#good on you max nordic

[emynarnen]

Daemon: right in front of your salad.

[bunny-heels]

the all around reception of AW2 [spoilers]

Alex and Saga are a pair do not separate them

Logan's a loving little shit that makes you wanna ruffle her hair

Alan is a sopping wet kitten, specifically he's Wisp the dirty napkin kitten

Ahti is still everyones grandpa

Door is a modern G-Man

Tor and Odin are the iconic duo that can never be broken

Sam Lake will never feel like he's a real person

there's at least one guy and one chick you can swoon over

all Remedy games are connected but they're also not

Tim Breaker is just a polite lil fella

music and sound is literally so important and needs to be heavily taken care of in every game ever

the pacific northwest is still a death trap both in fiction and in real life

the devil is a blood thirsty animal with no remorse in his body for anything around him. which makes having an edgy 12 year old emo kid personality feel very fitting for him when hes trying to act like a person

everyone in the 70s did drugs at least once even if they say they didn't

Nordic people are so powerful even when most of them have "just some guy" energy

family is so fucking important even when you just meet some youve never met before or youre not blood related and its so powerful and drives the human spirit no matter what

Remedy is too talented for their own good and its no wonder Rockstar is letting them have full control over the Max Payne remakes

Sam Lake needs to be beaten to death but also deserves a cup of coffee and a pat on the head

[annachum]

Some HCs I have of some other World Grand Prix racers :

. Raoul Carroulle ( the French race car ) loves singing, dancing, getting drunk often and is a huge LGBTQ suppirter

. Miguel Camino ( the Spanish race car ) is kinda like Camillo from Encanto but except even more sneaky. He loves flamenco dancing and basically sometimes loves a good gossip

. Also Raoul Carroulle and Miguel became boyfriends somewhere near the end of Cars 2 ( like, around when Miles Axelroid got arrested )

. My voice hc for Carla Veloso ( the Brazilian race car ) is Carmen Miranda. Anyway Carla is Fiesty, spirited, loves to party often, and is a Lightning x Sally shipper and a Carroulle x Camino shipper.

. Francesco's parents are both F1 racers. Mama Bernoulli retired sometime after her husband died, and became a racing trainer for Francesco

. Nigel Gearsley is the youngest of those World Grand Prix racers. My voice hc for Nigel is Tom Holland. Basically he is often chatty, loves Star Wars, and LOVES internet memes. And he is also a fan of Queen. Lightning and several other racers came to treat him like a little bro figure

. Shu Todoroki's wife, Kiyomi Yamaguchi, is a light pink Toyota car and famous geisha who performs mainly at a fancy Tokyo geisha dining theatre. By the time Cars 2 rolled around they already have a 3 year old daughter ( who is white and pink like her dad ) named Sakura. Srsly Shu x Kiyomi are kinda like a cars version of Moto x Moe from Kimono Mom in some ways.

. . Kiyomi Yamaguchi is sweet, elegant and ladylike, but definitely not to be trifled with. After her husband got injured in that Porta Corsa race, she flat out mobilized her and Shu's friends back in Japan to have a whole 10 thousand yen law suit on Axelroid over her husband's injuries. And she shows up there to defend her husband in that Miles trial

. Max Schnell ( the German car ) is from Berlin is more of a stoic type, yet he has a gentle soul ( he is more of a gentle giant type if you ask me ). Likes beer, poems, skiing and dancing. Also loves to hit the gymn often

. Lewis Hamilton ( another British car ) is often more collected, loves to DJ and is often seen meditating with some lo fi music on his headphones. He becomes a good friend to Nigel Gearsley

. Jeff Gorvette basically is a Miami surfer dude and is somewhat younger than Lightning. The two met before during the US national races and became good associates over time.

. Rip ( the Scandinavian car from New Rearandia, a ficitonal Nordic island country near Iceland ) is basically kinda like a mix of Kristoff and Hercules in some ways. That guy is basically a big hearted himbo who loves to sing and dance....and has a competitive Streak as well

[camedownonamoonbeam]

Handsome Brit as a countryside cop > Max Brown won't be seen in the new Downton Abbey film, but a crime series in the spirit of Father Brown got the actor excited. "It's a beautiful weather right now even though it rained all night. The sun is shining again!" Actor Max Brown, 41, chats casually over Zoom.

The handsome Brit is remembered not only from The Tudors but also as the sensation kisser in Downton Abbey. Brown's character Richard had Thomas Barrow smiling with a surprise kiss.

"Unfortunately I'm not in the new Downton film. It'll still be fun to see whether Barrow might have another meeting with Richard in store. I think we touched on something really beautiful and delicate/sensitive. Maybe Julian Fellows still has something up his sleeve for those two."

Now the star is fully focusing on his new series Sister Boniface Mysteries. The Britbox streaming service's series is a spin-off of the (audience) favourite Father Brown, which you can follow on Yle Areena, Elisa Viihde Viaplay and Cmore. Father Brown (Mark Williams) also visits Sister Boniface Mysteries.

The jolly nun played by Lorna Watson scorches on her moped solving colourful murders in the countryside milieu. Brown plays Detective Inspector Sam Gillespie.

"I haven't been in a lot of crime shows but I'm a huge fan of detective novels (stories?). For example Sherlock (BBC) is a favourite of mine. I also read a lot of murder mysteries. The world of murders is not unfamiliar to me."

"Lorna and Jerry are amazing. I hadn't met either of them and it's always hard to know in advance what kind of a relationship you'll form. The first time together is like a first day at school: I'm nervous about what each of them will think of me. But we liked/loved each other right away! We spent a lot of time together - as much as the covid restrictions allowed. We enjoy doing things together and can’t wait to film the next season. You couldn’t ask for a better team.” Is there romance in store for Sam? “He doesn’t quite know how to approach such feelings as love or having a crush. For him his career is the best wife material! Sam rather solves crimes than the mysteries of his heart. Of course there’s a little bit of flirting. There might be something going on with Ruth, the reporter. We’ll see what happens!” Max Brown confesses that he’s never been to Finland. “I did use to know a guy who went to the same university with my sister’s husband, and we used to hang out a lot together. I know it’s very beautiful up there. And very dark. I’ve probably also watched Finnish TV series as I’m an avid watcher of Nordic productions.” He hopes Nordic viewers will be excited about Sister Boniface Mysteries. “This series has a universal comedicness to it, and I believe Nordic viewers will find a lot of good in it. The crimes are inventive and full of twists (/complicated), and the script is really clever!” translator’s notes: apparently these two languages are very different lol. idek if he said they enjoy or enjoyed working together because the word is the same in written finnish regardless of the tense lol. when he talks about meeting lorna and jerry, the more literal translation is "infatuated" but I doubt he actually said that lol. also the reporter made him sound kinda weird by using really short sentences, why?? and yes she really called him handsome twice lol

[abirdnamedkipling]

I made my three best girls in picrew bc I was bored lol

from top to bottom, these are:

Idunn, a Norse goddess and an interdimensional deity of time, timelines, and immortality. She is truly a force of chaos. She's Nordic as you can imagine, blonde, blue-eyed, and paler than milk, but even with her youthful, happy face in front of you, you would never trust her farther than you could throw her. You don't know how to describe it, but she's strange. Maybe it's her smile, genuine and joyful but somehow surreal-a giggle at a funeral, a song in a forest long dead. Maybe it's her eyes, so blue but so strangely reflective. You can see past them, but all you can see is...you. ((Idunn's one of the OGs. I made her when I was eleven and haven't looked back. She's an absolute gremlin of a woman and also beyond mortal comprehension for obvious reasons. She's usually wearing very basic, fantasy NPC-type clothes, but I gave her the shirt and the Monster because she spends plenty of time in modern-day worlds and she's exactly the type to be encountered in a 7/11 at three am, wearing a dilf shirt and chugging what is probably her eighth energy drink of the night while staring at the selection of sour candies. she wouldn't buy anything, at least not while you're in there. she'd just wander the aisles, treating the snacks like they're her own personal reality show. she makes no sense, I love her.))

