#what about all the famous landmarks

[worstloki]

Loki surveilling the skyline of New York from the top of Stark Tower and clocking that his favorite paired set of buildings are gone. sad

#everyone wants thor and loki to have visited earth a bunch of times and obviously they wouldn't be too invested in earth politics #but i think the concept of much time passing between visits should be taken advantage of #like what if one of them missed seeing the statue of liberty on their past 3 visits and now that's 'suddenly' a famous historic landmark #Loki like wow I sure hope that restaurant in the Soviet Union is still around! #and Natasha's head whips around so fast like you mean Russia or one of the surrounding countries that used to be part of the USSR #Loki: uhm. well. what's the difference #Natasha: here is a map of the countries does this help #Loki: it does not help but thank you for trying #Thor: what do you mean Rome is gone???? Rome was HUGE????? #Tony: well it's been a few centuries since then Europe is very different now #Thor: (visibly distressed) so the the sweet effeminate men enjoy the streets no more?? #Tony: ...I don't keep track of foreign border laws about that #Thor shows up after 3 years and there's a new president and he's very confused through the entire meeting #brodinsons being so detached from the political scene but being so used to realm politics they come to correct conclusions about things #even though the timeline and how long things stay the same on midgard still messes with them #Loki: at least Egypt is still around #Thor: China also #Brodinsons visiting New Zealand(Aotearoa)/Australia/various British mandate islands before the British formally showed up #returning 2 centuries later and 'the gene pool has altered drastically' 'must've been a war' #well it's either that or since Asgard seems spared of colorism they treat all humans as the same and don't notice. which might be worse #on the colonisation and liberation side of things

[nixariel]

CARMEN SANDIEGO (2019) + locations: Poitiers, Prague, and Rio de Janeiro [4/?]

#my post #screencap #carmen sandiego 2019 #cs 2019 trivia #backgrounds #plus location IDs if you click! #also i've been sticking all the location/reference/nifty details i've picked up in the 'cs 2019 trivia' tag #for anyone else who likes playing 'Name That Landmark' when watching the show XDD #also although ivy references dona marta (which does include the steepest favela in rio) when she and zack are looking for le chevre #carmen flies off in the wrong direction for them to be in the santa marta favela #nor does it look big enough to accommodate the chase scenes from before and after finding VILE's mine #technically horto would be the best match based on where carmen ends up relative to the christ-the-redeemer statue #but again: too small #yet rocinha is also roughly in that direction (if about twice the distance away) and is the biggest/most famous favela #so i suspect that's what the art crew was going for #nixariel #oh. apparently they're not showing up on mobile? welp. okay then i guess the IDs are desktop-only :\ but they are there at least ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Amazon’s financial shell game let it create an “impossible” monopoly

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TUCSON (Mar 9-10), then San Francisco (Mar 13), Anaheim, and more!

For the pro-monopoly crowd that absolutely dominated antitrust law from the Carter administration until 2020, Amazon presents a genuinely puzzling paradox: the company's monopoly power was never supposed to emerge, and if it did, it should have crumbled immediately.

Pro-monopoly economists embody Ely Devons's famous aphorism that "If economists wished to study the horse, they wouldn’t go and look at horses. They’d sit in their studies and say to themselves, ‘What would I do if I were a horse?’":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/27/economism/#what-would-i-do-if-i-were-a-horse

Rather than using the way the world actually works as their starting point for how to think about it, they build elaborate models out of abstract principles like "rational actors." The resulting mathematical models are so abstractly elegant that it's easy to forget that they're just imaginative exercises, disconnected from reality:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/03/all-models-are-wrong/#some-are-useful

These models predicted that it would be impossible for Amazon to attain monopoly power. Even if they became a monopoly – in the sense of dominating sales of various kinds of goods – the company still wouldn't get monopoly power.

For example, if Amazon tried to take over a category by selling goods below cost ("predatory pricing"), then rivals could just wait until the company got tired of losing money and put prices back up, and then those rivals could go back to competing. And if Amazon tried to keep the loss-leader going indefinitely by "cross-subsidizing" the losses with high-margin profits from some other part of its business, rivals could sell those high margin goods at a lower margin, which would lure away Amazon customers and cut the supply lines for the price war it was fighting with its discounted products.

That's what the model predicted, but it's not what happened in the real world. In the real world, Amazon was able use its access to the capital markets to embark on scorched-earth predatory pricing campaigns. When diapers.com refused to sell out to Amazon, the company casually committed $100m to selling diapers below cost. Diapers.com went bust, Amazon bought it for pennies on the dollar and shut it down:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/13/18563379/amazon-predatory-pricing-antitrust-law

Investors got the message: don't compete with Amazon. They can remain predatory longer than you can remain solvent.

Now, not everyone shared the antitrust establishment's confidence that Amazon couldn't create a durable monopoly with market power. In 2017, Lina Khan – then a third year law student – published "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox," a landmark paper arguing that Amazon had all the tools it needed to amass monopoly power:

https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox

Today, Khan is chair of the FTC, and has brought a case against Amazon that builds on some of the theories from that paper. One outcome of that suit is an unprecedented look at Amazon's internal operations. But, as the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's Stacy Mitchell describes in a piece for The Atlantic, key pieces of information have been totally redacted in the court exhibits:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/amazon-profits-antitrust-ftc/677580/

The most important missing datum: how much money Amazon makes from each of its lines of business. Amazon's own story is that it basically breaks even on its retail operation, and keeps the whole business afloat with profits from its AWS cloud computing division. This is an important narrative, because if it's true, then Amazon can't be forcing up retail prices, which is the crux of the FTC's case against the company.

Here's what we know for sure about Amazon's retail business. First: merchants can't live without Amazon. The majority of US households have Prime, and 90% of Prime households start their ecommerce searches on Amazon; if they find what they're looking for, they buy it and stop. Thus, merchants who don't sell on Amazon just don't sell. This is called "monopsony power" and it's a lot easier to maintain than monopoly power. For most manufacturers, a 10% overnight drop in sales is a catastrophe, so a retailer that commands even a 10% market-share can extract huge concessions from its suppliers. Amazon's share of most categories of goods is a lot higher than 10%!

What kind of monopsony power does Amazon wield? Well, for one thing, it is able to levy a huge tax on its sellers. Add up all the junk-fees Amazon charges its platform sellers and it comes out to 45-51%:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

Competitive businesses just don't have 45% margins! No one can afford to kick that much back to Amazon. What is a merchant to do? Sell on Amazon and you lose money on every sale. Don't sell on Amazon and you don't get any business.

The only answer: raise prices on Amazon. After all, Prime customers – the majority of Amazon's retail business – don't shop for competitive prices. If Amazon wants a 45% vig, you can raise your Amazon prices by a third and just about break even.

But Amazon is wise to that: they have a "most favored nation" rule that punishes suppliers who sell goods more cheaply in rival stores, or even on their own site. The punishments vary, from banishing your products to page ten million of search-results to simply kicking you off the platform. With publishers, Amazon reserves the right to lower the prices they set when listing their books, to match the lowest price on the web, and paying publishers less for each sale.

That means that suppliers who sell on Amazon (which is anyone who wants to stay in business) have to dramatically hike their prices on Amazon, and when they do, they also have to hike their prices everywhere else (no wonder Prime customers don't bother to search elsewhere for a better deal!).

Now, Amazon says this is all wrong. That 45-51% vig they claim from business customers is barely enough to break even. The company's profits – they insist – come from selling AWS cloud service. The retail operation is just a public service they provide to us with cross-subsidy from those fat AWS margins.

This is a hell of a claim. Last year, Amazon raked in $130 billion in seller fees. In other words: they booked more revenue from junk fees than Bank of America made through its whole operation. Amazon's junk fees add up to more than all of Meta's revenues:

https://s2.q4cdn.com/299287126/files/doc_financials/2023/q4/AMZN-Q4-2023-Earnings-Release.pdf

Amazon claims that none of this is profit – it's just covering their operating expenses. According to Amazon, its non-AWS units combined have a one percent profit margin.

Now, this is an eye-popping claim indeed. Amazon is a public company, which means that it has to make thorough quarterly and annual financial disclosures breaking down its profit and loss. You'd think that somewhere in those disclosures, we'd find some details.

You'd think so, but you'd be wrong. Amazon's disclosures do not break out profits and losses by segment. SEC rules actually require the company to make these per-segment disclosures:

https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3524&context=lawreview#:~:text=If%20a%20company%20has%20more,income%20taxes%20and%20extraordinary%20items.

That rule was enacted in 1966, out of concern that companies could use cross-subsidies to fund predatory pricing and other anticompetitive practices. But over the years, the SEC just…stopped enforcing the rule. Companies have "near total managerial discretion" to lump business units together and group their profits and losses in bloated, undifferentiated balance-sheet items:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/public-purpose/publications/2021/dec/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragons

As Mitchell points you, it's not just Amazon that flouts this rule. We don't know how much money Google makes on Youtube, or how much Apple makes from the App Store (Apple told a federal judge that this number doesn't exist). Warren Buffett – with significant interest in hundreds of companies across dozens of markets – only breaks out seven segments of profit-and-loss for Berkshire Hathaway.

Recall that there is one category of data from the FTC's antitrust case against Amazon that has been completely redacted. One guess which category that is! Yup, the profit-and-loss for its retail operation and other lines of business.

These redactions are the judge's fault, but the real fault lies with the SEC. Amazon is a public company. In exchange for access to the capital markets, it owes the public certain disclosures, which are set out in the SEC's rulebook. The SEC lets Amazon – and other gigantic companies – get away with a degree of secrecy that should disqualify it from offering stock to the public. As Mitchell says, SEC chairman Gary Gensler should adopt "new rules that more concretely define what qualifies as a segment and remove the discretion given to executives."

