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robinbuckleysfringe · 4 months ago

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paper rings

a joseph quinn social media au

pairings: joseph quinn x keery!reader

warnings: pronouns for reader vary between she & they, I've tried to keep it as gender neutral as possible even tho I do use female faceclaims

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

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*madelyncline has posted*

tagged yninstagram

liked by rudeth, hichasestokes, josephquinn, florencepugh and others

madelyncline surprised my bestie on their trip to LA. happy birthday flower 🌼

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madelyncline photo creds for the 1st pic to @/rachelzegler who helped set up the best birthday surprise

> madelyncline and of course photo creds to @/rudeth for the 3rd photo of me and my bestie goofing around on set

yninstagram aww, thank you maddie 🫶🏻❤️. love you and can't wait for more onset chaos soon!! 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

yninstagram and thank you to rach for somehow keeping this whole thing a secret 🫶🏻❤️

> rachelzegler happy birthday babes. love you big time 😘🫶🏻

maya_hawke happy day of birth to the best on screen girlfriend ❤️❤️

> yninstagram love you maya!! 🫶🏻❤️

joekeery you're old now, happy birthday y/n

> yninstagram shut up. 26 isn't old 😤

josephquinn happy birthday y/n xx

> yninstagram thanks joe. come to LA soon so we can hang before I leave for Charleston!!! xx

hichasestokes happy birthday 🌼

> yninstagram 🫶🏻

gatenm123 happy birthday y/n. thanks for being the best on screen sister ❤️

> yninstagram aww, love you gaten. miss you already 🫶🏻❤️

florencepugh happy birthday babes!! have the best day, you deserve it!! 💕💕

> yninstagram love you flo!! 💕💕

zendaya happy birthday y/n, miss you!! x

> yninstagram thanks hun. miss you too!! xx

user omg happy birthday y/n!!!

user their friendship >>>>>>>> everything else

user does this mean we're getting OBX3 soon??!!!

> yninstagram soon!! I promise as soon as we get a date, you fans will be the first to know!!

☆☆☆

y/nupdates | Y/N spotted getting all cosy with her stranger things costar, Joseph Quinn, in LA this week

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user omg are they together??

user they're so cute together oh my gosh!!!

user omg new ship???

> user2 yes!!!! what would their ship name be tho??

user I wonder if they're dating

> user2 I wouldn't be surprised if they were tbh

> user3 thought y/n was dating Rudy Pankow, her OBX costar, no?

> user that was just a rumour I think. neither of them confirmed anything

user have you seen the way he looks at them?? someone get me a man who looks at me like joe looks at y/n 🥺🥺🥺

user they'd make such a cute couple if they're not already dating

> user2 so true!!!

user omg I hope its true that they're dating. but even if they're not and they're just friends, that's cool too. they should be allowed to be happy regardless

> user2 THIS ^^^^

☆☆☆

*yninstagram has posted*

tagged obx, madisonbaileybabe, madelyncline, hichasestokes, jonathandavissofficial, carlaciagrant & rudeth

liked by josephquinn, rachelzegler, joekeery, drewstarkey and others

yninstagram we are so back baby!!! season 3 of the beach show is officially in production!! 🏖🫶🏻❤️

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user OMG YES!!! CANT WAIT FOR THIS SEASON!!

user I've been waiting for this one!!!

millybobbybrown girl, isn't this like your 5th project in a row or something? pls take a break

> yninstagram my 3rd. but yeah, I hear you. I'm taking a long ass holiday after we wrap this season

> millybobbybrown I bet you're exhausted

> nattyiceofficial y/n, hun, please make sure you're resting xx

> yninstagram love you guys 🫶🏻🫶🏻

obx P4L!!!

> yninstagram P4L bby!!!

josephquinn good luck with your next project, you busy bee 🐝 xx

> yninstagram haha thanks joe xx

rachelzegler I love seeing you win at life but pls come back to LA, Lenny misses you 🥺🫶🏻

> yninstagram I miss you too!! come to Charleston!!! 🥺🫶🏻🫶🏻

> rachelzegler getting on a plane rn

> yninstagram bitch, you better be 🫶🏻

☆☆☆

been a few weeks since I posted part one of this little series, apologies for that. hope you enjoyed reading this chapter 🩷

#joseph quinn x reader #joe keery x sister!reader #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #joseph quinn #joseph quinn imagine #joe keery #outer banks #obx cast

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imonlyanangel · 4 months ago

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🪷 Manifesting Success 🪷

The most recent thing I manifested was self confidence! In this post I'll go over what worked for me.

I've successfully manifested several things in the past, but not nearly at the speed I would've liked to. There were months and months without success. I started to consider why- was I focusing on the 3D too much?? Was I engaging with negative, doubtful thoughts, or believing negative comments from others? How was my trust in myself?

Sure, sometimes I focus too much on the 3D, but I always catch myself. I've had some doubtful intrusive thoughts, but I always catch myself. I've over consumed at times, but I always catch myself. I'm human, and I'm still fairly new to learning how to manifest. None of these slip ups are a big deal! None of them can really affect my ability to manifest unless I allow them to. Unless I assume that they do.

The real reason I was struggling to manifest was this: I had a fear of being seen. A fear of being myself where others could see. A fear of succeeding in front of others. How can I successfully manifest if I'm afraid of success? How can I bring my reality into light if I only feel safe in the dark?

Self-confidence has been a struggle for me nearly my entire life. I've worked on improving it, but there was little progress over the course of my life. I didn't talk to people, or share my thoughts with family. I couldn't make decisions. I couldn't just be without being scared I was doing it wrong.

When I realized that this pervasive fear was keeping me from manifesting my desires, I made a decision. I wasn't going to work on manifesting anything else until I successfully manifested confidence in myself.

I tore a scrap of paper from my bedside notebook and wrote down an affirmation to stick under my pillow. All I wrote was: I always feel amazing about myself- I am overflowing with confidence. <3 I had read that the pillow method takes 7-10 days at most to manifest your desires. I wrote this down on the other side of the paper, and decided that it wouldn't take me more than a week to manifest it.

Before I fell asleep each night, I recited the affirmation in my mind. Some nights I only did it once, sometimes 2-3x. I imagined feeling like a pillar. Feeling upright, tall, visible, and strong. I imagined the heaviness and tension that came with being seen disappearing. I imagined feeling amazing about myself, or how it would feel to be confident all the time. I did this for 7 days in a row.

It didn't take me 7 days to notice a change!! The first morning I woke up after doing that was different. I was different. I went after what I wanted that day with no regard for whether or not I was being perceived. Since I started I've noticed many changes in behavior that have almost all felt natural to me. Sometimes I got nervous, but I had the confidence in myself to push through it.

Instead of shying away from looking at my face or my body in the mirror, I smile genuinely every time I see myself. Sometimes I catch myself thinking "wow, I am so f*cking pretty!" Now I intentionally make a comment about my confidence or my beauty every time I look in a mirror while washing my hands. I'm so confident. I feel amazing about myself today. I love the way I look. Complimenting myself in the mirror worked wonders and I recommend it 100%!!

Changes since I started manifesting confidence:

Engaged in my hobbies in front of others

Deep cleaned my room

Wore what I wanted

Voiced my opinion in family discussion

Decided to do a social media fast for a week

Made purchases to start a hobby I've always wanted to try (and started said hobby)

Had a difficult conversation with my mom that I was avoiding

Answered a phone call from a girl I've hardly ever spoken to, and we enjoyed talking for over an hour

Started decorating my room

Went out to eat (at a buffet) and chatted with a relative that I am not familiar with

This post! Whether anonymous or public, I've never posted or commented on social media till now, because I was too nervous.

All of these things are huge compared to where I was at two weeks ago. Some, maybe all of these things, would be small to others. But to me, especially with consideration for my neurotype and mental health, these are big steps of progress.

