#but not one that 'Mericans are familiar with

[authoratmidnight]

This is bothering me and i gotta know.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Snailspace

Debut: Yo-Kai Watch 3

Wow. A regular, cartoon snail, huh? No frills, nothing? There is no clever concept on display here. I mean, a snail itself is a clever concept! A squishy, vulnerable creature that carries its own armor to retract into? That's awesome! But Yo-Kai Watch 3 did not make this concept. Animals made this concept. This is pretty much nothing but a cartoon snail.

And I love those!!! Yippee!!! You're telling me this monster collecting game lets me befriend a regular cartoon snail and train it to be a STRONG snail? And lets it follow me around town wherever I go? And lets me PLAY as it? Yowza! There must be a catch here... but there isn't!

Perhaps I am just very easy to impress in some regards, but I am very happy that Snailspace is JUST a snail, with no funny business going on. Nothing to detract from it. I can't think of an example of something that would detract. I'm tired. But Snailspace is perfect the way it is, is what I'm saying. ESPECIALLY because it has eyestalks! My favorite feature on a creature!

I would like to talk about a different collectible snail monster for a moment. Hello Magcargo! You are a wonderful snail monster! A snail made of lava with a rock shell is an extremely awesome concept, and executed well! Magcargo even has big drippy mouth drips, reminiscent of a gastropod's tentacles! But it just doesn't have eyestalks, and to me, that is a very big deal. Magcargo's face looks like a frog's, and I love frogs, we all do, but this is a snail monster! I just always think that an animal-based design should take advantage of the unique features of the animal.

In fact, I once did this little edit of Magcargo's original sprite to give it eyestalks, and I instantly love it so much more! Eye positioning does so much for a design's overall personality! Eyestalks are really just one of the coolest anatomical features a creature can have, and I don't know why, so often, they will be completely ignored in fictional snail designs, inevitably making the design LESS striking than it would otherwise be. I know not all snails in real life have eyestalks, of course, but they are really such an iconic feature, absolutely perfect for exaggerating in a design.

Maybe it's not fair to spend so much of Snailspace's post talking about a different, much more known snail monster. There is stuff to love about Snailspace itself! I love its sleepy eyelids, I love its weird tall mouth, I love its color scheme! I guess it's not just ANY cartoon snail. You know... maybe there's not a such thing as just a cartoon snail. Whether intentional or not, any given person drawing a snail will put their own spin on it, however subtle. And isn't that wonderful? No one draws a snail quite like you do!

If you are not familiar with Yo-Kai Watch, I would like to delight you with some Funny Facts. Firstly, Yo-Kai are organized into "tribes" that each tend to excel in certain battle attributes. Snailspace is a member of my favorite tribe, which is Slippery! A whole official category of slimy and/or wiggly creatures! Snailspace is right at home with snakes, fish, frogs, bananas, and even a bungee jumping teapot!

Snailspace is also classified as a 'Merican Yo-Kai. The third game features the protagonist moving from Japan to America, and meeting American Yo-Kai! The localization, however, had previously tried to convince he had been in America the whole time. How did they get around this? Instead of moving overseas to the USA, he moves further south to a different region, called BBQ! It is so stupid. I love it.

'Merican Yo-Kai are a weird category. Sometimes they're based on American stereotypes, but often it feels kind of like a meaningless title. I don't know why a Snail is specifically an American concept. I mean, I have certainly encountered many snails in America! I guess they're not wrong! But not every 'Merican Yo-Kai can be as iconic for the role as, for example, a baseball-playing chicken nugget.

Anyway, Snailspace is an excellent snail! It does not take much for a snail to make me smile! I hope this is true for you, too! Have you looked at a snail lately? Check under your local rocks in the dirt and maybe you just might find a marvelous mollusk to behold!

[thefrogswhospoke]

MORE TF2 HCS BECAUSE I'M SPIRALING

There's way more scout hcs than I thought I'd put but whoops. Anyway tw: mentions of schizophrenia, disassociation, and a really bad dyslexia joke

pyro - has both schizophrenia and a dissociative disorder where they space out for long periods of time and go on auto-pilot mode. - during this time, they can be incredibly apathetic and cruel on the battlefield, as well as cold and silent when back at base - pyro has been known to sneak spoonful's of sugar when spy is cooking and eat them in one bite to the Engineer's horror and Medic's dismay

scout - says his first kiss was when he was 16 with a girl a grade above him, in reality it was with his best friend just 4 months earlier when they got drunk after stealing some of one of scout's older brother's secret stashes of booze. They never spoke of it again, Scout's not even sure if his friend remembers it - scout both hates and loves spy's cooking. He likes the way it tastes, it's well made, but he doesn't like that it's not very familiar since it's mainly classic European dishes, and that it's from spy. -scout's favorite kinds of food are Italian, 'MERICAN (criminally unhealthy), French (he will NEVER admit that to any soul on earth), and Mexican - scout has ADHD and dyslexia. Constantly makes dy-SEX-ia jokes lol - if scout ever had the chance to read it, his fav book series would be the Geronimo Stilton Kingdom of Fantasy series because it's easy to read and the words change fonts often, making his dyslexia less of an issue - most if not all of scout's civilian clothes are hand-me-downs from his brothers

engineer - he prefers pie to cake. - his favorite pies are apple, cherry, and key lime - he tries to make pyro and scout eat more healthy foods like a good dad does. It doesn't work, most of the time they steal unhealthy snacks like pure sugar and BONK!

sniper - has had or will have a mullet in his life time - his sunglasses are prescription - he wears eye makeup under his eyes to stave off glare when sniping. More than once has scout called him a "Sis" for it. More than once has sniper gut-punched scout for commenting.

spy - spy is an exceptional cook and makes a wide array of classical European dishes. - spy used to look identical to scout when he was younger, just a little classier and much more fashionable to the times - spy went into his line of work against his mother's wishes

[barbra-annbunny]

Ch. 8 - It was nice

Word Count: 1.6k

Why are we running? Why are we running?

"Hinata, huff, slow down!"

"No!"

"Ugh...!"

Before we knew it Hinata had broken into a sprint at breakneck speeds. Bokuto, Kuroo, Suga, and I were running after him. Kenma, however, was being pushed in a wheelchair by Kuroo. He had refused to leave the house unless pushed in it, once he'd found out how much walking happens at car shows. Bo was right behind Hinata, Kuroo and Kenma were hot on his heels, Suga had settled into a comfortable jog while I fluctuated between a sprint and jog. I looked over my shoulder to make sure I hadn't dropped anything. But, when I looked back, none of my friend group was there.

I couldn’t see hide nor hair of them. I stopped, looking around for the back of Suga’s jacket. Hell, even the mop of red hair attached to the maniac who’d started this whole crusade would do. But the harder I looked and saw nothing familiar, the bigger the pit in my stomach grew. I patted my pockets for my phone, just to remember that I’d given my backpack to Bo to carry. The backpack that has my wallet, keys but most importantly, my phone. I groaned and started playing with my ring as I thought of what to do in this situation. I’d started to panic when a large hand tapped my shoulder. I nearly jumped three feet into the air and let out a yelp like a kicked dog.

“Ah shit, sorry ah didn’ mean t’ scare ya.”

With a hand over my heart, I replied,” It’s-it’s okay. I’m sorry, I just can’t find my friends or my phone. So, I’m a little anxious.”

“Tha makes sense. Ahm, Osamu and ya are?”

“Y/N, it’s nice to meetcha Osamu.”

“Do ya know yer frien’s numbers?”

“I do!”

My new friend let me borrow his phone so I could Suga. I yelled at him for leaving me behind, for which he apologised profusely and told me that they’d made it to Kageyama’s station? Booth? Whatever, you get what I mean. Anyway, he’d hung up after hearing Bo yell something about how he touched something hot. I looked at the black screen and then back to Osamu.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your phone.”

“O’ course. Didja figure out where ya frien’s are?”

“Um, no. Well, kind of? They got to the section (seriously what do they call those??) we came for but, I still don’t know what the name of it or where it is.”

“Ah, geez. Do ya know anything about it?”

“I know the name of the friend we were gonna see… Oh! I know it’s in that direction!” I pointed directly in front of us.

“Ah, that’s exactly where ah was headin’. Do ya wanna come with me an see if ya can find’ja friens on the way?”

“Sure!”

We started heading in that direction, talking the whole way. I found out that he’s a mechanic. As we walked around I pointed at all the cars I liked. Osamu would tell me what kind of car it was, the model, and the pros and to each car. Which was really nice since I know practically nothing about cars.

“Ya seem t’ like classic ‘merican cars.”

“I guess so.”

“Any reason fer that?”

“I dunno. They’re nice, sleek and the older ones come in really fun colours!”

That made him laugh. “They do ten’ t’ come in ‘fun’ colors. Wha’s yer fav’rite outta th’ ones ya’ve seen s’ far?”

“What, colour or car?”

“Car.” he chuckled.

“Uh, well it’s a tie between that Impala one and that VW Bus. At least in regards nto the older cars.”

“That is an… innerestin’ tie.”

“I dunno they’re both just too good!”

“Well-”

I couldn’t hear the rest of his sentence because Bo and Hina both glomped me to the point where I fell on my ass.

“WE’RE SO SORRY!” They cried.

I looked up at Osamu while I consoled the two crying overgrown men clinging to me. He looked shocked but then started laughing at me.

“Guys it’s okay. It’s not that big a deal.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Can you get off of me now?”

The boys scrambled off of me, apologizing the whole way. Osamu offered me a hand, helping me up to my feet and Bo helped me dust off. I looked up to see the rest of the boys looking at me. Before anyone could say anything, an unknown voice spoke up.

“Oh, hello Osamu.”

“Hey ‘Kaashi.”

Behind the men I knew, was a group of 5 or so men that I didn’t know. I let out a yip and hid behind Bo. Kuroo laughed at me and called me a scaredy cat, to which I shot a dirty look before I peeked over Bo’s shoulder. First thing within my line of vision was a tall man with black hair, who was staring at me curiously. Directly next to him was Osamu.

“Aw, now come on sweetheart. Ya wer’n’t ‘fraid o’ me when I met’cha.”

“Well, yeah, but you were trying to help me!”

“How’d ya know tha’ when ya’d firs’ met me?”

“To be fair I did yelp like a kicked dog.”

“True.”

“Y/N where’d you meet him?” Suga asked.

“Oh, he noticed that I was lost after y’all ran off without me!”

“Well, thank you for returning our y/n to us!” Hinata cried.

“O’ course, mah pleasure.”

“Oh Samu, let me introduce you to my friends! This is Sugawara Koushi, Bokuto Kotaro, Hinata Shoyo, Kuroo Tetsuro, and the vampire in the wheelchair is Kenma Kozume. Guys, this is Osamu.”

“Nice tah meet ch’all.”

