#the best docuseries right now

[beautiful-basque-country]

RE-FINAL POST BECAUSE VILLAINS GOT RECASTED.

Just reblogging this with a huge update.

The already excommunicated nuns - proven to have huge debts because they spend like billionaires in velvet duvets, 4k€ worth goose down comforters, silk sheets, and whatnot - have kicked Pablo de Rojas and the fake bartender priest out of the monastery and now they're following excommunicated Italian bishop Carlo Maria Viganò as their spiritual leader.

Now yes, I leave.

Everybody is excommunicated and full of shit and too annoying.

Wait, some nuns of the order of St. Claire in Orduña have been asking the bishop for a licence to sell their pastries at the Derio monastery for 10 years, to no avail.

And they're so fed up they have officially rejected the Pope, archbishops, and bishops, and are now creating a schism inside their order because they're gonna sell those fucking pastries whether they like it or not.

WTF is this fantasy!!!!!

[thatiranianphantom]

Not just for the sake of my dissertation but I constantly wonder if anyone else is icked out by accounts like Murphslife on Tiktok.

[fear-is-truth]

𝑺𝑰𝑳𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮 – nicholas alexander chavez x fem!reader

summary — you’re a rising pop star and best friends with cooper koch. when you visit him on set of “monsters”, he introduces you to his co-star. / wc: 1.9k

tags — fluff. not proofread. english is not my first language

05/16/2024

The warm, late afternoon sun beat down on the set of Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, where the buzz of production crews filled the air. You stepped out of your car, smoothing down your blouse as you made your way through the maze of trailers. You were here to see your friend Cooper Koch, who was playing Erik Menendez in the docuseries. He had invited you to visit him on set, and you hadn’t seen him in months. As you approached the craft services table, a familiar voice called out to you.

“Yo, there she is!” Cooper exclaimed happily, rushing over to scoop you into a bear hug. You laughed, burying your face in his shoulder.

“Hey!” you pull back slightly to get a good look at him. Even in character, with his hair styled in a very 1980s fashion and wearing the sharp suit of Eric Menendez, he still had the lighthearted energy that you adored.

“How’s it going, ‘Erik Menendez’?” He shrugged, letting out a playful sigh. “You know, just emotionally preparing for a murder trial.” He looked around, then nodded his head toward a nearby tent. “Come meet Nicholas. He’s playing my brother.” Following him across the set, you spotted Nicholas sitting alone, flipping through his script. Even off-camera, he looked striking: sharp jawline, dark, neatly styled curls, and an air of seriousness. The fitted suit he wore only added to the whole intense vibe, his features tight with focus.

“Hey Nic,” Cooper called out, breaking the actor’s concentration. “This is y/n l/n, pop sensation and my dear friend. y/n, meet Nicholas—my on-screen brother.”Nicholas stood up, a little stiff, offering you a polite smile and extending his hand. “Hey there, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” you said, shaking his hand. His grip was firm but quick, his expression serious and distant, almost cold. You let go, your own smile faltering slightly as you glanced at Cooper. Nicholas excused himself almost immediately, returning to his script as if he was still lost in Lyle’s world. You raised an eyebrow at your best friend.

“He always this… serious?” Cooper chuckled. “He’s in serious actor mode right now. Give it time, he’s actually an unbelievable goof once he’s done being all ‘Lyle Menendez on trial.’” You shot him a skeptical look.

.

You ended up visiting the set a few more times that week. Cooper always made you feel welcome, but Nicholas? He was always in the zone—focused, methodical, brooding. There was something almost intimidating about his presence, even though you knew it was probably just him getting into character. But still, it didn’t make for easy conversation.

.

One afternoon, you sat beside Cooper during a break, watching as Nicholas sat a few feet away, quietly reviewing his lines again. You nudged Cooper. “Does Nicholas ever… like, smile? Or even talk off set?” He snorted. “Told you, once he’s out of character, he’s cool. He’s just locked in right now.” You leaned back. “Sure, but it’s been days, and I feel like I’ve barely heard him say more than ten sentences to him. I’m starting to think either he hates me, or he’s got a permanent serious face.” Cooper just grinned. “Give it time. He’ll warm up. Trust me.”

It wasn’t until later in the week that you finally got to see what Cooper had been talking about. It was late, and most of the cast and crew had already cleared out for the day. You were waiting for Cooper to finish up with a quick scene when you noticed Nicholas walking toward you, hands shoved into the pockets of his suit pants. He plopped down on the bench next to you, and he looked worn out, his usually composed expression softening as he leaned back and let out a sigh.

“Long day?” You asked. He laughed dryly, a sound that was low and tired before replying. “You have no idea.” He looked over at you, and for the first time, his face softened. “I feel like I owe you an apology.” You blinked. “for what?”

“For being… distant. Weird. Cold, even,” he said, running a hand through his dark curls. “I wasn’t trying to be rude. I just… I needed to focus.” You frowned. “On the role?”

“Yeah, on the role… but also, I just went through a breakup,” he admitted, his eyes flicking to the ground as if saying it out loud made it harder to hold back. “I was kind of using that energy to dive into Lyle’s head. You know, put it all in the work. I didn’t want to get distracted. Especially not by… well, by a pretty girl on set.”

You raised an eyebrow, feeling a strange warmth creep into your chest. “A pretty girl?” Nicholas gave a small, sheepish smile, finally meeting your gaze. “Yeah. You.”

“Wow,” you said, pretending to be offended as you put on a mock-serious tone. “So what, you’re saying you don’t hate me? Or my music?”

His eyes widened, panic flashing in them. “No! God, no. I don’t hate you, and I definitely don’t hate your music.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s not it at all. I just… didn’t want to get in my own way, you know? Especially after the breakup. I thought if I let myself get distracted, I’d fuck everything up. But it’s been eating at me. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was pushing you away.”

The honesty in his voice surprised you.“I get it. I really do. I’m just glad it wasn’t personal. I was starting to think maybe you thought I was annoying. That you hate me or my music.” He grinned, visibly relaxing for the first time. “Trust me, neither. I’ve actually been dying to talk to you, but I’m terrible at switching gears. It’s hard for me to get out of character when we’re filming.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” you teased lightly, nudging him with your shoulder. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment. Being a distraction doesn’t sound too bad.”

He laughed, the tension finally lifting between you both. “You’re more than a distraction. That’s why it’s been so hard to focus around you.”

Suddenly, the distance that had been between you two these past few days didn’t seem so far anymore.

“Friends?” you asked, extending your hand. He smiled, shaking your hand firmly but gently.

“Friends. For now.”

After that conversation, your dynamic with Nicholas shifted dramatically. What started as a tense, awkward distance between you two morphed into something much warmer. You found yourselves hanging out more, both on and off set. Cooper would tease the two of you endlessly, claiming he was the reason for your sudden ‘best friend’ status.

You quickly realized how sweet Nic was—thoughtful, always paying attention to the smallest details. Whenever you sat around with the cast, he’d ask if you wanted a snack or offer you his jacket when the set AC was too cold.

It became this easy, light friendship. But there was something else there. You knew it, and by the way his gaze would linger on you when you laughed or the casual touches that became more frequent, you had a feeling he knew it too.

Then one day, as you were scrolling mindlessly through social media, you saw your name trending—again. Your new album had just hit the charts a week ago, and it was all anyone could talk about. One song in particular, a love song that was a bit more sentimental than your usual style, had skyrocketed to number one on Billboard. Everyone was dissecting it, trying to figure out who it was about, but you’d stayed quiet. Part of you wasn’t even sure if you’d admit it, especially to the person it was written about.

That night, you were at Nicholas’s place at the hotel for a small get-together with some of the cast and crew. The two of you had slipped away to the balcony for some fresh air, away from the noise and chatter inside.

“So…” he started, leaning against the railing with a crooked smile. “I, uh, listened to your album. Pretty much the whole thing.” You looked up at him, grinning. “Oh? What’s the verdict?” “It’s incredible, honestly,” he said, sounding genuine. But then, he hesitated, his gaze flickering to yours. “But there’s this one song—uh, the last one? ‘Silver Linings?’” He raised an eyebrow, clearly fishing for something. You felt your heart skip a beat. Of course he’d pick that song. “Yeah?” you said, trying to sound nonchalant, even though your stomach was doing flips. You knew where this was going. “What about it?”

“Well… I might be totally off-base here, but… the lyrics…” He trailed off, his cheeks growing into five shades of pink. “I mean. Call me crazy but, was that song… about me?” Of course he would pick up on it. You hadn’t exactly been subtle in your songwriting, but you didn’t expect him to ask about it, especially like this. He had that hopeful, boyish grin on his face now, like he was waiting for you to admit it.

And honestly? You were tired of dancing around it.

Instead of answering, you closed the space between you, pressing your lips to his. Nicholas reacted instantly, his hand slipping to the back of your neck as he deepened the kiss, pulling you closer. His other hand rested on your waist, grounding you in the moment as your body melted into his. There was something so gentle yet eager about the way he kissed you—like he’d been holding back for so long and finally allowed himself to let go. His thumb brushed the nape of your neck, sending pleasant jolts of anticipation down your spine and warmth in your stomach. When you finally pulled away, his forehead rested against yours. You stared up at him, breathless, fingers still clutching his shirt. “Does that answer your question?”

present day

Nicholas was lying beside you, both of you in matching pink pyjamas, that he’d insisted on getting when you went shopping together. You were curled up in the crook of his arm, head resting on his chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breath. His fingers absentmindedly traced shapes on your arm, the simple motion soothing.

“You know,” he began, his voice soft in the quiet, vast room, “I never thought I’d be the kind of guy to wear matching hello kitty pyjamas with my girlfriend.”

At this, you laughed, lifting your head to look at your boyfriend. “Don’t act like you didn’t pick these out.” “Fine,” he conceded, brushing a hand through his messy curls. “I did. But only because you look cute in them.”

“Right, because that’s why you’re wearing them too?”

“I wear them because I’m committed to the bit,” he joked, pulling you closer so he could press a kiss to the top of your head. Nestling back against his chest, you let out a soft sigh. “Do you ever think about when we can stop hiding this? Us?” his fingers stilled their movements and rested on your arm. “Yeah, I think about it a lot too,” he admitted. “But… we’ll get there. We’ll figure it out.”

“I know… It’s just so hard sometimes.” You whined. He must have sensed the frustration your tone because he pressed a kiss to the tip of your nose, “I know, baby.” His voice was soft, soothing. “But until then, I get to have you all to myself, like this.” Nicholas smirked, brushing his thumb along your bottom lip. “Not the worst deal.”

