#3. one of my fave songs from this year. no wonder it’s in my top 3 on Spotify wrapped

[apricotluvr]

November 2022

[imaginespazzi]

Nivi!!! Since you are so diligently sticking to your schedule (you’re so inspiring babes), I thought I should at the very least try to get this review to you on time too! Imma just combine parts 5 & 6 in this one so apologies if gets too long. Also, I haven’t really had a chance to scroll and read through other people’s reviews for part 5 so I’m so sorry if I end up repeating what everyone else may have already said.

FIRST OF ALL, Back to December as the lyric reference for Part 5 was *chef’s kiss* - mainly because that’s gotta be one of my top Taylor songs of all time, ah the wistfulness 🥲

DREW cameo!! The only one with brain cells. Cause he’s right, they’re all stupid! (But we love them anyway).

“Please don’t get married Paigey,” Drew pleads, gripping his sister’s hand, “please.” ­– this really got me though. Poor Drew, like he never imagined he’d be having to witness his sister ever marry someone who wasn’t Azzi too! He just wanted his pookie back 🥺

Paige finding out about Azzi’s pregnancy through TikTok feels very on-brand lmao (ugh does that mean there were Olivia and Paige edits once upon a time 🥴), and them still commenting congratulations on each other’s post about the engagement and the pregnancy to keep up the friendly act killed me. Could. Not. Be. Me.

Katie and Paige interactions have my whole heart. Whenever I think about them, I always end up thinking about that immunity booster video so I’m glad it got the mention in part 5!

What is it with you and these damn phone calls, Nivi!! “You’re gonna be a wonderful wife P.” “You’re gonna be an amazing mom Az.” – once again, cue “and it would have been sweet, if it could have been me”. WELL IT COULD HAVE IF Y’ALL WEREN’T BEING STUPID (sorry, had to channel my inner Drew there).

“Please don’t speak in riddles. It’s 10 a.m and I’m sad,” Paige whines. She might be in her early thirties but there’s something about Katie Fudd that makes Paige feel like it’s okay to be a bit of a child. – Obsessed with this because I just feel like you perfectly captured their relationship with this line.

“You’re so goddamn dramatic Bueckers,” Katie rolls her eyes –so real for this cause Paige really was being dramatic af since Azzi left with Stephie. Standing on the porch for way-too-long just staring into the distance then breaking down in the fort and not moving for 3 hours. DRAMATIC. But like sad 😔

The comparison between Paige’s expression when talking about Stephie and Tim’s when he first met Azzi. I was waiting for something like this! My heart.

Steph (old) cameo! I’ll allow it, cause despite my hatred for the Warriors, I do loooove that man.

“What defense can a 5 year old play…” – idk why but I had a good chuckle at this, I just love when you pull these one-liners, the comedic timing is impeccable.

Katie with some GREAT lines too.

Pleaseee, not the UNCLE TWIN and TWIN NIECE 😆 I knoww Steph (man) loves the fact that his goddaughter, who’s prolly gonna go on and be a Golden State legend herself, is named after him.

I know it’s super cute, but I do be cracking up a lil everytime Stephie and Paige reunite cause it’s always so goddamn dramatic. Like girly pops please, it’s barely been 24 HOURS 😭

Yeah, Paige gonna be SPOILING her queen and their princess forever.

THEY KISSED.

I may or may not always let out an undignified squeal when I see a high school era flashback. Like those are always my favourites fr. You just never fail to make them feel so nostalgic.

Their first kiss, damn Paige really been a lover girl since 16 huh 🥹 Also the transition from their first kiss to what could be their last first kiss was perfection!

Although, idk if the “slow” that Katie had in mind meant kissing already but hey, they’re moving!

Look, as long as we get at least one cute family scene with our fave trio then that’s all the serotonin I really need for the day (week) and the scene with the flowers and the car seat was exactly that, pure serotonin.

Paige and the Fudds reunion 🥰

Stephie really is ride-or-die for her perfect Miss Buecks!

“Dumbapples” – LMAOOOO sometimes the brain cells just don’t always be braincelling.

And they finally get a redo on that sleepover, where no one leaves, at least not until pancakes have been served.

What’s next?

I’ve been thinking about the break-up too much- like when in 2025? Was it during the season? So before the natty?? But like there’s no way you could be that cruel, Nivi! You couldn’t have them finally winning the natty only for them to be heartbroken while doing so?

Or worse, have them win the natty and make P think she’s got everything she could ever want only for that to come crashing down not long after??

But like definitely pre-draft night maybe?? I guess that would make sense with Azzi overthinking things and worrying about being left behind? Sorry, am just thinking out loud atp!

But like were there already cracks forming even earlier in that year?? Cause if so, I’m curious about Paige’s proposal and the timing of it hmmm. My braincells are attempting to be braincells.🧠

I’m still awaiting that Drew and Azzi reunion cause Drew being so heartbroken that he really tried to stop the wedding all by himself hurt me. I can imagine for Drew too, how much he probably looked to Paige and Azzi as his ideal of what a relationship and love is, only for them to fall apart as well. Plus seeing how close irl Drew is to the Fudds makes me big sad for GH Drew 😞

I can’t wait for Coach P and Player Stephie dynamics!! The favouritism is really not gonna be subtle no matter how hard Paige tries 😃

Soooo, Part 6 was suspiciously too fluffy ya know, I feel like you’re just setting us up. Giving us a taste of joy, only to rip it from us next chapter. I’m on evil writer Nivi watch.

Favourite lines/quotes:

“Did I know that my granddaughter goes to her godfather’s special camp for the sport that her mother plays and she’s obsessed with?”

Because the view in front of them is beautiful but Paige’s eyes are on Azzi and she’s staring at her as if the view is nothing in comparison. – side note: this line and this scene made me nostalgic for the stargazing scene in the UCLA fic 🥹

Alright bestie, this review is a biiig boi but I thought I owed you for being late with the part 5 review so hopefully this makes up for it a little! Also, I’ll prolly be late in reviewing the next one if (when 🤞) it’s out next week cause life is lifing so I’m sorry in advance 😭

Thank you as always for keeping us warm and fed! Hope you’re doing well btw!! Is the baby fever still at a high? Cause I was at the park with my friend and her 1-yr old the other day and omg he was being the sweetest little bean ever and the baby fever was FEVERING but then I realised I’m a baby (adult) too so I promptly brought the fever back to reality 😅

Love ya Nivi, have a great week ahead bestie 💗

-🙋‍♀️

BABES HELLOOO <3 I've been waiting for your thoughts!

This whole fic is very Back to December coded and it's one of my top 5s too and it just fit so well with chapter 5

#FreeDrewBueckersFromDumbassPaigeyAndPookie my poor little man was traumatized and they need to make it up to him immediately

I LOVE KATIE FUDD. And she just gives such entertaining chaotic mom energy and I feel like especially with Paige, she really keep that girl humble (and holds her when she needs it)

The 1 references galore because while I won't subject y'all to an actual depressing fic, I simply can't stop myself from adding the vibes

LMAO Steph is so universally loved I kinda adore that man and he'll be making an appearance again at some point I think.