Am I the most confident, outspoken, assertive woman in the world? Not yet. But I improved so much in just a week. My sister noticed I was in a better mood every morning since the day I started. My mom has been complimenting me more often because of the difference in my countenance. My family noticed behavioral changes within 2 days.

I've been happy, and so much more confident. I have had more enthusiasm for life and for growth. And it doesn't take me more than 5 minutes a night. I will continue using this method of manifesting! I've already started a new affirmation.

XOXO,

Evangeline

#loassumption #loa tumblr #loablr #loa blog #law of assumption #manifesting #manifestation success story #imonlyanangel

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polarisbibliotheque · 7 months ago

Note

Are you into MBTI? If yes, may I ask for your idea on DMC characters types? If no then feel free to skip this ask, sorry for bothering you.

First things first, my beloved: DON’T APOLOGIZE. None of you are EVER bothering me by sending an ask – unless, of course, you’re completely crass, deranged, borderline criminal (or full criminal) with your words or just gratuitously rude. Those types are bothersome and will get blocked and ignored.

Unless I’m on an Axl Rose like rampage and want to burn and fistfight people along my way, then I’ll use the stupid being in question to pour all my anger and have a good reason to spend hours in therapy :)

But you are NOT one of those, my dear. That’s a very fun question and do feel free to ask me random things like that, I enjoy answering!

Now, I’m not really big on MBTI – I know enough about mine and my family’s so I can make things work between me and them. I also like to know my friends MBTI’s because the memes are usually freakishly accurate with all our personalities xD

I am an INTP! Quite proud, if I might say so hahahaha I like the weird vibes and I have adopted in my heart Sherlock Holmes as an INTP ‘cause he was my role model when I was a teen (I know, HORRIBLE role model, but it is what it is) – and that’s how I got into MBTI.

(more under the cut, this answer is LONG)

Big introduction for me to say: VERGIL, THIS LITTLE SHIT. INTJ. I DON’T EVEN HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT.

I’ll start with him and then Dante. I won’t share my 2 cents on the rest of the crew because either they aren’t that much developed as the twins or I’m not really trusting my MBTI judging abilities here.

Without further ado…

Vergil

I debated quite a WHILE on Vergil, to be honest, because we all know INTJ is the typical villain archetype used everywhere on media because heaven forbid a villain is not calculating and devoided of emotions.

And there’s where I got a little stuck: emotions.

Vergil does have emotions, and I dare to say his run even deeper than Dante’s, so I got a little sidetracked. But then I took my own personality, INTP, and thought about it for a while. I have the same problem as Vergil: my emotions do run deep and I’m always guarding them in a dark, secret place inside of me so I won’t get hurt, opting for a more thinking, analytical and practical approach rather than the feeling approach. And oh boy does my life get difficult with feeling types like my aunt, my mom and even my sister.

I got to the conclusion, then, it’s not how you feel, but rather how you present yourself. I took the test as if I was Dante (I needed that to figure him out, not sorry) and a lot of questions are more leaning on that. It’s not that you don’t feel or don’t understand feelings, it’s more like you have a different approach when doing things and processing all of that – because it can be quite overwhelming.

So, there we go, Vergil is BLATANTLY Introverted and Thinking. The Introverted I got from what I heard some people saying that it’s not that “oh I like talking to people/I don’t like talking to people”, it’s energy: at the end of the day, do you prefer being alone to recharge or around people to recharge?

Me and my sister are opposites on that. My sister was always quieter and shy when she was a kid, and I was expansive and always came back with a new friend. Lo and behold, I’m an Introvert and she is an Extrovert. How? I HAVE and I NEED time alone, completely for myself, with NO ONE around at certain times of the day and I do get AWFULLY tired when I’m being social for too long, needing some me time with tea and a good book. My sister NEEDS to be around her friends after a long, tiring week at work, famously going to 3 parties in a row, in 3 different days, different groups, outfits and all, exiting one party to go to the other, and then BAM going to work on a Monday completely replenished. I’m an Introvert. She is an Extrovert.

Dante and Vergil seal of approval here hahahahaha

His Intuitive part, though, comes from the art – poetry, philosophy, reading, education. Vergil is obviously BIG on that, loving poetry since he was a child and always being found in libraries, we can all picture him going to art galleries, concerts, operas and such. But, particularly, I extend that to his thirst for knowledge: everyone who enjoys reading the dense stuff he does, tends to fall for philosophy, sociology, the metaphysical part of physics, mathematics, all that. There was a reason why great mathematicians of the past were also philosophers: knowledge walks together.

Loving that deeply, Vergil has to be quite Intuitive. Yes, he will do things with discipline and how they should be done to achieve the result – but he will rebel and do things his own way if the knowledge he acquired so far points him to another direction; he will follow his intuition. He’s not one to dismiss the big questions in life: quite the contrary, I think one of his favorite past-times would be drinking wine along his s/o while talking about philosophy into the wee hours of the night as if they are the only people in the world.

Vergil is an open minded, curious and always searching for the meaning of things kind of person, and I will die on this hill. There is no way a guy who likes learning so much would be against challenging his own point of views: to learn, you have to first be a novice; and to improve, you have to admit there’s much you still don’t know and keep an open mind to fail and do it again, and again, and again, until you master what you are learning. Just the way he fights tells me he is very much like that and I’m still dying on this hill.

And lastly, Judging. No, not because he’s the judgy bitch of the series who’s always side-eying someone and sighing while saying “pathetic” just because they got scared by their own shadow. I have to say I wasn’t too sure on this one when I realized Vergil could end up as an INTP and that bitch can’t be an INTP like me, I claimed it.

Jokes aside, Vergil can be quite Perceiving at times, because, wanting or not, he has had his moments of needing to improvise and spot opportunities that weren’t quite on his schedule… But, I do have to admit, INTPs are a mess and Vergil is FAR from being a mess – and when I say a mess, we are everywhere: reading 5 books at the same time, leaving them scattered all around the house, laying upside down in bed to think and come up with a great idea for something… INTPs aren’t pragmatic or schedule oriented. And Vergil would DIE in an environment like this, I think.

So, my conclusion was: his ability to survive does come from his Perceiving characteristics, but his pragmaticism comes from his Judging – and the second is a lot stronger in him. He would like the schedule, he would do things as he has programmed and, if you interrupt him, he’s counting the minutes to go back to his schedule or else everything he has carefully programmed for the week will be delayed and his plans are all but GONE (read: Verge at the Temen-ni-gru screaming “WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING?!” when ALL the plans he carefully executed for WEEKS so he could get to THAT moment and open the gates of Hell just went down the drain ‘cause he missed something in his calculations. Man is in excruciating pain he missed something and ALL was for NOTHING and he’d have to TRY again).

Verdict: Vergil is an INTJ. Expected, annoyingly villainous personality, but it does fit him wonderfully.

Plus, we are the 'we don't have feelings' types :D

Dante

Oh, Dante. My beloved. My red devil. The man who haunts my dreams.

Seriously, I had a REALLY hard time pinpointing his MBTI.

Remember I said I took the test as him? Yes. I did. To check some things and argue against others hahahahaa

I don’t think Dante is as black and white as Vergil. The blue devil is almost textbook INTJ, but Dante…? I have my doubts on SO many parts of his personality, because, unlike Vergil, Dante does a LOT just for show.

Starting with the Extroverted/Introverted. Most people won’t even think before saying Dante is an Extrovert, but I had my doubts when taking things in consideration. What we usually see is that, yes, he does love being around people – but Dante spends most of his time alone, without electricity, reading his old magazines at his shop, sleeping or eating pizza by himself.