They all greeted him. Hinata then introduced me to the man with the black hair, who turned out to be the Kageyama that he’d wanted me to meet. Kageyama gave me an awkward wave before introducing us to the other six men behind him. Turns out they, along with Kageyama and Osamu, run an auto shop that transforms old cars. Once we’d all gotten past the introductions and whatnot we all started to get to know each other. Gonna be honest, was not a fan of Suckyshima. From the beginning the asshat was making fun of me. Hinata and Suga assured me that that’s just how he is but, he was just rude.

After a couple of hours, we all started to get hungry. I offered to go pick up the food if someone ordered it. Eventually, after a lot of yelling from Hinata and Kageyama, we decided on Chipotle. (Listen, it’s relatively tasty, cheap, and has good portion sizes. Leave me alone.) Suga and Akaashi took the orders and put them in under my name. We continued talking and waited for the alert that our order was ready. Once I got the alert, I got up to head out. Osamu offered to come with me, but I insisted that I’d be just fine picking up the food by myself. After some light convincing, I got the boys to let me pick up the food. I walked to my car and drove off.

I walked in and fave the woman at the counter my name. She told me that it’d be another couple of minutes. I said that was fine and that I’d get the drinks while I waited. I filled the cups, covered them and put them into the cup holders. I reached for the straws as someone else did at the same time, resulting in us grabbing each other’s hands. I whipped my head up to see the guy from the bistro! He was even hotter up close; his head was shaved, and tattoos were visible through the very short hair. His eyes were a striking dark blue-grey colour; it felt like he was looking through me.

“Oh shit, I’ve been staring for a while, haven’t I? I should say something.” I thought.

“Oh, uh- sorry about that, I’ll just….”

He seemed to jump a little when I started speaking, and once I started pulling away, he straightened to his full height. He wasn’t short, but he wasn’t tall either; he was medium, I guess. But, with what he didn’t have in height he more than made up for in presence.

“It’s okay. No one’s hurt or anythin’.” he finally responded.

And there goes my heart. Of course, his voice is hot too.

“Uh, here’s the straw you were looking for,” I said, handing it to him.

He slowly took it from me as he said,” I hate to be weird but have we met before?”

“I think so, the bistro, right? I mean, I don’t think we actually talked, but-”

“Slow down, chatterbox. I just wanted to make sure you were who I thought you were.”

“Oh, right. Haha, sorry, I’m a little all over the place.”

“It’s okay, let me introduce myself. I’m Ryūnosuke Tanaka.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Y/N L/N. I-”

Just as I was about to ask him a question, the lady walked over with the bags of food. Before I had a chance to take the bags off her hands, Tanaka (or should I call him Ryū?) took them. I looked at him in confusion and fear that he was stealing my food.

“Keep your shorts on, you worrywart. You have enough to carry. Let me help you get this to the car, at least.”

“Oh, what about your food?”

“I ate here. I was just going to refill my drink when I ran into you.”

“Ohhh…”

“Lead the way chatterbox.”

I lead him out the door and across the street. As I started walking to the passenger side of my car I looked up to see he was not with me.

“Ayo! Where’re you going?”

“To the… Is that your car?”

“Yes, this is my car.”

“It looks like a truck and a beetle had a baby.”

“I know! Cute right?”

“Cute is one word for it.”

Ooo the friend groups finally meet!

Masterlist | <Ch. 7 | Ch. 9>

Taglist:

@kuroaka

[tick-tick-moo]

Musical ask gameeee:

💜 The musical that you keep going back and getting hyperfixated on?

😕 A musical that you have an unpopular opinion about?

🎶 Favorite soundtrack? (not musical in general, just the music)

🎧 A soundtrack that you could put on repeat for days and not get sick of?

🎼 A song that ALWAYS gets stuck in your head every time you hear it?

🎻 A specific little moment from a soundtrack that you can't get out of your head

👍 Popular opinion that needs to be voiced more?

👎 Unpopular opinion that needs to be voiced more?

🦶 Favorite musical based on choreography?

🎲 Free space to rant about anything musical related :) (adding my own note,,, especially about Lin but whichever you like)

(sorry if you got these already, I just woke up lol)

Thank you so much Serpzie!!! I had so much with these, thank you! Finally got a sec to answer 'em😅 (I just copied and pasted for the few that I answered in other asks)

(and uh it got long)

💜 The musical that you keep going back and getting hyperfixated on?

Ooooh I have phases with quite a few. So far it seems to be seasons between Phantom, Hamilton, Les Mis, and a new musical that becomes the only thing I listen to for two weeks(rn it's Encanto). I can rely on getting hyperfixated on Hamilton for a solid few months though.

😕 A musical that you have an unpopular opinion about?

Hmmmmm I'm not sure what's an unpopular or popular opinion, so idk how to answer this. My opinions normally show when you argue them, not when you ask for them hehe

🎶 Favorite soundtrack? (not musical in general, just the music)

As I told Moony, HISS.

🎧 A soundtrack that you could put on repeat for days and not get sick of?

Easy: Tick, Tick... BOOM!(Movie) and In the Heights(OBC).

🎼 A song that ALWAYS gets stuck in your head every time you hear it?

We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no.... Noooooon-Stop! *clap* NINETY-SIX THOUSAND, One Day MOORRRRRREEEEE (I did not live until todaaaaaay), turn THIRTY in the NINETIEESSSSSSS

🎻 A specific little moment from a soundtrack that you can't get out of your head

seVEN FOOT FRAME-

👍 Popular opinion that needs to be voiced more? + 👎 Unpopular opinion that needs to be voiced more?

(same answer as the 😕 one, so I'm gonna give you an opinion I was defending earlier. not sure how I feel about it yet but I have a lot of thoughts) Abuela Alma's backstory in Encanto obviously doesn't justify the way she treated her family, but it helps you understand where she was coming from. Or, at least it should. She's not evil, she's traumatized. Seeing things like people headcanoning her as homophobic or saying that the family forgived her way too quickly bothers me because it feels like people are overlooking empathy in favor of projecting their own issues onto the character. She is the antagonist and she's old, so people (*cough* 'mericans *cough* of the white variety *cough*) who can't see her as more than that relate her to their own homophobic family member, or, at least, the traits they associate with them. And having your own views of characters is great but it sucks when it means you end up missing out on a character that is so deep and complex because of your own shortsightedness.

🦶 Favorite musical based on choreography?

Gosh, I wish I could be familiar with more choreography in musicals. I think I'm gonna go with Heights (broadway) because,,, well, 96,000. But honestly I might as just tie with Hamilton because all of it is just,,,, the point is: Andy Blankenbuehler is a genius.

🎲 Free space to rant about anything musical related :) (adding my own note,,, especially about Lin but whichever you like)

Ah, Serpzie, it's always gonna be about Lin😆

I love his directing more each time I watch Tick, Tick... BOOM!. The way he establishes the layers of the world is fascinating to me. It's complex without being overwhelming, and simple in just the right ways. The framing devices he uses through the grainy camera footage to introduce and say goodbye to Jon is fascincating to me. Plus we also have the layer of Jon's performance of TTB, and the layer of the story we see unfold, the 'real life'. I feel like he directs like he writes(which makes it, I think, safe to assume this is simply how he creates), with an open heart and without a second put to waste. Each frame of the movie has some detail, some purpose to the story. Every word in Hamilton moves something forward, from when Burr steps on stage to when we hear the entire cast asking: Who lives, who dies, who tells you story? And he does this all so openly, which is why he can do it at all. One of my favorite sequences in TTB is 'Swimming'. One LMM had shot everything he wanted, he turned to the dude who specialized in using the underwater camera they got for the pool and asked him, "What is the shot you've always wanted to do? What would you do that I would never think of?". That is fascinating to me, that behavior is rare to see in people who are in the spotlight so often. The spotlight tends to burn away the layers to reveal something rotten when it's concentrated on them but he manages to make the spotlight brighter so that others can shine with him. Amazing man.

[dvmbkid]

{cismale; homosexual} Is that MICHAEL SHEEN spotted in the Capitol? No, it’s ACACIUS BECHTEL who is a FIFTY year old who is from THE CAPITOL. HE is in the Capitol because HE’S a  DISTRICT ONE STYLIST. HE has been described as SILVER-TONGUED, but also MANIPULATIVE.

i’m back for round two ;)

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Acacius Bechtel. BIRTH DATE: October 31st. AGE: Fifty. ZODIAC: Scorpio. GENDER: Cismale. PRONOUNS: He/Him. SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Homosexual. STYLING FOR: District One. 

HISTORY.

acacius is ... peculiar, that’s for certain. speak to every sorry soul who’s ever met him and they’ll give you some variation of the word. his parents were quite the same. they were sponsors, powerful ones. the two of them could buy their way to the moon and back without a dent in their bank account.

that being said, their bank accounts were the only positive thing about them. acacius wasn’t well attended to. they were always out, either doing business or swinging with other rich married couples their age. they didn’t even care enough to hire a caretaker. he took himself to school, he cooked his own food, and mended his own clothing. it took a lot of trial and error, but he had to grow up quicker than most of his fellow capitol citizens. 

the older he got, the closer his parents tried to get with him. they started taking him to events with food he couldn’t cook in clothes he couldn’t hand sew. his maturity impressed all sorts of big wigs involved with the games, from sponsors to gamemakers. he was making connections with the government at sixteen, during the 66th games. he was able to see great things because of the places his parents took him to and the people he talked to, but it didn’t come without some things he’d rather forget. maltreatment of staff, tributes, and mentors --- he wishes he would’ve stopped them.

by the time he turned eighteen he was offered an apprenticeship under one of panem’s most prominent stylists and damnit he fell for him like a rock. acacius’ every thought was centered around coming up with new ideas to impress and prove himself to him. everyone thought it was a little weird, it was obvious how obsessed he was with him but even then he continued working to impress, completely oblivious to the traction his work was getting in the meantime.

his apprenticeship ended when he was twenty. he’d be a fool to stop working for the capitol, there was nowhere else he could go but up. this also meant that he wasn’t working under his schoolyard crush anymore. acacius would be lying if he said he didn’t screw him after the 71st games.

their relationship didn’t progress much further than that. some people need ... distance and acacius understood that. they seldom spoke after that and it stung, but hearing he was executed for supporting the failed rebellion that took place after the 74th games hurt more than he could understand. he tried not to think about it again, but it planted a seed of doubt in him that he couldn’t shake. maybe he could do something to help. one day.

since then, he’s kept his romantic life out of work. mostly. he just tries to keep his heart out of the game; it’s far too dangerous. he’d rather rub elbows with the capitol’s fattest cats --- and flirt with the closeted ones. it’s more fun when there aren’t any strings attached.

acacius had nowhere to go but up. he’s been seen with some of the most prominent figures of panem and he knows exactly what he wants to get out of them. he has people to do all of the things he had to do himself, but it ... spoiled him, a little bit. he expects everyone to wait on him hand and foot. it’s the capitol and he’s been in the game since diapers, so this works out in his favor more often than not.

to the naked eye he might seem like every other capitol citizen, all inflated egos and flashy dress, but acacius is different. it’ll just take a little more heartache to figure that out.

