#cool teams but i cant think of things to say about them atm. i know the fandom would go crazy if it was a certain red sweater wearing guy

[ender1821]

shinyduo/gempearl post-SL is sooo funny because before SL they were the typical "friends who like to do pranks with and against each other, partners in crime, really adorable sometimes" and then SL happened and they became OBSESSED with each other (really obvious from pearl's side since gem was more subtle) and innuendos started to appear left and right. now after WL they are not only obsessed they are also 10x times freakier and flirty. it's gem's fault a lot of the time but pearl enables it and digs herself into a deeper hole so she gets a wack too.

i am pleading to the sky for the fated shiny duo alliance to happen this year because 1) i am sure gem's possessiveness would get multiplied by 20 even if she tried to not show it and that'd be really fun + pearl would like it 2) their dynamic is so complex that they could be anything (codependent or healthy or possessive or die for each other or kill for each other or-) and 3) the aftermath of them teaming would be funny asf and the streams would be horrendous

thank you for coming to my ted talk 🙏

the freakier being in bold and italic is really getting to me for some reason lmao. anyway

you are right in the shift of them pre and post-SL, like, they are STILL giving cute partners in crime but also they’re. so. abnormal about each other??? thats not to say they weren’t flirty/making innuendos before the life series but god did all of that get worse after. also, it has kinda been shown how Gem is the one saying most of the questionable things, but Pearl definitely contributes a lot as well. lets not forget the pickles

of course we’re all manifesting for them to properly team up. its not even subtle at this point they both know that. the only things stopping it from happening really are luck and Gem’s homophobia (/j) cough. i mean. they would definitely get time to resolve what they failed to address back in WL if they’re allied together and can have time to talk. it could also make things worse but we’ll be seated either way. and then we’ll be questioning our existence again when the streams inevitably come

BUT. imo the alliance i really want is them + any other player. yep. i want a third wheel. it can literally be any other player because i think having someone else to affect/witness their dynamic is always entertaining, allows for exploration of new potentially fun dynamics between Pearl/Gem and another player while still offering plenty of opportunity for them to be. weird (/aff), and generally just gives the team a new spin instead of just Murder Camel 2.0. like. i’ve put way too much thought into this so there’s a whole ramble under cut about some of the potential trios and why i think they could be cool for a new life series

Jimmy: originally my life series s6 team predictions was pearl/gem/jimmy </3 mainly out of wanting more pearl + jimmy interactions, but i think having gem there helps just keep the team together. i thought they would be a nice team for jimmy in terms of support (think the SL scene where jimmy finds out he’s not the first out and they’re the ones there cheering him on) but well. thankfully we still had bamboozlers… anyway gem’s ego will get even worse if she had this team, and don’t we all wanna see that

Lizzie: PLEASE. impossible minecraft sent me to the point of no return because now i’m BEGGING for more pearl/gem/lizzie interactions. please. the girlies. we just need more gem + lizzie interactions in the life series imo, and we’ve already seen what happens when pearl + lizzie are together. i can’t tell you for sure if i think any betrayal will happen in this team but it would be really funny if there was, mainly just so lizzie and gem can bicker while pearl is just. There like a sad puppy. it’s cool if there isn’t though, i can see them thriving straight to the finale. cmon. think of the yuri

Ren: hey. hey. remember that one ren stream? you know the one. the wedding. do you see where i’m getting at. do you see the dynamic. it’s so funny to me ok. and we haven’t even mentioned the times where ren has mixed them up. i think it would be a horrible time for him to have to deal with these two and that’s so entertaining. if i picked jimmy because i thought he would have a nice time then for ren it’s for the complete opposite reason. make him suffer with these weirdos

Martyn: HE is the one who’s going to make them suffer. HE will be the one to make it worse. and it will be hilarious. let the man get some form of revenge for them terrorising him back in SL. they’re going to be insufferable and it’s going to be great. you might as well start the “hump duo” counter now …also i may just have a personal preference of wanting to see more pearl + martyn and gem + martyn interactions

Cleo: i mean. cmon. this one doesn’t need that much explanation. the people want a pearl/gem/cleo team

Impulse: same as cleo— SOUP GROUP ASSEMBLE!!!

Etho: pearl + etho interactions are great. gem + etho interactions are great. boom. gem gets to bully them both, then they either make a really successful trap or perform the greatest fumble ever! i see nothing but wins here

BigB: nosy neighbours… what if we tried again… plus i’m pretty sure there was a temporary gem + bigb team in RL, so why not give them a whole season. i think it would be fun. it’d be interesting to see how this team shifts with bigb’s general play style in the life series. i wonder how the base(s?) would turn out

Mumbo: listen to me. they have the funniest opportunity here to fluster this man to the high heavens. think about SL ep 5. think about it

Scar: so like. remember that 2v1? yeah. crazy, right? no but okay i don’t think if they teamed up there would be that much more emphasis on the 2v1 after all that in WL, but there WOULD be good times. i know this deep in my heart. the pearl/gem/scar interactions would go crazy. i hope they go on a hunting spree

Joel: i think this one is the least likely (on account of the fact that pearl has teamed with him in SL, and then gem doing the same in WL) but there could be beautiful world where pearl and joel build an even bigger and better car and gem just watches and sighs

Scott: insert manic laughter here. Pearlescentmoon you are about to have the worst time of your life ever

[lifeonmvrs]

SPIDER-SONA TIME!!

[Image Description: two digital drawings of void-crawler (my spider-sona). the character is drawn five different times throughout the whole canvas. on the top left corner, void-crawler is unmasked, smiling and doing a peace sign. there are two white text boxes representing void’s internal thoughts that read “gotta love hammerspace. how else would my hair fit otherwise?*”. underneath there’s a turquoise text box that reads “*editor’s note: it would not.” in the middle left side of the canvas, void-crawler is shown with a surprised expression and the spidey sense lines. there’s a white bubble text that reads “omg i have squiggly lines!!”. near that drawing, there’s a smaller one with a chibi head of void doing a salute with a turquoise bubble text with a white center reading “of course, officer!”. an arrow points to text saying “talking with hero voice (a.k.a. deeper)”. on the bottom left corner, there’s an unfinished but colored drawing of void-crawler drinking a milkshake with half their mask off and with little hearts on the side. there’s an arrow pointing at the drawing accompanied by text that reads “pretend this is okay [heart emoticon] and finished…” on the right side of the canvas, there’s a full-body drawing of void-crawler. void has a hand near the face in a thinking manner and the other near the hip. to the right, there’s a written text that says “void-crawler!” in all caps. the background is a yellow note-taking paper texture. the second image shows the front and back design with some mannequin models as template. background is white. /end ID]

more info below:

alright guys, let’s do this one last time. my name is mars walker. i was bitten by a radioactive spider. and for the last 2 years, i’ve been the one and only void-crawler. i’m pretty sure y’all know the rest. i saved a bunch of people. got spider-man to be my mentor. did a couple of team-ups with him and deadpool. i saved the city but i… couldn’t save peter. i stopped fighting for a while. changed my suit and hero name. and now i’m back, stronger than ever, wahoo! because no matter how hard life gets, i always find a way to come back and save the city. cuz who else will if not me?

amazing intro proving i’m a hero… check!

whole backstory explained… on hold

hi! finally posted this, i made it like a week ago. anyway, i think i would have some extra powers, as a treat.

first of all, enhanced spidey sense. i don’t only perceive near danger but FUTURE danger as well. basically i get visions, premonitions, prophecies, whatever you wanna call them. they are always about danger and there IS a way to change them. i dont know how that would work with time and space continuum and all those complicated things, but who wants logic, boring!! (i’ll solve the plot hole soon, dw 😭🛐) (if any of y’all have any idea how to solve it, pls tell me)

i would be able to break the 4th wall cuz i constantly do irl anyway,, sometimes life follows a specific storytelling pattern and has very notorious plot armor and that makes me think “huh… weird”

i would also have sensitive senses, and that includes night vision! (i already have sensitive hearing irl and it’s a nightmare! good luck void-crawler). i could also “change” my appearance? i would not physically change it, but i would release some kind of chemicals or stuff that would make people see other thing. this is inspired by the ant mimicry spiders do. spiders DO change physically, but i think mine would be just psychologically. idk, i thought that would be cool :P

the design of my spidey suit is inspired by, spidey of course, but also by deadpool’s suit. cuz i’m obsessed with both of them atm, so had to add that to my story 👍 AND IT WILL MAKE SENSE STORY WISE MUAHAHAHA! cant wait to tell y’all the backstory.

yk that thing miles and gwen do when talking to their dad while in the spidey suit (deeper voice)? well i would do that all the time i’m talking with people that are not aware void-crawler is mars walker. and my bubble text would show that by being mostly turquoise with a bit of white in the center :3

[lavenderek]

hi, A/3 volunteer back again! i hope i can answer your questions properly, but i’m on mobile so sorry if i get a bit confused. it’s also going to be quite long but i hope you can figure out which questions i’m replying to. let me know if you need any more clarification!

1 - as tag wranglers, we don’t moderate content via deletion, etc - we just move fics into the correct tags, and it’s typically on a fandom basis (for example, i might solely wrangle for something like the supernatural fandom only). i’ve never come across ‘problematic’ tags since most of the time, it’s just sorting tags into like... more general tags? so example - someone tags a fic with ‘kinda fluffy kinda angsty’. we would then kind of make it so that tag redirects to ‘fluff with angst’, even though it still appears as the original tag on the fic. does that make sense? i’m also a little unsure of the other questions you had here - which is totally my fault, i’m in the middle of writing an essay for uni that needs to be in in like... 12 hours and my brain is frazzled - but if you were asking about a situation where if i was concerned that a single user had a collection of fics that were all entirely based upon something illegal and reported their entire account to mods, would it be deleted - i’m not sure. tag wranglers are kind of like low-level moderators, and we’re not what would typically be thought of as moderators since we simply reorganise content versus actually removing it. since the reporting process is typically through the site itself and is handled by an entirely separate team, i cant speak for how they think or what their process is.

2 - it’s up to our judgement as to if we want to report it, but again, the tags we wrangle are VERY general. tags like ‘dead dove don’t eat’ and stuff that are typically full of polarising content arent something i’ve come across, because i think they make up a minority of most fandoms when put against tags like ‘fluff’ and ‘angst’ and even stuff like ‘chocolate’, lmao. i’m not certain what happens when a report is processed and the fic is found to be removable - what i do know though is that with fics that are seen as breaking specific laws (i.e depictions of CSA, slander, etc) mods are often a lot more hard-handed for several reasons (reputation both within the community and in terms of the fact they could very much get in legal trouble). again though, i’m a low-level moderator and don’t see that side of the process. however, if i report something and it’s not taken down, i’m not implicated in any way. it’s been a while since i’ve been on the site and reported anything so i’m not entirely certain if reporting is 100% anonymous or if you have to supply details like email, but i think if you DO supply things, it’s to ensure you aren’t mass-reporting someone (bc i think that counts as targeted harassment). email is also possible to fake, so i think you can make the process anonymous if you want to. as for how often i personally report fic - not often. i’m a CSA victim (which is why this topic is touchy for me tbh), and i don’t like to go through the process because i find it arduous - you have to give an explanation as to why you’re reporting the fic, and i find it triggering at times. i’ve also never been in a position where i have found a fic while actively volunteering that i feel has been necessary to report, so i can’t speak for that either. all of that being said - i’ve heard of and seen on one occasion fics and entire accounts be deleted for harassment/slander - in particular, i’ve heard multiple times that accounts dedicated to purposely like... making fun of? or like technically harassing? kpop boy group members have been taken down because even though their content is ‘technically’ fanfiction, it’s obviously just there to incite hatred against a specific person. so, imo, if mods are quick on taking down accounts obviously run by 14 year olds in fandom drama writing numerous fics where boyband member A calls boyband member B stupid and tells him nobody likes him, i think they’re very likely just as serious about taking down more serious content. that’s just my opinion and my personal experience though, and it’s distinct from my volunteering.

overall, on the whole topic of CSA on the website - it’s really tough even just as a basic content moderator. there’s lots of reasons as to why people post it, and though people are very obviously welcome and encouraged to think critically about everything, it’s a fact that the topic is really really difficult to manoeuvre (culture, who is posting it, when was it posted, why it’s being posted aka vent fics, etc). as i said, i’m a CSA victim myself, so i understand the frustration, but it’s too nuanced and difficult a topic to be able to say ‘ban it all’. however, i do think the site is doing their best to crack down on stuff that is very obviously on there for one specific reason, and i also think generally, they’re changing things so people are able and sometimes encouraged to anonymise themselves by not giving any profile info and to protect themselves by turning off comments completely, etc. i find that you can make it really easy to curate your posting experience so that essentially, you can post but nobody can really interact.

