#i had to add the whatsapp part its too funny

[takethebodymarc]

Mariana to Pepito! (shortened it a bit): We do not know if you're an egg of a dragon or if you're an egg of I don't know. Whatever you are. What I'm 100% sure is that you are an incredible little egg [...] even if you are a little egg of a chicken, we are going to love you apa okay? Whatever it is, no matter what happens, I will always be there- you will always count on me okay? I'm going to give you my whatsapp.

#i had to add the whatsapp part its too funny #i have to send a big project in 4 hours and here i am #qsmp #mariana #pepito #he can say the sweetest words to pepito and then start talking shit about the other eggs kjdjf

[fyodorslave]

BSD characters with a Latina S/O

rq: chuuya, poe, akutagawa with a s/o who is Latina

@ravenina14

\\ slightly suggestive content

chuuya, poe, akutagawa

- Chuuya would discreetly learn about the hispanic culture and surprise you at random moments with traditional facts about your country.

- Thinks the customs are interesting, had vague knowledge about it even before dating you.

- I see him as someone who LOVES the Mexican and Spanish cuisine, specifically chilaquiles and flan. Your mom always makes some for him.

- Has a good spice tolerance so would prefer the food to be spicy.

- He always ends up fighting for his life in the port mafia bathrooms the next day. Uses gravity manipulation to hold himself on the seat so he doesn't rocket off from the force.

- Loves when you randomly start speaking Spanish, the rolling of you r's turn him on more then he'd like to admit.

- If a phrase does accidentally slip out while having sex, he will consider it motivation to go harder.

- If you ever take him to Mexico, just know he'll bring a suitcase solely for Mexican liquor.

- Thinks cooking dates are fun in general, so he'd learn new recipes online- bonus points if they were your childhood favourites- and asks you to cook with him, considers it an intimate moment.

- Is on the family whatsapp group chat. Can and will use google translate to understand the memes that are sent. Will reply with "LMAO" and your dad wold be like "stop laughing you don't understand".

- No, but I know your mom loves Chuuya, will text him daily and teach him phrases in Spanish and tests him every now and then. Asks her for insults so he can use them on Dazai.

- Thought it was funny when she threw her slipper at you.

- Thinks about doing it too Dazai.

- Unlike Chuuya, Akutagawa doesn't have any knowledge about your culture, does try to learn new things online though. If he sees an interesting fact he would share it with you the next time he sees you.

- Thinks the language is exotic, finds your voice and accent soothing. Will sometimes lay on your thighs and fall asleep to you talking to your family on the phone.

- I feel like he'd ask you to translate every different language just because you can speak Spanish, like he'd see a board with Russian written on it and will ask you to translate it.

- Will ask how to say weretiger in Spanish. Got mad when Atsushi didn't understand

- I don't think he'd cook with you, but he would be more than willing to try the foods you make and give honest feedback.

- I like to see him as someone who really likes aguachile, but will disintegrate if it's too spicy. He'd start coughing even more violently while your parents sit there like "damn🤨"

- Yeah, he has the lowest spice tolerance out of all three.

- Would try Mexican liquor not knowing that the alcohol content is much higher than regular alcoholic drinks. Would embarrass himself again and turn into dust.

- Was added onto the family whatsapp groupchat but never replies unless its important. Always the first to see the memes, asks you what they mean. Would keep a straight face and say "funny".

- But in all seriousness, Akutagawa may come off as close-minded and as if he doesn't care about your culture; but he's actually quite fond of the customs and is willing to learn more, especially since he considers it an important part of his life now that your his significant other.

- Alright Poe is obviously well informed about your culture. Out of all 3, he would win the kahoot.

- That being said, he is intrigued about learning more. Likes listening to traditional folk tales and uses it as inspiration for his books.

- Asks you for to translate ideas for him so he can add Spanish phrases to his writing.

- He would be scared as hell meeting your parents, especially after their first impression of him was "naww who the fuck is this😟"

- Thinks it's because he is of a different ethnicity, but it's actually because of that damn raccoon.

- Warms up to them after conversing more. Will watch your mom cook and ask a few questions here and there, will writing down the recipe and some tips from her; would offer to help clean up.

- Surprise you with the food he learnt to make, I just know he's a good cock.

- cook.

- When he first met you he was struck by foreignness, interested in getting to know you more. This was motivation for him to get to know you in his weird ways.

- Brags about you to Ranpo during their coffee dates <3

- Like Akutagawa, he find your voice soothing so he'd ask you to tell him stories or just speak in your mother tongue. Find moments like these extremely tender.

- He would ask to be added into the family groupchat but would just freeze as soon as he's added.

- Searches up memes to send even though he doesn't know what they mean. (Crosses his fingers and hopes for the best)

- Sent an offensive meme once by accident and got time out. Begged you to add him back.

- Once he thought he sent a funny 'yo momma joke' but sent actually sent an 'I fucked yo momma joke'.

- Got kicked out again.

- All in all, your family loves Poe, makes fun of him a lot but considers him family. Especially after seeing him try so hard for you, I mean why wouldn't he? You his significant other after all.

Thinking about Akutagawa deteriorating after eating a chile is so funny to me for some reason😭 anyway, I hope that was fine!

#chuuya x reader #poe x reader #poe bungou stray dogs #edgar allan poe x reader #chuuya nakahara x reader #bungo stray dogs #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungo stray dogs headcanons #bsd headcanons #chuuya headcanons #chuuya x y/n

[king-litchi]

Picture source : @Mnine5 (Meijo) in Twitter

Note : actually, it’s not a request but I was bored and I wondered « what kind of person would the SNK characters on the social medias be » - soo here we go

Sorry for my english…I am french and I still learning - please forgive me and protect your eyes 🤧

Warning : (12+) social media can be dangerous

SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN ON SOCIAL MEDIA 💥

Eren

Instagram : friends, family, abs, outfits, travel….king of instagram, super popular on instagram, everyone follow him but he only follows his friends and instagram he finds interesting, over time it has become an influence, Eren has like a million followers on Insta @IamErenJaeger

Snapchat :  « who has a netflix account ? » in story, selfies with friends at all kinds of events, often takes pictures of Mikasa and Armin by surprise, never puts a filter on for him or for the people he snaps, everyone can watch his story and comment (public baby), already received nudes… @ErenJaegeeer

Whatsapp : he is in all group discussions but rarely answers, when he answers it is surely because the conversation becomes funny or because they talk about Jean and then it degenerates (when too far between Eren and Jean everyone leaves the group and they end up « wait…everyone is gone…? ») and a new groupe is created but the fight starts again (others are like « here we go again » )

Twitter :  can easily get upset in a debate, is not afraid to say what he thinks, it is blocked by a lot of people (please take away his twitter), has a large fanbase : Jaegerist (@CaptainFlochForster is the leader fanbase…best to avoid them.) it’s very simple : either you’re wrong or you’re not right @ErenJaeger

Tumblr :  He is not really known on tumblr, follow only his friends and is followed only by his friends. Does a lot of reblog tumblr he likes and post a lot kind of sick jokes like « What is the only dog you can eat? - A Hot Dog » (20 followers…)

Armin

Instagram : sharing photos of his travels around the world, a lot of ocean scenery, monuments like the Eifel Tower, does not put a photo of him or his friends, his instagram is public to share his beautiful photos with the world  (2,5K followers) @ArminVibe

Twitter : Sharing conspiracy theories with other twittos, if by misfortune a conspiracy ends up in TT you can be sure that it will tweet all evening, twitter reveals its dark side, It can deal with all subjects and he’s gonna take his time to make you understand that you’re WRONG @ArminArlett

Snapchat : he doesn’t know why he has a snapchat, if you send him a snap photo he will just look without answering but if you start a discussion he will probably lose your message if you have not recorded (his fault, but he really does not do it on purpose, he does not really drag on this social media)

Whatsapp : quite active on whatsapp, in groups it is the one that stays the longest active, uses a correct grammar, always has time for someone who needs to talk (a colossal heart…)

Tumblr : very popular on tumblr with his famous landscape photos, he also likes to share theories with whoever wants it, has created a discussion group of which Erwin and Hanji are part (these three are often found in several discussion groups…), is subscribed to Annie

Mikasa

Instagram : her account is private (like most of his social medias) if she does not know you be sure that she will never accept a subscription request (and she receives a lot of subscription requests), sometimes post photos of Eren and her, sometimes with Armin and a picture with the whole group together, has maximum 5 publications and has maximum 100 subscriptions and she subscribes to only 25 people (who are they?) and her favorite girl’s band @MikasaAckerman

Twitter : is fan of girl’s band, a twitter just to follow their news, she has already been on top tweet (never knew why and honestly she doesn’t care), her account is totally private but she receives a lot of follow requests (she declines) @MikasaAckerman

Snapchat : does not do a lot of selfie but she likes cute filters, often does black snap with dark quotes « the sun always shines after a dark night » , tends to reply 2 days after being sent a snap (🤡) yet she makes the flames with Eren (already 834 flames) so she just ignores snaps

Whatsapp : she is in full of group discussions, but always reads without answering (”Read”), she often ends up leaving the discussion groups (but there is always someone to add her to the group, often Sasha)

Tumblr : has a fake account, by the way she is super popular, she posts her covers of her favorite songs @Mikasong (fucking great voice), already has a small community

Reiner

Instagram : is totally subscribed to Emily Ratajkowski (but who is not?), was the first happy to know that the likes are hidden, kind to like a lot of ass and body fitness (…<.<) it’s sure Historia blocked him (probably deserved) @ReinerBraun

Twitter : profile photo of a football player, often mentions his friends, and ALWAYS mentions Conny for challenges « Dare or not to ring your neighbor’s door at 3:00am and ask him for sugar », the kind to tweets like « Nicki Minaj or Cardi b ? » @ReinerTheBigBrother

Snapchat : You see this guy who makes a lot of views on snap and who everyone asks for publicity? Yes, it’s Reiner. Become master of the screenshot (already found himself in a complicated situation because of it…this awkward moment where you catch something you shouldn’t capture…), also receives nudes (btw 🤡) he never watches stories @ReineerGg

Whatsapp : he often ends up being ejected from discussion groups for his dubious humour and is often the victim of Ymir’s blackmail (screenshots can be fatal…)

Tumblr : he doesn’t even know what it’s for

Bertholdt

Instagram : has two instagram accounts, the first is his real account, he only follows his friends and is only followed by his friends and the second is a (secret) fan account on Annie Leonhart @fannie-kickass

Snapchat : goes selfie on occasions like birthdays (party) or when he is with friends, likes animal filters, snap everyone and without warning, during the evenings with friends he often finds himself in the snap of everyone without his knowledge and discovers him the next day (sleeper pose) @Berth5

Whatsapp : the kind of person to share a lot of petitions like « Hi, Nolan still needs 300,000 signatures to be able to convince his parents to buy him ps5 » (he can’t refuse to share when asked…colossal heart - like Armin <.<), calm in group discussions (is not the type to get involved in an argument, always remains neutral when the situation degenerates), he often speaks with Reiner privately and gives him advice on how to approach Annie - but by the time he decided to send a message to Annie, she had already deleted the application… (legend says he’s still waiting for an answer)

Twitter : if you identify him in a tweet, it will probably not read it but will still like it (why not), he does definitely part of the commentators of entertainment shows or sports matches @Bertholdt

Tumblr : hesitates to create a tumblr but does not really know what he could talk about

Annie

Instagram : shares his training and does not hesitate to make demonstrations of his techniques, is quite popular on instagram, to a lot of publication, post a photo with his father just after each victory with a caption « It is God who gives » ; already has a good community (320K followers), account is certified

Snapchat : never goes on his account, totally professional use, it is his father who manages his snapchat to post in story the videos her training and his official matches with the caption « Little Rocky 🔥 »

Whatsapp : it ended up deleting the app because too much discussion that ends in spam (it will be for a next time Berth)

Tumblr : her little cocoon where she can be herself, the only social media that has her interest, her tumblr is dedicated to the cat, she is a fan @Kitty-Catnnie , the only person in the group to know her tumblr is Armin with whom she sometimes chat

Twitter : She is still on top tweet despite her « Mikasa vs Annie, who wins ??? », she never tweet but retweet a lot of things especially those of Conny, it happens to like the tweets of commentator Jean

Jean

Instagram : if you want to see his account you must first subscribe, generally accept all requests, send quite a lot of DM like « you wouldn’t have a bandage because I hurt myself by falling in love with you » sometimes succeeds other times it ends blocked ( or screenshots that end up on Twitter) @JeanOfficiel

Snapchat : He was blocked by Mikasa and Eren (not for the same reasons), made the flames with everyone (but the most with Marco), has already tried to snap Mikasa in secret (it is caught in the act), loves selfies @Ihateeren

Whatsapp : the kind who doesn’t look to whom he sends a message and always has the wrong discussion, so becomes panicked « DONT READ!!! » accidentally already sent a nude in a group discussion (unfortunately screenshots have been made) Eren laughed about this story for several months like « How is Jeanbo doing ? He’s grown up since last time? » (he doesn’t talk about Jean…you know…)

Tumblr : he created a popular mini series on tumblr « You prefer…? » and also « If you were… » (the concept is very cool and we can do it with all the subjects), made a lot reblog, reblog ALL covers of Mikasa

Twitter : has been blocked by half of the tweetos sphere after several heated debates, is one of the people who comment on the shows mainly reality TV (he does it with passion) « SANDRA LEAVES WITH ANTONIO W/O MONEY !!!! IT’S A FUCKIIIING JOKE ?????!!!!! #TheVillaOfBrokenHeart2 » or « I’m the only one who hates Mike ? #MonacoShore » , it’s that kind of tweet that Annie likes) @JeanKirschtein

Marco

Instagram : accepts only requests from friends, his account is private, sharing small moments of his life with friends and families, use many hashtag like #AllThatGlittersIsNotGoldEvenJean (but nobody understands what he means)

Snapchat : often comments his friends’ stories, is the kind to come talk to you if you put a dark snap like « cruel world »

Whatsapp : often receives private messages like « Marco, are you there? » it always ends in long discussions (« The confidant ») he knows how to find the right words, it is active and always “available” if someone needs it

Twitter : always makes Jean’s defense on twitter, the kind of person to be part of a fanbase (like HarryPotter), uses hastag LGBT+

Tumblr : super popular on tumblr, he makes headcanons and screenplays of his favorite books, series and movies, has a preference for Yaoi but he can make any request (2K followers) @HalfMan

Conny

Instagram : very very popular on instagram thanks to his account with Sacha where they share their farce and does not hesitate to challenge, they post the pranks they make to their friends (1M followers) they are not yet certified @TwoDummies , he has a second private account :  with just family and friends (arround 55 followers) @hismotherson

