#so say thanks to duolingo everybody

[keeps-ache]

do u speak any other languages

oh hello :D no not really! i'm learning spanish and i can spell in asl, but that's all hfsh :>

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s2 episode 2 thoughts

woohoo! we are back for another s2 moment! each night i do my duolingo and then have mulder and scully time <3

so we open on a boat which is already awful. boats are lowkey horrific. and something grabs a man working on the sewage and pulls him under. what the hell! worst case scenario on MANY fronts

then we see our good friend mulder who is listening to audio recordings. and boy was this a scene, because he had sunflower seeds everywhere, cartons of takeout scattered, a million empty cans and cups, and a page of little doodles. all while he sits in the dark.

i figured perhaps this was the squalor of the single man apartment, but no! someone opens a door and light pours in, and tells him he has to leave and someone else will take over his case. and that poor man gets forced into his disgusting space. truly the king of not giving a fuck. please try and give one fuck for me mulder

skinner moves him to a murder case in new jersey and he's all "but why did skinner want MEEEEE"

anyway he goes into the sewers, which are thankfully now free of eugene tooms due to the hard work of that one escalator... everybody say thank you escalator... and he finds a body and says send that back to the FBI

mulder busts into skinner's office to yell at him while he was IN A MEETING oh mulder!!! i get ur mad but have some decorum! he's like WHY are you wasting my time! well mulder if you want to work your way back up the ladder i think screaming at ur boss is not a good place to start!

(we also see that skinner's first name is walter and that he has a picture of bill clinton on the wall which i know made sense at the time but in 2024 it's just really funny. there's old willy looking over business)

cutscene to mulder Pondering in the dark and look! enter our dear friend scully!

"is this seat taken?" she asks "no, but i should warn you i'm experiencing violent impulses" he replies. "well, i'm armed, so i'll take my chances" she answered, and i audibly said "AWWW" <3 how sweet

he says he wants to leave the bureau! but she is his only reason to want to stay! gasp! we are gonna have to unpack that later!

she's like but you have a body right...? can i see the body....? can i pls pls pls pls be involved in ur case?

girl's night: autopsy edition! this body was quite decomposed and it had me wondering how exactly they film these scenes, and while i was pondering the process of making a prop body, we hear a loud thunk of scully removing the dude's rib cage to which i nearly fainted but we were Fine it's okay

and i'm holding my breath trying to deal with seeing this dude's insides when we get a WORM JUMPSCARE crawling about in his corpse

back in new jersey we see more sanitation workers and another man getting pummeled by the sewer beast... have we considered giving these men a raise?

the man has a nasty wound and i wrote "i am not built for this" in my notes but mulder strolls into the doctor's office while he's being checked out to investigate... we see the wound that the sanitation guy thinks is a snake that got into the sewers... and i'm thinking that doesn't sound right but i don't know enough about sewers to dispute that information

scully calls and he has to hang up and he gets ANOTHER call and picks up like "scully not now >:(" BUT THE GAG IS... it isn't her... it's some guy saying he has a friend in the FBI....... um

scully has mulder come down to the lab to show off the worm she found and give the audience a nice PSA to not eat raw meat! thank you dr. scully! we then get some worm facts and she seems pleased

BUT MULDER IS MEAN and he accuses her of being responsible for the phone call and she looks so hurt! she says she wouldn't betray his confidence by talking about him wanting to leave! mulder i get that you're in your questioning era but literally one episode ago she picked up your mostly dead body from a jungle compound so?? let's be rational here???

the next scene involved blood coming out of sanitation man's mouth and mostly what i wrote at this point was a few variations of "AUGH" "i cannot look" and "cannot handle this"

at the sanitation plant they capture whatever this Thing is and oh my. well. all i can really think of are those fake mermaids. you know the barnum fake mermaid hoax? or is that too 19th century niche? well either way, it looks like that but Worse. and equipped with suckers. it's a gnarly beast to gaze upon and i wrote more "AUGH"s here

cutscene to scully on a computer reading worm facts. back when you used a big ol computer to research creatures. i miss the 90's (disclaimer: i was not alive for them at all)

mulder lets her see the creature (which they have put in a mental hospital?) and she is SO excited to see this sort of beast BUT she figured out it was connected to the first attack because someone slipped a magazine article with a hint under her door!!!! looks like there really is someone on the inside...

she also says "i'd consider it more than a professional loss if you decided to leave" WAHHHHHHH <- me crying like a baby at this line

mulder's sitting in skinner's office like a kid stuck in detention and skinner says they're gonna prosecute the worm monkey baby thing and i nearly cried at the mental image of putting that beast on trial. skinner was like "you want to put it in the zoo?" I fear that's far more reasonable.....????? like how is he gonna testify he's WORM MONKEY BABY THING

mulder is again very pissed off and tells skinner that they could have saved the second man (who died in the shower while i was looking away from his bleeding) because he had agents who could have handled it but he shut the x files down and skinner is like. i know. but i was just following orders... tea....

okay so i THOUGHT the worm monkey was baby sized but now they're taking him somewhere else and he is full man sized... but he breaks out of his restraints, we hear a gunshot, and he escapes into a toilet... NO, i yelled to the sanitation worker on my screen, THE WORM IS INSIDE (he couldn't hear me)

mulder's at the scene and gets another mysterious phone call telling him he CANNOT mess this case up because there needs to be undeniable proof the x files must come back... okay no pressure!

so the worm monkey is somewhere in the sewer plant and scully calls like "i think the little worm we found was a baby and it's looking for a place to lay its eggs so we CANNOT let it escape"

(mulder and another worker go into the sewers without any sort of worm monkey handling equipment, idk i was thinking a shotgun might be appropriate here. like what did they think they were gonna do? wrestle it?)

the other worker falls in so NATURALLY our hero mulder (who is still a hero even if he has been cranky af lately) jumps in after him

and mulder GUILLOTINES the worm monkey in what can only be described as an average fox w 🔥🔥

at the end we see scully and mulder once again meet on a public bench in the dark, where she shares that the genetic testing proved that this thing was actually a mixture of human and worm that came from radioactive waste at chernobyl??? so. that's fucked up. haven't they suffered enough.

(but i like that this is a monster made possible by humans and yet still very real, even if that seems... an unlikely story... still, for dana scully's sake i'm happy this is something that can be proved by Science)

((although i hate to know what the implications are for the chernobyl dogs in this universe...))

we end with a shot of worm monkey baby, who has been split in half, re-opening its eyes. now i do think sea worms can sometimes grow back so this isn't SHOCKING. but it is displeasing nonetheless.

overall, listen; mulder, you've had it rough. they've slashed your life's work and you doubt reality. but man. clean your desk up. be nice to scully. skinner is clearly on ur side. i need to shake his stupidly tall frame and knock some sense into him. that beautiful woman wants to tell you worm facts and you should be writing it all down intently.

(good angst though, love that she's the only reason he wants to stay. and love her little autopsy time <3)

[bawnjourno]

tag 9 people you want to get to know better

tagged by @asilverspring thanks homie!

last song: the mood i'm in/jsyk by the maine

favorite color: royal purple

currently watching: 30 rock rewatch, lost, and that's it since omitb wrapped. i am stuck in sopranos s3 but never have time for her w work and school :/

last movie: from dusk til dawn movie night w the bff

currently reading: where are your boys tonight and jane fonda's biography (again. work n school making my progress slow)

sweet, spicy, or savory: savory

relationship status: single

current obsessions: buying christmas presents for everybody so i can just Fucken Chill in december, olicharles, target's dried fruits and nuts snack section

last google search: "30 rock i know most of you aren't ghosts" (had to send the meme to a friend)

currently working on: sewing jean vest, keeping duolingo streak (220 days!), writing a fic of dubious quality, getting some fall clothes for when it gets cold, staying sane until my fun stuff this month (risograph workshop and halloween movie watchin')

tagging @thedevotionaltour @bicolumbo @whompthatsucker1981 @partyinthemysterymachine @alexkingstons @dinkydiamond @gayworths @jefffreybeaumont and anyone else who wants to do it, say i tagged you! xoxo

[paperclip7805]

{Massive Toh s3 Spoilers}

This is just gonna be a diary of my thoughts before and well watching the special, get ready for me to fucking lose it.

Kings tide, and so it begins😀

We’re only on kings tide and I’m already crying cause eda kissed hootys head. I totally forgot that happened and I’m gonna lose it

I FORGOT HOW STRESSFUL KINGS TIDE IS IM NOT OKAY

I’m sorry but hooty in a ball is so funny, like, I wanna know how long he actully is.

Imagine if Luz actually got petrified, like she literally almost died. What would have the hexside squad and every one done.

Her almost getting petrified must have been so painful, remember how painful it was when Eda was almost petrified.

Tera turning to rain and asking “Raine? Belos is giving us paradise right?” Will always be a heartbreakingly good line. I get chills every time.

AMITY HAVING TO LEAVE HER DAD HAS ME IN TEARS AGAIN I CANT DO THIS

RUN LUZ RUN

YES HEXSIDE SWUAD IS HERE

willow is so powerful I love her

King looked like a bowling ball because of the way he fell down the stairs.

I forgot that Gus saw everything from hollow mind, is he gonna bring it up to luz and Hunter at all?

Ew, I didn’t know that they have earwigs on the boiling isles. I can’t escape earwigs

THERE ARE SO MANY GOLDEN GUARD CORPUSES:(

I love how amity and Luz protect eachother they are literally goals

OMG RAINE I LOVE YOU PLEASE BE OKAY

YES THE COLLECTORS THEME IS SO GOOD

the collector low key fucked Belos up lmao. I forgot how terrifying they are.

I still love the collector and his little “okay!:) boop:)”

Omg the collector is so cool, I feel like he would be an iPad kid

“I’m so happy I had you as a big sister” IM FUCKING WRECKED YOU DONT EVEN UNDERSTAND

Gus’s little cry I can’t do this.

Okay now thanks to them

I’m so fucking terrified

Amity with the tea omgit’s adorable, I need camila needs to teach her how to cook

Hunter really went “they won’t hate you, they’ll hate us:)”

AMITY AND LUZ ARE SO CUTE W THE BANDAID

BELOS NEEDS TO GET HUS UGLY ASS OUTTA HERE

Gus is so cute ONG but he needs to stop breaking stuff

LMAO CAMILA WAS LIKE “WTF” when Hunter knelt in-front of her

LUZ AND HER DAD ON THE WALL I CANT DEAL WITH THAT:(

LUMITY STUDIOS PRESENTS LMAO SHES SUCH A NERD

Amity leaving out odalia as she should on the family picture.

Huntlow is adorable

Gus you silly goose

LUMITY IN THE RAIN MY FANFIC DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE

I’m just waiting for something absolutely traumatic to happen and then Disney is like “BUY A BARBIE DREAM CLOSET”

THEIR ALL LEARNING SPANISH ONG

HOTTY ON THE DOOR THEY MISS HIM:(

Omg it’s duolingo

HUNTER IS SO BAD AT SOANISH

OMG THEY ARE TRYING TO HELP WITH THE HOUSE WORK

Amity you loser, she just ate shit

A MAP?!?!