Amazon is the poster-child for monopoly run amok. As Yanis Varoufakis writes in Technofeudalism, Amazon has actually become a post-capitalist enterprise. Amazon doesn't make profits (money derived from selling goods); it makes rents (money charged to people who are seeking to make a profit):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/28/cloudalists/#cloud-capital

Profits are the defining characteristic of a capitalist economy; rents are the defining characteristic of feudalism. Amazon looks like a bazaar where thousands of merchants offer goods for sale to the public, but look harder and you discover that all those stallholders are totally controlled by Amazon. Amazon decides what goods they can sell, how much they cost, and whether a customer ever sees them. And then Amazon takes $0.45-51 out of every dollar. Amazon's "marketplace" isn't like a flea market, it's more like the interconnected shops on Disneyland's Main Street, USA: the sign over the door might say "20th Century Music Company" or "Emporium," but they're all just one store, run by one company.

And because Amazon has so much control over its sellers, it is able to exercise power over its buyers. Amazon's search results push down the best deals on the platform and promote results from more expensive, lower-quality items whose sellers have paid a fortune for an "ad" (not really an ad, but rather the top spot in search listings):

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/29/aethelred-the-unready/#not-one-penny-for-tribute

This is "Amazon's pricing paradox." Amazon can claim that it offers low-priced, high-quality goods on the platform, but it makes $38b/year pushing those good deals way, way down in its search results. The top result for your Amazon search averages 29% more expensive than the best deal Amazon offers. Buy something from those first four spots and you'll pay a 25% premium. On average, you need to pick the seventeenth item on the search results page to get the best deal:

https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/3645/

For 40 years, pro-monopoly economists claimed that it would be impossible for Amazon to attain monopoly power over buyers and sellers. Today, Amazon exercises that power so thoroughly that its junk-fee revenues alone exceed the total revenues of Bank of America. Amazon's story – that these fees barely stretch to covering its costs – assumes a nearly inconceivable level of credulity in its audience. Regrettably – for the human race – there is a cohort of senior, highly respected economists who possess this degree of credulity and more.

Of course, there's an easy way to settle the argument: Amazon could just comply with SEC regs and break out its P&L for its e-commerce operation. I assure you, they're not hiding this data because they think you'll be pleasantly surprised when they do and they don't want to spoil the moment.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/01/managerial-discretion/#junk-fees

Image: Doc Searls (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/4863121221/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

#pluralistic #amazon #ilsr #institute for local self-reliance #amazon's antitrust paradox #antitrust #trustbusting #ftc #lina khan #aws #cross-subsidization #stacy mitchell #junk fees #most favored nation #sec #securities and exchange commission #segmenting #managerial discretion #ecommerce #technofeudalism

[wosowrites]

Good Girl (Ona Batlle x Reader)

warnings: smut, pr@ise k!nk

a/n: based off this request here and it is not proof read sorry.

prompt: in which it’s Ona and the readers first time sleeping together so the reader gets really nervous, resulting in Ona taking over and showing her dominant side.

You were extremely outgoing. You were the loudest in the changing rooms, the one who played the music, the first on the dance floor and the last to back down from a challenge. When you scored the opening goal or any goal during a tournament you made sure the whole stadium could hear your screams of joy. Your celebrations were famous throughout the women’s football community. So that’s why no one could have ever expected how absolutely nervous and almost submissive you were in bed.

When Ona found this out… she could not have been more pleased.

There had been some flirting between you and Ona for a year now. But it was very hard to tell what was just good old spanish friendliness and what was genuine romantic interest. The line was thin.

Ona would hold you close to her for long periods of time, guide you by your waist through crowds, kiss your cheek dangerously close to your lips, let her hand rest low on your hips and make a point of hugging you often when you were out on swim trips together. Nothing drove her more insane than the feeling of your skin on hers.

But neither of you had ever given in to your desires, both assuming the other wasn’t interested. You proved the other wrong in a hotel pool.

Manchester was playing Aston Villa in London and Mark had decided to let the team have the day off in London so the team would be arriving 24 hours before the game, spending the night at a hotel and then having a quick morning training session before the 3:00 pm game.

You all walked London, checking out landmarks and eating strongly mediocre food. Although your english was flawless and you barely had an accent, you were french Canadian and had played in France so you often missed the food in France.

By 9:00 most girls were lying in bed as instructed, but because you were rooming by yourself this time around due to an un even number of people there was no one to tell you to stay in bed. So, you slipped your bathing suit on and headed to the roof where there was a pool.

You loved swimming, especially in London spring. It was chilly and the water, cold as well, made your body feel good and helped you forget about every worry and unwelcome thought in your head.

You climbed to the roof, happy to see it deserted. You threw your towel to the side and then dived into the deep end. You loved the water so much because when you were around water during your childhood, it was one of the rare times you were happy. You let the water consume you and wash away your thoughts. You thoughts of tomorrows game, thoughts of the fight against Canada Soccer, thoughts of Ona…

But the second your brain wandered to Ona you couldn’t help it. When Ona was in your brain, so was her body. The way her hand we’re carved out to perfection, the shape of her chest under her training top and the way her arms flexed when she took shots.

All these thoughts ran through your head in only a couple seconds and then you emerged out of the water.

"Night swim?" a voice asked while your eyes were still closed due to you recently emerging from the water.

"Holy crap. Do not sneak up on me like that!" you squealed, opening your eyes and pushing your hair back and away from your face. "Sorry chica," Ona said with a wink.

You swam towards her to the edge of the pool, crossing your arms on the deck and looking up at her. The spaniard slipped off her shorts and hoodie, revealing her abs, arm muscles and tattoos. You stared to say the least until Ona snapped her fingers in front of your face, making you blush. "Sorry," you mumbled. "Don’t apologize, I’m looking at you too," she said, dipping her feet into the pool.

It was hard to tell with the young defender, hard to know what was flirting and what was just classic Ona.

"The waters really nice," you said to her, pushing your feet against the wall and gliding on your back, away from Ona and into the shallow end.

You held eye contact with the brunette, until a glow came across her face. "How much trouble do you think we would get in if we skinny dipped?" Ona said, walking around the pool towards you.

"Skinny dipping?!" you shrieked, taken aback and sounding a little more childish and stuck up than you wanted. You wanted the spaniard to think of you as being fun and loose. "Yeah y/l/n," she answered with a playful smirk. "Well. Jeez I think we’d get in a lot of trouble," you answered with a concerned frown on your face. "So you’re saying you wouldn’t like it?" Ona said, pushing a little further.

She had never seen this side of you before. You were always loud, energetic, and borderline agressive. This? This was different.

"No! I mean. No. I-yes. Yes I would like it," you blushed, starting to head into Ona’s direction.

She watched you with unblinking eyes as you swam up to her and stood up in the shallow end. Ona sat down with her toes in the water and spread her legs slightly for you to stand between, focusing on the small piece of cloth keeping you decent. "There aren’t any cameras, I asked," Ona said to you, looking up from your chest and into your eyes. "Something about not violating the privacy of the clients. Hotel policy," she added. "Mhm," you said softly, looking up into Ona’s eyes.

Your angle gave her a perfect view of you. Your wet hair, your sparkling body decorated with droplets of water. "You look beautiful," Ona said softly, just barely audible over the sound of the street below and your racing heart. "Where is all of this coming from?" you said softly, suddenly avoiding eye contact with her. "It’s coming from the fact that you are beautiful. Not just right now but always. And I may have had a drink and one drink Ona is extremely confident," she said, using her index to lift your chin.

The spaniard was now sitting on the edge of the pool with only a red bathing suit on to cover her up. Her stomach was toned and her arms were strong. Not in a threatening way, just in a hot way.

"No cameras, you said?" you whispered, your voice a hushed sound. "No cameras," she said, leaning back and subtly flexing her abdominals.

You were still standing between her legs and you gently placed your hands on her thighs, digging your nails into them softly and surely leaving little crescents on her skin. She didn’t even flinch.

Ona sat up straight and then stood up, giving you a look to follow her. You pushed yourself out of the pool and stood facing the slightly taller girl.

Her eyes were dark and hungry, but also warm and welcoming. She had always had that contrast. The one of always being alert and the one of being laid back. It was a strange mix.

The spaniard turned around and moved her loose hair out of the way, brining it to lie on her front. You saw that the back of her suit was tied by a string and slowly, with shaking hands, you lifted them up and grabbed both ends of the tie.

The way the strings fell apart freely and then slipped off Ona’s shoulder sent your body into over drive. You stood with your hands hovering over her bare back until she slowly turned around to face you. Your eyes brushed over her bare chest before landing on her eyes. "You’re beautiful. Tu est tellement parfaite." You told her adoringly. She smiled at you, a big toothy grin before slipping her thumbs under her bikini bottom and pulling it off.

You mimicked her, letting her unclasp the back of your bathing suit and then letting it fall to the ground. She put her hands on your waist and turned you around.

You felt like a ballerina.

A super gay, super secretly in love ballerina.

Ona slipped off your bottoms and then cupped your face gently. "Ready?" she asked you, her voice steady while you knew yours would be hectic. "Yeah," you let out.

Ona went in first, lowering herself to the pool and then turning to face you. You threw a worried glance behind your shoulder, half expecting someone to come in screaming at you both, but no one did. So, you walked down the stairs leading to the pool and pushed your way towards Ona. "I can’t believe we’re doing this," you laughed, avoiding eye contact with her. "I can’t believe your so shy. You’re usually loud and excited. Confident," she added.

"I’m not not confident… this is just new," you said, raising your head.

You gently placed your hands on Ona’s hips and rubbed your thumbs around her hip bone. The taller girl gently pulled you in by pushing your lower back closer to her. You moved your hands up from her hips to her ribs and then down to her ass. "Kiss me," you said to her, looking between her eyes and lips.

She did not have to be begged, within milliseconds her lips were trapped into yours, her hands had found shelter on your ass before slipping down to your thighs to pull your legs around her waist. You roughly kissed back, letting her hands roam your hair and using your abs to hold yourself up onto her. Ona’s hands traced every curve, every perfection, every part of yourself that you deemed an imperfection but she thought beautiful. You wrapped your arms loosely around her neck, playing with her baby hairs and scratching the back of her head with your nails. Ona took strides through the water to drop you onto the side of the pool, only separating your lips when necessary.

