#also i generally watch quite a bit of the gymnastics

[stillunusual]

The word "Nazi" has a specific meaning to normal people, but to vatniks and tankies it has five basic meanings…. "anybody I don't like" "anybody who disagrees with me" "anybody who's a citizen of a country that Russia wants to invade" "anybody who opposed or simply didn't want to live in one of the tyrannical regimes I simp for" "anybody who was oppressed or killed by one of my favourite mass murderers" EDITED TO ADD: a tankie clown reblogged this post and made some typically asinine comments, so I thought I'd elaborate a little bit…. Tankie clown: @well1x is either referring to the fact that a lot of the "deaths under communism" listed in "the black book of communism" (which gives us the 10 million number or whatever) are quite literally Nazis in WWII, or they're referring to the fact that the only people who have been made to deliberately suffer under communism have been literal Nazis and fascists (generally speaking)

Joining the tankie cult requires you to live in a delusional clown world and believe in a shit ton of made up (and often contradictory) nonsense that requires a considerable repertoire of mental gymnastics (and lies) to maintain….

@well1x is literally trying to claim that all victims of communism are "nazis and facists" (sic), which - back in the real world - is a very obvious lie. It's also a blatant example of victim blaming. For example, most of the millions of men, women and children who were robbed, raped, imprisoned, sent to the gulags, tortured, starved to death, executed or ethnically cleansed by Stalin's henchmen were not Nazis or fascists, and many were innocent of any crime. The vast majority of the population in Stalin's Soviet Union also had to put up with crippling poverty and backwardness, the brutal suppression of their religious and community life and the total lack of freedom.

Based on his comment, I doubt if the tankie clown has ever read "the black book of communism" and I'm also not sure why he mentions this book in particular, when there are thousands of others that thoroughly document the numerous crimes of the regimes tankies insist on being the useful idiots for, and I think it's safe to assume that he hasn't read any of those books either (in fact, I doubt if he's ever read any book whatsoever)…. Tankie clown: Karina then shows an image of (presumably) some kids in the Ukraine famine. This is completely unrelated though because this famine was not manufactured by the USSR as say the Irish famine was by the English. Can't really attribute natural disaster to "muh communism"

Again - a typical genocide-denying tankie lie.

Tankies generally start by saying that the holodomor was Nazi propaganda, and when you debunk that they claim it was just a natural disaster, and when that doesn't work they make up some bullshit about how millions of farmers who barely had enough to live on were wealthy kulaks who burned crops and slaughtered cattle (and therefore deserved to die). And when you point out that the red army actually broke into their homes and confiscated all their grain, every cow or chicken or any other food they had, and that the Soviet authorities blacklisted villages, sometimes purely for containing relatives of Ukrainian independence fighters, and prevented the villagers from leaving, shot them for even collecting ears of grain from the fields, and watched them starve to death - tankies will just deny it, or laugh, or pretend that millions of holodomor victims were all rich landlords (and therefore deserved to die) etc etc….

I've also never seen English people pretending that the Irish famine never happened, or claiming that the victims deserved it, or that it was a good thing, or that Britain should re-conquer Ireland. On the other hand, it's difficult not to notice Stalin's smooth-brained groupies swarming all over social media every day denying or justifying the holodomor and other crimes of Russia and the USSR, and hoping that Russia not only re-conquers Ukraine but also Finland, the Baltics, Poland and other countries it has invaded and occupied in the past.

There's no point trying to reason with tankies using facts, logic or common sense - and appealing to their sense of decency while they're simping for their favourite mass murderers is a complete waste of time. Tankie clown: Karina then says @well1x is defending imperialism(???), defending ethnic cleansing (which …what??), dreaming about labour camps and mass shootings (for Nazis yes plz), and does not do any praxis (based on?).

Yep - most tankie clowns claim to be communists while simultaneously embracing Russian fascism, supporting the imperialism of Russia’s mega-rich ruling class, mindlessly repeating the Kremlin's propaganda and cheerleading their war crimes. These morons seem to have no idea that the Russian Federation is an empire made up of many conquered states that Russia invaded, occupied and colonised in the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, or that Russia's war against Ukraine is a brutal attempt to reassert control over one of its former colonies. Russia's history of imperialism is at least as bad as that of any western country - and they're still doing it in the 21st century.

And I have seen countless examples of tankies speaking openly of wanting to mass murder their ideological enemies (or people they don't like) - because they also delude themselves into believing that if their revolutionary dreams ever came true, they'd be the ones doing the arresting and killing, despite the fact that in a real revolution they'd be about as much use as a fart in a spacesuit. They also have no idea how their small dick energy is somehow going to bring capitalism to its knees, which they'd inevitably end up crying about if it ever actually happened in reality.

Most of them are complete losers who spend the majority of their time sitting in their bedrooms huffing their own farts while reading tankie fan fiction online. Tankie clowns also claim to be against western imperialism and capitalism, despite living comfortable lives in western capitalist countries and owing everything they have to capitalism, including the freedom to use their capitalist smartphones or laptops to post anti-capitalist tantrums on social media platforms owned by western capitalists (thus helping these western capitalists to maximise their profits).

This is generally the sum total of a typical tankie's - ahem - "revolutionary" activity.

The vast majority of tankie clowns wouldn't dream of ever giving up the comforts of capitalism to move to one of the authoritarian shitholes they stupidly simp for, because then they might not be able to play their favourite capitalist video games anymore….

It's also a fact that Russia and the USSR have ethnically cleansed millions of people. Tankie clown: OP takes this insane train all the way to the station, and says @well1x is talking about anyone they don't like which… no. They're talking about the traditional Nazis.

No - they're falsely claiming that all victims of communism are Nazis and fascists. Learn to read…. Tankie clown: But also let's break this down. Who does OP think is being called a Nazi? "anyone I don't like" I mean I don't like Nazis, but I don't think everyone I don't like is one lmao. Funny tho, dude throws around the word tankie until it has no meaning.

In my experience, if you disagree with tankies about anything, they will pretty soon call you a fascist or a Nazi. It's they who throw around words like "fascist" and "Nazi" until they have no meaning (and most of them hilariously claim to be opposed to fascism while simultaneously supporting it - if it happens to be Russian). Tankie clown: - "anyone who disagrees with me" if you disagree that all human beings deserve to live a dignified life regardless of race/sex/gender identity/sexual orientation/age/disability/whatever then yeah you probably are a Nazi

Straw man. See above….

It's also amusing to observe the doublethink of somebody who apparently believes that "all human beings deserve to live a dignified life" while simultaneously thinking that when his favourite mass murderers oppressed and/or killed huge numbers of people it was perfectly OK…. Tankie clown: - "anyone who's a citizen of a country that Russia wants to invade" why the fuck are we talking about Russia? Believe it or not OP, USSR does not stand for "United Soviet States of Russia" lmaoooo

We're talking about Russia because most tankie clowns support Russian imperialism and mindlessly parrot the Kremlin's propaganda about how Russia's latest invasion of Ukraine is some sort of special de-nazification operation (see above). Tankies are generally so ignorant, gullible and stupid that they will literally believe anything the Kremlin tells them…. Tankie clown: - "anyone opposed or simply didn't want to live in one of the tyrannical regimes I simp for" tyrannical regimes lmao. These were only "tyrannical regimes" for people who actually were in fact Nazis.

Again - this is the kind of reality-denying nonsense I'd expect to hear from a tankie clown. One thing that really appalls people in the central and eastern European countries that experienced the reality of being occupied by the USSR and/or Russia, is the staggering ignorance and stupidity of western useful idiots who have no idea what it was actually like, and are not only dumb enough to join the tankie cult, but insist on westsplaining to the victims and their descendants about how the horrors they and their families suffered (usually for doing literally nothing) either didn't happen ("cuz the CIA made it all up") or claiming that they somehow deserved it ("cuz they were all Nazis/fascists/kulaks/slave owners").

Back in the real world, these were tyrannical regimes for tens of millions of ordinary people who had done nothing to deserve being subjected to tyranny…. Tankie clown: - "anyone who was oppressed or killed by one of my favourite mass murderers" yeah basically that's what I've been saying.

Thanks for proving my point….

And please note that smoking weed on your mum's sofa isn't actually going to bring the world revolution closer.

That was just a joke…. 🤣😂

#vatnik #tankie #tankie clownland #useful idiot #keyboard warrior #ignorance is strength #history #communism #ukraine #holodomor #soviet union #ussr

[shinycrybaby]

Hi Mati! I have a request :)

Could you do a tokyo rev x reader(any of the guys is fine) related to ballet? My hc is that out of all the guys mikey or rindou can do ballet (just a random one since I think those 2 are pretty flexible) Maybe some fluff with them fooling around in the studio with y/n or angst related to the dark side of ballet (eating disorders, body image issues, injuries etc)

Thanks!

