#don’t try me Maritza

[fazbearedits]

A eye for an eye

A continuation of this fic https://www.tumblr.com/fazbearedits/755620590954676224/overwhelmed

“Alright since Nicky seems scared we’ll regroup in the afternoon tomorrow and we’ll see if Nicky is ok to go plus it’s getting late” said Delroy,everyone agreed and left the park going to their house but Trinity walked Nicky home first before going back to her place because she knew he was shocked “goodnight Nicky,thanks for helping me” she said,she gave a smile to him to try and cheer him up but Nicky just shut his door and didn’t look back.it was the next day and while everyone was determined to go to this mysterious weather station Nicky was still scared but tried to hide it,he didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.

While walking through the forest Nicky and Trinity stayed behind the group and Trinity obviously saw through Nicky’s act,she then slides over to Nicky and held his hand and smiled “thanks trin” said Nicky “no problem! I’ll hold your hand the whole time” she responded.Enzo heard Trinity and looked back and saw the hand holding and them smiling,he was extremely jealous of Nicky holding her hand since he only held hers once before,it felt like a cloud that he could just sit on in the blue sky,except raven brooks had never had a sunny day only fog and cloudy skies no matter the season so he’d only seen it in media.

But Enzo slightly bumped into delroy in front of him while day dreaming as Delroy came to a stop,”we’re here” he said.The group looked up,the weather station towered over them,they felt like mice compared to it.A massive eyeball stood on a tower next to it as a set piece,it unsettled everyone but they hid it.Walking in the group split up and everyone had their different thoughts.

Maritza:Ew,it smells like a dead body!

Ivan:I hope crowface doesn’t catch us here….

Delroy:woah this place is so creepy…cool!

Enzo:ugh lucky Nicky…

Trinity:how old is this place I wonder?

Nicky:No no no no no no no-

A loud thud was heard from behind a curtain,the group crept over cautiously to it and Ivan pulled the curtain back to find tunnels and Delroy and Nicky looked over to each other as it reminded them of the tunnels that they were in back at the school.they crept behind the curtain and began walking through the tunnels and delroy started to slow down to walk at the level of Trinity and Nicky,who were at the back of the group and delroy began talking to Nicky “Nick I think these tunnels connect to the school”,Nicky actually responded “yeah I think so to delroy.” Delroy and Nicky actually began having a conversation and Trinity was glad because they were normally at each other’s throats so it was nice to see them get along.

Maritza suddenly yelled “wait everyone stop!” She blocked Ivan with her bat,Nicky,Trinity and delroy stopped and walked over to see and they saw a door across the room(?) to stairs that looked like they led to the halls of the school,this confirmed delroy’s theory but Maritza noticed them looking at the stairs but she said “no not that….that.” She pointed her bat down to a huge gaping chasm.Nicky quietly said to himself “no,not here” but everyone heard it and looked at him “let’s go.” Said Trinity,she continued “this is creepy and it’s freaking me out.” But just as everyone was about to react Enzo saw this as his “chance” and rushed over to Trinity,he made sure to go between her and Nicky though so they could stop holding hands but this ended up sending Nicky into a panic attack yet Enzo didn’t care unlike Trinity.

“It’s ok Trinity,I’ll hold your hand! You don’t need to worry!” But Trinity didn’t care about Enzo’s “request”,”Enzo I said let’s go.now I need to get to Nicky“ Enzo tried to push the ask more “No it’s fine! Plus Nicky can stand by himself you know,he’s not a child.” Trinity became irritated “ENZO.STOP” but he still wouldn’t budge the group tried to get to Nicky but Enzo also blocked them “NO! I JUST WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND IS THAT TO MUCH TO ASK!?” Trinity shoved Enzo but she did it so hard he nearly fell down into the chasam but luckily Ivan,Maritza and Delroy were able to hold onto him.once they lifted enzo up they all looked at Trinity who was hugging Nicky while he was calming down but he’s was looking stone cold at them,not caring that Enzo nearly died “Enzo,I’m finally gonna say this to you.stop.you’re a fucking weirdo who is in love with me and it’s fucking weird.I DONT LOVE YOU.”

No one said anything,they didn’t have to,Trinity just walked off with Nicky,completely deserting Ivan,Delroy,Maritza and Enzo.She was walking into the woods with Nicky when he said “I’m sorry you had to say that to Enzo” but Trinity responded with “it’s fine,Enzo has been acting weird to me for a while,it was about time I put my foot down.” They walked back to friendly court and they sat on Nicky’s doorstep for a while before walking back to their respective homes,Trinity didn’t care what happened the next morning with Enzo she didn’t care at all,all that mattered to her is that her friend was safe.

The end of this two parter :D‼️‼️‼️

[ozimagines]

Do you have any head cannons for if Miguel had been paroled at the end of season 5? Thank you

Ooooooh this is interesting. Like, everyone knew he wouldn’t get paroled, but what if Ruiz took pity on him. Saw a little of himself in this lost barrio boy.

Miguel Alvarez Gets Paroled (S5)…

“You’re so fucking beautiful when you’re angry…”

He’s seething. His parole might be in danger. Maritza might be in danger.

(Poor boy doesn’t know about Ronaldo yet💔)

When he gets in front of the parole board, he’s jittery

He’s thought about every question ahead of time and gives his answers

He can see on their face that they don’t believe it

“What the fuck makes you think you should go free, you little prick?”

He feels it… the anger. The red in his eyes that wanted to hurt Ruiz. That tingle in his hands before he hit someone. 🔥

He took a deep breath.

“I really believe I’m rehabil…”

He can’t even make himself say the words😢

He was going to spend the rest of his life in Oz

So he opted for the truth

“I don’t know if I’m rehabilitated. I know I want to be different. I know I want a life. I know I don’t want to hurt people anymore. Feel their blood on my hands. Their voices in my head forever. I don’t know if rehabilitation is possible… but I hope it is. I hope it is because it’s my last shot. My last shot at having something to hold onto.”

“…and if you were free?” -Ruiz ⁉️

“I’d hug my mother, because I know she tried. I’d tell my sisters I love them and I’m sorry I went away where I couldn’t protect them. I’d get a job and complain about it but I’d love every minute of it. I’d join community theatre. O’Reily’s mom was really nice and I think I found something I care about. I’d try. I really would.”

The board is silent for a moment. Ruiz beckons the lady next to him to lean in to a whisper.

“Thank you, Mr. Alvarez. We’ll get back to you.”

He leaves, not feeling good about his chances. He tears off the suit with an anger, waiting in Sister Pete’s office.

“I’m gonna stay here, Sister. Those motherfuckers ain’t ever gonna let me free.”

A woman in a suit entered, reading something off a form. He didn’t listen to any of the words except the last three:

“They voted yes.”

His heart stopped in his chest.

Was he going free❓❓❓❓❓

He released a long breath that he had been holding onto since he got to Oz. He’d be free. Maybe not fully safe, Chico wasn’t gonna let him get away that easy, but he was free.

He signed all the forms, collected all of his belongings, and said goodbye to the one prisoner he’d miss.

Rebadow congratulated him, giving him a word of warning before he left:

“Hold onto life, Miguel. Hold on with both hands.”🙌

He mulled over those words, unsure of what they meant completely.

He knocks on Mukada’s door, whose sad eyes trail up towards him. Even he wasn’t sure if Miguel was safe to put on the streets.

They’re silent for a moment, Miguel dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt, a leather jacket over it. No cuffs in sight.

“I’m sorry for all the shit I’ve caused.” -Miguel says after a moment.

Mukada thinks for a moment.

“Then don’t cause shit, Miguel.”

Those were the last words they spoke to each other for a month.

The sun is bright, and Miguel realizes how much he’s missed being outside.

His sister, Jimena, drives him.

He stares out the window the entire way, watching the blank fields turn to houses turn to buildings.

She asks if he had any friends to invite to his parole party

“No” -he says a little too quickly.

The party is small. His mom and sisters and cousins who cared to show up.

Honestly, after being in solitary for years, all the people were a little much for him

He goes for a walk afterwards, walking through his old neighborhood. Nothing changed and everything did at the same time.

He visits Maritza, who refuses to let him inside… when he sees Ronaldo’s hat on the chair.

There it is again… the anger. The seeing red. He wanted to drag them both across the floor.

But he didn’t. ❤️

“Yeah… this… this is done. You too, Ronaldo.”

He throws himself a pity party for the night, downing Michelada after Michelada. 🍺🌶️

He made good on his word and joined e community theatre the next day🎭

It was… strange.

He’d been used to inmates who hated acting and were playing it like a joke… and now everyone was so serious.

He starts off in lighting and sound, teaching him all the tech spots one by one

He makes friends, real friends, who invite him out after shows.

They tell crazy stories, and though he knows his stories could beat them all, he stays silent and just listens, laughing along with everyone.

He gets a job as a mechanic at first. He hated it but went every day and stayed clean.

A few weeks later, after jawing with one of his clients, he offers Miguel a job at a video game studio.

He stays quiet and takes notes at meetings, trying to show everyone he belongs there

He wears a suit to work, getting teased (friendly) as everyone else was wearing whatever they please

But he likes his suit, so he still wears it🕴️

As he’s walking one day, he meets Ronaldo on the street, who looked instantly afraid of him.

Miguel rolls his eyes and tells him that Miguel died in solitary confinement

Ronaldo, not reading the situation, offers Miguel a bump of his coke and says he has a job that’ll get Miguel back into El Norte

He thinks about it for a second, but declines both

Ronaldo calls him a pussy and even though he’s seeing red again, he walks away.

He gets a therapist and stays on his meds this time💊

He binges shows he missed and judges them on their technical prowess

He stays away from trouble, and even when others try to start some, he stays out of it.

Chico tries shit from Oz, sending people to mess with Miguel.

