mre380

added a photo

2023-08-22 05:25:26 -

Please meet the princess and guardian of the kelas dragons, Elusina! She's a nice gentle soul who can heal nearly any injury with her healing magic. And as a guardian she's also sworn to protect her crystal at any cost.

Art was created by Mollin, you can find their linktree here: https://linktr.ee/mollin please go follow them for more amazing art!

This will sadly be the last dragon you'll see of me that'll be drawn by Mollin for a good while. I got into a car crash earlier this month and no longer have commission money but fear not!

There are three more different types of dragons that still need to be drawn so please stay tune for those in the future!

As for the status of my book, I already paid off my line editor so hopefully all of that will still be on schedule for march of next year! Let me know if you have any questions about my dragons and I'll be happy to answer them as best as I can ^^

Please meet the princess and guardian of the kelas dragons, Elusina! She's a nice gentle soul who can heal nearly any injury with her healing magic. And as a guardian she's also sworn to protect her crystal at any cost. Art was created by Mollin, you can find their linktree here: https://linktr.ee/mollin please go follow them for more amazing art! This will sadly be the last dragon you'll see of me that'll be drawn by Mollin for a good while. I got into a car crash earlier this month and no longer have commission money but fear not! There are three more different types of dragons that still need to be drawn so please stay tune for those in the future! As for the status of my book, I already paid off my line editor so hopefully all of that will still be on schedule for march of next year! Let me know if you have any questions about my dragons and I'll be happy to answer them as best as I can ^^

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2023-04-18 13:17:25 -

What makes the library special? Is it the quietness? The solidarity? Communities? Do people enjoy it because it's free? For Blake, it was the stories. Stories that are told beyond the stores. Stories about standing up for one's rights and history that isn't taught in school. Stories about the forgotten, but if Blake can read about them, are they honestly forgotten?

Even the library needs to throw out stories that aren't being used anymore to make room for new ones. After all, there's only so much shelf space to go around, and why keep a book that collects dust? Blake often wondered where do the forgotten stories go? Who will read their stories? Who will know about them if they are no longer visible in the public eye?

Luckily for Blake, he was born rich and bought out a superstore and named it "The Forgotten", where libraries can donate books that have collected dust over the years. All was swell until an elder came in with a smile and said, "Even in a place full of forgotten books, my stories are still missing."

The elder was a dark tan person. Someone who looked like they had been in many fights, but none of them were physical. Despite this, the elder, who looked beaten, stood with a good poster and warm smile as if he thought of a funny joke. The elder had a white guayabera shirt and a white Panama hat, and when he took his hat off to scratch his head, his hair was short and black; most likely, he had dyed it to maintain the colour. As for facial hair, he had a goatee and a moustache, as it looked like he had just shaved earlier this morning.

"What are your stories about?" Asked Blake.

"Many things." The elder responded. "Food, dancing, family, celebrations, and hardship, much like the stories you share today, just many years ago."

"How many years ago? We have stories of the old and the ancient times."

"What about the abandoned and destroyed times?" The elder asked. "What about the stories that were destroyed and rewritten for a different group of people?"

"Whose stories are those?"

"The Taíno."

Blake looked at his computer, kept a log of every book he owned, and not one came up with the word Taíno. When Blake asked who the Taíno were, the elder responded, "We are the forgotten."

"Perhaps not, I can find information about your people online right now, and there are books about your kind being sold online only."

The elder chuckled, almost to say like he knew that. "A tombstone with a name doesn't mean the memory of that person is alive if no one is around to tell their tale. My stories weren't written down, they were spoken, and our voice became silent when my people were killed."

"I'll check around to see if any libraries have any old Taíno books they don't need anymore."

Blake got on his phone as the elder began to walk away to check out other books. There were plenty of books about the Caribbean and the history of Puerto Rico, but nothing specifically about the Taíno or their stories beyond 1493. No one had ever heard of them.

A quick look online would reveal books written by other Taíno people, telling their stories and educating the general public. Still, these books were barely seen, with reviews barely over 200. They honestly were being forgotten about. In fact, there were so few Taíno people in the early 1500s that they were considered extinct. Only in 2018, when a tooth was discovered, scholars no longer labelled the Taino people as extinct. Although it looked like many Taíno people already said they existed, it seemed no one believed them.

Blake approached the elder, who found a book called "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole. This gothic novel was published in 1764 and was once hugely popular. Still, it's now often overlooked in favour of other works of the same genre, such as "Dracula" or "Frankenstein."

"You're right; your stories are being forgotten. I just ordered several Taíno books to be on the shelf for all to see."

The elder put the book back as he had a smile on his face, but it wasn't a thank you smile, more so it was a smile you give to someone who still had a lot to learn. "In the candy aisle, there are two candies for you to try. One you recognise. You know its history, the name, and you can go online and discover article after article about said candy. The other is a candy you have never heard of, can't find much information about; which would you try?"

"I would try the one I can't find any information on."

The elder chuckled. "You might, but not everyone."

"Then how can I get the unknown candy known?"

The elder chuckled again. "That's a question I've been asking myself for many years. Why did it take so long for us not to be considered extinct? Why are we not talked about in schools? Where's our representation in the media? I've been fighting for our right to exist for many years, and I'll keep doing it until I can't, and it's because our stories are worth telling. Our stories aren't only about family, dancing, or food. They are also about survival. We survived being taken away and killed, slavery and torture, and now when they try to forget and ignore us, we'll keep on surviving; I guess we're just stubborn like that."

