#these are just some outtakes for what i'm doing now let's see if i can actually be consistent

[writingstoraes]

Secret trip part two? With like the guests pictures, well wishes and some honeymoon posts from the newly weds 🤞😍

the days after 🏝

pairing: charles leclerc/fem!reader

type: instagram imagine, social media au (heavier on the ig part hehe)

notes: thank you sm for requesting, lovely! i hope you like this 🤍 reqs are still open! (tho patience is required i have varying levels of productivity lol) posting next would be the part 3 of split! lmk if anyone wants to be tagged hehe

about: after revealing the private wedding you and charles had in italy, here's what came after!

this is the part 2 to secret trip! read it here.

carlossainz55

liked by pierregasly, landonorris, charles_leclerc, and 984,221 others

carlossainz55 Suited up and attended something 🥂

pierregasly What's with the mystery everyone knows Charles and Y/N got married

carlossainz55 Mind your own Insta, thank you very much?

scuderiaferrari Looking sharp, Smooth Operator! ❤️

danielricciardo Okay we see you Mr. Secrecy 😁

carlossainz55 I'm not hiding anything????

landonorris People literally know you attended a wedding

carlossainz55 IT WAS JUST A CAPTION? Can't I post a picture of myself in peace? 55sainzz LMAOOO THEY WONT LET HIM BREATHE 😭

pierregasly

liked by arthurleclerc, lorenzotl, yourusername, and 564,983 others

pierregasly Somewhere in Italy, two of my greatest friends tied the knot. Congratulations to the two best people I know ❤️ Grateful to be a part of this magical day and I only wish you two the happiest of days. Seems like it was just yesterday when Charles was boasting how you finally texted him back 🤣

estebanocon I am not the best person you know?

landonorris Hurts, right?

charles_leclerc The last part was uncalled for... but yeah I was proud :D

charlesmcqueen hes been whipped for her ever since god i have seen what you have done for others

danielricciardo See carlossainz55 this is how you do a greeting

carlossainz55 I am going to post one can you all wait damn

danielricciardo

liked by lewishamilton, maxverstappen, georgerussell63, and 849,273 others

danielricciardo Almost a year ago, Charles and Y/N asked me to take some pictures of them to commemorate their engagement. Believe it or not, these pictures are outtakes and unplanned. I happened to catch such beautiful moments between the two of them and now I just witnessed them celebrate their love for each other.

Congratulations, yourusername and charles_leclerc!

landonorris Another smashing greeting related to the wedding, carlossainz55 can't relate 🙏

carlossainz55 I am about to block all of you

yourusername melting at your caption aside, why am i only seeing this now, daniel?

danielricciardo Saved it for a second wedding gift 😁

gaslyscar Jesus i am never going to experience this am I 😪

lewishamilton

liked by charles_leclerc, mercedesamgf1, susiewolff, and 1,001,223 others

lewishamilton Was not able to snap some pictures from the wedding but luckily, I have this in my gallery from all the times I have spent third-wheeling with them. I think the smiles on their faces say it all. Congratulations, newlyweds! 🤵👰

charles_leclerc Million thanks for telling me what her name was, mate 😆

lewishamilton You're also welcome for the texts I helped you construct cause you were too afraid to send one britcedesbro sir lewis hamilton professional matchmaker???

carlossainz55 At this point who hasn't third-wheeled with them?

yourusername hey you guys make it seem like it's a bad thing charles_leclerc And we pay the bill to compensate???

carlossainz55

liked by maxverstappen, charles_leclerc, yourusername, and 678,234 others

carlossainz55 Such an unbelievable experience to witness Charles and Y/N's journey as a couple. A witness since their first date, the first time Charles introduced her to Ferrari team members, the day Charles told me he was out picking a ring, up to being the first to receive the good news that Y/N said yes. I only wish you guys eternal moments of love, happiness, and peace ❤️

And before the entire grid comes at me for this, yes I am capable of doing a proper greeting. Thanks.

yourusername hmm, seems like you're doing this to prove something, carlito

charles_leclerc Totally, out of spite carlossainz55 I cannot catch a break from all of you 😐

landonorris Their faces aren't visible

pierregasly Where are our pictures??? carlossainz55 That's it, hard blocking all of you

yourusername

liked by carlossainz55, charles_leclerc, arthurleclerc, and 341,886 others

yourusername maldives with the man i recently got my last name from 🏖️

pierregasly Enjoy, newlyweds ❤️

landonorris Bring me home some shell necklaces

charles_leclerc When did you take that shot of me

yourusername when you were busy saying the stone formation kinda looks like the rock 🥱

charles_leclerc

liked by yourusername, pierregasly, maxverstappen, and 1,290,472 others

charles_leclerc Honeymoon stop 2: Iceland 🏞️ Beautiful place with my beautiful wife.

scuderiaferrari Have fun, Y/N and Charles! ❤️

arthurleclerc Me? An uncle?

yourusername no one said that, arthur 😆

forzacharles i too would wanna travel the world during my honeymoon with my significant other, all i need is a significant other

yourusername

liked by carlossainz55, pierregasly, yourbff, and 432,208 others

yourusername various shots from our many stops. adventures with you surely does not stop here. excited to spend forever with you, charles_leclerc 🤍

landonorris I am expecting my shell necklace any moment now

carlossainz55 Can't even wait for them to unpack?

charles_leclerc Pour toujours et à jamais, mon amour 💋 Forever and always, my love.

lovingleclerc MY FAVEEE COUPLE <3

sainzzlecs my parents exactly

------------

tagging: @slytherheign, @honethatty12, @siovhanroy

notes: its actually been so long since i did an imagine that's purely ig lmao i find it hard now to not include twitter panels but anyway! i hope you like this anon <3 lmk what u guys think hehe btw reqs for charles imagines are open hehe (pls lend some patience if u send one tho) thank you for reading 🤍

posting next would be the part 3 of split! lmk if anyone wants to be tagged hehe

#writtenbyrae #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x female reader #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc fic #charles leclerc insta au #charles leclerc social media au #charles leclerc instagram imagine #charles leclerc ig imagine #formula 1 #f1 #formula 1 insta au #formula 1 ig imagine #formula 1 instagram imagine #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 social media au #f1 x reader #f1 x female reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 instagram imagine #f1 ig imagine #f1 social media au

[kinetic-elaboration]

February 1: Raven x Octavia, Genius

Whats this? Octaven I didn't edit? Surely not and yet it is.

Raven/Octavia, Make a Lot of Money-verse, ~600 words, written in 23 minute

*

"You're some kind of genius, aren't you?"

And:

"Have you ever gone sky diving? You would like it."

And:

"You know I'm writing a book."

This girl doesn't do well in the silence. They've been up most of the night and now Raven is hazy and tired in the first rays of morning light, bleeding in pink through a softly graying sky. She's in a bedroom that isn't her own, on her back on mint green sheets. She stretches her legs long and points her toes. The sheets, which have started to come off the bed, wrinkle and shift with the movement.

"You should talk to me again about thermodynamics."

Her voice is so much lower than Raven had thought it would be when they first locked eyes, smoother too, rasping only now with the half-sleep from which she's barely woken. She's lazing on her side with her head tucked up on her arm, and her elbow crooked so that her hand falls lazily over her own head. Her long fingers twitch at the loose strands of her hair. Raven can feel the girl's eyes twitching, too, flicking across her face, bearing out lines on her skin. An oddly patient gaze, and slow words.

"I once found this little… garden thing, behind a waterfall. And all I could see on one side was the wall of water coming down. Everything smelled green, like emerald green."

Is she reciting some sort of fairy tale?

Raven blinks and the crust of sleep pulls at her eyelids. She wasn't out long, couldn't have been. Just dozing. The room is small and almost perfectly square. Cardboard boxes are stacked up in the corner and the unmarked white walls are nearly empty, so she figures this girl couldn't have been living here long. But at the same time, she seems like the sort who might never unpack. If Raven were to bring her over to her own place, the studio with the toolbox that lives permanently on the kitchen island, and the little wooden bowl for her keys by the door, she'd probably be the type to leave her toothbrush there right away. She'd bring nothing else, stay the night, and then leave the next morning wearing Raven's clothes.

"Have you ever fucked another woman outside? Like in the grass?"

Raven runs her hands over her face, chin to hairline, like she's splashing invisible water over it. Like she's trying to strip the light from her skin. She is lying in a narrow pool of it, the bleeding golden dawn light.

"Or, like, a man even?"

Somehow, she's started to slip her hand across Raven's skin, over her belly, lingering touch of curious fingers at her hips. Raven flops her head to the side and looks at her.

The girl doesn't smile and she doesn't blink. Slowly, slowly, she shifts herself forward; she leans in. Her nose almost touches Raven's nose. She keeps enough distance between them to allow herself to look Raven in the eye without going cross-eyed. This close, Raven can see the faint hint of freckles over her nose and cheeks.

Her stare is so unwavering, so insistent, so perfectly studied and calm. Still unblinking, she lets the corners of her mouth gently curl: a knowing smile, a wicked, sinful smile.

"Genius is one word you could use," Raven answers, an outtake of breath, words lightly skimming across air. Then with a sharper bite: "And yeah, I've fucked men."

