#jacy wilder

[stillbeatingheart]

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 9: Name

My mother named me Tilde because she liked the way it felt in her mouth, she liked the way her tongue and lips moved around the consonants.  In mathematics it means negation.  In English it’s most often used in place of about, it’s an approximation.  And in some languages it’s used to note a change of pronunciation.  

Truth is, she was probably high when she was filling out the papers.  And in the years since, she probably felt some need to explain it when people asked, when people wanted to know why she named her kid the title of a squiggly line.  

Amory’s not a word either, but at least it’s unfamiliar enough that most people think it’s just some creative forward-thinking name, some play on amour or something clever.  It’s not clever, it’s a town in Alabama that Mom passed through once in the passenger seat of an 18-wheeler while she was hitchhiking across the country.  Yes, hitchhiking.  How times have changed.  In not so many years.  Maybe we just think times have changed because it’s not romanticized anymore, it’s something for bums and junkies, not for hippies and broke travelers.  Now that the gap year has a name and only rich kids get to do it, it’s not about finding yourself.  It’s about losing yourself, or getting lost in the process of becoming an adult.  

Mom got lost.  And no amazing grace was about to save her.  Peyote either.

I never really thought about my name.  Only when kids teased me about it being a girl’s name but that didn’t last long when they realized I wore girls clothing too, and owned it.  I’d never be one of those kids that apologized with my stance or by trying to blend in, I always knew who I was and what I liked and it didn’t matter to me if others didn’t get it.  It wasn’t up to them to understand.  It never will be.

People say they just want to be understood.  They just want to be around people who get them.  Maybe that’s how it was with Jacy.  We spent our separate childhoods orbiting the same monsters with different faces, we knew without having to speak any of it.  Maybe that’s what it means to be understood.  To have the silence and know what it means.

Could I live without it?  Yeah.  Of course.  I’d lived without it before him and I’d live without it after him.  The problem is that once you have something for the first time, a part of you awakens.  Turns out, that part is hard to kill once it’s come to life.

Ebook available on B&N

[maddie-grove]

The Top Twenty Books I Read in 2023

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949): I thought somebody would make me read this book in school, but no one ever did. Now that I've read it, let me just say...mark me down as horny and scared! No, I will not explain what I mean by that.

Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser (2017): In this examination of Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and work, Fraser skillfully weaves a portrait of two complicated women (Wilder and her daughter/editor Rose Wilder Lane) with an overview of large swathes of American history. The examination of how Wilder and Lane adapted Wilder's life experiences into autobiographical fiction and why they made those choices is particularly interesting.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022): This is a retelling of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, transplanted to Appalachia in the 1990s-2000s. Kingsolver retains the warmth and the pathos of the original, and the narrative voice is great.

Song of the Magdalene by Donna Jo Napoli (1996): Miriam, a Jewish girl in first-century Magdala, finds her life altered by unexplained seizures, which she must keep secret, and a first love that ends in tragedy. Napoli often brings it when it comes to thoughtful portrayals of disability and unexpectedly weird sensuality, and this novel is one of her best.

My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews (1982): Audrina Adare, a young girl with severe memory problems, lives in an isolated Virginia mansion with her domineering father and various deranged female relatives...and it gets worse. This is V.C. Andrews at her most deliciously perverse and lurid, and I was definitely rooting for Audrina to close the portal.

I Never Asked You to Understand Me by Barthe DeClements (1986): Faced with her mother's terminal cancer diagnosis and the unhelpfulness of most adults in her life, fifteen-year-old Didi ends up at an alternative school for truancy and finds a friend in Stacy, a would-be runaway whose home life is even more dire. This 1980s YA problem novel always gets me, thanks to the author's gentle, empathetic treatment of her messy teenage characters.

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (2006): Jasons, a thirteen-year-old boy in early-1980s Worchestershire, copes with brutal grade-school politics, a tense home life, various small losses of innocence, and the odd supernatural event over the span of a year. My favorite stretch of the novel was where half a dozen scary/weird/sexually confusing things happen in the course of Jason taking one meandering walk through the countryside.

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (1963): I'd been intending to read a Kurt Vonnegut novel since he died in 2007, so don't say I never follow through on anything. This book is extraordinarily fun and absurd, which just enhances the horror of the eventual climax.

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905): Cash-strapped socialite Lily Bart struggles in turn-of-the-century New York society, mainly because she can neither fully commit to gold-digging nor figure out a viable alternative. Her crumbling state, both social and psychological, is horrifying yet fascinating to witness.

The Fell by Sarah Moss (2021): In November 2020, English waitress and single mother Kate breaks quarantine to take a walk through the countryside, with disastrous results. This short novel is lyrical, compassionate, and impressively stressful.

