#always 100% chad energy

[ladyamaranta]

I'm surprised by how much I like Kirin. Not saying he is flawless, but I basically like every layer he has and even his flaws.

The character's development they did for him was fast, but I didn't like this trope subversion less because of this. When I say 'fast' I mean that I basically started ep.5 thinking about how bad it was for Josh to be paired with the "Chad" after the trauma he had gone through, and I ended that episode sure that Kirin was my fav (boy) character and also my fav person on the boys' island.

So, some consideration in no particular order:

- either Kirin has a natural talent to spot signs of abuse, or he has more backstory than what we have been made aware of so far. He frowns even before he sees the red marks on Josh's chest, reacting only based on his avoidance. He says and does what's right, not only he stays 100% firm in his decision to believe Josh but he also state that decision aloud multiple times. I see backstory here and I want it.

- not straight. He has a not-straight energy that is incredibly big. He's the Sports Jock and the "Chad" but his backstory has no girls in it: we don't see him with a girl not even in a fragment; he's not pictured as an heartbreaker, which usually pairs really well with the archetype of the Conventionally Attractive Popular School Bully Captain; he could have been busy with practise, sure, but from the point of the writers I see this as a deliberate storytelling choice to hint at something (or at least I hope so)

- he's funny. I find him genuinely funny.

- he's the natural leader, but he is also kinda the group mom. And his attentions to the others are so casual and natural that you fail to notice them at first: how he hugs Bo on the cliff, how he cooks and shares food, how he always has an eye on the others. It comes so naturally to him and therefore I want to know more about the "dad part" he gets to play and his siblings

- he may be a "act now think later (or never)" kind of person, but he is not a bad person. I ended up thinking about "bad boy, good man" as the perfect quote for him during one of the episodes.

- I'm not excusing what he said to Ivan in the flashback, but I really see that moment as nuanced. He said awful things, no doubts about that, but what I see in that scene is this: a drunk and sad schoolboy caught in the middle of a breakdown whose first reaction is to firmly state he is not an homophobe/racist (not sure about which one he was going for as the sentence is cut off) and to refuse to repeat the insults Ivan is putting in his mouth. In other words I don't see him as a racist and/or homophobe who is ready to insult people and happy to do so given the chance; and I see this because he does not come up with bad words he was refraining himself from using but is glad to let out, he repeats exactly what Ivan was telling him to say; I don't see any joy in him as the words come out of his mouth, I only see a broken young boy who is being provoked in a moment of fragility. Also, surely enough Ivan and him have more backstory, otherwise Ivan's provocation is unexplicable: we haven't seen Kirin doing anything bad up to this moment, so I don't get why Ivan starts this provocation. Therefore I suspend my judgment on this moment (and on both Ivan and Kirin before the island) until I know more about their relationship and what led to that moment in the locker room.

- his interview draws a lot of parallels to Toni and I like this a lot

- I'm really praying they'll use this magnificent example of "Archetype: Chad" to subvert the 'boys will be boys' trope and to show us a boy who is stupid and impulsive and everything a 'boy' is, but is also inherently a good person.

ALSO why he is officially listed as "Kirin O'Connor" but everyone on tumblr tags him as "Kirin O'Conner"?

#the wilds #a lot of words #talking to myself #the boys #kirin o'conner #kirin o'connor #in a surprising turn of events i like kirin #the twlight of adam #kirin the wilds #characters analysis #characyer development #trope subversion

[troius]

In your opinion, what's the biggest plothole in Bleach?

And what is the biggest retcon?

And who is the most criminally underused character?

Obligatory disclaimer: I'm only answering up to this point in the reread. Some of these plotholes might be answered later. Other, bigger ones might show up. But I don't want to venture into anything I'm not 100% sure of.

The biggest plot hole in Bleach is Sosuke Aizen's shikai. Kyoka Suigetsu is as overpowered a storytelling device as it is a weapon, because it lets you pull the rug out from under the reader, thereby bringing genuine surprise. But for that same reason, it's sort of silly. Aizen should be able to win every fight against all non-Tosen opponents just by releasing his sword in front of them and then stabbing them. I suppose it's not within the realm of impossibility that Aizen has to actively use spiritual energy to keep up the hypnosis, and that a sufficiently powerful opponent who focused their pressure could break it, but without an explanation like that it's a big all-consuming plot hole for much of what we've read so far.

I don't think we've gotten any retcons so far? Nothing we've seen that I can remember explicitly or even implicitly contradicts past explanations or events, although the Visoreds' moral alignment comes close.

And in what will be my least controversial opinion, the most criminally underused character is Tatsuki. I'm always happy to see her on the page, and I'm very sad that she's not in the manga much anymore. She adds a lot to the dynamic of the Karakura kids, she's willing to call Ichigo out in a way the others don't, and her presence makes Orihime a lot more assertive. I'd love to see what her dynamics with Chad and Uryu would have looked like.

#bleach #ask troius

[thelasthalloween]

My LGBT MML headcanons

I’ve shared some of these on AO3 but not everyone has seen my AO3 so I’m putting this here

Milo is bi and nonbinary. Gender wise, nonbinary is simply the closest word he has to describe himself but otherwise describes himself as ‘just Milo’. He has no preference whatsoever for pronouns. Murphy’s Law seems to know what his gender is each day even when he doesn’t, because much like when he is sick it ebbs a bit when he feels more feminine.

I see Zack as some form of MLM. Probably questioning at the moment, though. He seems very much like the gay panic type to me (because let’s be real, he’s always panicking).

Melissa is a lesbian who HATES gender roles. I can kinda see her as being cool with she/they pronouns, but my gender headcanon for her is still uncertain.

I know the popular headcanon is that Dakota is bi, but my take is that he’s gay. I personally can’t see him being genuinely attracted to a woman, but I’m not here to judge those who can. Also his t guy swag levels are off the charts. (I am a trans guy and I want his gender so badly so the trans Dakota hc gives me so much joy)

Similar to my headcanon for Dakota, my sexuality headcanon for Cavendish goes against what I’ve seen from others and to me he’s bi. He just doesn’t realize it for a long time due to being autistic. I also love to think he’s nonbinary with a changing pronoun preference, and doesn’t conform to what cis people expect from a nonbinary person. (He keeps his first name and facial hair)

Doof is the trans and bi divorced dad icon we all need. I feel no elaboration is needed.

Now that I think about it, I see every Murphy as bi. We stan a family of disaster bis! Also, what is it with married Dwampyverse men in particular having bi wife energy? (Looking at Martin and Lawrence)

Basically, if a character has shown clear and constant heterosexual attraction, they are most likely bi to me. Also, the only person I can think of at the top of my head as 100% cishet is Orton Mahlson. My main reason being how he saw Cavendish and Dakota’s interactions and p much went “What’s better than this, just guys being dudes”

Gonna get some supporting characters all in one go so this post doesn’t get too long. Amanda is bi. Mort & Chad are gay. Elliot is pan and trans. Mr. Drako is gay and trans. Veronica is WLW. Bradley is gay and doesn’t know it. Brick and Savannah are gay and lesbian solidarity. I’m not talking about Ms. Murawski.

#milo murphy's law #my favorite characters have the longest sections so you can tell who they are #i love all the characters though i swear #also i doubt this will happen but if any homophobes or transphobes interact i will smite you myself

[midnightactual]

After watching episode 7 of the new anime something has been bothering me. In the past you have talked about Ichigo's relationship with Yoruichi and from a realistic stand point she's not even his sensei let alone romantic or familial they're just mere acquaintances from a realistic stand point to which I agree fans over blow their bond. So then what's the deal with soul society then? Ichigo (realistically) has even LESS acquaintance with them then the urahara gang minus renji and rukia yet the man acts like soul society is equal to his family. I never understood this love affair Ichigo has with the shinigami. It's so forced that it has always taken away from the plot and made Ichigo's motivations for fighting in the war hollow it even feels like he declares allegiance to them in the soul kings palace rather then humanity. Technically Ichigo has more of a bond with Urahara or Yoruichi yet treats THEM more like acquaintances then his "friends from soul society." Why do you think that is? Thanks

I think it's three things?

The first thing is that it's made pretty clear early on in Bleach (like the first 50 chapters) that as much as they bicker, Ichigo really vibes with Rukia's ethos on a deeply personal level. They also care for each other a lot, in whatever way one wants to imagine that is manifested, which is why both the live action and the musical heavily focused on their interactions and feelings, as does Kubo's own poetry and art (like the "I will pass through even 100 million blades!" spread).

Rukia is the archetypal Shinigami to Ichigo. He even wields Sode no Shirayuki until Byakuya breaks it. (Yes, his first sword is just an oversized Sode no Shirayuki; he's using Rukia's powers and her zanpakutō.) This is interesting because Rukia's mindset is very atypical for Shinigami as a whole, but Ichigo essentially acts like Rukia vouches for everyone else in the Gotei 13. They're good enough for her, so they're good enough for him.

The second thing is that Ichigo has this whole combat empathy character ability thing going on where he bonds with people through fighting them. He claims to be terrible at remembering names and faces but he easily remembers and acts super familiar with every Shinigami he fights (Renji, Ikkaku, Byakuya, and Kenpachi). He feels sympathy for Aizen at the end on that basis. He acts very casually with Ganju and Kisuke. Perhaps most notably, he identifies with Uryū a lot more than Orihime and Chad, because he only comes into more direct conflict with Uryū.

The exceptions are Yumichika, Rangiku, and Tōshirō, whom he's ostensibly familiar with from the week spent in Soul Society after Aizen flees, as he doesn't interact with them much (or at all for the latter two) during SS arc. The two he only sort of tussles with are Gin and Yoruichi, and unsurprisingly, his attitude is still fairly guarded around both of them.

Basically the result of this seems to be that he feels he gets the Shinigami in a deeper way than his human peers. Ichigo is not really particularly good at identifying with people his own age no matter how much shared experience he has with them (like Tatsuki).

The third thing is, like Karin, he hates feeling like a burden or imposition. That means keeping his human friends in the dark, because they can't do anything. That means not bothering Kisuke, because he's presumably working on big brain answers. That means not bothering Yoruichi, because she just radiates intense adult energy. (See also: Ikumi lecturing him on relying on adults.) This means not bothering Isshin. And so on, and so forth. The various Shinigami, he views as "peers" whom he isn't burdening, because they can more or less keep up, and yet they don't really register as authority figure adults to him. It seems like in his mind, they're his battle bros.

