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flowery-mess · 2 months

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I'm watching a turkish telenova rn so that's why I'm requesting this specific thing.

What if teen noah and teen reader got pregnant, but he's like, "I've got a band and no time for a child, get out" and readers being a badass and is like "k, I'm moving back to Europe, raising this child and becoming a lawyer"

So daughters now 20 years old and a rock fan, hence why she goes to the rock am ring festival where bad omens are gonna perfome (she's not a big fan of them, she wants to see the other bands)

Noah spots her in the crowd and is like "yn?" And sends the security to get her backstage. She declines to go backstage bc of the stories of rammstein drugging and abusing their fans and tells the security "yns my mom tho" and boom Noah realizes that's his daughter. At the end of the festival the daughters waiting with her friend for her mom to pick them up when Noah approaches her and is like " i know ur mom" daughters like " prove it i,I don't believe u" so Noah's like " this is her birthday, her middle name is this and yada yada"

(Daughter not knowing that Noah is her das obviously, mom never mentioned any names just that he was trying to make it with his music)

She was like "oh cool, mom used to be friends with bad omens?" So they're talking and boom Mama pulls up and is Hella mad when she sees Noah buuut not because she's butthurt of what he did to her 20 years ago but bc she's mama bear and is like " u were a nobody when u hurt me but now ur a big Rockstar and have more power. So stay away from her"

Noah's obviously still in love with mom and is shook that she thinks that way of him.

Ik specific and long but if u wanna work with this imma love u forever. It could be like dad daughter things, where he realizes even tho she looks exactly like ger mom, they have same interest. Orr the mom and Noah could talk it out and eventually fall back in lovee.

I don't write about having kids, but I gave it a try so I hope you like it💗

Uf I don't think Noah would be like that, but let's get along with that scenario...

I think it would be only fair to the daughter to tell her the truth.

I'm not sure what her reaction would be, but I wouldn't tell her what Noah said in the past, she doesn't need to get hurt too.

So maybe tell her that he wasn't ready to be dad yet so they parted ways and you got back to Europe.

Daughter would listen to both sides, take it all in and make her own opinion.

She wouldn't feel any hate towards any of you, because despite being just 20 years old she's very mature.

But she would want to get to know Noah.

They would exchange numbers and keep in touch as he and the band continue festival season.

After they are back in the states, all three of you have a big call about finding a date when the daughter would come visit Noah in the states and stay with him for like a month.

Daughter attending college makes it easier with her semester starting in October, so you agree on date from middle of August to the end of Semptember.

After the date is set, Noah tells her he wants to talk to you alone for a minute.

You talk about what happened between you two and Noah apologizes.

Through the years all the hate and anger kind of dissapeared.

Mostly because you're proud of yourself for raising your daughter alone and making it on your own.

Noah is proud of you too.

And he would never ask you or your daughter to talk about him like her dad or ask her to call him dad, because he knows he doesn't earn that title yet. He just wants to get to know her.

But what he does is ask if you would want to come too.

And you're surprised.

Of course all of those feelings you had for him flashed through your mind when you saw him again. But also all the pain he put you through with his decision.

But before that happened he was amazing. He was great boyfriend and great person.

The thought about your daughter flying alone scared you, but you know she could make it and then she would be with Noah. And you were 100% sure he would keep her safe.

That's why you didn't mind her flying to the staes even if you and Noah haven't seen each other in 20 years.

But you coming too? That made you scared.

You were scared that you would fall in love with him again.

You made this new country your home, you have great place to live and amazing job.

You can't give that up for someone who left you when you needed him the most.

"Thanks, but no Noah. You know it's not a great idea. I trust you with her, she is adult so I will be supportive of you two getting to know eachother. But I'm not gonna turn my life upside down because of you again. I appreciate your apology, I will stay in touch with you, but please, only because of her."

Even though he asked you to just come to the states for month you knew him and you saw in his eyes what you saw 20 years ago.

Love? Feelings? Call it whatever you want, but you knew how going there with your daughter would end.

And you didn't need your heart broken again.

#noah sebastian #bad omens #bad omens imagine #noah sebastian x reader #jolly karlsson #nick folio #nick ruffilo #noah sebastian band #bad omens band #bad omens cult

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scrunkalicious · 1 month

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Hey Marly! Hopefully your doing okay rn. School's tough ik, but Viktor is cheering you on! He knows you can do it! And he loves you!

And speaking of Viktor, what is his ethnicity/religion/race/nationality/idk what you call it💀? Cuz like he has an accent and he kinda reminds me of this one Hispanic dude on tiktok💀.

THANK YOU ARGGRGG AHTHHHY GIMMIE STRENGTH VIK

I believe he is Czech!!! A lot of people believe he is either Russian (Viktor instead of Victor, and accent is similar to Russian), but there's also been debate that he'z Czech!! I personally think he'z Czech, but definitely Eastern European. Obviously the Arcane world doesn't have the same placez as here, but yeaahahh

Definitely not Hispanic thatz for sure 🧍🏻‍♀️I believe some people from Eastern Europe/Europe in general tend to be pale (not all ppl,,, just from what I know)

I can't say anything for Religion bc i don't believe therez much religion related stuff I know in the Arcane world soooo closest thing ik is later on when Vik becomez the Machine Herald is that tehrez like a deadass cult n shit for the Glorious Evolution

Sillay sillay man

#all fhe ppl who havent heard his voice then listen to him and are so surprised got me giggling #kat i rmenebr u said that you thought hed be british #<3 #scrunkalicious #scrunkalicious?? more like yappalicious #marly answerz???

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blackleopardgirl · 9 months

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Lemme be positive: songs I do like:

Merri- Tayna sounds so pretty. I love that she totally switched up her material when it comes to music. She didn’t make the same tired ass song about she’s some “boss bitch”. It was actually sweet that she was talking about how going on trips and making money doesn’t matter considering she and the guy she was with aren’t on speaking terms at the moment. 🩷 especially when she was telling him to just take all her money! 😍it was so 00’s R&B I loved it! & I love that song. She should make more of that kind of music. She can be more creative with her music videos that way as well.

IKE- Don Xhoni has another hit on his hands! IKE sounds AMAZING! Katile was the first song I’ve ever truly liked from Don, I don’t usually like his music, but Katile is obviously a favorite because it sounds so passionate and he’s actually once again, singing about something real this time. And not something fake, like when he sings about being a pretend Albanian drug lord or something.

Dukat- Capital T- this is the first capital T song I actually like. He has such a nice voice over the tape recordings. This is the kind of summer music they should be making. It makes me feel like they’d play this in Mykonos or somewhere in Europe during the summer at a club or party. It actually sounds nice. I usually am not a fan of this sound, but this song sounds nice because his voice sounds SO smooth. The beat he used also doesn’t sound cheap or annoying. Again, I usually can’t stand the sounds of electronic/techno beats unless it’s hyper pop like with charli xcx or something, but this is too nice.

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ididkn0w · 11 months

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So like basically fuck I’m sorry I just need to tell u I love you again and that I’m craving you I’d love to be under the covers forcing ourselves to be touching every inch of our bodies with the other and my face on ur chest. So basically I left and like I slept the entire entire flight bro there’s nothing to it😭 I did wake up once and it’s bc they were giving food and it was nasty ass fucking scrambled egg. Girl u alr know me I will never eat that fuckin airplane scrambled eggs no hotel fucjing scrambled eggs in the buffet. No. Only Waffle House scrambled CHEESY eggs duh. And obviously they taste better if they come from ur mouth. I miss you. So I ate like two fucking miniature ass mushrooms. Yes Ik u fucking hate mushrooms. And also that like one piece of fucking bread that always comes with it. And then I went back to sleep and then I woke up n we had to get off n I was still so tired so I was grumpy as fuck also bc we had to run to get a ducking visa and then thru ghe passport shit but bro u alr know how the airports are here in like Europe like those big cities. I mean u know, fucking London one is crazy as fuck. Btw I need London recommendations or whatever or smth ud want from there that u miss idk. So then like I was sweating and we got our bag which once again so fucking far away and then we got out and got an Uber and like he was kinda weird bc he stopped at a gas station and made us wait like 5 min like wtf ok. And you also know how it is here they go like 110 on the highway and it’s normal and then we got to the hotel and my mom was like could we pay u and u stay here while we leave our bags bc basically we had a “cruise” tour but it’s rlly just like 20-25 ppl on like a small lil like yacht? Like my boat but two stories kinda type thing nah idk why I compared my boat cus it’s not like huge like no kitchen or shit but it had like a good space like the inside of my boat? But two stories of that. So that was at 6 and we got to like the city at like 5:30 and so he ended up being rlly nice and he took us to the hotel by foot bc we were lost and the receptionist didn’t speak English so he would translate for us and even took the bag with him. And the hotel is like a local one not like a Marriott or smth so that’s why. And so then he took us to the port and we met with my family I think I didn’t mention this to u but yk it’s just me and my mom and it’s more of a work trip and so my grandma and grampa and my uncle and his wife obv like my grandpa owns the company and my mom and my uncle which is her brother are important in it duh. And so yk when we went to Vegas like it was that fair? Like the only reason I went to Vegas and also with my family for this. So they have a competitor in the like industry and they’re from turkey and they invited us to come here and to give us a tour of their factory and like yeah so they’re competition but they like get along like good like neither of them care like it’s silly? Ig to them idk like it’s not like that is what I’m saying. So back to what I was saying we got to the boat thing and before I got on I was starving so I got some like street food and btw I think like Arabic food in all I’d my favorite like that’s why I ate Lebanese yesterday. I took pics of all of this btw bc I rlly want to show u ab my day bc I love you duh ur my best friend. So then I ate that and got on the boat and like I went to sleep😭 it was 2 and a half hours n I was awake for the last half an hour and bro my body hurts so fucking much from yesterday bc I was in heels like even my toes hurt my legs are in so much pain. So we finished and bro these mofos decided to take us walking to the hotel and they were constantly stopping and shit and I was low key mas cus like wtf bro I was just on an 11 hour flight I have my fucking backpack on with my purse my makeup bag my computer and headphones all that shit and like in the same fucking outfit bro I’m tired. Btw I got a cup I didn’t take a pic fuck but I’ll show u tomorrow so yeah we walked like for a good fucking hour to the hotel and yeah that was it I’ll

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i-am-a-bad-influence-writes · 3 years

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To Love or To Lose

Sebastian Stan masterlist - Full masterlist

Summary: Antony convinced Sebastion to take a small vacation to Europe with him. In a mixup of sorts, they end up at the small town bar you work at. There’s a spark between you and Sebastian but they’re only there for a few days before they have to leave again. You’ll be damned if you let Sebastian go that easily.

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Fem!Reader

Word count: 3145

Author’s note: Hi, I wrote this very, very quickly at 1am because this was in my dream last night and I couldn’t get rid of it in my head. Yes, this is fully just a story I thought up for myself to insert myself in. I am Dutch.

‘We’re lost.’ ‘We’re not lost.’ ‘Just admit we’re lost.’ ‘We’re not lost.’ ‘We can just use our phone-’ ‘We’re not lost!’ Sebastian sighs and looks around while Antony tries to figure out the cyclist map they bought in town. He’s sure they’ve cycled for miles but they must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere. Now they’re in the Dutch countryside, surrounded by fields and farms. ‘Oh, look at this.’ Antony pulls Sebastian’s attention back to the map. He points at a street sign and then to the street as indicated on the map. ‘There’s a town just a little bit away from here.’ ‘Good, let’s go.’ Sebastian hops on his bike faster than Mackie can fold the map and is almost down the street when Antony joins him. They are surprised by the fact that there is a huge intersection just around the corner. ‘I guess you were right,’ Sebastian admits. Mackie just laughs and presses the button for the traffic lights. They cycle down the street to a roundabout and decide to take the first exit even though it seems less busy. ‘We could have a drink,’ Sebastian points out when they pass a small, roadside café. ‘We’ll have a drink at the next one,’ Antony says, still a bit sour that they’re not where they’re supposed to be yet. And no more than half a mile later they spot the next café. ‘Fine,’ Antony sighs. They cross the street and set their bike’s in their respective places in front of the bar. ‘Must be a bunch of alcoholics in this town if they have two bars in the same street,’ Mackie jokes, knowing that half of the people won’t understand him if they aren’t paying attention.

