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jenroseyokel · 6 years

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Awesome of the Year 2018: The Books

Happy New Year! ‘Tis the season for year end lists left and right as we attempt to figure out the best of everything from 2018. And of course, as a fan of books, music, and movies, it’s only right to get in on the list-making. Over the next week or so, I’ll be sharing my 2018 favorite lists. First up: books! This year, I set my Goodreads reading challenge at 40 books, and actually passed it. I’ve been setting arbitrary book goals for years, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve succeeded since 2007. Probably because of all the graphic novels and comic trades I read this year WHICH TOTALLY COUNT BTW. Ahem. Anyway. This isn’t really a best of 2018 list so much as a Here’s a Bunch of Books I Really Liked in 2018 list, split up into categories. I hope you’ll find something interesting here, especially if you’re looking for ways to spend bookstore or Amazon gift cards you got for Christmas… ;)

Newish Books by Rad Christian Women:

Every Arbitrary Book Goal should have a small correlated goal attached. This year mine was to make sure I read at least 50% women authors… and there have been a lot of GREAT new books from women writers in the past few years. If the “Christian women” section of your local bookstore makes you cringe a little inside too, check out these three wonderful books, all released in the past couple years:

Courage, Dear Heart by Rebecca K. Reynolds (NavPress, 2018)

Anyone who has read Rebecca’s writing knows she needed to write a book. She has a sharp mind, a poet's soul, a scientist's eye, and the most beautiful, tender heart. Also, she's an incredible writer who loves her readers with a love that radiates off every page. Buy a copy for everyone you know.

Wearing God by Lauren F. Winner (HarperOne, 2017) Girl Meets God was a formative book in my early 20s, and I’ve always meant to read more from this author, but somehow haven't. I finally picked up this one and oh man, for a solid month afterward I couldn’t stop thinking about it. With the eye of a scholar and the heart of a poet, Winner draws on personal stories, deep Biblical study, and a love of language to explore lesser known metaphors for God. Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren (InterVarsity Press, 2016)

Several years ago, James K.A. Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom helped me see liturgy in a new way, as not just religious practice, but the embedded routines that shape us. In this book, Tish Warren brings that idea to life as she walks through an ordinary day explores the holiness in our most mundane moments of living. You may not look at brushing your teeth or losing your keys the same way again.

Good Stories

This year, fiction reading was… all over the place? I don’t know if I read much that was OMG amazing, but here are a few that were fun…

The Fairyland Series 2-5 by Catherynne M. Valente (Feiwel & Friends, 2012-2015)

I am notoriously awful at finishing book series. I read the first Fairyland book maybe… two years ago? Yikes. Just finished the last one and wow, so fun. Colorful characters, a whimsical narrator, crazy locations, and a whole lot of heart make this Victorian fairytale meets contemporary fantasy a delight to read.

Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (Harcourt, 1956)

Lewis’ contemporary retelling of the Cupid and Pschye myth through the eyes of Psyche’s jealous sister Orual. Second read for me, and even better this time around. Pretty sure this is Lewis’ storytelling at his best.

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw (Orbit, 2017)

This was a year to embrace fun, nerdy reads. So there was the Star Trek spoof Redshirts (with a plot twist I totally saw coming... and I am not good at guessing plot twists) and my first trip into the Star Wars extended book universe (or whatever the heck they call it these days) and… this. A story about a doctor for the undead in London, trying to solve the mysteries surrounding a murderous cult and keep her monster friends safe. Not the greatest, but a fun Halloween read. I’ll get to the sequel eventually. (See also: bad at finishing book series.)

Poetry for Everyone

Another new reading practice this year: always keeping a poetry book on the bedside table. Poetry books are best for leisurely dipping in and out rather than reading cover to cover. If you think poetry is only for the ivory towers, give these writers a try and think again.

A Child's Year by Christopher Yokel (Independent, 2018)

Okay, I’m biased here, but hey! Chris quietly released a new poetry book into the world this fall, and I’m a big fan of Chris AND his poems. A Child’s Year is a season cycle, sort of like his last book A Year in Weetamoo Woods, but this time it’s anchored by a four part poem recalling the journey of seasons through childhood eyes. And according to our friend Kirsten’s 7-year-old son, he gets the experience right. ;)

The Jubilee by John Blase (Bright Coppers Press, 2017) For his 50th birthday, John Blase released his first poetry book, with a poem for every year of life. It’s rare for me to make it through an entire collection start to finish but these were just so good. There are poems about aging — the author’s and his parents’ — and poems that evoke wide spaces and natural wonder. There are psalms and parables, and meditations on dying and, yes, living. All of them finely tuned with wisdom, gentle grace, and a touch of humor in all the right places. How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson (Dial Books, 2014)

When I heard Marilyn Nelson read her poem “Thirteen-Year-Old American Negro Girl” on the On Being podcast, I was captivated. And when I found this lovely hardcover in a used bookstore back home in Florida, I knew I needed to read more. This is a memoir in poetry about growing up in a black military family during the American Civil Rights era, told with gentle lyricism, warmth, and humor. Plus, the book itself is lovely with whimsical illustrations and family photos.

Comics!

I’m always on a quest to get more comics in my life. Plus knocking out a whole series in a couple weeks is a solid way to pad out your Arbitrary Book Goal.

Amulet 1-7 by Kazu Kibuishi (Graphix, 2008-2016)

After their father’s tragic death, Emily and Navin move with their mom to a strange old house that belonged to their great-grandfather… and so the adventure begins. In this fantasy series, the two kids find themselves in an underground world of demons, robots, talking animals, and a dangerous and powerful Amulet. A captivating and beautifully illustrated fantasy tale. Ms. Marvel 1-5 by G. Willow Wilson (Marvel, 2014-2016)

Y’all, I super want to be a Marvel nerd. But alas, I can't keep up, so I get my sister to loan books to me. Ms. Marvel is my new fave. A Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City has the power to grow, shrink, and stretch her body at will. So she’s trying to fight crime, keep up at school, and well, stay out of trouble with her parents. So fun. (Dear Disney: I really want this kid to show up in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. before it gets canceled kthxbye.)

The Legend of Wonder Woman by Ranae De Liz and Ray Dillon (DC Comics, 2016)

Weren’t we all mildly obsessed with Wonder Woman after the 2017 film? Another one I borrowed from my sister. A solid take on Diana’s origin story that’s accessible for comic n00bs (ahem, like me) who can’t figure out where to begin with beautiful art and a lot of heart.

The Classic I Finally Read

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen I always try to tackle either a thick intimidating novel or an unread classic in the wintertime. This year, I worked on my Austen deficiency and discovered I relate a little too much to Elinor Dashwood.

What’s Next?

In the new year, I think my goal is less about numbers and more about reading widely. I liked the 50% women authors goal because it helped me actively choose to support women writers. This year, hoping to read more books by authors of color, explore some new ideas and genres, and hopefully do a better job reading deeply and taking notes. I’ve got my eye on Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge too, perhaps as a way to dig into new things I wouldn’t normally notice. And yeah... perhaps a monthly reading life update is a thing I can do here on the blog. :)

If you’re curious to see the full list of What I Read This Year and follow along with me in 2019, feel free to follow me on Goodreads!

What were some of your favorite reads in 2018? And what are your goals for the new year? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments!

#art #books #reading #awesome of the year #readers of tumblr #reading list #favorite books #best of 2018 #readers are leaders yo

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ac-ars · 6 years

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easy

damn she is here, i couldnt write anything yesterday becauseeee i was at work and i had exam today and then i procrastinated but yes she is here

day 4 - “We’re roommates and we’ve barely interacted so far, but one night there’s a thunderstorm and I’m a serious astraphobic and come into your room shaking because I don’t know what else to do and you lull me to sleep by stroking my hair”

🌙

easy

Matteo can't really tell what wakes him up in the middle of the night. Was it a thunder or maybe the light on in the kitchen he can see, because he left the door of his bedroom open since it's been hot as fuck recently and the more air flow he can get the better. Anyway Lyra isn't really anywhere near him as she tends to, but maybe she is with Luna, who knows, his cat is a traveller since Luna moved in and he doesn't mind, but she is kinda scared of storms so he would love to have her here.

But the light is on in the kitchen, and despite the fact that he doesn’t wanna, he needs to go and check on whoever (most likely Luna) has a problem over there. Maybe she is getting her night snack? Though, this would be weird, because she decided to stop with this habit. He knows that mostly from the sticker on the fridge she probably put it and he can’t say he isn’t proud of her.

Matteo gets up eventually with a heavy sigh and stretches himself yawning loudly. He leaves his room and finds Luna in the kitchen with Lyra sitting next to her on the counter while the Mexican girl is making some tea.

“Can’t sleep?” he asks and regrets it immediately, because she jumps so much she almost throws her mug off the counter making Lyra meow.

“Jesus Christ Matteo Balsano don’t you dare to scare me like that, please,” she mumbles, trying to chill her breathing and closing her eyes for a moment. “Why are you here?”

