#Flawless dahling

[highly-important]

"A Miracle" from Matilda the Musical

Watched Netflix's Matilda the Musical over the weekend. I have a lot to say, but starting with a post about the "A Miracle" song at the opening.

"A Miracle" is a riff on on Dahl's intro to the books: "Its a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful." Basically, most parents think their children are flawless angels, and its disgusting - but, its even worse to not even notice your children at all.

I think that the Netflix musical really misses the sarcasm of the original song. (As a caveat, I'm familiar with the Broadway show, but not the original RSC production or the West End version. )

The Broadway musical sets "this scene "A Miracle" at a birthday party. I think the setting is really smart for a couple of reasons: 1 The setting is explicitly about celebration, and the song is about parents celebrating their kids too much. 2 The children's party costumes add to the idea of the parents inflating the kids egos. "My daddy says I'm his special little soldier." and "My mummy says I'm a precious barrelina." The costumes are aspirational roles put on the kids by their parents. But, they're also just costumes- putting on a costume doesn't make you exceptional. 3 Its segues into, and helps draw comparisons to Matilda's birthday and her own parents.

The messaging is enforced in the verses, that are missing in the movie. In one, a party clown sings about how "above average is average." The other cut verses are about dumb kids and the way parents encourage or ignore bad behavior, or reward mediocrity.

In the movie, you mostly see parents interacting with newborn babies, which is a totally different vibe. Babies aren't flawed in the same way children are. I think the movie misses the irony of the circumstances.

And I think its really important because, at the beginning at least, we are meant to side with the perspective of the party clown and not the oblivious parents. But this is all just cut from the movie.

A major theme in Matilda is child abuse/neglect, and bad parenting. This is why the original song is so sarcastic, ironic, and bitter. There is a bitterness to watching average kids get treated like they're royalty, while other kids are treated terribly for no reason. Its brutally unfair. And just like the book, while the first parenting style is bad, the other one is infinitely worse.

This song sets up some important themes that are explored throughout the show. The idea of exceptionalism is especially picked apart. Matilda is exceptional - but so is the Trunchbull. "A Miracle" makes fun of the idea of giving kids undeserved praise. But, the Trunchbull earned her accolades as an Olympian athlete. And she thinks her exceptionalism earned her the right to hold power over others. Matilda wants to use her powers to make things "fair."

And to go back to "A Miracle" - the problem isn't telling your child they're a miracle, the problem is pushing your child to the top of some imaginary hierarchy. An average child is as deserving of love as an above-average child.

I do think that the Netflix version nails the sarcasm with the Doctor's solo. There's that funny contrast between what the doctor is singing, and Mrs Wormwood's painful delivery. And I'm really glad they kept Mr and Mrs Wormwood's duet. But I dunno. Not wild about the changes to this song and how it was filmed.

Theres more I want to say about the musical, its not all complaining .I might make another post.

[sillyroundkatie]

Who the hell is this glamorous devil (De Vil)??

(OC info under the cut!)

Disturbia De Vil | She/Her | Femme Lesbian | Human | Old | 193 cm / 6'4" | Australian "British" Disturbia is a world-reknowned extravagent fashion designer. She's also Clayton's cousin, and they're both as weird and wildly eccentric as eachother (though granted, Dissy is a bit less dreadful). Though they both struggled together through their poor Australian upbringing in the middle of nowhere, Dissy admired the grace and beauty of old Hollywood stars like Tallulah Bankhead, and soon decided she wanted to rewrite her own history into one more palatable. Dissy spent her youth forging herself into the very image of an eccentric heiress - and has built a matching fashion haus from the ground up to match. Dissy loves fashion, models, and photography, and really, really wants to trick you into thinking she's British. Her current persona and history may be entirely manufactured and her old true beginnings erased, but that hardly makes the performance any less impressive. They simply don't make divas like they used to. Common activities/hobbies: Name a vice and Dissy likely has it, she loves to drink, smoke, and dabble in illegal substances. It is a wonder her heart hasn't given out. Otherwise, she does genuinely enjoy designing clothes, and surrounding herself with models. Gaslight, Gatekeep, Gilfboss <3 Setting: Lives in modern day, jet-setting around various fashionable locales. Clothing style: Disturbia dresses like fur never fell out of public favour, and if not fur, then leather. She wears her own designs, all of which are her usual brand of quirked up crazy old rich lady. You can draw them with:

Clayton (cousin) - Disturbia and Clayton seem like a terrible pair, but they actually get along as well as Clayton can get along with anyone. They haven't seen eachother for a very long time (~40 years?) since their youth, but manage to reconnect later on. Dissy always tolerated Clayton's strangeness, and Clayton always tolerated Dissy to the best of her ability. Neither is particularly surprised at the life path the other has ended up on.

Mickey (Personal assistant, partner) - Disturbia didn't want to be outdone by her cousin having so many associates, so she decided to get one of her own. Mickey is her faultlessly loyal assistant, and honestly irreplaceable. Disturbia enjoys her unwavering devotion, and also finds her cold aloofness charming. A perfect little PA. Dissy also finds it hilarious when people assume Mickey is her daughter, rather than her romantic partner. She likes the scandal at the age gap of it all, dahling.

Additional stuff to keep in mind: Old old old woman Some random trivia:

The white stripe in her hair is the result of a childhood mistake in a stupid hair dyeing request she made to Clayton. She used much stronger toxic chemicals than a normal person would, and the resulting strip was permanent.

She has trained herself to have a flawless transatlantic accent, to replace her old Australian one.

She is deathly afraid of bugs and arachnids.

There is no way you could have possibly guessed this, but she saw 101 Dalmatians in 1961 and irreparable damage was done to her psyche.

She's not as harmless as she seems, she knows how to shoot a shotgun and hunting rifle. Further information and images etc can be found at her Toyhouse page at the link below!: Disturbia's Toyhouse!

[tamiltechworld]

Midjourney AI

One of the numerous AI picture producers that have lately appeared is called Midjourney. Midjourney responds to your demands in a more dream-like, artistic way than Dall-E 2 or any of its rivals. People who write or create science fiction that calls for a more gothic feel will probably find it appealing. Midjourney is more of a painting tool than other AI generators, which tend to be more focused on images. According to the company's website, its mission is to "explore new mediums of thought and expand the human species' imaginative powers." You are prompted by Midjourney to provide a written cue for an image, such as "a fox wearing a top hat in the style of a Roald Dahl illustration," and within a few seconds, you will receive many tries at this image. Your image might be ruined, and the model isn't flawless. For instance, it may have trouble creating hands or other complex objects, and backgrounds may occasionally be hazy or jumbled, but you'll run into these issues with any of these models.

More Details: https://www.tamiltechworld.com/2023/05/midjourney-ai.html

[rileysidely]

Not for nothin’ but the bit in Charlie and the chocolate factory (the book) where mr Dahl going on and on about how bad tv is and how books are perfect and flawless and if your kid reads books everything will be wonderful 🙄 that tv’ll rot their brains and make them bad at imagination as if people didn’t have the exact same issues with radio and reading and any given game as soon as they became popular/widespread. Me thinks he’s a bit biased maybe?

