#If you want to see some progress videos visit my edits tag :)

[ariavar]

The End Start of the Song

Rhaegar and Lyanna in The End of the Song (1902) by Edmund Blair Leighton

I left it in draft for over a year, but here it is! I like how Rhaegar and Lyanna's stories play with chivalric romance tropes so editing this painting of Tristan and Isolde seemed like the perfect fit.

[3v3rl4stingbr4in]

- Date when it is posted : 20th January.

➘. Welcome to Rung's the Arcana & Last Legacy & Touchstarved blog.

* Byf/Dni under the cut, hope this blog is not too long.

I. MAIN INTRODUCTION

✦ The name is Rung, you may also call me Brain. Whatever you prefer, I don't have any preference on names.

✦ I'm a minor Malaysian-Chinese Thai artist who does both traditional and digital art, sometimes video editing or graphic designing or writing as all of these are my hobbies. Eng/中文 are okay!

✦ Bigender Transmasc Bisexual Demiace Polyamorous who uses he/she/lo/sea/any pronouns.

( lo/lot/lotu/lotus/lotusself & sea/sear/seas/seas/seaself) If you need an example on how to use the neopronouns, tell me. I would be happy to help.

✦ As you can see, yes this is where I ramble and post about the Arcana & Last Legacy & Touchstarved only, probably some others if I wanted to. My main blog is @d34dbr4in. I am honestly afraid to rant about my thoughts here so please, bare with me.

✦ My tags : #Rung's Art, #➣ Rung's RB, #Rung's blabber

II. BYF/DNI

→ Before You Follow :

✩ If I don't post for that long, I'm probably busy with my own life or on another social media app where I am more active. Tumblr is still an app which I find intimidating so give me some time.

✩ I don't block that often on here but I will block whenever I want for my own sake.

✩ I have horrible times understanding the tone of someone's message so I will be thankful if you do use tone tags.

✩ Not to mention my English is still terrible so don't point it out.

→ Do Not Interact :

✩ Obviously, the basic dni here.

✩ I don't want anyone under 14 to be following me.

✩ I'm going to be 17 on May 29th. I don't mind anyone following me regrading age, as long you don't act like a creep.

✩ I don't mind slander of my favs but if you do that specifically almost everytime, just don't follow. I'm very sensitive to that.

✩ If you got anything to do with Dorian, out.

✩ Asra x Julian, Asra x Lucio, Muriel x Lucio shippers do not interact.

Here's some things regrading about me posting about the Arcana and Last Legacy :

✩ I use a lot of different pronouns for many characters besides the ones who are canonically comfirmed by the creators. Like example, he/she Sage Lesath, she/he Julian Devorak, basically a lot of these characters will also go by she.

✩ As you may know as the guy who drew Asrix (Asra x Felix), yes you will see a lot of crosspairings.

✩ I don't think I'll ever post any analyzation or writings of characters nor my fav but if I do, I'm just letting that thought out since I am scared to share my own opinion.

✩ Absolutely not a big fan of Lucio but I won't mention him often. If you like him, that's cool. He's just my least favourite.

III. FAVS & PROGRESS ON BOTH GAMES.

Favourites ↦ Asra Alnazar, Julian​ Devorak, Nadia Satrinava, Felix Iskandar, Sage Lesath

Progress on the Arcana :

( Grinding for coins before continue, going in orders )

Asra's route - Sound and Fury.

Nadia's route - The Lovers. ( Midnight Visit )

Julian's route - The Lovers. ( Laying Low )

Not yet started on Muriel, Portia and Lucio.

Progress on Last Legacy :

( Grinding for stars before continuing, going in orders as well )

Felix's route - Chapter 6.

Anisa's route - Have not started.

Sage's route - Have not started.

Alright, that's all I have to say. I'll update this like in the end of February.

Thank you for reading and enjoy your stay, also feel free to ask any questions or request or anything in my inbox.

[dearthshine]

[love] is most mad and moonly

hello this is yue! i use they/them pronouns.

everything will be under the cut so that i can freely edit as needed. thank you for dropping by if you do and i hope you enjoy your visit 💗

you are always free to send me asks about anything you want. anon is always on and if i receive anything i do not wish to answer i will simply delete it and move on.

title is from this ee cummings poem

before you follow

a few years back i decided to no longer use a formal byf on my blogs. so i will simply say here that i am an advocate for pretty much everything you would expect someone like me to be an advocate for, and give you this instead to keep in mind.

writing © sarah maddux, typography © hayley welsh

[ID: white handwritten text on a black background that reads: “when you debate a person about something that affects them more than it affects you, remember that it will take a much greater emotional toll on them than on you. for you, it may feel like an academic exercise. for them, it feels like revealing their pain only to have you dismiss their experience and sometimes their humanity. the fact that you might remain more calm under these circumstances is a consequence of your privilege, not increased objectivity on your part. stay humble.”]

blog nav

i tag all dream members by first name only (haechan is tagged #haechan though i also refer to him as donghyuck or hyuck).

other neos and idols are tagged the same way unless they're from a group i don't follow, in which case i will tag the group.

a caveat to this: if a post contains two members i may only tag them as their ship name (ex. #markren) but not their names individually. this will likely not be consistent and i'm sorry.

general text posts are tagged #text, personal posts (and tag rants on reblogs) as #chatter. if a post is tagged with both then that means it's probably a reblog that i relate to a dream ship/member. i am a mentally kpop yaoi rpf writer with an ongoing fixation on nct dream and so naturally i will try to relate every single thing i see back to dream in some way. and not only will i try, i will succeed. you have been warned.

video and audio are tagged accordingly; photos and gifs are not (though non-photographic imagery such as #art will be tagged).

other: i will occasionally tag non-kpop posts with the names/ships they remind me of. posts tagged #self are a free backstage pass into the depths of my soul.

post archive

moodboards

dream moodboards (ongoing)

published writing, finished and in progress

all original work is tagged #ds writes

i'm in ocean deep (markren, wip, rated e, 2 chapters) last updated 230731

misc commentary, tag rants, and the like

colfan as nohyuck

renjun: if mangoes didn’t have the stone in the middle

markren: my favorite genre of art is men laying in their woman's lap

renjun: i deserve a gold star for being so sweet and nice and not killing

markren: haha i like you. I’ll be growing on you like moss now if that’s alright

rensung: maybe we will be keychains on the same key ring in the next life

jeno: it's possible to ruin a fictional man's pussy AND do an intellectual deep dive into his character trauma and motivations

markren: your smell was never unfamiliar

renjun: no you are fucking alive do what you want

markren: slut

rensung: has a worm ever gotten struck by lightning

jaemin: behaves unintelligibly

nohyuck: his eyes were coke zero brown

nahyuck: you can drag me through hell if it meant i could hold your hand

jenren: why is it always the fancylad boy-king type whos the bottom. maybe his tough loyal knight who uses his body to protect and defend him and lives to serve him wants to get railed

jaemren/nohyuck: honey, my earth is merciful

jaemrensung: the world is a scary place when you are a small and edible thing

[hayjeon]

Practical Tips on getting your fics out there!

I’ve gotten an influx of these types of questions here recently, and the more i thought about what i was gonna add, it became really long :(  

disclaimer: a lot of the things i bring up are just from personal experience as a writer on this site, what my followers have told me they appreciate, and what i tend to look for when im looking for fics to read! If you don’t like these tips then pls move on :) 

although i’ll mention them, i’m also not going to be focusing on cliche tips like “write for yourself” or “grammar issues” cause those are pretty obvious!

1. accessibility of your blog 

when you’re trying to get your name out there, make sure that you’re creating an inviting experience for any potential followers! this includes:

a memorable url! be creative!

have some fun designing your blog’s aesthetic! (i love cute blogs because it reflects a bit of the writer’s personality), and (i prefer blogs with white backgrounds because it’s easier to look through/read, say, in contrast to a pitch black one where the words need to be white!) 

put your masterlist link in your bio (even better if you can link most recent fic! found this most helpful when i revisit authors that i like and can easily see if they’ve updated or not)

an organized and easy-to-navigate masterlist (personally, i prefer masterlists organized by band, instead of types of fics ie. i hate when i have to choose between drabbles, oneshots, and series masterlists; i really prefer to see them altogether!) --> see section 3 

organized tags (if you’re going to be posting a lot of non-fic-related content like pictures or videos, tag them properly so followers can sort through and find your fics easily!), or (if you’re going to be writing in different mediums like drabbles, or answering asks, make sure to use a unified #mine or #writing or #fics to centralize your content) 

2. get your name out there!

write write write! once you have some fics that show your talent, don’t be shy! 

join writing groups: when i first started out, I joined a bunch of groups that would reblog my fics in the midst of the content of much bigger writers; these blogs developed a following, and as a result of my content mixing in with bigger blogs’ content, so did my own tumblr! there’s been a stigma recently with these groups, but im sure you can find one thats supportive and not clique-y! 

send your fics to rec pages: what’s the harm? the only bad thing that can happen is that they ignore you! who cares! get out there! 

if you can do the above, i really encourage you to ask your fave writers for advice/to read your fic: again, the worst that can happen is that they say no or don’t respond or don’t have enough time, but it’ll be a good opportunity to get some feedback! i for one read (or try to read) every single rec that falls into my inbox. if i like it, i’ll #rec it, and if i don’t, unless the writer asks me for feedback, i move on!! 

utilize your tags!!: i’m not entirely sure if this is still the same or not, but from my memory, it’s the first 3-5 tags that matter the most? so utilize them well; push back the tags that aren’t really relevant (ie. #writing, #fics) and push more the main subject line of what you wrote (ie. jungkook fluff, bts smut, namjoon angst). these will populate your fics into the tags better!

headers!: when i’m scrolling through an infinite page of fics, the headers catch my eye the most; try being creative! you can find a lot of info out there on how to make ur headers super aesthetic, but i can share my tips too! --> see section 3

3. your masterlist 

here are some practical tips! 

organize by band, not type of fic/member/centralize your masterlist: i went onto a blog recently and clicked their bio mlist link to find a page full of 20~ish “JUNGKOOK MASTERLIST”/ “JAEHYUN MASTERLIST” and when i clicked on each one, they only had like 2 or 3 fics per member. i think it would’ve been better if she’d centralized all her fics! that keeps whoever is looking interested and more likely to click on another fic while browsing

add info about the fics!: when scrolling through a masterlist, it’s easy to get lost; try to add some snippets of info (ie. a short sentence you liked from the fic, a quick summary, a description of the au/scenario, or even a header!) this all gives some info about the fics you have tagged! 

headers: this isn’t a requirement, but i personally love a good header on fics i read and i love making them myself as i finish up a fic and get ready to upload it; here are free sources: unsplash for HQ stock pics, crop/edit/filter in VSCO, and then add aesthetic script with fontcandy) 

try to fill it up!: after i visit a blog after reading one good fic, i usually browse through their mlist to see if there are any more that i’d be interested in. if there’s a lot to look forward to, i’ll almost always follow; try to write as much as you can in the first few months to try and fill up your mlist and give blog viewers a reason to visit your blog again, follow, or even reblog your content!) 

4. try not to reproduce cliche fics: 

honestly tumblr’s writing community (and armys) has grown insanely these past few years and, unfortunately, even from my perspective, in the past 3-4 years, all the writers have sort of become blended together in my brain. but, i can say that the ones who consistently stand out are the ones who produce consistent content and think outside of the box! 

i tend to gravitate towards fics that have really interesting plotlines (ex. btssavedmylifeblr’s VOID is always a surprise to read because it’s sO unique! i usually don’t read ot7 fics but this one is legit my fave) 

I know it’s tempting to try and just write typical smut fics to try and gain some traction, but tumblr is already too overloaded by that kind of content; try to write something that’s special and unique! this will set u apart from the thousands of other writers here --> see next section

5. create unique fics: 

this is also personal to my writing style, but i get so bored writing just casual fics about the members, and it affects the fics i choose to read too; i prefer unique fics which you can achieve through: 

circumstance/au: create a fun au!; don’t just create an arranged marriage, create an arranged marriage in joseon dynasty, or between a werewolf and a hunter! (shameless self plug); don’t just give me friends to lovers, but give me spiderman!jungkook friends to lovers! (ie. cupofteaguk’s exchanges)

jobs: give them out-of-the-ordinary jobs; don’t just give me enemies to lovers, but give me rival!anchors who end up loving eachother! (ie. jimlingss The Newscasters)

fun dialogue: create good back-and-forth, (something i’m still working on!)! this will help your characters develop personality, and that way, readers will start to develop that themselves as well (ie. dad!yoongi from insemination wars by prolixitae is such a specific character that i love so much!, or obiwrites’ garden characters were so memorable!)

create memorable personalities: don’t give me a flat character, try to develop 4d personalities in all of your characters! (im still working on this too!) this way you can really make an impression on your followers! a great way to practice/recognize this is: “Ask my Character.” Can your followers ask a specific character a specific question, and would you be able to deliver an answer that is very specific to that character’s tone/voice/personality? If yes, then ur doing well! If not, try to think of ways that you can make tht specific character from a specific story, really unique and separate from your other characters.

