Tumgik
#30 days tv show challenge
luchicm04 · 7 days
Text
day 27 - that breaks your heart
Tumblr media
8 notes · View notes
anondreamer117 · 2 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Day 23 of my drawing challenge!
6 notes · View notes
leavingubehind · 2 months
Text
F.R.I.E.N.D.S 30-Day Challenge
1. Favorite Female Character 2. Favorite Male Character 3. Favorite Season 4. Favorite Phoebe Song 5. Favorite Friendship 6. Favorite Romantic Pairing 7. Favorite Holiday Episode 8. Favorite Thanksgiving Episode 9. Your Favorite Guest Star 10. Favorite character who isn’t part of the main cast 11. A Scene that made you happy 12. A scene that made you sad 13. Favorite FRIENDS Gathering - All of main cast in one place 14. Your Favorite Chandler Moments/Quotes 15. Your Favorite Joey Moments/Quotes 16. Your Favorite Monica Moments/Quotes 17. Your Favorite Phoebe Moments/Quotes 18. Your Favorite Rachel Moments/Quotes 19. Your Favorite Ross Moments/Quotes 20. Favorite Season 1 Episode 21. Favorite Season 2 Episode 22.Favorite Season 3 Episode 23. Favorite Season 4 Episode 24. Favorite Season 5 Episode 25. Favorite Season 6 Episode 26. Favorite Season 7 Episode 27. Favorite Season 8 Episode 28. Favorite Season 9 Episode 29. Favorite Season 10 Episode 30. Overall Favorite Episode
1 note · View note
sofullofloveicould · 1 year
Text
march writing challenge 2023 - day 10
a song from a movie/tv show
I run until my legs burn and my stomach aches, and then I run further than that, round and round blocks, until I can smell beach-salt and the soles of my feet ache so badly that I think my shoes must have worn through on the road behind me.
(They haven’t. I check, later, and they are still perfectly intact.) 
I see other runners, groups of hot yoga moms cluchitng huge water bottles and matching exercise sets, a few lanky guys with no shirt on despite the chill. I wonder what I look like to them. 
They all nod, and one of the guys even squeaks out a breathy hello, but it’s an odd feeling, watching the red on each-other’s faces. 
“What do you run for?” I’ll ask one, eventually. They’ll be suprised, not expecting it, but I think they’d stop. “Do you run for god, for the earth, for every breath? Do you run to hold on or to let go?” 
As I pass, I imagine what they’d say. But you can never know. A small group slinks past me, three girls and two boys, maybe 15 at the oldest, and one lags behind. 
“Guys! Wait up!” She calls.  
“You have to realize that the actual running part isn't the hard part,” I’d tell her. “The hard part is that when you run, you stop thinking.”
That’s what my mother used to tell me, running loops around town, breathing the deep, pine-fresh air. 
But all I do is think, chasing my brain down the sidewalk. She runs ever-faster, taunting me, and all I wish is to smash her into the pavement, tare apart the cards God handed me. I’d spit in his face if I could, say that I was faster than his creation, that I was faster than he had made me, and I’d chase him around the suburbs, across the beach, but I’d loose him at the ocean.
I could try and try, but I’d never catch up, my fingers always just grazing euphoria. 
I could run so far that I become a blot on the horizon, so small and so far that even to myself I’m so insignificant that I cease to exist. 
My headphones rattle against my thighs, and music still streams from them, but I’m untethered. I hear the pounding of my feet, the heady scent of chill, my breathing rough and laboured. 
I could run so far, 
I could run 
I could run away, and join the stars. My soul would runs circuits in my middle school gym, around and around and around, and if I joined her, I would never catch her. 
But I would get so close I could smell the meaty scent of brain-flesh, hear my thoughts as if projected through a megaphone. 
I could never stop running. I could run so far I become that blot, and then I could chase her. 
I could never stop running, run until my soles wear through and my blisters break open and i could catch her, that blot chasing her brain, and I would dash them both on the sidewalk, leave them there for sweaty gym bros to step on. 
I could keep running, running, running, and I could run all the way to the water, but I’d have to stop there.
(and god would laugh from the seabed, taunting me. Run, run, run. He’d say.)
1 note · View note
olivianyx · 29 days
Text
GET YOUR DREAM LIFE: A CHALLENGE
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Welcome to this challenge, babygirls and babyboys 🗣️🗣️🗣️
So are you ready to manifest everything you desired in April? Then start up rn!
I'll show you 5 important, simple steps you can use to manifest your dream life!
This challenge will be done for 30 days throughout April. At the end of this month, the results are guaranteed!
You might be wondering if its gonna be hard... Buuuut! The steps are super duper simple, just follow them!
THE STEPS:
🤍 MENTAL DIET 🤍
Y'all heard it right, maintain a strict mental diet, like literally stop wavering! Stop focusing on things you don't want! Don't accept things you don't want! It's that simple. Only focus on positive and favourable thoughts.
Your mornings should go like, 'uhh it's such a beautiful day. It's gonna be amazing day as always. But it's gonna be fun today! I literally love this life, it's freaking amazing, I literally don't know how to thank myself for this. The fact that I'm the ultimate creator is soo mind blowing for me even though I've always been for my entire life. I'm literally thankful for everything! My life's being too perfect and I get what I want everytime, everything's in my favour always. I literally look soo amazing in every outfit I wear, it's such a slay everyday. Uhh I'm soo lucky to have what I want. Literally my self concept is supreme' and blah blah blah. You can add whatever you want further lol.
So like literally throughout the day steady yourself in this mindset. If you catch yourself wavering, be like *sike there ain't no chance bitch* come back on track! Catch yourself waver ---> stop ---> drop ---> flip it into something positive or favourable.
Literally robotic affirming is the only way you can keep your thoughts in check. So go bestie! Keep your head high, keep a check on those thoughts inside your pretty/handsome head 😩 keep slaying everyday ✨
Tumblr media
🤍 ROBOTIC AFFIRMING 🤍
Keep affirming babygirls and babyboys! Like literally don't even stop (unless you're doing smth important, then stop affirming for a while lol) y'all got your dream lives already 💅 so why y'all telling yourself that you don't?? Well y'all do have it, so tell yourself the ULTIMATE FACT that you have your dream lives already 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ tell yourself whenever you're free, like even doing your daily chores such as taking a shit or shower, or brushing your teeth, eating, scrolling through the phone, or walking, waiting in a queue (I'd never wait in a queue... Cus I don't go to places with long ass annoying queues 😭) or listening to music or watching TV, doing the dishes or doing self care (I love my babygirls and babyboys taking care of themselves like there's no tomorrow 😩✋🏻I'mma give y'all a nice smooch 😚) just do it my babies! It's the ultimate way to get (which you already have it) your dream lives! So get tf up babies! 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Tumblr media
🤍 LIVING IN THE END 🤍
This step should be missed at all babies! So focus on the end! Focus on having it! Focus on thinking from the end! Like you already are living yor dream lives, you have that car you wanted cus you already drive it everyday! You have that sp that loves you till death, that spoils you with their love, money, and what not?! You have that house you've been dreaming of! No, I mean living! You're living in that house already! It's yours my love! You got that perfect sculptured summer body ody that the normal human beings are jealous?? Like you have that body effortlessly 😩✋🏻 FOCUS ON HAVING IT BITCHES 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Tumblr media
🤍 USING SLEEP TO YOUR ADVANTAGE! 🤍
Listen here, my babygirls and babyboys! You sleep 7 to 8 hours a day, and sleep, according to medicals, is a state of complete rest. That means you're not aware of your surroundings. You're just being a black, quiet, space like floaty state (the void actually) so things are easier to manifest Instantly in this state! So why not do psych k or sats or the lullaby method before bed and after you wake up my loves?? It's so much more effective that what you do in the day time! Trust me! Go prepare yourself well for the bed babies 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Tumblr media
🤍 PERSISTENCE 🤍
Since you already affirming that you have your dream lives, you have it already! But you can begin to doubt that why is it not in the 3d... BITCH DON'T EVEN THINK LIKE THAT. Be like 'bitch wtf my life literally feels like a dream come true moment everyday 😭😭 like I'm literally living the life I wanted, I already am experiencing it wtf are you talking about' like literally GASLIGHT YOURSELF INTO THINKING LIKE THAT (cus you already have your dream life) like literally decide that you already have! Hold onto the new story no matter what! 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
So ig I've told you what you needed to do... So all you gotta do is follow the fucking steps babies 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Okay, take care, love y'all babies! Byeee
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
- olivia 🤍
1K notes · View notes
ros3ybabe · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Winter Break Goals/Habits/Things to Begin
So, my winter break begins Saturday officially, even tho I finish all my schoolwork by tomorrow/Thursday. I figured to keep me on track with my goal of being a better me in 2024, I'd make a list of some things I'd like to incorporate into my days during my 6 week long winter break! Not everything will be accomplished, but I'm going to try my hardest.
