimming in debt and about to close. The widowed father leaves the everglades for the mainland in a last-ditch attempt to drum up some money, leaving the three children to fend for themselves. A dark coming-of-age tale that blends magic realism, a ghost story, the absurd and a dangerous boat trip to the centre of the swamplands, this novel examines a fractured family mourning its matriarch in different ways.

39. A Mind Spread Out on the Ground / Alicia Elliott

This is a beautiful collection of personal essays brimming with vulnerability, passion, and fury. Elliott, the daughter of a Haudenosaunee father and a white mother, shares her experiences growing up poor in a family struggling with mental illness, addiction and racism. Topics touch on food scarcity, a never-ending battle with lice, parenthood and the importance of hearing from traditionally marginalized voices in literature. 

40. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay / Elena Ferrante

The third novel in Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet sees Elena and Lila move from their early twenties into their thirties and deal with a riot of issues - growing careers, changing political beliefs, the challenges of motherhood and romantic relationships, and existing as strong-willed, intelligent women in 1960s and 70s Italy. I’ll definitely finish the series soon.

41. Half-Blood Blues / Esi Edugyan

A small group of American and German jazz musicians working on a record find themselves holed up in Paris as the Germans begin their occupation in WW2. Hiero, the youngest and most talented member of the group, goes out one morning for milk and is arrested by the Germans, never to be heard from again. Fifty years later, the surviving members of the band go to Berlin for the opening night of a documentary about the jazz scene from that era, and soon find themselves on a road trip through the European countryside to find out what really became of Hiero all those years ago. Edugyan’s novel is a piercing examination of jealousy, ambition, friendship, race and guilt. And features a cameo by Louis Armstrong!

42. A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love and Overcoming / Kerri Rawson

So Brad and I had just finished watching season 2 of Mindhunter, and as I browse through a neighbourhood little library, I spot this book and the serial killer in question is the BTK Killer! Naturally, I had to read it. What I didn’t realize is that this is actually a Christian book, so Rawson does write a lot about struggling with her belief in God and finding her way back to Him, etc. But there are also chapters more fitting with the true crime and memoir genres that I equally enjoyed and was creeped out by.

43. The Night Ocean / Paul La Farge

This is another book that made me feel somewhat stupid as a reader. I just know there are details or tidbits that completely went over my head that would likely enrich a better reader’s experience. In broad strokes, the novel is about a failed marriage between a psychiatrist and a writer who became dangerously obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and the rumours that swirled around him and his social circle. The writer’s obsession takes him away from his marriage and everything else, and eventually it looks like he ends his own life. The psychiatrist is doubtful (no body was found) and she starts to follow him down the same rabbit hole. At times tense, at times funny, at times sad, I enjoyed the supposed world of Lovecraft and his fans and peers, but again, I’m sure there are deeper musings here that I couldn’t reach.

44. Glass Houses / Louise Penny

The 13th novel in Penny’s Inspector Gamache mystery series sees our hero taking big risks to fight the opioid crisis in Quebec. He and his team focus on catching the big crime boss smuggling drugs across the border from Vermont, endangering his beloved town of Three Pines in the process. 

45. The Bone Houses / Emily Lloyd-Jones

My Halloween read for the year, this dark fairytale of a YA novel was perfect for the season. Since her parents died, Ryn has taken over the family business - grave digging - to support herself and her siblings. As the gravedigger, she knows better than most that due to an old curse, the dead in the forest surrounding her village don’t always stay dead. But as more of the forest dead start appearing (and acting more violently than usual), Ryn and an unexpected companion (yes, a charming young man cause there’s got to be a romance!) travel to the heart of the forest to put a stop to the curse once and for all.

46. The Witches Are Coming / Lindy West

Another blazing hot set of essays from my favourite funny feminist take on Trump, abortion rights, #MeToo, and more importantly Adam Sandler and Dateline. As always, Lindy, please be my best friend?

47. Know My Name / Chanel Miller

This memoir is HEAVY but so, so needed. Recently, Chanel Miller decided to come forward publicly and share that she was the victim of Brock Turner’s sexual assault. She got the courage to do so after she posted her blistering and beautiful victim impact statement on social media and it went viral. Miller’s memoir is a must-read, highlighting the incredible and awful lengths victims have to go to to see any modicum of justice brought against their attackers. Miller dealt with professional ineptitude from police and legal professionals, victim-blaming, victim-shaming, depression and anxiety, the inability to hold down a job, and still managed to come out the other side of this trial intact. And in the midst of all the horror, she writes beautifully about her support system - her family, boyfriend and friends - and about the millions of strangers around the world who saw themselves in her experience.

48. Christmas Ghost Stories: A Collection of Winter Tales / Mark Onspaugh

Ghosts AND Christmas? Yes please! This quirky collection features a wide array of festively spooky tales. You want the ghost of Anne Boleyn trapped in a Christmas ornament? You got it! What about the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future drinking together in a bar? Yup, that’s here too! 

__

So, what were my top picks of the year, the books that stuck with me the most? In no particular order:

Educated

Homegoing

The Wanderers

Know My Name

Scarborough

[damndaehyung]

netflix ?

