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reviewsbyliam · 9 months

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Robbie Z

INTERVIEW #01

18.09.2023

Written by LW

Photos via @iamrobbiez (IG)

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Waking up and realizing the life you're living isn't exactly what you desire anymore and deciding to pursue your passion, move to a city in another country and devote yourself to trying to become somebody in the world can be an extremely scary thought for many, but not for this one person.

Today, the first guest on my blog that has been kind enough to sit and speak with me about the stories behind not only himself but also his music and the pain and happiness that has accompanied him along the way is aspiring independent artist, Robbie Z.

L: Hey, Robbie! Thank you for taking the time to speak with me about yourself and your career today, I really appreciate it! You are the first artist to be interviewed on my blog, so it is an absolute pleasure of mine to accommodate your story today!

R: Hi Liam, so nice to meet you! Congratulations on starting your blog! This is really cool, good luck with it! And thank you for having me as your first guest, it's an honour!

L: Thank you so much, Robbie! It's kind of crazy and I cant thank you enough for the opportunity to do this together, now let's get into it!

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L: You started your professional career in 2018, it's now 2023, whats the journey been like for you?

R: Ahh, it's been so exciting! Music is what I want to do long term. It's my passion, so growing up doing that and learning from my mistakes has been amazing. It's an amazing thing that I started so young to be honest. I always knew I wanted to do this; I started recording covers in 2014, when I was 11/12 and started writing my own music when I was 15 in 2017! So, when I was around 14, I thought "huh.. I wanna do that? Then I might as well start now if I wanna get good at it young." Because when I started I was really bad haha… but it also helped me get thick skin in terms of bullying etc. it's been amazing, but it's truly only the beginning!

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L: I've seen that you have inspiration from Iggy Azalea, who else in the music industry compels you to want to do more?

R: I've always been a fanboy.. Some incredible women besides Iggy who "raised me" as an artist are definitely; Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus. More recently, I've been really loving Madison Beer, Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, Taylor Swift.. I get really inspired by these artists to work hard and achieve all my goals. It really drives me forward.

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L: The vibe of The Butterfly Trap is very fresh, a total feeling myself energy, but it also includes emotional parts that relate to the listeners life - what kind of vibe can we expect from the new project?

R: Ahhh, thank you! Writing the first EP, I was kind of in a tough spot mentally.. I wrote it from the ages of 18 to 19 and I was going through a lot of stuff that I couldn't understand in my life which made me very confused, sad, angry… This new project is totally different.

First of all, it's elevated in terms of quality in the songwriting, recording etc. Secondly, in "The Butterfly Trap", I was really vague while talking about the struggles.. Masking them in a lot of metaphors. I was afraid to speak of these topics in songs as I was still going through what I was going through while writing. This new project "Dear Diary," is more so me reflecting on situations whilst also having fun, a less anxious, more out going alter-ego of mine! But, as fun as it is, it also has some deep messages that really cut deep for me and it just even feels a little uncomfortable when someone listens to some of these new songs as they're so personal to me. Hence the name, "Dear Diary". It's supposed to be inspirational and honest, but it also talks about lots of different topics such as following your dreams, getting your dreams taken away from you, one sided love, letting yourself live freely.. It's basically 6 different diary entrees of mine put into songs.

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L: I've noticed you have a lot of unique sounds. Do you enjoy being multi genre and having the ability to switch flows whilst also being able to use sounds that seperate you from the rest?

R: Honestly? I love mixing genres. I love rap verses with pop hooks, rock hooks, punk, ballads, anything. But, I've been spending time trying to find my sound and I think I've finally found one that is just perfectly me, right now. This new single '5 Dollars & a Dream' is exactly what I would want to be remembered with regarding the genre, flow, lyrics etc. I don't want to give myself any labels as a "pop artist" or a "rock artist" etc. I just consider myself a rapper/singer who likes to change. But Pop Rap is what I would describe it as if I have to!

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L: 5 dollars + a dream (a song that is beautiful by the way and extremely reminiscent of Iggy's earlier work which I LOVE entirely) , whats the story behind this track and what was the process like behind making it?

R: Oh my god, thank you so so much!! This song means the most to me so I really appreciate the nice words. The story behind the track… I think it's pretty straight forward to be honest, which is why I'm a little afraid of people hearing it. It's about knowing what you want to do, having started that and just following your dreams (as lame as it sounds). The song talks about some parts of my story, which I've never been vulnerable about in songs before. And not letting myself give up. Making the song was an absolute blast. One night a few years ago I was in my bed, in my home town in Bulgaria, and I thought of the phrase "I got five dollars and a dream…" with the melody and I wrote it down, then last year as I was packing up to move to London, I wrote the first verse which goes like "I took all of my belongings and I put them in a suitcase…" Initially I wanted it to be a song I write for my first album one day, but it just felt right so I brought it to my producer "SojBoj" , we made the instrumental and a demo and then I wrote the second verse and recorded it! It was really fun!

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L: There is a lot that goes into being an independent artist, how has that been for you so far? Have you had any label offers yet?

R: Being indie or signed each have their own ups and downs / good and bad sides, it just really depends on what an artist wants.. For me? I've been fortunate enough to grow, learn and find myself as an independent artist. I couldn't imagine starting out with a record deal from the beginning. But now I feel I'm ready to get signed and get this party started. Being indie obviously gives me the opportunity to have full creative control which I'm not willing to sacrifice. Whilst it's not for everyone, for me, when the right deal comes, it'll definitely be something I do, because the connections and resources a label has are so worth it for a young artist like me.

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L: Who have been your main musical inspirations behind this new project thats coming later this year?

R: Ahh! Well, whilst there hasn't been a specific one, I'd say, of course I'm always super influenced by Iggy Azalea; especially her first album 'The New Classic'. '5 Dollars & a Dream' is actually kind of inspired by her song 'Work'. But I'm also now inspired by a lot of punk rock music, more contemporary pop-rocky songs, A lot of just everyday things that I romanticise and turn into songs. Sonically, I make what I want to hear, putting my own input on the kind of music I like. Like a mixture of everything I like, quite literally.

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L: You're doing a show at the Metre Squared In London after the single drops, are you excited to perform and what should people expect to see?

R: I love performing! Back in Bulgaria, I had some performing experience, but when Covid hit, it was hard to get performances.. I did a car-concert, it was super fun! I was in a big truck performing to around 100 cars! I was an opening act for a drive-in movie theatre. When I moved to London though, that is when it really started for me with the performances. I've done some shows the past year that amazed me with the amount of people who came to have fun and listen to music, but also the people who actually know my songs and connect with it, it's my favourite thing in the world. The show is coming up on the 14th of October in Metre Squared in London, and tickets for that show are on sale now! I'm super excited. It'll be the first time I perform my EP, prior to it's release!

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L: With your new music coming very rapidly, and a show coming up around the corner, are you looking forward to what the future holds for you and where your art will take you?

R: I am a very goal orientated person, I've got lots of big and smaller goals that I will accomplish soon. I don't like sharing those before they come true, but I have to say; I've got something that I'm working really hard for that I really hope to get to do within the next year. Plus also, always lots of new music! I've got stuff planned for even after the EP, and my releases will become more often too!

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L: For our last question, Robbie, I want to ask you - who in the music industry, whether it be a singer, rapper, producer, writer, absolutely anyone, who would you love to work with the most and why?

R: There's a bunch of people I admire and would find it an honour to work with, but off the top of my head, I'd say a producer that I would really want to work with one day is Jack Antonoff! He's incredible, it seems like to be so much fun working with him. Dan Nigro is another one, he created Olivia Rodrigo's first two albums with her, he's amazing! Artist-wise, Iggy Azalea. She inspired me to start all of this craziness, she helped me find my path when I was really young and I just admire her for a hundred other reasons, it would be CRAZY. I think maybe a song of mine with Ice Spice or Charli XCX would be so fun too! Me and Charli XCX have to make a song about cars together one day!

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L: Well, Robbie, it has been absolutely beautiful and a true pleasure speaking with you and getting to hear your thoughts about your music and everything to do with your grind! I would also like to thank you for letting me hear your new single prior to release! I am excited for whats to come from your career given the product that we already have from you and the world should prepare themselves for the undeniable force that is yourself!

R: Thank you so much for having me, Liam. It means so so much to me, the questions were great, they made me think deeper and I really enjoyed it!

L: I'm glad to hear that, Robbie! Once again, thank you SO much for being my first guest on my blog and hopefully this wont be the last time we speak! I look forward to hearing your new EP!

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To anyone reading; Robbie Z's new single '5 Dollars & a Dream' from his new EP 'Dear Diary,' comes out this Friday, September 22nd!

It'd mean the world to me, as his interviewer and to him as an indie artist if you gave it a listen!

You can also buy tickets to his upcoming show on October 14th at Metre Squared in London in his INSTA BIO (@iamrobbiez)!

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angel-manfredy-the-ring-man · 1 year

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Got Jesus? I think Angel Manfredy definitely does…

“Angel Manfredy (El Diablo) is a retired American professional boxer. He was born in Gary, Indiana, United States on October 30, 1974. Manfredy made his professional boxing debut at the age of 18 on June 10, 1993.Jan 21, 2023”. Google

From the late 1990s to early 2000s Angel Manfredy was a great personality and boxer in the ring televised on HBO. A champ…

Angel Manfredy was born in Gary, Indiana 1974 now residing in Crown Point, Indiana 2023 on West St by Bull Dog park. He fought great boxers like Floyd Mayweather & Arturo Gatti in the late 90s to early 2000s.

Angel Manfredy is my brother in Christ. He calls me His Christ sister. We had a chance meeting at Starbucks in about 2016. I have done work as his secretary in 2018 and am on YouTube tv with him the same year.

Starbucks 2016 was the first I saw of Angel Manfredy in the area but his name rings loud & clear when I think of what led to this chance meeting.

You can read about my relationship with Angel Manfredy on tumblr at

Angel-Manfredy-4u.tumblr.com & testimoney4u.tumblr.com.

My artwork is for sale on the wall of the coffee shop The Sip in Crown Point, IN by that place Bull Dog Park where Angel Manfredy currently lives now in 2023. I have run in to him there at the Sip artisan coffee shop in Crown Point. He eats and drinks lattes there.

When Angel Manfredy was a child boxing in the ring telling everyone he was going to be a champ he got laughed at in Gary, IN in a nearby town by me in Griffith, IN.

In the 80s & 90s I was in nearby Griffith IN dancing, playing basketball, volleyball, & softball in the area. Super skinny & in shape active kids in sports we both were. I made a small living babysitting & cleaning houses under 15.

I was on free tv for Jeannie’s dance Academy in the ET dance recital in the 1980s & later on free tv again as a Griffith Panther Cheerleader & on top stage in the Greese Choreography play for Griffith High School Choir still the 1980s turning 90’s.

As a cheerleader I attended cheer camp and did cheer competitions at the local Southlake/Westfield mall.

I am now in the 2000s in free articles & in poetry books like Timeless Voices & Turning the Corner. I have two contracted gospel Christian songs out on YouTube that I am the songwriter of. I work out at the gyms Planet Fitness, Spectrum Fitness, & YMCA. I have a business Code Break Services & blog.

When Angel Manfredy made it to tv boxing making millions in June of 1993 I was 16 starting a job at Checkers burger place in Schererville, IN going to my friend’s Battle of the Bands concerts with my money.

I started working at the age of fifteen. I worked at the fine clothing store Rosalee at the Southlake mall as a cashier where I started by modeling a fancy prom dress signing up people for credit cards there. I dressed models for a runway show for them too.

I then ended up working as a filer where I was promoted to receptionist at the sports doctor Dr Browns Office as a Senior in High School when I was a member in the work/college program called DECA.

Dr Brown was well-known for doing sport surgery on Evel Knieval the motorcycle stunt artist a 1999 Hall of Famer. Dr Brown had a picture of the surgery hanging on the wall of his doctor office I worked at as a monument.

I worked, went to college, & was pregnant very active & busy my senior year of High School as Angel Manfredy was doing fights on HBO.

I did not watch fighting…

I went and danced at clean nice dance clubs in Lake & Porter County of Indiana & in Chicago that were televised & on the radios. I do remember talk of Angel Manfredy.

A few of my boyfriend turned husband friends were into boxing and I remember talk of Angel Manfredy as they would talk about boxing at the gym and in basements.

It was real interesting…

They were like He is a coke head & player all covered in tattoos that came to know Jesus. You should talk to him. I had not ever heard anything so crazy. I am like maybe he knows that crazy guy Roy Boy. I had no tattoos, did not do the drug Coke, & was a loyal girlfriend turned loyal wife.

I was hanging with my best friends I made through my boyfriend Mike Grzych. My best friends were Peter & Paul Bell the new Brady Bunch Movie crowd.

My best friends Peter & Paul Bell were in the back ground of the then current 1990s Brady Bunch movie with lots of money. Peter & Paul made alot in highschool just doing the background of that movie. Their uncle was a Hollywood film producer.

Paul Bell’s girlfriend turned wife Nicole Bell a bank cashier even made it as a Bulls cheerleader. She was a Luvabull.

Nicole Bell & I danced at dance clubs together, went out to eat, & house parties together. We went to movies in the park & theater together & bowled together. We did all sorts of things together. She came to my parties & I to hers. We rode jet skis together.

I was at Bulls cheerleader Nicole Bell’s honeymoon house house party when she made it to a sports show on ESPN.

I watched the show on the large movie screen on her wall in her lower floor above the unfinished basement wall. Her and Paul had a huge beautiful home in their mid twenties.

My highschool years when Angel Manfredy first made it to HBO tv I was also going to Suburban Bible youth group at the church doing volunteer work going skiing & on camping trips with the church doing videotaped skits.

I went to 2 Bible conferences in Michigan with Suburban Bible youth group. At one seminar I was at a dating seminar in a lodge in the winter. They took videos of us as we did skits & I won best date with Ben Walker my date & brother in Christ.