Listen Stephie and Paige are the definition of matching each other's freak except it's matching each other's dramatics like they're gonna run into each other's arms like they haven't seen each other in years every damn time

Katie tried to nudge them and didn't realize all these idiots needed was a tap to literally full-speed a head (well with some breaks of course)

I cackled writing dumbapples ngl

The marriage proposal is definitely before the draft...that's all you're getting lol

Y'all think Azzi's guilty now when no one's even saying anything to her, just wait for Drew Bueckers and his way with words :)

I am also very excited for more Curry Camp scenes!

I don't think anyone loves or understand the stargazing the scene the way you do babes and I appreciate it <3

Ah lovie, review whenever you can. Even if it's months and month later, I will still be just as excited to read your thoughts!

The baby fever is in fact still higkey baby fever-ing and I don't know how and when it'll stop but I'm not even really trying to stop it.

[hotpocketpena]

Blind Spot

JAVIER PEÑA X FEM READER

Summary - You and Javier had been having some troubles over the last few weeks - Javi doing everything to catch Escobar - you working late nights. And one night, it finally all gets too much for you…

Warings - Swearing - angst

Word count - 1.4K +

Note - taking inspo from my fave song atm - Blind Spot by Maddie Zahm. Religiously had this song on repeat while writing so many give it a go

I wrote this on the v early 6:30 train to werk so pls don’t judge my spelling or mistakes mm k thanks x

———————————

It’d been weeks since you saw those beautiful brown eyes. Weeks since he’d come home for more than 20 minutes. He’d rush through the door at silly hours, moan about how he needed a change of clothes, plant a quick kiss on your forehead and leave.

That was all of the interaction you had with Javier Peña. For the last 3 weeks he hadn’t slept in the same bed with you. When you worked nights at the hospital, he’d come home and sleep for a few hours and head straight back to the embassy.

You’d always wonder, was he doing this on purpose? Was he purposely not wanting to spend every minute he wasn’t hunting Escobar, to spend those precious moments with you?

He was so close. The DEA had already captured and killed all of Pablo’s top scarios. There was just Escobar and Limon left. So why would he not sacrifice every waking moment to go after the bastard.

The countless hours of black coffee, paper cuts from endless amounts of useless tips and raids gone wrong, it was all for something. It was for this moment that he’d worked so hard for.

Javier rushed home, needed some fresh boxers and a shirt and he was ready to go. He’d already spend the last 8 days at the embassy, stretching out whatever clothes he had left before he had to go home.

He wanted to be fresh for the moment he caught the man he’d been hunting for the last 3 years of his life. The photo op of him standing over Escobars dead body would be one of the books. And he didn’t want to be wearing the plum shirt he’d wore for the last 8 days.

He pulled the back Jeep up outside of your shared apartment and jogged up the small steps. His keys fumbled in the door a few times, his hands shaking from the Adrenalin. Eventually he got the door open and rushed to the bedroom to grab the first shirt he found.

What he didn’t expect to find is you, sitting in the small walk in closet, filling a suitcase with your clothes.

“Baby? What’s going on?” He asked with concern.

You ignored the voice you’d be wanting to hear for weeks. The sweet sound of his voice almost brought you to tears, but you needed to be strong.

You couldn’t do this anymore.

Javier standing there, watching you pack your whole life into one suitcase was heartbreaking for him. Had he finally done it? Had he finally let you drift off and not love him anymore?

Javier knelt down to your level, lifting your chin up with his soft hand. You smacked his hand away.

“Don’t touch me.” You snarled. It was easier for you to hate him, that give into his spell.

A small piece of his heart broke off. You’d never shyed away from his touch. Never recoiled from him. You’d always been welcomed into his arms at whatever opportunity you could.

“What are you doing? Hermosa, please, look at me?” Javi didn’t like being soft. He had to have the hard exterior of a killer. He couldn’t be weak, he couldn’t be loving in times like this. But he would for you, he’d let his soft and loving side out just for you, and lock it away as soon as you were out of site.

“No. Javi. I’m done.” A small tear slipped out from your eye, but you quickly wiped it away, not wanting to break down.

“What’s happened? Why are you leaving me?”

How could he be so stupid?

You shot up from the floor and threw an item of clothing from the suitcase at him. “Because I’m sick and tired of waiting for you to come home!”

This was it. This was the time to get everything out on the table.

“I’m tired of waiting for you to come home. I’m tired of thinking ‘does he actually love me or an I just hear as an object’.” The tears were in full swing.

Javi slowly rose to standing and didn’t take his eyes off you.

“Javi you could literally break my heart a million times over and I’d say thank you. At least then I’d know you’d care enough to let me go.” You sobbed.

“Baby I’m sorry I know I-“

“See.” You stop him from going any further. “You always say sorry and then fuck up just as bad. I never realised it before but, why should I have given you chance after chance, to say sorry for something that we really never had?”

His blood boils. His. How dare his blood boil when you’ve had to deal with all of this alone. When he’s the one who’s let your relationship get this way.

Javi had never been a relationship kind of person, but he tried for you. He gave it a shot for you.

“Don’t fucking say that.” He spat, his hands balled into a fist. “Don’t you dare say that we never had anything!”

You step out from the closet and stand 2 feet from him. Your now blood boils.

“We don’t Javi! We have nothing anymore because of that stupid fucking job!” You knew that throwing his job in the mix was below the belt, but he’d pushed you to that.

“Don’t you fucking dare bring my job into this. You knew what you signed up for.”

“I didn’t sign up for this!” You throw your hands in the air. “I didn’t sign up for not seeing you for weeks on end, not even hearing your voice! It’s like you don’t even care about me anymore, and all you care about is that fucking job.”

Javi was livid. He cared about 3 things in this cruel world.

His job.

His family.

And you.

He was angry. His mouth was quicker than his brain when he was angry.

“You knew from the start I didn’t do relationships. You knew that this was potentially going to be dangerous.”

“I at least thought you would have caught Escobar by now. It’s been 2 years Javi and you’re still in the same loop. I can’t be in that loop anymore, I need to think of myself.”

It was true. There have been so many times where your friends have told you to leave him. Told you that you deserve to find someone who will put anything and everything aside for you.

Deep, deep down you believed that. But you’d rather stay with him, rather let him hurt you than love another stranger. You’d rather go through all of the pain and heartbreak, the loneliness than even think about loving someone else other than him.

There’s only so much one person can take, and you’ve taken way more than you thought you could deal with.

You two stand in the bedroom for what feels like an eternity before either of you speak. Just longing stares, waiting for each other to speak. The only noise that could be heard was both of your breathing.

“I don’t want to fight.” Javier huffed, not letting his stubborn side get the better of him.

