#SO THE WINNER TAKES IT ALLLLLLL

[graciegoeskrazy]

so if Matty’s daughter is Matilda…

what about George’s stepdaughter and Ross’s daughter!!!👀👀👀👀👀

also would u be open to writing them at once? im just wondering no pressure obvs.

Ohhhhh I’ve had this answered for like a year lemme cook. I always use these names while writing and rereading tbh. I’ve just always had these in my head but I assumed everyone would hate that they have names???? Which I totally understand btw! Matilda has been the only names character so far but that was only been for like 2 fics. Anywhoooo. One person asked for this so this is my excuse to finally post it. This has Mattys daughter, mattys stepdaughter, George’s stepdaughter, and Ross’s daughter.

I’ve only written once very briefly for mattys daughter with Charlis daughter but I don’t think I would do one with alllllll of them. I don’t think my brain can take that responsibility.

Okay so here u go.

Matilda George Moss-Healy

Okay so as seen in "she's begging you to stay stay" Matilda's mother, Florence, named her after her father. Her intention was to have her nickname be "Matty" as a way of secretly being close to the father she never knew (until now) but everyone, including Florence herself, just ended up calling her "Tilly." "George" is obviously from George who was Florence's childhood best friend. When Matty gained legal custody of Matilda she gained his last name so it was "Moss-Healy" Matty offered to change it back to just "Moss" but she liked the way she had his name while still having a piece of her mother. In public or on Instagram though...she proudly puts her name down as "Matilda Healy."

Clara Leigh Bechtel-Healy

Clara is a name Gabby always had in mind for her children for when she got older. But when she got pregnant unexpectedly, it was the first name to come to mind. Leigh comes from Gabby's middle name, and they both took up the "Healy" name when Matty and her mom get married.

Emma May Aitchison-Daniel

“Emma May” was a combo Charli had loved since the beginning of her pregnancy. Even before she found out she was having a girl. She would call her by both names all the time. Even when she wasn’t in trouble which is what most parents tended to reserve the middle name for. Charli took “Daniel” as her last name when she got married and Emma did the same when George adopted her 2 months later. Emma and Clara have never taken their biological fathers last names.

Maise Eloise Macdonald

Ross was going back and forth on a couple of first name options but once he laid his eyes on her he decided “Maise” was the winner. It was just a name he liked but “Eloise” was actually suggested by Adam. They were all sat in the hospital taking turns holding and saying hi to little maise for the first time and they were also trying to help Ross come up with a middle name. Adam said “Eloise” out on nowhere and the room went silent. Ross knew it was the one.

[nipton]

SO THE WINNER TAKES IT ALLLLLLL AND THE LOSER HAS TO FALLLLLL

[deludedandlostcause]

Oh, Carolina. How do I pick a favorite part? I can’t, so I’m just going to make a list:

1. I think you did a marvelous job nailing their personalities. It really felt like those two are the Harry and Louis that we know, good and bad traits and everywhere in between.

2. The banter!! I think this partially comes from how well you got their personalities. Whether if it was the base of a part or just one little gif, it was consistent and flawless and made me laugh every time.

3. The sweet, simple, grin-inducing romance of it all. I am such a hopeless romantic, so I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how satisfyingly you showed them fall for each other. It was innocent and honest and humble and such an admirable display of the purity of falling in love. It never felt rushed or implausible, it just felt natural.

4. The captions for each part are great and anyone who didn’t read them is truly missing out on an extra element of this au.

5. The inside jokes and running gags that live rent free in this fandom that you snuck in. I never expected them and every single time I smirked and thought “oh, you got me again, Carolina.” Little cherries on top.

6. The way you managed to take all these different moments from interviews, promos, shows, etc to make gifs and make us forget their origin for a second. You take completely unrelated footage and make gifs with great dialogue and suddenly I forget I’ve seen “that” Harry or Louis before. It was SO immersive and I think that’s part of it’s (and your) strength.

7. The tropes that played into this were delightful. Fake relationship turns real relationship, lowkey enemies-to-lovers, jealous Harry, Harry is louis’ baby, I could go on and on. Bless you.

8. The side characters! Perrie is my personal favorite because it’s Perrie... duh. But I loved the little mentions of others in the house, especially that you kept them people we would recognize as being in the HL universe.

9. After alllllll of this... if I have to pick a favorite part of the whole entire thing.... Part 9 has my whole heart. The “what are we” talk just always gets me and the last two gifs of this part make my heart sing. I sincerely grin like a little kid when reading that part over and I doubt that will ever stop.

Thank you for sharing this story with us, Carolina. 💕

ANDI! WHY DO YOU LOVE TO MAKE ME SQUIRM?! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU? Where do I even start? Oh my god! 

1. Thank you. 2. Thank you. 3. Thank you. 4. Thank you. 5. Thank you.  6. Thank you. 7. Thank you. 8. Thank you. 9. Thank you.

Oh goodness. You’re just too much! I’ve said it a thousand times before but that’s really the best compliment. I wouldn’t have wanted this to feel too out of character, so it’s really nice to know some people thought it sounded just like them. (I don’t mind OOC fics — I actually really enjoy them — but I think this feels different because I’m providing visuals at the same time, you know?)

I’m so happy you felt like it was natural and satisfying to watch them fall for each other 🥺 even though this is an unconventional form of fanfic, I think some rules still apply, namely, “show, don’t tell.” I’d much rather show it through their banter than have them say “I love you” at the first chance they’d get. And that was particularly challenging because I only worked with visuals and dialogue.

