#it took a lot of courage to post this tbh

[gregthesillyone]

hi, sorry i’ve been kinda inactive recently, here’s some ocs because their canon birthday was yesterday

also!!! happy belated birthday to kel from the hit game omori!!! art block is kicking my ass still so i wasn’t able to make a drawing for him unfortunately, but at least i recently started writing the first draft of the kel-centric au i’m working on!!!! i’m so excited omg

[alfredpennyworththecat]

Cass was surprised one day. She was attempting to paint her nails with two bruised ribs, and a broken arm. She had just gotten this beautiful garnet polish that she couldn't wait any longer to use, but even her determination is proving to not be enough to do her nails.

That was when Jason walked by, sighing and shaking his head as he takes the brush from her. He silently settles next to her, and starts effortlessly painting her nails for her. He seems focused and careful.

"You're really good at that," Cass inquires. Jason just hums back. "Didn't take you for the nail polish kind of teen," she teases. She had been getting into teasing a lot, thanks to Steph. But everyone found it endearing, not discouraging her from expanding her explorations in communicating. Jason just sighed at the comment.

"My mom used to always do her nails. She got too sick to do them." He left it at that. Jason recalled when he found a practically new nail polish in a trashcan once, how pleased his mom was with the color. He wanted to paint her nails as good as she did. She deserved at least that much, to have pretty, perfectly done nails. He'd watch her smile and tilt her hand, seeing how the light shines on the color. Jason glanced up to see Cass smiling sweetly, quickly looking away.

Cass didn't mean to stare, but his body language spoke so much. He was shy, reserved, but also had pride and sorrow. She noticed his chest stop mid-breath, seeing his top lip twitch for a moment.

"You don't have to," she said, noticing the warning signs of when Jason was getting upset. His were so subtle and rare, but they were enormous red flags to Cass. He scoffed at her.

"Yeah, and what? Let Steph finish them? She couldn't color inside the lines, much less keep the polish on your nail," he joked quietly. Steph was actually pretty good at nails. She taught Cass after all. But no, he had to finish.

Cass let him finish in peace, watching the way he focused. Those were some things she did like about her abilities. She adored watching people focus on things they loved, seeing them tune out on everything else. She could see how much it means to them.

When he finished, he capped the nail polish, set it aside, and pulled a foldable comb out from his pocket. Cass just tilted her head at that.

"Just... let me?" He said, sounding annoyed. But Cass could see he was tense in that shy way again. This was another part of something Jason just *had* to do. She went to turn a bit so he could properly brush her hair, but he stopped her. "No, don't- don't move." Now he seemed a touch scared, like he's seen one too many people hurt. Knowing this family, that was an understatement.

He gently worked his way around her hair, starting gently at the bottom, working up, being sure to hold the hair above it to minimize any tugging. He was so focused again, getting up from the couch to work around her. Finally, he nodded to himself, folding the comb back into his pocket.

Cass looked up to him and smirked deviously, flicking her head back and forth so her hair flopped around, cheekily looking up at him through the hair now in her face. Jason pinched his nose and sighed.

"You're just as bad as Steph," he mumbles, fixing her hair again. He saw that smirk again, and grabbed the top of her head. "Don't. I swear, you're all gremlins." Cass laughed quietly, proud of herself when Jason's stature relaxed a bit.

He went about putting a pillow at her back, under her arm, and the throw blanket and a book where her good arm could reach.

"Don't ruin my work," he lightly scolded, walking out. He waited a moment around the corner of the door before peeking back in a bit, watching Cass see how the light shines off of her nails.

[skitskatdacat63]

“Constantia et fortitudine” - Emperor Sebastian I “der Sieghafte”

[luna-loveboop]

Wars and Wild as knights in Lu

They have issues.

I have a lot of thoughts on Wild and Wars and their relationship (Order of this post is talking about saluting, Wild and Wars' different perspectives, memory issues, and fire) Rant time.

No saluting!!

So Wild took a formal- almost/awkwardly saluting pose when Wars confronted him in 'Entrance pt.2'

It's similar to the first time Wild addressed Wars as 'captain'. His left hand is up from where a salute should be, and his overall posture is awkward, with his shoulders and right hand raised, but it's clear he's trying to do a salute in the presence of a fellow knight.

In the second example his hand is behind his head, but his posture is very straight and his right arm stiff- he's again attempting a formal saluting position. Which is still awkward

It is less clear but his changes in posture clued me in. He goes from like a deer in the headlights to visibly sweating to straight backed and looking up at Wars- looking at the changes in his body language

Side note but I literally love how Jojo draws the champions tunic so much-

We can't see the action of Wild's body language in a comic, just the positions he went to. But he visibly leaned away from Wars before switching to a straight backed saluting-like posture. He's clearly freaked out, hence Twilight's face: >:(

I think that Wild taking somewhat military poses around Wars is important to their relationship issues because it comes from his struggle with memory and identity

.

So like. All of them have different perspectives

Wars

I adore Wars. He is baby and I love him. I think it is also important to acknowledge that he would not speak to any of the others this way.

And the scarf man cmon it's so pretty they are so cute-

Why is Wars talking to Wild like this? He's called him out and reprimanded him multiple times in front of the others. Wild has taken it well but tbh if it was Legend I think he would be on fire.

To some extent I think he is in captain mode. I think that he has trouble seeing Wild as not a knight. Wars gives Wild respect as a knight who sacrificed for his kingdom, but now it seems he's taking it away as a knight who's not doing well enough since he 'disregarded the plan'

At least I think that's the outside (or Wild's) view of it. But Wars internally really cares about Wild and he saw him run up to a giant and lose it. Different ways of showing concern perhaps?

Who wouldn't want to keep Wild from getting more scars?

I just. Don't doubt for a second Wars really cares about Wild- even if the way he's acting still isn't cool. He has no right to treat him like a soldier any more than the rest of the chain, and right now I think Wild is acting as the more mature person.

Wild

I adore Wild. He is baby and I love him. I think it is also important to acknowledge that although he is clearly making efforts after Twilight's injury, Wild has ignored Wars for the majority of Lu, by not speaking to him much, and not thanking or acknowledging Wars when he directly helped him. (Small example being walking with Hyrule not Wars when injured and not directly responding to Wars)

Wars cares about and respects Wild, but it seems Wild wants nothing to do with him, and he's been cold towards Wars for the majority of Lu. To Wild, Wars reminds him of his perceived failure. Which is valid feelings, but still not fair. And I think that ask is talking about these two.

The thing I love about this is each of them are right and wrong in some ways, leading to the tension between them. So fully blaming either of them is not logical

The rest of the chain is just vibing. Except twilight who's mad and wants them to just grow up, but. Heros of courage not wisdom @uniquevoidflowers ;)

And that ask- '''Are any of the Links ever jealous of another Link for adventures that were less difficult/life threatening?'' ''When you hear Wild say he 'hates' someone you'll have your answer.''' somewhat leads to my next point-

Wild's identity and memory issues exacerbate all of this

In Entrance, Twilight is being stressed and defensive, that's ok. What concerns me most is that Twilight has talked with Wild through stuff like this in his rough moments

Wild has tried to be formal several times- he is not very good at it

Four's face I can't didnwidkekfjej

Wild isn't and can't be 'him'- the same 'perfect' (<actually has crippling anxiety) knight he was before, and Twilight knows this. And I agree with him a bit, I think, that Wars is making things worse in Wild's mind by being that perfect soldier, and seemingly holding Wild to a standard he isn't

Wild's attempts at saluting is symbolic of that- Wars makes him feel like a failure trying to be the person he should be. But Wild shouldn't be anyone but himself.