3 - i like tag wrangling! i got into it because i saw a position on the front page of the site and decided to go for it. it wasn’t very taxing to get into and you don’t have to put much work in - a couple of hours a week is enough, and they’re understanding about work/uni/etc. it’s easy to meet other people through volunteering, and they ensure everyone is over 18. i don’t read through fic myself - just through tags, and then i sort them into their proper places. if something is tagged wrong, we don’t get in touch with the author, we just do our best to reorganise the tag so it redirects into the correct place - again, for instance, if someone writes a fantasy AU that they tag with ‘high fantasy prince/princess AU’ and that tag doesn’t exist, we would sort it into the main tag for a royalty AU or something like that. re: monetisation of fics: technically, monetised content is not allowed on A/3 - if someone is advertising their patreon or kofi in their authors notes or profile, you’re supposed to report it just as a general user. i think it’s because it puts the site at risk of being sued or something? but as a low level mod, i don’t HAVE to report these things unless i see them while i’m tag wrangling (aka i see a tag like ‘my patreon is XYZ!!!!! send me money!!!!!!’) and i personally don’t report monetised fics because ... i don’t find it a prominent issue, lmao. people are also learning to avoid it by being like this is my tumblr or this is my twitter, and when you click on their social media they link their patreon or whatever There instead. also, idk who decided the colour scheme! i think it was just like a generally agreed upon thing with the site designers. i also think there’s been convo for a few years about dark modes and stuff on the site, but i’m pretty sure the site has to get a few more things out of the way before they’ll prioritise that (i know they’re trying to work on a better moderating system for things like spam and harassment atm bc the spam filter absolutely sucks dick lol). i’ll totally drop a mention like WOW, wouldnt it be AMAZING if we could have this SPECIFIC COLOUR SCHEME, tho <3

thank you so much for responding!!! this is really cool to know, i've never even seen a post by an a*3 worker before so you're a total unicorn right now

heh uni-corn because you're in uni. sorry i'm tired too

good luck on your paper!

[aenslem]

Doctor Who Tag Game

Tagged by: @thirteenstardisfam thank youu and i am so sorry it is so super long lmao i did not mean too, but somehow ended up with it, and also i think i will make fandom hate me for some stuff about 11, but i love him! don’t you dare to think otherwise :’D

im tagging: @tennant @luke-skywalker @panlyra @stupidape @buffyrosenbergs @expelliarmus idk who of you whovians wanna do it out there feel free to say i tagged you and go on ;)

Favourite Doctor:  still Ten, i love 12 and 13 almost as much, even if not harder atm, but if it comes to choosing 1 fav doctor then it’s always Ten, so far no one stepped higher for me :’D I loved his era, i loved so many episodes with him, his season arcs, his companions, his relationships with everyone, and this is the only Doctor whose regeneration was smooth for me, he was continuation of Ninth Doctor and it felt like that. I was not like ‘but he is so different in so many ways’ nope, never. Maybe it’s because companions were the same, everyone was still around which was great btw, and I fell in love with the show with Tenth Doctor, dare I say that I stopped watching back then when Matt Smitt became doctor? lmao, must be shock for some but yes, I dropped this show because of THAT lmao??now i laugh at my own self but yeah, i did. where’s everyone, why it feels so different? that was huge nope. Only years later I got back into it, thanks to amazing Michelle Gomez. Actually I was not even going to watch other doctors at that moment, but I watched episodes only with Missy, then i said well it’s not bad I like it and Missy and Twelve were?? OOOF LOVES OF MY LIFE FOR SURE because their relationship were so cool and of course i loved it, so i started a huge rewatch, the first since i dropped the show. Fell in love with Doctor/Master all over again, Ten was as amazing as I remembered, Nine was perfect and I love him too!!! and then... i got to s5... oh god, i was like, let’s give him a chance, what do i lose? but it still felt so weird, and the show was so different, and suddenly everyone else is so important but where are old characters? but i got into it because i have already seen some of 12′s episodes and i got used to the style?? i guess. and then River appeared, not because of her but around episode 5 or 6 i was into it already, not as much as i was before but anyway, maybe weeping angels helped because i loved them and it reminded me of Ten, i felt some kind of a connection to old doctor. I liked River with 10, i thought i will like her with 11 too... but alas, still felt like you know those boys who have never had sex but try to act like they know everything about it and hit on every moving thing and think they do it cool? :D i am sorry if i hurt someone’s feelings with it, but that’s how 11 was for me back then, and while I do understand river/11 it’s the least of all river ships for me, 11 is still the least fav doctor because of those feelings i had back then when i stopped watching, they are not rational i know that now but still feel them, but i love him now, and will protect that kid at all costs! i love ponds, i will kill if anyone says anything bad about Rory Williams! and Amy and Rory? quoting my favorite star trek couple? DUDE WE GO TOGETHER OR NOT AT ALL!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! and even if i was not into all river/11 relationship i loved the story, and of course i liked 12, but s8 still feels like what the hell for me, not because of the doctor but because they tried so hard to show clara as bossy, i mean, i liked her with 11 and then suddenly they turn her into some control freak, it was not so MUCH with 11... but i know now why they did it, so Missy’s words have an effect and all. but still, i love clara before and after s8 :’D s9 clara? i will kill for her too. it’s too long but idk  :’D and actually, this shows that if you give it a chance even if you don’t like actor/actress at first - you might love the show ;) so stop acting like jodie is miscast honestly, i am ready to fight anyone for saying that :D say whatever you want about plot choices, but do not fucking act like it’s Jodie’s fault! actors are not responsible for show runner choices. She acts amazing with the material she has. anyway, 10 is my fav idiot!

Favourite Master: Missy, always was and always shall be. My favorite character in general in the show, no one tops my girl!

Favourite Sonic: honestly? i don’t really remember any sonic but 12′s glasses :D so... glasses. I mean, i don’t really care how it looks like, it does its job... most of the time lmao, but i liked those glasses and the thing with browser history was my fav :D

Favourite Companion: oh it’s soooo hard!!! either Donna or Bill. I can’t choose. but yeah, those are both with whom there were no ‘romantic’ relationship implied, i love friends more than couples. and I just loved 10 and Donna as a team and Bill and 12, i still wish they had more time. also Martha, the smartest companion lol she was amazing.

Favourite Story: anything involving The Master :D all episodes with them are my favs, but i can’t just pick one story, i still remember the first episode i watched back when it was airing and are you my mummy stuck in my head for the rest of my life giving me brrrr feeling, like it was not scary but somehow made me super uncomfortable? also vashta nerada?? duuuuude, you can’t just look at the shadow the same way. and ten/river together were really great, i mean, he did not know who is she, the mystery, i love shit like that?? yeesss!!!!! there are so many great ones. I don’t want to choose.

Favourite Soundtrack: that unreleased tiny melody when the master dies in the last of the time lords T--T and this is gallifrey and clara’s theme! those are my favs. and I also really like 11′s theme, kinda ready for adventures and doing some weird but funny shit :D

Dream Actor for next Doctor: ooooof OOOOF dude! you know what, usually it is one actor for 3 seasons, that’s how it was for the last 3 doctors, i want Jodie to break that rule and stay with us for 4th season as well, i just want to see how pissed off those haters will be lmao i really really think the entire timeless child thing will not feel the same with someone else yet, and i don’t think they will reveal much in 13th season, that’s HUGE thing, or they should make it so good and the next doctor... aaah i don’t want to feel that change again, like i did with 10 to 11, and felt with the every next doctor, but i overcome that shit and just give them a chance, it’s the doctor after all and im sure loving all of them now. not sure it can disappoint me even if most of plot choices in the season are ... weak. idk who, there are so many great actors but whoever i choose will not be as great as someone they choose, because they always somehow cast amazing people, but i agree with emily it’s time for a doctor of color! tho, they can’t go back to white male actor right now, i just can imagine how it will look like, with all the hate Jodie received and how people still whine about female doctor, it will look like they tried and decided to go back to white male doctors, one half will be happy but the other one will eat them alive! so yeah, i am pretty sure it’s not gonna be white man again yet lol

Dream Composer: idk

Dream Story: well, considering 13 is in jail now, i would love to see someone “we know” rescuing her, because honestly if they just showed me jack and left it like that, i will not accept it!!! but also since yaz will be the only one left with the doctor, since bradley and tosin leave the show, i hope we will have some yaz and doctor relationship development without anyone else, maybe jack could stay because i love him, but jack’s presence did not hurt doctor and rose relationship development back then, so it should not hurt now also. but if they bring someone new, at least don’t make it right away, let yaz and 13 have an adventure at least 1 episode, some talk and stuff. so when yaz leaves also... (and i kind of had that stupid feeling that yaz will die in the end, because somehow everything hints on that for me? idk maybe it’s because i rewatched and giffed orphan 55 today and vilma (?) telling yaz to run and stay alive kinda felt like something that hints on yaz’s future... and yaz is always going somewhere without thinking, to random alien ship, to save the doctor, she steps into trouble like a doctor hoping everything will somehow be ok, but im not even sure she hopes, it’s more like i am as good as her so i can do it, not in clara’s way when everything hinted she is like the doctor, because let’s be honest she was and even got her own tardis, but she thinks she is, but she is not, i think some day that might end bad for her... so when she also leaves i don’t want it be like well yeah, what’s next? i mean, i still miss Bill, that was like NOOOOOO with tears and screams for me, i loved Bill! and we had 2 seasons with yaz and i still don’t feel the same connection to any of the current companions atm, so i would like the show to make me love them more, i do love them, just not as much as those i still miss, but im sure defending any of them lmao i love them anyway. you know what i mean...

A Companion You’d like to see back: oh OH. we cant bring them back for entire season right? but doctor can meet Donna at some point, which will have no point lmao cos she doesn’t remember and it will only hurt doctor and i don’t see how her appearance will help any plot, it will be just fanservice cameo. But Bill is out there with Heather, they are powerful creatures now, i think it could somehow fit into the story, I want Bill back. But also, Clara is still one heartbeat away from death, she can be out there, and she has tardis. tiny cameos will be fine for me :D and Martha, but also Madam Vastra and Jenny, Kate and Osgood, where they are??? bring them back and it can make sense, their appearances. I mean, imagine someone from UNIT in s11, not unit itself but osgood??? it would feel so much different. 

An Enemy/Alien/Creature you’d like to see again: weeping angels!!!! OOOF they were creepy, and i love them, like, DON’T BLINK!!! how can you not blink for so long? that is cool, i want them back. and also the most beautiful shots are always with angels so... :’D

If you could travel with one of the Doctors, which Doctor and why?: oooh, while 10 is my fav, and I totally would hit on 13 :D i will choose 12, 12 from season 10, because he was such a grandpa, no lovey dovey stuff, he would lecture me on thing i do, give me new info about something, we would explore shit together and he would be like a grandpa i never had. We would definitely have long discussions about stuff and have good laugh together and i would make references to movies and then we would watch those movies :D i would act like Bill lmao yess i want to travel with 12!!!

[incorrect-naruto]

Characters for the meme: Lee, Shino, and Kakazu

AWW YEAH LETS GO

Lee:

how i feel about this character

baby boy. baby. he is SO TALENTED and good hearted and just always has the best in mind for everyone and i!!! cry. i love him.

ships i have for this character?

neji and lee is So Good, i also really really love gaara and lee! he is just a boy full of love to give

fav non romantic pairing?

him and sakura could’ve been powerhouse best friends and it would’ve been amazing and beautiful but kishimoto is a coward

unpopular opinion?

hm....im not really sure i have any unpopular opinions with him? i guess all i can say is that he deserved better in canon and deserved more focus but i feel like thats true for 99% of the characters

one thing i wish would have happened with this character

he never had to go through the trauma of losing neji. i’m going to beat the shit out of kishimoto

fav friendship?

all of team guy, gaara, sakura, naruto, really just anyone in naruto he is a friend to all

Shino:

how i feel abt this character

i don’t have much of an opinion on shino other than he’s incredibly underrated, bugs freak me out but u keep doing u you funky little man

ships with this character?

im gonna combine the platonic/friendship categories into this one bc its all basically the same, his relationship with all of team 8 is so soft

unpopular opinion/something i wish would’ve happened

also combining these both bc theyre the same: hes an underrated character and DEFINITELY deserved more screentime, his skills are so cool and unique

Kakuzu:

how i feel abt this character

definitely one of the coolest members of the akatsuki in my opinion! his powers are so interesting and also dude, he fought hashirama “the god of shinobi” senju and lived?? (i mean, yeah, he lost, but to hold your ground against him you’d have to be pretty damn strong)

any ships?

romantically, hidan mostly! they’re chaotic zombie combi and he’s the only one that can keep this feral immortal shithead in line. platonic kakuzu + hashirama would be pretty interesting did we know more abt their fight/dynamic/had they just not fought in general

unpopular opinion?

uhhh...hm. probably how he died? i dunno i know he had a full onslaught of people fighting him and he had to wear out EVENTUALLY, but it just felt kind of....lackluster after that full fight? like, oh, naruto has new power and is going to use it to One Shot The Current Villain. maybe im too picky but for someone who fought hashirama and lived thats kind of a sad way to go

one thing i wish wouldve happened with them

we got to see his fight with hashirama. (yes im mentioning it for the millionth time) (but kishimoto you cant just casually mention that once and expect us to forget)

fav friendship?

really anyone else in the akatsuki! deidara and kakuzu is funny to imagine because deidara is hidans dumbass partner in crime and you cant tell me otherwise and that kakuzu would HATE it

skipped crossover ship for everyone (at least for now, who knows i might edit it eventuallt) because im dumb and cant think of anything atm

[stevethehairington]

for yo character headcanons: our bois sam, steve and bucky ILY

thank youuuuu for the ask my dear! this is gonna be a fun one haha. ily tooo

character headcanons

Sam:

1. sexuality headcanon

i feel like sam could probably fall under the pansexual label; most of my ships for him are with females so it wasn’t until i got into the sam/riley ship that i really gave his sexuality a lot of thought. but yeah i adore sam being with riley and honestly the idea of him being with like steve or bucky too is good too, i could defs see him getting his flirt on with those two dorks. 