Octavia doesn't break. She reaches out as if to push Raven's hair back from her face, and instead tangles her fingers in it. "You are something," she breathes, as if by something she meant her greatest discovery. The garden behind the waterfall, the earth seen from the sky. "You are really--really the most beautiful and unexpected person," she says "that I have ever met."

#the 100 #raven x octavia #raven reyes #octavia blake #mine #my writing #make a lot of money #the year 2024 #2024: free write #idk this was pretty random #i could picture it in my head #octaven

[canonicallysoulmates]

J2 Gold Panel DCCon 2022

They are both looking so handsome! And Jensen is wearing a leather jacket 🤤🔥

First question up is: what is their theme song?

The fan mentions that their theme song is Don't Stop Believin' by Journey, and Jared says that Separate Ways, which is also by Journey, is pretty badass then says he's gonna go with Faithfully also by that band because while he's not a musician he’s on the road a lot.

Jensen also goes with a road-themed song: On the Road Again by Willie Nelson. He says he’s been driving a lot the past couple weeks (not to nitpick but he was in Canada filming recently so timelines not a 100% accurate on his part) to see family because they're close enough it’s only like 4hrs from where he works and while driving back and forth he’s been playing a lot of Willie Nelson and that song has come up a couple times. He also mentions that he and Jared travel quite a bit and with the pandemic that wasn’t possible so it's made him realize that he truly enjoys being out on the road. 

Now for absolutely no reason whatsoever I'm gonna go ahead and point out that Jared has been in Santa Fe the past couple of days just a small drive away (around an 1hr) from Jensen. Jensen who has conveniently provided the information that he's been driving a lot. Y'all do with that info what you want 😇

Continuing on a fan who owns a bakery wants to know what is their favorite type of pie? Jared says pecan pie a la mode to which Jensen in total husband fashion says that what Jared actually likes is a little pecan pie with his ice cream 😆

Jensen answer is either banana or coconut cream pie...so of course Jared makes a joke about bananas and coconuts. x

The third question is not a question it’s a very stupid joke but the boys banter with the person is funny so I’ll include a timestamp. x

Jensen was still thinking about the previous fans question about pie so he asked them what the best pie they make is, the answer is pumpkin. Jared makes an inappropriate joke, I had to pause 🥧

*sigh* Y'all we’re never gonna be free from prank questions. The next question is what's the best prank they've pulled on set together. Y’all know the drill they never planned pranks they just saw the opportunity to mess with someone and would take it. They say the only pranks they had planned were some they wanted to pull on MC but didn't get a chance to. x

Can they tell the story of how they met? 🥰

I know y'all probably already know the story, and I have written about it before, so this will be the quick version. Long story short they meet during auditions on the network test. By that point, Jensen had read originally for Sam but he told tptb that he wanted to read for Dean, and Jared had read for Sam but they didn't think he was a good fit at first because they wanted someone smart so his manager had to call and let them know that he is smart so they gave him a second chance so anyways they both arrive to the chemistry match network test and they were the only ones there and they start talking and the rest is history.

While telling the story they also talk a bit about how the audition process has changed, and Jensen mentions how he would try to throw the competition off their game in the audition rooms which makes Jared go into a quick non sequitur about how when G was auditioning for Wildfire there was this girl, who he and Jensen worked with, who kept trying to make it seem like she already had the role in order to mess with the heads of the others. This story had no point and no end because Jared doesn't reveal who the actress was he just tells Jensen he'll tell him later. The one time the man says something mildly interesting about that woman and he leaves out the most important detail of the story. x

What was their funniest moment or longest outtake? Jared says he has a few regrets about his time on SPN 👀

But that his number one regret is that while they did a lot of things producers do they never got that official producer label. (baby, I regret y'all never got that label too but also spill the tea) If they had they would have kept all the gag reels and outtakes. Examples that come to his mind to answer the question are JDM getting hit in the balls when they filmed the 300th ep also Eye of the Tiger.

Jensen says he's been listening to some of the podcast thing that Benedict and Speight are doing and Taylor Cole, who played Sarah Blake, was in one of the eps and she mention how when they were filming Provenance something happened in one of the scenes and she couldn't stop giggling and Jared also couldn't stop laughing so they had to take a break because they couldn't reel it in. x

I don't know if this was the moment he was referring to but the way Jensen describes it reminds me of this moment from the s1 gag reel where Jared and Taylor are laughing and then there's jealous!Jensen in the background.

We have another non-question, a fan complimented Jensen’s cover of Simple Man that he did on Jason Mann’s cover album. Jensen tells the story of how his singing that song came about; so Jensen had agreed to be on the album but they hadn't chosen a song for him to sing so one day when Jason was in Van for something they were in Jensen's apartment and he asked him what he wanted to sing. Jensen was lightly strumming the guitar trying to come up with something and the song he was mindlessly strumming was Simple Man. Jason asked what he was playing and made Jensen sing the song and Jason liked it and said that's the song we're going with. x

On the off chance that some of you have not heard the acoustic cover, which is what's being mentioned here, that Jensen did of this song I'm gonna leave y'all a link because it's beautiful 🎸

Final question, is there a method to their acting that they’ve kept throughout the years? And a part that they’ve drastically changed?

Jared says his method has been the same since Gilmore Girls, he doesn't really memorize lines he just goes through the script over and over again until it's like a song that he can sing along with even if he doesn't know the name of it or the artist. He'll read it front to back at different times of the day whenever he gets the chance so when he gets to set it's so in his head that instinct takes over.

For Jensen, it's the opposite. He reads the script once very, very slowly. Some scenes he'll re-read a couple times till he has a good grasp of it and has a really good idea of how the scene should be played and then he'll move on and keep reading the script, once he gets through it he won't look at the whole thing again; he will look at the material for the next day the night before, read through it and remember how it impacted him the first time he read it, instinctually know the idea he thinks he wants to do for that scene but still not memorizing anything. Then the day off when they block it out and figure out when they wanna be that's when the words lock in because he is marrying them to his physical space. So when they go to shoot he knows the words.

He says the biggest advice he gives to young actors and actresses is that you always want to be emotionally available in a scene so if somebody's bringing something you hadn't thought of you want to be able to react to it properly.

Jared says he wouldn't recommend Jensen's method to young actors or actresses because it's very difficult to do but Jensen's a black belt in acting which is why he can do that- he admires Jensen so much 🥰

He also says that his pet peeve with scripts is when there's stage direction like 'sam cries' or 'dean breaks down' because there are times when they get there and in the moment it doesn't feel right. Says there are several scenes in SPN where the script doesn't mention them getting teared up but they would get teared up when filming, so he hates when emotions are written.

Jensen adds that that's the good stuff when there were things that would surprise them within the scene; the nuance of the scene and nuance of the relationship or the dialogue they would find it and that's something that he can't tell us how much he loves being a part of that with Jared. Because they would find it so quickly and so much that it would surprise them. 💕

J2 Gold Panel DCCon

#boys are such husbands #j2 tinhat #mine

[akatsukirites]

THWNR Outtakes: I'm Kisame for Halloween

Well this was a little bit of fun I had this morning and no beta-reader lol. Happy Halloween to all and to all a good night.

AU | KisaKona | G | 500-ish wrds

“Oh wow JEEZ MISTER! Your costume is so cool! What are you supposed to be?”

Konan stifles a laugh while Kisame, towering above this 10-year-old brat, peers below to catch a glint of awe in his newfound fan.

“How about a game?” He smirks. “If you can correctly guess what I’m ‘supposed to be’, my companion will give you a treat.”

Their eyes light up behind a cheap superhero mask. “OKAY!”

Konan readies the bag of Halloween candy. The kids have been getting it mostly right this year. Some of the younger ones just say ‘blue’.

“Hmmm….” A thoughtful finger taps their chin while they tap a foot. Truly cartoonish. Then they perk with a pointed finger in the air. “I know! A BARRACUDA!”

Kisame is stunned into silence.

“I learned about them in school! They’re long and have big pointy teeth and they’re really BIG! Like you!”

Kisame looks slightly offended. If Konan wasn’t such a lady, she’d be rolling on the floor by now. Instead she puts a light, reminding hand on his arm. The kid beams the brightest smile in five miles at Kisame. How can he stay mad at that face? Then again, Konan has always been more partial to children than him. Kisame catches her eyes, then crouches down to his costumed fan; he’s still taller than them even this low. The brat takes a few steps back. Seeing Kisame’s face closer only emboldens their wonderment. He thinks carefully about his next steps. Konan keeps her hand on his shoulders, nails digging in.

He puts on his trademark sadistic grin— all teeth. “Did they teach you about sharks?”

“Oh YEAH! We learned about great whites and hammerheads and whale sharks too! I really like whale sharks— they’re my favorite.”

That seems to be the straw that breaks the final tension as Kisame’s shoulders begin to relax. Perhaps he’s not so anti-children after all.

“Whale sharks are three times bigger than barracudas. And they can eat a whole barracuda in one bite, easy.”

Cue stars in the kid’s eyes.

“Wooooow, mister, you know A LOT about sharks! Can you come to my school?!” After their question, they pause, “Wait— are you a whale shark then??”

A whale shark is probably more demeaning to Kisame than the barracuda.

