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chatonne-rousse · 4 years

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Through a Different Lens

This incredible work of art by @lilianmorganart crossed my dash last week and has lived rent-free in my head since then. I made it my phone's wallpaper and found myself getting emotional every time I picked up the phone to use it (If that doesn't confirm my stratospheric level of unrepentant Adrienette trash, I don't know what does).

I told @tsuki-chibi about it and we discussed how Adrien would totally swoon over it, too, if it was the lock screen on his phone. And that's how this fic was born.

I hope you enjoy this little relationship study through Alya's eyes as she and Nino share life and love alongside their best friends.

Read it on Ao3 here.

*****

"Last set of the night, dudes and dudettes. We're about to be upstaged big time." Nino points out the bank of windows toward the already-glittering Eiffel Tower before needle meets vinyl and the music starts, soft and undeniably romantic. "Let's wind it down by slowing it down."

A blue balloon flutters to the floor beside Nino's feet as he hops from the DJ platform and winds through a sea of his classmates to his waiting girlfriend. Alya wastes no time wrapping him in her arms and pressing a kiss to his lips, turning the greeting into dancing with the sway of her hips that he matches after a few beats.

"How many songs did you line up?" she murmurs when they finally part.

He smiles and winks at her. "Four. It's about fifteen minutes till fireworks."

"Mmm. Nice."

The back of his shirt is sweaty under Alya's hands, but she doesn't care. The lovely chignon Marinette had pulled her hair into before the party has come a bit undone and she can feel the damp curls at the back of her neck. That's July in Paris for you; even the air conditioning in Le Grand Paris doesn't make much of a difference. Thank goodness for the ceiling fans that make the white and blue and red streamers rustle above their heads.

She hears Nino snort softly near her ear. "Are they magical or something? How do they still look perfect?"

Alya doesn't need to turn to know he's talking about their best friends, but she twists anyway, pressing the opposite cheek to Nino's shoulder instead.

And of course he's right.

She's spent the evening drinking punch and giggling with Marinette, shimmying and whooping with her in a happy little clump with Nino and Adrien, making the rounds of friends and food and fun over the past few hours. Marinette and Adrien have, too, but somehow the only sign that it's the end of the evening is that Adrien has loosened his tie.

Marinette's hair falls across her shoulders in the same soft cascade Alya styled it into hours ago. Her gauzy white dress drapes better on her figure than it did on the mannequin in her bedroom. Even the corsage Adrien had presented to her when the girls descended the stairs into Marinette's living room, a stunning red rose in full bloom, sits perfectly on her slim wrist, not a petal out of place. Her best friend really does look like she's limned in magic.

But perhaps that's because of the strong hand splayed at Marinette's waist, pressing her ever closer to her dance partner, or Adrien's cheek at her temple, his blond halo a perfect contrast to her deep raven hair. Maybe it's whatever he's just whispered in her ear that makes her smile up at him, a wide grin of exasperated fondness lighting her face before gentling after a moment into an expression of softest serenity.

Alya's first thought is that it's like the bright and beautiful partnership of the full moon reflecting the sun. But that isn't quite right, because her best friend glows from within, providing her own light to meet Adrien's, radiant and returned in equal measure.

Just how they got to this point remains as baffling to Alya now as it was a year ago when her friends finally put themselves and everyone around them out of their misery and started dating. The blushes continued and the occasional shy stammers never quite disappeared, but she'd watched them blossom together like a spring garden before her eyes, though what she'd been sure would be daffodils had bloomed into beautiful irises instead.

Suddenly Mr. Sunshine had gleamed brighter than ever, his giddy joy nearly uncontainable. So many puns. So much laughter. The former would be unbearable were it not for the latter, which always seemed to brighten Nino's eyes as well, a welcome side effect.

And oh, her best friend had come alive. It was more than having someone to love and love her in return. Alya knew from the day they met that love was second nature to Marinette. It practically shone from her pores.

But this was different - a touch more boldness, a blaze of fierce protectiveness in her eyes, an ability to read and respond to Adrien's emotions in just the way he needed, just when he needed it. How did she know to do that? How had this easy familiarity grown between them so quickly, not a tender new sapling but already an unshakeable oak?

She knows the truth is deeper than what she's been able to wrangle from Marinette, but Alya learned long ago that her best friend held those cards too close to ever let her get a peek. But she sure had tried at the beginning.

"You can tell me, girl! I'm so happy for you, but I don't get it! What happened?"

Alya wheedled, needled, begged.

Marinette just smiled and finished watering her roses before leaning against the railing of her terrace.

"I did tell you! Adrien and I talked. We were honest with each other. That's it." She shrugged one shoulder before her smile turned sly and she bumped her hip into her best friend's. "You know, we can't all find love by getting trapped in a panther cage by a superhero. Not every relationship has an epic origin story."

"Damn right! Seriously, though, I can tell there's more to this. There are deets you're not sharing, and your bestie needs those deets!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Als. I just...saw him. All of him."

Alya just barely resisted the urge to make the obvious joke.

"Mari. My love. My best friend in the world. What could you possibly see now that you haven't seen in the past two years of crushing, staring, memorizing, obsessing, and finally just getting over your fears and becoming real, actual friends with him?" She ticked off each point on her fingers, ending with a grip on her pinky and an imploring look she hoped would coax a detail or two from her all-too-cagey best friend. "If you can't throw a bone to your BFF, think of me as the coordinator of Operation Secret Garden and its many, many, many side missions. At least tell me one thing about Sunshine that I don't know, something you didn't know before, either."

Silence fell over them like a blanket. Just when it started to feel stifling and itchy, Marinette spoke.

"He's the bravest person I know," she said quietly, gaze straying across the rooftop horizon.

Alya thought of the myriad times she'd watched Adrien run away in the direction of his house as she herself had run toward danger in the name of journalism and morbid curiosity. He was sweet and exceedingly kind, but she'd never considered him a bastion of courage. Though of course there had to be lots of things she didn't know, details of life at home beyond the isolated loneliness they were all aware of, things that hadn't occurred to her that her best friend now saw through a lens of love and not just friendly compassion. If the reason they were already so close was because Adrien was able to share the difficult parts of his life that he didn't even share with Nino? Well, Alya could understand and respect that.

She reached out and covered Marinette's hand in hers. "His dad is kind of the worst, isn't he?"

"Oh my gosh, you have no idea. The absolute worst. The other day..."

Listening to Marinette that day, Alya had decided that if her friends were happy, she'd be happy right along with them. The details would come in time.

They'd taken silly selfies in Marinette's mirror as they got ready earlier this evening. They'd posed for portraits in the Dupain-Chengs' doorway as though this was a gala event and not a Quatorze Juillet party that Chloé insisted was fancy dress, and snapped shots of their BFF squad together all evening. So without thinking, Alya reaches for her phone - her dress is a Marinette original, of course it has pockets - to document exactly how besotted their preternaturally beautiful best friends are. She grabs three photos in quick succession, thankful for her state-of-the-art camera as she smiles at how it captures the play of light and shadow across their matching white.

"Paparazzi," Nino fake coughs in her hair.

Alya grabs his butt with her free hand in retaliation, and they both laugh.

Marinette and Adrien sway together in a loose approximation of a dance, eyes closed, just barely turning in place, lost in each other. When Adrien reaches for Marinette's hand on his shoulder, Alya has to let go of her boyfriend completely to set her camera to burst mode, but laid-back, ever-patient Nino just huffs a laugh and holds her waist tighter. It's all worth it when she's able to capture the moment Adrien brings Marinette's hand to his lips and presses a series of slow, reverent kisses to her knuckles. She snaps one more photo after he's tucked their clasped hands beneath his chin and settled her against his shoulder.

Alya turns in the circle of Nino's arms and gleefully scrolls through the vast number of pictures she's just taken, pausing near the center of the burst shots and cooing with delight at the treasure she finds. "Oh my god, Nino, look." She shoves the phone under his nose and his eyes cross trying to focus on it.

"Damn. They're too pretty to be real."

She snorts. "Truth. Seriously, though. Have you ever seen two people more in love? I'd say it's gross, but I could also cry just looking at them."

Still smiling, Nino pulls their hips together again and sets them in a slow spin, punctuating the beat with his fingers at the small of her back. Alya pockets her phone and cuddles up to him, grinning into his chest when he speaks quietly for her ears only.

"You know I love you just as much, right? I'm not a model, and um, I'm not as...gooey. But—"

He's cut off when Alya presses her lips to his to stop him.

"You're just the right amount of gooey, mister, and I don't need a model when I've already snagged the hottest guy I've ever met." She delights in his blushing cheeks as she kisses him again. "And yes, I know you do...I love you, too. Thank god it's not a competition, or we'd be losing."

"Naaah," Nino drawls softly, hugging her close. "I've already won."

Alya just closes her eyes and hides her grin in his shoulder, letting him spin them again as the music swells.

*****

Packed on the balcony and ready for the fireworks to start, she and Marinette are giggling over the photos on her camera roll from the course of the evening.

"I don't want to think about how much you pay for cloud storage, Als. You know you have a problem, right?"

Nino can't help his surprised laugh, but has the good sense to bite his lip and look away. Alya nudges him in the side and rolls her eyes good-naturedly. Scrolling through toward the latest photos, she stops on one in particular and flips the screen toward her best friend.

"Bet you're glad I got this one, eh, Mademoiselle Judgy Pants?"

Alya knows she's scored a direct hit when Marinette's eyes widen and her cheeks pinken visibly even in the ambient light of the city. In the same moment, Adrien breathes an "ooooh" in reverent awe from over her shoulder as he stares at the glowing phone screen. Impossibly, the look on his face as he takes in the image is even more tender than it is in the photo itself.

Marinette turns to press her burning cheeks to his chest and he wraps her in his arms, props his chin on her head and mouths, "Send me that, please," to Alya, gesturing vaguely from her phone to his pocket.

Request received loud and clear, she grins and gives him a quick salute.

When fireworks finally fill the Parisian sky, Alya attempts a few action shots, though she's well aware that fireworks photos rarely turn out. Next, she grabs a great picture of Nino with the lights reflected in his glasses that immediately gets posted on Instagram.

And when Marinette stands on her tiptoes, wraps her arms around Adrien's shoulders, and kisses him breathless, well, Alya can't resist snapping one last photo of her friends. Adrien's hair positively gleams in the ephemeral glow of the bright red firework that bathes flushed cheeks and white fabric in a dreamy, perfect pink. This one is sent straight to her best friend; she looks forward to the keysmash text of embarrassed delight she'll receive from Marinette later.

Nino's hand slides around her waist to pull her close and she snuggles into his side, stowing her phone in her pocket and simply enjoying the moment.

*****

"Babe," Nino whispers under his breath, accompanied by a nudge of his knee against Alya's under the cafe table, "he's doing it again."

Sure enough, Adrien is gazing down at his phone. It's not even unlocked yet - he's just looking at his lock screen, waking it up each time it fades back to sleep.

"I know. That's why I'm looking up the movie time. We'd miss it completely if we left it to Sunshine."

"This is technically your fault. You do know that, right?"

Alya shrugs. "No regrets."

