#btw irl the story takes place over a few hours

[pentacle-artist]

Keys of Egress AU (AKA, the puzzle siblings get trapped in a video game)

Alfendi finds a video game under a bridge and decides playing it with his sisters is an amazing idea

They each pick a class, Flora chooses mechanic, Alfendi chooses detective (which Kat is *not* happy about), and Kat is stuck with witch since the fourth class is glitched out

They're each assigned to a different level based on their class. It turns out that random people showing up and solving problems is a thing people know can happen. It's also known that each person wound up befriending a resident of the world (an assistant, if you will).

Flora is placed in a very mechanical small town that has been taken over the mad inventor, Don Paolo. Her assistant is Luke, a wind-up doll robot who wants to find his friend, Arianna, and stop Don Paolo.

Alfendi gets the most grounded level, solving a series of murders in a city when the original killer is dead. His assistant is Lucy, a nosy schoolgirl who accidentally already got involved.

Kat gets a very stereotypical fantasy story. She needs to stop a dragon at the top of a mountain that's causing a magical rot. Her assistant is Ernest, a boy who lives alone just outside the town at the bottom of the mountain, grows plants, and makes potions.

Kat is having a blast, Flora is going along with it while having fun, and Alfendi is regretting his decisions.

Their ages are very different from canon: Flora is 18, Alfendi is 15 (so no placid prof), and Kat is 12.

They reunite (and bring their assistants along) in the level corresponding to the glitched class and find an absolute, corrupted mess. They have to figure out who broke the level and fix it.

After beating each level, they get a key that allows them to leave the level, and once they have all four, the game

[lostacelonnie]

Cant believe a solution like that has existed for so long they make pills of all sorts these days thats wild. Glad they're helpful for you really. Just standing in the ocean sometimes is such an experience i love it. Oh gosh that must be some kind of interesting. I had a sub once who was like. One of the few teachers to ever pronounce my last name right without help because her husband or herself was german. Or somethin like that. Shocked me at the time. Oh that'll be fun sometimes its neat to like. Go back to a place & see whats the same & whats changed since you were there. I wanna visit spain so much just uh. Probably in a less hot time of year. I like jarilo-vi so far only just hit level 15 so i can continue story. Didnt get bronya off my intro pulls got clara instead but i will someday. Is cocolia in honkai too? Yeah i agree this feels like they fixed genshin in a different game but im alright with that. Yeehaw more sleep. Ive been getting more now that i dont have to be at work at like 6 every day too. I would love to hear about this fire

right like!!!! waow. i ❤ you modern medicine i ❤ you medication. and for REAL !! i dont do it a lot and then i suddenly remember how nice it is. YEAH it took a while for me to actually be Able To Communicate with all of them but yknow it gets much easier when youre literally forced to do it to understand anything. but i have to say my spoken spanish is waaaaay worse than what i understand. oh well. god i feel that esp recently since ive been going outside of poland recently..... not a SINGLE non polish person can say my last name right. but i dont blame them shdfjgkjskf polish is a hellish language for foreigners. and yeah im looking forward to it honestly!! esp since ill actually get to interact with ppl more this time around. exciting! yes id recommend that you dont go in spring or summer bc not only is it hot theres also a looooot of tourists. tho i heard the weather isnt as bad in the northern part. and ah nice!! im a big grinder and hit lvl50 yesterday [not doing trial of the equilibrium yet tho..... Scared] but have fun!!! oh i main clara and shes actually SO good oh my god. actual killing machine esp in simulated universe with elation blessings [i run her with march + tingyun + bailu btw] so i totally rec you invest in her. good luck in your bronya acquiring quest btw o7 im also trying to do it but i dont really pull on standard outside of free pulls so its gonna. take a While. and yes she is!!!!! god frfr but i dont care about genshin that much so im not even mad. and ah thats nice!! oh the fire god that was. Hm. basically i was chilling as one does and an irl friend was like "my guy What. is happening at your house" and before that there was this reaaaaaaaally loud firetruck siren [that i decided to completely ignore] so i went outside bc that friend came over and there were?? firemen with a giant fan blowing out smoke out of one of the stairwells in my block of flats?? and basically it turns out some guy set something in the basement on fire and since i live in a block from the Communism Times the ventilation system sucks so the whole block smelled like smoke. also there was a dumpster fire nearby like an hour later. so thats fun! luckily nothing serious happened in either cases bc they were both noticed quickly but its still. Interesting.

[megan0013]

Chuckin’ a ⭐️ your way.

Sorry this took so long to answer! I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share or not, but then I realized VARIABLES is never going to get to this point anyway (though I’m halfway done with chapter six) so I might as well write out my thoughts and send them off into the universe.

That being said - this is more of a 1,350 word abridged and super self-indulgent ending than a “Director’s Cut”.

Jim goes into the Darklands months after he does in canon; thus, Gunmar doesn’t take over Trollmarket until Barbara is near the end of her pregnancy. And, unfortunately, she happens to be in the middle of an appointment with Vendel (who does not die) when the coup takes place. She’s recognized immediately as the Trollhunter’s mother and is taken captive after Otto tells Gunmar that Morgana would be most interested in a human/changeling hybrid. Gunmar considers it for a moment, and then appoints the poor polymorph as Barbara’s keeper. Which is how she’s able to stay healthy(-ish) throughout her imprisonment.

Fast forward a couple weeks, and Morgana is finally freed. One of her first orders of business is to go goad the Trollhunter’s incarcerated mother. She walks into the medical dwelling (where Barbara has been kept), monologuing, and then freezes.

“Gwen?”

“Uhhh… No. My name is Barbara Lake.”

But Morgana is convinced Barbara is the reincarnation of her long-lost love (I think they used the same character model, so that’s what this is based on) and decides that, as the mother of all changelings and Gwen’s lover, she’s entitled to keep/raise this baby.

Meanwhile…

Team Trollhunter is freaking the fuck out.

Especially when they’re in the middle of planning a rescue and Strickler’s face suddenly scrunches, and - oh, holy shit - the baby’s coming. There’s a fun scene in which Strickler is in absolute agony and, somehow, Toby winds up holding his hand.

“Omigosh! Breathe, Strickler! Breathe! You’re having a baby!”

“Do I look like I have the equipment to give birth, Domzalski? Fuck off!”

“I’m hurt, Strickler. Wounded.”

Abruptly, all the pain stops.

But then a feeling of fear, and exhaustion, and unparalleled love overwhelms him as the bond moves from a physical connection to an emotional one.

“It’s too late,” he says. “We’re too late.”