Omg, I thought some captions were so clever and no one ever commented on them 😫 I was so proud of the one in Part 13 and nobody said anything #disappointed.

Hehe if those references ever made anyone smile I already consider it a win. There weren’t that many though, were there? Somehow they always involve Harry 😅 this whole thing was just a gentle roast of Harry Styles.

If it’d have been possible a lot of more recognizable faces would have made a cameo as side characters. Ideally Zayn would have been the winner, Louis would be in second place, Leigh-Anne in third, Perrie in fourth, and Liam in fifth. But alas one’s gotta work with what we have!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING! Honestly, I always looked forward to reading your tags. I remember when I posted the first part I was so frustrated because no one cared and only wanted a fic and you came back and reblogged it again and I just appreciated it so much. I still do 💕

[vaguely-functional-directions]

Final Glee episode Live Blog

Cool, they won nationals

Seeing that kid with the New directions reminds me of Five from tua for some reason. So small

Making Mckinley a designated arts school is like going from zero to 100 very fast

Principal Will. Hmmm

Three months later. Are they going to keep flashing forward?

Whoa that's a lot of new members

MULTIPLE GLEE CLUBS

And i have prepared something for the occasion *dramatically sits at the piano*

Can they just give Sam the teaching job with no qualifications? Is that allowed? I'm not one to talk but ok

Yay Mercedes :) Success!

Sue crosses the line a lot and goes overboard, but she's not so bad when it really matters. And it's sweet how much she takes care of Becky

Is that ABBA I hear????

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALLLLLLL *can't stop smiling because i love this song*

Five years later.

US Vice President Sue 2020

Grown up Blaine and Kurt!

I don't know this song but her voice is incredible here

Awww Rachel's their surrogate

Not too sure about how I feel about Rachel marrying whats his name. Seems to have come out of nowhere

She got her Tony :)

Oh yeah, it's Jesse. Oops

I'm happy she ended up finishing her degree at NYADA

Finn Hudson Auditorium, I like that

They got everyone to come back for this last number!!!

Wow that went by fast

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Genuine question what is billions even about I see clips all the time and I cannot figure out what the plot is besides like “business” but I am very much in love w Taylor Mason (i think that’s their last name?) so I am intrigued ...

oh i’m so glad you asked

yeah it’s not at all a Just You thing, not only do we often only post about a particular slice of the series, it’s just REALLY difficult to get (or provide. but i’m always up for the challenge) a sense of what Billions is like as a series like, genre wise, and re: the plot, my god, every [usually more than 50 min but less than an hour] episode is a journey, in that So much will have happened. it moves at a Pace, i can tell you. but you know, good news in that it’s not really necessary to explain every plot thread ever, b/c it’s as much about its Themes or what have you

the stats rundown is billions is a weekly showtime tv series partway through its 5th season (12 episodes per season, currently they are producing the last half of s5 but had been on pandemic production hiatus for the past year, we do not yet know when the rest of s5 will air, s6 was greenlit a while ago) this isn’t really need to know for this question lol, but you don’t need to Not know either

the like, content Rundown is that yeah, it’s business, mostly high finance, although one of the main characters is always doing Legal Stuff (don’t care really b/c that side of things is not generally as relevant to, yes, taylor mason, who Makes the series). the kind of overarching Theme / premise is that the show is about like, here’s these Conflicts between people who are wielding some power in various ways, looking at the motivations of the individuals involved / the Cause And Effect web of these conflicts between them, e.g. how the consequences / fallout of one Power Play Maneuver will affect someone else’s storyline and result in them executing their own maneuvers, and of course, the pitfalls of all of this. more specifically, the series kicks off with the two (then (taylor is introduced in season 2) mainest characters, Axe, ceo of a hedge fund, and Chuck, some kind of lawyer who decides to go after axe b/c axe thinks he’s hot shit (true) and chuck is like ohhh i gotta do something about this guy. so there’s an Unending Conflict, axe vs chuck, an ongoing back and forth series of small or more overarching battles, and of course sometimes alliances, because there’s a Lot of characters on this show and we’re in season 5 so there’s been plenty of other Conflicts introduced besides this particular ongoing war. also, uh oh, chuck’s wife wendy works for the hedge fund axe runs! that’s just a whole wrench in things. as some sort of like, in house therapist performance coach sort of deal, thanks wendy, she’s also fairly a Main Character

axe is somewhat more relevant for our purposes b/c that’s that Finance side of the show via which taylor is introduced. but yeah both axe and chuck are exasperating lmfao like, this isn’t a show where it’s about the Likeability of whatever main character where like, you’re rooting for the obviously righteous / justified person or anything, it’s more about being along for the ride where you get to know Why people are engaging in these conflicts for sure, but like, unless you’re one of plenty of fans who maybe aren’t bringing the most Insight to the show who find any of this like, aspirational Epic Winner stuff like hell yeah axe or chuck as the Cool Guy Who Deserves To Win lmfao, being along for the ride is knowing that you’re just getting to watch this unfolding mess, so that’s “fun” lol

