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wndaswife · 11 months

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Hi if your requests are open :) I saw you write for Gerri Fields and THANK YOU BECAUSE THERE IS LITERALLY NO FICS OF HER(Favourite Lizzie character)

But I was wondering if I could request a fic! So basically R and Gerri are together but it’s just fluff and banter! Gerri Invites Reader over to the party her parents are throwing and Gerri is just trying to sneak away with R until Gerri’s family keep calling them back?

If you can’t do this request it’s no problem thank you for taking the time to read it anyways :) I love your fics and I hope you have an amazing Day/Night

baby steps | gerri fields & fem!reader

It’s the first official night you’re spending together as girlfriends, but neither you nor Gerri can find enough peace to get each other alone.

Word count: 2845

Tags: fluff, humour, suggestive language, cute little gays trying doing their cute little gay things, ft. gerri’s chaotic family

A/N: yeah i totally get that!! i really love gerri too so im really glad you enjoy reading my fics ab her as much as i love writing them <3 thanks for requesting this!!

“Did you bring your laptop?”

You dug through your bag and carefully pulled your laptop out before setting it down on Gerri’s bed.

“The charger?�� she asked.

You answered, “Yeah.”

Tonight was the first night you were spending with Gerri now that you were dating. You’d been best friends with each other since the first year of high school and there’d been likely hundreds of sleepovers before, but there was a bit of an unspoken excitement between the two of you tonight.

Over the past three weeks, you’d been getting to know the roommate you’d be moving in with in September, and last week you went to one of her parties a city away with Gerri.

For your future roommate, it was a farewell party for her thrown a bit earlier in the summer because one of her best friends was going to be travelling to Armenia with not enough time to have a big party like they wanted once they came back — so they celebrated in July.

For you and Gerri, it was a chance to get out of the neighbourhood you’ve always known around the people you’ve always known, and the both of you were rather excited to get out for a while because you’d be staying there overnight due to how long the drive was, and neither of you, including your roommate, wanted you travelling that far so late into the night.

Maybe it was just how overwhelming the night was or how different things were there, but you ended up leaving the party to take a walk around the neighbourhood with Gerri. You walked around together talking about things you liked about home and all the memories you shared together from years ago — old crushes, old friends, each other.

Wrapped up in the warm feeling of nostalgia and sharing in each other’s sole company, it was Gerri who kissed you first, who took your hand and cupped your cheek and pulled you close. But it was you who then had her back against a nearby tree, hugging her around the waist and running your hands through her hair, taking your best friend as yours for the first time.

It didn’t seem like things were all too different now that you were together. It felt like that was a testament to how close the two of you have always been, and how long-developed the love for each other had been growing until one night it just had to give.

So although neither of you had outright said it, tonight was a bit of a milestone.

Both of you were determined to be able to spend time alone together, to delve into the depths of your relationship that’d been waiting patiently for your exploration — waiting for years. Now you didn’t have to look at each other and feel the soft stirring deep within your chests at the sight of one another and attribute all of it to simply being close friends.

Now, you could feel what you’d always felt for one another and do it all as girlfriends.

“Toothbrush?”

You searched through the smaller bag that you put aside for your toiletries.

“No, I forgot it,” you replied with a wince. “Shit.”

Gerri waved her hand dismissively. “Okay,” she said. “It’s fine, we have an extra and you can use the toothpaste I have.”

“Orrr,” you drawled as you crept up to your girlfriend while she dug through the linen closet in the hallway for an extra toothbrush, “I could just use yours.”

She laughed and pushed you off of her with her hand on your shoulder when you wrapped your arms around her waist from behind. “That’s disgusting,” she said.

“I read in an article that the healthiest relationships share stuff, you know — shampoo, clothes, toothbrushes.”

“Oh, yeah?” she asked and raised an eyebrow, closing the linen closet with a new toothbrush in her hand as you followed her back into her bedroom. “Where’d you read that? Bullshit-dot-org?”

You sat down on her bed with a dramatic huff and rubbed your palms against her soft sheets.