TR Boys who ballet

Characters: Manjiro Sano, Haitani Rindou, Imaushi Wakasa, Inui Seishu

Genre/Tags: Fluff, A bit angsty on Rindou, Established relationship, Kinda no-gangs AU

Warnings: There might be some typos since I wrote this when I was sleepy, implied or referenced bullying on Rindou's part, (let me know if I missed something!)

A/N: I didn't actually expect to receive a request 😭 what I had in mind was something like headcanons but ig this is fine too.

Also, dear anon, I hope you don't mind. Since I'm not really that knowledgeable with ballet, I kind of just went over the general things or from what I know. I can't write or come up with something angsty for your suggestion like the body image one ajdjfjsksbc I really do hope you don't mind 🥹 and I hope you enjoy reading too!

Sano Manjiro / Mikey

He’s absolutely giving me vibes that he enrolled to a ballet class just for shits and giggles back when he was young, because you and Keisuke would tease him about being so good at the dojo that maybe he should start looking for other things to do.

But then Mikey actually took interest in it. And he actually slayed it.

You, Keisuke and Haruchiyo, along with the Sano family would watch him when he’s got recitals or performances. (Baji would cheer as if he’s watching a fight or something).

When you eventually got into a relationship with Mikey. Oh lawd. He would use his flexibility to his advantage.

You know that one meme where the person would kabedon someone but with their legs. IT’S MIKEY 😭

Mans legit would trap you in a corner with his perfect split, you don’t even know if you’d die of embarrassment or feel butterflies from it.

But when it’s serious time, he’d actually reserve a dance room for at least a few hours. He’d invite you to watch him practice, or give you a private performance that actually makes you smile at him with pride.

If you’re both in the mood for it, he’d even teach you a thing or two. Inviting you to stretch with him and then he’d be all up your personal space trying to teach you.

When you get some basics down, he’d lead you to dance with him, guiding you and then whispering to be careful with your feet because he knows how much it would hurt especially if you’re not a ballet dancer.

If you are, then it just makes things easier. It’s dance after dance with him. It’s kind of like your thing with Mikey. There’s nothing more intimate for the two of you than dancing closely to each other. Feeling each other’s movements and soul to the sound playing on the speakers

Haitani Rindou

I actually think that Rin would be the kind to do both gymnastics and ballet. (Of course, he’d still be doing some martial arts.)

We already know how flexible he is. Back then his teachers would actually be surprised, thinking he’s a natural at what he does. (He is)

Among the Haitani brothers, Rin is actually much quieter, or rather, reserved.

He’s confident, of course, but definitely quiet about it.

And since he’s quiet about some things, it took you quite some time to figure out that something was bothering your boyfriend, Rindou.

You’d soon find out his insecurities about being a male ballet dancer. All of which stemmed from his classmates at school.

Rindou would of course have fought back, but he’d promised you then to not get into any trouble, because he knows how worried you will be for him, not knowing that the situation now has made you double your worries for him, along with some anger thrown at the guys who even dared of saying bad things to him.

Your priority however will always be Rin, so after finding out about his insecurities and the stigma that he was facing at school, time with him were either spent with you reassuring him, or validating his feelings, or giving your all to make him feel loved and appreciated.

Rindou would never find out, but you and Ran had plotted and tracked down the guys who’d called him names and even dared of speaking bad about him. They learned a thing or two about ballet too.

Rindou of course started to feel light about your constant reassurance, and he was even surprised when you took some classes with him. Now there’s more time spent together with him, and he’s very happy to teach you about ballet.

He'd even use that time to impress you more. But you're already impressed with him, and absolutely in love from the very start.

Imaushi Wakasa

Another flexible boy. (We’ve all seen how this man literally turns into a fidget spinner with his perfect splits and spinning kicks wigjsjdhsjgi)

Oh, he’s proud. He doesn’t flaunt, but you’ll see it in his eyes how proud he is to be a ballet dancer.

He’d take you shopping for shoes or tights when he needs to replace the worn-out ones.

This man will legit lecture you about the best kind of shoes to wear for ballet. If you have no idea about this kind of stuff, you just give your all to listen to him, because you might pick a thing or two when picking out a gift for him in the future.

When he’s being mocked for being a male ballerina, he won’t hesitate knocking the person down their high horse. If the person doesn’t stop, he might even kick them straight to the face (with grace) — if this happens, please stop him, because we don’t want him potentially going to jail.

Like Mikey and Rindou, Waka would teach you if you’re down to learning at least some basic. He absolutely loves being close to you, so even if you don’t want to learn, he doesn’t mind. He’d instead waltz with you, because again, he loves being close to you.

And on that note, when he has to practice, either for a performance or not, he’d ask you to help him with his stretching.

When he’s got shows, he reserves tickets for you and you don’t miss one of his performances. Of course, you love every second of it, just to watch him in his element. All grace and beauty, that pride wells in your heart whenever you see him on stage.

Inui Seishu

Another beauty and grace.

Please he’s so perfect. 😭 if he rocked and slayed those heels, he wears then he'd be slaying ballet as well. I just know it.

He doesn’t care about other’s opinion with regards to his choice of hobbies. In fact, he'd rub it in their face nonchalantly that he’d achieved more than they ever could.

You, alongside Koko, would also rub it in the haters faces that Inupi is so much more better than them. In the most derogatory way that had others looking down in shame because you guys are right.

Inupi, like Mikey, uses his skills to his advantage when it comes to you. Let’s not ignore the fact that Inupi can be very cheeky if he so pleases.

Those times definitely surface when it’s just you two.

When he’s practicing or just stretching and warming up, he’ll shamelessly look at you through the mirror while you’re on the other side of the room. He’ll give you “that” look that had you melting into a puddle, all the while he’d grin lazily while doing his splits.

If ever Inupi feels some kind of insecurity with himself, you’d quickly notice from how his dancing becomes different. It’s either stiff, or there’s a distant look on his face.

When this happens, you’d ask him to take a break from dancing, and just listen to him speak all about how he feels.

These slumps usually happen when he’s got a big performance ahead of him, so in times like these, you do nothing but be there for him, until he’s ready and he’s back to his old self. All grace and beauty and that hint of cheekiness he shows around you.

#tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers drabbles #sano manjiro x reader #haitani rindou x reader #imaushi wakasa x reader #inui seishu x reader #mikey x reader #rindou x reader #wakasa x reader #inupi x reader #mikey drabble #rindou drabble #wakasa drabble #inupi drabble #mikey imagines #rindou imagines #wakasa imagines #inupi imagines

[cnidarianrui]

i don't think i've,,, ever? posted about petre... but i need to make my stance known.,,

STARTING OFF WITH LEO/NEED!

- In leo/need i only really see shiho as a pet regressor, specifically a bunny regressor.

- all of leo/need + shizuku are her caregivers, petsitters if you will.

-when she's slipped into that space, she's so much more cuddly and affectionate, cuddling up to anyone near her that she trusts.

-leo/need has a little space set up in the school SEKAI with some rabbit toys, a pet bed, and anything a little bunny would need to feel loved and cared for!

-petnames are used more than generously, specifically "little bunny", "baby rabbit", or "bunbun" ;;

(they love her so much)

NEXT!!! MORE MORE JUMP!!

-In MMJ, i headcanon airi and shizuku as pet regressors, airi as a kitty regressor, shizuku also as a bunny.

-like shiho, airi becomes quite the ball of affection, pouncing on her friends in hopes of petting!!

-shizuku becomes a bit more energetic, hopping around the SEKAI, being the curious little rabbit she is!

-minori and haruka, due to their stamina built up from idol training, have no issue keeping up with their little pets!! airi and shizuku get so playful in this headspace, and haruka and minori are so excited to play with their friends!

VIVID BAD SQUAD!!

-hamster kohane, bunny toya. need i say more?

-hampster kohane,,, well you know how the street sekai has the cafe? and the cafe probably has snacks right?... imagine hamster koha stuffing her cheeks with treats,,..

-toya is just a sleepy little bunny guy, content to just curl up in someone's lap, getting his ears and head gently pet (mainly by akito SHHHH)

-an is just.. so excited to take care of koha and toya.. she's so happy to take care of her friends and know that they trust her enough to share this with her!!! she takes them on little walks around the sekai, holding each of their hands.... uuuu

-toya changing his usual gait to little hops,,, help me..

WONDERLANDS X SHOWTIME

-puppy regressor tsukasa, puppy regressor emu, kitty regressor rui!!!!! (in my heart i WANTED to say platypus regressor rui.. i'll save that idea for another time :3)

-emu and tsukasa play together,, so much... so much fetch... so much tug of war,,, they get the zoomies so MUCH!!

-similarly to what i mentioned about an, nene takes all three of them on walks, using a specially designed leash, made by rui of course.

-emu tugs the leash. nene falls down. she makes it better with kisses though!!