Anyways. Fire.

Wars and Wild have issues, and I want them to work through all their relationship drama so they can reach their PEAK dynamic, which is obviously this

I mean like. We need these two to be friends

Anyways. Wild is in this constant state of identity crisis, and being around Wars has not been beneficial- neither of them is or has been showing the other the respect they deserve. Not as knights, but as people and brothers. They need a get along shirt.

All this Art is by Jojo @linkeduniverse au!

:)

[lains-reality]

hi :) i hope you’re having a wonderful day

you’re literally the only blogger i trust when it comes to non-duality, and your advice has been the one i’ve been most easily able to apply/understand. I hope this doesn’t come off as a vent, but it probably will just because this question is so complicated and problem riddled, and tbh idek if you’re actually going to respond, but yea. it’s like star wars you’re my obi wan kenobi! my last hope lol

basically i’ve put my life on hold and procrastinated everything i’ve needed to do. (TW: death?? health problems/sa?) I went through a really bad year, last year. the human character i identify with (non-dualistic terms, bc ik this character isn’t me?) was sa’d in the beginning of the year. really traumatic. i dropped out of school, i couldn’t go out of the house because i feared for my life. i became super paranoid. i reported it and filed charges, but the justice system is fucked so.

anyways, after because the amount of stress i was experiencing, i became very ill. my biological father wished death on me, and i believed it at the time, because my sibling wished for me to get raped, and then it happened. i can see now, how my belief may or may not have been the cause of what happened. i then got cancer. the doctors couldn’t figure it out for months, and even ridiculed me- saying how i relied on google.

i finally went to a specialist who was immediately concerned, and then confirmed my suspicions. i was sort of friends with a blogger on here who got into the void and manifested their dream life. they went into the void for me and affirmed that i no longer had cancer, and that i could tap/wake up in the void. the next day, the huge lump/tumor on my neck was gone. all of my ailments- trouble breathing, patchy and rough skin ceased. i literally told my mother what happened which made her start believing in the power of “manifestation”.

because of the paranoia, and then cancer- i didn’t go to school my last 2 years of school. i switched to online, but never felt the need to complete my classes because i knew i would get into the void. i’ve gotten into the void, both by waking up/tapping into it but i haven’t been able to change my awareness, or “manifest” bc i was just mumbo jumbing words or poetry. i didn’t apply to university, because i thought i’d enter the void before then and revise my school grades + make it so i got into the university of my choice.

now, i have a week left before i have to finish my classes- which i have 7 of them, and so many assignments. i have to move out in the middle of august because i lied to my parents and said i got into university, because i thought i would’ve already changed things with the void by now. my life was fucked, then i fucked my life. after discovering non-duality i gained hope that i would be able to turn things around by now, yet i haven’t. i don’t know what i’m doing wrong, because i was able to show myself the truth of reality (as lester levinson said).

i am really stressing because now everything is falling down on itself. i try to forget my problems, and don’t give them life by letting go, yet it’s so hard when teachers are bombarding me with messages how i have to finish the classes, or how i have to move out soon. i know this is probably ego driven, but i feel as if i can’t see a way through because of how attached i am to this. my health has also been abnormal, which makes me fear that the cancer has returned. what should i do?? im kinda freaking out.

anyways, i am so sorry if this came across trauma dumping/venting. i am just at a point where i do not even know where to begin to conceptualize this into understanding. this took a lot of courage to type, as im a bit afraid still- that people who hurt me from last year will see this (even though i know they won’t, but still). i totally understand if you wish not to post this or answer it, as it is very long and limiting. thank you though! i hope you have a wonderful week:)

this was quite difficult to answer as i've never been through so much turmoil all at once. i hope this answer helps and you'll continue taking care of yourself! (i'm sorry i linked way too much lol just don't read it all at once!)

firstly i want you to rest.

you've been through a lot and you've also been putting off a lot to get into the void. stopping life for manifestation is common it seems, its not healthy either. so much pressure is coming from time. you put all your expectations on a method, and i'm gonna guess that you also put so much onto your mind to get you into the void.

practically: your biological father sounds abusive and so does your sibling, i would be more careful around him. idk if your not around him anymore, it sounds like it? but you need to plan accordingly for your lie. are you gonna tell your parents or ?

theres a massive chance you'll just go crazy trying to figure out all these moving parts, so i suggest do what you can and leave the rest. do the minimum to keep you safe, then figure out the rest as it comes. do whatever you need to do, just remember to not take on too much at once.

ask for breaks on work at school for medical reasons, maybe think about jobs, etc. you see how much more could come into the picture? but this is all the body-mind can do. its easy to treat it as god, but its not god.

"but i feel as if i can’t see a way through"

You fail to do the works of God, because you take the body to be God. - Ada B. [4dbarbie]

take a look at these meditations:

butter meditation

peace meditation

surrender meditation

un-identification exercise

crying meditation

i'd like you pick one of these exercises:

feel all the shit. feel bad. just do it. let all the bad feelings out. put on sad music and fucking cry. cry it all out.

let yourself rest, with no problems. if a thought or feeling comes in just let it, because its not a problem remember? :) just put on some calming music or visualise a calming place. and let yourself have some time with nothing. no conditions. no perfection. no obligations. no 'have to' 'should' 'must'. let that go for this time

feel as if you've died. feel as if you've been completely forgiven, feel as if there was a powerful white light that washed you away of all the crap. really feel as if the divine came down, hugged you and said 'i love you and forgive you'. its all over. finally its all done. you can rest. (i suggest kickstarting this with imagery or music, its hard to generate feeling such grace on you own. i saw a jesus holding a baby lamb picture that made me burst out in tears and realised that all i wanted was just to be, no obligations. i imagined waking up in a heaven, in a gaint flowerfield. do what you want)

one time i did the 1st and 3rd exercises (i made it up on the spot) and it was worth it. the next few days felt much better. its like an exercise in rebirth. let yourself be reborn.

some days you'll just do one or all 3. pick what ever feels right in what ever order. but i suggest that 'feel as if you've died' or 'no problems' comes last! the whole point is to let the painful emotion pass through and settle in a neutral or grateful place.

"after discovering non-duality i gained hope that i would be able to turn things around by now"

here's the problem, you went into a philosophy intending to manifest. yes,, (1) you can do that (2) its okay, AS LONG AS YOU DONT MISS THE POINT. the point being that there is no person! the character is a character, not you. manifestation is just another concept, you can use it as long as you understand that its not real. thats why i shared the BOOKS, you need to READ.

