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crowleyholmes · 7 months

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Guys help I think Crowley is possessing me I am very suddenly overcome by such a WAVE of love for Aziraphale????

I mean I've always loved him but Jesus Christ it just got turned up to 100 suddenly I mean he's just so GOOD isn't he???!!!

He's so kind and he's so nice and he's so PRETTY I mean have you seen him in his little outfit with the comfortable-old-couch waistcoat he refuses to ever take off and the silly little bowtie he thinks is so stylish and you know it actually KIND OF IS but ONLY on him??!?! and that beige coat that suits him so well and he just looks so well put together and also so soft and cozy at the same time like HAVE YOU SEEN HIM???

And he's so gentle and he's so full of love for everyone and everything and he always tries So Hard to do the right thing... and he's so ready to change his mind about what The Right Thing is when he is presented with new information like that is such a rare trait!

And he's so FUN, you know all his weird little hobbies I mean who collects old prophecy books and misprinted bibles ONLY this weirdo!! And he's so obsessed with silly little magic tricks that aren't even magic at all when he could very easily do real magic instead but noooo, making people think you're doing real magic when your Not Actually doing real magic is so much more fun apparently idk??? And he collects licenses (shooting guns, driving cars, literally who knows what else, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if my guy knew how to scuba dive and fly a plane), and he learned French the hard way just because?? He likes learning I guess?? And he's so bad at it, it's so silly it's Infuriating but it's also so endearing he's taking such JOY in it!!

And maybe you'd THINK that's all he is, sweet little goofball, but no!!!! Beneath all that soft exterior, this very intentionally soft and fun and kind exterior that he's carefully cultivated for millennia, he's also so incredibly brave. I think about how he was ready to face the thing he feared the most, to save three innocent kids. He was so ready to give up everything he had, fall from grace and spend eternity in hell, just so these kids could live. Just so that family would be spared the grief. Just so they could have a few more short years of human happiness. He lied to his boss for justice and he lied to GOD for justice and he somehow got away with it who does that??? AZIRAPHALE IS WHO. And he Never backs down did you see him pick up his little sword at almost-Armageddon when Lucifer himself rose from hell to end it all and my angel was ready to fight Satan Himself if he had to HELLO???

And then he blew up his halo and casually declared war on hell to save two humans and his former boss and his bookshop what a fucking badass!!?!?

And have I mentioned how pretty he is yes I have but it's worth mentioning again because have you seen his eyes?? Color of the fucking sky, they are, and his nose is so perfectly shaped and his stupid lips with his stupid cupid's bow, and his hair!! Is just so Damn soft it's and I just want to watch him be himself and do his thing but I also want to HOLD him and protect him and keep him safe from everything because if anything ever happened to him I-... UGH.

I don't KNOW.

I JUST LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #so this???#just happened #I swear this started out as just me listing things I love about Aziraphale but #idk how or when but my brain went into Crowley mode apparently #idek how to tag this #rant I guess #love vent #hi Crowley welcome to my brain but next time you want to possess someone maybe a word of warning first with peace and love bestie #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #god Aziraphale is such a character #he's SO GOOD #also Michael Sheen is very beautiful #okay yeah I swear I'm normal about them <3 #ngk

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iaminsideyourwalls · 11 months

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Sorry for the ask so soon after my first one, but really, I would love to hear about any head canons you'd like to share! :O Do you have a favorite merc?

Don’t apologize for asks, I love asks! I even put it in my bio.

You couldn’t ask a parent to pick a favorite child could you??? ;_; (although I do think about sniper every day.) I’ll give you a headcanon for all of them then.

Scout

he retained some French from when he was little. He’s not good at it in general but is a lot better at understanding it than speaking it. He can eavesdrop on Spy but can’t conjugate être. I also like versions of Scout that speak Spanish when people hc his mom as Latina.

Sniper

one of my all time favorite headcanons is Māori Sniper. Also, if you’ve seen this blog you’ll know i believe he’s an autistic king.

Engineer

I know a lot of people tend to portray him as a tender, kind, empathetic guy but I genuinely don’t think he’s ever felt empathy or genuine compassion in his life. Sure he knows how to act sweet and polite and soft and nonthreatening all the time but no matter how long you’ve known him, if you get in his way he’s already designing a new machine in his head to blow you away into the last century.

Demoman

Objectum Demoman is one of my all-time favorites. For real. I will genuinely ship him with eyelander, idgaf.

Soldier

I really love trans soldier headcanons. His transmasc swag is off the charts. It’s hard to come up with hcs for Soldier because he’s so fucking wild you could put him in any situation and it could be true. Lived in a diving bell for two years? Sure. Favorite food is un-husked kernels of wheat? Absolutely. Replaced his dick with his big toe so he could use it to walk? I could go on.

Heavy

during and after he obtained his phd in Russian literature he published a number of fiction books under a pen name. They’re all tasteful romances with subplots of political intrigue. They gained high critical praise and are still moderately popular in bookstores in Russia and some neighboring countries. all the royalties from sales go to his family. He’s also an autistic king.

Pyro

I don’t have many headcanons for pyro because I like keeping the whole mystery. I don’t wonder what’s under the mask or come up with possible names because I think the whole of the character is that mystery. But I will say that as great as unicorns and rainbows and cupcakes are, there’s really nothing Pyro loves more than hanging out with Engie in his workshop and pretending to help.

Medic

as far as my own headcanons, I have a lot. Here’s some. He does not have a driver’s license—he taught himself to drive by stealing a car. He’s insecure about his voice but he talks too much to really care. He’s always wanted a motorcycle. He puts drugs in his morning coffee. He doesn’t like classical music, he listens to the top 40s on the radio and sings along. The peppier the better.

One of my favorite Medic headcanons I ever heard was that he only has medical training as a veterinarian and I think that’s hilarious because it could absolutely be real.

Spy

He’s smart but he’s not as highly educated as he wants people to think. He never went to a university and maybe never even finished school. Just like Scout, he’s so damn good at what he does that he can afford to be more concerned with appearance and showing off than anything else. They’re both committed to making people see what they want them to see and nothing deeper.

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pillow-anime-talk · 9 months

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gender swap.

request: how do you think a female wammy’s boys, lawliet and light would be?

# tags: headcanons; gender swap; slice of life; mostly fluff; maybe angst or drama; also comedy (a bit); sfw

includes: light yagami, l lawliet, beyond birthday, nate river, mail jeevas & mihael keehl {death note}

— LIGHT

↘ Oh, she is definitely one of the most beautiful women in the university and gets a scholarship every year for her academic achievements. She is not competitive and doesn’t try to be; she simply has an innate talent for quickly remembering informations and numbers and uses it to get the best grades, and thus awards or recognition among professors.

↘ She is not very interested in relationships; many boys chase after her, but she doesn’t care at all. Brown-haired girl much more prefers to focus on her career and private goals (both in the Kira case and her job in the investigative department).

