#the de la vega cousins

[steph-schuyler]

okggomg the younger de la vega cousins 😭😭 you should draw an 8 yo usnavi holding an infant sonny..

+little bonus but i love the hc of sonny being a late baby and when he wasnt born until a week or two after his due date usnavi got all pissed

SCREAMS AND CRIES

fun fact the pose and all is actually based off a picture of me with my cousin whos 8 years younger than me 🙃

[ousnavi]

when i learn to draw its over for you five in the heights fans

[crownedinmarigolds]

any that you haven't answered yet for Khloe and Noa please!

Ahhh omg the pressure! (Haha thank you!) I'll just pick a couple of faves! <3

(we love being tit-height in our house) 15. Are they presumed to be dead or are they still acting as though they are alive to the general public? 16. How good are they at acting “alive”? Khloe at this time still acts alive. She still goes to work, still occasionally out of habit eats something that isn't blood, still tries to go to church every once in a while. She has a lot of merits and flaws that make her appear near completely alive - and that's possibly the scariest part of this situation for her. Her heart beats, she feels so much and still craves things outside of blood. She sees a difference between herself and Christian and Kyle who are a bit more classically vampire though still Thinblood. She can taste while to them everything not blood is like ash, she feels her urges and they're fine without them. She heals almost like a normal human too, which worries her when it comes to the idea of being staked or severely hurt. How close is she to life? Is this fake? It keeps her up in the wee hours thinking about it. She worries greatly about the day her parents want to see her again. They live out of state for now, but how long can she not see them when she used to visit all the time? She has to hide her boyfriend from them due to his nosferatu flaw, and she can't exactly house her family as she's a shit-starter in the Thinblood Revolution. When does she just disappear from her old life all together?

31. Do they have a ghoul? Noa and Nyth's ghoul is named Julian de Leon, a very handsome young man they picked up in 1990 in Las Vegas right as shit was about to go down between the Giovanni and Camarilla. They realized they needed some help fast if they were going to survive the incoming turmoil. Nyth requires the ghoul work more than she does, but he can't ghoul due to being a Thinblood, so Noa foots the bill for this one. Her ghouling process is not the normal feeding of blood, but through a sanctifying kiss. She found out through a dangerous Puttanesca cousin that her kiss can blood bond, so she gives Julian a small kiss every so often to maintain the bond but gives him no supernatural ability through it. This keeps him harmless to them.

32. Do they like their ghoul if they do have one? She doesn't care much for Julian, but he's useful to Nythanel so she tolerates him. Julian is crazy for Noa, but is a wet paper towel who keeps in his place during his time under her domination. Any satisfactions beyond a head pat and the provision of basic needs and enrichment are placated by Nyth, who Julian isn't blood-bonded to therefore he doesn't really want to indulge with. It's a pretty bad situation! <3 Julian longs for the night Senora Hidalgo leaves her door unlocked, but Noa does not feel an ounce of affection for him.

x3c

[fatalitysficbakery]

hi there! hope you're doing well! can i get fluff #11 with Usnavi from ITH?? have a good day/afternoon/night! :]

𓆰♥︎𓆪 Nina’s Little Sister —

Usnavi De La Vega x Afro-Latina!Y/n

genre: fluff.

warnings: none, fluffy bullshit, halle bailey as faceclaim.

synopsis: 11. “d-did it hurt when heaven fell? I mean- when you…fuck. Anyway, i’m blank and that was humiliating. let’s start over”?

↳ 𓆰 Fatalitysficbakery navigation menu 𓆪

↳ 𓆰 Fatalitysficbakery multifandomed &&’ oc menu 𓆪

↳ 𓆰 Fatalitysficbakery rules + drabble menu 𓆪

⌫

Usnavi turned into a fumbling idiot the second she walked in, puddles of honey swirling in her toffee eyes. Her lips curl into a grin as she walks over to Sonny and ruffles his hair, her giggle turning Navi into mush as she greets his cousins with words he couldn't be bothered to hear.

The summer heat wave had business booming with classes out and the sun glaring bright, his eyes followed her to the frozen section, grabbing an ice cream, she walks over to the counter and this was his chance, his one chance, he figured.

She lies the ice cream cone down, pierced tongue coming out to lick over her bottom lip before she speaks, her voice matching her eyes, smooth honey, with an accent, Puerto Rican.

"Just this".

Benny waves his hand in front of a frozen Usnavi's face, eyebrow nearly touching the ceiling, quick to explain away his bestfriends strange behaviour, "It's been a long day. Navi"! He elbows his friend, whispering a rough, 'talk'.

The first words out of his mouth shock both Benny, Sonny, and the woman in front of him. Benny knew his best friend was awkward but this was humiliating, he just shook his head and grabbed the price gun, both he and Sonny deciding to work instead of witness whatever...this was.

"Did it hurt when Heaven fell"?

"I'm sorry"?

"I mean- When you- Fuck".

The pretty lady giggles and shakes her head, "Wanna try again"?

Usnavi is more than captivated, Benny and Sonny could've sworn they saw the grown man drool a little, it was like watching a puppy fumble over itself. Benny started to pity his dear friend.

"Sorry. Anyway, I'm Usnavi. That was humiliating, Can we start over? That'll be $1".

As she puts the money on the counter, sliding it towards Usnavi, she smiles sweetly, dimples denting her cheeks before she speaks to him in that soft honeyed voice once more. It's like an angel's called to him.

"You really don't remember me, do you Navi baby"?

When he hears the nickname, it all comes crashing back like waves to the shore. Little Y/n Rosario. He hadn't seen her in years, she was always three years behind him and Nina, her older sister. Always had a crush on Navi, he thought it was adorable how she'd trail behind him like a puppy. This. This wasn't Little Y/n Rosario, this was something different.

He blanks trying to come up with something to say, when he remembers everyone was supposed to meet up at Abuela's, for Nina's arrival. Nina's arrival...The youngest Rosario, who'd hailed in from PFW, and Nina were both known to be the ones who got out of the Heights, made something for themselves.

The weeks leading up to their departures were spent drinking and dancing, with celebratory parties all around.

Usnavi saw her off to the train, but back then she was just a pipsqueak, the woman that stood before him now seemed confident and sure of herself.

"Usnavi"?

"No, no, I know who you are. Just took a moment".

The young woman snorts, rolling her eyes at his attempts to act like her new appearance wasn't shocking. She was definitely a different girl than in her younger years, for one he takes notice of her piercings, and the serpent that wrapped around the length of her left thigh, eyes seeming to glow a soft pink.

"It's okay, I'm aware I look a little different than I used to, but...So do you". She cocks her head to the side, eyes running over the male curiously, "You gone be at Abuela's right? I know it'd be nice to see a familiar face".

He nods weakly, her eyes shift from him to Benny and Sonny. She waves a manicured hand to them, "See ya boys later".

"You know it", Sonny sends her awkward finger guns and they all watch her disappear out the front door. Usnavi knew what was coming.

A grin spreads wide across Benny's face, turning to Usnavi.

"You. ain't. got. no. SKILLS".

𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪

Usnavi was looking forward to the night ahead, dressing in a pair of jeans, cowboy boots, and a black button-down with two buttons left open.

That night, he couldn't stop picturing the youngest Rosario, drawn to her like moth to burning flame.

His eyes were quick to observe the room, searching for that midnight black in the sea of bodies, when finally his amber eyes landed on yours, greeting people as you entered the crowded apartment.

His eyes follow you around the room. Until finally your eyes land on him.

((read ALT text, image description.))

"Lookin' Sharp, Navi" You greet him, that same angelic smile making him weak in the knees. He'd drank a beer or two already, and blame it on the liquid courage but Usnavi could feel himself become confident in his ability to talk to you as the beer settles in.

"You flatter me, mama. Look at you, vision of perfection".

As he watches you, he manspreads in his chair, beer in hand and eyes low staring into your very soul.

"Whatchu drinkin"? You asked, walking up to him with deep brownie eyes gazing into his, he's not sure how he didn't faint then and there, that smile had him by the balls. She could make him do anything as long as those doe eyes stared all big and beautiful into his.

"Some nasty ass beer, but uh Dani brought whiskey, rum and shit. Said we could make our own drinks".

"And your ass is over here drinking piss? With free reign to rum and shit, plus the cognac and d'usse me and Nini brought"? Her hands clasped around his wrist and she sighed, "C'mon, We're gonna make this right and I'm making you some that'll knock you off your feet".

Looking you over again, he agrees. You've already done exactly that.

He follows behind you, and this time it's he who looks like the love-sick puppy.

When the two of you are away from the crowd, you grab two cups, exhaling airily, you begin to mix a few things together in concentration. He just watches you do your thing, the music playing in the background making it feel like a scene out of a movie as you playfully bumped your hip against his, the two of you laughing joyfully.