MLIST.  fear-is-truth 2024 — all rights reserved. do not modify, repost, translate, or plagiarise my content.

[tinydeskwriter]

Lando NorrisxWolff!reader

words: 2825

requested: no

A/n: This is going to be a multi-chapters, most of the chapters won't be social midia or something. It is going to 'follow' the 2023 F1 season. Reader is Toto's eldest child by a fictitious ex- first wife. I just watched Break Point, with is another sport Netflix docuseries from the same producing company that makes DST, and since then I have this idea of a prodigy tennis player reader.

next part»

GQ 10 things Y/n Wolff can’t live without

“Hi GQ, I am Y/n Wolff and here are my essentials.” The young woman opens her arms looking at the objects displayed on the table, before looking up and smiling to the camera.

# Sugar

“My trainer may not agree. My coaches may not agree. My performance coach may not agree. My parents definitely don’t agree.” She points out, “But I need sugar.” The young woman brings to the centre of the table a small pile of sweets, a tall cup of caffeinated drink and a can of Red Bull, “I live of sugar and… sugary things…”

“My day starts with this lovely peppermint iced mocha sweetened with vanilla sugar… a ton of vanilla sugar.” Y/n laughs taking a sip of her drink “I am weirdly obsessed with mint and chocolate combinations…” She comments looking at the camera, “I drink perhaps two or three of those per day,” The young woman then places her hand over the top of the Red Bull can, most people who follow her already know that she is an athlete sponsored by Red Bull, “sugar-free Red Bull, which ironically is sweeter than the regular one.” She puts her hand on the pile of chocolates, “Milk-chocolate, I am not going to lie and say that I eat the healthy stuff, I don’t, I have the taste buds of a child,” the tennis player smiles mischievously at the camera, “right now I am really into this Finnish chocolate, Geisha and the blue Fazer, daddy always keep those in his offices for me.” She wrinkles her nose a little, giving the camera a lovely—childish—smile.

“Aero Mint bar, Chocolate Orange, Maltesers, Bounty, Kinder, truffles…I'm honestly starting to wonder how we managed to get through customs.” She laughs looking at her entourage behind the cameras. “This is like… a fraction of what I usually travel with, this is more like what I have in my bag for the day.”

#Photos

Y/n played a little with a golden square object in her hand.

“I travel a lot, I am on the road from January to November playing at tournaments around the world, so I can’t always be surrounded or in touch with the people that I love,” she says in a slightly more serious tone, taking the golden case in her hands and pressing the button to open, showing pile of polaroid photos, “those are mini Polaroids, so I can bring them with me wherever I go, I keep them inside this vintage cigarette case that belonged to my maternal grandmother, she was a absolute rockstar and I miss her very much.”  The camera takes a close-up on the golden case with rope motif and small colourful stones. “As I don’t smoke, I had to find another use for it.”

The first photo she shows is five adults together, smiling around a table, in what appears to be a ski resort.

“I have a very patchwork family, and somehow the adults in my life made it work…which I am very grateful for, not everyone is lucky to have so many amazing parents…so here I have my mum and my two other mothers, Stephanie and Susie, papa and my other father, Phillippe,” the second photo is her with a boy not much younger than her, two teenage girls and a small child in front of a Christmas tree, “my siblings, I have four, I am the eldest whatever way you go, huge flex,” the photo is followed by one of a pyjama party with several girls in matching pyjamas, and another of the tennis player with a blonde in front of the Eiffel Tower, “My gurls! This is my best friend, she is also my PA… so amazing to have someone I trust so much with me all the time…” a golden cocker spaniel with a crystal necklace, silk bows in its ears and a Gucci sweater appears on the screen, “this is Éclair Wolff, my emotional support dog aka my child, she actually goes with me mostly everywhere, but sometimes I leave her with my mum so she won’t be stressed by the long flights.”

She points to the next three photos, the first has the Mercedes drivers in Tommy Hilfinger, posing for the photo. “Lew and Georgie, the adopted older brothers I never asked for, but I love them.” The second photo has three other familiar faces making faces at the camera, “C2, my Ferrari boys, feat Pear, there is something wholesome about good looking men looking so silly, I love those guys and I love this picture, it is very on brand with them.”  The tennis player smiles at the camera. “Sharls, Carlitos and Pear are three of the nicest guys I have ever met, it is truly a blessing be able to call them friends and having them in my life.”

McLaren driver Lando Norris, in his third or fourth season, apparently not even realizing he was having his photo taken, it's a spontaneous photo, the soft sunlight highlighting the driver's profile as he smiles.

“Because of karting, I’ve known Lando since I was a head taller than him, he was my first crush…he was so shy, so adorable, so babygirl coded.” Y/n blushed a little as she shows the photo.

“I think most of the current grid is in here…oh, look, it’s Lance! Friends from life, from tennis…” She quickly changes showing another photo. “I think I easily have about sixty photos here..."

#Camera

“I don’t have a specific camera I like more than the others, but as a rule, I prefer vintage cameras just for the beauty of the final result, I inherited a few, I bought a few, I usually develop the photos when I'm at home for longer periods of time, edit the videos, digitalize a few…” She points to the cameras in front of her, a Bolex, a Digital Bolex, a very iconic Rolleiflex and a Super 8, “It is a very nostalgic experience to just go through a year worth of memories…” She says resting her face in her hand, “I have a hundred boxes with pictures and film rolls.”

“I love going through old pictures with my mom and Cass, my younger sister, from when we were babies, my parents in the 90’s, my mom when she was young, the wonderful life my grandparents lived, and is such a lovely moment to share with my mom.” Y/n has a soft smile on her lips. “One day, when I have my own kids, I want to have those moments with them, and not just scrolling through a phone or an iPad.”

#Journals

“I keep journals since I was a child, I get a new one every year,” She holds up the leather hardcover notebook, a deep indigo blue, a little worn around the edges, “after I turned thirteen years old, I started to get it in this specific shade of blue, with my initials in gold,” The girl opens the journal, leafing through it briefly, “I am never going to write an auto-biography, it’s kind of a little bit too egocentric to my taste,” She knocks it closed, but keeps it up, looking at the camera as she speaks , “but if someone ever write about me, fifty years from now… the facts will be straight, at least from my point of view… but even if no one ever writes about me… when I am old and grey and memory starts to fail me, I will be able to come back to the thoughts of twenty years old me…”

There is a moment of silence.

“That was kind of dark.” Y/n laughs to break the tension.

#Art Supplies

“I love to draw and paint, it eases the anxieties of life,” The tennis player shows the large sketchbook, a small aluminium case with the watercolours, and the rolling leather case with pencils and brushes, “I always bring a watercolour travel kit with my sketchbook wherever I go.”

She displays for the internet some of the landscapes she painted during her travels around the world.

#Hoodies

“I like to be comfortable after a match,” she spreads her arms across the perfectly folded hoodies on the table, “and nothing is more comfortable than a hoodie, feels a little bit like home.”

“I have my collection of hoodies with Adidas, they always provide me with new cool colours to try out and see if I want to add to the next collection,” Y/n opens sage green hoodie, running her hand over her initials and the Adidas logo. “Enchanté by Dani Ric, I have a bunch of those, Daniel is always kind enough to drop them at my house in Monaco, VIP treatment baby.” She points to the white hoodie. “Quadrant hoodies, Lando’s merch, ridiculously comfy, I would really like them in pastel colours or dusty rose… just putting out to the universe…” Y/n smiles and winks at the camera. “Valtteri, MV1… those all came with me for the US Open.”

#Skincare

“This is part of my daily routine.” The girl opens the toiletry bag, taking out the products inside, “I am always in different countries and different hotel rooms, so is nice to have this little sense of routine.”

She lines the pearlescent bottles with opaque round lids on top of the table.

“I launched Muse when I was seventeen years old, it is my skincare brand, and it is very me. I wanted it to be un-complicated and complete,” The young woman explains passionately looking at the camera, “skin is the body’s largest organ, and it is not only your face.” It affects the hair on your face, tucking it behind your ear before going back to the product bottles. “The line goes from body wash to suncream to night-time routine.”  

#Travel Pillow

“If I mess up my neck and shoulder, I am f***ed, my match is over and possibly the tournament.” She holds up a medium-sized pillow to the camera, the pillowcase light pink silk with red buttonholes around the edges and her initials in the corner. “So, this baby goes with me everywhere, it is a memory foam pillow with a silk pillowcase. Best sleep, best hair.”

#Sport Gear

“I generalized here, sport gear, I travel heavy, always,” she points to the array of equipment on the table, “this is my racket, I go to each tournament with around ten of those, just in case I wreak one on the ground,” Y/n passes her hand over the racket, “those are custom Yonex Ezone 98, they made it in Mountbatten pink with some cool pattern and my initials,” she smiles as she pulls the helmet close to her chest, “my helmet, also custom Mountbatten pink, with my initials in rose, I love to try new karting tracks, most people don’t know I used to race karts when I was younger, won a couple of trophies, went as far as F3 before I choose to go pro with tennis, car racing is a huge thing in my family…my dad used to race, my stepmom was a driver, my little brother probably going to be a F1 driver,” she recounts with a smile, “I joked once with my dad that we are at a window that if I have a kid in the next year or two, in twenty years we can have a Wolff’s drivers line-up for Mercedes.” The young woman smirks to the camera. “My dad almost passed out, and now I am not allowed to date until I am thirty.”

#Headphones

“Those are custom made for me, again, they are Mountbatten pink and rose with my logo, super comfortable on the ears, I usually have problems with headphones due to the piercings and earrings, but these didn't give me any problems, they fit well, and I can spend the whole day wearing them." She takes the gadget out of the case, showing the details. “It's not wireless, because I always forget to charge it, so it has a wire, they made this lovely, thick cord that is durable and super resistant,” Y/n wraps the rope around her fingers, “it is noise cancelling and it is always with me before every match as an essential part of my pre-match rituals.”

“The right music kind of puts you in the right mood, I usually go with Eminem in 80% of my matches, I feel like it unleashes my inner fighter, these are matches where I'm not really worried about my opponent, it is just raw and a little bit thoughtless, I just play,” she comments, “when I know that my opponent is going to be hard on the mind games, which is not an uncommon move in tennis, I tend to listen to calmer and more melancholic music, piano, it keeps me in a more peaceful zone, I don’t get pumped up and full of adrenaline, my game tends to be far more calculated…”

 #

“That’s it. Those were my ten essentials,” the young woman smiles, “thank you, GQ, for allowing me to share my essentials, much appreciated, and thank you guys for taking the time to watch it! Much love and see you next time!” The athlete says, blowing a kiss and winking to the camera as the credits shows up.