2. otp

this is. so hard. bc like. i can see sam with literally so many different people. like i love sam/riley, but i also really love sam/maria, and then sam/natasha is nice too, and really really oddly i thought of sam/becca today and like. at least in the fic i’m considering writing atm, it works really well so yeah. idk if i have a solid otp for sam. i guess i usually stick with either riley or maria though depending on the situation. 

3. brotp

oh man. literally the steve/sam brotp and the sam/bucky brotp and the sam/steve/bucky brotps give me so much life. all three of these losers are so good together they play off of each other so well theyre really the Dream Team.

i also really like sam and natasha’s friendship too, i’ve seen some fics get it really good.

4. notp

uhhh, there aren’t really any sam ships that just out to me as a Major No. i guess i’m not super into the idea of sam and clint being a thing? but like it doesn’t really bother me as a ship in general or anything.

5. first headcanon that pops into my head

okay in any fic i write in which it’s a no powers au (so like most of what i write lmao) i have this hc that sam is dubbed the bird whisperer in anyone’s phone. so he was at the park with steve or bucky or whoever he’s mainly friends with in the fic and while he was there he ended up doing something (not quite sure what, maybe i’ll figure that out and write about it one day who knows) and whatever he did brought all the birds to his yard and they l o v e d him, and some even followed him around a little, thus he was dubbed the bird whisperer. 

6. one way in which i relate to this character

i too would do anything for steve rogers. lmao no for real though, sam has a really good loyalty about him and he’s willing to do anything for his friends (i.e. take them in, fight with/for them, etc. etc.) and i like to think that those are qualities i have as well.

7. things that give me second hand embarrassment about this character

i honestly can’t think of anything rn?? like sam’s a p cool, suave dude, he hasn’t really done anything, at least in canon, that makes me super cringe in embarrassment.

8. cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll for sure!

Steve:

1. sexuality headcanon

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISEXUAL MY DUDE. listen there is no way n o w a y steve rogers is not a bisexual man. i mean, come on. have yall seen the movies? steve rogers is in love with bucky barnes, peggy carter, sam wilson, natasha romanoff, and the list probably goes on. no but for real, bucky is literally his life partner, the love of his entire fucking life. tws?? a romcom for fuckin sure. but he also really was in love with peggy carter in tfa, i mean who wouldn’t be she’s fuckin badass and hot af and just a kickass woman. i’m in love with her too steve. and then you cannot tell me he isn’t flirting with sam at the beginning of tws because he so is. and i bet while bucky was Gone he probably somehow got his hands on some of thor’s asguardian mead or whatever at some avengers party and he and nat drunkenly kissed a little just to see what it was like (yknow before she got with clint ofc). but seriously this boy is a Bisexual Disaster and we all know it. 

2. otp

is this even a question? obviously its stucky. they’re my reason for breathing tbh. no jk but i love them to death and listen you cannot tell me that they are not fucking soulmates okay? bc they are. they ARE. there is literally not a single heterosexual explanation for a n y t h i n g they do. the “keeping the uniform” bit in tfa? gay! the “shared experience” line? gay! breaking through 70+ years of brainwashing by reciting your wedding vows? gay! they are so in love it hurts!!

3. brotp

i have a lot of steve brotps tbh. i love the steve/natasha friendship so so sooo much. i really love how they did it in tws and i really just love the idea of them being close with each other like that. i also really love the steve/sam friendship ofc too. they play off of each other so well, and their flirty banter gives me lifeeee. i do like a good steve/tony friendship as well, and i like steve/wanda friendship too, i feel like they have a good relationship. 

4. notp

steve/sharon lmao. okay so like. i don’t exactly hate it, as in i don’t have a problem with the ship if it were done right. but bc it was so poorly done in the mcu i Do Not like it and i Do Not support. like the timing was horrible, it was all very no homo, the fact that she’s peggy’s niece and they flirt literally right after her funeral was in such poor taste and it makes me seriously uncomfortable, and also the way the mcu totally made sharon’s character nothing more than a love interest, and a really poorly done one too, just pisses me off bc she couldve been a really badass character if they wanted to make her one. so yeah. there’s just a lot of reasons why i Do Not like this ship. but it doesn’t like squick me or anything and i can tolerate it as like an old ship in fics, like she was steve’s ex before he met bucky or smth like that. 

5. first headcanon that pops into my head

6. one way in which i relate to this character

i too would wbecome a wanted government fugitive and fight anyone who got in the way for bucky barnes

7. things that give me second hand embarrassment about this character

again, i can’t really think of anything that gives me too much second hand embarrassment about steve… i guess maybe just the fact that he’s a disaster when it comes to his feelings for people can make me have to look away and shake my head at his dumbass antics lmao. 

8. cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon role fo sho

Bucky:

1. sexuality headcanon

BIIIIIIIIIISEXUAL AS WELL MY DUDEEE. i could see bucky as straight up gay as well, but i like to stick with the bisexual label bc 1. im bisexual and i like to see my faves as bi too lmao and 2. i do think that he genuinely did like going out with girls back in the 40s and taking them dancing and shit. like he was definitely flirty and suave and good with the ladies but i dont think it was all for show. like i think he really did like those girls. ofc he loves steve though, like i said, soulmates! but yeah, my boy is defs bisexual too!

2. otp

again, obviously stucky, see above for my rantings and ramblings about why lmao.

3. brotp

i have a lot of brotps for bucky too lol. i fuckin love the banter between bucky/sam, like the mcu did that right! and i hope that their show can deliver more of this Good Content. they work so well, it’s that love/hate realtionship and i am Here For It. they secretly love each other as best friends despite what it may seem. i also really really really love the bucky/natasha friendship, like sign me the fuck up!! they would be the best of friends and i just. love this friendship so much. i also like the bucky/clint friendship too, i feel like these two dumbasses would get up to some good shit together lol. 

4. notp

hmmm, i guess i could say bucky/tony for this. like. i don’t know much about this ship and i dont read for it or anything so i really just dont like it bc i cant see them together romantically or anything. so like idk if i can call that a notp bc i dont hate it or anything, it’s just not my cup of tea.

5. first headcanon that pops into my head

this one is tried and true but it’s always the first bucky hc that pops into mind. bucky was drafted, he didn’t enlist on his own. he refuses to tell steve that though bc of how fucking scared he is about it and bc he knows how much steve wants it, he doesnt want steve to think hes ungrateful or doesnt care about his country or anything like that. so he hides his letter away somewhere he knows steve will never find it. 

steve only finds out when he finds bucky on the table in azzano reciting his number which evidently, gives up the fact that he was drafted. 

6. one way in which i relate to this character

i too would follow that little guy from brooklyn that was too dumb not to run away from a fight to the jaws of death klgsj. no but really, bucky doesnt like to fight, he doesnt. he never wanted to go to war in the first place, he’s not the one that starts the fights, only finishes steve’s when he can’t, and he’s tired of war and fighting and all that. and i think that that’s something i have in common with bucky, that i dont want to fight unless it’s the last resort. like i’d rather try to civally solve a problem than jump straight to the arguing and fighting bits yknow?

7. things that give me second hand embarrassment about this character

again, i can’t think of much that embarrasses me about bucky. he’s a p chill dude. 

8. cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll and you can’t tell me otherwise. 

[type-a-nomad]

March 21

This weekend I went on a Safari.  The trip was with a travel group called Hotspots and it was marketed as a Safari but that was very misleading.  It was so much better than a single safari.          A week before, my friends Dani, Lucy, Sydney, and Jenine all signed up to go on this trip with me.  That Friday, we were picked up at 6am by the hotspots van. We drove for 4 hours, only stopping once at a really cute little roadside cafe with an amazing gift store that I spent way too much money at.  Only stopping once was really problematic for me because it appears I have the smallest bladder on the planet and my body loves to remind me of this fact during 4 hour car rides.  We finally arrived at a place called the Cango Caves, which is a UNESCO Heritage Site and almost exactly what you would expect.  The caves were massive with gorgeous limestone stalactites and stalagmites.  The coolest thing that happened on the tour was that they had this tiny little light installed next to all the huge lights they have lighting up the different chambers.  The guide then turns off all of the illuminating lights and only leaves the tiny tiny light on to simulate what it was like when the first person came into the caves with only an oil lamp.  It was terrifying but in a fantastic way.  I love being put in historically empathetic situations because it’s hard to imagine an experience so different from your own reality without any real example.               After the caves we all piled back into the van and drove to our first hostel.  We were only staying one night so unpacking was completely unnecessary and we quickly used the time we would have spent doing that finding the hostel’s bar.  There are very few things more satisfying than sitting around a fire with your friends in Africa, drinking an African cider literally called Savannah, and talking about life and why socks with cool patterns on them are the best.  About an hour passed and we decide we cant put dinner off any longer because we are simply too hungry to function.  We ask the hostel’s front desk where we should go and they give us vouchers for free wine at this local restaurant called the Black Swan.  I am still in my hiking clothes from the cave and assume that, because it’s recommended by an African hostel who's bar is bigger than the kitchen, it will be casual.  Half of our group didn't even wear shoes because we only had to walk down the street and we’ve collectively realized that bare feet are just better.  

      We show up to the Black Swan and all I see are white table clothes and well dressed people.  The carpet was classier than us.  These people still seated us even though we weren't wearing shoes and were clutching our wine vouchers like it was a golden ticket to Willy Wonka.  The food was excellent and the service was even better.  We asked the manager of the restaurant where the closest ATM was so we could walk there after dinner and he took out his car keys and DROVE us there.  The waitress was so cool and funny.  By the end of the night the restaurant workers gathered around our table and took a picture with us because we all got along so well.           When we got back to the hostel everyone went to the bar and I went to bed. This is somewhat of a pattern here.  We had to leave at 7:30am and, per usual, I wanted my full 8 hours.  I don’t know what happened at the bar or what time they got back, but when I woke up it was pretty clear that it was a good time.  The 7am alarm was incredibly brutal, though, and hauling everyone out of bed and into clothes was possibly the most challenging part of the trip.  Breakfast was great because they had cinnamon buns for $1.              Our next stop was the elephant sanctuary.  It was even more amazing than I ever could have expected.  Elephants are huge.  Not a surprising fact, but it’s really rare to actually experience a living creature of that size.  You can try to imagine it, but the shear energy of these beings was amazing.  They were so powerful and so calm.  The thing that struck me the most was the way they walked.  For some reason, I always expected elephants to have hard feet, kind of like horses.  When I imagine an elephant, I picture the large toenail sort of things they are often depicted as having.  This is simply not the case.  Their feet are like slippers.  When they walk, it’s almost silent.  They’re so impressively graceful.  We went on a bush walk with them and I was inches away from the massive creatures.  They were rescues and lived in the sanctuary because they were found as babies because their mothers had been poached.  They live in a way very different from the wild, but it’s humane.  I’ve heard of places where elephants are sedated to be around people and it was very relieving to see that this was not the case.  The elephants were so obviously happy.  They loved giving hugs.  Whenever I was close to one, they would wrap their trunk around me and give me a cuddle, which is sweet but so forceful sometimes I almost fell over.  My favorite was the female of the group, Malaika, which means angel.  When elephants walk, they walk single file, and the female of the group always leads.  The male elephants would wait for Malaika to walk and then they would follow.           One thing that particularly stunned me when I was with the elephants was the honesty of their existence.  You can tell when you're with them how intelligent and emotional they are.  And yet, they clearly have no concept of lying.  They are so raw and straightforward in their existence, not because they are simple creatures, but because their honest ones.  Humans spend so much time trying to be something else than exactly who they are where they are.  We could learn from the animals around us if we opened ourselves to it.   Elephants are not only matriarchal but also very family-oriented.  They usually live in family units and that’s why it’s so horrible to poach them, because elephants mate for life and experience sever grief when they lose a member of their family. It amazes me that somebody could look at these creatures and it would occur to them to kill them for their tusks.  That’s such a bizarre idea— that somebody’s reaction to seeing these beautiful animals would be to take what they see as most pleasurable for them materially, instead of experiencing how incredible life is.         My friend Tim told me this a few days ago and I think it applies to everything, but is especially fitting in this situation.  There are two kinds of humans in the world and they break down in this story.  Once upon a time a man was walking in the forest and he sees the most beautiful flower he's ever laid eyes on.  He spends hours staring at it and decides to pick it and take it back home with him.  He puts it in his favorite vase next to his bed and it dies in a week.  Another man is walking in the forest and sees the most beautiful flower he’s ever laid eyes on and he stops and stares for hours.  After the sun sets, he walks back home.  The next day he returns and waters the flower and feeds it with rich soil so it grows even larger and more beautiful and more alive than ever before.  This not only applies to poaching elephants or settling for short term gratification, but also to relationships.  There are people who see certain things they like in you and want to take them for their own, and after they capture that part of your beauty, they can discard you.  There are other people who see things they like in you and see your potential and will do anything to build that and help you reach your most developed, beautiful self, even if it comes at some emotional cost for them.  Emotional investment and selflessness in relationships is so important.           Now more than ever this story resonates with me.  I am in South Africa, far away from all of my loved ones at home.  I only know the people around me for the two months I am here.  I could make relationships with people I find fun and easy to be around, and then leave South Africa and that relationship in my past as I return home.  The other option is to seek deep relationships.  To invest myself emotionally in other people who live halfway across the world and, even though it is not easy or emotionally convenient, realize the preciousness of really fitting with somebody.  I choose to do the latter.  I have lived in two separate continents in the past 8 months and I have met a lot of people.  The more people I meet, the more I realize how rare it is to find that beautiful flower of a person and how important it is to invest in that relationship, even if it’s in a forest very very far away.           The rest of Saturday was a whirlwind.  We drove from the elephant sanctuary to the wetlands and went kayaking in a river for about an hour.  Then we went to a food market in the middle of nowhere onto our next adventure: bungee jumping (sort of).  Saying it was “our” next adventure is putting it strongly.  It was a couple of our group’s next adventure.  There were two options, either go bungee jumping off of the highest bridge in the world into a steep canyon between two mountains, or go see a 1000 year old tree on a nature reserve.  You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to guess which option I opted for.           The tree itself was underwhelming, but the nature reserve was brilliant.  It was so untouched and I was able to really experience an African forest/jungle for the first time.  It wasn't a tropical jungle so it didn't look like the image that popped into your head when I said that, but it was humid and dense.  There was very little sunlight that could penetrate through the trees.  There were animal tracks everywhere and, even though it was the early afternoon still, the cicadas were incredibly loud.  To my great relief, I didn't interact with many bugs.  South Africa has some crazy spiders.  First of all, they're huge.  Second of all, they JUMP.  This is not an exaggeration, these motherfuckers can leap like their the track star on the high school varsity team.  That scares the shît out of me and I have absolutely no tolerance for it.  I can cope with moving to a different hemisphere, alone, with little to no information about where I’m staying or what I’m doing, but when it comes to jumping spiders, I hit my limit.  A good catch phrase for my attitude is: I’m not a physical risk-taker, I’m an intellectual risk-taker.           We all piled back into the car and I tried to sleep and failed miserably.  I decided to just blast my music through my headphones and dance in my seat while taking time to myself.  We pulled into the hostel about 2 hours after we started driving and it was 6:30pm.  The sun was setting and the sky was magnificent.  Our hostel was right on the beach and we all ran out of the car to catch the last of the sunset on the water.  Nothing could have prepared me for this.  I ran up the sand dune and when I saw the beach my jaw dropped to the floor.  In front of my was the most spectacularly turquoise ocean, entirely consuming the horizon, the clouds looked as if they had been painted into the sky by JMW Turner, the water was reflecting the pink of the clouds and the sand was fluffy and white.  Everything stood still.  Everyone else went to take photos and play around and I just walked off by myself.  I had to take it all in.  It was my first experience with the Indian Ocean and I am positive it will not be my last.  The entire beach was so beautiful, peaceful, and energetic all at the same time.  I was so overwhelmed I started to cry.  I felt so at home and in love with my surroundings.  I was in the same clothes I wore hiking in the nature reserve, but I really just didn't care.  I ran into the water and swam.  It was so warm and welcoming.  The waves were beautiful and I watched the sun turn red on the horizon, surrounded by salty water and rhythmic currents.  I wanted the world to stop turning. It’s called Myoli Beach and it is heaven on earth.  A couple days later a friend asked me what I would do if i was told I only had 4 weeks to live. Without pause, I responded that I would live on Myoli.  I’ve never connected with a place so incredibly.  Leaving that beach felt like meeting your soulmate and having no choice but to go separate ways because of circumstances.  This beach was in the middle of nowhere.  It’s 5 hours from Cape Town by car.  Even so, I promised myself I would go back at least once before I leave South Africa.         Saturday night dinner was gross so I didn't eat much, so I compensated with a milkshake.  We went to bed fairly early and got up at 7am again for a 7:30 breakfast.  By 8:15 we were on the road to the Safari.  The Safari was what you would expect.  A huge savannah and rolling hills, lots of animals, driving around in a 4x4, the whole shebang.  My favorite animals to see were the elephants because they were massive.  Elephants can live around 90 years and don't stop growing until they're 40.  It’s amazing.  There was a family of elephants lead by a single dad because the mother had passed away after getting very sick when she gave birth to her second son.  Usually, the males don't stay with the kids and the family unit is just the mother and the children, but the father has been with the children for 10 years now and I thought that was amazing.  