Old Babes in the Woods by Margaret Atwood (2023): This short story collection is split between vignettes featuring elderly couple Nell and Tig, and several standalones that vary wildly in tone and form. All are well-written, but I generally enjoyed the standalones best, especially the poignant "My Evil Mother," the chilling "Freeforall," and the thought-provoking "Metempsychosis."

Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott (2023): Pregnant Jacy goes with her new husband to visit his widowed father in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but a pleasant vacation soon turns into a paranoid nightmare. Abbott's lush descriptions--kind of sexy and kind of gross, as always--enhance a truly disturbing thriller.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925): This is another book I assumed someone would make me read in school, but I think all my teachers and professors were like "yeah, yeah, The Great Gatsby, we all know what that is." What you don't get from the Baz Luhrmann movie and pop-cultural osmosis, though, is the exquisite secondhand embarrassment of watching Gatsby pursue a married woman who is actually more into her husband, or just how fucking bizarre that husband is.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (2023): Single mother Louise is pulled from San Francisco to her hometown of Charleston by the sudden death of her parents and has to coordinate funeral arrangements with her ne'er-do-well brother Mark...and it gets worse. This isn't the best or the scariest Grady Hendrix novel, but the sibling relationship is compelling and it features the incomparable Pupkin. I love that fucked-up lil hand-puppet.

Seventeen and In-Between by Barthe Declements (1984): High-school senior Elsie Edwards is beautiful, brilliant, and talented, but she's still plagued by the lingering trauma of childhood bullying, her terrible parents, and her complicated feelings for her long-term boyfriend (slightly older and jonesing to Go All the Way) and her male best friend (also trying to figure things out, albeit through working in the lumber industry in Forks, Washington). The Elsie Edwards trilogy is great overall, and Elsie's struggle to figure out how to move beyond her unhappy past is especially moving.

Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Richard Peck (1972): Carol, the sixteen-year-old middle daughter of a poor divorced waitress, gets a front seat to her older sister's disastrous relationship with a scumbag, experiences her own first romance, and sorts through her feelings about her strained family and stultifying small prairie town. This is a sweet, understated early YA novel that offers a look into the last few years before Roe v. Wade.

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (2022): In this memoir, McCurdy recounts her relationship with her controlling, abusive late mother and her dispiriting time as a child star on Nickelodeon. I really enjoyed her writing style--clear, conversational, and bracingly pissed off--and she offers some good insight into the acting industry.

Just Like You by Nick Hornby (2020): Joseph, a twentysomething black working-class Londoner balancing his musical aspirations with babysitting gigs and a job at a butcher's shop, stars a romance with Lucy, a fortysomething upper-middle-class white single mom and schoolteacher. This is a pleasant, easygoing love story with some insightful commentary on how ordinary people form political opinions.

The Fourth Grade Wizards by Barthe DeClements (1988): Fourth grader Marianne is distracted in class and adrift at home after her mother's sudden death, but she has a good friend in Jack, who struggles in class because he's hyperactive. You might ask why this list is so dominated by one 1980s middle-grade/YA author, and the answer is that I love her. Also, I did not read all that many new-to-me books last year.

How Do You Lose Those Ninth Grade Blues? by Barthe DeClements (1983): Elsie Edwards, no longer the emotionally battered class pariah she was in Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade but not yet the maturing young woman she'll become in Seventeen and In-Between, starts high school with everything going for her...except her horribly low self-esteem and her still-terrible home life. This is definitely the slightest installment of the trilogy, but it still makes an impact.

[middleland]

Deer Crossing Wilderness Road; Wilderness Road flooded by Jaci Starkey

[tabloidtoc]

National Examiner, January 25

Cover: Secret Dawn Wells took to the grave: her affair with Bob Denver of Gilligan’s Island 

Page 2: Best and Worst Celeb Tippers -- Katherine Heigl, Amy Schumer, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, Madonna, Johnny Depp, Jay-Z 

Page 3: Charlie Sheen, Ben Affleck, Sean Penn, Sharon Stone, Naomi Campbell, Mark Zuckerberg, Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg took the 2020 Tip Challenge 

Page 4: Goldie Hawn’s movie roles 

Page 6: Melissa Gilbert who played Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie says if there’s one piece of unfinished business that emerged from the show it’s that she’d like to punch former co-star Shannen Doherty -- Shannen was only 12 when she joined the Little House cast for the show’s ninth and final season playing Jenny Wilder but in a couples therapy session with her first husband Bo Brinkman it came out that Shannen at 22 had bagged Bo in bed 

Page 7: Country star Dolly Parton may be 75 year old but that doesn’t stop her from leaping out of bed at 3 a.m. every morning -- she’s a very very very early riser and she goes to bed pretty early but she’s up and down

* Tom Hanks has been in countless movies and TV shows but his most important role in life has been as a father of four and he has tips for how to do it right 

Page 8: If you’ve soured on feeding canned dog food to your precious pooch you’re not alone -- plenty of owners are switching over to healthy people-food diets for their pets but it’s essential to get guidance from your veterinarian 