[lilja4ever]

why is Charlotte tilbury flawless filter $50 now? Miss tilbury miss dahlings we need to talk!

[wahlpaper]

Review of The Sound of Stars

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

CW: Death, Slavery, Alcoholism, Drug Use, Forced Drug Use, Racism, Internalized Fatphobia, Fatphobic Microaggression, Discussed Fatphobia, Positive References to Problematic Popular Culture (Harry Potter, David Bowie, Roald Dahl), Violence, Oppression, Trauma, Anxiety Attacks, Living without Beneficial Medicine, Classism, Blood, Domestic Abuse, Child Death, Public Execution, Vomit, Confinement, Colonization, Genocide, Murder

3.5/5

For Hannukka I received a mystery box of queer book merch from a friend. I decided to read all the books associated with the items inside that I had never read before. The first on my list was The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow. Although YA Sci-fi/Fantasy is not my preferred genre, the ace-spec representation was absolutely appealing to me. It took me longer than I'd like to get through the book and there is no guarantee that it will get a sequel, but I don't regret reading the book.

In The Sound of Stars, modern-day Earth (or that of a few years ago) is invaded by aliens, the Ilori. After the leaders of Earth attempt to destroy the invaders, the Ilori survive and take over. They begin their plan to turn Earth into a vacation home for their kind. Two years later, in an Ilori controlled center, a teen named Ellie is running a secret rebel library. The remaining humans must do the little they can to keep from losing hope. The Ilori are not a united species, however. Civil war is brewing and an Illori fabricant named M0Rr1S (Morris) is secretly working with the rebellion. Ellie and Morris will need to team up to save the humans and hopefully the universe.

This is possibly the first book I have read to have a timeline that makes sense but still had the wrong pacing for the story. The book is told in chapters that shift between Ellie and Morris. I think the inherent suspense of the style is written well and I find it intriguing that Ellie is in 1st person and Morris is in third. I also like that the book balances its tumultuous moments between Ilori and human causes. However, the pacing did not feel balanced. There were moments that felt nonchalant that should have had more time spent on them, such as the goodbye from Ellie's best friend or Ellie's night with the "wolves". There were moments that felt repetitive or drawn out, such as Ellie describing book plots, descriptions of how the Ilori function, and the falling action. I was hooked by the end and hope that The Sound of Stars gets a sequel, but the book was not flawless.

For representation, The Sound of Stars was mostly wonderful! In the book, Dow covers race, sexuality, romantic identity, gender, body shape, anxiety, physical disability, alcoholism, and trauma. It does a compelling job of answering the question, "would people still be racist if there was an evil alien species to team up against?". Long standing prejudices within society don't just disappear because a common enemy appears. Racism also appears in Ilori culture, even if it's not color-based. The fabricants are expected to do all the work for the "True Ilori", but are looked down upon and given very few rights. Morris and Ellie may come from different planets, but their life experiences have many similarities.

The book doesn't just have queer representation, it feels like a queer experience too. Every character is addressed with they/them pronouns until either Ellie or Morris knows otherwise. There are many non-binary characters in the story as well, from both species. I also believe that Dow makes Ellie's sexuality, demisexual, very easy to understand to anyone who may be unfamiliar. Ellie does not fall for someone before having a bond with them and she also doesn't get enjoyment out of casual intimacy. During the course of The Sound of Stars, Ellie only spends about a fortnight with Morris, but their journey allows them to get to know each other quite well in a very short amount of time. Due to Ellie's first person POV, the audience is made aware of all the nuance that surrounds their love story and her feelings.

Throughout the book, Ellie has no problem helping Morris understand what it is like to be human and clearing up the cultural differences. That is until he pulls what can be paraphrased as "you're not fat, you're beautiful". There is a moment where they need to ditch their car and walk a fair distance. Ellie, forgetting about the superior strength of Ilori, tries to point out that she will be heavy for him to carry. It's possible he sensed her personal discomfort with the fact, but his comment about her beauty was irrelevant and hurtful. This is near the end of the book and Ellie's POV has included many relatable fat experiences, like chafing and not getting thinner just because of a diet change. I wish she had commented that fat and beauty are not mutually exclusive or reminded Morris that she was simply discussing her weight as a possible obstacle. This book was written far too recently to be expressing that sentiment.

The end of The Sound of Stars is used to set up a sequel, which the author hopes will happen, but has yet to be confirmed. Between this and the flaws above, I would proceed with caution. There are many good aspects of Dow's story, thus I still recommend it. Decide what matters to you in a book or story and go from there. Hopefully I have helped in making the decision easier for you.

Edit: There will be a follow up book set in the same world called "A Song of Salvation. Expect it in July 2023.

[badocsarethebeesknees]

Rina (WATGBS)

No image for this one, so I’ll just put this here, instead. Obvious Spoiler Warning, as I can’t keep my trap shut about how cool this game is.

Name:Rina

Here comes my good ol’ name schpiel.  From Japanese 莉 (ri) meaning "white jasmine" or 里 (ri) meaning "village" combined with 奈 (na), a phonetic character, or 菜 (na) meaning "vegetables, greens". Funny choice, but there’s also Sal, which isn’t even that uh... Japanese, if you will. But he’s usually a special case in a lot of things.

Age:Unknown

This is excusable, considering the game never specifies ages. All that is really known is that Wadda is (presumably) fairly young according to her stature and comparison to Chlomaki’s in-game description.

Species:Witch?

Oh dear. Please be certain as to what species you are. It would be really concerning if you were trying to be both a witch and a familiar as I’m pretty sure that doesn’t happen.

Height:155 cm Siblings:None Familiars:???

Same height as Chlomaki, hm? Most witches, I’ve noticed, don’t have siblings. Guess they’d have to fight for their family right to be a sorcerer. Please, please tell me you know what a familiar is. If you do and you haven’t picked familiars yet, I guess that’s okay. I did it the opposite though, by making familiars for Wadda.

Personality:Rina is a little shy,sweet and she is nice and kind.

Literally EVERYONE in THE WORLD and their DOG can be “sweet, shy and kind.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character do this well and have this as their only traits. Here is genuinely a list of characters by the traits you’ve listed (only ones off the top of my head.) Sweet: Cherryblod, Minero, Doloz, Lobco, Princess Uomi, Tarako, Tatsumiya... Nice: Aom, Cherryblod, Minero, Doloz, Irena, Lobco, Miyura, Princess Uomi, Pulmo, Tarako.. Kind: Helica, Aom, Cherryblod, Creamil, Minero, Doloz, Lobco, Miyura, Princess Uomi, Pulmo, Rimorimo, Seguro, Tarako, Tatsumiya...

And those are just from the sea! And including shy reminds me of Dolphi. Please don’t tell me you’re just gonna mimic Dolphi.

Though she’s stubborn and at times she can be a little creepy and or dark.

This is Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea. I’d be surprised if she couldn’t be a little creepy or dark. 