We saw rhinos in person and they were very chubby.  They kept taking mud baths and rolling around, as rhinos do.  If rhinos were humans, they wouldn't be able to see their toes.  It’s amazing to see an animal that large and that different.  I also think it’s really interesting how the first people came from Africa and the more dinosaur-like animals are all in Africa.  It seems like the place that has stayed closest to the history of life on earth.  Rhinos, elephants, wildebeests, and water buffalo all remind me of dinosaurs— or whatever we have decided dinosaurs would have looked like.  Here’s a fun fact: water buffalo are called that because they are always close to water because they sweat so much and, thus, need to drink hundreds of liters of water a day.  So, you know that you're in the vicinity of freshwater if you see them.  The most beautiful animal we saw were the lions.  They were so small compared to all of the other animals and so cuddly.  I know they’re wild animals so that sounds ridiculous, but they were so feminine and strong at the same time, I really wanted a big lion hug.  The lionesses were so beautiful and fluffy, I completely understand why somebody would want a pet lion.  One of my favorite colors in the world is that glowing gold color of a lion’s eyes.            The rest of the day was pretty much non-eventful.  We went to another market and I got my close friend Tim a perfect birthday present which was exciting because I love finding perfect birthday presents. Sunday night was interesting because I was exhausted and I would have just gone to bed if I had not promised my friends I would go out for a drink that night.  So instead of sleeping I popped into a freezing cold shower to wake myself up and put on pjs that could pass as clothes so I could go straight to bed when I got home.  I had a fantastic time and I’m glad I rallied.  I find the nights where I’m in between going out and staying in are the nights I end most happy that I went out and had conversations with people I would have missed out on otherwise.   Monday morning was fine.  Mainly uneventful.  On Mondays we use the day to plan the week’s lessons and clean and organize our resources for the week.  Monday afternoon and evening were fantastic.  In the afternoon I went to an amazing beach called Camps Bay.  It’s my favorite beach in Cape Town.  Behind the beach, there is a part of Table Mountain called the “12 disciples”, which are 12 hills that stick out.  It’s dramatic and magnificent.  One of my friends said the most amazing thing when we got to the beach: “This place is special because you have a view both ways”, meaning in front of you, there is the expansive Atlantic Ocean and a white sand beach, behind you there is an amazing mountain range, and you're sandwiched tightly in between the two shockingly beautiful displays of the natural earth.  From there, the night only got better.  After the beach, I changed in the bathroom of a bar across the street into nice clothes because I was going out to dinner.          Tim’s parents are in town and his birthday is Wednesday so they had an early birthday dinner and I went with our other friend Lucas to a great Italian restaurant called La Perla.  His parents (from Belgium) found it very ironic that they were sitting and eating at an Italian restaurant in the middle of South Africa.  The food made me miss Italy because, really, nobody will ever come close to Tuscan cooking.  His mom and dad were fantastic.  It never fails to shock me how meaningful it is to see somebody’s roots when you have met them in a context outside of where they call home.  You learn so much just by meeting somebody’s parents.  His mother in particular was impressive.  Every time she spoke, you could pick out an epigraph out of her point.  Something small, catchy, and spot on.  One of the ones that particularly stuck with me was when she said “Everyone wants to live long, but nobody wants to age”.  That seems very applicable to a lot of people in my life right now.  She talked about wrinkles and other parts about getting older and how she welcomes it and just tries to take care of herself as best she can and I think that’s really the best way to go about it.  After dinner, Tim, Lucas, and I were exhausted and we all went straight to bed.   Tuesday was very interesting.  The morning was more or less normal.  We went to Vissershook for tutoring.  This time, we had the same kids over two separate 30-min blocks.  My girl was named Felicity and she was so sweet.  She had a short attention span and didn’t think that she was as bright as she was, which is always a challenge but also why I’m there: to empower through encouragement and learning.         During break, I hung out with Brooklyn (the 5th grader) and her squad.  Last week, she wasn't at school at all and this was really concerning to me.  There were fires in Dunoon last week, 500 people are displaced.  Many of the teachers and kids we work with were among those 500.  When Brooklyn didn't come to school for a whole week, my mind immediately thought that she was in that group.  I pulled her aside the second I saw her in the morning and asked why she wasn't at school last week.  She said she had missed the bus.  This didn't sit right at all.  Missed the bus?? 5 Days in a row?? I find that extremely hard to believe.  I knew I shouldn't press her because it’s a sensitive subject and she clearly doesn’t want to get into whatever made her miss school, but I decided that it was actually worth asking because I can maybe help whatever is going on, even if she is afraid to seek that help.  She still wouldn't give me a straight answer, so I dropped the subject, but it was very worrying and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.  Brooklyn is so smart, kind, sweet, funny, and mature.  I talk to her like a peer.  Her and all of her friends are very curious about what it’s like in the US.  They have very little access to information about other countries and the combination of little information with large, young imaginations, means they draw a lot of false conclusions.  For example, they thought because Danni is from the UK, that she lives in a castle.  

       This Wednesday, March 21, is a national holiday (beside’s Tim’s 21st birthday).  This national holiday is Human Rights Day.  When we left Vissershook, everything was fine and normal.  One thing I did notice was that, as we passed Dunoon, on the farm land opposite the township, people were putting stakes in the group and marking off areas where they could put a new house.  This was not particularly unsettling because of the amount of homes that had been lost in the past week, it makes sense people would be claiming new land to build new homes.  However, when we got home, it was clear that not everything was fine or normal.  Many people were home from their projects, which means they got back two hours early.  Apparently, people were starting to protest and demonstrate for national human rights day.  The people planting stakes in the ground were actually protesting by marking the amount of land they needed the government to give them to actually live in a house instead of on the streets.  I’m not sure exactly to what degree the riots got to, because the volunteers were bussed out ASAP when things started to develop.  From what I gathered, it was actually the teachers at the schools that could tell something was wrong and that it wasn't good for the volunteers to be in the townships anymore.  We couldn't do afternoon projects because we couldn't get the kids in or out of the townships without risking their safety, or our safety.  This was a huge bummer, because project the next day was already cancelled for the national holiday.   With my free afternoon, I went to the beach for a bit.  It was beautiful, as usual.  But past the visual beauty, something really cool happened.  There were seals in the water maybe 10 feet from the shoreline and they were surfing the waves.  It was amazing to see because the water here is very clear so you can find the seals in the waves very easily.  Further, there were also surfers in the water, so there were people and seals surfing the same waves maybe 10 fee from each other.  The seals clearly had their technique down.  They would swim into them and kind of ride it into the crash zone, almost until I was a little concerned they would be stuck on shore, and then they would somehow materialize back to where the waves were building seconds later.  Other animals amaze me, and humans don’t appreciate the genius of our fellow animals as much as we should.           That evening, I went up with some friends to a hill in front of Table Mountain called Signal Hill.  You look down over Camps Bay and the ocean just extends into a vast, infinite horizon.  The sky was lit up with color.  I couldn't help but think during the sunset how precious every millisecond was.  I love sunsets because of their impermanence and how they remind me to appreciate the present instead of trying to cling and preserve something I find beautiful.  Instead, I try to feel the depth of each moment, even as it slips away.  Moreover, I never see the exact point of change as the sun sets, but I can feel the colors and energy changing even though I can’t put my finger on the specific moments of shifting.  The only downside of the evening was that I am entirely out of clothes because the laundry hasn't come back, and it’s two days late. I was forced to wear my PJs out to hike up through thorny bushes to the viewspot we went to, and it shredded my cute sweatpants.  But hey, I’ll take shredded sweatpants for a beautiful African sunset on a hill overlooking Cape Town, while sitting and talking with friends, any day.  That seems like a pretty great trade off to me.         All my friends got tattoos today and I did not (you’re welcome Mom and Dad).  Danni’s is a contour-line drawing of a penguin on her ankle.  I think tattoos are great if you have something you need to be reminded of every day to train your mind to get somewhere.  However, you don’t actually need a tattoo for that.  This weekend, I bought a lot of jewelry and I’m wearing it every day.  The most important piece was a hand made ceramic piece on a black chord that I wear as a necklace.  The symbol means “purity”.  This reminds me of my new years resolution that I decided to simplify into one word so I would actually remember and follow it: CLEAN.  I need to clean my brain.  I need to find the clutter and the swirling thoughts and give myself more brainspace so I can actually see what’s up there, instead of just feel the weight of all of the thoughts without being able to untangle any of them.  The other jewelry I got was all handmade in South Africa as well, because I really believe in supporting local economies and, if I’m going to be materialistic and collect more objects for myself, I would like the history of that object to be honorable.  I bought a jade necklace, that symbolizes the release of negative thoughts and energies, and the attraction of love and wealth.  When I think of wealth, I’m not thinking about money, but instead richness of relationships.  I also got a turquoise bracelet, which is a grounding stone that is very strong and protective, as well as something that balances male and female energy, which I think captures the duality of the universe.  My last acquisition was a bracelet made out of amazonite, which is a light blue-grey stone that reminds me a bit of my own eyes.  This stone is for creative people who have a lot of thoughts and passions, and sometimes need a little boost to have the same strength of mind as they do for new ideas as they have for their self-worth.  I love having little reminders to be strong, grounded, creative, supportive of myself and others, to act with integrity, and also release bad energies and the extra things that crowd my brain and cloud my thinking. When I make a goal, I try to have an element that’s negative and an element that’s positive.  That is to say, a non-action and an action.  You can tell somebody to stop being so quiet, but the better way to say it is to tell them to talk more.  To the same end, I try to make sure I have positive, action-based, goals, instead of just things I need to NOT do anymore.  Because, it is very easy to see what I’m doing that’s bad and try and get rid of it, but it’s harder to look for something that isn't there and grow and build in an undeveloped direction. It’s all about balance, one day at a time. 

