#i know this is hard for some americans to grasp but sometimes it's not about you and your opinion isn't always needed or even wanted

[wingsofhcpe]

protip, if you're an American and you see European people fearing for their futures and even their lives after these election results, maybe the correct response to it is NOT to accuse them of fucking up YOUR safety plan to move to Europe if America tanks.

Just saying.

[angsthology]

Pay Attention to Things That Most People Ignore ☆ LS2

logan sargeant is most definitely not most people. it was time he started learning how

characters/pairings; daughter of poseidon!reader, chiron, mr. d, son of apollo!logan, theo (oc), son of athena!oscar.

warnings; monsters, typical pjo-type violence, logan is hopeless but that’s okay! some chb innacurracy sorry i havent read the books in a while, err very rushed writing im sorry, LAWD this is a mess i tell u 😭 perhaps i hate it — 3k words.

a/n; is the title... an all-american bitch lyric? yes. why? im not good and titles and i went to that song in instinct... for no reason. also this was based on a request — though i do admit its a little bit different as i would (hopefully) be making a part 2 hehe. by now im realizing how this title prob has nothin to do with the story

Over the years, she’s come to accept her life. Did it hurt when it felt like her entire life ended? Of course. Does it still hurt when she turns on the television to see them basically rubbing it on her face? —Whatever.

In theory, she probably could’ve gotten away with it had she not been a daughter of one of the big three—thanks a lot, dad. —but it was proven one too many times that it was not safe for her or any of the other kids. If it didn’t put anyone else’s life at risk, she would’ve disobeyed her mother, she really would (she was a child, she really hasn’t grasped the full concept of what other people would feel).

But, you know, oh well.

It’s sixteen years later and she still has that lingering grudge in the back of her head as the screen plays another Grand Prix — another Grand Prix she could’ve probably been a part of.

She tried, she really tried so hard to forget about it, to let go of it, but again, it was proven to be way too hard to let go of something she had an actual chance of, an actual good chance.

Though it might be hard to let go, she couldn’t really complain much about the life she actually had now.

Sure, it gets pretty lonely sometimes being a forbidden child, there weren’t exactly much of them (that are known and living at camp). But she had everyone else, despite practically being an only child at camp, to her everyone else there were her little siblings—of course, that probably has something to do with the fact that she was the oldest camper and the one who has been there longest.

When she heard a set of the all-too-familiar clops her heart dropped from its current fast-paced beating.

She quickly closed your laptop shut, cringing when you heard how loud of a sound it had made. That was it. She didn’t even try hiding her disappointment in herself. She slowly emerged from under the blanket with her lips tightly-wound shut, bracing herself with whatever the Centaur will have to say, her mind playing a quick telepathic farewell to her laptop.

“Hello, Y/N.”

She sighed, “Chiron.”

“Where and how?”

She swallowed the pre-existing nerves in her throat, “Mr. D.”

He hummed in response, so she continued.

“A pack of Heineken and two bottles of Jack Daniels.”

“Hm, good picks.” She responded lowly under her breath with a small ‘yeah’ as Chiron walked closer to the head of her bed near the bed-side table—his hooves making clopping noises each step.

The silence was taking too long to her liking so she just went to get it over with, “So, you’re gonna take it away from me?” she paused, then mumbling under her breath for herself, “—it’s probably another Red Bull win, anyway.”

Apparently, it was loud enough for the Centaur to hear, making him chuckle.

Surprisingly, he didn’t mention anything else about the laptop, “Who do you support?”

Hearing the question quickly made her look up from her fidgeting hands to see the smile on his face, she screwed her brows in confusion as she continues to look at Chiron for—something. Then, realizing that he was still waiting for an answer, she shook her head.

“Uhm—well, uh—”

“You think that Lando will ever get a win?”

That seemed to loosen her up, “Ugh, Gods, I hope. I’m getting exhausted over here—you know, sometimes I really wish I could ask the Oracle about it.”

He chuckled then which made her crack a smile.

When it died down, Chiron looked at her smiling face. He couldn’t help but frown a little, he knew how she felt about racing, he knew how she still feels about it.

“Y/N.”

She looks up at him, “Yeah?”

“So, I am aware that your birthday is nearing…”

“I mean… why wouldn’t you be? I’m here all-year-round.”

Chiron cleared his throat at her interruption, giving her a look.

“Sorry.”

He acknowledged and continued, “I am also aware that it lines up with a certain event…”

She raised an eyebrow it that, almost guessing what that said ‘event’ was.

“So,” he stopped, initially had her thinking he was just pausing but when he left out the door of her cabin she raised her hands as if saying ‘what gives?’

Seconds passed and it seemed like Chiron wasn’t going to come back any time soon so instead she stumbled off of her bed to quickly catch up to the Centaur that was headed to a building—the girl almost caught up to him, almost following him into the building but he was already back out in a good few seconds, stopping her right in front of the set of stairs, raising both her hands in question once more, “You just left. ‘So’, what?”

“I have it arranged that you will be attending the Miami Grand Prix.” He smiled as he handed her a lanyard.

She swore her eyes looked like it could’ve popped out of their sockets in a matter of seconds. She couldn’t believe what she was holding; a paddock pass. She couldn’t believe Chiron had done this for her considering how careful of a man (well, half-man) he is especially with her being a forbidden child. This was about to turn into the best birthday yet.

When she looked up to the smiling Chiron, her mouth still hung open in shock but her arms immediately wrapped around the man’s body in a bone-crushing hug.

She didn’t know how many ‘thank you’s that spilled out of her mouth but next thing she knew he was hugging her back with a chuckle escaping his lips.

After a few more ‘thank you’s from her, she pulled away smiling at him, “I thought you’d rather keep me here forever, why now?”

He cleared his throat, “Well, you are turning twenty-one, not many of you reach that kind of age—don’t tell them I said that—so I’d like to make it a bit more special.”

Still smiling, she looked at the paddock pass in her hand again, “You don’t know how much I appreciate this, Chi. Thank you, again.”

Being there felt… odd… unnatural.

She always thought if she were ever walking through the paddocks she would be walking as a driver.

What was even more odd was she felt her senses tingling, like she was being watched.

It was a bustling crowded place with many more interesting people compared to her, so it was weird to her that she felt like she was being watched of all people.

But alas, she brushed it off. It didn’t feel like anything bad—if it were, she would know—so she’s just going to have to save that thought for later.

She had to remind herself why she’s here; daydream in real-time of what could’ve been.

Yeah, she weren’t really keen on letting that go.

That is, until she was into her head she failed to notice the person—and group of people that came with said person—she was running into.

Before she knew it, a strong arm was holding her back with too much force for her liking, the action itself almost kicking in her self defense instinct until the person she did bump into pushed the hand away.

He was now talking to her, she assumed, but she was too focused on the person who had pushed her away.

Something about him felt… off. He was what she would count as freakishly huge for a normal human being, her eyes couldn’t help but recalculate the large man over and over until eventually the person that has been trying to get her attention snaps her out of it.

“Sorry, that’s Theo, he’s like that. I swear he doesn’t mean any harm.”

The scowl she hadn’t realized that made it’s way to her face slowly dropped as she slowly move her gaze to the person that was talking to her.

When their eyes met, she swore she saw a flash of something pass by his expression.

“Yeah,” she finally let go of this ‘Theo’ person and found her words, “Sorry I bumped into you.”

“That’s fine.” There was a brief silence across them until he cleared his throat, “I’m Logan, by the way.”

“Yeah, I know. You drive for Williams.” She replied flatly.

He cleared his throat again, scanning her for the shortest moment, “Do I know you?”

She looked to his eyes again with a small squint. “Most likely not. Good luck, bye.”

Before he could say anything else she was already speed-walking away. And for some odd reason, Logan found himself watching her walk away before getting pulled away himself just in the same time as the girl turned around to give a watchful eye.

It was getting annoying. This was supposed to be a weekend to enjoy but she could not help but feel that uneasiness creeping up on her. Over the years she had somewhat mastered the ability—well more the ability mastering her—of sensing bad things, whether that was events or creatures alike.

So, to simply put that together, that’s how she found herself sneaking around the Williams garage. Not hospitality, garage.

From years of quests here and there, many hours of weapons training, and not to mention capture the flag schemings with other campers, she had mastered the skill of being sneaky. It really did work well in her favor.

What she didn’t expect was to be completely entranced the moment she got into the busy garage; it was the first time she was seeing a real life-size F1 car in real-time.

Everything was so enchanting to her, it felt like she was reliving her childhood dreams all over again. When she had gone through with her plan, she didn’t really register the fact that she was going to go face to face with an actual working Formula One garage.

She really tried to stay focused on the task at hand but it really was in her blood to be unfocused.

“Hey!”

Somehow, just somehow, she had heard his voice over the loud noises around her and just somehow, she knew he was addressing her.

Immediately, she tried to hide or duck behind something—anything just so she didn’t have to face him.

Before she knew it a hand was gripping her upper arm and pulling her somewhere quieter and she was met with green eyes that looked at her with suspicion.

“Are you like a fan or something?”

She was taken aback by his words.

“…what?”

“Are you following me?”

“What—no. I mean not you specifically—why did I say that.” she whispered the last part to herself. If she was being honest, she hasn’t really been brushing up her skills in socializing with anyone else that weren’t the campers.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing! I—”

Their conversation—if you could’ve called it that anyway—was interrupted by the same man she had been suspecting from earlier.

“There you are.” It was the first time she was hearing his voice and just by that she already knew that they were going to be in big trouble. His voice was low and unnerving, saying the words as if he’s been searching for them not for worried purposes rather unfortunate ones.

Logan didn’t seem to have the same feeling as her as he looked more relieved among other things to see the man. “Theo!” he greeted while throwing his hands in the air, “What’s up, man?”

Fortunately for Logan, Theo wasn’t exactly paying attention to him instead looking at the girl in front of him instead.

When he noticed he tried to interfere, “Oh, no, don’t worry about her, she’s not harmful.” He then realized he didn’t exactly know this girl so he looked at her with questioning eyes, “You aren’t, right?”

Except her focus didn’t waver from the big man that looked at her with a stare that tried to kill.

Logan, still clueless, looked between the two back and forth in confusion until Theo said something that really caught his attention.

“Daughter of Poseidon.” Theo growled.

Logan’s head couldn’t snap towards her faster.

“Shit.” She mumbled under her breath.

Before they knew it, she had grabbed a hold of his hand and running away with it, Logan still very much in shock at this new information he attained.

Through empty places and crowded ones, the girl forgot that the man she had ahold of weren’t just anyone but a very real and hard-to-miss Formula One driver. Sure, he was a rookie but a driver nonetheless.

But she couldn’t care less about the attention she was gaining; she was far too busy running for her life than think about cameras and the public.

“What the hell was he talking about? Poseidon?!” she didn’t answer his panicked question so he continued instead, “Are you a half-blood too?”

The ‘too’ in his question was what finally caught her attention but still, she didn’t answer him, only cursing herself for not noticing one when she saw one.

Just when she thought they had lost them, the monster once disguised as Theo was standing there at the end of the opening, she and Logan had slipped in.

Next thing she knew she was fumbling around trying to fight off the apparent Giant that was Theo.

“What the hell are you doing there, mind a little help over here?” she yelled over at Logan who was pretty much… useless in the corner.

He continued to panic, looking for anything he could use to get the Giant off of her.

Suddenly, while she was struggling to get the Giant’s grip off of her, the force stopped as a cloud of mist poofed where the monster was once before. She quickly scrambled herself up and was met with a figure in McLaren clothing holding a gold-dust colored weapon pointing at her.