They’re not too late, and within twenty-four hours they (Strickler, Claire, and Aaarrrgghh) manage to infiltrate Trollmarket. Strickler finds Barbara. They have a very panicked reunion - “Oh my. That’s  my daughter, and I’m so happy but we must get you out of here right fucking now.” - before Claire portals them to the hospital, where Nik and a very specifically picked team are not-so-patiently waiting.

Morgana is pissed.

Anyway. There are a few complications but, ultimately, both mom and baby are okay. Barbara is sedated to help her heal (which is probably not something that happens irl, but let’s pretend - ok?), so Strickler is able to get some good bonding time in with his daughter while trying to keep up with Jim’s persistent, panicked texts.

At one point, Nik tells Strickler to go home for a few hours. He does, but only stays long enough to shower and pack a bag before heading back to the hospital - with Jim in tow. There’s a lovely brother/sister moment, and then Barbara wakes up and there’s an even lovelier brother/sister/mom/dad moment.

Jim goes home and instantly agrees to Merlin’s terms, while Strickler tries to talk Barbara into leaving town with the baby. She’s not having it. At all.

“Have you forgotten I’m the one person Morgana wants alive?”

Toby texts later that evening to see if they’ve heard from Jim. Barbara freaks and Strickler goes to join in the search for him. It’s a very tense day, followed by a very tense evening and a super awkward conversation in Barbara’s hospital room at 3 am wherein Jim starts gnawing absently on a stethoscope.

All this happens while Morgana is plotting out how best to bring forth the Eternal Night, betray Gunmar, and get her little ‘family’ back. She summons Otto (the changelings aren’t slaughtered, btw, and some of them are pretty sympathetic toward Strickler after seeing him around town actually living what they thought was only a fantasy life) and instructs him to kidnap the baby.

“You want me to… to steal Stricklander’s daughter?”

“Were you not listening? No, I want you to bring me the child that is rightfully mine. Her mother will surely follow.”

He’s hesitant but goes to do as he’s told.

Only, he doesn’t get a very good look at Nik when they pass in the hallway and winds up getting a few of his features wrong. Which probably wouldn’t matter if he were trying to trick anyone else, but Barbara and Nik have known each other since 8th grade and she calls him out almost immediately.

“You’re the polymorph. Otto, right? Walt’s told me so much about you.”

“He has?”

“Of course. He said you two used to be close - like brothers. In my book, that makes you family. Would you like to meet your niece?”

And, just like that, the Lake’s adopt another changeling.

Something Strickler is most skeptical of when he returns to the hospital a few hours later to find them chatting about some dumb stunt he’d pulled back in the early 1600’s. Nomura meets up with them, too, and the four manage to hash out a stupid, harebrained scheme to keep Morgana distracted up to, and during, the final showdown with Jim.

(I haven’t quite thought out all the specifics yet, but the plan includes Nomura in a glamour mask and Otto squeezing into a teeny, tiny little shape - so, you can guess where that’s going)

Anyway.

Barbara and baby are released from the hospital after three nights (might be two, idk, we’re playing fast and loose with the timeline here). They get home, entertain a few unexpected guests, host some impromptu strategy sessions, and then settle in for a small family meal that Strickler prepares in the hopes of bridging the gap from Jim’s old human palette to his new troll one. It goes over way better than canon, that’s for sure.

Later, after Jim has left to prepare for battle and the baby is finally down, a teary-eyed Barbara asks Strickler if he’s willing to stay with her that night. He jumps at the chance, because…

They still aren’t together.

They’ve ‘shared a bed’ once or twice since he moved in, but those were moments of passion and need that had only ever manifested into miscommunication and more. mcfreaking. yearning.

(They were roommates, anyone?)

And now? Well, this is definitely one of those moments. But with sex off the table, and a newborn two feet away, and the end of the world looming - maybe he should just tell Barbara how he feels about her?

“If something happens and I don’t come home tomorrow, I need you to know… My feelings for you haven’t changed. I’m still hopelessly in love with you.”

Of course, she feels the same.

Vows are made, kisses are exchanged, and they manage to get a few hours of rest before their daughter starts grumbling in her sleep.

The next day dawns bright and beautiful, and before Strickler leaves for battle Barbara wishes him good luck. He kisses her, then the baby, and says:

“This is all the luck I need.”

Or something like that.

(Because I think this kid’s name is Felicity [meaning ‘happiness’, and derived from felicitas meaning ‘luck, good fortune’]? Though, I might have just left it as Rory for consistency’s sake. Fun Fact: Rory is short for Aurora [Goddess of the Dawn], which I thought was a fitting name for a changeling to give their daughter.)

Ok, back to the story.

Everything, surprisingly, goes according to plan. Morgana is sufficiently distracted by Merlin and Aaarrrgghh, then by Otto and Nomura long enough for Jim to vanquish the Skullcrusher once and for all. But then she catches a whiff of the changeling magic surrounding Otto and Nomura. Everything sorta goes to hell after that.

True to canon, however, Team Trollhunter wins in the end by trapping Morgana in the Shadow Realm.

But only after Strickler sacrifices himself to save Jim’s life.

…

Joking.

They all live happily ever after.

(Until, ignoring Wizards altogether, Morgana breaks free a few years later and kidnaps the one changeling who isn’t a product of her magic, and is thus impervious to her mind control. Hijinks ensue. Morgana is rather pleased when the kid’s parents show up to rescue her.)

[doktorpeace]

🖊 please introduce us to Erato, I know they're in a masks campaign but I have no idea what else

Oh, gosh, I feel like I talk about them too much as is but I can’t say I’m not glad to have the excuse. This is gonna be really long cause tbh I’m just gonna dump like, a bunch of their lore lmao.

Erato is my Masks: A New Generation character in a campaign being played alongside @twerkyvulture (As Amanda ‘Megafauna’ Ghorbani, The Transformed) @draayder (as Josephine ‘Rattlesnake’ Short, The Reformed) @spitblaze (as Les ‘Void’ Hawking, The Doomed) @heedra (as Enid ‘Frag Beetle’ Day, The Scion) and @skarchomp (as Parker ‘Cobalt’ Andrews, The Legacy) with @dykeceratops as our GM. The current arc features @mechanicalriddle as Zoe, The Nova as a guest member. Here’s a group shot done by @tredlocity. Clockwise from the top left: Cobalt in blue, Erato in the track suit, Les in the cloak, Zoe with the mismatched eyes, Enid’s the big robot, Amanda’s got the scales and claws, and Josephine’s got the mask and tonfa.

