#the weekenders 24th anniversary

[papimoore]

24 years since Disney has center a TV show on the weekend life of four 12-year-old 7th graders called The Weekenders.

[no-144444]

birthday boy- o.piastri

summary: no one likes to be disappointed on their birthday

pairing: oscar piastri x fem! reader

a/n: who else fell asleep during the race yesterday and had to wake up to mclaren's bullshit? 🖐️

୨ৎ⋅୨ৎ⋅୨ৎ⋅୨ৎ⋅୨ৎ⋅୨ৎ⋅୨ৎ⋅

No one likes to be disappointed on their birthday. It’s shit. He could’ve got up to Max, if McLaren had actually let him. There were 15 laps and Lando was slower than him. He wasn’t allowed to fucking overtake because it’d cost Lando the championship lead. 

He sat in his driver’s room sulking about the race, and also the fact that you hadn’t texted him after the race. He had spent his birthday in a sweaty, quick car on the other side of the world, while you worked the weekend through. Sometimes he hated the fact that he’d married an editor, but you always made up for it. He was sure you’d fallen asleep at your desk again (curse you for convincing him to let you put an editing desk in the house), or maybe you’d worked the whole night through and forgotten about the race, or maybe you fell asleep during the race, or maybe-

“Special delivery for the birthday boy!” Lando’s voice rang out from outside the door. Oscar rolled his eyes and lay back. 

“Come in, I guess,” he called back, preparing for the worst. The door opened and Lando stepped aside to reveal you. Standing right there, right in front of him, you. 

He shot up and wrapped his arms around you, holding you tighter than ever. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he whispered. “I thought you were busy?” 

You chuckled. “I made time,” you shrugged, pulling back. “I wasn’t going to miss your 24th, or a podium!” you cheered, wrapping your arms around him again. 

That ache in his chest that wept when he was away from you, suddenly didn’t hurt so much. The smell of your shampoo, the feeling of you in his arms, the sight of your smile, it made it all worth it. 

You pulled back and searched in your bag, pulling out a wonderfully wrapped gift (with racecar wrapping paper, of course), and handing it to him. “Happy birthday Osc,” you smiled, kissing him softly. 

He grinned against your mouth, his free hand pulling you in closer. “Missed you,” he whispered. He kissed you again. 

“Open the gift!” Lando demanded, pulling you both out of your own little world. 

He looked to you, and you nodded. He ripped the paper (carefully), and beneath it was a collector’s figurine of his favourite car, a Lambroghini Miura. His face lit up with surprise and he turned to you again. “You found one?” Lando left the room to give you two some privacy (also he had really just wanted to find out what the gift was since you wouldn’t tell him). 

“Maybe,” you teased. “Happy birthday,” you smiled, kissing his cheek. 

“Best birthday gift ever,” he chuckled. 

“Seriously? I feel like I outdid myself with the cricket jerseys last year,” you chuckled. 

“No, you being here,” he shook his head, pulling you in closer with a hand around your waist. “Missed you,” he pressed another kiss to your cheek, then hugged you, almost like he didn’t believe that you were in front of him. 

“Missed you too,” you said, muffled by his shirt. “Loads.”

“You should quit your job-” 

“Shut the fuck up,” you chuckled. “Maybe that’ll be your anniversary present,” you joked.

Part of him hoped it wasn’t a joke, but he also knew how much you adored your job. “I’m only joking.” 

“Sure, let’s pretend we believe that,” you laughed. “Did you get some cake today?”

“I had a muffin?” he shrugged. You rolled your eyes. 

“Right, we’re getting cake tonight,” you smiled. “Oh, and I have one more gift.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?” 

You rolled your eyes. “No, well, yes. But get your head out of the gutter,” you scoffed as he laughed. You pulled out a smaller box (expertly wrapped once again, racecars of course), and handed it to him. 

He pulled off the paper and opened the box. He was quiet for a moment. Then 

“If you hate it you don’t have to wear it-”

“I love it,” he smiled, kissing your cheek. “I love you.”

Inside the box was a silver ring with your initials and his engraved, and a small message on the outside of the ring. Wherever life takes you, take me with you.

“I love you too,” you smiled. “Cake?”

He chuckled. “Cake.”

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mclaren masterlist

navigation for my blog :)

[coldflashevents]

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS (2024)

LET'S GOOOOOO!

Hello, all! Thank you all for your patience, and for your responses for the interest check. I'm back to let you know the results, and with some exciting announcements for the year ahead.

First of all, I'd like to announce that we have another mod on board! Everyone please welcome @burdenedwithpointlesspurpose, who'll be helping myself (@coldflasher) and @moriavis run the events this year! We're very excited to be running these events for you :D You can reach out to any of us on this blog or on our main blogs with any questions.

And now, onto the events!

Most people wanted three events, and the most requested event types were prompt-based events, including both mini weekend events and longer week-long events. People also expressed interest in bingos and big bangs.

The majority of respondents had greater availability to participate in the summer months, between April and August.

