#The name thing is also interesting to me — the same thing happened with my Paris DR

[ego-meliorem-esse]

I present to you my years long obsession - female America.

This is not a Nyotalia version it's just a concept of "what if everything is the same but Alfred was born a girl". Like i see so much potential! In a world where all the odds are stacked against her, she despite it all gets to where she is today. Making good and bad decisions along the way.

A lil hc/backstory for my main girl:

• Given name (by dad Arthur) is Elizabeth Felicity Kirkland but during the revolution changes her last name to Jones. Her first name change happens in the 1820/1830s when she changes it to Alexandra, also dropping her second name. (I was young when I came across the name and it means "defender/protector of man" and I was /obessed/ so i just stick to it since she is a loser and just thinks it's a cool sounding name)

• She goes by Alex/Al and I think that's neat :)

• My girl is tall. Like 181 cm tall. Sender but with visible muscles. She does want a bigger behind but her Anglo-Saxon genetics say nah.

• As a child she spent more time in England due to her being a girl so I think even if Arthur was absent he didn't allow her to spend much time alone in the colonies. She resents that ofc

• Just like with Alfred, Alex is very fkn close to Matt even if she forgets to call him or check up on him for months at a time. Al: "Hey man I know I just called a while ago but how've you been? Matt: "you called me 5 months ago..."

• Works at NASA as a part time aeronaitical engeneer. Loves physics, hates chemistry (self projection im sorry)

• During the revolution she dressed up as a boy but the people she worked with knew she wasn't one. People went along with it anyway.

• Other than during the American revolution, she dressed in feminine presenting clothes up until the 1930s. After that it was trousers all the way!

• Alex was never a nurse during wartime but definitely did accountaint work in ww1 and later joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) where she stayed until 1943 when she joined her men fighting on the ground ( Conversion to Army status, Women's Army Corps - WAC). That's when she saw actual combat.

• Isn't fond of birds. Canaries are fine. Eagles are unsettling.

• Obsesses over a certan thing/hobby at a time up to a point where she perfects her skill. When she was about 14 (human years) it was the whole freedom and equality of man and all the politics regarding it. In the 1890s her obession was cars and motor vehicles. The 1910s brought a new obsession on womens rights. 1960s was space exploration where she devoted almost all her time researching and working for NASA, disregarding her goverment/state duties as a country. In the 1980s it was the internet. In 1990s she got really interested in the Balkan wars (self insert >:)) for whatever reason. Today her attention is mostly on social media and her attention span ia short af. Still really likes all things tech.

• Hasn't got many properties/real estate. Al does own a penthouse in Seaport, Boston and a late 17th and early 18th century colonial home in Newbury, Boston (that she needs to renovate asap). The only other real state she owns is in California, though modern and recently buit, it's not big nor does she spend much time there.

• Her personality is basicaly Alfred if he grew up as a woman and had to face opression based on sex and inequality that came with it. So still bubbly, extroverted, a social butterfly but also self-serving, idealistic, manipulative sprinkled in with sarcasm, cautiousness and craftiness. Same feckin sense of humour tho.

• In 1783, at the Treaty of Paris in Versailles both her and her father had to sign the document that started her independence (She herself had a human representitive 'cus of her age/sex bla bla but it was mostly formalities). At that signing Arthur gave her a flintlock pistol that he himself used in the 1640s. Not many words were exchanged, he just put it in her hand to keep. She still has it in her attic. Somewhere. She'd find it if she just takes the time to look for it I'm sure.

• In 1889 she straight up did her first war crime/murder of a fellow nation (if you don't count shooting her pops face off at Saratoga in 1777). After an altrication with Antonio that resulted in him insulting and slapping the girl for her audacity and mouthiness, she punched him straight in the jaw. A fight insued where she got ahold of his belt and straight up strangled him. Took her a while to process that and accept it. On the bright side Antonios scilence was heard around the world and while perplexed and insulted, older and influential (mostly male at that point) nations started to feel a glint of respect forming for the young startup.

• Al was given a family pocket watch by her father in the 90s (No more empire for Arthur so he sad :(((((( ) that was suppoaed to go to a firstborn son of a lord as an inheritance symbol. Everyone thought Jack would get it since Matt is techincally not Arthur's son. But even he would be expected to recieve it before Al. Then in an unexpected turn of events, while visiting her grumpy and nostalgeous empire-missing dad, Arthur pulled out the watch while eating stale kebabs in front of the telly and gave it to her casualy without as much as a word (The empire started with her, it shall end with her). She keeps it in her work desk drawer in a wooden box.

• Al and Zee have an interesting relationship. While being different in almost every aspect, there ia a mutual respect for eachother from eachother. While not really being able to see eye to eye, they are sisters in a certain roundabout and very fucked up way. Girls who learned that they are very much judged by their sex despite being daughters of a high ranking British lord. While aware that she will never be Alex/Elizabeth in her fathers eyes, Zee still gets treated as a treasure by her father. Much to Zee's annoyance.

• It's still Matt who's in Alex's shadow. Despite the dificulties she rises above and is the perfect child of an empire. Smart, intelligent, inquisitive, a fast learner and incredibly aware of the political and historical situation at all times. Even despite being a girl and less than a son in the eyes of a 17th/18th century society, she suceeds.

• Arthur wanted a son to come from his colonial endeavours, as all empires/nobility at the time did. And as all other empires at the time had. But ofc karma is a bitch and he's the only empire with an only child being a daughter. Though at first thougrly dissaponted, when he lays his eyes on his daughter for the first time, the only emotion he can feel is /joy/.

• Instead of sowing/knitting Al's education was very much focused on natural sciences, since that is where Arthur quickly realized she exels at. He swapped her Violin and General History of Music lessions with Astrophysics and The History of Astronomy. All in an attempt to stop her from making his ears bleed from the constant prattling about The Four Square Theorem or The Brachistocrone Curve. It only got worse, but his daughter was happy and content.

I have sooooo many more of these jfc i might do more later but for now this is all I can think of.

TLDR: Female America is great and has so much potential as a character hghhhhhhhh

#i needed yo get this out here eventually #its just so faacinatingghh #also no glasses us 1 i cant draw em for ahit and 2 ber sight is relatively good #she looks a bit like arthur but thats on purpose i think #oh welllllll #hetalia #hws america #aph america #nyo america #nyo!america #nyotalia #my art #myart #historical hetalia #alfred f jones

[bzhitstruth]

Many "gifts" from GG and DD

So much has happened over the past three or four days that I couldn’t even gather my thoughts together to make a post.

Of course, everyone already knows about the cameras Leica, about the number of GG's photos (18-33-28 and 18-25-23), about camping and the cake with sheep, and so on.

I want to write about some moments that especially impressed me, in addition to the main “candies” that fell upon us in abundance. This post will probably turn out to be chaotic, but I am now very impressed by everything, and there are a lot of emotions.

Everything is fake, fiction and my stupid fantasies, don’t pay attention.🤡🤡🤡

“Everything is cute, everything is cool.” We saw the phrase in the post by GG's studio: “Life is bright, everything is cute.” Less than a day has passed (namely 19 hours 50 minutes), and YBO replies: “Everything is cool collected”. And we're reminded of the old LRLG fake material where it was about "ok, you're cool, I'm cute." Can anyone say that this is the coincidence?! This is the real dialogue during short time!

Yesterday DD again showed us many photos with Leica. It would seem, why focus so much attention on it? It's funny that if you leave a comment or repost, the effect with flying small pink cameras appears on Weibo:

It occurred to me to count all the DD's photos from the trip to Paris on Weibo and Instagram (including duplicate of photos), where the camera Leica M11 is present. You won't believe. There are 23 of them. The word “coincidence” already gives me a callus on my tongue.

Yesterday DD stunned everyone with his 100500 photos around the small iron pole. Turtles on Weibo wondered why he paid so much attention to this inconspicuous place. And it turned out that it was not in vain! Of course, this is the street corner with special numbers - 23 rue Bachelet 75018.

And also the red-yellow-green dog, and DD standing proudly against the background of bicycles. When GG traveled abroad in February, there was the episode in his video where he was in front of motorcycles. Such a funny "exchange".

There are also some interesting things in the GG's birthday photos and video. For example, in some photos GG looks strikingly similar to DD. The turtles mostly took notice of this photo. If you close the right half of the face, you get an almost mystical resemblance.

But I also noticed another photo, the first time I saw it, I really thought it was DD. How can this be? It really looks like some kind of magic.

Of course, GG put on the little lion again. It is interesting that it was in this jacket that GG returned from Paris to Beijing in March (Paris again!). And it was in it that he was photographed for his birthday. And this is not the first time that the little lion appears in the GG's birthday photos. By the way, one more interesting detail: it seems that this particular jacket is hanging in the background in the famous GG's photo that captivated everyone:

The phone card case appears again:

Inscription in the sky. In GG’s video at 4:16, a certain effect appears that resembles the legendary “wangxiao” inscription; in one of the BTS of “The Untamed” GG puts his name under DD’s name and then crosses it out in embarrassment. I'm not really sure if this is intentional or just a visual effect and abstraction, but it looks very similar!

The Chinese turtles, at least, were very enthusiastic about this effect (and they are still better versed in written characters than I am). Even if it's not intentional, it looks amazing because it really does look a lot like those signatures.

At the end of GG’s vlog, the phrase appears: “So, did you come up with a name?” (所以, 想好名字了?), this seems to be a reference to the ending of The Untamed when Wei Ying said, "You need to come up with a name for this song":

Another thing that no one seems to have noticed is the DD's Douyin video. Look at the time of publication. This is the screenshot from my phone, I'm in the same time zone as Paris, in Europe. In China at this time it was 16:05. Don't you think that this is another gremlin-DD's trick - to make the post on 5.10 at 10:05, but in Paris time? In my opinion, this is quite in his style.

And a little about personal impressions.