“I would love to ask you the same question, did something happen?”

She hums playing with the spoon in the mug. “Not really, I just couldn’t sleep. Now why you?”

Matteo hums caressing his jaw. “Something woke me up and I noticed light on, so I decided to check what’s going on.”

Luna nods, not saying anything else, just focuses on the electric kettle until it turns off. This is all kinds of weird for Luna, who is usually all bubbly and talkative while now she said nothing to make a conversation.

They aren’t the best of friends, she actually isn’t living with him that long, she needed a place to stay for now, because she decided she can’t live with her best friend who keeps setting her up with every boy existing and mixing with her head while trying to give her some good advice. Matteo understands that it can be pretty annoying and Ambar said her cousin was looking for a place to live, actually a room, since she cant afford whole apartment. He actually needed someone to move in after Gaston gave up on Argentina and left to England without saying bye.

So Luna moved in with her mess and colorful stuff, leaving flowers everywhere and leaving books around. Surprisingly Matteo never minded that, she is still better than Gaston who kept telling him puns about every single thing in their apartment, and when at first it was just annoying, the puns itself, later it was too much the same jokes one by one and generally at the end Matteo wished him to choke on his dumb puns.

She is always in good mood, always singing something, and humming, dancing while cooking some basic shit, because for the love of the universe, she can’t cook at all. But now, here he has her, looking around anxiously and biting on her lower lip as she is pouring the hot water into her mug.

“Hey, you,” he murmurs and pokes her on the ribs when she puts the kettle away. “What is going on?”

She opens her mouth to say something, but another lightning blinks behind the curtains and her eyes shut close when she waits for the thunder to come. When it does she shivers and takes deep breath and Matteo guesses that she is scared of the thunder or something so he takes his arm around her shoulders. “Do you want me to stay with you here?”

Luna sends him a look, mixing her tea so the sugar can melt in there, and nods a little, leaning to his side. Lyra mrrows at them, making them laugh slightly and Luna looks up at him. “Do you wanna some tea too?”

Before he manages to answer, she already stands high, high on her tiptoes so she is the tallest Luna, and reaches to the high cupboard to get Matteo his own mug. She of course picks his favorite, what makes him smile. Without saying anything, just listening to the sound of the rain hitting the glass of the windows, he watches how she takes the tea and doesn’t put any sugar in the mug before pouring the rest of the water. He is kinda surprised with how quickly this girl picks up on others’ habits, always remembering what one likes and what they don’t, but that’s a very big pro of living with her.

He stands next to her, leaning his hips back against the counter as they wordlessly drink their tea and as surprised as Matteo is in this very minute, it’s such a calming time, where he can think of whatever he wants, while making sure Luna isn’t shivering anymore when a lightning strikes somewhere away from them.

“Do you want to know a secret?” he asks eventually, as he is done with his tea and Lyra jumps annoyed after he puts his empty mug on the counter next to her.

Luna scrunches her nose as she takes her eyes to him, maybe a little troubled to get out of her thoughts, but she hums encouraging him to speak more.

“I can teach you how to count the distance from where the lightning did strike.” He sends her a smile as she gasps surprised and jumps excited. “Yes, teach me. I wanna know.”

🌙

They are in the living room now, Luna’s tea half forgotten as they are standing by the window, his cold hands are on her shoulders keeping her steady, because now she seems excited instead of anxious, and that’s already blink of “his” Luna here.

He hums softly next to her ear to get her attention back to him and when she does he smiles. “Now we gotta wait for the lightning to appear somewhere so we can see it. When we do, you count seconds starting when the lightning hits, and you count until you hear the thunder. Is it clear?” he asks to make sure and Luna nods surely, while nibbling on her lower lip.

They gotta wait few minutes, but when it blinks, the brunette starts counting in her head and he knows it, because now her eyes are much more focused and her mouth are moving barely, but they are.

When the thunder sounds loudly she jumps, but he is holding her close, so she doesn’t seem to mind that. “How much was it?” he asks, resting his chin on top of her head.

“Nine, I think.” She turns to him and he leans her against the cold window and she pouts at him when he doesn’t answer at first. Such an impatient, soft soul. “So you have nine seconds and you gotta divide it by three, then you will get how many kilometers away from you the lightning did strike at first place. Well, more or less, but that’s helpful, you get to focus on something when the storm is somewhere around.”

Luna nods slowly and smiles a little at him. “Thanks, that actually calmed me down a bit here.”

“You haven’t told me you were scared of thunderstorms before, though. You could’ve and it would be easier since the beginning.”

She clears her throat and blushes tiny, before moving away from him and curling on the couch. He follows her, because why not, besides it’s easier to see her and hear her in the darkness and while the rain is getting heavier.

“I’m not really, really scared of the thunders tho,” she mumbles and Matteo frowns a little, resting next to her more comfy than not, but she doesn’t mind him so close. “I’m just paranoid after this movie I saw the other day where some lightning struck something, and it started burning, and I’m just the most terrified of fire.”

Her voice gets a little messy and quiet, and he just hugs her tightly, what apparently surprises her, but eventually Luna just hides on his chest and sighs. “It’s not something that keeps happening often, but Lyra was messing with my comforter to get cuddles so it kinda woke me up, and then there was this loud, super close thunder and I died.”

Matteo starts humming and playing with her hair as she talks and when she stops he just boops her nose. “Still, that’s okay thing to be afraid of, it’s not like I would make fun of you like I do when you sing loudly under the shower or wash your teeth while looking in the mirror. We all are scared of something.”

Luna hums and looks up at him. “Are you scared of something then?”

“No.” He laughs and she huffs. “But I am big Matteo and I’m here to hug you and make you hot chocolate when you are scared.”

“There was no chocolate yet, where is it?”

He laughs so much and pulls her closer. “Later. Now we shall sleep, since tomorrow is not a weekend and we both have uni and other important shit.”

Luna rolls her eyes and gets up, taking the blanket around her shoulders. As she is about to get into her bedroom, he just takes her wrist and pulls her back. “You don’t think I will leave you to sleep alone, even if you seem to be okay already.”

She hums, ending up just lacing their fingers together and following him. “So I’m gonna sleep with you in one bed, and we cuddle with Lyra until the storm is done?” Matteo laughs when she says it. Out loud it seems a little funnier, but yeah that’s what he is planning to do, but he doesn’t confirm or deny her words.

He takes the pillow, obviously, making her pout a little, but then he just pulls her to his chest, so she can rest like that. At first she stirs around, trying to get into some comfy position to stay in, despite the fact that he is sure she just needs to move around, because she wouldn’t be named Luna Valente.

Eventually she rests in one place, letting him pull a cover over them, Lyra mrrows trying to get somewhere between them, but when she doesn’t fit her tiny head anywhere, she just sticks by Matteo’s side letting him scratch her belly for a moment.

Luna sticks to him tightly, she obviously loves being touchy, cuddle, hug, whatever can someone give her as long as it’s physical closure, and there is nothing here except the need of someone else who is warm to hold her. Matteo knows it perfectly, he learned that she is just the type of person who is better comforted, when hugged.

He starts playing with her hair as he can’t really fall asleep, he wraps single strands around his fingers, tangles a little more than those curls already are, and in a few moments her lashes tickle him on the neck for the last time, and her breathing is finally stable.

🌙

Few weeks later, this time he isn’t woken up by the light, or Lyra, or the thunder itself. He just notices someone curling next to him under the sheets and hugging him tightly, so he guesses he can sleep and not try to shut the blinds on the window. The sleep comes back super quickly, he is lulled to very, very quiet sound of soft whispers with counting, and as long as she is here, he knows that she is all okay.

#soy luna #lutteo #lutteoficweek #my writing

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nearmidnightannex · 6 years

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Eurovision 2018! commentary as it happened

Reposting from something done elsewhere. It is very very long, what with the competition lasting, you know, FOUR HOURS, so there is a keep-reading tag below.

No idea who the performers were, but I really liked that second number leading into the beginning and the parade of nations.

Interesting that Ross and Shangela felt the need to explicitly state that they will not be talking over the performers. I'm guessing that they had comments about that in previous years. (Also, totally forgot that Celine Dion got her start with Eurovision. And also somewhat confused, what with her being, you know, Canadian. Then, there are random Americans here this year, and I think Norway’s performer last year was actually from Australia, so.)

I do not remember the Ukranian boy band hosts from last year doing the instructions in English and French. I'm guessing in part because as they stated they were very new to English, so handling both would have been a bit much.

And here we go!

Melovin, Ukraine, "Under the ladder". Had a few problems wandering off key at the start, but then the number went insane and he was fine. Seriously, that ending was kind of nuts for a song that really wasn't all that intense. Didn't like it that much, meself, but we shall see.

Amaia y Alfred, Spain, "Tu Cancion". Surrounded by a sea of phone screens on one side, and a stage of things that aren't phone screens but might as well be on the other. It's actually the sort of very sweet ballad that wouldn't tolerate Eurovision-standard overproduction, so the lack of LED screen probably doesn't hurt them at all. No sense of whether or not it will do well, but the audience (and Ross and Shangela) seem to love them. (Cat Valente on Twitter: "Oof, Spain's only special stage effect was heterosexuality.")

