#PLEASE ILL BE A GOOD GIRL

[ayyyy-le-simp]

I was having a lovely conversation with my mom today at the dinner table while eating tacos. We were talking about fictional and celebrity hunks. She listed Chris Evans, Thor and Chris Pratt. I listed Harrison Ford/ Han Solo and Bucky Barnes.

“Who else do you find as a hunk?” My beloved mami (mom for Spanish, yes I still call her mami, let me act like a kid around her 🙄) asked.

I snapped my fingers and pointed to nothing but air “Hunter from The Bad Batch.”

My amazing Mami looked at me and said “That’s a cartoon character” She gave me a look and said “that’s…weird.”

I then showed her a picture of Hunter (even though she has seen him before). She then said “He looks like Rambo.”

My somewhat uncultured ass looked up Rambo.

Oh my gosh

Oh my gosh

Holy smokes-

MY MOTHER, MY AMAZING MAMI, WAS NOT LYING

Conversation with a friend of mine after looking up Rambo

RAMBO IS LITERALLY HUNTER BUT FROM THE 80S WITH A PEW PEW AND SWEATY ASS ABS AND SHOULDERS ANS BICEPS

Hunter, baby, honey, sweetheart, cream to my coffee, amor, mi corazón, please, take off your shirt and be Space Rambo. I’ll be your little housewife. I cook, clean, and I’m great with kids. Call me at 1-800-NEED-A-MAN

[theloveinc]

sugar daddy Bakugo is so funny b/c if he's paying your tuition he's getting mad if you don't go to class

[mugentakeda]

not even harvards top scientists could understand the complexities of the azula-iroh beef lore that i made up in my head

(silly bonus under the cut)

[saintirulan]

your girl has to wake up at 7 am tomorrow to go to the penis festival, but she stayed out with random ass people until 2 am 🫨✌🏻 who would have thought socialising was so fun diwjuwbwuq

[prosebushpatch]

Okay so I recently, finally, watched Wish and I have some thoughts. Overall, not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but still has a lot of fundamental story problems and I've got to get them off of my chest. I'll mostly be focused on Magnifico because I think his motivations and arc largely represent the problem with the overall theme.

Okay so my biggest problem with Magnifico is his motivation. His tragic backstory. How on earth does he go from losing his whole family to thinking, the only way he can prevent that from happening again is to grant wishes? The logic doesn't track. It almost makes sense in his creating a kingdom where he protects everyone and "doesn't even charge rent," but it does not make sense with his wish granting. Having a great need to be control to make sure he doesn't lose anyone ever again can be a compelling motivation for a villain, where we see lines crossed that don't justify the intent, but in the movie, he's too self-absorbed to seem to have any actual care for the people of Rosas.

I think if the motivation was changed to something like Magnifico had once been a bright-eyed, enthusiastic wish granter who blindly believed all wishes were good but learned the hard way that that wasn't true could have been a better fit for the overall goal of the movie. Imagine that he granted a wish for a wicked person who used that wish to hurt others, or if Magnifico granted a wish but that wish ended up ruining the person's life because what they wanted wasn't what they needed (i.e. Remember The Princess and the Frog? Dig a little deeper) and that person could have went after Magnifico and blamed him for their troubles (harkening back to We Don't Talk about Bruno). This would be an understandable tragic backstory for Magnifico, and better explain why he's so careful about the wishes he grants. And, perhaps the reason he keeps the wishes he doesn't want to grant is to keep the people in his kingdom docile. No one will be angry with him for not granting their wishes if he makes them forget them and lose that drive and motivation, which makes more sense than the unexplained hording them like he does in the movie? Why does he keep them in the movie other than admiring the wishes? It doesn't make sense to me.

This would give Asha more of a reason to oppose him, if it's shown how his desire to not get hurt or to inadvertently cause hurt turned into a paranoia where he drains people of wishes to fly or play music that inspires others. And, as a side note, we need to see more of how Rosas is a kingdom of people who lack drive and motivation, where only those younger than 18 have that special part of them that inspires them to chase after a dream (something that Astor Rhymemaster touched on). Because that's the point of wishes, right? That's the point of the entire Disney canon. A dream is a wish your heart makes. That star can only get you so far, it takes hard work and determination. It's wanting something better in life, it's dreaming of leaving behind all you know to chase after a tangible light. It's finding a new dream, it's finding a new wish as you grow and learn about yourself and the world.