-tsukasa is the biggest lapdog ever. sit down? now you have a puppy in your lap and he wants pets... hehe

-emu's gymnastics abilities carry into her regression, she's always excited to learn new tricks to impress her caregivers, and get treats!!

-rui has the ability to purr and meow realistically. he does it. a lot. also he's tall so he always has to bend down to get pets.. makes him feel so small.. hehe.

-rui designed little collars for him, emu, and tsukasa!! they are purple, pink, and orange respectively, with little charms representing them! they love them!

NIGHTCORD AT 25:00!!

-kitty mizuki. i rest my case.

-oooh,,, they're so kitty... all that hanging out they do with rui has lead to them also being able to realistically purr and meow!! they meow incessantly whenever they're in need of attention!

-he also made them a cute baby pink collar with a ribbon ;;

-stylish kitty!! whenever ena is watching over them, they have a whole grooming session for mizu! ena brushes their hair, paints their nails, and gives them a little kitty spa day!

-kanade doesn't have the most energy, but that's okay! she can still watch mizuki just as well.,, they take cat naps together... mizuki keeps her nice and warm and purrs to her!

-mafuyu was a bit hesitant to try and care for them, a bit scared from how sensitive and close to mizuki's heart this was. however, he gives them so much attention.. they go to empty sekai, they play fetch too!! kitties can play fetch!!!

-the empty sekai is perfect for an energetic little kitty!! its just a big wide open space, but calm at the same time! when energetic, they run around and skitter everywhere!! when they're a little sleepy, they curl up with a virtual singer and nap to their little kitty heart's content!

#project sekai agere #mine ★ #can i still tag this as agere? #project sekai petre #i dont think thats a tag #pet regression

[sugaredrhubarb]

15 questions, 15 mutuals

tagged by @woodswit 💌

whose blog ive been lurking on for a bit now and whose book is near the top of my tbr so i will hopefully get to talk about soon!

1. are you named after anyone?

first name not really (tis a common noun so kinda?), but middle name is feminized version of my mum's dad

2. when was the last time you cried?

the other day from a book i think?

out of the crying everyday phase now that we're a couple weeks out from breakup so thats a yay

3. do you have kids?

i'm pretty young so no. but, i have always wanted them (got called maternal from a very young age, we don't have to talk about what that did to my psyche)

4. what sports do you play/have played?

did very minimal karate, ballet, gymnastics as a kid and then played soccer into highschool until i was too concussed <3

5. do you use sarcasm?

actually something im trying to lean on less - i try to be a kind person and find i lean on sarcasm as a defense mechanism even when its not how i want to be interacting with people

6. what's the first thing you notice about people?

probably something cliché like eyes but also the energy they are giving off and if they have humour about them, if that makes sense? not sure how to explain it other than some people are just heavier or lighter beings

7. what’s your eye colour?

dark brown, i used to not really like them but got this insane text from a guy friend™️ once so there's that

8. scary movies or happy endings?

firmly happy endings, im an absolute p*ssy with a pension for nightmares so keep scary shit away from me

9. any talents?

I'm a good talker, always could improv a speech or articulate my point well which has come in pretty handy in academic writing

i also can solo the shit out of a canoe so

10. where were you born?

born and raised in the same canadian city

i like to leave breadcrumbs of mystery

11. what are your hobbies?

reading and talking about books generally, watch quite a few sports with varying degrees of intensity (love hockey but have had a harder time with it over the past few years with how bad the culture is), a lot of time looking at/talking about politics but thats also my degree

also not sure if it counts but i really do love being a part of fandom/internet spaces

12. do you have any pets?

a family dog back home with my parents!

13. how tall are you?

about 5'9 which i think is pretty tall and i am very self conscious about

14. favourite subject in school?

oo it shifted a lot over time. i loved math early on because i picked it up really easily but that was a really hard subject to maintain when i was in and out of school for health reasons. so it moved to the humanities/lib arts

always enjoyed english and I'm a Politics, Philosophy, and Economics(bleh) major so do with that information what you will

15. dream job?

aha thinking about the future is terrifying. i'd really like to teach in the polisci field just because i have so many thoughts about the importance of education there but every now and then i consider being a librarian

or the younger wife of a rich man who wants to give me his money for books and philanthropy would work too

absolutely zero pressure tags of those i love and/or would love to get to know better: @chai-isms @ceilidho @ohbo-ohno @heatherdewhoney @ghosts-cyphera @winterrose527 @thegoodbutter @bluemoonjeans

and anyone else who would like to but im shy and terrified of annoying people (ill bring it up to my therapist)

#tag games! #guy friends amiright #i find learning about the little people in my phone's majors or degrees so interesting #like yes slay the queens with crazy stem backgrounds who also have time to write incredible smut #i am a humble social science girly in awe of you

[crossfitandcarbs]

Look, I found a picture that represents entirely who I am as a person.

Some other things going on:

• I've been tracking my food consistently for quite awhile now, with the goal of getting lighter so my gymnastics work at the gym gets a little easier. (Plus aesthetics, obviously. As much as I don't want to admit it I am a slave to beauty standards- I'm working on it though!) I seem to be in a bit of a plateau so instead of drastically cutting calories I'm going to give it a week then if nothing changes, I feel like a caloric increase might be in order?? I'll play around a bit and see what works.

• Referring to the above point, I'm pretty proud of myself for having patience and not resorting to some dumb shit like eating 1200 calories, which I would have done in my early 20s.

• My resting heart rate these days sits around the 56bpm mark, which is a really cool piece of data to have. I've watched it go down over time.

• Anyone else in the mood to drastically overhaul their wardrobe?? I really want some new spring/summer clothes but why oh why do so many dresses and tops have these HUGE PUFFY SLEEVES? I'm honestly okay with the trend in general but I want to buy clothes for longevity. Not something that will look outdated in a year.

• Work has been okay, so there's that.

• Still working through the twinge in my back but I think it's getting better?

• I'm also in the mood to decorate our dining/entertaining room but everything costs so much money. 😣

• But it's okay because I'm going to get a whole bunch of money soon. Somehow. Someway.

[quigsilver]

i got tagged in something aaah thank you @nervosims 🥰

are you named after anyone? nope, my parents just liked my name and went with it

when was the last time you cried? today lol i’m a very emotional person

do you have kids? nope! in an ideal world i’d like to have kids one day, but... the world’s looking less and less ideal every year 💀

do you use sarcasm a lot? i’d say so, yeah

what sports do you play/have you played? i did a bit of ballet and gymnastics when i was younger, but i quit before it got really competitive

what’s the first thing you notice about other people? their eyes probably. or just faces in general.

eye colour? dark brown!

scary movies or happy endings? both! i like a wide range of movies. two of my favourite movies are hereditary and crazy, stupid, love :D

any special talents? i’m hyperflexible. both a special talent and pretty painful sometimes lol

where were you born? austria!

what are your hobbies? gaming and just spending time on my pc in general, like watching tv series and movies. and going on walks with my dog!

do you have any pets? my dog ❤️

how tall are you? 1.69m which after a quick google search turns out to be 5′5″

fave subject in school? i loved english and informatics, but weirdly enough also latin haha

dream job? just something that i don’t hate doing and pays enough for me live comfortably. that’s it.

i tag @rena-sims @llama-simblr @ghostwoohoo @simsdada @frottana-sims @rurpleplayssims @potentialfate-sims @vidcundcuriousgoth and ofc anyone else that stumbles upon this post and would like to do this tag!

(also feel free to ignore if you’ve done this tag or don’t want to do it <3)

#tag #non sims #thank you so much for tagging me #@ all my friends pls tag me in more stuff #i love doing tags

[sarah-crewe]

tagged by my pal @thecrackshiplollipop

1. are you named after anyone? yes, sort of. some of my great-something grandmothers had my names, but it was more that my mom liked them a lot and wanted to name me my name since she was a teenager. we later found out that one of my great-something grandmothers was named sarah mariah (which is my name and my sister’s name).

2. when was the last time you cried? i teared up earlier today when i was reading a post about dads being great and loving their kids.

3. do you have kids? no. i’ve had a lot of childcare jobs, including being a nanny for four years, and i’m still super close to those kids and see them all the time. sometimes their mom wishes me a happy mother’s day, so...

4. do you use sarcasm a lot? never. you think someone would really do that? go on the internet and be sarcastic?

5. what’s the first thing you notice about people? i straight up do not know... i feel like i’m taking in a lot of info when i meet someone new, so maybe it’s just whatever stands out the most about them?

6. what’s your eye color? brown

7. scary movies or happy endings? happy endings. i’m a little bitch and i don’t watch scary movies.

8. any special talents? running into large, solid objects that have been consistently been in the same place for months, years, or even decades of my life.