"Ona," you said to her tentatively as you sat on the poolside, avoiding her eyes. "Yes, mi amor," she said, holding you down gently by placing her hands on your thighs. "I’ve never… done this before," you said, thankful for the dark sky as your cheeks got flushed. "What do you mean? Sex? You’ve never had sex?" she asked, slightly shocked. "Ona! Of course I have," you groaned, pushing her slightly and making her send you a classic dazzling smile. "I mean something like this. In this setting. This is… daring," you told her. "Well then, you’re in luck pretty girl. Spaniards love the extra risk," she said.

Ona put her hand on your chest and pushed you down into a laying position. The taller girl bends your knees and places kisses on your thighs before spreading them to her liking. She took no time and gave you no warning before slipping a finger into you. You were already wet from her kissing you and un clothing you, your walls closing around her and making her laugh at you.

Ona pumped her middle finger into you, curling it from time to time and making you arch your back and try to grab on to the concrete desperately.

"Good god, look at you you’re doing such a good job, cariña," Ona praised.

Her words caught you off guard, your eyes flying open and a small smile forming on your face. Your hips bucked and your legs shook, partly from the oncoming orgasm and partly from the effect of her words. Ona chuckled at you as a wave of courage came over you.

"Ona. I need to come, touch me please," you begged her. "One thing at a time mi vida."

The defender made it seem as though she wouldn’t relieve you immediately, but how wrong you were. A couple seconds later, Ona had pulled out her fingers, leaving you with an uncomfortable empty feeling before pushing her face in between your legs. The brunette swiped her tongue through your lips before harshly pressing it against your clit.

Your hips went flying off the surface, grinding into her head and pushing your wetness more and more into her face. She could have gotten high off your smell and the way you slapped your hand over your mouth to muffle the cries of her name.

Ona was clearly experienced, the girl finding the perfect balance of sweet spots praise, and pleasure. You never wanted her to stop.

But eventually, when the spaniard dragged her nails over your bare abs and then latched onto your nipple, there was nothing more you could do to elongate the feeling of her face between your legs. You came onto her shaking and crying out, feeling slightly embarrassed at how easily she had made you cum.

Your hands fell to your sides as your chest heaved heavily, the heat in your stomach slightly fading but the ache in between your legs still present.

You heard movement in the water and soon enough the naked brunette was towering over you. "You did such a good job pretty girl," she said, looking down at you with a teasing smirk.

You knew your face turned bright red when the heat in your stomach transferred to your face.

Ona held out her hand and you grabbed it happily, letting her pull you up. You weren’t on your feet long though as your legs gave out, making Ona grab you underneath the arms and hold you steady. "You okay?" she asked you lovingly, her eyes wide and concerned, hoping not to have hurt you. "Yes. More than, It’s just been a while and you’re…" you gave her a little 'you know' look and she smiled.

Despite being not so tall, she was strong. Before you knew it, you were being carried bridal style towards picnic tables on the pool deck. You rested your head on Ona’s chest and closed your eyes for a couple seconds before opening them. "Wait. I want too- to you. I’m not a pillow princesse," you said to her, looking up. "Another day amor you’re clearly tired," she answered.

The spaniard sat you onto the table and grabbed your towel, gently using it to wipe you down. You surely hadn’t realized how much love was in your eyes as she helped you get dressed into your bathing suit again, but she did. She noticed how dilated your pupils were and how your hands grazed her and held on to her every time she was near.

"Thank you," you told her, leading her to stand between your legs once she was clothed as well. Ona dipped her head and rested it on yours, rubbing her thumb on your cheekbones. You raised yours pull her in by the waist before tilting your head and kissing her sweetly.

#woso fic #woso imagine #woso x reader #woso #canwnt #espwnt #ona batlle #woso smut #man united #man united women’s

[thatsthat24]

Sanderstober 2023

Upon request, I’ve provided new art prompts for this year’s month of October!! As always, feel free to do all or some of these, pick and choose whichever stands out to you! If you missed a day’s prompt but still wanted to do art for it, absolutely do that and post it whenever you want, no worries whatsoever. It’s all completely laid back and just for fun! I’ve added to this list without consulting old ones, so if I used a repeat idea, it’s possible that I just was interested in seeing more of it again this year!! Hope you all enjoy! If you’re wanting me to check them out at all, you can use the tag, #Sanderstober2023 🎃

Oct. 1st: Give me a spooky or Halloween-y figure and how he looks on Sep. 30th (their off-time, go as comical as you’d like) and then how they look Oct. 1st (traditionally how they are known to look!).

Oct. 2nd: Give me a flower design inspired by a type of candy of your choice!

Oct. 3rd: In celebration of the awesomeness that is Fionna and Cake, I’d love to see you take a character, or characters from your fave series, and give them a multiverse makeover (what they’d look like in a different universe, under different circumstances)

Oct. 4th: Take any historic landmark, and give it an autumn or Halloween-y makeover

Oct. 5th: Since I’ve been on my D&D kick with Roleslaying with Roman, what would any Halloween- or spooky-themed character be in a D&D world? What would be their race? Their class? Their backstory??

Oct. 6th: Google a Random Color Generator and use it to give you three colors. Then use those three colors to create a new Halloween creature or character.

Oct. 7th: Along the lines of Spiderman Noir, take any character you want from some sort of fiction, and depict how they might look like in any other time period!

Oct. 8th: In the spirit of having fun with both Halloween AND Christmas, take a Halloween story/character and draw what they might appear as if they were actually a character talked or sung about in a Christmas story.

Oct. 9th: Take a group of characters from one of your favorite pieces of content and create tarot cards featuring them. Google tarot cards to get inspiration if you need!

Oct. 10th: Take a musical (one that I would suppose wouldn’t already be scary) and create a poster for it as if it were the title of a scary movie

Oct. 11th: Google a Disney character generator, pick out two characters, and create what a mash-up of those two characters would look like!

Oct.12th: Pumpkin spice latte obviously has its spotlight during the fall, but could you come up with another special coffee concoction for another season/holiday of the year?

Oct. 13th: Take a Fall/Halloween concept or character and use it as inspiration for a fashionable outfit

Oct. 14th: As a tribute to Barbenheimer this year, take any character from Barbie or Oppenheimer and depict how they’d appear in the other movie

Oct. 15th: Take the last text you received. Use all or part of it to base a whole movie off of it of any genre, and create a poster for it

Oct. 16th: Take one of the names of your current pet, old pet, or friend’s pet, and use that name as the inspiration for a superhero. What would that superhero look like?

Oct. 17th: Is there a phrase that one of your parents or friend says all the time? Take it and imagine it’s the name of a children’s book. What would that children’s book cover look like?

Oct. 18th: Take a Disney villain, and depict them as a Disney princess

Oct. 19th: Take a Disney Princess and depict them as a Disney villain!

Oct. 20th: Take any Greek god and imagine what their preferred activity might be on an average Fall day.

Oct. 21st: Take a board game (one that I would suppose wouldn’t be scary) and create a poster for it as if it were the title of a scary movie

Oct. 22nd: This is an annual favorite of mine - take take any character(s) from a piece of content of your choice and depict them like a Tim Burton character

Oct. 23rd: Take a famous brand logo (Toyota, Playstation, Campbell’s Soup, Facebook, literally any logo from anything) and design a Pokemon inspired by the logo and color palette! Bonus for naming it and giving it stats!

Oct. 24th: In the spirit AGAIN of having fun with both Halloween AND Christmas, now take a Christmas story/character and draw what they might appear as if they were actually a character talked or sung about in a Halloween story.

Oct. 25th: Another favorite of mine: take any character(s) from a piece of animated content you enjoy, and draw them in the style of another piece of animated content!

Oct. 26th: Go to the latest playlist you were listening to, put it on shuffle, and see what song it plays. Take the title of that song and use it as inspiration for a Halloween/Autumn themed drawing of your choice.

Oct. 27th: Take a favorite pair of characters from a piece of content you enjoy and depict what their matching Halloween costumes would be!

Oct. 28th: [Random event from this past year] … and Zombies!!

Oct. 29th: Every town’s got some local businesses with interesting names (Jerry’s Tire Barn Emporium, stuff like that). If you know of one in your local town, take that name, and imagine it to be the name of a Haunted House. Depict what that location may look like. I wanna learn about some funny local business names.

Oct. 30th: Take one item from your desk/workspace, anything you want. This item is now the inpiration of a brand NEW cryptid (like Sasquatch, Loch Ness, El Chupacabra, just some legendary creature we have yet to find hard evidence of). Depict what this cryptid would be!

Oct. 31st: And, of course, in typical fashion for the big day, give me any character(s) of your choice, from any piece of content, enjoying Halloween in whatever way seems appropriate to them!!

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL October! And hope you enjoy these different art ideas! Looking forward to anything it may bring about!

#Sanderstober2023 Prompts #Sanderstober2023

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Alla Nazimova (A Doll's House, Camille, Salomé)—She was a proud lesbian, she was a director, she was artsy and experimental, she was instrumental in the rise to fame of Rudolph Valentino, she had the worlds biggest strap on energy

Xia Meng, also known as Hsia Moog or Miranda Yang (Sunrise, Bride Hunter)—For those who are familiar with Hong Kong's early cinema, Xia Meng is THE leading woman of an era, the earliest "silver-screen goddess", "The Great Beauty" and "Audrey Hepburn of the East". Xia Meng starred in 38 films in her 17-year career, and famously had rarely any flops, from her first film at the age of 18 to her last at the age of 35. She was a rare all-round actress in Mandarin-language films, acting, singing, and dancing with an enchanting ease in films of diverse genres, from contemporary drama to period operas. She was regarded as the "crown princess" among the "Three Princesses of the Great Wall", the iconic leading stars of the Great Wall Movie Enterprises, which was Hong Kong's leading left-wing studio in the 1950s-60s. At the time, Hong Kong cinema had only just taken off, but Xia Meng's influence had already spread out to China, Singapore, etc. Overseas Chinese-language magazines and newspapers often featured her on their covers. The famous HK wuxia novelist Jin Yong had such a huge crush on her that he made up a whole fake identity as a nobody-screenwriter to join the Great Wall studio just so he can write scripts for her. He famously said, "No one has really seen how beautiful Xi Shi (one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China) is, I think she should be just like Xia Meng to live up to her name." In 1980, she returned to the HK film industry by forming the Bluebird Movie Enterprises. As a producer with a heart for the community, she wanted to make a film on the Vietnam War and the many Vietnam War refugees migrating to Hong Kong. She approached director Ann Hui and produced the debut film Boat People (1982), a globally successful movie and landmark feature for Hong Kong New Wave, which won several awards including the best picture and best director in the second Hong Kong Film Award. Years later, Ann Hui looked back on her collaboration with Xia Meng, "I'm very grateful to her for allowing me to make what is probably the best film I've ever made in my life."

