#its not the first time ive seen something like this in global

[wayfarerxiii]

someone on global is having a moral dilemma

[viktoriakomova]

i want to make this a separate post instead of tacking it onto the last post i reblogged, because a) i feel like its getting way too far away from the point of the OP and as someone who has been in that position several times on my main blog its annoying as shit, and b) i dont want it to feel like anybody is ganging up on OP or "dragging" them or whatever, i dont think what they said was mean spirited or came from a place of bad faith etc etc etc. (if i did i would have been a whole fucking lot meaner in replying lmfao) and i also dont think anything it said was Wrong tbh.

okay all that being said!

i will put my tags of my last reblog in the main text here, because this is something i want to expand on:

not to get too Deep about it but. the colonizing countries literally have more wealth and resources and opportunity *because* th#*they stole so much from the global south. they have the $ and the stability to develop ‘frivolous’ things like gym#at the direct expense of the colonies who are left penniless and in perpetual chaos and upheaval

(for context this is re: children of immigrants in diaspora and their connections to their parents'/grandparents' homelands and culture, and maintaining those ties when the reason they came to the global north are for increased opportunity for success and upward mobility etc.)

i wont turn this into a treatise on economic exploitation and its consequences like i alluded to in the tags (i would if i had like 3 glasses of wine tho lol) but the following is something i really do want to underscore:

i love nemour for a lot of reasons. the gymnastics itself, yes of course. i know i snark and make jokes all the time about her shitting on the FFG every time she does anything great under the 🇩🇿 flag. but sincerely, what she is doing for gymnastics in algeria, in north africa in general (hell even in africa overall given the attention that african champs got because of her), is truly something special. i will admit that i dont stay on top of algerian sports media lol but i do speak french and what ive seen, just what has come across my radar, in the francophone algerian press (both in france and in algeria) is drumming up major excitement about her. this is the kind of attention that gets people who otherwise wouldnt give a shit emotionally invested in the sport. the social and historical baggage of the treatment of algeria and algerians in france, and the olympics being in paris, is just the icing on the cake.

its not exactly the same dynamic, especially not in terms of the Discourse about resources and access in diaspora, but i cant help but to be reminded of daiane dos santos, who famously started the sport at the age of 12. and only 8 years later she became a world champion on floor. she was the first world champion in WAG from brazil, south america entirely in fact, ever!!!! rebeca andrade mentions her all the time as an inspiration for her as a little girl. rebe went out of her way (i mean that figuratively as well as very literally, we all know the story about her brothers escorting her through the favela to the gym and back) to do the sport, because she saw dos santos do great things and looked up to her. and now shes REBECA FUCKING ANDRADE. would we have Rebe™ if it hadnt been for daiane? no probably not!

i guess it just..... not "upsets" me, thats not the word im looking for, but maybe gives me pause when i see anybody say (about any of the aforementioned US-born gymnasts representing other countries, not just in this case with nemour) that its opportunistic or undeserved to be competing under the flag of a country your parent(s) came from but you've never properly lived in. because...... isnt that the whole purpose of the multi-generational Narrative Arc? dont they pick up their whole lives and move to "wealthy" countries to pursue better lives for themselves, and more importantly, for their children? and then their children do take advantage of those opportunities they would not have gotten back "home" and reach the highest levels of a (very expensive and, until very recently, highly "inaccessible") sport. and then there's a chorus of "well it isn't like she's FROM from there and came up from the ranks within that country." i mean you're not wrong but thats.... kinda the point!!! she couldnt have done it at "home," shes a clear example of how much talent there is in places that are torn apart and dirt fucking poor and how if you give those people the opportunity, they can be really fucking good at this! world class, even!

she is, in a very REAL sense, "representing" algeria. if she does well in paris (🧿🧿🧿🧿 *furiously knocking on every wooden surface in my apt*) she will become an emblematic iconic sports star for algeria. she will be the reason a ton of little girls in algeria (and even franco-algériennes in france) will want to sign up for gymnastics! she will have (and has already had, by the looks of it) a tangible impact on the popularity and the future of the sport in algeria. it cannot be overstated how fucking much that means.

[destinysbounty]

HELLO i am in your inbox because your post about ninjago cycles made me drop my phone, ive literally been thinking about this idea forever!

around when i watched s8, i literally started reading the entire show as one big time loop because of all the repetition and cycles in the show. i dont know if that phrasing holds true, but i think the idea itself holds up

i think what really drives the entire cycle of the show is the need for balance. i interpret ninjago the place as created by fsm to be a reflection of his worldviews: dragon vs oni; good vs evil; light vs dark. the fact that the overlord keeps coming back, and his descendants will have to keep fighting him is a part of a larger system put in place (accidentally or purposefully) by fsm. when one person is defeated, a power vaccuum appears that HAS to be filled, usually by a new villain

basically, balance is the mechanism by which all these cycles come to pass. its kind of a law of physics in ninjago, good will always win, but evil can never really lose. everyone has to keep repeating history, personal and global because the world literally will bend itself in order to achieve that balance.

(i hope this makes sense i wrote it very quickly lmao) thank you sooooo much for bringing up cycle symbolism in the show,,,, once you start looking for it its everywhere!

(Here's the cycle post in reference)

Thank you for sending this ask! I apologize for the belated response, but I wanted to wait to respond until I had the chance to get ahold of some screenshots that would be relevant to this discussion. With that out of the way, let's get into the meat of the issue!

First off, you are absolutely right! I think the circle motif represents a few key themes: balance, as you mentioned; recursion; and inheritance. And all of those things, in a way, tie back into the show's interpretation of destiny and the way fate is baked into almost every aspect of the story.

Balance is the most obvious interpretation, of course, and perhaps the most compelling. Like, not just because the circle is by design an incredibly balanced shape, simultaneously having infinite sides yet at the same time only one. But also because there are so many instances of circles appearing in the way in which the balance between light and dark is visually represented within the series - especially with regard to the creation mythology.

(On an unrelated note, I think it's actually kind of a cool detail how the FSM is represented as a grey being - not Oni of darkness, not dragon of light, but something in between. The child of both worlds.)

The world was created by the FSM, and while I can't remember if it was ever outright stated, I think there's enough evidence to at least assume spinjitzu was used alongside the Golden Weapons to create Ninjago (I'm happy to elaborate on this if asked!)

On this note of balance, I also think it's worth noting the attention drawn to the splitting of circles. As seen above, with the creation of the Dark Island, but also with the Battle Between Brothers! Now, I'm definitely overthinking this, but bear with me for a sec.

The Monastery of Spinjitzu is, quite iconically, arguably circular in shape. Well, it's really more of a hexagon, but you get my drift. And the sons of the FSM, each representing light and dark, were friends for a long time. But when Garmadon finally succumbed to the venom's influence and was banished to the Underworld, a crevice was torn into the ground, splitting that circle - and likewise splitting the two brothers in the process.

And again! The Lloyd v Garmadon fight in sesaon 8! Despite loving each other very deeply, they have both been forced into conflict by the forces of destiny time and again. Lloyd knows the drill at this point. "I've saved you once, I'll save you again." The fight itself takes place in a circular structure - the Kryptarium Prison panopticon. Lloyd enters this fight assuming the established cycle of fighting and redeeming his father will be reinforced. But when Lloyd is thrown through the wall, thereby breaking through the prison's circular structure, so too is this cycle broken as well (and with it like half the bones in Lloyd's body as well as his heart).

And of course, we can't forget the most iconic example - when the FSM created the Dark Island, banishing the Overlord and his Stone Army for the protection of the world he created, the circular continent was split in two. The destruction of the circle.

The destruction of the circle is also how the Oni are introduced in Mystake's story - the dragon creates a circle, and the Oni destroys it.

So to recap: a circle is balance, balance is stability and unity, and the dissolution of the circle is the loss of stability.

That in itself is a cycle - creating something, destroying it, creating it again.

Kinda like the show itself, in a constant loop of the world facing ruin and building itself back up again and again. Like how the Overlord can never truly be defeated, dying and coming back like the ebb and flow of the tide. Like the snake eating its own tail, a cycle feeding itself endlessly. Like how a circle has infinite sides.

That's interesting enough as it is, right? Just wait! It goes deeper!

As mentioned before, the FSM arguably created Ninjago to some extent using spinjitzu. Spinjitzu, which is both a martial art and a lifestyle that utilizes circular motion to create a tornado around the user. The quintessential example of the circle motif. Spinjitzu is quite literally the foundation of the show's identity and worldbuilding. This show is, on both a narrative and a meta level, built on the concept of circles. And according to the Core shorts, one of its principle values includes balance.

Which, in the end, boils back to what you were saying about how cycles are a law of reality in Ninjago. I agree!

If I have my lore right and Ninjago was created through spinjitzu in some degree or another, then that means it was created through circular motion. The world was made spinning. The world was made as one big cycle. So to some extent, I do definitely think that good and evil must constantly fight. If the world isn't constantly repeating itself, if this cycle of recursion ever stops, then the world will stop spinning. And what happens when the world stops spinning?

