#it’s like ladybird where i knew i could never watch it bc it would be too personal which TBH IS KIND of the point of the book

[sepulchrorum]

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

[ambitionsource]

wait i actually have more weirdly specific questions (if ur up to it) - how do the kids feel about poetry? do they follow any sports? what childhood tv shows were their favs? do they have celebrity crushes? fav coming of age movie? how are they doing in quarantine? what time in history were they obsessed w as a kid? have they ever been to summer camp? what type of candles do they like? what song do they cry to? how do they drink their coffee/tea sorry if u’ve answered already/too many questions

wooooo thank you for your patience iz!! we’re gonna go point by point

poetry?

charlie loves it genuinely and will read it for fun. riley likes it enough but doesn’t go out of her way to read it. farkle loves coming up with insane explanations for the metaphors and is smug about interpreting it in class. zay doesn’t care for it, neither does lucas. asher appreciates it but finds it boring; dylan likes it for the same reason farkle does, only not to look smart but to come up with something completely crackheaded to combat farkle’s interpretation (which he can’t then say isn’t correct, bc its poetry, so all interpretations are valid!). isa doesn’t like it because she doesn’t get the metaphors on paper the same way she can pick them up in film. maya hates it even though multiple people have pointed out that song lyrics are basically poetry -- she will tune you out.

sports?

sports aren’t Big at aaa (aside from dance), but there are remnants here and there. riley follows basketball of course -- even tho as demonstrated in 110, she cannot play it to save herself -- and she tried out for cheer in 9th grade at her old school but was rejected from the squad (another bad mark on a terrible year). farkle prefers wii sports over any actual sport, but will sometimes watch golf with stuart because it’s quality time with his very busy father. charlie did soccer when he was younger before it got phased out by dance and semi keeps up with it. dylan also “played” soccer, but this meant the other little league teammates getting pissed at him bc he never paid attention to the game and was just like “hey! hey, dennis, look at this!” and did like 3 cartwheels across the field. it was a smart move when randall pulled him from the team bc those intense soccer moms were gonna like beat them up fDJSKG. so now dylan is just an unofficial gymnast instead.

isa doesn’t like sports but played them a lot with foster siblings, and even though she sucks she gets very competitive. lucas liked baseball and was good at track in middle school, but he never thought about doing a sport for real because he knew he was going to quincy eventually where his dad is a coach... yeah. no. but he’s great at running fast from the police!

maya hates sports (aside from the art of dance). waste of time, waste of energy. asher has never done a sport nor ever contemplated a sport. the most Sport he’s endured is going with jade to support dave at his swim meets (where nigel also does swim) and suffice to say, asher wasn’t there to look at the swimming.

childhood tv?

dylan to this day is a spongebob squarepants STAN. legend, icon, scholar, best television show ever made, in his opinion. he also was well-versed in pokemon, adventure time, gravity falls, and phineas and ferb. asher and lucas both didn’t watch lots of tv growing up (if at all), so dylan considers it his job to give asher a thorough education in the quality tv he missed as a kid.

maya was all over hannah montana (miley is still a role model to this day for her), and she, zay, and charlie all remember the fever dream that was shake it up. zay especially loved it bc he was (is) obsessed with zendaya. zay and maya both also watched victorious. charlie was sharing a tv with four siblings so he just ended up watching whatever the dominant sister that day wanted to watch. riley was a disney channel girl, and farkle was a pbs scholar (arthur, cyber chase, fetch! with ruff ruff man... classics).

 celebrity crushes?

zay = zendaya (as previously mentioned). charlie = harry styles to a major degree, although his Cover Story would be zendaya if you asked (ironically). maya = britney spears (but in a I Want To Be Her way, major idolization rather than attraction) and technically the same for valerie de la cruz but like... rip to that lmao. isa = loki, yes we know, but sometimes it be that way (altho that does extend a little bit towards tom hiddleston in general). asher = logan lerman, aka the main valid white boy who dresses nice, is polite and soft-spoken, and minds his own business (not to mention he is the Same Type as dylan). dylan = had crushes more on like... personalities so like ash ketchum and percy jackson, and now its irrelevant bc he met asher and became obsessed and its like every other potential crush just flew out the window of his brain. it’s full asher territory in there nowadays.

