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fuckyeslilkim · 1 year ago

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Lil Kim's Squat Pose Is Iconic. Its Photographer Discusses it for the First Time

In a rare interview, Michael Lavine discussed the day he shot Lil Kim’s Hard Core cover, the booklet, and that feisty, nearly 30-year-old poster we just can’t get enough of.

Even though Michael Lavine has photographed OutKast, Ghostface Killah, JAY-Z, Missy Elliott, Foxy Brown and many others, he didn’t start out capturing larger-than-life rap acts. Like multiple moments throughout his career, he just fell into the next phase of artistry, which was deifying a generation of Black storytellers.

Lavine’s interest in photography goes way back. He led his high school’s yearbook committee as the head photographer. Soon after, at Washington’s Evergreen State College, he studied traditional street photography in the style of Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. While in Washington, he befriended the group responsible for the record label that became Sub Pop, and documented a then-emerging sound that, to this day, continues to inspire chart toppers. He wasn’t interested in being married to any particular genre or group though, because boxing yourself in isn’t the move. “I just never felt comfortable kind of being pigeonholed in anything to my own detriment. It's not good for business to do that,” he said. “You're supposed to kind of dive in, not pull away. But that's just how I was wired. I wanted to do my own thing.”

After fostering the trust of music industry greats (“I started working for Rick Rubin. He was one of my first clients and he hired me to shoot a bunch of his Death American acts because he was starting to do metal at that time,” Lavine recalled) and becoming a Black Book highlight, he fell into shooting some of the biggest rappers on the scene. His knowledge of capturing Black talent helped. “I was very good at skin color and doing warm skin tones and lighting people,” he said. “For some reason, I think there was this problem with white people who didn’t understand how to light Black people, which was just ridiculous.”

In short, he came, he saw, he snapped. Legacies were cemented in the process, most notably with an image of one of the greatest female rappers that has become one of hip-hop’s most beloved and recreated photos — Lil Kim’s iconic squat seen ‘round the world.

Below, the retired photographer gave Okayplayer a rare interview where, for the first time, he discussed the day he shot Lil Kim’s Hard Core cover, the booklet, and that feisty, nearly 30-year-old poster we just can’t get enough of.

This interview, which took place over multiple conversations, has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

When did you first meet Lil Kim?

The date was 7/30/96. The anniversary just passed.

What was your first impression of her?

My impression overall was she was not like she is, as in the present. She was very quiet and under the thumb of Big Un. Remember Big Un?

Are you talking about Lance “Un” Rivera?

Yeah. He was there. He was the man in charge of her and was kind of in control of the shoot. Kim didn't say a word. I don't think I spoke to her once about anything, but we had a nice rapport in front of the camera. She was great and we made a lot of pictures together, but I felt like there was this circus going on around us and it was just me and her. You get this intimate bond with your subject a lot of times. She's in her lingerie and rolling around on a bed. So, I was trying to be my normal, respectable self, and being professional and making the images with her in tandem.

I would direct her like, "Let's try this. How about coming over here? What if we lean this way?" There were a lot of sets. We had rented a brownstone in Manhattan probably. It was a couple floors. It might have been two floors. So there was a bedroom, a little balcony, a fireplace, and those big doors.

I interviewed Kim last year and she told me she just kind of dropped into the squat pose naturally.

It was very spontaneous. When you're doing photo shoots, at least when I was working, it was an organic process and you let things happen. It's like a creative flow. Whenever you have a creative director there holding out a [composition] like, "Here, do it like this," it just was always bad and kind of nothing. It was like the safest way to get whatever it is that they had in their minds. But to make a great photograph you have to let things happen. You just have to go with it.

There was no layout for her to do that pose. It just was natural. Part of it, I spent a lot of time low angle, meaning I was always kind of lying on the floor, crouching down myself. So, it's possible that one of the reasons she did it was because I was probably sitting on the floor looking up at her because that's kind of how I do. My style was based on the hero, meaning my job was to make people look like heroes with iconic style.

My style was based on making people look cool and giving them lots of options. So, we would take a lot of different kinds of photographs. I used different kinds of lighting. We moved very quickly. A lot of things happened and it was very much an exciting experience. Somebody had a set prop person there bringing flowers. For the cover shot, we had all those flowers in front of the fire, and the bear skin rug we brought that in. It was a normal hip-hop shoot. I was intimidated. It was a very hard day. Everybody was being kind of tough and intimidating, and nobody would talk to me.

Were you scared?

I was never scared, but they all had guns. It's not that I was scared..scared is not the right word. It's more like I felt kind of out of place a little bit. I didn't even speak with Kim. I was dealing with Un mostly, and Un had a lot of ideas. So we were trying to do all the things. I was getting coverage for him. He wanted to have her hold the honey bear. Remember, there's a shot of her holding a honey bear on the black satin sheets? We had a lot of props. I had a props guy. His name was Jerry Schwartz. He was very good and we had brought a bunch of stuff.

So, for example, I remember Puffy came in for a shot and I did one shot with Puffy and Kim together. And Puffy, I worked with him many times. He didn't even say hello to me.

I was just like, “Really? Do you have to be that way? You're so cool you don't want to embarrass yourself talking to the photographer, actually acknowledging him?”

I never really felt at home around Puffy. I think at that time, because I don't think he's like this anymore, but at that time he was — and I know this happened to several other people that I've witnessed throughout their careers — they're really striving. It's very hard at the beginning and they'll push, push, push. They're just about their thing and they don't care about you. So, he was yelling at everybody all the time.

On set that day?

Not that day. Other days.

Oh, just in general?

Just in general. Barking orders. But that day he came in briefly and we did the shot and then he left. There's one shot, I don't know if you've seen it, of them together on a wall. I don't even know why he was there. I can't remember. He had something to do with the record, I guess.

"There was no layout for her to do that pose. It just was natural," Lavine said of the image.

The image came out as the poster, “Lil Kim Coming Soon.” When you're there that day, you have no idea what images are going to stand out. Zero. There's just no way anyone could know. It isn't until there's time to contemplate the session when you edit it and you start to live with the images. And the graphic designer who, I can't remember who it was. Maybe you can find that out.

Maybe.

Let's see if there's a name on here. I don't know. Big Beat records? I don't know who that would've been. Atlantic maybe? I think it was Atlantic Records, no?

Lil Kim was [signed to] Atlantic.

It was Atlantic? Maybe it was, I don't know who it was. Liz Barrett? There were a bunch of people in the Atlantic art department at the time. I could probably look at the invoice.

Do you still have the invoice?

I don't know. Let's see if I do. '96...

If you do, you're the best records keeper of all time.

Yeah, there's Kim and Puffy right there. I have the whole job here. Ed and Carl were my assistants. The location was 24 West 10th Street. That's where we shot it. Here's something for you. Ready for this?

Yes.

So, these are notes from my conversation with the manager. "Little Kim. Female. She's the other woman, somersaults in bedroom, not raunchy. Doorway of bedroom, satin sheets. Blouse, undone. Honey in hair, on bed and on phone. Down pants. Unbuttoning pants. No whips and chains. Classy, sexy, lush, lustful. Candles in the background. Fruits and chocolates." There you go.

The notes Lavine was given prior to the Lil Kim shoot.

So, those were the notes that you were given before the shoot?

Yep. Those were the notes I was given before the shoot.

"Not raunchy" really stands out because I think you conveyed that.

"Not raunchy" — peekaboo, sexy shit.

Oh, man. Well, you did it. You accomplished the goal. And that actually flows really well into my next question, which was what do you believe they were trying to convey with the shoot?

It was funny that they hired me because I was known for not exploiting women in my photos. That was one of the reasons I didn't ever shoot women because back in the day, you were expected to shoot women with clothes off. I refused to do that and I never did it. I think this crouching picture was the raunchiest picture that I had ever done. Actually, that's not true. I did one once. But it was not my normal style, shall I say.

But also, it's an empowering image. I just generally felt uncomfortable sexualizing women throughout my career. That shoot was uncomfortable for me because I had to do that, and I think she was a little unclear as to what she was doing herself. I have no idea. I didn't talk to her. I'm not sure what she was thinking. Years later, I talked to her because we were both well complaining about this image being bootlegged.

She did mention that during our interview. That people were making t-shirts and making their own memorabilia.

It's completely illegal what they're doing, and it's got to be the most bootlegged image of mine. It's like whack-a-mole, you can't stop them. You send out your lawyers and then they just shut down and open with a different name. I could probably go out, spend some time and sue them all and she could, too. Who has time for that? If you have a lawyer and you have a lot of money, you could do that.

That sounds like a lot.

I mean, it's unfortunate. But she was talking about trying to do some merch of her own. The smart thing to do would be to get a deal with Merch Traffic or somebody that does merch, and then they would take care of trying to squash the illegal competition. But I thought that she was going to maybe have that happen this year, but I haven't heard from her.

But the image is just getting more and more famous. It's funny, you never know what kind of resonance an image is going to make and impress upon the culture at the time when you make it. It's rare that there's an instant classic. It's very hard to have that kind of impact these days just because of the nature of social media. Back then, there was a poster and that poster was the only poster. There was no other place to see it but the poster.

Now, it's everywhere.

That image really stands the test of time. Very few images stand the test of time like that image that I've worked on. It's one of my more recognizable images and I have a lot of them.

You do.

So, what can I say? It was a perfectly nice day. She was lovely. We had a nice rapport. The pictures came out great. I continued to work for many years after, and I'm retired now.

What made you jump into hip-hop photography?

Well, that's a funny question because I think my whole life, until recently, has been me falling into things that I wasn't planning on. I was driven to do photography so I was on that path. But if you would've told me my senior year, my fifth year of college, I was going to be shooting rock bands for a living for the rest of my life, I would've said, "Really?" I would've had no idea. But that fifth year [of college] I got a job to shoot a rock band and it just turned into —

The rest of your life?

It turned into the rest of my life. I never said, "I'm going to be a rock photographer." I never said that until I was one. Then, I had no plans on shooting hip-hop. It was an up-and-coming market at the time. I didn't know anything about it. I was friends with Kurt Cobain hanging out at rock shows, and really was unaware of a lot of hip-hop.

I did some hip-hop jobs early. I shot De La Soul, who I loved. I shot a few bands and hip-hop acts that were popular around that time. I got to know a lot of people in the business over time because I worked in it for so long. I was really close with Groovy Lou, who I loved as a stylist. June Ambrose. A lot of people.