Depression? Yes. YES. This man is more depressed than the San Andreas Fault. This can make people behave differently from their personalities, so I had to think a little more about it. Dante doesn’t really go out of his way to be around people, to party with his friends or just have a nice time with them around. Dante wants to be alone, because he thinks he doesn’t deserve to be with people – and that they are better off without him, safer. He puts them in danger, at least that’s what’s on his mind. So, he isolates himself and prefers to spend time on his own, away from everything and everyone.

That’s where the energy thing comes into play! What gives Dante energy? Honestly, my man looks drained and just the dust of his being whenever they get to his shop and he’s been living in that condition for months. During the games AND after the games, though? He looks a lot better – even if he has been beaten up by a bunch of demons. And that’s because, I think, Dante gets energized by being around people – friends, family, loved ones. Just like my sister, he can conquer the world after going to 5 parties in a row. Vergil, in the other hand, would be drained and dying by the second one, just like Dante is when he hasn’t been around people too much, always isolating himself.

So, despite his depression that makes him behave differently, Dante is an Extrovert in my book.

One that I don’t even think too much about him is the Perceiving trait. Dante is like that, 10/10. He can’t thrive on a schedule, things in his life are Everything Everywhere All At Once, and my man is in his lane with that. Try to fit Dante in a box with a set routine and too many rules, he’s dying. Aside from that, he has a knack for improvising and finding the best opportunities in unexpected situations.

Hence why he has so many freaking weapons and is just using all of them and all of his fighting styles at the same time, taunting demons and dancing Macarena right after – and making it all look like it makes the most absolute fucking sense. No one can pull that off like Dante, king of winging it.

Now, I do believe he is Intuitive. Dante might not be the art and poetry type like Vergil, but he is well educated. He has to be, to do what he does. And I do believe his thing for philosophy shows when Dante is lecturing demons: that WHOLE answer he gives Agnus about what demons lack compared to humans, that is VERY much philosophy. Dante doesn’t just go and takes everything at face value, because, if he did, he would very much say the obvious: demons are, objectively, stronger than humans. But all the heart, all the internal things that make humans stronger than demons… That’s philosophy.

I can see Dante enjoying movies – blockbusters, yes, packed with action and special effects, but let’s remember… Titanic is a blockbuster. And there’s so much heart in that movie, so much philosophy, so much about choosing your own fate and not being tied to the one that was handed to you… Titanic can pack one hell of an existential punch and make you think about so much in your life – you just have to be open to it.

Differently from Vergil, Dante wasn’t the library and heavy books sort of guy. But he was the guy to go to the movies, to watch all of that. To go back home (wherever his home was at the moment, even if just a place for him to crash for a while) and think about everything he watched in the silent darkness of his room. To think about the things Eva taught him – and see the value of all that.

He’s not the type to go to an art gallery, or read philosophy, or go to the opera. But he will go if he is invited, he will discuss things the way he learned them, and he will enjoy it. He’d be more than willing to talk about what makes humans so precious and spend hours doing so, as he would be open to listen to his s/o explaining what makes him so human despite his demonic heritage. And he would spend days thinking about it, always willing to discuss those topics if his s/o wanted to.

He's not textbook Intuitive like Vergil, I think, but he still is, in his very own way. I’d say Vergil is academically Intuitive, while Dante learned his Intuitive trait on the streets – we all say Dante is a safespace for everything, and a man like has to be open minded and curious. If he wasn’t, he would have never welcomed Trish and given her a chance to be human: he would’ve killed her right away for being a demon. And that isn’t our red devil.

Last but not least, Dante is a Feeling. I’m always dying on this hill, even if that one ALSO made me have some doubts.

Because you see, Dante just pretends to be a goof, but he isn’t. He is very intelligent and cunning, very perceiving and observing, but wrapped in a reckless rockstar package. It’s his own way of coping, but that is what makes him SUCH a great devil hunter (sorry, Nero). Even if we might disagree on this, I do believe Dante has his emotions very much controlled.

Which is a little evidenced by the lyrics on his theme song in DMC V, Subhuman (I know we ALL love Bury The Light and Devil Trigger but OH MY GOD, I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT HOW SUBHUMAN IS AWESOME AND FITTING FOR DANTE). The song is VERY explicit how Dante is always controlling his rage and keeping his demon on a very tight leash so he has control over it all the fucking time. That isn’t very Feeling in my book – it’s quite Thinking, like Vergil.

That’s what made me think a little about Vergil’s as well. I have what might be an unpopular opinion about the twins after thinking so much about them and seeing how they react and act in all of the games: Vergil has a tendency to loose control and overkill, while Dante has a tendency to let his rage burn at the exact moment he needs it and use his power just as much as he needs to get the job done. Dante is more controlled with his emotions than Vergil – and in my opinion, it’s because Vergil bottles up and ignores his emotions until they become a storm that can’t be stopped (cough cough personal experience cough cough) while Dante controls things so he can use his emotions and let them be expressed/gets them off his system in “safe” environments for him, which would be killing demons.

So, why the heck is Dante a Feeling in my book? Precisely why Vergil is a Thinking. It has to do with how they present themselves – and that is the point that makes them so different and butt heads almost every game.

The devil on Dante’s leash is his rage, the feeling he allows and wants to run amok and uncontrolled is his love. Dante controls his bursts of anger and the demonic blood who craves for mayhem – but he doesn’t control his human heart that does everything out of empathy and love. He will run to the rescue when his loved ones are in danger, he will protect weak people against the powerful ones, he will lecture corrupted humans who see nothing but power in front of them, he will cry and he will do everything in his power to keep love alive and thriving. He will react immediately, he will understand, he will feel the pain of those who are injured and begging for help – he will let his heart melt and do everything for them.

Therefore, Dante is a Feeling. And I think that’s what makes him and Vergil opposites and always fighting: Vergil wants power and puts logic over feelings, avoiding them like the plague, while Dante wants love and puts feelings over logic, embracing them and acting out of what his human heart tells him is the right thing to do. The whole series is based on this – at least in my opinion.

Verdict: Dante is an ENFP. Didn’t really expect it, but after analyzing with care, it makes a lot of sense to me.

Also, all the memes with ENFP x INTJ relationship dynamics I just checked are basically Dante and Vergil in a nutshell - I’ll leave some of them below and you guys will HAVE to forgive me not really crediting the people who created these memes, I honestly just found on google and wanted to share so you can have an idea of what I’m talking about.

But I honestly have been wheezing for the past hour and I thank you SO MUCH anon for this ask – I hope you enjoyed this little TED Talk about the Sparda Twins’ personalities please Capcom hire me to write official canon about them

If this isn't Dante and Vergil, I dunno what is

And last but not least:

That's all the games in a nutshell, really.

#polaris speaks #polaris answers #answered asks #anon ask #devil may cry #dante sparad #vergil sparda #dmc dante #dmc vergil #mbti types #mbti personality types #seriously the last meme when I saw it #I was on the floor laughing like a madwoman #it's precisely Vergil being a competitive bitch and Dante just being chill #ending up traumatized by his twin brother's shenanigans #while said little bitch is on his way to fight god even #(in this case Mundus the king of hell but you get what I mean)

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leahnardo-da-veggie · 6 months ago

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The Unwanted Visitor, PT 3

Part 1's here, Part 2 here, enjoy! (I swear I'll finish apns soon, but I just got a bad case of new-wip-itis)

The sun was shining, the wind was pleasantly cooling, and it was a wonderful day. At least, it would have been if I hadn't been cycling for my life. My feet pumped like hell was on my heels, and my thighs ached from the exertion.

As I passed through the gates, I could hear the bell chiming, a warning to students that the doors would be locked soon.

"Wait!" I screeched, pulling on the brakes as the gates swung shut.

The guard, Mr Gerry, was standing there with his arms crossed. "Cutting it a bit close, aren't we?" he teased.