That being said, I'm excited to announce that our first event will be a mini weekend event that will take place on the 27th and 28th April 2024. This will be a prompt-based event very similar to Cool for the Summer, an event we held in July 2022—we'll provide a list of prompts chosen by you, and then everyone can create works inspired by the prompts, or a combination of them. These types of events are very chill; there are no sign-ups and no commitments, just lots of Coldflash content!

You know what that means—we need prompts! Please drop your prompts in our askbox (you can do this anonymously, if you'd prefer) and once we've got a good number of prompts, we'll give everyone the chance to vote on their favourites.

If you're interested in a slightly more involved event format, I'll also be announcing zine sign-ups for our Coldflash 10-Year Anniversary zine very soon, so stay tuned! We're currently looking at a provisional publication date of March 24th, 2025, which will be the ten-year anniversary of 1x16: Rogue Time, the episode where Leonard learns Barry's identity, and an uneasy truce is struck between them...

I wanted to choose a date with significance to the ship whilst also ensuring that everyone has plenty of time to work on their submissions, and to give us time to put the zine together once we've received them all.

Right now, the aim is for everyone to have their final submissions in by the end of December 2024. Please note that these dates have not been finalized, and are still subject to change, so watch this space for more details.

More information on sign-ups will be released shortly!

If anybody has any questions, please let us know. Until then, happy coldflashing!

[lesmotsquinousmanqueny]

I will support Ukraine, Ukrainians, and their (democratically elected and totally legitimate) representants through whatever disinformation campains russia and Trump will launch (I've already noticed an uppeak of it on social media). I will remember the truth, I will remember who started this (and countless wars prior), and no amount of fake news and distorting narratives will change my mind.

That said, I will protest in support of Ukraine this weekend, and you can, too. You can find protests in your country at

https://standwithukraine.org/

A lot are programmed for the 23rd and 24th of February, as it is the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

It is a perfect opportunity to show Trump and our own leaders what we think of backstabbing a country that is fighting for its survival and democracy, as well as threatening and undermining its legitimate representants.

[tightjeansjavi]

Today is officially my 1 year anniversary of writing fic! (Insane honestly!) I wrote my very first Joel fic: Burning in a Hopeless Dream on February 22nd 2023 💗

To celebrate, I’m hosting a sleepover this weekend: Saturday, February 24th! - Saturday March 2nd

♡ Request List ♡

📝 - ask me about my writing (the process, what inspires me to write, etc)

🗒️ - ask me about a WIP I’m currently working on!

🎧 - I will make a Spotify playlist for your favorite Pedro character

🖼️ - I will make you a moodboard for your favorite Pedro character

🦋 - I will write you a ~500 word~ blurb/drabble of a Pedro boy from the list below: [please let me know if there’s anything in your request that you would not be interested in seeing! (smut,angst, violence, etc.) Feel free to be as detailed with your request as you would like!

♡ Joel Miller

♡ Dieter Bravo

♡ Javier Peña

♡ Frankie Morales

♡ Javi Gutierrez

Thank you to everyone who has read and supported my fics! I appreciate every single one of you so so much 💗

Big thank you to @gasolinerainbowpuddles for the header 🥺

[thebaffledcaptain]

Things that happened at the 250th anniversary of the British garrison at Fort Ticonderoga

as relayed by a humble fifer for His Majesty’s army, for his own records:

As if the unit needed any more musicians, we now have a fifth. We will not be sharing any with the rest of the British Brigade but you can bask in our glory and also our obnoxious fife practicing.

Speaking of which, we accidentally kind of adopted the 13-year-old drummer from the 24th. We joked about poaching from from his unit until we actually had to talk him out of it because he's not based in our area and, being 13, cannot drive himself to events that are fully in a different state.

At some point, however, he shows up in a bright yellow 26th regiment coat, having been temporarily poached to drum their musket demonstration anyway.

For some reason the Captain decided to entrust Music with kitchen duty this weekend, which seemed like a risky move at first given that we are essentially a bunch of overgrown teenagers who simultaneously overcooked the rice and undercooked the peas, but it ended up being pretty damn good apart from that. I cannot personally take credit for much as I was in the middle of Lake Champlain for the entirety of the time supper was being cooked.

We made a frankly ludicrous amount of boiled cabbage for dinner (lunch). No one was going to eat that much cabbage. The officers instructed us to dispose of it somehow.

Of course, we couldn't just let one person do it. All six of us had to go. Our 21-year-old acting fife major took this job very seriously.

"Cabbage Detail... to the front… march!”

The cabbage was rather inelegantly dumped into a pile on the edge of the woods. We gave it a soldier's funeral (saluted it and sang Roslin Castle badly).

Helped to load the bateau onto the cart to be put into the water. Little 24th drummer showed up in full regimental regalia because no one in his unit warned him the thing was covered in pine tar (which, I realized, has a rather pleasant smell that made the whole ordeal much more bearable). His white smallclothes did not make it out entirely unscathed.

Fellow Cheshire fifer and I immediately volunteered to be part of the boat crew. I had assumed the spots would go faster but perhaps most people don't want to spend half an hour bailing lake water out of a bateau.

