#January 2021 daily

[lindwurmkai]

me and my partner like 3-4 months ago: ok so we're gonna watch the new season of ofmd together, right? right. but since we just started rewatching mlc, we have to finish that first. how long could it possiby take

us now: two ... more ... episodes

but ngl i don't even feel like watching omfd anymore. i'm too disappointed in some of the creators. ruined the mood

[pearl-kite]

I need to read more

[toychest321]

I cannot stress enough that this might be the most important doll I've posted about.

Meet Jafra, the Palestinian fashion doll.

Information on her took a bit of digging, but as far as I can tell she debuted in either December 2015 or January 2016. She was initially available for purchase through her website, and after a year began to be (and still is as) sold at Hamleys in Jordan, UAE, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. In 2021 the Palestine Museum began selling her for $49.99 each, and is now completely sold out.

Each doll wears a detailed thobe, the longer one in front for their bridal collection. The thobe is a traditional Palestinian dress with tatreez (embroidery) which uses color to indicate what region the wearer is from. During the First Intifada in the 80s, it became a symbol of resistance against Israeli Apartheid, and of Palestinians' connection to their land. (Credit to Handmade Palestine and @nickysfacts for this information)

As far as I can tell based on discrepancy in stock photos, the dolls with embroidered thobes were considered collectors items with a higher price. Meanwhile the details might have been printed for playline/budget releases, likely to lower the price for better availability.

Jafra's dream is to "empower all the beautiful girls from the Middle East". She lives away from her homeland, but hopes to design and build her own house in Palestine. She grows Chamomile and Thyme in her garden, studies architectural design in college, and always tries to volunteer and help others. Her thobe binds her to her home country, passed down from her ancestors.

"Jafra is beyond a doll... beyond an idea. It's a deep-rooted tradition mixed with history and memories"

I hope I have made it abundantly clear that I do and always will support Palestine, and encourage anyone who considers this genocide a "war against Hamas" to unfollow and block me immediately. You have been given every opportunity to educate yourself and sympathize with the innocent Palestinians suffering at the hands of Israel, and your ignorance does not deserve a listening ear over them.

To my followers, I implore you to do your daily click. Contact your representatives. Attend protests. Donate or buy an e-sim if you can. We need to let our government know we are not going to fucking stand for this, and support Palestinians however remotely possible.

A ceasefire WILL be reached. Palestine WILL be free. No matter what actions Israel and its disgusting supporters commit Palestine WILL NEVER DIE.

Ramadan Kareem, and Free Palestine.

[reasonsforhope]

The population of giant pandas in the wild has nearly doubled as China steps up its conservation efforts.

China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration said on Jan 25 there are now around 1,900 pandas in the wild from some 1,100 in the 1980s.

This has been due to China’s efforts to protect the species, considered a national treasure, said Mr Zhang Yue, an official with the administration.

The Giant Panda National Park was established in October 2021, covering a total area of over 22,000 sq km and providing a home to around 72 per cent of the wild giant panda population.

Protected areas for giant pandas have grown from 1.39 million ha to 2.58 million ha since 2012.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has adjusted the status of giant pandas from “endangered” to “vulnerable”.

“This indicates that China’s giant panda conservation efforts have been recognised by the international wildlife conservation community,” Mr Zhang said.

The global captive population of giant pandas, meanwhile, has now reached 728, with 46 pandas successfully bred in captivity in 2023.

The genetic diversity of captive giant pandas has also improved. The current captive population of giant pandas can maintain 90 per cent genetic diversity for up to 200 years.

As for giant pandas living abroad, Mr Zhang said China has organised field inspections and assessments of 23 overseas cooperation institutions in 19 countries since 2023.

“The cooperation institutions generally meet the requirements in terms of venue construction, feeding and nursing, and disease prevention and control measures,” Mr Zhang said, adding that pandas living abroad are generally “in good health”.

He said China will further improve the international cooperation management mechanism for giant pandas, carry out regular daily health monitoring and field inspection and assessment, and continue to strengthen cooperation with international partners for the protection of endangered species and biodiversity.

-via The Straits Times, January 25, 2024

[fandom]

Memes

At a certain point, it was just hard to keep up. They seemed to fall from the sky like fizzing raindrops, soaking everything in pure wildness—memes, that is. 2022 had an absolute bumper crop of memes. The fertile field of this year’s chaos was sown freely, resulting in some impressively widespread phenomena. Most of it remained pretty contained within the dashboard, but at the end of the year the biggest meme of them all broke containment…We’re getting ahead of ourselves here. 

Cast your mind back to January 2022. We kicked off the year with Horse Plinko, which soon joined forces with Eeby Deeby in a frenzy of flaming gifs in which the poor horse plinko’d its way to Super Hell. Nothing has ever summed up the mildly deranged meme generation process on Tumblr so perfectly. 

This era of memes merged smoothly with the Month of Blorbo. Can you believe blorbo from my shows is more or less purely a 2022 phenomenon? Granted, the original post happened in late 2021, but it was the new year by the time “blorbo” secured itself in our vocabulary. How did we even live our lives on Tumblr without the word “blorbo”? It’s impossible to even imagine at this point. 

Springtime dawned with the rise of Live Slug Reaction, which dominated the dashboard as everyone rushed to plop that shocked slug in the corner of their favorite gay moments from TV and film. And in May came a very important event that would define the rest of the year on Tumblr: the launch of Dracula Daily, Affectionately dubbed “tumblr book club,” the serialized email newsletter found a hugely involved following on Tumblr and spawned an infinite variety of memes, beginning with the iconic paprika recipes. 

The Summer of Morbius dominated Tumblr from June onwards, with everyone going bonkers with Morb-based puns, jokes about the film’s most ridiculous moments, and reblogging a single GIF somehow containing the entire movie that would crash your browser when it played on your dash..

The i love you x i love you y text post meme saw us to the end of the summer, and autumn came with the rise of the GOUGER. Or is it GOUGAR? Regardless, the strange but harmless creature took over everyone’s meme palette for a while, getting involved in increasingly silly scenarios. 

This free-for-all was interrupted by the death of Queen Elizabeth, an event that was solemn everywhere else. . But on Tumblr, of course, users swamped the dashboard with Queen Liz-related memes and commentary. And crabs. There were quite a lot of those.

Later, in September, the Try Guys saga unfolding on Twitter and YouTube filtered over to Tumblr in the form of the “lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship” meme, with Tumblr users casting various favorite co-worker ships in the roles of the controversial real-life pairing. 

And finally, closing out the year, the meme you’ve all been waiting for: the one and only Goncharov (1973). Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, Goncharov is a movie borne out of the magic combination of a misprinted shoe label and Tumblr’s fertile imagination. Thanks to a fake movie poster by user @beelzeebub, which gave names and faces to the characters, Tumblr ran absolutely wild, churning out analysis, fanart, and even fanfiction at an astounding rate. This was by far the meme to win 2022: it gained coverage all over the internet, including the freaking New York Times, and even Scorsese himself acknowledged it. You did that, Tumblr. Goncharov forever, all hail the power of the Tumblr meme!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for blocking my suicidal friend?

TW for suicidal ideation, mental health.I know this sounds bad but hear me out.

I (25F/NB) met F(26M) in January 2017, a few months after I started university through a mutual friend, and we quickly hit it off. We started dating a few months later. We split near the end of 2021, but aside from a few awkward months right after the split, we've stayed friends. We've both seriously dated other people: F had a girlfriend, A(mid-20s F), for a little under a year, and I've been dating my boyfriend, H (30M), for about 9 months.

Throughout the time we were dating, F and I had a few problems. Money was a big one: he would borrow money a lot and not always pay it back (either when he said he would or at all). He currently owes me about £8000 that he borrowed for uni. For most of the time since he borrowed it he hasn't been in work, so I haven't been pushing the matter. One of the last straws for our relationship was when he bought a brand new PS5 and lied to me about it when he had recently borrowed money from me.

The other big one was his mental health. F has been dealing with poor mental health for about as long as I've known him, but he refuses to do anything about it. He often talks about how much he hates his life and how he should just kill himself. He often punched himself in the head or punched walls when he was upset, but he refused to admit that this behaviour was unhealthy. He wouldn't go see a therapist or doctor, or speak to anyone except me. Once, when I was visiting family, he became upset about something and I was worried he would hurt himself, so I asked a mutual friend to check on him. He refused to let the friend in, and got very angry with me.I wanted to break up with him sooner but he'd often tell me I was the only good thing in his life, and I was scared he'd kill himself if I left him. We eventually broke up near the end of 2021. Fast forward to this summer. In August, A broke up with F and F had to move back in with his abusive parents. He initially asked to stay with me but I said no (I live in a tiny flat, I can't afford to financially support another person and to be honest I'm just not comfortable with it). I later changed my mind and offered him my sofa when I realised how bad the abuse was, but he declined.

