#absolutely HAD to make a post featuring one of my new favorite reaction images (also one of my favorite reaction images of all time)

[science-bastard]

when i stop the reactor core from exploding by eating all the uranium:

[jaeminscoffee]

Daddy Issues | S. Jn

Pairing | Seo Johnny x Fem!Reader

Genre | Smut, fluff

Wc;type | oneshot: 3.93k [not proof read]

Warning(s) | Pwp, dilf!johnny, y/n's a pillow princess, daddy kink, overstimulation, teasing, edging, dacryphilia, slight voyeurism, degradation kink, heavy use of the words 'doll, princess, slut, pretty, angel', typical lyra smut, i made haechan johnny's son (i was about to write changbin as johnny's son but decided against it) age gap, unprotected sex ( the Reader's on pills. Remember this is a fiction, don't play the wrong card irl) filth.

a/n- i found this request buried in my asks and was tempted to write it. Sure, the warning looks intimidating, but i know you wanna read it, y'all whores (ily) shoutout to @bakugou-is-my-bae @cvntzennie and @jenopollo for helping me decide what to post first! @suhpersonic

Minors try not to interact! <3

Age is just a number, so surely, there's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of, right? 

There's no reason for you to not fall for the friendly neighborhood bachelor, well not so bachelor bachelor, since he does go around asking people who knows of his marriage to pretend it never took place. 

Johnny's hot, super hot. Has the build of a supermodel. Has the face that one can only imagine belongs to a greek god, as you'd jokingly tell him how he seemed to be god's favorite and how you loathe Aphrodite for showing favoritism (which would always end up with you getting a very sultry, teasing look from the lad) 

Johnny has the type of personality that women can only wish the entirety of the male species would possess. He's an absolute sweetheart, life of the party, definitely the center of attention wherever he goes. And oh god, does he have an immaculate fashion sense. 

But Johnny's also the father of Donghyuck. Your best friend. 

More than being ashamed about the fact that you actually fell in love with a man who has a child of your age, it was the fact that you had to fall for Donghyuck's father of all people. 

Donghyuck is a sweetheart, definitely got his personality from his father but he's also got that glare that could creep the Lord's of the darkness from his father. He's got so much from his father that the resemblance is uncanny. 

You'd not want to get onto hyuck's bad side since you've gotten first hand experience at stopping him from almost committing homicide to someone who spoke shit about his friends, more specifically, you. 

But Hyuck's not in town. So a little fun with Mr. Suh wouldn't hurt anyone, correct? After all, you're still only a human with desires and the want to take risks. 

You'd always not so subtly drop hints at Johnny and he'd always give you that look that would have slick collecting itself between your thighs. A warning look. 

A look that said, "cross the line and you'll get it" 

But that's the thing, you want to get it and will do anything to get it.

"Y/n." 

You'd ask yourself less than a million times if you want to do this or not.

Sure, you weren't this hesitant when you decided to sext your best friend's father knowingly when he was in business mode to irk him up but that's one thing. 

And having to confront the same father who left a message smaller than a sentence that completely disregarded all the obscene text and images to show that he's not the slightest bothered or suprised by your behavior for that matter was another thing.

"Tomorrow at mine." 

It's almost as though he deals with hormonal teenagers one as such as yourself on a daily basis and that thought kind of backfired at you considering the whole 'Let's piss Johnny off so that he'd finally give me what i want' agenda. 

Ironic, huh? 

"Mr. Suh." you start hesitantly, unsure of what to call him, scared of what his reaction would be after your inappropriate shenanigans last night. 

Your stiff demeanor broke down a little with just a hint of shiver passing down your spine as you watch his features contort into a subtle but cocky smirk, "So now you're being all formal,"

"Well, what else would you like me to address you as?" you inquire, feigning oblivion to his tone and what he's implying at. "You tell me, doll. You seemed to have a lot of names to call me last night," he takes a step forward, prompting you to walk a step backwards, further into the corridors of his apartment and away from the actual location. 

"I do not know what you're talking about.. " you let your voice shrivel towards the end, eyes wandering around the complex, finding interest in every small detail as you avoid Johnny's teasing gaze. 

"You don't?" Johnny takes another step forward, latching his hands onto your forearms to prevent you from stepping further away, "You must have had a heavy sleep to forget all that you did last night," his voice drops dangerously low as he begins to walk backwards and back into the safety of his apartment, all the while keeping his gaze fixated on you.

"That won't do, would it? How about we take a walk down the memory lane? And see if that rings any bell?" He brushes your hair away from its static position on your shoulder, allowing him to appreciate all those fine details of your shoulders and neck that are exposed from your selection of clothing, an off shoulder. 

"How about we don't...?" You ask with skepticism, jolting slightly when you hear the door shut behind you and at the new intrusion of personal space by the lad.

"Why are you acting all shy now, Y/n? Weren't you the one so eager to get into her best friend's fathers pants? Just be the whore you are, darling. Your facade's fooling no one." okay you definitely didn't see that coming. 

Johnny's expressions morph into that of mischief as he watches your eyes grow wide and mouth fall ajar, "Am i not correct? Are you not a whore?" he asks with an eyebrow quirked up in a questioning manner.

You don't reply, almost as though the question was meant to linger in the open and that it was a rhetorical one. What you didn't expect, however, was for Johnny's hands to find pursuit around your neck, not necessarily applying pressure, but there as a warning. 

"Answer me." 

"I'm not.." you answer with a feeble voice, internally cringing at how squeaky you sound which only added to Johnny's amusement. 

"Really? Because I don't think good girls go around drooling at a divorced man, her friend's father for that matter and definitely do not send lewd images and voice out their fantasies to a guy twice their age, still want to pretend you're innocent? Or you admit it and we cut down the chase?"

"Yes, I am." you breathe out when his fingers tighten around your neck, a triumphant smile making its way onto his lips. Yet, Johnny felt the need to keep pushing,

"you're what?" 

"I am what you said I am," you speak, trying to avoid looking at the scrutinizing look on his face which seemed futile as he had his arms wrapped around your neck, keeping your head in place. 

"I want to hear you say it, doll. I need to hear you say it." At this point Johnny's intent was to get you into a flustered puddle in his hold and it sure as hell was going in that direction, seeing how you can't even hold his gaze for more than a few seconds in a shot. 

"I am.. I am a who-"

The sound of a phone ringing loud cut you off midway through your sentence, to which you were absolutely relieved. Johnny only seemed to grow annoyed the more he heard the phone ring. With a loud huff, he lets you go, not before giving you a stern look, "Go to my room." he instructed, making his way to the study. 

You let out a breath you've been holding in unknowingly the moment he steps away from you. You watch his figure retreat from you with awe, only now realizing how messy you felt between your legs and how your knees keep buckling. 

"Oh Hyuck!" you hear Johnny exclaim into the phone the minute you step forward to follow his command. 

Your best friend is on call with the guy you're about to fuck. 

Your blood runs cold as you shakily make your way into the apartment and towards the bedroom, shrugging off your sling bag, hanging it behind the door as you place your phone on the bedside table to wipe your hands dry from all the sweat that had accumulated at the palm of your hands. 

"Yeah, I'm fine, about to eat to my dinner actually" you hear the moment to make yourself comfortable at the edge of the bed, looking over to the door where Johnny stood with his arms across his chest, the other holding up the phone as he leans his weight onto one shoulder, leaning into the doorframe.

You take the time to really appreciate his appearance. He adorned nothing more than a simple grey sweat and tight black tee but he seemed ready to walk down a runway at any given moment now. His long hair, slightly disheveled looking almost intentionally messed up, compliments his features. And oh his features. 

The everlasting smirk stayed still on his lips, moving as he exchanged words with his son.

You only come back to your senses when Johnny snapped his free hand in front of you, gaining your attention. He points at his own shirt, then points at you, mouthing 'off' while he listens to Donghyuck speak about whatever he's speaking. 

"Really? Jeno said that? Tell him I'm more than willing to welcome him as my gym partner, the lad seems strong" Johnny makes a quick move to remove the gadget from his ear, before holding it in front of him after placing the call on speaker mode 

Your eyes widen the moment you hear the disturbance in the background and Donghyuck's voice resonate through the room. "no?? Why would you want to work out with him? He'll only make you feel old, you know?" 

"Says the one who still can't beat me at arm wrestling. If anything, i think Jeno would make the perfect gym buddy for me," Johnny raises an eyebrow at your defiance, cocking his head towards the side, staring down at you with a predatory look, "Hyuck, you know, Y/n-" you scramble to take your shirt off at the mention of your name on the call, "-stopped by earlier" he lets out a silent laugh of disbelief.

"Oh? Oh yeah! I'd told her I'd give her book back before I left but I forgot, did you perhaps give it back to her?" Donghyuck questions. 

"I figured you must've forgotten so, yeah i did." Johnny replies, pushing himself off of the doorframe, now walking towards you. 

"Man, I miss her! I might facetime her after I end the call with you," Johnny sets down the phone beside you on the bed, leaning down, placing both his hands on either side of your lap, finding comfort at the crook of your neck,

"I remember her mentioning something about her cousin coming over? Maybe wait for an hour or so before calling her" his lips graze against your neck each time he spoke, you let out a tiny whimper at the so longed feeling, only to earn yourself a small bite at the earlobe, immediately accompanied by a hand over your mouth, "you need to be quiet, doll. Or my son would find out how much of a slut his best friend is," he whispers in your ear. 

"Yeah? Did she mention which one?" 

"No, not really, she kinda just stormed out after getting what she wanted" Johnny creates a trail of kisses all the way from your neck to your shoulders, down the collarbone while one of his hand worked to unhook your bra, "Yeah, she's weird like that," you hear Donghyuck let out a chuckle as you whine into Johnny's palm, your figure slightly trembling from the fear of getting caught all the while being excited about the risky situation he's put the two of you in. 

"Anyways, I'll call you tomorrow? The boys are coming over now so I got to go! Night, dad!" Donghyuck speaks up again, "Night, Hyuck." 

You hear the beep indicating the call has ended. Johnny let's his hand drop from your mouth and makes its way towards your hair, brushing through the strands before pulling at it with a firm grip, "I had my son on call and here you are making all these sweet noises, you wanted to get busted, doll?" 

"It's not my fault! You-"

"ah-ah! Don't talk back, angel. You're already in deep trouble, don't want to add onto that now, do we?" He makes a swift move to have you lying on your back, your torso completely exposed to him while he remains clothed. 

"But Johnny-" you whine, jolting when you feel his hands caressing the soft flesh of your inner thighs, "How do you think Hyuck would feel about this?" his hands travel further north, cupping your heat from underneath your skirt. "fuck, you're drenched"

"Now tell me, pretty girl, what are you supposed to be calling me, now?" 

"Johnny-, tha-that was a joke! I don't have daddy kin-" you try clenching your thighs close from the sudden attention your core was receiving. Johnny wholeheartedly lets out a laugh at your attempt to hide your true feelings, making a quick act of disregarding your soaked panties somewhere behind him.

"Darling, the more you deny it, the longer we keep going at it-" his thumbs at your clit, applying pressure but making no move to quench your needs. You let out a sigh of bliss at the feeling, your back arching off of the sheets at the sensation.

In any other situation, you'd be embarrassed at how sensitive you'd gotten just from all the dirty talking and looks Johnny passed you. But that's the catch, he's Johnny, the only one who can get you this sensitive while doing the bare minimum. 

"Say it, Y/n." 

"No, Johnny! It's-it's embarrassing.." you plead with your eyes, grinding your hips against his fingers, earning a satisfied, dirty look from the lad. 

"Very well.. I'll just draw it out of you"

Without warning, Johnny with little to no resistance, slides two slender digits into your wetness, setting a pace fast enough to draw loud chains of cries from your mouth.

"You hear that, doll? You hear how fucking wet you are? Hm?" he growls animalistically, the thumb that remained on your clit now moving in circles with a motive to get you undone in seconds. 

"Johnn-..!" you whine out, feeling your orgasm growing so close that you could almost taste it, "Still going at that, angel?" he questions, not really expecting an answer as he soaks up the pleasured look on your face. "Johnny- I'm close.. -" you fail to notice the mischievous grin growing on his face as he speeds up the movement of his fingers. 

"Of course you are, doll" He feels you clench around his fingers, back coming off of the mattress as you ready yourself for your release, waiting until the last minute to draw his finger out.

"Why would you-? Johnn-I was so close!" you cry out as you sense your core clench around nothing, whining about the incomplete orgasm. "Why would I give you what you want when you wouldn't comply, baby? That's not how this works." He shrugs, licking his fingers clean of your essence, moving up from the bed to remove the shirt that seemed to be suffocating now.

"Johnny, please!" you whine louder, rubbing your thighs together to create some sort of friction, all unsatisfactory as it did not meet the same intensity as that of his fingers. 

"Please what, doll?" He smirks, knowing the ball is in his court and that you'd had to give in any moment now. Johnny leans down once again, drawing lazy circles at your clit, using his other hand to hold himself up above and close to you, his minty breath which had a hint of coffee fanning your face as you whimper, finally feeling your high building itself up again. "Spit it out, princess, you know you want to." he speaks in a soft voice.

"Please..please" you beg for nothing in particular, getting all worked up again, "The begging's lovely, doll. But you're starting to anger me here, will you say it? Or should I leave you hanging again?" 

You mutter prayers under your breath, hoping he wouldn't actually leave you hanging again, "Fine-" he moves again to remove his fingers from you to deprive you of pleasure all over again when you finally latch onto his wrist, keeping his hands in place blurting out, "Daddy! I'm so-sorry.. There, daddy, please make me come" you give in, the name, the feeling and look of pure victory on his face as he grins like a cheshire cat only intensifies the heat growing at a rapid pace at the pit of your stomach. 

"Final fucking ly, princess. Daddy will make you feel good" He reinserts his fingers in, drilling it with desperation to see you come undone as he draws rapid circles on your now sensitive clit with the other hand, watching you squirm under him.

"Joh-Daddy i'm coming..!" you cry out weakly as you feel your orgasm hit you with much force, easily driving you into over sensitivity. Johnny's patient in helping you ride out your orgasm, not stopping until you let out a throaty sob and plead him to stop to allow yourself some room to breathe. 

Johnny, however, makes no move to stop, only speeding up his fingers, his gaze fixed on where his fingers disappeared inside of you while his other hand held you down with a vise grip, "Give me one more, doll. I know you've got one more in you. " he pants, the feeling of his girth in confinement only throwing himself to sensory deprivation as he feels himself twitch inside his sweats painfully. 

You shake your head, tears now flowing elegantly down your cheek, your lips puckered into a slight pout, your eyebrows drawn together as you let yourself melt into the pleasure Johnny was providing you with. "Daddy.." 

You whine, feeling your second high reaching you ridiculously quick as you see Johnny's face contort in concentration, 

"I need to get you nice and wet for me, princess, you're doing so well. Give daddy another one" you coaxes you with his sultry tone, words and actions, inevitably having you come undone under him for the second time that night. 

You let out a choked moan, finally having enough as you curl upon yourself the minute Johnny removes his fingers from you, full fledged crying at the overbearing feeling of sensitivity. 

Johnny groans at the sight, leaning down to press a soft peck on your sweaty forehead before getting off of the bed to remove his pants alongside his boxer at a slow speed, granting you some time to recover.

"Condom?" he asks, readying himself to reach into the drawing when he notices you shake your head a no as a reply, "I'm on pills.." you mutter weakly. 

You hear him curse out at the thought of doing you raw, flexing his muscles before climbing on top of you again. He takes his time to gently turn you back onto your back, pressing his tender lips against your irritated one for the first time that night, his hand ever so slightly moving to play with your clit once again, making you jerk, "Daddy!" 

"Sorry, doll. Daddy just needs to make sure that princess is ready to take his cock" 

Your whining intensifies at his words, wiggling your hips to move closer to his own, "But I am ready! Look, daddy! I'm so wet and ready for you!" you whimper, earning a chuckle from the lad. 

Just like all the other times that night, he aligns his cock at your entrance without a warning, the tip ever so slightly pushing through your walls, "Alright, big girl. Show daddy how much of a slut you can be for him."

Suddenly, Johnny detaches himself from you, moving further away as he leans by the edge of the door, smirking at you whining at the loss of contact, "Patience, angel" 

He grabs hold of your hips, manhandling your body into all fours as he enters you completely with no trouble once he's got you where he wants you to be.  

Something about having to take Johnny from behind was so sexy that you could almost immediately feel your orgasm grow, "Fuck baby, keep clenching around me like that and i won't last long," he grunts, moving in you with a steady pace, 

"I never expected my son to befriend such filthy sluts like you, Y/n. Look at the mess you're making on my sheets" He grabs a fistful of your ass in a tight squeeze, the sudden shift in his demeanor only serving as a whiplash as you feel yourself growing closer and closer to the sweet orgasm. 

"Jesus, doll, you're so fucking tight i can barely move" Johnny growls, talking to keep himself from coming too fast. 

"Daddy.. I'm close. M-I'm so so close" you cry as your arms give out and you fall face first onto the mattress, the new stretch in your back only encouraging his cock to hit you deeper, finding the sweet cushion that serves as extra pleasure for you. 

"Me too, princess, me too.. '' You hear him let out a whine, his thrusts growing sloppier as he does you slower but deeper. 

He reaches around your body to find pursuit at your clit for the nth time that night, rubbing rapid, messy circles to go with his deep thrusts, "Daddy!" you reach your high with a high pitched cry of his name. 

Johnny comes not too long after you as he couldn't resist the constant tight clenching of your walls around his cock. He thrust slowly to ride out his high as you twitch helplessly, face scrunched up in too much pleasure. 

You feel your body being manoeuvred onto your side as he whispers sweet nothings which pass right through your ears as you feel him softened inside you, the feeling ridiculously soothing for your used up walls, 

"You did amazing, darling." he kisses your temple, not making any move to remove himself from within you, which you silently thanked him for. 

You both lay in silence as you turned your body towards him, earning a hiss and a playful smack from him as it added pressure onto his sensitive member. You wrap your arms around his torso, about to nuzzle into his chest and just drift away to dreamland when you hear the familiar ring of your phone from the table beside the bed. 

You feel Johnny's body shift to reach out to get your phone, looking at the caller ID before handing it to you with a smirk that you knew meant that he was up to no good. "Oh! It's hyuck" you exclaim in shock, quickly accepting the call and placing it near your ear, moving to get away from him. 

But Johnny seemed to have other ideas, as he latched an arm around your torso to keep you from moving, "Hey-" you begin, immediately feeling Johnny experimentally thrust into you again, making you whine, "Y/n! I miss you~-oh hey, are you okay?" you hear Donghyuck's voice from the other side, 

You look at Johnny with a pleading and warning gaze to which you earn yourself a toothy grin from the lad, 

"Of co-course! Just a little.. peachy,'' You turn around to place a hand on his chest to halt his movement, "You don't sound just peachy.. I've heard you like this before!" you hear Donghyuck make those noises he makes when he's thinking as Johnny keeps thrusting lazily the more you look at him, you see him open his mouth to speak, "Oh fuck! You're getting laid, aren't you???" 

"Tell Hyuck daddy says hi"

[verxsyon]

“THE MORN A THOUSAND ROSES BRINGS”

just as promised, i’ll be making a post analyzing the trailer to the best of my ability. i’m thinking of posting my reactions to a major update like how i did with inazuma last year. might not go too deep because there’s a chance i might bring this discussion up in my next stream on sunday (if you mention it to me through chat)!

there’s so much to unpack here, so if you haven’t watched it yet, the content is under the cut to avoid you getting spoiled.

REACTIONS

the soundtrack hits so hard omfg i was jamming the entire trailer.

kinda bummed that dehya and cyno didn’t make an appearance and weren’t featured in the poster because i was looking forward to see them. however, after hearing that the devs took the feedback about the pace of inazuma by stretching out the main story until 3.2 (4 patches), i’m okay with that. waiting for those two along with the desert region will be all worth it in the end.

the visuals of sumeru are stunning. one of my favorite scenes was nilou transforming transforming what seems to be a dendro crystalfly into fragments of power and spreading them into the land that revealed the landscape of the region is such a sight. another scene was with her dancing in the midst of chaos.

props to the voice actors holy shit. they sound amazing. absolutely in love with tighnari’s, collei’s, nilou’s, dori’s, and nahida’s. al-haitham... hm, i need to get used to it. i’m not too sold on him sounding robotic (eng dub).