Still, Kisame is gracious enough to let that soft chuckle rumble through him. “Close enough.” And tilts his head up to Konan. “Boss, what do you think?”

She rolls her eyes at him, chiding. Then kneels down to the kid’s level. She pulls out a fist full of saltwater taffy and plops it in their pumpkin bucket.

“You’re exactly right.” The kid screams in delight and takes off immediately, yelling back their gratitude. “Close enough.”

#[♣️–VDwrites] #♣️–kisame #♣️–konan #kisakona #kisakonan #naruto fanfiction #♣️–AUverse #♣️–to heaven we'll never reach

[recordbodycount]

tell me. about pavement. i always want new things to listen to

ohhh my god yes of course absolutely. i could give probably a whole presentation on this band they have been my biggest hyperfixation for the past like 6 months . i' i am going to attempt to format this so i don't go completely off track. take this as my personal guide to getting into them i guess. something like that

also beware you are poking the autism bear right now (affectionate)

okay first of all little bit of pre-ambling in terms of like. the musical background of the band. pavement is in a wonderful awkward spot where they don't really fit into a good sized genre, just like one huge genre (alt rock, which is like the broadest classification ever now) and a weird niche one that includes them and like, four other bands (slacker rock). but genres are not the point with them. they take more of a free creative route to writing songs, there's actually a pretty cool video with the band talking about their process when it comes to coming up with new material. to say the least, a lot of it is somewhat improv-ed. for an easier run-down of what's in their music they have a lot of fuzzy and jangly guitars, a lot of their songs are entirely nonsensical word association based lyrics. pavement is a band that really does kind of just sound like five guys jamming out in their basement, this is a good thing for some and that some is me

NOW onto the recommendations. i've got two different paths you could take to start listening to them based on just prior experience with pavement-like music. i'm being album focused with this because woo! albums

if you like kind of messier, dirtier lo-fi stuff i recommend starting with their first lp, slanted and enchanted, and just going chronologically through their discog from there (skip westing during this though because it's mostly really noisy b-sides and outtakes and stuff, spotify just lists it as a full album)

if you're more acclimated to just 90s alt rock in general though, i recommend starting with crooked rain, crooked rain. it's much more accessible for a wider audience and has most of their 'hits'. from there i'd go to brighten the corners, and after that maybe just listen to a song or two from other albums and see which one you'd like to listen to most :)

my personal favourite pavement album is wowee zowee, though i don't particularly recommend it as a first pavement album. it's 18 tracks long, and definitely their weirdest record, but it's really fantastic, and i think just the pure creative fun in their music really comes out in that album

stephen malkmus (the lead singer, guitarist, and song-writer) also has a bunch of solo stuff that's really good. he was also apart of the silver jews for awhile along with the drummer of pavement (bob nastovich), and the album they worked on with that band, starlite walker is really good. definitely very jammy however

a few things before you listen to them if you do, though. don't try to analyse pavement lyrics, they oftentimes are just nonsense. in fact there's an entire song that just takes the piss out of people who do this. also pavement is a grower band, in the sense that for me and lot of other people, we weren't instantly hooked by the band, and it took a bit to kind of.. get it and *really* appreciate their stuff. that can be a turn off for some people for sure but they're absolutely worth the time

thankkk you for letting me rant at you abt these guys my appreciation for their music is on my brain a good 95% of the time just sloshing around in there

#now i want to make a pavement themed powerpoint or something #i get delusional about bands i once made a full scale essay about the history of the band pulp. like for fun #asks #💿.txt

[jennycalendar]

no new update of what you make tonight as i'm working on something else, but i AM going through the outtake doc for cute bits and snips! these span a BUNCH of chapters. (the actual outtake doc itself is 50k words but we're not doing that.)

~~~~~

“Sorry about eating your pancakes,” said Art, who really wasn’t.

“You really aren’t,” said Mom affectionately. “And you know I don’t mind. You’re a growing boy, and I’m—”

“A shrinking lady?” said Buffy innocently.

Anxiously, Art said, “If she’s shrinking, she should be eating pancakes!”

“That’s—no. Art—no.” Mom was doing her very best not to laugh. It wasn’t really working. “And Buffy, I am thirty-seven and nowhere near shrinking any time soon. Now, Rupert, on the other hand—”

“I have to go call Anya,” said Dad very loudly, and left.

~~~~~~

“You don’t just throw money at problems,” said Jenny, glaring at him in a refreshingly combative way that felt a bit less like a marble statue and a bit more like a lightning strike. “And we’re not putting you out like that. Do you even know how expensive it is to house this many people in a reasonably decent hotel?”

“More money than we can pay, apparently,” said Stacey under her breath.

“For the love of God, Anastasia, do not create a new problem for me to address when Art’s parents are busily working on arguing their way into this one,” said Nora exasperatedly. “I should not have to tell you how hard your father and I worked to make this vacation a possibility—”

“And it’s sucked!” Stacey burst out. “It has totally sucked! You guys never let me do anything but wander around playing babysitter, and the one time I called Maddy, she said that Casey’s family’s in Honolulu right now and Casey totally has a Hawaiian boyfriend now! I haven’t even gotten to look at boys!”

“Stacey, you need to pick a lane,” said Jenny sharply. “You gonna get up on your high horse about how much you don’t like Rupert or are you going to yell at your mom about not being able to pay for the kind of vacation that Casey’s family is going on?”

Tears in her eyes, Stacey burst out, “This was supposed to be a vacation, and all we’re doing is trailing around after Art’s dad!”

“I…did not realize that those lanes could merge,” said Nora, who looked almost impressed.

~~~~~~

“Yes, thank you, Christian, but I have absolutely no interest in continuing to have mediocre sex with you. What? Yes, it was mediocre. Do you even know where the clitoris is?” Upon seeing Giles in the doorway, Anya sighed very dramatically, then said, “Look, my kinda-boss is here and he doesn’t like it when I use the work phone to break up with disinteresting men. I will not be calling you back, and you definitely shouldn’t call again.”

~~~~~

She was now leveling Giles with a look that clearly said you better not be about to pull what I think you’re going to pull. “Pretty sure the ocean will be a problem, Rupert,” she said, “because you’re not just going to make some sort of impulsive life decision just because—”

“I’m moving to Colorado,” Giles informed them.

“Jesus Christ,” muttered Jenny, dropping her head into her hands.

Nora and Donovan exchanged a completely bemused look. 

~~~~~

“Jenny, he has so many people who love him,” said Giles very softly. “Nora and Donovan, of course, but it’s abundantly clear that his cousins adore him. I’ve never seen a family get on quite like yours does.”

“You’ve seen, like, two families,” said Jenny unsympathetically.

Giles ignored this.

~~~~~

Art lit up the very moment Giles entered the kitchen. Giles had initially assumed that this could be attributed to his relative newness, and would as such fade once he became a more established part of his life, but closer observation had revealed that Art’s delight extended to absolutely every member of his family. Even Bella, who Art valiantly play-acted at violently hating, always got his attention upon entering a room—though, to be fair, Bella got everyone’s attention upon entering a room, usually by causing minor to significant property damage within the first five seconds of being there. “Hi, Dad!” he said. “Aunt Nora made you breakfast and tea and I didn’t let Mom eat any of it.”

“…Was that a risk?” said Giles.

“Yes,” said Art, glaring at Jenny. “She said you said it would be okay, but I didn’t see how you could do that if you were asleep. Were you asleep?”

“Very,” said Giles, sitting down between Jenny and Bella. “How are you doing?”

“I don’t know, it’s too early,” said Art. “You have to ask me that at dinner when I’ve done things. Can we play in the hedge maze again?”

Giles opened his mouth. Jenny shot him a look, then said to Art, “I don’t know, baby. Are you going to be able to take good care of your dad and not get him lost in it again?”

“I wasn’t lost,” Giles started, very unconvincingly.