"i try to forget my problems, and don’t give them life by letting go"

don't force yourself to forget (don't say you're not forcing it, otherwise you never would of wrote "TRY"). just let them be. deal with it when it comes up. the mind'll want to make a bazillion plans and stress. if you can make plans without spiriling, then do it. if you can't, don't. there will probably be some things you need to plan and thats okay. but everything else, leave it.

you haven't actually let it go, you're here in my inbox. you do not need to force letting it go. you naturally let it go by realising who you are in relation to it all. if you think you're the body-mind then its impossible to let go, because its your life and it involves you and if you let it go to shit, you might die!! - says the mind. but if you're Self, then this is not you. all those stories mean nothing compared to Infinity, Absolute Perfection and Love!

the Self is who you truly are. Self is still underneath it all, it is all. its imagining itself being a human. the character is the wave, YOU are the ocean. ultimately this is about realising all the identities, images and roles that "you've" taken on and used as reference are not you. how can a story be you? how can the past be you? are you the past? are you currently living in the past? you can be if you keep bringing it into the now.

when you stop using the past as a reference point, how much more posibilities come up now?

this is because the mind only knows what it knows. it cannot know anything more than what it knows right now. it can't access infinite intelligence. that's why it'll try to project into the future, and make plans. but it doesn't truly know. all it does is give suggestions based off the past. it is a combination of identity based off feelings, thoughts and memories that is collected and turned into a habit.

the past, memories, feelings, thoughts, identifies, roles etc all pass through you. they all come up like waves and then leave on THEIR OWN. if you hold onto these (which the character wants to do, it thinks thats all it is) it'll be painful when they are threatened in some way. a simple remark of "oh you look xxx" can be so painful for some characters because they based their whole life on a singular identity that WILL go.

Most of you can't change because you are so desperate TO change... but there is nothing to want to change. Things just are. Don't work with changing self, just realize who self actually is. [4dbarbie]

this is not a forcing thing, its just a rememberance. its done out of love, passion, a desire to just be free! with no ties to whatever identity! its takes courage, not convincing or denial.

Disbelieving you are Vanessa and denial are not the same thing. Denial is when you deny reality to something you're already giving reality to. Disbelieving was meant as an experiment, you never thought yourselves to be anything but this body, what will happen if you did? What are changes in your psyche, do you feel more confident, do you feel like you could take on the world? Don't you love Vanessa now that you know that she always was a choice? Even if she wasn't the greatest, what's so wrong with her? She is just somebody, she just lives a life. Things are only so serious when you're identified with her, you get scared, you get hurt, you feel stuck. But when you know that she can't hinder you? That she was never you? Don't you just want to laugh and hug her? [4dbarbie]

are you sure you're reading books and posts? a lot of this is already answered. your case is just more to deal with, but the point is still the same: you are not the body and mind, see what would happen if you questioned them.

just KEEP IT SIMPLE!

i'd like to leave you with this.

Once a young woman came to Hafiz and said, “What is the sign of someone knowing God?” And Hafiz became very quiet and stood in silence for nearly a minute. Lovingly looking deep into the young woman's eyes, he then softly spoke: “My dear, they have dropped the knife. The person who knows God has dropped the cruel knife so often used upon their tender self and others.” [source]

some extra resources

eft - health fear

eft - afraid to feel

we cannot practice letting go

heart of an emotion

i want to wake up with everything

hafiz - love's victory (PLEASE WATCH IT)

trust yourself

"You think you're doing it all for nothing, that's why you don't do it. But is freedom from pain really nothing? At least you are, for once in your life, sighing from relief from all this never-ending sense of doing."

health anon

apply

"All the process requires is letting go of thinking you are Vanessa."

behaviour

letting thoughts and emotions pass

challenge yourself

stories

everything brings you back to your Self

you've been through a lot and i'm glad you still are full of love! otherwise you never would've tried in the first place to change anything. use that love, take any anger and turn it into love for freedom! for Self! i know you can do it!!

also: the feeling of bad health coming back is a sign to me. you've put so much on hold: your healing from the sa, the healing from your family, the lying, LIFE in general. you can't keep doing that. turn inwards. the fear won't consume you.

[morningmask27]

Dimitrescu sisters catified references

I posted a few drawings of these three in cat form and I thought I'd share the reference drawings i made for them. I wanted to add little traits that they share, but while also making them all unique.

family traits:

all three have a stripe that leaves from their eye.

beige chests and bellies (aside from Bela who only has a lighter chest)

a white marking that represents something about them (kinda) + one stripe going in the direction of that white spot

the ear tufts (Bela's are shaped differently, but she still has ear tufts)

their jaw structure is all about the same (square-ish), Cassandra's is just hidden by the fluff

Bela

I wanted her to be smooth. she takes great pride in keeping her fur clean, but there is ONE spot she can't tame and those are her fluffs right above where her front legs begin. (it makes her so mad)

I am mean I gave Bela a lot of heart-shapes everywhere; her ear tufts, the "shoulder" tufts, the white spot, her tail being a three in one, her dorsal stripe ending in one, ...

her tail is always droopy.

she's technically the same size as Daniela, but because in my mind she slouches a lot (It's a slightly more defensive posture), Daniela always seems to be taller than her.

her white spot is, as previously stated, a heart. It's very on the nose, but I never said I'd not hammer on that little detail. Her stripe there does do an interesting thing: before Miranda takes away her heart, the stripes don't cover her spot, just like with her sisters, but as soon as Miranda did her thing the stripes move slightly to now end on the heart. once she gets her heart back the stripes move again, away from her marking.

she has one scar and that is her nicked ear. it fully got rid of her (also heart-shaped) ear tuft. she got this when Miranda took her heart. (~symbolism~)

her eartufts are fully shaped differently than her sisters' and mother's. It is my favorite way to draw ear tufts, but that's beside the point.

I imagined her as looking the least like Alcina. I don't really know why exactly, but I did. I also decided to give Heisenberg's dog for the same eyecolor as her and beige markings that mimic these of Bela and her sisters. he's family and Alcina hates it.

(well actually I kinda have the idea in my head that she's kinda the daughter that wasn't really good, a first draft if you want. she's the elders, but her younger sister recieves more attention than her and I just find it striking, so I made her look the least like Alcina to make that distance between the two more tangible)

I did not have the courage to draw her cult ending form. I didn't want to cry.

Cassandra

spikey, and she likes it that way. her fur is groomed, she just keeps it more natural. she thinks (and she's kinda correct) that it'll make her more charming and attractive (to some)

I pretty much had wolves in my head while drawing her, I wanted her to be a bit more canine-like than her two sisters. Misunderstood, seen as dangerous and solitaire beasts, but actually very caring to those they love. But also imposing and grandiose. whereas Daniela is just a cat, chilling and Bela is a cat and tbh she's tired, Cassandra hogs the spotlight and demands attention.

I wanted to make her makings sharp. nearly all of them have pointy ends. you have to handle her with precaution or you'll end up hurt. she doesn't do this intentionally though;

star-shaped chest marking, because she is a star, obviously. She flaunts about it everywhere she can, much to everyone's annoyance.

no scars because this diva will never try to get into actual trouble. She cries at the first sight of (real) blood.

her ear tufts are very similar to Alcina's and she's very proud of it. she is a mama's girl after all.

she's not all fluff, there are some muscles underneath the fur, but her fur is pretty long still. she can hide small items in her fur if she wants.

shortest out of the three sisters (like in the game). stands as tall as she can to still appear taller than Bela. she's got basically the ebst posture just to win against Bela.