"Yes, sorry," I panted, leaning on the bike for support. "You know, I wouldn't be this late if school started at a sane time, right? Who the hell gets up and ready at 10?"

Mr Gerry laughed. "I don't know. You might wanna start waking up earlier, though. If you're late one more time, the school'll give you detention."

"I know, I know," I grumbled. It was all Visitor's fault. He had turned off my alarm, wrecked the wheels on my bike, held me up with his pranks and so much more, and it was taking a toll on my attendance.

"Anyway, I've got to go. You should hurry too, Aida." Mr Gerry waved me through the gates, and I dumped my bike to the side.

Joining the tail end of the flood of students entering the halls, I flipped up the hood of my jacket. Being the weird kid who lived at the edge of town was social suicide, and not being allowed to invite anyone over made matters worse. I was stuck being the butt of all the jokes, and I couldn't even beat them up, because I would get suspended. (Don't get me started on what happened when I poured bleach all over their lockers and ruined their stuff.)

"Oh, look, it's AIDS on legs," someone hissed as I walked by, and I artfully ignored the muffled laughter that followed me. I hated my name, or at least the first part of it. It was ripe for the mocking. I mean, what the hell kind of archaic name was 'Aida', anyways?

Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do. I was still a kid, after all, albeit not for long. Soon, though. Soon I would be free of these idiots and I would move out into the great world. I comforted myself with that thought as I stepped through the door, prepared for the next session of the shitshow that was my school.

"Good morning, Miss O'Dell. I trust you have a good reason for being late?" My homeroom teacher, Miss Kearney, glared at me from her seat.

I sighed. "No, Miss." I doubted that 'my spirit held me up by causing trouble' was a valid excuse.

"I'll let you off this time, but do it again and you're in deep trouble, Aida," Miss Kearney snapped. She wasn't usually so snappish, but she'd had a bad day, apparently. All the better for me, I thought bitterly.

"Yes, Miss." I slid into my chair in the back row, the most unobtrusive spot in the room.

"Okay, now that everyone's here, we can finally introduce a special guest. She's an exorcist consultant for the police; Please welcome Mrs Bell, everyone," Miss Kearney said.

"Hello," a woman with brown hair stepped into the classroom. Her suit was impeccably crisp and her smile was perfectly polite. I instantly disliked her.

"Mrs Bell has kindly agreed to teach us a bit about the paranormal. You'll have plenty of time to ask questions, but for now, listen up," Miss Kearney said sternly.

The class sat up straighter, looking interested. The paranormal was a big interest amongst the students. Magic was rare in Palioden, and exorcists were both respected and beloved by the people. I wanted to be a mage, when I grew up. (Everyone did, but I was one of the few who had an affinity for it.)

Miss Bell stood to the fore of the whiteboard, brandishing her pointer like a wand. “Children, what do you know of spirits? Not the cute sort you see on television, that is. The real kind.��

A smattering of hands shot up. The nice thing about my class was that most of us were teacher's pets, and that allowed me to slip right past their notice.

“Spirits are the most powerful sort of twice-dead. They're found in the Celitane Forests, the Syvniko Mountain Range and west Palioden,” Lucia piped up. Lucia was exactly the sort of person I hated, popular and people-pleasing. The feeling was mutual, and she was one of the main proponents of the Anti-Aida-Army (or AAA as I liked to call them).

“Correct!” Miss Bell clapped for her, and I rolled my eyes in disgust. “What an excellent foundation of knowledge you children have! I see my job is already half done,” she added with a wink, and I finally understood why Visitor was scared of exorcists. If they were all so sickly sweet, they could probably melt his eyes out with their friendliness.

“Now, we've received reports of a spirit haunting this area, so my team sent me to help you all understand spirits and how to deal with them!” That made me sit up a little. Had my parents finally grown a pair and reported Visitor? “Firstly, spirits differ from humans in three major ways; They're translucent to the human eye, they have unusual eye colours and they have sharp teeth. So if you spot someone who covers most of their face and body, and never reveals their teeth, you may have met a spirit. And if that's the case, you need to report it to the police!”

I was incredibly tempted to point out that a great deal of those who covered their entire body were simply doing it in the name of their religion, but the need to not get noticed outweighed my wish to stir up trouble. “Why do we have to tell the police? Are they dangerous?” It was Jack, member of the AAA and possessor of approximately 2 brain cells.

“Yes, they're very dangerous,” Miss Bell said, her sugary expression hardening. “That's why I'm here, because this isn't a playing matter. Spirits kill people for fun, for their own pleasure, for no reason at all. While one is free, we cannot rest.” I thought that was rather dramatic; Visitor had never harmed a hair on my head, for all his threats.

“I'm going to ask you an important question now. Which of you has been harbouring a spirit?” Miss Bell smacked the pointer against the teacher's table, and I flinched. “I know one of you did it, and I know which of you did it. Now, own up.”

Taglist here:

@coffeeangelinabox, @dorky-pals, @calliecwrites, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @shukei-jiwa

@thewingedbaron, @pluppsauthor, @cowboybrunch, @wylloblr, @possiblyeldritch @ramwritblr, @urnumber1star, @fortunatetragedy, @bigwipscholar, @ratedn

@vampirelover890, @possiblylisle, @illarian-rambling, @the-ellia-west

@finicky-felix, @evilgabe29, @glitched-dawn, @rivenantiqnerd, @dragonhoardesfandoms

@drchenquill, @everythingismadeofchaos, @owldwagitoutofyou (Anyone else who wants to get added can tell me in the comments, pm me, or send me an ask about it!)

#writeblr #writing #my writing #creative writing #writerscommunity #spilled ink #writing community #fantasy #short story #I am so tired rn goodnight guys

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goosetheluce · 1 year ago

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I saw that headcanon for Total Drama where Reader was an old childhood friend of Heather and thought it was absolutely adorable. Can we get one for Courtney and/or Gwen as well?

thanks for the request <3 i looove courtney but i feel like your backstory with her would be similar to heather's. also this was skimmed, sorry for any errors! here's the previous heather version for new readers :)

gwen x gn!reader: reunited childhood friends hc

gwen was never exactly NOT popular.

in fact, she was the one who pushed others away. she had seen enough movies (and the lives of her peers) too many times to fall victim to an oversized social circle.

treading carefully, she only kept a mere few in her school life. but of course, when you came along, gwen couldn't shut you out.

you just appeared in school one day, earning a few whispers here and there and falling naturally into the classroom environment. it seemed this wasn't the first (or last) time you transferred.

you were quiet, mostly, listening to class lectures and jotting down notes in your designated grade 7 chemistry notebook.

someone even called you a weirdo at the table gwen was sitting at.

gwen likes weirdos, even if they aren't really weirdos at all.

the thing about you that caught gwen's eye was your expressiveness. sure, you didn't talk much, but your face spoke for you.

like, when someone made a fool of themselves to impress the class, your lips curled with annoyance and your eyes rolled.

or maybe when the teacher fumbled her words and said something inappropriate, your shoulders relaxed a bit and you let a small grin stretch across your lips.

as gwen observed you across class, missing half of the presentations every day, she decided to make a move at lunch.

after cautious introductions that gradually shifted into music debates and ugly laughs, gwen let you in through the cracks of her stone walls.

her favorite part about the conversation was the way you didn't make a big deal about her appearance. her face was ghostly pale, and her deep bluish-green hair matched her black eyes wonderfully. any other person would have gawked, said she looked sick or like a ghost.

she began to think that if anything, you'd understand that was (part of) the point of her appearance in the first place.

as the school year sped along, you and gwen ended up merging your lives. she lived in the apartment complex across the road from your neighborhood, so she was only a bike ride away. stargazing was her favorite night activity, so you guys were constantly laying down in your background.

