It is finally here, I hope you guys like it as much as the original. with the writing changes I have now it didn’t feel right to just continue so I have decided to start from the beginning again with little tweaks here and there
(don’t get used to notes in front, it won’t be the norm I promise)
AO3 link
The weather outside was perfect as Mari skated down the street. Early enough that the sidewalks were mostly hers, as she sailed down the short strip to her second home. Pulling her phone out of the pocket of the black and blue jacket recently finished she fished the headphones out and got ready to check the upcoming events for the week.
A lighter work load greeted her but a slight frown threatened to grace her face as she saw the anniversary coming up followed by a League meeting. Always a fun combo. It had been what five years, or was it seven now? The time right after still feels like a fog and maybe it is better that way. The silver ring that slightly moved in the wind on her chest gave her comfort. He wouldn’t stand for her to woolly in self pity, not anymore. It brought a slight smile to her face, in a way he was still with her after all.
The League check in though was going to suck, it always did. It didn’t help that it was so close to a sensitive day for her. Sure it got better over time but the mourning still hurt, just a little less each year. She wasn’t a fan of the League or their treatment of certain people. The occasional check-in was a necessary evil though so she was able to keep her life as free from that life as she could now. She could prove she wasn’t a threat, share some information and answer some questions then she’d be free to go back to everyday life.
Mari didn't have much time to swerve to miss the confused looking red-head in a letterman jacket in the middle of the sidewalk. He seemed to be checking his phone and didn’t see her either. Thank Kawmi, she had good reaction times, uttering a quick “pardon,” her accent coming out slightly as she continued down the street. She glanced behind her just double checking he was fine, and focused back on the space in front of her. Phone now placed back securely in her pocket, only the headphone cord sticking out so her music continued as the nursery came into view.
Secret Garden Nursery, it was her own little place that started as a joke. Sure the creation Kawmi holder doing things in the arts made sense, you created new ideas in a field like that after all. Something didn’t feel right about pouring her whole being into fashion after everything. Her life was a wreck and the only thing that kept her from being in bed all day was some plants on her balcony. Dumb as it was, it gave her a sense that she could help something... keep something alive.
She was spiraling again, a shake of her head and the jingle of the door greeting her as she unlocked it brought her back to reality. That small feeling of control and needing a new start was all the push she needed. Sure she still did designs and kept baking like her parents taught her but they were hobbies. Who would have guessed having Tikki for so long gave the side effect of a green thumb? The whole getting too cold and falling asleep isn’t as great but beggars can't be choosers after all.
Not the point, now she had her own little garden of sorts. Mari was able to quickly establish a little niche for herself and got enough business to keep her afloat but not more than she could handle on her own. She liked to work by herself in the shop if she could, after all if she was alone in the store the Kawmi in her care could come and exist somewhere besides her flat.
Speaking of Kawmi, the one who started it all for her came zipping out of her messenger bag. The red companion began flying around the store front, taking extra time by the blooming flowers. Mari‘s soft laugh filled the room as she watched Tikki enjoy herself. Her own jacket folded gently to not mess with the fresh stitching revealing a dark grey, practically black, t-shirt with three colored strips around the torso. If you looked closer it was actually five and a shirt that was clearly taken care of. A light grey apron was tied around her waist and as she checked her ponytail making sure it was high on her head and tight.
Tikki was once again by Mari’s side as she finished putting her stuff away in the back.
“Ready to start the day,” she got a hum of approval as the Kawmi flew around her head.
The storefront was soon filled with soft music that she hummed as she began her rounds. A watering can in hand Mari made her way down rows of flowers, some blooming and some still growing. Next was the succulents, a spray bottle in hand as the song changed to a more upbeat pop song. Next on the list was trees. They were quickly becoming a staple, mini trees were something people liked to buy and she loved to grow them. Last to water were the herbs in the hanging pots around the outer edges of the store. The last of the plants watered for the morning meant it was time to start doing stock of the seeds and checking up on orders.
