#Which consists of party girl film also 20 year old

[huldrabitch]

I feel like Reyes probably got a lot of hate when the game was trending, but she's one of my favorite characters. She has a kid to get back to and a ship full of young adults and red flag old men with unrealistic theories that have little fact backing them up. I would also be upset and mad when people die around me, then blindly believe the 20 year old who's actually really scared and just trying to act toughy for the benefit of the others.

[little-schonbrunn]

(Note: I did a post on this scene a while back but I decided to revisit it with additional analyses and the true script pages attached.)

Scene 82 from the original 2004 script for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006) is one of several that ended up being cut from the film. We know that it was shot thanks to several promotional stills and behind-the-scenes photographs that have surfaced over time (we got the famous photos of Kirsten smoking in costume from the shooting of this scene — one of the first glimpses we got of the production), but, unfortunately, no footage of it has ever been released.

The context of the scene is that it takes place shortly after the accession of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette (1774) and before the visit of MA’s brother, the Emperor Joseph (1777). These years, her early 20s, were marked by a growing sense of confidence, no doubt inspired by her transition from dauphine to queen consort. MA established an intimate circle of her choosing (The Private Society) in defiance of protocol, collaborated with Rose Bertin to produce various styles of dress, all far more adventurous than the traditional court styles, and threw herself into the pleasures of opéra balls, gambling houses, horse races, and the privacy of Trianon, all while attempting to produce her first child with Louis. Words like frenetic, légèreté, and hedonistic typically get thrown around by biographers when discussing MA’s behavior during this period, to highlight a sense that the queen was uncontrollably flighty and inattentive.

There is deep misogyny in the dismissal of MA as simply lightheaded and frivolous during this time. In more fair terms, this is a 20-year-old who had just gone from four years in a new, unwelcoming environment, surrounded by a cast of characters who were not exactly always desirable company, behaving from sunrise to sunset according to famously difficult etiquette practices, finding herself faulted, on a near daily basis, with her failure to conceive, and generally struggling to find her place. Now, with this burst of freedom that has come with becoming a queen consort, she has granted herself the permission to seek amusements (especially in Paris, still a virtually unexplored city to her), to enjoy playing with her appearance on her own terms, and to befriend whom she pleases.

Sofia Coppola does a wonderful job at portraying MA in this light, almost, in a modern sense, as a young girl who has just become an adult and moved out of her parents’ house and is enjoying newfound freedom.

Scene 82 would have followed the Birthday Party sequence that remains in the final cut of the film. Very significantly, it is preceded by a short insert of a pornographic libelle, of the variety that began circulating around this time (1774) that showed MA in a very unflattering light (lavish, lascivious, a tribade, etc.). This was also cut from the film, as were other inserts that show up in the original script. The libelle that the screenplay is referencing here is «Le Lever d’Aurore», which took her innocent sunrise excursion into the gardens of Versailles with friends, chaperoned by the comtesse de Noailles, and corrupted it. What was inspired by the Incan devotion to the sun and conducted in adolescent reverie (and in the film is shown as an after-party to MA’s 18th birthday), became a bacchanalia, showing MA and her friends hiding in the shrubbery of Versailles with a variety of lovers, both male and female. The insert was there to remind the audience that the public and private perceptions of MA’s lifestyle and conduct were of two very different varieties.

The fact that Scene 82 follows the inserts may be intentional, as if to suggest that the scene is not entirely accurate (in the same way that the opening shot of MA reclining in splendor and the “Let them eat cake” line are supposed to be fantasy depictions of the queen, not accurate ones).

As you can see in the script pages, Scene 82 is another gambling party that takes place in the queen’s apartments. But this one is different from the one that comes almost directly before it. The conversation, presented as Polignac entertaining MA with sordid tales of the courtiers present as well as with stories of her own sexual experiences, is much more adult and licentious than the conversation at the 18th birthday party. Louis XVI is present at the opening of the scene but retires quickly, and Lamballe is not featured, only referenced. Tom Hardy’s Rohan (not be confused with the factual cardinal de Rohan), makes an appearance, which would have been his first feature in the film, before his involvement at the later Trianon segment.

The idea here is that this intimate circle, in direct adjacency to MA, is perhaps not the most suitable for her to surround herself with, which was a constant complaint against her by those on the outside. But the sexually explicit conversation, Polignac’s morality, and the looser feeling of this party in comparison to the many others in the film may be interpreted as this scene being presented to the audience as intentionally questionable … Is this another fantasy sequence, a party thrown in as seen from the perspective of the courtiers projecting depraved, adulterous behavior at the queen and her company?

Significantly, MA is very much an observer in this scene, watching and listening but not involving herself in any reproachable behavior, which is an accurate portrayal. During the early years of the reign, she enjoyed the company (in addition to Lamballe, Polignac, and a few of her in-laws) of various older men of the court, almost all foreign and all able storytellers who regaled their young queen with stories of their experiences across the Continent. The baron de Besenval, the princes de Ligne and de Lauzun, the comte d’Esterházy, and the ducs de Coigny and de Guînes were all invited into the queen’s private apartments to entertain her with anecdotes of their travels and conquests, from Hungary to Switzerland and elsewhere through the European courts. None of them were considered suitable to be so intimate with MA according to etiquette, and she was severely faulted for this behavior by the royal court. She did not, however, ever allow herself to pass further than innocent flirtation with these men — Antonia Fraser speaks of the hysteria that MA had around her chastity. She sought the company of amusing, older men, but never in the context of adulterous behavior. They made her laugh and brought her levity, but if any of them ever crossed the line, they were very sharply and publicly reprimanded for their conduct.

One of the promotional stills for Scene 82 shows MA asleep, surrounded on all sides by men of the court, one of whom appears to be touching her. The image is another reason why perhaps this scene is supposed to walk the line between reality and fantasy … MA did surround herself with these men during her gatherings, but the physicality of the tableau suggests a bodily intimacy with these men that is definitely more in agreement with the vicious falsehoods spread by uninvited courtiers rather than historical fact. The scene feels out of place, as if the tone of this party isn’t consistent with the rest of the film — the conversation and behavior is much more extreme than anything else in Marie Antoinette, and this is perhaps intentional.

Why the scene was cut we do not know. It could have been due to pacing issues, since, with its inclusion, there would have then been two gambling parties back-to-back (which, again, may have been intentional — a more factual gambling party followed by a shocking illustration from a libelle, which is then followed by a fantasy gambling party to remark upon the different perceptions of MA’s lifestyle). It could be that the conversation was felt to be too vulgar, or at least vulgar in a way that stands out too much from the rest of the film. Or perhaps another reason entirely.

But the scene is important, as it’s a glimpse into what the public was guided to believe was the typical behavior of the queen of France, encouraged by the hands of the courtiers who were uninvited or ignored by MA.

Hopefully one day we get footage of this scene. I’m also curious if this scene was ever fully edited or if it was cut from the film before post-production was thoroughly on its way.

[this-is-spn20]

Supernatural BSM/DDM Imagine

This requested by a girl named Alex on Wattpad. As far as I know she does not have tumblr. 

This is a Supernatural Cast (mostly Matt Cohen) BSM/DDM Imagine. 

Request: maybe they have a little sister who is feeling down that they forgot her birthday….again...So her best friend Matt Cohen comes over to cheer her up..they take her to the set and surprise her with a party! 

It was also requested that the reader be 22-26 and a white female!

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Ah yes, your birthday. A day in which you knew you’d resent in a few years so you made the best out of it before that time comes. Turning 25 was a big deal to you. You consider yourself a full-on adult now. At 20 you had just moved out of your parent’s house and gotten your own place. You later in the year got an assistant job for an actor on a show you had never heard of. Supernatural. The actor was Misha Collins who plays an angel character named Castiel. At first, you were very nervous around him and you two only spoke when needed. Until eventually one day he invited you to come to have dinner with three colleagues and friends of his. Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Matt Cohen. It took you a few months, but eventually, you and the guys were amazing friends. Family really, like Jared, Jensen, Misha, and Matt all call you their little sister. 

You had gotten very close to Matt during your four years working with Misha. It always seemed that you and Matt always had this unbreakable bond, stronger than steel. You talked on the phone, facetime, had regular “dates” with him and his wife, babysitting his kids sometimes. You name it and you’ve done it with him. The guys always had something fun planned for you on your birthday. The first year of your friendship they had taken you to The Cheesecake Factory and a small camping trip for two days. The next year, they took you, along with their kids to a water park and had a huge sleepover with a giant blanket fort and all. The two years after usually consisted of small gatherings to go get dinner and movies while just generally goofing off and having fun live streams with them, getting tons of happy birthday wishes from the fandom. 

As you get in your car and drive to work you wonder what the guys have in store for you. Your eyes are focused on the road but you space out for a bit visualizing what you had to do for the day and what you’d possibly wear for the night. You see the security gates to set and pull out your ID card to the guard even though everyone on set knows you. He nods his head and says a quick happy birthday wish and you thank him as you roll through the gates. You smile as you see Cliff’s SUV and see the guys hop out. You park next to Cliff and turn off the ignition as you grab your purse. You hop out of your car and your eyes light up as bright as the sun. The guys walk up to you and each of them hugs you.

“Hey, Y/n! How are you doing on this fine morning!” Misha says as he rubs his hands together for a little more warmth. 

You pause for a second. You usually get a big ol’ group hug from the guys as they all shout “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” in your ear. But no you don’t get that today it seems. You only hope they didn’t forget your birthday again. It only happened once before but that's how you ended up with the blanket fort and movie night. They felt bad they had forgotten and bought snacks and wine to make you feel better. They promised it’d never happen again but now…

“I’m good. Say, do you know what today is?” You ask a bit sarcastically.

“It’s Monday Y/n. Are you feeling okay?” Jensen asks.

“I’m fine Jensen. I’ll see you guys whenever.” It took everything in you not to storm away. But you kept your cool and walked over to your trailer. You had your own trailer so that you’d have a quiet place to work if Misha didn’t you on set. You got in and slammed the door and immediately descended into a puddle of warm tears. You grabbed a pillow from the couch to muffle your sobs and screams. 

Little did you know the guys fully aware of you crying in your trailer. They were well aware it was your birthday. They just had to buy themselves some time to finish putting up some decorations for your party. Over the weekend Jared, Jensen, Misha, Mark Shepard, and Matt Cohen had come to the set to see if they had any old sets they didn’t use anymore and they found one! They immediately got to work with the decorations and made sure you wouldn’t find out come Monday morning. Mark was on set filming a quick scene and Matt had joined the three men soon after you walked off. 

It crushed them to hear you crying your heart out but they hoped they didn’t hurt your feelings too badly to keep the surprise. J2, Misha, and Matt all quietly walk away from your trailer before they start to speak. 

“God I can’t believe we just did that to her. God, she’s crushed, I feel so bad.” Jared commented as his head hung low. 

Jensen put his hand on Jared’s shoulder, “I know, we all feel bad. But let’s hope it’ll be worth it in a few hours. We just need to set up a few more things and wait for more people to show up. Meanwhile Matt, why don’t you take her off the set for a while and do a few things with her until we let you know you can come to the set again.”

Matt nodded his head and waved bye to the guys as they ran off to finish your surprise. As Matt got closer to your trailer door he noticed that your sobs had lessened and now had become small sniffles. Slowly Matt raised his hands to the door and knocked lightly hoping you’d hear him. You rushed to dry your tears and you opened the door with the best smile you could muster. 

“Hey, Matt! How are ya?” You said hoping he wouldn’t notice your red eyes. 

“I’m doing okay, but I can tell somethings wrong. You wanna talk about it?” He asked as he stepped inside and closed the trailer door. You immediately dropped to the couch with tears in your eyes as Matt came over to comfort you. 

“They forgot. Jared, Jensen, and Misha! They all forgot my birthday was today.” You dropped your guard completely and started crying again. Matt tried to think of something to say. He knew he had to get you off the set for most of the day but he didn’t know how.

“Well, I’m sure that…” He paused, not sure of what to say.

“You know what?” Matt said, suddenly getting an idea. “Fuck them. Let’s go have fun by ourselves today! I finished all my scenes and I assume you have no work for today. Maybe we can go hang out at a few places and make it the perfect birthday! How does that sound?”

You sniffled and looked up at Matt and smiled slowly. “A-Are you serious? Matt that’s crazy! I love it! I need to fix myself up a bit and then we can leave!” You got up from the couch and went to the bathroom to freshen up. Matt quickly texted the guys to let them know that he and Y/n would be leaving in a few minutes.

You came out of the bathroom and headed to Matt’s car. You were still a little sad but glad you’d get to have some fun with a friend on your birthday. 

Time skip brought to you because: I didn’t want to bore anyone with a shit ton of expedition. So we are skipping to the reader and Matt coming back to the set at around 7 pm.

You were in Matt’s car riding back to set because he said he needed to get a few things from his trailer. You got back to the set and it was completely dark. Even when scenes for the day have been shot there are always some lights around. You were a little scared but having Matt with you helped. You two kept walking until you noticed you weren’t anywhere near Matt’s trailer. You got a little worried until you saw bright lights near an old part of the set that’s not used anymore. Matt guided you to the set-piece and you got a little more anxious. 

Finally, as you two go inside people jump out in all directions screaming, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y/N!!!”. You were so happy and you jumped a little at the sudden surprise but you almost cried tears of joy when you noticed Jared, Misha, and Jensen standing in the middle of the red carpet that was spread out in front of you. 

“Happy Birthday kiddo!” Jensen says as he hugs you tightly. “We all worked hard to make this special for you. We hope you like it sis.” 

“Like it? I LOVE it! Thank you guys so much for this!” Jared hugged you and wiped a tear from your face, “I thought all forgot my birthday…”

“We would never forget your birthday. We just had to make you think that to pull this whole thing together! We love you kid and don’t forget that.” Misha said and then he suddenly shouted out to the DJ.

“Well, what is this, a fucking funeral?! Let's get this thing started!” At that moment the music started blaring through the speakers and everyone started dancing. 

You talked to everyone and danced, even had a few drinks with your friends. As you walked off the dance floor with Jensen you couldn’t help but notice everyone and everything around you. All the people you loved were here. Having fun and sharing memories with you on your special day. 

You couldn’t help but ask yourself….

‘How did I get so damn lucky to have this family?’

[thinking-in-symbols]

Quinquennial Life Assessment

So, it’s been a few years.  When I was 19 I posted a sort of “roadmap” for the evolution of my life on this blog.  Today I thought I’d revisit that.  I want to take a look back and see what progress I’ve made, and then in a separate post I want to turn to the future, think about how my vision for it has changed, and consider how I can reincorporate these goals into that vision.

This is the list of things I wanted to get done in varying time frames.  I’ve crossed off the things I’ve done to get a sense of my progress:

1 year:

At 19, my hopes were to accomplish the following things by age 20:

- Joined, and consistently participated in, at least 2 campus organizations that suit my interests, at least 1 of which should be competitive in nature - well, I joined the ISO and KVRX, my college radio station!  Neither of those were competitive, but in retrospect I don’t really care about that :-)

- Made concrete plans to study abroad - Nope, unfortunately I never did this.  I’m not quite sure I regret that, all things considered - I traded that experience for other things.  I did make plans to spend a few months abroad of my own accord, and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling global pandemic.  But as it stands I haven’t done this.

- Learned C++ and python to proficiency - Hm.  “Proficient” is a relative term.  But I think I have a tendency to downplay my skills, so in the interest of counteracting that I’m going to count myself as “proficient” in these languages.  I think that’s fair.

- Gone on at least a several day road trip with at least 1 friend - I’ve gone on several trips with @meeshbug​, my very lovely girlfriend and best friend in the world :-)

- Decided on a concentration beyond the extremely vague umbrella of “computer science” - Unfortunately as far as my education is concerned I never really did this.  If anything my interests have *broadened* rather than becoming more focused.  More on this later...

- Made meaningful, ongoing contributions to an open-source project - You know what?  I’ve published the source of everything I’ve ever made, and I’ve gotten to the point where I can make stuff that’s not trivial.  So I’m giving myself credit for this one.

- Learned to cook enough meals to eat in most days and not get sick of my own food - I wish.  I’ve learned to cook a fair amount of stuff but I still get way too depressed and lethargic to apply that consistently.  Whether I consider myself to have achieved this honestly depends on the month.

- Learned to keep my living area clean - I’m much better at this than I was at 19, but at 19 I could barely clear a path to walk across my room.  So there’s more work to do.  More on these last two later.

- Gotten a pet - Meesh and I have a dog named Courage (after the dog of cowardly fame) and a cat named Jax!

2 years:

- Independently written a piece of software to completion and deployed it publicly - I’ve always pretty bad at actually seeing projects through to completion, but I do have a few full, independent projects under my belt at this point.  I’ve built a simple game engine, a pathtracer, plugins for games I like, and some other stuff.