But this was a defining moment. That shot, that poster when it came out, it made a lasting impact. It's still gaining speed. At that time, nobody knew who she was.

Did you know who she was?

I might've heard her name but not really. I just got hired on jobs. That's how I learned about people. I listened to the record before anybody else heard it. I got it first. But a lot of people were that way — I would learn about them on the job. That's how you learn because if I'm shooting 100 jobs a year, I don't have time to do anything but the job that's in front of me.

Did you listen to the album before the shoot?

Oh, I'm sure, of course. I don't remember the exact moment I listened to it but I always did. But that was part of the job, and we listened to it all day long during the shoot because that's what we did.

When did you realize that photo was really making waves?

Well, I think it happened over time. Obviously, the poster immediately was like, “OK, that's intense.”

Was it everywhere? Was it all over town?

It was everywhere. And when the poster came out it was powerful. It was a dramatic statement and it sent shock waves immediately. It was clearly influential at the time, I will say that. It was shocking and effective. It put her on the map.

Do you think it put her on the map more so than the cover?

Oh, yeah. The cover, who knows what the cover looks like? Nobody does.

#lil kim #lil' kim #rap #queen of rap #rapper #hip hop #queen bee #female rapper #female rap #hiphop #fashion #90s #squat

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crackedpumpkin · 1 year ago

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ʙʟᴀɴᴋ ᴄᴀɴᴠᴀꜱ || ᴘᴀʀᴛ ꜱɪx ||

[ 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 ] | [ 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 ] | [ ��𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ]

“God, you’re as fun as untoasted bread.”

“I agree.”

“As you should,” Michael nods solemnly, patting your shoulder while you both look at Nicole with disapproval.

“What?” She frowns, holding up her hands defensively, her long sleeves draping over her hands. Nicole had approached you both asking you to sign up for a volunteer event for her chess club, citing that the activity would take place this Thursday, just two days from now.

It wasn’t that you hated giving back to the community, you didn’t really mind it at all. Well, you wouldn’t mind it at all if Nicole could come up with at least one good idea that everyone else wasn’t doing already.

“What’s wrong with a food drive?” She’s cross now, folding her arms across her chest and trying her best to look intimidating. It’s not working, especially when she looks like the equivalent of a snowman in summer with her sweater and beanie. It’s a wonder how she hasn’t gotten heatstroke by now. You make a mental note to stick around her — maybe it’d somehow rub off on you.

“Okay, you come up with a better idea then,” Michael looks at you expectantly. And as always, Google is there to save the day. You turn the phone screen around to face them, displaying the search results you’d pulled up moments ago.

“Caricatures.”

“Sure,” Nicole shrugs. She could care less about what the activity was, as long as it meant she’d get the credits to her name.

“I’m not doing it for free though,” Michael points out with a grin, loving the way her eyes narrow into a glare directed at him.

“...What do you want?” Nicole forces each word out through gritted teeth, leaning against her table.

“Twenty per hour, with drinks provided.”

“Ten per hour, and you buy your own drinks because you have two perfectly functional limbs.”

“Fifteen an hour, with dollar drinks from 7 Eleven.”

Nicole pauses, taking his deal into consideration. “Alright.”

Michael nods, satisfied with this small victory. “What do you need for supplies?” He asks. You ponder for a moment, starting to list off the materials.

“Drawing pads, 2B pencils, eraser, drinks, snacks…”

“I can get those.”

“I’ll leave it up to you then,” You say, reassured by Nicole's casual nod. “How much should we charge?”

“Ten bucks?” Nicole suggests.

“Ten bucks.”

— — — — —

“Caricatures! Get your drawings done for ten bucks only!”

Luckily, today was a relatively cloudy day. The three of you had set up your small booth consisting of two tables and chairs, covering the tables with a long cloth that hid your bags underneath. The school had excused all three of you for this activity after Nicole had cited it as a valid reason to be absent.

The girl in question is now slacking off beside you, sipping away on a juice box and scrolling through Instagram while Michael promotes your booth to the various pedestrians.

You had chosen the location, setting up at a junction where many people would pass by the booth. So far, a decent amount of people had asked for a caricature to be drawn, mainly for couples and friends that posed cutely while you drew them.

So far the booth has raised about a hundred dollars, and it’s only increasing by the hour. You’re pleasantly surprised by the demand, especially since it’s for charity. Usually people avoided anything to do with that word like the plague.

You didn’t blame them, having been targeted by many scams. You usually pretended you didn’t speak English, merely smiling cluelessly until they gave up trying to talk to you. Then again, another reason for your booth’s popularity definitely had something to do with the very boy who’s flirting nonstop with the various girls that had just ended their classes.

“So, how about you and I get some gazpacho sometime?” You overhear him hum to the girl next to him, sweeping a hand through his golden brown hair with a flirtatious smirk. She giggles, tucking a blonde lock behind her ear with ring-clad fingers.

Michael is rather attractive, you have to admit. But as they say, all that’s gold doesn’t glitter.

And he sure as hell isn’t the gentleman he makes himself out to be.

Even then, it’s seriously impressive how many girls he’d already managed to pull to your booth, and pay in full price for your drawings. You gotta step up your game.

And step up your game you shall.

“For a gorgeous girl like yourself, you can have it on the house,” You wink at the flustered girl in front of you, handing her the caricature you’d just drawn. Her cheeks flush, and she accepts it with a quiet thanks. Your fingers brush against each other and she starts at the contact, lips parting and stuttering out an apology.

“What’s your name?” You ask, smiling gently at her.

“Marissa…” She replies in a soft whisper, and you have to strain to hear it.

“Well Marrisa, don’t apologise,” You reassure her, taking her hand and checking to see if there had been any injury from a potential paper cut. You release it once you’re satisfied that she’s unharmed, giving her a lighthearted two-fingered salute as she leaves.

You lean back in your seat, twirling your pencil in your hands and trying to ignore the way Nicole was staring daggers at you. “Did you just give away the drawing?”

“Yeah. Thought it’d give us a lil’ more publicity,” You say cheerfully, making eye contact with Marissa whose eyes widen when she sees you looking at her. She ducks her head, showing her friends the caricature you’d drawn of her to her friends with a shy smile.

You turn your attention back to the drawing pad in front of you, uncrossing your legs and bending down to grab a fresh one. You flip it open, beginning to sketch the food truck owner opposite the street you’re on.

“Don’t do it too much, though. If not we might as well not make any money,” Nicole grouches, crossing her legs under her knees on the chair, and folding her arms with a surly frown on her lips.

“What’s got you so strung up?” You ask casually, catching in your peripheral the way her eyes flit to Michael flirting with the group of girls nearby. The corner of your lips tug up slightly, trying to mask your amused laugh as a cough.

“Nothing,” Nicole mutters. “Stupid gazpacho,” You hear her growl under her breath.

You hum softly under your breath, thankful for the small fan on your table that provided you with some form of relief from the increasing summer heat in Brooklyn. Summers were hot and humid, which proved to be your worst enemy. Many times you’ve gone out with your hair all fluffy from a fresh blowout done at home only for it to go limp and flat not even an hour later.

Thankfully, summer is ending soon, only a month or so away. For now though, it seems that summer is here to stay.

“Do you think it’ll rain today?” You ask, lazily propping your head on your hand. Nicole shrugs, looking up at the clear blue sky.

“Not sure. Besides, the rain here is always unpredictable. Did you bring an umbrella at least?”

You recall leaving your room with your umbrella on your desk, having forgotten to pack it in your bag for today. Nicole shakes her head once she spots the sheepish smile on your face, rolling her eyes as she leans down and digs through her bag.

“You better be grateful I brought an extra. Had a feeling you might’ve forgotten after you left in a rush yesterday.”

You accept the small umbrella she hands you with a grateful smile, nudging her side playfully. The ghost of a smile appears on her face. You grin, grateful that you’d managed to cheer her up and distract her at least somewhat.

Your efforts are however ruined, when Michael jogs up to the desk with yet another girl whose hand is in his. She sits down with a giggle, handing you ten bucks with a dismissive wave.

“Welcome!” You chirp, readying your pencil and eraser. You eye Michael who remains blissfully oblivious to a silently enraged Nicole by your side. He lets go of her hand with a suave grin, sending her a wink.

“I’ll have to take a raincheck on that gazpacho, but maybe we could go out sometime?” He chuckles, the girl nodding eagerly.

“I’m gonna go get a drink.”

You watch Nicole push past Michael with a scowl, and he follows her with a silly grin. “I’m gonna grab a drink too!” You hear him call out to you, and you shake your head with a helpless chuckle.

They’re idiots, the pair of them.

“So, is this gonna be done soon? Or…” You glance up to the girl who’s now eyeing you with dissatisfaction, her eyes scanning your entire being like she just came across a pile of steaming hot garbage.

“It’ll be done in about five minutes,” You promise with a slightly forced smile, your hands continuing to move while your mind comes up with both creative and obtuse insults for this unpleasant specimen of human being.

“Right… I just have places to be, so like, hurry up.”

“Bet,” You mutter under your breath, watching her pull out her phone and scroll through it with a bored expression. True to your word, you finish the caricature quickly and hand it to her.

She snatches it without another glance, standing up and leaving once she realized that Michael isn’t coming back anytime soon. You grin, chirping a cheerful goodbye.

It takes all of four steps away from the booth for her to let out a cry of enraged shock, whipping her head around to glare at you frostily. You stare back with wide eyes and a questioning gaze, the very picture of innocence.

The remarkable shade of red that tints her ears almost makes you break character, but you maintain your neutral facade. The corner of your lips twitch ever-so-slightly, watching her scoff and leave with your drawing in her clenched fists.

When she’s out of sight, you dissolve into a fit of snickers, various people who walk by giving you odd looks. It did look strange, you suppose, for a random girl in the streets curled up in her seat laughing.

You couldn't help it though, the look on her face was absolutely priceless once she saw how detailed your drawing was. From her fake lashes to her horribly attached extensions, even the small pimples she’d tried so hard to cover up with concealer was all on display in her caricature.

Was it mean? Yes.

Did you regret it? Not in the slightest.

You finally calm down, leaning back with a satisfied smile. The water bottle on your desk was empty, having drank the last few sips earlier. You pull out your phone and dial Nicole’s number.

“Hello?”

