#rambles more like

[peggyrose19]

o'darwin ballroom dance au thoughts for you all cause i was at competition all weekend and then had a 6 hour car ride home

(basic ballroom info can be found at the end under the cut)

the three of them are all partners together and just switch out depending on the style. nat and alex do rhythm and latin, nat and kasey do standard, and alex and kasey do smooth. but if 3-person ballroom was a thing they'd be excellent at it (a side note - competitions do fun dances after each style and our last one was group latin, so my 3 coaches did it together and gave me this idea cause it was adorable) (want to be clear coaches are platonic friends this specifically was just very o'darwin coded)

alex styles his hair very casually, basically just the way it falls normally but aggressively hair sprayed into place. kasey slicks his back into a neat bun. kasey does nat’s hair for her, pulling it back in a twist back into a fancy ballroom bun with lil sparklies to accessorize

my former coach’s partner has a smooth jacket that’s - well idk if it’s actually velvet cause that’d be quite heavy for dance - but a velvet like texture and it’s subtly shiny under the lights and i imagine alex wearing that for smooth. paired with kasey, in something classic but maybe with some subtle detailing? rip

nat’s latin dress is black with gold detailing. the skirt is a high to low style and it’s super cute and bouncy. her standard dress is long and i wanna go royal blue. maybe red. or green. some bright royal shade. it’s got this beautiful full skirt and she has ribbons on cuffs she attaches to her wrists for certain dances. the dress has silver gemstone detailing on the bodice

they stay in a hotel for competitions and share soft sleepy kisses in the elevator up on the way back, heavy bags hanging off their shoulders. alex insists on carrying nat’s costumes for her (he’d carry her bag too but he doesn’t have enough arms for that)

cheering each other on from the sidelines and the two dancing always smile at their third when they hear/spot them

social dancing and nat is laughing while kasey twirls her all around, alex watching from the side, falling more in love with each laugh and smile from the two of them

falling into bed with each other, all soft hands and quiet giggles. they have passionate and rougher times too but in my head o’darwin are just so somft with each other. alex carefully taking nat’s shirt off and kissing each inch of bare skin he uncovers. kasey standing behind her with gentle hands on her hips, nosing at her neck. alex and kasey taking turns fucking nat and it’s different with both but just as good. alex getting his mouth on kasey and reveling in the sounds he makes

nat steals alex's sweatpants constantly. they fit better than kasey's so she steals his sweatshirts instead. kasey and nat steal each other's hair elastics, one of them always has one on hand

the three of them aren't like all over each other at competition, looking at them you might not guess they were romantically together rather than just dance partners, but you can tell they have a connection with each other through their dancing and know each other well. when partners actually like and know each other it shows and makes it that much better to watch. but if you paid close enough attention (not sure why anyone would but) you'd be able to see the quick kisses and gentle intimate moments between the three of them between rounds

now i'd put them in open, so they wouldn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn like us poor syllabus dancers (rip me), but if they were partners back then:

bb college alex and kasey partnering together kasey's first year (i put alex maybe a year older), and falling for each other towards the end of the year semester. they're never together, not really, but they've kissed and had sex and are close despite the complication of whatever it is their feelings are. kasey transfers schools after his freshman year and they're both devastated but they can't do a whole lot about it. they promise to keep in touch, but it's hard

at his new school, kase meets and partners up with natalie who's a freshman and new to ballroom. he's so shy and awkward around her at first, but he's patient and helps her learn. soon they become good friends and kasey gets less awkward. kasey is terrified to let himself fall for her after falling for alex, but he can't help it; nat is just so bright and delightful, and he finds himself spending hours outside of practice with her, just enjoying each other's company. nat - i don't wanna say wears him down cause that implies she pressured him, it's more she makes her own feelings known, respects his boundaries, and lets kasey sort his own feelings out on his time. together, they eventually decide to start dating, after kasey allows nat to kiss him late one night, saying he just wants to know, but really he's just too scared to say it outright. natalie is the one who asks if he'll be her official boyfriend. he agrees