- purchased and begun regularly using some basic amateur radio equipment - Ah man.  I got my license but I still haven’t gotten any equipment.  I guess I have to get on that...

- purchased and begun experimenting with some basic music recording equipment - This one I’ve done, but I haven’t done as much experimenting as I’d like.

- hosted a party - I did this for my 21st birthday and it’s one of my favorite memories!  Honestly this was probably the last time I had all my really close friends in one place.  I’m actually getting kind of emotional about that.

- done some kind of hallucinogen - I have now done this.  I definitely did get something out of it, albeit not what I expected.  This is something I actually only did pretty recently and it’s still having a pretty profound effect.  Maybe I’ll write a separate post about this.

- Gone camping with friends - Despite my best efforts, this hasn’t happened yet.  Pretty fucked up.

3 years:

- learned to play another instrument besides the piano (guitar?) - I don’t feel comfortable crossing this one off quite yet, but I went ahead and bought myself some guitar equipment and have been messing around with it lately :-) I think I’m going to have to bite the bullet and pay for lessons if I’m serious about this, which I am.

- Written and recorded a song - Damn, I can’t believe it’s been 5 years and I haven’t even done this.

- Met a group of people I can play music with - nope

- Owned a leather jacket.  I can’t believe I’ve still never even owned a leather jacket - I’ve done this and wore it frankly too much.  Kinda cringe.

- Worked as a professional software developer - Yep!  Worked as a software developer for a retail company for a couple years.  I’m actually not working as a software developer right now, though; I’m working in a sort of adjacent position.  More on this later.

- Participated in research related to my field - That’s pretty ambitious.  Not sure I’ll ever do this, unfortunately.  But we’ll see.

- Been to a film festival - Oh shit, I totally forgot about having written this.  That’s a cool idea.  I should do this, it’s not like it’s hard (well, at least in principle.  I guess covid kind of changes the situation).

- Gotten a dog - Courage is one of those, I think, although he might also be part rat.

- collected 50 records - Lol, my dumb ass really thought I was going to buy $1,000 worth of records on college money.  No, I haven’t done this, but I’m on my way there.

- Purchased a desktop computer - Well, my dad gave me his old desktop.  That’s not really a purchase but I think it counts.

5 years:

- Begun accepting freelance development gigs - haven’t gotten here yet and I’m not totally sure this is a direction I want to go in my career.  Freelancing has its own stressors as I’ve come to learn from others.  No career path is sunshine and roses and I’m trying to internalize this fact.

- Participated in a student film - Nope.  I don’t even know why I wrote this down to be honest.

- Gotten laid by solving a 5x5 Rubik’s Cube in front of a girl because surely that’s gonna have to work on someone eventually, otherwise I wasted a lot of time - These are getting weird.  Surely I didn’t really expect this to happen, right?  Well, either way I now have a long-term girlfriend, so I don’t - wait, Meesh has seen me solve a Rubik’s cube and she saw it before we started dating.  So actually I’m going to give myself credit for it.  I’m the one who makes the rules here.

- Fleshed out my political opinions - Yes, I now know everything about politics and can answer 100% of questions on political issues.  Just kidding.  But I know where I stand.

- Participated in a protest or some other kind of political event - Done!  Went to a few protests as part of the ISO, participated in lots of their events, and attended some protests with friends as well.

- Studied abroad - Nope :-/

- Learned a language other than Spanish - I took a semester of French!  But I don’t quite want to give myself credit for this one because I really would like to learn a different language to something resembling fluency.

- Run a marathon - Lmao.  I am in much worse shape now than I was when I wrote this post, and even at that time I could probably do like 7 miles if I really pushed myself.  How sad.

- Gone hiking outside of texas - This is weird because I’d literally already done this when I wrote this post.  But I’ve done it more since then, so hey!

- Been out of the country with a friend - This I had also already done.  I guess the point is to have done it without “adult supervision” or whatever.  I haven’t done this since writing this list so I guess I have to leave it uncrossed.

10 years:

- Lived with a girl for an extended period of time - Meesh 🥰

- Spent at least 6 months living on the road in an RV, preferably with a dog and a girl - God, I am so close to being able to do this.  I don’t want it to be an RV anymore - those things are expensive.  But a van?  Still pricey, but doable, especially if I’m willing to sacrifice some comfort.  This has actually been front-of-mind for a while.  I’ll let you know when I get the balls to pull the trigger.

- Started making Real Money - Well, yep, I have gotten to that point.  I do have other thoughts on this, though.  Money is weird, man.

- Lived in a long-term living space outside of Texas (i.e. not including RV time) - How long is long-term?  Three months?  If so, I’ve done this by living in Boston with Meesh for a few months after she went there for law school.  However, I anticipate staying there much longer in the near future, so I’ll wait on this crossing this one off.

- Written a book about something, idk - Not yet.  I’m halfway to the deadline on this one and I have some ideas, but ideas aren’t worth all that much, especially to me, who rarely sees them through.  We’ll see where this goes.  It’s not exactly a priority and historically I struggle to get even my priorities done.  It might make more sense to replace this with recording a concept or narrative album, for which I also have ideas that I happen to take more seriously.

- Learned to solve a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Gotten laid by solving a 6x6 Rubik’s Cube - nope

- Lived in an apartment where I pay all the rent - Yes!  :-))) We love independence

- Earned an advanced degree (this one’s iffy) - This hasn’t happened, and whether it will ever happen is something I’ve been thinking a lot about.  I sort of decided half-way through college that I would be totally burned out on school by the time I graduated.  But in retrospect it takes way less time to burn out on work than it does to burn out on school, and grad degrees are a different kind of thing.  So it’s worth revisiting.’

- Given a best man speech (Sam, this means you have to get married within the next 10 years.  Good luck out there.) - Holy shit, Sam, you maniac, you actually did it!  Sam got married back in 2019 and I gave his best man speech! It’s another one of my favorite memories :-) 

- Gone on a cruise with someone I’m dating - Hmm, not yet.  I’ve gone on cool trips, but none on a boat.  Maybe that’s something to aim for after the pandemic passes :-)

Retrospective:

1yr: Completed: 5/9

More than half isn’t bad!  I’m not gonna worry too much about whether I got these things done within their assigned “time-frame”.  I’m a procrastinator in my heart and I don’t see any reason to put that kind of pressure on myself.  The point is, they got done.  That’s enough for me.

The things I did best in in this category were academic things, and things to do with relationships.  I’m proud of the academic achievements, I really feel like doing them has increased my belief in myself and my sense that I’m good at the thing I’ve spent the last four years studying.  And of course, I am so happy to be in a loving, fulfilling relationship that brings so many good things into my life.  I almost feel like the things I accomplished sort of fell into my lap - of course I’m gonna do programming stuff as a programming student, and getting pets / going on road trips are things I did as a result of my relationship with Meesh.  I don’t say that to downplay the accomplishments, but I do think it’s worth noting.

The things I haven’t done are more to do with personal development, which is disappointing.  I would like to be able to say, 5 years down the road, that I’ve done the personal development I expected to do in just a single year, but maybe that’s a lot to expect.  These are problems I’ve dealt with my whole life.  I think what this means is that I can’t expect everything to fall into my lap.  Those things are going to take real concerted effort to change.  I’m not quite sure how to go about that, though.

2yrs: Completed: 4/6

Two-thirds!  Even better!

Lots of these are one-time accomplishments, not so much long-term commitments to personal development.  The good news is, I did them, and I think those resulted in some development in their own right :-)

Again, though, the things I didn’t do so well are the things that require long-term, concerted effort.  For instance, while I crossed off the one about experimenting with music, it’s really only the initial investment that I’ve really done at this point.  It remains to be seen whether I’ll be able to follow through on the commitment to actually experiment and learn.

3yrs: Completed: 4/10

This category also follows the same pattern I’ve noticed with the last two.  The other thing I’m noticing is that so, so much of my effort over the past few years has been going towards developing a very particular skill: programming / computer science.  Music and art are so important to me, but I’ve done very little real development in those areas.  I mean, I’ve done some.  But not as much as I would have hoped for half a decade.

5yrs: Completed: 4/10

This is getting a little more fun because less of my goals have to do explicitly with my degree.  I’m starting to think beyond college, which is good, because the stage of life I’m in right now requires me to start thinking about the kind of life I want to build now that I’m done with school.  Also, I’m at the deadline for this one right now!  So this is a particularly interesting category because it really shows where I thought I’d be by this time.

The goals I accomplished in this timeframe are, again, mostly things I’ve done through my relationship, but politics also feature pretty prominently on this part of the list.  I spent a lot of time reading and researching political issues during college and really did look for ways to participate.  I honestly made politics a pretty big part of my identity over the last 5 years, and I think it will stay that way forever, but I’ve gotten to the point where I think I need to devote less of my mental energy to knowing more.  I know what I need to know.  It’s time to think about other things.

10yrs: Completed: 4/11 (and counting!)

There’s some career stuff in this section that I’ve been able to do, which is good news.  I’ve always been scared about entering the working world.  All things told, it’s gone more smoothly than it could have.  But I also have lots of lingering doubts about what I want to do in the long term.  So one of the most pressing goals I should aim for is to resolve those doubts.

Ultimately, I have a lot of time left, and I’m not even done with this time frame, so I’m not gonna spend much time dissecting the things I haven’t done.  What I’ll do instead is say that while I didn’t do everything on this list, I feel proud of the things I have accomplished.  I said when I first wrote this list that it’s sometimes hard for me to feel that my life is moving in any particular direction, and I’m still feeling like that five years later, to be honest.  But looking back on these things has helped me see that I actually am making progress in my life.  Not in all the ways I want to, but that’s OK.  There’s still time.

In the next couple days I want to come back to this and reorganize this list into an updated set of goals, for the same time frames.  Maybe that will help me think through exactly what it is I want out of the next five-ten years, with the benefit of having analyzed the things that I did and didn’t do well over the previous five.

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Matchup ♥

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Hi!! First of all I’d like to congratulate you guys on your 1000+ followers!! It’s a massive milestone and I’m so happy and proud of you guys for it!! Admittedly I’ve only just found your blog but after hours of scrolling through it I can honestly say that I truly admire the work you put into every one of your requests and fics!! You guys deserve this a lot xx

I’d like to request a match-up for Haikyuu (all male characters) if you guys don’t mind!! Also hopefully the description isn’t too long!! :’)

I’m a 20-year-old Leo girl who’s studying Biomedical Engineering and Arts (with an English major!!) in Sydney. I used to be a guitarist in a high school band and am in general more of an independent individual than a leader/follower.

Physically I’m short with a generally small frame, and have naturally curly hair (though I’ve straightened the top half now!!) dyed a dark rose-pink/brownish color with loose eyebrow-length side bangs on either side curling outwards!! I tend to have softer features and my eyes are on the smaller side HAHHAHAH. My wardrobe basically consists of black, white, brown and beige with lots of jeans, boots and belts and almost no dresses ahahahah. (tbh my icon is me so yall can reference that but I usually have my hair let down ahahahh)

I’m a shy person but some of my friends say I exude a quiet confidence HAHAHHAH. Other ways my friends/family have described me include: smart, kind, awkward, cute, determined, hardworking, creative and being a happy virus. I generally do well in my studies and am particularly good in Physics and English! I do have my flaws tho, I can be too playful at times to the point where it accidentally gets someone hurt, I’m usually running late, I have terrible mood swings and I can be selfish or a little too competitive at times (especially towards my younger siblings unfortunately). Also I’m basically the most indecisive person ever!!

I love writing but I have a problem with not knowing when to stop and hence tend to go beyond word limits. I write well in both creative and academic writing though! I also love spending time with my dogs, napping/playing with them etc. I tend to work out quite a lot and I particularly love cycling! I love being up early and generally don’t mind waking up early but I like my mornings quiet and calm as I enjoy my breakfast hahahhah! But I also tend to stay up till very late at night so I truly am lacking a lot of sleep. I tend to spend a lot of time in my room and I like it that way but I love fun social events like parties and weddings (I’m not sure why??). I love cartoons/animated films a lot idk why but they give me a sense of relief from all my stress and they just make me feel good after watching them?? I also love creating random customized stuff like designing a birthday cake for my brother or creating a specialty dish for Mother’s Day- things like that. Things I don’t like include: loud noises, inconsiderate people, snails, being looked down upon, judgemental and close-minded people, presentations in front of large crowds and chocolate (sorry!!).

Some aesthetics of mine include: the colors of fall, comfy knitted sweaters, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked bread, apple-scented objects, the fresh air on the top of a hill at the end of a hike, the wind in your face as you cycle down a hill, receiving or giving a customized gift, glass/transparency, deep ideas, hugging a dog (most furry animals), being in the middle of a bustling city, the sound of rain in the middle of the night, the serenity at dawn, wrapped up in your blanket watching your favorite tv show at night, getting work done at a cafe, the satisfaction having completed all your responsibilities, the way cereal and biscuits melt in your mouth after being soaked in milk for some time, hugs, doves being the symbol of peace and freedom, nyc apartments and theme parks.

My favorite food include pumpkins, Marie biscuits, cereal, artisan bread, almond milk, eggs with runny yolks, tomatoes, brocolli, mushrooms, bibimbap, sashimi salads, deli sandwiches, bruschetta, prawn dumplings, tiramisu, tangerines and flat rice noodle soups. My favorite books include Looking For Alaska by John Green and the Fire and Flood series by Victoria Scott. My favorite movies are Pitch Perfect (1&2 were good but 3 was kinda disappointing), The Devil Wears Prada, Wreck-It-Ralph, Inception, Enchanted, Kiki’s Delivery Service, the new Jumanji movies and Little Women. My favorite artists are One Direction and the kpop group Pentagon, which are basically the only two fandoms I’m apart of (if you don’t consider the 1D boys having 5 separate fandoms) and fandom life is a big part of who I am hahhahah. Oh! The Marvel fandom too as I absolutely adore Tony Stark and hence RDJ hahahah! My favorite TV Show is Friends (cliche I know) but also some animated series ahahhahh.

Have an amazing day!! xx

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Hello @ehlipses​ and thank you so much! I am so so so happy you like our work, it means a lot to us! And I sincerely hope you enjoy the boy I paired you up with!

>Admin 𝕋

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𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽...

Okay so, I feel as though Semi would be perfect for you! Admittedly when I saw that you played guitar in high school, I immediately knew that Semi would be very attracted to that, thinking he and you could definitely bond with music, and playing instruments. It would such a cute sight to behold! But on another not, he will be incredibly impressed that you are studying engineering, along with and English major! I see Semi as one who will be attracted to someone who is smart and independent, someone who can take care of themselves, and is more of a leader than a follower, yet would rather be an individual and not deal with labels. And you fit the bill to a T!

For appearance, I feel as though Semi would absolutely love you rhair! Like it won’t show in his face, but he would stare at it and just think that he wants to touch, to run his fingers through it, like all the time. It would become some sort of relaxation thing for him, especially before games to play with your hair! It would so freaking cute! And along with the style and the color of it? Yeah this boy would just love it; it would make him want to dye his own hair to make it cool like yours! Semi would love this soft look you have going on, and don’t think bad about your small eyes; Semi will think that just adds to your unique features, makes you different from the rest of the people he has met and known. It is what makes you, you and he will love it very much! And has for your style, he would be very appreciative of it, only because it is so cohesive! I feel as though Semi is a great sense of style and could see someone who also has a good sense of style and really appreciate it, and if you were the one with it? Well, that would just further his infatuation with you!

Semi will love how the things you love mostly line up with his! He loves writing music and he loves that you write as well, in the other sense! Semi would have this idea of where he writes a piece of music, and then he will ask you to write a story based around the music he produced! It would be such a cute thing between the two of you! Semi also likes to workout and would love to exercise with you, and have you show him how to cycle properly! He thinks it would be a great way to get closer to you, and just see how much cuter you could get to him! He will understand the feel of waking up early for some quiet time, though I see Semi as more of a person that would sleep in, he would enjoy your routine while he sleeps lolol. Your ambivert attitude would really intrigue Semi, how you can just spend endless hours in your room to going to social events and not have your energy drained would amaze him, seeing as I think Semi would tend to stay away from big crowds. He would be drawn to that brightness you have! Semi will like how crafty you are with your hands, going from baking a cake for your mom, to creating cuisines for special events. He will think those are great characteristics for someone, and would be glad to it is you that has it! 

Semi also doesn’t like inconsiderate people, or judgemental and close minded people, so if you don’t like them and he doesn’t like them, it would be something you two can definitely bond on! I don’t see Semi being afraid of snails, but I see him thinking that it is extremely cute that you are afraid of them! He might tease you with one so be careful!