Some guy at the marina was either high or drunk and heckled us for a solid 10 minutes as we loaded the thing into the water. I suppose it's not every day you see a bunch of 18th century soldiers get into a glorified canoe and start bailing within two minutes but still, you'd think that if something worked with consistent success for thousands of years even a guy with no sense of history would realize that's not going to change now.

Like, we were maybe 200 feet out and he was still going. He just could not fathom that we could get around the point and to the dock within the 25 minute estimate given to him by our boatmaster. But you know, in his defense, maybe it was 30 minutes and not 25...

Supper was quite good except that, with Music doing the cooking, we almost de-soldered a kettle by cooking a bunch of dill and potatoes in it without any water. Once again I was on the lake while this happened so this was not my fault.

I managed to lose my modern thumbpick for my mandolin at home somewhere along the line and didn’t realize until I got to the event. I used a horn button instead. I would not recommend it unless you have no other choice.

Small tavern night but nothing compared to the raving tavern we had at Dey Mansion. A bunch of boy scouts sleeping over with LED headlights were running around and kind of killing the vibe.

Next morning is rainy and dull. At least one fellow sleeps through reveille but in his defense he was feeling quite awful from a migraine, in period accurate style.

Also in period accurate style, the Captain shows up with two dozen Dunkin Donuts for the 22nd lads now that a fire isn't an option. That's how you know it's Sunday morning. Little 24 manages to snag two.

In his defense, I had two as well. The 13-year-old boy in me won. I figured I'd spent enough time on the two-person saw yesterday to earn it.

For some reason yesterday I decided to volunteer for gabion duty in the morning. Now it’s raining and I don’t know why I did that.

The gabion crew spends maybe 45 minutes complaining in the mud and the rain. There’s an assembly line going: a couple guys digging, a couple guys passing the buckets up, one guy dumping them and throwing them back down, and a Bucket Boy to catch them. Allegedly.

The banter is spectacular. Our only marine is nearly decapitated by a flying bucket. Little 24 shows up (in a DIFFERENT 26th coat) to be the Bucket Boy but our Bucket Boy sucks and keeps tossing the buckets in the wrong direction. The musicians threaten several people with the cat-o-nine. None of this is OSHA approved. There’s talk of unionizing. The cabbage is still in a pile at the edge of the woods.

At some point the artillery company marches out and we all collectively decide gabion duty is done despite being on duty for another hour or something. Ironically enough this was one of the more enjoyable and memorable parts of the event by virtue of it being so miserable. It was quite authentic.

Also really enjoyed the singular marine (with his head thankfully still intact after the gabions) at this event, who, when I asked if my brand new forage cap—rather large on my apparently rather small head—was still holding up after hauling mud around for 45 minutes, observed that the front was practically over my ear and very politely commented “it’s very rakish”

We all kind of shuffle around in the grass to get the mud off our shoes. In my own words, my ‘dashes are absolutely spattered. I am still repeating this phrase because it sounds like British slang for being really drunk or something.

I return to the barracks to hold some very warm hard boiled eggs in my very cold hands. Very effective, would recommend.

Not much going on apart from a few very dedicated visitors who braved the rain to make it to the event. We march out an hour early. My fellow fifer and I get to the car and make a beeline for the local Stewart’s for shakes to ease the post-reenactment depression.

All in all, a small but memorable event that, for me, really solidified the concept that Normal People don’t drive several hours to dress up in period clothing and do physical labor. I, however, am not Normal People, and had a great time.

[boonesfarmsangria]

Phil Sharp

All Points East 2025  will be welcoming The Maccabees for their first show in eight years on Sunday 24 August.

In 2017, The Maccabees said an emotional, euphoric goodbye with three sold-out nights at Alexandra Palace.

After a final performance of their breakout hit ‘Pelican’, they stood together on stage for the final time, waving back at a sea of adoring fans, all pouring their own goodbyes into the moment. It was an ending that has stayed with all who witnessed it, equal parts joyful and sad. At their creative, critical and commercial peak, they were leaving behind everything they had known in their adult lives. The end of crafting four increasingly accomplished and acclaimed albums, with each passing record reflecting the experiences of the fans who had grown up alongside them. The end of The Maccabees.

It was a farewell so resolutely final that each member threw themselves with full commitment into countless new endeavours: music, art, books, film scores, production, broadcasting and so much more. No matter how many times the question was asked in the years after, each member felt the same thing. It was the end. But not all goodbyes are necessarily forever. And so today comes the news that The Maccabees have reunited to headline All Points East in Victoria Park, London on August 24th 2025 – it also coincides with the 10-Year Anniversary of their final record together; the critically acclaimed, Number 1 album ‘Marks To Prove It’.

Not only will The Maccabees be Sunday night headliners – the bank holiday weekend being the perfect time for such a celebratory occasion – but they are also collaborating with All Points East to deliver an essential bill of artists that they love, both old and new.

The first small turning point on the road to All Points East can be charted back to guitarist and founding member Hugo White’s wedding in February 2020. He wanted to put together a covers band as part of the celebrations. Guest spots were divided out between an illustrious list of close friends and musical peers including Adele, Florence + The Machine and Jamie T. It was mooted that The Maccabees could maybe play ‘Pelican’ at the party to make it really special, but Hugo wasn’t entirely sure if singer Orlando Weeks would accept the invitation. They hadn’t all been together, on or off stage, since that last moment at Alexandra Palace.