A pen sticking out of her mouth Mari went down the list of orders on the computer screen. It was a light week. Just the regulars getting their weekly arrangements for loved ones, two plant pickups and an email from Ivy talking about taking over for a few days. Nothing out of the ordinary and perfect for a week with as much baggage as this one might take. Bless Ivy for insisting on helping out and always seeming to know when she was needed. Mari’s train of thought was broken when the doorbell chimed to alert someone was coming in. In her surprise she stumbled to catch the falling pen and greet the newcomer.
please let me know if you want to be tagged or no longer want to be tagged! I fully get not everyone will want to be anymore or any reason, just let me know and I’ll take care of it!
I told my little nephew that I'd wave at his airplane when it flew over my house today, and he very calmly and politely explained that it wouldn't be possible to see me due to the limitations of human vision. I said he just had to squint real hard, and he took a deep breath and went into the toddler version of "see, what you're not understanding–"
Looking back on 2020, I think it's hilarious that Wellerman of all shanties is the one that blew up online. It's not a song about life on the high seas or adventuring
there should be a term for characters you personally don't care about but you defend them anyways because the way people treat them is really uncomfortable. like ok this is a very middle-of-the-road character for me but the fandom's either been super misogynistic, racist, etc. about them or harassed innocent people who try to genuinely explore that character warts and all, and i find that more annoying than the actual character.
the term should by 'my client', like you're a lawyer defending your client that you are completely indifferent to but you are obligated by your job (or your morals) to defend
Wild how no one made announcements like this about P.Diddy when his trial was happening.
Wild how abusive artists like Micheal Jackson can have biography movies made and not a single mention of accused abuses or the subsequent trials will be mentioned.
Hmmmm I wonder why people feel the need to explicitly condemn women and any action they may have possibly been a part of (like inviting a shitty guy to your wedding) yet do not extend this same behavior to men in the same industry who commit abuse and atrocities on a much larger scale 🤔?
“You clearly hate women”, concludes the blogger after seeing yet another valid criticism of a music artist so powerful she can single-handedly grind an entire major city to a halt for her wedding, or can increase CO2 emissions in a statistically significant way when she doesn’t want to deal with Los Angeles traffic.
With a satisfied smile, the blogger lets their brain return to a warm and gentle B-mode where criticism of any other celebrity does not exist, because the blogger’s favorite singer is the One True Celebrity. The blogger need not read the vast amounts of criticisms of the latest Michael Jackson biopic. The blogger need not pay attention to any post not tagged with the name of their One True Celebrity.
One day, the blogger knows, they will receive their Eternal Reward for being a True Fan of the One True Celebrity and defending her from all the blind, sexist sheep who only pretend to care about the climate and immigrants and the normalization of fascism and racist dog whistles and stopping the onslaught of end-stage capitalism so that they can dunk on a beautiful, white, innocent, frail little flower of a woman who needs the protection of someone Chosen - like the blogger.
With a self-satisfied smirk, the blogger returns to their Matrix-style sleep pod filled with pony beads instead of slime and hooks themselves in, returning to a slumber that will power Taylor’s personal vibrator until the next Google Alert wakes the blogger for another round of defense. As the blogger drifts into slumber, their eyes fluttering, Taylor’s voice can be heard, praising the Chosen blogger’s efforts, her beautiful, melodic voice line only interrupted by the customized name portion which sounds like the CVS phone voice:
“Thank you, [Pleasure Wand Power Unit 758]! You sure did a good job [defending my friendship with people who run concentration camps]. Don’t forget to buy the seven new re-releases of my last twelve albums in special edition cases! My honeymoon isn’t going to pay for itself!”