“This isn’t a fight Javier.” You sighed. “This isn’t anything anymore. We aren’t anything anymore.”

He took a step closer to you, but you backed away. If you get any closer, everything that’s taken you to do this. All of the countless hours of weighing up the pros and cons of leaving him will be for nothing as soon as you’re in his embrace.

“Baby plea-“

“No Javi! I’m done. I’m leaving and I’m done. There’s nothing that you can say or do to change it. My mind is made up.” You walk back into the closet and close your suitcase.

If you spend a minute longer in the same place as him you will cave.

It takes all the will in the world to take the suitcase by the handle and walk to the front door. Javi reaches for you, but you avoid his touch.

You stop at the door and think.

This is a good thing.

This is a healthy thing.

Is it?

Yes, it needs to be done.

You take a long, deep breath and open the door.

“I’m sorry javi. Maybe when all this is done, you might have the time for me. I just don’t want to keep waiting around and keep telling myself that you love me.” You can’t bare to look at him, and walk away from the only man you will ever truly love.

[jamietarttsnorthernattitude]

ooooooooh i’m gonna send u many many of these and hope u are still doing them………

2, 5, 8, 17, 21, 64, 65, 74

(you absolutely do not have to answer all of these. or any of them. MWAH <3)

Thank you my wonderful friend :)

2 answered here.

5. have you ever made a playlist about something you were writing as an elaborate means to procrastinate when you could have been actually writing and if yes drop a link, son.

Yes! I made a few, but most recently for there is no other land https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6UK9NfK7D2yGyKcnl2rcbK?si=sYww7vJjTWyETpZJcjyzig&pi=u-b9oh9EvcRD-m

8. what’s your relationship with constructive criticism and feedback like? do you seek it out? how well do you take it?

I do not seek it out, I probably should. I definitely don’t take it well at first (see above) but I like to think after that I make use out it. Truth be told, I wish I was better at taking it because I’d love to improve myself as a writer so please send me any you have (or anyone, or as an anon if you don’t feel comfortable). I feel like with fandom, there’s not much constructive criticism, it’s either lovely lovely comments or random anonymous, mean but not helpful comments (which I thankfully have not received much of but have seen it).

17. what is your favorite line you’ve ever written?

I cannot think of any I love the most haha So I'm going to share this paragraph and you can pretend it's a run on sentence from ignite your bones:

He was pissed at Jamie right now, too. Pissed that the muppet had wormed his way into Roy’s heart years ago. Pissed, he forced his way into a tiny crevice and made it a chasm big enough for Sam, and Isaac and Colin and every other Greyhound under his charge over the years. Because now he cared about them. Now he had to worry about them. Now he had to worry about Jamie.

21. pick a writer to co-write a book with and tell us what you’d write about.

I'm still trying to write a fic with @fanficfanattic I'm not sure I could handle a whole ass book.

64. what is your favourite title for a fic you’ve read?

Oh there are so many! and do not recognize us as we pass by you is fave, as is i saw the end (it looked just the middle) by @antitheticaally, oh god, you're gonna get it (you have not been given love) by @jamiesfootball, To All The Better Places by @asteria-argoand All I Have (And a Little More) by @kvetchinglyneurotic just off the top of my head.

65. what is your favourite title for a fic you’ve written?

I really like there is no other land because I use song lyrics so much and I feel like it fits the fic really really well. I also love hope the skin heals where the pain enters because I feel like it also fits the story well.

74. are you a planner, pantser, or planster?

I'm a planster, leaning more towards panster than planner. I usually have a generally outline, sometimes it's just in my head. My longer fics have an outline but the shorter ones, some definitely all full panster mode especially the whumptober shorter ones.

[clouds-of-wings]

I don't even know what my top albums of the year are, but here are some I discovered this year that I really liked, so that I don't come across as ONLY a hater. Linking my fav track, or one of my fave tracks, on YT every time.

Molllust - Mother Universe (A glimmer of hope in the irradiated wasteland that is symphonic metal at present. Also one of the four female-LED metal bands I know. Like with a female composer! Such wow!)

Knights of Heliopolis - Ferrum Fero Ferro Ferror (ditto about the hope thing. Also they have an operatic bass frontman and holyyyyy shiiiit that is the best thing ever! I keep fangirling about this band but they used to be called "Phoebus the Knight", so that's the tag that's in.)

Nostra Morte - Sin Retorno (A flicker of light from the NON-wasteland that symph was 12 years ago)

Silent Opera - Immortal Beauty (ditto. Oh how I wish for soothing rain and some fucking OPERA VOCALS in the fucking OPERA GENRE. Why is symph metal full of COWARDS and CASUALS? I know I sound like Holden Caulfield, but that's because he's right and my role model.)

Nanowar - Dislike to False Metal (Power Metal, Nanowar being awesome as usual. I link perhaps one of their less surprising songs bc I'm a sucker for that Rhapsody stuff but plz listen to the whole album, it also has tracks like this - great variety really, and greater wtf! I gently pat Gatto's head and wonder what he will do next, clearly he's called Cat for a reason.)

Elina Garanca - Habanera (These are just some famous arias, but her voice is really nice! Dark-voiced mezzo-sopranos rule the world!)

Snowy Shaw - White is the New Black (I have been listening to this so much lately. Somehow I always ignored his solo work after the Notre Dame stuff except for some of his singles, but this album is actually really really cool! I don't know which genre it is lol. Metal Archives says "Heavy Metal", but that doesn't really describe it so well. Snowy has a lot of personality, and so does his music. Just click! You may not even regret it!)

Wolfenmond - Can't pick an album... Galdra (EP!) I guess. Folk metal or medieval rock with a woman who doesn't get forced to sound cute.

Grendel's Sÿster - Myrtenkranz Heavy metal / folk metal with a woman who REALLY doesn't get forced to sound cute. As SATW said, women should be respected, but sister Germany should be feared. Damn straight. This is an EP, same music first in English, then in German.

Kornalyn - Intemporel (French acoustic folk, revolutionary communist and anarchist songs. This guy is a folk song recording MACHINE and I like almost everything he releases.)

Therion - Leviathan 3 (I still wrestle with this album. A lot! I also know from past experience that in retrospect I'm more likely to regret not including it than I am including it.)

---

I also watched like 20 operas this year in an attempt to be a little less of a poser in the genre. I don't know which I would recommend the most. Wagner's "Die Walküre" touched me the most, both in terms of story and of pure epicness of the music. Kinda wiped the floor with everything else :/ It seems Wagner is the only one in opera who isn't shit at plots. Lohengrin also had a good story! Vivaldi's "Juditha Triumphans" (not technically an opera but an oratorio, but really I don't care, it's basically an opera) and Bizet's "Carmen" (I'm not linking that, there are 8945098340 good recordings, just find one that looks appealing to you) had the most pleasant music.