OMG HUNTER IS CRUSHING SO HARD

omg luz has a Fanny pack lmao

Poor luz omg:(

PICTURES OF EDA IN LUZS LOCKER:(

the kid with the gauged ears look so cool

CAMILA ASKING IF THEY NEED TO DRINK BLOOD

Hunter practicing his sewing skills

OMG HUNTER WITH THE WOLF SHIRT

Hunter is so happy:)

Oh no, now he’s so sad:(

amity, go check on ur girl

CAMILA LOVES THEM SO MUCH

“You don’t want luz to turn out like you did” no that’s so fucking mean

Luz is so adorable saying to give the parliaments a kiss

“Hedgehogs”🙄

HUNTER AND GUS OKG THAT IS SO ADORABLE

TEANSPORT WORM

NO HUNTER OMG I HOPE YOUR OKAY

WILLOW WHYD YOU POKE HIM

Amity at the library is so cute

Ew not the historical society freak I fucking hate him

OMG THE COOL PERSON IS NON-BINARY

OMG VEE BLUSHED AT THE COOL GOTH PERSON OMG

THE SCRAP BOOK IS SO CUTE:)

OMG I JUST NOTICED THE LESBIAN FLAG HEART

Vee is so cool and smart and I love her

Oh thank god Hunter is okay but he terrified, I would be too

OMG ITS EXATLY WHAT HE SAID DURING THE SELKIDAUMUS EPISODE

Not the basement wtf

WTF IS IN THERE

Oh thank god it’s just a possum

Omg hunters crying and I’m crying we’re twins

Why is Camilla so weird ab the comic?

Luz and amity are so cute with the costumes they just love eachother so much

ITS NOT UR FAULT LUZ

everybody is such nerds

GET UR FUGLY ASS OUT IF HERE BELOS

IS BELOS GONNA POSSES HUNTER NO OMG? IS flapjack gonna be okay

BELIS NEEDS TO LEAVE THIS POOR BOY ALONE

Hunter needs to go to sasha for therapy

THE REASON SHE READS AZURA IS BECAUSE OF HER DAD:(

OMG IT GOT IN THROUGH HUNTERS CUT

HUNTER NO ONG

IK that this is a very dramatic moment ad all but it’s funny to me that he put the wolf shirt on under the costume, he’s adorable I love him:)

FlapjackNO WTF

WAIT THAT WAS OWLBERT ON THE VILE

O MF THE ANIMATIONIT LOOKS LIKE A MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE

OMG FLAPJACK NO YOU CANT DO THIS

Fight him Hunter you can do this

OMG HUNTER PLEASE BE OKAY

flapjack:( this is so not okay I’m so not okay. I will never be okay again

CAMILA OMG I LOVE HER

Mama IN THE DEMON REALM

Hunter talking to flapjack:(

Good witch luzura:) that’s so cute

IMG vee I fucking love you

I’m not gonna be okay ever again

My cry count is like 7:)

[leshitshow]

Well this is fucking freeing...

"

SOFA 🛋 Start Often Finish rArely

Start Often Fuck Achievements

SOFA is the name of a hacker/art collective, and also the name of the principle upon which the club was founded.

The point of SOFA club is to start as many things as possible as you have the ability, interest, and capacity to, with no regard or goal whatsoever for finishing those projects.

The goal is acquiring many experiences. The side effects include entertainment and increased skill.

Here are some ways to get starting with SOFA:

Start reading lots of books. If you don't like a book you're reading, stop reading it and put it down. Maybe give it away. Start a new code or art project. Get at least as far as writing a detailed README[1]. Maybe you complete the project, or maybe you never get further than that. It's fine. Start learning a new language. Spoken or computer. Just start, you don't have to commit to mastering it. Open up duolingo[2] or exercism[3] and just do a few practice exercises. Here's the secret sauce that makes the whole thing work:

You can be finished with your project whenever you decide to be done with it. And "done" can mean anything you want it to be. Whose standards of completion or perfection are you holding yourself to anyway? Forget about those! Something is done when you say it is. When it's no longer interesting. When you've gotten a sufficient amount of entertainment and experience from it. When you've learned enough from it. Whatever, whenever. Done is what you say it is.

And here's why it works:

Nothing is fixed, nothing is permanent, and nothing lasts. This is true of all things, including your ideas of self and identity. Want to be somebody who knows how to cook, or code in Lisp? Or somebody who knows how to rollerblade, or only eats plants, or worships the moon? Just start doing those things and then, poof! Now you are that person.

If you find out your new self doesn't suit you, just stop being that person and be someone else.

Be as many different people and do as many different things as you want. Start often. You don't have to commit your entire life to any one thing. Finish rarely.

Here's the final bit about how to finish things:

It can be hard to end things because of societal pressure to stick to things until the bitter end. Traditional marriage is the ultimate form of this ideal. You're supposed to stick to it until you die, no matter what, come hell or high water, even if it makes you and everybody around you miserable. That is neither sane nor healthy! That is not the SOFA way. Done means what you say it means. And ending something does not lesson its value. Just KonMari[4] that shit: have a moment of gratitude and appreciation for the experience and the things you learned and the ways in which you benefited from it. Thank it with conviction for having served its purpose, and then let it go and dismiss it. There. Done.

Now get out there and start doing stuff! And then stop doing stuff, so you can do more stuff! Do as much stuff as possible! Never stop doing stuff! Always stop doing stuff!"

[musicals-n-cartoons]

Thanks to Them Reaction

Couple of days late, but here is my ninth Owl House reaction!

Before the episode

Ok, I confess, I saw the leaked 6-minute preview. I know the crew asked not to put it online, but I'm just weak to new information. Now, the promos and that preview gave the impression that Luz and Hunter would be the main characters, and the other 4 kids were more for comic relief. But then some of the later promos made me think that the other four actually do have their own plot (and Hunter will be there!), while Luz was angsting in school. And a spoiler-free review said that Camila is the MVP of the show! That's exciting. Okay last minute predictions: Luz angsting about staying in the Human Realm, Luz and Hunter grappling with their secrets, with their decision to tell the others being the climax, Camila telling Luz to follow her dreams, they fight Belos again, and if I have to pick an animal, Luz palismen will be a snake.

Ok, time to press play.

The episode

King again :(

guess they really are starting immediately from the end of "King's Tide"

aww, everybody wants to be helpful!

Luz and Hunter are overacting tbh, but "helping find Collector" and believing that you are a clone of a witch hunter were more credible reasons than I was expecting for these two to hate themselves.

oh, the first parallels between Luz and Hunter and the Wittenbane bros. Bingo!

an ominous Belos appears! where do you think you're going, buddy?

Camila put the guys in the basement away from the girls, traditional I see

but why did Amity and Willow attack the alarm

that's a lot of photos on the wall

turning the theme song into a summer montage was a clever way to save time, and it was probably only going to be used once anyway

"hi! I'm bi!" you know, I was thinking that they should have Luz say she's bisexual in this season (especially after a specific Reddit thread about the idea made me mad), but I didn't think Disney would let them say a word that contains the word "sex" in it. turns out, I'm dumb: they can just shorten it to "bi" for the same effect

ooh a shot of Camila's wallet, yeah, caring for six kids would not be cheap

so they can use palismens as a source of magic

I wonder if Luz is jealous of her friends' abilities to use magic

Spanish learning! that's another bingo

it's neat that they created a little clubhouse

also, top student Vee! but Amity's bitter, ha

and a Duolingo reference, classic

"mother of six"

Amity wants to do something proactive

Willow is getting into photography, cool

these five are hanging out while Luz is busy at school, this must contribute to Luz's isolation thing she got going on

Flapjack finds a mysterious box

it's a map!

whoa there Luz, being a little suicidal there

she still got her sense of theatrically at least

two dudes interested in Luz, I'm suspicious

but I mean, people eventually wanting to become friends with Luz was always inevitable, just sucks that Luz is not in the right mood for it

I'm still suspicious of this hayride thing

a deer missing a face, I wonder what Belos is up to?

Hunter's sewing!

and he likes wolfs

that's true, Hunter doesn't have anything tying him to the demon realm like the others, so it makes sense that this is the happiest he has ever been

Gus's getting into sci-fi

ooh, Camila backstory time

no wait that was Luz, here's Camila

her husband named Manny, got it

Luz is here to ask her mom why she doesn't hate her. oh Luz! don't you know the story of the Prodigal Son?

Camila can't really stop Luz's self-hating tendencies, but she can offer her comfort. I should remember to talk about how Luz gets her love communication skills from her mom later

oh Belos is puppeteering those animals

Luz is again busy, this time by hanging out with her mom at the vet clinic

"maybe he already knows" is Gus hinting that he knows about the grimwalker thing?

Belos!? run Hunter!

the gang goes on a exploration montage without Hunter or Luz

new new management, thank god, that creep must be gone

it's that goth friend again!

yes! goth/Vee I knew it! not that I have anything against the cheerleader ship, but I can't help but think that people are just projecting Lumity onto Vee; when the whole point of Vee is that she's not Luz

but wait, does this mean that Vee didn't keep up with her camp friends? that's sad

wow it's like an entire summer vacation show (à la Gravity Falls or Phineas and Ferb) just happen off-screen, I wonder whose fault is that

Luz is making theories about her palismen just like us. I like the idea of an octopus

oh, she made the glyph spark! is my bingo square activating?

I know that this is a serious moment, but I just can't with Luz's little gasp!

mask confidence! but ask for help please

why did I say comic relief, this special is three times the length of a normal one, of course it can handle two different plotlines, what was I thinking

luz call that possum a little angel! she is really showing her animal lover side in this special

"family now" the prophecy is fulfilled, they really do consider themselves like siblings

bro parallels again! but it's Hunter with the Belos horns, interesting

Camila, it's cool, sci-fi is mainstream now. or more accurately, everything is nerdy now

the Hecate to Luz's Azura, guess Amity embraced the fact that she's the Hecate now

"villainous Lucy", wow, subtle

oh she does that hand thing every night

pls don't break up

Hunter's haunted

Hopkins cameo, guess this means he's not going to lead a mob against Belos

"make us cry!" no don't make us cry

is this Caleb lore new to Hunter or did he already learn it from those history books?

you need a name goth pal, but you're absolutely correct

Luz don't do this

I'm thinking that Hunter is following Belos-induced hallucinations

aww, Vee is with Camila

whoops, need to throw out the trash, pause

wow, there are only 12 minutes left

should Camila really be watching this?

