#no categorisation tags this shows up to the people that need to see it and then dies like the fynn post

[juneibyou]

yknow what, i'm getting tired of even trying to take the high ground in the Vagueposting Game. i've been beating around the bush with jokes to make my points but like man i'm tired i wanna say what i have to say at least once, even at expense of dumping a big open letter at somebody on my account. this absolutely will not end it but he's getting so uppity about it now that i wanna throw my thoughts out somewhere. here's a big message for That Boy (who i will identify to dispel the veil of vaguing and for confused mutuals who care as Jeffy aka catboybeebop) or whatever goon he has stalking my account for him (both options equally as pathetic). if he takes one random point from this as a gotcha to try and tear it all down i need yall to help me take $20 from his dresser as penalty money:

do you genuinely not see the fact that you've been the one keeping this up for months purely based on your own lack of restraint. the fact that my continued joking and posting has exclusively come from your inability to just let it go, to stop making the random dunks, to stop name-dropping me in the replies of random people i've never met because of vague associations. i bring this shit up in response to occasionally finding out you've been up to it way harder, and even that reaction-to-a-reaction is enough to reflect as if i'm bringing it up too much. think about that

do you not realize that you're slowly pushing away people and affecting your reputation by doing this, that so many of our shared mutuals have gradually become more and more grated by this constant passive-aggression and dunking every time we deign to interact for whatever reason. you keep taking the fact that i even dare to come near your posts as an indictment as if we don't still end up in the same circles with semi-regularity. like of course i'm gonna end up seeing it if you're vaguing me directly under fanart of my sona. come on boy

i've been laughing this whole time both because of how meaningless it's all been to me in my general life and out of schadenfreude but it's just tiring and sad at this point. make fun of me all you want for posting about it too, laugh it up all you want to distract yourself, the fact still remains that for every couple of vagueposts i make whenever we're in the vicinity enough for me to predict you're mad, there's like 10 occasions of you trying to force your personal beef upon every random mutual or friend you know because you can't stand to hold your tongue.

this isn't just about me, this is one of the main reasons i stopped being friends with you. you have literally no restraint when it comes to people or things you don't like. at any given opportunity you'll find a way to hamfistedly bring up your personal vendettas, couching it under some semblance of "but i won't say anymore" repeatedly until you've given the whole game away through context clues. everyone fucking knows you don't like changed or whatever tumblr microcelebrity blocked you this time already you can skip that cutscene we've already seen it. hell i've had the "That Boy" thing going on mostly as a bit, anyone that knows me is painfully aware of who i'm talking about at this point, i don't even pretend like i'm having restraint the way you do. naturally the fact that you've been continuing to do this about me is gonna scan as pathetic and hilarious to someone with the pattern recognition to notice it

honestly hell i probably would be leaving it be by now too if it weren't for how many times you've claimed you're done with it or it's pointless. like man if you're done why are we still here talking about this. if it's pointless why do all these random teenage mutuals i've never seen before in my life have to know about me. think about this for like one whole second

you're trying so desperately to turn this around to your win, to your injoke, to your entertainment to laugh about, right as you've reached the zenith where even for your standards it's just become repetitive and sad. you're trying to catch me out through what i post, missing the forest for the trees. taking the admission that i've guessed at exactly when you're posting about me as a win, missing the implication that it's so obvious that you'll be set off by any vague interaction that i can guess it down to literal minutes of certainty. trying to look for any example of me slipping up and telling an opinion harshly or being vaguely hypocritical to try and sink my entire position and stop taking your months-long L.

you're just missing the point man. you've been missing the point this whole time. don't take this as an ultimatum, i can't force you to do shit, same way you can't force me to stop making you into a punchline (no matter how hard all the random friends and partners you've sent to DM me have tried). but just. come on man. Come on man. this whole time i feel like i've been trying to act as the final boss of the deep-seated problem that broke us apart in the first place, and the whole time you've just been galivanting around bringing me up to any random schmuck that happens to mention umineko or something. i've been doing all this for two reasons, to have fun, and to make a point, and this has gone on so long i'm getting tired of the bit and you're no closer to getting the damn point

i've thought this shit was done like, five times now man. i'm not forcing some never-say-shit-again restriction on you like you tried to negotiate with me. this is for your own sake man. your beef can just be your beef, and trying to make it everybody's problem all the time is going to ruin your life

tl;dr: if you actually listened to yourself the first time you said you were done talking about me ever, literally none of this would have happened. i'm tired as hell man, so are the people i know, so are some people we both know, and as much as i've put my energy in to have fun with it at the end of the day you are doing this shit to yourself

if i had slightly more energy this is where i would catalogue every time you've said you're done talking about me or this doesn't matter or is stupid actually with a "guy who is still posting about it" counter

[astonmartinii]

hi!! i dont know if you're still taking requests but if you are, can you please do a max verstappen smau with fem reader, where reader is a huge max fan and they like end up together in the end. i love all of your work and i've probably reread most of your work!! your doing great and i hope you have a good day 🫶

worlds biggest fan | max verstappen social media au

pairing: max verstappen x reader

y/n is the president of the official max verstappen fan club, but nothing can come of that, right?

(this'll probably just be part one so let me know if you want a part two)

maxverstappenarchive

liked by maxverstappen1, victoriaverstappen and 31,239 others

maxverstappenarchive: max took the win at monza this weekend after a late safety car. the dutchman once again showed he’s a mentality king ignoring all the boos from the tifosi. they hate what they can’t have.

view all comments

user1: max verstappen the man you are

maxverstappen1: 🧡

maxverstappenarchive: super max 🏆

yourusername: jealousy is a disease get well soon xoxo

user2: i love how she comments like we don’t know she runs this account

user3: SHES THE ADMIN???

user4: i personally love when maxverstappenarchive gets sassy with it like the caption didn’t have to serve so hard

yourusername: someone has to defend him and it’s got to the point i no longer need to argue with people over the internet i need a GUN

liked by maxverstappen1

user5: we can see you by the way max

yourusername

liked by victoriaverstappen, maxverstappen1 and 3,429 others

yourusername: the library knows my face way more than it should :(

view all comments

user6: she’s almost too cool to be the literal president of the max verstappen fan club

user7: no i need her to be this cool cause it makes us 10% cooler by association

user8: she single-handedly covers us from the embarrassment from the middle aged drunk men in the orange army

user9: she’s so chill about the fact that victoria and max are just constantly in her likes

yourbff1: i can assure you she is not chill about it

yourbff2: like at all

yourbff1: wow i wonder who takes these lovely pictures of you at the library and conveniently only takes them when you’re not having a meltdown

yourusername: i love yewwwww xxx

yourbff1: you can repay me when you become a wag

yourusername: PLS don’t say that i shan’t abuse my position as president

yourbff1: shame

maxverstappen1 liked this comment

f1

liked by yourusername, landonorris and 552,895 others

tagged: maxverstappen1, georgerussell63

f1: it all got a little much in the baku sprint race as george russell made contact with max verstappen on the opening lap giving the red bull damage for the entire race. the two came to blows in parc ferme with verstappen sending a number of expletives russell’s way. what do you think?

view all comments

user15: is mad max back?

user16: he never left he’s always been a big whiny baby, lewis would never

user17: no need to call russell a dickhead, crashtappen can’t handle someone actually racing him for once - just like his dad

maxverstappenarchive: max has never been a “whiny baby”, he may have been a little hot-headed and someone who always spoke his mind but he could never be categorised as a whiny baby. if you have such a problem with drivers calling other drivers dickheads then you should take it up with hamilton who did the exact same a few seasons ago. you simply have a problem with max’s success which is a you problem and there is no reasonable reason for you to bring jos verstappen into this argument, it immediately invalidates your argument.

user18: period oh my

user19: she spilt so hard here

user20: ignoring whatever domestic just happened in this comment section to say that i don’t care who is in the right - i just live for the drama

f1wagsandtea

liked by pierregasly, user22 and 21,341 others

f1wagsandtea: meet y/n y/ln, the president of the max verstappen fan club. she’s a student at UCL studying english literature and french and unapologetically defends max at all times. however people have been taking notice of how she’s never actually been to a race and how max has been subtlety liking comments about their relationship potential. what do you think about y/n and max?

view all comments

user23: kinda creepy that she literally runs his fan club but also it’s kinda cute idk i’m having a crisis over this

user24: i need this not to happen cause i’ll become so delusional and think i can pull charles

yourusername: some people are broke i’m working to go to a race but unfortunately i need food and a place to live first

user25: speaking for the broke queens i love you

maxverstappen1: it’s a bit too late to sort tickets for this weekend, but i can do dinner next week?

yourusername: time and address and im there

user26: bro the dms are there for a reason

maxverstappen1: noted

user27: why did you say that i wanted to witness max verstappens rizz :(

yourbff1: i usually hate these accounts cause y’all too nosey for your own good, but you got my bestie a date with her dream man so you get a pass just this once

yourusername

liked by maxverstappen1, yourbff1 and 6,199 others

yourusername: slow weekend

view all comments

user30: she's playing it too cool i'd be a literal puddle on the floor rn

yourbff1: rest assured that she's been screaming about it for at least the last three days

maxverstappen1: 🧡

yourusername: amazing race maxy 🦁

user31: she's so cool but also CAT

user32: my spidey senses are picking up cat play dates with jimmy, sassy and ... the orange one yourusername: his name is moose user32: not what i was expecting but seems fitting user33: was half-expecting his name to be max maxverstappen1: me too yourusername: guys i'm not that bad yourbff2: her old goldfish was named max yourusername: STOP EMBARRASSING ME

maxverstappenarchive

liked by maxverstappen1, yourusername and 47,831 others

tagged: maxverstappen1

maxverstappenarchive: max won the belgian grand prix to take his win tally to 35 career wins! congratulations max 🧡

view all comments

user34: so like when is he legit going to be in the goat conversation?

user35: genuinely this dominance is so so impressive

maxverstappen1: see you in a couple days 🧡

user36: leave the flirting to the personal accounts verstappen yourusername: i'm so excited you wouldn't believe

redbullracing: in max we trust

maxverstappenarchive: generational talent

user37: i know they won't but can someone livestream this date cause i wanna watch maxverstappenarchive lose her literal mind

yourusername: no mind will be lost i am a grown woman yourbff1: sureeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

yourusername added to their story

[caption: hot summer nights, mid july]

maxverstappen1 added to their story

[caption: no one tell brad]

note: i nearly got to the photo limit so i'm gonna leave this here but i have a lot of ideas for this scenario so let me know if yall want a second part !! also hope this actually fulfilled the original request ??

[radley-writes]

I posted 8,300 times in 2022

That's 2,151 more posts than 2021!