Between these three things, I don't think he does have more of a bond with Yoruichi or Kisuke than the Gotei 13 members he kinda knows. He says stuff like, "I'm not one of you, I am a Shinigami!" to Shinji because he really does feel that way. They're just his people as far as he's concerned. He vibes with them.

#Out Of Character #Asks #anonymous

[creepyshowerkid]

Aegon I: ive never heard of this "europe" but it sounds like a big bunch of shit to me

Aenys: thank you for liking the "Real men of genius" beer commercials. Were bringing them back in an attempt to suppress the 2nd American Civil War

Maegor: if a sniper shot me i owuld run over to where he is and kick the gun out of his hand and kill him because hes not specialized in melee fight

Jaehaerys I: incredibly handsome , charismatic famous boy credited with ending income inequality after saying that slumlords should be called "dumblords"

Alysanne: CHILD︓ Papa.. tell me once more about WIFE's DUTY

PAPA︓ it is WIFE's DUTY to protect her husband from villains, always

Viserys I: i help every body, im not racist, i keep myself nice, and when i ask for a single re-tweet in return i am told to fuck off, fuck myself, etc

Rhaenyra: girl;s with cracked phone screens give top like the devil him self

0 RTS 2 LIKES

pray if you Like this...

1210 RTS 42134 LIKES

Power of Lord

Aegon II: pleased to announce that i will shatter all barriers in 2017 by becoming the first adult gerber baby

Aegon III: "oh youre sad because a judge died? thats so adorable" i say as i effortlessly list off 100 dead judges from simply my memory

Daeron I: ah.. the perfect Souffle! cant wait to dig in to t(*EVERY PIPE IN MY HOUSE EXPLODES AT THE SAME TIME, COVERING ME IN SHIT AND BOILING WATER*

Baelor: theres never been a horny me,

and never shall i horny be,

And If this sacred vow shall break,

I pray the lord my posts to take

Viserys II: im the only guy who knows how to call out the bull shit of society the smart way. and against all odds i do it for free

Aegon IV: were at the point now, that when i offer to impregnate my girl followers, people assume my motives are sexual. disgusting, grow the fuck up,

Daeron II: let's all be my wife

Daemon Blackfyre: Sword's. The only blade known to man

Aerys I: "ill goon your ass. ill pig you out"

yeuah um, No, its highly unlikely that you will "Goon" my ass. Try reading a book of english

Daemon II Blackfyre: i plan on attending chad and avril's wedding so i can absorb all the Love and Music Energy and use it to repair the corrupted soul of gaia .

Haegon Blackfyre: and now im being unfollow brigaded by traitors who would gladly simply put my ass in the viper pit

Maekar: aggressively joyless oaf hhere. painfully obnoxious respect demander checkign in. extremely dim witted frowning man looking for pals

Aegon V: EVERYONE PLEASE BUY YOUR MAGIC SPELLS BEOFRE AUGUST 30 WHEN EBAY BANS THEM FOR GOOD, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL ANONYMOUS REPRESENTATIVE & HOLLER BS

Daemon III Blackfyre: Dont like the posts ? Goto WWW . KILL MY ASS DEAD . COM...

Jaehaerys II: the doctor reveals my blood pressure is 420 over 69. i hoot & holler outta the building while a bunch of losers try to tell me that im dying

Maelys Blackfyre: scorned Gamer invents a new color of face that is reportedly "Worse than blackface" -- Beyond Fucked - Theres Never seen anything like this.

Aerys II: wearing a false ass crack and prosthetic dick on top of my real ones in case my pants get burned off by fire

Viserys III: please banky. if youre out there reading this i need you to graffiti a chode with balls on my shop teacher's station wagon

Daenerys: girls are such White people

[kimium]

Since I had so much fun writing out my ships for Twisted Wonderland I figured I'm going to do the same with Bleach. Because I spent my weekend rereading the last arc. And I've been a fan of the series since day one and I've never talked about it???

So, uh... here we go. Spoilers for the entire series... sort of. I mean... only one of my ships is from the final arc.

Rest is under the cut

Ships that are my OTP/ "They're basically canon in my eyes"

Kyoraku/Ukitake: They have such strong "old gay uncle" energy together and I love it. They're 100% in love in my eyes.

Ikkaku/Yumichika: They're so obviously a couple that it hurts me. Their dynamic! Their trust! Their loyalty towards one another! Top Tier.

Ships that I Really Like (in order of "I strongly ship this" to "I love the possibilities of this dynamic")

Grimmjow/Ichigo: They have that "enemies to sort of allies to begrudgingly accepting one another to dumbasses in love". At least as far as I'm concerned.

Byakuya/Renji: I'm a big sucker for the stoic one who has a soft spot for certain people falling for the wild, loose, passionate one who is a dumbass. Also that one scene in the Soul Society arc where Renji is just waltzing around the Sixth Division wearing a sakura yukata?? Top Tier.

Ulquiorra/Orihime: Yeah, I know he kidnapped her but they have this "beast who suddenly understands human emotions a little because one (1) person decided they're not taking this BS".

Ishida/Chad: I like this because it's Ishida "I over think a lot of things" and Chad "I see things for what they really are". I like that dynamic and think it's cute.

Komamura/Tosen: LISTEN. The moment I found out (all those years ago) they became friends because Tosen doesn't see the barriers Komamura has believed/been told about his entire life, I was sold. That's such a beautiful start to a friendship and it definitely makes me sad that Tosen betrayed Soul Society.

Kensei/Shuhei: I'm just a big fan of "I looked up to you and respected you and now that you're back and I'm an adult my admiration has been exposed as a crush. HELP, what do I do???" vibe.

Ships that I think are fun (in order of "That Definitely happened at least Once" to "That's interesting")

Urahara/Yoruichi: I refuse to believe they didn't experiment with one another at least once. Whether there are actual romantic feelings is up to interpretation.

Yoruichi/Soi Fong: Basically the same idea as Urahara/Yoruichi except Soi Fong is Definitely in Love with Yoruichi. It's cute.

Aizen/Hirako: I've flip flopped on this ship a lot over the years. While I'm not always a fan of it what I AM a fan of is the possibility that Aizen figured out he had a Massive Gay Crush on Hirako and then proceeded to be Extremely Conflicted over it. I just love imagining Aizen with all his little schemes crying in his room because "Captain Hirako is my enemy but he's So Hot I want to Sleep with Him".

Bazz-B/Jugram "Jugo": Look, it's my obligatory "THEY WERE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS" ship. Makes what happens in the manga all the more heartbreaking for me.

Gin/Matsumoto: Another ship that I've flip flopped over the years. I do think there is potential, especially their backstory. I also like the tragic angle this ship can take. But even if I'm not shipping it I do think their interactions/friendship is fascinating.

Gin/Izuru: I'm a huge fan of Gin causing troubles for Izuru and Izuru trying to be responsible for his captain. Then, Gin teases him and Izuru is a Flustered Mess.

Ships that I think are Cute (in order of "That's just sweet" to "I see the appeal")

Hitsugaya/Momo: It's just another case of "they're childhood friends that have a soft, cute dynamic". It's harmless and wholesome in my eyes.

Orihime/Tatsuki: They're just very adorable together and I've always enjoyed their friendship.

Renji/Rukia: I know it's canon but I'm not the biggest fan of it. That being said, I do think they're very cute and their shared backstory makes this pairing cute.

Ships that are just Crack/Make me Laugh

Kenpachi/Byakuya: If I had a nickel every time those two were paired up in a fight against the enemy I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's strange that it's happened twice. Or however that quote goes. This ship is all about "prim, proper one" with "not prim and proper one". I think it's funny.

Szayelaporro/Renji: Their fight was Charged. That's all I'm saying about it.

But what about any OT3s?

Shuhei/Matsumoto/Izuru: I love their dynamic. It's funny and cute. Matsumoto 100% is in charge.

Ichigo/Rukia/Renji: I just think they're Neat and I like the energy they bring to the table.

Ichigo/Byakuya/Renji: Almost didn't add this but then I thought of the chaotic energy Byakuya would have with BOTH Ichigo and Renji and laughed. So this is at the end as an honourable mention.

#personal #bleach

[realhankmccoy]

Sometimes I think Boi is intentionally trying to scrape the very bottom of the cucked barrel -- since expounding on the Yes Chad / Nordic Gamer meme that's so popular amongst his ilk has to be something somebody would only do out of exploring what it feels like to be a subsidiary servile cuck of the cucks, right?

But nah, it's just that these components of empire are all so deeply cucked and they don't realise that others can See that they're cucked.

Boi just saw the meme and connected with the pretty face and decided to turn the meme into a real life story -- all to try to tease, diminish liberals and decent people. Ick.

What's just so... ick about it is that he's so eager to cuck himself into a conduit of sub-meme Aryan silliness plus Nietzsche. It's impossibly unadult and rooted in racist rightist heteropatriarchical assault on minorities-- and of course there's a well known racist element to the energy he's conducting for an amusement that seems 'smart' to him but 'stupid, racist, hateful, rightist and tedious' to anyone who's seen it 100 times.

Whenever I see this meme, I always disagree and side with the non-racist at the top.

The blond racist at a bottom, slippin in those fascist values into the cucks -- I'm not a fan of him in any of his iterations.

Certainly as a writer, I could never be a bootlicking subsidiary of whichever shallow hater of liberals came up with this meme.

The empire wants you to be the bottom guy. The cucks happily comply, frustrated as they are that they cannot make their hair and beards blond, their eyes as blue, or their faces as muscular. It remains their ideal. The sheer shallowness of it is enough to flip people's minds to the bottom quote -- these are deeply shallow people, as I keep saying -- and they would say the opposite quote if the pictures on the left were reversed. How do I know this? Because I've seen it in the past.

They don't know when to be humble and when to be bold.

They let a blond beard in a meme tell em how to think and feel.

Move the beard somewhere else and they respond to that notion.