Eye color:Left-Gray Right-Dark Green

Oh, I’m all for being unique to some degree, but you better explain yourself. 6/1,000 people have heterochromia. You’re quite lucky to end up being reviewed by someone with (hardly noticeable) heterochromia. Was it congenital or was it out of a condition? Because if you’re going for uniqueness, I recommend looking through such conditions and researching one to apply to this character.

Crush:She won’t tell anyone

W h y  d o  u  t e s t  m e  s o

Pick one of the bishi husbandos with fins on their heads and it’s likely her crush.

Appearance:She has long blue-gray highlights.Her hair is up in pigtails.She has pointed ears.She wears a dark purple and white dress it has two shades of purple. She has a reddish plum aand silver brooch attached to her collar/choker. A dark purple and white lavender bow is attached to the back of the dress around the waist.She wears stockings and dark purple knee length boots.

I know it’s not always fair to ask this, but a picture is REALLY preferred here. Even if you suck at art, I focus a lot on characters more than the art.

Hobby:Reading,Piano,Violin.

Do all the witches play piano?

Likes:Star fruit, music boxes.

This blog condones consuming star fruit only in moderation. Be careful, kiddos.

Dislikes:Seeing her friends get hurt,bugs,squid.

Here’s my pet peeves with dislikes- don’t state the obvious. If your OC is a diehard Blue Sea character, it’s obvious they won’t like Sal. If your OC is not a fan of the monarchy, it should be obvious that they don’t like Princess Uomi. I’m pretty sure Wadda has a squid familiar. I imagine they don’t like your Basic Sue, too.

History:Unknown 

If  it’s   not       relevant           don’t                put                     it. It’s not hard to not waste my time.

According to the creator’s art, she’s soft in the head for Sal. The whole “childhood friend” thing. You see, if Sal had a right-hand witch, he would’ve used her power and probably left Wadda alone (ignoring the fact he has an obsessive crush on her), which completely f**king obliterates canon. Way to go, Rina, you destroyed the Reali-sea.

I give Rina...

A squinting Squidward/10.

[graceandfamily]

«I’ve known Princess Grace since she was Grace Kelly and we were both under contract at MGM. She has kept her complexion flawless, even after working with heavy theatrical make-up for many years, by not wearing heavy make-up in private life. What she doesn’t do is as important as what she does. A simple, uncomplicated yet effective regimen that cleanses and nourishes her skin is the Princess’ beauty must every day, no matter how busy her schedule. Princess Grace also combines exercise with good nutrition to keep the circulation in her body (and therefore her skin) active. She swims regularly and always keeps her skin protected from the sun. When you have that kind of concern, life’s ups and downs can’t age you as fast», by Arlene Dahl (from Beyond beauty : a three-part journey to help you reach your full potential as a woman, 1980)

[starcrossedyanderes]

Yan Xavier Devorsky Valentine’s Date

ℕ𝕠𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣: 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕤𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕡𝕪. 𝕊𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤. 𝔸𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝕍𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖'𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖!

You would be lying if you said you weren’t nervous for today.

Xavier has been quite.. direct with his affection lately, constantly hugging and demanding all your attention to be on him, or to suffer the consequences.

He just loved flaunting his power to you, threading to send a missile to this precious little country that you love so much. Every time his green eyes would just light up and his voice would become a bit more sultry yet still managed to be laced with unfathomable power.

It seemed he got a high as he started to corner you against a wall, your little frame just quivering as his towering bodyguards followed behind the prince, like the shadows that go bump in the night.

With all your might you hoped and prayed that in Colvakia they didn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, or that he was completely oblivious to it all.

But the most worrying part was for (Y/n)’s dearest friend and crush, Christopher. Christopher just had to be the exchange student that traded places with Xavier, allowing the prince to come to America.

Who knew what was happening to him?! He could be dead and (Y/n) would be none the wiser.

But the part that worried her the most was what would result from her tapping on the Discord icon and clicking on Christopher’s profile picture. As her hands frequently tapped soon against the dark gray appeared white text.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, I’ve been missing you.”

That one sentence could lead to world war 3, if Xavier ever found out about the message that she had sent. The prince was a very possessive person, especially with her. In all honesty she wondered if the Dévorsky even realized that she was indeed a human being.

But the female’s thoughts were interrupted as a honk sounded from outside and with a quick pulling of curtains a long, black car could be seen in her driveway. An irritated sigh left your lips as the single hope of him just forgetting of your existence was crushed in front of your face.

With a quick swing your bag sat on your shoulders and you decided to head downstairs to face the dragon. Your parents pecked you on the forehead whilst whispering words of positive thoughts in your ear.

With one more drawn out sigh you tugged open the front door and stepped foot outside to meet your inevitable doom.

A tall man dressed in black was already standing by one of sleek doors that held back the small tornado that is Xavier. The guard's posture was perfectly straight as a ruler and his face was purely devoid of all emotion.

As your feet stepped forward you could already that on the other side of those tainted windows green eyes were burning into your figure. With a slight gulp and quiver you handed your bag over to the suited man. With a soft click the door opened up and the man finally showed a speck of emotion as he bowed down and let the words, “Your highness.” slip past his lips.

But without a second to spare a hand whipped out of the car, grabbed onto your sleeve, and pulled you inside the black hole of a car.

“Dahling!”

Lips were forced onto both of your cheeks with unceremonious “Mwahs!” in such a rapid pace that you didn’t even have time to process it. You only realized that you were inside the car as you were sat in Xavier’s lap as his head nuzzled into the crook of your neck.

“Uh-good morning?”

A small chuckle left the prince’s lips as he tilted his head so his lips would instead be pressing onto your neck instead before quickly pulling away.

“Quite so.”

Your body slightly shifted whilst on his lap before your voice meekly asked,

“Your majesty, could you please let me go..?”

Xavier’s grip on your hip only tightened a bit before he let out a sigh and released his death grip, allowing you to slid off him to sit on the other side of his body.

But even despite the lack of intimacy you soon felt his fingers tapping on your shoulder, crawling up towards your neck before harshly grabbing it and tugging it towards him. With a surprising amount of gentleness his placed his ever so soft lips onto the back of your neck as his eyelashes tickled you every time he blinked.

“I hope you like. Look down.”

You could feel the cool metal against your skin and upon looking down your body you could see that as he kissed your neck he somehow snuck a necklace onto your body.

On the roof of the limousine was small pieces of sporadic blue lights as the sun’s rays and the led lights reflected off the large piece of flawless sapphire that hung off of the most delicate gold chain know to man. Surrounding the heart cut sapphire were little diamonds meticulously placed around in it just to add more shine.

It was by far the most expensive stone you had seen, and this is coming from the person who went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

“Oh-, it’s beautiful. You shouldn’t have bought this for me, my prince.”

Xavier let out a mix of a purr and a hum once hearing you say those 2 little words he just loved to come out your lips. His fingers absentmindedly played with a small piece of metal attached to the clasp of the necklace. His gaze bored into the small words inscribed onto the piece of metal as he nonchalantly responded to you.

“It vas nothing. I just vanted to give my princess something. Vesides, I have more things for you later.”

You practically choked on air upon hearing that last sentence.

“M-more-?”