↘ Nevertheless, if the situation requires it, she will use her charm and grace to achieve what she needs. This woman will stop at nothing when her own life is at stake.

— LAWLIET

↘ I imagine she’s wearing these cool, fluffy hoodies and huge pants tightly tightened around the waist. She is the definition of a woman who likes to play video games, drink energy drinks, watch anime and sit in her own room (alone).

↘ Just like the original L, she also likes sweets and juicy fruits. I imagine her favorites are mango or peaches. In my head I think that she is a vegetarian and cooks well to maintain a healthy, balanced diet based on the right products.

↘ She is an introvert and it’s hard to make friends with her, even though I personally find her a very attractive woman. However, she seems to be unapproachable and therefore has no success in friendship or love.

— BEYOND

↘ She is a loner who devotes herself to her own projects. She has at most one friend, but she lives alone in a small studio apartment with her beloved cat (she is definitely a cat-person).

↘ She studies criminology or forensic psychology and likes to listen to podcasts. She has very good grades, but very rarely appears in class (he comes to universities only when there are exams). The professors have no problem with her, but they know that she is a rather mysterious girl who struggles with personal problems. Nevertheless, she does very well, although she is an outcast.

↘ That girl enjoys night time and loves spending time with her cat while watching crime shows on Netflix. She definitely has trouble sleeping.

— NATE

↘ Another nerd. The best student in the year, the best student in the field and the best student in the entire university. In addition, she is artistically and musically talented (playing the violin and piano, #canon). Although she doesn’t have many friends, she is quite popular and her white hair catches the eye of most students. She is very liked by the professors, even if she looks at the window during classes and does not write anything in her notebook.

↘ I think she is fluent in French, German, English, Japanese and Swedish. She likes to learn new things – she remembers everything so easily. And also has a natural talent for this type of thing.

↘ She doesn’t have a driving license and is afraid to drive. She’s definitely using other people for a free ride.

— MAIL

↘ Not studying. I think she found work as a graphic designer, game tester or digital game designer. It’s something she likes and she’s really good at it. In the future, she would like to set up her own studio where she would create games.

↘ I have a vision in my head that she is sharing a room in an apartment with several people and she is that girl who likes to party and come home late. Plus, she smokes cigarettes and likes to sleep in late – a real example of a bad girl you don’t have to worry about if your boyfriend hangs out with her after school on a project.

↘ Nevertheless, she is a girl who sleeps with her favorite stuffed animal at night and I have no excuse for that, I just feel in my heart that she has a little brown teddy bear without one eye that she got from her favorite grandma and always sits on her bed waiting for her to come home.

— MIHAEL

↘ She has many friends, but only one true bestie, with whom she is perfectly matched in characters. She swears, she smokes, she’s always late, she’s sophisticated, she’ll take your boyfriend away if you get in her way... She does not like nosy people and gossip about herself, which is why she always deals with such matters personally, preferably behind the walls of the building or between the garages.

↘ She is brutal and emotionless. She has definitely not yet met a person who could heal this little, wishing for happiness heart. Currently, she lives alone and spent nights in the arms of random men. She doesn’t mind.

↘ Somewhere in the back of my mind I have a vision that she has been to the police station more than once for theft or battery. But she has a rich dad, so she gets away with everything.

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ceresfromnationstates · 5 days

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Character ref sheets: Henry H. Stickmin

A repost.

Henry Harison Stickmin

Nicknames: Hen, Hank, Sticks, Sticky, Sir Harison, HS_1214, Person of Interest #52763

Age: 28 (As of mid 2019.)

Birthplace: Carlsbad, NM

Current Location: Tucson, AZ

Nationality: Scottish-American

Physical description: Normal build, Blue eyes, (White, sunburnt skin), Shaven hair, Two scars on right forearm, Scar near upper abdomen.

Bio: It would seem that he's done with being a petty criminal. For now.

Just a normal dude like everybody else like him in his country.

No traumatic past, just a normal, carefree kid.

His parents divorced in late 2013, but they're still on good terms.

He's a bit Introverted, and as such is usually silent and doesn't feel all that comfortable out in public.

He considers himself an Agnostic.

Sometimes communicates using hand gestures or body language.

Doesn't like speaking in length, but can if he wants to.

Not a person to let bygones be bygones.

This particular Henry hails from a timeline where he hated toppats and other associated organized criminal groups.

Has substantial knowledge of other timelines, even remembers experiencing a temporal phenomenon well before the botched bank robbery attempt.

Frequently has vivid dreams (or nightmares) about bizarre things, and sometimes about things in the past or the other (less fortunate) timelines.

Has a diary to write down whatever happens in a day or what he's just experienced.

Has been keeping diaries well since mid 2016.

Knows about his extraordinary luck.

Doesn't know how many superntural abilities he possesses.

His knowledge about what happened in those timelines has made him pessimistic, a bit depressed, and hate himself for existing.

Has contemplated on the possibility that he might be living in a simulation, but has since dropped such "bogus crackpot conspiracy bullshit".

A light smoker. One pack is enough to last 2 weeks, and he rarely smokes.

His notoriety has died down since the beginning of 2019.

Sometimes asked if he is the real Henry Stickmin by passing pedestrians.

Has accounts on Reddit, Twitter and YouTube, all under the alias HS1214 and Twitter handle TheHenryHStickmin.

Has a close relationship with Ellie through their shared hardships.

He and Ellie bought a home together using both of their Gov't' monetary compensation.

Sold his old home too.

Both have lived normal daily lives, so far.

A novice home cook.

Has a large amount of friends/accomplices/confidants, ranging from high school and university classmates, members of the Goverment/Armed Forces, members of several police departments, and even an ex-CCC contractor, as well as from countries as far and obscure as Honduras, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Turkiye, etc.

Knows a lot of languages, most notably Spanish, Scottish Gaelic, French, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, German, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Russian to name a few.

Keeps a roster of his notable confidants/accomplices on paper.

Knows Charles and Dave only to some degree, despite having met them on more than one occasion.

Never ashamed of being a former petty criminal.

Has an H&K USP Compact and an M16A2.

Likes wearing the same set of basic clothing every day (T-shirt, Trousers, Boots)

Recently started wearing boots more often.

Has a taste for clothing, loves thrifting and milsurp gear.

Sometimes, he will wear all black, balaclava included.

Other than his scooter, he also owns a Honda CR-V, which both he and Ellie drive.

Keeps all of his trinkets somwehere in his bedroom, even his Teleporter.

Puts some of his "spoils of war" (a number of various items from previous criminal acts) on display in his parts of house in a show of bravado. Including an empty money bag and the bumper of a police cruiser, license plate included.

Now just trying to live a more righteous life and stay away from crime.

Watched one too much news on TV and is probably plotting something daring against the remnants of what was once the Toppat Clan.

At the same time he only wishes to live a normal life and probably reverse his past mistakes temporally.

Doesn't know whether the CCC is onto him or not.