To get back to Erato specifically though they’re an Anti Metahuman/Metahuman Suppression Weapon created by the in universe tech group Wright Industries, founded by Ingrid Day, Enid’s mom. They’re generally stronger, faster, and more durable than humans and can copy the superpowers of others for 5-10 minutes by touching them thanks to what is basically a meta-stem cell transplant interacting with other parts of their systems. (Also, I 100% swear to god that I did not consider ‘Robot Hero Who Copies The Powers Of Others’ is literally fucking Mega Man despite loving Mega Man a ton until after I had hashed out the concept with my GM’s assistance. Only once Abby said ‘oh like mega man’ I was like ‘wait, shit’.) I’ll tell you some about them as a person before unloading their history onto you, lol. Being an android built for combat and kept in an underground research lab, kept on a rigid schedule, constantly taking tests, physical, mental, written, oral, ethical, etc. etc. etc. and under constant supervision Erato lacked for real interactive experience before the campaign started only really ever getting to takl with authority figures and their sisters. They were very passive and observational, owing in part to their power set requiring a lot of adaptation to make the most of. They’re naive and very bad at exercising discretion in decision making, sometimes they overstep boundaries when talking with people without meaning to, and they’re really emotional! They have trouble dealing with strong emotions cause they haven’t managed to discover coping mechanisms that work well for them, they tend to get angry kind of easily and need time to blow off steam. But they’re also very genuine, honest, and well meaning. They are almost never mean, rude, or snippy, they do their best to do well by others, and have a strong sense of justice paired with a deep distrust and dislike of the current legal system in universe. This is in part due to the conditions of their creation (and in part because the intent behind it was kind of right!) and in part due to Enid’s life being threatened by a representative of the state while they and their teammates were in jail after being arrested following a huge brawl with an anti-methuman terrorist group. They’re also very willing to put forth the effort to improve as a person and to mend relationship wounds, almost always apologizing first to Enid when they fight and genuinely trying to work in advice and feedback they get from others, which they often get from Les and Parker. They’re also relatively educated, from the tests of their creators, from home and public schooling, from personal research, but that doesn’t undo their naivety. They also just straight up lack some very basic and/or common sense knowledge. Like, they don’t know what a bear is. Why would you teach a battle android working in a densely populated, extremely built up city about wild animals? All in all they’re kind of inexperienced and immature and make mistakes a lot but they’re (usually) very willing to admit their mistakes and to try and improve and get better. They genuinely and truly want what’s best for others and are learning to value them self as much as their teammates. They’ve also taken it upon them self to start doing humanitarian work in their free time over the summer. In a fight Erato is adaptive and quick witted but tends to put themself in more danger than is necessary. They also sometimes use more extreme force than the others believe is called for, but after the first time they did they and Parker had a real heart to heart about it, Les helped Erato learn and practice some coping, centering, behaviors they could do even under pressure and Erato did their best to adapt. That said they Fucking Hate The Keeper So God Damned Much Because Of How Much Suffering He’s Caused Their Friends And How Much Danger He Presents And Would Kill Him With No Remorse. So they don’t intend to apologize for ripping his arms off whatsoever. They and their sisters, collectively known as The Muse Units, were made to work as a group and as a proof of concept that atomized units could replace traditional police for use against metahuman criminals and to slowly phase out The Registry, the legal department which handles general metahuman based laws. If successful the units could be mass produced and improved upon, rapidly replacing current, error prone, law enforcement. At the time of their development, between late 1999 for blueprint drafting and until mid 2002 when the project was shut down, they were the cutting edge for AI development aided in no small part by Ingrid’s technokinetic powers allowing her to make advancements few others could. (As a note Erato’s body was finished being built in early 2001 but their unique personhood didn’t really come to fruition until February 18th, 2002, so that’s what I consider their ‘birthday’.) Ultimately, however, while a few of the Muses excelled some did not perform to expectations, the project fell behind schedule, investors lost interest, and a minor scandal involving a casualty happened, resulting in the project being shut down. The Muses were placed in indefinite storage, the data gained from their short existence used on other projects such and some of the tech advancements used to inform future decisions by the company. And it would have stayed that way, if not for the fact that in 2018 Ingrid Day was revealed to be The Locust in a conflict where Enid tried to defend her against a militia group who had been hired to take her down, being shot and presumably killed in the process. As The Locust she had been terrorizing Boston for over a decade trying to take it over and being involved in the deaths of over 70 people. (Which irl btw would make her like, the 8th most prolific confirmed serial killer of all time, Yikes!) Wright Industries, desperately needing to prove their hard stance against metahuman criminals and needing a PR stunt to deflect from their connection to their former CEO re-awakened Erato. They weren’t the most powerful or best performing of the Muses, but they were above average, obedient, and had an easy enough to monitor and control power set with little risk for property damage to boot, the perfect choice. Erato then took to the streets of Boston acting basically as a vigilante, following orders, stopping minor crimes, and sometimes working alongside the police. They attracted the attention of The Viceroy, a semi-retired 56 year old hero who never registered in spite of it being compulsory legally. They both have the ability to copy the powers of others, though he can just by sight, and he has body elasticity too. These make him durable and extremely adaptable, add to that his detective skills and he’s something of a local Boston legend. He took them in as his Protégé. Though they remained distant for quite some time with Erato still coming and going between his place and Wright Industries, having promised not to reveal his assistance to the doctors who Erato reported their work to. It was this way for about a year and a half before the campaign started and Erato began living with Viceroy full time, no longer wanting to go back to Wright Industries as they began to think more independently and consider what they wanted for them self more. During this time Erato had chance encounters with each of the other characters a few times as they also did minor vigilante work, peaking with a villain who is a member of Superhuman, an extremist pro-metahuman group, attacked the school that Josephine, Les, and Amanda all attend. After that incident Erato was prompted by Viceroy to contact each of these other young potential heroes to form a team, The Upstarts. Additionally during this time Viceroy took in Enid who had been abandoned by her biological father and had been getting bounced around foster care. Over time the three of them have become kind of a weird family, living in a warehouse full of cats with a couple of bedrooms grafted on and an ultra secret basement lair underneath full of advanced stuff Viceroy makes. Though Erato and Enid have definitely had their ups and down, more recently in the story (and we’ve been doing this campaign for well over a year now) they’ve been putting in serious effort to better their relationship and be good adoptive siblings to one another. I love their relationship a lot, they’re good kids.