This necklace surely cost 2 fortunes already and who knows how much his other gifts would cost. She doesn’t even want this stuff!

“Mmhm, more.”

The rest of the ride was in silence as you had learned to keep quiet unless spoken to with the prince and unlike usual Xavier was completely quiet today, as he was preoccupied with the little metal that had such a lovely inscription.

Attached to a little piece of silver the Devorsky family crest could  barely be seen.

~|~

So it turns out it’s nearly impossible to take notes whilst someone is watching you. Xavier had his emerald eyes trained on you the entire school day. With his head on his hand his long blonde hair would slightly hang in his eyes but that didn’t stop the soft smile that was on his face.

Even for today Xavier was acting fairly odd for Xavier. Usually he had his guards carry your bags but today he wouldn’t even let you go to your locker. There was also an oddly high number of guards today but just before first period the surplus just seemed to disappear.

But of course you wouldn’t know that Xavier had them come so they could watch your locker and make sure that no one slipped in any love note or confessions of their pure love. The prince absolutely refused on losing his princess, and especially today of all days. He would make sure his men would stop all advances and also make sure it would never happened again.

~|~

You knew the prince adored going over the top for dates but this was extreme even for him. The black limousine was currently parked right in front the tallest building in Crystal City, and it would seem that he planned on dining at the most expensive restaurant in D.C. area as well. 

As soon as you took a shaky step out of the vehicle his manicured hand gripped yours and started dragging walking towards the entrance with his always present guards right at your heels with suitcases in their arms.

A bellhop swung open the main doors for the two of you and you almost had a heart attack at the surge of rapidly flashing lights. Before you could even raise a hand to protect your eyes Xavier’s stern and powerful voice rang out clear as day,

“Enough.”

And just like God telling the red seas to part every single person obeyed the single command as cameras were placed down. Xavier leaned down more to your level with his blonde hair covering the two of your expressions from reporters as he spoke with a significantly softer voice,

“Are you okay? I’m sorry for forgetting such an important detail. They vill only be taking a few images at dinner for publicity reasons is all.”

And in practically millisecond his demeanor changed back to his regular tyrannical prince self as he walked you over to the elevator and had one of his servants press the button to the top floor.

With a small ‘ding’ the metal doors slid open to reveal that your previous hypothesis was correct. The royal had indeed booked a table at the most expensive restaurant in the D.C. area but it turns out he booked the entire floor, on Valentine’s Day.

Your jaw practically dropped to the floor at this realization but the Devorsky quickly pushed your jaw back up and took a large bouquet of blue roses that sat at the front of the restaurant and shoved it into your hands. In a daze you were easily led down to a seat and pushed down into a proper seating position before you could Xavier speaking once again.

“Did you know that blue iz the rarest form of rose. It just happens to be vun of my family’s colors as vell.”

“Ah, thank you.”

It’s official, your body had gone into shock and became numb to all that surrounded it.

“Now, let’s get some food, shall ve?”

~|~

It was finally the end of the meal and you knew that the ticket was going to be longer than your phone number. But that’s the good thing of being an absolute monarch of a country you suppose. And shockingly enough only a limited amount of pictures were taken of you. Xavier had made it perfectly apparent that only pictures on his terms and with his permission were allowed. 

“And for the rest of your gifts.”

With a quick snap of his fingers 2 guards dressed in suits walked over with tablets that held images and words of many different flowers and images of building.

“A simple bouquet of flowers isn’t enough for such a sveet thing as your self, so I decided to name one of the largest botanical gardens in Colvakia after you. I’ll make sure you’ll see it one day.”

After 10 seconds of fast clicking and blinding flashes they were put to a stop once again with a dismissive hand the 2 guards walked back into the shadows. With just another another guards walks seeming out of the shadows as well but this time with a briefcase in hand that soon opened to reveal a soft, plush, velvet cushion that housed an even more expensive piece of jewelry than the necklace wound on your neck.

The suited man bent down on one knee with the cushion raised in the air, allowing Xavier to pick up the tiara and place it on your head. But not before placing a light kiss on your forehead.

“For my princess.”

~|~

You were very glad that this night straight from h-e-double toothpicks was almost over as your house was coming into sight. As amazing as all the gifts were there was no one way you could take more subtle threats to your country. 

In fact as soon as the car came to a complete halt you walked out of the car without waiting for anyone to open the door for you. In fact you would’ve ran straight into your house if it wasn’t for this stopping you.

“Dahling, before you go..”

Willing yourself to turn around and have a fake smile pull at your lips you stared straight at the prince now in front of you. And with one slow motion he placed his ever so soft lips against your own, for the first time. 

With another quick snap as soon as you showed signs of struggle they were quickly snuffed out by the knife lightly poking at the back of your neck’s skin. Your motions immediately froze as you waited for Xavier to finish first.

“Ve should do that more often. Vut I suppose it is getting late. So, tatata.”

With a slight wave of his hand the prince walked back into his car with his henchmen leaving right with him.

[scaryscarecrows]

Melt

Dove hates this house. It’s big and old and she’s getting flashbacks to every scary movie she saw as a little girl. Doesn’t help that a shit-ton of people have died in it. And she’s willing to swear, on a stack of bibles, that the painting at the foot of the stairs is one of those Scooby-Doo ones that watches you when you’re not looking.

BONG! BONG! BONG!

Yeah, and the big-ass clock downstairs is noisy as hell. That’s not conducive to sleeping, which means she has to pile on the makeup because the mayor’s paperwork girl can’t look anything less than flawless.

She rolls over on the too-soft bed and shudders when her leg hits a cold spot. God, it’s three in the morning and she hasn’t even dozed…

She needs a glass of water, that’s why. She’s needed it for hours now, but she’s too scared to go downstairs. Which is silly, because one, there’s no such things as ghosts and two, it’s the mayor’s house. And Gotham’s crime boss’s house. This is probably one of the most well-protected houses in the city.

Okay. She’ll go, she’ll go, she’ll go. She can do this.

She turns on the lamp, shuffles her feet into her slippers and pulls her robe around her shoulders. Straight downstairs, get a water, and then to bed.

Because her life is either a Gothic novel or a soap opera, the first really nasty thunderstorm of the fall is here, lightning illuminating the hall at random intervals. Cobblepot lined this hall with plush carpeting, because they all sleep up here, and now she wishes he hadn’t. She’d never hear someone coming up behind her oh god there’s someone there now she can feel it--

She whirls, flashlight beam swinging wildly, and sees nothing but an old suit of armor. Right. Heh.

The stairs are no better. They creak, yes, but they also curve heavily. One could look up and see someone above them. Not to mention that at some point in this house’s history, one of the servant girls was hurled to her death from here. Olga says you can hear a reenactment of the murder some nights, but Dove’s like ninety percent certain Olga’s just fucking with them.

Okay, eighty-five percent certain.

She scurries down the stairs a little faster than is probably safe and flips off the Scooby-Doo picture, just in case. Ah! Kitchen.

She knows what went down in here, what exactly has been cooked in that oven, but as horrid as that is, it’s Gotham. Weird shit happens in Gotham. Which is why no band in their right mind ever comes here on tour.