__________________________________________

2,109,963 views   Aug 29, 2022

978 Comments

 userone

i was todays yrs old when i found out that tennis superstar Y/n Wolff is the eldest child of THE Toto Wolff

            user1

            From what little she talks about her dad here, u just get the vibes that Merce boss Toto is a softie girl dad, he keeps her favourite candy in his offices and forbids her to date until she’s thirty, this is so sweet

haterone

a billionaire’s nepo baby, talking about her millionaire friends and her unrelatable lifestyle and things

usertwo

Y/n’s hair is probably the healthiest hair i ever seen i need her hair routine

userthree

I am so obsessed with her career! I want to see her continue to succeed and be one of the biggest tennis players of all times. She deserves it. Such a talented, humble kid.

userfour

i loved hearing her talk about her family and friends!!! it is so crazy that she is close friends with a bunch of F1 drivers.

            hatertwo

            Not so crazy since she’s literally a f1 nepo baby, her daddy is part owner of Mercedes.

userfive

She's like that one super popular chick in school who's actually a total sweetheart.

usersix

I totally relate to her being a sweet tooth

@userseven

I love that she was not talking to the camera. She was actually talking to the people there behind the scenes

usereight

i love how a lot of these items are usually a stereotype of being pretentious—a vintage cartier cigarette case, a film camera, a leather bound custom hermes journal, art supplies--but she talks about all of them with such genuine interest and attachment that it doesnt seem pretentious at all

usereighteen

U r the one name dropping the brands she uses…

usernine

Her nicknames for Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz Jr and Pierre Gasly… I died dead…

            user9

            The fact that she’s gushing about lando and being so sweet about her childhood crush on him oml

            user10

            Omg it is so cuuute!!! Like, she had a crush on little Lando and not McLaren glow up Lando Norris

            user11

            I used to be so conflicted shipping her with the drivers, because she dates that tennis player, but her insta has a bunch of her and Charles and her and Pierre and her and Lance and it is so cute and kind of gives such soft vibes, those boys look half in love with her in most pictures, also ...the chemistry. but seeing the way she talks about Lando… they r my new diehard ship…

userten  

Are we going to ignore that she confessed that Lando Norizz was her first crush???

            user1

            They would be so cute together… and they ate both single now… at the same time… we can dream…

            user12

            i went ten steps further and in my head, they are already getting married and having cute future Mercedes world drivers’ champions…

user13

 Can we already dream of Lando at Mercedes???

usereleven

Ok… but didn’t Lando once commented like, very briefly, in a McLaren video, that he used to have a crush on a girl that used to go karting with him??? The girl who wore red ribbons in her hair… do you guys know who uses red ribbons in heir hair since she was an actual baby?? Y/n! There is a pic in her insta of her in a karting track with her dad, and she has red bows in her hair…

            user11

            Not gonna lie… It would be kinda of cute if they actually had a mutual childhood crush and then eventually end up together as adults…

next part»

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

So Hazz being ‘stunned’ about the backlash to the Pat Tillman award, reminds me of his shock at the ‘frosty’ reception he received at Prince Philip’s funeral. How on earth does he think letting his ‘feelings’ loose via the much hated media will improve the situation is beyond me. I can’t even remember why announcement the winning of the award was done so early, but more than probably RF related. Is it a case of keeping digging to get out of the hole or a massive PR plan that’s going over my head?

Harry wants attention and legitimacy in the US. He thought being a British prince and Diana’s son was enough to make us love and respect him (like it sort of did in the UK) but it didn’t happen.

So now he’s scrambling. Except he’s been scrambling since March 2020 when Edward Young and the BRF called his bluff on half in/half out. Let’s review.

January 2020: He demanded half in/half out and they all laughed at him.

March 2020: Harry signed with the Harry Walker Agency to be a speaker on their lecture/hotel dinner circuit. He gave like two or three speeches to pathetic reception and then gave up.

April 2020: Harry became a mental health advocate during the COVID pandemic and crisis, making comments like he didn’t understand how people living in high-rise apartments could cope without having a green space and that everyone needed some kind of green space for their sanity (yeah, no shit, Sherlock. That’s why COVID was also an enormous mental health crisis.) and encouraging everyone to become certified mental health counselors if they’re bored.

Summer 2020: Harry uses Diana’s memory to justify invading an elementary school with a camera crew during peak summer COVID cycle to plant forget-me-nots. Everyone pops off and it’s clear the backlash stunned the Sussexes.

Fall 2020: The Sussexes rebrand to become misinformation activists.

Winter 2020/2021: The Sussexes rebrand to the Emancipation of Meghan Markle. Philip dies. Harry rebrands to Hero Harry by demanding to wear his military uniform, resulting in no one wearing their military uniforms. He also pivots back to William's Best Brother at the funeral by ignoring the actual arrangements to walk alongside William (as opposed to behind him; Peter was supposed to walk next to William).

Summer 2021: Meghan wants world domination and the Sussexes rebrand to become humanitarian ambassadors.

Fall 2021: Harry rebrands to become a hairdresser global vax advocate. He and Meghan become the figurehead for the Vax Live concert.

December 2021: Harry pivots back to Diana and says his work with COVID is as groundbreaking as her work with HIV/AIDS patients.

February 2022: Harry rebrands as a dude who watches American football by going to the Superbowl and looking bored af.

March 2022: Harry and Meghan buy a new NAACP award for themselves for all the work they did fighting unconscious bias and racism in the BRF.

Spring 2022: Harry goes back to being Hero Harry with The Hague Invictus Games. He pivots back to being a royal when he attends the Platinum Jubilee with Meghan.

Summer 2022: The Emancipation of Meghan Markle continues and Harry re-rebrands as a humanitarian activist, giving an unpassionate speech to a mostly-empty conference room at the United Nations. Unfortunately The Queen dies and Harry gets to pivot back again to being a royal. He gets thrown a Hero Harry PR bone when he's allowed to wear his uniform to the Grandchildren's Vigil and gets to stand behind William and Kate in the procession.

Fall 2022: The Emancipation of Prince Harry's Unconscious Bias begins, with critically-reviled Netflix docuseries.

January 2023: Harry pivots back to Diana and picks up her mantle to destroy Charles and the BRF. He takes it a step further by going after William, when everyone knows Diana only wanted to destroy Charles to put William in his rightful place as soon as possible.

Winter/Spring 2023: Harry abandons his "I hate my family, they're evil" rebrand to go back into the royal fold by attending Charles's coronation.

May 2023: Harry pivots back to Diana by claiming a near-death chase by paparazzi on the busy streets of downtown Manhattan. Damn, if only there was a white fiat instead of witnesses.

Summer 2023: Harry pivots back to his Hero Harry at the Dusseldorf Invictus Games. He also becomes Polo Harry and becomes #husbandgoals when he joins Meghan at a Beyonce concert and looks bored out of his mind.

Fall 2023: Harry pivots back to mental health when he joins Meghan for a panel with Carson Daly on the dangers of social media.

Winter 2023: Harry rebrands as Hero Harry and purchases the Living Legend in Aviation Award for himself, while accusing John Travolta of dining out on his mother. Harry pivots to Hollywood and goes to Jamaica for a movie premiere.

Spring 2024: Harry goes back to Hero Harry and Invictus Games. Harry also pivots back to being a British royal prince with a very misguided tour of Nigeria.

Summer 2024: Hero Harry continues and he purchases the Pat Tillman ESPY.

Look at all the times Harry changed tactics. He can't stick with something long enough to make an impact because he - like his wife - is so impatient for validation. He just wants to be loved! Why won't they love him?! "That's okay," crones Meghan in her soothing Southern California vocal fry as she rocks her toddler husband to calm him out of his anxiety spiral (because she's the only one allowed to collapse in a heap on the floor). "Hush little baby don't you cry. Mama's going to buy you valor and honor."

And that cheers Harry up because Americans like gold (after all, we're the land of 'everyone gets a participation trophy,' Olympic gold medals, and world domination). If we see how many gold trophies and awards he has, then we'll respect him the same way the British public respected and adored him for his titles.

But that's their mistake. They've missed the fundamental realization that Americans don't care about titles and awards. We value action, deeds, follow-through, promises made and promises kept. That's the backlash (and the cause and effect, to quote an earlier post I made) that Harry keeps getting. He doesn't understand that we're a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps-and-don't-complain-how-hard-it-is-just-do-it nation of rebels and troublemakers. We're not going to sit idly by and watch a rich foreigner - from the monarchy that we booted in the first place - wax poetic on our national problems and pat himself on the back for buying awards that make him feel like he's fixed all our problems.

Not when there's real people doing the actual work whose credit he keeps stealing to buy those awards in the first place.

Anyway. I don't remember what my point was...

Oh, right. This is just Harry trying to find value and relevance here in the US. Everything else - Diana, COVID, misinformation, mental health, Hollywood, Meghan, racism and unconscious bias, British prince - sinks faster than he can claim he never got swimming lessons even though William was personally trained on how not to drown by David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson themselves (or whatever his pathetic excuse is. Hero Harry and the veterans is the only thing Harry has left that people pay attention to, and the media is only paying attention to that because Meghan buys them to cover her during all of the Invictus events.

So very long rant short, Harry keeps defaulting back to Invictus Games because it's the only thing that *works* for him. It's the only thing he has left that ties him to the life he used to know (globally adored and nationally beloved British royal soldier). He's going to hold onto it harder, faster, and more angrily than a toddler holding on to something they're not supposed to have.

[andy-wm]

What we know now, after they have started MS

This is a short post, because life is a lot right now and i have very little emotional energy. But this felt important, so here I am.

Tonight I revisited an older post and realised I'd never completed the thought process i began there...

When Jimin released his solo album, FACE, I wrote this analysis post.

Part of that analysis talked about my impression of JK's backing vocals on Letter.

We had seen Jimin's Production Diary, and based on the clip of JK in the recording studio I thought he didn't know he would be asked to sing backing vocals.

Here's a screen grab of that post:

After watching the docuseries, BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star, we know that was correct...

It was a surprise to him when Jimin asked him.

In fact both aspects of that prediction were right, he didn't know about the song at all.

