#History is a thing for me all righty?

[myckicade]

1893?!?!

Chica-

OH, MY EVER-LOVING LORD, YES!!!!

[theadventureofhistorygirl]

Does anyone else spend an inordinate amount of time thinking how the Trojans are legendary for their protective barrier getting penetrated in the stupidest way possible, and now they're the namesake for one of the largest condom companies in the world?

Or is that just me?

[seat-safety-switch]

I certainly can’t keep up with a professional race-car driver, or even a semi-professional one. They know all the tricks: the lines to take through a corner, how far they can push the car, just when to overtake. It’s all stuff you get through experience, and my door-to-door daily commuting warfare is not exactly the same thing. Still, though, I like to dress up like one on the weekends and go ram my car into some defenceless plastic pylons.

Autocross has never been bigger, except for the brief segment of history in which it was more popular than it is now. In case you’re unfamiliar, it’s a motorsport that consists of you driving around a parking lot faster than anyone else, and it’s a lot of fun. If you don’t think swerving through a parking lot is real racing, well, you haven’t seen me buy groceries before.

You’ll get to hang out with other amateur racers, and form a friendship based on beating each other viciously in the pursuit of a fifteenth of a second. You’ll spend thousands of dollars on exotic compounds for tires, replacing every worn-out component in your suspension, and even eat right to drop a few pounds. All this just to stick it in Bob’s face. Fuck Bob and his Goddamn Mini.

Most importantly, it’s a safe way to discover your vehicle’s limits. For instance, when the wheel came off my car on the highway, it was much more dangerous to me than it was when the same wheel fell off fifteen minutes later at autocross. I was actually able to finish my run, although the errant wheel flattened six cones, a marshal, and put a dent in the timing van before I did so, which the SCCA considers to be worth at least a twenty second penalty and an extremely grumpy group of old dudes wearing sombreros trying to teach me which way is “tighty” (righty) and which way is “loosey” (the other one.)

[mikasas-biggestwhore]

Aot headcanons (Last part)

a/n: I got hella busy and had to heavily slowdown on my requests so this is a headcanon post to make up for it. I’ll be back to posting regularly posting soon just hang in there ‼️

Okay now that that’s over, most of these hcs are modern ones. Enjoy :)

Includes: Erwin, Levi, Hanji,

Erwin

This is probably a common headcanon and Erwin definitely makes dad jokes. You can’t do anything around him or else he is definitely going to make a joke out of it some how in someway.

I know a lot of people see Erwin as more as a history teacher guy and don’t get me wrong I do too but I feel like he would need more action. I can see him being a firefighter that rescues cats out of trees or a police officer that has a trained dog by his side

Erwin was definitely right handed and losing his right arm was a very big L. Of course he adapted and in the end he actually is a better lefty then righty. Like his hand writing before was good but now??? Shit looks elegant.

I see him as a romantic. Not like a stereotypical romantic though. Sure he would kiss your knuckles and walk you like the gentleman he is but at the same time he’ll declare to race somewhere out of nowhere and then shove you so he can get a head start.

Going off of that Erwin is a cheater bruh. Not relationship wise but if y’all ever play a game he’s def cheating. I mean he did use his soldiers as pawn for personal gain so it makes sense. NO NOT PLAY BOARD GAMES WITH HIM. He’s either stealing money from the bank while your not looking or either he’s distracting you so you forget it’s your turn. 

Levi

I’m pretty sure it’s canon but Levi is amazing with animals. He’s the type of person that could just be minding his own business and suddenly he finds a kitten that is in desperate need of help and clings to him immediately.

Another thing a lot of people probably agree on is that he’s more of a cat person. I can’t see him ever liking dogs because of how ‘messy’ they can be and how much work and training they require. I have both and can agree cats are less work then dogs 💀

He has a soft spot for little kids. As cold and clinical Levi is I genuinely don’t think he has it in him to be upset with like a 5 year old. Sure annoyed because who wouldn’t be but mad? Nah never. There’s an age limit though if your 12 and up your feeling his wrath regardless.

This is another common headcanon and it’s that Levi runs a tea shop. Okay cool but Imma put my own twist. He runs a tea shop and bakery that connect. Like let’s be fr I know this man knows how to cook. He’s literally so good at anything else why would he not be able to cook? So if he ever opened a tea shop just know there would be a bakery right beside it.

If there was a line of work I could see Levi in it would be the FBI or federal government type of stuff. That or he would be a private investigator. All his skills work out for either and I feel like he would be on of the best in the business. No question about it at all.

Hanji

Hanji has broken several pairs of their glasses. They never break them like a normal person either- What do you mean you dropped them in a enclosure at the zoo? You shattered them from one of your experiments? Do I even wanna know why they are split in two? Yea they constantly break them.

Hanji is an animal person and literally has the most outrageous pets. They have a wolf dog just because they have the space and time for one. The have caracals that live in their house with their own space. They totally have capybaras and prairie dogs too. It’s practically a zoo at their house.

I feel like Hanji is one of those people that just had bad luck. They have no clue what they did to upset the universe but things only happen to them. Say they’re having a nice outing with Levi and Erwin and it starts to rain. They all pull out their umbrellas. Why is Hanji’s the only that breaks.

Hanji is 100% an adrenaline junky. Like they would go skydiving and swim with sharks for fun. It’s something about the rush that makes them so excited and they love having that feeling. It’s not odd at all for Hanji to come back and tell everyone a wild and crazy story

It sounds plain to say if Hanji had a job they would be a scientist. So instead I think they would be a biomedical engineer. Imagine them making fake organs to save people. Or they would go into the field of prosthetics. I just think that they would want to be in a field that includes medicine and helps people. 

Wooo we are finished with aot hcs unless yall make requests 🤭

Part 1

Part 2

[lastweeksshirttonight]

All righty, I managed to get back home despite the hurricane, let's talk about the show.

Tl;dr - I traveled cross-country to see John Oliver and Seth Meyers. It was amazing and I am still giddy about it!! Gonna put all the details under a cut to not clog up your timeline/the tags.

(All jokes will be paraphrased/guestimated bc my adrenaline and ADHD played havoc with my memory recall, lol.)

Firstly, the Beacon Theatre is absolutely stunning. It reminds me a bit of the Theatre at Ace Hotel in LA, in that it's clearly had its old elements lovingly preserved and harkens back to an older time. It was truly a gorgeous venue.

I missed getting a pic of the other side of the stage, which had a massive sculpture of shields and spears. John made a joke about the opulence of the room not matching the entertainment for the evening, and noted that "even Coco Chanel would say to keep it to one shield". Really wish I'd thought to get a picture of it, he was not wrong.

I was extremely close to the stage - 3 rows back and dead center. I definitely had the anxious excited adrenaline jitters because of it.

I mean COME ON.

The opener was Brooks Wheelan, who I remembered from his brief stint at SNL. He talked a fair deal about that, and told a great story bit about getting fired from there and opening for John shortly after, wherein he drank an entire bottle of "HBO blood diamond whiskey" from John's dressing room and had, in Seth's later words, "a nervous breakdown". I'd heard Brooks has opened for John before and was glad I got to see him, he's a lot of fun.

He also told a joke about not wanting to learn karate because of the huge glass windows in front of every karate studio and not wanting anyone to watch him learn karate. Lots of very understanding laughter there, including from me. (Why do all these places have massive plate glass windows?!)

After Brooks was John Oliver, and y'all. Let me get this out of the way.

He is fine as hell. Look. Just LOOK. HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO DEAL WITH THIS

I would also like to take the time to gush effusively about John's mastery of set structure. The set was, aside from the typical "before we get started, I need to let you know I'm British" pseudo-opener he's used since like 2005, entirely new material -

(As an aside... !!!!!! I KNOW!!!! A FULL FUCKING HOUR OF ENTIRELY NEW MATERIAL!! THAT I WAS NEAR THE FRONT FOR!!!! I'M SO VERKLEMPT STILL YOU HAVE NO IDEA)

- and it was just beautifully written from a structural standpoint. It was pretty much all political material all centered around history and the need to understand it for context on the world as it currently stands. There were some digressions from that point but they were seamlessly woven in. He is such a goodamn incredible stand-up comedian.

A few things he talked about in his set:

That time the US dropped nukes on itself twice (which was briefly mentioned on LWT but not in this detail and not including a reenactment of a man dropping a bomb while working on a plane and him reacting to watching it roll away).

That the current British royal line of succession exists because of a "cousin-fucker who cut someone into pieces like a Benihana chef". (John told us this is something he learned researching this bit, which caused me unending joy. I love that he's making new sets!! :D)

John delights in the misery of billionaires and wished that the rocket Jeff Bezos was on would blow up. He doesn't want him to die, though. Through this he also talked about Elon Musk and his favorite fake blue check company tweets, mainly a series made by a fake Chiquita account claiming to have overthrown Brazil, followed by Chiquita saying they hadn't actually overthrown any governments since 1954.

John got booed at a Sesame Street benefit and told a killer set of jokes about Bert judging him for it. ("The man lives with Ernie! He knows chaos!")

He claims we will all know things are okay with the US again when we are all irrationally mad at Anne Hathaway for no reason again. Told an incredible story about how he just blundered into the street in LA once, almost got hit by a car, looked up, realized it was Anne Hathaway in the car, saw her wave at him, and, despite the scenario being objectively his fault, being somehow mad at her.