The terrace is quite full but there’s space. They walk up to a small standing table that has a sign on it. Neither of them can read it but they suppose it means something like “Wait here for service.” They see a tall, lanky man with a beard and messy hair walk around the terrace, delivering drinks to the patrons. He makes eye contact with the two and nods at them to let them know he’s coming. ‘Ik kom zo bij jullie.’ A girl rushes past so fast that Sebastian barely gets the chance to look at her. She carries a tray full of tap beer to a table across the terrace with such ease that it looks like second nature to her. Antony nudges him. ‘What do you think she said?’ ‘Probably something about coming over here to help us?’ ‘Yeah, sure.’ Together, they watch the girl as she stands by a table with rowdy men giving her lusting looks and strange smiles. They’re quite obviously very drunk. Sebastian takes a second to take her in as she stands with her back towards them. She has her hair in a kind of half-up, half-down style and wears a copper wrap dress with white specks on it. From the side, Sebastian can see a tattoo peek out from under her dress. She wears white tennis shoes with creme-colored ruffled socks poking out of them. When she turns around with a smile on her face he can see her red lips and blushy cheeks. She walks incredibly fast for someone her height, though she is a bit taller than the average American woman she still looks quite short compared to other people around. ‘Wat kan ik voor jullie betekenen?’ She speaks in Dutch and then she does a double-take. There’s recognition in her eyes as she speaks again: ‘Oh, sorry. How may I help you?’ ‘We’d like to have a drink and some help with our map,’ Antony tells her. ‘Of course,’ she smiles and looks around the terrace, ‘I have a spot down there on the benches or a few under the parasol.’ ‘Seb?’ He takes a look around and finds a nice spot that doesn’t have too much sun but isn’t quite in the shade either. Plus, it’s a bit more secluded. ‘That one over there. Is that okay?’ She looks down at the paper in front of her and nods. ‘Yeah, that’s alright. Have a seat. I’ll be right there.’ ‘Thank you.’ ‘No problem.’ She runs back into the bar to do whatever she has to do. They sit down and watch her dart all over the terrace, stopping shorty to inform her colleague with the beard of something, and then walks over to them. ‘What can I get you?’ She smiles brightly at the two. ‘A beer please,’ Antony says. ‘Make that two,’ Sebastian adds. She nods. ‘Two beers, coming right up.’ And she’s gone again. Before she reaches the door, she seems to be stopped by a guest whose glass is still full. She talks to her briefly and while the woman talking to her seems very serious, she keeps laughing it off. All while darting short glances at them and then the woman she’s talking to points at them. Of course, Antony takes that opportunity to joke around. He points at himself with a questioning look as he catches the woman’s eye. She shakes her head and points at Sebastian. The girl waves it off and quickly runs inside. It takes less than a minute until she’s outside again and standing at their table. ‘What was all that about,’ Antony asks her as she puts the beers down in front of them. ‘Oh, she’s a regular and she was curious why she heard me talk English.’ ‘So why the pointing?’ Her cheeks turn bright red as she clutches her tray with two hands but the look on her face seems to tell a whole different story than her body language. She chuckles. ‘She knows my love life is a mess and she knows I fall for guys like you,’ she tells the two as she looks at Sebastian, ‘I might have to prepare you for her. She’s quite the woman and she’s tried to set me up with guests before.’ Antony laughs. ‘I’m sure we’ll be able to handle her.’ ‘You’re American, right?’ He nods. ‘I’m not sure you’ll be able to handle her.’ With those words, she walks away with a huge grin on her lips.

‘En?’ The woman looks anxiously excited for your answer. You laugh and wave her off. ‘Heb het niet gevraagd.’ I didn’t ask. ‘Waarom niet?’ Why not? ‘Hij komt alleen voor een drankje en ik ben aan her werk. Ik hoor niet met gasten te flirten.’ He’s only here for a drink and I’m working. I’m not supposed to flirt with guests. ‘Dus? Hij is je type en je bent al bijna een jaar niet uit geweest.’ So? He’s your type and you haven’t gone out in a year. You sigh and shake your head. ‘Ik ga hem niet uit vragen.’ I’m not going to ask him out. ‘Dan doe ik het.’ Then I will. ‘Be my guest.’ She gets up from her chair and limps over to the two Americans sitting across the terrace. You can’t help but watch what she’s going to do and your coworker joins you. ‘Wat gaat Sanne doen?’ What’s Sanne doing? ‘Ze gaat een date voor me regelen.’ She’s getting me a date. He looks over at the two men and looks a bit confused. ‘Wacht, zijn dat-’ Wait, are they- ‘Sebastian Stan en Antony Mackie. De winter soldier en de falcon.’ ‘Maar die zijn toch al veertig ofzo?’ Aren’t those two like forty or something? You shrug. ‘Sanne stond erop. Op deze manier laat ze in ieder geval even met rust.’ Sanne insisted. At least she’ll leave me alone for a while after this. ‘Je gaat ervan uit dat ze niet me je uit zouden willen?’ You’re assuming they wouldn’t go out with you? ‘Antony is getrouwd en ik ben vrij zeker dat ze beter dan mij kunnen krijgen. Er staan letterlijk modellen voor ze in de rij.’ Antony is married and I’m pretty sure they can get better than me. Modells literally line up for them. ‘Ze ziet er anders vrij tevreden uit.’ She looks pretty satisfied. We watch as Sanne walks back towards us with a victorious look on her face. ‘Tom, je moet haar vrij geven. Hij zei dat hij met haar uit zo gaan als ze zou helpen met hun kaart. Ze zijn verdwaalt ofzo.’ Tom, you have to give her the rest of the day off. He told me that he’d take her out if she’d help them with their map. They’re lost or something. You could sink into the ground right there and then. Tom checks his watch and seems to seriously consider it. ‘Ja, ga ze maar helpen. T is toch rustig.’ Yeah, you go help them. It’s not busy. Your jaw drops. Tom can be quite lazy and often keeps you on until closing so he doesn’t have to do everything alone. ‘Je maakt een grapje.’ You’re kidding, right? He nudges you towards the door of the bar, knowing that you’ll have to write down your hours and grab your phone before you sit down with them. ‘Nee, kom op. Dit meen je niet.’ No, come on. You’re not serious. ‘Y/n, maakt niet uit wat er gebeurt, dit is een geweldig verhaal om te vertellen op feestjes. Ga gewoon.’ Y/n, it doesn’t matter what happens, this’ll still be a great story to tell at parties. Just go. Sanne puts her hand on your shoulder as she says it. You sigh and take your loss. Or win. However you want to look at it. ‘Wat wil je drinken?’ What do you want to drink? Tom asks as he trails behind you into the building. ‘Doe maar een biertje.’ A beer would be nice. He nods and gets to tapping while you fill in your hours in the folder behind the bar and take your phone out of a drawer under the coffee machine. ‘Ik haat je.’ I hate you. ‘Tuurlijk.’ For sure. Tom hands you your beer and you head outside to sit down with Sebastian and Antony. You grab a chair and pull it towards their table. When you sit down, both men have an astonished look on their faces. ‘They actually gave you the day off,’ Antony asks, ‘all because your love life isn’t ideal?’ ‘You clearly underestimated how terrible my love life is,’ you joke. ‘Well now you’ve gotta tell us everything,’ Antony urges as he leans back in his chair. ‘I don’t have to tell you anything.’ ‘I’m supposed to take you on a date, so I would like it if you did tell me something,’ Sebastian says. ‘You really don’t have to,’ you tell them, ‘I know she’s a scary woman but she won’t kill you or anything. Besides, you won’t ever see either of us again once you leave.’ ‘That’s fair but this is a great story,’ Sebastian shrugs. You scoff and scoot your chair a little closer. ‘Sure. Now let’s see this map of yours.’

“We found it.” Sebastian sends the text and drops his bag in his room. It takes only a few seconds until you send a message back. “Yay, good job.” He smiles as he sits down on his bed and types his response. “Nah, that was all you.” “I wouldn’t be too grateful. I am going to cyberbully the shit out of you.” “Sure.” There’s knocking on his hotel room. He calls for the person to come in, knowing it’ll probably be Mackie and it is. ‘Hey man,’ he says and sits down in a nice chair across the room. ‘Hey,’ Sebastian replies, ‘you got a good room?’ ‘Great. Say, are you going to go back to take our tour guide on that date?’ Sebastian shrugs. ‘I was thinking about it but she’s quite a bit younger.’ ‘That’s what I was thinking,’ Antony says with a nod. ‘But I still think you should do it.’ ‘Hold on, why?’ ‘She said something on the terrace that kind of stuck with me.’ He gets up from his chair and walks over to the window to look out over the busy Amsterdam streets. He looks a bit disappointed by the view. He preferred the small town. ‘You will probably never see her again after you leave.’ ‘What?’ ‘She’s from a small town, she works in the town’s bar, no one has a clue who you are around there. And I saw how you looked at her. So why not take a chance? Best case scenario, you have a fun date. Worst case scenario, you have a great date and are stuck with feelings for a woman who lives across the world. Either way, she’s fun to be around.’ Sebastian is shocked for a second but Antony is spitting straight facts. Y/n was a joy to talk to while she was helping them figure out their next move and what does he really have to lose? ‘You’re right.’

~Two months later~

‘Sebastian, we heard you finally took a trip with Antony Mackie. Do you have any stories?’ The fan looks smug as she asks it like she knows something. Like she knows what he and Mackie know. He adjusts himself in his seat and puts the microphone to his mouth. ‘We went to the Netherlands and when you’re there you have to go cycling. We got lost and Mackie refused to use his phone to look for where to go so we ended up in a small local bar where the waitress helped us find out that we were actually cycling towards the wrong city. We wanted to cycle to Amsterdam and we ended up in Amersfoort.’ And then I fell for the waitress who showed us around the city to make sure we had a good time either way even if we could’ve just taken a taxi to Amsterdam. We stayed longer than we should’ve and I miss her. But he doesn’t say that. He couldn’t. ‘The waitress,’ the interviewer asks in disbelief, ‘she could speak English?’ ‘The Dutch are actually great English speakers.’ ‘Was the waitress cute?’ Sebastian laughs. ‘She was adorable,’ he says, trying to play it off as a joke, an exaggeration, ‘but she was really smart. She helped us figure it out and even helped us to get back to our hotel.’ ‘You didn’t sneak her in, did you?’ ‘Oh, no, no. She just told us what to do and where to go.’