Marinette returns to the table, picking her purse off the back of her chair and lifting the strap over her head to settle in its perennial position across her torso. Instead of sitting down, she wraps her arms around Adrien's chest from behind and leans down to kiss his cheek. "Did you figure out if we can make it to the movie?"

The question is clearly directed at Adrien, who was supposed to be looking up the cinema schedule, but he's already pocketed his phone and turned his head to nuzzle into her hair.

Okay, Alya may have some regrets.

It's been months since she took the now-famous photo and sent it to him. To no one's surprise, it became his lock screen wallpaper immediately. It also became a distraction.

Because Adrien melts every time he looks at his phone.

No one can truly decide if it's exasperating or endearing, but there are classmates and friends in both camps.

Nino begged him to change it back to the picture of the two of them together, if only to shorten the time between sending his best friend a text and receiving one in return. Alya is nearly at her limit for heart eyes, but she's still the captain of Team Endearing. She did take the picture, after all.

Max programmed Markov to recognize each time Adrien reached for his phone and the time it took for him to unlock it and use it. Markov has perfected the algorithm over time and now has a saved log of each occurrence down to the millisecond. There's no real reason to track this data besides curiosity, but it does help Markov refine his processes, so Max has kept it up. It is vaguely fascinating, though he does feel that it's a terrible use of Adrien's limited free time.

Nathaniel illustrated a cartoon rendition of Adrien, phone in his hand and literal hearts in his eyes. Alya offered him €10 for it, but Adrien himself came in at €20 and now it sits on his desk at home.

Once, Adrien spent so much time gazing at the lock screen that he never did answer his ringing phone. Of course it was Nathalie calling, and of course his father grounded him when he got home.

(Neither Marinette nor Adrien seemed as bothered by those two weeks as everyone had anticipated. That mystery remains unsolved.)

When she thinks about it, Alya decides there are worse things than Adrien loving Marinette so much that he has an emotional reaction to seeing the evidence through a different lens.

Alya just slips her phone in her purse and corrals her boyfriend and their best friends. They have a movie to get to and they only have twenty-five minutes.

*****

In time, the picture has found a place on the wall in Marinette and Adrien's apartment - printed on premium photo paper, lovingly matted and framed. No one would have expected any less.

And it has always made Adrien smile, sometimes when nearly nothing else could.

*****

Several years, several revelations, and enough trauma to last a lifetime have led them all to this moment, on this day that shines with as much joy and light and love as they can muster. It's what a day like this deserves, after all.

With too much behind them to call it a beginning and too much hope for the future ahead to call it an ending, Alya decides she's just watched her best friends walk through a door they'd unlocked years ago and finally found the right time to step through together. The path hasn't changed, paved in hurt and heartache and the kind of helpless hope a person chooses when an abyss yawns below and there are no other ropes to grab. But it has always been lit by the glow of an almost unfathomable love, and that's where healing begins, grows, and flourishes.

So here they sit, surrounded by friends and family, in the same room where the four of them had danced all those years ago on a hot July evening. A towering croquembouche waits in the corner and a table full of photos and memories is on display along one wall; that heart-melting photo of the happy couple as lovestruck teenagers has pride of place in the center.

Clad again in radiant white, Marinette is the perfect picture of a blushing bride, and her groom has been unsurprisingly entranced all day. Alya isn't sure Adrien has stopped smiling since they first saw him this morning, and she and Nino are enjoying every moment of it.

Part of the brilliance shining in his grin is natural, springing from a heart so innately kind that it has countered evil and wielded destruction, yet still beats with compassion. But she and Nino know, better than anyone else, that the Adrien in front of them is a previously-shattered vase mended in gold, stronger and more beautiful in the broken places, and some of his gleam is reflected from those gilded seams.

When it's Alya's turn to toast, Nino helps her to her feet with a smile and hands her the mic before sitting back down beside her. She starts with a story only a best friend could get away with telling, bolstered by the laughter of the guests around her and the grins of the bride and groom. She has a toast carefully planned and memorized, but for all her preparedness, Alya also knows how to improvise. When her gaze sweeps across the picture gallery on the table and the faces of two of the people she loves most, she veers off course but finds her words with confidence.

"I've taken a lot of photos in my life - silly, scary, funny, serious, everything in between. Many of those photos have featured many of you here today. I know I caused my saint of a best friend here a lot of undeserved stress by taking a vast majority of my life's photos in places where I shouldn't have been."

She pauses when a laugh ripples through the room and Marinette shakes her head even as her watery eyes beam back at her. "But I was in just the right place when I took that one." She gestures toward the framed picture on the table, sparkling cider sloshing gently in her champagne flute. "Because the right place for both of us—" she reaches a hand back toward Nino blindly, finding and squeezing his shoulder, "has always been next to you, the most ludicrously attractive, kindest, bravest, best people we know."

Alya takes a deep breath that only shakes a little bit on the exhale. "I'm so—" she blinks and swallows around the lump in her throat. Damn hormones! "I'm so lucky to know you, to love you, and to have been part of your lives and your love story all these years. That's why I wish you nothing less than a lifetime of that kind of love," she inclines her head toward the photo on the table again, "that kind of tenderness and devotion. No one deserves it more than you two, and no one will be happier than Nino and I will to be right there beside you on the journey. So...cheers to the prettiest lovebirds I know, Marinette and Adrien!"

Champagne flutes clink amidst applause and hugs and sniffles.

Her best friends grin at her before turning the same soft gaze toward each other again, just like the picture she took all those years ago that turned Adrien to goo each time he looked at it.

Alya knows now, of course, what she didn't understand back then - that in the same way their wedding today was more than just a beginning, so were those early days of soft looks and fierce devotion that seemed to transcend the blush of new romance. Unbeknownst to their friends, they'd had an ironclad partnership and years of trust in place already. Open eyes and honesty allowed the confluence of several different kinds of love, and it only made sense that the resulting alloy stood stalwart and shone dazzling-bright.

Well, it didn't make sense then, but it certainly does now, even if the luster sparkles through a patina of nicks and dents. After all, even the strongest steel and the brightest gold are refined by fire.

Nino hands her a tissue and presses his palm to her back as she settles in her seat again.

When ever-romantic Adrien reaches for his bride's hand to press gentle kisses across the back of her fingers, Alya can't resist grabbing her phone from the table beside her bread plate. They're a little older but just as beautiful and even more in love, and the photo she snaps captures that perfectly. She smiles down at her phone, pleased, before locking the screen and twisting a little in her seat to place it back on the table, face down.

Alya gets comfortable, rests her head on her husband's shoulder, and simply enjoys the moment.

#adrienette through alya's eyes #alya loves her bff #dj wifi #adrienette #snapshot #miraculous ladybug #ml fanfiction #my writing #relationship study #this is so self indulgent #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste

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migleefulmoments · 5 years

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Leka-isms #1

Damn, Leka posted a completely nonsensical smattering of thoughts and I set her straight.

anonymous asked:( turned out to be chrisdare who went anon for unknown reasons))

I didn't know Pricky had removed all his LGBT roles from the management website. Went to check. It's absurd! Be/cca has her Gl/ee pictures there but D? He has one from that movie fiasco, from his grooming brand, then music stuff. He is an actor FGS! Why are not his roles in Gl/ee, Hed/wig, ACS mentioned? And nothing to do with the fact Pricky got him those roles or not. He has pictures of Ev/ana's role in HP but he never got her that role. It tots looks as if they were ASHAMED of his LGBT roles.

leka-1998 answered:

You’re right, not actually contributing anything useful or doing his job properly/at all has never stopped RR from praising himself (This is Ricky’s company website where he is selling his services you twit. It isn’t a Darren advertising website. It is what Hyphenate Creative can offer a performer looking for a manager. It isn’t Darren’s social media PR site- it’s Ricky’s company website...say it slowly “It’s Ricky’s company website listing his services”). I mean he’s a busy man, posting pics of himself jumping for all his imaginary fans (Now you are talking about Ricky’s personal Instagram page. It is a standard social media site used for sharing one’s interests, taking selfies, pics of the kids and connecting with family and friends and other people who share your interests. If you can’t stand how he runs his personal social media, stop following it but don’t criticize him for not giving YOU the CONTENT YOU WANT to see. The way social media works is you follow people who you are interested in seeing what they are sharing. You don’t demand someone post what you want to see. Your fandom constantly bitches about your right to say horrible things on YOUR personal blogs so at least give Ricky the same curtesy you demand). Remember the IG story he posted of D with a 🎩 and a mustache at the T/ony’s? Hilarious.(WTF- What?) D’s queer roles were amazing and very important in his career, so why remove them? (Because it isn’t a retrospective of Darren’s work. It is a page where Ricky lists the services he provides to his clients. “Darren played a great queer” isn’t one of the services Ricky offers.) The things they do are a continual slap in the face of the LGBTQ community (No, actually the nonsense coming continually you, Abby, Cassie, Flowers, and Chrisdare promote is a continual slap in the face of the LGBTQ community. Screaming about what you imagine must be upsetting to the LGBTQ community is problematic AF). Hurting him in every way possible is what they’re focusing on (Hyphenate-Creative.com is basically Ricky’s resume. it isn’t Darren’s emotional support system, Darren’s resume, Darren’s wikipedia page, or Darren’s anything).

The recent reminder of the announcement that was originally made after having won an E/mmy and while being in the running for more awards. Yes, he won anyway but that was just shitty (So you’re mad that Ricky isn’t taking credit for winning Darren’s awards? I don’t understand you). And now the new show, which looks great but you get the issue (No actually I don’t. This entire argument reeks of the logic of a child who has no idea of what she is speaking).. Playing gay for pay (You're using this as a red herring- Darren isn’t playing gay for pay. He’s playing straight for rate right along side a gay actor playing a gay character-just like you have all screamed it should be. Just yesterday you claimed you were all “disgusted” that gay actors couldn’t be out and still be hired. Now you are angry that straight Darren isn’t playing gay for pay? I don’t understand your logic). CG music and fan club-(This has nothing to do with Ricky...did you just morph this into a “Leka’s grievance on behalf of Darren” post? Darren and CG have a different company for their promotion-it isn’t Ricky) . The video with SA. Once again making him out to be a man whore (You’re an idiot. CDCN isn’t taking info from his team. They are making it up OR they are taking info from ccers. Besides you make him out to be a spineless, powerless cuck- whose to say which is worse?). Remember EF? October 5. Just so we’re clear, 2019, not 2020 (I continue to be baffled how this isn’t Darren’s fault. You’re scapegoating is amazing. If it is Darren’s baby then how is he not responsible? Besides dear Leka, I will be super shocked if you have a ticket to Elsie. You don’t live anywhere near here. So you are telling me you are upset because you are coming to America? Or is it just bitching or the sake of bitching. Also- Elsie lineup has nothing to do with Ricky’s website- stay on topic).

Lots of weird things happening here (Nope, only weird because they don’t fit your cc tropes. Believe that Darren is busy, he’s working on his own show, Royalties which means a lot to him and he’s married to Mia and loving it and everything makes perfect sense. It is only your need to erase reality that makes it all “weird things”).

Ajw720

If people are questioning, at this point, they are being stupid. There are so many red flags and the H/ollywood thing, whether his character is gay or straight, is adding to them because from the press release it appears the PRIMARY theme of the show is LGBT issues.