“You’re not being very romantic right now,” you teased and watched as she set the toothbrush down on your bag.

The corner of Gerri’s mouth twitched upwards and she repressed a tiny smirk as she walked over to you so you were looking up at her. “Not being romantic enough?” she asked. She slid her knee between your legs and with a hand on your shoulder, carefully pushed you back so she could lean over you.

Leaning down further while your back was now flat on her bed, Gerri hooked her fingers around the collar of your shirt and tugged down so she could kiss your exposed collarbone, making you shudder.

She was so gentle.

Until last week, you’ve never known Gerri like this before, but you’d be lying if you said you’d never thought about how gentle her hands would be on your body or how her soft lips would feel like on yours.

She was more adventurous than you imagined, often taking the initiative to slip herself on top of you and bury you in intimate, warm kisses. It always made you rather flustered because prior to the first time you were underneath her, you had no idea how much passion had been resting within her.

You haven’t had sex together yet, but just thinking about it made you lightheaded.

“What do you know about romance?” she taunted, and you could see from the corner of your eyes how she looked up at you from the crook of your neck with a grin.

You stuttered and cleared your throat before finally being able to say, “I know… a little.”

“Tell me,” Gerri said, her fingers inching up your hip underneath your shirt, still preoccupied with pressing soft ghosting kisses up your neck.

Your brain completely short circuited and you pathetically answered, “I can send you the article.”

Gerri’s laugh escaped her in a sharp exhale of breath against your neck and she raised her head to laugh. “You fucking idiot,” she said and lifted her hand that was under your shirt to slap your side.

The weight she had on your chest made it hard for you to laugh and you had to turn onto your side and let out a wheeze-like laugh.

A knock came at the bedroom door and Gerri straightened while you struggled between slowly-subsiding giggles to move onto your elbows.

Gerri’s mom opened the door and peeked her head inside. “Are you both ready?” she asked.

“Yep!” you answered and sat up properly. “And I hope you don’t mind, but I forgot my toothbrush and Gerri gave me one of the extra ones in the linen closet.”

“That’s fine, honey,” Kate replied with a friendly smile. She then entered her daughter’s bedroom and began tinkering around with the things on Gerri’s desk idly while she spoke.

“Should I be worried about the two of you?” she asked and side-eyed the both of you inconspicuously.

Your girlfriend gave you an unknowing look before asking, “What?”

“I mean the two of you…” Kate pressed then leaned back against the desk. She pressed the sides of her index fingers together. “College students. Dating. Sleeping in the same room.”

Gerri’s face immediately turned red and she quickly walked over to her mom and pulled her from the desk before urging her out of the room.

“Ger, I’m a very accepting woman and I love that you’re dating Y/N, but–”

She was cut off when she was pushed out of the bedroom.

“Keep the door open!” Kate tried to squeeze in before Gerri shut the door in her face and promptly locked it.

Over the next hour, guests began filling the house to celebrate Danny’s birthday while you and Gerri stayed up in her bedroom snacking on liquorice and caramel M&Ms.

When parties happened at Gerri’s for Kate, the crowd was mostly filled with laidback wine moms, but when parties were filled with mostly Danny’s coworkers and friends, parties were lively and a bit loud and full of overly-excited drunks — himself included.

But once the scent of barbecue from the backyard started travelling up to Gerri’s room, neither of you could hold back waiting until you could sneak out and get some food without being noticed.

Maybe you should’ve gone out earlier when there weren’t as many people, but you both easily lost track of time when Gerri started playing you a bunch of new songs she was trying to learn on her guitar; after each song, at least one of you would keep saying that you had time for her to play just one more before you went downstairs to get food.

As if trekking through dangerous terrain, Gerri went downstairs first while you followed behind slowly. She mapped out the backyard and spotted the table set up with food.

In the driveway, a few cars shut their doors and Gerri pulled you out to the back with her so you could both quickly fill your plates before the next wave of guests filed into the backyard.

Wordlessly, she gave you a plate and a fork and an empty cup so you could make quick work of bringing the food and drinks up to her bedroom.