to get more to the point, yeah Taylor Mason is again the best part of the series lol, they’re introduced early in s2 as a Very Talented young iintern at axe capital (axe’s hedge fund) who, yknow, part of what makes axe an Eventful character to center things around is he’s (sometimes) capable re: all these strategic finance maneuvers, and also all “i don’t play by the rules,” which can often mean like, the actual rules like “no insider trading please” or more kinda implicit moral rules like “don’t keep taking Business Advantage over people’s deaths,” and here means that even though taylor is this early to mid 20something intern with no experience in finance who’s not even, at that juncture, necessarily planning to stay in the industry, he’s like yeah they’re valuable and i’m not gonna hold them back from that potential / opportunities * just because they’re a 20something new to the industry intern who definitely doesn’t behave in the Usual Way around here and is also a canon nonbinary character, thanks ( * you might not believe it, but axe does not proceed to only ever be a potential encouraging, opportunity creating ally* (*although, one nice thing is that they....almost always....have axe adamantly hold everyone who works with him to respecting taylor as a nonbinary person, at least in how they address taylor. b/c taylor Does get misgendered periodically, which can be exhausting, but they also aren’t exactly striving to hold it to what might be most “””realistic””” so like, taylor isn’t subject to transphobia and misgendering All The Time either) and so taylor very quickly goes beyond internship at axe cap, to the extent that when, at the end of season 2, axe effectively leaves them in charge of the whole fund when his own fuckups mean he temporarily Can’t helm axe cap

aaand then s3 starts off with taylor running things but has axe return Officially in charge soon enough, so there’s problems there, in that axe is now pulling taylor Back, and like, axe is alllllll about his ego, so it’s like, of course he’d Want taylor to have been able to successfully run axe cap while he couldn’t, since it’s his fund, but then of course he’s also mad about it b/c he needs everyone, like taylor, to know he’s better & more winning than them. and taylor doesn’t appreciate now being more sabotaged and stifled and that, like, if they’re mad about being treated this way, axe is just gonna be mad about That b/c you know, why aren’t they Only grateful to their mentor or deferential to his Skill And Experience, as well as the fact that no matter how much of an Ally you are to him, he’ll be mad if you’re not unilaterally loyal, aka if he fucks you over you can’t be mad about it or that’s actually a way you’re wronging Him, and you’re also wronging him if yknow, you say he can’t/shouldn’t just do what he wants, or do anything that to him implies you don’t think he’s objectively the Best most Winning and Deserving guy in whatever regards, like, if you’re associated with someone who makes him feel insecure in his superiority for one moment, and/or who he thinks doesn’t also recognize his superiority or something, he’ll be mad at you.......the Conflicts can arise v easily around here with this beloved character walking around. so, yeah, whereas season 2 for taylor is more like wow taylor you’ve got all this potential and value here, in season 3 taylor’s sure got reason to question their future at axe cap (see this post resident Billions / Taylor Mason Pro soph made last night) and, when not only are they and axe just more often going head to head over what they want here, there’s also this added egregious conflict of “taylor starts seeing this guy oscar who’s also in finance (but not at axe cap) and when they ask axe for some input on a matter via which they intended to help oscar out, axe uses that Information taylor just used to fuck oscar over to his own advantage, and when taylor is like ‘what the hell’ axe is just like ‘what’d you expect!! i gotta be me!!! if you expected anything different, that’s on you, and if you Did expect me to do this, that’s also on you’ because i’m sure it’s a surprise to hear that axe considers himself this like, force of nature where all his feelings and motivations and justifications are Objective and Correct, and then taylor has to tell oscar what happened and naturally this ends the relationship, to their evident further unhappiness” and oops, season 3 ends with taylor having started their own hedge fund.

i could give a tl;dr for what happens over the course of s4 & (so far in) s5, but i think the s2/s3 arcs are kinda the Essential Lore for explaining this character who crashes into the show (not in that their character tends to crash, their arrival and presence is clearly somewhat of a shakeup re: the norm, but they themself are all about staying balanced and Not being driven by tumultuous emotional impulses or anything like that, *cough, the characters they are quite a Foil to in this way*) and quickly ascends to Main Charactership. (also just remembered the other stats note that taylor is played by asia kate dillon, who is themself nonbinary.) another element that is a lot of fun re: taylor is that they have like, the series’ best Friendship lol, the show is not very conducive to a bunch of characters having a bunch of heartwarming relationships, though they sure Do appreciate those characters and let us see a lot of Dynamics at play even beyond the “these people are locked in conflict” plots and characterful interactions and moments for their own sakes, and Alliances, even friendships, sure are the other side of the Ongoing Conflicts coin here. but what i’m getting around to is that taylor gets to be good buds with mafee, a Guy who was working at axe cap already in season 1, who, along with ben kim (Another Guy At Axe Cap in S1, who we are also fans of) is like, one of the actually nice(r) people around there, and who is just like. such this Hapless Cishet Dude lmfaooo but he also happens to be the guy overseeing taylor’s (and presumably others’) internship, and is yknow, maybe kinda conflicted about “i’ve Been an actual employee this whole time and there goes an intern rocketing past me” but is also Supportive towards taylor, and taylor in turn is an Ally to him, and they are Friends, and when taylor starts their own fund, Taylor Mason Capital, mafee is the person from axe cap who helps them do it and leaves axe cap to work for them there. there’s also a part in s4, after an arc in the middle of the season ended up with taylor taking quite an emotional L, mafee has gone and confronted Responsible Parties over it and, naturally, ended up in a charity interfund Boxing Match (which, a] billions is deliberately Wild plenty of times in both its Elevated Dialogue style but also just like, things that happen lol but b] apparently that’s something that can & does happen in real life in hedge fund world. absolutely bizarre to learn this kind of stuff) taylor kinda gives him this pep talk including “asking you to come with me (to TMC, mase cap, their fund) was the best decision i ever made” and even back then, when we’d just started paying attention to the show fairly recently and weren’t exactly familiar with everyone and everything going on, it was like oh i Gotta post that clip lmao