[kemetic-dreams]

Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

The Yoruba people (Yoruba: Ìran Yorùbá) are an ethnic group that inhabits western Africa, mainly the countries of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The Yoruba diaspora consists of two main groupings; first were Yorubas dispersed through Atlantic slave trade mainly to the western hemisphere and the second wave includes relatively recent migrants, the majority of which moved to the United Kingdom and the United States after major economic and political changes in the 1960s to 1980s As an ethnic description, the word "Yoruba" (or more correctly "Yaraba") was originally in reference to the Oyo Empire

The alternative name Akú, derived from the first words of Yoruba greetings (such as Ẹ kú àárọ? "good morning", Ẹ kú alẹ? "good evening") has survived in certain parts of their diaspora as a self-descriptive, especially in Sierra Leone

The Yoruba are among the most urbanized people in Africa. For centuries before the arrival of the British colonial administration most Yoruba already lived in well structured urban centres organized around powerful city-states (Ìlú) centred around the residence of the Oba.In ancient times, most of these cities were fortresses, with high walls and gates.Yoruba cities have always been among the most populous in Africa. Archaeological findings indicate that Òyó-Ilé or Katunga, capital of the Yoruba empire of Oyo (fl. between the 11th and 19th centuries CE), had a population of over 100,000 people. For a long time also, Ibadan, one of the major Yoruba cities and founded in the 1800s, was the largest city in the whole of Sub Saharan Africa. Today, Lagos (Yoruba: Èkó), another major Yoruba city, with a population of over twenty million, remains the largest on the African continent

Ife continues to be seen as the "Spiritual Homeland" of the Yoruba. The city was surpassed by the Oyo Empire as the dominant Yoruba military and political power in the 11th century.

The Oyo Empire under its oba, known as the Alaafin of Oyo, was active in the African slave trade during the 18th century. The Yoruba often demanded slaves as a form of tribute of subject populations,who in turn sometimes made war on other peoples to capture the required slaves. Part of the slaves sold by the Oyo Empire entered the Atlantic slave trade.

Most of the city states were controlled by Obas (or royal sovereigns with various individual titles) and councils made up of Oloyes, recognised leaders of royal, noble and, often, even common descent, who joined them in ruling over the kingdoms through a series of guilds and cults. Different states saw differing ratios of power between the kingships and the chiefs' councils. Some, such as Oyo, had powerful, autocratic monarchs with almost total control, while in others such as the Ijebu city-states,the senatorial councils held more influence and the power of the ruler or Ọba, referred to as the Awujale of Ijebuland, was more limited

The Yoruba religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in Southwestern Nigeria and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, a region that has come to be known as Yorubaland. Yoruba religion is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder.Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories and other cultural concepts that make up the Yoruba society. One of the most common Yoruba traditional religious concepts has been the concept of Orisa. Orisa (also spelled Orisha or Orixa) are various godly forms that reflect one of the various manifestations or avatars of God in the Yoruba religious system. Some widely known Orisa are Ogun, (a god of metal, war and victory), Shango or Jakuta (a god of thunder, lightning, fire and justice who manifests as a king and who always wields a double-edged axe that conveys his divine authority and power), Esu Elegbara (a trickster who serves as the sole messenger of the pantheon, and who conveys the wish of men to the gods. 

He understands every language spoken by humankind, and is also the guardian of the crossroads, Oríta méta in Yoruba) and Orunmila (a god of the Oracle). Eshu has two avatar forms, which are manifestations of his dual nature – positive and negative energies; Eshu Laroye, a teacher instructor and leader, and Eshu Ebita, a jester, deceitful, suggestive and cunning.Orunmila, for his part, reveals the past, gives solutions to problems in the present, and influences the future through the Ifa divination system, which is practised by oracle priests called Babalawos.

Olorun is one of the principal manifestations of the Supreme God of the Yoruba pantheon, the owner of the heavens, and is associated with the Sun known as Oòrùn in the Yoruba language. The two other principal forms of the supreme God are Olodumare—the supreme creator—and Olofin, who is the conduit between Òrunn (Heaven) and Ayé (Earth). 

Oshumare is a god that manifests in the form of a rainbow, also known as Òsùmàrè in Yoruba, while Obatala is the god of clarity and creativity.as well as in some aspects of Umbanda, Winti, Obeah, Vodun and a host of others. 

These varieties, or spiritual lineages as they are called, are practiced throughout areas of Nigeria, among others. As interest in African indigenous religions grows, Orisa communities and lineages can be found in parts of Europe and Asia as well. While estimates may vary, some scholars believe that there could be more than 100 million adherents of this spiritual tradition worldwide

The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are one of the largest ethnic groups are widely distributed, across the Sahel from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea, particularly in West Africa. The countries where they are present include Mauritania, Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, the Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Niger, Chad, Togo, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Liberia, and as far east as the Red Sea in Sudan and Egypt.

Walter Rodney in his book The History of the Upper Guinea Coast, argues that Fulbe are originally from North Africa and they conquered the Foota Djallon region led by the Fulani Koli Tenguella.

The ethnogenesis of the Fulani people may have begun as a result of interactions between an ancient West African population and North African populations such as Berbers or Egyptians. Their West African roots may be in and around the valley of Senegal River. They likely reflect a genetic intermix of people with West African, North African, and Arabian origins, and have been a part of many ruling dynasties particularly in the Sahel and West Africa .Speculations about their origins started in the era of European conquest and colonization.

The language of the Fulani is "Pulaar", which is also the language of the Toucouleurs. All Senegalese and Mauritanians who speak the language natively are known as the Halpulaa or Haalpulaar'en , which means "speakers of Pulaar" ("hal" is the root of the Pulaar verb haalugol , meaning "to speak"). In some areas, e.g. in northern Cameroon, Fulfulde is a local lingua franca.

There are three writing systems used to write this language: an Arabic derived one called Ajami, a Latin derived system with 6 sets, and a native phonetic-faithful system called Adlam recently invented in 1989; the third one is the most increasingly popular not only learnt by hundred thousands of people among the diaspora worldwide but has also apps and computer programs created to assist in the script's adoption.

Moral code

Central to the Fulani people's lifestyle is a code of behavior known as pulaaku or laawol Fulɓe (literally meaning the "Fulani pathways" which are passed on by each generation as high moral values of the Fulbe, which enable them to maintain their identity across boundaries and changes of lifestyle. Essentially viewed as what makes a person Fulani, or "Fulaniness", pulaaku includes: Munyal: Patience, self-control, discipline, prudence Gacce / Semteende: Modesty, respect for others (including foes) Hakkille: Wisdom, forethought, personal responsibility, hospitality Sagata / Tiinaade: Courage, hard work

#african #nina simone #yoruba #fula #fulani #munyal #wisdom #kemetic dreams #brownskinwoman #brownskin #brownskins #west africa #egypt #orisha #vodun #vodoo #african spirituality #african culture #african dna #africanancestrydna #africanancestry #crystal fox #manifest #manifestion #nigeria #nigerian #fulani pathways #keep your head up #who are you #african pride

[roddyretrograde]

Has anyone else noticed how different the girls talk about Lucas vs Jake?

I was listening to this week's episode and they kept saying that Bryan was able to turn off his Jake energy and be like a good friend and repeatedly used the phrases "safe" and genuine and good person. I think they do a really good job of telling people why they prefer one ship over the other, and it's clear that they didn't feel those things with every single man they worked with on set. When those things are missing from the girls' descriptions, I think it's pretty clear what was missing with the interactions they had. It's why I'm sometimes confused why people think they're being unfair, because just because they don't outright insult people, it's all in their language.

I also noticed that they used the phrase "Creepy" (Joy and Sophia) for L*yton, because they don't like how the ships boundaries were always centred around Lucas and not Peyton. There's been some critique over how fast Lucas goes, and people seem to ignore that this is really valid. Lucas tried to walk into Peyton's house with her when she tested him early season one, while he knew she was with Nathan. He then went from 0-100 saying he wants everything with her, when Peyton was clearly going through a break-up, and when Peyton says she's not ready he rebounds to Brooke immediately, and has sex with her. Then he continues to pursue Peyton when she's vulnerable over her dad, while still dating Brooke, and then puts the responsibility on Peyton to tell his girlfriend what happened between them even though she tells them they shouldn't be happening. When Lucas ends up alone, without Brooke or Peyton, he immediately hooks up with Nicki.

Lucas goes fast, and when he doesn't get what he wants he moves on fast. This has always been a character trait.

So the critique about Jeyton talking about taking their time, and then having sex the next episode, it's not as fast as Lucas moves because they actually talk about boundaries and Jake never pushes them without discussion first. Like this past episode, Peyton leaves the room and Jake considers what it is she wants and he wants, and he comes clean the next day because he doesn't want to mess with her feelings. Peyton moves quickly with Jake, because he respects her and her boundaries are hers to shift and move when she wants them too.

Even in season four with L*yton, Lucas pushes sex first and when Peyton playfully rejects him, he doesn't step back and ask what she wants, he continues to playfully push until Brooke walks in on them. Sure it seems harmless, but the alternative was so sweet and tender and just such a high bar, and Leyton's intimate moments are laced with cringe all throughout their run. Brooke walking in, the sex tape and the party, people walking into the hotel room after prom, Peyton staring out the window pensively with bruises on her shoulders, Lucas not getting it up in season six. I think some of this was honestly to ease tension in filming those scenes, but that's just an educated guess.

I think those storylines, and then matched with Chad's history with women in real life, are a double whammy with how Sophia, Joy and even Hilarie feel about L*yton. They love Peyton and so it's hard to see her evolution and growth and her relationship where Peyton was really respected and loved the whole time it was a ship, be thrown aside to be in a space where Hilarie and Sophia were pitted against each other by the crew to be in a romantic plot that is very centred around the guy's timeline and feelings, along with repeated storylines where Peyton is abused or in toxic situations or becomes toxic after a lot of growth. It's hard to watch all of Peyton's growth in the first three seasons go out the window for Lucas, at the same time that Hilarie, Sophia and Joy were all being pitted against each other by their workplace.

I guess what I'm saying is that I've picked up an "ick" from Lucas for a really long time, and while he has his really good moments and Chad is obviously a talented actor, it's really telling that someone who is on the screen a LOT of the time on this show is not getting credit for making the set safe, or the storylines feel comfortable, and he's missing from the conversation because he isn't a safe space for them to talk about.