Daniela

somehow, despite her activities, she has the smoothest and cleanest fur (Bela is very jealous, but will never admit it). she says she just cleans it and there is no secret. Bela swears she'll one day understand how she does that.

very muscular because she's always off doing sport of whatever. due to this she's also the strongest out of her sisters and very much able to win a fight against them, but she doesn't want to actually fight with them, so this fact doesn't see much use.

the scars she has are from the occasional accident. running a bit too fast and tripping for example. They're all very funny, albeit embarrassing stories that her sisters Love to share.

she's very round, shape wise. aside from a few sharp angles or straight-ish lines, everything is softened out; she is very friend shaped. unless she's angry and then you realize she's a lot stronger and taller than most.

her chest marking is the one I kinda dropped the ball on if you want my honest opinion. It's oval-esque and could be seen as her board since she loves skateboarding, but it's also just because it flowed better with the rest of the stripes I gave her.

round, friendly (and slightly curious) eyes. she's very cute and will convince you of anything when she wanted to, yet she doesn't really look very kit-like.

as tall as Bela, but obviously looks the tallest due to Bela's grumpy slouching. she teases her sisters about that.

her heart tufts look like a between part of Bela and Cassandra's. it was an accident, but it's cute so I kept it.

the freckles and heterochromia were obviously brought into this design. I am an avid fan of both.

[thehollowprince]

Hi! I’m completely new to the Star Wars universe and saw your post on Vernestra being ooc. I’ve seen a lot of people have similar thoughts and was wondering if you could explain how the actor’s portrayal differs from other material (I don’t mind spoilers. I’m genuinely curious). Or if you name the material where she appears? That would be awesome. Like for me, her stoicism makes sense as a Jedi so I saw no issues tbh.

Thank you!

Vernestra Rwoh was a Jedi during the High Republic era of Star Wars, former apprentice to Master Stellan Gios, and one of the youngest to ever achieve the rank of Knight, being only fifteen standard years old at the time.

That's the basic outline for who Vern was back when she was introduced. She was one of the main characters of the Young Adult novels in the High Republic Phase 1. It's something I had a little trouble adjusting to, her being so young and being a full Knight already and then her taking a Padawan who was only two years younger than her. It took me out of the story a little bit. But I also recognized that those books weren't written with me in mind as their target audience.

In those books, Rwoh is reserved and little overly cautious, but overall, she is an enthusiastic and hopeful character. Certainly not the extremely paranoid and underhanded character we see in The Acolyte. I don't recall her ever caring that much about the Jedi's reputation to outsiders or her having a particular distaste for the Senate.

That's why the character portrayed in The Acolyte didn't feel like a natural progression of who Rwoh was in the High Republic books, even at her lowest, and more like a brand new character. It overall just feels like Headland was using a pretty popular character from the books to try and validate or connect her show to the overall story. It's right in line with retconning Ki-Adi-Mundi into this series.

And this is just a personal critique, but it's the appearance of the character.

Yes, Mirialans age slower than humans in the Galaxy Far Far Away, but they do still age. Rwoh should have looked to be in her late middle ages or even elderly years at this point in her lifetime. Between that, what I said above, and the shaved head, I didn't like it.

If you're interested in reading up on her to gather your own opinions, these are the books she's featured in.

A Test of Courage (by Justina Ireland)

Out of the Shadows (by Justina Ireland)

Mission to Disaster (by Justina Ireland)

Race to Crashpoint Tower (by Daniel José Older)

Into The Dark (by Claudia Gray)

Note: I would highly recommend reading Race to Crashpoint Tower and Into the Dark before Out of the Shadows for context.

I do really enjoy the High Republic stuff and the characters they've given us, which is why I dislike what they've done with the character on this show. That's not the Vernestra Rwoh I know.

[simtleman]

Come get dazzled by the silver screen at the ORPHEUM THEATER!

So after updating all my freaking mods for the new Horse Ranch update (which I couldn't care less about, tbh... the only good thing that came with it for me was— you guessed it!— painted ceilings), here I am once again with a brand new building for the Vintage Save File I'm working on: let me take you on a tour through the stunning Orpheum Theater!

I OBVIOUSLY couldn't do a Vintage Save File set in Del Sol Valley without including a proper theater where your 1920s, '30s & '40s sims could go watch Golden Age films, get mesmerized by their favorite movie stars' glamour and perhaps even take their dates and get lucky while sitting in the back seats?

I have to say just building the front— mainly the marquee, which I did manually— took me about a solid 3 hours, so apologies if the rooms I decorated last seem a bit uncluttered... I was simply ready to move on to the next build by then lol

Below you can see the tickets window (somehow I always seem to find a way to implement @surely-sims's CC into my builds, I just can't help myself... it works too good around my aesthetic!)

And the main hall, in which you'll find @ravasheencc's Film Reaper Movie Theater posters that will allow your sims to watch actual movies through a rabbit hole. I don't know if you noticed, but I also finally found the courage to download and play around a little with @twistedmexi's TOOL mod (the lights frames are rotated) after getting inspired by some of the content by @come-hell-or-high-water. The way he/she (?) pays attention to the tiniest details in his/her screenshots made me want to take mine a step further, so thank you @come-hell-or-high-water!

There's only one movie room, but it has two stories and a beautiful balcony on the second floor you can access to if you go upstairs, through the main hall:

Upstairs is also where the toilets are located (look at those gorgeous red velvet carpeted ceilings... 9 freaking years I've waited to be able to do that, EA!):

And, of course, it wouldn't be a cinema without a projection room, would it?:

Next to the theater you'll find a kinda shabby parking lot, in which Dito Dalton (see my previous post) takes care of some of his businesses every now and then, if you know what I mean:

And last but not least, if you go through the back you'll find a very small yet cozy home that belongs to the household who owns the Orpheum Theater:

Who are the members of this household, you may ask? Ah, you little inquisitive mind! I'm afraid you'll have to wait for my next post to find out... but let me tell ya, they have a great background story and will be a great townie addition to this save file :)

Anyway, that's it for today! Hope you guys like this new building and we shall see where this crazy project that's taking most of my spare time lately takes me next lol

[suffarustuffaru]

Opinion on Reinhard's dad possibly seeing "the son he never had" on Garfiel? It could totally take that route tbh

It would be a fun dynamic imo

oh anon as a heinkel fan (hes soo terrible but so fascinating and i WANT to see him get better and grow as a person. but also you may have known that since you are asking me this hah) and someone who is quite fond of garf i lovedddd the recent heinkel-garfiel chapters... and LMAO this idea of like. heinkel being a bit soft on garfiel bc yay!! new son replacement!!! is SO FUNNY ive thought about it a little bit. and IT WOULD BE FUN and i think heinkels arc is super interesting bc he kinda hit his rock bottom in like about arc 7-early arc 8 where its like. its post arc 5 astrea drama so shit just got even more bleak for heinkel, hes stuck in dangerous territory and he doesnt believe in himself At All and hes too depressed to really try all that much at anything.