there are many other side characters, this is a very Populated show, including like, recurring characters, people liable to be introduced at various points who might become regulars Or make repeat appearances but more periodically Or be around for part of a season, but naturally also i am mentioning one specific side character of Winston (No Official Last Name), who is a Quant, aka a quantitative rather than fundamental analyst, who first appeared in One Scene at the start of season 3 when taylor was looking to hire some quants for a project, but did not succeed, and the character (then only Quant Kid 2) was only meant to have that one appearance, but delightfully everyone wanted him back and they wrote more material for him asap. taylor later brings him on to their quant project, which is revealed to be part of what ensures they can start their own fund, and in season 4 winston is apparently the head of the quant team at mase cap, and he continues to appear as taylor’s main Quant. could go into a long (and, as he’s not a Main Character and it’s easier to cover his material, very thorough) tangent there lol but you’re asking about taylor and i’m only bringing up winston b/c technically he Is relevant there lmfao but also, i have to, and [tfw this side character quant who was originally only going to appear in one brief scene was the reason you got into this series in the first place and now it’s like well, We’re Here Forever, and also, taylor mason is The character]

natch you must’ve noticed if you’re sending me an ask about billions, but if you like taylor mason you Gotta be following @nothingunrealistic the #1 Tayficianado and who has also recently nobly finished Actually Properly Watching Billions and who can give you all kinds of info about the character / series, there’s A LOT to cover and it’s kinda impossible to convey some stuff w/o simply experiencing things yourself firsthand lmfao but also, we think about these characters and this show every day for like, two years and running, so. as you can see......totally willing to talk about it at any time to any extent lol

[ireadergosumveritas]

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT’S THE LAST DAY OF #AbsCoversOfJuly 😭 but I am loving that my feed is alllllll the abs!! ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Do you struggle to get it together on Bookstagram like I do sometimes?! I didn’t have time to take anymore “almost abs” photos, so I’m blessing you with these yummy @tijansbooks books 🤩 Winners of the challenge will be announced by August 9th, so keep your eyes out! @book_hangover88 and I are so thankful for every single one of you that participated and we hope to see you all next summer!! It’s been awesome finding new romance book friends as well! ♥️ ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• #AbsCoverConnoisseur #Tijan #AbsCovers #CoverLove #UnapologeticRomanceReader #BookBlogger #Bookstagram #ContemporaryRomance #Bookstagrammer #IReadErgoSum https://www.instagram.com/p/CSBEeP0r-B6/?utm_medium=tumblr

[mobius-prime]

238. Sonic the Hedgehog #170

Comings and Goings

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley Colors: Jason Jensen

Today's main story is mostly just more clean-up on Ian's part. Sally is worried about her father, still in a coma in bed after being poisoned by Evil Antoine, but Sonic and Tails arrive to reassure her, as Tails and Rotor have cooked up something special that should allow them to retrieve a Chaos Emerald for a quick cure. This "something special" turns out to be a pair of star posts (yeah, Ian really wanted to align this more with the games) which can open portals to alternate zones through some unexplained-as-of-yet means. Sonic and Tails end up in what was once the Zone of Silence but is now the Special Zone, which looks significantly different now that the energies of the Chaos Emeralds have altered it so much. They quickly run into another living being within the zone - Feist, the Giant (literally) Panda! Oh boy, remember this one-off character from StH#43? I guess he was meant to be just another one of Naugus' random lackeys within the Zone of Silence, but it seems like he's taken his once-in-a-lifetime chance to become a god with the power of the emeralds.

Da-dadada-daaaaaa! Yep, after two-hundred thirty eight issues of these comics, the Chaos Emeralds have finally attained their more recognizable forms as a group of seven distinct multicolored gems! See what I mean by clean-up? After Sonic and Tails explain their mission, Feist grants them a single emerald, the gray one, though he warns them that the next time they enter this place in search of the emeralds he will test them as he sees fit. Sonic and Tails rush the emerald to the royal bedroom, where Dr. Quack and Uncle Chuck insert it into their little… medical machine thingy and fire it up while it's attached to the unconscious former king. After a brief light show, he begins to wake up, and asks after his kingdom. He's quietly thrilled to see Elias as king, and to hear that Sally is back to working with the Freedom Fighters.

Sonic and Tails vacate the room to give the family time to talk amongst themselves, but Sally follows quickly, handing over the emerald and telling them that Merlin was looking for them. They're confused, even more so when they find Knuckles also having been called over by Merlin, but Merlin explains that he can use the power of the Chaos Emerald and Knuckles' guiding star gem combined to bring them to Argentum, allowing them to finally bring Tails' parents back. Sonic is a little miffed that he's unable to really help besides merely coming along for the ride, wishing he could take Fiona along to show her the planet, but soon they've warped halfway across the universe and find themselves standing on the Wheelworld. However, the place looks desolate and wrecked, and they can see Xorda ships in the sky battling with fleets of other, unidentified ships. Tails becomes panicked and wanders off to find his parents with Merlin following close behind, but while they're gone Rosemary and Amadeus show up, informing Sonic and Knuckles that the other ships belong to the Black Arms, and their war has been going on for several months now, devastating Argentum in the process. Wait, the Black Arms? Shadow's progenitors? Yeah, so essentially, Ian couldn't get permission from Sega to bring the Black Arms to Mobius for whatever reason, even though he was trying, so he decided to tie them up in a war with the Xorda. This would allow him to easily bring them in at any time once he got his permission, simply by having the war end and the Black Arms continue on their way to Mobius. I'll spoil it for you right now though that he never did get that permission during the course of the preboot, so that aspect of Shadow's backstory never really got explored the way it did in the games, since the Black Arms were eternally doomed to remain an offscreen presence. Anyway, Sonic, upon seeing Tails' parents, quickly rushes off and brings Tails and Merlin back for a reunion.