I raised money doing volunteer work at the church to make it to the Christian DC LA Conference in Washington DC. I made it to that seminar and it was awesome.

I attended Bible workshops & marched with virgins in the streets of Washington DC in their parade of virgins in 1995.

I was pregnant at that time in 1995 the year before my senior year of highschool. I was a sinner but at a conference at the Bible Conference called DC LA in Washington DC I learned to pray to be a virgin & became a renewed virgin my sins washed clean & God forgave me. I did not have sex again until my husband Mike Grzych.

At the DC LA conference in Washington DC we stayed in a beautiful hotel out there and swam & went to all sorts of fun interactive Bible Conferences. I wore my conservative one piece bathing suit.

There were lots of people…

The pastor of Suburban Bible Bob Blahniik’s daughter Kelly was so excited when she got asked to speak before a crowd of thousands at one of the outside conferences. I was so proud of her.

So many conferences…

Pastor of Suburban Bible in Highland, IN Bob Blahnik’s daughter Kelly was my sister in Christ. Her boyfriend Jason Tarka played in a real popular band I forget the name of. He would play at church as I attended the sermons & at youth group functions I was at.

I ended up marrying Mike Grzych in 1999. We dated over three years & were married about six years. We divorced in 2005 when I became disabled & started my business Code Break Services. He was a good Catholic boy, an altar boy, and stood the popular homecoming court for Lake Central Highschool.

When I married I was in my last semester of college. I was a research assistant that was in a research group that got our psychological research on teens and tv and eating disorders in a prestigious Psychology Journal.

I was a waitress at three Round The Clocks in Lake County after working at Dr Brown’s office. It paid for my daughter & I.

I had a scholarship in college for good grades. I pretty much got straight A’s, semester honors & deans list every semester. I was a Student Ambassador & in Psychology Club & in Psy Chi. I read Psy Chi magazines I got in the mail.

When Mike & I married we got a condo with Kaylah our daughter in Munster, IN. We had loved riding motorcycles together. I just rode on the back.

Mike got involved in dirt bikes & four wheelers. He had a nice Mustang he raced & timed. He would race in competitions on his dirt bike & four wheeler.

Mike Grzych had a sponsor & became pretty infamed. He got his picture of him airborne on his four wheeler on flyers.

I got one of the flyers in the mail…

Once he won the competition for four wheelers at Lake County Fair Grounds a little before 2005 and I was like who has he become? He got injured but still continued to work for his father’s factory Weldco on Redar Rd in Griffith, Indiana after a little time off.

I was through all of that studying Usui Reiki striving to be a poet & author healing through writing. I graduated & we ended up divorced because I got real sick & wanted a business.

I had to quit drinking, smoking, & partying & in circa 2011 when I was 35 years old I owned my own business Code Break Services about six years.

I quit drinking, smoking, & partying after reading the New Testament all the way through beginning to end along with Christian Self Help books listening to the Christian Radio Station the Key. I was born again wanting to get baptised again. I went to Bethel Church in Crown Point, IN.

As the story has it I met retired 1990s boxer Angel Manfredy in circa 2016. I got baptised and born again at his church Christian Revival Center. You can read the rest of the story on tumblr.

Angel-Manfredy-4u.tumblr.com

testimoney4u.tumblr.com

0 notes

rotessaboggs · 1 year

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I posted 1,060 times in 2022

That's 1,025 more posts than 2021!

21 posts created (2%)

1,039 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mlchaelwheeler

@andiwriteordie

@willel

@queerxqueen

@new-ronantics

I tagged 54 of my posts in 2022

#byler - 27 posts

#will byers - 16 posts

#stranger things - 15 posts

#theories - 6 posts

#analysis - 5 posts

#sorry this turns into a rant - 1 post

#y'all making me emotional - 1 post

#share this again - 1 post

#im crying rn - 1 post

#south-east asian - 1 post

Longest Tag: 133 characters

#but like i can't imagine how they are gonna defeat vecna in any other ways except for taking what he preys on and uses it against him

My Top Posts in 2022:

I'm so disappointed to the point that I can't feel anything but empty right now. Will, you don't deserve this treatment.

20 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

79k!!! I remember when I first started to follow the tag, it was like 20k something or even less. And now we are 21k away from 100k??? Oh man that's crazy to think about.

22 notes - Posted August 4, 2022

No matter what is gonna happen in vol 2, I just wanna say that I had a time of my life reading all the theories and analysis of you guys. Some people may say “it’s not that deep” but to me, what makes a work of fiction have a lasting impact is the fact that we can dive deep into the story, decipher the smaller details and see how it contributes to the larger picture. Arts continue to live on because we, as the audience, never cease to analyze and interpret it with different angles and layers.

In the months leading up to the release of reputation back in 2017, I read tons of amazing theories. Although many of them ended up not being accurate but looking back, I never regretted being invested in them because they gave me the thrills that only a well-done work of art can do: that there is always something more to what we see on the surface.

I’m not sure if what I’m saying makes sense or not because I’m so stressed out right now and English is not my native language. So in short, thank you so much for all the theories, analysis, and memes that you guys have posted in the last month. I will remember June 2022 for the rest of my life <3

37 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

How realistic should a work of fiction be? ~aka this is me rambling~

Warning: This is going to be more like me getting all of my messy thoughts out of my head than a coherent in-depth analysis. So read it at your own expense lol. Still, I would really love to read you guys’ thoughts and opinions on this topic. This is something I have been pondering upon for quite some time but I didn’t have the urge to write it down until I saw people on Twitter “arguing” over what a therapist said about Mike.

Also, English is not my native language so sorry in advance for any spelling/ grammatical mistakes or ambiguous/ confusing word choices. I won’t mind if you guys point it out for me.

First of all, let me start off with some chit-chats (you guys can skip it if you like). I have no intention of “forcing” my opinions on others so I want to make it clear how I am like which can affect my viewpoint intrinsically.

A few years ago, I generally didn’t care much about films or TV shows, to be honest. I did watch movie analysis for fun but I have always been a book lover and I tend to gravitate towards classic literature because they usually make heavier impacts on me (I may use some examples of classic lit later on). I usually opt for classic lit because I feel more certain that it has the thing I love - a character-driven narrative in which we get to dive deep into a character’s inner self, explore all their turmoils in exquisite detail, and observe a natural progression in their thoughts and feelings.

It was in late 2017 or early 2018 that I watched a video explaining the first two seasons of Stranger Things that I got interested in the show. It was specifically Noah’s acting and Will’s possession arc in season 2 that made me become a fan, not gonna lie. I was super excited to watch season 3 right when it came out. And … It made me so disappointed that I felt weirdly left out when other people all seemed to enjoy it. I thought maybe it was just me and I didn’t think of the show at all during the three-year period between season 3 and 4. I clearly didn’t know that Will is gay or pay any attention to the underlying problem in mlvn’s relationship. That kinda qualifies me as one of the general audience, right? Volume 1 blew me away and made me hooked on this show again. And then I came across posts and analyses about Will and Mike (in season 4 and other seasons) and I was even more blown away by all the subtexts and parallels (you guys are AMAZING!). In one way or another, I support byler because if it is really the direction the show is heading towards, it proves that the piece of entertainment I am consuming at the moment has so much depth, breadth, and width. And that has always been the thing that gives me an amazing sensation of blissfulness and satisfaction when I enjoy art. It makes me feel like a diver making her way down the mysterious depth of the ocean, being fascinated by all the questions and wonders.

Thank you for getting through that. Let me get to the main question now.

How realistic should a work of fiction be?

I have seen a lot of people say things like “Stranger Things is a show about a girl who throws off a car with her mind and alternate dimensions with monsters but gay characters in the 80s is where you draw the line, really?” Although I agree with the overall sentiment here, there is always something irking in the back of my mind about this argument, about when things should be realistic and when the writers can just do anything they want.

In this case, I won’t bring all the supernatural things into this discussion because I think the matter is not whether things are realistic or not, it’s more about whether all the supernatural elements really align with each other in the grand scheme of things, whether later discoveries explain or disrupt the set of established rules and norms (which can be absurdly unrealistic) we have from earlier seasons. Although there have been quite a few inconsistencies, especially in regard to the Upside Down as people pointed out, there is still the last season 5 in which more will be explained so yeah … let’s wait and see how it will pan out.

What I do care though is the characters, their personal developments, and the dynamics they have with each other.

Back to the therapist I mentioned earlier, I don’t know exactly what she said but as far as I hear from other people, she explained Mike’s behaviors in a way that is favorable to mvln so undoubtedly, mlvn shippers use it as their proof. Meanwhile, they are pretty much against an analysis of a person with film degrees and experience in media literacy. On the side of byler, there is an opposite response: more in favor of the latter, of course.

In my opinion, this is pretty much a gray area. On the one hand, I can see why people cling to the analysis of the therapist because characters are humans and their behaviors and thought process can be explained through the lens of psychology just as normal human beings. On the other hand, they are also fictional entities who play a part in a story, directly engage the audience into a narrative, and are the means through which the emotional impacts are created. Rather than seeing this in a black-and-white manner like “it’s not realistic to do this or that” or “oh come on it’s fiction,” I would say the boundary between the realistic and creative aspects is pretty blurry, especially when people are just talking generally about the show without specifically focusing on a character, relationship, or plotline.

A basic opinion that I first had about this is that: the journey that a character goes through should make sense and make the audience feel like it’s relatable to a certain extent (or at least understandable). But to adhere strictly to reality for the sake of being realistic isn’t it. That personal journey, with its progression, climax, resolution, and aftermath, has to serve a purpose, or in another word, it has to be purposeful and consequential.

People argue that Will being gay, in love with Mike and potentially having his feeling reciprocated + having a happy ending isn’t realistic because it’s the 1980s - a really homophobic period. They believe that it would be more realistic and accurate for Will to be rejected or something along the line. But if it is the path his arc is heading towards, then I wonder for what purpose then?

(This thought came after I finished this whole writing so I don’t know where to put it except here. Consider it an irrelevant note if you like) So … When I think of the word “realistic” when talking about fiction, I recall a quote that one of my professors mentioned in our class: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” I question if it can be applied in this case. Although the 1980s was not a great period of time for gay people, was there anyone who actually got to have a happy ending? If those people exist, is it “unrealistic” for us to tell their stories instead of the conventional one - the one with no joy and happy ending at all? OK maybe that’s not what realistic actually means and maybe I’m way off base.

To be as close as the reality of the time is an obvious answer that some people may cling to but is it enough to be the drive of the arc of a main character?

I am currently reading “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' by Anne Bronte and I am pleasantly surprised by how progressive the book’s ideology is considering that at the time it was published, women were devoid of any independence of their own and viewed as the properties of their husbands. To see a woman of that time (not only the heroine of the book but also the very author) deliberately going against that mindset is empowering indeed. The things happening in the book aren't necessarily “realistic” but sometimes we have to defy reality to get a message across and to create an emotional impact. Particularly when it comes to a progressive ideology like feminism or LGBT+ rights, by defying the reality, the writers are able to create a work that continues to be impactful decades or centuries later on. Or on a much more personal scale, we may say it’s a way of self-fulfillment for the authors who didn’t get a chance to live a better life (like Jane Austen with all of her books). Either way, there is a purpose.

On the other hand, there are also authors who don’t defy the rules and norms of the time and try to make their stories realistic. I always think about “Tess of the d’Urbervilles'' by Thomas Hardy in regard to this because that book hurts me like hell with its pessimistic progression and devastating ending. Spoiler alert, the main protagonist of the book doesn’t get a chance to escape the bleak reality of her life and the love story in the book doesn’t have a happy ending at all. Upsetting as it is, it makes sense when we learn more about Thomas Hardy. He is a person who is known for “his stoical pessimism and his sense of the inevitable tragedy of life.” Although one of his most popular books “Far from the madding crowd” has a happy ending, there are still a whole lot of pessimistic things and tragedies that plague nearly all the portions of the book. Also, sticking to a realistic portrayal of the society and having the characters suffer immensely can be a way of social critique, having the general audience confronted with unfairness and cruelty of this world, to encourage them to actually think about justice and equality instead of being indifferent towards those matters.

Now, based on what we know of the Duffer brothers (there are other writers as well, but overall, they created the whole thing in the first place so let’s just narrow it down to them), which side would you think they gravitate towards?

Depressing as the show can get sometimes, it still offers us a message of hope and optimism, as well as emphasizing the power of self-esteem, friendship, and love. As someone who has always felt like an outcast, a second thought, and someone who tried to seek validation from other people to feel worthy in high school, I find the show relatable and inspiring, and I believe that it’s the effect the show creators want to bring about.

If Will’s feeling for Mike is not reciprocated and he somehow ends up sacrificing not only his heart but also himself in season 5, what message and effect do you think that would bring? Not just in the LGBT+ community but also people who find themselves resonate with Will in any certain ways.

Counter arguments

One may argue that well, if you want Mike and El to break up, it would still suck because she has suffered a lot and deserves love and happiness. Now I would support this if it were not for the things happening in episode 9 and her overall character arc. To be honest, I didn’t really care about El in earlier seasons because I tend to just hyper-fixate on one character at a time. But there are aspects of her arc this season that I find particularly relatable and touching. It’s her need to feel accepted, validated, and loved.

At the beginning of the season, the foundation upon which she depends her self-esteem comes from the outside, which as we have all seen, causes even a lot more trouble to her mental health. All the bullies and harassment and then the lack of love received from Mike - all contribute to pushing her closer to the edge. At first, her coping mechanism is shrugging it off, putting it aside and pretending that all is good. It really doesn’t help that she can’t be honest with Mike about her struggles although hypothetically, they should be able to be so if their relationship is healthy and advantageous to both sides. I think all the lies are pretty much rooted in insecurity as she is an original person now without any superpower. She has been trying to find herself for several seasons but this is the first time there is no “superpower” - the main thing that many people see when they see El: a thing that they may depend upon in dire circumstances, or at worst weaponize for their own benefit. Her being left without it makes the issue of finding herself even more pressing because it seems now to her that she is no longer as helpful as before.