Chatter went on in the background and Gerri listened in on the conversation to keep herself aware of whether she or you were yet detected.

Once you finished filling your plates, Gerri put her hand on your upper back and urged you forward. She whispered in your ear beyond clenched teeth, “Hurry, hurry.”

“Oh! Ladies!” Kate called out to both of you and hurried over to grab Gerri’s hand.

“Mom…” she hissed quietly, trying to protest without making too much of a fuss lest she bring about more attention to the both of you.

Though you weren’t pulled back with her, you didn’t want to leave Gerri outside alone so you stuck around too and followed behind your girlfriend while she was pulled back into the depths of the precarious backyard.

Ignoring her daughter’s complaints, Kate turned around and introduced her to the guests who just stepped into the backyard with dishes of food in their hands.

“Have you met my daughter Gerri?” she asked them and placed a hand on her back, urging her forward subtly.

“Hi,” Gerri greeted, and you could hear her response grit out of her as if her throat had suddenly become the texture of a cheese grater.

She chatted a little with Kate and Danny’s mutual friends, and from the corner of your eye you could see Danny approaching.

You bit the inside of your cheek and looked over to Gerri, who also noticed her father approaching before quickly becoming impatient, evident in the way she began running her fingernail along the side of her paper plate anxiously.

“Oh, heavens,” Kate said and reached back to then wrap an arm around you and pull you forward. “We’re completely ignoring Y/N.”

A brief wordless exchange of desperation was shared between you and Gerri’s eyes when she caught sight of you being pulled in front of her.

Kate rubbed her hand against your upper arm and introduced you: “This is Y/N — Gerri’s girlfriend.”

“Mom!” whined Gerri as she tugged at her mom’s sleeve to keep her quiet. Her face looked flushed and she avoided eye contact with you, and it seemed to you that she felt flustered and embarrassed and you thought it was really cute.

You subtly bumped your knuckle against her hand and she smiled at you shyly.

“What?” Kate asked cluelessly, looking between the both of you. “Gerri, honey, we all support you here. Don’t be shy. It’s not nice to exclude your girlfriend from things.”

“We’re so proud of the two of them,” Danny said and wrapped his arms around both you and Gerri, pulling the both of you into a side hug. “We always worried some heartbreaker would come in and swoop our sweet girl away from us, but we struck gold by having Y/N join our family. We’ve always considered her as one of our own.”

His words nearly nestled within you with great sentiment and warmth and you parted your lips to thank him graciously before he added, “You know, my best friend in high school was gay.”

Gerri groaned and pushed her dad away before taking your wrist and dragging you back inside, hot steam practically fuming out of her ears.

Danny shook his fists in the air happily. “I love the gays!” he then exclaimed to which several of his friends also cheered.

Daytime drinking was no joke.

When you finally got back into the house together and were passing the living room, three of Gerri’s much-younger cousins that just started playing Mario Kart on the Switch turned around and cheered together with bright smiles, “Hi, Gerri’s girlfriend!”

“Her name is Y/N,” Kate called across the kitchen as she was bringing in an empty pitcher of water to refill.

Gerri’s head snapped back around to scowl at her mother who she just couldn’t seem to get away from.

“Hi, Y/N!” her cousins corrected, still waving cheerfully.

You smiled back and waved, “Hello, Gerri’s cousins.”

They found that a little funny for whatever reason and their giggles made you laugh.

“Why can’t you guys just mind your own business and play your stupid game?” Gerri angrily snapped at them and pulled you upstairs by the wrist.

Peering over your girlfriend’s shoulder as she led you back upstairs, you exchanged one more wave with her cousins who were still smiling at you from the living room.

When the two of you finally got back to her bedroom, Gerri locked her door and told you that neither of you were to open it if someone knocked, and if needed she’d talk to whoever was outside only through the closed door.

After that rule was sternly set, the both of you changed into more comfortable clothes as you weren’t planning on going back out any further than the kitchen for the rest of the night.