“Yo, Nic. Could you grab me like an iced latte or something? I’m parched.”

“Y-yeah, sure.”

“You good?” You ask, noticing how breathless she sounded. “You sound like you just ran a marathon or something.”

“W-what?”

“Oh my god, did you actually run a marathon?” You gasp, looking around and trying to spot any marathon runners.

“No! There’s no marathon happening, you moron.”

You purse your lips, disappointed at the fact that potential entertainment for the afternoon was gone.

“That’s not ideal. But can I still get my ice latte?”

“Yeah, sure. Don’t you need to visit the restroom though?”

“Nah, I got a strong bladder. I can handle anything.” You reply proudly.

“No you don’t.” Nicole’s blunt response stabs your inflated ego, and you practically shrink in your seat.

“Just get me my ice latte please.” You mutter, hanging up before she can wound you further. You sigh, kicking your feet up on the now available chair that Nicole had used earlier. The bustling crowd had now died down. You check your watch.

2.30PM.

It’s almost time for school to end. You wonder if Bug Boy had anything going on this afternoon (besides his usual web-slinging duties, of course).

Anti-Hero [ 02:32 PM ]: yo

Bug-Boy [ 02:33 PM ]: wasnt aware we had a session today

Anti-Hero [ 02:33 PM ]: we dont

Bug-Boy [ 02:33 PM ]: then?

Anti-Hero [ 02:34 PM ]: idk i was bored\

Bug-Boy [ 02:33 PM ]: i would liek to take this opportunity to let you know that i am in fact, not a fidget spinner

Anti-Hero [ 02:34 PM ]: aw man :/

Anti-Hero [ 02:34 PM ]: was hoping you were

Anti-Hero [ 02:34 PM ]: anyw wyd :)

Bug-Boy [ 02:34 PM ]: why you wanna know?

Anti-Hero [ 02:34 PM ]: smh smh im just making conversation

Anti-Hero [ 02:34 PM ]: im not that bad a person !

Bug-Boy [ 02:34 PM ]: my friends dragging me to this caricature booth on fifth avenue. She caught me buying some food.

Fifth Avenue?

Oh no.

You immediately look up and scan the crowd, spotting Nicole and Michael next to the person you dreaded seeing the most in this very moment.

Bug Boy. Well, Miles Morales, to be accurate.

You have to get out of here.

For the love of God-

You can’t let him see you. Not here. Not when he only knows you as Ray Paynt. Sure, you’d probably tell him your real identity one day, just not today of all days. You scramble out of your seat, but your foot gets caught on an uneven tile on the sidewalk, falling flat on your face with a cry.

You quickly get to your feet with a pained grunt, ignoring the sting on your arms and the ache in your knees from the sudden fall. You spot someone entering an alleyway only a few feet ahead. You run toward it, all but flinging yourself against the brick wall as your heartbeat pounds in your ears, the blood rushing through them as you pray desperately that they didn’t notice.

“Hello dear customer! Come right this way for a caricature drawn by our very own in-house artist!” Nicole drags an amused Miles to the booth, only to stop in her tracks when she sees no one there. Her lips purse, brows furrowing into a glare as she processes the clear lack of the main artist for the booth.

“Did you see her?” She asks Michael, who can only shrug hopelessly. You watch her groan, sliding a hand down her face. “I knew she had a weak bladder,” She mutters. She drags Miles behind the booth, plopping him down in your seat and handing him the drawing pad you’d been using earlier.

“Wha- I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“I got stuff…”

“What was that?” Nicole glares at Miles who shifts in his seat.

“Nothing,” He replies with a defeated sigh. “I can only stay till four,” He reminds, picking up a pencil and beginning to draw another customer who sits down in front of him.

“She should be back by then.”

You lean against the wall, tilting your head up and letting yourself breathe deeply. That was close. You couldn’t risk it happening again. For a while, you’d forgotten that he knew Nicole and the rest too. Five minutes pass by quickly, though it feels like an eternity.

Should you risk a look….?

Risking a glance around the corner, you spot Miles chatting gaily to both Michael and Nicole who’s nodding every now and then before chasing away Michael so he could continue promoting the booth.

You can vaguely hear what they’re saying, the lack of people around making it easier for you to eavesdrop.

“So, how’ve you been?” Nicole leans back against her chair, sipping away on the latte she’d bought for you. She did buy it with her money, after all. Plus, you weren’t even here to drink it so she might as well.

“I’ve been good. New school, new friends, lots of classes…” Miles chuckles, sliding his headphones off his neck and storing them safely in his bag for the time being. He twirls his pencil in his fingers absentmindedly.

“New friends? Bet they’ve been taking up so much of your time that you forgot about your old ones.” Nicole doesn’t bother to hide the bitter venom in her words, watching him flinch with a guilty smile.

She sighs. “Look, we miss you Miles.”

“I miss you guys too. I’ve just been really busy lately.”

“With what?”

“Just…homework.”

It’s quiet for a moment, Nicole allowing the incredibly awkward silence to envelop her friend’s entire being with each passing second. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that.”

“Please do.”

It’s not like he can just tell everyone what’s been going on, you realize, your lower lip pursing slightly at his defeated tone. Do his parents even know about him being Spiderman? You highly doubt it, especially since you’re around the same age. Your parents would definitely freak out if you reveal a hidden vigilante identity out of nowhere.

Being a superhero must be tough. You’d heard about the countless robbers, pickpockets, and criminals that he’d faced off against. There was one group who robbed an ATM machine a while back with batman masks. It even made it to the front page of the Daily Bugle. They had guns and duffel bags, the very signature items of an experienced group of criminals.

He’d faced them alone.

It’s no wonder he didn’t tell his parents. There must be people out there dying to get his identity. They’re part of the problem.

You’re part of the problem.

This realization stuns you. You can hardly blame him for being so cautious, much less distrust you. Sure, the trip to the cafe was fun, but there's still been endless tension and distance between you both.

You shake your head stubbornly. Get your head in the game, you’re only in this situation because of your own ineptitude and inability to produce even a decent piece of art without needing a muse to help.

A tinge of guilt infringes on your conscience. Your cheeks feel hot with shame, and you press your hands to your face in a lousy attempt to cool them down. God, this is pathetic. This is so, so pathetic.

All the more reason to get it done and over with as soon as possible.

“Well, I gotta dip. I gotta meet my parents for dinner.” You peer around the edge of the wall once more, watching him grab his bag and walk off in the opposite direction. He tenses, turning around and staring straight in your direction. You dart your head back behind the safety of the red-brick wall, panic striking your heart in one swift blow.

Was he gone?

You angle your phone to see him in the reflection, thanking the gods above for the existence of the Percy Jackson movies. If it’s one survival skill you’ve learnt, it’s how to use your phone screen’s reflection to subtly check if people behind are still present.

It’s also the only survival skill that actually mattered in those movies. God, those teenagers were dumb.

You spot Miles shrug and turn back, resuming his trek back home. After you’ve confirmed that he’s truly gone, you step out from behind the alleyway and lightly jog back over to Nicole who’s still sipping away with her feet kicked up on your chair. She watches you approach with raised brows, eyeing your dishevelled state.

“Did the toilet eat you alive? ‘Cause you look like sh-”

“I fell down.” You interrupt her with a pointed stare at her shoes. She shrugs, taking them off and sitting back upright in her own chair before handing you the now half-finished latte. You take a large sip, sighing blissfully from the sweet, sweet relief the cold beverage provides you with.

“Some stomach ache that must’ve been. You just missed Morales.” Nicole remarks. Your shoulders tense, choking on another small sip of your coffee. The back of your throat burns from the sudden reflux, and you force yourself to swallow.

The coughs gradually subside, and you’re made aware of the fact that she had been silently watching you practically gasp for air with disinterest in her eyes. “Coffee.” She orders, and you hand the cup over to her before wiping the involuntary tears that had formed in your eyes.

“We’re gonna be hanging out this Sunday with the rest.” She cooly informs you, nibbling on the tip of the straw.

“This Sunday?” You almost choke again, this time from the air you’d suddenly inhaled out of shock.

“Yea, what’s up? I thought you said you could make it.” Nicole gives you an odd look, stirring the remaining coffee with the straw. The ice inside rattles noisily, serving as a way to snap you back to your senses from the ice-cold panic that settles in your stomach.

“Y-yeah, I can make it.” You nod slowly, pulling out your phone and opening the chat between you and Morales. “I can make it.” You repeat, fingers hesitating to type.

— — — — —

Nickole [ 09:22 PM ]: why is my name still this stupid nickname you set

ForeverUnstupid [ 09:25 PM ]: because its fun! :]

Nickole [ 09:30 PM ]: no.

ForeverUnstupid [ 09:30 PM ]: :[

Nickole [ 09:31 PM ]: anyw, remember this sunday’s hangout. Miles will be there so be on your best behaviour and stuff

- [ ForeverUnstupid ] has changed [ Nickole ] to [ mOM ] -

- [ mOM ] has changed [ ForeverUnstupid ] to [ ForeverLacking ] -

ForeverLacking [ 09:30 PM ]: :[[[[[

ForeverLacking [ 09:30 PM ]: unbelievable.

— — — — —

Anti-Hero [ 09:30 PM ]: you did a good job today!

Bug-Boy [ 09:30 PM ]: what r u talking about

Anti-Hero [ 09:35 PM ]: that was self affirmation. you should practice it sometime

Anti-Hero [ 09:35 PM ]: - has sent an image -

Bug-Boy [ 09:37 PM ]: why did you send me a picture of your latte

Anti-Hero [ 09:37 PM ]: oh whoops wrong pic hol up

Anti-Hero [ 09:37 PM ]: - has sent an image -

Bug-Boy [ 09:37 PM ]: looks good actually.

Anti-Hero [ 09:40 PM ]: ik :]

Anti-Hero [ 09:40 PM ]: thanks for bein my muse. heres a bouquet of flowers for ya

Anti-Hero [ 09:42 PM ]: - has sent an image -

Bug-Boy [ 09:43 PM ]: i signed the contract. kinda have to be :/

Bug-Boy [ 09:43 PM ]: thanks for the flowers tho

Anti-Hero [ 09:45 PM ]: ok ok i get it i already apologized >:[

Bug-Boy [ 09:45 PM ]: not enough

Anti-Hero [ 09:45 PM ]: clearly.