Interesting is the photo where GG is holding the cake with sheep. This is the only photo in his first photoshoot where he is smiling. In the rest of the photos he is thoughtful, even seemingly sad, and in some places stern. Only in this photo does GG have bright and gentle expression on his face, and the special smile, the look in the other photos is completely different, tougher or directed inward of himself. Even the jeans he's wearing don't appear anywhere else except in this photo. It seems to me that this is the special photo, taken by the special person and at a different time. Can be compared with other photos supposedly taken by DD.

This is probably very subjective, but it seems to me that there is some subtle similarity in these photos. Love. Well, I think so.

BJYXSZD 💚❤️.

sources: Weibo.com, Douyin.com

#yizhan #bjyx #bjyxszd #cpn #just imagination #i think too much #yizhan my love #ggdd secrets

[motherofplatypus]

Miraculous S4 Review: Representation

And so, here we are, one episode before the finale. Out of order, but we're no stranger to that. Can't believe it's almost over, and boy am I glad because this insanity finally come to an end.

The episode, as per usual, was bad. But it's not the usual kind of bad, and was pretty much decent compared to the last 4 episodes. So, it's an improvement, I guess(?).

So, in short, this episode confirmed that Felix and Adrien are sentimonsters, and Kagami as extension, but I'll talk about that in another post. While there are people who seem to dislike the idea of Fe and Ad being senti, i personally like it. Mostly because they did really well in teasing us about this, until they just drag it out so hard and hardly even trying to do so in S4-5.

So, anyway, the review. Apparently, there's an election for the new mayor between Bustier and that fencing mustache (I remember his name, but it's a pain to write it down).

So they do have election. Huh, who woulda thunk? Feels like just one episode ago they ignore this crucial part for plot convenience to make a teenage girl even more like satan for absolutely no logical reason. Ooh, right, it was one episode ago. Well, two, but my point still stands.

Oh, Miraculous, you just love making things convenient for you, don't you?

Then we see Adrien being Sad Boy™ like he always was, and Plagg had to comfort him. And I really love Plagg here and so far he's been getting consistent development with his relationship with Adrien, that's more interesting than the Love Square tbh.

Then, Adrien down bad for Mari and wanted to reveal himself and fly all the way to Paris because he hated being there.

I appreciate the effort and dedication for love, but wouldn't it be better if you just, idk, ran away before you're in London? Just a thought.

Yeah yeah, there's the ring and stuffs and every single reason why Adrien cannot grow a spine for himself or anyone that's not Marinette. Tell me something I didn't know about Adrien.

Bonus: Here's what That Guy do whenever we demand Adrien to grow as a person.

Moving on, I'd love to talk about how everyone glorifying Mari for the 500th time, but it's nowhere near how pissed I am when they tease Julerose and Marcthaniel. Yes, it's cute to see how Marc and Nath looks like they're "bonding" in secret and Jules being protective over Rose. If this were happening 2 seasons ago, I would've scream in fangirl, but like every other things in miraculous, its either overdue or irrelevant.

Look, I appreciate their sorry excuse of an effort to give us representation (roll credits), but if you actually mean it, either actually doing it or stop teasing it for 5 seasons and make them so much of a side characters that we literally couldn't care less about them. Seriously, this is a serious case, especially with Nath and Marc that I honestly don't see why they even got a miraculous, to the point i thought Lila would get one since those two are so pointless and irrelevant.

Onto the next one, we have Gabridiot Agreste. The man with two brain cells who's fighting for third place. He realized Adrien was gone, barged into Nathalie's room while she's watching his dead wife video, and took the wedding ring from her.

First off, it's quite hilarious that the red part of Nathalie's hair turned white. I know this symbolize that she's dying, but the way it looks, it's like she's purposefully dyeing her hair white to show how dead she is.

Second, I'm getting real tired of watching Emilie saying the same line, on the same phone, for the 50th time this season. This is the equivalent of Gabe talking to her corpse whenever he's about to do a criminal activity that ended up in him failing in the most embarrassing way. Yes, we get it, she wants Gabe to be a good father, you don't need to remind us every single episode how much of a failure he is at becoming one. Also, if your role after 5 seasons is to be a broken record on a phone, just go back to your coffin.

Also, it's probably just me forgetting and i refuse to check every episode to prove it, but what's the reason for Nathalie not to show the video to Gabe? Or has Gabe seen it but ignore it? Please remind me.

Either way, still with Gabridiot, who apparently lacks the bare minimum intelligence to even be classified as a jellyfish, who think that Adrien, who's in London, somehow managed to escape and went allllll the way back to Paris in less than a day. This jump into conclusion stupidity almost match the one we got in Ephemeral, but at least not as outrageously stupid as that episode. Still can't believe that episode even exist.

So he akumatized himself into Nightormentor, and I must say I quite like his costume. Sure, it's basically Collector dress in a drag, but it kinda looks good. Except for the face, that traffic cone head and glasses are a huge no.

Still talking about London to Paris, how the heck did Argos get himself and Kagami into Paris at the same pace as Chat with flying cat add ons? Did he make a jet sentimonster to fly them there? Nah, no way. The whole reason he got the peacock was to prevent anymore sentimonster getting created and killed. Heck, he was absolutely devastated when he had to snap that Red Moon from existence. So there's absolutely no way he'd be doing that, right? Right?

Sigh, who am i kidding.

So, he created a new sentimonster, a tripod, to give Mari a cheap show of his origin and Adrien's, and basically confirmed they're feather boys. Wow! This is big, right?! Right?! But, of course, with the abundance of brain cells in the show, Mari didn't connect the dot and only take it as Felix's story that I'm not even sure if she realized Felix is a senti, let alone Adrien.

Okay, maybe she did realize Fefe is senti, but my bet is that she's still doesn't know Adriboy is a senti. That's literally too much to ask for the show standard, speaking from experience.

Speaking of didn't connect the dots, Felix literally blatantly told Mari that Gabe is Monarch in the video and she didn't get it? Does Adrien filled up that much space in her head that she ignores the very obvious info presented in front of her? Hello? Brain cells? Basic common sense? Toddler level of intelligence? Where are you all?!

Back to the point, what happened to the tripod? Oh right, it got snapped out after it send the message to Marinette to fight for Adrien. To fight Gabe for love.

Remember folks, murder is okay as long as it's for Adrienette.

Also, if the whole purpose is to just give Mari a message, why would he need to take Kagami there as well? It's not like the message is on live. Heck, they didn't even stay until the message is over, so it's clear that it's pre-recorded, or just some magic bullshit, but basically they're not needed to be that close.

"But the amok is in Kagami's ring, and she needs to be there to control it."

Like I said, she's not needed to be there.

Okay, that's not exactly important. Since we're still talking about Kagami, let's talk about plot hole number 451: Kagami knows Mari is Ladybug since Perfection.

Remember a certain blue haired boy going into voluntary exile because he knows the identity of the heroes? No? Neither do the writers.

If she knows Mari is LB since that very episode, why hasn't Monarch learned about that crucial info? She got akumatized TWICE after knowing that, and neither of them meant anything until now. That piece of knowledge should've been in Monarch's ear since ages ago.

"But Kagami wasn't sure if Mari is LB."

My point still stands strong, tall, and mighty. They made Gabe jump into conclusion that Adrien is Chat by him saying "My Lady". I'm just using their stupidity on them.

Then we got Anticat, or I'd like to call it Walmart Chat Blanc. Aside from the hideous blue hair and eye wrecking visual of the dream sequence, this pissed me off real fucking bad, because this can only means one thing: Chat Blanc is irrelevant.

We waited 2 seasons, one of which caused Chat Noir getting depressed because Ladybug refuse to speak about the white world destroyer cat, and the moment he knows about it, it's not from Ladybug and not even what exactly happened. It's just a nightmare. It's not real. He still doesn't know that that event actually real.

We were, once again, robbed of seeing something we have been waiting for years to happen.

Sadly, that's not the end of it.

On side note, I find it hilariously ironic that when Chat wake up from the nightmare, the first person he saw was Kim. "Hey, that's the person i tried to kill a few days ago. Now I have infinite Cataclysm to do so."

Dude woke up from a nightmare into another nightmare, lmao.

So anyway, Gabe lost to a bunch of teenagers once more, they win, and he kept the akuma in a jar so that LB can purify it. I mean, what's a Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir would do without Ladybug appearing, right? Like how the show could not go on without Chat Noir appearing in the episode, right? Of course.

Anyway, remember the whole reason LB needs to purify the akuma is because it will multiply if left too long? Like, idk, an hour at most. And how long did Chat left the butterly? Why haven't that flappity flap flap not self-reproducing like rabbit on steroids during mating season?

Also, can't he just Cataclysm the akuma? We know in Chat Blanc it's possible and have no side effect whatsoever. Plus, he can now use multiple Cataclysms. Just get rid of it. You have no qualm when you tried to Cataclysm Scarabella, your principal, and your friend whose face is the first thing you saw when you wake up from your nightmare, so what gives?

Oh right, it's the villain. He has qualms only when it comes to hurting the villain. I forgot.

Also, let's take a moment of silence for Chat, who finally got an episode where he's the one shining, where he's supposed to be the one who save the day, but ended up being utterly useless and needed help from a bunch of teenagers.

Look, I'm not saying he shouldn't get help or anything, but how hard are you going to glorify Ladybug for being able to win a fight by herself and never let Chat do the same, not even once?

And then both Adrien and Kagami came back to their abusive parents. Just, why? I get why Adrien came back, aside from the nightmare and his inability to grow a spine, but Kagami? You have your own freedom, you got balls bigger than Adrien could ever have, and you're independent. Just stay with Felix, hide, and Amelie most likely already know your circumstances too, or at least she'll let you stay for Felix's sake.

"But she might not feel comfortable doing that."

You know who else should not be comfortable doing something? Chat Noir when he's down to murder people that he knows.