I’m going to hit Abby’s comments in an Abby-ism.

#cc #ccer #cc fandom #darren criss #crisscolfer #cc nonsense #Leka-ism #debunking cc lies

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draco-malfoy-imagines · 6 years

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Title: I promise Warnings: Fluff, Slight cussing Rating: PG-13 Word count: 1,852 Y/H/H - your Hogwarts house Y/N - your name Y/B/F - your best friend Y/C/H - your color hair Y/F/S - your favorite snack Y/F/N - your full name Hey guys!! So this is my first imagine back and I hope you like it! I might be a little rusty but hopefully it still satisfies your Draco needs! I also want to apologize for the user who sent in this request so long ago via direct message for only responding now. Better late than never? I love all of you to bits and hope you enjoy this read! -s

“I wanna go to forever 21!!!” You said in a whiney voice to Draco who was terrified of the muggle world. “what are you so scared of anyways the people are the same as wizards just without magic…and they use pens instead of quills.” “I just don’t understand why we have to go. Why can't you just buy clothes at a wizard store like everyone else?” You pondered this question, of course you knew why, you wanted jeans that actually fit you and showed off your figure but Draco would just retort with some excuse for not going. “Fine whatever I’ll go by myself.” You said throwing your arms up in the air hoping the guilt trip would work. You swiftly turned and began to head to the Y/H/H common room, “fine” you heard a low voice say in a tone indicating he’d given up, “I’ll go Y/N” you sported a smug smile as you faced him once again, “tomorrow. Noon, meet me in the great hall, no robes.” You gave him a quick kiss then continued on your way, proud of yourself for manipulating the master manipulator. The next day you slipped on your jeans, a plain gray v neck and a pair of converse. Draco always found it odd when you wore jeans or leggings, he was only ever used to seeing girls in high class dresses like his mother, but you preferred a more ordinary look. You walked to the great hall just as the loud chime from the clock signaled it was 12 o’clock. Draco sat at the Slytherin table chatting with Crabbe and Goyle who openly despised you, now probably more than ever. Draco was wearing a full on black suit complete with cuff links and a tie. “You are not wearing that” you said as you walked up, “you look Like a spoiled rich brat especially to muggles.” “whats wrong with this!” He snapped “I think I look good personally.” “never said you didn’t, go and change into the black jeans and white tee shirt I bought you when I visited my parents.”. He didn’t answer audibly but slunk out of his seat and made his way to the dormitories to change, as you waited you took a seat at the Y/H/H table next to Y/B/F. After fifteen or so minutes Draco walked back in wearing the clothes you’d bought him and he looked damn good if you say so yourself. It showed off his personality quite well with the slight bad boy aesthetic going on, you gave yourself a silent pat on the back for your choices. You giddily strode over to him and took his hand, overjoyed to finally get to show him the world you’d grown up in. “You look like an utter twat!” You heard Crabbe holler as you left the great hall to the front entrance of the school, you merely put your middle finger up over your shoulder and continued walking out. Professor Dumbledore gave you an approving nod as you walked by, he’d always supported you and Draco and praised you for saving him from becoming his father or worse, which is why he’d helped get you the go ahead to apparate on weekends between 11am and 9 pm from the ministry. You walked with Draco to the front lawn then turned to him “you ready” you gleefully asked him with a grin plastered on your face, “as ready as I'll ever be” you nodded and you apparated to the leaky caldron in London where no one would find two people appearing out of nothing suspicious. As your feet touched the ground everything came into view and you couldn’t help but be proud, last time you apparated you landed on a flight of stairs and promptly fell down them. “Lets get goin’! We can't waste daylight boy!” You practically yelled as you led him out the door and onto the streets of London which he’d only ever been on briefly. “ok so I want to go to forever 21, the London Eye and a grocery store to get snacks I’ve been missing!” “o-ok” Draco replied hesitantly, clearly feeling overwhelmed. You stepped in front of him and placed a soft reassuring kiss on his lips, “You'll be ok, just put your wand in your coat pocket, muggles are staring because you look like a loon with a stick” he let out a slight chuckle and tucked his wand into a pocket. You headed towards the London Eye which Draco was amazed by, asking questions that sounded silly to someone who’d been exposed to this world their whole life such as“how do those stay up there without magic?”, “why aren’t these people scared?” and “how did they build this without levitating?” As you stood in line you answered all his questions trying to not go too in depth and prompt even more. When you arrived at the front you asked for your own cart and luckily the line wasn’t too long and through gridded teeth the plump man running it waved you on. As you went around the ferris wheel you pointed out the sights to Draco and he stared in wonderment like a small child. When you stopped at the top his knees lurched, “why’d we stop?” He asked with a glimmer of fear in his eyes, “so the man can load the other cars, I promise its ok.” He nodded slowly and you jumped up “lets take a picture!” You excitedly exclaimed, you took out your phone and ushered him over, he’d of course seen your cell phone before but it still baffled him, he just had stopped asking questions. You took a selfie, you both smiling into the camera with the London skyline in the back, and then one of you kissing although your Y/C/H hair got in the way and had to be brushed behind your ear more than once. When you arrived back at the bottom Draco was grinning ear to ear, “We have to do that again sometime!” He exclaimed, you let out a small giggle and nodded to continue your day in the city. You stopped at forever 21 where you tried on too many clothes and bought too many as Draco sat with the other boyfriends looking bored out of their minds. Then went to the nearest grocery store to pick up your favorite treats you’d missed so dearly, chips, instant noodles, Y/F/S/ and more. The sky was beginning to darken signaling you needed to head back to the castle. You stuffed everything you’d bought into your bag that you’d charmed to fit everything, you didn’t want other people seeing you had special privileges of course, and took Draco’s hand back to the leaky caldron which was now only populated with a few witches and wizards. You turned to him ready to apparate when he grabbed your hand, “wait, I know Crabbe and Goyle make fun of me and us but I truly had a great time today and they should be jealous. I have the best girl out there, I love you Y/F/N, and no one could ever change that.” You quickly hugged him catching him off guard as he’d been looking at the floor. “i love you too Draco, thank you” you whispered in his ear, he snuggled his head into your neck and then broke away to kiss you. Draco scarcely said I love you even though you’d been together quite some time, after all his whole life he’d been taught to suppress his emotions. After the kiss and all the butterflies in your tummy had stopped flying around you apparated back to Hogwarts. Almost as soon as you arrived back Draco’s owl dropped a letter to him. He looked at it with a puzzled expression on his face, “what is it?” You asked him, “a Howler.. from my father” he responded dully his platinum hair falling in his eyes. “Come with me, I know a place no one will hear it and we can open it together” you proposed taking his hand, “No. I don’t want you hearing what he’s going to say about you and your world. I know my mother loves you and supports us but my father doesn’t feel the same.” you knew he was right and you probably didn’t want to hear what his father was going to say but you had to be there for him and you knew it. “I'll be ok, come on”, You took his hand and lead him to a far corner of the castle that Y/H/H had long time used when they needed a break from people in general. “Go stand around the corner, I want to do this alone”, You nodded and did as he said standing around the corner your back against an icy cold stone wall as you sunk to the floor. You listened intently and heard Draco take a deep breath before the ruffling of paper that indicated he was opening it. “ Draco Lucius Malfoy I cannot believe you entered the muggle world, and with that mudblood girlfriend of yours” Lucius screamed out of the letter, “You’re lucky I don’t pull you out of school and forbid you from seeing her, if it were up to me I would but your damn mum won’t allow me as she’s taken some kind of twisted liking to this girl. Y/N is corrupting you can’t you see! Muggles are the scum of the Earth and she comes from them, her parents are them. I cannot control your actions but I can disapprove and hate you for them. I will be ceasing all contact with you. I’m sure your dirty mother won’t though. Goodbye my traitor son” you then heard the sound of the letter ripping itself to shreds and rushed in to hug Draco who had a cold stone expression on his face. “I’m sorry Draco, if we need to stop seeing each other or anything we can” you said through tears, “I know how important your family is and if my fami-“ Draco cut you off pulling you in front of him so you were looking in his gray eyes, “Y/N stop.” He said in an unexpectedly calm tone, “You're my family now. I never liked my fathers plan for me anyways, I still have my mother too. I love you and don’t ever think my judge-mental father could change that.” He slowly reached in his pocket and retrieved a small gold band with 3 perfectly cut diamonds protruding from it. “i snuck out while you were shopping and bought this, its not much but its a promise ring, to truly show you how much you mean to me, I was going to wait fo-“ now it was your turn to cut him off, you kissed him hard and fast through tears that were now falling for a different reason. “I love you Draco Lucius Malfoy” you said when you broke away, “don’t you ever forget that”. He slowly picked up your left hand and placed the delicate ring on your finger, “I promise” he whispered.

#harry potter imagine #draco malfoy imagines #dracoxreader #draco fanfiction #Draco Malfoy #Harry Potter #imagine #slyherin #hufflepuff #ravenclaw #Gryffindor #draco x reader #malfoy #dumbledore #tom felton imagine #imagine draco malfoy #imagine tom felton

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shakkankan · 4 years

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MAE ANDERSON

After three days of notifying her to call me. She called. I asked her, "Are you available?" after I took another puff of the death stick. She replied, "Free, I am." I told her to meet me downtown at the spot in the next hour. After a brief silence between us and with a stuttering of the first word she agreed, "I-I shall come." Then the phone hung up. With haste I turned the rusted knob to the door that will lead me to salvation from perpetual pain. Scurried out to the first step of a decaying porch. I felt the tenacious waves of regret. My fingertips shaky to the uncaring cold atmosphere of the world I hid from for many years rapidly taking a toll on me. "It's coming again..." The thought to turn around was extinguished by the sight of a faint flame from my peripheral vision. The porch has succumbed to a flame behind me.

I knew then I could not turn back to the comfort of darkness that was my home. The flame grew violently in essence of my rage. I so wanted to leave behind. I heard faint murmurs, voices that echo louder as the flame grew. Engulfed the porch and so too the home I held myself in contempt within. I swoon and staggered off the porch and into the pavement head first in fear. I laid there as blood profusely leaked from the back of my head. I lie before my home incinerated to the cold ground. My vision became blurred. Faded in and out as I try to gather the strength to pick myself up by. As I grovel, the yells of agony, voices echoing familiarity to my ears. "This is the end..." I repeated these words to myself. Sirens blaring from a darkened street one light post and red flashes of light. Unable to stand on my own. Arms reached out to me and my vision completely faded....