#the henry stickmin collection #henry stickmin collection #thsc #thsc fanart #henry stickmin fanart #henry stickmin #thsc henry #thsc henry stickmin #character ref sheet #ceres hath spoken

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kennythecatgirl · 10 months

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Random fun facts about the Ghostbusters!

Dr. Winston Ramsey Zeddemore (he did not spend all that time studying Egyptology to not be called Dr!)

1 Parents names are Lucille and Edward

2 Birthday is May 2nd, 1953

3 Is the oldest of three kids

4 he’s 6ft2in

5 Former Air Force Major

6 Doctorate in Egyptology

7 Started a successful Global enterprise

8 Learned to pick locks at a young age

9 Worked in construction, as a cab driver and as a gas pump attendant

10 Fond of basketball and baseball

11 Likes crime and mystery novels

12 Likes watching game shows and police dramas

13 Likes Blueberry Fudge cake

14 Is afraid of needles

15 His maternal grandmother is African and Puerto Rican

16 Has some fluency in Spanish

17 Has always wanted to go to space (and has!)

18 Didn’t believe in the paranormal until he became a Ghostbuster

19 His license plate is "BIG-042"

20 Devout Baptist

Dr Raymond ‘Ray’ Stantz

1 Birthday is October 13th, 1959

2 Has an older brother named Carl and younger sister Jean (who’s apparently bisexual and polyamorous according to the first movies’ novelization.)

3 Has two nephews and a niece

4 Is 6ft1in

5. Had the most supportive parents of the group, the were never harsh towards him when he did poorly in school and encouraged his hobbies such as reading comic, collecting toys, and playing musical instruments such as the clarinet and bagpipes

6. Loved dinosaurs as a child

7 Was a boy scout

8 This man cannot cook, roll dice, do math or drive to save his life

9 Loves horror movies, game shows, cartoons and baseball

10 He and Winston pull pranks on the others in the firehouse

11 Owns a bookstore

12 Wears reading glasses and contacts

13 Has had two pieces of real-estate left to him by two different uncles

14 Has ancestors from Russia, Scotland and Switzerland

15 Was hired to get rid of Casper and his uncles

16 He knows sign language

17 Owned a sailboat

18 Has multiple degrees in hopes of getting a Nobel Prize

19 is Agnostic

20 Has a birthmark under his chin

Dr Egon Spengler

1 Birthday is November 21st, 1957

2 Nickname is Spookums

3 Has a daughter named Callie

4 Has a grandson,Trevor, and a granddaughter, Phoebe

5 Has a twin brother named Elon

6 Has a niece

7 Probably has the worst parents of the group. They wouldn't talk to him for a week after he received an A- on a test, was taught to repress his emotions and even threw away his drawings of Socrates.

8 Is fluent in Sumerian, Sign Language, Russian, Japanese and Troll

9 Has some medical training- Mostly in first aid

10 Can make balloon animals

11 Gets nose bleeds when underground

12 He and Ray were kicked out of college for trying to reanimate the dead (most likely a reference to Reanimator)

13 Isn’t big on surprises

14 Has spare glasses in Janine’s desk

15 Is not fond of the ‘book bat’ phenomena

16 As a teenager he listens to Shakespear rap

17 He once switched bodies with Slimer

18 Considers fungus collecting a vacation

19 Named one of his computers Marsha

20 Almost always wears an old-fashioned nightshirt and cap when sleeping

Dr Peter Venkman

1 Birthday is October 25th, 1954

2 Dad’s name is Jim Venkman and he’s a conman

3 His mother had passed away

4 Is a bit Irish, German, French and Dutch

5 Eats peanut butter and onion sandwiches

6 Hates it when people mess with his hair

7 Loves old movies (mainly Westerns)

8 Played college football

9 Loves baseball, football, ping pong, fishing and hockey

10 Loves trains and train models

11 Plays chess with Winston

12 Hates Roller coasters

13 Carries around a nail file to pick locks with

14 Is bad at spelling and math

15 Attended Woodstock

16 Has a stash of snacks hidden under his pillow

17 Use to have his own show

18 The team had to play for his soul in a game of baseball

19 was turned into a rat by accident

20 Was sad that Bill Murray played him and not Robert Redford

#who you gonna call #ghostbusters!#egon spengler #winston zeddemore #peter venkman #ray stantz #the real ghostbusters #Ghostbusters 2 #i aint afraid of no ghost

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caltropspress · 8 months

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DEBRIEFING: 5 August 2023 | Brooklyn, NY | The Nursery at Public Records

Armand Hammer’s We Buy Diabetic Test Strips Pop Up Party, featuring Fatboi Sharif, Cavalier, and DJ Haram

On the helix approaching the Lincoln Tunnel I saw a Virginia plate that read PHUNKE—its occupants seemed anything but, but who am I to judge? Not since I saw EGO DETH on a Volkswagen Kombi in the artificial light of the Holland while driving in to see woods’ Church release show at Baby’s All Right in early June have I taken a license plate as a sign. Fred Moten writes that “the sign works its terrible magic precisely from within a radical non-isolation,” but it’s a bit too early in the everyday struggle for theory, wouldn’t you agree? What I’m focused on is the WE BUY DIABETIC TEST STRIPS signs plastered over walls and poles. A sight as common in NYC as POST NO BILLS and CA$H FOR CAR$. We close our eyes to these signs, oblivious to their ubiquity. We’ve become blind to them. But I saw the sign with “Armand Hammer” appended to it, and it opened up my eyes. Life is demanding without understanding. So I overstand the signs and signals sent through wires and cables when I dial 1-877-ARM-N-HMR. I focus. I fixate. I study Alexander Richter’s photograph from the forthcoming album of a lamppost covered in taped and torn flyers. The edges fray and flicker in city winds. Looks like the tendons and flesh rotting from the bones of Death in Hans Baldung Griend’s Der Tod und das Mädchen (1517) painting. Looks like some real litter-ature. Gathering on August 5th, just six days shy of hip-hop’s much-heralded 50th anniversary, I think of hip-hop flyers of the past, specifically Kool Herc’s Back to School Jam at 1520 Sedgwick. But MC Debbie D—a flyerologist of the highest order—tells us that the index card flyer is a phony, a fake, a fugazi replica, a forgery. Fifty years into this thing and we’re still searching for authentic experiences. Fifty people at a rap show and one’s an informant. I’m here to inform on what felt—brain to bone—like an authentic experience.

3PM in the sun. I lined up with the other RSVPs (the show was free, in every sense of the word) outside the venue. Summer summer summertime. Fresh Prince via Juice shit. The temp on my dash read 90°. Kids walked down Butler Street mantled with beach towels from the Douglass and DeGraw Pool. Spotted lanternflies dive-bombed my legs. Thank god I lotioned my pale neck. When the powers-that-be finally allowed us entry, the musk of maryjane and malignant body odor was thick. Now I knew (it hit me in the fucking face) what that PHUNKE license plate was all about. “Funk,” from the French dialectal funkière: “to blow smoke on.” I’m not complaining, though—it was a communal fumigation. We were funky technicians, one and all.