Also also, don't any of them gonna ask how the hell they ran away? No? Of course not. And Gabridiot and Tomoron decided to become a very reasonable and good parents and put their kids inside an entirely white, mental asylum-esque room where the only color they can see is their clothes and hair.

Seems familiar?

Yep, they are batshit insane.

And please don't tell me that square on the corner is their bed. Good lord, I know you're angry they disobey you, but treat them humanely at least.

All in all, this is 6/10. Lots of dumb moments as per usual, but it's not blatantly moronic like half of the episodes this season has. I quite like Nightormentor's costume and how Plagg comfort Adrien in that small scene. I'm surprised that I'm not furious at all, just mildly annoyed. Overall, it's decent.

Then again, this has been my opinion, and now it's your turn. Do you like it, or hate it? Is this a good build up for the finale? Leave your thoughts down below, and I will see you in the next one. Byeee.

#I cant wait until Revolution aired to post this one #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous lb #mlb #miraculous representation #miraculous salt #ml salt #mlb salt #miraculous ladybug salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #felix fathom #kagami tsurugi #miraculous marinette #miraculous adrien #miraculous gabriel #miraculous felix #miraculous kagami #ml writing salt #ml writers salt

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

about that guy I met on my European vacation--

OK, don’t get too excited, nothing that crazy or illegal happened. But I learned a few things about myself in the process that I thought I’d share. GET READY BECAUSE SHE A LONG ONE

So here I am on my 35 day European tour of a lifetime, starting in Barcelona and ending in Greece. When I get to Barcelona I have to meet my tour director after driving from the airport because he has the keys to our rooms. I knew he was Greek beforehand in the group chat--I’ve seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding about a million times and also I’ve played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and his accent confirms it. “I like your name,” he says when I introduce myself, and it’s from this point onward that I have two missions for this trip. Number one: have an amazing time. Two: avoid this man at all costs, except when necessary for the tour. 

Avoiding him is simply about survival, even if he seems personable and truly wants to get to know all of us on the tour. I know I’m not that interesting a person and he is quite good looking and also really charming. If I’m not careful, I’ll catch feelings. I know me. He’ll just be doing his job and I’ll mistake it for attraction. I’ve lived through this song and dance before. It’s the curse you wear when you’ve grown up in a body that society doesn’t deem as good enough. Even if time has made me what society would call “prettier,” old thoughts of you’re not pretty enough for him are going to linger, lines forged by the likes of my grandmothers and casting directors. I am the funny side character, not the romantic lead. Hell, in college I wasn’t even on the stage. I remained in the backstage area as the helper. The funny side character stays on the sidelines. She provides funny banter, not the romance arc. She has to protect herself. 

Yet there’s a moment after Barcelona before we head to Paris where he ends up having dinner with me and my friend, myself terrified when he plops down at the same restaurant we’ve chosen. I don’t do much of the talking, my friend does, asking him all sorts of questions about his life I wish I could have asked, and some brazen ones in my mind anyway like are you married or attached? he’s not, come to find out. I glean he’s sort of a wayward traveler and content with that, but he admits he’s getting a bit too old for this tour directing thing. He also lets me try his food. It’s a small kindness I wouldn’t have expected from an American man. I feel brave. I tell him I like the way he says my name. 

“That’s what I said,” he says, twinkle in his eye. (No, it’s not. I let it be. I like the way he says it. To Europeans I even begin introducing myself via his pronunciation.)

Time passes without incident. I follow my promises in Paris, London, and Amsterdam. I know my other friend L likes him a lot and says she danced with him in Paris where they connected. It’s probably true, but I don’t know--I also can’t help but feel there’s something in the way he looks at me. A glimmer of something or other that some part of me recognizes, but doesn’t think can be the case. Not for me. I know my place. Then Prague happens. 

A lot of things happen in Prague. The morning of our tour through the city I get an email asking if I’m still interested in joining the company I applied to before my trip. I can’t believe it. I’m in Europe, and when I come back there is now the possibility I won’t have to go back to teaching. The day goes on, a terrible heat wave in the city. He takes the group out to a medieval dinner--sort of an interactive renaissance fair. We’re all as a unit, very drunk and ready for more drinking and dancing. It may be one of the best days of my life. Here I am in Europe, a world away from last year in the deepest pits of my depression and anxiety, drinking beer with an amazing group of travelers who I get to call my friends. We hit one bar, and then another, an Irish pub where he is, of course--he loves his Irish pubs and makes no secret of it. He flits around and some of my friends chit chat with him, but I of course don’t say anything. Of course we want to keep the party going--so we head out to this eighties dance club where he follows. I admit my eye is on him during the night--he helps out one of my friends who gets so drunk she can’t walk. (And he avoids her attempts to hit on him as well) but mostly I dance and I dance and I dance and I drink and I let loose in a way I don’t think I ever have. I feel beautiful. I feel free. And hell, when I see myself in the mirror--I am beautiful. Later, my friend tells me how cute I was drunk. I let loose. She’s right. Everything is perfect, except for the nagging realization I have to pee.

Upon what I call the pee test, wherein you get to see how drunk you are in the bathroom, I am moderate. I can stand but things are a little wobbly. Not the drunkest I’ve been, but pretty drunk. I emerge from the bathroom. There he is. 

He grabs my hand. He doesn’t let go. He stares into my goddamn soul. One of my friends is prattling on about going to another bar, I think, but it’s so loud because “Here Comes the Rain Again” or something is playing. He is insistent I come along too to this other bar with them all, still looking into the depths of my soul and holding my hand. In my drunken, yet still somewhat lucid state, I ask him why on earth he’s standing outside the girl’s bathroom. No answer, but my hand is still in his, and his eyes are still looking into the depths of my goodman soul. I feel really fucking pretty. So pretty, part of me realizes a good looking man is holding my hand. I hold on tighter.

We don’t end up going to another bar, we end up staying, but still holding my hand he takes me away from the girl’s restroom, finally, and eventually a tentative arm is places around me, something I reciprocate until more people crowd around. Shots are bought. We take a shot together before back to the dance floor we go. He dances with me, our backs turned in this shoulder-to-shoulder sort of shimmy, and I am vaguely aware of my ass grinding against his. When it’s over I am horror-stricken. People definitely saw me grind with our hot as hell Grecian tour director. But I’m in it too deep. I want to dance with him again, and I throw out some joke as I shake my hips about how they are going to hurt tomorrow--to which he laughs. It’s at this point another girl notices and literally throws herself on him. I watch with my mouth agape as he fights off her advances, and watch as he eventually untangles himself and leaves. 

I can’t sleep that night. Number one there’s a heat wave and I’m on the top bunk, and two, I’m swimming with thoughts of what the hell just happened. He started it, but why? The funny side character shouldn’t be treated like the romantic lead. The morning comes and the girls in my room mention his behavior from previous cities after noting how the other girl danced on top of him. They mention behavior I haven’t seen, and are concerned about his professionalism and if tour guides should go out dancing with tour groups. “I think I danced with him,” I say. “You did,” my friend replies. I  can’t help but feel judged. 

We move on from Prague in our trip. In Switzerland I decide to accept the new job. I see more glances from him here and there. He watches me get hit on in Venice. Then there’s this one particular look he gives me before we drive to Florence that I can’t shake away. I tell him good morning and the way he replies, you’d think I made his morning. 

Once in Rome I end up crying. We are deep into the trip and I want to talk to my Mom about my new job and also what happened. It’s confusing and I don’t get it and is this lack of professionalism true or something that should bother me? My friend L tells me a rumor he kissed a girl in Barcelona in our group and confessed his life story to her--and she says she doesn’t like him anymore, albeit for different reasons. I never ask. But there’s something ingrained within me that senses shenanigans will happen, even that night after I kiss an Italian boy. 

I’m right. It’s the second night in Rome. I go to a bar with two other friends. Apparently this is his favorite Irish bar in the whole of Europe, and of course he’s there. He plops beside me, deriding my choice in drinking Heineken when I should get an Italian beer. He asks me what I’m going to do when I come back to the states. I joke about ice water. He teases me. I tell him the truth, that I want to talk to my mom about a few things. I think about Prague, but leave that out and tell him about my new job, and how it’s everything I wanted but I’m nervous to leave teaching and also take a decrease in pay, but it’s also exciting because my head will be clearer to write more during the day, and I get a foothold in a career that’s interesting to me. He’s happy for me. 

From there, we talk, and we talk, and we talk and do occasional shots with the others I came with. The night is a blur, I can’t say everything we talked about--movies for one where he’s impressed I know who Laurence Olivier is. (”Of course I do! I’m a Shakespearean!”) and places he’s been to. he loves architecture, and tells me I could pass as Italian, and even Greek. (He’s right, I get mistaken for Greek a lot a little later) I show him a picture of my grandparents, and when my friend next to me starts showing pictures of the various colors she’s dyed her hair, I casually mentioned I stopped dyeing my hair. “Why would you?” he asks, “it’s a pretty color.” Once, he offhandedly mentions he’s self-conscious about his accent. I tell him I like it. Rather bashfully, he thanks me.

He takes a picture of us in the bar and posts it to the group chat. More people arrive. We kind of remain by each other’s side. He buys me a beer separate from the rest of the group. At some point I have to pee. On my way back from peeing I end up smooching another Italian man. He uses too much tongue too quickly for my taste. On my way back, he follows me. You know who sees this whole exchange and is very amused I got hit on, apparently. I think I mention something or other about my therapist telling me to kiss boys in Europe. Then he’s gone--gone without saying goodbye, and I’m a little upset but mostly I’m elated. I talked virtually all night with a man I find attractive, and not once did I run away. My good mood is only spoiled by the fact that I learn when I call home that my grandma was placed in the hospital.

