#I legit posted this so my friend could attempt to find my blog and HE FUCKING FOUND IT I’m gonna cry
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【２３：１４】
The heavy bass line rings through your headphones as you scribble furiously onto the thin piece of loose leaf paper on your desk, a skinny desk lamp illuminating your workspace. Your strokes are slow and steady, cautious not to mess up your page of perfectly organised notes. When it ends up looking worse than before after your fifteen minutes of pure concentration and effort, you throw your pen down, letting it roll away sadly as you bury your face into your palms. It’s been a tough day, truly. School’s been rough on you lately, with the realisation that both your science teachers are absolute trash, as well as the pileup of assignments and assessments due in a week or two. Maybe if they were able to teach for once in their measly little teaching journey, you wouldn’t be up at eleven on a school night desperately trying to understand the overload of information that was the entire immune system and all its mechanisms shoved onto your plate during class, of which they made no effort to explain or talk about. No, you can’t put all the blame on them, considering there’s a bigger contributor to your insomnia.
Writing notes is just an escape, an excuse to avoid having to think of anything else, to shut the outside world out and live in your little comfort bubble. When the dumb hormones and intrusive thoughts and fantasies manage to get into your head even while you’re at peak concentration, there has to be a bigger problem within. There are three categories of “bigger problems.” Number one would be your period, the time of joy for every single woman isn’t it? Everything is amplified when you’re on your period. Emotions, feelings, pain, everything. That combined with the agonizingly painful cramps are enough to make you feel like burning everything to the ground in frustration. Number two would be an earworm, bonus points if it lasts for more than two months. Stupid earworms, forcing you to play the same two songs on repeat for hours on end while you study. You can’t hold yourself back and sing along to verses and in no time you’re dancing along and having a full on concert at your desk and suddenly the thought of studying for that test you have in two weeks or doing that project that’s due tomorrow but you procrastinated on and left to do today slips out of your mind. Number three, also the most troublesome and irritating, is a person. Someone that you just cannot for the life of you get out of your mind. Someone so interesting and intriguing that you can’t help but desire to learn more about them. What their interests are, what their favourite music is, how they let out rage, their mannerisms, anything, everything. Today, you’ve got a mix of everything amped up to the max.
You let this one particular Heat Waves remix play again for what happens to be about the thirteenth time within the past two hours, slamming your head onto the table once the lyrics start. “Sometimes all I think about is you.” You say along the singular line, letting your eyes flutter shut. Man if only that line doesn’t apply to your current situation, that would be greatly appreciated. It’s so stupid. This is so stupid. Everything is crumbling down again like skyscrapers during an earthquake, shattering into pieces when it hits the concrete ground beneath them, all because you were too weak to not fall for someone. It’s dumb, ridiculous, and you hate it. You let your eyes open again, adjusting to the warm light of your desk. Scrolling through the comments, there’s a common pattern. “It’s always we need to talk, but never yntbkshycryn” You shouldn’t have gotten curious and tried to find out what it meant, because now you can’t stop fantasising about how euphoric it’ll be with Tsukishima’s hands around your neck and you on your tiptoes as your lips meet and he kisses you so hard that you can’t remember your name.
Edit 1: bet you didn’t see this coming did you
Ps. Hey you found me! :D Now never return please<3 (heart is for added effect)
#tsukishima kei#haikyuu x reader#tsukishima x reader#haikyuu imagines#haikyuu drabble#anime#haikyuu scenarios#tsukishima imagines#drabble#I legit posted this so my friend could attempt to find my blog and HE FUCKING FOUND IT I’m gonna cry
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Breaking Down The Classic Rom-Com
I feel like I haven’t written a fun post in a hot sec so lets talk about one of my favorite subjects: Rom Coms
According to wikipedia, a Rom Com, also known as Romantic Comedy, is “a subgenre of comedy and slice-of-life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles.” In the past, Romantic Comedies have also been called “Chick Flicks” but I think this is devaluing of both women and the romantic comedy genre.
The other day, I woke up to find that the most wholesome rom-com couple of all time reunited: Matty & Jenna (Aka Mark Ruffalo & Jennifer Garner). This got me thinking about the beauty of the Rom-Com and how unappreciated they can be. It has been years since we have seen a rom-com with the cultural impact of 13 Going on 30, and I would like to petition for more of them after a sad and painful year.
I can already hear the millions (in my head this blog is extremely popular) of comments “What about To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before?!?” “What about The Kissing Booth?!?” And too that I say, "Good Riddance!” If you’re rating your rom coms on a TATBILB scale, or even WORSE The Kissing booth, I feel sorry for you. Truly I do. So let's dive into the best Rom Coms of all time, but first...
What makes a Rom-Com good? Well let's start with a relatable as hell main character. I am talking a girl (sometimes guy), who has many flaws, but the audience can see themselves within her/him. Let's use Jenna Rink from 13 Going On 30 as an example. Well, she's literally a 13 year old in a 30 year olds body, but don’t we all still have a preteen hiding inside of all of us? She is 100% willing to be herself at every step, even if that means dancing thriller all alone. She touches on all of our insecurities, while teaching us how to break down our walls.
Rom-Coms also need characters to make realistic choices. This does not mean that the movie itself is realistic, but rather than you can understand the choices the characters make. Again, 13 going on 30 does a fabulous job of this. Obviously, Jenna traveling in time because of wishing powder is not realistic, but the choices that her and her past self make are. Due to the insecurities of her childhood and a need to feel included, relevant, and powerful Jenna pushes important people out of her life, which happens to so many people in the real world. These decisions force her to miss out on the love of her life, and ultimately, the story ends sadly: the love of her life marries someone else and she is left with tears, wishing powder, and an old doll house. That is until she is able to travel back in time and change the course of her life.
Lastly, Every classic Rom-Com couple needs to have chemistry. There. I said it. Hollywood loves just casting random famous actors without giving them a proper chemistry read. One great example of this is Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel in Safe Haven. Both fun, famous, Hollywood actors who have zero chemistry. Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner had more chemistry throwing back Razzles than those two did during an intimate sex scene.
Alright, now that we have broken down the requirements of a Romantic Comedy, let's jump into the best and worst of all time.
Best: When Harry Met Sally. 9/10. A classic. A tale as old as time. Both Sally & Harry are very flawed, yet relatable characters. Sally is too picky and particular, while Harry is a player. They both suck at relationships, but make rational decisions based on their motivations. We all have friends like these two and their chemistry is on point, both on a friendship and romantic level. They bounce off of one another splendidly.
Worst: Sleepless in Seattle. 1/10 I know, this is a strong take, but this is a terrible movie about a stalker. Meg Ryan (I don’t even remember her character's name) is the stupidest most unrelatable character I have seen in a long time. She is extremely unlovable, cheats on her SO emotionally, and flies across the country to stalk a man that she has never met before. And then you’re telling me that Tom hanks FALLS FOR HER? Nope. No. I refuse to except this. Plus, their chemistry in this is pretty mediocre (You’ve Got Mail is Way Better) and we only get to see them together once.
Best: 10 Things I Hate About You. 8/10. I was tempted to leave all high School Rom-Coms off this list, but Heath Ledger is my exception. Talk about likability. Kat is a strong, powerful, independent woman who learns how to be more vulnerable while still being a feminist badass. We all wanted to be Kat growing up. Meanwhile Heath Ledger is the classic bad boy with a soft side, and who wasn’’t into that? Both characters grow into new people throughout the movie making them relatable, complex, and realistic. Not to mention the angel that is Joseph Gordon Levitt, who keeps the audience up beat and smiling throughout the course of this Shakespeare tale
Best: My Big fat Greek Wedding. 10/10. Have you seen this film recently? Because it is an absolute DELIGHT and so relatable. It dives into the difficulty of family expectation and cultures merging. It also has the cutest proposal of all time with a realistic couple that fights for one another on a daily basis. You laugh. You cry. You get a dynamic cast with wonderful chemistry. You feel invested in the family and the relationship. Just a joyful wonderful film.
Worst: Something Borrowed. 0/10. If you’ve never seen this movie, don’t. Ginnifer Goodwin sleeps with her best friends fiancé and we’re supposed to be okay with it because she liked him first. Hard pass. And she ignores John Krazinski who is right in front of her. She is unlikable, unreliable, and makes dumb decisions that no one else would.
Best: He’s just not that into you. 9/10 I will go to bat for this movie. It follows several realistic storylines in a Love Actually manor, except they actual seem legit. A woman realizing her boyfriend is never going to marry her. A girl facing the fact that maybe some guys just aren’t that into her, and she isn’t an exception to the rule. A man slowly making the decision to cheat on his wife as they are growing apart. A woman realizing that she is worth way more than her bastard husband. A woman realizing that the person she’s sleeping with will never leave his wife for her. It's compelling, has realistic characters that we can relate to, and still warms your heart in the end.
Best: The Big Sick. 8/10. Okay to be fair, this is based on a true story so it automatically has realistic characters and decisions. Maybe I should leave this off of the list, but I wish this film got the recognition it deserves. Two lovable main characters who make mistakes that are understandable. Wonderful chemistry between Kumail and his girlfriend as well as her family.
Best: About Time. 11/10 This is hands down the best Rom-Com of all time and Potentially the best film of all time as well. If you don’t cry in this movie you do not have a heart or soul. The characters are SO insanely likable and adorable.It touches on the importance of family and valuing time and how little of it we have. The chemistry within the whole cast is palpable, and we can all relate to at least one character, whether it is the protagonist Tim, his wife Mary, his sister Kit-Kat, or his father.
Well it is important to point out the obvious here: this list is lacking diversity in a huge way. All but one of these movies follow a cis, straight, white couple, and that is extremely concerning. People have attempted to make more diverse rom-coms over the past few years, but they all seem to be lacking one of the three core components of what makes a rom-com great: Relatable, realistic, and great chemistry. For example. Crazy Rich Asians was a fantastic film, but the high level of wealth that Nick Young comes from, made his character difficult to relate to, and I’m sorry but the chemistry just wasn’t there for me. Always Be My Maybe’s characters fell flat and it’s not a film I would want to watch more than once. Love Simon made some huge waves for LGBTQ representation in the media, but that ending kiss was unrealistic along with his friends reaction to fining out he was lying, which left the movie anti-climactic by the end.
Now, the most recent film on this list was made in 2017. And before that 2013. So where have all the Rom Coms gone? Why don’t we see more of them. There are a few Rom Coms that could be contenders on the “Best” list from the last couple of years that include a small amount of diversity:
Yesterday 7/10. The big question here is does this count as a romantic comedy? The love story isn’t the main plot, but is definitely a large sub-plot. This movie features an interracial couple and is highly re-watchable. The main characters are entertaining, relatable, and have pretty good chemistry. We will see if it stands the test of time.
The Broken Hearts Gallery 7/10. This movie has gotten NO recognition. The main character, Lucy, is an extremely likable 20 something, not unlike our Ginnifer Goodwin in He’s Just not that Into You. The plot is fun and predictable but keeps you watching. I don’t know if this one will stay on my list long, but it’s definitely up there.
But here is my challenge to Hollywood: create some new, beautiful Rom Coms that celebrate diversity but that don’t throw away the relatable, realistic, and high chemistry characters that we are just waiting to fall in love with. It’s got like 16 ideas up my sleeve, so just give me a call Hollywood.
#rom com#romantic comedy#13 going on 30#when harry met sally#sleepless in seattle#my big fat greek wedding#10 things i hate about you#something borrowed#he's just not that into you#the big sick#about time#yesterday#The broken hearts gallery
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For those of you interested in my novel
So I’ve gained quite a few new followers recently and seeing as I post about my novel more often and more consistently than anything else I thought I’d provide some more information on it. @jefflion also said they’d be interested in hearing more about it, so this is also for them.
All posts about my novel are tagged ‘robespierre novel’ and starting today will be tagged ‘The Incorruptible Corrupted’.
There’s a lot I can ramble about here, so if you’re interested everything I feel ready to reveal right now is under the cut. If you don’t care pls go ahead and scroll.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed by my tags my novel is about Maximilien Robespierre. Just like everything else on this blog. To be more specific, I’m writing a biographical historical fiction that follows the course of his life from the time he’s born to his execution. I’m sure you’ve all seen those sort of books before.
I’m hoping to make it as historically accurate as I possibly can while still making it an enjoyable fiction novel. My book’s going to contain historical figures and events as well as original characters and events to fill in what we don’t know about Robespierre’s life. As of right now it’s roughly 41,000 words long and I’m going to keep writing until I reach the end of Maxime’s life so the length is completely undecided.
Currently the working title is ‘Maxime’ because I have no better ideas and I already used the freaking awesome title of ‘The Incorruptible, Corrupted’ as the title of my most successful Wattpad work which is a 10,000 word novella also about Robespierre. So if anyone has any good ideas, please suggest them. I really need some.
The fancy little book description blurb reads as follows:
Revolutions change everything, especially the individuals involved in them and fate has a strange way of calling people.
At the beginning of his life, it would have been impossible to know that Maximilien Robespierre would go from a small-town scandal to the most powerful man in France. The quiet boy born in Arras with his mother's green eyes and none of his father's flightiness showed no early signs of a relentless revolutionary leader, determined to overthrow the oppressive monarchy. Yet by the actions of others, his own skill, and his intelligence Maximilien finds himself navigating the dangerous and everchanging world of revolutionary France, thrust onto a fragile pedestal of leadership, handcrafted by his ideals.
It’s very character driven (I mean it really has to be because all of Max’s choices are legit the plot.) and it’s insanely fun to transform Max from a carefree little boy in Arras to someone stressed, broken, and thrust into awful situation after awful situation! That low key sounds kinda sadistic, but it’s fine... right? Lol. But I feel like I’m able to really develop my characters and give everyone fully fleshed out personalities and everything. I dunno. I just feel like it’s helping me understand the time period and historical figures better. Also I get to learn all kinds of cool stuff I never would have needed to research without trying to write this book.
It’ll probably end up being a book for high school kids and older seeing as some of the topics in it are suited to slightly older audiences, including but not limited to:
Swear words, mild gore, mentioned suicide attempts, (possible) implied sexual content, scenes containing violence, time-period typical prejudices, mental illness, and death.
I plan on handling those topics as carefully and respectfully as possible to remain as accurate to history as I can while respecting those who have issues with these subjects.
There’s also average stuff though. It talks a lot about family, friendships/loss of friendships, romance, crushes, and growing up, all stuff you would find in non-historical books.
As a member of the LGBT+ community I want to make sure that my books have adequate LGBT+ representation. History wasn’t straight 100% of the time so representation will definitely be included in my interpretation of some historical figures and the original characters. Currently I have a few characters who are asexual, bi-romantic, bisexual, and gay.