Chaos, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Although, we also have to consider that the Overlord said "there will be peace in the dark". Now, since he is a villain and also the embodiment of darkness itself we should take his words with a grain of salt, but it definitely raises the question of what it would look like if darkness or light truly did prevail over the other, or if such a thing is even possible in the first place. Will there be peace in the dark? Or does the Overlord have an arguably more compelling motivation - that is, as an immortal being incapable of death, locked in an eternal limbo between victory and defeat, he knows that the only way this deathless hell will end is if the balance is destroyed and the universe falls to pieces. Maybe that's what the Overlord means by 'peace in the dark'. That theory has a lot of holes in it, of course, but I'm certainly intrigued by what that would mean for the Overlord's character. This might also hint at the origins of Darkley's, but that's a weird little tinfoil-hat tangent that we're not gonna worry about right now.

Now, I mentioned earlier that there are three main themes that the circle motif draws on: balance, recursion, and inheritance. And those three themes all tie into destiny somehow. So far, we've talked about balance and recursion - how history must keep repeating itself, how the whole world must remain in eternal conflict between light and dark or else the circle will dissolve and chaos will reign. But what about inheritance?

This is the fun part, but also a bit obvious. First, inheritance comes through elemental powers - not only because powers are passed on from person to person, as well as the legacies of those powers, but also because the elements of creation all tie back to the Green Ninja. They all manifest in him, and while the other ninja are capable of wielding those powers independently they all tie back to Lloyd in the end. Like convection cells but instead of circulating wind currents it's magical powers.

And, of course, I'm not the first person to comment on how elemental powers can be seen as a metaphor for generational trauma, and how each character inherits the legacy and loss of prior generations vicariously through their powers. Other people have elaborated on this idea far more eloquently than I ever could. But it's still worth mentioning in this discussion, so here we are.

And!! Then you've got things like the Yin-Yang Eclipse (which, imo, didn't look much like the Yin-Yang symbol at all. It looked more like a funky Z if you ask me). With Yang telling Cole to "close the circle" - the curse of the Airjitzu Temple requires that someone always remain behind as the master of the house. Yang needed Cole to take his place as the temple's new prisoner. He needed Cole to complete the cycle of inheritance. He needed Cole to close the circle.

And that right there is the base essence of this show, isn't it? Closing the circle. Completing the cycle. The sins of the father laid upon the son. History repeating itself. Repetition and recursion.

This all pertains to destiny in ways I hope are quite apparent at this point. The scholars in the Cloud Kingdom write destiny. They choose what happens. They designed the Prophecy of the Green Ninja. Perhaps they're doing all this, perhaps they're putting the ninja through all this trauma and suffering, perhaps they're creating this history and this world to be endlessly recursive, in an effort to maintain the balance and protect the universe from spiraling out of control. Or maybe they're just doing it to get their sick kicks. Who knows? We've only seen the Cloud Kingdom for like one whole episode so at this point who's to say.

But a bit more blatantly to the point, according to Lloyd in 2.12 "Return of the Overlord" the below images show the symbol for destiny. And what do you see??? Circles!!!!!!!! Circles as unity! Circles as balance! And in the latter image, circles represented through colors, which denote their roles in destiny and likewise the powers they inherited from their ancestors! It's circles all the way down!!!!

Oh and before I go, here's some food for thought. The Overlord once said that "destruction comes from the eternal struggle between light and dark." And Oni have the power of destruction. Garmadon, once he's reached his true potential, is powered by conflict. "It's the fight that fuels him." Which does seem to corroborate with what we know about the Overlord himself - as Misako said, "where there is light, there must also be darkness." Conflict creates darkness, and darkness creates conflict, just as light creates shadow.

God, I'm losing my mind over this. Balance is the struggle between light and dark. Destruction is a byproduct of this struggle. Destruction causes darkness. Darkness plays a pivotal role in the existence of the balance. The balance is creating itself. The cycle ultimately cycles back in on its own self. We've come full circle. It's the freakin' ouroboros! The snake eating its own tail! Endless consumption with infinite return! Circular motion causing its own endless perpetuity!! It's a fight you can never truly win but also can't lose, because the existence of conflict creates conflict, and without conflict there cannot be peace! You cannot escape from the cycle because you are the cycle!

So, to conclude:

Thanks again for the ask! <3 God I sure hope this rant made at least a teensy bit of sense.

[crispycookedcat]

I Found Him It wasn't like I stopped searching anyhow, I found him. But now I don't even know if I wanted to keep seeing him. In this state, he looks so pained, so absent, lost in a body that has betrayed him.

It had been about two days since Paul had found him and he wasn't handling it well. He remembers it vividly, almost becoming nauseated from the memory. He remembers how he felt, the distance forced between them, the helplessness he felt to it all, and at the center stood a nasty rage at the man responsible for it. He was standing behind the one-way glass staring down at his husband strapped into a hospital bed, hooked up to vitals and IV bags that delivered his nutrients and some weird conglomerate of the same treatment he had taken that turned him into a monster. Crying out to him with desperate pleas and heartbroken wails that he was too late, that he was so sorry, that he was begging him to look up.

His head was bandaged neatly, hair matted and unwashed from sweat and possibly blood, his body heaving with every labored breath. He had never seen Patryck so defeated, so hollow, so gone. It hurt his soul, made him frenzied, made him angered beyond words, but no matter how hard he punched and hit the glass, the window failed to break, and his heart sank further into itself.

He became so frantic he almost lost control, his forced monster form almost breaking free from its human prison, he almost forgot who he was, who he promised to be in the moment. That thought snapped him out of his desperation but threw him into even more agony. The man he had married, the man he loved to death, who he planned to retire with, was now another pawn in Tord's wicked game of global dominion. It made him sick, so very very sick.

So now in the present he lays on his back in his barrack, alone and with his own darkened thoughts having torn his room to hell, fighting between the monster within his body and his own reason. How he wished to let loose, to go to Tord and raise hell and bring down his whole base. But he couldn't, he would end up like the others, dead or forced into mind control. It was something he couldn't risk. "What did they do to you...? Why did he do this to you...?"

He muttered into the air while digging his claws into his balled fists, he couldn't understand the lost mind of his Boss, why he was willing to do something so risky like this. Unless. His face blanched and he felt nauseated again. The other three men that he found down there months ago. They were all in the same position as his Pat: lost, gone, hollowed, empty, and nothing more than zombies at that point. He was planning something big, something far worse than what his initial plans were. "No...no no no no NO!"

He gripped his skull with his own monstrous hands and sat up with new fear established in his soul. He was pulling the most cliche but the most probable plan in any villain's notebook. His goal was to achieve total global control, yes, but who or rather what could be used to destroy rebellions, any rebellions. Loyal soldiers capable of uprooting them at the source, and able to not only uproot but absolutely maim and dispel any chance of reformation.

Paul felt dizzy as he screamed out, the familiar ringing returned to his ears as his vision blurred, it hurt. Everything hurt. So this was Tord's plan. Using monsters to cause unbridled mayhem. Paul realized he wasn't the first, he was the most successful out of all of them. He could go back and forth seamlessly with retaining memories of both human and beast. He could feel his control slipping, horns jutting painfully from his head, he was played like a fiddle.

Those clones of his beloved bought Tord time and kept him from discovering quicker what was really happening to him. This was an induction, training, this was conditioning. And he felt himself slip further into his mind.

"Tord... you fucking... bastard..."

Was the last he uttered before he faded away and the beast took over once more, with the last thing he felt was nothing but absolute rage.

[katstratfordfanclub]

january 31, 2024

dear tumblr,

its the first journal posting of 2024, very exciting.

this wont be as heavy as some of the other topics that i have covered or will cover but its something ive been thinking about over the past few days.

my hair is changing. its loosing its curl and its bringing me some very conflicting feelings. i will admit, this is a very on brand thing for me to be having big feelings about. hair is a really big part of people's identities and mine has been through a lot of changes from the period of time where it was dyed a new color every two weeks to being completely and utterly bald. its been every length, from to my hips to a number two buzz.

one thing that it had never been before cancer was naturally curly. in fact it rarely held a curl on its own as it was too think to allow itself to be shaped, even temporarily. now however, at least for a while, it had a natural curl with minimal frizz. this new shape of my hair follicle was not without sacrifice: my hair strands are much thinner then they were before, softer too. the change in thinness wasn't that upsetting to be me, especially when it didn't seem like it was much thinner due to the texture creating volume but now its becoming more obvious, at least to me.

my roots are growing in straight. not just a soft wave, but as straight as it was before. they have grown long enough now that i have stopped using my hair creams to make the curls stay together because when i do it makes my ends look good but my roots flat and kinda greasy even though i had washed it the night before. it doesn't look bad. it look familiar.

it looks like my old self. the one from freshman year of high school with hair to her lower back. the one that hadn't touched hair bleach other then to do the occasional cap highlight. the one who hadn't yet experienced the reality of what life could be, good and bad, despite being in the worst phase of my eating disorder; the phase that made me decide that i really had no choice but to try to recover.