I have two questions:

Why would Jimin have kept the song a secret from JK?

And

Why wouldn't Jimin himself ask Jungkook to sing it? Why get PDogg to ask him? Jimin was RIGHT THERE.

Actually, make that three questions.

Why did Jimin scurry away as soon as JK asked to listen to the song?

Jimin earnestly said, "I made a fan song", while holding Jungkook's face in his hands.

That's such an intimate gesture, by the way. If my Best Friend held my face that way while they told me they'd done something, I'd take it to mean that the something was significant for/about me.

Jungkook asked to listen to the song, and Jimin... vanished. He retreated to the sofa to sit out of Jungkook's line of sight.

He's suddenly shy? Shy of Jungkook's reaction?? Wierd, but ok...

Unless the song is REALLY significant to JK....

In short, yes, it is REALLY significant. We already kinda guessed that right? But now, in light of their situation, it's more significant...

So, Jungkook recorded his part of the song.

Lets think about the lyrics...

Bear in mind this was written and recorded long before they had confirmation that their application for companion enlistment was successful...

These lyrics are even more significant in that context.

Plus

This is the part of the song that's in banmal. The switch from polite to familiar signals a change in the relationship, (I wrote about that in a previous post) and since Jimin always talks to ARMY politely, we can asume this part of the the song (at least) is directed at... someone else 👀

"We dont know what the future holds, don't worry I'll stay by your side."

Now consider that Jimin has written these words for not only himself to sing. He's asking Jungkook to sing them with him.

He's asking Jungkook to sing this love song with him.

With no hesitation, Jungkook says yes. He does the recording there and then.

And when JK is finished recording...

He tells Jimin that the song is really nice. Immediately, Jimin is a limpet. He's all over Junkgook like he's made of Velcro. A stark contrast to his earier behaviour when his vulnerability made him scurry away.

Jimin jokes that Junkgook should record a message for ARMY and Pdogg calls him out on that lie. Of course JK refuses. "It's your song." he tells Jimin.

Jimin is pushing his luck here, first asking JK to record a message, and then asking him to claim ownership (or share responsibility) for the song.

Jk has no trouble saying no to that.

It seems like more than a meaningless joke to me. One of those suggestions alone might be, but both? It left me wondering if Jimin suddenly felt scared that he was revealing too much with the song?

I'm kinda impressed that JK, for all his love and support, wasn't prepared to rescue Jimin from his choices. He simply, but gently, said no. It tells me a lot about their relationship.

It also tells me a lot about both JK's honestly and his belief in Jimin.

eta, I was tired and once my thought bubble popped i just hit 'post' and fell asleep. But it's exactly a year since Jimin released FACE and i think it's a pretty cool coincidence that i came back to this randomly on this day.

Happy FACE day, ARMYs. 💛💜

[theageofcaravel]

Rose-Coloured Boy. - Jamie Tartt x F!reader

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

MASTERLIST

Chapter I: Reeling Through the Midnight Streets

Plot: Jamie Tartt and Y/N have been best friends since primary school. The pair had fallen out once graduation hit, both of them going their separate ways; Jamie finally kicking off (pun intended) his football career, and Y/N finally walking through the doors of her cinematographer career. One day, they cross paths in the corridors of Nelson Road, Y/N getting the assignment to make a mini docuseries of one of the football clubs in England, hers being AFC Richmond.

Set during season 2 and onward.

warnings: swearing, mentions of food and alcohol

word count: 3,7k

an: HELLOOOOOO!!! im excited to write this, I'm so late to the Ted Lasso wagon, but here I am. I got the idea for this story when I was sat on my couch looking through Pinterest and then I made a board for it. This has also taken me a few days to crank out because I've second guessed the plot a couple of times but anyway, I'm watching Cody and Noel's Love Island series and its reminding me of that one episode in season 2. LMAO, enjoy <3!!!!

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

Breathing in deeply, you closed your notebook. Looking up at your professor, you gently rapped your manicured nails upon your desk and eagerly waited to see which football club you were going to be assigned to. The hope in your chest wanted to get your hometown's very own club, having a plausible excuse to visit your home, without your parents getting under your skin.. 

"Y/N L/N," Professor Loughty called out your name, you quickly stood from your desk and grabbed your belongings. "Yes, sir?" you asked, an eager glimmer in your eyes. "you're gonna be in charge of AFC Richmond, I've emailed Miss Welton and have gotten the approval for you to leave right after I dismiss you, there should be a cab right outside for you. you're going to have to find which one is yours." 

With a solemn nod, you breathed in, "is there any way that I could have Manchester City, perchance?" all Professor Loughty replied with a shake of his head, "sorry, Miss L/N, all final decisions have been made." 

"Alright, thank you, professor." you nodded again. 

"You are dismissed." 

Making your way out of the classroom, you sighed disappointedly. All you really wanted was to spend time with your sister, Libby. Your built-in best friend, the person who you call often to just ramble, vent, or see how life on the other side is. 

A chime of your phone pulled you out of your thoughts. 

any updates?

Libby. So much for getting pulled out of your thoughts. 

yeah, got Richmond :/ BUT I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll visit soon. 

:( okayyy I love youu

"Y/N!" pocketing your phone, your attention was now averted from your patronising thoughts to that of your best friend. "Bee! Hey." you smiled and waited for your friend to fully approach you. 

"Who'd ya end up gettin'?" the Irish girl asked in her usual chipper tone. 

"Richmond, I wanted Man City." 

She scrunched her nose. "Mmm, ain't that the team with that American coach?" Bee added with a raise of her eyebrows. 

"Think so, so I guess it's not all bad.. could be interesting.." You spoke with a shrug which only earned you a light chuckle from the brunette. "Well, I'd certainly hope so. you have to be around him and the team for how long?" 

"'Til the end of the semester." 

Bee nodded at your reply. "sounds miserable." 

"Oh, piss off. Don't you have to write an album by the end of the semester?" you clapped back, causing Bee to only snicker with a shrug. 

"Yeah, but that's easy."

"Right, as if you haven't been in a song writing block for the past month or so." freezing in her place, Bee shook her head and glared playfully at the other. 

"Exactly. Anyway, I've gotta get going, gotta get my essentials." you said to Bee, embracing her in a hug. "See y'tomorrow?"

The taller girl nodded and walked away with a wave. "See ya, nugget." 

You shook her head, that nickname was never going to go away. Walking your merry way over to the line of cabs, you nervously talked to the first cabbie. "Um, which one is the one for Y/N L/N?" you asked and gripped your books close as if they were some sort of security blanket. The man behind the wheel grunted and pointed to the one behind him. 

"Should be that one down there, yeah." he replied and basically shooed the girl away. with a breath, you found the cab you were supposedly assigned and sat in the backseat. 

"Was ordered to head to your place, where to miss?" The driver asked with a kind smile in which you replied with your address.

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

Unlocking your door quickly, you ran into your living room and grabbed your bag full of all the necessities you needed for the months ahead of you; camera, clip in microphones, etcetera. Richmond was only 30 minutes away, which, in hindsight, was better than having to travel four hours per weekend. 

With no second thought, you grabbed your water bottle and slung your bag over your shoulder. Taking one last look around, you let out a satisfied huff and headed back outside to the car.

"Alright, Miss L/N, we're headed to Richmond. s'about a 30 minute drive from here." the cabbie, who you learned that his name was Franklin, 'frank for short,' is what he told you, said. He was a nice old man, probably in his early sixties. He was good at keeping up the small talk, asking you about what it is that you’re going to be doing with Richmond. Telling you that before he was a cab driver he was a guitarist in a band, a small one at that. You both bonded over music, You telling him that your best friend is a singer and that sometimes Bee'll get you together to mess around because you have been playing the guitar since you were little but never really pursued anything musically because it wasn't of interest. 

Eventually Frank had pulled into Nelson Road, the drive seemed a lot faster than it really was because of how easy it was to talk. 

"Thank you, Frank. I'll see you at 5, right?" You asked and the older man nodded. "Have a good rest of your day." You saluted him and walked up to the doors of the stadium. Slinging your bag over your shoulder, you entered the building. 

Absentmindedly walking down the corridors, you looked around at the walls and folded your arms across your chest looking at the trophy wall; all the history and old photos of Richmond littered within it.

"Excuse me?" a voice spoke from behind you, startling you slightly. You were met with a grin from a lanky looking boy. "Are you lost?" he asked and you only shrugged.

"Guess you could say that." you chuckled awkwardly and lifted your shoulders. "Um, I'm looking for Miss Welton's office. Got lost in thought though." 

"Ohhhh, are you Y/N L/N?" the boy asked with a head tilt. In which you responded with a nod. "I can show ya where to go, follow me." he moved slightly before the other nodded and followed behind him. 

"Are you the.." you started, "kit... man?" knitting your eyebrows together and stuffing your hands into your jacket's pockets.

"Yeah, I am." he nodded and grinned and stopped at the door to Rebecca's office. "Well, this is it. I'm Will by the way." he said and stuck out his hand for you to shake. You took his hand thankfully. 

"Thank you, Will. It was nice to meet you. I'll see you around, yeah?" You waved him goodbye and gently knocked on the slightly open door. 

"Come in," a voice shouted, the nerves finally kicking in. Pushing the door open, you were greeted with a warm smile from probably the most beautiful woman you had ever seen. "Hello."

"Errr, hi." you awkwardly smiled, "I'm--"

"Y/N, I've been expecting you." Miss Welton cut the other off, that smile that she held never fading. "Come, sit." she gestured to the chair opposite from her desk. You nodded and set your bag on the floor. 

"Okay, um, hi." an awkward smile wavered over the girl's features. Rebecca leaned into her desk, automatically drawn to the way you were acting; that shell she knew she needed to crack.

"Promise I don't bite." the blonde jested which caused you to somewhat get comfortable. "Anyway, we're excited to have you. the boys have been raving about having a cinematographer here to film their every move." 

"Thank you for the opportunity, Miss Welton." 

"Call me Rebecca."

"Okay.. thank you for the opportunity, Rebecca." you corrected yourself which earned an approving nod and smile from the other. "I'll be here every other day after the school day, during the weekends, and during every game. Even travelling ones, I got the okay from my professors when we learned that this assignment existed."

Rebecca nodded, knowing said information but not wanting to interrupt the girl. "You don't have to start right away, if you want I can introduce you to the boys and everyone else." 

With a nod, you pushed herself up off the chair and reached for your bag. "you can leave that in here, we’ll be coming back in here to discuss everything needed.” 