373 posts created (4%)

7,927 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@vaspider

@spaceshipkat

@fragrant-stars

@thelibrarianjesser

@headspace-hotel

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#jugemu jugemu go-kō-no-surikire kaijari-suigyo no suigyō-matsu unrai-matsu fūrai-matsu kū-neru tokoro ni sumu tokoro yaburakōji no burakōji

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hello yes I am another toothpaste pain experiencer

I am allergic to the mint flavouring in toothpaste and it is the worst

On the upside, I have discovered that watermelon flavoured toothpaste is a thing that exists, even if it is aimed at toddlers

W A T E R M E L O N T O O T H P A S T E

I have SUCH a mighty need, that sounds amazing

except uh, I would absolutely eat that stuff right out the tube

1,052 notes - Posted May 10, 2022

#4

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

I REPEAT

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

THE STRICTLY NO HEROICS (Feiwel & Friends, Macmillan Children’s, 2023) IS UP FOR PRE-ORDER!

[ID: cover of a book showing a figure in a gasmask, hoodie and gloves, leant on an old TV. A rainbow pride pin is pinned to their jacket. Text reads ‘STRICTLY NO HEROICS’ in neon pink and green, and ‘B. L. Radley’ in white.]

If you're a powerless normie in a world run by superheroes, you need three rules to survive:

1: Keep your head down

2: Don’t make enemies

3: STRICTLY NO HEROICS

When a hero gropes her best friend, Riley Jones breaks all of them.

​Her attempt at serving justice gets her fired from her summer job. Luckily, Sunnylake City’s biggest business is booming (literally, when there's C4 involved).

​Every villain wants henchmen: masked cronies who take their coffee orders, vacuum their secret lairs, and posture in the background while they fight. The HENCH agency provides a steady stream of drop-outs and losers who are willing to get beaten up by sidekicks for minimum wage.

​Riley might just be the perfect candidate.

I’ve worked so hard on this project, with an incredible team of people. And we’re getting closer to that sweet, sweet pub date (March 28, 2023)!

Any boosts would be greatly appreciated <3 Let’s give my debut some love?

If you like queer & wlw content, teenage activists organizing strikes, and superhero stories from the perspective of the civilians... this is the book for you!

Tweet!

Goodreads page!

PRE-ORDER NOW!

(If you’re short a bob but still want to get your hands on this glorious beast of a novel, consider requesting that your local library buy it! x)

2,470 notes - Posted March 22, 2022

#3

has this already been done or

2,487 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

#2

.....roe v wade being overturned is fucking horrific, but as I’ve already seen more than one grumbly ‘why are people still posting casually like nothing happened’ post, it feels like a great time to remind folks that a) performatively posting on social media is not activism and you don’t know what people are doing irl, b) not everyone is American, c) some people really mentally struggle with being surrounded 24/7 by doomposting and misery, d) not everyone is American, e) people often have sideblogs categorised by the sort of material they post, so you might not be following the place where they are posting about roe v wade, f) NOT EVERONE IS AMERICAN -

6,941 notes - Posted June 27, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

...Do you ever see people critiquing specific word usage in novels and wonder if they know that language can be used in fun and figurative ways? And that this is half the joy of writing?

An example off the top of my head - if I say ‘He gave a whisper of a smile’, it does not mean that the smile is literally whispering; it means that the word ‘whisper’ invokes a sense of smallness, due perhaps to subtlety or shyness, and that is something I want connected to your mental envisioning of this dude’s smile. 

Saying ‘But that makes no sense; a smile and a whisper are two different things’ misses the point e n t i r e l y

28,585 notes - Posted July 11, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[where-theres-smoak-2]

This Needs To Stop.

Trigger warning: Sensitive topics, p*dopilia, grooming, mental health and r*cism. 

Ok so this is a bit of a rant so apologies for that, I usually try to stay away from sensitive or controversial topics but this is something that I am passionate about and that I think is important. Also I just want to say that I am in no way directing this to the entirety of the M*lina fandom, I know most are just enjoying their ship, but there are those few who are deliberately seeking out darklina posts or are cross tagging and coming into darklina’s asks and just generally harassing the fandom which sadly I am seeing happen more and more often. Also I do feel like this can apply to all fandoms not just exclusively shadow and bone/ grishaverse, its just this is the one I am experiencing it in right now.   

I’ve seen antis call darkling/darklina fans many problematic things, delusional, mentally ill, ab*se apologists. They also like throwing around words like grooming and p*dophile. The thing that makes me angry about this is that they are taking sensitive topics, topics that many users have been effected by and they are using them to attack shippers merely for liking a character or ship that they don’t. What is even more frustrating is they seem to be throwing these words around without evening fully understanding what they even mean. For example the claim that the Darkling is a p*dophile because Alina is only 17 in the books. Well p*dophilia is a psychiatric disorder where adults are attracted to children and in order for it to be classed as p*dophilia the child involved has to be 13 or younger. A 16 year old can be diagnosed as a p*dophile if they become attracted to a child that is five years or more younger than them. So the relationship between the Darkling and Alina does not meet the criteria to be categorised this way as Alina is over the age of 13. As for it being a case of Alina is underaged, well, for one that depends on where in the world you are. This is based on imperial russia, in russia the age of consent is 16. This means that a 16 year old can have a sexual relationship with a 30 year old, a 70 year old or a 500 year old immortal and in a court of law it is still legal, whatever your own moral issues around age gaps might be. Even then it can be argued that it is irrelevant because, as with most historical literature where young girls marry older men, you cannot put modern day concepts onto them. Like I said this story is based on Imperial Russia, the life expectancy of a person in that time was around 30 years old. That means a 15 year old girl is already half way through her life, she is literally middle aged. It is at this point usually that girls started to prepare to get married and have children and yes sometimes it was to an older man because men were expected to provide for their wife and family which means having a house and job and means to support a family which an older man was more likely to have. My point is a 15-17 year old in say Imperial Russia is not the same as a 15-17 year old in modern day therefore you can’t take modern day laws and morals and place them onto that situation, it doesn’t work, they lived completely different lives. In Alina’s world, she is at the age where girls might get married and her being courted by a man of the general’s status would have been a normal occurrence, for her to have caught the attention of someone with his standing would have been considered very advantageous for her. I mean she literally gets two marriage proposals in book 2, where I believe she is still 17, and Nikolai is talking about how if she marries him it’ll be in name only and they can make Mal her guard so she can do the horizontal tango with him whenever she feels like it, so clearly the characters themselves feel like Alina is at an age where she can, one get married, and two be engaging in a sexual relationship. 

So why does all of this matter? Well it matters because people reading these posts, asks and comments left on posts, may be victims of p*dophilia and grooming. A lot of these comments don’t have trigger warnings and when you are talking about sensitive and triggering topics like this you need to be careful and when you are talking about them without even really understanding them, and where they can’t apply to the characters you are talking about anyway, then you are potentially triggering someone needlessly because you didn’t need to be talking about it in the first place, I hope I am making sense there. I am not saying don’t talk about these subjects if you do think they are relevant, I am saying make sure you do the research, that you understand the subject you are addressing and when you do talk about it do it in a respectful manner, don’t throw it out there in an angry spew accompanied by alot of other derogatory words because that won’t help anyone.     

Another subject I want to talk about is I am also seeing a lot of posts about how darklinas must be delusional or mentally unwell. This, again, is hurtful and harmful. Mental illness for a very long time has had a stigma around it, one that makes the person suffering from it feel weak and ashamed. There was always the attitude of if you are mentally ill then there is something wrong with you, or the attitude of oh just get over it, cheer up, think a different way. But mental illness isn’t just a state of emotion its often caused by hormonal imbalances and chemicals. Genetics can also play a part. There is nothing wrong with someone who is mentally ill their brain is just wired a different way. I also find it problematic when people throw around the word delusional. Maybe its nothing to you, just a word, but alot of mental illnesses have actual delusions as one of their symptoms. These can be scary and upsetting and are outside the control of the person experiencing them. Making the suggestion that liking a particular ships means you are delusional is potentially very triggering to those who do battle delusions and have fought to overcome them. The stigma around mental illness has prevented alot of people suffering from mental illness from seeking help out of shame or embarrassment or even out of fear of being judged and although I do feel like as a society we’ve become alot more open about mental health and alot more accepting there is still a long way to go. When antis start saying things like ‘I can’t believe people ship this, they must be mentally ill,’ or ‘they must be sick in the head’, or ‘if you like this ship than you must be delusional’ not only are they being incredibly prejudice against people who have mental illnesses but it is also so harmful because if there is someone reading that post who is struggling with their mental health and are considering seeking help then you’ve just made them feel more ashamed, more like there is something wrong with them which will make them even less likely to seek out help and as I said before there isn’t anything wrong with a person who has a mental health condition they are just different from you. That doesn’t give you the right to make them feel like they are less capable of deciding what they do or do not like or even what they should or should not like to be classified as a ‘normal’ person. 

The most latest problematic statements I’ve seen have been those accusing Darklina’s of being r*cist. This one I found a bit funny in a it’s not funny kind of way. I just don’t think there is much logic behind this view point. I’m not sure I understand the antis reasoning here. Mostly because I’m pretty sure the majority of the Darklina fandom comes from the books where Mal is described as being a white, brown haired, blue eyed guy. Funnily enough the Darkling is described as being able to pass for Shu, though to be clear it isn’t confirmed that he is a POC, but out of the two in the books the Darkling is more likely to be a POC than Mal. On top of that whilst many darklina fans have made it clear they are not a fan of Mal in the books many have said they like the show version of Mal who, as we all know, the actor Archie is a POC. So by anti logic darklinas are all r*cist because they don’t like book Mal who is depicted as white but we do like show Mal who is a POC. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I do understand that there were some ‘fans’ who made inappropriate and r*cist comments to some cast members including Archie and I would never ever condone that no matter who I ship. But you also can’t condemn an entire fandom just because of the actions of a select few. I don’t judge all M*linas for that one fan who accused Ben of being a pr*dator and p*dophile because of his friendship with Jessie. Once again my point is r*cism is a serious topic and not something someone should use as a retort or comeback to someone not shipping your ship. When we use these words casually it makes it less likely that they’ll be taking seriously when they really do need to be taken seriously, when they really are relevant to what is happening. If we keep using them so casually then when we really do need to talk about them, when it really matters, people will just shrug and go ‘its just antis being antis.’ 

I think it is possible for people to like different things, to debate and analyse different relationships and characters and talk about what flaws they may have in a respectful manner. I wouldn’t say I am anti m*lina but at the same time there are things about them that I find problematic but when I talk about those things I hope I do so in a way that doesn’t demean those who do like the ship. I understand that people will have a different interpretation than me and whilst I might not understand where their thinking comes from or why they have a particular opinion I would never make the assumption that they are mentally unwell or make judgements on their character or morals. I try to think about the words I am writing. I know how easy it can be to just throw a word out there without thinking about it. I used to use the word delusional to describe fans of certain ships, but when I recognised how damaging and problematic that was I stopped and I changed my behaviour because it was never my intention to hurt others. I guess the main message I am trying to convey here is we need to be careful with our words they’re not as insignificant as we might think.                

[rphosphor]

MCYT/DSMP Tumblr Etiquette Guide

I made another post that was basically everything you needed to know about how to use Tumblr + the etiquette since a bunch of people from Twitter have migrated here. This post is basically that post cut down only to include the etiquette.

