#THIS IS HOW 2016 HAPPENED AND SO MUCH MORE IS AT STAKE NOW

[anticonspiracist]

Hi,

I would come of anon, cause I like an open dialogue, but I’m kinda afraid I’m going to get harassed because of my ask… so anon it is. I’m a Larrie, have been for a while now. I came across your blog and I’m kinda interested in your reasons for not believing in Larry. I couldn’t find those easily. Do you just not see what we see in their bodylanguage, the way they were different from all the other boys? And if it is because of Louis’s denials, do you not believe in closeting in general or just not for Louis and Harry?

First of all, thank you for the questions. If anything I write here needs more clarification for you, feel free to come off anon and send me a DM.

I’ve answered all of these questions multiple times before, but since my first anti-conspiracist blog, shit-larries-say, got nuked, a lot of my answers to these questions are gone as well so I’ll answer them again without hesitation. 

I entered fandom in early April of 2016 by clicking on the Buzzfeed picspam called “There’s A Wild Conspiracy Theory That Louis Tomlinson’s Baby Is Fake.” Much of that picspam was incomprehensible to me as far as evidence goes – when I’m instructed to look at what’s circled, or to read the text added by a larrie pointing out what they believe to be an obvious tell, I’m just not seeing what they expect me to see. Initially I thought this was just because I didn’t know the “players,” but it’s been six years now and I know the actual reason: it genuinely doesn’t mean anything.

When I say that I entered fandom through reading this picspam, I’ve left out why I even clicked on the link that showed up on my Twitter timeline as a retweet from someone I met at a baseball game the previous spring. I’ve been a political junkie on and off my entire life (okay, from the time I was 6) and at around that same time it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Trump was going to win the Republican nomination for President. Only about a month later he’d be named the presumptive nominee. I’d noticed a rise in political conspiracy theories that paired with his rise in influence, and people I thought I knew from my life were posting more and more unhinged screeds on Facebook. I was alarmed and trying to figure out what the fuck was happening. When that link made it to my Twitter feed, I saw an opportunity for myself to figure it out. Something I knew already from my first forays into reading the literature was that regardless of the subject of a conspiracy theory, people who believed in them followed the same thought patterns. Lower stakes than the future of American democracy was this boyband baby situation, so it would be less infuriating to dig into and understand. And if I could understand why someone believed in this absurdity, I could formulate possible procedures for convincing them not to believe in it, and then that could be applied to other, more pressing conspiracy theories and their believers.

(Spoiler alert: I now know that while it is possible to turn a person away from their conspiratorial beliefs, it is not possible to do so on a wider scale than the individual, so basically we’re fucked there.)

Okay, so that’s my background of how I came to be here, which actually answers most of your questions neatly: I don’t believe in Larry because I don’t believe in conspiracy theories generally. There isn’t anything special about Larry that, to someone who recognizes the inherent harm in the conspiracy mindset, is any different from QAnon, or people who believe JFK wasn’t assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, or Flat Earth, or David Icke’s lizard overlords, or any of Alex Jones’s host of conspiratorial beliefs. Simply, “They” are hiding the truth because “They” don’t want us to know it, and “They” are evil for this while “we” are enlightened and on the “right” side and in time the world will know that “we” were right. And all of this relies on underlying antisemitic canards. NOT GOOD. [If you find yourself wanting to say to me, "But some conspiracy theories turn out to be true!" don't bother. I know. But I am also aware that mathematically it's nearly impossible for this one to be true.

Outside of that, I’m a high school teacher. I’ve taught ages 12-19 in my career and this coming school year will be my 10th at the HS level. Every day at work I interact with teenage boys the same age that 1D were when they were thrown together. What you see as irrefutable proof that two teenage boys are in a committed romantic and sexual relationship is what I see on a daily basis: boys being boys. In my summer life I travel overseas and teach this same age group about leadership. I have seen boys from different continents and cultures, five minutes after meeting, wear a sweatshirt together (yes, imagine how that happened) because they were both cold and only one was prepared. This means nothing about their sexualities.

Furthermore, regarding your point that Harry and Louis’s body language toward each other was different from the other boys? No, it wasn’t. It will seem that way to you because of confirmation bias – you’ll see what you want to see – and because there’s simply not as many slowed-down gifs of all the other boys interacting with each other. There isn’t as much lore about these alternate pairings packaged and passed down from “dinosaur larries” to new recruits. 

Regarding closeting, I know it exists but I also know it has not ever existed the way larries claim it does and require it to in order for your conspiracy theory to “work.” For instance, Lance Bass is brought up by larries all the time and my friend and co-host and Lance superfan @back-to-louis will always push back on it. Lance did have girlfriends in his past, whom he loved, and who did not know he was gay. His bandmates did not know he was gay. He was not required by a contract to keep his sexuality a secret. He made that choice himself due to the political and social climate of the time. Furthermore, coming out was not his choice although he outed himself. He had a very limited amount of time to take control of his story before it was out of his hands and he wanted his family to know from him and not from scurrilous gossip on the internet. 

If larries want to point to Lance Bass as an example that proves their conspiracy theory, they also have to ask themselves why they continue to engage in this kind of gossip which would wrench Harry and Louis’s control of their own narratives from their hands. If the larrie conspiracy theory were reality, larries are not the good guys. Look up Ian Thorpe and his contentious relationship with the Australian press regarding his sexuality. Did he previously deny being gay before eventually coming out? Certainly. He came out when he was ready. The only thing you can do, as a fan of Louis and/or Harry, is to respect what they’ve said regarding their sexuality, until and unless they tell you something else. Louis has said he’s straight. He hasn’t ever contradicted that. A good fan and person accepts that as his truth. Harry has been intentionally non-committal about his own sexuality while maintaining romantic relationships with women. Proceeding to label him with one or another is disrespectful. Until and unless he says something else, it’s your responsibility not only as a fan but as a good person to respect what he’s said. Will Harry ever see your blog? No. But there are plenty of queer people reading it, I’m sure, and when a queer person reads a larrie’s blog what they see is that their own words are to be ignored. It’s awful.

Judy Garland wasn’t paid to beard, neither were the women who loved Elton John and Freddie Mercury. There were no contracts involved. These were true love stories, or a friend doing a favor for a friend. THAT is what “bearding” is, not this convoluted contractual process that larries believe it is. And here’s another bone to pick: If the larrie belief of beard contracts were true, why the hell aren’t Harry or Louis EVER blamed for this harmful practice? Why is it only, in effect, their employee who gets the brunt of the internet hate from largely other women? How could you believe in this practice and just excuse Harry and Louis? Don’t you see that they’d be perpetuating a harmful practice? I can hear the defense now – “Oh, but it’s not their choice! They have to do this!” Well, bullshit. They are white millionaires with complete control over their lives. They hire their managers. No one is forcing them to sign contracts they don’t want to sign.

To sum up: I don’t believe in Larry because it is a conspiracy theory (this is not a pejorative use: it definitively checks all the boxes of a conspiracy theory) and I do not engage in conspiracism for multiple reasons, chief among them being that all conspiracy theories which rely on a shadowy sinister force hiding the “truth” are inherently antisemitic. I don’t fuck with that. Larrie belief isn’t a fandom, it’s conspiracism. Conspiracism is harmful to the fabric of our human society, the proof of which is out there for your perusal and embodied in the Trump Administration and also COVID denial at large. All conspiracy theorists rely on the same flawed thought processes, and so claiming that larry is just about “two boys in love” and therefore harmless is bullshit.

Again, feel free to DM me if you have any further questions.

#larry stylinson #louis tomlinson #harry styles #why skye is not a conspiracy theorist #conspiracy theory #conspiracy mindset #conspiracism #all conspiracy theories are the same #all conspiracy theorists are the same

[bookishfeylin]

On finnrey. Tbh I'm not a big SW fan (tho im still planning to watch the original trilogy cuz IK it's amazing), but my fam is and when TFA first released I was forced to go with my dad (don't remember why, just was). By the end a small part of me shipped Finnrey and was certain they'd be a thing. wasn't forced to attend the other 2 films, but from a YTer I learned of crazy Reylo fans and was so confused. Finnrey should be the main couple, not whatever the fuck Reylo is. Vent over lol

Oh, anon you're bringing back memoriesssssssssss

So I got into Star Wars in 2016 exclusively for the sequel trilogy because I heard there was a Black lead. I watched episodes 1-6 in order and LOVED the originals, though I wasn't too impressed with the prequels at the time.

