#he’s a nerd and a scholar and he’s saving the world and dying for it

[social-mockingbird]

Watching Return of the King and wondering why Frodo isn’t a blond, bespectacled, mild-mannered ball of Dad Sass Energy…my perspective is forever changed for the better, @frodo-with-glasses 😂

[shade-romeo]

Heard you wanted to talk about your new ocs?

-What are their hobbies/interests?

-Do they have any regrets?

(wow huge jump there-)

YES OKAY- I should probably explain stuff about the story first so this makes sense but whatever.

This got long

Arlen (a human girl, she/her, living with Adore in a fantasy world, having been teleported here from the real world) - Arlen loves reading and learning things, a classic dnd nerd, so you can imagine that when she was dumped here she immediately was all over asking questions about the land and the history, and just so fuckin excited. Her regret would be that she ended up dragging her best friend Kell here with her. She knows Kell isn't good with new environments and new people, she was just so excited and figured they'd end up together. She can't find them anywhere, she's just so worried about them getting into serious trouble.

Kell/Kelly (a human kid, they/them, who got pushed in the portal by Arlen, landing with Duncan and Amira.) - Kell listens to music and generally follows Arlen around mostly, she's their only friend and they're always just going with the flow. They play dnd with Alren in their little group, and they play other rpg games as well, but definitely isn't into them as much as Arlen is. Their regret would probably be that they were always too cold to other people. Here they are, dumped into a whole new world with no way to defend themselves, no way to get home, and no way to know what the fuck is out there. They could die here, they could die here and they'd die alone. They never made any friends aside from Arlen, and they were always so distant with their family. If they died here, they would be dying comepletely and utterly alone, and for once they're really truly scared of that fact.

Adore (a witch infused with magic, she/her, she lives in a cute little cottage in the woods, doing her magic and staying away from the neighboring towns. A cottagecore lesbian) - She loves to garden! She has a huge flower patch behind her house, with planted fruit trees, vegetables, and a whole slew of other things. She does use magic to help the dying plants, but mostly she does all her gardening by hand. She also likes to make potions, mostly stuff for plants or protection, but occasionally she'll experiment a bit. Her regret would be never leaving her cottage. She knows she's strong, she knows she could handle herself out in the woods, but she's too frightened to even step past the front porch. She knows she's missed so much, and she could've helped so many people if she just got some guts. Which is why she's so determined to help Arlen find her friend and get her home. She's dead set on finally doing something worthwhile.

Duncan (a half elf scholar, they/him, stressed out of their mind and suffering a great deal from overworking himself so hard, they're quite snippy. He's Amira's best friend, and plans to be for a long time coming.) - Duncan obviously likes to write. But that hasn't been working out too well for them. They also like to draw and dance, but he's so dead set on getting this writing done for himself that they're working themself to the ground and ruining their love of writing in the process. His biggest regret would be delving himself so deep into his work. They've lived so long with Amira, they figured she'd always be by his side, but recently she's been pulling away from him. They know logically that's they're own fault, and they can't bear the thought of losing Amira and being comepletely on his own, so he's using Kell's quest to get home as an opportunity to finally take a break and get themself back to reality.

Amira (a turned vampire, she/it, Duncan's best friend, always trying to get Duncan back to themself and failing miserably. It's not a very happy camper ever since Duncan started ignoring her.) - Amira fucking loves to hunt. Not just for food, and not huge endangered animals, beasts that terrorize towns and kill innocent people, deranged terrifying monsters. Not only is it a thrill, the chase, the fight, the adrenaline, the triumph, it also brings a good meal along with it. It also likes to dance, it used to dance with Duncan all the time, before they started ignoring her. Its regret would be letting Duncan drive himself so far into the ground without intervening. Duncan had distanced themself and started being a little rude with her, at first her walls had gone up and she'd stormed out the house, pissed out of its mind. But after a month or so it came back to reconcile, and realized it was so much worse than it thought before. Now she's trying to make up for what it let happen, pulling Duncan along with her and Kell to go on this quest, hopefully they can reconcile then.