Shaded Dave Chappelle in an analogy about how we are not at Civil War division times because "somehow our level of division is people debating whether Chapelle's SNL monologue was okay or not", in a way that suggested it was very much not okay. 10/10 no notes.

Okay so there was one recycled bit - him being informed the Queen wanted to give him an OBE. He added to it fantastically though, by personifying the man from the embassy as the most offensively British stereotype you could possibly imagine. He said the man sounded like "if a British person rubbed a teapot and a genie came out".

There was definitely more but I could gush forever so let's move on.

Brooks came back out to introduce Seth and forgot the name of his show, lol. For a brief moment we all contemplated what Last Week Tonight with Seth Meyers would look like. (I assume the show's Adam Driver would be Stefon.)

Anyways, here is the only good photo I took of Seth.

Seth was great as well - not as good as John, but I'm very biased in that regard. The material was also pretty diametrically opposed to John's, much more domestic comedy about his wife and kids and their idiosyncracies.

I really liked Seth's energy and approach. I don't quite know how to explain this, but he had a touch of Dennis Reynolds energy to him, a restrained manicness, that was really interesting to watch. That's not my normal association with Seth's energy, either, but it was very fun. Definitely puts some of the more deranged things from his tenure as Weekend Update host in context.

Some highlights from Seth's set:

He had an amazing brick joke about doing accents as a comedian, where he imitated a Swedish accent and talked about how everyone's Swedish accent is basically the Swedish Chef from the Muppets and how the only Swedish food anyone has nearby is the meatballs at IKEA. Funny on its own, but later in the show, Seth talked about how people assume he's fully Jewish, including people on the street. He noted that he's 25% Swedish but no one comes up to him on the street and goes -insert Swedish Chef impression-. (This straight up killed the guy sitting next to me, who ended up laughing with his head in his hands for a solid 30 seconds.)

His kids eat very healthily, so when they end up going to friends' houses and eat one Skittle, they turn into demons. Literal demons. Seth's impression of an actual demon trying to undo a double-buckled car seat was the hardest I laughed at his whole set.

Seth also had a section which he claimed would be the part where he'd tell anti-trans jokes "if he was a complete asshole". I enjoyed the trans affirmation the whole evening, ngl.

Seth's family and his wife's family have very different ways of conversing at the dinner table, which directly mirrors my and my partner's family - Seth's family (like Mr. Lee's) is big on listening to everyone and contributing to conversations only when someone else has talked; Alexi's family (like mine) is constantly screaming over each other.

After Seth's set, everyone (including Brooks) came out to do a Q&A. I could not think of a song in the moment, but realized at the hotel room an hour after that I should have made @chiijohn 's evening by asking John's opinion on Planet of the Bass. :facepalm: Sorry mate!

Still, some great questions were asked, and it was about 30 minutes of just audience interaction. I've never experienced anything like it at a stand-up gig and genuinely loved it. John, of course, told people they were free to leave before the Q&A because why would they want to stay; the man is incapable of thinking anything good about himself and much as I hate his bad self-esteem, I would have been concerned if he hadn't said something to that effect.

Brooks was asked almost immediately if he remembered the name of Seth's show, which was honestly hilarious. Brooks said "I conferred with John backstage and we're both pretty sure that it's Late Night with Seth Meyers".

Someone asked how fearful Seth and John were of their shows being cancelled after one year, and Brooks snarked that he knew that feeling. (Brooks seems to have a good sense of humour about not being a huge presence on SNL.) Seth said that he wasn't super worried but that they redid his entire set (background set, not stand-up set) because Alec Baldwin said it looked like "a sushi restaurant in Burbank". (theoniontheworstpersonyouknow.jpg) John said he was told most HBO shows don't get cancelled at one season and he said "we'll see about that".

There was definitely some extended riffing on Alec Baldwin being a piece of shit afterwards, while John giggled helplessly. I love John's giggling.

Seth and John's favorite Muppet is Cookie Monster. They talked about how interesting it is that you can have amazing chemistry with Muppets, and then meet the puppeteer and have literally nothing to talk about. Seth also talked about how low-tech Big Bird was, and how the late Carroll Spinney, when on SNL, held a script in one hand, the controls of Big Bird in the other, and a flashlight in his mouth to read the script.

Everyone is upset they didn't get to cover the indictments because of the Writer's Strike. John thought there were only 3, but I honestly don't know if one of them came down before the Writer's Strike and he was just referring to the ones since then. It's been a long few months for us all.

Brooks basically forces John and Seth to get out of their hotel rooms when touring. Otherwise, Seth said, "they both just sit there anxious". That tracks, especially for John, who literally said on Seth's podcast that he is physically incapable of relaxing.

When asked about their influences, John said (rather obviously) that he wouldn't have a career without Jon Stewart, and Brooks talked about how both Seth and John really uplifted him and cared for him after he got fired from SNL. Seth talked in a really lovely way about how Amy Poehler basically adopted him and got him out of his shell and was a real friend to him early on.

I really wish I'd written down every stand-up that the three of them recommended when prompted, because I've completely blanked on half of them. Seth said Joe Pera (who I also highly recommend); John recommended Maria Bamford (again, also highly recommend). He also said that most people in the room would have probably not heard of him but that the best in the UK was Daniel Kitson (paging @tellthemeerkatsitsfine to provide her recs bc she knows Kitson backwards and fronts). Brooks gave a shout to Kyle Kinane (who I am not as familiar with as I should be).

There was so much more, but honestly, I was just so in the moment that I feel like I remember things in waves. It was an amazing evening and I was honestly so blessed to be there at all.

I did not wait at the stage door or anything, because I am truly not that kind of person and have consistently been sure that if I ever met John, I'd barf on his shoes. I know on Instagram some people had gotten stage door photos, though, and I'm happy for them!

Thank you all for always being supportive of this dumb blog. I don't think I would have had the confidence to go on this cross-country journey without you all randomly egging me on all the time. It was one of the best nights of my life. 💖💖

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

Suckers, Morons, and Other Types of

Trump Supporters

Stephen Jay Morris

6/2/2024

©Scientific morality.

            America may be the greatest country in the world, but its patriots are the dumbest people in the universe! What did P.T. Barnum say? “No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American Public.” Trump may be the first canonized patron saint of the Protestant Church. He became the first convicted felon, former president in the history of the USA; and what do his supporters do? Send him money! Lots of money!! One of them posted on X that he’d canceled his vacation and sent the money to Trump to help fight his legal battles. Five thousand dollars!

            Then there is the religious factor—the docile followers of Christianity in small town America. The pastor behind the pulpit, the direct line from God, that his flock believes, unquestionably, everything he says. The pastor who gets visited from God, every night, and receives instructions directly from Him. If you dare to question his word, you are a demon from hell trying to sabotage the word of God! Would that be me? I am from hell, otherwise known as East Hollywood. Nah!

            People who are brainwashed, particularly those in cults, have minds impervious to truth. You can show them factual evidence, photos, recordings, documents, and they still don’t believe that which is real. What can you do about it? Not much. Truth be known, Trump donated millions to the White protestant church with the proviso, “Tell them God sent me.” His suckers believed it, hook, line, and sinker! I’ve said it a million times before: that is why conservatives are anti-public education. They’d rather your children sit in a Christian classroom, watching Prager U videos; that or adhere to home schooling. Yeah, that is a rich concept. Having stupid parents teaching their naive children to be ignorant, like they are! Keep them stupid, Jesus! That’s the stuff! What is so hilarious is that Trump tells them, right to their faces, that they are idiots. And they think he’s correct! This is the relationship between the oppressors and the oppressed. The oppressor metes out punishment while the meek assumes masochistic pleasure from the master’s whip. Deep down, however, they don’t enjoy getting whipped; they are conditioned to be masochistic. When you substitute normal sex with violence, you get one decadent, fucked up society!

            Now, this thing that progressives and liberals are whining about, losing our Democracy to Fascists, I beg the question: Did we ever have democracy? Ask the Native Americans. Ask the former slaves. Ask the women who were told to shut up. Ask the workers who got shot by anti-union thugs while picketing their factory. Ask the victims of Gay bashing. Ask millions of victims. Fuck you! America did have its victims.

            Now, my main message here is: I am from the far, extreme, fringe, hard core left. Some pea brain righties think that equates to communists. That shows what ignoramuses they all are! As an anarchist, I ask: do you really think that we, on the extreme left, would cry ugly on the chance that Trump gets elected? On the contrary, we would celebrate by smoking pounds of weed! You just don’t get it! The sad fact is that Trump had four fucking years to establish a fascist state. Did he? Hell, no! Will he succeed next time around? No. Never. He is too stupid to conceive of the essence of a fascist state, let alone create one. He is a slave to his overblown ego. He would never garner the support of the U.S. military or the American people to actualize it.

            If you don’t vote for Biden, the lesser of the two evils, then fascism will certainly be worse under Trump. Biden fascism will be a moderate fascism. But go ahead, vote for a third-party candidate, or vote for Trump. See what happens.