riley doesn’t have a specific one, she thinks lots of people are Pretty but no one particularly strongly. farkle doesn’t have one because he’s insane and doesn’t have the mental capacity. lucas doesn’t have one because he’s demi and also hates most celebrities as people.

coming-of-age movie?

maya’s is mean girls. farkle’s is ladybird. zay’s is easy a. riley’s is bend it like beckham. isadora’s is eighth grade. charlie’s is dead poet’s society. asher’s is perks of being a wallflower. dylan’s is spiderman: into the spiderverse. lucas doesn’t know movies.

quarantine?

we’ve somewhat discussed this before, but ultimately es and i elected to let aaa remain in a nice, calm universe where they don’t have to endure covid. lucky them. blow a kiss to the ether for us, buds,

fave time in history?

riley is huge on ancient greece and greek mythology. maya loves the theatricality and Drama of the roaring 20s (a baby flapper at heart). zay vibes hard with the 80s. charlie likes the fashion and romanticism and music and art of the 70s (that sort of flowery positivity clashing with the rebelliousness of the movements of the 60s... yeah. that hits something in him). farkle’s is the great depression not only bc he’s an emo but also all the raw and desperate art that came out of it. isadora was a egyptian mythology kid. i know lucas sounds lame (he is), but i don’t think he cares about history -- but if pushed he’d probably say the 90s bc he dresses like he’s straight out of there, everyone was angry rocking, and he wasn’t born. asher likes the victorian era bc of the sheer elegance and Aesthetic to everything. dylan doesn’t have a favorite time period because due to being the subconscious multiverse conduit (i.e. the being that is somewhat connected to every other version of himself) sometimes he wakes up and for a minute he doesn’t even know what year it is 🤪anyway...

summer camp?

charlie has been to many a christian youth summer camp. zay went to the kossal program, but that was basically it. lucas no although he probably wished he could be anywhere else during the summer sometimes including a camp he would hate. riley went for a few years in elementary school. isa has gone to a couple of “foster kid” summer camp bonding things that she despised. farkle went to jewish summer camp One time and was like that was HORRIBLE, never make me spend a whole summer outside AGAIN. asher was more of a Enrichment courses at the rec center during the summer kid than a camper. dylan no because the orlandos couldn’t afford something like that. same for maya.

candles?

riley has a small variety of scented ones that are like... warm scents, like cinnamon and stuff. asher a couple that smell like clean linen but his fear of accidental fires keeps him from ever lighting them. maya has one and it smells like “star power,” a gift from her mom one christmas. isadora can’t have any because many of her foster homes don’t allow them. lucas legally shouldn’t be allowed anything that catches on fire. dylan doesn’t have one but similarly should not be given one. the minki have a whole collection for different things so farkle can just pluck one at any time if he needs one like for a super fancy bath or whatever the fuck rich people do.

mental breakdown song?

charlie’s are “falling” and “from the dining table” by harry styles.

riley’s is “manhattan” by sara bareilles and “rainbow” by kacey musgraves.

zay’s are “imagine” by ariana and “dear life” from the step up soundtrack (post zc breakup).

farkle’s are “vienna” by billy joel and “get it right” from glee.

asher’s is “don’t cry” by ruel.

isa’s is “you are my sunshine” because valerie used to sing it to her a lot when she was really little, so it will always make her a little emotional.

dylan’s (although rare) are “soon you’ll get better” by ts and “make you feel my love” by adele. the second one is because his mom loved adele when she was just starting out bc 19 was released the same year that she passed away so there’s a lot of like subconscious association there even if he doesn’t realize it.

maya doesn’t have one, and lucas also doesn’t have one because in the rare moments he does cry its in his closet in the dark silence alone bc he literally can’t stand the sentience of knowing he’s crying so. sensory blackout.

coffee / tea?

riley will add at least 3 sugars to anything, but she’s ultimately an iced tea gal. lucas drinks it black but only because it never occurred to him to add anything to it and so it’s a big wake up call when he realizes you can drink it and have it NOT be bitter and horrible and demoralizing ( “i thought we were all just suffering for the caffeine fix??” ). isa is a tea girl mostly, although she wishes she could drink black coffee for the aesthetic (and hates that lucas can... it’s like... he didn’t even Earn that aestheticism, smh). asher doesn’t drink caffeine bc it makes him Jittery (and he’s already jittery) so he’s like... the lemonade bitch at coffee shops which kin, and then dylan definitely drinks caffeine but not thru coffee, he’s more likely to get like a hot chocolate.