— — — — — — — — — —

@oh-kurva @queerponcho @sleepingnova @1theestallionyas @horologiumwise @ken-zah @sockgoblin @itstooearly-its3am @anuncalledbridge @ditto737 @sophipet @mirophobic @dilucpegg3r @urmotherswhor3 @arraxthatsonjah @ameliabs-world @superiorbyfar @swaqlover @janyiahsucks-blog @choco-malk-blog @akemiixx01 @a-cult-leader @berryunderscore @scarletrosesposts @stargirlhayven @bellstwd @edgyficuselastica @psyche404 @sukisprettyface @brunnetteiwik

#spiderman: into the spiderverse #Into The Spiderverse #miles morales #miles morales x reader #miles morales x y/n #miles morales x you #into the spiderverse x reader #spiderman: into the spiderverse x reader

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mikeywayarchive · 2 months ago

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My Chemical Romance Climbs On Multiple Charts With Their Most Famous Releases

Hugh McIntyre Senior Contributor

Hugh McIntyre covers music, with a focus on the global charts.

Sep 26, 2024, 09:30am EDT

Full article under the cut:

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 07: The band My Chemical Romance pose in the press room for Spike TV's "Scream Awards 2006" at the Pantages Theatre on October 7, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade, along with the smash single "The Black Parade," are all rising on the U.K. charts this week. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images) GETTY IMAGES

My Chemical Romance reunited in 2019 after more than half a decade apart. In the years since then, the band has only delivered one new song, and fans are eager for more. While the world waits to hear from the emo outfit, their music is on the rise in terms of consumption, as people can’t get enough of the albums and songs that made them stars in the first place.

This week, across the pond, My Chemical Romance can be found on two different charts. They have several albums climbing, while one of their biggest singles mounts a comeback and immediately becomes a top 40 smash once more.

My Chemical Romance appears on the Official Rock & Metal Albums chart twice this frame. Their two most successful full-lengths are not just present, they are on the up-and-up, as they both manage to improve their standing from last week.

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge pushes from No. 16 to No. 12 on the latest edition of the Official Rock & Metal Albums tally. The set nearly returns to the top 10, but for the moment, it will have to wait on doing so.

The Black Parade, meanwhile, almost cracked the top 20 again. That set, which remains their highest-rising on the main albums chart in both the U.K. and the U.S., surges from No. 24 to No. 21. It could soon re-enter that region, if fans continue to buy the years-old title.

Speaking of The Black Parade... The album’s lead single and title track is back on a similar ranking. “The Black Parade” reappears on the Official Rock & Metal Singles chart this week at No. 37.

All three of My Chemical Romance’s releases that are present on the U.K. charts this week have reached No. 1 on the lists they appear on. They have all spent hundreds of frames on their respective rosters, and they can regularly be found on the lists–though the fact that they have several albums and a song selling well enough to chart decades after their release is noteworthy.

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beardedmrbean · 1 year ago

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Five months before he was arrested in a fatal shooting, prosecutors requested a higher-than-normal bond for Wardell Wright, stating in court records that he posed a risk to the community.

An Indianapolis mother is now questioning the court system and how Wright, the man accused of gunning down her 15-year-old son, bonded out of jail so quickly in a previous armed carjacking case.

“I feel like the court failed when it came to Wardell (Wright)," said Donnetta Lewis.

Wight, 19, is now facing murder and escape charges in the June shooting death of Jeremiah Lewis. In January, Wright was arrested in connection with an armed carjacking at an Indianapolis gas station.

Wright led police on a chase in the stolen vehicle and then on foot. Before he was arrested, Wright ditched a firearm altered with a Glock switch in a dumpster, according to the probable cause affidavit for his arrest.

He is facing charges of armed robbery, possession of a machine gun, auto theft, unlawful carrying of a handgun and two counts of resisting law enforcement in his arrest on Jan. 30, court records show.

Marion Superior Court Judge Cynthia Oetjen set a surety bond of $10,000 and a cash bond of $500 after Wright was booked into jail on the charge of possession of a machine gun, which is a Level 5 felony. Wright's original bond was double what would normally be set for a Level 5 felony in Marion Superior Court as the judge determined an enhancement was appropriate.

Prosecutors ask for higher bond due to 'significant risk' to victim, community

The next day, police connected Wright to the armed robbery and presented additional information to the prosecutor's office so that enhanced charges could be filed in the case. Prosecutors asked for a bond of $100,000 and wrote Wright posed “a significant risk not only to the victim in this matter, but also to the community as a whole” in a motion for a higher-than-normal bond.

Wright had already posted his original bond so a magistrate denied the request from prosecutors for a higher bond. Wright was released from jail the day after his arrest around 7 p.m.

All of this was the normal operating procedure for the court system, said Emily VanOsdol, court administrator at the Marion County Superior Court.

“You can only hold people for so long without some (preliminary) charges,” VanOsdol said. “The prosecutors could get more information from a detective before the official charges are filed. It can happen both ways, where the initial bond is set high, and the official charges are less.”

Michael Leffler, a spokesperson for the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, noted prosecutors do not have influence over a defendant’s initial bond.

‘My son died for no reason’

On the day Jeremiah Lewis was killed, he was supposed take his mother’s car four minutes away to work at a thrift shop. Instead, the teenager was lured to the 2000 block of Lohr Drive by a friend from school, Donnetta Lewis said.

Police found the teenage boy inside his mom’s car suffering from gunshot wounds around 9:45 a.m. and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wright and a 14-year-old girl were arrested and charged with murder in Jeremiah Lewis’ death on June 22, according to IMPD.

The girl told police she asked Jeremiah Lewis to meet her so she could buy marijuana, according to the affidavit for Wright’s arrest.

“I never knew my son to sell drugs because he was smarter than that,” Donnetta Lewis said.

The mother can’t understand why her son’s friend from school lured him to the location where he was killed. She doesn’t know why anyone would have wanted to hurt him, she said.

“My son wasn't a bad kid,” Donnetta Lewis said. “He made straight A's since kindergarten all the way to 9th grade. Once this happened, all his teachers reached out stating how much of a good kid he was."

Ashley McKinney, a teacher at Lynhurst 7th and 8th Grade Center, said she was shocked to hear Jeremiah Lewis was killed in a shooting.

“He was funny and respectful,” McKinney said. “He cared about other kids and loved sports, especially football. He was very smart.”

Jeremiah Lewis had already started taking college-level classes through Ivy Tech while in 9th grade. Jeremiah was the kind of student who could make the day better for teachers, McKinney said.

The teenager, nicknamed “Scooby” by his family, left behind five younger siblings. Jeremiah Lewis liked to play basketball and wrestle his brothers and sisters.

“His younger siblings and cousins loved him,” Donnetta Lewis said. “We haven't found anything to take the pain away.”

Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances and the involvement of other individuals in the shooting, according to police.

Donnetta Lewis is hopeful everyone involved will be arrested.

“My son died for no reason,” Donnetta Lewis said. “No reason at all.”

Attorneys for Wright did not respond to requests for comment before publication of this article.

#nunyas news #yay bail reform

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nothingunrealistic · 1 year ago

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review roundup: billions 7x08 “the owl”

what a waste of my time! what did reviewers think?

New York Times: ‘Billions’ Season 7, Episode 8 Recap: Going Nuclear

Mike Prince is trying to do the right thing. A man for whom his wife, Andy, cares deeply has had a mountain-climbing accident in the Himalayas. He is injured and alone, in the path of a storm, running out of food and stranded on the Chinese side of the mountains. Mike has the resources to arrange a successful extraction, even under these physically and politically dangerous conditions. To rescue the man means risking an international incident and potentially ending his presidential campaign. Not to rescue him means the man will die, and Andy will lose someone who is more to her than a friend.

fascinated by the vagueness of the description of andy’s relationship to derek here.

In this secluded environment — clearly modeled after the Bohemian Grove, right down to the choice of its avian mascot — the nearly all-male elite can mix, mingle, urinate in the open air, go streaking through the snow, participate in tests of strength with offensive names and generally enjoy the rights and privileges of being right and privileged.

get their asses!

Known to friends and foes alike as “Fourth,” Pike is there to decide which of these self-conceptualized common-sense mavericks deserves his backing. He gets his answer in the most horrifying sequence this show has seen since Bobby Axelrod paid a doctor to let a patient die.

i can imagine there were more horrifying sequences, but i can’t think of any right now. (though who knows what the last four episodes might hold? we already know a fresh angle on the printer throwing scene is in there…)

Watching this room full of rich men discuss the incineration of millions as if they’re swapping fantasy football strategies is repulsive; there’s no other way to put it. It’s everything wrong with how decisions are made in this country, as wealthy people in no danger of facing consequences for their actions debate idly which lives are and aren’t worthless when stacked against the overriding importance of their own comfort and ambitions.

i love it when sean goes off like this. it’s a breath of fresh air next to sarene’s “prince is trump, no further questions your honor” analysis and kyle’s “i don’t think michael prince is a dangerous fascist” t-shirt.

Chuck’s quest to stop Prince from reaching the White House — like the parallel sabotage campaign led by Wendy, Wags and Taylor — is predicated on the idea that no man this free of self-doubt belongs anywhere near power, let alone the kind of power present in the nuclear football.

TAYLOR MENTIONED.jpg

Chuck leaves, visibly shaken. If self-styled guardians of the soul of the nation like Fourth don’t understand that they’re selling that soul by backing Prince, what hope does he have? Which raises another question: Is “Billions” the most chilling show on television right now? And I’m not talking about the wintry setting of this week’s episode. Like virtually every episode since Prince’s presidential ambitions became clear, “The Owl” casts an unflinching eye on the danger posed to American democracy by megalomaniacal strongmen, by the ultra-rich, and especially by the people who are both. In a sense, this is covered ground for the show. Chuck already took on billionaire overreach when he battled Bobby Axelrod for five seasons. His conflicts with the pointedly unnamed presidential administration in power in the show’s universe from 2017 to 2021, represented by odious officials like Attorney General Jock Jeffcoat and Todd Krakow, made a clear argument that authoritarianism, corruption and reactionary politics are correlated phenomena. But since Axe never got directly involved in politics, and since the former president was never depicted as an on-screen character, “Billions” has never had such an opportunity to explore all these issues up close by embodying them in one man. And in an episode that depicts the threat he presents in the starkest, most existential terms imaginable, it’s worth noting what that one man actually does.