🩷 My Winter Break List 🩷
consistent workout routine 3-5 days a week
try out a pilates class (local studio)
study japanese/spanish every day (create a new routine for studying either)
consistent sleep schedule (10pm - 6am)
daily afternoon hot girl walks (30+ minutes)
daily gratitude journaling
answer a journal prompt daily
read every day, 1 chapter of a book minimum
pick up a hobby and practice it several times a week (drawing, crochet, etc)
daily morning and night skincare
daily meditation (in the morning)
educate myself on healthy financial habits
drink electrolytes daily
watch one episode of a TV show minimum (NOT American Dad - thats my comfort sho)
clean bedroom and do laundry often, weekly at worst
get ready for the day, every day (do my hair, wear clothes I DIDNT sleep in, maybe some light makeup)
eat breakfast every day
meet my protein goal daily
track all my habits daily
it seems like a lot, yes, but it is completely doable as some of these habits take 10 minutes or less and I have 24 hours in a day to fill up. I get bored very easy si if I don't set goals, I'll end up staying in bed on my phone all day long and that's not healthy or productive whatsoever. I'll include these in my daily challenge updates too to keep myself accountable!!
here's to trying ro be a better me!
til next time lovelies 🩷
2K notes · View notes
prettieinpink · 5 months
Note
Hi lanny! Could you provide a guide on how to get into working out? 💗💖
GUIDE TO STARTING TO WORK OUT
Tumblr media Tumblr media
hi lele 💝☀️ hope this guide helps you w your journey!!
The first step to working out is setting goals related to exercise, not physical appearance. Avoid things like fat loss, muscle gain, smaller waist, bigger glutes and so on. 
While you can make this a separate goal, the reason why I don’t want you to associate it with exercise is that we then allow the way our body looks to dictate whether we believe the exercise we’re doing is good enough. 
Exercise and body aesthetics are two different things. Exercise is a means of nourishing our body, soul and mind, while body aesthetics is how ‘good’ our body looks. 
On that topic, I want you to stop focusing on your physical appearance when starting to exercise and I want you to start implementing a new mindset shift about your body. Instead of seeing your body as something to look at, appreciate it for what it can do. 
For example, your hands create meals, hug your loved ones and help you with essential tasks. Your legs help you to get around, especially to your favourite places. Your stomach helps with digesting all the yummy food you eat. 
Some goal ideas:
Lift 15kg+ 
Be able to do a plank for more than 5 minutes
Learn how to do a push-up
Be able to run on the treadmill for 30 minutes 
Gain more stamina and exercise for longer 
Moving on, set a time each day in which you prioritise exercise. This can be for however long you want and the times can vary daily. 
So, during this period, you are not allowed to do anything else other than exercise. It doesn’t even have to be a specific exercise either, if you’re feeling lazy and laps walking around the house is what feels best, do it. 
However, avoid obsessing over working out and losing yourself to exercise. This kills motivation, in exercise starts to feel like another obligation in the day and not a privilege. 
Now, you have to choose what exercise is right for you. I don’t believe you’re limited to one exercise, if you want you can have more than 1. 
Gym – Perfect for a mix of strength and cardio, however not the best option if you want to exercise for free.
Yoga – Tones muscles while also being a mindful experience. Low low-impact, but recommend doing it after cardio. 
Cycling – Tones the legs and the glutes, but cycling may not be the best idea depending on where you live. 
running/jogging – Strengthens muscles and bones, however, if you don’t have flat areas, may not be the best idea. 
Pilates – Improves flexibility and tone, while still being low impact (still may be challenging).
Weightlifting – Makes you stronger and boosts your metabolism, best done at the gym. 
There are plenty of ways to exercise that I haven’t mentioned here, but these are just ideas so you can research the ones that suit you best.
I recommend talking to a doctor if you haven’t done exercise in a long time, as that can open up the possibility of injury. 
Then, once we have our goals, times and what we’re doing, we need to exercise. Implementing exercise in your life is best done slowly. 
Start with simple, and smaller versions of workouts, even if you think you can do more. Do this for about a week, then try to extend yourself with something harder. If it is too hard, don’t be afraid to go back a step. 
Make it fun, create a motivating exercise playlist or watch your favourite TV show while doing it. 
However, the main thing about exercising is that every day you are not always going to feel like it, but that is when we have to discipline ourselves, talk to the mirror and say; ‘Me exercising is a privilege, I get to nourish my body because I love and respect it so much’. 
This was the best way I disciplined myself into working out. Treating it like a privilege and something that is very benefical, rather than a painstakingly challenging activity.
Or, instead, you can visualise what you would look and feel like if you continue like this for the next 5 years.
318 notes · View notes
Note
how to be more creative?
Three Steps to Being More Creative
Step One: Filling Your Creative Well
You can't create something out of nothing. You need not just the right tools and medium, but also knowledge, ideas, and skills to help you know what to do with those tools and that medium.
Ideas come from the data that's already stored in our brains. That data comes from a variety of places: your day-to-day life, your life experiences, what you hear about others' day-to-day lives and experiences, your experiences with the people and places around you, etc. Any little thing your brain absorbs can become an idea.
So, the number one thing you need to do if you want to be more creative is to fill your head with ideas. I like to call this "filling your creative well," because it's all about filling up your brain with a variety of experiences, stories, and experiences so that you have someplace to draw from when you need ideas.
Guide: Filling Your Creative Well will walk you through how to do that.
Step Two: Learn to Take Creative Risks
Another important part of being more creative is learning to take creative risks. By trying a variety of creative endeavors, even if they're not something you think you'll be good at, and by trying new things in current creative endeavors, you can exercise and expand your creativity. For example, grab a friend or family member and head to one of those "paint and sip" places where they guide you through doing a painting. Alternatively, a lot of craft stores offer free and inexpensive classes that teach you how to do different crafts. You could also go on YouTube and learn how to do something you've never tried before, like origami, crocheting, or calligraphy. Even doing things like building and decorating homes in The Sims, decorating homes or your island in Animal Crossing, or any game where you get to exercise creative choice is a good way to try new things and take creative risks. For writing, try doing some writing prompts or participating in a writing challenge, like a six-word story contest or challenge yourself to turn a favorite song into an actual story (just for fun and personal use.) If you've never written fan-fiction before, try that! Or try writing a story in a genre you've always wanted to write but never have before. Even reading a book, watching a TV show or movie, or playing a game in a new genre can help expand your creative horizons.
Step Three: Let Go of a Need for Perfection
One of the biggest enemies of creativity is a feeling that everything you create needs to be perfect, and this is such an unfortunate thing because most things that require creativity are not things you're ever going to do perfect the first time. So if you can't get past this need to be perfect, you'll never be able to exercise and grow your creativity. So, don't be afraid to paint a bad painting, crochet an uneven scarf, fold a lopsided paper crane, or write a bad story. The point isn't to be perfect or even good. The point is to do it, because even bad art is good practice.
And... if you just wanted to know how to be more creative within a story you're writing, all of the above advice still stands. Fill your creative well, take creative risks, and let go of a need for perfection. ♥
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!
LEARN MORE about WQA
SEE MY ask policies
VISIT MY Master List of Top Posts
COFFEE & FEEDBACK COMMISSIONS ko-fi.com/wqa
169 notes · View notes
kateysummers99 · 1 month
Note
Do you think the WWBM Interacial movement has now got to a critical point where momentum has starting to challenge even the majority of White Women now as far as there choices for relationship ? May we as White Males even lose this group of females to African Men more then we keep ourselves ?
Tumblr media
The short answer is definitely yes.