            Now something unforeseen could occur before election day. One objective factor for your consideration is that average life expectancy for a man is 72 to 74 years. Both candidates are way past that range. There is that. Then, there is the mid-east crisis. That could devolve into the Third World War. And let’s not forget the Climate Crisis, which is rapidly escalating as you read this. Tornadoes could wipe out Texas, a flood could bury Florida beneath the sea. Let’s not ignore the possibility of assassinations, or a viral pandemic, either of which may cancel the election.

Hopefully nothing catastrophic will happen and all will proceed as normal. Biden gets re-elected and then dies of natural causes during his term; Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the first woman to become president.

So, over the next few months, enjoy life. Go on vacation instead of giving your hard-earned vacation money to a candidate.

[afaimscorner]

AHS: NYC

Franky the most interesting thing about “American Horror Story: NYC” is the way people react to it. It’s a fact that the way a season of “American Horror Story” resonates with you says more about you than about the show itself, but with “NYC” we have reached the peek of this. Of course there is the thin veiled homophobia of those who hated it, but it is also interesting to see how many people generally did not get it. I mean, yes, there is room for criticism of course. Someone did point out righty so that the last two episodes feel very divorced from the rest of the the season, and of course they would, the serial killer plot ended with Episode 8 and the pandemic-plot had been on the back burner so long that no one really thought they would spend two whole episodes with pretty much everyone dying from AIDS in a very poetic way. I also think that many viewers honestly did not get that it was AIDS all along and generally thought it would turn out to be something else. And of course the issue with Big Daddy is that he is a metaphor for Death in general which did confuse some viewers because some characters that were killed by “him” did clearly die not from AIDS and some of those deathts never got resvoled, so yes, there were some - so to speak - plotholes and the last two episodes had no answers, not really. And I think many people also did not not want it to be AIDS, they wanted a Fantasy or Horror Version of it instead.

But this is the point of the season. “NYC” is the first really grounded season of the show. There is no real supernatural stuff going on, it’s magicial realism instead, and of course this would throw a portion of the audience. And of course some of them would get defensive about other people calling it the best season or even a good season, because in their eyes this does demean the Horror Genre and the rest of the show like: “How can death by AIDS be considered better than ghosts, witches, vampires etc.? Well of course you would say that because you look down on me for my taste because I do watch anything else but crime procedurals and soaps!” But there is literally no reason to get defensive. This is fucking Season 11! And with “American Horror Stories” now going on as well, we have literally had everything you can do with Horror done in the shows. “Apocalypse” was the big crossover season and should have been the end of the show, however they discovered they had not done a slasher season yet, so we got “1984″, but after that there was nothing left to tell.

So we got the weird “Doube Feature”, which was one of those Covid-Seasons, and the show still continued on, so it reinvented itself. It reinvented itself by doing a season of Real Life Horror. See, this season was very much a social commentary. And yes, after Covid, everyone and their father did a Pandemic Story, but Ryan Murphy decided to to a story about the other pandemic of our lifetime, the one no one is talking about anymore. And he did not to that because he wanted to educate Gen Z on the recent history of the world, he did it because this pandemic was something his community lived through and it was the scariest thing that ever happened to that community ever probably, because in case you did not know that: people were dropping dead like flies for no appearant reason for like a decade! “You think lockdowns and having to get a bad bad horrible vaccination were bad? Try being a gay man between 1980 and 1990!” is the message. And to make it even sacrier everything else was put in there too: a serial killer that targets the community, the hate crimes, the ignorance, and lack of BDSM protocol etc. This season, if you did like it or not, was the ultimate Horror Story because it was actual real life horror taken from the recent past.

I remember back when I watched “Apocaplyse” (which was in the winter right before Covid hit when something was in the air already) I was triggered really badly by the beginning of the season. This was the first and only time the show really did a number on me and the sacriest thing before that, the scene that haunted me the most, was way back in “Asylum” when Quinto did Conversion Theraphy on Sara Paulson. Why did those moments stand out to me? Because they were Real Life Horror Moments. I can deal with jump scares, gore, slashing, ghosts, vampires, aliens and all those things, but give me Real Life Horror and I am gone. And many many people out there are like me, if they want to admit it or not, they do not want Horror to deal with actual real life issues because that would scare them on a deeper and more personal level than any Torture Porn could.

Why do you think Steven King still is the undisputed King of Horror? Because he knows that it is essential to start out with Real Life Horror and then put a Supernatural Spin on it in order to get the catharsis the reader needs. And no one is better at this than he is. And for ten season “Amercian Horror Story” did exactly that and followed his example all eleven chapters of it at a time. But “NYC” did not do that. There was no Supernatural Spin, nothing you could fight in order to win, there was no catharsis, there was only death.

Does a story like this belong in an anthology show like “American Horror Story”? Maybe not. However this is not up to us to decide. It’s is up to Ryan Murphy, the writers, and Fox. They deemed it a good idea. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was. Like I said, the show did essential end with “1984″, it will have to change if it continues, it has already changed. And it will continue to change.

It’s okay to say “NYC” did nothing for you, but it’s also okay to say it was the best season you ever saw on the show. Which is not okay is to attack someone for saying either of those things (unless the reasons for not likeing it are obvious homophobia). Like I said, the way you react to a season of this shows says more about you than that season.

My favorite season is “Roanoke” which says much about me but not anything about the season. Runners Up are “Murder House” and “Hotel”, which again does tell you what kind of Horror I like. Is “NYC” up there with the great ones for me? No, but it was both an important story to tell and a necessary developement in the history of the show. If changing the way the show works will not save it but rather end it, it still would have not been a mistake, just something they tried that did not end up saving the show from cancellation/ reaching its natural end point.

So yeah, that was my piece, I guess. Not that anyone will care, but I just wanted to put it out there.

(And, no, I am neither a gay man nor old enough to really remember the AIDS Panic, but I have that super power called empathy combinded with that superpower like backround called education by listening to other people, so yes, I will defend any story that obviously is something really personal to those who made it any time).

[japanesepenguin]

Trip to See a Wall

Featuring (in order of appearance):

Akina's Umbrella

The Wall (Playing Itself)

Akina

+ All righty, so we've got a day trip to Tokyo planned, curtesy of Akina. We're going to see the inside of a wall, get our wedding rings polished, find some place for lunch, eat some parfaits, and see a special exhibit at the natural history museum. Let's go! The photo above is leaving the apartment and walking to our nearest subway station.

+ Typhoon #13 arrived a couple days ago and today was the trailing end of it, so it was drizzling a bit in the morning. Here is one of the main streets through Wakoshi/Narimasu (our area). Pink umbrella contains the wife.

+ The subway ride takes about 40 minutes to get to very central Tokyo and a transfer; here's that transfer happening, in the guts of Tokyo proper. People here walk noticeably faster than in the North Olmsted of Japan. There's signs here explaining to walk on the left and generally everyone follows them.

+ Back to our old apartment area! Here's standing at the big temple looking east towards Daimon. We're on our way to see the inside of a wall.

+ Okay, so in explanation. Very close to our old apartment is a big, important temple called Zōjōji. I've talked about it a lot; it's where Abe's funeral was, etc.

+ Anyways, back in the day (couple hundred years), the temple grounds were much more extensive than today, but some of the original walls from that time still exist. So a few months ago Akina and I noticed something happening at one of the buildings and stopped by. The idea is that one of these walls needed to be opened up a bit to make room for some modern construction work and it would present the first/only opportunity for people to see the inside of the wall. Thinking it'd be in a few weeks, we signed-up to be notified.

+ That was months ago. We were finally notified and decided to return to make a day trip of it. They give you a big informational packet about this wall and a free can of tea.

+ So we all crowd into this building...

+ To sit through a one-hour lecture by a professor who knows about walls.

+ I'mma only going to say positive things:

It was good Japanese-listening practice

It reminded me of sitting in a college lecture, something I miss

I was all the way in the back without a chair and it was very comfortable to just relax in the dark for an hour

+ Our mistaken belief was that we'd signed up for the the opportunity to see the inside of the wall. In reality, the wall is just outside, right around the corner. Literally anyone can look at it. Akina's off there on the side demonstrating how she feels about this.

+ Anyways... with that accomplished, we stopped by Zōjōji to see what three months of construction work resulted in. Turns out nothing. They took my rest spot from me for three months for absolutely nothing. Thanks.

+ Right, so then we dropped off our rings at the wedding ring place and found an Italian lunch place down the street. The pizza was really good; the pasta had way, way too much pepper.

+ Outside lunch is the only time I drink coffee; the one on the left was mine (straight) the one on the right is Akina's after she messed it up by putting cream and all the sugar in, distorting it into something undrinkable, a grotesque distortion of its former self. The photos serve as reference not to do this.

+ Here's Italia Street, where our wedding ring place is located; it's Italian themed

+ And here's the complementary ring polish. Left: before; right: after. Actually, I think that's Akina's hand on the right?

+ So a short subway hop over to Asakusa, a major touristy area filled with shops and famous for a big temple/shrine. Many of the sidewalks are covered like this (with roofs) and there's lots of foreigners.

+ But our destination is this covered shopping street. You've seen plenty of these before, they're common.

+ Parfait. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't super special. Subtracted points for no crunchy texture inside and no secret waiting in the bottom.

+ With our parfaits eaten, we're walking over to Ueno now to get to the museum. We have a one-year pass to the museum which allows unlimited free visits to the normal rooms, but this time there's a special exhibit. The blue arrows on the road are from recently revised government guidelines dictating road markers for bicycle traffic.