TFA was already out, so after watching it I became a sequel stan waiting eagerly for TLJ, specifically for Finn, and I remember seeing fanart on Pinterest, clicking the link, and being brought to tumblr and discovering this website for the first time years before I actually made an account. I used to browse just for Finn fanart, Rey fanart, fanfiction... it was nice. But I remember there was a bit of Finn hate here and on reddit I didn't understand and some posts about how he was abusive and Kylo Ren was not and was healthier for Rey, and teenage me didn't truly get that at the time. I didn't truly flag it as racism (namely, people jumping to stick Finn with the "dangerous violent Black man" label) but it was big red flag for what was going to happen. TLJ came out, and I was disappointed that Finn was pushed aside for Kylo Ren. I came for the sequels because of the Black lead, not for the white villain. Why should I care about the emotions of a white space neonazi? But things got... so much worse. I remember Reylos calling Finn a coal boy. A dog. A monkey. The actor, John Boyega, spent years being harassed for "getting in the way" of their ship (and he'd already dealt with harassment earlier for having the audacity to be a Black male playing a lead in a big franchise, so this just added to that). Of course, when the actor received harassment in real life and the Reylos started calling the character a monkey, I knew by then it was racism, and I kind of just... stopped poking around on tumblr, Reddit, and even pinterest for sequel trilogy content. One of the people I remember calling out this behavior before I disengaged fully was @diversehighfantasy (check out her blog from the years Star Wars was coming out, from 2015-2019. She talked about the fandom's racism all the time) and she warned that unless fandom positively engaged with Finn more, his character would continue to be minimized as Disney, like all companies, is only after money and will promote whichever characters will bring in the most revenue. But white people (mainly, Reylos) didn't listen. And ofc, Finn was demoted even more in TROS.

Racist Reylos aside, I'd grown disillusioned with the sequel trilogy because, for all the prequel trilogy's weaknesses, it was very strong thematically, and I'd grown to love it for how it complemented the original trilogy. The original trilogy is amazing, but the prequels enhance the originals because the themes of the originals are truly compounded by knowing the full story, the full stakes, and Anakin's fleshed out character as revealed in the prequels. (I also watched The Clone Wars show which was AMAZING, and though I now prefer the prequels to the Clone Wars, the show played a great part in making me love the prequel era worldbuilding and characters and whatnot). The prequels and originals tell a full tale, and so between TLJ's release and TROS I was already feeling... iffy about the sequels walking back on that and the sequels essentially being a poorly made copy of the originals. When TROS came out and the movie completely sidelined Finn, the Black lead we were promised, to shove in a redemption for the white man who'd brutalized him and Rey over and over, and it spat on the face of the entire POINT of the prequels+original trilogy by, uh, having Rey do the thing she does (no spoilers :) ) instead of Anakin having fully completed the job in Return of the Jedi, I fully noped out.

The racists (both the Reylos and the people before them who freaked out over John Boyega having the audacity to be Black and exist in the Star Wars universe) got what they wanted--the white man took center stage, and the "dog", the "coal boy", the "monkey", was sidelined. And the themes of Star Wars and the entire point of the first 6 movies were utterly destroyed, with a variety of retcons and changes in the worldbuilding along the way (and if y'all know me by now you know I DESPISE retcons of any kind).

So for my own sanity, the sequels do not exist. Finn wasn't treated like that. The themes of the first 6 movies weren't walked back on and absolutely trashed as they were. Reylo is not thing, the racists didn't win, and life is good. It was basically an exercise in how I'd treat ACOMAF and all the other books after ACOTAR--they do not exist until I have to honestly critique them.

And frankly I could do it easier here and not for ACOTAR because they weren't technically made by the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas, so the sequels are essentially glorified fanfiction anyway.

Anyway: good on you for avoiding the mess the sequel trilogy ultimately became. I wish I could say the same :)

#and no not all reylos are racist i know some people ship it for the dynamic #but do not ask me or any other Black star wars fan to forget what yall said and did #the names yall called finn #the vitriol for john boyega #sequel trilogy grievances #star wars #star wars sequel trilogy #finnrey #rebel finn #finn #the force awakens #tfa #the last jedi #tlj #the rise of skywalker #tros #ask #anon #fandom racism

[sunshinethevampireslayer]

Tessa Fox-Thomson

She/Her

23 years old (Birthday: 14th February)

Hunter

Good - #Resistance member (above and below ground)

So What Happened?

It’s just their damn luck that Tessa would be reunited with the love of her life under the looming cloud of a supernatural war. Still, she managed to look on the bright side. But let’s not forget, Tessa is a bloodline hunter. She’s been training for this, living this life, since she was old enough to hold a stake.

If anything is true though, it’s that no matter how much you prepare, sometimes you’re just not ready. That’s what it felt like when Founder’s Day hit. Tessa saved as many people as she could and is still doing that to this day. There was no question the Thomsons would join the underground resistance, able to move above and below ground.

There were more than their fair share of devastating hits these past years. Charlotte Lawrence joining the other side--- an act Tessa still tries to understand and sympathise with. Losing Isaiah Jennings... Shelley Pierce...

One thing was clear: Tessa didn’t want to waste another minute not being married to Vanessa Fox. The ceremony was small, quiet and absolutely perfect. All that mattered to Tessa was making her promises to her soulmate. There is no one who loves their wife more!

Both Tessa and Vanessa worked hard for the Resistance, trying to bring down the Bad GuysTM at any corner. When the plan for November 2016 came around, Tessa had her doubts about the plan but they were floundering. Something big had to be done. And then it all went horribly wrong.

It’s been 6 months since then, Tessa working extra hard to keep up morale and take care of her wife. They needed something. They needed help. When Vanessa was assigned the mission outside the dome, Tessa wanted to go with her. But she was needed back in Havensdale. They’d see each other soon.

And then it happened. Vanessa got stuck outside the dome. Now Tessa is doing all she can to figure out how to get her back in, to end this damn fight and free the town. Seeing and speaking but not being able to touch her wife through the invisible barrier is hell. But she’s trying to stay positive.

Wanted Connections

All the fellow #Resistance members/allies/Institute members now working with the Resistance!! We’ve been a found family for years now, let’s chat! Let’s bond! Who was at the underground wedding??

People that Tessa has helped keep alive, saved during attacks, kept safe etc etc.

#hihtimejump #hihrp #me every time: it didn't have to be this long #dhusjso #i'll post some tldr; for everyone too lol!!

[marypsue]

I realise you haven't been enjoying season 4 very much, but i thought you might enjoy my newest ST related hobby, which is thinking about an AU where Bob survives season 2 and goes to Russia with Joyce and Murray to break Hopper out of jail. I personally think this is the funniest possible timeline and would have some incredible character dynamics/interactions.

If you were gonna change one plot point from ST, which do you think would have the best knock-on effect on later seasons?

Oh I'm absolutely going to be adding that scenario to the 7-11 taquito roller in my mind, thank you! Any AU where Bob survives is a good AU, and also I am dying thinking about how absolutely, incandescently confused Hopper would be about him turning up in the USSR like 'what, like it's hard'?

I love every single time people underestimate Bob Newby because he is kind and cheerful and goofy and intensely normcore and a lil fat and a bit of a scaredy cat, until the stakes become real and he immediately steps up and turns out to also be brave and inventive and kind of a badass, and leaves everyone who hadn't expected it from him and had only seen what they expected to see scratching their heads. It never fails to delight me. (I am still only at the end of s4 episode 4 so I don't actually know how they managed to resolve the whole Russia-rescue plot in canon, but now I am absolutely going to be finishing out my watch thinking the whole time about what would be the most ridiculous, absurd, infuriating, hilarious way to work Bob into it. Excellent watching-season-4-faceplant-itself-directly-into-a-wall-over-Cold-War-xenophobia coping strategy. Delightful.)

If I were going to change one plot point, in canon, with the intent that it would be a) something that could realistically happen canonically in a Netflix show between 2016-2023 and that its knock-on effects would be as well, and b) something that would have the most general positive effect on my opinion of the series...hm. That's a tough one. Because I can think really easily of thematic things that I would change, or characterisation things that I would change, but those would both require changing a lot of plot points. This is a much bigger challenge!

I am going to say that the plot point I would change...would be in season 3, where it turns out there are Russians in a secret basement under the mall. Dustin and Steve and Robin and Erica can keep chasing what they assume are Russian spies throughout most of the season, but something isn't quite adding up. They find their way into a secret sub-basement, and find the source of the Russian message Dustin intercepted - only to discover that it's all been a false flag operation, because the lab got shut down in disgrace after season 2 and Nancy and Murray's expose, and now they're having to study the Gate (and try to recreate it) in secret with plausible deniability of their government connections if they get caught. Things get considerably more complicated and less jingoistic, it's tied back into the theme of season 1, and there's like at least 25% less Murray Bauman.

(And then, even though season 4's plot isn't really all that affected by the events of season 3 beyond Literally The Last Episode, we have no boneheaded bullshit involving Russia in s4, and any sympathy that the boys might have tried to cultivate for the assholes at the lab who abducted children and raised them in captivity, being experimented on against their will, without human connection except that which was used to manipulate them in order to use them as weapons would be just patently absurd, so maybe they wouldn't fucking do that. And also maybe I wouldn't have to endure any more Murray-with-a-funny-Russian-accent cardboard cutout 'characters'. One must imagine a better world, or how else can it become?)