That gets us up to the start of the campaign but hoo boy, I’ve been writing for like, an hour now. Since then Erato’s helped take down a nazi-aligned terrorist organization, they’ve got a boyfriend in their teammate, Les, and they’ve made friends outside of their core group of teammates. They’ve also enrolled in school doing well on some classes and poorly in others, namely learning how to Code and Woodworking. Currently they’re at a sleep away summer camp for superpowered kids called Camp Justice, about 10 miles outside of Boston. They really, really hate it there. Constant supervision, being made to do tests, things scheduled out against their will, inability to leave the area? Yeah that certainly reminds them of something. The difference between it and school, which does share these features, is they wanted to go to school. They very much Did Not want to go to camp. As a result they’re finally going to have to start facing the trauma they’ve got from their origin and also actually tell the others other than Les and Amanda about their sisters. Whiiiiich...Enid saw one of them disassembled and showed off in parts at a school science fair display set up by Wright Industries to gauge interest in students. And she hasn’t mentioned this to Erato...for 4 months Uh Oh! Lastly, here’s my tag I use mostly for art I make of them, it includes some texts posts and picrew dumps too though, lol. Feel free to look!

[the-other-dragon]

Nice of you to use tags and not bother arguing properly. So technically Tiana is a frog throughout her whole film and the film doesn’t revolve around where she comes from. Guess Disney identity for her doesn't matter. (Btw in original story The princess is european white girl. Disney made her black. She can pretty much be any race). (If you find Tiana changing her physical identity stupid you should find them changing Ariel to be stupid). Buzzwords are funny. Keep em coming sweetie.

Hello. Thanks for taking the time to read my tags. I can see this is in response to the whole “Not My Ariel” feud that was going on a few days ago and judging by this response, this seems like you’re attacking me though I’m not sure whether it’s b/c you think I’m for or against her not being white. So I’ll take the time to respond: I’m FOR Ariel being black. So let’s unpack this really ambiguous message.

First: I like writing in the tags b/c I don’t like bombarding my thoughts/musings on someone else’s post. I write it in the tags so people can either look through it or ignore it.

On to the important bits. When did I mention Tiana in the tags?? Also it wasn’t “technically” she really was a frog throughout the whole movie. I’d say she was human for about 20 min and the rest she was a frog. Now I’m somewhat familiar w/ the story of “The Frog Prince” but I do know it was written in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm who were German. If that’s what you mean by in the original story the characters were European white, well technically you’re correct. Grimm more than likely wrote that story w/ the intention that the characters were white and the story is set in Europe, but that’s as European as it’s gonna get. The main elements of the story is: witch turns prince into frog and frog suffers consequences until woman gives him true loves kiss. Are there any specific elements that indicate it HAS to be a German woman to kiss him? Does the witch tell him he HAS to be in a specific German location for the true loves kiss to activate? I’m asking these redundant German related questions b/c it doesn’t really pertain to the story does it? Which brings me to my next point

Identity. “The Princess and the Frog” Tiana is a young black girl living in 1920s New Orleans, with the majority of the population being black (I’m talking irl not just what Disney presented on film). I’ve only seen this movie once so what I briefly remember about the plot is a prince gets fucked over by a voodoo magician? And has to figure out a way to become human again but accidentally brings a girl along for the adventure and together they take down the voodoo man. So. Why should I even compare a Disney movie adaptation w/ the 200+ year old German fairytale in the first place? Context. Mainly, w/ Tiana’s identity.

All Tiana wants is to run her own restaurant but the only thing that’s stopping her is not having enough money. This can be blamed b/c of systemic racism, especially prominent in the era of Jim Crow (1870-1960). Of course, Disney isn’t going to unpack ALL OF THAT on a kids movie, but looking through the subtext, we can easily determine that no matter how dedicated she is, how many hours she works, how much money she saves, how amazing of a cook she is, she STILL doesn’t have her restaurant open, even if she is adored by the patrons in the cafe she works at. Meanwhile her white friend is living the high life w/ absolutely no worries and daddy can get her whatever she wants w/ out lifting a finger. Tiana works thrice as hard as anybody and she hasn’t even made a dent close enough to earn the type of money her friend flaunts, so what gives?

Then a miracle happens w/ frog prince Naveen and he convinces her if they kiss he will make her rich. She needed the leverage to make her dream come true and finally get the payoff she deserves for all the hard work she’s put in for so many years. Their kiss was just supposed to be a transaction, but then the whole “true loves kiss” story line happened and the rest is history. So would the story be different if Tiana was white?

Yes. Mainly, Tiana’s motivation for kissing Naveen would’ve been different. Now, I’m not saying there weren’t working class white people in 1920 who would’ve loved the hypothetical chance at easy cash just by kissing a frog. But it’s integral to the story, specifically in the context of a BLACK GIRL in 1920, the midst of separate but equal ideology. I’m positive that if a white girl worked the same waitress job as Tiana, she’d make a bit more money than her and work less hours/perform less demanding tasks b/c of her white privilege.

So do I find that Ariel being black is stupid? No. B/c once again, it’s all about context. The original fairytale was written in 1837 by Hans Christen Anderson, who was Danish. We can assume that he wrote it in the context of Danish human characters. But mermaids? Fictional and therefore have no race/nationality b/c that’s just a construct society automatically bestows onto anything that exists. So let’s just assume that Atlantis is a real place, what would a mermaid’s race be? Any of them. If we assume Atlantis is in the Atlantic Ocean, then it stretches across many of the continents on the hemisphere. So she could either be Danish or Algerian or Colombian. Therefore, it literally doesn’t matter what race a mermaid is! A MERMAID IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER FROM A FICTIONAL PLACE WHERE RACIAL LABELS DONT APPLY TO THEM.

It sucks that it’s 2019 and people still go bat shit crazy about a black person playing a fictional character that was portrayed as white. I’ve seen many people say “but Ariel was memorable b/c of her red hair!” Y’all. Hair dye exists, and many actors have used it to change their natural color to fit whatever role. And tbh, she’s memorable b/c she’s a MERMAID. If you want a memorable redhead princess out there who’s human her name is Merida from Brave. She’s a badass archer who fought for her own hand in marriage b/c she wanted to keep being independent. Or Ana from Frozen, she saved her sister from going feral w/ the power of familial love and her strong spirit. But I get it. She’s a Classic Disney Princess and the nostalgia will be tarnished if she’s not “as close to the canon as possible.”

Also side note: when you said if I find Tiana changing her physical identity stupid I would find them changing Ariel stupid too, did you mean human form or racial form? B/c w/ Tiana, if she never changed into a frog, the movie would’ve ended fairly quickly. I mean maybe she could’ve still helped Naveen but again, what motivation would she have had since he lied to her in the beginning. Ariel physically changing to a human though? Literally the plot point of the story, you can’t change that for obvious reasons.