When it was finished, you presented him with a cup with a slushy-like mix in it, blue and smelling like a three-day hangover with some blue hawaiian punch to accompany it.

"Voila~"

He chuckles, taking the cup with a skeptical smile on his face. He sighs, raising a brow, "You're taking a sip first, ionno bout this, ma".

"You don't trust me"? You asked, pouting dramatically, "Fine, Give me the cup, coward".

"Ay, I'm not a coward. I'm just not a complete dumbass".

You roll your eyes, glaring at him as you move the cup to your lips, he's tuned in immediately, watching his favourite movie never seen before staring at those pouty lips of yours wrapped around the rim of the cup, gazing into his eyes with a constant, entrapping, eye contact.

His focus is broken when you scrunch up your nose at the strength of the drink, face relaxing when the flavour hits your tongue.

"Huh, strong but I like it. Here, taste".

You held the cup up to his lips, the two of you were in a house full of people and it'd started to feel like you were the only two in the room.

When it hits his tongue, the poor thing instantly coughs, his face scrunching up like he'd just eaten a warhead, but when your laugh fills his ears, it becomes all worth it. If he could hear that forever, he would.

𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪

Let Carla and Daniela tell it, You and Usnavi had been inseparable all night, the roles reversed from your childhood. Anybody with eyes could see Usnavi De La Vega was head over heels, scurrying in front of Sonny when he was about to sit next to you just so he could sit there himself.

Sonny glares at his older cousin, sitting next to Benny and Nina whilst Usnavi just looks triumphant.

"Navi you nearly knocked the kid over" Cuca scolds, hitting the boy upside his head. You snicker, but the smile that threatens to come onto your face when you realize he's doing all this over you...

"It's okay, I'll remember that next time he needs me to pick up an extra shift".

Nina pops in with a quick but swift landing exposure, sending both you and Navi's cheeks blazing red, "Give him a break, he's just in looooveee".

The table erupts into hoots and hollers, a person on either side of you or Navi shaking you both by the shoulders in excitement, there's only one party at the table who hadn't decided to make a fuss about it. When the volume quiets down, you cross your arms over your chest and playfully chide in, "And you and Benny"?

Nina gives you the middle finger, and it's her and Benny's turn to be fussed over.

⌫

The table is lighthearted, everyone's joking around and having fun. Usnavi has his arm over your shoulder most of the time without even realizing it, but he doesn't have to notice, and neither do you. Vanessa, who'd been silent most of the time, was tired, quite frankly, the only Rosario she cared for was Nina. Her glare most of the night was on you and Usnavi, Carla was the first to notice, Daniela and Cuca took notice as well.

You and Usnavi stayed oblivious, as Carla leaned over to Vanessa to ask what was going on.

This is when it all goes downhill, The women of the barrio could be gossipy, they flourished within environments of drama, thrived.

"You okay, Vanessa"? Cuca asks, louder than Carla had. There's a devious smirk on her face as the table takes notice of Vanessa's obviously plummeting mood. You wanted to ignore it, truly did, but it dawned on you pretty quickly what Cuca was doing, why Vanessa seemed so pissy.

You glance up at Usnavi who, for once, catches on pretty fast as well. He and Vanessa went...back. Back, as in, it was never meant to work out, he had a schoolboy crush, they tried to make it work, but it just...didn't.

"Ah nothin', Y/n I was wondering how Paris went? Fashion week? I'm sure you're a pretty popular girl, Got a man waiting for you back home? Maybe 2? 3"?

The table looks at her as if she'd grown a second head, Usnavi is silent, the table is silent. She takes a sip of her martini and laughs it off fakely, "Just kidding guys, Just. Kidding".

This is what you'd been telling your sister about since you were younger; Nina never quite got the picture because Vanessa was her best friend, she wanted to believe she was a good person because that's all Vanessa allowed her to see. The angel of the barrio, the prettiest too.

Oh, how the mighty had fallen. Your sister raises an angry brow, she looks at you with a familiar questioning 'You got this' expression, and for once, for once since you'd found your voice, you nod.

"We broke up, bout 4 months ago, didn't work out with the two of us. But...I'm moving back, and that's all that matters".

Again, the table breaks out into a thunderous roar of hoots and hollers at the news of you staying.

Vanessa looks furious.

𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪

After the party had died down, and thinned out. You and Usnavi stayed behind to clean up, help abuela to bed, and lock up.

When all is said and done, you head out onto the fire escape, drinks in hand. You felt comfort in the silence, looking over to see Usnavi felt the same way. It was nostalgic in a way, reminded you of the night before you left, sharing a beer on the fire escape, praying abuela didn't wake her ass up to see the two of you drinking, yet you never stopped or went somewhere else.

Abuela's place was the safest for all of you.

"You feel it too"?

"We was out here sneaking and drinking not too long ago". You nod, laughing lightly, your knees knocking with his just. like. then.

"And now you're in magazines, looking beautiful as ever".

"And now we're both a little older, little more in tune with who we are".

Usnavi smiles, his eyes leaving the night sky to look at you.

"And we know what we want now".

Your breath hitches, looking up at him now, his hand comes out to tilt your chin up, make sure you're looking at him directly. He leans in, barely a breath away.

"Do we"? You ask, voice soft, sweet.

Usnavi chuckles, his lips ghosting over yours.

"Mhm...I think we do".

Your lips finally touch.

Magic.

𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪𓆰♥︎𓆪𓆰♡︎𓆪

A/n: I hope you enjoy, pretty!

[evita-shelby]

What Happens in Vegas

Or the modern!Jack Nelson x Eva Smith(oc) prequel to What Happens in Vegas where Jack and Eva elope in Las Vegas

Chapter 1

“Is this seat taken?”

John Fitzgerald Nelson could forget his own name, but never her.

How could he when they had the best Vegas experience in his life? One moment he’s sharing a crappy hotel room with his friends, the next he’s living it up in the penthouse with a hot girl with a lot of cash to burn.

She had mentioned starting business school, just never mentioned the college. She had heard him brag about how he did the impossible to make it into Harvard and gave him a sample of the life he’d soon live.

Now she was here, looking like she came off a modeling catalogue and ready to continue what they started. Or else she’d be pretending he doesn’t exist, wouldn’t be the first time his flings ended badly.

“Saved it just for you, sweetheart.” He can’t even hide his grin as he speaks.

It started out as just sex amongst friends, they partner up for class often and by winter break Jack knows no one better to ask for Katie’s stupid destination wedding in Cozumel.

He needed someone to pretend to be his girlfriend who could survive being grilled by his mom and sisters about their fake relationship. No woman he’s been with knows him as good as the gal sitting on the passenger seat of his car wearing his old hoodie because they couldn’t find the shirt in the mess back at his place.

Eva would be perfect as his fake girlfriend. All she has to do is agree to spend the week after Christmas with him and his family where everyone will believe they have been dating for a while now.

“Katherine is trying to set me up with one of her sisters-in-law and I may have lied and said I was already seeing someone.” Jack has never been timid and yet here he was feeling a sudden shyness as he shares his predicament with Evie while they share a beer and tacos as part of their post midterm celebration. “She called my bluff and now wants me to take my nonexistent girlfriend to Cozumel or she’ll unleash her desperate bridesmaids on me.”

“Promoting me from fuck buddy to fake girlfriend, what an honor!” Evie teased wiping taco grease from the edge of her lip with the sleeve of his hoodie. “On a scale from 1 to 10 how committed are we?”

Jack has no idea why she’d agree so quickly. He knows she has family that wanted to spend time with her and has been dreading the open invitation to Mexico City this Christmas. That she’d accept a trip to Cozumel with him and his family, who barely knows her, over it is rather baffling.

Her aunt was bitchy but nice enough, adored her from what he’d seen. Her cousins were great guys too, Nacho had covered for him when Livia de Souza asked him what the nature of his relationship with her nice/adopted daughter was.

“Enough to make my family believe we’re in love and all that bullshit. Sorry for springing this up on you at the last minute.” He drinks his beer hoping to settle his fears of her backing out.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got nothing else to do besides avoiding my family this December.” The dark-haired beauty dismissed his apology and added, “Would make up for my abysmal birthday gift two weeks ago.”

“You shouldn’t have opened it in front of your aunt, Evie.” So, he’d gotten her a thong with the words ‘breakfast of champions’ that he saw at a novelty shop while out with his friends, how was he supposed to know her aunt would be visiting from Mexico City that day?

Or that her aunt would turn as red as her hair when she learned Jack was not just her friend but friend with benefits who she’s been seeing since they met in Vegas.

“The deal’s off if you make me fly coach, Nelson.”