I also liked Alessandro nell‘Indie by Leonardo Vinci (no relation). I link my favourite scene. Don't worry about the lack of English subs, the plot is 4 hours of soap opera. They did a very traditional staging of this, like back in 1730, which means it's all countertenors and sopranists, half in drag. Thus it pairs nicely with the all-female Vivaldi one above. Back when women were real men who led armies and men had fake boobs or danced under falling rose petals singing about love, LIKE GOD INTENDED! TRADITIONAL VALUES!

[moonchild-in-blue]

Hello!! 8D I'm new to the Sleep Token fandom; I saw like 2 concert videos on my TikTok feed yesterday morning and proceeded to complete the fastest casual to full blown fan speedrun of my life in a single day XD And I don't really have anyone I can yell about them to, not even the person who originally introduced me to their music, so :P I'm still working my way through listening to their full discography, but I wanted to say a MAJOR part of how fast I got into them I feel is because of the Wembley show from this past weekend?? It says so much about Vessel that he handled the whole thing the way that he did, and the more footage I see from that specific show the more my heart is FULL for this man <3 That on top of the cool and intriguing lore, AMAZING aesthetics, and of course the music (which I was already into before but even moreso now XD), and it was a RECIPE for a hyperfixation :3 I also wanted to say as a newbie that I love the new masks?? Especially Vessel's; the red edgings are SO cool and put even more emphasis on his TEETH :P His whole look is Iconic (though I wonder if that cloak must be heavy to wear??), I love that the other members of the band are developing their own distinctive looks too?? And it's super cool to see how their look evolves as they become more and more successful, just from what I've seen so far <3 I also just REALLY love how more and more music artists are embracing the innately religious experience that comes with a live concert?? As you can probably tell I'm a Swiftie so I had the same thought about the Eras tour XD but also with other punk-rock/metal artists like Ghost :P So calling their shows a "Ritual" or a "Worship" is metal as hell, I think :3 Plus just as a somewhat personal note, lately I've been running out of podcast episodes that I feel comfortable falling asleep to, and I already want Vessel's voice just PUMPED DIRECTLY INTO MY VEINS, so the natural progression I think is using ST to fall asleep to as well?? Which I mean, given their lore and everything, worshipping the eldritch god of sleep, feels appropriate XD Last thing -- so far my fave song of theirs is The Love You Want, I can't stop listening to it :3 I originally got into them through The Summoning, of course, and now I also love Alkaline cause it was in one of the videos I mentioned XD I started downloading more and more individual songs that I saw mentioned by name on here until I just caved and basically downloaded their entire discography, it was gonna happen anyway at this rate XD But I'd love to know what your faves are, too!! <3 (and bless you for reading this long-ass message from a total stranger lol XD)

Hello there! Wow, that's quite the achievement!! I totally understand though, once you get sucked into their tar trap (hehe) it's pretty much impossible to leave (not that I have ever wanted to).

Welcome to the family!! I hope you enjoy your stay here - there are warm beverages and snacks on the table, take as much as you want and get cosy. 💙🍵🍪 You are more than welcome to scream about our beloved cryptics - we shall all join you, like a pack of feral wolves howling at the moon Sleep 🐺🌕

I have recently gotten an ask from another lovely new member of this weird little community, and did an introductory post of sorts. I will link it here - it's a nice read, and there is a very good post linked there with some more background on the band - how did they start, album evolution, some important lore info, etc etc, by our lovely local archivist and knowledge keeper hehe. It's an incredibly thorough and comprehensive read - 100% reccomend!

So, about Wembley. Yeah, I think we're all still collectively recovering from it. There was A LOT of expection for it, being their last Ritual of the year, and the biggest headline to date, and even more things happening (New masks, iii's return, and of course Vessel's unfortunate situation). Vessel, the band and choir, and every single crew member involved did a fantastic, admirable job under the circumstances.

I won't dwell too much on it, as I've already shared my thoughts on another post, as so did many others, but yes - the fact that Vessel chose to perform at all given his condition, and somewhat stil managed to blow everyone away, is nothing short of an indicative of how sweet and beautiful, and loving that man is. I have nothing but respect for him and the guys - it must've been pretty hard on them as well to perform in such sad circumstances. The show was incredible, and my heart is still so so full with it 💙

The masks are pretty amazing!! I'm personally still attached to the old black ones, and in mourning of iii's victorian child look, but I do loooove the new costumes (they got me feeling some type of way, but I won't be weird here. Just Thinking Things)! Very yummy 😚 The new Choir outfits are INCREDIBLE aaaaaa (you will see me fangirl about them a lot).

Vessel's mask in not new per-se - he's had this one since May or June I believe (around the time TMBTE came out). His mask (and shoulder piece) is AMAZING, I am so in love with it still. It was done by Hysteria Machine - the same artists who did the new Espera (my lovely choir ladies) masks (debuted in the first German Ritual of December). His cloak is actually super lightweight, and the shirtless look helps to keep him cool during his adorable zoomies hehe (not sure about the fur on the back - but he seems to be okay with it, for the ~aesthetic~. My love is a nerd lol)

Yeah, the religious vibes are definitely there, even if just for the lore. I'm not a fan of neither Taylor Swift nor Ghost, so I can't really comment on that, but concerts to have a very transcedent feel to it. "Worship" is kind of a tagline for the band and fans, while Rituals are the actual shows!

I have lost count to how many night's I've fallen asleep to Vessel's voice lmao. As someone with severe insomnia issues, their music is nothing short of divine. 💙

I too was a victim of The Summoning - I suppose it really worked! TLYW funnily enough was my least favourite from that album during the first 2 or 3 listens. Then I watched the live performance for it and OMG. Now it occupies a very special place in my heart - even more after iii's brief absence!

My favourite song is Atlantic - it will forever and always have my heart. Very closely followed by Chokehold / The Apparition / Drag Me Under. Special kiss with tongue to Fields of Elation and Jaws (among others)! Do not sleep (hehe) on their eps/singles!!!! They are fenomenal!!! I always reccomend you listen to the albums in full, at least at first, to really get the full experience. But of course, you do you hun!

If you like the lore aspect of the band, I'd definitely recommend you scroll through the ST lore tag. There are so many amazing posts with lyric analysis, lore headcanons, among others. Also thought the fanart tag!!! The amount of talent and care in this fandom is insane. Everyone is so kind and loving and sweet here - I'm sure you'll have a good time! Don't be shy, go full unhinged if you so wish, and feel free to drop by anytime with any thoughts, questions, or anything else 💙

[princessofxianle]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

well THANK YOU for asking, you are the first to!

tbh ive been meaning to do this on my main blog bc I take these wayyy too seriously lol but ANYWAY heres my top 10 faves (in no particular order) that I can think of (tbh theres prob more i forgot about, or i wanted to keep only 1 per fandom... except tgcf)

Huge Spoiler Warning: for ALL of tgcf, 2ha, aot, AND JJK MANGA!!!