While sitting at her desk together eating with a show playing on her laptop, you mixed a bite of a caramel M&M with a bite of steak to prove to her that chocolate and meat did indeed mix together well.

You opened your mouth to show her but didn’t even get half a second into it before her hand landed right on your face and she pushed you back.

“You’re so gross,” she laughed and handed you her water bottle, still convinced that it tasted horrendous together. But you pushed forward after you swallowed and nuzzled your nose against her cheek.

Feeling suddenly sentimental in the cool air of her bedroom doing nothing but spending time together like you always had as friends and now as girlfriends, you hugged her tight and spoke against her cheek, “You’re my best friend, Gerri.”

She set her water bottle down and turned her head so she could look at you. “You’re mine too,” she said and smiled happily.

Sometimes when it came suddenly without either of you really thinking about it, kissing each other often made you both feel a bit stunned afterwards for just a second or two like how it felt just then when she kissed you.

It was something to get used to — the fact that you could kiss each other now.

A part of you hoped neither of you would ever get used to it though, because you loved seeing Gerri look away from you afterwards while her cheeks were flushed a soft pink, and how much wider her smile got when you kissed her again while she was still feeling a bit shy.

When the two of you got tired, you laid in bed together with Gerri’s arms wrapped around your body hugging you securely from behind, her chin resting atop your head. She played with your fingers idly while you continued to watch your show together on her laptop.

Eventually, you could tell from the sound of her breathing that she was beginning to fall asleep and although she told you she could stay up for a little longer, you convinced her to sleep when you turned around and laid her head against your chest. She told you that she’d wake up later so you didn’t have to end the night off so early and that she was only taking a small nap.

You kept your fingers slowly massaging the back of her head so she didn’t have to try keeping herself awake, and so the next time Gerri woke up was early in the morning with the soft light from her desk still on and your warm arms still wrapped around her body while you slept.

Your first night spent together as lovers, albeit initially frenzied, ended up being nothing less than perfect.

But what was your friendship with Gerri if not a bit chaotic from time to time?

That was how you liked it, anyway.

#gerri fields #gerri fields fanfiction #gerri fields x reader #very good girls #very good girls fanfiction #elizabeth olsen

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sovietpostcards · 11 months

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How was your holiday?

Thank you for asking! Forgive me, but I'm going to answer in great detail. :'D

First I spent 10 days on the coast of Aegean Sea in Turkey and it was great! Turkey is beautiful and there's a lot to explore. I visited the site of the Halicarnassus Mausoleum (which is considered one of the Seven Wonders), the Bodrum Castle, the Museum of Underwater Archeology. Spent quite some time on the beach (lots of fresh orange juice consumed, two books finished) and swam until my lips turned blue. Went on foot to nearby bays/towns just because it's fun to walk. Dined by the sea.

We only had wifi in the hotel lobby (which was 4 flights of stairs down from our cottage), and it was ultimately a good thing to stay off the phone.

And then I spent about a week in Moscow where I saw family and friends, many of whom were visiting the city and it was great luck to coincide like that. I went to the Book Museum in the Russian State Library, Architecture Museum (awesome exhibition on Falсonnier!) and the Apothecary Garden and their greenhouses and rose exhibition. We also explored VDNKh (so many roses!), ate draniki in the Belarus Pavillion and had a dessert of walnut pastries and apricot juice in the Armenia Pavillion. I wanted to go to the 100 Years of Soviet Animation exhibition but unfortunately it was closed that day. I also saw Don't Be Afraid, I'm With You with a group of friends, it's a big musical based on songs of Secret, a Russian band I love very much, and it was absolutely magnificent.

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ayayumastan · 9 months

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Diaboys (+Yui) Ideal Vacation destination •3•

•Yui grew up so sheltered, she barley saw anything in Japan X-X. So I think she should visit Mt. Fuji first, you know, get to know see the main attraction of her country. She definitely has dreams to travel the world tho.

•Shu does NOT travel. Too much effort. But if he did I think somewhere very secluded. I really like the Idea of him in Greenland, but it might bring back some traumatic memories… (the girls that get it, get it). So maybe and Icelandic Island, or somewhere in the Scottish highlands (can someone please draw Shu chilling with Nessie X-X).