As for your aesthetics, I feel as though Semi will like all of them! Not necessarily because he likes all of them, but because all of them would remind him of you. From comfy knitted sweaters to the New York vibes, he would these things, feel these things, taste these things, and will automatically think about you. He won’t be able get you out of his head! And he would be okay with that, because that’s what he wants, to know you, think about you, love you, and be with you. Along with all the food you like to the fandoms you are in, he would be very supportive in what you like, in what you are interested in because all he is interested in is to see you happy with whatever you love, with whatever makes you interested in life, what makes you happy. And he would help in anyway he can, to make you just as happy!

[shawn-mendes-post]

Aftermath

A/N: Chapter 2 of Just Friends. I don’t own anything. 

VMAs Recap: (Y/N) is not a little girl; she is a woman with many males wanting her. 

This year there were many good performances. However, (Y/N) took the show and left us wanting more.  If you do not know who she is, then let me brief you. 

She was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1997.  She comes from a line of prestige doctors.  It came out a surprise when she would not follow the same path as all her members in the family.  She would follow her best friend, Shawn Mendes, on tour.  Things would heat up with their friendship as people began to speculate romance was blooming. However,  it came to a stop when Shawn and Camila were spotted kissing. 

Their friendship is unknown because the two are no longer spotted together. (Y/N) was busy filming in a tv show and writing songs while Shawn was doing a collab with Camila. 

Next, we hear about (Y/N) is her new single Hands to Myself.  Fans went wild and could not believe sweet (Y/N) could be so....sexy.  She would perform the song at the VMAs. 

She gave Shawn a run of his money with an alluring performance. She wore a seductive dress that showed off her curves.  Hair curled down her shoulders, perfectly framing her heart-shaped face. She even had a male dancer dance with her. The dancer was all over her, and she was all over him.  The two were both joined by another male dancer, and the performance was Hot. Hot. HOT.  

Overall, it was an outstanding performance, and I cant wait to see what she does next. Watch out for my next article about the timeline of Shawn's and (Y/N)'s relationship. 

***

(Y/N) stared at the article, rolling her eyes at how they had to mention Shawn. "Why must people keep focusing on our friendship. I don't even know what goes on in his life anymore," she complains, flipping the french toast.  

Her agent sent the article after the VMAs. He wanted to let her know how everyone loved her performance. He also wanted to check up on her since she has a movie shoot soon. 

(Y/N) finished making her breakfast before she sat down to eat.

 Her plate consisted of fluffy, warm, french toast with glazed strawberries, topped with powdered sugar giving off a heavenly look.

 A side of bacon and eggs with a soft biscuit landed on another plate. Her stomach grumbles before she digs in, not having anything since yesterday. 

Agent 

Don't forget to go to the shooting of the movie.  Also, you have an interview tonight.

Groaning, she gets up and gets ready for the day. 

***

Shawn was hungover because he could not get his mind off of (Y/N). After seeing her at the VMAs, it brought back memories of the two. 

"Shawn!" A 4-year-old (Y/N) yelled, running towards him in her Halloween costume. He lets out an "oof," as she wraps her arms around him. He laughs, patting her back, hoping she would let him go. 

She lets go, glancing at his costume and lets out a squeal. " My prince Eric," she said, dreamily. He rolls his eyes, not understanding why she even had a crush on a cartoon character.  "Yeah, yeah," grumbles, blushing as he sees her Ariel costume.  She was wearing the pink ball gown that he mentioned he liked. 

"Ready?" He asked, holding out his arm for her to take. Nodding, she wraps her arm around his, following their parents out the door. They spent a couple of hours of trick or treating and having fun with each other. 

After, they went to Shawn's house, having a little party. The kids were sent to Shawn's room. Shawn dumped all his candy on the floor and (Y/N) did the same thing, giggling as she sees all the different types of candy. 

The two would swap candies and munch on them, watching a movie on his bed. Time passes, and the parents come in to see (Y/N) head-on Shawn's chest and his arms wrapped around her waist. Both were peacefully sleeping, and the parents took a picture of the two. 

***

Shawn stared at (Y/N) with lovely eyes, finding her the perfect girl. " I will marry you, " the 7- year-old told her. She laughs and shakes her head, " oh Shawnny, we are too young. Maybe when we turn 20. Hopefully, I will be on my way to becoming a doctor, and you are on your way as a famous actor."

Shawn shakes his head, not liking the wait, "let's get married today," making her eyes widened. A chock caught their attention as they see Shawn's parents. Both of them were frozen, not knowing what to say. 

(Y/N) tilts her head, thinking about what Shawn said, and then nodded her head rapidly. " Okay, Can we?" She turns to Shawn's parents making them snap out of their state, looking at both of the kid's pleading face, debating on what to say to the two hopeful kids, before nodding their heads. 

***

The next day the two kids were in the backyard. (Y/N) was wearing a white gown that went to her ankles. Shawn was wearing a tux that made him uncomfortable. 

The two were not able to see each other, and that made it difficult for things to get done. The two would sneak away to meet up with each other, and just spend time together. The parents would have to find the kids and separate them. 

Later, (Y/N) was walking towards Shawn, smiling excitedly. Shawn was glad he was marrying his best friend. Their eyes connect, and both of them could not look away.  It was time for them to exchanged vows. 

"Shawn, you are my best friend and will be forever. I would follow you to the moon and back. I promise I will always be there for you, Shawn. "

"(Y/N) you are amazing.  I want to stay by your side no matter what. I can not see my life without you. I will be your best friend forever."

Then Shawn places a Ring Pop on her ring finger, remembering what his father said.  Then (Y/N) did the same to him before she leans and kisses his cheek, blushing as she pulls away. The parents cheer as pictures, and a video was taken of the two. 

***

Shawn stared at himself in the mirror with tired, dry, and red eyes. His hair was a mess, and that was unusual for him. He knew he should try and talk to her, but after the last encounter, he thought it was best to leave her alone.

But he missed her. He missed her so much that he couldn't even stop his tears when he thinks about her. The smell of her hair because she uses a specific type of shampoo.  The way her eyes lit up when she would see him. A smile always on her lips or the way she giggles at everything he says. "I miss her," he mumbles, placing a hand on the mirror. 

A 15- year-old Shawn was sitting on the couch, running his hand through his hair. He was waiting for (Y/N) and her family to come over for Chrismas, the yearly routine. 

He was clutching the gift he wrapped poorly in his hands, wondering if she will like her gift. 

He spent countless months saving up for her gift because he wanted to make things perfect for her. 

He knew he was busy after he signed the record deal, but he wanted to be there for (Y/N). 

Knock. Knock.

Fumbling, he stands up, cheeks flared, as he hears his family chucking. Opening the door, he was left breathless when his eyes meet hers. 

She was standing in front with a big gift in her hands, perfectly wrapped with a big bow resting on the top. 

"Hi," she said, softly blushing when she saw how handsome he looked. "Hi," he replied, grinning stupidly, not noticing her family.

"Ugh, get a room," her little brother said, disgusted at how they were acting, making the two tomato red in the face as they cough awkwardly. 

Everyone enters the living room, but Shawn takes (Y/N) to his room. 

The two teens sat on Shawn's bed, five feet apart, glancing away from each other. There was a pregnant silence since the teens did not know what to say. "I got-" the two started, but stopped when they realize the other was talking. 

" I got you a gift," she mumbled, shyly giving him the gift in her hands. He carefully unwraps the gift. He opened the box to see different items in there. He took out a pair of fluffy, slippers.  " You need a pair when you go on tour. "

Smiling, he gets the next item, which was wrapped chocolate chip cookies. " I know you love my baking. "

The next item was a jar with notes. Some envelopes read "open when..." making him curious about what they say. 

There were pictures of the two for him to keep when he goes on tour and to have something to remember her since she wouldn't be with him because she was going to study to become a doctor. 

"It's wonderful,"  he kisses her cheek. " I got you something too," he said, giving her the gift. 

She unwraps it, slowly opening the box before she lets out a gasp.  An elegant, silver locket with a vintage moonstone stone set in the center,  framed Victorian floral in an antiqued silver color, laid in the small little box. 

" I can't take this," she says breathlessly, shaking her head. She tried to push the box to him, but he shakes his head. 

" I want you to have it. You mean the world to me (Y/N) and want you to know," he whispers, opening the locket to show a tiny picture of the two smiling. (Y/N) stares into his eyes, tears sliding down her face, slowly leaning closer to Shawn's face. 

Their lips touch in a light kiss, making both of them nervous. 

He places a hand on her waist, brings her closer to him, the other hand on her neck, tilting her head more. (Y/N) has one hand on his thigh as the other is running through his curls, whimpering at his touch. 

Her hand on his thigh rises up and down till becoming dangerously close to his crotch. Shawn's breath gets heavier, heart beating rapidly, blood rushing through his ears, making him pull away from (Y/N). The two were a blushing mess as they breathed heavier than normal. 

"Wow," she said after a while of silence. Shawn chuckles before running his fingers through her hair. " Your right, wow." 

He wanted to kiss her again, and he would if she didn't pull away from him. "We shouldn't have done that," she said, getting up and looking at him fearfully. " Why not?" He asked because it hurt him that she regretted it. 

" I don't want to ruin our friendship, Shawn. We can't be together because you are becoming famous and I'm just me. You are just going to leave me for someone prettier and richer than me. We should stay friends because of the uncertainty of life," she explained, not wanting to but knowing her family would disapprove of them being together. 'You must focus on becoming a doctor,' her mom told her. 'I know we thought it was cute when you were little, but you're not anymore,' her father said about her crush on Shawn. 

Shawn sat motionless, countless thoughts running through hid head before he nods his head. "I understand (Y/N). However, I want you to know I would never leave you for another girl. You are the bewitching girl in the world. It was a heat of the moment," he lied through his teeth. 

"SHAWN! (Y/N)!" Women voiced was heard through the walls. The two teens rushed towards the living room to join everyone else. 

***

Shawn sighs, tired of his confusing feelings. He loves Camila, and she makes him feel alive. But she wasn't (Y/N). He couldn't just mope anymore. He had things to do. He had songs to write. 

***

(Y/N) was off the stage, running her fingers down her off the tight shoulder dress. 

She didn't want to wear something that would bring too much attention.

She was currently a guest on Jimmy Fallon's show to help with the True Confession between John Mulaney and Pete Davidson, two of her favorite comedians. 

" First we are going to need another player, we found a great one you know from Stranger Things, American Horror Story and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, she is also a singer you know well (Y/N) (L/N)!'

(Y/N), gets in motion, she spins, across the stage coming to a stop, and pose.  

She laughs, the audience hollers, at what she did, " coming in hot!" 

Pete was clapping as he watches her impress everyone. His eyes trailed down to see what she was wearing, and he silently admitted she was stunning. 

" Here is how it works. In front of us are two envelopes with confessions. One confession is true, and the other is a lie. Once you read your confession, the other players have 60 seconds to interrogate you, and they have to guess if you are lying or telling the truth." 

(Y/N) nods, grabbing the coffee cup, take a sip, holding back a gag at the taste. " Don't drink that. It's a prop," Jimmy said, shaking his head, trying to reframe from laughing. 

" I had them place coffee in the cup, but I don't like this coffee," she mumbled, making a silent reminder to go to Starbucks after this. 

" John, you go first. Pete, what envelope should John open." 

Pete nods as he points to his envelope and then to John's. " Mine or his?" He asked, laughing. 

" His," Jimmy and (Y/N) said in sync.

" Oh, number two," Pete chuckled out. 

" This could be a lie or the truth. We don't know."

John picks up the envelope, "alright." He then opens the envelope, wondering what is going on. "Are we doing this correctly?" 

" Is this mine or his?" Pete asked, curiously. 

" His," (Y/N) mutters, stares at John, she had an idea of John's, tell when he lies.  

" Who am I talking about? You?" John asked, looking at Jimmy. The audience laughs at how they are questioning the game.

 " You talking about you. " 

" Do you get it?" 

" I should read the email." Everyone laughs as Pete covers his mouth.

John clears his throat before speaking, " my neighbor was arrested by the FBI for being a cannibal. "  

" What?" A few scattered laughs were heard. (Y/N) smiles already knew the answer. 

" What year was this?" 

" 2013," John said, sipping on the drink. 

" So cannibalism illegal at this point. " 

" So wait… is this L.A?"

" New York." 

Jimmy and Pete looked at each other and come to the same conclusion. 

"The FBI got involved, but how did you know?  They asked you questions?" Jimmy asked, needing more information. 

" Uh, when the FBI were swarming our lobby and arrested the guy at 6:00 am a raid. 

" Was there any clue he was suspicious or anything?"

" No, he never said to me in the elevator, "Guess what? I might be a cannibal."  (Y/N) watches the interaction between the three, laughing at them. The buzzer rings, and it was time to guess. 

" I say no cause if it was in L.A, I would believe it. "

" I'm going to say its false. "

They turn to (Y/N), and she smiles innocently. " I am going to say it is true." 

" It's true." 

"What! No!"

John then explains the story to everyone. 

It is Jimmy's turn, and he opens up the envelope, silently reading to himself.

" You sure? Two is pretty good." "I like one."

" I once went for a beer with a musician and woke up in a hotel in Nashville.

"Where did the evening start?" "New York."

" Yes. It's true. " Everyone laughs at Pete's declaration. John and (Y/N) agree with Pete, nodding their heads. They begin to ask uninterested questions to fill in the time. The buzzer goes off, and all three said it was true.

" Pete, it is your turn, and (Y/N) will be picking the envelope. " " I pick one."

" Lorne Michaels and I went to Jamaica together on a vacation for New Years," Pete said, trying to not laugh. "

John made a face, not believing what Pete said. "I want that to be a lie. " The three would spend the rest of the time asking Pete questions.

"I want it to be true, but I'm saying no. " " Not true." (Y/N) stares into Pete's eyes, making him laugh. " It is true," she said. " It's true," Pete admitted.

" I am terrible at this game," Jimmy said, getting up from his seat. (Y/N) had her head held high, smirking when she knew how good she was?

" Now, it is (Y/N)'s turn.  I pick two. "

(Y/N) nods, picking up the envelope, trying to remember what it said. She reads it silently before going deathly pale. She forgot she wrote this, but knew she could not change it now.

" I once had a wedding and got married to Shawn Mendes," she told them, silently wishing she was somewhere else. Screams could be heard in the audience, and that made (Y/N) more nervous.

"How old were you?"

" I was six. "

" Where was it?"

" Umm, I think in the backyard of Shawn's home."

" Did you have a real wedding?"

" Not really, we were pretending that we were getting married. I mean, we were only kids back then. "

" Were your families happy?"

" I think so. I knew Shawn's parents were, but mine, I don't know.

The buzzer went off, and it was time for them to guess. " I am going to say no," Jimmy said, staring at her to figure something out. " I think it is true," John and Pete said.

" It's true," she mumbled, cheeks flushing as the crowd hollers. " WHAT!"

" I was six, and he was seven.  We saw a movie about two people getting married and spending the rest of their lives together. He wanted to marry me, and we came up with a kid's wedding. Our parents planned it out for us. There is a video of the whole thing. I'm pretty sure its somewhere in our family things.

" Our thanks to John Mulaney, Pete Davidson, and (Y/N) (L/N)!"

(Y/N) waves before getting up with Pete. She was being interviewed after John, so she was going to wait in the dressing room.

[serendipitous-magic]

Any HCs for older (30s/40s) / married byler? :)

Yes! And most of them are blatantly self-indulgent (don’t look too closely at Mike’s career path, I swear it’s not just me projecting), and I’m not even sorry. :) Let’s gooooo!

(Also, note: I took this in a very fluffy domestic direction, so sorry if anybody was really hoping for some NSFW HCs or wedding HCs or something like that - although I might be convinced to expand on that another time. ;) )

-As a young couple in their 20s they lived in a typical shitty apartment near where they went to college, but now as they’re getting more established and their careers are picking up, they’ve moved into something more similar to a townhouse / condominium in the city where they work. They don’t need an entire house, really, and besides, they’re usually not a huge fan of suburbia. If they did have a house, it would probably be one of those small-ish houses near the outskirts of the city - you know the type I mean. Lots of renovation expenses because it’s so old, but unique and cozy enough that it makes up for the hassle. I do tend to picture them in more of a townhouse/condo situation, though.

-Speaking of careers, they both got into something creative. Neither of them at all wanted to work in any type of office environment. Will fought tooth and nail to make a living with his art, which has made for some rough spots financially, but now that they’re getting through their 30s and into their 40s, it seems like it’s finally starting to even out and become more reliable as a source of income. He may do concept art for movie / TV / video game studios, he may do comic illustrations, he may do commissions, maybe a combination. 

