#just mojo Being fancy

[reveluving]

OKAYY moving into simu!ken’s mojo dojo casa house and him cuddling with you every night & not letting you go 🫣❤️

a/n: YUHHHHH more Simu!Ken, coming right up! Thank you dear anon! 💗💗💗 Can be considered an AU of this piece, btw! (+ again, you can kinda read this as Ryan!Ken!)

warnings: fluffy fluff! (+ spoilers obv!)

» fancy reading something new? check out my full m.list!

Let's say for an unbeknownst miracle, Mr. Mattel does allow our dear Ken to bring you to Barbieland, whether temporarily/visitor or as a permanent resident. What's more, he doesn't have a lot of say in it considering the universe has, in fact, destined the two of you to be together.

Ken is obviously your tour guide, not just in the sense of showing you around the place, but also being there for you since Barbieland and the real world worked differently, after all! He especially wants to be by your side the way you did for him when he struggled to get used to your world.

Acting as your guide, he just loves the way your eyes sparkle at anything and everything he shows you, whether it’s the Mermaid Barbies saying hi to you when you first arrived at the beach, or when your OOTD magically appears in your wardrobe or even when he held your hand as the two of you float down from Ken's house!

But the best part about having you by his side is knowing that you'd be the last person he sees when he goes to bed, just as you are the first person he wakes up to. 

Shortly after the Barbieland vs Kendom kerfuffle, one of the first changes was the Kens receiving their own houses (read: Mojo Dojo Casa House, because they still liked the ring to it!) rather than living in Ruth knows where.

By now, all Kens, as you can imagine, would have different interests, and one could see it from the interior of their houses alone, including Simu!Ken’s old one! And just as his friends promised, they kept it just as he left it in case he decided to come back, and with the girl of his dreams. 

He’d be into athletics, plus basketball and gymnastics. You'd also see a couple of his favourite posters of classic musicals here and there and his ol' good friends, his guitar and piano. He’d even bring some of his new favourites from your world to gift his friends and of course, to spruce up the place. Make his ol’ Mojo Dojo Casa House more ‘you-and-him-esque’.

The Barbies were all too happy to have a newcomer, let alone the significant other of the Pompadour Ken, even inviting you to your first ladies' night. 

Ken would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a bit disappointed at their invitation, initially wanting to end the night, and your first night, no less, by playing some songs of your choice on his piano before cuddling with you. But, the last thing he wants to do is ruin your fun. This is your first time, after all. Plus, he knows he has all the time in the world to give you as much cuddles as he has to offer. 

So, he returned home without you. 

Still, he had a skip in his step, watching a bit of TV, jamming out on his guitar a little. Even as he showered, got changed and went under the covers. Not only was he happy to see his friends, but he was even more elated to introduce you to them. 

And though he expected you to stay over at the Barbies’ place for the night, that didn’t deter him from staying awake for a while, laying in bed with his hands behind his head while humming a tune, reminiscing all the things you did from when he met you till today.

So, imagine his surprise when he heard footsteps coming up.

“Ken?” He immediately sat up at the voice, his face breaking into a smile as soon as you peeked your head from behind the wall, “Hi, handsome.”

“Hey,” Ken whispered in disbelief, pushing off the blanket before walking to you. He gently held your jaw, tilting it upwards to lock eyes, "You're here. Wait, how did you get here?”

Though he didn't have to worry about anything happening to you here unlike the more dodgy streets in the real world, he would've still come over in a flash if you had called.

"Have a good night, you two! Don't do something I wouldn't do!" She winked, laughing heartily when you looked away in embarrassment. Ken, too, but he also had a more goofy smile on his face because, well, even the president knew you were both practically joined at the hip. She then drove off, back to continue ladies' night with the rest of the Barbies.

"The president offered me a ride." You answered before looking over to the street, Ken following your line of sight to see the president waving at the two of you from her car. 

“It’s not because of me, is it?” Ruth forbid he ruin your night just because he couldn’t give you some space for a few hours.

“No, no! Don’t get me wrong, Ladies’ night was amazing! I even had dinner with both President Barbie and Writer Barbie!” You gushed, remembering how you looked like a child in a candy store as they welcomed you. You then placed your hands on his cheeks, “But I didn’t want to be away from my boyfriend, not especially on our first night here.”

You watched his eyes crinkle as he grinned, even more so when you added.

“Plus, you know I’m not much of a party person.” You shared a laugh, holding each other for a moment before letting you go for a shower. Though, you didn’t miss the goofy smile on his face. Just when you thought you couldn’t be blinded any more by that look of his.

It didn’t take long for you to get ready, heading to your shared wardrobe and finding your sleepwear next to Ken’s outfit for tomorrow. Back in bed, he couldn’t help but grin when you let out a sound of awe as you were miraculously in your nightwear, the same cute noise you made this morning when you changed into your first set of clothes when the two of you first arrived. He stood up, walking to the wardrobe to find you checking yourself out in front of the mirror. 

“How do I look?” You posed a little, only to be caught off guard when he took your hand for a twirl, then moved forward, chest to chest as he nodded in appreciation.

“Like an angel, but then again, you are one.” He wiggled his brows. Suave, “Come on.”

With your hand in his, the two of you headed for bed, getting comfortable in between the sheets before he brought you close by the hips. 

“Did you at least have fun here?” Ken asked almost hesitantly. 

“Ken, I had one of the best times of my life,” You replied, craning your neck to kiss the tip of his nose, “Thank you.”

“Mmm, and there's more where that came from,” Ken assured you proudly, “But right now, I just wanna hold you.”

Since then, there has never been a day where Ken was not cuddling you to sleep. You didn’t have a long-lasting social battery as much as the Barbies did, and Ken was already seeing his friends in the day, so nighttime was almost always reserved for the two of you. And still, he manages to surprise you every night with his bright ideas.

Even when the sun rises, good luck with getting out of his arms. If his proposition to stay in bed for the day won't work on you, his deep morning voice certainly will.

One of his favourite ones is when the two of you were watching a movie in the living room after dinner. You were both comfortably chilling on the couch when he saw you yawn from the corner of his eyes. He chuckled, wrapping one arm around your shoulders and coaxing you to lay on him. Your protests only came in light murmurs, though giving in as the temptation to lay in the arms of your man only grew. 

He grabbed the blanket off the couch’s backrest, as he may or may not have hoped for nights like these, opening it up to cover both you and him. 

He’d watch the movie for a few minutes, occasionally kissing the crown of your head and patting your back in a lulling manner. He then just stopped caring about the movie altogether, too entranced by how relaxed you were with one side of your face against his chest. 

He was too focused on you that he didn’t notice that the movie had a scene revolving around a bomb, not until it detonated, releasing an all-too-loud ‘boom!’ through the speakers that had you stirring in your sleep. 

Ken was quick to grab the remote, turning the volume down while cussing under his breath. His heart stopped for a moment when you moved, only to sigh in relief when your body relax again. He narrowed his eyes at the TV before putting his attention back on you. It was only a matter of time before he, too, went out like a light, holding you close before getting some shut-eye of his own.

But besides the jarring lack of walls or just privacy from the neighbouring houses in general, Barbieland is absolutely wonderful!

˚ · . f i n . · ˚

» a/n: wanna tell me your soft thoughts about Simu!Ken? go ahead!! you're not just feeding me, but you're also feeding many others with your chef's kiss-worthy ideas!! <3

» gorgeous rose divider by @firefly-graphics ♡

#SIMU KEN SIMU KEN SIMU KEN S— #ken x reader #ken x you #ken x fem reader #ken headcanon #ken fluff #ken drabble #simu liu ken x reader #simu liu!ken x reader #simu liu!ken #simu liu #ryan gosling!ken x reader #ryan gosling!ken #ryan gosling #barbie #barbie 2023 #the barbie movie #just ken #pompadour ken #pompadour ken x reader #greta gerwig #reveluving #reve's asks #reve's reverie

[rileyclaw]

Hii! First off i just want to I'm such a big fan of your art and animatics! Your art is just so expressive and unique its addicting to look at 💞💞

I was wondering if you could go over how your process or tutorial in making an animatic? Whenever I try to start to make one, I get jumbled up and end up ditching it lol

I'm sorry if you get this question a lot 😭

So sorry it took me so long to answer this- I was in a Busy time (diseaseridden with covid and being punched by finals) when I got the ask and wanted to answer it with some stuff Im using for my next TOH animatic!!

I'll say one thing first: I get jumbled up and ditch so many animatics. For every one animatic I release, there are three to five more I have that have NEVER seen the light of day (yet). And that's okay!! It's fun just to make them for me, and I hope it is for you too!! Animatics are scary because if you're working on it alone, it can be really hard to be your own cheerleader to keep up the mojo to keep going. So that makes it really special when there is that project that makes it to the finish line- cuz you can look at it and go "holy crap I made this. holy crap i MADE that look how SICK that is dude!! all that work and look at the turnout!!"

The following stuffh is just my personal process and is by no means representative of a professional animation pipeline, but this works for me as a Lonely Artist! It all begins with the idea - whether it's a song, or just a story you wanna tell. In the case of the one I'm gonna demo here with , I wanted to animate Hunter's first day as Del's apprentice!

The first thing I did was write a script. Not fancy or AO3-quality, but enough that I understand the pacing and the visuals of each shot. I usually just put this in a doc or put it in a script format, if I feel fancy.

Then, I take that script and find music that I think would fit for it- and remix it (if needed) to fit the pacing/mood/etc! This is what this new animatic looked like before I began ANY artwork- this is a me thing because I'm super inspired by audio as opposed to visuals first. But you might be different- this is just how I like working personally!

Then begins the research! I find references for characters, background layouts, and create a style guide for the animatic that tells me how thick lines will be for characters, backgrounds, if there'll be tons of value or no. I make a turnaround for each character so I can refer to them because Im gonna be drawing them over and over a LOT and want to be consistent! Luckily TOH has no shortage of references, so I based my work off them.

THEN, I can begin drawing. I'm a little,,, (a lot) ADHD and may not always do this process, but if you're new to animatics or daunted by the task at hand, make beat boards of the entire project.

This is just a page of rough thumbnails that get your visual idea down - look how rough and quick these are!! I try not to spend over a minute on each beat board if I dont have to, unless it's a particularly complex shot.