+ Ueno is a major train station so there's lots of train lines here; with that typhoon that just past, today was the first (and only) day in about a month that wasn't over 90°F.

+ The special exhibit was about the ocean. Akina and I have decided these special exhibits are not worth it. On the weekends there's way too many people, but more importantly, we never learn anything from them.

The ocean is really big. Plankton is really small. It's the bottom of the food chain. There's weird things in the ocean. Humans are literally destroying every part of it.

+ Yuup...

+ The museum itself is very large, too much for a single day, so the free pass allows us to spend time checking out things we haven't see before... There's a whole floor on dinosaurs I've never seen...

+ Rocky River! You're world famous!

+ So this (like the hundreds of casts of it around the world), is of specimen CMNH 5768... the largest fossil ever found of Dunkleosteus terrelli, a uniquely Ohio treasure. The first fossils discovered were along the Olentangy River between Columbus and Delaware, but the biggest and most complete come from the Rocky River Valley. The largest of these, CMNH 5768, is in the Cleveland Museum of National History (CMNH), but every replica across the globe (including this one in Tokyo) is of that specimen. In 2020, SB 123 made Dunkleosteus the state fossil of Ohio. I've seen about a dozen or more of these all over.

+ This section also had some of the most ridiculous fossils I've ever seen... This one is perfectly preserved in three dimensions... Who the hell spent the time chipping away at that, without breaking it?

+ The top of the museum has an "herb garden" with only rosemary. There's also an observation deck. This is looking south-east across Ueno.

+ Anyways, that's all for today, making a quick subway transfer in Ginza (you have to walk on the street to transfer, it's weird). You've see this before, it's the fancy shopping district of Tokyo.

+ And we're back... Hope y'all enjoyed.

[onewingedsparrow]

For the WIP thing:

The Sound of My Spark (because it sounds like it might go with a personal headcanon/story idea of mine)

Shadowzoned (no explanation needed 😉)

Cortado (because it happens to be the title of a song I really like)

Operation Bumblebee Sketch (because it’s ‘Bee, and I’m hoping to get a glimpse. Lol)

I decided to ask about a few since there were so many that sounded interesting to me. 😄

Hi Nova! <3 Thanks for the ask! All righty, lol I love all this curiosity! Also, coincidentally (or not?) half of these happen to be about TFP Soundwave, so your instincts are spot on ;) This post got kinda long, but I know you won't mind. From the top:

"The Sound of My Spark" is an interesting case. It originally started out as a pre-canon one-shot exploring how TFP Soundwave met his Minicons. (Likely canon-divergent, since I still haven't read the Aligned novels. At the time I started writing (over a year ago), I didn't know Soundwave's canonical origin story, and just wanted to explore him being a gladiator in the Pits, alongside Megatron.)

I chose the title because I wanted to find a connection between TFP Soundwave and music (or soundwaves, if you will) that was different from his iterations in, say, Cyberverse or G1, where he literally had a music player built into him. Inspired by Optimus and 'Bee's connection in "The Song Forever Calling," I began to ponder a different scenario: What if individual sparks carried a song of their own? What if each bot's sparkbeat carried a unique musical voice, and Combiners (or Minicons + Soundwave) literally had to stay on beat with each other in order to move together? That's when the fic took off, gaining a very interesting aspect. I chose time signatures for writing Soundwave's POV, based on his emotions during each scene, and matched each word to that beat. It became poetry, in a way <3 It's quite fun to reread, lol. And at THAT point, after writing a certain number of interactions between Soundwave and Laserbeak, Ravage, Frenzy, Rumble, Megatron and more...I realized that the story I really wanted to write about Soundwave wasn't a fic at all. 💜 So, while this WIP has been technically abandoned, I would not call it irrelevant. It has become something greater. I do not know if the musical aspect will remain a key plot point in the newly transformed story, but it certainly runs in the background of the worldbuilding. Now I'm curious about your headcanon / story idea as well! Shadowzoned, my beloved. "Shadowzoned" was the first of my two major RiD-canon-divergent fics. I'm very displeased with how S3 treated Soundwave (I actually refuse to believe that's the same bot as TFP Soundwave. That's gotta be a dude from an AU), but if you discount all of S3 for Soundwave, that means S2's "Portals" was the last thing he got in-universe, and he was kicked right back into the Shadowzone. Poor guy. BUT Soundwave is incredibly intelligent; and even in a ghost dimension, even with his vow of silence intact, even after he DID successfully escape and was thrown back in...he has a plan. An ally. An ally who doesn't even know he's helping Soundwave, because Decepticons have to be crafty when seeking aid from humans. Especially when that human is one Soundwave has a history with. Rafael Esquivel. "Cortado" is a modern coffeeshop AU for the half-elf twins, Vex and Vax. :) The idea is somewhat silly, but it's a coffee AU, so it can get away with it. 😆 Basically, the twins don't know that they're twins, until Vax randomly visits a local café and nearly has a heart attack when he realizes the barista handing him his drink looks identical to him. Meanwhile, Vex is equally shocked, and immediately begins scheming how to figure out what's up with her mysterious doppelganger. In a chaotic, roundabout way, they eventually learn the truth. I haven't written this one in a while, but it's a nice, lighthearted piece to come back to when I need a break from heavier works. The "Operation Bumblebee sketch" is actually one I showed you before! It was my first actual success at capturing TFP Optimus, lol. It's called that because I was redrawing a screenshot from the episode Operation: Bumblebee. I'm glad you brought it up, this is a reminder for myself to finish it and post it soon. Seriously, it could have been done a year or so ago, but I got lost in perfectionism when it came to capturing all the details of the TFP designs 😅 Since that time, I've learned to embrace "finished; not perfect!" far more in my art endeavors, especially when it comes to TFP designs.

Tell you what, I'll tag you when I post it! In the meantime, here's a glimpse for you :D

[aestheticvoyage2022]

Day 266: Friday September 23, 2022 - “700 club″

For the second Friday night in a row, I was fully entrenched in baseball theatrics - history on display.   Judge didn’t hit his 60th, as we seem to tune in for every at bat, but our guy Albert came through in a dramatic way.  My buddy Chad was at the game with his family and I so enjoyed chatting with him throughout as if we were sitting there together in Cardinal Red.  It enhances the experience to be able to fill him in on all the tidbits I can see on my big screen from the Great Room.  In his second at bat of the night he took a hung curve way out to left field - a no doubter that left me hooting and hollering.  699 was a beast.   Tonight could be the night.   And 27 minutes later, he was back up to bat - the Dodgers went to the bullpen, brought in a righty and when another curve got hung, slap - and it was driven out to the first row in left field.  Everyone erupted, including myself alone but feeling as if I was there, as he soared around the bases sky high with a huge smile on his face.  Crossed homeplate a member of the elite 700 club and I wondered how many of those I had witnessed, heard, and cheered.  He hugged Yadi, and high fived Beltre, and took a curtain call in Dodger Stadium, where he tried on this role last year.   It gave me chills. This was a really big deal.  I was glad that I saw it live.

 I first came to St Louis in the summer of 2006 - a young Pujols was the face of the franchise; their star led them to World Series championship that year and again in 2011.  Id got to games, and score those $5 grabbag seats that would put me up the third base line where Id use my first “nice camera” to zoom in on him batting, trying to capture that perfect swing as the ball left the bat out to Big Mac Land.  He was a machine. This is when I first became a Cardinals fan.  And after years of begrudgingly watching Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa swat steroid fueled big-flies, here he was doing it totally clean and never a question - how could you question that beautiful swing?  And I’ll always remember how that 2011 Game Six went - but I’ll also remember that it may never had happened if not for Pujols’ 5 for 5 game with three home runs as my Mom and I watched from Arizona after hiking the Grand Canyon - perhaps the best World Series performance of all time (if not, it would only be behind David Freese’s Game 6 show).  It was a sad day when our hometown hero, took the money and left town after that year. I had left town too and went out West.  But over those ten years, the stats kept stacking, and he kept going, and following the chills in 2019 when he made his first appearance back in Busch, Chad and I would chatter about how cool it would be if he could come back and finish his career with the Redbirds.  When the crowd pulled for a curtain call after he hit a Home Run, no one remember the big contract he took - just that he was loved, and he was a hero so many times over.  It reminded me of the old Sparky Anderson quote - “The great thing about baseball is when you’re done, you’ll only tell your grandchildren the good things.  If they ask me about 1989, I'll tell them I had amnesia.”   How cool would it be if we could just forget those 11 years he was gone and get a little bit of St Louis Summer back.  And when the DH rule came to the National League this year, it was all the baseball Gods needed to make this a reality. We saw him go 0-fer in Fenway this year, and get a single in Arizona - but after the all star break where he participated in the Home Run Derby as a legacy selection to the team, he got on a fire and a late season power surge in a hot Cardinals first place lineup, he belted 20+ home runs to make history after committing whole heartedly that he was done, no matter what.  He had made it - he had gone the distance.  With just 10 games to go, he cemented his place in an elite milestone.  An inner circle Hall of Famer, with the likes of Aaron and Ruth.  And I can say I spent many a summer night, and fall evening, emotionally involved in it.   Tonight, over text with my buddy Chad, projecting the game on the big screen, it gave me the little bit of joy I needed at exactly the right time.  Just another reason to love this game so much!   Baseball immortality.  Next stop - jersey retirement, red jackets on opening day, Cooperstown.