Because of my own personal experiences and also just looking at major social trends, it's pretty obvious that IR relationships (in general, but specifically white girls and black guys) are much more common now than they were 10, 30, and 30 years ago. 
I think there are lots of reasons for this and I’m obviously not an expert (I work in finance, not cultural psychology), but lets just look at the obvious trends:
Girls today are more empowered in general, and especially regarding sexuality and romance. I mention this a lot on this blog, there are less things hold girls back than there used to be. Movies and TV and culture in general are so much more accepting that people can love who they want to love, and that applies especially to society being more accepting of girls expressing their sexuality. I grew up in a time when dating black guys was an obvious but implied no-no, and it's just not the same today. (Note this is NOT true everywhere. Sadly there are racists and homophobes still, but they will probably be holdouts until they die.)
Black men are idolized for their physicality and masculinity by society more and more every day. Sports, music, advertising media, movies, social media and TV shows - you name it, black guys are constantly the icon of masculinity, status and power. This is really true for their masculinity, where we regularly fetishize the sexual prowess of black men in every day culture with phrases like “once you go black you never go back.” 
Porn is free and everywhere. Also something that wasn’t the case when I was growing up, but now you just pick up any cell phone and in a few seconds be privately and anonymously staring at an amazing black man and his huge black cock (or whatever your fantasy is).
Also in the last few years, social justice and institutional racism has become a hot topic, I think a lot of women recognize that the same old white male patriarchy that has been suppressing women since the beginning of time has also been responsible for suppressing Black people. This puts white women and black men on the same side on a pretty deep level, where they see each other in the same existential struggle for happiness against the common enemy that is old white guys.
Another interesting thing that I've read reports about is more and more young white guys who are essentially "staying single" forever, sometimes due to porn addiction. They make a sexual connection with porn that is easy and judgment free, which is the opposite of the real-world dating situation where they deal with complex social dynamics and competition (including trying to compete against more masculine black men who are constantly in movies and music).
So if that's a growing tend... then young women find themselves more free in choosing partners, society idolizing black guys, exposed to IR sex and porn, and more culturally aligned with black guys… and young white guys basically removing themselves from the dating pool.
Tumblr media
As for me personally, I have always thought think black guy / white girl couples are the most beautiful -- there's a special passion and primal attraction that goes deep down that you just don't see with other couples.
So yes, I think black guy and white girl couples are definitely more and more popular. I don’t think we’ll ever get to a point where all white men are unwanted forever (sorry white boys who message me, desperate to live in such a world), but I do think increasingly empowered girls and wider acceptance of female sexuality will naturally trend to more black guys and white girls together - which is all beautiful to me :)
Tumblr media
117 notes · View notes
kitthepurplepotato · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media
Chapter 2 - Smile for me, Red.
Summary: Kirishima comes to collect his usual coffee with a worn down, fake smile on his face. Y/N’s having none of it.
I know I said the next chapter will come in two weeks, but you guys sent me so much love I can’t help but post another one. The next one will be late, though!
Warnings: Swear words
First Chapter Master List
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
“Did you just come in through window?” You deadpan as your himbo of an uncle sneaks in through the manager’s office window, ten minutes late.
“Didn’t want people to see me.” The old man sighs as the plops down on the nearest chair.
“You shouldn’t have put your signature on the wall then.” You raise your brows and your manager nods approvingly. “Also, Red Riot works next door. He won’t be much of a help to the society if he dies in a heart failure after seeing you sneaking around their private parking spot.”
“How did the boy like the present, Y/N?” Crimson Riot winks, his hair just as obnoxious and spiky as always; okay you have no right to say anything about his hair as your own is the same color, but still, those spikes might have worked when he was 30, but they aren’t working now. “I can’t believe my little girl finally met her crush. Do you remember, when…” Your uncle is about to start reminiscing but you ain’t having any of that.
“This is a work meeting, Uncle. I know you hate talking about numbers but you are the fucking owner so shut up and listen to my manager.” You sigh, already knowing he’ll try to change the topic again as soon as the meeting actually starts.
Okay, so here’s the deal: your uncle is like a second dad to you. Why? Because your mom and dad are both businessmen and they travel around a lot which made your retired uncle your almost full time babysitter after you grew up enough to be able to move around and exist without choking on air. Your parents love you, you know that but they live for their jobs.
Watching the school festival in the TV was one of your favorite things to do with your uncle; he adores seeing the young heroes challenging each other without the putrid smell of death lurking around the corner; being a hero can be quite fun when you are still in school but the real deal is nothing like the silly little work studies; it’s gruesome and cruel, full of blood and loss, but watching these young students fight so seriously for nothing but a gold medal kinda makes you forget about all of the dark side for a second and just enjoy the show.
You were around fourteen or fifteen when the young, sturdy hero wannabe appeared on the screen for the first time; his passion and positive attitude caught both of your eyes right away and it didn’t take long before the word went around about the boy being a massive Crimson Riot fan so needless to say, you two spent most of your time searching the internet for more information about the young boy and eventually, this became a family tradition every time you had to spend the night at your uncle’s house. First, it was only tiny articles you could find, but eventually as he got older there were full interviews available for you to watch with your uncle after a shitty day at work. You don’t come by his house that often anymore, but when you do, Red Riot always comes up. The story your uncle was about to tell is probably about you having an absolute crush on the boy when you first saw him on the screen; you remember getting really flustered by his adorable smile, shark teeth and all. Crimson Riot always liked to joke about how funny it would be to have Red Riot join your little family and you always yelled and laughed at your silly uncle for being ridiculous, but seeing him in really life really made you question if your uncle secretly wanted you two to meet and make your dreams a reality, hence why the cafe ended up to be so close to their agency.
Also, it’s not like you actually had a crush on him; maybe when you were 15 you really did crush on the boy but now you are 25 and definitely way past the celebrity crush phase; you two kept up your tradition and watched his interviews every week, but it was more of a habit than anything else.
The meeting doesn’t take long; your manager mumbles out a bunch of numbers then after one look at your uncle’s confused face she realizes that “the big boss” did not check his e-mails this week so she tells him that the business is going well and that’s enough for him to leave your manager alone for another week or so. He doesn’t really care about the money anyway; having a cafe was on his bucket list so he made it happen and he really doesn’t give a fuck about the rest until he’s not actually loosing money on it. This whole meeting isn’t really necessary to be honest but it’s a way for him to feel included; he doesn’t want anyone to know his connection to the cafe so he can’t really lurk around during opening hours. It’s quite silly as the name of the coffee shop literally has his name in it, but to be fair, he’s been retired for a decade, no one really gives enough fucks to put one and two together. Except Red Riot, but he’s too busy being an excited golden retriever to question how did you manage to get him a signature so soon.
“Okay, it’s almost opening time, let’s get shit done.” You sigh, not ready for another 12 hour shift.
Why do you work so much? The answer is really easy; you have nothing else to do. Yes, quite sad. Now let’s move on.
“Language!” Your manager reprimands but you only roll your eyes at that; you’ll never understand why are people so obsessed with swear words. They are just words. They are completely harmless.
Red Riot appears a few minutes after the doors open; he doesn’t jump around this time, doesn’t even look at his favorite poster, just comes straight to the counter with the fakest smile on his tired, but handsome face.
Oh no.
First of all, Red Riot being sad? That’s unacceptable. That guy is a ray of sunshine all the time, you swear you can see a trail of rainbow coming out of his gorgeous and juicy ass as he skips towards his agency every day.
Second of all, how dare he look so fucking handsome even with those massive Gucci bags under his eyes? How dare he make you feel like you need to smush his face between your boobs until he gives you that typical shark-smile you adore so much?
Oh man, you are so gone. So fucking gone and the man in front of you has no fucking idea about it.
“Can I have my usual, please?”
“No.” Red Riot looks gobsmacked. He’s clearly not in the mood for teasing but he schools his face anyway; he tries to laugh it off, he really tries, but he can’t hide the sadness in his eyes. “Not until you tell me who made my favorite customer look so miserable. I need to start plotting a murder here, fella.” You mumble to him in a baby voice. Your upper body is basically laying on the counter at this point; you try to get as close to the red haired hero as humanly possible without being too obvious. Well, this is already extremely obvious but you have a feeling you could kiss this man on the mouth and he would still think you are just being friendly. Silly boy.