Aww! Man, we've been waiting a long time for this reunion! The two long-lost foxes end up in the castle, where Elias greets them and enthusiastically offers them a place in his court, which they accept, apparently having encountered some ideas during their decade away that they'd like to find a way to implement into Knothole's government. That evening, Knuckles finds Sonic hanging out near the graves of Tommy and Sir Connery, and though Knuckles is surprised given that Sonic isn't normally one to mope, Sonic explains that he's still a bit broken up over their deaths, as normally they don't lose "so many so fast." Knuckles grimly remembers his own family's disappearance, and Sonic worries that with many old and new villains rising up lately, things might be about to take a turn for the worse.

Well, funny y'all should mention Shadow! He's currently storming into Eggman's main computer room, furious, as he's just discovered that Eggman has been hiding a diary of Gerald's all along, and now he wants to know where it is…

The Island of Misfit Badniks!

Writer: Mike Gallagher Pencils: Dave Manak Colors: Jason Jensen

Oh, hi, Michael buddy! Haven't seen ya in some time! He's here to relieve us a bit from the more serious stuff of late with some of his characteristic slapstick charm, and a bit of a blast from the comic's past! Sonic, on one of his rare days off from duty, decides to take a run around the Great Forest only to accidentally stumble into an old hidden listening post of Robotnik's from the Robotropolis days. He finds a reference to an artificial island out in the ocean nearby, which was meant to be a waypoint for any defeated badniks to retreat to to await repair and/or retirement, and decides to check out if it's still there, using a piece of wood lying around nearby as a boogie board. Sure enough, the island is there, but he's surprised to find that "artificial" was a bit more literal than he expected and the place is in fact entirely made out of solid steel. Before he can explore further, he's knocked on the head from behind, and wakes up strapped to some kind of torture rack with a bunch of old badniks standing around him ready to bring the pain!

…yeah, that's about what we expected. Things are looking good until a new player arrives on the scene - none other than Pseudo-Sonic, who appeared alllllll the way back in StH#9! Damn, you're really goin' back for this one, Michael! Pseudo-Sonic has apparently been salty all these years that even though he was built to be Sonic's match as his first-ever metal doppelganger, he never got a chance to actually face off with the Blue Blur himself. The other badniks set up a contest between the two where they'll essentially run at and headbutt each other really hard, and whoever survives the impact is the winner. These two idiots actually do it, and Sonic ends up being headbutted all the way back out to sea.

Is it, though? C'mon, Sonic, you know it's never that simple! Sure enough, as he heads back to shore we discover that the badniks actually sunk the island on purpose, making it appear to be accidental while in fact setting up the island to be an underwater base where they can repair Pseudo-Sonic and plan their next revenge attack. Apparently this is "definitely not the end," so I guess we can look forward to one last visit from these guys in the future!

[insarations]

random questions just cause...hereeell we go

1. Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged? *chuckles* yup

2. You talked to an ex today, correct? yes

3. Have you taken someones virginity? ya

4. Is trust a big issue for you? no in fact I trust people way too much

5. Did you hang out with the person you like recently? don't really like anyone atm

6. What are you excited for? hmm idk really. I guess my week off of work in a few weeks

7. What happened tonight? not much, just chilling, rainy day

8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted? ehh..idk it's just not my thing. but I wouldn't call it "disgusting"..if that's fun for them then cool

9. Is confidence cute? for sure, just not tooo much..fine line there

10. What is the last beverage you had? water and an iced vanilla latte

11. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust? hmm. not any really besides my dad

12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans? yes a couple

13. What are you gonna do Saturday night? I'm not sure yet. Probably go somewhere with a friend or see a movie

14. What are you going to spend money on next? probably either food or coffee

15. Are you going out with the last person you kissed? no

16. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months? not significantly but I feel like I'm always changing in some way, even if it's gradual

17. Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything? not gonna put a name but one of my best friends

18. The last time you felt broken? that's hard to answer cause like i still do, i have for a while now but I mean it's not as bad as it was. about a year ago

19. Have you had sex today? sadly no lol

20. Are you starting to realize anything? a lot of things every second of every day. adulthood has a lot of fucking wake up calls

21. Are you in a good mood? not necessarily in a good mood but i'm not really in a bad mood either..it's just kinda like meh lol

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks? hmm.... maybeee... depends

23. Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s? no. his is brown, mine are blue

24. What do you want right this second? not to have to go to work tomorrow XD and idk maybe a good ol makeout session and/or cuddles

25. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy? uhhh well like if i were in a relationship with them then wtf, no no lol not good. but like if it was someone i'm not together with then...cool, do whatever the hell you want

26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color? pretty much

27. Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh? noo.. like i mean they don't gotta be some sorta jokester/comedian or nothing but just..don't be so serious. laughing is the best

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh? probably one of my cats lol

29. Do you really, truly miss someone right now? always do

30. Does everyone deserve a second chance? for the most part. but idk...I don't think I could give someone who cheated another chance. that's just crossing a line of trust that like..I could forive but I wouldn't be able to be with them again. I just don't understand anyone who cheats

31. Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to? that would be my dad so no XD

32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do? hmm hard to answer. but I suppose she does

33. Are you one of those people who never drinks soda? nooo I love soda. with that said though, since the beginning of the year i've cut back on it alottttt for my health. but i still drink it maybe once a week. i used to drink it literally every day multiple times a day.

