#i love it when actors have proper training and education

[guzhufuren]

something very beautiful about Meet You At The Blossom is that it will have trained lead actors. Li Le studied at Shanghai Theatre Academy and Wang Yunkai graduated Dalian Art College

[not-goldy]

Not to ruin the mood, I love Jimin so so so so much. But it just hurts my soul to see him with Taemin a known colorist 😭 I would like to know how others are feeling

That's alright you already killed the mood sis💀

But let's tak about it.

When my sister first moved to Seoul all she did was complain about the people over there. They were mean and rude and racist, colorist, texturists, homophobic you name it.

A few years later, she'd be the one to lecture you about cultural relativism and how some things have been so normalized in those parts of the world that she can't tell anymore if they do all those things to be mean or their just being Koreans.

I had a Nigerian friend too (not trying to come for my Omo Niaja people😩) who'd bleached her skin so much she was near passing as white- save for her under eyes knees, elbow, and knuckles. She was giving real life kunfu panda.

I thought it was strange she'd do that and I complained to my other friend about it and he said, well what's wrong with being light skinned? I am light skinned. Do you think being darker makes you better than I am?

Imagine my shock and surprise😲

It occurred to me then how light skinned blacks also experience discrimination from the black community as well as nonblacks because they are perceived as not "black enough"

Colorism is insidious and prevalent even in media as light skinned black brothers are often overlooked for most roles and when they have to be casted at all they are cast in limited roles. Think Duke of Hastings and Bridgerton and all the roles dark skinned black actors fill as opposed to the light skinned poc actors on TV.

You can be black but will still not be black enough because you speak or sound a certain way, you'd hear you're "pretending to be black" you're pretending to be white, you're "an oreo" as if there's a proper and standard way of being black.

Black people are not monoliths. We come in all shades of black and from various cultures.

But Colorism is the cousin of racism and like racism it can be perpetuated by our own people- sneezing at Chris Brown. Goofy fella that one.

I am not going to defend Taemin.

I know his culture puts him at a disadvantage and exposes him to so many normalized behaviors that outside his culture is and would be construed as perpetuating oppression.

Kpop idols do undergo training and are educated on issues of racism and misogyny and other harmful practices indulged in innocuously. A little bit of self awareness will go a long way.

As long as he acknowledges this challenge, practices mindfulness and is ready to apologize for his actions and most importantly take steps not to repeate them I think he can be forgiven and shouldn't necessarily be "cancelled" for minor infractions.

The internet elves can be so sensitive at times💀

There's this concept in law called the principle of proportionality which is just common sense for the punishment must fit the crime.

You don't cut off people, or deplatform them for harms they've caused negligently unintentionally. Thats toxic and unlawful and extreme, cruel and unusual punishment- hate the crime and not the person as they say.

Saying all this to say, I, Jimin and others can love Taemin, be his friend and still condemn oppression in its various forms.

Expecting Jimin to cut off his closet friend, alienate him and ostracize him for his media blunders that aren't a true reflection of who he is at his core is toxic. True friends don't act like that. Let's be real.

[warningsine]

I know I've talked about this before, but I will repeat myself.

On screen chemistry isn't absolute or tangible; it's subjective.

It's in the eye of the beholder. A Rorschach test if you will.

Yes, the viewers can often read subtle signs of attraction between two characters, but whether or not it grabs them depends on their own attraction and life experiences.

Yes, studios generally know which pairings appeal to which demographics and hire people who will work hard to cultivate a romance that will result in said studios getting more money.

Yes, there are chemistry tests and intimacy coordinators as well as casting directors who look for signs of attraction.

Yes, actors are trained to open up to intimacy with complete strangers and often take their personal romantic/sexual responses and flirting into account. Sometimes they even improvise.

Yes, what is captured during filming can be cut and edited several times.

But whether or not one identifies--or "relates" as fandoms, that love turning attraction into an academic study, say--with one of the actors/characters is a significant factor.

Demographics like age, gender, orientation, race and education play their own parts, e.g., see how women viewers on here see Shiv Roy vs. how guys on Reddit see her.

But even two people from the same demographic group can have different opinions because they're not a monolith.

Other contributors? How one feels about the pairing's situation, their judgment about whether or not they're well-matched and their perception of their beauty (which is, unsurprisingly, also subjective).

Sometimes the script, direction and the story itself can have an effect, too--even when two actors don't get along off screen. Because at the end of the day, it's not about them. It's about the audience.

Some couples are considered better simply because they're more likely to engage more fans than others. Some because they're hyped and promoted more. See: how actors give PR responses and act like their characters in interviews, all flirtatious and shit.

Secondhand knowledge here since a friend is an actor:

There are on screen kisses that look convincing and hot but are in fact lukewarm (how the actors experience them). Others that feel icky regardless of how the audience perceives them, e.g., because your acting partner ate a sandwich with garlic before kissing you or because you hate their guts. Last but not least, there are others that are supposed to look contained, but are lustful.

Because of this, actors who lack proper training or boundaries can create problems on set--especially if they don't respect, listen to and engage with their partners.

And the same goes for the other individuals that are present. Imagine being naked and filming a sex scene in front of a skeleton crew of, say, 10 people. Some dgaf and can't wait to finish their jobs and go home. Others get voyeuristic. One thing is sure: sex scenes are not as sexy as viewers believe them to be.

But back to the audience.

To some extent, some viewers project their own longing, love and lust aspirations onto the on screen couple. Does their appearance/situation/behavior appeals to their tastes? You'd be surprised how one's projected fantasies can create illusions of passion or revulsion out of thin air.

After all, chemistry isn't necessarily a romantic/sexual thing. Friends and relatives can also have chemistry. You often notice it when people, e.g., siblings communicate with looks alone, because nothing needs to be said. How they subtly react to what you're saying and vice versa.

[dominickeating-source]

Dominic Keating Interview (2002)

British actor Dominic Keating hails from a mid-sized city in the middle of England called Leicester (pronounced "Lester"). Although now on a hit U.S. TV show, he hasn't forgotten his roots and the city of his birth. "Well, you can take the boy out of Leicester ?! I go to Leicester quite a lot. My mum still lives there. She's actually coming out this Christmas for the first time. She's going to visit me in LA. I love living in Los Angeles, but I'll never say never anymore."

With ten weeks off during the show's hiatus, did he have a chance to visit his homeland? "I did, yes. I also went to Germany to do a convention. It was my first Star Trek convention abroad — huge amount of fans. There were around 6,000 people there. And, officially, they haven't seen the show there. I told them I was the captain!"

Premature captaincy aside, he's not doing too badly for a boy from the midlands with no formal acting training. Instead, his education was on the job. "Pretty much, yes. I didn't go to an 'official' drama school. I didn't get in, actually," he confesses.

But persistence pays off and, like most actors, he started out small and worked his way up. "I got my first job at the Man in the Moon pub theatre at the bottom of King's Road in Chelsea. I did a play there called 'The Best Years of Your Life,' which got quite a bit of notice. It's a very moving play about an apprentice soccer player for Chelsea who was struck down with spinal cancer. I played his brother, and got a bit of notice from that. I then got my first proper agent and kicked off from there. Went off to [the] Edinburgh [Festival] with Timothy Spall and did a play up there that got a lot of notice in the summer of the following year. From that I met the writer of a sitcom called Desmond's (Trix Worrell), who cast me in the show, which ran six years. Meteoric rise!"

Citing influences such as James Bond or the "Carry On?" movies — a franchise of innuendo-laced British comedies — Dominic also points to an actor whose legendary career spanned several decades: Rod Steiger. "I was in my sitting room watching him in one of those movies, I think it was 'No Way to Treat a Lady,' where he played something like eight characters and I definitely remember a moment, as a ten or eleven-year old, thinking 'I wonder if I could do that?'" Ironically, this particular influence later became a professional contact. "I got to work with Rod a few years ago on a film called 'The Hollywood Sign,'" Keating says. "It was a great honor to meet him. He wasn't that pleased, though, when I reminded him how long ago it was that he made that movie."

His one other big influence dovetails nicely into what he does now. "I did watch the first Star Trek series pretty religiously."

Entertainment wasn't all TV and movies for Keating. "My mum took me to the theatre at an early age. I think the first play I ever saw was an Alan Ayckbourn play, 'How the Other Half Loves.' I remember a man in the audience in front of us turned around and told me to be quiet because I was laughing so hard! Typical, eh?"

Without the conventional drama school life, Dominic faced something many actors fear: a regular job. His r?sum? is nothing if not a bit unconventional. There were the typical bartending and waiting jobs, most of which he claims to be fired from, but there were also other odd jobs that seem miles away from an actor's calling. "I've done a plethora of things. I worked in a knitting factory in Nottinghamshire; I've worked in a rubber molding factory in Colville, making rubber moldings for car doors. I did a lot of work for the Manpower Services. One of my favorite tasks was going along to the schools where the coal cog had been blocked up by some part of a metal chair that some kids had stuck down the coal chute. My mate and I used to show up in my first VW Bug and then bury ourselves down in this coal chute and unclog the offending article and get that cog working again! I also did a bit of painting and decorating, the usual thing."

When stateside success finally landed, in the form of his Enterprise role, what did Dominic do with his first paycheck? "Good question! I did take a photograph of the first check, actually. Because it was a double episode for the pilot, it was the largest check I'd ever been paid in one lump sum."

Showing good monetary sense, he claims to be fiscally responsible. "I'm pretty good with money. I don't know that I went out and bought anything, because I knew what I was going to do," he pauses. "I'm sitting in it now, my beautiful Hollywood home out here in the canyon looking out on a beautiful summer's day. I knew I wanted to buy this house, or a house like it. The first season I literally just socked it away and I didn't buy a new car. I drove my old '87 Bronco, and I only just got rid of that about a month ago. I put money away for a down payment on the house. Six months ago, my girlfriend and I moved in and we love it!"