For Orlando, it was about participating in a landmark life moment for his friend; as he puts it “I didn’t go because it was The Maccabees playing together again, but because it was a beautiful gesture to be invited and to contribute to the spirit of the day. What I wanted, band aside, was to find a way to be in each other’s lives in some way.’’

Having played almost every venue of every size in London as the band developed, the opportunity to headline the leading festival in the Capital in such good company, in the City they all grew up in, was eventually too good an opportunity to pass up.

Having immediately sold 30,000 tickets for their final Alexandra Palace shows shortly after its announcement, demand for tickets is expected to be huge. Fans who sign up to the mailing list at www.themaccabees.co.uk will gain access to a pre-sale which opens at 10am on Wednesday 30 October. Remaining tickets will then go on general sale from 10am on Thursday 31 October.

Felix White adds, on the pertinence of the show itself, “In the intervening years we’ve been to All Points East a lot, separately. It’s become a bit of a landmark festival for us, always checking who’s on the line-up. I’d go and have a great time throughout the day, but there was always this pinch of regret watching headliners that we could’ve done it ourselves one day too. I thought that moment had passed, and it was something I was prepared to come to terms with that I was always going to miss. I think we’re all kind of shocked and excited that we get to do it together again.”

Hugo White was inspired, in part, by watching The Strokes at last year’s All Points East: “I could see that they were enjoying it , realising how great what they had created together was. Being a band, you are usually in a mindset of, ‘We can do better’ and you’re always chasing something else. This is an opportunity to realise that whatever we had in that moment was pretty special and get to enjoy it again. It’s a chance to appreciate everything, and especially how it impacts other people and created a community.

[nice-bright-colors]

I’ve eaten dinner 3 nights in a row at BJ’s Brewhouse.

I’ve had their Tatonka Stout, PM Porter, Nutty Brewnette (bad spelling and all), their Jeremiah Red, and now tonight I finish off with…

BJ’s 24th Anniversary Grand Cru. A 10% Belgian Strong (so they say). It’s quite spicey and slightly fruity. Not exactly sour, but not far from it. I wouldn’t call it Belgian, but that’s just me.

I never realized that BJ’s has been around for 24 years.

Luckily, The Wife’s birthday is this weekend, and her friend from Chicago is coming in. So I get to go my favorite Belgian Ale place at home…and stay at The Westin a stones throw from my apartment.

Limited Edition glassware:

Sadly there isn’t enough room in my carry-on.

[awesomeapricote]

military age male.

friday friday friday friday. it's that day again isn't it? this one's sorta special where i live; it's a regional holiday for :star: andalucía :sparkle:, there isn't really a traditional food, event or nothing, you just have a day off or two and well, better feel patriotic (is it still patriotic if it's regional?).

oh btw, this is all being written *checks watch* around 30mins to an hour before posting. Time's tight ik ik. okay so last night i went out for first time in ageeeeeeeesssssss. a friend's birthday came up, sweet 18, how cute. anyways, this friend is ukranian, lived there his whole life. can't remember exact places but basically he's been displaced like, 4 times since 2014 because of the city he's been living at being invaded. Now his family resides in Odessa. Yikes. well he visited for, what'll be the last time he gets to for an indeterminate amount of time. 18's military age. draft. war. all of that. he told me stories of when he visited this past xmas. bombings, but thankfully nothing up close. his birthday was 25th february. 24th they put down his dog and it's the 3rd anniversary of the russian mass invasion of ukraine. Where they almost took Kyiv.

it's sad, i'm sure there's sadder, and i'm sure there's more than tens of thousands of such cases. but this one's like, it's here. it's next to me and well it hits home. if there is another WW you bet your ass i'm avoiding the draft. maybe i'll go, maybe not, but that's up to me and you bet your ass i won't get taken by force. in theory i've got to do conscription (fuck that shi lmao) but only if i live in greece for, more than 6 months in a year? or 3, i'd have to check. either way i'm certainly not gonna be living that long so i don't think i should worry about that.

dehumanizing people is just really crazy to me, like how could you dehumanize russians being forced to the frontline, or switching sides (as in media, propaganda and all) how could you be raised being told and actually believing the best thing you can do is grab a rifle and retake Kyiv. instead of this being the norm i strongly believe that, in this day and age, it's the exception. a common tactic to make a nations population further hate the country with which they are at war is, to dehumanize them, and their population. Hence terms like pigs, savages, animals or other dehumanizing terms of that sort are often used by propaganda and in arguments, i'm sure you've heard them. dehumanizing them makes inhumane actions more justifiable, and morally correct, and brews a potion of hatred which is accepted by the many. This tactic however, works both ways: you could describe someone their small stature, akin to that of what he was, a child. and also go into detail with personal anecdotes of their family, and the grief their loved ones after they die.