Snapchat : the kind of person who does a snap at 2H00 of the mat « who for the flames », has a lot of snap discussions, always makes stories that ends badly like « I’m going to ride a bike » and in his last snap he ends up in emergency… (true story)

Whatsapp : has an unimaginable number of “caption this” for ALL situations, it sometimes created discussion groups (it’s just that it prepares a stupidity) otherwise is not super active but will always answer if it has a message

Twitter : clash with everyone « Your mother was pregnant for 9 months of your big head but you can’t stand a joke ? SHAME » (blocked), king of challenges, makes all the challenges where it is mentioned, retweet all the « Dare or not… » of Reiner, uses a lot of abbreviation, he invented a lot of hastag like #AlphaLevi and people have fun with his hastag

Tumblr : his more than empty tumblr, has no profile photo, and compulsive liker, it’s literally a fake account for liking funny things @JustConny

Sasha

Instagram : receives many comments under the photos of his joint account with Conny like « POTAETOS GIRL WE LOVE U » and « POTAETOS POWER », often pranks and ends up in the account, has a second private instafood account and also post photos with Nikolo @MadamePatate

Snapchat : oh my dear, he gets into a lot of trouble (funny drama) so stay connected for his “Storytime” evenings (we often hear Ymir commenting in the background with sarcasm and Conny’s laugh)

Whatsapp : the kind of person to send in a « bbiad » discussion (I’ll be back in a bit) and never come back in the discussion, written in abbreviation, loves group conversations

Twitter : has disabled twitter because of a "caption” that Conny posted on it (potaetos girl exists thanks to a tweet) but there reactivated a week later, tweets like a dramaqueen « WHAAAAT @netflix SEASON TWO IS COMING OUT TOMORROW BUT NOT TODAY  ???? WHYYYYYYYYY ! I’m never gonna be able to wait till tomorrow to eat my popcorns frkrkellelrlrl BUY ME POPCORNS NETFLIX BUUUY », has already been on top tweet #potatoesgirl

Tumblr : victim of her reputation even on tumblr, reblog a lot of post food and potential future challenges from Conny, often finds “caption this” with her face and always reacts with a more than dramatic surprise « SHIT AGAIN ??! »

Historia

Instagram : receives a lot of DM from people she doesn’t know, never accept them, like all the photos of her friends, you can see her insta only if you subscribe…(15K followers) @RealHistoria

Snapchat : renames all her friends by cute nicknames, the kind that snaps the place where she is or her food with a « have a nice day », queen of selfie, likes the filters

Whatsapp : uses a lot of emoji, hearts have become a punctuation, in group discussions she often comments « Ymir !! » after a sarcastic comment, tries to temper when the situation becomes too stormy

Twitter : avoids twitter like the plague, has disabled her account, reactivates it on occasions before losing interest once again, in fact her account is a fake where she is named @christaLenz

Tumblr : pretty active, committed LGBT+ activist, reblog testimonials, lots of likes, reblog Mikasa covers a.k.a Mikasong

Ymir

Instagram : a lot of photos of Historia (it looks like a fan account), often comments the photos of her friends (unfortunately for them) @Ymir

Snapchat : a lot of selfie with Historia, if a fight or something awkward happens in front of her she will be the first to make a snap (and no scruple to put it in her story), if Reiner is the King of awkward screenshots then she is the Queen for INTENTIONAL screenshots, her memories are filled with compromising photos on EVERYONE

Whatsapp : Do you remember the screenshots on snap? Well it is on Whatsapp that they find their usefulness. Can send them to a discussion group as if nothing had happened but her specialty is a service for her silence (yes blackmail) it’s never anything bad, but enough to piss off the victim (who is often Reiner)

Tumblr : forgot her password and honestly she doesn’t want to find it, why did she tumblr ?

Twitter : she is often upset about debates, often sarcastic in her retweets, « Caption This », always the last word, she is very popular on Twitter, she’s already been on top tweet (because a drama with her identity) @LadyYmir

Levi

Instagram : does not really look at his newsline, Instagram in black and white and very orderly (#GrandArt), his account is public but no one can comment on his photos @LeviAckerman

Snapchat : a block Hanji (too many snap video that turned into spam), to rename all his contacts by nicknames like « Brat Number one », « Brat Number 2 » (etc.) and Zeke « shithead » nothing abnormal, It has already posted a snap of his head in front camera (had not done it on purpose) deleted after realizing…(especially after receiving plenty of notifications), he and Zeke attack each other by proxy story (no one understands…but it’s funny to read)

Whatsapp : is always “offline” or “busy” but will always respond if sent a message, probably blocked Zeke on all social medias

Tumblr : shares his passion for tea and cleanliness, loves the healthy atmosphere of tumblr, has quite a fan, reblog and subscribes to Armin @TeaWithLevi

Twitter : Tweet by accident (in the pocket >.<) like « jf’dyt’rimsjrdy’yfgi » but other thant he almost never tweets, but when he does it is to complain or creepy « today I learned that a lollipop breaks easily like the legs of a clown » (…we don’t want understand), he’s already been on top tweet with the #AlphaLevi like « #AlphaLevi can surround his ennemies. Alone. » ; « #AlphaLevi makes the onions cry » ; « #AlphaLevi can go up downstairs » (we thank Conny for this hashtag) @LeviAckerman

Hanji

Instagram : honestly if you want to do a search on someone you have to check with Hanji, FBI of the net (”the stalker”), its account is public : post photos with Levi (who has to be taken by surprise) mentions everyone on its posts, photo with Moblit during their experiences (like “Break”), its instagram looks cool @OfficerZoe

Snapchat : snap often its scientific experiments (and other) and we always hear Moblit screaming in the background « Hanji-san! Back ! » , they like to comment on the stories of Levi and Zeke, already tried to make the flames with Levi and Erwin (tried without success)

Whatsapp : spends its time doing focus groups before it degenerates, its favorite pairs are Eren/ Jean and Levi/ Zeke but never has a battery

Tumblr : strangely its tumblr is very serious, they share its hypotheses and theories on scientific subjects, they talk about its experiences and future scientific experiments, they post the results of its research, has its own focus group (Erwin is one of them) @DrHZoe

Twitter : @Dr.troublegirl everything is in the pseudo, will accumulate and then become spectator of a massacre, his catchphrase is « you’re implying… »

Erwin

Instagram : it is very orderly and pleasant to look at, post works of art that crosses his path, does not often check his actuality but when he does it everyone is happy…(always the little comment that makes a good mood and a little like)

Snapchat : his story is public but only his “friends” can comment, snap his visits to the museum and snap a lot the streetart but is not really active when he makes “snap discussion” @Eyebrow (account created by Hanji…)

Whatsapp : uses impeccable punctuation and grammar, often discusses with Armin on intellectual topics and confronts their assumption he is the only one who is not part of a discussion group with ALL the characters (just a few groups like Hanji/Levi/Mike), from time to time he receives family photos of Niail and talks about old times

Twitter : activist totally committed to good causes ( #blacklivesmatter) (#justicepourAdama ), retweet the political news, has already tweeted with the #AlphaLevi @ErwinSmitt

Tumblr : pretty active, post on subjects that fascinate him (like history), his tumblr is very interesting and orderly, proposes developed theories and some people (students like Conny) go there to find answers to their homework… @Sasageyo

Zeke / Sieg

Instagram : created an insta to talk with Eren but he got blocked after commenting on one of his photos « Beautiful sweetren, you grow up day by day, signed your beloved brother » didn’t understand why he couldn’t see his instagram after that ; his instagram is very neat : instafood & instabook but doesn’t have many followers because his instagram account is private (like 150 follower) @ZekeJaerger

Snapchat : made stories to address to Eren instead of sending him directly in private (didn’t really understand the concept) that’s how to start the attacks between him and Levi, Eren ended up deleting the app to him

Whatsapp : uses impeccable grammar (also blocked Livai on all its social medias), tends to read without answering « Read since two days »

Twitter :  tweets like « I am now on twitter. » or  « Good Morning Twitter. » and lots of  « Join me on Candy Crush » , he also likes to comment on his favorite culinary shows with a lot hastag, honestly he is one of the people who blocked Eren on Twitter but does not really assume it  « What ? Weird…I must have hit the wrong button… » yes of course… @ZekeJaeger

Tumblr : reblog Erwin’s posts which he finds very interesting, to himself his own theories which he confronts with Erwin in discussion groups, is part of a quite popular team on tumblr “GenshiKyojin”, (with leader Eren Kruger) #uses #too #much #hastag (#like #me) @KemenoNoKyojin

#shingeki no kyojin #snk #AoT #attack on titan #Eren Jaeger #eren yeager #mikasa ackerman #armin arlert #reiner braun #bertholdt hoover #annie leonhardt #jean kirstein #jean kirschstein #marco bott #marco bodt #conny springer #sasha braus #historia #historia reiss #christa lenz #ymir #hange zoe #levi ackerman #livai ackerman #erwin smith #zeke jaeger #zeke yeager #sieg snk #connie springer #headcanon

[deepdonutkid]

Social media and the Shelby Family

Let’s go from youngest to oldest…

Finn, as said in the first part, is an influencer, who likes to live his life online. He tweets a lot, he has a ton of insta stories and likes to keep his followers updated. Also he follows some trends like trying bubble tee or these weird tik tok dances. Finn even bribed his brothers to try some with him. They refused of course. Tommy said a no and walk right out of the room. John laughed and brushed it off. Arthur tried, but failed hilariously. Good for him, that Finn was teaching him the steps and not filmed the miserable attempt.   Michael did and was actually good… and Ada did quite okay. Well, Polly wasn’t even asked, because Finn already knew her answer was no.

A lot of his pictures online are with his friends, especially Jesaja.  They skate sometimes and film their tricks. (I added this, because I saw a video of Finn’s Actor- Harry Kirton- skating and I thought it also fit Finn) Whenever he is eating something instagramable, he definitely take a picture. Finn also take good selfies, but he only uses funny filters. So no Dog ears or sparkly flowers here!

He answers messages mostly direct, no waiting time, ‘cus this guy doesn’t play games, but as a Gen Z he would definitely be scared of phone calls. Especially if it’s Polly and there are already two missed calls. Then he just freaks out right away.

And to add a little funny extra: Finn tried among us on his phone and he is kinda sus!

His Whatsapp status would be: “my milkshake brings all the bees to my car. Shit… there are bees in my car!”

-.-.-.-.-

Michael is king of selfie. He knows he looks like god’s gift to the women and he plays that card. His phone is filled with all kinds of selfies. Little narcissist, here! Well, he needs to take a picture from every ankle to capture his beauty.

He also posts some stories on insta, but not so often like Finn. Michael keeps it casual. Just a few party pictures with friends or something super cool like new car.  

But as we all know Michael Gray, he likes to play games with da ladies. So sometimes you wouldn’t even get a goodnight from him. If you tease him, he’ll tease back. Probably posts a picture with another woman. She is just a friend, but you’ll not know that. Yes, he can be mean, but if you’ll call him drunk and late at night, that you miss him, he’ll be glad to hear that.

His status would be: “P1 cleaner than your church shoes.” And yes, this is a weeknd lyric from the song starboy

-.-.-.-.-.-

Ada. Yes. I almost forgot her. How could I? She is gorgeous!

Already mentioned in part one… She knows her stuff pretty well. Technology… no problem for this gal right here. Ada can hack into stuff and write codes and programs, but this also made her very aware of data getting misused or stolen from bots. This is why she chose to keep distance from social media. She doesn’t use the gram or snapchat or whatsoever, but she uses secure text messenger and is likely to be found on a super dank meme page and to understand the memes you need the knowledge of years and years internet culture. And Ada talks to Finn and Michael about unprotected data and how they shouldn’t spill so much information about them online.  

But she takes a lot of pictures from her kids, her husband, her cute outfits, her house and garden, their vacations. She doesn’t use a normal cloud and prefers to show you the pictures together. One after one and she’s making a comment to every single one of them. About that she could talk for hours.

Her status would be… well, she wouldn’t have any!

-.-.-.-.-.-

So… John-boy! Here isn’t much to say. He uses Instagram, but it’s a rare thing. John might follow some artist, so he is up to date for new concerts to go to and also some friends, but that’s it. On a good day which happens to be every half year he might post a picture, when he went somewhere. To get a new tattoo or if he went to see a game, probably soccer and rugby. If he gets the chance to travel, he’ll make pictures, but he totally forgets to post them or even show them to his family. He prefers to talk with his brothers about the experience of traveling and not starting a slide show.

What he is talking pictures of? Selfies are rare, but do happen, if they are a special request from a gal… and it’s probably shirtless, ‘cus he has got the body.  Then again, he took pictures, if he was abroad, not on the usual roads, but only a few. While texting he might send a funny meme, if he sees any and thinks of you. And the occasional picture of “Look what I just got”… and it’s a Vinyl or a band shirt. Even though, he answers his family rarely, when he is in Birmingham, he’d be texting with his lady a lot, having this grin on his face, while Ada asks who he is writing to.

His status would be something like: “punk in drublic.” Which is a festival for said genre, but he just finds it funny. Likely to add “Y/N with an emoji of choice”, when he is in a relationship.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Tommy hates social media and refuses to try it for a long time, but Finn uses it so much, that Tommy had a little interest, what’s going on there. His youngest brother had a lot of explaining to do, which probably went like:

T: “How do I tell the person I like the picture?”

F: “There is the comment button.”

T: “No, I mean the… like thing.”

F: “Double tap on the picture, Tom.”

T: “Good, so… what’s next?”

F: “Nothing. What should happen?”

T: *shrug* “So, this is completely useless!” *deletes the app immediately*

And Tommy is also not the guy to answer private messages directly or often. Sometimes you said on read for days with this fellow, because he is super busy and doesn’t have the time to type. If you’re lucky, you get a quick okay. But if it’s important, he’ll call you right away and asks what happened, and if you need any help. With business he always answers straight and don’t like to waste time.

He doesn’t take pictures really. There may be some incidences where he hit the button by mistake. And there some photos of documents, which he need proof of… so he doesn’t have to rip out a page from a book like its 1920s. And all the pictures of his family has been send to him, he just don’t delete them.

His status would be: “Available” or “At work. Only important calls.”

-.-.-.-.-.-

Arthur… well… he has Facebook and uses it like anyone going on forty… really weird boomer mems, that might have been funny ten years ago. He sends them to everyone and they’re so annoyed by it, but he spares Tommy as his time is too important to waste on ‘funny pictures’.

Some gave him an Echo thing, the one with Alexa, you know, and he was so frustrated by it, that he threw the thing against the wall. Arthur couldn’t get past the set-up and got to angry. His family laughed about it, but it’s better this way.

Thanks to Finn and his little videos, Arthur became a meme himself, because his little brother filmed him while Arthur did something ridiculously stupid. That vid went viral. (Unsure what he did exactly)

His status would be: “Hey, there I am using whatsapp!”