Page 9: Most of your kitty’s diet should be a nutritionally complete cat food but you can give them a treat from your plate every once in a while -- you just need to know how to choose feline-friendly snacks with nutrients they need and which they should NEVER eat -- check with your veterinarian 

* Why animals creep into our dreams -- we all dream about animals from time to time and here are some of the most common creatures of our nights and what they could be trying to tell us 

Page 10: On his 21st birthday Matt Goodman raised a glass to his late father who had left behind the money to buy his son’s first beer 

Page 11: Your Health -- the stark truth is that sleeping naked is good for you 

Page 12: Top Guns -- these Hollywood stars were fastest on the draw -- James Garner, Henry Fonda, Eli Wallach, Burt Lancaster, Roy Rogers 

Page 13: Kevin Costner, Yul Brynner, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne 

Page 14: Dear Tony, America’s Top Psychic Healer -- a lesson from COVID-19 which is work on mentally healing ourselves, Tony predicts Miley Cyrus will struggle to overcome many of her self-destructive habits, finding strength through religion and she will be back on the hit parade come summer 

Page 15: If you and your partner fight a lot here’s a great idea to grasp: holding each other’s hand is the key to better conflict resolution 

Page 16: Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton might be royals but they’re raising their children just like any other parents and family is their first priority and Will and Kate are rarely apart from their three kids Prince George and Prince Charlotte and Prince Louis 

Page 18: Maggie the shelter stray was twice unlucky when two potential forever homes kicked her to the curb but now she’s found her true calling as a beloved K-9 officer 

Page 19: A homeless man in Atlanta put his life on the line to rescue every single cat and dog from a blazing inferno at an animal shelter 

Page 20: Cover Story -- a three-hour tour that turned into a three-season laugh-fest on Gilligan’s Island made Dawn Wells a star and she took the show’s juiciest secrets to her grave including a red-hot affair with co-star Bob Denver -- Dawn who died of complications related to COVID-19 at age 82 hid a crazy sexy side which she kept under wraps because it was the exact opposite of the squeaky-clean image se presented to the world as farm girl Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island 

Page 22: This Michigan teen is a top Elvis Presley impersonator even performing in Las Vegas and the only one with Down syndrome 

Page 24: Texas firefighters were hailed as heroes after they rescued a four-year-old boy who had fallen down a well 

Page 25: Here’s the dirt on soil-free gardening 

Page 26: Nice Work If You Can Get It -- celebs shell out stupid money for stupid jobs -- Rod Stewart travels with a room-darkening team, Lady Gaga hates to sleep alone and her personal assistant had to get in bed with her on nights when Gaga was solo, Larry Ellison likes to play basketball on his yacht and employs a person who job it is to circle it in a boat and retrieve stray balls from the ocean, Mariah Carey has a woman who stands beside her at all times holding a drink, Snoop Dogg pays a professional blunts roller, Prince Charles has a personal dresser, Justin Bieber’s entourage includes someone to hold his drink and another to hold his slice of pizza, Sean Combs has an assistant whose only job is to carry around an umbrella for him 

Page 28: Burt Lancaster was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars acting in more than 70 movies during a four-decade-long career but he was also a silly practical joker says his daughter Joanna Lancaster one of the actor’s five children 

Page 30: Legendary actress and dancer Ann-Marget will be 80 years old in April but she’s still stepping out and making movies -- you’re not dead when you reach a certain age said the star who shot to fame when she famously dated Elvis Presley when they made Viva Las Vegas in 1964 

* Candice Bergen running wild and free at age 74 -- she recently became a first-time grandmother and is selling her hand-designed merchandise online 

* What is Marie Osmond doing during the pandemic? She bought a Harley motorcycle and so did her husband Steve and they love to go riding together -- the twosome also take walks and see their kids and grandkids and stay busy and have fun 

Page 42: All Washed Up -- surprising facts about bathing and showering 

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Ellen DeGeneres goes for a spin in California (picture), Chrissy Teigen and John Legend take their kids Luna and Miles to watch planes make the tricky landing at St. Barts’ airport (picture), Joan Collins claims she once gave Bobby Kennedy the brush off because neither of them was single at the time, George Clooney can’t bear the thought of his early film Grizzly II seeing the light of day but it is set to be released later this year, Barry Gibb the last living member of The Bee Gees says life was incredibly hard after losing his brothers and bandmates Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb who died in 2012 and 2003, Ray Liotta and Jacy Nittolo engaged, Bob Seger paid tribute to saxophonist Alto Reed a longtime member of his Silver Bullet Band who lost his life to colon cancer 