Daniel Choi

featuring Tyler Lee

mentions (very briefly) Maude, Tara Lee

Daniel pouted wishing he had worn that ungodly scarf Emily had bought him for his London visit. It was a long and hideous, a striped terror with several questionable colours. Emily has giggled when she gave it to him saying something about muggle Doctor’s. Daniel has no idea what she was talking about but accepted the gift nonetheless because it was from one of his favourite people. Daniel’s other favourite person was the reason he was stuck in London’s infamous dreary weather instead of being nice and toasty in Emily’s (technically his) apartment. Tyler Lee - best friend and secret boyfriend asked (read demanded) that Daniel spend the day with him, rather mischievously telling him that he was going to teach him the muggle past time Netflix and chill, even going so far to make him pinky promise not to ask anyone about it. Daniel had no idea what it was but Tyler seemed excited about it and thus Daniel was excited about it. The only problem was getting to Tyler’s apartment, due to his fame and apparently very rabid fanbase Tyler had put a ward upon ward upon his making it pretty much impossible to get to with the normal wizarding ways, even attempting to apparate into his apartment would end up with the person being sliced. So due to this Daniel was tracking down the cobbled streets, glaring up at the grey skies darkly - ready to fight it if it starts to rain. His denim jacket barely provided heat he doubted it would protect him for rain and he’ll be damned if he showed up at Tyler’s house looking anything but delectable.

He managed to get to Tyler’s without getting stuck in the rain though his trip did include a few fangirls who absolutely had to get a picture of him, wind that decided to give that disheveled look people always seemed to rave about and a run-in with an elderly couple from the down road who decided that they must talk to him and let him know that he was a handsome lad and the right girl was out there somewhere which was as hilarious as it was misplaced and unwanted. Daniel’s face scrunched up as he eyed Tyler’s brand new state of the art security system or in his sister’s words a fancy doorbell that he paid way too much for because he refused to use Sunjae that other guys brand. Daniel pressed the button timidly,  stepping back and grabbing his wand just in case he had done something wrong and it was a self destruct button or something of the like, it was letting out a shrill ringing sound so it was entirely possible. As it turns Daniel’s fear were for nothing because seconds later Tyler’s voice could be heard through the speaker. “Passcode?” he asked, Daniel had to stop himself from rolling his eyes - Tyler could see him through the security system after all, but the passcode thing was a little on the unnecessary side, especially when he was the one who invited him over in the first place.

“Do I have to say it,” Daniel whined.

“Yes, how else will I know you are actually my best friend and not some weirdo who has kidnapped him used his hair for polyjuice potion and are pretending to be him while he wastes away in some basement,” Tyler spoke dramatically a fake sniff added at the end for effect. “Now if you are really Daniel Choi say the special passcode,” he said pointedly.

Daniel sighed before speaking, “Fine, Tyler Lee is the best thing that has ever happened to i Daniel Choi not only is my best best friend he is also the greatest boyfriend and lover i ever had -” Daniel said face flushing slightly. It wasn’t that he had a problem bragging about Tyler, no he had been the champion of bragging about Tyler for years but since their relationship was still, to most of the world, a secret saying this to a doorbell camera was a little risky.

“Thank you, baby,” Tyler said, Daniel could practically hear the smirk in Tyler’s voice. “Come on in,” he said and the door opened in an instant. Tyler had once shown him rather gleefully what happened if Tyler didn't approve of your arrival and safe to say Daniel did not want to see that again.

Daniel stepped into Tyler’s apartment, pouting when said boy didn't immediately come to meet him. He only had a week in London before he would be travelling again and he expected to spend a great majority of that time with his boyfriend. He made his way to the living area, well one of them, Tyler truly lived to the motto go big or go home and it reflected in his apartment.  Daniel twirled around running a hand through his hair trying to get it back to normal before Tyler decided to make his presence known. He moved to sit on one of the lounges, he was tempted to sit on the throne Tyler had, apparently it was from real muggle royalty, but decide against Tyler was a little possessive over it the only time he was even allowed close to it was when he was indulging one of Tyler’s fantasies - not that Daniel was complaining he enjoyed that particular fantasy a lot.

“Your early,” Tyler said walking into the room, the adorable pout on his face the perfect juxtaposition to the dripping hair, shirtless chest and sweatpants that strategically fell just above his v line. Daniel took a moment to fully appreciate the view in front of him. “Hmm, cat got your tongue, Daniel?” Tyler smirked. Daniel was sure that Tyler had been flexing while talking because Daniel was pretty sure he saw a few of his muscle’s jumping. Maybe he was more like Mia than he cared to admit because he seemed to have picked up her muscle kink.

Daniel cleared his throat, diverting his eyes away from Tyler to get his thoughts in order. “I am not early, I gotta here right on time,” he said bringing his wrist up to eyesight and pouting as he looked at his watch - apparently wearing watches was outdated even in the wizarding world but it was a gift from his pseudo dads and it was a Rolex with a pretty expensive price tag and Daniel was nothing if he wasn't grateful. “In fact, you could argue that I was late - wait did you forget I was coming?” Daniel asked raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Never, how could I ever forget you,” Tyler said sweetly as he sat down next to him, “I must have lost track of time, we had an impromptu practice this morning,” Tyler said pouting slightly. “Don’t get me wrong I love the grind, I wouldn’t be the best quidditch player in the world if I didn't but it made me all hot and sweaty before you came so I had to have a quick shower but -” he said eyeing Daniel expectantly.

“Hard to believe you can feel hot in that weather, it's freezing out there I can’t imagine what it would be like up there,” Daniel said frowning in concern, maybe Tyler had a cold. He leaned across instinctively to check if Tyler had a temperature. “Hmm seems normal,” he muttered to himself touching Tyler’s forehead.

“Not that I will ever complain about having you in my lap pressed against me but what are you doing?” Tyler asked eyes lit up in amusement. Daniel’s hand dropped as he realized how they were positioned, Daniel pretty much on top of Tyler. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed by the position, it was rather innocent and harmless compared to some of the positions they had been in the past but more by the fact he was so caught up in his concern for Tyler that he didn’t even notice he had moved so much.

“Checking if you have a cold,” Daniel muttered, his face heating up as he ducked his head to avoid looking Tyler in the eyes.