Miguel keeps his head down and does what he does best… survive.

After a while Oz starts to fade away into Fourth of July BBQs and oily popcorn fingers at the movies.

He hangs out with his sisters’ kids. They think he’s the best uncle.

Miguel doesn’t know how to talk to kids but they’re just drawn to him. Feel protected by him.

He hangs up every card they make him.🎨

He stays in that community theatre, working his way up to stage manager.

It’s years later but he’s finally in charge again.

He plays basketball and soccer and even beer pong if you catch him in the right mood

He even buys himself a sketchbook and starts drawing (very much keeps it to himself)

Miguel starts to understand Rebadow’s words.

He reaches out to Mukada when he’s feeling no feisty or violent. After seeing Mukada at one of his plays unannounced, the two had become closer. He realized Miguel was serious about getting his life together.

They chat at a coffee shop the next day.

Miguel is… surprisingly calm for losing his girlfriend and being released into nothing.

“Y’think… maybe… God’s listening to me again, Father?”

“He never stopped, Miguel.”

Years later, years and years, as Miguel is sitting on the couch with his family, and his kids are playing on the floor, his significant other just watching, happily… Miguel realizes he did exactly what Rebadow told him.

Bonus: his kids were baptized by Mukada. He wouldn’t have it done by anyone else.

[rockclimbinglover12107]

Unpopular OITNB opinions because I’m bored and procrastinating

I had little to no interest in Taystee and found her outright annoying at times. She was okay in the earlier seasons and my idea of her was that she was good character that I didn’t like due to personal preference. However, in the later season, I felt that she could be irritating, irrational and depressing in an unenjoyable way and that she got far too much screen time for what I considered to be a rather dull plot.

I find it hilarious when people try to complain about people on the show being mean or bad people. Like yes, that’s why 99% of them have landed themselves in prison. The funniest examples of this complaint are when people say that Lorna, someone who grew up Italian-American in New York, could sometimes say racist things or when Flaritza, two girls who probably couldn’t even legally drink before they went to prison and, in Maritza’s case at least, didn’t seem to have parents who cared for them, could sometimes be bitchy and immature. These comments are even funnier when whoever says this then goes on to say that they love Frieda, Carol and Barb.

In my personal opinion, Season 2 was the best season quality-wise but Season 4 was better when it came down to drama and entertainment. Season 3 was actually one of my favourites aside from Alex’s whole paranoid arc and I didn’t really mind the panty storyline. Season 1 was obviously good, if a little slow and boring at first. Season 5 shouldn’t have dragged on for so long, if they were only going to cover three days, although I probably would have enjoyed it if it hadn’t felt so absurd and weird compared to previous seasons. Season 7 was depressing trauma porn from start to finish and Season 6 was dreadful n every single way and a terrible conclusion for the riot.

I felt like the family dynamics became way less cohesive it’s the show progressed and people that had once gotten on perfectly well were suddenly at each other’s throats and vice versa. A good example of this was Spanish Harlem which went from a clearly outlined family where Aleida and Gloria acted as parents, Blanca was not a part of the group and the other four ( Maria, Daya, Maritza and Flaca ) pretty much did whatever Aleida said. Contrast this to Season 4/5 where Aleida leaves but Flaritza and Maria don’t seem to even notice, Gloria just let’s Maria have control over Harlem with no complaints whatsoever, Maria and Maritza seem to be at each other’s throats one second and back to there seemingly rather good Season 2/3 friendship the next, Blanca is suddenly an active member of the group and Gloria only cares about Daya. This faulty dynamic is true for all of the other groups as well, and never gets the chance to recover after they are sent to Max.

I didn’t like how some of the seriously traumatic stuff that happened to some of these characters, especially in Season 4, was never addressed by the show again and seemed to forgotten after the episode ended by both the writers and the character themself. You’re telling me that Maritza was creeped on, forced to eat a live animal, held at gunpoint and repeatedly harassed but she bounced back after throwing up like twice and hugging Flaca. In reality, she would probably take a long while to recover or feel truly comfortable in her own skin again, maybe even experiencing some PTSD, which could have been an interesting storyline to take her character down through Season 5, instead of relegating her back to comedy bits and pop culture references.

That’s all my opinions for now, although I will probably make a Part 2 for this post. Hope you agreed with at least one of my takes and that you don’t want to kill me for some of the things I said.

[abbatoirablaze]

Ex Wive's Club, Chapter 18

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: nothing major

It felt like no matter what he was doing, it wasn’t good enough.  Nothing ever would be.  Not when he was going up against his ex-wife.  Not when she not only was a Drysdale, but also had a boyfriend that was an Avenger on his side. 

Curtis felt like it was a hopeless battle. 

He was a shop teacher at an all girls prep school who barely made it by on his own.  He was raising a special needs daughter and learning what he could to make her life as complete and functionable as possible.  It felt like he was forever trying to balance the two things while walking the world’s biggest tight rope.  And no matter what, it felt like he’d always gotten it wrong. 

But he never gave up. 

And he never really noticed anything going differently…not until after the first week that Sasha had been in his house ended.

“Curtis…I-I should really find somewhere el-“

“Stay as long as you want, sweetheart,” he offered gently, wrapping his arms around her waist, “I’m not pushing you out…”

“I-I don’t belong here…I-I’m invading your space…and I’m not even divo-“

“You’re helping me just as much as I’m helping you, Sasha…” he said gently, turning her around so that she could see the perfectly contented toddler who had fallen asleep on her playmat, “you make sure Maritza is safe while I’m at work…you keep her engaged…she’s even been signing more and more active…that’s because of you.  You’re helping me and my daughter in so many ways.  Why would I ever push someone out of my life when they make me and my daughter happier…”

“I’m not a replacement for your ex-wife, Curtis,” she sighed, giving the gorgeous man a sad look.  She reached up and stroked his cheek, “I-I’m not her.”

“I don’t want you to be her, Sasha…trust me,” he grumbled sadly, leaning into her hand, “she’s not a good mother.”

She bit back her sadness, “You know, some would say that I-I’m not even a good mother to my own children.”

“Hey…don’t you dare say that.   You’re an amazing woman and mother,” he whispered.  He leaned down and kissed the juncture of her neck, “you’ve told me enough about them.  I know how you forged a relationship with your son after all that time without him.  You beat your postpartum with him and Ashley.  You recognized that something was wrong with Ashley medically and you took the steps to get her help when your husband didn’t want to believe it.  You were an advocate for your children, Sasha.  And you tried to better yourself too!  You came to group and tried to work on yourself…bad moms don’t do a quarter of what you did.”

“Well at the very least I’m a bad wife,” she sighed, turning in his arms so that she wasn’t facing him.  A few tears slipped from her eyes and she sniffled, shaking her head, “a good wife wouldn’t have ever put herself in the situation that I allowed myself to get in…and then to find out that I’m falling for you even before Andy and I get a divorce-“

He was quick to turn her back around so that she had to look at him, “Y-you’re falling for me?”

A blush rose onto Sasha’s cheeks, and she attempted to look away, but Curtis let go of her waist to cup her chin in one of his hands.  Her eyes met his, and a shiver ran down her spine as she nodded, sniffling a little bit more.  Curtis thumbed away her tears.

“How could I not?” she admitted breathlessly to him, “you’re such an amazing man…and you’re moving mountains to try to make your daughter’s life more comfortable…more accessible.  Curtis…how could anyone not be completely and utterly in love with you?  God, I felt like I was pushing my luck being here every day…because every day you come back into this cabin and Maritza sees you…her little feet padding towards you…it makes me want to start all over again…try to get Michael and Ashley…and just be with you in every sense of the word.”

“I’m terrified about Friday,” he said quickly, admitting to her his deepest feelings to the woman who had emotionally laid herself bare in front of him, “I-I feel like no matter what I do, I’ll lose Maritza.”

“You won’t,” she promised gently, “you won’t lose your daughter, Curtis.  You care about her so much more than your ex does…any judge would be blind to ignore that.”

“She’s a Drysdale…and she’s dating an Avenger honey…”

“Thor kicked her out…”

“No,” he chuckled, not believing the simple word, “they have fights like this all the time…he’ll kick her out for a few days then-“

“I talked to my dad…” she began, cutting him off, “Thor kicked her out for good…apparently he went to clear his head and he met someone…someone I know very well…”

“Wh-what?”

“Sam’s baby momma…Nia…she has a younger sister named Maya,” Sasha answered, caught up in her own story, knowing that it was giving Curtis hope, “I-I guess they hit it off…she won’t have an Avenger backing her…Curtis i-“

“She’ll still have her family’s money,” he muttered softly as he tried not to get ahead of himself, “she didn’t lose a single right when we had the incident where she almost drowned Maritza…they swept it all under the rug…baby, I appreciate what you’re trying to do…I do…but I just want to be here with you two tonight…no talking about you moving out.  No talking about the case tomorrow…I just want to hold my girls in my arms…”

“Okay Curtis…” she sighed, leaning up to place a chaste kiss on his lips, “just us for tonight…tomorrow doesn’t exist.  But when it does…we’ll be in your corner, cheering you on, big guy.”

“Curtis, it’ll be alright…”

Curtis bit his lip, looking at the doors.  Maritza eagerly pulled on her father’s flannel.  The man looked at his daughter and she signed ‘up.’

“Baby, not right now,” he signed as he mouthed the words, “later…”

Maritza turned to Sasha, a whimper escaping her lips as she held her arms up to her, signing the words ‘mommy’ and ‘up.’

“It’s okay Mari,” Sasha sighed, reaching down to pick the little girl up, “daddy is just nervous…but we still love him, right?”

Sasha didn’t know much in the way of sign language.  But she knew the signs for ‘up,’ ‘daddy,’ and ‘love.’  Three of Maritza’s favorite words.  The little girl giggled and signed ‘love’ and ‘daddy.’  

