tell us a story about love, they said, & give it a happy ending

If you have even a dollar to spare to help Palestine, you should definitely send it to people working on the ground to provide aid:

Sameer Project: instagram, fundraisers Life for Gaza: site. this has multiple currency options. ($182,960 USD still needed. 38 days left!) Help Gaza Children: updates site (The fundraiser is down as of November 2024!) Mona's initiative to provide direct aid in Gaza. Care for Gaza: twitter, pypl, gfm. Sulala Animal Rescue: instagram, fundraiser with free drawings, pypl for direct donation or donate through Animals Australia (here is the tumblr post I referenced). Salam Animal Care: twitter, pypl, gfm.

sponsor a family from Operation Olive Branch spreadsheet (there is also a tab for mutual aid), Gazafunds, Vetted Fundraiser List, GazaVetters list. send esims so people in Gaza can stay connected and document and preserve their story.

Organizations, some may have their operations paused and aid not being delivered so do check it first:

Anera. PCRF (their Ramadan 2024 campaign has 68% raised as of November 2024). UNRWA. and more listed here.

If you live comfortably without any substantial risk financially, then it becomes your responsibility to contribute more. Please don't hesitate to donate. You do not lose wealth when you give to people who need it. That 10 dollars or 5 dollars or 1 dollar is worth so so much if it is the only thing you can give.

The daily clicks is meant for people who do not have any way to financially help Palestine. If you cannot send money for any reason at all, please go ahead and do those daily clicks. Use multiple devices, different browsers, incognito/ private mode. So you can contribute more clicks in a day. Set reminders so you can be consistent. Even if it is small, if everyone contributing does the same effort, it will be more helpful than nothing at all.

[a] likely “Cute is What We Aim For,” a 2005 American Rock band.

[b] iPods were the new way to listen to music when this fanfiction was written; previously only CD players, Casette Players and Walkmans could play music.

GREAT question, i don't have an answer as much as some thoughts that may not all hang together but maybe speak to different ways of thinking about this dynamic. consider these jumping-off points more than fully formed thoughts! the relationship between ghosts and graves is at various points

symbiotic: ghosts mark graves that would otherwise go unmarked and graves anchor ghosts who would otherwise wander aimlessly. ghosts speak for graves which have no voice and graves house ghosts who have no home.

additive: ghosts and graves ultimately contribute to the same project, that of pointing to things past which would otherwise remain hidden. ghosts and graves are both ultimately representations of "something which has been lost but which is still present among us" (gordon).

geographic: graves are rooted in place while ghosts are "characteristically attached to the events, things, and places that produced them in the first place" (gordon). not every ghost has a geographic attachment, but many do, such that places can be marked with graves, haunted by ghosts, or some of both.

temporal: if graves are fixed in place, ghosts are fixed in time. (or is it the other way around?) graves are problematic because they stain their locations permanently; once something has been a grave, it is always a grave. ghosts, on the other hand, are problematic because they are flexible; unmoored, unmanageable, appearing in times and places they shouldn't be.

envious: ghosts long for the peaceful sleep found in graves. graves long for the power of the ghost: to insist on remembrance and to punish forgetfulness.

material: graves are of the earth and ghosts are ephemeral, no longer earth-bound. their transience gives them freedom of movement but they cannot hold what they cannot touch.

causal: improper burial or grave maintenance produces ghosts. proper treatment of ghosts results in burial and banishment back to the grave.

Briar stealing a plant because it was sad

"if she's a lady, I'm a cat" "well, seeing as I am directly related to two of the most powerful monarchs on the continent and you are a Baron's daughter, if I say she's a lady, *pours milk all over her plate* you'd better start lapping, kitty"

When Briar is accused of stealing a jeweled pin from another boy he's like "why would I that thing is fake garbage lmao"

Daja using her shipwreck box to protect them during the earthquake,,,,,,,

Sandry hands Niko their thread and he's like "WHY DO THE INFANTS HAVE A NUCLEAR BOMB"

Daja: ugh I hate the heat frostpine can we go inside / Frostpine: we're black shut up

"sometimes the fire just wants me to make things with it"

That trader getting mad at Daja for teaching the other kids their language and Briar and Sandry are like "we already knew how to speak it don't get mad at Daja >(" and then Tris is like "lol they taught me"

When Crane tells them their teachers are ALL great mages and they're like *shocked pikachu face*

-When Sandry sees kids hurting a puppy and goes flying, and Daja and Briar who have known her all of A Week and have no idea what the fight is about say, “well damn, guess it’s time to kick some boys in the nuts”

-Briar gets pulled out of an earthquake that should have crushed him (at least 5 mages working together to bring him and his sisters out) and immediately asks Gorse if he snacks on him

-Speaking of, Rosethorn catching Briar sneaking off for food again and telling him he’ll never have to starve again and he hugs her and runs away.

Commissioned the amazingly talented @pato-roldnart to do a scene in my fic Glowing.

Just. *taps images* look at them!!! Pato is truly so talented and was amazing to work with. If they have more open slots for commissions, run! Don't stop! Go go go.

If interested in the fic, it can be found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42405186/chapters/106492503

Be warned of the tags, but like. Also, ignore them bc *happy endddinnngs booois*

Summary: Roxas has been able to see ghosts for as long as he can remember. There was once a time when they were his friends even, but now. Now the sight of them glowing, beautiful and haunting, leaves him panicked and his mind breaking like the ocean waves that break onto the beach.

He’s spent his life the weird kid who stared at the corner of the room or talked to himself when he thought no one was looking. But that’s behind him now. He’s moved to the coast to be near his brother, Sora. Away from all that has haunted him, looking for that fresh start that he’s been needing for so long -

Only to find himself rooming with a ghost in his new apartment.

It’ll take some time, but he’ll be fine.

Eventually.

Faltas

Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn't My Rapist

Cecilia Gentili 

From legendary activist and Pose actress Cecilia Gentili comes the groundbreaking debut of a transgender Latina childhood that re-orders the field of LGBTQ+ memoir

Winner of the 2023 ALA Stonewall Book Award Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award - As heard on NPR's Latino USA - Finalist for the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Best Transgender Non-Fiction In these hilarious and heartbreaking letters, Cecilia Gentili reinvents the trans memoir, putting the confession squarely between the writer and her enemies, paramours and friends. Writing to childhood figures such as her rapist's daughter, her father's mistress, her best friend, and her mother, Gentili probes deeply into the bitter cruelty, buried secrets, and delicious gossip of a small town. Is she here for revenge, or forgiveness? Both! And more! A story of sex, theft, murder, motherhood, and outrageous fashion choices, Faltas is a beautiful, messy meditation on what it takes to heal, or even grow.

Reading through the Stonewall Book Awards