anyway. back to 5am wake up times. comp starts at 8am, doors open at 7, and if you're in the first few rounds like they would be, that's when you arrive, hair and makeup already mostly ready if you can. nat and kasey staying together for their first competition and it's the first night they've spent together. they're bleary-eyed and exhausted, still new to their relationship, but there's sleepy kisses and gentle touches as they help each other get ready

they compete at bronze and do quite well, especially for natalie's first ever comp. i made my dear newcomer partner dance up to bronze because i've really danced too long to be in newcomer still, and she did great. anyway. it's a smaller comp, only one day. they don't place in anything, but they advance past the first round in every dance they compete, which is still very good

it's a long day for them both, but a fun one. a lot of time spent at ballroom competitions is standing around waiting for results. so there's a lot of that. they sit with the rest of their team ofc. it's a good bonding exercise

i have more thoughts but this is long enough as is so i'll stop for now cause it's nearly 2am and i really need to be asleep. i meant for this to just be headcanons and now it's gaining a plot. ah well

apologies if these don't make sense, i was awake for 20 hours straight sunday and wrote half of them in the car. i've been recovering since. also today i took a 2hr nap at 7pm and now here we are nearing 2am

ballroom basics for those who are very lost

ballroom is split into four styles for competitions:

standard: international waltz, intl tango, intl foxtrot, quickstep, intl viennese waltz

smooth: american waltz, am tango, am foxtrot, am v waltz

latin: intl cha cha, intl rumba, samba, jive, paso doble

rhythm: am cha cha, am rumba, east coast swing, mambo, bolero

in the international dances, you aren't allowed to separate from your partner. you stay in frame - hands clasped basically - the whole time. in american style, you are allowed to separate. there's other differences to some, but that's the major one. rumba, foxtrot, and tango are the ones that are most different.

collegiate competitions have two levels: syllabus and open

syllabus: there's a specific list of moves you are allowed to do at each level. the levels go newcomer, bronze, silver, gold.

open: you can basically do what you want. there are no specific guidelines to the steps you can do. within reason, i mean, you can't just start doing an entirely separate dance. this is when it gets really fun to watch. the levels go novice, pre-champ, champ.

some competitions will let you cross-register, which basically means you can compete at multiple levels. many also compete different styles at different levels, allowed at all competitions, because learning that many dances well is quite difficult and takes a lot of time.

after newcomer dances will start being paired. so if you compete one, you must compete the other. common ones at bronze are intl waltz/quickstep, am waltz/tango, and cha cha/rumba. those were all paired at my competition this past weekend. starting in gold, they'll put three or four dances paired. at open, all dances are paired. so for example, a standard event in all open levels would include intl waltz, tango, foxtrot, and quickstep. each couple would have to dance all four. then separately they would have a syllabus v waltz event, which is open to anyone.

though hosted and mostly attended by college teams, anyone is allowed to enter a collegiate competition. once you get to the higher levels, especially open, most dancers are not still college students. you can't get that good in four years, so if they are college-age they would've had to start beforehand. those who don't register with a team are generally just put in as unaffiliated. schools are registered under the school. coaches can register through the school they coach for as well, if they register together. my coaches have done both. this doesn't really make a difference. mostly just a way of organization more than anything. we still claim my former coach as our own despite her now living and working in a different state and coaching a different team with her partner. we don't like him. i digress.

i hope this helped anyone if you bothered to read it

#o'darwin #ballroom au #o'darwin ballroom au #ballroom headcanons #alex o'hara #kasey winter #natalie darcy #lumosinlove #sweater weather #vaincre #audrey talks dance #or well #rambles more like

[runawaymarbles]

The thing I keep coming back to, with all the *gestures expansively* is that real life doesn't have peaceful epilogues.

Every single win has to be defended. Forever. I'm sorry. It sucks. The Nazis lost until they stopped losing. The US had abortion rights, and then 50 years later it didn't. Empires fall, and then they invade other countries again. Oppressive regimes are overthrown and replaced with other oppressive regimes. You will never finish the work etc etc etc. Which is why it's so fucking important to be able to acknowledge and celebrate progress, when it happens. The people who came before you didn't put in all that work for nothing, and you aren't, either. You can't save it all for the Ultimate Victory because there is never going to be an Ultimate Victory. There's no such thing as a time when everything is good, and ours shall not be the commune of Heaven.

