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letters-to-lgbt-kids · 5 months

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My dear lgbt+ kids,

An underrated health and wellbeing tool is play.

When you think about playing, you may immediately picture little children - but by definition, play describes “any activity engaged in purely for enjoyment and recreation with no definite practical purpose” and those activities stay important throughout your whole life.

Why are those activities important?

Play is good for your body. Intentionally doing something just for fun helps to activate the “rest and digest” mode that is necessary to recover and heal from stress. It signals that you’re safe and helps your body relieve tension.

It’s also good for your brain. It can stimulate your imagination, visualization and critical thinking skills, which can help you build skills like resilience and adaptability.

Play can also foster empathy and understanding of others as it can help you see things from another’s perspective.

Playing can make you laugh, and laughter comes with a whole sleeve of health benefits, such as decreasing blood pressure and even improving your immune system!

Playing together can strengthen relationships. Positive, fun social interactions are important for your emotional wellbeing.

Now some of you may think “that’s all nice, but how do I even play as an adult?”. While play is a natural behavior of human beings, many adults need to re-learn how to play - it depends on your specific environment and social circles but you may feel a lot of pressure to be productive all the time and play is by its very nature not productive. So, the first step in re-learning play is to give yourself permission to just *be* instead of *do* (and that can be a huge step!).

Some ideas on how to ease back into play:

Think about your childhood. (Or if you can, ask a parent, sibling or childhood friend, that can be a great way to bring back memories!) What were your favorite ways to play back then? What did you love about your favorite game? Does any particular memory immediately give you that “I wish I could do that again” feeling? (You may not necessarily find anything that you want to just replicate as an adult as-is, this is just meant to kick-start your imagination!)

Gameify everyday tasks. Try to spot as many yellow items as possible on your commute to work. Make up a silly song about laundry while putting away the laundry. Pretend to be on a cooking show while making dinner. Do what you always do, just allow yourself to be silly about it!

Do something creative, even (and especially) if you’re not good at it. You may not think of drawing, writing etc. as playing but those are activities you can do for pure entertainment!

Moving your body doesn’t need to be purposeful exercise (and certainly not hating yourself in the gym), it can also be playtime: Do a silly little dance to your favorite song! Tippytoe, crawl, jump, walk backward.. from your bedroom to the kitchen, just for the fun of it!

Rethink toys. While it is fully okay for a grownup to buy, own and play with toys, and we should abolish the negative stereotypes about it (it’s creepy, it’s inherently a sign of poor mental health etc.) these stereotypes do exist and you may simply not feel comfortable. Luckily, there are a few toys that are generally considered socially acceptable for adults or are even marketed towards adults, such as board games, stress balls, adult coloring books, certain Lego sets or fan/collectors toys (like action figures). And when there are no judgy eyes watching, you may also have fun just playing with household items such as cardboard rolls! No need to go out and buy something!

Keep in mind that play isn’t a competition to win. You can’t play wrong - that’s the beauty of it! Just let your curiosity and enthusiasm guide you.

With all my love,

Your Tumblr Dad

#lgbt #lgbt+

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nightcolorz · 9 months

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The most underrated moment of all time in interview with the vampire (the book) is when Louis meets Lestat and he’s all seductive, making all these promises about eternal life and escaping his human burdens and transcending suffering, living his ultimate hedonistic fantasy forever, and then once the transformation is complete and Louis and Lestat are living together Louis realizes that Lestat isn’t the angelic other worldly being come to sweep him off his feet that he presented himself as, but is actually just a Guy. Fucking hilarious. Suddenly Lestat is 10 years older than Louis at most, his father is still alive, and he’s responsible for caring for him in his old age. He’s bitter and immature and his dad is dying and handling him is his priority first but he hates it, he’s just got average mortal problems and concerns. And Louis’s like wtf ? I’ve been scammed. So good! Lestat is just a guy actually he’s just like Louis, he doesn’t know anything. Vampirism doesn’t make anything more special rlly and ur family and responsibilities don’t go away once u drink the magic blood. I love that, it’s hilarious as it is so interesting for their dynamic. I annoys me sm that the show made Lestat so much more older then Louis bcus a good chunk of the foundation of their dynamic is just gone. Ugh

#the vampire chronicles #tvc #vampire chronicles #vc #interview with the vampire #iwtv #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #ldpdl #lestat iwtv #loustat #Tvc meta

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sixth-light · 21 days

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truly the most underrated thing that makes the (RJ-authored) WoT books great is the combination of how good he is at inhabiting the narrative headspace of one character at a time, and how dedicated he is as a writer to the idea that people can have different, even contradictory points of view and cultural expectations without someone being wrong and someone being right. he truly writes like someone who understands that everybody is human and everybody is pretty much trying to do the right thing as they see it, and that all human cultures are the result of people living their lives under a specific set of circumstances. (the exceptions, his truly villainous villains, are always people who put themselves first outside of matters of survival - and they aren't limited to one culture or background.)

if there's a flaw in this approach, it's that he is so good at inhabiting one PoV at a time that people confuse 'things the characters think' for 'things the narrative is saying are true about the world', because a protagonist is thinking and/or saying them, when in fact 90% of the comedy and commentary in WoT falls in the space between what PoV characters think or understand and what is actually happening. alternatively, that space is used as evidence that X character is bad in some way instead of being a narrative technique to emphasise that everybody's worldview is limited by their experience and upbringing, and the 'truth' of the world exists somewhere at the intersection of all those worldviews. it's not a skill that's unique to him as a writer but in epic fantasy, especially of his time, I think it's rarer than it should be.