“Oscar Piastri?!”

He didn’t answer her, dagger still pointing at her direction, “Who are you?”

Putting her hands out in defense she explained herself, “I respect that.” she commented, “I’m Y/N L/N, I am the daughter of Poseidon,” then she cautiously pointed at the Australian, “I’m assuming you’re a half-blood too.” she nodded at him, “Who do you belong to?”

Oscar then slowly lowered his weapon, his trust building by the minute, “Athena.”

Then both of them turn to Logan simultaneously.

“No!” he got defensive immediately, “I want to know what just happened!” he pointed accusingly.

All of a sudden, it just finally hit Oscar, “Poseidon?!”

The sea god’s daughter made a face and ignored the Australian, “What do you mean what just happened? Typical demigod stuff!”

The look on his face made her double-take, “You… do have occasional encounters with monsters here and there… right?”

When Logan’s expression doesn’t change, she turns to Oscar.

“I have this for a reason.” He said slowly, showing her the dagger. “—and, well, if I’m being honest, that has never happened before.”

“Shit.” she shakes her head in disappointment then pulling out her phone, “I need to make a phone call.”

She left the two men by themselves and went ahead as the line rings a couple of times before getting an answer.

After a brief conversation—that will continue later for details—the girl locked her phone and walked towards the two drivers.

“You’re coming with me this summer. It will not be up for debate and don’t worry about your… duties, I have it covered.”

Logan was quick to stop her explanations, “Wait—what—no! At least explain what the hell that phone call was about. You can’t just drop all that on us and expect us to be okay with it.

She rolls her eyes, “I’ll explain later, right now, you two have a job to do.” They didn’t object to that, the three of them walking out the pretty-hidden space the Giant had decided to corner them before.

Oscar stopped just outside, “I can take care of myself if anything else decide to come out and attack me, you should probably go with him. And uh, I actually need to talk to you,” he pointed at her, “—later. Not exactly letting you off the hook that easily.”

She didn’t complain.

The two walked in silence, every once in a while getting stopped for a picture and such, until Logan speaks up.

“Apollo.”

She turned to him, eyebrow raised.

“My dad.”

“Oh.” She paused then comments, “Fitting.”

He didn’t know what it was in her voice, it didn’t sound exactly like a compliment but he wasn’t sure if it was an insult.

Whatever, he shrugged it off.

After that, they both went into their own train of thoughts.

Without noticing, they both sucked in a breath in unison.

“I’m sorry for—”

“I think you should—”

The two quickly stepped back from whatever it was they were going to say, heat rushing up their necks. They kept walking on the awkward silence that fell upon them until Logan re-focused his attention and remembering what she had said—well, what she almost said earlier.

“Wait—‘sorry’? What were you apologizing for?” he turned to her who was now ducking away from his eyes, her own focus stayed on her fidgeting hands.

She made a noise before finally finding her words, “It’s just—this always happens, you know. I’m a forbidden kid, I attract the worst kind of trouble there is for half-bloods. And earlier; I had brought it to you and Oscar.” he was going to say something to ease her guilt but she beat him to it, “I’m just glad that monster didn’t hurt any of you.” She threw her hands in the air, “I mean, it’s qualifying day for Gods sake! —maybe I shouldn’t go to the race tomorrow.” She mumbled the last part to herself, though not quietly enough that the driver didn’t hear.

Logan was taken aback by her statement, giving him an opening on his almost-offer.

“What—no! Why not?” he asked.

“Look, it’s bad enough that there’s two demigods in one place; adding a forbidden kid in the mix won’t really make it any better. I still want everyone to have a safe race. Who knows what kind of other monsters I could attract.”

From every point of view Logan could gather, it was simply a fact that this girl knows about their world far more than he did, far more than Oscar did, so he couldn’t really be the voice of judgement in whatever she had to say. But… he wanted her to stay.

It calmed him down for some reason, knowing someone shares the same—if not, worse—fate as you.

So, he tried to find a reason, a good reason to make her stay. Of course, he wasn’t a pro at this half-blood thing so he offered something that he was familiar with. He gave her a more… human reason.

“I think you should stay.” He blurted.

“Logan—”

“Dude—is it alright if I called you that?”

“Uh, go nuts.”

“You deserve to have some fun, watch a race! I��ll even have you as an official Williams guest!”

She hummed with a smile creeping up.

“And if you’re worried about trouble, that’s fine. We can always handle trouble! We are all trouble-bound any way, better face them now than later! Plus, I think it’d be good if you could teach us the basics early.”

She felt the warmth spread through her chest. It’s been a while since she felt someone so welcoming that wasn’t anyone within Camp Half-blood. It was nice. He was nice. Almost made her forget that she was in the place she was meant to be in.

Her heart felt wholesome, but didn’t make it show, her mouth couldn’t stop the comment from escaping her mouth instead.

“You really want me to stay, huh?”

[chaosfairy18]

Spelling lessons

A short (2k) fic with the idea that I posted recently of Dutchy not being able to understand English spelling (and being annoyed about it) and then accepting some help from Specs

It has some Decs (DutchyxSpecs) at the end because it was too cute not to (Also Dutchy's name is Zacharias and Specs' Victor, there is only a small scene that is relevant, but it can't hurt to say)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

English spelling might be Dutchy‘s nemesis actually.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t write, he’d learned back in elementary school in the Netherlands, he knew the alphabet, thank you very much, and he also knew how to speak German – they lived close to the border – and even read most of it because it just looked similar, he could at least guess the meaning if he had to and since he knew how to speak it, it wasn’t too difficult to grasp reading or writing, all in all.

French was harder, but since there had been some people speaking French in his little town, he’d also learned speaking that.

He might have been an annoying kid, always hanging on their lips and asking for more words, more things to learn, but it was just too interesting to him.

Now he couldn’t really write much in French, he’d learnt a bit back then, but it wasn’t enough, not really.

Then he’d gone on that ship to America with his aunt and uncle. The time they had took to get to America was more than enough to grasp the basics of English, especially due to its similarities to French, Dutch and German. The men and women Dutchy had spent every day learning the language from mostly hadn’t been able to read though, and it wasn’t like he had to learn that. He knew how to read, it couldn’t be that hard.

After being basically ditched by his aunt and uncle he’d quickly found the lodging house – after all he had learnt the language and could ask around where a boy with some money could find work or a place to stay – and Kloppman hadn’t believed he was only there for less than a day, though he was even more impressed when he correctly guessed his accent and started talking in German which was still easier than English though it wouldn’t take long until he didn’t care what he spoke.

Now all that was well and good if it weren’t for the fact that he had to sell newspapers that had headlines. See, these newspapers were sometimes available in Dutch or German, but of course most were in English and for some reason the Americans or the Brits had decided to make their spelling the most confusing thing in existence. If he heard one of the other newsies say the headline, he knew exactly what it meant, but combining that with the letters he saw on the board? It felt impossible, even now.

Maybe it was his pride in knowing languages that kept him from asking anyone for help, maybe it was that he avoided the language classes in the lodge and instead took the ones on math, but at this point he was almost dead set to not comply with this idiotic spelling in newspapers.

That didn’t mean he could read the headline any better.

“What’s it say?”, he asked Skittery, pretending he was just cleaning his glasses and therefore couldn’t see it right now.

Skittery, who had been reading a novel of some kind as he was standing in line scoffed and snapped his book shut, obviously annoyed. “It says ‘learn to read, idiot’.”

Dutchy froze as he was just about to put on his glasses again. What had he just called him? He could read, in two (and a half) languages even, he could even write and speak more languages than Skittery could probably name, and he dared call him an idiot-

“Says the guy that fell into the river last week.”, interrupted Specs, subtly pushing Dutchy away from Skittery before he really could let the situation escalate and call Skittery names in 4 different languages and whatever else he had picked up over the years.

“That don’t make me an idiot, clumsy maybe. And I got shoved.”

The tall boy quickly got engrossed in his novel again, only looking up if Tumbler was running around him, otherwise ignoring them.

“You aren’t an idiot.”, was the first thing Specs said to him, all quiet as if it was a secret.

“I know. It’s not my fault English is so-“

“You can’t keep not learnin’ because you don’t want to, Dutch.” Specs pushed his hands in his pant pockets. “I could help you, if you want.”

Dutchy’s first instinct was to bite back that he didn’t need help, but maybe he did. And Specs was his closest friend, it wasn’t like he was making fun of him. “If you’re offerin’.”

“You could read books if you learnt. Spoil the ends for Skitts.”

He snorted, hitting Specs with his elbow. “You’ve seen me read books.”

“Not in English.”

“Fine. I’ll let you help.”

They got their papes from Wiesel – every day Dutchy had to bite back a comment on it was actually Weasel because he knew how to read that word – and split up to sell, Specs saying he’d come by later to start their ‘lessons’.

Of course, Specs had to keep his word, one unsold pape and a book in hand, bowler hat and vest already discarded somewhere in the bunk room. He wouldn’t get out of it then.

Shame.

Dutchy let himself be dragged to the roof, the evening sun making the temperatures comfortably warm rather than sweltering. Specs dragged some crates to the middle of the roof, and they sat down around them, the newspaper and book placed on them.

“So, you can read the alphabet fine, right? That’s the same.”

“Again: You’ve seen me read a book and write my name.”

Specs rolled his eyes. “Yes, just wanted to make sure.” He opened up the first article of the World. “Maybe it’ll help if I read it to you. You know the words, then you’ll see the spelling as I say it.”

Shrugging, he moved a bit closer to Specs so he could properly see the line he had his finger under to indicate what he was reading. He didn’t want help like this, but since at a first glance he could only read the shorter words in the article he probably did need it.

Sadly.

“Man with parachute leaps from Brooklyn Bridge-“

“Wait that’s how you spell bridge? Where is the e coming from?” He could live with silent letters, at least if there was an explanation for them.

Specs pinched the bridge of his nose. “I dunno the rules, Zach. Just- read with me, okay?”

The rest of the article was interesting enough – the man had used a modified umbrella to jump of the bridge and had only barely survived – but Dutchy wasn’t sure how much he was learning yet. Some words he knew and recognized, others he was completely stunned as to where that spelling could come from and if he could remember them.

“I don’t think it’s working.”, he sighed after the third article.

“We just started today. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all’at.”

Dutchy bit back his retort and just kept listening to Specs read, trying to recognize words he’d heard today before.

Of course, the lessons didn’t stop after a day. Contrary to what Dutchy had hoped for, Specs was very good at remembering it every evening and dragging him to the rooftop, going through more articles or through a chapter of a book.

And even worse: He had to admit it was working.

Especially in papes there were headlines that came again and again, so he recognized almost everything on the chalkboard every morning now, there were just a few words that he had to quietly ask Specs about.

That also meant that he began to slack a bit in their lessons. It was working, but he didn’t like admitting to being wrong, so he still sat there – he was Specs’ friend after all and he was going through a lot of trouble to teach him – but he wasn’t listening to his every word anymore, instead looking up to see his dark eyes trace the words and his mouth open again and again.

At first it wasn’t that intense, just looking at his friend a bit before going back to the tiny black words, but the more he looked at him, the more he had to admit that he was fascinating to watch. His eyes were dark, even in the light, pupil and iris not much different in colour, almost as dark as the coffee they got from the nuns in the morning when they were lucky.

Specs didn’t seem to notice whenever he wasn’t paying attention, so it happened more and more over the days.

And not just in their lessons either. Dutchy’s gaze was drifting to Specs more and more frequently while selling, eating in the lodge, standing in line at the distribution centre and when they got ready for the day in the morning.