Song: Bill Conti - Going The Distance

Quote: “The tragedy in a man’s life is what dies inside of him while he lives.”― Albert Schweitzer

[protokirby]

All righty then. In my dream, I was at Walmart. Doing some shopping.

Long post

Despite how the drawing I did earlier (link to post) looked, Crispin and Ryuki were not inviting me to the trip to Walmart. I just drew it like that because I thought of making a silly picture loosely based off the dream.

I was out on my own. I knew how to drive in this dream apparently. How else would I have gotten there? The closest Walmart from my house is certainly not in walking distance. Me being by myself out there means I was the one who drove. Even though I can't drive irl. Anyway. Crispin was there. Ryuki was also there. Ryuki is my most trusted imaginary friend who I can always count on. If I've been having a rough time irl, Ryuki will often drop by in a dream and give me a hug.

Now, for those of you who don't know, my dreams contain some sort of uncanny level of continuity to where characters I've interacted with in dreams before will remember me and any adventures we have had together in dreams, I also remember past dream adventures, including ones that leave my memory after waking up.

It's like having imaginary friends but on a whole 'nother level.

Crispin is one of my best friends. However, Crispin appearing in a dream, for some strange unknown reason, has an effect of some sort that ends with me more often than not, forgetting the dream upon waking up. Like- if Crispin is there at all, there's a high chance I'll forget the dream entirely apart from the fact of Crispin being there. Which is-- highly strange. I had never been sure if Crispin was even aware of it- until now.

Remember how earlier I said that I remember past adventures during dreams, just as my imaginary friends do?

This time it was as if I did not know these people. I did not know Ryuki or Crispin. I asked Crispin if he wanted to be friends with me. Crispin was upset about something and told me to not look at him. I did not know why. I had the typical shyness and social anxiety that I tend to have around new people. I thought Crispin's annoyance was at me. Then Crispin called Ryuki over. Then I ask Ryuki if he wants to be friends with me, obliviously excited about seeing fictional characters. Ryuki then looks confused and Crispin seems to be even more tense and annoyed than before.

In hindsight after the dream now that I'm awake, it definitely seemed like Crispin was annoyed at himself, and not at me like my social anxiety had me believing during the dream. Based on this, it seems Crispin was trying to find a way to not cause me to forget my dream adventures with him when I wake up. Aware that I dislike forgetting dreams, maybe he tried something. That something must have accidentally re-directed the dream amnesia to the dreams themselves. Crispin was so much more upset after it was evident that this amnesia caused me to forget my friendship with Ryuki- like- that is certainly a thing, considering my history with Ryuki.

Was Ryuki in on this that was probably an experiment Crispin did? I don't think so but Ryuki absolutely got involved upon seeing me not know we were already good friends.

I don't know if my imaginary friends can hear my thoughts when I'm awake, but I hope Crispin knows that I appreciate his efforts a lot more than he may realize. I'm 100% not upset by the outcome of his failed experiment (apart from the fact that he and Ryuki got sad) and completely just eager to find out what might happen in the next dream adventure. Especially because I recall seeing Leon at the Walmart in the dream. I thought Leon had totally abandoned the friendship I had with him a long time ago since he and Hop had unfortunately been exposed to so many nightmares. Leon and Hop have not entered dreamland for a very long time. Maybe this dream amnesia can provide a fresh start with Leon and Hop. Then Leon and Hop can rejoin the friendgroup as it rebuilds, bigger and possibly better than before. Leon and Hop can be introduced to the newer friends perhaps. I don't know the full details of the dream amnesia I was just hit with- like- was it just enough to last for that dream? I certainly remember the dream-past now that I'm awake, but. In dreams. Will I still remember everything that happened before, or will I need to build up trust again? I certainly had a great deal of trust for my imaginary friends. Drayton and Ryuki the most of all. I tend to find having to go to sleep a chore and "accidentally" stay up way too late a lot because of it, but I'm looking forward to being tired tonight. Ain't that wild? Crispin really helping me out with self care. (Like a time a couple years ago I think when Leon yelled at me to drink more water after the most lovely platonic date as besties and I have been attempting to drink more water since because Leon cared enough to yell at me) I want to find out if anything significant happens next in dreamland.

But anyway. I'm not done talking about the events of the current dream yet.

Crispin and Ryuki were coming with me as I was leaving Walmart. We went out to the car and Crispin offered to drive. In the dream, I was not so flabbergasted at the thought of Crispin driving a car, but totally surprised that he already knew where my house was. Because - ya know- I forgot our friendship. That's honestly depressing the amount of shame Crispin had - he didn't even want me to look at him. As if he couldn't bear the thought of me looking at him lovingly after what he did. I want to give him a hug and tell him everything is okay and that it would take a lot more than that to make me mad at someone I care about. I physically cannot get mad at a friend. That is something that cannot possibly happen. There is nothing except love(platonic), forgiveness, and patience with folks I have spent any amount of joy with.

Sorry, little buddy. Gonna have to be patient with yourself. That is advice I need to take myself too. Like, if I mess up I will be my own worst enemy. The imaginary friend Crispin has the same weakness I do it seems.

I was having some light conversations with Ryuki during the car ride while Crispin was driving. I wasn't paying attention to what was out the window until I noticed we made it to the correct street. It was then that I asked Crispin how he knew where I lived. Poor kid stayed silent. Bro did not know how to respond. Even Ryuki got a little silent. I think during the conversation, Ryuki temporarily forgot that I didn't remember the friendship. Clearly I still trusted these people despite having dream amnesia, seeing as I was letting someone else drive- unless that was just my usual dream obliviousness. As far as my dream self would have been concerned, these two were total strangers to me.

I woke up soon after getting home

[44gamez]

Best Of 2023: These Three Games Used Their Platform To Educate And Entertain

At first look, the trio of MLB The Present 23, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and Murderer's Creed Mirage share little or no in widespread. Certain, all three video games launched in 2023, and each Spider-Man 2 and Murderer's Creed Mirage function dense open worlds, however apart from what you would possibly name broad similarities, they're virtually completely disparate from each other. That's, apart from one shocking commonality: All of them taught me one thing new in regards to the previous.From a packed ballpark in Twenties Kansas to the comic-book streets of New York Metropolis and a bustling ninth-century Baghdad, every recreation adopts a special strategy towards educating its gamers on particular folks, moments, and locations from human historical past. Once I look again on 2023--a 12 months stacked with distinctive video games--this unlikely trio of AAA video games stands out due to the assorted methods by which they use the artwork type to shine a lightweight on underrepresented cultures and the pivotal impression that they had on our history--doing so in a method solely an interactive medium like video video games can.In MLB The Present 23, this takes the form of a brand new mode known as Storylines. Many sports activities video games have ventured into the previous earlier than, however none have carried out so in such a lovingly crafted method as San Diego Studio's ode to the Negro Leagues. Storylines is basically a sequence of playable documentaries, with each combining archival footage, eye-catching hand-drawn artwork, and the spellbinding narration of Bob Kendrick--president of the Negro League Baseball Museum--to discover the lives and careers of eight legendary baseball gamers from an period earlier than Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier. It is inconceivable to be a fan of baseball with out understanding the story of Robinson and his iconic 42, however MLB The Present 23 taught me about different unbelievable gamers I knew subsequent to nothing about, together with Satchel Web page, Hilton Smith, and Hank Thompson.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum president Bob Kendrick is our information to the previous.Every of the eight gamers is given a one- to two-hour documentary crammed with reverence, placing consideration to element, and the gravitas wanted to inform the enthralling story of individuals triumphing within the face of prejudice and hate. These documentaries are as a lot about sports activities historical past as they're about American historical past and the civil rights motion, giving these gamers the long-overdue recognition they deserve after being ignored or fully forgotten as a result of segregation. Storylines would not simply provide you with a greater understanding of who these folks have been both; it permits you to expertise why somebody like Satchel Web page was so transcendent.All through every storyline, you are given the possibility to step onto the diamond and recreate notable moments from all through every participant's profession. The standout second happens throughout certainly one of Satchel Web page's episodes, as Bob Kendrick weaves a story about an occasion the place Satchel's Kansas Metropolis Monarchs have been enjoying towards a semi-pro all-white crew. After recording a success off the flamethrowing righty of their first at-bat, the all-white crew began directing racial epithets at Satchel amidst claims that he additionally wasn't superb. In response, Satchel known as his whole crew in and made them sit across the mound to observe him pitch as an alternative of fielding their positions. Such was his confidence that he dared the opposite crew to get one other hit, and so they merely couldn't--in truth, he struck out the facet. Attending to recreate this second is in contrast to anything within the recreation, and its uniqueness speaks to Satchel Web page's huge persona.Spider-Man 2, then again, takes a special strategy to its historic veneration. Partway via the blockbuster sequel, protagonist Miles Morales is given a job by his mother, Rio, to assist the curator of the Harlem Cultural Museum. She's been locked out of the constructing when a donor arrives to pledge important funds to maintain it open. What initially looks as if a fairly low-stakes task--doing nothing greater than lending the sport a style of that pleasant neighborhood Spider-Man--quickly transforms right into a questline that carries rather more weight. Because it seems, the explanation the curator was locked out of the museum is as a result of it was being raided by a gang of thugs who made off with a powerful assortment of jazz memorabilia. A sequence of missions comply with as Miles makes an attempt to recuperate the stolen devices. The stakes by no means enhance past this; it is a questline that grounds the remainder of the sport and underlines how a lot Spider-Man means to town of New York. Miles can be invested as a result of he cares about his group, even when supervillains and world-ending occasions aren't threatening it.