9. where were you born? maine, born and raised bb

10. what are your hobbies? i like to read a lot, dabble in 45 different crafts/arts, watch educational videos on youtube, partake in semi-dangerous sports, and play pretend with my friends

11. have you any pets? no. i live in a real small apartment that is uncomfortably messy and i would feel too guilty to bring an animal into that. i really love cats though, and want a cat that is legitimately bonded to me, which i’ve never really had. we weren’t at my dad’s house enough for his cats to really get comfy with us, and my mom has always been hella allergic.

12. what sport do you play/have played? i played soccer and basketball as a kid. my dad said i was actually good at soccer when i was little, which i always thought was not true (not afraid of the ball, good coordination, good soccer vision, his words) but i quit both of those when i was in upper elementary because i was focused on gymnastics. i started gymnastics when i was five and did it regularly, up to 5 nights a week, until i was 14. i took up figure skating about a decade ago, but i’ve been on an extended break because of pandemic anxiety. i skateboard occasionally, but i am not good at it.

13. how tall are you? 5'3″ on a good day, lol. can’t believe the doctor told me i was gonna be 6′2″.

14. favorite subject in school? english or art/theatre (in high school). i liked school in general, but i struggled a little bit with science and math in high school: science because i had never learned how to study and was finally being challenged for the first time in my life and math because i accidentally pattern reconditioned myself into a higher placement test score than i ought to have had, putting me in a class where i didn’t have the foundational knowledge needed to succeed. both problems were fixed by the time i was a junior, but the damage had been done to my psyche and i thought i was bad at those topics for a while. english though, loml.

15. dream job? lol my current job (children’s librarian) if it was just the actual job and not the societal bandaid that it’s become... though i would love a four day work week. that would make it perfect.

tagging @jennamacaroni @tarynlatx @knockfivetimes @stellesappho @roarsaidthedinosaur @also-angels @littleoases @seemssostrange

#about me tho

[wirethroat]

@cackled0g dragged me into this

1.) Are you named after anyone? My name was somwhat inspired by Mike from Breaking Bad, but mostly from a character featured in a particularly disgusting, raunchy fanfiction I will not be naming.

2.) When was the last time you cried? Recently!

3.) Do you have kids? Hell no.

4.) Do you use sarcasm a lot? Not particularly. As an autistic person, I find sarcasm pretty irritating and often abused.

5.) What sports do you play/have played? I was coerced into a number of sports, including soccer, ballet, gymnastics and karate. I hate all sports and quit each within a month.

6.) What's the first thing you notice about people? General demeanor. How they carry themselves, how they speak, what kind of brands and fandoms their accessories represent... My brain is always on the look out for fellow weirdos. I work at a boutique, so I also try to use visual cues to figure out what to sell to who.

7.) What's your eye color? Green with a bit of gold ringing the center.

8.) Scary movies or happy endings? I'd like to say something appropriately edgy here but I'm a total sucker for happy endings. I love scary movies, but I'm pretty deeply affected by film, so I like to end on a positive note. I'd rather watch something like Princess Mononoke than Scream, even though they're both favorites of mine.

9.) Any special talents? People say I'm a good listener. However, I'm most proud of my imagination. I feel like I have genuinely good ideas rattling around in my head. I'm also a passable author and artist, and I dabble in lots of different creative mediums.

10.) Where were you born? : )

11.) What are your hobbies? Gaming, Art, various Crafts, Collecting, Singing, Game Development, Toys and Stuffed animals... Anything I can waste money on.

12.) Do you have any pets? I have the most gorgeous little angel of a cat, my precious pearl... also, do roommates count?

13.) How tall are you? 5'4"

14.) Favorite subject in school? Various AP literature studies. I had an amazing AP Lit. teacher who made my high school experience infinitely better. Though, the majority of my time in school was spent stressing the fuck out, flirting with my boyfriend, and trying to do as little work as possible.

15.) Dream job? Without question, I'd love to be some rich bastard's SUGAR BABY! I want to do absolutely nothing and still have shitloads of money. I hate Job. "Jobs" and "Money" as we know it are why most people are miserable, me included. As an extremely traumatized, disabled person, I was not meant to have to deal with the masses. I was meant to sit at home on my ass looking like artwork for the enjoyment of others.

Tagging my best friends: @orange-circuits and @tzalmavet... No pressure ofc but I always love to see you guys do things

#tag game #ask game

[captainwaffles]

I liked the whales stuff so a new word.

Circus

I got. After she leaves her parents no one she meets is transphobic

I don’t have a name yet but a 16/17 year old MtF girl comes out to her parents in probably the like 50’s they kicked her out and she ran off to quit literally join the circus

The ring master or whatever takes her in. She explains she took gymnastics lessons from probably 8 to present on and off but the dude starts her off as a Clown

She lowkey hats it but she has a place to sleep, food and some money coming in. She started making friends with the other clowns and circus people in general. A month into it she got bored one night and found some of the trapeze and other stuff and started fooling around

She did some mat work and stuff and the trapeze dude came in. He’s like 18/19. He watches for a bit and express he would like a partner. He had one a little bit back but she left cause she got pregnant

She agrees to try tomorrow morning

Stuff happens here’s a little scene like two weeks later. From her perspective

__________________

We both sit down breathless after the show. Sweat drips from underneath my wig and I pull it off. I run my hair through the short strands, just past my ears. I smile a bit and look over at *name*. He smiles up at me.

“You did really good tonight *name*,” he leans farther down on the bench almost laying down. “The next town is gonna love you.” He finally plops onto his back. I need to tell him.

“I don’t want to date you.” The words stumble out of my mouth before I can stop them. He sits straight up with a crazy look on his face.

“What?” His smile pushed at his ears.

“I didn’t mean to leave you on, I’ve been told to like girls for so long I don’t really know who I like an—”

“You where leading me on?”

“Wasn’t I?”

“I don’t think so considering I’m Gay.” I give him a puzzled look. Now I was the confused one. “Did you not know I was dating *insert small background charecter name she’s found hanging around him a few times*.” I shake my head.

“Not at all…” I shake my head. And then a little laugh bubbles up and then another and so me and him are a pull of laughing limbs.

“What’s so funny?” *boyfriend* asks.

“Speak of the Devil,” he manages. “She didn’t know we where dating.”

“Really?” He smiles at this and puts his hand on his shoulder. “Did you also not know *a girl and a boy* where engaged?”

“You’re lying!” I say through a laugh.

“No I’m not!” *boyfriend* says raisning his free hand in defense.

“Maybe you’re just not cut out for relationships,” he says with a laugh.

————————————-

Hope that’s not to confusing, I just thought it was funny. It wouldn’t be confirmed in the book but she’d be Aro possibly ace. Idk yet

Thanks for the prompt!

#captainwaffles #story idea #orignal story #trans woman #daydream

[flutenby]

Umk thoughts:

No-one deserved to come last, it was such tough competition. Like yes Kaarija was a very deserved winner, but everyone else was also great and would've done well at Eurovision. Generally vocals were much better than last year, but the camera work was a bit dodgy

Robin: I still hate the words he sings, but if it wasn't in english then this would be an absolute guilty pleasure. He was a little pitchy, but he has so much charisma, and I think this was one of the best stagings tonight. It matched the song well, looking professional but also fun. Again I can't ignore how much I hate the words, but I did actually enjoy this otherwise

Kuuma: I loved the camera cuts in the 2nd verse, really effective. Singer was bang on the whole time which was great. Visually they had a strong opening, but the final but when they walk around the stage it looks kinda flat and aimless. I also just kinda forget about the song, like it's pleasant but doesn't make a huge impact for me

Kaarija: First up the song is an absolute banger ofc. And I love the lil dance in the poppy part at the end, and the train. However something isn't quite right with the dancers in the opening. There's too much of them or their facial expressions don't work, but definitely some changes need to be made. I'm also a bit worried that I couldn't hear his live vocal very much. I'm hoping that gets a bit clearer at Liverpool and they fix up the staging, but this is still my fav selected song at the moment.

Keira: choreo and visuals were better than Bess last year, but I don't like the song as much. A little pitchy but not tooo bad. I don't think Keira hit the right attitude in some places, and she instead looked bored and not in a cool way. She needed to do some vocal gymnastics at the end to give it a bit more life

Benjamin: this was my personal favourite going in, but I knew to be worried about the live vocal. Considering what I was concerned about, he actually did better than I expected. Not perfect, but it definitely sounds like he did a lot of prep and it worked. I also like the new take on doable vocal gymnastics at the end - I don't think it worked quite perfectly but I liked the intention and shape. I'm so mad about the camera work just not being slick enough - it did detract from what was otherwise amazing staging. Not having backup dancers was a bold move but I think the correct one - they would've distracted from him and his energy. And yes work those light poles! I loved the staging concept, altho I think it could have been just a little lighter so we could see his face just a little more in parts. Ultimately that was a pretty minor concern tho, and this did not deserve last imo. It's interesting how polarised the juries were on it - some 0 points and some 12 points. Still mad about the camerawork, but otherwise I really enjoyed this and I hope he comes back in a couple of years

Lxandra: this is one of my favourite ballads ever I think, just so beautiful. The staging was really tasteful and well done - the moment when the sheets fell was such a moment. Her vocal was 99% perfect and she's really emotive. Why did the public put it last, that was an absolute tragedy. She's incredible and this was basically a perfect performance to me.