I’m dying to hear peoples thoughts on this, so feel free to send me an ask, or join the convo here! 

#drama queens podcast #anti leyton #jeyton #bryan greenberg #hilarie burton

[backtoyuta]

NCT 127: at a frat party

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

❁ [Taeil] Introverted confidant; Taeil is the guy you go to to seek solace in when you're not really feeling the vibe. Maybe the music sucked, the drinks weren't having an effect on you or it was too rowdy, whatever the problem was you could always sneak away or locate him somewhere a little quieter and just observe the mess from a distance. He'll laugh appreciatively if you took the initiative to sneak some snacks or drinks laid out and ruffle you hair playfully to thank you, making astute remarks about how drunk his friends are and groan about how he'll probably have to carry one of them home later. It's likely that you'll both be stuck with the task of making sure everyone gets home safe, shove bread in someone's mouth in hopes of it helping somehow even if you're not totally sober yourself. Maybe he gets really into the party once in a while, and when he does he benignly encourages you to let loose yourself and join in the fun, however it's almost always a guarantee that you'll end up taking a breather from the noise together in the garden, the part of the living room that isn't occupied, in desperate situations a random storage cupboard (Everybody got the wrong idea with that one) (No, you never quite lived it down). It's a nice feeling to see his expression perk when he finally sees you, the quick hug you always exchange, the knowing glances when your social batteries are already dying and its time to dip.

❁ [Johnny] Life of the party; Being the extroverted king he is, Johnny is the guy you might end up holding onto his sleeve for most of the night, figuratively. The guy that knows everyone, he'll happily adopt you if you look like you feel out of your depth and kindly make you a drink and usher you towards a group to try and let loose. Being with Johnny means a lot of attention, being introduced to people here and there and him playfully picking on you during drinking games, volunteering to make a fool of himself when someone dares you to do something a little too outrageous. Johnny is the comfort you need whilst simultaneously the reason for your death because drunk Johnny means a lot of shameless flirting and eye contact from across the kitchen counter, as well as keeping you close to his side and out of reach when someone else tries the same thing on you. At some heinous hour in the morning the rooms are considerably emptier, discarded cups everywhere and chiller music is humming from the bluetooth speakers, you could kid yourself that it was just you two even though you're sitting in a pool of people. His arm swung casually around your shoulders, "Did you have a good time?" Falling from his mouth slightly slurred and giving you an affectionate squeeze and a lazy kiss to the top of your head when you nod your head yes.

❁ [Taeyong] Hangover mum no. 1; We all know Taeyong has his maternal vibe going on, but lest we forget he too is a guy in his mid twenties looking for a good time. That being said, he wasn't surprised when Johnny dropped you off to his charge, the smell of alcohol radiating off of you, your appearance looking a lot more fragile from what he remembered when you first arrived that evening. He was incredibly patient, letting you rest in his bedroom while you sipped your water, salty pretzels at the ready for when you got the munchies and if disaster struck, he didn't judge when he pushed your hair back for a tactical chunder. He would assure you that you weren't keeping him from his friends when it had been a little while, and would keep a close eye on you when you rejoin the group, just a cup of lemonade in your grasp as a means of preventing a relapse. He's the guy that doesn't pressure you to join during drinking games, is perfectly content to give you his hoodie and let you sidle up to him as means of comfort and just observe everyone else admitting to disgusting truths during Never Have I Ever. At the end of the night he walks to your pace, will listen and hum attentively at any drunken musings that fall out of your mouth he knows you'll regret telling him tomorrow.

❁ [Yuta] King of the drinking games; Yuta isn't the type to shy away from a good time, and he's always front and centre when it comes to lowkey humiliating himself in Ring of Fire, truth or dare, or any of the classics. His confidence outweighs the most disgusting things he's admitted to doing, the embarrassment of what someone dared him to do and you've never seen someone chug a drink with so much gusto. Always manages to come up with the most evil questions, hitting right where it hurts and you dread when his turn rolls around again and his gaze lands on you. He's impressed when you take up his dares with dignity, or admit shamelessly to any hidden tattoos or piercings. If you caught his interest, will switch on the scorpio and keep his gaze trained on you for the rest of the night, will try and pry any information out of you by keeping you included in conversations and will 100% invite you to his room when the party is over. His demeanour reads as chaotic, he thrives being around his friends, but you somehow manage to unlock that calmer more intuitive part of him when he catches you outside the bathroom to check that he didn't go too far during one of the infamous games being played in the living room.

❁ [Doyoung] Hangover mum no.2; We've all seen the sweet and caring side of Doyoung jump out before, so if you're on your merry way towards being wasted he can't help but intervene to make sure you're ok. Don't be fooled though, he doesn't really have the patience of Taeyong, so expect a whole lotta tough love. He won't hesitate to flick you on the forehead when you get a little too in his face, though he deliberately doesn't do it too hard. Inadvertently gives off the impression that you're a nuisance as he scoffs and sighs at you weeping over a packet of crisps, has to later make a point of assuring you that "you're fine, you should just know better". There's an air of fondness that lingers when you settle down a bit and start to enjoy yourself at a more acceptable level of tipsiness and he insists that he walks you home. "Begrudgingly" hands over his jacket when you complain about being cold even though that was his plan all along, and takes mental notes of all the ridiculous drunken comments you make so he can torment you with them later.

❁ [Jaehyun] The guy who may or may not be responsible for your death; One thing about Jaehyun, he's the guy who's terrible at mixing drinks. Don't look at Johnny, he won't help you, when you asked for sex on the beach expect anal on the rocks because Jaehyun knows jack shit about ratio of alcohol to mixer. Don't worry too much, as much as it's his fault for accidentally getting you trashed, he takes as much responsibility for looking after you and making sure you have a good time. Lowkey turns into a frat boy cliche, the hat is on backwards and he's already tugging your arm to coerce you into being his partner for beer pong. He drinks most of the cups whenever you lose to make up for the terrifying concoctions he had you drink earlier and celebrates over excessively when you win by wrapping his arms tightly around your waist and lifting you in to the air slightly. His harmless nice chad vibes make for good company and there's the tingly feeling of chemistry when he laughs loudly at your jokes, eyes turning into little crescents and dimples popping, he watches proudly and thinks "that's my girl" when you make all his friends laugh with you.

❁ [Jungwoo] Level 300 clinger; whether you're moving between groups, leaving to get more food, or shifting to get a better view of the beer pong table, Jungwoo will find a way to squeeze in next to you some way some how. You can always feel an arm ghosting around your waist or around your shoulders, or hear his giggle right there beside your ear. After spending so much time on your feet, you both eventually flop on the sofa, a tangled mess of limbs whilst you try and catch your breath. People keep asking if you're together because of the excessive physical contact, and you hate how he thrives at you scrambling awkwardly for an answer to convey that wasn't the case while he just smiles innocently, making no effort to debunk the comments. There's a high chance that if either of you end up staying over in the other's house, he'll make sure he'll consensually sleep right there next to you, talking randomly about any topic that crosses his mind until you fall asleep. The mornings involve laughing at each other's bed head until you tune into your hangover's, sharing the one bottle of water while scrambling for painkillers and nagging at each other for not cutting either of you off when you went too far.

❁ [Mark] Lightweight; to keep it short and simple, Mark Lee proved himself to be a bit of a lightweight from the get-go, and now here you were, the room dim and bass thumping while Mark laughs loudly at whatever Johnny was saying and you haven't even been there for an hour yet. Mark is the guy that is kinda hard to keep track of, you thought you saw him in the kitchen but now he's messing around with Haechan in the garden and each time you regroup with him he's even more drunk than before. He always finds you eventually, maybe you were taking a load off at the snack table, munching crisps and replying to texts when a lanky arm swings over your shoulders and Mark's smily face is way too close to your line of sight asking if you're OK. If he feels he's neglected you for too long he overcompensates by ushering you to his current group and making a point of pulling a fold out chair right next to his, his laugh dominating the conversation even if the joke wasn't that funny. When the night draws to a close, he settles down, the lack of people taking a toll on his energy and that's where he engages in conversations way too deep for a frat party and way too personal for just friends, though you never worried, there was no way he would remember any of this tomorrow.

❁ [Haechan] Partner in crime; That one friend who you end up hanging with the whole night, even if that wasn't the intention. Haechan doesn't fear drunkenness, it doesn't seem like he fears anything, and he'll always without fail drag you down with him. He's the guy that cheers obnoxiously when you down your shot, always picks on you in the drinking games because he loves to see you embarrassed and the one you sneak away with to try cigarettes even if it turns out you don't really like them. His famous last words are always "I'll do it if you do it" and that's the story of how you both ended up jumping into a neighbour's pool completely wasted, and now hoarding the bottle of tequila. Haechan is the guy that kind of makes you make a complete fool out of yourself, but always assures you that nobody will remember by the morning and to just live in the moment. Your favourite part of these frat parties is always looking through your photos the next day and laughing at all the horrendous selfies and videos he took before you noticed he had your phone for the last 15 minutes.

#nct 127 #nct scenarios #nct fluff #nct #nct as boyfriends #nct 127 as boyfriends #boyfriend!nct #nct headcanons #nct drabbles #nct x reader #nct imagines #kpop imagines #kpop headcanons #kpop drabbles #kpop fluff #Taeil #taeyong #johnny #yuta #doyoung #jaehyun #jungwoo #mark #haechan

[ilovejevsjeans]

Daniel Ricciardo on his passion for combat sports, a walkout song and the time he asked Lewis Hamilton to ‘fight’

McLaren Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo, who currently sits seventh in the driver standings heading into this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, is among the world’s best behind a steering wheel. But how would he fare if he swapped his racing gloves for boxing or MMA gloves?

“I’d love to do a charity boxing match or something just to feel that adrenaline of walking to a ring,” Ricciardo said. “It’s on my to-do list for sure. At school I had a few little fights but nothing crazy. Nothing I’d brag about here.”

Ricciardo says he learned the sport of boxing from a friend who fought as an amateur growing up. However in recent years his love of combat shifted more toward mixed martial arts, a sport that is “quite beautiful. It’s an art form and I was just taken by it.”

The Australian — who boasts 4.6 million followers on Instagram — rarely misses a fight night, whether that’s a small card or pay-per-view. Every Monday he gears up for multiple MMA podcasts to hear analysis on what just took place in the cage.