Highlights include:
Max with motion sickness (especially him throwing up on Charlotte during a carriage ride as a kid)
Augustin getting bit by one of his brother’s birds and having a scar for the rest of his life
Camille being nicknamed Cami
At least three people being in love with Max throughout the book and him being oblivious every time
A friend-group consisting of an inelegant girl and her just as chaotic twin brother, a red head and his British cousin who lives in France now, two quiet geniuses, and occasionally the twins’ older brothers who have nothing better to do
One of Max’s aunts straight up telling him his mom is dying and regretting it as soon as she says it
Max making a friend on accident while hiding at school and being an absolute icon for not being a racist (said character is mixed, but has a light enough complexion to attend school during the time period)
The number of times Maxime has a panic attack or almost faints
Six year old Max chasing four year old Charlotte with a worm, falling in the mud, and losing a tooth
The time eleven year old Max gets KISSED and doesn’t realize the girl kissing him likes him
Max being upset that an eleven year old isn’t allowed to take classes with fourteen year olds for developmental reasons
Camille and Max accidently hating each other, becoming roommates at school, and becoming pretty much best friends all in one day
The most boring school in the world
I legit could talk about my book for ages, but this post is long enough already so I’ll chill out a little. if you guys have anything to ask about it that I haven’t covered here please lemme know. And of course as usual, the same goes for any other questions pertaining to the French revolution in general.
~Dara
#Maximilien Robespierre#robespierre#French Revolution#frev#robespierre novel#frev wip#Novel Update#The Incorruptible Corrupted
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Season 15 - Spoilers and Speculation
OKAY HI EVERYBODY GUESS WHO HAS BEEN SCREAMING OVER ON TWITTER FOR HALF AN HOUR!
There I was happily trying to watch the Great British Bake Off as you do, and my notifications start blowing up because someone decided to go write a ridiculous spoilery article about season 15 in the TV Guide magazine and all the good and terrible things we have to look forward too! So I promised I would attempt some sort of time line of spoilers and events so that we can jumble together some expectations (and some yummy speculation) about the upcoming season!
Episode 1 - we know that Cas is in this episode as Misha was filming. We know that Alex was also filming though potentially either as a corpse, or as a manifestation of someones guilt/hallucination (these are theories not confirmed). Other than this we know that Jack “won’t be coming back from the Empty for a while now” and hasn’t been seen filming since. (source)
Episodes 2 and 3 - The main spoilers of relevance are that Dean and Cas are still not okay with each other. There is tension between them and they won’t be okay for a while (sources on this are from SDCC and well, everywhere, unless you’ve actually been living under a rock all summer).
Now today we got this spoiler:
[Twitter link]
“Theres a scene we shot recently that really got to me. Cas decides he’s going away for a while. And it wasn’t necessarily a goodbye, but it felt like that to me.”
and this one:
[Twitter Link]
“Cas feels he’s losing Sam and Dean, the only other people in the universe he has a connection to”
and this:
[Twitter Link]
“God becoming his primary enemy bent on destroying everything he cares about is a really difficult transition for Cas to go through” as a result, after a few episodes of chaos, Cas gets fed up and takes a personal time-out before returning to the action, or as Collins puts it, “He leaves in a huff.”
So we have been speculating that this likely takes place in episode 3 following some big dramatic showdown. Cas leaves because he just can’t deal with everything that is happening. Poor angel has lost his son, found out his father is basically enemy number 1, and he has lost the one person he cares about most in the universe (honestly I just don’t see Sam falling out with Cas here because those two are TIGHT but Sam’s friendship alone won’t be enough to make Cas stay - it’s the DeanCas tension that all the PR has been going on about lately).
So then we have two Cas free episodes with 4 and 5 (and I love that there was early speculation following a pic that Jensen posted that Dean might have a beard in episode 4 because OMG GRIEF BEARD OVER LOSING CAS HELLO YES PLEASE GIMME THIS!)
Episode 6 set spoilers show Jared and Misha filmed together, whereas there were very few Jensen sightings. We can therefore speculate that Sam reaches out to Cas because he is fed up of his brothers sulking? Or maybe Cas finds a hunt and calls Sam because he’s still mad at his husband. Or well, anything along these lines. If Dean and Cas don’t reunite in episode 6, then that makes for a very interesting timeline with episode 7. Which is looking to be EPIC.
We have received quite a few spoilers for episode 7 so far. We know that Christian Kane is going to be playing an “old friend” of Dean’s from his past (who it appears Sam doesn’t know, or at least isn’t involved with). We know there will be a fight scene which “the fans will love” whatever that means, and we know that they filmed at “Swayze’s bar”. [Twitter Source]
*rubs temples and tries not to reach for the red nose straight away*
We also now know that Jensen will be singing in this episode and that Dean and Leo have a “wild night” together where Dean will “recapture his mojo” [Twitter Source]
*starts painting face with red and white*
So Dean was down on his mojo eh Dabb? This is starting to sound a bit like early season 13. Dean clearly doesn’t take too well to Cas leaving him in episode 3. >.>
Now I am convinced that no matter what happens in episode 7, the homoerotic tension is gonna be EXTREME, but please allow me to go full clown mode here for a second
*adjusts rainbow wig*
*HERE BE SPECULATION FOLKS - JUST SOLID CLOWN FACED SPECULATION*
If this episode does indeed go down the route of Leo being an ex boyfriend, if something DOES happen between Dean and Leo beyond just bros being bros, then we have a legit coming out episode here following a huge bust up with his actual husband that somehow ends with Dean getting his mojo back. This episode, like every Dean focused episode, usually ends up with Dean getting some big realisation. Dean growing a little bit more, and the audience learning something new about him. Whatever goes down, we are now in a prime position for a DeanCas reunion either by episode end or in episode 8.
IF in episode 8 Dean is able to reconcile with Cas in someway, but because some other horrible shit goes down (which based on latest spoilers could potentially be an Adam/OG!Michael return/Cage breakout of hell nightmare) plus since episode 8 is a Bucklemming episode meaning it will be overly jam packed with plot stuff so a potential Jack return plus Empty entity in this one too - then...
*deep breath*
The time line fits.
Episode 8 plot filled mayhem interrupts a true DeanCas make up scene but we get at least some reveal that Dean wants to have a “conversation” with Cas, then imagine if following the episode 8 drama Jack returns. Imagine if we get a midseason finale in episode 9 where for at least a small part of the episode it looks like the family is back together? Following all the angst and separation of the early season we are right back to where we were during the midseason finale of season 14 - TFW2.0 together again and fighting side by side. Enough to bring some joy to our poor angels otherwise broken heart?
Imagine if though, when all is said and done, right after the boys think they have a win, Dean gets his moment. The show has already given us his coming out ep. He has already realised what it is he truly wants, now he finally gets the chance to reach out and grasp for it...
But when he does it’s a moment too late. It’s time to pay up. Cas gets his moment of true happiness - and the Empty takes him. Midseason finale ends with a horrified Dean having just laid his heart on his sleeve, and a dead Castiel at his feet.
THE TIMELINE FITS.
(I know. I’m a clown for having any hope in this - but my god the potential is too much for me to bare. HONK HONK)
Standard Disclaimer: Nothing I say here is claiming to be factual other than sources from PR related material and spoilers from set. Speculation is all based on what we have seen and my own foolish hope that this show might actually go the way it has been building up to for 10 fucking years. I am not a psychic. I do not have a crystal ball. Readers are asked to manage their own expectations and not blame me for daring to squee about my own excited enthusiasm on the internet on my own blog. Hate is not welcome. Negative comments and moaning accusations are not welcome. Either squee with me in excited delight or scroll on past. You are welcome to join my screaming over on Twitter as well.
Manage your own expectations. I am not telling you anything is going to happen other than what I would LIKE to happen. As always PR IS NOT SHOWRUNNING.
Thank you and good night.
#supernatural#destiel#spn spoilers#spn speculation#season 15#my thoughts#as well as the thoughts of about 10 other people in an overexcited twitter gc#i am SO EXCITED for this season#pr is not showrunning
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hi, im kinda new to witchcraft and i dont really know anything (prayers, rituals, beliefs, etc), plus there's a lot of contrasting info online so i don't know what i should go with. could you please briefly explain how you view witchcraft and what you do? i'm going around asking this to a lot of other blogs to get a general sense of things. thanks!
Before we begin I just wanna point out that when you say prayers and beliefs, I think of paganism. When I hear ritual and witchcraft, I think of magic.
Religion and magic is intertwined but you do not have to be pagan or wicca or whatever to be a witch, or vise versa. For me, a witch is someone who practices magic, whether it be simple things like jar spells or folk magic or traditional witchcraft or anything ceremonial or ritualistic (although some ceremonial magic practitioners prefer the term magician over witch, which is up to them). A diviner is someone who uses divination tools such as tarot or pendulums to seek knowledge (and again, you can be a diviner without ever touching witchcraft). Spirit work and hedge work is also another area for you to look into.
You can be a pagan - lighting incense, praying and making offerings - without being a witch either. Some say there is inherent magic in worship, but personally, if you just worship but don’t practice witchcraft (do spells etc) then you’re just a follower of a pagan religion. And there is nothing wrong with that. Of course, you can also be all that I mentioned above simultaneously too, but there is no hurry to quickly define yourself when you’re starting out. Changing the way you label yourself or your craft as you grow (or foregoing a label in the first place) is equally valid too.
More info on some beginner tips + my views on witchcraft below.
If you’re starting out some times I’d give are:
Learn how to protect yourself. Energy work and shielding techniques is how I started, or calling on Archangels if you believe in them. Once I was more comfortable I began learning how to use witch bottles to defend myself, how to banish (look up the LBRP) and more.
Read and read and read! Not on Tumblr but actual books (the legit ones, not the trendy money-milking ones) and historical sources. If there are contradicting sources, use your gut and your brain. Check for author bias and cross-check with other sources. Listen to your intuition yet use critical thinking and discernment too.
Record and test your divination and spells. See if a prediction comes true. Test if a spell manifest the desired result within the given time frame. If you do a wealth spell, then the spell’s success will be confirmed by increased wealth. Try altering your methods, and note if you become more successful or accurate and adapt accordingly.
Don’t be pressured to spend loads of money on your craft especially when you’re starting out. Of course, you may want to give fancy wine as an offering to your god, but if that isn’t feasible then a home cooked meal alongside traditional offerings such as bread would be alright too. Also with books, of course it is good to support occult publishers but try borrowing from libraries, find e-books and use your university account to borrow them, or find PDFs of them online.
Personally, it may not be suitable for complete beginners but I recommend books by Troy Books for witchcraft info. For learning Lenormand, the Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlin Matthews is the best. I know it’s 600+ pages but I swear it’s so good.
For me, witchcraft is about power. When you feel like there isn’t anywhere else to go, when your friends seem distant or unable to comprehend what you’re struggling with, when the law has failed you and corruption has won, witchcraft is a way to redirect your life and regain your sovereignty. Which is why I also believe in hexes and, in some context, curses (although I know it’s a can of worms to open and I’ll make posts on hexes and curses one day).
Divination is used to give you guidance and insight into something that may take you forever to figure out by yourself. It is also a way to communicate with the divine. What I am against though, is using divination to spy on others, as you’re essentially destroying other people’s rights to privacy. Claiming 100% accuracy is also an act of hubris, which is why I always say that my readings are reasonably accurate because in the end, free will triumphs over all and even the strings of fate has many threads.
If your relationship with a deity is rooted in transaction, then it can be said that you are working with them, not worshiping or devoting yourself to them. A devotional pagan relationship between oneself and one’s deity can be transactional too (eg: I worship Dionysus and he helps me with giving me opportunities to grow, along with giving guidance on my path) but what is more important is the devotion - the love and bond - you have with said deity.
Where the line between witchcraft and paganism blurs is when you involve deities in your spell or divination.
When I was young I used to dismiss the incantations that the monks in my country use. However, one day I went to a ceremony where almost a hundred monks gather and pray, casting their spells in unison, and even with my initial derisive views towards conventional Buddhism I felt something that day. Now, I realize when certain words have been spoken and imbued with power and continues to be recited with fervent faith for hundreds or thousands of years, power becomes inherent in those words. The same goes for rituals and spells.
This is why a beginner who had never managed to manifest anything properly can screw up when doing ceremonial witchcraft and end up bringing misfortune into their lives. Those ceremonies are meant to be performed that way, invoking those gods, for a reason. Best case scenario when you mess up is they don’t work. Worse case is they bite you back. Same goes for spirit work and especially so regarding demon work. I was curious about the Ars Goetia in the past, and I am immensely grateful that my naive, idiotic past self had enough brains not to attempt any summoning. If you want to prove to yourself that the magical world is real, there are better ways to do so.
Do I believe the gods are literally real? That Buddha walked his first step and a lotus flower bloomed under his feet? That Dionysus wrapped a ship in vines and turned the disbelieving pirates into dolphins? I don’t think so. But I have faith in my gods the same way one can be a Christian without believing that the Earth is 9000 years old. And I believe in magic because I have felt it and observed the evidence.
Maybe it was easier for me to believe because I grew up in an animistic and spiritual country, where things like divination and spirit work is ‘normal’ (although people do fear and respect the supernatural). Making offerings to household spirits is something my family does weekly. Hell, almost every family has a mini spirit house in their property that hosts the spirit of land guardians. Going to shrines and praying to our local version of ‘dryads’ and ‘tree ghost’ is common for if you want good luck or a bargain.
Messing with corpses is now outlawed, but witch doctors in my country have been known to make consecrated oil from the corpses of women. As recent as 2012, stillborn fetus had been used in ceremonies which turn them into household spirits to bring luck - if they are pleased and fond of you. Of course, magic of these types are against the law because the actions required to perform them are illegal, but the point is, it shows that magic is very real and still believed in where I come from.
If you’re coming from a western worldview where all of this is ‘weird’ or ‘primitive’ or ‘crazy’, it might feel difficult to trust in your supernatural senses, to have faith or to find your path. But if you keep practicing and refining your skills, you’ll find that magic is something that will always draws you back to it, that it is something you cannot live without.
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bun isnt showing up on my dash, smh tumblr, I can see the post on your blog but its not showing up in my feed (also I was talking about ur oc nano... their old and new stuff :0)
[cough] delayed one day because i started feeling sleepy LOL
uuuh honestly nano-cen hasn’t changed much since the last time ive looked at him mostly because i ditched him for yu and he deserves it
I don’t really remember how much I shared last time I was asked about him though so *checking papers* lemme see
uuuh i guess it takes me longer to explain nano usually because he’s very attached to the concept of the world he’s in. Sure I can just say “there is this bunny and he is a medium and his family is all about that spirituality stuff” but it’s not the same if i don’t add “and that’s pretty normal for most part because in the world he comes from the gap between the living and the dead is very small and they are actually able to contact each other so talking to deceased ancestors is a pretty normal thing though it still requires training and not everyone is able to do it but in the end their whole culture is based on the connection they have with the ‘other side’” *takes deep breah* because then it’s hard to explain why the modernization of society is killing that culture in a way that makes his family be despised by the youngest generations
...Still with me? Well, okay.