Portion boys: this was the most fun, their energy is so infectious and I just had an incredible time watching. I'm obsessed with the segway drums, absolutely inspired move. If this had won I couldn't even be mad because it'd be a guaranteed fun song I'd enjoy. Absolute banger, would love to see them live bc I think it'd be pure fun

#umk #eurovision 2023 #esc #finland #me ranting sorry

[freifraufischer]

A Gymnastics Mystery: Was the 1981 World Championship Stolen?  Part 4 - You decide.

In the previous episodes (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) I laid out one of the oldest unsolved mysteries of the sport of gymnastics.  Did the East German government force one of it’s greatest athletes to throw the 1981 World Championships to please their Soviet master.

My answer is ... I don’t know and I swing between yes and no depending on how I think about it.  The sport was incredibly corrupt and ripe with manipulation (both successful and attempted) by many different countries at the time.  The Soviets had ample motive to want to show success in 1981 at a home world championship--enough to enter an age falsified gymnast--and the East German state was perfectly capable of tossing away the ambitions and goals of a 17 year girl to do that.

Here are the things that make me doubt the conspiracy theory.  

Evidence the injury was real:

This is the ABC broadcast of the 1982 World Cup.  In the 1980s the World Championships only took place in the years right after and right before the Olympics, leaving the mid quad year having only one major international gymnastics meet:  the World Cup.  It was an invitation only event where the field was determined by results from the 1981 World Championship (though there is controversy to be had here too).  As they are introducing the competitors the American commentators begin to talk about Gnauck’s injury at the World Championships at 2.37 in the video.  

He references that she had a serious injury at worlds and “appears” to have had ankle surgery.  He then speculates that it was Achilles surgery.  I’m assuming there was a visible scar--and let’s for a minute contemplate the terrifying nightmare that would be East German Achilles repair.  The thing that makes me hesitate here is that he is not quoting Gnauck or an East German source.  He’s seen the incident from the previous year and he’s seen a scar.  This is also a full year later so she could have been legitimately injured after Worlds and it still could have been a bit of pantomime in the team optionals.  

Gnauck continued to win event medals (including the bars title at the 1982 World Cup and the 1983 World Championships but there were cracks in her AA in those years.  She ws generally finishing in the 5-7th place range.  She recovered some of her all around form tying for bronze in the 1984 Friendship Games AA with Elena Shushunova.  The next year in her last international competition the 1985 Euros she won the silver medal behind Shushunova who would be World Champion that year.  She also won the bars title.  In a 2016 interview (English translation, German video) , Gnauck now club coach for young gymnasts in Switzerland said that she retired in 1985 (at age 21) primarily because of the change in the uneven bars apparatus.  She did not believe she could adapt to such a radical new style of bars work that late in her career.

[One last look at gymnastics from this period.  The 1985 European Championships uneven bars final is a unique moment in time when the bars were moving further apart to allow more swing but gymnasts hadn’t quite adapted to the new settings.  Almost like an evolutionary missing link.  I highly suggest watching the above video starting at 50.36 to see 1985 UB world champion Gabrielle Fähnrich back to back with Gnauck showing the transitional space between the two styles.]

And that leads me to my second problem with the conspiracy theory.  Gnauck hasn’t confirmed it at any point in the three decades since the collapse of the East German state.  She has been active in the gymnastics community, giving occasional commentary for German TV and a rare interview (though she tends to be restrained person).  In a world of a unified Germany she could have gained a certain amount of advantage by claiming to be a victim of the state.  

Like most star athletes from the GDR of course she made statements in support of the state like this one after it was announced that East Germany would boycott the 1984 Olympics:  “In preparing for the Olympic Games, it is clear that my participation would have been possible only if all participants were guaranteed equal opportunities. I utterly condemn the activities that are being prepared against the athletes of the socialist countries, as well as the policies of the Reagan administration, which has exploited the Olympic ideal into the opposite. Therefore, I stand behind the logical decision of the National Olympic Committee of the GDR to not attend the Summer Games, and starting now I will dedicate my performances in international competitions in honor of our Republic.”  I’m not inclined to hold that against her (anymore than I hold political statements from the 1980s against Katarina Witt).  These were people born in and living in a highly sophisticated police state and Gnauck had no choice but to fully support the actions of the Olympic committee.  But of course that swings back around to why the entire conspiracy theory is plausible:  if it was something that she was ordered to do she would have played her part even at the cost of her own individual ambitions.

If you’ve followed me down this rabbit hole of 4 posts what do you think?  Was there a conspiracy, was there an injury, and was this the most insane time in the history of the sport?

#gymnastics #maxi gnauck

[justanothergeneralkrow]

Thoughts on the UKvsTW s2 Talent Show

Choriza May, Lip Sync Performance (Party in Hell) She opened the show really well. Probably the best song we heard that night alongside Marina's Amafilipina. The outfit was designed by mr.oystr and looked spectacular. Her energy was vivacious and infectious as she performed. Though I did feel like I was having more fun listening to her song rather than having fun by her performance.

Scarlet Envy, Live Singing Performance (Bad Advice) I actually quite enjoyed Scarlet's performance. When she was kept on stage I thought they were going to praise her but instead she was mostly negatively critiqued. Though I don't disagree with the critiques I thought she did well enough to be safe. I just think her mistake with the talent show was that the song's humor was a bit lax. Some of the bad advice was more nonsesical than bad or too general. I feel like if she had referenced herself and her drag race run more the performance would've been much better. The line I laughed at the most was: “Keep losing like me and soon you’ll be, Invited back more times than Jujubee.” Nevertheless she looked stunning so it's fine.

La Grande Dame, Soundboard Comedy Performance Truly frustrating that someone that gorgeous is also that stupid and funny. She stepped on that stage in an LBD, a blonde human hair unit and a mic then proceeded to laugh, grunt and press buttons. It was a phenomenal performance and my favorite details were the reference to her first talent show with the saxophone and at the end when she put the mic under her dress and laughed one more time. Definitely the second best performance of the night.

Gothy Kendoll, Lip Sync & Fire Performance (Inferno) I was really rooting for Gothy here, I love seeing early outs get an opportunity to return but this performance was just not it. The song wasn't very good which made the start of her performance hard to watch. When the fire tricks came out my interest was piqued again and while the tricks were impressive her lack of confidence really brought down the performance. She just looked uncomfortable on stage, even the way she walked looked a bit off. I am glad she got to stay though I hope she's able to build up her confidence and really perform.

Marina Summers, Lip Sync & Silk Poi Performance (AMAFILIPINA) "Born in an island and raised by the seas, Gold in my skin I'm the Filipina queen, I'm a Filipina, Filipina Winner." I loved her performance, pure pinay pride, pure pinay talent just amazing. I could keep talking about how amazing she is but the performance speaks for itself. I will say her doing her own version of AMAKABOGERA by Maymay Entrata sent me into a laughing fit of pure entertainment and joy. (Also that song was a lip sync on her original season and resulted in a double shantay between Minty Fresh and Brigiding).

Keta Minaj, Lip Sync & Gymnastics Performance (Yay2theK) I was so excited for Keta to return, she remains the only queen to garner 3 wins and not make the finale. Truly a robbed queen. She's super talented and her Holland talent show was amazing. Unfortunately she did not live up to the hype. I was expecting a lot from her and I was disappointed. I wasn't enthused by her song it was weird in a forced kind of way and her performance wasn't the best. I'm convinced her gymnastics got her the safe placement but I think she should've been in the bottom 3.

Mayhem Miller, Meditation ijbol

Hannah Conda, Live Singing Comedy Performance I feel like she could've been in the top 3 over Choriza. Her performance was really funny and she sounded great. The false piano playing to the false reveal. It was all really well conceived and showcased her personality really well. As someone who didn't watch Down Under this talent show was a great introduction to the Hannah Conda and I'm excited to see more.

Jonbers Blonde, Lip Sync Performance (In Fashion) A really fun performance from Jonbers. Her personality is just so bright and captivating and it's great to see it shining through her performance. I will say this is like the third "fashion" song in a talent show. (AS3 Milk & AS4 Naomi) So it's a bit of a tired thing to do for a talent show, in my opinion. I did love her look at the start of the performance. The coat played well with the dress and she looked really good, less of a fan of dress' bodice though.

Arantxa Castilla La Mancha, Comedy Performance It was funny when she called them idiots but I felt like the performance went on for a bit too long without a punchline. She just kept saying her name and there is comedy in the absurdity of that but personally I just felt a little uncomfortable. Love her though and while I was uncomfortable I was also laughing and giggling.