its painful to look so much like a version of yourself that you can no longer relate to. its painful because its like i'm loosing a part of the new me just by looking like the old me. she's so different from me now but when i look in the mirror i just see her. she didn't know what her life would be like. she didn't know that there would be a global pandemic keeping her from fully developing. she didn't know that she would get cancer and have scars littering her body for the rest of her life. she was preoccupied with crushes and conventions. she was still grappling with the impacts that being groomed were having on her.

now im in my college dorm in a city where i know nobody well enough to consider them a friend. the loss of my curls feel like a loss of my past. the two year anniversary of my diagnosis was five days ago, around the same time i noticed my hair changing. cancer has been a huge part of my life for those two years, although unwillingly. the loss of my curls feel like a loss those two years. i know it changes nothing. i know that i still had that illness. i know that i still am dealing with the aftermath. i know i will be dealing with the aftermath for the rest of my life. this is just the loss of the one piece of proof that is seen as pretty. i am just the same as i was before. i am just left with scars, physical and mental.

kat out <3

[elaichoi]

the v v v first time i saw ur acct was when u had the yeonjun prive alliance layout ^3^ those reincarnation aus made me saur emo T^T

i luv that for u agghh<3 not that there's anything wrong w it,but i find it most satisfying when ppl get into kpop from kpop-genre songs rather than western-sounding kpop songs lol my first kpop artists were b2st (highlight) and t-ara hehe

mhm yea mayybbe! i know 100% why i don't post them and its cos i used to be consistent w posting on both kpop & personal socmed accts but mental health happens and i kinda stopped bc numbers make me want 2 cry lmfao

except im slightly less mentally ill since that time now and yk i actually genuinely do rlly want to start all my socmed accts up again but im putting it off bc im a bit of a perfectionist and so im lazy to be doing all dat... all of nothin :D don't call the orderly i'm fine ^_^ /lh

2019-21? ah probably not then i'm pretty sure i was in and out of the school roster (pls tell me if i am oversharing/trauma dumping/crossing any boundaries bc i genuinely do not know i no longer have any social skills T_T /gen /srs)

hm i'm not sure tbh i only followed the one 😭😭 i haven't been on wattpad in a long ass time and i remember i tried seeing what wattpad was like nowadays and was v disappointed w the ads and paid stuff (i think i don't remember). booooo 👎👎

omg wait that's so cool aaaaah!!! i changed my user a lot so i honestly could not tell u bc i have goldfish memory ;__; i do remember i had a user like taempons(_) i think it had an underscore idk don't remember but i changed it (kinda wish i saved it ngl) and oh one i do remember was peachyjihoons (my wannaone phase lmao) but yeah im pretty sure my most recent user was some based on some tumblr shit like svnshine or something idfk 💀💀

u are already a talented writer save some for the rest of us 👺 /j if u could also draw u would be too powerful 👁️👄👁️

omg THAT WAS MY FIRST LAYOUT TOO!! this account isn't that old tbh i still haven't gotten the feel of writing smuts as of yet that's why i havent been much active on it BUT WAIT REINCARNATION AU?!? from my main???

DUDE I LOVE B2ST!!!! and t-ara!!!!!!!! i really got into kpop slowly because i fell for kdrama at first (found replay in one of the kdrama edit lmao) so like my music journey has been very, very kpop ish. i think the global influence in most of kpop songs started to become mroe prominent during 2018?

bro i get you like the fear of starting the stuff you love because you feel like you won't be able to give it all and starting it and feeling it like you're gonna disappoint yourself. i hadn't started anything since like 2017 until recently because i was scared i was gonna stumble, or it won't be good ( well mostly that) or i won't be able to finish that. me and my bff still has this one project we started around like 2018 lmao we both still haven't finished it or picked it up bc we developed the idea sm and got so close to it that we fear writing it now.

not OVERSHARINH I WANNA KNOW!!! NO but like FR wattpad went through the biggest glow down IVE EVer seen like. it's legit LEGIT inhabitable. like at first you take away the newsfeed?!? like how am i gonna pine over other accounts now?!? and then everything became paid and shit like wtf is that?!

omg i wonder if I ever saw you on my explore page or tags bro fr this is so interesting my ig handle has always been one tbh it's @celestialsoo ( my intense love affair with kyungsoo era) like since the dawn of the day.

YOU LIE!!!!! i wish i could fr draw tho i want to draw my muses :///

[keepin-it-surreal]

NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW

Hey Tess army if you’re out there

Long time no post? 

This is true. I posted a single time. But alas I have **** in case you didn’t know and am a bit behind schedule!!!!!! [i am going insane and am not real]

Also funny thing I had this posted on my official global scholars blog for 24 hours

I am writing this. It is in the works. I am posting it because it will Make me come back and edit it faster, and I gotta post it on my global scholars blog ASAP….

To try to get back into it I am going to start with this small post. Probably a few more like this and we’ll see where it goes. I’m trying my best. So here it is….

THE BIGGEST CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN ITALY FROM THE US

SPEECH

The stereotypes here are, to a certain extent, true. Italians are expressive. I wouldn’t call it yelling, but I will say I have quite a few times mistook some other emotion for anger. 

TOUCHINESS

We know the Italians for the likes of chaste kisses to the cheek and perhaps a slightly strange old man sense of touchiness, but in general comfort with physical touch is much deeper here. Maybe its the fact that without good friends I’m starved for physical affection, but honestly quite prefer it. Especially with young people, across genders they are much more comfortable hugging, one-arm hugging, patting, cheek-kissing, whispering, and so on and so forth with everyone, especially those of the opposite gender. At first it was a bit of a shock to see a boy with his arm around a girl and whisper in her ear while they both have respective significant others, but I’ve come to learn that it’s just how friends are with each other. Call me old fashioned, but I honestly think non-sexual physical affection is really important, and something the world could use a bit more of. I think its a way to make us feel a bit less distant and more comfortable with each other. I honestly think that rapists and pedophiles are the reason for a social overreaction and move towards politically correct distance in the past few decades at least in America, and I don’t love it! I think comfort in your body and comfort in the bumping-into of other bodies is something very valuable. 

EATING

As all of anyone would expect, food has a different cultural standing here. It’s simply more important, for one. For lack of a better term, it’s more of a ‘thing.’ Most people leave work and school and head home for lunch everyday. Most businesses here close around the hours of 2:00 to 4:30 PM give or take. 

SCHOOL

I hate Italian school. Sorry Luca Guadagino! It is true. I hate it because it sucks. 

SMOKING

SMOKING THAT ITALIAN PACK…. Because half of them are gonna be dead 20 years early of lung cancer if I had to guess. Now I actually wouldn’t say that the smoking difference is completely because people smoke more here, part of it is the culture surrounding smoking is a lot different. I would say it feels less culturally taboo. I would say the distribution is similar to something of 

WORK

There is a very popular stereotype that Europeans– but especially Italians don’t work. This is a joke more than anything– there are plenty of folks here who work quite minimally, at least compared to what I’m used to with my own family. As mentioned, they usually come home for a chunk of about two or so hours in the middle of the day, and school finishes by 1PM in time for lunch. My host mom works for about three to four hours on either end. 

GOING OUT

For American teenagers, the idea of “going out” doesn’t quite exist. We hang out with friends, and have parties and dances and whatnot, but it is distinct to how Saturday nights function here in Italy. Despite my city having a population of about 100,000 in total, about 1/40th of Los Angeles (not including suburbs!) When I leave my apartment in the center of Lecce, the streets are completely filled for almost all of downtown, which stretches over a couple kilometers. Ive never seen the amount of people that go out like this in all my time in one of the largest cities in the world.

DRINKING

Now this stuff really depends on where and how you come from in the U.S. and same here in Italy, but in general day drinking is way more common. While there are weekend exceptions, in general and especially on a work day it’s not normal for people to drink with lunch in america. Perhaps it’s the fact that lunch is a the biggest meal of the day for Italians, but day drinking is much more common. 

Many think of Europeans as more tolerant with drinking in general, but I would say in the 21st century it really depends on the family. In mine, for example, my host sister is generally not allowed to drink in family situations. Other exchange students Ive talked to have reported the opposite.   with a lowered drinking age, it’s much more socially acceptable to see youngsters out drinking in public.

HOUSE STUFF

The Italian mothers deserve so much more than they get. All of them are essentially house wives but also work? The majority of them cook one or two full meals everyday, keep clean and orderly homes, and manage the majority of childcare, all while having a rather argumentative relationship with their kids, from what I’ve seen (and other exchange students). 