Lea Sirk, Slovenia, "Hvala, ne!". A song and performance with attiTUDE, at the least. And about ninety million more flashing laser lights and spotlights than any song needs; I'm not epileptic, but I literally could not watch the chorus because it hurt. I can't imagine how difficult it was to be in the room.

Ieva Zasimauskaitė, Lithuania, "When we're old". A very very small and sweet ballad. If we didn't have the example of last year's winner, I wouldn't think a song this small would have any chance of making it through. Given that there's no projection screen on stage with her, I'm guessing that the images of couples we see next to her can't be seen in the auditorium, so they're aimed squarely at the juries and viewers, all of whom are watching on television elsewhere. And that staged ending, however hokey, was really sweet.

Cesar Sampson, Austria, "Nobody but you". I like the sound of the song, although I think it may have a shade too much repetition. His pants are ... weird. (People, if I, the fashion-impaired, am wondering why his spandex pants have a crotch at his knees, something is decided ODD.)

Elina Nechayeva, Estonia, "La Forza". Oh, Opera. Or at least operatic. And she gets around the LED screen restriction by wearing her own. Man, that skirt is MAGNIFICENT. It also provides all the motion, which is good, because she can't possibly be able to move without screwing up the screen. (Um ... were those sperm cells zipping around on her dress for a hot minute there?) I do wonder how much the auditorium can see, though; the main seating/standing level is all below stage level, and the balconies are all very far away.

Alexander Rybak, Norway, "That's how you write a song". A previous winner performing again. And again, effects that the audience can't see because they're composited into the camera. And it was fun, I guess, and I suppose that's how you write a song, but ... eh. Whatever.

There is a LOT more direct outreach to the auditorium audience this year than there has been in the past. The Slovenian grrrl group asking them to sing along, the Austrian guy saying "How are you, Lisbon" in a song that really didn't tolerate it, Norway throwing his jacket into the audience ... I wonder how much this is a reflection of them compensating for the LED effects they don't have.

Claudia Pascoal, Portugal, defending champeeen, "O Jardim". Apparently, Portugal has decided that "small and quirky" is their niche, and they're going to OWN that. That said, the song built a little, in a way that last year's song never did, if only a very little.

And now a bit of business, both literal and figurative, in which the entire world sprints for the bathroom. Plumbing system managers around the world are thinking, "What the ... must be a break in Eurovision."

SuRie, Great Britain, "Storm". A very energetic performance, in which some rando grabbed the mic from her to get political. It was handled expeditiously, to put it mildly. She was able to get the audience back with her pretty quickly. Intrusions aside, the song was ... OK, I guess.

Sanja Ilić & Balkanika, Serbia, "Nova Deca". Cant understand a word, of course, but I like the sound and staging. Also the studmuffinly lead singer who set sail on a shorter version of the SS Kaftanic.

Michael Schulte, Germany, "You let me walk alone". It's a very nice, low-ish key song. Again, very simple staging accompanying effects ... although, judging from the reflections on the stage floor, unless the floor itself was part of the effects, the audience actually could see those. I wonder if management changed its mind about the LED screen ... or if he somehow brought his own with him. (EDIT: judging from later acts, the latter.)

Eugent Bushpepa, Albania, "Mall". Very dynamic. I mostly liked the sound of it, although I could have done with less of the falsetto blasts. Back of his jacket was ... odd. And ... that's it. That's all I got.

Madame Monsieur, France, "Mercy". So ... being able to kinda sorta just a little understand parts of the song are throwing me. Not least because it took me a couple rounds to catch up with the concept of "My name is Mercy", and not "My name is Thank you." Not helped by the fact that they were actually playing on that confusion deliberately. That aside, the song was ... very very French.

Mikolas Josef, Czech Republic, "Lie to me". It's a fun song -- why is he wearing a backpack? -- but good lord, there's a lot of just standing more or less in place this Eurovision. (Well, OK, until the end of the song, for him. Bopping about with dancers and the occasional backflip off stairs is not “just standing in place”, no.) Also, it would have been helpful to have established the context that the other dancers were standing in light boxes bseside him; it looked on screen like they were somewhere else entirely at first. It's one hell of a dynamic performance, I'll give it that.

Rasmussen, Denmark, "Higher ground". Selected to perform the song because he looks like a viking. Which cannot be denied, really. Also, putting him in all black makes him look simultaneously undead and slightly terrifying. (Cat Valente on Twitter: "The lead singer for #Denmark looks like undead bearded Jared Leto when he hasn't had lunch yet.") The choice to stage with a bunch of long-haired burly trenchcoat-clad guys sorta kinda marching around is ... interesting. The song is sort of monotone; the performance is making a LOT more of it than it is, which is saying something. (And again, the appeal to the audience: "Come on, walk with us!" Which explains the marching.) Not quite sure what the snow effects have to do with anything. (The stagehands and crew for Eurovision must be both very good and feel very put-upon by the end.)

Jessica Malboy, Eurofied Australia, "We got love". It's dynamic, and it's ... fine. Although this is as close to typically Eurvision staging as we've had in a while. She did go badly off on her big glory note near the end, but she had a fair amount of song left to recover with.

And another break for business, and for business. The bit with the Serbian ... whatever he was, was very cute. The bit with Cesar Sampson was also very cute; hope he didn't hurt anything. And the bit with the Portuguese pod was also very cute. Cuteness abounded.

A very brief "in memoriam" bit to the first Eurovision winner, who passed away earlier this year.

Saara Aalto, Finland, "Monsters". Weirdly, I mostly like this song a lot. I think parts of it needed ... something, but I have no idea what. It just felt a bit off in places. (Not helped by the fact that nerves pulled her off key a bit here and there.) But that aside, it was energetic and interestingly staged. No sense of how well it might do.

Equinox, Bulgaria, "Bones". A motley of a group, with random Americans, according to Ross. Staged -- and presented -- as a really stark music video, sort of. Everyone in black. (My, this is a grim Eurovision this year.) That said, the blond woman singer does look as though she apported in from some completely different futuristic video. The song was ... fine, I guess. Can't quite see it going anywhere, though.

DoReDoS, Moldova, "My Lucky Day". Clever staging -- VERY clever staging, fifties doorway farce translated to music. Not that fifties doorway farce would have involved quite so much groping. It was really a lot of fun. It's so relentlessly out of anything even vaguely popular that I have no sense of how well it will do, but if there's any justice, that should be at least a top five finish.

"It's a very good chicken, sir."

Benjamin Ingrosso, Sweden, "Dance you off". And apparently some performers did indeed find their own projection stage solutions. Song is ... fine. (Saying that a lot this year, but that's all I got. It's not awful, it's not outstanding, it's FINE. If he were on the US version of The Voice, he would probably win.)

AWS, Hungary, "Viszlát Nyár". Um ... well. It's ... dynamic. Yes. It is ... that. Also apparently a fire hazard. And the lead screamer was barefoot. And the electric guitarist/bassist (couldn't tell which) decided to use Eurovision's audience as a mosh pit. (I bet the lead screamer can't talk after concerts, if he tries do to whole sets like that.)

Netta, Israel, "Toy". I really do love this song. Even the first few seconds have graduated from "intensely annoying" to "kind of growing on me". (They also sound MUCH better without autotune.) Not quite sure that the HEY light board thing really translated. Other than that, the staging is kind of lunatic, in initially small-scale Eurovision tradition. Oh, hey, sparkle shooters! And then the lighting went utterly insane! And then fire! And smoke! Ah, Eurovision!

Waylon, Netherlands, "Outlaw in 'em". A country song. Huh. I wouldn't expect that to do well at Eurovision -- an American-style country song being, you know, not even vaguely Euro-anything -- but as CW songs go, that was fun. Although you can tell that this was European, because he would have been Strongly Discouraged From That Staging here. The black guys having angry violent fits around the white singer was ... yeah. THAT. (Probably deliberately, given that the lead singer had lived in the US for a while, but still.)

Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Ireland, "Together". Low-key, lovely mid-tempo ballad. And I think he’s also been to Eurovision before, so he was able to keep his falsetto strong and on-key until near the very end. A nice all-male romance portrayed by the dancers on the stage and bridge. (Weirdly, given that the song itself is very clearly about the breakup and not the romance. Reportedly, the semifinal performance was censored in China, and the Eurovision broadcasting team promptly yanked China’s license to broadcast the grand final and blocked them.)

Eleni Foureira, Cyprus, "Fuego". It's fun, but still not seeing how this song is one of the favorites. To repeat myself: It was FINE. Lots of fire effects at the end, which, given the titlte, were rather required.

Ermal Meta e Fabrizio Moro, Italy, "Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente". Lyrics in many languages pretty clearly composited directly to camera -- they must have been in a complete panic when they discovered that they wouldn't have a big LED stage to work with. The song had sort of a nice build that they played with. Beyond that ... it was (say it with me!) FINE.