farkle lives on coffee but he can only drink it from home because they’re rich and can have like fresh ground good imported whatever the heck etc etc so he’s like spoiled about coffee. zay will hit up a starbucks now and then and will order coffee at a diner, but he’s not too attached either way. maya is a fun n free starbucks gal with her frappes and lattes and lots of cream (whipped or otherwise). charlie doesn’t drink coffee or tea bc hes hyper aware of his body and health (he doesn’t really have soda either) and it was frowned upon in his house.

[avalon987]

One Hand

A story about an extraordinary woman in prehistoric times.

Jebel Irhoud

Morocco

Around 300000 BC

The air condensed the lights of the sun, when it circulated between the petals of the flowers.                A melody of perfumes spread across the region.

The butterflies collected the nectar while the ladybirds explored the myriads of possibilities that the terrain offered them. Gradually, the colours faded in the sky letting the first constellations of stars shined in a beaming glow. It was at this precise moment that Hina was born. Her mother wept when she first saw her because of her congenital malformation; Hina had no right hand, and only four fingers on the left one.

In this harsh climate, a disabled girl from birth would struggle to survive. The temperature differences between day and night were so drastic that only the fittest were capable of handling these conditions.

Hina would need all her abilities to gather the fruits and help the community with the necessary labour required of her.

Jinna her mother told her father Omma that Hina was sick, and would probably die soon. Since the first months of her pregnancy, Jinna had not been in a very good health. She felt early on that something was wrong. The birth of her daughter confirmed her worst premonitions.

Jinna thought that Hina could be a burden, and she would probably be ostracized in the tribe.

Jinna felt so desperate by the situation that she decided to go to the nearby river with the intention of drowning her baby and telling afterwards that it was an accident.

But something in Hina sensed that her life was in danger, and she cried and screamed so vigorously that Jinna had remorse about what she initially wanted to do.

A feeling of compassion and love for her baby timidly emerged like a gentle spirit who was watching over her. From now on, she would protect her child the best she could. There was something special that she could not explain which emanated from Hina that had a fierce appetite to live.

Each step of growing up for Hina was a challenge.

It started by the other women in the tribe who complained that she was too slow, and she was not a real help for them.

Jinna always replied that she would work twice as hard to compensate what Hina could not contribute. Jinna was in constant fear for her. She always used to tell Hina to stay where she could see her.

In this network of caves tightly embedded in the hills, you had to be extra vigilant.

The life in the tribe was hard, you had to move often to avoid predators like snakes and leopards.

You also had to be very wary of the other tribes in the area who never missed an occasion to attack to either steal your food or to assert their predominance.

Two people in the tribe were always assigned to give the alert if something threatened the integrity of the clan. It was not rare that the tribe had to mourn the loss of three to five warriors per year.

Somehow, with discipline and repetition, Hina managed to develop a dexterity to pick up fruits.

But it had been an upheaval battle. Climbing between the branches was particularly tricky for her.

In the beginning, the other children use to mock and bully her because she was different.

Her only friend was her cousin Hine, he was kind and supportive.

He helped her to develop unique skills to gather what the tribe needed. After years of practice and determination, Hina became the best girl to collect fruits. Everybody was amazed by her achievement.

Jinna was more confident about the future of her unique child. Maybe she could make it after all.

One year a locust swarm devastated the region.

The tribe had less to rely on.

Hina decided against her mother orders to venture further that the group of women used to go without being seen.

When she was exploring the wilderness around the cave, she came face to face with a leopard.

The beast stared at her, but something told her to remain calm, and she had the presence of mind to grab a rock and to throw at the leopard’s head.

After that she ran to rejoin the cave. When she told her story, her mother was very angry because she disobeyed, but many people in the tribe thought that she made it up, and they laughed at her.

Hina was the source of constant jokes. They teased her every day.