Despite the facade of happiness, all the distress is still there, waiting to surge up, breaking the dam when the time comes. That time being at the Rink-O-Mania. After that, we finally get the chance to see her true thoughts and feelings. We see that under the facade of happiness, those demeaning labels and names have really caught up to her and affected the way she defines her self-worth. It doesn’t just stop at “I’m different. I don’t fit in.” She literally sees herself in the worst light possible - a monster - something that brings destruction and death.

So the main character arc of El for the rest of the season (and I believe it will continue in season 5) revolves a lot around her defining her very self-worth (she alone knows herself best, not anyone around her; not Hopper, not Mike, her), making her own decisions despite the biggest authority figure in her life - Papa - saying “NO,” and most importantly, accepting herself (and her abilities) for what things are. If need be, she is going to use them in a violent way, like fighting against Vecna or the military, or use it to save Max - her dearest friend. When I first watched episode 9, I was a bit annoyed by the fact that they have El revive Max in such a way because it feels like they want to avoid a main character’s death. But when I ponder upon it a bit more, I see it as a beautiful contradiction with how her power has been used continuously in every season - something that causes damage and death vs. something that can revive life. There is no clear-cut definition like the monster or the superhero because these words imply certain qualities that completely contradict each other and cannot co-exist in one entity, that entity being El. She is Eleven and she is more complex than what those labels can ever describe.

Now this is exactly where I have issues with Mike’s monologue. Because he keeps going on and on about her power (a lot of which isn’t even accurate) and calls her a superhero. Many people have talked about this but let me put it down here just to make things clear: Mike is holding El back from her personal development. She cannot open up to Mike about her life in California, suppressing her negative feelings and thoughts all the way, because he has always looked up to her for her abilities and she can’t bear his pity if he knows the truth. She feels unloved because Mike cannot write the word “love” to her but once again she tries to put that aside. Mike’s words after she hits Angela triggers her traumatic experience at the lab - the one which makes her feel like a monster. And then when she finally gets to see that there is no such thing as a monster or hero, she being way more complicated than what others dictate her to be, Mike once again brings back the word “superhero.”

OK I didn’t intend to write that much about El, which is a bit funny considering that my favorite character is Will. I am feeling like I am driving at night without any headlight so let me end this part with a question: If she continues her relationship with Mike in season 5 without both resolving all the underlying problems in their relationship, it being the fact that they cannot really be themselves around each other and therefore, hindering their own personal development due to each being the main source of validation for the other, what purpose would it serve? What emotional impact and message can that bring about at the end of the day? What is potentially the climax of resolution of all these underlying issues that have lain around for seasons?

The psychological (realistic) and narrative (fictional) aspect of a character’s personal arc is so intricately interwoven to each other that to me, to erase one side from the argument (to completely cling to the analysis of a therapist) portrays a black-and-white way of looking at the show. I still love listening to character analysis of people who have knowledge of psychology though, because I love psychology a lot but I’m not going to forget that I’m watching a show in which everything has a sense of purpose and has to fit into a narrative. At the moment, we still have a whole season left and none of the characters have completed their arc yet, not to mention we are kept in the dark about some of the character’s actual thoughts and feelings and the only thing we can do now is deducing from what we see or hear from the show and other related sources of hint.

See the full post

42 notes - Posted August 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

PREACH!!!! OMG I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

70 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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ohnobjyx · 4 years

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Asks without a question (I)

I love when you people chime in and tell what you think, but since there isn’t really a question in these, I don’t have an answer per se for you, so I’m leaving an reply for you here!

(Including a lot of links because I know there are many new fans out there!)

Disclaimer: bjyx? what is that? Is it edible?

Oh yes, anon. I think we are all here because we believe that they have something. The show you mention was TTXS, where dd is a cohost since 2016 (the clip is here, and the whole episode here). Please, let’s all notice he said this in January 2018, before he was filming CQL, but after he had met gg. Was he thinking of someone or just a passing thought?

(Imo, it was just an opinion, or something from past experiences that may include the first meeting with gg or not, I don’t think he’d go as far as think how would he behave in the case they got to work together. The comment seemed very offhanded to me).

And I love that part from WZC’s interviews (he’s a very funny man XD). From his interview (where he said the childish part) I love the part where he says that he left the “big bros love you” chat the first day, and, ofc, the part about the mosquito bite.

If you watch the whole interview, there was a part where my eyes went 😳, because in this video TN explained kedaole as “talking about an idol’s good visuals”?? (another TN here: kedaole or 磕到了 is a expression used by bxg and other cp fans when they’ve caught a sweet moment between the cp. For example, if I were to say “why don’t you wear kneepads?”, most of you will be like “kedaole!”).

His eyes and his expression doesn’t make sense unless he gives the phrase the same meaning as we do.

Wow, I really left the ask box unattended for too long 😖

I think the kadian anon was talking about that day was this one:

However, I was going through a phase where I was starting to doubt the kadian, in the sense that it’s “impossible” that all kadian is related to gg. Kadian is afterall one of the most overinterpreted candy that’s out there, because the possibilities are endless.

The week before we had been pouring over this kadian and this one, because we thought that it was too much of a coincidence that he was late to the posting of the promotional post the exact time that made the timestamp mean something related to bjyx.

Dd was also “late” for the promo of the first episode, and posted at 20:04 (the episodes air at 20:00), which made some people think that he missed 20:03 by a few seconds.

BUT. The thing is that some people say he can’t schedule the posts, so he must post as soon as he has the post ready. I searched a little, to see if dd’s tardiness was phenomenon limited to him exclusively, and found that all of the other team’s captains were also late most of the times. One of them even posted at 20:03 one of the days.

So now I think that the kadian must only be significant if it can form a phrase in itself (like 12:03) or if it’s so late that it can’t possibly be an accident (thinking about the 13:10 and the jet-ski heart). This leaves out 20:32 for me, because the “sentence” seems too forced and there’s no gg related content neither in the post nor in the episode. However, kadian is a very personal thing, and others might find this significant even if I don’t.

It was also the day this dance happened, I still remember that we were all freaking out here in tumblr, because dd is so bold and uncaring of conventions. I definitely didn’t expect it, so colour me absolutely impressed.

(And I don’t think gg minds either... for one, work is work, and if I were to have such a video of my partner, I’d absolutely treasure it 😉).

Yes, yes and yes, anon 😂 The cracked pot convo (there was a part 2!) happened the same day of the apology in the hallway (tumblr doesn’t let me find it, so here’s the raw version) and the clingy part. Might I add that the reversed pants conversation happened the same day too, in another interview?

Besides of the whole day being “suspicious” this day held a lot of pointers for bxg. Let’s just focus on the part where dd apologizes to gg for example (I must have written a post about this, but since I can’t find it, I’ll summarize it quickly here):

Dd, during their earlier interview, had said “are you crazy?” to gg, which in Chinese is an insult. He apologized on the spot (notice his hand on gg’s arm!) and apologized again later, in the hallway.

When he apologized, he called gg “da lao”, which means “boss”. This later caused the birth of another candy during one of their fan meetings. However, what’s more remarkable is how naturally gg reacts to this name, and how he simply leans towards dd. So, it doesn’t take much to guess that dd must call gg like that a lot in private, for it to be taken so naturally.

Dd had indeed been worried about angering gg, which is the only reason why I think he’d bring up the issue later (if not, why would anyone say to someone “I was in the wrong before”?). He gave it importance, and apologized, because gg had reacted to it earlier pointing to the cameras. However, I don’t think gg really minded the “insult” but was rather worried of how it created a bad image for dd (which is why he says “it wasn’t so bad, at least you didn’t say that...”. He was worried that dd would say something worse).

So, in this barely 15 seconds interaction we got some huge clues: “da lao” is something they use often, and the reason why it’s used as an inner joke later, dd really cares about what gg thinks and gg worries about dd’s image.

I’ll finish it here to avoid repeting myself, but really, each of the moments of this day deserves a careful examination, because there are a lot of pearls hidden in the mud.

(I don’t remember what day was it, but gg and dd seemed very unguarded to me. “She’s not so clingy, you are”. OMG, gg)

Well, what can I say. He didn’t say anything about a boyfriend though (not like he can, but just saying that omissions are important).

Anon, “likely” falls short for me. Look through my blog. Almost 600 posts in less than 4 months. Taking out the photos, you still have 300-400 posts dedicated to them. I assure you, at this point, if it’s proved that we are wrong, I’m going to be very very surprised.

#yizhan #bjyx #asks #anon #my post #including link for baby bxgs!#and a trip down memory lane for old bxgs!

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horansqueen · 4 years

Text

You & Me : chapter 47

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34 || CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39 || CHAPTER 40 || CHAPTER 41 || CHAPTER 42 || CHAPTER 43 || CHAPTER 44 || CHAPTER 45 || CHAPTER 46

NOTES:

-one chapter is her pov, the next is his -4k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

READ AM CONVERSATIONS AGAIN ON WATTPAD HERE

- notes: last filler chapter. the next 3 chapters are all planned. this is the end omg im so sad! i love you guys so much for sticking to this story! thank you so so much! the others chapters will be separated in two so i can write each POVs :)

if you want to be on the list of blogs i notify when this is updated, just message me :)

requests! : this is, i believe, the last request i’ll add to this story. thank you times a million to all of you who sent some! I received over 200 requests just for YOU&ME! you guys are incredible and i hope youll want to participate to my next story as much as you did for this one!

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERS HERE

Chapter 47 : His chapter

NIALL

October 2018

Tour was finally over and we were back home. We had decided to get back to California for a while, if only to spend some time with friends and relax. I knew Olivia wanted to be around Louis and I just enjoyed being in LA for obvious reasons. Things had never been better between us but at least once a day, I could feel the ring I bought burning in my pocket or whispering to me from my underwear drawer. It always felt like the right time to get on one knee and ask her and at the same time, it also never felt like it was the perfect moment. I knew it was ridiculous because I was pretty sure she wanted to spend her life with me, but I was scared of being rejected, I was scared of what a 'no' would do to us and to our relationship. So many times, I had looked in her eyes and almost dropped down on one knee to ask her to be my wife, but I never did. I liked to believe I hadn't asked her yet because I knew she deserved something bigger than just me giving her a ring in a hotel room while we're waiting for our ride to the airport, but it was definitely not the biggest problem. I was just fucking scared and every time the words were about to come out of my mouth, I'd swallow them. I had no idea who I was trying to fool : Olivia was never the type to enjoy attention or extravagant things. She was reserved and private, pretty much like me, and I knew my proposal didn't have to be anything wild. It could be simple, and cheesy, and as long as I could find the right words, it would be perfect.

I heard the key in the lock and it took me out of my thoughts, pushing away my inner confusion. I waited until the door opened and she appeared, making my lips curl. She made a quick head movement but everything seemed to go on slow motion, like in a movie, and i watched her hair fly behind her shoulder. I was in it so deep I almost groaned and grimaced at how cheesy I was.

"Hey babe, what are you doing?"

I breathed in deeply, realizing I had completely stopped, and sent her a smile, licking my lips.

"Waiting for you like the loser I am." I half-joked before chuckling. "You were with Louis? How's he?"

She smiled at me and took a step closer, tilting her head. "First off, you're not a loser. You're cute. You're sweet. You're super endearing." she just said, staring at me fondly. Her expression changed and she glanced down, sucking on her bottom lip before putting her purse next to the couch. "I was not with... I didn't spend the night with Louis."

I frowned, waiting for her to continue and when her eyes met mine, I knew it was bad.

"I went to dinner with Dylan."

My lips parted and my heart jumped in my chest. I was never the jealous type and I was not about to start now, right? Then why did something seemed to stir in my stomach? Why was there a lump in my throat that had seemed to appear suddenly?

"No way, tell me you're kiddin'."

"Niall, please-"

"No, don't act like this is normal and that I'm stupid to be angry." i cut her, shaking my head. "I can't believe you spent all this time alone with Dylan."

She sighed again and sat on the couch, rubbing her hands on her eyes. I walked closer and dived my hands in my pockets, trying to remain calm but the truth was, I was hurt and I was not sure what all of this meant. All I knew was that I felt betrayed and I could barely believe we'd have to go through something like this again. This time, the roles seemed to be reversed but I didn't want this to break us.

"Obviously, you knew it was wrong since you purposely omitted to tell me." I continued, pressing my lips together to be sure I wouldn't let out a mean remark. "Why did you do that to me, Liv?"

It took her a few seconds but she finally got up very slowly, right in front of me. Her body was close, so close I could feel the warmth of it on my skin, but I just stared in her eyes, feeling my heart soften at the way she was looking at me.

"I don't love him, you know it." she expressed in a soft tone. "I don't love anyone but you. He's still my friend, and also my co-worker. I probably shouldn't have gone with him, especially not without telling you, but... I don't know, Niall."

I stared at her for what felt like an hour as I tried to calm the beatings of my heart and finally passed one of my hands in my hair and sat down on the couch. She turned around to face me but remained up as I shook my head.

"I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't be friends with, and I do trust you." I let out carefully. "But Olivia, how would you feel if i came back here one night and told you I spent the evening with Heidi?"

I could feel her body tense near mine but I didn't look up at her. I waited and eventually, she sat next to me and reached for my hand on my thigh, squeezing my fingers with both her hands.

"I'd feel betrayed, and sad, and... and hurt." she admitted. "I'm sorry Niall, it was wrong of me."

I brought my other hand and placed it over hers, squeezing her hand and brushing my thumb on the top of it.