[wickedsrest-rp]

Name: Lucile “Luci” de la Vega Species: Spellcaster Occupation: Biochem student / Part-time employee at Like a Charm Age: 18 Years Old Played By: Addie Face Claim: Paulina Chávez

"If my calculations are correct, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about."

TW: Sibling death, domestic abuse

Luci de la Vega knew from an early age that although her family wasn’t normal, there were parameters and guidelines she could follow. For example, while her older siblings had to create spaces for their magic, Luci inherited it and carefully observed what that meant. While the other two had been shocked by their magic - and despite her mother’s ardent belief that she would be skipped - Luci hadn’t been much to their mother’s disappointment. After all, while biologically she was their cousin - the result of a series of tragic events of Mrs. de la Vega’s brother - she was still a de la Vega. She was no more ‘normal’ than the rest of her siblings and, unlike their mother, was not skipped over. Still, this was fine and expected. It fits the parameters Luci had carefully written down. She already knew that she would be a spellcaster; it was inevitable. 

In fact, most things in life Luci found easily traceable and inevitable. It hadn’t been a surprise that her mom had broken up with her dad or that they had moved in with their Aunt. In fact, Luci thought very logically about where they would end up and had her bags packed before the weak ‘talk’ her mom tried to have with her. She hadn’t liked their dad much anyway and had been counting the days down. Moreover, it made things like school and after activities easy. She researched carefully and worked towards the best outcome instead of going headfirst into unknown situations. It made Luci at the top of her grades and often particularly lonely as she often couldn’t plan out friendships and the like. It also meant she didn’t care for her work or accomplishments, as they were inevitable. 

Still, there was one area that Luci was proud of and felt something more than complacency. Magic, more specifically, Alchemy. It wasn’t as flashy as other magic- but it fit her well. It had rules and precision that Luci’s rules and research lent well to. Every experiment felt alive to her, and it truly was the thing that made her excited. Maybe that’s why Luci wasn’t overlooked in her pursuits, even though her magical gifts were less bombastic than her siblings. Instead, her Aunt had praised her for it, and for Luci, she couldn’t think of anything better than the woman quietly telling her she was doing well. She got Luci books that must have been hard to collect and would sit with her as she figured them out. Hell, even her siblings took notice of Luci’s excitement and quietly hatched plans for her to go to college - to really become something special. For the first time, she felt like she could stand out with something she wanted to be known for, for something that mattered. Something that wasn’t just to get by and expected but a skill that could make her shine. 

She didn’t know how much weight that future had until all the rules and parameters suddenly started breaking down. First, it was small things, whispers, and hush talk that she “wasn’t old enough to be a part of.” Then worried looks that were replaced by tight smiles and “Go study for your SATs, Luci,” whenever she noted it. Suddenly, she was told that her sister - was dead from a spell gone wrong- and a brother had taken off instead of looking her in the eye and saying what had actually happened. Secrets that had profoundly changed the future she had worked for. Instead of the comfort of rules and logic, she was now swimming in emotion that felt an awful lot like despair. 

As a testament to that, it seemed now even her own magic was messing up- the burns on her room’s floor showed that clearly. No matter what she did, the equations unbalanced themselves now. Her careful experiments started to cost more - things that Luci wasn’t sure could be paid for. Now it hurt to think about everything, and she feared her magic. If her careful planning couldn’t keep it in check, she needed new parameters and answers. She needed to stop all this chaotic energy and instead. So, switching her college plans last minute Luci decided that she would get answers - and for better or worse, get back the much-needed rules back into her life.

Character Facts:

Personality: Helpful, oblivious, intelligent, gullible, ambitious, irreverent, enthusiastic, perfectionist 

Luci carries around notebooks that she can be seen scribbling observations in. They range from alchemical equations to what a stranger’s favorite coffee order is a potential source of needed knowledge.

Although not as obvious as her siblings, Luci’s powers tend to mess up in hugely dangerous ways meaning that she often doesn’t do alchemy in front of others anymore. 

Luci’s familiar is an all white jackalope named Snow. Since Snow is a female, she doesn’t have the regular horns associated with the species and appears like a normal rabbit. 

Luci is rather protective of only one of her notebooks - the one that Gen gave her on her last birthday. If you looked inside there’s nothing written in it. 

Luci is desperately trying to find more about Milo and what’s been going on, and is usually willing to make a deal to learn more.

[kcyars520]

SIGN IN

Menu

CUT COVERS11:00 A.M.

Keke Palmer Is the Internet’s Sweetheart

But the multi-hyphenate is more than just the Queen of Meme.

Photo: Micaiah Carter

Keke Palmer grips the false lashes on her eyelids with two fingers and slowly peels them off her skin. She’s had a long day, and it’s nearly 7 p.m.

The sun in the window behind her is blaring over a palm tree without any sign of eventually making its descent somewhere behind the horizon. And yet, Palmer has endured multiple flight delays from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, had a glamorous hours-long photo shoot, found herself at the center of Twitter discourse about her relationship, and still made it home in time to feed her new baby his early-dinner bottle. “Yup, he’s asleep,” she says, looking over playfully at her 4-month-old son, Leo.

About that discourse: Palmer’s motherhood recently became an uninvited topic of conversation online. Last Wednesday, while she was photographed and interviewed for this cover, a video circulated of Palmer, clad in a sheer black dress with a bodysuit underneath, getting serenaded by Usher at one of his Las Vegas residency concerts. Darius Daulton Jackson, the father of her child, saw the video and tweeted his criticisms of Palmer for her outfit choice, later doubling down on his stance when her fans swarmed his replies. While on set and by the time we spoke, Palmer hadn’t yet engaged, but internet bystanders rallied around her, forming a sort of virtual shield attempting to protect her and, in turn, shunning him.

Interior Ridley Dress, available at interior.nyc.Van Cleef & Arpels Folie des Prés Ring featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold and Lotus Between the Finger Ring featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold, available at vancleefarpels.com.Photo: Micaiah Carter

Even though the 29-year-old actor and producer finds herself in an entirely different life stage from me, it’s impossible to shake the feeling that we grew up together or that we have some sort of shared history. Not in a traditional sense, of course, considering she’s been a movie star since the tender age of 10, but by way of having a front-row seat to her organic matriculation through life, from project to project. She starred as a strong-willed spelling-bee champ in Akeelah and the Bee, a double-Dutch savant on the Disney Channel movie Jump In!, and a teen fashion executive on True Jackson, VP, and many of us who were once precocious little girls watched a young Palmer on the screen with awe as she evolved into the powerhouse we know her as today. By the time she was getting Oscar buzz for roles in more grown-up fare, like Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers (based on a true story originally reported in this magazine) and Jordan Peele’s Nope (a New York Times critic’s pick that won her widespread acclaim and an invitation to the Academy this summer), we became acquainted with Palmer in her role as a serious, well-adjusted, fully fledged actor. And, of course, along the way was her music career, which she’s still working on, anchored by her song “Bottoms Up,” a pivotal moment in the Zeitgeist for teenage girls everywhere. (She released a sequel of sorts to the track last year.)

In the same way we’ve come to know her, she feels as though she’s come to know us: “I do feel like America’s little sister, little cousin. I feel very much so related to everybody,” she tells me. “I’m like that second cousin that you see every two years at the family reunion.”

Now, as she branches off into newer, more experimental ventures with KeyTV, an avenue for Palmer to support other young creatives of color, and her podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, on which she has interviewed guests like Vice-President Kamala Harris (Palmer asked her to clarify both if she does have a silk press and what policies should be developed to deal with the maternal mortality crisis), John Stamos, and fellow child stars Aly and AJ Michalka, Palmer is entering her “big boss era,” as she’s dubbed it.

Online, Palmer is generally unafraid to discuss potentially taboo topics, like acne and breast milk, while also finding ways to inject humor into whatever she’s speaking about. From “Sorry to this man” to “You know it’s your girlllll,” she has kept the culture quenched with a steady stream of delightful sound bites, which inevitably become endearing memes. Admittedly, as a self-described citizen of the internet, she loves this too: “When people see themselves in me enough to repost a meme or use a GIF, it really humanizes me in a way that I think sometimes feels lost in my life,” she says. “So I really do feel appreciative of being a meme.”

Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini Black Eco Leather Skirt and Cropped Long Sleeve Top, available at Neiman Marcus. Alexander McQueen Punk Ankle Strap Pump, available at alexandermcqueen.com. Van Cleef & Arpels A Cheval Earrings featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold and Folie des Prés Pendant featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold, available at vancleefarpels.com. Photo: Micaiah Carter

There are a lot of moms hyping you up online right now, defending your integrity. What’s something you would say to them?

Do you, new moms. Do you. Girl, if there’s one person on this earth that loves you for sure, it’s that baby. Be happy, because there’s no love like it. Somebody loving you like that, hell, who cares?

