#the best casting ever was him as Nate like genuinely that’s how I pictured Nate in the books

[strawberrystepmom]

what u guys have to understand is that to my bones im a Nate archibald girlie so when i see chace Crawford in anything he instantly becomes my wife and my baby girl

[strideofpride]

Have u watched the 1st episode of the reboot? If yes, what are your thoughts on it?

Sorry for the wait anon!!! I wanted to answer this once I watched it and I had to work a full day. Anyway, under the cut, cause I surprisingly had a lot to say:

-From a production standpoint, wow, Safran was really not kidding. They got that HBO money for real!!! But tbh there was wayyyyy too many needle drops. Like not every scene needs background music you know?

-My favorite characters by far are Zoya and Obie. Obie's been getting a lot of hate in the GG tag all day, but I personally found him to be really genuine. He seemed like he actually cared about things, he wasn't just doing performative activism. He also wasn't creepy towards Zoya at all, didn't take a peak when she undressed (I love Dan but...he did not pass that test), never made a move on her while he was with Julien.

-I'm not really getting romantic vibes from them though (even though I know they're going there) and don't ship them...but I will say that they kinda were giving me platonic!dair vibes anyway? Like they clearly just get each other on a level no one else does, they have common interests, they were brought together by someone they both really care about (Julien/Serena), and, well, to be frank, Whitney Peak and Eli Brown are the best of the "teen" actors, just like Penn and Leighton were.

-And yeah, a lot of the acting wasn't amazing (the two male teachers and Evan Mock really made me cringe...and Jordan Alexander was wooden sometimes as well) but neither was the acting on the CW show so. If you're expecting award winning performances from Gossip Girl, you're definitely in the wrong place.

-Aki and Audrey are by far the least interesting to me. I feel no chemistry between them at all or between either of them and Max tbh. Now Max and Luna on the other hand...their two second interaction had more chemistry than the Max x Audrey x Aki triad the whole episode. (I thought going in I would ship Monet and Luna but I'm not getting those vibes at all).

-(Also I think it really says something that the white/white passing cast members were the ones getting most of the attention from the fandom, when it's really Zoya and Julien's show. GG fandom already returning to its old ways I see).

-Also like...I do not understand at all why Julien and Obie were ever together (or Audrey and Aki). And even when they tried to explain it, it was all telling, no showing. Like the OG did a really great job of showing us why Nate and Blair were still together, even though they weren't happy. The reboot didn't do that at all. (Sorry, I didn't want to compare them too much but I feel like that was worth pointing out)

-Also Julien and Zoya's whole secrecy plot makes no sense to me either, but Gossip Girl's gonna Gossip Girl.

-And finally, I have to say, I still find the idea of the teachers being Gossip Girl really interesting. Like I think if done right (but I mean, look at what show I'm talking about lmao), there's good commentary to be made about how adults police children and the over interest they take in minor's sex lives. Also the show still paints the teachers very sympathetically, so it doesn't feel like a huge classist issue like the OG became (but probably just give it time unfortunately). And I'm glad they clearly know a lot of what they're doing is wrong (like how that one teacher pointed out he probably should've been arrested for taking that picture of Obie and Zoya), but they can't help themselves/feel they have no other choice. Almost Jenny Humphrey descent into darkness vibes. I feel like it could be done really well??? But you know, I know I'm putting too much hope into Safran lol.

So yeah, that's what I thought!

[flickwatches]

A Future Without Progress

A lot of people are going to write about this (and they should).  About the death of Apex, the death of LAN, the nerf of South Korea. I’m sure a lot of people will use math and shit.( https://www.reddit.com/r/Competitiveoverwatch/comments/aevmdw/owl_players_nationality_and_region_statistics/ ) 

But I’m here to talk about more emotional stuff. 

-What would happen to Winston players without Miro?

-Where would Team Envy go without a tournament to play in?

-What would the players of Runaway be doing after they quit Overwatch?

The destruction and deletion of Korean LAN is one of the greatest mistakes that Blizzard should of never had the control of.  Over half the players in Overwatch League come from South Korea for a reason and there is no shame in how they develop high level players.  