1. Feng Xin (tgcf)

do i even need to explain this one? loyal to a fault, just a cute lil puppy, one hell of a sculpted archers back, and he's head over heels in love with Xie Lian (but tbh same) i have a lot of thoughts about him on a daily basis on this blog (and also theres the #fx backstory au tag)

2. Noé Archiviste (the Case Study of Vanitas)

MY BABY

the absolute bestest boy of EVER... with a LOAD of unprocessed trauma (yknow the typical stuff like seeing your childhood bff get decapitated in front of you) and a lot more to come once we find out how he kills his boyfriend best friend, Vanitas...

i ALSO think about him a lot but over on @noes-pillow

3. Sejanus Plinth (The Hunger Games: tbosas)

hated reading as a child... HATED it... picked up the og trilogy when i was 12 and i was a goner. The funny thing is i still hated reading for YEARS up until i picked up the prequel novel then in 2020, and now ive read all of tgcf, 2ha, and more fanfic than i could ever imagine... all because this stupid boy (i love him) chose to trust the WORST person as his friend, rip sejanus my baby

the movie is v good btw, if you havent seen it you should

4. Xie Lian (tgcf)

*Taizi Dianxia Fang Xin Guoshi General Hua Xie Lian*

how this man survived 800 years of being physically unable to die and never went insane is a mystery i will never be able to fully comprehend (aaand im in love with him... hmm i wonder why...)

5. Mihael "Mello" Keehl (Death Note)

the chocolate-addicted blonde boi that was my first anime crush... by proxy I must also add Mail "Matt" Jeevas because they are a package deal

these two are also the reason i started writing fanfic so they will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart

6. Xue Meng - (2ha)

*sigh* he's just everyone's fav peacock (yes technically the image is XM 0.5 but he had a cool ass bird so im using this photo bc its COOL anyway...) mengmeng is another one of my trauma bois who has lost next to everything and yet is STILL kicking ass and taking names #thatsmyfuckingsectleader so proud of you my son

also this might get me into hot water here but imma go ahead and say it...

this is what i wanted Jiang Cheng to be... (i LOVE my angy grape but...) through thick and thin, despite EVERYTHING, and even mo ran fucking abandoning him he will still call mo ran his "ge"...

fgjhdfhfdg THEYRE BROTHERS, OKAY???

7. Howl Pendragon (Howl's Moving Castle)

ok this one i just simply do not need to explain... if you think i do, go watch this whole movie and then there ya go thats your answer...

GENDER

8. River Song (Doctor Who)

aside from being the character that unlocked my unhealthy obsession with :) Main Character Death :) at the ripe ol' age of 8 YEARS (although Will Turner from POTC also helped on that front... Orlando Bloom my beloved) River's story was a stroke of absolute GENIUS from start to finish and i simply love how Alex Kingston played her...

"You don't expect a sunset to admire you back."

I just love the doomed ones, okay...

9. Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen)

look... theres *gojo girlies* uwu and then theres GOJO GIRLIES... i couldn't give 2 shits about how he's fan-serviced (tho im not complaining) but have you SEEN the amount of grief pumped into that man? he could explode in a fit of fucking insanity at literally any moment and take the whole goddamn world down with him bc what happened with suguru WASNT FAIR to him and satoru has more than enough power to go apeshit... but he DOESN'T... even after losing so many of his co-sorcerers... he still puts on a brave face to the end in order to protect the childhood of his students even tho his own youth was stolen from him during hidden inventory...

SEE? The DOOMED ones!

10. Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan)

i read the manga during my last year of uni and when i tell you i SOBBED at the end... yes ofc for obvious reasons, but mostly bc my little Levi loses EVERYTHING. He is the SOLE survivor of the veteran scouts. He's missing multiple fingers, an eye, and the ability to walk. He was the strongest (yowaimo) but wasn't even granted the mercy to die at the end of his narrative! Broke my fucking heart.

BONUS: Morph (Treasure Planet)

he's a morph!!! nuff said <3

fin

[tafadhali]

festivids recs, part 2

Here with more Festivids recs! There was so much good stuff — I bookmarked fully 1/3 of the collection — but I've narrowed it down to some faves, trying to pick one top choice for fandoms with multiple vids. Here's a very reasonable 25 recs:

The Only Way to See (Amaury Guichon RPF): Did not know I needed a Sondheim vid for the chocolate guy, but I really really did! Such a lovely tribute to creativity.

Le Freak (Barbie): Luv the choice to use disco. Really captured all the fun of the movie and the build to Barbie's existential crisis was A+.

Drink You Sober (Bound): All of the Bound vids were a beautiful bounty. This one is just meltingly sexy.

body (David Cronenberg movies): The platonic essence of a David Cronenberg vid. Repulsive! Attractive! Could not tear my eyes away.

Nothing in My Head (Dropout TV): I am loving ALL the Dropout content (the little question marks in WTFIGO? kill me); this one has terrific timing and is such a great celebration of the ensemble.

Do What I Do (Dungeons & Dragons): All the D&D vids were super fun; Holga's my fave character and I really enjoyed this tribute.

We Can Be Anything (Everything Everywhere All at Once): This song, with its tightrope between nihilism and endless possibility, feels like it was written for this movie.

Anymore (Face/Off): Face/Off vid of my DREAMS. This was made for my sibling and it feels almost like a gift for me too. We were hootin' and hollerin' and both yelled "DOVES!" when there were doves.

if i were a fish (Fire Island): Howie and Noah's friendship was my favorite part of this movie, so love that this focuses on that as much as on the romance. Such a cute song!

Northwest Passage (For All Mankind): If I have one takeaway from FV this year, it's that I need to watch For All Mankind! This space-camp-going due South fan definitely cried a little about this song choice and the epic spacefaring; might be obsessed with Molly just from the two vids I've seen about her.

סיפור הגולם  (The Golem and the Jinni): I haven't read the book yet, but this is a STUNNING example of what you can do with a non-visual source. It's such a love letter to a time and place, too!

How to make a perfect Hanukkah movie... (Hallmark Hanukkah Movies): SO funny. I've only seen one Hallmark Hanukkah movie but you absolutely get the vibe with or without having watched all of them.

I Like That (Janelle Monae RPF): Unapologetically queer and self-loving.

'Til You Hit a Nerve (Knives Out): Great combination of the two films, and the climactic build on "I can't miss" rules.

By Way of Sorrow (Les Mis): I am weak for a Les Mis vid and this one crafts such a wonderful, heartbreaking narrative about all the secret sacrifices and suffering that Cosette's parents went through! Makes me cry like a baby.

Everybody Talks (Much Ado About Nothing): This was a great year for Shakespeare vids. This is my favorite play and I love the combination of all the productions and all the great comedic beats.

No Smoke Without Fire (Poker Face): Cool, funny vid. This song is a TERRIFIC vibe for Poker Face.