📣📣📣

To its credit, “Billions” has long presented sexual fetishism and kink not as a source of comedy (OK, not only as a source of comedy), let alone as a marker of deep psychological dysfunction. It has always been presented more as just a part of the sex lives of countless basically normal people (OK, normal by “Billions” standards). It picks up this torch again in a subplot involving Wags’s discovery that he has a certain scatological fetish that initially sends his wife, Chelz (Caroline Day), fleeing from the room. (“Stop saying words out of your mouth!” she stammers in one of the best lines of the night.) When Wendy explains to Chelz that the fetish represents Wags’s desire to be loved unconditionally, despite even the most repugnant parts of himself, Chelz is into it — but for Wags, the explanation kills the mood, like a magician revealing how the trick is done. And I call shenanigans! Figuring out why you’re into the weird stuff you’re into makes it more fun, not less.

a few counterpoints:

from 4x02 onward, billions kind of has treated chuck’s masochism as a marker of psychological dysfunction (overton window speech notwithstanding) and his loss of interest in it over the past two seasons as a sign of positive personal growth.

how much credit does billions deserve for portraying kink positively in the sex lives of certain characters if simultaneously it’s shitting on certain other characters for having (or even wanting) sex lives at all?

are we sure wags and chelz are married? i think that would come up if it had happened. (i know the audio description for this episode refers to her as his wife, but it’s been wrong before.)

in wags’s case, i can believe that having his kink explained would cause him to lose interest. remember how he promised wendy he wasn’t seeing dr. mayer by saying “i prefer those depths unplunged”? this man does NOT want to know himself.

Vulture: Billions Recap: Pissing in the Wind

another four-star rating. who is making you do this, sarene?

“The Owl” is the last, what I would call, “casual” episode. Its minimal plotlines set the stage for the chaos that will ensue over the final four episodes. That’s not a spoiler: remember that we’re still owed three more Axe episodes. And Axe + Billions = chaos.

it can be a spoiler if i bring the plot summaries of the last four episodes into it! but yes, i agree, we’re finally at the stage where things really get wild, even if there wasn’t a proper midseason turning point. watch out for those tempo changes, man, ‘cause when we go into the second bridge last third of the season, this shit takes off.

Before Prince can start communing with nature and the political elite, though, he must solve a problem for his wife, Andy. Apparently, a “friend” of hers was climbing a mountain on the Nepal/China border before tackling Mount Everest, and now he’s injured and trapped on the Chinese side. Oh, and he’s more than just a “friend.”

again with the vagueness! won’t anyone be forthright and say that andy fucked this guy? or at the very least that she slept with him?

As soon as Fourth talks about listening to “new voices” who can lead the country to even more greatness and he dismisses Governor Dunlop’s viewpoints on nuclear weapons usage as “sensible,” it’s game over. Prince almost doesn’t even need to say out loud that he would, without hesitation, bomb a hostile country with plans to launch an attack. But he does. Because Mike Prince feels fine with the end of the world as we know it. In his mind, that’s a better decision than leading with hesitation, which he claims would be Governor Dunlop’s approach. While most gasp in horror, Fourth is impressed, calling Prince’s viewpoint “a nuance few are brave enough to voice” and the embodiment of America’s core value, “strength of nation.” This is how the 2016 election happened, folks…

*long and loud sigh*

From where Fourth stands, Chuck is small potatoes, and Mike Prince is the man who can Make America Great Again.

*longer and louder sigh*

People sure do weird things when they’re given a lot of power. And in case you really weren’t sure that Mike Prince is the latest Billions character to sell his soul to the devil, the episode’s final images should clear things right up. The Owl retreat concludes with the male attendees, wearing dark, hooded cloaks (better dark than white, I guess) and carrying torches, setting a giant wooded owl statue aflame to the haunting tune of Bob Dylan’s “Blind Willie McTell.” Good grief, this country is bizarre.

can you please not jump on the “WOAH THEY WERE TOTALLY DOING A SATANIC ILLUMINATI RITUAL TO MOLOCH AT THE END THERE” train? i’ve already seen enough of that on twitter.

I deliberately refuse to discuss the Wags-Chels subplot for two reasons: (1) It felt like a leftover storyline from another season that the writers wanted to squeeze in before Billions concluded. (2) I. Hate. That. Baby. Shower. Game. With. Every. Fiber. Of. My. Being.

this is how i first found out that that was a real baby shower game. i hate it here. and yes, it felt like something that belonged into an earlier season, when neither wendy nor wags had anything better to do — such as, say, working on that plan to topple their would-be authoritarian boss when he happened to be three hundred miles away for two days — than analyzing wags’s new weird kink.

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis (Damianista): Billions on Showtime, Season 7 Episode 8: The Owl

damianista did not do a recap of this episode.

Entertainment Weekly: Billions recap: Into the woods

It's only when Michael Prince (Corey Stoll) decides he needs to attend the retreat that Chuck thinks twice about going.

incorrect! chuck goes because he knows dunlop and fourth will be there and wants to encourage him to endorse her rather than prince, but he has no idea prince will be attending until he arrives and sees prince there.

Complicating all of this, Andy (Piper Perabo) needs a favor. A friend of hers has disappeared while mountain climbing, and they can't use a beacon to coordinate a rescue because the man took an alternate route and crossed into China. Doing so would alert the Chinese government and he'd be held hostage. So Andy asks for Prince to coordinate a private, secret rescue using his connections. Prince does so despite the fact that if they get caught, his campaign is over, and despite his complicated feelings about the man being rescued, who's one of Andy's romantic connections in their open marriage.

“one of andy’s romantic connections” is the most explicit anyone’s gotten so far! congratulations!

All of this represents a shift in Prince's persona. He's becoming harsher, more cynical, and completely focused on his need for power. He's finally turning into the man everyone's been worried about.

he’s BEEN that man, kyle. that’s the point.

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis (Gingersnap): The Unbeatable, Unstoppable, Unparalleled MVPs from Billions Season 7 Episode 8, “The Owl”

Gingersnap Supreme Sleazeball Swerdlow Sayings in a Scene…AGAIN – He’s back! Slimeball doc is back, this time wearing a prison-orange, head-to-toe, Karl Kani tracksuit to The Owl’s winter conclave. […] And it doesn’t stop there – the Doc simulates ghastly hip thrusts when groaning the word “uh!” as he names off kinky sexual acts like postillionage and croissant (too many urban dictionary definitions to count),

maybe you would have found the right urban dictionary definition if you’d looked up cuissade, which is what he actually said and was spelled clearly in the captions. (and neither of those things are particularly kinky unless you’re incredibly straight.)

Benedict Arnold Citation– Griffin Dunne, who played George Pike, IV aka “Fourth” in this episode. Dunne also played Dr. Alcon Parfit in Succession. Only traitors act in both Billions and Succession and I find it deplorable when one is defecting across enemy lines, but he wasn’t the first defector.

🙄🙄🙄

Damianista […] Greatest Entrance – Governor Nancy Dunlop The badass Montana governor shows up at The Owl with these words to the old, rich, white men that I am talking about above. “Hey boys! Are you cold? Some of you seem cold. I saw a few of you answering the call in the trees back there. They were definitely cold.”

yes, of course. what could be greater and more badass than walking up to a group of people and going “haha small penis.”

Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship – Wendy and Andy While their relationship did not start off on the right foot, it seems Wendy and Andy bond over Andy’s grief when it is not the Tiger Team but the Chinese officials who are able to reach Derek first! I think Andy deep down knows why the best rescue team in the world has not been able to do it and I suspect she may join the opposition against Prince presidency in the weeks to come!

what do you mean “deep down.” she knows why the team couldn’t get derek out and she said it out loud to prince’s face.

Lady Trader […] The “Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket” Award: Did Mike Prince really just pull all of his money, both personal and the funds, out of every international investment? What a very foolish and short-sighted thing to so. The losses his would take would be tremendous, not to mention how he would move the markets on certain investments, and would never be able to get “market prices.” What a moron.

[midsommar imdb parents guide “a man is constantly seen vaping” tumblr post voice] oh if that’s all

The “Vision I Never Want to See” Award: The thought of those old, wrinkly men playing naked Twister just brought up my breakfast! Gross!

disrespectful to old men who fuck each other. apologize now.

Fan Fun with Damian Lewis (Lady Trader): From the Trader’s Desk

lady trader also did not do a recap of this episode.

#billions #7x08 #review roundup

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3416 · 2 years ago

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Maple Leafs player survey, Part 2: Best trash talker, healthiest, best seat mate

By Joshua Kloke | Feb 7, 2023 | The Athletic

Maple Leafs fans, it’s the All-Star break and there’s a lull in the schedule for a while here, so let’s take a step back and reflect: Even after Wednesday’s loss to the Bruins, the Leafs still have a .673 win percentage after 52 games, good for fifth-best in the NHL and are once again in contention for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

In short, for now, life is good, right?

With that sense of big-picture positivity in mind and no games to wring your hands over until late next week, The Athletic wanted to keep things light. We posed six fun questions to the Leafs over the last few months in the hopes of providing fans with a look inside the characters and relationships that make up this team.

Part 1 looked at the team’s desert island movies, the cleanest and messiest Leafs and which player is likely to become a head coach.

Part 2 gets the team talking about who their favourite person is to sit beside on a flight, the healthiest and least healthy players and the team’s best trash talker.

–––

Who is your favourite person to sit beside on team flights?

Up and down the team’s charter, there are some unsuspecting groups and duos paired together. Perhaps contrary to what one might expect, linemates and close friends don’t often sit beside each other.

Instead, team flights are an opportunity for players to mingle. John Tavares sits on his own but will keep the seat beside him open if any young players get called up to the Leafs.

Matt Murray voted for Justin Holl.

“We exchange books sometimes, I’ll ask him what he’s reading, what’s good,” Murray said. “He likes a lot of history books. He was reading one about the Vietnam War recently. We just bounce ideas back and forth.”

When Holl isn’t discussing, say, the Gulf of Tonkin incident, he’s taking part in one of the louder activities on the team flights: A heated, ongoing game of Mario Party with Auston Matthews, Zach Aston-Reese and Michael Bunting.

Holl is something of a ringleader of a crew that plays a variety of simple games on their Nintendo Switches.

“New games keep coming out, so I like to learn the games first and then introduce them to the rest of the team so I’m better at it. It makes me feel good about myself,” deadpanned Holl.