“the world... forget me...” that last line? every time i rewatched the trailer, i always get chills down my spine. was it kusanali who said that or was it the former dendro archon?

the lore my god. corrupt scholars? the refusal to acknowledge kusanali as the new dendro archon? the interruption of the sabzeruz festival? we’re gonna steal an object that would reveal something huge and become criminals because of that? man, i can’t wait for 3.0.

ANALYSIS

tighnari explained that the akasha terminal is created by the akademiya through the power of greater lord rukkhadevata. then an npc followed it up by saying that we can use it to access the akasha, which i believe is an archive of sorts to find any information we need. after her death, the sages took hold of her gnosis and created that system to ensure that the citizens aren’t questioning their rule. instead of a god having it in their possession, it’s in the hands of humans -- in the wrong hands. at first, i thought it was a headpiece that filtered information that are considered threats to the regime so that may be the case as well.

the sages were against the celebration of kusanali rising up as the new archon of the region, seeing it as confirming that rukkhadevata is dead and declaring that “our archon created the utopia that is sumeru city”. there was a scene that had a bird in a cage. the sages were trapping kusanali and restricting her powers to avoid “destroying” that image of peace for everyone. the scene with an eremite boss and the machine from the desert might have some connection with this.

in the teyvat chapter storyline trailer, dainsleif summarized the conflict of sumeru as “in the city of scholars there is a push for folly, yet the god of wisdom makes no argument against it”. the reason why kusanali doesn’t take action is because she’s basically held hostage by the sages and can’t do anything about it.

also the first line of the sumeru chapter was “the god of wisdom’s enemy is wisdom itself, and the oasis of knowledge is a mirage in the desert of ignorance”. know too much, you’re dead. kusanali wished that the forest and the desert got along. the desert region is a metaphor of truth; they know what tf is going on. however, the forest chooses to remain ignorant and that whatever the desert believes in is a total hoax.

“are you really ignorant? or are you just living in complete denial?” was said as some parts of sumeru city disappeared. the theme of the 2.8 gaa event was mirages, created by the fatui through kusanali’s power and manifested by a person’s memories and dreams. i have a theory that what we see sumeru city as is not real, rather it’s been long gone with rukkhadevata. the sages refused to believe that, hence using the gnosis to create that illusion and keeping that alive through their dreams. that may explain why adults are incapable of dreaming. their dreams may be considered to be threats and were told that the rule of the sages are absolute.

[ladyaudentium]

Confectionary Affection

Title: Confectionary Affection Fandom: Final Fantasy Crisis Core Rating: T Pairing: AngealxOC Characters: Angeal Hewley, Zack Fair, Genesis Rhapsodos, Original Characters Links: A03, FF.net

This took me longer than I would have liked, but I'm back with the next chapter! This one is jam packed with Angeal and Zack content! Be sure to grab a cold drink and a snack to enjoy!

Thank you to all who reviewed, favorited, and followed after the first chapter so far! If I missed responding to anyone's review, I'm sorry! I'll be going back over the reviews for the previous chapter, and if I missed you, I'll send you a response!

Enjoy!

It was nearly impossible to forget that Angeal and Zack had stopped by her bakery.

Kalika and Anri worked themselves to the bone and were only just barely able to keep up to the new level of demand. Sometimes it was so busy during the morning that there was simply not enough stock left to open in the evening; not even if Kalika remade everything again.

At first the business had been making a considerable income, and even now, it was till turning a higher profit than the past, but the costs of running the establishment had also increased. Sometimes there was simply not enough ingredients or prepared pastries left to open again in the evening. Usually this ended up with the business losing money.

Not only that but the increased workload had Kalika and Anri burning out more quickly than they could regain their strength. Kalika's usual late nights and early mornings preparing dough and bakery items were quickly turning into working around the clock. It wasn't unusual for her to doze off kneading a bread dough only to wake with it on the floor or ruined from over working it.

Anri was the same, for the first time since she was a new employee, she was making mistakes with drink and food orders. As a result, the customers were becoming upset and more than once a scene with raised voices had caused Kalika to intervene and forcibly remove the troublemakers.

It was getting to the point where an extra set of hands was a necessary addition; preferably a set with some muscle behind them. Kalika sighed heavily as she once again wiped the chalk board clean. Her handwriting was never great to begin with, but her hands were still sore and shaky from the kneading she had just finished.

The sun was beginning to set, and the bakery had been closed all day. Kalika had spent all night and day preparing every bit of dough, batter, and meringue for the no doubt absolutely insane day tomorrow. If her usual delivery of supplies was on time, she would be able to open again the day after, but if not… well she would come up with something. She always did.

Slapping her cheek, she forced herself to stay awake for just a little while longer, she just needed to finish this task and then she was finished—

*KNOCK KNOCK* "Kalika?" a voice called from outside.

The young woman jumped at the sudden noise which caused a series of events to follow:

First, her precariously placed step ladder slipped off the edge of the counter, causing her to scream in fear and drop all her supplies creating a racket.

Second, the door burst open just as she desperately tried to remain balanced, her hands reaching out for anything that would keep her from the inevitable.

Third, she fell.

The young woman braced for the cold, hard impact of the floor, but instead was met with a warm embrace. Black hair and blue eyes entered her vision and it was with a sudden sinking pit in her stomach that she knew who it was.

Angeal Hewley.

"You should be more careful." He intoned lowly, his chest vibrating with his voice, "We need to stop meeting like this."

Kalika stared up into his bright blue eyes as her head rested on his chest. "I don't know, I think it's kind of nice?" the words escaped her mouth before she could think twice and immediately could feel her face begin to heat up in a deep, mortified blush.

Angeal blinked once in disbelief as his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

"Better be careful, Angeal or pretty soon she's going to be falling for you!" Zack called excitedly, breaking the silence.

The black-haired man, sighed deeply and screwed his eyes shut, clearly stressed, "Zack. What have I said to you about appropriate behavior and comments?" he prompted as the burly SOLDIER made a move to stand, his steady grip assisting Kalika to stand along with him.

There was a heavy sigh from the opposite side of the corner while the younger boy replied monotonously, "You said that I need to think before speaking and that words have impact. I can't take back anything once it's been said, sometimes the best choice is to remain silent." the energetic boy leaned back over a bar stool and with both hands over his face, "I can't help it though, you two make it so easy!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands to the ceiling.

"You need to learn self-restraint if you intend to be an honorable member of SOLDIER in the future." Angeal scolded and judging from the young boy's reaction, this seemed to be a common occurrence between the two of them. Somehow, that did not come as a surprise to the young woman.

"I know, I'm doing my best, Angeal! Sometimes it just bursts out before I can stop it!" Zack turned to Kalika, "By the way, we're here to return this! The scones were delicious, thanks!" he held out the same container that Anri had given them upon their departure from their last visit.

The blue haired girl blinked once in surprise as she accepted the box; a reusable one that was not their typical to-go boxes. That sly girl, she had planned for this too. "Thanks, I'm glad you liked them." she looked up at Angeal, "I'm sorry for the trouble of making you come back here to return it. It would have been fine if you just disposed of the container instead." she also took the opportunity to notice that it had been washed as well. How… odd. Somehow, she just could not picture prominent members of SOLDIER doing something as ordinary as washing dishes.

The image of Angeal in a pink, frilly apron suddenly was at the forethought of her brain and she blushed deeply once again.

"It would be wasteful to merely dispose of an easily reusable box such as this." Angeal stated plainly. His eyebrows lowered with concern as he pulled a glove from his hand and gently placed his palm on her forehead, "You're quite red, are you feeling alright? Have you eaten anything today?"

"I - I think so? I've been busy today and haven't had a chance to sit down for long." Kalika blurted as she froze in place. Should she move away from his hand? Or would that be rude? Why was he being so friendly? Was he always this caring to strangers? Especially a stranger that just hit on him a minute ago. The blush returned full force to her face with that traitorous thought.

Before she could panic any further, he pulled his hand away and once again donned his glove. The young woman breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Busy? But you're closed!" Zack spoke up, and cocked his head to the side, "Wait, why are you closed? Shouldn't this place be hopping right now?"

Both sets of bright blue eyes settled on her with varying inquisitiveness. Zack's was honest confusion but Angeal's was less readable. His mouth was set in a straight line across his strong jaw while his eyes held a spark of suspicion that set a cold sweat down Kalika's spine.

Oh boy, how could she explain this without outright blaming them for the necessary closure and the empty ingredient cabinet?

"I… well… you see, ever since your last visit, business has been crazy. Lately I can't keep to the hours we normally hosted. Sometimes I'm up all night preparing!" Her words were spoken with a joyous tone, but from the lack of change in both of their expressions, she was not convincing them.

Angeal opened his mouth to respond, the frown of concern deep on his brow, but was interrupted by a fourth, unfamiliar voice, "Oh my Gaia, you're Angeal Hewley First Class SOLDIER! You're back! I can't believe it, I gotta tell everyone!"

Kalika felt the blood leave her face as her attention immediately snapped to the tall, blonde woman currently standing in the open doorway attempting to snap a picture of the two men.

"No, pictures without permission and we're closed, please leave!" She ordered, pushing past Angeal to confront the woman directly.

"What? But it's the middle of your posted hours and your door is open! You can't throw me out, do you know who I am?"

"Nope, and I'm sorry you've forgotten. Now, please get out, we are closed, and you are trespassing."

The woman's brown eyes flashed with indignation, "Listen, I don't know how you get off talking to customers like that, but—"

"No buts! I asked you to leave. I won't ask again." Crimson eyes sparked with anger as she stared the other woman down.

Red lips opened to argue further, but she was cut off by a deep, commanding voice "You have been asked to leave, you should comply with that request."

A quick, furtive glance backwards revealed Angeal standing straight, his burly arms crossed over his chest and a dark glare adorning his features. A shudder wormed its way down Kalika's spine. Scary, was the only thing she could think.

There was a beat of silence between the three of them. The woman suddenly looked appropriately ashamed of her behavior and without another word scuttled away.

The second the woman was outside, Kalika grabbed the door and threw it shut behind her. Much to her surprise, it bounced back open and that's when she noticed the lock was completely broken. Around the spot where the deadbolt should have been was a hole in the door frame and splinters scattered along the floor.

She shut it again, it bounced backwards.

She applied a little more force, it bounced backwards again.

Frustration and resentment burning within her, she tried again; it bounced backwards.

With all her strength, she slammed the door shut and before it could bounce back, shoved a chair underneath the similarly broken and limp door handle.

Defeated, she braced her hands against the door and let her head hang between them.

"It would probably be a good idea for you both to use the back door to leave. You'll attract less attention that way… plus, it seems this one is broken now." Kalika murmured quietly, not daring to look up in fear that they would see the unshed tears in her eyes.

"Kali…? Is everything… okay?" Zack's genuinely concerned voice broke the silence.

A lump caught in her throat and without looking at either of them she walked to the nearest table and sat down on one of the chairs, burying her face in her hands. She could not cry, not here, not with Angeal Hewley First Class SOLDIER and Zack Fair here to witness it. One shuddering breath later gave her the confidence to speak.

"Yeah, I'll be fine… somehow, I always am."

A shadow fell over her, "Is there anything we can do to help?" Zack asked.

"No, but thanks." Kalika waved him off but much to her surprise, he caught her hand between two gloved ones of his own. Surprised, she looked up into an uncharacteristically serious expression on the young boy's face.

"I swear on my honor as a SOLDIER I will do whatever it takes to help you, Kali. You're one of us now, right Angeal?"

"Don't swear on your honor lightly, Zack."

"I mean it! I do!"

Angeal nodded, seemingly accepting his young protégé's resolve. "How long has your door been broken like this?" the First Class inquired.

Kalika sniffed as delicately as she could as she attempted to take her hand back from Zack, but it was held tight. "It was fine earlier today; it was only just now that something seemed to be wrong. There was a hole where the deadbolt was and splinters from the door frame were scattered along the floor…" the young woman snapped her jaw shut when she realized the implications of her words.

Angeal's face darkened once again and his eyebrows angled inwards at a dangerous angle as he stared his young protégé down. There was a heavy beat of silence as Zack seemed to realize what was going on, "Oh… well… you know… SOLDIER strength, am I right?"

"No! It's fine really!" Kalika jumped up and did her best to placate the visibly upset SOLDIER, "It was old and in need of replacement anyways, I can probably write the replacement off as a business expense. I'm sure Zack didn't mean it."

Angeal sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "His intentions aren't the issue. SOLDIERs have enhanced senses and abilities. If Zack does not learn how to control these properly, he could end up hurting himself or worse, others." He looked up, "I apologize for the door, Zack you're going to suspend a fifty-pound weight in a squat today to make up for your lack of control this evening."

Zack groaned and Kalika winced sympathetically, "I don't think that's necessary, is it? Maybe since you're really strong you could help me with something, and we call it even?" she suggested. "I still need to finish rewriting that menu sign. We're opening with a new item tomorrow."

Angeal looked over his shoulder to see the unfinished chalkboard, "Is that what you were doing when you fell?"

An embarrassed blush crept over her face once again, "Yes, it's too high for me to reach on my own. So, I usually have to get creative… with a step ladder… on the counter."

"That sounds very dangerous." The raven-haired man lowered his eyebrows in concern and disapproval.

"Maybe you can help Angeal! Just lift her up and she'd be able to reach no problem!" an excited Zack exclaimed and, in his enthusiasm, squeezed her hand that was still held captive.

The young woman sputtered, "I- that's not what I meant, but maybe if one of you could just hold the ladder steady? I usually have Anri to help me, but I gave her the day off today."

Angeal turned and with one hand lifted the step ladder she had been using, revealing one of the legs to be broken off, "For the sake of your safety, I would advise against using this again."

"Oh… I see…" the young woman murmured as she worried her bottom lip, how was she going to get up there now?

Zack was practically vibrating with excitement from beside her. A quick glance to him revealed that he was glancing quickly between the two of them biting his lip in anticipation. He was planning something, if only the blue-haired woman could figure out what it was…

"To make amends for the broken door, I would be willing to lift you as Zack suggested." Angeal offered as he moved the broken ladder out of the way.

"I mean, are you sure? I don't want to be a burden. Are you sure I won't be too heavy?"

The burly man grinned and chuckled deeply. The genuine mirth revealed pearly white teeth and the genuine good-ness that radiated from him was unlike anyone she had ever met before. "I'm sure."

Kalika blushed for what seemed like the tenth time in under an hour, "I – Well… if you're sure, I guess. I need to get the chalk." Walking forwards, Zack finally let go of her hand and Angeal stepped out of the way to let her pass behind the bar. Grabbing the chalk from the ground and the eraser cloth, she turned back to the First-Class SOLDIER, "Okay, I'm ready, how would you like to do this?"

Angeal stepped forward and for the first time she noticed how tall he was. She had never felt so small compared to someone in her life, he dwarfed her in every sense. She was eye level with the middle of his chest, and he was easily twice as wide as her. Another blush adorned her cheeks as he knelt to one knee, "Sit on my shoulder and I will take hold of your legs."

Nodding, she turned around and as instructed, gingerly sat on his shoulder, doing her best to put as little weight on him as possible. Two arms wrapped around her knees, locking them in place and the next thing she knew, he was lifting her into the air.

Sucking in a breath she flailed, unbalanced, for one moment before a hand on her thigh steadied her. Angeal Hewley, First Class SOLDIER of Shinra was touching her leg. She tried not to think about how her butt was on his shoulder and instead focused on finishing the sign as quickly as possible. Her hands and shoulders cramped but she did her best to legibly scrawl the newest addition to her menu.

"Dumbapple tart?" Zack exclaimed, "Angeal, didn't you grow up in Banora?! That's so cool!"

"Is that true?" Kalika inquired, looking down to meet the bright blue eyes of Angeal.

"It is, both Genesis and I grew up there. His parents had the best Banora White tree, every summer we would take as many apples as we could and sit in the branches eating them." A small, nostalgic smile pulled up the corners of his mouth.

"That changes everything then, let me down, I'm all finished now."

With one swift movement, the hands disappeared from her person and for a brief moment, she hung suspended in the air before being gently lowered to the ground. The black-haired SOLDIER stared down at her with a quizzical expression on his face. Setting the chalk down she made to pass him, "Have a seat. I'll be right back," and disappeared into the kitchen.

The fridge opened with a hiss, a quick scan through the contents revealed her prize. Pulling two small tarts from their tray, Kalika put them on a plate and made her way back to the front. The fridge closed with a satisfying click behind her.

"Here, to thank you for helping me with the sign, please be the first to try a tart!" placing the plate on the bar counter, she waited excitedly for them to each take one. "They're Banora White apple tarts with some decorative white chocolate to counter the sourness and some edible gold sparkles for presentation."

Zack immediately grabbed one and in one bite put the whole thing in his mouth. His eyes lit up as he playfully slapped his mentor's shoulder, "D'ese are r'lly gud An'eal! You shou'd taste ish!" (translation: These are really good, Angeal! You should taste this!)

Angeal sighed in resignation as he took a tart, "Thank you, this wasn't necessary as it is us who are in your debt, not the opposite way around."

Kalika smiled brightly, "It's fine, really! Plus, I hope that I can live up to your memories of the times stealing and eating the apples."

With a small smile, he took a bite and instantly his blue eyes lit up with surprise, his eyebrows once again disappearing into his hairline. Swallowing, he turned back to the blue haired woman, "You have a true gift for baking."

Flushing for the umpteenth time that day, Kalika continued to smile, "I'm glad you like them. I'll package up one for Commander Rhapsodos as well and you can give one to him too!"

"How much do we owe you for the tarts?" Angeal asked as she pushed through the door to the kitchen.

"Nothing! They're thanks for helping me!" she called back as she began to package up the third tart and then returned to the front with it. Angeal stared her down, his mouth a straight line and his azure gaze steeled with his resolve.

"Please, it would be dishonorable for us to accept these gifts a second time. Especially when your door breaking was our fault in the first place."

Stumped, she could only stare. Never had anyone been so insistent on paying for a gift. "Don't be silly, these are gifts, do you insist for payment when you give a gift to someone?" she held out the tart wrapped in a white box with Confectionary Affection stamped on the sides. "Here's Commander Rhapsodos's tart, try not to squish it if you can, and now it's getting late. I imagine you need to get back to Shinra, since the front door's broken and likely a crowd of fans outside waiting for you to exit, follow me to the back door."

With that, she turned on her heel and pushed open the swinging door and motioned for them to follow her. Zack hopped up immediately, but Angeal took a moment to gather himself and follow. Passing through the kitchen and a small hallway with a set of stairs leading to the second floor, they came to the back door. Pushing it open revealed the dirt yard and receiving area for her shipments of ingredients.

"Thanks again for the treats, Kali. They were delicious as always!" Zack called as he jumped down the short flight of stairs, an arm extended in a cheery wave.

"Thank you for your hospitality. You honor us with your generosity. Genesis will enjoy this pastry, I am certain." Angeal stated solemnly, his eyes shining with the depth of his gratitude.

"Any time, come by again soon. Preferably without causing any trouble this time. Using the back door might not be such a bad idea to avoid any drama like with that woman earlier." She pointed to a black rectangle with a button in the middle, "Next time you're by, just ring this doorbell and I'll let you in."

Zack grinned devilishly and took a breath to make a comment, but before he could utter a sound, Angeal put a hand over the young boy's mouth to silence him. "Thank you Kalika, we will not forget your kindness today."

The blue -haired baker could only manage a small wave as they turned to walk away. Zack continued to wave enthusiastically until they were out of sight behind the fence. Closing the door, her knees felt weak. The sound of her name on Angeal's lips created a feeling in her like she'd never experienced before. Sliding to the ground she replayed the memory in her mind until she was sure that it would be with her forever.

She had offered for them to come back again, but it was such wishful thinking she did not dare hope too much. Once was a coincidence, twice was a pattern, but three times was a dream and nothing more.

But oh, how she loved to dream.

Oh they'll be back, but in the meantime, there's other shenanigans that need to happen first >:3c

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you'd like! I always enjoy hearing your thoughts!

[vivxwrites]

Happy Tears

*not my gif*

Word Count: 2024

Summary: You’ve been dating Carol for five years and you’re finally pregnant! Everything would be great if you hadn’t been hiding your relationship from your dad.