Surely he celebrated when he got the part on Enterprise? "You know what I did? I was with John Billingsley (Phlox) — we were the first two cast — and we went out and had a coffee together and called a bunch of our friends on our cell phones while we were supping on our double-latte mochas, or whatever. I came home to the two rooms that I was renting in Beachwood Canyon and I put on a CD on my portable player and went out for a walk up around the canyon. I went to look at some of the houses that I could now afford to buy and noticed the nice cars that were driving past me, thinking, 'Ah, I could probably get one of those as well,'" he says. "I went for a long walk and let it all soak in. Then on the way back down the hill, I popped in at my friend's house — his mother was over from England — and he could tell by the cheesy grin on my face. He knew I had been in the auditioning process for this job and he went, 'You got it didn't you? You bloody got it!'

"I've taken a few people to dinner since then."

One of the great luxuries about being cast in a Star Trek show is there is a good chance you won't be cancelled after 13 episodes. But even so, the threat will always be there. "Well, one hopes not. As long as you keep your nose clean and don't piss anyone off too much!"

Even with a job like this, an actor's dream, there is still a certain amount of anxiety in taking the part. "I had a brief moment on the Bridge in the first couple of days when I was pressing button 502 over and over again. The thought crossed my mind, 'I'll never do Ibsen.' Then the first check arrived and I thought, 'Ibsen, Shmibsen!' There was some trepidation. You are signing yourself up for a long haul playing one character. But I was at a time in my life where I wanted the security that a job of this nature was going to offer me. I was very excited about the prospect of being able to afford actually having a family, an educated child."

Keating's character, Malcolm Reed, is also someone he is grateful for. "They've given me so much to do on this show — like "Shuttlepod One." To be honest, it's the best work I've ever done in front of a camera," he says proudly. "They've given me another episode like that in the second season, episode three — "Minefield" — myself and Scott [Bakula] in a two hander on the exterior of the ship and floating in space. It's a fantastic piece of writing that Brannon [Braga] came up with."

But there may be more in store for the Starfleet officer. "I talked briefly with Brannon about this, and I know that the one thing he appreciates about the way Malcolm Reed's developed is that he is truly at odds with his character and he is quite enigmatic. You cannot pigeonhole this character. You can, but he does have the ability to play at odds with himself and not have the audience say, 'That's not in character.' I think the one thing Brannon appreciates, and I certainly do, is that Malcolm Reed is very human. 'Shuttlepod One' allowed the audience to see that. I think he can take this character any which way. I would love to see them explore a very dark side to Reed, something in the way of a Laurence-Harvey-tortured-man. And if anyone can write that for this character, it's Brannon Braga."

Working on a show like Star Trek can be taxing if you are in every scene in every episode, but for most, that isn't really a problem. "It's such a great job and because it's an ensemble piece, we don't work every day. The days I have off, I so appreciate now. I've got a bit of money now so I can go for sushi or take my girlfriend someplace nice. I also love body boarding and I've just started taking up surfing. I just graduated to standing up on the wave. And I adore golf. And there it is — I get back and I've got four wonderful scenes with great actors and such camaraderie. It truly is a dream, dream job. I'll sorely miss it when it's over. And it'll come about too soon. Seven years seems quite a long time, but you know what, it'll fly by and it will be sad when it's over."

In the meantime, occasional brushes with celebrity are bound to happen. "It happened the other night for the first time. Two weekends ago, my neighbors took me and my girlfriend out with some friends of theirs. They rented a limo and we went to the opening of this rather swanky, new, swish restaurant here in LA, opened by this trendy chef called Fred. The limo pulled up and I didn't realize what a circus it was going to be when we got there. We took our steps on to the red carpet and as we were walking down the red carpet — and I've been to Star Trek events and UPN events before, where I understood there would be people there who would want to take pictures of me but I didn't expect this for a second — all these photographers started shouting out my name. I was absolutely bowled over! I've got Beck in front of me, Gwen Stefani two back from me and they're shouting, 'Over here, Dominic, over here!' It really took me by surprise. I can't say that I didn't like it, but it really did take me by surprise. I had a bit of the recognition thing back in England after doing [the sitcom] Desmond's for a few years. I don't want to say I'm used to being recognized, but I'm certainly not phased by it. I was prepared. That moment coming out of the limo was definitely like, 'Oh, I've arrived.'"

His future bright, Dominic Keating can wonder comfortably what it holds. "Who knows? Certainly for the foreseeable future, I can't see why I would want to move back to England full-time. I still have a flat there. Nothing would thrill me more than to come back to London during the hiatus and do a really good play. Or maybe live in London for a couple of years after the show finishes ? do some guest roles on other shows, maybe.

"I'm really happy with the way things have panned out. I'm still a young man, [I'll] still be fairly fresh when I come out the other end. I think I'm pretty versatile."

Source: startrek.com

[cairfrey]

Most people went into a guild and either through determination or depression stayed there for their entire lives. A smaller group would bounce around different guilds until they found one that fit for them. Those who never found a place where they belonged, were considered "The Unguilded". Though they were few and far between, even The Chosen was technically a member of the Civil Servants' Guild, regardless of their previous affiliations. It didn't stop The Unguilded from being a big talking point for vying politicians.

Some guilds were naturally more popular than others, but every branch of employment was covered by a guild in some way. The Engineers' Guild provided the maintenance for the station, from mechanical to technical. The Chefs' Guild managed bartenders to somaliers, fast food to banquet halls. The Entertainers' Guild covers actors to musicians, gamblers to prostitutes. And usually in that order. With all that option, people usually got into their guild of choice, of not their branch.

Quinn Taylor is currently studying for their Educators' Guild membership. A long course of lectures, assignments, portfolios, teaching, and stress that would eventually culminate in a safety net membership.

No matter what happened, once getting into The Educators' Guild you could always rely on it to support you. Hell, it was only four months in and Quinn hadn't had to pay for any accommodation in that time thanks to the Guild.

That had been part of the draw of the Guild, free room and board. Quinn could go through any amount of lectures and training if it meant they could reduce the bills they pay. It was only when they were moving in that they realised it was a shared room with two bunks. Even if they hadn't already quit the lease on their old place, and didn't have any other option, they still would have stayed. Landlords could be difficult.

Quinn's roommate, Calliope, had turned out to be a blessing though. She had even helped Quinn get their sofa, which was much too large for their dorm, wedged into a somewhat usable spot. The selling point for Calliope had been when Quinn (reluctantly) agreed that they could use a chainsaw to get it out when they'd both been accepted into the guild proper. Quinn had agreed after realising that, as much as they loved that sofa, the realities of getting it out of the dorm meant that a chainsaw was going to be the best option.

Now, taking advantage of their time together, Quinn was stretched out along the three seats of the sofa, reading an academic journal on pedagogies. Quinn had reread the same line three times already, but now the text had changed to read, "You're a lazy idiot who's wasting everyone's time. Go back to Customer Service, moron." They rubbed their eyes. Once again, the sentence read "However, this case study enactments of this chapter also demonstrates how..."

Quinn threw the book against the bunks on the spinward wall, breaking Calliope's studious silence and accompanying the clatter with a loud scream from the pit of their stomach, "Graaaaaaaah, I don't care! I don't care. I don't care. I. Do. Not. Care!"

[gangrenados]

Ahem... I'm here to ask you to teach me the way

Lmao I see you post a lot about Jason todd (I followed you for other fandoms so I don't really know much about DC and such) BUT, all your red hood rambles and writing and art rebblogs has me hooked.

I wanna know about that dude. ALL about him! And something tells me ur the right one for that.

I'm glad my fixation got you interested in him, that's such an honor! 😫💕

Okay I'm kinda new in this whole DC thing as well so I'm sorry if I'm missing some info. For your knowledge I’m gonna talk about him as if he were an oc, you know those info pages about oc’s? yup

If you want a proper explanation watch Under the Red Hood or read Red Hood: the lost days and if you wanna know more about Arkham Knight then Arkham Knight: Genesis is your choice. Those are good guides tbh

Dios que hombre lpm 😫🤰🏽

•Jason is about 6'0-6'4 ,blue green-ish eyes, black hair, kinda pale (I would say a white tan if that’s a thing), black hair, built like a tank (230 lbs) and I think he's in his mid twenties maybe? I'm not sure.

• Jason is the second Robin, adopted by Bruce after he found him trying to steal the tires of the Batmobil.

 •His new life in the Wayne manor gave him access to education, proper nutrition and also the chance to discover new activities as well. Jason's passion for literature and theater grew in those days.

• I want to point out here that Jason was a really smart kiddo, just impulsive (he still is like this, some things never change)

• He had a really rough childhood, none of his parents wanted him, in fact they trying to give to a mob to get out of debts when he was just a newborn. In less words: they were really fucking neglectful towards him.

 •Anyway, Jason loved his time as Robin. It gave him magic™, but he was also insecure about not being good enough in this, he seemed to not like when others compared him to Dick (the first Robin)

•However, all of this came to an end when the Joker tricked him, tortured him and killed Jason in an explosion (in the Arkham Knight version the Joker tortured Jason for almost a year and shot him in the head)

•He was revived in the Lazarus Pit since Ra's al Ghul thought Bruce would like it and stayed with the League of Assasins for a while. He was trained by Talia aka daughter of Ra's and they had an affair, but nothing came out of it since Talia still had feeling for Brucie.

•Well, Jason hold grudges against the Batfam for a long time, specially with Bruce since he didn't avenge his death and killed the Joker.

•Jason felt that he never meant nothing to him, he felt betrayed. So he did his best to take down Batman.

•Red Hood in his words he was "the hero Gotham needed". He killed criminals and even became a  crime boss at some point, the underdogs feard him.

•Red Hood had his limits though, he might put some lead in a criminal's head but will try to contain himself when a kid was involved, specially if they have a similiar story like him.

•Also he helps those who doesn't have resources and the defenseless. Bring home and medicine to shelters, makes sure dealers doesn't fuck with schools, tries his damn best to keep safe the sex workers of Gotham, etc. I'm not quite sure if this was a headcanon or if it's 100% canon tho

•Anyway, he later stoped his attempts to kill the Bat for a while a created a team with Arsenal and Starfire (later with Artemis and Bizarro) and now is a decent state of mind? yeah

•He also likes dogs, can cook pretty well, has a smoker past, is pretty damn good with guns, did I mention he was a crime boss?, theatre nerd and literature lover, might slap you if you say Shakespeare sucks lol and is pretty laid back in general, arrogant and sarcastic, but deeply insecure and can be self loathing sometimes.