Basically people handling the culture badly in order to make a profit is a thing that happens in a massive scale, even to the point where places considered “official” sanctuaries have been caught on the lie. There’s a lot of factors that come into play but I’m gonna spare you from the details of the downfall of bunny culture.
Nano’s family, though, they’re the real deal. And they’ve been for generations. The problem is, no matter how legit you are -- if there’s a scandal nearby, you’re doomed to be a victim of it.
And now, if I’m gonna be honest, the real protagonist when I’m talking about Nano is actually his mother. He is really just the product of her hard work and I think I should finally start saying that LMAO
Aeruii, she’s a troubled woman. She’s gotta deal with a broken marriage, a very fragile child, and people who are unreasonably angry at her every now and then. And a lot of other stuff, but the big thing is: she is always busy or tired, and never really has the time for the only joy in her world, her son. She’s never there, not even when the his chronic illness eventually kills him.
And that’s what changed everything. Her world stopped moving the way it used to. After years stubbornly clinging to her heritage -- to everything she grew up with -- she finally gives it all up. She leaves. Changes her name. Finds a new home. Starts a new life.
But ultimately, Aeruii breaks down at the thought that the one who deserved a second chance wasn’t her.
SO HERE’S WHERE NANO 2: THE UPRISING STARTS
uuuh i dont like to get into details because its extremely cliche satanic ritual kinda stuff but yeah she does that bc she wants to give nano everything she never could and sure it requires some hard work and sacrifices lmaaaooo
so heres the deets
nano before all of this:
-good boy
-best friends with yu and thats all he needs
-shy
-likes doodling some flowers he sees
-he doodles them anywhere and sometimes its not even a flower its something that looks like a flower
-”check out this weird flower!” ”nano that is a cabbage”
-very good at the “talking with ghosts” thing except for the part where he’s supposed to learn a whole ass language to properly do it
nano after all of this:
-BITCH
-doesn’t talk to anyone unless addressed first but its not bc hes shy he just doesnt CARE
-ok its not really like that hes just ‘meh’ most of the time but Aeruii never really noticed the difference between his shy personality and his dead boring personality because of sad reasons
-hes a little bit like a zombie? until you talk to him. hes kinda always zoning out not thinking of anything but can act like a normal person when necessary
-obsessive about one person, though, will do anything for them only(and its not his mother!). says its love but its a zombie instinct kinda
-saw yu once, might have attempted murder. i swear it was a very circumstantial situation and not any deep hatred
and basically that was all just aeruii’s story but nano’s story goes like this
-some kids like him enough to keep him around
-he gets a bit obsessive over one of them
-wants to be the only one in that person’s life
-mild yandere shit
-they find out about him being a creepy bastard & kick him outta the group
-he freaks the fuck out
-violent yandere shit
-the original version of this story included some deaths but worry not present be is rated E for Everyone
i wanted this to be a brief summary but that can never be true when its about nano-cen. so many fucking factors. why the hell are these bunnies so complicated
anyway, *clears throat*
ⁿᵃⁿᵒ ᶜʳᵉᶻᶦᵒ⁻ᵗᵒᵐᵒʳᵒ ᵛᵃᵐⁿᵈᵉ ⁿᵉʳᵒʰᶦ.
ᵒʳ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ
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As a fellow Merlin fan, I can't help but ask what loaded march is and if it's on AO3? Merlin was a key part of my childhood but I'm not really that involved in the fandom. Any other suggestions?
*aggressively knocks at door* do you have time to talk about our lord, savior, and bible? Loaded March is an odyssey, clocking in at a 1.2 million deliciously intricate plot of magic, friendship, politics, and romance. It is one of the most in depth fic I've ever read and hands down one of the best works of fiction in general that I've ever read. Honestly. If I were stuck on a deserted island and could only have one book to read, it would be this baby.
It is a modern military AU and let me tell you, the author knows their stuff. Also, I'm soOo sorry this is late, I've been slammed and I wanted to do everything justice! It was also really hard to narrow down some recs!! But first, more about Loaded March!!
Arthur is a Captain in the Special Air Service (SAS) and has a team of specialists called Excalibur! Now, what I love about this is that there is obviously no way that the ensemble of Merlin could contribute to a whole squad/teams worth of people, so the author utilizes names from the original mythos and beautifully crafts them into characters that you love so dearly, even with them not being part of BBC Merlin. They write these new characters so perfectly woven into the plot that you become emotionally invested in all of them and all of their lives anYWAYS OWAIN is bae. I DIGRESS.
So they're this highly decorated special forces team, but they can't seem to hold onto a communications specialist. It's the only role that would be filled by someone who didn't enlist with them all. Generally they can't find someone who fits in. Long story short, Merlin is put on their team. And lemme tell you- Ya remember their first meeting and convo in the pilot episode? Footloose stays true to the show in that regard. Also I'm obviously not gonna spoil anything, but just an additional flavor vibe- Kilgharrah is a General they call The Dragon because of his attitude and it appears that he's always smoking cigars. Anyways, magic plays a heavy heavy role, as does politics. It's like a huge chess board of players with espionage and undercover work and twists and turns it's SO GOOD PLEASE READ IT AND GUSH WITH ME. It is on AO3. It's 16 parts. You should check it out at least! Whew child, I definitely have suggestions! I'm gonna run through some of the classics. Please be mindful of the rating on these. I've posted these because of the plot, not because of any sexual nature that may or may not be present. Any sexual content in the following can be easily skipped over without losing any of the plot. That said, I can also rec some hella good gratuitous ones as well. Don't judge me, I was in my high school and college prime when I was neck deep and active in the fandom. Additionally, if you ever want any requests for specific tropes/genre in general, hit me up! I'm an admin on the @fuckyeahmerlinfanfic Tumblr which was a fic request and hunting down specific fics blog.
The Student Prince
WC: 141.6KSummary: A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...
Commentary: This is THE most popular fic in the fandom and honest to god for good reason. The author was a student at St Andrews (which is where a lot of royals attend university and where William and Kate met). This is worth noting because a historic university like that has a lot of nuance traditions and events that the author incorporates. Will always highly recommend. If you aren't down to tackle Loaded March, this one for sure for SURE is worth tackling. And the podfic is to die for
Lord Drake's Bequest
WC: 10KSummary: "To my great-nephew Arthur I bequeath Tintagel Distribution, wholly and without reserve, save for one condition. You must marry, and stay married, for a period of no less than six months. You're a wonderful businessman Arthur, but a full life needs love and companionship, not just a string of affairs. Settle down young Arthur, and your life will be the richer for it."
Commentary: Fake Relationship- Need I say more?
Lions and Pebbles and Penguins, Oh My!
WC: 10.4KSummary: Sitting at the top of "Uther's All Time Parenting Backfires" is Arthur's fellow colleague and clumsy best friend - Merlin Emrys.
Commentary: This was so cute and I always recommend it to people when they ask me for recs. It's inspired by that old news article about the gay penguins at the zoo. So cute!!
What Child is This
WC: 30KSummary:A modern AU with Merlin, Arthur, mayhem, a baby and a jingly elf hat.
Commentary: Christmas fic!! It's a kid!fic but not how you think. Baby is abandoned and I won't say more but it was cute and I'm eagerly waiting until my Christmas vaca to reread it.
Pairing Pendragon/Merlin
WC: 25KSummary: Arthur is a BNF and Merlin is his prized beta
Commentary: I'm not trying to assume but before this fic I had no idea so just in case you're in my shoes, BNF is a big name fan. That aside, THIS IS ONE OF MY TOP FAVE FICS. I was obsessed with the podfic and am currently digging through my hard drive trying to find it because it's legit probably worth listening to it over reading it?? I've never seen a podfic or even an audiobook put together this beautifully. Arthur is a fanfic writer for STARZ Camelot and Merlin is his beta that he's never met before. Read it, Read it, Read it!! Talking about it now, I'm gonna read it tonight I think.
ANYWAYS
If you ever want anymore recs, hit me up! And if you read any of these and want to talk about them, hit me up.
I’m so sorry for the long post and for it having been so long to reply!!
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Eftbk Season Recap: Markus x Leiland Edition
Yes this post will just b me listing and gushing over everytime they interacted but whatever this is my blog and I do wat a want.
Major warning for people who only watch on YouTube as this post contains spoilers. Infact all spoilers on this blog are tagged w/ #spoilers just incase u want to avoid them as some of this stuff is better enjoyed in context than out. U've been warned.
Ep.1
Markus, when asked to prove if knew everyone's name, called Kras-Thun by his real name, Leiland, first. Kras-Thun even attempted to shyly remind him not to do so in front of Zaul'Nazh, meaning he probably calls him that when they're alone.
Markus giving Leiland a gunpowder bag to store Zaul'Nazh's ashes and doing his best to comfort him
In return Leiland promises to find a place among his guardians for Markus' soul should he ever leave his mortal coil. I'll b honest I dont know if he meant to make him a vinguri if he dies or whatever but it seemed legit
Ep.2
Probably doesn't count, but I thot it was hella cute how Markus took credit for Leiland's circle of death thing
Leiland promising to help Markus after he defeats Hamhead, it doesnt happen but it's the thot that counts
Markus defeating Hamhead and giving credit to Leiland. Let's b honest its wat solidified the ship.
Ep.3
Markus, being the silver tongued devil that he is, pushes Leiland aside and helps to convince the other vinguri that they r on an important mission and r totally not gonna kill Declan
Again doesnt probably count, but if u think about it Leiland had Declan's crown, so when Markus attempted to steal/ switch out the crown he was probably next to if not leaning over Leiland. Idk y I'm bringing this up just got me thinking. Might post something bout this l8r.
Leiland and Markus bonding over their past and frustrations w/ they family
Leiland checking out Markus' abs. Hell we all were.
Ep.4
Instead of trying to defeat and restrain his brother, Markus leaves Big Henry w/ his brother and attempts to help Ann pull Leiland back onto the boat.
Probably more out of self preservation, but Leiland taking the time to put out the flame that was near the gunpowder, which could have blown up Markus' ship
Leiland (rly Matt) looking guilty at Markus (mostly Ify) about nonchalantly dropping magical darkness at the worst time.
Ep.5
Not rly any shipping moments but character growth aplenty so continuing the theme of focusing on just the 2 characters Leiland and Markus:
Despite having pretty much his whole backstory (most of the crew, his brother who he in all honesty he didnt want to kill, and his ship) destroyed, Markus doesn't abandon his friends and sticks w/ them.
Even though Hamhead is within his sight, Leiland decides to go back to his friends to help them instead of getting his personal revenge
Leiland drops his noble and arrogant air, and reveals his insecurities to the group, as a way to comfort Efink.
Leiland and Sohk'Barr also come to terms w/ each and appreciate each other more
Markus let's Leiland know that he totally that he was cool when he did his freeze cone attack on the ship (even tho he didnt say it them due to social pressure)
Leiland also becomes disillusioned w/ Zaul'Nazh and realizing he was treating Maggie unfairly and made recompense.
Maggie naming her baby after Leiland and both of them discussing how much of a tool Zaul'Nazh was...is technically...
GROUP HUG!!!
Honestly this episode was a great character builder for Maggie, Efink, and Leiland
Ep.6
Now back to the shipping
Markus hiding in the shadows and preparing to attack anyone who goes after and I quote, "My mans Leiland".
Leiland, and the rest of us, getting distracted by Markus when he takes off his mask and revels that he is sexy.
I swear both Leiland and Markus take a que from one another and use their respective teleport abilities to get out of danger.
Everybody, but I swear particularly Markus, appreciates Leiland new form.
Leiland trusting Markus when he says to leave Olag alive, even tho he is a threat to Maggie and his ward.
Leiland sighing longingly and I quote "I hope he comes back" when Markus leaves w/ John feathers.
Might edit this later to add some more stuff but I just needed to get this off my chest.
Like looking back even tho Leiland was not subtle about his attraction to Markus, Markus does pull his weight in this ship and seems to show more through his actions than words. Infact most, if not all, of the time when Markus tries to lay on the charm he's mostly using it to deceive people.
Might b looking too much into it but whatever I freaking love these guys so much.
#dimension 20#escape from the bloodkeep#markus x leiland#markland#spoilers#im so sad this series is over
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y u ship what u ship?
I’m super interested in what draws people to their favorite ships. Especially ships that are popular but which I’ve never watched/read the source material. SO! Let’s share our fav ships of the present and past and talk about what attracts you to the relationship (this may be a thinly veiled attempt to source my next show/read). Post the ship name & why you ship/shipped it. I’LL GO FIRST.
1. Obvs first for me rn is Harringrove:
WHY? I luv that enemies to friends to lovers tension. It’s my GD fav. Billy is a literal dumpster fire of a human. So thinking about how he could become someone who loves other people is honestly super gratifying and plucks all the right heartstrings for me. Kind of the same sort of gratification as saving a feral animal and coaxing it to trust you and only you. In this case Steve. And Steve is just like this sappy heartbroken bisexual LOSER who has kind of fallen from social grace, but he has so much love to give to a relationship. He’s the perfect complement to Billy.
2. Ship: Hannigram. Pairing: Will/Hannibal
WHY? Oooh lads. I’m not actively reading fic in this fandom anymore bc Harringrove has taken over my life, but i follow all the Hannigram blogs, i feckin’ bought the anthology, i have read Blackbird legit 19 times. So, maybe you’re seeing a pattern here: enemies to friends to lovers. Like, jesus, how satisfying is it to be the only person a literal serial killer falls in love with? The tension you guys. No ship quite has angst like Hannibal does. I find myself attracted to really ‘problematic’, imperfect characters, because I want to lap up the catharsis of them finding love, even if they don’t fucking deserve it.
3. Ship: SanSan Pairing: Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark
WHY Wow can i be original for one second and not ship the least likely people ever together? NO? Ok, so i seriously shipped the book characters (not the show characters, that relash was garbage) for a hot little minute a few years ago. I loved that The Hound is this misanthrope who hates everyone and expects the worst from people, but who is shown innocent kindness by a literal princess. It really stokes my monsters who have never experienced a Good Touch but who finally get to and don’t know what the feck to do with it kink. Which is kind of a thread throughout everything I’ve ever shipped.
SO. If you’re as interested in seeing why people like what they do as I am, post your fav ships of present and past and why you liked them. I WANNA KNOW.