Honestly, I'm kind of clueless about what to expect. The staging was very low key. Very few of the numbers stood out. At a guess, my picks, vaguely in order, would be:

Israel Finland Moldova Austria Serbia Estonia Ukraine Ireland Cyprus Czech Republic Lithuania Slovenia Spain Portugal Netherlands Norway Sweden Italy Eurofied Australia (Yes, that's right, outside the top ten for the first time) Albania Denmark Bulgaria Hungary France United Kingdom (may do better with sympathy vote for rando invading the stage) Germany

I think the top three that I listed will actually be the top three, but beyond that ... I have no clue. And, to be scruplously accurate, I don't expect Israel to win, although I think they should. I think the geopolitical moment that we're in, which kept Russia out of the final for the first time ever, will also keep Israel from winning.

And now, the interval acts! The first couple singers are really nice. Can't understand a word, but the songs are still lovely.

The skit about the journey to Portugal's win was ... interesting.

And Salvador Sobral himself returns to the stage (sans last year's manbunnage) to sing another "I won't do Eurovision style" song at Eurovision. Which, to be fair, is a very nice sounding lament ... which his movements on stage do not at all match -- I wonder if he usually performs with a guitar or something and just has no idea what to do with himself. Or maybe I'm missing a lot because I don't speak Portuguese. Either way, he just looks odd up there. ... oh. And now the song acquires tempo as he plays the piano like a drum. (In all seriousness, this is the most Eurovision-style performance I've seen from him; adding in a certain dynamism along with a certain amount of "What is he DOING?") And then he performed his Eurovision-winning song with a person who I guess is his idol. And the audience sort of sang along. (I wish I liked that song more, and I did like it better than last year’s Eurovision performance. Because that was a Moment.)

Interesting that Ross and Shangela, when they picked their top five, had almost NOTHING in common. They both had Israel and Germany in their top five, but nothing else.

And now: the jury vote! And judging from the early vote, the juries are going to be all over the place; Israel, for example, has been in second on one ballot, third on another, out of the top ten on the third and fourth jury ballots, first on the fifth; Cyrprus has a first and a few random other points; France has one first place (...the hell?), and not a single top ten vote anywhere else, and so on. But apparently the pre-competition love for Cyprus was justified; they're doing very well. But countries are bouncing all over the rankings in ways that they haven't the past two years. (Barring a massive televote result, it does seem clear that Eurofied Australia will indeed finish outside the top ten this year.) Unfortunately, Moldova is getting hammered in the jury vote, so they won't finish in the top five. SO UNFAIR!

Halfway through the jury vote, a pause for whatever reason, in which they cover the Eurovision young musicians orchestra very briefly. Israel very narrowly leads Austria and Cyprus. A pattern is emerging, slowly, that if Austria, Germany, Cyprus, Israel or Sweden isn't shown in a particular national jury's top ten, they will usually be the first place vote. Usually. But not always. (Hungary gave their 12 points to Denmark. And again: the hell?)

The green room for Eurovision is MASSIVE. For some reason, I thought all the pods were somewhere front of house. Also, Cesar should forego mentioning his Twitter password methods on international television.

Russia's jury got booed in the auditorium during the jury vote. (I do not have the slightest idea what Shangela was talking about when she said there was a hush in the auditorium.) This may go some to explaining their first-ever shut out from the Grand Final.

Unlike the past two years, at the end of the jury vote, it was utterly unclear which country would win. Last year, Portugal would have needed an unprecedented collapse in the televote to lose (it won the televote, so it didn’t matter); this year, it could easily go to either Austria or Sweden having a roughly equal shot, and Israel, Germany, and even Cyprus (which dropped back to fifth) having a not-unreasonable chance.

And now, the public televote results! Sweden, shockingly, finishes well down the public vote, so now their chances depend on Austria and Israel getting hammered. (Which does not happen.) And the public televote is ... weird. Seriously, how did Hungary do so well? And Austria does not win the televote, or even do particularly well! Serbia does well in the televote! But does not do well enough to matter! Ditto Norway! Moldova did very well in the televote, indicating that some people out there had decent taste!

Weirdly enough, as soon as they announced the fifth highest score, it became apparent that either Israel or Cyprus was going to win, because Austria getting hammered in the televote meant that they couldn't maintain first place. Italy, somehow, miraculously, managed a top three televote result, but finishing third meant that they couldn't win, because they got hammered in the jury vote.

Second place in the televote goes to ... Cyprus!

ISRAEL WINS! ISRAEL WINS! WOO-HOO!

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I only got one of top three (and two of the top six) right (and Germany kind of epically wrong), and it was (sort of) the winner! Woot! And other nonsense noises! (Cat Valente on Twitter: "YES YES YES WEIRD #EUROVISION RETURNS TRIUMPHANT TAKE THAT BLACK SUITS AND EARNEST BALLADS ALIEN CHICKEN MUSIC FOREVER!")

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Next year's Eurovision will be in either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, belike. That should be ... interesting. (I'm guessing probably Tel Aviv ... although one of the announcers did just say Jerusalem. Well. That may be ... fraught.)

While I am glad that Netta won -- I really did think it was the best song and performance -- part of me was secretly wanting Austria to win so that next year we could have Conchita and Cesar co-hosting. But I am really happy about this result.

One of the things I both love and hate about this type of competition. "Hey, Netta, you have just won the biggest competition of your life! Now, get it all together and perform for us! RIGHT NOW! No, you can't take the trophy with you ... Oh, all right, take the trophy. LOOSE THE CONFETTI!"

#eurovision #eurovison song contest #eurovision 2018

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spectral-cervid · 7 years

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1-28 :)c

Oh sweet mercy give me a bit...

1. Dream job? I used to want to work on the trauma floor eventually, but I’m pretty sure my hands are screwed for dropping things so I’m going to settle for something else that I have a different sort of passion for- art and writing. I’d love to be on the creative team for a game developer some day, whether for concept art, writing, storyboarding, what have you. I’ve got a little ways to go but hey- I’ve got time.

2. Favorite movie(s)? Technically a musical but made into a movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera was fucking fantastic. By contrast any Studio Ghibli movie also has my solid vote.

3. Favorite book(s)? Uhhh less books and more an author but a friend of mine recently got me very invested in Cat Valente’s books and I’m picking through Deathless these days in my free time!

4. Favorite video games(s)? Do you expect me not to say Morrowind? …Its Morrowind. I also like Event[0] a LOT and it’s a shame it seems so little-known.

5. Favorite music artist(s)? Ooooh here’s a list for you. Major Parkinson (of course), Ritual Howls, nearly anything done or performed by Terrance Zdunich (its a good aesthetic), Sleeping At Last, Daedric Tales, Glass Animals, and now Eivørthanks to you :D

6. Hobbies? I’m getting back into metalworking mostly because I’d like to make a knife Because I Can, aaand other than that? Beyond art & writing, I do competitive target archery (or did, can’t afford to get out to practice these days), am a semi-professional vocalist and used to do traveling theatre when I lived in British Columbia. I also code things, but I haven’t been in the right brainspace for a while.

7. Is there a sound you cant stand? Yes, actually, there’s two in particular. Metal-on-metal- Not clashing, but scraping and screeching. Trains, buses, anything that makes that absolutely godsawful fucking screech, and muffled voices in another room. Usually from outside. The kind of muffled where you’re not certain whether someone’s just angry or if they’re trying to get someone to sod off. When you can’t tell if some noise you just heard was a sound of pain or if the neighbors are just getting familiar on the balcony again.

8. Do you have a current obsession? The same one we have every night pinky. Trash Elves from Ash Central. (Though generally, TES)

9. Are you religious? I’m some weird brand of off-brand “WHATEVER WORKS” Pagan liable to collect dead things and have a different altar arrangement and theme every time you visit

10. What are your biggest fears? Uhhhh pass

11. Favorite Youtuber(s)? I don’t follow youtubers tbh but MumboJumbo got me into redstone way back when?

12. Do you drink soda? Sometimes. Give me rootbeer or give me death though, I don’t really like anything else all that much to be honest

13. Favorite food(s)? My Responsible comfort food is a thick-brothed chicken soup/stew and a warm mug of tea. Boring, I know :( I have too many other favourites to list though so I’m defaulting to comfort food #1

14. What infuriates you? way too many things to list here I’d honestly rather not get heavy or political here because there is a lot that infuriates me. Instead, I’m going to go for a simpler “People discouraging others from their interests, ignoring them, shutting them down.” I hate when people hear someone so passionate about their interests or hobbies, and respond with negativity. It costs exactly $0.00 to be a nice person.