•There’s a headcanon that says he has an autopsy scar across his chest, like in this fan art:

•And the white streak comes from his resurrection in the pit, but sadly not many issues include it 

-Right now there's a live action version of him in titans, but his story is slightly different from what I've told you.

He's more angsty and a ball of anger, but he has his sweets moments tho. I like how to actor played him as Robin, but I'm not so convinced about him being Red Hood.

-And there's the otherversion (my favorite if were being honest) were Matthew Daddario is his fancast, mostly in his Red Hood version.

I don't know, I think it fits him more

[a-mirror-of-memories]

Ml prompts (salt edition)

As I promised, this are just some of the plots for fics that I been thinking, a few for a while, others today or this week. Not all of them involve Lila, and even in those she’s not always the focus (Not all of them can be considered ‘salt’ exactly, while others can be labeled as ‘actions have consequences’).

In case anyone want to use them this are the rules (I can made them since this are my ideas):

First of all I want to be tagged for the original idea.

No OOC or bashing of any character (except Gabriel).

No Alya salt unless it’s minimum and only if she’s redeemed at the end. She already gets more than enough hate from the fandom.

Other than that, please refrain of using any of the tropes mentioned in this post:

Max has a crush on Lila, that’s why he keeps believing everything she says (I thought this long before the twitter comment; besides it says that Max’s asexual, not aromatic).

Kim wants to be supporting since she’s his best friend’ first love, even if he doesn’t believe all of her tales (he’s not ruining his chances to become an Olympic medalist following a training regimen that Lila insist ‘was created for my great uncle, a platinum medalist’).

Alix’s getting sick of Lila, if she wanted to hear some self-insert bad fanfic she would spend more time with her brother.

Juleka wants to believe Lila and follows her advices about 'how to be a good model’ until her family intervenes.

After getting several comments complaining of how the Ladyblog’s really unorganized, Alya finally decide to create a side blog (Miracutales) for all the fan-arts and fanfics links her followers keep sending her, and with Nora’s help she spends a whole afternoon fixing her blog. When Lila’s finally exposed the blogger freaks out until her sister comments “Wait, that interview? I send it to your fanfic blog ages ago”.

Lila going on and on to Mylene about a movie actor the other admires, how they’re 'like this’ and that 'I can introduce you to him, he thinks of me as his niece’. Meanwhile the rainbow haired girl’s just nodding with a forced smile while the Italian keep spewing bullshit about her favorite theater actress.

Nino barging into Marinette’s room dragging his little brother, saying that she needed to watch over him on his place since he has a date with Alya. Cue to Alya clearing her throat from the other side of the room, where they were working on a school project.

Lila stole Nathaniel’s sketchbook the day before an important meeting and hid it in Marinette’s locker. Ignoring almost the whole class insistence that she didn’t do it, that anyone could’ve put it in there since there’s no locks, he grabbed her own sketchbook from her bag and ripped it into pieces to everyone’s horror. Marc saw this and he’s akumatized; once it’s all over he still ends their partnership*

*Although cruel, I don’t believe that this is so out of character for Nathaniel. He already has proven to have serious anger issues in Reverser and Evilustrador (While I don’t hold him responsible for what he did under Gabriel’s control, comparing him to other akumas wanting to get revenge of Chloe it’s worrying how much pleasure he seemed to find while tormenting her).

Adrien keep blowing off plans to hang out with his friends to go away as Chat Noir, using the excuse that his father keep adding things to his schedule. One day after he canceled once again, saying that he has a last minute photo shoot, the boys are hanging out in the park where they cross with Vincent. He tells them that he’s the only photograph that Gabriel Agreste trust to work with his son, and that Mr. Agreste was away on a trip for the weekend so Adrien’s schedule was pretty much free until his father came back.

It’s election time again and the Mayor’s opposition has a new slogan: “If he can’t even control his daughter, how can we trust him to protect this city best interest?”

Someone as a joke proposed Xavier Ramier (Mr. Pidgeon) as Mayor. He won.

Felix GV returns and once again pretends to be his cousin. He’s dragged into a photo shoot with Lila; he may be a bastard who hates his uncle and he may be annoyed with Adrien but he still has standards.

With the end of the school year near Alya’s just relieved that since they’ll start Lycée they wouldn’t have to deal with Chloe and Bustier (with her fairytales for assignments) ever again. Until a conversation with Marinette.

“What do you mean we would have Bustier again next year? We’re done with Francoise Dupond! She was your teacher for five years in a row*?! That woman is an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER??!”

*Until Chat Blanc Marinette’s been in Chloe class for five years now, at least four of them with Bustier according to picture’s day. Their class’ in middle school a.k.a three years so…well, that explains a lot about her teaching methods.

Marinette decides to let go of her crush on Adrien (not bashing), and with Alya supporting her choice (even if she doesn’t totally agree with giving up) Rose becomes the new captain of the Adrienette ship; trying to get them together against her friend wishes.

After discovering Hawk Moth’s identity Marinette decides she’ll never be like him and toss aside her dream of be a famous fashion designer. She either finds a new dream or simply opens just a small store away from the spotlight, with sporadic commission for people she’s close to.

At last, I like to call this section’s “Responsible Adults (Are trying their best)”

Marinette doesn’t know every celebrity under the sun, only Jagged, Nadja and maybe Clara. Gina Dupain, world traveler extraordinary, however has a rare gift when it comes to meeting new people by chance without knowing who they are*. 

(“I sat beside this guy once in a plane, he was such a charming young man. Here, there’s a pic” “Nonna that was *insert celebrity here*!” “Who?”)

*This in the only kind of celebrity insert I would aprove.

Surprise inspection from the French educational department (whatever it’s called), some heads are going to roll.

Officer Raincomprix at first was happy that Sabrina stopped hanging out with Chloe and made a real friend; then he realized that this girl was even worse than the Mayor’s daughter.

The school nurse accidentally cause an international affair after calling the Italian Embassy asking why the Ambassador’s daughter didn’t have the proper vaccines for all the travels she keep claiming to have made.

After seeing Nathalie faint in the middle of a car drive, a worried Gorilla brings her to the ER. While checking her vitals (she’s still unconscious) a nurse accidentally knocks her brooch out of her coat, and while putting it back a strange creature materialize in front of them.

“Any of you has Ladybug in speed dial?”

One of the Agreste servants (let’s be honest, how else would that place stay clean) discovers Hawk Moth secret lair.

“I don’t get paid enough for this”.

[ordinaryschmuck]

The Owl House Season 2 predictions

With it being a year since The Owl House premiered (my goodness, it's already been a year), and we have yet to get any information on season 2, I've decided to try and fill that void of nothing. How? 

Well, I mean, you've read the title. I had assumed that it was pretty obvious.

Jokes aside, I fully accept that I'm going to be wrong about most of these predictions. Will I be ecstatic if I got a few right? Of course. But will I be like the Star Wars fandom and get all angry when the writers do their own thing rather than write something how I would have wanted it. Also, I'm not going to be one of those who are so confident in their predictions that they leave a spoiler warning. Got it? Good. Now, here's what I think will happen:

Luz coming out as bisexual will be treated as no big deal. Think less of her saying it like it's a life-changing revelation and more like her just saying, "I'm bi." I even made a prediction about how that could work, so check that if you want.

But while we're on the subject of LGBTQ+ rep, let's talk about Lumity for a spell, shall we? First off, I fully expect them to get together in season two, especially since we might not get a season three, and the writers will probably try to give fans the proper payoff sooner than later. Plus, with how fast Amity went from hating Luz to falling for her, hard, it's safe to say that progress will be made at least halfway through the next season.

And seeing how a grom night poster hinted at the best episode so far, I'm willing to bet that Romeo and Ghouliet poster in the background of "Wing it Like Witches" might lead to something more spectacular. Like, maybe Luz and Amity try out to be in a school play, but in a Boiling Isles twist, it's haunted by the ghost of an actress who never confessed her feelings towards the person she likes the most. And maybe decides to possess one of the actors who feels the same way to voice that frustration. Hint, hint.

But enough about Lumity (for now). What about the other characters? Well, for Eda, I expect we'll get one episode, or several, about her learning Luz's way of doing magic. I doubt that she'll be a master of glyph magic right off the bat, and there will be a learning curve for her to rely on a new source of power.

Plus, with Lilith being the only one who can do magic (she said her powers are dwindling, not that they have disappeared), I expect to see her to kind of replace Eda as the one who uses magical solutions when things become too dire. I also predict she will try to train Luz, being the only one who takes education seriously. This could also tie into her redemption, as spending more time with Luz has proven to change people for the better.

On the topic of redemption, I fully expect Lilith to slowly become more of a better person throughout season two. By trying to prove that she's changed, I predict that there will be several episodes next season dedicated to Lilith making up for past sins. Who knows, maybe the crew will do something cool by having her prim and proper design fade away slowly into something more laid back but still respectable.

But while Lilith will work on her redemption, I highly doubt that Amity's parents will even bother with it. When we're finally introduced to these two, I fully expect them to become secondary antagonists. Dana Terrace has already made it clear that Mrs. Blight is already one hell of a b-word, and I'd go so far as to call her the c-word, but let's talk about Mr. Blight for a minute. Because, yes, Dana said there was more to him than we might expect. But that's not entirely a good thing. There is a giant possibility that he's actually worse than what we've seen so far, so maybe don't jump the gun on how he's the redeemable one of the two.

But now that we're talking about parents, who wants to bet that Luz's mom is going to find out the truth this season? This can go one of two ways for me: Either Luz finally decides to spill the beans herself, or we'll get an entire episode dedicated to Camila finding out the truth behind the letters and realizing that her bebé never went to summer camp.

Finally, there's the prediction that I have the most confidence in: Emperor Belos will open the portal at the end of season two. And I see this going down one of two ways. One way is that this will be for a multi-part season finale where Luz has to close the portal in time before the Emperor's coven causes too much damage. The other depends on whether we'll get a season three, as the portal will result in the Boiling Isles merging with the human world, resulting in a season-long arc with Luz and company trying to undo what Belos has done. I see either option as plausible, but I really hope the crew doesn't use the ladder as a hail mary for a third season because that rarely ever works.