military age male. that's me in well, 14 months. fourteen. in fourteen months i'll also graduate. i've got fourteen months to study, lock the fuck in, and i guess assure myself the best future i can. save up all the money i can and well. enjoy. now is supposedly the most time i'll have in my life so you bet your ass i'm making the best of it. war is a real crazy thing. i can't fucking

imagin my brother (19 in a few weeks) going to war LAST YEAR. him. my brother who is well, i fight, argue, play fortnite with (ik :sob::::) and talk with about stupid chud fucking memes. or my friend who just became 18, loves his anime. Okay, back to the point, i went out with this friend, for the first time in ageeeeeeeeessssssss. since his birthday had come up. i bought him a wallet, and, we went to a ring-store to see if he liked any and i told him i'd buy it but he didn't seem too convinced with any. but some other time i'll get him one. maybe next weekend. the group was birthday ukranian boy, other ukranian boy and two russian girls (no harsh feelings ab the war no one's stupid like that) we had a few beers, then a mojito and a shot of tequila. fucking hell that was my first time drinking in ages, since a bottle of Ballentine’s scotch i had once upon a time. then the two guys and i went for dinner with my mom and, it was fine, we all managed to act sober enough haha. or is it jaja? xaaxa?

CHANGING TOPIC, talking w someone today, they asked what the fuck xaxaxaxa means and why the fuck i was saying it. that surprised me, i thought everyone would know but, i guess not. well, i guess the sound hahaha makes is best reproduced with "jajaja" in spanish speaking countries, and "xaxaxaxa" in greek or cyriclic-ish languages (russian, ukrainian, belarusian, kazakh, macedonian bulgarian) and well my brain is torn apart. i usually use just "hahah", yk since, i mostly speak english and well, everyone understands hahaha even if they're language uses jajaj or xaxaxa and they don't even know english. but i but more than per language, if i'm speaking with a russian person i'll use it, even though we're speaking english because i do NOT know russian. anyhow now my brain's fucked up and i mix them all up but not too much, plus now if it's with a close friend i'll use xaxaxa (idk, it's quirky-er plus i'm SICK and TIRED or writing fucking haha, lol, or lmao; i wan't variety.)

well, i think that's gonna be it for today. i know, it's a short one. The shortest one yet if i'm not mistaken. and i don't touch any actual useful / informative topics (sorry,,,) but next time i'll try to! i've got exams next week and the one after the term exams, so i think next friday i won't put another blog :( one friday, but next will be extra long trust! thanks for reading, here's two poems because i'm skipping next friday :p

the way you ghost me's so romantic

i'm downing pills of chlorine

dousing myself in benzene

miss the smell of your hair,

the glare in your eyes of azulene,

so aromatic

/* benzene is the most famous aromatic compound. azulene is another notable one, appearing often in nature, pigments things like flowers blue. hence the name, coming from some latin root (take azul in spanish). also probably don’t take pills of chlorine, please and thank you! */

military age male

don't matter if your skin's dark or pale

let's hope wwIII won't break out

desertion's capital most places

you might not make it to jail.

bitch i'm scared of the second death

my first death will be too soon

i wanna just hold my breath

close my eyes,

dream of us stargazing under the moon

/* i’m guessing you know the concept of the second death? well basically, first is your actual death, second is the last time anyone speaks about you (or thinks ab you depends who you ask) */

PHOTO DUMP!!!!!!

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 24th September ✨

Happy Audio Drama Sunday, lovely listeners of audio drama. It must be coming in to spooky season because I’ve been getting my spook on this week! 👻

As always, spoilers!!!

🌲@hellofromthehallowoods (134) This episode has made me so excited for the hfth novels! If I’m not mistaken, there was reference to both Amaryllis and the LEM story! My heart felt so heavy listening to Friday try and save O’Connor, what an enigma that man is. I am ROOTING for Victoria, where is Yaretzi to help her shed this self-hate and embrace her sunlight?? 🥺 I also loved that Harrow and Victoria had a moment of power but let’s not forget that they are actual children, they left a friend behind in a burning building during that same moment … And OUGH Writing Desk! It’s so interesting to finally get a glimpse at his actual motives and how it may be too little too late!! 

📞 YAY @thespcpodcast is back!! I thought the premise of this episode was so interesting! Let the nice vampire do their good work! The exploration of how therapy needs has changed with time and how different age groups often seek different things was such an insightful bit of world-building. I’m so excited for more. 

🎞  Congratulations to Tiny Terrors on their release anniversary! I strongly suspect that it IS all connected and I can’t wait for more pieces of the puzzle! 

🤴 InCo (@itmeblog) Terraforming!! They’re terraforming!! And the late King said that the Galactic Union couldn’t have any tech they didn’t understand. Galaxy eyes = galaxy-brained. I didn’t think this story could get cooler!! 

🧛‍♂️ @re-dracula WHAT a week!!!! It’s SO good listening while knowing what happens next, it makes the mourning all the more bitter. This is what Van Helsing must have felt like. This week has also made me realise how much I’ve missed hearing Jonathan Sims absolutely killing a monologue. 

🥾@doyoucopypod (10) Mad respect to Frederick here, I would not have been as calm or as trusting if I stumbled into that situation. It seems like REDACTED is swimming in more guilt that was initially teased. WHO is SHE and why did redacted leave her behind???