“The Nursery” that Public Records has built falls somewhere between greenhouse and Zen garden. The square space is essentially an urban enclosure where pine and plane trees and fresh lumber create a private performance patio, a paradise just beyond the concertina wire, as woods might say. The stage is bedecked with potted cacti, while I spied A. Richter across the way with his Fujifilm GA645Zi amongst the bamboo stalks. ELUCID’s green Champion mesh football jersey (the Bo Jackson jersey in the laundry, apparently) matched the soundsystem monitors, and I found what little shade there was to be had and huddled close to the soundman’s booth, a shed of glass. I almost managed to forget I was cordoned off by beige shipping containers.

It wasn’t long before I was entertaining the idea of going full Fatboi Sharif, i.e., shirtless. Sharif himself only made it through half his set before shedding his garb—there wasn’t even a hospital gown in sight. The heat was on as soon as he came out to Can Ox’s “Scream Phoenix”—rising from flames. El-P’s Phillip Glass sample could’ve easily made a Sharif beat (we’re only talking a single generation removal, really). Sharif made quick work of some of his most recent altered realities. “Static Vision” included a call [I ain’t scared!] and response [Motherfucker, I ain’t scared!]. He ran through “Phantasm,” “Dimethyltryptamine,” “Designer Drugs,” “Think Pieces,” and “The Christening” like a buxom blonde through an abandoned building, revving chainsaw in pursuit. At times, his speech slurred into a makeshift Swahili (word to This Heat). It was strange to see Sharif in daylight, sunstruck, as I’m so used to seeing him in blood-flooded cellars or Joseph Conrad’s heart of darkness environs, like he alludes to on “Dimethyltryptamine.” He barreled through ventricles, riding shotgun in Sir Menelik’s Space Cadillac. DJ Boogaveli (who hypes up Sharif like it’s a pep rally at Springwood High) shouted about family at the start of “The Christening,” which sounded sincere compared to the tone Sharif takes on Decay—there the family must be of the Manson or Duggar milieu. He finished the track acapella, exhausting the last of his energy, only to reinvigorate and reanimate for a rioting rendition of “Smithsonian.”

I’ve yet to invest the necessary time into Cavalier’s work, though I know him from his association with Quelle Chris. With an album coming down the pike from Backwoodz, I found myself in the lucky position of witnessing his set incapable of discerning old material from new. He took centerstage, acting as his own hype-man and DJ (though he did high-five the invisible “DJ Light-skin” at one point), and his kineticism was immediately apparent. His floral button-down danced over his body as he rapped vitally. I felt vivisected by his exhortations and incisive observations. Keep in mind, my age prohibits me from becoming enthralled by any performer whose work I’m unfamiliar with—a sort of neuropathy of the soul. But he had me open and endeared by the time he implored, Put the tiger balm on it, put the tiger balm. As you wish, Cav. I lathered my chest.

“Y’all believe in magic? No? That’s okay.” Cav said it so quickly that he didn’t give anyone a chance to answer, but he assumed correctly, I think. Still, I was smitten by his conjurations—he made me a believer (no small task). “King me,” he rapped, “I’m trying to make it all across the board.” And, by the end of it, he had the entire crowd shouting “KING ME” back at him without a problem. MAKE SOME BLOODCLOT NOISE! he growled, and we didn’t need to be asked twice. IT’S VIBRATIONAL, AIN’T IT? With a seemingly innocuous phrase he was able to summon the spirit of the crowd. Over the course of his 25-minute set, I heard him rhyme epiglottis, brag of spitting a verse while performing cunnilingus, give a lesson on homophones, and regale us with stories of winking at cops in Whole Foods. “From the Tree of Life I smoke foliage,” he said, and the trees Betty Smith saw grow in Brooklyn circulated through his lungs. “We need to bring back weed spots—it’s not nostalgia.” Though he did rap nostalgically at times, letting us know he was born in BK, went to school not far from where we stood, and though he’s representing the 504 now, Brooklyn born-and-raised ossified his being into bone.

THIS IS CHURCH, YA FEEL ME? And I did feel him. I spent the week culling quotes about improvisation from Amiri Baraka’s Black Music (1967) for another self-assignment (I don’t work for anyone, son), and highlighted this passage: “...to go back in any historical (or emotional) line of ascent in Black music leads us inevitably to religion, i.e., spirit worship. This phenomenon is always at the root in Black art, the worship of spirit—or at least the summoning of or by such force.” [Peace to Kehinde Alonge—always at the ready with choicest recommendations.] Cavalier danced upon the altar and rapped his sermon relentlessly, tirelessly. I was raised up on tippy-toes, enthralled by the force of his spirit. THIS AIN’T JAZZ?! he asked. WHAT THE FUCK THEY TALKIN’ ABOUT MAN? I don’t know who’s doing that sort of talking, but they’d be hard-pressed to say such a thing in this public gathering. “Brooklyn, this is how it feels—all of us together: this is how it feels.” I believed in Cavalier’s magic by the end of his set. I was charmed by his satchel of High John de Conqueror. Let me know where to Venmo my tithe.

The heat index had my vision tunneling. When Armand Hammer stepped on stage, sounds were moving in reverse, and the Class-A dynamite duo took us back (way back) in time, when ELUCID was in “fifth grade in [his] dad jeans” and he “played Game Boy in the backseat.” woods, with his first words of the afternoon, said he “rather be codependent than co-defendants.” This must’ve been “Landlines,” the lead-off from the new album, seeing as how they shouted-out JPEGMAFIA, ELUCID rapped “leave a message after the beep,” and a dial tone toned between verses. It was off the hook, as they say.

They seemed to be following the official We Buy Diabetic Test Strips tracklist, because next up was “Woke Up and Asked Siri How I’m Gonna Die” (a song with a title so long that it must’ve come from the magnum mind of ELUCID). She replied, she replied, she replied… they repeated, but I didn’t quite catch what that chatbotbitch said. woods refashioned a line from “Remorseless” with “Life’s a blip, I’m swimming under the radar.” Life’s a blip and then you die, that’s why we puff lye. Further deepening the uncanny valley, their third offering to the musty masses included “fake trees in the Apple Store.” I’m sensing something about the excesses of tech after a cursory listen to these WBDTS tracks, the detritus and pollution it produces. To quote my damn self, something in line with “...a cell tower with evergreen branches: / …a drone with seagull feathers.” ELUCID revived “a double portion of protection for [him] and [his] niggas,” explaining he’s “trying to only say what’s necessary.” By any means, sir.

Cavalier was welcomed back to the stage for “I Keep A Mirror in My Pocket,” another new joint with Preservation on production. We the audience felt, collectively, like we were in the belly of the beast—those shipping container walls (a real Season 2 of The Wire sensation)—as Cav chorused and signified about the Big Bad Wolf. A cautionary tale, indeed. I can see clearly how Cavalier fits within the Backwoodz cadre.