“Aw baby,” Tyler cooed, his hands cupping Daniel’s face and making him look up, “Were you worried about little old me,” he said a wide grin on his face. “I should have pretended to be sick so I could have you fawn over me, do you think you would have dressed up as doctor, no!” he exclaimed, “dress up as a nurse,” Tyler said a smirk on his face,” that would be hot,” he said, his eyes darkened slightly. Daniel gulped, that would be hot.

“I should move,” Daniel muttered not really wanting to move at all but if the pressure against him was anything to go by if he didn’t they wouldn’t do the muggle thing Tyler had planned.

“No,” Tyler groaned, his hands gripping Daniel’s waist to keep him in place. Daniel wanted to give in, it would be so easy especially now that Tyler was pressing kisses into his neck.

“But our muggle date,” Daniel said yelping out the word date because Tyler decided to bite down. No matter how many times Daniel told Tyler not to leave marks he always did. Daniel frowned momentarily as he figured out what he would tell his make up artist or Celeste who would no doubt be losing it when he showed up. “You planned a whole thing remember Netflix and chill?” Daniel said in an attempt to pull away.

“Fine,” Tyler said with a pout, “Only because you need to know what it is before other people try and trick you into it,” he said eyes narrowed. Daniel shrugged not really knowing how he would get tricked into doing this. “Do you want to do it here or the bedroom?” Tyler asked raising an eyebrow at him expectantly.

“Uhm.. which one is better?” Daniel said with a frown. “I don’t know what it is? Does it make a difference?”  Daniel asked trying to seem as nonchalant as possible but he didn't want to make the wrong choice and ruin everything Tyler had planned.

“Well, to be honest, it doesn't make much of a difference, to be honest, we could do it anywhere in the house but perhaps it would be better to go to my room, it might make it easier,” Tyler said tilting his head as he considered the option. “Do you need me to lead you to my room or do you think you can remember where it is,” he said with a smirk.

Daniel rolled his eyes, the truth was out of this entire house he knew Tyler’s bedroom particularly well especially considering he spent at least 95 per cent of the time he spent here in that very room. “Hmm maybe it would be better if you carried me, you know to make sure I don't wander off somewhere else,” Daniel said, his eyes roaming over Tyler’s bare up body and arms.

“Maybe our next date should just be a work out date?” Tyler suggested sweetly with as much fake innocence as he could muster, the smirk being the only thing that gave his intentions away. Daniel smirked, his eyes once again trailing down to Tyler’s abs. “And I think you are right, I would hate you to hurt yourself climbing up all those stairs so it might be better if I carry you up,” he said with a wink before scooping Daniel up and throwing him over his shoulder and spanking his butt causing Daniel to yelp.

“If you drop me I swear,” Daniel said trying to wiggle out of Tyler’s grasp. When he said that Tyler should carry him he imagined it would be like a piggyback or maybe even bridal style but this wasn’t what he wanted.

“Stop wiggling around,” Tyler said spanking Daniel once again, “And don't you have any faith in me love, I won’t drop you, now just stay still and let me carry you upstairs,” he said in a teasing tone. Daniel scoffed but stopped struggling not because Tyler said or because he questioned Daniel’s trust no it was entirely because Daniel decided he liked the view, strong thighs and a wonderful ass which he got to enjoy in full force as they moved up the stairs.

Once they got to the top of the staircase Tyler set him down carefully, smirking as he flexed once more. “See safe and sound,” he grinned.

“My hero,” Daniel gushed, eyes fluttering dramatically and hand going over his heart. “Imagine people actually walking up the stairs and not having their boyfriend throw them over his shoulder and carry him to the bedroom like I can't relate,” Daniel giggled.

“It’s the VIP experience you know, only the best for you,” Tyler said with a grin, “Do I need to carry you the rest of the way or do you think you can handle the walk to my room,” he asked cheekily tilting his head to the side. “Hmm I think you should walk because you definitely won't be able to walk afterwards,” he said with a smirk.

Daniel groaned at the words, trying not to laugh at the fact he said that with a straight face. “Naww baby don't you know you shouldn't make promises you can't keep,” Daniel said bopping his nose even going so far to say boop as he did so before making his way to Tyler’s room.

“Oh you know I keep my promises in fact if I remember correctly when I was finished with you, you couldn’t do anything except say my name,”  Tyler said quickening his pace, an annoyed scowl on his face. Daniel bit his lip trying to hide his amusement as much as he loved Tyler which was more than he wanted to admit he had moments of being such a guy.

“Yeah sure,” Daniel said as he got to Tyler’s room, spinning around to see his boyfriend right behind him. “Well, we are here so I hope you are prepared to woo me,” Daniel said giggling.  Tyler rolled his eyes asking who even says woo these days. “Oh so I am not going to be wooed by you, I suppose I could find someone el-”

“Don’t even try and finish that sentence,” Tyler huffed, “We both know no one can woo  you like I can, in fact, I have video proof Mr Tyler Lee is the best thing that ever happened to me and -”

“Wait you have that saved?” Daniel asked looking up at Tyler who nodded a smirk on his face. “Do you save everyone’s or -” he asked tilting his head curiously. He could only imagine what Tyler made everyone else say. “That’s a little odd and if you wanted me to record little love messages all you had to do was ask,” Daniel smirked. Tyler’s face flushed as he shook his head opening the door and moving into the room.

“All teasing aside Tyler you are the best thing that has happened to me,” Daniel said walking into the room, trying not to pout at the lack of well anything. He didn’t expect the cliched candles and rose petals on the bed but there was just nothing here, the room looked like it would on any given day. Tyler was sat on the bed setting his laptop up down at the bottom of it.

“And the rest?” Tyler asked looking away from the laptop, “I believe there was more -” he said looking up at Daniel expectantly.