Spider-Man 2After recovering the entire devices, the end result of this questline sees the Harlem Cultural Museum and its jazz exhibit totally restored. You are then free to discover the area and work together with every show to be taught in regards to the devices and the individuals who performed them. I found saxophonist Charlie Parker, who helped develop the Bebop model of jazz, and pianist Hazel Scott, a virtuoso who acquired a scholarship to check at Julliard when she was solely eight years outdated and who ultimately went on to grow to be the primary Black girl in America to have her personal TV present.I additionally realized about drummer Clyde Stubblefield, whose impressed drum patterns laid the muse for each funk and far of hip-hop, and the unbelievable story of Josephine Baker, an secret agent for the French Resistance in World Battle II and the primary Black girl to star in a significant movement image. You'll be able to even learn The Weary Blues, a poem by author Langston Hughes, who was vastly influential through the Harlem Renaissance. Exploring this museum might solely be a minuscule a part of a a lot bigger recreation, but it surely resonates. I felt a higher connection to Miles, the place he is come from, and what he is preventing for, however not solely that. Insomniac Video games has created an endearing tribute to Black artwork of the early twentieth century, emphasizing how necessary it's to protect that historical past for future generations.The identical could be mentioned of Murderer's Creed Mirage and its concentrate on Center Japanese historical past. The newest recreation in Ubisoft's long-running sequence is ready through the Islamic Golden Age of Baghdad when the Abbasid Caliphate dominated town. This a part of the world, particularly in historic phrases, isn't represented in fashionable tradition until it is a backdrop for contemporary warfare, recurrently dehumanizing Muslim and Arab folks within the course of. For many Westerners, the capital of Iraq is related to the Battle on Terror, however with Mirage, Ubisoft is taking a small step to rectify this by delving into the medieval metropolis's complicated previous. As protagonist Basim, you are in a position to uncover 66 historic websites by exploring Baghdad, with each unlocking an article pertaining to varied features of town, from the each day lifetime of its residents to the position of the federal government and its burgeoning artwork scene. It is an eye-opening look again at a metropolis that influenced the world, but one which so many know so little about.

Ninth-century BaghdadBy discovering varied historic websites, I rapidly realized about how Baghdad was as soon as on the very coronary heart of the Silk Highway. It was a thriving metropolis the place folks from China to Spain would collect on its streets, making it one of the crucial well-known cities on the planet on the time. Baghdad was the middle of all the things, dwelling to at least one million folks and bursting with life, creativity, scientific discoveries, and multicultural variety. In fact, studying in regards to the metropolis is not unique to Murderer's Creed Mirage, however with the ability to discover the busy market or grandiose palace you simply realized about is. By Ubisoft's personal admission, its recreation of the Metropolis of Peace is not 100% correct, however there isn't any method it may very well be. Ninth-century Baghdad was virtually fully destroyed by the Mongols within the thirteenth century, so Ubisoft used references from archeology and descriptions of town from individuals who visited it to rebuild Baghdad's winding facet streets, mosques, and opulent gardens as precisely as doable. That is a part of what makes exploring Iraq's capital and studying about its historical past so fulfilling; none of its landmarks, houses, or folks exist anymore, but Murderer's Creed Mirage has opened an interesting window into the previous.It is a related story for each MLB The Present 23 and Spider-Man 2. All three video games supply a charming glimpse again via historical past, specializing in underrepresented teams through the use of the medium to not solely entertain, however educate as nicely. No matter their different deserves as video video games are, it is this facet that may follow me after I assume again on 2023. Source link Read the full article

[purplesurveys]

1709

What’s your current favorite song at the moment? I'm still on a Seven high. I can't believe how stably it's been performing on both Spotify and YouTube. Makes me feel very proud!

Have you ever read any self-help books? I don't buy into those. Most of them talk about situations irrelevant to me anyway, or otherwise come from an entirely different cultural perspective.

What was the last book you read? Man this new Tumblr format SUCKS. Typing out answers is a mega bitch compared to before...anyway, I last read BTS' memoir. The funny thing is I breezed through the first 400/500 pages within 24 hours of getting the book, but now I'm struggling to finish the rest of it haha. It's not at all because it's bad as it's a lovely read...maybe a part of me just never wants to finish the book yet.

Do you thank the bus driver? Not quite the bus, but when I get off a Grab I always make sure to tell the drivers 'thank you' and 'drive safe' like 7 times as I get off the car. I'm mostly a quiet passenger so I try to compensate by verbalizing how grateful I am that they got me to my destination in one piece lol.

How many tabs are open right now? Just two Tumblr tabs and one for YouTube as I have something playing in the background as I take this.

Have you ever had your heart broken? Of course.

Do you wear makeup much? I'll wear foundation pretty much every time I go out just so that I don't look so obviously dead and jaded lol, so in terms of frequency, yes I have it often. It's a different story if we're talking about types of makeup because I couldn't care less for it.

When was the last time you flirted? I never flirt; not my thing.

What should you be doing right now? NOTHING. It's 1 AM on a Saturday and I'm right to be doing nothing. I just spent the last 16 hours outside and all I wanna do is sit back and take a bunch of these in the dark. I also can't wait to get the best sleep ever. 

Do you usually get good grades at school? They weren't consistently outstanding, but I think I did good enough for my classmates to like, rely on me and ask me questions or let me lead group work and stuff like that. So many people way smarter than me though, and more often than not these are the classmates who are now either in med or law school.

My performance was also dictated by how much I care for the class, so I always got good grades in my favorites, like history.

How did you and your first best-friend meet? We were seatmates and I accidentally pushed a pencil into her palm, making it bleed and having some of the lead still stuck in her hand to this day.

Do you like short hair on girls? It's not my preference, but of course girls can rock the short hair.

How about long hair on guys? ^ Pretty much the same.

When was the last time someone told you they loved you? Last night, I think.

Are you a righty or a lefty? Right.

Do you think someone’s thinking about you? Not at this moment, I don't think.

What is your favorite month? April and June.

What is your favorite color? Purple.

Who was your last phone call from? Someone from work, but I genuinely missed the call because I keep my phone on silent.

Have you ever trusted someone you wish you wouldn’t have? Sure.

What color are your eyes? Dark brown.

If you could go back in time and change things, would you? Nah. I've made embarrassing or just overall horrible mistakes, but it seems like an easy way out to be able to change them every time.

Do you like your smile? Sure!

What made you the happiest today? Coming back home and seeing my dogs.

Who was the last boy you texted? A contact for work.

Do you get along with your parents? I do. My mom and I will still clash every now and then but we no longer go at each other's throats, which was the daily case when I was younger.

Are you scared of needles? Terrified.

Do you believe love can last forever? Yes.

Do you like the ocean? Love it.

Are you allergic to anything? If so, what? Grass, apparently. I don't always react to it, though.

Do you know anyone who is/was a drug addict? Apparently, I did. I only learned after my cousin's dad died two years ago.

What is currently the most tan spot on your body right now? I uhhh...don't know. My skin color is equally distributed haha?? 

What is your dream job? Doing in-house PR for a company I personally like/follow, like WWE or Hybe.

Would you say you are ‘popular’? Nah. Is that still given a fuck about in your mid-20s?

Do you tend to cave into peer pressure? Nope. 

Have you lost anyone close to you? Through death or otherwise, yes.

Would you say that you are an intelligent person? In a general life sense/street smarts sense, no.

Who was the last person to hurt you? Celeste took me aback last night because she was being super (and a little unnecessarily) curt about a matter she eventually turned out to be wrong about, so there's that. I wasn't hurt per se, but I just genuinely didn't understand where her irritation was coming from. Then she turned out to be wrong on top of it all, so lol. We're good though.

Are good-byes easy or hard for you? Mostly hard.

[fahadventure]

If you’ve come across my articles on TEFL, Home Workout, Digital Journeys 1 and 2 , you are welcome for a different treat today which will talk briefly about my journeys of acoustic music works from the scratch and can give you ideas here and in the next few articles on acoustic guitar for beginners, how to play acoustic guitar chords, finding good acoustic music shop, some acoustic guitar songs which are easy to play and finally a technique to tune your acoustic guitar and ukulele without any acoustic guitar tuner.

Background: Let’s start with a small history check of 2008, when I was just a teenager cadet, studying in Mirzapur Cadet College and was looking at my other fellow multi-talented batchmates and seniors doing lots of productive things and learning more. Artcell, Aurthohin, Black, Warfaze were some of the renowned popular Bangladeshi bands of that time that we would listen to, all day long, accompanied by some Indian and Pakistani bands like Jaal and English bands like Backstreet Boys, Greenday etc. Some of my friends had huge fascination for singing and music altogether, but none of us could take it to the next level. At those times, we were given small vacations after every 2 or 3 months so that we could meet our family and cherish few of the things that we couldn’t do for the limitations and restrictions there.