Wavin' Flag (Ponyo): All the Ponyo vids were so much fun (and I loved the love for Lisa this year), but this one really warmed my heart.

magnetic (Romeo + Juliet): Super captivating and energetic tribute to Mercutio! Harold Perrineau just killed it in this movie.

Tusk (SIlence of the Lambs): Amazing character study of goddamn hero Clarice Starling.

A Better Son & Waiting for Somebody (Sports Night): Okay, I cheated! You think I'm going to pick one vid about love of my life Dan Rydell?

Ángel (Tár): A precise and chilling vid about my favorite film of 2022. The accent on the vid title is the perfect coup de grace!

Blood in the Cut (Taskmaster RPF): Yessssss weird Alex Horne vids.

King (The Woman King): Was so hoping for vids to this source and this one is just a blast. Great song choice.

[daechwitatamic]

When did you become ARMY? and has Tae always been your bias?

AH, hello! You'd like my villain origin story, hm?

I guess I'll use a read more because I'm cursed by the inability to EVER shut up.

So back in 2020-2021 someone that I've been friends with for over 10 years and follow on tumblr became army. She was posting tons and tons of giftsets and vids every day as she began to work her way through the content. I didn't pay much attention at first but as the moths passed I somehow eventually started playing a little game with myself called "Is Jungkook in this/Can you find Jungkook" because that was her bias at the time and I only knew his name.

Somehow this expanded to one or two other members (I wanna say Jimin and Joon?) and it was just my private little game with myself when she would post.

I can tell you the exact moment I actually paid attention - she posted gifs of this moment:

I remember DISTINCTLY sitting up like wait, they're actually good/talented???

We got to the point where Dynamite was out and I'll be honest, I didn't really like it and I still don't. But after this moment I thought okay maybe I'm missing something.

So the summer of 2021 I dm'ed her and said, "Hey, want to rec me some BTS songs? My playlist feels stale."

She sent me Mic Drop (steve's version lol), Fake Love, and Truth Untold and I loved all three (they still remain among my top faves!). I asked for a few more. So on it went until I'd listened to the whole discography lol. Eventually she sent me like a list of their discography and I would watch the lyric video that lights up who's singing so I could 1) know what the lyrics were about and 2) kind of learn their voices. If I liked a song when I listened to the lyric video, I threw it in a giant playlist on Spotify. I ended up with uhhhhhhhh a lot of songs lol.

I also watched Run BTS from episode one all the way through during that summer. I watched Bon Voyage 1, 3, and 4 and watched 2 together with her later in the fall.

We went together to PTD LA (I flew from the east coast lol someone save jo) that December and saw Coldtan :')

The following March I started reading and writing ff and made this account :')

Anyway, was Taehyung my first bias - yes!! The first moment I was like "oh THAT ONE" was she had sent me a compilation of Taehyung saying insane shit with a straight face and I got to "that's the eyeliner" and had to pause to collect myself because him!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I also saw a gif from this moment (hi maggie lol) and I remember being like WAIT HOLLUP WHO IS THAT? ONE OF THE MEMBERS LOOKS LIKE THAT? WHO IS IT? and it was cemented. I alsoooooo remember DISTINCTLY losing my shit the first time I listened to Singularity because HIS VOICE!!!!! HIS VOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DEEPER THAN THE OCEAN IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT TO DROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway ahem we're all normal here.

However it was MAYBE only two weeks after Taehyung claimed me that I dm'ed her again like, "Why does my brain suddenly love Suga?" and she was like "I was waiting for that" and for the majority of my army time I have really considered myself a double-bias, at times feeling like maybe I was a Yoongi-ult but these days the taehyung chokehold is stronger, I'm afraid. At PTD LA Yoongi came to our corner of the stage in a leather jacket during soundcheck and I'm telling u I ascended I was not on this planet anymore i did not breathe air until he was gone again afjheaiufqiughijg

THEN of course Mr. Kim Namjoon had to absolute wreck my shit in the Indigo era and took over my entire existence SIGH.

So, idk. These days I feel like a Tae-ult with Yoongi wrecker and Joon wrecker-wrecker? But ot7 are soooo special and wonderful and amazing, like truly the universe aligned to take these seven more extraordinary humans and put them together!! Like?! they're so special, i love them a lot fr :')

ANYWAY did you learn to never ask me anything because I will talk until I die?! love you anon have a wonderful fridayyyyyyyy <3

[celestial-sapphicss]

2023 Recap - Songs from (QL) Dramas

thank you for tagging me @tenprem!!! <3<3<3<3 this is completely going to expose me for the GMMTV sinkhole that i'm in but it's what it's skskskkskssk

You Can Always Trust Me - Laws of Attraction

JamFilm were such a revelation to me this year and this song just gorgeous <3

Sunset - Dangerous Romance

Honestly Wind and Here with You are also my top faves from this OST!

Better Days - Last Twilight

HAS ME IN A FUCKING TRANCE CAN YOU EVEN BLAME ME

Come Closer, City and Once Upon a Time - My School President

I can't talk enough about my most beloved boys and what a wonderful OST this show has <3

The Moon Represents My Heart and Tomorrow - Moonlight Chicken

literal tears in my eyes when i listen to these songs for obvious reasons

Only One and Living for You - Never Let Me Go

the music in both of these songs is just so dear to me!!!

Special Mention:

I'm Not Boring, You're Just Bored (Tilly Birds) - Only Friends (Pilot Trailer)

Stand by Lor (New Country) - My School President (Prom Night Live on Stage)

tagging anyone who wants to do this <3

[pegasusdrawnchariots]

2024 book ask game - 2, 5, 15, 17 :)

HELLO 💙

2. What upcoming releases are you most excited to read?

The sequel to Jasper Fforde's sci-fi novel "Shades of Grey", called "Red Side Story", is FINALLY COMING OUT 14 years after the first book.

From his site lmao:

5. Any reading habits you want to cultivate/get rid of this year?

Yes, I want to learn how to finish books! My "partly read" pile... it scares me... If I can empty it this year, I'll be happy. This isn't rlly a habit but I've also realised that I actually looove reading books aloud, partly bc it helps me understand them better & partly bc it's fun, so I'd like to join a storytime group like that or maybe just record my fave books for myself in audiobook form :)

15. A book you think would make a wonderful gift.

Gift to others? "Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino bc it's full of tiny stories that weave into something beautiful + it has arresting imagery imo. Makes it very easy to read if u don't want to commit to a whole new book bc every page is rewarding <3 Also helps that it's my fave book (or at least top 3)

Gift to me? Facing translations, especially of epic poems! I'm trying to collect all of them lol but I only have Beowulf & the Song of Roland in facing translations so far. Rllyyy want the Kalevala or the Odyssey 💙 ALSO "A Book of Noises: Notes on the Auraculous", which is a collection of essays on sounds of the world, full of commentary of how other poets & writers have described them as well as an analysis of the legacy & profile of the sound :) I guess that one could also be a nice gift for someone else!!

