#THERE‘S LEVELS TO THAT SHIT

[rafesthroatbaby]

give the bitch two bullets. one for each face.

[achaotichuman]

You know, I‘m watching the shipwar go down in the background and listen to Elain stans yelling how much Sjm loves Elain.

And I couldn’t disagree more. It’s not just Elain Sjm doesn’t care about, but all 3 sisters. You know who she actually loves? The bat boys.

From pushing Feyre, the suppose equal to Rhysand, to the background while showering Rhysand with all the love and attention, to making Cassian the victim of the „evil and mean“ Nesta, to writing Elain as this helpless damsel who runs and cries at every inconvenience (-> her fights with Nesta) while making Azriel look like this hot, mysterious guy who��s „freaky in a good way“. Azriel was heavily involved in the crossover while the suppose main character of the next book remained in the dark with Feyre.

There‘s an old video of Sjm comparing Elain to Karen from mean girls and calling her stupid. That one interview of people asking questions about Elain.

I also recommend you to read the tog/acotar crossover and the hosab/acotar crossover. That is when Aelin and Bryce describe Rhys and Feyre and you‘ll notice the difference in how people see the High lord and High lady. Spoiler: Rhys is seen as the most beautiful person who holds authority and Feyre is the pregnant woman/ lady with paint on. Heck, acomaf reads as Rhysand the model and Feyre the cameraman. I don’t even need to mention her treatment of Nesta and the way she babies Cassian.

I‘m telling you, Sjm doesn’t like the Archeron sisters at all. They‘re just there to bring light to her actual favorites: The bat boys.

Sjm is a misogynist.

I have read the TOG crossover. I don't plan to read the rest of CC, I read the first book, I loved it aside from a few critics especially around how humans are viewed and treated, but I don't want to ruin it with reading the rest of the series, as my personal experience with SJM is that the first book is always a solid 8/10 and the rest are fuckin shit.

You are correct in your observations. Obviously, SJM is a misogynist. I don't have much to add, mostly because I'd be screaming myself hoarse from the amount of times I've been over this subject in rant posts.

I didn't know about the interview of SJM saying Elain is like Karen from Means Girls, that's a very interesting tidbit, personally I've never watched that movie, so I don't know what that means for Elain, but if someone here has watched it, please do explain to me what Karen is like, and what that says about Elain.

But overall, this is common theme in performative feminism, in the end the women and female characters only exist to uplift the males. The MMC is a #feministking and he's also hot, so everyone wants to fuck him. The FMC only exists to introduce the man, and be his aesthetic accessory. There's no depth to the MMC's actions towards woman, its all surface level talk in order to push the idea that he's #allforwomen even though he does nothing to help the women around him, or actively engages in misogynistic behaviour.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Idk if you already discussed this but how do you feel about Adrinette being canon when there wasn‘t a reveal yet? Because I think the show just took all the exciting aspects of the love square away by making one side canon and the others strictly platonic.

Sure, they‘re cute and whatnot, but I don‘t think they‘re exactly interesting without the identity shenanigans and stuff? Especially because (to me at least) Adrinette always felt like the weakest side. It‘s a school crush romcom type of love, which is great and all, but like…. You have superheroes in your show?? Hello??? Why not combine the two elements more effectively???The others are either badass superhero couple (I loved the Ladynoir dynamic in the movie for example) or one superhero hangs out with the civilian and they bond. That‘s literally all of fanon Marichat, and I personally think it works with Ladrien too. There‘s different aspects of those relationships that can be explored and create problems that they have to overcome (like the power imbalance with the civilian x hero ships, how do you handle that while dating?)

I wish the writers would use the square more effectively

I'm not against pre-reveal dating, but I agree that Adrienette is the worst side to chose from a story telling perspective because - as you so rightly pointed out - it's arguably the side with the least identity shenanigans and the side that has the least ties to the superhero stuff that's supposed to be the show's main focus. Adrienette is the side you chose if you're focusing on civilian drama which, to be fair, was season five's main focus even though Gabriel had stolen the miraculous and we were all expecting that complication to be the focus of the season five plot.

Instead the focus was "will Marinette ever have the courage to say a kind word to Adrien's face instead of just telling others how much she loves him even though she knows that he explicitly returns her feelings, making this plot kind painful on every level" which was... a choice.... Five seasons and we're still doing this shit? Really?

This may mean that the writer's plan in season six is to continue to focus on civilian drama or it could mean that they didn't think further than season five and we're about to get a lot of awkward writing. Who knows? I have no idea how they're going to handle civilian dating plus secret identities for long since the writers chose the only side of the square where running off to fight akumas isn't a given thing that the couple-in-question knows will happen. My best guess is that the writers will probably just avoid putting Adrienette in the type of situations Adrigami and Lukanette were put in, I guess?

No matter how they handle it, I don't expect major identity shenanigans because the show has never done much with identity shenanigans probably because quality identity shenanigans require you to be able to draw out plots over multiple episodes and then resolve those plots. This show cannot have that kind of plot progression given it's formulaic nature and the "there must always be a secret between Adrien and Marinette" rule, thus the identity shenanigans being so limited.

This means that the side best suited to the show's writing is probably Ladynoir. Still room for the minor identity shenanigans that the show limits itself to, baked-in-yet-low-stakes tension from having to keep the relationship a complete secret, and a much more logical result of the writing in the first four seasons. While Adrien is far from perfect and has issues to rival Marinette's, his crush always felt like the stronger one given that he actually spent time with Ladybug and had a true relationship with her.

Marinette, on the other hand, barely talked to Adrien because the show literally has a rule that she can never successfully confess her crush, so they needed to keep her and Adrien from becoming close to make those continued failed confessions somewhat plausible. Given all that, it's hard for me to buy that Adrien's crush flipped to this girl that he barely knows. Meanwhile Ladybug's crush flipping had a pretty strong setup given that Chat Noir has been her loyal support in her darkest hours.

But that's not what they went with! Instead of having the secret be the low-stakes identities secret, the secret between them is, "Your father was a super villain whose minions killed you on multiple occasions and whose death you were arguably involved with. While were on the topic of your messed up family, you're an artificial being whose creation killed you mother. Oh, and we're also hero partners, which feels like a minor thing compared to all of that, but we might as well mention that, too."

...choice were made folks. Choices were made. This is so not how you write a formula show! You never go this serious!

Since you mentioned the Civilian/hero pairings, let's talk about those both to end on a lighter note and because that's where my personal favorite lies as I am here for identity shenanigans. That's right, folks, I am once again here to sell you on my Ladrien supremacy agenda.

While I have nothing against Marichat, it is not a good fit for canon. It's simply too limiting because Marinette is not a celebrity. There's a reason that of Marinette's canon hangouts with Chat Noir (and almost all Marichat fics) start on her balcony. That's really the only place they can meet up without drawing attention, which should be a major concern for them.

I physically cringed when the show had them go to the movies and on an ice cream date because Chat Noir was being so irresponsible! He cannot be shown to have a close relationship with a civilian, which is the excuse he should have given at the end Elation since that the episode included Gabriel discovering their relationship. The excuse Chat Noir actually gave feels pretty dismissive of his canon relationship with Marinette. She has canonically spent more time talking to Chat Noir then she's spent talking to Adrien and the same actually goes for the amount of time Ladynoir spends talking about non-hero things, so this feels off:

Cat Noir: I’m sorry about what happened, Marinette. You’re right, you have the right to love anyone you want. Even a superhero. But it’s easy for a person to mistake idolization of a superhero for love. So, even if I like this person very much, I could be taking advantage of the situation, and I just can’t do that. It would be wrong.