#stranger things #chatter #in the everybody-has-powers AU I have cut murray out of the action completely #and replaced 90% of his role with bob #i'm the author i get to pick the music

[macflorendo]

THANK YOU to life!

This is my Eulogy.

First. I would like to thank Life and God for giving me the opportunity to live and experience a taste of this world.

TO MY FAMILY. Thank you for raising me well. I am not me without any single of you. I may not express as much as needed but I want you to know that I LOVE YOU. See you soon!

I may not be the best son, not the best brother. I don’t wish to be one but I would like to believe that we are destined to be the way we are. Well, that’s where I learn from my lessons from anyway - all my mistakes.

TO THE ENVIRONMENT. I am so proud to have joined Cuernos de Negros Mountaineers Club, Inc. of Silliman University for teaching me how to love the environment. Because of that, I was able to travel to 5 countries (USA, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand) for FREE to attend different environmental programs and its alumni engagements.

Aside from being able to see different parts of the world. I am fortunate to learn that there is a problem that we need to do something about. Our children’s lives are at stake.

-

MUSIC, MAGIC, & MOVING PICTURES. MY PASSIONS. I cannot thank you enough. We have been through the happiest and most difficult times of my life. When there’s no one else to talk to and hang out with, you were there.

You even got me jobs!

-

SOUTH KOREA. You are my second home country. You made me realize that I am part of the world, a global citizen. There is the potential of anyone to make a difference even to another individual in the world. Thank you Silliman University and Hannam University for this opportunity!

I am happy I am able to learn Korean so I could understand you. Now, I am giving back by learning your language too. South Korea is beautiful. I know most of you are tired of the pressure in your country. But please, never forget your passions and purpose. There’s more to the world than getting a “good” job and lots of money.

-

EVENTS.

2011 - Moved to Dumaguete to study in Silliman University, Dumaguete City. I lived in Vernon Hall inside the campus, lived in an apartment for summer class, and then lived with mom and sister until I graduated.

2013 - I was exchange student to Hannam University in Daejeon, South Korea. That was my first time abroad. I took up Korean Language classes, Faith and Film, and Advance VIdeo Production Class. I taught English to students during my free time and that’s where I got my allowance.

2015 - I became an academic fellow on Environmental Issues under Young Southeasts Leaders Initiative. We went to Hawaii, Colorado, and Washington DC.

- I founded Food Rescue Philippines (formerly Food Rescue ASEAN)

2016 - I graduated Cum Laude from Silliman University.

March 2020. There’s an ongoing virus called COVID-19 infecting people around the world. Who knows what will happen next? We will not be always safe. I live in a dorm, I live with other people. They may be carrying the disease. I hope not. I have one roommate who still goes to work at this time. I hope he won’t bring the disease in the dorm. There’s currently 187 infected patients in the Philippines and recovery rate has not moved at all.

July 2020.  COVID cases are not easing down here in the Philippines. I heard stories of the government just making money out of this situation…

2021 - 2022. Met the worst person in my life. But thank you for making me wiser and way better.

MARCH 2023 - I got hired as Food Rescue Supervisor at Scholars of Sustenance. This is a dream come true. I used to bike and work with volunteers for this advocacy but I now work with a bigger organization that can create more impact.

JULY 2023. I will be turning 30 in 2025. I want to focus on meaningful and valuable work. I also want to create opportunities for myself and others to grow financially, and spriritually.

- 

I am happy that I have experienced many jobs. I realized that I can do so much more, and at the same time, I know I will have options when any career I would choose won’t work.

-

LOVE. Love is a BURST of emotions that happen in your body. That feeling is temporary. When choosing a partner, remember BURST.

B - Believe in each other.

U - Understand each other.

R - Respect each other.

S - Support each other.

T - Trust Each Other

-

MEANING OF MEANING

Meaning starts with ME. Everything you do should start and would meaning something to you.

MEAN has three meanings.

1. what do you mean to say

2. you are so mean

3. what does it mean

MEANING is present tense. Is it something that you currently do. It should be something that you are doing now.

-

A MESSAGE TO MY YOUNGER SELF/TO MY CHILDREN/ TO YOUNG PEOPLE:

1. Exercise more. Play more.

2. Get long hair and donate.

3. Grow a beard! (DONE)

4. Talk to more people. (ALWAYS)

5. Go to more places. Be more adventurous. (BE MORE SPECIFIC)

-

A MESSAGE TO MY FUTURE SELF:

1. Hope you are still doing what you love; performing really good magic, doing something for the environment, helping people, and sharing what you know.

2. Stay fit.

3. Be financially secure.

4. Always learn.

5. Network more. Meet more people.

6. Don’t work for a boring company with boring people.

-

TRAVELS

Countries I traveled to..

2013 - South Korea - Seoul, Daejeon, Busan, Chuncheon, Okcheon, Jeonju

2015 -  USA - Hawaii, Colorado, Washington DC

2015 - Singapore

2015 - Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

2016 - Thailand, Bangkok

2016 - Cambodia, Siem Reap

2017 - South Korea - Seoul, Daejeon, Pohang, Busan

2020 - Japan - Osaka, Nagoya

2022 - France - Paris

2023 - Thailand - Bangkok

PHILIPPINES

1. Zamboanga

2. Dumaguete

3. Manila

4. Cebu

5. Davao

6. Iloilo

7. Palawan - Puerto Princesa

8. Baguio

9. Tagaytay

10. Bohol

11. Siquijor

12. La Union

13. Zambales

14. Dapitan

15. Bacolod

16. Boracay

17. La Union

18. Pampanga

19. Bulacan

To be continued…

Edited 5/9/2019

Edited 10/2/2019

Edited 3/18/2020

Edited 3/29/2020

Edited 7/23/2020

Edited 9/6/2021

Edited 1/1/2022

Edited 4/14/2022

Edited 7/11/2022

Edited 7/1/2023

[judasrpc]

THE INFILTRATOR (2016 FILM) DIALOGUE STARTERS

add context & change gendered language to your needs !! contains explicit / graphic content pertaining to violence, drugs, and similar potentially upsetting themes !!

if multi, please specify which muse(s) !!

" Oh, I know. No, I know what you mean. But you're so cute when you struggle. "

" Hey, keep your eyes off my girlfriend. "

" You know, my people say they can handle more. "

" That's just what my people like to hear. "

" Hey, let's get the fuck out of here. "

" Get your fucking hands off me! "

" So, is [name] dead? "

" Oh, he's dead alright. Deep fried. "

" You don't get a piece of the action? "

" Everyone needs a beachfront address. I got six of them. "

" Yeah, well, I just don't live in your world. "

" When I say bad, I mean the county morgue had to rent Burger King's trucks to ice all the dead bodies littering our sunny streets. "

" Meet with your connects, talk to your informants, do your job. "

" Before I go to jail, I swear on my fucking kids, I'm gonna put someone on [name]. "

" And I'm gonna go in naked so he doesn't have to worry about me having a gun. "

" Hey, fuck you, buddy. "

" I wonder what Sunday dinner is like at his place. "

" I'd hate to lose you, [name]. "

" You know, we have a front door. "

" I don't get invited to too many houses with a wife and tea. More like coke, whores, and Schlitz, you know what I'm saying? "

" How long have you known them? "

" Long enough. What is this, 20 Questions? "

" What do you care? Is it coming out of your pocket? "

" Okay. Alright. Be like that. "

" You trust this guy?"

" As much as I trust you. “

" Trust you, man? I pay you for information, not trust. "

" I think that we've been doing this backwards. "

" You can't work without him. He's your way in. "

" Yeah, it's kind of sexy. "

" Who the hell cares it it's sexy? "

" I care. It's my name. I want(ed) to have a sexy name. "

" So, how'd you two meet again? "

" You two must have got all the pussy. "

" Don't encourage him. "

" Oh, my God. It was so filthy even the rats ran from it, you know? "

" Um, do you need money for a cab? "

" My boss wants to stay in the background. You're going to have to deal with me, ok? "

" So, this is all just a joke to you? "

" Oh, that's just... Hold it, hold it. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I gotta write that shit down. That's fucking brilliant. "

" It's the little things that get you whacked, do you understand that? "

" You should put those on. Could get a little messy. "

" I don't care who you work for right now. I really don't. I'm not here for that. "

" Just be yourself. I need you. "

" Okay. Flip him or fuck him. "

" That would be something we might consider. "

" Promise me this is the last one. "

" We are going to have a fantastic evening. I promise you that. "

" I cannot allow my businesses and your money to be compromised. "

" [Name], you're undercover. You gotta do whatever the fuck you gotta do, man. "

" Oh, my God, you're a piece of work, [name]. You're a fucking piece of work. "

" You guys could be playing cricket on a yacht, eating early... Whatever it is that fucking white people do when you retire. "

" It's my fucking drug of choice. "

" Let me tell you something: Nobody, nobody does it better than me. So listen to me sometimes, will you? "