#rambling #like by all means always push for more #but man you gotta be able to note the small victories too #and you have to be able to step away for a bit when you need to because there's never going to be an Ultimate End #op

[secondbeatsongs]

for anyone too young to know this: watching The Truman Show is a vastly different experience now, compared to how it was before youtube and social media influencers became normal

before it was like, "what a horrifying thing to do to a human being! to take away their autonomy and privacy, all for the sake of profits! to create fake scenarios for them to react to, just to retain viewership! to ruin their happiness just so some corporate entity could harvest money from their very humanity! how could anyone do something so evil?"

and now it's like, "ah, yeah. this is still deeply fucked up, but it's pretty much what every influencer has been doing to their kids for a decade now. probably bad that we've normalized this experience"

#the truman show #sbs rambles #I keep thinking about how children on popular youtube channels should probably have laws to protect them #social workers assigned to them maybe #I dunno #they did not sign up to have their lives sold for profit #but here we are #tho #I guess none of us signed up for it #and our data is harvested more than ever #god #high-tech capitalism sucks turns out #OH WAIT because tumblr is bad at getting context sometimes #let me specify: #I am not saying that the movie The Truman Show is bad or that it normalizes this #like all good sci-fi (because it is kind of sci-fi) it's there to warn us of what the future could hold #and it did that in a very good way - it's a beautiful movie #I could see someone with a bad faith take assuming I meant that it was part of the problem #it absolutely wasn't. it didn't normalize this; we did #youtube did and social media #it's us that's the problem #or more specifically: big corporations and a lack of regulation #that's the origin of most modern problems

[oobbbear]

I want to post this here too because I’ve seen it happen a few times

Please understand that there are cultural differences and language differences, if you see this happening let the person clarify what they meant, that person might just not be familiar with words the western side of the internet use

#bearz rambling tag #no it’s not really possible to let everyone who uses this term to change #because as far as I know this is the most common word with use on Chinese websites #I didn’t know that pairing are called ‘ship’ here #like why would I even know that #‘ship’ makes zero sense to me #it took me a while to learn the fandom language people speak here #it’s hard #give people time #shipping culture is very different too #Like on Chinese site you HAVE to clarify the Top and the Bottom of this ship in the ship name #it is very very important to them #people who like the same ship but with different Top Bottom preference will fight till no end #imagine how confused I was when I first got here #where there’s no top bottom differences #it’s not really a smut thing #it’s more a dynamic thing #AxB and BxA is very different #oh I can talk so much about the differences on fandom cultures #if ya are interested in more please feel free to ask #it’s very interesting to me #I wanna talk about it

[tragedykery]

I ❤️ self-loathing characters, characters who struggle with monstrosity (either fearing or embracing it), characters who are so lonely, who have a gaping hole in their chest, who bottle up & repress their feelings, who claw their way up & have ambitions, who fall down & lose everything, who search for identity & purpose yet can’t see themselves outside of what others want from or expect of them, who are hurt & hurt others, who long & grieve, who lie & pretend. characters who are messy & flawed & human

#edit: please don’t tag this with hp characters it makes me very uncomfortable. and if you really want to at least block me after #tropes #I’m just saying words but. Ugh #elli rambles #this isn’t about one character in particular #more like snippets of different characters #sokka tané priya malini azula sabran ty lee etc etc #niclays too. sadly #I hate him (lovingly) #or I love him (hatingly). I haven’t decided yet #alternatively: I ❤️ ampersands #breached containment (derogatory) #a

[liimonadas]

randomly rememebered a very silly maya content creator AU i came up with like 2 years ago. its just dumb fun haha

#this is kind of an extension of my hc/au of having the aa cast be people who grew up in the early 2010s (social media users) #in this au maya is a prolific steel samurai extended universe fandom member and starts making videos in like 2018-2019 #edgeworth also posts online anonymously but it takes him yearsss to show his face online #getting a segment in her massive video essay compels him tho #yea im just rambling abt my goofy ideas atp if you wanna know more i can share #maya fey #miles edgeworth #phoenix wright #ace attorney #fanart #art

[fleshdyke]

art tips that actually help. tracing pictures is fine. try not to shade with black. draw as much as you can all the time and make it shitty im so serious. dont buy expensive materials its not worth it. never post your art to tiktok. raise your commission prices. sparkle on be yourself

