I was re-reading "Restitution" and remembered how much I love this story. One of my favorite things, is Ari's growth. It was so sweet seeing him turn into such a good father and how settled he became. Have you ever thought about doing a oneshot about him after the new baby is born? He's already been a great support for the other babies, I'd love to see him when he gets his own.

Word Count: 490

A/N: Here you go! 🥰 Thank you for the ask! This came out so cute, I love it.

The light in the nursery came from the mobile over the crib and a plug in light beside the door.

Ari sat in the dim room cradling the newborn baby in his arms. The little one stirred, reaching his tiny fingers out and grasping Ari’s thumb with surprising strength. His mouth curled into a grin as the little fingers tightened and relaxed in a steady rhythm around his thumb.

How could watching a baby squeeze your thumb inspire such a sense of awe? How could it fill him with such joy, and at the same time send a jolt of fear down his spine?

He’d never been one to dwell on his more serious emotions. Sitting here in the near dark, there was no avoiding the profound responsibility that had been bestowed upon him. Ari never would have thought profound responsibility could be so thrilling. He knew there would be sleepless nights, diaper changes, and so many things to do for his son. But instead of feeling mundane and tired at the prospect, he felt energized, as if he had the power to scale a mountain or sprout wings and fly.

Ari traced the curve of the baby’s chin and marveled at his perfect Cupid’s bow lips. He was so tiny. There were thoughts to disturb his sleep and no emotions that weren’t related to his own comfort. Everything was insignificant except food and sleep at this stage of life.

Ari's heart swelled with love. He’d never been so happy to be right where he was, doing what he was doing, before. Tranquility - that was the word he was searching for, what described this emotion. He wanted to stay in this room with his baby forever.

A soft creak in the hall alerted him to another presence. He raised his head and locked eyes with you. You leaned against the door frame, watching them with a smile.

The baby wiggled in his arms, so he rocked the chair to settle him. Ari gazed down at him with a mixture of wonder and love.

“Look at him,” he murmured. “Already showing off that incredible grip.”

“I see he’s already got Daddy wrapped around his finger,” you said.

“Literally… Can you believe how tiny his hands are?! But they’re so strong.”

You moved into the room, softening as you took in the sleeping features of your son. He’d passed out with his cheek pressed to Ari’s chest and his hand gripping his thumb for dear life.

“He must have gotten your sense of resolve with a grip like that,” you said.

Ari chuckled, shifting the baby's weight in his arms.

“I believe that came from his Mama.”

“Stop trying to butter me up. We know he’s your spitting image. He looks so much like you, I can hardly believe he even came out of me.”

His lips curved into a devious smile. “Well, we definitely won’t need a DNA test this time.”

(my new years resolution was to be more brave, and here are some things that have paid off this month:

-candlelight sleepy girl yoga (so relaxing and lovely and it feels so good to move my body and stretttch. if they did this class every night i would probably go to it)

-got my eyebrows done (i know this is silly but ive always been weird about folks putting chemicals and products too close to my eyeballs but got SO TIRED up maintaining brows and also doing them every morning, so here they are!!! And im going to bed and theyre still there and i am *so natural* so glamorous)

-i said yes to a teaching opportunity, so will officially actually be a Professor Grey too, and Im actually very excited (i never thought i would ever teach art, i always thought if i taught something it would be something serious and idk practical, but, thats not what worked out, and instead i get to spend my time once a week playing with paint and youths and clay and—)

anyway, will add to this as i hopefully continue to be brave 2k24)

I absolutely loved this page when the pale king realizes what he had taken from his children in his process of creating a pure vessel.

A masterpiece if I do say so lol

That face was so fun to draw. It holds a lot of weight to... Well, everything. That line is so raw in the original....

«Monuments Men»: Rose Valland, l'héroïne lesbienne oubliée - ADHEOS

This is absolutely incredible. Very very early days, but still...

On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World

One of the most interesting and thought provoking books I've read to date! Having grown up in a largely Christian family and living in a country significantly influenced by similar values, topics around wrong-doing and amends have always been through that one lens. Generally this involves a heavy focus on punishment, quick forgiveness, and returning to normalcy instead of rebuilding what was broken.