•Reiji is fluid in German so I think he should visit the alps, but the Austrian ones. With all due respect I don’t think my man can handle north Germany X-X (as a German who’s das lives in north Germany, but grew up in the south. I know). I also have a headcanon, that Reiji is very good at skiing. Not sure if he can understand Austrian alp dialect (my grandmas from there so again. I know) but I believe in him

•Ayato would probably be somewhere warme. To do all the water sports and stuff. I really like the Idea of him in Mexico

•Kanato CAN’T go anywhere too warm or sunny. I think Switzerland, the mother of chocolate (let’s not talk about where chocolate is ACTUALLY from). Swiss chocolate just hits different

•Laito goes to Greece. It’s just right.

•Subaru is also not a travel man, but I like him in either the Netherlands or New Zealand. I can’t explain it just feels right

•Ruki would probably go somewhere in the Caucasus area, like turkey or Armenia (yes I know turkey isn’t actually Caucasus area, but I forgot the English word for it). Like I totally think he would explore the remains of Troy (if it really was troy) and go to archeological sights. I also like the idea of him in west Africa for the same reason.

•Yuma would go to a small village in Calabria (I hope that’s also what it’s called in English, but anyways it’s in south Italy). He would have his own little garden there and gets along great with the locals, despite not speaking a word of Italien.

•Kou has traveled the world, since yk he’s famous. So I think he’d go on a wellness retreat on a mountain in Nepal, or to live with yaks in Mongolia.

•Azusa would either go to the middle of the Saharan desert or to Siberia. No in between. I like him more in Siberia tho. Fun fact: my fathers from a little city in the very VERY west of Siberia, and I’d just think it’s cute if he went there :3 (I’ve literally never been there, even tho I’d really like to go. I just know my dad was born there)

•The Tsukinamis travel together. No other option. If it were up to Carla (which it mostly is) they take a tour around Europe. If it were up to Shin, they’d go somewhere tropical, and very much not Europe, like maybe Kongo or somewhere in South America.

•Kino goes to Korea. Again I can’t explain it, it just makes sense. I won’t specify which Korea… because he would just go to both

#ayato sakamaki #diabolik lovers #dialovers #rejet #sakamaki brothers #yuma mukami #mukami brothers #carla tsukinami #kou mukami #reiji sakamaki

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zvaigzdelasas · 7 months

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30 Oct 23

1 Nov 23

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princesssarisa · 2 months

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Today in Cinderella Tales From Around The World, the tales come from the southern part of Central and Southeastern Europe, and a little of West Asia for good measure: Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Armenia.

*These Cinderellas are an eclectic mix of the ones we've seen before. Probably because these countries are bordered by Eastern Europe and Germany to the north, by Greece and Turkey to the south, and by the Adriatic Sea that leads to Italy to the West, their tales have aspects in common both with the Eastern and Central European variants and with the very different Mediterranean variants.

**Some Serbian variants share the motif from the Greek versions of the two older sisters killing and eating their mother, but Cinderella saving her bones, which provide her with magical help. The mostly-Mediterranean motif of Cinderella throwing gold coins behind her to distract the prince's servants makes a reappearance too.

**The motif of a cow that helps the heroine, and which is killed only to still provide help in death, often reappears too. Sometimes the cow does the girl's spinning for her, as is typical in Italian versions, while in other variants she magically provides her with food, as is more common in versions from more northern countries.

**Once again, it varies whether the heroine is abused by a stepfamily, or by her own mother and sisters, or just by her sisters, as well as whether she has just one (step)sister or two, and whether her father is present or not. Some also incorporate a "Kind and Unkind Girls" motif, where the heroine proves herself worthy of help by being kind to the magical figure, while her sister doesn't.

**In a few versions, the heroine's mother is turned into a cow, much like the Finnish versions where she becomes a sheep. Although here, the cow transformation isn't typically the future stepmother's doing, but caused by the heroine carelessly breaking a magical taboo.