Sebastian walks through his apartment when his phone goes off. He checks the screen to see Mackie’s name pop up and he sighs. He knows what he wants to talk about. The interview went up just an hour or so ago. ‘I know,’ Sebastian says as he presses his phone to his ear. “Just for good measure, I’m going to tell you anyway. Call her.” ‘I can’t do that to her.’ “To her or to yourself?” ‘It’s too much of a distance. Even for long-distance.’ “She told you she’s thinking of moving to Canada.” ‘Doesn’t mean she’ll move here with the probability of a relationship. And a relationship in the spotlight.’ “So you’re going to deny you felt something?” ‘I’m not going to deny it, I just-’ “You’re going to bottle it up until it eats you alive in hopes of losing feelings.” Antony sighs. “Seb, this girl was made for you.” His phone starts beeping. ‘Hold up, I’m getting another line.’ “Sebastian, don’t-” He hangs up and picks the other call up without checking who is calling. He just wanted to get rid of Mackie for bothering him about Y/n again. ‘Hello?’ “Oh, hey.” Sebastian freezes at the sound of your voice coming through the speaker. “I didn’t think you’d pick up this fast. I need some help.” ‘From me?’ “Yes, I seem to have taken a wrong turn while cycling to Amsterdam.” She giggles softly. “And now I’m lost in New Amsterdam.” ‘New Amsterdam?’ He feels his stomach tingle at the words but he isn’t sure if she’s hinting at what she’s hinting at. “No, wait, they don’t call it that anymore. New York.” ‘You’re in New York?’ “Yeah, some dude with a gap in his teeth dropped me off in front of an apartment complex in SoHo but I think I’ve been scammed.” ‘In SoHo?’ He rushes to his window, struggling to open it with one hand. “Yeah, you know anyone who might have a place for me to rest my head until I figure out how to get back?” He finally pulls the window open and sticks his head out to look down and there you stand. You smile up at him and wave. “Oh, there you are,” she says through the phone. ‘I’ll be right down.’ He doesn’t waste another second. He pulls on his shoes on his bare feet, hopping as he goes. Snatches his keys from the table and sprints out, not really caring that he looks a mess. He runs down the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator, and bursts out the door. You smile at him and he freezes, suddenly realizing you’re really here. ‘Wow,’ he mumbles, ‘it’s you.’ ‘Hey,’ you say as you bite your lip. He leans in slightly and then Sebastian becomes awfully aware of the prying eyes on the New York streets. He wants to hold you, kiss your lips, but he can’t on the street. Not when you just came here. ‘Come in,’ he says as he starts to usher you inside. He walks you to the elevator and presses the button. It opens right away and the two of you step inside. He notices you study his face and he feels himself getting nervous. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Trying to figure out if you’re actually happy to see me or just scared that I’m a stalker.’ ‘I’m happy to see you,’ he tells you as he suppresses a smile. You don’t. You smile brightly as you take his hand. The feeling is familiar and yet a little nostalgic after being apart for two whole months. ‘I’m happy to see you too.’ The elevator door opens and he shows you to his door. It’s only then that he notices you don’t have anything with you. ‘Did you jump on a plane like this?’ ‘No, I got a hotel room just in case I read you all wrong when you left.’ You take off your shoes as you step inside, something you also did at your own place when you took him home. He smiles and wraps his arms around your waist. ‘You didn’t’. Your arms slide around his neck as if they’re meant to be there. He slowly dips down and presses a kiss to your lips. ‘Good, ‘cause you’re stuck with me two weeks.’ ‘And after that?’ ‘I either introduce you to my parents or I go back.’ ‘Go hard or go home.’ ‘Exactly.’

#Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan x female reader #sebastian stan x fem!reader #sebastian stan fluff #sebastian stan fanfic #sebastian stan fanfiction #winter solider x reader #bucky x reader

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rein-ette · 3 years

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Artie HC cuz even when my brain empty he takes up 60% of it

So I wrote like a 3 paragraphs before I realized I have to premise this with a couple things:

WHY DONT WE CALL ARTIE'S RELATIONSHIPS FOR WHAT THEY ARE. He has friends. He has acquaintances. He has lovers, and kids, and colleagues. Who falls into each category is obviously up to personal interpretation and changes over time, but can we pleaaaaaseeeeee stop pretending Arthur doesn't have friends and that his world is, like, just divided into "me" and "hostile beings".

Okay, having said that, these are the people who I believe fall into each group in 2021:

1. Close Friend Circle: (their relationships are complex, but they're friends, they are, ik arthur has problems with denial but we can call it for what it is) France, Spain, Port, Prussia, Belgium, Ned, Belgium, sometimes Denmark, also Hungary and Austria but they're not really close with artie so much as close with others in the group

2. Personal Friends (they're close with Arthur, but they don't share the same social circles): Norway, Japan, Malta (< so done with Arthur's shit but they frends), India (they were closer before...u kno), former states like Hessen, Saxony, Hanover

3. "Kid"-Friends: Alfred, Matthew

4. Mostly just kids: Zee, Aus, Singapore, HK, Seychelles, etc etc etc etc i can't list everyone

5. My Friend's Kids So I Share Some Responsibility and Can't Bully Them: Brazil, Macau, pr much all Portugal's other former colonies, and Ludwig.

6. Everyone Else: some shade between "i dunno you" to "i wish i didn't know you"

oKiE now the actual hc lol

Arthur's demeanor changes when he's interacting with nations younger than him (groups 3-5) versus his close friends in Europe. This isn't noticeable at meetings or situations where both are present, such as G7 meetings, because he just defaults to factory settings. But it is more pronounced when he's alone with either group. When alone with his kids/younger nations he feels some sort of kinship towards, he's more patient, calm, even tolerant. He's more likely to roll his eyes and brush things off, or let them get away with teasing with a half-hearted glare or a raised eyebrow. He's also quieter, content to listen to the kids chatter while he does something else or just zones out.

However, with Europeans -- especially countries that are considerably older than him like France, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, German states etc. --- he pulls out all the bratty stops. He's a lot snarkier, mischevious, even whiny if he feels really comfortable with the person. He's also more tolerant of physical contact and possessive gestures. For example, if he's with Mattie, Zee and Aus and Alfred puts an arm around his shoulder, he'll shrug it off. If someone tries to tease him about a romantic relationships at a Commonwealth meeting, he'll pretend he didn't hear them. But in the dinner parties after EU meetings, when its just him and the gang, he'll let Francis drape himself all over him, let Bella whisper in his ear, will even curl up with Port on the couch out of his own volition. Even with people like Denmark, Spain, Ned, or Prussia, he's more likely to slap/punch them playfully or go along with flirtatious jokes whereas he normally wouldn't touch them on his own initiative.

This comes as a surprise to a lot of Artie's kids, especially the ones who haven't seen him interact with the European nations on a personal level (mattie, having spent quite a bit of time shadowing Arthur in the 19th-20th centuries, is less surprised). And this is no coincidence. I hc that Arthur tried very damn hard to keep the two spheres of his life (his empire vs other empires) separate, to the point where in his old Victorian estate he would make sure the kids only stayed and played in the West wing while he recieved guests in the East wing, and no one was allowed to go to the other side of the house unless otherwise given permission. Of course nowadays they know that their dad brought lovers home and had some *interesting* relationships, but even when the sex part of diplomacy became normalized for ppl like Al or Matt, they still wouldn't often see Arthur be affectionate or accept affection from anyone, platonic or otherwise. In fact his kids probably knew more about the people Arthur hated than the people who loved him, because the closer he was with someone the more obsessive Arthur was about keeping them away from his kids and never talking about them. This probably stemmed from a semi-conscious fear that if the two worlds ever mixed one person might have too many cards to play against Arthur, ex. Port close with him and with his kids? = dangerous; Mattie being an sweet little baby angel but also knowing all his dirt? = danGerouS (he ended up knowing anyways). And was he wrong? The Alfred-Francis combo f*ckin ruined him, so. Some precedent there, for sure.

But yeah, because of that compartimentalization now when Arthur's kids happen to see him pull out the impish smirk or whiny pout with his friends, which is still exceedingly rare, they react with varying levels of shock plus anything from mild disgust to awww uwu.

From the other perspective, I think a lot of England's friends are still surprised by how gentle he is with his kids when he's not angry with them. I don't think countries like Spain, Ned or France had very loving relationships with their colonies at all -- it was mostly a cold distance or calculated affection. Of course Arthur was also far more strict in the 19th century, but even so there's an undercurrent of tenderness that, except for Port, I don't think the other European powers managed to create to the same extent.

#kids #hws england #my hcs #note that when I say arthur's kids i dont mean all of the former british empire #cuz yeah most of them weren't his kids they were grudging political allies at best #and ofc that relationship was different and Artie was often Not Nice #i think ab arthur being a brat more often than i shd #but he DOES have very strong older sibling and younger sibling vibes #which i think is kinda rare?#RAREST Arthur tho like absolute Collector's Edition is when he's completely enchanted by something and becomes so boyishly #unironically #excited #like i often think about the scene in Howl's Moving Castle where Howl shows Sophie the garden #that kinda mood #best arthur tbh

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amycurtismarchlaurence · 4 years

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As Greta Gerwig’s phenomenal adaptation of Little Women has thrust the story back into the spotlight, I thought I’d talk about something I’ve seen quite a few posts about: Jo March’s gender expression and sexuality.

First, let’s deal with gender: Jo is one of the first and most iconic literary tomboys. Her “masculine” presentation was and is incredibly important for girls who don’t jive with the traditionally feminine expectations put upon them, especially because she is not forced out of her identity. By the end of the novel, although she has a family, which is something I’ll talk about in a minute, she is still fundamentally the same Jo she has been throughout. Her growth does not come at the cost of her “boyish” preferences.

However, there are endless ways to interpret any novel, and through a modern lens I believe it is easy to conclude that Jo was transgender. Before I continue, I’m not saying this interpretation is better than the one above! There is no “right” interpretation of any literature! The reason I’m making this post is because Jo March can be easily interpreted in many different ways, none of which are right or wrong! I honestly don’t have a set idea of which identities Jo embodies because each of them are so plausible to me. Also I’m still using she/her pronouns because that’s what she uses in the novel. Anyways, in the novel Jo often denounces “girly” things and dislikes spending time with Amy women other than her sisters and mother. In fact, Jo is, at least at first, very much of the “not like other girls” mentality. She grows from this, of course, and learns to respect more feminine pursuits through her sisters. This mindset could be indictable of her tomboy-ness and her desire for freedom; this is one of the main factors of her adamant refusal to marry. She often says she wishes she were a boy, which could be interpreted as longing for the freedom men have to live as they please. It could also be a young person in a time and situation where they do not have the experience to fully grasp their true identity. There have been many transgender people in history, so I’m not saying that the time period alone would have meant Jo would be unable to express it. Jo is able to express herself in a very masculine way and is supported by her loved ones, and she is content with this. If she were more like Amy, societal pressures might have led her to examine her gender identity, but Jo never cared much for society’s perceptions (unless those perceptions were of her writing). This is a whole bunch of word vomit and I’m not really coming to a point but yeah I think the idea of trans!Jo is cool and backed well by the text! (not that you need to be able to point to the text to say you think a character is *insert identity here* , I decide characters are bi all the time because I’m bi and I like them, I just think this is a really cool way of viewing gender and sexuality through classic literature!)

Also I just thought I should mention that Jo could absolutely be non-binary for pretty much the same reasons above! This is kind of what I meant by her being an easy character see as many different identities, Alcott doesn’t go too deep into her inner perceptions of gender, romance, or sexuality and the things we do know could go so many different ways!

Alright now that I babbled about trans!Jo for awhile its time to move on to her sexuality! I think the most popular sexuality for Jo on tumblr is lesbian. I think it’s easy to imagine a modern Jo referring to herself as butch, although obviously one does not need to ascribe to the butch or femme identities to be a lesbian. I feel like the evidence for this is pretty obvious: she doesn’t want to get married because the only option for marriage is a man, but she does want to be loved (I can’t remember if that speech or a version of it is in the book but ik she does say she’d say yes to Laurie if she asked again so if the speech isn’t in there the sentiment is), she doesn’t fit with society’s roles for women, and her marriage feels, to many fans, tacked on, because it was: Alcott’s punlishers forced her to give Jo a love interest, which Gerwig geniusly mirrors in her adaptation.