I don't think the movie Wish understood what makes wishes so important in Disney stories. You know what wishes do? They ignite change. It's not about getting what you want, it's about finding the courage to chase after something better. Ariel wants to be where the people are, but really she wants to be somewhere where others are willing to understand her and in the end, she finds that and makes amends with her father, who finally is willing to see her for who she is. Rapunzel wants to see the lights, and that desire pushes her to leave a tower she's been trapped in her whole life, learning that the world is not as cruel and cold as her abusive mother told her. Cinderella wants to go to the ball, to dance with people who treat her as a person and not a servant of cinders and ash. That wish is granted by a fairy godmother and gives her a hope that is worth fighting for, a hope that helps her reclaim what is rightfully hers; a glass slipper that fits only her and the love that comes with it.

Wishes inspire change. The movie should have been about that. Magnifico could have been right, that some wishes inspire negative change that can drag down multiple people. The kingdom of Rosas could have been so placid because change is scary. Maybe Magnifico could have convinced people, after taking their wish, that it wasn't worth it. Maybe the wish ceremonies could have changed so it wasn't portrayed as some sort of lottery everyone looks forward to, but Magnifico would grant wishes on the spot if he decided they were good and worthwhile, and he would lock away the wishes that would cause trouble and tribulations. 18 year olds could be enthusiastic to give him their wishes, thinking they were surely good and worth granting, only to forget their wish and be told that their wish would have only brought about their unhappiness, this would have justified a more solemn tone in the kingdom, setting up a world where people are mostly downtrodden, thinking their wishes are bad and pointless and they're better off without them. Imagine Cinderella or Rapunzel being told their wishes weren't good, reinforcing all the things their abusive families tell them, taking away that hope and courage to find something better for themselves.

Here's where the true conflict could come in. Asha could be onto this from the beginning, and her opening song could have been about this concern that the people who didn't get their wishes granted aren't willing to try at all. (Because, after all, why doesn't Sabino play music at all? Having that taken from him would take so much joy and creative expression from his life!) But why does Asha know something is amiss?

Simon.

Imagine that Magnifico has a strict rule not to ever share your wish with another person because then it wouldn't come true. It makes sense with our own superstitions, and then makes it so that no one knows anyone else's wishes. Maybe your best friend changes so drastically after giving up their wish, but you believe, like everyone else, that their wish would have only caused suffering. What can you do about it? Well what if Simon told Asha about his wish? What if Asha knew his wish wasn't dangerous and couldn't imagine a way that it could go wrong? That would give her a reason to doubt Magnifico and put more emphasis on how Simon has lost his drive like all the other adults in the kingdom. And it can also emphasize in the end that sharing your wishes and dreams with others can be a powerful thing. Just the act of sharing your dreams can inspire others to go after their own, and they can give you the encouragement to chase your wish too. Wishes inspire change, love gives you the courage to make it happen.

Imagine if the star boy used to be a human, who wished to help others and lost his humanity to do it. Imagine his wish confirms Magnifico's belief, that wishes cause suffering because star boy lost his tether to earth and is separated from the people he loves. Imagine how he foils Asha who also wants to grant everyone's wishes. Imagine him ensuring she doesn't make the same mistake he did while she gives him a reason to change again, to anchor himself to humanity again because he loves her enough not to leave for forever.

Imagine the movie confirming that, yes, change is scary. Chasing your dreams won't always make things better. You might fail more than you succeed and some wishes cannot coincide with each other, leading to grief and strife. But some wishes are worth it. Sometimes, chasing after something better and failing is worth leaving a worse situation. Sometimes taking that chance is worth it, and, like in all fairy tales, if you are kind and generous and act with love, that will make all the difference in the end.

Also, I know everyone wished for a Magnifico and Amaya evil power couple, but imagine if Magnifico was truly in love with Amaya, as he is in the movie, but that love is eventually his undoing. Like Amaya leaps in front of Asha, and Magnifico stops or redirects his attack because she's the one thing he loves more than himself and that is the weakness that Asha and co can take advantage of. Imagine Amaya keeping Magnifico in the mirror and he gets to dote on her from his imprisonment for forever. I'm just saying. At least 30 sickos like me would be into that. Imagine the depth it would give to the themes of love and change and wishing and how acts of love make all the difference.

Alright, I'll get off my soap box. I just really wish Wish could have been stronger because these fairy tales Disney is famous for matter. They really do. But the movie feels too stale and shallow and too much of a cash grab that knows the outline of a disney musical, but is unable to understand the heart of why they work.