Also in August, I found out my grandmother was dying. I went to see her with my sister and brother-in-law, and the same day received a message from F venting about his life. I replied with: "Hey I'm kind of dealing with something right now can you talk to someone else? I don't really have the emotional bandwidth rn"When he asked what was up, I told him my grandmother was dying. He expressed his sympathies, and told me that his stuff could wait. He sent me the following message four hours later: "I think I'm going to kill myself""I've totally ruined my life, I've got nothing except daily torture from my parents". Again, this is four hours after I'd explicitly told him I don't have the capacity for it. I spoke to my sister and brother-in-law (28F and 30M) about it and they both said I should block him.

In September I started a new job (I recently qualified as a teacher) which has been very challenging, exhausting and intense. My grandmother died at the end of September, so the past few months have been hard for me. He knows all this, but he keeps sending me all these messages about how much he hates his life and how he should just kill himself.

Early October, I was added to a group chat between A, F's ex, and a mutual friend Z. A told us that F had sent her an email that was essentially a suicide note. I called F and made sure he was okay, and passed that along to the group chat. F was angry that, as he perceived it, we'd been talking about him behind his back. He didn't speak to me for a day or so but quickly went back to normal.

At the end of October, the day before my grandmother's funeral, I woke up to a message that was essentially a suicide note. This was not the first time this had happened. I had a panic attack, though I'm not sure whether that was due to the message or imminent funeral. I send him some messages saying that I didn't want to receive these kind of messages unless it was actually something I could help with, that he wasn't respecting my boundaries and that the friendship had become entirely one sided. I told him that I didn't want to block him but I would. He seemed to accept that, but this morning I woke up to another suicide note message. After verifying that he was still alive (he is), I started writing this ask. I feel bad, but I'm so tired of doing all the emotional labour. I have my own shit to deal with and i'm not his therapist. WIBTA if I blocked him?

What are these acronyms?

[bleue-flora]

So um, in light of my last post I was inspired to look into other dsmp people's ages because I feel like we don’t really think about it too often and oh does it make things interesting…

Just for reference and consideration, here are some United States Legal Age Minimums:

Drive: 16-18

Adult: 18-21

Vote: 18

Drink Alcohol: 21

Political Office: 25 (Representative) 30 (Senator) 35 (President)

Military: 17-18

Also Note: On average the brain is scientifically not fully developed until age 25 - and oh wouldn't you know it 90% of the server fall under that, meaning no wonder we have a bunch of wars their prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed and wouldn't you know it that part of the brain is responsible for regulating attention, behavior, and emotion as well as the processing that Actions Have Consequences... huh whelp that makes sense.

Anyways… age data is below (I didn't do everyone nor every event - nobody got time for that ;D... I didn't have time for this to begin with lol...) But I specifically want to highlight that not only was Dream 21 from Jan-Aug of his Imprisonment, but Sam was also 21 till Jun, and Quackity was literally 20 while he was daily torturing Dream... 20?! They were roughly a year apart, all of them so close. Like can you imagine, treating your peer like that? Sam is like a couple months older than Dream and that's it. Quackity can't even drink legally in the United States. That's insane...

(* to signify canonical Immortality)

Ok, so the full list of members and ages is at the bottom, but first, here are so key events I picked just to highlight their ages at the time.

Server Creation - April 24, 2020

GeorgeNotFound - 23 Callahan - 23 Dream - 20 Sapnap - 19

L'Manberg War - August 2, 2020

BadBoyHalo - 25 WilburSoot - 23 GeorgeNotFound - 23 Callahan - 23 Punz - 23 Eret - 21 Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 20 Fundy - 20 Skeppy - 20 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 19 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 17 Purpled - 16 Tubbo - 16 Tommy - 16

Pogtopia vs Manberg War - November 16th, 2020

Philza - 32* BadBoyHalo - 25 HBomb - 26 WilburSoot - 24 GeorgeNotFound - 24 Callahan - 23 Punz - 23 Karl Jacobs -22 Antfrost - 22 CaptainPuffy - 22 Eret - 21 Technoblade - 21* Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21 Connor - 21 Schlatt - 21 Fundy - 21 Skeppy - 20 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 19 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 18 Purpled - 17 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 16 Tommy - 16

Exile - December 4, 2020

Ghostbur - 24 Technoblade - 21* Dream - 21 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 16 Tommy - 16

Doomsday - January 6, 2021

Philza - 32* HBomb - 27 Callahan - 23 Punz - 23 CaptainPuffy - 22 Eret - 21 Technoblade - 21* Dream - 21 Fundy - 21 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 20 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 18 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 17 Tommy - 16

Disc Confrontation - January 20, 2021

HBomb - 27 BadBoyHalo - 25 Callahan - 24 Punz - 23 Antfrost - 22 CaptainPuffy - 22 Eret - 22 Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21 Ponk - 20 Quackity - 20 Sapnap - 19 Niki Nihachu - 19 Jack Manifold - 18 Ranboo - 17 Tubbo - 17 Tommy - 16

Quackity’s First Prison Visit - March 16, 2021

Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21 Quackity - 20

Techno's Visit- June 6, 2021

Technoblade - 22* Awesamdude - 21 Dream - 21

Jailbreak - November 28, 2021

Philza - 33* HBomb - 27 BadBoyHalo - 26 George - 25 Callahan - 24 Punz - 24 Karl Jacobs - 23 Antfrost - 23 CaptainPuffy - 23 Foolish Gamers - 22 Eret - 22 Technoblade - 22* Awesamdude - 22 Dream - 22 Connor - 22 Fundy - 22 Skeppy - 21 Hannahxxrose - 21 Ponk - 21 Quackity - 20 Sapnap - 20 Niki Nihachu - 20 Jack Manifold - 19 Purpled - 18 Ranboo - 18 Tubbo - 17 Tommy - 17

Comprehensive List From Oldest to Youngest: Name - Date of Birth (Current Age) - [Join Date] Age when Joined

Philza- March 1, 1988 (36) – [Nov 16, 2020]  32 *Immortal*

HBomb- Jan 4, 1994 (30) – [Sept 22, 2020]  26

BadBoyHalo- April 2, 1995 (28) – [May 19, 2020]  25

Wilbur- Sept 14, 1996 (27) – [July 12, 2020] 23

GeorgeNotFound- Nov 1, 1996 (27) – [April 24, 2020]  23

Callahan- Jan 19, 1997 (27) – [April 24, 2020]  23 

Punz- Jan 31, 1997 (27) – [July 7, 2020]  23  

Karl Jacobs- July 19, 1998 (25) – [Aug 26, 2020]  22 

Antfrost- Aug 27, 1998 (25) – [Sep 5, 2020]  22 

Captain Puffy- Sept 18, 1998 (25) – [Nov 16, 2020]  22

Foolish Gamers- Dec 18, 1998 (25) – [Jan 16, 2021]  22 *Immortal*

Eret- Jan 9, 1999 (25) – [July 19, 2020]  21

Technoblade- June 1, 1999 (23) – [Sept 22, 2020]  21 *Immortal*

Awesamdude - June 8, 1999 (24) – [April 28, 2020]  20 

Dream - Aug 12, 1999 (24) – [April 24, 2020]  20

Connor- Aug 26, 1999 (24) – [Nov 16, 2020]  21

Schlatt- Sept 10, 1999 (24) – [Sept 20, 2020]  21 

Fundy- Oct 10, 1999 (24) – [July 7, 2020]  20 

Skeppy- Jan 17, 2000 (24) – [July 18, 2020]  20 

Ponk- April 18, 2000 (23) – [May 7, 2020]  20 

Quackity- Dec 28, 2000 (23) – [Aug 11, 2020]  19 

Sapnap- March 1, 2001 (23) – [April 24, 2020]  19 

Niki Nihachu- Nov 3, 2001 (22) – [Aug 6, 2020]  18 

Jack Manifold- Aug 14, 2002 (21) – [Aug 3, 2020]  17 

Purpled- Oct 24, 2003 (20) – [July 9, 2020]  16

Ranboo- Nov 2, 2003 (20) – [Nov 17, 2020]  17 

Tubbo- Dec 23, 2003 (20) – [July 7, 2020]  16 

Tommy- April 9, 2004 (19) – [July 4, 2020]  16 

They are all babies confirmed... things make so much more sense... brain development guys it's important ;)