I awoke, sweat all over my naked body in a hospital bed. My natural inclination was to get out. A failed attempt I jerked up and was forcefully yanked back down as if someone was tugging me to the pillow I rested my head on. Wires connected to a head wrap covering my head and metal cuffs cold to my slaved wrist. I drowned in pure disbelief and sadness, "I am done for.” I conjured my own prison once and now I am in the hands of the law that will imprison me forever. Beeps from the monitor began to sound loudly and the room echoed with these beeps. I took a look around and noticed something peculiar about the room I was in. There was no door, no windows, not a single fragment of light, but green waves reflecting the metal rods of the hospital bed. I leaned over to the uncuffed side and saw that my bed was mounted onto a single board that held the circumference of the bed. Everything else was pure darkness. "W-where am I?" In ignorance I asked. A flare of red casted before me at the toe of my bed. A silhouette carrying an aura of the flames that burned my home to smithereens. My heart began throbbing and excruciating pain felt like a dagger piercing my left breast. The silhouette spoke, "It was once said to let go of all causes of one's suffering. And you, the man who created an atrocious reality for us will be judged before the mighty one and casted to the endless pitfall of darkness for eternity." I felt as though my breath was taken away from me. I could not speak, or let alone make a sound. My throat felt as if it had been shut down and not a single sound thought was able to come to mind. Soon I was presented within a mirage. I began hearing weeps from familiar voices just like the yells from the flames of my home. The figures of what seem to be women surrounding my bed with their heads in their hands as tears dripped from the hands of their crying eyes. The silhouette of these women frantically pelted me with their tears. Hard as coal and scorched me with their intense emotions. My bed was lit up in an ablaze, my skin darkening underneath the flames as I tried screaming in agony for them to stop as their tears pelt me. I was still voiceless, inaudible words as I moved my mouth for them to stop. Then silence...

I found myself on my knees before the burnt bed. It was as if I was transported to view the aftermath of destruction. Confused and scared. I viewed the outline of my body on that bed where I was once burning. I heard my thoughts as if a door was unlocked and finally opened and spoke, "What has happened?" I took a look at my skin burned to a crisp and as I bowed my head to the hands that wereg once black flesh, now exposed ligaments and some bone drenched in blood. I took a look up and before me was a mirror suspended in nothingness. My face is unrecognizable. No skin, no flesh, no visible eyes but somehow I am able to see through the cold darkness of where eyes would be...

"This is my end I sunk into obscurity. Fell from the hearts of those who loved me. I betrayed them. Burning their trust with a match I pulled out the pockets of selfie…" An obscure voice from a distance yelled to me, "SILENCE!" I uttered not a single word for I felt powerless to whoever yelled at me. "YOU!, YOU OUT OF ALL DO NOT DESERVE PITY FROM ANYONE!" Baffled by her presence she rose larger than the tallest scaled mountain. Her words shouted down as a heavy weight of pressure buckled my knees to the nothingness before her. Her body draped in a red veil dress. So intimidating I stared in shame at nothingness under us.

-Shakkan Kan

#writers #poem #poetry #poetrycommunity #poets corner #art #poets on tumblr #writer #fiction #love poem

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ejsponge61 · 7 years

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Game of the Year 2016

Greetings! So, early in 2017, I listed off my top 10 games of the following year on YouTube. That was a long time ago, and now I’m writing out the script for my GOTY 2017 video. But as I wrote, I just realised something: Why don’t I post the text along with the original video? So, here I am, albeit nearly a year later, telling yall about my favorite games of 2016. And be on the lookout for another, more current, list in the coming weeks!

youtube

Overwatch

Besides a certain pocket monster simulator, this game is the biggest gaming phenomenon of 2016. So, considering I love first person shooters, it is fitting that it managed to suck me in as well . ever character delivers a completely different gameplay experience from the next, but every playstyle manages to be fun and valuable. Each of the characters are excellent not only from a gameplay perspective, but they were also delightful to get to know. Whether it's running around with my boy Lucio or squealing with glee when Ana gets play of the game, there was rarely a moment that this game didn't give me joy. It is more that deserving of all the praise it continues to get, and it sits confidently as my 10th favorite game of the year.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

While the franchise has seen historic levels of hate this past year, I have always been a fan of the Call of Duty franchise. This year's installment was just as solid as years past, but the additions this year really spoke to me. It's single player campaign made me relate to it's characters so deeply that, once all of their fates were revealed, I found my self shedding tears. And besides an emotional story, the gameplay structure of the campaign gave me some much appreciated freedom. Add to that a zombies mode that allows me to pop heads to the tune of The G.A.P. Band and the familiar chaos of multiplayer, and you have one of my favorite installments in the series in years.

Firewatch

Games like these have historically been few and far between. As the artform matures, we are seeing more games tackle mature and complex themes like Firewatch. Besides the game having gorgeous art design and immersive UI design, the voice acting really took me by surprise. The way that Henry and Delilah's relationship develops throughout the course of the game made me feel emotions that games rarely evoke in me. While I found the ending bitter sweet, I also felt that was the point. Life doesn't always answer ever question and sometimes you have to just enjoy what is given to you. And boy did I.

Titanfall 2

Knowing that much of their team was responsible for the Modern Warfare series, I was confident that Respawn Entertainment had the talent to make a great single player campaign. And indeed did they deliver. While short, the campaign is a tightly paced compilation of increasingly awesome and innovative moments. And they aren't just visually arresting, as they add new gameplay mechanics throughout. Add to that a brilliantly simplified multiplayer with loads of depth, and you have one of the greatest shooters of 2016.

Inside

Inside is a masterclass by so many measures. It's art design, while primarily monochromatic, manages to impress within every setting and character. It's gameplay, while very simple and nearly identical to Limbo, manages to allow the player to do increasingly impressive feats. Also, it's narrative is so minimalistic that it leaves the player with so many more questions than answers. Add one of the most, um, baffling endings that I've ever seen in a video game, and you have what I consider the best independent game of 2016.

Mafia III

I love so many games for so many reasons. But even I can recognize when I fall in love with a game that isn't perfect. Mafia III is one of those games. I love the tale of Lincoln Clay's revenge. The tale is straight forward, but it's the details around it that made me giddy. Diving deeper into Vito's backstory, listening to "The Voice" on the radio go off on one of his anti-white supremacist rants, seeing the confidence and swagger of Lincoln as he interacts with other characters. Despite issues other's had with moment-to-moment gunplay, I found it to be fun and functional. Despite issues others had with repetitive mission structure, I enjoyed it. It took the outposts from Far Cry 3-4 and made that it's core gameplay loop, which I loved. But more importantly, the fact that this game tackles issues of race so directly and effectively is a watershed moment for video game narrative. I hope that Mafia III is remembered more for it's overwhelming successes rather than it's faults.

Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs 2 is different from Watch Dogs in every way, and that is why I love it. Marcus Holloway is such a relatable, charismatic, and fun character that he makes nearly every action in the game more fun. Even the rest of Dedsec is endearing in each of their own way. This is also one the first open world games that made stealth and fun and viable option, as I've used my drones and hacking abilities just as much as my combat abilities. This is a world that I enjoy just walking around, taking selfies, and surfing cars in, not just because it's tone is one of absolute fun, but also because it's so much more subtle in it's darkness. Unlike other open world games, like it's predecessor and GTA V, the game doesn't hammer you over the head with the oppressiveness of it's world and characters. Instead it let's you use a drone to solve a laser puzzle while listening to DJ Quik. And that is why I love this game so much.

Ratchet and Clank

Since Size Matters way back on the PSP, I've been a fan of Ratchet and Clank. So, I was looking forward to this PS4 remaining of the original game, and it even managed to surpass my expectations. It's blend of platforming, 3rd person shooting, and ridiculous humor and weapons has been perfected here. After playing more than half a dozen games in the series, the fact that this formula still manages to deliver this much fun is impressive. Add one of the most fun platinum trophies I've earned all last year, and you have what is hopefully a fantastic new start for one of PlayStation's greatest franchises.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

My love for Uncharted 4 snuck up on me. I've been a fan of the franchise for years, but by the end of this game's epilogue, I realized just how much I cared about Nate, Elena, and friends. The graphical detail, performances and setpieces are all top notch and Naughty Dog continues to prove that they are the most talented developer in the industry. But besides giving Nathan Drake the most fitting of sendoffs, they also delivered a fantastic multiplayer mode. I continued to surprise myself by how much I kept coming back after each content update. And it's recently added Survival co-op is sure to take up even more of my free time. It's hard to deny how perfect of a package this game is.

DOOM

I've made it painfully obvious that I love Doom, but even I was surprised that it made the top of my list. But the more I thought about it, it made perfect sense. I love first person shooters. It's varied weapons, platforming, and abundance of collectibles was reminiscent of Ratchet and Clank. It's hilariously ridiculous tone kept me just interested enough in the world to want to keep running through demons. In addition, it's mechanics fed into each other in brilliant ways. It's frenetic combat tapped into adolescent Quake Live reflexes that I assumed were long forgotten. And it's melee finishers we're so gleefully brutal that I found myself excited to see the next one. I even adored the multiplayer, which many wrote off as a soulless addition to a stellar campaign. This all combines to make one of the greatest FPS games of the last decade, and my game of the year.

#Doom #Mafia 3 #ratchet and clank #titanfall2 #uncharted 4 #overwatch #watch dogs 2 #cal of duty #infinite warfare #inside #firewatch #video games #2016 #game of the year #GOTY

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diabclos · 7 years

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⭐️ headcanon meme

theicebeastofthenorth -

Dia really doesn’t understand why Misaki goes out of his way to help animals. To him it is just the way of life. You get hurt and die, and the next creature gets to use your corpse for whatever the hell it wants. That said, he willingly goes along with his need to help any and all creatures that are hurt. Normally this is because Misaki can lose all sense of where he is, and in one such case he got to figure out just what happens when he doesn’t pay attention.

lighttheabyss -

He really does find her snark amusing. She gives very few shits about who he is and what he’s done so long as he behaves. And when he doesn’t behave she is quick to give him a metaphorical swat on the nose and makes sure that he is put back in his place. That much he isn’t too fond of, but now that he’s managed to put his position for attacking her and her party when they entered Amdapor the first time, she seems to have relaxed a little.

spearofthemother -

Dia probably tries to get Azee out shopping for clothes every few weeks. She does need a bit of variety in her wardrobe, plus he enjoys seeing the rather flustered and slightly uncomfortable looks she gives him when she tries things on and isn’t entirely sure if they look good or not. At some point she will figure out that the shop keepers gasping isn’t a bad thing, that they are honestly surprised that such a renowned warrior would look so good in something that they can only sort of pull off.

eternxloptimism -

Dia firmly believes that Aly should be protected. Of all the people he’s really talked to about his urges and what he enjoys most, she is the only one to react with embarrassment right off the bat. Most others who deny him cite either their preference for women, marriage, or just that they wouldn’t sleep with a voidsent. Aly just sort of gets embarrassed and tries to change the subject.

shivaswarrior -

Of any SeeD that will try to call Dia or command him to fight for them in battle, Squall is the only one that he will not fight on the subject. Dia likes Squall, more than Selfie or Quistis or Seifer. I really can’t manage to give a reason why, just he’s giving me the whole ‘nah, fuck you I’m gonna sleep’ when I push him towards other VIII muses. This includes Ulti too, while I’m thinking about it. He does enjoy fucking things up with her, but he is not hers to command.

cloakanddaggermage -

1. Hist is one of a few people that can pretty much do or say what they want to Dia with near no consequences. I could spout reasons and make it sound like he’s easy (because he is), but the truth of it is that Hist is someone he has come to trust implicitly.

2. You hurt hist in any way that isn’t a paper cut or accidental and I can guarantee that he will be there to rip you new one. The two of them are linked to a point, so extreme physical pain and whatever out of control emotion she is having affects him. So if you make her upset enough to call him, or hurt her enough him to know before whatever voidsent he has watching her has time to tell him, you will be dead.