" [Name], I think that we should walk before we run. Everything will happen in the right time. "

" Fuck that! There's no deal. "

" I will keep my hands off you if you keep your eyes on my bosses' money. "

" The [family/organization name] have staked more than their reputation, they have staked their lives. And yours, I'm afraid. "

" You think I have women lining up around the block wanting to marry you? "

" Now go out and get to know whoever it takes to make me look like I rubbed the right dick. It's a metaphor. "

" Sir, in the future I will manage this personally. We do this for our customers who handle special clients. Do you understand? "

" That's what I want to hear, because my clients are businessmen, too, like yourselves, only their business is selling cocaine. "

" We like to be nimble with our clients' cash. How does that sound? "

" Perfect. You already sound like a married couple. "

" Stay close to the truth, makes it easier to lie. "

" Now you're fucking this up. What are you, a moron or something? "

" Except I get this motherfucker telling me that I'm a liar? "

" That was the most degrading, vicious, disgusting thing I have ever seen you do. "

" Who the fuck are you working for? Huh? Who do you work for, motherfucker? "

" Listen, friend, I never fuck on the first date. "

" Whatever happened to good ol' integrity? "

" Do you think that I'm doing a good job for you? "

" If you can't convince your bosses to meet with me, then our arrangement is over. "

" We have reached a point of no return, [name]. "

" So, [name], what can you do for me? "

" We like to take, not to be taken. "

" Watch this, [name], and learn. "

" Well, I love being on a first-name basis with a gentleman. "

" Can I ask you a question? Have you ever had your palm read? "

" I've just never seen quite so many stars align at the fate line. It means destiny has marked you for success. "

" That's why I'm marrying [name]. I want what you have. A normal family. You are very fortunate. "

" It's their fault I'm not wearing an apron and sweating my balls off in a kitchen somewhere. "

" God gave us free will, so who am I to stand in the way of someone who wants to indulge in self-destructive behavior? "

" The only difference is, in my business, nothing good ever comes in the absence of trust. "

" Yeah, well, you're here because of me, and I feel responsible for your safety. "

" You know, that son of a bitch was my friend. "

" I'm risking my life for pennies, man. "

" You want more money, get a fucking law degree. "

" I'll fucking tell them you're a piece of shit... "

" I should've listened to him. I'm such a fucking idiot, the fucking... "

" You shut your fucking mouth. You fuck this up and I swear to God..."

" It stinks in here like a fucking pig. "

" Oh, I'm so scared of you with your dick hanging out like that. "

" But there's a little problem I need you to fix first. "

" That's not an answer that keeps you alive, my friend. "

" I know I sound like a broken record, but I fucking heard it and I've seen it. You think you understand? You fucking don't. "

" They cut off your fingers. They cut off your toes. They inject you with that adrenaline shit so you can't pass out before all of that. "

" Man, they cut open your fucking eyes so you can't shut them, and then they're gonna bring in your little fucking family. "

" You made a choice... And this is mine. "

" Well, you certainly know how to make women happy. "

" Unfortunately, neither you nor I are in a position to dictate terms to [name]. "

" Yes, that is exactly what I'm asking you to do. "

" [Name], you started the meeting without me. "

" Why don't you go take a walk, huh? "

" Are you kidding me? I'm gonna dance with you right away. "

" I know. I know who the fuck you are, [name]. "

" I'm going to sit in your fucking hotel, and then I'm going to kill you! "

" I'm not going back home with you right now. "

" Are you sleeping with him? "

" You're a lucky woman. And you don't have to worry. "

" [Name], listen, I need more time. "

" There is a beginning, middle, and end to everything. This is the end, [name]. "

" We live each day in divinity. The power and the quality of divinity. It rains on us. When we live in humility, God's providence pours into us. We are truly blessed. All of us. We live in majesty. Each and every one of us who work on such a glorious endeavor... God pours his infinite benevolence on [us], as we have the humility to receive it. "

" [Name] told me you're the only one I can trust. "

" It's like you get close to people, you know them. "

" It's not just a job. I feel so terrible for her. "

" [Name], tux looks good. Kiss the bride for me. "

" Hey [name], [name]! Can you help me with this damn thing? "

" Do you think I'm gonna get fucked later? "

" Oh, you're gonna get fucked like you've never been fucked before. "

" Move it, piss ant. "

" [Name], I'm glad you're here. But there is a part of me that wishes you hadn't taken that risk. "

" You traitors! You will fucking regret this! You hear me? You will live to regret this! "

" Ain't that some shit, [name]? "

" Too bad you got jilted, you look so hot. "

" Go home, [name]. "

#rp memes #rp meme #rp prompts #rp prompt #roleplay prompts #writing prompts #ask box meme #askbox meme #rph #rpc #judasrpc

[cmcreid-warriorprincess]

Caroline ‘Carrie’ McReid

She/Her

20 years old (Birthday: 20th January)

Vampire - turned November 2016

Good - Resistance (although in the throes of #existential crisis)

So What Happened?

They flew too close to the sun, you know? Wait-- taking it back a step. Prom --- right? A magical, wonderful night where Carrie danced with her vampire boyfriend Alex and worried too much about their future. About having more time. She had no idea what was in store, not really.

When the news broke that Leo and Effy had been killed in an ‘accident’, the McReids immediately suspected foul play. This was later confirmed in confidence between Karen and Sheriff Bennett. Juliette Palmer was a warlock now and it was bad.

The McReids had been preparing for things to kick off- ideally they’d wanted to stop it before it ever began- but no one could have seen it coming. There were too many of them and they were too strong. Engel had removed the weaknesses from supernaturals (stakes killing vampires, silver hurting werewolves etc) in Havensdale before trapping them all inside.

The move underground happened fast. Once it was clear they couldn’t win the fight, Karen moved fast. And she wasn’t alone. Krystal McReid was still alive and she was here. Thanks to some very powerful magic, a safe place had been created underground, sealed by McReid blood. Founder Festival was only the beginning and they were lucky to make it out, all of them.

That’s when the work had to really begin. The underground #Resistance grew and grew. At first, they were rescuing those on the #1 hit list for the Bad GuysTM and after, gaining new recruits above and below ground for their cause. It was a simple objective: free the town, kill the bad guys and save the day.

There were a lot of highs and lows- losses and gains- from June 2014 to November 2016, including Carrie’s dear friend and comrade Molly Vaughn being turned into a vampire.

They had to do something. That was the sentiment on November, 2016. They had to make a move, take a stand. Something big and powerful. It was time to take them out where they lived, flatten their HQ once and for all. They planned and planned but they didn’t plan enough. No one could have predicted just how badly wrong that mission would go.

Her Aunt Karen was killed. Jordan wasn’t there when they needed him (lured outside the Dome), when Carrie was captured. When Ruby, Corey and Alex were forced to watch. Edward knew what he was doing all along... He made Alex drink her blood before delivering a fatal blow. Carrie never wanted to be a vampire. Alex saved her life.

From the moment Carrie turned into a vampire, fed human blood to complete the transition, she was rendered useless. Drowning in a sea of overwhelming, heightened emotion, Edward took her out of the fight. And then Ruby... She got herself turned as well. Bloodline hunters shouldn’t be vampires.

That was 6 months ago. She hasn’t recovered and she doesn’t think that they she will. That they can. How can they win this fight? How could they ever?

Wanted Connections

All the #Resistance members!! Especially those who have been hunkered down in the underground. And now, any #good vamps that can help her through these trying times.

#hihtimejump #hihrp #/ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!

[katatonicimpression]

Salty comics ask: 2,3,5,7, 11, 21, 38. If you feel like it. Character(s) of your choice.

2. What character death for the sake of drama was the worst?

Everett's is pretty bad. They announce that he's dead, then proceed to do an entire 4 issue arc that has nothing to do with him before even explaining what happened. Then, after the explainer, they barely mention him. And I think actually the fact that (similar to the Hellions), his resurrection on Krakoa hasn't featured any of that angst or drama because it's not the direction they want to go with Emma..

But yeah. Transparently done for the drama, to raise the stakes. And, much like with Thunderbird or Darwin in the First Class film, it's a tired racist trope.

3. Who is your most hated comics writer?

Gezza D.

Although, there's definitely overall worse writers out there. There are some attrocious comics that I've struggled through. But in general, I'm not one for going out of my way to look up who the writers and artists are for everything I look at. If I remember their name, I remember their name.

And I genuinely think it's not good to get too fixated on these figures, especially when you don't like their work. I've been hyper aware of how fucked up even the valid criticism can get, when it's relentless, large scale and directed at a single person.

So, I guess I'm saying that I hope Gerry doesn't have tumblr.

5. Who mischaracterized [x] the worst?

Monet? Cullen Bunn wrote Uncanny X-Men (2016) so fuck that guy I guess.

Bobby? Whoever had the idea to pair him up with Mystique.

7. What “throwaway” character could they have done more with?

Ooh, there's a lot of good answers to this.