And these are just my predictions. I'm sure that you have your own, and I'd love to hear them. And no matter how right, or how wrong, we are, I hope that we can all agree that season two is going to be amazing.

[cafedanslanuit]

RFA + V + Saeran with a s/o that goes to protests

As I mentioned before, I’m from Perú. We’ve had several marches in the past few years because we’ve reached levels of corruption that are just nauseating. I’ve attended most of them and have been tear-gassed, chased by policemen riding horses and pushed around in return. One of the things that made me really sad was that two of my boyfriends were opposed to me going to the streets and claiming justice for my country.

So, did I write these headcanons just because I was salty all my ex-boyfriends hated when I attended protests about important matters in my country? Yes

Was that one of the reasons I broke up with them? Maybe

Should you stop going to protests or marches just because your s/o doesn’t like it? ABSOLUTELY NOT

Anyway, have these perfect boys/girl being supportive.

a/n: These headcanons are not set on a particular movement, but are rather about protests about unjust systems in general.

Yoosung

Is he scared? Yes

Is he still going no matter what? YOU BET HE IS

You may think he’s just going with you because he’s your boyfriend but he does care about the injustice you’re both protesting about 

Also, I’ll never stop saying this: Yoosung is brave. He may be scared sometimes but true courage is doing what you have to do despite of that fear

So he’ll hold your hand through it, even help you make some signs.

He’ll help other people if they get hurt during the protest

Just an angel

Zen

Zen wasn’t so keen on the idea at first, not gonna lie.

But after he took some time to educate himself and realized it was a bigger issue, you bet he’s on it

He’ll use his platform on social media to educate his fans, and even do one or two videos about the matter. In case donations are needed, he’ll also share links where they can donate and will donate some money of his own.

He’ll be a little scared about attending protests (mainly because he’s worried about his face getting hurt --it’s not about his narcissism anymore but he’s still an actor) but there’s nothing that will stop him from protecting his princess

Zen will be right by your side the whole time, using his height to check your surrounding in case you need to find a safe space

Jaehee

Sadly, it’s not like she had a choice to attend or not. Most of the protests occur during working hours and she couldn’t find the time.

But she will be really supportive of it! She doesn’t use social media that much but will try and share information to her contacts about it. 

She will also spread the word at work hehe

In case donations are needed, she would make a donation as well, making use of her savings since working at.

You think that was it? HA! drumrolls pleaaaase~

You are seriously misled if you don’t think Jaehee got in touch with other idols club presidents and joined forces to protest their own way by, for example, crashing the police app, reserving Trump rally tickets and not going, and more.

She’ll use any power she has to help out. Once you get home from the protests, please give her a call so she can make sure you’re okay, though.

Jumin

Depending on the motive of the protests, he will go through the list of businesses he’s previously partnered with and give them a call, giving them a timelapse to issue a statement supporting the cause. If it’s a corruption case, he will end the partnership, that’s all.

You may think Jumin wouldn’t be caught dead in a protest

But you’d be wrong

He may have brought his bodyguards to keep an eye on both you and him, but he’s there. There’s no way in hell he’d let you go on your own.

You managed to get him to wear a hoodie and more comfortable clothes instead of his classic three-piece suit. He wasn’t keen on the idea but understood they would be better in case of an emergency.

If donations are needed, he’ll make a massive donation in C&R’s name. And a slighter smaller one in your name.

If he’s not familiar with the issue in hand, he will ask to be educated. This man reads a lot and if you don’t have the time or energy to explain, he will find resources on his own and read. He will interview people. By the end of the day, he could give lectures about the subject (but he won’t---- that would be against the whole thing on being educated lol).

Saeyoung

You need a website going down? You got it, babe.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the police, a bad company or even a government page. If you wanted to make a statement, he would make sure the page went down.

If he’s still working as an agent, he will have to wear a face mask and a hoddie to avoid being recognized at a protest, but you bet he would be there. If he’s loaded with work and can’t possibly make it, he will keep an eye of you through CCTV. Although, all recordings of people protesting will magically disappear afterwards oooops.

His main focus would be the informatics part, though. So feed him as many ideas as you can, he will try his best to be your partner in crime and take down whatever entity is being unjust.

He may not be the tallest of the bulkier but he does have secret agent training so in case you are chased by the police he will be your best chance on escaping them successfully.

V / Jihyun

Jihyun is calm and loving but he’s also brave when it comes to protecting someone he loves.

So, he will be there with you during protests, holding your hand with you both chant against the injustice the protest is about.

He will help you raise funds if they are needed! He will sell several of his photos and have all money sent where it’s needed the most

Jihyun is a sensible guy, he will understand the reason why everyone is so angry and hungry for justice. So when you feel drained and just sad about everything that’s going through, he’ll sit you down on his lap and hug you, reassuring you the work you’re doing is important and that things are changing because of it, so you should feel proud.

Saeran

Saeran will also help with any hacking or coding you may need.

He’s a little more sensitive about injustice because he’s felt similarly since he was young. So, even if he’s still a little iffy about hacking again, he will use all his abilities for the greater good.

Will watch YouTube videos or read books to educate himself. There’s so much of the world he’s missed he may not understand some social issues at first, but after he’s read, he’s ready to put on his sneakers and take the streets.

You both end up setting a small station on the side of the road to help people who were injured in the protests. You also give out water to whoever needs to.

It’s been a while since you’ve seen him with a mask on, but his now red hair and kind eyes make you remember how far he’s come and how he’s willing to help anyone who needs it.

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。

a/n: Right now in Perú, there are clinics charging you S/.165 ($ 47.69) for medicine that usually costs S/.1 ($ 0.28). I’m not saying we should go out and protest right now because our healthcare system has officially collapsed, but please, don’t forget this. Don’t forget the clinic names. Don’t forget we’re living the consequences of decades of corruption our parents lived through in silence because the other choice was being called terrorists and going to jail without a proper trial. We’ll get through this. But we must not forget.

[nileqt87]

More thoughts on how to resurrect the Indiana Jones franchise post-Harrison Ford

Perhaps a proper, modern television show would be a good way to bring back a younger, but adult Indy (with perhaps flashbacks littered throughout). You can also get away with a lot more content (definitely aim for TV-14) and characters who are allowed to be flawed. Relationship dramas are serialized storytelling's forte in a way that is disappearing more and more from blockbuster films. Complicated characters are better left to television, as the audience expects and allows for it because of the nuance and depth the serialization affords. The complicated, messy story of Abner and Marion is a story best left to being explored only after the characters have some real complexity and development. It also wouldn't be forced to play to the mass audience of under-13s that makes modern PG-13 often meaningless. In comparison, TV-14 actually pushes up harder against its limits regularly--not just violence, but also with innuendo and sexuality minus nudity. The amount of historical-style, pulpy violence, not to mention potentially comically gruesome deaths, in Indy would also necessitate the rating. Indiana Jones might be niche enough at this point with an audience veering towards adults who grew up with it (Gen-X and the older end of Gen-Y), while Gen-Z has little awareness of it, that Disney wouldn't be forced to make it a total kiddie property. It's not the same situation as back in the early '90s with Young Indy being aimed at older kids who had recently seen Last Crusade in the theater. They could reboot it for television with a young adult Indy who potentially could grow into a fully adult version. And I wouldn't try too hard to not step on the trilogy's toes with the timeline. Just let it live in its own developing continuity.

Use of long-running supporting cast (parents, Remy and returning guest stars aside) would also be a big difference from Young Indy. Characters like Belloq (could potentially go from friend to antagonist, akin to how Smallville handled Lex), Sallah, Henry, Brody, Abner, Marion, etc... could actually be around a lot more than just for an adventure here or there. These are all characters Indy had clearly known for years. Actually put the show into a seasonal, serialized format that isn't a new cast every episode. You could also stick around in locations a lot longer this way, which would help with budget.