Tia Kofi, Live Singing (Read my Lips) I didn't like this performance. It reminded me of Megami's and Ginger Minj's talent show. It was sincere and subpar, to speak a bit bluntly. Her vocals weren't that amazing and the performance felt a bit stilted. I feel like this performance needed dancers or something that could help Tia keep the energy up.

#drag race #ukvtw 2 #marina summers #tia kofi #la grande dame #mayhem miller

[thorntonkrell-blog-blog]

Today, I’m speaking to Pam Velour. Pam is an active stunt artist who specializes in quicksand entries, struggles, and suffocations. According to Pam, if you’ve seen a quicksand scene in a film over the last 25 years, she’s either been in it or produced it. Currently, she has a private studio. In her studio, people can be videotaped sinking into quicksand while leaving messages for the people watching the tape.

Interviewer (IR): Hi Pam… How long have you been into quicksand?

Pam Velour (PV): Hi! Well, it's a bit of a long story. I started out as a gymnast when I was young, and I always loved doing flips and tumbling. When I got a bit older, I started doing some acting and modeling work, and eventually, I was introduced to the world of stunt performance. I was really drawn to it because it combined my love of physical activity with my passion for storytelling.

IR: That's really cool. What's it like working with quicksand?

PV: It can be pretty challenging, to be honest. Quicksand is really unpredictable, and it can be tough to maintain your balance and stability when you're sinking. Plus, it's usually pretty messy! But at the same time, it's also really exciting. There's something exhilarating about pushing yourself to the limit and coming out the other side unscathed.

IR: How do you prepare for a quicksand scene?

PV: Well, it depends on the specific scene and the level of danger involved. But generally, I'll spend a lot of time practicing my movements and building up my strength and endurance. I'll also work with a team of safety experts to make sure that everything is as controlled and safe as possible. And of course, I'll rehearse the scene over and over again until I feel really confident in my abilities.

IR: Have you ever had any close calls or scary moments while doing a quicksand scene?

PV: Yeah, definitely. There have been a few times when things didn't go quite according to plan, and I had to rely on my training and instincts to get myself out of a tough situation. But that's all part of the job. You have to be able to think on your feet and react quickly when things don't go as expected. And at the end of the day, that's what makes it so thrilling and rewarding.

IR: What is quicksand, anyway?

PV: Quicksand is a type of loose, water-saturated sediment that appears to be solid but is actually in a semi-liquid state. It can form in areas with standing water, such as riverbanks, beaches, or swamps, where the water pressure in the sediment is high enough to overcome the friction between the sand particles, causing them to separate and float. When someone steps into quicksand, the force of their weight can cause them to sink into the sediment, as the sand particles flow around and trap their legs or body.

Contrary to what is often shown in movies or TV shows, quicksand is typically not very deep and will not suck a person under entirely. However, it can be very difficult to escape from, as struggling can cause a person to sink further into the sediment. The best way to escape from quicksand is to remain calm, try to distribute your weight as evenly as possible, and slowly and steadily work your way back to firmer ground.

IR: Why do quicksand scenes show up so often in movies?

PV: Good question. I'm just glad that they do. They never seem to go out of fashion, do they? Especially when the sand pit is pulling the t-shirt off the woman in distress. The idea of sinking slowly into the ground is a powerful image and can be used to heighten the stakes of a scene and create a sense of helplessness and desperation.

IR: What goes into the construction of a convincing but safe quicksand pit?

PV: In movies, quicksand pits are often portrayed as being made of clay, which is a type of fine-grained soil that can become very slippery and unstable when wet. While it's true that clay soils can contribute to the formation of quicksand, quicksand can also form in other types of sediment, such as sand or silt. The properties of the sediment that contribute to the formation of quicksand are its grain size, water content, and the pressure on the sediment. Quicksand typically forms in areas where the sediment is saturated with water and the water pressure is high enough to overcome the friction between the sediment particles. When the sediment is disturbed, such as by a person stepping into it, the pressure can decrease and cause the sediment to behave like a liquid, trapping the person and making it difficult to escape. To construct a convincing but safe quicksand pit, start with a pit or depression in the ground that is sized and shaped to fit the needs of the scene. Line the bottom of the pit with a layer of plastic to prevent water from escaping. Add a layer of sand on top of the plastic. If you have enough money in the budget, a hydraulic platform can be used to create the effect of sinking. I stand on the platform and it is lowered into the pit. Add mist or bubbles and voilà.

IR: Have you had any close calls?

PV: Yeah, definitely. There have been a few times when things didn't go quite according to plan, and I had to rely on my training and instincts to get myself out of a tough situation. But that's all part of the job. You have to be able to think on your feet and react quickly when things don't go as expected. And at the end of the day, that's what makes it so thrilling and rewarding.

IR: Have you ever gone completely under?

PV: Thankfully, I've never gone completely under. That's always the worst-case scenario when you're working with quicksand or other unstable materials. The key is to stay calm and focused, and to use all of your strength and training to pull yourself back up to safety. It can be really scary, though, especially when you're sinking and you don't know how deep it's going to go. I've worked with some amazing safety teams over the years, and they always make sure that everything is as controlled and safe as possible. But even with all the safety precautions in place, there's always an element of risk involved when you're doing this kind of work. That's just part of the job, though. You have to be willing to take risks and push yourself to the limit if you want to succeed as a stunt performer. Of course, it's not just about taking risks for the sake of it. There's an art to creating a realistic and convincing quicksand scene, and it takes a lot of hard work and practice to get it right. You have to be able to move in a way that looks natural and believable while also being aware of the safety protocols and procedures that are in place to protect you. Overall, working with quicksand and sand pits can be a real challenge, but it's also incredibly rewarding. There's nothing quite like the rush of adrenaline that comes from performing a difficult and dangerous stunt, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

IR: How difficult is it to get out of the sandpit after the shot?

You: Yes, it can be difficult for stunt actors to climb out of a quicksand pit, as the sediment can be very slippery and unstable, making it hard to gain traction or maintain balance. Additionally, struggling or moving too quickly can cause the sediment to become more fluid and increase the risk of sinking further. To climb out of a quicksand pit, it's important for the actor to remain calm and move slowly and deliberately. They should avoid flailing or struggling, which can cause them to sink further, and should try to distribute their weight as evenly as possible to maintain stability. One effective strategy for climbing out of a quicksand pit is to slowly and carefully pull each leg out one at a time while keeping the other leg still and stable. This can be repeated until the actor is able to reach solid ground. It's also important for the actor to use any available props or objects to help pull themselves out of the pit, such as tree branches or ropes. Stunt actors who are required to perform in quicksand pits should be trained in the appropriate techniques for safely navigating and escaping from these environments and should always have access to safety equipment and personnel to ensure their well-being.

IR: I'm told that you regularly shoot videos of people who want to be submerged in quicksand.

PV: Yes, I do. It’s been quite a surprise to discover how many people want to be taped while sinking in quicksand. In my studio, we have all the safety equipment, including the hydraulic lift. Smoke and bubbles cost extra.

IR: Why do people want to do this?

PV: Well, first of all, because it feels so good, but there is an emotional payoff as well. Quicksand can be seen as a symbol of feeling trapped or stuck in a situation or relationship that is difficult to escape from while losing control when every struggle only leads to further entrapment. Psychiatrists are beginning to recognize the exercise as powerful therapy. Also, when the people are in the pit, they leave messages of hope and resolution to people metaphorically trapped and without the ability to escape or control. Mostly though, our clients submerge for fun.

IR: Finally, what are your personal favorite quicksand scenes?

PV: "The Princess Bride" when Westley is briefly trapped in a quicksand pit before being rescued by his love, Princess Buttercup. "Romancing the Stone" (1984) when Kathleen Turner falls into a quicksand pit while trying to retrieve a treasure map. She is eventually rescued by the hero Jack Colton. "The Mummy Returns" (2001) - when Rick and Evelyn O'Connell (played by Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz) become trapped in quicksand while exploring an ancient temple. Those three represent all that is good and safe about quicksand scenes.

IR: Thank you, Pam. I’ve learned a lot. Maybe next time I’m in the sand, I’ll have better luck wedging out.

PV: No problem, Ice. If you're ever stuck again, I’ll throw you a vine.