You just had a baby, you host a podcast, and you also started a production company called KeyTV. Tell me what that’s about.

I came from a very traditional space in entertainment, and it was very hard for me to create my own narrative and help get the work that I ended up getting as I’ve continued to evolve as a creator. Because of the internet, I was able to produce and create my own content and make a financial career that invests back into itself. It helps to keep the creativity going, especially when you think about brands and sponsorships. Not a lot of Black creatives get those same opportunities. KeyTV is an opportunity; it’s a way to bridge the gap and feed more eyes back to the work of BIPOC creators, and using my brand as a launchpad. It is inspired a lot by AwesomenessTV.

Let’s talk about Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, your podcast. What made you want to flip the table and start a podcast? Why did you want to be on the other side of an interview? 

I started hosting stuff when I was about 17 or 18. It came from me being a curious person. This was when Twitter started really kind of becoming a thing and you only had so many characters. I wanted a forum where we could discuss the things we’re talking about online with one another. That made me want to have my own talk show that I did shortly on BET for a season. From that moment on, I was always looking for an opportunity. I wanted to bridge the gap between millennial and Gen-Z audiences. That’s always fun for me.

What excites you about talking to somebody you’ve never met before?

That everything is going to be a surprise! I genuinely am so jazzed about life at all times. On regular daytime talk television, you have only a few minutes to really talk about a few things. On a podcast, you can go from talking about aliens to talking about all types of weird stuff. Just from the simple fact that a podcast has no limit.

Which guest has surprised you the most?

When we think about the Black Eyed Peas, we think inspired, fun, wholesome but cool, worldly music that makes people feel good. When I was interviewing Will.i.am., it was just so incredible because that’s in every aspect of what he does, whether it’s in technology or music, because he wants to transfer his mentality.

Who is your dream podcast guest?

I absolutely would love to talk to Taylor Swift. And Nicki Minaj. Both for similar reasons. I would totally do it at the same time because it would be a big boss conversation, Ms. Lady. I think they’re both Sagittariuses and I’m a Sag moon. They’re not afraid to talk about the business, the music industry, and the things that people don’t understand. Nicki Minaj has spoken to the things that she’s trying to overcome and how they’re able to get in certain rooms or awards or conversations, etc. She’s very much so wanting to gun for some old ways of things being done.

And it’s the same thing with Taylor Swift when it was coming to owning her masters and just … I’ve also talked a lot about my experience in the music industry, but I just think it’s really cool when you can sit down with your peers and you can discuss the real deal that goes on behind the scenes with the industry.

To hear from us three women would be great. Obviously, I can name a whole list of people that have done similar things. We could talk about Master P., we could talk about Tyler Perry, we could talk about Beyoncé, the list goes on. But those are just two that most recently had spoken about these things. We could have a really good deep conversation and unpacking lyrics because Nicki writes down, and so does Ms. Swift. It’s giving astral projection, it’s giving lucid dreaming.

So when you’re being interviewed now, do you, ahem, judge the interviewer’s questions from a different lens?

I don’t want to say judge, but I definitely try to figure out where we can go. I’m always willing to go somewhere. When I’m talking to people, I’m obviously giving them the respect of knowing whatever their boundaries are. But when they’re answering, I’m thinking, Well, where else would they want this to lead to?Another thing I’ve learned is that pre-conversations are really awesome because you can talk to that person about where their headspace is, what kind of things are most important to them right now.

Well, then let me backtrack a little bit, because we didn’t get to have much of a pre-conversation. What’s your mental headspace and what’s important to you today?

After having my baby, I’ve just gotten so much more powerful. I’m just so strengthened in a crazy way. Strutting my stuff, enjoying. I’ll be honest, I think before I even had the baby, I was really actually quite self-conscious. In a way that you would expect, considering the kind of work that I do as a public figure. Always trying to be on point with my body and always trying to make sure I’m taking care of this and that. There’s a lot of physical attention. Being slim and being fit in a particular way was always something that I was gunning for. After having the baby, my body got so much bigger and I started getting fluff in areas I never had before.

Givenchy 3/4 Sleeve Sweater Front Crystal Chain and Embroidered Midi Skirt, available at givenchy.com. Van Cleef & Arpels A Cheval Earrings featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold and Brume de Saphir Bracelet featuring sapphires and diamonds set in 18K white gold, available at vancleefarpels.com. Photo: Micaiah Carter

Obviously I don’t know you like that, but when I see you from the outside, you have always seemed like a woman and a girl who’s always stood in her own power. Sometimes women are expected to shrink, and I feel like when I see you, I don’t see a woman who shrinks.

I think it’s important to say that both things can be true, which I’m sure you know. I’m ready to talk to you, you are also very confident, but both things can be true. I speak to my insecurities and it actually makes me feel more confident. Because I’m not trying to hide. When I really talked about my skin issues and stuff like that, it was really for me.

As I confront my issues head-on and I’m like, “Well, I feel terrible about this,” or, “This ain’t work for me,” I turn it into a joke, but I don’t ignore it. I try not to hide it. Confident people, it’s not that they’re not insecure, it’s that they just accept the fact that they’re going to have some insecurities, work on them when they can, and love themselves. Because at the end of the day, what else are you going to do? Hate yourself for who you’re not?

This is a weird question, but what would you say your brain looks like, sounds like, and smells like?

Not Jeffrey Dahmer, girl! The inside of my brain smells like vanilla or something warm and cuddly. It smells like something safe. It’s like, Hey, we are here for you. What does it look like? Colorful, shit is like synapses are going, you know what I mean? There are some gray spots. There are definitely some gray spots, but most of all, it’s neons, sparkling, it’s electric. Almost like when you have a PC gaming computer and all the colors that are going on in there. That’s how my brain is. What does it sound like? Shit, Jordin Sparks, “One step at a time, there’s no need to rush.” I’m always in some type of coming-of-age comedy.

I want to walk inside your brain, that sounds nice. On the flip side, you’ve got a lot going on in your life. You’re acting, you’re singing, you have a podcast, you’re a new mom, you’re keeping the culture consistently quenched with delightful sound bites and memes. How do you stay grounded and at peace?

My family, my friends, my loved ones. Keke Palmer’s who I am, but it’s almost like Spider-Man. I’m Peter Parker at the end of the day, and at some point, I have to take the suit off. It’s still me, I’m still there. It’s still Keke and there’s no LaurenShe was born Lauren Keyana Palmer. without Keke. There’s no Keke without Lauren. But it’s just one aspect of who I am. We all have cultural aspects of ourselves that we sometimes bring out more or less than others.

When it comes to being able to get balance in my life, it’s taking off that suit, taking off the Keke Palmer side of myself and putting her to rest. Giving her an opportunity to recharge and relax and also know that the other side of me that maybe isn’t that jazzed up all the time, has a place, is needed, is valued, and able to just breathe. It’s really awesome.

Do you ever wish that you could just be Lauren or Keke part two, Keke without the visibility?

Sure, sure. Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes I feel like I would love a little bit of more anonymity, or at least a version that wasn’t so chaotic. We live in a particular generation where the fame thing is a little bit too much. The way that celebrities are idolized. Popularity to some degree is fine. It’s normal. It could be expected, especially if you’re a public servant or someone that’s a public figure. But now it’s the desire and the goal as opposed to being the aftereffect of being good at something or being known for something. It’s just being known to be known.

Fame used to be a little bit more mayorlike, and now it’s almost gone to some type of godlike vibe. That can be quite dangerous and a lot of pressure. I don’t think any human should be that adored. I’m happy when people say that I’m their role model or I inspire them or whatever. I think the basis of anything I’m trying to do is to lead you to you, toward you. You can rock with me. You can buy into my stuff, you can support me. Obviously, that’s my career. But never do I ever want somebody to think they need to be like me. If they want to be like me in any regard, hopefully it’s to be authentically themselves. Hopefully that is the biggest message that they’re receiving.

When you said mayorlike, I pictured you in a little top hat.

Walking around, Mayor Keke, “Hello there. You know it’s your girl.”

Speaking of “You know it’s your girl,” which was a viral clip taken from your Met Gala red carpet interview with Megan Thee Stallion, how does it feel to consistently become a meme?

I felt like that was a hit movie. “Sorry to this man,” I could not have predicted the “sorry to this man” reaction. It’s crazy, but cool and dope at the same time. It’s randomized how that happens. But it’s a very humbling thing because sometimes as an entertainer, people do not have a safe space for you to be relatable. You probably live a drastically different life than them. But at the end of the day, outside of whatever our daily life activities could be, I’m still going to work. I’m still trying my best, I’m still trying to make it in this workaholic country we’re in, we both got 24 hours and we both just trying to get it done.