“He wasn’t lost!” said Art. “He’s a grown-up! And I wasn’t lost either!”

~~~~~

Seeing as Rupert has not quite gotten over the fact that we will no longer be traveling from place to place, and in fact woke me up at four in the morning last Thursday to ask where his little suitcase was so that he could properly pack it for our next trip, any and all aspects of our new home that bring him joy are a great joy to me as well. As such, when he discovered that the telephone was no longer solely for emergencies, he proceeded to ask me to ring absolutely every family member possible so that he could talk to them. Of course, given that Rupert has quite a lot of trouble talking to anyone who isn’t me or Tom, as soon as the phone was handed to him, he would go dead silent, listen with wide eyes to the inquiries of whichever gran he had on the phone, and say, very anxiously, “Thank you for calling. Goodbye,” before abruptly hanging up.

The first time he did this, I was very worried that he’d been made nervous by a family member outside of our little circle. Imagine my surprise when he solemnly handed me the phone again and asked politely that I ring “the other gran” so that they could “have a little chat,” which I am certain is a phrase he learned from my little chats with Lizzy and Ramona! He has spent the last two days asking about people we can call, to the point where Tom sat down last night, drew up a small list of friends and family who he has made sure will not mind getting repeated calls from a four-year-old who is not inclined towards chatter (as it happens, most of our friends and family think that this is ADORABLE, as they SHOULD), and taught Rupert how to use the phone so that he could call people himself.

Rupert has not left the phone for hours on end. He is unbelievably fascinated with it and spent most of yesterday explaining to me how he thinks it works in great detail. Tom caught wind of this (and, of course, my response, which was to treat the whole thing like improvisational theatre and add on particularly outlandish suggestions re: magical telephones) and decided to track down some informational pamphlets on how telephones REALLY work. Rupert, however, was supremely uninterested in actual science, and responded to this pamphlet by drawing up a pamphlet of his own that (according to him) is entitled “How Telephones Really Really Work.” Thomas has absolutely no idea what to do with this. (I am going to get it framed.)

#fic #noon at the museum tag #those last two are definitely less ''outtakes'' and more ''deleted scenes'' #ESPECIALLY the last one. that happened.

[blissfullybloomed]

Consistency: OOF! Yup, that's where we're headed today. 

Literally this one is going to be rough all over the place. Buckle up!

Being real, this word alone gives me PTSD of a past relationship that I jacked up because I myself wasn't consistent. This is one of those relationships that forced me to learn who I was, because he didn't deserve me in that state. I know you read these, and I'm sorry to you, too. 

Side bar, man am I glad I did the work ... .I just did it a little too late for some partners. 

Anyway, here we go. 

Are you the type of person that gets overly excited about a new task or project and the excitement wears off in a week? Yeah, I used to be too. Until I learned a few tricky tricks. 

“Plan your work, and work your plan.”- Dale Vermillion.  Dale is an incredibly intelligent handsome man who works in realty and mortgage lending. 

This step is the most crucial. The planning, and the working of the plan. Start with setting some goals. Example: Weight loss, Work less hours and be home, Play your guitar more, put more legos together…and so on. 

Once you have a goal…set some timelines to it. Specific timelines. Deadlines if you will. Example: I want to lose weight by the end of the year. Great…now you have a deadline as to when this goal will be reached. Let's take it a few steps further though …let's get granular. 

Make SMART Goals. Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. 

Losing weight by the end of the year is great…but how much weight are we going to lose per month? Per week? Per day? How many calories are we going to intake? See…lots of questions to drill this bad boy down to make it realistic to achieve. 

Speaking of calories…little tidbit. Losing weight is all about calorie intake - calorie outtake. 3500 Calories = 1 pound. Eat less calories…lose weight….eat more calories..maintain or increase your weight. 

Now listen, I'm not a nutritionist…so don't get your panties in a twist….I just know what I know. 

Tell everyone! Keep yourself accountable to whatever task you’re trying to complete. 

This will help drastically with your success or failure in my humble opinion. If you're the struggle in silence type…by all means, go for it. I would highly recommend journaling at minimum throughout that timeframe. It helps with the overwhelming anxiety that is caused when we put too much pressure on ourselves to achieve a goal. No shame in journaling. 

Prepare yourself mentally for disappointment and setbacks. There's a reason why companies forecast potential revenue loss….they know anything can happen and are ready with a plan if it does.

Example: I will lose 50 pounds by the end of the year. I will achieve this by eating less than 3500 calories a day and losing 1 pound every three days, which equals a 2 pound loss each week. Two pounds lost per week = 8 pounds in a month. So I can realistically lose 8 pounds in a month IF i dont over or under eat. So My goal would then change accordingly to allow flux .  Hopefully, that makes sense.

Keep it moving…don't Quit! Show up for yourself every freaking day. Do small things daily to build up to the end goal. Whatever that may be ... .if you need help with goal setting reach out to me. I can totally help with that confidentially. 

Consistency is hard. Really hard. Especially if you are in a mental or physical fog. You just don't have the will to meet your goals today… THIS is why we allow for flux. We can't be 100% everyday. Some days are going to be zero days. Nothing gets accomplished, laundry stacks, dishes in sink, kids in the same clothes as yesterday, reports for work haven't been written…and so on. It's okay, we planned for this to happen. Be easy on yourself…no progress is still progress. You have not chosen to completely stop. Keep moving. 

Some things that help me stay consistent: 

Calendars, Calendars, Calendars…for REAL! I legit have a consistent calendar I use in Microsoft Excel to budget. Yeah, a spreadsheet. 

Alarms and Reminders in any of my devices. I have reminders to shower, make coffee, do yoga, meditate, comb my hair( Yeah it was that bad at one point- my zero days). 

Affirmations EVERYWHERE! Flood yourself with hand written affirmations. I used to have them on chakra colored post notes all around my house. 

Journaling/Blogging. It gets the old out sometimes. Makes room for the new. 

Tea, Yoga, and Meditation…these are my Holy trinity. It's my safe space. 

Your environment. Look around you. Check your five senses? What smells? Sounds? Anything that makes you turn your nose up or cringe….get it out! Refresh everything! This is also making room for fresh new ideas, thoughts, and space. I use sage, incense, candles, aroma diffusers, orange himalayan lamps, meditation music, twinkle lights, artwork that makes me happy ...all the good things. 

Lastly, check the people you surround yourself with. Are they pushing or pulling you from your goals? Really evaluate that. Blinders off. Take stock. Maybe they need to go for a while, so you can focus on yourself? So be it. If they love you, they will understand and either wait for you or be supportive with you. If a person has an opportunity to rid themselves of someone or something toxic in their life, they should take that chance for themselves. If they don't…what self worth do they or YOU have? 

Alright, I'm done preaching today. Get out there and do some stuff! Love y'all!

[heartofspells]

I’m in withdrawal of HE James and Sirius, I’m so desperate for a lil snippet of some James and Sirius friendship with some angst in there but I’m struggling to think of something you haven’t already done, is there anything you can think of from HE? 💘💘💘💘💘💘

Oh, hello. I like you very much. James and Sirius in almost any universe are sublime and one of my favorite things, but there's something special about them in HE and I'm so happy someone else pines for them the way I do. And I've got the perfect thing for you.

Another outtake from At the Healing Edge of Broken, taking place roughly five months after the end of the main story. Enjoy! <3

"Christ," exhales Sirius just to express his complete unhappiness before he falls backwards across the end of his bed. It bounces and shudders beside him a moment later, James' warmth pressing along his side as his friend collapses. Sirius squints acerbically at the ceiling. "This is the reason I'll never have kids," he grumbles.

"Oh, really?" demands James in exasperation, hand flailing between them, but the motion is weak, exhausted. "This is the deciding factor, is it? This situation and only this?"

"…yes." But Sirius pouts. "All right, well. Possibly there are other reasons and possibly that's not a reason at all."

"And possibly you're full of shit," finishes James mulishly.

"Possibly," agrees Sirius, huffing out a frustrated breath, still glaring at the ceiling. "You'd think she'd figure it out at some point, that we're no good at this bath business. Evans. She's bright. Harry does us in every time. Personally, I think she's watching our every move through a camera and laughing herself to a stroke every night we try."

James groans, throwing his hands over his face. "She's my wife, Padfoot," he moans, pulling a grin from Sirius. "We're still married. Will you ever stop with the Evans?"

"Possibly not."

"Possibly not," echoes James, his hands falling with a hollow sort of thump to his chest. "Right. Fucking hell, you're the worst."

"I have the love letters from you that prove that's a lie," tosses out Sirius, snickering when James grunts, but Sirius' amusement fades quickly as his body sags over the mattress and he's reminded of how tired he is. "Christ, I still have so much to do and now I've spent two hours wrestling a kid into bath and bed. I don't want to do any of it."

"Where's the rush?" levels James, a weight Sirius doesn't want to look too closely at inside his words. "Is the flat going anywhere? Is he?"

"No," denies Sirius quickly. "No, 'course not. It's just…"

He sighs, trailing off, his eyes shifting around what he can see of the room he's occupied longer than he's ever occupied anywhere in his life that's mattered at all. The walls are mostly bare now, only a few odd things still hanging that he needs to remove. Boxes tower in small, haphazard stacks, scattered around the space, some of them already gone, filled with the least necessary of things, moved weeks earlier when the process had first started.

"Padfoot," says James quietly, calmly. Sirius twitches with it, can feel his friend's hazel eyes burning into the side of his face. "It's okay to be scared, you know?"

"I'm not scared," pushes out Sirius gruffly, words quick and sharp.