her place wasn't the greatest, considering her mom was newly single with two kids. her dad left and moved across the state, paying child support instead of actually visiting. but they made do.

she'd have problems with her family not accepting her, both her gothic nature and her eccentric personality and beliefs; but the love in the house was always there. gwen was bold and clear with what she wanted, and you liked that about her.

she was a breath of fresh air.of course, she could only think the same of you. you didn't stare at her, you gazed. you didn't hear her, you listened. you weren't nice to her, you were kind. you weren't snarky, you were clever.

a treasure like you can only mean friendship to her for so long.

friendly feelings only lasted a few weeks.

but she's gwen, so she didn't change anything after the afternoon she realized she loved you when she saw you in the clouds where her brother saw a tree.

she stayed that way, frozen in time while you packed your bags for the third year in a row to move. just like her dad.

so you left town, but you didn't really leave town because you still haunted gwen every night she stayed up until 2 in the morning, squinting her eyes shut as they stung with tears.

she'd lost the one person who knew everything she was going through.

but life goes on, and gwen is a friend of the dark, so she let the last bittersweet remnants of you ebb away from her mind and instead turned into her own thoughts once more.

high school was hard; not just the math but the people, too. she loved again, but never as hard as she loved you. sometimes she wondered if you were struggling the same way.

then suddenly, she didn't have to wonder anymore, because there you were on this stupid fucking show. she'd only auditioned to try to bring some money back home. she didn't sign up to see her first heartbreak, even if it wasn't your fault.

she wasn't going to ice you out, but she'd be lying if she said it wouldn't be awkward for her. she was wrong, though; the coldness melted instantly the second she heard your laugh.

it wasn't hard for you to recognize her. she had grown quite a bit taller and her face had sharpened with maturity, but her eyes were the same hypnotizing black depths. she had ditched her shoulder-length hair for a blunt bob. it suited her.

after the camp had settled down, you and gwen began to reconnect. her language was even fouler than you remembered; it was a relief to see her fundamentals hadn't changed. you even told her this, and for a second it looked like some color flushed her face. just for once.

the two of you discussed past relationships, and to your surprise she mentioned only two people. you suddenly regretted moving on and leaving the love you had for her to die.

yet you realized: your love had never been dead. just hibernating.

you wondered if you ever had a place in her heart the same way her exes had been.

"(y/n), remember when we used to stargaze in your backyard?" she asked one night after the marshmallow ceremony. you had narrowly avoided elimination this week. gwen thought this was as good a time as ever to make her move.

"yeah, how could i forget? you're such an astrology geek that you forced me to memorize constellations," you teased, looking up at the sky and remembering the cool grass beneath your thighs.

"shut up, you had fun."

"i did," you smiled at her, wondering if she was aware of the tangible atmosphere between you two. "why do you ask?"

"sometimes, before i came onto the show, i would watch the stars and wonder if you were doing the same," she whispered, stripping her gaze away to look at you.

your cheeks warmed hotter than the sticky night air as your eyes locked. "i did," you murmured back. "i never really got you out of my head, gwen."

she simply smiled, her deep blue lipstick darker than the inky clouds. your hands brushed, then intertwined.

she leaned on your shoulder, and internally you swore you'd never lose her again as both of your heads craned back upward at the cosmos.

you didn't even care to think what this made the two of you.

even the bears left you both alone that night.

#lucy writes #lucy's inbox #lucy's anons #requested #headcanons/short stories #gwen x reader #gwen total drama #tdi x reader #gwen x y/n #gn!reader #friends to strangers

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erika-xero · 1 year ago

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Thinking a lot of how social media affect art, how it is getting increasingly more difficult to earn money with it and honestly it just... makes me so sad?.. Disclaimer: I do not want you to pity me. I just want to share some thoughts. Some fears, maybe. Some regrets.

I know that I might never be able to make a good fortune by drawing illustrations, because it seems that I was entirely wrong with my priorities? I always wanted to do more: bigger pieces, more characters and hidden details. I wanted my art to tell a story, if possible.

Who could possible know that most of the people will move to mobile devices with small vertical screens, on which wide detailed illustrations with cinematic feel will look the worst?

Who could possible know that the algorythms of the social media would want you to draw MORE yet, somehow, draw less? I could go insane doing the same stuff over and over again: small portraits, halfbodies in the same simplistic style because they look best in instagram or on tumblr mobile app and gather more attention? And they are also faster to make, thus you can please the allmightly algorythm posting every day or two?..

I love my work, I adore doing various things, I love it when one week I work on a traditional art fullbody with a golden halo and the other three weeks - on a digital artwork with a dynamic fighting scene. But gods. How tiring is it to know that the piece you've been working on will get barely any attention, because three-weeks gap in my posting schedule will, for sure, upset the allmighty algorithm.

They say that it is always bad to switch style or a theme, because people get upset and unfollow you once they see something they aren't waiting to see. Different character body type? Unfollowing. Different facial feature? Unfollowing. Different aesthetic? Unfollowing.

Slightly different shading and coloring? Unfollowing.

But variety has key importance to me. I wish to draw characters which are drastically different from each other. I want to experiment. I want to explore. I want a drawing to be a puzzle I will be solving for hours, days, weeks, never getting bored. I do not wish my work to become a rutine to serve the algorithm or even the general public.

I see, like, those commercially succesfull artists, who post every day earning more money per week than I will be ever earning per month. It is all the same story over and over again: conventionally attractive characters. Halfbodies. Pleasant facial expressions: faint smiles, slightly raised eyebrows. Simple pose, 3/4, detailed clothing. Always the same stylistic choises. Always the same aesthetic.

Of course, sometimes they do draw stronger, bigger pieces, they experiment, they search for something new - but mostly secretely. In private. During the free time they earn - by their hard work and dedication.

I... can not afford drawing stuff for myself in my free time. Honestly, I don't have free time either than the time I spend on my trips to hometown - the only moments I could spend with my family. Neither can I draw five similar pieces in a row, because my brain starts to melt like a strawberry sundae?.. Because when I get bored, I lose concentration? Because, I made variety the key feature of my art and this turned out to be the worst decision an artist can make?

Am I just... weak? Am I stupid? Am I unworthy? Am I childish for wanting my job to be fun and entertaining and fulfilling to do?

There's this group chat I am in, and today someone, the succesful artist, said that anyone, who has less than 10K followers are, to say so, a no one? All of a sudden I feel so upset. My day is ruined. I never had 10K anywhere but VK (which is absolutely useless to anyone doing commissions). I never even cared about numbers... I never wanted to be big. Be popular. For most of the time, my biggest wish was to feel... fulfilled? To be happy, be proud of what I am doing?

I feel fulfilled. But I also don't want to starve myself to death. And I certainly feel like if I, one day, will want to have family, I wouldn't be able to make enough money to afford having a child.

Was I... entirely wrong? Did I waste my time chasing phantoms? Is it too late for me? Will I be among those, who might not survive the hard times, at least, as an artist?

#rant #i am at my fucking limit #depressing shit #this user has a fucking midlife crisis or something

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flamingplay · 4 months ago

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The jewelry maker that I asked to make a bracelet for Jon did a big surprise today. <3

So, that's how the story goes. I turned several times to order presents to my friends from this talented and hardworking girl. I saw her works being displayed at my city's festival years ago. She came up back then with a unique idea of beaded bracelets with Morse code. Her beaded works are quite laconic and charming and I witnessed her creative path all these years and how her Morse bracelets developed and how much sense it was making for her to code some support in them.