Another possible interpretation is aro ace Jo, mostly for similar reasons: she doesn’t want to marry and her marriage doesn’t feel genuine. Some may think this clashes for her desire for love mentioned above, but this could also be attributed to her having just lost her sister and her belief in her own talent while both of her remaining sisters are out of reach, Amy in Europe and Meg happily married with children. In fact, it’s possible that Jo attributes Meg’s easier time grieving Beth to her having a family to help her, which could be true, though it should be remembered that Jo and Beth had a unique and airtight bond. She also doesn’t include romance in her writing until she writes about her and her sisters’ story.

So yeah this post ended up way longer than I intended! Also if you headcanon Jo something not mentioned here I’m not saying that’s bad or uninteresting, this is just some stuff I had thought about! Feel free to add or discuss anything!

#little women bbc #wow this was long! sorry guys im just really passionate #little women #jo march #greta gerwig little women #greta gerwig #greta did such a phenomenal job with jo #and with the rest if the movie but this is a jo post #like having her and laurie share clothes? her mind!#also jacqueline durrans mind #gender #sexuality

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frncs · 4 years

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⌠ ERIC OSBORNE, 21, NON-BINARY, HE/THEY ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, FRANCES ‘FRANK’ LAVOIE! according to their records, they’re a FIRST year, specializing in MACGYVER SURVIVAL SKILLS AND NAVIGATION & COVERT OPS; and they DID go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of oversized clothing stitched with thick yarn and littered with cat hair, the snap of stretched balloons before they’re blown and a post-nap dazed gaze. when it’s the (virgo)’s birthday on 09/01/1999, they always request CORN DOGS from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation. ⌿ tasha, 22, she/her, est ⍀

well well well .. id meant to bring another kid ages ago .. n then jus didn’t because the personality part was/is givin me grief FGJH so pls 🐻 w me n replies as i figure out his voice . also .. haven’t even written out my intro yet . . bt ik it’s gna be long apologies , pls feel free to just read the tldr

tw: death, accidental murder, grief.

TLDR: grew up fairly well off to spy parents who didn’t want him to be part of that world but apart from that didn’t care what he did with his life otherwise. he often questioned whether they really cared for him at all (tht quote thts like .. if u love me u love me in a way i cant understand). luna’s his best friend, and he’s obsessed with his aunt and uncle’s circus that stops into town every year. life is pretty great until luna ‘dies’ at 16. he joins the circus and becomes a clown, he loves performing with all his heart. at 18, his aunt and uncle arm him with a credit card and tell him to go travel, he assumes it’s because they just want him to explore the world. visits europe for six months and asia for six months, enjoys it but misses the circus terribly, busks a lot. they actually send him away to distance him from the shady happenings that are starting to boil within the company. he comes back in time for the halloween switch-a-roo, where everyone rotates their act (so he does the magic show as a clown). he’s part of a set-up that results in him accidentally killing a person and sawing them in half. his aunt and uncle call his parents, who reluctantly send him to prep school for a little less than a year to heighten his chances of getting into a spy school for protection, which he does. dedicated to working hard and getting a high paying job to pay for reparations for the circus and do a massive overhaul of the way it runs, because it’s like his second home.

grew up in waterford ct, to one retired spy parent ( his mom ) and his dad who works with the government and is aware of espionage. his mom straight up didn’t have a good time, no one really talks about it, he has no idea what happened, doesn’t know if his dad knows either but it’s clear that they don’t want him going into the spy world.

he feels like he’s always been treated like an adult for as long as he remembers, not in the sense that they burdened him with responsibility, but that they didn’t seem to care what he did one way or another. the best way i can describe it is that his parents had the same energy as a character in a yorgos lanthimos film, very dry and lifeless, like they’re on autopilot. he’d try and cuddle his mom and she’d just pat him on the head. he couldn’t really rebel against them and as long as he went to school and got good grades they appeared un-phased about what he got up to, a very mind your own business dynamic shared between family.

he didn’t get up to a whole lot, he was a bit of an outsider. didn’t make friends very easily because he didn’t know how to let himself go around people, even though he’d sometimes be excited but wouldn’t know how to show it. definitely had that reserved temperament ingrained into him from his parents.

he did have one friend who knew him inside and out, luna <3 who was also his neighbour. their demeanours were a perfect match but also he’d find himself getting so excited and wanting to tell her about his day or listen to hers, or read with her or play hopscotch or send her secret notes with his flashlight at her window.

there was one other thing that got him terribly excited and it’s when his aunt and uncle’s traveling circus would stop in. he’d go every single day for the week and a half it was there. his parents would arrange one dinner with them and consider their familial duty done, other than that they remain out of contact with them. his aunt and uncle tell him that he’s always welcome to join, and he holds them to it. his parents say do whatever you want, just graduate high school first.

his whole world kinda crumbles when luna ‘dies’ at sixteen. he feels immense guilt over it thinking he should’ve done something about that skeevy bf of hers...this also coincides with one of his mom’s friends dying (harlowe’s mom) which makes his mom act even weirder so he fast tracks his plans to join the circus and joins at sixteen, doesn’t graduate high school. i envision the convo btw him and his dad went like:

“dad, i’m joining the circus.”

“graduate high school first.”

“no.”

“okay son, i can’t control you.”

the company welcomed him with open arms and he tried out everything, acrobatics, sharpshooting, but wasn’t particularly talented at anything. except, clownery. because messing up is commended, noting how all the kids would laugh at him trying basic magic tricks. so his aunt and uncle got him into a clown costume lickety-split. performing brought him a lot of joy through the grief like he’s an entirely different person when performing, insert that one cursed joker picture: put on a happy face.

because the owners were his aunt and uncle he was treated exceptionally well and he was very oblivious to the malpractice that went on behind the scenes. the circus had a whole sector dedicated to pickpocketing (other kids who he just saw as friends were often runaways from broken homes who didn’t have anywhere else to go and earned their wages by stealing from customers), and serious kerfuffle with pay, probably some extortion going on, just general yuckery. he vaguely knew it was happening but was kind of like it is what it is kinda standpoint. heavily inspired by the circus barney and clint barton grew up in reffed in the 2015 run of all-new hawkeye.

a couple years later his aunt and uncle give him a credit card and tell him to go travel for a bit. he does because why not but misses the circus terribly. he spends six months in europe and six months in asia, busks as a clown a lot and but his on-the-road/home sickness never really fades.

he returns super excited, ready to clown around but it’s evident tensions are just really high between the workers but they’re still all super sweet to him because he’s very sweet even if he’s oblivious. halloween comes around which is his favourite time of year because they do this thing called the switch-a-roo, where everyone switches what act they’re doing, bicycle acts do contortionist acts, lion tamers do rope walkers, magicians do animal taming and clowns do magic acts. it’s just one big laugh because obviously most of them are cross-trained, but it’s meant to be more of a comedy thing and their mess-ups are to an extent choreographed but also capitalizes on the scariness because they hype up the fact that they have no idea what they’re doing.

he’s doing his magic act, messing up all the magic tricks showing all his cards, and his last act is the sawing someone in half, so the assistant comes out in the box, really selling it like omg a clown !!! being like stop !!! you don’t know what you’re doing !!! and frances is like playing along with the act, as he was told that the gag would be when they split the boxes they’ll have some practical effects to make it look like he’d accidentally actually cut the assistant in half. fumbling with a very real chainsaw, he does the choppity-chop which takes a bit more muscle than he thought it would and the assistant screams a lot then pretends to pass out. anyways it wasn’t an act he accidentally cut someone in half, and they die.

EXTRA CLOWN LORE THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT FEEL FREE TO SKIP!

i envisioned that worker negotiations had been going on for a while and had kinda reached a stalemate where nothing was happening, and there were rumblings about frances being off travelling and spending a shit ton of money where it could’ve been put towards the workers and the circus and his aunt and uncle would hear threats thrown towards frances which is why they wanted him to stay away/go travelling for a while. the girl who was killed did so knowingly, and died a martyr (and also left frances a note explaining things and how she was sorry that he was the one that had to kill her). the whole thing was executed with a lot of thought: how it would affect frances and how it would be seen as a personal attack against his aunt and uncle - and that while the act seemingly went off without a hitch and the public didn’t suspect a thing, the workers have leverage to make it public (which ideally they don’t want b/c a lot of the workers are pretty disenfranchised or have criminal records and truthfully don’t want the end all being the circus closing b/c they do love their job just not the conditions). his aunt an uncle are in a bit of a jam because they need an investor but can’t get that because of shady hiring practices in the first place, and their greed definitely exacerbated the problem.

after that happens his aunt and uncle immediately call his parents, who despite never wanting him to go into the spy industry believe that it would be the safest option for him, and enrol him in prep school (which he attends for less than a year) so that he has more of a chance getting into gallagher the following year, which, with the right strings pulled happens.

now he’s dedicated to giving it his all so he can get a really high paying job and do a complete overhaul of the company and make a lot of reparations that should’ve been made years and years ago.

personality

- very patient, a slow talker and more of a listener. - idealistic, in the sense that he’s always been surrounded by people either in poverty of vulnerable, and despite being a caring guy, adopted that kind of mind your own business mentality his parents had. even his desire to get rich in order to save the circus is a very unrealistic plan or at the very least would take a very long time to achieve. - tired, i know it’s not a personality trait but i’m making it one, he’s a little bit dazed, not gloomy per se but like he’s woken up from a nap and needs to warm up a bit before being a functioning part of society. but that’s like all his interactions. has the gait of like a drunken kung fu master, very limber.

headcanons

has slight imposter syndrome about clowning, knows he’s great and always got a standing ovation but can’t help but wonder how much nepotism played a role in her being the main clown in the company.

planning on hiding out in her room during halloween, but is very bittersweet about it, because he thinks that halloween is one of the only times that people are happy because they get to be anyone they want and has found that most people don’t want to be themselves.

has an overweight, old cat which he’s had since he joined the circus and has been everywhere with him. it’s name is cat. he also has an album on his phone of all the strays he’s ever met, which is a lot being on the road. he named all of them but they never got to come with him.

sleeps a lot, probably has some sort of chronic sleep disorder, but enjoys the sweet release from life so he doesn’t question it. has no shame and will sleep anywhere and does.

loves making balloon animals, was his favourite thing to do at the circus. keeps a jewelry dish full of unpumped balloons on his bedside table. also a big reader, and hoarder of anything that can fit in a small travel notebook (leaves, ticket stubs, pictures, anything).

wanted connections: i’ll update my actual google docs in the coming days but people he met while traveling for a year, anyone with pets wanting to have a pet playdate (cat’s not too active but he could use some company), someone who catches him crying (he cries a lot haven’t peeped his full chart but i can sense the water energy from miles away), people who wake him up when he falls asleep in class, in the common rooms, outside, flirty flirts, someone who’s been to the circus, someone who clowns him about being a clown and he gets super angry, really anything, i’m terrible at coming up with connections i get such a thrill from mundane relations i’m boring <3

#gallagher:intro #smoking cw #my head is Empty i rly have no thots to terrorize u w/ in the tags . sad

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fe-tactician-krisse · 5 years

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Think fast: If you think every lord had to exist in the real world, where would they end up living.

Sometims the names or the place names in game or some items gives ideas where they could be, but of counrse it is pretty a mess, they literally pick different names from different areas or mythology.

Well, I always had idea that Marth lives in spain (Altea is an actual spanish city), then he kinda gets over whole Europe as king in the end. however if his homeland is actually not same as Lucina/Chroms’s. If we consider that, Marth is jsut a random spanich prince, who unite whole europea, basically creating european union and it’s center is belium, I guess that makes Lucina and Chrom being from belgium instead with spanish origins. Robin would be probably a lost portugese.

Ike is from a slavic part, ukraine or maybe, mostly because crimea totally makes me think of ukraine. mostly I’d say ukraine, belarus and russia as main area for his game if it was placed irl.

Roy/Eliwood, hector is probably from germanic areas (germany, austria, switcherland) cuz bern always made me think of that. or maybe they live next to the germanic countries? maybe dutchland?