#wheel of time #robert jordan #wot book spoilers #not really I guess but just in case

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libraryraccoon · 7 days

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A Raccoon in Twisted Wonderland ?

Gender : Raccoon

Pronouns : Raccoon

Infos : You're a raccoon. A real raccoon. That's it, that's the story. TW : Rook, bad english, english isn't my first language.

You were a normal raccoon, well normal, you had the power to speak in human language and to be smart.

These were the only powers, the only magic, you had, so imagine your shock when you found yourself at the NRC, the Black Mirror choosing you to be a student.

“BUT I DIDN’T EVEN APPLY ?!” -Raccoon!Reader, when a confused Crowley explained the raccoon situation.

Grim was jealous.

You, a fucking raccoon whose only magic was human language and intelligence, had been chosen but not him ?! Jealousy.

Grim became your rival without being asked, literally trying to be better than you at everything, while you didn't even acknowledge his existence-

You are in Savanaclaw, the only real raccoon there is in Savanaclaw.

When Leona and Ruggie started their plan in Book 2, you knew about it too.

They didn't tell you about it, no, you just had heard everything one day.

"You know this can lead to serious problems ? Like broken limbs ?" -Raccoon!Reader, on Leona's bed.

“Well, the nurse- WTF ARE YOU DOING HERE, FUCKING THIEF ?!” -Leona not having seen you arrive.

He give you money in exchange of your silence.

You are known at the NRC for stealing anything and everything, from money to trash passing by student and teacher files.

You once stole Crowley's file thinking it was Crewel's... You are the only student who knows his age and his true identity (you say nothing in exchange for him turning a blind eye to the illegal things you do).

You didn't know who Malleus was before the NRC, the reason is simple : no one knows anything about magic in your origin little forest. Magic and anything related to it isn't really something animals care about, so you didn't know it before the NRC.

“Oh, child of, uh, raccoon ?” Malleus suggested, confused about what nickname to give you.

"Kits. A raccoon child is a kits." -Raccoon!Reader.

Underrated friendship : Idia & Raccoon!Reader & Ortho.

You were adopted by the Shroud the moment Idia realized that you were not afraid of him and that you saw Ortho as Ortho and not just a robot.

You let them pet you, especially if one of them (most often Idia) is stressed.

You are Idia's support animal and the reason for his occasional attendance at class IRL.

Every class where Idia goes IRL (which is 3 times a month since you've been here) you accompany him and let him caress/pet you.

Imagine the look on all the 3rd years' faces the first time they saw him go to flight class with you that very first time (it was also the first time of all year he go to a class IRL).

Headcanon that you and Rook had some sort of weird alliance that consisted of you giving each other information on all the students.

A scary duo.

Literally the hunter and the supposedly "prey" teaming up was something no one at the NRC expected. Even less that they give each other information about the students.

Crewel is the one who makes your clothes, whether those for classes or those to use in everyday life, because for him it's not because you are a raccoon that you are obliged to have no style.

Lilia 🤝 Raccoon!Reader : playing jokes on students who didn't ask for anything (especially Sebek).

I like to think that Raccoon!Reader would be friends with all the NRC ghosts, and that they would give him free food.

For Overblots where you have to fight, be aware that you will jump on the Overblotter's face each time unexpectedly. No one knows why you do this, not even you. Your only answer is always “instincts”.

And it's not even just with Overblotters, but with everyone who annoys you.

The nurse is fed up with you, that's canon.

The Black Mirror is maybe the only one (with the Shroud brothers) who doesn't regret having you at the NRC.

#twisted wonderland #twst #raccoon!reader #grim #grim twst #crewel #divus crewel #crowley #twst dire crowley #rook hunt #twst lilia #lilia vanrouge #leona kingscholar #ruggie bucchi #malleus draconia #sebek zigvolt #Raccoon is writing #No proofread

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thewriteblrlibrary · 4 months

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A Step-by-Step Marketing Guide so we can spite traditional publishers (and make people cry).

~ This is a guide specific for fiction/writeblr. All of this is for free and there is little social media posting/ads involved (unless you want to venture into that). ~

Within the writeblr spheres, there's this underlying hope that our stories will find their audience. Perhaps we'll have a fandom full of fanart and video essays, or maybe we'll be an instant classic and sit on collectors' beloved bookshelves. Our stories could sit within the deepest corners of someone's heart and maybe they never tell a soul about what's so special to them. Maybe our stories become those 'underrated masterpieces'.

Or we just want to see people ugly cry over our writing.

Whatever your hope may be, marketing is an important path to venture on (especially because traditional publishers are rejecting diverse books in favor of ones that are already famous + the whole sub-par machine thing they seem obsessed with.)

And thus, my childhood marketing obsession will hopefully be of use to you. This is all for free (unless you want to spend money) and you don't need to figure out social media platforms (unless you want to, and this guide works if you decide to take that route too.)

Step One: Characters

Marketing spheres will define these fictious people as 'avatars' or 'the target audience'. You could also call them characters. Because that's what they are: fictional people.

For this step, you shall create characters that would love your story.

And here's some great news: You've already done this.

Perhaps you wrote your story to comfort a prior version of yourself. Perhaps each character in your story holds an aspect of your personality. Perhaps you were ridiculously self-indulgent and made the story you would've loved to read. These are all possible characters you can reuse for marketing.

Write down 2-4 quick archetypes for these characters. You'll chose an aspect of your story (characters, themes, or the younger-self that you wrote it for) and write a thumbnail sketch. (Main issue, fears, wants, personality traits if they relate to the main issue.)