“And your quidditch skills are unparalleled and you should be the face of Gucci, not that muggle guy,” Daniel stopped looking over at Tyler to see the boy smiling but still seemingly waiting for more praise, “And you’re the hottest person I know which is saying something because I’m surrounded by hot people all the time,” Daniel stopped as Tyler grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like don’t remind me.

“And you're my favourite person in the entire world…. Except for maybe Emily but she is related to me and I kinda have to like her but then again I can't stand Jessica most of the time so maybe that doesn’t matter but the point is oph..” Daniel got cut off by Tyler pulling him down onto the bed, landing with a thud as his boyfriend hovered over him.

“Maybe don’t bring up your family when listing all the things you love about me next time,” Tyler pointed out, “we can work on your praising skills later,” he smirked before rolling onto the other side of the bed. “So what do you wanna watch?” he asked twisting around so he was looking at Daniel.

“Huh?” Daniel said dumbly trying to process what he was meant to be watching and why Tyler decided to move onto the other side of the bed.

“On Netflix babe, what show or movie do you wanna watch?” Tyler asked, enjoying Daniel’s confusion if the smug smile on his face was anything to go by.

“You wanted me to come over to watch TV?” Daniel asked eyes squinting as he looked over at his boyfriend who gave him a sheepish smile. Daniel didn’t come over just to watch tv, he didn’t even like watching tv - in fact, the only shows he watched was shows were the ones that Caleb was in and even that was just out of support and when he is manager was around it was to watch her face when he had a kissing scene.

“Well technically I invited you over for Netflix and chill and you keep stopping us from getting to the fun part so -” Tyler said shrugging clearly missing the way  Daniel’s lips curled up in contempt. Daniel was contemplating whether he could make it look Tyler accidentally smothered himself with his pillows.  “Don’t give me that look, you’ll get wrinkles,” Tyler said smile dangling off the corner of his mouth. Screw accident Daniel thought as he grabbed one of Tyler’s pillows and aimed at his face. “Stop,” Tyler laughed instantly grabbing the pillow out of Daniel’s hands and throwing it on the floor. “Babe, I was just joking but trust me this is all leading to something you will like okay? How about I just pick something,” he said shuffling down the where the computer sat at the foot of the bed. “And for what it's worth even if you were all wrinkled and old I’d still want you,” Tyler said looking over his shoulder back at Daniel throwing a cheeky wink his way. Daniel rolled his eyes nudging Tyler’s thigh with his foot.

“Okay have you ever watched Harry Potter?” Tyler asked doing something to the laptop.

“Like the supposed saviour of the wizarding world, I mean I saw the educational video once during my third year at Mahoutokoro it was pretty boring,” Daniel shrugged, “I am pretty sure I fell asleep in it, why?” Daniel asked tilting his head to the side.

“No I was talking about the muggle movie,” Tyler said putting on said movie and moving up the bed. Daniel raised an eyebrow curiously, why would muggles make a movie about Harry Potter? It didn’t make sense how did they even know about him. “Right so you have no idea about it, basically one of the interns at the Daily Prophet who worked under Rita released the story of Harry Potter as a fictional book for children in the muggle world and the muggles turned those books into movies - it was a big deal for a while there, I am surprised you never heard off it,” Daniel shrugged. If it was made by muggles there was a good chance he wouldn’t have heard off it.

“Okay well let's watch it I guess,” Daniel said scrunching his nose up.

--

“Okay but why is this Harry Potter a complete idiot, oh my house has been flooded by letters and instead of just grabbing one of the floor I try to fight my uncle who is like ten-time my size, fool - maybe he should have stayed looked in the closet” Daniel ranted lifting his head up off Tyler’s shoulder in annoyance.  They had been watching for half an hour or so and Daniel had found the whole thing annoying, to say the least.  “Also are these muggle directors hinting at Potter being gay - you know stuck in the closet?”

“It’s a cupboard love and no I don’t think so I am pretty sure Harry Potter was stuck in a cupboard for a while because his muggle relatives were awful people,” Tyler said nose scrunching up, “But it's cute that you are getting all riled up by this,” Tyler laughed.

“It’s just so inaccurate,” Daniel pouted.”Were the books like this?” he asked. Tyler shrugged in response muttering that he never read them. Daniel nodded absentmindedly, of course, he hadn’t by the looks of it those books were bullshit.

“I can stop it now if you want?” Tyler offered eyes twinkling in amusement.

“No I need to watch it now just to see how bad it gets,” Daniel said eyes narrowing at the screen. Watching as the piggy uncle rowed to some island as if that would even happen that guy would get halfway across the lake and pass out. His was about to share his thoughts with his boyfriend when said boyfriend started to kiss down his neck.

“Ty- ler what are you doing?” Daniel half moaned out as Tyler found his sweet spot and started to attack it.

“Hmm nothing,” he muttered looking up at Daniel innocently, “Just watch the movie love,” he said going back to kissing his neck.

“You are making it hard for me to concentrate,” Daniel said trying to keep his eyes on the screen but struggling.

“Is that the only thing I am making hard?” Tyler asked with a smirk, one of his hands moving cheekily down Daniel’s body. Daniel groaned at the cheesiness of this whole moment but he was quickly shut up by Tyler's lips. Their kisses continued movie long forgotten, the only time they stopped was when Daniel moved to straddle Tyler. Their fun, however, was interrupted by the loud ringing of Tyler’s cellphone. Daniel paused glaring over at the phone, wondering who the hell could be calling his boyfriend at this time.

“Ignore it, baby,” Tyler spoke, eyes hooded and lips swollen, “Whoever it is will get the message that I am a little busy,” he said pulling Daniel back down again. Daniel nodded settling down once the phone stopped ringing going back to pressing kisses along Tyler’s jawline.