-It is okay to block people. If they’re doing something bad, you find them annoying, etc. just block the person. Do not make call out posts and public blocklists. If you want, you can message your mutuals (they have a green star in your follower tab) and tell them not to interact with the person. No one is notified when you block them, you will stop appearing in their dashboard and they will stop appearing in yours. If they try to visit your blog, it'll display as if the page isn't working & give an error if they try to reblog your posts.

-Using tone indicators. They work exactly the same as on Twitter, but are more commonly located in the tags, asks, or replies.

-Tag properly. Tags are part of the only way to categorise, search, and find posts, so tagging a lot of things incorrectly can cause a lot of problems for other people.

-Do not crosstag. It doesn’t get your post more exposure, it just annoys people and clogs up tags with unrelated things.

-Put trigger warnings in the tags. This allows people to filter the posts they don’t want to see. Keep them consistent and simple. Most people use [xyz] tw or tw [xyz].

-Tag critical/discourse, etc. when applicable. Don’t put discourse on the main tag so that it won’t be shown to people that don’t want to see it. This is not optional. Use #[xyz] critical or #c![xyz] negative, not #[xyz].

-Use spoiler tags when posting about recent events. Usually you’d need to tag events for 2-7 days after they happen, depending on the fandom. (Ex: #dsmp spoilers, #3rd life spoilers)

-If your post is long, tag it with #long post. You don’t really need to do it if it’s short with a read more. Some people aren’t okay with scrolling past long posts. On desktop, you just need to go to an empty line and click the three dots on the side to add a read more. On mobile, you need to type :readmore: in a new paragraph.

-Do not use #mine/craft, #mine/blr or #mine/craft youtubers (without the slash) unless you are talking about the actual game. There are people that don’t want to see things about mcyt, dsmp, etc. and we don’t want to clog up the tags. The tagging system will include the last one because it still contains #mine/craft.

-Don’t use #hermitcraft for 3rd Life content. 3rd life is a completely different series and deserves its own tag. Yes, a bunch of hermits are on the server, but by using the Hermitcraft tag, you flood the tag with non-Hermitcraft posts.

-Don’t use #hermitcraft for crossovers with the Dream SMP. Use #hc x dsmp so that the Hermitcraft tag isn’t flooded.

-(Hermitblr exclusive) Don’t put posts with ships on the main tags. Separate the content so that it’s not shown to people who don’t want to see it. Instead, use the tags: #hermitship, #hermitshipblr, #hermitshipping. Avoid using the main character tags as well ex: #grian, #impulsesv. Use the ship name tags instead ex: #jleo, #grumbo, #scardubs.

-If you see someone using the wrong tags/tags they shouldn’t use, politely tell them. Ex: Someone used #mine/craft on a Dream SMP post, so you tell them in their asks/replies that the Mine/craft tag is exclusive to the actual game.

-It’s okay to ask someone to use a trigger warning tag. If you follow someone whose posts can have something that triggers you/makes you uncomfortable. you can ask them to tag it so you can filter. They’re not obligated to use it, but there’s no harm in asking! You can always unfollow them in case it bothers you too much.

-If a post seems really personal or the op said they’re gonna delete it later, either don’t reblog, or ask if you can.

-Tumblr is very hungry and may accidentally eat your asks. If someone doesn’t answer, you can always ask if it went through.

-It’s not required, but much appreciated if you add image/video descriptions for the people who use screenreaders. Guide on it here.

-Reblogs alone don’t automatically give a post more exposure. You need to tag reblogs so that they show up and get recommended to people. Unless you have a large following, there’s a minuscule chance an untagged reblog would get any attention at all. This is incredibly important if you’re reblogging to share an artist’s work or something similar.

[indigocloudofnarcolepsy]

I got tagged by @tough-girl9 to list my top 7 comfort films which turned into a top 8

I'm more of a comfort song type, so that was a tough (girl) one

1.: Treasure Planet

I adore this movie! I loved it when I was smaller and I love it now. The only reason I didn't watch it to death was the fact that I lost the DVD. It's gorgeous and although the main premise is space pirates thanks to the focus on the characters it feels grounded and easier to relate to or to feel simpathy towards them. Besides Jim Hawkins being a childhood crush I could always relate to him. The feeling of being lost, aimless and the words

"- I can't watch you throw away your future like that!

- What future?"

always spoke to me. It's not an edge and teen angst fest tho, John Silver and his speech is both in character and always chokes me up and gives me hope that there are pathes that could lead to the future I want and that I wasn't abled to see.

It's the perfect movie for those who feel lost or confused and want to sail to far away planets from their current situation, those who want to be understood and given hope to.

(I could gush about the art and animation and characters for hours, but this is not the time)

Amazing background music and the songs fit well with the steampunk-ish style of the movie

2.: Ratatouille

A family classic. We even have the ps2 game and it's one of those rarities which my family could watch anytime. Besides being beautiful and having a 10/10 aesthetic (and a huge dose of food p0®π) it's a grounded movie.

The premise is as feaver dream-y and goofy as it gets. A rat learns english (or french? The movie takes place in Paris but it's either confusing or I'm just a dum dum) and thanks to an imaginary friend version of his chef idol ends up in his restaurant and makes a deal with the garbage boy of whom the chef thinks can cook and reluctantly agrees give him another chance to make the soup that was actually made by (fixed by) the rat aka Remy. So the boy Linguini and Remy has to team up where it seems like Linguini is making the soup but he is actually in Remy's control.

But the movie is actually about being an artist and coming from an unexpected place and being surrounded by people who don't support you or believe in you even if they were just trying to protect you or think that it's the best for you.

Fellow artists could definetly appreciate the movie. Whether you croche, draw, animate, sculpt, dance, act or do any kind of art I would absolutely recommend.

Le Festin is great and is on loop during dinner

Warning: get food ready because you WILL get hungry. Even if it's just bread this movie will make it taste like garlic bread just you wait

3.: Strange Magic

It's one of the controversial ones. Not everyone likes it and a lot hate it but that's okay.

It's one of those films where either you praise it to death or wonder which deeper layer of hell did it crawled out of. There is no in between. I'm one from the first category. Even my IT teacher called it a classic and I roped most of my friend group into the SM cult.

It has a certain tumblr aesthetic and feels like a fanficrion the best way possible. One of those where altho something unsuspected happens it's written well, the characters are in character it's finished and the grammar is proper as well.

It's a jukebox musical which is one of my fauvorite kind of musical, the covers are amazing and damn they can change up the originals songs aesthetic to it's opposite so damn well (Trouble - Elvis Presley)

It centers around love and I ain't no shipper nor romantic but even I was gushing over the main couple which is spoiler alert so that's all you get

I absolutely adore how the characters express themselves with their wings and body! I'm all about feelings and expressions!

So try it out and even if you don't like it you're allowed to stop. And if you like it: welcome to the fandom in this house we respect Marianne, the Bog King is a snack and must protect Dawn at all cost!

(this is a pick me up movie for me the other two more of a shoulder to cry on)

Speaking of crying

4.: The Little Prince

Not gonna lie I was extremely suspicious of this movie. I immediately categorised it as a cheap cash grab which only use sonething known and beloved because it's known and beloved so people will buy.

I expected the Emoji Movie, I got the LEGO Movie.

This movie. Hoo boy, this movie. You know, it's nothing, I only cried 4 times after all!

It's so respectful towards the material it's given. So heartfelt and creative and artistic! It's the Little Prince sequel that fits well in modern times.

In this film the Little Prince is a story that an old man tells his new young girl of a neighbour. Both of them needed a friend and it's one of those unexpected duos where the girl is forced to be mature way too early and the man is way too childish so they balance each other out and the man gives the girl (I can't remember their names god damn it) the breath of fresh air she needed.

This movie is so damn cute! I mentioned a shoulder to cry on movies and pick me up movies, this one is both! It's a bittersweet dream!

You are going to cry. So get ready.

5.: Hunchback of Notre Dame

Oh man oh God oh man oh God oh man

I'm obsessed with this movie (and musical)

It's dark and mature and definetly a-shoulder-to-cry-on movie. I love and relate to Quasimodo. Altho I'm not deformed I was always the weird girl everyone picked on and hated and I still can't understand why. I think I'm a perfectly normal person but when my mom calls me a freak/eccentric behind my back and my aunt gives me a gift with the words "since you looked nothing like the other girls on your prom..." I... I'm just more confused honestly. I'm always so damn tired and basically a hermit so thanks to that Out There hit way too close to home.

Esmeralda is a 10/10 role modell. She is a beautiful soul inside and outside. And she's romani. Which is the most hated minority in my country.

The movie deals with lust, abusive and manipulative parents, racism, religion, "ugly"ness, lonelyness. These might sound repelling but to see something similar happen to you/a character looking/being/sounding like you is worth more than life, honestly. Unless you can live through this kinship with a character, you have no idea how needed this is.

(I cried so hard watching The Grinch (2018) since I used to have Panic disorder and I'm an anxious person to see him being scared the way I do and to fiddle with his fingers and think like I do was the most comforting thing I felt in my life)

This movie is so damn gorgeous. I know I said that to almost every movie in this list but this is a biblical epic gorgeous. And of course, Hellfire is THE best Diney villain song FIGHT ME I'M RIGHT

The musical is even darker and more serious but damn it's worth a watch. It's on youtube.

6. Brother Bear

This movie is *drumroll* gorgeous. Each movie on this list is gorgeous in different ways. This is nature-gorgeous.

Pick me up movie, definetly. It's mostly adorable but they tap into some meaningful things and there are tragedies happening, my dude!

Like Hunchback of Notre Dame the main subject is "who is the monster and who is the man?". This movie shows some perspective, I tell you!

7.: Coco

I know the hungarian translation by heart

It's very family oriented, so if you don't have any or have a bad realtionship with it, this movie will give you a heartache

This movie takes place in Mexico and explores parts of mexican culture.

I adore and am interested in different cultures, folklore, tradition and religion so I was head over heels really quick with this movie!

Gorgeous imagery and music. Heartfelt, that last Remember Me WILL get you

8.: The Croods

Y'ALL

I know, it looks like a movie that made only for kids. But dude! It's about family, change and how people deal with it. It takes place in an alternative world, where animals we know are mixed together (MOUSELEFANT!! CROCO DOGGO!!) the most adorable way possible and it takes place in prehistoric times.

Oh god, this movie is full of feelings and gorgeous imagery! Pick me up, definetly! Of course, it's full of jokes but they are so witty to me!

Sorry, I got impatient by the end of it

I would tag people if I would know anyone well in this site. The 2 people I want to tag: is already tagged me and the other one is probably too busy

[themathsstudent]

-.' Advice from a Cambridge student '.-

Hi guys. I don't have many notes to post on here since I've been mainly doing past paper questions. So instead I'm going to share some info about my study technique. This is part 1 of I don't know how many since I've not fully decided on the list of content to cover. Comment some suggestions.

Today I'll talk about how I approach, store and track my past paper questions and how that has changed from GCSE to A level to STEP/MAT to studying maths at Cambridge. This I going to be long, so do skip to the relevant bits.