Rowena, the Descendant, which is the title for the third most powerful faerie in the hierarchy of the Faerie Court. She originally was set in the story of the Septimus Heap books, and she still has some relation to that. She was a changeling and found/was found by the fae when she was fourteen, along with some friends. The Descendant is someone in whom the four regions of Faerie (Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales) and the four elements of power as well as the powers under these elements are blended equally. Both she and her parents vanished when she was a baby, and no one can find any trace of them somehow, which is really weird because they were fairly important people. Her psyche is really fucked up because the witch she was apprenticed under (oh yeah she was raised in a commune of forest witches) had gotten only one instruction from the leader of the seelie, which was to cast memory charms on her to keep her from learning the truth. If she learned who she was before she was strong enough, she was basically screwed. The max amount of memory charms able to be cast on a person before their mental state starts taking hits is ten, and Rowena got about seventy cast on her in the course of her life. (Marina, her witch mentor, was not aware of this. Marina was doing her best. If you blame Marina for any of this I'll hit you.) So when they tried to take the charms off Rena went into a coma for a bit and now has a badly cracked psyche. She's working on it. It's fine. ((Rowena wears purple constantly and also has her hair in one thick braid, but Picrew doesn't really have many single braid options so I just put her hair down.))

Astarte is a time witch, and part of the Triad that she, Idunn, and Thomas make up. She lives in a tower situated on a world where she came from and which she blames herself for destroying and conducts experiments of magic and power. She and Idunn are very good friends. She's also close with Howl Pendragon (sensitive bitches with truthfulness issues being pedants about magic shit ftw). Her story was heavily inspired by Wicked because I am a pathetic theater kid.

[scrawlrbox]

***** IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME ****⁠ Oh me oh my @Edding_uk have been SUPER GENEROUS! 😍They have given us a whole bundle of arty goodies for 2 lucky winners. PLUS Mister Phil has given us the ORIGINAL artwork that was featured in the December ‘22 box. Something we are going to find very hard to part ways with!⁠ ⁠ --- UP FOR GRABS ---⁠ 🥇1st Prize: ORIGINAL artwork by Mister Phil*, Edding Acrylic Creative Set, Edding 3D Double Liner Set, A3 Acrylic and Oil Artist Pad PLUS a December ‘22 ScrawlrBox⁠ 🥈2nd Prize: Edding Nordic Acrylic Marker Set, an A4 Acrylic and Oil Artist Pad PLUS December ‘22 ScrawlrBox. ⁠ 🥉3rd Prize: 10 runner up prizes will receive the December ‘22 ScrawlrBox. ⁠ ⁠ --- HOW TO ENTER ---⁠ 🙋 Make sure you are following us (you may as well give @misterphildraws and @edding_uk a follow too)⁠ ❤️ Like this post⁠ ✏️ Comment by tagging a mate you think would love these goodies as much as you! (up to 10 mates) ⁠ ✨Extra ✨ entry: share to your stories! Don’t forget to tag us so we can see! ⁠ ⁠ --- PLEASE READ ---⁠ *Frame not included with the artwork. This competition is in no way associated with instagram or Edding. Edding have been very lovely and given us these prizes to give away. Open Worldwide. Max 10 entries per account. Competition ends Midnight on Monday 20th February (UK time) Winners will be picked at random and contacted via THIS ACCOUNT ONLY shortly after.⁠ 🏴‍☠️ We hate that we have to say this, but please be aware of scammers. We only contact people via this account and will never send any links or ask for payment information to secure your prize. ⁠ ⁠ 🍀 Good luck Scrawlr’s! — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/78haM16

[leham-n-daavocado]

2021 F1 Grid as Boy Bands

According to my sister and I who are millennials from Canada. I'll link to the band's most emblematic or iconic song/video. Because you know Lance and Nicky gotta be obscure Canadian boy bands lost to the annals of time lol. All the British bands we know from The Hit List lol. We also are quite encyclopedic when it comes to certain 2nd and 3rd generation K-pop groups so...

Mercedes

Lewis: Backstreet Boys

N'Sync may have won America, but the Backstreet Boys won the world. No other boy band is appropriate for Lewis other than the one that has sold the most records, has tons of bops from "Quit Playing Games with My Heart" to "The Call" and over 25 years of longevity. Most Famous Song/Video: I Want It That Way

Valtteri: a1

They have a few bops, but maybe not an enduring longevity. One of their members is Nordic and the video for "Caught in the Middle" has Finnish vibes. Besides "Take on Me" also originated from Scandinavia. Most Famous Song/Video: Take on Me

Red Bull

Max: One Direction

Started on X-Factor, an analogue for the Red Bull factory. Over the top devoted fanbase. Most Famous Song/Video: What Makes You Beautiful

Checo: Arashi

Enduring J-pop band. Crazy well known in Japan where they're literally part of everyone's lives daily in variety shows, TV shows, etc. Most Famous Song/Video: Arashi

Ferarri

Charles: N'Sync

Look at his fashion and the bandanas and tell me he doesn't give you late 90s/early 2000s N'Sync vibes. Most Famous Song/Video: Bye Bye Bye

Carlos: 98°

Forgotten 90s/2000s boy band. Just like Carlos is often forgotten. Gave us "Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)" to capitalize on the Latin trend at the time. (Una Noche means one night guys! Like naan already means bread lol). Most Famous Song/Video: I'd say it's The Hardest Thing, but my sister only remembers Una Noche

McLaren

Daniel: O-Town

Created on Making the Band, an analogue for the Red Bull factory. We chose this because we absolutely believe Daniel would sing a song about nocturnal emissions while making reference to literally every famous female celebrity.