I'll do it for my story (the Land of the Fallen Fairies) down below:

Anuli-like (my MC): Overthinking and aloof. Wants a happy ending but thinks their current personality/character isn't good enough for one. The present stales in comparison to the past/the childhood they lost. The 'gifted theater kids'. Kamari-like (side character): Postpones happiness in favor of creating a perfect schedule/getting accomplishments. Heavy masking. Creative but doesn't create anymore. Promises themself they'll enjoy themselves later, when they've earned it. Workaholics. My younger self: Wanting a fantasy escapism to embody the traits they wish they had in real life. Dissatisfied and worried about reality. Perfectionists. Self-indulgent: People who love plants and forests and fantasy worlds far away from reality/humanity.

Great! Now it's time to find these characters.

Step Two: Setting.

(Let's assume you're using the internet for your marketing. But a similar method works for real life too.)

Where do the characters live?

In order to figure that out, we need to discover the characters' interests, what they watch to solve their problems, and who they find #relatable.

(You can do this for each character or for all the characters at once.)

For example:

Anuli-like -

interests: Stories. Analysis videos. Fantasy escapism. Things that remind them of their childhood. (so nature, warmth, comfort, play, imagination and the times they would actually enjoy learning.)

Places to look: Nature quotes, ambience videos, children's shows and fairytales (comfort shows). Fandom culture - fanfic video essays, fan art.

Solving problems (the problem being wanting a 'happy ending' but feeling that their personality/lifestyle/characteristics aren't right for one): Mindfulness things. Self-healing. Quotes and meditations and candles galore. Slow living. Nature vlogs. Self care. All that 'live in the moment' culture.

Places to look: Slow living. Nature vlogs. The 'softer self-help' (spirituality stuff. Magic/ overnight answers). Witchcraft. 'aesthetic nature' places. Guided meditations.

#relatable: Burnt out gifted kids. People who think so much that their life passes them by. Storytellers and creative who create to make sense of the world. People who like dark, gory things in spite of who they want to be. People who don't like reality.

Places to look: Those 'learn better and remember everything' places. (The 'burnt-out gifted kid' recovery places.) Stop overthinking spots. Those quotes on Pinterest from poetic people who think too much /aff. Storyteller places. Dark academia. Classical music. One off quotes/ poetry.

Okie dokie. Once you have this, find channels, social media accounts, blogs, songs, books, etc. that fit with the categories you wrote down. (They should appeal to the characters) You can search up some of the terms you listed into searches and see who pops up. Bonus points if you find people that overlap with multiple sections.

I know I didn't include booktube or booktok in here. You can if you want too. But those can be a bit... 'consume these 500 books'. You also want to find other places where people who would like you story live, even if they don't follow booktube or booktok.

Congrats! Now you know where your characters live!

Step Three: the scary part

Take everyone you found on your search for the settings and write them down a list. Make sure you get an email/contact info. (they usually list them somewhere under 'for business inquires') Also feel free to watch their content and get to know what attributes these settings have.

And now... we talk to them. about our stories. You can do it. I believe in you.

This called 'pitching your product' in marketing spheres. But you can be informal about it.

I know it can be difficult to talk about your work, so here's a tone to have:

'I made this thing I like and I think you'll like it too'.

What you'll do is send an email (or dm) that goes like this (inspired by Creative Hive on youtube):

Hi [name],

[Genuine compliment]

[Quick sentence or two about your story. Include the themes and who it appeals to. If you have a logline/sentence summary, include that. But I find that the underlying themes and 'who's it's for' is more engaging.

For my story, I might say something like.

I've written a story you might enjoy, since you like [interest]. It's called the Land of the Fallen Fairies. It's a nature-themed commentary on the pursuit of happiness and fixing yourself to deserve that happiness, told by an overthinking, unreliable, houseplant narrator. It was supposed to comfort me when I got frustrated with myself and my happiness chasing, and I hope it can comfort others too.

(That's probably a bit long and I can trim it down a bit.)

You can phrase it like a gift if you want too.]

[Call to action.

'If you like it, I'd appreciate a mention on your [platform].

I know this part may be difficult to mention (imposter syndrome is not fun.) But I promise that if they do like it, they'll be happy to mention it.]

If they don't respond within... four-ish days? (A week at most). then you can include a follow up. For this you can include a template with info about your story. This way it's easy for them to talk about your story.

The template:

title

genre

blurb

Author

where to find the book

Bonus points if you have an additional, physical thing to send them.

Congrats! Now do this pitching process a few times until you've covered most of your bases. (Pitch to as many people as you can. It will get more comfortable as you do it. Play your favorite song and don't let yourself think too hard about it.)

----------

The benefits of this process are that you find people that are already interested in the themes and vibes of your story (in comparison to to ads, which get shoved in everyone's faces.). Someone your audience already trusts will talk about it, which means you don't need to do all this trial and error to find your audience and make content for them.

It's basically a bunch of people talking about something they like!

AND you diversify your audience across niches, but with an underlying theme/interests. Booktok/booktube must appeal to everyone, so it's a hit or miss for recommendations. (Unless there is someone that specifically does one genre/type of story.)

From here you can do fun little things to build up hype and make the book launch feel like this fun event. (I love it when that happens so here's my thoughts about trying to create an event with your story... although that may require another post entirely.)

preorder goals

charity goals

Arg's and puzzles

fund with side plushies and trinkets

Book blog tour

book boxes

as many memes as you can make

rewards (like bookmarks or posters or smth) that people can get for supporting

Talk about the process of creating your story. I know this one channel called 'Dead Sound' that creates 'making of' videos for his short films and they are some of the best videos on youtube.

Okay dear storyteller! Now go forth and share your story with the world!