That’s all for now.  I have way more thoughts, but am lacking energy and I know I will be able to give more tomorrow.  Still trying to work on posting more than once a week.  I’ve been getting a bit swept up by life here and find it more and more difficult to find time to check my phone or write down my thoughts.  The time is slipping through my hands and it absolutely blows my mind that it is March 21st already. - Q

[gxldentrio]

Young, Living With No Fear

Summary: ‘I’m egging your house for a dare but your parent is a cop and they’re yelling at me so i told them that you were my ex and you wronged me and now you’re coming outside and please go along with this i don’t want to go to jail’ AU

Word count: ~2.6k words

A/N: I’m two thousand percent sure that I’m not going to be able to have another fic out by the time Nai’s birthday rolls around, so consider this an early birthday present. @hiddenpolkadots i love you above all else and thank you for making me ship things i know 0 about. (And once again, thank you to @yulbos for editing this for me ilu)

FFN / AO3

“Fucking asshole—“ Lily mutters to herself. It’s cold, and she’s pissed, and to top it all off she left her cardigan back at Mary’s and now all she has is a stupid, half-empty carton of medium-sized eggs.

If Lily were sober, she’d probably think twice before throwing eggs around in the middle of the night, but she’s already had a few shots of vodka too many. Besides, it’s Snape, so it’s not as though what she’s doing is actually wrong. She’s not an animal. Most of the time.

Except, when the door opens, the face that greets her isn’t Eileen Prince’s familiar one. No, this one belongs to a man, tall and built like a fortress, and Lily swears she’s seen him before. She hears Dorcas’ soft murmuring and it’s only when she makes out a few ‘shit’s and ‘bugger’s that Lily finally recognizes the man as the police officer who arrested Mulciber back in March.

“What’s going on here?” he says, his booming voice knocking the wind out of Lily’s lungs. She’s scrambling—ha!—to find a solution when an idea pops into her brain.

If she’s not mistaken—and Lily really hopes she isn’t—she remembers him having a son, about her age.

“Good evening, sir.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m really, really sorry,” she starts, “it’s just that, well, this is a bit embarrassing, isn’t it?”

Mr.—Potter, was it?—runs his fingers through his already thinning hair and gives her a pointed look, as if to say ‘Get on with it.’ She’s grateful he hasn’t busted out the police-card yet.

And so, before he gets the chance to do it, Lily blabbers on, “I used to date your son? He sort of, you know—“ it’s a mess, and Lily’s got no idea where she’s going with this, but suddenly the front door’s opening and, oh my god, what is he doing here?

“Dad?” James, from her Mathematics class calls out. Of fucking course. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s fine, you can go back inside,” Mr. Potter replies, and with a shrug of his shoulders, James turns around. Lily lets out a breath, but then Mr. Potter’s eyes light up, and he says, “actually, James, could you come here?”

The 6-foot-something boy trudges over to them. “’Hello, Evans. What’s up, dad?” he says, nonchalant, as though he hadn’t recognized her fire red hair.

“Miss Evans here,” Mr. Potter begins, “was just telling me that you two dated.” James’ eyes practically bulge out of their sockets, and Lily’s cheeks are so warm she feels like she’s about to pass out. “How come you’ve never mentioned it?”

Lily widens her eyes at James, silently pleading with him to just go along with it, but not really expecting him to. Except he totally does.

“I was embarrassed,” he states, and Lily is sort of offended, the fact that he’s pretty much saving her arse notwithstanding. Judging by the smirk on his face, he seems to notice it, and adds, “, it’s just that I—uh, cheated on her. With her cousin.”

“For the love of God, James,” Mr. Potter mutters, “we raised you better than this. What will your mother say?”

Lily notices the way James’ cheeks darken slightly, and the way his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “That the least we can do is offer her some tea? I mean, it’s one in the morning, but I’ve clearly caused her irreparable emotional damage and so I feel like we owe it to her.”

Mr. Potter glances at his son and sighs. . Then, turning to Lily, he adds with a shrug of his shoulders, “I’m sorry my son is a such disgrace. Do you want to come in for a second?”

She’s still too dumbstruck for words, so she simply nods and follows the two of them inside.

The house is warm and inviting, but not too hot, which is a nice change from the scorching weather outside. The walls are tastefully decorated, and just from the get-go, Lily can spot at least three different house plants.

“So, Lily, what motivated you to resort to eggs? That’s pretty old-school, isn’t it?”

“I am so sorry about that, Mr. Potter—“

“Please, call me Fleamont.”

“Right,” Lily laughs uncomfortably, “you see, the thing is, I was dared. And you know how dares go…”

She feels her phone buzzing in her pocket, and when she unlocks it, there are three unread messages in the groupchat.

01:23 a.m.

Mary Christmas: Oh my god, Lily, Dorcas just told me

Dork-ass: has he skinned u alive yet???

Dork-ass: I’ll take ur silence as a yes. still cant believe u went inside tho

Lily promptly texts back.

Orchid: yes we all knew I have a death wish

Orchid: txt later go home + sleep

Dork-ass: ok mother

“I’m sorry, you were saying?”

“You know, Lily,” Mr. Pot—Fleamont starts. “You remind me of myself when I was your age.”

James coughs.

“Oh?”

“Yes. Euphemia’s dad also found me egging her house one time. Except, you know, she hadn’t cheated on me,” he adds, side-eyeing James.

“Come on, dad.”

“You’ve made your bed, son,” Fleamont replies, clapping his hand on James’ right shoulder. “It’s time you lay down in it.”

–

02.09 a.m.

Orchid: ok but like

Orchid: james potter’s dad is the /best at throwing shade?? I suddenly feel the need to name my firstborn after him?

Dork-ass: ???

Orchid: so deadass he comes to talk to me and I’m practically shitting my pants because of /course I would be the one to egg a copper’s house, so I panicked and told him I was his son’s ex?? and then potter came outside and actually played along

Mary Christmas: hoe don’t do it

Orchid: and so now mr potter is under the impression his son is a cheater when in fact he’s just really terrible at maths

Mary Christmas: oh my god

Orchid  I think I’m in love

Dork-ass-. Of course, out of the three of us you’d be the one getting a sugar daddy

Orchid: don’t be an ass dorc

Orchid: oh wait

–

She gets home impossibly late, but since it is the summer holidays, Lily doesn’t feel that guilty about waking up at two o’clock the next day. And, all right, that means so far her mother has had to put up with Vernon and Petunia by herself, but Lily reckons it was about time she took one for the team.

She gets out of bed, a grin dancing on her lips, and heads for the shower.

It’s about a half past three in the afternoon when she finally emerges from the bathroom, hangover-free.

“Oh goodness, Vernon, why is she like this?” shrills Petunia, so loud that the thumping in Lily’s head comes back.

In response, Lily simply rolls her eyes, shoots her sister a snappy ‘good morning, sister dearest’ and after pecking her mother on the cheek, heads out the door.

It’s sunny out, and Lily quickly regrets having skipped through the sun cream-applying part of her routine. She blares Gasolina through her earphones—courtesy of Sirius Black from Economics, of course—and before she knows it, she’s at her favourite coffee shop.

The whole scene is drawn in heavy lines and brown undertones, and the barista—Frank—is about to give Lily her iced coffee when she feels muscular arms around her shoulders.

She doesn’t really know how she recognizes him, but the fact is that she does; maybe it’s because he’s wearing the same cologne from last night. Maybe it’s because there’s someone up above who likes playing tricks on her, but either way, it makes Lily feel sort of giddy inside.

Um. Interesting.

“What do you want, Potter?” she asks, slowly removing his arm from around her shoulders and thanking Frank for his patience.

“Now, Evans, that isn’t a very nice way of greeting your ex-boyfriend.”

“You’re not my ex-boyfriend.”

“That’s not what you told my dad, was it?” he asks with curious eyes, and a smirk that makes Lily feel some kind of way.

“Look,” she starts, placing the plastic cup on a nearby table and adjusting the strap of her bag. “I was pretty fucking drunk, okay? And then, I dunno, Dorcas and Mary dared me to go egg Snape’s house but I clearly got things mixed up and ended up at yours instead.”

“Where does the ex-boyfriend it come in? I fail to see the correlation.”

“First of all, don’t sass me. And secondly, your dad’s a copper. So yeah. It was either that or go to jail.”

“Jesus Christ, Evans,” James chuckles, running a hand through his messy hair, “my dad wasn’t going to arrest you.”

Suddenly, Lily’s cheeks warm up. “He could have,” she mutters. “Thank you, by the way. For going along with it.”

“It’s no big deal,” he brushes off. “It would be my absolute pleasure to be your ex-boyfriend.”

“Aren’t you a charmer,” she replies, rolling her eyes. “You going anywhere?”

“Not really? I don’t think so, at least. I mean, Sirius has this family thing and Peter is out of town.”

“Remus, then?”

“He’s sick. You know how he gets with allergies.”

–

05.39 p.m.

Orchid: are any of u @ Regent’s park atm?

Mary Christmas: not really, Dorky and I are at the movies, why?

Dork-ass: don’t ever call me that again

Orchid: 1) without me?? umm rUDE

Orchid: 2) cool stay there

Dork-ass: Lily

Mary Christmas: you do know that now we absolutely /have to come, don’t you?

Mary Christmas: and I was enjoying the film as well

Dork-ass: give us 12 and a half minutes

Orchid: specific

Orchid: also unnecessary

“So, Mary and Dorcas are coming over in about fifteen minutes,” Lily starts, releasing her red hair from the black rubber band. “Which gives us approximately ten minutes to find another location.”

“What,” he jokes, “are you embarrassed of me?”

“Surprisingly not. Shocking, I know.”

“You think you’re funny.”

“I’m hilarious.”

–

09.08 p.m.

Dork-ass: were you on a date with james potter?

Orchid: ????

Orchid: define date

Mary Christmas: !!!!!

Mary Christmas: lily!!!

Orchid: yes, mary dear?

Dork-ass: oh my god

Dork-ass: you’re such a /meme

Orchid: here come dat boi shit waddup

–

It takes them two whole hours before they make plans to hang out again. After some squabbling and food preference related arguments—Lily is team pineapple pizza, while James is decidedly against it—the two of them settle on going to the cinema and checking out the new Spiderman film.

Lily isn’t really sure if it counts as a date, but for her own sanity’s sake, she’s taking it as a yes.

There’s a flower blooming in her chest, and Lily reckons it’s probably going to be a little weird for him to explain to his dad that he’s made plans to hang out with his ex, (who he cheated on with a family member and who was caught throwing protein goods at his rose-tinted windows), but he called her a ‘pineapple-munching-fuck’ before and so she doesn’t really care.

Soon, the films turn into walks in the park, which end up more than once in water balloon fights. It’s hot out, and they’ve got no classes to worry about, and everything is blissful ignorance for the pair of them. Friendly waves make way for one-armed hugs, and casual touches turn into lingering ones.

Their nights end up with personality quizzes and wine passing back and forth, and Lily is certain she saw Sirius and Mary snogging once or twice, but the point is, they are happy and they are free.

Her sister is getting married to Vernon Dursley and she asked Potter to go as her plus-one—on the condition that he somehow finds a way to manage that awful hair, of course.

(Lily doesn’t actually dislike his hair; In fact, she’s quite enamoured with it, which is dangerous and makes her want to rip all the skin from off her bones and run her thin fingers through the dark locks. She’s pretty sure she’s dreamed about it a couple of times now.)

She’s wearing a canary-yellow dress, and strappy white heels she knows won’t stand a chance against all the alcohol she plans on consuming.

He picks her up in a dashing black-tie outfit and Lily swears it knocks the wind out of her, because in her humble opinion, it should be illegal to look this good. She’s almost tempted to feel inadequate, but when she notices the way Potter’s eyes lighten up as soon as he sees her, the way his shoulders straighten and his cheeks perk up, staring at her like she’s some sort of goddess, she smiles.

“Potter?” she asks, the butterflies in her stomach flopping about like they’re on five cups of coffee.

“Yes?”

“Care to be promoted?”

“What d’you mean?”

“You know, from ex-boyfriend to current boyfriend.”

James stills, mouth slightly agape as Lily continues, “I mean, I reckon that means coming clean to your dad about the whole egg thing, but I guess that’s a risk I’m willing to take?”

Then, so slowly it almost feels like slow-motion, a smirk stretches across James’ lips and he says, “Evans, you’re so fucking ridiculous.”

“Well, we’d already established that, but thanks.” He’s still grinning like an idiot when Lily adds,” well, you’re not very good at this, are you? A cute girl practically proposes and you don’t even answer—“

She’s cut off by his lips, which James is happy to press against hers. The whole thing is a mess, to be perfectly honest, because the both of them are way too busy laughing to properly kiss each other, but Lily wouldn’t really have it any other way.

In the end, they get to the ceremony twenty minutes late, Vernon forgets his vows two thirds of the way in, Petunia swears one day she’ll have Lily burnt off the metaphorical family tree and Uncle Geoff tries to get it on with the catering lady who looks about twenty years too young for him. It’s all good though.