Now this hot girl (hot)

She's not your average girl

She's a morphorotic dream from a magazine

And she's so fine (damn), designed to blow your mind

She's a dominatrix supermodel beauty queen

Most Famous Song/Video: Liquid Dreams

Lando: BTS

Burst into the scene and is very popular among young fans. Great marketing. Lots of fan drama. Most Famous Song/Video: Dynamite (My sister says Save Me is a better song)

Alpine

Fernando: New Kids on the Block

It's part of el plan, "Step by Step." A classic OG boyband. Most Famous Song/Video: Step By Step

Esteban: SoulDecision

Under appreciated Canadian boyband that still gets plays now and again on the radio. Trevor goes on to get notoriety years later with singing Armin van Buuren's "This is What it Feels Like." Most Famous Song/Video: Faded

Alpha Tauri

Pierre: Super Junior

Created by SM Entertainment as an AKB48 style band with revolving members and constant graduates. If that isn't the Red Bull factory, I don't know what is. Super Junior members were constantly under threat of being taken off the band until the group as a whole became too popular to be replaced. Now they're 2nd generation kpop kings. Most Famous Song/Video: Sorry Sorry

Yuki: Five aka 5ive

They have the bad boy/brash vibes with J and Abs, but then the sweet ones with Scott, Rich and Sean. Kirby with a knife. Most Famous Song/Video: Everybody Get Up

Aston Martin

Sebastian: Take That

Classic British boy band. Remembered fondly. Red Bull Seb had Robbie Williams vibes at times. Most Famous Song/Video: Back for Good

Lance: b4-4

Obscure Canadian boyband. Just because. Have iconic, hilariously cringe song about oral sex that you sung out loud as a child unknowingly. It captures DTS Lance beautifully. Some of the members were opera singers, so their skill was hidden by circumstance. Most Famous Song/Video: Get Down

Williams

George: Westlife

Hugely successful boy band. People are critical of what they perceive to be lack of skill and ability in some areas. They have old man/adult contemporary vibes like George. Most Famous Song/Video: My Love

Nicky: id

Another obscure Canadian boy band. I think they only really got played on The Hit List because it fit their demographic and MuchMusic never bothered with them except to lampoon them on Ed the Sock's annual music video retrospective, Fromage. Unfortunately, Nicky also faces this level of obscurity in his home country. Sorry Nicky! Most Famous Song/Video: Busted

Alfa Romeo

Kimi: 2ge+her

Parody band with show on MTV. Played on the popular boy band tropes of an older member, member with initials for name, the cute one, the heartthrob and the bad boy. Has Kimi's dgaf vibe. Most FamousSong/Video: The Hardest Part of Breaking Up is Getting Back Your Stuff

Antonio: The Moffatts

Because Antonio gives us Scott and rock vibes with his long hair and him leaving F1 is misery. Most Famous Song/Video: Misery

Haas

Mick: SuperM

A super group made up of members of some of SM Entertainment's most famous/skilled members. There's a lot of expectation because of the legacy of the groups and a ton of hype. They get tons of opportunity others would not because of their reputation. Seeking longevity/recognition beyond their one hit song. Most Famous Song/Video: Jopping

Mazepin: My sister said it's Creed... but it's not a boyband and she picked them because they're annoying. I picked Seungri for the Burning Sun Scandal, but my sister said I couldn't pick a member from the most popular band in Korea for a decade lol. Other suggestions were Milli Vanilli (lip syncing scandal) and Lou Pearlman (shitty and creepy boyband manager). We won't subject any boy band to him I guess.

[itsbeaker-bxtch]

Loki was never evil.

Ok the title may seem bold, but please keep reading ! When TS3 Aurora Skies came in featuring a child version of Loki Beaker, many of us were surprise regarding his personality traits. 

  In the Sims 2, Loki is known to be this crazy scientist who leads horrible experiments. The bio description of the Beaker family CLEARLY states that he and Circe conduct research on human test subject Nervous, thus his last name. This is confirmed by the PSP version where the couple kidnapped a Strangetown citizen as a new guinea pig. The morally questionable side of Loki's personality is reflected by his points leaning toward grouchy. His name could also be a clue, Loki is the god of mischief in Nordic Mythology after all. We could argue that being grouchy and being mean are two different things, but TS2 personality system is not as in depth as TS3. 

Speaking of TS3, two traits could have fit what we previously knew about Loki's behaviour: 

  1. The description for the Mean trait reads: "Mean Sims love to fight, mostly because they never lose in a brawl, and they take satisfaction with every new enemy made." Well, it could have been a great reference to Loki's name meaning or his disdain towards his future neighbours in Strangetown. In my opinion, the mean trait doesn't really suits him. Yes, he fought with Buzz because, well, everyone did? And his quarrel with the Curious brothers started not because he thought it was fun, but because he was jealous/in love as implied by the screenshots memories. What about the other negative trait?

   2.The description of the Evil trait reads: “Evil Sims love the dark, take great delight in the misfortune of others and prefer to lead a life of as far away from goodness as possible”. If we take a look at all the attributes of this trait, we can clearly see that evil sims are cruel. They enjoy others suffering, even as far as inflicting it themselves. I hear you : a perfect trait for mad scientist Loki, who torture his poor subjects right ? Perhaps not ! In TS3 little Loki doesn't have any of this traits. Why ? Maybe something happen while growing up ?

 I have my own theory : Loki wasn't evil in TS3 because he is not evil in TS2. I know, I owe you some explanations.

 Well, of course he's kind of cruel to an extend and I promise I'm not trying to defend my "problematic fave". I think we often forget something about his personality. He was, and his, since childhood, an ambitious sims. This part of him is, for me, far more important than his cruel side. Hell, maybe even before his genius side! It dictated his life, his career, even his marriage.  I think young Loki's traits make perfect sense. He is family-oriented (he's often a 2dn aspiration family Sims in TS2). Above all, Loki is Ambitous and Lucky, and those two traits explain why he grew up into the adult we love (and fear?). Here's my theory. His family oriented trait could indicated that early on he developed an interest in DNA and biology (he will create his own children after all).He wants to succeed in his career.  No, he WILL succeed. Not matter what. And guess what? He's also a LUCKY Sims : “Lucky Sims are more likely to get raises at work and to get good results from career events” (simswiki) .On top of all his hard work (he max out a skill), everything always goes his way. He must and CAN do whatever he feels like need to be done. He never went from "sweet child" to "mad scientist". He went from dedicated over-achiever child to successful scientist.

 If we take a closer look at TS2 descriptions, they refer to Loki's ambition, not his cruelty. His bio reads: "As soon as he perfects his latest invention, Loki is sure to get the recognition he knows he deserves." In this state of mind, moral boundaries are seen as a barrier. Ultimately, those experiments aren't meant to inflect pain, but to further expand his knowledge and get praise for future discoveries. Like a child cutting an insect out of pure curiosity. He has no regard for others well being because they serve a greater purpose: his scientific research, his ambition. His curiosity and quest for recognition know no limits. He has no doubts about being THE best scientist.  And, well, while not have fun while you’re at it? I think Circe may have influenced him a bit. Also, as an ambitious sims herself, she should loves him for it. They really are a perfect match. In the PSP version, Circe dark secret state that she is jealous of her husband "distinction". But I keep that for another essay....Anyway, that further back up this theory about Loki’s need for recognition.

We always depict him as an evil scientist, but I think he is first and foremost an ambitious one.

[visander]

This is my masterpost for @shadowhunterbingo​. Thank you so much to everyone who ran this event! This was my first year joining and it was so fun.