"woodland creatures" this is one more piece of evidence for my beastkeeper!Luz headcanon

oh, she just staying in the Human Realm, I was fearing a breakup scene

I knew it, Belos is corrupting Hunter!

oh no, Belos is corrupting Hunter

luz is so smart, she's detecting phenomena via indirect means

ha, privacy schmivacy

oh this place is echoing "Witches before Wizards" to me

YUP, POSSESSED HUNTER

brown abominations? makes sense if Amity is summoning from the earth

they killed Flapjack! those theorists were right

Belos would've straight up drowned if it weren't for Camila

who's taking bets that belos just walked into the in-between?

damn, Camila just prevented Luz from announcing her plan to stay in the Human Realm in the best possible way

"no more hiding", will third time's the charm I guess. I know there's the rule of threes, but amity's a saint for putting up with this

on a lighter note, aww, Amity reused Luz's asking-out speech!

Reaction to other reactions

it's true, Willow never was the voice of reason. Luz actually is

oh, their name's Masha, I missed the nameplate the first time

huh, rewatching the historical society scene and Masha said "thank goddess"!

also, I appreciate the irony of pairing a they/them with a shapeshifter

the owl house's trending number 1 at 7000 notes, not shabby

huh, Camila has been researching on how to parent lgbt+ youths, does that mean my bi Camila headcanon was jossed?

I do have to agree, what exactly is Belos planning to do in the Demon Realm

huh the dates of puritan colonialism are wrong, that's a weird mistake to make

wait, the fanfic trope of Eda flirting with Camila is now possible, wild

someone suggested that Belos could be trying to make himself human again with witch magic, possible

Belos using his corpse-hijacking ability on a titan, now that's an idea!

oh, so that's where those new kids went, they were running the hayride puppets. I misjudge you two

huh, Camila and Luz's hair are getting curlier over the seasons

a lot of people are also saying snakes for Luz's palismen

that's right, the biggest disappointment is that Vee never gets to interact with Luz. oh, well, fanfiction must suffice

Predictions for the next episode special

Some people said that the second special might be from the boiling isles inhabitants' pov during the hexsquad's forced vacation on Earth; that sounds interesting, but I'm not sure that's what's going to happen. The show has always been more interested in Luz's pov than Eda's you know? My theory is what's going on in the Demon Realm will remain a mystery to the gang and audience until they find someone to give them some exposition. I give it 50/50.

I do wonder what Eda and the other adults are doing.

King is probably either imprison or desperately coming up with new rulings for the Owl House Game.

You know what would be fun? If everything looks like a normal day at the owl house, except it's the Collector playing the role of Luz, and everybody is on the edge of their seats. Or alternatively, it's a grotesque parody of the Owl House.

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

spanish lessons.

Gif credits to the author.

FRANCISCO ‘CATFISH’ MORALES.

TRIPLE FRONTIER | USEFUL LINKS.

❝ words: about 900.

❝ request by @phoenixhalliwell: Hey pal 👋 Thank you for being a willing participant to the Frankie teaching the reader Spanish with a reward system HC. I cant wait to see you do with it 😊💛

❝ a / n: don’t forget to comment and reblog if you liked it, i’d really appreciate it!

Every time you see Frankie talking in Spanish, his face literally brightens as his eyes shine. It isn't common for him to find people who talk in his native language, so you have just heard him speaking to Santi.

Sometimes you've seen some movies and tv shows in that language —for you, unknown, although you know some words and simple sentences.

And you know he misses it, even if he left Chile many years ago.

You have searched to take a course, but they aren't really compatible with your work, so the only option you can see viable is using one of those apps where you can spend the time you want learning and improving, with no pressure.

Duolingo. Everybody talks about it.

Of course, you haven't said anything to your boyfriend, wanting to surprise him. It probably will take you a while, but you'd do anything to see that smile he draws when he speaks in Spanish.

Bit by bit, your vocabulary is more extensive, knowing to identify every single thing around you.

Verb tenses are another story. If when you were in elementary school you thought the English verbs were the most complicated thing in the world, it was because you didn't have Spanish lessons.

As it's normal, you understand it better than you can speak it, get into the habit of watching everything in his language whenever he leaves for a mission during a couple of days. And now, all your music is in Spanish too, which is helping you with pronunciation too.

But when you feel confident enough to say something in his language, you just don't think about it, letting go of the words from your mouth.

“¿Yo puedo tener más café?”

(Can I have more coffee?)

Frankie turns at you blinking confused, believing it has been just his imagination. Sitting at the island kitchen, you have your empty cup raised in your right hand towards him, some steps away from you. Your boyfriend is staring at you in complete silence and you're starting to panic. Have you said something out of place? Has he understood your accent?

Slowly putting down your mug, you grab your phone turning around on your stool, giving him your back. Fastly, you look for the notes app on your phone to check if you have said it correctly. But, when you look up, you find him by your side and his eyes on the screen. You can't help but scream not expecting it, locking your phone before he can really read anything.

“Since when do you spe—? Are you learning español?”

“Uh…” You mumble clearing your throat. “¿Yo puedo tener más café…? ¿Por favor?”

You repeat then scratching your left eyebrow, trying to pretend that your cheeks aren't burning in shame whilst avoiding eye contact with an astounded Frankie. He doesn't reply, coming back to the corner where the coffee maker is, grabbing your mug to pour the drink inside.

“Gracias”.

(Thank you).

“You don't need to say yo at the beginning”.

“Uh?”

“It's enough sayin' puedo tener más café”. He explains offering you back the cup.

“Oh… Oh, okay. I'll write it down”.

Even so, you feel a little bummed because it hasn't had the intended effect. You have been working really hard for the last three months, but you haven't received the smile you were expecting. Puckering your lips in a slightly forced smirk, you take your phone to write his advice, not being capable of looking at Frankie coming closer to you again. He takes off the device from your fingers to leave it on the marble board, leaning forward to press his lips on yours.

This is much better. This is much better than a simple smile.

For some reason, Frankie has taken the habit to kiss you anytime you tell him something in Spanish. A word, an expression, the chorus of a song… He feels proud of you, of the small things you do to make him happy. And it's his way to demonstrate you.

Long conversations are his favorite. He's always looking for an interesting topic, letting you talk for hours and hours while he only hears you enraptured on how good your voice sounds in his language —being a little more honeyed, a little softer. Don't misunderstand him. Frankie loves every single tone of yours, but the Spanish one? That's a higher level.

And he thought that situation couldn't be perfect until he hears you speaking to Santi.

“Para ti, la cerveza más fresca”.

(For you, the coldest beer).

His eyes widen in surprise holding the drink, as you raise both eyebrows nodding with your chin. Until you realize it isn't correct at all.

“Fría. Fría, no fresca. La cerveza más fría”.

“¿Habla español?” He says turning at your boyfriend about to laugh glad of it. “¡Hablas español!”

(She speaks Spanish? You speak Spanish!)

Frankie can't help but kiss you in front of his brother shamelessly, cupping your cheeks on his palms and peppering your lips noisily.

“Espera, ¿qué es eso?” Santi asks frowning funnily.

(Wait, what is that for?)

“Me besa cada vez que digo una frase bien”.

(He kisses me any time I say something correctly).

“No Spanish in my presence”. He fastly demands, taking a sip from his beer while waving his free hand. “I feel like you're gonna have sex if we keep talkin'. And I'm too innocent for that”.

GENERAL TAG LIST: @mayans-sauce @peoniarose @destynelseclipsa @band-psycho @myakai13 @petlaufeyson @-im-fantastic- @horsesandwolvesaremyanimals @rocketqueen @rosieposie0624 @ellyseveronica @Jessprins13 @diaryofkali @ravenmoore14 @starrynite7114 @kenbechillin @miahelen @monkeyluver4546 @sheeshgivemeabreak @jadesamhart @rawrlittlepanda-95 @megapeacelovemusic-blog @katsav17 @skits90s @wildsould1221 @littlekittymeow

TRIPLE FRONTIER: @phoenixhalliwell @goldielocks2004 @pedritomando @spideysimpossiblegirl @im-an-adult-ish

frankie morales: @agirllovespancakes

[keyofjetwolf]

Awaiting The Jewlet (or: Jet Wolf Screams Into Google Docs For Thirty-Five Hours)

Friday, 10:06pm: It happens tomorrow, I should go to sleep, it won’t happen right now but when it does happen I’ll wants to be rested, WHAT IF IT HAPPENS NOW THOUGH AND I’M ASLEEP. The fuck am I going to do even if it does? Go to sleep, you moron. I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP I’M TOO EXCITED THERE COULD BE JEWLET WHEN I WAKE UP. You weren’t even this bad when you believed in Santa Claus, my god. We’re going to bed, the end. BUT BUT BUT

Friday, 11:53pm: See, when I said “we’re going to bed” you were supposed to sleep. And now it’s too late to take a pot pill to knock me out. It is possible I did not plan this well. Meanwhile, also, constant: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (we will not speak of the concern this is the less fun portion of the program)

Saturday, 2:17am: Oh yeah, it’s gonna be that kind of night.

4:39am: EEEEEEEEEEEE

5:57am: CROISSANTGATE

6:41am: This is about as rested as I’m gonna get today, huh?

7:02am: IT BEGINS SO SOON

7:30am: EEEEEEEEEEEE 2: The EEEEEquel

8:03am: Well, what productive thing will I try in vain to pretend is occupying my attention today? Actually, I do need to finish that Xena essay. I can probably legit get absorbed for a little bit in all their deliciousness.

8:42am: ...which can only happen if I actually start working. OKAY OKAY FOCUS OKAY

8:49am: I’M GONNA BE AN AUNT TEDDY I WILL MEET JEWLET OMG OMG

8:52am: Oh good! Cindy gets to go in too! That’ll be so wonderful for Doc and her and everybody. I MEAN NOT ME BUT THIS ISN’T ABOUT ME ****I SUPPOSE****

9:39am: Everybody’s settled, nothing new to report, EXCEPT MY EXISTENTIAL SCREAMING. Oh, wait, that isn’t new either.

10:09am:  The baby wrapping paper I bought in a fit of nervous energy is ready for pick up! I cannot remember what styles I picked. Nor how many rolls. Welp, today is a day full of surprises!

11:12am: hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn SO MANY EMOTIONS INSUFFICIENT WORDS (this is, coincidentally, both baby and essay related)

12:22pm: I have no idea how I managed to finish that thing, but I did, THANK YOU TINY BABY JESUS. Is it good? Is it coherent? NO IDEA BUT LET’S HOPE. Time now to go drown myself in menial tasks that require very little focus! My favourites!

1:48pm: Out running errands, find myself in the baby aisle, someone stop me. 

3:39pm: JEWLET COME THE FUCK ON

3:58pm: Doc having stronger contractions she’s actually going into labour Jewlet is starting to arrive oh shit omg oh shit oh shit omg it’s happening

4:17pm: This is EXCRUCIATING. Note to self: if Doc has another, kill Cindy and/or Jill.

5:23pm: Duolingo: Do you want to practice Spanish?!   Me: NO I WANT MY BABY YOU FEATHERED GREEN CUNT

6:07pm: WELL THIS BITCH ASKED ME FOR TWO THINGS AND I FINISHED ONE SO OFF TO CLEAN HER BATHTUB AND IF THIS ISN'T FRIENDSHIP WHAT THE FUCK IS I ASK YOU

6:23pm: Moderate labor! No nastiness needed yet! Come on, Jewlet, your papa's has such a rough go of it, give her this, please. 