I'll put forward Mel from that first Cap storyline with Nightshade. No reason why they couldn't bring that back and make more out of it, even if he's dead.

Mindmeld. Interestingly, the new character of Escapade is also a trans woman with similar conciousness transfering powers. But they're hardly similar outside of that; there's plenty of room. Bring back Mindmeld.

11. What’s the worst art you’ve seen?

I saw your post with the Greg Land examples. Seconded.

A lot of Liefeld options, obviously.

Sometimes it feels pretty mean to harp on art for not being so good. I get the "they're professionals, they got paid for this" argument, but whatever. Hell, sometimes I like it when the art looks kind of shitty because it gives me hope for my own lol.

But I will say that, for me, when it's that more realistic and hyper-smooth style that was big in the 2005-2015 era, that's when I have the least sympathy. There's so much technical competence on display and yet so often, really poor compositions of the panels and just a sub zero taste level. So yeah, Greg Land.

21. Who’s the most overhyped villain excluding the Joker?

Thanos was more entertaining in his early days when he was goofier.

I think it makes sense that the MCU used him as their first Big Bad, but I personally do not care about him or take him seriously as an existential threat in the slightest lol.

And specifically, I think the effort to rebrand him as a serious, universe destroying, massive big serious scary, manly man scary villain, makes him less fun. And because of the movies, they're going to keep him as the biggest of big bads forever now. Boo.

38. What character that was reduced to a love interest deserves so much better?

Honestly the phrase "reduced to a love interest" is not one I associate with good faith arguments (see: MCU Sharon hate), but there's something to it sometimes.

Most of the examples I can think of are temporary (e.g. Monet is a love interest in Weapon X-Force, Rachel is basically just a love interest in Captain Britain - The former was awful and the latter is... fine). It's not always an issue when it's temporary and done well, but is a problem if it's a rut the character gets stuck in when they're only "so-and-so's partner", or if they're really ooc or the writing is insulting etc... It also doesn't count if they were only ever conceived of as a love interest.

Weirdly, the only character I can think of that this has definitely happened to is Layla Miller, who hasn't been a character outside of Jamie's wife and a mother to their kid for like a decade.

I'm sure there are better examples, I'm just drawing a blank.

#asks

[mariacallous]

Somehow, campaigns always seem to end in Philadelphia for the Democrats. On the eve of the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton staged a rally on Independence Mall with the Obamas, Bruce Springsteen, and Jon Bon Jovi; a hopeful line filled with pairs of mothers and daughters snaked through the cobblestoned streets of Society Hill. In 2020, Joe Biden held a socially distanced drive-in rally at F.D.R. Park in South Philly, which featured a performance by John Legend. This year, the celebrity wattage was turned down a bit—just a midterm, after all—and Biden and Barack Obama finished the campaign, this weekend, with a rally on Temple University’s campus. But, even if the city hasn’t changed, the Democratic mood in the final hours of these three elections has grown tenser. “This ain’t your father’s Republican Party—this is a different breed of cat,” Biden said in Philadelphia. Obama was even starker. “I understand that democracy might not seem like a top priority right now, especially when you’re worried about paying the bills,” he said. “But when true democracy goes away—we’ve seen throughout history, we’ve seen around the world—when true democracy goes away, people get hurt.”

Nearly two years into the Biden Administration, with reports that Donald Trump will launch a 2024 Presidential bid next week, the dark and pessimistic era in American politics has not broken yet. The midterm elections on Tuesday will be decided in quantitative terms: Democrats need to just about sweep the tossup seats in the House to keep control of it—which seems very unlikely, and probably need to win three of the four most closely contested Senate races (in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania) to retain a majority in the upper chamber. But, as the past six years have demonstrated, partisan politics is always evolving, developing new fixations and themes. At stake in Tuesday’s vote—and in any runoffs or fights over the legitimacy of those votes that follow—is not just the balance of power between now and the 2024 Presidential election but what the politics to come will be about.

Will the Democratic Retrenchment Work?

It’s hard to remember such a radical shift in political tone from one election to the next. In 2018 and 2020, Democratic politicians were offering expansive visions for how to overhaul the relationship between government and citizens; this year, the campaign rhetoric has tended to be much more guarded, the policies more incremental. Democrats don’t talk about imminent political transformation anymore, and they don’t really talk much, either, about the structural imbalances of American life—economic and racial inequality. Few candidates have been willing to campaign with President Biden, but the Party has adopted his ethos. Its candidates talk up the tangible investments they’ve made in the future, both through checks cut to Americans during the COVID crisis and through Biden’s infrastructure and recovery programs, and contrast their own commonsensical approach to politics with the radicalism of the Trump-era Republicans. If they sound a little tense, it is because they have taken a fundamentally defensive position.

Like so much with the Biden-era Democrats, this is born of pragmatism: they have the narrowest of majorities, and their fear of what will happen to politics should Republicans regain power is deep. One big question for the Democrats on Tuesday is whether this centrist retrenchment—in which they cast themselves as the practical establishment and the Republicans as the wild-eyed revolutionaries—will work if Trump is not on the ballot. Governor Tony Evers, of Wisconsin, and the incumbent senators Mark Kelly, of Arizona; Catherine Cortez Masto, of Nevada; and Raphael Warnock, of Georgia, have all, in different ways, followed the playbook. If they win, then the Party will likely become more clearly Bidenist for the next two years. If they lose, then it may no longer be clear what political plan the President has for his party, or whether he remains a good fit for it.

Can the Republicans Sweep the Sun Belt?

Speaking to the National Conservatism Conference in September, the right-wing billionaire mega-donor Peter Thiel sketched an image of the California that he and other Republicans saw. “It is just such an ugly picture,” Thiel said. “The homeless poop, people pooping all over the place—it’s the ridiculous rat-infested apartments that don’t work anymore, it’s the woke insanities—there’s so much that it feels like shooting fish in a barrel. It’s so easy, so ridiculous to denounce.” Thiel noted, “DeSantis in Florida is probably the best of the governors in terms of offering a real alternative to California.”

During Trump’s Presidential campaigns, MAGA conservatism had a Midwestern tone, in the former President’s denunciations of an “American carnage” that had afflicted postindustrial places. But the younger Republicans who have followed Trump would love a chance to contrast the booming economies of a conservative Sun Belt with the allegedly sclerotic politics and culture of the Democratic coasts—to argue that MAGA-ism isn’t just about the past but the future. The incumbent Republican governors Greg Abbott, of Texas; Ron DeSantis, of Florida; and Brian Kemp, of Georgia, look almost certain to win reëlection, and Kari Lake is the favorite to become the governor of Arizona; each is likely to be a major national figure in the years to come. (DeSantis, most prominent of all, has raised an astonishing hundred and seventy-seven million for his political war chest.) How big are their margins, how many Hispanic voters will back them, how many Republican senators and Congress members can they help sweep into office behind them? The outcomes of these races look mostly set, but the margin and manner will help determine what form conservatism takes in the next two years and who will lead it.

Have the Parties Permanently Changed?

U.S. politics has reorganized in two ways during the past decade. The first change has already played out: education polarization, in which more-educated voters move to the Democratic Party and less-educated ones to the Republicans. The second, related change is still embryonic: racial depolarization—the possibility that race might become a less powerful predictor of voting behavior, which in turn might open up some Hispanic, Black, and Asian votes for Republicans. Are these changes specific to the particular chaos of the past decade—of the generational wave that turned into right-wing populism here and in many other places—or will they become permanent?

The place to look for tidal changes in U.S. politics—those that have little to do with personality—is in the House of Representatives, whose members are low-profile enough that in elections they often become proxies for the general opinion of their parties. The indispensable House-elections analyst Dave Wasserman, of the Cook Political Report, has rated two hundred and twelve races as leaning toward the Republicans, a hundred and eighty-seven toward the Democrats, and thirty-six as tossups: Republicans would need to win just five of the tossups for a majority, and so the range of plausible outcomes is pretty broad. If Democrats are to keep the House close, they will need to hold their suburban seats: Representative Angie Craig’s district, in the south suburbs of Minneapolis; Representative Jahana Hayes’s district, in Connecticut’s Fairfield and Litchfield Counties and points farther north; Representative Katie Porter’s district, in Orange County, California; and Representative Abigail Spanberger’s, in the northern suburbs of Richmond, Virginia. If the movement of Hispanic voters toward the Republicans is truly gaining strength, the G.O.P. would expect to make gains in south Texas, where Representative Mayra Flores, a conservative Republican who won a seat long held by Democrats in a special election earlier this year, is up for reëlection, and where the longtime pro-life Democrat Representative Henry Cuellar is facing a challenge from a Republican, Cassy Garcia, in the Twenty-eighth Congressional District. In these places, you might catch a glimpse of the partisan change continuing to accelerate—or finding a new resting place.

How Does the Pennsylvania Story End?