In the photos is a section of older questions from my spreadsheet. I can't really show any more than that because I don't what to spoil it for people saving newer papers for mocks.

WARNING

these are things I phased in an adapted to me routine over many many years. Not all of it will be relavent for your subject/level of study. If you do decide to make something like this into a study habit, be sure to start simple and build it up. Then it will be much easier to maintain and be much better adapted to you.

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WHY SHOULD I DO PAST PAPERS?

✏️ active recall is much better at helping you memorise

✏️ being able to pick out the relevant information from your brain when you read a question is an important skill you can't learn by reading notes

✏️ revise with different topics mixed together

✏️ practise the actual task you are getting your grade from

✏️ figure out what is actually examined and what was taught just to help tell the story

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HOW DO I PICK PAPERS?

🔎 First find a reliable website (bookmark it) to view or download your past papers

🔎 Leave any specimen + at least 2 years worth of papers to be completed under strict exam conditions closer to the exam.

🔎 Pick a year to start from and work towards more recent papers (you can go back to do older ones if you run out)

🔎 Keep in mind the year that the exam specification might have been last updated (I'll do a post about exam specs in future) when deciding which years' papers to prioritise.

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HOW DO I DO THE PAPERS?

📝 Varies according to the subject, exam style and my overall confidence but, in general, I will start off with an "open book". This really puts the pressure off and makes starting papers earlier in the year much less daunting. Just starting is so important.

📝 Always have a go first and think about the reason you're getting stuck. 

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WHAT MATERIALS DO I USE AND HOW DO I STORE MY PAPERS?

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UNIVERSITY:

📒 Even though I have a tablet, I much prefer to do exam practise on paper. 

📒 Since starting university, I use A4+ lined wire-bound notebooks that are perforated and punched.

📒 I don't use loose leaf paper because I am terrified of losing sheets and do not need to frequently reorder or split them as I do with notes as I rewrite them.

📒 Once I have a few years worth of papers done (takes quite a bit of time in the beginning), I will tear them out of the notebooks and file them by year and subject. Y2/3 for Maths at my university mixes the courses throughout 4 papers.

📒 Start each Q on a new page, in the top space write "year.paper.section.question COURSE - topic". I sometimes also write a short comment here or indicate if I would like to redo the question in future.

📒 Log progress in a spreadsheet (more info below)

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STEP (Cambridge Maths Entrance Exam):

📒 Printed papers into A5 booklets (I didn't have a good laptop at the time so this was the best way to have questions with me at all times

📒 I did the questions on a refill pad, filing every evening

📒 Started new questions on a new page since I rarely ever completed a paper cover to cover in order (you actually only attempt 6/12 or 13 in the exam)

📒 Log progress in a spreadsheet (more info below)  

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MAT (Oxford/Imperial Maths Entrance Exam):

📒 Printed the relevant questions double-sided on A4 since there is space to answer

📒 Listed specific areas/questions of topics I got wrong on a post-it I stuck to the front 

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A level:

📒 Printed as A5 booklets and answered in the space provided since my handwriting is small enough

📒 Listed specific areas/questions of topics I got wrong on a post-it I stuck to the front

📒 Stored papers either spine up in an A5 expanding file or opened them up to A4, punched and filed them in a 2 ring binder.

📒 Log progress in a table for each exam. I made the template in excel and printed them to use as cover sheets in my folder.

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GCSE:

📒 These papers were not very efficient to print (gaps, blank pages, pictures) so I just read the questions from a desktop and answered them in a notebook

📒 Marking and comments in a different colour

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HOW DO I USE EXCEL TO TRACK PAST PAPERS?

📊 Currently I use separate rows for questions because my courses are mixed into 4 exams which questions of only 2 types of length (short in section I, long in II).

📊 Columns for year, paper (1-4), section, question number/code, course, content, type, confidence, comments.

📊 "content" is just a list of topics, keywords, theorems. They're like tags I use to categorise.

📊 "type" such as bookwork (content covered almost word for word in lecture), proof, calculation, counterexample gives me an indication of the type of recall there assessing.

📊 "confidence" is a score/10 I use to decide whether or not to review the question in future or ask a supervisor for help and prioritise the next topics to try questions for. This is the only real way I can track progress since there are no mark schemes. 

📊 "comments" are very important. I try my best to give reasons for not being able to complete a question (e.g clarification needed on q's wording, can't find a counterexample, not sure about conditions of theorem ...) and then later update it with the information that resolved the issue. Even when I'm confident, I try to summarise any new trick or technique used in the question

📊 Last year when questions were not mixed up (only 2 fixed courses per exam) and for STEP I chose to use 1 cell per question (year/paper on the left, question number across the top. In each cell listing the content and manually colour coding. Still very satisfying to see fill up.

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WHY DO I USE DIGITAL SPREADSHEETS?

💻 Secure autosave

💻 Filter/sort by year/course/confidence makes it much easier to see which course needs more work

💻 Find. Search through my content tags to find a relevant question

💻 Conditional colour formatting to draw my attention to questions I struggled with as well as being very satisfying when I can change something from red to green. Motivates me to do questions

.

.

🌈Wow you made it all the way to the end

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you find this helpful.

[dear-trashpanda]

What we know as normal

We, as a species, are so adaptable and so good at normalising anything that happens to us on a regular basis, that until the point where we are somehow forced to face the irregular nature of our experience, we just consider it universal.

For example, I never knew that there were people out there who weren't broken. To whom going through the simplest, most everyday actions was not a struggle, and who have the energy it takes to have a social life they genuinely enjoy.

I have very few friends. I love them dearly, but even with that, having to spend time with them seems like a major chore most of the time, something I recognise as a necessity in order to form and maintain the correct kinds of social and emotional bonds between humans, but that doesn't make hanging out less of an anxiety-inducing, painfully taxing job that usually comes with a price tag of week-long, debilitating energy deficits. To most people, apparently, this experience is a foreign concept. They don't see social interaction as a bitter pill you regularly have to swollow in order to have someone to share the occasional good times with.

You see, that's the thing. To me, sharing the burdens and the bad times doesn't come easy. I don't like to spill my heart and I feel uncomfortable crying on a friendly shoulder. Foxy and I have always been alone, we've had each other for the last few years, but before that, when we were whole, that person used to deal with her shit alone. And this is something deeply engraved in both Fox and I, because it comes from a place farther back than our memories go.

But we aren't a lone pair either. Just having each other would not be enough to keep us happy, or even alive. We need people we can share our joy and happiness with, we need someone to live for, to make it worth getting up in the morning, to present with small pebbles and four leaf clovers... I want to share my life, my passions, my musings and my good days with a few select friends, let's say family members, and because I'm lucky, I have those people in my life. And because I'm extra lucky, I can normalise their presence in my home to the point where it doesn't always drain me to be around them. And I'm lucky to have some other friends as well, who understand my position and who don't mind the sporadic nature of my social energy and just appreciate it whenever I come around because I actually feel like being with them.

This is how my reality works. This is how it has worked for as long as I can remember, albeit my approach has changed vastly over the years. There are many people who hold it against me, who accuse me of not caring and who wonder why anybody would want to be friends with such a selfish and aloof person, and many just can't seem to tolerate the idea of spending time with one's friends being anything other than pure joy and refreshment. And I don't blame those people, it's not even that I don't want to be friends with them, I think I'm just fundamentally incompatible with their way of showing affection.

My "love language" is mostly based on gestures, even subtle ones that most "normal" people would just categorise as "ah, that's nice, I guess", without giving a second thought to the implications of said gesture. But the thing is, one of the things I do to show my affection towards those I care about is giving them the attention and help they need, regardless of what it costs me. Just because I don't have the energy to hang out without any particular reason, that never means I won't be there for you if you need me. I know that it's not enough, and I know it's not ideal, but neither am I, and that's the best I can offer...

Well anyway, I think the point I wanted to make was that I love you guys. And I am grateful to have you in my life every day.

Furthermore, I encourage all of you to think about your friends and family, think of how each person shows their love and how you like to be shown love to. You might find that there is a lot more of it going on around you than you'd initially have thought.

Be kind to each other, celebrate love, celebrate friendship, celebrate the diversity of experience and for god's sake, don't take each other for granted!

Love,

TP

[indescribablechoices]

be your safety

Pairing: Damien Nazario x MC (Kai Park), Damien x MC x Hayden

Word Count: 2988

Listening Suggestion: Kiss Me - Ed Sheeran

Fic Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @kennaxval @princesaakl

Synopsis: After Hayden walks out in San Francisco, Kai goes after him, and a heart to heart leads to confessions.

Rating: NSFW, M, 18+ (by seeing this warning, you are consenting of legal age to do so. This involves sexual encounters). (I love the poly relationship in PM, but it kinda bothers me that it’s never really discussed between partners so I wanted to fix that. I’m personally not polyamorous so I hope I wrote this okay! This is written with Kai who broke up with Hayden in Berlin and immediately got with Damien, and then my ass fell in love with Hayden in book two so we’re rolling with it)

“I just… I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry.”

Before Kai could reach for him, Hayden had pushed past her and the rest of their friends and was out the door. She called after him, her legs moving to follow him without thought but Khaan’s voice gave her pause.

“Maybe it’d be best to leave Hayden with his thoughts,” he suggested, looking unsurely towards the still open door.

“I can’t just leave him alone out there,” she said, “He doesn’t know the city, and Eros is still out there and-” Panic began to rise in her tone before Damien stepped closer to her, putting an encouraging hand on her back.

“Go,” he insisted, a look passing between them that she understood, “We’ll tell you if he gets back or contacts anyone.”

A smile played on her mouth as she nodded, and she raced out of the apartment. She tried the hotel first, knocking on Hayden’s door until she eventually let herself in to find it inevitably empty. Cursing to herself, Kai took to the streets, backtracking through all of the places they had been in the city, panic twisting her stomach into knots before eventually, finally, she caught sight of him.

He was leaning against the large mural where just yesterday she had been having a heart to heart with Damien.

“Hayden!” she called out to him, her legs carrying her to him without thinking. He looked up at the sound of her voice, and for a brief second she worried he would run, but as she approached he stayed where he was. “Are you okay?” she asked.

He shook his head, looking on the verge of tears, “I’ve never felt so alone… Kai, I don’t know what to do.”

She wanted nothing more than to pull him into her arms and hold him tight, but he needed more than that right now, “I should’ve realised how hard the last few days have been on you. I’m so sorry.”

He shook his head, “No it’s… it’s not your fault. I didn’t mean to pin this on you.”

“What did you mean when you said you feel alone?” she asked quietly.

He let out a shaky sigh, “There are things I think about, I experience that… I just can’t share with anyone.”

“Not even me? Or Sloane?”

He averted his eyes, staring at the floor, “If Sloane had quit Eros, and if you’d let me go when I was first recalled after Steve disappeared… None of you would be in danger.”

She stepped up and squeezed his arm, “Sloane loves you, Hayden. If given the choice, I know she would save you every time. We all care about you; Nadia, Steve, Damien, me. The reason we’re in danger is because we have people worth fighting for. You being one of them.”