**Often the heroine is forced to do a task similar to the Grimms' lentil-sorting – e.g. cleaning vast amounts of grain or picking up spilled grain from the floor – but not always.

*Still, there are some original touches too.

**In one Austrian version that follows the "heroine becomes a servant in the palace" storyline, the girl doesn't run away from an abusive family, but simply sets out to seek her fortune like a boy hero would, taking with her a magic sword her father gave her that protects her from harm and grants all her wishes.

*The one Armenian variant, The Brother Ram, is a cross between Cinderella and Brother and Sister. The heroine has a brother, who is transformed into a ram, which leads to the often-seen "Cinderella runs away from home to save her animal companion from being killed by her stepmother" plot line. Then after her marriage, the stepmother and stepsister throw her into the sea and the stepsister takes her place, but instead of drowning she's swallowed by a fish (much like in the Gaelic versions). From inside it, she heard that the stepmother is about to have her brother the ram killed, and she cries out until her husband hears her, kills the fish, and rescues her.

*In both the Georgian and Armenian versions, the heroine's magical helper is a devi.

Next we'll explore the Cinderella tales of the Middle East.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @adarkrainbow, @themousefromfantasyland

#cinderella #fairy tale #variations #cinderella tales from around the world #heidi ann heiner #austria #croatia #serbia #bulgaria #georgia #armenia #tw: violence #tw: cannibalism

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strrwbrrryjam · 8 months

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hey, i'm strawberry jam, i'm white, nineteen years old and identify as a genderfluid, demisexual lesbian. my pronouns are she/they/him.

i'm passionate about art, writing and analyzing media i love, and this blog reflects my love for various fandoms, including red dead redemption 2, avatar: the last airbender, arcane, and more.

i stand in solidarity with palestine, ukraine, congo, yemen, and armenia.

this blog is my personal space for enjoyment. i prefer to see content that aligns with my interests and values.

i don't engage in debates or arguments over uncomfortable topics. if content doesn't vibe with me, i'll simply block, filter, and move on.

DNI lists don't work on tumblr. if your content doesn't resonate with me or makes me uncomfortable, i'll block you without hesitation.

feel free to explore and enjoy the content here. let's keep it positive and respectful here.

#intro post #strawberry speaks #personal

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mapsontheweb · 2 years

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Classic explorer style map of the Transcaucasian Trail and Armenia.

by @sidapo_cartisan

#maps #twittersourced #sidapo_cartisan #trails #armenia

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thekavseklabs · 3 months

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Update on Vaishant's appearance, and a little more backstory on him now that I have it a little more nailed out.

When Vaishant's mother learned she was pregnant from a man she was afraid of, she left Armenia for the US, hoping to keep away from him. It worked, but she moved frequently, and rarely told her son what his father had been like save for the fact that he must never look for him, and that he was dangerous. Vaishant grew up loved, and found great joy in the Armenian dances, food, and general culture his mother taught him.

Once he was an adult, he moved out of home to Neon City with the hope of participating in the political strife there and making a difference, even though he knew it was dangerous. His mother continued to move from place to place along with a younger husband and their young daughter, and he visits them frequently, always welcome.

When Vaishant began taking jobs as an exotic dancer and prostitute, he began to get introduced to illegal substances and activities, and through them got introduced to the Neon City Underworld, where Spades picked him up as a worker. Spades was quickly impressed with Vaishant's warmth and adaptability- though the man is easy to startle or scare in a first encounter, he bounces back fast and becomes an eager explorer of all new things and people, even intimidating or powerful figures like Spades and his army. Before long Vaishant was doing private jobs for Spades semi-regularly, and eventually agreed to allow Spades to take a look at his blood samples and give him some protective measures with tech.

While Spades was checking his compatibility with said technology, he noticed that Vaishant held a recessive mutant gene that could possibly be awakened with the right engineered virus. It seemed to come from his father, and would offer increased strength, speed, and senses, though Spades could not predict what else it might do. After a long conversation, they agreed to wake the gene so that Vaishant could be safer during his jobs, and the result was rabbit-like traits including not quite human feet, a fluffy tail, and equally fluffy rabbit ears. Vaishant often uses his curly hair and hoodies to hide these, and when he's in skimpier clothes, he claims that they are fake. When he's in the Underworld, though, he bears these changes proudly.