Evil Illustrator, their heartfelt talk in Glaciator, the movie date in Glaciator 2, and a bunch of other little moments add up to somehow make Marichat the deepest side of the square, which is painfully bad writing given how little screen time this side gets, but it's still what canon gave us. Marinette is not just a fan who only knows him from a distance. They are friends and even occasional teammates. The only reason this pairing doesn't work in canon is because there's nowhere for the relationship to go until a partial or total reveal happens.

Prior to that, it's just these two hanging out on her balcony or maybe going on secret dates around the city. Cute, but not suited to a silly superhero romcom aimed at kids where every story needs to be told in about 20 minutes. It's best left to long form fan content that is allowed to be more about drama and romance than the actual show and also a little more spicy than the actual show because - let's be real here - those rooftop dates would not just be talking. I don't know how you'd write this pairing in a way that's both genuine and well suited to the intended audience. It's simply way more suited to a teen drama than a kid's show.

Ladrien, on the other hand, could work if canon wanted to go there. I don't think it would be a good fit for more than a season*, so Ladynoir is still the better pick for canon's format, but Ladrien could be a nice bit of pre-reveal padding to draw out the reveal and add some fun comedy if the show were allowed to have a reveal.

Because Ladybug and Adrien are both celebrities, you can have them interact in diverse settings without anyone thinking twice. This allows for a good amount of hijinks where Ladybug is trying to protect her boyfriend at public events without revealing their relationship while Adrien is trying to get her to let him run off and transform.

You can also do things like the public seeing them together, thinking they're a couple, and having them both deny it because they aren't, leading to Ladynoir comedy where Ladybug cries because she wishes they were and Chat Noir is like, "Wait, what? You what? ...My Lady, as your loyal partner who is here to support you in all things, I will get you your man even if it kills me!" The thinking-they're-a-couple thing could also be solved via Ladynoir by Ladynoir going public while Adrien remains "single". There's just a lot of potential for the show's style of absurdist humor here.

*Ladrien does eventually fall into the same issues as Marichat where it feels like the reveal needs to happen otherwise you're just repeating the same plots or going too spicy for a kids show via bedroom-based meetups, thus me saying that it's only good for about a season. There's also the problem that Akuma fights and supervillains are endless fodder for Ladynoir issues, but the only issue Ladrien could possibly address is Gabriel and Marichat's got nothing save for maybe Lila? So if you don't want to let a reveal happen, Ladynoir really is the best pick by far. Adrienette can work, but it's way less fun since they have to keep all these secrets while Ladynoir really only has one major secret or, at least, Ladynoir should only have one major secret (the identities). Canon has really dropped the ball on this one.

Now that I've written all this out, maybe the spicy issue is why canon went Adrienette? It's a lot easier to limit their alone time than it is to limit the alone time of any other side. I maintain that you could get away with it in pre-reveal Ladynoir by just ignoring the issue and giving them things to fight any time they try to have a date. You could also end episodes on them starting their date, leaving everything to the imagination but also keeping the setting relatively public (rooftops and the like) unlike the civilian/hero sides whose dates are going to be way more private. I fully understand why a show aimed at 5-to-12-year-olds wouldn't want to go there. That is far more suited to the teen drama Miraculous so desperately wants to be based on the ill-suited plots the writers keep going with.

[thedawningofthehour]

Ok so Wizard of Oz

I assume it‘s about a Wizard but most characters seem to be female? There‘s an upright walking lion and a robot man though I think, because there was an old movie in black and white I think, but I never saw that

I‘m assuming they are summoned by the wizard to save the fantasy world

Something about a hurricane taking a house with it. And there is a scene where a girl goes „I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore“ and there’s a witch (I’m assuming the wizard transitioned good for her)

What I know:

- main characters get summoned by wizard via world’s worst fast travel

- furry and robot man yaoi can happen in theory

- the witch has magic shoes at some point and there’s conflict abut it

SOUP I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

This feels so weird, it feels like I'm mansplaining this movie to you because before this year I have literally never met anyone who didn't watch this movie growing up. But I mean, it was literally written to be an 'American fairy tale' and international movie releases weren't really a thing in 1939, so it makes sense that it wasn't big over in Europe. (my sister's boyfriend also hadn't seen it until she made him watch it the night before we saw Wicked, but he's French and lived in SE Asia as a child-which we routinely forget because he has no accent whatsoever)

Pretty much the entire reason The Wizard of Oz is a big deal is the Technicolor process they used. It was not the first color film made-far from that, the first official color film was made in 1903, which is insane to me. These films were usually hand-colored or used color filters to capture natural color. Which was incredible from a technological standpoint, but these early films were still generally black-and-white films with some added tinting.

Add to that, a lot of these early color films have been lost or only exist in black-and-white format.

Technicolor was invented in 1916, first using a two-strip red/green coloring process to great success.

The colors are generally quite muted, but look how vibrant that red is! The richness of the native woman's green dress and the brown on her collar, in contrast to the white woman's grayish dress. These are both from the early 20s.

Still, color film didn't really take off, because 1) it was more expensive to produce, 2) color television didn't exist, most American households didn't have a television at all, and 3) the time period. The first TVs hit the market in 1928. 1929 marked the start of the Great Depression, so people weren't buying the latest technologies. And then by the time that was wrapping up WWII happened so research and production of luxury items were suspended for the war effort, but The Wizard of Oz was produced in that sweet spot when the economy was recovering but the US hadn't entered WWII yet.

Anyway. Three-strip technicolor was invented, corresponding to the three cones in our eyes that make up our entire color spectrum. With this, they could render pretty much any color humans are capable of seeing. But it required a lot of light for the colors to show up, and didn't produce good results outdoors.

1930 and 1935 respectively.

So while you can see that they're in full color, and the colors are pretty faithful to what they look like in real life, it's still fairly muted.

So I can absolutely see why people lost their shit when they sat in the movie theater and saw this:

Fun fact: the level of lighting required to get these vibrant colors on screen were so hot and intense that it heated the set to over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit, (38C for you soup) and cost the modern equivalent of five million dollars just to power.

The entire movie was basically them showing off their awesome colors. I'm honestly convinced that's why they decided to adapt The Wizard of Oz in the first place-other film adaptions of it did pretty poorly. But with the color symbolism in the story and the fantasy setting giving them cover to go absolutely bananas with the color-yeah, this entire movie was a giant flex.

The colors of Munchkinland.

The contrast of pink poppies, the Emerald City, and the Yellow Brick Road.

The green skin on the Wicked Witch of the West was invented for the movie, which forms the initial conflict of the Wicked novels and play.

Dorothy's dress went through a bazillion renditions before they eventually settled on the simple blue gingham described in the novel, made of cheap fabric and hand-sewn to look authentically homemade, as a girl living on a Kansas farm would have worn in the 30s. The dress was actually blue and light pink, to give the film the desired shade and contrast.

In the original Wizard of Oz, the magical shoes Dorothy wears are silver, which was potentially commentary on the demonetization of silver in the 1890s. The Yellow Brick Road representing the gold standard, with Dorothy using the road on her way to the Emerald City, which represented green paper money. The reveal of the titular Wizard being a charlatan and completely powerless in his Emerald City palace was Baum insulting the concept of fiat money.

The shoes were changed to the ruby slippers we see here to show off the rich colors made possible with the Technicolor process, and to provide contrast with the Yellow Brick Road and Dorothy's blue dress. In Wicked, the shoes start off as silver slippers given to Nessarose by her father and later enchanted by Elphaba to allow her to walk-the power of the enchantment causing the shoes to turn ruby-red with heat. Which I thought was a cool nod to how the shoe color was changed.

I'm not sure why Dorothy's pictured with them still silver though. They're supposed to be red by the time she puts them on.