When it gets to the stage where you're ready to begin the actual scenes, I personally tend to do backgrounds first because I like to set characters into backgrounds - and for every animatic, I have the Awkward Blue Sketch Stage which is basically my beat boards timed out as an animatic.

I used Storyboard Pro for this (Toonboom, not free ): icky), but the process can be replicated across most art platforms in whichever way you feel most comfy with! This is so I can time the drawings before I devote time cleaning them up-- which can make for some Pretty Funny looking little guys but theyre important!! trust!!

Once a big sequence of shots is cleaned up (I usually do 40-60 second chunks at a time), I export the .mov and send it to my editing program (which in this case is still Premiere Pro) - and then repeat this process again and again until.. it's done??

Here's like a TL;DR list of basically everything I said summed up:

• Make a loose script or bulletin of the idea! Do your research!

• Depending on what kind of animatic you're making, time it to music!

• Make a beat board of very loose gestures for your shots, and time them - then move on to refinement & cleanup!

• Combine all shots, refine music cues and timings, add any last needed VFX, and export!

There's no secret recipe or anything, it's just learning a pipeline that best suits you, whether it is for something professional or something you want to make for fun because you just love to make!!

#riley talks #long post #SORRY ITS LONG but i couldnt just put a bulletin list like “this is the ONLY method that works” bc thats not true!!! #everyone works diferently especially artists #and this is just my specific method of working #im very fortunate to have programs that make animatic-making a little easier #so i hope whoever wishes to make one in the future finds something that works well for them!! i have a blast making storyboards/animatics!! #text post #ask #tutorial #idk how to tag this lol

[licncourt]

Any modern AU wedding HCs? 👀

Aww, yes! I should have done this before tbh

They have their wedding in a beautiful historic French Quarter building. During the planning, Louis gets kind of down about not being able to have a proper Catholic wedding in a church, but his sister and Lestat do everything they can to make the venue look traditional. They also find a priest from the American National Catholic Church to officiate with similar rites, which isn't quite the same, but the gesture is very much appreciated and Louis isn't even weird about it.

Rather than a big wedding party, Louis has his sister with him at the altar and Lestat has Gabrielle. They have shared custody of Daniel the ring-bearer. Lestat REALLY wanted Mojo in the wedding, but he was kind of alone in that. He came to the reception for a while though.

Lestat loved to make big extravagant wedding plans when he was younger without thinking he'd ever get married and Louis never planned anything but always assumed he would (to a woman), so it's an unexpectedly emotional process.

There was some arguing about who was The Bride, but in the end they both have cream tuxedos for the ceremony and it's very elegant but still a tiny bit non-traditional. Lestat has three outfits for the reception though and only two are tasteful.

Everyone is worried about Lestat getting out of control with the open bar, but it's Louis who ends up getting excited and drinking too much. He holds it together for the guests but by 10pm he's fighting for his life.

Lestat is bridezilla, but Louis ends up more invested than he's willing to admit. He totally doesn't even want a big wedding but he's keeping an eye on those gardenias. And perhaps the catering. For quality control obviously.

No consensus was reached on the cake so it's half chocolate and strawberry-champagne, split vertically down the middle even though it's a tiered cake. It's easier to pay the baker a premium than to bitch it out.

The best wedding photos are the candids because anytime Louis sees a camera he freezes and stares really stiffly and awkwardly into the lens. He has to be secretly captured in footage like a nesting pelican on a wildlife camera.

Lestat gets to sing ONE song at the reception with his band but he gives it his all, that's for sure. His shirt is not all the way on by the end. Louis finds it charming but he is also very drunk by that point so he's just having a good time.

Their honeymoon is two weeks in Italy, which is a compromise because Louis wanted one week (workaholic home enjoyer) and Lestat wanted a month (obviously). They rent a fancy villa in the Tuscan countryside that's a short drive to Florence. They spend 50% of the trip consummating the marriage, 45% on all normal honeymoon activities, and Lestat spends the last 5% facetiming everyone he knows without any regard for the time difference.

#answered #vc #human au

[aeridanus]

Some babbling about the last months, the insanity is finally boiling down.

Since autumn of last year, things at work got increasingly stressful, but we were able to cope. Went to Fuerteventura in March to recharge, and in April, I fucking finally made it to Lead Concept Artist, after struggling against some bad management for the better part of a decade. Shortly after that, things started to escalate with ferocity, and our move came right on top of that.

The move is behind us and everything went well, but the situation at work became unbearable, especially for me. I finally took the decision to end my time with my employer of twelve years and have a new beginning elsewhere. I thought I'd seen it all in those twelve years, but with every week being worse than the week before, I slowly slid into a state of mind where nothing but work existed. We didn't even do overtime, it was "just" the feeling of the team and myself being consumed by the arrogance and ignorance of management people unfit for their roles, and ultimately, being confronted with the realization that I can't do shit about it, no matter what I do. Being a little woman didn't help either, as fucked up as it sounds.

Now it's all behind me since Thursday and I have two weeks of leftover vacation/overtime left before I start at my new employer. I'm looking so much forward to leave all the stupid politics games behind me, and while every place has its own set of issues, at least the insanity of what we experienced over the course of this year will be gone.

We actually had a second vacation on Fuerteventura only two weeks ago, but as we weren't able to re-schedule, our flight left on the morning after I handed my notice in and had to tell my team. It took six out of eight vacation days to come down from the chronic stress of the year, and only now that everything is done and final, the recuperation phase starts.

My brain is in complete idle mode currently. It's not like burnout, it's "just" idling around and happy with that. Feels like it enjoys having less electrical activity for once. Now would be the perfect time for Fuerteventura, but eh. Learned something about vacation scheduling for next time.

The photo above is from this recent vacation. I took the infrared camera and the "red plants" Kolari filter on board and filmed the takeoff. We were taxiing to the runway when this Lufthansa A340 took off right beside us, and with the red grass and the stormy sky, it came out like these fancy flickr-insta retro-hip colorgrade-things. x)

I hope to get some drawing mojo back in the next days :)

#chitchat #photos #travel #near infrared #infrared photography #kolari #infrared

[terrence-silver]

Ooh, what about exploring a dark, yandere beauty and the beast type situation, where Terry keeps beloved locked away in that palatial gated mansion of his in exchange for forgiving some sort of debt maybe? And then proceeds to totally breach all of their privacy and take away all their agencies and manipulate them into doing all sorts of sordid things, whatever it is he fancies. 💜

---

You ruined Terry Silver’s Charlotte Thomas bed sheets. 

22 Gold Karats - woven directly into the sleek Egyptian cotton.

$2400 a piece.

Ugly as all fuck.

The maintenance of his estate and the surrounding grounds was never an easy affair — not in the 80’s and not now, when he deliberately downgraded and considerably downsized from his Beverly Hills mansion into a more compact sense of accommodation at Malibu, La Costa, and occasionally elsewhere, when he both, here and everywhere he resided depending of his needs — he employed a smaller army of people to ensure everything ran smoothly with people who cooked, cleaned,  washed, tended to his affairs, answered emails, polished his shoes, his floors, took calls he couldn’t be fucked taking, minding the security of the place, and yes, even changing the bedsheets. 

It was very much deliberate. Him breaking protocol.

Indirectly steering you from your very precise and allotted task of tending the issue of swapping out pillow cases with the exact thread count. Smoothing the antiseptic, fitted sheets and removing the used ones twice a week. Cleaning and presenting the appropriate blankets whenever he wasn’t there, and of course, he never was. Always away on business. Always on meetings. Always somewhere. Traveling. From one jet to the other. You never even saw your employer and the owner of the household.  All you knew, poor thing, was that Mr. Silver was very anal about how he slept. The quality of his rest. Where and how he re-charged his body. But, he? He saw you plenty. Oh, did he ever. Through the cameras all around the mansion since day one. A bird couldn’t crap on the roof without him being alerted. The other members of the senior staff who reported to him on what everyone did. At any moment. Any given hour. He liked watching. For two years,  five months , a week and eight days. 

That’s how long you were in his employ.

Even when he entertained himself with other people — other holes — he still watched. A precious butterfly, fluttering at the edge of his web.

And somewhere, between  the time it took to carefully and very meticulously comb through your work resume delivered to him by his majordomo who gave you the maintenance job in the first place and your more personal affinities through the aid of a private detective and his own Internet search (ah, the joys of modernity) Terry Silver decided he’s going to keep you. Keep you..indebted, if you will.  He was never a tyrant, after all. Never with the people he paid. His people. They’d all collectively call him the best of bosses if asked — and he was. He really was. And not just because messing with one’s maids and gardeners was generally considered bad mojo. The clogs in his machine were never to be underestimated and Terry had a devotion to each and every one of them to the point of memorizing everything he could about everyone ranging from his pool cleaner to the people trimming the decorative verge on his grounds. Of course he was mindful of the controversy of getting entangled with his maid but he also found he didn’t give a fuck.

If the rules were smooth bending steel, he was born to bend them.

And yet, for the past six months, he does the unthinkable in specifically requesting — exactly and most unflinchingly of you, through the network of his staff’s hierarchy — that upon his return to the estate, dropped off by his chauffeur, a glass of red Burgundy wine be delivered specifically to his bedroom, to his bedside, and furthermore, his made  pristine white bed on a silver platter, hoping that one day, in the near future, you’ll spill a droplet. Just a droplet, so the head of his managerial staff can remorsefully deliver the news to you; all damages made to Mr. Silver’s property are as per the tiny print in your contract to be worked off with extra hours or cut out of your monthly salary, purely so he can swoop in like the savior of the very narrative he elaborately weaved, and in all his charitable fashion declare that ‘No, Charles, we’re not monsters! They’re just sheets!’ Naturally, all pre-planned. A disaster waiting to happen. Like a banana peel on a greasy floor someone could slip on, one day, a crystal glass of red wine tumbles off of the silver platter you were placing down on the end table he could ritualistically drink out of on scheduled arrival the way he always did, and with a thud, it lands on the clear white bed, like a stain worthy of a crime scene. Spilling. He nearly cums watching you through the camera,  and your body language and expression when he concealed your shriek.

Finally, the last puzzle piece of his plan. Beauty lured into the castle’s dungeon.

Took you long enough. Frankly, Terry hoped you’d be clumsier. 

Terry imagined himself far less patient than he turned out to be in waiting.