7:15pm: WELL I GUESS NOW I JUST WAIT IS THAT WHAT WE'RE SAYING

9:12pm: Just got back from running a bunch of stuff up to everybody at the hospital. Jill recorded me passing a message to Doc. I got to call her a cuntstain, so that was pretty good.

9:41pm: Too late to take a pot pill? Probably. But exhausted all the same, so maybe I can sleep anyway. I guess it’s time to try. I WANT TO MEET YOU TOMORROW JEWLET AUNT TEDDY IS WAITING

10:02pm:  COME ON JEWLET I THINK I FIGURED OUT HOW TO KNIT THIS SOCK JUST FOR YOU oh wait this isn’t trying to sleep is it

1048pm: WATER BROKE SHE COMING SHE COMING HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP NOW AM I GLAD I DIDN'T TAKE A GUMMY OR NO I CAN'T TELL

1054pm: I'm losing my mind and the hospital is within walking distance of my house, I can't imagine how much I'd be climbing the walls if I were still in Portland right now.

Sunday, 4:44am: WE HAVE A BABY!!! 

4:50am: I can't believe I completely passed out through all the build up texts hahahaha wtf. BUT WE HAVE A BABY SHE'S HERE I HAVEN'T SEEN A PICTURE YET I HOPE I GET ONE SOON I BET DOC LOOKS LIKE A HOT MESS WE HAVE A BABY

4:53am: SHE IS IN WALKING DISTANCE OF ME AND I CAN'T GO SEE HER THIS IS AGONY

5:06am: There she is! Hello Jewlet! Oh man you inherited the shit out of Doc's nose hahaha

5:09am: I HOPE YOU ALL GET TO COME HOME TODAY

6:43am: Oh look at you. Look at you. 

7:09am: eeeeeeeeeee

8:07am: Well I just nearly forgot to put on a shirt today, so that's happening. 

8:28am: Got Erik the Rabbi all updated, Reeves has been fed, GOT A VIDEO FUCK OFF WITH THIS CUTE I NEED TO SEE HER, I need some coffee, and oh shit now tumblr knows I CAN SCREAM ALOUD

[merrock]

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: greta onieogu

full name: keziah emem

nickname(s): kez

pronouns & gender: she/her, cis-woman

sexuality: bisexual

birth date: march 23, 1992

birth place: vancouver, canada

time in town: five years

housing: historical downtown

occupation: owner and yoga instructor @ breathe in

family: none

personality: keziah had always played the part: the doting daughter, the loving sister... a victim of her own desire to please those around her. yet, she offers kindness to everyone — generous of her time to anybody who needed it, and expectant of nothing in return. she’s sensitive and sincere, and rarely says something she doesn’t mean. people tend to take advantage of her, and she’s a little too naïve to notice it happens.

BACKGROUND / BIO

Keziah had always done things in excess — her actions, her relationships, her life — she never took a moment to simply be.

From the moment she could walk and talk, she had always been expected to be another version of herself... a better version of herself — a version that her mother, Grace, wanted her to be. They were all each other had: it was always just mom and Keziah. Her father had left before she was born, so it never occurred to her there could be anybody else but the woman who raised her. They were luckier than most — they had a roof over their heads, always had a meal on the table, and she was taught to be grateful for everything she received. It wasn’t until her mother met Willie Murphy; he was the type of man that you’d see on the street and you knew who he was. He had a finger in every jar of the city — he knew everybody worth knowing, which was why her mother fell in love with him, she figured. He knew how to charm and impress, but he didn’t come without baggage… with Willie, came his son, Micah.

Now, Micah was a different story. Where Willie was the epitome of his community, Micah forged a path in the opposite direction. He hated Keziah, and he hated her mother, the moment he met them. Keziah, however, loved with her whole heart… even for those who were undeserving. For every slammed door in her face, or ever unkind word thrown her way by her new brother, she would work twice as hard to earn his love. The relationship with her mother grew strained when Willie and Grace finally got married. It was suddenly her fault that Micah didn’t like her, that she didn’t try hard enough or wasn’t doing the right things. Through high school, it didn’t get easier — and all of a suden, she had all of these pressures: she was expected to get good grades, be everything and do everything, all the while attempt to manufacture a relationship with her step-brother that just didn’t exist. Did she buckle? Well, it was Keziah — what do you think? Of course not. She did everything in excess, remember? From the dance troupe to the student council, but that only made Micah dislike her more. Willie would whirl insults and ask his son why he wasn’t doing more, or achieving more, ‘Just look at Keziah!’ The comparisons were the nail in the coffin of their lack-of relationship.

Her home begun to feel like a melting pot: with the growing tensions between Willie and Micah, and Micah and Keziah, and Keziah and Grace — it was bound to explode, and she did not want to bear witness to that; once she graduated, she was ready to leave. College had given her the freedom she’d always wanted, bar for the holidays when she’d visit home and years of insecurities and anxieties came tumbling back. But during her summer vacation, she resisted the urge to return home and instead, did what every good college student did: had a European summer. From Mykonos to Vienna, she saw it all. And while she fell in love with every city that she visited, it was Paris that captured her heart. Thank God for mandatory French lessons through school, and the invention of Duolingo; Keziah felt… like she belonged there. And every summer vacation thereafter resulted in spending more time in Paris, exploring everything it had to offer, and venturing out to the rest of France. She was a world away, and she truly felt at peace.

When she had completed her undergraduate degree, certificate in hand, she told her mother she would, in Grace’s words: ‘be throwing away four years and thousands of dollars to become a yoga instructor’; it had been the most liberating and terrifying thing she’d ever done. For once in her life, Keziah hadn’t sought her approval or felt the need to make someone else happy — this decision was for her, and her alone.

The city of Paris — the place she called home. Home really was where the heart was; whenever she was elsewhere, she wanted to be right here, in this city. It was here, that Keziah came into her own — living the life she wanted, with no hang-ups or attachments, no commitments or promises to be kept. Here, she could be anybody she wanted, and it was here, that she built up her reputation as a yoga instructor. Her classes were often booked out, and drew the attention of many publications and media in recent years. After all, it was Keziah; expect no less from her. With a growing following and a building reputation, she was achieving everything she could have possibly wanted… but why did she still feel like she was running away?

It may have taken her a few years, but eventually, she made the inevitable decision to move closer to home. Her mother wasn’t getting any younger, and spontaneous trips once every six months wouldn’t cut it anymore; she wanted to be there for her, for however longer she had her. Despite their strained relationship, Keziah wanted to ensure she didn’t cut her family off, entirely. After all, they were all she had left. It was safe to assume that Keziah would relocate to Toronto, or even back to her old stomping ground of Vancouver, but she needed a clean slate. She didn’t know how it happened, and she probably wouldn’t be able to tell you how it happened either, but she found her way to Maine, to the town of Merrock. Putting down roots somewhere altogether different, and unique from the places she’d lived thus far.

Upon moving into the town, and after years of living off instant ramen, she saved enough to open up her own studio in town. She set up her studio space, fulfilling the one goal she’d been working towards since she left college. With that, also came the ability to visit her mother every other month, attempting to rebuild what remained of their fractured relationship with one another; even if it meant dealing with her nightmare of a step-brother, Micah, on occasion. Willie, definitely proved to only grow wiser with age, finally stepping up to defend his step-daughter against his son, and at times, also his wife.

Now, Merrock had never been a part of her plan — but how often does life ever actually go to plan? With her own studio, an ever-changing, yet improving relationship with her mother, a step-father who supported her decisions, and a new place to call home: Keziah, finally, began to slow down.

[chalkrevelations]

OK, so, episode reax of WoH Ep 4 is briefly delayed – may be out Sunday, but more likely post M-W workweek. It is coming. Meanwhile, have some more Street Dance of China? S3, Ep 2.

First of all, I have to say that if I had any way of figuring out what some of this music is, I’d have a new Spotify playlist 300 songs long.

ANYWAY, we get a recap of … Wang Yibo being incredulous about coming in last place in a dance competition. Wang Yibo vowing to get back the three colorful towels he lost by coming in last place in a dance competition and therefore can’t use to send three more of his team’s dancers on to the next round. Hip-hop freestyle battles for TOWELS. Wang Yibo getting his colorful towels back. Ridiculous unnecessary drama over whether Lay Zhang is going to win his battle and get EVEN MORE colorful towels, given his competition is Wallace Chung (oh dear. that was kind of blunt.). And that’s what you missed on Glee Street Dance of China 3 Ep 1.

 Snapshots of what’s coming up this week: Everyone has shot their wad on towels and is sweating the fact that they have 59 more dancers they want to send through to the next round and a single towel left. (I TOLD YOU SO. ALL OF YOU.) The only way to get more towels is to battle for them. A hip-hop battle has NEVER BEEN SO IMPORTANT.

Cutting here, I guess, for ridiculously detailed nattering. Hashtag long post (remorseful):