-.-.-.-.-.-

I don’t know what to say about Polly and Freddie… so I leave them out now, but if you have something to add or whatever, feel free to do so!

#peaky blinder headcanon #peaky blinders #tommy shelby #arthur shelby #finn shelby #john shelby #ada thorne #ada shelby #michael gray

[padfootagain]

A Crimson Christmas (II)

Chapter 2: Erika

 Here we go for the next part of my Steve Rogers series! Will be focusing quite a lot on some character building for the reader, and some cute things with Steve. As several of you seemed to appreciate how I started the first chapter, I tried to make something similar for this chapter too. I hope you all like it!

Gif not mine

Word Count: 2417

18 000

11

400

150 000 to 300 000

It is a strange thing to sum up an event in numbers. It makes one's head spin, and yet it never quite stirs the true horror of a tragedy or joy of a miracle. Yet, most of the times, when trying to describe an event, using numbers as a first weapon is almost a reflex, an automatic response of our brain as it tries to grasp something it can't hold.

If one wanted to sum up the sinking of the oil tanker Erika in December 1999, off the shores of Brittany, they would use the 4 numbers written above.

The first is the number of litres of gasoline that were released in the ocean from the cracked hull of the ship.

The second is the number of days it took for the fuel to cross the distance from the wreckage to the shore.

The third is the number of kilometres of French coast that were polluted by the floating gasoline.

The fourth, and last, is the estimated number of birds that died in the catastrophe.

Numbers though are but abstract quantities, and if one wants to truly describe the event, there is no other way but to attempt to draw a fair picture of the shores at the time.

The scenery is easy. December 1999, a lot of grey and blue as a storm rages out. The violent waves end to pierce the already weakened steel skin of the oil tanker and cause its carcass to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Its sailors are saved, but the shipment, 30 884 tons of petrol, is partially released in the Atlantic Ocean. The attempts to stop the black wave to reach the coast are cut short by the storm that shakes the sea at this time of year.

11 days later, the first pools of gasoline touch the islands that stain the French coast.

4 more days and 400 km of coast are completely covered by toxic oil.

At first, it is but a few dots staining the sand, some grey caught in the foam left by the waves. A few hours later, there are large blocks of black sticky substance all over the seashells. The next day, the rocks, and the paint of the boats, and the sand are barely visible at all. The army is sent to clean the shores, but the scale is too great. Volunteers join in, with shovels and sponges and knives and brushes in an attempt to clean up every rock, every grain of sand.

Walking through a beach at this time is walking midst soldiers and volunteers. Every step is a fight against the sticky product, with boots sometimes buried ankles deep into the dark petrol. It is the fresh salty smell of seaweeds replaced by the sour one of gasoline. It is cliffs falling in black sand instead of the blue sea. It is bodies of birds stranded all over the place.

What did it change? For the people living on the coast, it is still today an open wound. If one tries to talk about the incident with the local population, they will be met by a pair of sad eyes and the tale of Christmas holidays spent ankle-deep in gasoline.

For the world? Nothing. Just one more incident to add to the long list of chasms carved in the environment.

For you? Everything.

You remembered the long ride from Saint-Malo to the western coast. First holidays since you entered University. For this first semester, you were majoring in all subjects, but you already had a vivid passion for bio-ecosystems, and in particular, marine biology.

Then the Erika sank. It was natural to go and help. You remembered Christmas day spent breathing the toxic petrol until it was all you could smell. Your boots buried in the sticky, black slime. Shovels and shovels digging the polluted sand. Soldiers all around you, but despite all this help, it wasn’t enough. You knew everything the gasoline would touch would surely die. It would take years for nature to heal. It had taken a few hours and a few minds craving for money to destroy it all.

You were picking up your fifth dead gull of the day. The gasoline, stuck to its feathers, made it impossible for it to float, and impossible for it to fly. Most of them had drowned, and all you could do was pick up the corpses.

You had ventured further than the rest of your friends, closer to the rocks now barely visible in all this black, when you heard a loud cry. A cormorant, without a doubt. You needed only a few seconds to spot the bird, covered in oil already, struggling to escape, struggling to avoid drowning, struggling to survive…

Somehow, it was just too much. After all you had seen that day, it was the last thing you could endure. You didn’t think at all as you ran across the slippery rocks and jumped in the salty water, trying to keep your head above the petrol.

You grabbed that poor agonizing thing in your arm, trying to keep it afloat, and you didn’t let go as it tried to escape.

The sea was far from calm though, and the thick layer of gasoline made it impossible to swim. At the first big wave, you were submerged, swallowing a bitter gulp of mixed salty water and fuel. You heard then the distant voices of your friends calling after you, they sounded scared, and you realized that you were too. Another forceful wave had you pushed against the rocks and you hit your head hard, and all went as dark as that bloody gasoline…

The rest was a blur. You remembered waking up in a hospital bed a week later, a real miracle. You should have died, that was what everybody said. But you didn’t, instead, somehow, you lived with new abilities.

You didn’t know where they came from, and were too scared of what any doctor could do to you if you ever showed any sign of abnormality, you had seen too many movies and read too many books to ignore the threat of becoming a lab rat. Years later, the Avengers formed, and you were spotted by Nick Fury. What had happened in your mind when you accepted to join them, you didn’t know. You reckoned that in the end, it was worth it all. This moment now, especially, made it all worthwhile.

After all, seeing Captain America wearing mascara and red lipstick was a sight to see.

"Mets tes lèvres comme ça!" the ten-year-old girl instructed Steve as she pursed her lips to show him what she wanted him to do, and he imitated her.

"Parfait!" she clapped her little hands in excitement as she added even more red to Steve’s lips.

"Gwen, laisse-le tranquille," your brother admonished, trying to rescue Steve from the excited child. But Steve merely smiled.

"It’s okay, we’re just playing," he reassured the worried father.

"Lèvres! Comme ça!"t Gwenn called Steve back into position and he pursed his lips again.

You picked up your phone and sneaked a picture, that you immediately sent to the entire Avengers WhatsApp group. With the different timezones, you reckoned you would have no answer before a few hours, but it was worth the wait.

It was true that joining the Avengers had meant a lot of changes, a lot of risks, a lot of pain. But it meant that you had met your best friends as well, and you couldn’t refrain a tender smile as you watched Steve play with your niece now.

"Y/N… the coffee is growing cold!"

You reached absentmindedly for your cup and warmed the beverage again. Your sister gave you a look.

"Cheating again."

"Controlling water has to have a few advantages. My drinks are always at the perfect temperature!"

She rolled her eyes.

"So, for how long are the two of you staying in Saint-Malo?"

You merely shrugged as an answer.

"We don't really know. I mean, we're supposed to just stay for the holidays, but I guess we don't know what to do next."

"Ha… retiring superheroes… poor you. You will definitely not have the complete retiring allowance now! Does that even count as a job, superhero?"

"I don't think it does. Shit… I've lost all these years…"

The two of you giggled, but your father did not.

"You should think about what to do next. And you could stay here. It's home."

"Papa, it's not that easy."

"Why not? Because monsieur muscle over there won't move here for you? So, you could be with your family."

You and Steve exchanged a glance.

"Well, we… haven't really talked about that," Steve tried to elusively respond, but it failed.

"You've spent years living a dangerous life. It's time to settle down. And you have to think about financial security now."

"Papa…"

"You need to get a job. A real one."

"Saving the Earth was not a job important enough for you?" you fired back, feeling more and more annoyed.

"You wasted years over this superhero adventure. I'm not saying it was useless, of course not. And I am proud of you. But you sacrificed your life during all this time. You didn't settle down, you didn't think about having a family, you didn't think about your old days… And I think it's time for you to have a normal life for a change."

You considered his words, and realized there was wisdom in them. You didn't quite like the way he put it, but you couldn't deny that you had spent years putting your life on the line. And maybe he was right, maybe now it was time to think about your own happiness before everyone else's.

"And you?" your father turned to Steve, his tone accusatory. "Don't you want her to be happy?"

Steve was playing your fake boyfriend, yet, he didn't need to lie to answer that question. And you could see it, deep down, in the depth of his blue eyes, that he meant the words he spoke. That was what friends were made for, right?

"There's nothing I want more than for Y/N to be happy, sir."

It was hard to look away from his baby blue eyes for some reason. Despite his funny look, covered in make-up, you didn't want to laugh at all. You just… wanted to keep on looking at him.

You guessed that you were letting your thoughts drift too far, and forced your brain to focus on your family again.

"We'll see, papa," you gave your father a smile. "It's not that easy to decide what to do next. It was our life for so long."

"I haven't forgotten how much you had to sacrifice," he mumbled in a dark tone, and you knew that he was referencing to the years you spent on the run with Steve.

You heaved a tired sigh.

"We've talked about it… countless times. It was my choice to make, and I agreed with Steve. You would have preferred for me to become a pawn that could be used by governments whenever they wanted?"

"Of course not. Governments couldn't be trusted…"

"Then why are you still bringing that up?"

"Because I didn't see my daughter for two years, that's why!"

You heaved yet another sigh, and Steve finally stood up from his spot on the carpet where he had been playing with Gwen. He took some cotton and started to clean up his face.

"I think we've both had a life that was out of the ordinary for too long," Steve spoke with a slow, quiet tone, his voice deep and calm showing he had been giving the situation a lot of thought. "It's hard to imagine what to do with the life we have left. I think… we just need a little time to let it all sink in, the truth that it can be over, that we don't have to be the ones in charge anymore. I think… we had both come to be at peace with the idea that we didn't have the choice of a life of our own. Now that we do, it feels strange. We don't really know what to do with it. Personally, I've never been anything else. We just need a little bit of time, to get used to it all. Then, I'm sure the decisions will come to us quite naturally. In the meantime, we just want to enjoy Christmas."

He reached for your hand, and you guessed that it was just for the act. Just because he played your fake boyfriend. It would be logical, if you were a couple, to be holding hands then, you reckoned. He was right. Besides, it felt safe to hold his hand.

"You know, I think I'm very tired after our long journey and everything. We should go to bed," you proposed.

Your grandmother finally joined the conversation.

"I've forgotten the blankets."

"I know where they are, mamie, don't bother."

But she was already walking towards the bedroom, and after you bid goodnight to your family, while they were getting ready to go as well, you and Steve joined Martine in the bedroom she had prepared for Steve and you.

You were not surprised to find that she had already put the blanket upon the bed.

"Oh, I forgot," she explained, but you were not fooled.

There was a short silence, before she heaved a sigh.

"Your father is worried. He always is. He's just not good at showing it. He does it all wrong."

"I know."

"It doesn't matter what you choose to do next. We're all here for you. Et puis, je l'aime bien, ton petit Steve," she added with a tender smile towards your 'boyfriend'.

He gave her a warm smile.

"I'm glad you like me, I've spent a lovely afternoon with you, Martine," he answered.

"Tomorrow you can show him the town," your grandmother instructed you.

"Yes, I will."

"Goodnight, les amoureux!"

You could only bury your face in your palm. She had to call you lovebirds, of course… if only she knew the truth.

"Bonne nuit, mamie."

The second she closed the door behind her, Steve and you exchanged a tired glance. It was more than time to go to bed. Tomorrow would be a brand new day. And there was much to do, and many questions to find answers to.

********************************************************

Taglist : @ponycake27​ @horsesreign​ @xinyourdreamsx​ @jbluevelvet​ @notkeppeki @daynigt-dreamer-stuff @fudgeflyss​ @stuckupstucky​ @snek-shit​ @suchatinyinfinity​ @i-padfootblack-things​  @buckybsarmy @heyohheyitsgabi​@jigsawlover10​ @emyyjemyy​ @addictedtofictionalcharacters​ @staringmoony​

@marvelcapsicle @madamrogers @rishlo @theshortegg​ @blacklilyqueen​

#Steve Rogers #steve rogers x reader #captain america #captain america x reader #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers imagine #captain america fanfiction #captain america imagine #imagine #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #mcu #mcu fanfiction #mcu imagine

[kal518]

This Cruel World

One lesson that should be taught at a young age is "You don't always get what you want in life " if one learns this they can better cope with disappointment (and in some cases get retribution) because to receive heartbreaking news (that crushes your childhood dreams) near the end stressful time is hard to deal with especially considering that you were one of the most viable candidates and you weren't even nominated. However the reason for non nomination is simply because they think they won't hear what they want and when I finally join the conversation " De Done Nominations". Now I admit I was a few hours late to the conversation due to not being in the group chat as well as not checking person's statuses before night time but to simply shot me off because you were a nominee and were afraid I was more qualified than you was childish and funny considering as far as the last conversation with the deciding powers went you didn't get the part none of us did because they thought I didn't want to do it and as far as it goes, you probably weren't qualified enough.

Now I admit people always said you were cuntish but I never saw it until now and boy are they right

Secondly I'd like to address the institution to which I am speaking you need to stop involving immature people in the decision making because though you did provide a criteria ( and I applaud you for that) these people didn't even use it to pick their nominees

I understand that life isn't fair and people are disappointed, conned and treated unjustly everyday. But the tables should be turned every now and again and now it seems as if the table is stuck.

Now many of you may wonder why all this fuss about valedictorian well the answer is simple, it's the one thing that would make the night memorable for me as it already would be for the rest of you because I can predict that I won't be getting awards and now its seems like grad was a waste of money because it seems as if I paid to go watch other people collect awards and live MY DREAM.

Now don't get me wrong I'm selfish I admit that but things should be fairly done and if certain individuals were given these things I'd understand because they earned it but to see complete idiots cross the stage collecting what's mine is wrong and inhumane

Now don't get me wrong I've made friends good ones at that and I'll miss them greatly.

And honestly the ceremony isn't shaping up so well either well for me at least because personally I don't like the kind of music they picked amongst other things.

Now before I forget to mention I was conned out of being in the planning committee. Instead my place was taken by a twat who conveys the wrong information I mean how hard is it to forward a message over whatsapp I mean you did I.T for Pete's sake, now because I'm a tease and don't want to completely spill the beans I'll just add that I know certain things about you and that class

And don't get me started with student council you didn't think for one second that I would be interested instead you put someone who would talk about your issues if he went to the meetings, instead he just says it's not like they're going to change anything.

And I've smiled and laughed and talked to you all as if everything was fine while one by one my dreams died until now valedictorian was the last straw now there's nothing else to break because I've learnt that while trust is dangerous so is hope and both have the power to destroy you if you're not careful. The world is a cruel place that will break you if you are not made of stone.

And I didn't say anything because if I did I'd just be the kid looking for attention, the pushy one that wants to be in everything and can't let anyone else have anything nice without wanting it however everyone loves the other pushy one

If you ask me I'd say this started when they bullied me and locked me in that room and laughed and got mad when I reported it.