The content of the next number left no question of its title. “Niggardly (Blocked Call),” if I was asked to predict, will be the cynosure of the new album. (Yeah, you heard me right dog, I said cynosure.) Produced by August Fanon (who was in the place to be—a rare appearance from an elusive mastermind who would humbly demur if you called him such, I’m supposing), the song has an R0 = 15 infectious hook: “Admittedly niggardly, I won’t even give these niggas bad energy.” woods, what with his penchant for scales and measurements, boils everything “down to the last red cent.” How does he do it? Well, MY HEART PUMP KETAMINE, he yells. We find woods in one of his ruthless, no Vaseline moods: “I eat knowing I’m starving my enemies.” Revenge is like the sweetest joy next to spending time with your kids, and woods picked up where his verse from “As the Crow Flies” left off. He closed his eyes and rapped to the rafters and the sky:

I write when my baby’s asleep, I sit in the room, in the dark, I listen to him breathe, I walk him to school and then the park, Hold they little hands while we cross the street, I think about my brother who is long gone, And this is all he ever dreamed.

ELUCID and woods repeated admittedly niggardly back-and-forth at the end, delighted with the wordplay.

They kept riding the August Fanon beatwork like Thomas Sankara in the Renault 5 as the killer chords from “Smile Lines” crept in. The crowd response was screw-faced sneers and shouted lyrics. One youngblood knew the song front to back, beginning to end—ELUCID acknowledged him from the stage: “Peace to the homie out there—he knew every word, man.” I watched the dude beam from the compliment. Even after writing profusely—profusely (fuck Caltrops and his non-existent editor, here comes the predator…)—about woods and ELUCID, I still can’t memorize their lines. Chalk it up to some neurological incapacity that arrived in my 30s. I envy those who commit songs like “Smile Lines” and “Smith + Cross” to memory. My not-so-supple gray matter just can’t cut it anymore.

My expectations for We Buy Diabetic Test Strips were upended by the tracks they debuted. I’d speculated an abrasive noise event; a Sheet Metal Music for the new millennium we’ll never reach; a kind of Schoolly D “P.S.K.” FML swagger. There’s certainly elements of that, just not as much as I was anticipating. (And who knows what noise the as-yet-unheard tracks might bring.) I assumed the shared space with Soul Glo over the past several years, the screechings zapped through the receiver on the toll-free number, and their recent appearance on Shapednoise’s Absurd Matter would be an indication of the Shape of Rap to Come. Speaking of which, woods sludged through his verse from “Family” before DJ Haram’s scrapyard percussion ushered in “Trauma Mic.”

Haram was at the helm for the entirety of Armand Hammer’s set, and she reveled and felt every ounce of her own beat. The buzzsaw sounds were like Baraka’s description of Don Ayler’s trumpet: “long blasts…in profound black technicolor.” ELUCID’s traumatized mic draped over his shoulder for the opening anvil strikes. He needed his hands free to clap in rhythm. The gesture was reminiscent, again, of Baraka’s analysis of the saxophone held by Albert Ayler (the elder Ayler), “a howling spirit summoner tied around the ‘mad’ Black man’s neck.”

The “Trauma Mic” video had me thinking on thematics of refuse and rubbish—you best protect your dreck. I thought back to the garbology Aesop sifted through, where I saw Bakunin’s barricades in the city streets and revisited the actions of The Motherfuckers in the late ’60s—they stood in solidarity with striking sanitation workers and dumped garbage at the doorstep of Lincoln Center. Armand Hammer—outfitted as scrappers, pitching barrels and coiling skeins of copper wire—are of the same spirit. They propose a cultural exchange of garbage for garbage.

woods bodied “No Hard Feelings” and was joined by damn-near the entire crowd. Had it sounding like a tenant revolt as we all screamed, LIKE THEY STEALING! The Aethiopes track equals, if not outright overtakes, “Asylum” and “Remorseless” as most affecting in the past year’s blitz of performances.

ELUCID stood on the precipice, at the edge of the stage, as he rapped through “Barbarians.” He went swimming into the crowd with his free arm, astro-spiritually. The refrain of “Who the fuck are you?” evolved from the accusatory tone heard on Rome to an existential “Who the fuck am I?” ELUCID and woods bandied the question between them like two college kids in the dorms at 2AM, faded as fidduck. The “intelligent fist” of woods and the “mysticism” of ELUCID (to use an equation Baraka applied to Milford Graves and Sonny Murray) working together to produce a manic mix. They kept the marriage going through “Mangosteen” before turning to the heliocentric worlds they invented in collaboration with the Alchemist on Haram. “Black Sunlight” and “Falling Out the Sky” had me thinking of Baraka (again!): “It only takes two to start a group. If the two are maturely strong, and have a oneness, then the others will feel it and touch their own sound, voice, or whatever.”

ELUCID’s last solo number was “Spellling,” and by then he was spent but still perseverating in the dopest way possible. “This is a physical experience,” ELUCID said as the song began, asking the soundman to turn the volume up higher. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII been spelling, he spoketh [an ever ever elongated I and a shot-to-the-dome of “been”]. The I Told Bessie opener became what Baraka calls “an antiphonal rhythmic chant-poem-moan.” ELUCID’s voice was ragged by this point, a metallic scrape as he shouted about being “your momma’s favorite, since about ’88, ’89.” The down in “just got to heaven and I can’t sit down” was made malleable in how he twisted it around in his mouth. Split tongue heavy lifting.

He had nothing left when the alarming squeal whistle warp of “Stonefruit” started to play. But the audience assisted, screaming with him I REALLY CAME IN ON A CYCLONE as his voice gave out. woods jumped in early when it was his turn, which proved a moment of levity. To err is human, and woods—despite the adoration he’s been receiving—is endearingly human. That humanity is probably why so many of Armand Hammer’s fans have become zealous collectors, showing up at the venue with cardboard boxes full of vinyl, willing to wait patiently for woods and ELUCID to write their names in metallic Sharpies on these their prized possessions. “First Armand Hammer show in the states in a while,” woods said at one point. “Small flex,” ELUCID noted, chuckling. But they brought it home on Saturday. It was “As the Crow Flies” made manifest. woods brought all the Backwoodz family on stage at the conclusion of their set. The family atmosphere afforded by the 3PM start time was embellished by the sight of children on shoulders. It had the feel of a triumphant affair. It’s winning, it’s winning, it’s winning…

Peace to the conversations that were had with Alex Richter, Willie Green, Max Heath, and Sharif.