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

"This is where the boys have physio, you shouldn't have to come here." The pair chuckled and then Rebecca stopped by a blue door where chatter could be heard inside. "and this is the kit room, where the boys change and where the coaches offices are." 

“It smells like sweaty ass in here, just warning you.” the blonde jested, causing you to scrunch her nose. "Shall we?" she asked and you nodded. With a gentle knock on the door Rebecca peeked in. "Everyone decent?" she asked, to which all the boys replied in unison with a 'yes'. smiling contently, the taller lady pushed the door open and pushed you in front of her. 

"OI." she announced, "everyone this is, Y/N L/N, our cinematographer from the University of London." everyone cheered happily, most just yelling what sounded like mixes of 'LETS GOOOO', 'FUCK YEAH', and 'WICKED'. 

At the sound of a familiar name being called, Jamie looked up and went wide eyed. Holy fuck.  

Quickly standing up from where he was sitting, you both made eye contact. Brows knitted together, your eyes looked above his head, the words, ‘TARTT’ in big bold letters made you realise that your suspicions were correct. “No way, Jamie?” you asked and breathed out. 

The entirety of the room suddenly went quiet, or so it seemed. You apprehensively walked toward him, Rebecca watching you with a look of confusion. Maybe you were just a fan that he’s seen from time to time? No, that wasn’t the case and she knew it the moment you guys both stared at each other with some form of intensity from you and an apologetic look from him. You looked like you wanted to walk over to him and smack him across his face and he looked like he wanted to wrap his arms around you and tell you how sorry he was. 

“I–” Jamie started and made his way closer to you, you dryly chuckled. 

“No, I just got here, we can talk later.” 

He nodded at your cross response and backed away. You introduced yourself and learned everyone’s names, the coaches were in their office in some sort of meeting and Rebecca told you that you’d be able to meet them later. 

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

Back up in Rebecca’s office, you both went over how you were planning on filming. Going over recording some of the boys separately in their element, interviews, etcetera. You also learned that Rebecca was really easy to talk to, like a best friend. 

“Alright, Y/N, I must ask,” Rebecca started, handing you a cup of tea. “Back in the locker room, what was that with you and Jamie?” taking the cup and bringing it to your lips, you sighed. 

“We go way back, we met back in primary school and we were attached at the hip up until high school. There were moments when our close friends suspected we were a couple.” You trailed off, “but once we graduated everything just kind of.. Fell off, we both went our separate ways. I tried to get back into contact with him but he would say that he was busy or he’d just flat out ignore me.” you looked over at Rebecca to see her eyebrows raised. 

“Sorry, that’s kinda personal innit? Haven’t known each other much.” you said and she just shrugged. 

“It’s alright, we’re gonna be getting rather close these next few months, it's a good start for now.” she responded to you, the worry that was on your face was slowly replaced by a warm smile. 

“Guess you’re right.” 

“‘Course I am, Y/N. ‘Course I am.” 

You chuckled and shook your head, taking another sip of your tea. “On another note, I’m quite excited for all of this. Richmond is already so .. nice. I felt welcome the moment I walked in.”

“It does that to you, wait until you meet Ted though, you’ll feel even more welcome.”

As if on cue, there was a gentle knock on the door followed by a man with a moustache walking inside with a beaming grin, “well, howdy y’all.” he greeted. You smiled up at him and stood from your seat, placing your halfway finished mug down on the coffee table. 

“Y/N, this is Ted.” Rebecca said. You stuck your hand out for him to shake. 

“Nice to meet you, Ted.” You said and he only beamed at you. 

“Welcome to the family, Y/N/N.” he replied, your eyes went wide at the sudden nickname. “Its okay if I call you that right? Only seems right with your name.” He chuckled and you nodded. 

“Only if I get to call you ‘Teddy’ or somethin’. What's Ted short for anyway?” You asked him, the shift in your demeanour from earlier was like you’ve been here for weeks. “Theodore.” Rebecca chimed in and you grinned over at her and crossed your arms over your torso. “Hmm, then ‘Theo’ will have to do.” 

Ted, or Theo smiled from ear to ear. “Glad to hear it, I’ll see y’around.” 

You waved the man goodbye and sighed happily. Rebecca stood up from her spot on the sofa and brushed her dress out. “Alright, so, now that we’ve gone over everything, is there anything that you need before you head out for the rest of the day?” she asked you and you shook your head to look down at your watch. 

“Nah, I think I’m good.” You said and walked over to where your bag was. “Didn’t even need this today, came over prepared.” chuckling lightly, you leaned down to pick it up. 

“Thank you again for being so warm and welcome,” you looked at Rebecca and held your hand out for her to shake it. She took your hand happily, “I’ll see you next week then, to start your work process?” she asked you and you nodded. 

“Mhm, yep, and I’ll have everything we went over.” you smiled at her and then bid her farewell. 

Walking out of her office and down the stairs you were met with a waiting Jamie, his phone in his hands in a way to distract him. When he heard your footsteps hitting the stairs, he pocketed his device and looked up at you. 

“You waited for me.” you said with a raised brow and he nodded. 

“Yeah..” he started and you stood in front of him. “I just wanted to .. dunno, apologise?” 

“For what? Leaving me alone to think you forgot about me for six years? D’you think I’m just gonna walk right into your arms and accept your apology?” you spat and he took it in. you looked like a wounded puppy and he just wanted to fling forward and hold you. To tell you that everything was gonna be alright and that he wouldn’t dream of doing that to you again. 

“Right, right. Yeah, m’sorry ‘bout that.” he looked down at his trainers and nervously gripped his body bag’s strap. “D’ya think we could.. Dunno, go for a walk and talk ‘bout it all?” he asked you, a plea in his eyes. 

“I can’t. I have to go back to London, my cabbie is waiting for me.” you replied and rocked on your heels.

“What about when you come back?”

“Dunno, I don’t think I wanna hear some bullshit excuse as to why you left me in the dust.”

“Please, Y/N.” he pleaded, “we don’t even have to talk for long. If you decide that you don’t want anything to do with me or listen then you can walk away.” 

You sighed in defeat, “fine.”

He nodded, trying to hide the victorious smile on his lips but failing. 

“Wipe that smug grin off your ugly mug before I do it for you.” 

“Aye aye.” Jamie responded, that was the Y/N he knew all those years back, and you walked away with a sigh and a shake of your head. 

God this was so fucking weird. 

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

Once the next week rolled around, you told Bee how you bumped into Jamie, whom you might’ve told her about once or twice.. Or a few times whilst drunk. Telling her stories about how you were, “sooooooo mad at him for ghosting me like that. I loved him ssooooo much and he goes and does that.”

At 10am, Frank pulled into the car park of Nelson Road and you bid him farewell when gathering your belongings. You walked inside, instantly greeted with that family-like haze. A smile wafted on your features, nodding in acknowledgement at whomever passed by. 

“Good morning, Y/N/N!” Ted said when you walked by him on your way up to Rebecca’s office. “Mornin, Theo.” you smiled at him and gave him a high five. 

The rest of the morning went pretty well – You and blondie, new nickname (Ted approved),  going over what you guys went over on your first day, you setting up everything you needed, using one of the meeting rooms as a place to have special interviews for the boys when the time came and making a makeshift desk of one of the tables for when you needed to edit or when you when you weren’t filming. 

When lunch time approached, Rebecca asked if you wanted to join her, but you told her that you wanted to make sure that everything was working properly because once everyone was back from the lunch break you were going to record the first of many parts of the boys’ training. She gave you a thumbs up and you were on your merry way to set up a camera outside. 

“Headed outside?” a familiar Mancunian accent asked you, you stopped in your tracks and turned toward the voice. 

“Mhm, yep.” You said, your change in demeanour going from steadfast wanting to get the hell out.

“Need help?” he asked you, a pleading look in his eyes. You looked down at the gadgets you had in your hands. Setting said things up on your own would not be easy, especially when you don’t have a whole crew to help you with lighting and every other necessity that came with filming.

With a defeated sigh, there was really no point in doing it on your own when the other offered help, you looked at him. “That would.. Be nice,” you started, trailing off, “but aren’t you supposed to be at lunch with the guys or somethin’? Don’t wanna be a bother or anythin’, I’m sure I can manage on my own.”

“Nah, s’no problem. Promise.” he placed his hand on his chest, “Not really hungry anyhow.” he nodded and stepped in front of you to open the door out to the pitch. 

“Thanks.” You said and smiled at him thankfully. He nodded and you looked around. 

“Hmm, hey, Jamie?” you asked, and he turned to you with his eyebrows up. “Where d’ya reckon would be the best spot to film?” 

He pointed to a spot beside where he said that Ted and Beard usually stand and watch, “You can practically see everything from here, but you might have to change directions of the camera every now and then.” 

You shrugged and leaned down to unpack your best camera for the outdoors, “that’s fine, its my job anyway.” you set up your tripod and turned your camera on. Looking into the lens, you adjusted the lighting. 

“So, Y/N..” Jamie said and stood in front of your camera with some sort of lopsided grin, “D’ya think we could do that talk right now?” 

You looked up and huffed, “dunno, are you gonna get out of my way?” he shrugged and moved from the focus. “What is there to really talk about anyway? You ghosted me for years. You didn’t even wish me a happy birthday, or send christmas cards.” With one final twist of your lens you stepped away and looked at Jamie who scratched his neck. 

“Yeah, don’t really have an excuse for that. Other than being a professional footballer ‘n all.”

“Yeah, but you still could’ve said something, that's not really a valid excuse.” you replied and gave him a stern look. “Remember what I said about bullshit excuses, Tartt?”

“Wait, no,” he looked at you with a panicked look. “There's really nothin’ that excuses me actions, but please know that I am sorry. I haven’t forgotten about you all these years, y’know.”

“Then why the fuck did you stay silent for so many years? I gave up trying to reach out to you after my twenty - first birthday. Tried seein’ if you wanted to come celebrate and maybe catch up and you NEVER responded.” you placed your hands on your hips and you could see the guilt written all over his face. 

“Yeah.” you responded, “but I’m an adult and I ended up forgiving and forgetting until the universe decided to have us cross paths again.” you half jested, Jamie’s lips curling upward just a tinge. “How about I make you a deal?” 

He quirked his brows up and you responded with a sigh. “I will forgive you.” you said and watched as his face changed from curious to excited. “If,” you paused, only egging him on, “you promise that it won't happen again, even after this project is done and over with.” 