She’s filling a glass when a flash of lightning hits and for a second-just a second-she sees someone.

Her first thought is that it’s Cobblepot. He doesn’t sleep much anymore, not since Ed went away. But Cobblepot’s got a hunch to him now, even without his cane, and whoever was there didn’t.

One of her co-workers?

She turns her light over and sees nothing. Probably not, then. In this house, you greet. It’s a safety thing.

The one night I get brave is the one night we get a burglar!

The rain suddenly seems very loud, more than loud enough to drown out footsteps.

Silently thanking Cobblepot’s paranoia, she reaches under the butcher’s block and slides the gun out of its holster. She is not going to be murdered for coming down for a glass of water!

After checking the gun for bullets and finishing her water, she inches over to the doorway and pokes her head out. Cobblepot must be down here, anyway-the light’s on in his study. Maybe it was one of her co-workers and they just didn’t see her. It happens.

Yeah, that’s all it was. She’ll just go check.

She tiptoes towards the light and pokes her head in. No one. Well, Cobblepot; he’s conked out on the sofa, cell phone clutched in his hand. She’ll just leave him there. It’s safer than startling him and getting stabbed by accident. Or on purpose. Who knows.

She turns around and comes face-to-face with-HOLY SHIT.

That’s van Dahl, that’s Cobblepot’s long-murdered dad, shit-shit-shit--

Okay, so she doesn’t mean to shoot him in the face. But it doesn’t hurt him. Doesn’t go through him like smoke, either; it goes through him like clay and for a second his face flickers before reforming.

“Oh my God--”

He hisses at her and staggers forward before…melting. Literally, just drips down through the floorboards.

“What is going on?” Cobblepot sounds tired and pissed. That’s bad. “Miss Marquis, what are you doing down here?”

“Th-there was a man, or a…a thing, anyway, it was there, I shot it-” It’s best not to mention that it looked like his father. Shooting his dad is not getting her brownie points. “And it…it went through the floorboards.”

Cobblepot raises an eyebrow and hobbles towards her.

“Are you sleepwalking.”

“No! Look.” She points the flashlight at the bullet, embedded as it is in the floorboards with…

Huh. That actually does look like clay stuck to the tip. What the fuck is in the house?

“What is that.”

“He went through the floorboards, he just--”

“So he’s in the wine cellar.”

“Maybe?”

“Then let’s go down there.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I didn’t ask.”

The shot’s brought Gabe downstairs, shotgun in hand.

“Boss! Boss, you okay?”

“We may or may not have an intruder,” Cobblepot says drolly. “Miss Marquis swears someone went through the floorboards. We’re going down to see.”

“He did--”

“Come along.”

Oh, it’s all very well for him to be brave. He didn’t see it.

Fuck him…fuck this…I JUST WANTED WATER.

They shuffle towards the door that leads to the wine cellar. It’s probably gone now. If it can go through floorboards, it can get out through a vent or something. And back in through a vent or something, it’s probably going to come after her for shooting it shit--

Gabe opens the door. It creaks and Cobblepot mutters something about oiling the damn hinges.

It’s dark down there. And cold. And it smells like cold stones. She wonders how far she can run before Gabe catches her and brings her back to Cobblepot.

“Boss?”

“Down we go.”

The stairs creak something awful, but that’s the only sound. She can barely hear the rain down here. Gabe flicks the light switch and the room is bathed in soft light. Dove hates it down here; a little too Cask of Amontillado for her liking. And she’s not at all sure that new-ish looking wall doesn’t have a skeleton behind it.

“There’s no one here,” Cobblepot says smugly. “I suspect you were sleepwalking--”

Then the power goes out.

There’s a panicked rush (Cobblepot will insist it’s not panic, but she calls bullshit) to get out of the cellar, but the lights don’t stay out for long.

“See--”

“Did you not notice the thunderstorm, Miss Marquis?” Cobblepot snaps. “There was a surge. Now kindly try not to shoot my floor again--”

SLAM!

They all jump and Gabe books it to the front door. Dove glances at the open cellar door and nudges it shut. No need for someone to trip and fall down the stairs, after all.

Gabe returns soon enough, shaking his head and looking decidedly unnerved.

“No one, boss, but the door was unlocked.”

Hah! She said so! She said there was someone here!

“Wake everyone up. I want a thorough search of the house and grounds. Miss Marquis, come with me.”

Gabe runs upstairs and she follows Cobblepot back to his study. He settles back onto the couch and checks his phone. Judging by his expression, no one’s called.

“Tell me what happened. Leave nothing out.”

She didn’t get a good look at the thing’s face, she decides. It was dark. That’s her story and she’s sticking to it.

“I came down for a glass of water…”

THE END

[woshuaaa]

spoiler alert for BL3

//incoming rant

dont get me wrong, I adore this game, being a huge borderlands fan that has spent countless hours researching and lore hunting, i want nothing more than to say this game is flawless. but its biggest downfall has to be troy and tyreen.

these two were built up like no tomorrow, they seemed like something much bigger than they were, and it seemed like it just... fell apart.

its because unlike every villian beforehand, they have no ulterior motive.

steele was working for atlas, who wanted to open a vault to put their name back on the corporate map.

handsome jack wanted to kill off the bandits and make pandora a peaceful planet.

hector was after creating the paradise he was promised by dahl.

troy and tyreen... wanted to get back at typhon? for keeping them safe? it makes zero sense. like sure you can become gods, but what for? so you can kill everything? i refuse to believe tyreen was that apathetic towards others.

like sure if i was trapped on an alien planet with no living humans, i wouldnt stab my dad in the back and leave because i was mad at him.

the twins also had this great sibling rivalry dynamic build up. i would have loved if troy became fucking nutso and was hellbent on outshining tyreen after years of being second-best. or if troy realized tyreen was going off the deep end and joined the raiders in an attempt to stop her. (i may be upset that he’s dead). they had these awesome dynamics going, especially in the latter half of the game, and it never led up to anything. honestly a lot of this writing really ended up falling flat this time around. while anthony burch, bitch that he is, he really made a lot of the writing at least tolerable and had a story that made sense.

this time around a lot of things just didnt feel right, like aurelia’s death, mayas death, tannis being a siren, etc etc. and i mean, typhon? if he was such an important figure, where the hell was he in the past? the first time the vault was opened? speaking of vaults, they used to seem like this amazing, incredible alien construct that nobody ever knew of, in borderlands 3 we open technically 4 in one game. what??? whatever made vaults special clearly isnt there anymore. the title of ‘vault hunter’ used to mean something, now its just tossed around like nothing.