[the-colourful-witch]

A short goodbye, but not farewell! I'm not going to dance around it, so here it is: I'm taking a little break from socials this upcoming month. ( cue: gasppppp) I already mentioned last week that I'm getting a bit overwhelmed by all the content I see daily. I love all the art and the artist that share their work. I appreciate all of it and I really enjoy seeing everyone drawing things that make them happy. I enjoy drawing things myself, and I always will. I've had a few bad weeks creatively. It's not just a hobby, it's my job. I'm working on a big children's book, my first ever big publication. It is a tough project and it's taking up a lot of energy. I want it to look good and I want to deliver quality work for the author, who put her heart and soul into this book. However, it's getting more and more difficult to have faith in my own work when all day, every day, I see all these amazing, talented artists getting book deals, releasing products, making double figures from their art... And I know very well that everyone has their own process, that some of these people have been in the industry for years without getting anywhere, so trust the process. I can and will. I can trust my own process and I will get there eventually. Right now, though, it's hard to stay focused. I'm on my phone too much during the day and it has to stop. For my own health and for my work. So, long story short. I will be off my socials for 30 days, just to see what I can create without all the input from the internet. I'm going to work on the children's book (which is a fairytale book, by the way, so cool!) and on new character designs for my blog. I've started working on the teachers now, which is a lot of fun. Also, I'm working on opening a shop, so I'll put my energy towards that as well. I guess I have no idea what the next thirty days are going to bring me. I'm going to start tomorrow, so today (5 Feb) I will be checking my accounts still, just in case you have questions or concerns :) For now, this is it. I love you guys, and I'm so grateful for the support. Sharing my silly little drawings with you is very special <3

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PS: I never shared my Meet the Artist 2024 on here! Granted, I did make it for my art Instagram (splashofcolour23) where I post most of my book illustrations and other fun stuff. BUT! I wanted to share it here, too. If you scroll all the way down my blog, like far, far down, you'll see the 2021 (I think) version, with which I started this blog. It's my favourite January tradition every year, so here it is! Anyway, time to go. See you in 30 days!

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

If the rumored Met Gala drop did indeed happen in 2018, right before the wedding, then the (rumored) Givenchy dressing room incident could have also been why. No way Anna wouldn’t have heard about that quickly.

I hadn't even thought of that!

Yes, absolutely, 100%. Anna Wintour knows everyone and she absolutely would've heard about what went down at Givenchy. Edward Enninful too. And now that you mention it, I wonder if others in British fashion also heard about it and that may have affected who sent clothes to Meghan. I imagine so - fashion is a small world too. But how many of them believed Meghan when she said it was just wedding stress and she's not really like that. We know Enninful got somehow duped, since he looked pretty chummy with her in all the behind-the-scenes stuff for the September edition she did.

Anyway. For all the new-to-royal watching anons (and a refresher for everyone else!), this is is the the lowdown on the "Givenchy incident."

In November 2018, Camilla Tominey/The Telegraph published a story that Meghan made Kate cry during the bridesmaid fittings. (This is the original article, behind a paywall; I'll post excerpts below the cut. This is the Daily Mail's version of it.)

In March 2021, Oprah asked about this incident in the interview and Meghan revealed that "the reverse happened"; that Kate had made Meghan cry. Later on social media, Camilla doubled down on her sources that it was Meghan who made Kate cry.

About two weeks after oprah, Empress received the original Givenchy tea about Meghan's beyond-bridezilla behavior for the wedding. (Also, this is the post we're referring to by "Givenchy Anon" or "Givenchy tea".)

In July 2022, Tom Bower confirmed the bridezilla behavior and the bridesmaid dress fitting incidents in Revenge. Here is the Daily Mail's report.

In January 2023, Harry wrote about the bridesmaid dress fitting in Spare. This the Daily Mail's article about Harry's version of events. Camilla Tominey again doubled down on her sources via social media. (Also around this time, there was a rumor that Camilla had seen the actual text messages of Meghan gloating that she had made Kate cry and when Kate came to apologize, Meghan had slammed the door in her face after taking the flowers.)

Then the Daily Mail tracked down the tailor who's at the center of the bridesmaid dress fitting r2ow. That story is here. (Here is the exclusive behind-the-paywall version, which was the first story written about the tailor.)

Then in December, Sassy got some follow-up tea about Meghan's behavior around the wedding. The wedding tea is about 2/3s of the way down.

Kate and Meghan: Is the royal sisterhood really at breaking point? by Camilla Tominey, 26 Nov 2018

It was only a matter of time before all eyes would be on Kate and Meghan and how well they did – or didn’t – get on. The royal sisterhood has not been under this much scrutiny since a young Princess Diana and an excitable Fergie joined the household in the Eighties.

But the talk of a growing froideur between Kate and Meghan really ramped up following rumours of an apparent falling out between the pair in the run up to the Sussexes’ wedding in May. The Telegraph has spoken to two separate sources who claim Kate was left in tears following a bridesmaids dress fitting for Princess Charlotte. “Kate had only just given birth to Prince Louis and was feeling quite emotional,” said one insider. The incident happened around the time Meghan was reported to have also “upset” the Queen by asking to wear an emerald tiara instead of the one offered by the 92-year-old monarch. It came after a book by veteran royal journalist Robert Jobson described Harry as “petulant and short-tempered” in the build up to the Windsor Castle wedding. He allegedly told staff with a raised voice: “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets” and when reports reached the Queen, she asked to see her grandson privately and “put him firmly in his place”, Mr Jobson wrote. Rumours of any lingering ill feeling between the Queen and Meghan appear wide of the mark, however. The two women, who share a love of dogs, enjoyed each other’s company at their first solo engagement together in Cheshire in June - even if Meghan did inadvertently break protocol by not wearing a hat. And earlier this month the Queen entrusted Meghan to “look after” Elke Budenbender, wife of the German president during the Remembrance commemorations in a move which saw her separated from the Duchess of Cambridge who was on an adjacent balcony with the Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall. Despite being welcomed into the family fold, the attitude “below stairs” has apparently not been universally positive, with some giving the relationship “five years”. 

[princessanneftw]

Zara Tindall’s best friend to be appointed as lady in waiting to the Princess Royal

NHS midwife Dolly Maude, who delivered Tindall child on bathroom floor, previously wore joky ‘lady in waiting’ badge on day at the races

By Camilla Tominey for the Daily Telegraph

She once turned up to the races with her best friend Zara Tindall wearing a playful badge bearing the words ‘Lady in Waiting’.

A spokesman for the royal was later forced to clarify: “It was a joke. Zara doesn’t have any sort of lady in waiting.”

But now Dolly Maude, an NHS nurse who helped to deliver Mrs Tindall’s third child, Lucas, on the bathroom floor at her Gatcombe Park home in 2021, has been well and truly welcomed into the royal fold.

Despite the high jinks at Cheltenham last January, the 51-year-old mother of four has been appointed as a lady in waiting to Mrs Tindall’s mother, the Princess Royal.

The Telegraph understands that Buckingham Palace will announce the appointment in the Court Circular on Feb 1, when Mrs Maude will be revealed as one of four newly appointed ladies in waiting to the King’s sister, to replace others who have retired.

A lady in waiting is an attendant to a female member of the Royal family who acts as a companion on royal engagements as well as helping with their day-to-day duties.

Mrs Maude was maid of honour when the Princess Royal’s daughter married Mike Tindall, in 2011, and helped to deliver Lucas when his birth did not quite go to plan.

Mr Tindall described the birth on his The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast, saying: “Fortunately Zara’s friend Dolly is, she’s actually more important than I am at making sure she’s been at all three of my children’s births. She was there and recognised that we wouldn’t have got to the hospital in time, so it was run into the gym, get a mat, get into the bathroom, towels down, brace brace brace!”

One of Mrs Maude’s friends said: “She’s such a great girl. For the Princess Royal, it’s a perfect fit because of their shared love of dogs and horses.

“She’s not only extremely close to Zara, she also gets on brilliantly with the Princess. She’s fiercely loyal and discreet. It’s a great match.”

Mrs Maude and her husband Chris have four children. Billy, 26, attended Swansea University; Nell, 24, studied at the Central School of Ballet; Ted, 17, is, like his mother, a keen skier. He was a page boy at the Tindall wedding and Mrs Tindall is his godmother. Their youngest daughter, Mary, 15, is studying for her GCSEs.

Mrs Maude is occasionally spotted looking after Mrs Tindall’s children Mia, who turns 10 this month, five-year-old Lena and Lucas, at equestrian events.