“You can’t murder something that doesn’t exist, Y/N.” He tries to smile again and fails miserably.
“It’s all in your head, isn’t it?” You mumble to yourself, but he jumps into your sentence.
“No, I mean there is no problem, I don’t know what you are talking about! Can I have my coffee? Please?” The redhead begs, but you can’t let this go. This man won’t leave this shop until he gives you a real smile.
“There is a lot of things I hate you know, but what I hate the most is when someone I care about lies into my face.” You retort angrily. “But I will give you another chance to redeem yourself by asking this: what can a poor little barista do for you to make that smile on your face a real one?” You can’t help it; your hand reaches out to the two sides of his lips and you push the skin up to force him to “smile”. His cheeks redden from the sudden closeness and it’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. “I’m a good listener, you know. I also give good advice. This is also the perfect opportunity for you to say that a date with me would cheer you up. I’m just saying!” You finally let him go. Damn, thank god for your poker face because deep inside, you are absolutely freaking out about how close you were to him just a second ago. He smelled so fucking nice, quite strong but there is a hint of sweetness to it which you absolutely love.
“I… I think… that… maybe…” The man stutters adorably, his whole face as red as a lobster. “I just need a …hug? I might cry a bit though. I feel a bit lonely today plus I had a nightmare and…” You don’t wait for him to finish his sentence. You jump right through the stupid counter; you did get some training from your uncle so you are more than capable to do all kind of tricks like that; then run right into the stupidly tall man’s arms.
First, he just stands in one place, his arms hanging by his sides as you cuddle into his humongous chest; then slowly, he lets the facade crumble. There are tiny sniffles coming from the redhead as he finally puts his arms around you; the hug is tight, almost suffocating, but fuck if it doesn’t feel amazing. You are not sure if it’s him who needed that or it was just you.
“Stop being so nice to me, I’ll fall in love with you.” He mumbles into your ears; you can feel the goosebumps going down your spine from his husky voice.
“Stop lying to yourself, Red, you are already in love with me.” You giggle as you leave a cheeky kiss on the man’s chin to make sure he has something else to think about today.
“Guilty as charged.” Red Riot’s signature grin is finally back and damn if it doesn’t hit differently from this angle. Your heart has a really hard time with the fact that he didn’t even try to deny his crush on you.
“Go to work, Red.” You smile at the hero and make your way back to finally make his coffee. “On the house.” You give him his latte, but not before you leave a tiny kiss on the redheads cheek. “And this too.” You smile at him fondly.
“Amazing customer service. 10/10. Tell your manager to give you a raise. Or something. Yeah. Uhm. Bye.”
You’ll never forget his manic grin as he ran out of the door and went the wrong way by accident. He almost head butted a pole as well.
Fucking hell, you absolutely adore this man.
Is it a crush? Is it love? Or is it just fondness? You have no idea. One thing for sure; you can’t wait to meet him again tomorrow.
~•🪨•~
Kirishima is in pieces.
He got a hug from his favorite barista. And a kiss. On his chin. And his cheeks… fuck, that’s two whole kisses. Not one, but two. And a hug.
Did he say, he got two whole kisses today?
Oh. He did.
Well, he will say it again.
Kirishima Eijirou just got a kiss from the most amazing girl in the whole city.
Who did?
He did.
“Wake the fuck up, Eijirou!” Katsuki yells into his face, the violent action topped up with a not-too-sneaky explosion attack, but even that’s not enough for him to completely get out of it; he stares at the lovely coffee in his hands, caramel latte with extra whip cream and chocolate shreds.
You know who made this coffee for him? The girl who kissed him. She did. Kiss him. On the cheek. And on his chin. Two kisses. Two.
Ahh, what a day to be a guy named Kirishima Eijirou.
What a day indeed.
“Katsuki, I think I’m having a fat ass crush.”
“Fucking marvelous, now can you give me the fucking agency stamp before I explode you through your asshole?” Katsuki sighs.
Kirishima is so proud of his bro. He’s been through a lot this year; he’s lost his assistant (no, she’s not dead, just pregnant. No, not from Katsuki, you cheeky bastard.) then got a new one he fell in love with, then he almost lost that person due to a quirk accident. Oh, and he almost died due to a quirk called “anguish” that makes you relive your worst nightmares until you give up and decide death is much better than the suffering that comes with it.
If that’s not enough, Katsuki’s feelings were reciprocated and Katsuki is basically a married man now who wakes up early every day to pack two bentos for his fiancé and himself, sometimes three when he feels generous towards his best bro. Katsuki is still his own, explosive self, don’t get Kirishima wrong; but he’s also much more emotional, much more patient when it comes to Kirishima’s silly flaws. He loved the old Katsuki just as much as he loves this one but he does feel like they’ve got much closer since Katsuki managed to open up to the world a bit more. He’s so proud of his best buddy.
“Sorry, bro.” Kirishima smiles at his best bud with nothing but fondness. Katsuki only rolls his eyes.
“So… how is she? Or he. Or whatever. They. Dunno.” He mutters and Kirishima perks up right away; his bestie is so open-minded, goddamit!
“She’s beautiful and kind. She smells really nice. She teases me all the time and doesn’t even see me as a man I think, but every single moment with her feels like a gift.”
Katsuki doesn’t say anything first, he just looks at Kirishima, searching for something; Kirishima has no idea what he’s looking for.
“You know there is one thing I realized since I… uhm. Fell in love or whatever…”
“Yeah?”
“No one will be able to love you if you can’t even love yourself.” Katsuki retorts with his ears tinted red. “So work on that before you do anything stupid.”
Hm. Love yourself. Kirishima can do a lot of things, but self-love ain’t one of them. Self-hatred? Kirishima is secretly a pro at that. Self-pity? He’s number one at that as well.
But self-love? Zero points.
He has a long way to go before he can ask the girl of his dreams on a date then.
… Next Chapter!
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Potato ramble:
- Wow, this chapter was so short! Sorry about that! The chapters will get longer as the story develops by the way, so don’t worry :D
- Thank you so much for all the love on the first chapter, I couldn’t fucking believe it, to be honest. I literally thought no one will respond to it, yet it got hundred likes in less than a week. Thank you so much, you actually made me tear up. I hope you will like this story until the end! 💜
TL (how is this so long already, I love you guys so much, honestly!): @porusuniverse @sixxze @unofficialmuilover @cheesenmax @readingfan @sammmm29 @pwinglez1 @happydragonfrog @magicalhandsherringclam @lovingnightharmony @theequeenofcurses @kirishima-eijirock @nerinefy
128 notes · View notes
roo-bastmoon · 10 months
Text
IMPORTANT INFO: issues around Jimin’s album
I have an ARMY friend (who shall remain safely anonymous) who works in film production for the music and entertainment industry here in the US. They offered me some valuable insights today into production limitations and possible issues related to Jimin’s solo album.
Below the cut is a transcript of their messages to me. I share this in the hopes it better informs our discussions around fair treatment of BTS members’ releases. It is by no means a definitive account of Jimin’s situation—simply an insider’s ideas on what likely happened around a few things.
I understand there are very big feelings about this topic, especially with the apparent differences around JK’s single, and I appreciate everyone’s viewpoints. However, if you choose to interact with this post, you will be respectful to others (including members) or you will be blocked. You are always welcome to DM me privately if you need to vent—we are all human and we all need a bit of grace, so you’ll always have that with me.
Sending you guys so much love, Roo
Anonymous Insider
Some “light reading” while you’re resting up and recovering, lol. This is all just based on what I’ve been watching and seen. Of course, I don’t have access to their production budget sheet and Korea works very differently than the US when it comes to production, but this what I’ve been seeing when it comes to their videos and particularly the promotions for FACE.
(I’m sending in sections, lol)
Alrighty - I’m still like deep in edit-land (still am two days later 😭) but I started typing this on the train between meetings, ha ha. (And am still on the train doing this, lol.) Also this rambles a bit I’m sorry! So the first thing I did was go back to the interview where Jimin talked about the music videos — it was a Japanese TV show and he’s talking with a host in Korean.