Warnings: Pregnancy talk, light angst

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Reader, Tony Stark x Daughter! Reader

A/N: This fic was requested by @lundqvistisgod and I hope I did it justice. I love Tony Stank and Carol Danvers so combine that together and it’s perfection. Enjoy friends :)

Happy tears slid down your face as you glanced at the two lines that appeared on the pregnancy test that you had just taken. The lines were the same two lines that were present on the other two pregnancy tests that were taken prior to the most recent one. After two and a half years of trying, you and your girlfriend of five years, Carol, were finally pregnant. You were the happiest you had been in a long time as you sat on the bathroom floor, tears flowing freely while you rocked yourself back and forth on the cool tiles. All of your woes had faded away and in that moment you felt like you had found your purpose in life: the however many weeks old embryo that was attached to your uterine lining. 

You couldn’t stay in your dream state forever as reality and its never ending nagging took over. Your thoughts drifted to the guilt that always weighed down your shoulders at the double life your cowardice had forced you to live. After five years with Carol you loved her and you honestly couldn’t see yourself with anyone else. She was your endgame and you were hers. The problem with your relationship had nothing to do with Carol, no it had to do with the fact that even after five years you still hadn’t told your dad. Of course being Tony Stark’s daughter had its many perks, like being able to buy anything you could possibly want and having the avengers as your extended family, but it also forced you to be in the public eye your entire life. You had absolutely zero privacy, everything you did outside of the tower was documented by a flashing camera or a cell phone. Because of that, you felt that every decision you made in life would reflect on your father’s image and so you found yourself getting progressively better at hiding things.

You meant to tell your father, you really did, but you were terrified that he wouldn’t see you as his little princess anymore. You didn’t want him to look at you the way he looked at Steve, eyes filled with distrust and betrayal and hurt. When you were only a baby, your mother had dropped you off at your father’s Malibu mansion with only a post-it note attached to your forehead that read ‘My greatest disappointment in life was sleeping with you, Tony Stark, and as this child reflects that, she’s all yours.’ You feared that your being in a relationship with another woman would crush him and he was the only parent you ever had. Losing him in any way would destroy you, even more so if he disowned you than if he were to pass away. So you did what you do best, you hid your relationship with Carol from him as long as you possibly could. The guilt of lying to your father for five whole years always ate away at you but the pure terror you had of disappointing him outweighed the guilt every single time. 

Now though, you had a baby on the way and there was no way you could hide the truth any longer. You wanted your child to be surrounded with love in all the forms that it came in and your dad was included in that too. You felt a headache forming from all the stress you were feeling so you decided to do something to distract yourself, like making dinner for Carol, who was scheduled to return from a mission this evening. After looking through the ingredients you were pleasantly surprised to find that you had everything you needed to make your famous loaded macaroni and cheese dish, which also doubled as one of Carol’s favorite comfort foods. After the oven was preheated you popped in the dish to let it bake and got started on setting the table. You were just finishing up lighting the candles when you heard the sound of the door opening and the telltale clunk of Carol’s combat boots being set on the shoe rack. You could tell the mission was a grueling one by the fact that she hadn’t called out to you in greeting and your suspicions were confirmed when she came up behind you, wrapped her arms around your waist, and set her head on your shoulder with a heavy sigh. 

“Hard day at work?” Her reply to your question was only a nod. “I have something that might cheer you up.” 

Her face lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning at the hint of a surprise. She narrowed her eyes at you in question, trying to expose your surprise before you had a chance to reveal it. A smirk danced on her features while she spoke, “You know I can smell that mac, right babe? I’d know that smell anywhere.” 

You only laughed at her words and gave her a small shrug. “Maybe that’s not the surprise.” She pouted at you and gave you her puppy dog eyes. Your lips curled up into a teasing smile while you reached up and pretended to sip your lips shut and throw away the key. Carol whined and you saw her pout deepen, if that was even possible. She looked adorable when she pouted and you couldn’t stop yourself from pressing a quick kiss to her lips. She grumbled at you and you responded with a poke to her ribs, right on her ticklish spot. She squirmed away from you and you gave her a bright smile in return.

After the two of you finished eating you dragged Carol over to the couch and pushed her onto it. “Stay put,” you picked up her hands and placed them over her eyes, “and no peeking!” You dashed off to the bathroom and picked up the pregnancy test that you took earlier. You walked back to the living room and gave Carol some new instructions. “Ok, take your hands off of your eyes and hold them out in front of you. Keep your eyes closed though, ‘kay babe?”

Carol hummed in agreement and did as you asked of her. You gently set the test into her hands and took a step back, biting your lip anxiously. “You can open them now.” You watched as Carol hesitantly opened her eyes and glanced down at her hands in question. She inhaled sharply when she finally processed what was sitting in her hands and she flicked her eyes from the test to you. You saw tears swimming in her brown eyes as she cradled the test in wonder. She approached you slowly and you saw the first few tears trickle down her cheeks. You were pulled into her arms and she buried her face into your neck, sobbing silently. Carol sunk down to her knees and hugged your waist lovingly. After hiking up your shirt, she pressed quick, butterfly kisses along the surface of your stomach and murmured a quiet, “I love you.” 

Hours later the two of you were situated in bed, spooning under the covers. She was littering soft kisses along the back of your neck while you were deep in thought. “I have to tell him Carol.” You spoke softly as you timidly approached a tense subject between you two. 

“(Y/N) look at me,” you rollover to face her and the amount of love that was displayed on her face made your heart race. “No matter what happens, I’ll be here for you. Do you want me to come with you?” You could only swallow thickly and shake your head no. She pulled you into her and whispered reassurances into your hair until you drifted off to sleep.

You dragged your feet through the corridors of the tower, en route to your dad’s engineering lab. You wanted so badly to chicken out and run away from your fears but your dad deserved better. He deserved the truth and this talk would bring it to him. Five years of your life went to hiding your relationship with Carol from your dad and you had only delayed the inevitable. This talk was inevitable. 

You meekly peeked into the lab and saw your dad tinkering away at his newest project. You took in the sight of him before you made your presence known, not knowing if you would be able to see him this peaceful ever again. “Hey dad,” he glanced up at you and smiled brightly. You took a few breaths to steady yourself and continued, “I need to tell you something.”

He sensed your hesitation right away and gave you his full, undivided attention. “You can tell me anything, princess.” He was so sincere in his statement that you couldn’t help but start choking up. He face was full of concern and he reached out to you only to find that you had stepped back, out of his reach.

“God I’m so sorry dad, I’m so sorry.” The guilt that you had been suppressing for years had finally crawled its way to the surface and made its presence known. 

“(Y/N) whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can tell me.” He was confused and concerned, you had never acted this way, not even that one time that you had crashed his favorite custom Lamborghini. 

“Dad,” you sniffled and hiccuped, “I’m dating Carol.” You squeezed your eyes shut, not wanting to see his reaction. What was only a minute felt like days to you, as you stood with your arms wrapped around your middle. You flinched when you felt your dad’s arms wrap around you and you sunk into his embrace. 

“Hey, kid, it doesn’t bother me that you’re dating a woman. That’s just one more thing we have in common.” You would have laughed at his statement and cheesy wink if you didn’t have more to say.

You separate yourself from your dad as you glance down at your feet. “That’s not even the worst part dad,” you found yourself sobbing as you worked up the courage to tell him, “I’ve been dating her for five years.” He said nothing as he stared at you, stuck in a stupor. Your crying picked up as he said nothing. “I know you’re mad at me but I’m sorry! Please, I promise I was going to tell you, I was just scared.”

“No, no sweetheart I’m not mad. I was just surprised is all.” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, like he used to do when you had a hard day at school. 

You looked up at him, eyes full of emotion. “I’m sorry I never told you.”

He smiled softly at you and pulled you into another hug, “Water under the bridge.” 

“There is one more thing I have to tell you.” Your palms sweat nervously, he had taken the news of you dating Carol and hiding it from him well, but how would he react to finding out you were pregnant?

“Hit me.”

“I’m pregnant.” You muttered it quietly to him and his eyes widened almost comically.

“Ok.” He looked lost as he chattered to himself and looked from you to your stomach.

“Dad,” you spoke slowly and cautiously, “are you okay?”

“Mhm yeah, this is just a lot to take in right now.”

“Are you mad?”

“No I don’t think so. Just a bit overwhelmed is all. Could you say it again, this time slower please.”

You shot him a confused look but complied with his request, “I’m pregnant.” Before you could process what was happening your dad had swept you up in his arms and was holding you up in the air. “Put me down,” you squealed and giggled.

“I’m gonna be a grandpa! I’ll have a second little peanut to spoil!” He twirled you around in the air and you laughed at him all the way. You had all that you wanted in life: your dad, a loving girlfriend (soon to be fiance, then wife), and a baby on the way. Life as (Y/N) Stark certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was everything you could ever hope it would be.

A/N: This was my last request so as always, feel free to send some in. I’ll do my best at writing any character as well. Feedback is much appreciated and you can also check out my other fics. Y’all I’m about to pop off, coming next I have part 2 of What’s Wrong With Your Face and a little surprise ;). Thanks, Viv :)

[erinptah]

Super Drags review (tl;dr Show Good)

The post where I do my best to spread the Good News, that there exists a saucy gay drag-queen magical-girl animated comedy and everyone should watch it.

Okay, not everyone -- I'll give some caveats at the end -- but definitely a heck of a lot more people than Netflix has bothered to advertise it to.

Look at this! Why did nobody tell me about this??

What is Super Drags?

Fast facts:

It's a 1-season, 5-episode adult animated comedy series, released in November 2018

Here's the official page, with a free-to-view trailer

It packs more explicit, unashamed queerness into those 5 episodes than any other cartoon I can think of

The only possible competitor would be if you took the whole 5000-episode run of Steven Universe and pared it down to a supercut of Just The Gay Parts

This in spite of being produced in Brazil, which (in my broad understanding, as a total non-authority on the subject) is more oppressively, dangerously homophobic than the US

The original is in Portuguese

There is an English dub, fabulously voiced by contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race

It's wrapped in "for adults only!" warnings, not because the content is any less child-friendly than (say) your Bojacks Horsemen or your Ricks and Mortys, but because Brazilian authorities tried to get it shut down on the grounds of this much gay being Harmful For Children

It was (heartbreakingly) not renewed for a second season

Here's a promo video, in which the main characters (Portuguese, with subtitles) play Drag Race judges for Shangela, who ends up voicing Scarlet in English.

And here's a beautiful flashy music video of the big musical number! (Also Portuguese, no subtitles, but the melody and the visuals stand on their own.)

Plot and worldbuilding stuff!

The elevator pitch is "What if Charlie's Angels, but also drag queens, with superpowers, because magical-girl transformations?"

In this universe, all LGBTQ people have magical energy. The Big Bad is an evil magical-drag-queen nemesis who tries to drain our energy for her own purposes. It's like if Ursula from The Little Mermaid was a first-season Sailor Moon villain.

...sidenote, in case you were worried, the representation isn't "cis gay men and nobody else." There's a butch lesbian in the recurring cast, a genderfluid person (in that specific word!) as a one-off love interest, and all the ensemble scenes are wonderful collages of different races, body types, and gender presentations.

Our heroes also fight non-magical everyday homophobes, who get written with scathing realism.

The moment I knew the show wasn't pulling any punches was in the first episode, where a newscaster complains about being Silenced by the Law of Political Correctness, then chirps "however, we have a special guest who is thankfully above the law!"

According to the reviews I've found from Brazilian viewers, it's also pitch-perfect when it comes to local queer culture, community dynamics, slang and speech patterns, even memes. All of which flies right over my head, so here's a post (with no-context spoilers) about one viewer's favorite details.

The handful of reaction posts on Tumblr have a dramatic split between "Brazilian viewers fiercely defending the show as culturally-accurate, uplifting, and brave in a terrifying political moment" and "American viewers complaining that the show is problematic because it's a comedy about drag queens with no perfect role models and lots of sex jokes."

As the Super Drags tell their nemesis (and this is also in the first episode): "How dare you try to turn the LGBTQXYZ community against each other? We do enough of that on our own!"

In between missions, our girls work sitcom retail jobs and deal with other everyday problems. All of which are written in amazingly nuanced and thoughtful ways for a show that also features "defeating an orgy monster with a lip-sync battle."

Detailed character stuff!

Our heroes are Color Coded For Your Convenience!

The Super Drags themselves go by "she" in-uniform, and a lot of the time when out of it. Like the Sailor Starlights, only more so. I'll roll with that.

In blue: Safira Cyan, or Ralph by day, an excitable college-age kid who's built like a football player and squees like a fangirl. (She's an anime fan in the original, and for some reason all the otaku references were replaced in the dub, but you can see them in the subtitles.)

Ralph lives with her younger sister (they play video games together!) and their dad, comes out to them mid-series, and is very shippable with another young guy who starts out reciting the homophobic beliefs he was raised with but whose heart clearly isn't in it.

Safira's weapon is a classic magical-girl wand that casts protective force-fields. Which are shaped like condoms. Because of course.

In yellow: Lemon Chiffon, aka Patrick, the oldest of the group and generally the smartest/most strategic. In most cases, the other two treat her as the de facto team leader -- unless she pushes it too far.

By day she's a single guy with thick thighs and thinning hair, who has some body-image insecurities on the dating scene. And this show has Things To Say about unrealistic beauty standards within the community...not to mention, about masc guys who look down on anyone too flaming or femme because straight people disapprove.

Lemon's weapon is a fluffy boa that can be used as a whip or a lasso, especially when there's a bondage joke to be made.

In red: Scarlet Carmesim, also Donizete, the loudest and most aggressive teammate with the most cutting insults, who refuses to suppress that attitude in an attempt to appease racists. (But will give it a shot when trying not to get fired.)

Donny still lives in her religious/homophobic mom's apartment, and I'm pretty sure it's because neither of them can afford to move out. Her rock-solid sense of fierce self-confidence is the reason it doesn't bring her down.

Scarlet's weapon is a fan that she uses to throw shade. Yeah, you knew that was coming.

The Charlie to these angels is Champagne, who runs operations from a cool magitech compound and breaks the fourth wall at the end to petition for viewers' support in getting a second season.

...we let her down, folks :(

So here's a thing. The show never draws a sharp line between "people who become drag queens because it's a way they're driven to express themselves as gay men" and "people who become drag queens because they were trans women all along." That's consistent with how South American LGBT+ culture works. (Again: best of my knowledge, not personally an authority on this, etc etc.)

Many of the characters, including Champagne, never describe themselves in ways that translate to one of our sharply-defined Anglo-USian identity categories. And I'm not going to try to impose any English labels on them here.

But I can say (in contrast to Safira, Lemon, and Scarlet), Champagne never switches out of her "drag" name/voice/presentation, not even in the most candid off-duty scenes, and still has the same bustline when naked in the tub. Make of that what you will.

You Should Watch This Show

If you have a Netflix subscription, watch Super Drags!

If you ever do a Netflix free trial month in the future, make a note to yourself to watch Super Drags!

It's one of their original productions, so there's no risk of missing your chance because the license expired. But it's absolutely not getting the promotion it deserves. Which means potentially interested viewers won't find it, which means Netflix will think there's no interest, which means they'll keep not promoting it...etc etc etc.

No idea if there's any chance of getting it un-canceled, but maybe we can at least convince them to release it on DVD.

And the sheer gutsiness it took for a group of Brazilian creators to produce this show in the first place -- that deserves to be rewarded with your attention.

In spite of various anti-discrimination laws that sound good on paper, the country has serious problems with homophobia, transphobia, and anti-LGBT violence (warning, article has a violent image which is only partly blurred).

Maybe the creators could've gotten a second season if they made this one softer, less sexually-explicit, more restrained...but honestly? I bet that wouldn't have helped.

Consider Danger & Eggs, an Amazon original cartoon. It was made in the US, thoroughly child-friendly, and restricts its LGBT+ representation to things like "characters go to a Pride celebration...where nobody ever names or describes the quality they're proud of."

And it didn't get renewed past the first season either.

(Note: it had a trans woman showrunner and a queer-heavy creative staff, so I blame all that restraint on executive meddling, not the creators themselves. The showrunner even liked the tweet of my review that complains about it.)

So there's something very satisfying about how Super Drags went all-out, balls-to-the-wall (sometimes literally), all the rep explicit and unapologetic, packing every 25-minute episode with all kinds of queer content that would be censored or muted elsewhere -- but here it's exaggerated and celebrated and just keeps coming.

(...as do jokes like that, and I'm not sorry.)

Okay, there are a few legitimate reasons to not watch this show

Some caveats.

None of these things are Objectively Bad Problems that the show itself should be shamed for...but maybe they're genuinely not your cup of tea.

It does have actual Adult Content beyond "the existence of gay people." This show loves to swing barely-clothed cartoon genitalia in your face. There is, as mentioned, an orgy monster. If that kind of humor is going to bother you too much to appreciate the rest of the show, give it a pass.

I wasn't kidding about how realistic the homophobes are. Opening of the first episode has a guy trying to murder a busload of people while shouting slurs at them. If that level of hatred on-screen is gonna crush your soul, even in a show about sparkly queens flying to the rescue with dick-shaped magical weapons, don't push yourself.

Any fiction with this much crossdressing and gender-transgressing is going to hit some trans viewers in a bad way. Because trans people are such a broad group, with so many different experiences, that Every Possible Trope Involved pushes somebody's buttons. (See also: "some trans readers complain about a storyline that turns out to be drawn from a trans writer's actual life experience".) If this show goes does gender things that turn out to be personally distressing for you...or even just distressing for this specific time in your life...don't feel obligated to keep watching.

It has aggressively-sassy queer characters making jokes and calling each other things that are affectionate in-context, but would not be okay coming from straight/cis people. If you can't wrap your head around that, go watch something else.

Other Than That, Go Watch This Show

For all its big heart, big ambitions, and big gay energy, Super Drags is tiny enough that I've binged the whole show 2 times in the past 2 weeks. Thankfully, it's highly re-watchable -- lots of fun background gags and subtle foreshadowing that you don't catch on the first round.

(Pausing one last time to appreciate that a show with elements like "the high-tech robot assistant is called D.I.L.D.O." can be subtle at all, let alone be this good at it.)

I've also paged through all the fanart on Tumblr and Deviantart, looked up the single fanfic on the AO3, and started brainstorming plans to request it in Yuletide next year. Someone, please, come join me in (the English-language side of) the itty-bitty fandom for this ridiculous, glittery, over-the-top, fabulous series.

[potterheads23]

35 Things You Might Not Know About Harry Potter

1. ROWLING AND HARRY SHARE A BIRTHDAY.

They both blow out candles on July 31 (happy birthday, JKR!). And that’s not the only influence Rowling had on her characters: She’s said that Hermione is a bit like her when she was younger, and her favorite animal is an otter—which is, of course, Hermione’s patronus. Plus, both Dumbledore and Rowling like sherbet lemons (Rowling said that the wizard’s “got good taste”).  

2. SHE INVENTED THE NAMES OF THE HOGWARTS HOUSES ON THE BACK OF A BARF BAG.

In 2000, Scholastic gave schoolchildren across the U.S. the opportunity to ask Rowling questions about Harry Potter. When one student asked her, “What made you think of the people's names and dormitories at Hogwarts?” Rowling responded, “I invented the names of the Houses on the back of an airplane sick bag! This is true. I love inventing names, but I also collect unusual names, so that I can look through my notebook and choose one that suits a new character.”

3. EARLY ON, ROWLING WROTE A SKETCH OF THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE FINAL BOOK.

Rowling calls the idea that she had the first chapter of Deathly Hallowswritten and locked away in the safe “rubbish.” But there was a small element of truth to it: “I had, very early on—but not the first day or anything, probably within the first year of writing—I wrote a sketch for what I thought the final chapter would be,” she told Harry Potter's big screen portrayer, Daniel Radcliffe, in an interview for the Deathly Hallows Part 2 DVD extra features. “I always knew—and this was from really early on—that I was working toward the point where Hagrid carried Harry, alive but supposedly dead, out of the forest, always. I knew we were always working towards a final battle at Hogwarts, I knew that Harry would walk to his death, I planned the ghosts—for want of a better word—coming back, that they would walk with him into the forest,  we would all believe he was walking to his death, and he would emerge in Hagrid’s arms.”

And that mental image is what kept Hagrid alive, despite the fact that he “would have been a natural to kill in some ways,” Rowling said. “But because I always cleaved to this mental image of Hagrid being the one carrying Harry out … That was so perfect for me, because it was Hagrid who and took him into the world, and Hagrid who would bring him back … That’s where we were always going. Hagrid was never in danger.”