This book lays out the process of repair and atonement through the Jewish philosophy, which was eye-opening to me with how much more respectful it is towards victims and their needs. It goes into depth on how perpetrators should own harm and and provide restitution while leaving the path open to coming back into society as a transformed and bettered person.

A quote from the description:

...Forgiveness is much less important than the repair work to which the person who caused harm is obligated. The word traditionally translated as repentance really means something more like return, and in this book, returning is a restoration, as much as is possible, to the victim, and, for the perpetrator of harm, a coming back, in humility and intentionality, to behaving as the person we might like to believe we are.

This contrasts to the views and approaches most common in my country that ironically pushes hard for the victim to forgive, regardless of whether the perpetrator has genuinely made amends, while simultaneously leaning on punitive and retributive justice that often reduces the chances that the perpetrator will change for the better - or even have the chance to.

A highly recommended book for those interested in restorative justice, or even just understanding repentance from Judaic philosophy!

If someone would like to apologize to me, for saying untruthful and hurtful things about me (and there has been a number of individuals doing exactly that, throughout the course of my life), by paying me $787.5 million, I guess that would be fine by me.I might (might) consider accepting a somewhat smaller sum, too.

[Mikhail Iossel]

I want every single cent!

Thinking about our little Restitution family unit. What do holidays look like for them? Are they big on trips to see Santa and the Easter Bunny? Do they spend holidays with Dutchess’ family? Love this family ❤️

Holidays with the Restitution Characters

I think at Christmas time the family would make it a tradition of going to the parade of lights. Steve and the reader would be legally married, while Ari would be her known as her "boyfriend." Andy and the reader wouldn't have any publicly acknowledged relationship, which is why they'd avoid their local parade and choose to drive a few towns over to a different area where they could all be together.

Andy would have a hoodie partially covering his face to obscure his identity. Steve would be walking hand in hand with the reader, except when Ari cut in to steal her away. The guys would be primarily in charge of the babies and Steve's very worried about them having enough blankets. The reader would definitely break off from Steve and Ari to walk arm in arm with Andy, and despite him complaining about the risk, Andy loves it.

In regards to Santa, I'd bet that after baby Charlotte had a bad reaction to her first visit with Santa Claus (I mean, she was scared he might not have skin under all that facial hair and who could blame her?) the guys don't try to have the kids interact with Santa. The easter bunny is a different story, because Charlotte loves bunnies. She's obsessed with the Easter Bunny and loves getting Easter baskets from him.

I'd bet that they do spend the holidays with Duchess' family, although they do stay in a hotel because having all of them there is a lot of company at one time.

"Famed Cambodian dancer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro performs an unsanctioned dance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to honor Cambodia’s stolen heritage."

#rosevalland (1898 - 1980). Storica dell'arte, anticonformista conservatrice presso la Galleria nazionale del #jeudepaume di Parigi, prende appunti giorno dopo giorno durante i 4 anni di occupazione nazista. Tiene accurata nota dei capolavori rubati dai nazisti nei musei francesi - presso le famiglie ebree, e accumulati nel Jeu de Paume in attesa di essere trasferiti in Germania. Si parla di almeno 100.000 opere. Rischiando la vita e grazie al suo dettagliato lavoro di detective, riusci' a individuare l'elenco dei depositi delle opere d'arte trafugate in Germania. Così - dopo la guerra, parte dei capolavori rubati - 60.000 opere furono riacquisite. Rose cataloga oltre 80.000 opere rubate e destinate alla restituzione, ai legittimi proprietari o eredi e ai Paesi aventi diritto. Lascia un patrimonio di 900 cataloghi dei cosiddetti MNR, (Musei nazionali recupero) testimonianza preziosa delle opere, per gli aventi diritto 🌹 Per incontrare la storia di questa straordinaria donna, esperta e amante dell'arte - vedi skyarte - Rose Valland, Spia per amore dell'arte 🖤 #arte #art #storiadellarte #pernondimenticare #artcurator #paris #europe #extraordinarypeople #influencer #woman #resistence #restitution #museum #justice https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn7zFAgrCsD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

pollessness should be a word

I am currently experiencing a bout of pollessness and I'm sick and tired of it

@staff we demand a restitution