Team Lay Zhang: First of all, Lay Zhang, I just have to note that you’re getting an edit that doesn’t make you look like the brightest bulb in the box. I don’t know if this is just the edit, or if it’s … well. You. I guess we’ll see as the season goes on. Also, in the interim, I have found out that you also are Zhang Yixing, which a lot of your fandom seems to actually call you, so should I call you Yixing instead of Lay? You seem to be going by Lay for this show, so it seems polite to stick to that? Anyway. Gongsun Wu Ming & Hei Zai start us off this episode, and they get off to a little bit of a slow start, but once they pick up, they’ve got a lot of nice air in their moves, that effortless(-looking) almost anti-gravity effect that good breakers can get. Then we almost immediately get a series of ok, that’s fine, oh, wait, no, THAT is actually pretty mediocre poppers, none of whom gets a towel, thank god, because the supply has to be running low. And then Teng Zai appears, claiming to be the best popper, and … OK. OK, alright. Fine. He might be right. His technique and control are fantastic, but you want to know what really sells me, in the middle of this generally fantastic performance? It’s that series of chest pops followed by the little heart held out right on the fk’n music. It’s little details like that, that make or break a performance, and he pulled it off beautifully. I went back to re-watch, it was so slick, yet so charming. OK, maybe I went back to watch more than once. You can’t prove anything. (Also, he gets called their little “Ares” - in quotes, in the subs – by other contestants, more than once, but I can’t pick out the actual sound of that name, which makes me think the subbers have inserted “Ares” as something that will give the flavor of what he’s actually being called. My 1st level Duolingo Mandarin is absolutely not enough to figure out what people are actually calling him, so is there anyone who’s able to give me some insight, here?) Aaaand, Towel Battle 1 (see Footnote 1). Post-battle, we’ve reached the point when all the captains are sweating their lack of towels, so e’rybody is just going to have to battle for towels from here on out. Yuan Ye faces Momo, and a little bit, this is where I expect the knife fight to start (Momo’s bringing the knife). I’m honestly not that impressed with either of them and probably would have saved my towel for someone else, but Lay Zhang decides to send them both through, so what’s the point of a battle to begin with? BUT THEN (dun-dun-dun) some dude calling himself Bon shows up to really cut a bitch, waves away both Yuan Ye and Momo to the sidelines, describes himself as “a boom” and proceeds to give a performance that imo is kind of mushy and all over the place. Lay Zhang looks a little taken aback as Bon sort of grinds up on him but can’t even really commit to that, just before Lin Zi Jie shows up. Lay Zhang makes Zi Jie change his coat - thank god, because you can’t see half of what he’s doing and he actually seems like the most towel-worthy performance out of this whole cluster of flail – and asks for a freestyle battle, which turns out to not be that great on Bon’s or Zi Jie’s parts, actually. I feel like the dance vocabulary here is kind of limited, and we’re left with a bunch of hip-shaking, grinding, and supposedly seductive looks, which is NOT going to cut it in the battles we’ve seen already. Towels to Momo and Zi Jie, rather than putting them in reserve and waiting to see who else shows up, which I think is probably a mistake, but OK, I’m not a pop idol with the clout to star on this show, so. (I know what I like to watch, tho’, and none of that was it.) A promise to Yuan Ye that she gets a Battle Towel. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Wallace Chung: So, first off, there’s George, who dances before he’ll introduce himself, and I guess I have to respect a guy who’s going to let his performance be his introduction. And then we get a series of OK that’s fine but not really great poppers, and Wallace, unlike Lay, is handing out towels like candy. OK, my man. If that’s really what you want to do, I guess, but it doesn’t seem like the greatest idea to me. You’re also really fucking with the morale of the dancers who haven’t performed yet, who are gradually realizing that you’re going to run out of towels before you even get to them. Hilariously (for me, if not the contestants), I paused at this point to go refresh my bourbon and managed to freeze on a random contestant, identified as Wei Ming - who I don’t know if we’ll ever get to see actually perform, but he deserves the bolded name for this, alone – looking baffled and concerned, with the English subtitle on his comment reading “Sir, what are you thinking?” I suspect he is not using “Sir” in the sense that I use it when my cat (or Zhang Zhehan) has done something appallingly adorable, but rather when the cat has knocked yet another gd pen off my desk while I’m trying to take notes, just to be a bastard for attention. (OTOH, I guess if you weren’t one of the dancers bold enough to swarm up there in the first couple of hours, you take what you get. Fortuna fortes adiuvat.) We finally get to Lin Meng, whose reputation precedes him, but seriously, if Wallace is just handing out towels to every popper, what does it even mean? Wallace – Wallace – proceeds to basically call Lin Meng an old man before making him bargain for a towel, which is a shame, because Lin Meng deserves to get not only this towel but the four towels you just gave away to some guys who should still be holding Lin Meng’s jacket, Wallace. I mean, seriously, this guy’s technique is fantastic. Even if he does fumble his jacket lapel that one time. Aaaand, Towel Battle 1 (see Footnote 1). Post battle, we get A.K. Dong, who’s got some excellent musicality and a face that apparently resembles a variety show star (Hank Chen?). I mean, I guess it gets him noticed, but it sucks that it seems to overshadow his dancing, because he’s really good. Then we notice our towels are running low, and everybody is just going to have to battle it out. Wallace promises the Battle Towel to some dude who we don’t see perform and don’t get a name for, and with my prognisticatory skills, I’m going to say we won’t need to know his name, because this is the last we’ll see of him. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Wang Yibo: First up, we get Bing, whose reputation precedes him, prompting other teams to look around and wonder what all the commotion is about. Bing has a motorbike moment with Yibo, before giving a performance that starts off the tiniest bit mushy before he puts some fantastic technique on display. Yibo pulls out his Perpetual Student schtick and asks for some freestyle with some motorbike elements, which at first makes me suspect you might be fucking with this guy just a little bit, Yibo, but Bing is both game and versatile, and he eventually gets his towel, along with a wish from Yibo to ride together sometime, and oh. (As we say, in A Very Significant Tone, on AO3.) All of that was flirting. OK. On the heels of Yibo giving me yet another clue as to his taste in men, we roll into a seriously uncomfortable segment that stomps all over my embarrassment squick because they’ve cut together several women to look desperate and starstruck and comical and dumb, while Yibo looks increasingly uncomfortable, and I am super not down with this, show. I’ll admit that from what we can see, none of them are great dancers, but I suspect there were a lot of not-great male dancers, too, and I just. Ick. This was unnecessary, you haven’t done it to any of the other captains, and it frankly doesn’t make Yibo look that great, when you set his reactions here against the fact that not only have we not seen approval from him for any female contestants so far, but this segment is the only interaction we’ve seen from him with any female contestants so far. Hard on the heels of this segment, we get Chick, who is very good when he wants to be but also super-extra and annoying, and who fucks around more than he really dances, but the audience seems charmed with him, and Yibo doesn’t give him any of the smackdown he deserves, which doesn’t improve my impression of the previous segment, given the varied ways Yibo iced out some of the women. Meanwhile, Jackson Wang strolls over, and Yibo acts super weird about it, for a guy who was the first one to wander into someone else’s territory, which was – oh, yeah, I remember, Jackson’s – to watch his dancers, and Jackson says that he would give Chick a towel before heading back to his own street, and then Yibo does, even though he fucks with him a little bit first, and then there’s a bit of footage cut in of Yibo making dumbass excuses for this guy, so. I’m not entirely feeling you right now, Yibo. Also, all of this is certainly doing nothing to disabuse me of the notion that you’re about 1000000x more comfortable in homosocial situations, for whatever reason. Anyway, we then get a montage of Yibo handing out some towels to various dancers (including a woman, finally, although she’s intercut with some other people and doesn’t actually get a full segment of her own), and then we get Tao and Cici, who are both good, but Yibo now discovers that he only has three towels and there are two people standing in front of him, so he gives a towel to Tao and promises one to Cici after the next towel battle, which, yeah, Tao is probably better, but this is a hell of time to decide to be circumspect with your towels, Yibo, when you can leave a woman sitting on the sidelines but send her husband through to the next round. :hands: Anyway, it’s time for Towel Battle 2 (See Footnote 2), and I do have to give Yibo props, again, for his teambuilding, because he takes a minute to say, hey, there aren’t a lot of towels left, and there are quite a few of you, so what we’re going to do is all go over there together, and get another towel, as a team. Post-battle, Yibo is still concerned about his lack of towels, and everyone left is going to have to battle it out, although, frankly, the way Yibo’s been going on about how much he likes battles, I sort of think he might secretly be a tiny bit excited about this. He ends up putting person after person into reserve, waiting to see everyone, probably, and then Meng Di shows up, and she’s already got the rest of the group behind her. They know her, they know she has cochlear implants, they respond immediately when she shushes them so she can hear Yibo and the music, they call for the DJ to turn up the music for her, they clap together to emphasize the beat. She’s smart enough to keep six feet between her and Yibo while she dances, so that she doesn’t spook him like the fragile and shy homosocial forest creature he apparently is. She immediately gets her cha cha on when her battle partner holds out his hand to lead her out for her turn. Good technique, even though there are a few bobbles. None of these four performances in the final battle are the best we’ve seen so far, but they’re solid. Yibo is clearly torn about what to do with his one towel, although the audience starts getting kind of insistent that he needs a waacker, and a female waacker at that, and he ends up making Bullet and Meng Di battle again. She’s performing for the audience at this point – I mean, she’s not even pretending about it, she spends most of this round facing them, with her back to Yibo - and she’s also versatile, genre-wise, so I think we can all see where this is going. I think he really wanted to give that towel to Bullet, who definitely is very good, but he knew that he’s painted himself into a corner where he ought to give it to Meng Di, so that he’s got some genre-versatility on the team, if nothing else. Towel to Meng Di, and a promise to Bullet to win another Battle Towel for him. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

Team Jackson Wang: First up is Bai, who apparently is a favorite from season one, but I haven’t seen season one – or season two - so I don’t have any history on any of these people. Bai is doing a bit, here, but he’s also generally got some good technique, so OK. Why are they blurring out his left wrist, though? Yang Yu Ting is really good, some more good technique, good musicality. And then we’re already on to Towel Battle 2 (See Footnote 2). Post-battle, we get Shen Kai Xiang, who apparently looks A LOT like Jack Ma, which seems to be little bit like if some Bill Gates-lookin’ mf’r showed up to audition for SYTYCD. Lyrical; good technique; much like Bai, appears to be doing a bit. And, then, as with all the captains, the dearth of towels sets in, and Jackson is going to put everyone in the gladiator ring and make them battle it out. Maybe we can win another Battle Towel. Time for Towel Battle 3 (See Footnote 3).

***

Footnote 1, AKA Towel Battle 1, Team Lay Zhang vs. Team Wallace Chung, 3v3: Team Lay Zhang is San Jin, who they throw up some B-roll on, since the show has spent no time on him so far although he seems to be in cahoots with Xiao Bao (see Ep 1 recap); Gongsun Wu Ming, who’s spoiling for a battle after no one would take him up on it during his initial performance; and Teng Zai, because I mean, come on. Team Wallace Chung is Lin Meng, which should be interesting, since he and Teng Zai are apparently from the same crew, George, and Qin Yu, who we not only haven’t seen before this, that I can remember, but don’t even get B-roll on while Wallace is talking strategy, unlike the other two. Qin Yu, this does not bode well for your future on the show, if they’re not even bothering to give you B-roll, let alone an edit. Both captains are very weird about introducing their dancers, like these guys are some big surprise and aren’t going to dance in front of everybody in a minute and half, anyway. Possibly this is some kind of attempt at a dominance display? I don’t know. It’s won by the host, anyway, who eventually enforces his will and gets some introductions out of the captains. Anyway, Gongsun is up first for Team Lay Zhang, and this dude is just fun to watch, with great musicality and flow, and Wallace’s face while watching him is a picture, let me tell you. He’s up on Qin Yu almost immediately, possibly sensing the weakest link of Team Wallace? Team Wallace counters with George, who’s not having any of that, and gets the first point for his team. Second round, Teng Zai is once again impeccable, so even though someone has lit a fire under George, who spends half his time upside down, he nevertheless loses the point to Teng Zai. Round three, Teng Zai and Lin Meng face off, and they’ve both got great technique, although I feel like Lin Meng has a slight edge there, but I also think Teng Zai did a better job of showcasing strength and control, so I’m not surprised when the judges go for another round, in which Teng Zai is still super-fun to watch and definitely on his game, but Lin Meng steps up with some incredible precision, so I’m a little surprised when the judges give it (unanimously) to Teng Zai and Team Lay Zhang. One more round, and Teng Zai … is maybe wearing down a little bit, coasting on this one, and oh, hey, we’re finally going to get to see Qin Yu, who has some nice fluidity but maybe doesn’t really match up to Teng Zai in the charisma department, which may be why we haven’t seen him before this, and also why he loses the round. Round, battle, and two towels to Team Lay Zhang, and we still haven’t seen more than 15 seconds of B-roll of San Jin. But wait! There’s still a moment to be had, in which Teng Zai suggests donating one of their towels to Team Wallace, namechecks love and peace as a vital part of street dance, and quite possibly cements his place in my – and everyone else’s - heart. Both sides go home with a towel.