Jinna was ashamed and told her to never tell this story again. Hina did not care that nobody believed her, she used that as confirmation that she was more courageous than most people. Leopard attacks were what people feared the most.

Hina continued to secretly explore the area near the caves. Jinna kept calling for her to know where she was. Hina always had an excuse ready to give her mother.

During her excursions, Hina learned about different aspects of the surroundings.

She was also very observant of was going on in the tribe. Even though it was unusual for a girl, she asked her father Omma how he fabricated spears, and how to select the best rocks to do it.

When she was around ten year old, she asked her cousin Hine to show her how to hunt preys.

“I can’t show you that, it’s only for the men, you know that.” said Hine.

But every time she could, from a distance, she liked to see how the hunters ran long distances to make their prey tired and finally exhausted before they killed them. During these hunts you had to be very careful to avoid the lions, they could launch a surprise attack at any time.

Recently, one man died like this.

Hina reached adolescence, it was time for her to marry. Her uncle Jime who was the tribal chief had to select the best suitor for her.

But unexpectedly, something strange happened before she could marry.

Without understanding why, people in the tribe started to fall ill. Maybe it was something in the food they ate. But one by one they felt weak.

The symptoms of the disease ranged from severe rashes, vomiting or other intestinal problems followed by enormous fatigue and the need to sleep long hours. The healer of the tribe used medicinal plants that he knew could alleviate the pain.

Both of Hina’s parents suffered from the disease but by miracle she did not get it. She was very worried for them. She accompanied the healer to collect the plants. He taught her the best to use. Because the healer was so busy, Hina became his assistant.

After a massive fever some people died of the disease. Most of the men were affected by the sickness.

What was unimaginable before became a reality. Because so few men could hunt, it had been decided that Hine would show Hina how to hunt in order to provide more food for the recovery of those who were not in the condition to attend their duties.

Hina was now one of the few able bodies capable of performing what was necessary to bring meat to the tribe.

But even diminished, many men protested against the idea of incorporating Hina in a hunt. They said that it would bring more bad luck, the gods were already angry against them.

Jime the chief stood firm, and he said to them that there was no choice if the tribe wanted to survive.

The first hunts, Hina was tentative. She did not master the right timing to throw the spears at the preys.

But Hine always encouraged her, and after many attempts she managed to kill a prey. She was totally elated.

Her mother’s health did not improve. Jinna passed away few weeks after she had the first symptoms. Hina and her father were totally heartbroken and inconsolable.

After three months, new calamities afflicted the tribe. It was the beginning of the most severe drought that they had known for years. The main sources of water diminished in size to become small pounds.

The tribe had to move to find a more a welcoming place. Jime decided to send Hina and Hine to prospect the area to find somewhere they could use to build a settlement around it.

It was an arduous mission because of the scarcity of food and water, but they were now the only two people who had the fortitude to do it.

Hina remembered that her mother always told her to follow her intuition, so they headed west.

They walked for days but could not find any large source of water.

During their search, they ran across two men from a rival tribe who tried to attack them and to rape Hina. Like possessed by the devil, Hine and Hina managed to severely injured the men, and they fled the fastest they could.

Two days after, a huge desert storm appeared.

Hina and Hine had to stay under a rock to wait that it passed. They kept walking to the west. After one more day of marching, they finally saw something they had never seen before, it was like an infinite river. They tasted the water, it was a strange sensation, they did not like it when they tried to drink it. They roamed around the shore.

They found a river and also a large lake.

Hina and Hine were so happy, this place was perfect to establish a new settlement. They admired the warmth of the colours on the horizon above the waves just before sunset.  

Because Hine was an expert to follow animal tracks, he had an exceptional sense of orientation and a very good memory. They rested two days to regenerate. They started their journey back to the tribe.

After one week, against all odds, they reached their destination.

When they arrived and announced that they had found the best place to settle, it was an immense celebration.

The tribe started their long march to reach their new homeland.

They established a new community near the sea.

They learned how to collect the seashells and the difficult art of fishing.

Hina married a strong and courageous man.

She became a mother then a grandmother.

She had a long and happy life. She was the matriarch of the tribe. At night, around the fire, she told the story of her life to the children.

She always finished her stories by saying:” Follow your heart, it’s the best guide you will ever have.”