"Okay." James doesn't shift his gaze away, and Sirius exhales a slow, stuttering breath, finally turning to look at the other man, James' mouth quirking up into a small smile.

"I'm not scared," repeats Sirius firmly, James nodding like he understands, and Sirius thinks he probably does. "I'm not, but it's hard to imagine not being here more often than I am. How does that work, Prongs?"

James stares at him in contemplative silence for a minute before he says, "I'm not sure, Pads, but we'll figure it out. Same as we always do, yeah? If this is what you want, we'll navigate. No one's been able to tear us apart for over sixteen years. We're not going to let something as silly as you finally deciding to grow the fuck up do it now."

Sirius releases a scoffing sound, kicking out gently with his foot, connecting with James' ankle. "Piss off, Potter," he mutters, turning his head to hide his smile as James cackles beside him, shaking the bed beneath their combined weights.

They lay together for a while, the sounds of James' laughter tapering off slowly, the pair settling with one another just as easily as they always have.

"Is this what you want?" asks James eventually once the silence has stretched on for an indeterminable amount of time. Sirius doesn't answer immediately, and James is staring at him again. "Sirius," prompts James plaintively, the heaviness returning to his voice.

Gaze locked on the ceiling, Sirius swallows thickly. "Yes," he whispers. "Why would you ask me that?"

"I dunno. Feels important. I know you love him, and I know he loves you," begins James, Sirius' ears catching the sound of his head turning over the blanket under them, "but this – well, it happened sort of fast, didn't it? You two weren't exactly stable. Not even together. There were…things. Stuff to work through. And then you were dealing with the aftermath of Gideon again and leaving the Association. All those fights to get away. And once you did…it was like peace, I know, but less than a month after it all settled, the dust still thick in the air, you're coming in one night and telling us you've both decided it's time to live together. You can't blame me for checking, Sirius."

"S'pose I can't, no," agrees Sirius, voice still low, but he sighs heavily, his chest falling slowly with the release. "You're right, I do love him. I tried not to, for a while, when I thought it was important. When I thought it mattered. When I didn't understand and thought I couldn't forgive him, but I – trying didn't change anything. It didn't change who he was or is, everything he's ever been to me since the first day I met him. Both first days." Sirius turns his head, finally looking at James again, holding his gaze, James' dark brow furrowed as he listens intently. "I'm not sure when it exactly happened, but at some point, I looked at him and realized we've always been a bit inevitable, James. And that, along with everything else – who he is, the things he does, how he makes me feel even on my worst days – that's how I know this is what I want, and that it's so bloody right I wouldn't survive without it. Without him."

James doesn't say anything for so long that Sirius begins to fidget restlessly where he rests. His friend's expression is unreadable, such a rarity for Sirius that it increases the discomfort inside him even as he remains stoic on the outside. And then James' face is crumbling a little, cracks forming and then shattering as emotion surges out of him, a happy melancholy overtaking him.

"I'm gonna miss you," he whispers thickly, throat clogged, and Sirius crumbles with him.

He nods once, then again, the motion of his head and neck a jerking thing, a spasm racing through his body. His breathing shudders in his chest as he tries to fight against himself, but it's no use and Sirius knows it's pointless. He rolls onto his side, towards James, his friend meeting him halfway as they envelope one another in familiar arms, burying themselves into shoulders and each other the same as they have since they were kids and didn't know enough to care how it looked, not caring even once they did.

"Me too," chokes out Sirius into James' neck, and James laughs, a strangled sound as it leaves him, his grip around Sirius' back tightening. "Me too, Prongs."

#at the healing edge of broken #sirius black #james potter #sirius black and james potter #bros through the woes #please no one kick me off tumblr for that tag #outtake #anon asks #ask #answer #lovely anons #post in the toast #my writing #holli writes

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Further update in the running thread of “I Like Vinay Joshi, the Radio X producer, even though early on the frequent interference from radio producers annoyed me, and I realized it was because fundamentally they were trying to mould the comedy chat into a radio show and I just want it to be a comedy show, but since Vin took over I’ve found it less annoying, I mean obviously he’s still moulding things into proper radio because that’s his job, but he also tends to be slower to shut down the comedy riffs and lets it unfold a bit more naturally, plus his own interjections tend to be a lot funnier than ones from other people, and every once in a while he’ll make a comedy reference that makes me think the reason it works so well with him is he is also inclined toward comedy and can see where they’re going with something more easily” – I have a further update in that running thread: He just made a reference to Simon Amstell’s stand-up that went over even John’s head, even though John Robins has mentioned several times being a fan of the sitcom Grandma’s House, so you’d think he’d know that. Also, I wouldn’t have had to actually hear John Robins say he really likes the sitcom Grandma’s House, I could have just assumed that based on everything else about John Robins. But in the episode I'm listening to now, John did not pick up on Vin's fairly subtle dig at Amstell’s penchant for confusing drugs-based stand-up stories, a reference that I appreciated because despite also being a fan of Grandma’s House and most of Amstell’s stand-up, I also find the drug stories annoying.

Anyway, I’m down to thirty episodes left in the Radio X years. I think I’ll get to episode 240, then do the audiobook, then do episodes 241-264, which will be all that’s left. Though the number 264 is misleading because there have been so many bonus episodes, I think there are about 320 episodes in the XFM/Radio X years in total.

And then I guess there will be the BBC years, which is relevant to this post because there will be no more Producer Vin. I have also seen those years described as having “the edges smoothed out”, I’m not sure how that’ll work given that them on Radio X already is comedy with the edges smoothed out, given Ofcom rules. I mean it’s fine, I don’t actually need to hear a comedian say the word “cunt” to be funny, and it frequently is funny to hear them come up with creative alternatives to swear words in the moment. And as some of John’s stand-up has shown, it’s possible that there might be a nice balance somewhere between “not allowed to actually say the word ‘sex’ so they have to imply it in the vaguest possible sense and skirt way around the issue if they want to talk about it, usually best to just avoid any story that references sex entirely”, and “telling me in graphic detail about your bodily fluids being inside a specific other person whose name I know and whose face I see on TV”. The amount of edginess I like lies somewhere between those two things. But I definitely don’t listen to them on Radio X and think I wish this could have its edges smoothed out.

And I don't understand the format of the BBC episodes. It seems like they put out highlights of one radio show, and then do a separate episode with outtakes? I think. I don't like that as much. I know the Radio X episodes have been chopped up into highlights from the full radio show (which I already don't like, I liked having those episodes of the Howard/Richardson show that are the entire thing with only news and songs removed), but at least I think they're in chronological order and basically follow what happened in the show. I don't want to hear random other bits totally out of context. Which I think might be entirely whatever they're doing now, but that's 300 episodes away so I don't need to figure that out yet.

Also, here’s a thing that I think will probably be fine but I don’t really want it to come up – I broadly agree with John Robins on most political things that I’ve heard him mention, they’re supposed to avoid giving too clear political opinions on the radio show so it’s not like I know all the details, but obviously political issues affect everything so sometimes it comes out. I admire his genuine love of the tax system, for one thing. I like how difficult he found it to adhere to the “no explicitly stating your political views” when he was furious the day after the Brexit vote. There are some instances when he’ll say something and I’ll think I disagree with the specifics of that point, but it’s always about specifics, not a difference in broad value issues. Which is fine with me, because contrary to what people say about leftists, I can like people just fine if we don’t agree on every single point of every single issue. As long as I think they’re basically on side with the broad value things like whether poor people deserve to live and racism and misogyny are bad (it’s just that that shockingly low bar is too high for a shocking number of people). And he seems basically fine.

Except on one thing, which I try to ignore every time be brings it up, which is how much he admire police. And I know it’s not like he’s thinking “I hate racialized and mentally ill people and I’m glad cops hurt them.” It’s related to his overall weirdly rigid obsession with following rules to the letter. And every once in a while, while going on about how great cops are, he will throw in a caveat of “And of course sometimes they get it wrong or there are corrupt ones and of course we should get rid of those.” But mostly I just try to ignore it when he talks about that. And given this, I’m not sure I want to hear what John Robins has to say during the summer of 2020, when the widespread horrifying issues with policing were all over international news to the point where it would be hard not to mention them. I’m just not totally sure if I want to hear what John Robins had to say during that, because my mental health is being held together by too few threads for me to risk losing my ability to enjoy listening to John Robins.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get one episode into the BBC 5 Live era and say “actually this is exactly the same as before and it’s fine”. Which brings me to my next point, which is that apparently the RSS feed is deleting old ones! I swear I opened their BBC show on my podcast app just a couple of weeks ago, to make sure it was all there, and it went back to episode 1. Now I’ve gone back to look again, and they start at episode 24. I got on my laptop and went to the websites I normally use for downloading like Podbean, and it was the same everywhere. It’s not some issue with my mobile app, the whole feed’s cut the first 23 episodes.