#i dont care how good or bad your art is or how old you are or how low your self esteem is RAISE YOUR PRICES #and if you’re like 13 and people in their 30s are giving you like $5 for your art you’re being exploited i dont care if that’s how much you #set your prices at. you are being exploited. 30+ year olds can afford more than $5 for art from a teenager #source: i did that for fucking ages. dont do that. #rambles #100 #1k #10k #20k

[fox-guardian]

man this sucks (<- likes a niche character that hardly has any fan content)

#ramblings with major #im like half the danny tag blease im suffering #i need more of my guy #happy fun wholesome stokers When #there is some but i need More #especially in fic form

[pollyanna-nana]

So. It’s no secret that the dunmeshi manga gradually changed art style as it went on (thereby twinkifying a few characters…) but I like to think that, in Thistle’s case specifically, it was also a change in perception by the party. I mean…

Early in the story, when all they knew about him was that he was the creepy, all-powerful mad sorcerer? Probably were much more intimidated by him. Same with the reader. BUT….

By the end? Oh, he’s just a little jester twink who writes poetry and can be picked up and slung around like a bag of potatoes. No way they could take him seriously anymore. Literally this meme but in reverse

Little guyification…

#polly speaks #dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #dunmeshi #delicious in dungeon #thistle dungeon meshi #laios touden #here. have more unhinged thistle ramblings bc someone’s gotta do it #he’s literally so >:3 by the end it’s so so funny to me #I went from being like ‘huh. weird’ to wanting to pinch him cheeks

[inafallsaway]

Drawing time!

#one piece #monkey d luffy #luffy #nico robin #nami #I think they draw together a lot #both can’t draw tho lol #I tried to base robins style after the couple eps she we do see her drawing #she has lots of sharp lines lol #also wanted to include a ton of tiny cute things on the fridge #I wanted to add more but i think I went a wee bit overboard #the things in the corner if you can’t tell are magnets that represent all of them #ok no more rambling I hope you like I worked hard on it hehe #my art

[caruliaa]

staff still hasn't given me polls, what should i do?

🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 their moms 69%

🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪🟪 their dads 31%

grace image os i get to look at her

#edit: edited the og post to what i want but to set the record straight i edited to the post to be mathematically correct right after the #first person pointed it out which was like ten mins after i posted the og post. now fuck offf !!!!! the rest of the tags r from the og post #for some reason i feel very immature making your mom jokes about tumblr staff. which i shldnt !! #bc they suck nd they still havent given me polls. but i ig i feel imature bc it a your mom joke 😭 but still i tihnk its kinda funny #EDIT: edited the post to what i want bc yall were getting annoying . but to set the record straight i edited to post to be mathematically #also its *mum* not mom okay i am NOT !! an american . but if i say mum everyone will j be like 'omg british' like i dont know i am #anyway. i want polls please. give me the rigght to force my mutuals chose between the most inane things #also i tihnk it wld b cool for the cs weekly blog. like w each episode #i cld do a poll of like. out of five stars what do u think of this ep #and it wld b a cool thing of which eps r ppls faves #also i cld have like. whose ur fave in team red whos ur fave in acme etc #id prob just have to go with vile faculty bc theres more than 10 ppl in vile. and ppl wld kill me if i didnt include nel the ell or whoever #it wld b fun !!! #oh btw csweekly thats i thing i want to start. prob on uhhh the 11th of feb ill post abt it more but its basically #a tag/blog for watching cs one ep a time watching one ep every saturday #ya !! :3 #flappy rambles #inaccessible #ask to tag #(<- idk. just in case)

[wu-does-art]

thinking about Nico adjusting to letting himself miss and long for the people he loves. based on these bits from the sun and the star:

" As Nico and Will followed the trogs, he thought about how much he missed Hazel. He was learning to make peace with that feeling. It was okay for him to miss people because that meant he wanted them around in his life. That idea was *very* new for him- he was used to either pushing people away or watching them recoil from his presence." *

" That was the most surreal thing of all... Was he happy? Nico wasn't very familiar with the sensation, but he couldn't deny that he felt wonderful in Will's presence. He even longed for the son of Apollo when they were apart. A funny thing had happened as the two grew closer: Nico suddenly understood all those cheesy, sappy love songs he'd always hated."