Photos credit: Rory Simms

AH setlist:

1. Landlines 2. Woke Up and Asked Siri How I’m Gonna Die 3. [???] 4. I Keep A Mirror In My Pocket 5. Niggardly (Blocked Call) 6. Smile Lines 7. Family 8. Trauma Mic 9. No Hard Feelings 10. [???] 11. Barbarians 12. Mangosteen 13. Black Sunlight 14. Falling Out the Sky 15. Spellling 16. Stonefruit

#armand hammer #backwoodz studioz #public records #fatboi sharif #dj haram #cavalier #underground hip hop #brooklyn

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newstfionline · 11 months

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Tuesday, May 16, 2023

TSA tests facial recognition technology to boost airport security (AP) A passenger walks up to an airport security checkpoint, slips an ID card into a slot and looks into a camera atop a small screen. The screen flashes “Photo Complete” and the person walks through—all without having to hand over their identification to the TSA officer sitting behind the screen. It’s all part of a pilot project by the Transportation Security Administration to assess the use of facial recognition technology at a number of airports across the country. The effort comes at a time when the use of various forms of technology to enhance security and streamline procedures is only increasing. TSA says the pilot is voluntary and accurate, but critics have raised concerns about questions of bias in facial recognition technology and possible repercussions for passengers who want to opt out. Travelers put their driver’s license into a slot that reads the card or place their passport photo against a card reader. Then they look at a camera on a screen about the size of an iPad, which captures their image and compares it to their ID. The technology is both checking to make sure the people at the airport match the ID they present and that the identification is in fact real. A TSA officer is still there and signs off on the screening.

NYC converts hotels to shelters as pressure mounts to accommodate asylum seekers (AP) The historic Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan shuttered three years ago, but it will soon be bustling again—reopening to accommodate an anticipated influx of asylum seekers just as other New York City hotels are being converted to emergency shelters. Mayor Eric Adams announced Saturday that the city will use the Roosevelt to eventually provide as many as 1,000 rooms for migrants. Across the city, hotels like the Roosevelt that served tourists just a few years ago are being transformed into emergency shelters, many of them in prime locations within walking distance from Times Square, the World Trade Center memorial site and the Empire State Building. A legal mandate requires the city to provide shelter to anyone who needs it. Even so, Adams says the city is running out of room for migrants and has sought financial help from the state and federal governments.

Title 42 Is Gone, but Not the Conditions Driving Migrants to the U.S. (NYT) Relative quiet has prevailed along the southern U.S. border since Friday, despite widespread fears that ending a pandemic-era policy to immediately expel most migrants, even asylum seekers, would set off a stampede from Mexico. A surge in migrants did in fact happen. On some days last week, apprehensions reached about 11,000, among the highest recorded. But the lull could be the calm before another storm. Beyond U.S. borders, political instability, gang violence and climate change will continue to spur emigration. Much of the developing world, from Africa and Asia to South America and the Caribbean, is still reeling from economic ruin wrought by Covid-19 and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. “Everyone is looking at the arrivals at the border, but the root of the problem lies in push factors inside countries of origin that are going to persist,” said Justin Gest, a political scientist at George Mason University who studies immigration. “When crises occur, they generate northbound flows,” he said. And, beyond the factors pushing migrants out of their home countries, the magnet drawing people to the United States is the labor market. Unemployment stands at its lowest level in decades, yet there are millions of unfilled jobs.

France pledges more military aid as Ukraine’s Zelenskyy makes surprise Paris visit (AP) France pledged additional military aid for Ukraine on Sunday, including light tanks, armored vehicles, training for soldiers and other assistance as the Ukrainians gear up for a counteroffensive against Russian forces, following surprise talks in Paris between the Ukrainian and French presidents. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s Emmanuel Macron met for about three hours at the French presidential Elysee Palace—an encounter kept under wraps until shortly before the Ukrainian leader’s arrival in Paris from Germany on a French government jet, extending his multi-stop European tour. With Ukraine planning to go on the offensive hoping to retake Russian-occupied territory, military aid was a top agenda item. Macron’s office said France will supply dozens of light tanks and armored vehicles “in the weeks ahead,” without giving specific numbers. Also promised were more air defense systems, but again details weren’t made public.

As Ukraine Makes Inroads in Bakhmut, Devastation Still Reigns (NYT) For nearly a year, Ukraine has been simply trying to hold on in Bakhmut as Russian forces pressed in on the city from both sides while at the same time laying waste—block by bloody block—to what had once been a vibrant salt-mining city of 80,000. Over time, Bakhmut has taken on an outsize importance: a symbol of Ukrainian defiance and of Russian leaders’ determination to blast their way to a small victory in a little-known corner of eastern Ukraine. Last week, for the first time, Ukrainian forces launched a series of coordinated counterattacks and in a matter of days won back territory north and south of the city that it had taken Russian forces months to capture. But Russian forces still control more than 90 percent of the city, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials. The commander of the 24th Motorized Rifle Brigade, who goes by the call sign Prince, said on Saturday that after taking a short tactical pause, Russian forces were furiously assaulting the city again. “Artillery fire, rocket and airstrikes do not stop for a minute,” he said. “Every meter of the city is now under shelling.”

The Ivy-educated opposition leader who could end Thai military rule (Washington Post) For nearly a decade, Thailand has been led by an authoritarian military establishment—but Pita Limjaroenrat, an Ivy League-educated business executive and leader of a liberal opposition party, is seeking to change that. The results of Sunday’s election appear to have gone largely in his party’s favor, potentially setting the stage for Pita to become the country’s next prime minister, but rules set in place after a 2014 military coup could complicate that process. At 42, Pita is nearly 30 years younger than Thailand’s current leader, retired general Prayuth Chan-ocha, who took power after the 2014 coup. Pita was born in Thailand but raised in New Zealand before he returned to his native country and completed an undergraduate degree in finance and banking at Thammasat University in Bangkok. He went on to earn master’s degrees in public policy and business from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to his legislative biography. Before becoming a member of Thailand’s parliament in 2018, he worked as the head of ride-share company Grab’s operations in Thailand and earlier as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. He has pledged to move Thailand out of what he calls a “lost decade” of slow economic growth. Part of that plan, he says, includes diversifying Thailand’s tourism-dependent economy and spreading it out beyond the capital, Bangkok. In a televised interview with Bloomberg last month, Pita said three main points of his agenda are to “demilitarize, de-monopolize and decentralize.”

China launches projects to build ‘new-era’ marriage, childbearing culture (Reuters) China will launch pilot projects in more than 20 cities to create a “new-era” marriage and childbearing culture to foster a friendly child bearing environment, the latest move by authorities to boost the country’s falling birth rate. China’s Family Planning Association, a national body that implements the government’s population and fertility measures, will launch the projects to encourage women to marry and have children, state backed Global Times reported on Monday. The projects come amid a flurry of measures Chinese provinces are rolling out to spur people to have children, including tax incentives, housing subsidies, and free or subsidised education for having a third child. China implemented a rigid one-child policy from 1980 until 2015—the root of many of its demographic challenges that have allowed India to become the world’s most populous nation. The limit has since been raised to three children.