Since the war I had an idea of again ordering something from her, as like many creators she stayed in the country facing all the cruelty of the war. She's one of the creators that is always open to some sort of collaboration. I saw her making a Ukrainian pattern bracelet some time ago and had a crazy idea of disrupting it with my friend's favourite song's lyric + specific colours that were associated with the music video (it was Free by F + tM). And she did a gorgeous job on that! Another idea was to order a bracelet for Jon to give to him during or before my first ever CP gig! I had an idea for colours, type of the bracelet and phrase. She loved the idea and wished luck with seeing my favourite guitarist and very enthusiastically got down to work. That bracelet travelled quite a while and by some miracle I got it just a week before the concert itself! I managed to hand that bracelet to Phil together with the guitar strap I've been working on since January 1st. I hoped to see Jon wearing at least that bracelet any of the days as I was determined that Phil gave it to him (and he did as it also appeared on Sunday where my tweet was casually stalked with "Jonny says THANK YOU 💙" lol). Unfortunately, it didn't happen but he wore 2 bracelets one of which was extremely important as it was dedicated to a lost person in the fandom. I still was hoping to make Ruslana (that's her name) happy with saying more than the fact that I handed her work. I was obsessively looking at photos from all other gigs but nope. Anyway, eventually I told her that the bracelet found its person and thanked again and posted in stories about that. She replied that it made her day and gave her the energy she needed (she hasn't been on socials for a while, I assume something personal was also going on). She asked me about the concerts and I tried to tell her that I was in the front row just in front of Jon, describing how important it was to see him, how the second concert was wonderful and such stuff, very very shortly. She was very inspired by that and emotional, she said that all of that gave a special meaning to her work. In some days she came back to me asking for permission to cite some of this message about my concert experience, as that gave her a new idea. I was surprised and agreed.

Today she posted a beautiful video of her working (her son was also playing around there on the background) with... Actually reciting this whole message out loud. O_O I didn't expect it to be in this format and like this and it was so cool and I felt a bit awkward because I made a mistake there and she was very clearly emotional reading it *sobs and hides*. Didn't know that my fan obsession can end up being such a huge inspiration to someone's work and belief in good things???

#personal #that's huge for such typical fan story like mine tbh??

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nettlewildfairy · 1 year ago

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Tumblr made that big long post and a lot of people are angry reacting to some like surprisingly reasonable suggestions that solve widespread long time complaints

i dont know how they plan to solve everything just yet but as someone who knows some things about the industry and jargon here are my 2 cents

Here is a link to the referenced post

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr

in an age where most social media sites are making it aesoteric and difficult to share posts offsite /app tumblr is considering making it easier to do

yall do you know how hard it is to link a long tumblr post with like a comic or funny string of replies to share with my friends who arent on tumblr? i have to take like 15 screenshots every time. IF staff is priorizing making it easier to share posts that would be so much better oh my god 2 High quality content on launch. the pessamistic assumption is that this could mean a mandatory algorithm but if you read carefully you’ll notice they never fully say thats even remotely what they are going to do. This seems to be a suggestion that the default new user experience will change.

If you like me made an account 10 years ago this looks like it won’t affect your experience whatsoever.

but like trying to sort through tags to find blogs and curate my own feed actively took like over a year to get to a place where i’m happy when i did it in 2011/2012

if feeds and tags Worked that would be good. the for you page and exploration features on tumblr do, admittedly suck right now. there SHould be easier ways to find and search for stuff on tumblr. if their search worked better and finding stuff you wanted to see was easier that Would improve the experience for most people on this site. 3. facilitate easier user participation in conversations folks if replys could be threaded in some way it would be 1000 times easeir to have convos with them. like i do not get what people are upset about here. like a person shouldn’t have to reblog their own post 15 times in a row to reply to different people about the same thing. they could make this so much better. 4. Retain and grow our creator base

it IS hard for art to see and get seen. if i had a nickle for every time i saw a post begging people to reblog art i’d have like so many nickles. I would like to see more art. and ttrpg creators. there’s like stuff i have to go to twitter for and its small time ttrpg, art, writing, and literary magazines because even when those folks are on tumblr its extraordinarily difficult to find them with the systems currently in place.

like i don’t know that tumblr has a good plan to make this kind of thing easier but if they did figure it out it would rule. and its good to know that this is a priority for the company 5. Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr

throttling notifications rules. i have commented on tumblr staff posts dozens of times for like 5+ years asking for this, thank GOD. if you reblog a lot of posts you get a lot of notes even if you have like 15 people regularly interacting with your stuff on 100 posts a day thats like 1500 notifications. it collapses some by post or interaction type but that is NOT enough and the notification bar always says 99+ unless i checked it less than a minute ago, im dying please make notifications meaningful and not overwhelming.

6: Performance, stability and quality

this is generic and means very little obviously anyone making an app wants it to crash less often. bonus: ive seen people get upset at the implication that they are instituting a mandatory algorithm but the site has had an option algorithm for like ages, it doesn't imply its mandatory anywhere or that they're taking away our option to turn it off. there are already artist showcase things on the dash on the regular, if you have adblock on you can’t see some of those, but they've had them for fully years.

its highly unlikely that they would get rid of one of the main selling points of tumblr.com they’re like a real company thats done bare minimum market research, like folks no one other than musk would do something that boneheaded

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lynnedwardswrites · 2 years ago

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Get To Know You

Le Picrew

I was tagged by @writernopal @indecentpause and @vcaudley ! I feel like the caboose to this wagon train lol

3 fun facts about me

- In high school (long time ago) I went to a national competition for TV broadcasting. We had to shoot and edit a commercial in 12 hours or something. My team did not win.

- The first thing I did after buying a house was paint the walls of my bedroom chocolate brown and the ceiling metallic gold (and damn does it look good).

- My grandmother made a career out of being a landscape painter, and my mom is big into sculpture. I'm the third professional/semi-professional artist in a row.

Favorite Season

Autumn all the way. It's cooler than summer, lusher than winter, and prettier than spring. Also my birthday is sometimes on the equinox.

Continent where you live

North America. I'll go farther. The Jell-O Belt.

How do you spend your time?

Most days I write until my brain quits and then play video games with my husband and son (Factorio, Minecraft, Valorant, among others). I am also known to get into an art project, like knitting, painting D&D minis, woodworking, digital art, and so forth.

Are you published?

Yep! I have a whole slew of woodworking articles I've written for Fine Woodworking Magazine, mostly digital exclusives on their website. I was fairly well known in that community for a couple years. They'd talk about me on their podcasts. They'd talk about these:

Introvert or extrovert?

I used to think I was an introvert but then I discovered I was actually deeply lonely and poorly socialized. The braver I've gotten about putting myself out there and meeting new people, the happier I've gotten.

Favorite meal?

It probably involves a juicy piece of meat (fried chicken thighs, maybe), some butter-dunked vegetables (asparagus), and potatoes (fries?). But if my husband is cooking, it could be jewel chicken with pistachio pomegranate rice, or "Halal Cart" chicken with the yogurt sauce, or chile releños, or chicken korma, or homemade mapu dofu.

Or maybe it's just sushi. I never say no to sushi.

Tags

I genuinely feel like the last person to do this, but if I'm not, and you haven't, join the fun!

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nickgerlich · 1 year ago

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Shoot And Leave

In the rush to return to some semblance of normalcy in the post-COVID era, we have resumed traveling. And I mean traveling with reckless abandon. Forget about high gas prices and air fares, we’re just doing it anyway.

The big trend this summer was a European vacation—not the movie, but your own vacation. Personally, I drove 14,000 miles on three long trips, and went to Costa Rica. Pent-up demand was certainly driving all of us.

But a new problem has emerged in this digital era: overtourism. Essentially, the problem is this: People are flocking to tourist hotspots, taking and posting selfies, leaving without spending any money (or very little), and then, thanks to social media, inspiring others to visit also. It’s a cycle that some cities are now trying to combat by imposing tourism taxes.

And it is not much unlike the congestion tax we see in places like London, whereby drivers pay £15 per day to drive into the congestion zone. Some cities are charging $5-$10 per day for the privilege of day tripping. I doubt they will deter people though, especially once you factor in the cost of getting there in the first place. What’s another $10?