“You’re so ho-” Daniel stopped as the phone began to ring again. “Oh you have got to be kidding me,” he groaned sitting up again. Tyler sighed reaching out to grab his phone of the dresser, rolling his eyes when he saw who was calling him. Daniel looked over curiously scowling when he saw Maude’s name flash on the screen out of all the people to interrupt them, the only way it could be worse would be if it was that other M she-beast.

“Maude I am kinda busy right now,” Tyler said clippedly. “I can be busy at home,” he said rolling his eyes. Daniel scoffed making a gesture for Tyler to hurry the phone call up but it seemed Maude was talking his ear off and Tyler for whatever reason had not hung up yet. Daniel pouted wishing Tyler would just hang up on her.

“No I don't want you to come over, we can hang out another day,” he huffed. Daniel rolled his eyes clearly Maude was not getting the message, he could fix that. Daniel grinned grinding down on Tyler. Tyler free hand instantly wrapped around his waist holding him in place, shaking his head at Daniel mouthing stop. Daniel mouthed back for Tyler to hang up “Listen Maude I,” he stopped speaking when Daniel started to palm him through his sweatpants, what part of hang-up did he not get “Fuck,” he moaned. “No I am fine,” he continued, Daniel raised an eyebrow that wasn’t a goodbye so Daniel continued his ministrations leaving Tyler a panting mess.

“Listen i really got to hang up,” Tyler said through gritted teeth as he bit back a moan, eyeing Daniel who only grinned at him. “Bye Maude,” he said throwing the phone down onto the floor.

“Was someone a little jealous?” Tyler said easily flipping the pair over, pinning Daniel to the bed.

“Of Maude Oliver? Hardly,” Daniel scoffed, the idea he would ever be jealous of that girl was laughable. “Why? should I be?”

“Hmm actions speak louder then words and all the teasing you just did makes me think you are jealous of her,” Tyler smirked. “And of course not,” Tyler scoffed,” but you saying things like that makes me question whether you trust me,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t jealous I just wanted you to hang up,” Daniel snapped. “And i trust you but good ol’ Maude not so much,” he said rolling his eyes. That girl's obsession with Tyler was so obvious you could see it from Pluto. Tyler snorted clearly not happy with Daniel’s response. “And why did you even answer her in the first place, she lives in London and gets to spend time with you all the time, who knows when I will be home again, “ Daniel said pouting ever so slightly.

Tyler froze for a second blinking owlishly. “I only answered because I knew she wouldn’t stop calling,” Tyler pointed out, “And you know I would pick you over Maude every time right?” Tyler asked freeing Daniel from his grasp. “I’d always pick you,” he said kissing Daniel’s forehead. “And you know you are famous enough that you can pick choose when and where you work, you could literally move back home tomorrow if you wanted, hey you could move in here,” Tyler said flopping down beside Daniel. Daniel rolled his eyes, the idea was nice but it couldn’t happen yet, he had agreed to work on some new teen drama in the states and Tara would probably murder him and/or Tyler if he even suggested that Daniel move in with them.

“Tara would kill you if she heard that,” Daniel said rolling around to face Tyler. “And I kinda want to spend the rest of my life with you so it would be good if you know stayed alive,” he said with a small smile.

“She would not, she loves me too much, I am her favourite big brother,” Tyler said proudly.

“You are her only big brother,”  Daniel pointed out.

“Exactly!” Tyler pointed, “Thus I am her favourite,” he grinned. “And you owe me an apology for an unfinished handjob and for being jealous of Maude, who I have literally zero interest in,” Tyler huffed.

“And you owe me for not actually planning a date for me,” Daniel snorted. “Seriously bringing over me to watch a movie and then trying to distract me with sex what kinda date was that?”

“It’s literally what netflix and chill is,” Tyler huffed, Daniel looked at him confused. “You really don’t know what it is, do you?” Tyler asked. Daniel shook his head - wasn’t that painfully obvious at this point. “You are so cute but netflix and chill is basically netflix,” he said pointing to the computer, “and sex,” he said boldly pointing to himself.

“So chill is code for sex?” Daniel asked raising an eyebrow, “Well that is stupid,” he huffed. “Muggles make things a 100 times more complicated than it has to be,” he ranted.

[coalessscence]

✨ TAGGED BY: The Babe (tm), @patiencetaught <3 ✨ TAGGING: UHHH @heavystvff @paperrcages @psychicsass @f-ckingpassword and whoever else wants to do it ???

NAME: star NICKNAME: none??? im accepting if u have Ideas AGE: 19 FACE CLAIM: my boy brendon urie, the hero we need but do not deserve akdhfkghgjh PRONOUNS: she/they. i prefer neutral terms (like ‘person’ instead of ‘woman’, etc) otherwise. HEIGHT: 5′2. BIRTHDAY: September 29th.

AESTHETIC: pastel grunge. that’s the most accurate and universal description of it. i do have this aesthetic blog where you can see what i mean.

LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO: tommy’s party by peach pit  from their audiotree live session is on right now.