4. THE DEMENTORS ARE BASED ON ROWLING’S STRUGGLE WITH DEPRESSION AFTER HER MOTHER’S DEATH.

Rowling’s mother, who had multiple sclerosis, died in 1990, after which Rowling suffered a period of depression. She would use the experience to characterize the Harry Potter’s dementors, creepy creatures that feed on human emotion. “It's so difficult to describe [depression] to someone who's never been there, because it's not sadness," Rowling told Oprah Winfrey. “I know sadness. Sadness is to cry and to feel. But it's that cold absence of feeling—that really hollowed-out feeling. That's what Dementors are.”

5. SHE CREATED QUIDDITCH AFTER A FIGHT WITH HER BOYFRIEND.

“If you want to create a game like Quidditch, what you have to do is have an enormous argument with your then-boyfriend,” Rowling said in 2003. “You walk out of the house, you sit down in a pub, and you invent Quidditch. And I don't really know what the connection is between the row and Quidditch except that Quidditch is quite a violent game and maybe in my deepest, darkest soul I would quite like to see him hit by a bludger.”

6. THE WIZARDING WORLD’S PLANTS COME FROM A REAL BOOK.

“I used to collect names of plants that sounded witchy,” she told 60 Minutes, “and then I found this, Culpeper's Complete Herbal, and it was the answer to my every prayer: flax weed, toadflax, fleawort, Gout-wort, grommel, knotgrass, Mugwort." The book was penned in the 17th century by English botanist and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper; you can read it here.

7. A PROPOSED TITLE FOR THE AMERICAN VERSION OF PHILOSOPHER’S STONE WAS HARRY POTTER AND THE SCHOOL OF MAGIC.

Rowling turned that down, saying, according to American publisher Arthur Levine, “No—that doesn’t feel right to me … What if we called it the Sorcerer’s Stone?” (The French edition, Levine points out in J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography, is called Harry Potter a L'ecole Des Sorciers.)

8. ROWLING MADE COMPLICATED OUTLINES FOR THE BOOKS.

You can see a partial outline for Order of the Phoenix above. The outline has chapter titles, a general outline of the plot, and then more specific plot points for certain characters. (Based on this outline, it looks like Rowling thought about calling Dolores Umbridge Elvira Umbridge instead!)

9. ARTHUR WEASLEY WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE.

In a battle between good and evil this epic, not everyone would make it through alive—that would have led to “very fluffy, cozy books,” she told Meredith Vieira. “You know, suddenly I [would be] halfway through Goblet of Fire and suddenly everyone would just have a really great life and … the plot would go AWOL.”

Which is not to say that Rowling knew exactly who was on the chopping block. She thought about killing Arthur Weasley after he’s attacked by Nagini in Order of the Phoenix, but instead opted to save him, partly because “there were very few good fathers in the book. In fact, you could make a very good case for Arthur Weasley being the only good father in the whole series.” (She also “seriously considered” killing Ron, then thought better of it.)

Instead, Lupin—a character she had no intention of killing when she began the books—and Tonks died during the final Battle of Hogwarts. “I wanted there to be an echo of what happened to Harry just to show the absolute evil of what Voldemort's doing,” she said. “I think one of the most devastating things about war is the children left behind. As happened in the first war when Harry's left behind, I wanted us to see another child left behind. And it made it very poignant that it was [Lupin and Tonks's] newborn son.”

10. TO KEEP DEATHLY HALLOWS FROM LEAKING EARLY, BLOOMSBURY GAVE IT CODENAMES.

You probably wouldn’t have been so interested in reading Edinburgh Potmakers or The Life and Times of Clara Rose Lovett: An Epic Novel Covering Many Generations.

11. HALEY JOEL OSMENT COULD HAVE PLAYED HARRY.

When Steven Spielberg was attached to direct the film adaptation, he wanted Sixth Sense star Haley Joel Osment to play Harry. But the director eventually left over a creative clash with Rowling, and new director Chris Columbus had to find his star. Some 300 kids tested for Harry Potter over a period of seven months; Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry McGuire) even expressed interest. “There were times when we felt we would never find an individual who embodied the complex spirit and depth of Harry,” Columbus said.

Then, one night, Heyman went to the theater with screenwriter SteveKloves (who ended up penning all but one of the Potter scripts). “There sitting behind me was this boy with these big blue eyes. It was Dan Radcliffe,” he told HeroComplex in 2009. “I remember my first impressions: He was curious and funny and so energetic. There was real generosity too, and sweetness. But at the same time he was really voracious and with hunger for knowledge of whatever kind.” He persuaded Radcliffe’s parents to let their son audition, and the rest is history.

12. RUPERT GRINT’S AUDITION WAS UNUSUAL.

Nine-year-old Emma Watson’s first audition for the role of Hermione took place in her school gym; she auditioned a total of eight times. Grint, then 10, sent in a video audition, and went in a rather unusual direction: “I found out that you could audition by sending a picture of yourself and some information to Newsround,” he said in 2002. “I did my own video with me, first of all, pretending to be my drama teacher who unfortunately was a girl and then I did a rap of how I wanted to be Ron and then I made my own script thing up and sent it off.”

He had some competition, though: Tom Felton auditioned for both Ron and Harry before ultimately being cast as Draco Malfoy.

13. THERE’S A VERY GOOD REASON HARRY’S EYES AREN’T GREEN IN THE MOVIES.

In the books, Harry’s eyes are described as “bright green”—but Radcliffe’s are blue. When Sorcerer’s Stone was in pre-production, Heyman called Rowling and told her their options: They’d tried green contacts; they could also trying making Radcliffe’s eyes green in post-production. How important was it, he wondered, for Harry’s eyes to be green?

Rowling said that the only thing that was really important was that Harry's eyes looked like his mother’s eyes, so whoever played Lily Potter would need to have some resemblance to Radcliffe. This was a relief for Radcliffe, who had an an extremely adverse reaction to the contacts. (He was also allergic to the glasses, which made him break out in acne.)

14. THE BROOMS USED IN THE SERIES AREN’T REGULAR BROOMS.

They were made by modeler Pierre Bohanna using aircraft-grade titanium. “People think of them as a prop the kids are carrying around, but in reality, they have to sit on them,” Eddie Newquist, chief creative officer of the firm Global Entertainment Services, which puts on Harry Potter: The Exhibition, told Popular Mechanics. “They have to be mounted onto motion-control bases for green-screen shots and special-effects shots, so they have to be very thin and incredibly durable. Most of these kids weighed 80 pounds, 90 pounds [at the beginning]. Now they're all adults, so they're up over 120, 130 pounds, and you have to really make sure your brooms can withstand that.”

15. THE ROLE OF PEEVES WAS CAST AND FILMED—THEN CUT.

British comedian Rik Mayall was cast as Hogwarts’s prank-happy poltergeist in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. He showed up and shot the scenes, which were later cut when director Chris Columbus decided he didn’t like the look of the ghost. Mayall described the experience in a 2011 interview:

I got sent off the set because every time I tried to do a bit of acting, all the lads who were playing the school kids kept getting the giggles, they kept corpsing, so they threw me off.

Well, they asked me to do it with my back to them and they still laughed. So they asked me to do it around the other side of the cathedral and shout my lines, but they still laughed so they said they’d do my lines with someone else. So then I did a little bit of filming, then I went home and I got the money. That’s significant. Then a month later, they said: ‘Er, Rik, we’re sorry about this, but you’re not in the film. We’ve cut you out of the film.’ … But I still got the money. So that is the most exciting film I’ve ever been in, because I got the oodle and I wasn’t in it. Fantastic.

He didn’t tell his kids his part had been cut, though, and when they went to see it, “they came back and they said: ‘Bloody good make up. You didn’t look like yourself at all dad,’” Mayall said. “They thought I was playing Hagrid, Robbie Coltrane’s part.”

16. THE ACTRESS WHO PLAYED MOANING MYRTLE WAS MUCH OLDER THAN A STUDENT.

Shirley Henderson was 36 when she played the bathroom-haunting ghost of a 14-year-old student who was killed by a basilisk’s stare in Chamber of Secrets. Playing a ghost was tougher than playing a real person, she told the BBC, “because of all the technical stuff it involved. I had to be strapped up to this harness so it looked as if I was flying and so I could be pushed through the air and twisted and turned over and over again. It's physically very tiring on your body. It also requires a lot of concentration, because there's all kinds of people shouting stuff like 'Turn, do this, look at this' so they can do all their stuff with the computer effects while I'm trying to act it out. But once you block all that out, it's great fun. Really good fun.”

17. PRISONER OF AZKABAN DIRECTOR ALFONSO Cuarón ASKED THE TRIO TO WRITE ESSAYS ABOUT THEIR CHARACTERS.

Alfonso Cuarón wanted Watson, Radcliffe, and Grint to write essays about their characters from a first person point of view. According to Heyman, “they all responded very much in character … Dan wrote a page, Emma wrote 10 and Rupert didn't deliver anything.” Grint told Entertainment Weekly, “I didn't do mine, because I didn't think Ron would. Or that was my excuse. At the time, I was actually quite busy with the real schoolwork involved with my exams, and I just didn't do it. But in the end, it felt right because that's what Ron would have done.”

18. ROWLING SHOT DOWN ONE OF Cuarón’S IDEAS.

Rowling wasn’t precious about all of the details of her books (see: Harry’s eye color). “Inevitably, you have to depart from the strict storyline of the books,” she told Radcliffe. “The books are simply too long to make into very faithful films.” But that didn’t mean she’d let everything slide: “Sometimes I would dig my heels in on the funniest things,” she said. “I’d say yeah, change the costume, that’s not a problem … And then all of a sudden I’d say, ‘Why would they do that spell? They wouldn’t do that there.’”

Take, for example, one shot that Cuarón wrote into Prisoner of Azkaban, which Rowling called “rather bizarre.” “I think Flitwick was conducting, and there were miniature people in an orchestra inside something,” she told Radcliffe. “I said to him, but why? I know it’s visually exciting, but part of what I think fans really enjoyed about the literary world is that there was a logic that underpinned it. There was always a logic to the magic, however strange it became. And I know it’s intriguing to go through the mouth of whatever it was and see these little people, but why have they done it? For you to film it, that’s just what it feels like. Normally, with the magic, there’s a point. So we had a bit of discussion.”

19. ROWLING TIPPED ALAN RICKMAN OFF TO SNAPE’S MOTIVATIONS.

“I told him really early on that Snape had been in love with Lily, that’s why he hated James, that’s why he projected this amount of dislike onto Harry,” Rowling told Radcliffe. “So he knew that. Then you told me that he’d been saying … ‘I just don’t think Snape would do that, given what I know.’” She laughed, continuing, “And I thought, ‘Alan, are you really milking this now?’”

She also tipped Radcliffe off to Harry’s (partial) fate after seeing him in Equus. Radcliffe asked her, point blank: “Do I die?”

“You get a death scene,” Rowling told him.

“I saw you double-take,” Rowling said. “Neal, my husband, afterward, said, ‘What did Dan ask you?’ And I said ‘He wanted to know if he’s going to die.’” When he asked what she’d said, Rowling told him, “I’m not telling you!” Though her husband was tipped off to Dumbledore's fate ahead of time, Rowling kept Harry’s ultimate fate a secret till the end.

20. THE ACTORS COULDN’T PLAY CONTACT SPORTS.

Instead, they played golf. ''[At Leavesden Studios], Rupert Grint and my brother [James] and I would hang out at the driving range downstairs quite a bit,” Oliver Phelps, who played George Weasley, told EW. “I mean, I say driving range, but it was a mat and a 150-yard cone at the other end. Golf was one of the only sports we were allowed to do in our contract because it was relatively quite safe. We couldn't do any contact sports.”

21. THE MOVIES FEATURED SOME HIGH TECH VISUAL EFFECTS …

Visual effects artists were tasked with bringing many of the fantastic magical elements of Harry Potter to life, including everything from fire-breathing dragons and club-swinging giants to zombie-like Inferi and Voldemort’s snake-like face (which was created by using practical makeup and digitally removing Ralph Fiennes’s nose). One of their most challenging sequences came early in Deathly Hallows, when members of the Order of the Phoenix arrive at Privet Drive to whisk Harry away to a safe spot. Multiple Harrys, Mad-Eye Moody says, will confuse the Death Eaters on their trail—so some of the wizards chug Polyjuice Potion and transform into Harry.

The transformation was tough for visual effects artists to pull off. "We needed to have a little bit of the attributes of Harry, and a little bit of the attributes of whoever we started with—George, Fred, Ron, Hermione," Nicolas Aithadi, VFX supervisor at Moving Picture Company, told Popular Mechanics. "The tricky part is you have to be able to read the Harry part and the George part. What we keep from each of these characters has to be perfect." They accomplished it by coating the actors’ faces in UV paint, then having them make faces in the Mova Contour Reality Capture system, which has 29 cameras and can capture 50,000 points of information, creating a 3D mesh cloud they could use as a basis for the transforming faces.

According to Phelps, it was completely different than anything they’d ever done before. “There are probably 30 different facial expressions they tried to get you to do,” he told Popular Mechanics. “I never realized how wide I could open my mouth until we did that scene, so that was quite cool.” Because of the UV paint, the VFX artists had one piece of advice, Phelps said: “They were quite keen to say, ‘Just don't go to any nightclubs tonight, because you'll look like a floating head.’”

22. … BUT NOT ALL THE EFFECTS WERE COMPUTER GENERATED.

Animatronics were made for the actors to interact with on set, including baby mandrakes, Hedwig, the Monster Book of Monsters, and Buckbeak, which was used on-set for close ups. “He could stare at you, his eyes could follow you, he could bow, and every one of his feathers was dyed and put in by hand,” Newquist told PopMech. “There are tens of thousands of them, and they look absolutely gorgeous.”Other creatures were built to give the animators reference for lighting, like the giant Jack-in-the-Box from Prisoner of Azkaban and house elf Kreacher.

23. THE FILM’S MAKEUP ARTISTS APPLIED THE LIGHTNING BOLT SCAR MANY, MANY TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF EIGHT FILMS.

Five thousand eight hundred times, to be exact. In our 2014 interview with Radcliffe, he told us, “The lightning scar, on the first two films, we essentially painted it on, and after that we used Pros-Aide, which was like a glue [to put it on]. It was very simple.” The scar was applied to his face 2,000 times; the rest went on film and stunt doubles. Radcliffe also went through 160 pairs of Harry’s round-frame glasses.

24. HELENA BONHAM CARTER KEPT HER BELLATRIX TEETH.

“I loved my [fake] teeth!” the actress told EW. ��I kept them because they're not going to fit anybody else. I keep them in a blue plastic thing in the bathroom and bring them out when I miss [Bellatrix].’”

25. THERE COULD HAVE BEEN AN OFFICIAL HARRY POTTER MUSICAL.

Rowling has turned down a lot of proposed Harry Potter ideas—including, she told Winfrey, a musical that Michael Jackson wanted to do. Earlier this year, Rowling announced that she’s working with a team to bring a new Harry Potter story to the stage; Harry Potter and the Cursed Childwill hit the West End in 2016.

26. DUMBLEDORE WAS GAY.

In 2007, when asked by a fan whether or not Hogwarts’s favorite headmaster had ever been in love, Rowling responded, “I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.” She revealed that he had fallen in love with Grindelwald, “and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was.”

Rowling said she found the reaction to the news very interesting. “To me it was not a big deal,” she told Radcliffe. “This is a very old man who has a very terrible job to do. And his gayness is not really relevant. Very relevant to him as a character, because I always saw him as a very lonely character. And I think that there is in fact a hint of it in [Deathly Hallows] because of the relationship he has with Grindelwald. He fell very hard for this boy ...  And don’t you think it was perfect that Dumbledore, who is always the great champion of love … his one great experience of love was utterly tragic.”

This led to one very necessary tweak to the Half-Blood Prince script. “In an early draft of that script, Dumbledore said to Harry … ‘I remember a young woman with eyes of flashing whatever, raven-haired…’ and I read this and I scribbled on my copy of the script, ‘Steve, Dumbledore is gay,’ shoved it up the table,” she said. “And Steve [said,] ‘Oh.’ So that’s why that line didn’t make the film.”

27. ROWLING ACKNOWLEDGED THAT A HARRY/HERMIONE PAIRING MIGHT HAVE WORKED.

In an interview with Emma Watson for Wonderland magazine in 2014, Rowling said that “I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment,” saying that they ended up together “for reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it … The attraction itself is plausible but the combative side of it … I’m not sure you could have got over that in an adult relationship, there was too much fundamental incompatibility.”

She noted that “in some ways Hermione and Harry are a better fit,” and that she felt that “quite strongly” when she wrote a particular scene in Deathly Hallows, where Harry and Hermione are in the tent. “I hadn’t told [Steve] Kloves that and when he wrote the script he felt exactly the same thing at exactly the same point,” she said.

28. BACK IN THE DAY, THE MALFOYS HUNG OUT WITH RICH MUGGLES.

“Until the imposition of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the Malfoy family was active within high-born Muggle circles, and it is said that their fervent opposition to the imposition of the Statute was due, in part, to the fact that they would have to withdraw from this enjoyable sphere of social life,” Rowling wrote on Pottermore. In fact, one Malfoy might have had designs on the British Throne: “There is ample evidence to suggest that the first Lucius Malfoy was an unsuccessful aspirant to the hand of Elizabeth I, and some wizarding historians allege that the Queen's subsequent opposition to marriage was due to a jinx placed upon her by the thwarted Malfoy,” Rowling writes. The Malfoys gave up their Muggle fraternizing when the Ministry of Magic, “the new heart of power,” was founded.

29. MOANING MYRTLE HAS AN INTERESTING INSPIRATION.

Rowling wrote on Pottermore that the whiny, bathroom-dwelling ghost was inspired by “the frequent presence of a crying girl in communal bathrooms, especially at the parties and discos of my youth. This does not seem to happen in male bathrooms, so I enjoyed placing Harry and Ron in such uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

30. MUGGLES CAN’T MAKE POTIONS.

And that’s because you can’t make potions without wands. “Merely adding dead flies and asphodel to a pot hanging over a fire will give you nothing but nasty-tasting, not to mention poisonous, soup,” Rowling wrote on Pottermore. Though her least favorite subject in school was Chemistry, she admitted that “I always enjoyed creating potions in the books, and researching ingredients for them. Many of the components of the various draughts and libations that Harry creates for Snape exist (or were once believed to exist) and have (or were believed to have) the properties I gave them.”

31. ROWLING’S EDUCATION CAME IN HANDY.

At university, she minored in Classics, and she put that education to good use, peppering the books with Latin. “It just amused me, the idea that wizards would still be using Latin as a living language, although it is, as scholars of Latin will know,” she said in 2000. “I take great liberties with the language for spells. I see it as a kind of mutation that the wizards are using.” Expelliarmus, for example, combines expellere, meaning “drive out” or “expel,” with arma, meaning “weapon,” and knocks weapons from an enemy’s hands. Incendio, which lights a fire, comes from incendiarius, or “fire-raising.” And Hogwarts’s motto is Draco Dormiens Numquam Titillandus—“Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon.”

32. THERE WAS ONE HARRY POTTER QUESTION ROWLING FEARED THE MOST.

It was “What was Dumbledore's wand made of?”

“That would have been quite a telling question,” Rowling told Time. “Because I had this elder thing in my mind, cause elder has this association in folklore, it's the death tree. I thought, ‘What am I going to say?’” Thankfully, no one ever asked.

33. STEPHEN KING THOUGHT DOLORES UMBRIDGE WAS A GREAT VILLAIN.

In his review of Order of the Phoenix for Entertainment Weekly, King said, “The gently smiling Dolores Umbridge, with her girlish voice, toadlike face, and clutching, stubby fingers, is the greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter” [PDF].

34. YOU CAN SPOT A CRUMPLE-HORNED SNORKACK IN THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER ...

It’s on the second story of the Magical Menagerie. Luna’s father, Xenophilius Lovegood, claimed it was a real creature, but it was never found. Rowling said that Luna, who became a naturalist, had to eventually “accept that her father might have made that one up.”

35. … AS WELL AS ARTHUR WEASLEY’S FLYING CAR.

The flying Ford Anglia—which Harry and Ron flew into the Whomping Willow and later saved them from Acromantulas in the books—can be found in line for the Dragon Challenge roller coaster, just over the bridge and before entering the castle.

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

It's way too easy to accidentally reply to Instagram Stories

I used to love Instagram Stories.

After long days at work, mindlessly tapping through Stories on the train home became my go-to way to unwind. They're entertaining, carefully crafted, and the perfect way to stay up-to-date with acquaintances, friends, and celebrities. But just as I was about to crown Instagram Stories my favorite social media feature, I accidentally voted in a poll.