Luckily I found that they’re all still available on the BBC Sounds website, so I immediately downloaded the first 23. That took too long, because I’m not as good as I’d like to be with this sort of thing, so I manually downloaded each one with Jdownloader, then converted them from mp4 to mp3 in a different program (I’m almost sure there’s a way to get Jdownloader to just download audio only, but I’ve never bothered to work it out), then had to name them all with the dates and episode numbers and titles. I’m now worried that they’re going to delete more old episodes, so I’d really like to just download all of the BBC episodes, and for that matter wouldn’t mind doing the XFM/Radio X episodes, because this weekend has reminded me that sometimes things disappear from RSS feeds, and also I just wouldn’t mind having all those as mp3s, will make it easier to cut out clips and stuff.

So I’ve spent several hours today trying to learn how to use the various programs that allow you to automate downloading a whole podcast, but my understanding of tech things is, I think, about 1.5 levels too low to be able to actually do it. I’m pretty good at data hoarding but as soon as I have to start messing around in the Command Prompt I get confused. It would take forever to do it all manually though, so I’ll see if I can figure it out. In the meantime – and now I finally come to the actual purpose of this post – if anyone knows how to do that, or just has mp3s of John Robins + Elis James podcasts, please let me know.

This post started out complaining about annoying Simon Amstell routines and has come a long way around since then. I've let this radio show consume my entire daily routine and I don't like change. But it will be fine.

[musiconanironingboard]

6 January 2024: Shore, Fleet Foxes. (Anti-, 2020)

This purchase (and the one in the post after it) is shown out of strict chronological order because I forgot about it, probably because I don't consider them real purchases. This is a bit unfair, so let me explain.

In the Aughts, I still gave a toss about checking out new buzz bands. That ship has long since sailed, but nonetheless I discovered Seattle-based folk-rock group Fleet Foxes the year their self-titled debut LP and Sun Giant EP were released, and at the time I was transfixed by these records. I couldn't stand the precious circles of adoration that seemed to spring up around the band, but I thought these two records were very, very good, and when the follow-up Helplessness Blues arrived in 2011 I eagerly purchased that. It was good, too, but to invert Groucho Marx's quip about not wanting to belong to a club that would have him as a member, I didn't want to belong to a fanbase that liked bands I liked. This may sound preposterously pretentious, and perhaps it is, but with very specific exceptions I prefer my music obsessiveness to function in solitude. The accuracy of my thoughts on this are inscrutable, perhaps, even with an example, but I'll give one: in 2012 I was in a record store in New Orleans, and I noticed a ton of rare darkwave/goth albums on the wall, not necessarily my scene either, but cool, and I mentioned them to the clerk, who I took to be the owner. He said oh no, I'm not into that stuff, I'm more of a Fleet Foxes/Shins guy. That encapsulates it right there: for some of the fanbase of indie music it is nothing more than fashion. Are there parallels between Fleet Foxes and The Shins, other than they both recorded for a time on the Sub Pop label? Sure, but you have to stretch a bit to arrive there, and if a guy who was at least my age (I was 40 in 2012) is calling himself a "Fleet Foxes/Shins guy," what did he call himself six years prior before those bands existed? Maybe he was just using watchwords he thought a random tourist would understand, but that again proves my point. Here I go again being pretentious: I sank into those first two Fleet Foxes records deeply, and I think a lot of people just took them as the flavor of the day. Did Fleet Foxes ever appear on Good Morning America? Sure seems they must have. (I recently had occasion to look at my music logs for 2007; the list of bands I played that year contains way too many I never want to hear again in my life: the aforementioned Shins, Modest Mouse, The National, Spoon...Fleet Foxes do not fill me with the kind of disdain those names do, but the walk is not far.)

Okay, now that I'm done trashing the band's fanbase and, by extension, the band itself, I'll move on. Why am I buying four-year-old Fleet Foxes albums now? I guess it originates with my writing of a Top 125 Best Albums of the 2000s blog (I finished the list, but never got past writing the first 80 entries before I started to decide that kind of music writing was bullshit; you can see it at noyoucmon.com). Both Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant made that list (#95 and #82, respectively), and as part of writing those entries I scrabbled somewhere online into shady download territory, a place I've practically never gone, to find the band's self-released debut EP from 2006, the kind of thing they sold at merch tables but never released widely. Flash forward to 2018, and Sub Pop releases a Fleet Foxes CD box called First Collection 2006-2009, which contains the band's two official Sub Pop releases, a 23-minute disc of outtakes/B-sides, and the first wide release of that self-released debut EP. I'm surprised I even still cared in 2018, but I saw this box as a key opportunity to get a real copy of that EP and that year at Christmas, Santa dressed as my brother brought it to me. It took me four years to get to it, but in 2023 I spent extensive time with that box. That's how I've learned recently that I still greatly respect those first two Fleet Foxes records on Sub Pop, and after examining that box I carried on and re-examined the next two Fleet Foxes releases, Helplessness Blues (2011; also on Sub Pop but not in that box, sadly) and Crack-Up (Nonesuch, 2017). Helplessness Blues holds up very well and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting it. My feelings on Crack-Up were the same as when it came out, and these were the feelings that led me to dump the band from my cares: I find the album impossible to parse, 55 minutes of meandering moaning and I can't tell when one song ends and another begins. Trying to even read the track list just baffles me more, with song titles like "I Am All That I Need/Arroyo Seco/Thumbprint Scar" and "–Naiads, Cassadies." I'd hoped I'd grown and the mysteries of Crack-Up would reveal themselves to me this time, but no. So why not just leave well enough alone? Why insist on carrying on with a band I obviously have trouble with? Can't I act like the rest of the world and just remember their first three albums fondly? Must everything be punishment? (The answer to that last one is yes.)

I vaguely remembered another album coming out after Crack-Up. I looked it up and it was appealing to me for the same reasons Crack-Up initially looked appealing. I really liked the artwork. It looked classy and like the kind of artwork you might see on a masterpiece. Sure, I thought Crack-Up was a mess, but maybe Shore wasn't! This wasn't a strong enough argument to get me to buy it. Then I found out there was another Fleet Foxes album after Shore. This other one I'd never heard of, A Very Lonely Solstice, was just bandleader Robin Pecknold playing solo live acoustic in a church sometime during the dark days of COVID. This intrigued me. When I saw the tracklist and that the album included things from Helplessness Blues, well, I just had to find out what that was like. But I can't just skip an album; if I want to have A Very Lonely Solstice I have to go through Shore to get it. (And if it's not plain already, I deal in physical product. I refuse to even acknowledge that I could have streamed the Solstice record and avoided all this malarkey.)

So, here I am with Shore. Yes, I think it looks classy. I'd have loved to see that artwork on big old vinyl to match my other Fleet Foxes records, but space is at a premium and I've taken to "demoting" bands to CD when the circumstances are questionable. (Demoting isn't the right term—I love CDs—think of it as a demotion in size, not in worthiness of the format.) I've heard Shore once and it's no Helplessness Blues; it's got some of the same issues I didn't like about Crack-Up, but it's also got some songs that stood out boldly rather than melting into an hour-long miasma of moaning, and I think the more I hear it the more I will like it. I'm a little queasy that I've gone all-in on Fleet Foxes in the year 2024, but then again at least I didn't buy this on vinyl with its, no doubt, half-inch thick spine and weighing two pounds. I can just hide the CD in a closet and forget this whole affair if I need to.

Above we see the front and back covers of Shore. Of course this package is so unwieldy and its cardboard so thick and stiff that to get the disc and booklet out you have to wrestle for 90 seconds.

Below is the opened gatefold.

Next up we see the front of the booklet.

Here we see one side of the all-black sleeve containing the CD.

Last, here is the disc itself.

[mysmestranscripts]

ZEN After End

[Background: Jumin’s penthouse]

[Music: None]

Jumin: Bangladesh, Philipines... Not there.

Jumin: All the countries that are left... are small islands.

Jaehee: Where in the world do you think V is?

Jaehee: If you couldn't find him with all your connections, I think we should stop searching.

[Music: Mystic Chat]

TV: A! Celebrity News has the scoop. Echo Girl has been cast as the lead in the new period series "Moon and Stars". We've got the scoop at the scene.

Echo Girl: I have to thank the CEO of my management company for giving me such a good role. I just wanted to prove that young singers like me know how to act with this role.

Echo Girl: Famous singers like me have to pave a new path for the industry to improve you know.

Jaehee: You've had that TV for a long time.

Jumin: Nothing bad will come out of saving. I only watch it about twice a year. I don't feel the need to upgrade.

TV: The soundtrack album has been doing well at the charts too. An interesting fact about this new series! The rising star Zen has also been cast!

TV: Zen was involved in a sexual harassment scandal with Echo Girl two years ago, but his sincere press conference put him under a positive spotlight.

TV: We, here at A! News, gathered up our courage to request an interview with Echo Girl concerning this incident.

Echo Girl: What? Why are you asking me that? It's way in the past now and the misunderstanding was resolved. I hope to meet him in the professional world soon. No more comment.

Jaehee: That scandal is now an embarrassment in her career. Weren't you quite mischievous to cast them in the same series?

Jumin: I didn't give that order. If I had, Zen would be the lead and she'd have a supporting role.

Zen: Oh~ Is that what Kyungju said..? I-I mean, Echo Girl. Anyways, I just like to think that she was young and emotional back then and made a mistake. Anyways, the past isn't important for our acting.

Zen: Mr. Producer, please cut out that part about me calling her Kyungju. She hates it when people say her real name. I mean, I think the name's fine! Hahaha.

Jaehee: Her real name wasn't edited out I see.

[Music stops]

Jumin: That, I ordered.

Jaehee: ...

[Background: Black screen]

Staff: Take five everyone!