It must of been too hard for Blizzard to run LAN for Korean Contenders. Oh wait. 

“ It was thought that OGN, as founder of the Apex tournament, would continue to play a major part in it, but it appears to have been bypassed by Blizzard.”

https://www.pcgamer.com/ogn-drops-overwatch-apex-tournament-after-contenders-league-snub/

Oh, just bypassed the people who made this possible?  

Just so they could run things like. (No hate in what NA OWL teams are doing but they pale in comparison to the pre OWL LANs.)

And also tournaments like.

Wait. 

I don’t have a picture for online only tournaments. (RIP Monthly Melee)

OGN offered to run Korean Contenders past APEX.  Offered to continue help Blizzard with the region. Blizzard refused.  The same way they refused to let pros make money for a year leading up to Overwatch League.  The same league that limited orgs and tournament hosters from running anything resembling success with Overwatch. 

I guess.

When you see all that shitty Fanatics merch.  Watch streams of online only tournaments without talent desks (rip left guy).  Watch your yearly dose of goats meta.  Maybe you’ll care when there isn’t a next Carpe.  When EU can no longer produce a pro. When the NA region stops playing the game altogether.  And 50k people are watching a dying league full of nobodies.  Its like if Major League Baseball got rid of its minor league system and only allowed potential pro players to play in church softball leagues.  

Blizzard, Activision, Nate Nanzer and the decision makes for Overwatch league are actively hurting and killing the overwatch esports scene. 

I (and many others) found love for this game at 4 AM watching a Whoru dragon blade.  A Ryujehong sleep dart.  Taimou hitting a pixel perfect heashot on a genji or tracer about to kill him. These moments are gone and destroyed by people trying to build a business of them. 

Crazy how some of the best western Overwatch players are the western players with the most LAN experience leading up to Overwatch league. 

The removal of the 3rd party LAN scene from Overwatch was the biggest mistake any esport has ever made. 

We as fans have so many favorite talent members and casters (shout out to left guy) but they just tell us they aren’t wanted by us.  WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN.  We want ZP.  We want Reinforce.  We want the talent we grew up on and love.  WE KEEP TELLING YOU THIS BUT YOU NEVER LISTEN.   

You never listen. 

You take your horrible ideas you came up with and try them for so long that half the pro scene gives up on you. 

The most Activision Blizzard move possible was refusing to hire freelancers as full time staff and not having a photographer for when the Shanghai Dragons won there first game.  You forgot to take a picture of history because you mite have to give someone health care and money. Nice one.  

Why we loved.  Why we love the production of Overwatch.

Your best friend sits on a couch in front of you with some of your favorite players.  Talks to you personally about a tournament you just invested a whole weekend into.  And they spend genuine time having a discussion about the coolest thing you just watched.  They don’t pretend to interact with the fans.  They love talking to us.  They love casting for us.  They love running tournaments for us.  

And we love them. 

But you? 

Blizzard.

You hate them.

You hate the players.

And you hate us.  

All we want is to love you. Stop making it so hard. 

[phaniecastello-blog]

Practice Challenge 2

(( I thought I won’t be able to finish this, but tada! Thank you to @clove-teasdale @ladyallegrahannon and @claraeclair ! for the RP <3 I hope you like the edit I made, guys. Well, that’s all))

From cold to perfect. 

*Plop* The sound of my notebook against the carpeted floor of my room, made me startle in my light sleep. I opened my eyes remembering I was working on a sketch before snoozing, sitting on my bed. I took my cellphone from the night table next to me and checked the time: 7:13 am. I had slept exactly, 1 hour. 5 hours before my nerves didn’t let me sleep, so, instead of start tossing and turning all over the bed, I had decided to draw until dawn. The random strokes made with charcoal pencil were slowly taking the form of a blurry but beautiful flower.

I lay my head back on my smooth pillow. This probably was the first time I had been awake this early without the need of, at least, 3 alarms on my phone. It surely was because the big day had finally arrived. In a few hours I had to be in Likely to meet 3 of the selected, from the neighbouring provinces. Allegra, Clove, Clara  I repeated on my head, staring at the white big ceiling of my room, just to be sure I hadn’t forgot any of them.