Mundane AU | Magnus is a very recently single father. Alec is Magnus' new bodyguard | Malec, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Single Parent | That was one good thing about having a difficult teenage son. Magnus knew that Raphael would put any of his romantic partners right to the test, even if Magnus wished he wouldn't | Malec, Magnus & Raphael, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Fake Relationship | Simon had only been a shadowhunter for a few weeks when he asked Jace to sneak out and help him break into a police station to steal something for his friend | Jimon, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

New Years Eve | Jonathan was not meant to be loved. Sebastian was not meant to be dead. Both could be true. If something that was not meant to occur had to happen, Jonathan would choose the one in which Sebastian had not died for no reason | Jonathan/Sebastian, MCD, Dead dove: Do not eat | Ao3, tumblr. 

Spy AU | When Alec adopted a warlock, he expected that people would be watching him closely. He didn't expect the High Warlock to follow him while he was running errands | Magnus & Alec, Alec & Baby Max, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Mates | Alec thinks about the people he loves and he thinks about how differently he loves them | Magic (Meliorn/Alec/Magnus), gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Summoning | Jonathan summoned Raziel to beg for help but when the angel finally arrived, Jonathan found that he could not speak at all. Still, the angel heard him and Jonathan heard the angel, kind of | Jonathan Shadowhunter/Angel Raziel, NSFW, Consent Issues | Ao3, tumblr. 

Rivals | The rivalry between Magnus and Ragnor was the gossip of the downworld and really, who were they to deny the downworld a show? | Ragnor & Magnus, Side Malec, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Christmas Fic | Magnus wasn't quite sure how he was going to spend his Christmas but struggling to close a rift in the middle of an icy hellscape as a sweet surprising shadowhunter offered him assistance wasn't quite what Magnus expected | Malec, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Reverse Verse | When Valentine decided to take his children and leave, he'd done so because he knew that Jocelyn was far beyond saving | Valentine/Luke, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Halloween Fic | There was something in Alec's apartment and he was pretty sure it was trying to seal him inside | Malec, Demon Magnus | Ao3, tumblr. 

Royalty AU | Being an orc, Magnus knew that the primarily nordic people of his village did not like him but Magnus didn't realize just how deep that hatred went | Malec, mature for violence | Ao3, tumblr. 

Free Space | Jace didn't go to the bar to watch Simon sing but when he realized Simon was on stage, he could think of nothing else. Afterwards, Jace knew he needed a distraction and he needed it now. Thankfully, Maia was more than willing to shove every thought right out of his head | Onesided Jimon, Jace/Maia | Ao3, tumblr.

Omega/Omega | When Alec presented as an omega instead of the alpha he knew he was supposed to be, he knew his life was over. Magnus was an omega and two omegas could never be together | Malec, gen | Ao3, tumblr.

Tentacles | Magnus finds out that Ragnor has another warlock mark, despite Ragnor's best efforts to hide it | Magnus & Ragnor, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Fairies Made Them Do It | The Clave was offering Alec a chance at a life he'd never had but choosing that life would mean leaving everything Alec had ever known behind - including Meliorn | Meliorn/Alec, gen | Ao3, tumblr.

Vampire!Alec | With Magnus busy on a plane, Alec knew that it was up to him to plan he and Magnus' costumes for the party later. Thankfully, he had twitter to help him come up with ideas | Malec, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Fairytale AU | There was one simple fact about Jace’s life. He could not live without Alec. So, when Alec was taken out into the ocean never to break the surface again, Jace knew that he had to follow him, no matter what it took to do so | Jace/Alec/Magnus, teen | Ao3, tumblr.

Sex Club | Sex clubs weren't exactly Raphael's thing but Simon liked them, so Raphael tended to go to make sure he was okay.On one of these occasions, Raphael happens to get lucky... for Simon | Simon/Raphael, implied Simon/Raphael/Izzy, mature for sexual location | Ao3, tumblr. 

Warlock!Izzy | When Isabelle Lightwood first realized she had magic, she'd gone to Magnus Bane for help. She didn't expect to meet a girl there, a girl who regardless of how many times they met, did not remember her | Izzy/Clary, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Soulmate AU | When everyone heard that Andrew and Lorenzo were soulmates, the entire school had assumed that it was a joke. They show everyone fairly quickly that it is not a joke | Reyhill, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Hurt/comfort | For a long time, Jonathan thought that Sebastian was just being nice to him to get something from him but at some point, Sebastian managed to convince him otherwise | Jonathan/Sebastian, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Truth Serum | Alec would have complimented Magnus if they were in any other situations - if Magnus hadn't been about to rip the words from Alec's throat that would mean the end for his people | Malec, teen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Ragnor Ships It | When Magnus woke Ragnor up in the middle of the night to give him the horrible suit he'd found, Magnus had truly expected that to be the end of it. He assumed he'd never see Ragnor actually wear the suit - until Ragnor showed up at Magnus' wedding, wearing it | Ragnor & Magnus, side malec, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

Accidental Marriage | In which Alec and Magnus got married when Alec marched down the aisle and kissed Magnus, unbeknown to them both | Malec, gen | Ao3, tumblr. 

[redwineconversation]

Lotta Schelin Le Progrès Article (September 28, 2022)

Disclaimer: I am uncomfortable with the idea of translating every Le Progres article that comes out about Lyon, but I'm also a sucker for a good love story. I think that really to understand the Lyon of today, you have to understand their history, which is rich, complex, and kind of cool.

Lotta Schelin, OL's first "Queen"

Delighted by her new role as mother and consultant for Swedish television [sports] shows, the former Lyonnais center forward, third best scorer in the history of club, has a lot to say about OL. The love of her life with whom she stayed with for eight years.

At Lyon, the 1m79 former center forward who scored 225 goals in as many matches left her mark. Having left Lyon in 2016 after having spent eight years at the club, her suitcase filled with trophies (8 league titles; 5 Coupe de France titles, 3 Champions League titles), the third best goalscorer at OL came very close to not having been part of a story in women's football.

In summer 2008, without a phone call from Farid Benstiti [former OL coach], who noticed the Swede's composure in front of goal at the Pekin Olympic Games, Lotta Schelin probably would have gone to the United States, where she was being severely courted. Wanting to see something other than the Damallsvenskan (top women's division in Sweden), the Göteborg FC player (105 goals in 134 matches from 2001 to 2008) was convinced by the speech of the ambitious Lyonnais coach. And she left for France, where she knew "absolutely nothing."

"No one understood my choice at the time. In Sweden, we had a lot of stars and the French league wasn't known. Everyone thought "okay, she doesn't want to give herself the means to become a top player." I told myself I would stay one or two years max at Lyon. But after a year and a half at the club, we found ourselves in the Champions League final (2010). We won it the following year. And I found myself in the best club in Europe, maybe even the world. It's impossible to leave after that," tells the mother of an 3-year-old boy from the other end of the phone, in perfect French.

A departure synonym with transfer of power

For her "good integration" within Olympique Lyonnais, Schelin put an emphasis on learning "the local language", helped at the time by the "very patient" Sandrine Brétigny and Sandrine Dusang [former OL players].