Three years ago it was revealed that the Princess Royal, who carries out the second highest number of royal engagements a year after the monarch, had 11 ladies in waiting, two of whom had worked for Her Royal Highness for more than 50 years, three for more than 40 years, and five for more than 30 years.

Traditionally, ladies in waiting would be the wives or daughters of peers but they can also be a cousin or close friend.

When Queen Elizabeth II died, it was announced that Queen Camilla would not have ladies in waiting but instead be attended by Queen’s “companions”, and that their role would be much more informal.

[kojiarakiartworks]

January 2021 JAPAN AICHI NAGOYA

© KOJI ARAKI Art Works

Daily life and every small thing is the gate to the universe ：）

[luhafraser]

Anons in my inbox... Sorry... I'm not ignoring you, but what do you want me to say? Nothing new here...

New Blah Blahlands?!

Another blah blah blah book... Nothing new in this "I had Covid" speech or have you guys already forgotten the Xmas 2021 - QT LA playlist on Spotify?! ... He's just unfolding a script that he created in December 2021... There was his "wee" accident too... A series of misfortunes... True or not?! Believe what you want... 😜🤣 Fact is that at the beginning of January 2022 he no longer had anything (or he wouldn't have gone to the Chargers game with Marina and Alex), he was in LA and I don't need to mention where Caitríona was, right?!

(The best part was Cait giving her location in a interview, where she was supposedly at the end of 2021 - London -, and this article being published on January 1, 2022... Because it's very common for Cait to give her location! 😜🤣)

All the "clans" in this fandom are fed with these books... We already had "the gardener" Sam, the bluebell flower thing, and now even the believers in gay theory are well served with this pathetic description of Sam and his flirtations.

Oh... And the article in The Telegraph? He should be ashamed of that. But tell me... How many thousands of people, from outside this fandom, are going to read and/or pay attention to that?

Of course, one or other will read it because of the usual bait...

Oh and of course, JJ...

Regarding this "I don't have time for relationships because of my work", I already gave my opinion in another post.

It doesn't make any sense... After all, he supposedly had relationships years ago while filming Outlander.

---

Years ago (2019) a well-known shipper stopped believing that Sam and Caitríona had children (in secret)... One of her statements to stop believing is exactly what Sam has been using for a while to justify why he doesn't have a relationship/family. She even said that Sam would never deny his child...

Well, I don't blame this shipper, far from it... But let's be honest, SC use a lot of what we talk about here... Very little in favor and much more against shippers' beliefs.

Sam for Philippine Daily Inquirer magazine, in early 2020:

He probably added "the trauma of his father's absence" in Waypoints book, to cause commotion and be a slightly better excuse than that lame one used first?!

And the announcement of the blonde child, in August 2021, was a blow delivered using what that and other shippers started to claim. We are often our own worst enemies, even if unintentionally.

---

And what Sam said about "his daughter"... Well... He didn't lie. He doesn't have a daughter WITH MM...

😜🤣

---

It's as if the SC is always on the defensive, justifying something... Which seems strange at first, but... If Sam just said "I'm single because I want to be"... That wouldn't tease us, right? Maybe not in the same way... It probably wouldn't cause a buzz talk (here)... Anyone outside of this fandom will see just another unknown actor, who is not romantically involved with his co-star (and that's what they want).

It's been years of the same....

All of this crossed the line of ridiculousness, and when the world outside is so chaotic, sometimes it is impossible to have fun and be distracted by this circus. Sorry, Anons.

[thelibraryghost]

A Young Person's Introduction to Early 20th-Century Western Fashion

am i hip with the kids yet

General information Dotschkal, Janna. "1920's." FOUND. October 21, 2016. English Heritage. "Fashion Through History: Episode 3 – 1930s." YouTube. April 16, 2023. Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of Standardized Sizes in Womens Fashion and Why They FAILED." YouTube. May 16, 2021. Vintagebursche. "100 Years of Classic Menswear - and what we can learn from each decade." YouTube. February 29, 2020. Zebrowska, Karolina. "1920s Fashion Is Not What You Think It Is." YouTube. May 20, 2018.

Accessories Cox, Abby. "Flappers, Y2K, & Capitalism are Why Women "Don't" Have Pockets." YouTube. January 12, 2023. Cox, Abby. "The Disappointing Truth On Why We Don't Wear Hats Anymore..." YouTube. December 18, 2022. Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of the Iconic Cloche Hat: Making 1920s Fashion." YouTube. September 18, 2022. Rudolph, Nicole. "When Hats were Illegal: Sewing a Goth Edwardian Hat." YouTube. February 21, 2021. Sheehan, Sarah. "Neo-Egyptomania." PatternVault. December 31, 2022. Zebrowska, Karolina. "Why Did We Stop Wearing Hats?" YouTube. April 28, 2020.

Cosmetics Banner, Bernadette. "Making and Testing a Victorian Skincare Routine." YouTube. April 8, 2023. English Heritage. "1930s Makeup Tutorial | History Inspired | Feat. Amber Butchart and Rebecca Butterworth." YouTube. December 18, 2018. Holland, Evangeline. "On How to Be Lovely." Edwardian Promenade. April 15, 2010. Rudolph, Nicole. "The Controversial History of Color Season Analysis." YouTube. November 4, 2023.

Fabrics Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of Elastic." YouTube. July 4, 2021. Rudolph, Nicole. "Wearing Overalls to Boycott Fashion Greedflation? Weird History of 1920." YouTube. March 16, 2024.

Gowns and formal wear Banner, Bernadette. "I Redesigned Mary Poppins' Jolly Holiday Dress Based on REAL Edwardian Lingerie Gowns." YouTube. February 20, 2021. Banner, Bernadette. "I Remade Mary Poppins’ Dress to be Actually Edwardian." YouTube. July 9, 2022. Cox, Abby. "Alexander McQueen & the Patriarchy Problem in Modern Fashion." YouTube. October 20, 2023. Cox, Abby. "What Makes a Gown Haute Couture (like House of Worth) in Victorian and Edwardian Eras?" YouTube. September 19, 2021. Lady Rebecca Fashions. "An Edwardian Woman's Fashion Evolution." YouTube. June 4, 2022. Oakes, Leimomi. "Terminology: what is a lingerie dress or lingerie frock? (and blouse, and skirt)." The Dreamstress. July 21, 2018. Rudolph, Nicole. "Stop Idolizing Coco Chanel: a shocking history of theft." YouTube. January 13, 2024. Rudolph, Nicole. "The Truth about the Fringed Flapper: Making 1920s Evening Dresses." YouTube. November 6, 2022. Vintagebursche. "1920s Theme Party - How to dress." YouTube. December 9, 2023. Zebrowska, Karolina. "1920s Fashion Encyclopedia, Pt 1: Daywear." YouTube. November 27, 2019.

Hair care and styling Banner, Bernadette. "I Tried Following a Real Edwardian Hair Care Routine." YouTube. May 12, 2020. Lady Rebecca Fashions. "Getting Dressed in the Edwardian Era / Gibson Girl Hairstyle Tutorial." YouTube. June 12, 2020. Lady Rebecca Fashions. "Titanic-era Hair Tutorial // Getting Dressed in the 1910's." YouTube.September 4, 2020. SnappyDragon. "Historical hair myths debunked : How often should you wash your hair—daily shampoo or no shampoo?" YouTube. August 12, 2022. Zebrowska, Karolina. "Weird Edwardian Beauty Tips." YouTube. February 11, 2017.

Laundry and starching Banner, Bernadette. "Ok but how did the Edwardians WASH these dresses?" YouTube. August 3, 2022.

Outerwear Cox, Abby. "Athleisure: Destroying Fashion & the Environment." YouTube. January 18, 2024. Rudolph, Nicole. "150 years of Masc Women causing a Moral Panic." YouTube. June 17, 2023. Rudolph, Nicole. "The History of Jeans, T-shirts, and Hoodies: Time Travel 101." YouTube. March 20, 2022. Zebrowska, Karolina. "SPRING/SUMMER FASHION TRENDS REVIEW but it's 1936 (ft. original fabric samples!)." YouTube. April 22, 2022.

Shoes Rudolph, Nicole. "I Made Witchy Edwardian Shoes by Hand!" YouTube. March 14, 2021. Rudolph, Nicole. "Making 100 year old Comfy Slippers: Free Pattern!" YouTube. December 30, 2023. Rudolph, Nicole. "The Myth of Tiny Feet "Back Then"." YouTube. September 26, 2021. Rudolph, Nicole. "The True History of Stiletto Heels : the battle between Ferragamo and Dior." YouTube. August 26, 2023. Zebrowska, Karolina. "Why Is No One Talking About 1930s Shoes?" YouTube. September 15, 2020.