Footnote 2, AKA Towel Battle 2, Team Wang Yibo vs. Team Jackson Wang, 3v3 captain-led battle: Oh, they get to choose a song for each other. This should be interesting. I feel like there’s some shit-talking going on here, although I’m not really equipped to catch it and am at the mercy of the subtitles. Does Jackson really ask Yibo, “You WERE a dancer when you were young?” because lol. And Yibo is all, “Eh, kind of?” I do love how neither of them can hold still for songs two and three. So, Team Yibo is also Bing and Tao, while Team Jackson is also Bai and Ting. The thing that strikes me immediately during the minute or so that they get to plan and quickly choreograph is that Team Yibo has everyone there – there’s no point during this planning stage that the entire crew isn’t involved. They’re all part of this. Meanwhile, Team Jackson is just the three of them, separate from everybody, working out their choreography. The whole-team approach IMMEDIATELY pays off, when Team Yibo slams out of the gate with an energy and power and fullness to their performance that Yibo will later comment is fueled by the atmosphere that the dancers at the back create, and he’s right, it’s just like a wave of pressure pushing them forward, not even getting into the fact that the three people actually in the battle are fucking good. Team Jackson is also good, but they don’t feel like a team, the crew in the back doesn’t seem to have it together, and the loss of that – it has an impact. No surprise that Round 1 goes to Team Yibo and their Attitude, which is like an entire fourth dancer on its own. Round two coming up, and the entire Team Yibo is still involved in the planning stages, Yibo’s flannel has come off and we’re down to T-shirt sleeves, and Tao is surprising me not only with his moves – I honestly didn’t expect him to come as hard as he does, given he and Cici were more lyrical in their initial performance – but in his killer instinct, because he’s the one who suggests getting up in Jackson’s face, lit. and fig., by yoinking one of his signature moves. Meanwhile, Yibo is playing gay chicken, and it is just as great an idea as it sounds like (and this is that performance that a clip of it was making the rounds a few months ago); meanwhile Jackson is going high (?) concept, and that is just as bad an idea as it sounds like, although he does attempt some charming self-deprecation when it’s all over (also, omg, one of the contestant reactions later is that he’s “short of brain trust.” I’m not actually sure what the most eloquent way to translate that comment would have been, but it certainly gets an idea across.) Chick actually earns his pay in one of the best moments of the battle that – as much as I hate to encourage it – actually does profit off his general air of douchery, Team Jackson continues to lack the kind of cohesive team feel that Team Yibo is bringing – and second round, battle, and towel to Team Yibo. THIS is the advantage of team-building from the very first minute. Also, fuck, Yibo and the dancers he’s collected are good. Technically, yes, but also, the auditions are getting kind of interminable, but after this battle, I’m excited again, and that kind of audience reaction is a good measure of whether your dancing is successful. (Towel goes to Cici, btw, which, yeah, Tao did fucking earn that for her, so I’m glad you came through on your promise to her, Yibo.)

Footnote 3, AKA Towel Battle 3, all four captains. Cypher. Four rounds. Everyone else’s face when the cypher is announced:  D:   Yibo’s face when the cypher is announced:  >:D  They each get to choose a style of music. Wallace chooses locking. Yibo and Jackson both choose hip-hop. Lay Zhang chooses krump. Yibo’s already moving before the music even starts, to whatever music lives inside his head. The music actually starts, and Yibo is in the center before anyone else gets the chance (probably before anyone else can get up their nerve …) My sound drops out right here, which, wtf, but I can still tell Yibo’s throwing down the gauntlet. He’s beatable, but not by anybody who’s going to coast. Also, goddam, he has legs for days. Lay Zhang is in next, with some good speed and power and crispness to his moves, although I’m having trouble taking that cap with the fake dreads seriously. It’s … actually super interfering with me getting on board with your vibe, my dude. Jackson’s up next, and he has somehow managed to bring my sound back, and he also lands, frankly, the best forward Salto we’ve seen from anyone so far this season, which I have to admit even though he is my inexplicable mortal enemy. Yibo and Wallace, ffs, ice him out in the follow-up, although he then does the same thing to Lay, so who tf knows what’s going on with the actual interpersonals between these guys and what’s for show, at this point. Wallace finally gets his turn and is super-game but horribly out-classed. Yibo gives him props anyway, which, good on you for respecting your elders and their efforts, I guess, baby, but let’s all admit that was an “E” for effort. Judges are frantically scribbling their points down as round 2/4 begins, and Yibo is the first one in the middle, again, and wtf gdi my sound really picks this point to drop out again? I feel like Youku may be fucking with me, at this point. ANYWAY, Yibo is finally, actually all in, and he’s got a fantastic Harlem shake, it’s like his joints are barely connected. I honestly could watch this boy dance all day, that’s how smooth he looks. Here’s the thing about Yibo, and it’s something the other captains haven’t yet achieved, or have only accomplished in slivers of time – he makes me want to dance, too. I watch him, and I want to be doing what he’s doing. You could say that he literally, not just figuratively or emotionally, moves me. And his ability to stoke that is something I really appreciate. Jackson Wang is up next and is pretty good, but I’m honestly more impressed with Lay Zhang, who manages to look almost like he’s being special-effected, that’s how staccato he gets at his best in this round. Wallace dances. The other captains are polite about it. More scribbling from the judges. Jackson’s the first one out there in round three, and he’s honestly looking the least tired of all of them. Stamina is maybe an issue, here. Even with Jackson, some of the finer control is gone. Y’all are maybe a little soft? How long has it been since any of you idols had to endure the workout of an entire concert? There’s a whole ‘nother round to go after this, so you better get your oxygen masks. Lay Zhang is still fairly crisp and pulls off a literal hat trick, although he’s doing a lot more upper body work that lets him stand in place than he is actually moving around. Jackson, with his baby boy enthusiasm and energy, is magnanimous enough to fill up some of Wallace’s time by “pulling” him into the center and then getting out there and dancing with him. I am old enough that I understand what Wallace is going through, but there’s just a noticeable difference in ability, here. Yibo is clearly waiting until last this time, to those of us paying scrupulous attention, although it’s nothing too obvious, and it does buy him enough time that he’s basically recovered by the time he gets back into the middle of the circle, although he’s a little less expansive than he’s been in the previous two rounds. So, strategic, then, too. Judges scribble as we move into the last round. No time for weakness, all of you. DID YOU HEAR ME, because most of you are looking, to be frank, just a little bit WEAK as you circle around and hang out on the edges and try to get your breath and energy back. I’m just sayin’. Lay takes the hit first, and he’s really trying, although he’s not as strong as he was back in the second round. I’m a little bit afraid he might fall over by the end of it. Yibo is sweating but pulls some random dude’s hat right off his head before … at least going all in, even if he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing, krump-wise. He ends by falling on the ground, in a credible WWX-passing-the-fuck-out imitation, which is probably a relief, by that point. Jackson probably has the most energy left, although he’s reduced to pulling off his shirt and posing by the end of his time. Wallace does some dancing. Look. I’m just going to leave it at that. Jackson is still being polite enough to encourage his elder. It’s maybe a little bit endearing. Final result is that Lay Zhang wins, which. OK. I would have placed him second, after Yibo, but I also seem to remember that he won the initial captains’ performance, back in Ep 1, so I guess I can’t be too surprised at this, based on trends. Show director was apparently so impressed, he’s gonna give up four extra towels, one to each captain, which means Lay gets two towels. So I guess towels go to Yuan Ye on Team Lay Zhang and Bullet on team Wang Yibo, if they keep their promises, although don’t know who Wallace and Jackson are planning on giving their extra towels to.

Next ep: Mystery Guest.

[fineillsignup]

Hi! I'm newish to C-drama and I've gained an interest in the Chinese language lately. So I've been duolingoing away and reading tumblr posts about this and that, and now I stumbled into your post about naming your characters in Chinese. All good, all great, I understood as much as I could, and this ask has actually nothing to do with the naming. In your post you shared a saying: 瑕不掩瑜 “a flaw does not conceal the rest of the gemstone’s beauty; a defect does not mean the whole thing is bad”. (1/2)

tricksandthunder

said:

THAT'S SO MANY WORDS. FOR ONLY FOUR CHARACTERS. I mean I understand the language doesn't work similarly to Indo-European languages and all the word meanings can be symbolid but... still?? It just boggled my mind. Would you mind deconstructing this sentence and telling me how you get from 4 symbols to a two-line sentence? I feel like I'm missing something here. Thank you!

Bwahahahaha welcome to the Chinese language.

Okay here are some basic things to understand about Chinese, which will help explain how you get from four characters to a whole sentence.

Each character is (potentially) one word in the sense of “entire independent unit of meaning”, I think you know that part already, but it’s worth reiterating. Ancient Chinese was more monosyllabic than modern Chinese—that issue is beyond the scope of this post, but it is at least possible for each character to be a unit of meaning.

Chinese grammar is very, very different from Indo-European languages. It is an analytic language, not a synthetic language, in linguistic terminology; it does not use conjugation (eg English), it does not use agglutination (eg Hungarian and Finnish), it does not use declension (eg Latin). What does it use? Particles, when necessary; word order; and context. The heavy reliance on context is why machines are still really bad at translating Chinese into English!

Chinese also doesn’t use articles! No “the” and no “a”.

Alright so let’s look at this specific utterance: 瑕不掩瑜. I’m gonna show a screencap from the open source MDBG dictionary.

So we can parse this idiom as fault / not / conceal / jewel.

It’s because Chinese is an analytic language that doesn’t use articles, and English is a synthetic language that does, that we have to insert all kinds of extra words into it in order to make it sound smooth and natural in English: 

A fault does not conceal the jewel.

And then, because this is an idiom that has linguistic context, we further add gloss to explain the context.

A fault does not conceal the rest of the beauty of the jewel; a defect does not mean the rest of the thing is bad.

This line from the Office is a joke, but when it comes to Chinese, it’s really not a joke. Actually, you can almost translate this into Chinese directly and get a perfectly acceptable Chinese sentence:

我/想，为/什么/浪费/时间/说/很/多/词, 几/个/词/就/够/了。

I / think , for / what / waste / time / speak / very / many / word,  few / particle for measurement / word / just / enough / particle of completion.

The Chinese language, everybody!