Additional resources:

Creative Hive <-- a youtube channel that goes through the pitching process.

This video is also very good <-- Haven't watched the rest of the channel but I assume it's also good.

One of the best marketing channels on the internet (the videos are actually entertianing to watch.

Seth Goldin <-- I read his book and took the parts I liked and modified for storytelling marketing.

Dead Sound <-- propaganda to watch the short film series he has (he did the whole 2-d 3-d style wayyyy before spiderverse did... and he's one person making these. One person. It's amazing.

Glitch <--- If someone can figure out how The Amazing Digital Circus was marketed then I will pay you money. It seems to be a lot of memes and funny things.

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weirdly-specific-but-ok · 4 months

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Pt VII good omens S1E3 but i'm in a fever-induced haze and i watched it four days ago

Hello maggots it turns out I may have a viral fever... or perchance I'm just going viral in the GO fandom and Crowley being so hot has given me a fever (this is what I learned from years of studying thermodynamics). BAHAHAHAHAHAH anyway this is a LOOOONG post.

EDIT: There are time inconsistencies, as some of you informed me. Paint before wall slam etc. But this show does not follow linear time, just like me. Time is cosmic Play-Doh, and @neil-gaiman, Einstein and I are toddlers playing with it all bendy-bendy. We may have eaten some. I blame Neil. So I will correct nothing.

(im sorry to all my followers, the maggots, and everyone reading this post, i'm afraid this level of quality will be sustained for the rest of the post)

Whatever it may be... haveth my summary of Good Omens Ep3, or whatever I remember of it, anyway.

The second the episode started streaming everyone was yelling about the cold open in the chat.

I could be conflating this with Ep 1 but I think it begins with Aziraphale's gaslight gatekeep girlboss moment where he straight up LIES TO GOD about giving the dumb humans a flaming sword right after they fell from grace.

Hot take from someone who has negligible biblical knowledge, look at it, guys. What harm has an apple ever done to mankind (except to doctors)? Nothing. *nods vigorously* And then our lovely angel goes and gIVES THEM A GODDAMN FLAMING SWORD. Nice, fire and weaponry, this is going to go well for the world!

Anyway lesson is Aziraphale is a chaotic lil bastard and it's why we and Crowley love him.

Fast forward to uh, Noah's Ark... There is a unicorn and it runs away, which Crowley/Crawly seems concerned about. Azi is just chilling there watching all of humanity be drowned and Crowley, looking gorgeous may I add, walks up and she's like CHILDREN? WHY ARE YOU KILLING CHILDREN?

Did I mention that she looks gorgeous with those flowing locks because she does. It gives kind of Disney Brave vibes, doesn't it? Wait is David Tennant Scottish I WANT A DAVID TENNANT/CROWLEY MERIDA COSPLAY.

Anyway so Aziraphale and Crowley watch everyone drown etc

I may have missed a few centuries but then we have ol' Bill Shakespeare and Hamlet (David!!) and Aziraphale like the bean he is wants to cheer them on, and does it badly.

Crowley is standing there thinking man this angel is a fucking doofus why do I love him, and then they make a deal that allows them to do NO work whatsoever since their work cancels out anyway.

Aziraphale pouts at Crowley and Crowley melts inside and makes Hamlet a success though he doesn't even like Shakespeare's tragedies but Azi does and that's all that matters.

OH YEAH FRENCH REVOLUTION. Just to fuck with Aziraphale and because the painkillers are getting to me, I'm gonna do this one in my shit French (et non, je ne peux pas utiliser les accents, j'utilise l'ordinateur et je ne veux pas ouvrir Google). Alors, la revolution est la, Aziraphale veut manger (quelle surprise) et ses vetements sont tres chers, les sans-culottes le tueront, mais Crowley vient et Aziraphale dis "Crowley! Mon hero"

Okay I ran out of French but yes so he was gonna be hanged but Crowley came and Aziraphale's face literally melted and then he switched clothes with the guard and left him to die while he and Crowley went to dine happily (Aziraphale dined, Crowley was hungry for Azi because he has a watching-angel-eat kink).

Aziraphale being a casual accessory to murder/murderer is the most underrated part of good omens.

Fast forward and it's the holocaust and Aziraphale is tricked by some Nazis and they're about to kill him. But Crowley walks down the aisle to their groom, well, more like skips while yelping, and burns the place down for Aziraphale. Naturally Azi's like OH NO MY BOOKS and is ready to cry, then Crowley gently hands him the suitcase full of books unharmed and says just a little miracle for you, baby, want a ride home? And Aziraphale is left holding the books (which by the by Crowley does not care about, they do NOT read books, again, just for Azi) and looking like the happiest man alive and like he would die for Crowley.

Fast forward and we have Crowley in the sixties SERVING with her bob cut, anyone who doesn't like it can fight me to the DEATH, I LOVE HER, and anyway Crowley manipulates, manslaughters and manwhores her way into getting into the car with Aziraphale. He hands her a bottle of holy water because fuck heaven he would do anything for Crowley, and Crowley offers to drive him anywhere (mmmhm Crowley sure you're just being a gentledemon) and Aziraphale tells her that she goes too fast for him. IF THIS ISN'T CALLBACKED IN S3 WITH CROWLEY SAYING "YOU RIDE TOO FAST FOR ME, ANGEL" on a motorbike or horse or his peepee ANYTHING IDC im gonna throw hands.