“But-” he began to protest but she met his eyes.

“Maybe this started as a mission to rescue you and to find Steve, but it’s bigger than that now. They hurt Damien, ad Sloane will never be free unless we take Eros down. You’re not a burden to us. You never have been. Please don’t ever think that. There’s nothing that any of us wouldn’t do for you, and I know you feel the same way.”

He nodded, gently taking hold of her hand, giving it a tight squeeze before letting it go, “When I saw Damien and Sloane call their parents… I know it’s not their intention, but it’s a painful reminder that I don’t have that. No strong mother to look up to. No overbearing, wild siblings.”

She let out a soft breath of her own, “Family doesn’t always mean people you’re bound to by blood. Family is… It’s the people that are there for you when you have nothing else. They drive you insane, like Nadia and her stupid bath bomb categorisation, but they’re the people you can’t live without.”

He smiled slightly, but ultimately looked away, “Thank you for coming to find me, Kai, but I’m not ready to face everyone again. I just… I need to clear my head.”

“Can you at least tell me where you’re going?”

“Dolores Park,” he said, “It’s only a few blocks away… The fresh air should be good for me.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

He let out a sigh of relief, unable to hide his small smile, “Thank you, Kai.”

They walked in silence towards the park, finding a quiet spot away from anyone else once they reached it, sitting side by side in the grass.

Hayden drew his knees up to his chest as he watched the families and children play, “I remember being the popular kid growing up. Anytime my friends and I met up outside school, the other kids would beg for my mom to chaperone. She wasn’t a stickler for rules, loved making all these experimental snacks… even let us stay up a bit past curfew on sleepovers.”

“That’s really sweet,” she said quietly, trying not to let her sad smile show.

“With all the commotion they made about how my mom was their ‘den mother’ too, I started to get a little jealous,” a smile played on his mouth, “So I asked her if I was still her favourite kid.”

“I’m sure she said yes.”

“She said I was, and I quote, ‘the best kid across all galaxies’,” he smile hardened and he began to pluck the grass around his feet absentmindedly, “I know it’s careless of my to linger in these memories, but they’re like silent wishes… I keep hoping that the memories will turn real somehow.”

“I barely remember a thing about my parents,” she told him, “Any memories I do have, I don’t even know if they’re real. I had so many dreams as a kid where my mom walked into my bedroom at my grandmother’s house, scooped me up in her arms and told me she was taking me home. Every morning I would wake up, wondering if I was back in my old room, but it never happened, no matter how much I wished it… We can’t do anything to bring something back that isn’t there, but we can take the good from it, and hope that it makes us stronger. That’s all we can do in the end.”

He reached across and took hold of her hand, squeezing it. They spoke for a little while longer about his memories of his family, about how conflicted he felt about Sloane’s mom, knowing that so much of her was put into the memories of his own mother. The conversation soon turned onto the other Matches, and Kai promised that if there was something left in Harley to save, they would save him.

A silence fell between them, and she glanced at him, “Is there anything I can do?”

“You being here with me… is enough.”

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close to her. Listening to him talk about the things that had been bothering him had broken her heart; his lack of family, his turmoil over Harley and the other Matches, every little feeling that had been churning inside of him until it had burst out.

She swallowed thickly against her tears as tears of his own fell freely from his eyes as he leaned into her embrace.

“I’ve got you,” she told him, “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

He held her back, face buried in her neck, grip tight as though she was going to disappear. She just sat there murmuring quietly to him, desperate to comfort him in any way she could. They sat there for a long while, legs growing wet from the damp grass, but neither cared.

He finally sat up a little, but their arms remained around each other, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand. He sniffed, offering her a small smile, “I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” she gave him a tight squeeze, “You have nothing to apologise for. It’s okay to let it out. Sloane and me and everyone else might not understand fully what you’re going through, but we are here for you. All of us; whatever you need.”

“All I need right now is you, Kai,” he said quietly.

She placed a hand on his cheek, drawing him closer. There was a moment of hesitation between them before their lips pressed together, sharing in a soft but almost desperate kiss. Stray tears slipped down both of their faces as they stole this moment together, hearts slamming hard in their chests as the emotion threatened to overwhelm them.

She pulled back after a moment, looking at him with guilty eyes, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… I don’t want to confuse you. I know I said I wanted to be friends, but lately, I just… I can’t stop thinking about you.”

He rested his forehead against hers, fighting against the smile that was threatening to show , “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you, Kia. How much I’ve missed us… but you’re with Damien, you’re happy with him, you…”

She shushed him softly, her fingers still drawing along the stubble on his jawline, “I am with Damien, but I want to be with you, too.”

His eyes flicked from her lips back to her eyes, “What?”

“I have feelings for both of you,” she told him, “Damien and I talked about it, he could see that I was starting to fall for you and he said that I didn’t have to choose. I didn’t want to do anything until I could talk to you about it and we could work things out; whether you would even be interested, but…”

“You really want this? Want me?”

“I can’t explain to you how much you mean to me, Hayden,” she said softly, “I cared about you when we dated back in New York, and I loved having you as a best friend after Berlin, but since Paris... You’ve been there for me like no one else has. When I lost Damien, I felt like I had lost everything, but you became a light in my life that kept me going. You make me so happy, and if we can work this out, if I’m not too late, I-”

He cut off her next words by pressing his mouth against hers in a hard kiss, his arms drawing her closer against him. When they broke for breath, his eyes met hers, “Kai, you can’t win back something you never lost.” He took her hand in his, placing it on his chest so that she could feel the ever-steady beat of his heart under her palm, “This has always belonged to you. It always will.”

“Hayden,” she whispered his name against his lips, her fingers clutching at his shirt right above his heart.

“And if your wonderful, beautiful heart has room enough for both me and Damien… who am I to say no to that?” he said quietly.

Meeting his lips eagerly again, she clambered into his lap, her arms around his shoulders, fingers curling into the bottom of his dark hair. They clung to each other as they lost themselves in the feel the other’s body and mouth. She traced the lines of his body as though they’d never had any time apart, earning soft moans from his lips.

“Being here with you-” his words were cut off as a drop of rain hit his cheek, swiftly followed by another, and another until the heavens seemingly opened, drenching them both instantly in cold rain.

Kai let out a shocked gasp at the cold, but couldn’t control her laughter, “Remember our first date? You ran to that awning so fast I thought you were going to leave me behind.”

“Never,” he smiled, kissing her wet lips.

“I knew from that moment that you were special,” she admitted, “I should have known I’d never be able to get rid of you.”

He barked out a laugh before their mouths met again, kissing like they were the only two people in the world, water soaking through their clothes. A deep, demanding, groan rumbled in Hayden’s chest as her tongue eagerly explored his mouth.

“Should we get out of here?” she asked, meeting his eyes, “Maybe continue this at the hotel?”

He paused for a moment, as though taking in her words before he let out a breathless moan, “… Yes.”

Hand in hand and barely paying attention to the rest of their surroundings, they rushed back to the hotel, Hayden attempting to shield Kai from the relentless rain, despite the fact that they were both already soaked through.

They staggered into the room once they reached it, barely pausing in their clumsy, languid kisses. Kai kicked the door shut behind them, tugging at his wet clothing without a thought. They undressed each other in a daze, pausing only when they both stood nearly naked in front of each other, their gazes dragging longingly over the other’s body.

His eyes met hers, his breathing unsteady, drops of water clinging to the tips of his hair and eyelashes, “Give me a second… I just…”

He ran his shaking fingers across her damps skin, and her stomach fluttered at the vulnerability in his eyes. Never before had they been this emotionally bare in front of each other. She stepped even closer, putting a hand on his cheek.

“You’re not alone, Hayden,” she said quietly, “You have me.”

He nodded slightly, swallowing hard, “And you have me.”

She kissed him again, knowing no other words would suffice for what she wanted to say. His grip on her waist tightened, and as he tried to move her against the door, she moved first, pressing a kiss to his cheek, then his neck, then his collarbone.

She kissed her way down his damp body, taking in the taste of his soft skin and the rain that had soaked through. She looked up at him as she sank fully to her knees, feeling desire pooling in her belly as she took in the sight of him; breathless and wanting.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Hayden,” she said quietly, starting to press teasing kisses to his abdomen and thighs as she pulled his boxers down to his ankles, “You look perfect. Right here, like this.”

“Kai…” he groaned softly, “You don’t have to-”

She gave a cooing shush before sucking the beginnings of a hickey onto the inside of his thigh, “Let me take care of you.”

He couldn’t hold in the moan that made its way out of his body when she took him into her mouth, his head lulling back to hit the door. One hand clutched tight to the door handle whilst his other went to his mouth to keep himself quiet.

She returned to kissing his abdomen, looking up at him with a smirk as she reached up and took hold of his arm, pulling the hand away from his mouth, “I want to hear how good you feel.”

“Fuck,” he groaned out on a breath as she wrapped her lips around him again, expertly giving and teasing the amounts of pleasure. His fingers tangled into her long dark hair, desperate for something to hold onto as his knees began to tremble.

She gave a low moan at the feel of him tugging at her hair, sending vibrations right to his core. The tension coiled quickly even as he tried to hold back, but all he could focus on was Kai; his Kai, having her right in front of him, wanting him as much as he had been wanting her for so long. But even with the burning desire between them, he felt her hand against his hip, rubbing calming circles against his bare skin; reassuring him that she was here, that this was real.

It all became too much in that moment, blinding pleasure coursed through his body as he reached his peak, calling out her name as his shaking legs struggled to hold himself up as he collapsed back against the door.

She moved her mouth to press tender, soothing kisses to his lower stomach, her eyes flicking up to meet his. He slid onto the floor to join her, body still trembling a little as she drew him down to lay nose to nose on the carpet. They were silent for a while, just looking at each other, lost in their own little world, not caring for whatever matters lay outside this room.

“You okay?” she asked, eventually breaking the quiet, her fingers lazily tracing patterns across his bare arm.

He smiled almost sleepily, “I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I am right now.” He pulled her a little closer to kiss her, his hands wandering past her hips but she took hold of one of them and gave it a squeeze, pulling it back up to her waist.

“This was about you,” she reminded him, “We’ll have time for everything else later.”

He kissed her again, slower this time, simply relishing in the feel of her skin against his. Eventually, exhaustion overcame them both, the intensity of the last few hours catching up with them. They moved to the bed, and once his head hit the pillow, Hayden was asleep.

She grabbed her phone out of her jeans pocket, writing out a text to Damien.

I’ve got him. He’s safe. We’re at the hotel, we’ll be back later.

He text back after a moment, sending nothing but a heart emoji.

She smiled to herself before she slid under the covers, snuggling immediately into Hayden’s warm side, his arms moving to hold her even in sleep. She wasn’t sure what the next few weeks would bring; with Eros, or with the new relationship arrangement between her, Damien and Hayden, but what she did know was that with both of them at her side, she could take on anything.