[arcsin27]

tbh i think the uhhhh situation with chris pratt's performance in the mario movie trailer is two issues combined

like others have said, hes not really trying to do a mario voice. black is doing a bowser voice, ive heard that key is doing a bit of a toad voice (i dont know what he sounds like regularly, im taking people at their word), but pratt is just speaking as himself. i usually dont care about that sort of thing, ive defended at least two voice actors for not doing unique voices, but this is different because i just dont think it fits. i believe that, even if mario hasnt been a global icon for the last few decades and hadnt had one single voice actor that entire time (in games at least), i think many people would agree that the voice pratt uses just doesn't really fit the design of a chubby mustached plumber (though maybe thats a bit presumptuous). i dont know what voices pratt is capable of doing, but im sure something else couldve worked better

i dont think pratt is solely to blame for this, if at all. i dont know all that much about the professional moviemaking system and industry, but i know that a lot goes into every little thing. for example, there are directors of course. maybe pratt wanted to do a voice but the directors didnt like it? who knows. and in my opinion, the casting director is also part responsible for this. from the beginning, pretty much everyone agreed that pratt sounds nothing like mario, hes a totally out there casting decision, etc. the other characters castings also had the feel of just going for whatever celebrity they could, but they still seemed to work! black as bowser, day as luigi... ive seen the edits and animations, theyre oddly fitting! so its just odd that they casted pratt, who sounds nothing like mario...

sorry this is super incoherent. i didnt feel like doing proper punctuation, i forgot some actors first names and didnt feel like googling, and my thoughts are just all over the place lmfao. i doubt my points even relate to the main topic at all ("they cast pratt for mario the casting director sucks" *proceeds to gush that the cast is well picked*)

also, even if we're all a little confused and upset, i really hope pratt himself doesnt get much hate. like i said, hes not the only person responsible for how a character sounds in a final release, and itd just be a dick move to bully a guy for doing his job and most likely trying his absolute best at said job. after all, in the interviews he keeps talking about how much he loved mario as a kid and how happy he is to have the role! i refuse to believe hes not putting in effort, it just may not be in the way we had hoped

[actualbird]

the words "vyn horse girl" did something to my brain and sent it on a whole journey but one of the stops was the thought of vyn approaching tutoring marius like befriending a stubborn horse which is so funny 2 me. vyn accidentally (or like.. maybe not. its vyn. who is to say.) pavlovs marius by clicking his pen the way you do with a horse and a clicker LMAO

irt to vyn pls get friends

oh my gosh i said "vyn horse girl" very mindlessly but now youve activated my silly brain so it is time for me to expand because your mind is amazing

vyn richter is very obviously a horse girl and he might be applying horse logic to some friendships

wc: 716

contents: horses, which may be alarming for some. i, personally, am fucking terrified of horses (no offense to horses or horse lovers, i just had a bad time once when a horse nearly led me to my death)

canon evidence of vyn being a horse girl

hes currently (on the global server) got two whole cards wheres hes in the proximity of a horse. R Elegance and SR Gentleman's Game. i have not yet seen the story for the SR but hes on the horse. and two cards with a horse is telling, esp since hes looks to be enjoying himself. thats more times in my life ive ever enjoyed being with a horse

canonically, he has hunted before with a bow and arrow. whats the best animal to be on when doing this? unfortunately, a horse.

canonically vyn is, [spoiler for backstory] of a royal lineage. guess what royal people ride? money. and (sadly) horses!

vyn maybe applying horse logic to friendship because thats the funniest goddamn thing ive ever seen

i mean, can anybody blame him? yes he has 2 phds in psychology (uh, actually, whats the second one? psychology and...something related, surely. i'll laugh very loudly if his 2nd phd is something unrelated, like library science. i think anthropology would fit him, it's a dry verdant study). but that doesnt immediately translate into being good at friends.

very endeared by the image of childhood to teen vyn who is still surrounded by people he FUCKING ABHORS just going to the stables and reading his books out loud to the horses because he loves those horses so so much. and now those horses know a Lot. perhaps even too much. im scared.

but yes, people are not horses. but he may use horse logic because it's what he Knows.

irt to marius the skittish horse: IM WHEEZE LAUGHING. tho marius doesnt strike me as a skittish horse at all, more like a wild one. i think vyn would approach his relationship w marius something more like "horse, behave." and then marius is like "no!"

(i dont think vyn would on purpose pavlov condition anybody since thats a bit questionable, even if it is funny. but vyn is also very fond of routines so he may have accidentally primed marius to expect praise when he twirls his pen. vyn catches on quickly and tries to stop doing that...except when he really needs marius to shut up and focus.)

artem is the skittish horse thats hiding behind a stoic horse image. vyn approaches his relationship w artem (after the whole tense lowkey rivalry enemies thing) by being gentler. and personally gifting artem a peppermint plant from his garden. because horses like peppermint. artem does not eat the peppermint raw, he uses it in his cooking.

luke is a horse that looks so lovely and kind but when you get too close or harm any of his horse friends (and vyn will eventually realize that he is included in luke's horse friend list) luke will bite and kick and kill. luke is wary as well, so vyn is the most careful with him, first studying him from afar until luke gets fed up with how thats cryptic as fuck. after that, vyn is much more honest, lest luke does a metaphorical horse kick spanning from the playful ones like jabs at vyn's sleep sched to ones that can definitely fucking hurt.

mc is not a horse to vyn. she is, however, somebody he trusts greatly and he actually tells her about the horse thing. to which she finds HILARIOUS but also fascinating. she asks him how to handle the horses, so to speak, and he is very open to letting her know. like teaching a rookie to ride a horse. but, er, hes not teaching her how to ride the. the team. or. well. he COULD. she seems like she'll know more about that though

vyn the horse girl is canon.

[zaptap]

ive made a few of these bingo sheets and theyre fun so i decided to make one not just for e3 but also JUST for splatoon 3 (not just for e3 but for like the whole lifetime of the game). also heres my updated list of characters id like to see in smash, ordered generally by which id like more and/or think are the most realistic

since min min got in i took out helix, and since i couldnt decide whether to add in waluigi or madeline i added another row (realistically i dont think any indies are getting in but i threw some in anyway). also i was like “oh yeah maybe theyd put in a gen viii pokemon” so i threw in hatterene since thats one of my favorites.

also as for waluigi (and shovel knight for that matter) i think it would be nice to see an assist trophy get in just to break that rule. also i remember being super surprised he wasnt in brawl (back then i thought he and wario were equally important) and even though that was based on a wrong impression ive still felt like he should be in there ever since

notes about the bingos under the cut

really is about time for those n64 games, especially now that mario is dead so theyre free to release sm64 on it. game boy games would be nice sometime too

would also make sense to include banjo-kazooie in that, nintendos had a good relationship with microsoft lately and the total absence of anything banjo-kazooie on the switch is odd since it’s a dlc character (every other one has a game on switch they can use for cross-marketing, even if joker’s took a while) and i think the best explanation for that would be that theyre holding off for the nso n64 app (this is easiest from a technical standpoint because all they have to do is make a deal to use the roms)

when are they putting octolings in mk8d

xenoblade chronicles x is one of the only wii u games left that they could port (aside from ones that wouldnt make much sense like splatoon and ssb4) so i guess that might as well happen sometime. also monolith soft might be doing something else besides helping with splatoon 3

im not ready for metroid prime 4 (im over halfway through mp2 and therefore the trilogy as a whole) but it’s been a while, they might show it and it could even come out this year

hal apparently recently hinted at a new kirby game or something

the upgraded switch is obviously going to be called the Nintendo Switch ͥ  since they already did the ds lite so theyre clearly naming everything in the family after the ds family, theres absolutely no flaw in this logic. idk if theyre showing it, but unlike 2019 they didnt say they werent showing new hardware (just that they were showing software, which could be taken as denying rumors, but they sometimes specify when certain things arent being shown)

metroid prime trilogy also might come this year. would make sense to release it before mp4 since not everyone is going to buy a wii u to get it (and at this point that doesnt get nintendo any money since they stopped making them)

where is detective pikachu 2. i hope it has the blue pikachu from that first tease they gave us in like 2014 (2013? that was a loooong time ago idk)

they said this was MOSTLY 2021 so i am absolutely getting my hopes up for splatoon 2

the two sinnoh games could likely be there

would be super cool if oddity came to switch. and almost as ironic as megalovania getting into smash

we havent seen the botw sequel for a couple years so we’re kind of due for an update on that

it’s ace attorney’s 20th anniversary this year so maybe theyre doing something. theyre already porting those games though so idk. maybe he’s getting in smash

whats with that watermelon mario render

i held off on watching a playthrough for ndrv3 on the off chance it came to switch and i could play a dangan ronpa game for real for once but it’s now been 4 years and we just passed the 10th anniversary of the series (albeit during a pandemic when i wouldnt expect them to have done anything) so it would be cool to see the series come to switch. i think if it still doesnt after this though i’ll just watch the playthrough, 4 years is long enough. amazed ive avoided spoilers this long, i still know next to nothing about the game

im about done with acnh but im still waiting on those splatoon items. and i ran out of storage in february so i need more of that too

nintendo did stuff for zelda’s 30th anniversary so i doubt theyre forgetting the 35th. maybe wwhd/tphd ports, idk

been a couple years since fire emblem, intelligent systems is probably up to something besides planning yet another paper mario spinoff

miyamoto forgot pikmin 4 in the oven 6 years ago and it got burnt to a crisp and thats why it hasnt come out yet because he had to start over

and splatoon

the inklings scared daft punk into quitting so now that theres no competition in the robot musician scene they should have a daft punk style group

i waited and waited and neither of my top two splatoon stages (flounder and d’alfonsino) came back in splatoon 2 so i hope just because splatoon 3 isnt in inkopolis doesnt mean they still wont return

would be sick as hell if there was a real hide and seek mode instead of just sticking to your own rules in private battles. havent played that since 2015 but it was super fun

show us the effects of the chaos world

i wanted mc craig to have a song in octo expansion and they didnt deliver. heres another chance

splatnet 3 baby

cant wait for nogami to do a funny 3 pose

abxy came back for splatoon 2.... am i gonna be that lucky again...?