Lyn is actually from hungary. Mainly because hungarian used to be nomad tribe who wandered to europe from east, and this way she can be closer to the others xD

the characters in fe 4-5 is from sweden or noway maybe, cuz again, some nordic feelings on those games.

Heroes is totally iceland. Askr is totally those areas where people can live, Nifl is probably greenland, actually. Múspell is probably parts of iceland close to vulcanos xDOR alternative, Askr is actually VINLAND!

Nohr is england, hoshido is..... obviously japan.

Three houses kinda covers more area, almost all area of europe, but still mostly based in germanic and slavic areas. Edelgard is from germany, dimitri is from somewhere near to germany, I thought of poland maybe? Claude is from turkey or at least he grew up there.

#cairocopper

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gascon-en-exil · 5 years

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What's your favorite depictions of religion or religious characters in FE?

I think I’ve approached this topic from a character angle often enough between my series on FE’s faux-Catholicism and light magic and my post on Natasha, so let’s tackle this a little differently. Breaking it down by setting:

Archanea (+Ylisse, for whatever that’s worth)

Weakly and inconsistently developed, as is par for the course here. I get the impression that the original conception of magic in Fire Emblem was that it’s all some form of religion or spirituality, and while elements of that have persisted throughout the series it’s not really clear in Marth’s games that, for instance, the way someone like Merric perceives magical ability is in any way distinct from the way someone like Elice does. Why do the remakes make Wendell a sage but Boah a bishop especially when Wendell is decked out like a pope? Does it even matter when you can just reclass them back and forth? At least Gharnef’s Dark Pontifex title is pretty cool and manages to be so while playing up this confusion.

Ylisse is...ugh. Lissa is not a cleric in the religious sense as far as I can tell (a trait she inherits from Mist), Libra is all steadfast albeit generic devotion to Naga and tasteless trap jokes, Brady is almost purely comedy, and if there’s any theological element to the position of Exalt it escaped my notice. The only apparent organized religion in Awakening is Plegia’s Grimleal, which is just sad (although it does neatly explain the direction they took with Fates, come to think of it).

Valentia

Really strong in Echoes, benefiting considerably from the colorful and variously fleshed-out personalities of the Priory characters. Following on from Archanea, I do appreciate that even in Gaiden the setting commits to depicting the game’s magical classes as segregated between the continent’s two faiths; you don’t fight mages or clerics in the main story, only the arcanists, cantors, and witches of the Duma Faithful. It helps better characterize the followers of both Mila and Duma according to their magical practices. We know, on the one hand, that the followers of Mila blend simple everyday piety and austerity with vaguely Catholic (Marian, specifically, i.e..devoted to the Blessed Mother) rituals that are implied to be normally more lavish than we get to see in-game, in keeping with the hedonism of the Zofian upper classes - and with Catholicism at its best, as far as I’m concerned. The Duma Faithful, meanwhile, are casually sexist and totally into cavorting with and eventually looking like monsters themselves, making it little wonder that lay Rigelians seem to be less engaged with their church than the Zofians are with theirs. As I mentioned previously, however, Tatiana is a problem. Despite being a worshiper of Duma (mentioned in supplementary material but I don’t ever believe in game?) she’s a saint just like Silque and Genny and doesn’t seem to be much interested in the severity or fanaticism of Duma’s followers at large. Maybe she’s just too distracted by Zeke’s dick....

Jugdral

Disjointed? That’s a good word for this one I find. Again there doesn’t seem to be an organized religion that covers the entire continent at the time the games are set, although the Edda church takes that role in the epilogue. Spirituality among the playable cast is subtle but varied, in part because Jugdralians are willing to deify not just the twelve dragons who empowered the holy bloodlines but also the Crusaders who received their blood. Claud’s a martyr figure, but for all his defining fatalism I still don’t find him very interesting, and then we’re never given sufficient context to determine what faith Safy and Tina and Coirpre/Charlot are even practicing. Maybe it’s the same as the Edda church - and who knows what that even means - or maybe it’s not. It’s telling how easy it is to overlook that August was allegedly defrocked for performing torture when there’s so little sense of what the church in Jugdral even encompasses. And why does Edain think that becoming a cleric will lead her to find her missing sister - do the clergy routinely perform missionary work? As with Ylisse it’s the dark religion that actually has its act together here.

Elibe

It’s taken a recent replay of Binding Blade for me to recall this, but the Elimine church plays a fairly significant background role in the events of that game. Across both games there are a plethora of Eliminian clergy from different countries and from all walks of life, and both piety and corruption take multiple forms in these two games. I’ve noted before that Kenneth is a particularly memorable one for me even though he’s a one-off boss; something about a bishop preaching atheism (or secular humanism in the form of worshiping Nergal, close enough) really stands out for the irony. There’s also the contrast between the lecherous but (mostly) heroic Saul and the greedy Eliminians who support the coup in Etruria and the alliance with Bern. Yeah, none of these guys are model clergymen, but it’s how they specifically fail in their vocations that matters (and anyway, it’s not as though we know for certain that the Eliminians have vows of chastity. They probably don’t.). The GBA games are also the only ones to distinguish between priests and monks, and although that’s mostly a mechanical distinction it’s not all that common among fantastical depictions of Catholicism. I assume Renault was a priest before he promoted, if he’s saying Mass and hearing confessions. What were the FE7 localizers thinking...eh.

Magvel

Not quite as competently handled as Elibe, which is something that may be said of Magvel worldbuilding in general. Again the main religion feels a little formless; it’s presumably based out of Rausten, but since all the game’s playable clergy come from different countries and none of them can support each other I don’t really know what to make of it. The most interesting bits I covered in my post on Natasha, mostly pertaining to her support with Knoll and how it frames the contrast between light and dark magic as the conflict between religion and science. Dark magic as an intellectual pursuit into forbidden knowledge is unique to the GBA games as elsewhere it’s framed as a competing religious presence, but seeing as Grado’s dark research figures heavily into the plot I can run with that angle. Riev needed more backstory though, for the insight into the operation of the Rausten church if nothing else.

Tellius

Begnion is culturally something of a mess, pulling from the Roman Republic, the medieval Church, 19th century imperialist Europe (mostly the Anglos and their obviously overcompensating empire), and probably also Japan’s deified emperors. Despite the overtly Catholic trappings of their clergy it’s therefore difficult to parse out just how I feel about the worshipers of Ashera. It doesn’t help at all that the primary examples of Begnion’s clergy we get are the senators, who are all various flavors of terrible people up to and including the prime minister who’s been orchestrating omnicide for the better part of two decades. Doubly so when the PoV character for much of these interactions is Ike, who hates anything related to rule by heredity because it comes attached to basic social etiquette. It’s also odd that the only other named clergy, playable or enemy, in Tellius are a pair of commoner priests with no status or influence whatsoever who just happen to fall in with what will eventually become two of the biggest armies on the continent. And also like in Magvel, Rhys and Laura never talk to each other outside of generic “supports”, so good luck trying to figure out what comparative theology in Tellius would even look like. The Radiant Dawn saint outfits are great, admittedly, as is Oliver’s theme though he himself is the epitome of a joke character - and a tasteless one at that, in line with all those tired jokes about pedophile Catholic priests.

Norshido

Why does Nohr not have a Catholic Church equivalent? Their dark mages double as their clergy apparently, not that we see any evidence of this among the playable ones. I don’t know enough about Buddhism or Shintoism to comment on Hoshido’s clergy, although I get that Azama is a comically terrible monk. I wonder what the cultural significance of great masters using lances while priestesses use bows is? From what I gather the former are more like Buddhist monks while the latter resemble Shinto mikos, but isn’t the naginata traditionally associated with women in Japanese society? I’m completely out of my element here...moving on.

Fódlan

Jumping the gun a bit, but there’s such a huge focus on the church in promotional material that I can’t help but think this’ll be one of the more thought-provoking ones, for better or worse. As quick as everyone’s been to vilify the church I still hope that the Adrestian route at least gives you the option to support it, or at least not make them wholly evil. Oh, and bishops are back, yay!

#Fire Emblem

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wernerherzogs · 5 years

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I agree with your tags, but i also think (if hes gay, which i think he is) hes super bad at performing heterosexuality? Either because hes just genuinely bad at it or because maybe he just doesnt care that much? for example during txf i saw some comments from viewers on twitter that just assumed he was gay and nothing changed? Again this has no point but its so interesting how hes heavily closeted but doesnt really has to do /anything/ about it at the same time (again, if he is indeed gay)

oh interesting points! i think i’d agree.

also some ppl wanted me to expand on why louis “has to” be straight if he wants a uk/europe-centered career. i think everyone who says shit like “it’s 2019, why won’t xyz just come out?” probably is an adult who lives in a very big city and has a carefully curated friend group. can’t speak for the continents i’ve never been to, and i don’t have any Official Data, and am Obviously Generalizing for Discourse’s Sake, but i’d guess that in an average european family (with the exception of scandi countries, maybe, since they’re Advanced in almost Every Area) for every 2 (potentially) supportive family members there are at least 5 other ones whose reaction to you being gay would fall somewhere on “i don’t understand it/why?/you’ve been lying to me!/this is so wrong/you need to get help”. and that’s not even me touching the situation in the uk specifically, especially the middle/lower class part of the market. tl;dr while no one /has/ to stay in the closet, of course it’s still easier to launch a solo career (be it music or film) if you’re not Openly&Loudly Gay?

i’ve been thinking about how Wildt it is that dan wootton of the sun is still asking for larry stylinson takes three years after freddie, and after the last time harry and louis Officially saw each other was that txf performance. and then i started thinking about some other stuff. despite the fact that ppl like perez hilton tried to make xarry happen, or that nick grimshaw tries to make gryles happen from time to time, the man harry styles has been linked to most often throughout the Sexuality Rumours part of his career is louis tomlinson. harry styles is the /only/ man louis has been linked to. they both have “general” sexuality rumours, but those are framed differently, too. people on tumblr dot com who think that “harry is practically out” truly don’t realise how little the GP knows, and how little it gives a shit about him possibly being lgbt. i’m sure there were exceptions of the rule, probably mostly on some us and uk media outlets, but a large part of those syndicated press articles after harry first performed “medicine” was very Telling. before “medicine” it was “harry styles has dated taylor swift, kendall jenner, and 23428 nameless models” (occasionally cara delevingne gets namedropped too). after “medicine” it was “harry styles has dated taylor swift, kendall jenner, 23428 nameless models, and maybe has sucked a friendly dick or two here and there, Like Famous People do, especially high or drunk, but probably still lives on p*ssy 24/7”. like people absolutely don’t take bisexuality seriously, especially male, unless there’s solid photographic evidence. once there’s evidence, they usually don’t think it’s bisexuality, but someone being gay/lesbian, but afraid of “coming out Fully”, because they love that biphobia. the article that harry’s bisexuality rumours after “medicine” got on the most popular gossip site in my country is the perfect example of that. ik y’all don’t speak the language, but trust me when i say that while they acknowledge that harry has had sexuality rumours going on for a while now, they don’t namedrop /any/ man in that context, not louis, nor nick, nor anyone else, and look at them ending the article with a pic of harry hugging TOMMY THE FUN DAD of all people. like. not even poor el jefe, akfjsa. that’s how Little some people know, if they even know who harry is, or if they care about him.

now let’s imagine that harry and louis are both closeted, but have never dated each other. JUST FOR FUNSIES, bear with me. if any of them was to come out (in a Grand Gesture Way, not “those are just rumours” way, like getting photographed with someone who’s not the other one), especially while trying to release their first solo album, the other would automatically get asked about that. automatically. (and what if one them wanted to be out, but the other wouldn’t, and wouldn’t want to be Dragged into a public coming out?) and not only them! look at all the journalists still pressing members of 1d for quotes on the hiatus and on zayn (and other things! like them asking louis about the dirt on liam and naomi, for example) /three years/ after the disband, while all of them are currently trying to make their name for themselves, and two of them don’t even have proper solo albums out yet. so the other 2 (3) band members would absolutely get asked about that, too, and then also about other stuff. because if someone was being closeted while in 1d, what were the other Dirty Secrets? journalists would go hard after substance abuse especially (in zayn’s case most of all). now let’s all remember that thanks to those leaked “got talent” (i think?) contracts we know that simon cowell makes ppl sign the clause about /anyone in the fucking solar system/ not being allowed to say /any/ bad thing about him.

tl;dr if at least one of the members of 1d is closeted, it’s not wild to assume that they have to think about not only themselves, but also 3 (4) other people if they were to make A Big Deal out of coming out of said closet. (i obviously want to add that they don’t owe anyone shit, and that coming out should never be an obligation for /any/ celeb). i think harry is in the easiest position if he is indeed “only” bisexual, not “fully” gay. he can go with “yeah i knew i liked boys even while being in the band, but dated all of those girls for real because i do also like girls, and the other band members were supportive”, which wouldn’t necessarily spark too many angry takes about Injustice of Having Been Closeted (because he does like girls too, bless him!) and make people inquire about Other Things That Might Have Been Covered Up during that time.

but tl;dr literally no matter what you believe in, this situation is so complicated that it makes me lose my mind a little whenever i try to consider it from /any/ goddamn angle. r i p.