And so we all are the same. When people see themselves in me enough to repost a meme or use a GIF, it humanizes me in a way that I think sometimes feels lost in my life. I really do feel appreciative of being a meme. Because what they’re saying is, She’s like me, or they relate to it. It doesn’t get any better than that.

You don’t try to go viral? It just comes naturally, basically?

Nili Lotan Cami Gown, available at nililotan.com.Van Cleef & ArpelsVintage Alhambra 20 Motif Necklace set in 18K white gold and Socrate Pendant featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold, available at vancleefarpels.com. Photo: Micaiah Carter

What keeps you authentic when you are in the public eye? Especially when it could be so much easier, and so many others have gone the route of, Here’s my public persona and I’m going to do everything and be perfect. What is your motivation to be you?

There is such a thing as privacy. I’m not showing y’all my ass at night. I’m a human being. I have things that make me just a normal person. I’m flawed. I definitely try to put my best foot forward. But again, because I don’t like the idealism and I don’t like the kind of era that we are in with fame, I definitely self-deprecate, point to my flaws, constantly say I’m not perfect because I really don’t want people putting me to this unbelievable standard. I don’t live to be a celebrity. I live to do what I love, to share love, to give something positive to the world. Being under a magnifying glass for all of my life, it was kind of a surrender to realizing no matter what I do, it’s never going to be enough, so that’s okay. Let me at least be me.

Are you really online? Do you consume social media? And if so, what does a late-night scrolling sesh look like for you? For me, I’m doing YouTube deep dives of a couple that cosplays like they live in the 1800s. 

I’m always looking at weird stuff too. I’m looking at TikTok. I can get crossed in a conspiracy theory. I can be looking at some new articles online and just all types of random stuff. I’m definitely 100 percent like an internet person. I guess that’s a personality trait. A lot of my friends that I’ve met, even as kids, were online. Through chat or MySpace. I’ll see somebody’s page online or I’ll check somebody’s life out and I’m like, I want that person to be my friend. I feel like online literally gives us the opportunity to see in other people’s worlds, to reach things that we otherwise didn’t get to reach. I really do use it as a tool and I really respect it. Especially growing up, being in the entertainment industry, being homeschooled, not having a real school, I really was appreciative of online.

Now that you made me think of it, somebody else that I would love to talk to would be Tom from MySpace. What he created really helped my life because I didn’t have any other way to be friends. I might be a celebrity, but in my mind, in my world, I felt like an outcast. I turned to the internet where I could create space for me, and build my world and have friends and feel like I was normal. It all feels very full circle, me being a meme queen. The internet is a place that I’ve always loved and adored and felt like I could be myself, and in a way, that is a space that was not always given to me in real life. That’s why we all played The Sims too.

Do you think the human race is better or worse off with social media?

I think it’s better, but not when you don’t use it right. When I was talking to Will.i.am about it, he was definitely like, “Yo, I would much rather be in a world where there’s AI and all this kind of stuff than in a world that it’s not.” With the internet, the problem is that it’s extremely powerful and it can be used in bad ways and people have used it in bad ways, and that’s what scares us. But when we use it in good ways, man, we’re able to really do some incredible things.

You recently interviewed Vice-President Kamala Harris and asked her about her silk press. You also used the phrase “poop on a stick” in the interview, which knocked me on my knees. What does podcast prep before you start the conversation look like for you?

It’s different each time. I have support with my producing team. I always script out the top halves of my show. And then the other halves of them are obviously just conversation, but I have bullet points or CliffsNotes of what I want to discuss and talk to whoever I’m having on with me that may not be the actual interview guest, whether it’s my mom or whether it’s Darius or whether it’s Max. We’ll kind of discuss what our POVs are. That way we all know that we have some unique perspective on the topic. When it comes to the interviewee, as much as I have questions that I want to ask them, I also listen and just try to see where their conversation would take us.

Anyone you’ve been nervous to record with?

I was nervous for Kamala.

Who wouldn’t be?

For Madam VP, I was definitely nervous because I wanted to give respect to what she’s trying to do and have a conversation about it while at the same time humanizing the conversation because there’s a huge disconnect, in my opinion, with our generation in the government. It’s beyond just getting people to vote. There’s a bigger flaw where we don’t believe in the system. It’s how to get people to believe that there’s a reason to support our public servants and actually believe that they’re going to be good at their job or they’re going to be worth us listening to. It’s about asking important questions, but also, are you a person in there?

We need to see that these people are real. We need to know why they wanted to get into these positions. A lot of this is starting to look like a joke and has been a joke and looks like a reality show and it just seems like a big money grab and it just doesn’t seem real. But there’s no way to work in any system of anything and be perfectly perfect or do something that’s totally agreeable.

The point is to get to a place where we can at least feel like somebody is human and touchable and real, that they can be reached even if they are working within a system that is clearly flawed and corrupt. We need them to speak to that. I was happy when I was talking to Kamala, Madam VP, excuse me, about this topic. She was saying to me that she knows that people don’t believe, and that’s why she’s doing it. She knows what she’s working against. I wanted that interview to be something that we felt was real so we can actually be engaged. Because right now, honey, it’s giving, like, stale news variety show.

I listened to another episode where you talked about being a child star and you said if you weren’t an entertainer, you may have gone into politics. Would you ever go into politics now?

I don’t know what role I would play.

President?

Well, let’s think about it. What is the president’s job, really? Because he can’t change no laws for real. I mean, they can, but it’s like they really aren’t the ones that are doing that work. If the president’s job is to be a figurehead, speak to the issues, encourage the people, represent them and create a positive democracy and good morale, then, yeah, I mean, I could. This is the concept of politics I love because it’s being a public servant. Child, sign me up. I love being a public servant. I love being serviceable.

I know a lot of people don’t think about entertainment as that, but, I mean, I am still doing a service. I’m literally tapping and singing and dancing for you to laugh and enjoy. I’m trying to serve you, for sure. That’s something I’ve already been doing all my life. So in that regard, yes, the part of politics that makes things difficult is feeling like that I believe in what I’m doing and that I can actually believe that I can get something done. If I was going to ever go into politics, it would be because I really believed that I could fix some shit or figure something out. So I think that’s what it would really take is for me to feel like I could actually be useful.

Would you consider yourself America’s sweetheart?

Girl, that is crazy as hell.

Come on.

If that is what the people think, I’m truly gagged and gooped because, wow. I don’t even know what that entails, truly, what that really means. But, by golly, if you all feel like I’m America’s sweetheart, I’m fucking here for that shit all day and night. I appreciate it because it feels like a term of endearment. But what do I think? If I were to declare myself, I do feel like America’s little sister, little cousin.

Roland Mouret Strapless Velvet Mini Dress, available at rolandmouret.com. Van Cleef & Arpels Folie des Prés Ring featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold, Lotus Between the Finger Ring featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold, and A Cheval Earrings featuring diamonds set in 18K white gold, all available at vancleefarpels.com. Photo: Micaiah Carter

Like a lot of people in their late 20s, I feel like I grew up with you, and whatever project you were involved with seemed to mirror whatever life stage I was going through at the time. What was child stardom like for you, and what was it like to have so many eyes on you at such a young age?

Honestly speaking, initially it was traumatic when I really experienced it, like after I did True Jackson, VP. And then I got used to it and I tried to kind of control it a little bit more by setting boundaries for myself and being a little bit more realistic about what I needed from the people that would be around me. Fame is a lot. People think that they want it, but it’s intense. It could be fun and cool in certain times if it can possibly help you get quicker dinner reservations. But a good job will do that. You know, you don’t have to be famous. You just have to network.

I don’t know why anybody wants it. It’s a lot to have a lot of attention on you all the time. It gives you a lot of anxiety. It’s nerve-racking. You’re looking over your shoulder all the time. Is somebody going to try and humiliate me or use me for clicks or likes or, you know, whatever? Not everybody can handle it. It’s just a dangerous game.

Time for a few rapid-fire questions. Do you think aliens exist?

Yes.

Would you ever explore the deep sea?

No.

What would your last meal be? You can have multiple courses or just one bite of something and then move on. It can be anything. Multiple things.

A charcuterie board. I always needed a charcuterie board. I need to start off with a charcuterie board and a nice tall glass of wine. Then, I’d like to take it to a big pizza. From Little Italy in New York. A particular pizza place called Little Italy’s in New York. There’s one right across the street from Papaya Dog.It’s the sauce that they do that makes it what it is. If this is the last meal, I don’t need it to be fancy, I just need it to be good. And, lastly, some snickerdoodle cookies. We got to make it feel like home again.

What do you think happens when we die?

I think we go to nothing. And, I mean that so happily, not in a sad way. I feel like, before we come to our human bodies, we already are in a utopia. The reason why it’s a utopia is because it’s like everything and nothing at the same time. We’re beholden to nothing, we have no attachments, we’re completely and utterly free, and we know in whatever this energy space is that we are all interconnected. So there’s such a freedom and such a happiness. It’s not necessarily we’re riding roller coasters and stuff. We don’t need those things. The happiness and joy is purely innately within us as a spiritual being.