[tophatandboots]

The Tanz der Vampire Tag - started by @coffintanz​ 

It might be fun to have a tag with a few questions about Tanz that fans can answer to have a post that let’s people know what their opinions are without it being scattered everywhere. This is the first time I’ve actually made a tag so I’m sorry if it already exist about Tanz.

How did you discover Tanz?

https://tophatandboots.tumblr.com/post/171196430694/coffintanz-i-thought-i-had-seen-the-majority-of This post was reblogged by a big goth blog, I thought “Hmm, vampire AND long hair? I’m going to find out who this Krolock chap is.” 

Favourite Krolock?

I’m going to have to say David Arnsperger today, although it changes. Dimpleslock made me laugh so much seeing it live.

How many times have you been to the show?

Three - Hamburg, Cologne, Vienna. I’m hoping to go to Berlin in the autumn as well.

Which do you like more, the Kentaur sets and costumes or the original sets and costumes?

OHO this is actually pretty tricky. There are absolutely some things I prefer from each. Mostly I prefer the Kentaur costumes, but I’m much more fond of a grey streaked wig on the Graf himself. I also prefer not-finished-dressing Herbert to Satin-Pajamas Herbert for Wenn Liebe in Dir Ist. As for the set... both of them make me picture screaming stagehands at the news the show is going to be put on. I think I like the sets I saw in Vienna better except for the actual ball.

Favourite song from the show?

Colossal toss-up between Einladung zum Ball and Carpe Noctem, both of them for the sheer over the top drama of Krolock that gives a nod to the show’s pantomime heritage. Also I have a weakness for multiple languages in one song, especially if one of them is latin simple enough for me to pick up the meaning. I like the inclusion of a bit of latin in Alfred’s dream, as it comes across as a nod to him trying to make sense of the vampires - He’s a scientist, so when you categorise living things you use latin. I’ve no idea if that’s the ‘official reason’ but; I like it.

A part that gives you chills:

EINE REISE AUF DEM FLUGELN DER NAAAAAACHT

Dream cast

Graf von Krolock:

Sarah: Abla - she’s so tiny, and was so kind when I met her at the stage door.

Alfred: Tom van der Venn - his Alfie is just so incredibly young and lost, and I want to protect him. I also love that he has a really strong great-nephew vibe with Abronsius.

Professor Abronsius: Victor Petersen

Herbert: a tie between Kirill Gordeev and Christian Funk. - I love the facial expressions from Kirill, but I also adore how Christian just struts about the place like Gaston. “Yes I’m am MANLY vampire, I just happen to like frilly shirts and other men. Got a problem with that? Didn’t think so,” and it reminds me of my IRL best friend.

Chagal: Kirill Zolygin

Magda: Sarah Jane Checchi

Rebecca: Dawn!

Koukol: I love every Koukol I have ever seen. Ever. All of them. Rotate them night after night.

Favourite quote from the show?

Eine Reise auf den Flügeln der Nacht, In die wahre Wirklichkeit, In den Rausch der Dunkelheit.

A journey on the wings of the night, in the true reality, in the ecstasy of the darkness- I’m a goth. How would it not be my favourite line?

One thing you would change about the show?

I wouldn’t necessarily change anything for a full run. But I would like to see one performance where it’s ridiculousness is hammed up as far as it can go, the audience and possibly cast members are free to laugh at everything and anything, there is space to shout things like “HE’S BEHIND YOU!” without it being the horrible disruption and incredible disrespect that it would be with the show as it is. I’m English, and the thing that almost every british person has in common is that our first exposure to theatre is Pantomime. Tanz der Vampire has such strong and obvious roots there, that a night for it to be celebrated* rather than watered down in the hope of attracting an audience who are looking for a conventional love story (Looking at you, advertising for Cologne, with your twilight style posters) really appeals to me. However! I understand the primary rule of performance is Bums On Seats, so I wouldn’t search for this every time. Not least because even without it, Tanz is a fantastic performance that everyone should have the chance to see as is. 

* This may have been what Crawford was aiming for with the... show... that hopped the pond. I don’t mean that. I mean working with what’s already there. Chagal, for example, wouldn’t need to change at all.

You can tag as many (or as little) people as you like who you know are Tanz fans. But I also highly encourage people who are not being tagged, to be a part of this by just doing it, to show that you’re part of the fandom. If you also put Tanz der Vampire in the hastags of your post it can easily be found by other people to help the community grow. If you decide to do the tag, just copy the title and the questions and leave your own answers.

I was tagged by four people on both blogs, and I don’t know who to tagt who hasn’t already done it! But go ahead and have fun, blame me if you just fancy putting your answers out there!

[josephwan29]

Factors One Must Consider Before Buying a Men’s Watch

Watches determine a lot in a person. The brand, logo, style and design tell what kind of person you are. A watch always shows something more than time. Since it is such an essential part of our grooming, we must always try to wear it. Now, there are some factors that one must consider before buying watches for men. What are those? Keep reading to know more! Working Movement! Yes ‘movement’ or ‘calibre’ is what determines the workability of a watch. Whenever we think of watches, the term ‘quartz’ comes immediately to our mind. Now, what is quartz? It is a type of mineral which is crystallised and used to make watches. Nowadays, automatic watches are overly used amongst people. Types Watches can be categorised into two types: analogue and digital. Analogue watches show time through hands, while digital watches display it on the screen. The format is also different, as the digital watches have a twenty-four-hour format and analogue watches have a twelve-hour format. There are various brands of watches available in different price ranges on the market. Some popular brands include Gucci, Hamilton, TAG Heuer, etc. While Purchasing One Go with your choice. The best way to buy a watch is to understand what exactly you will need. Once you have decided for what purpose you will be using it, it will become clear what category of watch you want and how much it will cost. Likewise, buying a watch will become easier for you as well. Straps, Design and Sizes Watches come in various shapes and sizes; it is up to you what design and size you will be selecting. A square or round dial with a thick strap looks good if it is for a formal purpose. If it is for an informal meet, you can wear whatever you want that goes with your outfit. You may see that some watches have extra hands, which fulfil several other purposes, such as a stopwatch. Mens watches from brands such as Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, and Patek Philippe have multiple hands, denoting various other factors such as inbuilt stopwatches and timers. To Finish With Watches are worn to fulfil many purposes; the last purpose is to show time. Several brand watches, such as Tudor watches and Longines watches, are quite popular amongst the masses.

[shieldmaidenwrites]

Week 9: Digital Communities, Political Engagement and Activism

This week’s focus is particularly topical at the moment, with the world metaphorically (and in some places, literally) on fire in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the USA. Political engagement and activism through social media has proven to be both a help and a hindrance over the last fortnight since Floyd’s death, and in this post I will go into further detail analysing both the positive and negative impact social media has had on the Black Lives Matter movement.

Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Alvarez et al (2019) notes that the “attention span” of the news cycle is “typically fickle” when it comes to media outlets retaining focus and reporting on issues for extended periods of time. Global outrage often seems to come and go, clicktavists change their profile picture, and within a week or a few days everyone seems to have moved on as news outlets stop reporting on the events. However, in the case of some large global activism movements, the voices of publics as they organise and make themselves heard online seems to have the power to retain media attention and thus remain in the focus of the general public who may be not so politically engaged with the topic. 

Digital communities like Tumblr have historically been at the forefront of many political and social movements, with social media able to spur forward mass information gathering and sharing beyond small social circles. Organising en masse becomes a lot simpler when all it takes is the click of a button to disseminate information to thousands.

Since George Floyd’s death, we have seen grassroots movements grow and re-emerge into the wider public eye on a mass scale once more. Social media platforms have played a large role in the mobilising of the Black Lives Matter movement, to both positive and negative effects. Protests and rallies have erupted around the world beyond the borders of the US, including some in our own backyard in Australia. The ABC estimates that tens of thousands of people (or maybe more) attended the Melbourne protest calling both for justice for Floyd and an end to police brutality and systemic racism in the US, but also for change and justice for indigenous Australians here too. The widespread impact and outrage has came about through social media campaigns, with information spreading from US protestors to the rest of the world online (in particular it seems that Twitter has been one of the main sources of information).

Illustration by Charlotte Allingham (@coffinbirth)

While the sharing of information, petitions and fundraisers has gained traction and led to larger impact than anyone could have imagined, social media has also made way for ‘clicktavism’ and performative action.

A prime example of ‘clicktavism’ at work with negative impacts is the recent ‘Blackout Tuesday’ hashtag. Corporations and individuals alike began posting black tiles with #blackouttuesday as a way of showing support for the black lives matter movement, at the request of two black women, Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agveman. They came up with the idea of the hashtag, hoping people would "take a beat for an honest, reflective and productive conversation about what actions we need to collectively take to support the Black community." However, what began as a way to amplify the voices of BIPOC ended up silencing them as people flooded social media with black tiles, silence and a lack of sharing of information to follow up their posts. People began using the BLM hashtag as well, burying posts with important information from activists on the front lines of protests documenting the brutality of the police and national guard. It also seemed like a way for corporations to garner favour without taking any direct action that would tangibly benefit the movement (much the same can be said of many individuals who posted it as well), thus becoming simply another quick post to signal support that came across as “hand-wringing, superficial and performative behaviour” (Romano, 2020). Dr Melissa Brown, a sociology and social movement export noted that  “it's very important to demonstrate solidarity, but we have to think about how certain institutions and certain media already blacks out .... black people all over the world” (Brown, 2020).

Clicktavism isn’t always a negative way of supporting political engagement and activism, however. In an interesting turn of events, fans of the K-pop group BTS, called the ARMY showed their support for BLM by taking over the #whitelivesmatter racist counter hashtag that was gaining traction, drowning out the racist and vitriolic Twitter posts under the hashtag entirely by simply spamming the tag to the point it became trending, and was categorised as a ‘music’ tag. Since this, BTS has donated $1 million to the Black Lives Matter foundation, with their army moving to match their donation. 

Experts and activists are also divided on the effectiveness of clicktavism, with some suggesting it is “a step towards activism” (Ocampo, ) and exposes audiences that may not generally find themselves involved or aware of movements. However, other activists such as Micah White have asserted that “clicktavism propogates a false theory of social change” (2016) and that direct action such as protesting may serve to have more impact.

Photo by Joe Giddens—PA Wire/AP, 2017

Overall, social media platforms and digital communities at large have the ability to bring about mass change both positively and negatively in regards to political movements and grassroots activism. I know I’ll be watching to see if the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement keeps up in the coming months.

Rest in Power, George Floyd.

Sources:

Alvarez, N, Lauzon, C & Zaiontz, K, 2019, ‘On sustainable tools for precarious times: An introduction’, in N Alvarez, C, Lauzon & K, Zaiontz (eds), Sustainable tools for precarious times, Palgrave Macmillian, Switzerland, pp. 1-25.

Smith, D 2019, ‘DeRay Mckesson on Black Lives Matter: 'It changed the country’, The Guardian, 30 December, viewed  7 June 2020.