He has to laugh, though. What kind of man orders his maid to leave him a silver platter with red wine next to a white bed with obscenely expensive sheets? Only one who wanted to cause trouble on purpose. And he did. And he managed. You were so careful too. For an infuriatingly long time to the point he started contemplating changing tact somehow. So respectful of his things. Where he rested. Your scent all over his pillows, keeping him up at night. And now, those bullshit Charlotte Thomas sheets could finally be discarded in the hazard of your accident. He barely contains your embarrassed sobbing, interrupting the scene of his household’s staff manager chastising you.  He’ll deal with them later. Nobody chastises you. Nobody. Nobody but him . You deserved to be draped in diamonds and jewels, not scorned by someone who’s job it was to oversee his kitchens and guest rooms, and you would be, in due time, but for now, you’d stay here and work and it would all be fine.  You’d work your debt off and you didn’t even know it. Whatever it took to have you around. Nothing was for free, after all. And he’d keep adding to what you owed him and adding and adding until you’d be inadvertently tied to him in a slurry of prolonged work contracts that never expire.

-”C’mon. We’re are all a family here.”-

Terry uses a much reviled phrase while he hovering over you with a paternalistic, warm sense of comfort, offering you a handkerchief to dry your face with when you found one lacking inside the pocket of your own uniform, flustered with anxiety and shame to come face to face with him for the first time ever like this, your immediate superiors in the chain of command  dismissed by him while he spoke to you, right there, in his own bedroom, the floor swiftly mopped down, sheets and mattress immediately removed by his workers. -”A family. A team.”- He claps his hands in front of him tenderly with a smile that he knew could make Grandfather Christmas melt. You shake your head, avoiding his gaze, making yourself appear small, clearly shaken. Did you really think he’d fire you over this? He’d didn’t fire his Dynatox agents when they created an oil spill the size of Burundi in the Pacific Ocean back in the ‘87, and he’d certainly not fire his darling over something he planned for so long. In fact, you performed immaculately. Beautifully. Much like them, you’d be promoted, if anything — promoted , in due time, to the very bed you sullied today.

-”I’m sorry again, sir, I don’t know how that happened. I really didn’t mean to, I —”-

You stutter, infinitely apologetic, and he yearns to order; Call me sir again. Instead, Terry chuckles.

-”Tactically unsound, huh?”- He tries on the airs of a casual, jovial semi-retired business mogul, hands in his pockets. Always worked like a charm. Something people out here ate up like Kale. -”Drinking red wine in white sheets? Totally my doing.”- He makes a down-to-earth joke, trying for self-awareness in a meta sense, and you never even realized he was confessing to his own petty machination to your face disguised as easy going humor; something you’d be working off for the rest of your life if he had any say in it. But, sweet thing? You’d find being with him is the most comfortable place you could ever imagine being. In time, you’d thank him for it. Love him for it. Unable to envision yourself anywhere else but by his side. This was meant to happen; was entirely beyond your control. It was in his hands to decide. You were bound to spill that wine the minute Terry Silver set his mind to it, and no other outcome was possible since then. Maybe your fate was sealed the minute you crossed the threshold of this mansion. -”But, what do I know. I’m just an old man who likes his comforts.”- He shrugs, ever so humble, and you finally peer up, daring to look at him, unsure what to do with his handkerchief now that has been used. Oh, the gorgeousness. In any other situation, he’d take it, moist as it was but for the sake of not putting you off too soon, he gestures for you to keep it. Saintly boss that he is. -”Now, tell you what; clean yourself up and take the day off. You’ve earned it. Tomorrow morning, same time?”- 

Terry suggests, warm as a spring breeze. If he didn’t know any better, he’d charm himself. In due time, though --- not today, not tomorrow, but soon, you’d be broken in ways he needed you to be.

You nod, excusing yourself and walking out, appearing…well…somewhat relieved.

Ah.

Terry Silver’s heart was full.

His little companion; the one who will never leave him or this house.

#terry silver #kk3 #cobra kai #old man terry #terry silver x reader #terry silver x beloved #yandere #tw; blackmail #tw; financial blackmail #tw; modern day beauty and the beast au #tw; abusive boss #tw; gaslighting #tw; maid and boss

[itbmojojoejo]

MOJO 💜 #11, #18 and #38!

BHXRDY BBY 💜

11: jdfbglakg I don't think I'm a very "stereotypical" romantic person...(fancy dinners and flowers etc freaks me out) I think it's more of the little things, like a hug from behind and kiss on the shoulder/neck if you're doing the dishes/cooking, spontaneous picnic dates where you've grabbed snacks from the shop and found a nice spot to sit at together because the weather is nice, or just talking utter nonsense at night/in the morning having lazy cuddles and playing with each others hands etc...yeah..

18: Ghosts - yes. Aliens - I have this weird space/otherworldly beings anxiety so I can't talk about aliens or space otherwise I won't sleep tonight 😂

38: Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon by Urge Overkill.

Ask Game

#thank you lovely xox #ask game

[neworderscans]

Electronic: Bernard Sumner & Johnny Marr online Q & A @ beeb.com, 22.04.99

Manchester music legends Bernard Sumner of New Order and Johnny Marr of The Smiths first started working together in 1989 as Electronic. Inspired by the success of their debut single, Getting Away With It, Johnny and Bernard have continued to produce records and collaborated with many other musicians. They chatted live from TOTP on 22/04/99 before performing their latest single Vivid.

pete23 asks: "Does being on Top of the Pops still mean something to you?"

Bernard: "It means getting up at 9 in the morning and hanging around for 12 hours."

Johnny: "So...yes...it means the same as it's always done!"

Bernard: "This time we're playing live which is more exciting than before. The format is that some bands play live over a backing track but I think it should be all live."

Johnny: "I grew up watching the show religiously so it would be nice to think that the show means the same to teenagers now as it did to me. We've got a guy in the band called Phil Cunningham and this is his first time and he's really excited."

Sara6asks: "What's the new album like?"

Bernard: "It's not very good, it wasn't worth making."

Johnny: "We're not really on it, we got our friends to do it."

Bernard: "It's rockier than the previous ones. It's more of a group based sound."

Johnny: "It's still more melodic but more guitary."

Bernard: "In the past the tracks have mainly been written using a computer and keyboard with the guitars added at the end. On this album we reversed the process by writing the songs on guitar first. A by product of that is that this album took 3 months to record and the previous one took 2 years."

Johnny: "The most conscious thing on this album was the choice to use a co-producer. This gave us more time and energy to focus on being songwriters. That's not to say we had a problem with this in the past...but we just fancied a change. Having a band to pull together made the atmosphere different as well...even rehearsals are good fun, it's great to make a racket."

Hailey23 asks: "You've probably been asked this a load of times, but come on guys, how about some live dates soon?"

Johnny: "We're trying. Both Bernard and myself are looking forward to playing live, our main consideration is the rest of the band."

Bernard: "We want to do some festivals but the rest of the band play for other people so we have to make sure they're free and available. The Label would like us to tour but we'd rather do a set of festivals. Even if we're going to play one gig, we have to rehearse for a month, which is really expensive."

Johnny: "Jed Lynch, the drummer who played with us on this album, is with Black Grape. Astrid Williamson who sang backing vocals on the album is also in the band. Phil Cunningham is in a Manchester band and it's difficult getting them all together."

mojo asks: "The Happy Mondays reunion - how long do you think it'll last?"

Johnny: "No one knows the answer to that question...two songs."

Bernard: "They're obviously friends of ours so we wish them good luck for the Manchester gig. Hopefully they've learnt from this period of being apart. Speaking from my experience with New Order, it was great that we stopped being silly. I believe the real reason the Monday's split up wasn't drugs...but Sean's feet. If they invest in some 'odour eaters' they could go on forever."

edgetolife asks: "Johnny, in the future would you like to play in more bands and write more material or would you enjoy producing material of other artists?"

Johnny: "I don't really fancy either of those things. I've been very fortunate to be involved with a few respected groups and I don't really want to repeat what I've done in the past. The problem with production is there's no distinction between what's my input and the artist's input." "When I've worked with other artists, my first thought in the morning is fretting about the production and if I'm going to do that then, then I might as well do it for myself. I'm thinking of doing my own solo stuff. I've got a collection of songs. When Bernard does his stuff with New Order I'm going to kick that off. I'll be singing and I'll get a band together." "I'm not giving it too much thought at the moment as Electronic's album's not even out at the moment. I'm very proud of this record and I want to promote it as much as possible."

Bernard: "We'll definitely work together again as well."

Johnny: "There's a sound I can only get with Bernard, the way he works and the way he writes. People can hear it and I think it's something unique."

Happy Jack asks: "How much online surfing do you both do? Have you seen any of the fans Electronic, Smiths and New Order sites (trust me, there are thousands)."

Bernard: "I just use it for porn...No, I'm joking...I'd rather go out and buy a book and hold something in my hand. The last thing I want to do after all day behind a computer in the studio is do it at home. We do use the net for graphics and sleeve designs. I get all the artwork emailed to me before it goes out."

Johnny: "I've checked it out fairly extensively. I've found it to be quite inspiring in some areas. I've got some quirky interests like Carl Jung, the history of native Americans and the history of Tibet. But I did check out a few fan sites. At first I was impressed and then underwhelmed because every time I went back to them they didn't update them. I tried to help out an unofficial website by telling them what I was up to. If anyone has any ideas they can email my management (Ignition management) or the record company and I'll get to see them."

Bernard: "The new Electronic website is a great site. The last one wasn't so good so I hope it goes well. What would be great is if we could do something like this every month."

JK22 asks: "If I sent my young brother down to hang about outside the TOTP studios with my Smiths, New Order and Electronic records, would you sign them?"

Bernard: "Yes but don't let everyone else get the same idea."

Johnny: "It depends, is he a nice guy?"

ManC asks: "Johnny, do you reckon Manchester City will be promoted this season?"

Johnny: "I'm always nervous about getting my hopes up. It's looking good though. I really hope Bernard doesn't say anything cos he's so smug this morning about Man U's victory. I'm sure Man C would agree, that because they're from Manchester and England and they're competing in Europe, I honestly hope with all my heart they get stuffed. That's how twisted Man City fans have become."

Bernard: "City have done so badly lately that Man U fans don't even take the mickey anymore. We find it pitiful. You'll be playing Salford Grammar School next."