[jzixuans]

so. i’m once again in the owl’s clutches

good happy things:

potential tog 2 sequel conf  👀

class wasn’t so bad today!!!

oatmeal w brown sugar and cinnamon

started watching julie and the phantoms, everybody say thank u sapph and elena

also i think i’m hilarious

phil jarnold fat brain rat extraordinaire

had like. the Biggest urge to finally learn chinese so i won’t be a mockery this year and downloaded a bunch of canto textbooks and started chinese on duolingo so uh. we’ll see how that goes 

dark academia slaps actually

i’ve been sleeping pretty comfortably these past few days which is nice

have i mentioned that my brain rot extends to my phone wallpapers bc now my home screen is the rest of the tales through time covers with widgets and everything

[brynnmck]

Hi friends! I have been in a bit of an anxiety pit for the past couple of weeks but I'm hoping to be more present on here going forward. @ajoblotofjunk and @dame-lazarus both tagged me for this, thank you! ❤️ (Also, ajoblotofjunk, I’m SO glad we have the opportunity to get to know each other better via this meme 😂❤️)

Rules: Answer 21 questions and tag 21 people you would like to get to know better!

Nicknames? The vast majority of my fannish friends call me Brynn, including IRL; I answer as happily to that as I do to my wallet name. My husband calls me many ridiculous nonsensical things, such as “lady yam” and “baby puncher” (NOT, I should clarify, because I have ever even considered punching a baby, but because he thinks the combination of words sounds funny).

Real name? I am old school enough to want to keep my wallet name separate from my fannish name, at least publicly on the internets! Lol

Zodiac sign? Gemini (which, man, internet zodiac stuff NEVER seems to really understand/like Gemini). Taurus moon, Leo rising. ENFP, too, while we’re at it. 😂

Favorite musician or group? The Headstones and My Chemical Romance have been my top two of the past several years. Other artists who show up on most of my playlists include Springsteen, Bon Jovi, the Kris Delmhorst/Jeffrey Foucault/Peter Mulvey triumvirate, The Local Strangers, Lake Street Dive, and The White Stripes.

Favorite sports team? The Seattle Mariners (fairly unfortunately for me, though there have been some pretty fun times in there too). My dad loved baseball and I eventually fell in love with it too, in my early 20s, and it was the biggest point of connection we had. And baseball takes up enough of my time and emotional energy that I am so far pretty monogamous about it and have not gotten super invested in any other sports. But I never say never!

Other blogs? My first blog was an LJ, and I still have a Dreamwidth account that I haven’t updated in years. I’m @rockedfaces on Twitter (a lot of my baseball fandom lives there, as well as the ongoing clusterfuck that is the USA, and RTs of cute animals, and some media fandom stuff too). Mostly I can only manage one social media platform at a time so while I totally get the concept of having different accounts for different interests on the same platform, I cannot imagine maintaining that!

Do I get asks? Mostly only when I do ask memes. I always appreciate them though!

Blogs I follow? 185. Though I just came back to Tumblr a few months ago after a years-long hiatus, because I wanted to Get Involved in J/B fandom, so some of those blogs are now defunct and I know there are lots of great ones I don’t follow yet, too. 

Tumblr crushes? Obviously!

Lucky number? 7 I guess?

What am I wearing? Black yoga pants, a brewery t-shirt that I got for free as a pub trivia prize, and a sweatshirt for the western martial arts convention that my husband co-runs. 

Dream vacation? Right now? The alternate universe where there’s no global pandemic. Failing that, I’d like to go to New Zealand someday, and go back to the UK and Ireland, too. More basically, I just want to walk around interesting cities and eat good food and drink tasty alcohol with people I like. Pretty hikes are good too.

Dream car? I’m not really a car person. But an electric car with a super-long range would be pretty sweet.

Favorite food? I love very many foods! As you might be able to tell by the fact that I wrote a whole long fic about it! 😂 Tough to beat cheese and bread, as a general concept. I’m also extremely into good summer fruit when it’s in season, especially strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, nectarines, plums. Ooh and mango. And a really good peach is transcendent, though they’re rare here. We get amazing cherries though. SO MANY GOOD CHERRIES. Is it time for summer fruit yet????

Drink of choice? I do drink quite a bit of water, and I’m super into fizzy water right now. Alcohol-wise, bourbon or rye (perfect Manhattans are my go-to in the absence of a cocktail list), or a good Last Word in the summer. Also sparkling wine. And beer, especially at the ballpark (IPAs are my standby, as basic as that makes me, though I don’t like the super bitter ones).

Instruments? I played piano through high school and took voice lessons in high school and college (I was a theater kid). I can still play piano veeeery sloooowly if I’m learning something new, though some of the songs I played a lot as a teenager are still in my fingers somehow!  

Languages? English and what remains of my high school French. I really want to learn Spanish--if for no other reason than to be able to read baseball players’ Instagram posts--but so far I have gotten as far as downloading Duolingo. IT’S A JOURNEY.

Celebrity crush? Sooooo many. Nikolaj and Gwen are the two brightest stars in my little fannish sky at the moment, obviously. Various handsome baseball players. Ben Browder and Claudia Black. Chadwick Boseman and Nicole Beharie. Anna Kendrick. Frank Iero and Ray Toro. Lindsey Way. David Cook. Adam Brody. Gillian Anderson. I could go on!

Random facts? Let’s do three to make this 21 questions for real! 1) Ummm. I am bad at random facts about myself! I have one sibling, a brother who’s about a year older, and we were super close up through college (we still get along fine, he’s just been on the other side of the country for years now so our paths have diverged more); 2) We stayed a weekend in one of the treehouses at Treehouse Point in Falls City, WA just before Treehouse Masters really exploded and it was one of the most magical experiences of my life; 3) I never knew I was a dog person until we got a dog, and even though we are dogless now (though I would love to get another one at some point!), I am still very much a dog person, and I always want to see pictures of your dog, FYI.

I feel like with everybody tagging several people and me being way behind in responding, surely most of y’all have done this already? But if not, please consider yourself tagged! And @ me! And/or link me to your posts in the replies; I’d love to see what I missed while I wasn’t around.

[tiny-tany-thaanos]

Simmer - ‘Get to Know’

by @cupcakegnome

I was tagged by the wonderful @silverspringsimmer! Thank you!

________________________________________

Your name: My name’s Anna! It is often shortened as Anya (which, I know, is a separate name in some languages but not in Russian) or Anyuta (ah-new-tah).

Languages you speak: Russian (native), English (C1), German (B2-C1), I learned French in highschool but decided not to continue it, I’m also trying to learn Norwegian via Duolingo Are you a mermaid: luckily no - I don’t like most types of seafood Your play style: sometimes just mess in CAS and take screenshots, other times I’m playing with my sims with some storyline playing inside my head.

Your selfsim picture:

Feat. my brand new glasses!

Read on…

Stories or gameplay, builds, lookbooks, edits or cc: right now: gameplay with minimum story (which may or may not change later), sometimes edits, random  portraits of sims I made, etc. Your favorite age state: toddler, young adult

Your favorite season: Summer; I also really like snow and the landscapes at winter but I don’t like sims changing outwear for hours and “it’s a snow day!” thing Your favorite holiday: Halloween! oh, sorry, Spooky Day How was your day: pretty good actually Your favorite career: Ghost-buster in TS3! Probably also Detective if the cases weren’t that lame (a toothbrush got lost, omg!) Your favorite aspiration: Actually the ones connected with knowledge and creativity Your favorite EP, SP or GP: TS3 Ambitions, TS3 Supernatural, TS4 Vampires and TS4 City Living How old is your simblr: 3 years and a quarter if I’m not mistaken Have you woohooed: *coughs, mumbles something incoherent* Your favorite skill: writing!  The size of your mods folder:  TS4 (4,05 GB), TS3… slightly bigger? I dunno Your 3 favorite mods: Master Controller in TS3, NCCC in TS4 and Pose Player in TS4  Your interests (other than sims): writing (also I’m kinda slow with it lately but I’m trying to recover!), music (various genres), foreign languages, books, psychology and reading about true crimes (although I’m kinda fed up with them at the moment) Your favorite sim (picture if possible):

I got a lot of them! Phoenix is easily one of my most favorite ones and by that point a “mascot” of my blog, so I’ll go with her

Which Sims games you have played (including mobile games): TS2, TS3, TS4, Sims Medieval, Castaway Stories, I tried both mobile games but liked neither Propose a crazy scheme: EA adding new aspirations/character traits/interactions to the TS4 or improving the base game in any other ways? Best part of simblr: All the wonderful people I’ve met here! The ability to share the screenshots from our favorite game! I’ve been feeling really great and cozy around lately and I hope it’ll stay so! 

Worst part of simblr: *sighs* Everybody says that and I’m going to repeat it: so called “Simblr Drama” or, generally speaking, cyber bullying because what is it if not that? 

What other games you play: Cookie Run! Sometimes Choices and other mobile games 

Other websites or accounts (origin, twitter etc..): origin, of course, twitter (I mostly post about Cookie Run there),Instagram, vkontakte (Russian social media) also Facebook which I use rarely - it rather confuses me. 

Are you single: Yup. 

I’m sure by this point everyone was either tagged or has done ot so I’m tagging anyone who wants to and wasn’t tagged!

[zitrolena]

What Skam España taught me

So here is my final essay on my thoughts on Skam España. The list could go on and on but these are the things that helped me grow the most.

That it's okay to fall in love with a girl. 

This is a pretty obvious one but you could call me a baby-bi even though I'm already out for more than 1 year and was already okay with the idea of being bi the year before. But watching this TV show showed me how not fully okay I was with being me. Since I came out I watched so many movies & TV shows and there were only 2 things that gave me hope that I'm gonna have that kind of love some day and one of them was Skam España. Because you know what the thing is? The focus was on what love is like! Not how love between a same sex couple is different from “normal” ones. And there’s a huge difference between those portrayals!  And I'm not trying to trash on the OG or the remakes but I love how little this tv show was about the conflict of their sexuality itself -  neither in Cris herself nor from the outside. The story was just about 2 people falling in love.  AND THAT'S HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE. It's good to show how dramatic and horrible it can be to come out and I think that representation is really important but this is so hopeful. They give me so much hope that one day it's really gonna be "Love is love" no matter what.

There's one big thing it taught me which I realized after their reunion in episode 10: Life doesn't need drama - it needs courage. I feel like, especially, Teenagers always search for the thrill of life or completely give up their hope of growing as if it's an on & off switch. A that or that decision. And all the TV shows always have this big dramatic moment that changes everything. But this clip made me realise how unhealthy it is to think that there needs to be drama to grow. I always told myself that I wished that I had to go through more because it would have made me the person I wanted to be. But growing is a decision! It's the decision to be brave. It's the decision to change even though you might not know what's gonna happen afterwards. Joana showed this courage when she told Cris about her MI. And Cris showed this courage the second she said "I love you" even though she wasn't sure that she would ever get an I love you back. This is the definition of courage and I've never ever seen someone grow that much in a TV show which often have many more seasons.

At the same time it also showed me that you're not a bad person for being scared. I have to admit that I was one of those people that was annoyed that Cris moped around a lot. But now in the end, due to seeing that she didn’t need another push after realizing that she should say what she feels -  I’m just proud. Because this growth showed me this very important Thing: That It’s okay to be scared but most of the time you’ll feel better if you do it anyways.