China sentences 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison on spying charges (AP) China sentenced a 78-year-old United States citizen to life in prison Monday on spying charges, in a case that could exacerbate the deterioration in ties between Beijing and Washington over recent years. Details of the charges against John Shing-Wan Leung, who also holds permanent residency in Hong Kong, have not been publicly released. Leung was detained April 15, 2021, by the local bureau of China’s counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou. Relations between Washington and Beijing are at their lowest in decades amid disputes over trade, technology, human rights and China’s increasingly aggressive approach toward its territorial claims involving self-governing Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Off-grid solar power brings light to remote villages LAINDEHA, Indonesia (AP)—As Tamar Ana Jawa wove a red sarong in the fading sunlight, her neighbor switched on a light bulb dangling from the sloping tin roof. It was just one bulb powered by a small solar panel, but in this remote village that means a lot. In some of the world’s most remote places, off-grid solar systems are bringing villagers like Jawa more hours in the day, more money and more social gatherings. Now, villagers frequently gather in the evening to continue the day’s work, gather to watch television shows on cellphones charged by the panels and help children do homework in light bright enough to read. Some 775 million people globally lacked access to electricity in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are home to some of the largest populations without access to electricity. Not having electricity at home keeps people in poverty, the U.N. and World Bank wrote in a 2021 report.

Massive new US embassy complex in Lebanon is raising eyebrows (CNN) A massive new US embassy complex in Lebanon is causing controversy for its sheer size and opulence in a country where nearly 80% of the population is under the poverty line. Located some 13 kilometers (about 8 miles) from the center of Beirut and built on the site of the current embassy, the US’ new compound in Lebanon looks like a city of its own. Sprawling over a 43-acre site, the complex in the Beirut suburb of Awkar is almost two-and-a-half times the size of the land the White House sits on and more than 21 soccer fields. Many Lebanese on Twitter questioned why the US needs such a large embassy in their capital. Lebanon is smaller than Connecticut and has a population of just six million and few American tourists go to the country. “Did the US move to Lebanon??” tweeted Sandy, a social media activist. “Maybe you’ll have enough room to work on all those pending visa applications,” tweeted Abed A. Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, responding to the grandiosity of the new complex.

#headlines #news

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jkrockin · 1 year

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fanfic writer ask: director's cut for my love is otherwise

(Don't look at how it's been five days since I got this ask and nobody else remembers I reblogged that director's cut meme last week! Shh! Kayfabe!!)

We're talking about my love is otherwise, the colonial Australia mail order bride AU I wrote for The Terror AU fanzine in 2021.

Well now technically you already have the director's cut- the version that went into the zine was a hair under 6k, and the version on AO3 IS the director's cut, clocking in at 7,432 words of raw uncut linguistic hedonism, and cameos by James Fitzjames, gadabout émigré, who in my heart spends the time in which this fic takes place falling in love with grizzled paddle steamer captain Francis Crozier. (They're not relevant to this story but I do think about their forever unwritten All the Rivers Run AU from time to time.)

The whole piece owes basically everything to two fics: clear as western skies by mwestbelle and Came With Your Faith Unshaken by @drunktuesdayss; the former I read back in the halcyon days of 2009 and kept rattling around in the back of my head, inspiring Thoughts, and the latter I read while going through the Mail Order Brides tag as research, and which got me, sideways fashion, reading Best Friends wrestleboys fic despite not being even vaguely in wrestleboys fandom, not least because everything drunktuesdays writes fucking rips. When I pitched the story for the zine, I'd intended to also set it in a semi-mythologised American Old West, but not only did I struggle to not just completely steal setting notes from the fics I just linked, I dunno! I just liked the idea of setting it literally closer to home, and not putting these English lads into yet another American setting. There's not enough fic set in Australia, in my humble opinion.

Uhh what all can I tell you? The location of Edward's land is not specified very much on purpose, hah, but it's somewhere northwestish of Parramatta, roughly in the Baulkham Hills, Bella Vista, King's Park kind of direction, nebulously on a creek fed out of the Parramatta River. I do live in the Sydney basin myself, albeit a ways further east; at the time that I wrote the fic I didn't have my driver's license- god, that's weird to realise- so I didn't do this at the time, but if I were writing it now, I'd probably have gone and spent a day driving around to reacquaint myself with the Vibe, but I did not do that, so. In my defence, this fic is set in, roughly... uh now I actually don't remember? Early 1870s, I think? And the Vibe has changed considerably in the past 150 years. I spent a fair amount of time with my mother's historical architecture and decorating books to think about what Edward's house would have been like, a lot of which did not make it into the text; I laid it out much like the house I live in, which was built in 1889; my house is Italianate Victorian, rather than the blockier rural mid-Victoriana I went for for Edward's house, but it's not an uncommon layout, having two front and two middle rooms off a central hallway, kitchen/living/pantry area off the back. Again, a fair amount of reading that straight did not make it into the text, but which I like to think adds subtextual flavour.

Other stuff: in this AU, the real life suburb of Dundas Valley is called that because it's where Dundy lives; the background Fitzjames/Crozier thing that's happening, very offscreen; farmhands Tom Hartnell and Magnus Manson are having a soft boy sheepherding romance where they gently touch hands softened by lanolin and share bedrolls and so on; I can't remember if he got mentioned in the fic as it is, but somewhere nearby Irving and Malcolm are also sharing property and lingering glances. There's some flavour in here also from having read novels like The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, Walking the Boundaries by Jackie French, and My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin, but I don't know how much that comes through in the cross-dressing gay sex.

(yeah I dropped a reading list for my 7.5k smutty AU fanfiction I do what I LIKE)

#ask me ask me ask me #every meme and every youyou #fanfiction problems #boogerwookiesugarcookie

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born-to-lose · 1 year

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any hobbies yr trying 2 pick up? whats yr favorite language 2 learn? wht was the last movie u watched? whtd u think of it? what r u lookinh 4ward 2 in the coming months? favorite season? favorite summer drink?

I'm picking up knitting, crocheting, embroidery, painting and drawing again! Also planning to get back to playing bass and guitar as soon as I have enough energy. And I want to start doing yoga

My favourite language to learn might be French? I'm not as stressed anymore as when I was still in school but I graduated that with straight A's in all four French subjects so I feel more confident in my skills lol maybe also Norwegian because it's pretty easy with me being fluent in German and English

The last movie I watched was The Monster Project. It's a Blair Witch type of movie about some guys with a horror channel interviewing people who claim to be a vampire, a skinwalker and possessed by a demon to gain more fame, but they turn out to be real. It wasn't a masterpiece but had some cool effects so I liked it

I'm looking forward to visiting some local museums I either haven't seen yet or haven't in years and of course all the concerts coming up in the future (including partying with Jack at Paunchy Cats in autumn)! Not a lot have been announced so far but I'm keeping my eyes peeled. Also finally getting my driver's license! I'm having my last couple of training lessons and then I'll hopefully be able to drive on my own and not have to beg my parents or sister to drive me everywhere. And I'm hoping for a response from one of the jobs I applied for so please pray for me that I get this English teaching job at my old college

My favourite season is spring, not too hot but not too cold and soft and fun vibes!

