#f2f: take a break

[irisbleufic]

Hi iris, I love your iwtv fics and thanks for still telling us stories every day even though everything went to hell this week. I’m here to pitch you smth that you totally don’t have to do but which I’m desperate to see- namely the Harvey Milk interview that Daniel has scheduled at the time your just-finished 1973 story ends! It wouldn’t have to be the whole interview, even just a scene where they’re wrapping it p. They only interact on the phone in your story, but I so, so want to see them f2f!

Anon, thanks so much for letting me know you’re enjoying the stories. I rarely stop writing just because the day-to-day gets rough, as those are the times I need storytelling most, and I’m sure lots of you do, too. It’s not to say taking breaks isn’t important, but getting myself to do that is difficult. I prefer to stay busy.

As for what you’re asking here: oh, I knew this was going to come up. I’ve been nagging myself about it, too, because the phone interactions alone left me regretting that I ended it without a face-to-face. When is a cameo no longer a cameo? I so rarely push historical figure appearances in to major-character territory, and I feel like I’m borderlining it with this one. He’s…okay, fuck, he’s worth it, though, who am I kidding.

So, okay, you’ve convinced me I can probably add one more chapter to “Trade the Game You Know for Shelter” and still have it feel like the chapter I currently have sitting as the ending chapter was meant to be a penultimate one. Plus, plus—if I add one more chapter at 3,000 words, that means I can kick it up to 40,000 even, and my gremlin brain is going to be happy about that word count. Hey, anon, you can walk away from this negotiation feeling proud of yourself.

(Downside: Caldera boys get blocked another day or two, and I get sarcastic commentary at the back of my head. Hey, guys, how about telling your younger selves to stop being so fascinating? That’s how we got into this mess.)

[frogsinflannel]

🛞🫦🩴🎶🔥🎀 please !!!!!!!!! —@evanbuckleymylove

Aww! YOU ARE MY HERO. What a lovely ask to get. I needed an excuse to work on some WIPs, or at least dust them off and look at them again. So this came at the perfect time, just what I needed! Here's what we've got:

🛞: ("5 Times Eddie Offered Stability and Support, and 1 Time He Was Just the Third Wheel")

Tommy puts his face in his hands and lets out another whine. He says something, so muffled that Eddie can't understand him.

"What was that, buddy?" Eddie asks, comforting him not unlike how he'd comfort Chris. He rubs a firm hand down Tommy's spine. "Couldn't quite make that out."

He lifts his head a little. "Eddie," he says, voice trembly and tear-clogged, roughened with the flash of shitty, overpriced beer Eddie'd bought just for him. He is both very drunk and very sad. "I miss him."

"I know, man." He gives his back another rub.

"His eyes."

"Sure, those are great."

"How he'd... he always talked 'bout really interesting things, you know? That he'd learned?"

"Yeah, I'm glad you think so."

"I miss..." He sniffed. "I-I miss..."

"Hey." Eddie gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Go ahead, get it out. What'd you miss?"

Tommy's face crumples and he sobs into his hands. "Eddie," he says, strained. "Eddie his dick was so big."

"Wha---oh, for fuck's sake, man, I told you already! I don't need to hear about his dick!"

"But it's--"

"If you give me a number in inches I swear to God, for your next beer you're shotgunning a Miller Lite."

Tommy makes a sound like a dying bird.

~

🫦: (filthy buddie smut, gratuitous appreciation of buck's tits) This one is actually complete and posted to ao3! (I need to take it off the list.) (...should I post this fic on its own? I haven't posted/promoted it here.)

work them out at the gym, dive in and take a swim

~

🩴: (post-BT break-up, Karen and Tommy developing friendship)

Karen was already regretting this, and she hadn't even spoken yet. She grabbed her wine glass and cleared her throat. "I'm not saying you're wrong, Buck," she said, looking at him across the table. He wore the same hangdog look he'd been wearing--since the break-up, really, his hands in his lap and his shoulders slumped and the lines on his face wearing in. "I just..." She shrugged and lifted her glass, readying a sip as soon as she'd said her peace. "I get it."

"You... you get it?" Buck asked. He sounded confused, maybe a little hurt, and he shifted his big body in the chair. "What do you mean?"

"I'd kind of like to know that, too," Chimney said, though unlike Buck he kept his voice carefully neutral.

They'd talked about it a lot, and there were things Tommy had told her in confidence that she would never tell. This, though, his side of the story? She had no compunctions being honest about how she felt. "I just mean." She paused and then sighed. "If I had been in his place, I'm not sure I would have made a very different decision."

"Wait." Hen turned in her seat, leaning back to take a long, dismayed look at her wife. She tilted her head, and Karen wasn't sure exactly what emotion was registering there, but it had to be something close to disbelief. She shook her head, things clicking into place. "Tommy is your new pottery friend."

"Yep." Karen nodded. "Tommy is the new pottery friend."

~

🎶: (toxic Buddie hook-up, Buck still pining Tommy, inspo: SZA's "F2F")

“Eddie,” he says, and his voice is pitched into a whine.  “I’m fine.  Okay?  I’m great.”

“You’re not fine, Buck.  You’re anything but fine.”  Buck’s hands, settled at his waist, grab fistfuls of his shirt.  “Hey.”  He shrugs his shoulder.  “Hey.”  Buck finally looks up at him, his face wet and his eyes red-rimmed.  Eddie feels a knot high in his chest.  “No one expects you to be fine, okay?  You’re hurting.  You lost something–someone you cared about.  You’re allowed to grieve.”

"I don't want to... to grieve," Buck says, and Eddie feels like sirens are going off inside him. Buck sniffs. He tilts his head down and lifts to shoulder to wipe his snotty nose on the sleeve of his shirt. Eddie knows he'll regret that later. "I want to forget. Fuck. Eddie." He grits his teeth and looks up until their eyes meet. "I want to forget."