6. some practical writing tips

be yourself, write for your own pleasure, blah blah blah; yeah you know already haha but here are a few more practical tips! 

grammar check: if you can, try and hone your grammar! makes for an easier read 

write like you: i personally LOVE this by obiwrites, but even the way she writes exudes her personality and is so specific; try not to be caught up in adding hundreds of synonyms and exquisite language; in fact, simpling it down and being more concise and honest with your writing is better than a superfluous sentence; this will also give ur characters so much more dimension and funk

use those commas/sentence variation: try to use more commas; this will feel like you’re the narrator to your own story; it also makes it more fluid to read in my opinion, over those short. clipped. sentences. (ie. “he came over, sitting down on the corner of your bed with an expression you’d never seen before” over “he walked over. he sat down, looking sad.”) 

half-half dialogue/narration: a fic with too much dialogue can get confusing, and a fic with too much narration can get dry; try to balance them out, and weave in and out of each! 

quality over quantity: don’t feel burdened to write a 30k word fic. in fact, i think some of the shorter fics (ie. any of versigny’s stuff) made a bigger impression on me over the longer fics because they were short, left me wanting more, and were just so high-quality in such small quantities. try out your hand at drabbles and one-shots, and don’t feel too burdened to try and develop a series right off the bat! 

abandon pigeon-holes: i’m guilty of this; i start series and then end up with no vision for the stories and they end up giving me writers block. its okay. just stop or discontinue them or leave them on a hiatus; it’s okay. your priority is yourself, and if abandoning certain works are part of that, then go ahead. it’ll help you progress more. 

and finally.......

i’ll add more as they come up! but if you liked this, then pls lmk! i’d love to give more tips and tricks; i think i started this blog 3-4 years ago when there weren’t as many writers here, but im glad you’re thinking of starting out/wanting to grow more! don’t feel intimidated! it’s not all about the notes/followers but creating a blog you’re proud of. 

so write what you’re proud of, or interested in, and keep going. i truly thoroughly had so much fun writing this post. if there are any writers who read through this and have some more advice, pls msg me! 

all the best to you! 

[heloflor]

Sooo, with summer coming to an end (god the passage of time was weird this year), here’s an update about the direction my blog’s going to take.

1. About 9-10 months ago, I started imagining ideas for a Dakavendish fic called “As Time Passes”. Fun fact : the idea started from my very first MML fic, which I wrote on paper but never posted (I know it’s the very first because I mention having a new ship in the beginning). I then started building from this one chapter, turning it into more than a random oneshot. Due to that, I firstly saw “As Time Passes” as a rather short fic and basically made some kind of “skeleton” of a story by dividing the main ideas I had into chapters, thinking that it would be enough to write the story.

Recently though, I decided to take this fic a lot more seriously (maybe a little too much) and so for the last month I’ve been working on really fleshing it out, writing down info for OCs, places, how BOTT works, have a doc with info for the time-periods visited etc and want to write for each chapter what I precisely want to put in, which includes chapters that make the story take its time and progress slowly (hence why just writing down the main chapters ideas doesn’t work anymore for this fic).

As of right now, I’m close to finishing the planning phase and I already have pretty much anything I need to finish the prologues. So I’ll try to finish prologue 2 by the end of the month, but I can’t make any promises (the first prologue is already posted and looking at the date makes me sigh because I’m taking so much time for fuck’s sake !)

Aside from this fic, I also came up with three other ideas for oneshots talking about the rogue arc (because of course I did…) + something about “A Christmas Peril” and maybe something random. But I want to focus on Prologue 2 before working on those.

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2. Miitopia. When the game came out on 3ds, I played the game a lot and made a team with Undertale characters (more precisely Humantale but that’s beside the point).

So when the game came out on switch, I bought it and made characters for the team using my current obsession, aka MML. And with my wish to complete the game 100%, I play it on a daily basis (trying to get my main level 50 for all jobs, currently 6 more to go). This means that I have quite a lot of pics and videos of it.

For a while now I’ve been wishing to share all of those pics and videos but never took the time to do it. So I might as well do so now. Because this game is very dumb and I absolutely ADORE it for that and I really wanna share some of the stuff these miis say.

Btw I don’t trust myself to do cartoon characters with the mii maker tool so my team is made of miis that resemble the characters. I also used other people’s shared miis for any non-team character and some are pretty funny fits.

I’ll probably make a tag like “Milotopia” to put all this spam in since I don’t really want it to show up on the show or the game’s tag .

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3. As mentioned in the part about “As Time Passes”, I made something that describes precisely how I see BOTT work (different jobs possible, rules, how to become an agent, ranks, even emergencies procedures) and I’ve been wishing to share it.

That’s actually why I made a few posts Thursday, I was trying to get myself to post this.

Because the “”“issue””” is, there’s a part in this BOTT infodump about how, no matter how inclusive BOTT is trying to be, agents face discriminations since the agency is about time-traveling. So I talk about the limitations the agents are forced to comply with when time-traveling (you know like how some of my fics have Cavendish worrying about homophobia, forcing the duo to hide their relationship ?).

But since I never talk politics or social issues on this blog (I want my blog to be a space where people can just read about cartoons without worrying about all the stuff going on in our world), I was worried that some people might get the wrong impression from this post.

This worry is actually pretty dumb because, when it comes to social issues, I think my mindset is close to the ones my mutuals have ? To keep it short, let’s just say that, if I had to reblog one post that talks about those topics, it would be that one post saying “this blog supports POC/queer people/autistic people/every religion etc + dni if you’re a p*do, f*cist, exclusionist etc”

Tbh I think I’m going to reblog that post after all. Also I could probably take the time to add something in my bio (like a “exclusionist/f*cist/p*do dni” type of thing).

But still, since I’m afraid for no reason to have troubles with this post, I’ll keep the info about BOTT on the side for now. I’ll most likely post it after Prologue 3 of “As Time Passes” since it’s in the topic.

Though, if some people read this and get really curious about the BOTT info and start requesting it, I guess I’ll consider it okay to post it sooner ? 🤷‍♂️

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4. Regarding the end of summer : So I’m currently 21 and have been studying for the past few years. But with the pandemic, working from home had been really hard for me.

Right now, I’m at a stage in my studies where I can take a break (I don’t live in the US). And since I’m a privileged bastard with parents who won’t throw me out, I’ll be taking a break in my studies this year. This means that I’ll have the time to be more active here (since I’ll have time to write).

I’ll also start streaming video games by the end of the fall. I haven’t touched a mario game in months and I’m really missing it.

Tbh I’m mostly taking the year off because I know for a fact that, if I study while still forced to stay at home, I’ll fail for sure. So I’m hoping that things will get better next year.

Though, it also feels good to say “fuck you” to the system and simply take a year for myself, trying new things, write more, maybe learn to draw, finally having the time to focus on starting my transition.

But yeah, long story short, I’ll be around more, probably will post more, and I’ll do gaming livestreams in which I would most likely encourage people to talk to me about cartoons (yes I’m going to use streams as an excuse to infodump). I might also take some of my longest posts and make them on a video format, but It’ll take a while since I need some experience on editing for that.

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5. I might start reblogging more texts posts from more shows I never talked about but watched.

[leftnipsdoodles]

with Eris coming back i wanna give some attention to Asher bc im Like That

specifically, the fact that he might very well be the person Eris referred to as her cousin back when they were both alive. and i’ll get to sth abt that in a second, but first, here’s what the lore regarding this person says:

Undelivered, lost.

Cousin, do you remember the streets of the Last City? Do you remember eating fresh red grapes and playing tag between the market stalls? You cannot. We grew, we died, we were reborn. But I remember. It is the one thing I know is true. You used to LAUGH. What manipulation of the fates has led us each to our own calamities? [Forceful, looping script.] I listen to Vanguard channels every day for news of your death. If and when that news comes, I will fly to you at once, no matter where I am and no matter what front I fight on. [Aggressive pressure, carved deep enough into the paper to tear it.] I swear it.

- lore entry ‘Letters’, presumably letters Eris wrote and tried to deliver to several different people

3. I submit to you now photographic and video evidence recovered from civilian family albums, historical archives, and extant Ghost recordings originally captured in the Last City. Behold, ERI-223: a child of the Last City, born to civilian parents in a mortal-Guardian integrated neighborhood. Behold, too, tiny VIP #1786—though he is almost more unbelievable than ERI-223, if you look at his smile. 

- lore entry ‘Forgeries’, dissecting and fact-checking the Truth to Power lore (in this case, confirming what Eris said abt her backstory in Letters)

i highlighted the contextually important parts here.

We grew, we died, we were reborn. -> Asher confirms multiple times that he’s never been to the Reef and goes above and beyond to distance himself from Reef Awoken. while this might mean he just died on Earth and doesn’t remember being at the Reef, it’s equally as possible he’s simply Earthborn.

You used to LAUGH. What manipulation of the fates has led us each to our own calamities? / [...] though he is almost more unbelievable than ERI-223, if you look at his smile. -> I used to think Toland was a good contester for being the person she talks about, since he’s also suffered a pretty bad(ass) fate like Eris, so she could be referring to him. But, we do know he’s still as... jovial, as ever. Asher on the other hand is known to be a big ol’ grump. The only time he does anything close to smiling is when he’s being condescending lol

I listen to Vanguard channels every day for news of your death. -> Eris obviously knows what’s going on with Asher’s ‘disease’. The first time we hear about him is in the grimoire where she visits him at the hospital while he’s in a coma after the whole Brakion thing. Toland’s already dead more or less but more importantly, the Vanguard wouldn’t report on him since he’s not affiliated with them because, yknow. He’s a ball. Asher on the other hand (heh) is specifically said to work under the Vanguard and his death would definitely have to be relayed to them.

now, the only reason i’m not 100% on all this is because, as always, the timeline in Destiny is a mess. I’ve talked abt it before but unless we get confirmation that Ghosts are able to revive someone at an age they never were (bc they died early or whatever), i dont see it adding up. Asher looks old, bruh. and he’s Awoken. we do know that while they do age outside of the Distributary, they do it at a much slower rate than humans. so for him to look this old, he must’ve been around for centuries before dying (since humans’ lifespans in this universe are already tripled). but the way the Awoken lore is written, it doesn’t sound like they have been on Earth long enough to warrant him ever getting this old before dying and being rezzed as a Guardian. and by his own admission, he’s been a Guardian long enough to see 6 different Hunter Vanguards come and go, which, while Hunter Vanguards change more quickly than the others, would still give us a rather long timespan. i will point out that all this COULD still add up, just because the timeline in Destiny has always been incredibly vague. so even if it doesn’t seem to add up now, the author’s intent would overrule any inconsistencies.

the other thing i want to put up for debate is the familial aspect of it, since I feel like these two being related feels ‘unbelievable’ (not that it has to be, but lbr). bear with me for a second, im gonna throw a lot of speculation at you but i hope you can understand that im doing my best to keep it in line with what we know: Awoken seem to face some sort of discrimination on Earth. 2 NPC lines hint at this: 1) ‘Who cares if he’s an Awoken? We’re in love, mom!’ 2) ‘I can’t believe it. I don’t mind that he was Awoken, but an artist? I mean, come on!‘ this is today, in a time where Awoken have been on Earth for a while. it was probably worse when they first got here, even tho in the lore, it is mentioned that generally the arrival of the Awoken was seen as something positive (since they came in a time of need, specifically to help. so not only were they seen as actual aid, but they also brought hope that not everything from outer space is here to kill humans). however, i’d say that especially in a day-to-day context, they would still be mistrusted. especially once they started banging humans. we all know how ppl react to outsiders ‘stealing’ things from them.

now, since we’re told that Eris grew up in a ‘mortal-Guardian integrated neighborhood’, when we know that most civilians outside of the Tower tend to be wary or even fearful of Guardians, i think it’s safe to assume she was born into a more ‘progressive’ environment. meaning it wouldn’t be a stretch for her to grow up around Awoken.

we don’t know for sure whether Eris is Awoken or just a Human with a very pale complexion (her being transformed by the Hive doesn’t help). either way, what I’m getting at with all this is that ‘cousin’ doesn’t have to be a familial term. ‘cousin’ is used by the Reef Awoken to refer to Awoken Player Characters (who, even tho it’s later hinted that we’re from the Reef ourselves, are presumed to be Earthborn by said Reef Awoken). ‘brother’/’sister’ is used as well.  if we think Eris is Human, her calling an Awoken kid ‘cousin’ would fit in with her being from an integrating neighborhood. (EDIT: we even have the lore mentioning humans as ‘cousins’ of the Awoken: ‘Those who left went to scour the ruins for lost history and give some succor to their Human cousins [...]’ -lore entry ‘Revanche V’) if we think Eris is Awoken herself, her calling another Awoken ‘cousin’ wouldn’t feel unusual either. on the other hand, there’s the untapped potential in Awoken-Human hybrids that are mentioned by the lore but just *clenches fist* never fkn explored. so her looking so different from him could have a number of explanations and doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not related. but like i said, i think the majority of us can’t see it lmfao

ANYWAY what im saying is that whether ‘cousin’ is meant literally or figuratively, it wouldn’t disprove the possibility of Asher being the cousin Eris mentions as part of her past.

so uhh, these are all my thoughts on the matter. feel free to tell me your own if you disagree or feel like adding sth!