#vaishant; welcome to the family #spades; killing in the name #pupper don't look #just in case

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1m-facts · 4 months

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Read the remaining facts, plus myths, quotes, faqs and an epic quiz at: Explore the Hidden Gems: 50 Surprising Facts About Armenia

#armenia #armenian genocide #fun facts #facts #random facts

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tilbageidanmark · 4 months

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998 Movies in 2023...

In 2021 I saw 885 movies...

In 2022 I saw 954 movies...

And in 2023 I saw 998 movies.

Yes, I've seen nearly 3 movies every single day for the last three years. Yes, I have no life, Etc. But I like it, and it works for me. So if anybody have an issue with that, they are cordially invited to fuck off. This solitary habit had evolved into an ongoing writing project, where I jog down every night a paragraph or two about each movie, and that fills me up with a sense of a minor achievement, sufficient enough to keep me going.

Most of the movies (like everything else in life) were mediocre, but about 150 were stand-outs, so on average, every two days I experienced some sort of an emotional release, a catharsis, if you will, which had made the whole project worthwhile for me.

Here are some stats, and a few random discoveries that I really enjoyed.

First of all, I made it a point to see more movies directed by women – 156 in total. I'm going to concentrate even more on female movie-making.

I also continued to explore the vast and interesting world of “foreign” cinema, (i.e. “Not from the USA”): 520 films in 2023 [52% of the total]. I plan on increasing this percentage much more next year.

The countries from which I saw the largest number were France (100), UK (70), Denmark (30), Italy and Japan (24 each), Germany and Spain (19 each), Iceland (14), Canada and Finland (13), Sweden (12), Ireland, Poland and Scotland (11). The other films were from Chile, Argentina, China, India, Mexico, Australia, Norway, Belgium, Iran, Korea, Hungary, Portugal, Brazil, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Greece, The Netherlands, Armenia, Austria, Bolivia, Colombia, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mauritania, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palestine, Polynesia, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Uruguay, Yugoslavia. There was even one movie in ancient Babylonian!

I don't keep track of the genres, and I sample nearly everything. I love to cry 'and laugh and cry all again', so I mostly seek stories with “real” personal emotions. Obviously, many are dramas, art-house fair. I still have never seen any superheroes movie in my life. And I usually refuse to watch any horror, space operas, franchise, most blockbusters, supernatural, sci-fi, fantasy, and not too much 'action’.

Recently, I started picking up movies from this Wikipedia List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as lists of winners and contenders from various European film festivals.

Of the 998 movies, 103 were documentaries, 119 were films I've seen before, 150 were shorts, (and 26 were so bad I couldn't finish them).

For their age, I only saw 35 silent movies, but a whopping 111 movies from 2023. The rest are spread in between.

I did discover many new directors I fell in love with with, too many to list here. If anybody is interested in reading my personal opinions, they can re-visit the tag 'Movies' here. I post about 20 reviews every Monday.

So here are just a few of my off-beat favorite 2023 discoveries:

'The Mill and the cross' (2011) by Polish poet Lech Majewski: A literal recreation of Bruegel’s 1564 painting ‘The Procession to Calvary’, done in Newport Beach’s ‘Pageant of the Masters’ style. With a minimal narrative and nearly no dialog, it transports a masterpiece from one medium into another.

'The organizer' (1963) by Mario Monicelli, with Marcello Mastroianni. A unionist trying to organize workers laboring in inhuman conditions at a late 19th Century textile factory in Turin. A Neo-realistic and unsentimental look at the eternal struggle for control of the means of production.

'Close' (2022), innocent lost, by Belgian Lukas Dhont. Movingly and tenderly it details an intimate friendship - love, rather - between two 13-year-old boys.

The documentary 'Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb' (2022), about the relationship between two remarkable men: The LBJ biographer and his lifelong editor.