But Curtis was still stuck on the fact that Maritza signed ‘mommy’ to Sasha.  His heart ached at the fact that she was so quickly attached to the sweet woman who had fell into his life, but yet her own mother wanted nothing to do with her.

“I love you too, baby girl!” Curtis sighed, talking to his daughter.  He held his arms out and she happily went into them, “alright, daddy needs you to be good, okay?”

“Mr. Everett.”

Curtis frowned hearing the bailiff calling his name. 

“Here…”

“Your case is about to begin sir…if you’d like to follow me.  You and your significant other that is.”

“I-I can wait out here if you want,” she offered gently, giving Curtis an unsure look, “file in when the doors open.”

“Watch Maritza for me?”

“Y-yeah…of course…we’ll sit in the back.”

Curtis nodded, handing his daughter back off to Sasha.  He followed the bailiff into the courtroom and was surprised to see Lily already sitting at one of the desks. 

“I hope you didn’t get used to having her,” she taunted, shooting her ex husband a glare, “once my lawyers get here, you’ll be lucky if you get supervised visits”

“Lily, Maritza deser-“

“Maritza is mine,” she spat, “I was the one that wanted her in the first place.  You aren’t going to get to play happy little family with my daughter and some new whore.  You have nothing Curtis.  I hold all the cards.  Just you wai-“

“All rise for the honorable Judge Gallaway!” the bailiff started, cutting Lily off.  Curtis hadn’t noticed that in the time she was harassing him the court’s doors had been opened and while Sasha and Maritza had sat in the back there was one other person sitting in the back.

His brow furrowed as he noticed Linda Drysdale. 

But she wasn’t sitting on Lily’s side. 

Surprise washed over Lily’s face when she saw her family’s lawyers walking in and promptly taking a seat on Curtis’ side.

“What in the hell are you doing?” she growled, glaring at the team of three, “I’m Lily Drysdale.  I-“

“We have been instructed by Mrs. Drysdale to represent Mr. Everett in the case of his daughter,” the head counsel said firmly as he took a seat beside a shocked Curtis, “Mr. Everett, we’ll be out of here soon.  Don’t you worry.”

Curtis went to open his mouth, but his mind refused to cooperate with him.  He turned back to the back of the courtroom and was shocked to see a smug look on Linda’s face. 

‘Take care of our girl!’ she signed, before turning on her heels and walking out.

Chapter 19

Tag List:  @Cjand10, @huntress-artemiss, @lohnes16, @tenaciousperfectionunknown, @teambarnes72, @elbell20-blog, @sebsgirl71479, @prokey16

[brumies-haitian-lit-blog]

Reflections on a Year of Reading Haitian Literature

Titles Read

- American Street by Ibi Zoboi

When I chose Haiti as my country to read, I wanted to know if there were popular Haitian books that weren’t about the devastating earthquake. I wanted to learn more about the country I was born in. I wanted to know more about it than just what I learned in World History. Haiti was my first option because my family originated from it. Even though I was born in Haiti and lived in a Haitian household my whole life. I have always felt like I was never truly known about the country I call home. Whenever I meet other Haitian people, I feel like I don't belong. I couldn’t speak the lounge well and I didn’t know a lot about the country other than the basic information they give in history books. I wanted to connect more with my Haitian origins. The knowledge I had about my country was stories from my family members or from textbooks. So Haiti was always my number one choice, and I don’t regret choosing it. I learned so many new things from the books I read. I was able to learn about the Voodoo culture in Haiti; one that I had little to no knowledge about. I was able to connect with many Haitian people’s struggles that they go through just to have a brighter future. One my own family fought for and is still fighting to this day.

From Ibi Zoboi’s Young Adult Fiction Novel, American Street. Teenage Immigrant Fabiola Toussaint thought that she would finally have a good life after leaving Port-au-Prince, Haiti. But soon after Fabiola and her mother step on American soil, her mother is detained by U.S immigration. After her mother is taken away from her, Fabiola now has to live with her Aunt Joe and cousins Chantal, Donna, and Princess. While navigating through American life. In the novel, we are put in Fabiola’s point of view, occasionally going into others. Following Fabiola’s journey I learned about the Haitian Voodoo culture and how it plays an important role in the story. It’s a coming-of-age story with a “right person, wrong time” teen romance. I also learn about the struggles Fabiola goes through, with her having to choose between her family or the boy she loves. It’s a story where the characters would do anything for their family no matter how big or small. Even if it breaks the law. The best way I can describe this book is a quote from page 104,

“A cold chill travels up my spine. Shit you do for fam. The way he says it, it's like he would do anything for his family, like for love and respect. I say it out loud. "Shit you do for fam." I turn to him. "Shit you do for fam," he repeats.” - American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Throughout these 20 weeks of reading. I’ve learned that I will not like all fictional novels. In the beginning of our independent reading I had originally planned to read more stories, but I only stuck with one of them, which was American Street. I did try reading another novel which was Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maritza Moulite, and Maika Moulite, but unfortunately the book was never able to catch my attention like American Street did. The interesting and unique writing style of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine was able to keep me reading the story even when I wanted to drop it. But in the end I wasn’t able to finish the story. In the end I stayed with American Street, and by reading this story I also was able to learn more about voodoo culture. I learned about many voodoo gods and goddesses and who they do. It was like I was learning about Greek Mythology all over again. At the end of this independent reading it made me want to read more Haitian Literature, and learn more about the stories they tell.

[sarah-dipitous]

Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 199(!)

The Purge

“The Purge”

Plot Description: the Winchesters head to a health spa where guests wind up dead — and hundreds of pounds lighter. Sam and Dean suspect fat-sucking witchcraft

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: (before watching it:) I’m going out on a limb and saying you wouldn’t even catch me in that place, but in a “I’m rarely so unhappy with the weight I am, yes even as a plus size person, that wouldn’t feel the desire to go” (after watching:) I simply would not, um, cheat at a hotdog eating contest? Partly because I would not partake in a hotdog eating contest? And also because I’m very straightforward in my eating contests, which I haven’t participated in since college. But I once did a “how many grapes can you fit in your mouth?” one and ran out of grapes? And didn’t even cheat when I went to go get more. I do suspect my opponent did…

Also, guys, it’s not witchcraft. It’s CLEARLY the Adipose at it again…goddddd ALSO, I’m almost TWO HUNDRED DAYS IN??

I have MISSED Dean awkwardly eating on the job. That used to be a main character trait or at least enough that exaggerated Dean from Sam’s story to Bobby was constantly doing that

Omg…stop saying that word!

Ooooooo, the plot is thickening. The loser of the hot dog eating contest’s Romani wife was having an affair with the winner (the Romani part is significant because they think she was hexing the dead guy)

GIRL…this is the most small town drama shit I’ve heard. Take the hotdog eating prize money, get your divorce, and marry your lover in Orlando because he would call you his Princess Jasmine??

Oh bestie, you may have gained muscle!! Eugh, these deaths are terrible to watch

Omg Dean, you don’t really get to be snarky to Sam about honesty after all the times RECENTLY that you’ve lied to Sam in REALLY BIG ways

Dean, you’re extremely bad at job interviews…

These people would be really funny if they weren’t actively killing people

The number of cultures whatever the the monsters these people are are appropriating…

They drugged the pudding??

Ugh, that poor woman…she deserved support from her husband, not ridicule and a divorce

Oh..oh, maybe they’re not the problem. Maybe they’re just trying to make it in this world that doesn’t want them. Maybe there’s a rogue one that’s killing people

I KNEW Dean would mishear that as fish taco. But it’s apparently pishtaco, a Peruvian fat sucker

The rogue one is the owner of this spa’s brotherrrrrrr and he just killed her husband after being confronted about the deaths. Noooooo

I do genuinely feel bad for her. She really is just trying to do her best, just trying to get by 😭

Ok, while they search for Alonzo, I think it’s important to point out all the episodes lately that focus on coexisting…the werewolf pack, this lady, even Cain just wanted to be left alone…so I’m curious what this means for the greater arc of this season because it ALWAYS ties in

Poor Maritza…I can’t believe Dean wanted to kill her, even after all this. And he still wants to send her back to Peru?? Dean!! No!! She didn’t do anything wrong!! I’m really disappointed in you

I…am really heartbroken over this end scene in the bunker. But then…we should already know that Sam wouldn’t have saved Dean’s life during the third trial because he also didn’t look for Dean at ALL when Dean was in Purgatory. Now, I’m not saying that some of the things that were said here weren’t true or weren’t…necessary to get out in the air but DAMN. Sam just eviscerated Dean

[springvaletales]

((Session 37 is wrapped!))

We started off with an immediate derailment into a 5 min discussion of Chuck Tingle, his books, and the associated RPG.

Sir Carl Jaeger greets the morning by facing the sunrise and squaring off with it.

His player rolled to see how far into dressing he got before doing it, at he, at least, has pants on.

Who among the party would read Chuck Tingle books?

For funnies, I also had Sebastian roll to see how far into getting dressed he got before leaving his tent.

He got as far as pants and one boot.

“Grandpa Pickles in a single high heeled boot.”

Thiori rolled to make pancakes, failed, tried to reroll using an ability and crit, so now we’ve all decided that he’s cursed to only be able to make cookies whenever he’s in charge of the kitchen.

The rest of the party was roused by the smell of the pancake cookies, and all gathered around the fire for breakfast.

Sebastian woke himself up with a long drink of something alcoholic from a drinking horn as big as Asahi.

I got caught up in the lore dropping at this point and didn’t take down my notes until after the session so I don’t have any funny quotes from here on out. Sorry!

Bagelby very politely asked Sebastian if he could come adventuring with them, and while flattered, Sebastian turned him down on the grounds that he has his own quest to fulfill.