Page 45: Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla show off their walking sticks outside their home at Birkhall in Scotland (picture), Tori Spelling gets some puppy love from one of their pet pooches in L.A. with help from hubby Dean McDermott (picture), Megan Fox has moved on with Machine Gun Kelly and her estranged husband Brian Austin Green isn’t moping solo -- he vacationed in Hawaii with Sharna Burgess of Dancing with the Stars, British photographer David Bailey is dishing on his storied career in his memoir -- he claims sloshed Elizabeth Taylor tried to swipe his camera and his first impression of ex-wife Catherine Deneuve was that she was short and a bit on the fat side, Phyllis McGuire who shared the stage with her late siblings Dorothy and Ruby as the McGuire Sisters died in her lavish Las Vegas home -- she found fame through her voice and infamy through her relationship with Sin City mobster Sam Giancana 

Page 46: Good-hearted sheriff’s deputies surprised a woman with a vehicle after they kept getting calls about her walking along the highway in the freezing cold each morning 

Page 47: These UN Ambassadors use star power to help -- Emma Watson, Danny Glover, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Antonio Banderas, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Liam Neeson, Laurence Fishburne, Mia Farrow, Katy Perry, Alyssa Milano 

[tenebrcsity]

“IF YOUR HEART IS LIKE A VOLCANO, HOW SHALL YOU EXPECT FLOWERS TO GROW?” is that CODY CHRISTIAN? oh no, that’s WARWICK “WICK” TAMSYN, born on the 11 of APRIL, 2019. i heard HE (CIS MALE) is a PATROL in JACKSON TOWN. apparently, they can be TRUE-HEARTED and INTUITIVE but also known to be CANTANKEROUS and RECKLESS. spends most of their free time WOODWORKING, probably smells like CEDAR AND CIGARETTES. is that a bite mark i see?

BIO  TLDR  ;  poor  impulse  control  &  anger  issues  meets  a  secret  soft  who  likes  to  make  tables  and  chairs  for  anybody  who  asks  :/  hi  im  jj  ,  welcome  to  jackass—

STATS.

BASICS.

full  name  :  warwick  tomah  tamsyn  . nickname  :  wick  . age  :  twenty  -  five  . birth  date  :  11/04/2019  (  aries  )  . ethnicity  :  half  indigenous  american  (  penobscot  /  passamaquoddy )  &  half  white  . birth  place  :  somewhere  between  wisconsin  and  nebraska  ,  a  natural  twin  birth  in  the  wilderness  . current  residence  :  jackson  ,  wyoming  . gender  :  cis  male  (  he  /  him  )  . orientation  :  pansexual  ,  panromantic  . occupation  :  patroller  .

FAMILY.

parents  :  jacy  tamsyn  (  deceased  mother  )  &  wynston  longo  (  deceased  estranged  father  )  . siblings  :  walker  tamsyn  (  twin  )  . pet(s)  :  sam  ,  a  german  shorthaired  pointer  (  eight  years  old  )  .  at  this  point  in  time  ,  warwick  has  not  yet  met  sam  .

PHYSICAL.

faceclaim  :  cody  christian  . eye  color  :  blue  . hair  color  :  light  brown  . hair  style  :  carelessly  unkempt  ,  tucked  away  in  a  hat  or  hood  . height  :  five  foot  nine  . tattoos  +  piercings  :  several  tattoos  on  his  chest  and  back  ,  a  forearm  sleeve  on  his  right  arm  . notable  physical  traits  :  a  scar  above  and  across  his  left  eyebrow  ,  a  beauty  mark  on  his  left  cheek  ,  lean  build  .

ABOUT.

warwick  tamsyn  ,  alongside  his  twin  brother  walker  ,  was  born  on  the  eleventh  of  april  in  the  year  2019  ,  somewhere  between  wisconsin  and  nebraska  .  the  day  was  hot  and  wet  ,  with  heavy  storms  spanning  the  two  weeks  of  the  spring  month  .  the  group  his  family  was  apart  of  was  small  ,  with  only  one  other  kid  in  the  entire  group  .  they  group  was  constantly  on  the  move  ,  never  staying  in  one  place  for  more  than  a  few  days  unless  for  emergencies  .  his  father  was  the  leader  of  the  group  but  did  not  take  ownership  of  the  twin  boys  ,  leaving  them  in  the  care  of  their  mother  full  time  instead  and  treating  them  like  any  other  member  of  the  group  .

wick  was  also  more  reckless  than  the  other  children  .  although  the  infected  terrified  him  ,  they  also  tempted  the  the  side  of  him  that  sought  the  rush  of  adrenaline  from  a  life  threatening  situation  .  this  characteristic  about  him  often  landed  him  in  deep  trouble  with  the  group  ,  and  later  under  heavy  surveillance  by  the  adults  .  he  was  also  much  more  aggressive  and  hot  headed  ,  having  bouts  of  explosive  behaviour  at  the  simplest  of  issues  .  