[kennedy-mcpherson]

accomplishments;

as the daughter of nadine dahl and sebastian valmont, valentina isabella dahl was born prepared for this moment. more so than just about any other girl to ascend down those steps before or after her.

this is a young woman who has been involved in philanthropic work since she was young, something her mother, senator nadine dahl made a vital part of her life. from helping out their fellow women, building homes for those less unfortunate than her to assuring the survival of a family of hawks in new york’s central park, valentina has made it a mission in her life to evoke as much change as she could.

but not only has she shown promise out in the world, she’s shown in the classroom. this is a woman that’s maintained a flawless grade point average, all while keeping up with her philanthropic efforts and extracurriculars. 

this is a young woman who’s going to change the world and she couldn’t be happier to be making her debut into it surrounded by the best that rosewood has to offer.

aspirations;

valentina dahl is currently interning at her mother’s office and has recently found herself considering a career in politics. she also wishes to own vacation homes in the hamptons and the caribbean that she could share with her significant other and a minimum of three little ones.

escorted by;  damon cruz.

mentored by; nadine dahl.

wearing; de la renta.

[konrukseries1156me]

The 20 Best Character Introductions In Movie History..

Heath Ledger as the Joker in the initial scene of The Dark Knight..  Learn more here หนังซีรีย์มาใหม่

Much the same as, all things considered, early introductions in a film can represent the moment of truth a character for the crowd. We start causing decisions on characters from the subsequent they to show up on the screen, so all through film history, producers have tried to discover new and intriguing approaches to acquaint their characters with a clueless crowd. Would you be able to envision meeting Indiana Jones in some other setting than him swiping that antiquated symbol from the platform? Or on the other hand Quint being presented without that ear-parting scratch along the writing slate? The initial introduction of the character advises our sentiments about them immediately. Presentations are everything. Learn more here หนังซีรีย์มาใหม่

These are irrefutably the most elite artistic meet and welcomes you'll actually observe. Don't hesitate to appreciate this rundown with our it's friend piece, The 40 Greatest Opening Scenes of All Time. Right away, here are the 20 Best Movie Character Introductions Of All Time.

20

Trunchbull (Matilda)

The character that cooled each kid's heart when Matilda was first delivered is presented in tremendously scaring style. Miss Trunchbull (Pam Ferris) is first uncovered displaying a riding crop and flexing her elastic gloves. While never demonstrating her face, the camera follows her as she walks through the bustling play area, woofing orders and reprimanding kids ("You're excessively little. Grow up quicker!")

Chief Danny DeVito utilizes some exemplary realistic stunts to present one of Roald Dahl's most alarming reprobates. Matilda, and the crowd, learn dispersed clues about Trunchbull's evilness as the film starts. The riddle encompassing this unfeeling drill sergeant fabricates and works until Matilda's first day at school. Upon her presentation, DeVito retains indicating Trunchbull's face until the last conceivable second, letting the characters meekly murmur dreadful legends about the head as she meanders through the horde of youngsters. We see her boots, the rear of her head, and that agonizing looking riding crop. She gets more frightening in our psyches the more we abandon seeing her, Jaws-style. These realistic methods set up for one of the most terrifying huge bads in kids' film history.

19

Jesus (The Big Lebowski)

One of the numerous delights of the Coen Brother's filmography is their capacity to change from dangerous genuine to shamelessly senseless on the turn of a dime. Think about the distinction between Anton Chigurh's presentation in No Country for Old Men (another fantastic true to life presentation that lamentably missed the cut on this rundown) and afterward balance it with the presentation of Jesus (John Turturro) in The Big Lebowski. It's difficult to accept these two scenes were created by similar producers.

As the Gipsy Kings pluck a Spanish front of "Lodging California", we watch Jesus fix the strings on his bowling shoes and easily pull his glossy silk, knee length socks up his leg. With a practically strict formality, he gets the ball. He wears a device that ensures the pointer finger on his bowling hand. He erotically licks the ball. The name on his purple jumpsuit peruses "Jesus". Jesus sends the ball down the path for a simple strike. The Dude, Donny, and Walter look on in scorn. The whole scene is proudly silly and a flat out pleasure. Learn more here หนังซีรีย์มาใหม่

18

Tyler Durden (Fight Club)

We meet Tyler Durden a few times before we meet Tyler Durden in Fight Club. We're first mindful of the character as he holds a weapon in the mouth of The Narrator (Edward Norton). We at that point see brief, subconscious appearances of the strange man as The Narrator slips all through light sleeper states. However, we don't generally meet Tyler Durden until he imparts a passageway to The Narrator on a plane.

Tyler Durden illuminates The Narrator with paranoid notions and stories with respect to flight, cleanser making, everything. He's easily cool. The Narrator is in evident stunningness, having met the man that is everything The Narrator needs to be. He attempts to intrigue Tyler with his smart little perception, depicting Durden as the most fascinating "single-serving companion" he's ever met on a plane. Tyler's reaction? "How's being astute turning out for you? Great? Keep it up at that point." Then Tyler makes for the rear of the plane, however not prior to sharing a perception, that is difficult to not consider as you leave a walkway of seats. "As I leave, the undying inquiry. Do I give you the ass or the groin?" Tyler Durden enters the scene and the world pays heed.

17

Elle Driver (Kill Bill)

Subsequent to being left for dead by Bill (David Carradine), The Bride (Uma Thurman) lies senseless in an emergency clinic bed. Machines signal and hum as she lies, totally still, eyelids shut. From down the medical clinic lobby comes a whistled tune. The whistle is energetic and light, differentiating the dim, unpropitious medical clinic corridors. The tune is being whistled by Elle Driver, codename: California Mountain Snake. She's drawing nearer and closer to The Bride with a needle loaded with toxic substance to complete the undertaking that Bill began.

The mounting pressure in this scene is practically choking. In a split screen, we see the eyepatch-wearing Elle come consistently nearer to The Bride's emergency clinic room while our legend dozes. We continue trusting her eyelids will ripple and she'll awaken as expected, yet she just lies there, totally powerless against the professional killer advancing down that clinic foyer. Fortunately, a call from Bill occupies Elle from her main goal, and The Bride lives to render her retribution. Learn more here หนังซีรีย์มาใหม่

16

Harry Lime (The Third Man)

Cautioning, spoilers for a seventy year old film are to follow.

Orson Welles sure realizes how to make a passage. As we'll get to later, he acquaints us with one of the most renowned film characters ever, in one of the most artistically flawless arrangements ever, in the 1941 work of art, Citizen Kane. In 1949, eight years after his showstopper, Welles showed up in Carol Reed's noir spine chiller, The Third Man. In it, he makes another astonishing, noteworthy prologue to the crowd. The second is especially amazing on the grounds that, until the second he shows up on the screen, we had thought he was dead.

The Third Man discovers mash author Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) showing up in post-war Vienna in line with his companion, Harry Lime. Upon his appearance however, he discovers that Harry Lime has as of late passed on in a baffling car crash. Riddles lead to more puzzles, and soon Martins doesn't have a clue who to trust. At that point, partially through the film, the greatest stun of everything is uncovered. Harry Lime is perfectly healthy, and has data for Martins.

15

Hit Girl And Big Daddy (Kick-Ass)

The first occasion when we meet Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) he's planning to shoot his little girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) in the chest. In an evaporated waterway pipe, they're somewhere down amidst another superhuman exercise when we first drop in on them. Hit Girl discloses to her dad she's terrified, which is a justifiable response when your dad is preparing a six millimeter handgun on you. The brightness of the scene is the ordinariness with which the two characters talk about the preparation. Hit Girl and Big Daddy arrange being shot in the chest similar way most kids would arrange eating their vegetables.