The next day after the Vatican I’m eating with my friend L and a few others, and she casually mentions how he tried to get her to party with him yesterday. Driven by tiredness and also my news from the previous night, I go to my hotel room and cry. I don’t feel like he played me, but more so that I played myself. I’m just the funny side character after all. Why would I think I’m special? We’re going to Greece in the morning, and my body is just so tired I have no desire to go. 

But go we do, and once in Athens I just feel very, very happy. I can’t even really describe why the city makes me so happy. but I feel safe there. I feel like maybe the past life reader I emailed back in April was right, Greece was once my home in a time before. One thing is sure, I am not wasting my time on my tour director anymore. I’m just going to enjoy the rest of the trip. 

Except he’s eating lunch the same place me and my friends decide to eat at. We leave him be but he’s as amiable as ever. And then later that night when me and another group of girls decide to go for drinks at a rooftop bar---he tags along. I don’t really speak to him much, other girls in the group dominate the conversation, but I try my best to look wistful and unbothered. He lets me sip from his beer, and when I ask my smoker friend for a cigarette puff  he beats her and gives me a puff of his. He mentions the Irish bar in Rome and how I was there with him. I feel a sort of electricity when he plops by me to smoke and he’s pointed toward me. 

The next day at the Acropolis he gives me this sort of playful, dreamy look I don’t see him give anyone else, and I ask if he thinks I look silly in my hat. “Yes,” he says, and I laugh. Another dreamy look in Paros when we’re by ourselves by the sea for the briefest moment. He looks at me like I’m a revelation. It makes me laugh. It makes me feel like the romantic lead. One last wistful look the next morning before we return to Athens when he tells me “good morning.” Again, I feel a sort of revelation. My friend tells me later there’s a rumor he slept with a girl in our group. I kind of don’t care.

At our last dinner in Athens before we all must leave, I give him his tip. We embrace, we take a photo. He wants me to send it to him. I do, and he gives it a little heart. He comes out dancing with the group, one last time. I don’t see him for a bit, but when he bumps into me in the club he asks me where my drink is. I ask him if he’s going to buy me one to replace it. He teases me before agreeing, and then more people crowd around and suddenly we’re taking shots. It’s at this point I see the rumored girl he slept with in our group cuddle up near him, to which he doesn’t reciprocate. I give a certain look of disgust, one he mirrors. “What happened to the Irish bar?” he asks me. I am possessed. I put my hand on his cheek and I tell him I’ll always remember it. He will too, he says. That’s his favorite in all of Europe. 

I remember that souvenir I bought in Athens a few days ago, my name on a necklace in Greek. He’s supposed to give it me at some point, and when I ask he says he’ll just keep it if he forgets. YOU’RE GOING TO KEEP A NECKLACE WITH MY NAME? I ask, and he just looks sheepishly at me. I know I have to leave soon, so I say my goodbyes. “If I don’t see you, when I leave in the taxi to the airport,” I tell him, “I will kill you.” And then I embrace him again. I kiss his cheek. 

Such a simple thing, a kiss. I always thought I would have to be deliberate about it, because I imagined kissing his cheek in parting before. I wasn’t so. I was possessed, automatic. When he kisses me back on my cheek, an immediate response, it feels like an I see you, you were beautiful, I enjoyed my time with you. It feels romantic. 

So we part a few hours later with an embrace--nothing too crazy. But when I’m home, I message him because he asked us to let him know when we’re home safe. I thank him in Greek, and thank him for everything. I tell him I’m glad I stopped waiting around for someone and did what I always wanted to do. He thanks me. Am I going to leave it there? He lives in Greece, I live here. He told me he wouldn’t live in the US. Fuck, I’d move to Europe for true love, though the chance of him being it for me are very, very slim. I do know he said he’d mention if he was in the US, and asked me to mention if I was in Europe. Of course I’ll go back to Europe. I’ll always return. And I may need to message him. Some of my stories take place partly in Greece. I need research help.

In my therapist’s chair upon my return, she tells me who cares if the rumor about him sleeping with someone is true or not, I know what happened between him and I. He’s a tour director and he probably lied when he said he would never do something like that in Athens. At the end of the day, he’s European, and Europeans have different sensibilities. Good for me for kissing him, and after all, it’s not really about him. It’s about how I felt confident, I felt beautiful, and I held a man’s attention. She’s right of course. She’s always right. This story isn’t about a romance, it’s about the funny side character coming into her own, and knowing she can be the lead. It’s about how I got to know this amazing, incredible woman, and now I know I can’t be without her. And, my therapist says, it’s time for me to write my book. 

I used to be sad I didn’t have a partner, how I would look at pictures of my cousin’s family and be jealous. But I see them now, and I see how beautiful it is, but I also see how that’s not what I want. Not quite yet, I still want to travel. I must, for me. For my soul. For the art that I will make. 

And as for my tour director, I waffle back and forth now that I’m home. I know I can live without him. I’m ready for the man I will marry, but I also don’t want him yet, weirdly enough. There are things I have to do. I learned that in Europe. I learned that with my tour director, talking with him, exchanging heated looks with him he didn’t give anyone else. I was careful to observe that. I admit, there are parts of me that have this knowing that there’s more and I haven’t seen or heard the last of Nikos.  

I guess time will tell. I’m happy either way. I’m still the lead.

#personal #DO NOT REBLOG PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY #FUCK WHY DID I WRITE AND PUBLISH THIS #this is long #warning

[mcheang]

Chloe has got to go

Nino calls the resistance together for their next mission. Chloe has to leave Paris. It’s one thing to be unwillingly akumatized, but Chloe smiled and happily stood to abuse the akuma’s power to make them miserable.

Nino looked to Adrien and Lila. “I’m sorry. I know you two are friends with her but Chloe is a liability.”

Adrien: no, you’re right. At this point, Chloe is unremorseful and makes everyone else miserable enough to invite an akuma again. She needs to leave

Lila knows when to pick her fights, and with everyone but her intent on sending Chloe away, it would be a waste of breath. “I agree. I did think Chloe could change slowly over time but that isn’t what Ladybug needs.”

Marinette eyes Lila suspiciously.

Mylene: and how are we supposed to get rid of Chloe? Her dad’s the mayor. And even if we could convince Chloe to move to New York, he would get akumatized because he actually wants the bully around

Marinette: we have to convince the mayor it’s for Chloe’s own good to leave Paris.

Zoe: we have another obstacle, my mother. She doesn’t care that Chloe’s a bully. In fact, she’s proud of her.

Marinette: but knowing her, I am very certain she would care if Chloe makes her look ridiculous.

Nathaniel: as in all her total defeats?

Marinette: precisely.

Lila does warn Chloe that the class will try to talk to her parents about sending her away

Chloe: what a ridiculous idea, utterly ridiculous! Nobody can just walk up to my parents, not even Adrikins. And I always make sure that loser Zoe never even breathes in the same air as us

What Chloe refuses to acknowledge is that her father does like Zoe and does in fact visit his stepdaughter so she isn’t totally alone in the hotel

Andre wasn’t happy with Zoe’s suggestion that Chloe leave Paris even if he admits he empathises with her on how they can both relax when Chloe isn’t around. As a result of their conversation, he tries to invite Zoe to join them for dinner but Chloe shuts him down. Audrey doesn’t bother to raise her head.

Andre feels more sympathetic to Zoe’s suggestion.

Also, Chloe has underestimated her classmates’ again.

While Nino audibly plans to stalk Audrey and make her listen to their idea, Marinette tells Alya in secret that they can just make all the videos of Chloe’s scandals and defeat viral with Max and Markov’s help. She didn’t want to mention this in front of Lila because of how close she is to Chloe.

Skeptical, Alya has to admit Marinette has a point there. Markov and Max easily hack the internet.

Said videos interest Style Queen’s PR team and suddenly she is furious at her daughter for being such a loser. This is hurting both of her parents’ careers.

Chloe: you can’t believe the Internet mother! Those losers just want to kick me out of Paris! Don’t let them win!

Audrey: and let you stay and continue to humiliate the Bourgeois name? Don’t be ridiculous Claudette!

Chloe is angry to invite an akuma. Except Ladybug happened to be around as if she expected one.

Audrey drags Chloe to New York to teach her how to be a winner!

Andre was sad at their departure but Zoe comforts him.

Lila still keeps in touch with Chloe. Her influence over the mayor is still be useful.

#miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #ml fic #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #deflagration #why on earth they tolerate Chloe is beyond me

[waterhorseyblues-ao3]

WHB’S Guide To The Loki (616) Comic Canon So You Don’t Have To Slog Through It Like I Did

The chaos, mischief and hijinks Loki gets up to in the Marvel comics run as long and complex as the Thor comics ever did, so for simplicity this starts at the Loki “rebirth” which is where Loki became more of an independent character with his own role to play in the ongoing 616 canon. I will make a separate post for “non-canon” and oneshots and generally good comic Loki content that isn’t part of this arc.

diclaimer: i am Very opinionated and also prone to hyperbolic language so i may insult a comic/arc that you like. it is important that you Deal With It and move on because i cannot and will not be swayed.

“Classic Loki” dies during the Siege (2009) arc, specifically Siege #4. I don’t recommend it as reading personally and if you’re not already reading Marvel, it’ll be confusing and boring to follow. Things to know: Loki cut a deal with Hela to have his name taken from the book of Hel. He caused some Issues and Problems that went way overboard and is killed in the battle.

BEGIN THE KID LOKI STORY:

Thor #617-#619 (2010) - Thor finds the reborn child-aged Loki in Paris using the name “Serrure” (”Lock” in Fench.). Generally recommend this for context reading and understanding Loki’s character “rebranding”

Journey into Mystery #622-645 (2011) - Sometimes referred to as Loki: Journey Into Mystery, this is the bulk of the Kid Loki storyline and spans several story arcs in the Marvel comics at the time. Heavily recommend for understanding of the rest of Loki’s character arc, as well as adorable Thor & Loki sibling stuff and Loki’s goofy little way of talking. The final issues of this storyline are necessary reading for every major Loki storyline after.