Ross (a former elven knight, she/him, kicked out of the guard for the murder of a higher officer. Lives in a pathetic little tent deep in the woods, having nowhere else to go. 100% a butch lesbian.) Ross likes to fight. Mostly recreationally of course. Using trees as dummies to slash and kill. She never actually hurts the trees, just clang clangs her sword against it. He also likes to run. He doesn't now, since he's too afraid he might run and get lost away from his tent, but sometimes he'll pace around his campsite for hours at a time to get the energy out. Her regret would absolutely be that she never questioned authority. She was born into the guard, having been a squire at age 5 and a fledgling knight at age 11. By 24 she was the head of two fleets, following every order given to him, no matter how gruesome or grave. But one day after being called to his higher ups office, she's attacked and almost killed, and in order to save himself she kills the man instead. The head of the whole guard banished her, going so far as to strip him of his armor and sword. But he slipped a second *cough* better *cough* sword into his clothes as he was thrown out. He sees now that he was simply a pawn. Perhaps she could've used her power to do more good while she still had it, had it not been for the brainwashing she had gone through from birth. Eventually Adore and Arlen stumble upon his campsite, and he promises his duty to both of them, ensuring that he'd never ever let anyone do any unnecessary harm ever again.

[ucflibrary]

Hispanic Heritage Month, established in 1988, runs from September 15 through October 15. It recognizes and celebrates the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans have made to the United States. Florida in particular has a strong Hispanic legacy including the oldest inhabited city in the U.S., St. Augustine, which was founded in 1565 by the Spanish. UCF will also celebrate our new status as a Hispanic-serving institution which means more than 25% of our enrolled students identify as Hispanic.

 Join the UCF Libraries as we celebrate our favorite Hispanic authors and books. Click on the link below to see the full list, descriptions, and catalog links for the featured Hispanic Heritage titles suggested by UCF Library employees. These 16 books plus many more are also on display on the 2nd (main) floor of the John C. Hitt Library next to the bank of two elevators.

Costa Rica: a global studies handbook by Meg Tyler Mitchell and Scott Pentze This work is a fascinating guide to one of Latin America's most stable and progressive nations, examining the country's development, unique features, and the challenges Costa Ricans face in the 21st century. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 Cuando era puertorriqueña by Esmeralda Santiago La historia de Esmeralda Santiago comienza en la parte rural de Puerto Rico, donde sus padres y siete hermanos, en continuas luchas los unos con los otros, vivían una vida alborotada pero llena de amor y ternura. De niña, Esmeralda aprendió a apreciar cómo se come una guayaba, a distinguir la canción del coquí, a identificar los ingredientes en las morcillas y a ayudar a que el alma de un bebé muerto subiera al Cielo. Pero precisamente cuando Esmeralda parecía haberlo aprendido todo sobre su cultura, la llevaron a Nueva York, donde las reglas —y el idioma— eran no sólo diferentes, sino también desconcertantes. Cómo Esmeralda superó la adversidad, se ganó entrada a la Performing Arts High School y después continuó a Harvard, de donde se graduó con altos honores, es el relato de la tremenda trayectoria de una mujer verdaderamente extraordinaria. Suggested by Kryslynn Collazo, Scholarly Communication

 El mar y tú : otros poemas by Julia de Burgos Published December 28, 1981 by Ediciones Huracan, one can feel the solace of the waves as her poem gently comforts you. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

 Futbolera: a history of women and sports in Latin America by Brenda Elsey and Joshua Nadel Futbolera charts the rise of physical education programs for girls, often driven by ideas of eugenics and proper motherhood, that laid the groundwork for women’s sports clubs, which began to thrive beyond the confines of school systems. It examines how women challenged both their exclusion from national pastimes and their lack of access to leisure, bodily integrity, and public space. This vibrant history also examines women’s sports through comparative case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and others. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 Hija de la fortuna by Isabel Allende Hija de la fortuna es un retrato papitante de una epoca marcada por la violencia y la codicia en la cual los protagonistas rescatan el amor, la amistad, la compasion y el valor. En esta su mas ambiciosa novel, Isabel Allende presenta un universo fascinante, poblado de entranables personajes que, como tantos otros de la autora, se quedan para siempre en la memoria y el corazon de los lectores. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

 Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation...and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she's not sure she can trust, but who may be Alex's only chance at saving her family. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buenda family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women -- brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul -- this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