Bagelby’s Player is always a master of letting me drop lore, so I got to describe through Sebastian the theft of the Heart of Y.A.W. by his grandfather a few thousand years ago, the loss of the location of said Heart, and Sebastian’s current quest to find the Heart, return it, and finally put his grandfather’s guilty, restless soul at ease.

The Heart of Y.A.W. is the big red rock Bagelby stole from a zombie’s tomb last session, and he clocked it immediately.

Bagelby told Sebastian that he had something interesting for him to see, but that he had to reach into something called a ‘Slime Pocket’ to get it.

While the rest of the party is disgusted, Sebastian is not phased by a little slime, and did not hesitate.

The Slime Pocket is on the front of Bagelby’s vest don’t be weird

Things Sebastian pulled out of Bagelby’s Slime Pocket:

A startled and unhappy Maritza

Michael’s preserved toe, in the necromantic amulet

An awful lot of slime

The Heart of Y.A.W.

Sebastian was incredibly startled to have the thing he’s spent the last hundred years searching for be dropped in his lap by this party of strangers, but he rolled well and is taking it as a sign from the gods.

In exchange for the party helping him return the Heart, Sebastian agreed to help the party find the Lost Temple.

The party broke camp and resumed hiking, and finally met up with Lex on the road proper.

Lex was very upset after spending a day and a night alone on the open road with eight frightened horses to control, and she was none too happy to see the rest of the party roll up full, well rested, and with company.

She forced Sebastian to take the reins of all eight horses and angrily ate the remainder of the pancake cookies.

Sebastian is basically walking these horses like one would a skittish dog.

That’s enough lore for today let’s move on to Bagelby pulling out the planatir to try and find the location of Skaadi’s Lost Temple for August after a few long hours of walking.

Ena, Sir Carl Jaeger, and Thiori all agreed to touch the rock and help Bagelby use the planatir, while August, Asahi, Lex, and Sebastian sat back and watched.

To their credit, they succeeded, and were rewarded with a vision of the temple (per August’s description from her visions) and the surrounding landscape, including a town with a very distinctive clocktower.

Thiori promptly wrote down all they’d seen as soon as the vision ended, and Bagelby and Ena promptly threw up from a failed Con save.

The party continued around the bend in the road and saw before them the walled city of Fallsberth - and it’s iconic clocktower rising above the city center.

The party is split on whether or not this is a Critical Role reference or a Legend of Zelda reference. It’s a little bit of both.

Bagelby is overcome with feelings at the sight of the clocktower as the party entered the city, as he never got to climb the lighthouse in Blackstone City and let’s be honest the chances that the whole harbor burned down in the aftermath is pretty high.

In an effort to deal with these feelings, Bagelby promptly stole two small figurines of the clocktower off of a nearby unattended merchant’s stand.

Unrelated, August then turned around and attempted to teach Bagelby the concept of currency, though she only succeeded in convincing him to use coins as a calling card whenever he stole something.

The city of Fallsbeth is getting ready for the New Moon Festival in a couple weeks, and Bagelby bothered a bunch of city employees busy decorating the streets to learn about it.

Lex, who’s god this holiday is dedicated to and who knows the holiday back to front, let Bagelby bother a bunch of city employees to learn about it.

The party all got rooms at the Fallsberth Inn, and we wrapped up there, to let everyone get some good sleep before work tomorrow. We’ll be back in a couple weeks!

[doll-collecting-aerialist]

Contemporary Characters and their Pajamas

You wanna know what annoys me?? That some of the modern characters don’t have pajamas!! I guess Marisol, Lindsey and Kailey get a pass for being the first editions of the line with an already limited collection, and so does Z, for being a rushed character, but Nikki?!! Does she wear her Gala outfit to bed or something?? And the WBU girls?? Gwen? Sonali?

Anyway, these are my headcannoned pajamas for these girls, plus Gabriela because I don’t like her pajamas. Logan isn’t in this because he smells.

Lindsey~

I immediately thought of these iconic mismatch stripe pajamas for Lindsey!! Did anyone else have these? I could see her in either set of these mismatched pajamas (ignore the red and black ones). And she’s totally a fuzzy socks > slippers girl.

Kailey~

When I found those hatchling pajamas, I was smitten. I want them for myself!! And honestly, those in of themselves give big Kailey vibes, but considering she lives near the coast, it’s going to be way to hot for her to wear long-pants pajamas the majority of the year. So, I found these really cute coral print shorts that she’d totally wear with the hatchling shirt. And the turtle slippers are a given.

Marisol~

They really did a disservice making her other outfits only costumes. She’s definitely the cool girl who wears velvet, zip-up, hoodies in the summer just because she likes when her friends come up to her and try to pet it. And I feel like every kid around that time had hundreds of those yoga pants. They just spawned out of no where. I was hand-me-downed so many.

Nicki~

Nicki has a very cute style, and she’d definitely be a nightgown girl. I’m imagining the print of the two piece pajamas on the style of the nightgown pictured. I think she’d also have a robe set that was very similar to Emily’s!!

Gwen~

Gwen is also a nightgown girl. The butterfly nightgown shows the personality of her doll, while the bee nightgown reminds me of some of her movie fashion (and I would know, considering I drew all her movie looks).

Sonali~

Sonali is both a Joe Boxer and a Uggs girl. She definitely wears holiday pajamas months after said holiday, and gets upset when her mom tells her she can’t wear Uggs to bed. She also gets a cute “positive” graphic tee because she deserves some positivity after dealing with the Mean Bees.

Gabriela~

This is how I’d redesign Gabriela’s pajamas!! Rest be assured, she’d also have a matching blue or purple bonnet. (I might redesign her entire collection at some point, while keeping the same vibes of her original collection.)

Z~

Z would start out wearing smiley pajamas as a joke, but it would quickly become unironic. I also think it would be cool for AG to make a set of pajamas that comes with weekday socks!! I remember the pain of having to wear the wrong day’s socks because I couldn’t find the right ones, and I think we should pass that pain onto the next generation.

Maritza~

I don’t have a complex explanation other than that these pajamas on her would be adorable. Imagine her with a high pony, tied back with one of those scrunchies, in her hoodie and shorts set, on her way to Evette’s for a sleepover!!

Evette~

Speaking of Evette, she’d have some cute vintage ensemble that she thrifted. I also found this cute green to purple reversible bonnet, which matches the print on the romper perfectly!!

(Makena to be added in reblog!)

[tadieshi-hotmada]

Literally the dummest most unimportant thing I will ever post in this tag but bear with me: Yadriel is one of the rare people on this earth who’s good at the crane game.

Can you imagine Julian and his friends all fighting over the machine at the arcade because none of them are getting it?

Julian is yelling at his friends to focus so hard and loud that it is literally impossible for them to do so. Omar is getting increasingly frustrated and trying to get them all to let HIM try again. Rocky is trying to kick the back of it to get the stuffed animals to move towards the claw. Flaca is cheering everyone on but it’s just putting more pressure on the situation.

Queue running into Maritza and Yadriel, and Jules practically BEGS Yads to step in and give it a try

Yadriel, performance shy, tries to think of an excuse as to why he can’t or shouldn’t. But then, all 4 of Julian’s friends turn to stare at him.

As if he needs another reason for these guys not to like him.

And so, feeling like something is possessing his body, he walks over to the machine and with sweaty palms puts the coin in

He wins after two tries.

Everybody LOSES it. Absolute fucking pandemonium. Luca is cheering and jumping. Julian is hollering. Rocky is actually grinning which looks weird because he isn’t sure he’s ever seen her do that before. Flaca as grabbing his arm and shaking him excitedly. Omar even gives him one of those respectful dude nods.

Imagine THAT being the first time Yadriel realizes they don’t hate him and that maybe they can be his friends too. All because of some dumb little arcade game that he just so happens to be okay at.

[sandrawrites13]

Ribs | Nicky Nichols x Reader

hey besties <33 send in requests bc im pretty bored. what do u think im doing?? my trig work?? my ap literature work?? LOL i have so much spare time so leave loads of requests

i know i've taken a hiatus don't hate me but im writing more now i swear.

ANYWAY stream evermore as always <33

request: hey babe! can you do me a favor? i was wondering if you could write a nicky nichols x fem!reader where the reader's new to that prison like they got transfered over and nicky falls like head over heels for this girl who falls in as kind of like a hit woman for red and at first won't pay her any mind but nicky practically sticks herself to the reader until she gives in and gives nicky a chance. thanks a bunch 💜

"What do you mean Red's got a spy?" laughed Nicky in disbelief and amusement, as she smacked Flaca in her shoulder heavily. "This place is like three square feet; who's that cook spyin' on?"

Alex rolled her eyes, adjusting her thin framed glasses with a smirk coating over her lips, "first of all," she said, sending a glare over to Nicky, "it's a hitwoman. And secondly... this prison is too big. There's people in here with secrets."

Holding back a laugh, Nicky directed a smile at the raven, "no shit, Vause. All of us have secrets. But- eh, this place has too much people in it. It's like a cramped van of puppies."

Maritza, biting into some snack she got at commissary, raised an eyebrow, "what kinda dogs are you adopting in vans?" which merely raised a chuckle from Flaca next to her.

"Dope ones, the ones that can find me coke," Nicky hastily answered, her own smirk crawling upon her face. It was then the sound of a fluorescent buzzing, a near damaging screech in the distance could be heard, and then, in the Cell Block, came erupting a (Y/H/C) woman, her eyes drilled in front of her as she swarmed past Nicky's cell.

"Looks like Red's hitwoman," Piper said with a smile.

Nicky scoffed, "her?" She pointed in your direction, her eyes tracing over your body with precision. "What's she gonna do, y'know... flick them on the head?"

With that, the group could hear the woman whistle, and then coo with a smile, "Oh, Chapman."