[knifeshoeoreofight]

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

(sorry that cover photo is so huge, not sure how that happened)

Zhenya has missed people before. He’s been away from someone he’d been in a relationship with before. Nothing, though, has left a void quite like Sid’s absence has.

The whales’ migration can take up to two months, or more. Magda will stop to feed or socialize, and she’ll slow down if her baby needs to rest. The soonest that humpbacks start showing up in Labrador and Newfoundland is around the month of April. It’s February now.

Zhenya’s saving grace is the sheer amount of work he has to do. He’s got his neglected research to compile and to analyze, and he has to either start planning out his classes for the next term, or start preparing to resign.

He has a little money put away, but not the amount he’d have if he’d had any idea that he was going to be uprooting his entire life.

“What are you going to do?” Flower asks him gently, over the tub of coral samples Zhenya is helping him with. Zhenya just looks at him, unable to answer.

“We’ll ask around,” Letang promises. “See if there are any openings in the Maritimes.”

“What about MUN?” Fleury says, lighting up. “Their marine biology program is great.”

Zhenya knows about Memorial University of Newfoundland. He corresponded with a few of the researchers there before arriving in the Maritimes to begin his own work.

“Don’t know,” he says, shame rising in his throat. “Don’t know if my English good enough for teaching at university level.”

“Mon chum,” Letang says, clapping a hand on his shoulder and giving him a little shake. “You just spent most of a winter teaching a merman, who you had zero words in common with at the onset, how to communicate in American Sign Language, a language that you yourself didn’t even speak before now . I think you can handle teaching some snot-nosed freshmen the difference between their echinoderms and their cnidarians.”

“Okay no,” Geno says, wrinkling his nose. “Those so different—“

Flower cackles. “See? You could do it. People love an accent. It’s been scientifically proven that you listen better to a speaker with a foreign accent. I saw it in an article somewhere.”

“Where? Buzzfeed?” Letang teases, before being sidetracked by the sample he’s working with. “Oh good job mon bébé, polyps out!”

Fleury stifles a laugh. “See, I told you,” he whispers to Zhenya. “You’re within your rights to mock him mercilessly.”

Zhenya watches Letang, dark, sleek head bent over his work. “It’s fine,” he says, and smiles. “I understand.”

Fleury knocks their shoulders together companionably. Comforted, Zhenya gets back to work.

***

They’re finishing up last minute tasks before they start flying out. Letang and Fleury—

He really, really should stop thinking of them that way.

Kris and Marc-Andre.

Kris and Marc-Andre are suffused with excitement about returning home to their families. Zhenya has accidentally turned up in the background of enough Skype calls home that when Veronique calls as Marc-Andre is packing to leave, she greets Zhenya warmly as well.

“You should visit sometime!” she tells him, and Marc-Andre sits upright.

“You should! he exclaims. “You have some time before you, uh, need to be in Labrador. Come stay with us! Stretch out those savings a little bit.”

Zhenya feels relief sweep through him. “Really?”

“Really,” Vero says with a warm smile. “We have a guest room.”

That night, like he does every night, Zhenya checks the satellite data right before he falls asleep, to check where Sid and the whales are. The tags pinged next to each other, right where they should be.

It’s the first night since Sid left that he falls asleep with some measure of peace.

***

After that it’s a whirlwind of packing, changing flight details, and trying to explain to his parents over terrible quality video chat that he’s resigning his tenure track position and moving, jobless, to Canada for the foreseeable future.

His mother is just upset but his father gives him a long, assessing look and asks: “So. What is their name?”

Zhenya is almost relieved. “Sid. His name is Sid.”

His mother closes his eyes at the pronoun. They know about his bisexuality and what it would mean if he ever got serious about a man. He knows how much they love him and yet how worried the political and social climate in Russian make them.

“Does he make you happy?” His mother asks, her voice wobbly.

“So happy, Mama,” Zhenya says. Because it’s true.

It’s all she needs to hear. “Alright. Be happy, baby, and be safe. And send me a picture of this boy, I want to see him.”

He sends her a carefully selected and cropped photo of him and Sid, cut off well before Sid’s waist, his webbed hands hidden and his mouth closed over his sharp canine teeth. Kris had taken it as they sat on the boat, Zhenya with his hands raised as he explained something, Sid gazing at his face with an expression that manages to be focused and warm all at once.

“Oh Zhenya,” his mother texts him after he sends it. “He loves you so much. I can see it so clearly. I’d love to meet him someday.”

“I’d like that too,” Zhenya replies, and hopes it will be possible one day.

***

Most of the time he’s staying with Vero and Marc-Andre he works feverishly on his paper about whale vocalization, just to have it out of the way. The rest of the time, he’s organizing the massive amounts of data they have on Sid, from video footage to field notes to all the teaching materials they’ve amassed.

Marc-Andre helps him whenever he’s free, and Kris comes over often to lend a hand as well. Zhenya feels bad as they hole up in Marc-Andre’s home office, leaving their bemused wives talking in the living room.

“Maybe…” he says to them both. “Maybe it’s okay. To tell Vero and Cath. I know was my idea not to tell, and I’m so thankful you do for me. But maybe won’t hurt, to let them know.”

“Oh thank god,” Marc-Andre cries, and drapes himself dramatically over the table, dislodging about three carefully sorted stacks of paper. “It’s been killing me not to tell her.” He take a deep breath as if to start shouting for his wife but Kris plasters a hand over his mouth.

“For fuck’s sake. Let’s get some basic data together and wait until all the babies are in bed, at least.”

They edit together a Cliff’s Notes string of video clips, and get ready to let the women in on the secret.

***

“So,” Kris says, when they gather in the Letang living room that night. “We, us and Evgeni, have been working on something special. We weren’t sure how much was safe to tell to whom, but. You both obviously deserve to know what’s happened this summer.”

Cath and Vero exchange glances, and then turn back to Kris, standing in front of the TV where they’ve hooked up Zhenya’s laptop.

“We knew something was up,” Cath says. “Just not what.”

“Okay, so.” Kris explains. It started when this guy-” he points the remote he’s holding at Zhenya. “Found some weird noises on his hydrophone recordings, and we invited ourselves over to help investigate.”

“Coral so boring, need distract,” Zhenya says with faux sympathetic understanding.

“Shhhh, you,” Kris continues. “So we took a boat out, put the hydrophones back in. This is what we heard.” He plays the audio. Cath and Vero look at each other, clearly unsettled.

“Just wait,” Kris says, and plays the footage of the first time Zhenya saw Sid.

It’s strange, to see everything unwind on the television, like some kind of film. To hear the stunned gasps of the women, and to imagine what all of this looks like to someone seeing it for the first time.

“Oh my god,” Vero breathes, hand hovering in front of her mouth. Cath’s eyes are wide as saucers.

They’ve got footage from the time they started teaching Sid to the time his ASL was nearly fluent. Like this, Zhenya can also see how Sid looked at him, from the start. With fascination, then with affection, then with something more. He can see the same progression bloom in his own face.

Cath gasps at the next clip, one Marc-Andre or Kris must have taken when Zhenya wasn’t looking. In it, he’s leaning over the side of the boat, and Sid has raised himself in the water to meet him. It’s the pure, naked love in Sid’s eyes that makes Zhenya’s breath catch, and makes him feel like he’s dived deep, water pressure pushing in on his chest.

He doesn’t feel like he deserves that look.

When all the clips are finished playing, the women sit back, stunned and speechless. After a long moment, Vero turns and looks at Zhenya.

“You, and he?” she asks, clearly not sure she should ask.

Zhenya pulls his shell necklace out from under his shirt. “Yes. He’s— yes. We’re.” He can’t finish.

“Ah,” she breathes, and to his surprise, she gets up and comes over to wrap her arms around him.

“That must be hard,” she says, and Zhenya buries his head in her shoulder. She smells of lavender laundry detergent and peach shampoo. He hadn’t known he needed the hug and the acknowledgement of what he’s going through, until this moment.

Vero takes his face in her hands, and behind her Cath gives them a still-slightly-dazed smile. “You’ll be okay,” she tells him. “What happens next?”

***

What happened next, is Zhenya books a ticket to Newfoundland, and keeps watching the satellite feed, and gets used to missing Sid the way humans adapt to any kind of pain.

[muggle-writes]

Rules: Answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

tagged by @elizabethsyson

Nickname: Muggle is my nickname, but when I went by Muggle in person for more than a month at a time, it naturally got abbreviated, usually to Mugz

Zodiac: Aquarius

Last movie I saw: into the spiderverse (same answer as last time. I don't watch that many movies tbh except around Christmas. unless YouTube counts in which case... music of some sort? idk links for the next answer)

Favorite musician: changes by the day. I've kinda been in an acapella and/or folk music mood recently so the Maccabeats and Peter Hollens are in my YouTube and Spotify history a lot recently. also I'm eternally in awe of Forte Handbell Quartet (eta a longer video; i recommend skipping to the techno piece or the Jurassic Park theme)

Last thing I googled: "vine why are you buying clothes at the soup store" (my wife hasn't seen it; also i can't find the vine because apparently it's a much bigger meme than I realized). before that it was "chgrp not root" because work and group permissions are useful when they work

Song stuck in my head: well for most of the day when I haven't been actively listening to something, it's been the Pokemon RSE route-walking music. (but that somehow happens frequently when I'm in the no-music-no-internet room at work, as I was for most of the day, and I don't know how I accidentally trained my brain to make that connection). right now, surprisingly, I don't have any background music playing in my head. I think it's because the humidifier provides just enough white noise that my brain doesn't feel the need to provide its own

Other blogs: my main is @muggle-the-hat and I'm a mod on @why-do-neurotypicals but we've gotten one ask ever so that blog has been dormant for a while. I have a bunch of other sideblogs, but they're all small and I use different screen names on each of them (enby life: no idea which name suits me best so I may as well try them out) so i feel like it would just confuse things to link them.

Following: blogs matching all the themes of my sideblogs, (including this one, which is writeblr), korean langblr, jumblr, assorted fandom blogs, authors of my more favorite fanfictions (some overlap with other categories), and irl friends and acquaintances (including one fandom blog turned irl friend)

Do I get asks: on my main if at all, which isn't really surprising because i have hundreds of followers there and maybe 60 followers combined among the rest. but I get asks far less often than I reblog ask memes so... I'm always happy to get more. I do get tagged in ask games more on this one, but writeblr is actually vaguely organized about tag lists so that makes sense. also I used to get tagged a bunch on my main and I rarely could find the posts again to follow up when I had time to answer.