During the reception, everyone stuffs themselves with cake—which is a lemon sponge with white chocolate frosting—and overdoes it on the champagne.

Petunia, slightly more tipsy than she’d ever admit, lets her know just how happy she is to have her sister there, and Lily can almost see the sarcasm oozing from Petunia’s lips. She feels something tug at her heartstrings, and Lily is pretty sure it’s love, and the pain of being surpassed. It’s especially hard this time, because now Petunia’s part of a different family, and Lily knows it won’t take her sister long before she forgets all about her.

She feels Potter pulling her closer to him and nuzzles her face on his chest. Her body, cold and blue before, is now a portrait painted in technicolour.

Lily isn’t really sure how any of it happened, how she tiptoed her way into finding her home away from home, her best friend, the companion to all of her craziest adventures. When she’s with him, she feels invincible, like she can do anything and there isn’t anything holding her back.

And so, Lily reckons she may not have a sister anymore, but she has the warmth of the sun, and James Potter at her side. And that’s enough.

[survivormontenegro]

Episode 11: “Recalibrate How I’m Playing This Game” - Caeleb

okay I'm writing a long confessional then going to bed.

Jules was robbed. I was really gonna idol them when Jones/Caeleb told me Jules was getting votes, but Jules was only getting 5, and I naively thought both that Jason wasn't going to flip and Tom wouldn't self vote AGAIN ASKDLJFAF.

I'm frustrated because I love Jules. Jules was robbed and deserved better than having to deal with Alex who like will tell Jules they made a mistake and ugh. I'm frustrated that I didn't idol Jules, even though it wouldn't have been smart and would've put me in a tough game spot, its just all super tricky sigh.

in other news, Jones/Mo/Mitch need to go. I'm super proud of Mo for doing something (like genuinely) and not playing passively, I defo underestimated him, but him and Jones have way too much sway on this tribe, tied to Mitch who is clearly able to work people.

I think a good end-group for me would be Me/Benj/Tom/Julia. I really really like Caeleb but he actually is playing super smart, so I really don't think I can have him sticking around much longer.

I think a good new bootlist is: Jones > Mitch > Mo > Jason > Caeleb

I'm just frustrated because Jules was robbed and really did not deserve that, Mo/Jones are too powerful, and now so is Mitch. I'm gonna idol one of them out, and I'm going to love doing it.

Holy fuck what the fuck that worked. Ok so here’s what just went down, Jules said to Jason that she’d be fine voting out either me or Mitch. People were leaning towards Mitch. We had like 20 minutes left and we started discussing and I threw out to Jones, what if we get Jules out, but she kinda ignored it and carried on with the Mitch plan. Because Jules has a lot of connections I can understand why Jones would be hesitant. So then I throw the pitch rob Caeleb and Mitch throws the pitch to Jason and they’re both on board. But that would of only been five people. Meaning it most likely would of tied so we were like ok I guess we’ll just vote Mitch. BUT THEN BENJ GETS ONLINE and he’s like “Yeah I’ll vote Jules.” SO I SCRAMBLE BACK TO CAELEB LIKE WAIT VOTE JULES WE HAVE THE NUMBERS. SAME WITH JONES AND JASON. WE GET JULES OUT. Which of course is sad because she’s literally a sweetheart and she’s super funny, but she had so many people in her corner and her and Ali combined was a scary combo. BUT I MEAN I HAVE A COOL GAME MOVE IN MY POCKET NOW THAT I DID (with Mitch) BUT WOW ME.

Whew chile!!! I must admit that vote was VERY scary and VERY hectic. I thought for a moment my game was ending. Thankfully my social relationships with people allowed me to stay and send the person who was targeting me home (Jules). Now this is GREAT for me because i trusted Jules the least on the merge tribe. The communication thing never worked out between the two of us but i still find her to be a very nice person :). In regards to the vote, Mo/Caeleb, Benj, Jason, and Jones all voted to save me. To me, I feel like this means im in a really good position because everyone likes me enough to SAVE me. Up until 5 minutes before the deadline, I thought i was done for. I gotta be careful with who I work with in the future because my threat level is rising. People in touchy subjects saw me as the one who thinks they are running the game but are not, but man is this far from the truth. I'd like to say that although I didn't know what was going on COMPLETELY, I still pretty much helped/forced the target onto the person who went home. Ian- Told Alex about how I suspected Jason and Ian of being a duo (correct assumption according to ali) and everyone ended up splitting between the two (I did not care who went). Alex- I pushed very hard for alex to go because he was so dang controlling and i found that very threatening. Jules- targeted me first but I never trusted her because of how little we spoke. When she decided to target me it was the icing on the cake. Hopefully these next few rounds are smooth sailing because we NEED easy votes for at least a little bit.

okay so i am trying SO hard for immunity, like its not even funny. i think i have 100+ points right now, with more videos uploading and with more planned photos tomorrow. immunity would be SO sweet, because that'd guarantee me a spot in the F8, and with my idol F7.

in other news. if i haven't said it enough, it must be said again. BENJ IS SUCH A KING. like today he told me he wants to go to F4 with Julia and Tom. I truly, truly could have shed and wept real tears. That is exactly the F4 I want, like EXACTLY ,and Benj agrees, and we are going to make it HAPPEN.

He also wants to separate Mo/Jones this round... and like honestly, I'm so down. Like I think he wants to vote off Mo versus Jones which I think is a bad idea, since Jones is a better talker and more of a threat, but his argument about Jones being a shield makes some sense.

my ideal bootlist moving forwards for the season, although it requires like julia/tom to stick with me and benj pretty tightly, is:

Mo/Jones > Mitch > Jason > Mo/Jones > Caeleb > F4: Me/Tom/Benj/Julia

and also since i love doing this for no reason, this would be my ranking of those left if i was to go to jury this round:

Mitch > Jason > Jones > Benj > Caeleb > Julia > Mo > Tom

Mitch is SO savvy, and so likable, and I could see as a definite winner, having survived so much. I can't decide if Jones is a threat because she is just so likable, or if she is actually palying super well, but I have both her and Jason very high in my opinion. Benj is so smart, I feel like he probably isn't considered as such by the other threats, but I hear him talk game - he is super woke. Caeleb is actually playing a very smart game too, flipping back and forth. I definitely underestimated him in early merge, his MIND. Julia I think is super game-savvy, just her style gets in her own way sometimes. Mo I feel like definitely did stuff last vote, but I see him as Jones' shadow/goat right now so would need to see much more. Tom I'm stuck because him self-voting twice I think almost definitely excludes him from winning so its hard to tell how I'd feel about him in an FTC. the main thing is that... we shall see.

BUT I AM WINNING IMMUNITYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Sending this now bc I forgot. Jason beat me in reward OOPS but I can still possibly win immunity,,,,,? Maybe?

Eek me at jules being voted out, honestly i didnt really know what was going to happen at that tribal for the sole fact that everything started moving whilst i was asleep but im kinda shocked that it ended up being jules.... Like i personally wouldnt have made that move right now maybe in like 2 more rounds. Its quite scary the fact that mitch got so many people to turn on jules when i thought she was quite the loved player. So I've gotta keep an eye out for him he's probably playing the best game atm but i think ill try to take him out sooner rather than later

I think I might have to recalibrate how I’m playing this game. I honestly didn't think I was all that close to Jules so her cursing me kinda surprised me. SO, that means I think a lot of people are gonna be cursing me in the upcoming rounds. Not that I am planning a lot of blindsides, I just feel a lot closer to the people actually left. Julia might be the only one that wouldn't curse me at this point, but also she might because she doesn't like me all that much. And being cursed a bunch might put a really large target on my back too.

y'all i just found another idol im SCREECHING. and its a boujee one too, a sapphire idol. I'm so AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, i know where 2/3 idols are for sure, I'm truly screaming.

This was me an Mitch on call when we realized we had the numbers to vote out Jules

heres the thing, i prefer the selfie scavenger hunt when im on a team because that way im motivated to get stuff done out of fear of letting everyone down. where as by myself, i let myself down all the time. ali is scary good at comps and im lazy.

ALI FOUND THE MERGE IDOL AND ITS A SAPPHIRE IDOL AHHH!!!

IM SO HAPPY FOR HIM/US BUT ALSO LOWKEY PISSED BECAUSE I GET ALL THE BRIDGE STEPS AND THEN HE GETS LUCKY AT THE VERY END LMAO. AGAIN.

BUT OH WELL ATLEAST ITS NOT SOMEONE ELSE!!

And if I had any doubts (I never had) about him betraying me before I have 0 now.. u like have to really trust someone to tell them u have 2 idols LOL I could literally expose so much right now

BUT IM NOT GONNA WOO!!! BEST DUO IVE EVER HAD! Like I know it will be hard to beat him at the end but idc I want that duo story for us

Literally an idol magnet king I knew I chose the best ally on day 1

sapphire idols sound kinda annoying tho cuz u cant choose who its played on . like what if ur plan actually works and u idol the person u wanted gone LOL

lowkey would rather a normal idol ?? anyways ali went off in immunity and its final 9 idk who will go but I kinda want like mo gone (king) but we have no strategic bond so.. plus he will slip by to the end otherwise

I doubt that plan is gonna work tho cuz idk how to lead votes!! im flop sheep!

Update on idol hunt - I'm killing johnny

Update apparently I’m running a vote KSKSKKFMFMFFK take back EVERYTHING I SAID ABOUT NOT NEEDING POWER LMAOOOO

ok so Storytime

I’m talking to Tom at like 5:00-6:00 ish, and he says he hasn’t heard anything but he’d be down to vote Julia if other people were voting Julia (at this point this is the only name and it was said by Tom and that’s it)

At this point I tell Mo what Tom said (Bc tom and I were talking about Mo) and he said he wasn’t surprised Julia’s name was brought up

Talk to Mitch at like 7:00 ish and he’s apparenrly being targeted by Ali and for whatever reason I have this hero complex and I wanna save him all of a sudden?? I also feel like he’ll be a big shield down the road that everyone else would want out over me so it makes much more sense to keep him? SO I tell him about Julia.

I Run to Mo, tell him about Julia plan he’s on board. MOs talking to Caeleb, and Jason wouldn’t go behind Mitch’s back. So that’s already 5 people I think voting Julia, 6 if we include Tom and 7 if Benj also knows. Which I’ll probs tell him.

So ya??? Turned an idea into a plan!! I’m doing that y’all. Idk?? I’m proud. I don’t need need this much power after this round or else my ego will be the size of my dick but!!! Idk guys I’m proud of myself.

(Literally only 35 minutes later)

Literally having a stroke tonight laid ease

Uhm apparently Tom/Jason/Ali had an alliance and were trying to get me out and tried throwing me under the bus to Julia and tried saying shit I didn’t say,, so ya,,, :)

Tom tried twisting it like I was the one who threw Julia’s name out bc apparently she’s inactive? Which is cute,, I said jack shit about that. So ya.

Um I’m voting Tom tonight now. I’m an indecisive bitch tho so it might change but. Fuck Tom. We gotta break up this alliance apparently. Julia’s the only person that’s said shit to me this whole day about what’s happening so I’m more likely to believe her than anyone else sooo ya. Fuck Tom. Fuck these men.

[jhindraven]

okay im gonna go on a long rant about paladins, and how the new skins are a bit of a travesty

first of all, i just wanna say that i’m no expert on character and/or game design, and i dont claim to be one either. i may be studying it at the moment, but i only know what ive learnt from my teachers and from youtube. keep that in mind. 

also, this is a collection of all my complaints about paladins regarding skins. this isnt just one specific issue- this is everything i hate. this is all my opinion, you dont gotta agree, whatever.

okay now onto the actual rant. 

alright. so. seris has a new skin out atm- cottontail seris. and its...

well to put it simply, it fucking sucks. thunderbrush, buddy, pal, what the fuck is up with this skin.

look, i get that its a skin. it doesnt have to be in character. whatever, cool, it isnt canon to what little story this game has (thats an entirely different rant for later), thats fine. but it... doesnt look like seris. you took her most defining features and threw them out the window. and thats bad. not only from a design perspective, but from a gameplay one as well.

now, lets have a look at seris’ default skin. what are the key features? and what’s her silhouette like?

her key features are a long flowing skirt, hood up, and a blindfold, right? yeah. her silhouette is clearly a dress, with the big triangle-like shape down the bottom. her head becomes almost like a triangle/diamond too, because of how it points on the top of her head.

now when we compare that to the new skin, we have an issue:

where did her skirt go? where’s her hood?  without those things, her silhouette is wack. she looks like an entirely new character! she looks more like a long haired skye, or lian, or even kinda like ying. not seris.

when you’ve got abilities like cassie’s and talus’ ults, that allows you to see the other team’s silhouettes through the walls, this shit is important to think about. i probably wouldn’t have time to sit and go “hold up is that seris? or is that [insert literally any other female champion minus like two]”

this issue happened with inara too, but to a lesser extent. her battlebyte skin removed her big skirt/dress in favour of a pencil skirt-type thing, causing her silhouette to change a bit. but because she’s got her staff, her floating ribbon, and the floating crystals she looks (close to) the same.

and unlike seris, she’s tall. seris is about average height for all the female champions, and that makes her harder to pick out with this skin.

and you know its bc thunderbrush is like,, super horny and just has to sexualise every female character in this godforsaken game or he cant sleep at night or something. @.kinessie puts it best in this post here

on a different note

 it has officially been one whole year since furia was released and since the rise of furia event.