[doc-boredom]

sorry im kinda new to your blog and i dont really understand this drama or whatever with the people that keep sending you asks? are people mad at you for writing rpf or the shipping or something? i have no context for whats going on

Oh hello friend let me tell you

THE DRAMA

There’ll be a tl;dr at the bottom  but i really wanna tell this story cos it’s so funny to me

also read more because it gets LONG

So once upon a time Natalie got into a group called TWRP. Amazing wonderful LOVELY group of aliens (aliens and robot, technically? lore is silly fun and also part of this story so get ready to return to this) from the future of the 1980s -glorious chorus of heavenly angels in the distance- 

at the same time! natalie was also drafting up the VERY beginnings of her space pirate epic SWIFT LIKE MERCURY, the idea was this: Julian a space pirate, ding dong the reluctant alien space prince, but who would be in julian’s crew!? lots of suggestions were thrown around in YE OLDE DINGDULIAN CHAT back in august and none of them worked. maybe this wouldn’t be a fic, maybe it was all for naught.

and then the sexy sexy cone man hip thrusted his way into her life.

that IS to say I fell in love with TWRP at the NSP show i went to with my best friend. i didn’t know WHOMST the fuck they were so seeing them come out in stage in full costume HIGH OFF MY ASS was probably one of the most memorable things in my life. We drove back to the hotel, DD and Julian were streaming katamari, I bought tickets for ANOTHER TWRP show in my hometown that were twelve dollars and then I found 

THE WIKI

COMMANDER MEOUCH SOMETHING SOMETHING SPACE PIRATE

I was flabbergasted. NOT ONLY was there lore for this amazing band BUT here was the answer staring me right in the face. JULIAN WAS A FURRY, HIM HAVING A LION MAN AS HIS SECOND IN COMMAND WOULD BE PERFECT. i quickly told the chat (to which they all went ??? and didn’t quite take to it at the time) and then promptly CRASHED until the following morning.

so! i woke up, our CO adventure continued (we saw IT) and I started to discuss some plot ideas with the chat. At the same time I started to actually glance at the tumblr fandom. Oh wow! Everyone HAD THEIR OWN IDEAS! It was open to explore! How fun! They created face canons and personalities and stories for the boys and I’d be damned if my crazy plot making ass (who years before had looked at supernatural and said “crowley become the first cross road demon by making a deal with judas which killed judas and brought jesus back to life, thus creating the resurrection story” and was going to write a whole past lives destiel fic spanning back to ADAM AND EVE) wouldn’t take that and run. I made the post. TWRP IS GONNA BE IN MY OP FIC!!! I was so excited to start this, to make something amazing.

“dont put twrp in your OP fic”

I looked at the ask in COMPLETE confusion. wait! they didn’t even know HOW I was going to put them in! they could literally just be playing music in a scene! my petty scorpio ass felt a rage of which i had not felt in months. “fuck you.” it said. “NOW I HAVETO WRITE THE FIC YOU BITCH.”

(spite was one of the biggest driving forces in creating SLM and to me that’s why i think you see the story and the voice of it change over time because it became a thing of love but thaT’S NOT THE POINT)

so here i am having a grand ol’ time and im coming up with my boys and im like YEAH HELL YEAH and all my dingdulian friends are like oh hey i actually LIKE TWRP? and i got a PM from someone who will remain anonymous but who is a close friend of mine now

“hey, loving all the new stuff you’re bringing to the fandom!” they started. there was a bit more conversation and then IT happened.

“Just be careful about shipping.”

I looked at the message and another quickly followed. “nsfw gets weird too”

my scorpio ass, also fueled by love of all things sexual and romantic, looked at this with a growing sense of dread. I HAD ACTUALLY BEEN SETTING UP A SMALL SUNG AND MEOUCH SHIP. WELL SHIT! THAT HAD TO GO APPARENTLY?! I told my friends and we all rolled our eyes but we ACCEPTED IT. That’s what it was apparently.

Until I thought about Havve fucking Ding Dong with his robot dick while Sung held him in place and played up to DD’s praise kink

“oh no.” i said softly because that one fucking day dream planted the seed of needing to do something. sung would be so loving and so wonderful and who was i to let that just slip through my fingers! so i just approached cremedoodle (creator of WW, RR, and FF) and went “haha uh, what about ww chris and sung for a threesome in the fic crazy right”

and it wasn’t THAT crazy

especially when it became just WW and Sung

and god damn it were they in LOVE

“we can’t do this.” i said after a few hours of us coming up with all this ROMANTIC shit and some sexy shit too let’s be honest, it’s me after all. “oh god we’re doing this, aren’t we?”

so we decided to do it. fuck it. all caution thrown to the wind. the moment sung and ww “met” over the vid feed in chapter 6 i got a feeling of intense dread in my stomach. i couldn’t believe it, i was really doing this, they were really going to be in LOVE oh  my GOD.

no comments.

oh.

beach bonfire chapter where julian and dd point out how fucked sung was since he was obviously into ww 

no comments.

CHAPTER WHERE THEY WERE DRUNK AND MAKING OUT.

NO COMMENTS.

In that moment i realized something very sad but also very liberating.

the twrp fans that were all fucking awful weren’t reading my fic.

i wanted them to read it. i had put time into it. i wanted them to see my budding lore and like it, but at the same time the OP fandom was taking to it so well and enjoying TWRP so i said fuck it, ill take it.

We started to talk about Ring Rang and Phobos, sarah and I started talking about Meouch and Liara. it was going to be good, it was going to be fun.

and then i fucked up

that’s right

me

i came home from a crazy trip in MN and I was in a shit mood and I accidentally published Sung/WW fluff drabbles in the tag

I got fucking ripped a new one. i was a piece of shit for even ever thinking that was okay. “YOU’RE BEING DISRESPECTFUL! THEY’RE REAL PEOPLE! DON’T DO T HIS!”

yeah you read that right.

TWRP fanDUMB thinks that my adorable sweet Lepid Phobos, with his big eyes and his missing wings and his penchant for romance novels, my hyperactive sung with his star singing and his empathatic core WERE THE SAME GUYS ON STAGE.

This is literally what all of this drama is about.

It was in that terrible slew of fucking stupidity that I realized I didn’t care. It was TOO late at that point. They should have seen it sooner. They should have gotten me sooner. I had somehow slipped under the radar and I had beat them, in a strange sense, because not only did I care

i was going to keep doing it.

FAST FORWARD TO THIS YEAR (i know, this story is still going) i make a nsfw, i start posting my sung/ww extra chapters there because im too much of a pussy to put them in the fic still. my friend gets me to write a meouch/dd/julian fic. im just about to post a havve/sung thing when IT happens.