In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Ricciardo opened up about his love for fighting, which driver would make the best opponent and why Lewis Hamilton turned down an opportunity to get in the ring against him.

You’re an avid fight fan. How did this passion for the sport start?

One of my best friends growing up, when he was growing up, he was doing amateur boxing and got very good at it. I was then doing my racing and he was doing his boxing. We were both on a bit of an unconventional path — both individual sports, not really the typical sports the kids at school were doing. We had that in common. Once I started taking my racing more seriously I began taking my fitness more seriously. So I started going to his gym to just train. I really enjoyed doing it. But the truth is — I don’t want to lie to anyone. I’m not a fighter. As much as I would picture beating the bully up at school, it’s not me. But I just fell in love with not only doing it but also watching it.

I enjoyed watching boxing but it was really when I got exposed to MMA … It just had me. It was back in 2011 when I started properly getting into it. It was the quickest sport I had ever been absorbed by. I was all in.

My whole YouTube feed is just all MMA shows, whether it’s press conferences, interviews, podcasts. It’s just full of MMA stuff. I’m a full nerd now.

Being in Australia and traveling a lot, are you forced to get up at weird times for fights?

The beauty was I was in LA when (Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 2) was on so it was prime time and I was happy. But normally in Europe, it’s 4 a.m. or 5 a.m., which isn’t as good. Any kind of sporting event that you look forward to, it’s always cool when it’s in the evening because you have all day to get ready and talk about it. If you wake up at 4 a.m. it’s like “ugh,” and then you’re straight into it so there’s not as much of a build-up. But it’s all good.

So do you still train at all?

No. To races, my trainer carries some pads and gloves just to stay a little sharp and change it up. If I’m getting my reflexes with some tennis balls, maybe I throw in a bit of a boxing combination or something. Again, I’m not saying I’m good or anything. But I just enjoy the whole movement part of it.

Boxing was cool and I enjoyed watching it growing up. But there was something with MMA where there’s just so many different disciplines and the matchups … as a contest it was so much more open and for that, exciting. I feel — I know it’s not always the case — you can kind of tell in boxing if someone is getting momentum, the advantage. It’s like “this guy is going to win the fight.” But in MMA, it’s like “this guy is winning standing but if this goes to the ground, it’s back to square one.” So I just loved it. I was really immersed by it all.

Did you have a particular fighter or fight that got you hooked early on?

One of the first events I watched was UFC 116. Chris Leben was on the card and I think he was losing the fight. And then he got a triangle with probably 20 seconds to go in the third round, so that was really exciting. Stephan Bonnar was also on that card and he got a really cool finish on “The Polish Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski. That was a card for me where I was very taken from that. Then I discovered “The Ultimate Fighter.” I just binge-watched all of those (seasons).

In terms of fighters, Leben was a character, I liked him. Carlos Condit. I’d say Condit and Cub Swanson were two guys I got behind early on. Condit, I love his style and the way he carries himself.

Have you been to a lot of cards in person?

The very first one I did was the best for me personally. To this day, it’s my favorite sporting event I’ve ever been to: (Conor) McGregor-(Chad) Mendes. Vegas in July 2015. Obviously McGregor, but he wasn’t yet a champion and still kind of on the rise. It was the energy and atmosphere. It was just wild.

The whole event too. (Robbie) Lawler-(Rory) MacDonald, which had the fight of the year. Every fight on the main card I think was a finish, so I got very lucky at my first event.

I’ve done (Michael) Bisping-(Anderson) Silva in the UK. That was a great contest as well.

There are a lot of great fighters from Australia and New Zealand like Israel Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker. Have you had a chance to meet any of them?

I haven’t met them. A couple of them I’ve had interactions with on social media. But I love Whittaker, obviously Volkanovski is killing it. I’m fairly patriotic to the Aussie fighters. If they are fighting, 99 percent of the time I’ll be supporting them. But one of my good buddies is roommates with Luke Rockhold, so I got to know Luke the last couple of years. I was trying to do some training over Christmas with him but it didn’t end up working out.

I know you’re a big shoey guy. What do you think of Tai Tuivasa doing it after wins?

I’ve had a bit of contact with Tuivasa as well. It’s obviously great. But one thing I can’t get behind is spitting. That’s a little extra.

Plus he’ll grab some random fan’s shoe.

He definitely takes it to the next level. It’s cool that — as disgusting as it is — we have some traditions like this.

Shifting a bit to F1, have you ever gotten into any big fights on the track? What was the worst fight you’ve gotten in?

Earlier in go-karting there was a bit more. Unfortunately in F1, I guess because you’re on the world’s stage, even if you push someone you probably are going to get a fine or get penalized. At times it’s a little too clean. But I’m still waiting for the day that someone confronts me and I just lay them out (laughs).

You also just seem a lot more laid back than a lot of other drivers, so you’d probably not be my first choice of someone getting into a fight soon.

I’m all talk, it would be nice obviously to not have to fight anyone. But no one would expect it from me. Even when I tell people I’m a fight fan, people are like “oh really? You’re into that? You seem too nice to like that.”

But to get where I have in the sport, you need a bit of a killer streak in you. I do have it, but don’t always show it.

What other driver would make the best fighter?

I know some guys have done — for fitness — hit some pads. Randomly, he doesn’t have a seat this year, but Daniil Kvyat started doing quite a lot of boxing last year for his training. I saw a few clips and it started to look like he knew what he was doing. I would say he would be the guy who has the most idea. I’d put him and myself up there. The rest I don’t think stand a chance.

So if you had a charity event, you don’t have anyone in particular you’d want to go against?

To be honest, I actually asked Lewis Hamilton. At the beginning of 2016, he posted a video on his Instagram hitting pads. I was as well at the time, so I was like “hey, let’s do a charity fight.” I asked him in person. But he didn’t bite on that one so I was a little sad.

I might re-ask the question.

What about Max Verstappen? For people who watched the first season of the F1 show “Drive to Survive” on Netflix, I’m sure they would love to see you guys throw down at some point.

That would have been cool as well (laughs). Max would be a good competitor in the ring. The way he drives, he’s quite stubborn. He’d be a hard guy to put away. He’s probably the guy that you’d choke him and he’s going to sleep and not tapping. That would make an interesting one.

In contrast, is there an MMA fighter you’d like to race on the track?

An obvious one would be Conor McGregor. To hear in his Irish accent all kinds of things, that would make pretty good television. And he loves his cars. It’s obvious, but that would probably be the best.

How often would you say you watch fights now? Not just PPVs, right?

Unless I have something like work or another commitment, I’m watching it every week. Mondays I’m getting ready for every podcast. I sound like a real nerd but it’s just an addiction. I love it. Anyone doing that for Formula 1, I’d be like “you’re such a nerd,” but here I am doing it with MMA.

Is it hard to follow everything during the race season?

If I can’t see it live, then 100 percent I’m going to watch the replay or buy it later. But it’s also a good escape. If I’m traveling and I’m in between races, to get my mind away from my competition, I like to watch it. I also try to pick up things as well. Whether it’s from a mental point of view … I’ll look at the walkouts and how they are behaving. I try to figure out if they are really as calm and collected as they are portraying or if it’s a bit of a facade. I’m trying to work out what I can use in my events.

Do you have a walkout song prepared if you were to fight?

I’ve thought about it. The short answer is no. You typically have to have something heavy and fast, but I fell in love with Chris Weidman’s “Won’t Back Down.” It’s not typically a song that will pump you up but it’s so iconic and now it’s his, it’s very fitting.

I’d go for something more lyrically powerful as opposed to instrumental. I loved Max Holloway’s, I think it’s called Mount Everest (by Labrinth). (X)

#hopefully this is the right one anon #daniel ricciardo #dan #interviews

[fekst-fucker]

Can’t find any Ej and a male s/o so- Ej, Habit, Masky, Hoddie, Ben, and Jeff with a male s/o who plays guitar

Ok here’s the really short one I wrote but I am gonna go look for some more! I know how much it sucks not being able to find fics :,(

EJ

- EJ can hear a lot better than he can see, and he likes being able to zone out and just listen to your music

- He does tease you constantly for playing guitar. “Any instrument. You could have chosen any instrument and you chose guitar”

- Shut up dude, it’s portable and fun and you’re listening to it so don’t act all huffy about it

- He really prefers anything calm, kinda like folk music, but he’s down for punk/rock/metal. Whatever makes you happy or is your favorite :,)

- So technically he can’t cry because his tear ducts are sealed but if u learn a Hozier song for him… he’ll bawl

Habit

- If it’s NOT punk/rock/metal he’s gonna give you shit for it

- You finally got him to stop by kinda waving him out of your room and shutting the door so you could practice, but he just sat outside the door and listened to you for like the next hour anyway

- You know bc you could see his shadow in the doorway and his boots and jeans peaking out in that little space under the door

- He gets so defensive about it if you bring it up. “What the fuck am I gonna do, not listen to my boyfriend practice? Christ”

Masky

- This poor man is never relaxed. He’s always on edge because of his damn job. But he always lets you know how truly relaxed he is around you while you’re practicing, or just being with you in general

- He plays guitar too, not much and mostly folk stuff, but he’s hesitant to play alongside you. You’re so much better and he’d feel kinda stupid

- Please get him to play with you, he breaks out in the biggest smile and he sings for you too! He has a pretty good singing voice

- He insists on singing bass/baritone, but he gets exhausted after a second and makes you take over for bass while he sings tenor. He’s too lazy to do anything but harmony :/

Hoodie

- Out of any of the people who would try to take a tambourine out and play it with you. It had to be this one

- He’s surprisingly good at it tbh, who knew there was such high skill to using a tambourine

- He never really talks and he keeps his mask on a lot, but when you’re practicing he feels safe singing or humming along. Since nobody bothers you while you’re playing, he feels safe taking his mask off around you too

- Which results in a lot of cheek kisses with his scratchy ass beard, so you can tease him for never shaving and boast about how much better your Chad well-kept beard is

Ben

- “Haha that’s sick babe you know I know some guitar too. Yeah, I’ve been playing guitar hero forever, it’s basically like learning real guitar, right?”