It took a few weeks before Nicky actually spoke to you. She wouldn't say it was out of fear, because of course it wasn't -- she wasn't even slightly intimidated by you, someone who radiated her same power and held her same courage.

You were so fascinating to her... but you held absolutely no attention. You couldn't care less about her presence. To you, all she was was a person in the dark, someone who was trying to get your attention at each curve. A type of stalker, but a pretty bad, pretty attentive stalker.

It was currently a Friday, you guessed, although all the days seemed to merge together into an endless Monday about two years ago, when your sentence started.

You sat down next to Freida, giving the thinnest smile as she spoke to you.

"Chapman healing up?" she asked, though you could tell by her voice she didn't truly care about anyone besides herself, which was one of the best things about Freida.

You raised one eyebrow, "she's managing."

When you caught glimpse of the blonde coming in sight from your left you had to withhold a scoff. "Here we go again." You swallowed a deep sigh.

Nicky ran up by your side, rubbing a hand against your back as she sat down. You sucked on the inside of your cheek, glaring at her from the side.

"Heyy, (Y/L/N), what's up, darling?" She smirked, only stopping when you sent a grimace in her direction. "Alright, a little hard-to-get right now... and... for the last two weeks. But, hey, y'know, hard-to-get is the new sexy, eh?" she asked.

You resorted to not answering, which only kept her continuing. "Very talkative, this one," she joked. "Eh, I'm not asking you to tell me your life story, y'know? Just give me something."

You push some of your hair back, and then smirk. "Would you leave me alone?"

"So she speaks!" calls Nicky with a boisterous, surprised expression. You cough, holding back the urge to snip back at her.

You cross your arms in front of your chest, though you can feel the thinnest smile falling over your face that you try your hardest to conceal, covering it with a disinterested sigh.

"And, eh, don't even try to go all Red's-Hitwoman on me," she called, "her and I are two peas in a pod. We've been through everything."

You give her a glare.

"Well, perhaps, not everything, but eh, we've been through a good lot." When you don't reply to her, she takes a deep breath. "Y'know, there's something, romantic about this, right? Like, we're here, together, one of us is pining, the other pretends she doesn't exist, eh?"

You give her another glare.

She rolls her eyes, "we could... uh, we could do that sappy shit. Laughing till our ribs get tough," she said. "We could... share beds like little kids," she said, coming closer to you.

"Gross," Freida complained.

Nicky withheld a scowl, replying by turning to you. "What do you think, Doll? Wanna finally give me the time of day?"

You raise your eyebrows once more, trying to find the right words to say. You smile before standing up with your tray, raising your eyebrows in perfect lining.

"Sure," you say simply, tilting your head to the side.

[retro-radio]

Missing Piece.

Maritza took a long drag of her cigarette and leaned against the wall of the dusty and dirty alleyway behind the hardware store in their town. She was waiting for something to happen, even if it was just a dog running into a tree with a little old lady trailing after it. Trinity was probably with her ‘boyfriend ’ Maritza scoffed at the word it felt sour and foreign on her tongue. Like that one time when Ezo had dared her to eat a whole lemon when they were at a house party. She took another drag. The town was decently quiet with virtually no people around, only the wind that ruffled her shirt and hair. She had drenched herself in rose-smelling perfume for some strange reason and was regretting coming here but oh well. She'd made plenty of bad decisions in her life. Maritza was confused by the world and why she wasn’t some perfect robot the American government had tried to shape. She wasn’t a traditional girl and she was certainly not going to be a ‘housewife’ married to some man who just wanted kids. She would spit on anyone grave who dared tell her what to do with her life. Maritza stopped to think for a second she didn’t know why she didn’t want a husband or any man for that matter. Why she gagged at the thought of a boyfriend and the thought of a husband she had always felt like something was missing deep inside her. Maybe she wasn’t meant to fall in love, maybe she was never going to have that honour. She always felt jealous if she ever saw Trinity with her boyfriend or with anyone other than her. But her heart would sore and her stomach would fill with butterfly-like feelings like she was going to be sick but in a nice way if that made sense? Maritza searched in her pocket for her phone and pulled it out her lips pursed as she flicked through her contacts trying to find someone to text and maybe annoy. She flicked the bud of her cigarette against the wall the ashy paper falling away. 

She brought it up for another drag when she heard a faint cough from behind her. She turned her head and spied Trinity who had streaks of mascara down her face. “Hey Mari" she said voice cracking Maritza felt her heart leap she walked forward and flicked her cigarette away she gently cupped Trinity’s cheeks he eyebrows knitted in concern. “What’s wrong? I thought you were with yo-” she was cut off by Trinity’s whose tears splashed on Maritza's hands “I…I’m not with him anymore” she took a shaky breath in and bit her lip “he cheated on me”. Maritza felt a wave of anger come over her and she grit her teeth “he what!?” she didn’t care what anyone said she was going to strangle that little good for nothing- “Mari please stop” Maritza snapped out of her racing mind and looked at Trinity who was staring at her. “Pease I don’t want any trouble”. Maritza calmed down. Tho her anger didn’t go away she leaned forward slightly and said “sorry... I just got really upset”. Trinity let out a laugh and led Maritza back into the ally and pushed her against the wall. “Anyway…” she started but trailed off “I don’t think he was the one”. Maritza froze her brain trying to process what was happening. Her stomach felt as if it was on a rollercoaster. “w-what do you mean?” she asked. Trinity smiled and cupped her cheeks and leaned in their lips meeting. Maritza melted into the kiss she tasted like ice cream and bubblegum. Trinity closed her eyes and kept kissing before they pulled apart “I think I was meant to be with you” Maritza smiled and went back in for another kiss. Love was a puzzle and Trinity was the missing piece she was the part of her that was missing.

[ozimagines]

Do have any thoughts on Miguel being a parent? Loved your Chico parent ideas!

AHHH yessss! You could tell after Miguel truly understood what it meant to bring a life into the world that he wanted to be a dad.

(Also thank you so much🥹❤️ Love me some Papa Chico)

Miguel Alvarez as a Parent would include…

After Miguel lost his son, he was broken. Broken because he knew it was his fault.

He was seventeen when he got Maritza pregnant. Senior Prom.

At sixteen he was running with the local gangs. At eighteen he was in prison. In those two years there was unprotected sex and drugs and violence. Anything to give him that high.

When his kid is born, there’s a break in the clouds; a reason to change.

Only too little too late. 💔

When he gets a chance to do it again, he does it for his son.

Miguel is not a neglectful father by any means. If anything he’s a little helicopter-y at first.

He encourages his kids into extracurriculars; anything to keep them off the streets.

If they play sports, he’s at every game/match. 🏀⚽️

If they do theatre, he’s got a playbill in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. 🎭

Miguel is surprisingly artistic and I think his kids would love the drawings he does on their lunch notes.

He packs their lunch, doesn’t matter who his partner is. (If he has one)

Like season one Miguel wouldn’t do this but season six totally would; his kids have bento boxes and sometimes they have themes or colors for the day. 🧃

Purple bentos with ube cookies and grapes and jelly sandwiches.

Finds exotic snacks and stuff for them to try: different instant ramens and chocolates and whatnot.

“Today’s theme is Egypt!”

Watches Veggie Tales with them a lot. Knows all the words to “I Love My Duck”.

A Snoodle’s Tale always makes him cry.

Keeps a stash of different jellies and peanut butters to make the perfect PB and J for his kids.

“One strawberry and smooth, one grape and chunky, one…”

Kind of a parent who doesn’t mind picky eaters and just rolls with it.

Makes pancakes in different shapes.

“Smiley face coming up!”😭❤️‍🩹

He can’t tell his kids enough how much school is worth.

God knows he can’t help with their homework but he always tries

Gets his kids involved in academic pursuits

Makes flash cards with little drawings; basically takes the classes with his kids.

They’re bilingual too; he speaks Spanish at home to help them

Is a stay at home dad/works from home

When he’s working, he puts on Law and Order, and his older kids like to watch while he works.

Miguel knows all the endings and accidentally spoils it often😂

Gets them gifts on every holiday. They wake up to flowers on Valentine’s Day, chocolate bunnies on Easter, and even cinnamon rolls on Groundhog’s Day.

He just looks for a reason to let them know they’re loved.

Didn’t hear that growing up. His dad was in prison, his mom was kind of a hardass. So he doesn’t want there to be any confusion for his kids.

When they get in trouble at school, he overreacts. It scares him that they might make the same mistakes he did.

“I’m saving ten years of your life. Don’t fuck this up.”

When his kids get As in school, he has a full on celebration at home, even if they’re used to it. 🎉🥳

When his kids are bullied, his heart aches.

He remembers how the Latinos in prison treated him.

“I know what you’re going through, kid. I can’t tell you it always gets better, but you’ll find people who appreciate you, and those other people will kind of just fade away.”❤️‍🩹

If his kid comes out to him (sexuality or gender wise) he’s as supportive as he can be.

“I don’t know much about this stuff, kiddo. But… you’re my kid and I’m here for you.”

He respects their pronouns and their significant other’s pronouns. It may take him a minute but he’s trying.

His kids’ favorite thing to do with their father is the dishes; he turns on loud music and they sing and dance as they get their chores done.

He’s not especially strict, but when he puts his foot down he’s immovable.

His kids disagree sometimes but knows it comes from a place of love.

Unlike Chico, he’s fairly transparent with his kids about his past.

When he has to have the drug talk, he admits he used and it was the most confusing time of his life. He tells them he knows they’re going to make their own decisions, but hopes his honesty deters them a little.

He hopes if he’s honest with them, they feel like they can go to him with everything.

Has a policy where they can calm him drunk and as long as they don’t try to drive they come home without punishment.

Kind of a parent who allows his kids to go to the birthday party but not sleep over. He just gets nervous.

