#always pressure free quotes also

[sharp-edges]

I’m sorry but the whole Connor Bedard having an allergic reaction because his trainer wouldn’t let him have fast food reminds me of when sdpn said that Bedard’s mom said he’s never had fast food before and like she said she knew eventually and it IS good for him to not have fast food, but it makes me think of diet culture and eating disorders. Like the no fast food thing still leaves a variety of food, and I’m sure he’s had pizza before; it’s really the fact that he couldn’t even have pizza ONE time with his team because his trainer wanted him to ‘eat healthy’ for the game (guess what due pizza is healthier than having an allergic reaction). Even if he had been on a crazy strict diet and got sick because his body wasn’t used to what’s in pizza, it’d still be healthier than an allergic reaction (and again, clearly he doesn’t care about Connor’s health just what he can do for the trainer’s image because he let him play the game and did care at all about how bad Connor was feeling.)

Like the obsession with food to the point you can’t eat xyz even once is eating disorder behavior, and I think the fact that players have to eat more than non/athletes and are expected/desire to get bigger is one of the reasons why eating disorders aren’t as common, but imagine how this messes with their heads. Like people who are like “oh my trainer is going to be mad at me for eating xyz one time don’t tell them” is like K-pop idols with management that pushed eating disorders to keep idols’ bodies marketable territory. NHL players are adults and now one should care about their diet to the point that they get mad at them for having one meal that goes against their nutrition plan. They are adults who make their own decisions and nutrition plans should a guideline to help players get what they need not a list of DO NOT EAT THIS foods or specific foods they have to eat.

(Also I think the nhl’s concept of ‘team’ is a little too close to the corporate ‘family’ which is always used to dehumanize employees and get them to give up their free time/health/family/identity for the benefit of the corporations bottom line that is never payed back to the employees. Like yes there’s the team as in the players, but there’s also that concept of team that is the pressure to get players to hurt themselves to win and shut up if they experience discrimination and also to shut up if they disagree with the nhl’s safety protocols that aren’t even follow a lot of the time.)

you said everything wonderfully, the ONLY thing i have to add, is this HEARTBREAKING quote.

"people close to him aren't sure he's ever had a cookie"

in fact that article is chock full of the MOST concerning quotes about a hockey player i have ever fucking read, "highlights include" connor stays long after practice and replies "im working" when people try and get him off the ice, when they think he's over working himself they hide his sticks because he's too superstitious to use someone else's (they have done this... multiple times), he tried to convince the coaching staff to let him play though his broken jaw because chara did so during the finals in 2019, he drank as much food and supplements as he could so he wouldn't lose weight while his jaw was still wired shut.

and yes 10000000000 fucking %, the leagues "we're a family" is NASTY, no!!! NO YOU AREN'T!!!!!! stop trying to be "a family" and start trying to be a GOOD EMPLOYER!!!!!!!

#okay maybe i added a bit more then just the quote #asks #connor bedard

[csmiclxtte]

Out of Bounds Planets

Do you have Out of Bounds planet in your chart?

Out of Bounds (OOB) is quite literal terms. OOB planets want to push the acceptable limit in society. The energy is running wild, free, and heightened. Maybe even chaotic if underdeveloped. How does OOB manifest in the chart?

[not a professional, things i write mostly quoted OOB articles]

Out of Bounds planet are the planet in your chart with more than 23°27′ declination (the infos are varied from 23°26′ to 23°28'). Meaning that it moves outside of Sun's gravitational domination.

Since the planet is out of the Sun's dominion, OOB planet acts on it's own. Either way, OOB planet emphasizes on its need for independence. OOB planet may exhibits extraordinary, unusual, and out-of-norm behavior. It is also associated with creativity and eccentricity. Think of Uranian or Aquarian energy, something like that. Some sources said that the higher the declination is, the more extreme a planet behavior can be. However some articles also mentioned that the degree doesn't matter. Generally, OOB adds pressure and turbulency in a chart (esp Moon).

Not every planet can go OOB. The Sun, Lunar Nodes, Neptune and Chiron, for example, cannot go out of bounds. Meanwhile, Mars, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Pluto can go OOB. Jupiter can go OOB, but it is a rare phenomenon.

How to find Natal Out of Bounds planet:

Go to astro.com

Enter birth time and generate chart as usual

After you have the birth chart, click on the PDF Additional tables (bottom left)

You will have a pdf file, look at the planet positions column (i used Jackie Chan's chart here). The Red colored number indicates the planet that exceed the declination limit, either to South or North.

You can also check your OOB progressed status here. Sometimes progressing planets can become OOB or ceased to go OOB (return to normal).

Which OOB planet do you have?

Out of Bounds Mars

Mars is the planet which have most occurrence of OOB. Mars can travel up to 27° declination. The manifestation of OOB Mars will depend on the sign as well, but generally the typical assertion in Mars will turn into heightened instinct & physical energy. You may think OOB Mars is violent (although in some cases it can be), but it's mostly found in courageous, creative, and ppl with leadership skill. Other than that, OOB Mars can be an indication of great athletic / sports skill (Jackie Chan has OOB Mars). They usually want to do things their way.

It can make a person to be more aggressive, impulsive, and daring. It can also be associated with extra forces, stamina, and a need for domination. That's not always the case tho, sometimes it can result on the opposite (less impulsivity, fear of taking risk, etc) depends on the placement and expression of energy. Generally, natives with OOB Mars are more prone to impatience, selfishness, or anger issue. (i had OOB Mars lol)

People with OOB Mars: Agatha Christie, Vladimir Putin, Prince Charles, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Walt Disney.

Out of Bounds Moon

Moon is the second most common "planet" to go OOB after Mars. The declination can go as far as 29° and the impact is most dramatic of all OOB planets. You can find a lot of articles on this one. OOB Moon can increase natives' need of freedom and solitude. However, since it rules emotions and the subconscious, OOB Moon can result in heightened sensitivity, intuition, and emotional instability like mood swings. Also there may be constant feeling of depression, guilt, or doubt. Since the Moon associates with mother figure and safety, OOB Moon can indicate lack of safety and love from mother side. Also the sign of your Moon can tell what aspect in your life that makes you feel unsafe. Notice if the Moon is in conjunction or aspect to other planet, bcs there would be a certain effect regarding that matter as well.

Steven Forrest wrote in his article that there are some qualities of OOB Moon that he sums up as:

Tendency to walk away from conventionally successful situation

Thinking outside of the box

Escaping social constructs

Sociopathy & criminal behavior

"Nice" & theological outlaws

Eccentric characters

Out of this world

People with OOB Moon: Queen Victoria, Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey, Freddie Mercury, Stephen King, Warren Buffett, Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin.

Out of Bounds Mercury

OOB Mercury can go as far as 27° OOB Mercury natives are people who won't hesitate to communicate their radical ideas, and somehow gaining support on their opinions. They have different way of thinking and communicating. In the bright side, it can make natives to appear intelligent and original. However if it takes turn for the worse, sometimes native can be very strange/eccentric in their social interaction, to the point that other people start to feel uncomfortable. This placement can also lead to obsessive, compulsive thoughts or overthinking. These are the people who can be great speakers. They are talented in using the media. On the less advantageous side, this can appear as a hindrance in communication such as: speech problem, exaggeration, or having imaginary voices.

People with OOB Mercury: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Howard Stern.

Out of Bounds Venus

OOB Venus can go up to 28° declination. OOB Venus natives may have increased charm, magnetism, and an eye for beauty. With the OOB energy, their definition of value and beauty doesn't necessarily correspond to conventional/general view. Rather, they may perceive beauty in more complex and unusual way. This placement can also suggest a highly exceptional artist. They are also entertaining and probably well-liked. However, it can also mean that natives can be indulgent, vain, or hedonistic. They may envy other people and sometimes it can be hard for them to see what they already have.

People with OOB Venus: Charlie Chaplin, Cher, Tina Turner, Larry King, Clint Eastwood, Judy Garland.

Out of Bounds Uranus

Okay, it's like combining Uranian energy with an extra Uranian energy. What's interesting about OOB Uranus is that it can be generational. So OOB Uranus needs a lot of freedom. They will experiment and invent and innovate. They are revolutionary. However the downside of this placement is that sometimes they can be too shocking, too radical, and too detached.

People with OOB Uranus: Louis Pasteur, Salvador Dali, Stephen King, Johannes Kepler, Meryl Streep.

Out of Bounds Pluto

Heightened intensity and magnetism. A feeling of being different. A lot of insecurities and emotional baggage, like there is a constant feeling of separateness. It was mentioned that OOB Pluto can impact on a person's physicality that set them apart from others. Secretive, possible violence and vengeful behavior, also may lead to hypersecsuality.

People with OOB Pluto: Meryl Streep, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Cher.

Out of Bounds Jupiter

Another rare occurrence with minimum description lol. Okay so it is probably seen as more beneficial, because the OOB Jupiter suggests higher luck, as in natives are well-received by public and always feeling lucky. They have a need to expand themselves through travelling and stuffs. Great optimism. It also may mean that the natives have strong belief. Although I personally wonder if the belief is rather strange/twisted, can it can be a sign of cult leader or smth? This placement can be quite dogmatic too if it's taking turn for the worse.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

thank you for reading!! <3 i'm not professional astrologer so please feel free to add more and lmk if there's any misinformation! reblogs are very much appreciated ^^

#astrology #astroblr #astro notes #astro community #astro posts #out of bounds #astrology notes #astrology posts #oob #mars #moon #mercury #venus #uranus #pluto #jupiter

[insidefernweh]

Well, hello.

A couple months ago one silly woman (me) decided that it’s time for creativity to take a hold of her and let something cool into this world.

And that’s how I decided to give birth to…a The Amazing Devil blanket. Or I might have dreamed it whilst being feverish. Who knows.

It’s been three months of stitching, embroidering, sewing, unmaking the mistakes, cursing, saying ‘waahheeey’ at the end of the complete step, cursing again and enjoying the hell out of the process of something being made into the realness. 

It is literally the embodiment of me. I love it and hate it equally. It has got my favourite quotes from the songs. Yes, that’s me — your favourite girl with maelstrom of lyrics instead of a brain. It also has got some of my blood somewhere along the stitches (did i do it on purpose to please the fae gods aka Joey and Madeleine? you’ll never know. hashtag blood magic.) I wanted to get it done for the Ruin Appreciation Week (though it contains lyrics from all albums) so that was me last week because it was very FAR from being done:

I’m posting the bigger picture + close ups of smaller details and songs’ lyrics. Please feel free to reach out if you want to see a better close up or just to pat me on the head.