HEADCANONS & PERSONALITY

this is the gayest man alive. he gets it from me.

he is nice in the capitol kind of way. i always see it as minnesota nice with californian levels of passive aggressive, for my ‘mericans out there who are familiar with the vibes. basically, acacius could read the shit out of you and still have the decency to clean up the library afterwards. if you get my drift.

i wanted him to have the aziraphale voice so i gave him the aziraphale voice.

he’s got a soft heart, though. he cares a lot about the tributes and tries to make their pieces individual to them. fashion is nothing if it isn’t unique. he’s styled for every district throughout his career and he’s met a lot of different people, it’s still hard for him to grasp that most of them are dead. speaking of, i really want him to be friends with a victor he styled. i can’t stop thinkin abt it.

in a lot of ways, he’s very similar to his parents. socialite with a hedonistic streak. homie FUCKS !! 

i’m basing him off of tan france, jvn, oscar wilde, and just abt every young bright person. not from the movie but from, like, life. 

i am so tired. i'm having starbucks withdrawal. i hope you enjoy this because my brain is soft like cottage cheese and i don’t think you can get any more of this outta me.

[chiseler]

The Long, Sad Death of the NYC Newsstand

Up until 2003, New York’s newsstands—those charmingly ramshackle wood-and-aluminum sidewalk constructs where scurrying commuters could grab a morning paper, a pack of smokes and the new issue of Leg Show on their way to the train—were all privately owned and operated by the scruffy characters who inhabited them. All a would-be news dealer had to do was fill out some forms, give the city a check for $1000, and in return they’d receive a two-year license. The license gave them rights to a location, but the costs of building the stand and operating the business was the responsibility of the new owner. That said, within zoning regulations, they could do what they wanted with their stand: paint it whatever garish color they liked, design it after the Taj Mahal, sell Ju-Ju powders along with The Irish Times and racing forms, and keep all the profits at the end of the day. They even, under certain circumstances, maintained the right to sell the newsstand and the license if they so chose. All that changed in 2003, but I’ll get back to that. It was hardly the beginning or the end of the city’s war on newsstands, a war which began soon after newsstands became such an iconic part of New York’s sidewalk landscape.

If we can accept Hollywood films as providing an accurate historical record, ad-hoc open-fronted newsstands had been a familiar and welcome part of daily life in New York since at least the first half of the nineteenth century. Most, again if we accept the Hollywood myth, were owned and operated by gruff but lovable cigar-chomping midgets or preternaturally wise blindos, colorful outsiders who inevitably knew far more about what was going on than what was reported in any of the periodicals they sold. Newsstand operators were the eyes and ears of the community, knew everyone, and acted as invaluable sources for cops and reporters in search of tips. Especially the blind ones.

We may have no choice but to accept the mainstream studio version, as historians seem flummoxed when it comes to pinpointing exactly when or where the first of New York’s newsstands appeared. All they can say for certain is that the hundreds of newsstands that dotted street corners and subway stations across the five boroughs  were modeled in function if not form after similar news outlets which had been commonplace in England, France and Italy since the late eighteenth century. But there is at least a small kernel of truth to the mainstream studio version, if you’ll allow me an aside.

For over half a century, thanks to a program spearheaded by the NY State Commission for the Blind, a handful of the city’s newsstands—in City Hall, the King’s County Courthouse, and a select few subway stations—were designated to be run by blind operators exclusively. It seemed a more humane alternative to forcing the blind to sell pencils out of a tin cup. Whether or not these blind news vendors acted as infallible informants for newspapermen and the cops is unknown, but the program was an extremely popular and desirable one within the blind community, allowing those lucky enough to take over a newsstand to earn a living wage. Unfortunately the program was so popular that in the early ’90s I was told the waiting list was so long it would likely be twenty years or more before I was set up in my own operation. Now I have to imagine the wait is even longer, but more about that later, too.

By the late nineteenth century New York’s stand alone sidewalk newsstands had evolved into their iconic form: a shack, usually painted green, constructed of wood and metal, with a low shelf along the front to hold bundles of newspapers, another shelf above that to hold candy and other snacks, and open window through which the proprietor conducted business, with cigarettes and magazines displayed on the wall behind him.

As beloved and essential as the newsstands became among New Yorkers, they’d always had a rough go of it. During the newspaper wars of the 1880s and ’90s, when competing papers quite literally battled each other in pursuit of higher circulation numbers, it was often the newsstand operators who caught the brunt of the violence. If, thanks to personal political leanings or, more often, a little monthly handout, a news vendor opted to carry The World, say, and not The Herald-Tribune, he might find himself beaten bloody by Herald-Tribune deliverymen, his newsstand torched or bombed. A similar fate often also awaited those vendors who, out of respect for the First Amendment or a sense of egalitarianism, refused to play favorites by foolishly carrying all the city dailies.

Not long after the Newspaper Wars were resolved, the city took up the fight to make your average news vendor’s life miserable. In 1911, the city prepared legislation to get rid of newsstands altogether by revoking the owners’ licenses, arguing the stands blocked foot traffic. Newsstand operators banded together against the threat. In a public hearing, the Newsdealers Association President William Merican told members of city council, “Why, there are some men who cannot eat their breakfast without a newspaper. Think of the women in the crush of the subway and elevated. They are exposed to every kind of indignity and hardship. They buy newspapers to make them forget their misery. If the public cannot get their newspapers on the street, they will find the inconvenience intolerable.”

The mayor was swayed by the argument, and the proposed legislation was shelved, at least for a little while.

A decade later in the early Twenties the NY Times took up the fight to do something about what the city’s wealthy and powerful considered an eyesore. Citing the Municipal Art Society’s plans to design polished modernist newsstands that would blend organically with their surroundings, the Times wrote “Why should the sidewalk news stand remain in the architectural class of the squatter’s shanty and the chicken coop? Why shouldn’t it be beautiful or at least not offensive to the eye?”

What the Times clearly didn’t realize was that by then, and over the decades to come, news vendors were not only designing and decorating their stands to reflect the personalities of the owner and the community, but selling things catering specifically to the neighborhood. You can’t get more organic than that. A Financial District newsstand served a different clientele and purpose than one in the East Village, and one in Park Slope served a different clientele and purpose than one in Flushing. (Well, at least that was the case in the twentieth century, even if it isn’t anymore.)

A number of newsstands, especially in the outer boroughs, evolved into mini community centers, with folks from the neighborhood hanging out with the owner to catch up with the news and each other. Some vendors gave their stands unique paint jobs (in some instances adorning the sides with murals), others hung Chinese lanterns or installed awnings, while still others abandoned the standard shack format altogether for more architecturally interesting designs. Despite the general perception, virtually no two stands were identical.

Ignoring (or more likely unaware of) this, the city pushed ahead with their efforts to beautify the stands,. In the ’50s and ’60s the city began once again drafting plans and sponsoring contests with an eye toward replacing the glorified chicken coops with sleek and uniform metal and glass designs, but none of their efforts went anywhere. Beyond that, there were the seemingly bi-annual efforts mounted by city council and various morality watchdog groups to ban the sale of porn. Every time the city pushed on this issue, the newsstand operators once again pushed back, arguing that porn sales represented a huge percentage of their annual profits, and by taking that away, the city would be putting them out of business.

In 1987, Hudson News was founded. Hudson News was an international chain operation, essentially the Taco Bell of storefront newsstands, whose slick and jazzy neon logo quickly became a familiar sight in airports and train stations across the country. It seems Hudson News represented exactly what New York officials had been looking for since the turn of the century.  After grabbing spots in Penn Station, Grand Central, JFK and LaGuardia in the early ’90s, Hudson News and the city both took aim at the newsstands in the subway. Suddenly it was argued that the newsstands which had been there forever were not only obstructions to commuter movement, but blocked police sight lines on the platforms as well, preventing them from stopping crime. It was an insane argument no one had brought up before, but it worked. Before long, a number of the old subway newsstands were replaced with stand-alone Hudson News kiosks. The ironic thing of course, is that the Hudson News stands were much bigger and brighter, presenting even more of an obstacle to commuters and cops alike. But they were much nicer looking and covered with neon piping, so that was okay.

For the moment anyway, the sidewalk newsstands were safe.

Then along came Rudy Giuliani, The new Law and Order mayor who made his own bid to get rid of New York’s newsstands. Along with his efforts to scrub the city clean of porn, Giuliani argued the newspapers sold at these stands sometimes blew away, adding to New York’s litter problem. The only solution, as part of his Quality of Life campaign, was to get rid of the newsstands altogether. Once again the vendors and their customers alike pushed back.

Although Giuiliani was able to clean up Times Square and Coney Island, by the time he left office those sloppy newsstands remained steadfast, and New Yorkers were still wandering knee-deep in scattered fluttering pages of The Financial Times and The Guardian.

It took his successor, Michael Bloomberg, to do what Giuliani couldn’t. Always with a mind toward the tidy and seemly and sterile, Bloomberg had long found the city’s newsstands an eyesore. In 2003 he signed what was called The Street Furniture Bill. As he put it, the aim of the bill was “to rationalize the streets of the city, where right now it's a hodgepodge of unattractive things.” The quote says a lot about Bloomberg, how he perceived New York, as well as how and why NYC turned into Des Moines.

With an eye toward faceless uniformity, the city cut a deal with the Spanish company Cemusa to design not only clean and pleasant newsstands, but matching public toilets and other bits of street furniture as well. Soon, it seemed, Bloomberg would have his dream, and wherever you went in New York, it would look just like every other part of New York.

Four years later, the city began seizing those ugly hodge-podge newsstands away from their longtime independent owners, people who had in some cases owned and operated their own newsstands for forty years or more, replacing them with identical steel and glass boxes decorated with enormous digital ads. In a blink, those faces you saw behind the newsstand windows were now mere employees, and all profits from those digital ads went straight to the Cemusa company.

By 2009, over 200 old newsstands had been removed, replaced by 300 sleek and shiny boxes with those goddamn digital ads all over them. But by then it was a moot point. With the internet killing off newspapers and magazines, and with everyone staring dead-eyed into phones instead of picking up a copy of the Daily News on the fly, newsstands themselves became all but irrelevant. As quickly as those slick and flashy boxes appeared, they began to vanish. Nowadays you’d be hard pressed to find a sidewalk newsstand anywhere in New York, though there are still a few in the subways and train stations, where Hudson News is still king.