And then I think we come here and we put this suit on, and the suit is actually what makes life really hard, because what comes with humanity and being a human person, as opposed to being an animal, or a rock, or something like that, is our very heightened consciousness and awareness that is sometimes competitive with our spiritual thing that doesn’t actually need words, or language, or actions to just be and understand. And we confuse ourselves when we’re down here.

I think, when we die, we realize, Oh my gosh. It wasn’t that deep. I was always going to be okay. Everything was always going to be all right. Because, this world, this experience is everything and nothing at the same time. It’s so nothingness that it became everything. I think that’s odd. But, I mean, I grew up Catholic. I believe in Jesus. I believe in all the shits. But at the same time, I also feel like some things are like a mixture of spirituality and metaphysical stuff. I go down on the loops. But I be in church too. I’m everywhere with it.

If you could live forever, would you? Absolutely not. No, there’s nothing about that that sounds good. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

That sounds crazy. I want to have a nice, good long life. I don’t want to be that grandma that’s holding on for dear life and her body falling apart. Let me go looking fine and sexy in my sleep naturally. I don’t want my body to be just turned inside out and I’m like, “I’m still here, kids.” No. Unplug me if I’m falling apart.

What is the most interesting thing in your bag right now?

The truth is, I only carry around one bag. And it’s the mommy bag. And you know what it has in there? My pump, my nipple cream, some contacts, and some prenatal vitamins, post-prenatal lactation supplements.

What is the question that keeps you up at night?

What is this about? I always ask myself, What’s the reason? What is the reason for this all?

That’s beautiful. Can you spell pulchritude?

Of course I can. P-U-L-C-H-R-I-T-U-D-E. Pulchritude?

What does the future look like? What does it look like five years from now, or even in the next few months?

I’m going to continue to be killing these fashions, honey. Continue to expand. I can’t really say exactly what it’s going to be, because I feel like I’m even surprised sometimes about where I end up. But definitely more hosting, and acting, and all that stuff. A lot more stuff behind the scenes too. I really do love producing, and I love helping put stuff together and support people. With KeyTV, we made a short film with a kid from L.A. Film School, supported him with a production crew, and collaborated from different perspectives. I was grateful. To be close in age with him was awesome, too. I’m in a unique vantage point to be able to communicate, and talk, and relate, but also have wisdom that is granted only through the experience that I’ve had.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Photography by Micaiah Carter

Fashion Director Jessica Willis

Hair by Keshaun Williamson

Makeup by Sheika Daley

Manicure by Vanessa Sanchez McCullough

Set Design by Ali Gallagher

Tailoring by Susie Kourinian

Production by Petty Cash Production

TAGS:

CUT COVERS

KEKE PALMER

CELEBRITY

CULTURE

MORE

Sent from my iPhone

[mccarthawrites]

Sonny’s Getting Married

Relationships: Sonny de la Vega & Usnavi de la Vega

Rating: General Audiences

Summary: Sonny has news for Usnavi.

Words: 483

In the Heights Masterlist

Usnavi and Sonny sat on the steps of Usnavi’s apartment building, drinking and reminiscing after Benny and Nina’s wedding. Usnavi’s tie was hanging around his neck.

“Where’s Pete?” Usnavi asked, passing the bottle in the brown bag.

“Back at the hotel. He left the festivities early because he’s jetlagged.” Sonny explained.

“I had no idea you guys were gonna fly in last minute.” Usnavi laughed. “It was a surprise to us all. Nina was happy.”

“Yeah.” Sonny nodded.

“So how are you? How’s Miami treating you guys?” Usnavi asked.

“Miami is great. Petey loves it. Has gotten really nice pieces done. Like the last one-” Sonny pulled out his phone and pulled up a photo of one of Pete’s art pieces.

“Oh shit. Look at that. Vanessa and I are gonna have to take a trip to visit y’all sometime.”

“That would be great!” Sonny put his phone back in his pocket. “I gotta tell you something.”

“Nothing bad, I hope. Pete’s treating you right? Do I need to beat his ass?” Usnavi asked.

“No. Petey is perfect.” Sonny laughed. “We’re going great. I- I asked him to marry me.” Usnavi nearly choked on the beer.

“You what?!”

“I know you and Pete have always had your differences, but I love him. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I-”

“Congrats!” Usnavi hugged his younger cousin. “I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks, ‘Navi.” Sonny laughed.

“Man, Abuela would be so proud of you.”

“She’s be proud of all of us. Lincoln winning a freakin’ Grammy. Pete’s career taking off and traveling the world. You marrying Vanessa. Benny and Nina finally getting married. We’re moving up in the world. Like she always said we would. I just wish she was here to see it.”

“Yea, but I know she checks up on us once in a while.” Usnavi smiled at the memories. “Listen, no one else knows- we were gonna announce it when Nina and Ben came back bu- Vanessa is pregnant.”

“Shit. Really?” Sonny asked, stunned.

“Yeah! We’re gonna have a kid. We want you to be godfather.”

“Are you being serious right now?” Sonny asked, jumping to his feet. Usnavi nodded, laughing. “Wait til I tell Pete!”

“You can’t tell him yet! You’re the only one besides me and Vanessa who knows. I don’t even think she wanted me to tell you, yet.”

“I’m glad you did. You’re gonna be a dad, Navi!”

“I know.” Usnavi laughed. “It’s been a hell of a year.”

“And it’s only gonna get crazier from here.” Sonny sat back down. Usnavi grabbed him in a headlock, rustling his hair. “Hey!”

“I missed you, kid. You need to come visit more often.”

“We will! Let me go.” Sonny pulled away.

“You’re all grown up.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m proud of you, Sonny.” Usnavi patted his cousin’s back.

“Thanks, ‘Navi. I’m proud of you too.” Sonny smiled.

[desislava-saxecoburg]

FULL NAME: Desislava Saxe-Coburg

NICKNAMES: Desi, Des. D

PRONOUNS AND GENDER: she/her, cis woman

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

HOUSING: Coral coast

OCCUPATION: Attorney at Fairford law

TRIGGER WARNING(S): DRUGS, ALCOHOL, CAR CRASH, CHEATING, FAKE DATING

ABOUT:

   Desislava had never been an ordinary girl. Born in New York, in the family of Kaloyan Saxe Coburg, Knyaz of Turnovo, and Elizabeth Wilson, she was going to be an successor of the Bulgarian throne, if her grandfather Tsar Petar wasn’t abdicate in 1945 and Bulgaria became a republic. But even when she wasn’t going the rule the country, she and her sisters were raised as royals since the rest of the world still accepted them as royals, and because of the fact they still was in the line of the successors of British throne since their grand father was forth cousin of queen Elizabeth II.

   Desislava, as Knyaginya of Turnovo, didn’t have exactly carefree childhood. Yet, she was born with a silver spoon in her month, but this came with relevant responsibilities - she had to learn bulgarian and french before she even started elementary school, attending different dancing classes, and studied Bulgarian and world history in every free minute and this continue until her teen years, when she finally raise her voice and call it it quit, wanting to be a normal girl. Her parents wasn’t happy about it but at the end they didn’t have any other option but agree with her, hoping it would be just a phase and she would remember her responsibilities as Knyaginya.

  Finaly being able to live as an ordinary girl, Desislava was able to do whatever other oeople her age did - she started going out more often, had different friends most of which was not the best company parents wanted for their kids. The money of Saxe-Coburg family had attractive force for any freeloader who were able to do anything to be around somebody famous and rich. Soon the young Knyaginya started to downfall - the parties she attended became more wild surrounded by a lot of drugs and alcohol. Pictures of these parties started appear regularly in the tabloids and Desislava became a hot topic. Kaloyan and Elizabeth did everything possinble to cover the stories but when Desislava and her best friend became a reason for a huge car crash luckily no casualties, Saxe Coburgs had to do something and they sent the oldest Knyaginya to a rehab at UK and then for a year in Bulgaria where desislava had the opportunity to think a lot about her life and her role in the Bulgarian royal family realizing how much this meant to her but also that she needed to do something more with her life and when she returned to USA she started study law at Columbia University. Along with her education, she also took her role as Knyaginya of Bulgaria seriously becoming a face of few charitable organisations.