He’s talking about “wanting to do it all,” laughs and says, “I wanted all the music videos” and that “they” (the company assuming) said “무리다” which has its roots in the word 무리 which means a herd, a party, a group — basically “it’s too much,” “it’s unreasonable,” and “it’s impossible” are decent translations as it refers to something or an idea being “too much” — then the host and Jimin burst out laughing and the host goes “서리와 무리다” which I read as “sorry (in konglish) but we can’t” and they continue to laugh. So based on that —it sounds very understandable.
We can imagine Jimin sitting down with his team and planning out SMFP2 and LC videos, with the 30 dancers and all the party scene extras, and then Jimin saying he wants to do the music shows with 6 different sets in rented locations so they could have total control. And if Jimin in that process went “what if we made official music videos for all of them?” the team would understandably go “that’s just not reasonable!” 1) because it would give Jimin a budget no other member had gotten and 2) there aren’t that many production houses in Korea. It’s a very small scene — it may just logistically not been possible. There aren’t enough DPs and crew and editors. Sometimes, as a producer, you have to tell your creative talent “I’m sorry, but no.” — I say it every week!
So what about the music videos? Well, here’s what I know from meticulously watching all the behind the scenes for BTS videos over the years. They work with a small team. They likely own a good deal of the gear — they shoot mainly on RED cameras and heavy expensive Cooke lenses (which you can’t get this stuff easily in Korea. I lost a lens cap for a Canon CINÉ Lens in Seoul and it was like this whole big deal because getting gear there is an import challenge but anyways) they use MOVI and Ronin gimbal stabilizers and Jimmy Rigs a lot.
Recently they’ve been using technocranes but I wonder how many technocranes there are in Seoul. As I said, they likely own a lot of this gear which can help with costs. But we’ve also been told — and I’ve heard through my industry friends — that Hybe PAYS. And in Korea there’s no unions in the entertainment world, and often the rates are shit (hence Netflix investing so much there - blerg) their standard work week is also already 12 hours longer than the US. It’s a whole thing. and they spend so much money on sets. It’s incredible.
They rent these huge spaces outside Seoul and BUILD — I mean the build out for SMFP2 was astounding. They easily dropped 1million on that video. The rigging, the build-out, the custom set and the custom camera rigs to achieve the 360 shots - the drone shots. They’re astounding videos. No US label is spending that money on videos these day. Absolutely none of them are — my friend recently produced a video for John Legend. They were trying to pull the whole thing off for $100K which is ridiculous. It’s really almost impossible.  
But on the Big videos they spend a lot of money, but they also produce a lot of other stuff too (and these are often looked at as Performance Videos vs all-caps MUSIC VIDEOS) -— like RM’s video shoot at DIA Beacon… that was a much smaller, fairly single camera shoot — all shot on drones or a MOVI handheld rig. No set, they also didn’t like pay for the set because DIA: Beacon is an art museum — and similar a little bit to Letter for Jimin, which was much smaller set and easy in-house gear.
(And it was also released on Bangtan TV channel vs Hybe Labels Channel, which is a good indicator of how they categorize these shoots.) But the big videos, they go for broke. I mean they spend so much money and again they may own a lot of the equipment but there’s still so much people-power and labor involved. Take the dancers’ rehearsals. You have to pay people for all that — you have to pay them for the weeks of rehearsal, you have to pay them to be in a video. It is so expensive — like, I would not be able to budget that video for under 1 million, that’s how much it costs.  
So then Jimin wanted to do music shows —- and so because he’s Jimin and it’s BTS, Hybe rented larger venues and locations for all of the shoots. None of them use the actual Broadcast spaces or were provided by the broadcast studios. The smaller companies do though — remember when BTS first started out they went to SBS to film on the day? — but they don’t do that anymore. They rent huge facilities so that they could be a mini concerts for ARMYs to visit with Jimin and see him.
They also have to do this kind of outside of the city and they built huge sets because they’re going to want to show off if they’re gonna be on TV but that is so expensive. (I don’t think you were an ARMY then, but when ON was released, at the time it was the “biggest broadcast performance ever” and they keep upping that ante for sure!) It’s possible the broadcast companies spend some money but what BTS is doing is so outside the usual budget and given the tension with the broadcasters and HYBE — they (Hybe) wants control of their products, and so I think they pay for that control.
I can’t imagine they got out of any of those days for under $500K; I mean, there were two different sets, all the crew; they’re paying for all of it. We add it up and they probably spent close to $3-5 million between Jimin’s music videos and his music show performances, and I would be understandably like: “That’s it!” Like, that’s the budget for an EP, you know.
I don’t think Jimin could have it all because that wasn’t the case for the other members. RM got to lead videos and J Hope had pyrotechnics, which definitely costs money and safety and insurance. You know he had visual effects his first video (a lotta visual effects) and again a lot of challenging technocrane work, but I haven’t really seen them build something on the scale of what they built for SMFP2 in a very long time (or ever?).
We heard from the Art Dept that Jimin did not want to shoot on blue screen, so they built the set for him. This cannot be the same label that is shafting him — that allows him to spend that amount of money just because the artist said “I want to shoot in a real space!” because I’m gonna be completely honest— he could’ve done that on a blue screen — I’m glad they built a real world because BTS almost always shoots on Blue/Green Screen. They build him a huge set like that. It’s absolutely incredible.
I was also reminded this morning that people are talking about radio for Like Crazy and not supporting the song — and I just keep thinking that they did exact rollout for Butter, Dynamite, and Permission to Dance. They released Like Crazy. It had both a Korean version and English version. (Obviously that wasn’t the case for the English BTS songs.) They released two additional remixes. Then they kept releasing, like, alternate cover versions — alternate covers of the main remix, alternate cover the other remix. They were trying to maximize the direct-to-consumer store and exact same way they had tried to maximize it with Dynamite and Butter and Permission to Dance.
The way you were buying Like Crazy was the same process I took on Dynamite. They did the exact same playbook. So the fact that they were unable to get the kind of radio play they wanted or maybe they weren’t prioritizing radio because they knew that they were gonna have a better chance at direct to consumer sales... Maybe they didn’t want to fight radio. Maybe Geffen was like “We don’t have the right ‘Ins’ yet!” — I’m not sure, but the fact that they got completely screwed over by Billboard doesn’t mean that they weren’t actually rolling it out in that way, because as soon as they started doing the whole alternate cover thing, I was like: “Well, they clearly want us to try to go for number one!” You know, “They clearly think that they are going to be able to get number one on the hot 100 and we’re gonna use these sales to do that!” And clearly that’s all changed now.
They keep changing the rules on us, so — with JK, they’re obviously trying to, you know, use whatever tools they have available to them at this point.
Finally, when it comes to restocking the digital single CD. There are still albums available in the store. So why would they manufacture and ship more (likely thrown away) plastic that’s just for one song, when those CD singles only serve to raise sales for the charts? All of the other member’s CD singles are out of stock except The Astronaut, which they treated more like a proper album a bit (kinda like the Butter CD releases). Because they still have both versions of his full albums in stock, so if I were Hybe, I’d be like “No,you need to buy the album, we still have albums, we’re not going to sell you a single song when you can buy the album!” That makes more sense to me. The albums cost more.
TL:DR, haha — so I feel like this narrative around Jimin’s release has been ramped up because, from my professional opinion, he’s had the most expensive release so far (by far) and if we want to compare him to, say, Beyoncé — well she owns her own production company (Parkwood Entertainment), so she can funnel her own money into a Visual Album, I don’t know if Jimin has considered that at this point in his career, but in the future, he might!
((Not including costs for Suga’s tour because that’s a whole other thing, and the tour probably made money I would expect to balance out the cost of the tour itself))
Anonymous Insider
This isn’t to say that the other things, the part where he didn’t get the cake celebration, or the posts, the issues with the linking and this general feeling that Jimin was short-changed in these things isn’t valid and understandable. I think Hybe relied too much on D2C sales and I don’t think they leveraged their might as much as could have for JM. They could have risked more for him.
{This is an end of Anonymous Insider’s messages to me. They noted that they are an intermediate non-native Korean speaker so please excuse any translation errors. They translated things themselves using Naver tools that aligned with the video subtitles.}
So, listen, I still don’t think Like Crazy was sent/promoted to radio (which was a mistake and still is a mistake) and I am furious at the shady articles and lack of celebration for Jimin…
But after reading the way the members approach their work in the Beyond the Story book and now hearing from someone who produces these works for a living, I have to wonder if the company was doing everything they knew how to do for Jimin, but the second it didn’t work out because of the western music industry culling streams and sales, they pulled back all their resources and pivoted for Yoongi and JK. (I also wonder if leadership shut up about it all due to liability issues, or not to cause bad blood with the music industry for future releases.)