I'm choosing to forget all the breakups so end cold open back in present day

They're in a paintball arena and Crowley presses Aziraphale into the wall while growling I'm not nice (ok Crowley bro maybe it's time to take a break from 2010s wattpad) and Aziraphale is just gazing adoringly at him. Ex-Satanic nun comes and is like oh my bad this is an intimate moment and Crowley turns around immediately cross that someone's interrupting them but Aziraphale continues to stare at Crowley's face hornily until he reluctantly looks at the nun too. Thanks for the acting choices Michael Sheen.

They hypnotise her and Azi melts when she mentions the antichrist's toesy-woesies and then they leave and Azi is hit by paint, Crowley circles him devouring him with his gaze and finally blows away the paint with an air kiss. I see you, Azi, I KNOW you can get rid of it yourself. Anyway then Crowley turns all the paintball guns into rifles and people start shooting and Azi is like THIS is my husband and they walk away to have drinks while the police swarms.

People were like 'Crowley only ensured no one got killed because of the look Azi gave him' like LMAO have you MET them? Aziraphale is always fucking down for murder, Crowley is the one being like FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AZIRAPHALE NO. Azi was like "shit we gotta kill the antichrist you do it" and crowley's like "bitch slow down we can literally just raise the kid right"

Anyway Crowley gaslights some demons about seeing the hellhound and ig whatever I said happened in Ep 2 with Dog actually happened here etc

The bandstand scene, fuck me. Crowley asks Aziraphale to run away together from the end of the world and Aziraphale says no and they're both sad

we're all sad too

the end

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happy74827 · 5 months

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Oblivious to Love

[Mike Ross x Female!Reader]

Synopsis: Finding that your crush was evidently hiding something from you became more nerve-wracking than you thought. But something tells you that maybe it's worth the chase through the office, much to Harvey's displease of course.

WC: 2323

Category: Fluff

I wrote this mostly for my friend (love you @yoursacredqueenmother), but honestly I wrote it for myself too. Plus, there’s barely any Mike Ross fics on this app so I wanted to give some popularity towards him.

Oh how I love writing underrated kings.

『••✎••』

When you first met Mike Ross, he was nothing but a loser, a sorry excuse for a man. From his annoying habits of always being right to his slightly disheveled appearance, the way he always looked like a lost puppy in the morning. Everything about him was just... annoying.

Yet you couldn't help but fall for him. Fall for that crooked smile that seemed to make your knees wobble, those blue eyes that you swore were made out of crystals, and that damn brain of his. God, his brain was impressive. And every time you watched him work, you could only think that this guy was a fucking genius. He was just a brilliant person, and you knew it.

And he knew you knew it. Mike Ross was a very talented man, more talented than you. The way he talked, his words seemed to flow out of his mouth as if they were enchanted, and with one single phrase, he could convince you of the existence of unicorns. He had always had this way about him. It was like he could get anything he wanted by simply giving a smile. And even though Mike didn't know this about himself, he was able to make you melt with just a few words.

And after getting to know Mike better, you found that he was an amazing person. Sure, he could be a bit cocky at times, but his cockiness always came with the fact that he knew he was doing something right, and he was willing to admit to his wrongdoings when it was necessary. That's something that not everyone is willing to do, and you found that really impressive. He also had the most caring eyes you had ever seen, always willing to take care of anyone who needed help. Mike was a great guy, one of the best you knew. And when it came to his intelligence, you had no doubt that he was the smartest guy in the world.

But you still couldn't help but think, what was a guy like Mike doing with a girl like you?

You were nothing compared to him. He was intelligent, quick-witted, and attractive to boot. He was like the epitome of a perfect human, while you... you were just another boring girl who happened to be lucky enough to be in his life. You could never compare to someone like him, someone as amazing as Mike Ross.

It wasn't long before your feelings for him began to show, and when they did, it was inevitable that Mike would find out. It seemed that he could read you like a book, and you had no idea what gave away your feelings, but you had a sense that Mike had caught on early. Of course, it was only speculation, but the evidence was… well, there. He came up to you more, wanting to hang out with you, and his words to you were even sweeter. You were too embarrassed to think straight, and you had no idea what to do with yourself.

"You alright?"

It was lunchtime when Mike decided to show up, his blue eyes glancing down at you. His question took you by surprise, and you gave a quick nod in response.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm alright," you said, looking down at your salad. "I'm just a bit tired today, that's all."

He seemed to buy your answer because he didn't push any further on the subject. He just continued on as if nothing had happened. But something did happen, and you could tell that Mike was avoiding your eyes. You noticed this right away because he would never look away from you for so long, and you began to grow suspicious. What did Mike know?

The first person you decided to chase down and confront was Donna, the woman who knew anything and everything. She was like the goddess of knowledge, and if there was anyone who knew what was going on, it was her.

"Alright, what's up with Mike?" You questioned, waiting for an answer.

Donna looked up, giving you a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that, D. You know exactly what I mean. Mike is being… I don’t know, he's being strange. I know you know why."

The older woman gave a sigh, taking a bite from her salad. "I don't know, he hasn't told me anything," she replied. "But are you sure he’s the one being weird? Because, you know, you're not exactly normal yourself."

"I am exactly normal!"

"You're so not normal."

"And how would you know that? Have you ever seen me? I look normal to the naked eye!"

Donna only smirked in response.

"You're useless," you groaned, turning away from the woman and sitting down at the table. Just as you did so, Harvey decided to walk past on the way to Jessica’s office. Of course, Harvey. Mike and him are practically glued at the hip.

He must know something.

"Harvey!" You shouted, causing him to halt in his tracks. The man turned around, his face contorting into one of confusion when he saw you. The confusion only stayed for a minute, though, because the second you went to open your mouth, he shut you down.

“Nope. I’m not doing this," Harvey said, pointing to the door. "Not this time."