- He’s not joking

- On the bright side he does listen to a TON of guitar music. He can pick out a wrong note like no one’s business, and somehow, he has perfect pitch. It’s good for helping you tune your instrument but it’s not fair. You’re the musician, you should get perfect pitch

- He also loves singing, and he has a pretty high voice (he can hit soprano if he gets enough air) so he always takes the higher singing part

Jeff

- What a coincidence, you play guitar… Jeff plays guitar… boyfriend band

- I mean he ONLY plays punk and rock. He tried to get into heavy metal but it just wasn’t his vibe

- So hopefully you can match his punk energy, although sometimes style clashes are really really cool and it’s actually really pretty to mix two styles

- He knows a surprising amount of music theory and chord progression, so he actually tries to write songs. Not to ever release anywhere, he just likes the outlet. But he 100% wants you to sing and play on his tracks

#if it’s any consolation I try to make my asks gender-neutral but I know that’s different than an explicitly stated male reader :( #I’ll keep looking tho!! #eyeless jack #eyeless jack x reader #habit #habit x reader #masky #masky x reader #hoodie #hoodie x reader #Ben drowned #ben drowned x reader #jeff the killer x reader #jeff the killer #jeff x reader

[bloededhoine]

okay i saw this trend going around and decided to give it a try: making my sister vibe check the witcher characters!

warning: she's really mean

machacho (what the fuck kind of name is that?)

buff. everyone knows it bc he enters a room by groaning loudly and complaining about “wow it’s so hard to bench press 500 lbs like wow i wish i could just do like 110 and get a workout but im so buff I can’t smh”. lowkey hated by everyone but still gets the ladies. 100% would ditch you in the morning and then forget he fucked you and try to hit on you in two months if you had different hair. alcohol. 1/10 sorry (you should be you bitch that's my husband)

henrietta

gives off super bitch energy. but not always a bitch. also she loves that her reputation is that she’s a bitch. but a serious badass. could kill you. if you fucked her and like ran out in the morning she’d find u and cut ur dick off (accurate). but also can be a pussy ngl (you are what you eat ig). she’s like either a bitchy simp or an independent badass. no in between. 4/10 (why 4/10 that's so low what the fuck?)

josh

john paul jones is his style inspiration (???). wack. broods for fun. if he’s brooding don’t interrupt. can’t deal with emotions. like seriously dude plz go to therapy (true). but he’d rather die than admit he needs help emotionally. thinks he wants a girlfriend and when he gets one he bolts immediately bc commitment issues. then lowkey feels bad and wonders why it keeps happening. see again: go to therapy 6/10

brad

really good at commanding armies. really bad at emotions. he’s great at winning wars but still can’t grasp that human life is...ahem...valuable. like would be confused why ppl were mad if he sent all his soldiers to their death if they ended up winning the battle (ok of everyone on this list he looks LEAST like a soldier whatttttt). 3/10

broderick

acts tough. lowkey a softie but doesn’t know how to be. emotionally stunted. thinks peak flirting is like punching women (JAJSJDJD). loves playing mario kart and would 100% destroy the console if he lost. absolutely loves beer. like beer is his best friend (beer and dandelion). not great with money. but again, he really does want to be nice he just legit has no clue how. also his friends aren’t exactly helpful in that department (his friends are idiots so yeah). 6/10

triss lite (THATS SO FUCKING RUDE)

mean but tough. like super tough. could cut you. drinks misogynist’s tears for breakfast. absolutely hates the patriarchy. not great on racism tho (???). gets into trouble bc she sometimes forgets that she doesn’t need to be mean around people who like aren’t misogynists. like will sometimes say really mean shit to her friends and then they get hurt. cannot apologize. like cannot. 5/10

joker (i mean... yeah)

dumb. and annoying. like he pisses me off. i don’t like him. not like a mean person just fucking annoying. like bro shut up. would not think sexism, homophobia or racism exist. not because he’s a sexist, homophobe, or racist. but bc he’s just really dumb. 2/10 (finally some good fucking analysis)

angie

feminist icon. but lowkey a man hater. it’s iconic tho we forgive it. would rather die than be in a relationship with a man. does not know fear. 100% carries ninja stars wherever she goes and is freakishly good at wielding them (it do be kinda canon tho). her fav pastime is going to bars and getting guys to buy her drinks. then when they go to talk to her she throws the drink in their faces. intimidating with good reason 8/10

stupid face (THATS UNCALLED FOR WHAT THE FUCK)

cannot bathe. does not know hygiene. super powerful tho. but like when u enter his castle it just smells so fuckin bad (what??). people are scared of him but they shouldn’t be. he’s a pussy. cannot command an army at all (yeah). literally would cry if someone tried to fight him 0/10

chad

loves frats. like thinks they’re the cornerstones of America. 100% thinks spain is the same thing as mexico. ceo of “I can’t be misogynistic my girlfriend is a woman”. but doesn’t have a girlfriend. just one night stands. would def has a note on his phone ranking the girls he sleeps with and doesn’t refer to them by name. just like “long legs, c cup 6/10” (EXCUSE YOU HE DRINKS HIS RESPECT WOMEN JUICE BY THE GALLON). got the scar bc he tried to be an asshole to angie (GOT THE SCAR CAUSE HIS DAUGHTER IS KINDA A DEMON). -1000/10

hit the 10 image limit but let me know if you want more!

#she did eskel absolutely dirty #the witcher #witcher humor #eskel #lambert #philippa #philippa eilhart #roche #vernon roche #olgierd von everec #wild hunt #blood and wine #hearts of stone #gen tag #vibe check tag #mine #haven't got a fucking queue

[justasmallbloginabigkorrafandom]

Rating all Avatars, because why not!

Disclaimer: Since I have learned by now that some people on the internet lack critical thought, I’m just gonna preface this by saying that this is kinda meant as a joke. Also, spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, and Avatar: The Rise/Shadow of Kyoshi.

Wan

Aladdin meets the Avatar world. He’s trying to redeem himself after making a terrible mistake. His fusion with Raava basically made him God in the Avatar world. Art style of his story was great. The story itself was.... great.... I guess. I liked it enough. 7/10

Salai

Literally no one knows who they are. They were mentioned twice in the Kyoshi series, but that’s it. Salai who? I don’t know her! 0/10

Szeto

After 14 years, he finally got a name! This dude can lavabend like crazy! He became a minister first and Avatar second, which is on one hand cool and unique, but on the other hand super boring. No clue if he had any significance outside the Fire Nation. 2/10

Yangchen

This woman was able to let go of Airbender Lifestyle, but she was still a super pacifist and she was the only Avatar that constantly had the Four Nations in balance all the time, but she basically fucked over the Spirits as result, so yikes. 5/10

Kuruk

Ever wondered what would happen if an absolute Chad would be the Avatar? Look no further! Kuruk did absolutely nothing except for lounging after Yangchen’s triumphs and showing off. Or so it seemed! -10/10 before Rise of Kyoshi, but now? While he definitely neglected over the human world, he got stuck fixing Yangchen’s mess in the Spirit World without anyone knowing and he fucking died at age 33 due to Spirit curses mess. Damn. Still fucked over the human world, though. 5/10

Kyoshi

THERE SHE IS. THE 230 YEARS OLD BISEXUAL GODESS. THE ABSOLUTE FUCKING BADASS THAT SHE IS. HALF-AIR NOMAD AND PART CRIMINAL, SHE SURE IS SOMETHING. Kyoshi might not be the ruthless killing machine the fandom makes her out to be, but OH BOY, her pursuit of justice is so strong that sometimes she has to kill. I can go on and on about Kyoshi, but I do not have the time. TL;DR: Kyoshi really is that bitch. 100000000/10

Roku

Always comes off as super wise, but he also could’ve prevented a war that will last a 100 years and a fucking genocide, but the power of ~~friendship~~ persisted. Died trying to fight a fucking volcano for no damn reason. 5/10

Aang

MY BOY, MY BEAUTIFUL BOY! He had to deal with a world torn apart due to his disappearance and with the genocide of his people, but he still tried to keep a positive attitude and he kept honoring his culture. He is just a funky lil dude with insane bending talent and spiritual energy. He became a fully-fledged Avatar in ONE year. You rock, Aang! He put his Air Nomad identity above his Avatar identity, but you know, genocide.... so we forgive him and anyone who still thinks that Aang sparing Ozai was a cop-out needs to fucking realise that he would’ve lost everything he had left of his people if he had killed Ozai. Yes, I am passionate about this and I will not accept any Aang-slander in this house. Also basically created a 5th nation with his homie Zuko. 10/10

Korra

MY GIRL, MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL! Started out as a bitch overly confident person (which I loved, btw, we need more complex women without them automatically being scrutinised for it) who learned more about allowing herself to be softer and spirituality along the way. She did a shit ton of work in only a couple of years. Battled fucking PTSD. Got her ass kicked by Toph. Iconic Bisexual 2.0. I also do not accept Korra slander in this house. 10/10

#SORRY I DID ROKU DIRTY LIKE THAT #ATLA #ALoK #ARoK #text #avatars #My posts #lb 2020

[arcticdementor]

The news business just can’t stop clowning itself. The latest indignity is an international fact-checking debacle originating, of all places, at a “festival of fact-checking.”

The Poynter Institute is perhaps the most respected think tank in our business, an organization seeking to “fortify journalism’s role in a free society,” among other things through its sponsorship of the fact-checking outlet PolitiFact. A few weeks back, it held a virtual convention called the “United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking.”

The three-day event featured special guests Christiane Amanpour, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Brian Stelter, and Senator Mark Warner — a lineup of fact “stars” whose ironic energy recalled the USO’s telethon-execution of Terrance and Phillip before the invasion of Canada in South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. Tickets were $50, but if you wanted a “private virtual happy hour” with Stelter, you needed to pay $100 for the “VIP Experience.”

…

However, the public is regularly misinformed about what fact-checkers do. In most settings — especially at daily newspapers — fact-checking, if used at all, is the equivalent of the bare-minimum collision insurance your average penny-pinching car renter buys. There’s usually just enough time to flag a few potential dangers for litigation and/or major, obvious mistakes about things like dates, spellings of names, wording of quotes, whether a certain event a reporter describes even happened, etc.