early  on  in  his  life  ,  the  group  found  trouble  while  evading  a  group  of  infected  .  the  three  children  in  the  group  ,  then  eight  ,  were  sent  ahead  for  safety  while  the  adults  fought  off  the  infected  .  wick  ,  his  brother  ,  and  their  best  friend  waited  in  an  abandoned  home  for  two  days  but  never  saw  any  sign  of  the  group  ever  again  .  in  fear  of  being  alone  at  their  age  ,  it  was  there  that  they  remained  for  a  few  more  days  before  wick  convinced  them  that  they  should  keep  moving  .  they  made  a  pact  before  they  left  to  never  leave  each  other  behind  ,  and  to  also  stick  together  no  matter  what  .  by  keeping  low  and  quiet  ,  they  managed  to  survive  until  they  found  and  were  transitioned  into  jackson  in  the  year  2032  .

the  twins  and  the  other  child  keep  close  to  each  other  ,  closing  themselves  off  from  the  growing  group  in  jackson  ,  wyoming  .  however  ,  as  more  time  passes  ,  more  trust  is  allowed  .  until  eventually  ,  wick  and  the  others  become  fully  invested  in  the  well  being  of  the  group  while  also  never  abandoning  their  own  promises  with  one  another  .  wick  and  walker  became  patrollers  for  jackson  ,  but  were  rarely  partnered  together  ,  due  to  several  incidents  that  nearly  led  themselves  and  others  into  harm  at  the  fault  of  their  own  reckless  and  immature  behaviour  when  in  the  company  of  the  other  .  however  ,  as  individuals  they  work  immaculately  .

wick  is  someone  that  will  bend  over  backward  for  the  people  of  his  group  ,  and  seek  to  kill  anyone  that  attempts  or  successfully  harms  one  of  his  own  .  he  struggles  with  anger  issues  and  rational  thinking  ,  choosing  the  solution  of  violence  over  anything  else  when  solving  problems  .  he  is  often  found  working  on  a  new  wood  piece  in  his  makeshift  shed  ,  or  finishing  up  projects  others  have  requested  of  him  .  he  also  spends  most  of  his  time  in  the  tipsy  bison  ,  drinking  his  nights  away  and  making  friends  with  anyone  and  everyone  he  can  .  he  has  a  big  heart  but  never  thinks  about  things  .  very  very  reckless  and  dumb  .  needs  people  to  tie  him  down  and  keep  him  at  bay  .

[littleechocosplay]

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.

Fairy is @jaciness Wings by @hellofaerie White headband by @colleen_toland  The impressive ink is @laurajadetattoos's work. Photo by @wireheadarts

[bubba532to]

🔹️Caleb is a Beta BearShifter with Hells Bears. He followed orders all the time. It's just hard with the White Omega. What's a Bear to do?

Title:   The White Omega 

Series: Hells Bears MC

Release Date: #AlreadyReleased

Author: J.L. Wilder

Reviewer: Ingrid Stephanie Jordan 

Serial: Standalone, No Cliffhanger  

Genre:  #PRN #BearShifter #PolarBearShifter

#5Stars🌟⭐🌟🌟🌟

••••••••••••••

💢Each storybook captivates you from the first page to the end, it's full of Magical Fireworks with your dream boyfriend. Definitely a Must Read!

🔹️Jacie is a Omega Polar Bear Shifter running for her life from her pack near Blind River. Jacie could never get out of there house omegas were valued and loved or so she was told just not by her pack. One night after dinner ” Aiden says “take the trash to the curb Jacie" and she did and ran her feet off never stopping. UNTIL... Now shes locked up in a room again because she is an Omega.

🔹️Caleb is a Beta BearShifter with Hells Bears. He followed orders all the time. It's just hard with the White Omega. What's a Bear to do?

[hooschist-blog]

i just read someone trans girl jason headcanons so i'm gonna pair that with trans boy leo headcanons