As already stated, Dutchy wasn’t an idiot, there weren’t a lot of reasons why he would be drawn to his friend so much. It was obvious, really, and the last few lessons he had spent his time half listening to Specs – he always looked so sad if Dutchy didn’t get any of the words they already went over – and half planning to show his affections to him.

Reading out loud a chapter of one of the few romance books they had down in the lodge didn’t work – Specs was only happy that he had gotten through it with almost no stumbling over words – and the extra touches while selling together didn’t seem to work either.

Maybe he’d just have to be direct about it.

The next evening they sat on the rooftop of the lodge again and Dutchy let Specs talk a bit, attempting to explain why a specific word was spelt how it was – because of course after Dutchy complained that he didn’t get the rules he had looked them up and asked Kloppman because he was invested into helping his friends like that – and only getting distracted by the way his lips moved and his eyes shone just a bit brighter than usual.

It seemed as good a time as any.

Dutchy made Specs trail off by tilting his friend’s chin up with his finger and leaning in close. “Maybe for today I can teach you something, Victor.”

The other’s eyes grew wide and taking his quickly reddening face as confirmation Dutchy kissed him for a short moment, smiling as Specs chased after his lips just a bit when he leaned back.

“So you’re okay with that?”

“Very.”, croaked out Specs, still not completely convinced this was actually happening.

Smiling wider, Dutchy pulled his glasses off – he’d felt them press into each other uncomfortably in the first brief kiss – and leaned in again, just trying out how Specs’ lips felt against his, how it felt like to hold his jaw as he did so, how he reacted when he moved his hair out of his face.

Everything was as good as he’d thought, Specs also getting more comfortable throughout the minutes, he almost wasn’t burning red anymore when they separated again, Dutchy leaning his forehead against Specs’.

“Hope you liked the lesson.”, he whispered, glad he’d begrudgingly accepted the offer for spelling lessons weeks ago.

Specs looked at him like he’d just taught him all the secrets of the universe. “Yeah. I’d love more. Only if you-“

He gave him a peck on the cheek. “Of course, darling.”

That made Specs burn up again, putting his head in his hands and groaning. “You can’t just say that!”

“I can call you whatever I want, darling.”

Specs curled even more in on himself, ears completely red. “Stooop.”

Laughing more about his friend’s state, Dutchy leaned in closer and put an arm around his waist, closing his eyes and enjoying the heat of the evening sun and his new partner next to him.

[skitskatdacat63]

Tysm for the tags @fernando-jpg and @rubywritten !!!!

F1 Asks:

Who is your favorite driver?

Fernando and Seb! They come as a pair. Do not seperate :)

Do you have any other favorite drivers?

Yep! But mostly retired drivers </3 I love Mark and Jense! And then for current drivers, I like Oscar, and Max a bit as well(I can't help but feel loyal to him bcs he was my first fav)

Who is your least favorite driver?

I dislike being a hater on main but....#3 and #4. Also tbh I feel neutral to dislike about most current drivers, other than my 3 guys, so!

Do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?

I'm mostly driver motivated, I think I'd follow Fernando anywhere, and probably Oscar too. I like and support teams as well but mostly just because my guy is there! It's like, I love Aston, right? They support Fernando, they're willing to do so much for him, they love him, the vibe is really good. But if he decided to blow up Aston tomorrow, I'd be like "I'm right there with you!!"

If you like teams, what team do you pull for?

+ HOWEVER! I am an RBR devotee. Like it's not even that much about the drivers, I like Max a lot, but I think I'll always keep my eye on RBR as long as I'm into F1. I just love the history of the team and their vibe. My fav team of all time will always be RBR 2009-2013, just so special to me 🥹 Not that I was actually around for it but, the way they evolved from a team that was mostly there to bring fun to the paddock to one of the most successful teams of all time, as well as being a fucking energy drink company in a sport full of car companies, is just so cool and inspiring to me. And I love the red bull golden boys so much(Seb and Max beloveds!!!) And I also have an addiction to red bull....But I got into them first so I have a special connection, even if I don't root for them all the time. Them and their aesthetic makes me happy :) they are F1 to me :)

How long have you been into F1

Probably over a year and half by now? I wish I could say I've been into it longer but unfortunately I am an American shjfkgkg

What got you into F1?

I've mentioned this several times before but. I read some oneshot in my prev fandom that was an F1 AU. And I was just like, enthralled. The first time I read it, I had to keep looking up stuff, and I kept going back to it. And then I went on the author's blog, and saw they talked about DTS and how to get into F1. So I tried watching DTS and it was alright I guess. But there happened to be an actual race that same weekend, so I tuned in, and was so into it!! Ah man there's nothing like that first race tbh. I knew only one driver, Max, and I rooted so hard for him and he won 🥹 it was just fun back then not knowing enough to be stressed and having pure focus on one guy. I'm happy where I'm at now, but that first race was cool :,)

Do you enjoy fanfic/rpf?

Yes of course >:) I think I probably looked at the ao3 page for F1 before even watching my first race actually, it's very habitual for me when joining a fandom. I draw rpf and write my own AU lore stuff, and meta and all that. And I think I check the ao3 page at least once a day 😭 its an essential part of my fandom experience

How do you view new fans?

Hmmmm sometimes I feel like an old person, even though I haven't even been here that long. I think F1 has such a learning curve and barrier to entry compared to most fandoms. Like you have to learn so much about racing and the drivers as well until you feel like you actually have a good grasp imo. So I guess it's weird for me to see new fans bcs im like, oh god was I like that back then 😭 I'm happy to see new fans ofc!! But it's also like, good luck on your learning journey 🫡

If you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?

I am not a good leader, I think we'd crash and burn if I took over a team 😭 they'd be like "Catie! What should we do???" and I'd have a nervous breakdown. Go back in time to be TP for McLaren and be like, be careful who you invite to your garage at the Miami gp LMFAO

Are your friends and family into F1 as well?

Yes! My brother was into F1 before me(what a bastard for not getting me into it earlier.) Which is hilarious though because I pay for the F1TV account that he leeches off of. Like, damn who's the real F1 fan 🥱 I got my dad into it last season, and it was a very gradual process. He's a huge Fernando fan though, which is really fun, and sometimes he's much more positive abt the sport than me hahaha. He likes Fernando bcs they're both old men, and getting to see Fernando succeed last year is what pulled him into the sport. Some of my irl friends know of F1 but I don't think they watch all the races.

Are you open to talking to other fans/friends?

Of course!!!!! I am always desperate to talk to new people, feel free to hit me up always :D I will talk about anything F1, Fernando, Seb, Vettonso, etc related whenever :) I remember I got an ask a while ago last yr that's like "are you open to being friends/mutuals w strangers." It's like, um, yeah??? Its a lot of fun to be on here, I love making connections

Hmmmm ive seen a lot of people do this already so don't mind if I tag you and you've done it already aahh. But I will tag @suzuki-ecstar @sansebastinae @boisinnot @astronomical-light @thatdemonbish

[retrieve-the-kraken]

Young Royals Season 2 play-by-play analysis

Alright, moving on to episode 2. I realize that a lot of what I did as I wrote my thoughts down was copy down a lot of the quotes, for future reference (both for analysis and for fic-writing), but I’ve deleted all of the standalone quotes, for space. I also hope that, by the end of the year, I will have a more advanced grasp of Swedish and be able to compare the script in Swedish and the dubbing/subtitles and get a better understanding of cultural context (in the meantime, I’m thankful for Swedish-speaking or Swedish-adjacent users who share their wisdom and knowledge with the rest of us).

EPISODE 2

Wille standing at the doorway, listening to Simon play the Hillerska melody on piano… the melody that he taught him how to play in that very same room… and feeling so distant… He’s not allowed to come near, he should give him space… Simon was on a date last night with someone else… he looked happy…

”If I wasn’t an adult I wouldn’t have been allowed to move here, my mum wanted me and Simon to drop out after his… s-sex video…” Awkward silence. The video is never going away. Everyone knows the truth. (It’s traumatizing still that everyone refers to it as a sex video, as if it were his fault, his and Wille’s for getting filmed, like they should have known that they could get caught, like it wasn’t a massive breach of privacy and also child pornography, like it wasn’t two kids involved, it’s victim-blaming).

Simon singing Feliz Cumpleaños to Sara and then talking about pabellón… makes me wonder why we never hear Sara speak Spanish, not even a word, while Simon speaks fluent Spanish, switching between both languages without problem. Meanwhile Sara understands it because both Simon and Linda say things and she responds, but in two seasons she hasn’t said a word in Spanish. Frida Argento, who plays Sara, probably speaks at least some Spanish, since she had been living and working in Barcelona, Spain, before working on the show. But maybe her accent is too strong…? (I doubt it; even hearing Edvin speak Spanish, I noticed that his accent is not as heavy as, for example, Americans speaking Spanish. In fact, Edvin pretty much nails the Venezuelan accent.) Or maybe it’s because Frida would have a Spanish accent instead of a Venezuelan one…? Or maybe (and this is, in my opinion, the most likely hypothesis) Sara, despite understanding and speaking Spanish as fluently as her brother, doesn’t like to speak it because it’s like showing that she’s an outsider, that she’s a second generation immigrant. She might not be proud of her heritage because she wants more than anything to fit in. (It would make sense, I’ve known quite a few people like that, who grew up in a foreign country and didn’t want to speak their native language because they didn’t want to feel like outsiders, and it’s particularly common amongst young Latin Americans; even Omar Rudberg himself talked about that in that show Taste Buds when he and Edvin Ryding eat Venezuelan food, that if his mother hadn’t forced him to speak Spanish, he would have only spoken Swedish, because he wanted to fit in, he decided that Swedish was cool and Spanish wasn’t, and now he’s glad that his mother forced him, and he’s so proud of it, and now he’s trilingual, but not all Latin American immigrants are so lucky). So maybe Sara could very well speak Spanish but it’s a conscious choice that she doesn’t.

“At least he doesn’t need to be rescued all the time.” Sara holds on to the concept that Wille is this disaster person (which he kind of is) and that Simon is constantly the knight in shining armor, sacrificing himself to protect/save him. That happened one time, Sara!

Did Henry just hug Simon during the game? More Henry/Simon bonding, please.

Wille not knowing how to handle his frustration over Simon “moving on”. Poor baby. First breakups are hard.

“I’m just trying to be honest about my feelings. Maybe you should try it sometime.” Ooooh ho ho Simon, you asked for it, and Wille delivers.

That whole silent exchange between Simon and Felice… I need them to be friends soon. I need Simon to put behind past grievances (the way Felice treated Sara at first, his jealousy over her and Wille kissing, etc), and realize they could be besties. (At least we get a little supportive interaction on ep 5 and 6).

How fast did the information that Wille is being forced out of Hillerska spread??? Fucking August being all “He hasn’t been well.” Fuck you, asshole. Fuck you and your satisfied grin that you’re “trying” to hide.

The snow globe breaking will never not hurt my little heart… and Wille’s face, and his trembling fingers trying to put it back together…

“At least you don’t have to be the Crown Prince.” Need more flashbacks to Wille and Erik, please. Is Wille wearing the same orange sweater that he wears on his first day at Hillerska? That he was wearing earlier in that scene and took off (conveniently leaving it behind for Simon?) If it is, then Wille wears that sweater more often than we expected, so it’s kind of strange that by the end of the season he hasn’t noticed that he’s missing it (but it’s okay, he had other things in his mind).