Beginner phase: So, in the same year during vacation, I got a guitar from my sister as a gift at a cheap price. Afterwards, started looking for teachers (as Youtube was not prominent for learning anything by then), started learning the basics through them (I had to learn from several teachers as my vacations were inconsistent with their time) and practiced them after going back to cadet, with my seniors and 2 of my batchmates periodically. A typical starter pack might include doing some hand and finger exercises, knowing how to draw the basic chords and hold them practically, names of the notes, finger picking and plucking tasks, RPGO etc (will explain and talk about all these in the following articles). A lot of my friends got inspiration through us and started learning without having a guitar, as their mentors were right in front of them! Remember there are only 12 notes namely, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G# (# are called sharp) and 14 chords (A-G, all Major and minors). Right now, in 2023, I have learnt playing some advanced versions and stored them in my own Youtube Channel.

Mistakes to avoid: As a beginner, you might face a lot of difficulties and have rush of blood, enough to take bad decisions. Please remember, learning anything like playing guitar needs focus, practice, patience and a little bit of time. Don’t try to cover a song immediately after the day you bought a guitar. Whether you’re a righty or lefty, take some time to adjust your hands and fingers to hold it and get used to doing things it has never done before. There are plenty of online videos on hand exercises. Buying a cheap or normal guitar with good sound is also very important, as you don’t want to lose your money while experimenting on the fancy guitars and damage it. Slowly, master the chords one by one, enrich your knowledge on what major and minor chords are why they are called so. I’m hopeful that within a month or two, you’ll be able to perform on stages with these knowledges. I have kept my Youtube channel just as a part of my hobby, but in future I have ambitions to earn through them as well! It’s very important to earn views at first with contents with quality just like the one I got with one of the popular songs, Bondu! (21K views already 😱).

Last words: If you like to sing as a hobby like me and don’t want to pursue your career as a guitarist, still learn it! It’s one of the easiest instruments to learn and impress your friends or (girlfriends/boyfriends!). You can perform on stages and get the extra attention, wherever you’re shining. If you’re residing in Dhaka, Bangladesh, you can find good acoustic music shops in Science Lab, Bashundhara City etc or you can even order online through some facebook pages. There are several easy-going acoustic guitar songs that you can find in Youtube channels like. Finally, if you don’t know how to tune a guitar, you can buy an acoustic guitar tuner from one of the aforementioned shops or you can simply use one of your natural organs, ‘ear’ as the tuner if you have a pair of good listening ones. I have a video that I made for tuning ukulele but you can use the same technique for your guitar, if you’re out of network and don’t have the access to tune guitar from elsewhere online. That’s all for today.

#music #acousticguitartuner #Acousticmusicworks #acousticmusicshops #acousticguitarforbeginners #acousticguitarchords #acousticmusicsongs #guitar #guitarlessons #guitarlesson #guitarplayer #guitars

HAPPY LEARNING! 

[hannahandherhealthjourney]

Turning My Life Around

All righty! Where to begin! Ever since college (2014-2015), my weight has been up and down. I've tried many strategies and tools - Weight Watchers, keto briefly, and "no carb" diets to name a couple. Nothing seemed to work. I would get the motivation, lose quite a bit of what I gained, then suddenly boom! No more motivation, throw my hands in the air giving up at the first sign of a plateau, and then reach a new high in my weight. 

Back in April 2021, I reached the newest high of over 230 pounds. I was so unhappy even though I masked it with happiness. Looking back on it, I realize that now. I didn't like getting out. I had no motivation to move. I was achy all the time. I felt like I didn't deserve to get better. It was a weird mentality. Even now describing it, I still don’t fully get it. However, what I do know is that even though I knew that my biological family had a history of diabetes and heart problems, I didn’t feel like I was worth getting better.

So that summer of 2021, my dad and I began reading this incredible book Christian Self-Mastery by Basil Maturin, and it opened my eyes. Every single day we make decisions every moment of every day. Yes, people tell you this as you grow up; however, you have to almost go through this “light bulb” moment on your own. When you wake up every morning, you have a battle in your mind each moment to choose the right thing to do. It’s hard as you have to do this all your life! Each time you make a decision and the longer you do so, it soon becomes a habit. It became a habit for me to do… nothing. That’s a decision too, doing nothing. Not only that, the book connected the choices you made with your spiritual life. That is what changed my outlook on everything - health, finances, spiritual life, my career, and relationships. That’s just a brief summary of the book. It’s a challenging read, but so worth it.

After that, I signed up for Noom, which was another tool that helped me tremendously for my health. It focuses on your brain and thinking or CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. They focus on your habits and get you to really dive down deep into your tendencies to ask why you have those tendencies. Not only that, they get you to change your mindset on foods. Noom calls it "thought distortions" in which you have negative thoughts such as "I had a slice of cake today, so my diet is completely and totally ruined" or "My weight has stayed the exact same for the past 5 days in a row, so I am a failure." These are real negative thoughts I have had. I felt like Noom was speaking directly to me. Instead, they get me to think positive. Turn those thoughts around. "Yes, my weight has stayed the same for several days, but your weight hasn't gone up!" "So you had a slice of cake today, enjoy it. It's okay to treat yourself every so often. Otherwise, the diet isn't sustainable."

I've learned from both the book and Noom that I have a massive perfectionist and stubborn personality. I have the tendency to give up and say "I messed up and I have always messed up, so therefore what is the point!? I'll just keep making the same mistakes." (Another thought distortion, per Noom) Now, everyday I fight this mentality.

Is it easy? Nope! Each day is a challenge. However, I am the happiest I have ever been! It's worth it! As of this past week, I have officially lost 64 pounds - 169 pounds. Officially out of the "obese" zone and now in the "overweight" zone for my age, sex, and height. I'm only 14 pounds away from getting to my final goal!

Care about yourself. You are worth being taking cared of. You are worth being healthy and happy. Don't make the same mistake I did and let yourself dig into a hole that is so hard to climb out of. Work hard. Challenge yourself. You're worth it! God made it so.

[lumosinlove]

Between Fifth and You

(cw in tags)

~

chapter one

“Olives or twist?”

Sirius had to watch the barkeep’s mouth to make out the words beneath the pounding music, which meant Sirius caught the way his eyes skittered across his face almost fearfully. The sheer amount of obsidian in this place probably did nothing to lighten his features. Not to mention, few people knew how to look him in the eye.

“Twist,” he said.

The man nodded and flipped the bottle of gin until it dipped into a shot glass, the glass into the ice. Sirius watched until he was stirring the bitters in and a hand appeared on his shoulder, lips to his neck.

“Burn this,” Saint said, and plucked at Sirius’ shirt sleeve, rubbing the black material between his fingers. Sirius raised an eyebrow as he turned. Saint’s own shirt was unbuttoned half way down his hard chest, light brown skin warm in the flashing club lights. “You’ve worn it too many times.”

“Hello to you, too,” Sirius said. “I like this shirt.”

“I liked it two months ago,” Saint replied. “It’s September now, your highness.”

Sirius scoffed as the bartender slid him his drink.

“You gonna tell everyone the sun did that?” Sirius took a clean sip of gin with one hand and stroked his other through Saint’s gold curls, only suddenly some of the slightly course strands were almost white.

Saint’s grin turned coy. “Isn’t it nice to have a mystery to think about?”

“Oh, yeah, do blonds have more fun?”

“You wouldn’t know.”

The music kicked up a beat that Sirius felt through his spine.

“Why do we always come here?” he leaned a hip against the bar. “We have an entire city.”

“Yeah, fuck the rest of the world, we have one whole city.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

Saint shook his head. “Because that’s what we do. You see that guy over there? I’ve taken him out four times. Couldn’t tell you his name. They couldn’t tell you mine.”

“Everyone knows your name, Saint.”

Saint grinned. “Maybe. But why do we go back to each other? Because we’re creatures of fucking habit.” Saint cocked his head, stole Sirius’ drink. “And what is this city but a bad, bad habit?”

Sirius’ blood cooled and he looked away.

What am I, Sirius? said the familiar voice from his memory. Am I easy? Am I safe? Do you want me, or am I just familiar now?

He closed his eyes against the memory of his reply.

Bad habit indeed.

XOXO

Spotted—a familiar face from the past. What has this train brought in? Thanks to a tip from @magicinthemaking, I bring you this picture of none other than Remus Lupin (and a certain Southern bell we know and love) under Grand Central’s stars. We missed you, Re—how was England? Or was it Europe?

The rumors can never seem to decide, but why the sudden change in plans to take his Junior year abroad? Here we were thinking he wanted nothing more than to stay.

I wonder how another certain star will feel about this sudden homecoming. And just in time for senior year’s Fall semester, too.

XOXO.

Remus adjusted his suitcase, glad he’d mailed so many of his things home. He’d been on U.S. soil for all of three hours, and he already missed Rome. He wanted to walk down the tiny staircase from his billet family’s apartment and get a cappuccino. He wanted to stand on the drain of the Pantheon and soak up the sheer history in the air.

He already wanted a break.

But he also wanted to see Julian. Sometimes it felt like the only thing pulling him back home was seeing his baby brother’s grin in real life rather than across a Facetime call.

“All good?”