"If it can reassure you though, Dylan is seeing someone." she added, making me look up in her eyes. "A pretty blonde. Actress too. Not your type, obviously, but I think they really fit."

"Not my type?" I repeated in an amused tone, raising my eyebrows. "Says who?"

"Your dating history." she explained with a chuckle. "She's a small cute blonde and you like tall and sexy brunettes."

I pressed my lips together again and shook my head. "Naa, that's not true anymore." I just shrugged, making her frown. "I just like one sexy brunette."

She laughed and tilted her head. "You're crazy, I'm not sex-"

I cut her by pressing my palm against her mouth and raising my eyebrows, moving slightly closer. My eyes roamed on her again as something jumped in my stomach. I wanted to ask her to marry me at this exact moment. I wanted to tell her she was everything I needed in this life and that my heart was aching for her to become my wife. Instead, I breathed in and finally swallowed.

"Don't argue with me. You're sexy." I whispered before moving my hand away very slowly. "And I love you."

She licked her lips and the left corner of her lips raised up. "Your love is blinding you." she whispered, moving closer to brush her lips against mine. "But I appreciate it. I love you too."

She kissed me so gently that if I had closed my eyes, it would have felt unreal, and when she pulled away, I saw her facial expression change.

"I'm sorry, Niall. That won't ever happen again." she apologized gently in a soft tone.

"I know." I whispered before suddenly realizing something. "Hey, does that mean he broke up with Heidi?"

Her lips curled and she shrugged. "Yea, that's what he told me tonight. I feel a bit sorry for her, she's been through a lot in the past few weeks."

I stared at her for a few seconds, surprised by her words but at the same time a bit impressed. The fact that she could be empathetic even to people who were mean to her was something I appreciated. Of course, we hadn't been too kind to Heidi either and Liv was not wrong, she had been through a lot, even if it was not all on us and that she had put us through a lot too. Still, I felt my lips curl and she tilted her head before sighing as she turned her upper body my way.

"It's horrible what we all did to each other, don't you think?"

My traits softened and I nodded. "It is." I admitted in a low tone. "Let's just use this so we never do that again."

Her lips curled a bit and she licked them slowly as I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me. Her arms slithered around my neck and I sent her an amused smile.

"It won't ever happen again." she confessed, tilting her chin up. "I plan to spend the rest of my life with you, and only you."

Her words made me chuckle and I raised my eyebrows, still looking at her, "Oh what a coincidence, I plan the same with you."

I brought one of my hands to her cheek before pressing my forehead against hers. She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. It made me smile and gently, I rubbed my nose against hers, making her chuckle low.

"Shower?" I proposed in a low tone.

"Mm no, a bath. Together."

I laughed a bit but we ended up in the bathroom together as she filled the tub with warm water. I let my eyes roam on her as she got undressed, leaving her clothes on the cold tiles, and when her eyes met mine, she raised her eyebrows. The left corner of my lips raised up into a cheeky smile and she just shook her head but I took a step closer, placing my hands on her waist and making her smile too.

"Fifteen minutes without thinking about sex. Please." she asked, tilting her head and making me laugh.

"But you're just standing naked in front of me I mean..."

"Niall James Horan, you're not sixteen anymore, you can be around a naked girl without feeling the need to shag her, i'm sure!"

"Around any other girl, yea, but when it's you..." I let out, half-joking and making her roll her eyes.

"Come on, get naked too." she let out as she started working on my pants. I helped her take them off and before she could do it, I grabbed the bottom of my shirt and pulled it over my head, letting fall on the pile of her clothing on the floor. "Alright, seeing you in your usual white boxers does something to me." she admitted, bringing her hand to my cock over my boxers and biting her bottom lip.

"Look who's all horny now." I laughed as she got on her tiptoes to kiss my lips, letting go of me and smiling against my mouth. "Come on, get in the tub."

After a few minutes, I was sitting in the tub, legs spread, and she was sitting between them, her back leaned against my chest. I didn't remember us ever doing that before but I enjoyed it a lot more that I thought I would. We started talking and laughing together and it was exactly like when we were younger and we'd spend all night talking together. Well, almost : the younger versions of us were definitely not naked.

"I can't believe we're dating again." she let out after a while as her thumb brushed gently on my arm. "If someone had told me that a few months ago, I wouldn't have believed it. Who would have thought?"

"Me." I replied before she moved slightly to look at me. "I mean, I wrote 'you and me' about that. I knew we were meant to be, and I've always known I wanted to spend my life with you."

I knew this discussion could go wrong but I had to be honest about all of this.

"I could have refused, you know. I could have been over you by then." she argued calmly. "I thought I was. But then you appeared with that stupid gorgeous mug of yours, that fucking insane smile and those ridiculously incredible eyes..." She shook her head. "I had no chance to win that fight."

I let out a loud laugh and she tilted her head to reach my chin with her lips, leaving a small kiss on my skin.

"When I found out you were getting married... I started doubting everything." I admitted, looking down at my hand moving slowly to bring warm water on her skin after seeing her shiver. "I thought maybe it was too late. But I couldn't seem to give up."

We remained silent for a while until she grabbed my hand and squeezed my fingers tight. "I'm glad you didn't."

"Me too." I whispered. "And I feel so lucky that you gave me an other chance."

Once again, she turned around slightly but this time, I moved my chin down to kiss her lips.

"We don't even have an anniversary date." she pointed out, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Of course we do! It's April 16th of this year."

I felt my heart jump at my words and held my breath. April 16th was the day I bought that promise ring for her in Paris. It was when I decided that I wanted to marry her and that I would ask her to be my wife. Since that day, I had almost asked her so many times I couldn't count anymore. I hadn't dropped on one knee yet but I knew that I would at some point, and April 16th was the day I realized that. Some days I would bring the ring with me in my pocket, some other days it would stay in one of the drawers in our room, but it was always in the back of my mind. I obviously couldn't tell her that and when she turned around an other time to frown at me, I suddenly remembered something she had said.

"Y-Yea, I mean you don't remember?" I stammered. "There was an article about that earring you gave me and you said that you didn't care that people knew we were together."

We had also mentioned not being official the day after, I remembered that too. but I decided not to mention it. I was pretty sure she had mentioned that we were together but I was also aware it was probably just a bad choice of words. She was right, we didn't have an anniversary date, but I hoped that it would become that date if only because it was a big day for me and I hoped it would become a big day for her, too.

"I don't remember, but I trust you." she just shrugged before her lips curled. "Alright, April 16th, then."

I felt my heart jump in my chest and I kissed her gently but firmly again, making her chuckle against my mouth. I could have spent the whole night with her body pressed on me as we chilled in hot water but after a while, we got out, dried ourselves and got back to our room to put on pajamas.

"I'll make us some tea." she proposed as we walked back to the living room and she finally disappeared in the kitchen.

I sat on the couch and started looking for the remote on the coffee table. I was about to give up when something caught my eyes and I grabbed her notebook. It was similar to mine but of a different color and I knew she wrote ideas for her tv show or her future book in it. I was about to ignore it when I realized it was open and I could have sworn I had seen my surname. Without thinking, I grabbed it and a smile appeared quickly on my face when I saw 'Olivia Horan' scribbled everywhere on a page, surrounded by hearts and stars. It seemed like she had tried to create a signature with her future name and it made me think about the ring in my drawer. If I was scared she wouldn't accept, that notebook was a good clue that her answer would probably be positive. I put it away when I heard noise and leaned against the couch as I watched her walk slowly up to me to make sure she wouldn't spill our hot beverages and I thanked her as I grabbed a mug. She sat next to me and our eyes met before our lips curled. I couldn't believe how happy I was.

"I love you, Niall. I'm... I'm glad we're dating now." she admitted before taking a sip.

"Me too, petal. I'm happy you accepted to be my girlfriend again."

---

December 2018

When Liv told me she was spending the day with Julia, I was a bit surprised, but the truth was, I enjoyed the fact that these two got along so well. She said she wouldn't be home late but I knew how she could get and when Louis proposed that we grabbed a bite (and a few pints, of course) together, I jumped on the occasion.

I knew Louis had become Olivia's best friend and even if we used to be very close, I was fine with that. Somehow, they had been through a lot together, and I knew it was partially my fault : they probably wouldn't be that close if I hadn't broken up with Liv. Of course, they'd still be friends, since they were before we broke up, but I knew their pain brought them closer and it was obvious that nothing could tear them apart now.

I was also slowly but surely getting over the fact that Louis and her had sex a few times. I was not sure how often but I was sure I didn't want to know and anyway, i couldn't blame her or him. It had happened and I had to live with that fact. Besides, I knew there was nothing between them anymore.

I smiled when I saw Louis walk in the restaurant and got up to hug him before we both sat back down. We ordered beer and when we got them, we clinked our glasses together and drank half of it. It was weird to think I was with Olivia's best friend and she was actually hanging out with mine, but the fact that we appreciated each other's entourage was perfect.

"So, Neil, how are things for you?" he asked, playing with his beer and turning it around in his hands. "Where's my queen tonight?"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, amused. "Your queen is with Julia, but she's not supposed to come back home too late. She'll text me. Where's El?"

"Gone for a few days."

"Ah. That's why you called me." I pointed out before laughing when I saw his face. "It's ok Tommo, I get it."

"I'm thinking you're ding quite well these days." he pointed out, ignoring my last comment. "When are you gonna pop the question?"

I almost choked on my beer and wiped my mouth on my shoulder before swallowing hard and making Louis laugh.

"We've just been taking bets on that." he continued, shrugging a shoulder.

"We?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Liam and I. Trying to bring Harry in it but he says it's none of our business."

"I've always thought Harry was the smartest of my bandmates." I joked, making Louis laugh again.

"Oh yea, you definitely thought that when he was balls deep in your best friend's fanny right?"

"Shut up, Tommo!" I frowned as he laughed again. "He probably shagged her less times than you did."

Louis took an other big sip of his drink. "Touché." he shrugged again before chuckling. "Not sure what it says about the relationship they had, though."

I raised my nose up in a grimace and drank what was left of my beer. I didn't really want to have this discussion and I decided to change the subject.

"Well, I don't know which bet you took, but I hope you lose." I admitted as I looked through my pocket, taking out the ring and placing it right in the middle of the table.

Louis' eyes got bigger and he moved closer, bending down to look it it without daring to touch it. I stopped the waitress to order us two other beers and a few shots and when I turned back to my friend. he was still staring at the ring like he didn't know what it was. I snatched it quickly, taking him out of his thoughts, and put it in my little finger to stare at it.

"I've thought about asking her so many times." I confessed, my eyes still on the ring. "But it never feels like the right time."

"I know you're a romantic man, Niall but... will there ever be a right time?" Louis said gently, making me sigh. "Aren't you just a bit scared that she'll say no and leave?"

I groaned and closed my eyes before raising my nose up in a grimace again. "Maybe."

He was right, I knew it, but at the same time, i wanted to make it special for her. I wanted it to be something that she'd remember forever, something she couldn't forget even if she tried. I wanted to express my feelings to her and tell her everything she wanted and needed to hear, just to make her happy. I had tried to write down the right words but everything seemed cliché and cheesy.

"Do it. She's your soulmate. I can't make up a scenario in my head where she'd actually say 'no'." he continued. "I think deep down, you know I'm right."

I looked up and sighed again, putting the ring back in my pocket.

"I don't know anymore, I just don't want to take her for granted, you know?" I shrugged. "I've done that before and it messed up everything. Never again."

"That doesn't mean you can't be confident and believe in the love she has for you."

I frowned a bit as I stared at him. "Are you trying to win your bet against Liam by making me ask Olivia to marry me?"

"No." Louis chuckled, leaning against his chair. "I just think you've been hesitant for too long. When exactly did you buy this ring?"

"Mm, well, about, 8 months ago?"

Just saying it out loud sounded ridiculous. Had I been waiting that long? It was almost pathetic. How scared of rejection could a guy be? Seriously. I had never reacted like that in anything I did before, and I was always the confident type, but asking Olivia to marry me was something that made me so nervous I could feel my hands sweat and I passed one of them in my hair.

"8 months? Are you fucking insane? How did you manage to keep that secret?"

"I don't even know." I mumbled in a low tone, staring at my glass, not daring to check Louis' amused expression.

"Niall, we're talking about Olivia. The girl you've known all your life, the girl who's been in love with you since the very first day she found out what love was. Put your big boy pants on and pop the fucking question before that fucking ring starts to get rusty!"

"It's made of gold...."

He rolled his eyes and kicked me under the table, making me groan again as I moved my leg away. Damn, that kid could kick.

"Don't be a fookin' idiot, mate, and just ask her."

I finally looked up in his eyes and he raised his eyebrows at me. He was right but at the same time, I didn't know when I should do it. I wanted to do something special, or at least slightly romantic, but all I could think about were ugly clichés from movies. Nothing original came to mind and it was driving me insane.

"Alright. Soon." I gave in. "I'll do it soon."

#niall horan #niall horan smut #niall horan fluff #niall horan fanfic #niall horan fan fic #niall horan fanfiction #niall horan fan fiction #niall horan story #niall horan writing #my fanfics #yam

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x-klamstrakur · 3 years

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Again. This is long overdue but I was also tagged by the lovely @dacian-assassin ❤️

Let’s. Do. This. 😎 Okay.