Overtourism is also happening locally. The Cadillac Ranch opened in 1974 as an art installation that the Ant Farm creative team developed and then sold in concept to Stanley Marsh 3. A few years ago, I interviewed the two surviving members for a feature that appeared in ROUTE Magazine. They never intended for the cars to be spray painted; that just happened organically. Located along I-40 a couple of miles west of Amarillo, it is reported to have more than two million visitors each year. It was even moved in 1997 from its original location a few feet west of the new Sam’s Club, to allow room for the city to grow.

So popular is the place that TxDOT had to install concrete jersey barriers to separate the Frontage Road from the freeway (to keep people from just driving through the grassy median to get there). I always scratched my head over why Marsh (who died in 2014) never monetized the place. That all changed two years ago when his family trust (to whom he had bequeathed the ranch in 2013) put a merch trailer onsite. The trailer sells t-shirts, caps, and the usual trinkets, as well as spray paint.

Duh. That was an easy one, because, as rumor has it, until then, the Home Depot at Soncy and I-40 was reputed to have the highest spray paint sales of any store in the chain.

Alas, people have taken to painting anything and everything, including the dirt, the road, the fence, and even the jersey barriers. On weekends, there is a traffic snarl along that stretch, with dozens and dozens of cars parked helter skelter. Tourists do their thing, take selfies, and post them.Then the cycle continues.

Good on the Marsh family trust to finally figure out how to separate people from a little bit of their money, but not all places are as lucky. When selfies in unique places become a prize unto themselves, a trophy for having been so cool as to seek out those places, there is always the risk that visitors will shoot and leave.

Wouldn’t it be nice if even just 10% of those Cadillac Ranch visitors stopped long enough for fuel or a meal? Better yet, how about lodging? I bet most people just keep going, though.

I am particularly guilty of this. Heck, my Facebook profile pic is of me standing by—wait for it—that familiar row of painted Cadillacs. And I have done this in many other places. It was no different from when we went to Carhenge in western Nebraska a few years ago. Snap snap snap…and off we went.

My passion is photographing roadside America, specializing in vintage neon signage, but also including the 1960s-era fiberglass Muffler Men and other oddities. Often I will shoot a selfie after I have finished doing my usual photo documentation. I seldom stay long enough anywhere to spend money, though. Some of the most common questions I am asked are “Did you eat there?” and “Did you spend the night there?”

If I did that, I would never be able to photograph as many things as I do.

As for cities and states that are tourism magnets, it is often a love-hate relationship. You hope people linger long enough to spend lots of money, but at the same time, you begin to loathe the traffic problems tourism can create. Just try to drive through Orlando Florida any time of the year. Or, to pick on a city closer to home, Albuquerque during Balloon Fiesta.

Then there is the case of China, the second biggest economy in the world. When I took my Chinese-born daughters there in 2019, we shot and posted tons of photos. While the notorious “Chinese Firewall” keeps residents from accessing western media, all it took was a VPN pointed at Hong Kong for us to dodge that bullet. And I suspect that the Chinese are good with this, because we basically became their pro bono advertising agency.

Ah, but China just lives with congestion. Bring it, baby, and bring lots of US dollars.

If anything, we can thank smartphones, social media, and always-on internet for putting a lot of this into hyper-drive. I don’t see things getting any better, short of another pandemic (please, no). Just don’t hog the space. Take your selfie and get out of the way. We’ve all got influencing to do.

Dr “Among The Worst Offenders” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #overtourism #tourism #travel #selfies

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divineunderstandingsastrology · 2 years ago

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Mercury Conjunct Pluto in Capricorn!

On February 10th at 9:03 AM (PST) (And until around February 16th) :

Mercury forms an exact conjunction with Pluto, which will be the last Capricorn conjunction with an outer planet until 2047 - it’s actually the last Capricorn transit by an outer planet, AT ALL, until that year. Pluto aspects can bring intensifying and transformative energies to us, in connection to whatever realm the planets in formation with Pluto rule over. With Mercury the themes correlate to the mind, memory, understandings of how things work, routines and scheduling, social connection and communication, as well as the linear way certain events unfold. Mercury and Pluto together can truly intensify our thoughts, render them heavier, more concerned or fearful, and cause us to feel a stronger desire for answers. Mercury in general is correlated to strategy and linear decision making and as so: certain decisions may be called into question during this aspect.

At the time of this aspect Mercury and Pluto also form a somewhat wide sextile with Neptune, the planet of hazy emotionality, illusions and mystery. This configuration could increase the need for answers, and we may dig down deep into our memory for the solution to big questions in our lives; with Pluto it’s very possible that we actually find them. To add to this, on the day Mercury goes exactly conjunct with Pluto: Venus is conjunct Neptune, which represents our connection through the heart, our loving enjoyment of life and relationships as well as a fueling of creativity. Relationships may be close to the top of the list for situations to investigate during the Mercury/Pluto conjunction. Any type of Venusion theme may need prioritizing during the aspect, including certain modes of expression or aesthetic, love, financial circumstances, and an evaluation of give and take when it comes to social connection.

As Pluto and Mercury are in Capricorn during this transit, it’s important to look at Cap’s ruler: Saturn, and see what it’s up to. Saturn is still in Aquarius conjuncting the sun. Aquarius represents our dreams for the future and our capacity for innovation and societal growth. Saturn in Aquarius transits relate to social obligation, respect, autonomy and independence. These themes may play a role in influence during the Mercury/Pluto transit. With the sun being somewhat important in this chart (the pluto conjunct mercury chart above) we may find ourselves dealing with elements of power and control in relationships, and feel a need to shift our energetic resources - transforming the things that are stopping us from having more powerful strategies for success (Mercury and Pluto in Capricorn) or feeling capable of achieving our aspirations.

What do the tarot cards say about this transit?

Row 1: 3 of Cups, 4 of Pentacles (reversed), Page of Swords, Ace of Swords (reversed)

The theme of social gathering, camaraderie and just the general jiving of human beings with one another is coming up. This is something that can be seen in the transit chart for the aspect as well, when Venus is examined as it connects to Pluto and Mercury via the sextile.) I also see potential for the transfiguration of certain social ties, or the re arranging of values within social groups. The Page of swords shows transformation around thought and developing new insights (very Mercurial as well), while the Ace of Swords shows comparisons between past and future, deciding to embark on new ideas regardless of previous experience and certain illusions around failure. These cards also remind me somehow of fears of failure: not wanting to move for the sake of protecting the status quo or comfort zone, but the time has come regardless: to move on and forge ahead.

Row 2: The 2 of Pentacles (reversed), 4 of Swords, The Devil (reversed), 10 of Wands (reversed)

There can definitely be a possible need for grounding or re-centering in relationships, with power balances or redistribution of energy needing to take place. Things are not evenly attended to when it comes to our social life and there is difficulty with celebration and holding up accomplishments for acclaim, to some degree. Perhaps during the Mercury/Pluto conjunction we will somewhat struggle to clearly see our accomplishments enough to be able to feel victorious.

“Surrender” is something that feels important when looking at this spread. This word keeps coming up a lot lately, and I believe it’s always important. 4 of Pentacles (reversed) represents the natural flow fluctuation of the material world, and how one moment we are on top of everything while the next we are scrambling to make ends meet. There is a message here to release the overwhelming “need to know” what’s going to happen next, and this is a message that aligns perfectly with the Mercury/Pluto conjunction. The Devil (reversed) potentially shows what we need to work on throughout the transit: the releasing of dark, ominous thoughts - especially with the page of swords above it. Recognizing the importance of freedom from habitual patterns and toxic cycles could also be a theme that comes up. This could be a good time to make concrete decisions and take solid steps to get out of certain cyclical/addictive behavior.