but then GARFIEL comes along and saves heinkel a couple times and garfiel gets hit down but keeps getting right tf up - and that goes against like literally everything heinkel thinks. he doesnt try to be better bc he doesnt think he can ever accomplish it no matter how hard he tries, but garfiel is someone who just WONT stop trying.

and we also see that heinkel learning more about rowan and cecilus and the whole deal with the segmunts has made heinkel go "oh. okay haha maybe im not as far gone as i thought" bc heinkel gets shown another example of a dysfunctional family with an extremely op son and a deadbeat alcoholic dad and theyre a mirror of reinhard and heinkel. except rowan and cecilus are like if reinhard and heinkel werent so miserable about their shit relationship, bc as shitty as heinkels behavior is deep down he still CARES. he cares a lot about his family. he misses reinhard - why else would he need schult to be a replacement? he's still mourning that loss, if you think about it. but rowan is just so batshit that heinkel immediately goes backtracking like "OKAY IM. IM NOT THAT BAD. MAYBE THERES A TINY LITTLE SPECK OF HOPE FOR ME AFTER ALL."

and garfiel is helping to be a catalyst as well bc of his own determination to always keep growing and keep fighting no matter what gets in his way. hes a spunky little kid whos powerful but when faced with opponents stronger than him Refuses To Give Up. thats inspirational i think for heinkel, especially when its not as if hes a shit fighter, dude is just outshadowed by his family and other people around him. he just has to get up and keep trying, so its interesting that heinkel DOES find the courage to try and protect garfiel while garfiel's trying not to die.

like i do think that its heinkel like having this grudging respect for garfiel after the interactions theyve had, also possibly feeling inspired by garfiel and having that tiny bit of hope in him after meeting rowan and interacting with garfiel, and also trying to repay garfiel. bc heinkel treats himself like dirt and gets treated like dirt a lot - im sure his thought process might be "this kid took the time to keep saving me even though im literally worthless and now hes in danger, this is the least i can do". i would be interested if it went the route of like. heinkel having that fatherly instinct rekindled - i think itd be interesting for garfiel as well bc. he IS lacking a father figure, but for heinkel, i think that its clear with how he acts with schult that heinkel does kind of miss having a son and having that sort of love in his life.

we know he DID use to be a good dad, and tbh i always kind of headcanoned that heinkel probably isnt that mean with most kids unless its someone like. you know. subaru. or julius. or reinhard of course. like heinkels not that much of an ass when his life is on the line or when there isnt super personal stakes involved (ie astrea stuff). hes a character that carries a lot of guilt and shame and self-hatred, someone who's spiraled into being the worst version of himself when he used to be bright-eyed and hardworking and full of love despite the weight on his shoulders - i think he would see a very kind and determined and spirited kid like garfiel (and might be reminded of the kid he Used to love) and hope that garfiel doesnt end up like him (ie lost, burnt out, and depressed). we see this sort of behavior a bit with schult too, bc heinkel tries to give schult advice and tries to look after schult a bit in general!! and garfiel's like a better version of heinkel you know? garfiel's a bit abrasive with a quick temper and all but hes extremely well intentioned in just about everything he does. and i think heinkel might have a fondness for all of garfiel's antics at this point T^T

but yes ty for the ask anon !! :o im very interested to see where heinkel and garfiel go from here, bc it looks like heinkel's started some baby steps in his growth!!

[blueberry-ash]

Heyyyyy, I am really bad at book recs, but this is me saying pls consider reading How to Feed an Abyss! (如何投喂一只深渊！)

It has:

— non-human x human relationship;

AKA: one immensely adorable (but not actually stupid!) non-human sweetheart x one extremely competent and usually unapproachable (but actually very doting, soft and respectful!!!) military commander; their relationship is so caring.

— interesting apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic setting, where the plot actually plays itself properly through to the end.

— the building of relationships outside the main romance! The people around them actually matter!!!

— secret identity stuff, but done in way that I rarely found stressful :D

— made me cry here and there, esp. with some of the side stories (goddddd), but overall is actually really very hopeful.

— technically slowburn in some ways, but also not remotely slowburn at all--hard to explain without spoilers, but, yeah!! everything is so patiently and sweetly handled; things take their time, but you never feel like you're being strung along/having things dragged out <3

— the adorable non-human has horns, and purrs when he's happy fkjasdl;kfas helpppp.

— the military commander can be a little possessive at times but it's thankfully generally handled in a way that makes him seem more dorky rather than actually alarming?? It also helps that, when it comes down to it, he's also pretty into letting the sweetheart 'write his own story' (AKA make his own choices).

— does have some of the kinda danmei-typical vibes around sexual intimacy that aren't super my jam (i.e. Top's gonna initiate, Bottom's gonna go uwuwu about it and accept it, but never seem to want it for themselves lmao) BUT it's also not exactly frequent nor any kind of main focus in the story, and it's also pretty much fade to black anyway, so... eh.

— undoubtedly made similar parts of my brain happy as Little Mushroom did, but... it's also not really That Much like Little Mushroom at all? Ah!! I guess I think the two make a very, very easy comparison, and if someone likes the one there's a fair chance they might like the other, but, hmm, yeah... This one's definitely significantly more optimistic/hopeful (and romantic, tbh) about a whole lot of things. And also kept me more focused on different things than Little Mushroom, too.

.

Summary ganked from novelupdates:

【if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you】 The abyss, the most feared thing by the human race today. The animals infected by the abyss mutate into monsters, and humans are reduced to walking corpses. Lu Tinghan is an abyss watcher. He has been guarding the world’s most terrifying abyss for ten years. This abyss is not only scary, but also strange. Throw the garbage down, after a few days, the garbage will be buried safely next to the abyss – like someone took a shovel and tossed it all night to bury them. Throw hazardous waste down, after a few days, the waste will be thrown back with unbridled fury. Lu Tinghan: ? Ten years later, he left the post and became the youngest general in the Alliance. The next day, the abyss was also gone. ——The whole thing disappeared and turned into flat land. The whole world was shocked. Until one day, there was a knock on Lu Tinghan’s door. A boy with little devil horns stood outside the door, with delicate features and bright eyes. Obviously, he was scared to death, but he still plucked up the courage to say: “Hello, I, I am Abyss, can you continue to stare at me? QAQ” He added: “I have helped you bury the garbage every day, oh!” During their long time together, Lu Tinghan learned two things: 1. Staring at your abyss every day, the abyss will be happy 2. When the abyss is happy, it will purr toward you

[gaykey]

Hi! I'm Kshawol. I've just recently gotten into SHINee and I have a few questions that I was hoping you could answer (I'm using a translator right now, so I can't help it if my English is awkward).1. actually... I'm pretty sure some Kshawol's besides me don't think Key is straight, seriously, not just an RPS thing. Of course, they don't say that on their public Twitter accounts, they just talk amongst themselves on their private accounts. To be honest, I think that's what the public thinks, too, just, "Everything Key does and says makes me feel like he's gay!" And we report those YouTube comments when we see them, because it's rude to make assumptions about someone's sexuality anyway. So, I'm just curious, because I've been Googling and there's a lot of stories, and you have them on your account right now, that Key used to frequent gay bars in the early days of his career (was that in the early 2010s?) and that Minho used to pick him up when he was drunk, and I'm wondering if that's true, and if he's been saying queer-coded things in interviews and Instagram posts and stuff. I got that feeling recently when he was explaining why he gave his fans the nickname Lil freak. Personally, I don't think he'll ever come out of the closet, even if he is queer, and he'll continue to live in his frosted glass closet. Coming out in Korea is very difficult and takes a lot of courage, especially for celebrities. Right now, the most famous gay celebrity in Korea, he was outed unwillingly, and he immediately had his whole career in jeopardy, and as far as I know, it took him about 10 years before he was able to go back on TV again, with all kinds of sexual harassment and bigoted comments from people. Anyway, that happened. Umm... what do you think about that?