~

🔥: When Buck had first gotten together with Tommy - when he’d first seen him, with his no-nonsense haircut and his Carhartt jacket and years-old work boots, he had… made some assumptions. And sure, yeah, he knew that wasn’t fair, but he also really didn’t expect to be wrong.

He’d taken one look at Tommy and - after figuring out that his admiration was as much about wanting to sleep with him as it was befriending him - he’d drawn from a wealth of experiences from all over the country (the world even) and had concluded that Tommy was probably strong, solid, and really boring in bed.

Or not boring, that wasn’t fair. And he didn’t know Tommy’s experiences with his other partners obviously, but he’d met a lot of guys with that specific look before. He’d slept with a lot of their dissatisfied ex-girlfriends before. He figured that Tommy, as considerate as he was, knew how to take care of a partner, had all the basics down, but wouldn’t venture into any new territory. So Buck figured he’d let Tommy take the lead and guide him through his first gay sex experience, let Tommy feel good and strong and competent (which he was, and Jesus Christ was that hot) - and then Buck could put his many years and many partners worth of experience to good use and take the reins. He would lead them into uncharted territory as things got a little more adventurous.

Turns out, his assumptions were very, very wrong.

Because that was not what happened. Tommy was a considerate partner, yes, and he was also responsive, an active listener, curious, flexible, and willing and eager to try things out. He was way more experienced with a lot of things that Buck hadn’t expected, too, because oh wait—

Tommy was also an absolute freak.

~

🎀: (established BuddieTommy, focus on T/E, Eddie princess treatment, exploring lingerie)

The next gift Tommy doesn’t warn him about.  He and Buck are both at Eddie’s, about to leave for their own afternoon date.  Buck and Eddie are talking in the living room, when Tommy excuses himself to go out to his truck.  Eddie doesn’t think anything of it, and neither does Buck apparently–or at least he doesn’t give anything away.  Tommy comes back in without drawing any attention to himself, and goes to the back of the house.

Buck’s wrapped up in whatever he’s talking about–and Eddie’s trying to pay attention, he really is–when Tommy clears his throat.

“Time to go,” he says, cocking his head towards the door.  “You can finish talking about spinner sharks later, Evan.”

“Oh!  Yeah, sorry, Eddie, we have to go.”  He starts to dart off and then, almost stumbling over himself, comes back to press a big, messy kiss to the corner of Eddie’s mouth.  “Bye!  See you!”  And then he’s off.

Tommy chuckles warmly, hands in his pockets as he makes his way over to Eddie with a slow, quiet stride.  “He’s adorable, huh?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says, giving Tommy a shrug and a quick grin.  “No idea what the hell he was talking about, though.

“Spinner sharks.”  Tommy tells him, indulgent and fond.  “They corkscrew out of the water through a school of fish when they feed.”  He laughs at the expression on Eddie’s face and then leans in close.  “Don’t worry about it, baby.”  He grabs Eddie’s chin and presses his mouth in a firm, spine-tingling kiss against Eddie’s cheek.  “We’ll see you later,” he says, breath a warm gust against Eddie’s skin.  “Be good while we’re gone, okay? And.”  Tommy straightens up and his eyes go dark.  There’s an expression on his face that Eddie can’t quite read.  “Have fun.”

“Uh yeah,” he says, nodding as Tommy shoots him dual finger guns and then wanders out after Buck.  “I will.  Bye!”

He listens as the truck starts up.  Before they pull out of his driveway, though, his phone vibrates in his pocket.  He pulls it out and to his surprise he sees a message from Tommy.  

T:Go check out what’s in the bedroom.  I left you something special, Princess.

~

Want to see more of any of these? Make me write!

[beadelmare]

hi. hello. its me.

sorry i was listening to adele while thinking of that, but hi!!!

6y slowburn warrior here with another bit of the reality i’ve been cooking 🔥

so, moonchaser was the remus x james ship name and i have a story for you

so i searched it up, and i said “aww!” cus i saw cute fan art right? i scroll down, and it’s about.. sexting? mood swing is actually crazy.. i verbally did “aw! ..oh..😨”

also, obi-wan is x himself because in clone wars he gets satine and she is huzz! and she is dead! 💜

mama theres a OBI WAN KENOBI behind you! 💜

i realized that my brothers name in my dr is grant, and so is a character from atyd and they dated remus.. i just imagined like

in the hallway

“grant, wait up!”

remus turns around with a horrified look on his face (“hes right behind me isnt he? 😨”)

and he wakes up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night: “somethings not right.”

so, for today’s little fun bit, ill say a song that is based off of the people in my drs relationship with me🥰

sirius:

paradise is very fragile — lana del rey

this love — taylor swift

dirty love — mt. joy

bad idea! — girl in red

gods & monsters — lana del rey

james:

thats so true — gracie abrams (when he and lily are dating..😔 like cmon “what’d she do to get you off? taking down her hair like “Oh My God!” taking off ur shirt i did that once.. or twice😬.. uhhhgh” im taking his shirt off first im sorry lily but i want your man AHSHDJAKDJSJJA )

in between — gracie abrams

fucking boyfriend — the bird and the bee

other woman — lana del rey

video games — lana del rey

lover, you shouldve come over — jeff buckley

remus:

no.1 party anthem — arctic monkeys

heroes — david bowie

touch tank — quinnie

there is a light that never goes out take 1 — the smiths

boys dont cry — the cure

bartender — lana del rey

moonage day dream — david bowie

like real people do — hozier

peter:

opera house — cigarettes after sex

sweet creature - harry styles

let the light in — lana del rey

forever winter — taylor swift

sailor song — gigi perez

lily:

lacy — olivia rodrigo

girl ive always been — olivia rodrigo

obsessed — olivia rodrigo

regulus:

champagne coast live — blood orange

work song — hozier

lucerne - richy mitch and the coal miners

cowboy like me — taylor swift

A&W — lana del rey

barty:

nothings gonna hurt you baby - cigarettes after sex

crush — ethel cain

my boy only breaks his favorite toys — taylor swift

f2f - sza

skin and bones — david kushner

only angel — harry styles

NFWMB — hozier

evan:

kiss it off me — cigarettes after sex

sextape — deftones

darling, i — tyler, the creator

piledriver waltz — arctic monkeys

the bolter — taylor swift

pandora:

babooshka — kate bush

rhiannon - fleetwood mac

love grows (where my rosemary goes) — edison lighthouse

dorcas:

vigilante shit — taylor swift

guilty pleasure — chappell roan

no body, no crime — taylor swift

+ alongside casual by chappell roan and bad idea right by olivia rodrigo for all of the huzz 😋😛

this took me longer than expected, but it was fun !! if you cant tell im a fein for lana del rey and taylor swift.. 😇

GIRL MB I DIDNT SEE THIS😭😭 im ngl i have no idea about that star wars bit but it's like one am so nothing makes sense anyways... ALSO GRANT CHAPMAN MENTIONED RAHGHGHHHGHG I LOVE HIM SM i'm actually gonna commit to this and listen to all these songs today cause i'm fully invested in this dr now lmaooo AND LANA AND TAYLOR ARE SO🤩

[giselle-archive]

spilling tea over coffee // f2f ⬌ danselle

To say that Giselle was already stressed out over her studies would be an understatement. She was still failing at learning when to take a break to do absolutely anything that would get her out of her dorm room, which was why she'd been holed up in here since getting out of her last class of the day. Luckily an opportunity presented itself when Dani offered to buy her coffee, which she was in desperate need of at the moment anyways, so it only took a minute or so for her to say screw studying and agree to it. Though, there was an incentive here: the other woman was going to reveal who she thought was the best looking person on campus, and she was all for getting it out of her.

With this being a quick trip over to the Lima Bean, she'd chosen not to change out of her leggings and sweatshirt but she did take the time to run a comb through her hair at least. God forbid I be caught on campus looking a complete mess. She thought to herself as she made sure she looked decent enough at least. Once she was sure her hair was fine, and then her make up, she slipped her feet into a pair of Nikes before heading out.

Giselle had only been to the Lima Bean one other time since arriving on campus and while it hadn't been her personal favorite, it would do for tonight. It didn't take long for her to make it there, and she managed to spot Dani almost instantly. "Hey, cutie." She teased, smiling as she approached her. "Ready to get this coffee and tell me your secret?" @daniwmu

[disjenyamembra]

So, first of all this isnt going to be about albums that released this year. It's just going to be about what I listened to this year, so kind of all over the place. I wanted to do this for quite some time and thought no one would care and then decided, shit, I care. So I'm doing this odd personal thing anyway. This is ordered chronologically and in general this isn't a ranking of any sort.

With that being said

SZA - SOS

Absolutely loved this album and was in the exaxt right state of mind to listen to this (aka being in a very straining push and pull situationship). Favorites include Kill Bill, Blind (still gets me all misty eyed), Special, Open Arm, I Hate U, F2F. If it's not on the list it doesn't mean I didn't love it, just means the others got looped more in some kind of depressed daze I was in. I have BPD and I remember splitting HEAVY listening to some of those songs. Vocals are incredible as usual and the variety in genres SZA takles makes it feel very fresh. I mostly value emotion and storytelling when it comes to music and this delivered in spades.

TV Girl - Who Really Cares

Bouncy, fun and energetic break up music. Great to listen to if you're feeling bitter and holding a grudge, but want to be a bit playful about it. I originally heard it as a teenager all the way back in 2016, but it found me again in early 2024 and this time I really listened. Faves: Taking What's Not Yours, Song About Me, (Do The) Act Like You Never Met Me. Carried me when I got all in my feelings but didn't want to listen to really depressing stuff. Speaking of...

Frank Ocean - Blonde

Really depressing stuff, not in general necessarily but for me personally. Also absolutely beautiful and stunning, as expected of Frank Ocean. One of the most inspiring albums for me maybe ever. Great for ugly crying to. Favorites - Ivy (my first Frank Ocean song and also very resonant), Pink + White, Solo, Self-Control, Seigfried (kicks me in the gut every time). Also Channel gets a spot here even though it's technically not on Blonde because I'm bisexual. Sounds like going to heaven.

Black Dresses - Peaceful as Hell

I LOVE THIS ALBUM. I, in fact, love it so much that I got a tattoo of the album cover. Excellent copium for like everything in life. At some point I will do an album review for it specifically, but at the moment it just gets a highlight here. Love the production to bits, love the message and just in general love everything about it. Favorites - Literally every song. It's a ten for me. Kept me going during a really hard time in my life. Full of grounded optimism and immense love of the world.

charli xcx - brat

Yeah yeah yeah. Everyone and their mother listened to brat, but what can I say, the album is genuinely really good. I've been a fan of Charli for years and years at this point and I genuinely think this release is a life changing masterpiece. There's not much I can say that orher people haven't before, so I'll skip straight to the personal stuff. Favorites - Sympathy is a knife ("why i wanna buy a gun? why i wanna shoot myself?" i was at a low, low point), Everything is romantic (so pretty, feels like if a scrapbook was a song), b2b (song that made me leave my situationship), think about it all the time (a look at charlis vulnerable side).

JPEGMAFIA - I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU

Over the last two years I got way more into Jpegmafia to the point where he is one of my favorites of all time. I skipped out on the release cycle for this album, I wasn't doing great and it just kind of passed me by. When I got better I finally gave it a shot and I loved it. It's hard for me to pick favorites here because for me Peggy's albums are more of a united listening experience start to finish. I don't know how to describe it, but it mesmerized me. The production is incredible as always, the whole album has kind of an introspective tone to it. Great for dancing, working and looking inwards.