Let people tell their own story. That they let their characters talk for themselves was also something really big for me and it also has something to do with the „unnecessary“ drama that other shows often portray. Just going through the archive on tumblr shows how scared everyone was of for example the ambulance theory or that they were gonna get outed or that someone is going to tell Cris about Joanas MI or that it’d need Joana to be suicidal for Cris to understand that she loves her. I feel like I’m repeating myself but this is fucking important because this just underlines the meaning of courage. Drama will come – no matter if you want it or not, but it is on you how you handle it.

Now to something I didn’t fully realise at first but it for sure changed me. Before the 10th episode happened I was annoyed that Cris always needed the validation of her friends and put the opinion of others over her own.. Or actually it seemed as if she didn’t even think about her own opinion. And then I got why it bothered me so much.. It’s because I do exactly the same. But then the second clip of episode 10 happened and I’m just so thankful for that specific clip: Eva telling Cris “I told you about my experience, but now it’s you who has to think about how you feel. And whetever you want to get back with Joana or not. The only person that can make that decision for you is you” Because yes; it’s easy to lean onto the opinion of the people that know you the best, but in the end the only person that fully knows you is you.

People show love in different ways and that’s okay. Some show it physically; some show it with what they give you and some hold onto verbal confession. And that was one of the conflicts between Cris & Joana. Joana held onto the mindset that loving someone is saying it verbally. She felt unloved when Cris didn’t say I love you back or didn’t take the necklace. Overall she always showed how much she cared with compliments, looks and loving touches. While for Cris loving someone was opening up and showing the other person your own world. She showed Joana her special place. She wanted Joana to meet her friends. She wanted to kiss her publicly. But it took some time for her to say it verbally. And the reunion is episode 9 (we really had 3 reunions in 10 episodes haha) showed them actually acknowledging this conflict. Talk about growth!

Now to something that I was already kind of sure but I think it’s also really important and that is that fighting is okay. Ofcourse people are different and there are some that really don’t want to fight like ever and that’s okay too. But to the others.. Fighting doesn’t make you a toxic couple. Fighting show that you have differences but that’s okay!

You shouldn’t ghost people. This was one of the really bad sides of Cris because she did it with both Ruben and Joana when she didn’t know what to say. But it’s important to understand that you don’t need to know what to say 24/

Some people may be assholes but not everybody is like that. Do I even have to add something to this?

That it’s not gonna feel right when you force it and that you’re not obligated to do anything you don’t want to do. Making out with a guy doesn’t mean you have to have sex with him. Being okay with your sexuality doesn’t mean you have to tell your parents right away. It’s okay to take your time.

Glasses can look hellaaaaaaa good. That I can’t decide if I find Cris hotter with or without glassesis just everything I needed to aknowleged the fact that I really need to get glasses because I can barely read anything in the distance. So thanks, Skam Espana for that haha

The Spanish language is really really sexy. Wow. It’s so hot.. I can’t. I tried to learn it a bit on Duolingo and everytime the app said something my smile just grew bigger and bigger. I want every person to speak Spanish including myself. (I especially love when Cris’ voice is lower like in episode 6 when they are still in bed and Cris says that Joana looks like someone from Dangerous Laisons. I could just listen to that sentence on repeat)

Eye contact needs to be mastered. I really want to know how to look at someone like they do because yes.. Something like the eye contact in episode 1 in class happened to me about 1 month ago and I’m still not over it.

You can only grow if you’re willing to listen.  I love how the girlsquad actually wanted to learn about Amiras religion. And I love that Cris wanted to learn more about Joanas MI. So often we’re scared of being judged or saying the wrong thing but we’ll never understand more about it if we’re not willing to learn about it. And who could teach you more about it than the people that live with it?

They make me want to live my life. And I know this is weird since Skam España basically took my life away from me or better said made me choose it over my own life but now I just want to life my life. And I'm not focusing here on the love story, because yes of course I want to fall in love and Crisana sure as hell didn't make me not want it more, but it's also that it showed me that there is no bigger present than to be alive. You get the opportunity to grow, to love, to learn, to make your life mean something TO YOURSELF. Because guess what? The only opinion that matters about your life is your own. I just want to hug all my friends & family and tell them that I love them. I wanna make mistakes and grow. And we can do that!

This fandom was everything. Everyone listend. Everyone was kind. I never felt more understood by people I don’t know. It’s been a special journey and I’m more than thankful that I got to be a part of it when it aired, because it’s sure gonna be different to watch it afterwards. I love you Skam Espana. I really really love you! And I’m more than thankful that I found this tv show. And I’m so thankful for all the work that was put into it and the acting, the storytelling.. just EVERYTHING. I’ve never seen a wlw story that captured me that much and made me fall in love with every aspect of it.  And the portrayal of  Joanas MI was the best. Revolutionary. This was high quality education! This is the kind of story people need to see!! This is my favourite remake, my favourite tv show, my favoruite ficiton. Because it doesn’t feel like fiction but more like seeing friends grow.  

[wyd-dreams]

my subconscious made me marry jefree star

130420 

 I was standing in a mall in a grocery store, right next to the confections section, where you can always trust the lady behind the counter, a true master of her craft, to pack a piece of cheap fatty cake into a sheet of translucent plastic in a matter of seconds and hand it to your sugar-craving hands. Today however, I was not alone! Next to me stood a girl I know from class, who I’m going to call Sadie just in case she shows up again. IRL I don’t vibe with her but she keeps finding her way into my dreams anyway. 

The lady behind the counter looked at the two of us, squinting, and then challenged us to a food tasting test: she’d give us a piece of something, we’d have to name the ingredients, then we would go to the fish section of the store, get partnered up with some random person to cook the food itself. Sadie and I look at each other in confusion. “Oh fuck, but sure”. This is not the only time in this dream I consented to something weird. 

Anyway, the sweets lady gives Sadie a chunk of sponge cake and a mint-coloured macaron to me. I put it in my mouth. As you do. Still chewing, I say “Cloves, definitely cloves. Also uhh, butter, flour, probably honey? Condensed milk.” As you do? 

The lady’s jaw drops to the floor. She immediately goes “N-nobody’s ever been able to point out the cloves before, how did you know?” 

I take a whole bud out of my mouth like bitch what is this then. I did not, however, tell her that cloves taste like vomit to me. Apparently in this dreamland I got all of the ingredients correct too, so I head to the fish section feeling all proud of my wondrous flavour palette. 

I got partnered up with a lanky middle eastern guy and we got to work. At some point I had the most revolutionary idea of ideas “hey, let’s add sugar into sweets”. Genius. The guy gives me thumbs up and I go around looking for sugar. Little did I know, apparently I stumbled across an oasis of sugar nobody’s been able to find, since walking back with a pack in hands was near impossible. Everybody started clawing at me like a rabid dog, trying snatch the sugar from me. Never fear though, for my cooking comrade charges at me with a shopping cart, picks me up, puts me in the cart and we nyoom out of there. 

We stop in some lounge area on the second floor. How did we get there in a shopping card and, speaking of that, where was the shopping cart? Haven’t got a clue. 

I was looking out the giant window, admiring the lovely pines and casual tornadoes outside, when someone showed me the neat new forum thing someone made. A mixture of a bboard and a daily challenge site, like duolingo but orange and somehow more awful. I don’t remember what the challenges were, perhaps I was too tired from being a culinary genius. What I do remember though, was that the site had a surprisingly functioning chat. It wasn’t amazing, there were no proper notifications or anything, but it did the job. Like a bboard had a weird baby with duolingo AND interpals. Naturally, I start using that function. 

I think I zoned out or something, there’s a gap in my memory, but the next thing I know I’ve said yes (why) to Jeffree fucking Star proposing to me (why) and the guy’s here, sitting on the floor by the wall looking as miserable as ever. Subconscious, wdym?

Now, the interesting part is, my brain somehow managed to make Jeff more confusing than he normally is. In the dream Jeff was explicitly stated to be genderq, used almost exclusively she/her pronouns, was simultaneously doing drag and presenting as they normally do. They were wearing a ghastly pink-lilac amorphous dress thing and their hair wasn’t the iconic bob, it was a choppy, spiky, star-shaped thing. Star, haha, get it. Not that I minded their appearance, it was pretty neat, but like...why Jeff of all people and how the fuck did I say yes. WHY WERE THEY ON THE APP TOO. I feel like this was actually an arranged marriage between a 34y.o. And a 17y.o. Back in the medieval times or some shit, 

So I walk up my fiance Jeffy Jeff and they immediately jump to being all giddy and excited about the wedding. Apparently it was already scheduled to happen on May 24th. Jeff being Jeff, they want to start coordinating the clothing asap. “Cool” I think and the same second we are transported to this giant runway. Jeff is now on about a meter tall stilts, clad in a flowy dress of sunshine golds and yellows, with pineapple-shaped glasses and back to their white bob. Above him there is a counter, a counter of how much money we’re gonna lose of clothing. Gotta love wedding tax amirite? Anyhow, my lovely partnerTM gracefully gestures towards the runway and out comes my classmate Leia, who always shows up in clothing dreams. Neat. She’s on stilts too and is trying to manage walking with reaaaaly fancy frilly pants. She was complaining about them the whole way, but Jeff was amazed anyway. 

What I got from her monologue was that Jeff wanted to see what the guests would wear first and that everyone was bringing their own clothes. I immediately got nervous because I didn’t have anything that would match the level of pizzaz on display here, I didn’t want to be out in one of Jeff’s dresses either because 1) I’m smol 2) no dresses for me, no thank you. I was more anxious about the latter, because I realised I wasn’t out to Jeffy Jeff yet, I was scared they’d reject me or something but at the same time I was hoping they would because about them I started realising “wait I don’t even know them WAIT”. I was losing my shit while my fiance was yelling “THAT’S SPECTACULAR DARLING” in the background. Remember the money counter? Yeah, it showed that actually Jeff was gaining money from all of that.

At some point the fashion show ended and I brought up the courage to go and tell Jeff about my feelings. I go upstairs and they’re on a bed, aggressively making out with some random guy in a buzzcut. Frankly I didn’t care, they can do what they want, instead I went to the window and listened to the birds spilling tea about people I didn’t know. As you do. I walked to the room on the other side of a hallway, which was apparently my sibling’s room, and I found Jeff there, still in their gold dress, just chilling on the floor by the heater. They were petting a rabbit too.

I kneeled beside them, but instead of anything coherent “would she fancy an androgenie” leaves my mouth. Without a shred of doubt they replied with “oh so you don’t know the coda to pilot yet,” and I said “my words exactly luv.” Needless to say, the wedding wasn’t canceled. 

So I went back downstairs and started ranting about it to this random girl with red hair. Mostly about how I don’t even know the person. She looked me dead in the eye and said “you did talk to Skye for years tho.” And I immediately went “shit ur right I do know them,,,,, but  idk if I want to marry yet yknow.” She suggested I at least try to maybe postpone it a month or two and then I remembered that I hadn’t yet told my family about my engagement. 

And then I woke up on a cliffhanger.