FAVORITE MUSE ( S ) YOU’VE WRITTEN: i cant ???? choose that ??? i can say herb is probably among most iconic. tbh herb, ruby, and mira are the three that are most ‘popular’ and who most people know me for writing. but i can’t say i personally prefer one of them.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE ON YOUR CURRENT MUSE ( THAT YOU ARE POSTING THIS ON ):  this is a multi so idk im just gonna tell you how i am usually inspired to write a muse in general ig???? if i feel like a character connects to me, not necessarily in a “i have a lot in common” with them way but in a “i feel like i get this character” kind of way, the door’s open for me. if i don’t get a character i don’t think i could write them in rp bc that’s a lot of dedication to knowing that muse inside and out. i have a love for every muse i write as a character and i’ve spent many many hours thinking about them and planning out my headcanons from their perspective.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ASPECTS OF YOUR CURRENT MUSE: i think i did this once before and listed something for every single muse but i have like 20 now and i don’t know if it’s gonna be worth it, but i’ll try to make it short because idk how else to answer this. i love lorraine’s boldness, i love andy’s drive to succeed, i love that even though he’s an asshole herb has that inner morality he can’t shake even if he claims to, i love mira’s intelligence, i love jennifer’s self-confidence, i love ezra’s Secret Moral Goodness (tm) that he doesn’t want you to find out about, i love remembrance’s grit and easy determination, i love linda’s unapologetic attitude, i love jacob’s patience and kindness, i love lisbon’s strength and caring,  i love maude’s independence, i love ruby’s ability to keep living even in pain, i love johnny’s bounce-back nature, i love seaborne’s dedication to his work and passion, i love roach’s ability to just always have a good time, i love tommy’s dedication to making the world a better place, i love natsuki’s inherit strength managing to stay as kind as she has considering her home life, i love lucille’s unapologetic nature, and i love bunny’s innate cheer.

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING: real talk my writing was very much developed from adoring the work of my babe @cemonstre / @colorintrusion, all the way back in the day on her tiff tannen blog, i always felt her writing was so above me and the aesthetic was so beautiful and the phrasing was so perfect and i just wished i was even a fraction that good. i would never have worked so hard for the aesthetic my writing has, that i continue to strive for, without her, so i thank her v much for that !!! i would say my writing is defined by a present tense, by focusing on settings and scenes and physical descriptions- not enough to leave you reading paragraphs of description, just mentioning aspects of a scene that are enough to tell you the aesthetic of it without making you read about EVERYTHING. i love to use very conversational and straightforward terms and phrasing to describe how characters are thinking and feeling and juxtaposing it to very flowery scene and setting aesthetic descriptions. i also consider very IC dialogue to be a strong suit of mine most of the time. as far as actual inspiration goes, if i’m having trouble finding it for a muse i’ll watch some of their canon scenes, if applicable, or i’ll listen to their playlists, read past threads ive written w them that i loved, go thru their aesthetic tag, etc.

FAVORITE TYPES OF THREADS: i love me some angst and i also love me some storytelling ??? but everything doesn’t have to be plotted. i love my muses building relationships with other ppl’s, whatever sort those may be. ofc, fluff and unplotted, see-where-it-goes stuff is rad too. i just want to have fun.

BIGGEST STRUGGLE IN REGARDS TO YOUR CURRENT MUSE: i’ll tell you which muses of mine are hardest to write and why bc idk how else to respond to this in my situation: maude standish is pretty tough because she’s probably the only muse of mine who falls on the “evil” side of the character alignment. she’s not a good person and it’s tough to balance things she’s done that WERE good with that? and tough to keep up with her motivations and desires as a result because i relate to her the very least.  lisbon can be hard to write well because i feel like there;s stuff i don’t know about her, i need to do a mentalist rewatch but i haven’t had the time lol. but anyways, she’s often saying the opposite of the truth about herself bc she either doesn’t always know herself as well as she likes to imagine or she doesn’t want you to know her too well. and that can make it tough for me to feel as though i know if it’s accurate or not. remembrance is tough for the same reason- i love her but she tells me nothing. i feel like i know nothing about her and shes my hecking oc adhfkfhg jacob is also tough because he has a very specific dialogue style and i’d say  have the most trouble of all my muses, when it comes to dialogue, with his. it’s a fine line to walk his vocabulary and his old-english phrasing and also the very commonality and down to earth way of connecting he has. frankly, it’s often sort of beyond me. finally, mira can be tough to write because she’s Very Very Smart and im not so i feel like making her the way i did, i frankly i just played myself aldhfkfhg

[stagmanparty]

So I finished watching MLP Season 8 and...

….it´s actually not bad.

Yeah, I´m the first to admit I have to eat my words and agree the show hasn´t really gone down as much as I thought after the movie. I still hate it but the show itself remains good. Yes, there are more than a few mediocre or outright horrible episodes there but the good ones more than compensate.

I do believe that Dubuc is kinda out of her element on ponies, which may explain her use for an entire new cast aside from hasbro´s orders. The friendship school thing is done better than I though tough I still think is kinda stupid at moments.

Overall the balance is...fine.

I was expecting worse but it was an okay season.

I do hate that they explicitly mention the events of the movie but they´re STILL refusing to acknowledge the Equestria Girls ones. Come on Mccarty, stop being embarrassed ot the BETTER story!

Below the cut is my personal opinions of each episode with a dose of sarcasm if u want to read them but for the season as a whole I´ll give a 7/10 it was regular to me.

701-702:  “Girls, I want you all to work on my new school!”

“We have lives, Twilight”

ROLL CREDITS

So this wasn´t bad. I though Twilight was gonna be more selfish but she actually makes some fair points and owns to her mistakes here. What´s funny is that she doesn't act this way the rest of the season…

I still think the students are kinda lame but I like how they interact with each other and the episode itself was well handled.

Still, Twilight isn't perfect either since she refuses to have zebras or buffaloes or talking cats on her school. Hell, there aren´t even crystal ponies so she´s almost as bad the racist snape guy.

Kinda standard but good episodes.

7/10

703: “So sis, when are you gonna leave?”

“The town?”

“The show…”

I said it once, I´ll said it again, Maud overstayed her welcome. She´s no longer funny and feels like a creator pet by now.

That said the episode itself is actually really good.

Confalone GETS pinkie and gives he an actual character and this was honestly better handled that with Twilight.