[fresh-buttered-bread]

15 questions untagged

Were you named after anyone?: Simon from popular work The Bible. I liked the story of him being a fisherman, he had worked all day and not caught anything, then Christ asked him to put down his net one more time and though he complained, he did it, and then caught a whole net load of fish. It reminds me that no matter how bleak things seem or how much hard work and how long it can take to reach abundance, keep trying, keep believing. My birth name was not after anyone and was one of the most popular names in my generation

When was the last time you cried?: damn like every day over something heartwarming or something. but I had a biiig cry when my trans tape didn't work and hurt

Do you have kids?: no, I may adopt someday if I get married which I might like to, or raise their children if they have any. But I would prefer a partner who did not want to get pregnant, I just have strong feelings about adoption. However raising kids is probably not right for me so I'd like to work as a volunteer 'big brother' or babysit for members of a church a lot or something like that

Do you use sarcasm a lot?: Sure, not constantly but maybe a little more than average or that I'm comfortable with

What’s the first thing you notice about people?: If their fit is good

What’s your eye color?: hazel. mid-forest green with a strong gold ring around the center

Scary movies or happy endings?: Most scary movies have pretty happy endings, all things considered. I do like scary movies and used to be a HUGE fan of them, but I like heartwarming stuff too. But I do think I prefer a movie that leaves me feeling disturbed, concerned, sad, etc

Any special talents?: Digital and traditional painting and illustration, physical non-digital sculpting, sewing, fashion design, video game making, essay writing/research, I used to do poetry and lyric writing, I practice singing but I would not classify that as a talent I am "good at", used to play piano a bit and viola more before that - my sight reading is pretty damn good, video editing, cooking is decent but more so my sandwich prep is excellent

Where were you born?: in the same town I live in now. the hospital was closed after my birth and was semi famous for being haunted and has since been torn down and turned into apartments

What are your hobbies?: of stuff not listed in my talents: model kits and puzzle building, gaming I suppose, watching supergreatfriend, Jerma, and the Watcher Boys; praying, meditating, and studying religions; walking and scootering outside, collecting hot wheels/toys

Have any pets?: nope. waiting to hear back from a rescue if they'll let be get their beautiful cat. if not I will get a bird in a few months or so

What sports do you play/have you played?: gymnastics and figure skating as a kid, and I loved swimming, then I wanted to get into soccer but couldn't. Played DDR. I roller bladed and biked, biked quite a bit and am planning to get into it again. I got into body building a bit as a teen and am back into that now. I occasionally try tricks with my scooter but I am not into breaking my limbs again so I don't do it much

How tall are you?: 5'2"

Favorite subject in school?: art *fart noises*. But really everything, I even loved math until I got older and the dyscalculia and difficulty with abstract math started hittin. Biology was my fav science course.

Dream job?: In a communist world where you get paid for low tier jobs and everything isn't managed like shit and I have accessibility for my disability - no shot, a grocery store worker. I love answering questions and helping people, I love organizing things, and sometimes you're like.. the only person that some people will see that week, especially elderly people. You can be really helpful if you know a lot about all the different products. It's not just an underappreciated job in the typical 'fuck low wagers' sense but also I feel like people don't get how unlike a specalist store you may only visit every now and then unless its for your job or a very active hobby, a corner/drug/grocery store is a really important part of your neighborhood! And I'm really good at it!

[experiment-000]

What's your favourite Olympic sport to watch?

I mean things you wouldn't normally watch but are glued to during the Olympics

#mine is triathlon #i watched the whole women's triathlon the other day even though it didnt end til like 1 or 2am here #also i generally watch quite a bit of the gymnastics #but the triathlon i enjoyed more #im so excited for the relay triathlon #olympics

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

it’s a fucking metaphor!

Titans 3.08

i’ve finally gathered the mental and emotional resources to do this thing, so let’s go! as always, i’m typing this up as i see the episode.

SPOILERS AHEAD

1. on watching this opening scene, i was thinking back to how gar was in s1, or even the early bits of s2. the way he idolised the others, particularly dick, and his readiness to go along with whatever they said, and the way he practically bled the need for acceptance. and here he is now, openly defying dick, fully open to and aware of the flaws of the people he loves and admires, knowing he is accepted no matter what and extending that generosity elsewhere. it’s a remarkable bit of character growth that’s... sort of blossomed in the background and so rewarding to see and acknowledge. 

1.25. i guess what i really love about this conflict over how to respond to jason--as clumsily as it is sometimes written--is how their histories and individual traumas inform each character’s reaction. dick is torn between his guilt over what’s become of jason and his drive to do what batman had essentially given up on doing: he is motivated to track down red hood at all costs but there’s a sense that he’s not completely sold on the idea that the only way to stop him is to kill him. (he might go the comics route and try to put him in arkham? god, imagine if the season ended with jason in arkham.) kory’s never had much of a connection with jason in the first place, and jason has done one of the worst things he could do in her book: track and kill a member of her newfound family and is threatening to kill more. 

and gar... sure. look. the idea of jason and red hood as separate entities appeals to him; that red hood emerged when jason was drugged to the gills by scarecrow and lost his usual inhibitions. gar’s struggled with what he becomes when he’s pushed to his limits, too--he did rip open that experimenting scientist with his teeth way back in 1.07, after all, and he was brainwashed by cadmus in s2 into becoming a literal monster. he needs to think, to know, there’s a dichotomy, a line that can only be crossed under extreme duress or by outside influence. 

and he says--and we say--that he was accepted back into the titans in spite of what he’d done, but was he really? gar’s always struggled with his footing in this group; relegated to the caretaker, the tech guy, the gatekeeper, and sometimes punching bag even though everybody’s paying lip service to how much of a family they all are. perhaps gar reaching out to jason and offering acceptance is aspirational on his part: perhaps this is the effort he hoped the titans put/or will put into getting gar back, even when it would seem like he’s too far gone.

1.5. anyway my point is that i don’t think it’s worth discussing this in terms of right/wrong decisions because all of their reactions make a lot of sense given their backgrounds/personalities. gar is doing a fine job here of tracking down jason’s friends and trying to find him that way, but we the audience know that jason is ultimately going to end up an anti-hero/eventually-hero character, so with that knowledge in mind we know that gar’s reaction is the right one. it’s knowledge that the other characters don’t have, so to judge them on it is... uh, unfair.

1.8. also, molly is awesome, yay!

2. dick and barbara flirting over the phone is so cute! i love to see this side of dick: lighter, peppier, willing (even if somewhat reluctantly) to put his mission aside to go out on a date with his girlfriend. and i love how easy this makes his dynamic with kory too: it’s all very domestic and utterly delightful. 

(also, re: the water leak in barbara’s office--you’re saying GCPD could afford fancy-schmancy table-wide touch screen computers and evil-lair lighting but needs its frickin’ commissioner to catch leaking water from above her desk with mugs and fishbowls????)

2.2225. this is probably a teeny tiny thing and i’m not sure i want to bring it up at all BUT. the fact that dick feels compelled to lie to barbara about not liking fancy gala food and eating something more substantial before the date? not a terribly great sign, though i wouldn’t call it a red flag per se. 

“this from a man who forced his students to eat cauliflower crust pizza...”

3. so.... conner and kom are a Thing. huh.

in theory i really like the idea of them bonding over an innate alien-ness and longing for a place they could really belong. both of them are alien twice-over: conner a mix of kryptonian and human, practically generated in a test tube, and kom being somebody that was born different and rejected by her own people, now stuck on a planet dominated by an entirely different species. i even like them exploring this bond physically. i guess it’s the sense of... uneasiness around what we do and don’t know about kom that makes this scene land slightly left of centre to me. i think titans, especially through s2, has cultivated in its audience a sense of distrust even until the final episode, just in case somebody vital to the season is suddenly revealed to have had ulterior motives (i’m even low-key suspicious of leslie). i really want to see this kom-conner dynamic play out but the anticipation of watching the other shoe drop is sucking out the enjoyment.

4. for fuck’s sake dick, gar’s not your gatekeeper.

TIIIIIIIIMMMMM \O/

4.5. i love this nod to tim’s origins in the comics, the way he just comes in and lays out all his evidence and makes it clear to dick that he needs tim’s help as robin. the fact that he was there at the flying graysons’ last performance, he was obsessed with their acrobatic moves, and was observant enough to connect those moves with that of robin and later nightwing... all of this came together to put him where he is right now.

(i also love how he can’t contain his giddy excitement when talking about the day dick grayson’s parents died... to dick grayson. even if dick weren’t nightwing, that would be a deeply uncomfortable thing! yet tim can’t help himself, and i love him for it.)

4.8. it’s a testament to how much dick’s caught off-guard that he can’t come up with a better response to tim’s allegations other than “uh... he stole my moves! as you know, no two gymnasts in the world are allowed to do the same moves. now, let me escort you out while pretending poorly that i’m not at all shaken by this...”

4.9. i’ve talked about this before, but i find the logic around secret identities in this universe utterly fascinating. the titans don’t make much effort in keeping their identities secret: everybody seems to know that kory is starfire for instance, or that gar is beast boy. dick grayson is seen hanging out with kory a lot, especially at crime scenes. it won’t take a lot of sleuthing to find out that the titans are currently camped out at wayne manor, and to put two and two together.

my theory was that superheroes and villains have become such an integral part of daily society that it’s almost not worth it to seek out their secret identities, or that it’s just not a big deal anymore. like politicians or diplomats, not everybody bothers to look into who exactly their local politician is, but the people who know just... know. it’s a sort of unspoken social contract.

tim’s broken this contract by confronting dick about his identity, and dick’s not ready to deal with it. not entirely.

look at him! *pinches his cheeks*

5. ngl, it was quite satisfying to see jason knock the scarecrow out like that. 

