writer of all things dead and undead

because i was starting to lose things in the void, all under the cut

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the main event of it is the 2026 winter olympics, cause i needed a set date to get their medals and competitions right. also because there was so much happening during them and i think it's really funny if some of that happens around them. occtis' medal definitely fell off the ribbon. someone got engaged in their building and neither of them managed to figure out who it was. as one does.

both of them compete for spain because i forgot people need to have the same nationality in pairs skating. julien is originally andorran (my thought process was "close to spain = davinos surname and close to france = julien name and vibes") and occtis has double nationality with italy (primus is italian and his mama was spanish)

(fun fact i found while doing that: andorra doesn't allow for double nationality, but if you're from there and get spanish nationality you can keep the andorran. i have no idea how that works)

they met two years before the au's events, when julien was considering retiring from figure skating, because occtis was having a crisis in the middle of the rink and julien was visiting as a last effort to fall back in love with the sport.

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julien is in the shit with olympic skating rules because he can't find a good point to start testosterone and while technically he could skate in the men's categories just by declaring himself as a man he did figure himself out not so long before the events of the au and he's still kinda questioning things. mostly questioning himself, though some of it definitely comes from weird family stuff happening in his immediations and social pressure.

on a better note for him, it is easy to take a leading role with occtis in the rink, so even if he's skating as the feminine counterpart of the pair it doesn't feel quite as awful as if he were alone on the ice.

the team he skates for is called golden orchard. aranessa used to skate there too but she's retired to coaching in the same team. they used to train together despite the age difference, and they still get together to skate sometimes.

(i wrote the initial trans angst before finding out that the isu has allowed trans athletes since 2021, but that's a little nice fact for you! julien, you still get angst but in a different way)

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for occtis, he's in hell. he comes from a family with olympic traditions in equestrian sports, mainly dressage, and they were pissed when they realised that if you put occtis on a horse he'll actually lose it. and that horses don't like him. anyhow, he likes figure skating much better.

he started late compared to his peers, but worked pretty hard since the start. the only reason he's doing it for the olympics is to try to make his family proud. it isn't working.

he got emancipated when he was 16, ran away to spain and never went back. he's almost sure some of his siblings are stalking him. lucky for him there's no murder this time, but ethrand did try to get him banned for doping on his first year competing.

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random chaos that has at some point happened with either of them because i think it's funny:

- after the first time julien competed his sister ran over to him and went so fast she knocked him over while he was still on his skates

- somewhere on youtube there's a compilation of occtis eating a bunch of different cakes before practicing. like straight up downing a slice of cake and getting on the ice

- "julien davinos core" videos that are just him looking vaguely offended at people before relaxing

- julien once broke a doorknob on the olympic village and blamed his roommate because she spent their entire time there snipping at him for a mistake he didn't make but that got counted as one

- during the 2026 olympics their events ended late enough (like 23, 24h) that they just hit up whatever fast food spot was open at the time for a meal (which was never really a meal, julien got croissants and occtis got cinnamon rolls half the time)

- occtis took an entire living kitten home once on accident. it got into his coat pocket and he didn't notice until he was home cause it started meowing

- occtis sprained his ankle in front of julien during their first meeting

- julien saves his falls for practice and says it keeps him from falling during the actual performances. it doesn't

let them forget (we won't, we won't, we won't)

There's no one else who can take Merle's bike after he's gone, is the thing. Everyone else hates him.

down to earth

He grunts into the dead air and pushes up on his elbows. Everything is wrong, from the warmth to the cleanliness to the lack of walkers in the house. Beth is standing in front of the piano, hands stretched like she means to start playing, and Daryl has to stop himself from grabbing her.