Despite the very few hours of sleep I felt full of energy. I was happy to had the opportunity to meet new people, genuine people... hopefully; and it was a matter of hours until I meet Prince Nathaniel in person. I pictured his face in my mind and it put a smile on my face almost unconsciously, hoping he turn out to be the humble, nice and funny person he had always seemed to be on TV.

...But what will he think of me?  

A little question mark of worry began to tingle in my stomach. I started wondering if he knew me. I was a two, but I was a model, not everyone is that interested in fashion. What really was worrying me was that his father had ever mentioned my mom’s name to him, that certainly would be unfortunate. I massaged my temples and shook the negative thoughts out of my head, there was still a small chance that he had heard my middle name before; but the queen…

Queen Aubrey! She is going to hate me…

I run one hand over my face. Whichever was the case it was too late for regrets, the only thing I could do is made my best to be myself and to made a great impression, there.

I was about to get up when someone knocked on my door.  “Wake up, miss, you have to get ready to go” I heard Camila talking from the other side of the door.

“I’m up, Cam, thank you” I shouted

“You are?” She asked surprised.

“Yeeees” I chuckled at her disbelief tone “I will be down in 10 min”

After a quick shower I went down the stairs wearing the white t-shirt and black pants every selected were supposed to wear. I entered to the dining room and noticed there was just one place settled on the large, marble table.

“Miss, you should turn on the TV, they are streaming your speech, again!” Said Camila entering the room carrying a silver platter with my breakfast.

“Camila, you have watched that video thousands of times this week, I don’t know why they keep showing that on TV, it wasn’t even a good speech, besides, the people keep complaining about me for not speaking in front of all the citizens” I acknowledge, taking my place by the table.

Mayor Rossell wanted to do a public farewell event for me downton, so everyone could assist, but Loretta rejected his offer, without even consulting me and she invited him to our after runway private party to make his speech in front of the cameras, and of course after that I had had to say some words too. I was unprepared and nervous, but I finally managed to be short and concise. I thank everyone for their support

...In case there was someone supporting me, someone besides my mom.

And I promised to represent our province with pride and dignity; which, based on the comments I saw on TV, they didn’t believe.

They were all concerned that another Castello was going to represent the province; and honestly, I couldn't blame them, since Loretta wasn’t  what they expected, the last selection, but I was determined to show them I was nothing like her.

Speaking of which …

“Cam, where’s Loretta?” I asked knowing the answer, already.

“She left early this morning, she said she had a meeting with her publishers, but promised to be here before you leave”

“Huh” I scoffed biting my avocado toast.

After breakfast I went back upstairs to finish packing my sketch notebook, my drawing pencils and some personal stuff; after that I find myself letting the time pass on purpose, just in case my mom was delayed by something else at work, but Peter was waiting for me outside to drive me to Calgary’s airport and there a private jet waiting for me to take me to Likely, where I would met the rest of the ladies who would be also waiting for me; I just couldn’t be more late.

Downstairs the service staff was waiting in line by the door to say goodbye. I shook their hands and they all wished me luck. Camila was carrying Moe for me to say goodbye to him with a tight hug and a kiss; when I raised my gaze back to her, she was looking at me with pity, and I understood it was because Loretta wasn’t there to say goodbye, but I was used to it. My mom had always prefered her work over me, it had happened thousands of times, so it wasn’t a tragedy for me anymore. That’s what I told myself.

On my way to the airport I received a text message

“The meeting extended. Go win that thing! Remember your promise”

I pressed the reply button and tap “... I love you” knowing if I would had send it, I wouldn’t got a reply.

As I descended from the jet I could felt I wasn’t in Calgary anymore; even when the sun was hiding behind the hundreds of clouds, the weather was so much warmer than the one of my city. I took out my sweater and checked the time on my phone; I was only 10 minutes late, but I quickened my step as I entered to the airport looking for the correct gate. When I finally found it I could see two ladies wearing white and black as I was, chatting and eating cookies, I searched for the third girl with my eyes, but if she had arrived, already she wasn’t anywhere near to be seen. When I got closer, I was able to identify them. The one with black curly hair was Clove and the blonde, holding the big plate of cookies was Clara.