He holds “sleepovers” every weekend night when he and his kids set up the living room with snacks and pillows and blanket forts and watch movies all night.🎥

Goes to classes as an adult to get his GED/degree. He just wants his kids ti be proud of him.

And they are. His kids brag about him all the time. How their dad beat drugs and prison. How their dad survived.

“Youre so hard on yourself, daddy. We’re proud of you.”🥰

His mom loves her grandkids. She’s an intimidating abuela but she loves those damn kids.

When they get sick, Miguel takes off work and stays with them all day. He makes them chicken soup, looking up a recipe on his phone, plays Disney movies all day no matter how old they are, and gives them snuggles when they have a fever.

He adopts a dog for them and names her/him Julie/Donald.

The dog eats like a damn queen/king, and he enjoys preparing fun pupp-reciation treats for her/him.

When his mom offers to watch the kids while he goes on vacation, he spends the whole time calling home and asking about them. 😅

Like Chico has the Tickle Police, Miguel has Boo Boo Bear; a cheap stuffed bear he cut open the backside to and stuffed an ice pack in. 🧸

He tells people as long as his kids are healthy and happy, he’s happy.

When his kids accomplish anything, he’s in the audience, and they thank him.

They thank him for all the hours of care he’s given them.

The unconditional support.

“My Dad is my biggest hero, because he really truly did get out of Oz.”❤️❤️❤️

Bonus: When his kids are old enough to date, Miguel is actually really nice to their significant others. Like, he’ll invite them for dinner, learn things about them, and tell them to call him Dad or Mr. Miguel.

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: Cemetery Boys

Author: Aiden Thomas

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | Drama | Mystery | (Mid) Fantasy | Paranormal | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Transphobia | Death

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Personal Opinion: Ghosts are real and Yadriel has always been able to see them. It’s a brujo thing. One day, Yadriel meets the ghost of a classmate, who most certainly should not be dead, Julian. As the two of them try to figure out what happened to Julian, they become closer than they ever did when Julian was alive. Seeing depths to one another they never expected. But can a ghost and a boy be together? I really hope so because they’re really cut together.

Couple Classification: Yadriel X Julian = Nerd X Delinquent

Do I Own This Book? Nope.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- Allow me to start with one of my favorite parts, Maritza. She is as cool in so many of scenes. She is sassy, hilarious, snarky, and she called the goddess of death a bitch before healing her best friend and pulling him from the brink of death. Like, what an actual badass. She was also the one person in the entire brujx community to support Yadriel without any ulterior motives. I mean, she made his portaje for him and went with him to do his quinces in secret. She was always validating his identity, she gives so much love to her dumb dogs Michelangelo and Donatello, and she yanked tio Catriz by his hair to get him away from Yadriel. A queen. She can be a bit much at times but I do think, overall, that she is just a fantastic character and I am so glad that, at the very end at least, she was not just the gay boy’s straight girl sidekick.

- Julian’s ride-or-die love for his friends and loved ones is a banger. I don’t get how Rio just did not see his brother to be the kind of guy who cares so fiercely for his family but like, Yadriel was right when he said Rio didn’t know him at all if he thought that. But Julian was out here protecting trans lives and abused kids without any hesitation. His instinct when he saw Luca getting jumped was to jump in himself. He actually sacrificed himself even if he hadn’t known it at the time. If you need more proof of his iconic loyalty, look no further than the saying that he spray painted at their hideout, “There are girls with penises, boys with vulvas, and transphobes without teeth.” And that scene was right after he took Yadriel’s yearbook, crossed out his deadname, and wrote in his real name. Icon. 

- I appreciate the culture in this book. The scene where Yads distracted the women in the family by saying he didn’t feel well and Lita immediately going to Vaporub as the cure was hilarious. The POC home remedy for literally everything. The use of Spanish for the invocations was also such a pleasant touch too. It gave it a more authentically magical quality to it. And the food stuff sounded delicious too.

- Julian going to Yadriel’s near-dead body and protecting him from everyone was just so tragically romantic. And the fact that we got to see his POV too for the first time I think just solidified his feelings for Yads because I wasn’t sure how he felt. But the way he barked at Yadriel’s family because he personally could not forgive the way they rejected him as both a boy and a brujo is just really amazing. He’s amazing. Also a bit much, like Maritza but still, overall he is an amazing guy. And I can see why Yadriel had fallen for him. He really is just so vibrant and full of life. Ironically.

- Honestly, what a relief that Miguel, Julian, and those other two didn’t die. And I’m glad to see that it wasn’t some bullshit out-of-left-field twist. Also, I’m glad I predicted that it was tio Catriz and the Jaguar Claw behind the disappearances. It was hinted at pretty heavily though so kudos to Thomas for setting things up so well.

Dislikes:

- Julian’s temper is a bit of a red flag for me, not going to lie. Like that was the only reason why I wasn’t totally on board with the pairing. He really threw his own skateboard on the ground and kicked the wall at his apartment while he was a ghost. He wanted Yadriel to not mention him being dead and yet he was making it so much harder for Yadriel to keep it a secret with all the commotion he was causing. He was also so disruptive when Yadriel wanted to focus on class. The only time he was justified in his anger, in my personal opinion, was when the girls on the soccer team were all talking shit about him and his friends. Fuck them, by the way. They really knew nothing about how kind he was and talked all that bullshit about his parents being drug dealers and him being in a gang. Stereotypes are not a good look, ladies.

- Also a lot of the ghost stuff did not make sense to me. Okay, if he focuses, he can touch stuff, I get that. But what about when he plopped down into Yadriel’s desk chair in the beginning? He did it easily. And the bed and the car hood. He didn’t even question it. If I were in his shoes, I’d be wondering about it. But nope, no explanations whatsoever.

- Enrique and Lita are a bit old-fashioned, I get it but damn, the moment when Lita used Yadriel’s deadname and then said, “You will always be my little girl” just makes my skin crawl. I don’t care if she came from a much older generation, what the fuck. Jules is right to not forgive them easily and he’s also probably right that Yadriel isn’t the first trans brujo. Revisionist history is a bitch.

- Maritza saying she didn’t want to “bring the boys” because they “stink” did not seem consistent with the way she treated the dogs once they were actually seen on the page.

- Rio also frustrates me. I sort of get Omar’s anger because Yads is a total stranger who is looking at thin air but Rio saying that his brother didn’t care is just stupid. How do you misunderstand a guy’s personality so badly when you live with them? I still respect Rio though for taking in Rocky, Flaca, and Luca without even a moment’s hesitation though when they needed a place to crash.

- Julian deciding to make Yads steal a priceless and sentimental car and make him go to a party he didn’t want to go to also didn’t fit right with me. I get it, he’s out here making Yadriel enjoy the life he has and blah blah but as a person with social anxiety, I’d have hated this. There should’ve been more build-up to this at least. Well, I guess there was a little bit? With Julian getting Yadriel to use the men’s restroom for the first time. That scene was the good shit, no pun intended.

[abbatoirablaze]

The Thrombey Christmas Party, Ex Wive's Club

Word Count: 2k

Warnings:  angst, mild violence, mentions of slapping.

“Hey…it’s not your fault…”

Ransom frowned as he looked over his shoulder at his wife. 

He had expected Lily to blow off the family Christmas party ever since his mother took Curtis’ side when it came to Maritza, but what he hadn’t expected was their last interaction together. 

She’d been on less than friendly terms with him when Rose came into the picture, stating that ‘he had a new little daughter he could mold into a perfect child.’  And she found it necessary to scream that at him any time he tried to contact her. 

Jess knew how much those words had hurt him though, especially during the last time that Ransom had tried to invite her over to dinner. 

He’d ended up sobbing against Jess’ chest for an hour when she showed up wasted, calling him the most horrible father to have ever existed.  She had shown up well after the time he’d told her, after Evan and Rosie were both in bed, but that wasn’t what bothered him.

“Ransom…”

Ransom’s jaw twitched as he fought back the angry words that flooded his mind.  His daughter was very obviously wasted, and was dressing like she was about to go to the clubs. 

“Lil-“

“Are you going to invite me in?” she growled, cutting her father off.  She rolled her eyes at her father as he stepped to the side and opened the door a little more.

“You’re late,” he reminded her softly, “Jess put Evan and Rose down, so-“

“Don’t wake the little bastards, got it!” she said with another roll of her eyes.

“Hey…they’re your siblings!”

“And they’re my siblings because you fucked an underage girl the first time, then ended up marrying her and not pulling out the second time.”

“LILY-“

“Hugh?” Jess asked, hearing the distressed tone from her husband’s voice, “Is everything okay?”

Lily mumbled something under her breath as her former best friend, and step mother came down the hall to greet them.  On an instant she was at his side, kissing his shoulder. 

“Sorry,” he sighed, giving her a solemn look, “I know you just put the kids down!”

“Lily…” Jess frowned, looking at the woman her own age, “You’re late…I put dinner away already, but if you’re hungr-“

“I didn’t come over to eat and play happy little family,” she hissed, before her eyes met her fathers’ once more, “I’m not hungry!”

“Well why did you come then?” Ransom asked quickly, “because I wanted to talk to you about-“

“I know that grandma is selling her real estate company and we all get a share of the funds.” She said quickly, “I want my share.”

“I have no control over that, Lil…” he muttered, shaking his head as he crossed his own arms over his chest, “but even if I did, I wouldn’t try harassing your Linda over-“

“SERIOUSLY?” she screeched, “that money is mine!  She wants to lock it up under some bullshit trust and you’re just going to let her?”

“Lil-“

“YOU’RE A SHIT FATHER, RANSOM,” she spat, glaring daggers at her father, “I COME TO YOU FOR ONE THING AND YOU CAN’T EVEN DO IT.  YOU’RE SO WRAPPED AROUND MY EX BEST FRIEND’S PUSSY THAT YOU CAN’T HELP YOUR FIRST CHILD!  I’M JUST HERE BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T PULL OUT IN TIME.”