Princess Chelsea - Everything is going to be alright

This album feels like it's holding my hand and reassuring me very gently, the title is appropriate. The whole experience is very sensitive and soft, Chelsea's vocals are soothing and ethereal and the instrumental has a magical feeing to it. Favorites - The Forest, Time, I Don't Know You, Forever is a Charm and most of all Everything is Going to Be Alright (pt.2). This album says time heals and urges one to be patient and to find beauty all around you.

The Dears - No Cites Left

My current go to album. In truth I listened to it first a year ago or so and fell in love with it instantly, but this year it feels a bit different. It was recommended to me by a dear (haha) person who is no longer in my life of my own volition, and even though things turned out sour I still very much wanted to keep this album to myself. Despite being made in the early zeros to me it has an almost contemporary feel. Gets me emotional in all the right ways. I'm not a music reviewer so I dont have in me all that lingo to describe so many albums in interesting ways. I just recommend everyone go and give it a listen.

Favorites - We Can Have It, Lost in the Plot, Don't Lose Faith, Warm and Sunny Days, 22: The Death of All Romance (kind of an obvious pick for me, really), No Citites Left

That's all, folks! I listened to much more than that in 2024, but that's all I felt like writing about. Honorable mentions: chromakopia (didnt do this stuff because I already did brat and didnt feel like adding two very popular current releases to the list), overgrowth by cj the x (i loved it but its short and also painful to relisten), laughingfish (still need to spend more time with it), ghost hippies - призраки тоже плачут and kё - если я не смогу (two russian releases that i feel like should maybe be on a seprate list)

It's not a very efficient way to recommend music to other people, but that's not the point, I just wanted to talk about it all means to me.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed :)

[thistleandthorn-events]

It's that time of year again, ghouls and goblins, for your favorite institute to put on your favorite event - THE HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE! So come join us on October 31st for a night of food, fun, and mystery! (Everything below the cut is IC knowledge unless otherwise directed).

RULES

Attendance is mandatory for all students. Townspeople are optional.

All attendees must wear a costume complete with mask.

YOU CANNOT TELL ANYONE WHAT YOUR COSTUME IS.

Marks are on hold for the party, however, the headmaster and guards will be around so don’t be ridiculous about it.

ACTIVITIES

Dancing - Great Hall

Escape Room - First floor classrooms (4 rooms designated for different themed escape rooms)

Photo Booth - Great Hall

Snacks and Punch - Great Hall

Halloween themed Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner (8-10am, 12-2pm, 5-7pm respectively) - Cafeteria

Movie Viewings - Auditorium (10am - Halloweentown 1pm - Haunted Mansion, 4pm - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, 7pm - Poltergeist, 10pm - Scream)

Pumpkin Carving, Pumpkin seed spitting, Pumpkin Painting, Halloween Crafts - Art Room

Thriller Dance Instruction and performance - Dance Studio

Punkin’ Chunkin’ - Court yard

Haunted Maze - Hedge Maze (like a haunted corn maze with characters, spooky music and guards dressed in costume chasing people. They cannot touch or harm students)

Mad Science Lab - Cafeteria (snacks themes as science and laboratory - eyeballs that are grapes in jello, intestines that are spaghetti noddles, etc)

Potion making - Cafeteria (alcoholic and non alcoholic choices)

Bobbing for Apples - Court Yard

‘Ghost in the Graveyard’ Game - Court Yard

Horror Movie Trivia - Ipads in Great Hall

COSTUME CONTEST

There will be a costume contest BUT it is slightly different from what you’d expect. The object of this contest is to try to be as convincing as your costume character as you can. Everyone will vote for the top 3 costumes - again, the voting criteria being that you had NO IDEA WHO THEY WERE. We’re looking for the best actors here and the top 3 winners will win 200 points each!

OOC INFO

Alright, so here’s how it’s going to work - create a side blog for each of your characters’ costumes. THE URL SHOULD HAVE NOTHING IN IT about your actual character. Remember, you don’t want people to know who your character is. This goes for IC and OOC. PLEASE, don’t break the game. It’s not fun if you break the game.

On your sideblog for your character’s costume, post a photo of your costume including the mask. Once the blog is built and photo is posted, add the URL and costume to THIS GOOGLE DOC. Also, posting throughout the party will be done all F2F. There will be no online or tumblr based starters.

Ok, this part gets a little confusing. IC - this event only happens on Saturday, November 2nd. BUT, OOC we’ll be ‘freezing time’ to allow this event to be played out for a weekish (November 1st - November 9). Again, it’s all happening IC on Saturday. Please keep the dash strictly Masquerade during the whole event.

The other part of the “don’t think about it” part of this is we need to kinda fake things about our characters to avoid being discovered. For example, since this takes place AFTER locktober, no one's locked for this. Or, Austin won't show his accent to avoid knowing who he is, etc. So just kinda suspend your disbelief, please. This goes for physical attributes, accents, etc.

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER when making your blog:

Take off auto-tags if you have a way you tag things regularly, or just tag differently

Don't post photos or manips displaying your face claim in your costume, EVEN IF YOU'RE TRYING TO HIDE THEIR FACE. We know, I assure you.

Don't talk OOC about what costume your characters are wearing

If while playing, you miss something please utilize tumblr's asks/messages and message from your sideblog, not your main.

Don't reuse former Masquerade side blogs (not everyone deletes people)

Look out for OOC traits/behaviors which might identify you

Any triggering plots or plots involving a lot of people need to be approved.

If your student character participates they will receive 50 points. Participation will include at least some decent activity (just a post or one/two replies will not count.) Gimme at least one thread and I’ll count it.