salmon run doesnt make sense if youre friends with a smallfry but they could either change the story context (you just fight “evil” salmonids?) or replace it with an equally fun co-op mode

amiibo!!! i think i said this before but they should label them by weapons if these cephalopods dont have genders, would make more sense (the gendered ones had different weapons anyway)

returning characters!!!! would like to see everyone have a role of some kind

maybe #GearForAll wasnt successful in getting the emperor/spy/mecha gear, but perhaps theyll at least consider not making that stuff exclusive this time around

squid girl gear should be back. and they should call it a dress instead of a tunic because its a dress. and theres no gender now anyway

as ive said before... TRIPLIES!! you hold one in each hand and another in your mouth. and you can spin around like the tasmanian devil

remove splatfest tee annoyances: you should have a prompt at the end of a splatfest to pay to scrub your tee (to make sure you get the chunks) also it should be on a neutral brand so you dont end up with an overabundance of ink resistance up (or whatever else)

better online and cloud saves would certainly justify having a second splatoon game on the same console, as much as im loving that it exists

hopefully theres a global testfire again

sooner or later the workers will rise up and kill mr grizz

remember in splatoon 1 where if you had squid beatz (via the amiibo) you could “play” it in the lobby and change the music? then you were stuck listening to only bubble bath in splatoon 2? why did they take that option away they should bring it back

looking at those apartment buildings in the trailer i think it would be cool if you had your own room and could decorate it

an octavio redemption arc would be fun to see. in the manga he stole the zapfish because the octarians had an energy crisis, and in the end they worked out a deal to share the electricity

[madisonrooney]

for the first time in almost two years, it’s dove story time!!!

we got in line 4 hours before doors which ended up being PERFECT timing bc two other groups showed up literally right when we did. it was VERY important for me to be as close to the front as possible so i could interact with her and im so happy we managed ideal timing. we almost only got there 3 hours early so im v glad we tacked on that extra hour. it was me and katy for most of the wait then lee joined up with us closer to doors. we headed in and got right to the front of the stage! and it was a VERY small venue so extremely intimate.

interactions - i think she waved at me during remember me? - during lazy baby she looked right at me during a “if you dont give a fuck” and we v much did “oh not even one like i cannot even stress how much im done” together - BEFORE WASTE SHE SAID “this song is about when youre so attracted to someone you just wanna rip your skin off just to look at them. weve all been there right?” AND I SAID “yep with you!” AND SHE SAID “with me!? stop it! so this is a group date now-” LIKE HFGJKFDJKGF THATS GONNA GO DOWN AS ONE OF MY FAV ICONIC INTERACTIONS WITH HER. LIKE NOT TO GET OVERLY SAPPY OVER A SILLY MOMENT BUT THATS LIKE THE CLOSEST IVE GOTTEN TO CONFESSING MY LOVE OVER THESE LAST SIX YEARS LMAO I REALLY NEEDED THAT. IVE BEEN TOO SHY TO SHOW IT IN THE PAST BUT NOW THAT THE WHOLE FANDOM IS LIKE OPENLY GAY FOR HER I FEEL LIKE I CAN BE TOO. i found a vid ill post it soon. - also touched my hand during waste!!!! and pointed at me when singing “i wanna waste all my love on you”!!!!!! - p sure she was looking at me when better in stereo started which....is fitting - think she was looking right at me during taste of you - touched my hand again as she left during out of touch - not with her but after she did so good someone said “it was so good!” and i did a “ba dum tss” then the drummer did it and pointed at me LMAO - also i got a pic with her guitarist and he gave me a guitar pick!! (and i got a set list and photo ID lyrics!! i was really hoping to get a set list so thats def going on the dove wall)

people brought up froyo yolo again and she talked about it which was hilarious. if the fandom is gonna have solidarity over anything, thats the best possible thing we couldve come together about.

and ofc better in stereo live got me like....hyperventilating. i had NEVER heard that live in these past 8 years. if she was gonna include ONE throwback song it literally couldve been nothing better. and it just warms my heart that she did that on her own accord, that it meant that much to her.

and now the part where i sound like a broken reocrd and talk about how much this means to me.

first of all, obviously it had been almost TWO YEARS to the day since the last time i saw her. and that was from VERY far back seats so quite honestly i couldnt even see her face. so its technically been more than two years. thats more than TWICE as long as what had previously been the longest id gone without seeing her, which was already ahead by a wide margin. and yah, this is the case for everyone and everything bc of the global panda express, but that doesnt take away the amazing feeling of it finally happening again.

also, this is SO much different than anything else ive experienced with her before. people could say “ok youve seen her a million times this was just another time” but ive never had an experience like this!!! any other time ive been that close to her, it was for a meet and greet and lasted like less than 5 min. i got to stand there in all her glory for more than an hour. and hear HER music for the first time. it was the first time ive been to something like this where it was all about HER, no character or movie franchise (not that thats a bad thing, but this was something new and special).

again, the venue was so small and intimate it was perfect. my simp ass was STRUGGLING looking into those eyes from mere feet away for that long. it was really one of those nights of falling in love all over again.

i also had my two lovely emotional support friends who im so happy got to experience this with me and enjoy it as well. and i talked to a lot of other nice fans!! sometimes im too shy to do that but it actually worked out really well??

OH AND THEN IT JUST GOT WORSE WHEN I GOT HOME LOL

SHE LIKED A TOTAL OF FOUR TWEETS INCLUDING STOLEN VIDEOS OF MINE AND REPOSTED A STOLEN VID ON HER STORY

BUT SHE ALSO WATCHED MY STORY

and then i found the vid of me flirting which i didnt already have so i was relieved to find that

its hard going back to not knowing when ill see her again, but the way im trying to look at it is the fact that events are only just STARTING to happen again, so theres more where this came from. we dont know when, but im sure its just around the corner. things always seem to work out for us.

anyway, all the love to my favorite girl and all the thanks for giving me yet another memory thatll last a lifetime

[anotherimaginethatblog]

Together

hey guys, so this is my first ever post of something ive written. im trying to get back into it so please bare with me while i get back into the swing of it.

pairing Kenny Omega x Reader

summary: your fed up with being stuck in the uk so decide to fly back to Florida (I am aware this probably has some holes in terms of the pandemic, but its only fanfic)

warnings: none 

Life was hard enough being in a long-distance relationship with the one and only Kenny omega and thats before adding the stress of a global pandemic into the mix. Late night phone calls and facetime was becoming the only way the two of you would get to spend quality time together but seeing his handsome face over the phone was just not enough for you.

“I need to see you ken, I miss just being in the house with you, it’s not the same on my own”.

“I know babe, but hopefully soon you can get a flight and come back to Florida and see me, I miss you too” said Kenny. “so much”

You needed to see your man, it felt like your soul was missing something, some important piece that just made you whole and happy. Despite your friends and family telling you to stay put in the UK you needed to get back to Florida, that was your home now. The place where you and Kenny had put down roots and decided to begin the next chapters of your lives together.

“you can’t just go to the airport and get a flight” your mum had said to you “they won’t just let you on the plane the way things are at the moment, it’s not ideal (Y/N), but that’s the way it is”.

Deep down you knew she was right, it was not the ideal time to be travelling, but how long do you (and could you) stay in the UK at your parents’ house for? You needed to go home, not only for the sake of your relationship with Kenny but for the sake of your relationship with your family, you loved your mum and dad but living back with them after all the years of having your own place was becoming harder by the day. Getting your laptop out you decided now was the time, you were going home.

  After the stresses of the airport, the flight and getting into the country you were glad to be on your way back to your home in Orlando. You could not wait to get back to your own space, back to random afternoons spent chilling by the pool and most importantly back to Kenny.

As you pulled onto your drive outside the lovely home you had purchased together in a friendly gated community you could not help but feel relaxed, like a weight was lifted. Being back in your element was soothing your soul. The only downside was you noticed Kenny’s car was missing.

“probably at the gym” you thought aloud, before hopping out of your car and making your way into the home you had made your own together.

“Kenny, you home babe” …. no answer, he was definitely out, but never mind you thought, it would give you chance to get settled back in and tidy up the place a little, not that Kenny was messy, but he was a man and those little things he would do around the house still bugged you after all this time.