#hannigram#sansan#fics#fanfiction#shipping#ships#OTP#I want to know why we like what we like#i bet there will be patterns#harringrove
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Look Out For Fictitious Callout Posts
tumblr user roninwritingofficial has recently decided that a tumblr user whose donation posts regarding them being kicked out of the house by an abusive parent is scam. Whether that’s true or not I have no place to say, it seems legit to me but I’ve done zero research and it’s not my place to decide if a 13 year old is really in danger or not. It’s always been my opinion that if you don’t believe a donation post you see is real then you can easily just ignore it and move on. The problem however, is he has also decided that every tumblr post regarding donations that he finds, regardless of them having no similarity to the first one outside of the idea of donations, is the same person posing as several people running a mass scam. He has made a post “calling out a scam artist” That consists of screenshots of several very different blogs and their donation posts, one screenshot just being an artist’s commission information post. He’s saying that he has proven without a doubt that these people are the same person running a scam, despite many of these people never having interacted before, some of them being popular and established blogs within fandom communities, and most of them having extensive selfie tags showing each of their very different faces. To be clear, this man has accused several children and adults of all being the same person attempting to scam people, citing their various and completely unrelated donation and commission posts as “proof”, offering no other proof, but making several posts stating it as fact and tagging those posts with things like “gay rights” “lgbtq issues” and other things to make sure they have a large reach (he’s also labeling this as a them “fucking with the lgbtqia community” despite it having nothing to do with the community, likely to rile people up against these users)
These claims have absolutely no grounds, he has provided NO proof of this he doesn’t even explain WHY his screenshots are damning he just throws them in there, and gives no explanation as to how he found all these completely unconnected blogs and why he decided they were the same person. Several of the donation posts are simply ko-fi links, a common thing for artists to have, and again at one point he cites an artist’s COMMISSION INFO as proof, as well as someone selling original songs. He’s also claiming to be a former investigator for the US military.
Please, if you see these posts making rounds, do not believe them. He is defaming people in potential need of assistance and artists trying to make a living with no proof and on no grounds, and if this nonsense call out is spread it could be severely damaging to these people’s reputations and careers.
I’m not gonna include the accused people’s urls in my post because it’s ridiculous that they’re being dragged into this and I won’t participate in involving them, but if you follow the links provided to the insane posts this person has made you will see all their urls in the screenshots. He even tracked down one artist’s personal facebook and used the commission post they shared with real life family and friends on there as proof, despite the fact that them having a personal facebook in line with the person they claim to be on tumblr does more to disprove this person’s accusations than it does to prove anything they’re saying. He’s now using this person’s real name freely in the call out posts and their tags, so if this doesn’t get shut down it could potentially affect that person’s real life and career.
Here is his first post
and his second “explaining why he called out these people” which really just talks about the fact that he personally is a gay man and thus gets angry when he sees people messing with the community (again, their posts do nothing of the sort) and continues to insist that he without a doubt has figured out these people are all one person. It’s completely delusional ramblings that offer no other evidence past the screenshots of their unrelated posts.
#scam artist#lgbtq#lgbtqia#gay issues#lgbt community#lgbt issues#sorry I'm tagging this with what the fuckwad tagged his post with so people will see this in the tags as well as his bullshit post#psa#signal boost
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it’s hope??? again??? yes u read that right here’s my son rory love us this blog is so new so nothing will be in the tags i hate everything lmao anyway like this or message me to plot ily bye
triggers: car crash, drunk driving, stroke, abortion, death, depression ( mention )
╰☆╮ DACRE MONTGOMERY ─ RORY PEARSON identifies as CISMALE and uses HE/HIM pronouns. they’re a YOUTUBER/MUSICIAN, and they’re only TWENTY-TWO ! they’re said to be +CANDID, but also -DESPONDENT. i guess that’s why they’re known as THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRE in the tabloids. ( kendall schmidt, logan henderson )
did i use two btr bois as his vc??? u bet ur ass i did & i have no regrets ok anyway on to my son
background:
rory pearson was born and raised in fairhope, alabama. his parents were teenagers when they had him and lived with his grandma scarlett. his mom jean marie was ousted by her parents when she told them she was pregnant and his dad’s mom took her in with open arms.
of course his grandma wasn’t going to let them live in the same room in her house without being married, especially with her grandbaby on the way. so after talking with them, and his parents agreeing, they went to the courthouse and got married three months before rory came into the world.
rory was born on april 20th, 1996 and he was without a name for six days. his parents couldn’t decide so they named him rory wyatt vincent pearson. he was always told that since his parents couldn’t decide on naming him after jean marie’s grandfather or greyson’s father, they picked a third name and gave him both of their names for middle names.
when rory was two and a half years old ( not really half, it was june ?? ) his parents graduated high school and went out for a party. unfortunately their designated driver wasn’t so sober and the group of four recent graduates crashed into another car.
his father was in the passenger’s seat and died on impact, his mother was pronounced dead in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
scarlett legally adopted rory after that and raised him. she always told him stories of his parents, but avoided telling him anything about what happened to them for as long as she could.
he was ten years old when he saw the memorial and recognized his parents from their yearbook photos and came home asking about it.
honestly this is jumping ahead a bit but rory didn’t learn to drive until he was twenty years old. and even now, esp now, since he lives in nyc he doesn’t drive often.
okay when he was seventeen years old he met bethany in an airport. he was on his way to a college interview on a connecting flight that got cancelled due to weather conditions. they were both sitting in the same terminal so they got to talking and !!! hit it off
bro legit asked her out 5 seconds after their flights were announced to be back on
“hi yeah we just met but we’ve got two hours before your flight leaves so wanna go grab some food with me???”
and the rest was legit history
he can remember every moment of their conversation and first date like it was yesterday. oh my god he was SO IN LOVE
the human embodiment of the hearteyes emoji
and so the pair stayed in touch and went on a couple more dates and the boy was so gd smitten that grandma scarlett took his phone during one of their phone calls and was like “darlin if you don’t fly down here to meet me i’m going to think my grandbaby is just talking to a complete stranger on here.”
and then bethany flew down and met scarlett and she was so excited because !!!! her grandson had a girlfriend !!!!
grandma scarlett was the biggest supporter of anything rory did in life oh my GOD
at his graduation it was just grandma scarlett in the crowd for him but boy did it sound like the whole crowd was cheering for him when his name was called
anyway flash forward to he’s in college and he’s moved away to be closer to bethany. which should not have affected his life but when he was looking at colleges fr fr after acceptances the boy chose one closer to his girl
we love a softie ok
anyway on bethany’s 19th birthday he took her to an airport and was surprising her with a trip to disney that he’s been saving up for for MONTHS !!!!
and at the airport he was like all jittery and nervous bc in his pocket he had an engagement ring but he did his bEST to hide it all from beth bc surprises
not that he planned the whole thing ( he did ) but it just so happened they were in the same restaurant waiting for their flight as their first date way back when
and in the middle of dessert, the waiters singing happy birthday this boy attempts to be sly and gets down on one knee. but didnt realize there would be someone coming up behind him to keep up the singing and he ..... kinda caused a mini avalanche of people
and he apologized and is like still on one knee and now he’s looking at bethany with a BRIGHT RED face and he had had this whole speech worked out in his mind ok but all that comes out is, “i love you, please marry me?” in like an awkward stutter because he just TOOK OUT AN ENTIRE WAITSTAFF
somehow bethany said yes ??? and they’re engaged ???
oh and someone got the whole thing on camera and like that happened
the video skyrocketed to the most viewed video entitled “i witnessed an awkward proposal???? and she still said yes?????”
which is also lowkey how he started his youtube channel ??
“hi yes it’s me the guy who proposed to an olympic athlete while taking out a whole waitstaff?? i dont know why she said yes either but i love her??”
and for a long time it was mainly vlogs of him and beth and him and his friends
okay so fast forward and rory’s graduated college with a degree in history education bc he wants to be a teacher and he’s got to fly back to alabama and miss his graduation because he got a phone call and grandma scarlett had a stroke
so the boy is freaking out but it’s fine !!! grandma goes home and he winds up staying down and now he’s trying to figure out how to be with beth, find a job in ny, but also take care of his grandma
for a while he toys with the idea of moving grandma up to new york and helping her find a place. so he goes back to new york to talk to beth about it and he’s freaking out and he gets home and she tells him she’s pregnant
of course he never expected to be like 20 and having a baby but ??? whatever. now he’s freaking out because his grandma is not doing good and he’s worried about her and now he’s got to figure out what to do with a BABY ???
and bethany then tells him she wants to get an abortion and rory’s already stressed and so he flips bc of emotions and they get into a huge fight and it just winds up with him leaving and heading back to alabama and bethany in their apartment
so rory goes home to alabama and he keeps getting notifications on social media about bethany so he just shuts his phone off and i’m talking like he goes days without touching his cell phone. he takes a hiatus from youtube because he’s freaking out and
two months after he’s home he seemed like scarlett was doing better so he took her to a party in town to see some of her friends and at the party scarlett had another stroke.
she died six days later, never waking up from the medically induced coma they put her in.
flash forward a couple more weeks after he’s working with lawyers for his grandma’s estate and rest assured scarlett pearson had nothing but her house, her garden, and her beat up corvette that her deceased husband wyatt bought her for their anniversary one year
so its a shocker to find out that scarlett pearson was worth 43.7 billion dollars
and now that money all goes to rory because he’s her only living heir ???
so rory gets this BOATLOAD of money and the local newspaper picks it up which brings it to the national news and somehow it made international news
“local alabama boy from youtuber to billionaire overnight”
so he kept his grandma’s house in alabama because ..... he can’t seem to let that go and why should he ?? its a good house and holds a lot of memories
but he does in fact buy a brownstone in manhattan its HUGE and he doesn’t have enough things to fill the whole space up but ??? he’s working on it slowly.
he created a makeshift recording studio in one of the upstairs rooms and has been working on music, which is new to him ?? he was always a bit artistic but never sure enough to like try it out
oh and he’s returned to youtube, he’s got a decent following i guess
i mean lbr he’s hot ???? and sings ??? so ??? ya know
personality:
okay so this is long already so im gonna keep this short n sweet
rory is a sweet boy, never really an athletic type always more focused on his studies than sports.
spent a lot of time with his grandma and he’s very easily attached to people he’s close to. not exactly clingy, but it’s really hard for him to let people go i guess ???
used to love shows like survivor and big brother and amazing race. always toyed with the idea of applying to be on amazing race but he never had anyone who would go with him, or could for that long.
he’s a real kind hearted guy and clumsy as fuck
a bit awkward when you first meet him but ??? you warm up quickly and so does he
clumsy af as noted earlier
kind of depressed ??? idk he’s not seeing anyone for it but post losing beth, his grandma, and like the possibility of a family in the future he’s kinda ..... morbid
puts on a happy front for youtube
oh and he does a podcast talking about stuff with his friends idk what exactly but ?? its prob music and movies lbr
connections:
best friend(s)--self explanatory; people who he gets along with and they’re like his ride or dies.
nerd friends--give him someone to geek out with please he’s SUCH A NERD !!!! or someone who likes learning random things he’s got u
musical friends--people who he met through starting to delve into music
youtube community--give me people who !!! met through youtube and often do colabs together. probably ppl who were shooketh when he came back and was like “bro i have 40 billion dollars????”
wealthy friend(s)--give me someone who will teach this boy how to be wealthy ??? like cause he knows nothing about that he struggled a lot growing up and with college and several part time jobs he doesnt know how to like party or anything
idk anything else
#excessintro#♣ ▂▂ threads ◎#♣ ▂▂ mssg ◎#♣ ▂▂ socials ◎#♢ ▂▂ selfies for days ◎#♢ ▂▂ make a playlist ◎#♢ ▂▂ he sings ◎#♢ ▂▂ about the boy ◎#♡ ▂▂ time for a q and a ◎#♡ ▂▂ answering your qs ◎#♤ ▂▂ a wild hope appears ◎#all the triggers are listed at the top#car crash tw#drunk driving tw#stroke tw#abortion tw#death tw#depression mention tw#WOW OK HE'S DONE#like this or mssg me to plot pls an thank
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do you think it's open to interpretation whether dean and cas are in love with each other? Like is it just as valid an interpretation to say they're not? Whenever anyone calls destiel "one interpretation" or whatever, my hackles rise. And I know I'm overly sensitive about this stuff, being a gay and whatnot, but I mean, is it? Am I just insecure because my otp isn't canon, or is destiel really more valid than other readings or what? What do you think?
Hi there. :)
I’m gonna give you the diplomatic, academic answer, and then I’m gonna give you the grumpy-ass queer lady answer. Hold on to your horses. :)
Polite answer:
All media is open to interpretation. Of course, this doesn’t mean that all interpretations are equally valid, or equally supported by canon, especially when taken in context of the entire body of the work in question.
For example, I replied to a post the other day about 13.17, and that scene where Dean and Sam are-- on first glance-- rather disrespectful of the extremely rare and valuable books in the bunker... but in context of the rest of the episode and the rest of the season, that montage wasn’t about disrespecting those books at all. It had less than nothing to do with the books themselves as objects or as sources of knowledge that should be properly cared for and respected. But out of context it kinda looks that way. So, based on that one short gif set, it might seem like a perfectly legitimate interpretation to suggest that Sam and Dean were careless with the immense knowledge and invaluable books they’ve found themselves in possession of. But in the larger context of their entire history, of all their interactions with the bunker and the untold store of knowledge it holds, and with the context of the specific reasons for their frustration in that particular scene, it seems obvious that there’s a lot more to the story, you know?
You could technically argue just about any weird headcanon can be supported by canon. I wrote this weird little post right after 12.11 aired, and it sat in my drafts for a good long time before I finally posted it. But there’s nothing in canon that legit quashes the possibility that endgame fish!Cas is where the story’s been headed all along. He’s positively swimming in fish metaphors. (sorry, I couldn’t resist) Does that abundance of fish, fishing imagery, and water imagery that have surrounded Cas for years lend itself to a literal interpretation? I mean, it’s definitely AN interpretation that is there if you want to see it, and if in your heart of hearts you believe it’s legitimately what the storytelling is attempting to convey here. But does that make it a valid interpretation that deserves serious consideration? Does it truly make sense when taking the larger story around Cas as a whole? Or is it obviously a literary theme that we’re supposed to consider through the themes traditionally associated with fish and fishing as used in countless other fictional works of the past? I suppose that sort of interpretation has been left open for us to take or leave as we see fit. It invites us to examine those references more closely, to help us understand Cas as a character and the journey his personal character arc is taking him through. It gives his experiences and growth a depth of context that is there to explore if we so choose.
(for more on Cas vs Fish, please see my tags regarding “The Fisher King.” I like to think there’s a more well-reasoned and logical line of thinking for pinning so much fish to Cas than my cracky example of fish!Cas would suggest.)
Now, looking at destiel specifically, if you take any single moment out of context, it’s absolutely possible to make an interpretation that their relationship is clearly more “brotherly,” or clearly more “familial,” or clearly one of “very close friends.” But it requires the same removal from the larger context to explain away what taken with the entirety of their history begins to look entirely undeniable.
I suppose, since Supernatural is an open canon and the story hasn’t been fully told yet, that it’s possible the writers could change course with the storytelling. It’s possible that something might prevent them from taking Dean and Cas and their story to the conclusion they’ve been building to for the last ten years. They could decide to leave this particular “interpretation” open-ended and unresolved.