“I’m by far better at (Mario Party),” Bunting countered, “but Holl is my number one enemy. It’s mostly luck. It’s like a board game, you’ve got to get the bounces.”

As entertaining as that crew undoubtedly is, we need to discuss a player who otherwise flies spectacularly low under the radar day-to-day but seems to be at the epicentre of the team flight: T.J. Brodie.

Mark Giordano is more into watching movies on flights and keeping things low-key, so he voted for his long-time Flames teammate, Brodie.

“He’s quiet, and doesn’t bother you much,” Giordano said.

Wayne Simmonds also enjoys sitting beside Brodie, but has intel to share.

“Brodie is not quiet on the plane,” Simmonds said, defiantly.

Oh?

“He’s funny. He’s a conspiracy theorist, and he’s got a whole lot going on in his brain,” Simmonds said with a smile.

So what’s the best conspiracy theory Brodie has laid on his travel buddy?

“Michael Jordan is an alien,” Simmonds said, with a hearty laugh.

And yet it’s not just conspiracy theories that Brodie apparently loves sharing.

Alex Kerfoot also voted for Brodie, for a completely different reason.

“We do play cards on the plane, and there’s eight people playing cards and six of the people are just sitting back in their seat, relaxing, and (Brodie) is the best helper. We’ve got to hand out the chips, hand out the cards, clean stuff up, and (Brodie) has all the stuff on his side of the table. He’s dialled in. He’s got the cards set up, cards are shuffled, everything is in order. When we have to clean up, he cleans up right away. (Morgan) Rielly and (Mitch) Marner, they’re on the other side doing their thing,” Kerfoot said.

I had to get to the bottom of this, so I asked Brodie himself who he enjoys sitting beside on flights. And when I did, and he provided the most logical answer I heard, I was left wondering if we’ve only scratched the surface of T.J. Brodie, Maple Leaf Enigma.

“Willy,” Brodie said. “Because he sleeps pretty much every flight, the whole flight, so you don’t have to worry about him getting up to go to the bathroom.”

“You were a popular pick because you’re quiet,” I told him.

“Sometimes I play poker,” Brodie said, before pausing, “…if they need me.”

Brodie’s answer does track.

Like, hey, Calle Jarnkrok, what’s it like sitting beside one of the most interesting people on this Leafs team, a player in the middle of the best season of his NHL career no less?

“(William Nylander) sleeps all the time, so it’s perfect,” Jarnkrok said. “He’s always tired. It’s good to be next to him.”

The Swede crew is a real thing. Two friends that do stick close together on a team flight are Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren.

“I’ve been sitting next to (Sandin) for two years,” Liljegren said. “He’s low maintenance.”

Let’s give some love to lone wolves, too: Who wouldn’t need a break from a group of people you see, like, all the time otherwise?

“I like sitting alone,” David Kampf said, a little too seriously. “Sometimes I play cards with the boys. But I watch movies.”

“I like just zoning out, putting on my headphones and listening to some music,” added Conor Timmins, who, if he had to pick, would probably listen to country singer Morgan Wallen.

–––

Who is the healthiest and least healthy?

This was essentially a question designed to get professional athletes to rat on each other.

“They keep us so dialled in here with food and supplements,” Murray said, before naming Giordano and Tavares as the two healthiest teammates.

Sure enough, Tavares got plenty of votes, with teammates claiming he has his own specific diet he adheres to.

“Johnny brings his own stuff on the road,” Brodie said. “He was bringing his own olive oil.”

Jarnkrok insists Tavares brings his own brand of water on the road.

“I see it all the time,” Jarnkrok said.

A lot of this is in line with the John Tavares the one and only Jonas Siegel wrote about ahead of his 1,000th game. Tavares is a foodie who most notably cooks his own pizzas.

And those of you who have been following along closely at home know about my own obsession for cooking pizza. So, this was the shortest of putts: I had to ask Tavares about cooking pizza.

The Leafs captain has a wood-burning oven at his cottage. His toppings of choice? Bell peppers, red onion and, if it’s handy, some wild game such as ground venison. Most of his pizzas are finished with fresh basil, arugula and a balsamic vinegar glaze. Notably, Tavares keeps to his healthy habits by using organic and fermented flour from Brodflour, a Toronto-based urban mill.

“We try to keep everything really clean, really fresh,” Tavares said of the dough. “You really notice a difference.”

The next step in Tavares’ pizza-making will see him and his family try to grow more of their own vegetables at home and get their two young children involved in the process.

“My kids love doing it when we make (pizza),” Tavares said.

Kampf, long known for his almost fanatical workouts, received votes.

“He’s a machine,” Bunting said of Kampf.

“For me, it’s not hard to avoid fast food. It’s my lifestyle,” Kampf said. “I like to be healthy and live a long life, right? It’s not about sport. I just want to be a healthy person.”

So what, for example, would Kampf cook on a night like that one?

“Me and my wife, we eat simple food,” Kampf said. “Rice, ground beef, cheese on top with some pomegranate. That would be our favourite thing to eat. And a salad, and a smoothie with some greens.”

Now, at the other end of the spectrum, Kampf wasn’t shy with his vote.

“Oh…a lot of guys,” Kampf said when asked which of his teammate was the least healthy.

When pressed, Kampf made the same choice as every other Leaf I asked.

“Mitchy,” Kampf said. “He eats a lot of fast food.”

“Mitchy talks about burgers a lot,” Jarnkrok confirmed.

“Wendys, McDonalds, he does it all,” Simmonds said.

All of this feels like ganging up on Marner, though, and I’m going to stick up for him here. In November 2021, Marner told Siegel he’s eating burgers less and less often.

“I’m just trying to get a lot better meals in me,” said Marner then, “trying to get a lot more greens and vegetables in me, which before I never really cared to eat. Now, I realize that’s essential to get in me. I think I’ve just been a lot better, acting like a grownup now.”

Perhaps what we should be doing is applauding Marner for his superhuman metabolism?

“Mitch can eat whatever he wants,” Giordano said, “and he finds a way to make himself go.”

–––

Who is the best trash talker?

There were only four Leafs whose names were brought up in this category, and most of them shouldn’t be surprising.

First, the (slight) winner.

“We only have one (trash talker): Big Mike,” Jarnkrok said, referring to Bunting. “But he only talks trash with the other team.”

“He’s the one you hear the most,” Liljegren agreed.

Yet we might need to place an asterisk beside this award, though.

“Mikey likes to talk the most, but I don’t know if he’s very good at it,” Brodie said.

“I would never vote for myself,” Bunting said. “(Giordano) has got some funny ones. But he probably chirps his teammates more than he chirps other teams.”

Giordano’s trash-talking drew some appreciation from teammates, sure, but he probably still places fourth here.

The silver medal mostly likely goes to Marner.

“Mitch is pretty witty when it comes to chirping,” Giordano said.

“Always a lot of talking on the ice,” Ilya Samsonov said. “Always.”

What Marner says seems to land.

“Mitchy is pretty good,” Simmonds said. “But he just doesn’t shut up. It’s more annoying. It gets ya. And he goes deep, really quickly. He’s ruthless. When he thinks something, he says it.”

Finally, the bronze medal goes to Simmonds, the player who’s probably been throwing verbal barbs the longest.

“He’s fast with his mouth, and he’s a tough guy,” Pierre Engvall said. “So he can back it up.”

#toronto maple leafs #leafs #hockey #hockeymedia #mitch getting votes for best trash talker.... fkljsdfkldjkflsdjklf and actually being smart abt it?#gio ur gonna give him that much credit??????!!!!#also i find their set up on the plane so fascinating... tj brodie is an enigma im obsessed

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visceravalentines · 2 years ago

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I posted 4,555 times in 2022

That's 4,555 more posts than 2021!

533 posts created (12%)

4,022 posts reblogged (88%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@vincent-sinclair-deserved-better

@elytrians

@ace-of-hearts-and-spades

@myers-meadow

@bloodlst

I tagged 2,432 of my posts in 2022

Only 47% of my posts had no tags

#bo sinclair - 345 posts

#asks - 280 posts

#vincent sinclair - 241 posts

#michael myers - 222 posts

#art - 171 posts

#house of wax - 122 posts

#lester sinclair - 100 posts

#anon asks - 71 posts

#tcm - 62 posts

#jason voorhees - 51 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#he agrees to pose nude for you and you can barely finish the piece and by the end he looks noticeably different 👀 than when you started

My Top Posts in 2022:

I wish you would write a fic where….

Sinclair bros. gang bang tbh

Alright Nonnie, here we are. I've been wanting to write something like this for a while but the maximum number of people I've ever had sex with at the same time is one (1) so it was kind of daunting to tackle three at once (heh). It got away from me a little bit on the buildup but I hope you like it! Happy to write more like this in the future so if you want me to give it another shot, lmk.

The Sundress

Poly!Sinclairs x Hinge!AFAB!Reader

This morning you decided to wear a very particular sundress.

See the full post

739 notes - Posted June 29, 2022

A Matching Set of Spoons

Poly!Sinclairs x GN!Reader

Some nights, the Sandman skipped right over Ambrose.

See the full post

748 notes - Posted June 7, 2022

Wow! My first real smut fic! We’ll pretend I haven’t been mortified about sharing it for a whole week. MINORS DNI.

Spoils of War

Michael Myers x AFAB!Reader

Halloween in Haddonfield brought out the worst of mob mentality every year, but this night had been unprecedented.

See the full post

976 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

Michael Myers is the human equivalent of a cat and you can't change my mind. Here is a collection of tiny fluffy blurbs proving my point. I hope you enjoy!

Michael Myers x GN!Reader, no content warnings besides the man himself

He’s ignored you all day. You’ve tried to engage him in a movie, a walk around the block, even tried to entice him into the bedroom. He dismissed you every time with a blank stare. You finally gave up and started working on a project you’ve been putting off.

See the full post

995 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Fireworks

Dad's Best Friend!Dilf!Bo Sinclair x AFAB!Reader

If there was one thing your parents did right every time, it was their big summer bash.