[anewp0tat0]

the majority voted for me to not photoshop and just work on the valentines day art to be posted later in the month. and yea I will do that. but I already started photoshoping regardless. so happy belated birthday Grelle!!

I was originally making William into Sebster, plus Nardo's face shape worked a lot more for William than it did for Sebs, and could I have just imported a whole new face in there? yea, but it would have taken longer, may not have looked great... plus I accepted that in the end, I do afterall headcanon Bassy to be Grelle's side toy while Will is her main. so she would want this.

[mitchmotch]

day 6 of 30 min sketch mondays w @revalito! i love falin lots and tried to do a color study w her ^^

[seariii]

My take on Kotoko as a morally gray person, about a morally gray character who thinks in black and white

first of all, i absolutely love this woman, so all of this comes from a kotoko enjoyer, but when talking about canon i can not turn the blind eye to the wrongs she has done. i will talk about my perception of her murder, of her as a character and about her beating up the guilty prisoners (i will put this emoji 🐺 when i jump subjects just to keep it organized)

this next phrase is my personal take, i know some will disagree with me and thats okay, which also works as a tl;dr:

Kotoko didnt do anything wrong outside the prison, but she did wrong inside of it

i know beating up people isnt actually good, but she did research upon research to get to the bottom of the cases she was investigating and found the culprits this way. "but she could've brought them upon justice" and you arent wrong about that, but the victim she actually murdered, even when his identity was revealed to the public, the law didnt bring justice upon him.

screenshots & translations from @/maristelina (i didnt put everything in here, if you wanna check all the articles, please go check on their post!)

her victim was a child murderer, he had already killed 10 girls in 2 years, but even then, he was still free because of his father’s position of power. 

then we have her other victim, the man she beat up and sent to the hospital

there are a couple articles dedicated to this one. but a quick run down: the man, Mikio Oshii, was wanted for theft and assault, having tricked at least 2 or 3 elderly people, pretending to be a bank employee, and convincing them to hand over cash, he pushed one of his victims, fracturing her ankle. 

then we have the article about Kotoko’s assault. again a quick run down: someone heard screaming and found a man lying on the ground, who had lost consciousness after being beaten up, and was taken to the hospital. the police suspects a man (kotoko was wearing men’s sneakers and covering herself up). the victim was wanted for theft and assault charges and was Mikio Oshii.

further proving that she was aiming at people who prayed on the weak, she had good intentions (at least at first), and we also have the facts that she was trying to go through the lawful(?) path at first 

she was studying law, showing us that she genuinely believed her cause, bringing justice to the world and protecting the innocent, or “weaklings” as she calls them, more on that later.  that she was gonna try and go for the morally correct route, but what changed? what is that thing she “wants to do”? i hope we get to see her reasoning on the next trial. for now i agree with the theory that says that her or her family was victim of someone like the guy that was above law for having money and a father with a position of power. showing her the flaws of the law/justice system and thus taking matters into her own hands.

🐺 i personally believe that there are some people who dont deserve second chances, like pedos and rapists, and like the man kotoko murdered, between others. so this is why i forgive her from her crimes. she did proper research, she is passionate about it, she wants to protect the weak, or thats what she tries to convince herself of, because this brings me to my next point

she does have those violent tendencies, and she enjoys them

“this feels so good”

this is from the t1 trailer, people suspect this were phrases they said after their murders. so i think there is a possibility that while she was trying to convince herself that her actions were for justice, to try and protect the weak, and i dont doubt that that was where it came from at first, she ended up doing it out of personal enjoyment.

i once read that “if you do a good deed because you want to do it, it means that you arent a good person. to be a good person you need to do good deeds without wanting something in return” meaning that you should be uninterested on even the satisfaccion of said deed. this is a phrase that i absolutely hate and dont agree with, but i think it applies in here. kotoko was trying to do something “good” (morality is on the bearer’s eyes) by bringing to justice people who kept escaping it, by taking revenge for those weaklings she so desperately wants to protect, and while thats her main motivation, she also does it because she wants to.