 The Mighty Thor vol.2 (2011) - some of this happens in tandem to Journey into Mystery. If you’re not super into the Thor comics, this isn’t that important, but it helps inform the events of JiM while you’re reading it. There’s some good sibling stuff and Loki generally being a bit of a scamp, but there’s a lot going on that ties to other major Marvel story arcs at the time that can make this a bit confusing to read.

Fuck Exiled (2012) it doesn’t fucking matter.

Young Avengers (2013) - THE comic!!!! This is prime Kid Loki into Adult Loki content. This is where we got the contemporary Loki design from. This shits gay as hell, it’s full of friendship and drama and Loki shennanigans and I honestly cannot recommend this comic enough. If you never read another Marvel comic, read Young Avengers.

Loki: Agent of Asgard (2014) - OBVIOUSLY THIS ONE! Lots of people made the mistake of reading this on its own without understanding who Loki is in this comic. So much of Loki’s character development in this story hinges on the last issues of JiM. Read the others first THEN this, and you’ll thank me. This one has GORGEOUS art and completely re-shaped Loki’s character for the future Marvel comics. It also spans several major comic arcs at the time, so prepare for more external reading.

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS (2014) - This is a LOT to cope with if you’re not already into the comics, as it has a HUGE cast and a lot of major plots running at the same time. I honestly skimmed this just for bits of my fav characters. Loki appears on only a few, I believe #6-#8. Only read if you’re really interested in the context of the events in AoA.

Loki & Thor: Original Sin (2014) - I am holding this story arc in my hands. I am kissing it. This is PRIME fem!Loki content. This is ICONIC genderfluid Loki matrial. This is PURE fucked up dysfunctional Asgard-fam content. I love this comic series very much for it’s writing and artwork and beautiful moments and please don’t say a mean thing about it or I will cry.

More Loki content happens in Mighty Thor vol.3 (2016). I personally don’t think it’s relevant or necessary reading.

Fuck Vote Loki. Me and the homies hate Vote Loki. MCU will trick you and make you think Vote Loki might be good. It’s not.

The Infinity Quest arc doesn’t do anything useful for Loki imho. It’s one of the many comics in Loki’s current writing that feels like the writers haven’t read any of his previous arc.

Loki: Sorcerer Supreme (2017) - aka Doctor Strange #381-385. Imho the most wasted potential arc they’ve written so far. There’s like One nugget of very good Loki character content and the rest is just a huge waste of time. Would only recommend if you’re feeling comitted to reading as much of the Loki arc as you can.

Personally I think the entire Final Host arc is a complete misuse of Loki given his character development up until then and it simply doesn’t do anything for him.

Infinity Wars Prime (2018) - this is a bit of a Marmite arc. I think it’s setting up for Loki (2019) but it’s very tedious and bland and once again wastes the potential of the multiverse. Good only for ponytail Loki. It may be relevant in the future.

The War of the Realms (2019) - This has a LOT going on, but Loki’s part of this is very integral to how Loki is currently in the canon. This overlaps a little with Thor vol.5

Loki (2019) - This is.... Probably going to be relevant one day. It’s fun dialogue but honestly I truly do not care for this. It’s very slow paced and adds nothing to Loki’s character arc that AoA hadn’t already done. It’s a bit useful for understanding the way Loki has referred to himself since, but tbh... Meh.

Thor (2020) - This places Loki very much where he is Right Now in the canon and his current role. This is the point from which comics will pick up on his story arc, and also takes us back to the end of AoA.

Defenders (2022) - This picks up IMMEDIATELY after the final page of AoA. This is probably going to patch up a few of the issues I’ve had with previous story arcs, so I’m holding out! So far it is a banger.

#marvel #marvel comics #loki #comic loki #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #rambling #DM me for any extra info you want #i will talk your ear off about Loki

[tommysparker]

one person asked me to share my thoughts on the Red White & Royal Blue movie and that’s all i need so here you go! spoilers below

Okay so let’s start with the things I did like:

Taylor and Nick had AMAZING chemistry. They did a fantastic job with what they were given and I can genuinely envision them as the book characters. All the cast did a great job.

The scene with Alex and Ellen was so heart touching. As a queer person who’s come out to their parent and not been accepted, I almost started bawling when I saw Ellen holding Alex on the couch and telling him how much she loves and accepts him. It was a beautiful thing to see and I’m so happy we have more of that kind of representation in media; a safe space to come out and be yourself. Also Ellen’s knowledge of all the different labels in the community and her saying “The B in LGBT isn’t silent” is super empowering.

On that note, Alex’s speech at the end about privacy and how it’s your choice to come out (if you want to come out). Again, a very important message for people to hear and understand. Seeing the effects of being outed hopefully will open people’s eyes and we’ll see less pressure for people to come out or label themselves. And also hopefully people will stop butting into celebs lives in general.

To end the short list of things I liked: the bit with the phone calls was done in a clever way. I thought it was pretty cool, although it felt too much like walmart Heartstopper.

Now, on to everything I didn’t like about this movie

The writing was SO. FREAKING. LAZY. 90% of the movie is exposition. All tell no show. They pretty much only payed attention to the sex scenes and even those weren’t very interesting.

THEY CUT SO MANY THINGS. When I heard they cut June and Rafael, I was disappointed but figured it was to save time and they’d combine their stories with Nora/Liam respectively (which is what I heard). To my absolute disappointment, neither was done and on top of that they introduced this new character named Miguel who is nothing more than a jealous ex hookup. Not only that, they erased Alex’s parent’s divorce and Henry’s mother, two very important parts of their character backstories.

Continuing on about things that were cut, pretty much any actual bonding time we see with Henry and Alex in the book was reduced to short one-minute scenes and cheap montages. Instead they were replaced with beats that were 15-seconds too long that were meant to say something but simply didn’t translate properly.

Also, they completely cut out Alex’s whole awakening and immediately jumped to him coming out to Henry when they meet up after their first kiss. I get it made for a cute little haha funny banter moment but COME ON. Part of Alex’s character arc is him coming to terms with who he is after denying it for so long, and seeing that process is so important to show for people who are doing the same.

The movie felt so fast paced. Every ten minutes a new important story beat happened without giving the audience any real time to process whatever happened before that. By the time they were in Paris I had no interest in them “making love” for the first time.

I’m gonna make an example of this before it stands out as the most annoying thing to me still. The museum scene is a masterpiece in the books but on the big screen it’s so…bad. Half of the scene was done in voiceover for no reason (once again going back to exposition) and the other half was so boring I could barely pay attention. And the “history, huh?” moment being a spoken thing between them, as opposed to through email like in the book’s completely erases the basis all of their supporters held onto in the books. All the signs, the t-shirts, the graffiti, the way they did it in the movie makes it so none of that could exist.

I really wish we saw Alex’s side of things when they got exposed, especially the way it effected his mother’s campaign. I wanted to see him he told he’s off the campaign and how badly it hurt him. Instead we got one scene of exposition and a single shot of him gushing abt Henry and saying he misses him.

From a cinematography perspective, there was some very pretty shots that were obviously made to turn into promo posters.

That’s pretty much all I got for now off the top of my head. I’ve been trying to cleanse my brain of the film for the past 4 hours lmao

If you have your own opinions, please share respectfully!! I want to hear what you liked or disliked about this.

#red white and royal blue

[adamsvanrhijn]

what i, tumblr user maudbeaton, actually want to happen with the gilded age character maud beaton and oscar van rhijn (part 1/?)

Ok. so.

I made a post a few days ago just talking generally about my thoughts on the theory that Maud is scamming Oscar, which then boiled down to, "I do not think the scam explanation is more compelling or necessarily makes more sense than the straightforward explanation".

Even after 2.06, this is still my feelings on the situation overall: to me, it is more interesting if Maud isn't simply scamming Oscar, and if there is truth to what we have heard from/about Maud and the people around her.

However. What I want to happen only very rarely aligns with what Julian Fellowes wants to happen. Nothing in this series of posts is intended to be perceived as a prediction or as me debunking a common fan theory. I won't be surprised if Maud does turn out to be a scam artist at this point! I'm not even saying I think she isn't, we'll get there... If anything this might convince you even more that she IS scamming who knows!

I'm only saying that my hope is that ultimately what happens is more complicated than that, and here's why.

Meeting Maud

Let's take everything we heard about Maud (from Maud herself and from Aurora Fane) in 2.02 at face value for a moment. Maud has been living in Europe ("Paris mostly") since the death of her mother, who was born a Stuyvesant - old money New York family. She's heard of Mrs. Van Rhijn, because she was just talking to the Drexels in Newport - but she's not staying with them in Newport, she's staying with other friends. She now lives in New York with a sort of paid companion. Her named father, John Beaton, is dead. She is rumored to be the biological illegitimate daughter of Jay Gould, who has taken an interest in her, and she has lots of money at her disposal.

Jay Gould is an incredibly prominent figure, the archetypal robber baron. He has obscene money and influence (like George), and he amassed this wealth through being a ruthless businessman who undercuts and ruins the businesses of others (like George). This is Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk levels of publicity, with comparable buying power. People do not like Jay Gould. Jay Gould is not easy to deal with. That line from him in the first episode about hiring half the working class to kill the other half? A quote that has been attributed to him IRL and that lined up pretty well with his own actions. His one known soft spot was his own wife and children.

Realistically, Maud being rumored to be an illegitimate daughter wouldn't be good for her socially, let alone being rumored to be Jay Gould's illegitimate daughter.

We have a precedent for this in the show, because Marian brings it up about Cissie Bingham (the "niece" of Henry Flagler, rumored to be his daughter, whom Raikes later marries) the previous season in 1.09:

Raikes: We know New York now, you and I. There's a life to be lived here, and a good life. But two penniless strangers from out of town could not have hoped to live it. Marian: But Miss Bingham can make sure of that life for you? Well, why not? She won't suit the old crowd, but she'll do well enough with the new, and her fortune is more than ample for both of you.