🐬 @patterspod P Files #??? Man, this show is so funny. And SO weird. In the best way. Please listen to it. 

⛪️ I finished KILL FM! What a treat! I hope the teams involved in making this episode are really happy with what they’ve created - it’s so good!! 

🐟 New @kaneandfeels is always such a welcome delight!! Me: It’s Freaky Friday shit. Brutus: It’s Freaky Friday shit Me: 😲 The voice acting was so perfectly uncomfortable that when they were back in their own bodies, it almost felt like they were improvising - the chemistry was so immediately apparent. Also, the bit about the mars bars was so my brand of silly, it made me SO happy. 

I can’t wait for more Silt Verses and Moonbase Theta, Out next week! Hope you’ve all had a good weekend 🥰

[medleymisty]

Is anniversary yay!!!

Today is the 24th anniversary of our first date and Monday will be the 21st anniversary of getting married, so it's Anniversary Week!

We're getting packed and ready to go to Gatlinburg later today. We got married there in 2002, 21 years ago, when we were 21. So we're going back now 21 years later. :)

I hope you all have a great weekend, and remember that you are awesome and cool and good and of the most infinite worth!

[tgmsunmontue]

Bit of a quiet week from me due to real life kicking me around a bit.

Won't be doing a weekend 'what should I write' due to my 24th anniversary being tomorrow and also committing two months ago to tidying/cleaning/organising my craft room. I have a bit of a ridiculous to-do list this weekend, so writing is having to take a back seat.

(However my writing room is beautifully clean and tidy now and I am hanging out for next weekend and then my 5-day weekend at the end of the months to spend writing ALL FIVE DAYS!)

This weekend I do fully intend to post an update on the following two fics:

More than Movie Magic Once Upon a Time in 1996...

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and gets to do something they want to do! (Like watching this GIF a few hundred times...)

[isolaradiale]

Hey everyone!

Just a reminder that tomorrow, July 21st, is the final day to claim your free anniversary unlock! As of 12:00:00AM on the 22nd, you won't be able to claim this unlock anymore!

We will be doing an inbox run tomorrow, so to be fair anyone accepted during tomorrow's run will have until 11:59:59PM on July 24th to claim this free unlock, however. Please just remember this extension is only for characters that will be accepted during tomorrow's inbox run!

Have a great weekend!

-- the island stars.

[misscammiedawn]

On trauma anniversaries

Personal (and a little oversharing) post but I thought I'd speak out, even if it's just an excuse to type to myself.

Original was written October 2023. It has been sitting in our drafts ever since then. 6/22/2024 Dawn edit - Given we eventually posted the suicidality draft, I thought I'd finally share this. Especially given how much my mind has been on the end of June 2022 this week, both the good and the bad.

12/26 Dawn edit- this was originally written just after our birthday and then left in drafts. It is posted now due to the December holiday passing with no attempted intrusion from our No Contact family.

Plus I am in the middle of creating a self-harm safety plan with my therapist and wanted to see what we typed last time we were fucked up to reference for this project.

This is all from my perspective and my advice may not be useful to all. My therapist always says "take what you need and leave what you don't" when reading mental health advice. I hope there are things that will help on your end.

I've been finding a lot of joy recently in trying to write educational resources when I'm feeling a certain way and I'm feeling a certain way right now.

To those who don't know a trauma anniversary is a recognized within PTSD treatment as a sensitivity to emotional reactions brought about by the annual reminder of a particularly traumatic memory. A widely understood one is 9/11 though birthdays, Thanksgiving and annual family holidays tend to come up in the conversations too.

I suppose there is a little "chicken or the egg" back and forth on if the anniversary reminds the individual, summoning the symptoms or the symptoms of the disorder provide the reminder. My reading has said that in traumatic situations our minds become keenly aware of the circumstances and build an aversion to the situation as a survival mechanism and even the smallest hints of familiarity can activate those defenses.

Either way it is commonly experienced enough to be considered a sensitivity when performing trauma therapy. It commonly manifests via nightmares, excessive moodiness or defensiveness, avoidant behavior, social withdrawal or to put more plainly an exacerbation of existing symptoms. Danger of relapse goes up during these periods.

I know that very well. I try really hard not to let my negative instincts take over when I get this way.

October 23rd and 24th are bad days for me. One is a birthday and the other is the anniversary of the day my marriage ended and subsequently started the chain reaction that made the family I built for myself in the USA outright tell me they do not consider me family any longer, something which I am still not even remotely over. Bio-Fam can reject me, that's fine... but when the Found Family reject you? How the fuck do you recover from that? How are you capable of rationalizing that in a way that does not hold all of the blame to your own throat?

Both days represent the act of willingly burning my entire life to the ground and letting the fires consume every relationship and piece of familiarity I had built in 2 previous lives.

A little hyperbolic but that's the impact and fuck I am devastated by guilt and regret for having done it and a terror that I will do it again someday.

Prior to this year's birthday I had even made a post where I joked about how I wasn't dreading it this year but as the weekend went on the emotions started to fade in and then The Reminders kicked in via emails and IMs saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY. The sources were as innocuous as companies with my details who email coupons or work colleagues or even loved ones and people who I do not want contact from.