"Doing what?" You asked, following behind him as he continued on his way. "You didn’t even know what I was going to ask.”

"Doesn't matter. I’m not getting involved with you and Mike."

"How’d you…?" You stopped yourself before you could finish your sentence, watching Harvey continuing on his way to Jessica's office, ignoring your complete presence.

Why was everyone avoiding you?

"Alright, what the hell?" You said, stomping back towards Donna. She gave a look of concern as if she was expecting you to explode any second now. “What’s going on? Please, tell me. Please don’t make me go to Louis. If I have to hear him talk about going mudding one more time, I might just snap. I swear to God-"

"Alright, alright," Donna interrupted, holding up her hands in defense. "But just remember, you asked for this."

"Just tell me, Donna. Tell me now before I die of curiosity!"

Donna sighed, rolling her eyes and looking you dead in the eyes. "Mike knows.”

"Knows what?"

"He knows.”

Oh.

Oh no.

Donna must’ve immediately picked up on your panicked state because she was suddenly in front of you, grabbing onto your shoulders and trying to ground you as your eyes widened in sheer panic.

"Calm down," she whispered, shaking you slightly. "Just breathe."

"Is this bad? I think this is bad. This is bad. I’m going to die of embarrassment now. I won’t even be able to look at him ever again-"

"Stop." Donna slapped you in the face, her actions taking you by surprise. "Look, I'm going to tell you what I told him, alright?"

You only gave a small nod in response.

"After Mike asked—”

“He asked?!”

“Shush! After Mike asked if you were in love with him, I asked if he was in love with you."

"And?"

"He wouldn’t say. So, I asked him if he thought he was, and he didn't give me an answer.”

You blinked at her. "Okay. I don't think this is helping."

"You don’t understand. That’s a good sign. When you want to tell someone how you feel, but you don't want to give them the satisfaction of saying it out loud, you refuse to answer a question when someone asks if you feel that way about them. It means they really care, you know? Mike doesn't want to risk telling you how he feels, but he doesn't want to lie to me."

You stared at her, unable to respond. Donna just gave a sigh and patted you on the head.

"Look, all I'm trying to tell you is that this might work out. Just give it time."

You, in fact, didn’t give it time. You practically went insane to the point of going back to Harvey to question him again. This time, he gave you an answer.

"Does Mike like me?”

He gave you a confused look as if he were expecting you to explain what the hell you were talking about.

"…I’m going to pretend like you asked a real question," Harvey said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t know if you've forgotten, but this is a law firm. Not a damn soap opera."

"I need to know!" You pressed. “I know Mike said something to you. That man cannot keep anything secret. It's just not possible."

"Dammit," Harvey muttered, rubbing his temples. "This isn't something I want to deal with right now, I’m busy-"

"Harvey, it’s a simple yes or no. I will literally leave you alone for a whole week if you tell me. I promise I won't bug you at all; I swear on my life. So, please. Just tell me."

Harvey sighed, putting down his pen. There was a part of you that felt bad about interrupting his work, but this was too important just to ignore. You had to know.

"Mike likes you, kid. Now get the hell out of my office," Harvey said, waving you off as you left, feeling a huge weight off your shoulders.

Oh, man. Oh boy. This was actually happening. Mike Ross, the smartest man in the world, liked you. The smile that surfaced on your face was involuntary, and you couldn’t help but put it on full display as you walked past Donna, who raised an eyebrow.

"You need to talk to him," Donna said. "Or else you'll never stop smiling like an idiot."

That's what you did.

The second you saw Mike, you rushed to his office, where you could see that he was alone. You entered quietly, making sure to close the door behind you as Mike looked up, his blue eyes locking with yours.

"Hey," he said, clearing his throat as you made your way towards him. “I was just—”

“Harvey said you liked me.” You blurted, causing Mike to freeze. You didn’t mean to just come out and say it like that, but you couldn't stop yourself from doing so. He looked a bit shocked, but his expression quickly changed to one of curiosity, his eyebrows arching.

Then, he did something you hadn't been expecting at all. He gave you a smile. Mike Ross, the man you had been pining over for years, gave you a smile that made your knees wobble, and you felt your stomach tighten.

"Funny enough,” he said, leaning back into his chair, still wearing that grin on his face. "Donna said the exact same thing about you.”

You couldn’t help the soft laughter that escaped you because it was funny. Donna and Harvey. Everyone seemed to know except you two, and that was almost humorous. But it wasn't enough to stop your nerves because you still wanted to talk to him.

"Listen, Mike-"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head. "Not until you listen."

He paused for a moment, waiting until you were fully in attention before continuing.

"You don't need to say anything," Mike said, his voice taking on a serious tone that surprised you. "I’m smart enough to know how you feel about me. I knew it as soon as I saw the way you looked at me. Sorry that it took me so long to say something, but I wanted to make sure it was real, you know? Because you can't just trust someone based on looks, not with stuff like this. You know?"

“Mike,”

“I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’m totally rambling, aren't I?"

"Mike-"

"I feel really awkward right now," he said, a nervous chuckle escaping him. "Because this is normally the part where you would just kiss me, but you haven't done anything of the sort."

"You want me to kiss you?” You asked, your heart pounding so loud that you could feel it in your throat. “That’s a little bold, don't you think?"

Mike leaned forward, giving you a look that caused your heart to practically leap out of your chest. His eyes seemed to be sparkling as if he were asking a question you already knew the answer to.

"Since when has anyone said I was shy?"

You let out a small gasp, almost like a squeak, as he grabbed onto your hand and pulled you closer to him. The chair Mike was in was not made to sit two people, and you had to squeeze in between him, your bodies pressing against each other.