- leo realized he was trans a few months before his mom died - he never liked dresses in the first place so that wasn't a problem, but his hair was - it was long, too long, so he asked if he could get it cut short - of course esperanza being one of the number one moms agrees - after his mom dies and he's in the system some of his homes won't take him to get his hair cut so he does it himself - when he turns 10 he wanted answers to what he was feeling so he starts looking stuff up on the house computer (he clears the history he isn't dumb) - by the time he turned 11 he started introducing himself as leo and when he started 6th grade he put leo as his nickname on everything - he gets into a superhero phase and because he's super smart and into building everyone thinks he'd be into iron man - but no he takes one look at peter parker and loves him - when he turns 13 he starts going through puberty and he hates it - his period makes him feel awful and his chest starts getting noticeable - he starts binding with ace bandages which is awful for you and constantly is out of breath and his chest hurts - he does this all through tout wilderness school and it starts hurting him physically - so when he meets jason he looks up to him because 'i wish i was as much of a boy as he was' - he doesn't tell any of them he's trans - all the teachers at wilderness school called him leo because thats what the social worker (the only person who knew) put for his names - she put him as he too - and he keeps binding with ace bandages all throughout the quest - he knows its bad because he's past out a few when they got back because he was so drained but his chest is too noticeable without it - so a few months after the quest jason gets dared to wear a dress and heels so he does and he finds out he likes it more - and it sticks with him for a week and people calling jason by him/he bothers him more than normal - and it hits him why - jason isn't a boy he's a girl - so she sits with it for like a month and then tells her best friend - leo valdez - she doesn't tell piper because he's scared she'll leave her - but leo tells her piper would never leave her and piper is bi anyways so she likes girls too - and after a long talk with leo she comes out to the rest of the seven and reyna and nico - eventually everyone knows and they respect her for it - she stills uses jason as her name but the seven call her jacy because it works - she likes jacy because its cute and suits her - one day jacy is helping leo train and his breathing goes weird - and jacy freaks out and leo just tells her to bring him to her apartment - when they get there jacy doesn't know what to do and leo just kinda points at his chest but he can't really move and is freaking out - so jacy takes off his shirt and sees the ace bandages and and immediately starts ripping them off - ((she started doing research on trans people in the month she sat on her gender)) - and when they're off she just looks at leo and he starts crying - 'how long have you been doing this? why didn't you tell us?' - 'i started using them when i was 13. i was just so scared of what a of you would think' - jacy hugs leo and promises not to tell anyone - she finds him a real binder and before he gets it she makes him only wear baggy shirts and sports bras she finds in pipers clothes because jacy doesn't want him go die - when the binder comes in she gives it to him and he cries - the two bond even more than before and leo comes out to piper - piper and jacy invite leo to do a ton of things with them and he starts getting blushy all the time and when they compliment him his stomach hurts - jacy sits down with piper and says she thinks she's been flirting with leo but she's not sure - and piper just stares at her for a second before laughing - 'jacy you think you have been trust me you definitely have been' - she starts freaking out but piper says its okay because she's liked leo for a few months now - the two try to find ways to ask out leo but he's oblivious so any hints the two girls make go over his head - and meanwhile leo is freaking out because 'i like piper and jacy' but its all turns out okay - because piper and jacy confront him and they all date *bonus* - thalia finding out she has a younger sister and she's so happy for her - 'oh yea my younger sister is going to lunch with me today' - cue jacy crying - leo comes out to the rest of the squad and they all take it so well - ((nico summons the ghost of leos mom and he gets to tell her how far he's come)) - leo and jacy getting top surgery and piper helping them a bunch afterwards

[tagamark]

Goto South Africa

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Goto South Africa

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Etali Safari Lodge

Fancourt Hotel and Country Club

Franschhoek Country House

Grande Roche Hotel

Hamiltons Tented Camp

Hog Hollow Country Lodge

Honeyguide Tented Camps

Hoyo Hoyo Tsonga Lodge

Hunters Country House

Idube Game Reserve

Imbali Safari Lodge

Impodimo Game Lodge

Inyati Game Reserve

Ivory Wilderness Lodge

Jaci’s Safari Lodge

Jaci’s Tree Lodge

Jackalberry Game Lodge

Jamala Madikwe Lodge

Jock Safari Lodge

Kambaku Game Reserve

Kapama Game Reserve

Kings Camp Game Reserve

Kirkmans Game Reserve

Knysna Hollow Country Estate

Kurland Hotel

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[stillbeatingheart]

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 8: Crush

I started a butterfly garden a few years back.  I can do stuff like that now - I have acres that belong to me.  Acres that Rolex had plans for garages and guest houses and fucking tennis courts or whatever else he could use to flaunt his money.  I, however, want a butterfly garden.

I spend my mornings here.  Smelling the salt of the ocean and watching delicate wings flutter.  I like the flowers too, they have their merit.  But it’s the butterflies.  It’s these tiny creatures that can just up and fly away whenever they want to, these weak looking tissue paper thin insects that can fly up to 2,500 miles in migration.  Those wings, those are wings of power and endurance.  

They’re slow to trust me at first.  Who isn’t?  Give me a creature with a brain who is quick to trust and I’ll show you a fool.  Eventually they begin to land on a flower when I hold it in my hand.  

“I could crush you,” I tell one of them this morning. “I could crush you so easily.”

We’ve been here nearly five years now.  We’ve lived a life of fortune.  Sometimes brutal, sometimes harsh.  But never harsher than the life we lived before the fortune.  It’s the brutality that’s taking its toll.  It’s wearing lines into Jacy’s face, and I hate them.  I thought, probably seven years ago now, that I’d watch him age.  I’d watch smile lines fissure, spread and find permanence in the corners of his eyes.  I’d watch laugh lines etch and carve their way around his mouth.  I’d watch all these beautiful tributaries become rivers and I’d revel in it.  Knowing that I caused some of them, probably most of them.  Jacy never laughed the way he did with me, he never did that with anyone else.  