With the cuntish one I mentioned before saying something like "nah I fed up that's too much this week" insinuating that I have a "breakdown" every week and am again doing this for attention.

Well guess what I'm not, most of you just do all the wrong things and when the consequences of your actions take effect you blame it on me the one who doesn't fight back, the push over well I've had enough.

Not to mention that many of your early grades are because of me when you'd look in my paper and copy the answers and I wouldn't say anything because I thought yeah he's using me but I'm using him for friendship so we're even

But that wasn't enough for you, you stole many of my friends from me as well. I guess that just means I have what you want and will never achieve so you'll break me down just to make yourself look better and make me look like the crazy one but that's what you do isn't it make others look clingy, crazy, immature but guess what I know now from a reliable source that you are the crazy one. I guess we all knew ever since you hit the girl in her head with your soccer shoes for what was it again disagreeing with your opinion or was it calling you out for not doing your part.

I guess your meds may tame your rage but not your spite. Unfortunately I'm who it's directed at because yes we are similar though I don't like to admit it, however the main difference between you and I are I'm not a bully and I don't need to make others look bad to feel good about myself at least not the way you do.

Good luck in life and may you become who you desire so that you never have to hurt anyone else to achieve it. God knows you've hurt plenty. Emotionally,physically and not to mention reputation wise.

#graduation #valedictorian #bully #bullied #conned #undermined #hurt

[myheartislookingforyoualways]

03.02.2021

Dear G,

I miss you. I miss you in more ways than I could have ever imagined. I knew that you leaving and letting us go was going to be a difficult and tough path for us both to take, but this is unbearable. I feel like our hearts are throbbing for each other as we walk down separate paths away from each other. Nothing before ever seemed so final with us, so definitive, but this feels so terrifyingly absolute. You’re gone, you left us and let go and I’m just left here in the silent aftermath of that, living through the consequences of my actions, quietly breaking apart each day, each hour, each second. I can still feel you too however far away you are now, in so many more ways than one, hurting and slowly breaking apart with each passing moment. 

I go through the mental gymnastics every day, trying to self talk through the pain, sadness, guilt, and most of all deep longing for your voice, you smile, your laugh, your smell, your you, and sometimes it works better than others. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. But I keep trying every day, every hour, every second. I feel like I am a broken man though, shattered apart by you having to let us go and leave us behind. I feel like when you left you ripped our souls apart and mine just is in tatters now. Then I realize that it was I that forced this upon us and it was i that forced you to leave and no matter the pain I’m in yours is much worse because it is also the pain of the reality that you didn’t want any of this ; i forced it on us in the cruelest way. There wasn’t a clear cut reason to let us go that either of us can say is a righteous choice , we both lose in this because we both lost the dream of us that we both shared. It was beautiful and I am sorry i had to go and let my insecurities cast a shadow over my judgement. The addiction was the tool of my self sabotage once my insecurities started to blind me to what was right in front of me ; a chance for happiness and peace with the love of my life.  I really can’t say when my insecurities started to really affect me, but I do know that in the end it was paralyzing to my good judgement and I coped with it by sabotaging us, by making what I feared most, losing you, a reality and not just a fear. You always said I would eventually push you away. You were right. I eventually did. Now I am heartbroken and wishing I could have just gotten ahold of my shadows before they got ahold of us. 

I see you everywhere G. I see you all day and all night. I even hear you now. I smell you too. I don’t even need to look at our pictures anymore, although I do, to see you and hear you. As much as I try to move forward and brave this new reality of my life without you, I can’t because I cannot stop seeing you and thinking of you throughout the day. Sometimes its a day dream while I’m driving, sometimes its a word or a sentence, sometimes its a place, but you’re everywhere still, all around, and yet, nowhere to be seen. I drove through Koreatown today and thought of all the times we enjoyed there, all the carefree silly nights we had, the shopping at PAT, your love for the food, our times picking up bubble tea. I see RuPaul on Netflix and think of how many times you wouldn’t answer my WhatsApp messages only to have you message me two or three hours later saying sorry you were binging the new season. Or I just hear your funny shriek when you did something, or your laugh when you actually thought something was funny, your slightly judgy tone when you said bb if I was being extra and/or mean, or your soft voice when it was just us talking, and your whimpers when you wanted me to give you all my attention. I can still feel your long, pretty hands playing and fixing my hair like you always did, probably thinking when is this vagabond going to get a haircut, your hands in my hands squeezing just a little, reassuring me, your warm body beside me in our bed. I can see your smile, your smirk, your pout, your playful face, your angry face, your hangry face, your loving face, every expression you’ve ever shared with me I see whether my eyes are open or closed no matter the time of day. 

Not just me but everything around me, the keyboard suggestions on my phone suggest our little love language words we used to always tell each other. The face that my phone is mostly silent now is the biggest reminder. Everything is so quiet now with you not here. I’m left in the silence of my life and I feel homeless. I just wish we could talk , message, joke, be silly, talk our little love language talk, I just wish we could still be us. I wish there still was an us. Every time I come to the same realization though. I did this to us. This was a choice. I made this choice for us. I stop every time and take stock in that. It weighs on me. But I don’t let myself feel sorry for myself now in the last day. I know that as much as I regret my choices that led to this, even now, I still have a choice what to do with this reality, and there are choices that could lead me back home, back to us, back to you. 

I’ve spent that last few days really giving myself time to take stock in my life and myself. I’ve always known that the most important and biggest challenge in my life was me; learning to love myself, learning how to be myself and be a whole person, or even just learning about myself. I don’t want to never win myself. I have to do this now, because if not now, when? When I’m 40? 50? 60? Never?  Die an old sad lonely man who never had the strength and courage to fight for himself? Never had the love for himself to be his own hero and overcome his shadows? No I wont’ do that. I refuse to let this moment in my life, this situation I put us in, be just another reason for me to feel sorry for myself, to have a pity party, to add to my narrative of myself as victim of my life and my choices. I am taking control of what I can and I am changing because I owe it to me. Nobody else. Me. I started to make a comprehensive list of everything in my life that has led to this and everything that I have done or not done so far to either get better or get worse as a person. I also made a plan that includes my entire life and everything in it and how I can and will improve myself and give more to my goals, my passions, and to the ones I love. I’ve made a statement to myself about what I like and what I don’t like and why. I’ve also made a commitment to myself to get the life I want, to live the life I want, to be who I want to be, because right now I am none of those. 

You’re in my plan, you’re in my list of my life, you and us are a part of my self discovery. You’re also a part of the life I want, a part of the life I want to live and as well the person I want to be with when I’m the person I want to be. As much as I have guilt, sadness, regret and shame for what I did to us I also have an immense amount of hope, faith and commitment to the dream of us that I will never stop believing in. I acknowledge my feelings for what I did but I’m not letting them control me. They do nothing for me nor do they help me on my path right now. I also accept that we are no longer together and we are on different paths right now. I am letting go of the old us and hoping with all my heart for the new us. I cannot wait for the day until our paths come back together and my heart can be whole again. 

I love you 

I always will

I’ll never lose hope in us

I’ll never stop dreaming of us

One day we’ll be together again my love

Until then please hold on to hope and dream our dream 

The dream of us we always used to dream of together 

One day it will be our reality again

[theherondaels]

Oh No (A Soy Luna Next Gen Fanfic)

I updated in less than three months, that's a new record lol

Now here is part 1 of Matteo's reaction xD

Have fun reading!!!

7. Karma

"These heels are killing me," Luna complained as she got out of the car. "Well, you wanted to wear them," Matteo reminded her, offering her his arm. "Oh, how gentlemanly of you," Luna grinned, taking it. He gave her a charming smile, "When am I not?"

Luna laughed a little. "I can think of many moments," she teased.

"We both know I have the better memory," he said, walking with her to their house. Luna mumbled something Matteo didn't quite catch, but he let it slide, being too busy opening the front door with his key.

When the door was finally unlocked, Matteo switched the light of the staircase on. It was only now that he noticed that there was no light on in the living room. He pointed it out to Luna, who was freeing her feet from her uncomfortable heels. Matteo shed off his jacket. "I'll check on them," she said, meaning the kids. She winced a bit, "But first I'll have to get some blistering plasters."

Matteo pitied her, even though he had told her that they still had to walk a little bit to the restaurant and new heels surely weren't for a situation like that. His wife, being as stubborn as she was, hadn't listened to him and was now walking up the stairs very slowly.

"Take your time," Matteo grinned, taking off his dress shoes. Luna's reply was drowned out by the telephone ringing. "I'll get it," Matteo yelled, making his way quickly to the living room.

Seeing the caller ID, Matteo answered immediately. "Gastón, what is it?" he asked worriedly. It was half past nine. His best friend never called that late.

"What no hello? I'm hurt!" Matteo rolled his eyes, Gastón's voice sounded too normal to have anything bad happened. "And may I remind you that you once called me at 3am, totally freaking out, because-"

He was cut off by Matteo. "Yes, everybody knows the story. Why are you calling?" he asked, tone indicating annoyance now. "I was worried, bro!" Gastón's voice was full of concern, "You weren't answering your phone again and I thought-" Matteo interrupted him a second time. "Luna and I went out. It was a gift for her birthday. Last year," Matteo like felt that he needed to add that. "Oh, date night," he heard Luis whistle in the background. "Wow, you're really early there," Gastón added in a deadpanned manner, ignoring his son's comment. "I know," Matteo sighed. With their schedules it hadn't been possible earlier. At least they had made it before her next birthday, which was less than a month away.

"So, why did you call?" Matteo asked, having genuinely no idea what could be important enough that Gastón had called him on his phone. At least twice. "As I said, I was worried. Not that you're already thinking about - or worse committing - murder."

"Wait, what?" Matteo sat down on the couch, expression equally alarmed and confused, "Why should I murder someone?"

Gastón now too realized that Matteo had no idea why he had called. "Oh my god! You don't know yet!" he shouted loudly. Giggling could be heard from the other end of the line. "This is going to be so great. Nina, get the camera!"

"Gastón, what's going on?" Matteo asked, more annoyed than earlier. "Gastón, don't," Nina's voice could be heard in the background. "Yes, Dad, do!" Luis encouraged his father. "Tell him! Or I will!" Lola shouted.

"Well, the majority has decided," he could literally hear the grin Gastón was without doubt wearing right now. Matteo made a mental note to gift Ofelia two books for her birthday this year, since his goddaughter hadn't participated in the conversation.

"Check our group chat. You'll have to scroll up a few times though," Gastón informed him, still sounding very cheerful. Matteo would have rolled his eyes, but he had a really bad feeling about this.

"Matteo, who's calling?" He turned around, eyes landing on Luna. She still wore her blue knee-length dress, but her expression wasn't as pained anymore. Matteo covered the loudspeaker with his thumb, Gastón - and his family - didn't need to hear their conversation. "Did something happen?" she asked quietly while walking up him, concern evident on her face. "It's Gastón." Worry flashed in Luna's eyes. "Nothing awful happened," Matteo clarified quickly, "He sounded way too happy for that." His voice had become somewhat bitter by the end. Luna knitted her brow at that.

He held the telephone far away from him. "It kinda scares me," Matteo admitted, running his other hand through his hair. While his best friend had done some weird things in all those years he'd known him, like trying to set up Luis and Stella using a Lion King song (thankfully that hadn't worked!), Matteo somehow just knew that he wasn't going to like the reason of Gastón's call.

He didn't explain further, so Luna revived their earlier topic.

"I think they're both asleep. Their lights are out," she whispered. Matteo raised an eyebrow. "Even Stella's?" he questioned, eyeing the clock. It was still before her normal bedtime. "Maybe the day simply out powered her," Luna shrugged. "Or her age is finally catching up to her," Matteo joked. Luna's laugher filled the room, "Don't let her hear that."

"Hey, Matteo, hey? Have you seen it?" Gastón's overexcited voice could be heard in the entire living room. Why was he yelling again? Matteo sighed annoyed and handed the telephone to Luna. "Hey Gastón," she greeted her husband's best friend. "Luna, Luna," Gastón repeated her name hectically, "You have to do me a favour and record this!"

"Gastón, I'm not recording this," Luna said, having not even an inkling what Gastón was on about. "At least tell me his reaction," he begged. "If you tell me what this is all about," she tried to compromise. "Okay, but don't tell Matteo anything. I want to do that," he stated his condition. "I won't," she promised. "Okay," Gastón lowered his voice, Luna could barely even hear him, so Matteo definitely couldn't. "Stella and Andrés kissing on the street," he sang, laughter interrupting his own words with laughter. Luna's eyes resembled plates now. "What?" she sputtered. That got Luna her husband's attention. "Did he tell you?" he asked tentatively.

"No, he didn't!" Matteo fully knew that his wife was lying. Her panicked voice always gave her away. Remembering Gastón's earlier words, he fished his phone out from the pocket of his dress pants. "Well, I'll check my messages then," he said, unlocking his phone. "Matteo, please don't do that," Luna pleaded, already knowing it wouldn't end well if he did.

He would have a heart attack and die.

Matteo ignored her, opening WhatsApp. He started to read the messages from their friends, his look becoming more worried with each second. Suddenly, the Italian's brow furrowed. "Why should Pedro get Andrés out of the country?" His voice had become irrated within seconds.

"Oh, you there... Scroll up!" Gastón urged excitedly. Matteo's brow furrowed further. He didn't like this at all. Still, he did as Perida had told him to and when he saw the picture he wished that he hadn't. Matteo's eyes ignored the headline completely, they were too busy processing the pictures on the right side of the article.

The first picture already looked suspicious. Stella and Andrés stood way too closely together for Matteo's comfort. He could only see the expression his friend’s son wore, which was a goddamn smirk. Matteo felt the blood boil in his veins. Just what did the boy think he was doing? Their faces were only a few inches apart, it wouldn’t take much for them to kiss.

On that note, Matteo would have absolutely no problem drowning Andrés in the Mediterranean Sea if he got wind of anything that included his lips being even in the vicinity of his daughter’s mouth.

"I think he froze," Luna informed Gastón, as Matteo's gaze was still fixed on his phone, as if the photo would dissolve itself if he glared long enough at it. Luna eyed her husband worriedly. He wasn't thinking about murder, was he?

When his eyes reached the next picture Matteo almost let his phone fall. Of course, his thoughts had to be horrifyingly accurate.

The picture immediately let Matteo's protecting instincts run wild. Stella would turn only turn 15 in two days. She shouldn't be kissing anyone. This was too soon! Way too soon! And it hadn't been just a quick kiss. Oh no, any idiot could see that. With his hand on her back this just screamed intimacy.

"I will drown that boy in the Mediterranean Sea," Matteo muttered under his breath. This picture had taken at least twenty years off his life. He had to call Vittorio. Luna’s eyes nervously switched between her husband and the door, debating if she should warn Pedro and Delfi. Gastón had the audacity to laugh. "Gastón, this isn't funny!" she exclaimed desperately.