See the full post

1,366 notes - Posted July 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #lol i feel like this is a read but also i'm proud of it #been a whole hell of a year

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irishanimefan · 1 year ago

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One Piece Anime Watchalong: East Blue Saga 3/6

Syrup Village (Eps 9-18):

Started: 6/7/23 Finished: 8/7/23

Alright, we are moving onto the Syrup Village arc. Not gonna lie, even though I did enjoy the previous two arcs and had a lot of great moments in them, I felt a bit of fatigue going into this arc. Didn't expect to get this feeling so soon after starting One Piece. But I think the reason why I'm feeling this way is because the commitment of watching all of OP has now dawned on me, and with these upcoming arcs increasing in length, I fear that the act of watching OP may become a chore. However, as soon as I started this arc, I can safely say that I actively look forward to watching OP again!

The first reason for this change of heart is that we're introduced to Usopp. I really like Usopp as a character! The "honourable liar" persona is ingrained into every facet of his story. It heavily evokes the Aesop Fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and his character design is based off Pinocchio. However, he uses his lies to spread joy around his village, even when the village-folk are fed up with it and chase him with brooms. He also uses his lies to cheer up Kaya, the girl residing in the village's mansion whose parents died three years ago and now is bedridden due to grief. It's very touching, so when the conflict comes into play and centres around him being alienated everybody in the village, his kiddie pirate crew, and even Kaya herself, as they distrust Usopp even when he's telling the truth this time, is kind of tragic and heart-wrenching. This is further amplified with him stating that he still holds a lot of love and respect for his village, despite being cast out.

This brings me onto this arc's villain, Kaya's main butler Klahadore, who is later revealed to be the former captain of the Black Cat Pirate crew, Captain Kuro. Despite being dubbed "The Man of a Thousand Plans", his plan to get Kaya's inheritance was kind of dumb and riddled with errors. Of course he had his little villain monologue before trying to kill the other butler Merry, and didn't even make sure to check that he was actually dead! Maybe he was so confident that his plan would work that he didn't realise that it wasn't completely airtight. Apart from that blunder, he was really intimidating, even when he was trying to play it discreetly with the Klahadore act. The battle at the beach, when it was just the Straw Hats and Jango, was a little slow in the beginning, but as soon as Kuro came into the picture, evidently looking pissed when things weren't going to plan, that's when it really started to liven up. It all culminated in the fight between Kuro and Luffy, and during the fight it is revealed that Kuro set this all up so he could leave the pirate lifestyle for good and have "peace of mind". The ideological clash between Kuro and Luffy during this fight is one of the best moments of this saga for me so far, almost feeling like Luffy had met his match for the first time getting an absolute battering from Kuro. His Out of the Back attack was also a pretty chilling sequence.

Other thoughts I had about this arc: Jango, the hypnotist and vice-captain of the Black Cats Pirates, was kind of ridiculous, but in a good way. Having his design and mannerisms based off of Michael Jackson -- he literally moonwalks in his first scene and even does all his famous poses at one point! Speaking of comedy, it's really starting to shine through at this stage. One moment that had me rolling was when Jango was first hypnotising his henchmen to become stronger through his ring trick, having them blindly attack the Straw Hats. But Luffy also looks at the ring, meaning he was also affected by the trick, and he then starts blindly raging towards Jango and his crew, and tears the masthead off the ship (that also emits a nervous anime sweat mark). Jango then hypnotises Luffy to sleep, leaving him to drop the masthead on top of the Black Cats! It was so unhinged and I absolutely loved it! The comedy also showed in the Straw Hats chemistry with each other, as Luffy, Zoro, and Nami have had several episodes with each other to play off each other's personalities, in which Usopp also gets his fare share of interaction too. I really like the direction in this arc, from the flashback scenes of Usopp entertaining Kaya conveyed with these still frames of gorgeous watercolours, to the way the camera moves during certain points throughout the battle. It was all very cool in its execution! Finally, the arc ended with Treasure Island, Gaimon, his bootleg Pokemon. It was an alright episode that provided a bit of respite after what was an intense arc.

Overall, I really enjoyed this arc, so much so that I actually binged most of it in one day, partly because of I felt I needed to pick up the pace, but also because I was getting invested into it. Man, I'm really starting to love this goofy little series. I hope this will continue as we sail towards the next arc, Baratie!

#one piece #one piece anime #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #nami #usopp #sanji #straw hat pirates #syrup village #watchalong

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mariacallous · 2 years ago

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At last: a shake-up, a crack in the wall, a challenge to the canon, a change to the same old list-making business of reshuffling the same old names in a slightly different order at the top.

Sight and Sound magazine has announced the result of its latest decennial Greatest Film of All Time critics’ poll and Chantal Akerman’s radically austere, disturbing and brilliant 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is in with a bullet at No 1. This is the eerily unsettling and mesmeric three-hour-plus account of a single mother’s apparently banal life in real-time long takes, which progressively disclose an awful secret. With a fierce, cold, sustained blaze, the movie speaks to contemporary issues and questions: housework as work, sex work as work, the burden of motherhood and caregiving, the theatre of bourgeois respectability, the terrible loneliness of domestic life and female marginalisation, the unnoticed ubiquity of power and violence.

Jeanne Dielman makes this the first time a female director has been admitted to this exclusive gold medallists’ club. It has hitherto had only three members: Vittorio de Sica (Bicycle Thieves in 1952), Orson Welles (Citizen Kane in 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992 and 2002) and Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo in 2012). Now Akerman has joined them and, like Hitchcock, did not live to see this triumph, having died in 2015.

A lot has happened in the cultural conversation since the last poll in 2012, when Hitchcock unseated Welles though without exactly changing the critical landscape. Identity and representation are now important and that is a very good thing. A stagnant set of assumptions has been stirred up, and the greatness of a modern master has been acknowledged. But it isn’t just that. Akerman’s genius and uncompromising vision, along with her compassion and human sympathy, have been pressing on the debate for some time now and Jeanne Dielman has progressed from being an unsettling rumour or cult choice, bursting through to fully fledged classic.

It is a film that poses a confrontational question to the audience, as difficult in 2022 as in 1975: what does the viewer expect to see and when? Akerman transcribes the apparently dull life of Dielman, played by Delphine Seyrig, in distinctively long, unbroken takes from fixed camera positions. We watch as Dielman sits down at her kitchen table and peels potatoes or begins to cook a meal. This scene goes on for long enough for us to think: this person is really peeling potatoes; there is effectively no difference in what she is doing here in this fictional mode and how she would do it in real life. This is happening. Without cutting away, we simply look at what is front of us, and begin to notice incidental details that would otherwise be overlooked.

But after a while, having been lulled into this faintly hypnotised state, we notice disturbing things that are slightly off, symptoms of an unacknowledged off-camera reality. It is the very polar opposite of a jump scare. Proportion and perspective are what’s in question. The long, long stretches of uneventfulness that surround the main event are not usually accommodated like this and significant things are not usually left unsignposted, and yet this is arguably a truer representation of our lived, unedited experience.

Jeanne Dielman is also a movie that reaches back to Agnès Varda’s 1962 film Cléo from 5 to 7 – which makes the list at No 14 – in its quasi real-time scrutiny of a woman’s private life, as well as Buñuel’s Belle de Jour from 1967, with its sheen of dreamlike strangeness in ostensible normality. It also reaches forward to movies such as Jaime Rosales’s The Hours of the Day from 2003 and Michael Haneke’s Hidden from 2005, in that it is about denial, about the prosperous bourgeois capacity for carrying on and ignoring suffering and violence, whether this violence is being caused by or inflicted upon you. It is a poem of stoicism and fear and pain and a kind of survival.

Elsewhere in the list, it is refreshing to see more recent films (at last) being listed: Wong Kar-Wai’s delectably unhappy love story In the Mood for Love (2000) at No 5, Claire Denis’ Beau Travail (1998) at No 7 and David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr (2001) at No 8. Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (1966) is in there at No 18 but his mighty The Seventh Seal (1957) – once a shoo-in for lists like this – doesn’t make the cut, and great European heavyweights such as Fellini and Antonioni are absent. A small worry of mine is that, as ever, comedy is pretty much frowned on, although Singin’ in the Rain (1952) gets in at No 10, with its heroic insistence on the importance of making ’em laugh.

But how exhilarating to see Akerman’s magnificent work being recognised like this.

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mermaidsirennikita · 2 years ago

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ARC Review: Their Duchess by Jess Michaels.

3.5/5. Releases 2/7/2023.

For when you're vibing with... Menage romance (crossed swords included), interclass romance, a Lady Chatterley vibe perhaps, artist heroes, and lots of fucking on the page.

After her husband dies, duchess Anna is on the road with her loyal manservant Oliver. With nowhere else to go, they take shelter with scandalous painter Ezra, who gives them an offer they can't refuse--he'll give them both enough for them to get on their feet, if they pose together for one of his erotic portraits. Oliver and Anna have long suppressed their feelings for each other, and they're both intrigued by Ezra. But what starts out as a win-win gets more complicated as physical attraction gives way to actual feelings for all three.

This was a hot, intriguing menage romance, the second installment in Jess Michaels's Theirs series--and even if it didn't quite live up to Their Marchioness, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It dipped into different waters than the first book, with a different set of challenges. I'm impressed by her ability to try different things with the same basic "concept".

Quick Takes:

--If you're into interclass drama, this is the book for you. Anna and Oliver's central conflict is "even if Anna doesn't give a fuck about being a duchess anymore, Oliver sure does feel unworthy of her". It would get tired, except for the fact that both Ezra and Anna confront this in Oliver head on, and his desire to put her first (and above) goes far enough to affect his sex life. Which I found super interesting.

--This one does, I will say, feel more like a central love story between two people, with the addition of a third that just happens to fit in with them really well. Compared, that is, to the first book, in which all three partners had some kind of preexisting history with each other, and all seemed to be equally in love with each other. For sure, I could see Ezra falling in love with Anna and Oliver at a future date, and I felt they could fall for him too, but I did kinda miss the feeling that this was a solid, equal triad that I got from the first book. That could totally be a preference thing, though, and I get why it might be hard to authentically sell Ezra's connection to Anna and Oliver as having the significance of their connection to each other in the span of this book.

--I really enjoyed the total lack of struggle both Oliver and Ezra had with being bisexual. Ezra isn't titled, but he is a blue-blooded, louche sort of artist. Oliver is solidly working class and a servant. Both of them are bi, neither of them is bothered about it. While I appreciated the struggle with sexuality that one character in Their Marchioness, it was smart to not repeat that in this book.