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Alla Nazimova:

HOT as hell. GAY as hell. TALENTED as hell. Producer, director, writer, actress. A silent era superstar who is credited with having coined the term "sewing circle" as a code-word for gatherings of lesbian and bisexual women. Has been called "the founding mother of Sapphic Hollywood" and was the owner/operator of the Garden of Alla Hotel in West Hollywood, which she bought in 1919 and sold in 1928 after deciding she wanted to go back to Broadway. In addition to starring opposite Valentino in Camille, she also had an affair with BOTH of his wives (Jean Acker and Natacha Rambova). In her day, she was one of the most influential women in the business.

"Nazimova was primarily a star during the silent film era, and her career in film started when she was almost forty. She was openly bisexual, and was engaged in two lavender marriages during her life while she carried on relationships with women (including at least one, and possibly two, of Rudolph Valentino's wives). She was brilliant and an autodidact - when she first moved to the United States from Ukraine, she spoke no English, but taught herself "in about five months" and went on to work as a screenwriter (among other things). Her predilections lay in art film, and she's credited with starring in / producing / directing one of the first American art films, the adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play Salome (1923). She has an elegant and commanding presence in all of her films, and is an absolute sensation to watch in motion."

Gif link, another gif link

A great actress who also produced a great deal of her films, Nazimova is absolutely mesmerizing to watch. She was also bi and coined the phrase "sewing circle" for sapphic celebrities.

Xia Meng:

#xia meng #alla nazimova #hotvintagepoll #fuck that old woman #ladies 3

[blakeswritingimagines]

Dating Nico Hischier Would Include:

Are you ready for the best relationship of your life? Are you craving passion, intensity, and excitement? Then he is your man! He is the king of romance and the supreme leader of seduction. He is the definition of romance and intimacy. Let him whisk you away to a world of passion.

Dating him is like an adventure. He is always bringing you along for the ride, wherever it takes you both. He'll make sure you always feel a part of it, and that you're always feeling good. It'll be a trip through your shared experiences and feelings, as you grow and explore together. And he'll always be there for you, through all of it.

He's a very passionate person, so you'll never be lacking in that area. He'll always be ready to show you how much he cares about you, and he'll always be there for you, whether it's through words of affirmation or physical touch. He'll always have your back and want to support you in whatever you want to do. He'll always want to be your biggest cheerleader.

Jealousy can be a natural part of relationships, but it's important to handle it in a healthy way. If he ever has feelings of jealousy, he'll talk to you about them. You'll have an open and honest conversation so that you can both understand where the other is coming from. He'll always be respectful of your feelings, and try to find a compromise or resolution that makes both of you feel secure.

When he's away for games and you can't join him, he'll make sure to stay in touch, to let you know how he's doing and what's going on. He'll share pictures and stories of his experiences with you, and keep you updated on everything happening. He'll always make sure he has time for you, and make you feel like you're a part of his life, even when you're apart.

When you travel together, he'll make sure to include you in the planning process. He'll take your interests and preferences into account, and make sure you have plenty of time to explore and experience new things. You can try out local cuisine, visit famous landmarks, and have lots of fun activities planned. He'll always be there with you, sharing in the adventure and making sure you feel safe and comfortable in unfamiliar territory.

When you go on dates, he'll always make sure you feel special. He'll pick out a nice location, plan a fun activity, and put thought and effort into our evening. He'll make sure it's romantic and enjoyable, whether you're having dinner and drinks at a nice restaurant, or enjoying a walk by the river. You'll have plenty of time to enjoy each other's company and he'll make sure you leave with a smile on your face.

When it comes to affection, he'll always make sure to show his love in both words and actions. He'll be affectionate with hugs, kisses, cuddles, and tender touches. He'll be open and loving, letting you know how much he cares about you, and how much you mean to him. In return, he'll appreciate your affection, and let you know how much he enjoys it.

He's also a very loyal and faithful partner. He would never do anything to hurt you or betray your trust. He's also a good listener, so you can always count on him to be there for you when you need someone to talk to.

You can never have a boring moment with him. He has a great sense of humor and will always make you laugh. He loves to hear about your day and how you're feeling. He can be very protective and possessive, and he would do anything to make sure you're safe and happy.

He's good at handling rude fans. He just tries to ignore them or politely tell them to stop. But if they continue to be rude or mean, he'll get mad and tell them off. He's done it before, and he'll do it again. He won't let anyone disrespect his girl.

He always takes care of you when you're sick or feeling down, and on bad days he's right there to comfort you and tell you that it'll be okay. He's the kind of guy who will bring you flowers and chocolates when you're feeling down, or take you out for dinner and make sure that you have an amazing night.

One thing he definitely can't forget is that he's an amazing cook just for you. He knows all your favorite meals, and he always makes sure to make them just the way you like them or orders for you when out together.

He's really devoted to your relationship. He's always putting in effort, and he never takes you for granted. And he always tries to make you feel special, whether that's by getting you flowers or taking you on a romantic date.

He's also very patient. He never rushs you or pressure you to do anything that you're not comfortable with. He always wants you to feel comfortable and at ease around him. And he also loves to take care of you and makes sure you feel loved and protected.

He's not a perfect guy, though. He's a bit of a hopeless romantic and sometimes get carried away with his feelings which can cause him to make mistakes. But he always learns from his flaws and try to correct them for the future.

He loves going out with you. He loves showing you off, and he loves how you light up when people see how beautiful you are. He always enjoys taking you on dates and making sure that you're having a great time. There's nothing better than making memories together and seeing the joy on your face when you're out together enjoying yourselves.

He would also protect you from any unwanted attention. If someone tried to bother you or make you feel uncomfortable, he would quickly step in and make sure that they stop. You don't have to worry about anything when he's around, because he's got your back always.

If you were more shy, he'd still enjoy going out with you. Even tho you might be shy and not enjoy being the center of attention, he would still make sure that you're enjoying yourself. He would be more gentle with you and try to make you as comfortable as possible. And he would make sure to hold your hand gently, so you wouldn't feel too shy or uncomfortable.

He would also love to just spend time at home with you too, whether it's watching movies or just spending time together talking or hanging out. And he would also love to just go for walks together and just enjoy your time together in a more quiet and comfortable way.

He would also show that he's a gentleman and always open doors for you, pull the chair out when you go out to eat, and offer to carry any bags you may have. He also shows affection through physical contact, so he'll hold you close and give you hugs and kisses whenever you feel comfortable with it.

When it comes to intimacy, he prefers keeping things more vanilla in the beginning. He's a big fan of missionary position and gentle touches. He's also a big fan of cuddling, kisses and hugs.

Some of his favorites include role-playing, bondage, and exploring new things with you. He's also very open-minded and loves trying new things, so he's always open to exploring new kinks with you. He especially loves it when you explore his body and touch him in places that feel good for both of you.

He also loves to take control and take the lead in the bedroom. He loves making you his and showing you who's in charge. He loves to give you orders, tell you what to do, and take control of your body.

Edging. Hearing you beg and seeing you desperate for him as he keeps you just on the brink of ecstasy affects him more than words can describe.

Light Bondage. He enjoys tying you up and caressing your body, as well as being the one who is being tied up sometimes.

Toys. He finds it exciting to use toys in the bedroom like dildos, vibrators, and other tools that can enhance your experience.

#nico hischier #nico hischier x reader #nico hischier blurb #nhl x reader #nhl fic #new jersey devils #dating would include

[rustedhearts]

GQ: 12 Rounds with Steve Harrington

Aug. 14th, 2001

by Charlotte Cooper

Former middleweight boxing champion Steve Harrington sat down with GQ Magazine to dish on the reason behind his retirement, his bloody past in the ring, and his twelve year relationship with wife Libby.

I arranged to meet the brooding boxer at a cafe in West Hollywood. The Harringtons settled into a quiet community in California after the birth of their daughter, Jane, in 1997. They're spotted by paparazzi running errands and attending events for fellow famous friends looking like a pair of models.

Today, Harrington cruises up to the cafe in a fiery orange Pontaic GTO (after the interview, I googled the car: a 1969...fat money, Harrington.) Donning his infamous black Ray-Bans, a white t-shirt, and a pair of loose jeans, he walks to our table on the patio like he used to walk into the ring: a confident stride, a professional pokerface.

CC: Steve, it's lovely to meet you.

SH: Yeah, you too.

CC: Are you a big coffee guy?

SH: Huge. I hate these hipster places, though—I don't want anything with a fancy name.

CC: Black coffee for you then?

SH: Yep.

He did, indeed, order a black coffee—iced, the largest size they offered—and, to my surprise, a blueberry muffin. He mumbled something about his wife scolding him for not having enough fiber in his diet as he picked at the sugared top.

CC: Mind if we get started then?

SH: Why not?

CC: I had a fun idea for us. I'm limiting myself to 12 questions. 12 rounds—12 questions.

SH: Clever.

CC: Thank you, I hoped you'd think so. Okay, to start, what's life looked like for you lately? What have you spent the summer doing?

SH: Uh...just hangin' out, really. Libby, my wife, and I have been spending a lot of time with our daughter outside. We've traveled a few places, seen some landmarks. Was that a 2-in-1 question or 2 questions?

CC: I think we can call it a 2-in-1. That sounds lovely, what landmarks have you seen?

SH: I think you're gonna use your 12 up pretty fast. Uh...we saw the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore—total waste of time, by the way. Couple a' stone heads. Bullsh*t.

CC: The Founding Fathers weren't your cup of tea?

SH: Nah. Just a couple of old a**holes on a mountain. Nothing special.