For anything more involved than that, which is most things, fact-checkers have to scramble to make tough judgment calls. The best ones tend to vote for killing anything that might blow up in the face of the organization later on. Good checkers are there to help perpetuate the illusion of competence. They’re professional ass-coverers, whose job is to keep it from being obvious that Wolf Blitzer or Matt Taibbi or whoever else you’re following on the critical story of the day only just learned the term hanging chad or spike protein or herd immunity. In my experience they’re usually pretty great at it, but their jobs are less about determining fact than about preventing the vast seas of ignorance underlying most professional news operations from seeping into public view.

Unfortunately, over the course of the last five years in particular, as the commercial media has experienced a precipitous drop in the public trust levels, many organizations have chosen to trumpet fact-checking programs as a way of advertising a dedication to “truth.” Fact-checking has furthermore become part of the “moral clarity” argument, which claims a phony objectivity standard once forced news companies to always include gestures to a perpetually wrong other side, making “truth” a casualty to false “fairness.”

…

But objectivity was never about giving equal time and weight to “both sides.” It’s just an admission that the news business is a high-speed operation whose top decision-makers are working from a knowledge level of near-zero about most things, at best just making an honest effort at hitting the moving target of truth.

Like fact-checking itself, the “on the one hand and on the other hand” format is just a defense mechanism. These people say X, these people say Y, and because the jabbering mannequins we have reading off our teleprompters actually know jack, we’ll let the passage of time sort out the difficult bits.

The public used to appreciate the humility of that approach, but what they get from us more often now are sanctimonious speeches about how reporters are intrepid seekers of truth who sit next to God and gobble amphetamines so they can stay awake all night defending democracy from “misinformation.” But once you get past names, dates, and whether the sky that day was blue or cloudy, the worst kind of misinformation in journalism is to be too sure about anything. That’s especially when dealing with complex technical issues, and even more especially when official sources seem invested in eliminating discussion of alternative scenarios of those issues.

From the start, the press mostly mishandled Covid-19 reporting. Part of this was because nearly all of the critical issues — mask use, lockdowns, viability of vaccine programs, and so on — were marketed by news companies as culture-war narratives. A related problem had to do with news companies using the misguided notion that the news is an exact science to promote the worse misconception that science is an exact science. This led to absurd spectacles like news agencies trying to cover up or denounce as falsehood the natural reality that officials had evolving views on things like the efficacy of ventilators or mask use.

When CNN did a fact-check on the question, “Did Fauci change his mind on the effectiveness of masks?” they seemed worried about the glee Trump followers would feel if they simply wrote yes, so the answer instead became, “Yes, but Trump is also an asshole” (because he implied the need to wear masks is still up for debate). By labeling whatever the current scientific consensus happened to be an immutable “fact,” media outlets made the normal evolution of scientific debates look dishonest, and pointlessly heightened mistrust of both scientists and media.

#matt taibbi #substack #journalism in action #fact checking

[peachybowen]

stupid • r.b

series masterlist

pt.1 pt.2

pairing: ricky bowen x reader

warnings: none

songs: Falling For U by Peachy! and mxmtoon, Wondering by Julia Lester and Olivia Rodrigo

words: 3.6k

AND ALSO I’M HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT I HAVE A MASTERLIST 🤪 YOU CAN SEE WHAT I’M WORKING ON AND YEAHHH

A/N: feedback is always appreciated 🥺 I’m sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. Enjoy xx

I have dreamed of playing the lead since 5th grade. Of course I didn't tell anyone besides my brother and Cousin. When I got home last night, my brother and I talked. He was happy for me. Ej also said that he was really proud of me but he also added that he thinks that Nini deserved better.

,,Yo, what's up? I'm trading in my East High Leopards gear to be a Wildcat, starting today, because it's the day of the read-through! Blessed to be playing Chad. Swipe up for a link to tickets.'' EJ said holding his phone up, smiling the whole time.

,,Hi!'' Ash and I exclaimed simultaneously, walking up to EJ.

,,Say hi to my cousin and my little sister and bye to my cousin and sister.'' he turned his phone off and put it in his jeans pocket.

,,You're in a good mood.'' I mentioned and continued walking beside him, with Ash on his other side.

,,That's just for the fans, Y/N. Inside I'm a bucket of sad.'' he stated and I looked at Ash and then at him.

,,You still not over the not-getting Troy thing?'' Ash asked.

,,I put 3 years into this drama department and now I have to understudy my girlfriend's ex?'' he turned to me.

,,No offense Y/N.” he added and I just laughed and waved it off.

,,I know it sucks. But, I mean; Y/N is Gabriella and I don't think we would want an incest couple in our play, you know.'' Ash explained and I cringed at the thought.

,,Ash is 100% right.'' I agreed and started walking faster, Ash right behind me.

When we arrived at the rehearsal room, I saw Ej putting the Chad Danford card next to the Gabriella one. Ricky and I didn't talk much since the auditions and maybe, just maybe, that was my fault. I have been avoiding him, which was actually pretty hard considering I had almost all my classes with him. He tried to talk to me here and there but I just hummed in response most of the time. Honestly I was just trying to get over my crush on him. He still wasn't over Nini and he actually wanted to take part in the musical for her and I kinda ruined his chances because she did not get the lead. I also didn't want to ruin our friendship. We were friends since kindergarten and I wanted to keep him as a friend. After the auditions, Ash came over. She actually told me not to avoid Ricky but I just thought it was a good idea. Of course Ej agreed with me.

,,Could everyone take their assigned seats?'' Ms.Jenn asked loud enough for everone to hear. I walked to my seat and noticed that Ej put the cards back to how they were.  I sat down with a sigh. Soon after Miss Jenn actually asked Big Red to read the stage directions because Natalie, the stage director, wasn't there. And like 5 seconds after that Ricky took the seat next to me. I looked at Ash, who was sitting across from me. She smiled and turned her attention to the blonde drama teacher.

,,I realize that you all walked in here as strangers.'' she started looking at us.

,,Actually, I'm Y/N and EJ’s, cousin!'' Ashlyn corrected. I could see Ricky looking at me out of the corner of my eye but I just ignored him.

,,But after today, you're a family. Please take your neighbors' hand.'' she finished and everyone did what the teacher said. I took Gina's hand and turned my head to Ricky, who was holding his hand out for me. I took his hand but avoided eye contact.

,,Hand.'' Ms.Jenn said as soon as she saw that Ej and Ricky weren't holding hands. Their heads shot in my direction when they heard me giggle. I stopped immediately.

,,Feel each other's energy. Let the silence speak volumes. In a world full of no, this is a space full of yes.'' the drama teacher preached.

,,Nice. Did you just come up with that?'' Carlos whispered to the middle-aged woman.

,,I did.'' she replied, smiling at him. It was silent. Nobody said anything and I could feel Ricky staring again and I just turned my head to Gina and smiled at her. Seconds later Ms.Jenn started singing ''We're all in this together.''. I let go of Ricky and Gina's hand and looked at the script on my table, highlighting my lines. Ash started to clap after Ms.Jenn finished singing. Nobody clapped beside her so she stopped and everyone looked at her.

,,"Sharpay heads for class, hears singing," "opens the door to the biology lab." "She finds Gabriella and Taylor washing their hands." "They turn to find there are no paper towels in the dispenser. They-'''' Big Red was disrupted by Miss Jenn before he could continue reading.

,,Try to read the punctuation.'' she instructed and smiled at the redhead.

,,"Sharpay comma heads for class period.'''' he said and I grinned. He was so oblivious sometimes it was cute.

We took a break after reading act one. I was talking to Ash but I also kinda watched my brother and Nini talking. And, yes, Ricky looked at them too. Nini got a text, she laughed, and Ricky was on his phone so it was kinda obvious that he sent her a meme or something like that. Ej glared at him and sat down again.

,,Cool glasses.'' I turned my head to see Seb taking a seat next to Ashlyn. She smiled.

,,Thanks. They're my grandmas.'' she acknowledged.

,,I have the same ones at home.'' he laughed.

,,Really? Why?'' I asked, trying to join the conversation again.

,,So, I can see when I'm milking.'' he replied and I was confused.

Milking?

Before I had the chance to ask what he meant by that, Miss Jenn said that we were gonna continue.

I was on stage waiting for Ricky. Ms.Jenn wanted us to start rehearsing early and I wasn't really thrilled. When he came running in, he said that he was sorry for being late.

,,We're diving into page 97.'' Ms.Jenn directed and handed us the script.

,,You mean the last scene?'' Ricky asked just as confused as I was. The teacher just hummed in response.

,,You wanna rehearse this? It's just one line.'' I also asked.

,,Yeah, I've got one, too.'' Ricky stated turning to me.

,,And then there's the kiss.'' Ms.Jenn exclaimed. I looked at her and started to panic.

,,There was no-. I don't remember a kiss in what we read yesterday.'' I stuttered trying to reason with her.

,,It was very much in the original movie.''

,,I only remember a hug.'' I augmented further. I wasn't really in the mood to kiss my best friend. It would just make things more awkward between us.

,,The kiss ended up being cut. Little racy for its time.'' she explained looking at me with a smile.

Later that day I sat in Miss Jenn's office, explaining to her that I just couldn't kiss Ricky.

°Ej's POV°

I was standing outside Ms.Jenn's office, waiting for Y/N when Ashlyn walked up to me.

,,Hi!'' she greeted cheerfully.

,,Go away.'' I simply said.

,,No, you go away. You're standing in front of my locker.''

I stepped away and she opened the locker.

,,I can't believe this. She's around Ricky's finger.''

,,Who?'' Ash asked and looked at me.

,,Miss Jenn! She added a kiss.'' I explained and Ashlyn rolled her eyes.

,,Ej, stop. He's not bribing our director.'' she interrupted.

,,Y/N doesn't want to kiss him, Ash. And I don't want that either.''

,,Being her big brother doesn't mean you own her.'' she commented. I rolled my eyes and changed the subject.

,,I need you to do me a favor.''

,,What kind of favor?'' she asked with a raised brow.

,,I need you to borrow Nini's phone.'' I explained and she looked at me like I was crazy.

,,Borrow? As in steal?''

I just nodded. I needed to be 100% sure that Ricky wasn't in the way of my relationship. Nini was different. She wasn't like other girls. The girl helped me be a better person.