15. If you could have three wishes, what would they be? (no loopholes!)First: Enough money. Not an obscene amount. But enough for whatever I may need at any given time. Enough to give to my friends when they need it. Enough to commission an artist I love. Enough to actually live, to be honest. Enough to fund my own transition, and maybe even surprise someone else by funding theirs.Second: An immediate and permanent dismantling of the system that exploits the poor and ‘undesirables’ of society. The system that throws out perfectly edible food, that hoards enough to feed, clothe, care for the health of and educate the entire planet but keeps it because it’s not ‘profitable enough’ for them. Third: Honestly just give me the ability to shapeshift please? I’m using that for minor changes like hair color, skin clarity, eye tone... And more drastic things like animals, I’m totally stealth-ing across borders as a goddamn moose to go visit my friends (Not to mention becoming a bird and hitching a ride on a boat to europe and oceania? Shapeshifting into a cryptid beast to terrify assholes in the dead of night? Sign me the fuck up)

16. Do you like any hot drinks? Tea, coffee, cocoa, cider, mead.... gimme.

17. Is there a certain smell you hate? There’s a very specific type of sterile smell that I hate and associate with some pretty bad times in my life. I also don’t like the smell of peameal bacon and most types of pork in general, something about it makes me incredibly ill. I can only stand regular bacon and sometimes pork loin, if it’s cooked to go whiteish.

18. Gender? uhhhhhhhhhhhhh (some sort of masc-presenting nonbinary)

19. Sexual/romantic orientation? Pan with a complicated relationship towards sex tbh

20. Who do you look up to? This is gonna sound real cliche, but most of the people I looked up to when I was younger wound up hurting me or turning out to be not as good people as I’d thought. I guess I look up to my own image of what I aspire to be, if that makes sense? I pick and choose aspects of other figures, sure, but I feel that it’s a bit different.

21. What would your catchphrase be if you had to have one? “Oh, shit. I’ve done it again. Fuck.”

22. Favorite animal(s)? Cats, ferrets, deer, owls, corvids

23. What superpowers would you have? I’d like to be able to either shapeshift, or be able to single-handedly, accurately, and assuredly alter probability/chance. Because the implications of that are damn near terrifying.

24. Are you superstitious? Very

25. Favorite cryptid? Myself. I’m gonna have to go with the Wendigo, even though I love a lot of cryptids

26. Do you have any stuffed animals? I have a near embarassing amount actually, my two favourites are a kangaroo TY beanie named Pouch, and raccoon I named Twitch. I’ve had twitch since I was 5 and he’s looking good for his age tbh

27. Do you have any guilty pleasures? There is a terrifying amount of smut I’ve drawn that will never see the light of day

28. Do you like school? I like learning, love it, even, but I don’t think anybody truly, honestly likes school. Not here.

#long post #really fucking long post #maalacath

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lordgwyther · 7 years

Text

Bodega - Closure

Dust and lazer fire filled the air as Bodega pushed forward into the raider compound. His breath was deep and his eyes narrow. He must find Wargon. Bodega had been tracking her for weeks and now he had her. Tamira was sat in orbit on the Disco Valente, using the planetary scanner to try and triangulate Wargons position. “I cant get a visual!” she shouted through her communicator. “God-dang it keep trying!” called Bodega as he charged forward, Lazgun in hand, finger itching for revenge. Bodega stepped out of the dust cloud, standing at the foot of the main structure. Wargon is in there, but where. “I've got her” shouted another voice. Char Fe-fee. Bodega's right hand man from sniper school. A grizzled cowboy wannabe. Bald and bold perfectly summed this guy up. Think Clint Eastwood with a waxed cue ball for a head, that's Char Fe-fee. He pointed up towards the top room of the compound. “V1Zor says she's there, and she's not alone. Another person maybe. Its real fussy.” hollered Char. “Its party time!” exclaimed Bodega as he launched himself into the air with his jet boots. “Hold on pard, blowing you an opening!” shouted Char Fe-fee, sending a plasma rocket into the wall of the building, narrowly missing Bodega. Steam and dust filled that air once more as the plasma melted the concrete and ion-plate of that buildings exterior, revealing the room inside. “Lucky you're a good shot! I was nearly mush there Char!” exclaimed Bodega as he span around to shoot into the room. He landed. The dust was thick, but settling, revealing Wargon, but wait a minute! Wargon is dead! Her body laid back on a table, with a single lazer burn hole in her chest, with a card thrown on her. Bodega picked up the card, turning it over, revealing it to be the Queen of Hearts. “Should've invited me” was scrawled on it with a lipstick kiss. “Majesta, what are you doing” Bodega said through gritted teeth. Bright lights shone through the windows and holes of the building, near blinding Bodega. He turned to see a ship swoop down from orbit to hover in the compound. A figure leapt aboard with the grace and agility of a Perluzian grengle-cat. It was Majesta, unmistakably. Bodega knew that figure anywhere. His heart sank and tightened all at once as the ship beamed back up into orbit. Bodega let out a sigh. SMASH. Char Fe-fee came bursting through the door, laz-revolvers ready. “Ha we got her cap!” Char exclaimed with glee, but stopped as he noticed the expression on Bodegas face. “Whats up pard?” asked Char. “Closure Char, I need some closure”.

#bodega #triforce #yogscast #pyrionflax #short #sci-fi #iknowitsbad

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survivorsweden · 8 years

Text

Linus’ Jury Answers + Closing Statement

Sam

Hey Sam. For you're question all I can say is to make the jury want to vote me I was kind to everyone, and I think I did play a strategic game and physical game that could impress people. Even though I truly do despise Zak, during the game I wasn't rude to him (Until jury answers of course, I don't care what he has to say at this point), and everyone else I was friendly with, and thats why I was shocked to hear that Nic hates me and game completely aside after its all done I hope I can patch things up. I didn't do anything too much flashier than anyone else sitting next to me, but I really do think I was the strategic glue to the Stolkholme alliance and thats why people should want to vote me. If this isn't a good enough answer for you my favourite ice cream flavour is cookies and cream :) .

Jay

Thanks for the kind words man, I kinda needed to hear some positive right now <3

Nic

I've heard I offended you in some way, and Im sorry to say I really don't know what it is I did. I really didn't have anything against you, like, at all, in any way shape or form so I'm really hoping when this is all over we can patch things up :( . I'm really not an artist so don't judge my drawing too harshly on the look, but Ill give the description and hopefully the meaning will still be what matters.

I drew each of these pictures for everyone to show how I saw people in this game, and my perspective of them in and out of the game (Out of game only if I've met them elsewhere).

Jordan: I drew Jordan as a firecracker because he was so explosive and crazy in this game. You never knew what he was going to do, but he was always ready to blow and completely try and change things up so thats why I thought this was the perfect picture for him.

Ashley: Ashley is just downright one of the sweetest people I've met in the org community, so thats why I had to draw a birthday cake. She brings joy to the people in the game with her and she is super kind and can always make your day better :) .

Josh: Now, I drew Josh as a rat. Not just any rat though, the rat from the story of the Chinese Zodiac. In the story, the animals all had a race to determine the order of the years of the zodiak. The rat wasn't the fastest animal by any means, but he was one of the most clever. Unknown to all the other animals the rat was able to climb up onto the ox's (Who was the fastest animal) head. The Ox was in a huge lead most of the race, but the rat right at the end came out of hiding and jumped right ahead of the ox with a second to go winning the rat the the very first year of the calender. Thats how I've always seen Josh. He isn't particuarily an agressive player, but he is super utr and can go unseen to come out ahead right at the end. This almost happened in the first game we played together, and I have a feeling had his alliance ended up on the right side of the numbers in this game the exact same thing could have happened since 0 eyes were on Josh this entire time, but he was still liked and strategic enough to come out of nowhere and possibly take the gold if he had gotten near the end.

Zak: Crazy soccer mom, see my response to Zak's jury speech and it's self explainatory.

Jay: I see Jay as a knight in shining armor to his allies. He was the one who when karlskoga started to divide he kept it all together. Jay was the one trying to be as loyal as possible, and as I saw in my short time in the Athena series he will fight to the death for the people he considers his allies, so a valent knight was perfect for him.

Nic: I've told you before Nic and I'll say it again, I saw you as the ultimate underdog in this game who kept managing to pull through and get further. The odds were against you at almost every step of the way but you kept trudging through in order to get just a bit further, and I have massive respect for that. So, for you I have drawn a picture of the childrens story The Tortoise and the Hare. The Tortoise is probably one of the most wellknown underdogs in all of literature, so thats why I thought this was fitting for how I saw you in the game as you were able to defy the odds time after time.

Drew: Drew I saw as Superman in this game. He was one of the only people who could do better than me in many challenges, he had won this before and hew as the person I looked upto, he was smart and hyper loyal. He was easily one of the biggest heroes of the season always being honest with people (IE the Ashley vote) when he voted them out. I definitely put him on a pedistal throughout the game, and thats why even if maybe he wasn't the biggest threat I thought it crazy that anyone could beat him at the end, and thats why I have drawn him a picture of superman.