Since that is always a possibility, and because I’m not psychic, nor do I have any top secret inside information from the writers and showrunners, I can’t say that my particular interpretation is more valid or correct or likely than anyone else’s. But I have yet to come up against a credible, coherent explanation for the entire body of extant canon that invalidates my particular interpretation, either.
The vast majority of arguments against boil down to logical fallacies-- cherry-picking scenes out of context as “proof,” straw man arguments, and ad hominem attacks. Because of this, I’m content to wait for canon to play out. I’ll happily watch the rest of the story unfold, and happily continue to interpret what I’m witnessing as a whole instead of attempting to dissect it out and explain away what I see as an entirely logical progression of storytelling.
As an aside here, I find it entirely fascinating that one of the most common complaints I read from people who deny Dean and Cas are in love is that the writing has become progressively more terrible, that the story of Supernatural as a whole makes less and less sense, and that the characters are behaving in increasingly “out of character” ways. And as someone in possession of rational capabilities, I wonder if their disconnect from the storytelling is simply their refusal to see and accept that perhaps their “interpretation” of the story is just... not correct.
When we attempt to deny or rationalize away certain interpretations of characterization, or certain progressions of events and how they relate to one another, the larger narrative just falls apart, you know? Of course it doesn’t make sense if you exclude large portions of it because you don’t want to see it or believe it’s happening, or important to the story.
Meanwhile, I’m over here loving every minute of it (okay... most minutes of it). So even if my interpretation isn’t absolutely 100% “correct” (and really, with any media, there’s always different ways to interpret everything, from what the color of the curtains might imply to who’s gonna get to fire Chekhov’s Gun in the third act), I’m content to continue to interpret it in a way that not only makes me personally happiest, but in a way that makes the story itself seem both logical and entertaining, as well.
Okay, that’s the end of the rational portion of this essay. Now on to the angry queer lady portion:
There’s more canon evidence for Dean and Cas being in love, or at the very least caring for one another to ridiculous, rather mind-numbing degrees, than there is for practically every canon heterosexual couple on television in the last fifty years. Think of any slow burn, will they-won’t they hetero couple, and do the point-by-point checklist of all the tropes they burned through before they got to the love declarations and the kissing and the happily ever afters (or worse, the dramatic breaking up and getting back together, or even worse, the tragically breaking up forever). I challenge anyone to name one hetero-presenting couple who required as many love tropes for audiences to recognize and acknowledge they were in love. Yeah, I’m thinking of that whole “they shared a pencil” post.
So yeah, there is likely a measure of heteronormativity to it, and a lot of the arguments against also devolve into rather gross denouncements that there’s no way Dean’s not straight, because he said so that one time... Mr. “I lie professionally” who also never actually said he was straight... gah... I’m not gonna dig up every ancient meta post on the subject. If anyone is legitimately interested in understanding why making those same tired arguments just doesn’t have any legitimacy in a reasoned discussion, they can damn well do their own digging. It’s not like any of the evidence is difficult to uncover, and it’s not my job to spoon feed it to every naysayer myself.
I feel like I’m standing on a Mt. Everest size pile of rational, reasonable, well-argued analysis supporting the claim that Dean and Cas are in love. *stands back and points at my whole entire blog again* If anyone would like to come back at me with something even remotely worth my time and attention to persuade me to alter my interpretation, I suggest they get busy. I’ll just be up here on top of my mountain enjoying the clean, destiel-scented air up here.
And finally, who says it’s not canon? Ah, right. Moving goalposts. At this point, I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that Dean and Cas don’t love one another. And profoundly, at that. I mean, you don’t give up an army for one guy if you don’t at least like him a lil bit. You don’t shout down God begging him to bring back that dude you’re kinda buddies with, or sink into a suicidal funk that reverses completely within minutes of finding out said buddy’s alive again. You don’t offer to march to your death with your chum because he’s such a nice guy and all. I mean... honestly. How far in denial does someone have to be to suggest they don’t love each other? At this point, when comparing Sam and Dean’s reactions far into s13 to Cas’s death in 12.23, either you accept that Dean has much stronger and far different feelings about the loss of someone that Sam does love and considers a brother, or else you kinda have to assume that Sam’s just kind of a dick for not being as broken up about Cas’s death as Dean is. So... which interpretation do you think is the one they’re trying to convey?
Bleh, whatever. I await the inevitable inbox full of nastiness that I will cheerfully delete while judging every anon who sends it as someone who really should find a better hobby than antagonizing strangers on the internet over a work of fiction.
Anon, basically, don’t let the bastards grind you down, okay?
Now for some reason I feel like listening to Achtung Baby. Imma go do that and feel the love.
#destiel#the scheherazade of supernatural#btw for anyone who still feels the need to antagonize destiel shippers#that tag would be the one for you to find a lot of that content you'll need to actually address in order for anyone to take you seriously#Anonymous
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Day 3 - An extensive recap
First, I want to extend my apologies to those who have been patiently awaiting this post. I had every intention of writing this yesterday, which got away from me (as you’ll see if you keep reading), and then I had every intention of writing this in the morning, which disappeared (again, as you’ll see if you keep reading). It’s now 5:38pm on Wednesday, February 20th as I’m typing this sentence, and I’m once again exhausted from a long day.
[Edit 2: TL;DR for the following TL;DR -- A bunch of cool stuff happened, including books, dragons, lions, motorcycles, KFC, banks, SIM cards, a Starbucks, public transit, and traveling to two opposite ends of Beijing in a single day. Also my trip went from horribly lonely and daunting to pretty freaking cool and slightly less daunting in less than 24 hours. Done typing this at 8:55pm]
Edit: It’s legit 8:37pm when I’m making this edit, only a bit after posting the original. I wanted to add a tl;dr for those not interesting in reading all of this shit. Basically, I made 4 friends in Beijing, none of them from the same country, only one of them is white, only one is male, and only one is from the US. All three of these descriptions describe CB, my supervisor. His wife, RB, is Indian and works with children orphaned due to birth defects. There’s ML, a half-Brazilian, half-Japanese Communications instructor at ICB, and her friend R, who is herself a former Chinese physician turned public health professional/liaison/something-or-other that seems far more impressive and is exactly what she wants to be. All of them are really cool, interesting people that I’m very glad I had the opportunity to meet. In no particular order, I went to several bookstores, a Starbucks, a KFC early in the morning, the supermarket (twice) and got beer (both times) for ridiculously low prices, experienced the Lantern Festival (still not entirely sure what this is, but there were dragons and lions and motorcycles doing crazy synchronized stunts in a metal globe) at an amusement park, rode 5-6 different subway trains and a city bus, ate 10+ new foods, bought a book (because of course I did) which has both the original English and the translate Chinese characters on each page, tried to open a bank account, then got a SIM card, then actually opened a bank account, finally unpacked my luggage, and spent 3 hours typing this blog post. Also the long flight and trip from the airport to my new apartment were mostly uneventful. See? Even this was super long!]
The last you all heard from me here was as I was sitting in a bar in the Vancouver Airport, Sunday morning. Which was sort of 2 days ago, but sort of 3. Time zones are funky, especially when you cross the International Date Line. *shrug*
After I finished writing that post, I lumbered over to my gate and waited to board with the other couple hundred passengers. At one point, I noticed an older woman (probably in her 60′s or 70′s?) trucking along on one of those things that I can only manage to call a human-conveyor-belt that you see in airports. I mention this as she, had she been on carpeted flooring, she would have been making good time; as it so happens, she was on the conveyor belt that was going opposite of her destination. She was still making progress, but every so slowly, and seemed maddeningly oblivious to the fact that the floor was fighting her at every step. Fortunately, she made it to the other end without incident, although the same cannot be said for when she attempted to enter the next belt; a concerned employee using that particular belt in the intended fashion beckoned that she stop and try the other. So she stopped walking. And didn’t do anything, even when her feet made it back to where she had started. Naturally, she took a pretty solid tumble, lessened only by the shocked, and rightfully flustered, employee, who managed to help her to her feet as half of the onlookers gawked.
The actual flight, all 9 hours of it, went off rather uneventfully. Especially compared to the above story. It was nice having the longer flight second, as completing the first gave me an unearned sense of accomplishment; I’m nervous for my return as I’ll have actually achieved something when I get back to Vancouver, only to have to sit back down for three more hours. Seems less enticing, especially as I won’t be going back to an apartment that I’m renting. Oh well: that’s a problem for Future-Me, as are most things. I will say that the food on the flight was quite satisfying, and the complementary wine was much tastier than expected! And I managed to read a good chunk of Dan Brown’s Origin.
After landing in the Beijing airport, I managed to get through customs without too much trouble and had my first several experiences of what I’ll just refer to here as stranger-staring. #sarcasticwoo
I was met near baggage claim by an undergraduate at the University who chose to call himself Paul. I would later find out that, although it is common practice for Chinese residents to give themselves “American” or “Western” names, they don’t seem to share those names with their fellow residents.
Needless to say, I was exhausted and just wanted to eat something and lie down without dealing with anymore people. To his credit, Paul was an excellent host, his English was quite good, and he helped me to my apartment without incident. I think he was expecting to escort me to dinner at one of the nearby dining halls on campus (Princess Building), but I (hopefully graciously) conveyed that I would really rather just go to bed. After he left, I took a stroll on campus to the Princess Building to check it out for myself, and then stopped at a nearby convenience store to grab some snacks. GUYS! THEY HAVE CUCUMBER-FLAVORED LAYS POTATO CHIPS!!! And so many other flavors that are mind-boggling, and somehow simultaneously vague and specific.
Once I was back in my apartment, I chowed down on some fruit bread, drank some water, had a moment of near paralyzing fear/anxiety/regret/shame/etc., scolded myself for being (I think understandably) pathetic, and then went to sleep. By that point, I had been up for nearly 23 hours, and it was somehow already 7pm on Monday, Feb. 18. I slept until 6am the next morning.
That morning, I got in touch with CB, my supervisor, who was more than happy to meet with me around 11am. So I spent the morning figuring out how to be an adult person in Beijing. Several standard things took place that were daunting only because I’m in Beijing: showering, brushing my teeth, grabbing some toilet paper to carry with me, deciding how much cash to keep in my wallet, etc. I also came to the disturbing realization that there are precisely three outlets, each with one port. One of them was occupied by the television, one by the mini-fridge, and one was free to charge my tablet; it was then that I decided to try to go shopping and track down a power strip.
Day 2: Merry Mart
First, I want to say one quick thing: the exchange rate from RMB (also called yuan) to USD is approximately 0.15:1. So, as an example, I spotted a can of beer for 5.90 yuan, or roughly $0.90. For those of you who know me, you may understand why this was my first example.
Now, the supermarket that I was heading towards is located on the other side of the north gate of the CAU (China Agricultural University, which houses ICB, or the International College of Beijing, where I’m living and instructing), and my apartment is in the very southeast corner of campus, about a 10 minute walk away. And it’s not even 8am yet. I mention this as, when I approached the supermarket, or rather the building housing the supermarket and a dozen or so other shops, I noticed a KFC right next door. Now, I shouldn’t have been shocked to see the advertisements were for food that you would never find at a KFC in the States, but I was. What I feel completely justified in being shocked at was that the KFC was already quite busy. Naturally, I stepped inside and saw that a “Chicken Burger” with a glass of milk (and maybe a side?) was going for 12 yuan, or $1.80. So cheap!!
I stepped out without buying anything and continued into the supermarket. Oh, the wonders I beheld. I’ll try to keep it short, but I’ll point out that I’ve never paid so much attention in the produce and meat sections of a supermarket as I did yesterday. Once I made it past these sections, I experienced an onslaught of packing that looked both familiar and foreign (yes, I realized how stupid that sounds as I typed it). As I was on a bit of a mission (for hand soap and a couple power strips), I contained my curiosity as best I could. But I did take a peak at all of the flavors of Lays Chips in the snack section...
Fortunately, I managed to find a power strip! They had Philips power strips going for 70 yuan (~$10.50) and some from a company I’ve never heard of for 30/40 yuan. Naturally, I grabbed on of the cheaper variety. It seems I didn’t bring enough cash the first time. I moved on, failing to find anything that I could guarantee was hand soap, but let me tell you: after being around people who I could not understand, guessing at products based on the images along, and recognizing that I’m waaaaay in over my head, I have never been so happy to see a can of Budweiser in my life!
Now, I can’t be certain, but I’m pretty sure a 3-pack 16-oz or 500 mL or whatever-their-volume cans came out to 9 yuan, or $1.35. What a deal! (Fast forward to this morning, and I stumbled an even better find: 500 mL cans of Guiness with nitrous rockets for 15 yuan ($2.25) a pop! In the States, those usually run $16 for four!)
After spotting way more milk (a recent trend, apparently) than I’ve ever seen, ultra-pasteurized so it can sit on an uncooled shelf for months at a time, heaps and heaps of “sanitary tissue” and slew of snacks that boggled my poor, unworldly mind, I made my way to the checkout. Fortunately, I stick out so damn much that people just expect that I don’t speak Chinese; the look of mild irritation isn’t grating at all, it just lets me know that I’m not the only one who feels moderately uncomfortable at my residing in Beijing for these next 4 months. The interaction at the stand was pleasant enough, and we mimed our way through the bits that weren’t communicable. Then I headed back home to meet with CB.
Day 2: The Book
So, I’m already feeling wildly unprepared to teaching a senior-level mathematics course, but one of the few things that was keeping me grounded was that the book was to be selected by administrators at ICB/CAU, so that would save me having to make most of the decisions regarding content for my Probability class. Moreover, the university would provide the textbooks to the students. Little did I know, and little did CB know, and little did the person supposedly in charge of retrieving said textbooks from the library, no textbook was on file for this class. #sarcasticwoo
FORTUNATELY (can’t believe how many lucky breaks I’m catching!), there happened to be a textbook titled Probability and Statistics for Engineers and something-or-other. To be honest, my eyes glazed over at “Engineers,” not because they are lesser scientists, because they are most assuredly not, but because they just don’t appreciate the fine nuances of theoretical mathematics. That is to say, they’re lesser scientists. ;) #allinjest #imsuretheyvegotsickerburnsforme So, I guess I’m teaching from an Engineering textbook.
During this brief window of time with CB, I learned how various countries measure the breathability of the air, acquired a facemask, and snagged an air purifier. Things necessary to life in Beijing! I was then invited out to lunch with CB and his wife RB; I was unaware that their would be fourth, ML. Having never met RB, and being unaware that ML existed, I waited for the 20 minutes that CB needed to get a couple things ready before lunch in my room, then headed down to the entrance of the Guest House (where my apartment and office are located, in case I haven’t mentioned it by name yet). Waiting there was a 30-something Asian-descent woman who somehow didn’t look like she was a native Chinese resident. Best guess: RB. She smiles at me and asks if I’m here to have lunch with R, to which I say confirm and ask if that’s her. Turns out it’s ML, and a reference to a particular Disney movie popped into my head. (I bet you’re not thinking of the same one I was, though!) Anyway, it’s 12:30pm at that point, and I wouldn’t spend the next 11 hours with ML, a Communications instructor for ICB who has only been in Beijing since September, barely speaks any Chinese and gets by reading it as she knows Japanese. Turns out she was born in Brazil, though! That certainly explained why her features were not quite Chinese.