-Mike, meanwhile, leaned into his passion for storytelling and his leadership skills - but I feel like Mike would wander in a couple different directions with that. Trying out this path, then this one - less of a cohesive, driven career path than Will’s, just trying things until he landed on something he really liked. Maybe he dabbled in computer engineering in college for a while (see: Mike’s nerdy mini-conversation with Bob about programming languages), decided that wasn’t quite for him, tried some creative writing classes, some film studies. Maybe he was a high school history or language arts teacher for a few years after college, what with his caring and nurturing instincts, his nerdiness, his leadership skills, his passion for stories (LotR, Star Wars, and D&D, anyone?), etc. But that probably wasn’t quite for him. Eventually, after having storytelling hobbies for most of his life, he starts integrating that into his career kind of on accident - and that’s when he hits on what he actually likes doing for a living. He consistently writes short stories on the side and submits them to magazines for publication. Maybe he uses something like commercial writing/directing as a stepping-stone, making heartfelt hit-you-in-the-feels and funny-memorable commercials for shitty instant coffee and cotton tee shirts, and that block on his resume is what gets him into The Business for real. From there it’s small-time TV  studios, sitting in a writers’ room hunched over cold coffee cups, chattering with a table full of other creatives about plot twists that will air on local stations. Or maybe he’s on set, wearing black jeans and a black tee that won’t reflect the light and mess up the shot, flipping through a clipboard of rumpled papers and hustling towards a fast-incoming deadline. Maybe he’s third-in-command on set, right-hand-man to the right-hand-man of the director. Continuity supervisor or art director. Or maybe he’s a practical effects guy, mixing up buckets of sludge or fake blood or figuring out a way to make a plastic-and-foam lobster puppet look alive. In any case, he’s doing something he really enjoys, and he’s steadily moving up in the ranks. Will swears he’s going to be directing blockbusters in Hollywood before they’re fifty; Mike always scoffs at that, laughing it off, but Will isn’t entirely joking.

-They have a medium-sized dog - something with a long snout and a long tail. Will counts himself as a dog person, but for a while there after the fall of ‘84, it was hard for either of them to be around big dogs without remembering the Demodogs. But it’s been decades, and somewhere in their late 30s (when they finally live somewhere with some form of backyard), they finally feel ready to get a puppy.

-Semi-regularly, they group-call the old Party and play D&D over the phone (much like The Adventure Zone). Sometimes one or both of them (Mike or Will) will be trying to do something else in the background at the same time - cooking dinner, working on a piece of art, etc. (Hey, they’re adults, they’re chronically short on time. Gotta multitask where they can.) This leads to occasional bouts of hilarity - like the time Mike almost knocked his entire laptop into a pot of spaghetti sauce because he was trying to DM and cook simultaneously. These over-the-phone D&D sessions are invariable merry and hilarious, cheering everyone up even after the worst of days. The Party is often spread out over the whole country - Mike and Will probably in one of the hubs of the storytelling industry (San Francisco or NYC), Dustin somewhere in the midwest doing scientific field work, Lucas still somewhere in or near Indiana, El and Max living in a new city every other year - but these phone calls bring them all together, and remind them of “simpler” times when they were kids in the Wheelers’ basement.

-Nancy is a highly successful journalist who travels a lot for her work, and whenever she and Mike / Will are in the same city, they make sure to meet up for coffee if not a day or two of old-times sibling shenanigans. Nancy has considered Will like a brother ever since they were teenagers, and that only strengthens as they grow older. But Mike, especially, reverts right back to a fifteen year old whenever his big sister is in town, throwing potato chips at her across the table and teasing her until she chases him with her soup spoon, and the whole time Will is just laughing with his face in his hands, pretending to be embarrassed but really just happy to see the two of them both happy.

-Similar situation with Jonathan. ^^^ He kept up his photography through the years, but like Mike, he’s wandered from career path to career path, just trying things out. (Whether he and Nancy are together depends on your own HCs, but be assured, whenever he’s in town he and Will are just as insufferable as Mike and Nancy.)

-It’s a long time before either (let alone both) of them feel ready to seriously consider kids. They both have a lot to work through after what they went through as kids themselves, and being a parent means being 100% there for someone else’s needs, often at the sacrifice of your own. Not to mention that with both of their creative-based careers, with not nearly as much financial stability as some of their peers, they’ve had some years where supporting just the two of them is a challenge. But eventually, they do get to the point where they start thinking about kids. I think they’d have at least one. Maybe they adopt, maybe they team up with El and Max (depending on how you HC the girls at that point) to do an in vitro deal, it depends.

-They visit Joyce and Hop (who are married) for Christmas. El and Max come home for the holidays, too. Joyce and Hop moved out of Hawkins together after all the kids moved away for college. Not too awfully far from Indiana, but far enough from Hawkins that they could leave the memories behind. Somewhere fairly rural, but not quite small-town. A large town or small-to-mid-size city, maybe, where they have a house with a big backyard and a big front yard and enough combined beds and couches to house all the “kids” over the holidays. 

-Ever since college, they go to Pride every year - most likely along with El and Max, if the four of them can arrange to meet up.

-Mike and Will still tease each other a lot and play-fight and they still tussle for the remote or the last fry, and they still have nerdy posters up in their living room, and they still trust each other more than anything else and they still geek out over their interests together and they still bicker and protect each other and love each other. So, really, not too much has changed since they were teenagers - they’re just in a better (read: much less homophobic) environment, working on their mental health, growing, healing from years-old traumas, doing what they love for a living (after decades of fighting tooth and nail to make it work), spending time with loved ones. Just living life. Taking new risks. Riding the ups and downs together. 

[mystarmyangel]

[FULL TRANS] YoonA – The Big Issue Korea Issue #227 Interview

SNSD is a representative girl group that rewrote Korea’s music industry structure. As the center of the group that stood at the top for more than 10 years, it is not an easy thing to bear the burden of a celebrity. Carrying the weight of the name ‘SNSD YoonA’, YoonA is also consistently working hard be it acting, hosting or variety shows, even receiving positive comments like ‘I am watching because of trustable YoonA’. When you search YoonA, you will realize there are related terms such as ‘SNSD center’, ‘flower deer’, ‘smile’, lately there is also other related terms popping out such as ‘All-round worker of Hyori’s Homestay 2’, ‘Huge success of movie EXIT’ etc. Even though she looks like she can do anything, and everything looks easy for her, but in actual fact, YoonA will always train herself each time she tried new things so as to be able to do her very best. Looking back, what YoonA’s position is, is already meaningless as YoonA, is just the YoonA that we love.

Q: How do you spend your time after shooting for ‘EXIT’ ended? I took a really good rest. I tried things that I couldn’t try in the past due to work. Recently I have been making bread at home. Isn’t Dalgona Coffee very popular lately, but I did not feel like trying it because it seem like everyone are doing it, so I was thinking if there are anything else I can do, and I went to browse on YouTube and began to make bread. Actually, when I was in junior high, I took up 2 years of biscuit and bread making class for my special module. (Laughs) Because I made bread for 10 to 20 times every year, so the result turns out good just by following the recipe. The food that I made most are cookies, pizza bread, pecan pie and chiffon cakes etc., and I will share them with people around me. Ah, also I recently took a Chinese exam called HSKK and has passed the intermediate level, it is an exam that tests on the speaking ability. Initially I only want to know where my standard is, but fortunately I passed.

Q: You received awards at The Blue Dragon Film Awards, Buil Film Awards, Women in Film Korea Festival etc. with the movie ‘EXIT’ which attracts more than 9.4m moviegoers. Your first leading movie receives huge success. Looking back after a year has passed, what kind of meaning does ‘EXIT’ has for YoonA? Realistically looking, it is indeed a huge success for my first leading movie. I feel really blissful and thankful to receive so much love. It is definitely a project that I will never forget because of how much love I receive right from the start.

Q: Do you still keep in contact with the staffs after ‘EXIT’ ended? Yes, I did. We had a gathering during the end of last year, this year we intended to gather again but because of COVID-19, we have to maintain social distancing, so this gathering has yet to be able to fulfil. Also, everyone are busy with their individual filming so picking a time is not easy. Jo Jung Suk oppa recently also just wrapped up a drama filming, so when the time comes that the COVID-19 situation has become a lot better, we will be able to gather.

Q: In the movie, there are a lot of action scenes that requires body strength, but you did really well. YoonA is well known in SNSD to have excellent dancing skills, but do you workout or do body training often? I wanted to do it more often but has not been able to do. I really hope that I can consistently persist on working out. Currently I am doing Pilates, and also because I have been dancing regularly in the past, so they have become useful when it comes to using my body (for action scenes in the movie)

Q: It seem that occasionally you will do dance covers too right? Every year when I hold birthday party with fans, I will do dance covers as surprise stages for them.

Q: 30 May is coming soon; do you have any plans on how to spend your birthday? I have many work schedules. (Laughs) There is a schedule that I specially add for birthday. May suddenly got busier as my schedules started increasing with the thought of hoping that my fans would like it. (Laughs) Although I couldn’t hold a birthday party this year due to various circumstances, but I think there will be other ways for me and my fans to communicate. As it is the one day in a year that I can officially communicate my fans, I am really looking forward to it. Just like being the cover girl of ‘Big Issue’ is also a way of communicating with fans, so when I thought of what meaningful thing I can do, I came up with this suggestion to you all. It is gift for my fans.

Q: You have spent your 10s and 20s doing all sort of performances and participating in variety shows etc. as a member of SNSD. How do you picture your 13 years as a celebrity? I was really busy. It feels like time passed by really quickly. But when I looked back now, I will realistically realize that I have really received a lot of love. I have also notice that my mentality and values have also changed when I reached 30 years old. This is probably the process of becoming an adult. I began feeling light-hearted too. Recently my friends have been calling me ‘Benjamin’ just like the lead in the movie ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’. My time and that of my friends are completely opposite. (Laughs) My friends are currently all working, and busy living as the new students of the working society. On the contrary, I am busy when I was young, and right now I am beginning to have more free time. The feelings I felt in my youth, my friends are only feeling that now, and all the feelings I have in my daily life now are all a past experience for my friends.

Q: Are you satisfied with your life right now? Although my life right now is really good already, but I feel that my life next year will be even better. I am like this, always thinking that this year is better than last year, so compared to this year, the next year will be even better.

Q: For the edition of Big Issue that you will be gracing the cover, coincidentally there will be a birthday support by your fans that will be published in the same edition. Do you know this beforehand? Really? I didn’t know of it. There are a lot of people around me who knows ‘Big Issue’ so I thought it will be great to be on the cover, this is really great.

Q: Every year, your fans hold a lot of activities to celebrate your birthday, there are events like photo exhibition to feature YoonA over all this time and then donating the proceeds to charities, Chinese fans also built a school under YoonA’s name. I am really grateful to my fans, and I think doing all these are great. Even though I think it will be great too if I personally do it myself but seeing my fans who support me coming together to do good deeds under the ‘name of my fans’ and at the same time I can feel their love for me, I am really thankful. My fans have really beautiful hearts and they are really kind. They are sending out positive energy among them to live with a pretty heart.

Q: You are selected as a celebrity who does a lot of good deeds and who speaks well. Donating, supporting and volunteer works… recently you also donated to the fight against COVID-19. Is there any turning moment that results in your consistency in participating in social contribution works?Once you start doing good deeds, you will realize that many other things will come to your sight. Whenever concerning matters happen, I wanted to express my heart for all the things. As time passes, I will realize activities like this become a lot. I think that it is a little hard to continue in the beginning, but once you start, you will be able to look at things from multiple perspectives, so the next step will not be difficult. I often ponder on what I can do, ways that I can express my heart. Just like what everyone have been saying,  one should give as much as what you receive, it is a good thing, giving is more blissful than receiving. (Laughs)

Q: What new things are you trying these days? These days, the time I spent at home become a lot more, so I will often change the decorations in my house. Recently I am into DIY interior renovation, so I personally painted a side of wall in my house. It is really fun. I also change the layout of my furniture. Because I tried painting one side of the wall, I feel that it is not impossible to paint all of them, but on the other hand I feel that this is enough. I have successfully changed my mood.

Q: Everyone know that your next project is a JTBC drama called ‘Hush’ that is estimated to air in the latter half of the year. Can you tell us something about the role Jisoo that you will be playing in the drama? Jisoo will appear as a reporter in the drama, she has a righteous personality. In this aspect, she has something in common with Eui Joo in ‘EXIT’.

Q: Is YoonA also the righteous type? Well, rather than saying I am the righteous type, I think I am more of the loyal type. When SNSD members have individual activities, I will go down personally to cheer for them during the broadcast of music shows, and I also like to take care of the people around me. Although I did these things because I wanted to, but I often been called loyal because of these things.

Q: Because of ‘Hyori’s Homestay 2’, YoonA as an ordinary person has become well known for her carefree charms. Taking the initiative to get close to the guests, and how you treated people kindly have left a deep impression. I am originally shy by nature, but I changed a lot due to work. When I was young, I disliked it even when someone touched me after telling me ‘I will help to do your hair’, I am quiet and don’t really talk much, although I do get along very well with people I am already close with. So, I often hear things like I am hard to get close to or I look cold. But as I get to meet more people for the first time, and then getting along together, my personality changed a lot too. Although I am able to relax and chat with the guests on ‘Hyori’s Homestay 2’, but after watching the show, I did notice there are still some sense of awkwardness that happen because of moments where I was too shy and did not know what to do, but the others told me that they can’t tell, I feel amazed too.

Q: Your activities lately all receive positive comments. It seem like you are really an all-round celebrity that can do everything well. Even though it’s embarrassing to say it like this, but it really does seem like I have been doing all fields of work from the past to now. Hosting, singing, acting, variety shows I did all of them. I am not the type to always fix a goal and then make my moves, rather, I am the kind that will do my best in things that I can be satisfied with at any moment. I do not want to have regrets thinking that I should do better then when I look back in the future, so I will always want to do my very best. So, it seem like all these gradually come together to come out with many fruitful results. When I was young, I often have regrets towards many matters, and then I came to realize that it is impractical to feel regretful over things that I cannot change, so I will try my best now and my sense of satisfaction also increase.

Q: SNSD is a name that is still very influential. The other members are also active in different fields, what kind of meaning do the members have for you? They are people that I am always comfortable with no matter when. We met when we are in our 10s, we spent our 20s to 30s together, we walked together for the first half of our life. That are things that words can’t describe. There are people around us that are envious just by looking at us.  

Q: There are many hoobaes or fans that like you and pick you as their role model. Can you give some advice and encouragement to the females in their 10s and 20s? First of all, I am really thankful that people think of me like this. Whenever I heard people picking me as their role model, I want to meet him/her. It feels amazing to be thought of as a role model. Because I also had someone as my role model before, so I can understand how it feels. There are many things I wanted to say… because I am a celebrity you might feel that I am someone who is distant and probably think that I am living another kind of life, but I want to say is, actually I am very ordinary, I am also a normal person. I also wish that you guys will not think too deep and too much in all the matters, as you live, everyone will definitely have their own kind of problems, the worst scenario that you had in mind will not happen. But once you keep thinking, you will continue digging and getting stuck in it, so I hope that you all will reduce worrying thoughts like this.

Q: This is a really great advice. Please tell us your thoughts of working with Big Issue today, and on Big Issue’s upcoming 10th anniversary in July.  Congratulations on the 10th year anniversary. I feel that to be able to persist on one thing for 10 years is a great feat. This is also what SNSD heard when we celebrate our 10th year. I think that it is really very cool for one to maintain in one position for 10 years. I felt really happy to be able work together on the same year as Big Issue’s 10th anniversary, I hope that me gracing this edition’s cover can become the most unforgettable edition. (Laughs) I will continue supporting this magazine.  

Cr: Chinese Trans by 黄黄 & 初夏 (Limyoonabar) Eng Trans: mystarmyangel

[frankics]

hello  all  you  lovely  lovely  people  !  thanks  again  for  applying  to  this  rp,  you  have  NO  idea  how  excited  i  am  to  get  this  going.  i’m  lily,  i’m  newly  20,  in  the  est  timezone  and  my  pronouns  are  she/her.  i  love  trash  tv,  my  puppies,  and  the  collected  works  of  the  greatest  band  in  history  (one  direction).  this  is  my  trash  daughter  frankie,  she  truly  belongs  in  the  garbage  but  i  love  her  so  much.  below  the  cut  is  my  long  ass  intro  for  her,  i  forgive  you  if  you  don’t  read  it  all  because  looking  at  it  now  i  wouldn’t  want  to  either  !  anyway,  if  you’re  interested  in  plotting  with  me  and  frankie,  hmu  on  discord  and  you  can  check  this  blog  for  some connections  i  would  love  to  see  !