Another thought I've had since watching an absolute ton of fantasy/sci-fi dramas in the last few years is that the influence of Indiana Jones is actually pretty apparent in a number of pretty famous characters, sometimes overtly and sometimes a bit more subtly. Harrison, Indy or Raiders in general are outright name-checked in quite a few places, often by scrappy action hero types who tend to take hard beatings (the kinds of characters who should've died a hundred times over) while in situations they're way over their heads in or literally impossible odds they can't win. Like Indy, the intended prize isn't won at the end and, outside of a few gruesome baddie deaths, the shady, corrupt or evil barely get a dent. Fox Mulder and Dean Winchester are two characters who name-check the comparison overtly and you can see the writers and actors both having the influence in mind. It's obviously a male fantasy, too. The influence on The X-Files and Supernatural is definitely there. Supernatural is chock full of biblical MacGuffins (not to mention having angels and demons as most of its recurring supporting cast), so it would be a hard comparison to avoid. Raiders came up in the WWII Nazi submarine episode with a piece of the Ark onboard (it's subsequently a show to raid for Indy ideas, because they pretty much mined everything biblical), for example. The X-Files likewise was dealing with shady government officials and pretty blatantly copied the huge warehouse of government secrets loaded with alien relics (and then repeated the Cigarette Smoking Man's warehouse reveal with the tunnel of filing cabinets stretching on forever). Mulder was also very much a one-man army a lot of the time when it came to the alien conspiracy (no offense to Scully). Moments like him climbing/riding the tops of sky rides, trains and escaping the spaceship were total Indy-esque moments. Sam and Dean had literal God-tier levels of plot armor keeping them alive (repeated resurrections included). Angel is another one that, unlike Mulder and the Winchesters being very human, is a supernatural character (subsequently his level of pain tolerance and durability is at the level of regular impalement, defenestration out of skyscrapers and being set on fire), but the comparison still holds because of how often he's getting decimated and fighting forces way beyond his pay grade. Wolfram & Hart, the Shanshu and seeking redemption with the Powers that Be, like the mytharc conspiracy/alien takeover and literal God a.k.a. Chuck, is another endless, unwinnable fight that is so far beyond all the protagonists that there's no win/happily ever after and they'd be lucky just walking away from it with nothing. Angel also name-checks Indy with a blatantly Indy-inspired fantasy dream episode (Awakening in season 4) with Angelus making a crack about the Raiders fantasy. George Lucas actually visited the Angel set back in 2000 and was interested in how they were making mini movies every week and doing some pretty huge stunts on television. David Boreanaz had lunch with Lucas and has talked about it a few times over the many years. I mean, these are all shows starring action-oriented leading men and writing staffs of relatively similar age. Mostly Gen-X males with a few Baby Boomers (more so on the writing staff) with an audience that's primarily Gen-Y but appealing to a pretty broad age range (and probably a lot more female than originally intended!). Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford films in general were very formative to that generation. Harrison Ford is the ultimate leading man action star to a certain generation. Gen-Y got their familiarity with all of that by being the original home video/VHS generation and subsequently a lot more familiar with retro media (including things that were made before they were born or around that time) than Gen-Z. '80s movies have a lot of currency and familiarity still with Gen-Y, even if Baby Boomers were the stars of them and Gen-X were the ones who saw them in theaters. Gen-Y fangirls absolutely dominate the fandoms of many iconic television supernatural/sci-fi franchises (many are admittedly aging franchises). The WB/CW have catered to this group of fans for the last two and a half decades. If you're going to be reviving the character as a mid-20s-to-30s version (if the show lasts long enough, it probably will be stepping on the trilogy's toes timeline-wise by the end), I'd absolutely be aiming for this same audience and their tastes. They're also the audience who would be most receptive to and familiar with the character, IMO. If I were going to reinvent Indiana Jones for the television landscape, I would definitely be looking at those sorts of shows that have influence from the character already in their DNA. I think for the target audience, they'd definitely need to be aiming it at the same fanbases. Young Indy mostly tried to avoid stepping on Raiders' toes (despite Temple of Doom and Mask of Evil already making it ludicrous) by limiting the amount of supernatural elements, but I think a show would have to go all in on it. Indy would have to be transformed a bit in regards to trying to line him up with a character who would still be skeptical after all he's seen. Young Indy ended up forced into being a straight period drama with educational elements, which is very counter to what the audience wanted. There are things to keep from that approach (meeting historical persons, being a WWI veteran and witnessing history could absolutely be mined as backdrops to the stories), but the supernatural elements would have to exist in a revival now to get the audience who I think would be most receptive to it. While I would aim for a serialized drama format that would mean the globetrotting wouldn't have to completely change locations every episode (have it instead in arcs with some bigger MacGuffins and baddies perhaps crossing entire seasons), it's true that there would probably have to be more location filming than good, ol' Vancouver, but Disney is one of the few who could afford it (though Covid certainly would throw a wrench in it and political situations could potentially kill off certain locations). There's only so much green screen that Indy could get away with, though I imagine that a fair amount of it would have to be used for period piece reasons alone. There are a lot of modern intrusions even in historically-intact cities (Eastern Europe comes to mind as having a lot of its architecture intact and is affordable to film in) and around iconic landscapes to paint out. But at its core, it probably would need to bulk up its focus on the relationship dramas. Indy tends to have a girl at every port and to a degree you would introduce some of these love interests, but there's still a lot of relationships of every kind that could be developed and serialized. Certainly throw in a few femme fatales and tragic losses, given the Smallville-esque situation of there being an inevitable Indy/Marion endgame that should be kept--it thus becomes about the journey when it's a set conclusion. Absolutely have a strong recurring cast of Henry and friends new and old. The films actually have a lot of characters that Indy didn't just meet yesterday and could be developed to a huge extent. For a show to work now, there'd have to be a lot more connectivity to how often the recurring cast appear. Young Indy had a lot more of an anthology format with little chance of us getting attached to most of the revolving cast outside of a very tiny few. That's the biggest thing I'd change. You need characters to become regulars beyond just Indy if it were revived for modern cinematic television (the true successor to the film serials of the '30s!) in a way that isn't necessary for film installments.

[ultracreativelywritten]

With the sparked hot rod anon, how come he has to hide it in the TFA verse? What's the backstory there?

Basically, I see the tfa verse controlled by Order theory, a Structural Functionalism, as one would say.

 This got long, so read at your own peril. 

At the top, we have our Magnus and the elite guard. Making them who controls  what is right and wrong with society. They make spoken and unspoken laws. The only others in this category are heroic primes that died in battle, and help perpetuate the myth of getting to the top of this ladder to the middle and lower classes. 

under them, we have the upper class. Mine owners, A list actors,top scholars, if lucky a renowned surgeon, the one percent. They are sleek and shiny, but buffer than your average mini-bot or two-wheeler. Not to buff to be an average worker.. They perpetuate the myth that bots can pick themselves out of the rubble and reach the very top if they work hard enough. 

in our upper middle class, we have those who have graduated the academy, but work desk jobs. They are battle trained, but spend most of their time fighting paperwork. That certification has them in a higher bracket than an average cybertronian. We also have Most of the Primes, and some of the older medics in this category.

the lower Middle class is the average worker. They run shops/businesses. Work in offices, a majority of medics also  fit into this category. They are the day to day of cybertron. Going home and watching the news, listening to the stories of heroic primes, and stories of rags to riches. Not battle trained, but could be if there was a threat to the planet or a civil war.

our working poor is like that of janitors, miners, factory workers, and other low paying jobs. They do not make enough to have a good home or proper fuel, but they have a job and do not qualify for government help. If there was someone who said that they could help their situation, they would join in a sparkbeat. 

at the very bottom we have carriers/breeders, prisoners and drones. The system does not give them rights, nor a say in what goes on. Drones are often stripped off all emotion and free will, and are an example of what will happen of to those who step out of line. Prisoners are the buffers from the drones, but are not treated with respect or care. They are there to “relearn” the system of society, or learn their place. 

Carriers/breeders on the other hand, are treated with care... until the aspire to be more. Most of the times, carriers are married off in their ladder rungs with the exception of the upper (where no carriers can reach publicly) and very bottom rung. They are the home makers and carriers of society. They are frail and kind. Would never hurt a fly. That’s what the top wants you to think. When a Carrier wants to be something else other than a Homemaker or a mother, they are either talked out or in some extreme cases sent to an institution that specializes in “carrier education”. Where carriers are “taught” to “love” home making and taking care of sparklings and their mates. All with a big smile! 

[mountain-ash-and-rusted-iron]

this is an oc masterpost of all my haf-formed ocs languishing on pinterest with their messy aesthetics and unedited blurbs, in roughly chronological order of their creation, plus sorted by fandom. this post is only asoiaf, harry potter, hunger games, and riverdale, cos i have tooooooo many original characters otherwise and the post was getting incredibly long. (note that i love my ocs but these one’s are not polished or even the final versions of their characters, i just wanted to post them lol)

under a read more, if you’re on mobile start scrolling i guess, sorry,,,

Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire:

Laeya Targeryen: (child of Rhaella and Aerys Targaryen, born 280 AC - three years older than Danaerys) 

Fearful of her impending marriage, Laeya is eleven when she takes her younger sister and flees across the sea to Dorne, hiding herself and Dany with dyed hair and badly controlled magic. As Leia and Dani Sand they learn to live normally. At 15 Leia joins the Royal Guard and secures Dany work as a tailor's apprentice. When she is 17, an assassin tries to kill her in front of the Dornish court and everything changes...

- so laeya straight up has magic, which im considering an extension of the dragon thing dany has - she can control flame and for the disguise uses her ‘inner fire’ to make her eyes white-blue like super hot flames, cos the purple eyes are super distinctive. and then she’s discovered and suddenly politics are happening. honestly she’s entirely a way for me to remove the child marriage bits of the targaryen storyline (stop marrying off your twelve-year-old baby sister viserys u asshole) - in terms of meta/basics, laeya doesn’t have a fc cos most of my early ocs don’t, and bcs i picture her as emilia clarke with faked dark hair and blue eyes lol

and a quick aesthetic below:

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Kyrra Snow: (child of Robert Baratheon and Maery Snow, birthdate ???)

Kyrra Snow is the eldest natural-born child of Robert Baratheon, current King of Westeros, and daughter of Maery Snow, a Southron (but Northern-born) merchant woman. After her mother realises Kyrra was growing up a little too much like her father in looks and needed to leave the far South before she caught the wrong sort of attention, Kyrra was sent off to travel with her aunt and cousins. She is 17 and heading further north, to Winter Town, when Jon Arryn dies.

- kyrra’s another child of everyone’s favourite asshole king, and she’s got a lot of people after her head, but she just wants to travel and continue her work as a simple peddler. (riiip poor girl) honestly she’s not that developed but yolo -

aes:

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Brynn Stark: (child of Catelyn and Eddard Stark, Robb’s twin sister)  

Brynn believes in honour and family, and she is loyal to Winterfell and the North above all else. Likes - archery, embroidery and weaving. Betrothed to [some young Northern lord] to keep the bonds between the Norther families strong.

-i basically made brynn as a contrast to sansa’s pro-southnness and excessive femininity and arya’s anger and desire for swords (relatable mood tho lmao). so brynn is here to mediate, extoll the virtues of both needlework and weapons, make a decent marriage to someone she likes, if not loves, and hold down the fort in the North while shit gets increasingly messier in the South. and a possible faceclaim is Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey - 

aes:

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Rosienne Lannister: (child of Joanna and Tywin Lannister, born 273 AC)

Rose is looked at by the realm with dismissal, a consolation prize for her father, a spare daughter only useful for matchmaking, but at least able-bodied and pretty, unlike her brother. After a long betrothal, Rose is married to Willas Tyrell at the age of eighteen, cementing her role as the next Lady of High Garden...

- Rosie/Rose is a bonus Lannister, bcs why not. likes cyvasse and the harp, soft and kind and maternal, powerful in her own way. originally she was from a minor divergence where joanna survives tyrion’s birth and goes on to have another kid, but not sure if i’ll keep that aspect, so for now she’s tyrion’s twin -

and her aes (yes that quote is cropped, no i don’t care rn):

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honourable mentions to my other got underdeveloped got/asoiaf ocs who need more effort before i post properly about them:

Tamlen Storm, a rookery apprentice (working for the Maester of House Tully, managing the ravens) who may or may not be a reincarnated si-oc trying to save westeros, 

and an unnamed northern huntress who stumbled into the plot somehow and wants her normal life back (entirely inspired by Keira Knightley as Gwyn in Princess of Thieves, when she’s doing archery stuff and looking v butch).