Johnny: "I don't care. The band has just split up, thanks Man C!"

Gav Fuller asks: "Johnny, what's the story behind you launching your own clothing line? Where can we buy the clothes from?"

Johnny: "At the moment there are shops everywhere taking orders from Elk. But we're funny about who we'll send it out to. If you live in London you can get it from Fletcher in Covent Garden or Brown's...there are going to be a couple of adverts in The Face over the next few months."

"It's stuff I've done with Nigel Lawson, a very talented fashion designer in Manchester that I know. The stuff he does is much more interesting than the stuff available in the shops."

Bernard: "It's native American based stuff isn't it?"

Johnny: "It's a weird mix of native American, outdoor wear, Mod and other bits. It's been a labour of love for 2 years. It's an ideological experiment because it's like a band. If you keep the ideas pure and the enthusiasm up, then people realise it's not a corporate thing."

Ric Romo asks: "Do you have any plans to tour the US? Most notably, the state of Texas? We would love to see two legends down here."

Bernard: "It all depends on whether we can afford to do it is the honest answer. It costs a lot of money to do it. I love Texas, I've played there a lot with New Order but it all depends on the money."

Johnny: "I really enjoyed playing Dallas and Houston with The The. It would be great to play there again."

Davor Croatia asks: "Which songs or albums, that you've heard lately, have you thought were really good?"

Bernard: "I bought five albums the other week. Placebo's new album, Faithless, Beck, Serge Gainsbourg and a very old Fleetwood Mac featuring Peter Green. I really like Peter Green."

Johnny: "He's got a great voice."

Bernard: "My favourite album is Fatboy Slim."

Johnny: "I really like Mogwai and Badly Drawn Boy."

Bernard: "I liked the UNKLE album, particularly the Ian Brown track."

Johnny: "I like the Blue Note re-issues, The Nugget Psychedelic Box Set and also Celine Dion."

Dave Briggs asks: "What's the story behind you using a picture of Rasputin on your album sleeve?"

Bernard: "We're big fans of Boney M. I've always loved Ra Ra Rasputin. We liked the photograph and that's the only reason. We're not that interested in Rasputin. We just like the intense gaze he has. I saw a film about him and I reckon the guy got a bum rap. He cured the Tsar's son and spent the rest of the time having intimate relations with all the ladies in waiting...and what's wrong with that."

Dan 55 asks: "Bernard, how about a repeat gig at Alexandra Palace for the millennium? Last year was storming!"

Bernard: "The next priority for New Order is to write some new material which we'll be doing in the mid to late summer, that'll come out in the year 2000. That's the priority at the moment, although I really enjoyed the Ally Pally gig."

Johnny: "I'm staying in to watch the telly. I may go to Northern Australia for a couple of weeks."

Bernard: "The Ally Pally gig...we almost pulled it when Steve found out we were going on stage at midnight and he wanted to be in bed!"

Dave Goodwood asks: "A question for Johnny - what are your personal feelings about the court case with Mike Joyce?"

Johnny: "I feel that it was ugly and unnecessary. A real shame that over the last few years I've been asked more about that case than the songs I've produced. Midway through the case, I really did feel that I wanted to stop the case and get everyone to agree that we did have a good time in The Smiths after all."

"I don't hold an animosity to anyone but it was such a shame. On a personal level, I wish them luck, but they've got personal agendas that I can't relate to."

pank-art asks: "What do we have to do to get you guys for an interview for our radio station in Turkey?"

Johnny: "If it's on a boat and it's two weeks long then sure.

© BBC Worldwide Ltd. (Text thanks to worldinmotion.net)

#electronic #bernard sumner #johnny marr #web #interview #1999

[silyabeeodess]

Do you have a list ranking characters with the highest IE to Lowest? Like Highest would include jakethedog | Extremely high would include dee dee, ice king | High would include Goo and jonny | high mid would include mac, billy, powerpuffgirls, Ed | Mid would include Ben, flapjack, numbah 3, terrance | low Mid would include Ace, coop, edd and eddy, mandark | low would include dexter, PB, finn, doc, numbah2 | extremely low would include rex, max, gwen, mandy, numbah1 | (PS thanks for prev replies)

Although I haven't done much of a ranking for IE, I have made a post for headcanons on IE levels here. To summarize, I'd say there are two big factors with IE that can affect how much an individual has. It doesn't usually keep to a stable level nor do people with traditionally creative outlets necessarily have high amounts of IE:

To elaborate on the first point, IE is always waxing and waning throughout a person's life. That's simply the nature of human beings, as we can't constantly run at full sprint. Factors such as age, experience, burnout/blocks, and physical and emotional health all play a role. This is one of the reasons why it can be difficult to study and/or master. A big example of this is how children are much more likely to creative imaginary friends than adults.

For an example of how difficult it can be to find patterns of high or low IE, let's focus on the matter of experience: A person closed-off from experiences is likely to have a low IE, but even a person with many experiences under their belt may also have a low IE if they're the type to copy rather than create. There's an example of the latter in one of the FHFIF comics, with a child who originally comes to Foster's to adopt an imaginary friend, but ends up creating one instead only after by combining the traits of Coco, Wilt, and Eduardo in his head for the type of friend he wanted. Even Wilt in one of FHFIF's first episodes would acknowledge this lack of creativity by pointing out a Mojo Jojo friend. It's not a lack of inspiration causing this, but rather an inability or lack of practice building off of said inspiration.

As for the second point, there are several ways people across various fields and hobbies can show off their creativity and in-turn high or low IE. They won't always be traditionally creative types as we often think of them--artists, writers, etc. A strategist needs to think outside of the box to outsmart their enemy. An inventor or businessman needs to be innovative. People like Dexter and DeeDee both have high IEs, they're just channeling that energy differently.

For others on your list, I agree that Goo, Jonny, Jake, Ice King would all have high IEs as well. However, I would also move Numbuh 3 to that list. She has a tendency to drift into her own flights of fancy, even on missions. She's noted to possibly be responsible for many of the KND acronyms--which aren't always easy to make, especially the longer they get--in The Grim Adventures of the KND crossover. I also imagine she's greatly imbued many of her stuffed animals with her IE because of how much she treats them as living beings.

Mac, Billy, Blossom, and Bubbles would likely be high-mid. However, as Buttercup tends to be more direct and simplistic in her thinking, not really strategizing, but just willing to power her way through everything she does and relying more on impulse, I'd say she's more in the mid-range. All three of the Edds would be high-mid though. Ed is almost always living in his imagination, but it also takes a lot of creativity to constantly come up with new ideas for their scams, as Eddy does, and bring them to life through inventions, as Edd does. Terrance can also be included in this list, however, I feel like his IE is also rapidly declining. He can still create imaginary friends, like Red or Pizza, but he's also pretty much a copycat. Pizza was brought to reality because Terrance was hungry and Red exists as a foil to Blue. His destructive nature wears on his IE too (more on this later).

Coop is kind of a step below this, as he's pretty accepting of new experiences and is shown to seek improvements through Megas' upgrades and personalization. His IE was also imbued into Megas, which allowed the creation of Megas nanos. However, what inhibits his IE is his laziness/lack of self-improvement. He likes working on cool machines as a hobby, but he was also known to constantly sit around playing games rather than really work toward building anything. In short, he has a lot of potential he doesn't use. I'll place Mandark here too, simply because I think placing him on more of a mid-tier is a bit much, but his obsessive rivalry with Dexter and destructive habits both hold him back. You can't grow personally when you're constantly worrying over or trying to one-up others. As such, the moment Mandark devoted much of his scientific goals to simply beating another person, he gave himself a major obstacle.

I think Numbuh Two, Flapjack, Rex, Ben, Numbuh One, and Max would be more mid/low-mid IE in that order from greatest to least. Numbuh Two is constantly inventing and striving to improve the KND arsenal, to an almost tireless degree, so he'd have to be at a decent level--probably even higher than what I'm giving him. Flapjack is still a young, easily impressionable kid with a strong sense of wonder. With Rex, how he controls his nanites by creating various machinery shows off his somewhat creative side and willingness to learn/adapt. Ben can come up with unorthodox, yet impressive strategies as a leader. Meanwhile, Numbuh One, while also very strategic and often more driven than Ben, can have a bad habit of getting trapped in his own head. I place Max on the low end of this mainly from his age. He can be clever, open, and experimental, but is also highly likely to have reached a point where he's pretty settled with his way of life. In his mind, he's also done so much that it's become a block all to itself.

Of the ones you mentioned, Ace, Mandy, PB, Finn, Doc, and Gwen would have the lowest levels for three separate reasons. For Gwen, she can't help it: It's mainly her Anodite side conflicting with her human one. (See more on why that is here.) I won't say it's impossible for her to use it altogether, but she'd struggle with how the two powers separate themselves, especially with being so used to her Anodite abilities already.

PB, Finn, and Doc, all have a mental block through their inability/unwillingness to use their imaginations and/or accept things like magic. Ironically enough, the denial of reality will make you less imaginative. Closing your mind to truth means closing it to learning, growth, and a willingness to see beyond what you think you know or even the simple fact that you just won't understand everything. Magic exists in FusionFall's world, but instead of accepting it for what it is, those like PB and Doc try to twist it to fit their worldviews, which obviously can backfire.

For Ace and Mandy, it's their destructive sides. Pretty basic: You can't hope to create if you focus on destruction. This can come from many types of flawed personalities. Instead of taking inspiration from the past or from old stories, there are those who think they're better than the people who built what came before them. Rather than look for ways to actually improve or do anything original, thanks to their hubris, they just end up ripping things apart. There are those who, rather than try to add to the world, only desire to take from it. Ace, fortunately, is on a better path along with the rest of the Gangreen Gang since they've formed a band and are now using that as a productive outlet, so their IE levels can rise over time. Mandy, however... she's pretty set with who she is. She has little to no wonder for the world. She sees little to no good in it and her plans for world domination set her on a bad path.

My idea for why Terrance--and others like him--doesn't have a low IE, despite how destructive he is, is because of how he grew up. Keep in mind, he and Mac are in the same boat as kids left home alone while their single mom works without giving them the proper care they need. (It's not entirely her fault, but when she has one child that's basically one more hole in the wall away from juvie and then she looks to her younger child and tells them to get rid of their one friend and protector from that nut... Yeah, I wouldn't say it's outrageous to call her a bad parent either.) Terrance has issues. He's undisciplined. He throws more tantrums than his "baby" brother. And yet... he's still basically a kid. He's only thirteen. He should be more mature for his age, but not enough for his mother to give him with both the freedom and responsibilities that she does leaving both of her sons alone day after day.