"Payback," Gastón coughed. Yes, Matteo thought bitterly, Karma truly had done an out-standing job there.

"I mean, he finally knows what he put poor Miguel through," Gastón cackled. Alright, what was enough was enough! Matteo grabbed the telephone from Luna in a swift motion and, without saying another word, ended the call.

Maybe he should just throw it out of the kitchen window. The headlines surely would be hilarious, something along the lines of "Matteo Balsano loses it over daughter's first kiss!". He'd prefer "Andrés Arias missing since yesterday!" though.

Oh, if he just could teleport himself to their friend's house and make that thought reality.

"So, what do we do?" Matteo asked his wife, hoping her answer would include his great-uncle, connecting the telephone with its loading station. "What do you mean? We're not going to do anything," she said, confused by the coldness of Matteo’s voice.

"Luna, you can't be serious! We have to do something," he said exasperated, his voice getting louder with each word, “She isn't even 15 yet! What should we do? Ground her? Take her out of J&R?" Luna's eyes widened at the punishments Matteo had listed. He possibly couldn't mean that. "Are you seriously suggesting that right now?" she asked, crossing her arms, anger finding its way into her voice too. “Yes, I am. I don’t want him near Stella!” He didn't care what it took as long she didn't see that boy anymore. Hell, he'd sent her to Rome if that meant she wouldn't be near him.

"You know, she could have made the first move too," Luna remarked. “Well, there's only way to find out," Matteo then said determined, standing up. His wife quickly followed him. "Matteo, what are doing?"

"Getting -" She got a hold of his arm, stopping him. "No. You're not ruining this for her. Plus, it's a school night, she needs her sleep," Luna reminded him, "We'll talk about this tomorrow, when you're done overreacting." Matteo stared at the door, trying to figure out if this was really worth a fight. "How can you be so calm?" he asked eventually. "No Italian blood," she chuckled. "C'mon, Matteo even you knew this day would come," Luna said, the joking tone gone.

Yes, he had. Still, it didn't make this situation any better. Even when Stella had started talking of a skating partner in a way that had rung alarm bells in his head, he had ignored the sign, hoping the guy wasn't interested. A foolish thought, really, his daughter always got what she wanted.

“We have to ring Tamara tomorrow, surely she can assign Stella a new skating partner,” Matteo started again.

Suddenly, the living room door was being opened, revealing a seething Stella.

"How can you say that? You don't even know what happened!" the teenager accused Matteo. He crossed his arms. This was nothing new. His daughter tended to irrational outbursts when she was angry. "Be glad that we're not transferring you to another skating rink," Matteo told her. "Oh, you can do that,” Stella mirrored her father’s hand gesture, “We can still meet each other in our free time,"

"I don't think so," he said with authority, adding his final blow, "You're grounded 'til you're 18."

"You can't do that," she yelled. “The more you protest the nearer comes an all girl’s school in Italy,” Matteo spoke in Stella’s direction, who had turning towards her mother, "Mom, say something!" Luna looked really uncomfortable. Her husband and daughter had both switched into Italian by now. She didn't like the Italian hot temper they, and Luca to some extent, possessed.

"Matteo, it’s not like he has a bad influence on-"

He truly doubted that. The Arias brat already had a tattoo, but he was sure Stella wasn’t aware of that. “Oh, really-“ Matteo was interrupted by Luna. “Matteo,” she started with his name again, “That’s enough. Look at her!”

He did. Stella’s cheeks were the same colour as her scarf from all the yelling. Wait, why was she still wearing a scarf to bed? Hadn’t she stopped with that last week?  Her lower lip trembled and her eyes looked glossy, for a second, he thought she’d would try the crying thing. “I hate you!” she spat out instead, storming off to her room, slamming the door in the process.

“Wow, that went great,” Luna sent Matteo a stern look. He didn’t notice, the words Stella had thrown at him still echoing in his head.

"Matteo," he felt his wife's hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to her, eyes pained with betrayal. "We both know she didn't mean it like that," Luna tried to perform damage control, "She's upset. You know how she is, it'll be all forgotten next week."

"I can't believe she said that," Matteo muttered still in shock. "It wasn't fair of her to use those words," Luna agreed, sighing. "However, what you said wasn't fair either. You two are too much alike for your own good sometimes.”

"Matteo, I know this all a little too much right. How about we leave it at that and go to bed? I'm sure everything will look better tomorrow," Luna suggested when he didn't answer her.

Balsano truly doubted that, but couldn't bring himself to tell his wife that. "You're right," he agreed instead.

Luna noticed her husband's doubtful expression and sighed. Stella was truly growing up. Whether Matteo liked it or not.

#fic: oh no #soy luna next gen #my fanfics #soy luna

[wishescrown-blog]

Happy Birthday Latest Wishes 2019

Original happy birthday phrases

Whenever I remember my childhood, I see you by my side. You are one of the most important people in my life. You have seen me growing up, falling in love, failing, triumphing, crying, laughing ..., you are my greatest confidant and for that reason I am writing you these lines to wish you a very happy birthday. I hope that this birthday will help you smile on the outside, fill you with joy inside and have a life full of prosperity. Many congratulations on the day of your birthday, I hope you meet many more and greet your wrinkles on my part. It is true that not too long ago we know each other, but it is also true that it seems an eternity. That's why I want to take advantage of your birthday to tell you how much I care about you and the love I've taken in so little time. I hope to continue celebrating birthdays at your side. Congratulations! My best friend, a special friend like no other, I wish you the best day of your life. That you enjoy a lot and surprises take away the smile you deserve. I always limit my budget for anything, but when it comes to buying a birthday present for you, why do not you guess who I'm buying a cheap birthday present for this year? Exactly, to you! Congratulations! Everyone knows that you are a very special person and that you are worth more than all the gold in the world. That's why I love you and why I want to spend all your birthdays with you. Happy day baby. How does it feel to be a year older? That all your friends are younger than you? Congratulation grandfather! I always wish you the best of this world and especially today on this important day as is your birthday, I wish you good luck in life. How many birthdays together? Many! Even so, I want you to know that I love you and that I would choose you once and a thousand times, despite all our differences. I love you and I hope you have a happy birthday. I have come up with a great plan for your birthday: a trip around the world! Do you mind taking care of my dog ​​until he comes back? Today is a day made just for you, so you can enjoy it and you can smile so much today as always to life. After thinking for a long time I have not been able to find the right words to write a nice greeting after so many years of friendship and is that, what is more beautiful than showing friendship every day? I think nothing. So, without further ado, I wish you a happy birthday, my friend. Let's drink for many more years together! I hope we never stop sharing moments like today: harmony, joy and ... lots of fun! Congratulations! I only wish that, on this special day for you, you are the happiest person in this world and I also want you to laugh more than you can, taking advantage while you have teeth. Congratulations! Do you want more original birthday phrases? Discover our section of birthday greetings

Funny happy birthday phrases

May you meet many, but many more years, and do not worry that antiques have more value. With my solidarity for you that you know how to age happily ... I wish you a happy birthday! Age adds wrinkles and reduces fun, multiplies problems and divides our simple vision of life. So I wish you Happy Birthday and good luck! Happy Birthday! It had occurred to me to buy you an expensive gift, but I thought that a person as mature and intelligent as you is not going to give importance to material things ... The years are still happening, but quiet ..., of all of them you only let us see the best. Congratulations! Funny and funny we were young, now old ladies are boring and clumsy ... No, that every year that passes you fill with energy and beauty. I hope you enjoy this happy birthday, my friend. The day has come to celebrate that you are a year older and have increased your size of underpants! Congratulations! You meet, birthday if that's what you like, but do not expect me to follow your example! Happy Birthday! Have fun everything you want, but not too much, you are at a vulnerable age. My best friend! Queen of hearts! I wish you all your wishes come true. Especially those that have the shape of blond, athletic and tall guys! Congratulations! Happy Birthday! You have a wonderful life, an unbeatable appearance and an iron health. How could a simple gift compete against all this? Because of your understanding, I am sure that you will not be angry when you see that you will not receive my gift, because surely you know that I am saving to buy you a better gift. So congratulations for this year, and patience. I hesitated between buying you a good birthday present or making a donation to the people most in need. I needed clothes, so, I decided to renew my wardrobe! Congratulations! This year I would like to surprise and amaze you with a fantastic and original gift, but it is very likely that you will not appreciate my genius. Therefore, you will have to settle for the classic and traditional ... Happy birthday! The years are like snotty, the more you have, the harder it is to breathe! Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday messages

I hope this day is very special for you and that it will lead to a year full of joys and adventures. Congratulations, my friend, I wish you the best. I wish you a year full of happiness, full of hours, minutes and seconds of much love, where you feel the most beloved person in the world. For all you deserve, life will give you the most beautiful of itself. I do not know how to write dedications or happy birthday phrases, but before stealing an internet for WhatsApp, I prefer to wish you a happy birthday and a lot of health for this new year that you are about to enjoy. It seems that it was yesterday when we met, but no, many years have passed and even then our friendship seems to be eternal. We have enjoyed a lot together, and it seems that we will continue to do so. Always remember that you are one of my best friends and that I will always be by your side for whatever you need. Congratulations. What would the world be without you? Without your happiness? Without your beauty? Without your kindness? Without you it would not be a world, it would not be destiny, it would not be anything, because nobody imagines a world without its source of vitality. Congratulations. I wish you all that this world can give you, millions of unique and unrepeatable moments, because you are a person of great heart and you deserve that everything that happens is good for you. On the day of your birthday I want to tell you that without you I would not be the person I am today. You have taught me to make a smile in bad times, and that is something that is never forgotten. You are much more than a friend. Happy Birthday! Is there another day that is not this that makes me so happy? Well, those who know me will know that this is not the case, because a person who loves another as much as I love you, can not have a better day than this. To you, that you are a very special person in my life, a sister that I chose, a very big love for me. To you, dear, I wish you a beautiful day and a happy anniversary. Receive these phrases with open arms, Happy Birthday! I still remember when we met, we were just children! And look at us, years later we continue like the first day, with our jokes and our jokes. I wish you a very happy birthday, my friend, and I hope that all your wishes come true. I smile when writing these messages that make me remember when I met you, all that we have lived, and all that I love you. Thank you for making me part of your life, that you receive blessings and joys today. Love you very much. Today is a very special day for you and for everyone, so enjoy it to the fullest and take advantage of the love and love of your loved ones. May God bless you in this new year that he has granted you, may he fill you with blessings and joys. Congratulations! Happy Birthday! I hope you have an unforgettable day and that you have a great day with your loved ones. Do not forget to ask for the gifts! If a magician gave me today to choose three wishes, I would choose health, money and love, but all three would be for you, because I love you more than I love myself, because thanks to you I am who I am. Congratulations. I had not felt so proud and lucky for 365 days. Days like this help me to remember such beautiful things that only make me want to be able to become an old lady and still be your friend. Many congratulations, I love you! , with more than 150 phrases to congratulate the birthday to boyfriends, girlfriends, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, friends and for more relatives. Have you been wanting more? Do not miss our section of happy birthday images, with pictures and photos with phrases to congratulate the birthday to that person you love so much.

Happy birthday in other languages

If you have a friend abroad or a family member and you want to be original when congratulating him on his birthday, you can do so in other languages, especially in the one used in the country where he is. This with total security will please you very much, along with a small message or phrases to congratulate like the ones that we have written to you in this section. Make this person feel special on one of the most special days of the year and make him smile from ear to ear so that he feels loved by you. Happy birthday in French: joyeux anniversaire Happy birthday in English: Happy Birthday! Happy birthday in Italian: Buon Compleanno! Happy birthday in Russian: Pazdravliayu s dniom razhdjenia! Happy birthday in German: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Happy birthday in Japanese: Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu! Happy birthday in Chinese: Sun Yat Fai Lok! Read the full article

[nomothetic]

Love Always

Dear Bo,

I'm so sorry... 

I've tried to think long and hard about what to do, but I can't find any other remedy and I'm desperate for a remedy. Maybe I'm not thinking straight. Maybe my thoughts cloudy my judgement. Maybe the tears are a distraction. My head hurts from them, too. They keep streaming uncontrollably down my eyes, reworking the paths of other tears that kept me up all night. They also didn't let me think clearly earlier and now I have bloody, cut knuckles from punching a door repeatedly. Im uncontrollably shivering. I can't stop fucking shivering. Like if my body thinks something is wrong or better said: knows something is wrong. Yh.

I've talked a lot about always being there for you no matter what and now I'm an asshole for reeling my words back in. To be fair though, I didn't think it was a lie. MY words were meant as a promise. They were good intentions, I still see them as good intentions, but maybe words don't mean anything. Maybe my words vanished in the cold, winter winds. Maybe my heart didn't say them loud enough. MY love is a different story though. I love you and its engraved in my head, in my heart, in my journey. Nothing will change that and I know because I've tried. Oh ok.

Fate is a weird toy. I love this post I see all the time that says that even having some form relationship with someone, small as can be, is a probabilistic act of fate. It's true cause I walk through crowded streets all the time and there are so many people that I will never connect with. I will never build a bond or share a laugh or try to comfort them or make fun of or share an experience with any of them. On the other hand, I did do that with you and I had a blast may I add. Idk maybe.

I can't choose favorite memories. Memories are snowflakes. They end up clumping up like a snow ball. Each individual snowflake is beautiful and unique, but you end up grabbing the whole ice ball hardly admiring each one. There's one snowflake that stands out and I don't even know why. You were tired, as always may I add. But you let me hp you anyway and we talked for a while and the convo died down, but you didn't want to leave. So I jokingly said we could take a nap, a siesta. You layed down on your bedroom floor cause you are quirky and didn't want to lay on the bed and we just layed there in silence. I put a timer and when the timer was about to run out I would add an extra minute. It was peaceful. Sometimes I would open my eyes  and I would see you looking back and other times your eyes were closed shut. You were always pretty in my eyes, but this calm made you even more gorgeous. You probably don't even remember this. Funny how memory snowflakes work. To some, the symmetry designs on snowflakes are perfection and to others, they dont even think about the snowflakes. They were simply there when you needed a snowball. "?"