At the point when the second at last comes, the effect of the slug thumps Hit Girl off her feet. The impenetrable vest under Hit Girl's pink coat halted the shot. Huge Daddy causes her up, and consents to take her out for bowling and frozen yogurt on the off chance that she will take two additional projectiles with no recoiling or whimpering. The part of Hit Girl was a breakout one for Chloe Grace Moretz, and Nicolas Cage's exhibition as Big Daddy was a re-visitation of structure for the entertainer. Their crazy science is in plain view from their absolute first scene together.

14

Daniel Craig's James Bond (Casino Royale)

Less of a presentation, and all the more a re-presentation, the launch of Casino Royale is a smaller than expected masterclass in true to life narrating. The launch of this film needed to achieve many things in a short measure of time. For one, it needed to guarantee crowds that Daniel Craig would make an acceptable 007. There had been debate encompassing his projecting, with fans guaranteeing the British entertainer didn't fit the job. For another, the film needed to show it's especially unexpected tone in comparison to the first Pierce Brosnan Bonds. This Bond was grittier, hazier, and more reasonable. Lastly, the opening must be an energizing and thrilling reemergence into the famous universe of James Bond. Gambling club Royale's opening figures out how to do the entirety of that, to say the least.

The film begins clearly, with MI6 segment boss, Dryden, discovering Bond in his office late around evening time. The two talk about Bond's not-exactly 00 status, and we discover that it takes two affirmed slaughters before a specialist can be viewed as a 00. Intercut with the exchange is an instinctive battle scene among Bond and Dryden's surveillance contact. The whole arrangement plays like some sort of arthouse activity scene, and it fills in as an exciting prologue to one of the best Bond entertainers ever. Learn more here หนังซีรีย์มาใหม่

13

Jack Sparrow (Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl)

Could there be a more ideal prologue to the personality of Jack Sparrow than him cruising into port on a sinking transport? After a chilling opening scene highlighting a youthful Elizabeth Swan experiencing privateers on the cloudy sea, we streak forward twenty years into the future to discover Jack Sparrow peering toward the coastline from his crow's home. He should swing down to rescue a couple of bucketfuls of water, as his boat is sinking rapidly. The tanned and beaded privateer pauses for a minute to salute his fallen brethren, hanging in notice outside the city's dividers, before his boat coasts into port. Sparrow steps legitimately off his completely lowered boat onto the harbor and walks around the city, consummately exhibiting the Bugs Bunny-esque material science that will come  Learn more here หนังซีรีย์มาใหม่

[downloadfreenurseryworksheet]

Coolest Gadgets Now a days

Getting your camera out is an unordinary approach to start your sound understanding, however the result is well justified, despite all the trouble with these artistic earphones. The Creative SXFI THEATER remote earphones utilize a flawless innovation called Super X-FI, which models customized film sound from photographs of your head and ears for a head-wobbling involvement with your parlor.

What's more, head-wobbling it is. These earphones are boisterous, bassy and overly incredible, with swooshing lightsabers from all edges when watching Star Wars and blasts shivering your entire body playing a spot of Call of Duty. Also, that is before you even turn Super X-FI on, which takes everything up a score for a significantly more artistic experience.

The headset accompanies a USB remote transmitter for zero-inactivity sound (to the detriment of Bluetooth, yet that is not generally an issue in your parlor/office space), and despite the fact that they're on the stout side, they are bounty agreeable to wear for expanded gaming meetings. - AM

£189.99, uk.creative.com, purchase now from Amazon UK

15

JBL Tuner XL DAB radio

JBL Tuner XL DAB radio (cool contraptions)

Convenient radios, recall them? Before cell phones were actually a thing, handheld radios were strikingly useful on the off chance that you were pottering at the base of the nursery or edgy to know the remainder of the scores while you were at the footy. On the drawback, they oftentimes sounded refuse.

Circumstances are different, the new Tuner XL from sound masters JBL guarantees sound interminably better gratitude to DAB radio and an incredible 10W speaker. Best of all it'll work in the web no man's land close to the petunias or encompassed by 50,000 footy fans sucking up data transmission by transferring the objective of the period to Twitter.

It's waterproof to IPX7 guidelines, so ought to have the option to take a couple of sprinkles, and claims a long, 15-hour battery life. Obviously, if The Today Show simply isn't cutting it for you, you can likewise connect it to Bluetooth and tune in to something undeniably additionally intriguing.

£129.99, purchase now uk.jbl.com

16

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (cool contraptions)

On the off chance that like us you're a major aficionado of science books, you'll presumably be very much familiar with the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (for those that don't have any acquaintance with, it's a waterproof tablet with an underlying light for perusing in obscurity). No issues up until now, however for what reason does it make it onto this regarded rundown of cool devices? All things considered, presently it comes in two delectable new hues, sage and plum… delicious.

From £119.99, purchase now from Amazon UK

17

WAKEcup self-cleaning water bottle

WAKEcup self-cleaning water bottle (cool contraptions)

How spotless is your water bottle? Who knows, however it presumably could be cleaner given that it is so hard to scour directly into those inaccessible corners at its base. The WAKEcup 550ml water bottle has a bright light in the top that in a short time vows to destroy 99.99 percent of the microorganisms, infections and form that you may have missed.

Also, if that didn't give you a comfortable sentiment of virtue inside, for each item sold during the Covid lockdown, they are giving one WAKEcup to a specialist, medical attendant or care laborer in the NHS as a much obliged.

£45, globalwakecup.com

18

Yoto Player intelligent sound player

Yoto player (cool devices)

Tapes were incredible, weren't they… Ok, the sound was junk, you were unable to skip tracks and they never endured too long they were eaten up by the tape beast (you comprehend what I mean), however as a child I used to adore tuning in to stories on them.

For me there was something profoundly fulfilling about opening the tapes into the player, squeezing play and losing all sense of direction in a tearing yarn, and the Yoto Player is a current proportionate similarly as material and energizing. But it sounds great.

Rather than tapes, this awesome little sound player works by opening in cards, every one of which contains a story to tune in to. There are heaps of exemplary stories to pick from, for example, The Gruffalo and Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, just as different cards with digital broadcasts, radio and exercises on. Rather than a screen it has a cutesy pixelated show, which alongside stout catches for volume and skipping tracks, the entire gadget is totally kid-accommodating (even my two-year-old had the option to get to grasps with it).

Whatever the conditions, keeping kids engaged without turning to a tablet can be a battle, so the Yoto Player is an unquestionably one of the better approaches to keep their little personalities buzzing and creative mind started.

Starting at July, for £12.99 Yoto likewise run a month to month membership bundle which, among different treats, sends both of you new cards to tune in to consistently, a postcard and an ever-developing shading workmanship piece to keep those imaginative energies pumping. – AM

£79.99 for the Yoto Player + cards from £1.99, yotoplay.com

19

Theragun Prime back rub firearm

Theragun Prime back rub firearm (cool contraptions)

As of late you may have seen that web-based media is loaded up with profoundly fulfilling moderate mo recordings of individuals pounded their legs with rub weapons, yet what precisely is going on? Well as opposed to forking out on physiotherapy, rub firearms resemble having a private masseur close by for a brisk post-exercise meeting – the Theragun is the one such device.