2. talking about Taemin, his queer performance is already widely known, so I won't ask about it. Sometimes some people talk about him having ADHD or even being on the autism spectrum, though they're in the minority, and I know of a tumblr blog that talks about it, and it's a very interesting hypothesis! As an ADHD person myself, there are times when I'm pretty sure he does have ADHD, but of course, that's... Kshawol doesn't really like it and it's not even talked about... In Korea, that interpretation is considered very rude and insulting, because we don't have good awareness of neurodiversity, so it's kind of a cultural difference. I wonder how Taemin's ADHD/ASD behaviors are viewed abroad.

hello, hope you're well! oooh, well your translator must be pretty good, because your english is coming across pretty perfect.

ok, so i'll try to answer all your questions as best as i can.

i've said before, and i've heard, that a lot of kshawols & the general public, pretty much know key's gay, especially in the queer community. in regards to making assumptions being rude - it depends on if those assumptions are from people assuming based on negative stereotypes. i think queer people, like myself, assuming based on seeing parts of ourselves in him, is not rude or harmful.

the kind of comments you report, are probably intended to be hateful.

when we talk about key's sexuality here it isn't. straight isn't the default, and there shouldn't be a this weird stigma around queer people, seeing and recognising other queer people!

the stuff about gay bars are all rumours. i noted that in the posts about it, that they're really old (yeah it was the early 2010's) and have no source, and should therefore not be taken too seriously. it was just a bit of fun to talk about the kind of things that were floating around the fandom at the time.

has he been saying queer coded stuff? tbh, i think soooo much of what he does, says, likes, dislikes, sings about, is interested in, ect. is queer-coded. i genuinely couldn't pick out a singualr incident.

and like yeah! i have an entire tag about how he calls fans lil freak alone, and what that means, and why it's significant to me, and to other lgbt+ people. and why it's very telling that kibum chose to call us that.

i've gone back & forth a lot about whether i think he'll come out one day, and i agree with you. whilst he's in the industry, he'll stay in his glass closet situation.

he doesn't need to come out if he doesn't want to. the ones that get it, already get it!

and yes, i know about hong seokcheon, and what happened to him, and whilst he's doing well now, it wasn't easy, and he endured so much. he clawed his career back, and it's incredibly inspiring, but.....

nowhere near enough progress has been made since.

i would never want key to have to face that in the current industry climate.

in regards to taemin!

i don't have adhd and i'm not on the spectrum in any way, so i would not at all feel comforable with making any judment on taemin in that way - but yes, i have seen a lot of discussion from neurodivergent people in regards to it.

it's definitely not something that's taboo to talk about in some cases, but, i would still say there's still a stigma in regards to neurodivergency in the international fandom. possibly moreso than kibum's sexuality?

some fans get sooooo angry when people with autism suggest taemin might have it too. again! it's not a negative thing!

anyway, i hope i answered your questions???? i don't know how well your translator picks up my all over the place way of talking lol

hope you have a good day/night! 💕

[hekateinhell]

Hi! As an Armand Expert and Loumand Appreciator can I ask what you think Armand's reaction was to Louis' suicide attempt. Considering his reaction in BC to Louis' 'death' and David fearing his reaction as much as Lestat's I imagine there was a reaction, and an extra kicker considering he explicitly states Louis is too scared to ever attempt it, and Louis likely read that.

Hi! 🖤

Okay so, for the class:

And it occurred to me, if Louis does end his life, if he does bring his supernatural journey to a conclusion, how will I ever answer for it to Lestat or Armand, or myself?

It was the love of Louis which had at times crippled Lestat, and enslaved Armand. ~ David, Merrick

Louis's suicide attempt followed Armand's only by a couple of years — what's that to vampires hundreds of years old? A few days? A week?

Honestly, I have to imagine it absolutely devastated Armand. He is devoted to Louis! He referred to him as many things in TVA (good and not-so-good), but among them are 'beloved Louis', 'sweet Louis', 'irresistible Louis.' The only vampire Armand waxes more poetic about is Lestat.

What's more, he does as with Lestat, I don't think Armand can envision a world without Louis in it, even before Merrick and Trinity Gate:

Louis, who has never vanished, who has always been known to others [...]. ~ Armand, TVA

For me, this is reminiscent of Lestat's sentiment on Armand in TotBT: "Armand, I hope, will always be around." They all love each other, and yet by virtue of their nature, they take each other for granted.

Armand does say that Louis will never have the courage to end his own life but—not to do off on a tangent—the wording makes me wonder if Armand saw Nicolas's suicide as something admirable, something he wished then in Paris that he was courageous enough to do, and perhaps still does during TVA. Tbh, I think Armand reads as passively suicidal from start to finish of that book.

Alternatively, is this Armand's strange way of trying to reassure himself he's not going to lose Louis too, when Lestat's laying there in a coma lost to the world with no signs of waking up? It can be interpreted in so many ways.

Adding another layer to it is the fact that Louis and Armand have had some sort of ongoing relationship (feel free to headcanon platonic or romantic, canon doesn't tell us) post-QotD and prior to MtD:

There was no sign of Louis at the town house in the Rue Royale, but this was by no means unusual. Louis took to wandering more and more often, and he had been seen once by David in the company of Armand in Paris. ~ Lestat, MtD

Armand's reaction to Louis's kidnapping in BC is so visceral because it's all up in the air, Louis is just gone. Armand finding out about Louis's suicide attempt after the fact—knowing that Louis has survived, that he's okay—looks a lot more like sadness to me, without the anger, and perhaps also the worry that he will attempt it again.

Armand would know the physical pain that comes with being burnt almost to crisp. Lestat's own suicide attempt (Dear Lord, these guys are not okay), while horrific and painful, did not leave him with anywhere near the level of damage Armand and Louis sustained. This is now a trauma Louis and Armand share, another unique (and unfortunate) way in which they mirror each other and relate to one another.

To end on a comforting note: I like to imagine Armand teaching Louis how to control his new powers, Louis gaining that much more of an understanding of Armand through all this, and how happy Armand must've been to be able to have a telepathic conversation with Louis for the first time in over a hundred years (thanks to Louis's Lestat power up).