“Hey! Sorry I’m a little late. Have you been waiting long for me? I asked them, although I instantly regret having interrupted their conversation in such a disrespectful way

“...took a gap year. And hi! Would you like a cookie.....Stephanie?” I was surprised by her offer, feeling ashamed for not bringing anything for them. I was not a big fan of sweets but the cookies had a good aspect, also I they still smell like they were baked minutes ago.

“Sure, thank you” I took one and gave it a small bite “mmhm! they are good!” And it was quite unique. Those cookies could have made me a sugar lover.

“Thank you! What do you do for work? Clove and I were just talking about that, she's taken a gap year.” I guessed Clove noticed I was still chewing because she waved at me and answered Clara’s question.

“Now I'm taking a break from my gap year. Really hard work.”

“Oh! … so you are taking time to make a good choice, I guess.” I felt slightly jealous of her being able to have a brake to clear her mind. In my case, even if the castes didn’t exist I wouldn’t have much of a choice, since I have been a model since I was 5 years old.

“Speaking of choices, why did you both apply for this anyways?” Clara asked, again

I was carefully thinking on my answer when Clove reply almost automatically “Haven't been in the palace for a while... thought I might as well apply for the experience of it” I raised my elbows in surprise.

She had been in the palace before!

Clara seemed to be as surprised as me “You've been before?”

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that!” I explained. I can’t help but wonder if she was friends with Nate and his siblings.

“Oh.. yeah, well, my dad gets to go there a lot so..” I was about to asked about his dad profession when the fourth lady finally arrived.

“Good morning. I’m Allegra”. A white skinned girl greeted us. Clara offered her a cookie smiling.

We spent more time chatting about how good we all were at baking and Clara was the clear winner; she promised to give us classes some time.  I felt relieved and happy to be surrounded by these three girls, all nice in their own way.

As soon as we boarded the plane, each one of us picked a place by one window. Clove was sitting at my right hand looking outside with her headphones on, sometimes she moved her feet  instinctively to the rhythm. Clara sit behind me and I could see Allegra behind Clove’s seat, reading a novel that, judging by her expression, was really interesting. I was focused on finishing the flower drawing I had started a night before, when insomnia decided to make me a visit.

Suddenly the voice of the pilot made us all, focus on fasten our seatbelts and to prepare ourselves for the takeoff.

“Are you okay?” I turned to figured out who was Clove talking to and gasped when I noticed Clara has a frightened face almost pale.

“What’s wrong? It was my turn to ask

“Is everything alright?” Allegra joined our concerned

“I've just never been on a plane before…  I’m a little nervous” Clara finally answered. I didn’t know what to do, I had forgotten that not all of us had been able to travel by plane, so, the first thing that came to my mind was trying to get some help or maybe some medicine for her, but Clove was sure that what she needed was to calm down.

“No no, I'm sure it'll be fine. It’s just a little … well, a lot of air that we'll be above in a nice tin.” Clara said nervously.

“Would you like some water maybe?” Allegra suggested.

“I'll just eat a cookie. I'm sure the sugar will help me calm down.” She assured us, like it had helped her before.

“This is a nicer tin can than you think, don't worry too much about it. Think of it as a means of transport said Clove as she took a cookie for herself and leaned on her chair. “Like a car per say. You're not scared of cars, are you?... Sure, things can go wrong in both, but the probabilities of that are slim, so you don't worry about it when you get on a car. Why should you worry about it on a plane?”

“I'm sure it is. One of us could possibly be the queen one day, I’m sure they wouldn’t put us in a poorly made flying container. And you're right I did occasionally get in cars and though they were scary at first they aren't anymore. There's nothing to actually worry about here” Clara said, looking so much calmer. Color have returned to her cheeks and her muscles were noticeably more relaxed.

“It's always hard the first time, but then you will like to go everywhere by plane” I joked winking at her. Clove nodded in agreement and bite her cookie again.

“That’s crazy to think isn’t it? There are 31 other girls but one of us could be the future queen” Allegra added suddenly changing the subject. The thought of it gave me chills, not sure if it was excitement or concerning.