My idol, Mindy Kaling, asked followers to let her know if her new bag was cute or not, and because my thumb was recklessly skipping through Stories, I wound up telling her it was ugly. (Mindy if you're reading this, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it.)

I'm sad to say this was not an isolated incident. I've accidentally voted rudely in several other polls since, and have had a number of close calls with Instagram's emoji Quick Reactions feature, too. It's reached a point where the anxiety of accidentally replying to Stories is preventing me from fully enjoying them.

Keep accidentally voting for the rudest option in Instagram polls when tapping through stories and it's making me a lot of enemies.

— Nicole Gallucci (@nicolemichele5) July 7, 2018

SEE ALSO: Crush Twitter proves that sometimes subtweets can be good

I'm not the only one who's had these unpleasant experiences with the app.

When I asked my colleagues if they'd ever fallen into the Instagram poll trap, many admitted they had. A few brave souls even offered up some memorable examples that haunt them to this day.

A fellow reporter recalled her most shameful accidental vote, when she disrespectfully said a puppy wasn't a good boy — a nearly unforgivable act. Another colleague chimed in to say that he recently told our Executive Editor to throw out a sweater by unintentionally voting in her poll. Truly tragic. 

Did I actually vote on your poll or did I accidentally vote as I was clicking through stories on Instagram? You shall never know.

— Dayna Wong (@Wongerr) March 6, 2019

Can Instagram PLEASE make a feature that confirms whether or not you really wanted to vote on someone’s story poll? I just accidentally voted that some girl’s bangs look like shit and now I have to block her.

— Kate Matthews (@katemattz) May 15, 2018

Aside from insulting Mindy's fashion sense, one of my most mortifying Instagram poll experiences happened when I accidentally voted to say a high school acquaintance's baked goods looked like "trash" instead of "delicious." I quickly reached out to her in an attempt to right my unintentional wrong, but she never replied. 

Just the other day accidentally voted that a casual acquaintance's baked goods looked like trash instead of delicious and had to send this message. She prob hates me now it's fine. pic.twitter.com/mDnJZ53omK

— Nicole Gallucci (@nicolemichele5) July 7, 2018

Though well-intentioned, Instagram's Quick Reactions emoji feature isn't much better. In certain cases having emoji at your fingertips is definitely more convenient than searching for one, but the feature is enabled by a gentle upward swipe on a phone screen, which can be dangerous.

If people aren't fully paying attention to Instagram Stories, tapping through them too quickly, or using the  app when they're about to fall asleep, the slightest move can inadvertently summon emoji reactions.

Image: screenshot/instagram

Shortly after the Quick Reactions feature was introduced in 2018, an article from New York Magazine's Intelligencer highlighted users' frustrations, but Instagram has yet to improve the design.

Though I've always been able to stop myself before accidentally sending emoji reactions, I have been on the receiving end of someone else's mishap, and can confirm that's not too fun either.

After watching the final scene in Season 2 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I posted an Instagram story to express what an absolute ride it was. The following morning, a former colleague replied to my story with an encouraging 💯. Turns out she'd accidentally sent the emoji, and immediately apologized, resulting in the following hilariously awkward exchange. 

Image: screenshot/instagram

As far as social media platforms go, Instagram is still beloved by many, but users have been so impacted by the design flaws in Stories that they've actually taken the time to air their grievances on Twitter.

Yo that quick reactions feature on Instagram stories has got to go. I always accidentally reply to people’s stories. Today, I sent the 🔥 emoji to someone’s post about their aunt passing away 😭

— raBroke (@rabae__) March 8, 2019

Can we all agree that all the quick reactions feature on Instagram does is send accidental emoji responses to people’s stories

— mar (@marissarenegalz) November 26, 2018

So how do we stop embarrassing ourselves?

Ultimately, it's up to Instagram to take the necessary steps to improve their app in a way that will enhance the user experience, but until then, here are some suggestions to avoid accidental Story replies and awkward exchanges with followers.

Let stories play on their own: It'll take some extra patience, but rather than tapping through stories, let them naturally progress. You'll waste a bit more time on the app, but it'll ensure you don't accidentally tap a poll or swipe up on your screen to send an emoji.

Create super safe win/win polls: If you're thinking of posting a poll but aren't really in the mood for any negative feedback consider making both options positive or slightly similar. If one option is "Yes!" and another is "100% DO IT RIGHT NOW," for example, there's zero chance someone will offend you with an accidental vote. This option essentially eliminates the need for a poll in the first place, but it's still a fun, thoughtful move.

Think before you place your poll: If you like using polls you shouldn't give them up just because Instagram didn't fully think the feature through. Taking the location of the poll into consideration, however, can help prevent mistakes. Try to keep polls out of the areas on a phone screen that thumbs are most likely to tap. When in doubt, check out this helpful map I made to guide you.

Image: nicole gallucci / instagram

If you mess up, don't make it a big deal: After accidentally sending an emoji reaction, it can be tempting to message the person and tell them you didn't mean to. But if it's not a blatantly weird or offensive reaction, consider just letting them have the compliment. When my former colleague sent me 💯, for example, I thought it was so nice! It wasn't until she called out her error that things got weird.

At the very least, Instagram users can take comfort in knowing these mistakes are widespread. It's awkward as hell, but we'll survive. If anyone who works at Instagram is reading this cry for help, though, making an update that allows us to undo votes and emoji replies would be 😢. Whoops, I meant, 💯.

WATCH: Ariana Grande is now Instagram’s most-followed woman

[themtmshow]

What are some of your favorite MTM episodes and why?

Thank you for the question! I’m sorry it took me so long to reply; I wanted to give you a decent answer but I haven’t had much free time this week. I was goingto give you a top 10 list and, after much deliberation, I ended up with a top15 list instead; I couldn’t narrow it down any further. And if anyone wants to reblog this with their own favourite episodes, or send me an ask about it, that would be very welcome.

I’m posting this under a cut because it got very long (sorry about that).

1x02 – Today I Am a Ma’am

This episode features the first of many disastrous Mary parties, and personally, I don’t think they got any better than this. “Allow me to introduce myself:I’m another person in the room” is one of my favourite lines of the wholeseries. And I love the part where Rhoda dumps food all over her lap and Marylooks over in horror. That is absolutely the kind of thing I would do at a party, if it didn’t violate every social rule in existence. (Also, Ilove any time Rhoda is in a scene with her real-life husband at the time, DickSchaal, aka Howard Arnell.)

2x21 – Where There’s Smoke, There’s Rhoda

This is the one where there’s a fire in Rhoda’s apartment, so she moves in with Mary for a few days. I thinkthis is one of my favourite Mary/Rhoda episodes, because it puts them inconflict with each other while still managing to reinforce how strong andbeautiful their friendship is. They end up fighting because they’re just sodifferent, not because they intentionally want to hurt eachother. They have each other’s best interests at heart the entire time. And theend where Rhoda agrees to go stay with Phyllis is fantastic. I love the look onPhyllis’ face that just screams “HELP ME.”

 3x06 – Rhoda the Beautiful

This, of course, is the episode where Rhoda won the Ms. Hempel Beauty Contest. I have alot of feelings about this episode. I really don’t like the implication that Rhoda wasn’t beautiful when she was fat, and that she only became beautiful after she lost weight. For one thing, Rhoda was neverall that fat, and for another thing, she was never not gorgeous. Also, weighthas absolutely nothing to do with beauty anyway. But I do think the episode madeit clear that the important thing wasn’t Rhoda’s weight at all. Her problem was that she didn’t feel good about the way shelooked. And even winning a beauty contest doesn’t solve that problem for her. Onanother show, that might have been the end of it, but for Rhoda, even that external validation isn’t enough to make her feel confident. Only after admitting her victory to Mary and receiving her support is Rhoda able to take some pride in her appearance.I love this episode because it doesn’t dismiss Rhoda’s self-image issues asunimportant. Instead, it gives them the emotional weight they deserve. Rhoda’s not sillyfor feeling bad about the way she looks. She’s not shallow for caring about herappearance. And she’s not vain for taking pride winning a beautycontest. The writing (and Valerie Harper’s Emmy-winning performance) reallyemphasize how hard it was for Rhoda to feel good about herself, and how braveshe is for gaining that confidence. I adore the scene where Rhoda tells Marythat she won. She looks down instead of meeting Mary’s eyes. Her voice shakes.She’s clearly terrified. And Mary’s reaction is so wonderful. Rhoda neededMary’s support here, and she absolutely got it. Although this episode dealtwith some really important subject matter, and it was definitely inspiring and poignant, it was ultimately a story about one woman earning some well-deserved confidence, and her best friend who helped her get to that point.

3x16 – Lou’s Place

This is theepisode where Lou tries to be the happy, welcoming bartender, but he can’t keepit up, so he ends up individually terrorizing his patrons. I always laughwatching him try to angrily force everyone to have a good time. “What thehell’s wrong with you, anyway? You just sit there like a bunch of clods… Nowthis is the Happy Hour.” I’m laughing out loud just thinking about it. I thinkit’s one of the funniest scenes in the whole show. And I cannot imagine how EdAsner kept a straight face through the whole scene. Or anyone else, for thatmatter. I also love the scene where Ted tries to arm-wrestle Lou while posing for the photographer. And Murray giving Ted change for $500 in nickels was a great ending.

4x17 – Cottage for Sale

This is the one where Lou almost sells his house but Mary changes his mind at the last minute. It’s just a nice, quiet episode that I’ve seen a million times and it always makesme smile. We see Lou give Mary a lot of helpful (and not-so-helpful) advice andguidance over the course of the series. I like this episode because it’s one ofthe times where Lou depends on Mary to be the voice of reason and help him realize that in some cases, his emotions are more important than logic. And I like thescene where Lou makes Mary breakfast: a scrambled omelet, with green pepper,green onion, and… beer. He’s just so pleased with himself for it. Phyllis is also very good in this episode, in her typical nails-on-a-chalkboard sort of way.

 4x20 – Better Late… That’s a Pun… Than Never

“Wee Willie Williams was the oldest living citizen in Minneapolis. There were other citizens in Minneapolis who are older; however, they happen to be dead.” Although the Wee Willie obituary scene is already enough tomake this episode legendary, this is also one of my favourite Mary and Lou episodes. I likethe part when Lou says that he missed Mary more than anyone else did, because that’s not the kind of thing he admits very often. Apart from that, I think it’s very sweet that Rhoda gave up a Robert Redford/Paul Newman movie to write obituaries with Mary until 4 in the morning. That’s quite a favour, even considering what happened as a result. And I would really love to know which character went into Lou’s office overnight and broke all his pencil points. (It was probably Murray.)

4x21 – Ted Baxter Meets Walter Cronkite

I love mostof the Teddy Awards episodes, and this is one of my favourites. This was a goodepisode for Ted. I love the look on his face when he realizes that he won. Forall his confidence before, he seems genuinely surprised, which suggests that much of his trademark overconfidence is actually fake. Ted had so few victories in the show, and his acceptance speech makes mesad for him almost as much as it makes me laugh. And his meeting with WalterCronkite was pure genius. (I wonder if Ted ever gave him his pipe back?)

 5x01 – Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?

I really admire Mary in this episode. She’s scared of going to jail, andshe even cries about it, but she does the right thing anyway, without really considering any other alternative. She’s not flawless, butshe’s brave and principled, which is something I love about her. This is alsoanother really good Mary and Lou episode. Lou’s ethics are such a fundamentalpart of his character, and he demonstrates many times over the course of theseries that he’s very rarely willing to back down on things he cares about. Butin this episode, he tells Mary that he doesn’t believe in the freedom of thepress - going against everything he believes in as a newsman - because he can’t handle her being in jail. That demonstrates just how much he cares about Mary,even more than the ensuing hug. And I always laugh when Sue Ann tells Mary, “Dear, when you get out, if you get out, I’ll beright there to help you find your way back into decent society.” (I’m curious as to howSue Ann got all those tin prison cups on such short notice. Does she just have themlying around in her studio at all times? Was she doing a special on prisonfood? Does she collect them? We’ll never know.)

5x19 – The Shame of the Cities

This is theepisode where Lou and Mary make a documentary on a politician that Lou thought was shady but who turned out to be incredibly boring. The “Thank you, Mr. Mugger” scene at the end is one of myfavourite scenes in the show. Mary Tyler Moore was so damn talented. I alsoreally like Charlene, and I like the part where she casually tells Mary thatshe dated Frank Sinatra and Mary can’t get over it. And I lovethe scene where the news team has a meeting in Lou’s office to work on the documentary and Ted listens in until Lou shuts the door on him (at which point you hear his offscreen cry of anguish).

5x23 – Ted Baxter’s Famous Broadcasters School

This is the one where Ted is tricked by a con man and he has to run a broadcasting school with just his colleagues for support. I don’tknow exactly why this episode is so funny to me, but I really enjoy it. I lovethat everyone pulls together, however reluctantly, to help solve Ted’s problem.And I like Ted’s school song: “We have no gym and we have no pool, but we haveheart at Ted Baxter’s Famous Broadcaster’s School!” Short, but catchy. I also love how Mary completely loses her patience by the end of it. (“Who IS this person? What are we DOING here?!”) Although, having watched “GetSmart,” I find it very confusing that Mary is on a date with Siegfried.

6x09 – Ted’s Wedding

I don’t knowwhy they didn’t call it “Ted and Georgette’s Wedding,” but anyway, this was a veryfunny episode. Ted and Georgette were adorable, of course. Sue Ann was brilliant as thefrilly, flower-toting task manager who magically had everything together at thedrop of a hat. And the tennis-playing priest was perfect. (“Bride on mybackhand, groom on my forehand!”) The wedding is sweet but still hilarious, andalthough this is a significant episode with two of the main characters getting married, it fits very neatly into theshow.

6x18 – Once I Had a Secret Love

I actuallyfeel weird about this episode because of the Lou/Sue Ann storyline. I find it disturbingthat Lou was made to feel guilty for having a drunk one-night stand. And Ithink that if Lou had been a woman and Sue Ann had been a man, that storylinemight have played differently.  But asidefrom that, this is a really emotionally heavy episode because of the Mary/Louconflict. It’s the first time we’ve ever seen Lou be really devastated bysomething Mary did. And I think it’s interesting that he just shuts down,instead of yelling or being sarcastic like he normally would after being hurt. It shows a side of him thatwe don’t normally get to see, and I have a lot of feelings about it. I also have a lot of feelings about the Mary andLou resolution scene, which is very sweet. And Ted is wonderful in thisepisode. “Mary, why are you weeping? Into a sock!” That part always makes melaugh. This was the episode that made me realize how much the show show relied on Ted to keep the show funny while they did heavy episodeslike this one. (I think the episode where Murray falls in love with Mary is another example.)

 6x22 – A Reliable Source

This is the episode where Mary quits her job after Lou insists on running a potentially incriminating story on her Congressman friend. The scenenear the end where Lou helps Mary type her resignation letter is another one of myfavourite scenes. I like any time Mary call Lou by his first name, because sheso rarely does. And although I think that Mary was wrong about wanting to keepthe story about the Congressman off the air, I admire her for sticking to herword anyway. I also think it’s sweet how Murray and Ted really try to supportMary in her fight against Lou, even though there isn’t much they can do. And it amuses me that Ted so readily assumes his friends are trying toget him a raise when they’re really talking about totally irrelevant things. “Thegood Lord has blessed me with many friends… And not a damn one of them’s gotany pull around here!”

 7x10 – Murray Can’t Lose

There are afew episodes during season 7 where you can tell that the writers and the castknew it was going to be their last season, and they just went all out with thesentiment. This is one of those episodes. There are a lot of good scenes inthis one, such as Mary singing in Lou’s office, Ted using Lou as aventriloquism dummy, and Georgette’s excellent dance sequence. But my favouritepart is the end scene where Murray gives his acceptance speech to all hisfriends, even though he didn’t win. I think what Murray says to Mary is lovely: “You do theimpossible every day. You make people forget how beautiful you look becausethey’re too busy realizing how beautiful you are.” It’s a perfect summary ofthe way Murray feels about Mary, and it’s also such a good way to describe her. And I love that Murray finallyadmits to Ted that he does actually like him. (Of course, Tedhad to ruin the moment.)

7x11 – Mary’s Insomnia

Apart fromthe highly inaccurate depiction of insomnia, I adore this episode. It wasdirected by James Burrows, who is one of the most legendary directors of alltime (he also did Cheers). Maybethat’s the reason why there is so much excellent physical comedy in thisepisode. Aside from that, and aside from this being such a nice Mary/Louepisode, I like that Ted actually got to get back at Murray for his years ofinsulting him. I also love the scene where everyone shows up in Mary’s bathroomwhile she’s taking a bath, and only Murray has the good sense to be embarrassedabout it. And Lou accidentally lapsing into “Up the Lazy River” while attempting to sing a lullaby is another one of my favourites.

I could absolutely go on and list another 15 episodes, and probably another 15 after that, but I think it’s in everyone’s best interest if I stop here. Thanks again for the question! And like I said above, people should feel free to reblog and add your own favourite episodes. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks.

[wellesleyunderground]

Wellesley in Art: Interview with Simone Grace Seol '08 (@thesimonegrace)

Simone Grace Seol ‘08 is the illustrator and creator of Feminist Coloring Pages. You can follow her on instagram @feministcoloring. For Black History Month, she is illustrating one inspiring black woman each day and will create a coloring book at the end of the month with all 28 illustrations. Those who wish to ‘purchase’ the coloring book may do so by making a $15 donation here. All funds raised will be going to the ACLU and the NAACP.

Simone was a Religion major while at Wellesley and completed her Masters in Public Health at Columbia University. She was a public health researcher before transitioning into being a grants specialist, and is now a full-time, freewheeling renaissance woman. A woman of the world, she has lived everywhere from New York City, to Munich, to Seoul, South Korea. We are so excited to get a chance to learn about Simone’s latest endeavor, Feminist Coloring Pages!

WU: When did you start Feminist Coloring Pages and what inspired you to start it?

It all started with a bad anxiety attack. I have a whole arsenal of mind-body practices to dissolve anxiety, and when none of them worked, I picked up a pen and started drawing a woman who used art to deal with inner turmoil – Frida Kahlo. I titled the drawing, “Our Lady of Sublimated Suffering,” and after that, I just kept going, drawing other women to find calm and inspiration in my life. Since I enjoyed coloring pages for grown-ups, I created an Etsy store to share my illustrations with others and I’ve been so gratified to see positive reactions from other women, and even their daughters. A few of my illustrations have also been recently turned into a clothing line!

WU: What inspired you to take on the project of illustrating 28 Black women for Black History Month?

I was, and am distressed about the erosion of civil rights in the Trump era. I’ve been abroad for a while, so I’ve been biting my fingernails about what I could do to help the situation at home from far away. When I read Trump’s Black History Month speech, I felt such a tremendous grief and anger that he was squandering the opportunity to honor a group of Americans that had contributed so much to America by talking about himself. I felt strongly compelled to do something. I’d been meaning to feature more women of color in my illustrations anyway, so it seemed like a perfect idea.

With the support of the Wellesley community, the fundraising has been a resounding success! In only three weeks or so, I exceeded my fundraising goal of $3,000. The most exciting moment was when Diana Chapman Walsh made a donation and left a lovely, encouraging note. I had no idea!

WU: How did you choose which women to illustrate for Black History Month?

First, I crowd-sourced on Facebook. I have a wonderful group of thoughtful and intelligent friends on Facebook, and when I asked for suggestions for awesome black women to draw, ideas flooded in. Then, I did some more research on my own and used my own preferences to cull the list. Since I am a big fan of the arts and literature, for instance, there are more artists and writers represented than, say, sports stars.

WU: Why did you decide to donate all the proceeds from your coloring book to the ACLU and NAACP?

I had already donated to ACLU right after Trump announced his executive order about restricting entry into the US. I believed ACLU was doing the critical work in our times to stand up for civil rights, so I wanted to continue to support them. I also picked NAACP because I am, after all, celebrating Black History Month and, as they say, black lives matter.

WU: On your Instagram account, you drew a self-portrait titled “Meet the Artist.” In that illustration you state that you are “100% Post-Partisan” and “100% Mercenary”– what do those terms mean to you and why do you use them to describe yourself?

It’s a tongue-in-cheek phrase, meant to be funny, but contains a kernel of truth. When I say “100% mercenary,” I mean that I’m an artist who wants to do good, but I am also a capitalist. I will serve the market and make the call to respond to what customers/patrons crave and request. I have illustrated women with whom I’m not 100% politically aligned because people who want to buy my art requested them, and I believe there is always value in trying to be curious about, and learn from people with whom you disagree. Those have always been rewarding learning experiences.