(Just for fun, I will also call out that it's the Drexels' box at the Academy of Music where Aurora spots Bingham and Raikes in 1.09.)

And Aurora calls out that people do talk about Maud—in the same breath as saying that she goes everywhere and is nice, and as we see Maud speaking to a nameless background character.

Oscar thinks this is great. "Suitable and charming" he says! Oscar is a fortune hunter who wants to marry a rich girl for her money. He's also closeted and wants the social stability that would come with marriage to a woman — especially a pretty, popular woman who is liked (if not, in Maud's case, universally well regarded).

Here's the thing:

From when we first meet her, Maud is already too good to be true.

...but it's not because the information we have about her doesn't make sense on its own. It's because Oscar's conclusion doesn't make sense based on that information.

At this point all Oscar (thinks he) knows is that this woman is an orphan living with a paid companion who says she knows the Drexels and has friends in Newport she's staying with and lived in Paris and looks down on Parisians, and whose father might actually be Jay Gould, and that's why she can spend all the money she does. That all adds up! Not unheard of, it makes sense that a young woman with no living legal guardians might be supported by her wealthy biological father even if he hasn't claimed her.

What doesn't add up is that she would retain any of the wealth she has access to after she married other than a dowry. It doesn't add up that she would continue to be supported by a man who has no legal responsibility toward her once there is a man with a legal responsibility toward her: a husband. That's the case for girls with alive legitimate biological fathers, too—and in 1.03, Charles Fane calls out that it's not a good look or feeling to be a penniless husband relying on your wife's father for financial support.

There is no reason to think, with the information that Oscar has, even taking that information completely at face value, that Maud is an heiress to or of anything.

Even if we assume everything that Oscar has been told at this point is true (and it's already been presented to him as rumor!), the most straightforward explanation here is that Maud's biological dad doesn't want her to fall into poverty after being orphaned and it's a drop in the bucket to him, not that she's secretly an heiress to Gould money. Oscar is making an assumption based on what he wants to be true, without all of the facts.

Yes, Maud has plenty of money at her disposal... but is it hers?

Oscar is not bothering to ask that question. He is already setting himself up for failure.

(part 2)

#maud beaton tag #oscar van rhijn tag #the gilded age spoilers

[josefavomjaaga]

Hello! To start out, I REALLY love your page! The detail put into your posts and responses are so fun and interesting to read. I especially love when you interpret quotes with, like, I guess “stage play” versions. They’re so funny.

So I wanted to ask something of you for the first time. I’ve been writing a story that takes place in the Napoleonic Wars era for a while now, so I’ve been doing a lot of research in that era (and a lot of that research is guided by your posts haha). There are several important characters who are supposed to be police in an 1805 French town, but I’ve been having trouble finding good info about them, like what those police wore, what they carried, what their responsibilities were, etc. I’m not even sure if they have like a police station kind of headquarters or something in 1805 France. If you have anything that’ll help me out just about those french police at the time, that would be much appreciated. So far, I’ve been drawing comics about them, but whenever a police shows up I just draw him in the normal napoleonic soldier uniform…although that’s probably not accurate. Thanks!

Well, first of all: Thank you! 💖 Truth be told, I often feel quite impertinent, mocking all these illustrious personalities, who have both achieved and gone through things I cannot even imagine. But sometimes I just can’t help it. Laughter is the weapon of those without power (and in my case, without merit). Plus, it renders all these grim warriors a lot more human, and, as far as I am concerned, more amiable.

As to your question – as I’ve said in the other Ask below, it’s quite easy to find the end of my knowledge 😁. That would be one of those cases.

I actually have read up a bit on the development of what we call police today, but only for German territories. But I presume developments in France were similar, with innovations usually starting a little earlier. The German word »polizey« originally was applied to all sort of public tasks, from the organisation of markets to cleaning of the streets. It was only during Napoleon’s time (and presumably under French influence) that the term was somewhat reduced to public security measures (but that still included, for example, firemen). When it came to crimes, it usually meant what we today would call a »secret police«, i.e., surveillance of the population rather than investigation of crimes already committed.

But investigation could be part of it. Napoleon’s famous minister of Police Joseph Fouché (that one has to be named first) is mostly known for his spy network and his detailed files on pretty much everybody who was somebody in France. But, for example, after the »infernal machine« asassination attempt his men did some excellent investigations and found the culprits within days. I do not know where in Paris the Ministry of Police was located.

One of the main task of the police was to look after foreigners in town and to issue passports, as in theory nobody was allowed to travel without one.

For Paris, the police headquarters was the Préfecture de Police. It still exists today, but I do not know if it’s still in the same location. The different arrondissements of the city all had their own chief of police, who answered to the préfecture. An interesting personality to look into more might be Jean-François Réal, a co-worker of Fouché and possibly more the kind of »policeman« as we understand the term today.

As to keeping up security in the capital, that was – I think! - at least to some degree also the job of the gouverneur de Paris (who commanded the military forces stationed in the city and for a very long time happened to be one Andoche Junot, so I hope maybe @snowv88 can either confirm or correct me 😊).

It is to be noted that Fouché’s (secret) police was not the only police under Napoleon’s rule. Actually, there were several police organisations all spying on each other. On top of that, the army units had their gens d’armes who kept order and investigated possible violations among or by soldiers.

From what I have read, outside of Paris the police may have been subject to the préfet of the départment, but I am not even entirely sure about that. There seem to have been »bureaux de police«, police offices, so some kind of headquarters for the local police agents must have existed.

And that, I fear, is already all I have. I very much hope for input from people with more knowledge, because now I’ve gotten interested and want to learn more myself.

Thank you for the question and all best wished for your stories! Please share whenever you feel like it!

#napoleonic era #police #fouché

[writinglittlebeasts]

nine people tag

tagged by @rickie-the-storyteller

RULEZ: Answer these questions and then tag 9 people to play too!

i will tag (gently; that's a lot of people): @unhingednovelist @rmgrey-author @tabswrites @karolinarodrigueswrites @void-botanist @outpost51 @camillenrose @moonluringfrost @at-thezenith

and i am. Rambling. in this tag game, so i'm gonna throw it under a cut lol

Three Ships

see, when i'm not thinking about these things they fall right out the back of my skull, so i have nooooo idea. ... and you know what that means !!! 🤪🤪🤪

quentin + eliot from the magicians! they are my everything; they invented love and when i think about them i want to scream and cry and throw up. don't have any other details, if you know you know if you don't get well soon

julia and kady and penny from the magicians! the arrangement doesn't matter! i also have a fun au where both pennys are alive at once and in the same polycule, and initially it's super weird but they get over it. julia and kady have everything, they were forced together but stayed together on purpose, their history is so tumultuous but they care so much about each-other. kady and penny's romance feels rushed but when they decided they were doing it they were great and i was totally on board (+ rewatches have made a lot of the rushed-ness make sense in character

fen and margo from......... the magicians! this show was sooo committed to making fen an accessory character to margeliot (i refer to margo and eliot together this way because it feels wrong to separate them) that they crushed her character into a little box and still, Somehow, she and margo have like Allll of the chemistry, it's ridiculous. i think about the scene where margo tells fen that if eliot dies she'll take care of her every day. i languish under the knowledge that fen's destiny being textually intertwined with margo's was never romantic to the writers the way it was romantic to me. the king's wife and the queen who also happens to be the king's best friend slash qp??? it's sooooooo good.

Currently Listening

in the interest of naming a song instead of just saying i've got reads with rachel running in the background, lp's lost on you but specifically this version is one of my most listened tracks this year i think. it's like, right underneath francesca, it's so good

Last Movie

i watched nimona a couple of days ago and puss in boots: the last wish this morning <3 i read nimona aaaaaages ago (ought to read it again) and i was so excited for the movie. i'm still thinking about it. nimona my friend nimona. puss in boots was fucking gorgeous, also, it was So pretty

Currently Reading

i FINALLY finished paris daillencourt (my beloathed) so i guess i'm back to reading ninth house and house of leaves alternately. though i might bounce around a little and read whitesmile instead because baccano! is one of my favorite series and it's just been sitting on my shelf, driving me nuts because i didn't want to add another book to my, like, (at the time) 3 current reads

Currently Watching

i'd say the rain but i really don't like it so it doesn't count lol . i've been catching episodes of sailor moon while my roommate has been watching them, though, and i've been enjoying that!

Currently Consuming

basically just arizona green tea. it never stops (the arizona green tea)

Currently Craving

absolutely nothing lmao . inspiration for original stories.

#or #nine people tag

[akookminsupporter]

some accounts are saying that jimin's supposed trip to Paris was cancelled and will be rescheduled. now I don't really care about scoops and all that as i want the tannies to have their privacy, but these accounts are on my timeline. quite scary how they know these things. jeez.

https://twitter.com/BtsScoops/status/1668597179550760962?t=JUt46mmTqs-F5QkGVArwUg&s=19

I have two main comments about this Ask:

It makes me laugh how people believe in these kinds of accounts. A few weeks ago someone sent me a similar ask and out of curiosity I decided to visit several of those accounts, the ones that claim to have confidential information about bts. Honestly, I laughed a bit. Those kinds of accounts reveal information ambiguous enough to allow them to boast credibility. For example, they say Jimin will travel, they just put Jimin's name with an emoji and that's it, they don't say when it will be and that way they can't be called liars if it doesn't happen soon, 3 months after that Jimin actually travels somewhere and they say 'see! I told you Jimin would travel' and people believe them. From what I saw, some of those accounts were saying Jungkook's album would be out in November and when the news came out that it might be out in July, some didn't say anything and some noted that the dates had been changed and that was normal.