#me: stop writing essays on tumblr like That One User #also me: and another thing #anonymous #a response #long post #hopefully the cut shows #SORRY IF IT DOESN'T #I DO GENUINELY WISH I COULD JUST SHUT UP #I'M SO SORRY

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justasmallbloginabigklainefandom · 5 years

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Rec This Thing: Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked Europe Tour at AFAS LIVE

Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked Europe Tour at AFAS Live

My story: Look, in the span of less than a year I became a huge fan, so when they announced their show at AFAS Live, I was in.

Story: It’s a concert.

Rating (1 to 10): 10

Why?: After Hayley, and Troye, it was time for Panic! and lemme tell you something.

This was my favourite.

Once again, I was on my way to Amsterdam with Sammy in tow. We originally planned on going with Maikel, but tickets were sold out in seconds and he didn’t manage to grab them.

The road towards Amsterdam was wonky due to a possible terrorist attack in my country and due to faulty trains. On our way, we met up with two strangers who were also on their way to the concert. We talked about fake vegan burgers and airport security fails and of course Panic! At The Disco.

We parted ways at the entrance. It was packed. We were lucky we got there after the doors opened, because the line was so damn long that they added a second line. That line also happened to be shorter. That was our line. We still queued for a small half hour (and the police kept driving by because... y’know... possible terrorism) (it really was a terrible day for my country).

We bought merch and I got the long sleeved white shirt with High Hopes lyrics and then it was time to find a spot in the venue. Eventually, we got great balcony seats. Third row, close to the middle aisle. We had an amazing view.

*record scratch*

Wait. Hold on? You’re telling me that you could’ve found a standing place almost up front, like you did with Troye Sivan’s concert, and you didn’t?

Nope. I didn’t. For a few reasons actually:

We didn’t have to use the wardrobe.

The show was a very visual show and you could see it best from the balcony, since you could see the entire stage.

After all, Sammy and I are relatively small, so we wouldn’t be able to see shit unless we were completely front row.

I don’t like being stuck in crowds.

And the crowd was massive. It’s really confusing, cause both Troye and Panic! played sold out shows at AFAS Live but Panic!’s crowd was double the size. Ever since it got announced that Panic! got AFAS, I was very confused, because if you look at other venues of the PftW tour, they have massive venues sold out. Panic! easily could’ve played Ziggo Dome or whatever, but nope, they got AFAS. Hmmmm.

Anyway, I did consider going all the way up front so that I could hopefully give Brendon an ace flag to wear during Girls/Girls/Boys, cause that would mean the world to me, but the cons outweighed the pros and besides, I have nothing to complain about my seats.

Especially now that I’ve seen YouTube videos from the people down at the standing room. It got hectic and loud and woah, at least I could still hear Brendon Urie himself.

The opening band was A R I Z O N A. The band, not the state. They’re from New Jersey. I wasn’t familiar with them, but by now I’ve listened to their entire discography and they’re good.

Then, it was time for an half hour long break and it was time for people to get annoying. Yup, as I mentioned, I had a great seat on the third row on the balcony. I was the first seat of that row, so no one blocked my view. It was wonderful.

But during A R I Z O N A’s set, people started leaning against the banister (is it called a banister?) of the balcony and people were crowding the steps in the aisle, aka people were blocking our views.

Sammy and I got so pissed.

Luckily, we weren’t the only ones cause the man in front of me actually told some people to leave, because they were blocking our view, but the moment those people left, new ones arrived.

So yeah, Sammy and I were pretty annoyed and then the countdown started, so we had a “well, shit, if we have to” moment, but three minutes before Panic! came on stage, security wiped the entire aisle. Everyone had to go all the way to the back to stand there behind the rows of seats.

A part of me felt a bit bad that all those people got pushed to probably the worst places in the entire venue, but man, on the other hand, Sammy and I were so damn glad.

And so, the countdown counted down (wow) to zero, while Toto’s Africa was playing, and the show started. I actually took a small video of all numbers and I put them together in a complication, excluding Girls/Girls/Boys and Bohemian Rhapsody. Those were long enough to have videos of their own.

Now, if someone’s reading this (hi), get something to drink cause this is gonna get long. When I talk about concerts, I write down the entire setlist and my thoughts on the performances, and wow, Panic!’s show was almost two hours long.

How long? Well, someone put the full show online and it’s 1:48:20 long.

So yeah, the gorgeous purple lights turned on and Nicole (I’m gay), Mike, Dan, the horny boys and the wicked strings (I’M GAY) started playing and then Brendon arrived to start off with...

F**k A Silver Lining: We had one of those smaller stages (cause again, Ziggo Dome who??? I don’t know her!) so all those extras like Brendon jumping out of the stage didn’t happen. Luckily, the wonderfully beautiful visuals and lights were there. Silver linings came out of cannons and the show started. It was a beautiful sight, although it took me a while to realise that the images on the projections were supposed to be “motherfucking” cherries, not dicks.

Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time: Ah yes, Brendon Urie showing off his vocal range by singing random parts in falsetto. I love it and I sang along.

Ready To Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind): So delighted to hear this one, since it’s my favourite V&V song and once again, Brendon killed everyone with those high notes. They also put Mike in the spotlight, and it wasn’t the last time they did that during the show.

Hey Look Ma, I Made It!: Ah yes, Beebo. He actually showed up before the countdown. He was just chilling on stage. Anyway, I fucking loved the song.

LA Devotee: Nicole and Mike got front stage and bam LA Devotee, my favourite song from Bachelor, started playing. It was awesome.

Hallelujah: The girls in front of us lost it when the first note started playing. Brendon did his classy falsetto again and it was great.

Crazy = Genius: Hey look, fire. Anyway, this song is amazing and is it underrated? Idk? I love it so much.

The Ballad of Mona Lisa: People went apeshit when the first notes started playing. I really liked it.

Nine In The Afternoon: Where did Brendon go? Oh, he’s at the piano, aka it’s time for Nine In The Afternoon. I loved that you could hear the strings at the end so clearly.

One Of The Drunks: Ah yes, they added this song for the second leg and boy am I glad they did, since I absolutely love this song.

Casual Affair: Wow, okay. The visuals and the lights were amazing in every damn song, but Casual Affair had by far one of the best. AFAS Live became a big laser show. And nearing the end, a laser circle appeared on stage and Nicole and Mike joined Brendon in the circle. And then Brendon started singing very, very high. Probably the highest notes he’s had all evening. I was in absolute awe.

Vegas Lights: I am also so happy they did this song. I’ve loved it ever since I first listened to it and the energy in the room was so high.

Dancing’s Not A Crime: Annika from Plurk said that this song was so much fun live, and I am inclined to agree with her. This was so much fun! They did change the lyrics from “MJ up in the clouds” to someone else and the ending was also done in falsetto, which was great. Yup, yup, yup, Annika was right.

This Is Gospel: Brendon got a guitar and it was time for This Is Gospel. Now of course, this song is great and the added high notes were wonderful, but the very end was the best. After the song ended, Brendon, Nicole, Mike and Dan just jammed for one whole minute. Just music. I knew it was coming, so I filmed it.

Death Of A Bachelor: No surprise here, but Brendon told everyone he wrote it because he wanted to be Frank Sinatra. Since this is a smaller venue (... still... why...), he didn’t have to do the Death Walk, which is a good thing. It was just him and the horny boys on stage and the funk part was so much fun. Heh, horny boys. What a great pun.

It was time for a silent moment. The horny boys left the stage and Brendon started talking about he tried to learn Dutch at 3AM but he couldn’t get very far. Well, he got “Hartelijk bedankt” and “Ik hou van jullie allemaal”, and he thanked Google Translate. Anyway, he moved to the piano and he talked about how he hated it that his mum tried to teach him piano, but that he learned this song. The wicked strings returned and he started playing.

I Can��t Make You Love Me/Dying In LA: In the middle of the song, it transitioned into Dying In LA. Again, smaller stage (wtf), so the whole floating piano thing wasn’t there, but the music was obviously the same.

The Greatest Show: From a slow piano ballad to BAM this. I was not as disappointed by Panic!’s version of The Greatest Show as others, but I definitely agree that the song is much better live. Brendon sounded a bit raspy, which was great. He’d been raspy the entire show and it was great, but here it was amazing.

Girls/Girls/Boys: YES. IT’S TIME TO GET GAY. THE ONE I’VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO. Sure, I didn’t get to show off my ace flag, but Brendon still got flooded by flags, including 2 pan flags, 1 bi flag, and 1 trans flag. He commented on how it was the most flags he’s ever gotten. I saw even more flags in the audience, so he didn’t even get all of them. The Panic! Hearts were lovely, even though there was no rainbow. There was no assigned seating, so colours were everywhere. I had an orange heart and Sammy had a blue one. It still rained glitter and I almost cried when the rainbow love banner appeared. After the song, the rainbow laser lights appeared and Brendon gave a small speech. I want to relive this moment again.

King Of The Clouds: Smoak clouded (pun intended) the stage and it was time for King Of The Clouds. Not much to say, apart from the usual: it was great and the visuals were beautiful. The purple/green/blue colour scheme at the end was mesmerising.

High Hopes: CAN I JUST SAY THAT THAT MOMENT WHERE THE WICKED STRINGS BEND BACKWARDS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS EVER? And also, oh boy, there were some high notes at High Hopes.

Miss Jackson: Brendon lost his golden jacket and Miss Jackson started playing. He did a backflip as well.

Roaring 20s: Another song that got added for leg two and just like One Of The Drunks, I welcome this change. Yup, I was one of those “*shoves 20$ to Brendon* Add Roaring 20s to the setlist!” people. NOW ONLY THE OVERPASS AND OLD FASHIONED LEFT.

Bohemian Rhapsody: How can you not sing along with this song? It’s iconic. I love the “ending”, so I filmed that (see link above). It’s 3 minutes long.

Emperor’s New Clothes: This is the one song in all of Panic!’s discography that I have mixed feeling about. Like, there are some songs I just dislike, and some I like, and some I love. But this song? Bruh idk. I sing along from the top of my lungs, because I like the energy, but do I like the song? Well, this time I fucking did cause it was a blast to hear it live and the lights were beautiful.

Then it was time for the encore. Some poor unfortunate souls behind us left. I heard another woman saying: “Don’t ever do that. Oh, this is so stupid.” The band slowly came back to the stage and Brendon lost his shirt.