With the 10 of wands (reversed) the theme seems to be relinquishing a need to “win at all costs”. Extra accomplishment comes with extra responsibility. There seems to be a pathway that’s not obvious or easy to see, but it’s being traversed all the same. Overall this transit could challenge our perceptions of fairness, our sense of control over our every day lives and social connections, cause us to need to re-evaluate certain treatment in our relationships and bring us to a place of needing to surrender to a less obvious picture of life that is playing out under the surface.

#astrology #mercury conjunct pluto #zodiac #pluto in capricorn #astrology forecast #tarot #tarot cards #spirituality #western astrolog #modern astrology

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rickvac · 1 month ago

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"How to Build a Language Learning Habit: Small Steps for Big Progress"

Learning a new language, like Spanish, can be challenging, but building a consistent habit is the key to long-term success. Many people start with enthusiasm but struggle to maintain progress because they don’t incorporate the language into their daily routines. Here are some simple, effective ways to make language learning a regular part of your life, without feeling overwhelmed.

1. Start Small: Set Micro-Goals

Instead of overwhelming yourself with the idea of mastering an entire language, focus on small, achievable goals. For example, aim to learn five new words a day. You can gradually increase this number as you grow more comfortable, but starting small helps prevent burnout and ensures consistent progress.

Apps like Duolingo or EdLock can help you with bite-sized lessons. EdLock, in particular, is great because it uses micro-learning sessions. Each time you unlock your phone, you’re prompted to learn a new word or phrase. This integrates learning into your daily habits without requiring extra time or effort.

2. Pair Learning with an Existing Habit

One of the easiest ways to build a new habit is to tie it to something you already do. For instance, if you have a routine of making coffee in the morning, use that time to review vocabulary or listen to a Spanish podcast. The key is to attach language learning to a habit that’s already automatic.

If you tend to scroll through social media during breaks, switch things up by reading short news articles in Spanish or practicing flashcards using apps like Memrise or Quizlet.

3. Use Technology to Stay Accountable

It’s easier to maintain a habit when you’re held accountable, and technology can help with that. Apps that track your learning streak, like Duolingo or Lingvist, motivate you to stay consistent by showing you how many days you’ve practiced in a row. Missing a day breaks your streak, encouraging you to keep going.

You can also set reminders on your phone to prompt you to practice for just five or ten minutes a day. This helps ensure that learning becomes part of your routine, like brushing your teeth or checking email.

4. Immerse Yourself in Content You Enjoy

Learning a language doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Incorporate Spanish into activities you already enjoy. Love watching movies? Switch on Spanish subtitles or watch a film in Spanish. If you’re a podcast fan, find shows or interviews in Spanish on topics that interest you, like cooking, travel, or sports.

Immersion is one of the most effective ways to learn a language, and by engaging with content you love, you’ll stay motivated and learn in a natural, enjoyable way.

5. Track Your Progress

Keeping track of your progress is an excellent motivator. Write down the words or phrases you’ve learned each week, and review them regularly. Seeing how much you’ve achieved over time will inspire you to keep going.

Apps like EdLock provide a great way to track your learning. You can see how many words you’ve unlocked over time and measure your growth with each session.

Conclusion

Building a language learning habit doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By starting small, pairing learning with existing habits, using technology to stay accountable, and immersing yourself in enjoyable content, you’ll make steady progress without feeling stressed. Remember, consistency is key — and with these simple steps, you’ll be speaking Spanish fluently before you know it.

Links to Resources:

EdLock – Integrate learning Spanish into your daily routine: https://edlock.app

Duolingo – Track your learning streaks and build consistency: https://www.duolingo.com

Memrise – Learn vocabulary through flashcards: https://www.memrise.com

Quizlet – Custom flashcards to boost your learning: https://quizlet.com

Lingvist – Learn with real-life context and track progress: https://lingvist.com

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cyanlastride · 10 months ago

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can i tell you a story? for my own good, not yours. you have no obligation to listen.

im warning you now, its an unpleasant one.

the summer before grade 10, i made the best choice of my life. i was feeling a bit lonely, and inspired by my dad to try playing D&D. finding myself lacking real-life friends -- it was the summer, you see, the most barren and socially isolating time of the year, beating even christmas break -- i took to Roll20, an online forum where people meet and start TTRPG groups, dnd5e being chief among them. now, i grew up very closely to the internet. club penguin, nexuiz/xonotic, planeshift, i grew up socializing with people online quite often. but internet forums, even as dull as reddit, werent really my thing. hell, i only got this tumblr account recently. so, making the spur of the moment decision to make a roll20 account and reply to an LFG for new players was really quite a leap for me. a complete shot in the dark.

but it paid off. we had a bit of a rocky start after our first GM ran off never to be seen again, but one of the players stepped up to be our new GM and we played almost every week for almost a year and a half. i forged a strong bond with both the players and the characters -- at the time, i didnt really distinguish between the two. we had some close calls, a lot of near misses, and my character even died once. our party had two paladins, and i was one of them, so resurrection wasnt too big of a deal. eventually, though, we bite off more than we could chew, and land in some pretty hot water. specifically, an underground church full of rats. how we ended up there and the mighty battle that took place are wonderful and thrilling stories for another day. we had to stop the session mid-battle, i dont remember why, but we picked it up the week after. when we came back, we were prepared to fight to the last. if either myself or the other paladin survived, we could resurrect the party with the diamonds on the iron band i had forged around my wrist. if any of the other party members survived, they could bring the bodies up to the surface and get help. we just had to win the fight.

now, being a new player playing pretty much a pre-gen'd paladin, i went the standard plate armour plus sword and board. this made my AC suuuper high, enough that enemies could only really hit me on a roll of 18+. also, if they rolled a nat 20 against me, i had a magic shield that would absorb some of the blow and actually heal myself and my allies for a couple turns. so the only way they can actually hurt me reliably is if they rolled 18 or 19. i was facing off against some random rogue that i didnt know and didnt care to know. if i landed one solid hit on this lady, i could smite her into oblivion. she was a goon, basically.

a goon that rolled three 19s in a row.

a goon that killed me, and any chance i had of saving my friends.

rolling an 18 or a 19 on a 20 sided die is 1/10. rolling three in a row is (1/10)^3, or 1/1000. one in a thousand. that sounds small, right?

fate and chance make mockeries of our lives more often than anyone cares to admit.

we kept playing after that, made new characters, but the loss was real. that probably sounds stupid, especially to people that have had real people close to them die, but to me, my closest friends of the past year were gone because of a stupid chance.

ive taken small risks more seriously since then. i dont drive, and i stare drivers in the eye when i cross the street. im not scared of dying, but i want to see it coming.

when covid started, i spent a lot of time staring death in the face.

not my own death. i was/am unlikely to die from covid. i barely even go outside enough to be at risk of catching a cold. im young, and im healthy.

my parents are older, and less healthy. my mom is a highschool teacher.

ive spent the last 4 years thinking every so often about what i would do if they died. ive treated it as a real possibility that something could happen to them. ive been mentally preparing myself. even now that we're mostly out of the covid danger zone, that preparation remains.

i never considered what might happen if only one of them fell ill. when my dad messaged me that my mom was going into emergency surgery, i could handle that. when my mom was moved into the ICU, i was glad. she is getting the care she needs from experts and professionals, and shes doing okay.

when we get the call that my dad's father, who lives in a resthome in another city, hasnt been seen in two days and that the ambulance just drove away without loading anyone in the back, i can handle that. to be honest i really didnt know my pappa that well.

when my dad, my stoic old dad, breaks into tears after starting the sentence "they can't both die..."

thats harder.

one in a thousand.

its not as small as you think it is.

thank you for listening. my mom, my dad, myself, we're going to be okay.

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