CC: What about Libby, any place she favored?

SH: God, anywhere with a f****in' library, and she's over the moon. Bookstores, too.

CC: That's right, she was a librarian, wasn't she?

SH: Still is, though she might not work in one. She's workin' on something special, I won't say too much about it.

CC: I look forward to hearing about it! Does she have a favorite library?

SH: We went to Scotland for our honeymoon, she spent the first afternoon in a musty library somewhere in the country. I lost her in a bunch of Shakespeare manuscripts.

CC: Wow. She's dedicated to her craft.

SH: Yeah, that's true. Shakespeare c**kblocked me, though.

CC: Damnit, Shakespeare.

That got Harrington to laugh. I think I'm the first person to get Steve Harrington to laugh in an interview. This is going on my headstone.

CC: Now, down to some serious matters, and why we're all here. Tell me about the retirement.

SH: Not much to say. Just somethin' I had to do.

CC: You had a pretty gruesome injury in the tenth round of the O'Malley fight in '99. Did this have anything to do with your retirement?

SH: Yeah. Pretty much everything to do with it.

CC: Tell me a bit about that.

SH: I mean...one minute I'm on my feet pounding a guy, the next the lights are off. It was just...noiseless. Totally silent...other than this ringin' in my ears.

CC: What do you remember next?

SH: Waking up in the hospital. Libby was just screaming. I've never heard her scream like that. I think she thought I was dead or something.

CC: To be fair, all of America thought you died in that ring.

Here, Harrington picked up his coffee and took a long sip. He looked off toward the busy road, the cars whizzing by.

SH: You seem to know a bit about it.

CC: My father's a big fan.

SH: Ah. Yeah...I guess. She doesn't like talking about it.

CC: That's valid. Do you?

Though Harrington hadn't been in the ring professionally in half a decade, he seemed as big and wide as ever. His shoulders were massive when he shrugged them.

SH: Not particularly, but...it's been easier to. I don't know, not fightin' anymore...my body feels different, I feel different.

CC: A good different?

SH: I guess.

CC: Do you miss it?

Again, a look off toward the road. I got another ghost of a smile.

SH: Sometimes. But...I don't regret retiring when I did.

CC: Some people in the sports industry claim that you faked the injury because you knew you were going to lose that fight. What do you have to say to that?

A real laugh this time. Two laughs in one interview? This was going down in the history books.

SH: I'd say I bet they'd never say that to my face.

CC: I, for one, saw that match, and can confidently say you weren't faking a thing.

SH: Think my brain bleed would say the same thing.

CC: How many concussions would you guess you had during your career?

SH: Psh...probably more than I even know. Some of those headaches were probably concussions and I just didn't know. I think our 12 round question thing’s done for.

CC: I think so, too. How did Libby feel about all that, the concussions?

SH: Back then? She was a nervous wreck all the time. I really...I really put her through the wringer.

CC: But she stuck by your side. You guys are very dedicated to each other.

SH: Yeah. She's the strongest woman I know.

CC: Did she ever try boxing for herself?

SH: Oh, absolutely not. I taught her the basics—right/left hook, jab, block—but she'd never step foot into the ring.

CC: Too much blood?

SH: Seeing what it did to me. What it did to our family.

CC: The O'Malley fight really altered the course of your life.

SH: I guess. But sitting in that hospital bed, I didn't even have retirement on my mind.

CC: What was on your mind then?

SH: Oh, I wanted to get back out there. I was ready to...maybe prove myself, I guess?

CC: You wanted revenge?

SH: Yeah, that's the word.

CC: For the injury?

SH: It wasn't so much that. I've got nothin' against O'Malley, by the way. He's a fair fighter, he did exactly what he was supposed to do.

CC: Then why the need for revenge?

SH: I guess because...the injury put me in a position where I couldn't take care of my family. I couldn't provide for them. And that pissed me off.

CC: I see. All the frustration, it was because you were immobilized.

SH: Yeah, I guess. And I had f****in' memory loss, so that pissed me off—forgetting sh*t you know that you know. My little girl was still a baby, too, so...it was hard.

CC: You take pride in being able to care for your family.

SH: Yeah. They're all I got.

CC: So when was the moment you decided to retire?

SH: I think...when I couldn't pick my daughter up. I couldn't lift anything heavy, and even though she was this tiny little thing...she was too heavy to move.

CC: That must've been heartbreaking.

SH: I wanted to see her grow up more than I wanted another championship belt.

CC: Yeah, you've got—what?—fifty of those?

SH: Eh, you stop keeping track.

CC: Before you go, I'd like to ask some lighter questions, reminisce about your glory days.

SH: Sure, go for it.

CC: Do you have a favorite match?

SH: Uh...not really? If I had to choose, probably the St.Jude's match with Munson. It was fun, just sparring around the ring with a buddy.

CC: You and Eddie Munson took the 90s by storm.

SH: We were just havin' fun.

CC: Still friends?

SH: Oh yeah.

CC: Lastly, what are your guilty pleasures right now?

SH: Well, I gave up smoking. A direct order from the missus. So, I eat a lot to replace it.

CC: Have a favorite snack?

SH: Honestly, I love Pringles. The pizza ones.

CC: That's a good choice. Well, thank you so much for meeting with me, Steve.

SH: Hey, thanks for makin' the time.

#rolly! #boxer!steve harrington #steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x reader #boxer!steve #joe keery #steve harrington fanfic

[mykoreanlove]

Hey i was the one who asked for Taemin😅☺️

So my request is one where taemin and the reader (also famous one) where a couple and they casually meet at a restaurant in Paris after mnet concert so they spend the night talking (and confessing they miss each other)and the next day there are photos and videos of them and the fans start shipping them…

I appreciate very much🧡

Here we go - I hope u like it :)

“I am starving! Can we go now?”

Your manager grabbed your coat and ushered you out of the venue. “You are unbearable when you’re hungry. You know that?”

A small smirk left your lips as you remembered who used to say the same thing to you, too.

Taemin.

He even carried snacks with him in case you got hangry. Your boyfriend was such an attentive man, always making sure that you were taken care off. Well, he used to, as he was not your boyfriend anymore.

Taemin, the love of your life, turned into Taemin, public figure you tried your best to avoid.

“Get in”, he opened the cab door for you. Luckily, there were only a few fans waiting for you outside, making this exit fast and effortless. You waved your goodbyes and got into the cab, exhausted and starving.

“What did you think of the concert, y/n?”

You turned around to face him – your manager was a handsome man. He was righteous, smart and dependable; a valuable asset you couldn’t miss in your life. And yet, that asset caused a lot of trouble for you.

You shrugged your shoulders. “It was okay, nothing I haven’t seen before.”

He chuckled. “Are you still in a bad mood?”

His comment stung. Still.

You were in a very bad mood weeks ago when you had to call it quits with Taemin because he couldn’t handle his jealousy. You wanted to slap the shit out of him for breaking your heart like that. He wasn’t jealous because of fans or exes, no, he was jealous of your manager. The one you spent most of your time with, the one that was way too good looking to be around you all the time like that.

Feelings of anger and heartbreak turned into sadness and apathy, but still, your manager’s comment was uncalled for.

“I know you didn’t like him, but I did. And loosing him like that was very painful to me, so yes, I am in a bad mood. Still.”

You shut down this conversation and watched the moving scenery out of the window. You had always been fond of Paris, no matter the season nor time but something about Paris by night filled your heart with the most joy. The cab passed the Eiffel tower, which was illuminated beautifully.

“We’re here”, your manager explained. You didn’t understand, though. “At Eiffel tower? What do you mean?” He chuckled and opened the door for you. “There is a very famous restaurant up on the tower. Not a lot of people get the chance to dine there. However, you do, y/n.”

You couldn’t stop gasping as you went up on the elevator. You had been in this business for a while, but you were not used to extravagant and lavish things like this.

“Let’s take a photo for your fans”, your manager nudged you. Both of you looked into the massive mirror that was attached to the wall of the elevator and smiled warmly. After that you took a good look at the reflection – you were wearing a beautiful dress, going up to an exclusive restaurant with a handsome man. This whole situation was oozing romance and you almost felt like a princess as long as you ignored the wrong prince by your side.

As you entered the restaurant you were greeted by polite waiters, ushering you to your place. The place was immaculate – a modern and stylish interior with giant windows which made it possible to overview all of Paris.

“Fuck me”, you mumbled under your breath. This was breathtaking, marvelous even. Gratitude was flooding your body, paired with a bit of sadness as you would have loved to experience this with the right prince by your side.

The waiter rambled happily, explaining each and every landmark of France’s capital. “It is amusing that you’re coming here today, mademoiselle.”

“And why is that?” You loved talking to the old waiter, he was full of joy and appreciation for life.

“Because tonight we also have another popstar from Korea with us. Perhaps you know each other?”

Quickly, you glanced at your manager who simply shrugged his shoulders. You had no idea that one of your colleagues might be here as well. Who could it be?

“Do you want to go meet him?”

You nodded and followed him, eagerly anticipating who it could be. Your waiter led you to a separé where a bunch of people were enjoying their dinner joyously.

“Here, mademoiselle y/n, our other guest from South Korea is-“

Your heart sank instantly as you recognized him.

“Taemin.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck – the only thing that was going through your brain. On the outside, however, you appeared calm and collected. All those years of training definitely paid off, as you were able to mask any emotion.

Taemin however was caught off guard. He was dressed in all black, looking too good to be real. His hair black with some light accents, his eyes hooded from the alcohol and his lips slightly apart from the shock of seeing you.

“Hey everybody, funny seeing you here. Enjoy your meal, it looks delicious.”

You turned around and rushed out of the restaurant, brushing off your manager as you needed time alone to collect yourself.

Luckily, the elevator was still on your floor, so you got in and did your best to breathe. You didn’t want to cry, not here, not now. As the door was about to close a man jumped into the elevator, making it in in the last second before it shut for good.

“What the-“, you mumbled under your breath as you realized who it was.

“Y/N”, his voice still held the same amount of love for you as it did back then.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for a shoot. And then I went to a concert earlier and my crew wanted to come here, so I-“

“Not in Paris, Taemin. What are you doing here?”, you interrupted him.