why is thunderbrush still posting demonette/abyss skins????

on his twitter he says, and i quote, “I want more ‘demonettes’ in the realm as well as a chance to flesh out the Pyre some more. Pyre warrior drogoz is a good start but we need more.”

i mean that’s neat and all, but like... surely you can make a more interesting concept than just “tall demonette maeve”

dont even get me started on how sexualised this skin is, considering that she’s one of the youngest champions

i dont have much more to say about the demonette stuff other than just “surely you can do better than that”

my final thing

why do the same like 8 champions keep getting new skins?

im gonna make a whole new post with how many skins each champion has, and when their latest one was added. so yeah. ill edit this post and add a link to it once i do it. EDIT: its here

my whole point can be summarised with this image:

(credit: u/clertex on r/paladins)

SO, TLDR:

the new skins are boring or completely change the character, and thunderbrush keeps ignoring almost every character for the waifu-bait ones.

thunderbrush has no rights

[hoetron]

okay christ i got tagged in htis massive tag game by @mothable but i love a good ol challenge lets do this buckfucks

RULES: ANSWER THESE 88, THEN TAG SOME PEOPLE

BASICS:

a. NAME AND PRONOUNS: Rae, she/her

b. AGE (and birthday!): 13, Aug 28th :3c im a fucking fetus ny’all

c. SEXUALITY: am i bi? am i lesbian? am i just craving existential death 24/7? i dont fucking know a thing my guy

d. GENDER: cis female hooooh

e. COUNTRY: AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI

f. FAVORITE AESTHETIC: pastel colours and really nice fashion i guess..??? (also smoking is kind of aesthetic eyes emoji eyes emoji)

TRIGGERS/MENTAL ILLNESSES: i’m not actually sure :x

THE LAST:

1. DRINK: salt water hah normal water is for the WEAK (dont drink salt water please im begging y

2. PHONE CALL: my brother asking what kind of pizza i wanted

3. TEXT MESSAGE: “:3c” im such a fufcking furry...fuckck,,,,

4. SONG YOU LISTENED TO: Daydream warriors by Aquors listen nyall im reconnecting with my hidden buried weebass side of me okay im crying

5. THE TIME YOU CRIED: i dont actually remember? probably like last year unless you count me having tears from laughing too hard as cryng then thats yesterday during the meme aka now called lightning mcqueen server

HAVE YOU:

6. DATED SOMEONE TWICE: nahh

7. KISSED SOMEONE AND REGRETTED IT: dont think ive ever kissed someone thats not my family before im #Pure

8. BEEN CHEATED ON: nope lmao

9. LOST SOMEONE SPECIAL: my grandfather i guess? but he died when i was really young so at that time i didnt really undersyand the feeling of loss and mourn so ksdjfk but we had some goodass memories together

10. BEEN DEPRESSED: they ask you how you are and you just have to say that you’re fine when you’re not really fine but you just cant get into it because they would never understa

11. GOTTEN DRUNK AND THROWN UP: im severely underaged please

TOP 3 FAVORITE COLORS

12. red

13. yellow

14. either black or lavendar,,

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. MADE NEW FRIENDS: yis

16. FALLEN OUT OF LOVE: ya,,

17. LAUGHED UNTIL YOU CRIED: okay im known as the most giggly person in class i laugh so easily that i easily have tears over everything

18. FOUND OUT SOMEONE WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU: nahh dont think i wanna know if its like in a bad way :x

19. MET SOMEONE WHO CHANGED YOU: aw y e s

20. FOUND OUT WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE: ya :,) (Thanks em, lily, mae and imogen for making this year truly greater than last year and for being the best friends i could ever ask for)

21. KISSED SOMEONE ON YOUR FACEBOOK LIST: facebook is dead to me

GENERAL

22. HOW MANY OF YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS DO YOU KNOW IN REAL LIFE: serious facebook is dead to me i roasted above the flames of negligence (also because i have like two facebook accounts one using my pesonal email and the other using my more general email , the one using my more general email keeps recommending to me my OWN personal account and its personally so hilarious)

23. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS: a cat called lucky! (i love him even though im p sure he hates me)

24. DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR NAME: i guess my irl name uhhh im 50-50 with it? but granted on the internet i waaay prefer using the name Rae over my irl one because its short and simple and nice-

25. WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOU LAST BIRTHDAY: just want to a chinese resturant with my fam and my uncle because we’re simple that way and like. back then i didnt had that much friends so uh l m a o (but vidhi gave me a nerf gun so that was Really Cool and i love her)

26. WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP TODAY: 9 oclocK BECAUSE A HOUSING AGENT WAS COMING OVER (but then i fell back to sleep and woke up at 12 so lmao)

27. WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT: watching a video on why ‘anime art isnt technically allowed in art school’ because i was just curious and then drawing 

28. NAME SOMETHING YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR: VOLTRON LEGENDARY FUCKNG DEFENDERS SEASON 3 SHIT BABES IM REA LLY FUCKING PREPARED AND NEAR END OF MONTH AVCON BECAUSE EYES EMOJI

29. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR MOM: an hour ago lmao shes like just outside my room 

30. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH YOU COULD CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE: sighs my shyness and social anxiety and awkwardness (all three of those are counted in a pack right? the pack of “socially inept” people)

31. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW: daydream warriors... by aquors..... (listen im RECONNECTING with my weeb side like said above im actually weeping)

32. HAVE YOU EVER TALKED TO A PERSON NAMED TOM: uh idk mate

33. SOMETHING THAT IS GETTING ON YOUR NERVES: i havent brushed my teeth yet but im lazy to move my legs lmao

LOST QUESTIONS

34. MOLE(S): um quite a lot like a few small ones on my arm and like one on my face below my right eye and theres one underneath my boob i think lmao tmi and the rest i cant be bothered to find

35. MARK(S): a kind of burnt scar mark on my left shoulder from like 6/7 years ago when i got too close to someone smoking and their cigarette burnt me oh and a scar on my knee from the time i fell off my bike while playing bike catching in the neighbourhood with a couple of other friends like 4 years ago?

36. CHILDHOOD DREAM: vet (now im eh about that tho im probably just going to pursue some art career)

37. HAIR COLOR: brown eyy

38. LONG OR SHORT HAIR: long

39. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON SOMEONE: yeah. hopefully its dying down now especially since the person is straight (its hard when she sits next to you in class and you guys are sort of friends now and u somehow feel really satisfied when you make her laugh :,) shit )

40. WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF: im generally kind with people regardless of whether or not i dont like them or i dont know them well or i know them i guess? (at least in my group of friends im probably the most willing to socialise with others) and uhhhh i guess i can make people laugh? im a huge fucking loser meme nyall

41. PIERCINGS: none and personally dont really want to 

42. BLOODTYPE: shit  i think it was either a B or an O i cant remember (i think its B tho)

43. NICKNAME(S): maggie, migi, bela, bob, bobbo

44. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single pringle 

45. ZODIAC: virgo

46. PRONOUNS: she/her (lmao yay for repeated question)

47. FAVORITE TV SHOW: fuckngin,,, voltron,,, (probably going to stay my favourite for a long while tho)

48. TATTOOS: none atm (unless you count waterbase tattos then yes stick all the water based tattos on me) but like when im Much Older maybe? just a really small tattoo tho not anything big that covers an entire limb

49. RIGHT OR LEFT HAND: right

50. SURGERY: had a surgery on my foot forgot which side when i was in kindergarten because the skin was *censored for tmi* and yah stitching up your skin fucking hurt babes

51. HAIR DYED A DIFFERENT COLOR: nahhh i dont think id dye my hair tho who knows

52. SPORT: im probably going to retake up basketball again eyes emoji eyes emoji

53. VACATION: ooMMF nothing planned so far

54. PAIR OF TRAINERS: like uhhh what kind of sneakers?? just normal canvas sneakers i guess????? im, what.

MORE GENERAL

55. EATING: OXYGEn

56. DRINKING: IN OXYGEN

57. I’M ABOUT TO: complete this fucking 88  questions then chat on discord and scroll tumblr and tell myself “hey finish up your art!” but then 5 hours later im still scrolling tumblr. oh and im watching wonder woman later so :3c

58. WAITING FOR: nothing atm i guess?

59. WANT: my family’s financial situation to be solved and so that money isnt going to be a huge bother anymore...

60. GET MARRIED: sounds nice but probably only marriage idk the idea of kids doesnt really sound v appealing atm

61. CAREER: artist! (i wanna either work in a game development team or an animation studio eyes emoji ) 

62. HUGS OR KISSES: HUGS

63. LIPS OR EYES: lips erally nice to draw really nice to look at

64. SHORTER OR TALLER: buhhh im short so i guess taller would be nice (tall people have such nice legs too im frankly a little jealous)

65. OLDER OR YOUNGER: what is this in regards to

66. NICE ARMS OR NICE STOMACH: arms so that dO YOU SEE THESE GUNS

67. SENSITIVE OR LOUD: shrug emoji idk man

68. HOOK UP OR RELATIONSHIP: relationship

69. TROUBLEMAKER OR HESITANT: troublemaker pardnyars in crime amirite

HAVE YOUR EVER:

70. KISSED A STRANGER: no

71. DRANK HARD LIQUOR: nope 

72. LOST GLASSES/CONTACT LENSES: yeah p sure i had to go through a whole day of school half blind once without my glasses

73. TURNED SOMEONE DOWN: nah..

74. SEX ON THE FIRST DATE: nO IM 1 3 

75. BROKEN SOMEONE’S HEART: dont think so?

76. HAD YOUR HEART BROKEN: nah babes

77. BEEN ARRESTED: nah

78. CRIED WHEN SOMEONE DIED: somehow when someone dies i decide to laugh instead of breaking down in tears i guess laugh away the pain?

79. FALLEN FOR A FRIEND: ...shit its a bad idea babes dont do it

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

80. YOURSELF: shrug emoji

81. MIRACLES: sometimes? sometimes no?

82. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: even bigger shrug emoji

83. SANTA CLAUS: nah lmao listen i caught my father and mother wheeling in bicycles for my sister and i when i was like what 8? usually i just played along because hey i was a child

84. KISS ON THE FIRST DATE: ehh depends i guess

85. ANGELS: not really lmao

OTHER

86. CURRENT BEST FRIENDS NAME(S): Emily, Mae Shuen and Lily

87. EYECOLOR: dark brown?

88. FAVORITE MOVIE: this changes all the time

only tagging uhhh @pluminkdot (KASJD I FORGOT IF YOU HAD A MAIN REBLOG ACC IM SORRY RACH), @jaspereffect , @blabrabs / @spaceboomerang (it isnt letting me tag ur main boomers skldfjksd) and uh im too lazy for the rest

[survivor-themyscira-blog]

Hello. It's raining outside today. And surprisingly, my game is going similarly. My last Idol Search ended with me stumbling over Raymonds corpse, resulting in me being forced to sit out the upcoming Reward challenge because I am SHOOK. Like a corpse would scare me... My hope is that my tribe has to sit out a player (since it's 6-5-5 atm) and that I can claim that spot. If I am forced to just not submit, then that's fair too. Minor blow. Nothing I can't recover from. (Famous Last Words) Besides that, RIP Ruthie. From what I've seen, you're awesome, but oh well... that's the game. Let the current Hippos jump at each others throats. I'll just be somebody you wanna be friends with. I feel very safe within Menalippe and I think I'd be comfortable in case we Swap. Cya! The Skies are crying over Ruthie... Don't cry, sky! You're next!

Wooo that tribal was Fucking lit. Obviously Jaiden proved he won't work with me. Seriously dude, sometimes you should just save big moves for merge. Way to single yourself out as someone I can't trust and that's what this vote was about. Finding who I can trust. Fun fact for all of you reading this post game, Madeline and I talk on the phone! I need her to work with me and she works with me!

Being close and working with Ian has become the best move I've made in the game so far.

So I had to have a couple of days away since I had an ill bubba but the tribe has been amazingly supportive, considering I expected to go asap - we haven't been to tribal yet so I still might -, its a nice friendly tribe and everyone tries their hardest so I just need to pull my socks up to match that!