On the field, despite her hat trick scored against Vendenheim, where she scored her first [hat trick] in D1 on September 14, 2008, the former player of Göteborg FC took some time to get used to the French style of player. "I wasn't as technical as Louisa Necib [former No. 10 player before Marozsan]. Me, I was focused more on speed, I was making calls, I wanted the ball played deep and we often put in at my feet. It threw me off a bit," remembers the 38-year-old Nordic, living in Kungsbacka, a sea town with a population of 100,000 people, 30 km south of Göteborg. She nonetheless works as a consultant for Swedish television shows (she covered the Women's Euros this past summer and will follow the World Cup in Qatar in November from the studios based in Stockholm).

"My club, it's not Göteborg, it's Olympique Lyonnais"

Plagued by injuries and a little less prolific in her last season with Lyon in 2015-2016, the best player in D1 (2012-2013) and top goalscorer in the league (2012-2013 and 2014-2015) already made her choice in 2016. To return to her country and be closer to her family. "It was the perfect moment for me. To leave place for Ada (Hegerberg), as well. It's funny because the supporters nicknamed us "Queen Lotta" and "Princess Ada" but since then, she has taken over the throne," jokes Schelin.

Conscious of having "been a part of the history of club," she says she "keeps Lyon in her heart." "Lyon also showed me a lot of respect. That, it's not something you feel everywhere. My club, it's not Göteborg, it's always going to be Lyon." Will she come back one day? "Honestly? Why not!"

"I loved playing with Camille Abily, she placed the ball perfectly"

A little too altruistic

"In Sweden, we think of others before anything else. I was always used to that. It's a good thing to be altruistic but in terms of being an attacker, you can't be too altruistic either. I remember that Antonin da Fonseca would often tell me: "turn, shoot, score, don't look to see if you have someone [on your team] around you, take responsibility as a striker"."

Leaving OL in style

"My last game with Lyon, it was that Champions League final against Wolfsburg, May 26, 2016. I don't remember having played a great game but what was most important for me, it was having taken part in it. I received a knock above the knee a few days prior. During training that eve, I was able to do several sprints, that reassured me but up to the last moment I was afraid I wasn't going to play. I started as a substitute, I came in 25 minutes before the end. We won on penalties after extra time. I took a penalty. It was stressful because Ada (Hegerberg) had missed hers. When I took the ball, I told myself: "okay, I can't end it like this." And when Saki (Kumagai) scored hers, we exploded with joy then. It was a dream to finish my story with Lyon like that."

Impressed by Necib's technique and Renard's longevity

"The players who stood out for me? Lara Dickenmann, Shirley Cruz ... Those two girls were wonderful. I loved playing with Camille Abily as well. She was right behind me and would pass the ball perfectly. Louisa Necib, as well, she was a fantastic player, with a technique that was out of this world. Wendie [Renard], I've known since she was very young. To have seen what she has done all these years at Lyon, it's crazy, she's one of the best players in the world.

A double scored at Gerland

"I remember one game in particular with OL. It was in 2011, in the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal (April 9, return leg). We played in Gerland in front of 20,000 people, it was sold out, the sun was shining. We won 2-0, I scored the two goals, in the same same way: on the left side, by opening by foot towards the far post. I think I have never been happy in that way before, because in a way I contributed to the qualification for the final ... that we would go on to win."

[foegs]

drivers as 2010s hit songs

(at least on north american radio stations)

Lewis: Daft Punk - Get Lucky keeps bopping for longer than you'd expect. unironically very good whether you'll admit it or not. you get bored when you're not paying attention, but it's worth it to listen up.

Valtteri: Avicii - Levels nordic. makes me cry. just keeps going, and the good feeling is dubious. they talk about it so many times you wonder when you’re getting that good feeling. foundational to a genre, a stepping stone for many more great things.

Sebastian: Coldplay - Every Teardrop is a Waterfall old. very important. vocal haters but overall very palatable. it makes you wistful more often than you'd like to admit.

Charles: Lil Nas X - Old Town Road horses. little kids love this one. absolute simple mastery in its field but damn there’s a lot of discourse. horses again.

Max: DJ Snake, Lil Jon - Turn Down for What irritating, goes too hard just when you don’t want it too, but don’t tell me you’ve never gotten hyped. it’s not that deep and that’s kind of the allure. 

Alex: Lorde - Team the prospects are grim but the essence is hope. you like this one, something about it is very fundamental. it’s thoughtful vibes all the way down and everyone else you love likes it too.

Carlos: Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines  did it sort of slap, for a pop song? ʸᵉˢ did it actually need loads of side-eye? yeah, that too

Lando: Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe  overplayed, but you'll play it again because it's unironically good. rated by people who know their shit, like KOAN Sound and Jenson Button. too cute to be true.

Daniel: Post Malone - Congratulations makes for terrible instagram captions, but people do it anyway. 

Esteban: Luis Fonsi - Despacito  earworm! never goes away when you want it to. shows up whenever something bad happens, to the point where it’s funny. this... is so sad. alexa,

Daniil: AWOLNATION - Sail is it just me, or was this one always intimidating? you laugh a little nervously when it comes on the radio, and it’s either an acquired taste or you’ve always slept on it. maybe a bit too raw for its own good.

Pierre: Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better oooh you’re so special for liking this one. did you know he’s actually just one person? everyone knows this one, deserves all the airtime it gets, would deserve any more it got. even the haters have a spot of affection.

Checo: Ylvis - The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) had a pretty fuckin terrible time in 2013. not taken as seriously as it perhaps should have been. 

Lance: twenty one pilots - Stressed Out incredibly divisive! people who hate it think they’re so cool, but they’re missing out on a fair bit of fun. everything’s cute and nothing’s too serious

Kimi: Pharrell Williams - Happy is this stopping soon? lots of old fucks like this one. dubious congratulations for your fortitude!

Antonio: Capital Cities - Safe and Sound cheesy but cheery, the sound of the summer. no one hates it. terribly endearing if you pay a bit of attention, but at the end of the decade it’s still a one-hit-wonder :(

Romain: PSY - Gangnam Style you probably don't understand but you get hyped anyway. you don’t need to understand. more important than anyone realises. good times all around and very unnecessarily hated.

Kevin: Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks hoes mad! edgy shit has arrived. keeps getting in trouble for it. if it hadn’t taken off, mark foster and kmag would be in much humbler circumstances right now. 

George: Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars) you like it. it probably likes you too. unrealistically charming, didn’t have to do a lot to convince you of that. cooler than you will ever be, but you don’t mind. 

Nicholas: Drake - God’s Plan money money money 🙏🙏🙏 this is pretty self explanatory. the vibes are good and so are you

[halfway-happyyy]

oh my GOD i cannot stop thinking about going out for the night to hang out w friends and getting so drunk that when alex comes to pick u up u forget he’s ur boyfriend 🥺 and when he reminds you you’re like “!!!!!!! me !!!!! how did i get so lucky !!!!!!!!!” n ur looking at him like he hung the moon and he falls in love with you all over again bye this image lives in my head rent free i swear

what a soft, lovely thought!!!

*

As all messy night-outs usually begin, she had gone into it with the intention of keeping every single one of her wits about her. She had actually heeded her boyfriend’s advice for once- “one glass of water per each alcoholic beverage”, she had viewed his full figure leant against the threshold of their front door before she left, large hands placed in the pockets of his denim jeans. His worn t-shirt stretched across his broad chest and she was glad that tonight- unlike most nights, she would have him to sidle into bed next to when the evening ended.