Undergarments Banner, Bernadette. "1903 Patented Bustle Pad Reconstruction." YouTube. June 8, 2019. Banner, Bernadette. "Achieving That Classic Edwardian Shape: Reconstructing a 1902 Bust Bodice." YouTube. April 16, 2020. Lady Rebecca Fashions. "So What are Guimpes Anyway? // Examining Antique Edwardian Guimpes." YouTube. August 21, 2020. Lady Rebecca Fashions. "They Wore Corsets in the 1920's?!" YouTube. January 29, 2022. Rudolph, Nicole. "Did Brassieres End the Corset?" YouTube. February 28, 2021. Rudolph, Nicole. "Dressing in Edwardian Clothing: Undergarments and Layers of 1907." YouTube. November 1, 2020. Rudolph, Nicole. "How Flappers got their Figure: the 1920s Silhouette." YouTube. July 10, 2022. SnappyDragon. "How pin-up photos fooled dress history : the making and marketing of lingerie pictures." YouTube. April 1, 2023.

[rederiswrites]

Why are we afraid of a Trump presidency? Well, here's the beginning of political historian Heather Cox Richardson's daily writeup:

April 30, 2024 (Tuesday) This morning, Time magazine published a cover story by Eric Cortellessa about what Trump is planning for a second term. Based on two interviews with Trump and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisors, the story lays out Trump’s conviction that he was “too nice” in his first term and that he would not make such a mistake again. Cortellessa writes that Trump intends to establish “an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world.” He plans to use the military to round up, put in camps, and deport more than 11 million people. He is willing to permit Republican-dominated states to monitor pregnancies and prosecute people who violate abortion bans. He will shape the laws by refusing to release funds appropriated by Congress (as he did in 2019 to try to get Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to smear Hunter Biden). He would like to bring the Department of Justice under his own control, pardoning those convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and ending the U.S. system of an independent judiciary. In a second Trump presidency, the U.S. might not come to the aid of a European or Asian ally that Trump thinks isn’t paying enough for its own defense. Trump would, Cortelessa wrote, “gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.” To that list, former political director of the AFL-CIO Michael Podhorzer added on social media that if Trump wins, “he could replace [Supreme Court justices Clarence] Thomas, [Samuel] Alito, and 40+ federal judges over 75 with young zealots.” “I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles?” Cortellessa wrote. No, Trump said. “‘I think a lot of people like it.”

[kimmipetty]

2/28/24 - 50bill/ 223 - Today was the first day of Chris’s surprise petticoating, and while Chris found himself in total shock, Carole Jean was thrilled to have her very own little sister. Aunt Julia had volumized Chris’s long shoulder-length hair to give him a classic bob hair-do. Buns, braids, pigtails and various up-dos, Chris’s hair was all set for whatever girly hairstyle the girls desired for Miss Chris. Mary Beth made a few alterations to Chris’s dress including adding a built-in petticoat and buttons up the back to prevent him taking it off himself. Chris is always locked in his dresses until someone lets him out. Chris is powerless to resist and even the temptation to wipe off his makeup is tapered by the fact that Chris knows Carol Jean would quickly re-apply it and face the discipline of Mary Beth who is never far behind. 

______________________________________________________

A special post- Christeen's art, with the caption written by a friend! This is the 8th anniversary (February 28, 2016) of my first posting this art as a Daily Chris, as you will see below. I made this a Daily Chris again in January 2021.

Note that the wall art here is different from what appears below. This is the original version as first appeared on Petticoat Punishment Art. The eyeshadow of the woman applying Chris's makeup varies as well.

[tsukiyouyuis]

Snow Light

Hi everyone:) I finally decided to post the one and only writing I did for Genshin! This was an old work I did back in January 2022 to commemorate one of my most valuable game experiences. (I started Genshin in December 2021)

Character: Diluc Ragnvindr

Pov: You = The traveler/Player self-inserted

Synopsis: You have always wanted to explore Dragonspine ever since you first arrived in Mondstadt, but the cold was too much for you to handle, unless you can go with someone who is warm enough…

Premise: Both you and Diluc are secretly having a crush on each other.

Timeline: Liyue archon quest. Post-Mondstadt archon quest + Diluc’s story quest.

Tags: SFW, fluff, confession, adventure, Diluc is sweet and caring

Please note:

This is a translated work. Please note that English is not my first language and I’ve never written a fic in English before. I tried my best for the translation and please bear with me if you find any mistakes.

No gender specific pronouns were used. However, “you” was implied to be a female at some point since it was written on my POV based on my true game experience.

The title of this work came from the song “Snow Light” by Kensho Ono (Diluc’s JP VA). For me, those lyrics are Diluc's words of confession. I put the translations at the end and you are very welcome to check out how I think Diluc confesses his love specifically in this context :)

I hope you enjoy reading this long story ^_^

After destroying another hilichurl’s camp, you suddenly feel tired of everything.

You silently put those materials into your bag and walk to the highest spot of the mountain. The sun at noon is quite dazzling and it is hurting your eyes a bit, but it does not prevent you from having a great view of the entire Liyue Harbor. No matter what happens, those bustling streets and crowds will always be there.

It has been a while since you left the city of freedom and came to this land of geo. You are having a lot of fun admiring the beautiful yet different scenery and cultural heritage. Meanwhile, you have also met a lot of weird people, which…did not really surprise you right after leaving Mondstadt. The most typical example would be the man who is accompanying you in your journey -- Zhongli, the consultant of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, who is extremely knowledgeable on almost everything, yet being totally clueless about money. Thanks to him, you always have to keep an eye on your mora to ensure that you and Paimon can still pay for your meals…

But this did not prevent you from growing interests for Liyue. In order to get to know this nation better, you have decided to do your daily commissions only here.  

You haven’t been active in Mondstadt for quite a while.  

Even so, you can easily to go back thanks to the teleport waypoints. Mondstadt is like a home for you. You know you can never actually leave there, especially after you have already crossed paths with too many people.

But there is only one main reason for you to keep going back and forth in two nations.

Every day, you would teleport back to Dawn Winery after finishing your activities. You would stroll around the statue of the seven, pick up a few windwheel asters, and look at the windmills of the city in distance. You would then go sit on the bench, enjoy the scent of grapes and wine. At the end, you would go inside the manor, and wait for the next day to begin.

The winery is open to the public all year round, but the maids and Elzer have basically acquiesced in you being there. Adelinde remembered all the books you like to read, and she would even prepare them for you beforehand. Almost every day, you would leave in the morning and come back in the evening, which made you feel like you are treating this place as a home more than the owner does.

However, you haven't seen Diluc since you worked together to resolve the stormterror issue. He seems rarely comes home. Sometimes he did come back, but you either happened to be away or have already fallen asleep in one of the guest rooms. You heard that he would occasionally work at the Angel’s Share as a bartender, so whenever you completed your commissions quickly enough, allowing you to come back earlier, you would always drop by. But only archons would know why you were unlucky enough to miss the redhead every single time. Instead, you did encounter that cavalry captain quite often. It always turned out that you were teased by him and had to ran away from the tavern with flushed cheeks.

Well known by everyone in Mondstadt, Diluc Ragnvindr is a handsome and wealthy gentleman, the highly respected young master of Dawn Winery. However, only a few know that he is also the “Darknight Hero” who protects the city every night. No matter using which identity, he will not be distracted by anything and always gets everything done perfectly. As far as you can remember, Diluc's expression has never changed dramatically, and coupled with his calm demeanor, it is not surprising if people say that he is grumpy or lacking emotion.

But that is not the case, you know it. When Paimon called him "Captain Pyro", he let out a disapproval grunt, but then acquiesced in this more nonsensical name after the tasteless title of "Darknight Hero". You spent quite a lot of time working with him during the stormterror attacks. Every night when you left the winery and said good night to him, he would look straight into your eyes and say "Alright, see you next time, I’ll make sure you get home safely." His soothing voice, his gentle tones, the tint of smile in his eyes…How can you ever forget those moments?

Yes, unknowingly, like many girls in Mondstadt, you have secretly fell in love with this prince of the dark night. Every day, you would spend quite a long time in Dawn Winery, scanning through the rows of books on the bookshelf with your fingertips, and then randomly pick one, sit down and read it carefully. Diluc is in charge of basically the entire alcohol industry in Mondstadt and probably half of Teyvat, the contents of his book collections are naturally about alcohol. You have heard from Conner saying that “Master Diluc has never read books in the winery, not even once…” But even so, your day-to-day habits have not changed, despite you don’t really understand the content by heart.