I watch the butterfly as it’s wings open and close.  Lazily now.  And I think I can’t remember the last time I heard Jacy laugh.

Ebook available on B&N

[lifeless-x]

10 Must Do Holiday Events at Walt Disney World

There is just something special about Walt Disney World during the Holidays. If you have ever been during the Holidays, you will know that there isn’t a better time to visit your old friend Mickey. If you haven’t been, shame on you!! One of the best things about Disney during the Holidays are all the special things going on that you really can’t experience any other time during the year. Here are our 10 Must Do Holiday Events at Walt Disney World.

Jolly Holiday Décor: Take in the glistening holiday décor that brightens all four Theme Parks, the Disney resort hotels and Disney Springs! Wreaths, garlands and more surround you with holiday cheer. Giant floating ornaments, sky-high Christmas trees and magical snow flurries create a winter wonderland all around the vacation kingdom.

Tasty Holiday Treats: Taste the newest Flurry of Fun confections at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. From red velvet whoopee pies decorated with icing garland, ornament pearls, and holiday sprinkles to Olaf Cake Pops and apple cranberry cobblers, these holiday sweets will have you smiling from ear-to-ear!

Candlelight Processional at Epcot: One of the most beloved Epcot traditions, the Candlelight Processional, returns with new celebrity narrators. Disney legend Kurt Russell is among the newcomers, along with Pat Sajak, Matt Bomer and CCH Pounder who will join returning favorites Neil Patrick Harris, Whoopi Goldberg, Jaci Velasquez and others. The Candlelight Processional is a retelling of the Christmas story as told by a celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and mass choir. The show takes place at the America Gardens Theatre nightly at 5:00 p.m., 6:45 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., November 24 – December 30.

Gingerbread Houses: Explore stunning edible creations at select Walt Disney World resort hotels, like the life-size holiday gingerbread house at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. A giant edible spinning carousel is a holiday tradition at Disney’s Beach Club Resort, while a holiday village with a miniature train takes center stage at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. New this year, Disney’s Contemporary Resort will be home to an 18-foot-tall Cinderella Castle, crafted with thousands of gingerbread blocks, rolled fondant and modeling chocolate.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party: It’s a Christmas party like no other! Each special ticket, limited-attendance event features an exclusive performance of Holiday Wishes fireworks, and the very first performances of other spectaculars like Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, the Frozen Holiday Wish castle-lighting ceremony and Mickey’s Most Merriest Celebration stage show. The special party, complete with cookies, cocoa and snow flurries, begins at 7 p.m., after regular park hours.

Sunset Seasons Greetings at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: All-new are spectacular holiday projections displayed on the famous Hollywood Tower Hotel! This new holiday experience runs continuously throughout the night and features animated scenes of Mickey, Minnie and other beloved Disney characters sharing their favorite Christmas stories. Keep an eye out for the billboards that come to life and the falling snow on Sunset Boulevard. Talk about magical!

New Holiday Kitchens at the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays: Experience the flavors of the holidays, as you meander through World Showcase stopping at each of the festival’s many Holiday Kitchens. These kiosks serve up food and drinks that take the words “warm and cozy” to a whole new level. There’s even a Holiday Kitchen that’s all about sweet treats like snowflake sugar cookies and warm apple fritters with cinnamon ice cream and caramel sauce.

S’mores, Hot Cocoa and Christmas Carols at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground: Immerse yourself in the yuletide grandeur of the Pacific Northwest at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge where a majestic Christmas tree towers over the resort lobby. Cozy up to the fire and relax with a cup of hot cider or cocoa and holiday treats. For more frontier-style holiday happenings head over to Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground where carolers arrive by hay wagon spreading the sounds of the season. This is available to anyone, you do not need to be staying at these resort to enjoy the Holiday happenings.

Holiday Entertainment at Disney Springs: Every corner of Disney Springs is wrapped and ready for the season with festive holiday décor and seasonal entertainment. This year an expanded Christmas Tree Trail features ten new trees inspired by Disney classics such as Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Snow White and Dumbo.

And of course, Meet Santa Claus: A cozy conversation with Father Christmas, himself, makes the holiday season complete. Santa Claus will park hop to greet guests at Disney Springs and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He’ll even make an appearance during Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade at Magic Kingdom Park.

What is your favorite thing about Walt Disney World during the Holidays?

The post 10 Must Do Holiday Events at Walt Disney World appeared first on Mouseketrips.

Source: http://www.mouseketrips.com/10-must-do-holiday-events-walt-disney-world/

[middleland]

Flooding over Wilderness Road by Jaci Starkey

[stillbeatingheart]

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 12: Cycle

There was a time in my life when all I wanted was to get out, out of this town, out of this life, out of this building and start something of my own, to become the adult that I had so long been expected to behave like, but as a true adult I’d have the say over my own body, I’d be able to make my own decisions for my own good times.  It’s strange how a ghost can follow a person for so long, can dictate direction of thoughts and twist memories into levels of significance or insignificance that they never actually reached.  