3. If Dia isn’t rooming with Phina or whomever else it is that he’s involved with, he’s helping hist sleep at her place. Usually on those nights, if he’s not passed out with her wrapped around his middle, he’s sending out minions to do things with Hist wrapped around his middle and complaining sleepily when he moves too much.

4. Dia is in her home near constantly. Being with other people is always nice, but its gotten to the point where he can literally navigate her home without his seeing-eye bat helping him. That is where the problem happens because he won’t know something has been moved until he runs face first into it.

bloodstainedbread -

Dia was wholly unaware that Lyth was almost entirely blind for a long time. It took until around the time where Lorelei had broken off the engagement for him to realize it. The reason why was because he’d had his ass handed to him (something that i can explain in private for those that weren’t following during that…) and had dark bruises on his neck that she didn’t see even though they were something no one could miss. It prompted an experiment, and he got the full force of her rage when she could actually see just how bad he looked.

impendeo -

Feridad is honestly the one he goes to if he’s going to do something stupid. Whether its pissing off the automata in the Amdapori ruins that could quite easily kill him with their holy magic, or picking on mortals, he’s the one that Dia will grab before he goes. There is a reason that the two were summoned to wreak havoc on the ancient city. They are very good at sewing confusion and chaos, more so that Forgall.

Forgall is the one Dia goes to when stuff needs to get done. No nonsense, time to break some legs and get what information they need before throwing whomever it was they were torturing to some starving void denizens for them to dispose of.

Both of them though, are loyal. Forgall probably shows it more in subtle questions and watching those who he deems a threat. Feridad is more than likely to stab you with an arrow with a note that says to stay the fuck away, all with his name signed on it.

etosvitri -

1. Dia is 99.99% certain that if he gets within any distance of Demi or Tallyn, one of the two of them will cut him in half. Its amusing as hell to throw his voice using a gate and watch them get a little irritated, but for the most part if they are together, he stays the hell away from them.

2. He does like them. Unlike most people he immediately took a liking to Tallyn, and Demi grew on him. The fact that he can’t get near Tallyn without Hist’s brand scalding him within an inch of his life is the only problem he has. Tallyn’s discomfort is something he isn’t allowed to cause.

3. Demi is wildly entertaining to him. She doesn’t take his shit, and isn’t afraid to just let him have it. It’s why he pestered her to the extent that he did, going as far as using her as a shield because really, it would be too entertaining to see her just throw him to the ground in the middle of a large group of people.

4. He hasn’t wished them congratulations on finding Demi alive because he is sure that he’s the last person they want to see. Menphina sure. Hist, absolutely. But why the antagonistic voidsent who’s sole mission in life is to see how many people he can piss off or sleep with?

justanotherbrd -

M’tsani is someone he’s sure doesn’t quite grasp everything around her. Not that it is at all a bad thing, he does enjoy seeing her reaction when he tells her something that she didn’t figure out. Case and point, telling her that he was a voidsent, almost immediately after telling her that his wife gave her blessings to Naon and Mimido despite being unable to make it to the wedding itself. Also thinks that her friend is intimidating, but that is neither here nor there.

shroudedscholar -

1. Dia is seriously confused by Urianger, mostly because of the fact that he was siding with the Warriors of the Darkness, and seemed all too happy to be there at the time, though when he turns around to help the Warrior of Light is where his understanding dims a bit. Being someone who is solidly in the middle of everyone else when it comes to allegiances, seeing someone switch between sides is baffling.

2. Dia is secretly amused by his seeming inability to stay calm when he’s around. The little jumps and tension are not only amusing, but give just enough aether to sustain him for a period of time.

3. Dia probably ends up leaving little messages for the scholar with some lesser voidsent like a beady eye or a gaelicat. Whether it is because he’s lazy or something else, the world may never know.

giltedxpaladin -

Sil is the one person Dia will go to when injured, before anyone else. He’s someone that Dia knows he can talk out of doing something, including going after whomever it was that had done the damage. If it keeps Sil from going on a rampage and coming into contact with the people that Dia tends to keep company with, he’ll do just about anything.

thanalansunglow -

Dia really does intend on using Astharan to summon voidsent. He’ll give him what knowledge he wants so long as he assists Dia in getting more voidsent in the realm. Dastardly plans for the world that he will likely be pushed out of by no small number of people, but whatever.

circecastor -

1. Honestly, if he catches her or anyone else trying to go after Maahes, he will ensure that the massive panther has free reign to take out whomever he wants. He might call a stops before C’ersi dies, but if she’s really out for him, well sucks. Could always let her beg for life…

2. When he isn’t letting his pets kill her because she’s apparently decided that they aren’t allowed to continue, he will pester her within an inch of her life. Usually this means that he is acting as her chair and taking whatever books he feels like because it is all in the name of impeding progress.

3. Dia still calls her snowflake, even if she doesn’t want him to. That is her name now, and there is no way to change it. Someday he’s gonna say it to her face and something might snap, but he welcomes it, because she’s usually so collected.

heavenswardrealm -

Dia really does not understand why he was at the spring when Phina was there, nor does he really care. He knows that she can defend himself, plus his retainers are protecting her now that he has Feridad and Forgall to make sure he doesn’t end up with holes in his hide. But given the fact that he seemed so worried about ‘smearing her honor’, Dia figured he’d play up the vengeful husband bit.

#ᴠᴏɪᴅsᴇɴᴛ ( hc )

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what-does-one-affects-the-other · 7 years

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What's your opinion on this robot harry?For me it's so annoying he can't even pretend to be excited for his own tour, his social media presence is such a turn off

Well I’m sort of digging myself a grave with this one, but since I haven’t seen a post I can fully agree with, here we go. Disclaimer, I actually study this at uni. I was the Social Media Manager for the planning and putting together of a fashion show, on all platforms. I just handed in last month a 6-months marketing plan that was based around social media promo. So I do have a bit of knowledge in this area. I am by no means an expert, but this is my future field of choice, so I like to think I’m at least educated.

The situation isn’t as black and white as people have put it so far. All I’ve seen is “he’s horrible at engaging with fans” and “he doesn’t own you shit so stop complaining”. The answer is a very big grey area in which Harry’s actual social media presence fits perfectly in my opinion. First of all, there’s two main templates we studied for marketing purposes this year, Gaynor Lea Greenwood’s promotion suggestions (2009) and Burcher (2013)’s Paid, Owned and Earned media concept. Long story short, the first one is your traditional marketing campaign and the second one relies more on social media and advertising on it. Now, I think Harry’s team went for the more traditional approach, and let me explain why.

Harry started distancing himself more and more from twitter and Instagram ever since the hiatus started.Even before, during OTRA and MITAM promo, most of his tweets were promo stuff, lyrics I’m not sure we fully understand even now, charity work, promoting friends or tweeting about holidays/important days or events. His fan interaction has been low for quite a while, and I’m honestly baffled people are acting like this is news. Looking through his Twitter in 2015, there are some tweets to fans, yes, but they’re very sparse.I counted about 12 in 5 months, most of them in September, when Perfect came out, and around the release of MITAM.His tweets were mostly thanks to fans for various awards and nominalisation, promoting the songs/album, some lyrics and, without fail, after every concert he tweeted a thank you for coming.

It felt more personal than what we have now (tho in all honesty, his tour hasn’t started yet and if we eliminate the OTRA tweets it’s already a different story), but Robot Harry has been a thing then, and people were riding along with it instead of condemning it to the extent they do now.But, the thing is, Harry didn’t have the entire burden of engaging with the fanbase like he has now.Louis, Niall and Liam always took turns in taking the lead in replying to fans and interacting with them, which allowed Harry to do his part and everyone was mostly happy.

And yet, I personally don’t feel this frustration many people feel. I think it’s quite interesting actually. A bold move that wouldn’t work for other artist whose career relies on people who live and breathe social media (maybe Beyonce or Adele, but they are in another league). I was very intrigued by Harry’s statement in the Behind the album video, in which he said that there was a time in his life when people knew everything about him, and he didn’t like it.He has been overexposed since 2012, his personal life splashed across tabloids, fake relationship or not.And now he disappeared for a year (and has been retreating into himself for at least 2) and he wrote this mysterious™ album, trying to see if people can listen and understand it without knowing much about the current him. In this context, having an album that surrounds itself in mystery and then doing 4 Q&As on twitter and 3 livestreams sends…extremely contradictory messages. I can, and will fault his team for presenting a dual image of Harry that sometimes makes 0 sense, for handling a lot of things so poorly, and for the entire Carolina mess, but I will say that his social media fits this old school mysterious rockstar image they’re showing of him. I also think his actual reason is very personal and very real, and I respect the fact that he didn’t compromise this choice he made for promo purposes.

His promo relied on more traditional channels. TV and radio appearances, print magazines, and most importantly, the secret gigs. Now, I’m sorry, but I felt entirely more connected to Harry running across London at 8AM in my pyjamas than by any twitter spree he’ll ever do. I never did this before. This reminded me of the stories my dad told me, of queuing up for days in front of the box office so he’d get the tickets when they went on sale. It was very old school and it worked for me. It was a phenomenal experience, something I will never forget. And he did this for us. All profits went to charity, he didn’t do this for money. And while I know this was for a few selected cities and a handful of lucky fans, it was intimate and it was special and I think everyone, regardless if they were there, or vicariously living through pics and videos, felt a connection to Harry. We got emotional on his behalf when he sang with his idol on stage 2 weeks later, you don’t do that for someone you have no connection to.

Now, the actual reason I’m happy with what we’ve got is that it is genuine from my POV. Liam is the perfect candidate for a comparison, since he also took a bit of a break from social media (not as heavy as Harry’s, but he definitely wasn’t as active as Louis or Niall) and his promo is as textbook as it gets. He slowly, but surely increased his activity since January, a few more tweets, a few more pics on Instagram.A big turning point was April when he posted 13 pics on Instagram, compared to 8 in March, 4 in February and 3 in January. His Twitter went through a similar process.Now, the moment he started posting more, I knew his music was gonna be out soon. It’s pure marketing. You start your campaign weeks before the actual launch, it’s only natural. Unless you want to drop it as a surprise, but that’s another discussion. Actually Harry did it too, with the TV ad, but that was ruined by the info getting leaked beforehand and everyone getting pissed off by that so whatevs. Now, Liam is going for the approachable celeb route. Streams, Instagram stories, snapchat, tweeting fans, loads of pics, videos with popular Youtubers. It’s nice and about as well handled as it gets (apart from that weird video release earlier than it should have been and Liam just generally being a bit…odd?off?idk how to explain it, but a lot of people feel the same way from what I’ve seen). It fits with the image Liam is going for, it aims at the right target audience. He’s not trying to enter a new market like Harry is. He’s consolidating his place in the current market from what I’ve seen (and I’ll admit I haven’t followed his promo as closely as Harry’s). Trying to imagine Harry doing this sort of promo doesn’t really work for me.

Niall has been present on and off social media ever since he came back from his trip last year. Literally, if I pull up the calendars people have been making each month, he doesn’t get more than a handful of days without doing something, so it’s unfair to compare him to the others, since he’s always around and posting and doing stuff.