VOTING - once we get closer to the event we’ll let you know how this will go but it will be dependent on NOT LETTING ANYONE KNOW (Ic or OOC) WHAT COSTUME YOUR CHARACTER HAS. Please, again, Don’t Break the Game. These things are only fun when the rules are followed. Vote per character, however, even if your character doesn’t interact with them. So, you can use some OOC knowledge for voting ONLY.

We allow costumes to double. Make sure you're paying attention to the URL name when you're voting.

If you have questions please feel free to ask but make sure it’s not already answered in this post please and thank you.

[just-jammin]

things i (re)learned after a few weeks in college:

i should take my assignments LESS seriously

but also start doing assignments earlier bc deadlines would kick me in the ass

for the love of god START MAKING TO-DO LISTS AGAIN <- (probably would forget to do that)

one f2f college day goes by TOO fast for me so spend as much time as i can w/ friendos

i should use the school pcs for any hws i can already finish in breaks & after classes till it closes tho

my friends have other friends & lives after school (and i should learn to be ok w/ it)

touch is one of my love languages apparently

i tend to make more positive physical contacts with girls rather than boys (mostly bc most of the guys i know are more averse to physical contact)

getting attached to at least one person in every milestone in my life is pretty much inevitable at this point

i know i want/have someone who i can ramble my thoughts to but MAN i should allow THEM to ramble to me next time—

[dotdashspace]

I had to lose you to find myself

You can't know heaven until you know hell

I'll always love you, even if you're gone

I'm letting go but always holding on;

it was today I realised how much you’ll protect her over me. how much you trust her over me. in fact I feel like I’m the one living the lies, your lies.

the words you said, what was actually true? did I blindly believe? maybe all the things you said in our happy bubble were lies, matching compatibility, sexual chemistry, love, I’m the biggest picture? have I just been too understanding? or just too blind? or has all these fights came to clear the air.

why did you bother coming back again and again when you already knew what you actually want?

I was never the chosen one am I?

all the waiting for things to happen on the other end, what are you waiting for actually? cause when things actually happens, you realise you can’t let go.

empty? miserable? you’ll remember forever? punishment? regrets? prolly said it as a joke to me.

and I just can’t be there for you when it all ends, when you break apart? instead of being happy that we are tgt? how am I even supposed to do that? what do you take me for? I’m not made of an iron clad heart, I’m made of blood and flesh. maybe, eventually, you can’t win f2f time together.

I don’t wish to ask anymore. cause, will I get the answers I want? or will my expectations be met?

no, but I finally know why. I finally know the truth.

I’m not sure anymore. I don’t think I’m able to trust you. not in the find another girl kinda way, but I don’t think you’ll be able to take care of my fragile heart. you broke it too many times.

I should have always believed the videos, and that inaction is actually an action. I kept finding excuses for me, for you, for us. cause I believed, that it’s meant to be. little do I know, it’s all a joke played on me. there’s no fate in this, except whatever I needed to return to you. somehow, fate always have other plans, and idk why. it keeps happening to me. all paths led me to you, but it wasn’t vice versa.

it’s me, it has always been me, my problem, my issues, I thought wrong, I believed wrong.

but maybe we should be glad that you weren’t handled a difficult situation to manage. because I know, without a doubt, I’ll be ask to go.

is this my wake up call?

whatever it is, it’ll end tomorrow. and I’m even surer now, cause of how sure you are. she said you knew what you want, and now I know it too. it’s not me. it’s was never me.

[nickgerlich]

The Battle Tightens

Don’t look now, but the first evidence of a tidal shift just took place. The big question is whether it is isolated to just one time of year, or whether it will happen all year long.

What, you ask, is going on here, DrG? Pretty simple. Amazon just surpassed Walmart in Q4 sales last year, to the tune of $187 billion in revenue for Amazon, and $180 billion for Walmart. That’s a lot of money, and when you think about it in sum for the two, US Americans spent $1000 apiece at one or the other, or both.

No wonder these two companies are rocking it. Amazon’s stock is at $228.68, with a market cap $2.40 trillion. Walmart stock is at $104.04, with a market cap of $835.79 billion. That’s a lot of wealth between the two.

But in spite of Amazon having flown by Walmart in market cap years ago, Walmart still owns the rest of the year, although the gap is narrowing. Walmart is expected to post $681 billion for this fiscal year, while Amazon is predicted to have $638 billion, the first time it has topped $600 billion.

OK, so let’s do that math again. Between the two, US Americans will have spent $3767 between the two outlets. Holy cow. That’s more than $10 a day per person. Do any of you have any money left to spend elsewhere?

Once again, there’s a lot to unpack here. This shows the growing consolidation of these two retail giants. Can anyone say duopoly? The length and breadth of their merchandise offerings, perceived low prices, and convenience are the secret sauce that make them so attractive. Walmart has 5206 stores in the US, including its Neighborhood Markets and Sam’s Clubs, while Amazon has its omnipresent website, along with about 50 of its own stores and 500 Whole Foods.

Then there is the growing preference for online shopping, which Amazon certainly owns during the holiday season, also known as Q4. Now I realize there is some disparity between all of the items available on Amazon, which is almost every product known to mankind, versus what can be found inside even the largest Walmart. But…Walmart has also amped up its website, and is rapidly gaining on Amazon for depth, breadth, and quality.

Walmart maintains the upper hand when it comes to customers being able to examine products, whether they be groceries, clothing, or general merchandise. You just can’t do that on Amazon. And as much as I am an Amazon shopper, there are some things I will go to Walmart for first if only because I want to check it out F2F. If I need it right away, our local Amazon DC can only get it to me in one day at best, and usually two.

But if time is your friend, meaning you don’t need something right now, and you don’t have the time or desire to venture out to Walmart or anywhere else, then Amazon easily wins this battle. Nothing beats being able to shop til you drop on your phone.