She had continued her rant, but upstairs, the parents could hear Rose waking up as she began to cry. 

“Shit…” Jess hissed.  She pressed a kiss to her husband’s shoulder, “I’m sorry…I-“

“Go take care of Rose,” Ransom confirmed before he cut his daughter off, “Lily, stop!”

“Or what?” she hissed as Jess ran towards the stairs to coo her agitated daughter. 

“Lil-“

The fact that Lily had no problem shredding Ransom to bits any chance she could really ate away at Jess.

She wanted to be supportive of her husband. 

“If it makes you feel better, it’s probably just because she hates me!” Jess offered with a frown as she bounced little one and a half year old Rose on her hip, “she’s still not over the idea of us being married…you know you’re an amazing father, and husband, Hugh.  You are always there for us just like you try to be there for her.  You’ve made an amazing relationship with Maritza despite it all as well!”

He gave a heavy sigh, and she knew that in that moment, despite her best efforts, there wasn’t anything that she could truly say to right what was going on in his head. 

“Da-da!” Rosie giggled, looking at her father with adoring eyes. 

Ransom’s eyes snapped to hers, and the worry faded as she reached out for him.  His little chubby-cheeked angel smiled at her father, and it helped calm him, if only slightly.

“I think someone wants you to hold her, daddy!” Jess giggled, shooting her husband a wink. 

Ransom bit his lip, holding back the new feelings that were quickly pushing their way forward.  His eyes raked over his wife’s body, and then he took another look towards the entrance, and then scanned the room. 

Everyone was off in their own little worlds. 

His cousins and their respective families were having their normal pissing contests. 

And Curtis had come with Maritza, Sasha, and her two children, who were all actively engaged in talking to his own mother, who had recently sold her real estate empire to focus on being a great woman to her grandchildren and great grandchild. 

Meanwhile, his own son was smiling, learning how to play Go with Harlan. 

“You know…if you call me daddy again like that, we may have to sneak off,” Ransom teased lightly as he took his daughter from his wife’s arms, “I’ve been been chomping at the bit for another little baby boy…and I know you have too!”

“We did say we wanted to wait until the end of the year…”

“And it’s already here!” he smiled. 

She shot him a wink and leaned up, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, “maybe if daddy’s been good this year, when we tuck the babies in…he can unwrap a special gift from mommy then!”

Lust hit Ransom like a freight train and his eyes twinkled at the thought, “a special gift from mommy?”

“Da-da!” Rosie repeated, reaching out to grab Ransom’s face. 

Jess couldn’t help but laugh as their daughter pouted at her father, angry that she was being ignored while in his arms. 

Ransom’s gaze met his daughters, and she held firm on her straight face.

“Looks like you’ve got to smooth it over with baby Drysdale first, daddy…” she smirked, “I’m going to go get her bottle from the kitchen…will you be alright?”

“Right,” Ransom nodded, stepping over to his mother.  He bounced Rose on his hip as he made his way to her, “I know who can cheer you up, little miss sass.”

Linda looked up from her grand-daughter, and towards her son.  Her smile grew when she saw her youngest grandchild, “Rosie!”

“NANA!” the baby squealed excitedly, making grabby hands at her.  Linda lit up, mirroring the baby’s actions, before pulling her into her arms.

“Oh, there’s my baby!”

“Nana baby!” she repeated happily, snuggling into her grandmother as she called herself her grandmother’s baby. 

Ransom smiled, happy to see the calm in his family.  He looked at Curtis and noticed his own grandchild looking up at him.  Maritza giggled as she waved to him.

‘Hello angel’ Ransom mouthed, while brokenly signing the words he’d been learning through his tutor every week, ‘pretty dress for Christmas!’

‘Thank you dum-dum’

“Mr. Curtis, why did Maritza call Mr. Ransom a dumb dumb?”

Curtis chuckled as Michael looked at the little girl bewildered, “she’s not calling him a dumb dumb, Michael.  That’s her name for him.  Mr. Ransom doesn’t want to be called grandpa, and her mother always called him by his first name.  but the name Ransom sounded like ‘dumb dumb’ when she first got her cochlear implant…and that just sort of stuck.”

“That’s silly!” Ashley giggled from beside her stepsister.  She signed to her, ‘why not call him grumpy?  He never smiles unless he’s with Miss. Jess!’

“Hey, I saw that sign!” Ransom teased, signing along as well as speaking, to let his grand daughter feel included still.  He reached for her and scooped her up, and she began giggling once more, “tell them I’m not a dumb dumb, Maritza!  Tell them I’m not grumpy either.”

‘No, grumpy!’ the little girl giggled, snuggling into him.  She made the sign for ‘I love you dum dum,’ and he felt himself melting a little more at the girl that stole his heart in an entirely new way.

“Well what do we have here?” a voice called loudly.

Ransom frowned when he saw his daughter in the entryway of the sitting room, a man who he’d recognized as another trust fund asshole who was pretty close to his own age on her arm.  His nose twitched as the expensive cologne swam over them in a tidal wave.

“Eddie…” Ransom growled, sucking on his teeth.

Off to the corner, Rose, surprised at the noise, had jumped in her grandmother’s arms, and had begun to cry. 

“Ugh,” Lily groaned, “will someone shut that little brat up!”

“Excuse you?”

The room went silent as Jess came back in from the kitchen, a warmed bottle in her hand.

“Go shut your little bastard up, will you?” Lily groaned as she stepped into the room and started towards the bar to make herself a drink.

Maritza shrunk into Ransom’s arms, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Jess saw red when she stalked towards her stepdaughter, and ripped the sunglasses from her face, throwing them to the ground, “don’t you dare call your little sister a bastard, Lily Drysdale!”

“THOSE WERE SIX HUNDRED DOLLAR GLASSES!” she shrieked, rage filling her voice, “WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

“Lil-“

“YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER, JESS!” She screamed at her former friend, eyes glassy as she screamed at the woman she practically grew up with, “DON’T START ACTING LIKE IT JUST BECAUSE MY DAD COULDN’T PULL OUT!”

“Lily!”

“This is why I don’t come to these stupid family functions,” she spat, glaring at her great grandfather.  She shook her head and Harlan frowned, “I tried.  But her.  My dad.  Grandma.  And now you have my ex-husband and his new whore-“

Lily stopped speaking when Jess slapped her hard across the face.

“You will not talk down on the people in this room, Lily Drysdale!” Jess said in a low, even tone.  She ripped the drink out of her stepdaughter’s hands and tossed it into the fireplace beside her, “we came together because we are a family…and we’re here for each other, despite our differences.  If you can’t support that, if you want to act like a spoiled brat in front of us…in front of your own daughter who you haven’t seen since that court case, then you can leave.  Because we don’t need that toxicity, Lily!  We’re doing just fine without you!”

Lily, surprised that someone had actually stood up to her, looked to her father, her lip wobbling as she looked to him for support, “d-daddy….ar-are you going to let her talk to me like that?”

Ransom swallowed down everything he had felt about his own relationship with his daughter.  He looked into his arms to see his own granddaughter.  Her smile having long since faded since her mother came into the room, she was clinging to him like she was scared for her life. 

‘Make her go away, dum dum…’ she signed, the fear evident in her eyes. 

Ransom brushed the hair out of her eyes and looked at his daughter once more.

“What the hell did she sign?” Lily growled as she pushed herself away from the tense situation with Jess, “she wants me here, doesn’t she?  Tell Jess to fuck off an-“

“You need to leave, Lil…” Ransom said with a frown as he cut his daughter off.  He looked to Curtis and passed Maritza back to her father, then crossed the room, looping his arm around his wife’s waist, “you can’t be here…not like this, Lil…”

[spencstan]

Cemetery boys re-read

(by Aiden Thomas)

(idk if anyone's gonna read this, honestly i'm just doing it so i can have all my favourite quotes from the book in the same place and in case i want to remember something from the plot (i have a bad memory))

spoiler alert under the cut but if you haven't read this book yet,,,,,, what are you doing with you life???

first line of the books in case anyone was wondering:

Yadriel wasn’t technically trespassing because he’d lived in the cemetery his whole life.

ok but this is one of the best first lines from a book i've read

"Leave the concha," Tito added

this is akward.... concha has a completely different meaning where i'm from

anywaaaaays

"You know wuo you are, I know who you are, and our Lady does too." She said with fierce conviction. "So screw the rest of them!" Maritza grinned at him.

i love her

this made me want to hug yadriel

"I can't carry the responsibility of the family black sheep on my own."

a true mood

me to my sister every time she leaves me alone in a family reunion

the spanish in this book makes the bilingual in me very happy

It was easier to hide behind their traditions than to callenge their own beliefs and understanding of how things in the world of the brujx worked.

so fucking true and so fucking sad

i do love how in the book they show how traditional latine culture often is misogynistic, binary and heteronormative. but it also shows that things can change without compromising the culture

this book omg

HIS DAD TOLD HIM TO STAY WITH "the rest of the women"

i'm legit crying

we are not gonna unpack why this shit hits so hard tho

that's a problem for future me am i right

"Your father is under a lot of stress right now, nena"

ok bitch no (nena means girl btw)

Navigating pronouns was a minefield when language was based on gender

yuuup spanish is so binary and gendered it's annoying

QUE HIJA DE PUTA LA ABUELA QUE LE DICE QUE SIEMPRE VA A SER LA HIJA

PELOTUDA VENI QUE TE CAGO A PALOS

THAT BITCH JUAT TOLD HIM HE'LL ALWAYS BE HER LITTLE GIRL. TRANSPHOBIC BITCH

ok i knoooow the uncle is bad

but like he's almost the only one who's not transphobic here so i can't hate him

i love that maritza ia trying to set him up with julian already

aka a fucking ghost

wrong spirit but at least he summoned one? it's the thought that counts here

can julian just fucking marry me

"Back up a sec- are you trying to prove to them that you're a brujo, our that you're a boy?" (...)