I remember seeing several of those accounts swearing that Jimin would attend the MET Gala and when that didn't happen, they said that there was just a change of plans but that he was initially scheduled to go. These accounts post the same "information" but with certain variations and others post "new" information when a rumour gains traction on social media. I imagine the story about Jimin's trip started because Paris fashion week starts next week and Dior has a runway show on one of those days.

I also saw that some of them post snippets of songs that haven't been released yet, for example, take two was leaked last year but these accounts swore it was exclusive content when it is known that unfortunately those leaks happen in Korean forums.

These accounts are ambiguous and people with the need to know absolutely everything believe them. I noticed that the account that posted the tweet in the link is the most ambiguous of all.

The other interesting thing about your ask is when you say that those accounts are on your timeline. Anon, if those accounts appear there it's because you searched for them at some point. The Twitter algorithm works like this. If you check or follow certain types of accounts, the algorithm will show you accounts similar to those. A few weeks ago after I checked some of those accounts they started showing up on my 'for you' page, so I had to block them or use the 'I'm not interested in this tweet' option to make them disappear. So, if you are seeing them on your timeline, it's because your algorithm understood that you are interested in those accounts.

#anon #ask #bts fan opinions

[youraveragedeltafan]

Idea: Crossover/AU where Chloe Bourgeois gets on the Infinity Train and joins the Apex

Idk how niche this is, but I just had a thought once a little bit of my old and slightly older brainrots came back to haunt me: Chloe Bourgeois and Infinity Train, more specifically book 3. Since I have been grasping at creative straws for 2 months, here are a few bullet points/ideas that I may work with later. Big maybe, this newfound motivation might die tomorrow lol. Either way, hope you few people who find this interesting enjoy!

Also mlb season 5 spoilers I think? I dunno I just kind of read episode summaries now I have no idea what season we're on.

Imagine if at 15, Chloe Bourgeois unknowingly escapes to the train right before she was forced to live with her mother, but instead of going on a journey of self discovery, she has the 'fortune' in bumping into the Apex instead.

(oh also while all of this is very found family like, I acknowledge that under the surface these are still three flawed extremely traumatized kids feeding into each others problems and creating/building a cult that kills denizens/destroys cars, like that's all still happening in the background of this LMAO)

When the crying teenager is brought into the mall by the few younger members of the group, it's more of the same for Grace and Simon, and the normal Apex welcomes begin.

Nobody really realizes or cares who Chloe is, due to their ages when boarding the train. It would bother her on a normal day, but given everything that has happened prior to boarding, it kind of sends her spiraling into more crying/anger.

While Simon is in no mood for it, Grace goes into full damage control mode, comforting and leaving her alone in one of the nicer areas of the mall car so she can fully calm down.

Simon is annoyed by it, but Grace plays it off as playing the long game so to speak in order to get Chloe to join. It's a half truth, as she feels empathy for Chloe after hearing a small bit of the events leading to the train picking her up. (mainly that someone left her, bringing up memories of Grace's first time meeting Simon)

Speaking of empathy, this is dialed up to an eleven when Grace gets to know her better, and finds out about her kind of similar living situation (neglectful parents) and her history of friends/conflict at school (she doesn't really go into the whole superhero thing because she feels like it would take attention off her. Besides, they don't seem to know or care much about what's going on outside anyway)

Now friends, Grace decides to take Chloe to her first car raid with just her and Simon. Chloe goes along with it to both get her anger out on something and impress her new friend. I'd expect they'd hit an 'easy' car first, like the cube car from Book 2.

Simon is now annoyed and jealous now that Grace is giving more of her attention to someone else, but after the car is thoroughly destroyed Chloe gives more information on how she got onto the train. As soon as she mentions being essentially abandoned and replaced by her father, he empathizes with her immediately and actually gets pissed off for her as well (Brought to you by Samantha fueled abandonment issues). They bond over the trash talking of her dad, and they become official friends soon after.

With Chloe fully on their side (and their friendship growing fast), they finally decide to tell her about what the Apex is all about. Full theatrics, conductor and everything.

Knowing the crazy stuff that happened in Paris on a daily basis (which is only reaffirmed by the train), she doesn't doubt the existence of the Conductor, but has reservations about his godlike status among the group ("Are you serious? That thing is probably just a glorified sentimonster!"). However, she keeps these to herself, as she deep down, she doesn't want them to abandon her.

What she lacks in 'belief', she makes up for in fierce loyalty. The only thing Chloe has to her name now is her found family The Apex, and she's not just gonna lose that, no matter how many nulls have to pay. Besides, just because she doesn't believe in the Conductor's power, doesn't mean that she isn't greatly invested in beating the train...

(Oh also, a little bonus. Depending on if the headcanon/theory is true, I'd imagine Simon and Chloe would speak to each other in French on occasion to mess with Grace.)

#It was just a passing thought until I realized it would fit nicely within the suspected timelines of both shows. #Chloe Grace and Simon are all around the same age according to both wikis #Miraculous is still stuck in 2015ish while book 3 took place in/around 2020 #sorry if any of the lore is off I'm rusty with Infinity train and EXTREMELY rusty with miraculous #This is kind of a exercise/idea dump to get myself writing again #mlb season 5 spoilers #idk is that a thing still? I don't even watch miraculous anymore I just read the synopsis/watch clips lolol #infinity train #miraculous ladybug #chloe bourgeois #grace monroe #simon laurent

[littledigest]

Birth Chart Coincidences or Evidence that Astrology is real? 🤔

Here are some interesting aspects asteroids make in my natal chart that are actually accurate to my life.

Study Abroad:

I have Paris 3317 conjunct Arabic lot ASC + House 9th - Mercury (For higher education). I studied abroad in Paris during my junior year of college. I was very hesitant at first because I'm a nervous person, and it seemed like such a big step for me. Never regretted it and will always be grateful for it.

Crying very easily:

I have Lacrimosa 208 (weeping, tearful) conjunct Jupiter in Capricorn. I cry over everything even though I try very hard not to. Was a big cry baby until age 5. From then on, I always wanted to hold back my tears, but this had a 50/50 success rate. Even now, as an adult, I am sensitive, and a lot of things touch me easily. Any strong emotions can easily trigger tears (sadness, frustration, anger, passion, feeling touched, etc.). My mom tells me that I have a lot of tears.

Religion:

I have Christian 192158 conjunct Skepticus 6630 conjunct my South Node. Religion and Christianity especially were big themes in my life growing up. Not because I was Christian but because all my relatives were Christian and very religious, but my immediate family and I are not. I always had a tug-of-war inside me that maybe God is real and I should believe in him (Christian), but I felt that that was not me at the same time (Skepticus). My relatives also tried to encourage and/or push my sibling and me to become religious, which put a lot of pressure on me. Now as an adult, I am very sure of my own personal stance on religion. I am not anti-religion, but I know that that is not for me. I no longer get overly sensitive when others bring it up, and that inner turmoil I felt in my childhood seems like a long-ago story (SN).

Fated Friends:

There are three Arabic lots for friendship: ASC + Spirit - Fortune, ASC + Moon - Venus, and ASC + Moon - Uranus. Two of my friends' first name asteroids are each conjunct the first two Arabic lots. There is no asteroid with the first or last name of my third friend. BUT! Her sun is conjunct the third Arabic lot.

Introversion:

I have Hermitage 4758 conjunct my South Node (wide orb). I am not joking when I say I rarely, if ever, get the feeling that I want to go out and meet people. I am extremely introverted; I've scored 96% for introversion on an MBTI test before. I've even spent a whole year just at home doing my own thing (pre-covid). That year was so bad for me mentally, physically, and emotionally, but I don't recall ever thinking, "I'm so sick of being by myself. I want to go outside and hang out." In fact, I felt like I wanted to retreat into myself even more. However, I do see myself in the future feeling restless and wanting to expand my world to the outside. If that does happen, it would make sense that Hermitage is on my South Node and not my North Node.

#astrology #astrology blog #astrology post #natal chart #birth chart #asteroids #littledigest #astrology is real #astrology evidence #arabic lots #astrology notes #astro observations #hermitage 4758 #christian 192158 #skepticus 6630 #lacrimosa 208 #paris 3317 #south node #jupiter in capricorn

[imsparky2002]

Ghouls and Monsters - The Witch and Doll

(Scarynette does the Wednesday thing of poking Maridoll's shoulder. The voodoo girl looks around and sees no one there, she turns around and yelps as the human gives her a manic grin.) 

Scarynette: Gotta say, it's so cool to see myself as a monster. Hmm, I wonder what would happen if you pricked yourself? Would I feel pain even if from another dimension?

Maridoll: Oh…when I get hurt it effects everyone in the immediate area, so…I try to avoid it as much as I can.

Scarynette: Oh, that sounds unpleasant. I hope you've babyproofed the school. I can be a bit of a klutz at times.

Maridoll: Most of my belongings are babyproofed and my friends always look out for me.

(She has a warm smile on her face.)

Maridoll: They’re always there to pick me back up when I fall.

Scarynette: I can say the same thing. It's good to have friends, and even better to hear them scream! Can I ask if you've got some special someones as well?

Maridoll: (Blushes) Yes. My wonderful partners, Kagami, Adrien and Luka.

Scarynette: (She lets out a dreamy sigh) How they make my heart shiver. I bet they treat you very well.

Maridoll: Yes! Kagami is very protective but also gentle. Adrien is such a ray of sunshine, I can’t help smiling too. And Luka…he always understands what’s inside my heart.

Scarynette: They truly are blessings, aren't they? Ooh, may I see a photo of them? And your friends?

(Maridoll takes out a picture to show her.)

Scarynette: Such a wide variety! But they all look as awesome as ever. Ooh, by any chance do you have a witch at your school?

Maridoll: We do! She’s a friend of ours, her name is Candace.

Scarynette: Oh, Candace! She's a cheerleader in my dimension. Mylene and Kagami have made sure that there's plenty of school spirit for her squad. 

Maridoll: You go to school with humans? Like... a regular school?