Echo Girl: The outtakes are all because of everyone else! Manager! Bring me some water!

Echo Girl: It's so hot here.

[Background: Zen After End 1]

[Music: Narcissistic Jazz]

Zen: I'm sorry I had to make you wait, sweetie!

Zen: …You waited long, right? Kyungju kept making mistakes so we couldn't get a good take.

Zen: I'm sure it must be hard following me around location shoots. Isn't it hard being on set? You can rest at the hotel… I mean, of course it really helps me that you're here.

Zen: Yeah! I love it! I'm so happy to see you watching me. I want you to be my manager forever.

Zen: I get to see you at home and at work… I can never get sick of my cutie pie's face…

Zen: But… why are you wearing such a low-cut top? What if the other crew members see you? We have a lot of young guys here.

Zen: It's okay when you're with me… but it bothers me. What if one of those guys stares at you while I'm focusing on my scene? You're mine…!

Zen: Ugh, alright… I won’t be so sensitive outside. But… let me make sure when we get home, that you’re mine.

Zen: Of course I’m yours. Thinking about possessing each other, it reminds me of the show I did before. Remember “Emperor’s Game”? The line went like this.

[Music: Lonely but Passionate Way]

Zen: From now on to the end of my life, you are mine and I am yours. While the sun rises from the East and sets in the West, you are my sun, my moon, and my stars.

Zen: Saying it in front of you really makes me feel it, MC…

Zen: I’m so grateful that we can be together like this. Don’t start blushing. You are always a blessing and my source of happiness… I want you to be proud of that.

Zen: Every morning when I see you asleep in bed, I tell myself that I will love you and always be true to you. Isn’t that pretty amazing?

Zen: No, what? I'm not practicing my lines.

Zen: I mean all of that. MC... When I see you fall asleep beside me every night... I think about our past, present and future...

Zen: Because we are each other's mirrors and our paths.

Zen: …I'm making you cringe? Sweetie, I guess you don't know what's really cringeworthy. I don't want to stop expressing my love. Look into my eyes.

Zen: MC, you are my life and my traces. Sometimes, we fight over small things, but our hearts are connected, so I'll start to understand everything you went through in your life when I wasn't there.

Zen: Because now, basically you are my life.

Zen: You are my sun, my moon, and my stars… No matter how far apart we are, we'll always think of each other…

Zen: Hahaha… Good job listening to all this, cutie.

[Background: Zen After End 2]

Zen: Even when the sun rises from the West and sets in the East, my heart will never change. My MC, I love you forever.

#Zen Route #Zen After End #Zen #Hyun Ryu #After Ends #Casual Story #Original Story

[blxckdragonfly]

nothing good happens after 2am (Darkness Finds You Outtake)

(Song: “nothing good happens after 2am” by Mothica.

Warnings: Self-sabotage. Self-harm. 

Pairing: Malakai Black & Lyra Crowe Büdgen (Lilith Czar- played by Mothica) 

Synopsis: After having a horrible episode of self-sabotage, Lyra gets the inspiration to write another song for the deluxe version of her album. 

A/N: I’m also going to intertwine some of my own personal experience on this with self harming, because I was there way back in 2017-2018 and have struggled with blades since my early teen years, and now currently in remission. So, please read with caution. -Tiger

Playlist:

Word Count: 1,475-- cowritten with @blackrose-92​)

Lyra and MB’s House: Tampa, Florida– September 22nd, 2022.

2am. The hour before the witching. I lay on my side of our bed, glancing at the clock on my nightstand, I look over to see that Malakai’s asleep, out like a light. I turn onto my back and I let out a soft breath. I hate this time of the night, because it always drains me even more than I already have been.

Stay busy, don't think too much

Don't speak up, play it safe

Don't bother to ask for help

You'll ruin someone's day

Be pretty, pretty mean to yourself

Keep running 'til you're weak

This is what I tell myself all night….

I don’t deserve any of this. This, being married to someone. A healthy relationship, a home and a family life. These seven cats (children) that rely on me. I’m afraid that this is too good to be true, now that my ex is longer tormenting us– a heaviness weighs on my chest because I know that something is going to tear us apart.

I dig my long yet painted black nails of my right hand into my left and I start trailing them down, not caring if it draws blood or not. I only do it when I’m on tour with my band or when Malakai’s doing a show and I’m not needed, which is rare.

I try to keep it a secret and hide away my tendency so that he doesn’t see, or I use makeup– like foundation to cover up the majority of the scars that line my body.

Drip. Drip. I glance down at my hand and I see the blood dripping onto the bed sheets and I start to panic. I reach for whatever I can find, paper towels, napkins, anything that I can to soak the blood up.

Nothin' good happens after 2am

So I stay in bed

Replaying in my head

I'm clawing at my skin, and I'm so terrified

That I'll waste my life

In fear, in fear

See? This is why you don’t deserve any of this, Lyra. And you know it. A voice hisses in my head, loudly. I get out of bed, quietly and wash the blood off of my hand. I sigh as I apply pressure to the cut to get the bleeding to stop, hating myself more. I keep my head down, avoiding the mirror and the reflection as I do so because I’m afraid to look myself in the eye.

I hear a couple of knocks at the door and my panic heightens, I toss away the bloody tissue and I place a bandage on the cut on my hand.

“Lyra?” I hear Malakai’s voice outside of the door. “Lyra. It’s 2am, what’s going on?”

“I’ll be out in a second, babe.” I softly say as I shake my head.

If only you knew. If only….

I open the door and I see him standing in front of it, his facial expression tired but also laced with worry.

“What’s wrong, Lyra?” Malakai says and I walk past him to our bed.

Play it off. Make him believe everything’s okay. I thought as I shrug, meeting his eyes.

“Nothing. Just a nightmare.” I tell him as I sit on the bed. I watch as he narrows his eyes and he sits right next to me.

I'm good but not good enough for twenty-six years old

I don't know what I want, so I keep chasing gold

Lying at therapy so they're not scared of me

I'm getting scared of me, I know

“If you were having a nightmare, why didn’t you wake me?” He asks, realizing what I said was an instant lie and that he had caught it. I hate that he’s that observant sometimes.

“I…” I try to speak but the words catch in my throat. I can’t. I already feel guilty when I’m away on tour, when we’re away from each other and these episodes happen. I have to tell him at some point. I look away from his eyes but I feel his fingers lift my chin up, our eyes meeting once more.

“Lyra.” His voice softens. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

I hate this. I hate that I kept this from him for so long. I take a deep breath, letting the air fill my lungs before I exhale through my nose.

“You’re right. It wasn’t a nightmare,” I say. “When you and I are apart from each other, whether it’s me going on tour or you doing a show without me– this cycle always happens. At 2am, I go through the worst self-sabotage that I start harming myself, sometimes I dig my nails so deep into my own skin that I draw blood. I start doubting myself. I start doubting us and our relationship. I hate it because I feel like it never ends.”

I see a look of shock cross him as I blink away tears that threaten to escape. I look away from him again, and they fall slowly down my cheeks– tears of pure shame. It feels like an eternity has passed before I feel his hands rest against both of my cheeks.

Nothin' good happens after 2am

So I stay in bed

Replaying in my head

I'm clawing at my skin, and I'm so terrified

That I'll waste my life

In fear, in fear

“Lyra,” His thumb wipes away my tears. “I may not be happy knowing that you’ve been hurting yourself when you’re on tour, but I’m glad that you’re brave enough to tell me. I don’t ever want you to have doubts about us, because you know that we’ve been through almost everything together. We’re still here and very much in love with each other, and it doesn’t make me love you any less for it.”

“I’m sorry….” His thumb rests against my lips, silencing me for the moment.

“Don’t apologize,” He murmurs, brushing back strands of my crimson hair behind my ear. "I understand. How long has this been going on for?”

“Ever since Created From Filth and Dust came out.” I say. “2021. Give or take.”

His eyes widened after I said that. That indeed, I’d been holding this back for a year. The silence creeps on and I feel it dragging like claws around me because I want him to say something.

“I-I didn’t want you to be mad at me if I told you,” I sniff as more tears fall. “Are you mad at me?”

His eyes soften and I feel his hand take my tattooed one, running his thumb across my death’s head moth tattoo, tracing it gently.

'Cause I hate what I see when I'm looking at me

I don't wanna exist, I don't wanna be seen

I'm fading, so jaded

By the weight of the words

I've been telling myself

Maybe I should just turn into somebody else

Erase me, replace me

“I’m not mad at you, Lyra. I’ll never be mad at you,” He takes our intertwined hands and kisses the back of my hand, his fingers caressing my knuckles. “I wish that I’d known sooner because I could've helped you find a better way instead of knowing you turned to harm.”

I let out a sigh and wrap my arms around his waist. I rest my head against his side, burying my face into his skin. Letting this embrace be enough to tell him that I’m sorry for keeping it hidden away from him for so long but also with a sense of relief now that I could say something to him.

“You already are helping me, Shadow,” I murmured. “Just by being the best husband I could ever ask for. I have to remember that, that we have each other and that will always conquer any doubt that I’ll ever feel. I love you.”

“I love you too,” He whispers with a soft smile, pulling me into his arms as we sink back into the sheets of our bed, together, my head resting on his chest. He places a loving kiss onto my lips, hand rubbing the center of my back. “Sleep well, my Little Crow. I’ll be right here if you wake up again.”

I nod and I close my eyes, letting the smell of him overtake my senses as well as the feel of his warm arms around me– sleep finally taking its hold after he places another kiss on my forehead and the voices fade away for another night.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh, oh

#darkness finds you #malakai black x lyra crowe #malakai black fanfic

[mcrmadness]

orchid & papyrus? 👀

Thanks! :D

orchid ⇢ what’s a song you consider to be perfect?

Ow... almost anything from die ärzte? :DDD This is actually a really difficult question because I don't know anything about playing or making music (apart from when I was 8 and had a random hyperfixation and taught myself to play piano), so I can only say what I hear and if it makes my brain itch in a positive way. And I don't know if an actually perfect song even exists, sometimes my fave songs don't make me feel anything and sometimes a song I never really noticed before, suddenly jumps up and is the best song I've ever heard. But I think I have two answers for this:

Bang Bang by die ärzte. It's just a demo and an instrumental song, and it came with Seitenhirsch and later Outtakes, but I absolutely love instrumental songs and I've never been left speechless like this after hearing a song. I normally have to do things with my eyes and hands when I listen to something, but when I heard this song for the first time, I FROZE. I actually was not able to do anything but sit here looking like o.o and staring at my computer screen because wtf is this song, why is it such a......... banger. BADUMTSSS no but really, it's so good.

Karten by FURT. At least I think this is the song I'm thinking about, but again, I might love instrumental songs, but I absolutely adore instrumental solos. And this song has one of the best instrumental solos I've ever heard, plus it's one of my favorite FURT songs in general, and I even understand and like the lyrics and can relate to them to some extent.

Now it annoys me that I don't remember if this is actually the song I'm thinking of, it's either this or other FURT song that doesn't have the typical song structure with the parts but changes completely towards the end. The dä's song "No Secrets" also does this! To answer the question in a more general way: a song is perfect for me when it is something I have never heard before, and when it is not cliché. That actually applies to everything I like cos I hate repetition and seeing and hearing and reading the same stuff over and over again, I need new and different things to keep ym ADHD brain entertained. That's definitely why dä is my fave band because they always do this with their music, every song is unique, every album has a sound to it no other album of theirs has had before. I'm unable to compare their albums to each other because they are so different and I love that about their music.

Ok this turned into dä hype apparently, but I can't name just one song, I can only give examples of which songs make my brain go brrrr.

---

papyrus ⇢ if you put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle, what’s the first song that comes up? what do you like about it / associate it with?

I don't have a such playlist actually. I use Spotify only whe I don't have the files, and when Youtube music is filled with low/varying quality music videos which gets on my nerves when I just want to hear music and not focus on the volume button and awful quality all the time. And my Spotify does not reflect my music taste AT ALL. I also don't like listening to songs on repeat unless it's the only song that was released, which pisses the heck out of me because I hate repetition. I want a full album of songs, not one song on repeat!

I checked my Spotify and what I assume is an "on repeat" playlist. My Spotify is in Finnish so I'm not 100% if that's the same one, but I got one Emigrate song there. But tbh I think every song I've ever listened on Spotify if there because there are like 4 artists in general. I don't remember what this song is, it's called "I will let you go" but I don't recall it. I quickly checked it out and I think it's one of those to-skip songs for me.

Random get-to-know-me ask game.

#theydoctor #ask games

[f1]

Sainz looking to return to 'Consistent Carlos' in 2023 but says Ferrari will need to be 'perfect' to compete for championship

Carlos Sainz has set his sights on returning to his consistent best in 2023 as the Spaniard aims to put a “challenging” 2022 season behind him – although he admits he and Ferrari will need to be “perfect” to compete for both titles this year. For a large part of the 2022 campaign, Sainz struggled to match the pace of his team mate Charles Leclerc, as he was outqualified by the Monegasque on 15 occasions – including in the first eight races of the year – while also losing out 12 times on Sunday to the five-time race winner. ANALYSIS: The good, the bad and the future – What's next for Charles Leclerc after his 2022 title defeat? While Sainz finished ahead of Leclerc in his first season with Ferrari in 2021, he ended up 62 points behind his team mate in 2022. But now that he feels "up to speed" with the new generation of cars, the Spaniard has set his sights on returning to his form of two years ago. “Yeah, it's been a challenging [year], as you guys have seen from the outside,” said Sainz when asked about his 2022 season. “There was a challenging first third of the season where I struggled a bit with the car balance, with the driving style, a car that for some reason didn't suit me straight out of the box, and I had to fight through it quite a lot. Sainz struggled to match the pace of Leclerc in 2022, especially in the early parts of the season “And the second two-thirds, I have been a lot happier with the car. I've been a lot more on the pace, but unfortunately, a lot of DNFs, a lot of reliability issues along the way. “On top of that, it looks like Mercedes and Red Bull did have a better second half of the season. And it means that even though I'm up to speed with a car and I'm driving well, and I had a solid weekend, for example, in Mexico, the maximum I could get was a P5." READ MORE: Ferrari announce launch date for 2023 challenger He continued: “So, a bit unfortunate in that regard. But I've learned a lot. I'm proud of the progress I've done inside the car, with my engineers, the way that we managed to turn my pace around. And yeah, I'll make sure next year we are back to being the consistent Carlos of 2021 and get good results.” This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences 2022: Bloopers and Outtakes When asked whether he and Ferrari can launch a championship challenge against Max Verstappen and Red Bull in 2023, Sainz added that both he and his team would need to be “perfect” for that to happen after conceding their rivals were simply “faster” in 2022. READ MORE: Giovinazzi to race for Ferrari in World Endurance Championship alongside F1 reserve duties in 2023 “Clearly [last] year, it wasn't [possible], because I'm very far from [Max Verstappen] in the championship. And the way that he has performed in combination with Red Bull, they've been just the faster package: the quicker car; the quicker driver,” admitted Sainz. “I do feel like with a perfect year, it should be possible, but we will need to be perfect next year and we will need to improve the car. I will need to improve, especially in the first half of the season and in the races. So, that is the target and you need to put high targets to yourself, and onto the team like this. You can try and accomplish them. And then let's see what life brings [this] year.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #Sainz looking to return to 'Consistent Carlos' in 2023 – but says Ferrari will need to be 'perfect' to compete for championship #Formula 1

[butdriampagliacci]

hi omg i really love "wildfire"!!! i'm so curious about the behind-the-scenes process behind it. what media inspired you to write it? what's the revision process like and how long does it usually take? what part did u find the most difficult to write? when did you start writing the outline + first draft? are you the type to finish a rough draft of an entire long fic before revising or do you take it chapter by chapter? i have so many questions pls infodump as much as u want about the behind the scenes of the fic i'm so hooked on the story i've been sharing it to all of my mutuals. thank you again for creating it <3

OMG first of all, thank you! I love talking about writing, so infodump I shall!

As far as inspiration goes, I love mysteries and detective stories in general. Some that stand out to me as influencing wildfire are the manga FAKE by Sanami Matoh and Beyond Evil, a kdrama that I highly recommend. Lots of twists and turns in that one. (And of course I like Knives Out and Glass Onion haha, there's a little bit of that too with how Diluc is helping Lumine.) I also have a playlist I made for the fic. If y'all ever want to see that, let me know~

I started writing the fic in September after rotating the idea in my brain for about a year. Initially I wasn't planning on posting it, since people can get pretty heated about kaeluc so it was just for my own amusement. But after talking to friends about it and realizing how much I was enjoying myself, I figured I should go ahead and make an AO3 account and publish it. Seeing other people enjoying it too makes me so happy it's unreal!

Re: the process--I tend to go chapter by chapter, usually with a bit of a buffer. In other words, I try to stay ahead of the most recent chapter, so if chapter 4 is ready to be posted, I'm already working on chapter 5 and so on. I actually started out with a substantial buffer and had about 5 chapters written before I posted the first one. I've got a document called "Misc" where I write scenes out of order or further along in the story to place later. Also, this is going to sound insane, but I don't really outline--at least not strictly. I have a document called "plot notes" to remind myself of certain important clues, the timeline, anything that I came up with while brainstorming. I know what's going to happen in the broad sense (like the solution to the mystery, I know where Aether is haha) but I like to give myself a little freedom to make creative decisions as I work. Sometimes I'll plan for something to happen, but then it doesn't really fit. For example, I had the flashback where Kaeya and Diluc almost kissed as teenagers completed for a while, but had trouble deciding which chapter it should go.

I'm often editing as I go. If I'm writing and the scene feels wrong or the dialogue is off, I'll cut and paste it into my "outtakes and deleted scenes" doc so I can still keep what I like or change my mind later. I re-read the previous chapter to try and keep things consistent and make sure to read my draft before I post to catch whatever I can. (I don't have a beta so any typos or other mistakes are on me TvT) The most difficult parts to write are anything involving actual procedure lmao I do my best to make it seem believable, but I take about as much artistic license as a detective show would. I prefer amateur/gentleman detective stories to police procedurals so that's the vibe I'm going for (despite Kaeya having access to actual law enforcement resources). That, and action scenes aksjdfosdjfoj If you can't already tell, I'm a dialogue/character writer.

As far as how long it takes to write and revise, I can usually finish a 3-4k chapter in roughly a week. That's thanks to my severe brainworms hahahaha I'm lucky to have a lot of free time right now and a slow paced job :> Although I know how the fic will end and the major twists, I'm not sure how long it will take to get there, but we've already crossed the 50k mark, so there's going to be plenty more content haha

Anyway, I've probably talked enough for now but I'm always down to chat fic and writing haha Thank you again for reading and sharing the story! I appreciate it so much~

#answered

[sarahjsims]

#ts4 #sims 4 #simblr #ts4 gameplay #me?? #pOSTING???? #ridiculous #these are just some outtakes for what i'm doing now let's see if i can actually be consistent