“Come here kid,” He murmured. “Let me kiss you once more before you go, hm?” Her lips turned up into a wide smile as she closed the distance between them wordlessly. He had an innate way of holding her like she was the most precious thing in the entire universe. Like if he let her go, she might shatter into a million little magnificent pieces. He held her face in his impossibly warm hands as he kissed her like it was the last time he would ever do it again. When he pulled away from her, he was out of breath and he gestured to her purse on the glass coffee table in the front entrance, “Can’t forget that.”

She reached for it, slung it across her body, and smiled at him. “What would I do without you?”

A car horn blared in the distance and Alexander shrugged his shoulders, a smirk tugged at the edges of his lips. “Let’s hope we never have to find out, hm? Your chariot awaits, kid.” His blue eyes sparkled merrily in the low light of the glowing hallway lamp, and the delicate creases next to them spoke volumes of the happiness that he exuded on a near-constant basis.

She swallowed hard; her hand poised on the doorknob. “I love you, Alex- just in case that big old sky ever falls on our heads.”

“I love you too, kid. Please be safe. Call me when you’re ready to come home.”

*

“One more babe! It’s my birthday!” Her best friend tried on her best Vana White impersonation and waved her hand tantalizingly down a row of pink coloured shots.

She eyed them suspiciously; her world had started to spin on its axis a few moments ago, and she swallowed hard. “I’m feeling a little ill.”

Her friend giggled and picked up a shot, waving it beneath her nose. She watched the liquid slosh out over the sides, and land on her friend’s white dress, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles. Her friend shook her head, oblivious to the stain blooming steadily in the gauzy material and hiccupped. “Nonsense. One of these and you’ll be back to tip-top shape.”

“You spilled broken down golfcart on your dress.” She hiccupped and pointed to the stain.

“You’re not getting out of this.”

She took a deep breath and accepted the shot from the birthday girl, tilting her head back and pouring the liquid down her throat. She shook her head and winced as the alcohol singed the lining of it like smoke. “Alright. That was the last one. I’m calling Alex now.”

Her friend’s pout turned into a devilish grin, and she shrugged nonchalantly. “Let’s see how many we can get in you before he gets here…”

In hindsight she could not definitively say why she had agreed to play that game but come morning she would regret it. She was seated at the bar with some of her other girlfriends when he arrived, and even though her ringer was on and loud, she had missed the three previous phone calls announcing his arrival. She was clutching a glass of water in her hand when she spotted him, and her mouth went dry. She leaned over to her friend, a bold move considering she nearly fell off the wooden stool. “Don’t look now,” She whispered a little too loudly. “But that may be the sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Her friend’s eyes widened in excitement and she craned around to see who she was referring to. When she caught site of Alexander, her face dropped, and she let out a loud giggle. “Girl, that’s your man.”

She watched him approach them in horror. “My man?”

Her friend stared at her in astonishment. “Did your drink get spiked?” She leaned back and tapped the girl next to her on the shoulder. “Were you watching her drink?”

“My man?” She repeated in unconcealed awe.

Her friend gaped at her. “Yes! You guys live in a beautiful home together!”

Her eyes narrowed as she mulled this over. “Do we have dogs?”

Her friend rolled her eyes. “Yes, two horribly cute ones.”

“Good evening, ladies.” Alexander appeared behind them; his opposing figure cast a long shadow over the bar as he bent down to press a kiss to the apple of her cheek. “Hi, kid. Is there a reason you did not answer any of the phone calls I sent you?”

Her friend cleared her throat. “She’s uh… she’s in rough shape.”

Alexander nodded slowly. “Alright, let’s get you home, hm?” He helped her up from her chair and held on to her hand as she bid goodbye to the rest of her friends. “It’s a bit cool out tonight so I brought you a sweater,” He murmured and draped it around her shoulders as they took their leave from the bar. “We’re parked right outside, my love.” He held onto her elbow as they stepped out into the October evening, and opened her side of the door for her to get in. Once safely buckled up, he made his way around to his side of the car and climbed in. She still found it a little hard to believe that this specimen of a man was really her person. That somehow, possibly by the grace of god, she had managed to reel this one in. Stopped at a red light, he turned to her and frowned. “You alright, kid? You’ve barely said a word…”

She opened her mouth to say something, and instead of any actual words, she hiccupped loudly. “I had a lot to drink tonight.”

Alexander closed his eyes and dropped his head to laugh quietly. “Yep. I know.”

She hiccupped again. “We’re together?” She had meant it to come out as more of a statement than a question, and Alexander blanched.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” She swallowed hard and squinted her eyes. “How on earth are you this attractive? Like are you even real? This could be one of those dreams…”

Alexander’s blue eyes widened, and he let out a breathless chuckle. “Let me stop you there, kid- you and I are together. We have been for over three years now. We have gone home to Sweden multiple times- my family adores you. We have a home, and in that home, we have tons of artwork and we make meals together, and we have Max and Sitka- and they are the best dogs in the entire world.”

She nodded her head slowly. “Okay then answer me this, you giant Nordic Adonis. How on earth did I get so lucky?”

Alexander was quiet as he pulled into the driveway in front of their home. “I ask myself that question constantly.”

He helped her from the passenger seat, and up the cobblestone pathway to their front door. Upon entry, the dogs in which he had just told her about wagged their tails happily at the return of their beloved owners. “Hi puppies.” She murmured breathlessly.

“They’re happy to have you home, kid.” Alexander whispered. “And I am too.” He helped her up the stairs to their bedroom and got her changed into her favourite pair of pajamas. He left her momentarily for the washroom and when he returned, he was laden with a glass of water and two Tylenols. “Open up,” He murmured, and she did as he was told. They fell into bed together, and she cuddled up immediately on his chest, her head tucked safely under his chin. Alexander hummed quietly to himself and kissed the top of her head gently. “I love you kid- just in case that big old sky ever falls on our heads.”

[qqueenofhades]

Question for you. When you have time. And if you want. I know things are busy for you. What do you mean by end stage capitalism? Thanks.

Aha. I am sorry that this has been sitting in my inbox for a while, since I’ve been busy and doing stressful things and not sure how to answer this in a way that wouldn’t immediately turn into a pages-long rant. Nothing to do with you, of course, but just because I have 800 things to say on this topic, none of them complimentary, which I’ll try to condense down briefly. Ish.