i believe my girl has a thirst for power. she is self righteous, the way she refers to the people she wants to protect as “weaklings” its like shes putting them down in some way, the way on her VD she just wants to keep rambling about her theories, the way she inserted herself on Mikoto’s interrogation, the way she just assumes Es’ intentions and doesnt seem to accept when they call her out on it. she doesnt listen to others at all and once her mind is set on something, there is nothing that can move her from there. she isnt a good person…. but also, she isnt a bad person, and i feel that the fandom forgets those two statements can coexist. even if she sees herself as a saint, and firmly believes that she did nothing wrong, thats because

🐺 her world view is black and white. and this is why while i condone her actions on her murder, i do not condone her actions of beating up the guilty prisoners.

a lot of the prisoners have a black and white morality, heck, milgram itself as a system IS black and white. and from what i’ve read, a lot of the fandom also thinks in black and white. all of which i find extremely… interesting…. tbf its the nd majority vote game about nd murderers on the nd website, so makes sense (im half joking, sorry)

kotoko attacked the guilty prisoners because thats what she had been doing, and thats what she got voted innocent for on t1 (i wasnt around). but no one told her to do that, she acted on her own, she misinterpreted her judgment and forced her opinions and methods on others, claiming it were Es’, without their knowledge and without ours.

as a side note, when i first got into the fandom, i found surprising to see that kotoko was inno and fuuta was guilty on t1, since from my perspective their crimes are basically the same, they both exposed and harrowed “bad” people.

i make a lot of emphasis on black and white thinking, since its something im familiarized with, for example lets talk Amane since its her trial is still going

she is the type of girl who will correct other’s mistakes, who will call them out and try to fix them so that the others can be right, like her. her truth is absolute and even when it flails, she stands her ground and proceeds to believe in herself and her views of the world. in what i said, you could re read that and it would also apply to kotoko, and just like her, Amane also convinced herself of doing something she wanted to do by telling herself it was the right thing to do. kotoko’s “protecting the weaklings” directly translates to amane’s “punishing her mother for her sins (hurting the cat)”. so while in both cases there were hidden feelings, something tells me neither of the girls knew about their own ulterior motives, thats how well they convinced themselves.

people who think in black and white just see it as it is, right or wrong, left or right, green or blue, there is no other choice but those two. and from my personal experiences with myself and with others, its something you end up applying in almost every aspect of your life and its really difficult to change up this way of thinking. beginning to see the grays of the world and its other options its not an easy task without some proper help

overall, i dont believe she was right for hurting the guilty prisoners, and fuuta losing his eye because of her gives me a horrible gut feeling. overall, it also ties on her need for power, since she firmly believes shes Es’ “fang”, thus reducing herself a weapon for justice, not implementing her own judgment anymore, but someone else’s, ours, which my problem with her actions in this scenario. i firmly believe that if outside the prison she had came across mahiru or fuuta, she wouldn’t have attacked them, but  after her t1 inno, and getting her ideals supported, her beliefs became radical, and now shes going based on our ideals, our judgments, our right or wrong, our black and white morality, MILGRAM’s black and white morality.

🐺 im still a kotoko inno truther, and i love her, shes my favorite character. but i dont expect her to get innocent this trial, as she did wrong. i dont want to say it was our fault that she harmed the other prisoners, since we had no way of knowing this would happen. in retrospect we can say whatever we want, but none of us can read the future. 

i dont even have a real argument on why you should vote her innocent “shes pretty” is not good enough lmao… but who knows, maybe we will see something that makes her worthy of an inno vote on her second trial a few months from now (not counting on it, probably wont be enough)

in the end i wrote this because im really passionate about this character and her black and white views on the world (shes so intense). and because this beautiful person @archivalofsins told me to "keep talking about kotoko" and i have zero self control regarding this fictional woman.

🐺 i believe with the help of a third party, someone who could act as a moral compass to her and could teach her that the world has more colors, more choices, and if she actually learns about this, she would end up being an amazing thing. 

also, if the theory about her being an accomplice of the serial killer turns out to be true, i will puke and cry :) 

[sodrippy]

yes yes sun and moon but what about the SUN AND SEA dichotomy

[trainingdummyrabbit]

angela

hi this is Really Funny but also this just got me thinking that. yknow. angela never really Did get to leave the library did she. like, regardless of if she Completes Her Plan, she still just... shes still just In The Library. all that work to Leave Her House and she just Doesnt Get To. thats fucked up

[hexplaything]

if you're gunna act like my mother and have me call you mommy the least you could do is suck the snot out of my nose when i'm congested

[waterghostype]

i will be honest i like cole x vania. like should it ever be canon? never absolutely not. is it adorable to think about in the comfort of my head? yes yay woohoo!