You were talking about plot stuff and I just basically screamed a summary of the history of color television at you loooool

The point is, The Wizard of Oz is a national classic mostly because of its revolutionary use of color, and also I think people were watching it over and over during WWII because new movies weren't being produced and it provided escapism. The music is still catchy and it still looks very pretty-but it's not a particularly deep story. Also the horrific conditions the actors and crew were subject to. I think it would be kind of underwhelming to watch for the first time as an adult. The main draw for us is nostalgia.

But I don't think you necessarily have to see the 1939 movie to enjoy Wicked. There's a lot of references and jokes to stuff that happens in it, (the heel of Nessa's shoes referencing the tornado that eventually kills her and brings Dorothy to Oz, Elphaba's "so happy I could melt" line when the audience knows that's how she dies) but in general all you need to know is that Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West and then both she and the Wizard go back to America. I think everything else is pretty well contained in the Wicked storyline.

But it is incredible to see the progression.

[herzzgeist]

Real talk! I honestly need some help/advice regarding Twt & Bsky

Alright so .. everyone is leaving Twitter/X …. for Bluesky? Why?

I know the new terms aren’t apparently very .. appeasing .. but what makes Bsky better?

People say Twt got very toxic since it turned to X. And I kinda see it .. some vids are hella disturbing and don’t belong on social media.

(Basically, every social media has a level of toxicity, and I‘ve seen some very brain wormy shit lately.)

My biggest question is, as an aspiring artist who wants to grow and possibly make some sort of side hustle out of it - should I really avoid X?

What if you use it to post previews, and full drawings would be posted on other socials? (Yes, the AI will take the preview, but not the full picture)

(and let’s be honest, no matter where you post, AI lurks in every corner and takes our stuff anyway, or people use it no matter what. That‘s what happens when you post stuff for free)

And then the „Blocking but still visible“ thing ~ I get it, if you despise someone, you don’t want them to see what you‘re about, but did you forget you can see what they‘re doing too? There‘s no more secrets to be held. The only thing that would annoy me would be bots - and X has a shit ton of them lately … it‘s unreal dude.

On a side note, I already left Insta because of it‘s not so recent similar occurence. And that app felt static and fake: the followers I got weren’t interested in my doings (only a handful). If you don’t work for the algorithm, you‘re basically trash. And it hurts.

As an artist, I have my own ideas and I want to share those with people who like to see it, get inspired/motivated or even learn from it if they want to. Art should be something that brings people together and learn from another .. have fun, simp for blorbos together.

Anything but „I‘m a hungry artist and I need follows because I‘m poor“ shit … Sorry but, kindly … It‘s giving IQ of a toast. And that‘s an insult towards that gluten filled slice of heart attack. It feels off and I don’t think it’s amusing..

So please, for the love of god. What to do? Because I‘m tired of app hopping … and I only started drawing a year ago :3

Let me know what you think 💭

[found-wings]

oooooo so I have two ideas here- whichever one you like better is cool :D

• for disorientation- another layer of it would be a q!etoiles being thrown into a vanilla world and having to go through the sudden loss of the extensive stamina and extra layer of health. those add ons that are required in a world as buffed as theirs would def be a rough transition. the sudden rip to half of what you've adjusted to be your body's new basic functions would be rough but mwah the pure painful angst :D put this funky fighter through the wringer WOOOOO HAVING HIM SHOW UP ALREADY INJURED the idea of his body throbbing with phantom injuries because if it's just his body adjusting to the new world- then yes his health is now Normal and so there's no physical injuries. but the inner pain of his entire beings durability being divided like this would cause lots of pain ^-^ angst)

• the other idea though- is the mods add ins sticking. him transitioning world's but his body retains the qsmp extras. so him going into a vanilla world with double the health and maybe a bunch of rare shit depending on if he warps with his items or not (I thinkkkkk he might bc he has the scythe but that could be an exception :O) it'd be cool to see him with a bunch of high tech and insane level utilities in a base world and needing to be hit twice as hard and fights lasting twice as long to even do some damage to him. (also funny and angsty the idea of him having the auto fill backpack and other players reactions to him dying repeatedly over and over again and the totems just constantly popping and popping. him shouting as if the pain is nothing but a normal adrenaline rush for him knowing damn well the effects of over-totem consumption is hurting :D!! i wonder if anyone would noticeeeeeeeeee whump whomp)

brainrot - 💿

OKAY THIS, THIS IS WHAT I‘VE THOUGHT ABOUT KINDA A BIT

So my current idea kind of.. consists out of the two ideas you‘ve mentioned? Let me explain :

SMPEarth isn’t entirely 'vanilla', though instead of mods they did have a couple of plugins iirc ( shaking the planes and airstrikes KAJSJ ). So even then, there‘s still a lot of differences between their worlds.

qEtoiles does keep majority of his things from whatever he had on him when he was thrown into the different world, an example being his Scythe.

This means he does have a variety of rare items, tech and much more that the others don‘t have. However what we would consider his health & stamina do get reduced - it‘s not quite noticeable at first as the world hasn‘t fully recognised Etoiles presence just yet, hence why it doesn’t affect him instantly. The reason for that is the corrupted code part of him, aka. his arm.

The code monsters that are also within the world already also haven‘t been hit with it because they are basically 'viruses' in the world and have gone unseen. Etoiles will be hit with the reduce rather sooner than later as he‘s not entirely corrupted like the actual code monsters.

Regarding the totem thing, I do have a headcanon that aeTechno is similar on that level in the world. Just a little less extreme as he doesn’t have the auto fill thing - but aePhil has seen him tank attacks with repeatedly popping totems during multiple battles they‘ve participated in and seen the effects it has. aePhil on the other hand prefers to fight with no totems at all and keep his hands free - he‘s more used to standing at the sidelines and away, but he will not hesitate at diving into or leading a battle if ever needed. I‘d imagine that with Etoiles he‘d just straight up go 'oh god, not another one' / JOKING

I‘ll go more into this later maybe, but I like the idea of aeEmerald Duo having a deeper history with each other from even before the Antarctic Empire. This is where the silly immortal stuff comes into play, that Etoiles will eventually find out about :D

TLDR :

Modded items from the QSMP will mostly stay in the world of what is technically SMPEarth, however any buffs ( such as health & stamina ) will eventually be fixed by 'the system‘ they have there once the world recognised Etoiles presence. Yes, it will be painful as hell when it does hit - he‘s basically tanking hits with no physical attacker and no actual injuries. Just pure phantom pain. The only way he can 'heighten' his stamina and stuff to a constant state again is through working it back up manually with practice & all.

A couple of blocks, etc. from the QSMP have already found their way into the SMPEarth world via world corruption - the Antarctic Empire has had a couple of run ins with a few code monsters probably before they met Etoiles, hence why aePhil is even less trusting for a while as he sees the corrupted arm.

My current idea is also that aePhil & aeTechno originally met Etoiles near an oddly corrupted looking waystone they had been traveling out to to take a look at. They weren‘t quite expecting another person to appear-

I am so silly about this AU :D

I also apologise for any writing mistakes, my brain is zooming AJJA

[dhs-in-distress]

This following idea is extremely stupid and nonsensical but it‘s so funny to me for some fucking reason and also who gives a shit.

So I‘d imagine that Cybertronians don‘t really have a concept of like,, parental figures, at least for the most part. There‘s still mentors, wise „elders“ and trusted older friends and the like, but the very idea of parents specifically, watching their children grow from a tiny little baby to a full grown adult and feeling a love for them that‘s so different from any other and so deep seated (in our genes to a large extent) and so unfathomably grand it‘s hard to describe, … that,, is just not something they get. Like on a fundamental level, because it‘s not physically possible for them to experience these feelings due to not really having the biological need for parents in the first place.