'The Maid' by Chilean director Sebastián Silva, a perfectly simple drama about the life of a live-in housekeeper. It was one of a dozen movies I saw about 'Domestics', an emerging sub-genre, mostly from South America and South-east Asia.

'Timbuktu' from Mauritania (2014), by Malian film director Abderrahmane Sissako. A heart-breaking tragedy about terror in the barren Sahara desert. Senseless religious laws imposed by a patriarchal and fanatic group on simple villagers.

'Spring Blossom' (2020), a gentle drama of a shy 16 year old girl who falls in love with a 35 man she sees outside a local theater. [Like Quinn Shephard’s ‘Blame’], it’s twice as impressive, because it was written by the talented Suzanne Lindon when she was only 15, and she directed it and starred in it before she was 20.

The earlier films of Irish director John Michael McDonagh, 'The Guard' and 'Calvary', both with Brendan Gleeson. (But not 'War on everyone' which was awful).

All of Lynne Ramsay's Glasgow-based dramas, especially 'Gasman', her first short, and 'Ratcatcher', her debut feature. Heartbreaking, transformative masterpieces. The same goes for Ken Loach's 1969 'Kes' and 'I, Daniel Blake' from 2016.

Re-watch: Nils Malmros's 1981 'The tree of knowledge'. It has always been my favorite Danish movie, and also one of my general All-time Top-Five favorites - Ever. Together with Truffault’s ‘Small Change’, it’s also the best movie about children, the pains of puberty and the joys of adolescence.

'The Ballad of the Weeping Spring' is a “different” (and hard-to find!) Israeli cult film from 2012. An homage to Kurosawa’s Samurai films, and to Sergio Leone’s Westerns, it’s a mystical pilgrimage into the origins of “Oriental / Mediterranean Music”. After inadvertently killing his two friends and living off the grid for 20 years, the mythical band leader of the defunct “Turkish Ensemble” is recruited to “put the band together”, and is looking for 9 other musicians to play for his dying ex-partner.

Jody Foster's documentary 'Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché' (2018). Alice Guy-Blaché was the first ever female filmmaker, and history’s first director of narrative cinema. An enormously important figure, who was erased and forgotten until her recent resurgence. Like ‘The Méliès Mystery’ documentary, these two biographies are a must-see for any film lover.

'The house is black' (1963), by another female pioneer, Iranian avant-garde poet Forugh Farrokhzad. A harrowing documentary about a real leper colony.

Werner Herzog, Radical dreamer, a 2022 German documentary about the greatest living filmmaker, one of the greatest of all time.

And not to be accused for being an elitist, I've re-watched (some as many as FOUR times this year!) many of my all time 'guilty pleasures': 'In the loop', 'Long Shot' with Charlize Theron, The Icelandic 'Echo', 'Office Space', 'After the wedding', 'Hot Fuzz', 'A simple favor', 'Cold war', 'Margin call', 'Belle de Jour', 'Chinatown', 'The conversation', 'Game night', 'To kill a mockingbird', 'world of tomorrow', 'Midnight run', 'Burn after reading', Etc., etc.

[Photo Above: I didn't realize, and didn't find it mentioned anywhere, but Buñuel gave himself a little cameo in 'Belle De Jour'!]

So what does it all mean? Nothing, really. Except of food, air, and some minimal travel, I don't consume much of anything any more. I don't have a TV, cars, streaming services, any belongings, or attachments. But I recognize that this obsessive viewing is also some form of unhealthy consumption. Anyway, for the time being, I'll just keep doing it.

[And to answer a question that may come up, I view 100% of these movies on “free” streamers. I'm not ashamed of it, on the contrary!]

So far, in 2024 I only saw 2 movies, both of which I've seen before: René Laloux's 'Fantastic Planet', and one of my most precious films from last year, Celine Song's 'Past Lives'. 10/10 for both - will watch again!

Adios, mothers'.

[This is copy from my r/truefilm post]

#movies #luis bunuel #belle de jour #Buñuel

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