I can't talk to you without bringing up your events. Those stories that marked and scarred you. That was my first heartbreak. Seeing someone I cared so much about be mistreated, lied to, manipulated. I didn't know the world was such a shitty place. I was oblivious. You trusted their lies, you cared when they were being selfish. I still don’t trust them. I know they were hard times for you, but I don't think you have ever thought about how they made me feel so I'll tell you. You never wanted to say in the beginning but I basically forced it out through trust. When you told me what happened the first thing I went through was always sadness. I'd think to myself, "What did she do to deserve this?". I’d cry. I also got angry a lot. I blocked the assholes on instagram even if they didn't have anything to do with me. Then I'd pray to God. I would always ask him to stop your harm. I would ask him to protect you because I noticed I couldn't do it alone. I would ask him to hurt me instead. Maybe he heard. Wdym

This message jumps to different topics through each paragraph. These paragraphs are connected in one main way though: they have a weird ending. These endings are my one and only complaint about you. These words broke me, Bo. These words formed cracks in my heart; slowly, painfully. I have a feeling that you knew what you were doing when you wrote them. I don't even know what would be worse though: if you knew or if you didn't. Every time I saw these words I'd get angry. I didn't feel that I deserved them. You gave me a cold shoulder with these words, you pushed me away and your timing was impressive. Every time I wanted a sweet message from you- I don't know maybe saying I was important or a good person, you'd send me one of those messages. You acted so innocent- slowly chipping my relationship away. Knowing you, you'll probably get upset by this. You'll think it was never your intention, but don't worry. I know you have good intentions at heart. We can't help hurting others sometimes. Don't be upset at me please. You'll forget about it quickly enough. You'll be happy when the time comes. Tomorrow you won't even think about it. Just a small bump in the road.

We can't choose who makes us happy. You didn't end up choosing me and I don't think I would have willingly chosen you, but I did. Thanks for that though. You helped me grow as a person and I learned some very valuable experience. I love you and because I mean it this message had one original purpose and it was to try to make you grow. I want peace and I want you to learn. I want this to be a wake up sign. Care for people who care for you. Don't force care from those who don't. Love yourself before anyone else even if its hard. Don't let anyone bring you down. Don't change your ways just to please someone else. You can be who you truly are and still be loved. If a person tries to change you, think whether or not you want to. Don't succumb to dumb feelings and always know you are in this world because you are loved. You have a reason to be here. 

I have to go, Bo. I need to take a step away. So I've deleted you on snapchat, unfollowed you on insta, blocked you on whatsapp and I deleted hp. I can't take the pain anymore :( and I'm so goddamn tired of being mad at you. I'll probably come back and it will be up to you to accept me or not. I don't think I would let me back in and that’s okay. This message is meant to be nice (I know, hard to believe), but the message can prick like a thorn and I'm apologetic for that. I had to let my feelings out in one way or another. Please focus on the good parts though because there is love and good intention in there. Maybe you haven't even seen it before. Please focus on the good parts. I repeat I don't regret meeting or having a connection with you, but nothing gold can stay and that's life. Flowers wither down. The sun sets. Monkey onesies get replaced by polar bears. So yeah: enjoy your holidays, enjoy your friends, enjoy your crush, enjoy your family. I love you sloth and you will always have a place in my heart I promise. 

Im so sorry... Diego

[41international]

Dear presidents, delegates, guests and especially friends from Belgium!

First of all – Great Thanks to all of you for your warm and friendly hospitality during my presidency! It was a pleasure to serve as your president!

In the first part of my report I want to refer to the 41 business!

Eleven months ago I started my presidency under the slogan: 4 values- 1 idea – 41 our network!

Gentlemen, we are a club with strong values:

1.     Friendship between 41 clubs on regional, national and international level 

2.     Partnership to RT and to all side by side clubs!

3.     Family: our YAP Program with around 70 new young people every year going from and to Europe, India and SA and now also between short YAP program and Europe

4. Service: we initiated our new Service Award for Education! Some values shows good development, others less!

  Let me start with the partnership to RT and the Side by side clubs:

After some limping discussions during the last couple of  years  we finally used the meeting in Marrakech as our perfect chance to renew and and restart:

We enjoyed a first joint meeting with all the presidents or boardmembers!

We set up a Whatsapp group and since then we are in close contact to share all important informations right away!

RTI VP Sebastian presented to us Tablers. World, the members directory of RTI. Sweden, Italy, Germany , Austria and some more countries will adopt soon!

RTI allowed to add each logo from the side by side clubs with „ Part of The Round Table Family „

Our Didier created a new joint logo and we made a compromise with RTI on it.

Furthermore we are in direct contact with all RT nations counting 41 clubs at the moment!

All in all -a  respectable result with a good foundation for the future!!

The second value, the friendship and development of our clubs didn´t make good progress:

We didnt establish a relationship with Israel! There are still only one club in Portugal (which is in a difficult situation), Poland , Hungary, Malta, Sri Lanka, Surinam and USA !

New Zealand had no new members from RT, because the gap of age between them are too big! All of them need our support and direct contacts to RT! A lot of work ahead of us.

My first visit to an AGM, after Pörtschach/Austria, was in Germany. At this AGM they also welcomed boardmembers of France and the whole assembly welcomed the French delegation with standing ovations!

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Many 41 club nations took part on the HYM in France. Over the year many 41ers from Belgium, GB&I, Austria, Italy and Germany and some other nations are still in good contact with them!

And finally 6000 41er in France wants to come back to our family! After all these experiences it was my main duty to find a proper solution. I spent a lot of time and had numerous conversations with many members! Since 2003 our rules allow us to have also friends to become a member. Now we have a new proposal of France tabled. We only have to allow that one delegate is accepted as a Golden 41er!

One third of our members supports this proposal. One third is open for further discussions and another third  is not amused.

Since 2002 I am involved in this matter and I know all pros and cons. Some of us were personally offended by the behaviour of France!

Anyway, Gentlemen I still ask you for a open discussion during the HYM in Malta. Don’t forget – we are responsible for 41 International and over all we are friends! Lets have France, one of our founder nations, back in family.

The third value is to strengthen our service idea to Support Education! Following the guidelines of the last years, we had a wonderful presentation in Marrakech and also on our website!

What happened:  only two participants attended, although more than 10 members promised me during my AGM visits to take part ! We need another exclusive characteristic . In the mind of our friends and also in the community, the work and the support of education worldwide should be linked with 41 International!

Let’s discuss in Malta once again!

The forth value , our YAP program had a wonderful development! All the conveners with PP Christoph Haenssler in the leading position have done a great jop! Please continue supporting them in the future and lets convince our kids too!

  In the second part of my report I will tell you about my visits:

It was a great year for me, full of new impressions! All in all: many meetings with old and new friends – this is tabling as its best!

Continuing my report in Marakesch, in October I visited the AGM in Appenzell/Switzerland together with Roswitha.

They have a close relationship with RT. We all were very impressed by a YAP report of a young lady from Switzerland. She conveyed her impressions and we could empathize with he that this was the most valuable journey of her young life!

In January we had a board meeting in Dublin with good results. 

Afterwards Roswitha and I visited the French HYM. I explained to the board and the regional presidents our position and listen also to them and their proposals. It was a valuable trip  – also to see Notre Dame the last time in full elegance!

Finland’s AGM in Helsinki counted only a small delegation of foreign members. But they have a strong set up themself having more than 2000 members and operating very closly with RT!

The last AGM in GB&I was also amazing!

GB&I lives a strong clublife with monthly sport events and service happenings in their regions.

They are blessed with more than 700 Clubs in 15 regions. RT currently counts 3500 members, therefore 41 GBI want to support them to grow. The main idea to support them is to work for the community and … still tabling!

I was not only impressed by the serious and also funny discussions during the AGM, but also from the fancy dress party — we get a new International President from GB&I and in addition an old friend as VP –  it will be IRO Peter Good GB&I!

And my last visit was in Arquata/Italy, at the Opening Ceremony of the Community House. Also the 20th Anniversary of 41 Ancona. Presidents from all over Italy attended.

Let me highlight that in near future Arquata will not only remind on a horrible earthquakes, but also for a huge service project with all side by side members!

All in all a wonderful year for me and a good year for 41 International.

Let’s work and discuss all day long for a better and a greater 41 International with the motto 4 values-1 idea – 41 our network!

Thank you all!

Ulrich Suppan

41 International President

2018/19

4 values 1 idea – 41 our network

    President Ulrich Suppan final words of recognition for 2018/19 to the International 41Club AGM attendees in Brussels Dear presidents, delegates, guests and especially friends from Belgium! First of all – Great Thanks to all of you for your warm and friendly hospitality during my presidency!

[bloggroup6]

Ling Lee: British Etiquette

Cambridge Dictionary defines etiquette as “a  set of rules or customs that control accepted behavior in particular social groups or social situations.”

Every culture across the ages and races has been defined by the concept of etiquette and accepted social interactions and norms. As far as British etiquette is concerned, it is more of social appropriate behaviors, some of which are practiced the world over. The British in particular has historically placed a great deal of importance in good manners in relation to speech and body language and the key is politeness. British etiquette dictates courteousness at all times.

I first experienced British etiquette when I had a short stint as a student in Edinburgh the UK in 2011. As an international student, a brief and guide to some of the most common codes of British etiquette were given to every international student. This is in addition to some of my experiences while studying there.

I always find that the British are always smartly dressed, especially those with social status like the lecturers and professors, some students dressed rather fashionable. As Asian from a down to earth family of a developing country like Malaysia, such serious, classy and formal attire ( more like the upper class British from the movie “ The Titanic “ ) do give me a sense of respect towards them. On the flip side, sometimes I felt that they are rather snobbish and arrogance, perhaps due to their ignorance about Asian culture. It is not surprising that it took me quite a while to have some British students open up and accept me as a friend.

It is quite common to find that British seems to always over apologized. For example, if I have mistakenly sat on a seat that have previously reserved or taken, the person who reserved that seat would say, I am so sorry but you appeared to be sitting in my seat “. If someone accidentally spill coffee, again it is quite common for the victim to apologize. Again, below is a typical example of over-apologizing short conversation:

Brit 1: Sorry, are you in the queue?

Brit 2: Oh, no I’m not, sorry!

Brit 1: Oh, sorry.

Funny but it is true. To Asian like me, it sounds rather awkward. It appears that apologizing as a victim is a very English thing to do.

One of the best examples of British etiquette, which I truly admire, is punctuality and it is of traditional importance in the British society. It is considered rude to arrive late to a business meeting, medical appointment or social occasion such as wedding. It is advisable to arrive 5 to 10 minutes earlier to appear professional as a mark of respect to the host. Conversely, arriving too early could appear slightly rude and ruin the occasion of the host if the host is still in the midst of preparing for the event. Similarly, an unannounced house call is often frowned upon as it may inconvenience the host. I would like to embarrassingly add here that Chinese Malaysian has a habit of being late at marriage dinner. If an invitation card states that dinner will be served at 8pm, it is not surprised that many come late and the punctual guests are forced to wait before dinner can start. As such, I did attend wedding dinner before that end past midnight!

An invited guest to a British dinner party, it is customary to bring along a gift to the host or hostess, such as a bottle of wine, a bouquet of flowers or chocolates. Good table manners are essential, particularly when you are attending a formal dinner or buffet. It is deemed inappropriate to use fingers rather than cutlery to eat. The cutlery should be held correctly, the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left. At a formal dinner party when there are numerous utensils at your place settings, it is customary to begin with the utensils on the outside and work your ways with each course. Keep elbows off the table and keep phones out of sight at the dining table, and avoid text while speaking to people. Wine glass should not be filled more than halfway to allow a wine space to breath when you swirl the glass. Never lift the bowl to drink or eat. Wait until every one is served before you start eating. While eating. It is frowned upon making noise, chewing with mouth open or talk while the food is still in your mouth Place the cutlery in the middle of the plate to signal that you have finished eating. It is all a question of how a person, indirectly his or her family, was brought up to adhere to the etiquette or good manners.

On the same note, it is interesting to learn that in many private high school in Japan, students in their junior year would go on a ‘fields trip ‘ to a fine restaurant, usually a large hotel, and are taught‘ table manners ‘ by the restaurant staff. Nevertheless, imposing Western or Japanese etiquette on other nations may not be appropriate due to different cultures, customs or even religious beliefs.

Good manners form a major part of British etiquette, I just can’t help but draw parallels to Muslim Malaysians who would always greet their elders, especially family members, by bowing and gently kiss the elder’s right hand. For the Japanese, they normally greet by bowing to each other and will never stop until the counterpart stop bowing! Japanese athletes would also give a customary bow before and after a game.

Whilst we find orderly of queuing is common in Britain, we also find that saying ‘please‘ and ‘thank you‘ is equally common. It is considered polite and well mannered and is a regularity of British speech. In Britain, every social transaction is eased by reiteration of these phrases from both parties.

Unlike many countries, in Britain it would consider rather rude to ask or discuss how much you earn and how old you are (especially asking about women’s age). It is strictly a taboo subject according to British Etiquette and can be embarrassing just to discuss it.

Chivalry is seen as British trait and a distinguished feature of a gentleman. In old English Literature, women swoon chivalrous men. Some common examples of modern chivalry for the 21st century include opening the door for ladies, offering jacket if she is cold, and offering a lady your seat if she is standing. Nevertheless, young ladies having good manners and etiquette is an attribute particularly crucial in securing husband.

Women in Britain are entitled to equal respect and status as man, both at work and daily life. The British has the habit to use affectionate names when addressing someone, so do not take any offence if they call you love, dearie or darling. These are commonly used and considered rude.

When a teacher or anyone in a position of authority ask you to do something, you must respect them and do it. It is very disrespect people in authority. From the Asian perspective, the same respect is also given to those in authority. It is the emergence of multiculturism and the advent of internet is posing as a challenge to the traditional etiquette in general, regardless of social group or ethnicity.

In the UK, tea is an integral part of everyday life. It is part of many British people’s daily routine and serves many social functions. The novel “A Passage To India” by E.M. Foster, tea party was commonly described as an important British social functions. Tea has a long history in Britain. It was over the course of several hundred years that tea gained its place as Britain’s national drink and only recently its health properties are recognized.

You will be offered a cup of tea anywhere you go in the UK. Many tea shops and cafes are common. Afternoon tea is a big tradition in the UK. Here are some polite ways to drink tea in the UK:

-          Tea should be poured first and milk or sugar added afterwards.

-          Never slurp tea.

-          If in a group and if tea is served in a pot and is placed near you, it is polite to pour tea for the rest of the group.

In today’s society, the recent rise in multiculturism, etiquette in Britain has evolved and has become less formal due to changing economy, lifestyle, social and gender equality laws. Britain has shifted from household etiquette to emphasis of business etiquette. The rise of online business and social media sites has seen the creation of online society with its own rules of network etiquette involving communications such as emails, blogs and WhatsApp. It is not surprising that traditional accepted behaviors of the old may not have the influence they once did.

[sheminecrafts]

Inside Facebook Stories’ quest for originality amidst 300M users

There’s a secret Facebook app called Blink. Built for employees only, it’s how the company tests new video formats it’s hoping will become the next Boomerang or SuperZoom. They range from artsy Blur effects to a way even old Android phones can use Slo-Mo. One exciting format in development offers audio beat detection that syncs visual embellishments to songs playing in the background or added via the Music feature for adding licensed songs as soundtracks that is coming to Facebook Stories after debuting on Instagram.