Looking at him expectedly, the brunet stepped forward and engulfed you in a bone crushing hug, the only kind he’d give you after something good happened or after you had a meltdown in front of him. “Cross me heart, Y/N.” 

You smiled against his shoulder and hugged him back briefly, only to pull away and stick out your pinky. “Pinky promise me, James.” you said, the full name throwing him off slightly. He intertwined your fingers and you both leaned down to press kisses to your thumbs, sealing the deal. 

“Pinky promise.”

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

Alright, STINKIES!!!!!! Let me know if you wanna be on the tag list n stuff!! I'll try to get a few more chapters out this week! They'll probably be a bit shorter, some fillers, some not, etcetera!! ANYWAY!! Thank you for reading <3

[mercurywritesstuff]

Love, Noona: Chapter 1

pairing: Chan x fem!reader genre: smau, Forbidden love, Best friends sister trope, Idol x Idol pov: 1st person texts, 2nd person writing warnings: Swearing, suggestive-ish, typical sibling violence, drug mention summary: Chan has a one night stand with a girl he couldn't remember the name of, but he gets the shock of his life when the girl turns out to be his subordinate. Oh, and also she's Felix's older sister.

Taglist Status: Open! (36 spots available left) Taglist: @freyjhasdesiredreality, @partyparty-yah, @jediturtlelover, @highlydestiny, @lixie-phoria, @silverstarburst, @sandandstarz , @massivesoyeondelusion , @spiceyhamcat, @fishlane75, @gini143, @palindrome969, @lakoya, @i-dont-know-me-either

(Red names mean I cannot tag you for some reason) word count: 1.1k screenshot count: 7 Songs for this chapter: Girl on TV⋆ HONEY(ARE YOU COMING?)

You had gone to the JYP building, face burning with shame. How could you let someone sleep with you as easily as he did, while drunk? Let alone your superior?? Don’t even mention the fact that he is her coworker and little brother’s best friend. 

You felt awful for letting yourself get caught up on your horny feelings. Sure, you hadn’t had a partner for years, but that didn’t mean you could fuck the nearest thing that was somewhat interested in you. And to top it off, you completely lied to your friends. You remembered everything. The way his skin felt, and the pleasure he gave you. 

God, you were pathetic. 

Yong-Mi grabbed your arm, shaking you out of that self-deprecating headspace. Her mouth was moving, and it took you a second to register that it was Korean. Right, you know Korean. 

“Unnie, are you listening?” Yong-Mi asked, looking into your dazed expression. Respond, damnit. 

“Sorry, I was in my head a little. What happened?” You cursed yourself internally at the tone your voice took. It cracked slightly, wavering just a little. Yong-Mi didn’t seem fazed, however. 

“I’ll grab water if you want to get the rest of the girls stretched and warmed up. Half of us is going into the studio while the other half is practicing with Danceracha.” Sometimes, Yong-Mi was more of a leader than you were. She would’ve been a better leader, you thought. 

“Okay, sounds fun.” You forced a smile, and Yong-Mi gave you a look that she knew. She knew about the way you talked down to yourself. She pulled you into a hug, resting her chin on your head. Sometimes, you forget that you were considered tall for a female idol, and these are the times you forget. Yong-Mi always did that to you. 

The moment you stepped into practice room eight, you had to cover your ears at the yelling rapping competition Sang-hee and Soo had to have. They were always so fucking loud.  

“Unnie!” Jin-Ae, your youngest member, ran to you and ducked to give you a quick hug. She loved to give bits of skin ship, opposed to cuddles and long hugs, but not opposed to your side hugs.  

“Girls!” Your voiced boomed; Soo and San-hee stopped almost immediately. The girls always did that, listen to you at the start of each workday. It was only a matter of time they would either get too hyper or too pissed off: either way, it was going to end with someone yelling. 

“Thirty minutes till the boys get here. Time to warm up.” 

⋆⋆⋆ 

Yong-mi joined five minutes after you started warming up the group. You had done ten minutes of yoga, and the rest of the time was spent copying some dances you guys found on the internet. Your group manager and personal manager, Ha-Yoon and So-mi respectively, joined sometime in the mix. They were filming for the YouTube docuseries JYP had oh-so-graciously thought of. Great, now you must be professional even in your down-time. 

A knock rapped three times, causing the eight of you to quiet down, standing as the door opened. One-by-one, eight grown men filled the room, and when the eight were in, you all bowed to greet them. Except you. 

Your eyes zeroed in on Chan, your face flushing. Yong-Mi had to physically make you bow, you had frozen. Chan seemed to have the same effect you had. His face flushing at the sight of you, eyes widening with recognition. You bent down to grab your water, taking large gulps. You caught movement in the corner of your eyes, and you found Felix booking it for you. 

“Felix, no, I have water-” And just like that, your water is spilt on the ground and you're cradling your grown but younger brother. He was laughing in his deep voice, to which you narrowed your eyes. He realized her fucked up, but before he could say anything, you dropped him on his ass. He groaned, mixed with his laughter. You couldn’t help but laugh along with him. 

“Y/nnnie that hurt~” He whined, and you raised an eyebrow at his pouting face. Growing up with him, his puppy dog eyes always worked on you. Not now, though. You had Jin-Ae to thank for that. And Sun-Hee. Everyone except Yong-Mi, you were immune to their puppy dog eyes. 

“Well, it wouldn’t have hurt if you weren’t such a galah.” You had spoken in English, your members looking at you confused at the slang word. You only used Korean in the group, being the only English speaker. Felix whined again. “Apologize to me and the poor water bottle you forced me to spill.” You smirked, playing with him to see how far he would go. 

“Sorry, noona.” He spat, getting a chortle in response from you. You helped him up, before wiping the dust off his pants. 

“Y’know, you really shouldn’t speak to your superior like that, Y/nnnie.” Felix smirked. 

“I will make it very embarrassing for you in front of your friends, Yongbok.” You held up your fist and grounded it into the palm of your hand; a threat that you wouldn’t mind going through with. 

He squeaked, running up to Hyunjin. They were all prettier in person, cameras not really giving them justice. You remembered the first time you saw them perform, and you were awestruck by your little brother and his group. You had wished to find a group like his when you debuted. In a way, you did. But God, were they like little kids when not working. 

⋆⋆⋆ 

“Okay! Soo, Sun-Hi, Su-Bin, and Jin, you will go with Bang Chan, Han, Lee know, and Changbin seonbaenim to the studio. The rest of you guys, you’re with me.” You had ordered your group, all listening intently. 

“Haha,” Sang-Hee giggled, and you glared at her to calm down. She rolled her eyes back, before doing a little dance. You smiled a little, much to your dismay.  

You and Chan had yet to interact, which you were grateful for. You could barely look at the man before you were filled with too much embarrassment. 

How were you going to work with him for the next three months? 

... 

Chan was freaking out. Sure, he hadn’t remembered the girl from the night before that much, only remembering how she smelt, how she tasted. But looking at the leader from PLAYground, all those memories came flying back. Oh, God. He was screwed. 

He excused himself to the bathroom, letting Han take over for the recording part. He sat in the private room, trying to quell the memories away. He did not want to look at his colleague that way. His subordinate. His best friend’s sister. 

How was he going to survive these next months? 

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

It was a documentary, not a series, that's why we were not satisfied because we wanted fiction, not a docuseries.

This only solidifies my POV, which I have already gone over on the Under The Table Podcast and in many previous entries on my blog, about the whole problem with S3 being in the WR. Coming from a very solid S2 and amazing S1 award season, only made matters worse, of course.

Viewers appreciate realism, as a matter of fact the kind of audience The Bear appeals to is the kinda public that digs realism and adult content, with lots of cussing, raw directorial style, fast-paced, etc. We are not the typical rom-com or even drama series audience. The Bear became a hit show back in 2022 because its eps were fast-paced, with a dramedy quality that made it original, lots of adult language, and with a hint of sexual tension that was "promising" if explored in future seasons, that at that point were not confirmed yet. S2 was ordered in July 2022 in the middle of the momentum the show was starting to get, and shot from February to April 2023, then it premiered in June 2023, only to compete now, in this award season that opened a few weeks ago at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Meaning: the reason why S3 didn't work as expected, and the numbers back that up that is why they haven't released them yet, is because the writers were not able to write a BALANCED plot. Yes, it hit all the realistic marks in terms of mental health struggles and fine dining 7th circle of hell, but at the same time, it lost every other "ingredient" that it used to have. THERE IS A WAY to write the best of both worlds, and I certainly expected that coming from who I considered the best script writer out there, the sadist. And his right hand wired for romance, Miss Calo. They didn't do it. They disappointed me. They went all in with the docuseries' raw realism style of Carmy hitting rock bottom, which if you were really paying attention in S2 was nothing but PREDICTABLE → as I proved even before S3 premiered here and here but they didn't build towards a cliffhanger that left you wanting more, actually, 03X10 is altogether hard to watch, there's no balance like in FISHES 02x06, for instance, just one punch after the other, all below the belt, no comedy, no breather, just tragedy and more tragedy and more sense of doom and more PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! THAT'S IT, END THIS, PULL THE PLUG, STOP IT! etc... Like I said: No balance.

Storer only focused on Carmy's background story, but didn't give us anything we couldn't have figured out on our own anyway, he didn't explore Syd's background story, which should be a collection of gems and absolutely Sydcarmy friendly because the more we know about her, the better we will be able to figure out how will Sydcarmy happen and when (I already know when, but still) and he also focused on Tina's background story, IMO that was completely unnecessary as T is not a central character, what he showed there was also easy to guess anyway and could have been summarised in a couple of scenes, not an entire bottled episode, not when other characters are UNEXPLORED after 3 seasons. So basically, all the decisions made in terms of SCRIPT were WRONG. The acting was perfect, the direction was too, the soundtrack, the cinematography, all of it, but the foundation wasn't there because in the WR the creative decisions made for S3 were completely fucked up, we were served a docuseries as opposed to the fictional show with a realism bouquet we were watching the previous 2 seasons.

WE WANT TO WATCH FICTION, write it realistically, sure! BUT DON'T LOSE WHAT YOU HAVE SO FAR, DON'T MUTATE INTO A DOCUMENTARY OF ALL THAT'S WRONG IN THE MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT OR IN SOCIETY OR IN THE CULINARY INDUSTRY, we already know that and if we don't, we can always tune in the motherfucking news, not FX, and certainly not Disney+. Thank you very much.