I walk through the doorway, glass crunching under my boots.  I can feel a few shards embedding into my treads and coming along with me for awhile until they decide to fall away and settle in a new area.  Those shards of memories, good and bad, and all it takes is a careless boot to move them all around until the puzzle pieces can no longer make a whole.

The living room, as we called it, is the same.  Minus the things that made it homey.  The bones of the couch still there, the stuffing still stuffed in some places, taken apart by rodents in other places.  I wonder if I sat down, if it would smell only of must and rot now.  Or if there would still be a part of him, a part of Jacy, lingering in those cushions.  If his scent would waft out in a cloud of pot smoke, Axe body spray and cinnamon gum.  Underneath that was him.  The sweat and dirt, the trampled grass, the nature surrounding us that had sunk into his pores to live there, a reminder that the home we lived in was only one step away from that, from the vastness of nature and all of its whims.  We had a roof in most places, we had walls that were mostly still standing.  Sometimes we started fires in the corner of the big room, keeping us warm on dark rainy nights.  Sometimes we’d lie on our backs on the bare concrete hoping that it would cool us in the high heat of summer.  

Ebook available on B&N

[stillbeatingheart]

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 17: Fault

But I don’t want it.  I want to go back now.  Right back to the quarry.  I want to let him toss those fingers.  I want to watch them with my own two eyes as they sink, with the rings still on them.  I want to lose the fingerprints that get us into his personal information.  I want to lose every penny and every house, I want to lose every ounce of power.  I want to lose all of the things I never should have had, if only to have Jacy back.  To get in the car that night and drive away.  Leave all the rest behind.  I don’t need it.  

My hand shakes and my breath quivers, I can feel tears streaming down my cheeks but she doesn’t hear me.  She’s not listening.  She’s staring straight up towards the light that’s broken the room in half.  Of course it’s there now.  I guess that’s what this is all about, isn’t it?  Being trapped inside my mind while it’s still alive as my body dies.

Does she care?  Did she ever care what I wanted?  

Shouldn’t that answer be obvious?

I wipe at my eyes with the tips of my fingers, pushing tears back until the only thing in my vision is spots dancing together and smashing into each other, breaking apart to disintegrate at the edges.

Ebook available on B&N

[stillbeatingheart]

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 16: Race

“When my mom died, Grandfather took care of me.  He told me some stories.” That’s all he tells me now.  His voice is crusty, on the cusp of sleep, a little stoned, and sun scorched.  

I press my cheek closer to the cool ground, curl two fingers to rub along his chin, loving the rasp of his facial hair against my skin.  I wonder sometimes, how much of his childhood was spent in uncertainty.  His grandfather took care of him until his death, Jacy was nine when he went into the system.  Too old to be wide-eyed and cartoonish anymore, too jaded to be innocent.  No one was going to adopt him.  He was completely alone.  Foster siblings came and went, foster parents came and went.  

His eyes flicker open suddenly, accusatory like he knows what I’ve been thinking.  Instantly linking my gaze and making my breath halt.  My mouth opens, like I’m going to admit to what I was wondering.  No words exit and I’m left staring in silence as the green of his irises engulfs me in endless fields of grass and hay, in straw spun golden by the ball of fire we revolve around.

His hand silently lands on my hip, cupping the bone that juts out like it’s going to rip through my skin, his thumb moving back and forth under the band of my swim shorts.  

“It’s an eventuality that I will lose you, too,” Jacy whispers so softly I barely hear him over the sound of the breeze rustling leaves and tall grass, over the sound of the water rushing gently past the shore, slipping over rocks and carrying debris further than we’ll ever go.

“No,” my voice comes out softer than I wanted.  I wanted to say it with conviction, I wanted it to be a promise.  A pillar of strength and reason.  Something he could lean against, knowing it would always be there to support him.  Instead it was fickle, it was wavering, it was slight and pale.  

I want to repeat it, to grip his chin and drag him closer to me, to repeat it until he believes it, until I believe it.  I guess even at this point there’s a part of me that must know, must know it’s a fucking lie.

Ebook available on B&N

[stillbeatingheart]

Face of the Moon excerpt Chapter 14: Money

Well, here I am.  I’m the gutter rat that became a rooster.  Now what?

Now, I’m standing in the grass outside the industrial building, thinking of all the things that made us happy, all the things that gave us freedom to truly be the people we were inside our own heads, that comfort to let ourselves be shown to each other.  

I’m standing on the broken cement, in the broken courtyard, outside the broken building and I am the broken human.  I am the broken human that’s been broken since birth, and maybe there’s time to fix that and maybe there isn’t.  But you know what I see?  I see this rotting giant sinking into the ground and I think: if it could save me, could it save someone else?

I told you this was a love story.  And love isn’t simply a person.

Ebook available on B&N