[kusuokisser]

i need to see more terusai truthers liek..e..theure so horrible and dranatic. theyre both such utter LOSERS around eachother. they make eachother worse (in the being a total freakshow loser way). they both think that they arent the loser in the relationship but they hoth are. they both are.

I need More Terusai Fans LPPLELESSEEEE THEY ARE SO REAL THEYREBITH SO CRINGEFAIL LOSERGIRLS PLEASE

Someone discuss teursaiwith me icoild go on for days

[toastsnaffler]

WILL MY FLATMATE FUCKING STOP PUTTING WASHING ON BEFORE 7AM ON A SATURDAY

[nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius]

Society when my mother stops trying to lecture me, who’s on the underweight side of average, about watching what I eat

[faggot-friday]

if i had to choose her or the sun (i'd be one nocturnal son-of-a-gun)

summary: Sophie Foster's spiralling again, and it's up to her boyfriend Keefe Sencen to help. Luckily, looking after her is his favourite thing to do.

warnings: mild self-harm, implied suicidal thoughts, self-hatred, lmk if i need to put anything else here

word count: 1493

read on ao3 or under the cut!

Sophie wiped her eyes and forced herself to look in the mirror. She didn’t want to; she didn’t want to see, she didn’t want to see what the world had done to herself, what she’d done to herself. She didn’t want to know. She didn’t want to care.

But she did. And she hated herself for it.

She pulled at her hairtie, letting her hair fall down to her shoulders, ignoring the sharp pain that came from pulling out several of her hairs. She didn’t care. It didn’t matter. It was just a small amount of pain, in the grand scheme of things. It was nothing compared to everything else she felt.

She heard Keefe come home, mumbling a song she didn’t recognise under his breath. She inhaled sharply, rubbed the tears off her cheeks, retied her hair, and launched herself onto the bed in the adjacent bedroom, picking up the first book she could reach and covering her face with it.

Keefe came into the room and switched on the light. His singing (“she’s the only one I got, mranababa”) stopped abruptly, and Sophie lowered the book.

“Hi,” she said nervously.

“You good there?” he asked, dropping himself down on the bed near her feet.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Your book is upside down. Also, you’re on the left side of the bed and not the right. You’re always very insistent on being on the right side.”

“That’s because left is the wrong side.” Sophie flipped her book and hid her face again. “That’s not really helping my case, is it.”

“No.” Keefe scooched up the bed and sat next to her — on the left side, so he was barely on the bed. It would have meant nothing to most people, but to Sophie it meant he was allowing her to be on her side of the bed. “Is everything alright?”

Sophie shrugged. “As alright as it can be.”

Keefe didn’t buy it. “You have that look in your eyes again.”

“What look?”

Keefe scooped Sophie up and moved her to the right slightly so he could fit on the bed better. “The I don’t deserve to be loved by anyone, not even myself look.” He grabbed one of her hands between both of his, holding it up to eye-level. “Also, you’ve been chewing your nails, which you only do when you’re worried.”

“I’m always worried.”

“Yeah, but regular-worried is for your eyelashes. Ultra-worried is for nails.” Keefe kissed her gently on the hand and placed it back on the bed. “Trust me. I know these things.”

Sophie wanted to smile, but her mouth and her brain wouldn’t cooperate.

“What’s on your mind, Sopharella?” Keefe bit his lip. “Hmm. That doesn’t sound right. Fosterina? Fostinator? Fosty? Oh, not Fosty. Fostinator’s good, though. What’s your opinion on Fostinator?”

Sophie opened her mouth to tell him it was one of the worst things she’d ever heard, but all that came out was a dry sob.

“Shit,” Keefe muttered. “Here’s hoping you’re not actually sad, you just really hated the nickname.” He did a somersault along the bed and scooped Sophie back up, cradling her gently. “What’s wrong, Fosterina?”

“Nothing,” Sophie choked out, but it probably wasn’t very convincing considering she was crying.

Keefe stood up and marched her through the house. “You’re very pale, when was the last time you got some sun?” He was several shades paler than her. She laughed, but it just made her gasp dramatically and pathetically for air. “Come on. Outside we go. Or is your poor little vampire body going to melt in the sun?”

Sophie laughed again. Keefe was the only one who could make her laugh anymore.