5.5. i guess... the question of jason’s culpability is always going to be a thorny one and would make for a great courtroom drama spinoff. there are a number of factors to consider: jason’s personality, the rough circumstances under which he grew up, his undoubtedly stressful transition to being robin, bruce wayne being... well, bruce wayne, never feeling accepted by the titans and having most of them turn on him, being roundly defeated and almost killed by deathstroke, alfred’s death, a fuckload of ptsd, his violent death, crane’s manipulations, coming back to life, crane plying him with a drug. but there is no easy line to draw between any of these factors to his actions. i think it would be a disservice to jason’s character to attribute his actions entirely to these things and rather irresponsible to do so. i think jason has to reckon with the fact that when he took crane’s drug, he wasn’t reckless and chaotic like the thugs he gave it to; the planning that went into hank’s death was meticulous and the way hank died--dawn essentially tricked into pulling the trigger that blew her lover into bits--is so drawn out and cruel. 

5.75. it’s occurring to me that crane might have given jason a placebo. maybe jason’s dependence is psychological, and he’s externalised his fears in such a way that he believes crane’s drugs literally wipe them out, however temporarily.

in any case, the boy needs (more) therapy.

6. “he walked like robin...” fuck, tim

“gait recognition sweep” god, this show. i don’t know whether to laugh or cry. hey, once we’re done doing this gait recognition thingy, can we get a goddamn plumber in the house??? or move the commissioner’s desk so that sewage water isn’t dripping on her head or the million dollar touchscreen desk???????

6.5. oh no dick!!!!!! i am delighted that you got hurt but i feel ashamed about it! that looked like it really hurt!

he’s really not having a good time of it, is he. from being shot by a sniper to slamming at full speed into an suv, he’s got to be really fucking battered by now. and that’s just the physical side of it.

“can you believe that just over a week ago i was sitting in san francisco eating cauliflower crust pizza and feeling good about myself for the first time in five years...”

7. kory’s having visions again! now that she’s figured what they are, do you think the show’s just dropped justin? it’s curious that HPG hasn’t been brought up in a while after featuring relatively heavily in the beginning. hmmm.

8. dick’s in hospital but... he looks remarkably whole for someone who took a spill like that. you’d think he’d at least have a bruise to show for it. on the other hand, i love that the first thing he says is ‘i need to call home’. reminds me of season 1 dick and his clumsy attempts to explain away his found family as an ‘alliance of necessity’ or some bullshit. what a long way he’s come!

*gasp* dick’s hallucinating again!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m doing the dick’s hallucinating dance! can you believe that we’re carrying over these huge honking issues unearthed in season 2 onto season 3? can you believe?!!! all that time and effort i spent talking about dick’s mental health from last season has not gone in vain!!

... ahem. anyway. more on this later.

“hold on barbara, i think kory gave me the number to this therapist that she kept calling Hot Psychiatrist Guy...”

9. just an interlude to say that i’m barely halfway through the episode and i’ve already written 2k+ words... ugh. i’m going to try and be more concise.

10. man i fuckin love it when titans goes all out with its weird mindscapes and i’m extra glad that kory’s the focus this time. is that baby kom or maybe a secret sibling that neither of them knew about? was that lady luand’r? and is this place where kory was circling where the secret sibling is? it’s all very intriguing. 

(if justin turned out to be that sibling... we’ve a real luke/leia situation on our hands.)

11. aw, i knew that nice security guard was going to die, but it still hurt to see him go :(

12. this show is so bizarre. like i get the mindscape as a narrative device, but jason using sex workers to try and vocalise his guilt about killing hank was just weird. like. i have to use tamil, sorry: idhulaan yaaru pa room pottu yosikara??? some things just can’t be translated into a second language.

i guess one way to interpret jason’s reckoning with what he did to the titans as a sign of him coming off crane’s drug, but i think it’s more to do with the disillusionment of realising that he was a mere pawn in a more sinister plan, and not, as he thought, a player in control of his destiny, rising to the purpose of liberating gotham of its fears in a way batman never could. along the way, he’s done some truly irreversible damage. it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

13. another hallucination! it’s really intriguing that it’s a young dick(?), younger than we’ve ever seen him, wearing an early-era robin costume from way before he even became robin. (this is also interesting in that it gives credence to the idea that ‘robin’ is an identity that dick created entirely on his own, and as a possible homage to his family.)

“old road, old house... it’s all gone.” i wonder what it all means.

13.5. it’s entirely likely dick’s hallucinating because of a brain injury from the accident, though just hallucinations without any other focal neurological deficit is unusual. he might’ve been microdosed with fear toxin at some point, though i wonder when... did jason do so after dick’s accident? did he get dosed at the factory from last episode? 

it’s also possible it’s a continuing manifestation of dick’s issues from last season--which, if you remember, he never told anyone about and therefore never properly addressed. maybe he was hallucinating bruce wayne in a psychotic episode accompanying an acute stress reaction and maybe that’s what’s happening now. nobody’s denying that he’s under an extraordinary amount of stress right now. another way to look at it is that this is how he externalises conflict that he can’t bear to suppress anymore; if in s2 halluci!bruce manifested his insecurities and self-loathing, then these hallucinations... something to do with his fears, no doubt.

yet ANOTHER way to look at it might be: rachel is reaching out to him through their, well, psychic bond. after all, they were able to use that bond unconsciously last season to get the titans back together; maybe rachel has learned to gain a degree of control over it in themyscira and is sending across warnings? it’s all very intriguing.

anyway:

“i hear you skipped over the discowing suit in your evolution to nightwing... how could you??”

14. can you imagine, gar did all the work of reaching out to jason via molly and jason wants to meet dick? smh.

14.5. “i’m just a regular guy doing regular things” he says, standing at the opening of a secret old tunnel, like a secret person doing secret things, confronting someone who can now officially be called his stalker. neither of you guys are ‘regular’

14.8. ‘my dad was a cop and he taught me how to investigate’ - hmmm. i guess they’re trying to Explain Tim but i don’t think that’s really necessary. so he’s smart and he’s obsessed with batman and robin--that should be enough, imo. 

15. that scene with scarecrow and his mother was... wow. i’m just laughing here helplessly, because what the hell? for a while i thought it was an extended dream sequence and i’m still not entirely sure that it isn’t...

anyway. i still love that titans is happy to throw out its plot in favour of extended character-exploration sessions.

15.5. it seems to me that this scene with crane and his mother (i have no idea if there’s anything in the comics similar to this) serves to move forward this season’s theme of harmful legacies and how parents can damage their children in the name of their mission. in a way it’s been the underlying message of the entire show but we’re really seeing it being reinforced this season. the titans, serving as a foil to scarecrow, are using the damage to rebuild themselves and actually work through their issues together, instead of spiralling further and further into the morass of their issues.

other than that... god, that scene was painful to watch. i can’t say i like this version of scarecrow or how this actor plays him at all.

16. i wonder what’s jason’s play here. i think he’s smart enough to realise that the titans aren’t going to just forgive him and let him be a titan again after what he did, and that dick agreeing to it is just a bid to pin both him and crane down. maybe it’s a ploy to trap them, get back on scarecrow’s good books so that he can have the drug again. who knows.

17. i absolutely felt dick when he said “we’ll bring him in and then re-assess the situation.” what the fuck else is he going to say? the priority is to get him.

so kory and dick are both hallucinating while potentially trying to rehabilitate their murderous siblings. CONFIDE IN EACH OTHER ALREADY

18. TIM NOOOO! you beautiful, reckless fool!

18.25. just to quickly address it here because i know it’s been brought up before: i think it’s perfectly justified to not have conner take tim to the hospital via superspeed because a) i don’t think we’ve seen conner do that with anybody so far and b) it’s probably not a good idea to submit tim’s body to that kind of stress without knowing what it would do to him. the paramedics with actual equipment and experience would be there in a few minutes, so on a risk assessment, i would say dick and conner absolutely made the right call.

18.5. i guess we won’t know what jason really intended to when the titans came to the pump to see him, but this is definitely going to set a big wedge in his relationship with crane. then again, crane got what he wanted--using starfire’s powers to blast through to the underground pipes--so jason can argue that this is exactly what he was working towards, too. 

anyway, mortal peril, hallucinations, murderous family members, creepy visions and robins sprouting left and right. time to get rachel and donna on the scene, i think.

#titans #titans spoilers #meta #garfield logan #dick grayson #koriand'r #jason todd #tim drake #jonathan crane #conner kent #komand'r #aaaaah this is 3k+ #*collapses in a heap*