Duncan: It's probably impossible to tell because I suck at drawing, but this is a picture of former US President Bill Clinton. My impression of Duncan was always that of a politian. He was insanely charismatic, and had easily the best social game out of everyone as far as I could tell. I also felt to an extent though he was playing every side. I couldn't tell if this was because he was like me and didn't want to hurt anyones feelings, or if he was a bit of a schemer. Either way Clinton was also a little bit of a liar with the whole perjury thing, but also the most charismatic leader in recent US history netting one of the highest approval ratings of any president in history.

Sam: For Sam I gave a bit of a personal drawing. The person in my picture is someone I went to highschool with named James. James was in my math class, but we also had a lot of the same friends. For whatever reason though James and I just never talked to much, possibly because I think we were both very shy people :( . I did really want to be friends with him, and thats why this applies to this game, Sam and why I drew this picture for her. Sam was someone I really thought was cool the few times we did talk, and one of my bigger regrets was not getting to know her better much like with James.

Zakriah

I've never actively disliked someone in this community except for you. You inside this game and outside have been a complete asshole to me for zero reason, and the reason I blocked you wasn't because of your jury speech, I had long been planning to after this season was over so I would never have to hear from or talk to you again. You're a self righteous prick who can't even see the irony in calling me a bad person when you have wished I would die in a terrorist attack and repeatedly done nothing but be rude and disrespectful. I don't respect you as a person, so this answer is strictly for anyone else who was wondering the same thing. I said that I was going to drop at f4 because it to some extent was going to take a target off me. Tim in bbcan4 did a similar thing iirc, and Drew here did something similar as well. I understand this could lose me jury votes since my social game was already criticized (And understandably so, I understand where I went wrong in some peoples eyes), but I'm not going to just back down and suck the school bullies dick to hope to do slightly better in some online game. I hope one day you can get over yourself. Goodbye forever...

Jordan

Hey Jordan! Thanks for the question and this was something I actually am really disappointed with how I went about the event that went down, so if you hold it against me from a jury perspective I totally understand, but I'd like to explain my thought process. When you made the offer I was genuinely going to consider it like I told you. After we hung up and I went back on the other call the jig was basically up instantly since we like, left at the exact same time and I got asked if I was talking to you. What I'd wish I did here was tell you before we hung up that if asked, I was going to say you spoke to me, but act like it was just out of the question that I could ever turn. Now, the problem is obviously I didn't tell you before I hung up, so I figured I'd shoot you a message that that would be what I was going to do, but Josh had sent his message first and then you got back on the call and the whole ordeal went down. I was actually still going to consider it and tell you the next day that my mind was made up that I couldn't just flip on my allies, however I heard you were talking to Sarah and the Linus flipping plan was down the drain in your eyes already so rip. The intention wasn't to sell you out, but my execution was a bit flawed. If you still think really poorly of that situation, well shit happens right and I was still glad to play with you, but hopefully you can understand a bit better my thought process. I figured I would message you before a confrontation to explain what I was doing since I got called out quickly, but that just didn't happen in time.

Josh

Like with Jay thanks for the kind words, it's always fun playing with you :)

Drew

I know you didn't ask me anything, but I want to take this chance just to talk to you since we couldn't until now. It means a ton that you would still like to be friends after the game because that was stressing me out non stop after your boot. The truth of the matter is although I do lie decent amount, to close allies I play this game with my heart completely on my sleeve. This isn't the first time this has happened to me where I've won f4 immunity and told a close ally I would keep them. The reason for this is easily my biggest strategic fault, people I've made close bonds with it kills me inside to vote, and I just don't want anyone to hate me and Im too much of a coward to tell a friend to their face that Im voting them out. The anxiety about making someone hate me makes me too scared to say anything, and that (One other time in particular) has completely ruined the friendship in the long run. This form of self sabotage is easily what I would describe as my biggest fault in the game where I want to play to win, but I also cant bear to hurt anyone I care abouts feelings, which just makes everything worse when I panic and don't warn them. It means so much that you prefaced this with that you still want to be friends because my real worry after this was that you would never want to talk to me again and I instantly regretted the move from an emotional standpoint way more than any strategic one. Thanks for not letting this effect our friendship.

Closing Statement

As crazy a ride as this has been, and whatever the outcome I truly am glad I got to meet and play with the people in this game. Im glad I finally got to play another game with Ned as well, and even though this has probably been stated enough already, after the game I hope I can patch things up with anyone who I have got on the nerves of. I really think I have played a strong game, and I hope you will at least consider voting me, however no hard feelings obviously either way. See everyone at the end <3

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ac-ars · 7 years

Text

I never knew you were the someone waiting for me

yes yes people, you see correctly, this is ink back after so long i cant believe i made those dwo dorks wait for their date so long

its the longest chapter so far, i think, and maybe it will help you forgive me (or like it will help me forgive myself this)

i hope you like it and enjoy

all chapters before

“There’s this legend telling about beginning of the universe, when everything was created. It says that atoms were createt and spread around entire universe missing those atoms they were created with. Since then these atoms are wandering aroung the universe looking for their close ones, hoping they will find one day and some of them are hidden in people. So it means people are unconsciously looking for someone in entire universe, hoping that their atoms find each other one day.”

“Is that all, or is there something more?”

“Now matter how far they are, they always find a way.”

Chapter 7 /or/ about stress, fries and soulmates

“Mom, I need help.” Luna mumbles with small blush on her face entering the kitchen in Benson manor. Her mom smiles at her softly from over making dinner, but puts down the knife she was using seconds before to focus on Luna, who suddenly feels warmer.

“What is it, sweetie?”

Luna bites on her lower lip looking around, everywhere but not at her mom. “I am going out today.”

She receives small nod as reply and Monica goes back to the vegetables. “With Simón? Or again some study afternoon with Nina?” she asks casually humming some melody and Luna sits by the counter in front of her not sure how to start. “I’m going out for a date, mom.”

Monica drops the knife surprised, looking at brunette with shocked yet happy grin. “With who then?”

That’s the hardest part of telling her mother about this. Luna clears her throat wondering how not to become a mess while saying out loud the s word and probably there’s no way out of this.

“With my soulmate.”

The silence that falls around scares brunette as hell while her mother doesn’t even blink. “Your soulmate?”

“Yes.” Luna starts to play with one of her rings. “He asked me few days ago.”

Monica smiles, cleaning her hands with paper towel and moves towards her daughter. “Is he a nice boy?”

Brunette just nods unsure while her mom continues. “Does he like you? And do you like him?”

Luna chokes a little, but covers it with small cough. “It seems like it, and I think I do?”

She keeps biting her lower lip while her fingers move nervously and one ring falls to the ground eventually.

Monica smiles at her happily clapping her hands and leaves vegetables aside, moving to the cupboards. She takes two cups out of one and gets tea from the other. “You have to tell me about him.”

Brunette rolls her eyes with soft smile, of course her mom is curious and it’s nothing surprising, not to mention she loves her mom and maybe it won’t be as awkward as Luna thought. Or maybe it will be even more awkward.

She waits for her mother to make the tea and as they sit by dining table Monica nods encouraging her. Luna starts fidgeting again not sure how to say it.

“So-” Her mother starts. “How did you two meet?”

Luna pouts softly. “We bumped into each other in Cancun.” Monica frowns confused, but lets her daughter continue. “It just… pulled me to him, I think. It was the same day you told me we were leaving to Buenos Aires.” She licks her lips unsure and her mom nods.

“So, how did it happen that he was in Cancun and now he’s here just like you?”

Luna shrugs with sheepish smile. “I guess that’s universe.”

Matteo has no idea how he manages to button up his light blue shirt correctly (he has to redo it twice, because he missed a button). He stays by the mirror making sure that he looks fine and even if mirror confirms it, he still isn’t able to believe completely. This is ridiculous; Matteo has never acted like this, freaking out because he’s going out with a girl.

But it’s Luna, it’s not just a girl.

Italian makes sure he has everything he needs and smiles at the vase on his desk before taking out of it small flower. He leaves home trying to chill his beating heart and blesses his own idea to walk there, not taking the driver, because fresh air is all he needs right now.

Matteo’s phone vibrates and he gets anxious that maybe it’s Luna texting that she can’t really go, but that’s Gastón of course, wishing him all the luck and hoping that Matteo isn’t trembling like moon jellyfish right now. Balsano snorts rolling his eyes and shakes his head not even answering; ignoring his silly friend is the best idea for now.

He is five minutes earlier than he told Luna he would and hesitates before knocking to the door. His fingers play with small leaf of the sunflower when he’s waiting for anyone to open the door.

It’s probably Luna’s father who greets him with not really happy face and Matteo smiles awkwardly when the man moves aside letting him get inside. Italian manages to keep his hand steady as he introduces himself to Miguel.

“Luna will be here in a few minutes, girl stuff and such.” He rolls his eyes and Matteo chuckles nodding softly, not knowing what else to do, but Luna’s dad nudges him slightly with his elbow. “I will just tell you that I hope Luna comes back smiling.”

Matteo blinks surprised with that. “Of course, there’s no other way,” he just mumbles and Miguel grins with something in his eyes.