 Sugar, Cigars, and Revolution: the making of Cuban New York by Lisandro Pérez More than one hundred years before the Cuban Revolution of 1959 sparked an exodus that created today’s prominent Cuban American presence, Cubans were settling in New York City in what became largest community of Latin Americans in the nineteenth-century Northeast. This book brings this community to vivid life, tracing its formation and how it was shaped by both the sugar trade and the long struggle for independence from Spain. New York City’s refineries bought vast quantities of raw sugar from Cuba, ultimately creating an important center of commerce for Cuban émigrés as the island tumbled into the tumultuous decades that would close out the century and define Cuban nationhood and identity. Suggested by Megan Haught, Teaching & Engagement/Research & Information Services

 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junto Diaz Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister—dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA.

Suggested by Kryslynn Collazo, Scholarly Communication

 The Costa Rica Reader: history, culture, politics edited by Steven Palmer and Iván Molina This essential introduction to Costa Rica includes more than fifty texts related to the country’s history, culture, politics, and natural environment. Most of these newspaper accounts, histories, petitions, memoirs, poems, and essays are written by Costa Ricans. Many appear here in English for the first time. The authors are men and women, young and old, scholars, farmers, workers, and activists. The Costa Rica Reader is a necessary resource for scholars, students, and travelers alike. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Research & Information Services

 The Line Becomes a River: dispatches from the border by Francisco Cantú For Francisco Cantú, the border is in the blood: his mother, a park ranger and daughter of a Mexican immigrant, raised him in the scrublands of the Southwest. Driven to understand the hard realities of the landscape he loves, Cantú joins the Border Patrol. He and his partners learn to track other humans under blistering sun and through frigid nights. They haul in the dead and deliver to detention those they find alive. Plagued by a growing awareness of his complicity in a dehumanizing enterprise, he abandons the Patrol for civilian life. But when an immigrant friend travels to Mexico to visit his dying mother and does not return, Cantú discovers that the border has migrated with him, and now he must know the full extent of the violence it wreaks, on both sides of the line. Suggested by Kryslynn Collazo, Scholarly Communication

 The Other Side = el otro lado by Julia Alvarez These same qualities characterize her poetry—from the “Making Up the Past” poems, which explore a life of exile as lived by a young girl, to “The Joe Poems,” a series of beautifully sensual and funny love poems that celebrate a middle-aged romance. The collection culminates in the poem of the title: the twenty-one-part epic about the poet’s return to her native Dominican Republic, and to the internal affirmation of the conflict and the last one that the trip caused. Innovation and bold invention, the interaction of sound, the senses, and the rhythm of two languages, all characterize Julia Alvarez’s art in transforming precious memory into unforgettable poetry. Suggested by Jada Reyes, Research & Information Services

 The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria by Carlos Hernandez Assimilation is founded on surrender and being broken. This collection of short stories features people who have assimilated, but are actively trying to reclaim their lives. There is a concert pianist who defies death by uploading his soul into his piano. There is the person who draws his mother's ghost out of the bullet hole in the wall near where she was executed. Another character has a horn growing out of the center of his forehead--punishment for an affair. But he is too weak to end it, too much in love to be moral. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

 The Best Bad Things by Katrina Carrasco It is 1887, and Alma Rosales is on the hunt for stolen opium. Trained in espionage by the Pinkerton Detective Agency―but dismissed for bad behavior and a penchant for going undercover as a man―Alma now works for Delphine Beaumond, the seductive mastermind of a West Coast smuggling ring. A propulsive, sensual tour de force, The Best Bad Things introduces Katrina Carrasco, a bold new voice in crime fiction. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero. Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement

 The Poetry of Pablo Neruda edited by Ilan Stavans This selection of Neruda's poetry, the most comprehensive single volume available in English, presents nearly six hundred poems, scores of them in new and sometimes multiple translations, and many accompanied by the Spanish original. In his introduction, Ilan Stavans situates Neruda in his native milieu as well as in a contemporary English-language one, and a group of new translations by leading poets testifies to Neruda's enduring, vibrant legacy among English-speaking writers and readers today. Suggested by Rachel Edford, Teaching & Engagement