CB and RB showed up a few awkward, mostly silent, minutes later as, not anticipating a fourth left me just socially awkward enough to just keep my mouth shut and let my mind wander. RB led the way to a Chinese restaurant around the corner, and we had a ridiculously cheap meal. Everything was delicious, even the rice noodles and cabbage dish! CB asked how open I was to trying things I’ve never had before, and I responded that I’m hear to make the make the most of this opportunity. He followed up with, “So, you’ll try chicken feet?” I’ve never so quickly doubted my convictions before! Fortunately, the food we order was basic enough fare for a Chinese restaurant, so I didn’t have to prove my grit just yet.
Day 2: The Big Adventure
During the meal, ML mentioned that the “lantern festival” was that night, and that she’d be joining a friend of her’s somewhere in Beijing, TBD. CB mentioned off-handedly that there was a 4-story bookstore several kilometers away. My interest was piqued, but having no means of transportation, I kept my mouth shut. ML did not. She expressed serious interest in venturing out to the store, and I asked if it would be in imposition if I joined. After lunch, CB and RB gave us a rough pin location for the building, walked us over to a bus stop, explained to me how to use my transit card (Thanks, CG!!!), and saw us off on our adventure. At this point, it seems relevant to mention that, although I have two cell phones (my usual American one, and a Chinese phone bought secondhand from ES) (THANKS ES!!!), I don’t have internet access or any real means to contact CB or RB. I also don’t access to a map app (see: I don’t have internet access). As it turns out, ML’s access is hindered by the fact that her iPhone is apparently dated enough to not operate at full capacity with a Chinese SIM card. So she has spotty internet. SPOILERS: Her cell phone would die later that evening. #dundundun
The bus ride was uneventful, and we got off where we thought was should. Without the name of the bookstore or any solid evidence to suggest precisely where the bookstore was, ML then confides in me that she has frequently found herself incapable of finding her destination, wandered around for several hours, then given up and went home. My confidence was soaring. But, as they say, “When in Beijing...”
After finding a map of the surrounding area and comparing it to a screenshot of the rough-pin-location of the bookstore in question, I managed to match shapes cut out by walkways and roads and spot where we should be heading. The pin led us to a bookstore. But this bookstore had only one floor, although the building housing it had 20 floors and an elevator that looked out over the surrounding area. Needless to say, we rode the elevator for a moment before deciding to continue exploring. Stepping outside, we tried to reach CB...and we did! He gave us a more accurate pin and the name of the bookstore. Only one of those two things wound up being helpful.
On our way over to the new location (2 more blocks West), we stumbled on a developed “alley” that housed a wide plethora of shops, including....A BOOKSTORE!!! Dudes and Dudettes: let me tell you, this bookstore was amazing!! Check out the pictures below:
So cool! But this wasn’t where the pin was located, only had two floors, and when we scaled the spiral staircase, some 20-something employees started walking towards us and speaking in Mandarin. ML goes, “I’m sorry, we don’t speak any Mandarin, but we think we know what you’re trying to say. Have a nice day!” And we walked out of the store with our tails tucked loosely between our legs.
I was I could accurately convey all of the things I saw that struck me as fascinating while we explored this area of Beijing, but honestly there was just too much, and I can’t imagine you all are still reading this carefully, given that I’m not exactly giving the “Reader’s Digest” version of events. Or so you may think. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m doing my best to keep this short while still conveying how crazy this day was. And we’re only a couple hours into my afternoon/evening with ML. I applaud any and all who keep reading attentively. I’ll try to make it entertaining.
I will say that in this alley, I got stared down by a police officer. Mildly intimidating and recalled to mind the other intimidating visual to grace me. Just after checking out at the supermarket that morning, while I was packing the couple of items I had purchased into my backpack, I looked up and saw, for the first time in my life, 4 full sets of riot gear. Helmet, vest, nightstick (or whatever it’s called), and some sort of gun in a padded case. Sure, I know that I’ve been around those things before in my life, but never were they in plain view, seemingly on display.
After a few more minutes, a few more crossed streets, and pulling ML out of the way of a car that didn’t seem to care that she was there, we made our way to the pin’s location. And none of the stores around us bore the name of the 4-story bookstore. But we did find another bookstore.........and it turned out to be the right one! Crazy!! Of course, this was after trying out what we guessed was a calligraphy shop that seemed to primarily sell books? The words on the door were somewhat misleading. Anyway, let me tell you: in spite of being in a bookstore filled with words that I can’t understand, I still felt so calm and secure being surrounded by all of those books!
At this point, ML and I seemed to have figured out each other’s senses of humor and made frequent jokes and shared stores as we roamed the shelves, looking desperately for books written in English. After searching all four floors, some twice, we find a section with no markings nearby that happened to have some books in English. After looking over all of the classics (pretty much all they had), discussing the ones we’ve read, conversing about those we haven’t, we each picked one out to buy. I’ve seen Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World referenced too many times in crossword puzzles and trivia questions to not have developed an absurd curiousity for this book I’ve never read. So naturally I bought it. It seems like a rather nice-looking copy, no artwork to speak of, but elegant in a somewhat formal-Chinese kind of way. It came to 26 yuan, or about $3.90. HOW AM I BUYING A BOOK FOR THAT CHEAP?! WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING WITH MY LIFE?! *sigh* Well, I seem to be getting by without my Kindle fine enough for now...(THANKS AGAIN RS FOR SHIPPING IT TO ME!!! I’ll let you know as soon as it arrives!)
Day 2: The Lantern Festival
At this point, ML had heard from her friend who I will just call R (have yet to become privy to her family name), and we were given the name of the place we were headed towards: Happy Park. By now, it was around 4:15pm, and we needed to somehow figure out where Happy Park was, how to get there, and manage to not get lost in the process by 6:30pm. So we went for tea. The place we stopped in was what seemed to be a solid attempt at a German tea/coffee shop-slash-bakery. And I got a cup of English Breakfast Tea for 22 yuan ($3.30). Not the best deal, but I learned an invaluable lesson: just take a picture of what you want to order! So simple, so elegant, so effective!!! I was also by this time learning that most people make purchases using the main “social media” app, WeChat. In fact, many shops and restaurants don’t carry any cash as WeChat is just a more effective means of payment. You can link a debit card to your account and you’re good to go! (More on this in Day 3).
<I’ve been writing for almost 2 hours! Yikes!!!> <I wonder if I can get a book deal out of this...>
Without really knowing where to find a subway station, ML and I headed back to where the bus dropped us off, thinking at the very least we could head back to campus and the subway station there. (Also, for those of you who don’t know: I’ve never ridden a subway. Sure, I use RTD rails almost daily in Denver, but somehow this just seemed different. Especially given how many lines there are and that we didn’t actually know where we were going...) We found a bus heading back towards campus, hopped on, and almost immediately spotted a subway station. The bus didn’t drop us off for 2-3 more blocks...
After meandering back to the subway station, we found a map and lo-and-behold there was a stop dedicated to whatever Happy Park is. And it’s on the complete opposite side of town. #unethusedyay #adventuretime We plotted our course and hopped on the train without incident if you don’t count the pile of vomit that I would almost certainly have stepped in had ML not avoided it just before me! *phew* The subway itself was on par, if not nicer, than the trains in Denver, if only a bit louder. Confined spaces and all that. By the time we made our three transfers and got to the other side of Beijing, the sun had set, it was 6:20pm, and we had made it just in time! R met us at the station minutes after.
When we turned to see where we were headed, I was floored. Right in front of us with giant glowing words spelling out (in two languages) “Happy Park” was an amusement park that rivals some Disney parks in it’s show-y-ness. As it was dark, I can’t say precisely how big it was, but I was impressed. Tickets for entry were 145 yuan (roughly $20), which I fortunately had brought along that morning, not realizing precisely how crazy the day would get.
Once inside, R informed us that there’d be a show starting in a few minutes. We tried to find a spot, but the girls had trouble seeing over the heads of the people ahead of us. In fact, I had to stand on my tiptoes as most of the people in front of me were holding up their children, phones, and self-sticks. There was a small mound that almost certainly was not intended for foot-traffic, but nonetheless had a solid 75 people standing on 6-foot-tall trees. When we joined the crowd up there, hoping for a better vantage point, we were disappoint. That is, until ML decided to climb a tree. And I joined her. Naturally. I don’t have pictures of the entire show, sadly. I was too busy being floored and hoping that my one leg that was supporting my weight would hold up! I’m also not including them here as I have to format the videos. But stay tuned in the near future for videos!!
After the show, we wandered around the park for several more hours. I was quite impressed. And the food we got was quite delicious!! Small, fried potatos balls, and donut-hole sized balls loosely-based on a Japanese dish that I couldn’t possibly spell correctly, topped with dried fish. YUM! Check out the pictures of some of the attractions we saw:
This was the interior of an Aquariam-themed section of the park. It was a welcome respite near the end of the night, given that it felt like it was nearing 10F outside.
A Mayan temple, with a restaurant inside and, probably, a water-slide ride built into it? Hard to say. If only our phones hadn’t died and we weren’t so cold by the time we made it to the Athenian/Spartan-inspired section of the park! So many cool statues and buildings!
A still shot as 5 motorcyclists entered the arena after some drum-dancers! Stay tuned for videos of them riding inside the wire ball on the right! [Edit 3: the videos will likely get posted as gifs. Quality will probs be not great. One of them will involve the motorcyclists doing loop-stunts, and the other will involve a dragon-dance with dope fireworks. I didn’t get any video of the lion-dancers from earlier in the show, but take my word for it: it was dope as fuck. So much so that I don’t feel bad about dropping an f-bomb in this edit. I can’t possibly find the words after 3.5 hours of writing to convey just how cool this show was!]
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what this is, but it looked cool!
This was a small bridge, reminiscent of the bridges in Europe where people write their initials on padlocks and toss the keys into the river below. From what we could tell (thanks to R’s understanding of her native tongue), the pieces all talk about the love between family, friends or significant others.
After the Aquarium-themed building got us toasty warm, and it was ticking closer and closer to 10pm, we bee-lined it out of the park and back to to the subway station. Another three transfers, some more conversation, and we were back on campus. While on the trains, either to or from Happy Park, I don’t remember which, ML commented on how quiet I had been earlier that day while waiting for CB and RB before lunch. Given how quiet I was at lunch, she was understandably worried that the pattern would continue. If you know me, you know it just takes a bit for me to get comfortable and figure out how to talk to you. Needless to say, I told too many stories with a surplus of details in each of the bookstores, on each of the trains, and all of the time in between. I’m thinking ML is going to be a pretty solid friend these next couple of months, if I she doesn’t get sick of my stories first!
As I alluded to above, it was around 11pm before we were back in the Guest House. I was ridiculously pooped but not entirely unimpressed at how not-jet-lagged I was! I passed out soon thereafter and woke up for the third and final time around 7am.
Day 3: Merry Mart II, the Second Part
Alas, morning came; and with it came a surplus of energy to spent getting my life together in Beijing. I still hadn’t unpacked my luggage, there were too many things my apartment was still missing, and I didn’t have a reliable means of feeding myself as I had been warned (and witnessed) that many places just simply don’t carry cash. And naturally don’t accept American credit cards.
So I packed a small bag and headed out again. I stopped by Starbucks, attempted to order a Black Tea Latte from the girl who said “Morning” to me, and made the false assumption that this particular colloquialism implied English-fluency. I wound up with a regular Latte. Still good, though! After that, I made my way to the KFC near the Merry Mart only to find that this establishment is one described above. My cash wouldn’t do me much good there. *shrug*
In the Merry Mart, I grabbed several more bread-based food items, a microwavable meal in a bowl, another power strip, some gum, and more chips. Pringles. American flavors. Two cans of Guiness, and two bottles of hand soap. This time, I kept track of the price of each individual item so I knew how much cash to have ready at the register. This time went far more smoothly, and I filled my entire backpack with items that ran up to 134 yuan (~$20). HOW?! HOW AM I GETTING SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE I LOVE THIS!!!
Day 3: Getting my shit together
After that, my mind was set on opening a bank account to connect to my WeChat account. I reached out to CB, who graciously offered his assistance for a small amount of time. Ideally, this wouldn’t take too long. After all, he has plenty of work to be getting on with!
Well, the first bank we tried didn’t work because I’m not staying in town for more than 2 years. The second bank was more accepting. He translated exceptionally while I filled out documents written completely in Chinese. I was having an internal panic attack as I did something that felt incredibly wrong or anything. No, not at all. It’s totally okay to sign your name on documents that you can’t read. Yup, totally okay...
As it turns out, the bank would need to send me verification texts, so I gave them my phone number. But my American phone number wouldn’t work for them (they didn’t even try!), so after 30 minutes of waiting and 10 minutes of paperwork, CB and I headed down the street to get a SIM card and a cellular plan. Oh boy. All told, I think I waited for another hour there while CB got some work done; the paperwork and discussions took another 20-30 minutes. Once I had my phone situated, CB assured me that I could handle the rest of the bank stuff on my own as the staff would certainly recognize me and remember what I wanted. Plus, most of the paperwork was already filled out, right? Right? *sigh
The staff at the bank were less than enthused to find that CB hadn’t joined me. This was gonna be a blast, let me tell ya...
All told, I filled out twice as much paperwork as the staff scrambled to find a way to communicate with the moronic American who didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on around him. Of course, filling out this paperwork and determining exactly what they wanted and whether or not I wrote down the right things (i.e. understood exactly what information they were after) included 5-8 different sessions with several different employees, each with somewhere between 10-70 min wait-times. On the plus side, I’m almost done with Dan Brown’s Origin. Not his best work, but certainly entertaining enough to pass the time in a bank surrounded by people who probably would rather I not exist. To be clear, I don’t begrudge them at all; their service was impeccable, and their patience was never-ending, and the entire thing was significantly less annoying than it had any right to be, given the language barrier.
I left their establishment many hours later with a debit card, Chinese bank account, and the means to buy stuff wherever I wanted to go. And a significant amount of confidence that I can get through the next four months quite contentedly. Granted, I didn’t do nearly as much to earn this confidence as the staff at my new bank did!
After the fiasco at the bank, I went back to the Guest House, unpacked my suitcases, and laid down in bed to type this novella. That was several hours ago.
Convinced that I’ve had a crazy few days?
A coworker from Denver asked me how China has been so far, and I told him that it “[w]ent from shit to fantastic so damn fast.” Hopefully my long, rambling story has here has justified that claim for those of you reading this.
There was only one other day in my life that I can recall feeling as justifiably petrified as I did Monday night. I described the feeling as trying to wake up from a dream only to find that you’re wide awake. I was encouraged earlier today to remember that I don’t have to get through all 4 months of this experience at once; I just need to take it one day at a time. I usually don’t find these adages and idioms to be particularly helpful, but this one seems to be true.