After cleaning up a little you unpacked your things and decided on a nice bubble bath to freshen up ready for surprising your love, you hadn’t told him you were coming home and the thought of him not being excited to see was itching away at the back of your brain. Trying to push the anxiety away. you laid back in the hot soapy water and relaxed.

After a while of soaking away you got out and got dressed into your favourite loungewear, after all these years together you no longer felt the need to dress to impress, not that he didn’t appreciate the effort when you made it, but Kenny wasn’t the type of guy who expected you to be dolled up to the nines all the time, in fact he loved you most when you were at your natural best.

A little while later, and a couple of beers in you heard the front door open and knew straight away Kenny was home, you did not make a move, you waited for him to come to you. After all, hed probably (most definitely) seen your car parked up and realised you had made the trip back home. “babe, you home” he shouted from the hall.

“yeah babe, just in here. I’m in the lounge” you shouted back.

“what?!...when did you get home, why didn’t you call me” he was smiling and you could tell he was happy to see you, all the anxiousness floated away.

“I grabbed a flight out before they all got cancelled, I couldn’t stay with my parents anymore god love them” you laughed. You went in for the hug and could see the look on his face, “babe I had the test to fly I’m good”.

“I wasn’t…I didn’t…I’m sorry it’s just…” he stumbled.

“its fine, now come here …unless” you trailed off, and before you could say anything else, he wrapped you up in a big bear hug, you had missed this, him, the way he smelled and the way he just made you feel about yourself. It had been a while since you’d been together, you hoped he hadn’t got too used to his own space, what if things where awkward and the spark had gone? But you needn’t have worried, you soon fell into that familiar comfort of each others company, that was what you loved so much. At the start it was hot and heavy yes, there was the stage of not being able to keep your hands off each other but what you had now was unlike any relationship before. He really was your best friend, you could tell him anything. You didn’t need to be ripping each others clothes off (as fantastic as it was) to feel close to each other, this was real and you just knew it was going to be forever. And you couldn’t wait to get started on it …all over again.

[f0rever15elf]

I Just Need Five Minutes: Part 1

Part 1 of the Maxwell Lord “I Just Need Five Minutes” Series: Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4, Part 5 (Coming soon) Pairing: Maxwell Lord x f!reader Wordcount: 2,325 Rating: G  Warnings: Death mentions Part 2 (Coming soon...)

Summary: Lord Corp has become the top business contender on the global stage, lead by none other than Maxwell Lord IV. His rise to glory has taken him from the lives of those he once loved, and you can only watch as he slips further and further out of reach. You had to stop it, before it was too late. You had to get inside. 

A/N: This story is going to call a little bit on the comic book backstory of Maxwell Lord IV, most of which can be found in his wiki article, if you’re interested. I’m excited to write for Maxwell, his character has so much potential. And hopefully this will tide me over since the movie release has been delayed again.

Masterlist  |  Ao3

He was a genius. Shrewd, cunning, and charismatic. His way with words had everyone coiled tightly around his finger; he could sell holy water to the Pope if he wanted to. And with that silver tongue, that guise he wore to stroke the egos of those who ate from his palm and were none the wiser, he continued to climb higher and higher. More and more power fell into his grasp.

But a glass can only hold so much, and as his brimmed and spilled over with power and influence, so did he lose his humanity.

“Maxwell...what have you done?”

~~~~

The sun shines brilliantly in the summer sky over the wide yard in front of the Lord estate. In the lush green grass, two children play, no more than five or six years old. A boy and a girl, giggling and laughing over jokes and stories told in funny voices. It is the picture of innocence, purity. The little girl picks up a flower from the small pile they had collected, tucking it behind her ear before finding a matching one, tucking it behind the boy’s.

“We match now!” she beams in a way only a child can. “It means that you and I will be together forever!” The boy blushes at her words, soft blonde hair blowing gently in the summer breeze. His face is gentle and kind, shy even as he watches her with bright brown eyes that shine in the light. Tentatively, he sticks out his hand to her, pinky finger extended.

“You gotta promise! It doesn’t work if you don’t promise!” His serious voice makes the girl giggle before she makes a serious face, wrapping her pinky around his tightly.

“I promise! Forever and ever.” The boy smiles and nods as she says so, repeating her words back to her before they both erupt into giggles. From the balcony, the mothers of the two children look on fondly over their cups of tea. The sound of the children laughing danced on the warm breeze, pleasant in their ears. If only things could stay like this forever.

~~~~

Your pinky twitches as you stand before the gilded doors of the Lord Building, looking up at its windows, blinding in the sunlight. You would get in. You had to. Things had been put into motion that you need to stop, but the only way to do so is from the inside. With a shake of your head and a sigh, your turn on your heel, heading down the street towards home. It seems that nearly every screen you pass on your way has Maxwell’s face on it, selling empty promises and loaded bargains. And every time you see his eyes, they look a little less like the boy you use to know.

~~~~

“Max can’t meet you today, dear,” your mother says, petting your hair. To an adult familiar with grief and loss, the tightness in her voice would betray the tumultuous emotions she feels. To you, she just sounds uncomfortable, and you tilt your head in confusion. Fourteen years doesn’t provide much time to become familiar with the concept of loss, so you shrug, saddened you wouldn’t get to see your friend today.

Gone were the days of sitting in the grass to play, tucking flowers into each other’s hair. Maxwell was always busy helping his father to run the family business, and you would go months without so much as a word from him before he would show up at your door with a lily, smiling that dimpled smile at you. Promises always poured from his lips that it wouldn’t be so long next time before he came to see you.

But today… Today would change everything. Today, Maxwell’s father died.

~~~~

The door to your apartment slams shut behind you with a thud, shutting out the hustle and bustle of Metropolis. It’s small, but cozy, filled with your plants to bring a little life to the drab living room and kitchen. Taking a seat in the living room, you pull out your computer from your bag as you flip on the TV. It’s Maxwell’s face again, smiling at you with the look of a used car salesman who swears he wants only the best for his favorite customer. You know it’s not a real smile. Maxwell has a dimple when he smiles, and this charade didn’t. You shake your head as his promises of whatever you want in this perfect future fill the room, your eyes refocusing on your laptop, refreshing your emails. One meeting...that was all you needed.

~~~~

You let out a frustrated sigh as the door slams closed, your mother letting out a cry of surprise at the sound before coming to find you, resting a concerned hand on your shoulder as you throw yourself onto the couch.

“He still won’t see you?” Her gentle words just cause your heart to ache further and you nod.

“His mom greeted me, invited me in and made me tea. We chatted, but as soon as I asked about Maxwell, she stood up and ushered me from the house, asking me to not come by anymore since I couldn’t seem to stop asking for him.” You turn to look at your mother, tears in your eyes. “Why won’t he see me, Mom? Did I do something wrong?” Your mother’s heart shatters at the broken light in your eyes. She knew how much Maxwell meant to you, and that having him refuse to see you was tearing you apart.

“My sweet, you’ve done nothing wrong. Maxwell has a lot of responsibility to take on now that he’s running his father’s company. He’s very busy and doesn’t have as much time to see friends as he use to.” She brushes your hair behind your ear with delicate fingers. “I’m sure he still cares about you.”

“I miss him, Mom. I miss my best friend. It’s been three years since I’ve seen him...” Seventeen years of life and you still struggle with keeping your emotions in check, especially when it comes to Maxwell.

“I know sweetheart...When the time is right, you will see him again…”

~~~~

The alert from your inbox pulls you from your reverie, your eyes refocusing on the screen. As they do, your heart stutters in your chest

‘To Whom It May Concern,

We graciously thank you for your interest in Lord Corp. Mr. Lord has personally reviewed your product and would like to arrange to meet you on Wednesday at 3 p.m. You will have thirty minutes to make your sales pitch and answer any questions he may have. The front desk will direct you when you arrive. Please bring a valid photo ID and copies of your pitch for convince. Do not be late, Mr. Lord’s time is incredibly valued.

Cordially,

Sam Preston

Personal Assistant to the CEO’

You had gotten it. That moment you needed on the inside...you had finally gotten it. A relieved smile graces your lips as you begin to amass your files. You had one shot at this, it had to be perfect.

~~~~

You stand alone in the cemetery as you watch the caretakers laying new sod over the fresh grave. Your heart feels hollow, and only the black lace veil conceals the tears streaming down your cheeks from the world around you. Today was beautiful; cool and still with the birds singing in the trees as the sun warmed the earth. It was too beautiful for a day filled with such grief.

As the caretakers pack up their tools, one stops to rest a hand on his shoulder, passing along his condolences before continuing on his way. You nod gratefully before kneeling beside the headstone. It is modest, small and simple with a delicate engraving of a singular rose by your mother’s name. Black-gloved fingers trace along each petal and letter, your shoulders shaking with silent cries. You were now well and truly alone.

You shouldn’t have had to be alone. He should have been there with you, you had made a promise to one another. You were there when his father passed, and his mother. He didn’t even have the time to attend his own mother’s funeral, but you did. You mourned for him as they lowered a woman close enough to be your second mother into the ground beside her husband. So why were you alone now?

Where are you Maxwell?