Moreover, consider what kind of friend Terrance made with Red. Again, he's Blue's foil. Imaginary friends are partly made not solely by the desires of their creator, but what their creator needs. While Mac needed Blue to be confident, outgoing, and brave where he was lacking, there's a good chance Red's empathetic and sensitive side is a reflection of what Terrance needs. He still has a strong imagination, but for the wrong reasons, and as such, it's eventually going to shatter if he can't develop it properly.

#headcanons #fusionfall #imaginary energy #video games #ask #mk7171watch

[thetreetopinn]

PINNED POST!

Oh hey, I should make a pinned post. Might be a good idea.

Hi, I'm Smokey.

ABOUT ME

I'm a dragon. I used to write a hell of a lot and I'm trying to get my mojo back. Burnout is a serious ass bitch.

I don't identify as trans offline, but to quote Thought Slime: "I'm not fancy, I'll use whatever pronouns ya got lyin' around."

So, you can use: He/She/Any/All

My favorite pronoun joke, since I live in a particular state, is: "My pronouns are yee/haw."

I do however stan all my trans brothers, sisters, and non-binary siblings. You better respect trans folks or your pronouns are gonna be was/were.

👴👵HOW OLD AM I👵👴

A lotta of folks put "AGE IN BIO OR YOU'RE BLOCKED" or "MINORS DO NOT INTERACT" or something like that.

Here's my answer. I'm an elder millennial.

If that's not good enough, here. I'm older than this:

No, I'm not going to put my actual age in my bio. No, I'm not going to put my birth year in my bio. If "Elder Millennial" or the "I'm older than $Movie" isn't good enough, well, sounds like a 'you' problem. Sorry.

"yOu cOuLd bE lYiNg aBoUt aLl oF tHat!" So could someone who put a number in their bio.

🪄✨🌈POLITICS🌈✨🪄

I live in the United States (for my sins) and I'm a frothing, foaming, shrieking, screaming leftist.

Being an elder millennial that lived through: A) 9/11 (I was in high school at the time) B) 3 consecutive, once-in-a-lifetime, economic disasters (2000's oil price bubble, 2007-2010 subprime mortgage crisis, 2020 stock market crash) C) The pandemic (and seeing people lose their fucking shit and prove that zombie movies are ENTIRELY plausible) D) Just... well... everything that's happened with my country's government at various levels ...You could say I've been radicalized.

So, let's get the obvious political talking points out of the way and watch my follower count shrink a bit!

✊🏿Black Lives Matter✊🏿

🏳️‍⚧️Trans rights are human rights🏳️‍⚧️

🏳️‍🌈Stonewall was a riot🏳️‍🌈

Sex work is real work

Forced birth is a form of torture

Cars suck Give us public transport, walkable cities, & high speed rail

N@zis can fuck right the hell off into a god damned volcano Same with t3rfs, biological essentialists, crypto douchebags, "AI" techbro fucksticks, and libertarians who think age of consent means "mental maturity"

Palestine will be free This doesn't make it okay to be an antisemitism Supporting Palestine does not mean "Eradicate the Jews" Protesting antisemitism does not mean protesting Palestine The Israeli State does not equal The Israeli People Hamas does not equal The Palestinian People

Trumpists and MAGA are fascists and white supremacists Same with Qanon Same with all the far right schmucks like the oath keepers, the 3 percenters, the proud boys, the KKK, and other similar groups

Capitalism is just feudalism with extra steps When forced to choose between money and a sustainable world, Capitalists will always choose money and let the rest of us burn Eat the fucking rich

I believe in pursuing the maximum amount of freedom for the maximum number of people

This is, of course, not a complete list.

Heh, I'm sure that'll piss of a LOT of people. And I'm totally down with that. If you're offended by any of this, please, cry some more. And feel free to leave nasty comments or mean asks or whatever. Just lets me know who to block! Thank you for outing yourself!

If you wanna show solidarity with any of this, just reblog with a 🐉or a 🐲. Why a dragon? Because dragons are cool. No I'm not biased.

⭐WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT ON THIS BLOG⭐

I'm probably going to include a broad mix of things. Some of it will be suitable for all audiences, but a lot of it VERY MUCH NOT.

Things I will likely reblog:

Funny memes

Important news/posts/political updates

Wholesome stuff

Plenty of generally queer affirming stuff This includes aro/ace folks, ya'll are valid too

Plenty of explicitly trans affirming stuff

Art that I like (cute)

Art that I like (impressive)

Art that I like (adult/kink related)

Adult/kink related posts in general

Furry stuff I would say "LOTS AND LOTS OF FURRY STUFF" but it feels like Tumblr isn't all that prime a spot for furries, but I stan what I can when I find it

🫷You said adult/kink--is this a PORN blog!?!🫸

Not explicitly, because Tumblr is a coward. I'm old enough to remember when this place used to allow straight up porn. Then the great puritanical purge happened. Still, this blog stans sexytimes and those who create stuff in that vein.

Kinks/fetishes you'll see me reblog (if I find it and I like it):

Vore (Soft, safe, endo, almost exclusively consenting) Various forms that can fall under this, like unbirthing

Pregnancy (fpreg, mpreg, nbpreg, tpreg, it's all good)

Transformation

Gender transformation I honestly don't know if this is the right term for this Someone's sex/gender changing through sciencey or magical means

Big strong dudes/ladies/enbies

Twinkish dudes/ladies/enbies

Size difference

CONSENT. I HAVE A HUGE CONSENSUAL KINK. ENTHUSIASTIC CONSENT IS HOT. NOT EVEN REALLY AS A KINK BUT JUST KNOWING & UNDERSTANDING THAT THE INVOLVED PARTIES ARE INTO WHAT'S HAPPENING IS SUPER FUCKING IMPORTANT.

Other weird things that I can't think to include here

All of this is stuff that I've written smutty stories about in the past (and I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing, again, burnout is a bitch). If you wanna know more about that, feel free to ask about it.

Things I am NOT into and will almost assuredly avoid:

Vore (Hard, cruel, fatal)

Pregnancy, specifically birthing

Non-consensual stuff

Piss, scat, vomit, blood

Omegaverse

Macro/Micro aka Giant/Giantess

Underage characters (minimum age: 18)

"Aged Up" characters that are clearly just an excuse to get around the underage problem

This is, of course, not a complete list.

DNI ACCOUNTS

Minors

Porn bots

Fascists, racists, t3rfs, zionists, ✨CHRISTIANS™✨

Crypto assholes

"AI Art" and ChatGPT assholes

This is, of course, not a complete list.

I think that's plenty to put in a pinned post... probably too much, very TL;DR I'm sure. But whatever. If someone complains to me about something that they could have learned by just reading it here, well... it's their own damn fault.

Anyway, be kind and stay weird.

[atlasshrugd]

Hii. I've followed your blog for a while and love how friendly you seem :) I really love KPTS so far and all the actors, loved reading the fanfic, the cast interviews, MileApos cuteness etc but with the negativity aimed at Mile since he was seen maybe with a gf, idk I just feel bad for Mile and it's made me feel a bit 😔 for this week's episode. Maybe honestly part of the sexiness appeal of MileApo and their chemistry was that we hoped they fancied in each other in real life 🤦‍♀️ obviously we aren't owed anything, but do you think after reading negativity, it's easy to get your mojo back into the series?

Hi there! Thank you for sticking with me til now! <3 (and thank u for this question!)

Tbh, I don't give much time or energy to any negativity. It's all just people's stories/narratives they create and waste energy over it. My advice is don't believe everything you hear/see and conserve your energy for more important things (and for the weekly eps!). The more attention we give it the more distorted, blown out of proportion it gets and it lasts way longer than necessary. So just ignore it and don't follow blogs that go crazy being dramatic and speculating every little thing. If we ignore it, it will just disappear eventually.

I must say I'm disappointed with people's reactions to Mile potentially having a gf. It's a lot more engrained in the culture of media consumption and fandom than just telling ppl 'they don't owe us anything.' It's a parasocial dependency and lack of emotional intelligence that makes people act this way. Yes, they don't owe us anything. But I find it scarily weird how, despite knowing that, ppl expect things from the actors' personal lives. At the end of the day, they are doing a job like everyone else. It stops being about maintaining your bubble of romanticism and starts being about feeling like you can dictate other people's lives/choices, and then threatening them when they don't comply. Who are you to try and take away someone's freedom?

I don't want to hear any rebuttals about this if it hurts someone’s feelings. Frankly, your personal feelings are irrelevant in this situation. Sure, feel disappointed, but don't harass people or spread that negativity to others. If it disappoints you to the point where you can't find any enjoyment watching the episodes, then I am sorry to say that that is on you and you are better off not watching the show (or any show) — if you cannot understand basic media literacy; that actors are not their characters.

Of course, there is a certain appeal fantasizing about actors irl, especially when their chemistry is off the charts like mileapo's — but that desire should never overpower basic human kindness and respect. We can have fun being delulu's and making jokes in the safe space of our blogs (I do that too) if it harms nobody and you aren't imposing your opinions on them/others. But that's it. Respect and support the actors as human beings, not tools for your imagination.

Anyway, I'm sure others have said it much better than me and have gone into this in far more depth, but this is all I can say without writing an entire essay. Thank you, anon, for this question! I hope this helped or informed someone.

#btw by 'you' i don't mean this anon i am talking about the haters as a whole #if someone gets upset by this post...then the shoe fits sorry #kinnporsche #mileapo #asks #kinnporsche discourse #mine

[thestraggletag]

The Changeling, Chapter 5

Rating: M

Summary: Belle and Lacey had always been as different as two  twins could possibly be, but always ready to do whatever it took for  each other. Which includes Belle putting her life in pause to replace  Lacey in hers as she checked herself into rehab to kick a drinking habit  that could potentially end her modelling career. All she had to do is  attend some fittings, do a couple of photoshoots, avoid if possible the slimey and two-timing Killian Jones and steer clear of Lacey’s boss, Mr  Gold, and his suspicious nature.

How difficult could it possibly be?