He looked at you sweetly, making your insides churn.

“I couldn’t let you get away like that. I was in shock when you turned up at my table, honestly, I thought I was hallucinating you.”

You noticed a smile forming on your lips which you shut down immediately.

Stop getting your hopes up, you idiot.

“I wouldn’t have come if I had known that it was you. Sorry.”

Taemin grabbed your hand. “No, don’t be. Don’t be sorry, y/n. I am so grateful that you came over. What are the odds of us running into each other? Here? In Paris?”

His hand was warm, feelings of familiarity flooded you. The sound of the opening elevator doors ended this nostalgic moment for you as you pushed his hand off yours and went out.

Taemin ran after you and stopped you in your tracks.

“Y/N, please. Stay. I need to talk to you.” He was pleading, his eyes were sincere. “What is there to talk about?”

He sighed deeply. “I let you walk away once and that was the biggest mistake of my life. I’m not doing it again, y/n. I still feel the same way about you. Don’t you?”

There was this feeling again. In the pits of your stomach, you felt something vibrant, like a butterfly that survived the horrors of your heartbreak and still clung unto hope. Taemin took your hand into his, drawing small circles on it, knowing that this would calm you down. “Why don’t we go for a walk?”

You gave in and walked with him, your hand still in his, your heart already fluttering. Both of you remained silent, just casually walking side by side. You passed a garden and ended up at the river, appreciating the view from there, as well. “God, this city is the essence of beauty”, you admired out loud. Taemin’s eyes lit up as you were finally opening up to him.

“It is”, he agreed, “that’s why I always wanted to come here with you.” You mustered him suspiciously. “You did?”

He flashed you his brightest smile. “Of course, I did. I had it all planned out. We would stay in one of those beautiful hotels that has a direct view on the tower. And we would walk on the Champs Elysée, and I would buy you anything you want. We would eat all day, like crepes and macarons and we would be up all night, paying the city of love its proper homage. We’d fly back to Korea wearing those stupid I love Paris shirts and tell everybody about our trip and how amazing it was, because we’d been there together.”

His words were the sweetest, yet all you could feel was sadness. This trip was nothing but a fantasy that died in the moment you two broke up.

“I am sorry about what happened, y/n. I acted like a complete moron. I was just…. overpowered by my emotions and I couldn’t think clearly. Truth is, I miss you. I think about you every single day and I want you back. I want us back.”

You noticed a small tear running down his cheek and couldn’t help yourself, your own tears started flowing, as well.

Taemin grabbed you and pressed his forehead against yours. “Please don’t cry, my star. Let me make it up to you. I can fix this. I can fix this… if you let me.”

You slung your arms around him and hugged him tight. All the burden you had felt these last months finally fell off you and you were able to embrace whatever this thing between you was.

Taemin placed sweet kisses on the crown of your head, tightening his grip on you. “You know, my life has been so dark ever since we parted ways but now, I finally feel like the light is coming back.” He whispered into your ear: “My star is finally coming back.”

You looked up at him, touched by his words and vulnerability. Taemin understood you without words, he always did, and kissed you tenderly. This kiss felt like an explosion, a mixture of love, longing, and relief.

It was him who broke the kiss, chuckling happily as he repeated his endearing nickname for you over and over again.

“My star. My star. My star. I can’t believe it. I have you back. I finally have you back with me, y/n, my star, my love. I-“

You crushed your lips on his again, not wanting to terminate this moment just yet. “Easy tiger, we’re still in public.”

Ah, fuck.

You let go of him, slightly ashamed but still content. “Thank you for running after me, Tae.” He placed another kiss on your knuckles. “My pleasure, y/nnie.”

Your rumbling stomach interrupted this wholesome moment, reminding you that you were still starving. “It’s a shame I haven’t eaten before we left though”, you laughed out loud. Taemin’s hand searched for something in his pocket. You watched him pull out one of your favorite snacks, handing it to you. “I know this isn’t French cuisine but it’s better than nothing.”

Your eyes teared up again. “Did you carry this with you? Even after we broke up?” He nodded in agreement.

Fuck, I really love you. And you love me.

Taemin grabbed your hand. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

He smirked at you. “My hotel is right around the corner. Let’s go there and I’ll let you gaze at the Eiffel tower while I gaze at you.” You erupted in laughter. “Ewww, since when are you so cheesy?”

You woke up entangled in one another. Panicked, you recalled last night but calmness settled in as you realized that it was all true. You were back together and this time it would be different. Taemin was still asleep, looking like an angel to you. You noticed your phone lightning up and checked your messages, it was flooded with texts from your manager.

“Don’t even lie to me about last night, y/n. The internet is full of pictures of Taemin and you smooching it up. CALL ME!”

Panic flooded your body, you instantly shot up.

“My star”, Taemin mumbled half-asleep, “come back into my arms and sleep some more. Please.”

God, he was adorable but now was not the time.

You opened your socials and searched for the pictures. There they were – him and you kissing, him and you talking, him and you eating snacks.

Shit, this can’t be good.

“My staaaaar”, Taemin’s hands grabbed you and pulled him to him. You scanned the comments hastily.

OMG, I love them!!

They are so cute together.

In Paris? This is like a kDrama lol.

He is so hot! If I can’t be dating him, he should date someone as cool as y/n

My girl got lucky!!!

“Y/N.”

Taemin, his voice all hot and bothered in your ear, was ready to throw your phone out. “Is there anything you need to attend to right this instant, my star?”

Luckily, there wasn’t.

You placed your phone on the nightstand next to the bed and turned around, vanishing under the covers with your hot and heavy boyfriend.

“Nope, I’m all yours.”

** the end **

#mykoreanlove #shinee taemin #taemin smut #taemin x reader #taemin scenario #taemin guilty #taemin shinee #taemin fanfic #taemin fluff #taemin x you #lee taemin smut #lee taemin #shinee x reader #shinee imagines #shinee fluff #shinee fic #taemin x y/n #lee taemin icons #fanfic #kpop requests #kpop fanfic #kpop fluff

[ileftmysoulinnorway]

We all had a tough end of the week, so I thought I would put together something about my IWTV set lurking experience in Prague, hopefully to cheer someone up and show you that the people working on our little show are incredible, everything is well thought out, and we have a lot to look forward to.

Locations

I am confident that Prague will be a good substitute for Paris. I love this post comparing Prague's Théâtre des Vampires location with a real Le Grand Guignol in Paris. But similar care is given to other locations as well.

I like to joke that I enjoyed a month-long tour of Prague's most famous landmarks, only to have the actual filming take place in nondescript alleyways right next to them. But it makes perfect sense. They want to capture the nicer and older parts of the city that suit them, but not anything that would tell you it's Prague.

Production design, costumes

I saw them build everything from scratch on several sets. And I'm in awe. From putting up posters that will probably only appear in the background of a single shot, to street names that fit the exact topography of Paris and make sense in the context of the scenes that take place on them, to storefronts that they really didn't have to pay that much attention to, or a menu at Le Dakar Café that you could only read up close, but someone took the trouble to make it anyway?

And maybe this attention to detail is normal, I don't know, but I still think Mara and her team deserve all the praise they get.

S1 showed us how much attention is paid to the costumes. I can assure you that has not changed. All the hats, coats, capes and dresses. I can't tell you how many times I've been pleasantly surprised. By the choice of colors for Lestat. By how beautifully all of Armand's black clothes come to life with little details.

People

There are so many people (and I mean SO many) working on the show and they all know exactly what is expected of them, everything runs like a well-oiled machine. I haven't seen any problems, any conflicts, any excesses.

I'm not under any illusion that everything was trouble-free, but really the only complaints I heard were about the horrendously hellish schedule (I guess that's normal) and then the occasional person wishing they had finished earlier (they never finished earlier).

They are all heroes to me.

Directors

Levan is the only one I saw. He seems so focused and professional. His "rolling...and action" is unforgettable.

Actors

After six locations and about fifteen scenes (and countless rehearsals and takes), I think I managed to get at least some idea of them, and yes, they really seem to be such nice people.

- Jacob, I don't envy him at all the emotional strain of playing Louis, but at the same time I love his portrait of Louis so much.

- Sam's transformation into Lestat is something to behold.

- Assad was the only one present on every set. I don't think we've fully realized how big a role he's going to have (at least in S2).

- Delainey, Ben, Roxane and everyone else 💜

Scenes

They were far from finished when the strike started, but at least (in my opinion) they got to the last block of episodes. 

I'm not going to pretend to have a concrete idea of what to expect from S2 based on what little I saw. But I do have a few guesses, and I'm insanely excited and thrilled. And, in the case of the 1700s flashbacks, totally confused. I can't believe they're going to do so many unexpected things, or other things so soon.

I truly believe that S2 will not disappoint any of us. We just have to wait a little longer. But if this strike means that everyone gets a better deal and the studios are forced to change their ways, it will be worth the wait.

#iwtvphotos&asks

[real-total-drama-takes]

I have a theory that they never actually went to Japan in World Tour. In every other episode, they're at famous landmarks. But if they aren't, they're at least OUTSIDE. In the Japan episode, they spend the first half of the episode in a game show studio. They never say what the game show is. Harold and Tyler are geeking out over their mutual love of Japanese game shows but they don't say "Oh, this is the set from so and so!". The second half of the episode is entirely in the plane. The song is in the episode is before they even land in Japan! It's all about how they're falling to their deaths! I know people have criticized how they barely used Japan in the episode but I'm seriously starting to believe that they were never in Japan. I don't know why they didn't go or if they weren't allowed to but they were never in Japan. New headcanon: that was the movie lot. Which means they just went to Canada again.

.

#total drama #tdwt

[inchidentally]

What do you think was the turning point in Lando and Oscar's relationship?