Kristina being so manipulative. “Your father and I love you just the way you are”, how sweet, “but if you are the first one in our family to choose to live in an unconventional relationship…” Oh well so much for that… the way she says “choose” and “unconventional”… “You should be able to choose when to come out… BUT not yet.” She’s holding on to the hope that he will get over this, she still thinks that this is just a phase, just an unfortunate romance.

And then she just says “okay” and hangs up on him. She’s so frustrated with him. But she doesn’t even try to be his mother for one second. She doesn’t even say goodbye. You’re supposed to be the fucking adult here, Krissy. You’re the fucking queen, and your teenaged son is going through a lot of shit because of you, so be a fucking adult.

Wille is so shocked to see a crowd gathered. The embarrassment continues. Poor baby. It’s like he’s everyone’s favorite drama, but it’s his fucking life. It’s so unfair.

“I talked to my mum and told her that I can’t be king or prince if I can’t be allowed to be who I am.” I don’t think Wille even cares what that means. I mean, he doesn’t care about labelling himself at all, it’s just a matter-of-fact to him, ‘whatever I am doesn’t matter, the point is I’m in love with this boy, I should be allowed.’

“They support me,” yeah right. “We will discuss things when I turn 18, what I want.” Sure thing, baby. Your mum just wants to postpone the discussion until your will has weakened. A discussion doesn’t mean they will agree with you at all. It’s so sad to me that he doesn’t know it, that he still trusts her a bit. He’s willing to do anything to get Simon back, even agree to such bullshit conditions.

“I think it’s really great that you feel like they’re supportive and stuff but…” Yeah, Simon doesn’t buy it either. Your mum doesn’t want you two to be together, those are empty words.

“I can’t be your secret again.” Here it is. He uses the word ‘secret’ again to refer to what they used to have, before the video, before everything. But it wasn’t a secret, really, it was private. But when everything blew up, and Wille denied being in the video, that’s when their relationship became like a dirty little secret. That’s why Simon says that he doesn’t want to be someone’s secret, when Wille comes back from the interview and apologizes but says that nothing has to change. But that wasn’t really Wille doing that, that was his mother who convinced him, that was her manipulation. But Simon still doesn’t understand that, he doesn’t understand that Wille truly was given no choice, he was scared into doing it. And Wille doesn’t understand where Simon is coming from, because he so desperately just wants to be with him, he just wishes Simon would agree and be with him on his terms and that’s it. At this point Wille has not reflected at all on what Simon asked him before the break. He hasn’t put Simon’s needs ahead of his own yet. He hasn’t accepted the part he has played in their relationship breaking down.

Stella is so frustrated with the heteronormativity of the game… “What if it’s not a guy?” And Fredrika, without even having to think about it, says “it’s a game for girls!”, implying, ‘Of course it’s about guys, why would it not? We’re all heterosexual women here.’ Nooooo, Fredrika…

“It depends on how you count”. Well at least she has a slightly more open view on what constitutes sex.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna… no way. Yeah… no…”. Maddie, queen of privacy. I love you. She doesn’t want the girls gossiping about Wille and Simon, and she’s definitely not going to start gossip about herself. In this house we stan Madison McCoy too.

That whole conversation, about sex vs penetrative sex, masturbation…

Sara’s invasion of Felice’s privacy, how the heck did she get into Felice’s phone, and her checking out the entire conversation between Felice and Wille… why Sara, why… I can understand some of the other terrible decisions that she makes during this show, which often relates to her being neurodivergent, but there is absolutely no excuse for going through someone else’s phone. That is pure sneakiness.

Simon smelling the sweater, then looking at the fish tank as he does, allowing all the memories flood him, getting inspired to write about it, letting it wash all over him… then seeing himself in the mirror and becoming angry at himself. He’s so frustrated at himself for holding on to these feelings, for not being able to get over Wille…

And every time that happens he just goes for the easy option, which is try to move on with Marcus… try to drown out the thoughts, the feelings with noise (Marcus). He wants to distract himself. But that’s all it is, a distraction. It doesn’t work like that, baby.

He’s psyching himself to try to replace everything with Marcus, everything he’s ever felt for Wille. The memory of holding pinkies during the horror movie? Let’s set up a horror movie and see what happens. But he’s so desperate he can’t even wait, so he kisses Marcus, just goes for it, just do it, hopefully it will be so good that Wille who? And it’s like… zero chemistry… Simon just keeps pushing, hoping that it will suddenly be there, just zap! But no, baby, that’s not how it works… And he knows this, by the way he looks sort of guilty and ashamed when Marcus stops him. That’s not you, Simon, that’s just your desperation talking. And as much as I detest Marcus, I do appreciate that he at least didn’t follow Simon’s lead, he stopped him. And I do feel a bit bad that Simon tried to use him like that (not because it’s Marcus, I would feel bad for any guy in this situation, as perfect as he could be). That little peck and then Simon following with his lips, then Marcus putting his arm around him and Simon just looking so tense… yep, he definitely feels absolutely no chemistry, but he’s just going with it, like really hoping it will come… fake it till you make it…

Sara wearing so much purple this season… the color of royalty… like it’s wishful thinking.

August being confused about Sara kissing him at first, then giving in, then his little smile and laugh when she leaves… August has self-esteem problems, and this girl has paid attention to him, not once, not twice, but three times. She’s helping him, and she seems to want him, physically at least. He’s catching feelings. At this moment he doesn’t really care that she’s lower class, that’s just a thing he has been conditioned to care about, that he’s allowed to be a big part of who he is and how he conducts himself. She sees him, and for someone who has a very low opinion of himself, due to how he perceives himself physically, due to the fact that he’s broke but he can’t talk about it, due to his need to be outstanding and the addiction that he has as a consequence, due to what he did to his own cousin and the precarious position that he’s in because of that, that’s just what he needed. Plus he’s living in fear of the social and legal consequences of what he did.

We get to see more about how Wille’s anxiety manifests itself. Picking and fidgeting are so common unconscious tics.

“My brother… he, um… I, I became Crown Prince…” there’s a heartbreaking post about how Wille deals with his grief, and another even more heartbreaking one about how the only time that he actually said the words “my brother is dead” was to August, he was sincere, expressing his feelings, and then August betrayed him, and he hasn’t been able to say it again since.

I love Boris. He’s so patient and good at his job.

I really relate to the way that Wille knows that he has severe anxiety, and wants to be able to fix that, but is embarrassed or apprehensive to talk about it. We see him pick up the brochure and browse through it, then pretends to put it back but actually takes it, hoping no one saw. I relate to that because for the longest time I thought I should be able to fix the problem on my own, and because it was difficult for me to seek help without feeling judged. The pressure that Wille feels due to his position, due to what has been embedded in him by his mother, doesn’t allow him to be open about these things yet, but he knows there is a problem and he needs to fix it. It’s just so hard to see that often, when it comes to mental health, the most effective way to “solve” it is to seek outside help. You seek medical attention for any other health problem, why wouldn’t you seek it for a mental health problem too?

The secret coup. Yikes.

“I mean, if he’s moved on so quick, what did I mean to him?” Boy is so emo. He’s not the jealous type, he’s the moping type. He cannot for the life of him be rude or mean to the guy who just went on a date with his ex, he’s just awkward and in pain…

Felice’s commentary is so bestie commentary. “You’re better looking than him.” “You need to spend more time with Simon, show him that he can trust you.” I’m not saying that she’s wrong (about the first comment, at least), but it’s so funny to me how this shows how much she’s into her bestie role. She’s doing the exact same thing that Rosh and Ayub are doing for Simon, and that is… giving bad relationship advice: whilst Rosh and Ayub are pushing Simon to get a rebound (not seeing that Simon is not the rebound kind of guy), Felice tells Wille to get closer to Simon (not realizing that the best advice, the thing that worked out in the end, was for Wille to give Simon space, let him go). At least things turned out well despite all the bad advice…

Felice is also doing much better now that they’re friends, now that there’s not that awkwardness from when she was trying to attract his attention (more on that later, of course, because of that scene). It’s like they were always meant to be friends like this, if Felice hadn’t been brainwashed by her mother to do everything in her power to get with the prince.

This friendship feels a bit one-sided at the moment. Felice is doing everything to be supportive to Wille in his circumstances, but hopefully if Felice needs his support in season 3 he will be there for her too.

“We deserve the privileges that traditions gives us…” uuugh, such entitlement… that whole sentence sounds so oxymoronic. Nobody really deserves privilege, it’s only given to them (privilege, in this context, is being handed things because of status and money and whiteness and maleness, etc, not because they were earned by hard work, dedication, good values and qualities, etc…)

“And who should I congratulate on that thankless, shit assignment?” It’s funny that August points out how “awful” it is to be prefect, yet he wants it with his whole being. Just like he wants to be a royal so badly, despite everything that it entails. But he doesn’t really truly think of how bad it is, even though it might be. Because being in a position of power to him means holding power, it’s just as simple as that. Being on top, being in control, being the authority. He doesn’t really think about the sacrifices because he’s not willing to sacrifice anything.

“Fucking Brutus, man.” Really, August? You’re calling someone else Brutus? (And then Wille appears on cue, like on a Shakespeare play. Fantastic).

“Congrats, he’ll be a thousand times shittier than I’ve ever been.” I mean, he’s not wrong, but it’s funny to me that he doesn’t say “shittier than you think I’ve been”, so he admits that he’s been shitty as a prefect. (Unless that’s not what he said in Swedish, but I’m guessing it’s not far off.)

The whole hair pulled back thing, I don’t remember them doing that during the first time that Sara slept over in Manor House (unless that was a special occasion, but doubtful). Maybe it’s different when it’s lunch and when it’s dinner?

“Some kind of socialist nonsense.” Jesus Christ, Vincent. He IS much worse. At least more outspoken.

I think it’s cute how Simon could have arrived and stood at either end of the group, but he went for the center, right next to Wille. He either did that automatically or on purpose, because it feels to me that it would have made more sense to stand at either end, to go under the radar since he was late.

“Why do you care?” Duh, Simon. Why would he not care???? That’s like asking why is water wet… Just because things happened the way they did, doesn’t mean that Wille is not still crazy about you… But Wille can’t be honest about it without shoving his lingering feelings for Simon onto him, so he has to make up an excuse.

“So you mean like cheating?” A recurring theme in the series has been Simon cheating to get ahead, and then it not paying off at all. He cheated when he made a deal with August to get the alcohol for the initiation party in season one, getting involved with his dad, and then August didn’t pay him back. He cheated when he tried to get private tutoring and then he didn’t have the money to pay for it. He cheated when he stole his father’s meds to give to August to sell, and now it’s a massive thing hanging over him, threatening him. And Wille cheated for him by throwing Alexander under the bus to protect Simon, which brought a whole bunch of other problems. Simon cheats to try to get ahead, because he’s always at a disadvantage, but the privileged kids will always still be ahead of him.

Wille knowing that Simon is not telling the whole story about how he knows Marcus. But don’t worry, Wille, you don’t know the whole motivation behind that.

Nils realizing that Vincent is a despot… Should have campaigned for himself.

Wille smiling all hopeful, thinking that surely he is in Simon’s good graces for helping him get a spot on the team… then going and sneaking a glance at Simon’s phone. Bad Wille, bad! First Sara and now you??? (At least he didn’t get into Simon’s phone, which again, how did Sara manage to get into Felice’s…?)

August feeling his blood freeze at Jan-Olof’s message. Karma, bitch? If only…

(Resisting the urge to rewatch the show from season 1 again…)

(Hmm, I haven’t actually done a play-by-play rewatch of season 1… maybe i should…)

(No! You’re supposed to be writing! Stop procrastinating!)