What I’m Wearing: pajamas. staying warm and cozy

Lucky number: I don't remember what I said last time, but I like a lot of numbers. 64 is a good number. recently I've been debugging software in which 0x3E is my lucky status number and 0x0E taunts me. (um, decimal 62 and 14). Also my other favorite number i can't share until it's no longer the combination to the lock to the Secret Room. (or realistically never because opsec and i shouldn't make public the types of parents we use for that combination lock), honestly I aim to be like.... ah, I'm sure the anecdote involves G.H. Hardy but i don't remember on which side. anyway one mathematician remarked to another about how the id number of the taxi he rode in was sadly uninteresting, and the one I aspire to be like, argued "what are you talking about, this number is interesting because ______" and I'd like to be able to do that for any arbitrary number thrown at me. (hi yes math is good, history is hard, math history is interesting yet i still forget the people even if i remember the math. except when things are named after people, but that tends to be, like, Euler and LaGrange and other people who did lots of cool science things so i remember the methods and the names of the methods separately which never helps)

Amount of sleep: ....depression both screws with my sleep schedule and means I always feel like I need more sleep except when I wake up at 5pm and feel like I've wasted the day. so yeah. I can never get enough sleep

Favorite food: yes (why do I have to pick a favorite?) uh, chocolate in most forms, many other sweet things, red meats (especially if served with potatoes), curry (especially if it has "too much" ginger), fresh-baked bread, chai the way my favorite local Indian restaurant makes it (spicier with just a little bit of sweet, which is the opposite of what i can get from the mocha machine at work which is wayyy sweet with a hint of spice but that inferior chai is still superior to coffee so i drink too much of it). also vegetables which I really don't eat enough of: sauteed zucchini and onions, roasted broccoli

Dream trip: dreaming requires creativity and tbh I funnel that mostly into my writing instead. I wouldn't mind going back to Korea for another visit though

Dream job: my current job is pretty good when I feel productive and when my debugging tools actually produce data maybe??? (they were not being helpful today. but i still mostly like my job.) dream job is probably this but with seniority and confidence and double the salary (while living in a similar area of the country; I wouldn't want to double my salary by moving to work for Google in California and having less available after rent than I do now)

Describe yourself as aesthetic things:

the smell of old books

the first glow of sunrise (the sunrise painting the mountains pink and gold)

a rainbow in the spray from a waterfall

the flicker of distant lightning (watching a thunderstorm fade into the distance)

this picture

Random fact: about me or about the world?

how about a combination answer: when we got our new handbell music this season, we only looked at half the pieces our first rehearsal and afterwards I tried to look up one of the pieces we hadn't gotten to on YouTube because it's got a weird time signature and I wanted to get a feel for how fast it would go and how strict the counting is...... except it turns out we're the first group to ever play the piece. it was commissioned recently but seeing my conductor's name on the page didn't tell me how new it was because he's super prolific. (the fact that it was on printer paper without the publisher's graphics should have been a giveaway but it's only the second time I've been among the first to play one of his pieces so I think I can be excused for not realizing)

Languages: mostly just English, but I took Spanish for years, so I can hold simple conversations in it. I can almost read sound out Hebrew fast enough to keep up in services, and I know some random Hebrew vocab but comparatively no grammar. and I took Korean in college, enough that I can recognize sentence structure but I can really only speak tourist-Korean, though I can sound anything out (if it's typed. handwriting is hit or miss.) in both Hebrew and Korean (and Spanish tbh but i don't often listen to Spanish music) I'm very proud when I can separate the words enough, listening to a song, to translate them without looking up the lyrics. also I tried to learn Japanese from Duolingo when it was new, but I still hadn't gotten the kana straight when it started progressing to kanji so that was a rough time and I went back to Hebrew.

tbh I "dabble" in "language learning" which really means I start a million courses on Duo and stick with none of them. with the notable exception of French, which I acknowledge is super common and probably a good idea to learn but the spelling and pronunciation seem so arbitrary I'm scared to look close enough to learn it properly, and I've never particularly considered starting the Duolingo course for French

I think I lost a few questions, because that's only 18 answers. whoops.

um... who to tag

@abluescarfonwaston if school hasn't drowned you in work yet and @copperscales I'm interested in both of your choices for lucky numbers especially.

... wow I'm blanking on other mutuals I haven't tagged recently. as usual lmk if you'd like to be edited in, or just answer the questions and tag me back, that's great too.

[miphastudies]

17 Questions for 17 People

Thanks @its-bianca​ for tagging me in this! Sorry it’s taken so long, we’re in a third lockdown and I’m pretty sure my body thinks that time no longer exists.

Nicknames: Kim, Kimbo, Kimberlim, Kimothy, Kimberley Dibberley (For some reason my family thought that a nickname based off Cat’s other personality from Red Dwarf, Dwayne Dibberley, was funny and it’s stuck with me my whole life), as well as KIIII (shouted by my sister when she was about 2 and couldn’t pronounce my name, my best friend now yells it when she wants my attention) and Kim-Kim by my Dad who refuses to believe I’ve grown up (beats Kimberley Dibberley any day) 

Height: 5'9 - towering over most men is fun, I suggest it to all of you, I’d rather round it up to six foot, but I probs stopped growing at 20.

Hogwarts House: Well I got Gryffindor when I first went on that site, but being my goth self I had to take the test again until I got Slytherin - as far as I remember I had unicorn hair (or horn?) or something of the like in my wand but I’m not gonna fuel JK’s anti-trans pockets by visiting Pottermore ever again. 

Last thing I googled: The soundtrack for Futurama’s Luck of the Fryrish episode, I knew Simple Minds were on it but I could’ve sworn Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty was on it, but apparently not. I spent a good half hour trying to sing it into google with their new song-analysis thing to no avail, so I ended up siphoning through all the songs Lisa Simpson has ever played on her Sax to find out what it was (I should be doing my dissertation proposal but my tutors haven’t got back to me yet so what can ye do).

Song stuck in my head: yknow wha I’m just gonna list the songs that have been stuck in my head so far today because it’s too many to be just one as I keep cycling through them (also gonna link them so you can see how garbo weird my music taste is)

Run - Joji Alive - Pearl Jam Clinging On For Life - The Hoosiers Tension - Avenged Sevenfold  Boots of Spanish Leather - Bob Dylan Nutshell - Alice in Chains Jaded - Aerosmith  The Sea of Tragic Beasts - Fit For an Autopsy 

I’ll add my current favourite at the bottom too for good measure (Honestly I spend way too much time listening to music and I regret nothing)

Number of followers: Currently 85. I’ve got about 2k on my main blog but I’ve not touched that since July 2017.

Amount of sleep: Good lord, so I aim for 8 hours, sometimes I only get 5.5 or something along those lines, other times I depression nap during the day and can’t sleep at all, sometimes (like this morning) I’ll go to get up at a normal person time such as 9am when my body naturally wakes me up, but it’s so dark and gloomy outside and cold in my room that I just stay in bed and end up accidentally falling back asleep. 12pm gang rise up xo 

Lucky number: 7

Dream Job: Hopefully I get somewhat successful in monetising my hobbies, I’m working on it all atm (I don’t know why but I really hate telling people about my plans because I’m deathly afraid they’ll mock me or do whatever they can to ensure it doesn’t happen, I’ve got this list of things I need to do for my own mental health sellotaped to my laptop stand that had things like when to clean the house, do my laundry, shower, exercise etc, and my old flatmate/friend saw it the other week and mocked me, so I haven’t followed it since and need to find some sort of other way of organising my life instead). But yeah, hopefully hobby based, I don’t want to be stuck in an office job all my life, and I want to leave the UK (although I don’t want to leave my family) so hopefully I’ll be successful enough to bring em all with me.

Wearing: Well I was gonna wear jeans and my Unus Annus longsleeve but I decided to go full kitchen witch and wear this black milkmaid looking dress with long sleeves that I’d bought for work when I got my thigh tattoo started (all the old men appreciated the legs but I didn’t make any more tips, oops)

Favourite song: My favourite song of all time would be The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony , the band formed at my college, has great meaning and has resonated with me since I first saw the music video after it was played at my Stepdad’s funeral in 2002. Weirdly enough on my last day of college, right after my last exam, I went to get the bus home - put my Spotify on shuffle (bearing in mind I’ve got 805 songs on this playlist) and this came on straight away. That’s probably not important to most people, but being pagan, I like to think that small things like these are signs from loved ones that have since passed. Not too happy that it’s used as the England Rugby theme because it gives me anxiety every time as though I feel like everyone hearing it doesn’t have the same emotional connection with the song as I do, but idk. I saw Richard Ashcroft live and he played this and I legit bawled my eyes out in public, safe to say I’ll try and hold it in next time. I suggest you all have a listen to the song or even watch the music video for it, it’s the most simple but most meaningful music video to me. 

Favourite Instrument: I’m left handed and I had this Yamaha acoustic guitar that my stepdad gave me - and taught me to play when I was about 5, a few months before he died (it’s still weird to me that I had no idea he had cancer at that point and instead spent his last few months teaching me his favourite hobbies) all he had was right handed guitars, so he taught me to play Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters upside down on this 20 odd year old right handed acoustic. He hadn’t played upside down himself before but did it so I could see what he was doing. I remember sitting in our green living room on the couch with him moving my hands to the right position (I don’t know where my mum was in this scenario, probably in the kitchen). He’d brought this guitar with him the first day I met him, it was probably like 11pm but I was 4 and thought it was 3am or something, but I heard voices coming from the living room and had gone to investigate - there sat my mum and my stepdad having Chinese on the living room floor, laughing together, my stepdad saw me and had brought sweets for me and my brother for when we woke up, but he beckoned me over, gave me a lollipop, stuck a two litre bottle of tizer in front of me and told me to dip the lollipop in the drink and lick it (not a good idea as I would’ve been bouncing off the walls, but I think I must’ve had a sugar crash and fallen asleep). My mum had no idea he was coming as he’d sneakily been texting her, asking what her favourite drink was, her favourite food and flowers etc, after they met in a pub when my mum was at a hostel with my brother after my Dad had taken me. My mum told him that the council had given her a place and he decided to show up and surprise her with all her favourite things and play guitar for her after my brother and I had gone to bed, I don’t remember much time passing before we’d moved into his house (where my mum and her new husband live to this day), but they got married a few months later and I still can’t play that Metallica song (I did try to teach myself more of it though). I also had this black left handed Ibanez prestige that my Dad got me for Christmas about 9 years ago, I could play quite a lot on it but eventually just stopped. Very good at piano though. 

Aesthetic: I’m not sure what this entails but I’m a sucker for neon/RGB/cityscapes and that type of malarkey. Also space. Love da space.  Also whatever Cornwall would be considered as. Cottagecore? I think that’s only an animal crossing related aesthetic but I’m claiming it nonetheless. 

Favourite Author: I’m a big goth so it has to be Stephen King by default. I’ve got copious first editions of his books from the 70′s and 80′s that my Mum bought when she was a teen. At my flat I’ve got Carrie, Christine, Salem’s Lot, Misery and The Shining first editions and the others are in my room at my Mum’s house. I don’t tend to read for joy like I used to, or write for fun either but I’m hoping I do more in 2021. Currently reading The Outsider by King, it sounds eerily familiar to a novel I wrote for coursework in college in 2014 and I’m half pressed to think he’s stole my brain ideas. I’m watching you Stephen. Always watching. Always. 

Favourite animal sounds: I don’t have favourite sounds, but my husky Nanook is my favourite animal because he’s dumb and I love him. Also Kookaburra sounds are terrifying and you all should go listen to what a koala sounds like. When I go to Adelaide (hopefully this year, if not next) I am NOT stepping foot in a nature reserve unless I’ve got an anti-kookaburra noise suit on. They obviously don’t exist so I’m gonna have to make one.

Random: I’m part of a viking reenactment group where they use actual swords and fight each other, and we have to basically sign our lives away when we join, to say that if we die, it’s not the groups fault. I don’t actually do the fighting though, I’m part of the villager group, so I do all the crafting and food making and most of the teaching when we do shows. I’ve not yet been to a show as I’ve had uni to go to, but my parents, sister and brother do - They stayed within Whitby Abbey last year during the Viking festival where everyone did the show and the adults got drunk round campfires in the castle grounds. Zacky Vengeance once complimented my shirt if that’s something. I’m also colourblind, got glared at by Liam Gallagher in the Liverpool Echo Arena parking lot and have too accurate a sense of smell.

Sorry this was so long, obviously I felt like word-dumping and my brain has a lot to say as I find too much meaning in these things.  Thanks again for tagging me! I’ve not got 17 people to tag as I don’t interact with anyone at the moment but I’ll come back to this and add people as the week progresses :) 

[rebelwheelsnycshow]

Show Update + The Story Behind The New Store : Disabled AF

Hey all. So, if you follow the youtube show you know that while I typically post a video once a week, it’s been almost a month since I posted a new one. If you follow the show, then you also know that because my motorized wheelchair Betty is prone to randomly stalling, I use Lulabelle (a rental wheelchair) when I need to go outside, at least until my new wheelchair arrives (which in theory will happen within this lifetime). And while Lulabelle is awesome, she unfortunately lacks the custom spine support that I need (and that Betty has). As a result for well over 2 years, I could only take her out one day in a row, or my spine would be in an absurd amount of pain.