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Harry Potter:

Taurus ‘Ara’ Lestrange:  (child of Bellatrix and Roldolphous Lestrange, born 1978) 

Raised by the Goblins after a legal mix-up following her parents' imprisonment in Azkaban, Taurus is good with a sword and aiming to be the next Minister of Magic. She attends Hogwarts with the other magical kids her age, under the fake identity Ara Burke, unknown cousin of a minor half-blood family. When the Potter brat’s drama starts destroying her change at an education just as her fourth year, her OWL prep year, begins, Ara intervenes.

- im tangentially aware that as bellatrix’s kid she’s almost occupying the place of whats-her-name from the cursed child, but considering that i know nothing about the cursed child and don’t care about it anyway, i have elected to ignore this. her actual parent might turn out to be some smitten half-blood from a minor branch of the Greengrass family, or it might actually be Rodolphous, who knows. slightly inspired by the fic ‘Harry Crow’ (by robst on ff.net) where harry is raised by the goblins -

messy aes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valerian Potter: (child of Lily and James Potter, born 1980)

After the Potter twins’ parents are murdered by Voldemort, they’re dumped on the doorstep of Number 4, Privet Drive. Dealing with two traumatised magical orphans, Petunia and Vernon Dursley turn to violence and neglect to stay in control, acting far more harshly than expected. With the arrival of two Hogwarts letters, life gets complicated incredibly quickly. (Self-sufficient and scarred from abuse, Val and Harry are immediately Sorted into Slytherin). 

- val’s fic is basically an angst fest, okay,,, -

aes:

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and shout-outs to: holly addison potter, a half-baked reincarnation si-oc (i love that concept a lot, can u tell) and my fav girl thea dursley, who already has her own fic and so isn’t getting a proper spot in this post 

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The Hunger Games:

Asher: (District Two, age 18) 

[rip no blurb for asher]

-asher is a career from two, who wins the 70th games. mostly im focusing on her recovery and how the games function in two, with training volunteers and mentoring and collecting sponsors, plus eventually the rebellion. lots of the D2 headcanon i have is inspired by @/lorata but i defintely made a distinct effort to have my own stuff, cos where’s the fun in plagiarism -

aes for Asher’s Games:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Rowan Everdeen: (District Twelve, age 19)

Rowan will do anything to protect her family. This extends to going to Head Peacekeeper Cray on a cold winters night, charging the most she can get for her virginity.  It extends to Reaping Day, when she steps out in front of the crowd and says “I volunteer as tribute” in the steadiest voice she can muster.  It extends to clawing her way out of the Arena, bloody and exhausted, with blades in her hands and violence kept tucked behind her teeth. It extends further, to a simple ‘Yes, President Snow’ when he coldly, carefully implies her family might meet with an accident if she doesn’t play the good little Victor (and fuck the people who pay the Capitol for her company). It extends to joining the Rebellion, to looking President Coin directly in the eye and agreeing to be a Mockingjay, a symbol for the people to rally around.

- another everdeen kiddo! as the big sister, rowan volunteers for prim, and goes through the Games - she’s a healer and a hunter, and a decent enough actor that she can manage interviews and a camera presence, unlike katniss. rowan also pairs well with a minor au i have, where the reapings are spaced out over a week and official training is a longer, giving the capitol a nice, long buildup to get excited and place bets, etc., and giving the poor, underfed tributes from the outer districts a better chance, which makes for more interesting television and better Games -

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

Adrasteia Crane: (The Capitol, age 28) Unlike her big brother, Adrasteia doesn’t want to be a Gamemaker. Instead, she wants to create clothes, artwork, to enrapture the Capitol. She wants to be a Games stylist. After years of design school, of working her way up the ranks, first a PA’s assistant, and then fetching and carrying for Twelve’s prep team, and then eventually on a prep team for the dull tributes from Six, Adrasteia Crane finally has what she wants - the position of stylist for District Three’s male tribute in 74th Hunger Games. 

- tbh adrasteia is only seneca crane’s sister because i couldn’t think of a suitable last name for her lmao. i think i’d actually prefer her to be unattached to any major canon players. however, his death is a good motivation for her to join the rebellion, so we’ll see. she’s got a bit of the capitol fashion thing going too, with soft pink hair and diamond-effect skin on her face and shoulders -

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

also bonus hunger games content: another oc, Sarsaparilla Verran, from District Eleven, fifteen and alone when she goes into the Games. An orphan, her siblings lost to the Community Home system years ago, her relatives dead or uncaring. So, Rilla is a wee lonely bab tbh. she did not want this, unlike most of my other hg ocs, and she’s not excited for weeks of murder. she just wants her family back, but since that isn’t possible, she’ll build a new family instead. and uuhhhhh,  spoiler alert, she dies before she can have this ://///

and my hunger games aus - a canon divergence where katniss joins the careers instead of peeta, her desire to go home to her family outweighing her reactive hate for the concept of training/volunteering to kill other teens, and a fem!Haymitch au where she’s a little wiser to the dark side of the capitol before she commits acts of rebellion (she still rebels anyway tho, just smarter).

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

Riverdale:

Cat Cooper: (middle child of Alice and Hal Cooper) Cat Cooper (17) is the black sheep of the Cooper family. Her piercings, brightly dyed hair and connections to the Southside Serpents make her the odd one out among her sisters and constantly at odds with Alice Cooper. Cat’s life is occupied with her Serpent friends, work at a local coffee shop, and training - martial arts, supplemented with cross country, gymnastics and swimming. Until her older sister is shipped off to places unknown and her baby sister starts getting caught up in murder investigation with the absent Serpent heir... 

- haven’t decided between Catelyn or Catherine for Cat’s full name lmao. she used to be Kit, actually, but I changed it cos i prefer Kit to solely be my divergent oc (kit serafim). Cat is an ADHD disaster who loves her sisters and her friends and wants to get the hell out of Riverdale on a sports scholarship (she does either boxing or karate mainly, need to figure that bit out) -

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

Georgie Andrews: (child of Mary and Fred Andrews)

Georgie likes soft drinks, cheerleading, and hanging out with the Blossom twins and Polly Cooper, their closest friends and a welcome distraction from their own problems. After Polly and Jason vanish, Georgie’s support system is almost gone, and they has to deal with everything they’ve been bottling up, just in time for Fred Andrews to get shot.

- also just angst ngl.  so georgie’s gender is basically ???, they enjoy cheerleading and not much else. they spend half their time dealing with depression, by trying to ignore stressful/hard topics and focus on the good side of everything. this isn’t a great long-term coping mechanism and has the fun side effect of pissing of the people around him when she seems unable to be serious or empathetic to someone else's pain (bcs she’s too busy deflecting for the sake of her own fragile mental health), so it gets fun when fred is shot and archie starts getting in too deep with the lodges -

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

Sera Thornstone: (parents ???) Southside Serpent. Going to the Riverdale Community College and running errands for FP Jones. And secretly meeting up with her Ghoulie lover down by the Sweetwater where nobody goes. 

- everything about sera is vague and undecided lmao. but she has a ghoulie gf/bf/nbf? and they’re hiding that they were down by the river on the 4th of july, cos a serpent is an immediate suspect. going to community college to work on getting general credits before saving up for fancy school for law or journalism. the aes isn’t entirely accurate cos sera’s built from the remains of another serpent oc who i scrapped (she does have a baseball bat tho) -

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

and honourable mentions to jen johnson and octavia blossom-murphy, my other riverdale ocs who actually have content, plus an in-development unnamed oc who gets adopted from the soqm by the Muggs family and growsup with Ethel. and my riverdale role reversal au, which i will never write but have some nice aesthetics for under the tag wip: bughead role reversal au.

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

all my mini-aesthetics here are unsourced images/from pinterest. any similarities to other people or characters, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

alrighty that’s it. now i have to tag this behemoth argh

[marissapugliese]

Paper 1

How Dance made me who I am today

For my entire life I have been a resident of New York. I was born and raised in Brooklyn; to be specific, a neighborhood located in South West of Brooklyn called Dyker Heights. I grew up being constantly surrounded by my huge Italian family. 85% of my family lives in the same neighborhood or just minutes away which I am fortunate for. I don't quite speak the language fluently but my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles all can. For most of my family, Italian is their first language. Whenever my “Nonna” (italian term for Grandma. speak to me I understand what they are saying and can communicate back after having a second to think about it. Italians are known for their big Sunday dinners, which usually are held a bit earlier than usual dinner time. During these dinners you will eat pasta with tomato sauce, chicken cutlets, eggplant parmesan, meatballs, and everything you can imagine thrown together in a dinner with most of your family. Italians have an old school mentality and are big on learning how to take care of the house meaning cleaning, cooking, washing clothes, and etc. My Italian culture and background has influenced the way I was brought up, which was to always put family first, take care of your household, and eat delicious foods.

Dyker Heights is predominantly a residential neighborhood. Since most of the neighborhood is built up of housing, there is one main thoroughfare which is Dyker Heights Boulevard (13th Avenue). The boulevard is one of the only streets with businesses. As a young child all I really had to know was my neighborhood. My elementary school, dancing school, family, friends, dentist, doctor, and anything you could possibly imagine were just a few minutes away from me. When I was a child, most of the residents of Dyker Heights had come mainly from an Italian cultured background. My family’s culture is Italian as well, so I was mostly surrounded by individuals who grew up the same way I have or follow the same cultural aspects. I attended a Catholic school in Dyker Heights where most of the staff and students had come from the same Brooklyn/Italian culture as well. Although there were others of different races and backgrounds as well, predominantly most of us were similar. All students that attended this school had one thing in common and that was being raised following the Catholic religion. These similarities helped form bonds and friendships with the students at the school. Most of the students who attended the school lived in Dyker Heights or close to it. This made it easier for friendships to continue in and out of school. Along with knowing Dyker Heights well I also know the other neighborhoods that are “bridged” to it well like Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge, and Gravesend.