1. Why did you choose your url?

Well! My url is actually two of my favorite songs by Hatari: X and Klámstrákur. It’s purposely spelled incorrectly too. You’ll find out why if you like, did a little research. 🤣 I also couldn’t really think of anything else to call myself on here so. 😌 I just used this. Smart huh? 🤣

2. Any side blogs? If you have them, name then and why you have them.

Ehhhhhhh. Well. I tried to make one? I’m a…decent writer..? Of fanfiction. Not like, an actual book. 🤣And well, there were times when I wanted to promote them a little more so I did think about a side blog. I remember making one a few times but I would always delete it after a few hours of it being up because I just feel like…my work isn’t good enough? Even though they are pretty decent. So. 😌🤣

3. How long have you been on Tumblr?

Ahhhhhhhhh. Good question. 🤔 I’m not too sure myself. I think I started this like…when I was in high school? So like…2018…2019…I don’t remember. 🤣

4. Do you have a queue tag?

No. I do not. 😌 I don’t like tagging.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

I joined because of the fanart. That’s it. That was my reasoning and now I have like, friends on here, I’m in a few good decent fandoms and I just think it’s crazy how I managed to gain so much more out of this app. So. 😌

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Ahhhhhhhh! I love this question! I can talk for hours about my men! 😍🤩😍🤩😍 SO! When I was first tagged on this, I had a picture of my cowboy husband: Javier Escuella. As I’m writing this post, my icon is an image of my wind god husband: Fujin. Anyway! My icons change depending on my mood and what husband I want to show my love for. They also change if I want a specific color scheme. Before: my color scheme was gold, with that golden/sunset picture of Javier. Now: It’s a dark blue with a blue picture of Fujin. I just like to match. It’s such a personal fulfillment of mine. 🤣

7. Why did you choose your header?

Again, to match the color scheme and the icon of my blog. The header is never as significant as my profile picture. Right now, it’s literally just a night sky with a shooting star. That’s it.

8. What’s the post with the most notes?

Ahhhhhhh. I think it’s my Regulus Black post? Or it could be my Connor post? I don’t know. But I don’t want to link it because it’s old and I don’t want to remember any of my old posts. 🤣 They’re just really dumb. 🤣

9. How many mutuals do you have?

I don’t know. I doubt I have a lot because I suck but the few that I do have, I cherish. 😌❤️

10. How many followers do you have?

It’s Over 9,000!

11. How many people do you follow?

Nearly 200?

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

Always. Literally, all of my posts I have ever done. 🤣

13. How often do you use tumblr each day?

Everyday when I’m bored and I have nothing better else to do. 😎

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won?

Does Discord people who have Tumblr accounts too drama count? If so, then yes. And obviously, I won. 😎 I’m always the mature one. 😎🤣

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

I hate them. They only make me scroll past them faster. I don’t care. Sorry. Bye.

16. Do you like tag games?

I do! And I’m sorry it took me forever to do this one! 😭 But I want to get tagged more. It is fun and a great joy of mine to post! 😭

17. Do you like asks games?

I do! Also something I have fun answering and it brings be so much joy when I do get something in my box! 😭🤣

18.

I’m not sure what 18 says because it’s not a thing on the post I’m copying all these questions on. 🤣

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

Nah. The only love I need are from my fictional and pixelated husbands. 😎

#eyyyyyyyyyyyy #two posts in one day #I feel acomplished #this one took forever #but I had fun answering all of them #can’t wait to see how long it would take before I post anything again on here

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movie-guy49 · 3 years

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Hey everyone,

I just want to give everyone a quick update as to what's going on with the scams or what's called operation drain and run out of the 200 that were arrested the other day most have been released must have been very forthcoming and giving information some of them have been detained further pending for their interview and or their charges are going to be dropped or reduced law enforcement agencies have confirmed that there are some more smaller cell operations of this type going on here in the United States and in Canada they are now getting in with the Canadian authorities to help with the investigation up there I can't tell you that 75 of the 200 people arrested the other day were members of Tumblr so basically yes they were right under our nose and we did not know it but I knew it.

I can also tell you that information from this point forward is going to be very slim because they are wanting to Big Cheese the people that are actually masterminding all this and they're going to have to start being careful what information they let out and that's totally acceptable to me I totally understand that and they did say the other thing about passing the info. on to you guys as much as they can. They said that I have been a big help in this there's been a few other people that have come forward they've also been assisting and helping out but I still need some more help so anything y'all got if it if it means you got scammed don't worry about being embarrassed you're not going to be judged or you're not going to be treated like shit just because you fell for it.

So now if you've noticed that I changed the format of my blog it makes it look like it's in a daily or weekly episodic TV show it's still called a slice of my world but it's also episode 1-18 this is starting to become a daily or actually it should say it bi-weekly thing of me posting and I have enjoyed it don't get me wrong but the title of this is called oh how things have changed and it's basically going to be a lot of difficult reading from this point forward but stuff that once you read it you'll understand why it has been so difficult I I'm going to Chronicle the night of January 20th of last year through the morning hours of January 21st which is what I considered the moment my life changed forever.

So we begin on January 20th 2020 I had to go to work I walked 4 miles to go to work because I didn't have a vehicle anymore and we were living in a motel so I had to you know make sure one of us is working until a lot of times where I was staying even hard for me to get a ride. So I work the 3:30 to close shift which basically meant I left between anywhere from between 12:30 and 1:00 in the morning I worked at a movie theater which by the way was probably the best job I had ever had in my life I I love that place I would love to go back to another one like it. So basically I got off work about 12:30 that night and normally I would have a ride to work on Monday nights this week it wasn't possible because of something that happened at the theater the manager got behind on his paperwork on and couldn't get out on time like he normally does I had to go to the store that night because we didn't have very much food so I went to store I got about 2 or 3 nights worth of food with enough till I get to my day off from work to go to the store and get more. That was a common occurrence so by the time I got done with the store and got home about 2:30 in the morning my wife was asleep she had been sick for about a month before this which now I have directly linked into being one of the first cases of COVID-19 in the united states'.

I came home and like I said she was asleep and I gave her a kiss like I usually do sometimes it wakes her up sometimes it doesn't this time it woke her up we start talking for a little bit I went outside and I did my usual ritual I go outside and smoke a little weed you know kind of relaxed a little bit for about 20-30 minutes yeah I went inside and cooked dinner now for a little background my wife had been sick for a while she had a heart attack November 8th in 2018 and then she had a stroke Easter Sunday of 2019 a stroke that she refused to go get taken care of even though I begged her and had other people beg her to go to the hospital she would not do it when she had the heart attack the doctor was not able to fix all the blockages to her heart because some of the arteries were too small so he told me privately that if she had another heart attack she wouldn't survive it I knew that I told her that about 3 months later so she knew but on this night I never had any dream or knowing that 2 hours after I got home from work she would be dead she had a massive heart attack I was just getting ready to start cooking dinner when she started really screaming about chest pain and I've never heard her go off like she did and even though I called 911 it still took the damn people 20 minutes to get out there otherwise I still think she'd be alive but then again maybe not so to try to make a long story short they would not let me ride in the ambulance with her to the hospital she was still coherent but when they did the ekg in the room where we were staying at I could tell the guy's eyes that she wasn't going to be much longer and I think the reason why they told me I couldn't ride with them was because for the same Theory I think that they didn't want my last memory of her to be of her fighting for her life and dying and I am thankful for that because I've had horrible nightmares about this whole thing and so after I made all the notifications and everything that day I went back to work two days later and I was told I could stay out as long as I needed to they were really really super awesome and amazing to me hell they were even responsible for giving me the money to get my wife buried because they donated money they put a pool in together to help me. The thing about it was is I don't know what upset me more the fact that I wish there was something more I could have done or the fact that I had to have a fucking cop show up to my door to tell me that she was gone even though I had already known it. So when I went back to work two days later it was very very hard because she used to work there too and she used to work at the podium on the weekends where she took the tickets and everything and told people where the theaters were and everything else and I wasn't there for 2 hours and I just doubled over it was just like a big flood of emotion but I made it that night but the hard part was with the weekends because those were the nights that she worked the most everybody loved my wife it worked up there and so I mean I didn't feel like I was so alone then the pandemic came I lost my job I lost my place where I was staying I had to go to my sister-in-law's house which was the biggest mistake of my life cuz I really found out what kind of people they were plus that's when I developed a curiosity for methamphetamine and then I met the bitch from hell not even 2 months later and keep in mind she was just supposed to be a companion we weren't like going to be boyfriend girlfriend cuz I still way too broke up about my wife's death that's all I wanted cuz I couldn't stand being lonely anymore just like I can't stand it now but she got me hooked on meth and I say she got me hooked because she kept bringing it around me knowing that I found something new that I really liked and I didn't ask her to bring it around I could have said no but this has to do with that 28 day period from June to July where she was drugging me putting the dope in my food in my drinks that's why I blame her.

Then after my ex got murdered at a house party I lost my sister-in-law and nephew and then my step daughter called me one day two weeks before Christmas to tell me that she lost her fiance her baby's daddy after he had a heart attack from A congenital heart defect that he had for 6 years the only bright spot of 2020 was my step daughter had a daughter of her own and that to this day that baby is my love bug

As where I'm at right now I'm going to be homeless by next weekend again unless I can come up with $250-300 dollars by Friday night it doesn't look like it's going to happen folks unless I can get some donations and get them quick I am taking donations right now if you can help I don't care if it's 5 10 15 20 $25 whatever it is it will help I don't expect nobody to give me the money all at once cuz I know a lot of people don't have that kind of money right now so just little donations will help right now I had to actually go to Walmart today and steal food God I hate myself for doing it I didn't get caught but still my conscience was getting the best of me for much of the evening I got enough food here to last me for 2 or 3 days if I end up getting to stay here but like I said it's not looking very good at this point I've tried local resources I've tried all kinds of Charities help and all they want you to do is hurry up and wait and I ain't got that kind of time and I told him that so I I'm asking for any help that anyone could give if I don't get if I can get at least $250 out of 400 I can go get me a motel room for the week and I'll get me by until I can come back here when my roommate comes back cuz then he'll have the money for the rent and everything else so I can come back here so I just need to really get by for a week I have not had any dope in nine days I'm going crazy but I need a place to live first before I can be doing that shit so I'll just have to deal with it if you want to help I'll give you my cash app I will put it at the end of this post for everybody so the last 18 months has not been fun I went to six suicide of Temps and I just been existing when before I had it all anyway so that's basically going to end this episode of a slice of my world I'm sorry if this was such a downer for a lot of people but you know I the more and more I feel like I tell my story easier everyday gets for me cuz I don't feel like I'm burying myself with all the emotion and having to keep it bottled up anyway I will talk to you y'all whenever I talk to you I may be on Hiatus for a little bit because I won't have a phone here after tomorrow unless I go someplace that has Wi-Fi and depending on my living situation I mean like I said I'm I'm hoping and praying somebody will be able to help out by donating a little bit of money to me so I can keep a place over my head somehow someway anyway y'all. I love you take care of yourself and I'll see you on the other side

Cashtag $jojo091069

PayPal

Venmo

Google pay

Message for those tags I left blank as I don't know them by heart yet

Love,. Sean

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max--phillips · 3 years

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30 questions

I got tagged by @mandoinevarro and @hdlynn!!!

1. Name/Nickname: We’ve talked abt my “real” name but Tori is technically a nickname?? But honestly I’ll respond to whatever

2. Gender: the concept of hot, fresh bread in a small local bakery

3. Star sign: scorpio !

4. Height: 5′10″! I am tol

5. Time: 8:45 pm and it feels like the middle of the damn night

6. Birthday: November 19th!

7. Favorite bands: uhhhhhh do I listen to music? The Chicks is the only band coming to mind right now

8. Favorite solo artists: Lady Gaga, Sara Bareilles, Jewel

9. Song stuck in your head: the main theme from The Mandalorian and this has been the case for the past week

10. Last movie: Triple Frontier 😞✌

11. Last show: The Mandalorian!

12. When I did create this blog: This specific blog was made in 2018 sometime, but I’ve been on the website in some capacity since 2012

13. What I post:

14. Last thing I googled: “justin mcelroy its trash gif”

15. Other blogs: @dirtypedrocharacterconfessions, @onehellofanaskblog, and my (more explicitly) nsfw @spacegaynsfw!

16. Do i get asks: ye!!! Quite a few tbh, mainly for the confessions blog but yknow I take what I can get sdklfjg

17. Why i chose my url: idk its just some name I picked out of a hat /s

18. Following: oh god. 1,967, but who the hell knows how many are inactive

19. Followers: uhhhh 1,083 here, 173 on the ask blog, 464 on the confessions blog, and a whopping 24 on the nsfw blog sdfhgsdkfj

20. Average hours of sleep: well lately it feels like 0 but usually 8 or 10

21. Lucky number: I don’t really have a lucky number per se but my favorite number is 23 (which is, coincidentally, my age)

22. Instruments: I can play flute!

23. What I’m wearing: baby yoda socks, fleece pj pants, some random t-shirt, and my max phillips was right sweatshirt

24. Dream job: I simply do not dream of labor (idk probably a curator at some museum or something, but I would also love to own my own shop of some kind)

25. Dream trip: one of those crazy, multi-month cruises that stops at ports all over the world

26. Favorite food: Yes? All of it? Food? I love pasta tho

27. Nationality: American :/

28. Favorite song: uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh do I HAVE a favorite song??? I listen to too many podcasts

29. Last book: fuck me I haven’t read a real book in so long I just don’t have any idea. Probably one of the TAZ graphic novels if that counts

30. Top 3 fictional universes I wanna live in: Mass Effect, Star Wars, and probably Prospect tbh

I’m not gonna tag anyone BUT you should do it if you see it!!!

#tori says things #about me #tag games

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sailing-elitsha · 3 years

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SAILING ELITSHA

3rd of March, +/-2 weeks to go

We, Dick, Sylke and ELITSHA will leave Cape Town around the 15th of March and will sail to the Caribbean. We are busy sorting out the last things: emptying our house and making it ready for a tenant for a year, selling my car, learning to bake bread and rolls, learning how to catch fish…. We have got a new rigg, second pair of sails, two more new lithium batteries, more solar panels, a new tablet to connect to our navigation tool, water tanks are clean, have to buy a dingy, safety tools like Epirbs and life raft, medication for a year, food for three month, AIS (Global ship tracking intelligent system).