Well, in the last month or so - things just got worse. I noticed that when I used Lulabelle, even for one day in a row, I was in that same absurd amount of pain. Pain that would take days to recover from and then it got to the point where it never quite went away. Just sitting up, typing, and even gently moving the mouse, exasperated things.  

I have been doing some DIY physical therapy (slow stretching while laying on a heating pad - which is my new best friend.) and I am making some slow progress. For an example I am able to type this. That’s something. Seriously. I have not been able to type this much in one sitting in awhile. But things are not that great. Lots of uncertainty and getting to know my body all over again and figuring out what is the new norm and what are my new limits, and basically what the hell is going on? But as a result, I couldn’t make videos, let alone edit them, let alone caption them. It’s been rough because I am finding out that I can’t really do a lot of things, let alone the things that I love to do.

It’s also been hard because while I have been trying to get medical help for this, sometimes doctors have been utterly useless and some outright harmful. My primary doctor (who has been very supportive) referred me to a physiatrist to see if I am a candidate for portable spine support. The physiatrist dismissed my spine damage and chalked my pain to the fact that I am in a wheelchair “all the time.” (Not even asking me specifics about my disability - ‘cus you know people in wheelchairs are all the same.)

When I tried to advocate for an MRI, just to see if the spine damage has gotten worse, he said to me “Gee, you sure are hell bent on getting this MRI.” and that he doesn’t give refer people for MRIs for “nothing” After the appointment with the physiatrist, I was immensely depressed. I did end up getting a referral for a spine MRI from the physiatrist though #ShePersisted, but the fact was, I was in a lot of pain, and I didn’t know how to take care of myself to make the pain go away. When I got home, I just balled my eyes out. I wanted to give up. I was done. I wasn’t suicidal, but I wasn’t in a good place emotionally either. Pain is exhausting, but pain + dealing with the ignorance of some doctors (and not being able to get help) can swallow you whole.

As I laid on my couch, (testing out the heating pad to see if that would help) I realized I was at a crossroads. A big part of me felt like giving up but then my brain reminded me of this project that I had started with a dear friend of mine a couple months ago. If you follow the show, then you may recall seeing my friend Gregg, who happens to be involved with the disability rights group, ADAPT. A group of disabled activists who are highly prone to civil disobedience as they chant “I’d rather go to jail, than be put in a nursing home” It was one of my activist goals to protest with them and take photos, as I loved taking photos at protests. (I suppose hypothetically it still is an activist goal, though at the moment, lifting up my camera is not really an option). But because I lacked a proper wheelchair that I could travel with, I was not able to physically attend the protests. And while I did support them by sharing their content and signal boosting their tweets (#ADAPTandRESIST), I wondered if there was a way I could do more?

Everyone has something to contribute to the resistance. That’s when I started to talking to my friend Gregg about an idea I had for an online store. I would do the designs. Gregg would handle the finances (aka: create a paypal account) and all the money would go to ADAPT. And as I laid there on the couch, I realized, what better way to raise a middle finger (and raised fist) to systemic ableism and useless doctors, than to not give up and instead create this bold, beautiful and unapologetic line of disability pride themed merchandise. Merchandise that would (hopefully) raise money for ADAPT, thus contributing to the resistance on multiple levels (as disabilty pride itself is a form of protest). It was also important because with all the medical changes that were occurring, I needed reminders of disability pride. And as things would turn out, making art for the store was one of the few things that I could do! I mean, I couldn’t draw free hand, as that hurt my wrist and thus my spine, but I could make collages, using other art pieces that I made in the past. And so I did.

Announcing the Grand Opening of Disabled AF @ http://tinyurl.com/DisabledAFstore 

[image description: Graphic for the store. Black background with the store’s banner on top. Taking up the majority of the graphic is a collage of various designs for the store. The text for the banner reads “Disabled AF. Badass disability themed art, apparel & more. #IntersectionalOrBust #Represent. Every purchase raises money for ADAPT, a badass disability rights group. The text on the left side says “Represent! Stickers! (Perfect for your wheelchair, cane, book & more). Art Prints! (Also available with frames). T-Shirts (Up to size 3x + sweatshop free!) Every purchase raises money for the ADAPT. Visit the store. Check it out. Peruse. Oogle. Lookey. @ tinyurl.com/DisabledAFstore ]

ABOUT THE STORE TRANSPARENCY: Just how much of the money goes to ADAPT with each purchase?

T-Shirts - $3.00 8" x 10" Art Print - $2.50 12" x 18" Art Print -  $3.00 16" x 20" Art Print - $3.75 20" x 24" Art Print - $5.00 24" x 36" Art Print - $6.50 Stickers Art Print - $0.50 INCLUSIVE: The t-shirt sizes go up to 3X and are sweatshop free. Design by Humans automatically separates the apparel by Men’s and Women’s, but really it comes down to what kind of fit you want. If you want something loose and baggy, get something from the “men’s section”. If you prefer a more fitted style, then get something from the “women’s section.”  Feel free to contact me via tumblr or on twitter at RebelwheelsNYC. Let me know what you think and if you get any of the merchandise, please take a photo of it and tag me with the #DesignByHumans #DisabledAF . That being said, I am not abandoning the youtube show. I just need to wait till it’s an option again. In the meantime I need to focus on the things that I can do, rather than dwell on what I can’t. To remind myself that yes, there are things you can do. Especially when those things bring you joy and make this whole process more doable, because you need that. #Resist (My primary doctor is referring me to see another doctor, this time a spine specialist who will see me after I get the MRI.)

[expertdigitalmarketingthing-blog]

15 Most Important SEO Hacks You Must Never Ignore For Your Website

SEO Hacks - It is no longer news that Search Engine Optimization (better known as SEO) has shaped the way website run in recent times. For over a decade, various tips have been created and tested to drive traffic and lead and convert mere audiences into full-blown followers. Some of them have worked out fine, and a sizable number have not, and even some have worked out for a bit, then went downhill.

For instance, increasing organic rankings by targeting specific keywords no longer work with search engines these days. This is not to say that keywords are not essential in our usage. Over 80% of cell phone users make use of a search engine every day, according to a recent survey. Hence, the benefits of driving such traffic to your site are enormous. But with so many SEO tricks out there, pulled out by various blogs, it is increasingly difficult to ascertain which one works and which tip(s) you can ignore. So, what are those surefire SEO tips you should not ignore during link building strategy, blogging, social media and even search optimization? Let’s dive into them.

Rid Your Site From Anything That Slows it Down.

Before, eye-candy was the in-thing. Everyone wanted to make a statement through their graphics, and fancy plugins. But most users have realized that these sites really offer nothing when they look past all that fancy web design. When your webpage takes more than 3 seconds to load completely, you’re going to lose a sizable number of potential visitor and even a greater number of your real target audience. It is highly recommended that you do away with widgets and plugins that are not really necessary for your site, and trim down on the graphics. You can check out this post by Lform Design as it sheds more light on it. Google has cited that it has used site speed as a primary factor in placing a site on top of search engine rankings. So, make the right choice.

My Favorite SEO Hack to Increase Website Traffic | Neil Patel

  

Use URLs That are Readable.

It is important that you do away with long URLs. Search engines are beginning to think more like humans these days. If your target audience does not understand the URL you put up there, search engines would be confused as well. Stick to readable and meaningful URLs, that is easy for users to find. Avoid including numbers, in your URL if you can. Using 4-5 phrases separated by short dashes is recommended.

Be Unique in Your Meta Descriptions.

Imagine you were in invited to a boardroom to talk about your services. With the eventuality of others like you selling similar services going in before and after you, how do you pitch your idea? How do you stand out? It’s all the same with SEO. Search engines like Google use meta descriptions along with URL and title tag of each website when displaying search results. It is important you stand to create a unique meta description from the many others. You can get penalized for posting duplicated meta descriptions on your site. If you own different sites for different services, do not use the same meta description.

Link Other Website With Relevant Content.

A lot of people are of the opinion that linking to authority sites is bad for business; because it takes visitors off their site. But the reality of it all is that you do not get from others without giving first. One of the surefire ways to get inbound links from authority sites is linking them from your own content. It is a good SEO practice to link out to other sites that offer quality content. You can even notify influencers than you linked them to your posts and if they like your content, they can share it with their followers which will bring more traffic to your site.

Optimize Your Click Through Rate.

Increasing your click-through rate has a lot of benefits. For starters, Google ranks a site higher when a lot of people click on it. It sends them a signal that people love what they find on your site. However, when people don’t click on your site, Google sends it down the food chain. One of the easiest ways to optimize your CTR is to add numbers to your description tag—just like what the post did above. It will drive numbers to your page and boost SEO.

SEO Hacks to Skyrocket Your Google Rankings | 3 Tips to Grow Website Traffic

  

Update and Republish Old Posts.

Are there old posts hanging in your site that you feel are still relevant today? Go right ahead to edit and update it with new information, images, and tips.  .

Be Intentional in Your YouTube Description.

It is not any longer strange that YouTube videos show up on Google’s first search page, and this is a trend that will not end anytime soon. You can take advantage of this by getting your videos to rank higher for competitive keywords. This, you can achieve, by dedicating a +150word quality content with the necessary keywords to your video descriptions on YouTube. Since Google or YouTube do not watch or listen to your videos, they rely on the text-based title and description to rank your videos better.

Include Long Tail Keywords in Your Title Tags.

It is bad SEO practice to include a single keyword in your title tag. This reduces your chances of turning up in various search engine results. When you embed long-tail keywords to your title tag, you will get significant search engine traffic.

Create Your Own Keywords.

This is perhaps the best SEO hack you’re ever going to read. When you create a keyword that is unique, you’ll rank the highest on search results. This is because you’re the only one optimizing on that keyword.

Prioritize Your Readers Over the Engines.

When gunning to be rated high on search results, focus the attention on your reader’s and not on those ranking numbers. Fact is, your readers are the people who will engage you, share your post, buy your products and services, and it doesn’t work the other way around. Churning out content for the purpose of making search engines happy is a wrong approach because these engines conduct random spot checks on websites, and your credibility matters. A lot. Forgetting about search engine results and writing to help someone who needs your service will make all the difference.

Get Your Analytics in Place.

It is important to get your web analytics in place before you decide to launch your site. It becomes easy when you can track your progress, check out which of your content is performing well and your target audience’s perception about your site and the service you offer. When your analytics are up and running, you can make some adjustment to some of the contents, and drive your site in the direction you want to go. Web analytics software like Google Analytics, Google Search Console and even CrazyEgg will you when your visitors are clicking on most when they visit your page.

Utilize Your Social Media Platforms.

Initially, social media dealt with the live following, while SEO was thriving on ranking higher on search engine algorithms. However, there has been a marriage between the two. While Google has not added social signal as a factor on their algorithm, the impact of social media in SEO strategic cannot be downplayed. You can drive SEO via social media using the following steps: Create good content that can be shared across the popular social media platforms. Include share buttons on your post. Share them across these platforms and encourage your followers and friends to read and share as well.

SEO Hack! How to Optimize for Google RankBrain (2018)

  

Include Relevant Keywords to Your Images

A lot of people fail to realize that specific images are generated on search engines when specific keywords are used to search for them. It is important to use the right keyword for the name of your image. The keywords to use in the caption must be on point, too.

Use Https://

Over time, search engines like Google have shown a preference for https sites than sites with just http. This is plain because HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) sites are just known for transferring information across the internet in a ‘free’ form. On the other hand, HTTPS sites are more secure because they use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) in order to communicate on the web. HTTPS sites also encrypt data, making it difficult for anyone else to crack it. Therefore, for SEO boost, create an https:// website.

Create Original Content.

The best way to outshine the other on SEO Rankings is to create amazing and original content. Readers are always hungry to read up on new stuff, so it is best you feed them unique and fresh content consistently. This will not only bring more traffic to your page but take you higher up the food chain. SEO is an evolving phenomenon, with changes being an adjustment being made from time to time. However, some basic hacks remain the same. With these tips outline, getting the best SEO rankings will be a reality.  

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[heroofthreefaces]

Now that I've broken the ice, I think I'll go ahead and blog about my dad here. It's unlikely he'll ever see it for Reasons That Will Become Clear, but it wouldn't matter because everything I may post in my dad tag (including that first entry EDIT that entry is now tagged my abuse rather than dad) is something I originally composed addressed to Dad. ...Except this, which was edited last week from Dad-addressed writing in order to be addressed to my brother and sister (sent 5/30/17), and has here been lightly edited for clarity.