He leaned into you, his nose brushing against yours as he closed his eyes, giving you a second to do the same before he kissed you. It was soft and warm, and the second his lips touched yours, you were gone. His hands came up to your face, and you could feel his fingers caress your cheeks as you pressed into his kiss.

The first time you kissed someone, you knew it was special. Something about it caused butterflies to swarm in your stomach, and you wanted nothing more than to continue this for the rest of your life. But as you kissed Mike Ross, you knew that it was even better.

His kiss was passionate and full of longing as if he were kissing you for the first time. It was a feeling you never experienced before, and it was amazing.

When the two of you finally parted, your cheeks flushed and your lips slightly swollen; you couldn't help the giggle that escaped you, watching Mike as his face turned slightly pink.

"That was… wow.” Mike bit down on his lip, trying to hold back his smile. "I never knew."

"Never knew what?”

Mike looked up, giving you that crooked grin that you adored so much. "That a kiss from you can make my heart stop beating."

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nipuni · 2 months

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Doctor Who report!! We are all caught up with NuWho and in time to watch the new season when it comes out!! mission accomplished, It took us around 6 months total and we loved every minute of it 🥰

Now that we have watched all eras I can share our tastes and opinions nobody asked for under the cut 😌

We can confidently say RTD's era is our favourite and for Doctors 10 (and 14) followed by 12, but honestly there isn't a single Doctor (or Master!) that we didn't love.

We've also started rewatching the first four seasons now with more context and there is just something so special about them. They almost feel like a different show from all the later ones. The silliness and the way the story doesn't take itself seriously at all until all of a sudden it does and then the pain hits you twice as hard because of it. How with just with a line or deed and it's implications the Doctor can be so unbelievably inspiring. The way the narrative seems to place you in the role of a companion trying to catch up with the Doctor and figure him out yet never quite managing to do so creates this distance but also admiration and reverence in you too and you can't help but adore him flaws and all. It has just the right amount of room for every side character and relationship to develop and feel human and the right amount of exposition to keep the pace quick and don't hold your hand. The glimpses behind the doctor's cheerful childish façade into an unsettling calculating alienness and immeasurable trauma but also a weary wisdom. The complete selflessness to the point of martyrdom. The reckless irresponsible acts of devotion from both the companions and the Doctor. The near apotheosis of the companions the closer they get to him. The contagious feeling of awe and wonder and hope for life. The way it's so unabashedly centered around love of every kind 😭 ARGHH I don't know man there is nothing like it!! Ultimate comfort show for us, just.. healing really. There is so much more I can say and gush about but I'd be here typing all day so I'll draw more about it instead!! We would also like to get started on classic Who soon! and try to get our hands on the audio episodes and comic books and all the extra stuff as well 😊

We also watched more David Tennant works since the last report!

Blackpool was hilarious, infuriating and horny, the singing was a choice but overall so fun!! The Escape Artist was great, very sad and tense, would have loved for it to be longer, these miniseries are always so good but so short!! Mad to be Normal is so underrated? we enjoyed it a lot!! RD Laing's portrayal was so compelling, it's beautifully shot and the 60's setting is really immersive and well done. Einstein and Eddington was also really good, incredibly accurate historical setting!! the costuming was fantastic, one of the best I've seen!! These last two films are biographical and sort of no plot just vibes so maybe this is why they are not everyone's cup of tea but we enjoyed them very much. David just never misses, I'm sure we can watch anything with him in it and we will love it no matter what lmao what a guy 😭

Anyway that's all for now! I hope you are all doing well, spring/autumn is almost here! best bits of the year 😊

#DW report #doctor who #personal

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winters0689 · 6 months

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Lester Papadopoulos is a comfort character to me. I’ve been a huge Percy Jackson fan for years now, and I’ve loved many characters (Grover, Nico, Leo, Percy, etc) and when I first read TOA I loved it, but after rereading it…

I fell in love with Lester, this caring and complex character who had many layers to him, that came off as selfish, and yet just so happened to be one of the most selfless characters in the book.

He’s caring, he’s a former god, he’s selfless, he pees himself regularly, he loves his children, he drowned his ex that one time, he is a god of many things, he has had many lovers. He has so many aspects to him that makes him so interesting.

He has a redemption arc as he realizes that he has made mistakes, but also realizes that he has been abused by Zeus, that it most likely influenced how he view things, and how he may have picked up toxic behaviors from Zeus. He learns to be more human, which is such a beautiful arc to see him go through.

He cares SO MUCH about others. He grieves for Jason and Crest and Heloise and so many other people. He tried to sacrifice himself many times and has many heroic qualities, but he is an unreliable narrator and sometimes what he says doesn’t reflect what he does.

His and Meg’s relationship is one of my favorite friendships in the books. It feels like it’s the two of them against the world at times. Meg cares so much for him while also calling him out on his bad actions (like when they were on Sutro Tower) and Lester cares so much for her as he realizes that she has been abused, that she needs help, and that he wants to help her separate from Nero’s influence, that he is so proud of her for standing up to Nero. They both form such a strong bond with each other and I just- I love them!

He is also absolutely hilarious. I find myself laughing as he is just- so snarky sometimes? He also sometimes know random things? (Like the Goddess of Sewers Cloacina) He is also funny when he has no knowledge on how human things work (like not knowing the price of Tater Tot’s)

He also gets anxious and freaks out and cries and he just feels. He gets happy and laughs and gets sad and laments. He gets flashbacks and clearly has trauma but doesn’t let that excuse his bad actions as he feels guilt for his actions. He can also be quite harsh on himself, blaming himself often and sometimes projecting that onto others (like him saying that Piper is blaming him for Crest’s death??) He is such an emotional character and I love him for that.