“Clove would make an excellent queen, she’s so level headed, and Allegra you just look so regal, and Stephanie you're sweet enough all of the people would love you.” I was impressed by Clara’s words, I didn’t understand how could she make all those conclusions in just a few hours of meeting us; clearly she was the sweetest one because nobody had ever said those things about me and made them sound so genuine. 

I’m sure there’s people out there who might like me, but I could also think about many more who didn’t “If you only knew” I said, not knowing if I had really say it or it was part of my thoughts. “...but thanks” I added. Suddenly I understood that they not knowing who my mother was and all the mean things the press had always published about me, was an excellent opportunity for me to start from the beginning and not being hunted by Loretta’s shadow.

Angeles’ weather had always been the most perfect one of the whole country; not cold, sunny but not  overwhelming and despite of being a city, it has fresh air.

When we get off the plane, thousands of people were waiting for us, to greet us and take some pictures; not to mentioned the cameras that had been following us since we left our houses. I waved at the crowd from far away and as we approached the airport’s door, we stopped for time to time to shake hands and sign autographs.

We got in the government car that was waiting for us and in a few minutes we were at the Angele’s Palace. I had visited it thousands of times, I even remembered taking pictures of the amazing architecture, but I had never entered.

There weren’t much time to admire the glory of it because as soon as we got inside a woman took us to a room called by her as the “women’s room”. When I heard the name of it, I remembered my mom had mentioned it, before.

“... and the nerdy ones, who couldn’t stop pretending to be refined, used to spend all day at the women’s room drinking tea and reading books”

But the room didn’t seemed to me like a place where you can read. There were a lot of people walking from one place to another with all kind of beauty accessories; it was an exciting flurry of activity that runs through each selected, stylist, makeup artist and the ones in charge of the dresses.. It reminds me of the backstage just before the runway. I smiled at the familiarity I was feeling.

The same tall and sophisticated woman, made each one of us sit in a different chair, and every chair was in front of a big mirror and a table full of makeup stuff. Seriously, between that scenario and the backstage runway was only one difference; it seemed like every movement was just in time, no one was stressed and no one was rushing.

“...When they told me I was going to do Stephanie Castello’s makeover, I just couldn’t believe it!” I looked for the man’s face in the mirror and I found a not so short man with a extravagant hairstyle coming towards me with two ladies at his right. I just could smile at them.

“Hi, I’m Tiziano” he grinned as if he was about to say some kind of secret “And I used to work for Loretta Castello, years ago”

There it is

“Oh, whatever she did to you, I apologize” I said almost joking, but not really. My mom wasn’t the most lovable and comprehensive mom.

He laughed “No, no, no. I quit because the government offered me a job, and here I am, but I know what you meant” He said moving his hands with every word he said, as it was a rehearsed choreography. “Just please don’t tell her you saw me here” he said laughing

Joking, but not really.

“I won’t say anything, I promise” I said raising my hand.

“You are a sweetheart. These ladies are going to do your makeup and nails and I’m in charge of the hair, okay?” I nodded “Okay… “ He continued examining my each one of my curls.

“You are thinking in get rid of the curls, don’t you?” I said in a worried tone

He looked at my face in the mirror and nodded biting his lip as if he was worried too “Don’t you worry,  piccola Castellonie, it will be temporary, I promise to bring them back to you whenever you want” He promised giving me his business card.

“Alright then…” I said shrugging “...do what you want with it” I ruffled my curls and he winked at me.

The makeovers took some time, while Tiziano and the ladies worked on me, I decided to scroll on my phone to pass the time; also I was constantly turning my head to see how the ladies were going. I had Allegra on my left and Clara on my right; every time I turned to see them, there was something different on their looks. When makeup and hair was done they took us to a improvised dressing room. My dress was beautiful, I felt the smooth silk between my fingers and stare at the amazing design; I can’t help but wonder who was involved in such an impeccable and unique piece. I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. My image made my heart skip a bit. It wasn’t the dress, or the perfect makeup, or the missing curls; it was because I had just realized the selection was really happening and I was in it.