I’m posting a video too. It’s silly so enjoey. (ha! see what I did here. that was a typing accident. it’s 1am now. forgive me my jokes.)

warning: the video include some probably offensive actions to the professional seamstresses. i’m only a humble ignorant person who decided to sew for the first time in her life. i do hope you’ll like it.

references used:

the central embroidery: TAD’s old picture from some posters back in the love run era + some sage and forget-me-nots

top right and left bottom corners: pictures of joey and madeleine

songs: secret worlds, the calling, inkpot gods, drinking song for the socially anxious, chords, farewell wanderlust, not yet/love run (reprise), that unwanted animal, battle cries, elsa’s song, wild blue yonder

UPD: A few of you have been asking about the quotes I used on my blanket/quilt and why I chose them so here I am:

If you ask me for my fire, just watch me burn — you know what, I recently started to interpret this line in a positive way? It was a recent thing I understood about myself. I always thought I was good at working/doing things well in the long run, when you have to do it patiently and for years but in my journey of self-discovery I realized that in reality I’m much better as a sprinter — someone who does an incredible job while being under the vast amount of pressure and when you need to do it in a restricted period of time; I will give all of myself to this project/work, every bit of passion I have, every bit of patience. So yeah. If you ask me for my fire — just watch me burn. But then I’ll hibernate for a month. 

Can’t you hear it howling? — OKAY HANDS DOWN PROBABLY MY FAVOURITE LYRICS/MELODY SECTION FROM THE WHOLE RUIN ALBUM. Even not the part that is sung by Madeleine, but the back voices Joey’s harmonies sing in the final chorus at 4:28 and till the end. OOOOH WHY SO GOOD.

If I don’t make it back from where i’ve gone just know I loved you all along — this is such a beautiful closing of the song. also such a tormenting thought. i love it.

Such endless blue — I’ve always been drawn to the dark blue colours, especially when I paint. I always run out of the blue watercolour because contrary to this song, it’s not endless :D I’m manifesting an abyss of blue watercolour for myself here lol

You say the words so often but I barely know the meaning — okay so Elsa’ Song is primarily pretty heartbreaking right? The more heartbreaking part being that it is sung as a lullaby. Who didn’t have that moment when the meaning of the words you’re saying slips through your fingers just because you said them too often? Who didn’t have that sad awakening moment of losing trust in a person just because they always promised something and never did it?

After summers of fasting I feel hunger at last — I’ve been thinking about tattooing this quote for quite a while now. It reminds me of my depressive state which very often returned to me in summer and every time it slowly creeped away, I felt the hunger for life in the early autumn.  Every time felt like an eternity. 

Is nought but fumble-falls and guns and tumbleweeds, love, run — my favourite quote from the superior use of the English language that is that section in Love Run. I am in love with it. All the phonetic twirls makes me shiver sometimes.

Well, hello my hollow Holofernes — ALLITERATION SUPREMACY!!  

I’ll sing silence and ask my glass of wine for guidance — i love to sit at home alone and stare into my glass. it doesn’t answer though. what about it. and again — to sing silence? OXYMORONS GIVE ME THEM

Go tell me how we fucked you up and oh my god, it’s so unfair — ah. the hardship of parenting/teaching. I was there, I remember it all too well. 

Let’s us waltz for the dead — the oxymoronic style of this line IS JUST A CHEF’S KISS. WALTZ? VERY SOPHISTICATED THING? FOR THE DEAD? NOT THAT PLEASANT TYPE OF A THING? mister batey let me boop you affectionately on the nose you are so clever.

#the amazing devil #joey batey #madeleine hyland #embroidery #ruinanniversary2022

[tubbytarchia]

Just a bunch of Doc and Jimmy thoughts as to why I find them so appealing and endearing. I wanna draw them more but regardless I have too many thoughts on them to ever visualize them all. It's a lot and very self-indulgent. This is your warning

TLDR Jimmy in a father/son type of dynamic (as opposed to a romantic relationship) would do him good and Doc would be very perceptive and gentle and awesome about it

These are pretty much all reliant on a hypothetical scenario in which Jimmy is on Hermitcraft (after Secret Life?), temporarily or permanently or accidentally etc. I'm also gonna refer to Jimmy's relationships with Tango, Scott etc as romantic just for clarity

- Firstly I don't mind them as a ship, its all cool with me (cause I know at least a few of you ship them haha), but to me their absolute main appeal is the fatherly aspect. It being a father/son dynamic eliminates so many of Jimmy's struggles off the bat - ones that are prevalent in his romantic connections, mainly the inherent anxiety and inability to open up to his partners as a result (at least fully)

- Because of said anxiety, none of Jimmy's partners up to this hypothetical unexplained point of time would fully "get" him. Even if Jimmy trusts them, he's been conditioned to see himself as the faulty link by default and the people around him, however good they are and however much they COULD help, aren't the type to pick up on or be able to understand exactly what he needs (Tango's rather oblivious, Martyn's hot-headed etc), and Jimmy isn't exactly going to tell them in the headspace that he's in, he doesn't know how to. Yet Doc has had one, ONE notable interaction with him, and in that one interaction, even as Jimmy's just jokingly calling for Etho, Doc immediately and immaculately picks up on what Jimmy needs: "I want to take you into my hands and take you to a safe place"

- There's a quote(?) exchange that goes "You're free, (referring to a bird whose gate has just been opened), why don't you fly away?" followed by the bird "the cage is all I know". Sorry to use some "I'm 14 and this is deep" quote but that's just Jimmy. He needs time and gentleness, and a safe place that'd allow for that. A safe place to heal until he's ready to step out into the world of his own accord. He's helped out of the cage with patience and understanding, not by pushing him. Where Doc understands to be patient, some of Jimmy's partners post-3L would push - of course just trying to help but failing to grasp Jimmy's needs fully - or fail to realize there's (still) a cage there at all. Sorry what are we talking about again

- Add-on to the above points: Doc being able to pick up on Jimmy's wants and needs without verbalization. He'd be able to offer Jimmy desired comfort, and, comparing to Tango for example, without their time necessarily being cut short and without the failure to recognise that it's something Jimmy continues to need. (I've said it before but Tango's oblivious, and that's partially why he and Jimmy work well together, but it also means that he doesn't pick up on everything, especially when not near and soulbound to Jimmy, and by virtue of being a romantic partner, Jimmy's too anxious to ask for help too, because of previous relationship experiences). Doc would pick up on it all though, eliminating Jimmy's need to explicitly ask for help, because that's the one thing he's not able to communicate however desperately he's needed to to kickstart any kind of healing

- We all know how Doc gets when he's being a dad so. This father/son dynamic only means more softness and gentleness from Doc you know... Again, something Jimmy is in desperate need for!! And what he's gotten from people like Tango as well, but once again, this isn't a romantic relationship so Jimmy's feelings about physical affection are a bit different. Doc would have the utmost mindfulness of approaching Jimmy in any physical touch scenario though and never push or pressure. He always watches out for signs of discomfort, and will hardly touch him if he thinks that there's a chance it could upset Jimmy further. He understands that Jimmy needs time and patience and he doesn't want for him to draw more into himself, thus reversing any progress they might've made, especially if in Jimmy's current mindset, an even remotely unwanted approach could make him feel unsafe. If there are defenses that he's learned to and needs to keep up, then Doc won't take that away from him and give him space as needed

- When Doc IS to offer physical touch and such, he'd still have the utmost gentleness and pay attention to where he's situated near Jimmy just so he can ensure that he's using his organic arm to pat him or to have the organic half of his face towards him, not only to minimize intimidation but to also put them on more equal footing - If Doc can just look over and read Jimmy's eyes at any moment, he wants Jimmy to be able to see his too to help him feel more comfortable (and thus encourage opening up)

- Back to the "safe place" thing specifically, Doc would totally take Jimmy under his wing and thus also into his base - his huge and scary full-of-machines barely-resembling-a-house-to-any-degree base. Jimmy would be naturally intimidated by Doc and his base in kind, but just as he grows more used to big scary goat man, he grows more used to big scary goat man base. He'd be intimidated but not past the point of intrigue, and combined with his need to prove himself, Jimmy would very much try to study Doc's machines and learn the layout of his base etc. I'm tickled by the idea of no one understanding Doc's base as per usual, except this one lost guy he took under his wing

If Jimmy were to mess anything up (he inevitably would I'm sure) Doc would be all grumbly about it in the moment but never hold a grudge towards him. And Jimmy would either flee but quickly return and/or be very insistent on making it up to Doc, which Doc would refuse because there's no need

- Again, with Jimmy's need to prove himself but also out of genuine interest, Jimmy would very much try redstone whilst at Doc's. He'd ask Doc to be honest and not to praise his work just to be polite, but Doc would believe in him and find his efforts genuinely endearing and worthy of praise for the work that he'd have put into it. Not once would he have complimented Jimmy's work without meaning it. I don't think he'd be able to live with himself if he stooped to disingenuousness like that (though Jimmy wouldn't know that)

- Doc would be protective and rightfully so. If he were to see Jimmy bullying becoming too prevalent, he'd very much step in to say that that's enough of that. He might tease Jimmy a little himself, very lightheartedly, but otherwise not find much comedy in it. And we all know how he holds grudges if he's to single anyone out for going over the line... Jimmy would be opposed to Doc calling anyone out or anything of the like and Doc very much wants to respect Jimmy's wishes but... There's no way he isn't going to speak his mind at least out of Jimmy's earshot

- Doc has always understood that Jimmy's in need of help, but of course he can only entail so much without hearing it from the man himself. And when Jimmy does inevitably open up, Doc would be totally taken aback by the amount of things weighing on Jimmy's heart, and just out of disbelief he'd go "and you haven't told anyone??", which may make Jimmy curl in on himself a bit, but Doc would be quick to reassure that he's not questioning Jimmy's actions nor blaming him for bottling his feelings up, merely expressing sadness that Jimmy hasn't felt like he could tell anyone up until now. Doc would remember everything he's told with precision and keep it all in mind constantly. Very self indulgent but for example, Jimmy having felt the need to dress up as a maid as payback just to stay on SOS would make Doc pay even more attention to any potential signs of discomfort in Jimmy presenting himself to others or feeling pressured to do something etc