( alisha boe, cisfemale, she/her, MUSE E ) — oh my god, i totally just saw FRANCESCA ARCHER walking through greenwich village! you know, she plays SKYLAR ELLIS on that new netflix show, the village? i can’t believe they’re already famous at TWENTY-ONE. i’ve watched all of their interviews, and they totally come off as IMPERTINENT and RECKLESS, but they can also be ROMANTIC and WITTY. based on their social media, i’d describe FRANKIE like ( worn out black high-tops, mischievous smiles, nails painted different colors, peach vodka, swimming in an ocean during a storm ) — totally makes sense that people call them THE SPITFIRE.

important links: bio. statistics. filmography. muse posts. social media. 

warning: death tw on the 5th bullet point!!

the frankie archer story begins in 1996, when her mother yasmiin moves from her home of somalia to brooklyn to pursue an art career. she moved into a tiny apartment halfway across the world, knowing nothing and no one, looking for inspiration. she found it in the form of lorenzo archer, her next door neighbor. they dated for two years, but neither family approved of the other as a match: yasmiin’s family wanted her to return to somalia, and lorenzo’s roman catholic family were not pleased about their son selecting a non-catholic woman. but lorenzo and yasmiin didn’t care, and got married at new york city hall with the court appointed witness. two weeks later, yasmiin was pregnant with frankie. 

francesca simone archer was born on june 9, 1999. she is a gemini sun, a scorpio moon, and an aries rising. she was named francesca for her grandmother on the paternal side, and simone after nina simone, the singer that was playing on lorenzo’s record player when they first met. her two siblings, nala archer and zahi archer, were born in 2001 and 2003 respectively. 

her childhood is generally quite happy. lorenzo and yasmiin were born to be parents and they love frankie, nala, and zahi endlessly, the type of supportive love that makes children thrive. frankie possesses a natural wit and excels academically, nala is the star athlete, and zahi is a wizard with watercolor. frankie loves the movies and decides she wants to be an actress when she grows up, so lorenzo and yasmiin enroll her in acting classes and improv camps. things chug along in the archer family beautifully. 

that is, until frankie gets a high school scholarship to packer collegiate institute, located in the affluent neighborhood of brooklyn heights. she takes it, of course, with her parents’ full support. but she is nothing like anyone else who attends packer, and for a 14 year old who wants to blend in, that is the worst possible thing. she is suddenly, painfully aware of her worn-out clothes, her used books, her strange mother with paint stains on her bleached out jeans. frankie lashes out, screaming and storming off and slamming doors. she and her mother are hurricanes and the rest of the family simply battens down the hatches. one day when frankie is 15, she tells her mother that this family is her worst nightmare. it is the last words she will ever speak to her mother. 

a few hours after, the archers get a call that yasmiin has been in an accident. it was a hit and run: a drunk driver t-boned her, and they’re rushing her to the hospital. when the family arrives, the doctors break the news that yasmiin is comatose and that things aren’t looking good. lorenzo refuses to take her off life support, insisting she’ll recover. she is in a coma for nearly a year and a half before he is convinced to pull the plug. 

and now, the part of the frankie archer story that everyone knows, the serendipitous hollywood beginning. she’s just a charming, talented, grieving, all-american girl from brooklyn, heading off to juilliard in the fall. on her 18th birthday, the first one spent without her mother, she attends an open call for a role in an indie film called thursday mourning. she thinks it’ll be a fun way to spend the day, or at least distracting enough. and then she gets the fucking part. 

long story short, the film blows up. it’s shown at venice, winning the golden lion and a prize for frankie as the most promising young actor in the festival. it’s nominated for four oscars, including a best supporting actress nom for frankie. she doesn’t win, but it’s created a path for her to do whatever she wants, acting-wise. she does three more films in the next two years, gaining a reputation as an indie darling before realizing that indie films don’t make all that much money. 

and she needs money, because her father is drowning in hospital bills from yasmiin’s death that he can’t pay. that’s when the offer comes through from her agent: a starring role in an ensemble cast netflix show called the village. she’s planning on throwing the script away. she’s not interested in any television show, much less a teen drama. she’s a serious actress and she certainly doesn’t want to be the next veronica lodge, made fun of on the internet by strangers with discerning taste. but with a little coaxing from her agent, she reads the script, and the role is good, the writing strong. so she takes the village, even though she wants to do movies more, even though she might get memed into oblivion. one episode will halve her father’s debt. 

frankie was tapped for the village because while she’s definitely not as famous as some of her other castmates, nor does she have the hollywood background, she has consistently received acclaim for her performances. the producers think it will bring them some clout with the critics, and she has a sterling reputation as a hard worker on set.

so that’s the basic bio of frankie! now onto her personality >:-)

first of all, and most importantly, if you call her francesca you are DEAD.

frankie’s described by the media as a spitfire, and she definitely lives up to that description. she’s not particularly patient with interviews or paparazzi, she has a nasty mouth and an acerbic sense of humor, and to the general public she probably comes across as quite guarded and private about her life. she got into this business to be an actress, not a celebrity. 

nevertheless, if she wanted to be a celebrity, she could probably be a pretty beloved one. frankie has a very charismatic, charming way about her, that probably lets her get away with more in the public eye than she should. there’s just something about that hollywood story that makes people relate to her and root for her. 

the number one defining characteristic of frankie is her passion. she throws herself intensely into everything she does, feels emotions too vividly, fights for what she wants. she cares so much about everything. acting is her main passion, her forever love. it’s why she’s so good at what she does: she’s not the most talented, she doesn’t have the most training, but she feels so intensely. it also makes her very emotional (classic cancer!) if you’re close with her

also because of this passion, she’s probably the most competitive person you’ll ever meet in your entire life. she’s like, slightly insane about it? she wants to win everything, but she hates losing even more than she likes winning. she’s the type to throw a tiny tantrum if she loses a game of uno. 

frankie’s always been bold, likes to live life on the edge, but it became something much uglier after her mother’s death. she’s reckless to the nth degree: doing her own stunts, drinking and partying the night away. she’s not suicidal, but in some ways, it’s like she doesn’t have a huge regard for her own life. 

in her private life, frankie is pretty different. it’s not so much that her negative qualities disappear -- she still swears like a sailor and is less than patient. but rather, the flaws become less apparent when you get to know her. she’s sort of a goofy little marshmallow wearing a giant suit of spiky armor. 

one of the most loyal people you will ever meet, because she throws herself headlong into friendships and relationships. she’s sort of an all or nothing type gal, so if you befriend frankie expect it to be a very close relationship whether you like it or not. 

she is kind of the crazy friend? she’s baby? like she’s absolutely the person who’s encouraging everyone else to do dumb shit, and she’s always coming up with ridiculous ideas and pranks. side note give frankie a prank buddy on set!

she’s really quite witty. she absolutely loves twitter, which is basically the only glimpse the general public would get as to who frankie is in private. her twitter filled with her dumb jokes and random thoughts. in another life, she might have been a twitter comic.

she is a hopeless romantic, which she will never admit to anyone in the world unless it’s layered under 100 miles of sarcasm. the only relationship she’s really ever known is her parents’ relationship, and they were madly in love til the bitter end. she desperately wants something like that, but hasn’t quite found it. she’s been in exactly one pr relationship, but nothing particularly real or long-lasting.

she loves fashion. her mother taught her to sew and she sketches and makes some of her own clothes. her absolute dream is to collab with a designer on a fashion line: some of her favorite labels are marc jacobs, jean paul-gaultier, sies marjan, and moschino! she’s also had a lot of positive press for her red carpet looks. 

she has a dog, who she loves more than anything! his name is duke, he’s a staffie rescue, and she brings him on set frequently. she’s lobbying to get him cast as someone’s dog. 

she’s playing skylar ellis on the village, and because this is literally so long you can find some info about skylar at these links: statistics, muse posts, social media. i haven’t finished writing her entire bio yet but here’s the rundown: skylar appears to everyone like the pretty princess who has everything she could ever want. her parents are rich, she’s beautiful and smart, and she has a perfect relationship with phillip. but on the inside, she’s drowning. her dad wants her to take over the family company but she wants to be a writer, and the worst part is that she’s good at writing and horrible at business! she’s always been content to go with the flow (aka, what her parents want) because things are good in her life, but after her encounter with james over the summer, she’s realizing that she is completely trapped in a life she doesn’t want in the least. now she’s a conflicted mess of emotion trying to figure out what to do. 

[ceciliaisms]

» • * — ( josefine frida pettersen, cisfemale, she/her ) . i think i hear heaven by pvris coming from apartment 2306. doesn’t cecilia lancaster live there ?? i heard they are a twenty-three year old writer from munich, germany, but they’ve been living in the apartments for two years. they come across a bit fanciful and restless, but they also seem like they could be creative and articulate. whenever i see them , i think of piled-up open books, cigarette-smoke and the midnight train going anywhere. oh , and don’t forget to follow them on instagram at @dearestcecilia ! ooc . shannon, 20, british summer time, she/her. 

hi there everyone — my name’s shannon, and i’m gonna be this rp’s resident british disaster lesbian !  i’m excited to get things running with you all, so here’s a little bit about my precious bean cecilia. if you wanna plot just like this and i’ll get around to you !

BASICS —

birth name: liesel cordelia meier-lancaster

current name: cecilia victoire-jane lancaster

nicknames: cee, lia, celia

gender: cis female

birthdate: 18th february, 1997 — munich, germany

age: twenty-three

nationality: british-german (dual)

orientations: bisexual / biromantic (strongly leaning toward women)

mbti: esfp-t

hogwarts house: ravenclaw

zodiac: aquarius-pisces cusp

fc: josefine frida pettersen

BRIEF BIO — tw alcohol, drugs

cecilia lancaster is less of a singular being than an amalgamation of people she’s magpied things from — all of the books she’s read, the films she’s seen, anything she could take to get away from the genuine mess that was her true life. born liesel meier-lancaster, her british-german parents went through a messy divorce when she was very young, and she was left living with her german media mogul father while her elder brother returned to london with their mother. 

while she was never left materially wanting due to her father’s money, emotionally was... another story; he was always working, one of the many reasons her mother left him, and he often had office-flings around the house with whom she can remember a great many... unfortunate run-ins. none of them stayed long, no stable parental dynamic manifested, but what was consistent was the steady flood of gifts that often consisted of books and such like to stimulate her language-learning and education. 

she would visit her mother in london over the summers, a trade-off with her brothers, and with her she would see everything — museums, aquariums — as she was free, of course, to do in germany with the staff her father hired to ‘look after her.’ but the difference was that she and her mother engaged in such activity together, which never occurred in munich. so she lost herself in whatever she could to escape the growing lack of order in her household, a trend that would keep going throughout her childhood and was supported by the inattentive father giving his daughter whatever she desired that would keep her away from the doors of his office.

and particularly, she attached herself to a character who seemed to feel the same yearning desire to be needed as she did. the same hopeless restlessness as she did — cecilia tallis from ian mcewan’s ‘atonement.’ and there were others, too, other characters more carefree, but the sad ending of mcewan’s lovers’ tale inspired the young girl to begin writing herself. because the protagonist, briony — however lying and loathsome — taught her one thing: that you could change anything with words. and if the words were clever enough, you could help others to escape, too.

however — unlike the more refined cecilia tallis — she was also pulled into the party circles of the rich. the drugs, the drink, the late nights and ending up on the train tracks with no idea how she got there. and the states she got into, when she got them just right, were the most deliciously inspiring. that form of self-punishment ( for the consequences would catch up to you ) too good to calm down. unsurprisingly, mikael meier did not notice. or maybe he didn’t care. she never wants to know which.

so, when she finally decided at the age of twenty-one to leave germany, she picked up cecilia as a name. changed it legally, and started only telling people her mother’s last name so she could detach herself from her father’s lesser role in her childhood despite his lesser distance compared to the oceans between her and her mother. and she’s still got access to the family bank, so it’s not a loss, is it ?

WANTED CONNECTIONS —

- someone who critiques her writing ?

- her ride-or-die / partner in crime ( taken by wren ! )

- OTHER FRIENDS LIKE GIVE HER ALL THE FRIENDS.

- someone who might’ve encountered her in her old life in germany idk

- her travel buddies who are just willing to get on the midnight train to anywhere with her ( brittany, casey, natalia )

- someone who’s friends with her just for her money maybe

- an ex of hers BLEASE

- someone who pulls her into more reckless stuff, like, i’d love that.

- enemy???

[virtchandmoir]

Olympic ice-dance champions Virtue and Moir: 'We’re so proud of our relationship'

June 18, 2019

The Canadian gold medallists talk to Eoin O’Callaghan about winning gold, maintaining a professional relationship and ignoring fan fiction

Virtue and Moir perform at the 2018 Winter Olympics: ‘I went into the penultimate lift in Pyeongchang and I got chills because I felt the energy and electricity in the building shift’. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

There’s a guy at a bar nursing a drink. He looks up and catches the eye of a girl nearby. They share a knowing glance. And that’s the moment. It’s a scene from a litany of TV shows and films. But, it’s also the story of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’s rebirth. And given the hopelessly romantic and cinematic dimension to their partnership, the story fits perfectly.

“We were on a charity trip to Scotland [in 2015] and they were showing an Olympic video,” Moir remembers. “I looked over at Tessa. We kind of have our own language. And I was like, ‘We’re going to do one more Olympics, aren’t we?’ And she was like, ‘Oh, yeah’. I turned around to the bartender, ordered three more beers and just thought, ‘Okay, here we go’”.

At the time, the celebrated Canadian ice-dance duo were on a break. Embittered and irritated with skating, they’d stepped away from competing and were mulling their next move. After a period of unprecedented success between 2010 and 2012, things shifted substantially prior to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. The entire experience, which culminated in a bitterly disappointing silver medal, was clouded by a simmering rift with coach Marina Zoueva and newspaper claims that the ice-dance result had been fixed by American and Russian judges.

It was supposed to be Virtue and Moir’s perfect swansong but instead they headed into presumed retirement full of anger, frustration and resentment. Moir, in particular, was disillusioned by all of it.

“I was just kind of sour with the sport,” he says. “I didn’t want anything to do with it. I went into a period of excessive partying and doing anything that wasn’t figure skating, really. I went and built a house with my brother. I shut the whole world out and shut everything down.”

But the break – regardless of the emotions that came with it – was badly needed. “Gaining the perspective to reflect and reassess was paramount,” Virtue says.

After discussing a comeback in more detail, they earmarked former Canadian ice-dancers Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon as coaches and were eager to move to Montreal and get things started. But during their first conversation, Lauzon wanted them to explain their motivation for returning. It was a pre-requisite, he told them.

“That floored us,” Moir says. “We couldn’t get out of it by just saying, ‘We want to win.’ He just said, ‘Well, that might not be enough. You need more than that if you want to come to our school.’ It came down to the fact that we just felt we had more to give.”

In a new place and with a new coaching team, they were determined to push boundaries and rediscover the sport.

“We weren’t conforming to any one thing,” Virtue says. “We lost this sense of trying to appease everyone else. We were more secure in who we were as people and athletes. We were more secure in what we stood for, what we valued and the art we wanted to create. I always loved skating but you can get hardened by it and it’s discouraging and disheartening. You can lose that spark. Montreal ignited it again.”

In September 2016, they stepped into a rink in the Montreal borough of Pierrefonds and competed for the first time in two-and-a-half years at the Skate Canada Autumn Classic. The short dance was an electric, sensual tribute to Prince. Paired with the tenderness and contemporary slant of their free dance, it was a magnetic and thrilling package.

Even so, it seemed a long shot that they would get the better of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, the French duo who were back-to-back world champions and unbeaten in two years. So, it was astonishing when Virtue and Moir ended the year on top of the Grand Prix podium for the first time in their careers and followed that up with a World Championship gold in 2017.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir celebrate after becoming Olympic champions. Photograph: Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

“I don’t think people truly understand how difficult that is,” Moir says. “Three years is a long time. The game had evolved. And we’re back in the arena, with the bright lights and everyone’s faces looking back at us again. We did everything we could to prepare but there were a lot of tough steps. The goal was to not be our old selves. We knew we made a mistake in 2014. We didn’t pick music that was dear to our hearts and weren’t personally invested in a program. We vowed to never do that again.”

The new era was exciting but still left Virtue slightly underwhelmed. She was expecting something bigger, more explosive.

“I thought we’d have this Ziggy Stardust moment,” she says. “‘Representing Canada, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir’ and the whole crowd would turn and gasp and say, ‘Who? Who’s that blonde girl? That’s not Tessa.’ I thought we would totally reinvent ourselves. But it was finding the balance. ‘Are we doing things differently just to be different or to be better?’ And that was a constant dialogue between us.”

For Moir, the entire process became a safe harbour as he navigated a particularly difficult period.

“2017 was probably one of the hardest years of my life,” he admits. “There were a lot of personal struggles. I lost some very important people. I had a best friend and then a grandfather pass away. Through it all, skating became an anchor. I used to think of it as a job. Now it was getting me through and giving me hope. Through all the heartache, it seemed worth it. Heading into the Olympic season, we were ready for almost anything.”

In the build-up to Pyeongchang, they were consistently behind Papadakis and Cizeron, particularly in the free dance. So, they dramatically altered their sombre Moulin Rouge routine to make it more Olympic-friendly.

“We changed about two minutes of our program entirely,” Virtue says. “We listened to people for eight years telling us we needed a big ending, people on their feet and the music to reach this massive crescendo. That’s the Olympic moment people want. Once we were able to find that, it soared and began to take shape.”