In sum, end-stage capitalism is at the root of everything that’s wrong with the world today, more or less. It’s the state of being that exists when the economic system of capitalism, i.e. the exchange of money for goods and services, has become so runaway, so unregulated, so elevated to the level of unchallengeable dogma in the Western world (especially after the Cold War and decades of hysteria about the “scourge of communism”) and so embedded on every level of the social and political fabric that it is no longer sustainable but also can’t be destroyed without taking everything else down. Nobody wants to be the actual generation that lives through the fall of capitalism, because it’s going to be cataclysmic on every level, but also… we can’t go on like this. So that’s a fun paradox. The current world order is so drastically, unimaginably, ridiculously and wildly unequal, privileging the tiny elite of the ultra-rich over the rest of the planet, because of hypercapitalism. This really got going in the early 1980s when Ronald Reagan, still generally worshiped as a political hero on both the left and right sides of the American political establishment (even liberals tiptoe around criticizing Saint Ronnie), set into motion a program of slashing business and environment regulations, reducing or eliminating taxes on the super wealthy, and introducing the concept of “trickle-down” or “supply-side” economics. In short, the principle holds that if you make it as easy as possible for rich people to become EVEN MORE RICH, and remove all irksome regulations or restrictions on the Church of the Free Market, they will benevolently redistribute this largess to the little people. To say the very least, this….does not happen. Ever.

Since the 1980s, in short, we have had thirty years of unrestricted, runaway capitalism that eventually propelled us into the financial crisis of 2008, after multiple smaller crises, where the full extent of this philosophy became apparent…. and nobody really did anything about it. You can google statistics about how the price of everything has skyrocketed since about the 1970s, when you could put yourself through college on one part-time job, graduate with no student debt, and be assured of a job for the next 30 years, and how baby boomers (who are responsible for wrecking the economy) insist that millennials are “just lazy” or “killing [insert x industry]”. This is because we have NO GODDAMN MONEY, graduate thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (if we can even afford college in the first place), are lucky if we find a job that pays us more than $10 an hour, and often have to string together several part-time and frangible jobs that offer absolutely nothing in the way of security, benefits, or long-term saving potential. This is why millennials at large don’t have kids, buy houses, or have any savings (or any of the traditional “adult” milestones). We just don’t have the money for it.

Even more, capitalism has taken over our mindsets to the point where it is, as I said, at the root of everything that’s wrong with the world. Climate change? Won’t be fixed because the ruling classes are making money from the current system, and if you really want to give yourself an aneurysm, google the profiteers who can’t wait for the environment/society to collapse because they’ll make MORE money off it. This is known as “disaster capitalism” and is what the US has done to other countries for decades. (I also recommend The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.) This obviously directly contributes to the War on Terror, the current global instability, the reason Dick Cheney, Halliburton, Blackwater, and other private-security contractors made a mint from blowing up Iraq and paying themselves to rebuild it, and then the resultant rise of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other extremist reactionary groups. The bombing produces (often brown and Muslim) refugees and immigrants, Western countries won’t take them in, right-wing politicians make hay out of Threats To Our Way of Life ™, and the circle goes on. Gun control? Can’t happen because a) American white supremacy is too deeply tied to its paranoid right to have as many guns as it wants and to destroy the Other at any time, and b) the NRA pays senators by the gigabucks to make sure it doesn’t. (And we all know what an absolute goddamn CLUSTERFUCK the topic of big money and American politics is in the first place. It’s just… a nightmare in every direction.)

Meanwhile, end-stage capitalism has also systematically assigned value to society and to individuals depending entirely on their prospects for monetization. Someone who can’t work, or who doesn’t work the “right” job, is thus assigned less value as a human (see all the right-wing screaming about people who “don’t deserve” to have any kind of social and financial assistance or subsidized food and medicine if they won’t “help themselves”). This is how we get to situations where we have the ads that I kept seeing in London the other month: apps where you could share your leftover food, or rent out your own car, or collectively rent an apartment, or whatever else. Because apparently if you live in London in 2019, there is no expectation that you will be able to have your own food, car, or apartment. You have to crowdsource it. (See also: people having to beg strangers on the internet for money for food or medical bills, and strangers on the internet doing more to help that person than the whole system and/or the person’s employment or living situation.) There is nothing inherently wrong with capitalism as an economic theory. Exchanging money for goods and services is understandable and it works. But when it has run out of control to this degree, when the people who suffer the most under it fiercely defend it (see the working-class white people absolutely convinced that the reason for their problems is Those Damn Job Stealing Immigrants), when it only works for the interests of a few uber-privileged few and is actively killing everyone else… yeah.

Let’s put it this way. You will likely have heard of the two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max airplanes in recent months: the Lion Air crash in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March 2019. Together, they killed 346 people. After these crashes, it turned out that the same malfunctioning system was responsible for both, and that Boeing had known of the problem before the Max went on the market. But because they needed to make (even more) money and compete with their rivals, Airbus, they had sent the planes ahead anyway, with unclear and confusing instruction to pilots about how to deal with it, and generally not acknowledging the problem and insisting (as they still do) that the plane was safe, even though it’s been grounded worldwide since March. There are also concerns that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is too deep in Boeing’s pocket to provide an impartial ruling (and America was the last country to ground the plane), and other countries’ aviation safety bodies have announced that they aren’t just going to take the FAA’s word for it whenever they decide that the Max is safe. This almost never happens, since usually international regulatory bodies, especially in aviation, will accept each other’s standards. But because of Boeing’s need for Even More Money, they put a plane on the market and into commercial passenger service that they knew had problems, and the FAA essentially let them do that and isn’t entirely trusted to ensure that they won’t do it again. Because…. value for the shareholders. Or something. This is the extreme example of what I mean when I say that end-stage capitalism is actively killing people.

It is also doing so on longer-term and more pernicious everyday levels. See above where people can’t afford their basic expenses even on several jobs, see the insulin price-gouging in the US (and the big pharma efforts in general to make drugs and healthcare as expensive as possible), see the way any kind of welfare or social assistance is framed as “lazy” or “bad” or “socialist,” see the way that people are basically only allowed to survive if they can pay for it, and the way that circle is becoming smaller and smaller. The American public is also fed enduring folk “wisdom” about “money doesn’t buy happiness,” the belief that poverty serves to build character or as an example of virtue, or so on, to make them feel proud of being poor/deprived/that they’re doing a good thing by actively supporting this system that is responsible for their own suffering. And yet for example, the Nordic countries (while obviously having other problems of their own) maintain the Scandinavian welfare model, which pays for college and healthcare, provides for individual stipends/basic income, allows generous leave for parenthood, emphasises a unionised workplace, and otherwise prescribes a mix of capitalism, social democracy, and social mobility. All the Nordic countries rank highly for human development, overall happiness, and other measurements of social success. But especially in America, any suggestion of “socialism” is treated like heresy, and unions are a dirty word. That is changing, but…slowly.

In short: the economic overlords have never done anything to give power, money, or anything at all to the working class without being repeatedly and explicitly forced, they have no good will or desire to treat the poor like humans (see: Amazon) or anything at all that doesn’t increase their already incomprehensible profit margins. The pursuit of more money that cannot possibly be spent in one human lifetime, that is accumulated, used to make laws for itself, and never paid in taxes to fund improvements or services for everyone else, lies at the root of pretty much every problem you can name in the world right now, is deeply, deeply evil, and I do not use that word lightly.