I had the following written out for many reasons, one being I prefer to discuss this in writing. Reasons for this preference include that a permanent record of a sensitive subject makes mistaking what's said more difficult, though not impossible, which is what this story is about. Another reason I already had it written out is that, at the time I first heard of my sister's recent visit to the town where I, my mother, and my dad and his wife all live, and realized that afterward I might feel cause for my siblings to be brought into the loop on this, much of this was stuff I'd already composed to say to Dad at future opportunity as I note above. Which, however, as you'll see, I don't expect to ever happen (But sometimes the only way to stop the words circling your head like hamsters is to put them down on paper/screen, you know? Then once the words are down, there's the writer’s impulse, "This is good writing, or at least concisely captures what I want to say - gotta share it, somewhere.").

Last July, Dad directed me not to email him my Friday general announcement to friends and relations for my current week's cartoons any more, because my "political views" get into them. Since then I got from him two general emails which I guessed both my siblings also received (last week they neither confirmed nor denied). First, in October, two inaccurate quotations (I checked them out) which supposedly showed that progressives oppose religious freedom; but were actually denouncements of the sort of so-called "freedom of religion" legislation that permits business owners to discriminate against their customers on religious grounds, legislation which violates the principle of separation of church and state. Second, in January, a video of former Marquette basketball coach Buzz Williams shaming the players at his current school for silent protest of racist police violence during the national anthem, shaming them with the tired old logical fallacy that exercising your right to protest disrespects the veterans who fight and die for your right to protest. I replied to both these emails with debunkings and Dad responded to neither. As you'll see, if there have been more of these group emails from him more recently I'm unaware of them.

In February after I called Dad for his birthday as I always do, he emailed to say he hadn't been sure I'd call. He'd mistaken something about my response to the Williams video (he thought I sent an email with no body) and took it to mean he'd offended me somehow. I hadn't done what he thought (I guessed he'd mistaken the URL that was the message body for a part of my email signature) so I explained that away the same morning he emailed me.

But at the end of that day I also wrote at some length (less than this message, about half a dozen paragraphs) that there is, indeed, something I'm offended about. I wrote he ought to have known I'd be offended by video of an authority figure shaming his charges for supporting a cause Dad knows I support. I wrote I'm offended at Dad's emailing around his own ideas and positions when he won't engage with positions different than his in direct responses to what he emails or in my cartoons. I described similarly contradictory behavior I'd experienced from him in person just since July. And I closed with a couple of paragraphs making explicit my wishes were not that he should stop emailing me these things but rather that he should engage my rebuttals. And he should engage the rebuttals of whoever else, if anyone, offers them. (At some point he changed practice to bcc'ing the recipients of such emails, and I'm inclined to believe it's because he didn't like everyone seeing it when someone had a counterargument, as was known to happen.)

Dad's reply email had the word "apologize" at the top. But the main body of it told of what he felt about the coach video which had prompted him to share it, to wit, heartrending memories of the time his brother was overseas in the service during World War II, several of which he described. (I infer the intended message was that I could stop being offended now because what was offensive to me about it wasn't what moved him? Or he was attempting again to shame protest with veteran service.) He wrapped up stating that it was a mistake to have sent it to me and he would avoid such mistakes in the future.

It wasn't an apology for what I had written about. It was an apology for, if anything, sending the sort of thing I had explicitly written I wished him to continue sending so it could be discussed. He'd written to ask whether I was offended about something and responded to my affirmative by making it all about him. It didn't at all engage the actual topic I'd written about, which was that he doesn't engage the topics I care about. It wasn't an apology for what I had told him offends me. It was an example. I found it mindboggling.

And instructive. Dad demonstrated to me in no uncertain terms that he won't listen to me, or can't or something. Twice in a row he had misread what I had written him. The second time it was perhaps the most important thing I may ever tell him. I took a day to formulate a response to the non-apology, which was that I gave up. I answered with a couple polite sentences as semantically devoid of any actual content as I could contrive.

To be frank: Whether he misread what I wrote purposely or unconsciously, it hardly makes any practical difference to me. But the ingenuous manner it was done distinctly suggested to me that, if/when Dad discusses this with my siblings, he will tell them that the failure of communication between him and me is my doing, possibly because he believes it. This would be a falsehood. I wanted to open communication further and his response has been to shut it down entirely. I offered to forward my siblings the emails, but (I don't think it's a violation of their confidence to say this) neither of them apparently felt that necessary to find my story credible. For a few days this week I speculated that maybe he had received only the first, shorter one (his response was so unresponsive that it could have been a reply to either) or maybe, if there were further contact about this, he might try to claim he didn't receive the second one; but his reply did specify what I "sent last evening" and there are other factors which satisfy me that's not true even were he to contend it was.

Something I'd like to emphasize is that to me this is only peripherally about politics. As I wrote here before, Dad has never in my fifty seven years shared my interests, whatever they are, art or Star Trek any more than Black Lives Matter; not even to the degree that I've shared his. He's never tried to share my interests; he's been more likely to tell me I ought to have different interests; and now, by proscribing my cartoons for their political content, he's outright outlawed them - and then the next time I was over he spent the evening flipping between football and Fox News. To me it seems the way Dad relates to the world is just a mutual reflection of the way he relates to me: poorly, due to a lack of comprehension that people are different from him and their experience different from his.

I called my dad's wife* for her birthday at the end of March as I always do; she and I spoke for ten minutes cataloging the weather and the pains of old men, and unusually Dad and I didn't speak. Apart from his general emailing of a trip itinerary mid-April to which I replied "have a nice trip" as I always do, I've unusually had no contact from Dad for four months. But the absence of a dinner invitation during a visit by out-of-town family is the first (to my knowledge) instance of his new mode of behavior which impacts someone besides me, in this case my sister and my niece who were here Memorial Day weekend. The last two times before February I was asked over to their place (not counting my birthday in December because Dad took me out), visits from my siblings were the circumstances. Hence my decision it was time to bring my siblings into the loop.

Nor have I contacted Dad aside from as described above. My activism and my art are all that I have in my life any more (which, as I said to my sister and my niece when I visited with them at my mother's, is not a complaint; both these things are both fulfilling and exhausting), so by Dad's own demand I'm left with nothing meaningful to say to him. For the last couple years, actually, I've seen them only when invited. Seeing them has meant a few hours boxed into the picture of me in Dad's head of someone who doesn't do anything he doesn't like, of someone who fits into the echo chamber he's constructed around himself because he thinks avoiding today's issues is how to keep the peace (maybe it is, with everyone but me, but me it pisses off). It's tiring at best and antagonizing at worst, so I stopped volunteering for it. I haven't any more motivation for contact with them than is satisfied by the contacts he initiates (even when that's none, I'm learning). On the other hand, before February I have gone there almost every time asked and, when I haven't, it's generally because I prefer (require?) at least a day's notice. This has been my behavior since late 2015 (that's another story), but Dad seems only to have noticed once he stopped my weekly general email. He seems to think I cut him out of my life but it wasn't I.

Lest anyone think I'm trying to draw Dad out: No. Once already I waited for him to want to clear the air, because that would mean he might actually listen. But even then, this Februrary, he ignored what I said more thoroughly than I'd've expected had I initiated it, more thoroughly than I imagined possible. I now have no confidence he'll ever bring it up again and I certainly still see no use in my doing so. I'm behaving as I'm behaving because it's what's best for me and my emotional health. Maybe so is he, but that wouldn't change my needs.

Without speaking for my mother (who I mentioned in the previous post is also on Tumblr and is who I already vent to about this) I think I can say that she's been sympathetic and supportive, and has advised me not to burn bridges I may later regret burning. But it's not about whether I'm alienating Dad, it's about whether he's alienating me. I mean, there's no question that's what he's doing, and I’ve been taking my time deciding how much I’m going to allow. I wrote Mom once I've been sorting the hawks from the handsaws, but now I think the wind changed for Dad while I was between the toolshed and the aviary.

I mean not to leave this town before Dad and his wife and Mom are all gone, and I certainly want to hear of, and lend support to, any and all family medical emergencies even Dad's and his wife's. But I realized decades ago (in another situation) that one of the conditions that unconditional love doesn't require is keeping in contact. Last week I wrote my siblings that my policy to visit Dad when invited hasn't changed and I would have gone if asked while my sister and niece were visiting, but instead it's looking like Dad and I may never speak again. After the last two years I'm not dismayed at the prospect, and now I think whether I went if invited in the future would require extreme surrounding circumstances.

The alternative would be to expect Dad to be or become a different person. Aside from the disrespect and the doom to disappointment of anyone expecting that of someone else, I will not - and I have no right to - expect that of Dad because that's precisely my issue with how he relates to me.

As I said above, there's nothing here I wouldn't write to Dad at opportunity and much of it is edited from stuff I've already composed for that hypothetical purpose. I told my siblings they're free to share any of it with him at their own discretion and preference. However, I said, I don't request they do and I don't recommend they do, and I don't ask them to pick a side or anything like that. I said I seek only to inform, because Dad's new behavior pattern in regard to me isn't stopping at affecting others. Whether others are brought into it may not end up their choice or mine.

So that's what that is. Because, I like to say that my art and my activism are all I have going on right now, but when I do I'm really leaving something out.

* I've very rarely used the word stepmother in forty years because I don't like it. The villains in fairy tales are always stepmothers.

[universetwo]

92 Question Tag

I was tagged by my #1 boo @stan-the-best-stan-monsta-x also I would love that too if your cute ass would be living here with me in New York. The city would be less boring for sure. AND I LOVE YOU TOO 💗

THE LAST …

1. drink: coffee (i visited my grandma and she made nice coffee for me and my mom)

2. phone call: my grandma yesterday

3. text message: From my close friend from high school

4. song you listened to: EXO - Lucky One

5. time you cried: today while watching Lonely by Sistar I teared up a little bit. These are emotional days

HAVE YOU EVER …

6. dated someone twice: almost but thank god my high school friend and my mom stopped me from it 

7. been cheated on: not that I know of

8. kissed someone and regretted it: lol yes and it was my “first kiss”

9. lost someone special: yes, like physically as well but emotionally too

10. been depressed: Junior year of high school was the lowest point in my depression phases but I have those moments still

11. gotten drunk and thrown up: thank god no, so far it seems like I’m good with alcohol

LIST THREE FAVOURITE COLOURS (12, 13, 14):

every shade of blue

mint

rose quartz and serenity 

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU …

15. made new friends: yes a few in college and a few online :)) 

16. fallen out of love: not in the last year

17. laughed until you cried: it happens a lot of times because I’m easily impressed even with the stupidest jokes ever and I like to laugh a lot

18. found out someone was talking about you: yes, and about my crush, it was embarrassing

19. met someone who changed you: yes and most of the times positively

20. found out who your true friends are: yes

21. kissed someone on your facebook list: no

GENERAL STUFF

22. how many of your facebook tumblr friends do you know in real life: only my bestie. I have tumblr, twitter, and facebook friends too but I haven’t met them in real life yet

23. do you have any pets: still just the stray cat :// but we are progressing, last time she came to my window and meowed in until I didn’t greet her, I felt touched 

24. do you want to change your name: only while I was living in Hungary but since I moved to the US I feel it’s more unique than I thought

25. what did you do for your last birthday: I actually don’t remember lol I don’t even know what day it was on 

26. what time did you wake up: around 8 because I was having some weird dreams

27. what were you doing at midnight last night: I was definitely not looking at pictures of SVT members’ exposed abs I was being pure and pretending the world doesn’t hate me

28. name something you cannot wait for: to get a scholarship for my next semester and to go to the Monsta X concert 🙏

29. when was the last time you saw your mom: a few seconds ago

30. what is one thing you wish you could change about your life: actually there are many things but foremost I would like to be more productive and not leaving important things last minute. I would also like to travel more and see my bestie more often

31. what are you listening to right now: DAY6 - Letting Go and I’m becoming an emotional mess

32. have you ever talked to a person named tom: yes

33. something that is getting on your nerves: right now it’s my financial situation and how fucked up the US health care is

34. most visited website: YouTube and Twitter

35. elementary school: a small school in my hometown where I was in an art course and I met so many of my good friends there including my quality trash queen @stan-the-best-stan-monsta-x

36. high school: International high school in Brooklyn

37. college: City College of New York in Harlem, I just finished my first year

38. hair color: Light brown with blonde highlights

39. long or short hair: kind of in the middle but I want to cut it shorter soon

40. do you have a crush on someone: as being a kpop and kdrama trash I have many crushes but my main crush is this rude extremely cute boy now

41. what do you like about yourself: my eyes and my height as in terms of looks but I think I have some good qualities in my personality too

42. piercings: just regular earrings

43. blood type: A

44. nickname: Timi, Timcsi, Squirrel

45. relationship status: committed to kpop idols

46. zodiac sign: scorpio, which means I’m a sexual predator with an evil laugh and will definitely destroy you after I told you my deepest secrets *sigh*

47. pronouns: she/her

48. favorite tv show: Doctor Who, Sherlock, Game of Thrones (and these are only the non-Korean ones so a lot more)

49. tattoos: None for now but I think I will have later

50. righty or lefty: Righty

FIRST …

51. surgery: Adenoids surgery when I was like 8?? 