Now bear with me (don‘t actually, I‘m about to make no sense whatsoever): Scatters is stuck on earth for 50 god damn years, with access to the entirety of the internet and a curiosity for this parent stuff since it‘s so alien to him. So he downloads and reads/watches a fuck ton of media surrounding these themes and topics and inevitably gets so invested and moved that he kinda,, develops maternal feelings, just in general. They aren‘t actual maternal feelings (obviously), just a deep love for children and the,, process of motherhood so to speak.

This changes very little about his story and character, just that he‘s „unusually“ protective of Sari specifically….. until he sees Wasp, to who‘s entire existence his processor responds „what if I fucking raised that thing, what if I fucking adopted him right now“. And then he does.

[helion-ism]

yeah ykw I love the mate/soulmate trope. and I know there‘s people who hate it or don‘t care about it but that‘s literally one of the reasons why I love this series sm. I live for these two people who are destined to be together and have to overcome obstacles to be with each other, to get to know each other and find out why they belong together. just the way rowaelin was so dependent and were attracted to each other and how it changed the entire storyline.

you can‘t sit there and tell me rhys dreaming of feyre and her seeing the night sky doesn‘t wreck you. you can‘t tell me nesta sensing something‘s wrong with cassian on the battlefield so she screams his name to get him out of there and him in return thinking something‘s wrong with her so he leaves and doesn‘t end up dying ... doesn‘t do things to you? it‘s cause they‘re connected on such deep levels. I l i v e for that. now give me elucien and gwynriel mating bond shit. give me all of it and I will literally inject it into my veins.

[valdomarx]

Hi I just saw your post about your gym reopening. Do you have any advice for someone starting out getting athletic and stuff, because everytime I start I lose motivation?

So there are two things that really keep me motivated going to the gym:

feeling good

progress

Regarding #1, I always heard you’re supposed to exercise “to be healthy and to look good and because you morally ought to,” blah blah blah. That shit never worked for me. But no one ever told me it was fun! Makes you feel great. It makes me sleep better, makes my body less sore and more mobile. Does absolute wonders for my mental health.

So find something that you enjoy! It’s gotta be pleasurable. Challenging, but fun. Maybe that’s a team sport, or a dance class, maybe it’s running or cycling or yoga. Don’t force yourself to do something you hate.

But that leads us on to #2, and here’s where I have to encourage you to try strength training. The fun thing about strength training (apart from feeling like a badass and flexin on all the dudes) is that you see very clear, very direct progress. There’s nothing more motivating than seeing: last week I squatted 30kg. This week I’m squatting 32.5kg. Next week I’ll squat 35kg.

And it works for everyone. Any age, any gender, any level of athletic experience including none. As long as you follow a program and you don’t have a medical muscle wasting condition, you will get strong as shit.

For getting started with strength training, here’s what I’d advise:

Commit to working out 3 times per week for 12 weeks. Each session only needs to be around 45 min. It takes some time to get comfortable at any new thing, but 3 months is enough time for you to really see significant progress and feel considerably better. If you’re not liking it after that, quit and try something else. But if you make it that far I’d be willing to bet you’ll keep going, cause it’s super fun.

Get a program and stick to it. You can’t just be doing random exercises, or doing something new every session. You need to do the basic movements (squat, bench, deadlift, maybe also rows, presses, cleans), and keep it very simple. Two great popular programs are Starting Strength and StrongLifts 5x5.

Add just a little bit more weight each session. The magic to getting strong is called progressive overload. You start with a weight you can manage, and then next time you add just a tiny bit more weight (usually around 2.5kg). And the next session, just a tiny bit more. Do this for 3 months and you’ll be noticeably stronger. Do it for 6 months and you’ll be stronger than most people. Do it for a year and you’ll be a beast.

There‘s often a feeling among people (especially women) that weights and especially barbells are for people who are already strong. But that’s not it at all! They are the tools which let you get strong. There’s no shame in starting with just the barbell with no weight on it. Learn the basic movements and get comfortable. Good form is key.

If you want to learn the basic movements, you can find a group seminar or get a trainer for a couple of sessions. Or, honestly, you can just find the biggest, most muscular person in the gym and ask them to show you some basics. Most people who lift love helping newbies - especially if you’re a lady and so are they.

I’ll also point you to the fabulous Ask a Swole Woman column, who has advice on starting out here and here and here.

[swamplatibule]

Okay so lemme talk about Steel and Smoke for a second

This was actually my first paracosm, and it‘s still my favorite to this day. I have a dream to turn it into an animated show someday, and if I can do it, it’s gonna be badass.

Okay so- The world? Genre? Space opera. The system is called Xeliah, which is also the name of a para in a very different paracosm, but that’s not important right now.

There are seventeen different planets in this system. There used to be nineteen, but two got completely destroyed in the Great War. Are there different systems? Oh yeah. Absolutely. Nobody in Xeliah really cares about them, but they definitely exist.

About 100 years ago, a woman named Silver Thurberi took of Xeliah. Just built a bigass army and went “heyyyy so I’m the queen now deal with it”. Actually there was more to it than that, there was a really long war n shit, but forget that lets focus on the now, which is under the cut because its long as shit and I don’t want to completely take over anyone’s feed.

Silver’s bloodline has been ruling over Xeliah for the past 100 years, leading up to the current empress, Arayla, and her two daughters, Fang and Nucifera.

Now Arayla? She is an absolute bitch. She’s manipulative, abusive, gaslighting, just kinda of a shithole of a human being with the audacity to consider herself better than everyone else.

She raised both of her daughters to believe that if they weren’t perfect, they were worthless. Nucifera took that in and started pushing herself to be perfect, to the point where it was self-destructive and harmful, but it put her in her mother’s favor. Fang wasn’t able to do that like Nucifera was, and thus was cast to the side. She ran away when she was ten and Nucifera was fifteen.

As of right now, Nucifera is 21, and she’s been assigned to handle the growing revolution while Arayla does her whole tyrant of the galaxy thing. That means keeping tabs on influential people, intimidating anyone who could cause a problem, and most important to the story, taking down those who are already symbols of the revolution. Namely, her current focus is taking town the galaxy's most infamous thief, the Silver Songbird. Who happens to be her sister, Fang, behind a mask and a fancy set of armor. But she doesn't know that. But before she takes down the Songbird - who, by the way, doesn't actually have any connection to the revolution, but is thought to be a part of it because they only steal from really rich pro-Araylian people, which makes sense because not many of the revolters are very well-off - there's one person she needs to take care of first. May Eternity. She's the elected leader of one of the seventeen planets, although most of the leaders are basically just figureheads for Arayla to exercise her control through. May Eternity, however, is rumored to be an important revolution leader, and there's pretty substantial evidence of it. So Arayla needs her gone, in a way that can't be traced back to them. Nucifera sends an assassin. And he fails. But, he gets out of there before he can be captured, and he manages to place the blame on the Songbird. So that kinda works in Nucifera's favor, because it puts the Songbird on the wanted list for both pro-Araylians and revolters. Technically, it doesn’t work that smoothly, because it does solidify in a few people’s minds that May isn’t a revolutionary and the Songbird is, and stuff like that. It’s messy. It’s complicated. Another issue is that the Songbird is simply a thief, not a killer, and therefore a pretty large amount of people refuse to believe that they were behind the assassination attempt.

(look at this beautiful woman, I just want her to be happy but my brain won’t let her without a Zuko-level redemption arc)

But that comes in later.

That whole murder thing is what kicks off the whole story. May’s son, Nico, wants to go after the Songbird. His mother won’t let him, saying that it’s too dangerous, but he wants answers. So he goes to find them in secret.