Say Amen (Saturday Night): HE HIT THE HIGH NOTE HECK YEAH. I LOVE THIS SONG.

I Write Sins Not Tragedies: Ah yes, Sammy’s favourite song, since it’s a banger according to her. Well, she’s right. I am kinda glad that Brendon didn’t ask an audience member to sing with him.

It was time for the last song. Brendon said that he’s not the smartest guy (”I didn’t even go to college”), but that he knows that everyone is important due to, well, biology. He gave one of those inspirational celeb speeches about how everyone is important to him, but also to themselves. We were all born as winners, and that stuff.

Victorious: I knew they were going to end with Victorious and it’s the perfect song to end the show. It rained confetti and it was time for them to go. I didn’t want it to end.

They all waved goodbye and Mike and Dan threw stuff to the audience (probably guitar picks and those things). The girl in the seat behind me dropped her heart before Girls/Girls/Boys and she couldn’t find it. I found it after the show. I wanted to return it, but she was already gone, so I now also have a yellow heart.

And yeah, that was it.

Overall thoughts? Well...

I can’t go into detail about the visuals, but they really added something to the overall experience, so I actually recommend getting a seat that allows you to see the full stage in its glory.

Also, Sammy said: “I can no longer listen to the recorded versions now that he’s added all those amazing high notes” and that’s a big ass mood.

To quote Sammy some more, she said something about the beautiful intermission instrumentals between songs and how she’d even buy an album filled with those. That is also a big ass mood.

To continue this trend of quoting Sammy, I agree with her that watching Brendon dance was so much fun. I like that he’s having fun.

Anyway, it was time to go. Some girls complimented me on my ace flag, which was so fucking cool. Just like with Troye, the train station was flooded and there were still many flags.

Sammy and I got the train back home and we briefly saw the girls from before, so I said hi.

And that was it. What a day.

Recommend?: Please.... I want to do this again... oh god....

#lb 2019 #rtt: concert #rec this thing #pftw adam #p!atd

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sherpabunbun · 7 years

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SUPER LONG RANT THAT I'm prob repeating but telling you guys why i left and why I'm back now

tl;dr: i left bc my life/emotional state depended way too much on super junior and tumblr but now i wanna come back cause ik how to love them from a distance now lol

if you guys are long time followers you knew that a while ago i was going through a really tough time in my life, i was severely depressed and the only thing that kept me going was super junior and kpop in general. I found tumblr to be my outlet for all my worries, and i made many friends along the way. I dealt with my depression for over 2 years, and once my grades were failing and i couldn't take the sadness anymore, i pushed myself to recover.

so about 2 years ago, i came back from a family trip from europe, and suddenly a switch in my mind went off. i wanted to get better, i wanted to work hard in school and succeed in my life. tumblr was my outlet for my stress, but it was also the only thing that was keeping me going which was unhealthy. i started to reconnect with old friends, i started to talk to my mom more, and slowly i started to feel better after all these years. (obviously depression is more complex than this I'm just trying to summarize it, also I'm bad with expressing my feelings). around the same time, i met my current boyfriend. he comes from a cultural background very similar to mine, and as soon as we started dating, we made sure our educations and careers were our number 1 priority.

so basically, why i left tumblr was cause 1. i needed better stress outlets 2. i needed to deal with the real world and 3. i started focusing on college and my career.

but why am i back? all these years that i was alway from tumblr my love for super junior never changed. every time i was studying and i was starting to get a panic attack i would shut myself down and listen to yesung and kyuhyun ballads to calm myself. my room is still freaking filled with merch and posters top to bottom (i can't stop buying things please help). i always felt a certain happiness when seeing super junior. i want to come back to tumblr to feel the happiness again, i want to meet more people, i just want my favorite stress reliever again, but at a limit.

I'm honestly so sad to see that many people left. even though i dropped tumbling all together, i knew my love for super junior would never change. but I'm glad to be back, even with the 1/40 posts that i see on my dash *crying*

anyways yes. hi guys it’s daisy and I'm back

#personal #i don't know how to express my potato

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junker-town · 5 years

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1 thing to know about every MLS Cup playoff matchup

Photo by Shaun Clark/Getty Images

Zlatan faces off against the defender of the year, while Toronto FC sweats the fitness of Jozy Altidore.

MLS has a new playoff format for 2019, and it should be a lot of fun. Two-legged ties are out and single elimination is in.

Even with the away goals tiebreaker in place, teams often tried to play for a clean sheet on the road, thinking they could win at home if they pulled it off. If teams grabbed an away goal, they weren’t too bothered about going down a goal either. The product was, frankly, not very good as a result. MLS is hoping single elimination is going to be a lot more exciting, and it probably will be.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of this weekend’s whopping six games, plus some thoughts on the two teams that got first-round byes.

Minnesota-Galaxy is the must-watch game

Everyone loves to use disrespect as a motivator. Soccer coaches and saying “no one believed in us” — name a more iconic duo. But in the case of Minnesota United and Adrian Heath, the use of this cliche is warranted — seriously, no one thought they’d get a home playoff game. The Loons’ defense was historically bad in its first two seasons, and it was a bit surprising that Heath kept his job for 2019.

The offseason acquisitions of Osvaldo Alonso and Ike Opara were clearly good ones that were sure to help Minnesota’s defense, but both are in their 30s and have extensive injury histories. Minnesota got a lucky roll on the health of both — they played a combined 57 games, and Opara was named defensive player of the year.

Minnesota’s improved defense will be put to the test by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has been talking a lot of smack about how good he is in true Zlatan fashion. He may be obnoxious, but he also scored 30 goals this season.

These two teams last met in a 0-0 draw in April when they were both still finding their footing, so we don’t really have any regular-season games as a reference point for what might happen here. But we get to watch the self-proclaimed best player in MLS vs. the defensive player in the year. The league’s most historically successful team against the league’s best underdog story. If you’re going to watch one game, it should be this one.

Someone has to win RSL-Portland

On the flip side, the game with the least potential to produce any kind of interesting narrative is between Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers.

RSL has just one win over its fellow Western Conference playoff teams and lost both of its matches against Portland. The Timbers will be without striker Brian Fernandez, who scored 11 goals in 19 appearances, after he voluntarily entered the league’s substance abuse program. Club legend Diego Valeri will play, but he’s less than 100 percent after picking up a calf injury two weeks ago. Of all the teams in the playoffs, these are the two it’s hardest to make a case for winning MLS Cup.

But it’s not impossible to make a case for anyone, because MLS is weird. The best team in the league has won MLS Cup the last two seasons in a row, but before that the playoffs felt like a lottery. RSL is the No. 3 seed, after all, and Diego Valeri solo carried Portland to the final last season.

Seattle-Dallas winner will believe they can make a run

Despite finishing with the No. 2 seed, the Seattle Sounders have had a mildly disappointing year. Its goal differential is only plus-3, and star striker Raul Ruidiaz has cooled off big time, finishing with a disappointing 11 goals. FC Dallas will also be disappointed by only finishing seventh in the west, given its strong start and deep roster.

But these teams both have as much talent as anyone else in the league bar Los Angeles FC and Atlanta United, and the winner of this game should be favored over the RSL-Portland winner.

Dallas finally broke its run of bad form on the final day of the season, winning 6-0 over Sporting Kansas City. Youngsters Jesus Ferreira and Brandon Servania, whose form had dipped along with the team, turned in excellent performances in that game. Zdeněk Ondrášek is coming off an international break where he scored a game winner against England. Star midfielder Paxton Pomykal has had a few weeks of much-needed rest. Dallas won’t be entering this game feeling like the No. 7 seed.

Seattle, meanwhile, might have repaired its leaky defense. The Sounders allowed 49 goals this season, but kept clean sheets in its last two regular season games. And it seems unlikely that Ruidiaz, who has scored at a consistently high rate for four years across three different leagues, simply can’t put the ball in the net anymore. Assuming Christian Roldan and Jordan Morris haven’t suffered too much of a morale hit from getting waxed by Canada, the Sounders are going to put one of the best teams in the league on the field.

These teams are both loaded with talent, and a first-round win could inspire one of them to finally start playing like it.

How good is Toronto without Jozy Altidore?

D.C. United probably shouldn’t be able to beat Toronto FC on the road. The Black and Red couldn’t score against 9-man Cincinnati on the final day of the season, and star attacker Luciano Acosta has looked mentally checked out since the team botched a proposed sale to Paris Saint-Germain in September. But they’ll like their chances to pull an upset now that TFC could be without Jozy Altidore on Saturday.

Altidore has been limited to just 18 starts this season due to injury and international duty, and Toronto hasn’t replaced his scoring output when he’s been unavailable. Backup striker Patrick Mullins has two goals in eight appearances, and when Altidore went down in the regular season finale, winger Tsubasa Endoh moved up top.

Toronto has done pretty well to find goals from other sources despite only having an adequate starting striker in half its games. They’ve picked up 39 goals from players besides their center forwards, and given D.C. United’s recent form, might just need one to win the game.

The Reds have remained tight-lipped about Altidore’s injury, but here’s one writer’s guess at his status: He’ll be dressed on the bench in a case that says “break glass in case of emergency.” Coach Greg Vanney will be hoping he can just rest his star striker.

What have the young Union learned?

Last season, the Philadelphia Union turned in a naive playoff performance. The center back duo of Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie were exposed for their inexperience by New York City FC.

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This year’s Union team is quite a bit better, but the center backs are still very young, and the team still conceded 50 goals this year. This year’s first round opponent, the New York Red Bulls, doesn’t have the same type of firepower, but still beat Philly 2-0 less than a month ago. The Union need better performances from their talented young defenders.

The Union are notable for spending less money than most MLS teams, and are openly pursuing a policy of developing youth to make money. Philly obviously wants to win playoff games, but also sees them as a shop window. Here’s what head coach Jim Curtin told the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald about the potential sales of McKenzie and Trusty.

“If the moment comes at the right time, we will be smart but aggressive in that first sale, because it is important for the club ... We want to win first here, but when the moment does come, I’m still confident that those guys will have big value in Europe.”

Trusty has actually been out of the lineup recently, but McKenzie is firmly locked in as a starter for both the Union and USMNT Under-23s. These playoffs are an opportunity for him to show he’s grown from last season and worth a seven-figure fee.

Atlanta really should coast through these first two games

Hey, shoutout to Bruce Arena. He took a hopeless looking New England Revolution team and guided it to a playoff spot, going 9-3-10 since taking over in May. Carles Gil is one of the most exciting players in MLS, and Revs fans can look forward to a promising future with a team built around his talents.

Having said that, Atlanta posted a 3-1 win over the Revs on the final day of the season and will be expected to win even more comfortably this weekend. Josef Martinez appears to be fully fit after an injury scare and the Revs have been torched by less prolific forwards Jeremy Ebobisse and Dom Dwyer in recent weeks. Any result but a multiple goal Atlanta win would be surprising.

Atlanta is also a lot better than the aforementioned Red Bulls and Union. The former doesn’t have a decent striker and the latter has been wildly inconsistent all year on account of its youth. Frank de Boer will have some hard questions to answer if Atlanta fails to make the conference finals.

Uh, LAFC kinda dropped off

LAFC was so good during the first half of the season that it didn’t even need to play well over the final two months to clinch the best record in MLS history. Bob Bradley’s team earned a first round bye very comfortably, but only won two of its final eight games, and didn’t keep a clean sheet in any of those matches. It will struggle to keep one in its first playoff game too if star defender Walker Zimmerman doesn’t recover from the concussion he suffered in the final game of the season.

The club is also currently without starting striker Adama Diomande, who has voluntarily entered the league’s substance abuse program. The rotation of makeshift strikers Bradley has tried out in his absence haven’t quite gotten the job done. And there’s no word yet on how long LAFC will be without midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, who was injured in Canada’s win over the USMNT this week.