In the future, blog posts probably won’t be nearly as long. Thanks for reading!
Now to finish this beer and book!
Sláinte,
BeardyAllen
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I believe you didn't talk about your opinion of Riverdale's season 2 yet. (You know, in it's entirety and not just of some scenes.) But now I'm left curious. What do you think of the rest of the season? And since you wanted to find out on your own: Did you manage to correctly identify the Black Hood before it was confirmed in the show?
Oooh. Oh, sorry. I just always post the excitement when something, ya know, exciting happens. Still unsure about lengthy ramblings that seem too off-topic from the blog. (Yes, I am still pretending this blog has a theme. Let me. xD)
Oh dear, how do I put all the things into words and in order?
To sum it up briefly as an intro: I’m disappointed.
Now, more in detail.
Starting with the things I liked. Which are significantly less than the things I disliked, hence the overall verdict.
Toni is an amazing character and I love her addition to the show. I just hope she will get her own plotline next season, because this season she was only there to either further Jughead’s plot or Cheryl’s. I’m also very eager to see Toni’s and Cheryl’s relationship unfold, because boy do I ship it hard.
I really enjoyed FP and Alice Cooper’s development this season, much to my own surprise. Alice came out being one of my most hated characters first season, but I actually liked her semi-redemption arc and... I... somehow now ship her and FP? I am very disturbed by that, to be honest.
And... with that, we kind of reached the end of the things I enjoyed this season? Which, yeah, sad.
I didn’t like a single one of the main characters’ plotlines this season.
Archie and how his relationship with his father slowly came apart over the course of the season - despite it being semi-mended in the end, this whole arch seemed unnecessarily forced and in contrast to their portrayal in the first season.
Archie and starting his own fucking gang. TWICE.
Seriously. He gives Jughead shit for being a serpent, but then he goes ahead and starts his own gang. And the fucking names. Red Circle. Dark Circle. Wow. Such creativity, much awe.
Archie running after Hiram Lodge all season long was just... intensely disturbing to watch. He just allowed himself to be sucked in deeper and deeper.
So did Veronica and with her it annoyed me even more. First season Veronica seemed so much like the girl who was against her criminal father. And now she just... doubled down on the crime hard. And I genuinely don’t know what she was expecting? Because the girl acted like what happened was somehow a surprise or something in the end, when she turned against him again. Like. What... What did she think would happen...?
Then there was Betty’s plot.
I liked that she confided in Archie and her friends about the Black Hood and didn’t just do a solo gig. But her trying to get her brother and them just immediately accepting the creep into the family without so much as a fucking background check first.
And Jughead literally went from the sweet nerd with a blog to the fucking king of the gang. Like. Good lords, slow it down some. It seemed so incredibly rushed just how fast he came to accept the serpents as his family and the school as his home. I think that his “becoming a serpent and becoming king of the serpents” plot should have been stretched out over two seasons.
Cheryl’s plot was... so over the top too. Conversion camp? Her mom trying to murder grandma? And... her characterization was all over the place too. One second she is the Queen with the power-moves cutting her mom’s oxygen, the next she is the crying girl in the corner, weak and helpless. I mean, I get that with everything that happened last and this season to her, she wouldn’t be fully stable, but it really felt more like convenient writing. “Mh, we need more tension, so how about Cheryl is utterly helpless and defenseless in the next scene?” turning into “Oh but we could use a badass move, how about she just attacks the serial killer with her bow and arrows and without being the least bit intimidated?”.
Also Cheryl and Rose now living alone in the mansion... Honestly, instead of making her sick grandma her guardian, I think auntie Alice should have stepped up.
The relationship between Cheryl and Betty is really fascinating and I would genuinely enjoy seeing more of it. Like, having Cheryl move in with them, she can have Polly’s room. She would be forced to live a more down-to-Earth life.
The whole evil twin of her dad thing was really unnecessary. I mean. Seriously. It added absolutely nothing to the plot.
Just, overall, there was way too much going on this season for my taste.
And not just too much as in too many plotlines, also just... too dark, too deep, too heavy.
This show is indeed taking the Desperate Housewives route, but it hits it harder than I expected.
That is to say, the first season offers a genuinely intriguing, vaguely over-dramatic mystery that happens and that brings an unlikely band of protagonists together to solve it. Following seasons will so desperately try to top it that the dramatic event is completely blown out of proportions and loses absolutely all grasp on reality.
And that’s what happened this season.
We get a serial killer. And the mafia. And a psycho imposter brother. And an evil twin. And a conversion camp. And a gang war. And a serial rapist. And a drug problem.
That’s just too many “and”s.
First season worked perfectly. It had that one mystery that they had to solve and then some sub-plots around it. That mystery was one murder.
Now, to your other question regarding the Black Hood: HONESTLY HALF THE TIME I FORGET THAT HE IS A CHARACTER ON THIS SHOW.
Hal is so bland and so unimportant. When he made his first appearance this season, I legit went “OH right Alice has a husband! Ooops!”.
I figured it out at one point, but then they went misdirection with that second, or third, I lost count, Black Hood and I grew doubtful because why the fuck.
Last season, with daddy Blossom, it took me really long to figure it out. But when it was revealed, it was a thing that made sense. They set the mystery up so you had to work to figure it out, but it made sense plotwise.
This one? They purposefully wrote it so it doesn’t make sense.
There is no legit motive. They retconned some “Oh by the way his dad was a murderer but he pinned it on someone else and momma brainwashed him and Betty’s words in the last season finale were a trigger to turn him into a serial killer” so hard that it’s just pathetic.
And how he conveniently managed to stop killing when he got it pinned on someone else. That was literally only plot-convenience to make the viewer believe they got the right guy, because Hal had no logical motivation to stop killing. It was never about hiding his crimes? He literally wrote letters and made phone-calls and flaunted it in everybody’s face, why would he find a scapegoat and then stop killing? That’s just... bullshit. He should have, logically speaking, gone after like Hiram Lodge or some other scumbag criminal.
Nothing about that shit could have been guessed.
I mean, I did guess that Hal would be the son of the murderer. Or the one surviving child from the murder. But then they put the janitor in and killed that.
Last season’s mystery came natural. This one was forced in every way of the word.
That just completely took the fun out of it for me.
Well, that and the sheer amount of cruelty and brutality this season. There was no fun this season. Last season still had its lighthearted moments. This one didn’t.
It’s not just taking a bad Desperate Housewives route, that route is crossing streets with the bad Teen Wolf route of going grittier and darker and removing all color and fun from something that used to have color and fun and then somehow expecting that to be good. It is not. It never will be.
Either make something gritty and dark from the get-go so it attracts the right crowd of people, or make something that has jokes and lightheartedness in it and embrace that. But don’t attempt a genre-change like that. It’s a failure.
The musical episode was really out of place for me too. It didn’t fit to the tone of this season at all. Fun musical stuff could have gone with last season. Not to mention the musical could have been Kevin’s plotline. But... Kevin kind of didn’t get a plotline at all. He got one episode of musical thrown his way and that vague shit about him fucking in the woods and that was, essentially, it.
I am also not a hundred percent sure; did Betty and Jughead actually fuck or just make out...? I usually look away when they start undressing on screen and only look up again when the scene is over. I fail to see any reason for sex scenes at all, period, in literally any show, but especially so in a show about supposed teenagers? It’s just... weird for me. But if they did, fuck you show. I want asexual Jughead. Also, this ship has zero chemistry.
And can someone maybe get Betty a therapist now? Last season with her turning into psycho Betty with the fucking wig was already Really Disturbing, but she doubled down on that hard this season? And? Is she supposed to have some form of... personality disorder? Is that intentional? Either way, she helped cover up a murder this season and got psychologically tortured by her father who is a serial killer, so yeah please get her professional help.
So, yeah. That’s it.
I found this season too forced, too dark and too brutal and if the show doubles down on those elements with the same rate that it did from season 1 to season 2, then season 3 is going to be DCEU levels of dark and gritty.
I really hope they will slow down and that they will start remembering that you don’t have to rush from one traumatic, brutal event to the next murder to the next attempted rape and so on, but that you can... pause in between and put something more light in, to even things out. How do writers keep forgetting that...?
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Interview with the Writer #2
Hello lovely people,
welcome to my second episode of Interview with a Writer.
Apparently there are others who enjoy talking about writing.
Today we want to shed a little light on @star-trekkin-across-theuniverse who is one of my favorite writers on tumblr and someone I look up to when it comes to writing, planning and other things.
Please welcome her warmly.
As you can see in her name, the blog is manly a star trek blog, but don’t despair if you’re not a die hard trekkie, because you can find a lot of other treasures too.
Just take a look at her Masterlist . You will find Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and even Supernatural (even though I don’t know that fandom) and I’ve also seen some Top Gun, Agents of Shield and all the tiny little fandoms Karl Urban has stumbled into during his acting career.
Q: Did I sum up your blog right, dear or do you have something else to add? Please correct me if I’m wrong, this is your chance to compliment yourself.
Oh my god, Wow. I’m still so incredible floored when someone says I’m one of their favourites. Uh, yeah, that sounds about right. I actually started writing fanfic (well, fanfic for public consumption) in the Marvel universe. I think you’ve got me covered - essentially, it’s a whole ‘oooh, he’s pretty’ kind of fanfic world over here.
Q: Now I know your writing is very diverse. I’d like to dive deeper into my favorite fics in another interview (if you’re up to that) but for now, your writing style: I’m amazed by it. I’ve bought and borrowed a lot of books in my life so far and I can tell you that it’s a rare thing to pick up a book which writing style catches you and won’t let you go until you’re done. You write like that. Captivating, humorous and with a lot of empathy. You hint at things that happen (or not), make me believe something only to make me see that I’ve been a fool. And, something that is very very very important to me: You make me want to read it again. There are a lot of your things that I go back and read again, just because I know how I will feel at ease in your stories…. but I’m rambling….
The Question I have for you: What makes your writing style different? What do you see in other stories that you’d like to be able to write and what are things that you don’t shed a light on? I, for example, struggle with dialogues and just don’t write about smut. What about you?
First off - sure, we can totally go into specifics on your favourites sometime!
What makes my writing different? Facetiously, I’d like to say it’s because I’m old. But the honest truth is that is probably actually true. I always wanted to be a writer, which means I started writing when I was about 9 or 10. I wrote my first ‘novel’ at 11. I filled countless notebooks full of stories as I grew up, and honestly, never stopped. I also took as many university creative writing courses as I could get away with, sucking up as much as I could from each writer that taught me. And I read a lot, and when I really love what I’m reading, I will go back and read it again, simply to dissect what it was that resonated with me. I used to struggle with description. So it was something I spent a lot of time working on - telling a story about communication between two people without allowing any dialogue. Forcing myself to show and not tell a story. When I felt that I was competent with that, I allowed myself to start allowing dialogue in again. Dialogue has always come easy for me. I wish that description came as easy.
As for my HUGEST discomfort? I seriously sit and blush the entire time I write smut. You’d think for a woman with two kids and never mind how many partners in the past, I wouldn’t be so awkward about it, but it never gets any easier.
Q: Thank you. Now, there’s something else I want to ask. Your stories have that feel to it that when I read the first word of the first chapter, the end is already decided. Are you really that good at planning? What is your trick to that? Do you only write if you know what’s going to happen?
Sometimes! Sometimes I start and I know exactly how many plot points there are, what the conflict is, where the climax will happen (uh, no pun intended). Other times I go off on my own merry path, uncertain what will happen. For example: Always On My Mind (Gavin) - I know EXACTLY what is going to happen next, I know what happens after that, and I know how it ends. On the flip side, Lead Me On got away on me and the characters switched gears and I have no idea what the fuck is going on there now.
Q: Now I know that you’re a hardworking woman and I also know that you have children, am I right?
I do. I have two kids - an 11-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy. The boy’s birthday is in 2 months! We just did kindergarten orientation today!!! And my girl just had her first period. So she’s not my baby anymore. Gah. It makes me feel so old. I also work full-time as a nurse, am the seneschal (president) of our local SCA branch, and have just been appointed Bethel Guardian of my daughter’s Job’s Daughters group.
Q: Well, how do you do it? How do you make time to write this much? Or do you just write really really fast? Or very very slow and there’s a giant databank from where you pull your old stories?
Both? My Five Minute Ficlets started as a desperate attempt to squeeze a quick drabble out. I usually write them when I’m waiting in the car somewhere, or watching a kid’s activity that doesn’t require my full attention, or on my breaks at work. Which is why they vary in length so much. The average FMF actually takes 20-25 minutes, if I am truthful about it - but that doesn’t sound as enticing as Five Minute Ficlet, does it? Imagines are something else - I used to carry a 5-10 request waitlist but that got overwhelming to the point of anxiety attacks, so I don’t often take requests anymore. Technically my inbox is always open to them, but your mileage may vary, depending on whether inspiration strikes. Any of my fics with an OC are from back ‘back catalog’ - I used to post everything on FFN, although I recently pulled down everything from there. And it’s still up on AO3. So the Marvel stuff is older - none of it is older than my boychild though - I started writing again when I was on bedrest during my pregnancy.
Q: Where do you get your ideas? Do you have to look for inspirations, prompts, plots and other little bunnies or are you the type of person who puts her feet on the ground in the morning and has a mind filled with ideas?
Again, I think the answer is both. I don’t necessarily wake up with a mind full of ideas, but I pull inspiration from every day life. I can almost guarantee that every story with a nurse character in it is drawing from personal career experience. Some of the more embarrassing experiences some of my characters have had occur are that much more vivid because I have lived through them myself. And other things come up because I love the absurd - I think you need to be able to imagine the ridiculous as well as the sublime to actually truly capture realistic characters. And so I will sometimes play with the characters in my head just to see what silliness will occur.
Q: Do you have any other secret to share? About writing, your favorite character of all fandoms ever or just a wish for more (or less) requests?
I wish my followers understood how important this blog has been to my grieving and healing process. Something I’ve learned in the last couple of years is that I really pull back when I am hurting. I didn’t really get that before my Mum died, but I was sitting in my living room the other day, thinking about how lonely I am for social contact - I have my kids, and the manthing, and I have the girls at work, but when I was at my lowest after Mum passed, I pushed my closest friends away because I... I don’t really know why? Because I am ashamed of my grief? That sounds really stupid, but I suspect that might be it. Anyhow, I pushed a lot of my really close friends away, and bless them all, they were good friends because they just let me, and now that I’m functioning again, they are right where they’ve always been, just waiting for me to be a ready participant in our relationships again. But I have been lonely, and this blog has been my support. This blog is where I wrote out the tears. This is where I made friends that didn’t have to see me ugly cry, which was somehow less embarrassing. So I think that’s my big secret. That my followers have helped me make it through the past few years. From June of 2015, to November of 2016, to now.
My favourite character of all time? Thor. I just... I don’t write him well, but that might be because I like to keep him to myself.