“When we first formed the team . . . we brought in film makers and cinematographers to help the broader team understand the tropes around storytelling and film making,” says Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ director of design. He knows those tropes himself, having spent seven years at Netflix leading the design of its apps and absorbing creative tricks from countless movies. He wants to democratize those effects once trapped inside expensive desktop editing software. “We’re working on formats to enable people to take the video they have and turn it into something special.”

For all the jabs about Facebook stealing Stories from Snapchat, it’s working hard to differentiate. That’s in part because there’s not much left to copy, and because it’s largely succeeded in conquering the prodigal startup that refused to be acquired. Snapchat’s user count shrank last quarter to 188 million daily users.

Meanwhile, Facebook’s versions continue to grow. The Messenger Day brand was retired a year ago and now Stories posts to either the chat app or Facebook sync to both. After announcing in May that Facebook Stories had 150 million users, with Messenger citing 70 million last September, today the company revealed they have a combined 300 million daily users. The Middle East, Central Latin America and Southeast Asia, where people already use Facebook and Messenger most, are driving that rapid growth.

With the success of any product comes the mandate to monetize it. That push ended up pushing out the founders of Facebook acquisition WhatsApp, and encroachment on product decision-making did the same to Instagram’s founders who this week announced they were resigning.

Now the mandate has reached Facebook Stories, which today opened up to advertisers globally, and also started syndicating those ads into Stories within Messenger. Facebook is even running “Stories School” programs to teach ad execs the visual language of ephemerality since all four of its family of apps will monetize Stories with ads. WhatsApp will start to show ads in its Status version of Stories starting next year now that its founders that hated ads have left.

As sharing to Stories is predicted to surpass feed sharing in 2019, Facebook is counting on the ephemeral slideshows to sustain its ad revenue. Fears they wouldn’t lopped $120 billion off Facebook’s market cap this summer.

Facebook Stories ads open to all advertisers today

But to run ads you need viewers, and that will require responses to questions that have dogged Facebook Stories since its debut in early 2017: “Why do I need Stories here too when I already have Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status?” Many find it annoying that Stories have infected every one of Facebook’s products.

Facebook user experience research manager Liz Keneski

The answer may be creativity. However, Facebook is taking a scientific approach to determining which creative tools to build. Liz Keneski is a user experience research manager at Facebook. She leads the investigative trips, internal testing and focus groups that shape Facebook’s products. Keneski laid out the different types of research Facebook employs to go from vague idea to polished launch:

Foundational Research – “This is the really future-looking research. It’s not necessarily about any specific products but trying to understand people’s needs.”

Contextual Inquiry – “People are kind enough to invite us into their homes and talk with us about how they use technology.” Sometimes Facebook does “street intercepts” where they find people in public and spend five minutes watching and discussing how they use their phone. It also conducts “diary studies” where people journal about how they spend their time with tech.

Descriptive Research – “When we’re exploring a defined product space,” this lets Facebook get feedback on exactly what users would want a new feature to do.

Participatory Design – “It’s kind of like research arts and crafts. We give people different artifacts and design elements and actually ask them to a deign what an experience that would be ideal for them might look like.”

Product Research – “Seeing how people interact with a specific product, the things they’re like or don’t like, the things they might want to change” lets Facebook figure out how to tweak features it’s built so they’re ready to launch.

Last year Facebook went on a foundational research expedition to India. Devanshi Bhandari, who works on the globalization, discovered that even in emerging markets where Snapchat never got popular, people already knew how to use Stories. “We’ve been kind of surprised to learn . . . Ephemeral sharing wasn’t as new to some people as we expected,” she tells me. It turns out there are regional Stories copycats around the globe.

To make Stories global, Facebook adds Archive and audio posts

As Bhandari dug deeper, she found that people wanted more creative tools, but not at the cost of speed. So Facebook began caching the Stories tray from your last visit so it’d still appear when you open Facebook Lite without having to wait for it to load. This week, Facebook will start offering creative tools like filters inside Facebook Lite Stories by enabling them server-side so users can do more than just upload unedited videos.

That trip to India ended up spawning whole new products. Bhandari noticed some users, especially women, weren’t comfortable showing their face in Stories. “People would sometimes put their thumb over the video camera but share the audio content,” she tells me. That led Facebook to build Audio Stories.

Facebook now lets U.S. users add music to Stories just like Instagram

Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ director of design

Back at Facebook headquarters in California, the design team runs exercises to distill their own visions of creative. “We have a phase of our design cycle where we ask the designers . . . to bring in their inspiration,” says Davis. That means everything from apps to movie clips to physical objects. Facebook determined that users needed better ways to express emotion through text. While it offers different fonts, from billboard to typewriter motifs, they couldn’t convey if someone is happy or sad. So now Davis reveals Facebook is building “kinetic text.” Users can select if they want to convey if text is supposed to be funny or happy or sad, and their words will appear stylized with movement to get that concept across.

But to make Stories truly Facebook-y, the team had to build them into all its products while solving problems rather than creating them. For example, birthday wall posts are one of the longest running emerging behaviors on the social network. But most people just post a thin, generic “happy birthday!” or “HBD” post, which can feel impersonal, even dystopic. So after announcing the idea in May, Facebook is now running Birthday Stories that encourage friends to submit a short video clip of well wishes instead of bland text.

Facebook recently launched Group and Event Stories, where members can collaborate by all contributing clips that show up in the Stories tray atop the News Feed. Now Facebook is going to start building its own version of Snapchat’s Our Stories. Facebook is now testing holiday-based collaborative Stories, starting with the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam. Users can opt to post to this themed Story, and friends (but not the public) will see those clips combined.

This is the final step of Facebook’s three-part plan to get people hooked on Stories, according to Facebook’s head of Stories, Rushabh Doshi. The idea is that first, Facebook has to get people a taste of Stories by spotlighting them atop the app as well as amidst the feed. Then it makes it easy for people to post their own Stories by offering simple creative tools. And finally, it wants to “Build Stories for what people expect out of Facebook.” That encompasses all the integrations of Stories across the product.

Rushabh Doshi, Facebook’s head of Stories

Still, the toughest nut to crack won’t be helping users figure out what to share but who to share to. Facebook Stories’ biggest disadvantage is that it’s built around an extremely broad social graph that includes not only friends but family, work colleagues and distant acquaintances. That can apply a chilling effect to sharing as people don’t feel comfortable posting silly, off-the-cuff or vulnerable Stories to such a wide audience.

Facebook has struggled with this problem in News Feed for over a decade. It ended up killing off its Friend List Feeds that let people select a subset of their friends and view a feed of just their posts because so few people were using them. Yet the problem remains rampant, and the invasion of parents and bosses has pushed users to Instagram, Snapchat and other younger apps. Unfortunately for now, Doshi says there are no Friend Lists or specific ways to keep Facebook Stories more private amongst friends. “To help people keep up with smaller groups, we’re focused on ways people are already connecting on Facebook, such as Group Stories and Event Stories” Doshi tells me. At least he says “We’re also looking at new ways people could share their stories with select groups of people.”

At 300 million daily users, Facebook Stories doesn’t deserve the “ghost town” label any more. People who were already accustomed to Stories elsewhere still see the feature as intrusive, interruptive and somewhat desperate. But with 2.2 billion total Facebookers, the company can be forced to focus on one-size-fits-all solutions. Yet if Facebook’s Blink testing app can produce must-use filters and effects, and collaborative Stories can unlock new forms of sharing, Facebook Stories could find its purpose.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2xBiBdm via IFTTT

#IFTTT #iraidajzsmmwtv

[technicalsolutions88]

There’s a secret Facebook app called Blink. Built for employees only, it’s how the company tests out new video formats its hoping will become the next Boomerang or SuperZoom. They range from artsy Blur effects to a way even old Android phones can use Slo-Mo. One exciting format in development offers audio beat detection that syncs visual embellishments to songs playing in the background or added via the Music feature for adding licensed songs as soundtracks that is coming to Facebook Stories after debuting on Instagram.

“When we first formed the team . . . we brought in film makers and cinematographers to help the broader team understand the tropes around storytelling and filmmaking” says Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ Director Of Design. He knows those tropes himself, having spent seven years at Netflix leading the design of its apps and absorbing creative tricks from countless movies. He wants to democratize those effects once trapped inside expensive desktop editing software. “We’re working on formats to enable people to take the video they have and turn it into something special.”

For all the jabs about Facebook stealing Stories from Snapchat, it’s working hard to differentiate. That’s in part because there’s not much left to copy, and because it’s largely succeeded in conquering the prodigal startup that refused to be acquired. Snapchat’s user count shrank last quarter to 188 million daily users.

Facebook’s versions continue to grow. The Messenger Day brand was retired a year ago and now Stories posts to either the chat app or Facebook sync to both. After announcing in May that Facebook Stories had 150 million users, with Messenger citing 70 million last September, today the company revealed they have a combined 300 million daily users.

With the success of any product comes the mandate to monetize it. That push ended up pushing out the founders of Facebook acquisition WhatsApp, and encroachment on product decision-making did the same to Instagram’s founders who this week announced they were resigning.

Facebook now lets US users add music to Stories just like Instagram

Now the mandate has reached Facebook Stories which today opened up to advertisers globally, and also started syndicating those ads into Stories within Messenger. Facebook is even running “Stories School” programs to teach ad execs the visual language of ephemerality now that all four of its family of apps including Instagram and WhatsApp monetize with Stories ads. As sharing to Stories is predicted to surpass feed sharing in 2019, Facebook is counting on the ephemeral slideshows to sustain its ad revenue. Fears they wouldn’t lopped $120 billion off Facebook’s market cap this summer.

But to run ads you need viewers and that will require responses to questions that have dogged Facebook Stories since its debut in early 2017: Why do I need Stories here too when I already have Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status.

Facebook user experience research manager Liz Keneski

The answer may be creativity, but Facebook is taking a scientific approach to determining which creative tools to build. Liz Keneski is a user experience research manager at Facebook. She leads the investigative trips, internal testing, and focus groups that shape Facebook’s products. Keneski laid out the different types of research Facebook employs to go from vague idea to po lished launch.

Foundational Research – “This is the really future looking research. It’s not necessarily about any specific products but trying to understand people’s needs.”

Contextual Inquiry – “People are kind enough to invite us into their homes and talk with us about how they use technology.” Sometimes Facebook does “street intercepts” where they find people in public and spend five minutes watching and discussing how they use their phone. It also conducts “diary studies” where people journal about how they spend their time with tech.

Descriptive Research – “When we’re exploring a defined product space”, this lets Facebook get feedback on exactly what users would want a new feature to do.

Participatory Design – “It’s kind of like research arts and crafts. We give people different artifacts and design elements and actually ask them to a deign what an experience that would be ideal for them might look like.”

Product Research – “Seeing how people interact with a specific product, the things they’re like or don’t like, the things they might want to change” lets Facebook figure out how to tweak features it’s built so they’re ready to launch.

Last year Facebook went on a foundational research expedition to India. Devanshi Bhandari who works on the globalization. She discovered that even in emerging markets where Snapchat never got popular, people already knew how to use Stories. “We’ve been kind of surprised to learn . . . Ephemeral sharing wasn’t as new to some people as we expected” she tells me. It turns out there are regional Stories copycats around the globe.

As Bhandari dug deeper she found that people wanted more creative tools, but not at the cost of speed. So Facebook began caching the Stories tray from your last visit so it’d still appear when you open Facebook Lite without having to wait for it to load. This week, Facebook will start offering creative tools like filters inside Facebook Lite Stories by enabling them server-side so users can do more than just upload unedited videos.

To make Stories global, Facebook adds Archive and audio posts

That trip to India ended up spawning whole new products. Bhandari noticed some users, especially women, weren’t comfortable showing their face in Stories. “People would sometimes put their thumb over the video camera but share the audio content” she tells me. That led Facebook to build Audio Stories.

Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ Director Of Design

Back at Facebook headquarters in California, the design runs exercises to distill their own visions of creative. “We have a phase of our design cycle where we ask the designers . . . to bring in their inspiration” says Davis. That means everything from apps to movie clips to physical objects. Facebook determined that users needed better ways to express emotion through text. While it offers different fonts from billboard to typewriter motifs, they couldn’t convey if someone is happy or sad. So now Davis reveals Facebook is building “kinetic text”. Users can select if they want to convey if text is supposed to be funny or happy or sad, and their words will appear stylized with movement to get that concept across.

But to make Stories truly Facebook-y, the team had to build them into all its products while solving problems rather than creating them. For example, birthday wall posts are one of the longest running emerging behaviors on the social network. But most people just post a thin, generic “happy birthday!” or “HBD” post which can feel impersonal, even dystopic. So after announcing the idea in May, Facebook is now running Birthday Stories that encourage friends to submit a short video clip of well wishes instead of bland text.

Facebook recently launched Group and Event Stories, where members can collaborate by all contributing clips that show up in the Stories tray atop the News Feed. Now Facebook is going to start building its own version of Snapchat’s Our Stories. Facebook is now testing holiday-based collaborative Stories, starting with the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam. Users can opt to post to this themed Story, and friends (but not the public) will see those clips combined.

This is the final step of Facebook’s three-part plan to get people hooked on Stories, according to Facebook engineering director Rushabh Doshi who leads the product. The idea is that first, Facebook has to get people a taste of Stories by spotlighting them atop the app as well as amidst the feed. Then it makes it easy for people to post their own Stories by offering simple creative tools. And finally, it wants to “Build Stories for what people expect out of Facebook.” That encompasses all the integrations of Stories across the product.

Rushabh Doshi, Facebook’s engineering manager who oversees Stories

Still, the toughest nut to crack won’t be helping users figure out what to share but who to share to. Facebook Stories’ biggest disadvantage is that it’s built around an extremely broad social graph that includes not only friends but family, work colleagues, and distant acquaintances. That can apply a chilling effect to sharing as people don’t feel comfortable posting silly, off-the-cuff, or vulnerable Stories to such a wide audience.

Facebook has struggled with this problem in News Feed for over a decade. It ended up killing off its Friend List Feeds that let people select a subset of their friends and view a feed of just their posts because so few people were using them. Yet the problem remains rampant, and the invasion of parents and bosses has pushed users to Instagram, Snapchat, and other younger apps. Unfortunately for now, Doshi says there’s no plan to build Friend Lists or sharing to subsets of friends for Facebook Stories.

At 300 million daily users, Facebook Stories doesn’t deserve the “ghost town” label any more. People who were already accustomed to Stories elsewhere still see the feature as intrusive, interruptive, and somewhat desperate. But with 2.2 billion total Facebookers, the company can be forced to focus on one-size-fits-all solutions. Yet if Facebook’s Blink testing app can produce must-use filters and effects, and collaborative Stories can unlock new forms of sharing, Facebook Stories could find its purpose.