Here’s Nico, by the way. I’d add a link to the Picrew I used, but I believe it’s been deleted now so I kinda can’t, sorry.

Clover is a spellcaster, someone who was born with unique paranormal abilities. Hers, specifically, would be Haemokinesis and Electrokinesis. Fun fact! Spellcasters are actually a race, not just people randomly born with powers. And another fun fact! People don’t know it’s a race, they just assume all spellcasters are dangerous individuals who developed scary powers and plan to use them to destroy the world. Final fun fact? It’s illegal for them to even just exist, and it’s punishable by death (That’s why this is tagged as ‘tw racism’). So Clover has it pretty bad. She’s kept her abilities a secret for a long time, but she loses control on her fifteenth birthday and now she’s exposed so she has to run.

[Now seems like a good time to mention that the outfits aren’t super accurate to them, it was a fantasy Picrew so I just picked what I could imagine them wearing in a fantasy AU. Xelian clothing and trends are pretty cool in my opinion, maybe I’ll make a post about that sometime in the far future]

She ends up at the Falcon Station, which is basically a really big galactic gas station and diner, except it’s mainly inhabited by those running from the law. It’s not strictly revolution or Araylian, everyone there just has a mutual understanding of ‘you leave me alone, I leave you alone’.. The Songbird happens to be there too, because they have a deal with someone who works there and also it’s one of the now few places where people don’t try to kill them.

Of course, someone has a few too many drinks and decides they’re going to try and capture the Songbird for the bounty, and a fight breaks out. Clover gets caught up in the middle of it, accidentally electrocutes the dude, and now people are trying to kill her too. The Songbird saves her, and they make it onto their ship in time to get the hell out of there unscathed.

Clover is absolutely terrified, which you would probably be too if you got stuck traveling with the most wanted person in the galaxy and weren’t certain whether or not they had tried to murder someone yesterday. She doesn’t fully trust the Songbird not to kill her, and the Songbird is trying to comfort her but it’s not working and they’re also just not great at conversations because the only reason they’ve had to talk to anyone for the past, what, two years was a deal for them to steal something.

There‘s a short exchange between them, Clover mentions something about ‘I don’t know a single thing about you I don’t even know what you look like and you expect me to just trust you I have self-preservation instincts okay’

And then they just take off the helmet, and Clover realizes a few different things at once:

- The Songbird just showed their face for her?? Um?? And they’re female, k cool we‘ll remember that

- This girl looks the same age as her, like fifteen, why is she fifteen that doesn’t make sense what

- Holy shit she’s hot

and now neither of them really know what to say, because how the fuck do you respond to that?

oh my god these two precious gays

anyway turns out they don’t actually have to say anything to each other because just then, in that moment, something bumps into the ship. Guess who it is?

Yep, it’s Nico, because he’s a terrible pilot and honestly lucky that he made it out this far without dying, but it’s okay we still love him.

Check in Sometime Later For A Part Two Because I Want To Post This Now

[amateurasstrologer]

BY REQUEST #5 MARS (IN THE HOUSES)

A lot of bitches wanting to know what’s up with Mars so let’s talk about that shit.

First: Mars does not have shit to do with anger or who you’re trying to fuck so throw that belief right into the past.

Mars is about opportunities for change. Without Mars, there‘s nothing new. You’re just a stagnant ass bitch forever. Where Mars falls in your chart shows you where you’re way energized with new experiences and opportunities for growth. Mars chills in the house where you’re going to experience the most learning throughout your life. How you play out your Mars placement completely depends on how open you are to change.

As always, some particulars for the party people:

MARS IN THE FIRST (1) gonna have opportunities to see things through like nobody can, be their #1 supporter, and fight for their right to be themselves. When they’re bitching out: totally intolerant, just wanna argue.

MARS IN THE SECOND (2) gonna have opportunities to utilize their inherited abilities and become more productive than any other bitch. When they’re bitching out: totally wasting their resources and relationships, got zero self-control.

MARS IN THE THIRD (3) gonna have opportunities to break away from tradition, take mental initiatives and be a straight up free thinker. When they’re bitching out: totally negative towards their surroundings, dogmatic thinking.

MARS IN THE FOURTH (4) gonna have opportunities to communicate all the mf-ing shit they got going on inside and make something real out of their inner-activity. When they’re bitching out: totally unable to communicate, extreme emotional introversion, on some superficial shit.

MARS IN THE FIFTH (5) gonna have opportunities to use their next-level will power, have complete faith in themselves and crush any fear of failure. When they’re bitching out: totally reckless with desires, as emotionally immature as they come.

MARS IN THE SIXTH (6) gonna have opportunities to create a better quality or way of life for themselves - emotionally or physically - and put in some work. When they’re bitching out: totally ruthless as fuck, burning themselves out, zero self-care.

MARS IN THE SEVENTH (7) gonna have opportunities to use their personal energy as a gift to others and completely involve themselves in something outside the self. When they’re bitching out: totally use relationships as an excuse to not deal with themselves, peace out from reality.

MARS IN THE EIGHTH (8) gonna have opportunities to have positive social relationships, utilize collective resources and push for social improvements. When they’re bitching out: totally cynical, “what’s the use” attitude, self-destructive activities.

MARS IN THE NINTH (9) gonna have opportunities to experience personal growth through relationships and come away from any mf-ing experience with increased understanding. When they’re bitching out: totally personally involved, way too emotionally immature to access larger issues in life.

MARS IN THE TENTH (10) gonna have opportunities to make meaningful contributions to society and have a serious focus on their career and/or place in the world. When they’re bitching out: totally selfish, only want power and control over others, ruthless ambition.

MARS IN THE ELEVENTH (11) gonna have opportunities to use their strong social and/or cultural sense to turn ideals into real life shit. When they’re bitching out: totally clashing with friends and family, can’t see shit from the big picture.

MARS IN THE TWELFTH (12) gonna have opportunities to make their actions align with deep ass motives and use their quirky ass gifts for good. When they’re bitching out: totally out of control, fearful self-sabotage.

”All this shit applies to me.” Good, it should. We all experience all the phases. Where Mars falls in your natal just shows which phase will be the most pronounced throughout your life.

Happy acting, babies.

XO BULLSHIT FREE ASTROLOGY

[jmeddows2]

Purple Thunder (Roger Taylor Series) - Part 9

(present/old) Roger Taylor series Notes: Here it is, the longest chapter of PP yet. I don’t want to give to much away, but there is going to be some relief for exactly two people after this one (yeah I’m talking about you reader and Roger lol). Roger is not making a big apperance, but he’ll always be there after this one! be prepared for a fluffy throwback and some cheesy musical contribution by Reader. I’m sorry, but this Taylor Swift song just fits perfectly and I’m obsessed with the album ‘Lover’. Songs from that album will definitely keep making appearances here and there. Anyway.. bare with me, english is not my first language, sorry for mistakes. The song lyrics used in this chapter are from the song “Death By A Thousand Cuts” - Taylor Swift. I recommend you listening to it once it pops up in the story. Feel free to drop me an ask, a message, send in your reaction, further requests etc. But most of all: THANK YOU FOR READING!!! :))) Words: 3.1k Warnings: cursing, cheating

Never would you have thought that a penthouse that light and happy, yet domestic could feel as sad and lonely as it did now.  This trip was supposed to lift all the weight from your shoulders, instead of pushing you down with even more sorrow.  After a few missed attempts to reach Roger through calling, the chandelier lights in the living room started flickering. Almost like a sign  Great. Where the hell was he? You started getting worried. Was he alright or did something happen? Was he on his way back home,or did he stay in a different room in the hotel? The thought that something bad could have happened,basically ate you alive, so you decided to text him. To: Roger 'Where have you gone?‘ 'I need to talk to you‘  How could he just leave like that? Without hearing you out first.?As the time went by you started making up different scenarios in  your head, thinking  this all was a all a joke to him, a distraction from his crumbling marriage. 'I’m worried. Please come back' you texted again. 