Louis deserves a better team and I won’t have anyone uttering anything else in my presence, and yet somehow, despite Niall’s constant presence and Liam’s textbook engagement, I’ll never feel as connected to them as I feel to Louis. Louis’ tweets are the perfect mixture of absolutely adorable fan service (“our year” 😭😭) and some of the things he’s passionate about (tv shows, fashion, footie/sports). His promo for JHO was….I have no words for it and I’m gonna have a rage fit if I start thinking about it, but his overall persona is charming and endearing when he’s posting things himself. He created a real communication channel between us and him and he knows how to use it when he needs to send a message (warning selfies anyone?Only you?). There’s an actual analysis of Instagram stats that shows he’s the number 1 male account in engagement and overall likes and that doesn’t surprise me one bit. Louis is a smart businessman, he has a loyal fanbase who is here for him through thick and thin.

And on top of everything I said so far, none of them owe us anything outside the promo bubble. Apart from shoots, songs/albums/tours info and official announcements, they do not owe us anything. If they chose to share a picture from their home, that’s their personal space, and while it’s good for PR, amazingly good in a society that thrives from the feeling of knowing everything about everyone (like what’s your fave’s breakfast and how’s their cat is doing), it’s still a part they can choose to keep private and no one should be entitled to ask for more.

Have you seen Adele’s Instagram? It gives you this illusion of closeness to her, with make up free selfies, funny poses and landscape shots. Too bad literally everything is from touring and other official appearances right? There’s one picture of her home, and that’s to celebrate the end of the tour. Harry sort of did the same with the booklet pictures. He allowed you into his personal space in a controlled manner, just like Adele did. Only he did it in a different way. His promo is just different and you have to think a bit outside the box to see that he actually did a lot of things other artists do. Just a bit differently. Was it perfect?Fuck, no. Was it as bad as many people make it look like?Personally, I don’t think so. It was just different and people are entirely justified to see it as a good or a bad thing. I see it mostly as a good thing. Mostly.

#it accidentally took me 2 hours to write this #and I was very nervous to post it #cause I don't want to offend anyone #but I literally can't agree with any post I've seen so far #so please be gentle if you wanna scream how wrong I am #anons #answered

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realityextinct · 7 years

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OiKise crossover fanfic - In The Heat Of Summer

Summary: "You know what, Ryouta? This is not working out. Let's break up."

Pairing: OiKise (Tooru Oikawa/Ryouta Kise)

Rating: PG-13

Status: Complete

Warnings: abstractness/weirdness, language

A/N: I getz into it - I writez for it.XD Don’t expect much from this piece tho...

Word count: 2,022

It was a quiet sunny day like any other. There was not a single sound to disturb the peace that came with days of summer.

Sweat dripping from his body, Kise Ryota took no extra time than turn the tap and dump his head under the water, enjoying how it cooled down his heated skin. It’s days like these that he disliked most to be honest: hot summer days were not at all ideal for training.

Kise couldn’t be bothered to do anything. He felt like lazying around and watching birds, but alas, his feet dragged him to practice anyway.

And he was beating himself over it since the first slam of the ball.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he turned the tap off, watching water drip from his hair, already feeling the merciless heat of the sun scorching his neck, contemplating leaving practice right then and there. But if he did, he would see no end to Kasamatsu-senpai’s anger… So he thought against it, for now.

Maybe he could bribe his teammates into joining him for some ice-cream or something. That seemed like a good idea.

Smiling at his own thoughts, Kise was about to return to the court when he saw a very familiar face, his heartbeat instantly picking up, his grin couldn’t help but get even wider as he waved.

“Tooru-cchi!!” his eyes held a warm glint as he approached the other boy, only for his smile to falter when there was no reply or change in the other’s posture.

Oikawa just stared at him, his eyes seeming to reflect his face and…he smiled. But the smile held no joy, in fact it was full-on forced, fake…lifeless.

Because Oikawa didn’t say anything yet, Kise decided to ask first, but he could already feel his heart sink, just from seeing that crooked smile, “Is there something wrong..?”

Oikawa didn’t take long to reply, “You know what, Ryouta? This is not working out. Let’s break up.”

At that very second, Kise felt his heart shatter into many tiny pieces, his body in turn going completely numb. His head was spinning and for nearly a second he forgot what breathing was. As if he just got a heatstroke, Kise took a step back, disbelieve and pain very obvious in his eyes, his voice barely a whisper, “…what..? Why..?”

Oikawa’s facial expression was merciless, it never once changed from that fake smile. It was as if he was not at all fazed by this entire situation, “We can’t be happy, we don’t know anything about each other. Just…go to hell, Ryouta!” and with that, he turned away, and walked away fast before it turned into sprinting and he disappeared behind the corner, leaving Ryouta shocked and broken.

They have been dating for nearly a year now. It was their anniversary in a couple of weeks…why there? Why now?

What did…Kise do wrong?

Putting a hand over his face, Kise found strength to sit himself down on a nearby bench, racking his mind to find anything, anything at all that could have upset his Tooru…

The world has stopped. Summer heat was no more.

But…he was coming up empty, for the most part.

Well…it’s not like their relationship was ideal all the way through. What relationships are anyway? They had their share of hurtful moments, but he thought they had everything resolved and figured out. That they are moving in the direction of harmony, communication and understanding.

He can’t exactly recall anything serious enough that could cause…this. An actual break up.

He and Tooru…well, Kise would be lying if he said he didn’t like what they had. Be it interests and personality, he confined in the other boy completely. He thought what they had could not be broken… In fact, he was even thinking about a future with them together, for a really long time…forever, in fact.

Running a hand through his wet hair, Kise pushed it off his forehead, feeling it become a lot drier…

He wasn’t crying. He didn’t feel it…all Ryouta felt was….dead. Trying to understand what went wrong.

All the times they were together started popping into his mind one by one…

When they met… At random, in the park. Oikawa was taking a selfie in front of a sakura tree. Kise will never forget the grin Tooru was flashing at the camera, the happiness that seemed to be bursting out of his entire being as he flashed the peace sign before taking the selfie. Something inside Kise felt warm, endearing from just that sight… And he walked up to him saying, “Surely the tree pales in comparison to your beauty.”

They haven’t seen each other once before then. They have never interacted…and Kise was, in fact, still surprised how he found enough confidence to say something like that. He may come off as confident and easy-going, but this was definitely on a whole new level of smoothness for him. He wanted to disappear as soon as he caught sight of that pair of mesmerizing brown his way.

But to his surprise, Oikawa was not at all shaken by it. And later on, he learned that the other boy actually liked it…because as he looked at Ryouta, he raised his chin and smirked smugly.

And that was how they met…to Kise, it was beautiful… Oikawa…was beautiful.

Soon after, Kise found out they had plenty more in common than just random selfies in the park. Sports was an important factor. Sometimes, they would practice together, learning the rules of the other’s sports, figuring out and reading each other moves, getting heavily into it… It was ideal.

It was not long after that Tooru moved into his apartment either. Kise was living alone away from his home town and he grew really used to his own company in his tiny apartment, yet… He grew quite fond of returning home to a sprawled out on the sofa Oikawa too, playing a game or watching volleyball matches on TV. It was thanks to this that Kise learned a very interesting aspect to Oikawa: he was good at reading people.

And of course, Tooru claimed he could easily read Ryouta too. Jokingly, he asked if Oikawa liked what he read…and he saw the most beautiful of smiles the boy ever flashed his way, not needing to answer the question with words.

It was just…amazing, to say the least.

The few times they actually had fights was over considerably minor things, easily fixed with a few angry kisses that more than once went much further than that…but if anything, this let them learn deeper about each other and…

Kise thought this was ideal too.

They went on small dates with what little they could afford, what Kise’s part-time job as a model could provide them and…

Oikawa started looking for a part-time job too.

Kise loved it all.

He loved Tooru…so very much.

“He looks so cute with glasses…” Kise suddenly found himself muttering and…he finally felt it, tears running down his cheeks.

But, he didn’t allow them to continue for much longer as he heard his name being called out by his teammates…

Needless to say…his practice for that day was over.

When he returned to their apartment, he didn’t expect to find Tooru curled up under the blanket on the same exact sofa he always found him.

Sudden waves of hope overtook Kise’s heart and soul…and he couldn’t do anything to keep them down.

Oikawa was there. Right then and there…

He knew for a fact this was not over. Not yet.

There was still a chance. They could fix this.

And…he knew they would.

Kise knew just how much Tooru loved him too.

As soon as he closed the front door, focusing on taking his shoes off, Oikawa stirred, looking at him with his piercing gaze and blood-shot eyes that made Kise’s heart ache once more…and he instantly wanted nothing more than to hug him…hug his lover and tell him that everything was going to be alright.

But…he knew that wasn’t what Oikawa needed right now…and from the way he sat up, Ryouta knew Tooru needed answers.

“…who is Aomine Daiki?”

Eyes widening having not expected that at all, Kise let out a heavy breath and shook his head, “…are you really pulling the jealousy card after one year..?”

“Just answer the question!” with the way Oikawa pushed his lips together to form a thin line like that, for a moment Kise felt it was as if the other boy was throwing a childish tantrum.

It was…kind of cute…

If only he wasn’t remembering what Oikawa said nearly minutes ago.

Maybe…this was a lot more serious than it looked to him at first glance..? But…he couldn’t figure it out yet…

“He is an old friend and teammate…why?”

A snort, “You could at least have the courtesy to not lie to me.”

Oh..?

“What do you mean..?”

“You know damn well what I mean!”

Kise stared baffled, then frowned, “Alright, I had a fleeting affair with him, happy?! It was before we met!”

“Why are you still lying??!!” Tooru didn’t hold back his emotions, throwing the phone Kise failed to notice previously, right at his feet, “At least hide it better you damn blond!!”

Kise couldn’t believe his eyes. Right there, in all of its beautiful glory, was a picture of him from what he could remember was more than a year ago. Aomine-cchi was standing right behind him, his own head rolled back as they shared a kiss, Aomine’s hand shamelessly rolled up his shirt, revealing his stomach, booze in hand.

Well…fuck.

And…the photo upload dated to about a week ago. That’s all he could see though.

It didn’t matter currently how Oikawa found this or who could have uploaded it…what mattered was telling him he was framed. Big time.

Oikawa’s smile was fake again, “I bet he was good.”

Fuck… This hurt, Kise wanted to clear this up fast, so very badly, “…I…know it may be hard to believe this, but…that picture is from before we met.”

Oikawa stared at Kise for long while, before turning his head away, not saying anything.

Kise knew Oikawa long enough to know this was a good sign. The boy was believing him, but his stubbornness and ego didn’t allow him to back down and admit he was wrong.

Good god…he was really like a kid.

And… Kise loved that about him too.

“…it’s not that I didn’t think this can’t be old…it’s just that it made me realize how little I know about you before we met, Ryouta,” Tooru finally looked back up at Kise.

And Kise shook his head, stepping over the phone, taking a seat beside Oikawa, looking up at the ceiling, “…The things I did and went through before I met you… I am not exactly fond of them, Tooru-cchi,” he looked at the older boy, “I was going through some of the hardest times in my life back then… I lost every single match, I almost lost my job, I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing… Everything felt like void, ya know?” a small laugh, “But then I met you and… I remembered what it was I wanted to do. You helped me stand back up on my feet again…and see the beauty in life I was missing.”