17. Are you planning on starting any new series this year? Do you prefer completed or ongoing works?

I rlly want to start the Skulduggery Pleasant series, I've been meaning to for many years lol. Mostly, there are series I've started & want to continue/finish, such as the Dirk Gently books & the Illuminae series. & I generally prefer completed ones but I drag my feet so much abt reading series that even if I start an incomplete one, it'll probably be done by the time I catch up to the author 😅

Thank u for sending these in! 💐 They were v fun :)

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

@karatecaulfield HEY CMERE GUESS WHO I MADE A PLAYLIST

Tfw the YasMoon playlist I've been cultivating for a few months is the longest fandom playlist I've ever made, like...SIGNIFICANTLY longer than playlists for OTPs I've had for literal years O______O Lesbian hyperfixations go HARD, amirite???

Maybe it's because Spotify has a disproportionate number of songs about angsty/dysfunctional sapphic relationships akajdhousvigy

Kinda hope this keeps being the case though, because it's really funny. Inb4 I end up with like 100 songs on my YasMoon playlist and the rest of my fandom playlists top at like...60-something XD I'm unfortunately VERY deep in the "hears any love song on the radio and proclaims 'THIS IS YASMOON!'" phase, so uh...Imma probably keep adding songs at what's FAR from a reasonable rate.

ALSO I love being able to be like "check out my two Cobra Kai OTPs, the karate byfriends and the staunchly-refuse-to-do-karate girlfriends!!!" It's about that d i c h o t o m y XD The contrast!!! The parallels!!! The character foils!!! The pure, sweet irony!!!

So I went into this moodboard knowing my fave songs on here were gonna be like. WAY too obscure to have little lyric edits for them, so I just made my own again!!! Now that I'm actually confident doing that, I might be subjecting y'all to that way more often XD Here are the songs, if you're wondering: 1. Poker Face - Lady Gaga (has a ficlet here!!!) 2. American Dream - Baby Queen (no ficlets/moodboards/other content for this one yet, but mark my words, it will happen. I love this song for them too much :O) 3. Chronic - Phoebe Ryan (has a ficlet as well!!!) 4. Slow Dancing - Aly & AJ and Hazel English (ficlet here!)

Also open to any potential song suggestions, or to talk about my picks more!!! Additionally, I have been feeling, uh. VERY Unwell lately obsessing over potentially writing YasMoon songfics ^^; I've refrained so far (becaus GOD GIRL GET YOUR WIPS UNDER CONTROL), but my resolve is crumbling. I might make a silly little poll about them, because there is a horrible, horrible itch within me that I do not think I will scratch until I pluck a song out of here and turn it into a YasMoon one-shot D:

(I also haven't written proper CK fic in so longggggg because the fandom kinda yeeted D: Hopefully I can find at least a handful of readers for the onslaught of yasmoon fic y'all will eventually be subjected to lmao)

Used a pink and yellow/gold color scheme for them here because that combo never doesn't slap for them, tbh. Like GOD, am I ever a SLUT for aesthetically pleasing color motifs :O And pink and yellow always hits with the girls!!! Also love the shameless, cheery hyperfemininity of it all. No broody, emotionless grays and blacks to be found here!!! Only bright, eye-hurting your average dudebro would not be caught dead in :)

As always, pic credits available upon request!

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (30 Jul-5 Aug 2023)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Contractual Obligations: A Love Story in Three Traffic Lights (shaenie) - 56K, White Collar threesome, getting together - I loved all the backstory of how Peter & El had been chasing/wooing Neal all along (and the crimes everyone committed along the way)

😍 some sweet violent urge series (voxofthevoid) - 42K, Avengers WS Bucky/modern Steve - roommates to lovers with a D/s vibe - incredibly romantic & tender and also absolutely filthy [reread of pts 1&2, new pt3]

💖💖 +187K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

The Gold of Your Body (azephirin) - The Old Guard: Kaysanova, 11K - sometimes devout Catholicism leads to kink discovery

just to see each other (feel it all) (susiecarter) - Top Gun: Maverick/Iceman, 35K - absolutely loved this Pacific Rim AU

fish in the sky (alby_mangroves, chaosmanor) - MCU: stucky, 37K - incredibly gentle and warm story of Steve going to the Stark Family Farm for a forced vacation and meeting the mysterious Russian caretaker, James. I really don't have the words to describe how wonderful this fic is, except that it will make you laugh and maybe cry and leave you as healed as Steve. And also you will want to eat a lot of cheese. This is one of those forever faves that I have bookmarked AND downloaded and saved on every device [reread]

like a monument to desperation, two floors high (greatunironic) - Stranger Things: steddie, 6K - from the 'the most remarkable thing' universe, showing us the reason rock star Eddie & his boyfriend (World's Sexiest Guidance Counselor) were banned for life from the Getty

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Game Changer - s1, e1-3, 5

Make Some Noise - s1, e1, 9

Um, Actually - s8, e10

Good Omens - s2, e6

Harley Quinn - s4, e1-4

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

50 Years of Hip-Hop - 1994: "Stress" by Organized Konfusion

Re: Dracula - July 30: Last Night

What Next: TBD Plus - America’s Downtown Ghost Towns

⭐ Desert Island Discs - Stanley Tucci, actor

50 Years of Hip-Hop - 1997: PaRappa the Rapper

50 Years of Hip-Hop - 2000: The Soulquarians

Rivals: Music's Greatest Feuds - Mike Love vs. Brian Wilson: Beach Brawl

The Soundtrack Show - Korngold and Warner Brothers: the Sound of Hollywood Film Scores

The Sporkful - Tommy Pico’s Food History Wasn’t Lost. It Was Stolen.

50 MPH - 8 MPH / Next Action Hero

Food 4 Thot - Like a Virgin

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Bone Vinyl

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Good Omens

Re: Dracula - August 1: That's What it Be

Switched on Pop - Your cursive singing is tearing this family apart!

Into It - #FreeBritney’s Dark Turn

Stuff The British Stole - The Girl Called Pocahontas

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Heating things up in Hatch

⭐ 99% Invisible #547 - Cooking with Gas

Vibe Check - Beam Me Up, Scotty

Re: Dracula - August 2: One More Gone

Ologies with Alie Ward - Neurotechnology (AI + BRAIN TECH) with Nita Farahany

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Dmanisi

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - Jacko Steps

Decoder Ring Plus - The Quest for a Homemade Hovercraft

Re: Dracula - August 3: I Know the Secret Now

Song Exploder - Local Natives "Dark Days"

Welcome to Night Vale #231 - The Terminal

50 Years of Hip-Hop - 1989: "Cha Cha Cha" by MC Lyte

50 Years of Hip-Hop - 2001: The Rivalry Between Jay-Z and Nas

50 Years of Hip-Hop - 2002: "Work It" by Missy Elliott

50 Years of Hip-Hop - 2003: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by Outkast

The Waves Plus - Hollywood is On Strike. Let’s Burn it Down.