Again, I’ll never forgive the lack of celebration and the split streams (not without a great explanation), but at least now I think there’s a good chance no one was actively trying to sabotage Jimin on purpose. They seemed to have wanted that #1 and then it all went to shit because Billboard and radio want to get paid. Maybe leadership decided not to put any more resources into Face but instead pivot for all the future music coming out (including PJM2.)
Perhaps I'm a cockeyed optimist. I’m just hoping like hell they never engage in payola. I want all our boys to win, but I want us to win fairly. And even if everyone cannot have the same investment every time on every project, I hope when they come back together in 2025 that everyone feels good about their solo works and each other. This is my prayer. Love, Roo
Tumblr media
250 notes · View notes
odinsblog · 4 months
Text
“It was December 1993, and I was sitting in my flat in Moscow, watching what must have been one of the first ever election night results shows on Russian television for a Parliamentary election.
It was an unusual spectacle, to say the least. Politicians, pundits and Russian officials were sitting around drinking champagne. And then this happened: On came an astrologer to deliver his celestial political forecast.
Looking back, it was quite appropriate really, because 30 years ago, Russians had stars in their eyes about freedom, democracy, and their country's future. That night, as well as electing a new parliament, the Duma, Russians also approved a new constitution. The constitution which, many years later, Vladimir Putin would change through a referendum to give himself the chance of twelve more years in power.
For a Russian election these days, you don't need astrologers or fortune tellers or crystal balls. I can tell you now pretty much what the result of next March's Russian presidential election will be. Vladimir Putin will win, and with a landslide.
There are several reasons for my confident prediction.
Russia's current political system is Putin's political system, his rules, his election. And although his will not be the only name on the ballot, his opponents are unlikely to include Mr. Putin's most vocal critics, arch rivals, and serious contenders. The president's most high profile opponents have either been poised, fled into exile or been put in prison. What's more, the Kremlin controls television. Vladimir Putin receives lots of airtime, and on tv, he's much praised, never criticized. Handy that, when you're seeking reelection.
And there's another reason he'll do well.
Meet Alexander. Alexander is a young tv reporter from northeastern Russia. At Vladimir Putin's end-of-year press conference recently, he stood up and declared, ‘We all support your decision to run in next year's election, because you've been in power for as long as I can remember.’ There are many Russians like Alexander who simply cannot imagine anyone else in the Kremlin, not because they idolize Vladimir Putin, they just see no alternative to him. I've often heard people here say, ‘Well, if not Putin, who then?’ The Kremlin has engineered that. It has cleared the political landscape of any potential challenges to the man who has ruled Russia as president or prime minister for nearly a quarter of a century, to make sure that those two words, that little question, ‘who then?’ is left unanswered.
Even the war in Ukraine and what are believed to be huge Russian military losses, don't appear to have sparked disillusionment in Russia's President and Commander-in-Chief.
It was Putin's decision to launch the full scale invasion, but some Russians believe that at a time of war, it is their duty to back their leader without questioning his motives or the consequences.
Crucially, the other thing you find a lot of here is indifference. Many Russians don't seem to care who's in power in the Kremlin. They just hunker down in their town or village and try to get through life as best they can. Indifference, too, benefits Vladimir Putin.
For all these reasons, his fifth election victory isn't in doubt.
But what I find much harder to predict is Russia's future. These are very dark times. Darkest, of course, for Ukraine, but for Russia, too. You can feel aggression in Russian society building. You can see repression growing, and you can see a leader who is determined, whatever the cost, to emerge from this war the winner.”
—Steve Rosenberg, BBC's Moscow correspondent, on Russia’s short lived democracy turned autocratic dictatorship
91 notes · View notes
blouisparadise · 4 months
Text
Tumblr media
Upon request, today we have the fourth part of our rec list of bottom Louis fics where Louis and Harry are friends who become lovers. If you'd like to check out the previous rec lists, you can find part one here, part two here, and part three here. If you enjoy our rec lists, please be sure to like and reblog this post to help spread the word.
Happy reading!
1) Truth Or Drink | Explicit | 5,548 words
Harry isn’t nervous. Of course he isn’t. He has done much more intimidating things than this. He has had sex with at least 100 men, and a few women along the way, while being filmed and watched by another 20 pairs of eyes. But for some reason the thought of doing this sounds a hundred times worse. He can feel his insides churning and sweat is starting to form on his palms. Sure, sex is Harry’s job and it has been for as long as he can remember. He doesn’t mind having a crowd of people watching him anymore, and everything is always quite professional. At the beginning things might have been a bit challenging but now it’s almost second nature. This, though, is more distressing than anything he has ever done before.
2) Incalescent | Explicit | 5,649 words
The onset of heat is something Louis still hasn’t learned to recognize.
3) You Step Where Words Are Written, Delicate Under Your Feet | Mature | 6,495 words
Prompt 513: A fic where Louis gives Harry a footjob over his pants while they're watching TV and Harry finds out he has a thing for Louis' feet.
4) Kiss It Better | Mature | 8,080 words
Harry shakes his head with a light laugh and leans down to kiss him again which Louis happily accepts even if he is a little confused by the reaction. "Baby, not a night has gone by that I haven't thought about you in my bed, naked, and begging for my cock." Blinking up at him with wide eyes, Louis opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. While they did flirt a lot over the last few weeks, Harry had never said anything like that. It shocks him as much as it turns him on. "News to me." "I won't lie and say I like random hookups or casual sex, but to me this isn't what that is." Louis swallows thickly, unsure of what to say to that but once again Harry gives him an out. "So, If you want we can stay up here and I can show you all the things I've thought about doing to you." Another kiss, quick and sweet. "Or, we can go back downstairs and we'll dance all night."
5) To Love Without Reason | Explicit | 8,854 words
“Come on in, soldier,” Louis pats Harry’s chest and walks away, leaving Harry to follow behind. Harry stands in the living room, looking around at Louis’ dwelling. Family pictures placed high on a shelf, certificates of Louis’ practice, and other trinkets that make Harry entirely too nostalgic. “I have to warn you,” Louis says as he puts the kettle on, the water droplets from his hair trickling down the golden skin of his back. “The door jams if you lock it so you'll have to leave it ajar.” Harry acknowledges with a soft hum, too entranced by Louis’ glistening skin to form a coherent reply.
6) I Would Wait Forever (And Ever) | Not Rated | 10,018 words
Louis is brave but has the worst timing in the world, Harry doesn't want to lose his best friend and they just don't communicate enough.
7) If I Saw You Every Day Forever | Mature | 10,685 words
There really should be a statute on the number of dates one can go to because how much longer does Louis have to suffer through this? A modern AU in which Louis might have accidentally signed up for something he probably shouldn't.
8) Wait Until You're Sure | Explicit | 13,042 words
Prompt 465: Louis and Harry are best friends who made a pact. If neither of them has found love by the time they’re 30, then they’ll get married. It was all laughter and fun until Harry realizes they’re celebrating his 30th birthday and in a few months, Louis is gonna be 30 too. So, he struggles to find someone for Louis to avoid being together, but Louis just keeps rejecting all men Harry introduces to him (because he has feeling for him, of course), which really upsets Harry. They argue about that and Louis says something like “wow, it’s that bad to be with me?,” accepting that Harry simply doesn’t feel the same. Louis moves for a couple of months with another friend and Harry has all this time to understand his feelings, realizing that he loves Louis too and wants to be with him. But when he goes to tell him, Louis is already seeing someone else. So what’s Harry gonna do to get Louis back?
9) Candle Wax & Polaroids On The Hardwood Floor | Explicit | 13,082 words
Prompt 463: Clumsy modern witch Louis AU where he accidentally gives his roommate Harry a love potion and he has a crisis because he thinks he will get in trouble with the law for technically poisoning someone and Harry’s heart eyes aren’t helping.