- Before reaching the point of being able to open up, Jimmy would inevitably tear up at some point when he gets stuck thinking about just how kindly he's being treated for whatever reason that remains a mystery to him. Even if he tried to hide it, Doc would immediately notice the unusual body language, or something like his headwing moving to cover his face. And he would become very panicked lol, quickly reassuring Jimmy about whatever he thinks caused the reaction, like his redstone attempts for example, only for Jimmy to be unable to express why he's really crying, but at the very least Doc would understand that there's more to it and will just do his best to comfort him regardless

- Jimmy has and will absolutely call people his dad as a joke, but when he inevitably refers to Doc as such by accident, he'd become embarrassed about it. It'd be awesome and cute I think

- Ok so Hermitcraft, of course Tango's there!! And with no death game looming over his or Jimmy's heads. Still, that doesn't erase Jimmy's anxiety even when he opens up to Doc about it. Doc would offer suggestions for how Jimmy could approach Tango (And maybe Pearl too), but if Jimmy expresses his inability to do so because of anxiety and such, then Doc will let it go and just comfort or reassure him for the time being instead. He'd ask if he should talk to Tango all menacing and Jimmy would be vehemently opposed to the idea lol. Doc would probably still take it up with Tango at some point and Jimmy wouldn't find out until much later into him and Tango talking again, at which point he'd become embarrassed that Tango had to deal with that (but of course there would have never been any malice involved and Tango can easily laugh about it). Added drama if we go with the idea that Jimmy's time on HC is limited which would only stress him out more about talking to Tango

- Doc would pay so much attention to Jimmy's wings' welfare. He'd ask Grian and do all kinds of research on his own too to make sure they're properly cared for whilst fully understanding their personal importance and potential intimacy that caring for them entails, giving Jimmy whatever space he needs whilst still keeping an eye on his wings. In a different hypothetical scenario where Doc is in the Life series and not much else is changed, he'd take note of Jimmy's wings being clipped (3L, LL), then growing (DL, LimL), and then becoming ragged (SL, with Jimmy's increasing hostility, restlessness etc)

- You are insane for reading till this point. Take my hand, we can be insane together

#blabber #Doc&Jimmy

[circus4apsycho8]

Hello! I was wondering if I could request headcanons abt what would ninjas (if possible, could you include Skylor?) be like as your best friend (gn reader)? Thank you!

𝚊/𝚗: 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘! 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢! 𝚗𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛!

𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚜

𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕖𝕤: 𝕜𝕒𝕚, 𝕛𝕒𝕪, 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕖, 𝕫𝕒𝕟𝕖, 𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕪𝕕, 𝕟𝕪𝕒 & 𝕤𝕜𝕪𝕝𝕠𝕣

𝚔𝚊𝚒 

idiots  

you guys FIGHT  

but still love each other  

taunting, playful fighting, lots of competitiveness  

you two always call each other stupid names  

petty to the max  

but at the same time you both are super protective of each other  

despite your fiery friendship, the two of you still know each other well  

will quote vines in fitting circumstances and expect you to finish the reference 

he likes doing your hair :) 

𝚓𝚊𝚢

nerds 

you both take interest in each other’s hobbies 

you both will 100% stay up late discussing pop culture lore – whether it’s from a video game, comic book, movie, etc., it doesn’t matter. if it’s interesting, it’s talked about 

you love listening to him rant or ramble away, and he’s forever grateful for that 

aside from nya, you’re the only person he opens up to about his experience from skybound 

ed and edna love you and basically adopt you

nerf battles in the junkyard at 3AM 

𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚎

the best hugs <3 

big eaters 

a very deep relationship 

play wrestling 

you two read together a lot 

he teaches you self-defense 

lots of quiet nights together 

video games 

JUST DANCE. you two are bosses at it and everyone is in absolute awe of your just dance skills 

when jay and nya start to learn to dance, you two agree that you both have to show them up no matter the cost 

𝚣𝚊𝚗𝚎

there's lots of learning between the two of you, about anything and everything 

you're his go-to person for any pop/internet culture questions 

lots of reading and quiet moments 

you help him set up a date with pixal!! :) 

(and almost die of cuteness) 

he lets you lean against him when it’s super hot outside 

𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚢𝚍

candy candy candy candy candy  

S W E E T S  

you two have your own minecraft world together 

a favorite activity between the two of you is reading comics together 

b l a n k e t  f o r t s 

pranks...you two are partners in crime 

no one trusts either of you when you’re together 

he opens up about himself too – the loss of his childhood, his dad, harumi, and about how the pressure of leading often gets to him

during hunted, you're the one who gets him back into shape

you play with his hair when it gets longer :) 

𝚗𝚢𝚊

you encouraged her to become samurai x and helped her design the mech & suit 

you like painting/putting decorative finishes on her machines/outfits while she does the more technical parts 

the two of you love designing decorative weapons and armor together; sometimes, nya even takes you to the blacksmith shop to make a few prototypes 

when she gets her powers, the two of you take a liking to swimming together 

𝚜𝚔𝚢𝚕𝚘𝚛

you help her out with the restaurant quite a bit 

in your free time, the two of you like to train together to stay sharp 

you both enjoy studying all of the different elements & experimenting with her power too 

you also promote her business to others whenever you can :) 

sometimes she will task you with making playlists for the restaurant 

also, you like doing each other’s hair!! 

100% would be down to bury a body for you, no questions asked

𝚊/𝚗: 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚡 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗; 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘!

#ninjagoxreader #ninjago headcanons #kai x reader #jayxreader #kai smith x reader #jay walker x reader #cole x reader #cole brookestone x reader #cole brookstone x reader #zane x reader #zane julien x reader #skylor x reader #lloyd x reader #lloyd garmadon x reader #nya x reader

[delightfullyatomicfest]

I’m still obsessed with Ken Womack deciding a cartoon strip character was Paul on 9 May 1969.

Mainly because it seems like a misinterpretation of an image based on a misrepresentation of the situation?

Here’s what Womack wrote thanks to @muzaktomyears.

To summarise: Womack says the other three cornered Paul, insisting he appoint Klein. Paul started to lose him cool when the others accused him of creating needless roadblocks and wanting to appoint his relatives, Paul refused to sign, there’s a quote from Paul saying that was the night we broke The Beatles and that it was the liberty bell moment and… that’s it, end of chapter with some musing about Mal’s heartbreak and the pic of ‘Paul’ (i.e. Maisie) framed like this:

But… that seems a pretty lopsided view of how it went???

According to You Never Give Me Your Money, on 8 May the other three had signed with Klein without Paul’s knowledge (though George tried to tell him but he’d changed his phone number). The contract appointed ABKCO ‘exclusive business manager’ to Apple Corps Ltd ‘on behalf of The Beatles and The Beatles Group of Companies’. They knew at this point that Paul might not sign and it still needed to be ratified by the Apple board of directors (I.e. The Beatles).

On 9 May they gathered to do LIB overdubs and the other three tried to strong arm Paul into signing with Klein, bullying him and growing furious with him:

You Never Give Me Your Money p. 130

[Note: Womack included a quote from Paul about the 15% stuff but not the bullied and ganged up on bit.]

Rolling Stone

Edit to add one more:

And In The End, p. 113

So in the above we have:

‘They really bullied me and ganged up on me’

‘The others grew furious, but McCartney held his ground’

‘They said “Oh, fuck off!” and they all stormed off’

‘Lennon, Harrison and Starkey lost their cool and unleashed an unsparing verbal assault on McCartney leaving him bruised and bleeding on the canvas’

(These are selective quotes so this post doesn’t get too long - more context here which is also the source for the below paragraph. Also the quotes are all Paul’s POV - I’d like to find what the others have said about this day).

John then called Klein, who was on his way to the airport, and Klein came back, lied to Paul about needing approval from the board of ABKCO to try and pressure him into signing and, according to Glyn Johns “… all that equipment was not enough to prevent me hearing Paul McCartney defend himself from Allen Klein’s attempt at bullying him into submission. It was extremely unpleasant to witness”.

[Note: Womack doesn’t actually mention Klein being there]

Paul continued to refuse but the other three carried on anyway. John and George signed the document ratifying their decision to appoint ABKCO exclusive business manager to Apple Corps Ltd. The unanimous agreement rule which The Beatles had always had was resoundingly broken (though they’d already broken it on 21 March 1969 when they appointed Klein against Paul’s wishes the first time).

The full page from You Never Give Me Your Money is here but here’s the really pertinent section:

The signing of this resolution is surely the Liberty Bell moment and Womack doesn’t mention it, nor the fact that they’d previous made unanimous decisions.

So turning back to the cartoon - I imagine Paul was furious (YNGMYM mentions his rage on the next page in the context of drumming for Steve Miller), but from the sources above it seems that there were four other people who’d be equally good candidates for someone going apeshit and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Also, I don’t even know if Mal was there for these bits of unpleasantness (he’s not mentioned in YNGMYM).

Here’s Womack’s sources by the way:

Womack’s source for the events of the day is Anthology p. 326. I went and looked it up. It’s all from Paul and Neil’s PoV and says the same as above - the closest thing is Paul says about anger is “there was a big argument and they all left, leaving me at the studio”. (Here free on the internet archive). The fact that it is all from Paul’s PoV suggests JGR haven’t spoken about this day but I could be wrong on that.

That twitter link is Paul saying that was the day the liberty bell cracked.

And here are my sources:

Rolling Stone article Why The Beatles Broke Up: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/why-the-beatles-broke-up-113403/

You Never Give Me Your Money by Peter Doggett

Amaralto’s quote from Sound Man by Glyn Johns book (god I wish he hadn’t turned the audio off. Why couldn’t he have MLH’s lack of ethics when it comes to recording the Beatles interactions?)

Beatles Bible 9 May 1969: https://www.beatlesbible.com/1969/05/09/mixing-get-back-album-inserts-2/#:~:text=It%20took%20place%20at%20Olympic,Klein%20as%20Apple's%20financial%20manager (which also doesn’t include about the signing of the resolution that evening. Is YNGMYM wrong about the day or is it just that no one thinks it specifically matters?)