   Desislava met Aaron, a son of investment banker, when she was 30 and they started dating.They was like a dream couple abd few years later Aaron proposed and she was happy to say “yes”.  The newly engaged couple was favorite to tabloids and they followed them around but Desislava didn’t mind to show their love being sure they could be inspiration for other people, But it seemed the happy fairtail was not going to last long. The poltical crisis in Bulgaria and the fact the court gave back some of the lands in Bulgaria to Kaloyan led to some death threat to the whole royal family and they were forced to hire security guards. Desislava was not happy because it took away her freedome especially since she couldn’t stand her guard Alexander which seemed mutual, Her only consolation was her fiance but everything fell apart when one late night she came home only to found Aaron with another women in their own bed. Not knowing how to handle it, Desislava ran away only with Alexander by herself and she didn’t even know how she ended up in Las Vegas, but more more surprising was her marriage to Alexander.

 The marriage brought a lot of attention and the new couple as well the whole royal family had to deal with,  It was like a nightmare for Desislava and she decided she had to leave New York. “Knyaginya Desislava and her husband Alexander decided to took few weeks off and would spend their honeymoon at Alexander’s home town Fairford" said the message send to the press by the royal family but it was a lie since the new family continue to hardly stand each other but the town seemed like a good place for Desislava to spend some time away from the tabloids. But once Desislava came in the small town she felt in love with the place and she decided she wanted to stay permanently

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

- best friends - partying buddies ;; a friendship that relies on nothing more than  going out and - having a wild time - assistant;; someone who could help her with her work and also the charities she works on. - frienemies ;; they’re nice to each others faces and act like friends but are constantly talking badly about each other - friends turned enemies ;; they have been pretty close, but something changed and they couldn’t stand each other - exes ended on bad terms - exes ended on good terms - neighbour ;; they could live next door, across the street. maybe they hang out? maybe not? maybe there is some attraction, maybe they just find each other annoying? - a new friends;; people Desislava recently met but they are pretty close - casual hook up ;; they aren’t friends, but will call each other whenever they need a lil sexual intercourse. basically like a booty call. - relatives of her husband ;; family, friends, ex-lovers; it’s going to be interesting interaction so plese give it to me - co-workers - gym-buddy - a sibling she had no idea about - could be on her mother or her father side

[nucifract]

Kunstakademie. Maerz 2024 Das ist die Architektur, die parallel zu dem Denken entstand, das heute die Köpfe der lauten links-woken Mehrheit beherrscht. Gewissermaßen die architektonische Entsprechung zum Hirn des durchschnittlichen Zeit-Lesers. Nazi-Dachschrägen, aber "ganz neu gedacht". Ich habe Emanuel Carrères "V13" über die Bataclan-Attentäter seelisch noch immer nicht ganz verarbeitet. Was man so leicht dahinwirft, ein "ich habe mich kaputtgelacht", findet manchmal wirklich statt.

Ich dachte zwischendurch, meinen Schädel aufs Waschbecken donnern zu müssen, damit ich mich wieder einkriege. Hab in meinem Raucher-Verließ auf dem Klo vor Lachen gewiehert... Meine Frau kam sorgenvoll vorbeipantoffelt. Als ich dann versuchte, ihr den Scheiß vorzulesen, war's ganz aus. Insbesondere das Kapitel "Rue du Corbillon", S. 188 unten, ab "Die Polizisten werden später antworten...." hat mir den Rest gegeben. Ich kann nur sagen: Ihr, meine Zeitgenossen des 21. Jahrhunderts, Ihr in Eurer linkswoken Dummheit, habt es wirklich verdient, in der Schwärze eines zweiten Mittelalters zu verschwinden*, meinetwegen auch zu verrecken. Allein die Personnage: Die linientreue, unter kunstvollen Kopftuchgebirgen versteckte Islamistin im biblischen Gewande, Gewohnheitstrinkerin und Dauerkifferin, die mit jedem schläft, der verletzungsfrei in die Horizontale findet. Die saudummen Cousins, die in ihre Attentate stolpern wie zugeknallte Las-Vegas-Urlauber in die Ehe. Die hemmungslos doofen Polizisten, das ganze geltungssüchtige, hirnamputierte Ghetto-Umfeld – man kann sich nur wegwerfen. Ich würde Teile des Kapitels gerne zitieren, aber das ist mir juristisch zu gefährlich. Und immerhin gibt's das Buch ja auch in jeder Stadtbibliothek. Carrère jedenfalls ist ein knochentrockener Meisterkomiker, hoffentlich nicht unfreiwillig. Und ich würde zumindest Teile des Buches gerne mal auf Französisch lesen. --- * Vielleicht überleben in Israel und China ja Teile unserer großen Zivilisation. Aber für den Rest der Welt sehe ich tatsächlich schwarz.

[tzigone]

Character futures - the ones I made up

Diego and Victoria's kids

Leonor de la Vega is the oldest daughter of Diego and Victoria. She’s very intelligent. She looks a lot like Victoria, but has more of Diego in her. She is not a swordfighter or an academic (fantastic rider, though). But she is very clever, and willing to play a part. Actually, she has a great deal of financial acumen that she can credit Victoria with. She has a good grasp on politics. But women aren’t supposed to great at such thing and she often pretends to be less intelligent or capable than she is in order to further her social station or gain an advantage. If she was a man, she’d go far in politics, but of course she can’t. She enjoys fashion and girly things, too. She certainly agrees with universal adult suffrage, Indian rights, etc., but she doesn’t think those things are accomplish-able at this time. And she’s got a pragmatic streak that says don’t waste political/social capital on things you can’t change and instead to focus on those things that have a hope of success. I don’t want to make her too cynical or unwilling to stand up for what’s right, but at the same time, I want her to be strategic about it.

She is extremely socially adept, can carry on a conversation with anyone and make them comfortable, and generally has tons of soft skills.

She marries into another wealthy California family. Her husband is one of 8 children and 6 survived to adulthood. He is very well aware of her true nature, and loves her for it. His own parents are more conservative – wives should obey husband and grown children obey parents. Diego and Victoria were wary about that at first until they knew he did not share those opinions.

His parents were definitely looking for their children to marry to the family’s advantage, but they do care that their children be content in their marriages. When their son and Leonor started to show an interest in each other, they thought that was good. With anyone else, they’d have approached the parents about an arranged match, but they knew Diego and Victoria don’t go for that and are all about their children marrying for love so they buttoned their lips in public and privately expressed approval to their son.

Leonor got married in 1844 at age 20, and they lived with her parents as the household was smaller and she knew she was bound to butt heads with her in-laws if they were under the same roof. Felipe had been 20 when he got his start-out help from Diego and he gave her the same amount of money he spent on Felipe. Initially, they’d planned to seek a land grant and start a rancho, but then the Mexican-American war started and there was lots of uncertainty. And inflation.

Leonor thought the war was going to end in the Americans favor, so she began brushing up on her English and planning a future under a whole different set of laws. This did bring cause some arguments with her youngest sister, who was very much against American conquest of California. It’s not that Leonor liked it, though, but that she though fighting would just be useless bloodshed.

After the war ended in California, and gold was found, she looked for a way for it to advantage her. She was not going to go looking for gold. She used her money to ship goods to San Francisco at an amazing profit. Her uncle (Victoria’s brother) was already involved in shipping in general so knew who she could be put into contact with to facilitate it. She focused on building materials, fabric, sewing needles – necessities rather than luxuries and non-perishable goods rather than food. Made good money.

By 1851, San Francisco was getting more civilized – more like a real city instead of a mining camp. At that time she and husband moved to San Francisco with their two children (two more were born later). Two of her cousins also went. They all invested in real estate, one cousin had general stores. She put money into a warehouse, and hired her cousin to manage it (he was also minority owner and he sure knew more about warehouse management than she did). She winds up very rich.

As she gets older and richer, she has a lot more social capital and soft power, and having more power, is more willing to utilize it to advocate for the causes she thought she couldn’t win as a young woman.

The only child of hers I have any detail on this the youngest – she marries a Chinese-American, and if anti-miscegenation laws in California are going to get in they way, they’ll go somewhere else. I wanted to make him from the fishing village in Monterey than had actual families of Chinese, because it would give me something to research and learn about – since I’ve already read about the men who came to the US alone.

Andres de la Vega is the next child and he’s a science guy. He doesn’t have Diego’s interest or skill in painting or poetry or music. Oh, he enjoys consuming those things, but he doesn’t paint or write. He does play piano, but is of only moderate skill.

Like all Diego’s kids, he has a strong foundational education in math, sciences, and literature and learns Latin, French, and English. Unlike the others, he moves on to more advanced math and sciences and he learns German (he and Diego take lessons together). Germany (not yet unified) is producing some the best medical and scientific papers. France remains a major player, but Germany is a rising star, and they love what they can learn.

He goes off a university in Germany (or some other educational facility that suits his wants). He loves being a city, loves the energy and easy access to new material and ideas. Soon enough he realizes he is not going back to Los Angeles, a place it takes information forever to reach.