The rest of the night was a blur of Korean food, followed by some chocolate mousse from MOJO enjoyed in bed, which led to a repeat of their office tryst, this time in the comfort of a king-size bed. Belle woke up on Saturday morning feeling nothing but contentment. The dread she thought she ought to be feeling wasn’t there, or the anxiety of the last few days. Behind her Rowan dozed off, dead to the world. Up close he looked tired, the worries he didn’t let people see clear in the way the skin beneath his eyes darkened. Since she had known him he had been both demanding and spartan. He was one of the first people to come into work and one of the last to leave, seldomly doing any of the things people would associate with someone like him: no wild parties, no extravagant nights out, no revolving door of models in and out of his home and his life like others might have expected. She knew, from their conversations, that his upbringing had been extremely harsh. He had grown up poor and abused and had spent an undisclosed amount of time homeless as a child. In time his smarts, and a bit of luck, had allowed him to begin to amass the fortune and power he enjoyed today, but it seemed old habits died hard. Though he indulged in things, from clothing to antiques to what Belle recalled, a very spacious and well-decorated penthouse apartment in the Upper East side with big windows, he did not indulge in experiences. His life seemed to be mostly about work, making deals, reading market trends, fixing problems and keeping a sharp eye on the accounts. Everything was perfunctory and with purpose, there wasn’t anything in his apartment that spoke purely of enjoyment.

Belle wiggled out of the bed, threw Rowan’s discarded shirt on and walked to the spacious kitchen, a mixture of steel appliances and elegant antique touches. The contents of the fridge, however, were far less glamorous. She didn’t expect or even wish to find caviar or anything like it, but she had hoped for something more than the basics. Taking into account how he had devoured the mousse yesterday night, he obviously had a sweet tooth, but there were no cookies, no chocolate, no pastries or even a tub of Nutella. There was some stale bread, some eggs, milk, butter and the like, and a careful search of the freezer uncovered a half-full bag of frozen raspberries. Checking the cupboards gave her an idea of what his usual breakfast was- porridge, perhaps with a bit of honey if he was feeling fanciful. But she also found a bottle of rather expensive-looking vanilla extract, and some sugar, which gave her an idea.

It took a while, especially being unfamiliar with the kitchen, but soon she had a rather rudimentary bowl of raspberry sauce cooling on a side as two slices of French toast sizzled on the stove, the smell of them filling up the space. It felt nice, to be barefoot with messy hair, barely dressed and cooking, without worrying over the ruse she was keeping up or how her sister might be faring. She could just be herself, outside of her current concerns, muscles sore from the most pleasant sort of exertion and thinking of nothing but the next meal, or what plans they might conjure up for the day.

“What do we have here?”

She made sure to remove the slices of bread from the pan before she turned around, smiling as strong, tanned arms went around her waist, lips pressing against the side of her head. People would likely be surprised if they saw, no one would have pegged Mr Gold for the type to enjoy closeness, but it seemed obvious to her that the man was starved for touch.

“I’ve taken control of your kitchen, taken one look at the oats and decided porridge could wait for another day. A common day. Today we’ll have French toast with raspberry sauce and if you’re a good boy”- there was no mistaking the way Rowan’s eyes darkened at the words- “I’ll even serve it in bed.”

“Bold little thing, aren’t you?”

He did not seem bothered by the notion of being bossed around in his own home. Rather the opposite, really.

“I can be once I get comfortable with someone.” She covered his widening grin with her lips, stealing a quick kiss before telling him to prepare them some tea. 

Breakfast was indeed enjoyed in bed, with enough raspberry sauce leftover to play around with, an innocent game that ended with both of them sticky and exhausted. Afterwards Belle dragged him to the bathroom, where she took advantage of the giant tub to run them both a bath, glad she had thought to grab a bottle of lavender bubble bath when they had stopped by her flat so she could pick up some clothes. 

The rest of the day they spent on the chaise lounge in the living-room, which Belle had moved so it was positioned in the middle of the sunny area provided by the room’s high windows. There they took in the sun and dozed off from time to time, talking in quiet whispers when they were awake, telling each other small, seemingly inconsequential bits about their lives, things that seemed trivial but added up to something meaningful.

Once the sun had gone they turned their attention to food, having a mostly pretend argument over whether to get Italian or Indian for dinner, and then moved to the couch in front of the TV for an evening of takeout, ice-cream from Van Leeuwen and the miniseries version of War & Peace. That all somehow devolved into a thorough testing of the couch’s springs, with mixed results.

Sunday was spent much the same way, only with the looming threat of Belle’s impending leave in the evening. Still, Belle didn’t allow herself to linger on sad thoughts. It felt, for the first time, that not everything was hopeless. She could come clean to him, once the whole mess with Jones and the sketches was over and done with, and Lacey was back. She could come clean about the ruse and apologise over and over. He would be angry but, hopefully, he would understand. And she had been working closely with the NYC Public Library, making connections that could potentially become work opportunities once she had her PhD. There was every reason to dream, she told herself. To start thinking about the possibility of things turning out right.

Or perhaps all she would get was that weekend, and it would have to do. Which made it even more important to seize the moment. 

She made it out of Rowan’s apartment on her third attempt, the first and the second ending in them both tumbling into the closest horizontal surface and tearing each other’s clothes off. Neither wanted her to leave, but Belle did not have all she needed to be ready and presentable- and looking like her sister- come Monday morning. And it wasn’t just about the appearance. With Rowan she felt too… Too Belle. She needed time apart to put herself into her sister’s mindset.

When she arrived back at her sister’s apartment there was a nondescript manila envelope waiting for her. The doorman had told him that a “sketchy-looking fellow” had dropped it off with clear instructions that it be delivered to her as soon as she was back. Inside there were pictures, what looked like printed-out emails and video captures, all about Jones. From what Belle could gather her sister had hired some sort of PI to dig up dirt on Jones, someone mysteriously called “the Knave”, according to the brief note accompanying all the information, and he had clearly delivered. There was all manner of unsavoury information, from the petty crimes of Jones’s youth to what looked like a foray into drug-dealing- not unusual for someone with a sleazy nightclub- and what looked like evidence linking him to a few cold cases, mostly murders. Not enough to prove anything in a court of law but more than enough to, hopefully, get him to back off her if he ever threatened her again.

She did not expect to have to use the information. Jones had made no move to contact her, and though she doubted he took a refusal like a gentleman the fact was that he had managed to find another way to get the sketches. Perhaps he had used one of his unsavoury acquaintances, or had bribed someone on the inside. Either way she did not care.

Or she wouldn’t have, if Ruby hadn’t come blabbing to her about it being Ashley.

“I figured it out by dumb luck, caught her in a stupid lie about how she wasn’t there that night, how she stayed home, even though I saw her use the bathroom next to Granny’s work space, I was in a stall so she didn’t see me. Then I discovered that one of the security guards, Sean, is her boyfriend. Totally explains how she avoided logging into and out of the building that day, and how she got into Jefferson’s office managing to avoid the cameras. Neither of them alone could have done it, so they would not necessarily be considered suspects. But together…”

Ruby fretted, clearly unhappy with having figured everything out. She was pacing up and down the length of her grandmother’s fitting room, looking like an anxious mess. 

“I don’t want to rat her out, Ashley may not be the nicest person but I can’t see her doing anything like this if she wasn’t desperate, you know? But if I don’t tell anyone, what if someone else is accused, someone innocent? And what about the designs and the collection? What will we do if it fails because some brand comes out with the designs first?”

She was right, of course. Belle knew Ashley very little, but she could not imagine the model doing anything to potentially ruin her career and prospects unless she was acting out of sheer desperation. She thought back to the previous days, noticing that Ashley had been acting strange, more vicious and short-tempered than usual, and perhaps a bit nervous. Granny had complained about her fidgeting during fittings more than once the past few days.

“Don’t say anything. Not yet. Wait it out, something might happen.”

She did not want to tell Ruby anything, did not want to drag her to the whole sordid little mess. Besides, Ruby would insist they call Lacey so she could come back to handle it and she did not want that. She had promised her twin three months, she was going to give her that. Besides, how could Lacey hope to hold on to her newfound sobriety in the middle of the shitstorm her life was becoming?

She was gonna take care of things. She had done it before, more than once, for Lacey, just as her twin had looked out for her too.

Finding out Ashley’s address was not difficult. Just a smile and a fluttering of lashes towards a guy from payroll, coupled with a half-assed story about how her “friend Ash” had forgotten her medication and she wanted to Uber it to her was enough for the guy to spill the beans. To her surprise the blonde lived in a rather modest building in Queens, and when she answered the door she wasn’t alone. A small child was with her, a golden-haired little girl that was the spitting image of her. She was positively no one knew Ashley had a daughter, not even Ruby. And Ashley did not seem happy that “Lacey” had found out.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing coming to my apartment?”

“Hey, Ashley, nice to see you too. Got a minute to talk?”

She smiled down at the child, trying not to scare her. Ashley did not take kindly to her friendly ouverture, though, taking the kid by the shoulders as if she thought the brunette was planning to hurt her.

“Go play in the other room, Alex, okay?” To her credit she waited till the girl was out of the room before demanding to know when she was going to spill out her secret.

“I bet you’ve been waiting for ages to get something on me, haven’t you? A model with a kid, married to a security guard, living in Queens. Not the glamorous life a model is supposed to have.”

“You think I’m going to tell people about your kid? Are you insane, Ashley?” The blonde certainly looked unhinged, upon closer inspection. Jittery and like she had not slept, the bags under her eyes impossible to cover with even the best concealer. “Look, I’m not the enemy here. I’ve never been. I’ve always been nice to you, matter of fact.”

Belle was sure of it, against all odds. People on the outside might think her selfish or cutthroat, but she was the opposite. Lacey’s great self-confidence meant she had no problem being kind to others, she was a people person by nature and unthreatened by anything. She was sure Lacey had been welcoming when Ashley had first joined the house, nice and helpful. It had been Ash the one to reject her outstretched hand, Belle was absolutely sure. She knew Lacey like she was her other half.

“I’m not going to tell anyone about your little girl. Or about the sketches.” The blonde had the grace to look ashamed in addition to surprised at being confronted. “Yes, I know you have them. And I can imagine who convinced you to steal them. But if you haven’t given him the sketches yet there’s still a chance. You can just return them and no one needs to know you took them in the first place.”