~~~~

Your hands work to smooth the front of your dress down before you enter the lobby of Lord Corp. Slate gray with a simple black belt that held nicely to your figure but didn’t reveal too much. Professional and classy, with a dash of sexy. Nothing beyond anything any self-respecting company owner would don. Head held high and the bag you specifically reserved for important business trips and meetings over your shoulder, you make your way inside, up to the front desk.

“Welcome to Lord Corp, where the future is yours, do you have an appointment?” The intern who greets you sounds like every last bit of his soul has been sapped from him, and you pity him. Giving him a sad smile, you nod, pulling out your ID.

“I do, at 3 pm with Mr. Lord.” You give him your name as he takes the card, looking you up in the system before nodding, handing you back your ID and a visitors badge which you quickly put around your neck.

“Lily Solutions, you’re still on schedule. I’ll have you head down the hall. Take your first left, you’ll find the elevators. Take it all the way to the top and have a seat on the bench outside the double doors at the end of the hall. Sam will come and get you when Mr. Lord is ready for you.” You smile sweetly at the young man, thanking him before following your instructions. Your ears pop on the way up and you grimace, pulling out the folder with your ‘sales pitch’ inside, flipping through to make sure everything is in order. As the doors slide open and you make your way down the hall, you sigh. This floor was so much more opulent than the ground floor and you feel so out of place. Floor to ceiling paintings like the walls, depicting grandiose battles. Priceless vases and sculptures sit along marble pedestals. It’s like walking through a museum rather than an office, and your jaw clenches as you think about how he had come to acquire some of these items. When you reach the bench, you take your seat and cross your ankles to wait, trying to calm your racing heart.

“Lily Solutions?” The voice that calls out for you immediately grates on your nerves, high pitched and nasally. Looking to your right, so you a man in a pressed navy blue suit make his way towards you, and you stand to meet him, taking his extended hand. “I am Sam Preston, Mr. Lord’s personal assistant. Did you bring your requested documents?” The way he looked down his nose at you makes your blood boil, but you paste on the sweetest smile you can, nodding as you hand over the folder.

“You’ll find copies of all requested articles inside, neatly labeled for yours and Mr. Lord’s personal convenience.” Sam makes a disinterested sound in the back of his throat, snapping the folder shut before checking his watch.

“Very good. This way.” He strides past you and as soon as he is in front of you, you drop the sweet smile. Maxwell, why hire someone like him? You shake your head as Sam opens the door at the end of the hall, getting your salesman smile in place. “Mr. Lord, your 3 o’clock is here from Lily Solutions.” Sam ushers you inside and you are taken aback once again at how over the top the design of the office is. Floor to ceiling windows line the whole back wall with arguably the best view in Metropolis and the curtains that hang every so often are of a rich red velvet with gold filigree.  The marble tiles cause the click of your heels to echo as you make your way to the center of the room beside Sam, your eyes locked on the man sitting at the large mahogany desk.

It’s been seventeen years since you last saw Maxwell, and your heart ached for the man who appraises you with shrewd and cunning eyes. With a wave of his hand, Sam nods, leaving the folder on the desk to make his way out of the room. The large oaken door closing echos ominously through the room as Maxwell stands, coming around his desk to face you, hands in his pockets. If he recognized you at all, he didn’t show it.

“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Mr. Lord. I realize your time is very valuable, so I won’t keep you long.” Maxwell chuckles humorlessly at your greetings, leaning back against his desk.

“You say that, but you bring me this fake, garbage company in an attempt for a sales pitch?” His voice is rough and hard as flint, no trace of that gentle sound he once had. “What game are you playing?”

“No game, sir.”

“I don’t believe you.” He pushes off of his desk, walking back around it. “Everyone has a game they play, and if you’re not going to tell me yours, I’ll have you escorted out.” When he picks up the phone, your heart leaps into your throat and you dart forward pressing down on the receiver, cutting it off. He glares at you in disbelief. The audacity, he thinks, is astounding and he would make sure you suffer for it.