I really want to know what other ppl think about this bc for me personally I don't think that moment has even come yet! I made this post about a landmark landoscar moment but I don't think that's been the big turning point into them going ahhh this is it, this is what our friendship is.

like I've said before in my way too many text posts, Lando has stayed thrown by the fact that Oscar doesn't even remotely fit into the Carlos and Daniel type of teammate he's used to. Lando's shown Oscar his quiet side, his fidgety side, his cocky side, his bratty side, his naughty/flirty side and all of them get the same quiet fond indulgent response from Oscar. guys like Carlos and Daniel have known exactly how to play Lando almost from day one and we get all this great content. but apart from a little bit of sass back sometimes, Oscar stays in that very passive role and the content we get from them is Oscar watching his very famous, very well-established and charismatic teammate that he's used to watching on a phone screen. occasionally we get glimpses of Prema or Alpine Oscar come out but it's very rare.

I feel like he's wanted to just get his head down this season and prove himself the way he's said he feels he needs to. he's clearly taking nothing for granted and I don't think we're going to see him start to fully relax until a good few races into 2024. Lando is F1/McLaren establishment by now and personally I think Oscar puts Lando into the same category of things that he's trying to prove himself to. that was terrible sentence structure but you get what I mean ??

(rest under a cut bc yeah I overdo it and also just my opinion so pls nobody take it seriously)

the general standard for F1 rookies is either to latch onto the personality of their teammate or show up with a persona already in place. in both cases it's because young men have crazy amounts of insecurity but are also desperate to ingratiate themselves into a group as fast as possible. Lando was kind of an exception bc he entered F1 basically as a zygote. he went from being Carlos' baby to Daniel's baby right up until the late 2022 season. but since then we've seen Lando learn how to do the flirty humor and cocky joking that pretty much all drivers use to navigate each other. Lando's not naturally as much of a cabrón as the rest of them but he's found a way to fit in that feels natural and that also tracks with his streamer/youtuber identity.

but literally NONE of that F1 rookie standard behavior fits Oscar. I was talking about this with @landofication and how Oscar's confidence and unbotheredness comes from a such genuinely harmless place - he simply doesn't perform for anyone and he doesn't fib to people even casually. he's incredibly well-raised and respectful and polite but he won't ever say things he doesn't mean. he won't talk for the sake of filling a lull in conversation AND he also won't say something controversial/opinionated if it seems unnecessary or cocky. for example !! Alpine made an absolutely wild assumption about his future without even speaking to him first and he very calmly stood up for himself and later on made a good humored joke about the drama when he signed the extension with McLaren. he's been more mature and calm than men twice and three times his age.

that kind of honesty is why it feels completely authentic when Oscar forgets the cameras are on him and he just tracks Lando's every move and laughs at all of Lando's jokes and forgets he's supposed to play a role. same with how genuinely supportive he always is of Lando even when he himself has had a bad performance. he also doesn't want to make himself being a Lando fanboy into ~hilarious media fodder~ he's just being open about respecting and really liking Lando. kind of like how he can giggle and get bashful about gay innuendo or a guy play-flirting with him (or Lando getting raunchy to make him blush) but I've genuinely never seen him bro-zone someone or play at acting gay for laughs. he can see why the flirting and raunch is funny but he doesn't get why acting gay would be funny.

and I'm not having a go at guys who do that kind of humor or saying that they're doing it offensively! I've said before that a lot of what Americans view as "gay" in non-American male friendships is extremely standard straight dude behavior everywhere else. flirting and being physical with your bros is different from flirting with women to them precisely because they won't date or have sex w their bros. there's no need for nohomo because it was never homo lol the lines are very clear. also a lot of that humor in F1 is a common survival tactic in male pro sports. like a way to have fun and bond while also knowing that cameras are aiming at you every second you're not in your driver's room or hotel room. it's way better to diffuse the tension of being constantly watched by being silly and flirty with your bros rather than trying to hold a real conversation.

but it's just not Oscar personally to initiate that stuff for laughs or to know how to pick up those jokes and play ball. just like how he's not starry-eyed about Lando as a joke! he's just genuinely got this fanboy crush he's dealing with as best he can during a high pressure rookie season. he's not bothering to try and complicate things further or push himself into Lando's existing social life.

BUT poor Lando is definitely still in the process trying to figure Oscar out. the little fixations Lando already has of his own like Oscar's name and Oscar being such a good boy who blushes at sex jokes and Oscar being so mature and patient even when Lando is fed up with filming and having a blood sugar drop are so cute to me because Lando's been slowly picking up on what Oscar genuinely likes about him and where his boundaries are. the photo of Oscar on lando.jpg with the heart caption right underneath it was unbearably vulnerable. such a tiny way to say I really like my new teammate even if I don't understand him yet.

I do however think it's driving Lando iNsAnE that Oscar has no concept of casual PDA. I'm hoping he's seen by now that Oscar isn't even like that with Lily and that it isn't at all personal. but oh my god he's so ready to be able to hug and cuddle Oscar and do everything he does with Carlos and Daniel and his pre-F1 big brothers like Max F, George and Alex. I'm all for respecting people's physical boundaries but hopefully Oscar thinks back to Lando's reaction here and let's Lando latch onto him more often.

aaaaaand that's all to say that I think we're going to have to be patient to see where Lando and Oscar land in terms of what sort of deeper friendship they have. their teammates relationship has already been tested thoroughly in just one season and it seems so solid which has obviously been first priority. but between Lando having such a full social life already and Oscar having gotten used to being by himself or socializing very privately I'm not expecting a carlando or dando type thing where they share friends or hobbies until they've gotten to know each other better individually. which in a way for me is really sweet because the amount that they already sync up and are comfortable together and share their team duties despite not having that immediate jokey rapport is just !!! I really love that. sort of how silly bubbly Lando is my beloved but quieter and more thoughtful Lando is maybe even a little bit more my beloved?

anyway thankfully we've got three more years locked down to keep seeing them feel each other out (huhuahauhsfhh)

#landoscar #mctwinks #it is so dangerous to ask me these things I rly hope you don't mind me being insane #mine #inchreplies

[hussyknee]

Somewhat put off by the spoilers I've read about Mary and George. There's no doubt nearly all relationships in the British court were some level of sordid, but King James, to all intents and purposes, had genuine feelings for his three male favourites, most especially George Villiers. He was no Henry VIII. I don't know why they wanted to reduce the most famous and open homosexual relationship in European royal history to a comedy between a "cock-struck" old lech and a conniving courtier that led him by the nose and then betrayed and murdered him.

All evidence points to George at least being loyal to James (if you discount his love letters as simply sucking up to his benefactor) and even had a fond relationship with his Queen and his son Charles. He was in fact in France when James died, and reportedly cried when he heard the news.

It's even a little heartbreaking because this is right after Nicholas Galitzine played the closeted gay Prince Henry in Red, White and Royal Blue, who in the book is proud of the open and unashamed love between his ancestor and his lover, and the way even James's son Charles I honoured Villiers for accompanying him to the Spanish Court to ask for the hand of the Infanta.

“Actually . . . you remember how I told you about the gay king, James I?”

“The one with the dumb jock boyfriend?”

“Yes, that one. Well, his most beloved favorite was a man named George Villiers. ‘The handsomest-bodied man in all of England,’ they called him. James was completely besotted. Everyone knew. This French poet, de Viau, wrote a poem about it.” He clears his throat and starts to recite: ‘One man fucks Monsieur le Grand, another fucks the Comte de Tonnerre , and it is well known that the King of England, fucks the Duke of Buckingham.’” Alex must be staring, because he adds, “Well, it rhymes in French. Anyway. Did you know the reason the King James translation of the Bible exists is because the Church of England was so displeased with James for flaunting his relationship with Villiers that he had the translation commissioned to appease them?”

“You’re kidding.”

“He stood in front of the Privy Council and said, ‘Christ had John, and I have George.’’

“Jesus.”

“Precisely.” Henry’s still looking up at the statue, but Alex can’t stop looking at him and the sly smile on his face, lost in his own thoughts. “And James’s son, Charles I, is the reason we have dear Samson. It’s the only Giambologna that ever left Florence. He was a gift to Charles from the King of Spain, and Charles gave it, this massive, absolutely priceless masterpiece of a sculpture, to Villiers. And a few centuries later, here he is. One of the most beautiful pieces we own, and we didn’t even steal it. We only needed Villiers and his trolloping ways with the queer monarchs. To me, if there were a registry of national gay landmarks in Britain, Samson would be on it.”

Henry’s beaming like a proud parent, like Samson is his, and Alex is hit with a wave of pride in kind.

He takes his phone out and lines up a shot, Henry standing there all soft and rumpled and smiling next to one of the most exquisite works of art in the world.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m taking a picture of a national gay landmark,” Alex tells him. “And also a statue.”

Like all white liberals, Casey McQuiston tends to romanticise the crime against humanity that is royalty and also that house built by bunch of slave owners that has since housed a progression of genocidal war criminals. There's very little to like about any British monarch. But the relationship between James and Villiers is a significant part of gay history and there's no need to smear it even more than it's already been smeared the last four hundred years, contrary to the actual known facts.

Idk man. I'm sensitive to this stuff Ig. Maybe I'd be a little more positive about it if I watched it, but the trailer gave me "tee hee they're gay" vibes so Idk if I want to.

Edit: so it seems the trailer is misleading and the story is more complex than a "tee hee gay" comedy. I might watch it after all, even if the starkly visible age difference makes me a bit queasy. How tf is Galitzine nearly thirty and a babyface with those razor cheekbones?? Perfect to show how uncomfortable it looks for a middle aged man to get with a kid of twenty.