Hell for a second I thought Pinkie was gonna have to deal with her own since her meeting with the guy has all the elements of a meet cute scene =P

I could live without the stupid opening scene but it seems even Pinkie realized Maud was being offensive to her audience there…

A really fun Pinkie episode to add to the pile

8/10

804 “thank you for calling me, Rarity. I can surely help you with all my sewing knowledge”

“Oh for this episode I´ll need you to forget about all that, darling and be completely useless”

So yeah, this was a waste of time.

So the mane six can´t help Rarity with her store but have plenty of time to go yell at Fluttershy?

And if Rarity hates the ponies of Saddle Row so much why does she enve sells them clothes?

I actually hate how they´re all portrayed cause they´re feeding the stereotype that people into fashion are shallow and petty and the whole point of Rarity´s character was to subvert that!

I only laughed at one joke in the whole episode.

So yeah another terrible fluttershy episode to add to the pile

2/10

805 The real reason Rainbow flies so fast...to escape her gay for applejack thoughts.

So a perfectly okay episode.

In other seasons it would have gone unnoticed but in this one it stands out for having solid writing.

It was fun and rainbow was very likeable here since she honestly seemed more concern about the grannies than anything.

It feels a bit stretched out but this is normal for a pony episode.

I do hope she kicks Applejack's behind the second she came back to town though…

A fun Rainbow episode.

7/10

806 “Girls, while you wasted time trying to help that kid with divorced parents I acciBURPddentally destroyed a scared statue so we better run, you bastards!” then Twilight pulls a rick an actually leaves them behind =P

SO yeah a complete waste of time.

I understand the point but it doesn't work for me since it seems like they made the problem way too simple.

I also dislike the hippogriffs on principle since i find I them really lame characters so…

Oh and this episode has the WORST song in the entire show. Hell is not even a song, is just words with music behind it.

So yeah, pretty lame episode.

2/10

807 “See Twilight, Sunset would have just told me things straight to my face! Then try to stab me in the back but the point remains…”

I already talked about this back when it aired and yeah, my opinion hasn't changed.

This isn´t a Celestia episode, is another of Twilight´s poorly made panic attacks ones.

We learned absolutely nothing about Celestia, she learns nothing at all and we wasted twenty minutes of our lives.

For a fan of the character, waiting nine years for this is nothing but an insult.

The saddest thing is knowing that the show will end without having a proper celestia episode.

So yeah, a total waste of time with only the adorable sunbutt to save some face

4/10

808 “You noticed all the wanted posters for you on the way here, Starlight?”

“No, actually not”

“yeah me neither, good thing you´re friends with a princess…”

Really, how come Starlight is NOT a wanted criminal? The episode could have dealt with her hometown disowning her but nope, is just a kinda lame sitcom situation.

Hell, it would have been better if we´re told the parents hooked up and now Starlight and Sunburst feel all kind of awkard but nope.

i suppose there´s like a moral lesson in here but the episode was so dull I don't even remember it.

It could have been a better story but it amounts to nothing.

3/10

809 “And to think this all started over a parking lot…”

“you don´t even need the parking lot, Rainbow!”

THAT would have been a better premise…

So yeah, remember season 1? Cool ,cause this is the exact same episode. Nothing new added and nothing interesting happens.

Go watch the leaf episode instead, is way better.

3/10

810 “Wait, Big Mac has a what now? How come nopony told me? Do I look like a jealous sister or something?”

“the shotgun isn't helping, AJ…”

Have they really interacted these two? I mean, don´t want a repeat of the same storyline. Infact, showing that Applejack and Sugar whatever get along well will be an interesting episode.

Far more interesting than this for sure.

I was bored the entire time and shut up, sweetie Belle. You'll be lucky to have Snips…

Another time waster.

2/10

811 “Spike, can´t you just masturbate like a regular teenager? I mean you have your own room now so it won´t be weird for me anymore…”

Again, remember season 2? Go watch that instead.

It even made more sense back then but now spike not knowing “how to dragon” has become a huge plot hole cause there´s absolutely no reason for him not to know these things so this entire conflict is pointless.

Oh and him having wings is something I don't really like.

Explain how he didn't have those during season 2 when he grew, hasbro! ANother lame Spike episode to the bad spike episodes pile.

2/10

812 “Girls, you rather go to a school where you dont´do any homework, play games all day, het to eat delicious food..actually I´m leaving too, school closed!”

So yeah do they do anything at Twilight school other than waste time? No wonder the CMC want to go there! Wasting time is their entire MO nowadays since they have their marks!

Prety standard episode, is honestly just to introduce the villain.

The only really fun thing is the “your mom” bit, I would have approved her out of that alone.

It´s okay, sadly can´t say more.

6/10

813 “Evil clones, what was I thinking? Dinosaurs, that´s a proper supervillain plan!”

MEH I mean it´s an okay episode but when you get to it is just repeating stuff from the first discord episode, nothing new. nothing gained.

That should be the motto of this season.

MEH

6/10

814 “Discord, what part of go to hell don´t you get?”

“The part where you forgot to tell me to stay there”

This episode is horrible!

What´s the moral lesson, be an asshole and get away with everything?

WHy the hell does Starlight apologizes? Why is HER problem that Discord feels bad? The idiot should take it on Twilight and she ahs a perfect reason not to let him in the school..Discord is an asshole! As this episode demonstrated!

Can he just...leave, please?

Worst episode of the season.

1/10

815 “Twilight, shouldn't we invite Zecora one of these days?”

“You wanna explain Kwanzaa to the viewers, Rainbow?”

ZZZZZZZZZ

Oh what? Oh yeah this episode.

Look I get the point and being objective there's nothing wrong with this episode but my god, tiw as boring!

Just the same bit repeated over and over and over and over…

Whatever, technically there's nothing wrong with it but I didn't like it.