“Maxwell, please.” His eyes flash at the use of his first name, something in the way it sounds in your voice bringing him to pause. “I just need five minutes.”

~~~~~

Taglist is open!  Requests are open!

[introvertguide]

Star Wars (1977); AFI #13

In honor of May 4th and the original movie that started it all, the group reviewed Star Wars (1977). Nominated for 10 Academy Awards and winning 6 with one extra special achievement award for Sound, this is perhaps the most highly decorated science fiction movie of all time. The special effects and the music were especially moving making the Star Wars experience something amazing to behold. I was lucky enough to see one of the re-releases in the theatre back in the mid 80s. In fact, I might well have seen the film 100 times over my life. The music might be the most well known soundtrack globally. With inflation, this is the 4th highest grossing film of all time. It is truly a fantastic work and I would like to now spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Let me start with the usual:

SPOILER WARNING!!! I DON'T THINK THERE ARE MANY WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM, BUT FOR THOSE FEW THAT DON'T KNOW, I AM GOING TO RUIN THE PLOT!!! STOP NOW AND GO WATCH IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!!!

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Amid a galactic civil war, Rebel Alliance spies have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a massive space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Imperial Senator Princess Leia of Alderaan (Carrie Fisher), secretly one of the Rebellion's leaders, has obtained its schematics (this entire effort was originally a throwaway concept but was completely fleshed out in Rogue One almost 40 years later) , but her starship is intercepted by an Imperial Star Destroyer under the command of the ruthless Darth Vader (acted by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones). The movie is just starting and the odds against the rebels are shown by the scale of the two ships. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid called R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), who flees in an escape pod to the desert planet Tatooine accompanied by protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).

The droids are captured by Jawa traders (little shiny eyed beings who are now meme legends), who sell them to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, part of a holographic recording of Leia starts playing a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi where she requests his help ("Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!"). Later, after Luke finds R2-D2 missing, he is attacked by scavenging Sand People while searching for him, but is rescued by elderly hermit "Old Ben" Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness), an acquaintance of Luke's, who reveals that "Obi-Wan" is his true name. Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as one of the Jedi Knights, the former peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who drew mystical abilities from a metaphysical energy field known as "the Force", but were ultimately hunted to near-extinction by the Empire. Luke learns that his father fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars (another throwaway concept that was eventually fleshed out) until Vader, Obi-Wan's former pupil, turned to the dark side of the Force and murdered him. Obi-Wan presents Luke with his father's old lightsaber, the signature weapon of Jedi Knights. The connection between Darth Vader and Luke's father is explored in depth during the next eight films.

R2-D2 plays Leia's full message, in which she begs Obi-Wan to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father, a fellow veteran, for analysis. Although Luke initially declines Obi-Wan's offer to accompany him to Alderaan and learn the ways of the Force, he is left with no choice after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers have killed his aunt and uncle and destroyed their farm in their search for the droids (cue the Academy and Grammy Award winning theme music composed by John Williams). Traveling to a cantina in Mos Eisley to search for transport, Luke and Obi-Wan hire Han Solo (Harrison Ford), a smuggler with a price on his head due to his debt to local mobster Jabba the Hutt. Pursued by stormtroopers, Obi-Wan, Luke, R2-D2 and C-3PO flee Tatooine with Han and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) on their ship the Millennium Falcon. As they reach the planet's orbit, two Star Destroyers try to intercept them, but Han is able to jump to hyperspace by reaching lightspeed.

Before the Falcon can reach Alderaan, Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) interrogates Leia about the location of the Rebels's secret base, with the threat of destroying her home planet, and, when she answers that the base is on Dantooine, he orders Alderaan destroyed simply as a show of force. As the group arrives in the asteroid field that now stands in place of Alderaan, Han spots an Imperial TIE fighter and is taunted into chasing it and shooting it down, allowing the Falcon to be captured by the space station's tractor beam. Inside the Death Star, Obi-Wan attempts to disable the tractor beam, and Luke persuades Han and Chewbacca to help him rescue Leia after discovering that she is scheduled to be executed. After disabling the tractor beam, Obi-Wan sacrifices his life in an epic lightsaber duel with Vader, allowing the rest of the group to escape the Death Star with Leia. Using a tracking device, the Empire tracks the Falcon to the hidden Rebel base.

Leia's schematics reveal a hidden weakness in the Death Star's thermal exhaust port, which could allow the Rebels to trigger a chain reaction in its main reactor with a precise torpedo strike. While Han abandons the Rebels after collecting his reward for rescuing Leia, Luke joins their starfighter squadron in a desperate attack against the approaching Death Star. In the ensuing battle, the Rebels suffer heavy losses as Vader leads a squadron of TIE fighters against them, but Han unexpectedly returns to aid them in the Falcon, narrowly managing to save Luke before Vader can shoot him down. Guided by the disembodied voice of Obi-Wan's spirit, Luke turns off his targeting computer and uses the Force to aim his torpedoes into the exhaust port, destroying the Death Star moments before it fires on the Rebel base. In a triumphant ceremony at the base, Leia awards Luke and Han medals for their heroism.

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I want to explain the connection between this movie and the Joseph Campbell version of the hero's journey that so many people have pointed out. This journey starts out with a call to adventure that is refused and then forced (Luke is given an opportunity to leave, he declines, the death of his family pushes him forward, he leaves with his team). Campbell then predicts an initiation that involves meeting a woman and gaining weapons, a meeting with an incredible power, and an achievement of the hero's power (goes to star destroyer, meets Vader and loses Obi-Wan, gains power over force). The story ends with a refusal, a magic flight, a rescue from without, and a hero's return (Luke goes to attack the Death Star, Han refuses and then eventually saves him, and the day is saved so the heroes are rewarded). It is a story that is called the Monomyth and has been recognized in Greek myths that are thousands of years old. It is a good story that has been proven to work and it makes for one of the most enjoyable movies of all time.

There was some negative opinions of the film because it is such a simple old story that became extremely popular and film goers would no longer be interested in intelligent thinking movies. It is kind of the truth because blockbuster summer films are full of explosions. The highest grossing films since then have tended to be highly explosive action films. Films like Star Wars, Jaws, and Indiana Jones are a lot of fun, but they are not super deep. They are easy to understand at surface level, but they can also be interpreted to mean much more significant things. The choice of the viewer about whether the story has deep inner meaning or is just the Odyssey in space is personal and likely colors opinions about how good it is. Some people think it is stupid fun while others have actually formed religions around the idea of the force.

One thing is for certain, the formula worked amazingly well for a large group of people and this made movie producers want to copy it. This is what is generally called a watershed moment because the look of movies changed significantly. There were so many more space operas and they all had that worn post-apocalyptic look to them. Star Wars and Mad Max combined to give a different look of what futuristic was. There was advanced tech in some cases, but there was a scorched Earth that had run out of resources and people suffered. Think about how many movies and television shows there are that have come out since the 80s and combine industrial tech for space and distressed almost Western appearances for the planets. The movie changed the way many people see the future.

One thing that is inarguably great was the score. I am not going to try and describe it with words, I am just going to put links to the different themes here so you can hear for yourself:

Star Wars Main Theme (Full) - YouTube

Star Wars- The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) - YouTube

Princess Leia's Theme - YouTube

Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (1977) Soundtrack 11 Cantina Band - YouTube

This is somewhat strange for the AFI so I went back and checked, but I believe that this is the only film with a ranked villain (Darth Vader), hero (Han Solo), and theme song (Main Theme). Even if it is somewhat simplistic from some perspectives, the story and the songs and the sounds and the characters speak to those who watch it. Seeing the movie is an incredible experience and I envy those who get to see it for the first time.

I am a big fan of the original Star Wars trilogy and I could completely nerd out going over all of the little things throughout the movie, but this is not a deep dive but instead an overall review. So does it belong on the AFI top 100? Maybe more than any other movie. It is an epic tale that changed the way movies were made across multiple genres. We could probably look at all science fiction films and put them as before or after this one. It is an important piece of American film and (no matter what anyone thinks of the other Star Wars films or George Lucas) it is a masterpiece. Would I recommend it? I cannot say yes enough. It is part of my culture as a California movie nerd and understanding this film is understanding some of the basic knowledge I grew up with. All sticks are swung around like light sabers. If I say "Princess Leia hair," everyone around here knows exactly what I mean. If something is impossible but still needs to be done, we tell people to use the force. I have lived in the Bay Area for 20 years and I can still reference a location by how close it is to Skywalker Ranch were George Lucas worked on movies. Please check out this film and you will know why I am such a fan of movies.

[daesungindistress]

i left bb behind quite a bit ago, but i was a fan for so long that i kind of sub consciously think of them. so when i saw that shinee announced a comeback so soon after enlistment i couldnt help but think oh... they did it just like That. how come bb couldnt comeback as well? why do they have to rely on concerts n coachella n all those sorts of things. other groups have been coming back as normal during covid so... it's not that. but now ive seen this gd post n ive read what youve written and i think they really must be waiting for s****ri and for a space to open up where mostly international vip are. ot5 bb won't survive in korea and bc of the pandemic thats really the only option they have in terms of promotions/concerts rn. it might also be that theyre just trying to figure it out amongst themselves. like what Do they want to do. do they hope if they wait long enough he may be cleared n they can get the max amount of fans still being around? are they afraid of the public? are they just as confused as we are? are they themselves split by who still supports him and who doesn't? i imagine it can't be an easy.

I’ve had the same thoughts re: their inactivity, however, keep in mind Shinee didn’t go through what Big Bang did during their enlistment. I mean... yes, they lost a member in 2017, I’m aware of that, but that was... different, and tragic in its own way. It didn’t send the public’s or their fans’ perception of them down the drain, didn’t fill the people who needed to be there for them when/if they came back with disgust and distrust the way Big Bang’s scandals have. Case in point: about two months after the last of the BB members were discharged from the army, Youngbae was the first to give a public sit-down interview and was told straight-up by the interviewer that the general opinion of the group was “It’s too soon [for a comeback].”

This came up as they were discussing Coachella. Coachella. To be invited was an honor. BB should have been elated by the opportunity to represent their country on one of the world’s biggest stages, and from Youngbae’s words it sounded like they wanted to be. Prior to enlistment and the series of scandals that followed I have no doubt Korea would have stood behind them with enthusiasm. Yet there he was, facing resistance from his own people who weren’t ready to receive them -- or from someone speaking on their behalf, anyway. Talk about taking the wind out of one’s sails.

Reminder: Youngbae was under the impression that they were invited to perform at Coachella under the theme reunion. And they accepted. As four.

When COVID happened and Coachella did not, that didn’t really leave Big Bang anywhere to go. I truly believe that was supposed to be their big break. Their new debut, if you will. It was their best chance to break back onto the music scene in a huge way people couldn’t help but be impressed by. The surest road back to something resembling respect for a group so in shambles. Add to that their status as one of YG’s “event groups,” utilized every time in true go-big-or-go-home fashion, until Big Bang can arrange something else of a similar scale the lack of a schedule throughout 2020, a year in which they couldn’t hold a single concert with a crowd, makes perfect sense to me.

I am not upset with BB personally for still being on hiatus. YG manages their public affairs, not their private ones, and we are of course still in the grip of a global pandemic. Never forget Daesung’s comment during his Dome Tour (this may not be verbatim but it’s close): “I don't decide when I come back, the company does.” What I’m upset about is the way they’ve been so ghostly quiet in the absence of a schedule. It’s how they’ve all but acted like the group doesn’t exist, even on their own time. Again, YG manages their public affairs, not their private ones. So why the silence?

But then, when they don’t have new content to share (or do have it but aren’t allowed to share it yet), and when sharing anything from the past sends all manner of mixed signals and provokes mixed reactions... you’re right about one thing. It can’t be easy.

So yeah, your concerns are valid and sometimes I too start feeling a little weak and fall prey to the same doubts. But then I review everything that’s led to where we are now and I’m not convinced that the lack of official group activity can be reasonably viewed as evidence of waiting for you-know-who. And I don’t think it’s right to compare them to other groups. Within Big Bang everyone except Youngbae has been embroiled in heavy controversy while they were enlisted from 2017-2019. So consider Burning Sun and the loss of a member of 12 years the proverbial nail in the coffin, and even as four, a Big Bang comeback was always going to be like making their way back from the dead, out of a swamp, up a cliff, through a minefield, and... well. You get the picture.

[dojae-huh]

So jaedo is being pushed as the offical faces of 127 and theyre both the most popular ppl and ship in korea… why do i feel like the company is pushing them coz we might get a jaedo song in this comeback or as a ost like new love. Them being offical mc for a music show wont be bad either, maybe theyll get to host mcountdown again this time. Jaedo isnt ever pushed without a reason, sm is very good with their managing images of their idols with these kinds of things. Ive seen so many ppl not just jaedo shippers/supports asking sm for a sub unit of these both. Lets see if we get a jaedo ost or song thing time.

Jaehyun (1) and Doyoung (2) are with the most sold merch for the upcoming FM.

The push is too evident for an OST, imo. SM doesn't pay much attention to those, leaving the promotion to other companies. There are predictions that NCT U will come right after NCT 127, but I doubt it will be JaeDo unit (the formation should have them though).

I doubt Taeyong was so busy to not come to LSM's show (on LSM's birthday). It's possible, but SM and its big plans come first. The presentation was for the businessmen, SM's assets and plans were shown. Doyoung was there either because of the musical or because of the future plans for him (be it MCing or something else). It's also possible he was chosen for the "clean, classic" image, LSM made him sing (a song by a respected singer). Blaming SM fans forgot that Johnny represented NCT on the previous business conference. And that Kun and Mark represented foreigners, the Chinese and NA market, the global scale.