I love whenever he gets his godly strength as it starts with small things and then it gets to the point that he can create fire with his hands just by simply mentioning cauterizing a wound and breaking Nero’s fasces and having enough strength to drag Python into the Underworld and is strong enough to hold on just enough to save himself from falling into Tartarus. He is such a strong person who has an incredible pain tolerance.

There are many other things that I love about Lester Papadopoulos/Apollo. I think I can positively say that he is my favorite PJO character. I often reread TOA more than the other books. I love the story and how dark it can get while also exploring the themes of how abuse affects you.

I just- I love Meg and Apollo. I need for fanfic of them!! I need more content of them! Their friendship is so underrated, so when I see people make fanfic of them I get so happy!

I also love the community. The fan-artists and the fanfic makers and anyone who just writes long posts, like me, are so talented and is honestly the best fandom I’ve been in.

I hope the PJO show becomes popular so that more people can read these amazing series. I hope there will be a day that TOA gets adapted, and even if it doesn’t, I still have the audiobooks to go back to.

Thanks TOA fandom, for still going strong, even years after the books ended and new books have come out and are still making fanfic about them. It feels like the books have never ended, like the TOA books are still going on and are still making posts.

I’m so happy to be part of such a passionate fanbase.

Anyways if anyone is willing to offer any good fanfics then let me know!

#trials of apollo #lester papadopoulos #meg mccaffrey #toa #sunflower siblings #i got sidetracked #this was originally supposed to be me gushing about Lester Papadopoulos and ended with me gushing about how much I love this fandom #anyways the TOA posts aren’t going to stop anytime soon #except for when Alan Wake 2 comes out #in which case I will be obsessing or Alan Wake 2 #toa fandom

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meafortuna · 1 year

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ASTRO NOTES #6

I’m not a professional astrologer, part of the things are just my observations. Enjoy it! 🫶

• Okay, hear me out… the most underrated house imo is the 6th house. 🔮 The sixth house it’s one of the most intuitive and let me tell you why i think like that - as we know it is ruled by Virgo, which represents the virgin and you know there is nothing more innocent than a child or a virgin, because they are so pure and that’s why they have very strong intuition. Next one 6th house = 6th sense. Virgo is responsible for our digestive system and that lead me to that phrase “trust your gut”. Also 6th is the opposite house of 12th, and 12th house it’s about intuition too, but maybe more like dreams, psychic thoughts, on the other hand the sixth house intuition comes from the body, as i said strong gut feeling. And last, but not least, take a look at the “6” you will see how that circle in “6” seems like the belly in the human body and what represents Virgo again - our digestive system, which is known as our second brain. So don’t ever underestimate a Virgo/6th house placemants, they can read any person or situation like a book, not just because they are ruled by Mercury, but also because they have that gift from the mother nature.

• Venus conjunct Saturn, Venus Rx and Venus at 29 degree may have same experience in love, seems like they always end up with karmic lessons in their love life. Also if the conjunction between Venus and Saturn is in 12th house can represent some disfunction when it comes to s*x.🪐❤️‍🩹

• Libra rising is one of the most beautiful rising sign, what a bless, huh? 💄But there is a big price that comes with that, because of their Aries ruling 7th house seems like these natives always find partners with anger issues or some kind of more dominant, which is not so good, because most of the times Libra have problem with boundaries and saying "no", but that’s not the only “bad” thing. They have Capricorn IC, which is known for burdened childhood. And Cancer MC, which is soo sweet, they always want to take care for the others and people often find comfort in their presence, but because of their empathetic nature other can take easily atvantage of them. ⚖️

• The most private house is the 4th house. The 4th house is under the horizon, so that make the native with planets in 4th more secretive than those with 8/12 house placements, yes they are private too, but in a different kind of way. You know how people say "You don't really know a person until you live with him" and what else represent 4th house - home, i guess that’s the only way to really get to know 4th houser, to became a part of their family circle or to start live with them, which is not that easy.🛖🪴

• If someone have Pluto or Saturn that makes transit through their 12th house, they can have that feeling like they are losing their mind, can be very hard and draining for the native. 🫥😵‍💫

• Scorpio in big 3 and their stare. For example: my bf (Scorpio asc) doing something like cooking or gaming and all of the time i’m (Scorpio Moon) like 👁️, and sometimes doesn’t even watch at him, it’s something more like staring trough him. Yes, sometimes i look at him in that way, because i admire him, but most of the times no. And he does just the same with me, when i have been cleaning or whatever. It’s crazy. 😁 Not without a reason plutonian placements are famous with their intense and sometimes intimidating look/eyes. I think it’s because of their sense for acknowledging everything in depth, something more on subconscious level, not because they are doing it on purpose. 🦂

• I don’t want to be rude, but Aquarius Moon in fire dominant chart are one of the most egoistic people out there, sorry not sorry. 👻

• Lilith conjunct MC/square/opposite Asc it’s an aspect that can’t stand unseen. Because the raw power of the Moon it’s in a public house or make an aspect to 1st house, which is about ourselves, our look and etc. People with this position of Lilith often can feel like “all eyes on them” and the truth is how other sees them depends on the energy they give of. If the native feels good today people will be watching at them, because of their positive vibe, but if they are in a bad mood, people will look at them with some kind of embarrassment. Their appearance may not in any way suggest what mood they are in, but the energy they radiate is very powerful. 💥🔥

~meafortuna 💙

#astroblr #astrology #astro community #astro observations #astro posts #aquarius #scorpio #virgo #libra

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