Carlos Vela is the best player in MLS, and could conceivably carry 10 USL teammates to an MLS playoff win. But he’d probably rather have Diomande, Kaye and Zimmerman to play with.

NYCFC has been quietly and consistently good

Between Domenec Torrent’s struggles in his first half-season with NYCFC and the departure of David Villa, this was expected to be a transition season for the Blues. Its failure to win in the first six games of the season was further evidence that would be the case. But instead, NYCFC has been consistently good, losing twice in a row on only one occasion and finishing top of the Eastern Conference easily.

Youngsters James Sands and Keaton Parks have been consistently solid in the center of the pitch, while the attacking trio of Valentín Castellanos, Alexandru Mitriță and Heber has collectively replaced Villa’s output. The team looks very comfortable in its 3-5-2 shape and balances defensive solidity with getting a lot of numbers into the box very well.

NYCFC isn’t particularly flashy, or boring. It doesn’t have superstars, but doesn’t lack for attacking talent either. The defenders and central midfielders look like they know what their jobs are in Torrent’s system. People are talking more about NYCFC’s stadium situation than what it does on the pitch, but this is a rock solid team that should be favored to win MLS Cup.

MLS Cup Playoffs first round (all times ET)

Atlanta United vs. New England Revolution — Saturday, 1 p.m., Univision

Seattle Sounders vs. FC Dallas — Saturday, 3:30 p.m., FS1

Toronto FC vs. D.C. United — Saturday, 6 p.m., TDN

Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers — Saturday, 10 p.m., ESPN News

Philadelphia Union vs. New York Red Bulls — Sunday, 3 p.m., FS1

Minnesota United vs. LA Galaxy — 8:30 p.m., ESPN

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tastefullyinspiredblog · 7 years

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Interior Design Interview: Aaron Duke Luxury Design

Even in a saturated market like luxury design, Aaron Duke has managed to make his mark. I’m not surprised either. Whether it is with his stylish fashion, his bespoke design projects or the way he chooses to run his business, Aaron moves to the beat of his own drum.

A self-described extrovert, Aaron is very transparent when it comes to his business model, his service offerings and himself. After talking to him on the phone, I quickly gathered that catering to high-end clients isn’t really about the money as much as it is about his preferred design aesthetic. “I couldn’t tell you where to find tile that costs $1,” he admits. I’m totally with you Aaron.

Aaron Duke Interior Designer

But the best part about Aaron isn’t that he tells a story through each of his interiors; it is that he is genuinely a nice guy. He doesn’t let the craziness of the interior design business get to him, always remaining calm under pressure and treating every employee, vendor and colleague the same way he would want to be treated. Now that is the mark of a true professional!

Karina Jones: Your interiors are very versatile. Is there a design aesthetic you personally prefer to work in?

Aaron Duke: When I started my company, I had worked for designers that each had their own style, taste, and aesthetic. It has taken me a lot of self-discovery to define my own point of view and personal brand as an interior designer. At the beginning of 2017, I read the book, Branding + Interior Design by Kim Kuhteubl. I hadn’t even gotten through the first chapter when I started to realize that I needed to be more specific about my point of view and personal brand. Through social media and blogging, I have been using 2017 as a launching pad to emphasis the fact that I create interiors that are classic and timeless. If you asked me what the current design trends are, I couldn’t even tell you.

Karina Jones: We can always expect to find something unexpected in your projects. Is this part of your bespoke philosophy?

Aaron Duke: Every design I create is tailor-made for that client. I believe in telling their story through interior design. Finding something that is unique or incorporating something they already own makes them feel special. I find that adding something unexpected evokes emotion from people. Interior designers are artists. Like artists, our work should cause some sort of reaction from people who view it, or why bother.

Karina Jones: You are quite fashionable. In your opinion, how does fashion inform design and vice versa?

Aaron Duke: Let me start by saying this. Fashion is a business, but style is personal. I have my own personal style, which is an outward reflection of who and what I am. Your home should also reflect your style. I like to ask clients open-ended questions about their lifestyle, so I get a better understanding of how they live, work, play, rest, and entertain. Tom Ford says, “Dressing well is a sign of respect.” I believe a well-lived life begins at home.

Karina Jones: If you weren’t an interior designer, what would you be?

Aaron Duke: If I wasn’t an interior designer, I would be a psychologist, life coach, motivational speaker, and author. I have always found people and their stories interesting. On a minuet scale, I do this with friends and family. I want to know what your story is. What are your dreams, goals, and aspirations? Let’s make a plan to get you there. When you are in pain, let’s talk about it. I am sure I have been there, too. Most people have a fear of public speaking, but I do not. I love to share with others what gets me excited, what struggles I have had, and how I have overcome them, and what my dreams are and what I do every day to get closer to them. For several years, I have wanted to write a book. I really need to sit down and write it. It would be geared toward children and adolescences who maybe feel different or that they don’t belong. I certainly felt that way at that age. It would be great to provide hope to young people that life changes and it does get better. Your dreams can come true.

Karina Jones: I love your confidence. Was that always the case or did that develop over time by being in this business?

Aaron Duke: Let me be vulnerable for a moment. I grew up with self-hatred. Low self-esteem was a step up for me. My interior design education and experience played a vital role in cultivating confidence. I believe the hardest part of starting my own business was discovering who I am as a designer. After years of working for other people, you curb your taste, style, and aesthetics to those of their liking. I am truly grateful for every designer that took a chance on me, and I had the opportunity to learn from him or her. When you are a young designer starting out, you are very unsure of yourself. It was their mentorship and encouragement that helped me gain confidence in my skills and abilities. I was a sponge. I soaked up all the information I could from each and everyone of them. I have spent a great deal of time over the years constantly in a state of self-improvement. Everyday, I want to show up and be the best version of AARON B DUKE that I can be that day. Trust me, it is a life-time job. I feel that you have to be confident as a designer in yourself, your skills, your business model, your design choices, and every move you make.

Karina Jones: What are current trends that you would like to see go away?

Aaron Duke: Like I previously mentioned, I don’t follow design trends, per say. One of the trends I would like to see go away is the misinformation that is being given to the public. Recently, an article was publish by Architectural Digest, This is How Much the Average American Spends on a Kitchen Renovation Cost

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/how-much-american-spends-on-a-kitchen-renovation-costs. First, the photo featured in the article doesn’t attribute the designer or architect who designed this kitchen. Next, the photo isn’t a realistic portrayal of what that kitchen would obviously cost for a homeowner. Finally, the statistics presented in the article I found to be well below actual costs for even a budget conscious remodel. I feel it does a disservice to the interior design industry and sets clients up for disappointment.

Karina Jones: You created a hexagonal ceiling pattern in one of your many fabulous projects. How important are ceilings to you when it comes to design?

Aaron Duke: I had a professor in college tell a joke one day. The only people that pay attention to ceilings are hookers and architects. For some reason, that has stuck with me. Not every room should or must have a ceiling design; but for those special rooms, I believe it adds a layer of depth to the design. When I design, I visualize everything from every angle of the room, and take great consideration of how the client or their guest is going to be experiencing the room. The particular ceiling you reference actually started as a white box. All the modeling details were applied after the client purchased the penthouse. It gave me the opportunity to have a blank canvas to create something special. I knew I wanted to do something wonderful with the ceiling in that room, since it was the first room you would be entering after the foyer. Give the unusual shape of the ceiling; a typical coffered ceiling wouldn’t have made sense aesthetically or mathematically. I actually had found a fabric that had this design and decided to use it as the inspiration for the ceiling design. Through collaboration with the millworker and contractor, we were able to create a spectacular, grand living room for the client who entertains often.

Karina Jones: How did you get into aircraft design and how is it different from designing a home?

Aaron Duke: The private jet was actually collaboration with my former employer, friend, and mentor, Ike Isenhour. In the high-end, luxury market, clients tend to have more than one home and possibly a private jet and/or yacht. We had worked with this client on two of their homes in Europe. Every ten years, private aircrafts must be inspected. At that time, typically, this is when clients decide to remodel. It was time, and we enthusiastically began creating their new private jet. Designing a private aircraft is quite different than designing a home. First of all, there is a list of preferred vendors and products, so that limits your choices for selections. Finally, as you can imagine, there are major regulations and codes. There was lots of testing, calculation, and engineering that went into this project.

Karina Jones: What projects are you currently working on?

Aaron Duke: Currently, we are working on a 12,000 square foot new construction home in the Mediterranean style in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of August. We just completed a home remodel and interior decorating project for a major celebrity client. I keep my client’s confidential. No kissing and telling going on at AARON B DUKE. We have a couple of full home remodeling projects going on in the various neighborhoods of Los Angeles. I am very excited that we are being considered for a new construction home in China. Fingers crossed!

Karina Jones: What’s on the horizon for you and your team?

Aaron Duke: Well, I don’t want to give all my secrets away. We are expanding into markets outside of Los Angeles. Recently, we released a small collection of limited edition, bespoke candles that are handcrafted in Los Angeles. We are working with a local vendor to create a private label collection of table linens. In 2018, we are going to be launching a small furniture collection that will be made in Los Angeles. I am a proponent of using local and American manufacturers who understand the nuance and detail of fine home décor. We want to offer designers and end users something of quality, craftsmanship, and excellence.

Karina Jones: Which designers/architects, past or present, do you admire?

Aaron Duke: First, lets start with the past. Paul Williams was a groundbreaking architect in Los Angeles, being the first African-American certified architect West of the Mississippi. His homes speak of classic and timeless style, that I have always find myself intrigued with the perfectly proportioned home as a whole and each of the rooms. Seriously, if anyone is listening, my dream is to be the interior designer for a Paul Williams home. Michael Taylor was simply brilliant. He was a visionary and far ahead of his time. I can look at his designs today, and they would still be relevant.

Now, for my present designers I admire. For their design aesthetic and style, I would definitely say, my favorites are John Saladino, Rose Tarlow, Michael S. Smith, and Mark D. Sikes. I look to them as the tastemakers of our time. Each of them has their own unique point of view as a designer. It is consistent and strong as you look through their breadth of work. They all understand the elements and principles of design. Each one of their projects is more than a photograph. They are homes for living, and living well.

Finally, I admire Barbara Barry for her business acumen. She is not only an accomplished interior designer, but she also designs products. Barbara does it ALL. I really think this is the mark of a true interior designer – something that is missing in the current climate of interior design. I intend to carve out a niche for myself in this same exact way as my career progresses – textiles, rugs, wall coverings, plumbing fixtures, furniture – I want it ALL.

Karina Jones: Who would you like to partner with and why?

Aaron Duke: I would love to partner with Oprah; she is my guru. Everyone has a story, and what an incredible one she has. She has always been authentic and never shied away from the “bad parts of her life.” Oprah brilliantly used the medium of television to change people’s lives and offer differing viewpoints on topics that were not being addressed openly on television. She had the ability to make that person sitting at home who felt they were the only one who had experienced something in their life realize there were other people in the world just like them. She created connection for people. Oprah is very inspirational. She has a way of inspiring people and enrolling them in the dream. That is something I find very admirable in a person. I would love to just sit with her and discuss spirituality and philosophy. Lastly, Oprah is an influencer. How many products and careers has she helped catapult to the top? Finally, it is the daily practice of gratitude that we both share. The more we are grateful for what we have, the more we get.

https://www.aaronbduke.com

662 North Sepulveda Blvd

Los Angeles, California 90049

(424)262-3853

Interior Design Interview: Aaron Duke Luxury Design was originally published on Tastefully Inspired | Interior Design | Hospitality Design | Home Decor Blog

#interior designer #interiordesign #designer #interiordesigner #AD100 #designtip #housebeautiful #architecturaldigest #elledecor #homedecor #furniture

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