“It doesn’t matter!” 

Ashley looked out of it, her face contorted by anxiety and genuine fear.

“I’m ruined anyway! Even if you don’t tell on me, even if I can somehow figure out how to return the sketches without Jefferson or Gold catching me, now that security has been ramped up. Because I have to give Jones the sketches. And as soon as I do you’ll rat me out anyway.”

The desperation in her voice made any thoughts of money leave Belle’s mind. Ashley wasn’t doing whatever she was doing for money, and having had her own experience with Jones she was pretty sure what was motivating Ashley.

“What does he have on you?”

In very few words, clearly against her will, the blonde told her about her rough upbringing, losing her parents very young and being left with his father’s second wife, a horrid woman who kicked her out as soon as she was able. It meant being homeless for a while, and having to do unpalatable things for money, like some not-so-nice photoshoots while she was still underage. Once she had made it big as a model she thought she had buried all those pictures, having invested a good chunk of money to do so, but Jones had gotten a hold of them somehow and was threatening to release them online if she did not help him.

Her story was so similar to Lacey’s in so many ways that Belle felt for her. Once the truth was out Ashley seemed to deflate, showing exactly how young she was. Too young to have already been homeless and have a kid Alexandra’s age. No wonder she had not been open to friendship, having grown to distrust the world and everything in it.

“Look, Jones has stuff on me too. But what he doesn’t know is that I have my own dirt on him.” Belle had taken the time to go through all the information the Knave had provided her and it was incendiary to say the least. Certainly enough to make Jones back off the whole thing. “So this is what we’re going to do. You give me the sketches, I’ll get them back to Jefferson’s atelier and then I’ll meet with Jones and make it clear he can’t touch either of us or it’ll be mutual assured destruction.”

It was a shaky plan at best, that involved thinking that Jones could be reasoned with, but there was no alternative. She could go to Rowan with all the information. She was certain he would know how to put the screws in Jones much more effectively using the information Belle had, but she knew he would also very much fire Ashley, nevermind the rest. And she would have to tell him about the ruse, and it was not how she wanted him to find out about things.

Sneaking into Jefferson’s office was hardly a challenge. Lacey and the designer were so close most people did not bat an eye when she sauntered in while the man himself was out and there was nothing scheduled for the day. She got the sketches out and, after trying to scout the best place for them, finally decided to put them by Grace’s picture on Jefferson’s desk. He often looked at it, so he would not miss the envelope when he was back.

She was just about to leave the sketches when Rowan walked in, a few papers in his hand. He paused when he saw her, his face softening before he took in the whole scene: her, holding the incriminating papers, after hours, alone in Jefferson’s office. When it all sunk in he closed off visibly, the warmth leaving his face. However, he did not seem to look accusatory, but closer to disappointment.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

He sighed, looking tired. Very far removed from the relaxed, happy man he had been with her at his apartment just days ago.

“You’ve been avoiding me and now I find you in Jefferson’s office, with the stolen sketches we’ve all been worried about. After hours.”

“I didn’t steal the sketches, I promise you.”

“Oh, I know that. I’m not sure how I know, but I do. Against all odds. I wouldn’t have doubted your guilt months ago, but now it’s different. I now know that you couldn’t have possibly stolen the sketches.”

It should have reassured her, this blinding belief he seemed to have in her honesty. But it was paired by a sliver of mistrust, the notion that he knew she was keeping something from him, something big. That she was holding back somehow.

“You shouldn’t trust me so much.”

She didn’t deserve it.

“Oh, I know you’re keeping something from me. That you’ve been lying to me about something. Once I got to know you it was fairly easy to detect. You’re an open book when you let your guard down. Every single emotion flickers across your face.”

Lacey had often told her the same, that she was reserved with most people but when she really got to know someone and let them in there was no hiding things from them. 

“It’s refreshing, really. I spend my life amongst people who never give anything away, who cannot be trusted. Who lie easily. You don’t. But it means I know you’re keeping me in the dark about something.” He paused, sighing, and Belle could see just how tired he was, how little actual rest he had gotten since the sketches had first been stolen. Perhaps since before, when the previous collection was leaked. “Is it about Jones? Has he threatened you? Does he have something on you?”

He had something on Lacey, and she thought for a moment that the best thing to do would be to confess to that, throw him off the scent and remove that burden from her shoulders. She wasn’t stupid enough to think it would completely work, though. And the solution to her lying was not more lying. He deserved better than that.

“I can’t tell you who took the sketches. Just that they were desperate. It wasn’t about money.”

He didn’t seem surprised that she would not tell him who the thief he had been looking for days was, or even disappointed.

“What about your secret? Are you ready to share?”

She wanted to, so much. Like an infection, she felt the lie festered between them, growing worse by the minute. She should have told him weeks ago, before she had found out about Jones and how deep in trouble her sister was. But now that she knew, she couldn’t. She had to fix things first, and speak with Lacey. She had turned her sister’s life upside down. They both had. And she needed to make it right before she could come clear with Rowan. She didn’t know if, by then, there would be anything worth fixing, but she hoped so.

“I’m sorry.”

He accepted it, looking at her with grim resignation.

“I’m sure you are.”

There was the slightest hint of sarcasm in his tone, which she could not fault him for. She dug her manicured fingernails into the palm of her hands, suppressing the urge to blurt out everything to him. It would be selfish to do it now, to unburden herself at the cost of forcing him to deal with problems that were not his own. And she hated Lacey for it. For convincing her to take her place, for not informing her about Jones and for getting involved with him in the first place. 

“Let me know when you’re ready to tell me everything. But don’t expect me to sit around and wait for you till you do.”

She forced herself to call Jones once she was back in Lacey’s apartment. Thankfully Ashley had guaranteed her that she had not yet told him that she had the sketches, hoping for some sort of miracle before he contacted her again, so she could pass the theft as her own. Jones did not seem to doubt her, simply commending her for coming to her senses and promising that they could negotiate something lucrative and mutually beneficial.

“Come down to the club, darling, and bring the merchandise. I’ll make it worth your while, I promise.”

Belle hung up, looking at the manila envelope with the information the Knave had provided in it. She hoped it was enough to get her and her sister out of this mess.

#rumbelle #rumbelle fic #thestraggletag fanfiction #the changeling

[i-want-my-iwtv]

Hi! I just discovered your blog searching for IWTV quotes. I named my kitty Clawdia because she had these little stripes on her chin that looked like fangs, and she was very combative 🤭 She passed away Nov. 2020, and I want to get a memorial tattoo for her. I was wondering, what are some/your favorite Claudia quotes? I haven’t read this book in about 15 years and I can only find like two quotes online..?? I’m not sure if there’s even a good tattoo one, but I thought I might ask :-) Thank you.

Awww, I’m sorry for your loss, and I'm honored to help you find a good quote to memorialize your Clawdia ♥. Excellent name choice; Claudia is basically fangs + very combative + adorable (whether she likes it or not!) little creature. Share a few pics with us, if you feel comfortable doing so. And do share with us when you get the tattoo so I can add it to my collection here!

[X]

I finished skimming through the first 5 books, I spent a lot of time on this, and I’m satisfied with what I pulled. I think my fave option for now is:

"A small glittering thing plucked from the raging chaos"

***

Claudia is one of my top 3 favorite characters in the whole series. Reading/writing fics set in the IWTV era is like visiting with her... one of my fave fics is @codenamecesare​’s Fearfully Changing, which features Claudia. 

OK SO. Claudia quotes! @claudiaindarkness​ might have some good quotes to add to mine. A lot of what Claudia canonically said was contextual and sometimes fairly combative, which can be good for a tattoo, depending on what you’re going for. I have 2 sections, one is direct quotes from her that you could use bits of, and the second is for quotes about her, in some way. I didn't add any from the '94 IWTV movie, it sounds like you're more focused on the books, but if you want a few from the movie, I'll add them. I also didn’t add the more standard fandom fave quotes, I don’t recall that any of them are directly Claudia-related, like “Evil is a point of view,” and “If I am an angel, paint me with black wings,” etc.

Also, check out my #tattoo tag, there are other VC tattoos there that might inspire you.

IWTV Claudia quotes:

"I have no human nature" 

"We must live with the knowledge that there is no knowledge"

"Let the flesh instruct the mind"

"A constant never-ending search for something"

"I'll put you in your coffin, Father, I'll put you in it forever."

“You know the remedy. Let the flesh . . . let the flesh instruct the mind.”

"So now let's have peace, because there's nothing else to be had."

"Hell is people living together in eternal hatred." 

"Would that I had your size . . And would that you had my heart.”

“Be en garde”

“Don't be frightened of my fancy”

“We need our language, our people.“

"This is my world, I must have it as I like,”

“Did you think I'd be your daughter forever?“

“Fire purifies“

“We have the world, come with us!”

Quotes (potentially) about Claudia:

(from IWTV) The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man’s blood with cold.

"What a picture he made of her, the infant death, he called her. Sister death, and sweet death;" From those, I like Sweet Death

"Claudia, meantime, was flirting with disaster," variations: Flirting with disaster or Flirt with disaster could work!

This is a bit of a stretch, but digging back through my blog... "So we reach into the raging chaos, and we pluck some small glittering thing, and we cling to it, and tell ourselves it has meaning, and that the world is good, and we are not evil, and we will all go home in the end" - Lestat, Tale of the Body Thief. I love that line, probably one of my favorite lines in the whole series. It’s about Mojo but as that book has a lot of Claudia, I interpret it as being about her, too: "A small glittering thing plucked from the raging chaos"

“Fierce and unnatural child thing”

Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young. - by Webster, in Claudia’s diary entry from QOTD.

“The beautiful know they have power, and she had, in her diminutive charm, a certain power of which she was always casually aware.” - Louis re: Claudia in Merrick

#vampire chronicles #the vampire claudia #the vampire lestat #louis de pointe du lac #gif #cat #reenactment with cats #quote #actual quote #tattoo #Samuel Taylor Coleridge #The Rime of the Ancient Mariner #Webster #Merrick #ask #anon #iwantmyiwtv has opinions #codenamecesare #fic #fanfic #claudiaindarkness

[licncourt]

Any recent domestic loustat headcanons?