Scarynette: Well, Adrien and I are taught alongside our sisters by the Witches of Wisdom, but we also go to DuPont.

(The witch then frowns.) 

Scarynette: I'm assuming that you aren't so as fortunate in your world?

Maridoll: N-no. Humans…most of them REALLY don’t like monsters.

(She gives her a comforting hug.) 

Scarynette: Monsters in my home aren't appreciated by most corners of the world, either. Even if becoming heroes of Paris have helped somewhat, we're nowhere near coexisting.

(Maridoll is interested in the "hero" mention, and decides to change the subject.) 

Maridoll: Wait... you and your sisters are superheroes?

(Scarynette nods) 

Scarynette: Would you like to see?

(Maridoll has a small smile.) 

Scarynette: Arachne! Web me up! 

(A dark and spooky transformation happens and Zhīzhū appears. She opens all of her red eyes and shows off a fanged grin to Maridoll, climbing up to the ceiling before dropping down behind her.) 

Maridoll: Woah... you look so much like Reshy!

Zhīzhū: I’ve always had such a love for spiders…what wonderful creatures!

Maridoll: And they're very helpful when we're designing clothes! Your outfit already looked beautiful, but after transforming... wow. (Zhīzhū shows off her Morticia esque dress underneath the cloak.)

(Maridoll squeals and claps her hands)

Zhīzhū: I'm glad to see you appreciate fashion as well. You know, you're a very pretty girl. Some people might say you need to have more confidence in yourself, and that's true, but remember to stay true to who you are. You can be as quiet as you want, you know that?

(Maridoll squeaks and runs in to receive a cloak hug. Hearing her own voice makes the compliment feel even sweeter.)

Maridoll: (Sniffling) T-thank you.

Here's the second-to-last crossover and it's the first between different species! Both characters are a joy to write, and thanks to Weeby for helping with the dialogue. Make sure to reblog, reply, post and ask. @artzychic27 @msweebyness

#marinette dupain cheng #marinette #witch #voodoo doll #monstrous #monstrous au #monster au #monster #school for monster #ghoul squad au #ghoul squad #miraculous ladybug #miraculous

[ghostofafruit]

Here's my favourite fics of 2023

All Time Favourite: Wrong Place, Wrong Time Doctor Who and MCU, 6331 Words Summary: Or maybe it is the right place, right time. While searching for the Doctor, Rose ended up in a universe she'd ever been to before. If only she'd arrived five minuets later, or forty minuets earlier. Thanos had just defeated the avengers in space, and she's one of the unlucky fifty percent. While safely tucked away in Pete's Universe, her family watch her life signs fade away. The five years pass, and suddenly a tracker they had set of detected her. Doctor Who Favourite: The Doctor's Tattoo, 13342 words Summary: He's just dropped Donna off, and not even twelve hours earlier he'd lost Rose to the other universe. His only consolation was that she had her mum and Mickey. She'd be fine, she'd find a way to have a great life. He missed her though, and he knew that humans, and a lot of other species, liked to drink away pain. What was the harm in that? He woke the next morning with a tattoo. He actually likes it, but when he regenerates he misses it instantly. So he gets another one. And the process repeats Good Omens Favourite: A Demon's Tears, 2668 Words Summary: Aziraphale decides he's had enough of Heaven. He'd much rather be with Crowley. Except, well, he's been gone for eighteen months and things aren't the same anymore. Namely, Crowley doesn't look the same, Muriel seems to have gained some confidence in their eighteen months on Earth, and there's a second demon hanging around his bookshop. Is he welcome on Earth anymore? Harry Potter Favourite: Tattoos and Fortunes, 2350 words Summary: Sybil and Pandora own a tattoo parlour and fortune telling shop, and they've known each other since school. They've also been dancing around each other since school, on a quiet day as Pandora tattoos Sybil, their feelings for each other start to become apparent. Highest Kudos: Family Trees, Harry Potter, 4562 words, 719 Kudos Summary: After avoiding the Black family tapestry, Sirius finally faces it. He reasons with himself to avoid false hope, but after confirmation from another source he confirms his brother isn't dead. He also finds out some more interesting facts, and it turns out Regulus was smarter than he thought. Highest Hits: (2nd place, first is same as above) The Coffee, Good Omens, 1044 words, 3498 Hits Summary: Crowley and Aziraphale have a bad feeling about the coffee the Metatron is offering. Crowley steps in, and chaos ensues Highest Ratio of kudos to hits(fics released in the last week not counted): A Trip To France, Doctor Who, 617 Words, Ratio of 3.48 Summary: "Look Adam, the future is like Paris. You can't just read the guidebook! You've got to throw yourself in, eat all the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double, and kiss complete strangers. Or is that just me?" post tentoo rose returns to her home universe, the first Doctor she runs into is the fourth Doctor, and it just so happens they're in Paris. Highest Bookmarks: (3rd place, 2nd and 1st already on list) The Reveal, Harry Potter, 1053 Word, 91 Bookmarks Summary: Sirius has spent the day studying for his newts and thinking about housing arrangements, today is not the day for news to come out. Of course Regulus, Evan, and Barty, didn't get that memo and several days later he finds himself running after his best friend and cursing him out.

2023 has been a great year for me, espically in fanfic. I've written so many fics this years, it's brilliant. Admittedly most of them are drabbles but I'm still damn proud of myself. Happy new year!

#fanfic #2023 #new year #list #my fanfics #crossove fic #doctor who #mcu #doctor who marvel crossover #good omens #harry potter #ao3

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

(sent through here in case you don’t answer notes. replies? idk, i’m new to tumblr. feel free to disregard if you do reply to those.)

Are you willing to engage in a convo/elaborate on disliking Taehyung? I can see that you already have somewhere, but I’m new here so I can’t find that. All that I have gleaned is that his actions have bothered you somehow? To be honest, I would like to critique one of your posts by saying that I think you saying “I don’t have the energy for him, I’m trying to be nice” is, like, harmful? Rude? Maybe a bit weird? Yes, I am Taehyung-biased, but I would still be saying this if you said that to Jimin or Minho or, idk, Harry Styles. I just think it’s an unnecessarily mean and even threatening thing to say to someone without being a bit more upfront about your reasoning. I think it would be helpful to link those old posts you made, though I get that that’s not possible for every ask. Anyway, I guess I’ve become the Taehyung-likers in your inbox (or whatever this thing is called) that you don’t have energy for lol, but I genuinely would like to know your reasoning. Thanks for all the other posts, too, your queer Bangtan analyses are very cool and awesome.

Hey @raspberrytaegi

I saw you sent this same message in the comments. I decided to answer here because it's easier to write. This was during my break, so now I finally decided to actually answer your questions.

In a way, I understand where you're coming from, specifically because it appears that you only recently opened up your blog and you somehow stumbled on to mine and you happened to see me dismissing something that was Tae-related. Now, there was a context to that. Some of it is obvious from my blog, other stuff was more personal in a way. This is not me justifying myself because as you will see in what I will explain down the line, I don't think it's necessary for me to do so.

Me saying I don't have the energy for him was right before I went on a break and put the blog on hold. My initial plan was to wait until right before Christmas, but I just had had enough of anything BTS and the 90 percent of asks that were piling up in my inbox. If I came across as rude in that ask, I was just the same in the other ones I responded during those days because I simply didn't have the patience anymore for nonsense. So, there was that.

For anyone who has been following me for a while, they sort of know what my stance is in regards to Tae and I've never been shy about it. I can't link all my posts about him because it would take too much work and time that I do not have. I also wish my tagging system would be more consistent, but if you are interested, you can check the "tae", "taehyung" "V" tags on my blog and you could probably find some more. And what you will find is that indeed, I'm not a fan of him. But I also don't subscribe to this idiotic mentality of what this fandom would call anti, hater or whatever else label is out there. Which means, I don't have a hate boner for him. I may be biased and that influences the way I perceive him, but I'm also not going to drag him for the sake of it. I had anons saying his friendship with the Wooga squad is fake and just for the show they made which was something that I did not agree. I sort of live posted during the Grammy awards last year and 80 percent of my posts was me enjoying Tae doing his thing. His first trip to Paris was on my radar as well and in a good way. I also talked about the "dating scandal" back in September and how the fans are being shitty towards the entire thing (in way more words anyway. If that is of interest to you, I tagged it under the ship name).

At the same time, I'm not a fan of his behavior. I think he can be shady some times and this is something that would get me stoned on twitter. He can come across as rude and spoiled and that's something that personally doesn't work for me. I also don't expect everyone to agree. Some things that I don't like might be the same reason why others are his fans. They like how Tae is more serious and quiet, I see it as unwilligness to be professional (in some group video messages and even Run BTS episodes. Everyone can have a difficult day and not be in the mood at all, but it's a job where they play games. That's it. And it's not a one time occurence. If it was that case, I probably wouldn't have noticed).

I don't understand his tendency to lie. Especially when there's intention (or it comes across as that). This is a behavior that is seen by his fans as Tae just being himself, he's cool like that. Fine. But not to me. He posts a fake tattoo just because, he says he's having a collab for a Christmas song but that didn't happen and it came out of the blue, and so on.

I don't hate the guy, I just don't vibe with him at all and he's the type of person that I can't be a fan of. That's it. It's not a crime. And I'm also not going to judge you for coming to my inbox and wanting to understand why I think that way because you're Tae biased. I get it. I also don't get some of the opinions written about Jimin and Jungkook so I understand your position.

I also don't mind the passive agressiveness in your ask about me not having the energy for a Tae-biased fan. I "judge" my anons mostly on how they choose to express themselves and the willingness to understand different point of views, not based on who they stan. If someone is at least mostly reasonable (which you were), we can have a conversation.

Lastly, I saw that you liked some of my other posts, thank you! Seeing that you didn't immediately sent me a hate post and being able to see beyond an dismissive answer to an ask I answered played a big part in me being open now in having this conversation.

#bmt asks #tae ask