34. Listening to? currently juice WRLD

35. Do you ever write in pencil anymore? sometimes at work but not often

36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is? yup

37. Do you believe in love at first sight? yes and no. i hate that question, it's old lets move on lol

38. Who did you last call? i cant remember, probably one of my parents. i dont talk on the phone much

39. Who was the last person you danced with? I dont dance really except in the car with my friends..our own version of dancing XD

40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed? cause she was my girlfriend. girlfriends do that lol

41. When was the last time you ate a cupcake? a few weeks ago i think

42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today? no..we don't hug often really lol we're just not that way but i do hug my mom every now and then

43. Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush? probably a million times

44. Do you tan in the nude? noooooooo. i burn so easy i'd probably turn into one giant tomato

45. If you could, would you take back your last kiss? never

46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night? nah :/ I miss that

47. Who was the last person to call you? a million car sales people cause i'm stupid and entered info on a website and now it's like the neverending fucking story of sales people calling me like heyyyy buy a jeep and its like yes mam id love to but i'm poor so how about not right now stop calling me thank you bye

48. Do you sing in the shower? heck ya. except not really lately cause i shower at the gym...they don't wanna hear that XD

49. Do you dance in the car? yasss

50. Ever used a bow and arrow? yes, I did archery at camp as a kid. fun times

51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? 10th grade highschool photo. or if it counts, my aunt took my graduation photos..she perty professional

52. Do you think musicals are cheesy? there definitely can be cheesy ones but those are usually the ones i love XD

53. Is Christmas stressful? these days yes -_- never as a kid. I miss those days

54. Ever eat a pierogi? I don't think I have actually

55. Favorite type of fruit pie? not a huge fruit pie person but I guess...apple or lemon. I really don't eat fruit pie though. If  it's gonna be pie then I prefer something like chocolate or peanut butter

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? so many different things, that's why i never settled on anything XD

57. Do you believe in ghosts? I think so..in a certain way.. like not in the way they show on tv and movies. just idk, i do believe in spirits. There's some stories in my family they are kinda hard not to believe or explain

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? allllll the time

59. Take a vitamin daily? nah, probably should ?

60. Wear slippers? not anymore, I used to alot

61. Wear a bath robe? same as above. I get way too hot for that now lol

62. What do you wear to bed? usually just shorts or boxers and a tank top or tshirt. sometimes sweatpants dependning  

63. First concert? reba mcentire lol

64. Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? target. walmart for certain things. but target is just fun

65. Nike or Adidas? neither really but adidas if i have to pick

66. Cheetos Or Fritos? cheetos

67. Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? I like both, but peanuts

68. Favorite Taylor Swift song? back in the day, crazier. then it was blank space or shake it off...but recently, delicate. many different taylor eras XD

69. Ever take dance lessons? when I was in elementary school and 6th grade yes

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? umm hmm honestly no. whatever makes them happy :)

71. Can you curl your tongue? nah, i dont got nothing special like that XD

72. Ever won a spelling bee? nahh

73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy? yesss

74. What is your favorite book? several...looking for alaska by john greene, the pawn series by robin roseau, and look again by lisa scottoline

75. Do you study better with or without music? havent studied in so long O_o but probably with

76. Regularly burn incense? not regularly. I do from time to time but not as much anymore, my mom hates it lol

77. Ever been in love? yes

78. Who would you like to see in concert? so many... fleetwood mac or just stevie nicks, ben howard, maroon 5, pvris, ariana grande, lana del rey, the weeknd, pink, coldplay, imagine dragons lady gaga, andrew belle, adele, lorde, gwen stefani even though I already did lol...i could go on all day. bottom line, i need to see more concerts

79. What was the last concert you saw? Gwen Stefani a couple years ago

80. Hot tea or cold tea? cold

81. Tea or coffee? coffee

82. Favorite type of cookie? alllllll the cookies. lately m&m. but chocolate chip is always a winner

83. Can you swim well? yes

84. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? nahh

85. Are you patient? yes and no. depends on the setting and circumstance lol. I think I'm fairly patient compared to other people but sometimes at work..if the right people push my buttons then oohhh boyyy no

86. DJ or band, at a wedding? hmm.. neither honestly just put on the damn ipod playlist XD

87. Ever won a contest? a couple when I was little lol

88. Ever have plastic surgery? noo. no thank you

89. Which are better black or green olives? greeeeeen

90. Opinions on sex before marriage? go for it. I used to think alot differently when I was younger cause I'm a christian, grew up with traditional values. but *sighs*... things change lol sex is great, go for it but be safe people XD

91. Best room for a fireplace? ANY ROOM. omggg. they should have fireplaces in the bathroom. what a great idea you can just warm yourself while you sitting there haha genius

92. Do you want to get married? If I meet the right person but if I don't ever get married that's fine too lol it's not a priority for me really but if I do meet the right person then for sure

[anythingstephenking]

We’re All Just Bags of Bones (& More Uplifting Realizations)

GHOSTS! FUCK YEAH! We got ourselves a ghost story, y’all and even tho I’m not a relligo and don’t really believe in “spirits” (other than good tequila), I friggin’ love ghost stories. I blame my early childhood obsession with Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and Saturday nights staying up late to watch Are You Afraid Of The Dark. Is someone still making scary content for kids? I mean, not Creepypasta, I saw that Slenderman doc on HBO, please don’t make that content. I feel like I read that RL Stine is still publishing books? You go, RL Stine.

Before we get started on vengeful ghosts, I’m gunna talk about myself for a bit. Since I’m the only one who ever looks at this blog, whatever, I do what I want.