As for the rest of the year, when we are not in massive gift-buying mode, Walmart still holds sway. It’s just that it better be paying attention to the rear view mirror, because with Amazon only $81 billion behind on the year, that amounts to only $238 per person difference among Americans. It wouldn’t take much to flip these tables.

There is a caveat to this, though, and that is Amazon also derives a lot of revenue from AWS—Amazon Web Services—its massive server farms it leases out to hundreds of companies. Thus, the revenue gap doesn’t necessarily capture just retail sales. Walmart may have a little more breathing room than the numbers show.

Still, the fact that Amazon’s market cap far surpasses that of Walmart shows just how bullish investors are with online shopping. That’s a 3:1 ratio, which is big by Wall Street standards. I don’t see this changing any time soon.

One last thing: This increasing duopoly spells trouble for almost every other retailer in the US, from the big boxes and Target, down to the mom and pops. Under the Trump administration, I doubt there will be any efforts to break them up. The Department of Justice will be toning down considerably after the last four years. But if the White House turns blue in four more years, which it most certainly could after a very radically different administration right now, then all bets are off.

All I know is I spend an awful lot of money at both of these stores, and I can only wish I had bought stock in both of them. They are the elephants in the living room, and there’s not a whole lot of room left for anyone else.

Dr “Here, Take My Money” Gerlich

Audio Blog

[riotgurrrll]

Thursday, 16 January 2025

Give me time, I need to start writing my life away, 20 years old, no hobbies, 6 years of my life wasted on abusive assholes + the other 14 tarnished by parents. Born to two too young children - raising myself and everyone else. No wonder I am the way I am, WHAT THE FUCK AM I MEANT TO DO? WHERE THE FUCK DO I GO FRORM HERE? Smoking away every brain cell I have to feel something, putting on a front to the world so they see me the way I wish to be seen.

No one can see the darkness that etches my soul in the silence.

Everywhere is the same!

4 walls that hold me down, inability to face my problems - 'I'll cry in 2 months, don't worry about me :]'

ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TATTOO DAY TODAY! - is it just another form of self mutilation OR a necessity to show the world my truth??? only time will tell, I guess.

GOD, you can SO FUCKING TELL that I haven't journaled or anything, ever. Why would I? I don't need to write down my feelings, or how I'm doing, or about what cock-sucking, monster of a man is breaking me again? (at least I've not allowed that to happen again, fuck you H. You'll forever go down in my own personal history of #1 man to do me wrong + morph me into the shell of a human being I'm trying to escape). Why is it that I don't remember myself before you? Is it because I was 15? Is it because you consumed my whole self for 4 LONG years?

Is it because you morphed me into the woman you wanted? even if you decided I wasn't the one for you? WELL, FUCK YOU! I got that last word, I ended things, and even if I'm not a whole person yet, I know damn FUCKING well, I will forever be a better person than you ever will. I hope you see my eyes in every woman after me Let me traumatise you the way you do me.

I hope in 20 years, you get on the train + smell my perfume, being thrown back to your 19 year old self, laughing at the ridiculous 17 year old girl you made into your own personal Barbie Doll.

Was it pleasurable, at least?

I guess that is all I can take tonight, Goodnight - Ill be back with photos of my new tats, it's only right I show you :]

Song List:

American Teenager - Ethel Cain 10:15 - Leanna Firestone F2F - SZA You're not a God - Arthur Hill

[open-hearth-rpg]

#RPGaDay2024

Classic campaign

Until I began running online seriously, most of the games I’d run had been long, multi-year campaigns. I’d had the extreme luxury of having a large group of f2f gamers in my area pretty much from Middle School onwards. I went to college locally and even though I lived on campus, I still ran. When I was assistant manager for a local game store & game room, I ran upwards of five campaigns at the same time. 

Mind you we f*cked around and wasted time– but we also played super late. I do think we probably got as much done in an extended session as I do now in a tight, three-hour online session even with breaks. Some of that savings comes from not running multi-hour combats. Even online I still like long-form from time to time. I’ll take credit for establishing quarterlies as a thing here in the community. But they’re also exhausting. 

So I have a lot of longer campaigns to draw from– including recent multi-arcs of Trail of Cthulhu, Hearts of Wulin, and The Veil. The campaign I want to talk about is one of those earlier f2f games– one which landed 95% of the time and taught me an important lesson. 

We called it Last Fleet, and we started it back in 2011. The basic premise was “Fantasy Battlestar Galactica”-- I had a strong idea for a starting incident and built from there. It was an entirely self-built game: set up, adventures, system. We started with a session of Microscope to establish the world we’d be destroying. The end point of the history would be that destruction and departure. You can see that timeline here. From that timeline we set several of the setting premises (you can see that here). 

I encouraged folks to build in the peoples and cultures they had interest in playing. After that I gave them homework: doing a “What My Senior Told Me” sheet for their character’s background. Here’s an example of that. I had each of them give me their character concept and then I translated that into the system. We were playing Action Cards, so each character had a unique deck of cards for resolution. I built their decks based on those choices and then they tweaked them. I wrote up a unique set of abilities for each PC they could pick from– broken into paths like a skill tree. Every couple of sessions I asked them where they wanted their character to go. I would then write up two new abilities, built onto their existing paths– some with prerequisites. 

This was a ton of work, but the payoff felt great over time. They had hard choices and could always develop their character in ways they wanted. That included in new directions, for example the Orc player originally saw themselves as a classic fighter. But over time they took more of a leadership role and wanted abilities and gear which supported that.

The game started off with a bang: we played out the final flying ships of this world trying to escape out through barriers to avoid the big bad pursuing them. In addition to the PC vessels I had a bunch of NPC peoples– made up whole cloth or drawn from the Microscope timeline. And then I started killing everyone– ships fell, PCs lost portions of their people, hard choices had to be made. This ended up being one of the most intense sessions I’d ever run and everyone dug how it set things up. 