That brings me to the part of being post-partisan. I certainly have strongly held political beliefs, but I want my art to transcend politics. I will not corner my art into a neat ideological box, because art is ultimately about humanity and humanity is greater and truer than politics. So I will draw icons of all political stripes, from a place that transcend those divisions. There are always lessons to be learned and connections to be forged.

WU: How do you define feminism?

Feminism, to me now, is the idea that all humans are deserving of full dignity, agency and opportunity.

WU: Has your definition of feminism evolved or changed since your time at Wellesley? How so?

Exposure to living in different parts of the world took me out of the American academic conceptions of feminism that I subscribed to at Wellesley. As a Korean, I learned that women don’t need to be ‘saved’ by Western feminism. Women are strong, resourceful and badass in many corners of the world that had never heard of Gloria Steinem and Michel Foucault. We lift up women everywhere by fighting for their moral, economic and spiritual agency, not by delivering Western- and academy-made constructions of feminist activism to them, which is what I used to espouse in my younger days.

WU: Who are your top five favorite feminists? Why?

My selections are biased toward women of great charisma and spiritual courage, and many who wouldn’t necessarily self-identify as “feminist”:

Hildegard von Bingen (for her polymath genius, authority and intimacy with God);

Dorothy Day (for the fierceness of her faith and service);

Sojourner Truth (for her self-defining brilliance and advocacy);

Margaret Thatcher (for her unyielding commitment to liberty and free enterprise);

Moana of Motunui (for representing the intrepid voyager within every girl and woman)

WU: Coloring books have really taken off as a form of self-care in recent years. Is illustrating a form of self-care for you?

Absolutely! I believe that all artistic endeavor is a form of self-administered therapy. For too long, I didn’t create because I feared I wouldn’t be ‘good enough,’ and other people won’t like it. Now I realize, that is not the point! When you draw, you get to exercise different parts of your brain and interact with the physical world in a fresh and intimate way. It takes me out of my own head and gets me noticing the beauty and curiosities that are all around. That is absolutely therapeutic for me, and I believe it is for most other people, too.

WU: What else do you do for self-care?

I chat with my beloved Wellesley sisters, hang out with my family, run, and spend lots of time daydreaming about my future as a cattle rancher-cum-mariachi singer.

WU: What’s next for you and the Feminist Coloring Pages?

Every time I make a plan, God laughs her face off! I shall remain open to inspiration and opportunity.

WU: What advice do you have for alums who wish to start and/or create similar projects?

I don’t think I could have planned for the ‘success’ of my fundraising project. Just make art for the sheer enjoyment of engaging your own creativity and curiosity. All the validation andare ‘bonuses’, the cherry on top of the cake of serving your muses. If you keep being true to yourself and regard the world with curiosity instead of ready-made judgment, your creativity will, too, one day be of wild and beautiful service to the world.

All images posted with permission of illustrator.

[stop-yanderedev-archive]

damn ari, back at it again with dem rants

Okay, first off, hello again! It’s Ari, the one who had to rant about the person who commented on my post about the faults of YanSim. I’m back again to rant about YandereDev’s current “clearing up misunderstandings” post because that idiot really makes me wanna fight something!

Warning, this post might be long and there won’t a TL;DR at the end, so I apologize in advance!

So first off, if you have to make fucking SEVEN POSTS about clearing “misunderstandings”, then there’s something wrong with you. If you do so much shit that it causes you to make multiple posts about clearing your name, then you’re doing something wrong.

Now, onto some of the points that he made in his nasty-ass post that REALLY pissed me off.

“YandereDev said that pedophilia is just another sexual orientation!”

That’s not what I said. I said that nobody chooses to be a pedophile, just like nobody gets to choose their sexual orientation. I used the words “orientation” and “pedophilia” in separate sentences of the same paragraph, but I did not say that pedophilia IS a sexual orientation

No, just stop right there. Pedophilia and sexual/romantic orientations have ZERO THINGS IN COMMON.

Sexual/romantic orientations are a part of being a person. It changes, it’s fluid. Some people need some time until they are definitely sure they are gay/trans/bi/aro-ace/etc, and some don’t. It’s a normal thing that’s a part of life, such as puberty.

Pedophilia is not a normal thing, nor should it be normalized. It harms others, mainly impressionable minors that don’t know better because they are not as informed as those older than them. Those who act upon these “desires” to pursue romantic relationships with minors are nasty people that need to just go. People choose to be pedophiles because they’re disgusting like that.

You cannot compare the two. It’s as simple as that.

“YandereDev treatened to dox someone into silence!”

That’s not how it went down. I said something I didn’t mean while I was fired up up in the middle of an angry rant about someone who had been harassing me for several months. Obviously, it shouldn’t have been taken seriously. It was an “in the heat of the moment” statement, not a genuine threat.

Firstly, he spelled “threatened” wrong. Sorry, but I get a little nit-picky about spelling. :P

But anyways, what the hell.

I may not know much about this incident, but what I DO know is that the person (they are the original owner of this blog, right?) YandereDev threatened to dox did not harass him in any way. They did nothing of the sort.

And, (again from what I’ve heard) describing a person’s house in detail while you’re threatening to doxx someone is not a heat of the moment thing. You really got to think about stuff like that. Heat of the moment thing is not thinking about what you’re going to say while getting real emotional, and then feeling really guilty about it afterwards. YandereDev, you don’t sound guilty about what had happened. In fact, you sound like you think you’re innocent and didn’t absolutely wrong.

Oh wait, YOU DO THINK THAT YOU’RE NOT THE ONE TO BLAME HERE BECAUSE YOU’RE AN UNSEEMLY ASSHOLE.

“One of the rivals in Yandere Simulator is a pedophile!”

Pedophiles are attracted to pre-pubescent children (younger than 14), and Mida Rana is attracted to boys that are older than 14, so this statement isn’t accurate, but that’s beside the point. Sometimes, video games have antagonists who do bad things, and allow you to punish the antagonists for their evil ways. Some villains kill, some villains kidnap, some villains are sexual predators. If you don’t like Mida Rana, just punish her however you see fit, like any other villain in any other video game.

Say it with me now, kids: MIDA RANA IS A PEDOPHILE BECAUSE SHE IS ATTRACTED TO MINORS. MIDA RANA IS A PEDOPHILE BECAUSE PEDOPHILIA MEANS THAT YOU DESIRE TO HAVE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH MINORS. MINORS ARE THOSE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 OR 21, IF WE’RE PUTTING THIS INTO USA LAW CONTEXT. TARO YAMADA/SENPAI IS A MINOR, IF YOU WANT TO CONSIDER MINORS BEING UNDER 21.

Just because Mida Rana is an antagonist, doesn’t mean you get to brush aside the fact that she’s a pedophile. Villains are villains because you don’t brush aside the reasons that they are in the wrong. Getting the to get rid of Mida in the game still doesn’t make it okay. She SHOULDN’T have been a TEACHER in the first place. She SHOULDN’T have been a RIVAL in the first place.

“YandereDev said that pedophilia is ‘forbidden love’!”

That’s not what I said. I was referring to love between a student and a teacher as forbidden love. Student/teacher relationships are forbidden, irrespective of the age gap between the student and teacher.

LMAO, what the honest fuck is wrong with this dude.

Teachers shouldn’t be interested in having romantic relationships with their students because it is against the law and wrong at the same time. The reason it’s “forbidden” is because teachers hold so much more control over students. They can do things to students because they have more power over them due to their seniority over the student. Plus, relationships with huge age gaps (such as the student/teacher romantic relationship) are very problematic and can turn ugly without a doubt.

Forbidden love is like a royal/noble falling for a peasant; they know they can never be together due to the standards set by their society, but they don’t care because their love for one another is that strong. Forbidden love projects the idea that love conquers all, even if their situation is hopeless. The student/teacher thing is not forbidden love and it will never be. It’s harmful, disgusting, and abusive. Forbidden love is not that, not at all.

“YandereDev reads lolicon manga!”

There was a thread on 4chan where people were editing this image by putting different things in the bag. It was a meme. I could tell that the image had been taken from a sexual manga, but I didn’t care. To me, it was like any other “reaction image” featuring a character making a silly face. The meme was about putting something funny in the bag, not the character’s age or situation. I edited the image and used it in a blog post. Just because I posted a “reaction face” that came from a manga, this doesn’t mean that I read the manga, or enjoy the content. Reaction faces are reaction faces. Memes are memes.

“Reaction faces are reaction face. Memes are meme.”

*inhales deeply* BOI.

Just because you “don’t read it” or “don’t enjoy the content”, doesn’t mean you should use the material as if it were some copypasta. The content is still gross and wrong. Using it to be “funny” just adds onto the problem.

“YandereDev liked a pornographic image of one of his underage characters!”

I give “likes” to almost all of the fan art I see on Tumblr, because I am happy and flattered to see people producing artwork based on my creations. This doesn’t mean that I’m aroused by everything that I give a “like” to, or expressing approval of the subject matter of every post that I give a “like” to.

To quote one of your nice anons:

“Does he actually read the shit he writes out?”

Liking a post on Tumblr means you approve of it, idiot! That’s the definition of approval.

“YandereDev made fun of suicidal people!”

In 2015, someone asked me if it would be possible to drive girls to suicide in Yandere Simulator. I answered, “Yes.” Then, they asked me if girls would commit suicide for silly reasons, or serious reasons. I explained that I did not want people to commit suicide for petty reasons in Yandere Simulator. As an example, I posted a screenshot of a news report about a teenage boy in Russia who committed suicide because his favorite anime character had died. This was not me “making fun of suicidal people”, but providing an example of something that should not cause enough emotional distress to cause a suicide.

Hey, how about fuck off???

You don’t know what that kid’s been going through. You have no right to determine how much emotional distress makes the suicide valid. Unless you know the kid on a personal level, you can’t say shit about him.

“YandereDev wrote rape stories!”

Game of Thrones has rape scenes. Is Game of Thrones a “rape show”? No, it is a TV show that has very dark subject matter, and characters who are put through traumatic and perilous situations. I have written stories with dark subject matter. Some of my stories involved sexual assault. The sexual assaults were never meant to be “sexy”. A more elaborate answer can be found here.

Okay, no one but kiwifarms has really talked about your shitty fanfics.

Also, rape isn’t the main focus of Game of Thrones. Just because something like a TV show has a scene that depicted something like rape, it doesn’t automatically make it a “rape show”. It just means it’s a show that has rape in it. Your fanfics are focusing on rape, putting it in the spotlight. Therefore, your fanfics are “rape stories” because you focus on it.

“YandereDev refuses to add dark-skinned characters to the game!”

That’s not true. I want the ethnicity ratio in Yandere-chan’s school to match Japan’s ethnicity ratio in the real world. In the real world, 98.5% of the population of Japan are ethnic Japanese. This means that if you went to Japan and encountered 200 people, only 3 would not be ethnic Japanese. If you go to a high school in Japan, you are simply not going to encounter dozens of dark-skinned students. With all of that said, I do plan to include a dark-skinned character in Yandere Simulator’s school in the future.

Shut the fuck up. No, literally, SHUT THE FUCK UP.

You know jack shit about Asian cultures, YandereDev. You literally don’t know what it means to be an “ethnic Japanese” or an “ethnic Asian”. You are a white man, so you have NO RIGHT to decide who’s “ethnically” Asian and who’s not.

All Asians (from the Middle East to East Asia) can have dark/brown skin, just like how they can have light/peachy skin. We are not white, we are POC. Because of your fucking ignorance YandereDev, you’re contributing to the problem Asians like me face.

I am a young Asian girl with brown skin, who comes from a Filipino family. When I was young, I didn’t considered myself as an Asian because people expect Asians to be pale and beautiful. I never proudly showed off my Asian roots until I got older and got a better understanding of my culture.

There’s this little thing called colorism, and it’s a big problem in Asian countries like Japan. In Asia, white skin = rich and dark skin = poor. That’s why most characters in anime are light skinned. Thanks to the romanticizing of pale skin and the promotion of whiteness, white skin is seen as more appealing than dark skin because Asians don’t want to be seen as “poor”. It’s sickening and saddening. Dark-skinned Asians are just as beautiful as light-skinned ones. We’re still Asians, we’re still from the same country.

Saying that you’ll never see dark-skinned students in a Japanese school is very inaccurate and ignorant. Like I said, YandereDev doesn’t know a thing about Asian cultures and should stay in his fucking lane. If he wanted to be realistic, then he would’ve had already added dark-skinned characters by now. But no, he’s a prick that doesn’t seem to understand that colorism is an issue and his game is just an inaccurate piece of shit.

“YandereDev used a transphobic slur!”

I have used the term “trap”. However, this term has nothing to do with transgender people. The term “trap” refers to a male who dresses as a female and attempts to trick people into thinking he is a female, as a prank. This word describes someone who is attempting to trick others, not someone who genuinely identifies as another gender.

I have used the term “tranny”. This is because I was directly quoting someone else’s statement word-for-word. This is not because I was using the word to demean anyone.

I have expressed a dislike for “dickgirls”. Dickgirls - or “futanari” - are a type of Japanese fetish porn. Dickgirls are female anime characters who acquire a dick through a magic potion or some other fantastical reason; the term is not used to describe males who identify as female.

YandereDev, you have no right to use any of the slurs you have said in the past. The only ones who can are the people that the slur insults because they are reclaiming the slur.

Trap is associated with transgender people because people have used it to describe transgender people before.

Just because you are quoting someone, doesn’t mean you can use the slur they used as if it was just some normal word. You need to recognize that it’s a slur and that you can’t use it in a casual way.

Say it with me: IF SOMEONE IDENTIFIES AS A FEMALE, THEN THEY ARE A FEMALE. DON’T CALL THEM MALE BECAUSE YOU’RE MISGENDERING THEM. IT’S TRANSPHOBIC.

That aside, I’m pretty sure futanari are mocking transfolk? I could be wrong, so correct me if I am!

“YandereDev steals 3D models and textures!”

I sometimes put temporary placeholder assets into the game, with the intention of replacing them with original assets as soon as possible. This is not an uncommon practice for early prototypes of video games. Yandere Simulator is no longer in an “early prototype” stage, but some temporary placeholder assets are still lingering in Yandere Simulator from its earlier days. I am still in the process of removing these assets from the game. “Theft” and “stealing” are very disingenuous ways of describing the situation. It should go without saying that I have no intention to ship the final game with models or images that I don’t have permission to use.

Even if you’re using them temporarily, you still need to ask the original creator for permission. It’s their content, so they are the ones that get to decide where their creations will go and who can use them. The sandbox of Yandere Simulator is open to the public, therefore people can still see them. YandereDev, you haven’t said that the placeholders aren’t yours, so people are going to assume that you or your volunteers made these assets. You are stealing from the creators because you aren’t stating that the assets aren’t yours and that you’re using them for a sandbox build that’s anyone can see/download.

“YandereDev used the word ‘autistic’ as an insult!”

A strange person had been harassing me for several months. Eventually, I learned that they were actually an autistic child. This helped me to understand the behavior that I had been observing from them. I proceeded to tell them that I had identified their autism, but also firmly stated that their autism wasn’t any excuse for the behavior that they had been demonstrating for the past several months. This was interpreted as some kind of attack on their autism. It wasn’t.

Oh my fucking god, I cannot believe people can be this ignorant.

Unless you’ve got some kind of extensive knowledge about autism, you have no right to assume if someone is autistic or not. You can’t assume someone has a certain disorder by observing their behavior. It’s like saying you think someone is depressed if they don’t constantly smile or look happy. It’s wrong and gross.

Also, I doubt this “strange person” was harassing you. You’re the one that constantly bitches about getting too many emails or blow up at people for saying some harmless/innocent.

His whole conclusion is a mess of bullshit, but one thing I’m going to mention is this:

So, why do they do this? It’s very easy to explain. The reason is simple; they do this because it’s fun.

It’s fun to hate. It’s fun to shame. It’s fun to ridicule. It’s fun to make other people look bad. It’s fun to talk trash about others. It’s fun to “expose” other people. It’s fun to ruin someone’s life. It’s fun to ruin someone’s career. All of these things are super fun…if you’re a sadistic scumbag who takes pleasure in harming others.

To keep having fun, all they have to do is keep brainwashing themselves to believe that I’m a horrible monster, and dismiss everything I say when I attempt to explain myself. As long as they follow those two simple little rules, they can have unlimited fun. And, as long as they can keep having fun, why would they ever stop?

We haters aren’t doing this because it is “fun”. We are doing this because we want to inform others of the nasty shit you have done/are doing. I could do so many other things that are more fun than dealing with your nonsense, but your “game” has attracted the attention of younger kids. These kids don’t understand what you’re is bad and they need someone to steer them in the right direction.

Every time you explain yourself YandereDev, you just add onto the list of reasons why you’re a bad person. The fact that you have the audacity to act so high and mighty and then bitch about the “triggered SJWs” that are “harassing” you shows what kind of person you are.

In conclusion, YandereDev is just giving me more reasons why I should not support him or his gross game.

I hope I didn’t say anything wrong, but if I have please tell me! Thanks for reading and I hope all of you have a lovely day/night!

Cheers!

~ Ari

#tw: pedophilia mention #tw: abuse mention #tw: rape mention #long post

[cringeynews]

New Post has been published on

New Post has been published on http://cringeynews.com/featured/pizzagate-the-totally-false-conspiracy-theory-that-led-a-gunman-to-a-dc-pizzeria-explained/

Pizzagate, the totally false conspiracy theory that led a gunman to a DC pizzeria, explained

On Sunday, a man walked into a pizzeria in Washington, DC, with an assault rifle and fired one or more shots.

The scene, thankfully, was not another example of a mass shooting — no one was injured or killed. Instead, it was the result of a fake news story about Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign that proliferated on social media in the weeks before Election Day.

The totally false conspiracy theory claims that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign manager, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring at the basement of a pizzeria in DC, Comet Ping Pong (which doesn’t even have a basement). Over the past few weeks, Donald Trump supporters and white supremacists on social media have pushed the conspiracy theory — leading to headlines like “Pizzagate: How 4Chan Uncovered the Sick World of Washington’s Occult Elite” on fake news websites.

The Sunday shooting was far from the beginning of threats that Comet Ping Pong has faced over the past few weeks. Cecilia Kang reported at the New York Times that the restaurant’s staff and its owner, James Alefantis, have faced a barrage of abuse and death threats on social media as a result of the conspiracy theory. Things have gotten so bad that the general manager’s wife asked him to quit. Alefantis has worked to get the FBI and local police involved in an investigation to stop the conspiracy theory’s spread, and requested that social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit take down messages and pictures related to the false conspiracy theory.

But it has persisted. Bryce Reh, Comet’s general manager, characterized trying to take down the conspiracy theory online as “trying to shoot a swarm of bees with one gun.” Yet as Pizzagate continues spreading online, it becomes more and more clear just how big of a problem fake news now poses — and how difficult it may be to address.

Pizzagate has been pushed by Trump supporters and white supremacists

Like many ridiculous things on the internet, Pizzagate appears to have begun on the troll haven and message board 4chan. After Podesta’s emails were hacked (likely by Russian agents) and WikiLeaks published them, 4chan users in October found emails between Podesta and Alefantis about a Clinton fundraiser that happened early in the campaign.

From there, people began speculating without any evidence that the restaurant was part of a broader child trafficking ring run by the Democratic Party — a popular but entirely false conspiracy theory on the fringes of conservative media. The conspiracy theories jumped over to Reddit, where the popular Trump subreddit r/The_Donald championed it; Twitter, where pro-Trump tweeters (including the son of Trump’s pick for national security adviser) have continued to promote it; and Facebook, where fake news outlets have written and shared articles about it.

And Alex Jones, the head of the fake news InfoWars who once argued that President Barack Obama and Clinton are literally demons, also boosted the conspiracy theory, saying on his show (in a video that was published in early November but later taken down) that “Hillary Clinton has personally murdered children.” That video earned more than 420,000 videos before it was removed.

Here is one example of a fake news outlet promoting the conspiracy theories behind Pizzagate, keeping in mind that the story is entirely false and the FBI has not confirmed anything about Pizzagate or related conspiracy theories because they’re all wrong:

Your News Wire

Craig Silverman at BuzzFeed has an exhaustive report on how these ridiculous conspiracy theories got so big.