DONT GIVE US FLASH GAME CHALLENGES WHEN JORDAN IS IN THIS GAME??? WHY?? EVERYONE HAS PLAYED WITH JORDAN PINES, NOT TO MENTION HE AND LILY ARE ON THE SAME TEAM AND THEY BOTH DOMINATE FLASH GAMES GRR

WHY DONT I READ THE MOTHER FUCKING DIRECTIONS?????? i fkdsjkflas fjkdsfkasdfk fjdsnkfasdkf god i truly hate myself i didn't read and then i submitted my first score for casanova and i- whew. i just didn't read. and we could only submit once. my hope is that other people on the other tribes also didn't read and submit shittier scores than me! lol but i got 70k which is good for me but for others? i don't know. i am shit at flash games okay i truly am. and which 1/2 of our tribe being inactive, i'm not expecting much out of this comp. the men lips are losing a lip tomorrow night. rip in peace to ... probably madison at this rate lmao. let's just hope she doesn't have any special powers!!! omg fjdkjfaslf but like she's been so inactive maybe she hasn't been searching the island? idk that's what i hope. and ruthie went home last night over rocks and i SCREAMED how can the rocks do that to RUTHIE!!! also i just talked to logan about this flash game and he says that he gets like two million on casanova and i just- WHAT H O W??????? i dont even know. i also just realized this is, in fact, a reward challenge, so i feel less shitty about my score. it's just reward but... logan thinks antiope is gonna win it and give us the disadvantage but like! that's ugly! anyways more like actual survivor related stuff going on, i think kai, logan, and i are going to make a group thing and roll with that. i feel a swap coming on soon but... who can never be sure? it could be at 15 and we're divided into three tribes or five or it could be at 14 and we're divided into two tribes of seven... i don't know which i'd prefer because i like having very few people on our tribe bc it's less people to talk to but also less options to vote out come tribal... ugly! also because half my tribe is inactive! this is >:-(

https://youtu.be/SIt2jOUDLug

https://youtu.be/9QhJFyjE6v0

https://youtu.be/XvkrD_DkVDA

It is currently 3:36AM EST and all the Europeans are up and so I’m talking to Amanda and Andreas. I think we’ve decided that Kai sit out this challenge, which I’m fine with. He hasn’t helped much the previous challenges lmao. Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about allies and who I want to get with. I have 0 alliances so far but there’s definitely an unspoken thing between Kai, Logan, and I (well, I know they’re very close so it’s probably not unspoken to them, but unspoken to me.). But I’m struggling because I’m starting to really like Madison and Amanda? The two people Logan and Kai want out? And this is definitely a predicament. So like... I love women. And my goal was to work with women. So you know... Madison and Amanda? But on the other hand, I love Logan and Kai. Logan really wants Amanda out for voting out Dan, who he was close with. And so I’m :-/. I like both sides and I’m just hoping that I don’t have to choose a side so soon. Or maybe I’ll luck out and convince people to vote out Andreas! Who can never be sure? I’m just stressed and not sure where I want my loyalties (I don’t actually have loyalty to anyone - so these are like alleged) to go. Logan and Kai or Amanda and Madison? Choices are to be made.

[11:18:20 AM] Jordan Pines: here drew make some confessionals for me [11:18:24 AM] Jordan Pines: tell them about my gameplay [11:18:39 AM] Jordan Pines: I’m aligned wiht lily and jack, sort of with rhone and nicholas and i have no idols [11:18:42 AM] Jordan Pines: do with that what you will [11:18:55 AM] Jordan Pines: make me sound smart

I MISS MADELINE WHY CANT WE BE ON THE SAME TRIBE AGAIN

I just royally flopped that challenge. SO BAD. Like okay... I had sixty seconds to think of things and one round I only got like five points! I'm literally such a piece of shit I feel like I'm going to HEAVILY let down my tribe!!!!!! If we lose because of me... at least I'm in a good spot socially but HOLY SHIT I'm so fkdjskla this is not good not good not good. I'm just hoping other people flopped this challenge too and that my last round (words that start with W) can save me. I got 26 points there... Probably could've gotten more but I'm a dumbs. I also couldn't think of any TV shows that have strong female leads! Like I'm not sure if there's like a shortage or if I just don't watch the shows. I got like 6 points and typed two wrong lmao. I even said the vampire diaries but a bitch has never seen vampire diaries so I was just guessing lmao. But I also spelled it wrong so ANYWAY! I feel so guilty I feel like I've helped a whole lot these past challenges and this one............. I flopped a whole whole whole lot :-/

Last game I played, I was the type of person to pour themselves a bowl of cereal and then realize that there wasn’t any milk in the refrigerator. This game, I’m checking the refrigerator before I pour my cereal. I’m not going to make dumb decisions then realize that my goals can’t be fulfilled. I need to think through everything. Also I love cereal

Apparently Survivor US is not a spin off show from Survivor that takes place only in the states so guessing Alabama didn't win me any points.

My name is Ian Eugene Layne, Commander of the Armies of the Devil's Lair, Generally well liked by the Aphi Sa Legions. loyal servant to the true Sole Survivor, Zachary Rae, ally to a murdered Icon, friend of the Robbed Queen And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

Once again we skate by in second place!!! I love being immune!!! I have yet to go to tribal and I love it! :-) But I’m also sending a swap after this... whew. Let’s just hope that whatever tribe I end up on is full of comp beasts and allies! Woohoo! LOL anyways I love winning and I hope that keeps happening.

ok so i haven't made a confessional in 1900 years but i am so happy! i love this tribe a lot and think that all 5 of us left have a lot left to contribute to the game so i think it is 100% in my best interest to hope that we keep winning these challenges! there are some strong players like jordan on my tribe who i want on my side for sure! rhone & jack are cool too and i think that if we go to a tribal the majority alliance of hippos og might not be enough to keep me safe so it is definitely a relief that i am able to be safe this round. but numbers wise i think we are about to get either a swap or a merge into 2 tribes coming up so lets just hope that i can merge/swap into the majority! i also feel like now i have gotten rid of the 'inactive/slacker' stigma i had from og hippo and now people will take me seriously but they will also recall how i didn't attempt the first challenge so i'm less threatening! whew lets hope for the best!!

HAHAHAHAHAH Hippo back to tribal! I hate it for them, those are some nice folks but....  ha!

I’m so sick of losing challenges!!! UGH!!! I don’t really know what we’re gonna do this vote. I have a feeling my name will come up at some point or another, but right now I’m putting a whole ton of trust into Billy to keep our plans secret. Right off the bat, I’m pissed off that we lost by such a close margin. But then I realize just how terribly people performed in certain aspects of the challenge, like the second category??? It was literally Survivor seasons and everyone besides me scored less than 10. How hard is it to think of ten seasons of Survivor. Apparently, very hard because nobody was capable of processing that kind of information. So anyways, I get over this initial anger by campaigning to Ian that he needs to get rid of Toph and keep me around, even though I betrayed his trust last vote by forcing an unnecessary rock draw. My plea is that I’m good in the challenges and I have no power on this tribe. He and Madeline have that power, so it’s their choice to either keep me around as an asset or take a gamble with Toph and Billy. Billy and I both know that Ian and Madeline are going to continue to control what this tribe does for the long run. But Billy wants Madeline to go home more than anything, and I agree. I recognize that taking out Toph only delays the inevitable a lot longer – Madeline and Ian will remain loyal to potential previous tribe alliances than they will with me or Billy. Someone needs to deal with them, and unfortunately it has to be me. Losing Ruthie last round is both a blessing and a curse. I think it’s a curse because I lose one solid person I could work with for a long time, but it’s a blessing because she far too honest and nice to make the kinds of moves I’m gonna have to make in this game. If Billy went home last round, we would certainly take out Toph and gain zero traction within this tribe. Since I have Billy still here, we can actually take a shot at Madeline and Ian and hopefully take back a little of the control here. I’m going to throw Toph under the bus hard and pray that Madeline and Ian take the bait. I also hope that fucking Billy doesn’t backstab me at the most inconvenient time… I think Billy has better options with people not named Jaiden Hantz, so ideally I keep him thinking that I’m his BEST ally. Also, I don’t need Madeline and Ian realizing that Billy and I are super close and have them decide to just split us up. If they take out Billy, I’m FUCKED because I’ll have exposed my loyalties and look even dumber than I have before. Idk man. I just wanna survive the vote.

Damn son, Antiope is going strong! Poor Hippos getting their wings clipped. :'( But who cares about those as long as Men's Lips are safe? Either way, with this Immunity, I've guaranteed my spot in the Final 15... and I expect that a Tribe Swap is just around the corner. We could be put in 3 Tribes of 5... that would make sense imo. At this point, only Emily, Kai and Myself haven't attended a single Tribal Council and those two are my closest allies on my tribe now. Madison is our only outsider on Menalippe, but I tried to stay a bit friendly with her, since Emily said that she's close with JP, who I don't want to have as an enemy.... yet. In case of a Swap, I'd like Emily on my tribe the most (but seeing how well she does in challenges, she should be safe on any tribe until merge). I would be happy enough with JP, Madison, Kai, Logan, Ian and Toph. I'd be happy to play with Billy as well but I think he's the one who's getting voted out tonight. Idk the others too well or at all. If I'm with Amanda, it depends on who's on the tribe to see if I wanna cooperate with her or not. The weather today is as eventless as this day in Themyscira.

Damn... i really thouhht i did quite well... and yet we were like 10 points away from tribal and 200 away from first place... like we need to step up our game

Y’all I keep thinking about that empty spot when I jumped off the cliff... what the FUCK what there!!! Who has it now!!! Will this prevent me from voting someone out that I really want to vote out!!! Will this fuck me over!!! I don’t know what’s going ON MAN IM SCREAMING

Also can Kai and Logan just add me into an alliance chat already like wtf we’ve been talking about it for like a week let’s just DO IT

I really hope this vote goes the way we want it to. I feel if this hadn't gone to the rocks last time and we had Ruthie still we wouldn't have even been to this second tribal in a row.

Ugh my god this game is so slow paced right now. Cant we just have a triple tribal and like... idk vote someone out and have DRAMA!! I am bored out of my mind right here right now... Ughhh

I can’t decide who I want to join uS. If what they are saying about Madeline is true then her

QUEEN MADELINE SURVIVING THAT 3-2 VOTE NUT I CANT WAIT UNTIL WE SWAP TRIBES AND I CAN TALK TO HER AGAIN UGHHHHHH I miss her I want to be her BFF but queenie for voting out another boy I can’t wait to get all the tea on her tribe UGH I MISS HER jebwjwbwjwnw

Things might be getting spicy folks https://youtu.be/5ZWKrQnaVxs

[groundramon]

Pro tips about interacting with family members during the holidays if you’re an adult: (probably would’ve been more useful during thanksgiving but eh)

 Be nice to your younger cousins or nieces and nephews, ESPECIALLY if they’re under 13 but even if they’re teenagers!!  Try to socialize with them!!  They might look invested in their phone or handheld console but they might also be willing to socialize!!  Based on personal experience, you can tell if a kid is shy or disinterested by asking them a few questions:    - 1. Ask “What are you playing/doing?”  (If they answer with a game name, continue.  This means that they’re just shy and actually really want to talk to you.  If they answer “my [handheld system]” or “just a video game” or “on my phone” or “talking with a friend”, go to step 4; they probably dont want to talk about that aspect of their life and you shouldn’t press them.)    - 2. What is your relationship to the game series?  Have you played it before?  If so, tell them that, and ask them questions relevant to the game series (IE if they answer Pokemon, ask them what their team is, how far along in the game they are, ect).  Engage with them and add tidbits from your own experience when applicable.  Have you heard of it before but you dont know much about it?  Ask them about it, and be open about what you know, and try to engage with them on the few things that you do know.  Have you never heard of it before?  Cool, ask them what the hell it is!  Well maybe dont swear since their parents might get mad, but you get my point.  Listen to what they say and try to ask questions based on what they tell you.  If it sounds like a certain genre of games or sounds like another game, ask them if it has [x] feature from another game (but dont phrase it like that, because some kids might get mad if they start describing a game and you’re like “oh, so it’s like Pokemon but with dinosaurs?”)  In the event that it’s a website/app, ask them what they do on the website/app.  Even if you have an account on that site/app, mentioning it might bring the conversation to a halt as many kids dont want ANY family members finding their online presence, even cousins.  You can mention it but DO NOT ask for their account information.  Express interest in what they say and if they mention something about art or writing or tv shows or ect, ask about that and switch the conversation from something potentially private to a shared interest.    - 3. If at any point in the conversation they shut down and seem to get extremely quiet or shy again, try once or twice switching the conversation to a different but related topic (say, they shut down while talking about Pokemon, so you switch the conversation to nintendo in general).  If they still shut down, let the conversation come to a halt on their terms.  Sometimes shy people get overwhelmed; if they want to talk but dont know how, they’ll talk again when you talk about another part of their interest(s).    - 4. Whether they got overwhelmed or didn’t want to talk in the first place, try inviting them to participate in a board game or a party game!  Try not to be forceful about it because they might feel like they HAVE to participate, but most kids - even those that wouldn’t be chatty about their interests - wont mind playing games with the family either, so dont worry about them joining out of guilt or pressure either.  If you’re really concerned, avoid statements like “the entire family is playing” and instead have statements like “[other cousins] are playing, and you can join if you’d like!” (remove other cousins statement if not applicable, but knowing you arent stranded without another player will help if you can say it)

DONT LEAVE FAMILY DINNERS OUT OF ANGER.  Sometimes things happen but even if you aren’t a huge fan of your family, leaving out of anger puts everyone in a tough position, including the kids of the family.  PS this isn’t about politics so dont you even dare bring up “what if your family is being grossly homophobic/transphobic and you’re in the closet? uwu sounds terfy” get out of here with that self-righteous bullshit and also you’re using the word terf wrong.  But I implore everyone who’s going to be uncomfortable at a family dinner to just not go instead of leaving the dinner in a huff, particularly people in abusive families.  "What if lgbt kids/people in abusive families are forced to go?” they cant force you if you’re an adult and you can’t leave if you’re a kid, and by “kid” I mean still in the care of your parents regardless of age.  There’s no feasible reason to leave in anger because all valid reasons have better solutions or would be hindered by other factors, so just dont.

You know what?  Just avoid politics in family dinners at all costs.  Suggest to bigoted (or even not bigoted) family members that instead of talking about politics, you focus on each of your lives and catch up with one another - now is a time for bonding and recollection of old friends and family, not current events.  I live in a primarily conservative family but every time we talk politics on my mom’s side (aka where the only two democrats are) I have a mini heart attack because the animosity in the room goes from 0 to 10 real fuckin quick.

Feel free to add more from your own personal experiences, I feel like I have more but I can’t think of any atm