Small silence falls between two of them while Luna is probably being a mess in her room and it’s actually very nice silence; Matteo feels comfortable, not like Luna’s dad will take a knife and stab him.

“Also no hickeys on my daughter’s skin, young man.” Miguel Valente says casually, his voice sounds almost like a smile and Balsano wants to choke on the air, but he hears footsteps. Luna is going towards him with her mother behind her, big grin on her blushed face. He can’t help but curl corners of his mouth up back at her and not seeing anything except her he just leans to kiss her cheek softly. She blushes even more taking the sunflower he gives her and something in her eyes makes him crazy.

“You must be Matteo, right?” Luna’s mom asks him smiling and breaking the moment, but he doesn’t really mind knowing he will be with Luna this whole evening.

“Yes, yes. It’s really nice to meet you.” Matteo says with sure voice, ready to shake hands with the woman yet she just pulls him to hug, so warm he is speechless for few seconds. He’s left wondering why she is hugging him, but then he wraps one of his arms around her back feeling as awkward as comfortable, not questioning it anymore.

Monica looks at him with something in her eyes Matteo isn’t able to understand; she seems to know something he doesn’t and she seems to be unbelievably happy about this.

“Miguel,” she turns to her husband. “I hope you didn’t scare Matteo away.”

Mister Valente just winks at her with small smile. “Of course not, why would I do that to such nice young man?”

Italian lowkey stops himself from rolling his eyes since, of course, he scared him as fuck.

More like surprised, but Matteo ended up choking, so that’s the same, right?

“Okay, we will be going now.” Luna steps in smiling at her mom and giving her her sunflower before getting a hug as well and kiss in the forehead from her dad. Brunette looks at him unsure, but her eyes are excited and it hits Matteo just now, that he is really taking this pretty girl for a date.

Matteo leads her through streets of Buenos Aires, talking about basics and school and living in this city, until she notices that they reached the beach. She smiles brightly nudging him softly and when his eyes move to her she has to look away. Luna can’t really get how it’s possible that this boy makes her feel so many things at once and she can’t count even half. She’s sure that blush is covering her cheeks, but Matteo keeps his look on her and she’s not sure if she wants to catch his eyes.

Brunette hasn’t felt any pulling recently. Maybe it’s because they aren’t really avoiding being close and small touches; he keeps giving her cheek kisses hi and bye, sometimes he throws his arm around her shoulders and she can’t say she doesn’t like it. It’s not like she needs more confusing feelings since he’s giving her whole list of them and Luna is still torn between liking it and hating it.

She pulls him to the beach with small giggle, but he doesn’t say no, he just smiles lazily at her letting her do anything she wants and watches her taking off her shoes with happy eyes. Of course, he follows her towards the water and Luna is wondering what he planned. Matteo’s arm goes to her waist, pulling her close because she probably went too far away from him and it makes her giggle. “Come on, I won’t leave you here.”

He chuckles. “Of course you won’t, but I wasn’t sure how far into the water you could go.”

“Well, farther than you for sure. I mean, my dress is shorter than your jeans.” She smiles widely at him.

“And it’s a very nice of a dress.” Matteo mumbles while playing with her hair. “I wanted to tell you that before, but your dad scared me enough for that. You look the prettiest little lady.”

Luna stares at him breathless, biting her lower lip and not caring at all about the line with her dad in it. She’s more like focused on his eyes and his look after he said that and she’s not sure what is it - her, or the universe -, but she wants to kiss him and it wouldn’t be probably the smartest thing right now. Matteo leans down slowly and presses his lips to her cheek with soft smile. Luna feels like losing all the air when he pulls away taking her hand and leaving small kiss on the back of it as well before resting his arm on her shoulders and leading her forwards.

Luna instinctively leans into him and tries to find any words. It doesn’t really work, so she decides to keep it cool and she looks at Matteo with small smile, “thanks,” as she kisses his cheek chastely.

Water is hitting her feet softly while sand brushes her skin and when she feels Matteo next to her it’s like everything is on its place. Or at least she is right now. Her hand goes up towards his hand falling from her shoulder and she tangles their fingers making corners of his lips go up.

“Tell me,” Luna starts after few minutes of listening to the sea, taking his attention and his eyes turn to her focused. “How did you met Ambar and Gastón.”

Balsano chuckles softly. “No matter how surprising it is, we all met in Blake.”

“Really?” She opens her eyes widely. “You seem super, super close here.”

“Yeah,” he shrugs. “I know Gastón since day one in this damn school, while Ambar crashed into me at Roller few weeks later.”

“What? Ambar crashing into someone?” Luna giggles shaking her head.

“She keeps saying that I was stupid idiot wanting to get her attention, but deep down she knows she wanted to get to me. Gastón was freaking out all the time how I was some chosen one, because normally Ambar was cursing at people for doing actually something, not just standing by the table.”

Brunette nods smiling widely and Matteo sends her a wink before continuing. “Gastón may seem silly and I may seem annoyed by him most of the time, but it’s just because of his stupid puns and making fun of me. Not counting that he’s my great bro and for once I am happy my parents made us move again.”

“Move again?” She asks pouting softly and Matteo sighs.

“My parents have this kind of job that they, or at least my dad, have to move from country to country. To be honest I don’t really know all things their jobs contain, but my dad keeps walking around with his ipad and I’m wondering if he’s working on it or playing some platypus evolution.” He pouts and Luna snorts, hiding in his arm.

“So, where had you lived the longest?”

“In Italy, when I was a kid. Like, I think I was eight or nine when we moved away.”

“Wow,” she sighs. “I can’t even imagine moving like this.”

Matteo pulls her hair slightly. “But you moved too, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but it was just once. I’m not a kid, so I guess it’s not that bad.” She leans get head to his arm as she kicks the water. “And Simón is here.”

He chuckles. “How long have you two been friends?”

“I don’t even know, very long. Probably since a little after my parents adopted me.”

“They seem great.” He sends her soft smile and she gives it back to him with even softer eyes.

“They really are. I love them very much.”

“And they love you even more, I’m sure,” Matteo says kissing top of her head and Luna just nods grinning.

“Do you want to sit down and chill?” he asks her as they slow down their walk. Or maybe he slowed it down because he planned it.

“It would be great if you’re not afraid of sitting in your fancy jeans on the sand.” She giggles and Matteo rolls his eyes.

“Come on, I’ll get you fries. Do you like fries?”

Luna blinks at him leaning closer. “Do you like breathing? Is there anyone who doesn’t like fries?”

He sighs. “I’m gonna get you fries and stop looking at me like this.”

Brunette lets him pull her a little towards the sidewalk at the end of the beach to the small booth with fries. He seems focused, but casual and calm like this. She can’t say that she doesn’t like it, she adores this version of him; confident, but just because it’s his characteristic, not because he’s pushing it to another level on the rink. His jokes are funnier and his eyes are shining more brightly, his smile seems more genuine. There’s something gentle about Matteo Balsano, something Luna can’t quite catch or understand, but it’s stronger than any pulling she’s felt towards him before.

She wants to know all of him, his every small secret or hidden part he keeps from them all. She wants to discover everything step by step, almost like getting under his skin in the most positive way to say it. She wants him so close it hurts and as much as all those craves scare the shit out of her, they also make her lighter, braver and easier around him.

He comes back waking her up from her thoughts and she doesn’t mind it all. Box of fries is pushed into her hand and Luna notices that he’s holding a blanket too. That sneaky boy.

“Did you buy it or had a deal with fry guy?” She jokes softly trying one of her fries and closes her eyes not sure if she’s crazy in love with them or just in love.

“I’m sure you can answer this by yourself, little lady. Do you really see any blanket store around here?”

Luna rolls her eyes and takes his arm to go back to the beach. Matteo gives her his fries to hold and she steals few using her teeth since she’s a little handless now. She hopes it’s sneaky enough for him not to notice, but she knows he knows and he knows better than to tell her to stay away from his food. It’s not like she would.

They sit down watching the sea with their arms brushing, Luna digs in the sand with her feet paying with small stones and tiny shells. Matteo keeps watching what she’s doing and he kicks sand every single time she manages to create some pattern.

“Please stop, Matteo. You’re ruining my creativity.”

He puts his hand over his heart. “I would never, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You owe me a fry for every destroyed drawing here.” Luna pouts making him giggle.

“I’m not sure if I have enough fries then. Can I have some of yours?” He asks and not waiting for any reaction takes few fries out of her box.

Brunette pulls her box to her chest protecting it with her body and lowkey squealing him to go away from her food. Matteo keeps laughing and trying to get the box from each side, but he changes his mind and starts to tickle her.

Luna has no really way out of this situation since she’s between his arms yet she’s trying to wiggle herself out of his embrace. She wouldn’t really mind cuddling him on the beach but if tickling is a big no no to her and she tries to softly hit his ribs with her elbow. It makes him stop and even Luna is surprised with that. Sun is almost set behind city buildings behind their backs, while Matteo starts whining about how his ribs hurt because of her. Luna snorts pushing him back to the blanket as she finishes her fries and leaves empty box near their shoes shivering a little because of the wind.