We registered Elisha in Germany, got registered at the German Seefunk. We have a good health insurance for the next three month and another one for after this period. We have our flags for St Helena, Brazil, the Netherlands, Suriname, and a German Flag. We bought digital maps and huge, real paper ones for the south and north Atlantic.

We bought our, 37-foot Mediterranean, built 2004 in South Africa at Fortuna boat builder in 2018. We did not like the name and renamed her to ELITSHA: isiXhosa for New Horizon. For almost three years now we have had a lot of fun with her. Sailing at the Cape of storms made us ready and curious four more adventures. After 18 years of sailing with tourists in Holland on our 100-year-old, two mast clipper “Westenwind” (I will tell you more about have been part of the world’s biggest traditional sailing fleet later, when we are at sea and I have more time) and 14 years of doing different work in South Africa, we crave to be at sea again, this time without tourists: Just Dick and me. We would have taken our daughter Zora with us but she prefers to finish her study in Amsterdam (good girl) and will visit us in Curacao in August and in Cuba in November, together with Sue, a friend of hers.

Zora is with us at the moment to help us with the preparation and for her to get more comfortable with the “crazy new plan“ of her Mum and Dad. We bought a satellite phone and will be in contact with Zora every day. So, dear family and friends, if you are worried about or want to hear how it’s going with us, contact Zora. Dear UBUNTU’s, if you have questions regarding the organisation, contact Zora or write me an email………and of course, all of you, please like and follow our blog. We try to post new info and photos at least every week and if you want, contact us via email on [email protected].

Sponsor sailing

Our whole journey we honour to UBUNTU for Africa, a German based NGO, who collects money for projects with people from underprivileged backgrounds in Hout Bay. Sylke, Dick and Zora started and supported this and more South African NGO’s while living in Hout Bay www.ubuntuforafrica.com

On our website you can donate for the sponsor sail: For every sailed mile or for every 10 or 100 miles or one of the stretches you can donate an Euro, pound or dollar and for South Africans: for every mile or every 10 or 100 miles or one of the stretches you can donate Rands directly to Kronendal Primary school “UBUNTU kids”. I’ve worked pleasantly for 10 years as a school counsellor at this wonderful Hout Bay Rainbow School. UBUNTU for Africa places township children at this school. COVID-19 hit them hard. A lot of parents are not able to pay school fees anymore. Dear South Africans, please give your donations for sailed miles by us to this school.

The mile donations of sponsor towards the German bank account will go to the township schools, where we run projects. Please check out our website and Facebook sites.

Our route

The total distance of the direct route from Cape Town to Curacao in the Caribbean is 5742 nautical miles. We will stay around Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire and hopefully Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados (currently they are still closed) till the hurricane season is over (end of October). Then we will sail to Cuba.

Cape Town to St Helena 1 716 nm

St Helena to Ascension Islands 728 nm

Ascension to Fortaleza (Brazil) 1 499 nm

Fortaleza to Paramaribo (Suriname) 1 188 nm

Paramaribo to Curacao 947 nm

Curacao to Cuba 632 nm

Cuba to Bahamas 645 nm

…..and here we will decide how we carry on……

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natasha-useldinger · 4 years

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The wilderness of 2020

I wrote a blog post earlier this year that was called: ‘When 2020 didn’t go to plan.’ However, little did I know that just a month after that writing, 2020 was going to get a whole lot more crazy than I think most of us would have ever imagined. But for some of you, maybe it's not the Covid. Maybe it is something different, maybe you are facing sickness, maybe your family isn't doing the best, maybe you don’t like your job, maybe a death has happened, a diagnosis with cancer, maybe a relationship has gone south with one of your friends, family, a colleague, or a lover.

In whatever you're going through this is an invitation to your wilderness. Maybe you are in a really good place with God and life and that means you can be a light to those who are struggling to see it. However, this letter is for the ones in the wilderness right now. Maybe you are feeling alone and don’t know how to get through the dry patch with God. Maybe the cancer diagnosis is draining your best efforts to ‘be positive’. Maybe you are really trying. You go to church, read your bible, and yet the wilderness isn’t going away. You're trying to go to God rather than other things, but why isn’t the pain going away?

Today I want to share some stories about God and what he has shown me about the wilderness and in particular; the heart. I think that at the end of the day, Jesus cares the most about our hearts. Sometimes, this is the last place we will go, and we won’t, if we don’t let Jesus show us the way there. The thing about following Jesus to the hard places is that you both have to want to go. God is like a physio: he is at work every day ready to get you back on your feet, but if you don’t want his help, you don’t want it.

I’m going to share some things that are real but I hope it encourages you. I never really share personal things but I’m inspired when I read my favorite authors being honest. It reminds me they are human too. The thing is, nobody wants to be the first speech in the communication class you know? We want to stay generic to avoid humiliation, but then we also lose the power of being authentic. Let's face it ‘Everybody Always’ is a tear jerker because it's real people's stories who let Bob publish them for the whole world. Guess what? I bet that book has changed many people in the name of Jesus and vulnerability.

What is being brave? It's an interesting thing because you can’t be brave unless you know that you're willing to lose an audience for what's right. Jesus was brave. Jesus was brave but he was also vulnerable. He gave himself to all of us, even when he knew people would try to throw him off a cliff and ultimately kill him. We are surprised at this but remember Israel killed all their prophets. Jesus was simply showing the people that without a heart change, they will keep killing the prophets and celebrating the false prophets who tell them everything they want to hear.

Vulnerability is the key to freedom from shame and the language of God. The definition of vulnerability is: the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. So today I want to talk about the wilderness and why we need vulnerability for true heart change.

So, I did this amazing bible school called School of Biblical studies in September 2018. I had no idea what the following twelve months would bring, but I had great expectation for 2019-2020. But let me just say, I quickly learned that things would not be going as I had planned. Sometimes I laugh when I’m surprised at plans changing, as if this isn’t the normal for life right? We can call it the plan that never happens. On the school I felt tired of doing Australian visas and continuing to be in Australia, but I felt the Lord prompted me to “give him one last year.” So I came back, and to put things in shorter words, I felt like everything I touched turned rotten. It felt like the year of consistent conflict. Jobs, homes, moving three times in eight months. I realized that there was a lot going on in my heart too but of course, you know, we sometimes tend to that last. Just when I thought things were turning up, the covid happened. I was, let's just say, a little stressed. When people asked if I prayed, I got annoyed. Well, I lost my job and my home why on earth would I stay? When I prayed sure enough I felt the Lord say “stay”. Great.

So much more happened in this time, but I kept coming back to this place: why did I come back? Why did you want me here for a year like that? I went through a million questions of: what I did wrong, how I must have made the wrong decisions, I must have heard God wrong. But maybe just maybe this was the year he would take me to the wilderness and set me apart.

Sometimes God takes you to strange places, places you never thought you would be. But remember that he is taking you somewhere after your wilderness too.

The wilderness is the place where God sets you apart, he reveals to you what's in your heart. From this place, if you let him in to the most vulnerable parts of you, he will take you from slavery and lead thousands out too. Moses was hiding in the wilderness before God called him to face his murder and lead his people to freedom. John the baptist was in the wilderness away from his culture being prepared for the ministry God had for him. Paul murdered Stephen. After getting saved, Paul had a substantial time away before he started his ministry to the gentiles. Upon return, people were probably a bit scared of him. Jesus was led to the wilderness by the spirit to be tested before his ministry began. The amazing thing is for Moses, John, Paul, and Jesus: the most powerful ministry came after their wilderness, and their biggest rejections too. Peter had an incredible wilderness after he denied his Savior three times, and watched him be crucified. But you know what I love about Peter's story? When Jesus asked him to feed his sheep three times, Jesus also told Peter how he would leave the world being crucified and then asked him if he would follow him (John 21:15-19). And you know what? Peter led a transformed life and he didn’t deny Jesus again as he went to the cross in full vulnerability for his king. Peter's most powerful journey followed a very hard wilderness, but maybe, it was in that place he truly saw the heart of God and allowed his heart to be seen by God also.

The wilderness is where you will be able to decide who you want to reign in your heart. Satan tested Jesus with human need (food), power, and made him question God’s goodness. The wilderness is where there is nobody and nothing to seek but God himself. I don’t think we can truly be set apart if we never separate from our culture and what the world tells us is okay and not okay. I don’t think we have a true wilderness until we have to come back to the heart and really challenge who we believe God is. Its in the wilderness we need to have the conversation with him ourselves. Sometimes it's not until we lose our lives that we realize who really has it. In a wilderness, only you and God can work it out. It’s the lonely dark night of the soul that you have a chance like Peter did to decide who you will serve. It’s in the wilderness where you are allowing God (or not) to open up your heart and fill what he intends or removing what needs to go. Will you let Him in?

So, how do we do the work with God?

Sometimes I don’t think that people want things that aren’t good for them, but they simply just don’t know that God truly wants the best for them. Deep down they have the fear that if they do it God's way, they will be unhappy. This is exactly the tactic satan used in the garden with eve. For most of us, we want healthy hearts, but sometimes we don’t know what we need to do to let God into the deepest parts of the soul and transform it. There are a few things I want to encourage you to chew on; I have been asking these things for months.

If you open up to Luke chapter 6, there are a variety of images all explained next to each other. As I was reading I really couldn't get past these three ideas.I was processing this question: How do I truly let God into my heart and allow him to bring things to my attention, and not just know it, but allow it to change me. I love that God is so practical. This is what I found:

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit” Luke 6:43

2. “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil” Luke 6:45

3. “Why do you call me “Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.” Luke 6:48 “But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.” Luke 6:49

Okay so it’s so interesting how Jesus doesn’t say the evil person produces evil. He says the evil person ‘out of his evil treasure’ produces evil.This is very much an intentional thing. What we put in the treasure counts. What we reap, we sow. So, what are we putting into our hearts? This really hit home when I realized God is asking us where is our attention? What do we talk about? Where do we spend our time? What do we spend our money on? this reveals what we worship. If we have a garden with weeds and flowers, do we want to take the weeds out? Or are we watering them? When we are building a house, are we actually wanting God's advice, or do we just want him to bless whatever we decide regardless of what he says. I love that Jesus describes the wise builder as the one ‘who dug deep’. He went there, he did the deep work with God that we are all scared of, but his foundation was strong. The wise builder went deep, He let God go there with him. He went deep into his own heart and let God build his foundation there. I see this as such an invitation to a life of depth, transparency, and transformation. But what did the unwise builder do? He built his house on the ground, and he did not hear and apply what God was saying. Jesus went on to say “the ruin of that house was great.” Did the unwise builder say “she’ll be right”, everything is fine, the ground is a fine foundation as it is? We don’t know, but the end result was the “ruin of the house was great.” We need to take more responsibility to really ask ourselves: What do I worship? What does my life say I worship?

Treasure: Matt 6:21 “wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

So what I realized is God is wanting us to look at our hearts by looking at where we are placing our worship. Look at your time, look at your relationships, look at what conversations you have, where you spend your money, look at what your goals are. I realized then that the foundation, the treasure, and the roots of our trees all have to do with our heart. Are we really wanting God and his heart and his will? Or do we want the world and just have Jesus on the side. I always say that we are what we consume. If we truly want Jesus to transform our hearts, we have to change our priorities. And if He is not first, this is the best place to start.

The thing about the tree, the treasure, and the foundation is we actually had a choice what we stored, what we watered, and what we laid our foundation with. Maybe God is allowing us to be in the wilderness where we lose it all, all our treasure, and trees, and foundations, so He can start over with us and lead us to where there is life and life to the full. It takes bravery to be honest and vulnerable with ourselves and with God, but just remember He was vulnerable with you first. God won’t criticize you for being real with the fact that you need his help shifting your priorities, but he can’t help you if you won’t let him help you either. Let God in, let yourself be real and messy, and let Him show you how much He loves you and where He is taking you. He did it for Peter, Moses, Paul, and He will do it for you too if you're willing.

Oh and also just a side note: sometimes we won’t know how long the wilderness will go. But I’m thinking that perhaps it will go as long as God needs it to for us to be transformed. Joseph had a long wilderness, but it was worth it.

I could be deported in three weeks, or I could be here. I have no idea what I am doing or where I am going, but this I know: This year, I am thankful for this wilderness. If God led me here for the sole purpose of being in the wilderness, there is no better place to be. I decided I would rather be in the wilderness and have my heart changed, than to live a complacent and easy life that meant my heart never changed. I encourage you: thank God for your wilderness today.

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volturialice · 4 years

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Hey! How are you? How did you end up having a blog here? And how did you manage to get so many followers? I mean I'm pretty sure you have hundreds of followers... Anyway, thank you for your time!

I’m good, thanks! and that’s an excellent question! I ask myself the same things every day tbh.

how did I end up having a blog here: in fall 2018, ads for the twilight 10th anniversary showings in theaters prompted me to check whether there was an active twilight fandom on tumblr. “oh, that’s cool,” I thought upon discovering it, “maybe I’ll lurk this a bit.” I had no intention of making my own blog. then I was scavenging the Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale tag on ao3 and came across shannon’s magnum opus and just HAD to make memes about it!! I needed to! and for that I needed a blog! so I made one.

how did I manage to get so many followers: I think a lot of factors went into this. #1 is timing. I showed up right at PEAK renaissance, when this hellsite was flooded with nostalgic people rediscovering twilight. I gained about 500 followers between nov 2018-jan 2019 just by reblogging shitposts/edits and occasionally posting my own observations/takes/whatever—which I think was true for most people posting at that time. everyone was starving for content and following each other like CRAZY.

then in jan/feb/march 2019 a bunch of things happened almost at once:

I tried my hand at making some name edits

I opened up fic prompts

the fandom exploded into a nasty round of Ace Discourse. I was fairly outspoken about being ace myself and (once I had finished blocking a dozen or so people) tried to signal boost as many aroace-positive blogs as I could—with the result that I was signal boosted in turn by some pretty big blogs.

and that’s right when this blog really took off. kind of crazy, because I’m 99% certain I lost followers due to my stance on aroace inclusion—but my count was rising so fast by then that if I did, I didn’t notice. it’s hard to attribute the sudden influx of followers to any one of the three things above, but I think it was kind of a case of the planets aligning so that suddenly I was getting reblogged a lot by tons of different people for a bunch of different reasons. and then, of course, the more followers you have, the more you get reblogged, etc etc, until you just…have a lot of followers.