"Not enough for who, though?" Julian questioned. He wasn't being pushy about it, not on purpose, anyway. He just seemed curious, which only irritated Yadriel further. "Not enough for them, or not enough for you?"

daaamn julian it's to early for existencial questions like that

"Left!" he told Julian when he got to the end of the block.

Julian veered right.

julian is the most relatable character ever

when they say he yells too much but like he doesn't even realize?? me

julian and luca's friendship gives me life

i want a whole book on just the two of them (and yadriel obviously)

"You don't need anyone's permission to be you, Yads"

Yads

i died

YES JULIAN ENCOURAGING HIM TO GO TO THE BOYS BATHROOM

YO CAN DO IT YADS

He gave everything and expected nothing in return.

Yadriel's heart ached.

No, none of them deserved Julian Diaz.

so true king

we stan julian diaz in this house

Julian was the most alive person he'd ever met. Even as a spirit, he was bright and full of constantly moving energy. A sun crammed into the body of a boy.

*ugly crying*

if someone described me like that i would marry them instantly

julian doesn't speak spanish bc it's too intimate baby

"¿Me dejas robarte un beso?

*high pitched scream*

THIS IS THE BEST LINE EVER

UDVJSHDUUJAISBKAKA

"How could he possibly recover from falling for Julian Diaz?"

if you figure it out pls tell me

JULIAN IS DYING AND HE'S ONLY SPEAKING TO YADS IN SPANISH

like yads says something in english AND JULIAN FUCKING SPEAKS SPANISH

THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS "TOO INTIMATE"

YADS IS SACRIFICING HIMSELF BABY

MARITZA IS SAVING HIM she broke my heart yelling at lady death tho

that truly destroyed me

As if there were any force on earth that could tear Julian from Yadriel's side.

baby

"Is Yadriel your friend?"

The word burned. "¡Mi querido!" he snapped viciously.

my beloved

i-

kinda cringe tho but so so so cute

JULIAN BLUSHED OMG CUTE

Jus because Yadriel had forgiven them didn't mean he did.

YES EXACTLY

I'M STILL PISSED AT HIS FAMILY

Julian bit back the urge to knock their hands away as they touched Yadriel's cheeks, his pulse, his forehead. He was unconscious and vulnerable. Julian had to keep him safe.

THIS BOY

he really is perfect

NOW THEY HAVE TO TRY AND KEEP HIM AWAY FROM YADRIEL

BC HE'S TRYING TO GO AND SEE HIM

AND NOW THEY ARE KISSING I LOVE THEM

HIS MOM

this is so sad and so beautiful at the same time

i'm so proud of yadriel

god this book is so fucking good

[americangirlstar]

World By Us Quotes

I know when we make aesthetics/art pieces, we like to have little quotes from the books below it! Here’s some quotes for the WBU girls– if it’s not said by them specifically, I put who said it at the end in [brackets], and if it’s not from their main book, I made a note in italics at the beginning.

Makena Williams

As I sorted through the new items on the bed, I wondered what kind of statement I wanted to make. I was going to have fun figuring it out!

As I looked at the outfit now, I realized it still needed... something. I closed my eyes and focused on how I was feeling. I was nervous, but excited, too, like something I had been waiting for was finally about to begin.

I added three gold butterfly hair clips to my twists. Butterflies are a symbol of transformation, and I knew today would be full of big changes. When I tilted my head, the butterflies looked like they were taking off.

On my way to the gym, I passed the big mural again. We Walk Together. I smiled, knowing that I had just met two new friends to walk with.

I have four names: Makena means “happy one” in Swahili; Lilias was my dad’s mom, who died when he was a boy; Cook, for Mom’s family, and Williams. They all matter, and they make me who I am.

“Fashion can be a form of activism. And I wouldn’t be surprised if one day that was your purpose.” [said by her mother]

I want to live in a world where who you are inside matters more than what you look like outside.

I rolled over and pressed the pillow around my ears, but Mom’s question was like a song I couldn’t get out of my head. Couldn’t he see that they’re children? Couldn’t he see? No, Mom! I wanted to scream. That’s the problem. He couldn’t see that we’re real people, with real names and lives and feelings. All he could see was that we’re Black. I cried sad and mad tears, because none of it made any sense.

I’m so much more than what you see / Don’t guess- ASK about all the feels inside me / Get to know who I am for real / Then maybe this world can start to heal / See me, hear me, know me!

My name is Makena Williams. Something happened to me, and I am not okay.

I am a person. See me for who I am. Hear what I say. Get to know me before you make up something about me. Judge me by my words and actions, not my race. See me. Hear me. Know me.

Do you see us now? We’re girls. We’re your neighbors.

I ran my fingers across the letters. There was my idea, my first design, in real life. I was so proud.

My eyes went back to Auntie Bling’s word power. Maybe I could give other people the power to tell their own stories. What if kids could show and tell the world who they really are, how they really feel, in any style they chose?

I’m Makena. I’m proud that my family’s roots in Anacostia go back four generations. I came up with the words on my T-shirt because people weren’t seeing the real me. They were only seeing that I was Black– if they saw me at all. I love West African kente cloth because the colors and patterns tell stories. The green in this skirt signifies renewal. I like wearing butterflies because they remind me that though change can be difficult, it can lead to something beautiful. With my fashion, I am always making a statement.

When everyone had made their statements, we all gathered onstage for a bow. The audience was on its feet, clapping and cheering for us. All the other kids hopped off the stage and started mingling. I stood there, watching adults talking to kid and kids from different communities talking to each other. Seeing so many people come together was powerful.

I believe that when you take time to get to know people, you get to see who they truly are.

I was so proud of what we’d done that I couldn’t stop grinning. Just before I went to join my friends and family, I glimpsed my own reflection in the window. It looked as if the river was flowing right through me. Maybe it does, I thought, along with the strength of my ancestors, and the bravery of Black people before and the bravery of everyone in this room who works for change.

Evette Peeters

When we made the sign last year, I painted a monarch butterfly above the words. Monarchs fly thousands of miles. Their strength and endurance remind me of the people who were on the front lines during the pandemic.

The one good thing about not going anywhere was seeing the gardens change. I never knew it could be fun to watch plants grow, but it actually was.

The bridge was coming up. Pretty soon, we’d be crossing the Anacostia. I’d been crossing that river all my life on the way to Gran E’s house. Every time I saw it, the river looked different. Sometimes the waves were rough, but today they were calm. The sunlight made the pale green water sparkle.

Why did people think skin color defines who we are? It seemed so simple: humans come in different colors, just like flowers.

I put them on and hung my heart necklace on my jewelry tree. Next to it was a locket that had an umoja symbol on it. Umoja means “unity” in the Swahili language. Gran E had given me the locket for Kwanzaa last year, along with a card that said, “Promise always to see umoja: unity in the family, community, nation and race.”

Still, I couldn’t help wondering, Is this how a rift gets started? Something goes wrong between people, and before you know it, there’s a rift between them. Was that how it happened with my grandmothers? And the most important question of all: Could a rift between people be repaired?

The grass was trampled, but seeing the riverbank free of litter lifted my heart.

With a day of hard work, we had healed part of the river. If only it could be this easy for my grandmothers to heal the rift between them.

“A world– by us,” I announced, writing it on a piece of poster board. I looked up at my friends. Somehow when I was with them, anything seemed possible. “That’s what we’ll call it– and that’s what we’ll make it.”

What I’m trying to tell you is not to judge a whole person for one thing they said or did. People can change and learn from their mistakes.

Well, we are one family. So we should all act like it, right?

I know the world has many problems, just as there are many kinds of pollution in the river. But with the sunshine and the music and good friends beside me, I felt a wave of hope rise in my chest. As long as we can imagine a better world, we can make it happen. When people come together, we can do remarkable things. The river taught me that.

Maritza Ochoa

from Makena’s Story: Well, we don’t need to wait until we grow up to make a difference. We can start now, making the kind of world we want to live in. 

At school, the girls always play with the boys. The girls are tougher than you think.

Before she passed away, I received a beautiful journal from her in the mail. Inside, she had written inspirational quotes from famous women athletes and leaders. On a note enclosed with the journal, she had written that I should add more inspirational quotes to the journal, because keeping a positive attitude was important when life becomes hard. I had to admit, it was hard to be positive during that time.

I stared down at the salteñas, thinking of what my abuelo said. Prayers weren’t enough, but sometimes prayers are all you have. Was there something more I could do?

The title of the piece was Tu lucha es mi lucha, which means “your fight is my fight.”

Remember, we’re young. Nobody expects us to be leaders, so we must expect it from ourselves.

There was incredible history here, and yet... so much more history to be made.

“She needs me to be her friend,” I replied. And as soon as I said those words, I felt them in my heart.

In soccer, if we see something wrong, we call it out so it can be fixed. I see something wrong, and I want to help.

Tu luca es mi lucha. I will lead with my heart and find a way to help your family.

We don’t just want to talk about injustice. We want to do something about it.

It was as if Tia Mari knew that someday I’d need this quote. Maybe I’m more like her than I even imagined.

All of us are united in our love for soccer, but we are also united in another cause that we want to share with you. Soccer has taught me many things, but most important it has taught me to be a team player and to be vocal if I see something wrong. This past week, I saw something wrong and I want to bring it to everyone’s attention.

If you were here, I would tell you what an inspiration you are to me. I miss you, Tia. I know I’ll always miss you and that’s okay. It will be an extra part of me that will make me stronger and kinder.