In a final and ironic insult, in 2013, long after most of New York’s newsstands were nothing but a grubby and fading memory, every last one of them  operated by Angelo Rossitto in a newsboys cap, the city spent an estimated $90,000 on a new newsstand design to replace the one which had been in the lobby of the Brooklyn criminal courts building for over forty years. As that had always been one of the stands set aside for blind operators, the primary goal of the new design was that it be blind accessible.

Once completed, it was discovered this fancy new newsstand, which had been designed with absolutely no input from a single blindo, let alone the one who would be working there, was not in the least accessible, and so had to be scrapped. The city then dumped even more money into yet another design, but by then it was too late. No matter how popular and valuable that State Commission for the Blind program was, the New York newsstand had gone the way of the dodo, making the hubbub over the blind-friendly design for the Brooklyn courthouse irrelevant.

I can’t help but suspect the city’s alleged good-hearted move to do something decent for the disabled community (one member of it, anyway) in fact cloaked a deeply cynical effort to deal out one last fatal blow in the century-old effort to do away with newsstands altogether, making the city that much less interesting.

Well, they got what they wanted, though aesthetics aside, the more conspiratorial sections of my brain still wonders what was really behind the push.

.by Jim Knipfel

[freshlyjuicedbeetles]

Drakgo Ficlet 2

Thanks for the lovely feedback for the first installment! Allow me to introduce myself. Hi! I’m Chelsea. I grew up watching KP way back when. I grew out of it a little before the finale, so there are things I’m hazy on. I need to set aside time to sit down and watch the series before the movie comes out. I forgot about the series until a few years ago (I think it was because a guy in my college/university psych class had the Kimmunicator beep and it went off in class and a huge wave of nostalgia hit us all) and fell in love with Dear ol’ Drakken and Shego. Also, I totally followed Shego’s career path without knowing it. I have a degree in Childhood Development AND I’m a substitute teacher. Feel free to chat with me or make requests!

Juliet Lowe lived across the street from the Lipsky’s and the Sanderson’s. As a veterinarian, she was utterly devoted to animals, especially her Golden Retriever, Charlie. Hank Sanderson tended to call her a ‘tree huggin’, animal-lovin' commie,’ despite exchanging a minimum of words with her, usually when his own dog, Moe got out. Juliet tried to explain to him that he needed a better fence to contain Moe and that playing with him would tire him out so he wouldn’t want to chew on the fence or run around the neighborhood. Juliet was always met with rude comments and an eye roll.

She noticed the commotion from the new neighbors only mutely. It was reduced price spay and neuter week at her office and she was uncomfortably deep in animal genitalia.  Charlie had been a good, patient boy during the week and had earned an extra-long walk that day.

Commodore Puddles was a king in his own mind. He merely tolerated the human man who doted on him and begrudgingly only listened to the loud, yelling woman that never seemed to leave anymore. Normally, if he was displeased, he’d attack, but he knew better than to mess with her. That didn’t mean he didn’t act out. They didn’t call him Puddles for nothing…

Puddles did like his new home with the weird and annoying humans. He liked sitting in the window seat and watching the world go by. It had only been a week and the mail carrier was already terrified of the pink poodle. It was his house and his house only!

He was jarred awake when Shego bounded down the stairs loudly, waking him up. He had half a mind to rip into her ankle and leave a present in her purse. Shego had just popped outside to get the mail, leaving the door open. Puddles got up and stretched, deciding if he marked his territory better, the mail carrier wouldn’t bother him.

Both Shego and Juliet walked out of their homes at the same time. Charlie instantly saw the poodle and thought ‘new dog! New friend!’ Puddles saw the Golden Retriever and instantly thought that another being was intruding on his territory. Both dogs ran towards each other each with drastically different goals in mind.

“Puddles!” Shego yelled in annoyance and chased after him.

“Charlie!” Juliet exclaimed, running after her dog.

Shego grabbed Puddles under his front legs as soon as he was in reach. Juliet pulled Charlie back by his harness.

“Sorry about him,” Juliet said, “Charlie is too friendly for his own good,”

“Don’t worry about it. Puddles’ has a superiority complex and has to defeat anything in his way.” Shego was annoyed that Puddles made her socialize but decided to play nice anyway. If she wanted her new home to be relaxing and drama free, she’d have to.

“I’m Juliet, by the way,” She said, offering her hand. “This is Charlie.”

“Stephanie Lipsky,” Shego replied, taking her hand. “That’s Commodore Puddles. I know, stupid name. My husband named him.”

Juliet noticed Shego’s strong handshake.

The dogs at their feet were smelling each other. Charlie caught on that Puddles was not a friendly dog. He gave a small whine and laid down behind Juliet. Puddles raised his chin and sat at Shego’s feet.

“I’ve never seen a pink poodle before,” Juliet remarked.

“Yeah, my mother-in-law likes to dye him with beet juice? I dunno, I stopped questioning her a looong time ago.” Shego answered.

“So, what do you do, Stephanie?”

“Oh, I work with my husband.” She replied casually, hoping that Juliet wouldn’t pry further.

Unbeknownst to Juliet and Shego, Janice was watching them from behind her flouncy lace curtains. “There’s something not quite right about those new neighbors.” She said to Hank.

“The husband is a bit of dweeb, wouldn’t worry ‘bout him too much,” He replied. “The wife is the one to worry about.”

“Well, let me catch you up on the social strata of the neighborhood. There are the Sanderson’s” Juliet said nodding to their house. “Janice is as nosy and judgmental as can be. Hank is a loudmouth conservative who thinks anyone who disagrees with him ‘needs to go back where they came from’. There was a lovely Cherokee couple who lived next door to me a few years ago and Hank loved to blow smoke from his truck. Well, they had a little boy who had asthma and they practically begged Hank to stop but he wouldn’t,” Juliet grimaced and shook her head, “he started doing it out of spite because ‘it’s mah right as an merican,’ she said gruffly, imitating Hank’s voice.

“What a dick,” Shego replied. Shego herself never claimed to be a saint (or want to be one) but that was just asinine.

“Janice is an antivaxxer, so if you have kids, keep them away from her brood. She also believes pseudoscience and that essential oils cure everything or whatever direct sales company she’s repping for this month.”

Charlie looked forlornly at Puddle’s scowling face. Why didn’t this new dog want to be friends?

“Let’s see,” Juliet said, turning to the next house, “Your right-side neighbor is Teresa. She’s not a bad neighbor, but she loves drama. She’s always complaining about something on the neighborhood Facebook group. “Wahhh, my exes are terrible, men: please treat your ladies better! Oh, woe is me, everyone I know is toxic, blah blah blah.’ I mean, if you’re having that much trouble in all your relationships, romantic or otherwise, maybe you’re the problem?”

“Luckily, you have an awesome left side neighbor, Hazel. Everyone calls her Miss Hazel. She’s in her seventies and is as sweet as can be but doesn’t take crap from anyone. She dressed down Janice and Hank last week for letting their hooligans run rampant. She was a paratrooper in the ’60s and is a tough old gal. Her husband, Liam, passed away last year, so our other neighbor’s, Michael and Steven and I check up on her frequently. If she loves you, she’ll bake for you and it is divine. If you get to know anyone in this neighborhood, it’s her.”

Puddles was getting bored and it was almost dinner time! He pawed at Shego’s leg.

“Puddles!” She warned, quickly turning her attention back to Juliet. She learned long ago if someone gave you valuable information, you listened. Never one to give trust easily, she needed to know who keep an eye on.

Puddles groaned and decided to chew on his own leg.

Juliet turned, pointing to another house, “That’s Michael and Steven. They’re great, you shouldn’t have any problems with them. That’s me next to them. I have a nine-year-old daughter named Nikki. Get ready, she’s a Girl Scout and cookie season is coming up.”

“Don’t tell my husband that. He’ll clean her stock out and fall into a food coma.” Shego replied.

Juliet winced playfully, “Yeah, I’m kinda teaching my daughter to be a bad bitch and to drive a hard bargain and not be a pushover in general. If she smells weakness, she’ll take advantage. So, if she gets him to, I’m not going to stop her.”

The two laughed.

“And my other neighbor is a guy named George. I have never seen him in my entire life living here. He never comes out. The most you’ll ever see of him is lights on in house. Nothing else, he has his groceries delivered and company do lawn and exterior home maintenance. He’s in the Facebook group but never posts or comments,” Juliet shrugged, “I only know someone named George lives there because of Hazel. So, I dunno what’s his deal.”

Shego could tell that she was being watched. It was a given that Janice was watching her. Maybe it was her own instincts or the powers the comet gave her, Shego tell someone who was keenly aware of her presence in the neighborhood was watching her. She played it cool, not wanting to tip off her onlooker.

George Vaughn thought that the new neighbors looked familiar…

[gunnygazette-blog]

‘22  Week #12 GAME-BY-GAME

Last game of the Regular season...and only one Elimination/Clinch Scenario…  The rest is just jockeying for a seed.

GAME OF THE WEEK

(#13) ‘Mercans (3-6) @ (#12) Stanky-feet (5-4)*  

Why?:  The only elimination game

Why not?:  ...A finale for a poor division...

Rematch of Week #1…where the Dirty-toes squeaked out a 24-20 win on the road…   For the ‘Mericans, they can sneak into the play-off with a win here…  But they will have to do something they’re not all to familiar with lately...competing. With players playing out of position and several that would/should be on the bench for other teams, they will have to put on the that burglar’s mask on and start climbing that wall…  Half of my attention will be on the sideline as Cheez’s looks and shaking of head will remind you of Steve Harvey on family feud when given an “interesting” answer.  Maybe they can get that first win over a team that doesn’t have a losing record.

The NC Jockriders will try to extend their division win streak...and try to stay out of the primordial soup that is the 5-4/5-5 teams...as many 5 teams could be in that bucket.  But a win could jump them over the CareBears…  The Feet have a more balanced and effective offense...but their receivers often here footsteps and drop alotta balls…  Defensively they should be able to outlast the shorthanded, frankensteined ‘Mericans.  But that is why we play the games...  

The Computer:  ‘Mericans claim the last spot 28-25...

Chevy Pick:   Stanky...20-13

Homer Mixon:  Late

My take:  ...well...I’m going Heels...as they seem to be a lil’ more stable in their identity.

Picks:  2-1

***

Game #2

(#4) Team#3 (6-3) @ (#6) Otha Sparties (5-4)

  Why?:  Kinda like watchin’ a train wreck...but with winning records

Why not?:  Are the Clap backs stopped the full freefall or did they just grab a twig...

Two teams that will feel like they are facing a mirror on defense…

The Partly-Cloudy are looking to secure the 4th seed and the last bye...with a win they will have the same record as the Mee-Ah-Mee Raid...and hold the tie-breaker based on last weeks win. But a loss...and the Sparties will jump them in the standings.  (All this without factoring ½ wins)    

Offensively, “All Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing” have problems protecting the QB off the edge and have a real aversion to running the ball.  In Monsoon conditions, they still insisted in throwing the ball.  An effort that was mostly in vain.  They could argue that their Runningback couldn’t hold on to the ball...but still…  Defensively they will have their hands full...their ends need to stay disciplined and set a hard edge...while the backers have to sort all that traffic to make plays…  Their defense will go as far as their LBs take them.  