I've learned one thing this year and that is "you can't ignore this shit". I was arrogant and thought my progress through therapy and my recent stability would usher me through without incident. I was wrong. Luckily my ability to communicate is better than it was so I was able to warn people and ask for reassurance and care from loved ones and have them tell me that I haven't hurt them and am not alienating them and they aren't upset with me.

So, here's my handy guide (from me and to me) for how to survive this shit for future.

Get Distracted

The best moments of my past 48 hours were when I was busy doing things. Work was useful for me. My girlfriend wanted to go on a shopping trip so I forced myself to get out of the house even when I was feeling like shit and wanted to scream and cry.

The shopping trip was more annoying than it was fun but the chore got me doing something and that got me out of my own head for a little. Sometimes having something to be annoyed about, even if it's a stress, is better than being left to fester.

Communicate

I fluctuated between "I don't want to be alone" and "I want to never speak to another human ever again" about 4 times a minute during the worst of it. I was upfront with everyone in my surroundings that my affect would be off and that it was temporary and fretting over me would stress me out more. Everyone was kind and sweet to me. Also everyone at home knows NEVER CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY and so getting full compliance from the people in my life helped a lot.

Limit Decision Making and Stress Intake

When work started piling on I started to get a pit in my stomach that created "we're going to get fired!" thoughts that spiraled rapidly. I almost lost my composure with the screen, with myself, with my girlfriend, with the cat over the stupidest things because no matter how much I wanted to admit it, my threshold was in the toilet and I couldn't control it or will myself out of it. This isn't just anger, it's any and all emotion in excess.

Likewise I felt completely incapable of making even minor decisions during this period. Ensuring I had meals planned in advance helped when I would rather starve myself than commit to even buying food.

Commune with the grief instead

We are all quilts patched from every person who has ever loved us. It's okay to accept that there are complicated emotions. Life cannot be as black and white as we force it to be in order to survive. Part of healing is communing with the pain in a way that neither outright rejects it nor fetishizes pain to the point of which you are intentionally triggering yourself. I found a lot of comfort in watching the shows/playing the games that people from before always wanted me to. It's like doing a little bit of finished business, getting to share something with the living memory. It doesn't change the past but it lets you feel a positive connection. It gives positive momentum when the old scars itch and you want to scratch them. Growth off of the scorched Earth without interacting with the past itself and allowing it to intrude on the present.

So whether I support my dad's football team, watch something with the knowledge that she would have loved it or finally see the inspiration for the character he tailor made to be your character's villain in TTRPG, see that game they always talked about liking; I like doing this as something I can DO with the emotional build-up that depends a reaction.

Be Grateful and Show Love To Those Who Stand By You

I have spoken to every partner today just thanking them for dealing with me while I'm like this. I'll talk to my therapist tomorrow. Guilt and paranoia are ruining me at the moment. Assuring people what I lucidly think and feel helps.

Be Open to the Idea That You May Be Wrong

Just... I can tell I'm off. I know I have warned people I am off. I may actually be off. Communicate and offer love and understanding and apologies if needed. It will pass.

It's healthy to understand that while you're compromised you may not be fully yourself. Tread with caution. Do not make impulsive decisions, ask for outside opinions when you need grounding. Allow yourself to not feel guilt when you act in ways you're not proud of.

Help Others

Gotta admit doing the shopping trip with local girlfriend and being love and care for long distance one helped get me out of my own head. I find this one is actually really useful for me and I should think about how I can do it more in the future.

It's extra energy and costs spoons when you're not doing great, but it's applying effort in a positive regard.

Forgive Yourself

If I know myself I will be reading this in a year's time. That's why this post exists after all.

Just... forgive yourself. For abandoning people. For running away. For being imperfect. For choosing to be a woman. For not fighting harder. For not being who everyone needed you to be.

Don't seek to rationalize, don't seek to minimize. Do not even seek to accept what you did.

Just forgive. We are okay. We hurt people and ourselves. We handled things poorly. We broke contracts of the heart and shatters dreams of the future.

But we're alive. We have a chance to be happy again. It's okay to be the villain in other stories. It's okay to not be a perfect victim.

Forgive yourself.

Find something to look forward to

There is always "the next event". Plan for it. Get out of the present and the past. The future is there and it is waiting for you.

It'll be okay. The danger has passed. This week will pass.

It will be okay.