Romano, A 2020, ‘ #BlackoutTuesday derailed #BlackLivesMatter. A community organizer explains how to do better.’, Vox, June 3, viewed June 7 2020,<https://www.vox.com/2020/6/3/21278165/george-floyd-protests-social-media-blackouttuesday-lace-watkins-on-race-interview>

‘#BlackoutTuesday has taken over social media, but has the point been lost?’ 2020, Triple J Hack, June 3, viewed 7 June 2020,  <https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/us-protests-george-floyd-blackout-tuesday-social-media-trend/12317680>

‘Black Lives Matter rallies held across Australia to protest against mistreatment and deaths of Indigenous people‘ 2020, ABC, 7 June, viewed 7 June 2020, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-06/black-lives-matter-rallies-held-across-australia/12325442>

Stickels, L, 2020, ‘Week 9. Digital activism and campaigning’, MDA20009 Digital communities, Learning materials via Canvas, Swinburne University of Technology, 13 May, viewed 6th June 2020.

[chloepalmerblog]

Social Media Review: Online Presence for my business & rotate. magazine.

For this post, I am going to create two social media audits. One for my business account and the other for the magazine account. An ‘audit’ is simply the process of hunting down all of your company's Social Channels and compiling key information about each account, all in one place. I will do this by thinking about my goals for each account and evaluate whether my existing strategy is working. 

Things to check:

1) Profile and Cover Images- all match, incorporate your current brand logo.

2) Bio/Profile Text- You have limited space to work with in a social media bio, so it is important to make the most of it. Make sure fields are filled in completely  and accurately with current brand messaging. I need to check if information is still relevant and up to date. Make sure any dates are updated too. 

3) Identify  your best posts- look for the top three posts. Evaluate for nay patterns you may spot with likes and the image. Do people respond better on Instagram or Facebook?

4) Evaluate social media analytics. Instagram and Facebook has a setting page where you can view the performance of the account. 

5) Understand my audience and the network. If I evaluate my account, I can understand who my channel reaches. 

My Business Account:

Instagram: @chloepalmerphotography

Facebook: @chloepalmerphotographyy

Instagram Followers: 531

Facebook Page Likes/follow: 130

Instagram Analysis: 

Profile visits: 35 accounts in the last week. I intend to boost this number by posting and engaging more. I have not posted in a while due to being too busy with uni work. However my followers has barely changed so they have stayed loyal. Here are some insights from my Instagram Account:

Results are:

-Top locations are UK, Bristol. Makes sense as this is where I am based.

-Age group, 18-24 year old

-Females.

I found these insights are really helpful as it tells me my audience. It tells me information about my followers that allows me to give them what they desire or expect. I post to influence my target market. This market is what I have created by unique style of photography. Also it gives me information of areas that I need to engage more with. For example, I have more of male followers than I thought, this makes me think of creating more content for the male viewers. I could do this by posting or photographing more males, therefore they have something to relate too.

Top 3 Instagram Posts:

I tried to use websites that is specifify what instagram posts are your most liked. I think it did not work as my account is a business account. Instead, I took the time and looked through all my posts to find the top 3 liked images. Below is those top 3, first one with 121 likes, second is 110 and third 109 likes. I believe the reason for this is that the model is a social media influencer, therefore the exposure was higher due to their high following. However the second image is not a well known model but in fact the image was popular. This makes me think my actual image got the likes instead of the model. I should not think like that but the person in the image does impact the amount of likes and exposure you get for each image.

People respond better on my Instagram as it is my main social media platform.

Facebook Insights:

These insights are not as detailed as Instagram. I can find out about my 5 most recent posts. Also it can categorise where I am to other photography pages. There is a option to boost my page but it cost money. Depends on how many you want to view, the higher views, the more expensive it is. I prefer to use Instagram as it has more specific insights that helps me benefit my audience needs.

Rotate. Magazine Account:

Instagram: @rotate.magazine

Instagram followers: 64

For the Instagram insights, the account needs to have at least 100 followers to get them. We are currently on 64 followers so we can not get the insights. If we get to 100, then I can evaluate our insights but for the time being I can not. Our social media is fairly new but we can gain a few followers! We have finished posting some images for now as we will launch the magazine next. Below shows our Instagram.

UPDATE: After sharing on social media and inviting lots of people to follow our account. We have reached over 100 followers! Now we can view the insights and see our business statistics. Below shows these results: It is interesting to see that 45% is Bristol audience and only 2% is Weston!

Plans forward:

-keep active so the account does not get lost and unseen.

-engage with other accounts, create stories etc.

- share peoples tags and mentions of the magazine.

-advertise the magazine!!!

Our top 3 Instagram posts (most liked):

First is 22 likes, second is 20 likes and third is 18 likes.

[pxrtgasdace]

Classical Alignment Test

I was tagged by @tray-d-sheila. Thank you very much! The test is here for anyone who wants to take it. Views are under the cut.

I must say that, while I do not object against the result, I had a hard time with most of the questions for there was never an option that would truly go accordingly.

Ace has seen many places before and under Whitebeard, more settlements than most pirates do, considering not everyone achieves to reach the Grand Line and even fewer people get to the New World. 

If we think of the journey we readers do with the Strawhats and think the islands they meet are only a fraction of the world, we can picture all kinds of societies existing in the OP world: mobile hunter-gatherer groups, segmentary societies, chiefdoms and states. Before this immensity, to talk of governments alone, which are features of states, can be considered reductive. The test can work better when analysing a character whose reality consist of one of these types.

With Ace being a pirate, that alone is enough to put him against any form of authority, precisely because that failure to recognise authority is what defines a pirate. Yet, I caution that this can be misleading, as it could be argued that, following this thought, Ace would automatically be against the kinship-based ranking and hereditary leadership characteristical of chiefdoms and I see him as more someone who is more open-minded - maybe not as interested in local politics as in customs - with a will to learn before judging. 

(I wish I could speak of Wano Country where he’s been to, but unfortunately I cannot without much information on how much it is shaped after feudal Japan in ruling and I lack the knowledge to do so either way, but it could be of interest to do a footnote on Ace’s willingness to learn the craft of the kasa he gifts to Little Oars Jr., which must mean he is respectful of customs and peoples and thus ask ourselves if, accepting Wano has a ruling class - and even ruling can be achieved in distinct ways within a society - Ace is accepting of such a system or if he could not care less - for now we cannot tell.)

What was this all about you ask? Centering the conversation again, this goes to say I am not sure whether we can equate Ace with anarchy, even if his vocation and temper can be read as indicators of it. 

Overall, for the purpose of analysis, if we replace government here with a figure/collective of authority and power, it is my belief Ace has a tendency to dislike aristocrats and single holders of authority/power. While not technically a citizen of Goa Kingdom, Ace pays witness to the schemings of the aristocracy and ends up being a victim to them, whether you’d have it as direct relation or not. But, and this is a very important ‘but’, that does not mean he will blindly hate all ruling classes or figures of power.

His own father uses his immense influence to protect Fishman Island. While this does not make him a tyrant in either the modern or the ancient Greek uses of the term, and though King Neptune is the ruler, making Whitebeard’s claim rhetorical, it makes Fishman Island a good example for such a discussion: while in admiration for his father’s noble gesture, would Ace be able to see it as an abuse under a different light/a different man or not question the motives of any man who claimed an island their ‘protection’? Seeing as Whitebeard condones the Ryugu Kingdom and, thus a society ruler by a sovereign, to what point does this judgment affect Ace’s own judgment on how evil or not societies of the like are?

I do think Ace can see the need for a centralised economic organisation (meaning in the societies that use them, these being chiefdoms and states, for to defend a centralised organisation in segmentary societies is just the ‘we are more evolved than these people’ way of thinking and Ace cannot think like that for so many reasons)

Similarly, questions of morality, ethics, values are not easy to anyone but in a universe of pirates the border between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ is even harder to distinguish, as beautifully put by Doflamingo. Ace sees himself as inherently but not quintessentially evil.

In truth, I could also question to what point he is utterly wrong, being one of the ‘good guys’, but being a rookie pirate who managed to become famous quite fast and reach Sabaody, get invited to join the Shichibukai - and I believe I have addressed that matter before, in another post - and get the attention of the ‘world’s strongest man’ (in less than 3 years), it’s hard to imagine all those achievements happening without some ‘evil’ acts such as theft and death. (And again, Novel A will show us an Ace who postpones another’s death even if they ought to be enemies, as seen with Isca, but I do not buy the ‘goody two-shoes’ idea Novel A is selling).

And if I do mean anything by all of this I mean... Ace is a really beautiful and complex character. In fiction, and not even in a novel-like medium, it’s easy enough to categorise characters as ‘evil’ or ‘good’ after learning of the fictional world’s status quo and the hero’s views/intervention on it. But guess what? That’s poor representation of the human complexity. Which is why I find it so beautiful that I can say all of this of Ace without ever reaching a conclusion other than ‘I don’t know’. It means he has the necessary complexity to stay out of the dichotomy and be closer to us.

Some of the questions I did not see as relevant (to Ace) at all are the City Hall one, for instance, as his whim would be to save whoever was stuck inside rather than material things; the relationship one - to which I had to choose the ‘undermining freedom’ option in the absence of a ‘no, I would not give my s/o my burden to bear’ option; and the anarchists’ one, as it is understandably very extreme but, for reasons I have already explained, can’t make Ace choose a side. 

[artificialqueens]

Love Is A Losing Game - Chapter 2 - Trixya - Kitten

A/N: Two updates in less than a month, I’m on a roll! 

Thank you for all the lovely notes, it honestly means the world! Trigger warning in the tags

Hi Alex!

“Me and my head high, and my tears dry, get on without my guy…” Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

“Trixie please just listen to me for a second, please.” This was the most uncomfortable Trixie had ever seen Katya. Stood in the middle of the store, wringing her hands and tugging at the black skater skirt that sat just above her knees, it almost softened the stony glare Trixie shot in her direction.

Fury rose like burning bile in Trixies throat “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t drag you out this fucking store by your hair.” Katyas lip started to tremble at the threat, clearly the meeting wasn’t going exactly as she’d planned.

“Because I know you need answers.”  

Katya wasn’t wrong. She needed to know how she could just leave without a trace. She needed to know why she didn’t come and talk to her first. She needed to know why she’d lied about loving her. She needed to know what was so wrong with her that she drove the only person she’d ever felt true love for away. But answers could wait. The anger she felt for the woman stood before her was nothing compared to the anger she had for herself, because Trixie knew, after all this time, Katya just had to click her fingers and she’d come running back.

“I need…” Trixie finally looked away from Katyas face and took what felt like her first breath since she’d seen her. “I need you to get out of my shop Katya. You’re usually so fucking good at leaving, so do me a favour and fuck off once again.”  

Meeting Katyas eyes again, Trixie saw her wipe away a stray tear that had fallen down her porcelain cheek. “Okay, okay I’m going.” Reaching into her oversized purse, Katya closed the distance between them to press a red business card on the counter. “I know you won’t call, but my number is on the back if you change your mind. I’m sorry for coming here Trix.”  

The younger woman stayed silent as she watched Katya leave, surprised that her glare didn’t turn her to stone as she went. “Fuck.” Trixie sat on the stool behind the counter and buried her head in her hands, focusing only on her warm breath heating up her hands. Looking at the card before her through parted fingers, Trixie couldn’t decide whether to burn it, shred it or save it.