Sparties will be attempting to jump Team#3 with a win this week... Offense will spread out and run more misdirection than the undisciplined Clap front can handle…  When the QB rolls out, he’ll put “decision” pressure on the Corners…  Defensively they can just pin their ears back and go after the QB, as the Clap show no interest in a balanced offense…  The Clap will chuck it deep or in the flats on time…but will than flush out and attempt some dangerous passes back to the middle.  Could be several interceptions in this game...

The Computer:  Clap get their fire back 19-3...

Chevy Pick:  Team#3...-20-12...

Homer Mixon:  Late.

My take: This could be a high scoring...it could be low scoring...but it will be close…  I’m going with Sparties...because the Clap play calling is soooo..Madden...

Picks: 2-1

***

Game #3

(#9) Aud-i-Bulls (4-5) @ (#1) Sorry-ass Champs (7-1)  

Why?:  It’s been the biggest historically relevant rivalry...

Why not?:  Will there be a team...or a shadow…?

Oh wow… ”This ain’t the game of the Week?”  Yeah...I know the history...Two teams with 11 Rings and the only two who have ever won and are still active.  They’ve faced each other three times...have knocked the other out of the playoffs 5 times...and there hasn’t been a Championship game since 2004 that didn’t have one of these two in it…  Yeah...I have know idea why the Glads think they even have a chance...  Glads may lead the league with regular season wins in the FFA with 128 but that is no match for the Horned-ones 125 wins…  We know what the talent is like in the South...they have no chance…  The Quot-a-Bulls have “dominated” the Sorry-ass champs 8-6 in their lifetime meetings.  The Horned-ones are too fast...but they’re slowed down by those seven rings… They could be faster if they took them off...but...that is not the Miami way...they might forget they were winners.  They have a QB, that despite his 153yrs of age gets by on mobility to get an opening for a pass.  Because of this, the O-line doesn’t bother to block...why waste energy?...the defense will be too scared to pressure anyway.  The same strategy is used in the running game, just lean...or pull around the center and than lean on the defense...let the Running-Back make his own holes.  Speaking of intimidation, nothing is more frightening then Defensive tackles in a 2pt stance… Did they take away the walkers just before the snap of the ball?  To balance out the inside muscle is the wide receivers that couldn’t catch so they were set up at Defensive end…  They’ll scare the Glads out of throwing the ball with so much speed off the edges. When it comes to the defensive backfield...why talk about it...the Glads won’t have enough time to throw the ball so the corners and safeties can just jump the quick routes...not that Receivers can beat the Horned-ones down the field…

For the Sorry-ass Champs, well why bother everyone knows they don’t have a choice… They were lucky three years ago to give the Horned-ones a donut...    

The Computer:  Andstill# 36-16...

Chevy Pick:  Sorry-ass Champs 28-17...

Homer Mixon: Late

My take:  Same result as the rest of the South....

Picks: 3-0

***

Game #4

(#2) Du-vowel Raid (8-0) @ (#7) Reaps (4-4)

Why?:  That undefeated record on the line  

Why not?: Not sure which Reaps show up...

Well here is a last minute addition as both teams are trying to boost their current 8-game resumes.  For Duval, this is to get their ninth win and give themselves an argument for the number one seed.  For the Reaps they are 4-4 but would be seeded lower than then all the 5-5 teams because of fewer games played.  This is a good calculated risk for the Reaps as a win here could jump them up to the 7th seed and a home game.  A loss would require a Horned-ones win to bump them down a seed...so a good risk/reward.  

The Raid have had a pretty light schedule...and have faced mostly shorthanded and finesse teams.  But they have dealt with a physical team, the Care Bears, twice... 18-0…  20-12…  And the Care Bears took down these same Reapers 31-26 back in week #6.  For the win, the Raid offense will have to be patient.  The Reap defense will make mistakes, dropped coverage/out of position, and the Raid need to take advantage of those openings but nit force it.  Defensively, they need to keep the Reaps in front of them and not allow big plays. The Reaps are not built for long sustain drives as they have a tendency to self implode their own drives.  But the Raiders will have to be physical up front.  

For the Reaps, mistake free ball would be a good start.  No dumb penalties, no forcing the ball into coverage and over-all ball security.  Do they have to play the perfect game?...No…  But they can’t be playing against the Raiders, the Refs and their own mistakes.  Defensively they need to be consistent, in position and make plays for a full 60mins.  The Raid could be down...could have done nothing...all half and than get some scores in bunches.  The Reaps can’t make it easier for them if they hope to win.  

If I have hopes for a Classic Aud-i-Bulls vs Reaps in the play-offs...the Reaps need to win this one...

The Computer:  Road team with something to prove gets the win 27-14

Chevy Pick:   Reaps 26-20

Homer Mixon:   Late

My take:  I wanna go with the undead...but I’ll have to go with the more consistent Raid...

Picks: 2-0

***

Game #5

(#14) Flat Fish (0-9) @ (#8) Pee-Rats (4-5)

Why?:  O-fer in a rematch

Why not?:  Even the Fish didn’t want to see this one...

After the first battle 38-14...the Fish spiraled out…belly-up... This would have been a more interesting and competitive game if it had been in the first couple of weeks of the season, but instead both these teams were given Brutal starts.  All-in-all this gives the eye-patches a .500 record again.

The Computer:  Was looking at 42-15...Pee-Rats...now 2-0...

Chevy Pick:   Late

Homer Mixon:   Late

My take:  Weasels will run it up...

Picks: 2-0

***

Game #6

(#11) Carebears (4-4) @ (#15) My Lil’ Ponies (1-6)

Why?:   All Georgia

Why not?:  It’s All Georgia!!!

The second battle of Georgia...a re-match nobody wanted after the first one was a 44-0... Well we don’t get it on the field...

The Computer:  Would have been 49-3...Carebears… now 2-0...

Chevy Pick:    Care-Bears...no score…

Homer Mixon:   Late

My take: Yeah...easy one....

Picks:  2-0

***

Game #7

(#3) Waskily Weasels (7-1) @ (#16) Mediocres (1-8)  

Why?:  Would have been Ugly...

Why not?:  Mediocre folded...

This would have been the type of game the Weasels liked, to run up the score on struggling teams in an attempt at validation...

The Computer:  Would have been 82-0...now 2-0

Chevy Pick:  Late

Homer Mixon: Late

My take:  Cherry pickin’

Picks: 2-0

-

***

BYE

(#5) Mee-Ah-Mee Raid (7-3)  

(#10) Cow Puppies (3-5)*

[recentnews18-blog]

New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/just-a-ranking-of-every-stupid-role-ruby-rose-has-ever-played/

Just A Ranking Of Every Stupid Role Ruby Rose Has Ever Played

Before she was Batwoman, she was a sexy she-wolf named Byanka.

Australia’s own Ruby Rose has just been announced to star as Batwoman in DC’s TV universe. If you’re not familiar with her work, should you be excited?

Ruby Rose has been carving out a curious niche in the acting world for a few years now, with her role in Orange is the New Black’s third season launching her to overseas success. She will play Kate Kane in a big DC TV crossover later this year, and potentially go on to star as the Jewish lesbian crime fighter in her own Batwoman show.

Given that Ruby Rose has been steadily gaining bigger and bigger roles in blockbusters – including giant-shark film The Meg, which is just around the corner — playing Batwoman could really cement her stardom. Although if you go by The Meg’s IMDb page, she already is a star: according to IMDb’s STARMeter, Rose gets top billing over Jason Statham.

As a star, Rose is defined by a weird, inexplicable aura that permeates all her roles. She’s defined by Ruby Rose Energy.

Now, you’re probably familiar with the concept of Big Dick Energy, but you may not have heard of Ruby Rose Energy. Ruby Rose Energy is Big Dick Energy’s non-binary cousin. Ruby Rose Energy is effortlessly cool, but also quietly daggy.

It’s becoming a movie and TV star while always being slightly unable to escape your past as an MTV Australia VJ, or someone who got into a brief Twitter feud with Josh Thomas over unpaid Veuve at a Melbourne club. It’s having real life charisma disproportionate to what necessarily translates on screen — just like the good old days!

Ruby Rose Energy is being the first person to quit The 7pm Project. It’s not being recognisable to virtually anyone over 40, and dating a Veronica in the year 2018. As one commenter said on yesterday’s casting news, “she’s like, everything”.

Make no mistake – this is a loving tribute to Ruby Rose and the utterly specific, weird space she has carved out in Australian pop culture since the early 2000s. There’s a lot you can learn about Ruby Rose Energy from the names of characters she plays, so here’s a ranking of all the character names she is credited with playing on IMDb – ranked by least-to-most Ruby Rose Energy.

Queer women: Please cast out queer actors in queer roles!!! CW: *casts Ruby Rose* Queer women: This is an attack

— Brittani Nichols (@BisHilarious) August 7, 2018

Presumably as a result of some mix-up on the first day on set that no one was brave enough to correct, the name of Ruby Rose’s character in this cliché-ridden Australian spin on Dangerous Minds is Hannah, while Christina Ricci’s is, no joke, Dino Chalmers.

It is with great regret that I must place Hannah at the bottom of this list, and that I cannot officially say that Dino motherfuckin’ Chalmers is a perfect exemplar of Ruby Rose Energy.

Though her performance was terrific as a woman who more or less does nothing until she gets hilariously sucked into a giant fan, the character’s name — Abigail — has very low Ruby Rose Energy and, as such, sits near the bottom of the list.

Abigail is the name of a pretty girl you pretend to like in primary school so people don’t think you’re gay, not the name of a character played by devastatingly handsome genderfluid star Ruby Rose.

Though I will never watch this weird Crocodile Dundee tourism ad, I do appreciate the rich complexity of giving a Ruby Rose character a title and a position of authority. That said, in its most Ruby Rose form, ‘Chief’ would be the character’s given name, and as such it falls on the lower end of the scale.

Ruby Rose plays a mute assassin in the John Wick franchise, and her character is named for the Greek god of war – which means we’re getting to the good shit.

But beyond the strong concept, it feels a bit pianissimo in execution; may I suggest it lengthens in John Wick: Chapter 3 to ‘Ares McIliad’ or perhaps ‘Ares Bazooka’?

Ruby Rose Energy is about throwing subtlety to the wind.

I know what you’re thinking: what name could possibly be more Ruby Rose than ‘Ruby Rose’?

Well, since her full birth name is Ruby Rose Langenheim, ‘Ruby Rose’ is technically only 44% of that, meaning it’s slightly below average Ruby Rose Energy.