My favourite summer drink is any kind of lemonade or piña colada (play the Rupert Holmes song)

#ask #zigmentality #barbi

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trucbiduleschouettes · 1 year

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Ah, the infamous French paperwork 💀

111€ to get a new ID and Passport, managed to snatch an appointment today because someone cancelled otherwise there was no availability anywhere around for minimum two months, and the waiting time to get those now that I've done the paperwork is minimum one month

I literally have no ID papers rn aside from the police document that's like "paper stolen, I'm a real french person with an actual driving license that was also stolen"

Never get your papers stolen guys, it fucking sucks

#Truc's stolen wallet sad adventure

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cosmicmomo · 2 years

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I feel like a real adult : so far today I've filled an application for a french level exam to get in french classes next year + booked a class for a driving simulator (i really want to get my driver's license akdjsjd) (note: i did so in a phone call and didn't die, contrary to what I thought)

#ok enough productivity for today #i will not study the exam i have on monday because i just. dont care enough sorry

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skye-cady · 3 months

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Blog #19/Jan 23. From the Colosseum to the Eiffel Tour. Compare/contrast our first and last structures, and discuss what it means for a city to have such iconic features.

The Colosseum is one of the most iconic buildings of Rome, and Italy as a whole. It was built around AD 70-80, and thus is around 2000 years old. The land has served many purposes, initially belonging to the city before being seized by the emperor Nero. Later, the Colosseum was built as a way to return the land to the people. It then became an amphitheater featuring bloody gladiator battles and animal killings, and later became a church, a fortress, and a source for flammable marble. Only recently have city officials taken an interest in restoration and preservation of the structure. The building has changed quite a bit with extraction of marble and stabilization work, but but the arches and stone are still common in Rome. Thematically and color-wise, the structure fits in with the rest of the city. In comparison, the Eiffel Tower is significantly younger and serves a much different purpose. Construction began in 1887, and was meant to honor the centennial of the French Revolution at the World's Fair. It is constructed of various sets of parallel metal beams, which have been interconnected similar to the style of a truss. This is a unique design that does not appear often in the typical architecture of Paris, so it stands out against the rest of the city. While the tower has always been climbable and even has a variety of radio and communication equipment, it fundamentally does not serve the public in the same way that an amphitheater can. That being said, the tower has also seen far less death and destruction. After serving it's purpose for several decades, the tower's license ended and it was set to be dismantled. This is both similar and different to the Colosseum, which had no plans to be demolished but ended up meeting a similar fate. Both structures survived this, and went on to become very important pieces for their respective cities. In the current day, they are both a source of historical record as well as a tourist attraction. Having a structure like this means a city develops two personalities- one for tourism, and another for the citizens who live there. Each structure was conditionally open to the public (you had to have a ticket to enter), and the people we saw there were generally large tourist groups and people from outside the city. The surrounding area was not necessarily pleasant, with congestion, pickpockets, and scammers at each. Thus an iconic structure is going to draw people in just as much as it drives them away, and create a two-sided city that accepts and rejects the structure at the same time. There is no real way to reconcile them either- iconic buildings will always be built (because they are interesting and people like interesting things), the iconic will always bring tourism, and tourism can never fully capture the feeling of a city. None of this is strictly good or bad, and Rome and Paris will continue to grapple with those intricacies for years to come.

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alizardwrites · 4 months

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Excerpt from MFA Statement

I loved magic when I was younger. Reading Matilda and Harry Potter brought me so much joy to the point that my childhood heart used to ache that they were not real. Worlds filled with supernatural powers and never ending adventures drew me in. I prayed for telekinetic powers, believed my letter from Hogwarts was on its way, and was busy designing wings with my mom’s car window shades in my free time. The inside of my mind was filled with fantasy.

Outwardly, no one would have been able to tell. I often felt a wall was built between my inner and outer worlds. I adhered closely to the values and boundaries my Korean immigrant parents passed on to me. To my frustration, I was constantly described as shy and polite, and I always, painstakingly asked for permission. In 3rd grade, I went as far as to wet my pants one day when my teacher failed to notice I had been holding up my hand for half an hour to use the restroom. I never drank at parties as a teenager, never snuck out, never even had a driver’s license until I was well into my 20s as my family did not approve of teenagers driving.

I faithfully grew to be a compliant adult. Then in 2017, I made a leap of faith quite out of character. Upon graduating college and working as an interior designer, I suddenly found myself with unprecedented financial freedom. I had more money than I had ever had and, most importantly, I did not have to ask anyone for permission to use it. I surprised myself with the breadth of my sudden interests; I hired a personal trainer and bought materials to teach myself French embroidery. Passions had been hiding in dark closets that money had suddenly burst open the doors to. And ultimately, it reignited a middle school dream that I had brushed away as impossible for years. I soon summarized my life into a few suitcases and boxes, and left with my savings to pursue acting in New York City. I auditioned for and successfully enrolled in a small conservatory tucked away in the basement of a Broadway theatre. The name – Circle in the Square Theatre School – I think is rather perfect for such a place; the owners of the theatre had tried to fit an entire acting school into their miniature basement, much like fitting a square peg into a round hole. Their website hadn’t been updated since what I assume was the 90s, and half of me doubted that there would be a school at all when I arrived. Inside, everything might as well have been made of cardboard; the ceilings would leak, heavy rain would flood the hallways, classrooms were perpetually cold, and once a live bed bug was found in the costume room. It was not a prestigious institution by any means, but somehow I had never felt so close to being magical as I did there. I could be more than Matilda and Harry. I could be Nina, Sonya, Alma, Puck, Didi and Gogo, sprout wings and soar, live a thousand different lives.

Learning acting was finding a bridge that finally connected my inner and outer worlds. It was a medium with which I could express the colors that only I had been able to see inside my mind. It gave this compliant girl permission to not ask permission. It asked me to be uninhibited. It promised that if I was vulnerable and imaginative, a world would start to breathe and come to life. My mind was at home.When acting, I am able to peel back the many, tiresome layers of what I think I ought to be, and express my truest, rawest, human self. And the beauty of theatre is that when the actor is truthful, they have the unmatched force to ignite powerful emotion and empathy for those watching. I have experienced it as Mariana begging for Angelo’s life in a small theatre in the Upper East Side, or as Rose Mundy dancing to the beat of her heart in my graduation production of Dancing at Lughnasa. Moments when I am locked in, and can sense the focus of the audience align with my own. We wait on each other. We breathe together. Theatre pleads with us to witness and feel a life that is not our own. If there exists a remedy to human isolation and division, part of the answer must be in the theatre. I am dedicated to this power.

#acting #personal statement #essay writing #college essay #grad school #northwestern

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