52. piercing: regular ear piercings when I was a child

53. best friend: the person who is still actively supporting me and pretends to like my lame jokes

54. sport: soccer with my dad

55. vacation: 2010 to New York and even then I was hoping one day I can live here and two years later it happened 

56. pair of sneakers: Converse, pink

right now …

57. eating: nothing but I want to eat a hot dog (actually since I watched SVT in LA vlive with Mingyu’s cookings I want to eat a hot dog)

58. drinking: nothing but I want to drink water lol

59. i’m about to: work on my Harry Potter - Kpop Au

60. listening to: Monsta X - Rush *vroom vroom*

61. waiting for: Monsta X concert

62. do you want kids: yess two at least, and cats and puppies who will be my kids too

63. do you want to get married: yes but definitely not in five years, ten maybe

64: what career do you want: Well because I have many interests and hobbies I would like to be many things in life. For now, I want to direct/edit movies and music videos, while continuing with blogging and vlogging. I also want to publish my books that I’m writing. And when I get tired of a busy life I want to be a teacher to pass on my knowledge to younger generations and to help out less fortunate kids. 

WHICH IS BETTER …

65. hugs or kisses: hugs, I love hugs TT

66. lips or eyes: eyes, eyes are my weaknesses

67. shorter or taller: taller, but it doesn’t really matter

68. older or younger: older and same age, but younger by a few years is okay too

70. nice arms or nice stomach: I really like guys who have nice arms/hands where you can see their veins and such, the good thing is that I know I’m not the only one in this world who likes that even if it sounds weird lol. Also a good example is Yoongi, okay, bye

but like I don’t really care about abs and all, said me who was looking at SVT members’ abs last midnight but hey that was just for science

71. sensitive or loud: Both, because I can be both too

72. hook up or relationship: relationship

73. troublemaker or hesitant: oh well is there an in-between

HAVE YOU EVER …

74. kissed a stranger: nope

75. drank hard liquor: yes

76. lost glasses/lenses: no thank god but my glasses did break before while I was on the soccer field and it made me so sad rip

77. turned someone down: yes

78. had sex on the first date: no

79. broken someone’s heart: yes

80. had your heart broken: yes..

81. been arrested: yes lol by fangirl police @kawaii-hedgehog along with @stan-the-best-stan-monsta-x and I can’t believe you said you have never been arrested

82. cried when someone died: yes

83. fallen for a friend: yes, sort of

DO YOU BELIEVE IN …

84. yourself: not on Sundays and Mondays

85. miracles: kind of

86. love at first sight: as I go more for personality than looks, the answer is no to that as not even in a month you can truly know a person’s personality and I need time to fall in love, but I can develop cute crushes easily

87. santa claus: I caught Santa too early in my childhood, I wish I would have had that childish belief for longer

88. kiss on the first date: I mean if the two of you are really feeling it, though I’m not that type who would do it. Unless if I went on a date with someone that I have known longer and developed a deeper crush

89. angels: You mean Yoon Jeonghan? Because yes

OTHER …

90. current best friends name: RÉKA, MY BOO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I MISS YOU

91. eye color: kind of like forest green?

92. favorite movie: too many to choose from, I just like science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and spy movies

I tag @photosynthesizingparkhyungsik @kawaii-hedgehog @hobiplz You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to ^^ also if anyone wants to do this tag just let me know and I can tag you. Thank you for reading through this, it’s a lot :D

[mirkwoodz]

FUN LITTLE GAME

I was tagged by @atimeofwhichwehavenoknowledge. Thanks, Mel! <3

Okay so answer the questions and then tag 8 people!

What made you sign up to Tumblr? It happened in 8th grade when I was trying to lose weight and followed all the pro-ana blogs and also tracked my progress. I wish I’d known better lol

What did your blog start off as being? Well, as I said, I was tracking my weight loss but it quickly changed into a kpop blog and that’s how I stayed for lots of years tbh

Have you ever received any creepy asks, and if so, what did they say? Lmao yeah the creepiest was this girl fantasizing about me and kyungsoo back when I was into kpop and it was weird af

Have you ever had a bad experience on tumblr? Yeah some chinese girls tracked me down and bullied me bc i would edit photos taken by them

If you had to pick a favourite English monarch, who would you pick? Idk man im not good at this

Do you prefer hot or cold? HOTTT but id rather die by cold

Do you have a special skill or talent? No i dont think so

Do you have a phobia of anything? Yeah, i dont like rats, small or crowded places.

If you had to pick a favourite real life villain from history, who would pick? I ve always been interested in the Fritzl case and so id pick joseph fritzl bc i rly wanna know why he did that and how he managed to do it for so long

Do you have any dark traits? Yeah i get hurt way too easily and im not comfortable with a lot of people

If you could do anything, literally anything, like fly on a unicorn or something, what would it be? Teleport myself wherever i want to

What is the scale of the worst argument you’ve ever had? I dont even wanna think about it lol

What is your favourite slush flavour? I never liked slush

If you could bring back any food or drink from your childhood that has been discontinued, what would it be? I can still find everything i ate or drank in childhood so idk

What is your favourite and most vivid childhood memory? Sitting in front of the porch with my grandma and trying to get away from mosquitos lol. She’d tell me stories and talk about her childhood

If you could bring anyone back from the dead who would it be? No one tbh

If you could go back to any time period and live there for a week, which period would it be and why? 80s or early 90s for sure

If you could visit any abandoned place to take pictures, where would it be? I’ve always wanted to go to auschwitz so yeah

Do you have any particular, peculiar interests? Lately its been tiny houses lol i watch every video out there on youtube about how tiny houses are built and how people live in them

Do you have a creepy/scary experience that has happened to you, and what was it? Way too many

Do you like/read creepypasta stories? If so, what’s your favourite story? I like it altho i dont rly keep up with it. My fav story was about ed, edd n eddy and how their town was actually a purgatory for dead children.

If you were in the Wars of the Roses, would you be a Lancastrian, or a Yorkist? nope

What is your recurring nightmare? My parents dying

Have you ever had a lucid dream? Nope but i tried tho lol

If you could go to another planet, which would it be? Pluto if it even counts as a planet any longer?? I picture it as a lonely sad beanie and I dont like it

What is your religion, if any? none

Have you ever got so drunk, that you did something really embarrassing, and if so, what did you do? I threw up in front of my crush but it was dark and he didnt see it, he didnt even like me back then lol

Mike, Dustin, Lucas, or Will? IM SORRY BUT MIKE I LOVE MY EMO SON

Do you like Marina and the Diamonds? Yesss!!! Immortal, can’t pin me down, forget and pretty much every other song from her

Charli XCX? Yeah, boom clap is my fav

Tag a blog that you’ve seen, and you love their posts, but have never told them, and would like to talk to them. @elevenknope tbh

Pick one thing you like/love from the 80s.  The clothes as portrayed in stranger things and the music!

What year were you born, and name something cool from that year. 1996 and i honestly dont know

What was your blog name originally? (If you had another blog name) I cant even remember tbh it was probably sth stupid

Do you follow any blogs that you know the user in real life? Yes, my boyfriend

If you are in the ST fandom, which is your favourite song off the ST soundtrack? Toto - Africa. The bestttt

Finally, give your opinion on the person who tagged you! ✨ A sweetheart, we have similar preferences when it comes to brands lmao and I cant wait to read her fanfic!!!

I tag: @strangerthingsediting, @miliebobbybrown, @upsidesdown, @eggogorgon, @eggosthings, @dadharbour, @elevenknope and @m11kee

[shenanigumi]

20 Questions Tag Meme

I was tagged by @lanaya-lavellan​! Putting it up here first, since this blog was the one that got tagged.

1. How tall are you? 5 feet 4.5 inches at last count.

2. What color and style is your hair? Brown, except it’s the kind of brown that can’t really make up its mind—streaks of lighter and darker, sometimes bits of gold, mostly almost copper. It’s wavy and kinda bushy and falls past my waist at this point, so I should really have my mom trim the ends. It gets in the way all the time, but literally the only thing I know how to “do” with my hair is put it up in a ponytail. A low ponytail. I can’t even do the high ones like Chizuru’s got.

3. What color are your eyes? Boring brown. But I like to think it’s kind of a nice brown. A clear, chocolate brown. Not the dull brown I’ve seen in other people.

4. Do you wear glasses? Yeah, have for the past 15 years. When I was six, my mom took me to the San Jose Opera production of Die Zauberflöte and we found out I couldn’t see the subtitles without binoculars, so we hooked me up with glasses as soon as possible after that. My eyesight has been getting steadily worse ever since. Literally everything farther than 3-4 inches from my eyes is blurry without my glasses.

5. Do you wear braces? *shudders* Please don’t ask about my teeth. I had braces for a year and a half, from sixth to eighth grade. Apart from that, I’ve technically had retainers since second grade, but it’s been literal years since I’ve worn them and now my teeth are subtly starting to shift again so all my suffering may have been for naught ughhhh

6. What is your fashion sense? You say “fashion sense” like I have any kind of sense for fashion. Alas, I do not. Most often it’s a.) 1 of about 5 pairs of almost identical skinny jeans, each of which I wear repeatedly until obviously dirty; b.) whatever t-shirts are clean; c.) an extra layer of some sort if the weather calls for it, typically a zipper hoodie; and d.) boots or sandals. I have exactly one functional belt, and though I own multiple pairs of shoes, I wear exactly one pair of boots and two or three identical pairs of sandals to death. I do adore dresses and skirts, but they’re so much effort I hardly ever get/take the opportunity to wear them.

7. Do you have any siblings? No, thank gods.

8. What kind of student were/are you? The kind that was above average when she was a kid, so she developed expectations of natural aptitude—the kind that panics whenever she gets a C or lower on any given assignment due to a phobia of disappointing her parents—the kind that started struggling to do her assignments because of the weight of her own unrealistically high standards—and the kind that learned to really, genuinely hate school because of it, yet still feels obligated to participate. Don’t even talk to me about school, seriously. I'm strung out so tight I’ll snap if you touch me.

9. What is your favorite subject? I really do hate school. I don’t even like my past Creative Writing classes, for gods’ sakes (blame the teachers I’ve had). I’m okay with my small press editing class because my classmates are chill and one of them legit runs the class, but like, I literally don’t have a favorite subject. Unless you count my independent study on Bakumatsu Japan, because that’s fucking awesome.

10. Favorite TV shows? I don’t watch TV alone, but I’ll watch some things my family puts on, like certain dumb game shows or Project Runway whenever it’s in season. I also sometimes get hooked on Law & Order (especially Criminal Intent), even if I usually can’t watch the first several minutes due to general squeamishness. Oh, and if RWBY counts, I guess I like that too, although my enthusiasm has waned somewhat as the series progresses.

11. Favorite books? Sorry, but for all my love of writing, college has totally ruined my appetite for reading, as well as my ability to read for pleasure. I can’t even remember the last book I read all the way through, let alone ones I actually like. I suppose the longtime favorites that have stood the test of time include The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I also seem to remember liking the Pippi Longstocking series by Astrid Lindgren.

12. Favorite pastime? Writing, first and foremost (and, more prominently, bouncing ideas around!!); dancing, at least whenever I remember I like it; and playing video games, more for the plot than the experience. Seriously, I am such a casual gamer. I’ll be on the easiest of modes and I’ll still probably have a hard time. That’s a big part of why I like otome… no actual gameplay required…

13. Any regrets? This is depressing enough already, come on! But I don’t really have any long-term crushing regrets, so moving right along…

14. What is your dream job? I'm technically already a writer, since I write constantly, but getting paid for my passions would be awesome. My ultimate goal is to be able to sustain myself just by writing fiction, whether novels or short stories… but in the meantime, I’d love getting a day job as an editor. Frustrating as it usually is, it brings me a strange sort of enjoyment, and I like to think I’m good at it.