Remus looked up at Leo. His blond hair was still bleached a bright blond from the Roman sun. Their program had ended in May, but Remus was glad they had stayed together. He hadn’t been looking for Leo—for someone to kiss for the first time in the rose garden at the top of the Aventine Hill while Leo told him about its past as a cemetery.

It’s footpaths are laid out like a Minorah, see? Leo had pointed out. To remember. 300 different types of roses isn’t enough. But I like to come here.

Remus thought it had been Leo’s love for history, and his respect, too, that had drawn him in. They both came from a world where the biggest thing most people cared about was what they’d wear to the next party, and who was bringing their next drink.

Remus hadn’t been able to believe his luck, as fragile as his heart was still.

“Yeah,” Remus nodded. “All good.”

But he wasn’t sure. They hadn’t been friends here, in the city, or at Hogwarts. It had been Rome. Remus didn’t know what their old lives would do to them. But he took Leo’s hand and watched the way Leo fingered the star he wore around his neck, the way he shot Remus his dimpled smile.

“Come on,” Remus said. “I want you to meet Julian.”

XOXO

Good morning Upper East Siders—Gossip Girl here. All trends point to Fall’s Hogwartsers coming back in Black—in more ways than one. Sirius Black’s got a baby brother on campus now, and after another wild summer for the Hogwarts College elite, count me in with the rest of them on wondering what to expect. Rumor is he’s not much like our favorite star.

“You don’t have to talk to me, you know.”

Sirius kept his eyes on his eggs and toast. “Your missing your tie. Mom said—”

“What do you care?” Regulus replied. “I hear when she used to make you wear one it usually ended up around some other guy’s neck by ten in the morning.”

“If you’re going to believe everything you read on Gossip Girl about me, then maybe I won’t talk to you.”

Regulus smirked. “So, you read it, too.” 

“Boys.”

Both brothers went back to their breakfasts.

“Good morning, mom,” Sirius said.

Walburga Black smiled with her painted lips, resting a hand on Sirius’ shoulder and bending to kiss his cheek.

“Don’t you both look handsome for your first day. Although that leather jacket has seen better days, Sirius. Do what you want for dinner, ask Chef, I don’t care. I’ll be at the House.”

The House. The House of Black, his mother’s million dollar fashion industry.

“Fine,” Regulus nodded, and rose. “I’ll take the first car.”

Sirius rolled his eyes again. “Really?”

Regulus just snatched up his backpack.

Saint, James, and Thomas were waiting for him on one of the courtyard tables when Sirius got out of the Escalade. It certainly felt like a first day of a semester. Saint’s neck dripped in gold necklaces—a story behind each one. Thomas, who had replaced his short braids with a closely shaved head, wore a white t-shirt and ripped up jean shorts, gold nose-ring glinting in the sun. James had evidently been helped out by Lily, as usual, a green, tight-fitting Henley shirt bunched up at his elbows. The two flanked Saint, who basked on top of the stone table, head tilted back to bare his throat in a way that made Sirius think of last night, in the back of the bar. He could see a purplish mark he had left there.

“You’re looking surprisingly chipper,” James said when Sirius reached Hogwarts’ courtyard.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, knowing he didn’t. “I’m not failing any classes yet, James.”

His friends went oddly silent. Sirius looked around at them, spreading his hands in confusion. Saint wouldn’t look at him, expression going oddly stoney. Thomas, finally, offered him his phone, biting his lip. Sirius took it.

His heart leapt to his throat. He didn’t even bother reading the Instagram caption. Remus loomed out at him from the phone screen.

“Leo Knut,” Saint said. “Who would have thought.”

Sirius cleared his throat and turned away from the picture—from Remus and Leo’s clasped hands.

“Why wouldn’t I be chipper?” he said again, and ignored their unconvinced expressions. “I’ve got class.”

Under his desk while he waited for the rest of the class to show, Sirius pulled out his phone and opened Instagram.

XOXO

Remus approached campus slowly. He felt like he didn’t know anyone anymore, even if he knew that wasn’t true. He thought he saw James from afar, but Lily and Kasey didn’t have class today.

Really, Remus didn’t know if he had many friends that weren’t…shared. That didn’t feel too close to home. Manhattan wasn’t that big of an island.

He looked down at his schedule he’d written out on his phone.

The 19th Century Novel - Hogsmeade R#302.

He made his way to the Hogsmeade building and climbed the spiral staircase quickly. It all felt too industrial, too metallic. At least he’d woken up with Leo, who still had the ancient air about him. He didn’t want that bubble to pop.

“Mr. Lupin,” Professor McGonagall beamed when he walked in, and Remus smiled, too at her familiar Scottish drawl. “It’s so very nice to have you back.”

“Hi, Professor. It’s good to be—”

But the words died on Remus’ tongue. He looked out at the small class—just twenty at this high level—and his heart, out of habit it seemed, had leapt at the sight of familiar dark hair.

Uh-oh. Looks like Pyramus and Thisbe are actually wishing for a wall between them this time.

Sirius’ hair was shorter than it had been at the end of sophomore year, the last time Remus had seen him. He wore a touch of a beard, too, just scruff, really, but it framed his silver eyes like darkness to the stars—two stars, which were zeroed in on Remus.

“Back,” Remus tried to recover, mouth dry. He sent McGonagall a shaky smile, and turned to find a seat, trying not to find those stars again.

He resisted the urge to close his eyes in defeat when he realized that there was only one left. He walked towards Sirius looking ahead and with his heart pounding. Leo. Leo making pancakes for him and Julian this morning. Leo making his little brother laugh. But he could smell the worn leather of Sirius’ jacket. He remembered the feel of it around his own shoulders. Are you cold, baby?

“All righty, then,” McGonagall stood from her chair and leaned against the front of her desk, looking down her spectacles at the attendance sheet. “Looks like we’re all here.”

XOXO

“Well?” Saint asked as Sirius took the joint from between his fingers.

“Sat down next to me,” Sirius said. “Didn’t say a fucking word.”

“Did you say a fucking word?” Saint raised his eyebrows.

Sirius blew out smoke. “No.”

“Well, all right, you fucking hypocrite.”

Sirius looked over at him from where they lay side by side, stretched out in the fading sunshine of Central Park. “I’m keeping this now.”

“No, you’re not. Did you pay for that? I don’t think so.”

Sirius scoffed. “Yeah, like this made a dent in the Montague treasuries.”

Saint laughed, tucking a palm behind his head. Sirius let his eyes linger on the strip of skin where his shirt rode up. He’d kissed that last night, too. It was nice with Saint. He’d been friends with him for longer than he could remember. Saint never looked for more. If Sirius snapped at him, he snapped back and then they laughed about it. Saint wandered through the world loving people freely. He kissed them, or he made them dinner, or he took them for long walks along the river. He showed them his favorite jazz club, or gave them the orgasm of their life, or read to them from his favorite books. He was New York in human form, accepting and inviting, living and breathing.

Sirius wished he was so trusting, even if trust seemed a funny word to apply to Saint.

No one ever got too close to either of them, except the other.

“What are you wearing to your mom’s fashion show?” Saint asked with his eyes closed. “It’s the event of the season.”

“Are you joking? The fittings started in July.”

“Mm, I love that,” Saint grinned, stretching. “Want to come help me decide what I’m wearing? We’re at the Plaza right now, you know that. You know my mother. If it’s not broken, break it. We’re renovating again. We can order champagne to the room.”

“Is that code for make out?”

“Partly. But I will be showing you my outfit choices.”

“Deal.”

XOXO

Remus made it back home seeing no one, but one of the butlers had an envelope with his name on it waiting for him.

“Thanks, Moody,” Remus murmured, but thought briefly about handing it right back to him.

He knew this invitation. He knew its black boarders and heavy stock. It came ever year.

It used to be something they had looked forward to.

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

invites you

TOUJOURS PUR

“Jesus,” Remus breathed, but took it up to his room, checking the time on the way. Julian would still be at school, his parents at work. This apartment was too big for the four of them, not to mention just Remus alone.

His suitcases still lay open and unpacked on his floor, and he kicked at one without looking up.

“So, did you just forget to mention that you were home?”

Remus spun towards his bed, only to find Lily sprawled across it and fiddling with an emerald on a chain.

“I had to find out from Gossip Girl?” Lily shook her head.

Remus slapped the invitation against his thigh. “Wow, wasn’t like that was a surprise present for you or anything.”

Lily smiled, red hair in a thick french braid. “I see green and I know it’s for me. What can I say?”

Remus huffed out a laugh, and she gave a small squeal and pushed off of the bed to wrap him in a hug.

“I’m so happy you’re home, Re.”

He let himself rest his chin in the crook of her neck for a moment. ‘Thanks, Lils.”

She pulled back, hands on his shoulders. “What, no, me too?”

“I am,” he said tentatively. “But I had fun in Rome.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Southern fun?”

“His name is Leo,” Remus said pointedly, then eyed the pile of garment bags piled high on the other side of his bed. “Are those…”

“Pour moi, et pour toi,” Lily patted his cheek. “We have a fashion show to go to, sweetheart.”

XOXO

What do we think, Courtiers? House of Black’s fashion show is the biggest event of the fall. But what on Earth does doe-eyed Remus Lupin have to do within that dark forest now?

Is he a Bambi, or still the wolf we knew?

You know you love me.

XOXO,

Gossip Girl