--While Oliver coming to terms with his feelings for Anna and Ezra and his place in their world is a big part of the book, I would say this one is significantly less dramatic than Their Marchioness, and that in itself was kind of nice. This story runs on vibes in a lot of ways. In that sense, it's a really soothing and easy read, and I'd totally recommend it as a palate cleanser. It's not without angst, but it also isn't heavy.

The Sex Stuff:

Their Duchess is a quick and dirty read--I'm leaning towards it being an erotic romance based on the amount of sex in the book and its interconnection with the plot, though I'm not 100% sure. You get a little bit of everything--plenty of P in V sex, DP, all the oral and digital stuff you could possibly want (including a two-on-one BJ, huzzah!) and the ol' "mmf sandwich" maneuver, which we love to see. It's hot, it's well done, I was happy. The way that Oliver's sexual expression tied back to his self perception was one of my favorite things in the book.

If you're not open to the idea of triads and polyamory... this one won't be for you. The point of the book is three people falling in love with each other. However, if you're looking for a kind of cozy book with just bit of angst and a cute throuple, this is up your alley. And conversely, if you're ready for something a bit angstier, check out Their Marchioness. With either book, you'll have a good time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Jess Michaels for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#arc reviews #netgalley #book reviews #books #romance novel blogging #book recs

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michaelcchang08141993 · 2 months ago

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Dear Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Times:

Welcome back to my Voice Acting Studio! Bienvenido a la Voce Giocosa Etudio! Bienvenue a la Vocale Acteur Etude! Happy Halloween, Dias de la Meurtos, Dias de la Morte! Enjoy the MIDNIGHT STRIKE OF HAMLET, adapted from the ORIGINAL SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA:

I’m Michael Chang, and I proudly serve your local, national, and international news under your daily, weekly, and monthly news. I am a Christian believer, and I would not and will not express my viewpoints, not until and not unless I get full approval from your newsroom. I’m an ec2^3 user, and I customize my own service; I’m a social administrations and facilitations user, and I personalize my own service. Partial synchronization is my preferable correspondence method, and feel free to get back to me via BOTH e-mail AND social media. (7:33 PM EST, Thursday, October 10, 2024)

O all you host of heaven! O Earth! What else? And shall I couple hell? O fie! Hold, hold, my heart, And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee? Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat In this distracted globe. Remember thee? Yea, from the table of my memory I'll wipe away all trivial, fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, That youth and observation copied there, And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmixed with baser matter. Yes, by heaven! O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damnèd villain! My tables—meet it is I set it down That one may smile and smile and be a villain. At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark.

Espanol:

¡Oh todos vosotros, huestes del cielo! ¡Oh Tierra! ¿Qué otra cosa? ¿Y debo emparejar el infierno? ¡Oh, desgraciado! Sostén, sostén, mi corazón, y ustedes, mis tendones, no envejezcan instantáneamente, sino que me sostengan con rigidez. ¿Te recuerdas? Ay, pobre fantasma, mientras la memoria ocupa un lugar en este globo distraído. ¿Te recuerdas? Sí, de la tabla de mi memoria borraré todos los registros triviales y cariñosos, todas las sierras de los libros, todas las formas, todas las presiones pasadas, que la juventud y la observación se copiaron allí, y solo tu mandamiento vivirá dentro del libro y el volumen. de mi cerebro,sin mezclar con materia más básica. ¡Sí, por el cielo! ¡Oh mujer perniciosa! ¡Oh villano, villano, sonriente, maldito villano! Mis mesas, las encuentro, las puse para que uno pueda sonreír y sonreír y ser un villano. Al menos estoy seguro de que así será en Dinamarca.

Francais:

Ô vous tous, armée du ciel ! Ô Terre ! Quoi d'autre? Et dois-je coupler l'enfer ? Ô fi ! Tiens, tiens, mon cœur, Et toi, mes tendons, ne vieillis pas instantanément, Mais supporte-moi avec raideur. Tu te souviens de toi ? Oui, pauvre fantôme, tandis que la mémoire tient un siège dans ce globe distrait. Tu te souviens de toi ? Oui, de la table de ma mémoire, j'effacerai tous les documents triviaux et affectueux, toutes les scies des livres, toutes les formes, toutes les pressions passées, cette jeunesse et cette observation copiées là, et ton commandement tout seul vivra dans le livre et le volume. de mon cerveau, sans mélange avec de la matière plus basse. Oui, par le ciel ! Ô femme la plus pernicieuse ! Ô méchant, méchant, souriant, maudit méchant ! Mes tables, je les rencontre, c'est que je les pose, que l'on puisse sourire et sourire et être un méchant. Au moins, je suis sûr que cela pourrait être le cas au Danemark.

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Hamlets-Second-Soliloquy-Original-Text-Summary

I hereby consent that, under copyright law, I give permission for my audio recording to be redistributed to the public either compartmentally, telegraphically, radioactively, radio aurally, polygraphically, phonologically, microphonically, monogramically, gramophonically, elastically, metrically, enhanced-elastically, retroactively, compactly, automatically, technically, analogically, portably, digitally, voice deliverable, voice memorably, or reflectively and either steroidal or tertiary or counter-reflectively, triple-digitally, two-digitally, analogue recordable, handheld, keyboard, downloadable,

electronically, one-dimensionally, two-dimensionally, metrically, three-dimensionally, four-dimensionally, sociably, multi-dimensionally, hybrid, superficially, pneumatically, centrally, numerally, touchless, or departmentally. Under copyright law, I give permission for my name to be distributed under the audio recording I would be releasing to the public, as I would not be held solely responsible for any opinions that have been expressed with regards to my audio recording.

Facebook+1 ([email protected] (alternative)):

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Twitter+1 ([email protected] (original)):

10:00 PM EST, Wednesday, May 1, 2024

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Sincerely,

Michael Chang

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scentedconnoisseurduck · 4 months ago

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7 Must Activities to Do in Sentosa

Sentosa Island, often referred to as "The State of Fun," is a vibrant resort destination in Singapore, known for its array of thrilling activities, beautiful beaches, and family-friendly attractions.

1. Skyline Luge Sentosa

One of Sentosa's most popular attractions, the Skyline Luge Sentosa offers a unique gravity-fueled ride that’s perfect for thrill-seekers. The experience starts with a scenic Skyride, a chairlift that provides breathtaking views of the island and the surrounding sea. Once at the top, riders can choose from four different luge tracks, each offering a different combination of twists, turns, and tunnels. The tracks vary in difficulty, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced riders. The fun doesn’t stop after one ride; with multiple passes available, visitors can race down the track as many times as they like, making it a must-try for those seeking a mix of excitement and scenic beauty.

2. Universal Studios Singapore

A visit to Sentosa wouldn’t be complete without experiencing the magic of Universal Studios Singapore. This world-class theme park is divided into seven themed zones, each offering a unique set of rides, shows, and attractions. From the adrenaline-pumping Battlestar Galactica roller coasters to the immersive Transformers: The Ride, there’s something for everyone. Families will enjoy the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase and the Shrek 4-D Adventure. The park also features daily parades and shows, along with numerous dining and shopping options. It’s a full-day adventure that offers fun and excitement for visitors of all ages.

3. S.E.A. Aquarium

Dive into the wonders of the ocean at the S.E.A. Aquarium, one of the largest aquariums in the world. Home to more than 100,000 marine animals across 1,000 species, the aquarium offers a mesmerizing journey through different marine habitats. Highlights include the Open Ocean Habitat, where visitors can marvel at manta rays, sharks, and schools of fish in a massive, panoramic tank. The aquarium also features interactive exhibits and educational programs that provide insights into marine conservation. It’s an awe-inspiring experience that captivates both children and adults, making it a must-visit on Sentosa.

4. Adventure Cove Waterpark

For a refreshing escape, head to Adventure Cove Waterpark, a tropical paradise filled with thrilling water rides and marine life encounters. The park features a variety of attractions, from high-speed water slides like the Riptide Rocket to the relaxing Adventure River, which meanders through lush landscapes and underwater tunnels. Visitors can also snorkel with thousands of tropical fish in the Rainbow Reef or experience close encounters with rays at the Ray Bay. With something for everyone, Adventure Cove Waterpark is perfect for families, friends, and anyone looking to beat the heat.

5. Sentosa Beaches

Sentosa is home to three beautiful beaches—Siloso, Palawan, and Tanjong—each offering its own unique vibe and activities. Siloso Beach is the liveliest, known for its water sports, beach volleyball, and vibrant nightlife. Palawan Beach is ideal for families, with its shallow waters, playgrounds, and the iconic suspension bridge leading to the southernmost point of continental Asia. Tanjong Beach offers a more serene atmosphere, perfect for relaxing under the sun or enjoying a quiet picnic. Whether you’re looking to engage in beach sports, enjoy a leisurely swim, or simply unwind, Sentosa’s beaches provide a perfect getaway.

6. Madame Tussauds Singapore

Get up close with your favorite celebrities, historical figures, and superheroes at Madame Tussauds Singapore. This famous wax museum offers a fun and interactive experience, allowing visitors to pose with lifelike wax figures of stars like Taylor Swift, Michael Jackson, and even Singaporean icons like Lee Kuan Yew. The museum also features the Images of Singapore LIVE, an immersive journey through Singapore’s history, and the Spirit of Singapore boat ride, which showcases the island’s landmarks in a unique way. It’s an engaging attraction that combines entertainment and education.

7. Mega Adventure Park

For those looking for an adrenaline rush, Mega Adventure Park offers a variety of thrilling outdoor activities. The park’s highlight is the MegaZip, a 450-meter-long zipline that soars 75 meters above ground, offering spectacular views of the jungle canopy and Siloso Beach. The park also features the MegaClimb ropes course, where participants can navigate through a series of obstacles suspended high above the ground, and the MegaJump free-fall simulator, which replicates the sensation of a parachute jump. It’s an adventure lover’s paradise, providing a day full of excitement and challenges.

Conclusion

Sentosa Island is a treasure trove of activities that cater to all interests and ages. Whether you’re racing down the tracks at Skyline Luge Sentosa, enjoying the rides at Universal Studios, or exploring the wonders of the ocean at S.E.A. Aquarium, there’s no shortage of fun and excitement. The island’s beaches, waterpark, and adventure parks offer ample opportunities for relaxation and thrills. Sentosa’s diverse range of attractions ensures that every visitor can find something that appeals to their sense of adventure, making it an essential part of any trip to Singapore.

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