There was a slight pause as Blake didn't know what to say, but the elder spoke for him. "If you want to help, give us a megaphone and point people in our direction. Our stories must be told and shared, but they must come from us. The more people know about and hear us, the longer we'll live. If they hear about us from you, we stay silent and fade away."

The sun started setting as Blake was about to close the store. The elder put his hat back on his head, and before he was about to leave, he said. "I want you to know if you truly want to help us, and get our voice heard, then you'll always be known as a guaitiáo to our community." Blake was uncertain what that meant, but he felt happy as he said goodbye to the elder and hoped he would return. Blake was unsure how to help the Taíno community but could now tell the story of an elder who helped him open his eyes about what it was like to be honestly forgotten. As long as Blake lives, he'll never forget him.

What makes the library special? Is it the quietness? The solidarity? Communities? Do people enjoy it because it's free? For Blake, it was the stories. Stories that are told beyond the stores. Stories about standing up for one's rights and history that isn't taught in school. Stories about the forgotten, but if Blake can read about them, are they honestly forgotten? Even the library needs to throw out stories that aren't being used anymore to make room for new ones. After all, there's only so much shelf space to go around, and why keep a book that collects dust? Blake often wondered where do the forgotten stories go? Who will read their stories? Who will know about them if they are no longer visible in the public eye? Luckily for Blake, he was born rich and bought out a superstore and named it "The Forgotten", where libraries can donate books that have collected dust over the years. All was swell until an elder came in with a smile and said, "Even in a place full of forgotten books, my stories are still missing." The elder was a dark tan person. Someone who looked like they had been in many fights, but none of them were physical. Despite this, the elder, who looked beaten, stood with a good poster and warm smile as if he thought of a funny joke. The elder had a white guayabera shirt and a white Panama hat, and when he took his hat off to scratch his head, his hair was short and black; most likely, he had dyed it to maintain the colour. As for facial hair, he had a goatee and a moustache, as it looked like he had just shaved earlier this morning. "What are your stories about?" Asked Blake. "Many things." The elder responded. "Food, dancing, family, celebrations, and hardship, much like the stories you share today, just many years ago." "How many years ago? We have stories of the old and the ancient times." "What about the abandoned and destroyed times?" The elder asked. "What about the stories that were destroyed and rewritten for a different group of people?" "Whose stories are those?" "The Taíno." Blake looked at his computer, kept a log of every book he owned, and not one came up with the word Taíno. When Blake asked who the Taíno were, the elder responded, "We are the forgotten." "Perhaps not, I can find information about your people online right now, and there are books about your kind being sold online only." The elder chuckled, almost to say like he knew that. "A tombstone with a name doesn't mean the memory of that person is alive if no one is around to tell their tale. My stories weren't written down, they were spoken, and our voice became silent when my people were killed." "I'll check around to see if any libraries have any old Taíno books they don't need anymore." Blake got on his phone as the elder began to walk away to check out other books. There were plenty of books about the Caribbean and the history of Puerto Rico, but nothing specifically about the Taíno or their stories beyond 1493. No one had ever heard of them. A quick look online would reveal books written by other Taíno people, telling their stories and educating the general public. Still, these books were barely seen, with reviews barely over 200. They honestly were being forgotten about. In fact, there were so few Taíno people in the early 1500s that they were considered extinct. Only in 2018, when a tooth was discovered, scholars no longer labelled the Taino people as extinct. Although it looked like many Taíno people already said they existed, it seemed no one believed them. Blake approached the elder, who found a book called "The Castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole. This gothic novel was published in 1764 and was once hugely popular. Still, it's now often overlooked in favour of other works of the same genre, such as "Dracula" or "Frankenstein." "You're right; your stories are being forgotten. I just ordered several Taíno books to be on the shelf for all to see." The elder put the book back as he had a smile on his face, but it wasn't a thank you smile, more so it was a smile you give to someone who still had a lot to learn. "In the candy aisle, there are two candies for you to try. One you recognise. You know its history, the name, and you can go online and discover article after article about said candy. The other is a candy you have never heard of, can't find much information about; which would you try?" "I would try the one I can't find any information on." The elder chuckled. "You might, but not everyone." "Then how can I get the unknown candy known?" The elder chuckled again. "That's a question I've been asking myself for many years. Why did it take so long for us not to be considered extinct? Why are we not talked about in schools? Where's our representation in the media? I've been fighting for our right to exist for many years, and I'll keep doing it until I can't, and it's because our stories are worth telling. Our stories aren't only about family, dancing, or food. They are also about survival. We survived being taken away and killed, slavery and torture, and now when they try to forget and ignore us, we'll keep on surviving; I guess we're just stubborn like that." There was a slight pause as Blake didn't know what to say, but the elder spoke for him. "If you want to help, give us a megaphone and point people in our direction. Our stories must be told and shared, but they must come from us. The more people know about and hear us, the longer we'll live. If they hear about us from you, we stay silent and fade away." The sun started setting as Blake was about to close the store. The elder put his hat back on his head, and before he was about to leave, he said. "I want you to know if you truly want to help us, and get our voice heard, then you'll always be known as a guaitiáo to our community." Blake was uncertain what that meant, but he felt happy as he said goodbye to the elder and hoped he would return. Blake was unsure how to help the Taíno community but could now tell the story of an elder who helped him open his eyes about what it was like to be honestly forgotten. As long as Blake lives, he'll never forget him.

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