Paul McCartney Project, 21 March 1969: https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/1969/03/allen-klein-becomes-business-manager-of-apple/(When they first appointed Klein as Business Manager when Paul was out of the country on his honeymoon. Paul sent a legal rep along but they went with majority - not unanimous - rule and voted Klein as Apple Business Manager).

#this feels like stupid Paul girl nit picking but there’s enough shit where he’s the main one at fault #this day isn’t one of them #also disclaimer: maybe I’ve got all of this wrong #sorry for this Ken #you seem very nice in podcast interviews

[marimayscarlett]

This is a FREE pass to deep dive into ANY of your favorite thing(s) about Mr. Zee Kay!!! I wanna hear EVERYTHING about your favorite thing, I love seeing your deep dives and essays on the most important subject to exist ❤️

❗ CAUTION. LONG-ISH POST AHEAD. ❗

Hi! First of all:

Kissies for you for sending me this ask, thank you so much! This has been sitting in my inbox for a while now since it took me ages to decide what this post should be about. I didn't want to make yet another fashion/stage outfit/etc post, so I decided to do something different with it.

I decided this will be a long ass post about Richard's outspokenness and honesty in interviews and some of my favourite quotes/topics he spoke about in the past. This man has A LOT to say and sometimes is brutally honest with his answers. You ask him how he's doing or what he thinks about XYZ? Prepare for a lengthy and detailed reply. You ask him something silly or boring? Be prepared he quite actually reacts quite directly on it.

This list will be sorted by three topics: 1. Quotes regarding work with Rammstein, Emigrate and in general, 2. Quotes about his personal life and finally, 3. Unhinged shit Richard says since this man sometimes has no filter.

All interviews will be linked, german quotes are translated into english. Prepare yourself, this will be long and self-indulgend and I'm probably the only person who's really interested in this stuff but i don't CARE, I love reading about and listening to this man and I'll use this post to my liking thanks to this lovely, lovely anon 💞 Let's get started 👀🤍

Richard on working with Rammstein and Emigrate and music in general

In this interview, Richard talks about being put into the right wing corner by the german media and how hard it is for him and the band: "You want to shout it out loud and convince people otherwise, only to find that nobody listens because nobody wants to know. They want you in this corner. That was very disillusioning."

Here he gives an example for his immeasurable perfectionism and how he tries to protect himself from it: "I spent a lot of time recording guitars over and over again. I ended up giving my guitar engineer the key to the locker where my guitar cabinets are and told him “Do not give me this key back”,  otherwise I would have still been in there recording guitars right now.

In the same interview, he also gives an example how the whole Mutter problem came into play: "So if I’d come up with 45 ideas, then others in the band may feel they’d have to come up with 45 ideas as well. There was lot of pressure going on within Rammstein because of that."

Here Richard talks about how he, back in the GDR days, wandered from peer group to peer group to find his style: "I've always been bored of sticking with just one group of people. The metalheads got drunk too often. So I moved on - and I found that refreshing - to the punks …" Interviewer: … who didn't drink any less. "No, exactly. And they were also dirtier (laughs). Then I was with the bluesmen, and they always went to these blues fairs. And because they also drank a lot, they could sleep well, whereas I, who didn't drink, always woke up at three in the morning because I was so cold - we only had these thin cotton sleeping bags."

Richard on the amount of hours which go in one song of his [interview]: "At some point, I calculated that it takes me about 1000 hours on average for a song to reach the listener. But I don't want to think too much about the time involved. That would just be frustrating."

On his relationship with Flake and that he would be the one member of the band Richard would play an Emigrate album as a test run to [interview]: "Although someone like Flake would probably be very open to that. We have a lot of respect for each other and are in a lively exchange. For example, I regularly listen to his radio show - and call him afterwards to ask him what weird stuff he's been saying. (laughs)"

2. Richard on his personal life

In my alltime favourite podcast with Richard, he admist to seemingly being a quite difficult person to live with (apparently, only his daughter is able to and is relaxed enough to bring him inner peace). He hates talking in the morning, needs time for himself with no talking and reflect on things and sometimes is afraid/annoyed that he has to explain himself to others (since other people tend to take offense because of this). This is one of the reasons why he definitely can't imagine living together with a girlfriend again.

Here he talks about the evolution of friendship with Till: Intervier: How has your friendship changed over more than 30 years? Richard: "Well, as it goes in life: Unfortunately, there's never a happy ending. You should only meet friends once or twice a month. It's unnatural for men to be extremely close for decades. At some point you want to be left alone." Interviewer: You two are more like colleagues these days? Richard: "Sounds stupid, but that's kind of how it is. But I still have a basic trust: If anything happens, I know I can call Till and he'll be there, just like the others."

Here Richard admits to his immense moodiness at times: "I am a very moody person, my mood sometimes changes by the hour."

Why he likes western movies so much [interview]: "It might sound strange, but I have really early childhood memories of my father watching these cowboy movies and falling asleep… that ended up being part of my upbringing somehow."

And his fond memory of the wild times with Till after the wall came down [interview]: "Because at that time, in every house there was a techno or rave party, and we would go there, and 7 in the morning, he would bring his daughter to school, and then come back and we would stay there into the daytime, and dance to these electric beats — I mean, can you imagine us dancing like that?"

How he answers to a fan question in which movie/show he'd like to be a part of (musically or in general) [article]: "I would have loved to have been in Game of Thrones. I really love fantasy worlds, you know? Also Westworld."

3. Welcome to the unhinged RZK corner aka "Shit RZK says":

In this interview, he describes his relationship with music like this: "I believe the music itself must be the king, but I want to be the queen." Alrighty then 👀

Just overall this conversation with him thinking about filming himself having sex [interview]:

The Gauntlet: Do you always have that funny smile during sex? [regarding the Pussy MV]

Richard: "I actually never watched myself but you have a point. I really should watch myself or videotape it. I never really...I can do it. I did that a long time ago but every girl is different. Do I really smile? Sometimes I guess, I will have to check that out. You really have me thinking on that one."

This man seemingly tried every therapy under the sun, which is good, but this one left me a bit speechless [interview]: "I always had the feeling that I was a king without a nation. That was always in my head and I once did reincarnation therapy and experienced this life. It was really interesting and this song came out of that [song: Born on my own].

Here he admits to throwing a guitar at Lemmy Kilmister: "It was the third time a roadie had given me an out-of-tune guitar. So I threw it at him. Unfortunately, Lemmy was standing there watching the show from the side of the stage. But I didn't know that, I just saw Lemmy disappear. That was very embarrassing for me."

Or he throws his credits cards at sales women (how about some anger management my guy): "The last time I was there [New York], I wanted to pay for a coffee in a café with a hundred dollar bill. But not because I wanted to be a big shot, but because I just had this one bill in my pocket. The sales woman hissed at me and threw the bill back over the counter. I just thought: She's out of her mind. I then threw my credit card at her. I was really angry."

If you made it to the end of this post, I really applaud you and apologize for my rambling yet again 🙏 I could go on and on (I didn't even started with quoting the video interviews), but I think since I'm the only one who's into this, I stop right here 😅 Have some smiley Richard as a reward 🍀

#rammstein #richard kruspe #ask #i'm so sorry dear anon that this took so long #but well #i am delusional and way over the top about this man and I admit to it #thank you for this ask!!!

[omo-queer]

hey V, I don't want to be invasive so forgive me for asking. how are you edging/ruining/ theoretically able to cum, all without touching? asking as someone who has only ever been able to finish with a specific toy and no other method lol im curious and also a little jealous!

thanks for the ask! this isn't too invasive, so no need to worry!

it bears noting that i am able to get myself off pretty easily with my own hands but i also have a right hand like a vibrator (and that's not really an exaggeration... people have alleged my hands are magic. i blame rhythm games and a body that hasn't always been the most interested in going over the edge by hand.)

the key components (for me) to being able to go over the edge without any genital contact are audiovisual stimulation, pressure, and tension. here's a summary of what works for me on these:

audiovisual stimulation—this one's simple. my brain really enjoys seeing and hearing people being penetrated, especially if they're getting off, and i feel almost a sympathetic response. i think this is related to the way some people can get off just from topping someone with a strap, although the strap does absolutely give some pressure with each thrust so that might be considered an "easier" variant of what i'm talking about doing (easier in quotes bc none of this is particularly easy to do the first time.) normally i don't watch that much vanilla porn (or really too much video pornography at all if i'm honest) but the easiest source of this kind of stimulation for me is watching simple amateur videos of people riding dildos. sound really helps. them having a real orgasm really helps.

pressure—this one is a little trickier, but it's got a few contributors. the more i need to come, the more "pressure" there is in that sense. (thank you, denial kink.) the fuller my bladder is, the more pressure there is from that side. (thank you, piss kink.) if i'm wearing tight pants and/or underwear or i'm under a blanket that comes into contact with my genitals that's another way to make the barrier to entry easier, although to get a perfect ruin i make sure to remove anything that was in contact as i pass the point of no return. that said, clothes and a full bladder both make the process easier, but i can get over the edge without either.

tension—this is the most difficult one to get right, i think. what i do, as i get more aroused, is roughly equivalent to kegel exercises, although i also tense certain muscles in my abdomen that i don't believe are part of the pelvic floor. this should work somewhat with any type of anatomy (and i'm aware of people who have hands-free orgasms with the two most common genital configurations,) as most people have some partially or fully internal erogenous tissue full of nerve endings that, when pushed on from the inside, is sexually pleasurable. this won't feel anywhere near as intense as direct stimulation, and i find it takes a while (and particularly good audiovisual material) to even reach the point where it feels like i could go over the edge. it also bears noting that the first few times i did this, even though i have damn strong pelvic floor muscles, i still ended up sore the next day like i was working out. don't hurt yourself, but figure out what muscles you can tense and release over and over that your body feels some slight pressure from. sometimes i find little thrusting motions with my hips help, though i try not to use these in combination with a blanket or anything because i think that would count as humping.

so basically, you're trying to get your brain so worked up that the idea of real stimulation is enough to get it to go over the edge, and at the same time do everything you can to go over the edge without touching your genitals (or, if you're a weirdo purist like me about the idea, doing things you consider "cheating." for example i avoid grinding my thighs together, humping things, anything that gives direct stimulation to my genitals.) of course, every body is different—and considering that the most important of this is about tricking the brain, every brain is also different—and so your mileage may vary. there's (of course) nothing wrong with you if you can't get this to work, and the first couple times i tried for it i couldn't manage it myself.

for the easiest setup and again this isn't easy the first time you do it, find the audiovisual material that works best for you, bring yourself right up near the edge in the way you would normally masturbate but not to the point of no return, and remove stimulation. then try your hardest to come by flexing and tensing muscles. if you get too far from the edge, bring yourself back up and try again. if you have other parts of your body that are sensitive to touch, you can lean on that a little (e.g. neck, nipples, thighs but not too close to the genitals) you can put your hands to work on those, although in my experience none of those are fully necessary either.

feel free to ask any questions this raises! i'm amenable to DMs, or if you're asking from a blog you don't want known (or just don't like DMs) you can also pick an emoji to send anon asks with! i have a list of taken emoji in my pinned, so you can pick anything that isn't listed there. i would love to hear any experiences you have using this info, and would be glad to give more details if they would help.