(Okay…)

[cottoncandy-cult]

Seeking Comfort

Trigger Warnings: Not sure if this is necessary as Say isn't really crying or breaking down. just woke up that morning feeling kinda blegh and she tries to go about normally cause she can't figure out what could be wrong. This one will only have the brothers as Emma would usually be the one, she went to with this kinda stuff cause she felt like she was overreacting, but sometimes Emma isn't around or is busy. Those few times she goes to her brother's.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mikey

It had been a regular morning when Sayuri woke up, it was quite early and usually only her grandpa or Emma would be up. But Emma was away with her friends on some kind of birthday vacation, and grandpa went with Shinichiro to the dojo. She could tell when her eyes opened that it was going to be one of those days, she had a suffocating numbness in her chest that made her want to cry. Yet she physically couldn't, she pouted as she stared at the ceiling, trying to will away the feelings that were so intensely there yet absent. After a solid half hour, she slipped out of bed, her footsteps were almost silent as she walked to the door that connected her room to Mikey's. She knew he was still asleep, but she also knew he wouldn't mind if she came to join him. So quietly she made her way to his bed, in her arms she clutched onto a little dragon plushy Shinichiro had won for her at a fair. She approached his bed side, standing there for a moment and watching the male drool on his pillow. "Mikey~... Please wake up for a minute." She spoke softly, trying to gently rouse him from his sleep. When it did nothing, she reached out to the hand that wasn't tucked under the cover, lightly tugging on his finger.

"What's'it Say?..." He slurred sleepily; one onyx eye peeking open. Though his nose crinkled when he saw the odd expression on her face. She was distressed, even if she didn't seem to be panicking. "I don't feel right Mikey..." She pouted at her brother, watching him slowly move into a sitting position. "What do you mean? Do you feel sick?" He swayed a little in his sleepy state, reaching out to check her forehead. "I just feel bad... I feel like my lungs are being squeezed and I wanna cry but at the same time I can't cry... I don't feel ok, and I don't know why." Her voice cracked here and there, he could see how she was borderline crying, yet the tears just wouldn't escape. Mikey understood, he struggled with his own emotions for some time and still does on occasion. The blonde scooted back on the bed, petting the warm spot he had previously been laying. Sayuri was quick to crawl into bed, still cuddling her dragon as Mikey lies back down and tucks them both in. Mikey tugged her close and tucked her against his chest, one of her little hands reaching out to grasp his white shirt. He rested his head against the top of hers as he sighed quietly. "It's ok, not everyone feels ok and happy all the time. These emotions are completely natural, if you feel like this then come to us. Sometimes people just feel down and need comfort and that's ok." He repeated the words his grandpa spoke to him long ago, rubbing her back gently. "Let's take a nap, when we get up, I'll take you out to try some American food." The little girl gave a slow nod, thanking him quietly and quickly finding it hard to stay awake. She fell asleep in the comfort of her big brother's presence.

Shinichiro ft. Takeomi and Shion

Sayuri came down the steps after pulling herself from bed, it was kind of quiet and she wasn't sure where everyone was. But then she slowly tuned into the dull droning's of the t.v. from the living room, looking past the banister she saw Shinichiro watching a show with Wakasa and 2 of his other friend's. She took in the sight of the new two and began to weigh her options, one looked older than her brother with black and blonde hair smoking a cigarette. The other seemed around the same age as Shin from what she could tell, but to her surprise had hair similar in color and style to hers. She tilted her head, curiosity cutting through the dull ache that was still softly thumping in her chest. She didn't get to watch for long though before Shinichiro spotted her, he gave her a smile and extended his hand out to her. "Hey there, Say, I haven't seen you all day." She approached her brother who sat on the couch against the left wall and faced the window that showed the front yard, the other two males looking at her over the back of the couch with wide eyes as she walked over to her brother. Taking his hand, she let him lead her to the space between him and Wakasa, the lazy male giving her a lazier smile. "You seem tired kid, thought you were just waking up for the day." Wakasa tossed out the passive comment, he like some of the others had been to the house enough to figure out how the little girl usually behaves. "I'm not tired... just..." She pouted; she still wasn't sure what words to use to explain. She wasn't tired in the sleepy sense of the word, but she wasn't sure what other word to use. "Is everything alright Say?" The two males watched quietly from across the room as Shinichiro sat up a bit straighter, rubbing her back as he watched her features. "Just woke up feeling weird again... Can I stay with you all for a bit?" She looked up at her brother with big minty blue eyes, making the male smile and nod.

"Sure, you guys don't mind, do you? Afterall now you can officially meet her before Mikey brings her to the base." The dark-haired boy looked to the two that quietly watched across from them, both men glancing at each other before shrugging wearing their own lazy grins. They had seen enough pictures of her and heard enough stories floating about the base that they had been kind of curious about all of the fuss, Mikey had a habit of spamming the group chat with updates almost daily. Meanwhile Shinichiro and Izana usually only posted candid pictures they thought their little sister looked especially cute in, like when they took her to the petting zoo for the first time and she got so distracted feeding a baby goat she hadn't even realized how awe struck she was. Sayuri turned to face them, looking at both men raising one of her small hands up in a slight wave. "It's nice to meet you, you can call me Say." The men smiled towards her, the one with striped hair leaning forward some so his elbows rested on his knees. "Nice to finally meet you in person kid, I'm Takeomi. The guy stealin your style is Shion." This made the bottle blonde roll his eyes, elbowing his friend in the side. "Hey now, I think it's better to say great minds think alike." This led to the two throwing joking insults at each other, this made the little girl feel a bit better than she had when she first came down. Once they all started to watch the movie the little girl started getting drowsy again, the atmosphere was pretty comfy, and she felt her head bobbing as she tried to stay awake. Though before she knew it her brother was laying her down, so her head rested on his lap, with a soft yawn and a rather adorable 'big stretch' she began to doze off with her legs across Wakasa's lap. The older male didn't care, simply patting her shin without looking away from the movie. No one noticing how Takeomi or Shion smirked to each other, they could see how and why she managed to hook those she had met around her little finger. If what they had heard or seen was an indicator for things to come, she'd be having guys from the base tripping over each other to get her snacks soon enough.

Izana ft. Rin & Ran Haitani

Izana had been in the backyard with the haitani twins, the two having come over to discuss some sort of bonfire with the white-haired male that would happening on the edge of town later that week. During a lull in conversation Izana had noticed Sayuri coming into the kitchen, her head wasn't held quite as high as usual, and her hair was a little messy. Tiny bare feet drug across the floor as she went to get a juice box from the fridge, the twins noticed Izana's concerned stare and followed it to the little girl. "Is everything okay Izana?" Rindou tilted his head, the girl looked fine to him if not just a little tired, but he also didn't know her the way her brother did. Though that doesn't mean Ran didn't notice, being a big brother himself he knew how to read a younger sibling's movements and posture and he could tell the girl wasn't feeling it today. "Yeah, one sec. You guys haven't met Say yet I don't think." He didn't wait for a response and entered the house via the sliding glass door, seafoam eyes looking up at the tall male as he approached her with a soft smile. "Hey there Say, everything alright?" He kneeled down, running his fingers through her hair to brush it out a little. His smile fell when she simply shrugged, looking away as she held her juice box with both hands Infront of her. "Just another weird day..." This had been what the siblings started calling her off days, it was the best way for her to communicate that she just wasn't feeling herself.

Izana nodded, continuing to pet her head. "I see, you want to come outside with me and my friends? You aint got to talk but the fresh air might help you feel better." The little girl shifted her eyes to her brother, then leaning slightly she peered past him to the two males at the outdoor table. The one with long twin braids gave her a wave, chuckling a little at her head tilt before she returned to her normal posture and gave her brother a nod. "Alright, the wind does feel nice when it comes through the window." This made Izana chuckle as he nodded, lifting her up with ease. He knew they'd have to stop carrying her around eventually, but he figured he'd wait til she was too big for it, he was kind of hoping she wouldn't, but he knew even if she didn't outgrow it physically, she probably would mentally. But for now, the little girl was content in her brother's grasp, letting him carry her into the comfortable spring day outside as he sat at the table with her on his lap. "Hey there princess, it's nice to meet ya." This had been Ran, extending his large hand to her and chuckling at her much smaller one gently took his in a polite gesture. "At this point your brother's may as well bring you by the hang-out so you can meet the rest of us." Rindou grinned at how that seemed to perk her up, she had been super excited about getting to go with Mikey to his friend's hangout spot. She knew it was technically a gang base, but she felt there was no reason to clarify with her siblings, finding it funny how hard they try to censor and explain some hard things. "Mikey is thinking about bringing her soon on one of his days since Shinichiro has to go out of town for a martial arts convention and I have some work I need to get done." Sayuri smiled some as she sipped her juice box, the topic had helped to boost her mood. "It'll be fun to hang out with everyone at once, usually I just get to see Draken, Kaku, Hina or Waka." These had been the 4 that had hung out the most around the house, she didn't always hang out with them but if they ever went and got or ordered food, they'd get some for her or would even invite them to come with them to certain events and places. The little girl relaxed against her brother and the trio spoke about what it was like at the "hangout", learning that another of her brother's friends was pretty rich and had bought a large multistory building for everyone to hang out and work from. She also got to learn some of the wild or more embarrassing stories about her brother's and their friends, the group never failed to make her feel better.

[burningvelvet]

still continuing my shakespeare journey - got halfway thru love's labour's lost 1975 but have sadly comprehended none of it so may have to restart it in another format/version.

the thing with shakespeare is that its so much better to be able to see/listen to his works since they were meant to be performed, but if you come across a lesser performance then it can really negatively tinge a piece you would have otherwise liked. conversely a superb performance can really put you on to a play you otherwise would have been lukewarm about.

and for these reasons, along with my gen z attention span, genetic adhd, & struggling sometimes with older british dialects & EME (even though i've taken classes on historical english linguistics, shakespearean studies, and renaissance literature, & have immersed myself in classic anglo lit for years, & am a native english speaker albeit an american, etc.) — my shakespeare journey has been more bumpy than expected.

but i hope it will be worth it in the end, and that by studying his work i'll improve my overall writing/reading abilities, particularly when it comes to poetry & scriptwriting, but also storytelling in general. and this, not by mere passive absorption (which i have to combat the urge toward), but by active studying, & seeking to discover what it is that has given his works their legacies in the canon, for whatever it be worth. i think tradition has its place. i believe in learning from the greats, and i agree with that quote about how one must know the rules before they can successfully break them - & would add that too many attempt to break without knowing.

i've been casually watching the famous "working shakespeare" acting workshop series wherein they assess the language. there are exercises dor actors re: script analysis, understanding the diction, etc - & i've been practicing some of that to build my grasp on language in general. some actors like samuel l jackson, toby stephens, robert sean leonard, victor garber, claire danes, blyth danner, etc. are in it - its on youtube. i'm also going to look into playing shakespeare, acting shakespeare), shakespeare in italy, and looking for richard. these are all famous films/documentaries about understanding shakespeare & his works.

it can be so overhwelming to dive into shakespeare, as i previously mentioned - but the relieving part is the wealth of information which exists to aid in the experience. i knew an actress (we did a play partly about shakespeare, lol) who had said that she found a copy of shakespeare for dummies to be really helpful, undignified title aside lmao. there are so many databases & websites & books & all freely accessible online. the sad thing is that some of the live performances are really hard to find, but that's an issue with theatre overall.

but my university's digital library (even though i graduated, i still have access) has a lot of databases including some shakespearen-centric, national theatre, & royal shakespeare theatre stuff. so if any of you are uni students or alumni i recommend you to use your lib databases to find whatever learning resources you can - you already paid for it all with your tuition money anyway!