I’ve been a little down on my King-Marathon lately, mostly because I started in 2016 with grand plans and 3 years later I’m only just past the halfway point. Even if I manage a book a month, it’ll be another 3+ years before I finish (nevermind that King keeps publishing 2 books a year. Slow your role bro!) I’m also headed into King’s not-so-great years (I hate saying that, but I think it’s true. Sorry Steve, I still love you). It’s really not even the quality but the quantity - have you seen how long Dreamcatcher and Duma Key and Lisey’s Story and Under The Dome are? I’ll tell ya - 2,100 pages. UTD is 1,000+ itself. It’ll be like reading The Stand except it’s about aliens and I’ll hate it like I hated The Tommyknockers.

Hey Negative Nancy, why don’t you just quit then? Quitting is for losers, duh. But really, it’s because every once in a while, I get to read a book like Bag of Bones and I remember why I lurve King so much. And that folks, is how you circle back from bitching to the true topic.

I really enjoyed Bag of Bones. We already covered why. Ghosts motherfuckah. More than ghosts though, it felt like a return to true King storytelling with all the core players - the woods of Maine, a writer protagonist (obvs), horrors of both the supernatural and human varieties. Cause the ghosts are vengeful but the humans are the real monsters. Lets get on the astral plane and uncover some secrets.

I’m so basic but I literally can’t with this jacket photo.

Bag of Bones was King’s first book in a new contract with Scribner. King upped the ante on what he wanted from his publisher (take a guess - ayup more dinero) and when Viking wouldn’t bite he waved bye bye and plopped on down the road to Scribner. I guess it worked out cause he still publishes with them today. You get that 50% profit share bud, I know you and Tabs give a lot to charity so it’s ok. 

This new contract covered what would be 3 books - Bag of Bones, On Writing and a novella collection originally meant to be called “One Headlight” that morphed into my next read, Hearts in Atlantis. In the author’s afterward, King laments about On Writing, saying “I doubt they’ll ever teach this book in writing school.” Sometimes I can’t tell if King is being honest, humble, modest, ironic, pretentious or some combination of all these things, but On Writing is indeed taught in writing schools. Like a lot of them. I’m not reading his non-fiction but if I’m not dead before I finish this thing, maybe I’ll read it on a beach somewhere. Lord knows I need help in the writing department. 

So I’m going to get a little contemplative on this book because this is the last King I’ll read chronologically before his car accident. Technically his last book published before the accident was The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but my vacation brain caused me to read these out of order. In hindsight, it makes more sense this way. 

I’ve been researching the car wreck and will do a separate Commercial Break post about the accident itself, but the jist is some distracted driver plowed into King walking along the side of the road in June 1999 and he could have died. He also could have never written again.

Navigating the subject matter of Bag of Bones, knowing the real accident was just around the corner made the book even creepier. Our main character, Mike Noonan, is a writer whose healthy wife drops dead and all of a sudden he can’t write anymore. Meanwhile, in King’s world, he himself almost dies and, trying to overcome his injuries, thinks he’ll never write again. Am I stretching? Uh yah. King’s had his fair share of writers block before, so this is a story of hindsight not foresight. But I seriously lost sleep over this story (which I haven’t since Cujo) with restless dreams about Mike Noonan and Stephen King being haunted by ghosts keeping them from practicing their craft.

I speculate that his new contract with Scribner is what got King back at the keyboard. Having only fulfilled on 1 of 3 novels must have been a solid motivation to recover and restart the engines. Only a coincidence but (Carrie Bradshaw voice) I couldn’t help but wonder if King would have quit writing for longer if he was still with Viking. King’s been writing for almost 50 years and only been with three publishing houses in all those years. The timing of the signing with Scribner just makes me wonder about fate. Oh universe, you crazy.

Back to book-world. Mike Noonan, mourning his wife four years after he passing, decides to spend the summer at their lakehouse in Maine. These writers and their multiple homes, amirite? He meets a young mother named Mattie and they fall in love. See, Mattie lost her husband tragically too. But Mattie’s in a custody battle, and her dead husband’s evil family wants her daughter.

Ok, another bitch break - my only gripe with this book. Mike is 40 and Mattie is 21. They do fall in love in a really genuine way, but still, yuck. Mike is powerful and rich, Mattie is helpless and poor. Mike swoops in and saves the day and Mattie’s all “Aw shucks, you’re my hero! You can totally bang me now!”. Mike’s our narrator so we spend all our time in his head - and we hear alllllll about his wife Jo, Mike’s sadness and his longing. Mattie hardly ever talks about her dead husband Lance and spends her time pining away over Mike. This power dynamic really rubbed me the wrong way. That said, I was rooting for them, because ya know, I’m not dead inside and they really cared for each other.

This book twists and turns and pivots and has a new bonkers revelation around every corner. We’ve got a small town of well-developed characters with unknown motives. The supernatural is writing cryptic messages with fridge magnets. Is it Jo? Is it something more sinister? Is it Pennywise? Who knows! (Just kidding, it’s not Pennywise). I pride myself of guessing the plot of these rollercoaster stories, but I was surprised by the twists many times. Although I did just watch Scream 4 for the first time and guessed the killer wrong so maybe I’m losing my touch.

Of course there are evil people too, and there’s a gunfight sandwiched between all the ghostly revelations that felt more than a little out of place, but at the end of it all, I was satisfied and smiling.