10) Blackberries And Cherries | Explicit | 13,894 words
Louis is a witch and Harry is his human friend. When Harry needs help focusing on his schoolwork, the obvious solution is to ask Louis for a potion. You could say things don’t go quite right.
11) Bend The Rules | Explicit | 16,823 words
Prompt 588: Lous hires a ‘ghost cooking’ service because his family is worried he’s not eating well and he wants to impress them by showing them what an amazing cook he’s become. The service includes sending a discreet cook to your house and have them get everything ready so that you only serve and take the credit. Problem is, his sisters (can be OCs if that’s more comfortable) get to his flat earlier than planned and the actual cook has to hide in the master bathroom for hours. Louis is mortified. The cook is amused and helps him to clean and well. Gives him a thorough service. Feel free to pick your fave as the cook.
12) Swap Me For Your Shadow | Explicit | 16,829 words
If Louis thought being in love with his best friend was a knife that continually twisted into his heart before, it was nothing compared to when Harry started to go around talking about having fallen for someone else. A 5+1 fic; 5 times Louis has to listen to Harry’s vague confessions of love for his ‘omega friend’ and the 1 time Louis snaps and confesses his love for Harry.
13) Sometimes A Fantasy | Explicit | 18,654 words
There’s nothing to complain about when Harry’s walking around their flat with his cock swinging about, nothing to complain about when Harry’s pressing himself up against Louis’ naked backside when he’s reaching for a mug in their cupboards, and nothing to complain about when Harry’s got his hand firm on Louis’ arse when they’re cuddling on the couch. So, in reality, it’s really fucking weird, and Louis knows that. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t like it.
14) Lonely Shadow Dancers | Explicit |20,838 words
“Mm,” Harry’s arms circle him, and their fumbling somehow turns into a cuddle session, “still can’t believe we’re here together.” Growing up with someone, one tends to become used to another. Used to the mannerisms and personality of them. Used to the changes and the things that stay the same. Harry hit puberty and sprung up into this cheeky curly flirt of an alpha and Louis still hasn’t found the time to get used to it. His stomach flutters and he bites back a stupid smile and wonders if he ever will.
15) The Mess We Created | Explicit | 21,099 words
An innocent one night stand changed into something more than that.
16) Not Safe For Work | Explicit | 23,295 words
I want to drown myself in Harry’s scent until I smell like him. “I think I'm open to trying that too. Sounds very good.” Louis shakes his head a little to get out of the Harry’s-scent-spiral. “Huh?” “The dish your finger's pointing at. I thought that might be what you’re choosing?” “Oh. Yeah.”
17) Sweet Like Honey | Explicit | 33,117 words
Weeks of flat shopping with their limited budget with Louis as a librarian aid and Harry as a barista and arguments about whether a balcony or extended bathroom suite were more important (Harry wanted to be able to feel the crisp night’s air and watch the sun set and Louis just wanted to take long bubble baths) led to them stumbling across the perfect fit. A small flat only ten minutes from campus with a cramped but lovely balcony and an included bath.  It’s affordable too… well, sort of. But they always manage. Louis picks up more shifts as an aid, adapting a habit of bringing his Psych textbooks and homework with him to finish in between duties, and later his script so he can quietly practice lines with little distraction. Harry also increases his number of shifts at the cafe and valiantly endures the nasty customers who for some reason flock to their establishment like moths to a flame.  For a while, it’s enough.
18) Once Burnt, Twice Shy | Explicit | 52,644 words
Louis and Harry are polar opposites in every way. Where Louis is a bestselling author from the city, Harry is a small-town firefighter who's never left his home. Where Louis is spontaneous and spirited, Harry is introverted and calm, never straying from routine. When an ill-fated accident and an exceptionally intelligent tabby bring them together, they are forced to confront their pasts and forge a better beginning for themselves. Will sparks fly, or will it all go up in flames?
19) Gallery Of Us | Explicit | 55,778 words
Harry knew what he was doing in life, everything laid out in black-and-white, each day pleasantly predictable. Cue lively art student, Louis, trying to find his place. An almost insufferably happy person who sometimes forgets to hide the way they feel meets the person who is diligent enough to notice and determined to make a difference.
20) If You’re Out There (I’ll Find You Somehow) | Explicit | 55,916 words
Harry looks so intensely into Louis’ eyes it’s as though he’s reaching in and touching his very soul. “I never thought… I never… I’ve been searching for so long, Louis, but I never gave up. I couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop trying,” Harry says, bottom lip trembling as he strokes the backs of Louis’ knuckles. “I just knew that if you were out there, I’d find you somehow.”
21) It’s Golden, Like Daylight | Explicit | 61,496 words
"I actually think you might be onto something.” Harry’s eyes widened. “You mean…” Louis nodded. “As crazy and insane as this, this might just solve both of our problems.” “Are you saying you’re in?” Harry asked. “I’m in.”
22) Derail The Mind Of Me | Explicit | 77,323 words
Beside the photograph of a gaunt, pale face spattered with blood and lips torn into a Glasgow smile was a bloodied object, crumpled and stained almost to the point of unrecognition. Another photo showed the object shoved into the woman’s mouth. While Harry leaned forward to get a closer look, Louis scrunched up his nose and purposefully kept his gaze locked on his computer screen, refusing to so much as glance at the gruesome images the rest of the team examined. “What is that?” Zayn frowned. “Is that a tarot card?”
23) Ghost Note Symphony | Explicit | 96,426 words
Louis is on tour when he first hears about it. It’s all over the news – Harry Styles Attacked By Fan runs in headlines for days. It’s not even just the gossip rags, either. Actual journalists are covering the story. It would have been impossible to avoid hearing about it. Technically, Oli is the one who tells Louis about it, but it’s not exactly being covered up. Harry doesn’t answer Louis’ text asking if he’s alright, but that’s not really surprising. They haven’t spoken for months, and it’s been a lot longer than that since they’ve had a real conversation. The sting of the text going unanswered is still there, less painful than it might have been a few years ago. It’s not that it’s easy to forget about, exactly. Louis has a whole life outside of One Direction now, though. So Louis goes on with his life, figuring that if Harry was seriously hurt he would have heard about it by now. He might currently be in the same country as Harry, but being on opposite sides of it puts enough distance between them that putting it in the back of his mind is easy. There’s nothing Louis could do, even if he thought Harry might want him to. That’s why everything that happens next comes as a complete shock to him.
24) Our Endless Numbered Days | Explicit | 120,815 words
“Harry?” whispered Louis, his mouth dry, his nose pressing against the other’s warm skin. “Mh?” Harry’s humming was gentle, his fingers lightly caressing the younger boy’s arm, his chest steadily rising and falling beneath Louis’ cheek. A couple of seconds passed, and Louis looked up at him in the darkness of the cave, barely able to make out the expression on his face. When he tried to inhale deeply, his breath hitched. He struggled to find the words to tell Harry what he was thinking about. Another couple of seconds passed, and Louis listened to the reassuring beating of the prince’s heart beneath his cheek. He couldn’t. “Nothing,” he whispered, his voice weak. I think you’re half of my soul.
25) Love Will Tear Us Apart | Mature | 204,151 words
It was only meant to be a one night thing, but when the country goes into lockdown, Louis Tomlinson finds himself stuck in windsor castle, in company of his royal fucking highness, Harry, the prince of England.
Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.
89 notes · View notes
succulentsiren · 10 months
Text
How to Structure Your Life Like a BOSS: SucculentSiren X @femmefatalevibe
Tumblr media
FemmeFataleVibe
• Set Priorities
• Write Everything Down
• Devise A Plan
• Prioritize Important Tasks Like Non-Refundable Appointments
• Consider Batching Similar Tasks For Better Time Management & Productivity
• Become Attuned To Your Natural Energy Patterns
• Develop Self-Awareness Around Your Self-Sabotaging Behaviors
• Drop Inconsequential Tasks and Conversations
• Find Mentors (Online or IRL) Who You Allow Into Your Inner Circle 
Ask Yourself: * What are the main 3 action items you could complete this week that would best serve your goals?
* Approximately what percentage of your to-do list each week aligns with your priorities?
* What are some habits you could add or eliminate that would help you feel more in control of your life?