#denial #i guess it's denial related #even though it's literally about how to come lmao

[sgiandubh]

"These people are not your toys"

you are right, Cait is not a toy, she chose the man (Tony) she loves, and decided to marry, and have a baby

and sam is not a toy, he chose the life of celibacy and engaging in commercial and investment work

They are not a toys, we insist on making our dreams come true during them, ignoring their complete free will.

Dear Free Will Anon,

Since you people keep on coming back over and over again with the same points of talk, when - again - you cannot, by now, reasonably expect a different feedback, especially from that coin flipping, bizarre woman you just love to call a lunatic every single day, I am going to take another angle. We all know how you, people of Mordor, like a good debunking, and this is exactly what I am going to do tonight, with you.

Over time, I have watched this kind of interaction repeating itself ad nauseam, over and over and over again. I have also read a massive amount of comments to this type of antics, and came to the conclusion that most of them thought "Anon is stupid and must go away immediately". A banal, convenient conclusion. Your efforts deserve way better.

Anon, you are anything but stupid, when you behave like this, trolling around like a headless chicken, waiting to ignite something, anything. You also know perfectly well that you are not going to change anybody's mind and can at best count on people cursing you (my two native languages have very colorful idioms for these situations, so you get double trouble) in different time zones.

What you are trying to do, Anon, is use a classical assertive technique, called the broken record method. Since you all think we are professional liars, I will just quote some easy, website material that explains it very clearly (available here: https://www.revolutionlearning.co.uk/article/the-broken-record-technique/):

What that does tell me about you and your ilk is, however, not very glorious for you:

It's rich that you try to do that with a diplomat and a former government negotiator, Anon. It's like trying to sell cucumbers to the gardener, to quote a proverb from my country and it is always met with a snort. I use the broken record almost daily - albeit more politely and considerately than you - especially when I reach a stalemate in a difficult point of talk.

Unlike me, you do have an unsavory agenda. While doing some research for a future post, I came across this very interesting article about sealioning, a new form of online harassment : https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2019/03/07/sealioning-is-a-common-trolling-tactic-on-social-media-what-is-it/?sh=4df0169f7a41

This spiel is old and tired by now, Anon. Along with some cleverly planted calumny, it has made a pariah out of the whole shipper community and led to frictions, schisms, conflicts, broken fandom experiences, people leaving in droves, people being doxed, attacked, pressured, strange interviews of the female lead, etc.

You are the last Mordor Anon bringing up McSideburns that is going to get my attention. And it would be wonderful if we'd stop feeding the trolls once and for all and not answer this question anymore, all of us. At least get your act together and diversify, Mordor. You are very good at lying : Stalin would be proud of you, chickies.

And now, to quote Boney M, show me your motion, Anon. Enough is enough: guess what, editorial policy just changed.

#Anon

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Students are massed peacefully on campus, making politically charged demands on university presidents. The police are summoned, leading to mass arrests and even to violence — and to the collapse of confidence in the administration. You may see the punchline coming: This picture isn’t drawn from USC and Columbia University of the present day, but Berkeley in 1964. The lessons should be obvious. Bringing police onto a college campus on the pretext of preserving or restoring “order” invariably makes things worse. It’s almost always inspired not by conditions on campus, but by partisan pressure on university administrators to act. Often it results in the ouster of the university presidents who condoned the police incursions, and sometimes even in the departure of the politicians whose fingerprints were on the orders. In other words, nobody wins. Perhaps in recognition of the astonishing ignorance of college administrators of their own responsibilities, the American Civil Liberties Union last week issued a succinct guide on how to fulfill their “legal obligations to combat discrimination and ... maintain order” without sacrificing the “principles of academic freedom and free speech that are core to the educational mission.” [...] The ACLU cautions that “inviting armed police into a campus protest environment, even a volatile one, can create unacceptable risks for all students and staff.” Its statement points to the history of excessive force wielded by law enforcement units against “communities of color, including Black, Brown, and immigrant students.... Arresting peaceful protestors is also likely to escalate, not calm, the tensions on campus — as events of the past week have made abundantly clear.” [...] The history of campus protests suggests that they generally appear more threatening and disruptive on the spot than they prove to be over time. Strong, “decisive” responses almost always backfire. [...] They don’t care a hoot about the “safety” of students, or about the rise of antisemitism nationally, or about hurtful rhetoric emanating from the tent colonies on campus, which they claim to be their concerns. Instead, they’re trying to exploit what appears to be a violent situation to pursue their larger campaign to demonize higher education — in fact, education generally — by softening it up for the imposition of right-wing, reactionary ideologies.

Michael Hiltzik at Los Angeles Times on the nationwide suppression of protests against Israel's genocide campaign on Gaza on college campuses by calling the cops to break them up (04.29.2024).

Michael Hiltzik's Los Angeles Times editorial on the campus protests against the Gaza Genocide is spot-on.

This quote is right-on: "Bringing police onto a college campus on the pretext of preserving or restoring “order” invariably makes things worse. It’s almost always inspired not by conditions on campus, but by partisan pressure on university administrators to act."

#Michael Hiltzik #Los Angeles Times #Editorials #College #Ceasefire NOW Protests #Israel/Hamas War Protests #Israel/Hamas War #Campus Protests #Gaza Genocide

[the-forest-library]

Twenty Books Challenge

Hypothetically, you are only able to keep 20 of your books. Only one book per author/series. So what books are you keeping?

I was tagged by @theinquisitxor and @godzilla-reads - thank you for subjecting me to this torture. 😅

They're all favorites and some have lots of sentimental value (additional thoughts included below).

Little Women (I have several copies of this book, but I selected this lovely edition because it's part of the Puffin in Bloom series)

The Wee Free Men (representing Pratchett and gets me both Tiffany Aching and Granny Weatherwax - my favorite Pratchett leads)

The Hero and the Crown (representing Robin McKinley - and it would be impossible for me to pick a favorite McKinley - so I went with this one because it's one of my all-time favorite covers)

Carry On (one of my most-adored copies of one of my most-adored books - it's signed and dedicated with a Wham reference (!) - and is immensely re-readable)

The Naming (I could get lost in the world of Pellinor forever - it had me at talking horses and all of the descriptions of food)

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (representing Talia Hibbert, I could re-read it forever and feel so seen with the disability rep)

Red, White, & Royal Blue (One of the only books I've re-read multiple times and always puts me in the best mood)

In Other Lands (Original and fun, with characters that have stuck with me)

The Left Hand of Darkness (I have prettier copies, but this is the edition I read and annotated in high school)

Three Tragedies: Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear (Got this edition at a Scholastic book fair and used it in high school and college - it's annotated and falling apart, but holds lots of memories)

Lolita (Stunning prose and includes one of my all-time favorite quotes)

Demian (I read this book in high school with one of my best friends, and this is the edition that she gifted me, which includes a lovely note from her)

The English Patient (A wonderful friend got this gorgeous edition signed and dedicated for me)

Jane Eyre (Jane and Rochester live rent free in my soul forever, and I love the cover on this one)

The Time Traveler's Wife (This book was so formative and is why I want to time travel solely so I can attend concerts)

Possession (Worth keeping it for the epilogue alone, but also contains one of my favorite quotes)

Into Thin Air (Started my love affair with non-fiction)

The Wind in the Willows (A gorgeously illustrated edition)

Anne of Green Gables (I was tempted to pick The Blue Castle for my Montgomery representation, but had to stick with AOGG for Matthew Cuthbert, and this edition because it's part of the Puffin + Pantone series)

Black Beauty (I read it just a few year years ago, and it started my adult horse girl phase)

Tagging (no pressure, just fun!): @lizziethereader, @aliteraryprincess, @brightbeautifulthings, @freckles-and-books, @thereadingchallengechallenge, @literarymagpie, @mountainmaven, and anyone else that would like to do it!

#twenty books challenge #books #booklr #bookish #reading #bibliophile

[seriouslysam8]

can I ask why you don’t like hermione?

I find Hermione’s character completely insufferable (to quote one of my least favorite characters.)

She has a superiority complex. She legit thinks she’s the smartest person ever. Sure, she’s got book-smarts. But she often dismisses and talks down to Harry and Ron (her supposed best friends) so imagine how she talks to someone like Lavender who is the complete opposite of her. She often dismisses Harry’s ideas because she thinks her way of doing things is better.

She lacks sympathy, especially if she thinks she’s right about something. Look, she was right about the DOM. And Harry was in a highly emotional state because his literal only family was in danger. She just comes off as so self-righteous and uncaring in that scene. In contrast to Ginny who is very much like “I care about him too!” And you know Hermione already doesn’t like Sirius. You can tell in OOTP that she dislikes him.

She’s an annoying friend. I would not be friends with Hermione in real life. In POA, she’s right the Firebolt was from Sirius, but the way she goes about telling McGonagall behind Harry’s back is just not being a very good friend, especially in the realm of a teenager. Hell, even as an adult, that would annoy the hell out of me. Voice your concerns and suggest checking out the broom, but don’t go tattling behind your friend’s back.

She’s so hypocritical. She’s so hellbent on following the rules but yet she does the most unhinged shit like scarring Marietta and trapping Rita in a jar. Sure, those characters are annoying but that’s a bit extreme. Not to mention, she can date Krum but Ron can’t date Lavender? She has to send a flock of birds to attack him? Like sit down.