Smiling, the blogger returns to the nether once more, dreaming only of the twelve new versions of old songs they’d soon be able to buy, screwing over younger, up-and-coming women in the music industry (who are sexist for trying to be women in the industry that belongs to Taylor).
one of my favorite this american life segments of late is about the people who played orchestra pit for phantom of the opera on broadway and how, like, a sizeable majority of them had literally been playing the show since it opened in 1988 (on broadway. I know it opened in 86 on the west end, you random pedants, but I am specifically talking about broadway musicians) because their contracts stipulated that they'd have jobs throughout the show's entire run... but nobody anticipated that phantom would become the longest-running broadway show of all time.
and none of these people wanted to walk away from a guaranteed job, so very few of them ever quit. they just kept doing the same show eight nights a week... for twenty or thirty years... and by the time it finally closed last year most of these musicians (who had been working together for DECADES) hated each other and really really fucking loathed phantom. I can't stop thinking about it. it's indescribably hellish to imagine but also the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life.
[ID: excerpt from an article reading: One of my favorite stories, which should drive anyone who has every played in a band crazy-- there’s this bassoon player who has sat next to the same clarinet player since 1988. She’s convinced he plays half a note4 flat on every note he’s every played. He denies this. /]
Had my suspicions but I have finally confirmed it this morning: The rival Pokémon Go team I have been beefing with, whose gym's total annihilation I have incorporated into my morning routine, is actually a group of local elementary school students
I always wondered why the Pokémon at this gym were so weak but today I left the house before the local students get picked up by the schoolbus and I saw a group of kids congregating around the gym pokestop and I was like "Oh no"
it's always funny to me when ppl act like it's somehow incestuous for characters who consider each other found family/chosen family/whatever u wanna call the trope to date each other, and it's funny for many reasons, but most specifically it's funny because irl when you meet a person and get really attached and decide that you want to be family with them, there's a very popular legally recognized way of doing that & it's called marriage
my favorite thing about navigating fanfiction is finding a really good one and being all “oh boy this was good, I hope they have more!” and literally every other story they’ve ever written was for like Miami Vice
#a lot of the time this happens because someone in their 40’s got into 1 new thing and threw a fic at it before resuming business as usual#like sorry gang they’re not a youth who’s weirdly into your mom’s shows they’re your mom who played genshin impact
fun fact about me: When I was 6 years old I sent so much hate mail to the president (the second Bush) that the mail carrier had to tell my mom I needed to stop before we got FBI’d
I was COMPLETELY unaware of the US political scene or why the adults in my life hated Bush, but I knew I hated him because he let people shoot wolves from helicopters and that’s mean and shitty
I also had a poor grasp on how stamps worked, so given that I wasn’t allowed to continually throw money away by putting stamps on my presidential hate mail, a lot of the times I just drew squares with little pictures inside on the corner.
Love, love, love reading more proof that everyone should encourage the children in their lives to write to elected officials--it teaches them about citizenship and can also be very funny.
When I taught second grade, one of the options for students who had finished their work was to write a letter to the president. I would send all of the letters in a big envelope at the end of every month.
Watching my students get more and more frustrated with him (and concerned about his wellbeing) was not the result I'd hoped for when I came up with the idea, but it was kind of hilarious.
See, Obama had a standard packet with information and activities about his dog he'd send in response to letters from very young citizens...and of course his office sent one back to our class every single time we sent mail.
So eventually all of the letters looked something like this:
Dear President Obama,
I am writing about the environment. I am sad that the Great Barrier Reef is hurt. Also the Amazon Rainforest. Can you help? PLEASE DON'T WRITE BACK TO TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DOG AGAIN. WE ALREADY KNOW ALL ABOUT BO. WE COMPLETED THE MAZE AND COLORED HIM IN. It is good that you love your pet a lot. But try to remember the environment. It is also important.
important that you never forgive ice agents, ever. even years after all this is over (and I do believe we will make it out on the other side, alive and for the better,) they live in shame and disgrace forever. no excuses, no forgiveness. they ruined their own lives when they decided that human freedom and liberty was an acceptable sacrifice for a paycheck