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#Technical Solutions #SEO #Online Earning #Youtube Marketing #Android Developer

[thegloober]

Inside Facebook Stories’ quest for originality amidst 300M users

There’s a secret Facebook app called Blink. Built for employees only, it’s how the company tests out new video formats its hoping will become the next Boomerang or SuperZoom. They range from artsy Blur effects to a way even old Android phones can use Slo-Mo. One exciting format in development offers audio beat detection that syncs visual embellishments to songs playing in the background or added via the Music feature for adding licensed songs as soundtracks that is coming to Facebook Stories after debuting on Instagram.

“When we first formed the team . . . we brought in film makers and cinematographers to help the broader team understand the tropes around storytelling and filmmaking” says Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ Director Of Design. He knows those tropes himself, having spent seven years at Netflix leading the design of its apps and absorbing creative tricks from countless movies. He wants to democratize those effects once trapped inside expensive desktop editing software. “We’re working on formats to enable people to take the video they have and turn it into something special.”

For all the jabs about Facebook stealing Stories from Snapchat, it’s working hard to differentiate. That’s in part because there’s not much left to copy, and because it’s largely succeeded in conquering the prodigal startup that refused to be acquired. Snapchat’s user count shrank last quarter to 188 million daily users.

Facebook’s versions continue to grow. The Messenger Day brand was retired a year ago and now Stories posts to either the chat app or Facebook sync to both. After announcing in May that Facebook Stories had 150 million users, with Messenger citing 70 million last September, today the company revealed they have a combined 300 million daily users. The Middle East, Central Latin America, and Southeast Asia where people already use Facebook and Messenger most are driving that rapid growth.

Facebook now lets US users add music to Stories just like Instagram

With the success of any product comes the mandate to monetize it. That push ended up pushing out the founders of Facebook acquisition WhatsApp, and encroachment on product decision-making did the same to Instagram’s founders who this week announced they were resigning.

Now the mandate has reached Facebook Stories which today opened up to advertisers globally, and also started syndicating those ads into Stories within Messenger. Facebook is even running “Stories School” programs to teach ad execs the visual language of ephemerality now that all four of its family of apps including Instagram and WhatsApp monetize with Stories ads. As sharing to Stories is predicted to surpass feed sharing in 2019, Facebook is counting on the ephemeral slideshows to sustain its ad revenue. Fears they wouldn’t lopped $120 billion off Facebook’s market cap this summer.

But to run ads you need viewers and that will require responses to questions that have dogged Facebook Stories since its debut in early 2017: Why do I need Stories here too when I already have Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status.

Facebook user experience research manager Liz Keneski

The answer may be creativity, but Facebook is taking a scientific approach to determining which creative tools to build. Liz Keneski is a user experience research manager at Facebook. She leads the investigative trips, internal testing, and focus groups that shape Facebook’s products. Keneski laid out the different types of research Facebook employs to go from vague idea to po lished launch.

Foundational Research – “This is the really future looking research. It’s not necessarily about any specific products but trying to understand people’s needs.”

Contextual Inquiry – “People are kind enough to invite us into their homes and talk with us about how they use technology.” Sometimes Facebook does “street intercepts” where they find people in public and spend five minutes watching and discussing how they use their phone. It also conducts “diary studies” where people journal about how they spend their time with tech.

Descriptive Research – “When we’re exploring a defined product space”, this lets Facebook get feedback on exactly what users would want a new feature to do.

Participatory Design – “It’s kind of like research arts and crafts. We give people different artifacts and design elements and actually ask them to a deign what an experience that would be ideal for them might look like.”

Product Research – “Seeing how people interact with a specific product, the things they’re like or don’t like, the things they might want to change” lets Facebook figure out how to tweak features it’s built so they’re ready to launch.

Last year Facebook went on a foundational research expedition to India. Devanshi Bhandari who works on the globalization. She discovered that even in emerging markets where Snapchat never got popular, people already knew how to use Stories. “We’ve been kind of surprised to learn . . . Ephemeral sharing wasn’t as new to some people as we expected” she tells me. It turns out there are regional Stories copycats around the globe.

As Bhandari dug deeper she found that people wanted more creative tools, but not at the cost of speed. So Facebook began caching the Stories tray from your last visit so it’d still appear when you open Facebook Lite without having to wait for it to load. This week, Facebook will start offering creative tools like filters inside Facebook Lite Stories by enabling them server-side so users can do more than just upload unedited videos.

That trip to India ended up spawning whole new products. Bhandari noticed some users, especially women, weren’t comfortable showing their face in Stories. “People would sometimes put their thumb over the video camera but share the audio content” she tells me. That led Facebook to build Audio Stories.

Dantley Davis, Facebook Stories’ Director Of Design

Back at Facebook headquarters in California, the design runs exercises to distill their own visions of creative. “We have a phase of our design cycle where we ask the designers . . . to bring in their inspiration” says Davis. That means everything from apps to movie clips to physical objects. Facebook determined that users needed better ways to express emotion through text. While it offers different fonts from billboard to typewriter motifs, they couldn’t convey if someone is happy or sad. So now Davis reveals Facebook is building “kinetic text”. Users can select if they want to convey if text is supposed to be funny or happy or sad, and their words will appear stylized with movement to get that concept across.

But to make Stories truly Facebook-y, the team had to build them into all its products while solving problems rather than creating them. For example, birthday wall posts are one of the longest running emerging behaviors on the social network. But most people just post a thin, generic “happy birthday!” or “HBD” post which can feel impersonal, even dystopic. So after announcing the idea in May, Facebook is now running Birthday Stories that encourage friends to submit a short video clip of well wishes instead of bland text.

Facebook recently launched Group and Event Stories, where members can collaborate by all contributing clips that show up in the Stories tray atop the News Feed. Now Facebook is going to start building its own version of Snapchat’s Our Stories. Facebook is now testing holiday-based collaborative Stories, starting with the Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam. Users can opt to post to this themed Story, and friends (but not the public) will see those clips combined.

This is the final step of Facebook’s three-part plan to get people hooked on Stories, according to Facebook engineering director Rushabh Doshi who leads the product. The idea is that first, Facebook has to get people a taste of Stories by spotlighting them atop the app as well as amidst the feed. Then it makes it easy for people to post their own Stories by offering simple creative tools. And finally, it wants to “Build Stories for what people expect out of Facebook.” That encompasses all the integrations of Stories across the product.

Rushabh Doshi, Facebook’s engineering manager who oversees Stories

Still, the toughest nut to crack won’t be helping users figure out what to share but who to share to. Facebook Stories’ biggest disadvantage is that it’s built around an extremely broad social graph that includes not only friends but family, work colleagues, and distant acquaintances. That can apply a chilling effect to sharing as people don’t feel comfortable posting silly, off-the-cuff, or vulnerable Stories to such a wide audience.

Facebook has struggled with this problem in News Feed for over a decade. It ended up killing off its Friend List Feeds that let people select a subset of their friends and view a feed of just their posts because so few people were using them. Yet the problem remains rampant, and the invasion of parents and bosses has pushed users to Instagram, Snapchat, and other younger apps. Unfortunately for now, Doshi says there’s no plan to build Friend Lists or sharing to subsets of friends for Facebook Stories.

At 300 million daily users, Facebook Stories doesn’t deserve the “ghost town” label any more. People who were already accustomed to Stories elsewhere still see the feature as intrusive, interruptive, and somewhat desperate. But with 2.2 billion total Facebookers, the company can be forced to focus on one-size-fits-all solutions. Yet if Facebook’s Blink testing app can produce must-use filters and effects, and collaborative Stories can unlock new forms of sharing, Facebook Stories could find its purpose.

Source: https://bloghyped.com/inside-facebook-stories-quest-for-originality-amidst-300m-users/

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Blackmail movie review: Irrfan Khan, Divya Dutta's dark satire is reviving

Blackmail movie review: Fun filled and reasonable narrating made fascinating with drawing in and entertaining exhibitions of Irrfan Khan and Divya Dutta.

Intriguingly worded as that statement is, it neglects to inform us these Hawaiian fish were clearly meant also to be the movie's audience.  This is a tough movie for anybody who has ever observed a movie before to love, though I will stick out my neck and bet that plastic dummy fish might even be somewhat amused by this movie.

Except for some, many twists in the storyline of Blackmail are sudden and keep up with the disposition of suspense as the personalities tickle our funny bone with their situational humor.

"The next World War will be fought for water and the one thing which will save it's toilet paper"  

When there's something which provides roadblocks inside this otherwise enjoyable ride, it's the slow pace by which Abhinav sets his characters and plot.  The one hour appears extended as this age is barely moved within by the narrative.  It's only towards the second half which rate is picked up by Blackmail.

A life resides also, 1 day, finds his wife in bed with a different guy.  He does not understand what determines to blackmail the guy, and to do, being a person.  This opens a can of worms with characters climbing a setup which should result in unpredictable twists, aboard the bandwagon.  It is excellent material to get a humor, but it needs in least, persuasive style, or, finesse, speed.  

Khan breathes life to the cuckold hero, giving him that the flailing streak of a guy who does not understand how to conduct, and making his own voyeuristic habits seem real, even adoring - although Deo, who directed the uproarious Delhi Belly, attempts ill-advisedly to jolt us with a few absurd scenes between Khan as a pathological masturbator, groan-worthy scenes which don't push the envelope just as much as they create it grubby.  The movie involves Khan picture killing figures - a device the movie leans on exasperatingly - a feeling along with the characters.  

"Jet spray, average middle course invention... it is disgusting!  

Two men within their workplace washroom Making sense is a lot to request.  All that a movie with a complex plot must do is add up.   Blackmail - that starts off with a laundry list of this hero's various money demands, and comes with a cut-rate Fight Club shooter where various household possessions have price tags on them - forgets its math shortly.  Suddenly everyone is being blackmailed by everybody and this is occurring far too with some blackmailers getting paid away while policemen who walk off telling the offenders they will return to detain them and possessing zero proof. Abhinav ensures that the sensible and correct levels of workplace lives and class.  Rather than a increase, the boss of Dev gives work to him -- that the class. If Irrfan's Dev realises his spouse is unfaithful, he believes of different scenario - murdering her, then killing the boy but then settles down to get a more sensible revenge.  The boy is married into the daughter of a corporator, therefore he is blackmailed by Dev .  How much?  Well, that's a calculation of the EMIs and family expenditures of Dev ! He's also the guy who enjoys images of people's wives out of their work desks and masturbates to them at the workplace washroom when everybody has left for the afternoon.   Even though Arunoday and Kirti are apt because of their personalities, it's Divya's Adita - that performs with Arunoday's spouse - that becomes a pillar of functionality to the Dev of Irrfan.

The Blackmail of abhinav Deo delivers moments to cherish and celebrate.  

A couple personalities are, such as a detective played with the Gajraj Rao, or a dominating played with Divya Dutta, however, those celebrities are scuppered by people around them.  The remainder are excruciating.  Omi Vaidya shows up needing to market three-ply bathroom paper with"Russian blondes."  The movie asks a lot of him, and cluelessness is a great color for him personally, although arunoday Singh looks throw as a galoot.   He plays with an obnoxious friend to the protagonist, the type who's up to speed on which Bhabhi is your Whatsapp flavour of this week, a man who says the term"Bhaisaab" as if it had been a paragraph in itself.  It is a component that is scenestealing, but the functionality - like this movie - is forced and horizontal.    

A negative track is created by abhinav in the movie using the boss of Dev.   But then I realised that it is around the signature... of palms.  So we've made our merchandise super soft," Omi says shortly before asking his workers to rub the newspaper onto their lips to sense ! It's refreshing to find a Bollywood film where misogyny and lack of approval are known, even within an zone.

By heading home with a whole lot of roses for his wife, that he passionless marriage and decides to spice up his lifestyle.   This revelation contributes to a succession of events that are outrageous and amusing.

An average middle class guy reaches house to obtain the spouse.  He decides to blackmail them, triggering a series of blackmailing hilarious conditions and situations.  While Kirti is Arunoday Singh essays her boyfriend role and his spouse, irrfan and Dev Kaushal play with the protagonist. Inspection: The middle-class guy is a victim of their own conditions.  He lives a life of entry, so much sothat when presented with a situation of conflict he struggles to perpetrate a crime of passion.  He resigns so it would look.  Blackmail provides an good spin to it and takes this notion.  It takes the daily issues of the man and puts an interesting twist on matters like EMIs, loans and relationships.   Once figures out of Dev's life have to learn of their plans that are blackmailing play unfolds.  It arouses a collection of types, where everybody begins blackmailing somebody for rationale.  Is hilarious.   The speed of this first half is somewhat slow.  The humor remains enjoyable and crisp, although it takes some time to set up the plots.   The scenarios get funny as every plot evolves.  The management of abhinay Deo is on the cash.  Together with Blackmail, he's cracked a different one in this genre Following his humor Delhi Belly.    The rap containing Divine and Trivedi, badla has been utilized and it provides the story and energy.   .  Add to this, there is a song named Sataasat with lyrics to literally shaking off it!  The quirky humor and demonstration of blackmail makes it a joy ride.  Irrfan provides a good performance as the ordinary office man who can not endure to his boss, nor to his adulterous wife.  He keeps a straight face when he is plotting and planning that the blackmail and brings a feeling of helplessness.  There and that is what adds to the hilarity of it all.  Arunoday Singh, as the sporting boy that is poor is a rage.  It is among the greatest performances of his career.  Divya Dutta as dominating spouse and Ranjit's drunken increases the entertainment.  Her landscapes with Arunoday are currently all engaging.  Additionally Kriti Kulhari, is adequate in her role as the wife.  The storyline of Blackmail is its own protagonist and it manages to hit a great balance between funny and dark.  Characters are bumped off, occasionally in events and many detail unfold, but the movie never loses its own vein of simple humour.  This is among the movies that we have seen in quite a while.  

On the other hand, fun filled and realistic storytelling, the performances keep you entertained and engaged.

Blackmail is a movie so insipid I overlooked the Vishesh Films emblem, for all those men would have had appropriate B-movie pleasure with something that meaty and elaborate.  Emraan Hashmi would create a meal of the friend part.  Additionally, the soundtrack could have been a sight better than the raps songs with rhymes Baba Sehgal, in the movie would have refused because of their laziness.  

Sample any stone Blackmail does not look like an actual picture, to start out with.  The cinematography is cluttered, the light poor, the colors miserable.  The tackiness is so pronounced that it seems intentional, like the filmmakers tried to show us life during the bleary eyes of the protagonist, however, things remain shoddy if he is not on screen.  Because of the hero is Irrfan Khan, they make worse.  Only the fish stay when he is not around.