My interest in Pitch Perfect 3: Aca-merican Imperialism is precisely zero, but Calamity is exactly the kind of Ruby Rose character name I come to IMDb to see.

Less impressive is the movie thinking that Ruby Rose-as-Calamity would be the front-woman of a generic guitar band called Evermoist instead of the lead singer of a desperately edgy Christian lady-rock group called SHEviticus, or GALatians, or The GeneSisters, and so on.

Calamity has the toughness of Ruby Rose Energy, but lacks that certain je ne sais quoi.

Where were you when all of America discovered Stella Carlin, and thus Ruby Rose, at once?

Was it the same place you were when Ruby tweeted about Katy Perry’s Witness, calling it “purposeful poop” and “bomb a petit”? Or when she threw a “singular fry” at a restaurant owner?

No name on this list better exemplifies the Ruby Rose Energy tendency to get into beefs with low-grade celebs that no one but tabloids would ever care about. Stella Carlin is what happens when Ruby Rose Energy gets captured in essence but lost in translation.

It’s trying just a little bit too hard.

The beauty of the current Golden Age of Ruby Rose Character Names is how often the names just sound like full sentences in and of themselves.

Adele Wolff.

I already feel like I’ve known this character my whole life. Like I’ve already followed her journey from digital marketing graduate to Instafamous, gluten intolerant Byron Bay-based wellness blogger, which I am convinced is where Ruby Rose would be at without her tattoos.

Jaxx Herd is, frankly, incredible.

The Meg pic.twitter.com/QnTjRWjxx8

— Ruby Rose (@RubyRose) July 31, 2018

What’s even more incredible is that this Ruby Rose character looks more like the human reboot of Charlize Theron’s haircut in Aeon Flux than any of the others (and they all do, a little) and honestly, I’m here for it.

Wikipedia says Bianca, but IMDb says Byanka, which is so Ruby Rose I can’t stand it.

And truly, is the root of the human condition not the internal war we wage over whether we are a Bianca or a Byanka?

Anyway, this movie looks bananas, Ruby Rose’s character is an overly sexualised she-wolf, and the script was co-written by someone who goes by the name ‘1kg Sugar’.

If the idea of Ruby Rose playing a character named Wendy the Android (lol) on a Canadian sci-fi show makes you think, “Huh, I wonder if they made her a horny killer fuckbot?”

The answer, unequivocally, is yes.

That they named her Wendy like she’s one of the nice mums working at a primary school tuckshop is just *Italian chef kiss* molto bene. It’s the perfect combination of ‘maybe this is the next step in human evolution’ and ‘Lorna Jane loyalty card owner’.

TheDailyMail.com Seriously Popular™ People’s Choice Award-loser Ruby Rose as… Woman.

That’s it, kids.

That’s Ruby Rose Energy.

—

Laurence Barber is a freelance writer, editor and award-winning film and television critic based in Sydney. He is on Twitter @bortlb.

Source: http://junkee.com/ruby-rose-characters/170757

[acsversace-news]

You finally need two hands to count all the current TV shows with Asian American protagonists. Fresh Off the Boat (ABC) and Master of None(Netflix) arrived with fanfare for breaking ground (though a third season of Aziz Ansari’s romantic comedy was uncertain even before the star’s current scandal), while Quantico (ABC) and Into the Badlands (AMC) keeping chugging along, and the comedy Brown Nation (Netflix) and children’s melodrama Andi Mack (Disney Channel) have yet to become blips on the mainstream pop cultural radar. So it’s a bit strange, and off-putting, that the latest series with an Asian lead—one of the most anticipated shows of the year, it so happens—isn’t being described as such. In fact, its network—once a standard-bearer for prestige TV’s lack of diversity—is highlighting the drama’s focus on queerness and homophobia—and by doing so largely erasing its main character’s racial identity, especially in the first half of his story.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story isn’t about the titular victim but his killer: Andrew Cunanan, a San Diego native born to a Filipino father and an Italian American mother. Writer Tom Rob Smith adapted journalist Maureen Orth��s nonfiction account Vulgar Favors, structuring the episodes in reverse chronological order so we work backward from Versace’s murder. In a recent interview, Smith said of his source material that it “reads very much like an outsider commenting on a world of which they’re not part, and sometimes that can make you seem quite removed from it.” I agree with his assessment; Orth’s book includes lengthy and salacious discussions of Versace’s HIV status and the popularity of meth among gay communities. But Smith’s description could also be turned on The Assassination of Gianni Versace, which is a white writer’s dramatization of another white writer’s interpretation. American Crime Story’s first season, The People v. O.J. Simpson, tackled issues of both race and gender skillfully; there’s no reason why we should accept any less from its second.

The show’s Andrew, played by Darren Criss, does mention his father’s plantation in the Philippines early on. But between his pathological lying and that country’s colonial past, his race isn’t confirmed till about midway through the nine-hour season. A few character details here and there suggest Andrew’s racial self-hatred and the prevalence of anti-Asian racism within the gay community, but the relative sparseness of these implications is all the more noteworthy in contrast with the richly developed portrait of the decade’s homophobia.

Credit where it’s due, even if the bar for praise here is laughably low because Hollywood’s institutional aversion toward Asian stories and characters remains so entrenched: In casting Glee’s Criss (who played Blaine Anderson), Ryan Murphy hired a half-Filipino (if white-passing) actor to play the half-Filipino role of Andrew Cunanan. Criss is excellent, and in later episodes, the Philippines-born Broadway performer Jon Jon Briones is electrifying as Andrew’s father, the sociopathic Modesto, who teaches his favorite child all the wrong lessons about the American dream.

If The Assassination of Gianni Versace feels urgent as it revisits the stifling homophobia of the ’90s, it’s far less successful in reimagining Cunanan from a racialized point of view, at least in the first eight episodes. (The season finale was not provided to critics in advance.) It’s certainly not as if those racial and ethnic depictions of Cunanan don’t exist. In his analysis of the divergent foci of the mainstream American and Filipino American media narratives about Cunanan, scholar Allan Punzalan Isaac notes that the former wagged its tongue about his “deviant” sexuality (Tom Brokaw infamously referred to the killer as a “homicidal homosexual”), while consumers of the latter looked on with a mixture of “pleasure and horror.” The horror is understandable enough. The pleasure, perhaps, is easier to grasp when you’re part of a group whose presence and history are constantly made invisible by the larger American culture. “Perhaps [the Filipino American fascination with Cunanan] stemmed from a longing to be reflected in the small screen in this American media sensation,” Isaac wrote several years after Cunanan’s death. Filipinos preferred participation, he conjectures, in “any American drama, even for the wrong reasons.”

Nearly all of the eight Filipino American scholars, activists, and advocates I talked to for this story say that Cunanan has fallen out of popular Filipino American lore, just as he’s been forgotten by American pop culture until now. Professor Christine Bacareza Balance told me in an email interview that when she polled 40 or so students in a recent Filipino American Studies course, only one or two knew who Cunanan was. But among gay Filipino Americans, he remains something of a cult figure and for a few Filipino American writers, a literary muse. Isaac begins his seminal book about Filipino American identity, American Tropics, with a meditation on Cunanan’s incarnation of many of the concepts central to his subject: the possibility of “assimilation gone wrong,” the fear of rejection and the eagerness to belong, the embodiment of Filipino/American “mestizo” beauty standards, the corresponding ethnic ambiguity. (Isaac quotes a New York Times article describing Cunanan’s face as “so nondescript that it appears vaguely familiar to just about everyone.”) Paul Ocampo, a co-chair of the Lacuna Giving Circle, a philanthropic group that fosters leadership in LGBTQ Asian American communities, offers a more cynical interpretation: “There’s an aspect of the glitter and glitz of Hollywood to this story that attracts many in the Filipino American community more than the macabre.”

It’s important to remember that Cunanan murdered five people, apparently in cold blood. His victims deserve to be mourned. But in the absence of other well-known personages (or the inconspicuousness of many successful celebrities’—e.g., Bruno Mars’— Filipino-ness,), it’s perhaps inevitable that some Filipino Americans see or project certain facets of themselves in one of the very few Filipino Americans to appear on TV and on page 1, especially during that era. Ben de Guzman, a policy advocate in D.C., saw Cunanan on the news and thought, There but for the grace of God go I. “As a young, gay Filipino American man who was around his age when he was in the news,” de Guzman recalls via email, “I was forced to look at how the same forces of homophobia and racism that informed my life must have affected him too.”

The former party boy and escort remains a symbol of queer defiance for some in the gay Filipino American community. “Here was a gay Filipino man who seemed unapologetic and daring in his acceptance of his sexuality,” says Ocampo. “In this, he seemed to exude a self-possession that many people struggle with.” Balance says that the image of Cunanan as a “queer Asian/Filipino American on the warpath” “truly goes against many dominant representations within ‘mainstream’ U.S. media.” Isaac contrasts Cunanan’s narrative with the gay/bi film Call Me by Your Name, which he observes is “set outside the U.S., outside the AIDS scare, outside any class conflict—all part of the Cunanan spectacle.” Isaac seems to anticipate a reckoning as Cunanan’s story unfurls on the series: “How is this story of intergenerational sex, wealth, casual prostitution, and reckless living in the gay demimonde of the ’90s to be received in this age of domesticated gay marriage?”

And if Cunanan’s messy and unpredictable life story seems ripe for fictional inspiration, The Assassination of Gianni Versace certainly didn’t get there first. A decade after Cunanan’s death, novelist and playwright Jessica Hagedorn (a canonical Filipino American writer), along with songwriter Mark Bennett, launched in the killer’s hometown a workshop production of their musical Most Wanted, a thinly fictionalized version of Cunanan’s story that explores media sensationalism and marginalized individuals’ desperation to belong. Smaller-scale works like Regie Cabico’s poem “Love Letter From Andrew Cunanan,” Gina Apostol’s short story “Cunanan’s Wake,” and Jason Luz’s erotic short story “Scherzo for Cunanan” likewise attempt to humanize a murderer who, while deplorable for his actions and indisputably extreme in personality, almost certainly had some desires and experiences common to many Filipino Americans. None of these works add up to a complete portrait, or could. But created from Filipino American perspectives, they explore the aspects of Cunanan’s life that white America still isn’t fully grappling with.

[littledaydreamsofyou]

Flying Visits

So, I haven’t done this before but here goes ....

I submitted this a couple of months ago to @stylesunchained and thought that I would post this here and see what happens.

I would love to hear what you guys think, if anything at all ....