At the age of four I began dancing at a local dance studio in Dyker Heights, Danceworks Dance Center. Dance has influenced my life tremendously. From an early age, I had found a passion so deep that has impacted me, and my journey of life. As I said the studio is located in my neighborhood so I was surrounded by similar faces and friends that made me feel safe. In the beginning of my life, dance was fun, it was a hobby, and I was good at it. I auditioned for a performing arts middle school Mark Twain, which I later attended after getting in. The school was located in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Transitioning between a small nonetheless Catholic School to a middle school of 500 students per grade year was a bit of a shock, culturally as well. I was surrounded by individuals with many different backgrounds, religions, and other talents like vocal or drama or athletics. This experience had broadened my perspectives of life. I was not limited to what my neighborhood of Dyker had to offer, but I was exposed to a melting pot of kids from all over the borough of Brooklyn who were just as talented and smart. I consistently had classes with the others in “dance talent” and made friendships that have lasted me up until today and that I know I will have forever. Not all these individuals were just like me, which was an Italian Catholic Dyker Heights girl, we were all different but bonded through dance. We shared a love, and passion for the art which created many mutual interests. We all loved watching Broadway shows or seeing any live dance. Most of us were a part of outside dance companies at our local studios that would compete friendly against one another in various locations. We all got to perform together at the end of every year for our showcase, and spent lots of hours rehearsing. These hours spent together along with our mutual interest allowed us to easily get along and create these friendships with one another.

As I was in middle school, dance got more serious and I decided to audition for my dream school which was LaGuardia High School aka the “Fame School”. This highschool was located in New York City just around the corner from Lincoln Center. It was a drastic change for me and shifted me into the person I am today. I was exposed to thousands of people who lived in completely different boroughs and also created friendships with them as well. I was also surrounded by the dance majors everyday for four years which made them a family to me. Having to be a student at LaGuardia took a lot of responsibility at a young age. My highschool was about an hour and fifteen minute train ride. Because of my decision to attend this school, it had welcomed the world of public transportation to me. Before attending LaGuardia I could probably count the amount of times I’ve taken the train or bus on one hand. At the time, little did I know how fortunate I was to be from a neighborhood that made it possible to get around in a car. The life of public transportation was completely eye opening, and something that enhanced my knowledge of what our city had to offer. Having to take the MTA every morning and afternoon of the week was a huge part of sheltering myself from just knowing my neighborhood only. Although I have had many crazy experiences on the train, for example, my friend almost got her hair lit on fire by a stranger on the train… I have gained many life lessons and memories shared with my friends from highschool. LaGuardia itself had hectic long days that had started from 8am to 4:15pm everyday (which is considered long for an average high schooler). In the process it was rough, but I always reminded myself that I was there to do what I loved doing, which was dance. The people who had attended my high school were filled with talent, and light. I would walk through the staircase and find a group of students singing and playing instruments in the staircase, or a group of dancers including myself hitting a 5,6,7,8 in the middle of the hallway. Moments like these were when I realized despite my crazy long days, or how exhausted I was, I was meant to be here. I spent about 75% of my day with dance majors due to our schedules, which helped me develop friendships that I still hold on to. We collaborated with different kinds of artists like singers, actors, or lighting designers to create shows and performances. This has expanded my knowledge of not only my talent but a glimpse of others as well. When I graduated LaGuardia I walked down the stage feeling accomplished, matured, and ready to take on what college had to offer, a glimpse of real life.

I attended dance at my local studio Danceworks while continuing my middle school, and high school education which meant a lot of dance. I was on their competitive team, and the studio was small. My mentors and classmates have been there for me for years, and have watched me grow as a dancer but a person as well. In my years at Danceworks Dance Center I learned what it truly meant to be a team member. I learned what it meant to be disciplined, what it meant to be prioritized, how to be a competitor and how it felt to be fulfilled. I learned what it meant to be disciplined by showing up to class in proper uniform, to do as I was asked to do respectfully, and show discipline in myself by never slacking and pushing myself to exceed my limits. I learned to prioritize dance and my team by working around my life schedule to make sure I was able to perform, rehearse, or compete with my team. It was senior year of highschool and my prom and my last dance showcase with Danceworks Dance Center fell on the same day. You bet I went to that recital and ran afterwards straight to prom, because I knew what it meant to be involved in something so genuine and real; I wanted to be there for my team for every occasion including my last recital. Danceworks Dance Center made me find fulfillment, and made me feel whole. I was so loved, supported, and appreciated; and I felt the same in return. Being a part of the studio has left me with lessons, and experiences that I will continue to carry out. When I graduated from LaGuardia High School, I graduated danceworks as well. I then was asked to come back and teach at Danceworks with some alumni friends as well. I was so honored to be a part of something that was significant in my own life, and ready to take on a teaching position in others lives the same way. The staff at Danceworks that I still currently work at are family, mentors, and bestfriends I will have for life. My experience at Danceworks has come full circle and I would not want it any other way. Till this day the dance studio of Danceworks is my sane place, and the place I feel most comfortable and myself in. I walk into the studio, plant my feet on the Marley, and I feel fulfilled. While teaching at the studio I feel safe, happy even when students stress me out, and grateful to be sharing my passion for the art with a younger generation. My senior year of highschool I had to decide what path I wanted to take. Did I wanna pursue a career in dance or take up a new hobby? I could not let dance go. It has made me who I am today, developed my most precious relationships, and has made me feel home. Dance has expanded my knowledge of New York City as a whole, and has introduced me to so many cultures through the art itself. I learned what responsibility is, how to be a part of something so real, and what it means to give back. So I chose to attend Long Island University as a Dance Major. I chose to attend LIU because of how vigorous, small, and mighty the dance department is. I know I would receive great training and one on one attention. Also, I would be just next door to the heart of New York City allowing me to travel easily to expand relationships for future jobs. I belong to the social group of LIU Students and most importantly the dance department. Dance has gotten me already so far and has opened several doors for me, I am in hopes it’ll continue to do so in the future as well

Glossary Terms:

Nonna: Grandma in Italian.

Sunday Dinner: Italians are known for having an earlier afternoon dinner on Sundays that includes the majority of family and lots of food.

Catholic: a Religion system of faith.

Mark Twain: Middle school located in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

LaGuardia High School “Fame School”: Performing Arts School for grades 9-12. Located in New York City.. Referred to as “Fame School” reflecting on a movie Fame that was inspired by the school LaGuardia itself.

Danceworks Dance Center: A dance studio located in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.

Lincoln Center: A complex of buildings for the Performing Arts. Located in the Lincoln Sq area of Manhattan in New York City.

5,6,7,8: Dancers way of counting a phrase or routine. Can also be used as a preparation.

Marley: The type of floor most dance studios contain to allow dancers to move in a smooth and safe flooring space.

Long Island University: A college located in Downtown Brooklyn.

#Soc3

me :)

[sodalitefully]

Cat!Slash part 3!

In which Slash’s background finally comes to light.  Fluff with mentions of sex (including some mentions of teenaged sex so heads up there) but nothing terribly explicit. A bit of AU worldbuilding stuff before the fic under the cut, gotta explain some things for this fic to make sense. 

Check out my masterlist for more cat!slash (and other stuff)!

“... And then Duff realized his plan might backfire on him, because Slash started to honest-to-god purr in his arms, and even after living together for almost a month, there was no surer way to get Duff worked up. Sure, Slash was basically making Duff’s point for him (that Slash was all his and he was all Slash’s, so no one better try to get in their way), but Duff really, really didn’t want to pop a boner in front of the man who could make or break his career.”

(So, regarding training and intimacy: Catpets have sexual needs, same as humans, and most often, those needs are met by one or more adult members of their adoptive household. Since sexual companionship is part of most pets’ role, it’s often introduced as part of their training curriculum in their late teens. This makes the pet safer and also a more desirable candidate for adoption. Other subjects covered in training will vary, but household chores, etiquette, and work skills are common, and a basic education is required by law.  Slash spent his childhood with his mother in various households, and his teens elsewhere in foster homes where he received most of his training. I have a lot of thoughts about how this universe works, so if anything doesn’t make sense just ask! 😅)

=^^=

Slash was no stay-at-home pet: anywhere Duff went, Slash could be found on his arm, from rehearsals, to errands, even a meeting with the record label.  The execs sure didn’t seem to mind an extra body in the meeting room – some of them seemed to really appreciate Slash’s presence, in fact, but Duff made sure to stare them down whenever their eyes lingered  too long… Slash had only been with him for a few weeks, and Duff was still very protective.  However they might have minded the twenty minutes Slash and Duff spent going at it in the restroom after the meeting  wrapped... Based on the looks they got on their way to the elevators, the room may not have boon completely soundproof.  Regardless, the rest of  the band had long gone by the time Slash and Duff reached the ground  floor.

“Saul?” Duff heard a man’s voice call out from across the  lobby, and immediately Duff felt Slash stiffen and twist around in his arms to find the source of the voice.  Duff followed Slash’s gaze and saw David Geffen himself, staring at Slash in open surprise. 

“Mr.  Geffen?” Slash responded, using that polite, perfectly-trained-kitten tone of voice that he only rarely used when he wanted people to think he was proper (for example, when the apartment received noise complaints because Slash was blasting music, or when he got restless during a technical delay before a show and started flicking picks around, one of which clipped Tracii in the ear).

“Saul?” Duff echoed in confusion, as David Geffen made his way over to them.

“It is you!  What a pleasant surprise to see you here!“

“It’s good to see you too, Mr. Geffen.”

“It’s been ages since I saw you last, you were just a kitten!  You’ve been doing well, I hope?"

“I’ve been doing very well, thank you.  But I go by Slash, now.”

This seemed to finally trip Geffen up, because he did an obvious double  take, looking between Slash and Duff and Slash’s collar and Duff’s hand on his pet’s waist.  It finally clicked just who Slash was with now: of  all people, the booze-swilling, hairspraying, delinquent bassist of his  label’s newest and sleaziest hard-rock band.

Geffen’s eyes  narrowed in suspicion.  How did a broke wannabe-rocker manage to adopt a  pet panther? The band’s cash advance wasn’t that good.  He was looking at Duff like he was wondering if his intentions might be less than pure. 