The only answer was a money transfer of 10.000£ to your bank account with the remark 'for travels if you decide to come back to London ‘ Seemed like it was goodbye now. But you didn‘t do anything wrong. And instead of spending the whole night thinking about what you could have done wrong this time,  you did what you could best, at least as it seemed.  Fuck shit up, so  'Doha Nightclub' on Long Island seemed just like the right place to get rid of the empty feeling deep inside and the especially big and empty penthouse.  The nightclub seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but it was certainly easy to get there, given the fact that the penthouse of the Ritz provided you a very own Rolls Royce with a personal driver in tow, who would take you anywhere you wanted.  As you entered the dark place that lit up with purple strobe lights, the place was already packed. Girls that wore as little as they could, men with buttoned down shirts all over the dancefloor. It felt posh, nearly too posh for your liking. But now you were there. Would be a waste of gas to ask the driver to go to another place. This would do perfectly fine. Trying not to draw any attention to yourself , you chose a little table to sit at in the back where it was  dark, but the seat still visible enough for waitresses to notice once  your glass was empty. You were quite amused by the fact that it was a girl’s birthday party. They welcomed her into the club with two signs saying 'Happy Birthday‘. Right next to them was another blonde girl with curves in all the right places holding up a neon yellow sign saying '99% sure that vodka is my soulmate'. It made you chuckle, even with given circumstances. "What‘s your poison, honey?" A girl about your age asked you, holding a tray of shots in her hand.  "Anything right now. Any shot would do" you sighed. "Wait a minute“ the girl said taking a closer look at you. "Aren‘t you that singer that got engaged?"  "Do you see a ring on my finger?“ you held out your hands for her to inspect.  "Ouch“  "How much for the whole tray?“ "Girls are free tonight, honey“ she placed the tray on the table and took a seat on the empty chair. "I‘m Andrea, by the way“ she shook your hand.  5 shots in and you started conversing about god knows what.  "....and then I was too broke to stay in LA.. so, I had to come back. Guess there‘s too many pretty girls out there wanting to become an actress." she nearly cried telling stories about failing auditions trying to make in Los Angeles, how her boyfriend left her a week after she had flown out, trying to achieve a dream of hers. It made your heart sting. The cheating part. You were here trying go sulk like a victim, when you‘d been the one doing wrong all along. You didn‘t drop any names, just the context of the story. And she was understanding, even gave you her number in case you came back there again or just needed a friend to ramble on. She moved on to grab another tray and made her rounds. The night was restless. Almost like you expected the moments that were about to happen. You could feel it, boiling deep inside. It felt like a big bomb, that was about to go off and destroy everything. Everything that already had been in ruins. And as if someone heard your call from far away it reached its last strike.  A message from Roger. And your heart dropped.  'I don’t think this is a good idea anymore. I’m sorry.' You tried calling him again. This time he picked up.  "...Rog? Are you there?” you  breathed into the phone, unable to make out his voice in the club.. Impossible.so you went outside where it was quiet enough.  "Where are you? I miss you" you slurred into the phone, the alcohol speaking out of you.  "(Y/N) are you drunk?” he said and for a moment you thought he might be worried about.  "Come back to me Roger. Please” you begged him.  "I.. I can’t I’m sorry.. I don’t think this will work”  What you didn’t know was, that it took him hours to practice his little speech. To push all the feelings away that had kept building up inside him for over half a year now. First from keeping up with your work, until the last 3 months he actually got to spend with you in person. With his head in his hand, memories kept flashing back in his mind. The movie nights you had, cuddled up on the couch with a fuzzy warm blanket thrown over the two of you. If the movie was too boring, he would just start conversing about how bad it was or keep tickling and cuddling you to distract you from watching it. Or you’d just fall asleep. 3 months felt more like 3 years. And it was everything you ever craved.  The nights you spent at his house in Surrey kept replaying. When it was a mild night and not too cold, spending nearly all night long looking at the big statue of Freddie, which was in full display because of the big spotlight Roger had installed.  You’d usually sit on a thick and huge blanket on the grass or on chairs, feeling each other’s warmth, no talking, just being in the moment.  "Fred would have adored you“ Roger spoke up, which made you look up at him.  "Not as much as I adore him" you smiled at him, pressing a light kiss to his lips.  "What would he think about us now?" You asked, putting your head back on his chest and arms tightly around him.  "He‘d be happy for us” Roger whispered in your hair.  "Because I‘m happy. You make me happy." He kissed your temple. "Losing my best friend was the hardest thing I ever had to deal with." You squeezed him tighter to comfort him and it really did put him at more ease. His shoulders weren’t as tense when you started drawing patterns on his back.  "I couldn‘t even imagine how you must have felt. But I think losing you would come pretty close to that" you whispered back at him.  And now that was just about to happen. Your worst nightmare.  "I got to go now..." his voice was small and quiet. Almost quiet enough to hear your heart break. "I‘m sorry..." You felt dizzy, like your feet couldn‘t keep you up anymore. Just then you felt a pair of strong arms wrap around your waist.  "Hey baby. What are doing out here all alone.“ the stranger pulled you close to him, letting his hands roam all over your body. You felt disgusted.  "Stop..“ you tried to push him away. "Stop touching me“ you screamed louder.  "Y/N?“ A familiar voice. Dan.  "Dan?"  "Is that your fucking boyfriend baby?“ the disgusting stranger whispered in your ear before Dan pushed him away. Dan, your guitarist was your savior of the hour. You had last seen him storm out of the studio in London. You wrapped your arms around him, still trying to process everything that had happened in the last 30 minutes.  "Oh god, how much did you drink? You smell like a brewery“ he grimaced taking in the unpleasant scent.  "Hey, Y/N" he shook you lightly trying to get a few words out of you.  "Where are you staying? I‘ll take you there“  "The Ritz“  "Yeah sure“ he laughed. "You and the Ritz." He didn‘t believe you. Because the Ritz wasn‘t exactly what you would go for when touring with your band. Even though you could afford rooms there. Not the penthouse, but smaller ones.  "I‘m telling the truth Dan“  "Alright, alright“ he still didn’t quite believe it.  “I‘ll take you back to mine. You‘ll need loads of water and a hangover therapy tomorrow. This one‘s going to be massive“ You groaned as he picked you up and carried you to the cab. Then from the cab to his apartment. You didn‘t even know where you were, only that Dan was going to take care of you. He was always the dad of the group. Him and Joe, your bass player never stayed out late, never partied that much. Much to your advantage now. The next morning, you felt surprisingly not that bad. Which was like a miracle. Dan made sure you drank much water before going to sleep and as you got up from his couch to search for the kitchen, the table was already decorated with a large breakfast to help rise your low blood sugar levels. "Good morning Miss Vodka“ Dan looked up from his newspaper, a cup of coffee in his hand a grin plastered on his lips. Clearly because of your miserable state. "Haha“ trying your best to sound as sarcastic as possible.  "Good morning and thank you for bringing me here“ sincerely thanking him.  "Not a problem, you said something about staying at the Ritz" you downed one of the three ginger shots he prepared for you and put the glass down with a grimace. Damn those are disgusting.  "Yeah because I am“ Dan only looked at you, waiting for you to continue the story.  "Is Josh there? Oh, fuck right. I didn‘t congratulate you on the engagement. Fuck“ he blushed. You only shook your head lightly for him to stop, he knew you long enough to know you weren‘t mad at him about it.  "Do you have a pen and paper?" you asked tapping your fingers next the freshly toasted bread in front of you.  "Ah yeah sure“ he got up to grab it.  And came back with "Post its? Really?“ "Sorry it‘s the only thing I got. I just moved in here“ he threw his arms up in defeat.  You started scribbling. It felt like the words made their own way onto the paper.  "Are you like.. writing a song now?“ Dan looked over your shoulder as you placed yet another post it on top of the other 4 that were already full of ink. You only held a finger up, clearly a sign for him to shut up. A polite sign for him to shut up.  The lyrics where done in 15 minutes,with you throwing the pen on the table almost like a Mic drop.  "Done“ "You‘re crazy“ he stared at you with fascination from across the table.  "Can I see it?“  "Only of you agree to make a riff for it“  "Yeah... sure“ He agreed in a heartbeat.  And he grabbed the post its, reading out loud:  'Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts Flashbacks waking me up, I get drunk, but it‘s not enough. 'Cause the morning comes and you‘re not my baby.  I look through the windows of this love Even though we boarded them up Chandelier still flickering here 'Cause I can't pretend it's okay when it's not It's death by a thousand cuts I dress to kill my time I take the long way home I ask the traffic lights if it'll be alright They say, "I don't know" And what once was ours Is no one's now I see you everywhere, the only thing we share Is this small town You said it was a great love One for the ages But if the story's over, why am I still writing pages? My heart, my hips, my body, my love Tryna find a part of me that you didn't touch Gave up on me like I was a bad drug Now I'm searching for signs in a haunted club Our songs, our films, united, we stand Our country, guess it was a lawless land Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand Paper cut stings from my paper-thin plans My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust Tryna find a part of me you didn't take up Gave you so much, but it wasn't enough But I'll be alright, it's just a thousand cuts" By the time he finished reading it, you were sobbing. Having someone else read your material always made you feel vulnerable. But this time, the circumstances made the intensity almost unbearable.  "Do you want to talk about? You know we can discuss everything. We always did" he tried to help. "I.. I just want you to come back Dan. Please don‘t leave us hanging. I need you. There‘s no one else to talk to. We will talk this out with Sid. Please I want my best friend back.“  "Ok, let‘s do it“  While Dan kept fiddling around the guitar with 10 post its spread out in front of him, you decided to make a call, you feared since the minute Josh got down on one knee. Rufus.  "Yeah?“ A serious tone. No 'hello‘. No 'how are you‘.  "Hi Rufus“  "So... guess I’m not going to call you stepmom anytime soon?“ You were speechless.  "Was that all?“ He sounded rude, but he didn’t know any better in this moment.  "No“ you found your voice again.  "He didn‘t let me explain. I never said yes. I‘m not engaged, Rufus!!!!" "You‘re not??? He thought... you are and everyone said you... are you really not?" "No!! That‘s what I‘ve been trying to tell everybody! I‘m not engaged!!“ "Oh god. That man... I swear..“ he continued mumbling things that were inaudible "What do I do now?“  "umm he‘ll be at our concert... the day after tomorrow.. shepherd‘s bush..“  "I‘ll come there“ you enthusiastically announced.  "Good... maybeeeee you could get your ass up on stage for a special performance?“ he put on a silly voice, he always did this to make you laugh on tour. "Just like old times?" you could almost see the silly pout he would make, trying to give you puppy eyes.  "Ok, just like old times." You never doubted the abilities of anyone in your band and the riff that Dan created was proof enough. With the help of synthesizers, a piano part for the middle of the song was created, undoubtedly having a similar sound to the intro of 'Seven Seas of Rhye'. Intentionally of course. Bless technology you were able to send the sound samples to your other band members back in England. By midnight the track was finished. Ready to be released. And you did. At midnight the day you would meet Roger again. On your way back to England you transferred the 10.000 pounds Roger sent you, right back to him. And the headlines you‘d been avoiding started to make your phone explode.  The Sun: 'Y/N spotted drunk and alone in NYC after engagement‘ The Guardian: 'Did she say no to Josh? Here‘s why'  Daily Mail: 'New Purple Thunder song indicates Y/N had an affair all along‘ Daily Mirror: 'Y/N leaving Josh for married man?‘ You clicked through all of them. Inspected them. But thankfully no suspicion about who the song could actually be about. The day approached and it was an hour before showtime for The Darkness, but there was still no sign of Roger. You began imagining things, seeing him in the crowd as you peaked through the side stage curtains. But he wasn‘t there.  "He‘ll turn up“ Rufus stood behind you, his hand your shoulder. "My dad never lied to me. He sure won‘t start that bullshit now.“ That was Rufus, always trying to make a smile escape your lips.  The concert was almost over, when you joined them on stage for the last song and their most popular one. 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love‘. You owned the second verse and chorus and the crowd went crazy after recognizing you as special guest. It wasn‘t until  Rufus‘ drum solo that you recognized Roger looking at you in awe from the side of the stage.  Roger knew the picture in front of him just too well. Freddie always used to hype him up the way you did with Rufus. His heart swelled and he felt,it would jump out right  then and there. You bounced to the beat, head banging to the beat of the drums just like Rufus did, His messy blond hair sticking to his head. Rufus smiled at your reaction and hit the drums even harder.  Sadly, the song came to an end, but the adrenaline rush was there. Your heart was beating loudly, but seeing Roger smile proudly, clapping his hands... Boy.. you felt like having a  heart attack. He looked more handsome than ever. You bowed down with the whole band, but before you could make your way to Roger, Rufus gave you an encouraging pat on your shoulder. And as you got closer to where Roger was standing, his appearance became even more beautiful. His hair was messy, just the way you liked it. A bit ruffled. His black button-down shirt, with the top two buttons opened and blue eyes shining like the eyes of a little boy on Christmas morning. He still somehow had that boyish look and you adored it.  "Hi Rog-" He embraced you in a tight hug, the one‘d been craving since you returned to the empty penthouse.  "I‘m sorry. I didn‘t mean to make you feel that way. I should have listened. It‘s all my fault. I‘ve put everything upon you, when I shouldn‘t have. I thought you were playing me. But then again, I should have known that you would never do that. You would never do that...“ he buried his in your neck. "If I fucked it up and you never want to see me again, then I understand. But I wouldn‘t ever forgive myself for that.“  "I love you Roger“ he brought his head to your level again and there it was.  "I love you Y/N“ and your lips met. "Well that‘s new“ a surprised Justin (singer of The Darkness) caught your eye.  "Guys I’m happy for you “ he smiled was gone quickly after. "Let‘s get out of here“ Roger said quietly in a low voice, grabbed your hand and you snuck out through the back door, to his Kensington flat.  You knew you needed to talk about this whole situation again, but that could wait until tomorrow. Old scene, but a new picture. It was you and him on his massive crème couch, a movie on that was not worth watching. So youdozed off first, feeling Roger‘s arms wrapped around you, inhaling his scent. He kept playing with your hair, until he followed close behind. taglist: @oldfashionedlovergirlsblog @nicola2388