---------

"Please, it will be so fun. You're not an 'merican too so I'll have someone to get though all of the USA’s with” Harry had all but pulled out the pouty lips and puppy dog eyes as you had Facetime’d one Monday morning for you, Sunday evening for him, what with the time difference and all to the East Coast of America. “I don’t know, it’s not as easy for me to just jet off somewhere.  Some of us have to work you know” you teased whilst sipping on your freshly made smoothie trying not to gag on the green slop, so much for the Summer body!  “Oh come on, I know you’ve been banging on to Gemma about needing a holiday.  Just do it, come see me.  It’ll be great.”  Harry did have a point, I had been harping on to Gemma about needing a holiday ever since I went back to work after Christmas and with money saved up the only thing in my way was my manager and a signed holiday form.  “I have no doubt that it would be anything other, I’ll just have to speak with work and see how that goes before we put anything in motion”, “Oh, so it’s uh not a definite no, then?” Harry sounded a little shocked, apprehensive almost.  “It’s a ‘I’ll see what I can do’ I’m going to have to go, speak soon H”, “Yeah sure, speak to yeh later”.

That conversation took place before 7am on Monday morning and by 11pm on Friday evening you had taken off from Heathrow with Los Angeles as your destination. By some miracle your manager gave you annual leave after the Bank Holiday so you could have like 10 days or so in the California sunshine.  You’d had dinner with Gemma on the Thursday to divulge your plans - you had known her longer than Harry, when you first moved to London a new work colleague hooked you up with a friend that was on the lookout for a new roommate, that person was Gemma and as a result you had eventually met Harry.  Now you were on your way to see the other Style’s sibling albeit with more butterflies than were present in your tummy at Thursday dinnertime.

“Hey you!” Glenne engulfed you into her arms in the Arrivals at LAX who you had approached the familiar face holding the cliched sign with your name on it.  “Hi stranger! How come you’re here?” Admitted you were surprised to find Glenne here, Harry had said that he would arranged for you to get picked up but you were expecting the usual silent type, dressed in all black who called you M’am the entire journey. “Well we have the weekend off and so I nominated myself to be your designated driver, welcome to LA!” Glenne explained as you wheeled your suitcase out into the glorious sunshine and towards the multi-storey car park to find her SUV, the quintessential staple of a California girl it would seem. “So what’s the plans for the weekend? I’ve never celebrated an American holiday before so I’m expecting big things, huge in fact”, “Well I hope that you won’t de disappointed.  Jeff’s family have organised a little party out in Malibu on Sunday for Memorial Day which we’re all going to and that’s the only thing set in stone at the moment”. “Oh cool, I’ve never met them before..” I started, “They know you’re coming and can’t wait to meet ‘Harry’s Friend” Glenne winked at me as she drove. “God, is that what i’m being referred to as, wink and all?” I internally cringed, the last thing I wanted was people thinking I was some money-grabbing girl who was here for a free ride. “No winks were present, they’re just looking forward to meet Harry’s friend from home and H is really looking forward to having a piece of home out here with him too”, “So, is the the one where everyone wears white?”

With Glenne successfully explaining what the appropriate attire would be for the Memorial Day bash in Malibu, a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger for me and Glenne pointing out all of the tourist highlights on the way, when we pulled up at Harry’s new Los Angeles home he was nowhere in sight. “I think Jeff had mentioned about them going to a new spot for Brunch or something” and it seemed that she was right when the both of them turned up within 45 minutes of us parking on the drive. “Ah what a sight! That face! God you look like home!” Harry screamed out as he walked through the hallway to where you stood in the kitchen in clear view of him. “Nice to see you too” you spoke at normal level with Harry’s arms wrapped around you and your face pressed into his neck, he still looked and felt the same as he did before he became Number One in 84 Countries and took off on promo.  That was a great comfort. “I can’t believe you’re here yeh know.  Always turned me down before” Harry pulled back, still keeping his hand on your shoulder.  “Like I said, some of us actually have to work” you repeated squeezing his wrist on your right shoulder and smiling at him, had he always looked this wonderful? Did jet lag set in this quickly?

With Saturday being your first day in LA the four of you had decided on a day at the house and ordering in dinner and making a plan of action for tomorrow.  With an itinerary in place, a wake up call of 8am for yourself decided on and a departure time to Malibu at 11am agreed upon, Glenne and Jeff left for the night. “Bloody hell, what have you got in here?” Harry huffed as he carried your bag up the staircase.  “Options, lots of options” you murmured feeling the time difference just slightly.  “Always prepared, right?” Harry questioned pulling the door open to one of the guest rooms, “So you’ve got towels in the bathroom, the TV remote is on the bedside. Oh, um, there is a uh, a blanket in the wardrobe for  yeh, know how yeh get cold and that”, “Thanks H, you’re the best” you yawned out giving him a side cuddle.

“Harry, are you ready to go?” you showed up the stairs, the clock just about to hit 11am. “I thought having your hair cut off meant you could get ready quicker?” “Quite the opposite actually. Yeh see, I’ve got to uh, make sure the quiff is right” Harry came down the stairs with his keys, wallet and phone all in one hand. “Whatever you say Princess, do you want a bottle of water for in the car?” You asked opening up the fridge and stalling for a second, “Jesus, Joseph and Mary, who’s done a big shop for you?”, “Well I knew yeh were coming, and uh I did it myself, there’s some of you’re uh favourites in there”  Harry reached in behind you grabbing two bottles with his spare hand and shutting the fridge door before it started to beep, “Ready?”.

As your father said, American’s did not do things by half.  The Azoff’s had rented out a whole restaurant for their party and there was a BBQ in full swing, canapés going around for those who were only peckish, cocktails and mocktails being circulated and the bathrooms had the best mirror for a full length selfie which you and Glenne had taken full advantage of. You could get used to this life you thought as you leant against the railings overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The atmosphere was amazing and as your eyes fell on Harry you laughed at yourself thinking of all of the times you and Gemma had ripped into him about his LA lifestyle and now here you were lapping it up.

You had been doing a scan of the terrace whilst considering a trip over the to BBQ for a second time that afternoon when you saw Harry coming towards you, sashaying and swinging his hips to make you laugh, stupid grin on his face and two margaritas in hand. “Happy Memorial Day!” he cheers’d his glass with you “Right back atcha! Why don’t barbecues back home have this vibe?” you pondered taking your first sip “Generally because it starts to piss it down an hour into it” Harry decided for you, “Yeah, and you can’t make margaritas like this for shit”.   “Heeey, play nicely” he nudge your shoulder as you stifled a chuckle at your own joke. “So whilst you’re out here, is there uh, anything that you maybe uh wanna do?”, “I’m not too sure really, I really want to do Disneyland..” Harry groaned, “What’s wrong with that?” you asked him, standing a little taller ready to defend your suggestion.  “You’re just such a girl that’s all”, “Yeah well, whatever.  I’m happy to just play it by ear, I think Glenne had mentioned having a day together going to lunch and shopping and all that girl crap that you don’t like”.  Taking another sip of your drink you heard Harry take in a deep breath and simultaneously noticing a group of girls staring in your direction or more like at Harry. “Well if you’ve got some free time in and amongst all of that uh girl crap, I’d uh, I’d like to take you out. Just me and you, uh sometime, if you’d like?” Harry turned to face you, you guessed to gauge your reaction. “I would like” you nodded smiling at him. “Great, sounds like another word I want to say right now” Harry spoke, holding your spare hand and leaning back against the railings, together.

[contemtus-blog]

❝ you’re a little creepy, and you’re forward, and familiar, and i don’t like it. i don’t like you. ❞

there’s a threat of a smile on his face as he hears the words, unable to stop the amusement that tints his features. there’s a laughter bubbling in his throat, although it comes out as something closer to a snort. it isn’t polite. it isn’t subtle, and it’s unlike gellert in almost every way. it is a noise that he would frown upon if it came from anyone else, but in that moment, he can’t stop the way that his expression tinges in clear amusement. “that’s a shame,” he answers after a moment, although his tone and expression contradict his words. he doesn’t care – not really. “and here i was, thinking that, perhaps, we could become great friends for one another, miss lestrange.”

american gods sentence starters@warriorstar | accepting

[gigicries]

Using webtoons to study Korean

 Something I’ve gotten into is reading Korean webtoons in order to improve my reading speed, vocabulary, and grammar. And, over the past few months, I have seen improvement in all of those areas, so I figured I would share some of this with anyone who might be interested.

So basically I’ve just been using Naver Webtoon, which can be found with a simple google search, but I’ll probably just link out to it when I’m finished writing this. Most of the time I just read ones that haven’t been translated to English; however, after I installed the Line Webtoon app onto my phone, I saw that certain webtoons had been translated, and I could then read through a chapter in Korean and compare what I understood to the English version. However, not all webtoons that I’ve read have been translated, so this only works for some.

Webtoons Only in Korean:

(These are some that I found particularly enjoyable or want to start)

데모니악 - Currently 34 chapters, updates Tuesday

미시령 - Currently 18 chapters, updates Wednesday

지금 이 순간 마법처럼- Currently 65 chapters, updates Wednesday

하나의 하루 - Currently 27 chapters, updates Thursday

서북의 저승사자 - Currently 114 chapters, updates Thursday

파도의 주인 - Currently 121 chapters, updates Thursday

이 편의점 실화냐 - Currently 6 chapters, updates Thursday

부활남 - Currently 73 chapters, updates Saturday

내일 - Currently 20 chapters, updates Sunday

뱀이 앉은 자리 - Currently 24 chapters, updates Sunday

I’ll make a separate list of the webtoons that have been translated to English or are in the process of being translated, since this went longer than I was planning.

Now, when it comes to using these to study... One way is simply in improving your reading speed while becoming more familiar with grammar rules or vocabulary you already know, however if you aren’t at a very high level, this will be helpful but ultimately won’t get you very far.

Personally, I find that keeping notepads with me when I read is helpful, that way when I see unfamiliar words or grammar patterns that keep popping up I can write them down and look them up. Sometimes finding good answers to questions you search can be difficult, but overall I’ve found it extremely helpful in learning new things. However, don’t just read the answer to your question and assume you’ll remember it- you’ll find you rarely do. Write it down somewhere where you’ll look frequently or can see it easily if you come across that word, grammar rule, etc. while reading the webtoons and can’t quite remember it.

Also, something that might be helpful- don’t expect to be perfect or do great every single day. There are some days when I’m reading and I can understand tons and I feel like everything I’m coming across just clicks! But then (almost always after these great days...) I just can’t seem to understand anything, basic stuff I know I should understand just seems slow when coming to my mind and everything seems way more challenging. That’s just a part of the learning process :) just be happy when you do well, and be okay when you struggle. When you learn to be happy with the small steps towards improvement, those days that are extra hard won’t seem quite so bad.

Good luck and enjoy!

Edit: I forgot to mention that I was putting the days these are updated as the days they’re labeled on the site, so if you’re a ‘merican like me you’re going to be a day behind. Sunday is gonna be Monday, Monday Tuesday, and so on.

[stylesunchained]

PART 1 Hey B, I hope that you are ok? .... Okay, so here goes. Once many moons ago I wrote on 1DFF and had total writers block before I could even finish my story and then long story short, life happened. Lately I keep getting these concepts in my head which I felt like I just needed to get out, with no judgements, no expectations, to someone who I can trust - hence my messages to you.