After all, this is the only way you can get close to Diluc without being able to meet him.

The dazzling sunshine pulls you out of your memories. You blink, and your eyes drift involuntarily to another direction – the direction of Dragonspine, which is the only place you haven’t explored in Mondstadt. Of course, it's not that you haven't tried, but the sheer cold was really beyond your ability to bear. Probably you will try again after you become stronger, or being able to master the pyro element, just like Diluc…

You can’t help but think of him again. Being a wielder of a pyro vision, he surely won’t be bothered by such coldness. He himself is as warm and bright as the morning sun, otherwise how can he dispel the shadow covering Mondstadt?

You sigh and open the map, trying to figure out how to kill the rest of the afternoon and hopefully, this will pull you out from all those fantasies about the redhead…

But a second later, you hear something behind you. Fear builds up in your chest instantly and you almost fall down. Thanks to the person who made the sound grabbed your arm, you did not fall off the cliff.

"I see…It seems like you are more easily to get nervous after gaining more experience."

That familiar voice makes you turn your head swiftly, and you see the face you have been thinking about all day and night. You can see the reflection of your flustered self in those ruby-like eyes.

"Oh! D-Diluc—uh, sir," you dodge his gaze, feeling the scorching heat spread from the back of your ears, "Ah...why you happen to be here?"

Diluc frowns slightly after hearing the honorific you deliberately added, but his tone is as calm as usual, "It doesn't matter where I am, right? This is nothing to be surprised about."

"But…we are in Liyue?" And on the top of a mountain with nothing but monsters and trees.

Anyone would find it strange that Master Diluc, who is dedicated to protecting Mondstadt day and night, appears in a place other than Mondstadt for no obvious reasons.

"..." Diluc freezes for a short moment, he then lets go of your arm, "This is not something you should worry about." Under your curious yet confused gaze, he slowly looks away and clears his throat, "…Please don't look at me like that."

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry!" You apologize in a panic, quickly adjusting your facial expression. But you accidentally see the blush of his ears. Before you had time to think about it, Diluc speaks again.

"There's no need to apologize.” He said, the slight embarrassment that was previously on his face is gone as if you were hallucinating, “How are you doing recently?"

"Eh? Um, well…" you are a little caught off guard, but still answer him with a smile, "I'm doing good, and I haven't been too busy with commissions recently. Thank you, Master Diluc, for your concern."

Diluc does not respond immediately, but his eyes soften, which is captured by you. A faint happiness fills your heart. You know that he is not simply being polite, but is genuinely caring about you.

"It's been a while since you and I have seen each other." After a short pause, he continued, "I heard from Adelinde that you would visit the winery every day. Did you encounter any difficulties?"

"Well...um...not really." You keep your gaze down, attempting to hide your embarrassment by fiddling with your own fingers. What are you supposed to tell him? Of course you can't just say that you want to stay at the house of your crush for… a little longer.

Diluc sighs, "It's alright if you don't want to tell me, but if you encounter any problems or have any needs, you can always come to me."

Ah, yes…He had said the same to you after the darknight hero incident. You did encounter a lot of problems when you first started your adventure, but you didn’t want to bother Diluc for such personal matters. After all, he is known as a busy person. So in the end you would always find a way to solve everything by yourself, even if you ended up getting yourself into more troubles, failing everything, or getting injured. After all, you dare not rely on others easily after parting from your sibling.

But these are actually excuses, you know that. After realizing that you had fell for Diluc, you didn’t know how to deal with your feeling, because you know it will never work out. You are an outlander, a traveler. After you find your sibling and reach the end of the journey, you will leave Teyvat, and you will leave him, probably forever.

You had tried to avoid him, thinking that in this way, your feelings would fade away as the time goes by.

But unfortunately, the effects were completely opposite. Your feelings towards him grew day by day until you couldn’t suppress them in any possible way. You couldn’t help but wanting to meet him. You want to stay with him, to talk with him, to travel with him, to rely on him…

You feel your face starts to burn as you are thinking about it, and you are so flustered that you don't know where to look. Diluc is standing right in front of you, and as you keep avoiding making eye contacts with him, your attention is caught by the vision attached to his belt. The pyro element glimmers in the glass bead, and that beautiful crimson color resembles the wielder’s eyes and hairs.

"Traveler?"

Diluc's puzzled voice is heard overhead, and you finally decide to look up and meet his eyes. At that moment, you suddenly accept the fact that no matter how hard you try to supress your feelings, it is useless, so there is no point to torture yourself like this. You already knew that it will never work out, so now you might as well follow your own inner thoughts.

"A-Actually, I have a matter that you could probably help me, Master Diluc." You try to calm yourself down, but you seem have lost your voice, "If it's possible..."

Diluc didn’t respond, and his expression stays the same, but obviously he is waiting for your next words.

"Could you…um, accompany me to Dragonspine...?"

You can’t help but to start panicking right after saying it. What if he rejects you? Once again, you find it is too hard to look him into the eyes, but it will be strange to lower your head suddenly. So you lock your eyes on the red gem on his bow tie and meanwhile, clasping your hands tightly behind your back, feeling that your palms are starting to sweat.

"Yes," Diluc agrees immediately, without even a hesitation. You look at him again in surprise, but you can see that he is confused. "But what are you going to do in Dragonspine? If you need any materials, I can find them for you directly."

"Ah, it has nothing to do with materials! It's just because I haven't really been there yet." Your respond excitedly, temporarily forgetting the shyness and embarrassment when facing Diluc. "I can’t master the pyro element at the moment, and it's just too cold there..."

Diluc looks into your shining eyes, the corners of his mouth are slightly raised, "I see, you are right. After all, you are an adventurer, and the joy of adventure always comes first."

His smile makes you lose your mind once again. Those feelings that have just been left behind came back to you in the blink of an eye.

A gentle gust of wind blows, Diluc looks at the blue sky, and you look at him. His crimson hairs is so beautiful under the sunshine, just as dazzling as the dawn.

“Let’s go.”

​

Dragonspine is still as beautiful as in your memory. The white snow covers every inch of the land, yet that’s not the only colour. The most conspicuous one is undoubtedly the red beam of the statue of the seven, which will be your destination today.

You follow Diluc silently. The sound of your boots stepping on the snow seems to be amplified many times. Even though you two had left the teleport waypoint for not even a minute, you already start to feel the sheer cold is devouring you.

"Here, take this," Diluc, who had been silent all this time, suddenly speaks. You are startled, while he hands over a red ore, "This is called the scarlet quartz, which can keep you warm temporarily."

The moment you take the scarlet quartz, it disappears as if melted by your body temperature.  You suddenly feel a nice and warm aura surrounding you.

"Wow, this is amazing!" You look at your hands in surprise, "Thank you, Master Diluc!"

"No need. The effect of the quartz can only last for a while. So if you are still cold, just let me know any time." He responds, followed by a hesitant expression.

"... Diluc,” he speaks after a brief pause, “just...call me Diluc is fine."

His words make you stop everything you were doing and thinking but only to look at him. At your first glance, Diluc's face is still as unamazed as usual, but obviously he is trying you avoid your eyes. And probably your vision is not too well due to the snow, but you are pretty sure that you see a suspicious faint blush on his cheeks. Could it be because he was just too cold as well……?

"B-But..." You stammer, feeling the heat gradually creeping up your entire face. But before you can say anything else, a group of hilichuirls, those who have ice shields in their hands, appears out of nowhere.

Immediately, Diluc gushes forward. Crimson flames burst out along with his movements. Even you, who is a distance away from the battle, can feel that extreme heat mediating from him. The moment when you come back to your senses and get ready to help, the battle is over, leaving only the melted snow and fallen materials.

You stand there awkwardly. Of course, the main reason that you invited Diluc, who masters the pyro element, to accompany you to Dragonspine was because you wanted to rely on him a little. Something like this shouldn’t be surprising, but when it actually happens, you still feel really bad about your incapability.

Diluc puts away his claymore and turns to you. And as if he had seen through your mind, his expression softens, "It’s nothing."

Seeing that you are still standing in a daze, he hesitates for a moment, and then comes closer to you. He lightly pokes your forehead with his gloved fingertips, "Come on, just take the materials, and we'll move on, okay?"