It worked.

The subsequent free dance performance sits alongside Torvill and Dean’s 1984 Bolero as the greatest ice-dance moment in history. Those four spellbinding minutes were not only enough to ensure astounding and unlikely Olympic golds for the pair but to also define Virtue and Moir’s legacy.

“I had never felt momentum during a performance before,” Virtue says. “We felt flow in Vancouver [when they won gold in 2010] and we chased that feeling for eight years. I went into the penultimate lift in Pyeongchang and I got chills because I felt the energy and electricity in the building shift.”

A different kind of momentum had been growing for a while too.

Unlike their French rivals, Virtue and Moir took part in the team figure skating event a week earlier and quickly became viral sensations. In front of a global audience, the intensity of their chemistry, their innate closeness and the suggestiveness of certain choreography whipped new-found fans into a frenzy, especially across social media. When they found out Virtue and Moir were not involved in a romantic relationship, they didn’t really accept it. Instead, they started to fantasize.

There are dark corners of the digital sphere devoted to them, including some intense fan fiction. The disciples – and there are a lot of them – obsess over every look and every caress. “It’s probably healthier to avoid it,” Virtue says.

But that’s easier said than done. Last year, Moir spoke eloquently about the impact his unique athletic setup had on his personal life and how some partners found it difficult to properly understand his dynamic with Virtue. Before the Olympics, he was already daydreaming about what was on the other side. It’s why he’s so ready to move on to a new post-skating chapter and focus on things he spent so long sacrificing.

“I was ready for that transition,” he says. “It was always skating first and I was finally at a point in my life where I could be a contributing member of my family and actually search for a life partner.”

Their relationship is a curious thing. When I ask Virtue to define it, she takes a deep breath. “We’re the worst at answering this question”, she begins. “I wish we could help ourselves and everyone else.”

She speaks uninterrupted for a few minutes. It’s essentially a meandering run-on sentence. Then she apologizes profusely for not supplying the right answer. But, of course, she had done. It’s why the moment of their eyes meeting in Scotland explains so much of their story. Words are limiting and what Virtue and Moir have goes far beyond that, almost existing in the abstract.

“We were made for each other, in a work relationship,” Moir says. “There’s real love there. We’re so proud of the business relationship we have. And that’s the story we want to tell more than anything. Judging by my girlfriend’s Twitter, I think fans are disappointed a little bit that we’re not a couple but we have a very amazing, unique relationship that hopefully young people can look at and think, ‘Wow, that should be inspirational in its own right’”.

When they stood on the podium immediately after their Olympic victory, Virtue – normally so poised – uncharacteristically welled up. “It was seeing 20 years flash in front of me,” she says. Her voice cracks so she nervously laughs to cover the lump in her throat.

“The little seven and nine-year-old kids who got together, who didn’t speak and who just skated around a rink holding hands. On the world’s biggest stage, with all of that pressure, in that very moment ... I was just very proud of Scott. It’s funny. We both have this thing where it’s hard for us to acknowledge our own success but we’re able to see it in each other.”

Currently, there’s an adjustment period. It’s not about the Olympics anymore. There are touring shows to produce and various other projects to plan for. They both admit that fully appreciating what they have and what they’ve gone through together is something that will only come much later.

For Moir, he’s still struggling to wrap his head around the last year and a half. “I don’t know how to explain it and I don’t think I even have a proper perspective on it yet,” he says. “It seems like it was a fairytale when I look back now.”

—The Guardian

[yourmomwatchesskam]

This is hilarious. TharnType and Effect are NOT for teenagers! They have stereotypes that are DANGEROUS for lgbt+ community! I don't know much about both this series but for example tharntype this is serie where not gay man was raped and then he's living with gay man in one room and they started war. And you know what this gay roommate do? He kissed him when he was drunk and touched him. And this is only beginning (i don't know what next and i don't wanna know). You can watch it but be aware

I’m thinking that we have pretty different definitions of ‘hilarious.’

CW/TW (sexual assault)

My teen group consists of 16-19 y/o, which the u18 y/o need permission slips from their parents for anything rated M. 

With that being said, the common theme in both of these series is sexual assault. There is absolutely nothing hilarious about censoring this information from teenage viewers (which are the majority of their viewers) especially LGBT+ youth. 

We watched The Effect & had some very important discussions following the series.. Discussions we wouldn’t have had without watching it. 

The LGBT+ Community is already full of stereotypes, & it’s important that young people are aware of them.. whether they are participating in that behavior, witnessing it from others, or experiencing it themselves. Awareness is key, & by shielding them from the harsh realities that exist, doesn’t make it go magically away.

It’s long, but here’s the article I just published about it: (TRIGGER WARNING)

How Culture Crosses Over in International LGBT+ Films

*trigger warning/content warning

I facilitate a LGBT+ Support Group for teens, parents, & teachers integrating the use of film & media to focus on current & relevant topics that youth are facing in today’s society. Society variables change across cultures in how they affect LGBT people, but there are a few major things that don’t get lost in translation. So when the teen group asked that we watch & discuss these international shows, I agreed.

In the United States, the suicide rate for boys & girls remains the same until 10 years old, but after that, the suicide rate doubled for 10–14 year old boys. At 15–19, they’re 4 times more likely to die by suicide & 5 times more likely by age 20–25. (Although, the highest rate for men is middle-age.) Also in the United States, at least 1 in 6 boys under 18 years old are victims of sexual assault or rape.

I don’t know Thailand’s stats, & I’m not going to attempt to speak on behalf of their culture when it comes to such sensitive subjects, but this is a prime example of when LGBT films around the world, & across many different cultures, provides accurate & relatable representation for a large variety of different audiences. With stats like these, if you haven’t experienced something like this yourself, chances are you know someone that has.

These are the significantly complex, yet very necessary conversations we need to be having. Especially on behalf of those who are unable to have them because they’re too afraid or ashamed to. From what I know, the themes of these shows are unlike a lot of other plots that these drama series normally have- which is why so many people (that haven’t read the novels) have been surprised by them. There are, however, many people & reviews showing support for highlighting such issues. The thing is, people know all too well that these issues exist. That’s why some people watch shows like this to begin with, because it provides an escape from the everyday world. But, no matter how true that may be, it’s also important to make room for the other side of LGBT experiences & allow them to be brought to attention as well.

The Effect was a prime example of:

Kind behavior getting misinterpreted as flirting.

“Flirting” getting misinterpreted as consent for sex.

Sex being rejected but still getting disregarded.

Rape, followed by victim-blaming & shaming because “they were the one that started it.”

Followed by fear, shame, guilt, obligation, confusion, regret, a decline in mental health in some cases & at worst, the inability to feel safe within one’s own mind/body, that the only option believed to be available for escape from the inevitable pain, is death.

It’s important to note that we weren’t told the sexual orientation of the main character in The Effect. & I think this highlights the prominent question of, “Does it matter?” Because what we absolutely do know is that he said no.

There is a quote from a scene in CMBYN where Mrs. Pearlman is reading an excerpt from a book with the quote, “Is it better to speak or to die?” & although it sounds fictitious in nature, the truth behind that is people believe some things are best left unsaid when it comes to their own irreconcilable feelings. In some cases, that can be helpful. But, in other cases, it can be harmful. Men are taught to be strong, to not appear weak, to toughen up, to put yourself last, to let bygones be bygones, to not show emotion (aside from anger), & to not talk about uncomfortable things to help prevent others from feeling uncomfortable as well. As a result, what’s also taught is to quickly move past those feelings, but what happens to those that can’t?

How are people supposed to move past pain that they’re not allowed to have, but are forced to keep? That’s not strength, that’s suppression.

Depending on culture & other circumstances, mental health therapy might not even be (considered) an option. Depending on the individual, there might not be any reporting of the crime, as we saw on The Effect. Many cases don’t ever get reported, & some that do, an arrest is never made. This is something every country can relate to, but not everyone country is talking about. & with the stigma attached to it with the way that trauma affects the mind & the body, who could blame anyone for not wanting to draw even more attention to their experience by bringing it in the spotlight?

If you’re also watching the show TharnType, you know that we get direct insight into a person’s trauma response, as well as what can sometimes happen as a result of when it does get reported. Not that anyone’s trying to condone Type’s homophobia & his personal struggle with his own sexuality, but if we are to condemn it, at least we understand it. We know a few things: Type being attracted to Tharn is not a result of the childhood assault that occurred. Just because Type is attracted to Tharn doesn’t have to necessarily mean he’s exclusively gay (although he very well could be). & if he were gay, it doesn’t make him an offender. (Even though a lot of society tends to think this way.) There is a common misconception that all gay/bi men are pedophiles & rapists, often stemming from men who have been the victims of abuse/rape as children, to older predatory men. Sex offenders exist within all categories of: age, race, class, nationality, religion, sexuality, profession, income, political party etc.. nothing is exempt.

We need to be able to communicate clearly that sexual abuse/rape is not a sexual orientation. & that suicide does not only affect people with mental illness.

These are both emotionally involved/intense shows with such deeper meaning, that are definitely worth the watch. If you are sensitive to these topics than proceed with caution for The Effect because it is very graphic. However, with such prevalent topics, they are necessary conversations to have that we can no longer afford to avoid.

*To watch The Effect with English subs: https://tv.line.me/embed/10372516

*To watch TharnType with English subs: https://tv.line.me/embed/10255603

If you are in crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800–273-TALK (8255), available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is available to anyone. All calls are confidential. http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Or The Trevor Lifeline at 1–866–488–7386 or via text by texting START to 678678

If you were the victim of sexual abuse/assault & are seeking support: 1in6.org

[emrose-gold]

Defending the Duke: David Bowie’s “problematic” actions debunked

You’d think that after two years people would have figured it out by now, and yet here we are. Alright let’s get started.

“David Bowie was a sexual predator.”

TW: CSA, statutory rape, rape

This claim originated from an interview with former groupie Lori Mattix of the “Baby Groupie” scene of the 1970s that was republished on The Thrillist the day after David’s death, where she claimed she lost her virginity to him in 1973 when she was 15 years old and he was 26. Additionally, she claimed that she kept seeing him over ten years, however this causes a problem with consistency because David’s personal life was scrutinized more than the average rock star (most likely because of him coming out as bisexual), and the two were never photographed together unlike Mattix’s relationships with other rock stars during the 1970s. More problems with the consistency of her claims include that in some interviews she said she lost her virginity to David and in others she said she had her first time with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and certain circumstances that contradict her side of the story (or stories).

For example, in an 1985 interview with Stephen Davis, she stated that she had her first time with Jimmy Page in 1972 while the band was in California for their summer tour. She later said that she was having sex with David before Page. This provides an inconsistency because David’s Ziggy Stardust tour came to California in October 1972, months after Led Zeppelin’s summer tour. In a later interview, which was made available online in 2009, she said she was a virgin when she met Page.

In an 1986 interview with Peter Gillman, she said that while eating at the Rainbow Bar in March 1973 with her friend and fellow groupie, the late Sable Starr, David spotted her and got his bodyguard to invite her to his suite, and she accepted. She said they had sex for five or six hours and she convinced him to let Starr join them, and all fell asleep afterwards, and the two snuck out before David’s then-wife Angie would arrive. In a different interview with Paul Trynka however, she said that in October 1972 she and Starr snuck into his Beverly Hilton suite and convinced a tired David to sleep with them before they snuck out without being seen.

In the Thrillist interview, Mattix said David approached her in October 1972, but she rejected him. When he came back in March 1973, he called her and invited her to dinner. John Lennon and Yoko Ono joined them for dinner before she and David left for his Beverly Hilton suite, they and Sable Starr had a threesome, and Angie walked in on them the next morning. In addition to her earlier interviews contradicting this so-called recollection, David didn’t meet Lennon until September 1974 when they were introduced to each other by Elizabeth Taylor at one of her parties.  And David stayed at the Hyatt hotel in March 1973, not the Beverly Hilton.

In the same interview, she said she attended a recording session in 1975 when she was 17, where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Mick Jagger, and a bunch of other artists were there, and she slept with Jagger after the session wrapped up. Another inconsistency with this is that the only time Lennon and McCartney jammed together after the Beatles broke up was the year before, in march 1974. Not only that, there is no evidence to suggest that Jagger was at that session in 1975.

Mattix’s claims were further contradicted by Pamela Des Barnes, another former groupie who was in her 20s during the 1970s (one year younger than David), in her memoir, I’m with the Band. Des Barnes was in a relationship with Jimmy Page by 1972, however she ended their relationship and moved in with Frank and Gail Zappa and worked for them as a nanny in February 1972,  because he was sleeping with Mattix and leaving Des Barnes in the dust. The breakup and move happened a month before David’s tour came to Long Beach, when Mattix claims she lost her virginity to him.

(Additionally, along with changing her story about it many times including how old she was when it happened, she said once how she met him in LA in 1973 five months beforehand, but the his tour didn’t have a stop in California at that point, and the last time he really visited LA at that point was 1972.  She said it happened at the Beverly Hilton in 1973, but the only time he is photographed there is in 1972.)

Sources: X X 

In 1987, he was falsely accused of rape by 30 year-old Wanda Nichols who claimed he exposed her to AIDS. They were both tested and both their results were negative. He was cleared of the charges. (x) (x)

Not to mention that this kind of behavior sounds completely out of his character. On one of his later tours, he threatened to fire his drummer for directing teenage girls to his hotel room (x), according to one of the commentaries of the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth, a kiss scene was originally written but he refused to do it because his co-star Jennifer Connelly was 14 at the time (x), and when he was in the band Tin Machine he wrote the song “Shopping for Girls” which is about and brings awareness to child prostitution in Thailand (x).

Now with that said, this isn’t to say that the “Baby Groupie” scene never happened. Although Mattix obviously lied about him, there are perverts in the rock music industry like Kim Fowley and Gary Glitter, and the whole Baby Groupie scene and the idea of teens having sex with adults were being encouraged in the 70s, according to the June 1973 issue (pages 59–61) of Star Magazine 

and this quiz in the March 1973 issue (pages 62–63) of Star to see if you have what it takes to make an older guy like you.

They were encouraging these young girls to go out, dress up and wear makeup to make themselves look older, act older by smoking and drinking, carry fake IDs, and lie about their ages. Even though I don’t trust her word, I do feel really sorry for her for being manipulated by disgusting men and bad influences in the 70s into thinking this was okay. It’s especially horrid once you consider how rape culture was at a high point in the 70′s and how a lot of disgusting things were being romanticized and encouraged.

(The Runaways promotional poster from the 70s with bodice,  ass and crotch shots of the then teenage girls and  a then 24 year old Tony Parsons calling them nymphets and saying the “young and extremely horny teenage females was a bonus”)

(Love’s Baby Soft Perfume ad from 1975)

Disgusting. Moving on.

“David Bowie was a racist and a n@zi sympathizer.”

This claim came from Bowie’s comments in 1976 under his persona the Thin White Duke that supposedly supported fascism. However, at this time his diet consisted only of milk, red peppers and cocaine, and he really was out of his mind at that time because he was at the height of his cocaine addiction, when he was convinced Jimmy Page was trying to steal his soul, that witches were trying to steal his semen, and wanted an exorcism done on his swimming pool because he believed Satan lived in it. When he was getting clean and coming back to his senses, he became horrified and disgusted of how his image was being used by neo-nazis.  With all that crazy shit and more, do you honestly think he meant all the garbage he said? He was so out of it, he barely had any recollection of recording the album for Christ’s sake. Also, around this time he was photographed supposedly giving a n*zi salute but he was really just waving hello to his fans. He retracted and apologized for his statements in a 1977 interview for Melody Maker and later called the Duke an “ogre,” and again looked back at that period with unkind words in 1983. 

Additionally, while making his blue-eyed soul album Young Americans, he gave credit to where credit was due, saying, “It’s the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak rock, written and sung by a white limey,” and collaborating with Ava Cherry, Luther Vandross, and Carlos Alormar to give the album an authentic soul sound. (x) (x) He also encouraged Nina Simone to continue performing, and a huge supporter of Tina Turner’s career. (x)

David wrote many songs and videos with anti-nazi and anti-racism themes. The “China Girl” video serves to parody Asian female stereotypes as well as to protest colonization by making the lyrics in the POV of a colonizer to show how fucked up the mindset is, and the video, as well as the Let’s Dance video, were made as statements against racism. The Let’s Dance video in particular was very influential in Australia. David even openly criticized MTV for not playing videos from black artists. The first Tin Machine album had a direct anti-fascism and anti-neo n*zi stance. He continued to protest racism throughout his career. 