[strawbebehmod]

Fuck ironic enjoyment

as much as people on tumblr have tried to “cancel cringe culture” they‘re still endorsing it with this consuming ideologically pure content only bullshit, or the idea you can only like something “problematic” if you spend 99% of your time shitting on it.

Just stop. Stop this purity bs. While yes there is plently of shit out there with bad morals, not so great messages, or not so great to down write horrible writing, that doesn’t mean one can‘t enjoy it for what it is. People shouldn’t be made to laugh at something all the time as how they enjoy it to not be called a freak. Nothing is ever going to be 100% pure. Everything is going to have flaws and its not anyone’s right to tell someone what they can or cannot enjoy if its not hurt them and they aren‘t hurting others with it. Everything progressive now is going to be dated at best 10 years down the line. One show is not going to please everyone, and characters and worlds aren’t meant to be perfect just like real life isn‘t.

you like that villian who murders for fun? go nuts. sometimes dark humor helps soothe the soul and yeah there‘s a relatabilty to the character’s backstory. You‘re a responsible human and can tell right from wrong.

Like that anime with the cute girls being friends but that has a ton of fan service? so what. you can recognize fanservice for what it is and still enjoy cutesy girl friendships because that‘s what helps you wind down.

maybe you enjoy edgy to the point of emo dramaqueen levels? so what. sometimes you just need to revel in your overly rebelious teenage self again.

maybe you still like lol randomz jokes or toilet humor? everyone is a bit immature on the inside.

That old movie is now sexist/kinda racist but you have fond memories of it as a kid? you can still enjoy the non racist and sexist parts, and you know better now. maybe think about how the story would change if it were updated.

sometimes you just need to let yourself enjoy something for what it is. People shouldn‘t have to guilt/make fun of themselves or what they love for enjoying fictional content or characters when they can recognize the flaws. just...enjoy things. obviously don’t praise the parts of it you see as bad but denying that you enjoy something is in a sense denying yourself.

[thedawningofthehour]

<33 Thank u for all the wicked references, Fai, I flexed some of them afterwards

oh YES AIGHt the movie was an experience.

(We were watching it in German, but all the songs were in OG English with German subtitles. Characters were switching voice-actor mid-sentence, sometimes multiple times, while they talk between lyrics.)

It was also trippy af, because the song‘s German subtitles had NOTHING to do with the actual English text the characters were singing. It was like, an entirely different narrative going on in the bottom half of the screen.

During the opening scene, where the entire village sings how happy they are that the witch is dead and how they won’t cry for her, my date reacted, very loudly like: “Oh, she was their healthcare CEO“ And at the end of the song he was leaning to me whispering something like: “Bet that scene was for that CEO they shot in the US“

(It’s ok, its all good, he has big abs)

I noticed that the characters were using the wrong grammar ??? and I was like (whispering): “Am I having a seizure, or do they use gibberish words?“ and someone next to us was like “That‘s British english“

(This makes it sound like there‘s a lot of talking in German movie theaters. That is true, we talk exclusively in there)

The movie is also insanely gay?? Like more than I thought

Like at the end, when the wizard offers Elphaba a place in his castle, he says: “Oh yeah, and your girlfriend can also stay“ and Idk whatever what was happening in the bottom half of the screen for most of the time, but the subtitle translator was shipping them so hard

I loved it, 10/10 experience, defying gravity slapped so hard, the goat was precious!

I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT AND HAD A GOOD DATE. I HOPE YOU GOT THE LEVEL OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY YOU WERE EXPECTING.

Also, lmao, yeah that was basically us in the US. They're trying so hard to set him up as a dangerous terrorist while literally everyone is donning Luigi hats and going "why stop at one?" The bourgeoise should really be listening to us instead of doubling down on their bullshit, because they were just shown that we're getting to the point where they either change their shit or we break out the guillotines, and so far it looks like they're choosing guillotines.

Oh, I didn't even think about this, but the movie utilizes a lot of 'Ozian' language. It's kind of a linguistic quirk, they tend to Big Mama-fy a lot of words and make it very superfluous and silly. I imagine that's hard to get through translation.

I loved Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard, like he meets them and is immediately like "well I have two gay daughters now." He played the role very differently from a lot of Wizards I've seen, but I think he did wonderfully. (no pun intended) He was kind and dadly in a disarming way, which I think is very important for the character. He's conniving and self-serving, yes, but Madame Morrible is the real manipulator. The Wizard' is charismatic and good at presenting himself the way he wants to be seen, and he's smart enough to know what will serve him in each situation.

Soup I wasn't lying when I said this movie was everyone's gay awakening in the 2000s.

[lpninja]

There‘s one thing that genuienly pisses me off.

It‘s very obvious that I‘m trying my best to get diagnosis for Discaculia and ADHD, both diagnosis that were suspected in me in childhood but my teacher refused to write an assessment for me so I can get (medical) HELP and just wanted to send me to a special ED class where all the immigrant kids got thrown into.

I struggled for YEARS with school and university. I had no fucking help. I had to help myself, I‘m the only one who pushed myself through that fucking hell of constant reminders that I suck, that I‘m not on the level like others, that I can try and still fail. I suffered so many years from untreated chronic illnesses as well as mental illnesses until I got help for myself. I‘m fighting so much to get the diagnosis validated etc.

So it seriously pisses me off if someone says they have stuff like OCD etc., just because they don‘t like clothes on their floor.

No shit dawg, THAT‘S NOT OCD? I don‘t have OCD but I have dermatillomania and BDD, both disorders that are similar, as well as am plagued by other compulsions every day that end up with me damaging my fingernails, me destroying objects from the sheer amount of compulsion I have or I‘m literally scarring my face due to the skin picking.

You think this shit is cute and funny? I‘ve had therapy for 5 years now, I STILL do it. You think you have OCD because you don‘t like clothes on your floor?

I WISH I WAS KIDDING. They only said it because of their clothes! In what way does it disable you???

[ouranor]

I don‘t want to get my hopes up about Pokemon Legends. But dammit, they got me hook, line and sinker. I‘ve been waiting for a proper open-world Pokemon since I was a little girl and have been disappointed every single time. I dropped Pokemon when Sword and Shield came out, bc I was just done with feeding the Pokemon Company‘s greed and was actually very sad about them botching what could have been an amazing new step for Pokemon.

But the fact that there‘s only ONE game in development? Maaaaan. Maybe there‘s finally some change happening.

Here are the things that make me think this is going to be bad again:

- Release date in 2022. DON‘T. DELAY THE GAME. I REPEAT: DON‘T RELEASE THIS SO SOON.

- The surroundings look both cool and quite rough at the same time, very low-effort and empty so far and I‘m having flashbacks to Sword/Shield. People said the graphics and actual content of the wilds was going to improve. It never did in the main game. I do have hopes that this will improve though.

- The village looks extremely linear and they labeled this „your base“, aka I fear that this is going to be the only village proper in the game (please have more villages!). BotW was similar in that regard and had very underdeveloped villages.

My hopes and dreams (which I expect to be dashed, as always)

- Please don‘t pull a GameFreak and withhold things that don‘t need to be withheld. There‘s no reason to not be able to plant and care for berries, there is no reason to NOT have apricorn trees. There‘s no reason NOT to ride on the back of your pokemon. Don‘t make cool shit a game-exclusive thing. Bring all of those amazing ideas together in ONE game ffs, why is this so hard to understand. They just really do NOT want to make the ultimate Pokemon game, huh.

- Actually put some effort into the goddamn pokemon. ANIMATE THEM. SCALE THEM PROPERLY. MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO FIND THEM.

- Please just give GameFreak the time, money and resources they need to make this the same next-level game for this franchise that BotW and SMO were. Get the BotW team if you have to!

I was done with Pokemon and I don‘t give a single crap about the Snap re-coating and the Sinnoh remakes, because I have no hopes for them. Hell, I didn‘t even care about the usual „look at our past laurels and let us sell you your nostalgia instead of creating something new“ intro they made.

I‘m a grown ass woman and I don‘t want to be hopeful anymore. But dammit, Pokemon Legends got me GOOD. I‘ve not been hyped for a game since BotW. But oh my God, here we go again, against all odds.

Pokémon Presents: 2.26.2021