[fatmaxaslan]

BIRTH NAME : Fatma Aslan MARITAL NAME : Fatma Ceyhan-Aslan ALIAS : Little lion. AGE : 36 DATE  OF  BIRTH : December 24th, 1988 RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married HOMETOWN : San Diego, California TIME IN KISMET HARBOR : Since April 2023 RESIDENCE : Emerald Mist FACECLAIM : Melisa Asli Pamuk

trigger warning: open marriage

EDUCATION : Doctorate of veterinary medicine from UC Davis. OCCUPATION : Veterinarian at Best Care Animal Hospital and Equestrian Estates. GENDER : Cis-Female PRONOUNS : She/Her SEXUALITY : Straight

HAIR COLOR : Brown. EYE  COLOR : Brown. HEIGHT : 5'9'' / 176cm BUILD : Fit ACCENT : American LANGUAGES : English, Turkish, Dutch TATTOOS : None

ZODIAC : Capricorn LOVE LANGUAGE : Physical touch, quality time CLOTHING : Dresses stylish in private, always keeping up with fashion. For her job she works jeans and a shirt under her doctor's coat and overalls when on a farm. Horse riding gear when working at equestrian estates. CURRENT HAIR STYLE: ( x ) CONDITIONS : Anxiety ALLERGIES : Cats EATING HABITS : Loves eating KETO, every once in a while as a reset. eats irregularly due to her job. EXERCISE HABITS : Jogging and wall pilates SLEEPING HABITS : Can't sleep alone, hugs a pillow or her partner. Reads before bed.

ADDICTIONS : None. DRUG  USE : None ALCOHOL USE : Socially.

POSITIVE  TRAITS : Harmonious, organised, calm, happy NEGATIVE TRAITS: Impulsive, stubborn, avoids conflict PHOBIAS : None FEARS : Public speaking, public humiliation. HOBBIES : Horse riding, going to the gym, pottery HABITS : Plays with her weddingring on her middle finger or her necklace, tracing her hands, tends to walk on her toes. USUAL TEMPERAMENT : Happy

FATHER : Cemal Aslan MOTHER : Rana Aslan-Erbay SIBLINGS : Hasad and Rana Aslan. PARTNER: Altan Ceyhan CHILDREN : None PETS : None.

BIOGRAPHY

Fatma was born as the youngest child to the Aslan family, gracing her older brother and sister with a new and last sibling. San Diego offered the best kind of life for the children growing up, having everything at their disposal. With their respectable jobs as a lawyer and a matchmaker, Cemal and Rana were able to provide their children with whatever they needed and even wanted, but the last thing anyone would call them was spoiled. They were never one to be given something as soon as it was on the market. When friends would parade around with blackberries or iphones, Fatma still had a flip phone in her pocket. Rather than a new meal on the table every evening, the family would all cook together in the weekends and would eat the leftovers for the rest of the week. Birthdays and anniversaries and big achievements were reserved for going out for dinner. Something to look forwards to. And the children never got more than five presents for their birthday or Christmas, depending on the price.

This taught Fatma to be appreciative of her belongings, never complaining when she got her sister's old clothing until she had a clear sense of style she wanted to wear, which was different from that of her sister. Though that didn't keep the girls from 'borrowing' each other's clothing from time to time. They were taught that making gifts and memories was better to cherish rather than buying something from the store in a rush. Fatma appreciated the outdoors more than staying indoors, leading a very active life from a very young age. She participated in competitions in gymnastics, excelling on the beam and outgrowing it when she left for college. She was an eager learner, yet knew that she would never be right for an administrative job. Fatma always had a caring heart, whether it was for animals or for humans, but the the former stood out. So her schooling eventually led her to UC Davis, where she studied to be a veterinarian. In here, her love for large animals grew more than she would have thought. Cows, alpacas, horses, it was where her heart truly was. She started horse riding as a hobby at the same time, a lucrative deal with the stable she trained at that she would take care of the horses for a royal discount, how could she say no?

After university, Fatma relocated to San Diego again, starting her career and living her life. It is where she would eventually run into the man she would one day marry. However, halfway through their relationship she was met with the question on if she wanted to open up their relationship for other people, a practice her then boyfriend was well acquainted with, but was new to Fatma. She weighed the pros and cons and eventually accepted, with the promise that should he propose to her, they would both only have each other until their one year wedding anniversary, which they did. The only promise that remained was that when they would start having children, the open marriage would close permanently.

Fatma never made use of their arrangement, being happy enough with her husband, friends and job to add a second relationship. Things worked for them, but Fatma started to notice strain from her husband. He was more frustrated about his work, not liking the workplace and his colleagues. When Fatma received word that there was a veterinarian position open at a veterinary's office in Kismet Harbor, Oregon, she suggested making the move with her husband after a successful job interview. He agreed, quitting his job and searching for a new one while they prepared for their move to Kismet Harbor. It turned out to be the right move. Fatma felt happy in the smaller town, loving her job and colleagues, one of which an old college friend. Her husband soon got a job himself, one that kept him from home because of it. In his absence, she started to consider dating herself, which her husband approved of. Time will tell if Kismet Harbor will be a place of happiness, or the start of something she hadn't anticipated.

[nade2308]

On Friday, we've had our third year anniversary of our Monte Walsh watch. This movie, that at first was just me needing to see Tom and George in something together, became something more as time went by. Something we are always going back to, at least once every month, a new tradition that has marked many milestones in our friendship, an no doubt will mark many more to come. A movie that has become a comfort movie, as well as an endless well of inspiration.

Saturday was National Day of the Cowboy, and this month's (and anniversary) watch fit perfectly into that.

And to think it all started as a talk on July 24th 2021. A thunderstorm and a weekend later, we had this. We still do.

@thethistlegirl