And also marrying Iman. Yes, yes I know. It’s true that many white celebrities who enter relationships with black partners often do it either as a front or to satisfy some eldritch fetish, and usually try to start relationships with black people who are either naive or ignorant (like, “my black boyfriend said it’s okay” and shit like that). *cough cough* K*rdashians *cough cough* But here’s the thing, this is Iman Abdulmajid we’re talking about here. This is the same woman who started her own cosmetic company for women of color, protested the lack of black models on runways with Naomi Campbell and Bethann Hardison, and supports many charities and human rights causes. Just take a look at her Twitter page. She is absolutely not ignorant or naive. She and David worked on many charitable activities and events together, including her I Am African campaign.

And I know what you’re thinking, he could have used his charity support for publicity or as a front like many celebrities in the past. *cough cough Sp*cey, W*instein, H*ffman *cough cough* But when Iman was given a Voice Award at the Save The Child’s Illumination Gala in 2016, she dedicated the award to him, saying “David was also a staunch supporter of human rights and devoted an innumerable amount of time and resources, which he chose to do anonymously. [...] I share this award with him, knowing that the fire in him lit the fire in me, and vice versa. [...] Good partnerships have a habit of doing that.” 

And finally,

“David Bowie was never bisexual.”

(X)

Okay, but let’s talk serious. This claim is more specifically saying he used bisexuality as shock value and he isn’t a good icon for the LGBT community. In 1983 he called his coming out a “mistake,”said he was only experimenting, and called himself a “closet heterosexual,” in 1993. However, there are things to heavily consider. In the 1980s he was going through a depressive period in his life with alcohol problems. In addition, he felt that his sexuality overshadowed his music in America and and wanted to change his image to appeal to a more mainstream audience (to make his career survive during that time when homophobia was on the rise so he had to shield himself; may I remind you of when he was falsely accused of giving Wanda Nichols AIDS, not to mention dealing with ignorant interviewers acting so clueless over such a simple concept). In 1993, Tin Machine failed to revive his career after the critical failures of his last two solo albums of the late 1980s, of course those problems continued. And if you think I’m reaching, take a look at what he said in an interview for Blender in 2002.

You once said that saying you were bisexual was "the biggest mistake I ever made." Do you still believe that? WHOODAAMANN, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

Interesting. [Long pause] I don't think it was a mistake in Europe, but it was a lot tougher in America. I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners or be a representative of any group of people. I knew what I wanted to be, which was a songwriter and a performer, and I felt that [bisexuality] became my headline over here for so long. America is a very puritanical place, and I think it stood in the way of so much I wanted to do. (x) 

And it’s not like his impact on the LGBT+ community is nonexistent.

He was bi and a damned good LGBT icon.

And with that said, just because his most high-profile relationships were with women that doesn’t mean he wasn’t bi. A bi person can have a preference towards one sex or gender but that does not in any way diminish their attraction to the other sex or genders. There are plenty of examples of bisexual people who enter monogamous relationships with people of the opposite sex. That doesn’t make them any less bi.

Reflections & Conclusion

One of the biggest problems I see when the Bowie/Classic rock fandom talk about this is how they completely derail the conversation to how “feminism and sjw culture is toxic and spreads lies” and other dumb shit like that. You can’t blame an entire movement for trouble caused by a few assholes on a site like this. This is Tumblr, remember? You can’t expect people to be perfect to know everything about everyone famous. Newsflash: I’ve made mistakes too. There are many more people who make up for their mistakes than you give credit for. It should only be a real problem if they refuse to believe you or ignore you after you give them solid corrections. Chances are the people like that have generally shitty views or have something to hide (like every TERF blog on here). It also upsets me when people, who I will not name (you know who you are) defend him by slut-shaming Lori Mattix or the other groupies (I won’t say why, I hope you can figure that out for yourselves). 

So in conclusion, don’t believe everything you read, be patient with people but don’t take shit from anyone, don’t use people screwing up as an excuse to spread your own ignorance, stay away from books written about David by Lesley-Ann Jones, Dylan Jones, and “Backstage Passes” by Angie Bowie, and if you have written a callout post about David Bowie, don’t ever fucking do that shit again. Have a nice day. ��

[ktent]

With lyrics and choreography already being worked on, the girls of Eclipse simply have to do everything else regarding a comeback. Their new or renewed hair colors will be put to good use as, this month, pieces fit onto their shapes through the process they’ve already been through two times before. Nothing is more exciting than something new!

The girls were notified on the first that the recordings of the songs would take place two days later, on the 3rd. The girls will go in order of age. The one recording next is expected to wait in the room to make the process as smooth as possible. Once you’re done, go back to practice and tell the next girl to go up. On the 6th, the girls will leave for the Seoul Olympic Park for their album photo shoot in different outfits, surrounded by nature.

Only a bit longer than a week after they were first introduced to their intense choreography, Eclipse is already sent off for their music video recording, starting on June 10th.

DAY ZERO — JUNE 5TH

9AM: Wardrobe fittings at the KT building.

DAY ONE — JUNE 10TH

8AM: Head to salon and get hair and makeup done

9AM: Go to first filming location

10AM: Change into outfits

10:30AM: Filming of first outside scenes ( 0:00 )

11AM: Recording of scenes outside the house ( 0:48; 1:03; 1:06; 1:12; 1:20; 1:41; 1:53; 2:02 )

1PM: Lunch break

2PM: Change outfits; hair and makeup retouch

2:30PM: Beauty shots recording ( 0:26; 0:35; 0:47; 1:14; 1:26; 2:01; 2:07; 2:14; 2:21; 2:42; 2:52; 3:52 )

4:30PM: Change outfits; hair and makeup retouch

5PM: Filming inside the house ( 2:09; 2:15 )

6PM: Change outfits; hair and makeup retouch

6:30PM: Night shots ( 2:54; 3:04; 3:15 )

7:30PM: Thank staff for their work

8PM: Head back to the dorms; eat, shower, rest

DAY TWO — JUNE 11TH

7AM: Head to salon and get hair and makeup done

8AM: Go to second filming location (Seoul Olympic Park)

9:30AM: Change into outfits

10AM: Recording of walking scenes; picnic ( 3:25; 3:31; 3:37; 3:41; 3:58 )

11:30AM: Lunch Break

12:30AM: Change outfits; hair and makeup retouch

1PM: Beauty shots recording ( 0:46; 0:53; 0:58; 1:04; 1:19; 1:36; 1:57; 2:17; 2:29; 2:34; 3:02; 3:08; 3:18 )

3PM: Dance scenes recording ( 0:37; 0:54; 0:59; 1:50; 1:58; 2:35; 3:20; 3:28; )

5:30AM: Change into outfits

6PM: Filming of group shots ( 3:33; 3:44; 3:50;  )

6:30PM: Second dance scenes recording ( 3:38; 3:46; 3:56 )

8:30PM: Thank staff for hard work

9PM: Head back to the dorms; rest

DAY THREE — JUNE 12TH

8AM: Head to salon and get hair and makeup done

9AM: Go to third filming location

10AM: Change into outfits

10:30AM: Recording of dance scenes ( 0:20; 0:27; 1:09; 1:15; 1:24; 1:34; 1:44; 3:11; 3:23 )

1PM: Lunch Break

2PM: Go to fourth filming location

3:30PM: Change outfits; hair and makeup retouch

4PM: Bookstore scenes filming ( 2:19; 2:26; 2:30 )

5:30PM: Go to fifth filming location

6PM: Hair and makeup retouch

6:30PM: Final scenes recording ( 2:36; 2:44 )

8PM: Thank staff for hard work

8:30PM: Head back to the dorms; rest

While all the girls must dedicate themselves to these very important preparations, one of them also had something else to be worried about. It’s June 5th, the day before their photo shoot, when Minji receives the news through her manager, Yeunhye, that the main role for the webdrama ‘Game Developing Girls’ is hers. The scripts sent for her to learn were sent on the day after and got to the girl’s hands once she returned to the dorm.

On June 8th, only a few days later, Minji will go to a small gathering party with the producers and co-stars for her to get to know them. She was reminded that the plans for Eclipse’s comeback have not yet been revealed and should be kept as a secret for the time being. She’ll officially meet them again for script reading before they’re able to start with recordings. These will take place in two different days, on June 13th and June 14th to not only make sure they’re ready to deliver their lines but also to check on their chemistry.

The webdrama will consist of 11 episodes ranging from 5 to 8 minutes in length. Due to this, the recording won’t take as long as it would for a bigger project. Recordings will start on a Monday, the 17th, and go until the 28th, taking a day break on Sunday, the 23rd. They’ll be recording around an episode a day with proper breaks for the cast and crew. The day of the release will be announced later on, aiming for the end of July.

A comeback is never complete simply by having your songs and music video on the ready, though. To promote their next release, the members of Eclipse will all go for the recording of two different variety shows. On June 19th, five members (excluding Minji who will be busy with recordings) will take part in the filming of ‘Knowing Brothers’ inspired by Episode 21 which can be seen here. Following the theme of the show and episode, the group will announce their transfer to the school since they excelled in the made-up ‘KT Middle School’ and skipped years to reach the Brother high school. Each member will have to come up with what they excelled in, as well as show off their chosen talent, as can be seen in the reference video. Following the progress of the show, they’ll also have to come up with questions about themselves that the cast will have to guess the answers to, as well as take part in the other segments and skits shown. This episode will air on July 6th, before their comeback. On July 1st, all six members of Eclipse will record an episode of ‘Weekly Idol’ as inspired by the one seen here. This episode will air on July 17th, after their comeback date.

The date of their comeback has been set for July 10th.

These, however, were not the only news the girls received on this activity-packed month. As announced on the previous month, KT Entertainment will be holding their KT World Concert in Tokyo this year on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of August, and Eclipse will be one of the acts attending. For now, the girls are simply instructed to keep their title songs in check and any further instructions will come in the future.

You will gain +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH, +3 DEBUT POINTS and +2 ACHIEVEMENTS for completing the written requirements as explained on the idol tier page. As this is not a promotional month, you may choose any two achievements for the month’s points. There is a capped maximum of five solos, sets of starters and/or partnered threads you may write for to collect this month’s points.

* For clarification, old threads from previous months will count towards points so long as they fulfill the requirements as explained on the idol tier page. However, at least one of this month’s requirements must be written about the schedule to gain any points for June.

The only form that needs to be submitted at the end of the month is a verification form for your debut points and achievements. Any SP points earned can be collected as soon as you finish the requirement for them. At the end of the month, you will submit the following form to the Points Verification blog:

IDOL’S NAME - KT ENT - JUNE SCHEDULE (for the July 3 verification form)

PROOF OF ACTIVITY: [ x ]

POINTS: +00 SP [ distribute these however you like ]

TOTAL POINTS EARNED: +00 SP +00 DBT

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #1 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #2 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

DEBUT POINTS SPENT ON THE IDOL SHOP THIS MONTH:

NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:

**** Minji’s role in ‘Game Developing Girls’ will give EXP once the show starts airing. Their recording of two variety shows gives them 2 EXP. For more information regarding GROUP EXP, refer to the idol tier page.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #189

“why are the children all marching into the desert to die?”