Always!! Blorbo² rotation time

Since they've been together so long, they've kinda run out of "materials" for their anniversaries (ie wood, gold, pearl, ruby, etc only goes through 60), so Lestat has taken it upon himself to come up with more that are personal to them. For example: 100 is blood, 150 is velvet, 200 is alligator (Louis thinks the last one is basically just leather but Lestat insists it's not because he means the whole alligator, not just the skin)

For all his protests, Louis actually does like some fancy shit. He's not as bougie for the sake of it as his husband, but there are...certain things he enjoys and certain understandings of those preferences with Lestat, enthusiastic giver of extravagant gifts. Rejecting all of Lestat's expensive presents in the Interview era was a principle thing. Now though...he has nothing to prove

They always get season tickets for the theater and have absolutely scathing opinions about almost every show. They've been attending some of these plays for over two centuries. The odds of the current version being the best they've seen is extremely low and also they're just mean

If Lestat's being Too Much, Louis puts on cartoons. All the color and noise and movement wear him out. He doesn't care about the stories, but Dinotrux and Boohbah have the same hypnotic effect on his 18th century peasant brain as shampoo bottles at Walmart

Louis gets overstimulated easily sometimes (downside of vampire senses with his personality) and has very effective earplugs for these occasions. This wouldn't be a problem except Lestat is wearing headphones 25/8 so one of the most common reasons they argue now is just fucking not hearing each other

Once Lestat learns to say his feelings out loud, he thinks saying "I love you" is an all-purpose get-out-of-jail-free card and the thing is it sort of works if he puts his back into it and looks extra cute. The Louis version of this is the sad u,w,u face (usually with big, sparkly, teary eyes) and now that Lestat's given an emotional inch, he collapses like a Jenga tower when confronted with this. Basically they're not above psychological warfare

Sometimes Louis makes Lestat cook with him because he read it was a healthy habit to have in relationships. Obviously they can't eat it, so they donate it as Louis' good deed of the week

Lestat is insanely into holiday decorating and they have That House every Christmas, Halloween, and Easter (those are the only ones Louis will allow decorations for). Louis actually finds it very charming and always dishes out the cash for Lestat to make use of all the decorators and adornments his heart desires

Louis was not a huge fan of Lestat having Mojo, in part because of what an obnoxious dog person he became, but to make it fair he got a couple birds. Anyway, within weeks Louis became a more insufferable bird person than Lestat had ever been about Mojo. He has two lovebirds in a 5' x 5' antique rosewood cage in the shape of a French cathedral and they eat fresh figs and citrus from the farmer's market

Once they tried to have a "night out" by feeding on hammered bar patrons but instead of dancing and making out they just had a drunk couple fight in the parking lot with lots of crying and yelling

#answered #vc #otp: do you love me now? #loustat #hc tag

[vera-dauriac]

https://bloodknife.com/everyone-beautiful-no-one-horny/

Super interesting article about the intersection of sexuality, politics and media at the moment.

If I recall, there's a post already floating around with commentary and discussion of, as well as the additional corollary "everything is p*rnographic and nothing is erotic."

I would be interested in your thoughts, especially in the context of the fanfiction community.

Love,

A niece :)

I must say, my nieces send their Auntie Vera the most interesting stuff. 😉

So, you want my thoughts on: everyone is beautiful, but no one is horny, as well as its dirtier counterpart: everything is pornographic, and nothing is erotic. Let’s see if I can manage something coherent before my workday starts.

Generally speaking, I see where folks are coming from with these sentiments. As pointed out in the article, there is something sexless about the MCU, at least the very little of the MCU I watched before I decided it was fucking boring and stopped watching. Has this spilled over into other films and become the norm? Honestly, I was a pretty hardcore film buff for much of life, but around 5 or 6 years ago instead of going to the movies maybe 20 times a year and gobbling up everything else on DVD when it hit the library, I started going zero times and only grabbing stuff at the library or checking it out streaming on occasion. This makes me pretty unqualified to talk about the state of film today, but the article’s general premise that the MCU is about action figures not action heroes seems pretty accurate. They’ve all been Ken dolled, and for me, that’s a yawn. (There’s a lot else I find dull about the MCU, but that’s not the point right now.)

The next question is why. After the 80s and 90s, which had some overly-muscled action stars and some normally muscled action stars, all of whom got to have sex, why did action "heroes" become celibate advertisements for steroids? I would suspect there are a couple explanations. As is always the case with Hollywood, the top reason is unquestionably money. For instance, I started thinking about the last time I saw a movie with a lot of action, a super buff star, and a good old-fashioned sex scene that was also hot. I came up with 300, which came out in 2006 and had a $65 million budget. (In other words, they CGIed a lot of abs for the cost of an MCU movie’s catering budget.) 300 made $70 million its opening weekend in just the US, so huzzah, it was successful. (Numbers from Box Office Mojo)

On the other hand, an MCU movie needs to make $70 million opening weekend in about a dozen different countries, and then keep making money because of the crazy budgets. For as puritanical as folks want to make the US market out to be, there are other markets with FAR more restrictive rules about what can be shown in movies. What’s the point of including a sex scene, or even a kiss, if you’re going to have to reedit for half the world? Sexless is safer for the bottom line in a global market.

And that mostly covers what I have to say about everyone is beautiful, but no one is horny, and that article in particular. I think moving to TV will actually help more with the discussion of everything is pornographic, and nothing is erotic. There seems to be plenty of sex and nudity to be had on HBO and Netflix (the two streamers I’m most familiar with), but the vast majority of it on, say, GoT or The Witcher, is decidedly unsexy. What makes it unsexy, unerotic, is a combination of things. It’s the general nihilism of the worlds (especially GoT), coupled with so much of the “sex” actually being sexual violence, and then just the overwhelming pervasiveness of naked bodies and fucking that desensitizes you to it all. (The most telling anecdote I’ve heard on this front is that GoT eventually started hiring literal porn actors to hang out in the background of scenes. This story is too good to fact check, so I’m not.)

Given that fancy outlets like HBO and Netflix clearly make money, even with the sex and nudity, why don’t they make something genuinely erotic, instead of pornographic, or at least just generally smutty? Again, there are probably a lot of factors, mostly that they think what they are doing is what audiences want, and they will continue to churn out porn as long as they believe it will make them money. But there’s something else to consider, which finally leads me to fanfic and my own writing experience.

(Ahead are definitions at least partially of my own devising, just so we’re all on the same page for the rest of the discussion.)

Smut (a fully realized story with sex scenes), porn (graphic descriptions of sex, often without a realized story), and erotica (the serious examination of character through the sexual/sensual) are different things to write and require different skills. And if my own experience is in any way typical, writing something erotic is hard. It’s way harder than smut or porn, in fact. It’s easier to show some prostitute on her knees with cum dripping down her chin than using sex to develop character in a meaningful way. (It’s also easier to shoot your leading man full of steroids than to write a good character arc to return to the movie discussion.) For instance, I’ve written a lot of smut, porn, and erotica in my time, but one of the most meaningful comments I’ve ever received on AO3 is this: “for all the amazing smut on this site, erotic joy is actually really rare, and you captured it.” It is rare, on AO3 and for me to write, because it is blasted difficult, and I think most TV shows, and movies for that matter, are going to look for the easier, safer road the majority of the time.

So, those are my thoughts on the article and the beautiful/horny and porn/erotic discussions. I feel like I should throw in some sort of “And in conclusion,” but I assume I’m not actually getting graded on this, so I’m just going to stop. 😊

#nice nonny #story discussion

[crazycatsiren]

Hey Lorelai! How do you manage expectations in terms of offerings with your neurodivergences/disabilities? I know some of my spirit friends are feeling neglected though I made sure it was clear from the start what my limitations were. I know offerings such as water are easy to do, but I don't think it's necessarily offerings they want I think it's time spent. Which I'd have no problem with except with my limited energy, communicating with them has been extremely hard and I've had trouble trusting my telepathy for a while now. Tarot is totally fine of course, but a bit difficult to have an entire conversation only through drawing cards.

To be honest, I simply trust that the deities, divine beings, and spirits in my life know and understand.

I keep things simple in my practice, and it's always worked for me. I've been doing this long enough that more often than not, for me, more isn't necessarily better. Even for the goddesses I'm devoted to, my routine worship doesn't involve huge fancy rituals. Not going to lie, most of the communications with the otherworldly I've done in my head while resting in my chair or on my bed.

I pray a lot. It's something that I can do anytime, anywhere, and it doesn't take much physical energy or mental work. And I will talk with my spirit family whenever and wherever, out and about or at home. Time and experience have taught me what to look for and what to listen to, and a lifetime of learning and practice has brought me confidence in trusting my intuition and discernment.

It takes some time and patience, figuring out your mojo, tweaking what works for you and what doesn't fly. Take it easy and don't be hard on yourself. You can spend time with your spirit friends while you're eating, resting, reading, watching TV, taking a walk, like hanging out with friends and loved ones in the physical realm. Sometimes, you don't even necessarily have to be doing something together. Just being in the same room and feeling each other's presence is something. Like, my husband and I have spent many peaceful nights on opposite ends of the couch, doing our own things, but happy in the quiet company of knowing the other person is there.

[cameronzengo]

Unlock Your Leadership Potential: Insights from Cameron Zengo

Ever wanted to be that go-to leader everyone admires? Well, good news—you've got it in you! Let's dive into some down-to-earth advice to help you tap into your leadership potential, inspired by the one and only Cameron Zengo. 

First things first, be you! Forget the fancy leadership manuals; Cameron Zengo says to just be yourself. There is no need for a leadership mask; let your authenticity shine. The greatest superpower in a world full of suits and jargon is being real.

Next up, let's talk about talking and listening. Being a leader isn't just about talking to people; it's about listening too. Cameron Zengo swears by active listening—you know, the kind where you're not just nodding but really getting what others are saying. It's like a leadership secret sauce.

But leadership isn't a solo act; it's a team thing. Zengo's wisdom reminds us to build a team spirit. Forget the lone wolf approach; it's all about everyone bringing their A-game together. And here's a game-changer – leadership doesn't have to be all serious. Throw in a joke or two to lighten up the mood. Cameron Zengo shows us that a bit of humor won't hurt your leadership game. In fact, it might just make you the cool leader everyone wants to work with.

So, here's the lowdown: unlock your leadership mojo by being you, listening up, embracing teamwork, and sprinkling a dash of humor. You will quickly become a leader that is well-known in the industry if you follow Cameron Zengo's approach to business.