6/10

816 “So mono means one and rail menas...no wait, wrong scam. Calls dismissed!”

“Slow down bro, so who´s the princess of friendship then?”

“The one with the eyepatch!”

“BLAST!”

So...a perfectly normal episode.

Again, this show always suffers from not having a b plot going on so the conflict get  a bit stretched but as an episode, it was well done.

Hey snape is right that Friendship IS a weapon in this universe, glad someone finally mentioned it.

There´s actually a good moral lesson about how no matter if the lessons are good if the methods are fraudulent which coming from Hasbro is the ultimate irony.

Flim Flam are kinda overdone at this point but it still works.

7/10

817 “Remember that time you left me in the desert with pinkie?”

“Oh sure, everything looks bad when you remember it…”

Actually a pretty good episode.

I mean the premise relies on twilight´s students being borderline sociopaths (guys, is not that complex of an idea, friends can disagree on things) but the episode itself it was really fun and the Raridash wa adorable.

I honestly liked it.

8/10

818 “I mean we could have get you a teacher and encouraged to get better through a montage but insulting you and hurting your feelings seemed like a better idea, pinkie”

Way to handle a problem, girls!

What part of this is supportive” pinkie? Your friends were assholes to you that made you feel bad so you stop bothering them and then come looking for you because is a problem for THEM?

There´s a better lesson about admitting you may not have the talent for something, which is a lesson that kids DO need to learn but since the problem is solved with a “who cares?” the moral lesson doesnt´work and nobody really learns anything here.

Who approved of this crap?

2/10

819 “I say someone must have  said a funny because your mother is in stitches hahaha! I´ll leave you to your grief, Starlight.”

Finally a good episode!

Actually an excellent one. Coupled with a catchy song and really good dialogue, my man Haber can make a really good episode when he wants.

I have zero complains this was the best episode of the season.

10/10

820 “That´s it I´m taking you to your parents or in its defect your lesbian aunts that cannot be seen in the show due to television censorship policies!”

I´m sorry but cootalo was a brat the entire episode in need of a good spanking.

Rainbow did absolutely nothing wrong and that gid set gogin around here is full of lies.

If anything she was a bit rash over the fact that yeah, the little girl she sees a sister suddenly is throwing her away...again, cause she did it with the maredowell thing also. Funny they didn´t mention it, probably to appease the fandom.

As an episode is nothing bad, Rainbow actually comes out great here so yeah, Scootaloo, you're grounded..as in put in a hole in the ground.

Good episode

8/10

821 “All me friend are long dead…”

“Yeah yeah, lovely. Fill this form here, big guy…”

What's wrong with Twilight this episode? Why is she such an insensitive idiot?

It was pretty clear the obvious solution was just giving him a classroom with no walls and guess what, that´s what she does alter on so what gives?

And why are SPike and SMoulder allowed to burns the school every day?

An dhow come Rockhoof has no job in “modern equestria”? there used to be plenty of things wanting to eat the ponies every week, did they disappear in between seasons or what?

Really stupid episode that only works by everybody bieng assholes to an actually nice guy.

2/10

822 “Look at the bright side Rainbow. We got replaced by a new cast but at least we didn't die horrible on the movie like the transformers did…”

grumble grumble this is actually a really good episode.

I mean I could argue they have already dome similar stuff but it make sense here. The tree of harmony finally gets some light on it and this actually helps make the students look less lame by giving them character so...yeah, it´s actually really good.

Damnit.

9/10

823 “Oh shoot we forgot to invite them to the school!”

“It's okay, Twilight forgot to invite like half of the country as well…”

grumble grumble another really good episode!

I honestly though this episode was gonna suck but it turns out to be one of the best.

It´s obviously a previously unaired episode that they managed to shove into here but is actually a really good so I have zero complains about it.

The kirin is actually really cute and I liked the song so…

9/10

824 “So kid have you seen stuart little?”

“No.”

“Then this whole thing is gonna be new for you…”

So yeah...as an episode is okay but I´l argue that even the target audience could saw this coming a mile away.

My only real problem is that Spike barely apologizes to TWilight despite hurting her so much. Why is he such a brat? Twilight is nothing but a loving and supportive sister to him, look at that opening scene, si so lovely an touching!

Why does the show keep treating Twilight caring for her sibling and treating him like an equal as a bad thing? She even offers to let him go and learn more about his culture, she is supporting and loving why do they keep treating her like she´s doing a bad thing? and again kind of a big plothole nowdays  with dragons going around Equestria with no problems.

Other than that is a fine episode.

7/10

825-826 “Since we´re stuck here where the little filly´s room?”

“There is no little filly´s room in tartarus…”

“NOOOOOOO!”

Really, who built this prison Barry allen? Give them a bucket at least .

Again...actually really good episodes.

The action was good,the stakes were high, while that poor manticore shouldn't be there I still like the good detail than monsters have been kept her since past seasons and than the mane six honestly don´t hold a grudge against them, hope there´s an actual redemption arc down the line and they don't just forget about them like with the other villains,

Speaking of that, Cozy is probably the best vilian on the entire show.Hell, she´s better than Thanos cause she doesn't have an stupid justification, she just want s POWAAAAA! And she´s damn adorable and effective, she almost won.

Still They missed a chance to say that the missing magic was going to the human world to tie things up with Equestria girls for once and who the hell delivers letters to tartarus anyways?

The finally more than makes up and gives almost everyone a chance to shine so I like it. The mane six were treated with a LOT more respect than in the damn movie that's for sure.

Good solid episodes.

8/10

So that´s season 8, is not that bad honestly.. Had they had a better focus it would be better. Continuity is still a bit of a mess and just saying past stuff doesn't count but hey they´re trying.

Now I have like 40 Equestria Girls episodes to catch up though…