[spookfished]

big media roundup (july edition)

hellooo again welcome to my media roundup, where i talk about things i read/watched/played this month! (…and by last month i mean AN ENTIRE MONTH AGO. WOOPS in my defense i got sick [better now]) in july i downloaded tachij2k, which im going to be shilling forever as the best way to read manga on android (apk on github here) this also means that ive been reading like, a Lot of manga lol so i split books + comics into two.

books:

vita nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko: a metaphysics-ish novel about a girl who is blackmailed into going to a magic school. sort of a subversion where (unlike many magic school books) it basically is all about learning and stuff? im kind of a sucker for books written by married couples i think its really cute and also kind of fascinating... um i sort of disagree with its approach to pedagogy but its also sort of about the blood sweat and tears part of learning,, where i usually quit beforehand LOL. got that eastern european hopeless and drudgery (?) but idk i would definitely recommend

the great believers by rebecca makkai: historical fiction that swaps between an art curator-y guy living through the aids epidemic in chicago and his friend in the present who is trying to reunite w her estranged daughter. i really liked this!! super devastating obviously literally scooped me like a melon. very well researched! i hadnt really grasped like. the sheer terror and paranoia? that happened during the aids epidemic before..... thats my lack of contemp history knowledge but it was good i learned a lot. liked the theme of sort of surviving through tragedy and even after.. and the line drawn between the lost generation (war) and yales own exp (EDIT: found sth i wrote after reading the book which said "people are living their own intricate and mundane stories and then the stories of the world smash straight through them")

assassin of reality (vita nostra sequel): sasha knows what she will become--has embraced it, even. but theres always something that can be lost, and the institute still has a heavy hand over her.<or sth like that??? the reveals of the last book kind of make it a hard act to follow and the book definitely felt a lot more abstract... ik some people complained about the romantic subplots but i feel like it gives stakes and grounds everything else, yk? it gives you a thread to hold onto otherwise i mightve given up LMFAO that being said i did enjoy it :3 wondering if what happened to the authors will change the vibe of the next book... :(

you exist too much by zaina arafat: literary fiction about a bisexual palestinian american woman who struggles with her addiction to unattainable love, which has led her to cheat in several relationships. this book didnt really resonate with me.. um i actually ended up writing like 500 words of review for this but its pretty negative. so if youre interested check it out here https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/970847361775591466/1147613251933306921/image.png

movies/tv: room with a view: a young english girl travels to italy and finds love there--but has to choose between that love and a 'proper' life. ok this was fine. idk it was cute and funny sometimes but didnt leave that much of an impression sorry :T

past lives: two childhood friends reconnect, lose touch, then reconnect again. aughjjj those two silent minutes where they were waiting for her ride were so freaking agonizing. really good acting pretty film i just enjoyed it a lot in general! :3 i didnt like the boyfriend that much at first but the conversation they had in bed made them feel like a real relationship, you know? wish theyd had a 3some though maybe it will happen in past lives 2: paster life. idk its like most of the time we dont grow up to be who we thought wed be or do what we thought wed do... but is that really so bad? cant you still be happy? *clutches my head

nimona (movie): adaptation of the comic above! um this was fine i think i was a little disappointed bc the jokes felt a little overplayed/didnt really land? and i was mentally comparing it to the comic but then rereading i was like oh these jokes dont really hit for me either.. so who am i comparing this to LOL i think it would have meant a lot to me in middle school, so maybe it will mean something to middle schoolers now. also ppl fought really hard for it to be made so i feel like i need to give it more credit. my mutuals meta also made me appreciate it more :3 https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/687877902200471552/1126752893312184390/image.png barbie movie: not going to recap the barbie movie sorry. i actually watched this twice it was really fun :3 i wouldnt necessarily say it was a Cultural Milestone or anything but it was cute to see everyone dressed up for the movie.. plus i love velveteen rabbit type storylines. i think ken got the right amount of screentime (its not his movie!) but i loved his dance number and the battle scene :3 and the outfitss idk im not super caught up on the movie scene but it feels like there have been a lot of ugly movies recently. i enjoyed it

the rehearsal: a "reality" show about nathan fielder, who believes that any difficult situation can be rehearsed--and has the budget to put that belief into practice. ok like last year or sth everyone was like omg this show was sooo good but i didnt really get what it was about? but its actually really so interesting.. and the whole blurring between fiction and reality as well as the audience not really knowing which parts are staged and which parts are 'real' is so fun! i was a little bit disappointed when it diverged from the episodic format but that ended up paying off bigtime and was really like idk heartbreaking and funny and all of that. very recommend 👍

video games:

super mario odyssey: (replay)super fucking mario yay!!! in the long run, odyssey didnt have as much like. cultural staying power as botw did (they were both switch launch titles) but its still soooo imaginative and pretty and dense! i love platformers love 2 run and jump.

visual media: he was my brother: psych horror manga about a young girl who tries to grow closer to her recently-deceased brother's partner. omg i had so much fun with this the art is so atmospheric and delightfully creepy...REALLY mind the warnings though. i think i ended up reading all of it in one sitting lmfao

nimona comic (reread): classic villain ballister blackheart is looking for a competent sidekick, but what he gets is nimona, a shapeshifting weirdo kid with secrets. i remember trying to reread this and going wow.... is nimona not as good as i remember? am i old? but it was actually just like early webcomic weirdness nimona is still pretty good! yay :3 i still like the comic better but i respect how they are adapted to their respective mediums and also come from different phases in the og authors life

The story of how I came to know my favourite announcer has a side to her I would have never imagined: oneshot f/f w the premise in the title. whether i write down stuff like this is pretty hit or miss lol and i had to look this one up to rmbr what it was but the art is so cute...simple plot but i enjoyed it :3

crossplay love otaku x punk: romcom where two highschoolers fall in love with the other's crossdressing alter ego (m/m?). i really liked this one actuallyyy its so silly and im also a sucker for love square shenanigans. ok also now that someone else said they think hana/shuumei is endgame so im thinking about it. not the right perspective for this but the crossdressing isnt really overly fetishized or like seen as bad or anything? also ppl make some really funny faces in this

breathless momentum (vol 2+3): r two womanizing musicians find love... in each other!? this is also another one of my favorites :3 the leads are so fun and also music yay music! i really appreciate when a romance is still able to present an interesting story even after the couple has gotten together..

damekoi r: sequel to "please love this useless me," (damekoi is like.. useless passion? i think) which is about a woman in her 30s who spends all her money on her college boyfriend and goes into debt and falls in with her shitty former boss. omg it was soooo cute like i already said its a romance set after the main couple has already gotten together. which is my favorite. but these guys are really fucking weird so they still have a lot of problems. having Another Man who fits michikos type and isnt totally evil come in to destabilize shibata and kurosawas relationship doesnt feel cheap bc their relationship is already not very stable? lol i think the first one is worth checking out if you love pathetic women

mr villains day off: a gag manga about an alien supervillain on his days off. ok this one is pretty much just centered around this fluffy guy who likes to look at pandas but its extremely not very deep but its very cute... i like it... i also like pandas

how do we relationship/so do you want to go out, or (reread): f/f slice of life/drama manga about a girls first lesbian relationship in college. ok this is like "the" yuri manga for me i would recommend it to any fans of femslash its like sort of very realistic feeling? in the way that a relationship can sort of degrade slowly through lack of communication and being different people i think its really great 👍

ichinose familys seven deadly sins: psychological drama. an entire family wakes up with amnesia from a car crash. they dont remember themselves or each other, but pledge to stay together and relearn how to be a family and try to find their memories again. but is it really worth digging up the past...? man this one really goes off the rails. but like in a fun way? has an interesting arc going on rn about like... what allowances do we give, what are we willing to forgive in a stranger vs a family member. pretty interesting!

oshi no ko (catchup): psych thriller about the twin children of a famous idol trying to deal with the legacy she leaves behind. ive been talking about this manga for a while to my friends lol its kind of like riverdale in that its sort of very good, sort of very bad--but overall just super engrossing! which makes sense in a way bc its about the entertainment industry but also about the relationship between an idol and their fan... um not so sure about recent developments though lol. a little bit scared to see where things go

blue period (catchup): a delinquent boy used to going with the flow decides to go to the top art school in japan. yeah blue period is really good. hope this helps 👍lets all never go to art school ever ok ^_^

still sick: f/f about an office lady who finds out her coworker writes and sells yuri doujins (like illustrated fanfiction?) on the side. its a classic! was nice to finally get around to finishing it :3

liar satsuki can see death: thriller about a girl who can see peoples deaths and tries to prevent them--except everyone thinks shes just a liar. ok this is notable bc it has the exact same like adventures and gaybait as shounen but its all girls instead. its good light entertainment! sometimes is um kind of horny for sth about high school girls so ymmv on that one

farming for love: m/m romance about a pharmacist who moves to the country after a bad breakup and meets a ~strong but silent farmer~. pretty average, but fun if youre into that kind of thing! not sure if i would really recommend it lol

chainsaw man 2: set after the events of chainsaw man proper, its an action shounen focusing on asa mitaka, a girl who kinda sucks :3 chainsaw man is so fun yayyy im happy to be reading it again excited to get hit by some more bricks! asa is a wonderful protagonist and fujimoto continues to write comitragedy (?) in a way thats kinda obscene but also very cool 👍rip single father denji

skip and loafer (comic): slice of life about an ambitious but awkward girl who comes from the country to start her high school life in tokyo!!!! and some guy i guess. omg ok this is like the slice of life manga for me rn (the anime is really good! finished recently check it out) its just really warm and nice. autistic girls win always lol truly a comic that makes you feel like there is love in the world

no home: webtoon drama about two guys who are trapped together in a haunted dorm. ok this comic makes me really depressed but its also about people who make each other better despite their best efforts. and also violence and hatred its really really good 👍sad about recent updates though.. i guess maybe the characters werent really meant to be friends in the long term

this took me like two weeks to write and now im in a different state LOL so um if you got to the end...thanks for reading!

[not-available-for-comment]

Ok, so Firefox’s pocket suggestions have been trying to get me to read a list of “8 life-changing nonfiction books selected by top authors” and while I don’t really feel like reading that article, I think it could make a cool prompt. Nonfiction tends to have a rep for being dry or trite, but I think it can be powerful and engaging as well. I probably don’t have near enough followers to be doing a book rec post, but whatev, I like talking about books, we’re doing this.

Prompt: List 5-8 Life-Changing Nonfiction Books

In no particular order:

1. The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS by Elizabeth Pisani (2008)

This is probably the book I’m most scared to go back and read, because I suspect parts of it did not age well. I think she’s released an updated edition and I’m interested in revisiting that one. That said, as someone raised in a very conservative environment, this book completely revolutionized my thinking on harm reduction strategies like needle exchanges and free condoms from the cOnDONinG bAd beHaViOr bullshit I believed when I was younger to “oh look, a way to keep people alive and healthy”. She also had some eye opening comments on the “rescuing women from developing nation brothels” charities that were so popular in the 90s. I still think about the insights in this book often.

2. The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape by James Howard Kunstler (1993)

I don’t know if I can even describe how foundational this book was for me when I first read it in my early 20s. Kunstler describes the way cars have usurped human comfort in American architecture, land management, and city planning in meticulous detail. It made me look at my environment with new eyes, and appreciate alternatives I had barely even grasped, in spite of having traveled internationally. I don’t recall Kunstler’s book explicitly speaking to the disabled community’s concerns with anti-car rhetoric, which have gotten increasingly relevant over time. But I still highly recommend the book as an excellent introduction for USians interested in improving our lived environment and anyone else who wants to know What The Hell Happened With The US And Cars.

3. Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman (2009)

I’ve never been an intuitive cook: the kind of person who can look in the cupboard and throw together a dish based on what I can see. I actually started out baking almost exclusively, because the precision of baking recipes helped keep me from going astray. Ruhlman’s book was the first to help me crack the cooking code. Ironically, I’ve made very few of his recipes, which tend to have an overly fussy, professional chef ring to them. But learning about the basic ratios and techniques that went into popular western dishes helped me start to understand how cooking worked. It’s been 10 years since I read Ruhlman’s book, and I still often cook with a recipe. But sometimes I don’t. And his book is part of the reason why.

4. My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Nagata Kabi (2009)

I’m sure this one isn’t new to a tumblr audience, but it deserves its excellent reputation. This graphic memoir is hard to quantify accurately. It is, of course, an important work on the experience of being queer in Japan. But it’s also a searching, thoughtful, and sometimes brutal examination of the self, a coming of age story that is unsentimental but insightful and, I think, ultimately hopeful. I bought the book several years after it came out, at a time when I personally felt like a failure and a disappointment to my parents, and devoured it and felt less alone. Highly recommend to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. (Note that it does at one point describe the author’s eating disorder.)

5. Too Much and Not the Mood by Durga Chew-Bose (2017)

This book revolutionized the way I thought about personal essays. This is not “I had a mildly risqué experience as a young white middle class cis woman which I will now recount to you for money.” Nor is it really my much-beloved genre of creative nonfiction that combines rapturous descriptions of the taste and scent of peaches with rigorously researched discursions on the history of the state of Georgia. No, this is a creative explosion, raining color and candy, flashing by your face too quickly to be fully registered but delightful all the same. Chew-Bose writes stream of consciousness, but one loaded with sharply observed images and quicksilver thoughts, tangents to tangents to tangents, some circling back and some not, personal memory and constant cascades of cultural commentary threading together into universal but deeply personal tapestries. If you have any taste at all for either essays or virtuoso writing you MUST read this book.

I think that’s a good stopping point for me. Curious to see if anyone else does this prompt and if so, what they pick.

[zumpietoo]

Racist Continues....

Actually, I thought it was better than most of the numbers in the ep. Tho, yeah, they sucked ass

I strongly suspect Racist dislikes Josie cuz, again, she’s racist....and I do say this as somebody who certainly doesn’t think Assleigh is all that, BUT....she’s still miles ahead of where Crotchi always is and MM frequently is. And really? Douchie’s godawful song where he’s oogling everybody? That song sucked ass....only thing worse in season 1 was him and Vermin singing Kids in America (I song I had liked previously)---oh and his “talent” show act.

Kinda obvious she only liked that song cuz there was a white boi on stage.

I hated that ep, too....but “good authority”???? By which you mean, “yourself”? Actually, I did like (even if Vermin was involved) when they covered I Feel Love and Sugar, while lacking a bit of energy, wasn’t abysmal (and I think that was moar the bad cheer routine, dug the marching band providing a cool, musical layer, in fact)....

Also, pretty sure you “didn’t like them” cuz “black”.

Ummm....yes it is. And because #nohey#3 4U......and because you’re a fucking racist....let’s just call it done. 

Cole has a lovely voice (and sounds amazing) and ERINN???? Trained, polished was the lead in her senior year musical (The Wiz) at HARVARD.....an actual good college, you miserable bigot. 

That a few lines were altered to fit the scenario is hardly an issue....and neither Cole’s nor Erinn’s fault. 

Sucked, but better than Cherry Bomb

THAT’S your objection. Also, why do you hate MM/Pussy so much? Is it cuz her character likes black girls? 

Errmmm....your shipper goggles are on hard, now, huh? I didn’t hate Walking in Space entirely, actually LIKED MM and FB singing together 4jeebusjason. Oh AND....while this pains me to say, some of his numbers in American Psycho, honestly, were legit good.

Also, again, what’s her sudden obsession?

Again, noooo.....and thanks for confirming, “yes, it’s because I’m a total racist AND a total butthurt shipper, pissed over not getting my way and being wrong”.

Actually, a LOT happened in season 5. By “no plot” you mean Barfie fucked, totally didn’t grasp where shit was headed, #nojizzy4U and Jabi....

Oh sweet jeebus.....dude, WTF do you think Disney did? They’re entirely about training.....god you really ARE PedoT, sometimes, huh? (when she pretended Cole knew nothing about the industry he literally grew up in, but Assleigh, courtesy of a tech school, did)...

Actually, Adam’s costar (and actual Tony WINNER), Idina Menzel, most assuredly “belts” stuff.....plus Wikipedia would tell you, Pascal is hardly (or at least not originally) “trained” himself.....

He went to a poly university and played in rock bands with his friends. Nothing whatsoever wrong, but, if you’re such a devoted “nerd”, you’d know this shit. 

Also, he’s definitely alternating between kinda speaking/and working hard....so, noooo....Racist. Also....apparently you ignore when your fave white/white passing characters sing on Plaiderdale....

But he’s a white boi from Long Island, so I’m sure you wet your panties over that

ETA: she seems to overlook that what they’re singing that’s on film, isn’t what we even hear, cuz that’s studio recorded, so not even the same as it live....most likely the director suggested Cole really “go for it”

[pscottm]

I spent hours trying to persuade US voters to choose Harris not Trump. I know why she lost | Oliver Hall | The Guardian

It has been an extraordinary week for US politics – and a very depressing couple of days for those such as me who spent hours on the phone to people, trying to persuade them to vote for Kamala Harris and not Donald Trump. This is what voters told me time and again, and why so many did vote for Trump.

The first type of voter I encountered as a volunteer on the Harris phone bank was the one focused purely on the economy. It is hard for us to grasp on this side of the Atlantic that soaring growth rates and low unemployment in the US would not be seen positively in the eyes of an American voter. But it was clear in my conversations that the Trump campaign was extremely effective at countering that story. Wages may well be rising at all levels, but everyday inflation was more discernible to voters.

Very often, I spoke to small business owners who would talk about the price of gas or bread, rendering any attempted explanation of global pressures responsible for that ineffective at best, and at worst condescending. Often, they would also tell me that everyone they knew was doing badly, even if they were just fine themselves. Was poor messaging to blame? That didn’t seem obvious. Democrats tried to tell the story of average wages being higher and unemployment being at an historic low, but people just seemed to believe Trump more often than they believed Harris and Tim Walz. There was no easy way to counter that, especially in a campaign lasting barely 100 days.

The next group of voter was extremely focused on Harris as a candidate. She was as baggage-free as a vice-president could have been, and many voters spoke of how much they admired her. But there were too many others. Multiple times, I was told that Harris was a “communist”, “clueless” and that she had “thrown black men in jail for carrying one blunt”. One Latin American voter told me at length that she had “seen it all before in South America”.

Her perceived failures on border security did come up too, but mainly the criticisms came straight from the mouth of the Trump campaign. Some spoke of Harris’s tough stance on crime as the district attorney of San Francisco. Others, very often of Latino origin, would tell me that she was soft on law and order. Quite remarkably, the Trump campaign successfully branded Harris as both a communist – lax on law and order – and simultaneously too tough on crime. To many, she was both an ineffective vice-president and one who had her hands all over the Biden administration. Voters held these facts in their heads at once – and would not be persuaded otherwise.

I started calling voters five weeks ago and especially then, many voters said they didn’t know who Harris was or what she stood for. It is said that an open primary process would have given Harris the chance to separate herself from Biden, but not a single person I spoke to suggested that they would have preferred a different candidate.

But gender did play a role. Time and again, voters, very often women themselves, told me that they just didn’t think that “America is ready for a female president”. People said they couldn’t “see her in the chair” and asked if I “really thought a woman could run the country”. One person memorably told me that she couldn’t vote for Harris because “you don’t see women building skyscrapers”. Sometimes, these people would be persuaded, but more often than not it was a red line. Many conversations would start with positive discussions on policy and then end on Harris and her gender. That is an extraordinary and uncomfortable truth.

You should know what I didn’t hear during the hours speaking to US voters. I can only think of one occasion when someone mentioned stricter taxes on billionaires or any similar policies. The atrocities being committed by Israel in Gaza only came up six times in more than 1,000 calls. The idea that Harris was not leftwing enough seems false: the majority of the country just voted for the complete opposite.

After all those conversations, I think the main reason that Harris and Walz lost this campaign is simple: Trump. Ultimately, he was simply too much of a pull again. Despite the gaffes, despite his views on women, despite his distaste for democracy and despite an insurrection, voters just didn’t care.

For reasons that I’m sure will be studied for decades, when he speaks, people listen. When he speaks, people believe him. After all those calls, I can be shocked at this result, but hardly surprised.

[mchiti]

unrelated but your post made me think of how much bts were dragged by americans in the past. i feel like they really "cleaned" their image post 2019 for the western (american) market but before that I can list at least ten "scandals" americans dragged them for. It was exhausting. I agree with your overall perspective, it seems that many americans have a tendency to distort situations and portray individuals in an extremely negative light constantly. In reality, almost anything can be misrepresented to appear problematic. Perhaps I have a straightforward outlook, but unless someone exhibits truly reprehensible behavior I do not find it necessary to dwell on their mistakes so much. Of course the case of liam payne was different as you said but even then I agree someone can be sad for how brutally the guy died while thinking he of course needed to be held accountable.

sorry this is long but thank you so much for this, you have no idea how much I agree with you

...do you believe me if I tell you I'm kinda angry at the US for every single time they unleashed the worst racism towards them lmaooo it was so bad "but namjoon..." became a literally meme at some point, you had to be there I suppose. Like, they got dragged back and forth for many things I don't think they culturally had any grasp on as americans do, and I don't want to go into details because yeah. You're right, though. Americans did perceive many earlier things of them as straightforward "problematic" without any historical context of the cultural development of the country they come from, the fact kpop has always - historically - digged into a lot of american culture in a way that I'd find fascinately uncritical (and I don't mean it in a offensive way). It's like you approach a culture - as the hiphop american culture for instance - but also you come from a very different cultural background, within a country like SK which was dominantly rural until 35 years ago, and with grasp of english close to none as they had at the beginning, barring joon. they were much dirtier at the beginning, which I remember with amusement more than anything. I could sense the way the americans were going to turn this against them right before it happened. They truly had to change solely for the US market. You remember that old ass photoshoot thing they did in their early years at the holocaust memorial in berlin, us europeans who liked them didn't think much of it. then americans found about it - and went NUTS about it. like as if they have offended every single jewish person itw for that. I didn't like it, yes, I personally think it was tasteless and I'm sure they do too now. But I'm quite confident of the fact they (and btw it was mostly their company anyway) just thought it was >edgy and didn't really grasp the outcome. I understand they might have studied history and WW2 specifically with different lens than us in schools. I know their curriculum focus more on japan/communism/the asian side of ww2, which is understandable. Do americans understand that however... I don't know sometimes if they just try hard or if they are truly and completely out of empathy and understanding about the rest of the world.

I've canceled many people off over time if something didn't sit right with me, but there has to be things I do actually find problematic - where the people involved are 100% conscious of it. It's full of actual fascists in the world, of actual nazis, of actual suprematists, zionists, rapists, go argue with them and touch some grass idk. That's how I see it, truly. And even with the latter, I want people to be held accountable, pay if the commit crimes, and then hopefully learn better. No more than that.