The fake screenshot.

a blog that posted jUST this and a post about the device (an album by the band) put this out into the open and deleted IMMEDIATELY afterwards. the fandom went into shitstorm mode. i cried on and off the whole day because i was being harrassed by anons and my friends were too. 

but the more i looked at it

the more i started to REALLY understand how it was fake.

not only does it not have the usual bubble to the right (it should show that twrp has seen the most recent message even if it’s their own) it doesn’t touch on the fact that the OP said something about lore? even to say “hey, lore’s cool! that’s not the problem” would make more sense

also

they never responded to any of my friends

sure they read it, but following a slew of desperate users trying to get answers they never made an official statement so my gay ass pulled out the wine and said YOU’RE GOING TO MOPE AND THEN YOU’RE GOING TO KEEP DOING YOU.

So we’re here now, with the fact that I know things about the band irl and the fact that I have shipping and people are pissed and I really don’t care. the info i know about the band i keep safe and SIMPLY SAYING A GENERIC WHITE DUDE NAME IS NOT REASON TO START A WITCH HUNT (not going to elaborate on this, this is only posted for the sake of anyone who is on the hate train who may be reading this) this is where fiction does not equal reality. i dont  look at havve and go AH YES THERE IS MURDER MAN, IF HE IS NOT MURDER MAN WHEN THEY GET OFF STAGE ILL BE UPSET because thats STUPID? Like literally the IRL band members created personas and lore that they then gave to the fans to expand upon and also sorry guys,,,, it’s the internet,, in the words of DD “it’s weird” but you can’t ask people to stop. it won’t stop. that’ll just fuel the fire

so yes, i like twrp shipping and i like shippng with my ocs and i like writing about how sometimes when you touch sung’s core it turns him on and about how meouch has a knot because im a fucking awful skanko but at least im having fun lmfao

so

TL;DR

shipping is apparently illegal and so is nsfw in the twrp fandom and i do both unapologetically and i hope i inspire  other people to start doing it more often. 

the twrp fandom is not like this anywhere else btw. this is just tumblr being tumblr, as usual. you’re not going to get brownie points because you didn’t let me write sung fucking his hot gf you absolute dumb dumbs, you’re not going to get anything from it except for an inflated ego which you’ll lord over everyone, so do me the favor of expiring in a trench and let the fandom do what it’s supposed to do

HAVE FUN!

[jamiebluewind]

Oh my gosh this is so sweet! Thank you hun ^_^

God. I have so many to tag because I adore you all! I know I haven't been around much and just lurking since the move, but you all mean so much to me. I haven't forgotten any of you. Here are just a few of you I happened to think of mentioning...

@winterpower98, you are a precious wonderful bean. The art you made for my birthday last year is still my homescreen. I want all the food that you sent me pictures of and wish I could visit you irl. So many hugs!

@fuocsniperbot98, my little rainbow demon seal. Adore you and your quirky amazing randomness. You helped me learn to be okay with whatever pronoun people decide to use for me and I can never thank you enough for that.

@fangirltothefullest, you are precious, talented, and all over the place and I love it. You create so many AUs on a whim and your art makes so many people happy. You are a hoot to talk to even when college and life has you drained. I loved helping you out when I could.

@awkward-turtle-patton, you send me the most random PMs! A message from you can be a picture of a stuffed turtle or a completely random question out of the blue.

@parano--vigilant, I always enjoy chatting with you. You're a beautiful person with beautiful art and your reactions are priceless.

@thesearcher1092, love your art and your adorable personality. Thank you for all the chats.

@crystrifoglio, thank you for pushing me to make a tumblr and share my short story and proof reading. I hope school is going well. Still love your art btw. You too @menacefh! You are such a bean. I'm lucky to know you and I hope everything is going great.

@5am-the-foxing-hour, your love of Deceit is legendary. I love your expressiveness.

@random-pianist, I know you don't talk to people on here much, so I'm honored that I got to talk to you and that you enjoyed our many conversations. The coloring you did on my birthday art was beautiful.

@uwillneverknowwho, you are so energetic, supportive, and full of compliments towards the creators and users you like! It's a beautiful thing to see.

@dillbugg, you are always so open and honest with me and I feel honored to be a part of your life.

@flamingfawkes, god. You are just amazing. You work so hard. Sometimes you care too much. You have so much passion for literature rather it's one of the classics or fanfiction. You are precious.

@madly-handsome, I adore how macabre you can get sometimes and how fluffy too. It's great to take to you.

@shoot-i-messed-up, thank you for being my very first follower and just being awesome. I've loved seeing you express yourself with your writing.

And hugs to each and every one of you ^_^

Internet friend: says ily for the first time

Me:

[winsister91]

>send an ask: get to know your author ---> all the number >:3

ARE YOU SERIOUS? Damn. Did not expect this. Well you asked for it!! 

Lemme just go ahead and pop a ‘keep reading’ here coz this shit’s gonna get lengthy.

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?Got a ton of ideas I noted down and still haven't got around to doing? Does that count? I’m lazy and think faster than I write.

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?Published online? Not really. Unpublished? LOADS.

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?Generally chronological when doings fanfics. The piece of shit novel that I’ll never finish has been all over the place.

4) favorite character you’ve writtenAlways love writing Dean

5) character you were most surprised to end up writingDidn’t expect a request to write Richard Speight Jnr fluff! Shocked me a little. But it was fun to do!

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change nowI ballsed up Three Wrongs Make a Right. I had a vision for the ending, but then went off in a completely different direction and backed myself into a corner. Now I dont know how to continue it DX

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?Bit of both I guess. I’m more comfortable with strangers reading my stuff tho. There’s a very select few people I know IRL who have actually read stuff I’ve done. I’ll tell people I write, if they ask to see it, nine times out of ten it’s a huge HELL NO.

8) favorite genre to writeWhen writing original works, I always fall into fantasy. Fanfics I'm a sucker for fluff.

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?I listen to game/movie soundtracks! I dunno why, just helps me visualise stuff and get in the groove.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?Alone with background noise.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?Pfft. I don’t think it has haha I’m maybe more confident in actually doing it these days maybe?

12) your weaknesses as an authorGRAMMAR. Super dialogue heavy. Suck at setting and describing scenery.

13) your strengths as an author:S IDK. I may be dialogue heavy but I’d like to think it’s decent dialogue at least?

14) do you make playlists for your current wips?Nah.

15) why did you start writing?Simple, I just enjoy it. Writing is super hard tho, but I enjoy attempting to tell stories and hope it entertains someone :)

16) are there any characters who haunt you?*shrugs* dont think so?

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?LEARN TO GRAMMAR. QUICKLY COZ YOU STILL CAN’T DO IT AGED 26 FGS YOU HAVE AN A-LEVEL IN ENGLISH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?Uuuh...maybe? I’m not observant enough to notice coz I’m a dumb :3

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?PLAN PLAN PLAN. Or just wing it and hope for the best. Depends on my mood.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?I came to Tumblr during a fortnight off work, so the sessions were looooong and stretching into the stupidly early morning hours. Then I had to go back to work *sulk*. so now its more short bursts coz I’m too damn tired all the time.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?This sucks. That sucks. Why do I subject people to this trash? NB: this applies to current works too.