[cars-and-planes-dork]

So I randomly felt like quickly sharing my thoughts on all three Cars movies and both Planes movies. Quick disclaimer, no matter how I feel about certain things it's totally cool if you feel different and I respect that.

Cars:

I love Cars. This was my childhood movie that I watched over and over and over again since I was a young child. I love the characters, the plot, and I think the animation holds up really well. I also am glad to see it with adult eyes cause there's a lot of nuance and stuff that I of course didn't get as a child. Recently on a whim I needed to unwind from stress and I put on Cars (just like my parents used to do for me as a kid, lol), and it genuinely did make me feel better and woke up a part of me that had laid dormant for years. Cars is a film that almost makes me wanna take a long drive on Route 66...until I remember I'm not any good at road tripping, lol.

Cars 2:

I have a distinct memory in my mind of being a child in the theater watching Cars 2, turning to my dad and saying 'can we go now?'. I didn't watch it all the way through until recently and I can thoroughly say that I don't despise it, but I'm also not its biggest fan. It's actually something of a guilty pleasure for me now. Sometimes I'll just put it on in the background while I do things. It also makes me contemplate the inner workings of this world more than the writers themselves probably thought about, like how the heck do different makes and models come about, what is the impact of climate change on a world of vehicles, but that's probably its own post. But yeah, I accept it for what it is and even enjoy some parts of it.

Cars 3:

So confession, it took me over 6 years to work up the courage to watch this one. I don't know why I was so worried, but I finally did it. And I loved it. I really think they ended on a good note. I'll admit the first part was probably the weakest in my eyes, but I really enjoyed the tribute to Doc Hudson and I actually teared up and I was happy to learn more about his past. I liked the torch passing narrative as well. I think my biggest complaint is that I wish we could've seen more of Lightning and his friends. (I may be biased because somehow Cal Weathers worked his way into my heart).

Planes:

Planes took longer to stick in my brain than Cars did. I remember going to see it actually, the local air and space museum did a showing of it and I went to watch it with my family. My parents didn't like it much but I remember being happy with it. Upon rewatching, there's things I like, but there's a part of me wishing it was something more. I can't fully explain it. Also I find Dusty's attitude off-putting to me personally (particularly his feeling of being entitled to being trained by Skipper and essentially demanding that Skipper tell him about his clearly traumatic past strikes me as kinda callous). But I still enjoy putting it on in the background and enjoy thinking about the world itself, much like Cars 2. Also fun fact, Skipper is one of my favorite kinds of planes.

Planes Fire & Rescue:

I'm sorry but I have much less patience for this film, but like I said above, I respect those who do. I will say, I appreciate them highlighting some of the realities of firefighting (like how the general public doesn't hear about a lot of fires that are dealt with). But other than that, I don't have much positive to say about it. The characters for the most part feel underdeveloped and I can't say I'm particularly endeared to a majority of them (Blade is the exception for me, tbh). And Dipper in particular needs to chill the hell out, her behavior is pretty inappropriate and creepy while being played off as jokes. Beyond that, my aforementioned issues with Dusty remain in this movie. Honestly, he doesn't strike me as capable of doing this job and he actively creates a situation that nearly gets Blade killed. I could spend awhile talking about it, but I'd honestly rather not. To end on a positive note, I think the married RV couple are adorable and I like them.

So that's all my thoughts. I enjoy both franchises and tend to overthink the hell out of them (if I overthink something it's usually cause I enjoy it). Hopefully I didn't piss too many people in the fandom off, lol.

[kila09]

SHIPPER TAG GAME

tagged by @gloster

1. What ship were you completely obsessed with when you were a teenager, but now you don't care anymore?

-not really obsessed, but I'd have to say Nick/Maddie from PR: Mystic Force. I really liked their dynamic and tbh, it was that couple that introduced me to fanfics because I went googling for info on Melanie and Firass

2. Which ship would you consider your first one?

-oh that's an easy one: Tommy/Kim. The moment I saw them on screen, I started shipping them before I even knew what shipping was. They were my OTP before I even knew what that was. Even at that young age, I was taken in by their chemistry, their understanding and acceptance of each other, the slow build up of their relationship...just...their everything. Honestly, it was because of this ship that i could not get into Disney fairytales because they did more to convince me of true love than any Disney movie ever did.

3. Your first fanfic belonged to which couple?

-Tommy/Kimberly. After I learned what fanfic was from searching Maddie/Nick...I stumbled upon a Tommy/Trini story and it didn't sit right with me lol. I kept thinking "Tommy and Kim are meant to be" and then I started writing a story about them. Took my weeks, after I'd written the first seven chapters, to work up my courage to actually post that first chapter.

4. Do you remember the first couple you saw a fanart over?

-more than likely Nick and Maddie.

5. Did you ever get into ship discourse?

-uhm....I mean, not really? I've responded to one or two anon posts or even made a post or two about a ship but actual discourse? I usually have those discussions with my friend

6. Did you used to have a NOTP or have it currently?

-ha! Did I ever! And still do: Kataang, Klance, Hinny, McRolls, Tommy/Kat, Jason/Kim, Dramione, Romione.

7. Who were the couple in the last fanfic you read?

-well, I'm currently reading three fanfics right now, so the couple in those are: Zutara, Tododeku, KinnPorsche

8. Currently, do you have any OTPs?

-ohh yeah: Tomberly, Drarry, Sheith, Zutara, KinnPorsche, Tododeku, DickKory, Geraskier

9. Is there any couple, to this day, you are extremely mad about not getting together?

-yes. I'm pissed they broke Kim and Tommy (rumor was, the letter wasn't even the original storyline but they did it because they wanted the fans to let go of Kimberly and accept Kat); Sheith (they had the best chemistry and the show kept drawing parallels between them and other couples on the show, including Keith's own parents); Zutara (they just made sense and I think Katara would've really blossomed even more because Zuko never would've stifled her or encourage to forego her own culture); Drarry (sure as shit, if one of them was female, it would've happen, so I don't see why it couldn't happen anyways. Plus, I feel they would've understood and balanced each other a lot better than their Canon couples).

10. Is there any ship you used to dislike but now you think they are kind of interesting?

-nope.

11. Do you have any ship that, in the past, was considered normal but now would be canceled over?

-i dont think so, no.

12. What was your favorite crack ship?

-i don't think I had or have one tbh.that.

13. Who is the couple you read more fanfics of?

-its split btwn most of my OTPs tbh.

14. What do most of your ships usually have in common?

-hmmm...idk, equality, I guess. The way they understand each other, how they are each others safe space in a way, how they can be themselves (all facets of themselves, e.g., angry, happy, messy, etc.) with each other, the way they're different but also the same in some ways

15. What do you absolutely hate in a ship?

-a bully/victim dynamic that is labeled as enemies-to-lovers; when a miscommunication happens and the person immediately runs away/avoids the other without giving them a chance to explain, which leads into the miscommunication going on for more than 2-3 chapters (even worse when it's a 15 chapter story and the miscommunication happened in like ch 2 and you're on ch 12 and it...is...still...going on)

Tagging: @tomberlylove, @the-badger-mole, @moerusai, @teamironmanforever, @luckydragon10, @ink-and-dagger, @mymcdanno, @angstosaur

[imkalla]

📖 Book topic.