The campaign which followed split into two halves. In the first they travelled through a toxic void trying to find a safe haven. They came across lost things: enemies, people, relics. It paralleled the original BSG and its searching journey story. Then at the mid-point, the story shifted. The PCs manage to break through a barrier into another land of floating islands and people. However the folks there were caught up in their own factional struggles and possessing different magics. The game became about trying to find a way to settle with the established peoples and create harmony with destroying them or being destroyed.

The final arc turned on the arrival of the BBEG pursuing the PCs in the first place. It led to a battle which required them to choose how to rebuild the world: including destroying it so that it could reform as it was before the sundering. 

It ended up a great campaign with superb arcs for every PC, fun mechanics, and tough choices for the resolution. One of the absolute best. It’s the kind of lightning in a bottle experience I don’t think I can replicate. 

But I said earlier that it landed 95% of the time. We obviously had a few clucker or slower session, but the big problem was of my own making. Let’s call in an unforced error. We got to the final session, had the huge climax, and had our characters in this new, reconstructed world. 

And that’s where I stopped. I had managed to exhaust myself and I ended everything on that scene. I told myself and everyone we were done– in my hubris I thought my narrated closing was dynamite and closed everything out. I didn’t want to go on any further– for fear of breaking the high we’d ended on. 

So our PCs got no epilogue, no statement of the future, no real closure. By the time I realized how stupid and empty that was, enough time had passed that I couldn’t really offer a chance for final stories. It absolutely detracted from the game as a whole– and purely because I’d had a GM vision of my story and how it should end. 

So there’s my cautionary tale.

For a collection of posts and details from that campaign, see here.

[chandrandeepesh72]

Storytelling for Change Management: Implementing HR Strategies in Pune’s Evolving Work Environment

Let’s assume there is an IT company in Pune named Baxbo. Baxbo is a 7-year-old company with 500 employees. It has a decent work culture and healthy attrition rate.

However, let’s assume there is now a bigger company (let’s name it Haxembur), which is a 50-year-old company with 10,000 employees.  Within a deal between both the top management, Haxembur is now taking over the small sized Baxbo.

This is a big type of change management for Baxbo and its 500 employees as now the culture will change, so might be the technologies used, work policies and even organisational structure. 

Role of the HR in change management 

HR is the flag bearer of the culture for any organisation and the bridge between the employees and the management. 

Here in Baxbo, every HR person is facing the biggest challenge of their career. There is now huge anxiety and fear among each of the 500 Baxbo employees, as they fear change of role, responsibilities change, change of work location and loss of colleagues & friends. Worst – they all fear the loss of their job.If you are in the market for superclone Replica Rolex , Super Clone Rolex is the place to go! The largest collection of fake Rolex watches online!

Team HR Baxbo needs to make the transition of Baxbo into Hazembur happen smoothly

Importance of Storytelling for HR

Storytelling for the HR team in Pune of Baxbo is all about proper communication. They need to ensure passing the message completely happens without any gap to every single employee. 

Storytelling is not just about telling motivational stories to the Baxbo employees at this time of anxiety. It is all about WHAT you say and more importantly, HOW you say.

Here are few things they should be doing:

Step 1 – Have a town hall meeting

Messaging and presentation by the top management boss is almost make and break here. As it is an IT company, all employees have gathered over a zoom call. 

Step 2 – Perfect explanation of the merger and its effects 

Ideally the top boss’s talk should cover the topics like why they decided to go for this merger. Show the company and employee growth that can happen post this merger. Brief on the various formal transitions that all as a team have to undergo like training for the new technology to be used, new headquarters, new possible job location opportunities, etc. Lastly, has to openly and honestly also tell about the down side of this merger as well. Never hide any secrets with their loyal employees. 

The flow of this talk needs to be like a good story structure. 

Step 3 – Take an online survey, feedback and QnA and addressing all concerns 

In coming days, continuously take feedback via online surveys or F2F interviews on the various concerns of each employee. 

Operationally, it is going to be very tough for the HR and even communication wise as well. HR needs to be composed himself. This is where the prowess of storytelling of the HR comes into the picture.

Step 4 – Training the mid-level managers 

Step 5 – Continuous training to all employees

This training can’t be a one-off activity. It has to be done on continuous basis for coming months, till the smooth mental transition happens into the new company culture

Why every HR in any organisation needs business storytelling training? 

Business storytelling for HR helps the HR to communicate the most critical news in a lucid and comforting way. The other benefits include art of communication, engaging any person in an interesting manner, maintaining good relationships, etc 

We provide workshops of Business Storytelling for the HR team in Pune and many cities in India.

To Know More: https://deepeshchandran.com/storytelling-for-change-management-implementing-hr-strategies-in-punes-evolving-work-environment/

[idontknowisenough]

Forever my Forrest

I'm kind of sad. I was dating this guy and there's something super special about him. There's nothing like trauma bonding over being culture bullied that brings two POC together. There's no need for an oppression Olympics- it's just an opportunity to look into the eyes of another and congratulate them without saying one word. His eyes saying "You made it" and me reflecting back that I'm so proud he didn't take the easy way out by becoming like them or trying to escape the pain since we both know those were the 2/3 options that exists in surviving intercultural bullying. But healing and work looks different for everyone. My healing demands that I speak up and acknowledge my non negotiables (which feel silly when he's away but mega important when we're f2f) not only to myself but to the person who has the power to make the proposed change needed. His healing demanded he make no changes that don't align with the idea of who he envisions himself to be... And so we sit in silence.. hoping each second could turn into a new lifetime because this could be our last time staring into each other's eyes. And that death seems unbearable because it took so long for us to find the life force of each other.