#its just. i like that they included that in the book yk. the fact that he prepared a certain distance between everyone #and thus isnt used to missing anyone #so its strange for him #this is probably set somewhere pre tsats just because i like to think it was one of the times he found himself missing and longing. #but it was one of the first times he actually allowed himself to feel that way. #took the feeling and held it instead of banishing it away #also yes letting himself unmask a bit #i like to think he just gets wayyy more expressive with his hands the more he heals #that and he unmasks more!!! more openly stimming!! more special interest rambles!! #just oughh. #anyways this was a huge comic to colour #big fuck you to tumblr who made posting soooo much harder #fuck u and ur updates tumblr #solangelo #pjo #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackon and the olympians #nico di angelo #will solace #the sun and the star #trials of apollo #they borrow clothes from eachother its real in my head okay #nico canonally bought will a stupid shirt as a joke tho and i love that for them

[gaminegay]

People go on about good healthy queer rep but I cannot express how much I want unhealthily devoted queer rep. Raise your lover from the dead no matter the cost. Kill to get them to safety. Trade your soul for theirs. Die to reunite with them. I want gothic hyper-devotion codependent lovers

#I'm listening to music rn its giving me illnesses #Alda rambling #Please. Must I draw my own art? Must I write my own narratives? #Shout out to the Arcana for giving me the crazy devotion dating sim love I needed #Like *to me* it's more queer #The 'you're the only one it's only you and I will do whatever it takes even when people hate me for it's

[lazylittledragon]

hey idk which anxious pre-t babe needs to hear this but i didn't get to when i was younger so. testosterone will not make you ugly. it won't make you a horrible person. it won't 'mutilate' or ruin your body. if you want to go on testosterone then literally all that happens is it makes you really fucking hot and REALLY fucking happy.

#ramble #literally very hot. like very hot #there is so much sweat #'oh you're just trying to paint a pretty picture that it's all fine' yeah i am!!! it's fucking great. i love it #trans people aren't sad clueless little babes who don't know what's going on. if you want to go on hormones you Know what it's going to do #and you WANT THAT WHICH IS WHY YOU'RE DOING IT #i hate hate hate seeing detransitioners like 'it destroyed and mutilated me' #*proceeds to list the normal effects of hormones* #it's all fearmongering and it's SICK #personally i think we should start glorifying transition more. because it's BEAUTIFUL

[deimosatellite]

#when we thought the atla MIGHT be ok after opla but it turns out opla is just an exception #HS9D8FUIPJLK #annie rambles #opla #one piece #avatar the last airbender #ive heard mixed reviews about the atla live action but the consensus feels like the writers werent in tune with the source enough #where opla it really feels like the writers understand op at its core so thus were able to transform it #but maybe thats just me #80U9DSFPOJKL #i have so many thoughts on how much i liked opla i should make a separate post but like. for one not disrespecting source by #saying that the new take is ''more for adults" or whatever / all that nonsense #and again just respecting source material feels like a major difference here

[itzz-salem]

Honestly, one of my favorite things is pup x pup. Just two little puppy's having a play date while their owners are chatting. It starts simple and playful. Yapping, playing with toys, play wrestling. Till one pinns down the other in a show of pup dominance.

That's just what puppies do are all! And they start to whine and rut against each other, rubbing themselves over their thighs and puppy parts. They don't know any better. they're just little puppy's playing.

Eventually, it ends with the stronger pup breeding and pounding away into the other. The owners chuckling and cooing at the two, thinking it's cute that they are so simple and instinct driven..Ugh...just.. ｡:°puppy play datesﾟ:｡ ૮₍ ˶>⤙<˶ ₎ა

#dumb puppy #petpl@y #pup rambles #puppy thoughts #nsft puppy #pet pl4y #petpl4y #pup #puppy sub #pup x pup #puppy play dates #two pups #nb nsft #trans nsft #t4t nsft #puppy x puppy #need more of this #bd/sm puppy #puppypl4y #it really feels like im in heat..gosh #puppy rambles #rambles #imagine #salem speaks