You see other characters have growth in the series but she never does because she already thinks she’s the best and she’s always right. It’s hard to even find a fanfic story where she doesn’t swoop in with all the right answers and being obnoxious. Like can we just celebrate that Harry and Ron are smart too? Why is that so hard?

The total way Ron pushed back so Hermione can shine is annoying as well. Hermione is always highlighted as Harry’s best friend. She wasn’t. Harry was literally annoyed with her all the damn time. He didn’t care when they fought in POA, in contrast to him being depressed and acting like he lost a limb when he fought with Ron in GOF. In DH, when Ron was gone, Harry and Hermione barely talked. There was no dancing scene or the two being close. Harry only stared at Ginny’s dot while Hermione cried. Hermione was, arguably, a better friend to Harry than Harry was to Hermione. She doesn’t even realize that. She’s always on him and annoying him.

But here’s the thing. You don’t have to agree with me. You can love Hermione all you want. But I’m also allowed to dislike her character. I’m not obligated to write her character or to write Romione or anything. I find it so weird that I am a Hinny writer, but people get upset about the lack of Hermione. If I never had a tumblr, nobody would even know I dislike her character because I don’t fucking bash her in my writing. I find bashing characters lazy writing. Just because I’m writing Harry and Hermione fighting in Brumous and not talking so therefore do not write Hermione scenes is not bashing. Just because I was going to have Romione get a divorce in Legerdemain is not bashing. I didn’t even want to kill her in Legerdemain but I was stupid and listened to people on tumblr saying that was better than a divorce for some reason and felt pressured into it. So blame the Romione fans and not me for her death who thought death was better than divorce.

But I am so sick of people coming at me for literally not writing Hermione or complaining about it. I am the writer. I do this for free. I am not obligated to write anything or anyone I don’t want to. If you don’t like, don’t read. And don’t bash a real life person over a fictional character. Like it’s weird. I just want to write my silly little angsty stories but the Hermione bullshit is so frustrating. I don’t understand the love.

If you don’t agree with me, that’s fine. I’m not arguing in the comments and will ignore/block you if my comments are filled with hate.

[island-in-the-shadows]

Thank you for the very detailed reply! You’ve given me a lot to think about from a legal perspective. Follow up questions (feel free to ignore if I’m pestering you) in the hypothetical scenario that Felix simply tires of Oliver the way he did with Eddie, does Oliver still react the same way? If their friendship had ended on more amicable, gradual, mundane terms, is Oliver still pushed over the edge to the point that murder is on the table? I think his first instinct would be to crank up the lies, but if Felix doesn’t bite? He’d still be heartbroken, but would he be as angry as he was at “you make my blood run cold”?

Had Felix lived, do you think he would’ve eventually grown into a stiff upper lipped snob? After all, Elspeth was also a party girl who fraternised with rock stars and then look at the version we meet.

This is an unpopular opinion I guess but to me the heartbeat of the movie was Felix. I know Oliver is more popular, especially on Tumblr, but I was completely smitten with Jacob Elordi. What are your headcanons about him? Mine is that the reason he was found so quickly is because Venetia raised the alarm. I think she was very very attached to him (maybe to an unhealthy amount the way a lot of people seem to be) and no matter how busy things got she always had one eye on her brother, making sure he was okay.

My pleasure to answer, Anon! 1. In the hypothetical scenario that Felix got bored, Oliver would continue to try to find ways to hook Felix back in. The only way he would then act with more murderous intent would be if there were no going back whatsoever. No way out but this. Oliver, in the moment where he decides to give Felix the bottle, is a hurt animal backed into a corner. So he reacts impulsively and emotionally. Outside of that context, he will continue to do anything that he has to do to continue to be interesting to Felix and to keep himself in Felix's orbit while not harming Felix as long as he does not believe that there is no other way. I do not think there would be a reason for Oliver to let it go. He would keep at it and never let go. And it's evident that he would continue to get at it since, in film canon, it has been 15 years and he continues to view Felix as his God, worthy of his love and idolatry, despite being dead. If I may quote NBC Hannibal for a moment, Dr. DuMaurier tells Will Graham (now having accepted the dark parts of his nature and desirous to act chaotically in order to free his would be lover): "You found religion. Nothing more dangerous than that." Though I won't get into the dissection we could make of that line in the context of its source, I can express that, to Oliver, Felix is, essentially, his religion. And Oliver is nothing short of devout. Yes, even sacrificing Felix falls into a sense of idolatry because he has forever frozen Felix at the height of his perfection through Oliver's eyes. The way Felix is framed in the opening and closing montages of the film, through Oliver's eyes, tells us as such. Felix is forever perfect. Given that this is how Oliver sees Felix and feels about Felix regardless of all the foibles that Felix certainly has, he would NEVER let Felix go. Ever. He would keep trying to hook Felix or he would die trying.

2. I do speculate a bit about this more in my fic than I have in proper meta, but...Felix would have an immense amount of pressure on him to confirm to fit a specific mould. Despite that Venetia is older, context clues in the film (such as Felix having the conversation with Farleigh in regards to money for Frederica) indicate that it would have been Felix to inherit the estate and the title that goes along with it, certainly. This means that while some deviation from the "standard" picture of stiff upper lip aristocracy might've been tolerated, it would not have been permissible and allowed in its entirety. @leiflitter covers bits of this in their wonderful You're Almost Home series which, if you've not read, I strongly recommend. In their story, an adult Felix still retains bits and pieces of the vibrant personality that makes him him, but parts of it have been dampened by the circumstance of him having a quickie marriage to a woman he barely knew because she got pregnant, becoming a parent (especially becoming a parent very young), and eventually becoming the Master of the Estate and, if I'm not mistaken, a baronet. Per the rules of the aristocracy, there was no way that Felix could simply not marry a girl he got pregnant. He had to marry her to cover the scandal and the baby serves as an heir which would be expected of him. Even if we go outside of this wonderful fic, and go back into canon meta, Felix has expectations on him: marrying a woman, having heirs, inheriting and managing Saltburn. It doesn't seem like a lot and it does come with gargantuan wealth but, you said it yourself, Elspeth used to run around with musicians and was probably wild back in the day, but she became a house cat, so to speak, when she became the Lady of Saltburn. And Elspeth would arguably have had less expectation on her. She needed to marry rich and birth heirs and be the picture of quiet civility. She is likely, as we know her, a dampened version of who she was before marriage. Felix has just the bit more of not only perpetuating the system to which he belongs but managing it. It's a lot of responsibility to put on one person. And, I think, he's already keenly aware of the responsibility that will fall onto his lap even before his father dies. It's why he buries his emotions in alcohol, drugs, and (terrible) sex with girls he couldn't give a flying fig about. So, while I do think some who 20yo Felix is survives an adulthood in the aristocracy, we're looking at an adult Felix being kinda like his mum in some aspects and kind of like his dad in others (dampened, stiff upper lip versions of who they probably really are).

3. I don't know that it's an unpopular opinion, actually. In my opinion, the film itself tells you it's about Felix. It's often misinterpreted (specifically by shit critics and YouTubers) as being a bad "Eat the Rich" movie with Oliver being the wild bisexual who just wanted the Cattons' riches. However, the first line is about Oliver "not" being in love with Felix. And, we know from Emerald, that is a lie. That Oliver was in love with Felix. It's evident from how the camera frames Felix. It's evident with the fact that the light goes from rich and golden while Felix is alive, to stark and white in a post-Felix world. Felix is Oliver's religion, and he is the story. He is, as you said, the heartbeat. What happens is that Oliver is a lot more fun to dissect than Felix is. I say this as someone who continuously dissects Felix and have put a lot of the dissection of his character into fic. But, Oliver would not be Oliver without Felix. He didn't really exist before him and we wouldn't have the film or any of the events without Felix being this Apollo coded figure. Also, yes, Jacob Elordi's subtle performance as Felix often goes unnoticed, but it was absolutely wonderful.

4. Ok so one of my head-canons would be this (another long post because it's how I do when I really get into it). Venetia is his older sister, so I agree that she is very protective of him (Again, something I explore more in my fic than I have in meta but I could do a whole post on the sibling dynamics). I have other small ones like Felix repeatedly took his shoes off and threw them when he was very little, that his guitar playing is subpar but he knows how to play Oasis' Wonderwall and probably played it for Ollie, that he could not pick out India or Annabel out in a police lineup (I just don't think he really views them as people), that he has a MASSIVE sweet tooth and prefers "girly" cocktails to more "manly" drinks but doesn't order them because he doesn't want people to judge, that he has comfort clothes and wears them until they're beyond repair (like the blue sweater at the beginning of the film having holes for example), etc. Felix is lovely and we know so little about him and I do adore him. I get why Oliver lost his mind over this big himbo.

#mari answers #saltburn #oliver quick #felix catton #this was another long post #I have a lot of thoughts guys #and I do fuck all with my degree so this is fun to do lol #elspeth catton #venetia catton

[avida-heidia-5]

While we wait for the 2024 Formula 1 season to arrive, I thought I’d entertain myself by playing a little tag game I’ve just created. Feel free to participate if you have the time to do it. 😊

🏎️💨 THE FORMULA 1 TAG GAME! 🏎️💨:

1. Who or what got you into F1?

2. Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

3. Who’s your current favourite F1 driver?

4. Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like.

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

(This is all the questions I could come up with, I’m afraid! My brain is absolutely worn to a frazzle! 😮‍💨)

Now tag as many people as you like! I tag the following peeps: @kaossbells, @argentinagp, @hurricane-heatt, @skitskatdacat63, @racingliners, @formulaes5, @princemick, @4xmulti21champion, @schumigrace, @hungriestheidi, @ellalovesvettel, @twinkodium, and @wanderingblindly. Feel free to participate if you would like to. No pressure! 😊

If I haven’t tagged you in this but you want to participate, you have my permission. Go absolutely wild!

Now here are my answers below the cut! Warning: I can be a touch rambly!

1. Who or what got you into F1?

My parents introduced me to F1 in 2004 when I was around 4 or 5 years old. I vividly remember watching pretty much the whole of the 2005 season on the telly and how amazing a lot of the races were back then. 😍 Since then, we’ve been keeping up with watching races, following the news, and visiting Silverstone for Free Practice sessions and fun events like the Classic Weekend and the Lap Of Lights whenever possible.

2. Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

I was drawn to Kimi Räikkönen when I was young because I found him attractive. 😳 This was before I knew anything about F1. 😅 Once I got into the habit of watching the sport regularly, I was happily cheering him on. That McLaren was a BEAST…when it was reliable. 😬

I didn’t know much about Kimi’s story back then. As I grew older though, I did some research on him and came to understand why fans love him so much. He kept a cool head during qualifying and race days (He’s called The Iceman for a reason!) and I just love his personality in general: Quiet, composed, honest, and straightforward. And who could forget the memes that spawned during Kimi’s return to F1?

Even though Kimi’s retired from the sport (seemingly for good 😢), I still love and support him with all my heart, whatever he gets up to. 💙❄️

3. Who’s your current favourite F1 driver?

Sebastian Vettel. Oooooh Sebastian Vettel! Where do I even start? 🥰

I have an insane adoration for this man, even more than Kimi admittedly. Seb is just…on another level to me. 😍😍😍

He’s the sweetest, most loveliest man on the planet. He’s kind, generous, talented, and cultured. He’s also an environmentalist, and I fully support his journey to try and make our planet a greener, tidier, happier, and healthier place. 🌎🌱 I’m always fascinated with what he has to say; whether it’s something positive or negative. He has a ridiculous knowledge of everything related to F1 and our environment, and I love him even more for it.

Seb is also retired from F1 and I still miss him dearly, but that doesn’t stop me from loving and supporting this man. I adore him to absolute BITS! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

4. Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have an interesting dynamic to me. I’ve enjoyed seeing their relationship develop and fall apart and repair themselves back together on track, from when the two were teammates at Red Bull all the way up to today. It’s good that they can laugh about their mishaps and misfortunes afterwards. I don’t know, these two just fascinate me. 💜

Other favourite driver pairings include (in no particular order): Seb and Kimi, Seb and Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr., Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., and FINALLY, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

We’re happy to support any team, but we’re primarily McLaren supporters in this household. 🧡 As for drivers, my mum loves Jenson Button and my dad is a Nigel Mansell and Fernando Alonso supporter. My sister just recently started getting into F1 and she supports Lando Norris. We never have any complaints or disputes over our choices, which is nice. 😊

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

There’s quite a lot of races I’ve enjoyed watching over the years. I don’t like the current races that much; I’m more of a 2000’s & 2010’s grid enjoyer. My favourite race of all time has got to be the 2012 Brazilian GP. It was the most nail-biting race I have ever watched! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! 😱 To me, nothing can top it!

However, the race that stood out to me the most – and the race that firmly cemented my enjoyment for the sport – was the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix. Kimi was a BEAST in that McLaren! From starting dead last on the grid to snatching victory on the final lap. What a show he put on! 🤩👏🏻

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

Spa-Francorchamps will forever be my favourite circuit. It’s home to one of the most iconic battles in history. (“BUT HERE COMES SEBASTIAN VETTEL!!!!”) Plus the foresty backdrop is absolutely stunning. 😍 One of my dream goals is to visit this iconic circuit and watch a race in person one day. 🙏🏻

I also love Silverstone, Hockenheim, Monza, Sepang, Interlagos, and the Nürburgring.

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like.

No, I’ve never been to a race before. Not yet, at least. I would really love to go to one with my family and friends though. 🤩🙏🏻

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

Unfortunately, as of writing, no. We’ve taken many pictures of drivers, but I’ve yet to actually come face-to-face with them and take their autographs and have pictures with them. 🙁 One day, I’m hoping this will all come true. 🤞🏻

My parents briefly talked to Esteban Ocon when he was a reserve driver. (They don’t know which team he was in at the time and I don’t know either. This was around 2015, if that helps. 🤷🏻‍♀️) My mum was extremely lucky to talk to and get an autograph from Jenson Button’s dad John when he was alive. I believe this was around the time before Jenson won the World Championship. They’ve yet to get Jenson’s autograph. Again, one day! 🤞🏻

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

I don’t have many favourite cars, and I’m not a car nerd like my dad is. However, the McLaren MP4/20 is a certified favourite of mine. The black and white West McLaren livery in general looked very smart. I’m happy it lasted a very long time from 1997 to 2005. 😍 I wish they brought those colours back in modern races, like for special occasions or something. 😭

I also love the blue and yellow Mild Seven Renault livery from 2005, followed by McLaren’s delightfully retro Gulf livery from 2021, and Hungry Heidi herself: the Red Bull RB9 from 2013.

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

Robert Kubica. This man went from having his horrific accident during the 2007 Canadian GP to winning the race a year later at the same circuit. What a legend! 🤍

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

Let’s start with my favourite hilarious quote: Kimi’s got hundreds of iconic moments during his time in F1. I actually use his infamous quote “Just leave me alone! I know what I’m doing!” quite often in normal conversations, so…I’ll go with that! 🤣🤣🤣

As for inspirational quotes, hmmm, that’s a lot harder. The one that came to my head first was Daniel Ricciardo’s “Enjoy the butterflies” quote. I also love Sebastian Vettel’s “You can’t always be the best, but you can do your best.” and his retirement speech, among others. If I had to choose one….uhhhhh, let’s go with Daniel! I love them all equally though. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#My tag game #Formula 1 Tag Game #tag game #ask game #My ramblings: F1 #formula 1 #f1 #random #personal

[sophfandoms53]

Okay time to get sappy a week after the finale LMAOO

As always, The Tag is my favorite part of the season and if we get good feeds along with it? A feast. And a majority of this season was like that, and I shall highlight some of my favorite memories from throughout the season and the tag that I will always be thinking about in years to come

- This is the funniest one for me, but us being locked out of the tag during reilly’s eviction and how we discovered that just minutes before the episode started, but that didn’t stop us from live blogging anyway LMAOO.

- And then they had the AUDACITY to announce the pressure cooker was finally coming back the following week and we couldn’t even properly celebrate together so we were all just screaming into the void😭 (or the nether region lol)

- That random vegan person who dropped the season bc Felicia asked for real butter lmao??

- Omg that chipmunk account we all thought was ohthecleverness and y’all called it the squeakuel and i think this person vanished from the tag

- GOING BACK TO THE PRESSURE COOKER, THE FEEDS THAT NIGHT??? Immaculate.

- It was magic to watch that in real time with each other. The shock we were in that the hgs broke an hour and then come to find out they almost broke the original record by mere MINUTES.

- The panic every time someone we liked dropped. The collective “CORY NO”’s live rent free to me.

- Us STRESSING so badly when Cameron wouldn’t let go and then America threw it to him😭 truly was magic tho

- Watching Cory go from someone the tag tolerated to being the IT boy of the season and the tag, iconic, that speech and debate boy had those hgs clawing walls

- Cory shutting down any misogynistic or problematic comment from anyone (the 21 turned 22 year old being the most responsible person this season should be studied)

- Corswhores that’s it LMAOO

- Cory suffering from the second juror curse

- America truly being one of us

- Cirie a queen to watch live

-omg that time Cirie said “I ain’t never played with people this stupid before.” SHE WAS AHEAD OF HER TIME

-Izzy deserved sm better from the edit, you could not escape this girl on the feeds

-The episode edits sucking for a vast majority of the season and for the houseguests (i swear i’ve never seen a season’s edit and its feeds be completely different from each other before how tf did that happen)

- Our collective hatred for the multiverse twist

- FUCKING BOWIE JANE

- Everything about Felicia really, the FBJ remix, her and Mr B (smooches), even tho she was pawned all summer watching her game was so fun

- HISAM ROBBED KING BUT HE SAVED US FROM THE REILLY CULT

- Us being split just like the house during the Izzy flip (we managed to stay more civil than twitter ever did, as we should)

- AND HOW COULD I FORGET THE JARED AND CORY FIGHT IN THE HAVE NOT ROOM???

- Two hours of Jared forcing everyone to go in circles, Cory reaching his limit, Jag coming in, Cirie coming in, Bowie just sitting there

-“Who the fuck is for real for real???”

- This exchange kills me everytime idk why

Cory: You also told me seven deadly sins was fake.

Jared: Who THE FUCK told you that???

Cory: YOU DID.

Jared: You wanna know why I told you that?

- Jared’s “YOU must’ve misunderstood.” about Matt, and then Cory’s immediate “WHOA, WHOA, NO.” Lives rent free

- “Jared, you have been yelling for forty minutes.”

- That gif of Cirie face palming as she listened to her son completely obliterate their games

- Cory’s face palm image

- This happening on a hot dog bed

- Mecole, America, and Blue all getting ready downstairs while this was transpiring upstairs LMAO

- I can literally quote and go on about this fight for hours, and im so mad i cant go back and watch the unedited version anymore (UPDATE SOMEONE UPLOADED IT ON YOUTUBE LETS GO)

- Y’all remember that assignment i did about this fight? Not only did i get a perfect score but i also got a bonus point and my prof wrote a note that i was so descriptive he wanted to watch LMAO

- The post season being less chaotic than the actual season is such a funny ending

-everyone joining cameo???

- And lastly, How did your game change for, I’m gonna say the better, when you joined the Mafia with Matt and I :D

Alright all of that highlighted, despite the chaos and the exhaustion of this 100 day season (BB gods never do this to us again oh my god) it’s been such a pleasure to open up the tag and read my morning newspaper the last three months LMAOO.

This has been the most active I’ve been in the tag thus far and with a season this all over place, it was a trip. But, truthfully, I’d do it again. You guys always make all the nonsense worth it because despite the different sides we’ve been on all season, we know this show is a train wreck and that our real enemy is always production 😭

Thank you guys again for such a lovely community these past few months, and we shall be back in few weeks tragically 🥲🫡💙

#its been quite a season 😭 #despite its mediocre ending #it was fun mostly #and thank y’all for that #love you all through all the insanity fr #bb25 #bbrg #this is the new tag right LMAOO

[vynegar]

marius 3rd birthday card excerpt

happy birthday marius!!! this excerpt includes the (HEARTBREAKING!!) flashback scene as well as a short scene that continued that storyline of the von Hagen family. i really loved this card and i hope you’ll enjoy this excerpt of it too!

disclaimer: this is a fan translation and i am not fluent in chinese, so keep in mind that there will be mistakes. feel free to let me know if you have questions, concerns, or comments.

do not repost without explicit permission. if you want to quote this or reference parts of the translation, credit and link back to me.

check my masterlist for more translations.

timestamps go along with the card video here. it’s not mine, please support the uploader Hikari Sherry Gaming by liking/commenting/subscribing.