No place has so embodied the turmoil of the past decade in American politics as Pennsylvania, which has been central to both the working-class defection to Trump’s Republicans and Scranton-born Biden’s success at stabilizing politics, at least for a time. In two statewide races this fall, for governor and for Senate, Pennsylvania has also encapsulated the 2022 election. Doug Mastriano, an election denier running for governor under the MAGA banner, looks likely to come up short against the moderate Democrat Josh Shapiro. But the other race, on which control of the Senate may hinge, is very close. The celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, handpicked by Trump, may defeat John Fetterman, the rough-hewn, progressive lieutenant governor of the state, who suffered a stroke during the campaign, from which he has only partly recovered. At every stage, Fetterman’s candidacy has had an outsized symbolic importance. In recent weeks, it has suggested how much depends upon a few Democratic candidates—their talent, their health, and their ability to defy the basic political atmosphere. In its final stage, on Tuesday, it carries the question of which party can lay claim to the political “heartland.”

What Will the Elections Mean for the Future of Trump?

Had I written a column like this before the 2020 Presidential election, I would have probably said that one thing at stake in the vote was whether the Trump era was finally over. But I can’t see any way that Tuesday’s election will put an end to Trumpism. There are simply so many Republicans who sound like him and defend him, and many of them are young and poised for victory. The MAGA movement is here to stay.

Quantitatively, it doesn’t look like this election will be a historic partisan disaster for the Democrats. They will probably lose control of at least one chamber of Congress, and maybe both, but we are talking about a handful of Senate seats changing hands. The dread that many liberals feel has as much to do with the realization that Trump’s movement has not just survived the first half of Biden’s term but continues to be the protagonist in American politics, the force against which others react. We ran this experiment—an expansive right-wing movement, a nervous center-left establishment, pressures against democratic norms—once already, and we did so in a good economy. We are about to run it again, in a bad one. ♦

[bybdolan]

i wrote a paper for school about how wild taylor's public perception got in 2015/2016 and when i was researching it and i got to that ary*n princess article/rumor it just felt so out of nowhere? like just cause she was quite about politics (which also... she wasn't she said she voted for obama back in 2010 (?) so she was a progressive democrat) people just went from 0-100 and said she was a white supremist.

the only thing more wild than that however was the fact she didn't respond. i understand that she was deep in hiding at that point and was told not to be bothered by her team by any news whatsoever... but if there's one thing to make an exception for it's a rumor that you're a white supremist the priorities were off.

After giving it much thought, Ifeel like there is no way to answer this ask thouroughly without opening the “how being white affects Taylor’s career” can of worms, which I am not qualified to dive into (party because I am white myself and also not American). What I will say is that in light of both Taylor’s tendency to portray herself as an underdog (justified or not) and the fact that there definitely was a political note to her feud with Kanye, given that it was a dispute between a Black man and a white woman, I am not surprised that, in a time of extreme political divide, she ended up being used for one of the extremes. And while I do understand why she did what she did when it comes to staying silent on her political views, I can also recognize how it made people upset when lives were at stake.

If I were to take a step back and look at this from the perspective of somebody who does not care about celebrities, I may think “what difference would a statement have made in the great scheme of things?” and from that angle I also understand why her team didn’t say anything, because a) it would have been a PR mess either way and b) you do not want to give it more attention. The issue I personally have with it is just this weird divide between how much Taylor/her team care about the way she is perceived when it comes to other things vs. THIS. Apart from PR aspects and all shouldn’t you maybe go “hm the artist I am representing being praised by a hate group is maybe not a good thing and I should do something about it”? I choose to believe Taylor that she was unaware at the time because it was 2016/2017, and she has since spoken out against white supremacy multiple times, and I think that the reaction would be VERY different if it were to happen now, but it’s still a weird spot in her career.

#i have become a bit more 'mh' on celebrity activism in general #but this is an extreme case that was handled badly imo #ask #anonymous #d*n't r*bl*g

[girldigital]

It's 2 am

I just cracked open my favorite 0% fat yoghurt of the moment. A few spoonfuls later, here I am typing away back in the relatively same dim and colorful cocoon I had back home.

While I haven't been listening to music much since this summer (pretty comical for a self-proclaimed DJ I know), I tend to talk to myself when writing in silence. To counter that, I've just put on this playlist I started back in 2016, when living in a lava lamp lit high rise apartment was only just a dream. I guess I'm not exactly there yet, but close enough. It only took 8 years...

Anyway, I've just started watching SATC following encouragement from roomie Angel and I guess that's why I'm here.

I moved to London about 20 days ago and life finally feels like it's started. I'll give a quick rundown, then hopefully I can maintain short daily entries....

I guess I'll start before I departed.

It's been a pretty tough year for me (depression! crazy mother! ah!), but I won't be getting into that right now. May was the turning point (no criminal record! great birthday in NYC!) and it's been up ever since.

I made sure I saw as many people I love before leaving. Didn't get to everybody, but I'm happy with those I got to see: obviously the high school besties, but also AB, AV, M, EZ, ZK, estranged bestie MB... I think that's it?

Oh wait

Okay, I'm not going to lie I may mostly also have started this because after telling Angel of the lover I left back home, she told me he was my Mr. Big. Now that I'm watching SATC... I can confirm very much so is, much to my dismay.

How could I forget I included him in my list of people to see before my big move. He's someone I was seeing a little over 2 years ago. He ended things before they got serious, which I don't blame him for, despite how it broke me.

I don't think I ever realized just how much I could love and how much I wanted love until that point. I've always been used to the minimum and that's what I expected from my lovers. However, that was the first time I got more. So much more.

Anyway, this is not about that, it ended and I moved on (or tried to at least). I've met many beautiful people, had my fair share of exciting traveling escapades, turned a date into a best friend... Overall no regrets.

I think ending it was for the better. I wasn't ready, and as much as everybody tells me it's not the case, I was never able to shake off the feeling that he simply was too good for me.

Sometimes I wished we could be friends and hang out, but with time I realized the best way to go about it was probably to see him the least possible. Even when I was with other lovers, I could not help but compare them all to him. He became the standard and I could never truly forget him. In a way, that's not a bad thing, for I did need to stop settling for bullshit. However, it also turned the savannah that was my already overly selective dating life into a full-blown desert.

I tried moving on from talking about this and yet here I am 3 paragraphs later, my God. I guess it just goes to show how much I have to say. In all though, I'm very glad I was able to maintain the distance and to explore different people, as well as myself.

I reached out before leaving not expecting much. Again, contact was sparse (and even more so since I stopped posting on Instagram over the past year - totaallyyyy unrelated to my unresolved feelings....), but I do feel like we had a nice bond. He was pretty complimentary to me when he did reach out and I feel like our senses of humor always kind of lined up. I figured the worst thing that could happen was him saying no to my invitation. which didn't matter since I was leaving the country anyway. I knew I had an entire new world awaiting me, so the stakes weren't as high as they would've been had I tried something like this prior.

To my surprise, not only did he say yes, he said he'd love to see me. After weeks of being filled with dread at the thought of reaching out, he actually was eager to see me?

Sorry music change, just realized I never finished that Andre 3000 album and I feel like that's better suited for right now:

Anyway, yeah. Him looking forward to seeing me was not in my cards. Not only that, but after asking him where he'd like to go, he suggested his, with a very enticing make out invitation.

Did I scream? Yes. Who could say no to a make out sesh with the lover who broke your heart? It's a funny thing to have the man who's occupied too many of your thoughts finally give you something tangible, right before you leave the city that united you. A city I probably won't go back to, and most likely neither will he.

Did I forget to mention he's from New York? Because of course he is. I'd list out the rest of his resume, but I don't even think that matters right now.

So yes, I did go to his cute mile-end apartment. And yes, one negroni and gin and tonic later, he cut me off mid-sentence with a kiss.

A kiss, I hate to admit, I had longed for since the last one we shared.

Then he picked me up and we made love. Not sure if I'm allowed to say that, for I don't know if love is there, but it surely feels like more than just sex with him.

While he exudes warmth and has such inherent kindness to him, when we fuck, that goes out the window. His gaze turns almost animalistic, but not in an aggressive way - It's like purely juiced passion. Typically when a man looks at me with such hunger, I can't help but hate them. All I want to do is disappear, unless I'm already in bed with them, in that case it makes me want to laugh (which I actually do sometimes). With him though, I relinquish myself like an offering. I let my body and soul be consumed and I can tell he savors every bit of it.

Changed music to Vangelis...

So after laying on his chest and exchanging kisses for what I wish was an eternity, we said our goodbyes and I drove away.

Did I mention I was on my period by the way? Knowing him I knew that probably wouldn't be a problem though. If anything, he might have enjoyed it even more this way. He's a real lover - I guess that's why I can't let go. They're a rarity nowadays you know...

So I got my goodbye. One that was a thousand times better than what I didn't even dare imagine. It's funny to think it only happened because I'm leaving. It felt like stealing the last slice of a delicious pie that wasn't even mine.

Finally though, I felt like I could close the book.