[study-with-aura]

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

All of this review lets me see how much I have learned in my first year of high school, but at the same time, cumulative exams are NOT fun. There is SO MUCH information! And I'm still learning more information in Biology and World History! I mentioned this in yesterday's post, but my piano harmony and theory exam is on Friday, and I am much more worried about that than the practical! Almost done, almost done. And the best present of all during finals week, Julien will be home! He's taking his finals right now, and I'm not sure if he'll be coming back over the weekend or early next week. He won't tell me. He's going to get squished like my squishmallows. He better be ready for it!

Tasks Completed:

Geometry - 1st and 2nd quarter review

Lit and Comp II - Reviewed Units 7-9 vocabulary + read the news + + worked on non-fiction writing assignment (due next Thursday) + CLEP Test practice question + reviewed final study sheet

Spanish 2 - Reviewed Los Artes vocabulary + reviewed more on the preterit and imperfect

Bible I - Read Matthew 21

World History - Typed up a short essay about a current female leader and her accomplishments (I went with Kaja Kallas who is the Prime Minister of Estonia because she was in the last docuseries I watched as an interviewee, and she seemed interesting)

Biology with Lab - Learned about some phyla of invertebrates + filled in graphic organizer chart (first two sections) + continued germination lab

Foundations - Read more on virtue + completed the next quiz on Read Theory + worked on the outline for my argumentative speech

Piano - Practiced for two hours in one hour split sessions

Khan Academy - Completed High School Geometry daily mastery challenge + completed High School biology daily mastery challenge + completed World History Unit 1 test (89%)

CLEP - Completed Sample CLEP Test Questions 61-75

Streaming - Watched The Cuba Libre Story Episode 8

Duolingo - Studied for approximately 30 minutes (Spanish, French, Chinese) + completed daily quests

Reading - Read pages 229-274 of Into the Bright Open by Cherie Dimaline and finished the book

Chores - None today

Activities of the Day:

Personal Bible Study (Romans 8)

Ballet

Variations

Journal/Mindfulness

[coochiequeens]

I've posted many times about how surrogacy exploits women but there's also the fertility industry exploiting people despretate for bio kids and how they don’t care about the future impact on the resulting kids.

Netflix's 'Man With 1000 Kids' puts a spotlight on the lack of international regulations for sperm donors

July 9, 2024, 6:00 PM EDT

By Elizabeth Chuck

A Netflix docuseries has put a spotlight on the unregulated world of sperm donation, particularly the lack of stopgap measures that might prevent donors who have been banned by one country from simply going elsewhere to donate more.

Released earlier this month, “The Man With 1000 Kids” explores the fallout from the case of serial sperm donor Jonathan Meijer, a Dutch man who fathered children around the globe via donations to sperm banks, as well as through private meetings he reportedly held directly with prospective mothers. The Dutch Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology prohibited him from donating sperm in the Netherlands in 2017, but he continued to donate to other countries afterward.

The result of Meijer’s actions is there are hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of half-siblings who may not realize they are related to one another. Their risk of accidental inbreeding is real: In 2021, The New York Times reported some of Meijer’s offspring had come across one another on the dating app Tinder.

"Once, I swiped on a sister and she swiped right on me at the same time,” said a half-brother, Jordy Willekens, who lives in the Netherlands. “I have a very trained eye by now.”

Experts and advocates for donor-conceived people say Meijer’s story is not an outlier. 

“There’s nothing keeping donors from donating anywhere. If a donor is banned in their home country, they just go somewhere else,” said Wendy Kramer, director of the Donor Sibling Registry, which she co-founded in 2000 with her son, Ryan, who was donor-conceived. The worldwide matching site has connected more than 26,000 half-siblings and donors so far, and Kramer said some people have found over 200 matches.

“There’s no regulation. There’s no oversight,” Kramer added.

There’s nothing keeping donors from donating anywhere. If a donor is banned in their home country, they just go somewhere else,” said Wendy Kramer, director of the Donor Sibling Registry, which she co-founded in 2000 with her son, Ryan, who was donor-conceived. The worldwide matching site has connected more than 26,000 half-siblings and donors so far, and Kramer said some people have found over 200 matches.

Without any sort of global tracking system, donors who have been banned in one country are easily able to keep donating in other countries, said Jody Madeira, a professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law who is writing a book about fertility fraud by doctors and serial donors. 

“They shouldn’t donate. They promise not to. But ‘shouldn’t’ doesn’t mean ‘can’t,’” she said. “And there’s no lightning bolt that’s going to come down because there’s no international registry.”

Countries have rules for the number of offspring sperm donors can produce, though many are recommendations rather than laws. In the Netherlands, nonbinding guidelines limit clinic donors to 25 children. In the U.S., guidelines from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine suggest a cap of 25 children per donor in a population of 800,000. Norway limits donors to eight children, Spain limits them to six children, and Sweden limits them to 12 children across six families.

In an email, Meijer criticized such regulations, writing that in his experience as a donor for 17 years, “one of the trends I see is that countries with the highest government regulations for donors, creates a serious shortage of qualified donors.”

Meijer called himself “one of the best donors you can wish for” in videos on his YouTube channel and says the Netflix documentary, which he declined to participate in, is full of lies.

He also argued that he did nothing wrong by donating internationally.

“You have to realize that I follow the guidelines of the international sperm banks,” Meijer said in a YouTube video posted Thursday. “They don’t inform their recipients, the people that order the sperm from their stock — they will never inform the parents about the amount of offspring that they have created with the same one donor.”

“So you might say, ‘You had to inform the parents correctly about a number.’ But I was following international guidelines,” he added.

Two large international sperm banks that Meijer mentioned in his video, California Cryobank and Denmark-based Cryos International, did not respond to questions about their screening processes for accepting sperm donations. 

Cryos International says on its website that its donors cannot donate to any other sperm bank. In 2021, then-CEO Peter Reeslev told the New York Times that all Cryos donors are made aware of the exclusivity clause.

“Donors sign and commit in contractual terms to not donate in any other tissue establishments than Cryos before and undertake not to donate sperm to other sperm banks/tissue centers in the future as well,” he said.

On its website, California Cryobank says potential donors are rigorously screened, with less than 1% of applicants qualifying to become donors. It lists a number of accreditations and licenses it says it has, including from the American Association of Tissue Banks, which performs on-site inspections, and the Food and Drug Administration, which has rules about quarantining sperm donations and testing them.

But those rules do not address the number of offspring a donor can have or what happens when one country tells a donor to stop donating.

While no efforts are underway to create a worldwide registry of sperm donors, Colorado will implement a law next year that states that it forbids anonymous sperm or egg donations, meaning when donor-conceived people turn 18, banks and clinics will provide contact information for their donors to them.

The law also caps the number of families that can use a single donor and requires sperm and egg agencies to make a “good faith effort” keep permanent, up-to-date medical records on donors.

It is the first law of its kind in the U.S. Australia and a number of European countries already prohibit anonymous sperm and egg donations, giving donor-conceived people access to more information about their identities and family histories. 

But some advocates say that even with the new Colorado law, there is still no oversight mandating accurate record-keeping on the number of children born from any single donor, especially since other states won’t be keeping count.

“There’s no entity keeping track of the number of kids for one donor, and nothing changes with that. Sperm banks and egg clinics will continue to have no accurate accounting of the children born to any one donor,” Kramer said. “The conversation doesn’t make sense until you have accurate record-keeping.”

It also doesn't help with the problem of sperm donations from a single donor in multiple countries. Kramer said that the discovery of half-siblings always comes with a slew of emotions for donor-conceived people but that it can be especially fraught when the newfound relative is in a different country.

"Oftentimes these people are so excited to have found each other, and they want to meet, but distance is prohibitive because of cost and time,” she said.

Language barriers can also make it harder to communicate important information.

“It’s really important to know your family health history, and also medical updates,” Kramer said. “Are you healthy? Do you have any genetic concerns? Because this can help with screenings and preventative medicine.”

Erin Jackson, founder of We Are Donor Conceived, a support group and online resource community that has about 3,600 members on Facebook, lives in California and was donor-conceived in Canada. She has found nine or so half-siblings and suspects she could have 100 or more she does not know about yet.

“I was born in the suburbs of Toronto, and I moved to San Diego,” she said. “I know that if I’m going to find more siblings, they’ll probably be in Canada. And there’s a sadness that comes from knowing I’m, like, a $600 flight away from any of them. It’s really not easy to just pop over and integrate myself into their lives, even if we both want that.”

As for Meijer’s voluminous number of sperm donations, Jackson said she was “disturbed but not surprised.”

“There just aren’t legal protections that would stop someone from doing this,” she said.

“There’s a lot of psychological damage that comes out of this type of situation,” she added. “I can’t imagine being one of this guy’s children.”

[sassyfrassboss]

So form watching this disaster for over 5 years now...you have to very much read between the lines and see what they AREN'T saying.

Exactly this. 100%. Because when you read between the lines, you realize that Meghan tells on herself. Every single time.

The best part is Meghan is telling on herself right now. She (nor Harry) have said anything about this. Yes, there was the "Meghan didn't intend" statement that Becky English got ahold of but it didn't actually come from Meghan. It came from WME trying to salvage her reputation. But Meghan is totally, completely silent on the matter.

And what has Meghan said about silence? "If you're complacent, you're complicit."

She's said this three times:

August 2020 in a talk about how important it was for women to vote because if they didn't and stayed silent, they were complacent and complicit in Trump's worldview.

March 2021 in the Oprah interview about how the BRF's silence on the racism she faced meant they were complacent and therefore complicit.

December 2022 in the Netflix docuseries. (Though this time she didn't say the words specifically, she hinted at it.)

Meghan's silence betrays her complicitness in Omid's mission to destroy and break Catherine.

It's funny how important being able to read between the lines is when it comes to serving karma.

Exactly.

She ALWAYS tells on herself. Plus, it wasn't her "intention" to ever let the names be released means that she is the one who knew the names...but yet she is trying to make us believe that the BRF or palace sources leaked the names. Yeah I'm sure The King and Catherine wanted this drama...

It's so absurd at this point because you can easily tell when they are lying and what point they are trying to get across with what they don't say.