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?If it makes me that uncomfortable, I simply won’t write it I guess. Is that cowardly? I don’t like writing abuse.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?Lived in a pub in my childhood, have always worked in customer services so I have met and spoken too some nice/fun/weird/creepy people over the years. No doubt some of them will have creeped into the writings. Again, I’m not observant enough to fully notice tho.

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?I wouldn’t say ‘expert’ but I got a request to write a migraine fic (which can be found heeeeere), and I’ve never experienced one. So I did some googling, found a page where people described how a migraine actually felt to them, looked up suggested home remedies, what happens when a migraine comes on etc etc The overall feedback I got from that fic was that I got the description pretty damn accurate! Which was pretty cool :) I would never wish a migraine on anybody btw.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud ofOh god...guess I better scavenge and see if I actually like any of it...Okay, I’m gonna go with this chunk out of This Means War

“Round 1You skulk up to the blonde Dean has been chatting up just as he goes to the bar to grab them both a drink.“Hey,” you whisper and the girl turns to you puzzled, “My sister hooked up with that guy a week or so ago. Crabs.”Dean approaches while you dance with a baby-faced cutie.“Again?” he says, pulling out his fake FBI ID, “I'll let you off this night Miss Spankalot, but I catch you in here looking for customers again, I'll have to take you in.” Round 2You run up and slap Dean amongst a group of girls on their hen night.“You bastard!” You cry over dramatically, “You're other wife just called to tell you she's pregnant! With triplets!”“She's loopy that one,” Dean mumbles to your next victim, “I heard she pokes holes in condoms and goes crazy screaming you'll be the perfect happy family.” Round 3Dean wanders over to the guy eyeing you up. You watch as he points at you and lip read him saying, “Has a penis.”You make eye contact over Dean’s shoulder to the brunette he's charming. You lean forward, nodding you head towards Dean and announcing, “Micro-penis.””I just really enjoyed writing this chunk. Fun and pranky Dean is always a joy. I like how ridiculous he and reader are getting over a silly bet and determined to one up and sabotage each other. One of my finer moments in attempted comedy I feel :)

THERE ARE YOU HAPPY NOW! (That was actually really fun, thankyouloveyoubye)

[couchcushings]

Random question, but what are your favourite things about Maine? (I've always wanted to go there- it looks like a really pretty state)

Wow, OK, first of all: sorry for how long it took me to answer this. By my estimate it’s 1630 yr time rn and that’s a lot after I said I was gunna post this but I really wanna do Maine justice because like.... I love it. Let’s go!

1) It is REALLY beautiful

I mean, the ocean in hands down one of the best parts of living here. It’s beautiful and sounds amazing and good for wading in. The first pic is of that one lighthouse you’re always seeing pics of. It’s Portland Head Light and it was commissioned by George Washington so we tend to get a little high and mighty about it, lol. The second pic is of Casco Bay and you can see what I’m pretty sure are, respectively, Long and House Islands.

It’s also got this really great diversity about the landscape. I live about a half hour outside of one of the biggest cities in the state and I essentially live in the country. There are two farms on our road and a little further down there are a couple of horse farms. The neighbors have chickens. They’re fast. And mean.

2) It’s DEFINITELY Lovecraft Country

So HP was a dick irl, but he wrote amazing horror stories and they all take place in Rhode Island and New England and a few of them take place in Maine. He talks about the deep, dark woods and the ancient things that lie within. If you go south west into York County, you really feel like you’ve gone back in time and you start to hear like banjo music and everything feels lethargic and just a little sticky. It’s all decay and long abandoned houses and barns and there is 100% something Ancient and Dangerous that Will Eat You lurking in the backwoods.

It might be one of these:

(Which, btw, if you do visit and see a moose DO NOT GET OUT OF YOUR CAR LIKE THESE IDIOTS. MOOSE ARE HUGE AF AND MEAN AF AND THEY WILL KILL YOU. My dad is a hunter and he said that if you encounter one while deer hunting and it charges you you better be a good shot because it will Fuck You Up if it gets close enough.)

3) The diversity is amazing.

So I can’t talk about Maine without talking about where I work. I work in a grocery store between two low income neighborhoods. There are two sketchy hotels within walking distance and a homeless encampment on the other side of the highway. We’re also less than a mile from the local strip club. (Don’t think about where the $2 bills come from DON’T THINK ABOUT IT.) I see people from EVERY walk of life. On a daily basis I’ll talk to at least two or three members of our local homeless population (they’re really nice, one of them was tickled pink by my last Halloween costume). 

Maine is also a major entrance port for refugees. Within the last four years I’ve meet people from all over the world. We have a large Somalian population and I’ve meet Vietnamese and Cambodian and Iraqi and West African and East African people. And you know what? I love it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. (On a side note, my favorite customer is an Arabic Muslim lady who came in on one of the hardest nights I’ve ever had in the service desk. It was the middle of Ramadan, she was wearing yellow from head to toe, smelled like jasmine, and stood quietly in the back of the line reading her Quran until it was her turn. She told me I was doing a good job. I almost cried. At some point I really want to tell her how much that meant to me, but I WILL CRY if I try so *shrug*)

Which brings me to my last point, which kinda has to do with our being a refugee port, because who’s bright idea was it to bring people from Sub-Saharan Africa to a place where the average temperature is “witch’s tits in a brass bra.” (You can thank my sweet, conservative Christian mother for that phrase. But if you do, get ready for a hug. You’re getting one.)

4) It’s really really fucking cold.

It snowed three feet the night before I took this picture. The dashboard clock in our car FROZE and hasn’t worked since this morning. We lost power for three days. We’re the second northern most state in this great nation. Second only to Alaska. Did you know that it can get too cold to snow? It can get too cold to snow. This past winter I walked across the parking lot to Chipotle to get lunch and walked back over and when I walked in the door my glasses froze solid. I had contact burns from the AIR. One of the ladies from meat was concerned because I was so pink that she asked if I was sick.

I took this picture in... April?? and, as you can see, it was snowing. In April. It snowed in May this year and then it rained for a whole month. There’s a saying in Maine: If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.

5) That’s really it I mean...