Title: Fireflies and Darkness (萤影同归)

Context:

Lately, Marius has been busy at Pax with a project that Giann had been planning before he disappeared. Meanwhile, MC is planning Marius’s birthday celebration and wants to do it the way he would celebrate when he was a child. Marius describes how they would celebrate privately as a family at the von Hagen estate. Also, every year Giann would fill up a room with fireflies, which he said represented their mother celebrating Marius’s birthday. MC suggests they go to von Hagen estate to celebrate his birthday.

At the estate, MC and Marius end up cleaning out a study room. MC finds a box of Marius’s old exams, but among all the scores of 100, a 59 stands out. Giann’s name is signed at the top of the paper [where the parent/guardian is supposed to sign the exam, to show that they’ve seen the score and most likely went over it with their child]. All the answers would be correct though, they’re just off by one question. Marius eventually explains:

[16:23]

Marius smiled as he took the yellowed midterm exam from my hands. Nostalgically, he traced his finger over the unsightly number.

Marius: Before I talk about this exam, let me first tell you a story about a foolish little brother who protected his older brother in a childish way.

MC: ...

Marius: A long time ago, there was a family of a father and two sons. The matriarch of the family passed away when the younger brother was born. As a result, they were especially loving toward this younger brother who had never had a mother, and always reserved the best things for him.

MC: (This story...)

Marius: When the little brother was seven, the father transferred all of the assets left behind by the mother to the boy’s name. This sparked widespread discussion from the outside world, as they believed the marriage between the boy's parents was a dirty transaction. Otherwise, how could they force the mother to give birth to him while she was severely ill? Everyone could see that the young brother was more similar to his father, in both appearance and personality. For a short time, practically everyone believed that the father would leave the role of heir to the younger brother. Even though the younger brother thought that was ridiculous, the rumors still impacted his older brother.

MC: How could that happen...

Marius gently squeezed my hand in reassurance, indicating that I should continue listening to his story.

Marius: The younger brother noticed how much pressure his older brother was under at that time, how he often had sleepless nights. So the boy wanted to disqualify himself from becoming heir. That way, his older brother would be his father's only option.

He looked up and smiled, as if thinking it were funny, but my heart couldn't help but ache. The younger brother in the story was probably Marius himself. He was only seven years old, yet he had to deal with this kind of situation...

MC: So your silly solution was to get the questions wrong on purpose, to make everyone think you were dumb and unqualified to be his heir?

Marius knew that I guessed who the story was about. He smiled and pinched my cheek, nodding.

Marius: Yeah. But my brother was smart enough to catch on immediately.

MC: What did he do when he realized?

Marius: Well, he was angry of course. When we got home, he furiously dragged me into the study to ask me why.

As Marius recounted the story, it was as if I returned to that past along with him...

[flashback]

... and saw the seventeen-year-old older brother drag his seven-year-old younger brother through the long hallway, slam open the door, and "confront" him in the study. The misunderstood boy was forced in front of the table by his still-adolescent older brother, who was holding the exam paper and questioning him.

Giann: Marius, why did you answer the questions wrong on purpose?

Marius: ...

The boy gripped his sleeves and clenched his teeth – silent, as if that could let the incident pass by quietly. In reponse, Giann knelt down so he was eye-level with Marius, then sighed helplessly.

Giann: Marius*, as a child of the von Hagen family, grades have never been the number one priority. But there's a difference between not being gifted at something and getting it wrong on purpose. I know you're smart, and you got all the right answers. Something must have happened to make you do this. Am I right?

Marius: ...

Giann: Tell your big brother why you did this. If you just stay silent, I'll worry.

When Giann was angry, little Marius was able to hold back his tears. But when he was softly comforting him, the boy's tears finally overflowed.

The tears poured out before Marius might have even realized it. He hurriedly wiped them away, but the more he did that, the more the tears came. In that moment, all the fear and worries that he had been enduring during that time burst out.

Marius: I'm sorry, Giann... *sob*... I'm sorry...

Giann: ...

Marius: I made things so hard for you. It's my fault... that they won't let you be heir. I... I don't want those shares, I just want you and Dad... *sob*...

Marius stuttered out the feelings that he had been holding inside the whole time.

Giann: Marius...

Possibly because he had never seen Marius cry so grievously before, Giann hesitated when he reached out to wipe away Marius's tears... Then, he finally gave an aching sigh. Having grown up in the von Hagen family, he quickly guessed what Marius had experienced. And this was only the beginning. In the future, they would encounter more situations like this, which was burden they had to bear. But as long as their family trusted in each other, no rumor could shake the strength of their relationship.

Giann: Marius, Dad actually asked me for my opinion before giving the Pax shares to you.

Marius: You... already knew?

Giann: Yeah. And I agreed.

Marius: But... why?

Giann: Obviously because... my little brother is the best little brother in the world. And… you've never had Mom to take care of you. The funds used to establish Pax Capital** all came from Mom. So transferring the shares to you was probably Dad's way of making up for Mom not being there to protect you.

Giann thought that his words would make Marius stop crying, but didn't realize that it would make him sob even harder.

Giann: Huh? W-why... why are you crying even harder now...? Marius... Don't cry... Is it because I was mad at you earlier? Hey, I was just pretending, how could I actually be mad at you...

Seeing his brother's self-reproach, Marius shook his head while wiping his tears.

Marius: I've... always felt like I was the one who killed Mom. Because of me, Dad was misunderstood, and you've had such a hard time. It's all my fault... Giann, should I have never been born?

Marius gazed tearfully at his brother as he spoke his greatest fear aloud. His young mind didn't even know what answer he wanted to hear, but his doubts over his life had made him unable to endure it any longer.

[END PART TWO]

[PART THREE]

[22:29] Study

Giann pulled Marius into a hug. The boy's small body shook uncontrollably as he sobbed in his brother's arms.

Giann: What kind of a silly idea is that? You have no idea how much Mom was looking forward to you back then. She even made me promise that no matter what happened in the future, I would always protect you, so that you could grow up happy and healthy.

Marius: R-really?

Marius sniffled, like he still had his doubts. After all, the role of "Mom" had always been empty in his life. Giann, understanding how his brother felt, let go of Marius, turned and gripped Marius by the shoulders, then nodded his head seriously.

Giann: Yes, really. Do you remember the fireflies that are there for your birthday every year?

Marius: ...Yeah...

Giann: That was Mom's idea.

Marius: Why?

Giann: She said that if you can see the fireflies, then that was her celebrating your birthday.

Marius: ...

Giann: So Marius , you don't need to blame yourself. You're my precious little brother. No matter what happens, your big brother will do everything he can to protect you. Got it?

Marius: Got it.

[end flashback]

Marius: My brother always kept his promise to our mother to protect me. Even if he was pressured or wronged, he would always prioritize me.

The memory of the exam paper reminded Marius of Giann's disappearance and the stalled project. No matter how well he hid it, I could still sense his worry and disappointment. I hugged him gently. He stiffened for a moment, then patted my back like nothing had happened.

Marius: You don't need to feel bad for me. Yes, there were things I didn’t have before I met you, but I was well protected too. In a way, I really did grow up happy and healthy like my mother wanted. That's how I became the excellent person that you met.

MC: Yes, thank you for becoming so excellent.

[…]

[jump to 36:01, at the von Hagen Estate]

As for the remaining time, I shifted my focus to preparing for Marius's birthday. Everything was pretty much ready, and all that remained was the last step: the devices for attracting fireflies. I found many methods online that were simple and harmless for the fireflies, but...

MC: (Where do I go to find fireflies? Maybe I should ask Mr. Payton. After all, he's familiar with the von Hagen Estate.)

Just as I was about to look for Mr. Payton, I saw him return from the garden.

MC: Mr. Payton, you're back! I happen to have something to ask you.

Payton: By all means, what can I help you with?

MC: Do you still remember when Marius was a kid, how every year there would be fireflies on his birthday?

Payton: The fireflies? Yes, I remember. Those were a surprise that Master Giann would prepare for Master Marius.

MC: Do you know where the fireflies were from?

Payton: They live in the small forest behind the von Hagen Estate.

MC: Whoa, they're that close?

I had a feeling that the fireflies wouldn't be too far away, but I didn't think they'd be right at von Hagen estate.

Payton: It’s because those fireflies were all personally raised by Sir and Master Giann. Back then, Sir put quite a bit of effort into hiding it from Master Marius.

MC: So you mean, Uncle Austin knows about that story too?

Payton: Yes. When his mother departed, Master Giann was still just a child. He couldn't have done all of that by himself.

It turned out that everyone had put in so much work in order to protect Marius. However, growing up in such a loving environment was what allowed him to become who he was today.

MC: Are those fireflies still there?

Payton: They are. This ritual has been on pause ever since Master Marius left to study abroad, but Sir and Master Giann still work hard every year to maintain the forest and ensure the fireflies can survive.

MC: ...

Mr. Payton's words made me realize that it had been a long time since Marius celebrated his birthday at home. He went abroad at a young age, leaving his home to pursue the path of an artist, and then returned to bear his responsibilities when his brother disappeared... He was forced to grow up from a doted-on young master to an independent acting CEO. He protected his family members in his own way, but always forgot to protect himself.

Well, I could protect him.

MC: Mr. Payton, I want to recreate this birthday ritual. Could you help me?

Payton: Of course.

 * Translation note: Giann uses 小和, which is a way of making a nickname out of Marius’s name. I originally had it as “Mar” but changed it for consistency with “Will of the Trees” SSR.

** Pax Capital is Pax’s investment firm. We actually already knew that it was their mother’s legacy; this was the branch of Pax that we saw right at the end of chapter one (1-17), when Marius (still without a full face and name) chewed out the managers for investing in a shady business with his mother’s legacy. So with this card, it seems like our first glimpse of Marius was of him protecting the first piece of Pax that he ever got.

#marius von hagen #tears of themis #giann von hagen #tot marius #lu jinghe #tot translation #LOVE IT when i can put giann's name in the tags. such a thrill