Tumblr media
✦•······················•
SucculentSiren
• Time Management - Become aware of how you are managing your time. Set timers to remind you of your daily goals. Things flows easier when you set time aside everyday rather than trying to do everything at once or procrastinating. It can literally be just 10 minutes a day. This builds consistency and habit. You’ll also become less stressful in knowing that you don't have to complete everything all at once.
• Self Awareness - Identify what you want, how you want your life to look, what things in your life you would like to change, who you want to be seen as, etc. Develop self belief where you believe you're capable of achieving and having all your desires. Take calculated action towards your goals. You don’t have to start big. Start small instead and learn from there. Stay persistent and always remember your end goal. ‘Rome wasn't built in a day.’
• Mentors - Learn from people who inspire you. Everybody influences you, so follow those who motivate you to be and feel better about yourself.
Tumblr media
Q&A
Q: Many people find it challenging to put themselves first and make something of themselves. How would you recommend prioritizing yourself?
SS: If someone else can have it why can’t you? Build up your self esteem. Write down what it is that you desire most for your life and act in accordance to those beliefs. Nothing is too big or small for you to achieve.
FFV: Give yourself at least 30 minutes after waking up to focus on yourself. Do your skincare, have your coffee, listen to music, journal, read. Allow yourself to ease into your day.
Have your non-negotiables for the day. Get them done when you say you will and don’t push yourself to do more if you’re exhausted or get too overwhelmed. Communicate your bandwidth to others so you set realistic expectations involved for any project, event, get-together, or errand.
Ensure you give yourself enough time to eat 2-3 healthy meals daily, drink enough water, move for at least 20-30 minutes a day, and have a hygiene routine (shower skincare, home cleaning, etc.) that you perform daily/weekly depending on the task.
Give yourself at least an hour before bed to wind down – with a book, TV show, drinking tea, journaling, relaxing music, etc.
Incorporate daily/weekly rituals you enjoy into your schedule. Make these self-love practices as much of a priority as taking a shower or a work task. These activities could be doing a face mask, getting your nails down, have a great cup of coffee or tea, watching an episode of a TV show, a long walk around your neighborhood, calling someone you love, etc.
✦•······················•
Q: What are some tips to maintain balance between work, play and rest?
FFV: Give yourself “business hours” to do your work/important tasks – even if you don’t have an employer setting your schedule. This tip is essential if you’re self-employed, a business owner, or a student. I share my business hours in all of my contracts so my clients know when I’ll be available.
Timeblock everything: Your work tasks, cleaning schedule, errands/appointments and even your resting/self-care hours. This process allows you to stop decision fatigue from taking over your life. If you say you’re cleaning from 2 -3 pm tomorrow, get it done so you have from 3 pm onward to chill, take a walk, and watch TV later that weekend afternoon.
Decision on your must-do self-care rituals for the day/week and keep your promise to do them for yourself.
Become attuned to your social battery. Know how many hangouts per week or nights out helps you thrive (say 1-3 times per week if you’re more introverted or busy with work, school, family, etc.). Make an effort to plan these events on your social calendar ahead of time or know yourself well enough to remain open to last-minute plans on certain days/times of the week (if you’re prone to cancelling or flaking).
155 notes · View notes
ericdeggans · 7 months
Text
Tumblr media
Celebrating 10 years at NPR: The coolest job I never thought I'd ever have.
How to sum up the most amazing professional experience in a 30-plus-year journalism career?
That’s the challenge when it comes to talking about my 10 years at NPR.
My official decade anniversary was Oct. 1, marking the date my first contract with the network took effect back in 2013. Of course, I had been providing NPR with freelance commentaries about TV for more than two years before that – by the time I was hired on staff, I was probably appearing on air as much as most full-time correspondents, anyway.
Tumblr media
(talking TV with Linda Holmes at NPR West.)
Working at NPR was the culmination of a dream I wasn’t even sure I had. I was a longtime fan of shows like Car Talk, Fresh Air and Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me, along with the newscasts, which I listened to religiously on Sirius XM back in the day. (To this moment, one of the things I love most about the NPR One app is that it allows you to listen to the latest newscast on demand.)
But I had also written a story in 2004 for the then-St. Petersburg Times (now known as The Tampa Bay Times) headlined “NPR’s White Noise,” where I documented how lacking in diversity the network could be back then. NPR continues to have its blind spots and issues with living up to its ideals regarding diversity and inclusion – but the network of today has made a lot of progress from what I wrote about back then.
I didn’t realize it in 2004, but seven years later, I would become a part of that effort – first, as a freelance commentator in the mold of Frank DeFord or Andrei Codrescu and later as a staffer who could talk about everything from how Black people are marginalized on CBS’ Survivor to the roots in civil rights and Black history of the song This Little Light of Mine.
Tumblr media
(guest hosting Weekend All Things Considered earlier this year.)
For me, joining NPR brought professional benefits right away. I was asked to join the judges panel for the Peabody Awards the same year I was hired, which was also when I got to guest host CNN’s media analysis show Reliable Sources three times – allowing a transition from past host Howie Kurtz to its final host Brian Stelter.
youtube
But most of all, I gained a national voice as an arts critic at a place whose core journalism values I really respect – in an organization I would have never predicted I could join, even a few short years before I actually did.
This is something I tell young journalists all the time; keep professional goals in mind. But be willing to take chances that get you where you want to be in ways you might not have predicted. That’s certainly happened for me.
Now I've spent a decade at a job where I’m still grateful to feel challenged with new opportunities every day. And 33 years into this crazy career as a professional journalist and critic, that’s a truly wonderful place to be.
94 notes · View notes
zzzzzestforlife · 3 months
Text
day 27 of 30 // if you can't go back to sleep, make being awake worth it 🧠💤
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
如果你来了因为我的软件工程师的故事些,对不起,最近我不说这。我喜欢挑战,但是只是如果我可以选择。如果不是我的选择,很难得喜欢。我继续看我的最爱的软件工程师的电视节目,所以我觉得更好。仍然难了。但是我们都有我们不可以选择的挑战,对吧? 我们一起继续努力工作了吧!(if you're here because of my software engineer stories, i'm sorry i don't talk about them lately. i like challenges, but only if i can choose. if it's not my choice, it's hard to like. i continue to watch my favorite software engineer TV show so i can feel better. it's still hard. but we all have challenges we don't get to choose, right? let's continue to work hard together!)
❤️‍🩹 journalled to heal my weary heart
📝📝📝...📝📝📝 usual Korean lessons + speed-ran all of @koreanstudytips's quizlets from this challenge, and i've also saved some of the videos to go through later, will keep you posted! 👀
📚 read a chapter of Sophie's World
❤️ "meditate" but it's just me doing my chores in the dark because the light gives me a headache
🎧 i can't believe i missed an episode of Exclusive Fairytale when i first watched it?? it was so full of fun moments too 😏 没问题! 我今天看了!(no problem! i watched it today!)
language learning recommendations 🙊
🎧 common K-drama phrases — was pleasantly surprised by how many i know, not just because i've heard them before but also because i actually understand the individual words 😇
🎧 Chinese listening practice — way above my current level, but i wanted to be inspired by this student who learned to speak Chinese like a native in 1.5 years 🤯 (and learn from his study plan! 也学从他的学习的计划!)
🎧 さ、皆さ、私は帰ってきた! (well, everyone, i'm back!) to Japanese language exposure, that is ☺️ 正直に (솔직히, honestly) many words are 비슷해 (similar) to Korean in pronunciation (e.g. library: 도서관, 図書館) or 同 (identical) to Chinese in writing (e.g. literally all the numbers), which helps, but figuring out how to type them especially when Kanji characters are involved is still so confusing 😖 わかりません (i don't know) 🥺
넌 여기에서 왜냐면 내 소프트웨어 엔지니어의 이야기 있어 있다면, 미안해요, 요즘 난 그것에 말해 아니요. 찰렌지들이 좋아요, 근데 그냥 난 선택 수있어면. 선택 수없어면, 좋아한은 너무 힘들어. 난 내 좋아한 소프트웨어 엔지니어 테레비 시리즈를 계속 봐요, 그래서 난 힘을 줘요. 아직 힘들어. 하지만, 다는 우리는 우리의 선택수없는 찰렌지를 있어요, 그래? 우리 함께 계속 열심히 일해요!
💌: 大丈夫 (it's alright/okay)
43 notes · View notes