At its core it’s story of love, loss, death and morality. Even with all of its insane plotting, it comes back around to a study of grief and pain and protecting the ones you love. All my favorite King themes, combined with an actual page turning story about solving a ghost mystery? Winner winner.

Bag of Bones seems like one of those King books that fades from his most well remembered cannon, but it deserves much more. It’s got love. It’s got ghosts. It’s got evil old men. It’s got Maine! What’s not to love?

8/10

First Line: On a very hot day in August 1994, my wife told me she was going down to the Derry Rite Aid to pick up a refill on her sinus prescription - this is stuff you can get over the counter these days, I believe.

Last Line: These days I prefer not to.

Adaptations:

OH GOODY ANOTHER MINISERIES. This one was so bad even ABC passed on it, which like, they made The Langoliers, so yeah, it’s bad.

I’m not even going to go there. Pierce Brosnan plays 40-year-old Mike Noonan, except he’s 60 and also HAS A BRITISH ACCENT. Y’all, the entire plot revolves around Mike’s family being from Maine for generations. IT IS WHAT THE CLIMAX OF THE STORY IS BASED ON! Where did he get a fucking British accent from? JESUS CHRIST I HOPE THAT CASTING DIRECTOR NEVER WORKED AGAIN.

Sorry for yelling so much, seriously, it made me so angry. This movie was nonsense. They reveal the “big twist” in the opening credits. Never ever watch this.

[kartiavelino]

What Actually Went Down After Kanye Interrupted Taylor Swift?

New particulars have emerged in regards to the behind-the-scenes moments after Kanye West stormed the 2009 MTV VMAs stage, interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. In a single of popular culture’s most cringe-worthy moments, Swift gained a Moonman for Greatest Feminine Video, defeating Beyonce and her “Single Women (Put a Ring On It)” video.  Not one to maintain his opinions to himself, the Chicago rapper took the mic from Swift to defend Queen Bey, saying, “Yo Taylor, I’m actually completely happy for you and Imma allow you to end. However Beyonce had the most effective movies of all time! Top-of-the-line movies of all time!” In case you forgot, you may relive these 15 seconds right here: Now, 10 years later, MTV staffers who have been backstage and dealing manufacturing is spilling the beans. In interviews with Billboard , every little thing from West’s weird crimson carpet conduct to moments off digicam is uncovered.  Former vice chairman of MTV expertise relations, Whitney-Gayle Benta, revealed how she noticed West on the crimson carpet, accompanied with a bottle of Hennessey.  “I bear in mind being like, “Are you okay?” As a result of I knew him very effectively and it appeared very out of character for him to be on the carpet like that… I undoubtedly mentioned one thing to him. I used to be like, “What’s up with you?” And he was like, “I am right here dwelling my finest life.” “I talked to Pete [Wentz] and he instructed me, “Man, Kanye is so drunk. Kanye got here as much as me inside Radio Metropolis and gave me his bottle of Hennessey, and he made me take a swig,” remembered James Montgomery, former MTV Information senior correspondent. “The dude is so wasted.” The “Gold Digger” rapper was initially positioned to sit down within the eighth row, however that modified hours earlier than the telecast. “I cracked a joke like, ‘Jeeeez, who determined to place Kanye alllllll the way in which again right here? Who did he piss off at MTV? He isn’t going to be completely happy about this. Anyone’s gonna get fired,’ described Jim Cantiello, former MTV Information producer. “After which the morning of the VMAs, the producers realized that they did not have sufficient males in direction of the entrance.. So on the eleventh hour, they moved Kanye up in direction of the entrance.” Ex-president of Viacom Media Networks Music & Brand Group, Van Toffler, even described why West sat entrance row, although he was not performing. “Kanye was not performing… however he had a entrance row seat. As a result of we have been all the time involved about how every little thing seemed on tv, we didn’t need these large cumbersome bodyguards on digicam, so we did not have safety within the entrance of the expertise part.” In line with staffers, producers discovered Bey crying to her father after West’s daring transfer after they instructed her that she was the winner of the night time’s high prize.  “I stroll behind the stage — and certain sufficient there’s Beyoncé and her dad, and he or she is crying,” mentioned Toffler. “She was like, ‘I did not know this was going to occur, I really feel so unhealthy for her.” Later that night time, Beyoncé invited Taylor again on stage throughout her Video of the 12 months win to complete her speech, however in actuality, that invite was deliberate by producers. Staffers admitted to breaking protocol by telling Bey she gained the night’s highest honor earlier than its televised announcement.  “Sooner or later I let her know that she was most likely going to be up on the rostrum on the finish of the present for an award. And wouldn’t or not it’s good to have Taylor come up and have her second then? I needed to point out to her that she wanted to remain, and maybe it is a solution to have this come full circle and let [Taylor] have her second. I’d usually not say something, however I had two crying artists.” What viewers couldn’t see was singer P!nk confront West about his conduct.  “Through the business break, he went again all the way down to his seat and P!nk walked as much as him and received in his face. I wasn’t shut sufficient to listen to the dialog, however she was pointing in his face and nodding her head forwards and backwards, and giving him her two cents about how fucked up this was after which stormed off,” described Montgomery. “Then he was sitting there subsequent to Amber Rose along with his arm round her, and you can really feel everybody in Radio Metropolis obvious at his again.” http://feeds.guess.com/~r/AllBetcom/~3/5PNKTBzfB30/what-really-went-down-after-kanye-west-interrupted-taylor-swifts.html The post What Actually Went Down After Kanye Interrupted Taylor Swift? appeared first on Kartia Velino. https://kartiavelino.com/what-really-went-down-after-kanye-interrupted-taylor-swift/