I landed in London ready to take it over. Angel greeted me once I got off the train. Tedious walk, carrying two large suitcases, sweating like a pig wearing all the clothes that wouldn't fit in them.

The moment I got home though everything became good. Freedom didn't exist where I'm from, and there's a form of happiness you can only obtain when the shackles are off.

Should I end my entry here?

I feel like if I keep going it'll be the longest fucking thing. I'm so sorry I didn't expect a tiny catch-up with a past lover to take up so many words, but he is a big piece of my life puzzle. My Mr. Big...

It's now 4:15

[papaya-inspiration]

The end of the year book ask thing

1. 2. 4. 5. 10. 12. 13. 16. 24.

1. How many books did you read this year?

As of right now? 62. I'm expecting to do at minimum three more by the end of the year in order to keep up with my book clubs, and maybe a few more beyond that for my own enjoyment.

2. Did you reread anything? What?

I did! I reread a few favorites, including the most recent Murderbot book (Network Effect) in preparation for the System Collapse release, and the first Monk and Robot book by Becky Chambers so I could introduce it to one of my book clubs. Then a couple of Cosmere rereads too, including the first Stormlight Archive book and a LONG overdue reread of the original Mistborn trilogy. I'll probably reread the rest of Stormlight soon in preparation for book 5 coming out next year.

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Hooboy did I ever! Top of that list is going to be T Kingfisher. I read one of her YA books a few years back (A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking) and enjoyed it, but this year I checked out her horror books for the first time and they SWEPT ME OFF MY FEET. I'll be picking up everything else she releases from here on out, I think. Another big one was Kat Eason, author of How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, who I had the pleasure of meeting in person! (We live in the same area, and she's not-famous enough to respond to excited fans lol.) And a final shout out Emily Tesh with her marvelous new release Some Desperate Glory.

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Fantasy, by far. That's what happens when you go on a Brandon Sanderson binge and read 13 cosmere books in one go.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

THIS ONE IS REALLY HARD. Okay it's System Collapse because how can I not chose Murderbot. But Some Desperate Glory was also incredible.

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Not too badly? I was a bit disappointed by our lates book club pick Elatsoe, which was urban fantasy YA murder mystery where the main character was a Lipan Apache girl, since the central mystery just never really grabbed me. Probably also The Power by Naomi Alderman. It was just.... very 2016 style rah-rah feminism, in a way that feels tired and overly reactive to me now. Oh and the Whitesand graphic novels were a whole lot of nothing, and ended before they got to the interesting part of the world building. (Release the sequels, Brandon!)

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

Bleh. Definitely The Starless Crown by James Rollin, and maybe also Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. The former absolutely WASTES a really cool sci fi setting/premise with badly done, overwrought fantasy action thriller. And the latter is just. very much not for me.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Definitely Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. Don't get me wrong, it was very enjoyable and I got exactly what I came to it for (low stakes cozy found family fantasy), but it's not breaking any new ground that other books haven't done better before it, and it definitely doesn't belong on the Hugos "best novel" list.

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

The aforementioned The Starless Crown by James Rollin. God, that book was terrible. None of the characters felt even remotely like actual real humans and the stakes and pacing management was abysmal. It was for a book club and I STILL couldn't force myself to the end.

#thanks for the ask! #books #bookblr #about me #tumblr games

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Part 1

Next Wednesday's our last day living on Cap Hill. I looked it up yesterday and it turns out we've been here since the end of April 2019. Given the timing, this is basically where we chose to ride out the pandemic.

Well, not chose. It's just how the timing worked out.

Now, we never ever said to ourselves "you know, some day we should live on Cap Hill". Nope. We never said that.

So how... did we end up living here?

Well, the first thing to know's that we never meant to live here. Definitely we never meant to stay here. It's just that we guaranteed the lease, paid the deposit on Linzy's apartment and, when she moved out early in favor of a better location and price relative to her school, we didn't want to lose our deposit so we decided to move in for the few months left on the lease. No sweat.

What happened, though, is that old saying: Location, Location, Location. As in the apartment's perfectly located, it's central to our professional work. Well... it's central to my work. For nine months it was also central to Kimmer's work. Definitely it was closer. Like fifteen minutes close as opposed to an hour or more.

Seriously. Or more.

So when the lease was up, we took over the apartment and were now proper residents of Cap Hill.

By the time the lockdowns happened early the following year, 2020, Kimmer was working from the apartment doing the telemedicine thing and has been doing that ever since. Gone were her commutes into the office. Me, yeah, I worked from home, producers, properly masked, doing drive-bys in front of our building for a quick hard drive hand-off. Eventually, I was working back at the usual places which are, again, quick commutes involving lovely morning and evening walks. Walks that sometimes produced creative insight, unblocked some creative challenge with which I grappled at the time. If it was summer and I was engaged with some purely creative step of a project that didn't require hardware of any kind, I'd go down to the lake, stake out a space on a bench then read a script and make notes. Or read a script and think about music. Or just sit there along the shore on a sunny day thinking about melody and arrangements and mentally iterating those melodies and arrangements.

Location. Location. Location.

By the way, a lot of the walks Kimmer 'n I indulged started by the lake, near that wooden boat place. Of course across from the wooden boat place is Tapster... which makes a lovely reward for a mile, two mile walk on a summer's evening.

Tapster, by the way, is a self-service tasting room with wine and beer on tap. Grab a glass, pour however much you want, mix whatever you want if that's your deal. You're charged by the ounce.

For a month or two (or a few), there was a magnificent food truck serving authentic Mexican food out front of Tapster. Seriously, that food was great. We were definitely sorry when they moved to another location, but it's a firm memory tied to that location, just down the hill from us.

Speaking of just down the hill from us, for a couple years there we had a storage unit a block east of Tapster that I did walk down to and up from once during a snow storm because that's where Kimmer'd left her boots.

Go figure.

Just up the street from us, barely a block away, there was the lemon crepe place, properly known as Cafe Barjot, the sister cafe to Joe Bar that's further up the street. Joe Bar, by the way, is where we retreated during part of Linzy's audition for Cornish College of the Arts at Kerry Hall in 2016 that's basically across the street from Joe Bar.

Those lemon crepes, though. Also a firm memory tied to the hill. It wasn't just the crepes, though. Okay it was mostly the crepes. But there was also being in the place, physically being there. Everyone with masks on and chatting. Maybe with each other, mostly with staff.

That was a big deal during the pandemic. An almost normal experience with other human beings.

Up the hill a block, a few blocks over, before the pandemic, is the flagship Top Pot Donuts, the one that gave rise to all the others. Before the pandemic, we used to stop in there for a donut or two... and you better believe that memory's firmly tied to the hill.

There are more memories, of course, that I've managed to document in the years we lived here.

Hmmmmm.

That's actually a twist in our story that I'll continue tomorrow. It's that time we actually moved, moved everything from our apartment...

Yet didn't really go anywhere.

#moving #cap hill #cap hill living #apartment life #tapster #joe bar #barjot cafe #lemon crepes #food trucks #authentic mexican cuisine #top pot donuts #pandemic #normal #walks on the lake #creativity

[eleanorblue]

EleanorBlue’s Five-Part 2022 Midterms Recap; Part One: Hello

Just got to my grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving, logged onto Twitter, and saw that the Alaska races have been called, so I can FINALLY post this.

Hi. My name is EleanorBlue. Actually, it’s not, but close enough. I’m an epidemiologist from America who likes musicals, easy video games, history, and books. I’ve also been Into Politics ever since I was a child—my first memory of Any News is of the 2000 presidential election. I was four.

Elections have changed since I was younger. Ever since 2016, elections have felt existential in a way they haven’t before. Like, “if we don’t win, democracy in America might end.” Or, “if we don’t win, we’ll never be able to do ANYTHING to address climate change and it won’t matter that we don’t have democracy because we’ll all be underwater and fish don’t vote.”

These midterms were no different. I’ve been dreading the 2022 midterms honestly since January 20, 2022. Since the Dobbs ruling, everything felt even worse. So much was at stake this year. Election deniers were running for governor and/or Secretary of State in critical swing states across the country. If elected, these people could try to overturn the presidential election in 2024–2020 all over again, but successful this time. Abortion access was literally on the ballot in some states, and in others, anti-abortion candidates that had promised to enact draconian bans were running. Finally, if Democratic control of Congress was at stake. If Democrats held the Senate, they could continue confirming liberal judges to lifetime appointments. If Democrats held the Senate and the House, they could pass more legislation that actually help people.

But I wasn’t hopeful. President Biden’s approval rating is very low—around 40%. Midterm elections tend to be something of a referendum on the party in power, and with inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the still dragging on pandemic, and did I mention inflation, people are Not Thrilled with Democrats. Plus, the part of the President tends not to do well in the midterms.

Some pundits predicted a Red Wave—a Republican sweep of state legislatures, governorships, and congressional seats. Republicans would take back the Senate and win at least 40 seats in the House. Republicans would take control of election infrastructure in every single swing state. Democrats had lost before they began.