#nicholas galitzine #mary and george spoilers #mary and george #british history #the stuarts #king james vi and i #george villers #king charles i #period drama #julianne moore #lgbtqia #lgbt history #queer media #queer representation #queer history #queer drama #knee of huss

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of Blink - Part Five

Excerpt from The Times interview with David Tennant - Titled Who's Hot - by Caitlin Moran (March 30, 2007)

A fan since childhood, he has been voted "The Best Doctor Ever" in acknowledgement that his performances, above all others, have best embodied the show's values: anarchy, vigour, moral rigour, silliness and a reverential awe at how big, scary, complex, beautiful and full of bipedal aliens made of foam rubber the Universe is. Meeting him in the tearooms of the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, it's clear why Davies cast him in the role.  He has a quick wit, excess energy and self-deprecates at every opportunity ("Look at my mobile! It's really boring! It's about as intergalactic as a brick!). He is also, let's be frank, the first hot Doctor. He is the primary timephwoard. He was voted "Hottest Man in the Universe" by The Pink Paper, and New Woman magazine place him at No. 13 in its poll of 10,000 women's crushes - just below Brad Pitt. Tennant, however, disputes this assignation. "Tom Baker!" he says, with a Bakerish roar. "Come on! He was a huge hit with the ladies." He was more of a specialist taste, I offer, primly.  Something that WHSmith would keep behind the counter and you'd have to ask for. "I'm sure Peter Davison was in polls at the time," he continues, gallantly.  Perhaps aware that he is seconds away from attempting to mount a defense of the sexual allure of Sylvester McCoy, Tennant changes the conversation with a confidence that just, to be honest, proves how hot he is. "This is a terrible anecdote, so I must tell it," he says, settling into a chair with a coffee.  "Last year Billie [Piper] and I kept getting invited to guest at award ceremonies but we could never go - we were either filming in Cardiff or we would be presenting Best Wig or something, and what's the point of that?  But when the Brit Awards rolled around, we let it be known through our 'people' that we'd love to present a Brit for Best Drunkard or something.  But, pleasingly for the laws of hubris, they said 'No, we'll be fine, thank you'.  They turned down the Doctor and Rose! Famous across the Universe!"  Tennant does a self-deprecating boggle. Talking to him is a mildly surreal experience. On the one hand, it's the Doctor! You're talking to the Doctor!  On the other hand, he is as obsessive and passionate about the show as any fan. This is a man who can talk about the gravitic anomalyser without a protective layer of irony.

Link to [ part one ] of the Blink Behind-the-scenes posts, or click the whoBtsBlink link, or the full episode list [ here ]

#david tennant #freema agyeman #carey mulligan #doctor who #rtdedit #blink #I always love stories wherein dt is an unashamed fan of the show #(and I'm also sure Peter Davison was in the polls at the time) #stuff i posted #whoBts #whoBtsBlink

[shitpostingperidot]

Kamala Khan’s bookshelves

Kamala’s room in The Marvels is an absolute treasure trove of little details to zoom in on, and I’ve identified so many books on her shelves!

Shelf 1, top to bottom:

1. Landmark Experiments in Twentieth Century Physics by George L. Trigg

College-level book about experiments that helped us learn about x-rays, lasers, isotopes, superconductors, and all kinds of other things I don’t understand. Meant to be more practical than theoretical since it talks about the actual methodologies of these experiments. Could be for school, or for Kamala and Bruno to run their own tests of Kamala’s powers. The first of many books in the Khan house that come from Dover Publications.

2. Space Time Matter by Hermann Weyl

“An esoteric initiation into space time physics” -Amazon reviewer. I’m gonna be real, I don’t understand half the words in this book description, but apparently it’s famous for introducing gauge theory, which was later reborn as phase transformations in quantum theory. I can see this being something Kamala reads to try and understand the bangle transporting her to the Partition. Also from Dover.

3. A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong

A graphic novel about a high school girl’s basketball team learning to work together despite their many differences and conflicts. Also it has a gorgeous color palette. Seems fairly self explanatory why it’s in this movie. I’ll definitely be borrowing this from my library! Like my friend Kamala recommended a book to me herself.

4. The Good Immigrant anthology edited by Nikesh Shukla

21 essays from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people in the UK about their experiences. It was crowdfunded initially, extremely critically acclaimed, and has gotten spinoffs and sequels. Riz Ahmed, who is British Pakistani, is one contributor, and a fun fact is that Rish Shah (Kamran from Ms. Marvel) worked with Riz Ahmed in an Oscar winning short called The Long Goodbye. Also, the editor, Nikesh Shukla, is currently writing the Spider-Man India comics series!

5. Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam

A coming-of-age story about 3 young adults with complicated family, friend, and romantic relationships between them. They have to travel from Brooklyn to Bangladesh together one summer and thereby discover a lot about themselves. I haven’t read it, but there seems to be a ton of complex representation of LGBTQ, POC, immigrant, and Muslim characters. I wonder how much the three main characters can be compared with our three characters with complex relationships in The Marvels, and I wonder which character Kamala most relates to!

6. I can’t tell! The font is bugging the hell out of me because theoretically, with that amount of contrast, I should be able to read a word when I get two inches from the TV and mess with the settings. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

7. I also can’t tell, but I’m being easier on myself because the title is written in white on a yellow background. It’s not the only book I know off the top of my head with this color scheme (Yellowface by RF Kuang) because the title is definitely multiple words. Help!

Shelf 2, right to left:

1. One Night that Changes Everything by Lauren Barnholdt

A YA romance where, through a convoluted series of events, a teenager must face all of her insecurities in one night. I can see Kamala devouring this as brain candy after wrestling with those advanced science books, or using it as fic inspiration!

2. Can’t tell, but love the color scheme!

This next one is a weird one, because I am 100% sure of what book it is, but I cannot find a picture of a matching edition.

3. Wizard at Large by Terry Brooks

It’s definitely, without a doubt, this book (where a character and a magical medallion are accidentally transported to Earth from another realm and switches places with an evil genie). Like those are the words on the spine and the plot of the book is an obvious choice for this movie. The fonts match on the audiobook, the ebook, and the next two books in the series. But try as I might, I cannot find any proof on the internet that the physical book that appears in Kamala’s room, that uses those two fonts and that spine formatting, exists. This is haunting me…

4. (On the other side of the box) It’s not The Twilight Saga Eclipse, but I definitely thought it was before I could watch in high definition. I think it’s a journal or sketchbook of Kamala’s; there are a bunch scattered throughout the room.

Shelf 3:

I’ve only identified the bottom book, which is Einstein’s Theory of Relativity by Max Born (Dover Publications). The third one up is HAUNTING me, it looks SO identifiable and yet!

Living Room Side Table:

1. Amateur Astronomer’s Handbook by JB Sidgwick (from Dover Publications)

2. Cosmology by Hermann Bondi (also Dover)

Both of these seem less difficult than the science books in Kamala’s room, but reviewers note that it helps to know calculus when reading Cosmology. Idk which member of the Khan family is reading these, but I love their family’s connection to the stars 💫

Tbh I’m having so much fun doing this! And I really wish we got to see Monica’s living space so I can analyze her books 😭

#the marvels #kamala khan #ms marvel

[artzychic27]

So, with the new special coming up with Shadybug and Claw Noir, I’ve gotta ask, what are Scarlet Beetle, Ikati Black, Monarch, and Prince Paon’s alternate selves like?

Blood Beetle

Cold, calculated, greedy, and just a little bit flirty with his “Kitten.”

He works out so he’s stronger than his opponents and can easily snap them like twigs

This guy does NOT care about the lives of innocents, as long as he’s got the cash and jewels he stole, then he’s fine

Will not hesitate to put people in danger if it means getting his way, and makes people BEG him on their knees to use his Miracle Cure…

… Only to not use it

And quick thing to remember: Unless you have a death wish, never try to flirt with Ikati Bleak

When he’s not Blood Beetle, Kim is tormenting people at DuPont Dormitory For Wayward Teens for cash and breaking every PDA rule with Max

He was sent to DuPont for attacking just about anyone who looked at him funny

“Kitten~ Steal that gem for me, would you, baby?”

“Ugh! It’s not my fault this light weight can’t take a punch!”

“Come on… Beg me, and maybe I’ll fix your shit city.”

Ikati Bleak

Ikati Bleak is extremely smart and knows how to get in your head. Never trust him

He’s the brains behind every robbery committed by himself and his “Blood Bug.”

He can easily hack into the government and cause all sorts of mass destruction with the push of a button if civilians step out of line

Like Blood Beetle, he doesn’t care about the lives of other people, seeing them as only stepping stones in their path towards total domination

Whatever Blood Beetle desires, he is more than happy to do whatever it takes to make him happy

Enjoys using his cataclysm on famous landmarks and important artifacts

As Max, he’s deceitful, gets a thrill out of using his intellect against others, and uses his tech skills to torment the student body

Max was sent to DuPont for hacking into the grade books and ruining everyone’s GPAs just for the hell of it

“Whatever my Blood Bug wants, he gets.”

“Ruining lives is just no fun when they don’t cry.”

“One little button. That’s all it takes to see your city turn to dust.”

Emperor

One word… Insane

Emperor has no goal other than to cause mass chaos and make all who stand before him kneel at his feet

He turns people into Akumas against their will and uses psychological and/or emotional torture to make them comply

He forces them to steal, cause property damage, and attack a few people he doesn’t like

He only has a soft spot for Prince Pain and will drop everything to just kiss his hand

As Nathaniel, he’s just as unhinged as Emperor. People would say he has a Napoleon Complex, but the last person to say that mysteriously fell down the stairs

Note: Nathaniel hates it when people even imply that he’s inferior

Those at his last school were relieved when the School Tyrant finally left

“Princey, allow me torment this undesirable for you, darling.”

“Aw~ Why so serious? And here I thought we were having so much fun.”

“Oh, I have ways of making you comply, dear.”

Prince Pain

He’s every bit of crazy as Emperor, but braver. He’s jumped off the top of the Eiffel Tower and landed on the back of a winged Senticreature

This guy only has a soft spot for Emperor and his babies

He can’t bear to part with them, so he lets them run around Paris, destroying everything in sight on a weekly basis

He’d never send an Amok after a civilian, becuase then they can turn his Senticreature against him!

He’s got the personality of Evil!Spinel with a bit of Harley Quinn mixed in there, always clapping and laughing when someone gets hurt

He will follow Emperor to the ends of the earth for no reason other than to cause chaos with him

Marc was sent to DuPont because there was no mental facility that would take him

“Hear that, babies? Other daddy is proud of you, my little weapons of mass destruction!”

“Voices in my head say I’m perfectly normal like any other person.”

“I don’t like the words your saying… Do you need your tongue removed?”

#shadybug and claw noir #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #nathaniel kurtzberg #marc anciel #lê chiến kim #max kanté #answered ask #ask me stuff #marc x nathaniel #kim x max #scarlet beetle and ikati black #mlb #headcanons