FIRST MEETING – SIX YEARS AGO

“It’s just a summer job. It’s just a summer job.” Over and over Trixie chanted to herself as she categorised the “HEAVY METAL!!!” Section of Peaches Records & Tapes. It wasn’t a bad job for a college student to have, it paid well enough to cover the rent on her small apartment, the work wasn’t hard, the boss was nice enough, and it worked well around her music course. Its only downfall was its customers, or lack of.  

Trixie was almost shocked at the sound of the bell chiming, signalling another person coming in to browse without buying anything. Glancing up to see the strangest woman she’d possibly ever seen, Trixie put on her best customer service voice to disguise her intrigue. “Hi I’m Trixie, can I help you find anything today?”

“Oh! Hi! Wow, Trixie! Really? That’s such a cool name! It’s almost as weird as mine!” Trixie raised her eyebrows in shock at the speed the woman spoke, but couldn’t help but giggle at the blinding smile she gave her. She had one of the most oddly beautiful faces, in one of the ugliest outfits Trixie had ever seen. She’d paired a neon green graffiti print jacket with an orange mesh t-shirt, giving a glimpse at the black lace bra she wore underneath it. Her toned legs were a saving grace, clad in black skinny jeans, and her petite height was helped with some hideous gold pumps. Her hair sat just below her sharp jawline, which she continued to scrunch some volume into as she smiled at Trixie.  

“Yeah! Well it’s actually Tracy but nobody has called me that since I was born. What’s your name?”  

“Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova. Odd name for someone from Boston, right? But people have just called me Katya, since birth. You can call me anything you want Trixie.” The wheeze that left Katya sounded more like an asthma attack than a laugh, but it was infectious, and Trixie found herself laughing along. There was nothing that particularly funny about what she’d just said, but more the energy that Katya exuded was infectious.  

“That’s a lot of letters to remember for one name. Well, Katya, is there anything I can help you with today?”  

“Shit, yes! That’s what I’m doing here, right. Look at me, one conversation with a pretty girl and I forget the world exists around me.” Trixie blushed at her comment, her cheeks turning the same colour as the pink gingham dress she wore. It might have been slightly “Brady Bunch” but it was hot in the city, and Trixie couldn’t find a pair of shorts that were work length appropriate. “I’m looking for your foreign language section. I’m trying to find something Russian, maybe connect to my roots a little more than just a name.”

Katya didn’t walk out of the store with a CD filled with Russian pop songs like she’d hoped, but she did walk out with Trixies number.  

PRESENT DAY.

“I can’t believe you called.”

“Neither can I. But you were right, I need answers.” Trixies tone had softened considerably since they had last spoken, but the tension between the pair was painful. “I’m sorry for calling so late.”

“No, no don’t worry. Do you want to talk now, or maybe we could meet up soon?” She sounded like a kid on fucking Christmas morning.  

“Can I come over? I know it’s late but there’s not a chance I’m sleeping tonight, and I’d prefer to see your face as you explain everything to me.”  

“Oh. Of course you can, I couldn’t sleep well either. I live on Cherry Lane.” Katya sparked her third cigarette in a row and looked around her messy apartment. Art supplies cluttered her large dining table and a large canvass stood against a wall, drying amongst completed works.  

“You live on Cherry Lane? As in two blocks away from me Cherry Lane? How long have you lived there Kat?”  

Katya stayed silent for a moment, contemplating lying. “Two years.”

“Two years? Two years you lived this close and I never saw you?” Trixies stomach twisted at the thought of the person she wanted to see more than anything being so close for so long, just out of reach. “Right. Well, I’ll be there in 20.”

___________________________

Trixie stood outside Katyas door for a solid five minutes before knocking, debating whether or not to walk away now and forget that she’s ever walked back into her life. But the masochist in her couldn’t miss the chance to spend time with her, even after all this time, Trixie still needed to be near Katya.

“Hey Trix.” Katya answered the door in an oversized white wife beater with “PARTY” scrawled across it in black cursive text. Her overly tanned legs were on show in a tiny pair of cotton pyjama shorts, and Trixie had to force herself to look away. Her skin looked softer than she’d remembered it.  

“Hello.” Giving a tight smile, she stepped past Katya into her living room. Everything about it was very… Katya. Rich green coated the walls, with various tapestries and her own art work filling the larger spaces. The vibrant red sofa clashed terribly, but that didn’t matter in Katyas world. Trixie glanced briefly at the family photos that sat on her mantle, a stupid photo of her and her siblings as kids pulling funny faces, one of her and her Mom together on her childhood homes back porch, a few photos with friends. One particular photo stood out.  

In a silver frame sat a photo of Trixies own group of friends, well, Trixie and Katyas old shared group of friends, before Katya left. Kim, Pearl, Violet, Justin, Max, Katya and herself all huddled together in one tight group, posing with wild grins for the photo. Katyas hand sat comfortably on Trixies thigh, and Trixies face was turned slightly towards Katya. She remembered that day well, and knew that the grin was for Katya really.

“Sit down, do you want a drink of anything?” Katya stood in the doorway awkwardly, looking at Trixie take in her apartment.

Trixie shrugged off her yellow raincoat and sighed. “No thank you. Sit down Kat.”

The small sofa left them no choice but to sit next to each other, but Trixie made sure that there was the most possible space in between them. She was here for answers, not to look at Katyas fucking tanned legs.  

Looking Trixie in the eye for the first time since she arrived, Katya wanted to cry. She could see the exhaustion and pain in her eyes, and they hadn’t even started their conversation yet. She would take back the past four years in a heartbeat if it meant that Trixies eyes would never look so sad again.  

“Well?”  

“Well. I don’t really know where to start Trixie.” Katya worried her bottom lip as she saw the defensive mask slip back on to Trixies face.

“How about you start with why you left me, and then we’ll go from there.”  

Clearing her throat, Katya started on what she knew would be a hard night of explaining herself. “Honestly? I was so scared.”

Trixie tried to keep her face neutral as she listened. “Of what?”

“Of ruining you Trixie. Please don’t ever doubt that I loved you, because I truly did. I think realising that made me realise I had to leave. You were 20, Trix. A whole life ahead of you. I have so much shit that follows me everywhere, I couldn’t weigh you down with that.” Katya looked Trixie dead in the eye, pleading with her to understand her reasoning.

“How can you say you loved me, when you just left like that?” Gritting her teeth as her voice cracked, Trixie allowed the memory of that day to come flooding back.

“I thought it would be kinder to just go. I knew you wouldn’t take that for an answer and I knew you’d try and fix me, I didn’t want you to waste any more time on a fuck up like me.”

“Well I’ll tell you what Katya, should I tell you what happened when you left? Tell me if this is a better use of my time. Kim had to move in with me for a month, after she found me passed out on my bathroom floor after taking a bottle of sleeping tablets. I wouldn’t eat. I wouldn’t shower. I wouldn’t talk to anyone. I just slept all day and waited for you to walk through my door. Is that a better use of my time Katya?” Trixie hadn’t realised her hands were shaking until Katya took hold of them. Her skin felt like fire against her own, like something magical that shouldn’t be touched.

Katyas eyes streamed with tears as she listened to the consequences of her actions. “Why would you do something like that? Oh my god Trixie.” She picked up Trixies hand and pressed her lips to her clenched fist, half expecting Trixie to snatch her hand away.  "I have never been worth something like that. Have never and will never be worth your life. What made you do that?“

"I loved you Kat.”  

Pressing a final kiss to Trixies hand, she looked up at the other girl with red eyes. “I am so so sorry Trixie. That word doesn’t even feel big enough. I can’t ever expect you to forgive me but can w-”

She could call it impulse? A mistake maybe. Or pretend it was part of a clever plan of revenge on Katya, but Trixie would be lying. Because in all honest truth, she didn’t know what went through her mind when she pressed her lips against Katyas.

[oxigenfitness-blog]

How to Increase Visibility on Instagram - Oxigen Business Consulting

For our other services and feedback from our clients, you can check out our website here.

If you have a business in the fitness industry, having Instagram isn’t an option anymore. It’s a great way to follow the trends in the fitness industry and keep yourself up to date and to inform people of your business presence.

How do you increase your visibility on Instagram? Here are quick Instagram tips for your business to increase your visibility:

Check Instagram Insights - Instagram Insights (a feature only available for business pages) helps you check the time followers are online, categorise the posts your followers engage with, and help you with your future posts.

Engage with your followers -  Always keep your followers in mind and find ways of interacting with them when you’re creating posts. Publish posts with questions, a great example of that is asking your followers ‘what’s your reading list this week?’ or Do you prefer to listen to audiobooks, podcasts or music while exercising? or host contests or challenges for the followers (ex.: share your 80s music playlist challenge, exercise with your pet day); advantage on our end, it helps you in getting to know our followers and their personality and preference.

User-Generated Content - Another way of engaging with followers is to share photos, share their stories, share their posts as stories to your page, share their posts as stories so that users can add it as their own stories. This is also another way of motivating and sharing.  

Maximise the use of IG stories - Studies have shown that users check stories first before they scroll through their feed, so that 

Use Instagram Ads - The great thing about ads is that you can choose and be specific about your target, meaning you can choose a location and demographics to show your ads to and reach a new market.

Be consistent! - If you have aesthetic standards or you’re OCD about the look of your feed, you don’t need to put up a post on your feed every day, you can share memes on your stories, introduce members of your team, even your company mascot or pets through Instagram Stories, they disappear within 24 hours but they  

Other strategies to try:

Optimize Hashtags - Check the hashtags of your business’s industry with the most followers, then monitor and create a list of hashtags that were used, and also 

Experiment with videos - users tend to leave more comments on videos (ex.: boomerang or timelapse)

Profile Takeover and Collabs - Find users tend to engage more; can also attract new users

Comment on other account posts - can attract new followers, and can also give a positive impression with non-followers and followers

Include the logo in the posts - Whenever you post your own pictures, make sure that you put a logo in your post and watermark the pictures.

Use Geo-tagging - By tagging your location in the stories that you post, once you do that, there’s a chance that it gets included in the location’s stories.

Test IGTV and IG Live - Engaging to the users to actually see and get the feel of the product/s, a chance to show a sample of the fun side that you can offer. Also considered as a genuine kind of interaction with the users, users will see it as a positive thing about the company

Create Content specifically for Instagram only - users that use multiple forms of social media will engage more if the content isn’t repetitive

Participate in the popular discussion - Check topics that are trending on Instagram and participate in the discussion. You can participate by sharing memes in your posts and stories.

The great thing about marketing is that it is constantly changing, which is an advantage on our end as marketers and entrepreneurs because that means we can experiment with different strategies. Just always remember, track every keyword used, engagement and result of your experiments so you’d know what the next steps you should be taking. Also, don’t take everything so seriously, if your experiment isn’t working out, learn to move on to another experiment and have fun with interacting with your users and followers.

Thinking of starting your own studio or interested in collaborating with us? You can contact us here.