Hi,

a few weeks ago i posted that i was finishing “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I did it.

I finished it -although it was actually about two weeks ago on my night train ride, that i did.

I wanted to take some time to think about what the book means to me and also i was quite busy those past two weeks. Studies, uh.

So, someone wants a review? Here it goes, but just a little disclaimer that it will contain spoilers.

The story is very intriguing from the begging. We are welcome with the mystery of seven marriages of the icon actress Evelyn Hugo, who is being “interviewed” by Monique - our second narrator. They are writing a biography. Evelyn takes us on a journey to her past, telling us in details about her life - how did she became popular and what are the costs of that lifestyle.

Each of the husband has its own section in the book as the story unfolds. It makes the book more structured. Also, above each name of each man there are some adjectives describing them, which i think is a nice insight to the story.

What i also think is quite clever are the unspoken words Evelyn says while retrospecting. I caught pretty early on that Harry Cameron is a gay man. I would love to say that it was actually written all over his face, but- well, i’ve never seen him. She did hint he was part of the queer community, though she never said it - and that’s what gave it away for me. That’s also why i kind of expected the queer motive to pop up some more in the book. I wasn’t surprised when she fell in love with Celia or when she found out she was bisexual.

I think those are extremely important parts of the book. Because it shaped her, and we get to know where it came from. Also because at the beginning of the book there is a question stated: “Who was the love of Evelyn Hugo? Which husband did she loved the most? Who was the one for her?” She gladly tells us that the love of her life was no man - it was her wife. This shows us a common misconception about public figures. We might think we know them but we don’t. Every celebrity out there has their own private life we know nothing about. What’s in the paper and on all the photos is a daydream, a fairytale told to sell. It’s all just for the right publicity. She tells us exactly that we might think we know, but we don’t.

I think it’s also very interesting how she talks about her marriages and divorces. I remember that one quote she said while she was taking with Monique. It says:

“Heartbreak is loss, divorce is a piece of paper.”

I think it’s beautiful in its honesty. I loved to see her different takes on marriage and divorce. It made me reflect on my own life, where my parents are, as of exactly today, finally divorced. It made me see the fallout of love in a different perspective. The divorce is essentially a heartbreak. So simple yet it took me a lot of time contemplating to finally feel the weight of those words. It was heartbreaking on its own.

Thinking about it especially in my 20s is a weird sensation. The questions flooding: How to prevent heartbreak from happening? Can we even prevent it? How can we choose our marriages wisely enough so there is less risk of it?

Let’s take an example in Monique. A young journalist, on the verge of divorce. She has so many questions about it, so many thoughts. Talking with Evelyn eventually gives her the courage and awareness to make the right step and divorce her husband. They did not fit. It felt like a failure. But she was still young. She just had to see it. She also had to find herself, as we get to know at the end of the book, it was not an accident for the two of them to meet.

Lets finish this long “review” which is really just what i think about the book tbh.

In summary: i like it. I like how many motives it has, how it makes you rethink how you view the world just a little bit. How it comes to your mind at a random moment, pops a scene in your head then fades away slowly, but just enough, so the thought of it could linger in your mind. And i think what i love about it, but haven’t mentioned it, is how it really shows us a female character and her life. Essentially a woman, but with world expectations around her. How she was twisting and turning to survive, but found her way into this world. She made a mark, created something that will outlive her, and she lived a life, showed in this book.

If you read all the way here,

thank you,

and have a beautiful day <33

-K

[babycatlix]

hello friends! 💖 and happy new year! i hope 2023 is kind to us all! 

let’s just get into it! at the tail-end of 2021, i wasn’t really sure i was going to stay on tumblr. a lot of the friends i had made on my main and on another side blog had moved on from tumblr/we didn’t talk anymore. the few IRL friends i do have, i don’t follow on here bc i got rid of my old account (c. 2011) so i wasn’t really sure i was going to even be on tumblr during 2022. 

but then... march, 2022, my friend wanted to show me a music video. i wasn’t super jazzed but said “okay.” and he said, “have you heard of stray kids?” and me being into kpop for the better part of 16-ish years i said, “yes, i’ve heard of stray kids. i don’t stan, but i have heard of them.” fast forward a few weeks, he’s made me watch the maniac mv like 10 times and he thinks now is a good time to tell me, “by the way, stray kids is a self-producing group.” in case you didn’t know, i love groups that self-produce. see the other groups i love, bigbang, bts, seventeen, winner and ikon. so as soon as he said that, i was done for. i fell even deeper into kpop and fell into stray kids. 

in april, 2022 i decided that i should make a side blog for stray kids. i didn’t think it would grow into what it has. i just thought it would be like my itzy and blackpink side blogs, where i occasionally post some fan photos and other ppls creations. instead... i thought a good way for me to catch up on 4 years of content was to start giffing and here we are. i say this every time i do a follow forever, but i'm so happy here in my corner of stayblr. everyone is so kind and wonderful! and i want to thank everyone that shows my gifsets love! i'll tag some ppl below, but i want to mention a few special ppl to me first:

@yonglixx and @quokki my lovely sun ☀️ and ale! 💚 we may not talk a whole lot these days, life is busy and school is way too much, but you two were some of the first ppl on stayblr that i really talked to 💖 you guys were my first mutuals 😭🥰

@jinniebit ahhhh anna! we also don't talk a whole lot, but you are special to me! i followed you from your svt main and when i realized that you were here on stayblr, i plucked up my courage (i'm a huge chicken when it comes to interacting first! 🙈) and filled out your mutual form 💖 and i'm so glad i did!

@changbeens wonderful, amazing, talented bee! you mentioned me in your birthday follow forever and i was like, "how have i NOT seen them in my notifs?!" turns out, i was just blind, you were there all along. i love the way you express yourself and you never hesitate to stand up for your friends.

@sunnishine my sunshine 🥰 i'm so glad you were brave one day (i know it took a lot of courage and i'm proud of you 😭) and reblogged one of my gifsets, bc you gave me my own tag and an emoji to go with it 🥺 it was so cute and tbh... i was so nervous to tell you that i wanted a different emoji 😂 but i did and the rest is history.

okay, with the sappy emotional stuff out of the way, here are other ppl that i love a whole lot. if you're not following them, consider doing so! they're all so talented and wonderful! no special order, just alphabetical!

@agibbangs / @atinystraykid / @chanrizard / @chanstopher / @cheekyquokka / @freckledbbokkiee / @geniaparadox / @ggthydrangea / @hanjesungs / @hanjisoonie / @hyunchanz / @jerirose / @jisungs / @juiceofmoons / @jisungsjaistandjeekies / @khairemisthios / @lee--felix / @leefelex / @leenow / @minzbins / @missyedits / @nevoono / @seo-changbinnies / @skz-films / @snug-gyu / @straykidsgallery / @winterfloral

i love you all, you've made being here on stayblr so nice and wonderful! i would've done this sooner, but i worked both new years eve and new years day. but better late than never! i hope 2023 is kind to us all! 💖