I was really, really nervous in the days, weeks, and months leading up to November 8th. Now the day has come and gone, and *almost* all of the elections have been called. I feel…better than I thought I would. A *lot* better than I thought I would. The results aren’t perfect, by any measure, but they were surprisingly better than anticipated.

Why? How? What happened?

I’ve written a five-part series breaking down the midterm elections: who were the candidates, who won, why did they win, what does this mean. (Those last two questions may not be answered for every candidate, but I am going to do a recap at the end.) Also, I say five-part, but, uhhhh. I am thorough, but not concise. I may have part two section A, part two section B, and so on.

I want to make this clear: I am not an expert. I’ve never worked in politics, I didn’t study politics in school, no one in my family had been in politics. I’m just some persons who follows the news really closely, reads a lot, and has a Tumblr.

If you have no interest in American politics/do not need to read an analysis done by some random dipshit, never fear, I’ll put all my posts under a cut so as not to clog up your feed. If you want an exhaustively-sourced summary of how American democracy managed to survive another election, read on! I’ll post a new part every day, starting tomorrow.

Thanks for reading, and good night.

#surviving the american political hellscape #2022 midterm elections #2022 midterms #eleanorblue does politics

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

“but do you really think Biden is better than--” YES YOU STUPID FUCKS, YES, I REALLY REALLY THINK THAT A MARGINALLY LEFT-WING  MOSTLY LAW-ABIDING ADMINISTRATION IS A BETTER OPTION THAN KEEPING THE CURRENT OPENLY CRIMINAL FASCIST ORGANIZATION IN POWER. YES I THINK AN INEPT BUT SLIGHTLY PROGRESSIVE EXECUTIVE BRANCH IS A BETTER OPTION THAN THE ADMINISTRATION THAT IS ACTIVELY DESTROYING LIVES, MURDERING ITS CITIZENS WITH COVID, KIDNAPPING PROTESTERS, COMMITTING ELECTION FRAUD ON A MASSIVE SCALE, LOCKING CHILDREN IN CAGES, AND LITERALLY BRINGING BACK NAZIS. YES I REALLY DO THINK THERE IS A DIFFERENCE SHUT UP SHUT UP STOP TELLING PEOPLE NOT TO VOTE YOU STUPID STUPID FUCKS JUST SAY YOU WANT 4 MORE YEARS OF TRUMP AND GO HOME, HOLY SHIT SHUUUUUUUUT UUUUPPP!!!!!

#politics tw #trump tw #tr*mp tw #caps tw #serious post #not a shitpost #SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP #NO MORE NO MORE DO NOT PUT THIS DUMB SHIT ON ANY MORE OF MY POSTS #THIS IS HOW 2016 HAPPENED AND SO MUCH MORE IS AT STAKE NOW #HOW ARE YOU PEOPLE ACTUALLY INCONCEIVABLY THIS STUPID. JUST SAY YOU SUPPORT TRUMP AND GO HOME #rant #JUST SAY YOU SUPPORT TRUMP AND GO HOME #yes i am blocking anyone who comes into the notes with "but actually-- #full disclosure i am gonna go ahead and delete stupid unhelpful comments on this post. I've had enough nonsense yall can piss off

[kingstylesdaily]

Harry Styles — ‘It’s about bringing more music to Manchester’

The One Direction band member and solo star on launching into his first substantial business venture.

Two weeks ago, the stark phrase “HE CUT HIS HAIR” began trending on social media. I can confirm its truth: the One Direction member turned solo star Harry Styles has indeed cut his hair. The usual curly tresses are gone, scissored into a tousled, swept-back look. It’s for a film role he’s currently shooting in Los Angeles.

But the star hasn’t joined me on a Zoom call to discuss traumatic haircuts. Instead, we’re discussing what’s being billed as his first venture into the world of business. Styles is the public face of a new arena to be built in Manchester, which will be one of the largest indoor venues in the UK when it opens in 2023.

It’s being built by the US entertainment company Oak View Group at a projected cost of ��350m. The capacity will be 23,500. Following a link-up with the Manchester-based business The Co-operative Group, it will be called Co-op Live.

“It feels like full circle for me to be doing this,” Styles says, speaking in what looks like the stainless steel confines of his LA film trailer. He grew up near Manchester, in a village in the neighbouring county Cheshire. “My first job was with the Co-op, it was delivering papers for them,” he recalls.

Manchester was where he went to gigs with friends. It was also where he auditioned for the television talent show The X Factor in 2010 when he was 16, singing an unaccompanied version of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely”. It led to him joining the boy band One Direction. Transcending their talent show origins (they came third on The X Factor), Styles and his bandmates became a global phenomenon. They were the first band in US chart history to have their first four albums debut at number one, outdoing even The Beatles. With his newly shorn hair, a green jacket with big stitching, a T-shirt with blue palm trees and a cross dangling from his neck, Styles manages even on a visually unflattering Zoom call to look the part of the teen heart-throb. But, whereas other boy band singers have struggled to establish themselves as individual acts, Styles has made a handsome success of it. He launched a solo career in 2016 and has released two accomplished hit albums. In 2017, he made his acting debut in Christopher Nolan’s war film Dunkirk. He’s currently shooting Olivia Wilde’s horror-thriller, Don’t Worry Darling.

Diversification from the evanescent world of teen-pop continues with his involvement in the Co-op Live arena. It links him with two big names in the US entertainment industry. Tim Leiweke, former CEO of the concert promoter AEG, and Irving Azoff, former CEO of Ticketmaster, run Oak View Group, the company building the arena. Azoff’s son Jeffrey Azoff is Styles’s manager. “This is a big project and it would be a lot scarier if I was with people I didn’t know,” the singer says.

He has a financial stake in it as an investor. “I didn’t get into music because I wanted to be a businessman,” he says. “I got into music because I love music. That’s always going to be a first for me. But when an opportunity like this comes up, for me it feels so much about what I can bring to it as a musician, and also as a fan.”

Construction of the arena is due to begin in November. Styles has a vaguely defined role as an adviser in its design and decor. “Obviously I’m not an expert architecturally, in terms of building an arena,” he says. “I guess the weight of my involvement falls into the idea of what you want backstage as an artist. People operate in different ways after a show. Some people like a quiet space, some people like a place where you can invite all your friends.”

Arenas have a reputation as soulless venues, the kind of interchangeable setting where a forgetful star can get the name of the city wrong (as happened to Bruce Springsteen in 2016 when he cried, “Party noises, Pittsburgh!” during a show in Cleveland).

Even at the tender age of 26, Styles is a veteran of these cavernous spaces, which he refers to as “rooms”.

“There’s a lot of cold rooms that you can play in,” he says. “You definitely remember being in the ones that sound better, the ones in which you can create some sort of feeling of being at home.

As an artist, it’s rare to find that if you’re touring for months at a time, to go in these big rooms and feel that comfortable.” Manchester’s new arena is being designed to maximise sightlines between performer and audience. “That’s usually the first thing that you miss when you go into big rooms,” he says. “There’s a point when you’re doing shows and you can see the whites of people’s eyes and you can have that connection with people. It’s easy to lose that if you can’t see people’s faces.”

The first time he sang in public was in the canteen of his Cheshire school, for a music competition. He recalls the feeling of exhilaration: “You’re so used to sitting in the classroom and looking up at your teachers. All of a sudden everyone’s down there and the teachers are looking up at you.” He gets the same sensation when performing for tens of thousands of people. “It’s obviously on a different scale but that feeling is very much the same,” he says. “I think it’s the same chemical. It’s just like such an unnatural thing. It’s kind of like — this isn’t supposed to be like this, this isn’t how life works. That kind of adrenalin I think is just something that you wish you could share with people that you know. It’s a beautiful thing, it’s a really special moment.”

The coronavirus pandemic poses an existential threat to venues. “It’s such a strange time to be talking about live music, because right now it just doesn’t exist,” Styles says. He insists that the Co-op Live is designed to enhance Manchester’s live infrastructure, not overwhelm it. (The city already has one of the UK’s largest indoor venues, the AO Arena.)

“The purpose is not in any way to try to monopolise the city in terms of music,” he says. “It’s about bringing more music to Manchester, wanting to bring more artists there, to use this building as a reminder of why it’s such a great music city, not trying to wipe out other venues.”

After its projected completion in 2023, Co-op Live will be able to welcome its celebrity investor on stage (“If they’ll have me. I’ll have to speak to someone and ask about that”). In the meanwhile, Styles is due to embark on a world tour next February, although the pandemic has cast it in doubt.

“It’s one of those things of just seeing how things go,” he says. “I don’t think anyone wants to be putting on a tour before it’s safe to do so. There will be a time we dance again, but until then I think it’s about protecting each other and doing everything we can to be safe. And then when it’s ready and people want to, we shall play music.”

via the Financial Times

#kingstylesdaily #Harry Styles #hs: financial times #hs: article #October 2020