I also had several shitposts last year get up to 1k+ notes (starting with this one,) which isn’t exactly something you can control but it def made that follower count skyrocket, and by the end of 2019:

started from the bottom now we’re here. actually that’s a lie I’ve since blown way past this but it’s the aesthetic that counts.

but yeah. it’s tough to come up with a 1:1 explanation, but there’s a lot of little stuff you can do to gain followers! it just so happened to be stuff I was doing anyway because it’s fun and I really like interacting with the twilight renaissance community ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. y’all the goat.

G’s tips for gaining followers:

make sure you’re using tags! this one feels kind of obvious, but has to be stated, since tags are extra important if you don’t already have a large following. tag for ships, characters, actors, individual books/movies, and categories like “#twilight renaissance,” “#twilight edit” “#twilight fanfiction” etc.

shitposts. this fandom is all about the shitposts. basically, leave yourself open to inspiration, and whenever you come across something (text meme, reaction image, netflix screencap, product in a store, etc) that could easily apply to twilight, edit & post it!

interaction. comment on things, send asks off anon, participate in ask games, dm people if you have questions/observations/recs (and even if you don’t!)

rec things yourself! and tag the creators! it’s easy to make rec lists and it makes people SO happy

if you make content of any kind (art, edits, moodboards, fic, etc) taking prompts will hella boost your engagement. (just be careful not to overwork yourself or bite off more than you can chew!)

design posts that are open-ended/interactive. examples include “tag yourself” games, generators, posts like this one. basically anything that’s a conversation, and invites some kind of response!

hosting contests, giveaways, and challenges also gets lots of engagement. @twilight-af‘s recent 15 (extended to 25) Day Challenge is a great example. I hosted this ridiculous contest last spring and it was SO much fun! I absolutely plan to host a similar contest this spring (stay tuned)

read-along/watch-along content is fun and easy to post. examples: see the time I read the graphic novels or the time shannon and I invented a drinking game

if anyone else has suggestions, feel free to add on!

#asks #this was super interesting to think about #long post //#alcohol mention //#acephobia mention //#mm2305

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manjuhitorie · 5 years

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Hitorie’s unreleased concert recordings, are coming out on wowaka’s birthday

https://www.hitorie.jp/Loveless_IKI/

Hitorie’s full length DVDs of 2 concerts: The Loveless tour final and the IKI tour final in their full glory! It's region free and the release date is November, NOVEMBER, 4th. wowaka’s birthday.

The cover art has been unveiled, and the details of the bonus items have been divulged!

The standard edition cover feautures wowaka in ai/SOlate T-shirt twanging his guitar!

It comes with both concerts and an envelope with a lottery ticket for a chance to win a framed photo. It's cheaper and only comes with the 2 DVDs, the perfect piece! Regular edition DVD: via cdjapan

The limited edition cover features all members basked in laser lights!

The complete special package comes with both concerts, a new special photobook of unreleased photos by cameraman Nishimaki Taichi, sticker replicas of the staff passes used for both tours, and an envelope with a lottery ticket for a chance to win a framed photo. It’s also separated into Blu-ray and DVD, so make sure you buy the right one for your gear! DVD limited complete edition: via cdjapan Blu-ray limited complete edition: via cdjapan Bonus pre-order items!!!

If you preorder from select stores you’ll receive a A2 size poster of the wowaka photo (Tower Records and CDJapan are sure to have it)!

Amazon preorders will include a 5 piece set of concert photo post cards! (Amazon hasn’t prepared a page yet though, I'll link it ASAP).

And preorders from the concert venue booths will nab you a Hitorie-chan themed ticket case.

The track list is as follows

From Hitorie’s UNKNOWN-TOUR 2018 "Loveless" at EX THEATER ROPPONGI March 25th 2018 01. NAI. 02. Shinya 0-ji 03. Inperfection 04. One Me Two Hearts 05. Nichijou to Chikyuu no Gakubuchi 06. Bathtub and Sleepwalk 07. Eve Stepper 08. Loveless 09. Monocolor 10. Glare 11. Senseless Wonder 12. Unhappy Refrain 13. Social Clock 14. Namid[A]me 15. Talkie Dance 16. Unknown Mother Goose 17. Absolute Encore 1. Dancing Mannequin, Singing Fool Encore 2. Little Cry Baby

AND

From Hitorie’s National Solo Tour 2017 "IKI" at STUDIO COAST May 7th 2017 01. Heart Breath 02. One Me Two Hearts 03. Inperfection 04. Daydreamer(s) 05. Eve Stepper 06. Rularula 07. doppel 08. Lights in the Polar Night 09. Saihate 10. KOTONOHA 11. Hagure no Color 12. 5 Count Hello 13. Dancing Mannequin, Singing Fool 14. Shutter Doll 15. Little Cry Baby 16. Glare Encore 1. Kara no Waremono Encore 2. Senseless Wonder Encore 3. SisterJudy Encore 4. Montage Girl

"The full crowd bouncing around today was the best, I wish I could've shown everybody how crazy you guys looked. Please stick with us through future endeavors to come." After the IKI show in the DVD, ygarshy had said this.

And now.... that chance to see that day's craziness and follow their future is upon us, please do consider purchasing and dancing!!! And thank you for looking...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

⚠️~~~⚠️~~~⚠️The rest of this post is unnecessary bonus manju material⚠️~~~⚠️~~~⚠️

I had report on the Loveless final compiled together from way back on March 28th 2019, so I’ll post it here again to give a small taste....!

●The stage lighting for Namid[A]me was apparently breathtaking, they made it look like it was actually raining, ●Yumao used a real gong for Social Clock. ●During Senseless Wonder yg went all the way over to snd’s side of the stage, stuck his body against his, and they played it out together. Then came the encore MC break.

●Yu started cheering himself on, while making flamboyant poses: "Yumaooooo!! Oooh~! WOooooOOah *rough voice* !!💪( ＞ω ＜💪)” Crowd: “You’re so cool~!” Yu: “Thank goo~ *Goes to a cutesy voice*” “You’re so cute~!” “Thank goo. Thank you!” SND: “Hey dude, they’re all callin’ ya cute and cool y’know.” Yu: “…(short pause) Thank goooo~~~”

wowaka: (laughing) We’re done, that's all we need for MC ahahaa.

●Leaving members stuck on what to ramble about, they’ve already talked so much throughout the whole tour, what’s left? So wo suggested that they do a re-cap on all those fun boring discussions they’ve had. Omnibus time.

●Back when the Japan was collectively swept off their feet by the Olympic ice skater Yuzuru Hanyu-kun and his performance, wo had also praised him during MC. Yet just thinking about him puts pressure on Yumao, it inspired Yumao to do his best. And as the next song on Rie’s set list was the inspirational Memai, he concentrated so hard, poured himself in and played super neatly, “Oh shit oh no oh shit, Hanyu-kun makes me nervous.” Yumao explained.

●During the span of the tour SND fell off the stage way more then once... SND: “The skin on my back peeled off once too.” Yu “Eeeh?!” SND “Saying it peeeled all the way off is an overstatement but..” ”Well then the scab ripped off.” “Seriously?!” “But it healed nicely.” “Ahh” “After that, in Niigata, when I went to brandish my guitar up with a “pwooosh” towards the roof, it went bonking into my forehead.” ●SND’s middle finger had also stopped moving, (nerve palsy maybe??) During Talkie Dance there’s the “piropiropiro” where a “pero, pero” bit comes in between (Queue SND and Yuma singing the riff together), which is very straining. He has to press his fingers against the strings one by one to play it, he was scared but nonetheless. So Yuma watched him at the piropero part wondering “Oh no oh no is it gonna move? Is it moving today??””

When it came down to it his middle finger moved for him so thank goodness... (Manju comment: SND is this karma for all the times you gave the crowd the middle finger when they cheered your name,,, or flipped off girls who waved at you, or giving wo the middle finger a lot? God I love you)

●Yumao “Also ygarshy laughed ONCE!” “There was the one time I was talking nonstop (queue SND and Yumao making “blaghblergh” noises together to imitate him). When yga let out a chuckle, which made me super proud in front of everyone… I went Wahooo!!! but turns out it wasn’t because my story was funny or anything. It was because yga was off on his own! Testing how many candies he could eat before we would shut up!” SND: “Did you chuckle because you finished the third candy?” yg: “Uhhh” SND: “Well tell us about it.” wowaka: “Is this the first time he’s talking?” yga: “See, I always think our encore MCs are… long. So I feel like having some candy. I was originally worried I wouldn’t be able to finish eating one in time, the song would start and turn into a problem, but.... it turned out that day’s had become the longest MC yet. I lost my inner bet, damn it, I thought. You guys really can talk. Three whole candies worth of talk! So I laughed, and Yumao thought I was laughing at hims story”

Yu: “Yeah yeah!! Honestly the story I had been telling didn’t have a punchline, so I just used your laugh as an escape.”

SND “Foolish” Yu “Yep” wowaka “Well that day the most” Crowd “laughing” Yumao “...Thank goo~ (laughing)” (Yumao you never have a punchline I swear to God I love you too)

●wowaka talked about the story from back when he used to be so so scared of standing in front of people. In middle school his teacher chose him to represent his class in the English speaking competition, yet he was so afraid that he just, went out to the podium crying hysterically. “I can’t talk English in front of everyone waghhh....”

But now he’s able to do >this<. He’s become such an adult.

SND “I bet there wasn’t even as many people at the competition as there is people here today, haha and you’re able to even talk naturally here, eh, look at you.”

Yu: “Ahh even SND’s such a big boy now~.” SND: “Well we all have.” ●They announced the next nexUs tour at the Loveless tour final. “We just love doing shows”

●Also Pre- Little Cry Baby emotional speech from wowaka. “In living we find cool things and sparkling things, yet there’s moments when we betray those things, we worry if ahhh was I wrong with that, there’s so much of this, in actuality that’s all I do, yet still we’re made out of things we can’t throw away, that’s what I think, what is it! Like those sorta texture that have a paint dried over them, like things that are just superficial just… Those are things that I have NO FUCKING interest in! Like it’s that, c’mON, with music, people are just humans!! trying to be, they’re trying to do what they can do! I have interest in things that only humans can do, some things that can even surpass human, and that’s what fuels me to do music. As long as you follow me, I feel like ,, I could go anywhere!!!!! thank you always, thank you for making me!! Thank you for being here!!!”

This was also the showing they used during the Memorial Service on June 1st… STAFF WE ARE GOING TO CRY “Thank you we were Hitorie, let’s definitely! *through deep breaths* definitely! Meet again!”

Also some from IKI

●wowaka’s mother came to this show.... As divulged in this interview. THE ORAL CIGARETTES had sent Rie flowers in celebration of the event, which were on display at the venue.... Shiohigari SND’s good friend went, also the Synth player of the band “the telephones” who took the picture that’s featured on this blog) went also! ●Before Shutter Doll Yumao did his signature, Yumao! Yumao! Yumao! cheer on rhythm with the familiar intro, but with “Final! Final! instead. Along with We’re ●Hagure no Color had snazzy band introductions molded in between it. ●wowaka had actually cried during Little Cry Baby..... It really is a song that’s so important to him.... I’m anxious to see the video... ●MC: One was wowaka talking about how thankful he is for everyone and everything about this IKI tour. wowaka “I don’t want it to to enddd!” SND “We’re been on this tour for 4 months, it’s been a long time though, it’s amazing, it’s a new record for us.” wowaka “Now what am I going to do with myself tomorrow.“ SND “Go back to our dark dark life...” wo “Why”

SND “You guys had been waiting outside all this time, how was it, was it cold, are you okay? Further crowd: “We were okay-! Closer crowed “(less voices) We were okay.” SND “So you guys were okay and you were cold, okay (laughing). Well if you were cold, then see this sweatshirt Leader is wearing.. please wear one too That thing is perf. Crowd: “Woooah!!” SND: “Why the fuck ‘Woah.’ Even if you said you’re okay then still go buy one alright. Thanks..”

#ヒトリエ #wowaka #first photo is from the IKI show http://meetia.net/music/hitorie-iki-report/#Nishimakiiiii #Hitorie

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formerlyrunephoenix6769 · 5 years

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I was asked and ask, and in my flu causing feverish state, I deleted it. So if you’re out there and recognize this question (and I’m paraphrasing) please reblog and @ me.

So If i remember, the question was along the lines of

“Why isnt there huge amounts of stuff, for shows like She -Ra and TDP, are they not as popular?”

Lets go for a ride...

I think the reason why we dont get the same amount of content generated for shows such as The Dragon Prince and She-ra, say in comparison to shows like RWBY.

And by content, I mean, theories, memes, art and in depth analysis, boils down to 3 things.

1) Time to Generate.

Both The Dragon Prince and She-Ra have only recently dropped their first season. Now both have their second season coming rather swiftly, esp in the case of The Dragon Prince. Season 2 is dropping tomorrow: Feb 15 2019 over on Netflix.

She-Ra’s is set to be released April 26th 2019, again on Netflix.

The Dragon Prince S1 was released on Sept 14th 2018, and She-Ra: Princesses of Power, Nov, 13th 2018.

In TDP case, that is a 5 month and 1 day turn around and SPOP, 5 months and 13 days turn around.