PART 2 So as it's Memorial Day weekend in the States (I am from England and we have a Bank Holiday weekend here) I just cannot think of how great it would be if you were a close friend of Harry's and he invited you out to LA to spend it with him. Massive apologies in advance if this just clogs up your inbox, I just wanted to share my writing again with someone who I can trust. E and yourself seem like such lovely individuals and so if you could share this with her as well that would be amazing

PART 3 Hopefully you’ll get all of the messages and be able to put them together - yours, S.

PART 4 "Please, it will be so fun. You're not an 'merican too so I'll have someone to get though all of the USA’s with” Harry had all but pulled out the pouty lips and puppy dog eyes as you had Facetime’d one Monday morning for you, Sunday evening for him, what with the time difference and all to the East Coast of America. “I don’t know, it’s not as easy for me to just jet off somewhere. Some of us have to work you know” you teased whilst sipping on your freshly made smoothie trying not to gag.

PART 5 on the green slop, so much for the Summer body! “Oh come on, I know you’ve been banging on to Gemma about needing a holiday. Just do it, come see me. It’ll be great.” Harry did have a point, I had been harping on to Gemma about needing a holiday ever since I went back to work after Christmas and with money saved up the only thing in my way was my manager and a signed holiday form.

PART 6 “I have no doubt that it would be anything other, I’ll just have to speak with work and see how that goes before we put anything in motion”, “Oh, so it’s uh not a definite no, then?” Harry sounded a little shocked, apprehensive almost. “It’s a ‘I’ll see what I can do’ I’m going to have to go, speak soon H”, “Yeah sure, speak to yeh later”.That conversation took place before 7am on Monday morning and by 11pm on Friday evening you had taken off from Heathrow

PART 7 with Los Angeles as your destination. By some miracle your manager gave you annual leave after the Bank Holiday so you could have like 10 days or so in the California sunshine. You’d had dinner with Gemma on the Thursday to divulge your plans - you had known her longer than Harry, when you first moved to London a new work colleague hooked you up with a friend that was on the lookout for a new roommate, that person was Gemma and as a result you had eventually met Harry.

PART 8 Now you were on your way to see the other Style’s sibling albeit with more butterflies than were present in your tummy at Thursday dinnertime.“Hey you!” Glenne engulfed you into her arms in the Arrivals at LAX who you had approached the familiar face holding the cliched sign with your name on it. “Hi stranger! How come you’re here?” Admitted you were surprised to find Glenne here.

PART 9 Harry had said that he would arranged for you to get picked up but you were expecting the usual silent type, dressed in all black who called you M’am the entire journey.“Well we have the weekend off and so I nominated myself to be your designated driver, welcome to LA!” Glenne explained as you wheeled your suitcase out into the glorious sunshine and towards the multi-storey car park to find her SUV, the quintessential staple of a California girl it would seem. 

PART 10 “So what’s the plans for the weekend? I’ve never celebrated an American holiday before so I’m expecting big things, huge in fact”, “Well I hope that you won’t de disappointed. Jeff’s family have organised a little party out in Malibu on Sunday for Memorial Day which we’re all going to and that’s the only thing set in stone at the moment”.“Oh cool, I’ve never met them before..” I started, “They know you’re coming and can’t wait to meet ‘Harry’s Friend” Glenne winked at me as she drove.

PART 11 “God, is that what i’m being referred to as, wink and all?” I internally cringed, the last thing I wanted was people thinking I was some money-grabbing girl who was here for a free ride.“No winks were present, they’re just looking forward to meet Harry’s friend from home and H is really looking forward to having a piece of home out here with him too”, “So, is the the one where everyone wears white?”PART 12 With Glenne successfully explaining what the appropriate attire would be for the Memorial Day bash in Malibu, a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger for me and Glenne pointing out all of the tourist highlights on the way, when we pulled up at Harry’s new Los Angeles home he was nowhere in sight. “I think Jeff had mentioned about them going to a new spot for Brunch or something” and it seemed that she was right when the both of them turned up within 45 minutes of us parking on the drive. PART 13 “Ah what a sight! That face! God you look like home!” Harry screamed out as he walked through the hallway to where you stood in the kitchen in clear view of him. “Nice to see you too” you spoke at normal level with Harry’s arms wrapped around you and your face pressed into his neck, he still looked and felt the same as he did before he became Number One in 84 Countries and took off on promo. That was a great comfort. “I can’t believe you’re here yeh know. Always turned me down before”

PART 14 “Like I said, some of us actually have to work” you repeated squeezing his wrist on your right shoulder and smiling at him, had he always looked this wonderful? Did jet lag set in this quickly?With Saturday being your first day in LA the four of you had decided on a day at the house and ordering in dinner and making a plan of action for tomorrow. With an itinerary in place, a wake up call of 8am for yourself decided on and a departure time to Malibu at 11am agreed upon, Glenne and Jeff

PART 15 Glenne and Jeff left for the night.“Bloody hell, what have you got in here?” Harry huffed as he carried your bag up the staircase. “Options, lots of options” you murmured feeling the time difference just slightly. “Always prepared, right?” Harry questioned pulling the door open to one of the guest rooms, “So you’ve got towels in the bathroom, the TV remote is on the bedside. Oh, um, there is a uh, a blanket in the wardrobe for yeh, know how yeh get cold and that”,

PART 16 “Thanks H, you’re the best” you yawned out giving him a side cuddle.“Harry, are you ready to go?” you showed up the stairs, the clock just about to hit 11am. “I thought having your hair cut off meant you could get ready quicker?”“Quite the opposite actually. Yeh see, I’ve got to uh, make sure the quiff is right” Harry came down the stairs with his keys, wallet and phone all in one hand.“Whatever you say Princess, do you want a bottle of water for in the car?”

PART 17 ou asked opening up the fridge and stalling for a second, “Jesus, Joseph and Mary, who’s done a big shop for you?”, “Well I knew yeh were coming, and uh I did it myself, there’s some of you’re uh favourites in there” Harry reached in behind you grabbing two bottles with his spare hand and shutting the fridge door before it started to beep, “Ready?”.As your father said, American’s did not do things by half.

PART 18 The Azoff’s had rented out a whole restaurant for their party and there was a BBQ in full swing, canapés going around for those who were only peckish, cocktails and mocktails being circulated and the bathrooms had the best mirror for a full length selfie which you and Glenne had taken full advantage of.You could get used to this life you thought as you leant against the railings overlooking the Pacific Ocean.PART 19 The atmosphere was amazing and as your eyes fell on Harry you laughed at yourself thinking of all of the times you and Gemma had ripped into him about his LA lifestyle and now here you were lapping it up.You had been doing a scan of the terrace whilst considering a trip over the to BBQ for a second time that afternoon when you saw Harry coming towards you, sashaying and swinging his hips to make you laugh, stupid grin on his face and two margaritas in hand.PART 20 “Happy Memorial Day!” he cheers’d his glass with you “Right back atcha! Why don’t barbecues back home have this vibe?” you pondered taking your first sip “Generally because it starts to piss it down an hour into it” Harry decided for you, “Yeah, and you can’t make margaritas like this for shit”. “Heeey, play nicely” he nudge your shoulder as you stifled a chuckle at your own joke.“So whilst you’re out here, is there uh, anything that you maybe uh wanna do?” PART 21 “I’m not too sure really, I really want to do Disneyland..” Harry groaned, “What’s wrong with that?” you asked him, standing a little taller ready to defend your suggestion. “You’re just such a girl that’s all”, “Yeah well, whatever. I’m happy to just play it by ear, I think Glenne had mentioned having a day together going to lunch and shopping and all that girl crap that you don’t like”.

PART 22 Taking another sip of your drink you heard Harry take in a deep breath and simultaneously noticing a group of girls staring in your direction or more like at Harry.“Well if you’ve got some free time in and amongst all of that uh girl crap, I’d uh, I’d like to take you out. Just me and you, uh sometime, if you’d like?” Harry turned to face you, you guessed to gauge your reaction.“I would like” you nodded smiling at him. PART 23 “I would like” you nodded smiling at him.“Great, sounds like another word I want to say right now” Harry spoke, holding your spare hand and leaning back against the railings, together. ... THE END, so sorry again for clogging up your inbox over the past two days. Yours, S x 

***

That was vert cute, love! Sharing with @permanentcross since you asked, thank you for sending that lovely blurb xx

[tshirtfashiontrend]

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July shirt

Link Buys Now: https://kingteeshops.com/product/american-flag-video-game-controller-patriotic-4th-of-july-shirt/

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July shirt

While waiting for Halloween American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July shirt . there’s only one type of t-shirts I’m interested in: IT Tshirts. You don’t need me to recommend you to go see the 1990 horror classic. It instilled fear in the dreams of every child of that generation.If you love horror movies the original mini-series is a must see.Surprisingly, this 2017 remake is pretty good, some say even better. Based on Stephen King’s same-title book, IT is about a demonic clown, feeding off the fear of little children. Basically, this is just wonderful for the time of year or anytime you want to STOP SLEEPING EVER AGAIN.Thanks to Bill Skarsgard‘s talent, he will creep you out as Pennywise, keeping you on the edge of your seat. The kids play their roles of underdogs really well. They seem to be genuinely terrified by the villain. The editing and directing are so good that I’m really hoping for a second IT movie. Andy Muschietti nailed the characters very well, he didn’t just create thrills. Anyone who manages to portray the heart of a Stephen King novel not just the horror, must do an encore.

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July Classic Ladies

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July Hoodie

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July LongSleeve

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July Sweatshirt

American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July Unisex

There’s good and bad coming along with evolution and tech advances American Flag Video Game Controller Patriotic 4th of July shirt . You can’t have something useful without it developing a bad aspect. It seems like the natural course of things. We all hate that, but somehow we always end up with bad consequences of honorable actions.Similarly, the internet is defined by an age of sharing and overexposure.This is a blog that focuses on graphics design and illustration. For this reason, we turned our attention towards designers and illustrators that capture some disappointing parts of today’s life. They are no masochists and we’re not reviving the emo trend.Showcasing these perspectives are a wake up call, a cold shower, a red flag about the direction we’re heading for, as a society.Freedom of speech, the great access to information, as well as the unbelievable speed to directly communicate anything paved the way for some anomalies. The following artists have imagined them in their own original ways. Photographers, graphic designers and illustrators show us the misunderstandings, the misconceptions and the exaggerations of our daily lives.Naturally, all these series have gone viral at some point in time. Therefore, some may seem familiar to you. In short, they refer to the selective reality of social media photos, political issues, unreal expectation of touristic attractions, smartphone addiction and many other unsettling world problems. You Can See More Product: https://kingteeshops.com/product-category/trending/