Tooru stared at Ryouta for moments longer, then allowed a smile to adorn his lips, his gaze falling on his feet, almost dreamily, “That makes two of us.”

Right at that moment, Ryouta allowed himself to lean over and press his lips to Tooru’s for a tender, loving kiss.

“So please…next time you see something like this online, please don’t make instant conclusions, Tooru-cchi.”

“…I spent an entire week contemplating this. Instant conclusion my ass,” Oikawa frowned.

“Who uploaded it anyway??”

“A guy named Haizaki, I don’t know him.”

“That fucking asshole…”

The next time Kise confronted Haizaki, he would make sure to punch him good. What he didn’t put into his calculations though was Oikawa doing it first.

And thus, the heated summer days continued…

The End.

#oikise #oikawa tooru #kise ryouta #knb fanfiction #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu crossover #knb crossover #haikyuu and knb crossover #other writing

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itslizjames · 4 years

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Why I write and what is wrong with us (Hint: it's not you!)

You may ask why I'm writing this. Why am I willing to share such intimate details with whoever cares to read it? Well, for the same reason I feel called to write music. It isn't a choice for me. It never was. I have always used writing as way of figuring out what is going on inside my head and dealing with the raging emotions that beat me up on a daily basis. I am an empath and quickly absorb other people's moods and feelings and it is draining at times. It becomes harder to distinguish between what I truly feel and think and what is an external source.

The main reason though, is that I have been through many struggles in life and have so far come out the other side of each of them in tact. I know there are others out there who are also going through tough times and it's often hard to find the words or define those internal battles. We feel alone, misunderstood or ashamed. We look for comfort and escape in external sources, some of those being things or people that are even more destructive than our own minds. For me, music has and always will be a source of comfort. Hearing a song or lyric that sums up what I'm feeling is satisfying. It's the therapy I can't afford. The friend I never met. The connection to something, anything that makes sense in this messy world.

It is not about fame or recognition.

My only goal when I first started on this journey was that some day, one of my songs would be played on the radio and find the ears of someone who could relate. That my lyrics would bring comfort or understanding to someone who needed to hear them. For someone to know that they aren't all alone in the world and someone else has been through it too! We are okay!

I write about everything. Love, sadness, sex, money, politics, fun times, memories, other people and friends, the instability and injustice in the world. I write for and about the underdog. I write about body image and superficiality. I write about choices, uncertainties, questioning times, mistakes and good times. I write about books, movies and TV shows. I write to give voice to those complex and many times baffling things that we do and say and feel.

There is a yearning in all of us for connection and love. I'm not talking about the physical sense. It's a spiritual yearning, if you will. I think deep down, we all feel that we don't quite fit. The way we live isn't always in sync with our natural instincts. We question our existence and our life purpose. We feel an unrest which is hard to pinpoint and we search to fill a void with anything that will distract from that. I spent many years trying to do just that with drugs, material wealth and status, empty friendships and relationships. None of it works though, in case you are wondering. Is it futile then to even try to live? Not at all. But the answer is always inside yourself. If you are willing to go deep into the abyss of your mind and shut out all the external noise, you have all the answers you need right there. You are your own strength and comfort. Nobody else can reassure you or quiet your anxiety. Yes, we can be distracted from it and find some solace in the words or actions of others but we each have to take responsibility for what we can control and let go of the things we can't.

We suffer so much nowadays with mental issues. Not to say they didn't have similar issues in the past. It's just now we have the internet and image based content thrown in our faces constantly. We compare ourselves and our lives to other people or what we perceive as perfect. Turn it all off and ask yourself, does it really matter? Do I really need to be validated in such a superficial way to feel that my life matters or is it just external influence that make you feel like that? If the answer is no, that's great. If the answer is yes, you need to go deeper still. Never stop asking why.

That's the because to the why I write.

Does it matter if people like it? Nope. Does it matter to anyone except me that it's out there in the world? Probably not, but I still hope it can help someone going through a similar situation to feel more connected and seen.

Music for me has never been about fame. I despise the idea in all honesty, especially in today's follow for follow and pay to promote influencer society. It means that the people who are truly genuine don't get their voice heard. It means more lonely souls berating themselves and slipping into depression or self hatred. More young girls (and boys) thinking they need plastic surgery or an eating disorder to be seen. More competition based on superficiality and popularity that we as a society are for some reason validating. It's a corruption or perversion of art in it's purity. It's toxic like many of the things we have somehow come to prioritize nowadays. Does that mean that I will never post a selfie or share my projects or daily life with the world? Obviously not as you are reading this post! It's a tricky time we are living in but we can use this technology for good if we are conscious of our own words and actions. We all make mistakes and occasionally let our emotions or impulses get the better of us.

We are not immortal. We are moths to the flame. Driven by desire and survival instinct. We want what we think is best for us and we want it now. But we can't have everything. We have to put other's first and take the time to find those true connections and stop comparing ourselves and competing with everyone.

We are told that success is something to strive for. We are told by marketing companies, influencers and people who want our money and don't have our best interests at heart, that we aren't good enough because we aren't like them.

There's a current trend where people are asking "what can you do for me?" Or "what value will you bring to my life?" It's self serving and not in the least modest. There's a good word in Portuguese for this. Interesseiro.

It basically means a person who is only interested in you for your status/money/their own needs.

It's the follow for follow culture only to have people unfollow you once you've done your job. It's the complete lack of interest for anyone or anything that won't bring immediate love, money or status to a person. We've all been victims of or even fallen into the trap of getting involved in these types of manipulations. "You do it for the likes, but you don't know what it means."

It makes it harder for us to distinguish genuine interest from the fake. It makes us question our self worth and significance. It makes us sad.

I'm sure we all had that one friend back at school that would only ever want to hang out when they had nothing better to do or nobody cooler to be around. That's basically what social media has become on a mass scale. It is no longer about connecting but status. It's all about the numbers. How many likes, followers, comments or subscriptions a person has now somehow determines how we see ourselves! We are told what we should like or do or say or act like every single day and guided to do unhealthy things to ourselves under the guise of health. How crazy is that? I often imagine The Simpsons aliens laughing at humanity when I ponder these things.

So how are we supposed to navigate through all this? How are we supposed to be genuine and human when the world wants us to always be instaready and hashtag on trend? How do we stop ourselves from falling into the vain and self-serving traps? Well, we can't. We have to do these things because that is the world we are currently in. We just need to give less importance to quantity and focus on quality. Be real. Be you. Don't compare yourself to others. Don't do things that make you feel less than or that don't sit right in your soul.

So why do I even bother getting my music out if I'm not motivated by fame or material success?

Like I said, for shared experience and because I feel that I am supposed to do something with writing and music. I enjoy the process and I don't think I'm hurting anyone by doing it. I hope I am a help. I want or feel the need to share my point of view and that is all there is to it. It would be nice to get some sort of compensation for it but it's not really that important to me as long as I can feed and provide comfort to my family and the occasional special treat.

Another huge reason that became clearer two years ago is that I want my son to know me and the way I think about things. If anything happens to me that means I can't physically be around, then I know at the bare minimum he will have my music. So he can understand when he's older and always feel a connection if he ever finds himself alone.

Remember that you don't have to accept other people's pre conceived notions of success or worthiness to matter. You matter. You are important. Follow the beat of your own subconscious and never stop asking why. We hear too often, especially as artists, what we do is pointless if we don't have fame or aren't seen by the masses. Well I just think that is a very sad way to think. Art exists because we enjoy it. We need it. It's personal to us and our creative expression may have no value to those who only think in monetary terms and measure worth in currency, but it doesn't make it worthless. Nobody is fucking worthless and we need to start valuing each other more and praising instead of pulling down.

#social media #toxic people #music #underdog

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drink-n-watch · 4 years

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Genre: Supernatural, action, drama, mystery, romance

Episodes: 24

Studio: Bones

Have you even seen The Happening? The evil tree movie by M. Night Shyamalan. I haven’t but I love watching reviews and parodies that rip it apart. So Imagine if that movie had been written by William Shakespeare, except in modern times and Shakespeare is 14. Also he just got dumped! That’s how you get Blast of Tempset!

Ok, ok… I’ll give you a real synopsis although if you do watch this series, you’ll see that my synopsis was brilliant! Take two:

Rougly a year ago, someone murdered beautiful young Aika Fuwa, leaving behind a loving older brother who’s turned his pain into a thirst for revenge at all cost, and a grieving boyfriend who’s numbed himself to the world. How is it even possible to move on from such an enchanting young creature? Mahiro and Yoshino are going to have to find an answer quick because something is turning people into metal statues. And a magical girl stuck on a deserted island, needs their help.

yup I only picked this show because of AniList, no other reason

I picked up Blast of Tempest because AniList told me to… Ok what actually happened was that I watched In/Spectre last season and it reignited my interest in these type of supernatural action stories. It wasn’t a perfect series but it still left me wanting to see more. As I was going through the page for that show, AniList had a row of suggested “similar” titles and Blast of Tempest was first in line.

I took one look at those beautiful classic Bones character designs and in my Crunchyroll queue it went.

Like I mentioned, the series is from Bones, a studio with production values I happen to admire and respect. It doesn’t have a signature look but it’s willing to play with styles and techniques and usually puts out titles with great attention to visuals and animation. I often love how Bones’ shows look. Granted, Blast of Tempest dates back to 2012 and the studio was much less adventurous with production at that time. But it still looks great.

Yoshino and Mahiro have a complicated relatonship

The high point of the production (in my opinion) is definitely the detailed and varied character designs. These stay fairly consistent and with a wide array of conventionally pretty anime boys and girls, it’s fairly easy to find someone you enjoy looking at. The animation is good, and there certainly is a lot of it in the series, but occasional shortcuts are visible. Stills or jerky movement due to lowered frame number, that sort of thing. This said, the animation is good. Don’t get it twisted. The show is almost constantly in movement and there are very few hiccups. A lot of new releases don’t live up to this.

On the flip side, the soundtrack was probably the low side, at least for me. There are some elements of this story that I find annoying but for the most part it was an interesting action mystery blend with some great supernatural elements. But the presentation really emphasized those annoying bits and by that I mean the music. The voice acting was a touch overly stern but that didn’t bother me as much. Oh and the main cast is entirely female! That blew my mind! Mahori doesn’t sound like a young boy, he infidelity sounds like a gravelly young man. Yuuko Sanpei is unbelievable!

The score though was, objectively speaking, rather pretty. The entire series had this grand orchestral soundtrack with sweeping pieces. And I mean the entire series. You know when you’re watching a show and you get to the climax of the season. Maybe there’s a huge reveal, maybe it’s the emotional catharsis, and the music swells with grandiose importance filling the scene and punctuating the significance of the moment. You get that 3 to 5 times an episode in Blast of Tempest. It is so overbearing and makes everything come across needlessly dramatic but not so much so that it’s parody.

My entirely unhelpful analysis is that the soundtrack was entirely too “intense” and loud…

which occasionally applies to the characters as well, but I still like them

And the story really didn’t need to be any more dramatic than it already was. It constantly references Shakespeare… I use to really dislike Shakespeare when I was a kid. I thought his works were just ridiculously overrated and often trite. Yes, I was a very insufferable kid… With time I’ve grown to appreciate the bard. He’s still not my favourite but I do think the prestige was earned and I respect the contribution to modern fiction. And I have to say the Tempest was and is my favourite of his plays. Having it quoted throughout the series is kind of sweet. But anything that spends that much time quoting tragedies (there’s more Hamlet than Tempest..) is bound to have moments of melodrama. And there certainly are more than a few.