So today I've allowed myself to feel the sadness within the gratitude of learning what home base feels like... After a lifetime of striking out we have to go our separate ways because our growth dictates that my next task to master is his healing's responsibility to refute.. And maybe that's why he's home.. Because with him speaking my truth was safe. And for him denying my needs didn't feel like the ultimate disappointment . We saw each other and knew what it took to meet each other just in time to practice breaking apart.

[thistleandthorn-events]

It's that time of year again, ghouls and goblins, for your favorite institute to put on your favorite event - THE HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE! So come join us on October 28th for a night of food, fun, and mystery! (Everything below the cut is IC knowledge unless otherwise directed).

RULES

Attendance is mandatory for all students. Townspeople are optional.

All attendees must wear a costume complete with mask.

YOU CANNOT TELL ANYONE WHAT YOUR COSTUME IS.

Marks are on hold for the party, however, the headmaster and guards will be around so don’t be ridiculous about it.

ACTIVITIES

Dancing - Great Hall

Escape Room - First floor classrooms (4 rooms designated for different themed escape rooms)

Photo Booth - Great Hall

Snacks and Punch - Great Hall

Halloween themed Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner (8-10am, 12-2pm, 5-7pm respectively) - Cafeteria

Movie Viewings - Auditorium (10am - Hocus Pocus 2, 1pm - Ghostbusters, 4pm - The Skeleton Key, 7pm - Friday 13th, 10pm - Saw X)

Pumpkin Carving, Pumpkin seed spitting, Pumpkin Painting, Halloween Crafts - Art Room

Thriller Dance Instruction and performance - Dance Studio

Punkin’ Chunkin’ - Court yard

Haunted Maze - Hedge Maze (like a haunted corn maze with characters, spooky music and guards dressed in costume chasing people. They cannot touch or harm students)

Mad Science Lab - Cafeteria (snacks themes as science and laboratory - eyeballs that are grapes in jello, intestines that are spaghetti noddles, etc)

Potion making - Cafeteria (alcoholic and non alcoholic choices)

Bobbing for Apples - Court Yard

‘Ghost in the Graveyard’ Game - Court Yard

Horror Movie Trivia - Ipads in Great Hall

COSTUME CONTEST

There will be a costume contest BUT it is slightly different from what you’d expect. The object of this contest is to try to be as convincing as your costume character as you can. Everyone will vote for the top 3 costumes - again, the voting criteria being that you had NO IDEA WHO THEY WERE. We’re looking for the best actors here and the top 3 winners will win 200 points each!

OOC INFO

Alright, so here’s how it’s going to work - create a side blog for each of your characters’ costumes. THE URL SHOULD HAVE NOTHING IN IT about your actual character. Remember, you don’t want people to know who your character is. This goes for IC and OOC. PLEASE, don’t break the game. It’s not fun if you break the game.

On your sideblog for your character’s costume, post a photo of your costume including the mask. Once the blog is built and photo is posted, add the URL and costume to THIS GOOGLE DOC. Also, posting throughout the party will be done all F2F. There will be no online or tumblr based starters.

Ok, this part gets a little confusing. IC - this event only happens on Saturday October 28th. BUT, OOC we’ll be ‘freezing time’ to allow this event to be played out Monday-Sunday (October 23rd-29th). Again, it’s all happening IC on Saturday. Please keep the dash strictly Masquerade during the whole event.

The other part of the “don’t think about it” part of this is we need to kinda fake things about our characters to avoid being discovered. For example, since this takes place AFTER locktober, no one's locked for this. Or, Austin won't show his accent to avoid knowing who he is, etc. So just kinda suspend your disbelief, please. This goes for physical attributes, accents, etc.

OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER when making your blog:

Take off auto-tags if you have a way you tag things regularly, or just tag differently

Don't post photos or manips displaying your face claim in your costume

Don't talk OOC about what costume your characters are wearing

If while playing, you miss something please utilize tumblr's asks/messages and message from your sideblog, not your main.

Don't reuse former Masquerade side blogs (not everyone deletes people)

Look out for OOC traits/behaviors which might identify you

Any triggering plots or plots involving a lot of people need to be approved.

If your student character participates they will receive 50 points. Participation will include at least some decent activity (just a post or one/two replies will not count.) Gimme at least one thread and I’ll count it.

VOTING - once we get closer to the event we’ll let you know how this will go but it will be dependent on NOT LETTING ANYONE KNOW (Ic or OOC) WHAT COSTUME YOUR CHARACTER HAS. Please, again, Don’t Break the Game. These things are only fun when the rules are followed. Vote per character, however, even if your character doesn’t interact with them. So, you can use some OOC knowledge for voting ONLY.

We allow costumes to double. Make sure you're paying attention to the URL name when you're voting.

If you have questions please feel free to ask but make sure it’s not already answered in this post please and thank you.

[scandaloushq]

I was never in the celeb rp before, the characters would make actions? like smile or hug each other? or only talk?

hi! the interactions are mix up the following things - text messages, paras, f2fs, and regular dash interactions. i'll try to break them down for you below. :)

f2f - face to face. the fcs are interacting in person. this is usually a short reply with a gif added.

paras - an interaction with another fc in paragraph form. mostly written in third person & past tense. these are optional here and are mostly used for character development between a ship or friendship. it gives writers the chance to go into detail and lets the other members get a glimpse into their specific situation.

text messages - like a regular text message. it takes place between two fcs and they text like one would on a regular cell phone.

regular dash interactions - here's an example of one. it's an interaction that takes place online or just in general, with not specific setting. these can center around any conversation and are one of the most popular forms of interaction!

i hope this helps you!!

[vellewis]

🎧 Taking a lunch break today? Tune in to this podcast episode and discover the incredible work Vel Lewis and the F2F Music Foundation are doing for deserving music students. 🎶 #MusicEducation #Podcast #F2FMusicFoundation