"……Thank you." You whisper your gratitude, blushing, and trying your best to let your heart calm down from his touch and his words. Diluc's voice is still as gentle and soothing as ever, making you feel like you are floating on top of the cloud. His flames seem to have lingered onto the skin touched by him, It’s not a burning heat, but a warmth that flows into your heart.

Fortunately, there are not too many enemies popping out as you two are getting closer and closer to the statue. Or maybe, all kinds of hilichuirls are buried under Diluc's flames when you are too busy enjoying the scenery or collecting materials.

You have never stayed this close to him for such a long time. His flying red hairs, flames brought out by his claymore, all perfectly complement with the whiteness of the snow. You always stare at him subconsciously and have to spend at least few seconds to bring your mind back.

He is just like a tint of fire that keeps you warm in the snow, makes you feel incredibly safe, makes you can’t feel the cold seeping into your body.

And it isn't until you hadn't been close to any fire or the minerals of the scarlet quartz for quite a while that you realized that you were already freezing.

Unfortunately, this is a bad timing. Diluc is not by your side now. He asked you to wait for him a bit and then left. You look at the surroundings, the beautiful snow you were seeing before is now somehow shrouded in a layer of dark mist.

An inexplicable fear surges into your heart like a tide. The wind is freezing cold, whistling in your ears. You tightly wrap all of your clothes around your body, but still can’t stop the biting chill from pouring into your collar. It is not that you have never felt cold before, but you still get scared after seeing your breath condensed into visible white particles floating around you.

Your vision has started to blur, and your legs seem to have lost all the strength…You are about to fall down—

The wet and cold feeling of the snow does not come as you expected. Instead, you feel soft fabrics, surrounded by a faint aroma of grapes and firewood. It is so familiar and reassuring, it is your favorite smell...

"Careful!"

You are still cold, but the fear in your heart fades away instantly, just like ice being melted by fire. And as you gradually catch your breath, you slowly open your eyes, and find yourself leaning on Diluc's chest, with him gently encircling your waist.

Oh archons, this is way too close, and he is holding you in his arms. Normally, you surely would immediately jump away, flustering like a mass and wanting to die. But now you can’t even stand properly, and your brain is just not functioning. Diluc's clothes are as cold as the surrounding environment, but strangely, his embrace is so warm, warm enough to make you, a person who is cold and longing for warmth instinctively, want to stay like this forever.

But after you recover a little bit and feeling able to stand still, the unbelievable idea of "being held by Diluc in his arms" brings you back to reality again. Diluc obviously notices the change in you. He lets go of his hand, but then immediately takes off his coat and wraps it around you, almost covering your whole body.

"I’m sorry," he looks at you, obviously worried, "I shouldn't have left you alone."

"I was just looking for a place where we can rest. I should’ve taken you with me."

You shake your head, "No…no, please don’t apologize, Master Diluc. I know you will come back." But to be honest, you almost let your fear won after realizing that you couldn’t feel any other human being but yourself in this cold, empty, and completely silent place.

"..." Diluc does not answer directly but looks at you deeply. Something is in his eyes, but you can’t really tell what it is. He then holds your hand, "...Come with me."

He takes you to a spot with cooking ware and fire, which seems to be lightened just now. The whole area is surrounded by tall rocks that block most of the wind. Almost immediately, you start to feel your hand and face again as the warmth seeping into your frozen bones. Diluc makes sure you sit down near the fire, then he started to set up the cooking pot.

You stand up again as a reflex. You’ve already done this on your own so many times, even when you were injured badly enough that you could barely move. And besides, no matter what is happening, it is still hard to let the master of Dawn Winery to cook for you.

"Sit down and rest."

His slightly commanding tone makes you unable to disobey. You can only sit down again, obediently.

While fixing your gaze on Diluc, you let yourself completely immersed into his coat. The smell of firewood mixed with the faint aroma of grapes and wine is now surrounding you once again. You take a deep breath, recalling this smell from Dawn Winery, from the vineyard, from the books he read, pages he touched… At that moment, you feel like you are at home.

You observe Diluc once again. This is the first time you see clearly what are under his coat. A black shirt with a white vest, the belt that goes from his shoulder and connected to his waist… He has such a nice shape…If you look further downwards-

You are startled by what you are doing and immediately turn your head aside, squeezing your eyes shut.

Now you are really warmed up……

After having some warm soup, you feel much better. The snow seems to be lighter than before as you two set out on the road again. You can see that red beam of light is getting closer and closer to you.

Snow falls on Diluc's hairs and shoulders. His shirt is slightly disheveled by the wind. You suddenly remember his coat is still on you.

"Master Diluc, " You speak hesitantly, about to take it off, "Um… you must be cold, I'll give this back to-"

"You can wear it." He replies, "The pyro vision can minimize the impact of the coldness on my body." He puts the coat back on you, carefully feeling your body temperature, "You need to keep warm more than I do. If you fall down again, I will be very troubled."

Thus you get the following: A redhead wearing only a shirt and vest, walking in the heavy snow, followed by a small figure wrapped in a big black coat, which does not seem too inappropriate considered you are in Dragonspine, one of the most mysterious regions in Teyvat.

Fortunately, you two successfully end up arriving in front of the statue of the seven, and the last obstacle is a layer of ancient rime piled up at the bottom. You are just about to clear it with your normal attack as usual, but before you can do it, Diluc stops you, "Wait."

"You need to have the scarlet quartz to clear them." He explains, "The subzero climate here in Dragonspine makes normal attacks useless, even with pyro elemental infusion."

"I see…" You look around, trying to find the redness in the surrounding, "There it is!"

A minute later, you come back with the effect of scarlet quartz. The rime was successfully cleared away by your charged attack. The red glowing statue makes the surroundings extremely warm. You look up at the anemo archon, memories flooding back into your mind. Venti, Dvalin, the Holy Lyre, Stormterror’s Lair, Jean, and Diluc, who is standing right behind you at this moment…

You close your eyes and stretch out your hand, the last statue of the seven in the Mondstadt area will be lightened up soon—

...

Nothing happened?

You open your eyes, confused. Normally the statue should have been lit by your touch, yet it is still glowing red at this time. You also can't feel the anemo element at all...

"As what I expected…" Diluc sighs, and you turn to face him, "It’s probably because I am here. I think that our humble anemo archon can't tolerate other people disturbing you."

"What? No, it shouldn’t, it can’t be…" You stand there helplessly, with your hand still on the statue. After months, you are finally here, and the journey to here with the accompany of Diluc is an absolute treasure to you. And now everything will go wasted?

You feel like your tears are about to fall, "…I need to go back to square one and do everything all over again…?"

"No." Diluc says, "You have already reached this point successfully, there is no need to start over."

Through the flying snowflakes, you can still clearly see him. His eyes are soft, he is smiling at you…

The snow seems to become heavy again. Diluc’s red hairs are flying in the cold wind. You are trembling slightly, but your feet can’t move as if they have rooted in the ground. You can only stand there, letting a thin layer of wind and snow separate you and him.

"I believe you can do well on your own from now on." Diluc continues, his crimson eyes met yours, and he smiles again, obvious enough for you to see it clearly, "Today's journey was quite delightful, traveler."

"Wait, Di—" You shout his name, but is blinded by the sudden strong wind. However, after only a few seconds, the wind stops, and you are facing an empty space, just like nobody was there before.

You look around anxiously, but you can’t feel any other human being. At the same time, the statue emits a dazzling blue light. The anemo element pours into your palm. You look up at this last statue in Mondstadt, but without any excitement and joy as you have imagined.

You sit down leaning against the statue and letting the wind whistling in your ears. Diluc's sudden departure gave you a feeling of waking up from a dream. However, the aroma lingering around reminds you that what happened today was not a dream. You look down at the black coat you are still wearing, those luxurious golden patterns are slightly deformed in your hands.

You didn’t even get a chance to say thank you...

Suddenly, you no longer have any interest in staying in Dragonspine, at least for today. You open the map, and in the next second you are standing under the identical statue, but at Dawn Winery.

Night has fallen. The wind gently blows your hair. Unlike the ones in Dragonspine, it feels warm.

You take off the coat and hold it in your hand, start walking towards the winery. You mind hasn’t come back yet, but your legs just automatically bring you right to the front of the manor.

"Welcome back, Miss." As soon as you enter the main entrance, you are greeted by Adelinde. Her eyes then fall on the thing in your hand, and she smiles, "Looks like you finally met Master Diluc today."

"Well, that’s true..." You reply in a low voice. You are embarrassed. During all this time, Adelinde has not only allowed you to live here, but she would even prepare the breakfast for you, send you out every morning, and welcome you back in the evening. Obviously, her attitude towards you is no longer as simple as a "guest".