They appeared to really take off after a white supremacist Twitter account (which uses an avatar of a Jewish lawyer in New York) propped them up. The tweet pointed to a Facebook post that claimed a likely nonexistent “NYPD source” confirmed that police had found evidence on former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s devices that the Clinton campaign ran an international child enslavement ring. Again, there’s absolutely no evidence for any of this — but the tweet, which is still up, quickly got thousands of retweets and favorites.

With that, fake news outlets like Your News Wire pushed the story more broadly just days before Election Day. One of the stories even claimed, “IT’S OVER: NYPD Just Raided Hillary’s Property! What They Found Will RUIN HER LIFE.” New York police officers did not raid Clinton’s property, but the story quickly got more than 100,000 engagements — shares, reactions, and comments — on Facebook, and it was quickly plagiarized by multiple fake news outlets to get hundreds of thousands more engagements on social media.

The nonsense just kept building and building, with fake news outlets running more and more false details about this false conspiracy theory — typically alleging that police, particularly the NYPD and FBI, had uncovered even more evidence of this international child abuse ring, even though no such thing had happened.

As all of this spread, pro-Trump supporters went back to the Podesta emails published by WikiLeaks to find more “clues” for Pizzagate and other conspiracy theories. Without any evidence or cause, they quickly began to interpret basic food items as code words for this supposed sex ring. Through this new ridiculous “discovery,” Trump supporters on social media linked even more emails to Pizzagate, which grew from a conspiracy theory about a DC pizzeria to one about a fictitious international child sex ring.

But communications between the Clinton campaign and Comet Ping Pong’s Alefantis were the original source of the Pizzagate speculation. And the allegations were further emboldened by the pizzeria’s ties to the Clinton campaign, including Alefantis’s former relationship with David Brock, who founded the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters and publicly supported Clinton.

So the DC pizzeria bore the brunt of the damage that came from these widespread conspiracy theories. Starting the weekend before Election Day, the restaurant and its staff got hundreds of death threats on their phones and social media — including one that read, “I will kill you personally.” People also began showing up at Comet Ping Pong to investigate. Some people alleged Comet was working with nearby businesses to maintain the nonexistent child sex ring. Then, on Sunday, Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old from North Carolina, armed himself with an assault rifle and fired at least one shot in the restaurant while investigating the conspiracy theory.

After the latest scare, Alefantis asked people on Sunday to stop spreading all this nonsense about his pizzeria: “I really hope that all of these people fanning the flames of this conspiracy would take a moment to contemplate what has gone on here today and maybe to stop.”

Welch, for his part, told the New York Times that he now regrets what he did. “I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way,” he said. “I regret how I handled the situation.”

But ultimately, this is about much more than one pizzeria and conspiracy theory.

Fake news has become a big problem on social media

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

While Pizzagate has quickly become the most high-profile example of fake news going seriously wrong, it is part of a much broader problem with fake news that has quickly become widely recognized in the aftermath of the 2016 election.

Here’s one example of just how widespread fake news is: Over at BuzzFeed, Craig Silverman pit Facebook engagement for the top 20 fake news stories — like “Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump for president” (he did not) and “FBI agent suspected in Hillary email leaks found dead in apartment in murder-suicide” (this did not happen) — against the top 20 legitimate news stories, from outlets like the New York Times and Huffington Post. In the last three months of the election, the fake news stories got more Facebook engagements than the legitimate news outlets.

Craig Silverman/BuzzFeed

So why did these outlets suddenly pop up and push fake news in time for the election? Some of it is political: Some people are willing to do anything they can, including lie, to make sure their candidate wins.

But there’s also a financial interest in fake news. A BuzzFeed investigation found that many of the big fake news stories originated from a tiny Macedonian town known as Veles. There, young Macedonians have embraced “a digital gold rush” by setting up fake news sites and using Facebook as a platform to push their false stories, reaping the advertising dollars that come with the clicks and sharing.

Silverman and Lawrence Alexander wrote for BuzzFeed, “Several teens and young men who run these sites told BuzzFeed News that they learned the best way to generate traffic is to get their politics stories to spread on Facebook — and the best way to generate shares on Facebook is to publish sensationalist and often false content that caters to Trump supporters.”

There’s a reason these websites have a partisan, pro-Trump bent: At least in the 2016 election cycle, fake news took off much more with conservatives than with liberals. Laura Sydell reported at NPR the experience of one fake news purveyor, 40-year-old Jestin Coler in California:

During the run-up to the presidential election, fake news really took off. “It was just anybody with a blog can get on there and find a big, huge Facebook group of kind of rabid Trump supporters just waiting to eat up this red meat that they’re about to get served,” Coler says. “It caused an explosion in the number of sites. I mean, my gosh, the number of just fake accounts on Facebook exploded during the Trump election.”

Coler says his writers have tried to write fake news for liberals — but they just never take the bait.

Why is this the case? Coler suggested that it has to do with Trump and conservative media outlets discrediting mainstream news, pushing conservatives to look for other outlets for their information: “This is a right-wing issue. Sarah Palin’s famous blasting of the lamestream media is kind of record and testament to the rise of these kinds of people. The post-fact era is what I would refer to it as. This isn’t something that started with Trump. This is something that’s been in the works for a while. His whole campaign was this thing of discrediting mainstream media sources, which is one of those dog whistles to his supporters.”

Welch, the man who investigated Comet Ping Pong, echoed this kind of sentiment. Adam Goldman reported for the New York Times: “He said he did not like the term fake news, believing it was meant to diminish stories outside the mainstream media, which he does not completely trust.” But Welch also claimed that he wasn’t political: He said he didn’t vote for Trump or Clinton, although he was once registered Republican.

Not all fake news is geared toward conservatives. Jeremy Stahl at Slate pointed out that some liberals have seized on a few false stories, including those that hyped up Bernie Sanders’s chances in the Democratic primary and blamed his loss on widespread voter suppression. But it does seem like the biggest fake news hits of the 2016 election were by and large geared for Trump supporters, with headlines like “IT’S OVER: Hillary’s ISIS Email Just Leaked & It’s Worse Than Anyone Could Have Imagined” and “Just Read the Law: Hillary Is Disqualified From Holding Any Federal Office” dominating the most shared fake news stories of the last three months of the election.

Wherever it lands on the political spectrum, all of this fake news has created a big problem: Many people are now getting completely false information from fake news outlets that pose as legitimate, making it hard for readers to know if the information is legitimate.

So the rapid spread of fake news has led people to demand that social media platforms, particularly Facebook, and Google do something to halt the spread of fake news.

Google and Facebook have promised some action to counter fake news

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a keynote speech at a conference in Spain. David Ramos/Getty Images

Google responded in November, announcing that it was cutting off fake news sites from its huge advertising network. Facebook followed suit by vowing to block fake news outlets within its own ad network.

Still, Facebook has at times been resistant to do much more — like making sure that fake news doesn’t pop up in someone’s Facebook feed in the first place. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for example, suggested that fake news wasn’t much of an issue to begin with, writing in a Facebook post (without evidence for his numbers) that “more than 99% of what people see [on Facebook] is authentic. Only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes.”

But Facebook now seems to be acknowledging that it needs to do something.

“For so long, we had resisted having standards about whether something’s newsworthy because we did not consider ourselves a service that was predominantly for the distribution of news. And that was wrong,” Facebook executive Elliot Schrage said at a panel in Massachusetts last week. “We have a responsibility here. I think we recognize that. This has been a learning for us.”

“We have a responsibility here. I think we recognize that. This has been a learning for us.”

The bad news: Facebook doesn’t seem to have an idea about what it will do yet. The big problem seems to be that the social media platform just doesn’t want to get into heavily policing people’s own posts and feeds, especially in a way that could come off as partisan or as censorship.

But Facebook is also now the main way many Americans and people around the world share and read the news. That has led to a democratization of media, which means that new legitimate news sites like Vox can build a big audience and even compete with established outlets like the New York Times, but also that a fake news site can as well.

As Tim Lee explained for Vox, “Stories like this thrive on Facebook because Facebook’s algorithm prioritizes ‘engagement’ — and a reliable way to get readers to engage is by making up outrageous nonsense about politicians they don’t like.”

So the platform needs to take some more responsibility for what it’s doing.

Ultimately, Facebook seems to be coming around to some sort of system that would nudge users to act differently without actively blacklisting or favoring certain sites. “We’re in the business of giving users the power to share. Part of that is helping them share thoughtfully and responsibly, and consume thoughtfully and responsibly,” Schrage said, offering few details for how exactly this would work.

Whatever Facebook and others do, some of it will come too late. Not only did fake news appear to convince a gunman to fire off bullets at a DC pizzeria, but the rise of fake news prior to Election Day suggests it may have helped Trump get elected.

Watch: It’s now on America’s institutions — and Republicans — to check Donald Trump

Via

[haveclotheswilltravel]

“Trying trends” is turning into a monthly occurrence on Have Clothes, Will Travel! This is fun for me, as it’s getting me out of my style comfort zone a bit. I’m featuring a few more trends I had been hesitant to try – not as hesitant as past installments of this blog series, but nonetheless I had yet to warm up to these trends! 

Today’s post is taking a look at fanny packs, mini purses, mules and flare jeans. Here are my thoughts on wearing all of these (plus a bonus one-shoulder dress with a large bow detail). Enjoy!

*Disclosure: some of these links are affiliate links. Meaning, if you click a link and make a purchase, Have Clothes, Will Travel gets a very small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible! I am also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

My Thoughts on Mini Purses (& Bonus One-Shoulder White Bow Dress)

Initial reaction to this mini purse

To be perfectly honest, this was a trend I was not meaning to try! I hadn’t looked at the dimensions of this Kate Spade purse too closely before I ordered it. I knew it was a smaller purse (as I had seen other versions of it out and about and thought I knew roughly what the size of it was). But, when I opened the package, I was shocked by how small it was! 

Now, I know you’re thinking who in the world orders a Kate Spade bag and doesn’t closely look at its dimensions – those bags are EXPENSIVE! However, I ordered this bag via thredUP. If you haven’t heard of thredUP – it’s an online thrift store where you can buy and sell high-quality secondhand clothes. (I had ordered from them a while back and loved the items I received!) And this Kate Spade bag was HEAVILY discounted + I had a coupon. Needless to say, it wasn’t a big financial mistake that it was smaller than I expected. (Click here to check out thredUP!)

Verdict – Will I buy mini purses again?

There really isn’t anything wrong with mini purses – they’re not that much different in size compared to all the novelty bags and clutches I own. That being said, I just don’t love mini purses. Novelty bags make me happy (because they’re usually funny and good conversation pieces), and clutches are perfect for a night out to look classy but still have a place for your small essentials. 

Mini purses are neither of these things for me. They’re just small, impractical bags… that unless you buy them secondhand, they are still pretty darn expensive! (Kate Spade mini bags are still well over $100 if you buy them new!) This is just my personal preference, though. I know some people who love them! However, I won’t ever buy one again. 

Bonus: One-shoulder white bow dress

I didn’t include this one-shoulder dress in the list of “trends” because I’ve already reviewed the one-shoulder trend in past posts. However, my friends over at Femme Luxe had sent me another one-shoulder dress. (They have SO many different ones, goodness!) And I had always been intrigued by dresses with bow details. 

This dress is super fun, in my opinion! I have no idea what I’m going to wear it for, but I like the almost obnoxiously-sized bow and the length of this dress. I don’t mind white dresses either – as long as they aren’t sheer. (This one isn’t too bad.) 

Click to shop:

Dress c/o* (Currently sold out. Similar here.) | Mini purse c/o* | Pumps | Watch 

My Thoughts on Fanny Packs & Mules

Initial reaction to my fanny pack

I know, there are about a million different names for these things nowadays – but for the sake of argument, let’s just call them fanny packs for this post. Fanny packs come in all shapes, sizes, colors and price points now…with some of them being over $1,000!!! (The fanny pack in this post is less than $15, though.) They’ve made quite the comeback!

I remember using one when I was in elementary school, and I loved it! But I felt ridiculous when I tried this fanny pack on now, haha.

Verdict – Will I buy fanny packs again?

Absolutely not! I’m sorry, but I just can’t get behind this trend. I know the argument is that they’re comfortable and also a good theft deterrent. However, there is nothing that this fanny pack has that some of my favorite crossbody purses don’t also do. Crossbody purses can be comfortable, handsfree and good theft deterrents. So… no, I see no need for a fanny pack. (Note – there’s nothing wrong with this particular fanny pack, and it’s quite affordable – I just don’t personally love this trend.) 

Initial thoughts on my mules

These I mules I had also found on thredUP for a fraction of the price that they would be new. Now, I’ve never really had anything against mules… I love the way they look, I just wasn’t sure how comfortable they would be (especially for walking a lot in). 

But I LOVE the way they look. Unlike the fanny pack – mules make me feel like a “cool kid” in my trendy new shoes (even though they’re secondhand)!

Verdict – Will I buy mules again?

Yes! I love the way mules look and they’re quite comfortable. Now, I don’t think I would be able to wear them for an entire day of nonstop walking (such as when I’m traveling)… but, for a day of moderate walking and standing, they’re more than fine. (I wore this outfit out for the night sans fanny pack – and my feet were fine by the end of the night.) 

Click to shop:

Fanny pack c/o* | Top c/o* | Jeans | Mules c/o* 

My Thoughts on Flare Jeans

A lot of fashion articles are saying that “flare jeans are having a moment this fall.” However, if I’m being perfectly honest – I’ve never stopped wearing flare jeans, even when skinny jeans were the only “cool” thing to wear. 

I’ve always liked the way flare jeans look on my body, and they’re quite comfortable. Plus, you can wear just about any type of shoe with them. 

So, I’m not really reviewing this trend… as I’ve always been a fan and own multiple pairs of flare jeans that I’ve been wearing for years and years. 

This particular pair, though, is a new pair from Femme Luxe. I love that they’re high-waisted and the button details look similar to one of my favorite pairs of jeans from ModCloth. They’re quite comfortable and stretchy. For the price tag, I don’t mind the quality. However, they’re easily some of the lowest quality jeans in my closet… being rather thin and the seams and buttons look just “meh.” But, again, they’re quite affordable. 

Click to shop:

Jeans c/o* | Top c/o* | Mini purse c/o* | Mules c/o*  | Sunglasses 

  I’m glad I’m getting out of my comfort zone more with my style! I now know that mules are fantastic… and I’m still not a fan of fanny packs.

And I’m curious, what are your thoughts on these trends? Are you a fan of any of them? Let me know in the comments!

*Thank you to Femme Luxe for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own and I am never compensated for a positive review.

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Trying Trends – Fanny Packs, Mini Purses, Mules & Flare Jeans “Trying trends” is turning into a monthly occurrence on Have Clothes, Will Travel! This is fun for me, as it's getting me out of my style comfort zone a bit.

[templified]

The Best Video WordPress Themes for Vlogs and Portfolios | Templified

New Post has been published on https://templified.com/the-best-video-wordpress-themes-for-vlogs-and-portfolios/

The Best Video WordPress Themes for Vlogs and Portfolios

This collection is going to be all about video.  Whether you’re building a video blog or vlog, a video magazine, a reviews site or a community, there’s a lot of different ways to incorporate video into your website’s presentation.  Video is all around us and more websites are taking advantage of the different ways video can help grab the attention of your readers.  So, we’ve tried our best to gather up a wide selection of different video themes to help your WordPress website look the best it can look.

Oregon, Free, Minimalist WordPress Video Theme

This is Oregon, a free WordPress theme that was created by Templified.  It’s a personal blog, but it’s designed to work with either self hosted or embedded video files.  So, I think it could work pretty well for a video travel blog, a personal blog or something else.  The choice is yours.  And, hey, it’s free, so there’s that.  It doesn’t cost a thing to give it a shot to see if it works.  You can check out some additional minimalist themes in this collection.

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Viseo, Video and Podcasting WordPress Theme

Viseo is a fantastic looking theme for podcasters and video blogs.  Demo content is included, so you can get your site off the ground quickly.  With Viseo, every video feature needed is right there for you to take advantage of.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Divi, Premium, Drag and Drop Video Theme for WordPress

Considering Divi is one of the most popular themes and one of those themes that has features for just about any purpose, we had to include Divi in this collection of themes for video.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Materialism, Material Design Video WordPress Theme

I think that WordPress is pretty clearly the best platform for building a video website and with a theme like Materialism, you get an attractive option for doing just that.  This theme works wonders for displaying portfolios of your digital creativity, but it also works great as a blog.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Vignette, Multimedia, Full Screen WordPress Theme

This is Vignette, a great looking theme for video.  It’s a theme that allows you do craft a well made portfolio site, but you can also share video blog posts with it.  This multimedia gem allows for full screen videos on your front page too, which can be a nice way to attract more attention to your content.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

VLog, Video Blogging WordPress Theme

With WordPress and it’s constantly evolving set of tools, you can create nearly any sort of website you can imagine.  If you want to add video to the mix, this Vlog theme is a wonderful option.  Vlog has, of course, several wonderful options for building an amazing video blog.  News magazines or personal video, travel or tutorials, reaction vids or reviews, this theme does it all.  Vlog includes several well made, modern demo styles, and it’s effortless to post, self hosted or embedded.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Soledad, Premium Video Magazine WP Theme

Soledad is a theme that I tend to include in a lot of collections, but I don’t think of it as cheating.  This is one of the absolute best themes out there.  It’s powerful, easy to use, flexible and dynamic.  There are dozens of different layouts, dozens of premade styles and I think this video blog and portfolio demo is one of the best.  If you need to sell products, you might like to know that Soledad is also WooCommerce friendly.

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BeTube

For sharing video content, a theme like BeTube is a strong option.  This theme is flexible and easy to use, you get 10 different homepage styles and each one has a little bit different layout to help promote your video content.

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The Movie, WordPress Theme for Films and TV Series

The Movie is a WordPress theme that was specifically designed for anyone who needs to promote movies, feature films, documentaries or other types of film and video projects.

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Reel Story, Filmmaker’s WordPress Portfolio Theme

Reel Story, from ThemeFuse, is a solid all-around video WordPress theme for blogs and portfolios.  With Reel Story, you get a very well organized theme for multimedia and video content across any sort of genre or topic.

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Ananke, Creative WordPress Video Theme

This is Ananke, a one page parallax theme that works great for video blogs and portfolio websites.  The Ananke theme has a nice style, it’s perfect for designers, creative companies, photographers and videographers.  With full support for resposnive video, Ananke can make your film and video clips look great on all devices.

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Grand Magazine, Creative Video Magazine an Blog Theme

Grand Magazine is among my favorite themes.  This theme is easy to get the most out of.  There are several different starting designs, helping you rapidly set up a fantastic looking website.  Placing the focus on your video content is what Grand Magazine is all about.  Of course, not all of your content is going to be video.  That’s why I really love Grand Magazine, it blends standard posts with video posts, displaying bold images and easy to read text.  It’s a great blend for any website that needs that kind of flexibility.

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Joker, Full Screen Video and Photography Portfolio Theme

If you’re looking for a fullscreen video theme, Joker could be a very solid option for you.

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SOHO, Full Screen WordPress Video Theme

Soho is a theme that takes full advantage of WordPress’ ability to showcase either embedded or self hosted video files.  It really makes your content look it’s best.

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Leedo, Creative, Colorful WordPress Digital Video Theme

This is Leedo, a great looking WordPress theme for building video portfolios.  For any sort of creative company, Leedo looks amazing.  I think that creative agencies that do a lot of work in video and film are going to love this theme.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Glyche, WordPress Theme for Promoting Music Videos

Glyche is a wonderful theme that’s built for music video promotion, for promoting albums and other creative stuff.

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Circle, MultiPurpose Video and Film WordPress Theme

Circle was designed from the ground up for film studios, directors, video bloggers, creative studios and anyone else who needs the ability to make their video content shine.  Self hosting or embedding videos, that’s up to you.  Circle works great either way.

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Goodwin, Photography and Video Portfolio Theme

Goodwin is a video and phoptography portfolio theme.  Videographers and photographers need a theme that has a strong focus on visual presentation and I think the full screen layout of a theme like Goodwin does just that.

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Moview, WordPress Film Trailer Blog Theme

Film trailer websites, coming attractions and magazines about upcoming movies, that’s what Moview is made for.  With BuddyPress support, Moview is a theme that allows you to build an entire community around a single film, a genre or the entire film industry.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Drone Media, WordPress Drone Footage Theme

Drone Media has a little bit of a high tech feel to it, which is probably why people seem to use it for drone video, aerial footage and blogs about flying your drones.  Get the freshest, trendiest theme around for a fresh and trendy hobby or business.