It would seem that a hybrid of a weapon and a force instrument (and really when you switch it on you could be pardoned for believing it's both) yet actually, the Theragun Prime is a percussive treatment gadget, intended to knead your muscles by quickly applying strain to your body up to 40 times each second.

It professes to get 60% more profound into your muscles than different massagers, expanding blood stream and decreasing irritation, muscle strain, and turning out to be any bunches that have created.

Peruse more about the study of wellbeing:

HIIT is changing the manner in which we work out, here's the science why it works

5 home exercise applications for your socially-removed exercise

Step by step instructions to pick the best wellness tracker

The three-sided handle makes it simple to hold from any point, permitting you to truly choose trouble spots without bowing at all edges to get at it, and keeping in mind that it's a long way from quiet, it's unquestionably not as boisterous as something beating at 2,400 percussions per minute in your grasp ought to be.

The documentation for how to utilize the Theragun could do with a little work, and the application isn't overly useful either, offering just a couple of schedules and a guide concerning how much weight you're applying. Indeed, it was fourteen days before I found you could turn it on without expecting to experience the application, be that as it may, when I worked out this now evident element, I was utilizing it every day.

It was a disclosure to have the option to get it and work on tied muscles I didn't know existed and knead explicit pieces of my body that were feeling frustrated about themselves in the wake of turning out to be throughout the day (read that as remaining at my work area).

I've generally been utilizing it toward the start of the day to jump-start the system and around evening time before bed, and it unquestionably delivers a portion of the muscle pressure that has developed throughout the day. This being stated, I'm no clinical master, so it merits investigating on the web to discover precisely how to utilize it securely. – AM

[musingsbysarah]

Flawless

A word on my heart and a word I need to hear.

Flawless.

One night I woke up to the word ‘flawless’. I didn’t take much notice of it, but the word keeps coming. Flawless. Without any imperfections.

Up until recently, the way I looked never was an anxious thought in my mind. Even still I don’t feel it affects me that much but the acne outbreak on my face sometimes gets the upper hand of my feelings. It never goes away, some days I barely notice it but other days it is all I see when I look in the mirror. I try not to let the word ‘ugly’ fill the place of ‘beauty’, I know ugly is a lie but sometimes it does worm its way into my mind and overpower the truth I think I know in my heart.

We all get a headache from the world screaming its message of perfection with every advertisement showing off a completely ‘beautiful’ person or lifestyle for us to desire and compare to. Beautiful is subjective and I don’t agree that it is the right adjective to use here. ‘Beautiful’ by definition means pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically. The high standards we are subconciously made to strive for definitely do not please the thoughts in my mind because I know I do not look how the world views beauty and realistically I never will.

With every image of supposed perfection, I am reminded that striving for worldly standards and worldly beliefs is not a stable platform to place my thoughts ‘for this world as we know it will soon pass away.’ (1 Corinthians 7:31) Romans 12:2 tells us ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ So letting these negative images and words hold my thoughts hostage is not going to give me the life I was made for.

I have been reading a lot about anxiety and the impact it has on the body and the brain, but anxiety is not a healthy practice for the heart either. The heart is the most important part of the body to protect. In proverbs there are a few verses that agree with me, proverbs 12:25 ‘anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up’ and ‘above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’ It is scientifically proven that what you put in your body shows on the outside, and this is not just food… this includes filling your body with anxious thoughts. Roald Dahl once said ‘A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.’ I love this and it is so so true for me to remember. I need to aim towards filling my insides with positivity and good words. How I look on the inside is of much greater importance than any outward appearance.

When I feel the weight of insecurity, especially about my acne, I think about this gorgeous story by Max Lucado called You are Special. It is a little story about wooden people. Each person gives out gold stars to the beautiful and talented and grey dots to stick on the clumsy and the ugly. Punchinello, the main character, is covered in grey dots only. He meets a girl who does not have any stickers at all. People try to stick the stickers on her but they don’t stick because her heart and mind are grounded in something stronger than other people’s opinions. She leads the boy to the carpenter, the maker of the people (representing God) and the carpenter affirms the boy of his true identity and when he believes this truth all the spots fall away leaving him flawless.

Others opinions, even the voices in your head calling you ugly, have no value over the truth about who you are and how special you are.  

In Matthew 6:30, it tells us not to be anxious. ‘If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you?’ I look at nature, especially now it is Spring and think how amazing all the colourful flowers look and how beautiful they are and it makes me smile because this is how God must look at me and even more so.

There is a verse in Song of Solomon 4:7, ‘you are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.’ Even though my skin is not flawless, I am flawless because Jesus took all my flaws and left them at the cross. He made me and He loves me. The world says ugly. God says my beautiful child. The world says imperfect. God says my perfect child. My flawless child.

The love and acceptance of the world is one we have to strive for and will have to forever because we will never reach it, but the only opinion that matters is one you will never have to contend for. It is freely given because it is the most real love and real truth there is.

You are flawless.

(images above are ones I have designed)

[intpatypical]

I got tagged by @likeadeepbluesea I love it but I’m rly confused about the correct concept of “Different fandoms” lol.

Rules: List ten of your favourite female characters in ten different fandoms and then tag ten people!

Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs positively inspired me as a little girl (nine years old I think), I have no idea what I would think of her now, but she’s still the first character who came to my mind.

Since we’re talking about murder mysteries, Sgt. Barbara Havers from Elizabeth George’s Lynley series. A Thinker woman character who gets a lot of space, doesn’t morph into a Feeler midway, isn’t a bitch, isn’t always flawless, hyper-ambitious and well-dressed: can’t really ask for more in the breaking stereotypes deparment.

Lisbet Salander, because she is Lisbet Salander. Period.

Rebecka Martinsson from Asa Larsson’s Rebacka Martinsson series, because she is an anxious lawyer. And yes murder mysteries have a crapton of good female characters, not my fault lol.

Baru Cormorant from The Traitor Baru Cormorant, who has the strategical genius I’d like to have but I’m a common mortal lol.

Jane Eyre because having an ego and principles in the nineteenth century as an average looking poor governess takes some major balls.

Ingrid Magnussen from Janet Fitch’s White Oleander because she is a scary ass woman and a Bad Person TM but if you had a strong mother who loved you you WILL see something of her in Ingrid.

Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden because she isn’t a beautiful girl, she has a shit attitude, and yet her curiosity and willpower makes several Responsible Adults snap out of their depressive funk.

Matilda in Roald Dahls Matilda. No need to say more. I’ve had telekynesis fantasies ever since.

Sayuri from Memoirs of a Geisha because I’m familiar with the idea of suddenly envisioning something you want to happen like it’s destiny and sticking to it irrationally.

I’m tagging @tintysun @amazoniansiege @solitarybeehotel @miloswanders @shadowwingwitch @aila-dorrann @tyffere @theburningofmidnightoil @soupz @lets-see-what-colour-you-bleed