Andres comes to be far more interested in the mass application of science than Diego. Diego was very big on theory, but he never seemed to think about day-to-day applications of the technologies he researched (a joke on him having photography perfected and ether as an anesthetic well ahead of reality). Theory is interesting, but he thinks in terms of what it can do.

In 1848, Andrea marries the daughter of a professor. She’s well-educated and shares a lot of his interests. But we have revolutions in 1848, and her father was part of that and they find themselves fleeing Germany. I’m not sure where they go next. There was a huge revolutionary wave throughout Europe and it largely failed. I thought about Belgium, as they were the second country to industrialize, and they are both very interested in that, but I’m not sure what exactly the political circumstances were then. The UK is largely stable, but it’s unlikely his wife speaks English. Maybe one then the other later.

Eventually, I do plan for him to go back to California, but I’m not sure when. In the late 1850s, because his parents are getting older? After 1861, when the transcontinental telegraph is built? After 1865 when the US Civil War is over and it’s no longer a slaveholding nation? After 1869 when the transcontinental railroad is built? That’d be the absolute latest. The US is killing it in the second industrial revolution and that’s exactly the sort of thing they are really into. When they move matter a lot because they have two daughters and I need to know what environment they grew up before I can develop their personalities.

I expect they’ll go in the mid 1860s at the more likely latest as his parents are having health problems and he’ll want to spent time with them before they die. After they are gone, I rather expect him to move to Chicago. The weather sucks, but it’s an great industrial hub.

Tomas de le Vega turns out not to be much like either of his parents. He’s generally quiet by nature – some might even say taciturn. He’s not genial or amiable. He doesn’t have any particular charisma. He’s very involved with the rancho. He has quite good business sense – but it’s confined to the business of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Tomas is a man with an unshakable ethical code. He will do what he thinks is right. If you understand him, you can always know exactly what he will do. He gets an amazing amount of respect from those who know him best or who he’s helped in the past. Everyone who knows him (and he’s from a prominent enough family that many do) knows his reputation and trusts his word. But he’s still not a fun party guest.

He’s completely enamored with Jose Rivas' daughter pretty much from puberty onwards, and it’s very mutual. They’d have married at 15, if their parents would have let them. But they wouldn’t, of course. While her parents find 15 a little too young for a woman to marry, it’s much too young for a man. But by time they’re 17, their parents agree to allow them marry. They’ll have four boys.

The following year, after the war is over, Diego starts handing over more and more duties to Tomas. He checks up on things, but after a year or so, Tomas is basically running things. He’s really good at it and it lets Diego get back to doing the things he actually likes to do.

The rancho makes a fortune seeing grapes, wine and beef during the gold rush. All the sudden they’re making 10 times the normal income. Of course it won’t last. Tomas buys new cattle and new vines to improve their stock. Then the drought comes (and it’s probably not good that it’s correlated with the US Civil War, which inhibits shipping). The rancho isn’t making money then, really, but fortunately they have cash reserves to keep it going and pay their taxes.

He will inherit the rancho, while his siblings get cash. And he’ll branch out into things other than beef. He does keep cattle and keep producing beef even as it’s less in favor, but he diversifies.

Times keep moving and things keep changing. And one thing that is important is that, as much as he loves the rancho, he never loses sight of two things. First is that the rancho is a business and must be treated as such. The second is that when his great grandfather got this land, he perceived it as an asset to provide a comfortable life and wealth for himself and his family – the land is a means to provide for the family, not an end unto itself. So in the 1880s and 1890s when the price of land in and around Los Angeles skyrockets, he sells some of it. He can always by more land further away at a much lower price that’s just as good for farming and grazing. Some is subdivided into smaller farms. With assistance from Felipe’s grandson in law (a real estate salesman and property investor), he builds a streetcar suburb around the hacienda and sells the houses for a fantastic profit. They have running water and radiators and electricity and are definitely targeting the more well off buyers.

Though he certainly has mixed feelings about it, he tears down the hacienda and builds a modern house. It’s old and labor intensive to maintain and it would cost a fortune to modernize and he knows none of his sons want it. But he also knows that they’d feel bad about tearing it down. It’d either slowly descend into a ruin, be a money sink, or they’d up feeling guilty for either tearing it down or selling it to someone who would. He takes that burden on himself. He dies in 1903. Later on there was an effort to save old adobes. But that’s just not something he ever foresaw.

Amalia de la Vega is the youngest. I don’t have the grasp on the character I want. Right now I’m thinking that as a child she was so much the idealist. And all the kids grew up knowing Dad was Zorro, but she was always the most enamored of it. She learned to fence, even though the sword was falling by the wayside by time she was old enough. She dreamed on an independent California. But not the kind that it actually would have been had it been possible (semi feudal, in the colloquial sense of the term). No, she dreamed of one with kind and loving patrons and where everyone had a say in government and Indians weren’t oppressed. She knew that wasn’t anything close to reality, even as a 14-year-old, but it was a goal to strive toward, something to eventually be accomplished in time. When the Americans came to conquer, she wanted to fight them, as she preferred Mexican rule to American, but her father wouldn’t let her. She was devastated when California surrendered. Even though by then it wasn’t a great shock. Americans telling them what to do, laws changing, the fear of losing their land (though I read a paper than said while about a quarter of those brought to court statewide were lost, only about 2% in Los Angeles county were). People defending their home lost. And yes, she knew that often happened in war – she’s been taught history. But she didn’t think it happen to them.

She convinced her father to let her have an advance on “starting out” money that all the others got at age 20 so that Leonor could invest it for her (in SF real estate). It paid off in a couple years, and she left town. She just hated seeing the pueblo that no longer felt like her own. She went to Europe. Hit several countries. Women shouldn’t travel alone, but she’s the adventurous sort.

A few years later in England, she met a guy. Couple years younger than her. Full to the brim with enthusiasm and ideals and she fell for him. He’s a third son of a gentleman. He brings out traits in her that she likes and missed and he’s fun and charming. His parents are not entirely thrilled about him marrying a Catholic foreigner, but she’s a rich Catholic foreigner and they perceive her family as landed gentry like themselves. But she waits until she’s back in California, where married women retain ownership of their property, to marry him. I can’t decide if she’ll then live in Los Angeles (sort of reclaiming her own hometown for herself) or San Francisco (much more to do) or split her time between them (there was a regular steamship route even before the train).

[steph-schuyler]

stalking ur pfp just to say i love all your ith posts and also pjo i did not know you liked pjo 😭😭

ith fandom is dead enough for me to claim the #1 de la vega cousins fan title

thats so real theres like three of us left

i claim number one vanessa and nina fan because theres no competition

also yes im very multifandom 🫡🫡

[ousnavi]

the media im fixated on has a dead fandom now but was once alive during 2017 yet all of the fanart back then irritates me to the core because of the mischaracterisation

[goalhofer]

2022 Los Angeles Dodgers Famous Relations

#22 Clayton Kershaw: Great-nephew of astronomer the late Clyde Tombaugh and son of musician the late Christopher Kershaw.

#46 Craig Kimbrel: Brother of former Rome Braves P Matt Kimbrel.

#15 Austin Barnes: Nephew of former Los Angeles Angels 3B coach Mike Gallego, brother of Saraperos De Saltillo C Griffin Barnes and cousin of University Of California, Los Angeles baseball assistant coach Niko Gallegos.

#5 Freddie Freeman; Jr.: Cousin of tennis player Carson Branstine.

#9 Gavin Lux: Nephew of Carthage College baseball head coach Augie Schmidt IV.

#17 Miguel Vargas: Son of former Industriales De Havana 3B Lázaro Vargas.

#37 Eddy Alvarez: Brother of former Las Vegas Aviators LF Nick Alvarez & KROQ-FM DJ Nicole Alvarez.

#35 Cody Bellinger: Son of former Anaheim Angels 3B Clay Bellinger and brother of former Tri-City Dust Devils P Cole Bellinger.

#50 Markus Betts: Cousin of former Nashville Sounds 2B Terry Shumpert and distant cousin of Duchess Meghan Of Sussex.

#25 Trayce Thompson: Son of Thompson & Trudell co-host Mychal Thompson and brother of Golden State Warriors SG Klay Thompson & former Santa Cruz Warriors SG Mychel Thompson.

Bullpen coach Josh Bard: Brother of Mississippi Braves hitting coach Mike Bard.

[rosietherivendell]

You can bet your ass that if Jane the Virgin were still airing there would be an episode where Rogelio receives a cease and desist letter from his very close friend Taika Waititi for copying Our Flag Means Death in his new telenovela (the bromance is inspiring is it not Jane? Finally two men can show their EPIC friendship on tv!) and then there'd be a smash cut to Rogelio on set in his pirate costume acting opposite a dude who looks suspiciously like Michael. Rogelio has not finished the last two episodes