“Now,” he said, sitting them both down in a chair under the birch tree and adjusting her so that her head was at the same level as is (not that it did much, because she just curled up into his lap and rested her forehead on his collarbone), “are you willing to explain what’s wrong or do you just want snuggles?”

Sophie answered by curling up closer to his chest. Keefe brought his legs up on the chair and wrapped his arms around her, muttering something that was probably snuggles it is.

After a few minutes of just that, listening to his heart thumping and feeling the rise and fall of his chest, once her tears had run out and her cheeks were somewhat drier, she felt like talking. “Sometimes I wonder why you love me.”

Keefe’s head snapped up so fast Sophie almost got whiplash. She looked up at him, uncurling herself slightly.

“Why wouldn’t I love you?” he said.

“I’m — I’m broken, I’m barely a real elf, I’m not as pretty as the girls at Foxfire who constantly stare at your ass — my eyes aren’t even blue, Keefe. I’m not normal. Why would someone like you want to be with someone like me?”

“Uh, first off, you’re a real elf. Better than a real elf, because you were able to recognise the deeply flawed way our government used to run, having grown up outside of it.”

“Keefe, I’m part horse.”

“That just makes you funky.”

Sophie smushed her face into his chest so he wouldn’t see her roll her eyes.

“Second, you’re not broken. Everyone’s flawed.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“You’re not broken because you’ve been through shit, either. I don’t condone the shit people did to you — the opposite, I want to punch their lights out and maybe drown them a little bit to spice it up — but without it, you wouldn’t be how you are now.”

“Broken, crying when I think you can’t see, wishing I could just merge with the earth?”

“Strong.”

Sophie hated it when Keefe won arguments like this.

“And, also, third one? You’re not as pretty as the girls at Foxfire who constantly stare at my ass? You are pretty, but also, I don’t see how that could possibly matter. I don’t love you ‘cause you’re pretty. That’s just an added bonus. Also, you can forgive them. My ass is a work of art.”

“It’s really not.”

Keefe raised his eyebrows. “Really? You’re disagreeing with me on the one thing you can’t possibly win?”

“I don’t win any of our arguments.”

“That’s because we either agree on everything, or it’s something stupid like whether I love you or not, and you’re always on the wrong side of that.”

“Well, I’ll win this one. This ass argument. Asses are unimpressive, and yours perhaps more so.”

“That’s what you think.” Keefe stood dramatically and bent down so they were at eye-level again. “Tell me my ass is the most beautiful ass you’ve ever seen or I’ll prove it to you.”

“Why would I agree with you when that would make us both wrong?” Sophie sat up properly on the chair and rested her elbows on her knees.

Keefe began wiggling his hips. Sophie recognised the move from when they were younger, more careless, with less need to care at all; another ploy to make her stop thinking about how wrong the world around her was. “Make us both wrong, Foster? I disagree.”

“I disdisagree. Your ass is unimpressive at best.”

Keefe’s dance got more exaggerated, until he was full-on twerking. “I disdisdisagree. We could go all day, Foster.”

“We could. You’d get bored though.”

“I’d never get bored of you.”

Sophie chucked a handful of leaves at him, laughing. He got the point and stopped.

“Sorry. Myassisveryimpressivethough.”

“It’s fine. It was a nice dance.”

“Really?”

“Well, no. But I appreciate the sentiment.”

Keefe knelt in front of the chair and allowed Sophie to clamber onto his back. “Back to our previous conversation, I love you because you’re you. I love you because you’re the only one who laughs at all my jokes, even if they aren’t even funny. I love you because whenever something happens to me, whether it be nightmares, or if I see my mum or my dad on the streets, or if I’m standing on the edge of my mental cliffs contemplating giving up, you’re always there to help or to pull me back to reality or to remind me that I’m not a hopeless case, that I’m still worth loving and caring for.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Foster, if it was a choice between you and the sun, I’d be one nocturnal son-of-a-gun.”

Sophie laughed. She couldn’t even begin to explain all the reasons she loved Keefe, so she just kissed him gently on the jawline (a rare gesture from her) and said, “I love you too.”

“Are we making this a competition?”

“We’d be going around in circles forever.”

“Yeah. We would.”

Keefe walked on, both of them silent for a few moments, Sophie’s arms locked around his shoulders. He bounced her slightly to readjust her position, and she thought of something.

“Keefe?”

“Yes, Fosterina?”

“Do you even know what son-of-a-gun means?”

“Absolutely not.”

She laughed.