[medusasbush]

read december 2023

The end of business-class A.I. doomerism

Nerd culture is murdering intellectuals

What A.I. art spiral images tell us about A.I. (and art)

you have literally one job: the new taylor swift beat fails to meet the moment

Person of the Year 2023: Taylor Swift

PERSPECTIVES: It was a disappointing year to be a Swiftie

Taylor Swift Film Is Being Screened in Israel, Contrary to Online Post

Taylor Swift, Fatphobia, and Me

Taylor Swift's private jets have spent over 166 hours crisscrossing the US during the singer's colossal Eras tour

Streaming Services Hate This One Weird Trick

How Netflix Built a $200B Business on Reality Shows and Docuseries. A Statistical Analysis

One good TikTok therapist

YouTube Plagiarism and Generation Loss

Some news orgs burnish their brands by giving AI the cold shoulder

Most readers want publishers to label AI-generated articles — but trust outlets less when they do

There Aren’t Too Many Endings in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’

2023: the year culture reached peak nostalgia

The culture is suffering with relatability fatigue

The X-Files script that was too bleak to air

What's the one thing we all hate but can't stop doing?

switching to a "dumb" phone made me feel pretty dang smart

The friendship problem

The 20 Biggest Myths in Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry Right Now

The Rise, Fall, and (Slight) Rise of DVDs. A Statistical Analysis

Tech doesn’t make our lives easier. It makes them faster

Building a village with Philippa Young

The year of Ozempic bodies and Barbie Botox

"deeping it" manifesto: on memes, mimetic desire, and why it's always really that deep.

No, Studying Marx Is Not Elitist

Let Bradley Cooper’s Maestro Be the Death of the Biopic

The World’s Best City Is Online: On Community & the Commercialization of Space

Why the internet isn't fun anymore + A.I. and magic

The Cult of Color Analysis

The only thing we can talk now about is celebrities

sunday energy #45: abolish celebrity

Stigmatize Glitter

Facebook Is Being Overrun With Stolen, AI-Generated Images That People Think Are Real

Twitter Now Showing Ads For Nonconsensual 'AI Undress' Apps

Twitter Is Just Running Ads for Stealing Semen Now

Nobody Knows What’s Happening Online Anymore

The Year Millennials Aged Out of the Internet

If I was an evil techbro…

Media Literacy By the Glass🍷

Hate Speech as Laissez Faire Economics

On Substack Nazis, laissez-faire tech regulation, and mouse-poop-in-cereal-boxes

[vodkacheesefries]

@cantfakethecake tagged me in a thing!

Last Song: Paint the Town Blue by Ashnikko - Arcane season 2 has me in a VICE GRIP

Favorite Color: I like all colors, but I'm partial to yellows and greens. My room has a dark green accent wall with lots of gold, so. Best of both worlds.

Last Book: I'm currently listening to Percy Jackson: The Last Olympian. I never got to finish the second series, but it's been YEARS so I needed a refresher. And I love these books so much, but I'm glad to be on the last Percy book because the narrator is not good. He just isn't. It's bad. I need them to re-record them because my god.

Last Movie: Miracle on 34th Street. The one with Mara Wilson. It's cute but I was profoundly irritated with the assertion the movie makes that Christianity is the default American religion, so idk if I'll be watching it again aaaany time soon.

Last TV Show: I am currently watching an episode of The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy. It's like a docuseries documenting his adventures. I guess he's traditionally a terminal homebody so he started doing this to get out and see the world.

Sweet/Savory/Spicy: Spicy that's sweet. Like in Mexican candies. My favorite right now are tamarind flavor candies covered in tajin. It's so good.

Relationship Status: Single! It's been a few years since my last relationship, but honestly I'm okay with that. I had a LOT of growing to do that I didn't realize I had to do until a couple traumatic events occurred and I had some trauma responses rear their ugly heads. After several years of therapy I'm hitting the point where I'm ready to start dating again, but I'm weirdly in between jobs right now and I don't wanna be one of those unemployed people on a dating app. So I'm waiting till I'm in a more secure financial position so I can contribute to dates and being in a relationship.

Last Thing I Searched: "Man hand." I needed a drawing reference and my hands are not. Knuckley(?) enough. They look too...round, for lack of a better word.

Current Obsession: Pinterest has this fun new collage feature where you can collage images together and I've done several in the past few days. Which is nice cuz I've had some artist block, and I think it's helping me wanna do it in the 3D meat space again. I have weird feelings about it because art theft is rampant on Pinterest, but I'm not doing anything with them so I don't feel too bad. I'm just making them and sending them to friends if they're funny...which, y'know...most of them are because I can't take anything seriously.

Looking Forward To: I'm starting a tattoo apprenticeship (hopefully really soon). This is why I'm weirdly between jobs. I'm going crazy because I'm excited to start but it's not on my timeline rn so I have to be patient. But I have never been good at that. 🥲

Favorite Drink: BAJA BLAST ME, CAP'N

Song Playing on a Loop in Your Head: Heaven Help Us by My Chemical Romance

Current Favorite Character: Ambessa Medarda. Again, Arcane has a hold on me and Ambessa is tall and muscular and maybe a little mean but it's okay because I support women's rights and wrongs 😌

Fun Activity You Would Like to Get Into: Honestly I wanna learn some sort of martial art. Boxing, kickboxing, jiu jitsu etc...I wanna hit someone and/or get hit. Like a normal person does.

Last Video Game: Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I'm on my second playthrough and I so far have really, really enjoyed it. It's not perfect, but it's fun. That's all I care about.

Last Comic/Graphic Novel: Oh it was either The Adventure Zone: The Suffering Game or a graphic novel I backed on Kickstarter a while ago about Artemisia Gentileschi. I can't remember the title right now, but it's lovely.

I'm shite at remembering usernames so if you see this and wanna do it, tag me so I can see!

[bookshelfdreams]

15 QUESTIONS FOR 15 FRIENDS

I got tagged by the loveliest @adickaboutspoons - thank you, darling!

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?: No. I wasn't supposed to get the first name I have at all, but my mother forgot what she wanted to name me after she gave birth.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: Last week I listened to an audiobook that made me tear up. Full on crying, I don't remember.

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?: Luckily for everyone involved, no.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?: None, other than what I was forced to do in gym class. I have always been, and always will be, terrible at sports. I have never found anything I liked.

DO YOU USE SARCASM?: I don't even know what that is.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?: idk?? What they look like? Sorry, I don't mean to be obtuse, I just don't know how to answer that. I notice lots of things about people. If what is meant by this question is: "What are things that inform your first impression of a person?" then I guess the answer is that first impressions are often wrong and I try to at least let someone speak before I form an opinion.

WHAT'S YOUR EYE COLOUR?: Greyish blue.

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?: Bittersweet endings, imo. And don't pull an "It was all a dream!!"

ANY TALENTS?: Yes, one: I'm so good at lighting fires. (Campfires and stoves and such! I'm not an arsonist)

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?: In a country that no longer exists.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?: Fibre crafts, obviously. I like knitting and spinning best, but I can also crochet, and weave a bit, and do some basic sewing and theoretically, some embroidery, although I almost never do that. Other than that, I bind books sometimes (rarely as it may be, I haven't been feeling that lately), and I like going for hikes.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?: A cat, his name is Edgar.

HOW TALL ARE YOU?: 1.78 or so

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?: History

DREAM JOB?: I actually quite like my job? I kinda almost-accidentally stumbled into it, it wasn't my dream job, but I'm content where I am right now. If I had to start over completely, in a perfect world where money concerns and such don't exist, I think I would have liked to become an actual bookbinder. Or maybe a mortician (though not back when I was actually choosing my profession).

And then I got also tagged by my most beloved @eolewyn1010 - again, thank you x10000!

Last song: Yuve Yuve Yu by The Hu

Favorite colour: Green, purple, muddy earth colours.

Last show: That Netflix docuseries about the FLDS church

Sweet/savory/spicy: Eh, depends.

Relationship status: Old maid.

Last thing I googled: Spiro comp

Current obsession: Not obsessed with anything rn :(

Looking forward to: Finishing the kickass vest I started to knit last night

tagging (no pressure, pick what you want to do or feel free to ignore this, it's all fine, I love you): @awordwasthebeginning @jamdoughnutmagician @little-linda @comfortabletextiles @fearlessinger @khargaotte @invisiblegreendot @9thbutterfly @throwing-roses-into-the-abyss anyone else who wants to do this <3

[thatbitchsimone]

re gypsy rose: being center of attention is all she knows. i can't blame her for being attention seeking, because that's her whole damn life. she has always gotten attention from doctors, from people, from news, ever since she was a child. first she was the sick child and now she is the woman who was forced to fake being sick child who killed her mother, she lost the opportunity to normal life and normal behavior long, long ago. i can't blame her for going to the news or talking about herself, how can she know anything else?

thats also a really good point and theres probably at least some truth to that but idk if i agree that shes attention seeking in that way. like i dont personally think she craves fame or whatever i just think shes like… a normal girl i guess. like yeah she got onto social media right away, but tbh she would most likely do that even if she was completely unknown bc most women her age use social media and ofc she would want to participate and post cute instagram photos with her husband and pretty selfies etc bc why not? its what everyone does and shes finally free to take part in normal life.

and the reason shes even doing these press tours is to promote her docuseries which is where she for once gets to speak out fully and tell her story in her own words and be truly heard. she knows her story has been told by others, she knows about The act and the documentaries and how viral her story went while she was away, and now she wants to take her story back and tell it herself which is only fair and id probably do the same if i was her

and yeah she wants to meet taylor swift. well duh what taylor swift fan would not want to meet taylor swift? shes just sharing her dreams. shes always been a dreamer like that, and honestly if she gets the chance to actually meet her fave singer ofc she will take it. anyone would lol.

but anyway, she is used to having the spotlight on her just like u said but i guess rn thats almost a blessing in disguise in a way since that means she kinda knows how to handle it better than most. like id be overwhelmed as fuck in her situation but thats bc ive always been a private normal person who has never been in the public eye but shes sorta.. accustomed to it which is sad bc as we all know she never should have been bc she should never have been in that horrible situation in the first place but at least now that can be an advantage for her during the media hype. shes being smart with it and she wants to use it to help others and be an advocate which i think she will have lots of success in and do lots of good in the future.

i guess what im trying to say is that in my opinion shes not seeking the attention, the attention is already on her and shes just embracing it and making the best of it in order to do something good and to finally have her voice heard for the first time in her life. when u have gone through abuse and have had to keep quiet about it and keep it inside ur whole life ur gonna have that urge to scream it out and let the whole world know whats been done to u and its healing and freeing and empowering to do so when ur finally safe and ready to. she needs to be heard and seen for once and she deserves it bc everyone deserves that. its very human