,,Okay, you've just gone up 3 levels of scary!'' the girl stressed, shocked by my words. She tried to reason with me for a bit but then she left, leaving me standing alone in front of the office, waiting for my sister.

°Y/N’s pov°

,,I'm kinda lost. If the play is over, why would we still be dancing?'' Ricky asked beside me. We were back in the rehearsing room. Just as I was about to answer, Carlos came up from behind us.

,,It's a certain call. You're the last two to come out. We want to bring the audience to their feet!'' he explained snickering.

,,Teach them the dance.'' Ricky joked.

,,Carlos? Can we wait for Miss Jenn?'' I pleaded kinda just wanting the director there.

,,Miss Jenn is busy tracking down a prop. She's asked me to create a crescendo, people, so let's stop swirling and let's start twirling.'' Carlos directed calmly.

,,But why are we practicing the bows when we haven't even practiced the play?'' Ricky asked still confused.

,,Because you start with the hardest dance that takes the longest to learn. It's in the Big Book of Broadway.'' Carlos started. Gina came up behind him.

,,Page 374.'' they both finished at the same time. Gina walked away after they both high-fived each other.

Shortly after we started practicing the dance. Ricky was terrible. I mean he tried but he did not succeed. Kinda embarrassing.

,,What is he doing?'' Nini asked from the side as soon as the music stopped. I turned to look at her. She stepped forward and looked at Carlos.

,,Why you're talking to him? I'm right here.''

And that was when I took a step back. I wasn't in the mood to be in the middle of Nini and Ricky drama. I had enough of that over the summer.

,,'Cause you're not here. Not for the right reasons.'' Nini snapped.

,,What's that supposed to mean?'' Ricky asked standing right in front of her. Everyone was silent. Nobody wanted to interrupt that conversation.

,,What I said, Ricky. You hate musicals. You're doing this so we're in each other's grills.''

Carlos took a step forward to break the two apart but they kept on going.

,,Now you're rubbing some weird cologne on your neck.''

,,Hey, you love Throb!''

,,And wasting everybody's time by making fun of something that the rest of us take seriously.'' the brown-haired girl ranted. After the words left her mouth, Carlos told everyone to take a five-minute break and to get out. I stayed just being moral support for Carlos and Ricky. He and Nini argued for a few more seconds, my brother's name was mentioned and Ricky left. Just as Miss Jenn came back, Ricky walked through the door.

,,We're you going Troy?'' she asked, confused as to why he was leaving in the middle of rehearsals.

,,It's Ricky.'' he mumbled before exiting the room. I sighed, looked at Nini, who looked at her hands, grabbed my things and went after him.

,,Why are my leads leaving?'' Miss Jenn asked again.

Ricky was way faster than me.

I mean have you seen him? He's way taller than me!

However, when I saw Big Red outside talking to him, I decided to let them talk. My mind just told me to leave him alone to cool off, you know? So I decided to talk to Nini instead. On the way back, Carlos asked me where Ricky went and I told him that he went outside. Not so sure if that was a good idea because it would just put more pressure on Ricky. When I arrived at the rehearsal room again, Miss Jenn was talking to Nini and she still stood by the piano, looking at her hands.

,,Nini can I talk to you for a second?'' I asked and walked in her direction. Miss Jenn turned to look at me and left the room without another word. I think she knew that it was better to let teenagers sort their problems out alone sometimes.

,,I really don't want to talk to you right now. Ricky probably send you and I'm really not in the mood to-''

,,Ricky did not 'send' me. I'm here because I chose to talk to you. I know that you probably don't even want that because I basically stole the role you wanted to play but listen. Miss Jenn is working really hard on this musical and so is everyone else and I know it's hard being in a musical with your ex- and current boyfriend but please, for the sake of this musical, get along with Ricky.''

,,Y/N you don't even understand the situation. You never had an ex before!''

,,That may be true but I'm not on good terms with Ricky either! Do you see me causing a scene? No! So please Nini, at least consider, not ripping Ricky's face off.'' and with that, I left.

The first thing I did when I arrived at home was eat. I always ate when I was frustrated. Not my best habit. While waiting for my pizza to be done, I decided to post something on Instagram

y/ncaswell

Salt Lake City, Utah

liked by ejcaswell, dancingcarlos and 67 more

y/ncaswell you're looking at your Gabriella Montez baby 🤪

view all 23 comments

dancingcarlos and that's on actually auditioning for Taylor

yourgirlash u rocked that audition tho! So proud of u :))

I smiled at all the supporting comments and began eating my pizza, which I got out of the oven without burning my hands.

what? I'm proud of me. I always burn my hands while getting the pizza out of the oven. That's why Ej is normally doing it when... I want pizza.

After eating half of the pizza, leaving the other half for Ej, I went upstairs. I threw my bag into a corner and threw myself on bed. I sighed and grabbed my ukulele. The next thing I knew was that I started playing some chords that popped into my head.

I was hangin' with you and then I realized

I didn't think it was true, I was surprised

When I found out I've fallen for you

I didn't wanna believe my feelings for you

I didn't wanna believe that I could lose you

If I told you just how I felt

But I can't help it

I'm falling for you

And I can't quit it

'Cause I'm stuck on you

And it might be pathetic and you might be skeptical

But I just want to be with you

Please tell me, boy

Can you get a clue?

Or come through 'cause I just want to be with you

,,The song is for him right?''

I gasped in surprise and turned my head to the door to see EJ leaning against my door frame, eating the pizza I left for him.

,,When did you come home?'' I asked while placing the ukulele on the floor. He walked towards me and sat on the edge of my mattress.

,,5 minutes ago but stop trying to change the subject. The song is for Ricky right?''

I just nodded, looking at my hands.

,,It's cute.''

,,What?'' I asked and looked up.

,,The song. It's cute. I mean I don't really support the idea of you and him together, you know that but I like the song.''

,,Thank you and don't worry EJ, him and me? That won't happen. He's still in love with Nini.'' I responded with a sad smile.

,,I know this may sound really awful but maybe it's just not meant to be.''

Maybe he was right. Maybe the universe wanted to show me that it just wasn't meant to be. That I was chasing a dream. Ricky was so in love with Nini and to be honest I wasn't surprised. Nini was such a sweet and gorgeous girl, always have been. It's so easy to fall in love with her. No wonder my brother did.

I nodded and the only word that left my mouth was:,,Maybe.''

EJ flashed me a smile, patted my shoulder and left the bedroom. I sighed and my head hit the pillow.

The next day was pretty much uneventful.

Ok maybe that's a lie. I did catch Nini spying on Carlos and Ricky in the library. That's a good thing right?

When I opened the door to the auditorium, everything was silent. But as soon as the door closed and I leaned my back on the wall, someone started playing the piano. The curiosity got the best of me and I walked up the stage to see who was playing the wonderful melody. I was quite surprised to discover Ashlyn sitting in front of the piano, pressing the keys softly.

,,Oh hi.'' was the first thing she said when she noticed my presence.

,,Hi. I didn't know anyone was in here.'' I answered looking at my cousin, who took her hands off the piano keys.

,,I can be gone in like 7 seconds. Six if I don't zip my bag.'' She replied as she started to throw her things into her bag.

,,No, Ash. Don't go. What was that?''

,,What was what?'' she asked and stopped packing her things.

,,The song you were just playing.''

,,Oh that. Miss Jenn asked me to compose a song for my character. It's probably way too much.'' she explained and grabbed the notes out of her bag again. I just nodded and listen to her ramble. I didn't really know why she was so nervous.

,,Why don't you play me some more of your song?'' I asked and sat down beside her. Ashlyn nodded and started playing the same melody I heard when the door closed.

,,Seems like a part of me will always have to lose.'' She began, her eyes watching her fingers which were pressing down the piano keys.

,,Every single time I have to choose

Swore that it felt right, but was I wrong?

Is this where I'm supposed to be at all?

I don't have the answers, not today

It's like nothing makes the questions go away

What I'd give to see If the grass was greener

On the other side

Of all I've had and lost

Would it be enough

Or would I still be wondering?'' she sang, her eyes still trained on the piano.

,,If I could go back and change the past

Be a little braver than I had

And bet against the odds

Would I still be lost?

Even if I woke up in my dreams

Would there still be something I'm missing?

If I had everything Would it mean anything?''

I looked at her in awe. I never really heard Ashlyn sing like that before and she had so much talent. She turned her gaze to me for a second, implying to sing with her. I smiled and turned my attention to the little sheet of paper in front of me.

,,Maybe I should turn around and take the other road

Or maybe I'm just looking for what I already know.'' we sang together, smiling after realizing that we hit every note in perfect harmony.

,,I'm just wondering...

It feels like I might have broke the best thing that I had.'' I sang alone and at that exact moment, Ricky slowly walked in. We didn't notice though. We were to caught up in our own little moment.

,,I said too much to ever take it back

I'm scared I'll never find something as good

And would I even know it if I could?'' I vocalized the verse Ashlyn wrote so flawlessly.

,,If I could go back and change the past

Be a little braver than I had

And bet against the odds

Would I still be lost?

Even if I woke up in my dreams

Would there still be something I'm missing

If I had everything

Would it mean anything.'' we both sang again.

,,To me?'' I finished and smiled. My smile fell as soon as I saw Ricky standing in the room.

,,Uh...We're back.'' he stuttered and looked at us with semi-wide eyes.

,,What?'' I asked quietly.

,,Downstairs.'' the curly-haired boy answered and shook his head slightly which made his curls bounce a little.

,,Miss Jenn wants to see everyone in the bomb shelter.'' he finished and left without saying another word. I looked at Ashlyn and she just shrugged before she got up and packed her things. Me being the incredible cousin I am, I waited for her.

When we arrived downstairs the whole theater group was building a small circle around the blonde drama teacher who had a huge carton in front of her.

,,Here it is, people.'' Miss Jenn breathed out, holding a small device in her hands.

,,Is that a garage-door opener?'' Seb asked as he looked at the small object in front of him.

,,No, Seb. This is Gabriella's Phone. From the film.''

A few students gasped.

,,I plan on creating a time-capsule display in our lobby. If they can have 40 sports-ball trophies, we deserve a little movie museum.'' the teacher explained, holding up the phone so everyone could see.

,,Okay, people, enough dazzle. Fetch your scripts please. Places for the top of the ski lodge!''

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