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Attitude, Multimedia Blog and Portfolio Theme

Attitude is a quality blog and portfolio theme that has audio, video and image gallery support.  This is one of the best WordPress themes for videographers I’ve seen so far.

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Video Touch, Video Magazine WordPress Theme

VideoTouch is a classic.  This theme helps you create a sort of YouTube clone, because it allows for front end submission from your users.  That’s a pretty cool feature and one that’s worth checking out.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

News Tube, Magazine Theme for Video Clips

News Tube is another WordPress theme that allows for front end submission of video content.  It’s alwys great to have options and I think this one is a solid option.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

VideoTube, YouTube Style WordPress Video Magazine Theme

Okay, here’s one more WordPress theme for front end video submission.  It’s a theme that also allows you to embed video clips from sites like YouTube, Hulu, Dailymotion or Vimeo.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Create, Drag and Drop Page Builder for Vlogs

Create is a WordPress theme with a built in page builder, it’s widely used and very flexible.  Create is a user friendly theme for building a video blog and portfolio.

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Kon/Cept, Minimalist WordPress Video Theme

Kon/Cept has a very simple, clean and minimalist style, making it a great way to help promote your video projects.  I think the minimalist style lends itself perfectly to any sort of video portfolio of vlog website.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Brooklyn, Business Theme and Video Blog

Brooklyn is another great theme for video blogs.  It’s one of the most popular themes for business websites, for creative agencies, for portfolios and blogs.  The Brooklyn theme includes a fully automated website installer, you can adjust theme options for the website as a whole or for individual pages and posts.

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Studio 8, Creative Agency and Video Blogging Theme

Studio 8 is a great looking theme for creative studios that produce a lot of video content.  Studio 8 has a very clean, simple and organized design that helps present any creative content perfectly.

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Ultra, Video Blog and Gaming Magazine Theme

This theme is built for magazines, particularly those that use a lot of video.  I think the best example of that is gaming magazines.  If you’re posting a lot of walkthroughs, tutorials or reviews, a magazine theme like Ultra is a fantastic choice.  It’s powerful and easy to use.  It’s simple to set up and simple to adapt Ultra to fit with your needs.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Inspiro, Inspirational WordPress Theme for Video Blogging

Inspiro has a clean, well organized style, so I’ve included it in this collection to add a little depth.  This theme has video backgrounds and a video lightbox, in addition to several other features that make it great for video websites.  This is one of the most popular themes for filmmakers and small business owners that use a lot of video to promote their work.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Immense, Full Screen Video Blog and Portfolio Theme

Immense is a full screen WordPress theme that handles video as well as any theme out there.  If you’re looking to take advantage of the full width of the screen to showcase massive, high definition video, this is the theme for you.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Plexx, Metro Style WordPress Video Portfolio Theme

Plexx is a metro style WordPress portfolio theme that presents visual and video content quite well.  It’s built for any sort of general purpose creative site, but video is definitely one of the things that Plexx handles quite well.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

[itsworn]

First Drive: 2019 Mustang Bullitt

JJZ 109 Lives! Yes, Mustang Bullitt is back and ready to burn rubber to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the film classic ‘Bullitt,’ where the hero, Lt. Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) thunders after the sinister Black Dodge in the thrilling 10-minute-plus chase scene.

The silver-screen classic is such a favorite of Mustang enthusiasts that Ford brought Bullitt back to life in 2001 when it paid homage to McQueen’s Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang with the special-edition Mustang. Ford repeated the theme in 2008 (and 2009) with another Bullitt—and now the special Dark Highland Green returns for third go around. And not surprisingly, 2019 Mustang Bullitt hits the mark with nostalgia, the latest in technology, and a tuned up 5.0L Coyote engine developing 480 proud horsepower. Pricing starts at $46,595.00.

San Francisco was the scene for our full-on Bullitt experience. In addition to a fleet of Green and Black Bullitt Mustangs, Ford brought in one of the original 1968 Mustang GT fastbacks driven by Steve McQueen in the film. Sean Kiernan, owner of the ’68 Mustang Bullitt hero car, inherited it in 2014 from his late father Robert, who purchased the car in 1974. To fulfill his family’s lifelong dream, Sean contacted Ford, and together they revealed the movie car alongside the new Mustang Bullitt at the 2018 North American International Auto Show in Detroit last January. Amazingly, this is believed to be the first time it will return to San Francisco since the movie was filmed back in 1968.

To best recreate the ’68, Ford removed the pony in the grille and the 5.0 badges and it added chrome trim around the grill and side windows. The only exterior badge is a circular trunk-mounted Bullitt emblem on the decklid. Ford designed unique 5-spoke “Heritage” wheels that fit the modern S550 body. Bullitt rides on Michelin Super Sport 4S P255/40R19 (front) and P275/40R19-inch (rear) tires.

“When making a Bullitt, there are certain things it absolutely must have,” said Carl Widmann, Mustang chief engineer. “It has to have the right attitude, and it has to be unique in some way from a Mustang GT. More than anything, it has to be badass.”

In this case, “badass” comes by way of a 5.0L engine that’s been upgraded with a Shelby® GT350 intake manifold, an open-air induction system, and specific calibration to help deliver optimal performance. This combo results in 480 horsepower, 420 lb/ft of torque and a top speed of 163 mph. It’s also a whopping 155 ponies over McQueen’s 390 mill. With a skilled driver, we estimate Bullitt could cover the quarter-mile in 11.90-12.10 seconds.

Ford knew Bullitt had to sound good, so the Active Valve Performance Exhaust System is standard, and features black NitroPlate exhaust tips. The system gives the Bullitt its signature growl.

The high-revving 5.0L engine is linked to a 6-speed manual transmission featuring a white cue ball shift knob that mimics the one in McQueen’s machine. Plus, you’ll be coddled with a heated leather steering wheel, 12-inch all-digital LCD instrument cluster with a unique Bullitt welcome screen that starts with an image of the car rather than the standard pony, and you can select between classic Dark Highland Green—as worn in the movie, or Shadow Black.

Performance is also enhanced with Brembo six-piston front brakes, 3.73:1 gearing, a Torsen limited-slip differential, a larger rear anti-roll bar, and a bigger radiator to keep the Bullitt’s 5.0-liter V-8 engine cool during extended chases.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of iconic movie “Bullitt” and its fan-favorite San Francisco car chase, Ford introduces the new cool and powerful 2019 Mustang Bullitt.

The Drive

Ford invited us to drive the all-new Bullitt in the only way appropriate: on the mean streets of San Francisco. After familiarizing ourselves with the features, we selected a green Bullitt from the test fleet and hit the road.

Like Frank Bullitt, we started in the city before venturing out to hunt the black Dodge. Bullitt is offered with three available options, and our tester had them all. They include: Bullitt Electronics Package with voice-activated navigation, plus memory functionality for driver’s seat, mirrors and ambient lighting, a new B&O PLAY premium sound system by HARMAN and Blind Spot Information System with cross-traffic alert; MagneRide® semi-active suspension system for optimized driving performance; and the Recaro® Ebony Black leather-trimmed seats with green accent stitching.

The Recaro seats are comfortable and supportive, even for larger individuals. They provide enough bolstering to keep you planted, but don’t squeeze you as tightly as the ones found in the Shelby GT350 or the Focus RS. And they look way cooler than the standard seats.

Inside you’ll also find aluminum pedals, satin chrome instrument cluster register vents, cup holder surrounds, and a racy “Spindrift’ aluminum instrument cluster panel. There’s Bullitt logo in the center of the heated and leather-wrapped steering wheel and Dark Highland Green stitching on the dash, center console and shifter boot.

“If a car needs to be special, it needs to have a differentiation in power. That’s important,” said Mark Schallar, Mustang brand manager. “It needs its own character variations and it has to deliver. Ultimately, it’s what delivers the experience and puts smiles on people’s faces.”

A tap of the dash-mounted button fires the engine, which comes to life with a cackle from the active valve performance exhaust system and a unique ‘Bullitt’ welcome screen that projects an image of the car rather than the standard pony.

Seat belt on and mirrors adjusted, we let out the clutch and hit the road. My initial reaction was, ‘wow, there’s a lot of luxury and it’s easy to drive.’ Clutch action is, linear, it requires a comfortable amount of effort and take-up is in middle of the throw. The 6-speed manual is the one of best shifting Mustang transmission we’ve ever laid our mitts on; it’s amazingly smooth with virtually no NVH transmitted, and the gears are easy to find. Dare I say it’s too refined?

Upshifts were great, but Ford makes gearing down just as much fun with the new rev-match feature that automatically blips the throttle to help provide ultra smooth downshifts. Bullitt and 2019 Mustang GT owners will enjoy this feature. Rev-matching is a road-racing technique used under braking and downshifting to match engine speed to that of the transmission. When done correctly, it eliminates jerkiness on downshifts, which can cause wheel lockup or an unbalance of the chassis when braking and downshifting. Racers often use the heel-and-toe technique to rev match, but the 2019 Mustang does it for you. Naturally, it can be deactivated should you want to do the work yourself. “We use six sensors on the shifter and a continuous sensor on the clutch to provide seamless rev-matching,” said Widmann. “We measure rate of change and other inputs to allow the engine to accurately rev-match.”

After working our way through side streets, we hit the highway and rolled into the 480hp Coyote. Lt. Frank Bullitt, errr… McQueen would have loved this engine. Tip-in torque is ample, but it really comes alive over 5,000 rpm. Take it to redline (7,000 rpm) and you’ll get the benefit of those extra ponies. Widmann added, that while the engine makes more power at high rpm, it also makes more torque below the curve, around 3,000 rpm.

After busting out of the city limits we created our own little chase through the twisting roads through San Mateo, California. We planted the gas, the active exhaust belted out a gnarly howl, and the tach swept quickly across the face. Upshifts came easy, we slammed the big white ball through the gate and the speedo rapidly climbed towards double digits.

After a few miles, we found a road that led us west towards the California coast. We pushed the Mustang hard in the corners and the Performance Pack level 1 suspension simply ate it up. It’s not as taught as a Performance Pack Level 2 or a GT350, but that’s not what this car is about. The Recaro seats do a perfect job of keeping the driver and passenger firmly in place so you can focus on hitting the corners. Steering feel is accurate, and the wheel is weighted nicely, too. The Brembo brakes have a firm feel and provide more than ample stopping power.

Climbing through the hilly terrain, we were able to dive into the corners with a good amount of speed and control. The engineers did a fantastic job designing a suspension that is perfect for the every-day commute or spirited canyon carving. In fact, a good portion of the route was not exactly smooth, but the Mustang didn’t mind. It absorbed imperfections and kept the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires in compliance with the surface.

Bullitt will feel different to seasoned Mustang drivers thanks to the unique tuning on the stability control, Electric Power-Assist Steering (EPAS), and ABS. And there’s a Line Lock and Launch Control should you want to exercise the full potential at the strip.

Bullitt assaults your senses whether tearing up a canyon or gunning it from a dead stop. The active exhaust lets the 480hp Coyote scream out its proud song, and the rev-matching on downshifts is smooth and magical. After a few hours of fun, we retuned to San Francisco, crossed the fog-engulfed Golden Gate and headed to our hotel. Once again, Ford has hit the mark. McQueen and Bullitt fans will enjoy the simple, but unique look, the themed interior and of course that wonderful 480 horsepower 5.0L engine. And every once in a while you’ll peak in the rear-view hoping to spot the Charger.

The post First Drive: 2019 Mustang Bullitt appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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[coolsoundstudio]

Best High End Floor Standing Speakers Under $2000

Searching for a floor standing speaker can supercharger sound system instantly.  which not only looks good but drummers focus on sound system making it truly stand Apart from the crowd.  the following article by the master switch we are going to look at the best floor standing speakers Under $2,000:

  They're designed to slot in next to bookcases and TV cabinets, packing more speaker drivers into a smaller amount of space. They also take advantage of the space itself (or lack thereof). In our homes, much of our space is taken up horizontally by chairs, couches, and tables, but much less is taken up vertically.

Most of them, especially the pricier ones, will quite happily fill even a large room and create theater-quality sound. Here are some of the best.

  First things first: we are more than aware that there are floorstanding speakers that cost five or even six figures. Although we do include a few of those little further down, as a bonus, you’re not going to find them on this list. Why? Because we think that, for most people, they are total overkill.

A list of the best floorstanding speakers has to take into account things like value for money, and we stand by our picks below.

We compare speakers from dozens of different manufacturers, taking into account a wide range of variables from wattage to price and beyond, to construct a loose, numbered list.

If you agree with our selections, or disagree, be sure to let us know in the comments. All prices are for a pair of speakers, although some purchase links list the price for one - just click Buy twice!

  SVS Ultra Towers ($2,000)

Recommended Amp Power: 20-300W/8Ω Sensitivity: 88dB Drivers: 2 x 8” Woofer, 2 x 6.5” Midrange, 1” Tweeter What We Like: Earth-shattering sound. What We Don’t: Awkward shape.

This pair is torn straight from Batman’s sound system. No, seriously, they look like something out of the Batcave. And you just cannot understand how powerful they are, and how much punch and depth they have, until you actually have a pair in your living room. The twin midrange drivers and single tweeter do a very able job, but it’s the bass that really sets these apart. Their twin 8” woofers, set low down on either side of the housing, are absolutely thunderous. SVS probably won't like us saying this, but you could quite happily get away with using these without a subwoofer. The bass is that good.

Click Here To See The Speaker

Read More Here

    Coming up next on our list is one and only Elac Debut F6

   Elac Debut F6 Review.

  Click here to see your speaker

The Specification is provide by elac:

The Debut F6 loudspeaker combines the advanced drivers of the B6 bookshelf in a floorstanding 3-way, bass-reflex design that takes Debut performance to the limit.

With sound that rivals speakers costing many times more, the F6 shows that quality components and superior engineering are a winning combination every time.

Combine a pair of F6 with a Debut powered subwoofer for a truly stunning two-channel audio system.

Specs of Elac Debut F6

Speaker type:  3-way, bass reflex Tweeter:  1 x 1-inch cloth dome Midrange:  1 x 6.5-inch woven aramid-fiber cone Woofer:  2 x 6.5-inch woven aramid-fiber cone Crossover frequency:  100 / 3,000 Hz Frequency response:  39 to 20,000 Hz Sensitivity:  87 dB at 2.83 v/1m Recommended amplifier power:  30 to 150 wpc Nominal/peak power handling:  80 / 150 wpc Nominal impedance:  6 Ω; minimum 5.4 Ω Binding posts:  5-way metal Magnetic shielding:  No Cabinet finishes:  Black brushed vinyl Accessories included:  Removable fabric grille Height:  43.0 in / 1,092 mm Width:  8.5 in / 216 mm Depth:  10.0 in / 254 mm Net weight (each):  46.7 lb / 21.2 kg

You can read the full article here

  So in the previous article by elac Which of the key features and specifications of the  Elac Debut F6 Upcoming article by techcrunch we are gonna look Focal Chorus 726V review:

Focal Chorus 726V review

    OUR VERDICT

Compact and realistically priced, the Chorus 726V is a good all-round performer. Although it gets a little edgy when driven hard, it makes up for this with superior dynamic expression and tension

FOR Lively Expressive

AGAINST Edgy and aggressive at high volumes

Although both the Focal 800V and 700V ranges have similar basic enclosure shapes and driver types, there are also numerous detail differences. A fair chunk of the £400 price difference between 726V and 826V lies in the elimination of the 826V's costly separate alloy plinth.

Instead, the 726V comes with spikes that fit directly into the base of the enclosure, reducing the overall stability. Furthermore, the spikes themselves have thumbwheel lock-nuts that are difficult to tighten and keep tight.

This £949 726V is the largest of the 700s, one step up from the 716V that we reviewed way back when. Wrapped in 'black ash' vinyl woodprint (with Amati and Wenge options), it has tapering side panels, so that the main internal faces are not parallel.

Sound quality

Best kept well clear of any walls, the combination of twin 165mm bass drivers, plus a 40Hz-tuned port ensures that there's ample bass output here. Indeed, if anything there might well be a bit too much – not really deep bass, rather a mild excess of the warmth and richness that's usually associated with the mid and upper bass.

But this is more of a characteristic than a flaw, as the bass sound quality remains agile and informative. It drives the music along with enthusiasm and a fair amount of dynamic gusto, without adding the sort of delayed reaction effect that results from cabinet colorations, although orchestral textures can show a touch of thickening too.

Read the full article here

In the following article by the us on best speakers under 1k shared a quite few speakers with you guys so we have decided to show few speakers from that list here as well:

Q Acoustics 3050 Floorstanding Speakers

The 3000 series of Acoustics from the well-regarded 2000s with a design revamp and more features. The Acoustic 3050 speakers are created to offer amazing bass and midrange, plus it famous for its ring dome tweeter. The 3050 is among the very best flooring standing speakers for big spaces.

Pros

It has extremely minimal levels of distortion; this enables you to take pleasure in the very best quality audio. Whether it be seeing a film or paying attention to music.

This would be a great addition if you're developing 5.1 system.

This is among the leading speakers in the UK and has countless favorable evaluations.

You will discover it hard to discover a much better speaker at this rate variety.

  Cons

I would advise you utilize this speaker in a reasonably sized room.

See Latest Price

  Cerwin Vega CLS-215

  Cerwin Vega's XLS-215 is the flagship of the company's XLS series. Thinking about the cost of these particular speakers, they are accurately positioned in the superior quality section with consumers valuing the assured degree of precision and clearness, even at high volume

The XLS-215 is without a doubt an enhanced variation of the CLS-215.

Pros

You can enjoy your music distortion-free, with these ones even at a volume you ought to not be exposed to. They make an astounding soundstage.

Precision and information stays regularly even with high dry bass.

  Cons

Big in size and heavy in weight.

See Latest Price

   Klipsch RP-260F Reference Premiere

Amongst numerous speaker brand names, Klipsch has actually constantly played a unique function for generations of passionate songs fans with their striking layout as well as the methodical use horn-loaded speaker drivers.

Reference Premiere RP-260F Floorstanding Speaker from Klipsch is an easy to use speaker created for usage in huge halls and rooms. This speaker deals with approximately 125W of constant power and also is outfitted with 26.5" woofers and also a 1" tweeter.

The 90 x 90 ° hybrid Tractrix horn makes use of a circular horn throat combined to a square horn mouth developed to offer high-frequency action and also expansion while improving imaging and also dynamics

  Pros

Bass-reflex layout.

Rear-firing Tractrix port supplies quick, reliable air flow from the cabinet for clear, effective bass.

Magnetically connected grille for a tidy, structured appearance.

Sturdy polymer finish.

  Cons

None

  See Latest Price

Definitive Technology BP9060 Floorstanding Speakers

  The BP9060  is the new version of BP-8060ST which had a bipolar design. The BP9060 new also has the bipolar design which makes wider and spacious sound. It's designed with built-in with subwoofers which gives you smooth bass, wider sound and much more. It has 10 active subwoofers.

To be honest, this my favorite speaker on the list if you like this speaker go for it you won't regret.

Pros

Definitive Technology has great customer support.

This audio speaker features a bipolar modern technology that enables it to provide the real world quality. Exactly how is this feasible? Well, when you acquire a set of these audio speakers. You will certainly have the ability to include the different drivers on each audio speaker. Causing the speakers to provide an audio satisfying audio that absolutely takes on any type of costly residence movie theater established.

It has abundant Bass and it's also lightweight.

Has a well-balanced foot.

  Cons

Litte expensive.

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 MartinLogan Motion 40 Gloss Black Cherrywood Floorstanding Speaker

It wouldn't be wrong to call the Martin Logan motion 40 the best floor standing speaker for the audiophiles. The Motion 40 is one of its kind speaker which has a folded motion tweeter design.

The folded motion tweeter design is proven to minimize the amount of excursion. Which indeed gives you better sound experience compared to the other tweeter. Providing the listeners a better quality audio.

Pros

Out of the box, this speaker comes with a high gloss surface. Offering it a majestic look and appearance. Based on the feedback from the customers it will definitely amplify the beauty of your room.

The cone woofers are built with premium quality aluminum and they also have a rear-firing bass port.

In any case, if you have a hardwood floor you have the option to remove the bottom spikes.

Top notch deep bass response

  Cons

Couldn't find if any.

See Latest Price

Read the full article here on cool sound studio

  See More Here: Best High End Floor Standing Speakers Under $2000