15. Do you want to get married? Being only demisexual and grayromantic, I’m not entirely sure marriage and I agree with one another. Besides, marriage is more a side effect than a life goal, wouldn’t you say? Lots of prerequisites, don’t you think? I’ve only checked one box, so… I mean… we’ll see. But if anyone gets me any diamonds, fuck that, I’m saying no till I get a better ring. Amethyst is where it’s at. Nobody gets enslaved and worked to death over amethyst.

16. Do you want kids? How many? In my current state, I absolutely could not handle kids, and it’s difficult for me to think of not being in my current state, so I can’t give a solid answer. See, I feel like in order to truly be said to “want kids”, you have to be okay with all the possibilities. If it were possible for me to have a single blood-related daughter without having sex, artificially inseminating, or being pregnant at all, I might consider it. Maybe. Until then, nahhhhhhhh.

17. How many countries have you visited? Just the one I’m from. Might consider exploring more now that a certain “mangled apricot hellbeast” (to quote someone on Twitter) has been elected president, though. Think some of my family members can hook me up with an Italian citizenship if I ever need to make an escape…

18. What’s the scariest dream you’ve ever had? There was a super-symbolic dream that really upset me (fear, anger, sadness, you name it, I felt it) back in eighth grade, all about how so much sexism and racism in America has been swept under the rug instead of getting fixed, and how the same people have ultimately been in power for centuries. It was really deep and unsettling, and I was only like 13-14 so I didn’t know how to process it. I’m still not totally sure.

19. Do you have any enemies? Nah. There used to be people I hated, and I’m fairly certain people hated me too, but I haven’t had anyone I’d call an enemy since roughly high school. The last person I hated was one of my Creative Writing teachers. I refer to him only as “Professor Jackass”.

20. Do you have a datemate? …Hey, ain’t that a planner? Or are you referring to a significant other? (And if that’s the case, if you marry your datemate, do they have the potential to become a housespouse?! I might even consider getting married now!!) Anyway, I do have a planner, but never learned to use it. I also happen to have a boyfriend of just over two months, and I don’t really know how that happened, or what I should be doing with him, but he somehow manages to make my life brighter—so I hope I can do the same for him, in my own inimitably clumsy way.

Tagging: @doodlethewhiteraven​, @sabinasanfanfic​, @impracticaldemon​, @shell-senji​, @kazama-hime​, and @queen-mizera​ if you haven’t gotten this already! But please feel free to NOT do it.

[marketerintel]

The Best WordPress Themes for Blogs

There are more than 30 million bloggers in the United States alone. So how can you make your blog stand out from the millions of other blogs? You need to find an appealing WordPress theme.

Obviously, your blog isn’t competing with every other blog on the planet. But, the competition is still fierce, even in niche categories.

You may be an outstanding writer, but you’ll still struggle to get readers if your content isn’t visually appealing. In fact, 38% of people stop engaging with sites with unattractive layouts. That means nearly four out of every ten visitors won’t even read your blog if your website has design flaws.

The best WordPress themes for blogs are also optimized for search engines. That’s right, adding a theme to your WordPress blog can improve your visibility and organic reach.

My 10 Favorite Blog Themes for WordPress

There are thousands of WordPress blog themes on the market, which can be extremely overwhelming. How can you possibly know which one is the best for your website?

For starters, you need to make sure that the theme matches your content and appeals to your audience. I’ve done my research and narrowed down the top ten WordPress themes for blogs in 2019. This guide can serve as a reference to help you pick the best theme for your blog.

1. Newspaper

Newspaper is a paid WordPress theme. You can add this theme to your blog for $59. Now I know what some of you are thinking, With so many free WordPress themes available, why should I pay for one?

In my opinion, this theme is well worth the price.

The design is professional and modern. I’ll admit, the name of this theme is a bit misleading since it’s extremely versatile. While it is a popular choice for magazine and newspaper sites, this theme can also be customized to fit a review website or blog. It doesn’t matter which category or niche you’re in; this theme can meet your needs.

The versatility and easy customization both make Newspaper one of my favorite options. It has a drag and drop editor so you can easily change more than 100 different elements on the page.

I’d recommend starting with one of the sleek pre-built templates and then making any changes you see fit. You don’t have to be tech savvy or know how to code to do this, which makes this theme a solid choice for literally anyone.

You’ll also have tons of options for customizing the header and footer of your blog. The theme lets you implement a grid design to highlight specific pages, categories, and tags. It’s easy for you to stay organized on the backend, while your website visitors can navigate seamlessly on the frontend.

Newspaper has fast page loading speeds and is AMP ready. In addition to being extremely responsive, it’s compatible with Woocommerce and Google AdSense. The Newspaper WordPress theme is mobile friendly and applies SEO best practices as well.

It’s one of the most versatile WordPress themes you’ll find, and I’d recommend it for any blog.

2. CheerUp

CheerUp is another versatile WordPress blogging theme. While it can be used for nearly any blog, it’s designed for bloggers who are a bit more tech-savvy, as opposed to the average WordPress user.

This theme is made to work in unison with the custom sets of tools, widgets, and plugins that webmasters use to enhance their WordPress site. So if your blog is using lots of add-ons, this is definitely a top option for you.

CheerUp comes with 12 different designs. While that may not seem like much at first glance, these 12 designs come with more than 1,000 layout variations. This helps ensure that your blog is unique among the other websites using the same theme.

The pre-built designs are made to appeal to specific audiences. Some popular categories include:

Fitness

Parenting

Fashion

Travel

Beauty

Lifestyle

Once you select and customize a design, you’ll also be able to choose unique styles for your posts. For example, you could have a full-width text or magazine-style text. Add a cover image to the top of your blog, or omit that option. The choice is completely up to you.

CheerUp can be integrated with social media networks. This will encourage social sharing for your blog posts.

This theme is also AMP supported, optimized for search engines, has fast loading times, and is highly responsive. You can purchase CheerUp for $59.

3. Kale

As the name implies, the Kale WordPress theme is designed for food bloggers. Unlike the other options we’ve looked at so far, this is a free template.

If you’re a blogger in this niche category, you know how difficult it can be to stand out from your competition. This theme can give you an edge since it eliminates clutter on your blog, while still showcasing your images.

While this theme is intended for all things related to food, cooking, and recipes, it’s versatile enough to be applied to blogs in the fashion industry — particularly because both niches are so photocentric.

There are tons of layouts, sidebar options, multi-level menus, and color overlay options for banners and sliders. And all YouTube videos are automatically responsive with Kale. That’s an extremely important feature if you’re a food blogger who includes video demonstrations embedded in your posts.

It’s very easy to install the theme and get started in minutes. Kale has WooCommerce integration as well, for those of you who are selling in addition to blogging.

4. Stockholm

Modern. Clean. Trendy. All of these words come to mind when I think about the Stockholm WordPress theme.

As a blogger, you need to make sure it’s easy for your website visitors to access your content, navigate on the page, and engage with your writing. The Stockholm theme can help you accomplish all of these things.

It’s so versatile that it’s a top choice for blogs in every category. Start with one of the simple but elegant designs and customize it to meet your specific needs. You’ll be able to do this without any coding or design knowledge.

This theme will enhance your entire website, going far beyond your blog. It has specific layouts designed for ecommerce shops, restaurants, and architecture. So if your blog falls into one of these three categories, I’d definitely recommend looking into this option.

Stockholm can be purchased for $59.

5. Jevelin

I like this option because it’s versatile enough for blogs in so many different industries. Some popular categories offered on the Jevelin WordPress theme are:

Education

Food & Drink

Portofolio

Fitness

Photography

Events

Medical

Finance

Beauty

The theme can be installed to your blog with just one click. It’s easy to customize as well. Once you pick a pre-built layout, you can adjust every element on the page. Jevelin lets you do this without having to do any coding. It’s quick, easy, responsive, and shows you live previews of your changes in real time.

I also like the different layout options that are specific for blogs. Some of the best ones include:

Masonry

Creative

Grid

Adding one of these layouts to your blog will definitely make it more visually appealing. Nobody will navigate to your pages and think that they look boring.

This is another paid theme. It costs $59.

6. Editorial

The Editorial WordPress theme has a magazine style layout, which is great for bloggers who want to showcase their content with featured images. This format also makes it easier for you to prioritize your best work.

With Editorial, you’ll have access to a live editing feature to easily move sections around and see all of your changes in real time.

For those of you who have tons of blog content but don’t know how to organize it, consider this theme. It’s great because your readers won’t feel overwhelmed when they visit your website.

This theme also has plenty of widgets that allow for added customization. You don’t have to be a tech wizard to figure all of it out either.

Another great benefit of Editorial is that it’s free with free support.

7. GoBlog

The GoBlog theme is perfect for bloggers who want to take a simple, minimalist approach to their website design.

I like this theme because it supports eight different post formats.

Gallery

Standard

Quote

Video

Image

Link

Status

Audio

It’s extremely easy for you to embed audio and video content into your posts. This will ultimately help you run a successful video blog.

GoBlog is highly responsive on both desktop and mobile devices. You can also add sliders below the headers, which are perfect for text introductions. With a simple theme like GoBlog, you can prioritize your content without having too many complex distractions.

You can purchase the GoBlog theme for $54.

8. Flat

Flat is a trendy WordPress theme. If you want your blog to be bold, modern, and colorful, consider this option. You should also educate yourself on the top trending website color schemes.

This theme uses Javascript, HTML5, and CSS3 to ensure that all interaction and engagement on is fully responsive and beautiful. You can add different effects for transitions as users scroll through your content. Some of those include:

Fade-ins

Slide-ins

Drop-ins

Fly-ins

Progress bars

Animated circles

Flat also comes with extra shortcodes and options for custom post types. The best part of this theme is arguably the drag-and-drop builder. It makes it easy for anyone, regardless of their technical or design ability, to customize the content blocks. The drag-and-drop builder can be used on the front end of your website, so you can see exactly what your visitors will see.

Another reason why this theme is great for bloggers is because it’s optimized for search engines. You’ll also have access to Google Fonts for styling options on each page.

Unlike other themes that aren’t updated frequently, Flat guarantees that it will always work with the latest WordPress versions. Updates are made automatically, without having to make any additional installations.

Pricing for Flat starts at $59. There is also a developer option for $69. For those of you who are currently using another WordPress theme, Flat will give you 50% off of your purchase for switching to them. It’s an enticing offer to consider.

9. WPVoyager

WPVoyager is another $59 theme, but specifically made for travel blogs. That’s because the theme is fully integrated with Google Maps so your content can be displayed in a map view, as shown with the screenshot above.

This is a unique approach to organizing blog posts on your website. Visitors can browse for blogs simply by navigating on the map to points of interest.

It’s the perfect solution for travel bloggers who take lots of photos during their adventures as well. The map feature does much more than just show your visitors the location that you’re blogging about. Let me give you an example.

The screenshot above is pretty straightforward. The title of the post is “5 Reasons You Need to Visit Budapest,” with Budapest marked on the map. But when you click on the post, take a look at how the map changes.

Now there are five points marked within the city. If you click on each one, a photo pops up with a brief description. As you scroll down the page and navigate away from the map, the blog is shown in a more traditional format.

The possibilities with this theme are nearly endless for travel bloggers and photography bloggers. If I were in this niche, I would definitely use this theme on my WordPress site.

10. Vixen Blog

The Vixen Blog theme is simple, elegant, and beautiful. This design has a deliberate feminine touch. You can create a visually appealing blog with this WordPress theme, even if you don’t have any experience with design. It’s fully responsive on both the frontend and backend.

Vixen Blog is optimized for search engines, made for readability, and has a compatible Instagram feed feature. So it’s easy for you to integrate your blog with your social media strategy.

Pricing for this theme starts at $34. There is also an extended license for $2,200. This is made for developers who can then sell those licenses to their clients.

Conclusion

What’s the best WordPress theme for blogs? With thousands of options to consider, it’s tough to name just one. There isn’t a one size fits all blog theme. Your blog is unique, so it’s important for you to find a theme that fits your style and needs.

Some of these themes appeal to certain niches, such as travel, photography, or food blogs. Other options are bold, modern, and trendy, while some themes take a more minimalist approach. There are paid themes, free WordPress themes for blogs, and licenses made for developers as well.

Whenever I write a review like this, I try to include something for everyone so no matter what category you fall into, you’ll be able to find a them you like in this guide.

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