[dindooku]

ask game - about me

tagged by @zapsalis-d - hope ur good boo xo

the rules: tag eight a few people you would like to get to know better

relationship status: taken - 4 years strong bby

favourite colour: tbh i don’t really have a favourite colour; it’s very dependant on my mood - but if i were forced to pick - it’d have to be blue

three favourite foods: chocolate (big fan), garlic bread (heavenly) and i absolutely dig a good ol’ english roast

last thing i googled: ice gem uk; so - basically, i am at uni and living in halls. the people i share my halls with are from asia (singapore, malaysia etc) and we were chatting about childhood staples. a classic british childhood staple was ice gems - and i couldn’t describe it so had to show them. they were confused.

time: 16:16PM

dream trip: i have always, always wanted to visit sweden; specifically a massive road trip of the place. my dad left school at 14 to drive arctic’s around the world with his dad about 45 years ago, and he always tells amazing stories of his time up north. it always seems so serene and peaceful, and with its rich nordic/viking history i am hooked.

tell me what you really, really want: corrr, what a question. what i really want? see, i could go down the whole global peace route - which don’t get me wrong, would be marvellous - but if i were to be selfish; i would absolutely love to buy my parents house so they don’t have to pay their mortgage and move out. it breaks my heart every time we chat about it because my parents have done nothing but work to give my sister and i the best lives they possibly could. i was born and raised there - in the middle of nowhere in a bungalow, living for the last 10 years on the sofa so my younger sister could have a bedroom - yet despite this; i wouldn’t change my experience for anything. i really did have a proper, wild and free childhood and even though i wish i could’ve had family holidays or fancy gadgets, i learned true lessons. i know how to fix cars, change taps and repair boilers. i want my parents to have the quiet life they always wanted and deserved. so, in conclusion - what i really want is for my mum and dad to be able to grow old together in the middle of the british countryside; just how they deserve.

:)

no pressure to complete it!!!

soz if you’ve already been tagged: @mandah-lorian @incorrect-mando @max--phillips @pedropascalisathot @stuckinthesuezcanal

[yourdailykitsch]

Taylor Kitsch on 'Shadowplay' and Taking on Darker Roles: "It's the Most Fulfilling"

Kitsch plays a Brooklyn cop sent to post-War Berlin in the period crime drama, which premieres at the CanneSeries TV festival.

For a fan of Friday Night Lights, it's hard to sit across from Taylor Kitsch and not picture high-school bad boy Tim Riggins, the character — part womanizer, part wounded man-child — Kitsch played for five seasons in the acclaimed, Emmy-winning NBC drama.

But Kitsch has spent the last decade of his career carving out a darker path, with stand-out roles in Ryan Murphy's TV movie The Normal Heart, on the second season of True Detective, and as cult leader David Koresh in Paramount Network's Waco.

For his latest role — as Max McLaughlin in Shadowplay — Kitsch has again gone deep and dark. The period crime drama, from the creators of Nordic noir series The Bridge, sees Kitsch playing a Brooklyn cop assigned to set up a police force in the chaos of post-World War II Berlin and to take down the Capone of post-war Berlin, "Engelmacher" Gladow (played by Sebastian Koch). Max is also on a mission to save his brother Moritz (Logan Marshall-Green). Both siblings share a common, childhood trauma, but have taken very different paths. Moritz, who served in World War II, has returned to Germany and begun to hunt down unrepentant Nazis, killing them in increasingly brutal ways.

Michael C. Hall, Nina Hoss, Tuppence Middleton, and Mala Emde co-star. Kitsch spoke to The Hollywood Reporter's European Bureau Chief Scott Roxborough while on a break from shooting Shadowplay in Prague. The series, from Studiocanal’s Tandem Productions and Canada’s Bron Studios, premieres at TV festival CanneSeries.

There have been a lot of movies, and TV series, made about World War II, but almost nothing from when Shadowplay is set, the immediate aftermath of the war. I had no idea what things were like in '46. I don't know what I thought but it wasn't this. The violence didn't stop after the war. Everything just went rogue. I got here a few weeks before we started shooting and went to Berlin to see all the sites for myself. I took a week and went to Auschwitz to study that. You can look at these pictures all day but being there you have a sense of the gravity of it all.

This series seems much bigger, and more ambitious than much of the television you've done in the past. [Creators Mans Marlind's and Bjorn Stein's] vision is so big. Even shooting-wise, we have huge action set pieces but then also very beautiful scenes. Today we have a huge scene, where we blow up the police station. It looks unbelievable. Dust rising like a huge cloud before the firefight ensues. It's the biggest action sequence we have in the whole series. But it's the heavier stuff, the emotional stuff, that is going to drive the show. And that's what I find most challenging. Me and my brother Moritz go through trauma, our mom is shot in the kitchen by our father and we see it. My character, Max, deals with that trauma completely differently from Moritz. So every time we have a scene together, the stakes are so high. I was talking to [Shadowplay co-star] Nina [Hoss] yesterday and was saying how the scenes I struggle with are exposition. I hate exposition, talking to drive a storyline. In the scenes that are black and white, where it's clear what's happening and what the stakes are, those are the scenes you live for. Waco was like that: it was clear what I was doing in every scene. It's similar here.

You've been taking on meatier roles recently. Is that deliberate on your part? Absolutely. I think it's more my wheelhouse now than it's ever been. I think that's originally why I went to study acting. I never ever thought it would be a possibility to end up leading crazy big movies or series. I just wanted to do indies. I love it. It is the most fulfilling.

How are you picking your roles now, what do you look out for? I ask myself: "Does it scare me? Can I do it?" If it's on the verge, where I'm scared I can't do it, then I'm interested. Then, of course, it's about who's the director, what's the subject matter, what's the voice? But I think it's the fear that drives me most of the time. I say to other actors I admire all the time: there are going to be things where you swing and miss, but there are going to be others where you hit it out of the park. Failure is OK. As long as it doesn't completely end your career [laughs].

The actors I admire don't worry about the repercussions, of "what are people going to say?" People like Benicio [Del Toro], he's had a lasting effect on me. Or Josh Brolin. He and I are still close [since working together on 2017's Only the Brave.] He's had a major swing with Avengers but at the root, he's just a great actor. When you take the greats you can put them in anything and they'll still be great. Brolin is awesome. Joe Mantello sticks with me. I always think of him from Normal Heart. He just blew me away.

In Shadowplay, you're acting alongside Nina Hoss, who's a big star here in Germany. What's that been like? I was just told when I signed on: "oh, you're going to love her." Now she is one of my favorite actors or actresses I ever worked with. I'm a fan for life. She is just incredibly giving. No ego. There are actors out there that are more worried about themselves than the scene alone or reaching the potential of a scene. She wants to reach the potential of the scene. And that doesn't matter if it's at the cost of her or whatever it is. She's very engaging and comes prepared, and is a pro. She's just all-in. And she's really, really good. I'd love to work with her again.

You have been trying to get Pieces — your first film as a director — off the ground. What the state of that? Basically, it goes back to me just wanting more indies to get made. Or just original films. My agent told me that something like 20 of the last 21 highest-grossing movies have been sequels or franchise films. That's pretty fucking alarming.

It's been tough to get financing [for Pieces]. And this is for a low-, almost no-budget movie. The genre is tough too. It's not like I'm going to do a young adult horror or a rom-com. This is an ode to the gritty, 1970s kind of character-driven movie. Tough to say to financiers: "You want to make this with me?" And they are like: "I don't know how many people are going to see this."