You want to give the coat to the head housemaid, but she says that you can put it directly in Diluc's room.

Your eyes widen in surprise. Although you two have already known each other very well, and you have lived here for so long, you are still, well, a guest, after all. It is definitely not appropriate to go directly into the room of the master.

"Master ordered a long time ago that you, Miss, is allowed to enter any room in the winery."

Well then in that case…

Diluc's room is next to his study on the second floor. You have passed by countless times, but now you are a little nervous about going in. After a moment of hesitation, you carefully open the door.

The lights in the room have already been turned on. In addition to that comfortable king-size bed, there is also a desk that is similar to his study but without many things on top, surrounded by tall bookshelves. The curtains are half drawn, and the night outside could be seen. The luxurious furnishing of the room resembles the entire manor, but you can see the owner reserved a style exclusive for himself. A few wax-sealed letters are sitting on the desk, waiting to be mailed. You stare at Diluc's beautiful handwriting, an image of him sitting there and signing his name appears in front of you. Gosh, he must be as elegant as usual…

After looking around the room, you realize that there is only one place to leave his coat without opening the closet. You approach the bed, hands resting on those soft sheets. You don’t know if you are just tired or still too excited from having a trip with Diluc, but ever since you entered his room, there has been a warmth surrounding you, which is the same feeling he gave you when you were in Dragonspine today. It feels like he is still with you…

And he would sleep on this bed…by himself, after calling a day.

You swiftly cover your burning cheeks, "Stop! What the hell am I thinking?"

However……

Looking at those neat beddings, a sadness comes into you. On top of running a huge business that brings so much work and responsibilities, Diluc is only a young man who is not even older than you. How many nights can he sleep on this bed without being exhausted or stressed out…?

It is already very late, and he hasn't come back yet. Seems like the darknight hero is working hard again. Your feel like your eyelids are becoming heavier and heavier, and your mind is full of the redhead when your eyes are shut completely…

You don’t know how long it has passed, but you smell the aroma of grapes and firewood again. It is so close to you, and you can’t help but want to get closer, and closer... You feel like you have returned to Dragonspine, with Diluc is standing in front of you. Snowflakes are flying around, but it is not cold at all, it is warm, as if you two are the only light in the snow.

"Just…call me Diluc is fine."

You know you are dreaming, but his voice, and his eyes looking at you, are still so realistic and gentle. Your feelings flood out of your heart like a tide, and you can’t hold them back anymore—

It is very late.

Right after the clock strikes the third time, the door of the manor is opened and closed silently. The darknight hero rests wearily against the wall for a while, and then he slowly goes upstairs.

When Diluc enters the room, the first thing he sees is you, who is sleeping soundly against the bed while still holding the coat for dear life. He is startled, but then quietly comes to your side.

The redhead chuckles silently, observing your sleeping face lovingly. If ever you are awake, you would definitely suspect that the Diluc in front of you is a counterfeit as he would never make a face like this.

Diluc takes off his gloves, carefully pulls out the crumpled coat in your arms, then gently carries you and puts you into his own bed. You are asleep during the whole process, completely unaware of what is happening.

The moonlight shines through the gap in the curtains and falls on the two of you. Diluc, who is now supposed to take a shower and rest, sits down on the edge of the bed and looks at you without a word.

The Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius is now active in Liyue. Such a well-known fact can no longer be a part of his “intelligence network”.

He knows, as a traveler, you will never stop your journey until you reach the final destination and find your sibling. You will not stay in one place because of a person, an event, or a difficult task. Diluc himself had the same type of goal as you, and had traveled all over the seven nations alone, so he naturally understands your convictions and perseverance better than anyone else.

But it is precisely this kind of him, who has always been walking alone in the darkness, that he has unknowingly gotten used to and fell in love with the feeling of having you by his side. Only after you left Mondstadt, Diluc realized that even the most ordinary things, like seeing you around or saying goodbye to you, could make him miss you. Before being totally aware of the reason behind it, he had already started to take the initiative to obtain your information and your daily commissions.

Of course, that was very easy for him to do. But over time, this feeling of him, so called "missing you", gradually became a little more different than what he expected, and he couldn’t really tell what it is.

But it feels just like those few sporadic fire lights in the cold and heavy snow, which look so insignificant considering those random fire sources in the entire Dragonspine. However, the scorching heat those fire brought could not be ignored.

Because it is the heat that can make people alive. It is the warmth that he would love to approach and embrace. It is the light that he has been fighting to reach.

He wants to see you. He is going to see you.

Clouds are covering the moon. Diluc continues fixing his gaze on your face. His eyes are flickering slightly in the darkness. He can’t help but to get closer to you—

"…hm……"

Your suddenly let out a light hum. Diluc’s hand stops in mid-air instantly, fingertips are only half an inch away from your face, but you don’t seem to be bothered by anything and just move your body a bit, still asleep. Some vague syllables are coming out from your parted lips, but for some reason, it seemed like you are really trying to speak properly.

Diluc leans down to you, trying to hear your little sleep talks—

"...Diluc..."

Your voice is like a whisper, yet the pronunciation is so clear and accurate that it doesn't seem to be any kind of sleep talks.

Diluc’s eyes widen slightly, obviously in shock. He stares at you as if he is going to drill a hole on your face. He was not expecting you would say his name, and finally, without the title.

Meanwhile, clouds fades away in the exact right timing. Your cheeks are pink under the moonlight, but there is still no sign of you waking up.

......

"Yes."

Although Diluc knows you can’t hear him, he still responds in his most soft voice ever.

"Diluc..."

"Yes, I'm here."

His hand moves again. He strokes your cheek, eyes full of affection for you.

"......"

You unconsciously rub your chin against his skin, pressing your lips against his wrist.

"I…love you."

"......!"

Diluc looks at you in disbelief, feeling his whole body starts to tremble. Your warm breath sprayed on his skin reminds him that you did actually say that.

At this moment, all of his feelings in his heart are transformed into the same feeling that you have towards him. How silly of him kept telling himself that he was “missing you”, but it has been completely different since archon knows how long ago. The throbbing emotions in his chest seemed to have thawed the ice surrounds his heart, and that heat and love is spread all over his body.

"I love...Diluc..."

Your voice fades, and you fall into a deep sleep again after a while, but the redhead in front of you is surely not able to fall asleep today, in any case.

While attempting to control the heart that is about to jump out of his chest, Diluc kisses your forehead, this time, without any hesitation.

"Me too."

The moon is once again covered by clouds, but the light that can penetrate the coldness and illuminate the night will never disappear again.

The end.

——————————❄️———————————

「Snow Light」

—— Diluc Ragnvindr (CV: Kensho Ono)

Disclaimer: This translation is credited to this blog. I made adjustments based on my own understanding of the Japanese language, and I tried to make the lyrics sound more colloquial and complete.

The townscape of where you live is on the other side of the blurry window. It is flickering in seven colors. It is sparkling hazily.

Every time when I run in a hurry, chilled to the bone, I always want to hug you tightly.

Snow light, snow breath, snow flakes...

Right now, like that snow, my feelings towards you cannot be hidden.

They are falling and piling up for you, in a sparkling white.

It is only to you whom I want to give warmth. I want to hold you more than anything else.

Imagine us sitting close together, smiling, and I'm taking you by the hand…

I won’t let you go, I want to protect you. This brand new feeling is gradually growing upon me.

You are purely white. You are just my Snow Light.

Where you are you right now? What are the scenery in your eyes?

I wish to know more. This is the first time I’m having this thought.

My monochrome world is being repainted by you. That is like a miracle.

Snow shade, snow drop, snow dome...

Even if like that snow being melted away right now, this feeling of me will never disappear.

I just want to tell you, I’m always missing you.

Imagine us sitting close together, bashfully, I'm ascertaining your existence with my hand, while we staring at each other with sincere eyes.

I won’t let you go, my heart won’t change. My feelings toward you are never enough.

It is falling and piling up non stop, you’re just my Snow Light.

Although I can’t shine as beautifully as you, if I could become your light, that alone would make me able to overcome everything.

No matter how long the night is, I will never let you feel cold.

Surely tomorrow there will be a silvery morning light. It will be dazzling, it will be lovely...

It is only to you whom I want to give warmth. I want to hold you more than anything else.

Imagine, us sitting close together, smiling, and I'm taking you by the hand…

I won’t let you go, I want to protect you. This brand new feeling gradually growing upon me.

You are purely white. You are my Snow Light

Forever, you are just my Snow Light.

Thank you for reading.