It is rather unheard of for an animation to have their Second season be ready in under 6 months. Usually it is anywhere from 10 months minimum to a year or in some cases, even longer.

I put this down to the success of the two series and how the audience received them, and Netflix wishing to capitalize on it, and the hype generated.

Lets just hope that the both properties dont feel rushed as a result.

So with such little time, and a very short hiatus in terms of tv shows, (which is when most of fandom generated content tends to be created), that gives very little time for their respective fandoms to leave their senses and devolve into some sort of animeesque Lord of the Flies in a matter of weeks, in a bid to cope.

(RWBY FNDM, I’m looking at you with your ‘Beehaw’s’ and YORSE, and ‘Scheehaw’s’. I still cant believe you made Arryn read that with her own eyes!!)

(You can tumblr search Yorse yourself, I aint making anyone look at that cursed image without their consent. You’ve been warned! ;p @hammertime-rwby i shake my head in your general direction... ;D )

Time to generate can also be reflected in how long a show has been on air, thereby garnering a wider and much larger fanbase with a broader set of creative skills, which in turn results in more fandom content generated, esp if there is the potential of shipping.

And bloody hell does SPOP have some crazy potential on the shipping front,

2) Time to Mature and Fandom Engagement.

As a show matures and the audience leans learn more about the characters and the world that they inhabit, the nature of fandom created content evolves. It also depends on the verve of the show itself.

The way in which a show is presented, the topics and themes they cover, the way the characters and the world are presented, can vicariously dictate how the fandom engages with the property, go forth and multiply.

For example:

Sherlock is very meme worthy and that tends to be reflected in the content that is generated by the Sherlockians.

RWBY has been out for 6 volumes and has a very dedicated and passionate FNDM, but it is also broad, large and incredibly diverse.

It is also rather vocal and has very strong differing opinions from one end of the spectrum to the other, which in turn creates YT reviews, reactions and rebuttals and heated retorts.

These polarising pov’s can then go on to permeate to other branches of social media, such as twitter, tumblr, discord etc etc

Same with fandom accepted headcanons and lore...

(I’m still on the fence about you Renora Rodeo Round up... You’re on thin ice! ;p )

But it has taken a number of years to cultivate.

Neither The Dragon Prince or She-Ra has had the time to do that, yet!

But I’m certain that will change in the coming future.

She-Ra has already generated quite the buzz on both the positive and negative sides, due to being based on a much loved, older, property, ‘She-Ra 1985′, but that is a mine field which I covered on my previous blog before some asshat decided to axe it.

Also, the themes that Netflix She-Ra seems to be covering, which helped generate a lot of the negative backlash towards the show, will most definitely continue to be polarizing... So I would keep an eye out if YT and people picking stuff apart is your jam.

On the other side, what SPOP seems to be trying to deliver will also generate lots of awesome content. Just look at how this took off,

“Hey Adora”

And this cinnamon roll’s preoccupation with ‘force captain orientation’,

The Dragon Prince strikes me as a show that would generate deep reflective analysis of world and characters as well as theories, much like its older cousin, Avatar Last Airbender, once there is more to comb over and speculate on.

These two shows are presented differently and they way they are tackling certain themes in their respective narratives are also vastly different, which could also have a lot to do with their respective target audience and intended demographic, so it stands to reason that the results of fandom generated content would be different.

3) Platform and Format.

This I believe is one of the most important aspects which ties the previous points above.

If a property is delivered week by week, such as RWBY, there is time, for the FNDM, after they make amazing screen shots and insta analysis and excited speculations, to go over it again and allow the episode to sink in.

(which both TDP and SPOP could do, as they have episodic episodes but that is an entirely different post)

There is time for the fans to go sit back and react to what they have seen, whether that is creating beautiful fan art, crafting in depth theories, character analysis, extrapolate potential world building.

A week by week delivery culminates in an emotional impact that is allowed to foster and grow, thereby gives space and time for the individual to go off and create content for their respective fandom.

Fanart takes time, fics take time.

The not knowing what could happen next opens up the avenues of thought out speculations.

Having a week to go over everything to that point and process new info. Being able to take your time to research and prep before you put it out there, results in good, in depth analysis and well crafted work.

Time gives breeding ground.

(Some wait years for lore.. Overwatch fandom, I dont know how we do it! But we all cant be Tracer!)

Because, we are so salivating at the the mouth for insta gratification and ‘binge’ culture has become so prevalent where media is concerned.

When a property is delivered all at once, it gives no breathing space for speculation and wild theories.

For a particular scene or interaction between characters to have an emotional impact and thereby create emotionally significant fan art, that is reblogged and shared in that moment, give it time to resonate with its respective fandoms.

And there for have time for other members of the fandom to be inspired to go off and create their own stuff in what ever medium is their forte.

Because we are on this fast paced ride, not only from the start of the chapter 1 to end of the first ‘book’, so to speak, but also the social media need to be the first to create the content for the fandom, the type of content generated, how and why, is hugely different and may not at first glance look like it is forth coming..

It just takes time to sink in.. To go back through and re-evaluate.

Being inspired by a particular interaction between two characters , or a certain facet of the world that an fan may have noticed and wishes to expand on, art wise, fic wish or theroise, loses its validity when you know that the next episode could answer your burning questions in less than 5 seconds.

And so you stave off for the dreaded nine episode when your eye balls are nearly gumming together and you know you have work in 4 hours but you need answers to the burning questions..

and so results.

This is not the content creators fault, in anyway. This is quite literally the way in which it is delivered.

Its is pretty much,

II) However, in Conclusion

The perceived lack of fandom interaction/generated content, in the social media platforms that a fan chooses to consume, or is available to them, does not mean that a show isn't popular.

The ties to previous projects, such as SPOP to She-Ra 1985 and The Dragon Prince to Avatar Last Airbender are vastly different.

Expectations are vastly different.

Fandom interaction and generation of fandom content, is not a measure made of how popular a show is.

Also, politely, remember the demographic of which these shows are aimed at.

Be respectful of the show creators, the property, the characters and the narrative that the show creators have painstakingly crafted and put out into the world.

The story that they want to tell.

Again,

a reminder,

Tomorrow, 15th Feb 2019 , Season 2 of The Dragon Prince.

(im gonna go back into my fluey coma now)

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elle-christine · 4 years

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Lovey Dovey Questions:

Reverting to my happy little Tumblr days; blogging away with my 16 year-old wistful intentions but now I’m married and all kinds of in lurrrrv. How did you meet?  My roommate and I got invited to a Young Adults Potluck/game night at our Church. We only knew one person there, but before we got there my roommate kept telling me “you’re about to meet your husband. I can’t believe we’re going to go to this tonight and you’re going to meet your husband.” But the majority of the night we sat in the corner with our one friend a bunch of girls and were planning on leaving to go to get food. I thought “I’m not meeting my husband here...”. But then we played a group game and I noticed him from across the room, and he noticed me. And the rest is history. How did he ask you to be his?   We met up at the union on campus to talk, we had just told each other the night before that we had feelings for one another. We walked to the parking garage together and he kept making comments about “us”. So I asked him in the garage--what exactly is “us”. And then we made a logical and rational decision to date. Your first memory with them: Going to a restaurant after the game night, thinking he was cute but so serious and probably too cool for me. And thinking that he would make a good husband to someone someday. Why is your relationship different from others you have had? I was ready, he was ready. We had both taken a few years off from dating to determine what we should be looking for in a partner and to grow as humans on our own. We have a strong dedication to communication and intentionality. Ten things you like about them.  1. His passionate pursuit of Jesus. 2. His intentional pursuit of our marriage. 3. His ability to be goofy, relaxed, and silly with me but be mature, serious, and polished in public. 4. He’s a great listener and a strong conversationalist. 5. His depth and intelligence. 6. His love of black coffee, the sun and water, minimalism, sustainability. 7. His gentleness and emotional availability. 8. His tender heart and natural kindness. 9. His respect for me. 10. His ability to lead well. How often do you see each other?  In the morning when we wake up and at night before we go to bed. No matter how crazy and busy our lives get, getting to do that is such a blessing.

1: Do you have a crush at the moment? on someone who can’t ghost me; 10/10 recommend. 2: Have you ever been deeply in love? currently a deeply in love lady. 3: Longest relationship you’ve ever been in? 23 months tomorrow. 4: Have you ever changed for someone? Ironically, I changed more for the ones I didn’t actually date; tried to change to get them and clearly it didn’t work. 0/10 not recommended. 5: How is your relationship with your ex? One is friendly and two are non-existent. 6: Have you ever been cheated on? I don’t have proof but I believe there was a little somethin somethin going down behind my back. 7: Have you ever cheated? No. 8: Would you date someone who’s well known for cheating? no longer an option, but I think I would really struggle with that. 9: What’s the most important parts of a relationship? An ability to communicate, to be partners and to balance one another out, to complement each others strengths and weaknesses. 10: Do you like to be in serious relationships or just flings? I like being married. 11: When you are dating someone do you believe in going on “breaks”? Nahhhhhhhh 13: What’s one thing you regret saying/doing in a previous relationship? Being in relationships before I was confident/comfortable with who I was, and having relationships that were not Christ-centered and wondering why they weren’t working. 14: What age do you think is appropriate for kids to start having sex? I think the fact that this says “kids” is clear that the answer is never. 15: Do you believe in the phrase “age is just a number”? In some sense, yes. But cultural/generational things will play an impact. 16: Do you believe in “love at first sight”? No; I think love is a choice and something to work at. 17: Do you believe it’s possible to fall in love on the internet? In some situations, sure; however again I think it takes communication and work. 18: What do you consider a deal breaker? Not knowing and following the Lord. Unequally yoked is a thing. 19: How do you know it’s time to end a relationship? If there are clear signs that a future is not going to happen, it’s likely that it will be more painful later on. 20: Are you currently in a relationship? Indeed. 21: Do you think people who have dated can stay friends? Honestly, no. I think you can remain cordial and friendly, but I don’t think it’s healthy or fair to continue a close friendship. 22: Do you think people should date their friends? Yes; I think friendship can have a solid foundation for a strong relationship. 23: How many relationships have you had? truthfully one that matters. 24: Do you think love can last forever? yes 25: Do you believe love can conquer all things? love and the Lord. 26: Would you break up with someone your parents didn’t approve of? It would depend on the basis for disapproval. If there were genuine concern for safety, red flags I wasn’t seeing, if I was in danger, than yes. Thankfully, my mom more than approves of Alex. 27: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice about dating what would it be? Wait wait wait; be patient and focus more on yourself, guard your heart more. 28: Do you think long distance relationships can work? They can, but they take a LOT of intentionality and work; and need to have a resolution in sight. 29: What do you notice first about another person? Probably height, and overall demeanor (calm, loud, etc.) 30: Are you straight, bi, gay or pansexual? straight. 31: Would it bother you if your partner suffered from any mental illness? no, but I am thankful that he doesn’t because I do, and I appreciate the balance. 32: Have you ever been in an abusive relationship? in some sense. 33: Do you want to get married one day? I am! 34: What do you think about getting your partner’s name tattooed? That’s a no from me dawg. 35: Could you be in a relationship without sex? I’m thankful that I’m not, but till death do us part and if sex was no longer an option for us--we would be just fine. 36: Are you still a virgin? I am a married lady. 37: What’s more important: Looks or personality? looks will not last forever. Personality and a desire to be a good steward of your body. 38: Do you enjoy love films? I’m not a big movie person tbh 39: Have you ever given anyone/received roses? Alex occasionally surprises me with them which is rad. 40: Have you ever had a valentine? Only one that counts! 41: What’s your imagination of a “perfect date”? Going to the beach, eating sushi, watching the sunset (or rise; but switch the sushi for coffee), worship music and reading together. 43: What’s more important: Your partner or your friends? Husband is first. 44: Would you consider yourself “romantic”? I like ironic romance; cute gestures that purposely meant to be cheesy. 45: Could you imagine to date one of your current friends? I am married to my favorite friend. 46: Have you ever been “friendzoned”? honestly...no. 48: What’s your favorite love song? oh gosh, want me to make a whole damn list About Him.

Name? Alex Age? 31 When did you two begin dating? March 2018

What do you think of him? He’s okay...I guess. What does he think of you? Probably that I’m weird and kind of smell. Who asked who out first? I believe he did after some strong hinting from me. Did you like him before he asked you? I was intrigued but also guarded. How old were you two? 25 and 29 What did you think of it at first? After about 5 minutes I was concerned he was “like, actually weird”. But by the end of the night I felt like I had just met a future best friend. Has it been a good relationship so far? Indeed. Cutest thing he’s ever done? Goodness; surprising me with the cheesiest gift set-up when I woke up on Valentines Day morning. Bringing me a rose with the medicine he picked up for me when I was sick. Making me a handmade birthday card. Setting up a table with our pictures and couples Christmas gifts for when I came back from the holidays. Do you have a “song”? “God Be” By Chris Renzema What was your most memorable experience? Getting married. And all that went into that decision, proces, etc. When is your actual anniversary? Well...3/24/18, but also 7/14/19, and 11/12/19, and maybe 8/8/2020. Do you guys tell each other everything? every.thing. Probably too much. Marriage. What’s your favorite thing to do together? read and pray. drink coffee. go for hikes/walks. Find tiny cabins in the middle of nowhere and hole up for a weekend doing married people things. Most fun date you two have been on? This past valentines we ate too much sushi and had a movie night with wine and donuts. Last summer we went to a leadership conference, the zoo, walked around Royal Oak, and got dinner with my family. Or our mini-honeymoon; the beach, staying at a B&B, sushi for dinner, wine and exchanging vows alone. How did ya’ll first kiss? We had planned on not kissing for a month but we were eating hummus and watching Miracle and decided to make it happen. What does he call you? We’re pretty exclusively on “babe” Has anyone ever seriously proposed to you? And it worked.

#personal #me #love #relationship

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