[bafflegab-z]

omg wait so what's your favorite difference in spanish when it comes to different regions.

like, idk the right word, but you know how spain spanish calls a car 'coche', south/latin american spanish sometimes calls it 'auto/carro' and mexican spanish calls it a 'carro'? (if I remember correctly; this may be wrong, don't take my word as gold)

like what's your favorite difference in dialects/accents??

OMG HAIIII I think my favorite differences between spanish from different regions is dictation/pronunciation!! specifically how some places pronounce the letter y as more of a j sound rather than a "yuh" (for example some places saying "yo" like "jo") idk it makes it a lot easier to speak as a learner and also. is just more fun idk

also a huge fan learning about the differences between other spanish and specifically Argentinian spanish!! My learning has been mainly focused on a combo of Mexican + Puerto Rican spanish (my formal teacher ive taken classes with is Puerto Rican and she would explain how Puerto Ricans speak as compared to other regions, and my bestie who is helping me learn a lot is Mexican + a lot of the videos I watch to get better are Spanish Quackity vods so. mainly osmosis) and I think its SUPER interesting to learn about how different Argentinian spanish can be. Final boss for someone not used to it + already has audio processing issues

finally i also just have a lot of fun trying to decipher where someone is from/where someone learned spanish by noticing their accent. I have a hard time describing the differences I notice because its hard for me to FULLY grasp a lot of it but its mainly just slight pronunciation/dictation differences that stand out to me. its feels little silly but genuinely something that helped a lot is me watching this bit by Gabriel Iglesias where he jokes around about the differences. i still here "gasoLIIII-nah" in my head when the room is quiet

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE COURAGE OF UNIVERSITIES

I spent half the day loitering on University Ave, I'd notice. And yet we'd all be wrong. If a post has a linkbait title, editors sometimes rephrase it to be more than a thought experiment. Professional athletes know they'll be pulled if they play badly for just a couple games. Patent trolls are just parasites. There are a couple reasons they should care. Partly that users needed him. Users like it and they've been growing rapidly. Dilution is a hard problem. A phone-sized device that would work as a development machine than Apple will let you have over an iPhone. But again, it's not saying much that America is the perfect place for startups. So why do they need to fix anything?

And those tend to be short.1 The patent pledge is not legally binding. The first rule I knew intellectually, but didn't really grasp till it happened to us. History tends to get rewritten by big successes, so that in retrospect it seems obvious they were going to keep working on it. But America has no monopoly on this. They don't define what evil is, but by publicly saying that, they're saying they're willing to be held to a standard that, say, Altria is not. For example, in purely financial terms, there is only one kind of success: they're either going to be more matter-of-fact. Google at year 1 is the limit of what they'd have produced. This is post-exit Silicon Valley. Another wrote: I believe that they think their approval process helps users by ensuring quality. A lot of governments experimented with the disastrous in the twentieth century; now the trend seems to be an old and buggy one.

And if you start from successful startups, you find they'd often make good startups. Startups condense more easily here. It's interesting to see the VCs' offices on the north side of Sand Hill Road precisely because they're so boringly uniform. When you hit something that would have killed Apple, prune it off. If there are any laws regulating businesses, you can probably get some of it. US, because they have no redundancy. History tends to get rewritten by big successes, so that in retrospect it seems obvious they were going to keep working on it. But Android is an orphan; Google doesn't really care about performance.

European quality; previous generations of Europeans were as ambitious as Americans. That keeps editors honest, and just as importantly, repel everyone else. If you're benevolent, people will rally around you: investors, customers, other companies, and potential employees. Once they realized this, they stopped caring so much what investors thought about them. A society that trims its margins sharply will kill them all. This pattern is repeated constantly in startup hubs. If someone submits a lame article, the other submissions don't all become lame. Few are the sort of company that competes by litigation rather than by making good products. But how does it work? Once you have users to take care of, you're forced to figure out our own customs for getting free of it. Only a few companies have been smart enough to realize this so far.

Well, are auto workers, schoolteachers, and civil servants happier than actors, professors, and professional athletes? There are now a few VC firms outside the US, and good high schools and good universities, like the US, startups will form as inevitably as water droplets condense on a cold piece of metal. There can be places that are free for alls and places that are free for alls and places that are free for alls and places that are more thoughtful, just as they do in the real world. It's not a charity, but they weren't going to die if they didn't get their money. Palo Alto was not originally a suburb. There are a couple reasons they should care. I was a Reddit user when the opposite happened there, and sitting in a cafe feels different from working.2 Initially it was supposed to be like charities, and we've proven by reductio ad absurdum that one or both of the principles we began with is false. And that's just so far.

Notes

Whereas there is nothing more unconvincing, for many Americans the decisive change in the past, and those are usually more desperate for money. They're often different in kind, because that's how both publishers and audiences treat it. But it is unfair when someone gets drunk instead of editors, and don't want to sell earlier than you could beat the death-penalty in the original text would in itself, and no one is going to get going, and only one founder is always room for startups, just that they're all that value, counting users as active when they're checking their messages during startups' presentations? This form of bad customs as well they do, and made more that year from stock options than any preceding president, he was a bad reputation, a valuation cap at all.

The VCs recapitalize the company goes public. This includes mere conventions, like indifference to individual users. Travel has the same thing—trying to enter the software business, having sold all my shares earlier this year. Two Hundred Years.

[infimace-blog]

So, American here. Not Palestinian but not white either. I'd rather not front my identity like this, but since you're willing to dismiss anybody who isn't a US citizen, I figured I might as well.

You're overexplaining the basic concept of realpolitik, which I think is something that everyone in this conversation can grasp. Sometimes you make compromises to get things that you want, sure. But realpolitik for the West in the Cold War generally meant 'screwing over other, less white countries to keep Russia at bay. Sometimes Kissinger gets involved'. Compromises that sacrifice the marginalized because there's always a bigger threat to be invoked, because there's always something that requires sacrifice and the marginalized are always conveniently sacrificable. I think there might be some parallels towards what happened then and what's going on right now.

Biden was a compromise vote for just about everyone I knew four years ago. Someone you voted for because avoiding four more years of Trump was worth not looking too closely at him. This is nothing new. I knew friends who refused to vote for Biden then; I know friends who will refuse to vote for him now, a lot of them belonging to the same groups you mention as being under threat under a Trump presidency, a lot of them in more vulnerable places than I am. I think it is valuable to look at whoever the Democrats are trying to push for the big chair and assess for yourself whether you're willing to tolerate their worst aspects, their worst policies. Not everyone can or should be voting in the spirit of realpolitik, with no greater end goal than 'prevent the worst scenario at any cost'. Some people are going to draw a line. Some people can't help but look too closely.

And supporting Israel is a Democrat stance at this point, if not because the Democrat establishment are the same sadistic fascists that the Republicans are, then because the US working with Israel is the status quo and they're too callous or wary to change that in the face of genocide. It's an increasingly contentious stance, and in a month or two, when Biden's approval drops enough and the ICJ starts putting its foot down, they might fully renege on it. But votes on things like 'anti-Zionism is anti-semitism' were getting an easy 48% of the Democratic House as late as two months ago - and that was after a concentrated push in the party to vote present instead of voting yes to try and deescalate internal tensions over the issue. Pelosi was trying to write off pro-Palestinian protestors as possible Russian plants last week. A vote for Biden is, by definition, a vote for a softer genocide, and the difference between soft and hard genocide is negligible for those under the bullets. If the Democrats finally break and convince Biden that sacrificing the election might not be worth Israel's support (the election and not the thousands of needless civilian deaths, mind you), it'll be because more and more people are drawing that line, because the talk of boycotting might actually make Democratic leadership switch gears. That scenario you're talking about, with people inside the Democratic party fighting against Biden, that doesn't happen without constituents behind those people going 'this is unacceptable and I don't want to vote for it'. I don't want to vote for it.

And to be clear, I don't want Trump to win, but if we really want to talk about pragmatism in American politics, Biden can lose a lot of votes and still win the election. Unless you live in a swing state, which most of America increasingly doesn't, a protest vote for a third party candidate won't severely hurt Biden's chances. If you're in Minnesota or Nevada, then sure, worry about your vote, but if you live in Oregon or Massachusetts, statistically it won't matter if you sleep in on election day, let alone refuse to vote or write in Claudia de la Cruz or whatever. But it might send a message to the Democratic establishment that the 'no genocide, not even a little one' voter demographic might be worth catering to over the next four years. And if the worst-case scenario occurs and Trump does win, based on what happened in 2017-2018, the Democrat leadership/news outlets/talking heads will sidestep any flaws in the presidential campaign or candidate and blame an insufficiently centrist approach no matter what we do.

If you're really invested in what happens to this country in 2025, you should be pushing for people to do their research and vote for viable downballot non-Zionist candidates that they can believe in, even if they can't stomach Biden specifically. Because, regardless of whether Biden manages to hang onto the throne or Trump steals it again, government on the local, county and state level may still be ripe for change and growth depending on where you live. And if you're lucky, maybe whoever's running for US Senator or Congressperson in your area is actually decent. We should be encouraging people to care about their government and what it does rather than just gritting their teeth as they go through Hobson's choice every two to four years.

I know the US government acts like a corporation but it’s not.

Not voting isn’t the same as a boycott. Because you can’t bankrupt a government by not voting. All you get by not voting is less control over what the money is doing.

The money comes from taxes, not voting. Abstaining from voting does nothing to reduce the governments ability to get money and spend it on shit.

So yes, sometimes you vote to reduce harm because not voting WILL NOT REDUCE HARM.

It’s not a boycot. Abstaining doesn’t take power from the government. It just reduces the number of people they feel answerable to.

[grandhotelabyss]

Did you ever read anything by Sir Walter Scott or James Fenimore Cooper? A lot of writers cite them as an influence but they have a reputation nowadays (earned or not, idk) as turgid unreadable garbage.

I read Scott's Waverley in graduate school so I could familiarize myself with the "founding" work of historical fiction and better understand the key theoretical text on the genre, Lukács's Historical Novel. (I wrote a dissertation chapter on Walter Pater's Marius the Epicurean, which is nominally a historical novel, but not really. It's more a modernist novel of consciousness and a lyric essay on the rise of Christianity out of late antiquity. I'm not sure grasping "the historical novel" as some abstract concept is very important to understand it.)

If you read Waverley through the eyes of a graduate student, there is much in there of cultural-studies interest. The story qua story—the defeat of the Scottish clans at the Jacobite uprising and the triumph of modernity, symbolized by the titular hero's romantic choice of the bland, blonde, domestic Rose for his wife over the raven-haired warrior-queen Flora—is moving, majestic, and elegiac. I see why it was such effective entertainment for about a century's worth of readers.

But yes, by our standards, the narrative method is hard to endure: the diffuse discourse of a digressive, prolix, sometimes even facetious storyteller who blunts the emotional impact of the tale. It's no Cormac McCarthy. It's not even, to cite Scott's contemporaries, Jane Austen or Stendhal. "Turgid" is a good word for it. Still, I know I have to read Ivanhoe someday!

And it's also true that Scott's inception of the historical novel, with its portrayal of history as an organic continuum encompassing the whole of society and not just an inert background for the acts of great men (as it is, for example, in Shakespeare), can't be overstated for its influence, including on the development of the realist novel with a present-day setting. Scott is behind Balzac, Hawthorne, Dickens, Tolstoy, George Eliot, etc.

As for Cooper, I think everything I said about Scott applies to him, too, with even the narrative materials being similar—replace the Scottish clans with the Native American tribes—but I confess I've only read as much Cooper as was excerpted in the Norton Anthology.