I was able to soldier through mostly because I really wanted to now what was happening and because there was something under the stereotypical flat characters. Mahiro and Yoshino who carry the first half of the series seem like shallow stock characters with fanservicey tropes. The fiery rebel with a heart of gold! The mysterious calm one…with a heart of gold… Fine but nothing special. However there was always something just a bit off. And against all expectations, in the end, both were just petty side characters which in itself is pretty amazing.

fanservice for all!

Then there is Aika. The character is dead before the beginning of the series but we see her in some way in almost each episode. And she is the most important character was far as the plot goes. She is the catalyst for everything. And boy did I not like her. She’s very very pretty but beyond that it’s just the slightly mean and rather dull. Around the end of the series we get to meet her, except… it’s someone different.This girl is fun and charming and a lot nicer. I like this girl, I understand why the boys would too. But why did she change now?

And that’s when it hit me. We never actually got to see Aika, we got to see the memories and dreams of Aika of two boys that love her. And you know, the heart is deceitful above all things. There is no less reliable a narrator than one who is in love! And of course Mahiro and Yoshino felt hollow. They were husks of their former selves. And they also grow a lot in time.

It’s surprisingly subtle and well sustained character development out of a show that’s often clumsy with dialogue and way to on the nose with both symbolism and reveals. And there are a lot of reveals. I saw a few coming, some had me baffled and a few left me with my jaw hanging opening and staying up late to see what happens next.

I love this image of Aika

I feel like I’ve talked a lot and didn’t say much. OK bottom line, Blast of Tempest is like a supernatural soap opera with moments of very smart writing sprinkled in a see of immature narration. And I enjoyed it. The characters were pretty to look at, if you disregard the music you get the impression that the series doesn’t take itself to seriously and the supporting cast is very charming!

It’s only superficially similar to In/Spectre. This said if you like magic and evil trees (oh yeah, there’s a lot of evil trees….somehow I forgot to mention that….) and the screencaps look good to you. I say give Blast of Tempest a watch. I had a good time with it.

Favourite character: Hanemura!

What this anime taught me: I want a sweater with a big letter I on it!

his name is Yoshino you see…

If life gives you lemons, Add VODKA

Suggested drink: Shirley Tempest

Every time anyone mentions “Yoshino’s girlfriend” – take a sip

Every time Mahiro and Hazane bicker – take a sip

Every time we see a flip phone – take a sip

Every time Aika goes on a date – gasp

Every time Yoshino lies – shake your head and take a sip

Every time we see Aika’s selfie – take a sip (selfie on a flip phone is just weird…)

Every time Yoshino wears his glasses – squint

Every time a talisman breaks – take a sip

Every time anyone quotes Shakespeare – get some water, you don’t want to die

Every time anyone talks of the “world’s logic” – take a sip

Every time we see scary scary butterflies – close your eyes

Every time Fraulein Yamamoto introduces herself – raise your glass

Every time we see the stars – take a sip

Every time Hazane is naked – clutch your pearls!

It’s a pretty sow, my Pinterest board ended up rather full. Here’s a taste

Blast of Tempest – The Happening 2 Genre: Supernatural, action, drama, mystery, romance Episodes: 24 Studio: Bones Have you even seen The Happening? The evil tree movie by…

#action #anime #Blast of Tempest #blonde bishie #drama #Magical #Mystery #romance #supernatural #Time

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years

Text

‘It’s Like Walking Into Chernobyl,’ One Doctor Says Of Her Emergency Room

At one New York City hospital, a doctor’s used mask tore as she performed CPR on her infected patient.

In Seattle, a nurse compares walking into her intensive care unit to bathing in COVID-19.

And in St. Louis, a nurse slips her used N95 mask into a paper bag at the end of her shift and prays it’s disinfected properly.

These are scenes playing out in hospitals across the country, based on interviews with over a dozen residents, doctors and nurses who go into work every day feeling unprotected from the disease they’re supposed to treat.

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Nearly a month into the declared pandemic, some health care workers say they’re exhausted and burning out from the stress of treating a stream of critically ill patients in an increasingly overstretched health care system. Many are questioning how long they can risk their own health. Some are falling sick themselves, and even dying. In many hospitals, the pandemic has transformed emergency rooms and upended protocols and precautions that workers previously took for granted.

“It’s like walking into Chernobyl without any gear,” said Jacklyn, an ER doctor at a New York City hospital who asked to go by her middle name for fear of being fired over speaking out.

At her hospital, 90% of patients have COVID-19, but health care workers get only one N95 mask every five days.

“We’re constantly breathing in everything that’s aerosolized because of all of the procedures that we’re doing,” the New York City doctor said.

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Coronavirus can spread easily through droplets during close interactions such as coughing and talking. It can also stay on some surfaces for days. During certain procedures, the virus becomes aerosolized and can linger in a room for longer periods. In such cases, health care workers are directed to take “airborne precautions” and wear N95 masks or another kind of respirator.

She said she’s baffled by how unprepared the government and hospitals are for this moment.

The day Jacklyn shows up to the hospital and there are no N95 masks, she said, she’ll refuse to work.

“I’m not on a suicide mission here. I’m not going to do anything that puts my life at risk. What is my daughter going to do without me? What would my husband do without me?” she said.

With a nationwide shortage of protective equipment, many hospitals are limiting how often nurses and doctors can get new masks and devising ways to stretch supplies.

“Whoever is disinfecting these masks, are they trained to do this? Is someone supervising? Where are they doing it and how?” wondered Sophia Rago, an ER nurse based in St. Louis, about her hospital’s policy.

Rago said she gets only one surgical mask and one N95 mask for three shifts in a row. Afterward, she places her gear in a brown paper bag and writes her name on it.

“You give it to somebody and they are supposed to be disinfecting it between your shifts,” she said. “Do I trust that? No! It can be disheartening to have that feeling of uncertainty that you are not going to be protected.”

Much of the anxiety felt by front-line health care workers stems from the ever-shifting federal guidance that in some cases later turned out to be wrong.

For example, in the early days of the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had narrow criteria for screening suspected coronavirus cases, which was later broadened as the virus spread in the U.S.

The CDC still recommends, in cases where N95s aren’t readily available, that a simple surgical mask will suffice for health care workers unless they’re doing procedures that cause aerosol spray from the patients, such as intubating someone. It was only last week that the agency changed its guidelines and told all Americans to cover their faces with masks or cloth when in public.

Health care workers are distrustful of recommendations that, many said, appear to err on the side of less than what they require for protection. They point to the CDC’s recommendation to use a bandana or scarf as a last resort if masks run out.

“I don’t care what the CDC guidelines say. If your nurses feel uncomfortable in a certain area, you should give them what they need,” said Ramona Moll, a nurse who works at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California.

Moll said she contracted COVID-19 in mid-March after treating a patient suspected of having contracted the coronavirus. She believes the exposure happened when the older patient with dementia became combative and tried to bite her. At the time, Moll was wearing a surgical mask, goggles, gloves and a gown, but no N95 mask. Her gear was in line with CDC guidelines.

“The hospitals need to take responsibility for the fact that they did not take care of their nurses. They did not have N95s available,” she said.

Her hospital disputes her account. Spokesperson Edwin Garcia said there were no COVID-19 patients at the hospital at the time and that it has “dedicated, full-time teams that are committed to infection prevention and keeping our employees safe.”

Grueling Shifts, Stress And Bruised Faces

The lack of protective gear is one piece of a mosaic of stress that comes with caring for COVID-19 patients.

There are the 12- and 13-hour shifts in uncomfortable masks, the many unknowns of the disease and difficulties screening for it, the fear of getting infected or accidentally infecting another patient and the sadness of watching people die alone.

At an underresourced community hospital in Los Angeles, a nurse practitioner, Marie, has a plastic bag in her car in which she stashes her used N95s for the day her hospital may run out.

“I’ll spend the majority of my shift trying not to have a panic attack and then come home and fear going back to work,” she said. “If this goes on for weeks and weeks and things only get worse, I just don’t know how I’m going to be able to handle it.”

She asked to use her middle name because her hospital has warned employees not to speak publicly; some workers have been reprimanded for critical social media posts.

Marie has lost 3 pounds in a week. Once she puts her mask on during a shift, she won’t take it off and, thus, avoids eating. The bridge of her nose is cut open from wearing it on her face for hours at a time. The lack of preparation has her considering leaving nursing after the pandemic passes.

“I have dedicated my life to treating other people,” she said. “And yet when I’m in need, I’m not provided with what I need. It’s like an abusive relationship.”

Health care workers across the country and the globe are sharing selfies of their bruised faces from wearing N95 masks.

“It is a long six hours to be in all that gear,” said Amanda Adams, a travel nurse who works at an ER in the New York City suburbs. “I try to put aside my emotions and cheer up the patients. Meanwhile, I am thinking, which one is going to give it to me and am I going to get sick?”

Once Infected, Who Takes Care Of The Health Care Worker?

Already, front-line workers are falling ill and feeling they have to choose whether to risk their lives to save others.

At least 40 U.S. health care workers in the U.S. have died of COVID-19, according to Medscape. Some of them were young and early in their careers.

“That also increases the fear. That it’s hitting young people,” said Dr. Roy Akarakian, an ER resident at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. “I’m worried and afraid about the overall situation. This is something we’ve never seen before.”

Akarakian has already survived the virus — one of more than 730 employees of the Henry Ford Health System who have tested postive since tracking began on March 12.

In Seattle, Edward, an ICU nurse, said he developed flu-like symptoms and shortness of breath last month, after treating COVID-19 patients. He decided to stay at home out of caution, while he waited for his test results. Seven days passed before he learned he was positive.

“It was just really hard and nerve-wracking,” said Edward who works at Swedish Medical Center, and is using only his first name because he’s afraid of losing his job for speaking publicly.

While in isolation and recovering, he was required to use his own vacation and sick time. After learning he had COVID-19, he said, his employer “tried to pin those results on something outside the hospital” — probably, Edward said, because the hospital provides fully paid emergency administrative leave only if you can prove you caught it on the job.

“I did not feel supported at all,” he said. “Their main concern was trying to explain away my positive results as community-acquired.”

In a statement, Swedish said “it’s grateful for our caregivers’ unwavering commitment to our patients and the selflessness they bring to work every day to ensure our patients and community are safe.”

Tiffany Moss, a hospital spokesperson, also noted Swedish provides 80 hours of full-paid emergency time off for workers affected by COVID-19 — no matter where they were exposed to the virus — but only after infected employees exhaust vacation and sick time.

When Edward got the green light to go back to work, his co-workers seemed afraid to be near him.

“When I would tell people, they would physically back away from me, they would question whether I should be at work,” he said. “It was hard to go home at night and deal with those emotions.”

This story is part of a partnership that includes NPR and Kaiser Health News.

‘It’s Like Walking Into Chernobyl,’ One Doctor Says Of Her Emergency Room published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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stephenmccull · 4 years