He sits up throwing something warm on her arms and wrapping it all around her. He’s done before she manages to state it’s another blanket what makes her giggle. Matteo’s hands gently rub her shoulders. “Are you cold?”

“No,” she mumbles. “It was just wind for a moment, but it’s not like I want you to take warm blanket off me right now.” Just when she’s done with those words the wind from the sea hits them again. Her hair, curled softly, a little straighter than usually by her mom tangle with every small blow almost dancing on the wind. Luna pouts at this knowing she will be a mess in a few yet as soon as she catches Matteo’s eyes she can’t care that much.

His look is as tender as she’s never seen it before and his face is showing her just Matteo. Not Matteo Balsano, not the fancy skater king of the rink Matteo. It is only Matteo here with her and she feels like there’s nothing on the world she would crave more than few minutes with him.

He takes his hand to tips of her hair tangling it slightly around his finger and watching it carefully.

“I’m a mess,” brunette mumbles after few seconds.

“The most beautiful mess I have ever gotten to see.”

That’s how she’s gone.

“Do you think it will be back?” Matteo suddenly asks as they are laying on the blanket and watching the sky darkening.

“What it?” She asks turning to him and he moves to his side supporting his head on his hand. He’s sure his voice is filled with curiosity. “The pulling stuff. It’s been gone recently.”

Luna sighs closing her eyes. “I have no idea, Matteo. I don’t get it at all.”

Actually he’s been wondering few days before why it’s gone for now, but he eventually dropped the thought hoping it will just go and never comes back. It would be easier; knowing that Luna is close because she wants to. And maybe the fact this shit has been gone lowkey means that they just want to be near the other.

“Who knows, we should probably just wait and see what happens.” He shrugs softly sitting up, knowing perfectly that it’s time for them to go home now. She takes his hand he offered her second before and lets him pull her up straight to his chest. Giggle leaves her lips and there’s nothing he wants to do more than kiss her here, when it’s almost completely dark and stars are watching them with excited blinks.

Wow, he’s getting cheesy. But he just wants to kiss Luna and that’s nothing weird since it’s Luna and only Luna for him.

She laughs at him when he tries to get sand out of his shoes and she would really walk bare feet if he didn’t tell her to chill and act like normal person (it makes her pout, but at least no wounds in her tiny feet). Of course, Luna Valente being herself keeps pouting until he threatens her to carry her straight until she’s home and there handing her to her father, her terrified face is everything and Matteo can taste tiny victory once again.

They are walking slowly towards Benson mansion, and Luna doesn’t ask, but knows as well as he knows that he picked longer route there. Neither of them minds enjoying the other a little longer. He takes her hand, tangling their fingers and as they are watching city lights and passing cars he softly starts to tickle inside of her hand with his thumb drawing circles on her skin.

“Matteo, do you want to know a story?” She asks suddenly, startling him a bit with being this unexpected, but he just nods. “When I was a kid my mom used to tell me this before sleeping and it was one of my favorites.”

Italian isn’t really sure what made her start this topic, but he takes what she offers, wanting to know more and more of her, every tiny bit and every shade of every single hair on her head.

“There’s this legend telling about beginning of the universe, when everything was created.” He wants to interrupt adding some science shit, but she seems to be focused and he doesn’t want to ruin the moment and the story for her, so he waits for her to continue. “It says that atoms were created, or first building things, but for me as a kid atoms were enough.” she laughs with soft smile and Matteo can just stare at her being the purest living he’s ever seen. “And they spread around entire universe missing those atoms they were created with. Since then these atoms are wandering around the universes looking for their close ones hoping they will find one day and some of them are hidden in people. So it means people are unconsciously looking for someone in entire universe hoping that their atoms find each other one day.”

Matteo is lowkey moved with the story, because no matter how sappy it sounds, it’s beautiful and some part of him wants to believe this deeply. “Is that all, or something more?”

Luna smiles tenderly at him tightening their intertwined fingers. “No matter how far they are, they always find a way. When they meet once it’s easier to get back together.”

“Does this legend say anything about name for two people with those atoms?”

“Yeah.” Brunette sighs softly. “They are soulmates.”

She watches him biting her lower lip and hoping deeply he will get this without her naming it out loud.

“That’s a pretty way for romanticizing the space, I have to say,” he just smiles.

Her hopes fade quickly, but it’s not like they don’t have time for it later.

They are passing the streets definitely too quickly for Matteo, even if they were still taking longer way. Before he can blink they are by the door they left and he is sure her parents are waiting in the kitchen for her, doing something else, but still waiting. Luna smiles at him standing on one stair, almost being as tall as he is.

“It was great day, Matteo. I loved it.” He’s not sure why it makes him so happy, though maybe it means he will have a chance to be just with her again.

“I’m glad. I hoped you would like it. Thank you for going with me.”

She grins widely and pulls him to tight hug making him the warmest. He can only wrap his arms around her waist and kiss top of her head smiling as she’s hidden in his neck. They hug like this surely too long and completely not long enough, but Matteo feels it’s not their last one, so he pulls away.

“Sleep well tonight.” He whispers caressing her cheek with his thumb.

Luna tilts her head softly leaning into his touch. “Text me when you’re home, please.”

“Of course. Tell your parents hi from me.” She giggles and he moves closer to leave small kiss on her cheek. “Goodnight.”

“Honey, where have you been so long tonight?” His mother asks as soon as he’s back home. She’s leaving the kitchen, so she must’ve been getting some before sleeping ice cream she adores.

“I was on a date,” he says casually and she smiles at him going closer and messing his hair softly.

“You will tell me everything tomorrow.” Matteo pouts.

“Why?” It sounds almost like a whine.

Elena smiles flicking his nose. “Because I have never heard those words coming from you and it means you like this girl very much.”

He shakes his head grinning. “I will tell you tomorrow.”

“Amazing.” She pulls him down to kiss his forehead. “Your dad was looking for you, but he decided to chill and wait for you instead of texting. He’s in his office playing Angry Birds. Please, knock before getting there, so he can hide it from us.”

Matteo chuckles softly when his mom giggles and he just kisses top of her head before going upstairs. He’s not sure if his dad really plays Angry Birds, but after he found Temple Run the other day nothing really surprises him.

Italian knocks to the door of his father’s office just like Elena told him and he waits three seconds before getting inside. Dante is scrolling through some text on his ipad, so he either switched quickly or no games for him.

“You’ve been looking for me, dad.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sit down please.” Matteo sighs, but takes the chair. He wanted to at least lay on this small couch and annoy Angelo, yet apparently his father wants to talk about some serious shit. Of course, when he’s done with his own.

“I wanted you to ask,” he stops dramatically and Matteo fights instinct to roll his eyes. “About your plans.”

“For what?” Matteo shots quickly, regretting being that fast when his dad shakes his head.

“For your future of course.” He says and his son wants to growl and whine at the same time.

“I’m gonna go to university and study something, can we please talk about it later? I had great day and talking about this isn’t on my list of favorite things to do.”

Dante shrugs with a sigh. “I’m just curious, Matteo. But fine, not today. Can I have one more question?” He asks and Matteo looks surprised wondering since when his father asks something, so he just nods. “You were out with?”

Matteo smiles softly. “With Luna.”

“Who’s Luna?” His dad asks amused, probably with this dreamy face. “More like, who is she for you?”

“I don’t know.” Younger Balsano shrugs. “But I hope I’ll find out soon.”

“Fine then. Good luck with Luna, don’t let it screw up. Deal?”

“Deal.” Matteo grins fist bumping with his father and leaves the office not sure what happened, but he won’t question it in any way.

He enters his room breathing deeply and as soon as he sits down on the bed he opens messenger to see what those two idiots managed to write. He just scrolls through some puns from Gastón and shut the fuck ups from Ambar, so nothing really unexpected and nothing he would have to answer right now.

Italian falls back to the bed taking big breath and closing his eyes, but with his luck the phone near his head calls and he can’t really ignore it. So he picks up.

“What?”

“Hi bro, I saw you seeing the messages, so I guess you’re home now?” Gastón asks, his voice tells Matteo that he’s jumping like excited puppy wanting to know all details.

He sighs. “Yeah, I got home and I want to sleep now.”

“How was it, how was it. Tell me now, starboy.” Now this demanding phone. Too much.

“Gastón please let me sleep.”

“Just tell me more or less how it was and I will let you tell me more tomorrow in Roller.”

Matteo growls waiting few seconds, hoping his best friend will get bored. “We went to the beach, had fries and went back home.”

“That’s boring, but details tomorrow. I’ll buy you smoothie. Did you kiss her?”

Anticipation in Perida’s voice almost amuses Matteo, but he more focuses on the fact that he actually did not kiss Luna. Instead he bites on his lower lip and asks Gastón with lazy voice.

“Bro, do you think soulmates exist?”

#soy luna #lutteo #i never knew #matteo balsano #luna valente #my writing

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