Finally - My inbox is always open. I love receiving random commentary. Tell me about your tuesday, or tell me about biology exams, or what you’re eating for dinner. I’m into that. Bug me for head canons. I love that shit. Ask me what I thought of Kevin Smith (he was SO cool) or Karl Urban (smelled amazing) or Nichelle Nichols or Sean Astin. Tell me I’m an obnoxious whore (you won’t be the first, won’t be the last, and I guarantee I’ve probably been called worse by better... :D). I seriously love hearing from my followers. Those interactions are precious to me.
Thanks dear. Time’s running out and we’re thanking you for this chance to get to know you and your writing a little bit better.
Well thanks for asking me to do this. I feel like a real live legit writer now :D
Have a very nice writing time.
This weekend I’m off to a medieval event. When I inevitably need time away from people because I’ve become more easily overwhelmed my crowds, I will try to come up with something good :D
Thanks, @dirajunara-archive, for inviting me to do this! <3
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Sugar and Spice (Roman Reigns): Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Read it on Wattpad
Writing Masterlist
Summary: Aasha and Leati lives are intertwined; it began with a simple contract six years ago that led to love and romance. Although they now live together, they lead busy lives that ten to keep them apart for weeks on end.They finally get a week to themselves in one of their favourite cities, Rome, Italy. Aasha has a couple surprises prepared for Leati, but little does she know, he has a couple of huge surprises for her as well.
Warnings (for the fic over all, not specifically this chapter): cis-female OC, 18+, definitely smutty, daddy kink, schoolgirl kink(?), anal play, choking, age difference, unprotected sex (wrap it up yall), maybe a lil bit of a breeding kink (dont @ me), possibly semi-public sex, idk if this needs a warning but I use his first name in this fic just cause i really love it?
Aasha (OFC) Face Claim: Alia Bhatt (but like thiccer, and w longer hair)
Word Count: 2813
A/N: I wanna thank @reignwithflair and @macfizzle for helpin me out w this fic, and giving me some bomb ass ideas. Legit had this fic in my drafts since like June, but thanks to them i finally got it started properly. I originally wanted it to be more focused on their sugar relationship, but i added too much romance so like idk what to even call this fic anymore im sorry yall
Tag List: @macfizzle @reignwithflair @hoodgirl163 @vivalavonvon @imagines–assemble @spidermans-l-o-v-e-r@lavitabella87 @queenreignsempire @ziasaph @vanity1385@itsnethbellins @itsilovelukehemmings@randomfandompenguin @mrsamberlopezgoodanoai @harrystacowwe@hoshithehotspur @flawlessglamazon@inkedirishbbydoll-blog-blog @miss-limited-edition @kakakatey@moneypowergloryfameliquorlove@romanxreignz @firered82 @southernbelle91@reigningxo @littledeadrottinghood @cute-face-chubby-waist @arrowtothecrown@roman-reigns-truth @romansambrose @it-is-reigning-men @fictionalabyss @cool-snowball-22-blog
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Tucking her phone and room key into her purse, Aasha made her way to the elevator to go down to the bar in the hotel. Leati's flight wouldn't land for at least another half hour, meaning he'd probably get to the hotel in an hour.
She had arrived earlier in the day, and spent most of it preparing a surprise for him, going through the internet, and asking friends who had experience; she figured she'd treat herself a little before he got here.
She'd known for a while now that Leati had a thing for the whole school girl outfit, and Aasha had been getting more and more curious about trying anal, though she hadn't said anything about it to Leati.
Over the past month or so she had been working her way up from the smallest anal plug, looking up how to do enemas properly, and talking to experienced friends. She'd also been putting together the perfect outfit for him, choosing each article of clothing separately to fit the idea she had in mind.
However, both their schedules had been too busy and they'd barely seen each other for the past 3 weeks. They were finally getting a whole week to themselves, and Leati suggested that they spend it in Rome at the renowned Westin Excelsior.
The Westin Excelsior was a stunning hotel that stood right in the middle of Rome; the architecture reminiscent of Ancient Roman palaces. The building itself was six stories tall, with a dome on top of one corner. Leati had, as usual, booked the biggest, most luxurious suite; the Villa La Cupola took up a good portion of the fifth and sixth floor of the hotel, including the dome.
Aasha's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she first walked into their villa. The living room was huge, decorated with a beautiful fresco; the velvety red curtains hanging from the floor to ceiling windows were drawn, allowing the sun to brighten up the room and warm up the marble floors.
It had its own kitchen, dining room, studio, and even a private gym, but her favourite feature was the Roman bath style Jacuzzi on the sixth floor that led to a terrace over looking the city, with St. Peter's Basilica in the distance.
The bedroom was another work of art; the floors covered with a beige and brown carpet that had red and peach designs curling across, matching the furniture, and heavy curtains.
There was a king sized bed pushed back against the wall, positioned so that the sun lit up the pristine white sheets; it was high enough that she needed to hop up onto it. The four posts around the bed were painted a bright gold that was offset by the gold patterned red drapes hanging off of them.
The rest of the hotel was just as beautiful, with its marble flooring, and artwork. She wandered around a little, admiring the beautiful paintings, and statues that decorated the different hallways before asking one of the staff to point her in the direction of the bar.
The bar was fairly empty, with only a small group of people occupying a corner of the room. Aasha hopped up onto one of the leather clad bar stools and ordered a cherry martini from the bartender. She thanked the bartender and gave him the room number to open a tab.
As she sat at the bar enjoying her drink, her mind began to wander back a few years to when she was in a similar place, waiting to meet Leati for the first time.
Aasha sat at the table of a fancy restaurant, her delicate fingers running up and down the stem of her glass as she waited for him. She had never been this nervous before, especially since she'd never done anything like this before either.
She was barely into her first year of college, and she was switching her major to photography, something her parents were not willing to financially support. Aasha didn't want to take student loans, but fortunately, her friend had told her about the arrangement she had with her sugar daddy, and Aasha had decided to give it a shot.
She had made it explicitly clear that she wasn't willing to do anything sexual for money; coming from a religious, Indian family, she had done barely anything more than kissing. She didn't really care about waiting till marriage to have sex, but she wasn't comfortable with the idea of having her first time be with some random guy who payed her for it.
It came as quite a surprise to her when Leati contacted her. She'd expected him to be less attractive, and much older than he was; granted he was about 10 years older than her, but he was only in his late 20s.
He had given her basic information about himself, and what he would want out of an arrangement, and they had agreed to meet face to face before finalizing anything. He was one of the founders of a major security company that often provided bodyguards to the highest ranking people, and he simply wanted someone to attend work functions with him without the hassle or drama of courting someone.
She was so lost in her thoughts that when a large hand gently gripped her shoulder she jumped, nearly knocking her virgin strawberry daiquiri over in the process; she looked up at the owner to find Leati Anoa'i looking down at her.
"Hi, you must be Aasha, I'm Leati," he said, flashing her a smile.
Her lips parted a little as her eyes drank him in, he was even more beautiful in real life, and certainly more intimidating if he wasn't smiling. He wore a grey suit with a red tie, his hair was slicked back into a bun, and he was clean shaven except for his mustache and goatee.
She blinked a couple times before realizing she was staring at him, she hurriedly stood up and held out her hand, a blush spread across her face as it finally occurred to her that she had no idea what she was supposed to do.
"I-um, yeah-it's good to meet you," she stuttered, biting the inside of her cheek for that. Her face turned redder as he chuckled and gently wrapped his hand around her fingers and pressed a light kiss on her knuckles.
"Pleasure's all mine, babygirl," he replied, letting go of her hand so they could both take a seat. "So, what would you like to eat?"
They spent the rest of the evening talking, and getting to know each other. He was one of three of the major owners of the company, he lived in Tampa about 45 minutes away from her, and he traveled a lot. By the end of the night, Aasha was relaxed, and comfortable enough around him to explain what she wanted, and what she was willing to do.
They didn't have any clashing needs, and he was more than happy to tell her that he'd draw up an agreement as soon as possible for the both of them to sign. He didn't seem to care that she wanted to keep their relationship platonic, but he did say once that if she wanted to go further he wouldn't be opposed to it.
Setting down her empty glass, she left a generous tip for the bartender, and slowly began to make her way back up to the room.
Over time her and Leati's relationship had evolved. They had become good friends, and she stuck with him through two attempted hostile takeovers by his partners even when he tried telling her he didn't want her caught up in that. He started bringing her to family gatherings, stating that he wanted his mother to stop bugging him about settling down. She got to know his family, his twin cousins who became his new partners, and even became close friends with his sister-in-laws, Trinity and Kecia.
As they spent more time together, she started to develop feelings for Leati, but her fear of rejection kept her silent, until one day she got a little too tipsy at an event and ended up confessing to him in the car.
Leati had a firm grip on Aasha's waist as they made their way down the steps of the hotel; he was glowering from the incident moments ago, one hand clenched into a fist at his side. Aasha couldn't help the shiver of fear that ran through her when she looked up at him, the only other time she'd seen him this angry was when Colby tried to wrest the company from Leati.
She'd known that this conference was a bad idea, she tried telling Leati that the McMahons would probably send Lopez as their representative to hopefully throw him off or simply to sew discord, but Leati's stubborn Italian pride wouldn't let him back down from this. To his credit, he managed to keep a lid on his emotions for most of the conference, that is until the farewell dinner.
Leati had left her alone momentarily to go to the restroom, which gave Colby the opportunity to slink up to her with that typical half smirk etched into his face. She gave him a polite smile and took a large sip of her champagne, not wanting to stir up any shit when they were so close to leaving.
"It's been too long, Aasha, you're looking good," she cringed as Colby's eyes took their time looking her over. "We never talk anymore, not even a Happy New Year text?"
"That's your own fault, Lopez," she glared at him, she wanted to get up and leave but there were people standing around the table, blocking her off; the only exit was past the man leering at her. "No one forced you to stab us-him in the back."
"Us? Did you guys finally hook up? Or is it still purely platonic?" he scoffed, not even bothering to acknowledge everything else she'd said.
"N-no, we're just good friends, something you obviously know nothing about," she bit back, taking another gulp of her drink.
"So you're not off the market? Cause I assure you, I can be a very good friend," Colby's smirk widened into a malicious smile as he leaned in, a hand coming to rest on her bare knee. She recoiled with disgust, ready to throw her drink in his face when she felt a larger hand grab her arm, pulling her up and away from him.
She looked up to see Leati glaring at his former partner; Colby had the good sense to look somewhat scared as he stood up and subtly tried to back away. For each step he took back, the large Samoan took two forward.
"Hey, hey, listen, he's not worth it, let's just leave," Aasha pleaded, tugging at his arm. She tried not to shiver as he looked at her, his infamous volcanic rage simmering in his eyes. "Please."
"Fine," he said, giving Lopez one last scathing look before turning on his heel to march off with his arm around Aasha's waist. She texted the driver to meet them at the front as they made their way through the halls of the hotel.
They came to a stop at the entrance, waiting for the driver to pull up with their limo. Aasha turned to Leati, unbuttoning his jacket to slide her arms around him as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. A startled sound bubbled in his throat, but he hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. They stayed like that until the car drove up.
"I'm sorry," Leati said as he settled in next to her; she looked up at him in surprise. "I know you hate it when I get mad, I just couldn't stand the fact that he put his hands on you, I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, it's okay, you could never scare me, it was actually kinda hot," she mumbled the last part, her face heating up at the confession. She buried her face in his shoulder when his serious expression turned into a smirk. She arched into him as he slid a hand up her spine to grab her hair and pull her head back.
"You think it's hot?" he asked, a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he leaned in closer so that his face was inches from hers. "I-"
She cut him off with a kiss, her hands grabbing his shoulders to pull him closer. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her onto him so that she was straddling his lap. She teasingly bit his lip, eliciting a deep growl from him. She pulled away to look up at him, the both of them panting a little as they stared at each other wide eyed.
"I think I love you," she blurted.
Aasha chuckled at the memory as she walked into the VIlla; back then she had been mortified, but thinking back to it now it seemed rather funny.
Glancing at her phone she saw that she had 40 more minutes till Leati got there. It would be just enough time to shower, and finish the final steps for her surprise. She took a quick 15 minute shower, then hopped out to grab the lube and one of her plugs. She decided to go with one of the smaller ones with a pink diamond on the top because she didn't want to deal with any discomfort.
After working it in, she left the lube in the drawer of a nightstand by the bed, slipped on a shorter baby pink silk robe, and went back to the bathroom to dry off her hair. She finished just in time to hear the door to the Villa opening and closing.
"Aasha?" Her face lit up as she heard Leati's deep voice. She let out a shriek of happiness, rushing out of the bathroom to find him setting his bags down in the bedroom. She practically jumped into his arms, making him laugh as he picked her up with one arm; much to her delight he had grown his beard out, but it also tickled her skin as he buried his face in her neck. "I missed you too, babe."
"God you look so good, it feels like it's been forever, I hate being apart for that long, promise me we won't have to spend more than a week apart again, Lea," she mumbled, giving him a deep kiss to show him just how much she missed him; his chest rumbled against her as he chuckled at the nickname she'd used.
"I dunno if I can promise that, but I'm sure if you gave the Board a good talkin to, they'll see things your way," he joked, walking to the bed to set her down. She pulled back to give him a mock glare before grabbing the front of his shirt to bring him in for another kiss.
His large hands roamed over her thighs, pushing up her robe as he massaged her soft skin; her own hands were busy rediscovering his strong chest, enjoying the warmth that she had desperately missed over the past few weeks, when he pushed her back with a quick shove before dropping to his knees to push her legs apart. She was about to let him when she remembered that she'd prepared surprises for him.
"Wait! No, I, uh," she said, hurriedly sitting up and clamping her legs shut. Leati gave her the cutest pout as he stood up. "I'm sorry, its just I got you a couple surprises but I haven't finished putting them together. Why don't you go take a shower, I'll be done by then."
"I GUESS I can wait a little while longer," he sighed dramatically, giving her a kiss and a grin. "You better be done by the time I'm out, cause I'll fuck you right where you stand, got it?"
"Yes, Daddy," she said with a cheeky smirk as she pushed him towards the bathroom. He gave her one last kiss, and landed a smack on her ass before walking into the shower.
Aasha dug through her bag, pulling on the outfit she had put together; a white button up shirt tucked into a flow-y black skirt that barely covered her ass, white thigh high socks held up by black thigh garters, and a loosely tied black tie. She could hear her boyfriend getting out of the shower and turning on the hair dryer which gave her just enough time to brush her own hair out and pull it up into two ponytails.
She just finished tucking her brush away, and unbuttoning the top 3 buttons of her shirt when the bathroom door opened and out stepped Leati in nothing but a towel.
#roman reigns#roman reigns fic#roman reigns fanfic#roman reigns fanfiction#roman reigns smut#wwe fic#wwe smut#wwe fanfiction#sugar and spice#my post#my writing
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