Duff  wasn’t about to let that misconception stand, so he made sure to be  extra-sweet to prove to Geffen that he and Slash are a perfect match.  He slid his hand up from Slash’s leather-clad waist and began stroking his hair, lightly scratching at his scalp as Duff cooed down at him, “Slash, sweetheart, you didn’t tell me you knew Mr. Geffen!”

And then Duff realized his plan might backfire on him, because Slash started to honest-to-god purr in his arms, and even after living together for almost a month, there was no surer way to get Duff worked up. Sure, Slash was basically making  Duff’s point for him (that Slash was all his and he was all Slash’s, so no one better try to get in their way), but Duff really, really didn’t want to pop a boner in front of the man who could make or break his career.

Geffen didn’t seem entirely reassured, but he put on a smile. “Duff, maybe you and, ah… Slash? Would like to join me for dinner sometime. We could go over some thoughts I have regarding your band’s future, and your lovely pet and I could catch up a bit.”

Well, Duff wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to schmooze with the boss, even if it was obviously  just a set-up for Geffen to check in on Slash’s well-being, to make sure  Duff wasn’t corrupting his poor, innocent catpet – Duff was offended by the insinuation, but he had to admit Geffen’s sentiment was in the  right place. He kept up the sickeningly-sweet tone as he responded:

“We would love to join you, wouldn’t we Slash?”

=^^=

“What the fuck was that all about?” Duff exclaimed as he and Slash wove through parked Cadillacs and Corvettes until they reached Duff’s old pickup truck.  “How do you know David Geffen?”

“We used to live in the same neighborhood,” Slash explained as he swung into the passenger seat. “Up  in Laurel Canyon.  He was always nice to my mom and I, but I’m surprised he still recognized me.” As if there were more than a handful of pet panthers in the entire state of California. “Though he could have been a  little less judgmental about… us.”

“Yeah, I didn’t miss  that look he gave me, like I might have kidnapped you or something.”  Duff’s lip curled into a sneer, offended at the very thought, but he  brushed it off quickly. “Laurel Canyon... Why does that sound familiar?”

“Hm, well I guess some pretty famous people lived there back in the day,” Slash shrugged.

“Oh?”

“Um... David Geffen, Jim Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Glen Frey –”

Duff just stared. Slash eyes were wide open and perfectly honest, and slowly it sunk in that he was being perfectly serious. Self-doubt started to creep into Duff’s mind – Slash outclassed him by a mile, just like he’d secretly feared – but Slash cut himself off in the middle of the list of names and smiled at him, easy as anything.

“Relax, it’s not like I slept with any of them or anything.  I was just a kitten.” Slash tried to keep the mood light with a little teasing.  He leaned in like he was about to tell Duff a secret: “My mom slept with Bowie.”

“She what?”  Duff’s head actually hit the low roof of the car.  Slash just nodded sagely, barely holding in a fit of laughter.

“We even lived with him for a little while.  I saw his dick once,” Slash stage-whispered with a wicked grin.

“You’re kidding.”  Duff was at loss for words for at least half a minute before – “What… what did it…?”

“Long and pale.  What did you expect?”  Slash wasn’t even trying to hold back his laughter anymore.

“Christ.”  Duff muttered as he put the truck in reverse and pulled out of the lot.  “You know, I’d figured that a fancy cat like you must have come from  some crazy Hollywood mansion or something… but seriously? Bowie?”

“Guess I’ve always had a thing for rock stars.”  Slash leaned over to land a kiss on Duff’s bare shoulder.

“Aw,  Slash…” Duff blushed a little, he always did when Slash said something  sweet.  “I’m not all that.  Just some punk kid from Seattle with a shitty apartment and a shitty car and a sweet, beautiful cat who’s too good for me.”

“Bullshit. You’re gonna be a superstar, Duff.  But even if you weren’t, I’d still want to be with you and no one else.”  

Slash watched the soft expression on Duff’s face for a few blocks, but after a while he couldn’t resist the urge to give him a little more of a hard  time.

“You’ll never guess where I was trained.”

“Jesus, do I want to know?”

“Seymour  Cassel’s.  You know, the actor? At least for part of my training, I kinda moved around a lot, never really go the full, formal experience.”

“Yeah, it shows,” Duff teased.

“Now there I saw a bit of action.  He had quite a guest list, you know.”  Duff groaned in mock despair.

“For fuck’s sake, Slash.  How am I supposed to impress you in bed if you’re  gonna compare me to every star on the Walk of Fame?”

“Don’t exaggerate, Duff, I was still pretty young after all.  Mostly I just  watched, gave the occasional blowjob… some other things…”  Duff groaned  again, lowering his head to rest on the steering wheel when they pulled up to a red light. “I’ll tell you one thing, though, Duff.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” His voice was muffled as he spoke down into his lap.

“You’ve got about the same size dick as Mick Jagger."

Duff’s head shot up like a rocket. “Jesus Christ, Slash!”

“I’m dead serious, Duff…” Slash was not dead serious, in fact he could barely speak through his laughter.  “If you were 20 years older, you could be twins!”

Duff spluttered at him for a second before giving up.  “Fuck off, Saul,” he muttered.

“Hey!”  Slash gave him the most utterly offended look, nearly comical in its genuineness, but Duff just rolled his eyes.

“You  know, I can’t believe that you never thought to mention your birth name.  Do you know how many adoption papers I filled out with ‘Slash’?”

“It’s  not my fault if you actually thought my parents named me Slash,” Slash huffed in the snobbiest tone he could muster without losing himself in a fit of giggles.

“Well, what was I supposed to think?”

“I don’t know, Michael, what were you supposed to think?”

A car horn blared behind them; the light was green.

Duff flipped off the car behind them, then pouted at Slash as he pulls through the intersection: “Suck a dick, babe.”

“Maybe later, love.”

“Don’t bother, I’ll just be thinking of Mick Jagger the whole time.”

“Well fine then, I’ll just have to move back to England, pay a visit to Mick Jagger’s mansion and see what he thinks of my blowjobs, won’t I?”

“Hey, what happened to still wanting to be with me even though I’m not rich and famous?"

Slash  knew very well that Duff was teasing, but he still felt Duff’s heartbroken tone like a punch in the gut. Duff might have been a badass punk rocker but as far as Slash was concerned, it was his job to make sure that he felt protected and loved at all times, so he immediately scooted over on the  bench to lean against Duff’s side. He buried his face in Duff’s  shoulder, curled his tail into his lap, and started to purr.

“Oh, hell, baby.  Love you too."

Slash  was generous with his affection – or at least, he was when it came to  Duff.  But Duff still found himself a little overwhelmed whenever Slash made a point of making him feel as loved as possible.  He was damn lucky that they had found each other, that Slash was here with him instead of  –

“Wait.  What did you mean, move BACK to England?!”

=^^=

Poor Duff, the adoption agency really didn’t tell him anything. And if he’s being honest with himself, he never wanted to ask because he’s afraid that someone richer, better, and more qualified to take care of a pet (perhaps someone from Slash’s past) will someday try to take Slash away from him. It’s not that Slash acts shallow or materialistic at all, it’s just that Duff isn’t a millionaire rock star just yet and generally exotic pets like Slash are adopted into mansions, not apartments - adopting a panther instead of a normal catpet is extra af and usually a status thing. It’s easier to focus on their time together in the moment than to worry about where Slash was before. Duff stresses about these things, Slash does his damnedest to help ("Sir, that’s my emotional support catboy boyfriend"). 

On a lighter note, I could have kept writing their banter forever; in fact I probably drew it out too long already. I had fun with it though, I hope it isn’t hard to tell who’s speaking when I don’t specify. 

Also, that Mick Jagger thing? Like, my favorite part of Duff’s book.

[jmflowers]

Top 5 things about the uk you’ve learned from Emmerdale

Okay, this one is a bit difficult because I did grow up surrounded by a lot of great aunts (and one great uncle) who emigrated from the UK as adults and still had lovely accents and weird ways of saying things. I was raised with plenty of connection to the UK and the Netherlands because both of my parents are first generation Canadians. My cousin also lived and worked in England for two years, as an English teacher of all things. That said, I have learned...

1. What “ta” actually means. Growing up, ta was said by someone holding their hand out, asking you or the dog to drop something or give it back. It wasn’t until I started watching Emmerdale that I learned it means “thank you”. When I told my aunt about this discovery, she looked at me like I was crazy for not figuring that out earlier - all of her dogs have been trained with this word and that’s where I heard it the most.

2. How different the syntax is. I’m a big, big fan of analyzing speech patterns and I often repeat things people say if the syntax is different than I’m used to. (I repeat it so that I can mentally edit it to what makes sense for me, but some people get really offended that I do this verbally.) Learning the difference in grammar has been so exciting - sat instead of sitting, were instead of was, stood instead of standing, etc. Y’all are wild with your proper english.

3. The cultural significance of Soaps. Here in Canada, the soaps air in the middle of the day and the demographic is mostly moms having a break while their kids nap. But y’all have these shows airing in prime time, recognized at awards shows, and you rally behind these characters like they’re part of your families. That these stories get to come into your homes daily for decades and help to change minds about issues... it’s amazing and I’m so proud.

4. Current slang. My family came to Canada shortly after the Second World War, so most of the words I heard were very dated or had been altered by their experiences here in Canada. (One aunt has an accent that has been so altered by the region of Ontario she lives in and it’s the weirdest thing to hear.) They’re also very proper, positive people, so most of the language used on Emmerdale would not have been appropriate. Love chuffed and stove your head in and budge up. Nathi and I have a list going of our favourite phrases.

5. Geography. My mom used to tell me a lot about the different regions everyone’s accents were from, but I never really understood it. Even visiting England, all the different voices were overwhelming instead of educating and I spent half my time just trying to figure out if people were speaking a different language. Now that I get to listen to the accents daily, and look up where each of the actors or the characters are from, I feel much more certain when I recognize Geordie or Northern or elsewhere in the UK. I met some guests at the farm this past summer and was able to correctly peg them as from near London, and then we talked about the roads near their house and how far away from Central London most things are. I’ve got a dream trip in my head that involves renting a car and visiting all these different regions... half of it will be getting to hear all the different accents.