It is a beautiful state. If you want the “”real”” Maine experience because those are the places from all the pics you see. Southern Maine is also nice, which I have to say because, yknow, I live there. So, if you do visit, stop in and we’ll share a Moxie and I’ll buy you lunch at the local Greek pizzeria c:

[hotfitnesstopics]

July, July… I adore you.  What a lovely month.  I spent it with dear friends, and even made a trip to my very favorite place with my friend Crystal (picture below.) Let’s cover all the *current* topics today.  Please note:  I’ve included a few affiliate links below. CURRENT READS For the first time in FOREVER, I’ve been reading… and LOVING it.  When I was away for a few days, I devoured two books. They were BOTH amazing.  The new Emily Giffin book takes place in Nashville and is scandalously delightful.  I literally couldn’t put it down, and my friend Crystal read it in like a day!  Click here to purchase.  You’re going to love it! After reading All We Ever Wanted, I really didn’t think that The Perfect Couple could compare.  Oh my goodness… it was so so good, and I stayed up until about 1am to finish it.  Elin Hilderbrand never disappoints…   Click here to see more details. CURRENT BURRATA TOUR My friend Erin and I love Burrata.  If you’ve never had burrata, it’s the most amazing cheese ever.  I believe when Erin had it for the first time, she called it “Cheese Butter” and that’s pretty much what it is.  Fresh mozzarella is stretched over a ball of amazing ricotta.  Really delicious. We decided to meet up on a Friday night for a Burrata Tour.  We hit three different restaurants to try their burrata, and let me assure you… it did not disappoint. L to R:  Burrata and Bacon Board at Postino, Burrata at Marcellas, and (dessert) Burrata with Cherry-Pomegranate Jam and Pink Peppercorn Crackers at The Beast and Bottle.  Note: The Beast and Bottle Burrata was our favorite.  It was definitely a fun idea for a night out.  Progressive dinner, but totally different… I definitely want to do it again.  We’ll need to come up with another amazing dish to sample, of course… CURRENT BLOGGER SPOTTING I was booked to be in Vegas for work, and the magic of the internet showed me that my dear friend Ashley from Balancing Today in town as well!  As you can imagine, Ashley living in DC and I in Colorado, we don’t have a chance to cross paths very often.  We met for a beverage at the Bellagio, and it was time extremely well spent in Las Vegas.  So great to see her! Obsessed with the Bellagio, I also snapped a few shots of the classiest casino on the Las Vegas Strip… There’s nothing like the conservatory and a delicious Cable Car martini.  I shared the recipe for that amazing cocktail a few years back.  You can find it here. CURRENT OUTDOOR SPOT I’m still loving walking around the lake I love in Colorado.  With cooler weather coming in over the weekend, I couldn’t make it to the pool, but I definitely made it to my lake.  This view never ever gets old. CURRENT BINGE WATCHING I really don’t watch much television, until I do.  Ugh.  After hearing so many people talk about Vanderpump Rules, I’ve finally started watching it on Hulu. While I’m enjoying it and get sucked in almost every day, I hate that I’m spending my days in front of the TV.  It’s on while I’m blogging right now, for example…  But, I love these crazy kids.  So addictive. CURRENT ACCESSORY I think summer has been all about the wicker bag trend, and of course, I joined in on the fun.  This bag from Fab’rik is my fave. CURRENT TRADER JOE’S FIND I’m obsessed with these frozen chicken tenderloins.  I toss them in my air fryer – – 370 degrees for 11 minutes.  Then, they just need to be tossed in buffalo sauce and placed on a beautiful salad.  Perfection!  Each tender is 110 calories… not bad! CURRENT BEVERAGE My beverage of choice continues to be rosé all day…  I even found the cutest top for 4th of July in its honor… CURRENT ART ADDITION I spotted this piece at West Elm, and with a hot 4th of July sale underway… I thought it would be just the thing to make my entryway pop.  I need some help getting it hung, and then it will be on display.  Single girl problems… CURRENT HAIR PRODUCT OBSESSION When I got my hair colored in late June, I was shocked by how soft my hair was.  When I texted my stylist to tell her thank you, she told me that she used this product on my hair:  Joico K PAK Color Therapy Luster Lock Daily Shine and Protect Spray.  I use it on my hair when it’s wet and before I come through it and dry it.  Really incredible stuff… highly recommend it. CURRENT RUG IDEA Social media is truly a blessing and a curse.  You can find so many ideas and inspiration on Instagram… but then again, you can find things so easily on Instagram which can quickly become a shopping problem.  Whether cute clothes, recipe ideas, or design inspiration, it’s all there.  Enter this rug… and the fact that I’ve been thinking my living room is a little too monochromatic. Isn’t it adorable?  This designer btw has such similar taste to me.  I love her stuff and highly recommend a follow.  Can you guys see this in my place?  I mean, I think it would be the perfect addition… sigh.  Again, it’s way too easy to find things via social media. CURRENT LUCKY MOMENT When I was in Vegas, I spent some time at the Roulette table betting on my lucky numbers.  I have this trick where when I win and they give me big chips, I put them in my pocket so that I don’t lose everything.  At the end of the night, I thought I was up $50 and thought that was good enough.  We had played for two hours… so it wasn’t so bad.  I went to the cashier to cash in my chips and headed to my room. When I got changed, I found this in my pocket… much to my surprise! There’s nothing like finding extra chips in your pocket at the end of the night!  Even better when you actually remember to cash them in. True story, I’ve come home with chips which is the worst.  Yay for winning $100 at the roulette table! CURRENT MOVIE Mid-week 4th of July isn’t the most exciting, but I made the best of it with a trip to the theater to see a badass movie with my friend Brandi and her family.  Have y’all seen Oceans 8?  Loved it… CURRENT TRAVEL PIC I spotted a rainbow at Denver International Airport this month.  Is there anything more beautiful and magical than a rainbow?  I think not. CURRENT JACKET LOVE I seriously spend too much time at Target.  But seriously, what am I supposed to do when they have cute things like this jacket.  Love it. CURRENT BEETMANIA I currently have a beet obsession going on.  Who’s kidding who – – this has gone on for a while… but it’s next level right now. L to R:  The Beet Salad from Root Down DIA, Beet Ravioli at T Bones at Red Rock Casino Las Vegas and an amazing Beet Caprese I made Sunday night.  Of note, the Beet Ravioli is one of the best things that I’ve eaten in a long time – – try it next time you’re in Sin City! View my previous “Currently” posts here: Currently: June 2018 Currently: April 2018 Currently: March 2018 Currently: February 2018 Currently: January 2018 Currently: December 2017 Currently: September/October 2017 Currently: August 2017 Currently: July 2017 Currently: June 2017 Related posts: Currently: February 2014 Currently: March 2014 Currently: June 2016 Currently: July 2018 originally appeared on No Thanks to Cake on 07/30/2018. from No Thanks to Cake https://ift.tt/2K7j0Yv via IFTTT

http://www.fitnessclub.cf/2018/07/currently-july-2018.html