What does your trick-or-treat bag or pail look like? Pretty sure mine was usually just a plastic orange pumpkin. How old will you turn on your next birthday? 23, wow-ie. What are your plans to celebrate? Dinner with the fam, and I don't think I could possibly pass a birthday without getting a tattoo. :') Which X Factor audition(s) was/were your favorite? Don't watch it. Were you a straight A student in spelling and grammar? Yes. Were you a straight A student in math? No, I got Bs sometimes. Were you abused or do you know anyone who was abused? I know people who were. What is the name of your favorite coffee shop in your town? N/A What is fall weather usually like where you live? Usually warmish and breezy, but sometimes super cold. Do you think you have an accent? Very slightly. Do you use plastic, wooden, or wire hangers? Plastic. What is your favorite shade of yellow? Pastel. Are there any shades of blue that you don’t like? If so, which ones? No. Are you afraid of getting yelled at? YES YES YES YES I WILL CRY PLEASE DON'T Who has the best-decorated house in your town? *shrugs* What is your favorite part of Halloween? Dressing up. Is there a cemetery in your backyard? No. Did you decorate a pumpkin this year? No. ;_; What are some fall activities you would do with your kids? If I actually wanted them, take them on a hay ride (spooky one if they're older and want to), decorate pumpkins together, obviously go trick-or-treating, let 'em play in leaf piles. Have you ever seen a fox? Yes. What color are the squirrels where you live? Brown. Is there anything about Halloween you find offensive? Um no. What do the trees look like where you live? There's basically a shitload of pine trees, some dogwoods in spring (which fucking stink, btw), and then there's other trees idk the name of. Did you like field trips when you were a kid? YESSSSSSSSSSSS Do you find museums boring or interesting? Interesting! What was your school’s rival team’s mascot? Uhhhhh idr. What are three issues you are passionate about? Gay rights, gun control, and immigration. Would you ever wear a shirt with your country’s flag on it? I mean if I had to? What’s a medicine that makes you sleepy? Klonopin, back when I had to take two a day. I was just barely able to function at all on three. Do you like bath bombs? Never used one, but sure. What was your favorite girl group when you were growing up? Pussycat Dolls lmaoooooooo Do you like Disney movies? Only heathens don't. In what type of area was your first sexual encounter? A house. What do you occupy your time with on flights? Listen to my iPod. Do you ever realize how ridiculous you’re being yet continue on anyway? Sometimes in anxiety-type situations. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property? No. Have you ever been punched? No. What do you usually order from Olive Garden?
 Spicy shrimp fritas oh my gaaaaaaaaaaaah How do you like your steak cooked?
 Medium well. How do you feel about bats? I'm love them. Is anyone in your family artistic? Me. Have you ever suspected anyone of cheating on you? No. Are you emo/gothic/punk? I AM the Thicc Goth GF in my head. I'm just too poor and lazy for the wardrobe. :^) Would you date someone 20 years older than you? Nooooooooooo that's way too big a difference for me. What is your father’s middle name? John. What was the last food you got a random craving for? Sour gummy worms lmao. What is something you enjoy doing, but aren’t good at? Singing, sometimes. Name some healthy foods that you enjoy eating. Strawberries, apples, peaches, corn, cucumbers, green beans, bananas... What is your favorite Studio Ghibli film? Don't think I've watched any. If your best friend was a fictional character, who would he/she be? Why? This requires too much thinking. What was the last song you listened to? Does it mean anything to you? Ninja Sex Party's cover of "Africa" is on now. No. What flavor was the last cupcake you ate? Chocolate. When was the last time you complimented a stranger? Idk. Do you know how to text without looking? Not well. What about typing without looking? Yup. Have you ever thrown rocks at a girl/guy’s window? No. When was the last time you bought a bathing suit? Like, a year back? Do you like eggnog? NOOOOOOOOOOO. How often do you see your mother? Every day. When was the last time your living room furniture was rearranged? Long time ago. When you were little, did you like watching Cartoon Network, Disney or Nickelodeon more? Disney. When is the last time that you experienced rejection–literal or imagined? By no means /serious/ rejection, but I suppose it fits the definition. Asked the tat/piercing parlor I go to about working there at the desk (the place isn't busy and I'm v comfortable there, so I think I easily could), but they let me know they currently didn't need anyone. When you are feeling down are you more likely to cheer yourself up by shopping, eating, or drinking? I've gotten loads better about it, but eating. Do you think there will be a time when our current age of rapid innovation comes to a standstill? What do you think is the limit of human technological advancement? No, honestly. It may stall, but I don't see it stopping any time soon. In hindsight, what was the most misguided/unhelpful assignment you had to do in school or college? Uhhhh idk. On any blogs or social media you may have, do you try to maintain a certain aesthetic or persona? Is this consistent across platforms or just specific to one? Not really. My less-appropriate sense of humor comes out more on Tumblr, and in some areas I type in all lowercase because I find it more aesthetically pleasing. Is there an artist or celebrity whom you admire for their craft but take issue with their personality or politics? Marilyn Manson, very easily. He's talented and unapologetically unique as all hell, but I do noooot like him as a person from what I know. What is the last party or event you were invited to but declined? Why? Are there certain events that you might be invited to which you are likely to decline? An old friend's Thanksgiving-ish friends party. I was tempted, but it was explicitly stated to BYOB and weed and I just didn't want to be in an environment where there was lots of drinking and smoking something that's still illegal in the state. I was already uncomfortable enough last time I went to a party at her house and there was so much smoking. You were also supposed to bring a piece of Thanksgiving food to contribute, but I can't cook and I didn't wanna bother Mom about it. For the last question, it's just about a "never" situation where I'm invited to a real event besides family birthday parties or meet-ups with Dad and his wife. Off the top of my head, I'd never go to a club if I was invited. Imagine your life three years from now as if things have gone perfectly, better than you would typically predict. What do you see? Living with a happy Sara in the mountains, very successful in photography and thus financially stable (or hopefully a bit beyond that), excelling in school, back to my healthy weight, my mental health is great and I'm on way fewer meds, Sara's able to breed snakes and write as a real career, COVER ME IN TATS BITCH, more piercings, a treatment/medication for hypotonia has been discovered, my niece and nephew have met Sara and been taught our relationship is not wrong (I doubt it though :x), I'm happy, it'd be nice to write with more people, I have at least one poem published, Teddy, Venus, Kaiju, Roman, Mitsu (now totally comfortable being held), and Sara's babies are still alive and kickin', Venus and Crowley have had a clutch, Sara's PMDD is under control, Dad's stopped smoking, Mom is in a healthy, fulfilling relationship, both Mom and Sara are at the weights they aim for, Nicole is with a guy she truly loves and he reciprocates properly, Mom has been treated for depression and has forgiven Dad... Man, lots of things. This question really made me look forward to creating this future. What about your personality makes you good at your job? Alternatively, why do you find yourself uniquely suited for or drawn to your ideal career path? No job, so I'll just respond to the second. Photography is pretty surprising as it requires serious communication, which y'all know isn't my forte in the least. However, I'm so passionate about it and feel knowledgeable enough on it to be confident. Plus I just love showing how beautiful the world is capable of being. Do you find it valuable or important to respect those in positions of authority simply because of their position? Does this vary based on what that position is? Nope. I'm not gonna respect an absolute asshole just because you're of a high position. It doesn't vary to me, either. Do you find that you often desire and/or enjoy sex? If not, why not and how do you negotiate those feelings with your partner? If so, what is it that you enjoy about it in particular? I'd say I desire it to a normal degree, and yeah, I enjoy it. Why, #1, it's such a passionate and intimate way to communicate how much you love and trust your partner. Then I mean it feels good so. How many times have you seriously injured yourself? Idk. Seriously... three? When was the last time you were a passenger in a car and sat in the back? In the back, idk. Did you attend Sunday School as a child? Yes. Are/were you in the school band, and if so, what instrument did you play? Yes, flute. What is the best thing you’ve ever bought at a thrift shop? This cool crashed ship lamp! It's beside my bed. Have you ever ordered an unusual drink at a bar? No. What is your favorite thing about summer? Swimming. That's it. When was the last time you went to your local library? Whew, years. Can you do a proper cartwheel? No. Have you ever been pulled aside by security at the airport? No. Are you a fast-thinker or a slow-thinker? Slow. If you were to donate to charity today, what would you donate to? The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention or The Trevor Project. What is your favorite card game and when was the last time you played it? Magic: The Gathering and not since my PS3 broke (I had the Duel of the Planeswalkers store game on there and I WANT IT BACK). Who was the last person you cuddled with? Sara. Did you ever go to summer camp when you were younger? No. What is your favorite seasonal candy? (only available at certain times) Gingerbread men!! Are there any television shows you own in entirety on DVD or VHS? Meerkat Manor. How far away from your house is the nearest gas station? Like, two minutes. Do you know anyone who is fluent in a second-tongue? Yeah. What is the scariest movie you’ve ever seen and who did you watch it with? The Rite, but only because the whole "raped and impregnated by a demon" shtick is a fuck to the no from me. Watched it with my younger sis years ago. When was the last time you had a bubble bath? A looooooooong time ago, I don't like baths. What was the last strong scent you smelled? Poop. Good job, Bentley. What did you buy the last time you went shopping for new clothes? A bra, I think? How did you discover your favorite band? Mom's CDs. When I was getting into my rock and metal love, I went through them and listened to albums with cool covers or bands I knew she loved, and the first happened to be Ozzy. :') Does the weather affect your mood? If so, in what ways? Yes. I have a greater tendency to feel down when it's real cloudy and sometimes rainy. If it's really hot, I'm in a worse/cranky mood. When are you most likely to be bored? Late afternoon/evening. What was the last big decision you made? Hmmm. Going back to school, maybe? Where was the last place you traveled to, and what did you do while there? Illinois. Hang out with my bby. :') What is your favorite thing to go shopping for? Clothes at Hot Topic ahhhhh. What was the last thing you received in the mail? Something for VR. What is one of your wildest dreams or ambitions? Become a well-known photographer. When was the last time you performed in front of a group of people? Years ago for dance. Who was the last person to upset you? How about the last person to cheer you up? Mom; Sara. Is there anything or anyone you’re trying to get over or let go of? No. What was the subject of your last phone conversation? Uhhh something short with Ma that I don't remember. How close do you have to be with someone before you’ll consider them a friend? I have to feel decently comfortable around them. How do you feel when a mostly unheard of band (or tv show, movie, etc.) that you love suddenly starts to gain popularity? I'm happy for them! I just hope they don't change. When was the last time you listened to new music? Uhhh recently. Do you think it is strange when a couple says “we are pregnant” rather than “I am pregnant” or “my girlfriend is pregnant”? No, I actually prefer it. You're in that shit together. Do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong era? What decade would you most like to have grown up in? No. I'm good with the '90s. What was your most memorable concert experience? Only been to one. :| But Alice was great. If you have any, are you close with your sibling(s)? Has it always been that way? Not very, and no, at least with my younger sister. We were pretty close. Do you require “closure” after things like break-ups or do you move on easily? I. Need. Closure. How long does it take for someone to earn your trust? Good luck. Do you like peanut butter? Yesssss. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school? Do/did you prefer wearing it than regular clothes? In middle school. Hell no. What’s the last thing you got really excited over? Going to Sara's. Is there a genre of movie that you just can’t watch? Action-y. What was the last song to give you nostalgia? "Holiday" by Green Day. Do you have a certain color grape you like the most? Purple. What’s your signature thing you do when drinking that will make your friends say, “Alright, they’re drunk”? N/A Have you ever been on a hot air balloon? No. What’s your definition of weird? I try to keep the mindset that "weird" doesn't exist as I'm not one to talk about things being so, yet I'm hypocritical about it and do find some things, ex. fetishes, extremely weird. Do you use shaving cream? For my legs. When was the last time you cleaned your room? Is your room clean? I dusted my whole room a while back. I need to vacuum baaadly, but ours is broken. ;-; Have you ever personally known any girl who shaved their head? Yes. Have you ever known anyone who committed suicide? Sadly. Have you ever tried to commit suicide? Yes. Have you ever coughed up blood? No. How do you wish you could die? Surrounded by family and painless. Do you have any apps on your Facebook? If so, what? No. What kind of mouse pad do you have? Don't have one. What color is your mouse? Pink. Do you know any who might be anorexic? Do you know anyone who has bulimia? Maybe? Did you ever want a pony when you were little? Idr. What’s your favorite dessert food? Ice cream. What is the closest thing to you right now that is alive? My dog. Do you exercise? I'm starting to again. Do you dislike writing school essays? Not if it's a subject I like. Are you a very open-minded person? Yes. Are you modest? I believe I am. Do you skate? No. Are you in a band? No. If you were to make it big with your own band, what would its name be? *shrugs* It depends on the members. Would you rather a friend come over to your house or you go over there? I go over there. Have you ever had rabies? No. Do you know anyone who ever had to get a rabies shot? Idk. Have you ever gone hunting? No, never would. Ever eaten deer? Duck? Squirrel? How about lamb? No. Have you ever received a note in your locker? I think once from Aaron?

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

50 things to be thankful for in 2018

There's no denying 2018 has absolutely tested our patience, but it turns out the year hasn't been complete trash.

Beyond some of the most important aspects of life like your loved ones and your health, 2018 has truly given us a lot of good. From social justice initiatives like Time's Up and March for Our Lives, to pop culture masterpieces like Queer Eye, Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, and "thank u, next," the year had its share of hopeful, joyous, entertaining, and positive moments.

So when times get tough and it feels like there's not much to be happy about in the world, here are 50 things to be thankful for.

SEE ALSO: The internet's best tips for how to be kind on World Kindness Day

1. Time's Up launched. 2018 started off strong with a group of more than 300 women in the entertainment industry coming together to form Time's Up — an initiative dedicated to standing up against sexual harassment.

I stand with women across every industry to say #TIMESUP on abuse, harassment, marginalization and underrepresentation. ⁰@TIMESUPNOW https://t.co/4zd5g2ByU0 pic.twitter.com/0h8ojLOq9U

— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) January 1, 2018

2. Laverne Cox made history on the cover of Cosmo. In January, actress and producer Laverne Cox also made history as the first ever trans covergirl for Cosmopolitan Magazine. Cox graced the cover of Cosmo South Africa's February issue.

3. The Fab Five came into our lives. It may feel like Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Karamo Brown, Bobby Berk, and Antoni Porowski have been inspiring us all to eat, dress, groom, self-love, and decorate to the best of our abilities for a lifetime, but Netflix's Queer Eye reboot only premiered in Feb. 2018.

4. Drake's "God's Plan" music video. Remember pre-Meek Mill beef when Drake gave away nearly one million dollars and filmed himself doing all those good deeds like paying for people's groceries? That was nice!

5. The Parkland teens. Though 2018 was full of an unfathomable amount of tragedy and gun violence,  the year also inspired a heartwarming amount of youth activism in America. After the deadly Parkland shooting in February, a group of teen survivors from the Florida high school shooting has consistently stood up to government officials and publicly advocated for gun control.

Parkland teens at March For Our lives rally.

Image: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

This year alone they've formed March for Our Lives, led school walkouts, inspired others (both young and old) to register to vote and protest gun violence, and even inspired the Obama's to write a heartfelt entry in the Time 100 issue.

6. Mirai Nagasu landed a triple axel. The Winter Olympics also took place this year! There were many standout moments but Mirai Nagasu absolutely slayed, making history by becoming the first U.S. woman to land a triple axel in the Winter Olympics. Thankful we got to witness this moment.

7. Black Panther came out. We were truly blessed this year by the arrival of the record-breaking Marvel's cinematic masterpiece, Black Panther, and the talented actors, fierce as hell soundtrack, and on-screen representation it brought to our world.

8. Jordan Peele's Oscar win. Speaking of movies, Peele's film Get Out won "Best Original Screenplay" this year, making him the first black screenwriter to receive the award.

9. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate wait is almost over. The highly anticipated video game is set to come out for Nintendo Switch on Dec. 7.

10. Beto O'Rourke. 2018 was the year of Beto, burgers, and a Beyoncé midterms endorsement.

We just want to say thank you to everyone who made this possible. Everyone who made us feel hopeful, everyone who inspired us. Everyone who became the most amazing campaign we could have ever hoped to belong to. Grateful that we got to do this with you. We love you. Goodnight! pic.twitter.com/1j6JnhtP0f

— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) November 7, 2018

11. A Quiet Place. John Krasinski directed and starred in a horror film alongside his IRL wife that was so quiet and terrifying people were too nervous to eat snacks in theaters. What a time to be alive.

12. Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer. Remember when the rapper was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his fourth studio album, DAMN? Hell yeah!

13. Beyoncé at Coachella. Beychella was THIS YEAR. We knew she would slay but nothing prepared us for the sheer magnitude of her powerhouse performance, or Destiny's Child, or the movement she inspired.

14. The Royal Wedding. When the world needed a distraction from the bad and an escape from reality, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were there for us. And for that we thank them.

15. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was saved. For several terrible, horrible, no good, very bad hours Brooklyn Nine-Nine was cancelled. But thankfully, after a whole lot of love from fans, NBC picked it up for a sixth season.

Image: fox

16. Won't You Be My Neighbor reminded us of Mr. Rogers' magic. We needed a heavy dose of Fred Rogers' pure and wholesome goodness to get us through the year and this film did just the trick.

17. Ava DuVernay made history. DuVernay's adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time led her to become the first black woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million at the box office.

18. The world is finally taking action against plastic pollution. Plastic straw bans are spreading across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Businesses like McDonald's and Starbucks are even getting on board the movement. 

19. We still have dogs. No matter how bad things get we still have furry companions to turn to, and play with, and occasionally throw cheese on.

20. Eighth Grade filled us with middle school anxiety. Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade reminded adults how stressful growing up can be and gave teens an emotional look at middle school through a more relatable lens.

Image: a24

21. Crazy Rich Asians was a smashing success. The film dominated box office sales and served as an important milestone for Asian representation in American pop culture. And guess what? It's getting a sequel.

22. Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again! Love. Pregnancy. Death. Flashbacks. Dancing. Singing. Abba. Meryl. Cher. Andy García. Help!

23. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra. 2018 has seen the rise (Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin) and fall (Ariana and Pete) of celebrity relationships. But through the ups and downs of the year Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra's love never seemed to waiver. We're thankful this nice, soon-to-be-wed couple is here to restore our faith in love.

24. LeBron James opened up a school. The NBA star opened his "I Promise" school in Akron, Ohio, to give 240 third and fourth grade students a life-changing educational opportunity.

25. To All The Boys I've Loved Before captured our hearts. Netflix introduced the world to the film adaptation of Jenny Han's young adult book and after Peter Kavinsky's "woah woah woah," our hearts will never be the same. Not to mention it inspired dozens of Lara Jean Halloween costumes.

Image: netflix

26. That quirky, super high-maintenance cat was adopted. Remember Bruno, the thicc, polydactyl cat that Wright Way Rescue Animal Shelter in Morton Grove, Illinois, was trying to find a home? He found one :').

27. A sixgill shark was discovered. This is cool because most sharks have five gills. It's also a reminder that we should be thankful for oceanographers, researchers, and all those who explore the our vast and mysterious oceans.

28. India strikes down gay sex ban. On Sept. 6, members of India's Supreme Court unanimously voted to make the landmark ruling that eliminates the ban on consensual gay sex.

29. Moth memes lit up our lives. The year was filled with good memes but those moth/lamp memes? Pure joy.

30. Amy Sherman-Palladino and all those Emmys. Amy Sherman-Palladino has always been genius. Gilmore Girls? Bun Heads? Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life? It's about time she's properly celebrated, so we're thankful The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel won four Emmys. We are also thankful for her husband, Dan Palladino.

Image: Rich Fury/Getty Images

31. Twitter did one good thing. We have no edit button and there's still bots and harassment a-plenty, but at the very least, Twitter brought back the chronological timeline.

32. Gritty came into our lives. Can anyone even remember a world without the Philadelphia Flyers' new hairy orange mascot?

33. The Office is back ... sort of. While fans of the NBC comedy are still holding out hope for a revival, 2018 treated those nostalgic for the days of Dunder Mifflin to a charming off-broadway musical.

34. Speaking of The Office — be thankful for Steve Carell. He stars with Timothée Chalamet and Amy Ryan (Holly Flax) in Beautiful Boy. He's got Welcome to Marwen coming out, which looks, uh interesting. He's on SNL. And he's making his triumphant return to television!

35. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper gave us life. A Star Is Born came out this year, along with a kickass soundtrack and some perfect memes. We will never be the same.

36. Fat Bear Week ran our lives for 7 days. Much love to all the fat bears out there who distracted us for an entire week just by living their lives. 

37. This throwback baked potato costume. Halloween costumes are great but this throwback baked potato get-up really made us smile.

38. Thankful for the hot duck in Central Park. We thought we lost him, but he's back again. <3

39. We have a new anthem: "Party For One." How did Carly Rae Jepsen know we were in desperate need of a song to dance in our underwear and eat a large pizza alone to? And the music video! UGH!

40. And there's no musical praise without discussing Ariana Grande. The warrior of 2018, Ariana Grande, has given fans so much love, inspiration, and hope throughout the year. Not to mention, the ultimate independent BOP: "thank u, next."

i’m so ..... fuckin ..... grateful

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) November 11, 2018

41. BDE came to be. Speaking adjacently of Pete Davidson, for better or worse 2018 also gave us Big Dick Energy and that's something we'll never forget.

42. Netflix still delivers. Netflix has an entertaining social media presence and continues to create quality original shows and movies.

43. There was an increase in voter turnout. 2018 proved Americans are standing up for what they believe in and exercising their right to vote. Voter turnout for midterm elections reached a 50-year high, and young people voted at historic rates.

44. Midterm results showed a refreshing amount of diversity. It was a night of historic firsts — from over 100 women elected to Congress (the highest number ever) to wins for the LGBTQ community and more.

45. The Detective Pikachu trailer looks delightful. Another cute as hell movie to look forward to? Yes please.

46. Cher's Twitter is hilarious. Twitter is sometime awful but not Cher's account. That's always good.

47. All of the books. The world has so many books just waiting to be read — books for when you're mad at the patriarchy, books for hikers, books all about pride. And some great books written this year.

48. All of the great TV shows. Streaming aside, there are dozens of phenomenal shows airing on television this year, like Superstore, The Good Place, This Is Us, Killing Eve, and more.

49. Sports are still a thing! We've got football, we've got soccer, we've got basketball, baseball, hockey, and so many more. Sports bring people together!

50. All the people working to keep others safe, informed, and up-to-date with the news. It's been a tough year for news, mass shootings, and natural disasters, which is why we're thankful for all the hard working journalists, reporters, news anchors, first responders, weather forecasters, and hurricane scientists.

So remember: No matter how bad things may seem there are always some bright spots in the world.

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