⭐ Into It - What Is Going On With Lizzo?

Pop Culture Happy Hour - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles And What's Making Us Happy

Re: Dracula - August 4: The Mate was Right

Dear Prudence Plus - My Sister Is Doing Everything She Can to Make Me Suffer at Her Wedding. Help!

⭐ What Next: TBD Plus - Tesla's Big Lie

⭐ Endless Thread - PARKS! Pt. 1: Social media gone 'wild'

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Birth of the Slow Jam

Sweaty EDM Workout

My Mix #5 (Metal)

Paul Simon Radio • 1980s

Leo Moracchioli

Hall and Oates Radio • Upbeat

The Loveliest Time [Carly Rae Jepsen] {2023}

Carly Rae Jepsen

[septembersghost]

this might be a big ask so it's okay if you can't answer it, but I was wondering if you could help me narrow down some old music to listen to, esp Frank Sinatra and Elvis since I think you have knowledge/reference with both of them? I'm interested in exploring things but there's A LOT and idk where to begin!

i love that you asked this, it's well-established that nothing in the world makes me happier than recommending/sharing music that is special to me, of any kind and from any time! it definitely is a LOT of content to take in, and hard to sort where to look because there's not only so much work across their catalogs, there are also all the compilation albums. if you have apple music, a simpler way to start is the essentials playlists, they don't include everything that i would myself, but they're good overviews! (ep, fs). and i'll use spotify links on these for you in case you have that instead <3

there are such a vast amount of individual songs that it's difficult to choose exactly where to point you!

with frank, first of all, nice 'n' easy is one of my favorite albums of all-time. like it's at the top of my list with red and rumours for Albums Needed to Understand Me. i think the best overview of his earlier years (when he was signed to capitol records, before he formed his own label, reprise), is this one. songs for swingin' lovers, in the wee small hours, and come fly with me are also fabulous. ring-a-ding-ding is so much fun. for an overview of his later career and the reprise years, nothing but the best has some great songs!

with elvis, i am actually doing whole album explorations myself! i've basically just always had a bunch of hits in my collection rather than full records. and my fave songs feel so obvious (can't help falling in love, love me tender, suspicious minds, fever, always on my mind, a little less conversation, i'm coming home, there's always me, it's now or never, that's all right, are you lonesome tonight, baby let's play house, surrender, burning love, that's all right...). the album if i can dream that they remastered/recorded with the royal philharmonic is absolutely gorgeous. this one is a collection of #1's, there's the recording of the '68 comeback special, something for everybody and from elvis in memphis are great.

i'd also highly recommend looking into ella fitzgerald if you like frank's music, because she's wonderful too. the industry was structured differently then - i used to have a wider breadth of knowledge that i could tell you about all of this, it's faded out of my head over the years, but you'll find many of the same songs recorded by different artists because songwriting and vocalists weren't quite as personally interconnected as they are now, and popular music was very much comprised of the songbook standards, so artists would essentially license songs from a given writer and put their own spin on them, rather than all releasing their own individual things. (this is notable, for example, with elvis and hound dog, which often is erroneously criticized. big mama thornton did record her rendition first, but the song was created by and belonged to two jewish songwriters, jerry leiber and mike stoller. it had already been covered multiple times (including by a white vocal group, which was how he encountered it initially) when elvis heard it, liked it, and chose to adapt/record it. (i searched around for info for you and there's more informed elaboration on that here!) a rich legacy of american music from the earlier crooners and jazz artists lies with jewish composers, both on radio and on broadway (and at the time, those often overlapped), so you'll find many of the singers recorded gershwin, irving berlin, lorenz hart, rodgers and hammerstein, sammy cahn, frank loesser, etc. and then there were other prominent writers like the incomparable cole porter (who has been covered sensationally by lady gaga and tony bennett!), johnny mercer, etc. then elvis was very inspired by and had immense respect for black artists/writers, r&b and gospel, so you get an infusion of all of those backgrounds and influences. (frank and elvis were both very openly supportive of artists of color around them and tried to help open doors, as marilyn famously did for ella as well. it was such a complex time, and i think it's important to keep those aspects in mind and remember the many voices and legacies that were playing their parts!) both of those men (and bing crosby, who helped pioneer the single, among other things), and their many contemporaries, transformed music as a whole, and that still resonates powerfully to this day, even in places where we might not realize it.

i hope this helps a little! 💗 the best thing you can do, honestly, is just dive in and explore, you're guaranteed to find gems and specific songs you love, and there's so much to spend time with and to enjoy.

[we-return-in-waves]

10, 15, 20, 29 for ao3 wrapped o.o

sdfhfdkgh i wish i knew who you were my beloved anon <3

answers below the cut xoxo

10. What work was the quickest to write?

spoken words by a landslide. i've talked about this before, but that fic, start to finish, maybe took me 5 - 6 hours at most. i had exactly one scene marinating in my head with no contect for a month ("Lee comes to Sunagakure, and Gaara comes to him in the dead of night." and associated like... four lines) and i was like hey uh brain what do with this? then one sunday i brained the summary text, took a nap, woke back up, and wrote the entire fic in one go. what you see on the archive is essentially it, i sat on it for two days looking for edits and just didn't feel like it needed any. one and done babey!

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

god there's SO MANY HELP. but with exclusively wips i've actually done work for, here's the list: from these bones, untethered, my insidious au, sing a song of sleeptide, a fluffy 5+1 things about sleeping together, The Grapes of Debauchery, another explicit comedy fic about drunken shenanigans, if it's the last night of your life, a one-night-stand-has-results fic, and my untitled enemies to lovers longfic based on the video game ghost of tsushima.

20. Which work of yours have you reread the most?

skfhdkgh We Don't Talk About Fight Club for sheer volume of editing, i think. there was a point where it's the only wip i looked at, every single day, for months. i probably put more work into that fic than i did my master's thesis. i've probably read it over a hundred times and that's not an exaggeration, i can probably recite parts of it. i still reread it occasionally, i'm very proud it (plus like. art. pls, how can u not just keep looking???)

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

how dare u ask me to Pick One. i cannot do this, instead u are getting several of my faves. rekt

from spoken words:

Lee is brave. But Lee is not fearless.

no ok so like there's a LOT of lines in spoken words that i think smash it out of the ballpark and deserve line-of-the-year status, but this one is special because it beautifully encapsulates lee's entire character in under 10 words. the brevity! i will never be so concise ever again

from sailing stones

“You – you do not find me unattractive, like this?” Lee whispered. I have never once thought you anything but beautiful, Gaara thought to himself. For a moment, they remained, suspended in time, the world blurring to nothing around them. Gaara brushed his lips over Lee’s, once. Twice. Chakra crackled, electric in the space between them. “Gaara…?” And Lee, the paragon of formality, breathed his name with no honorific, so low Gaara wondered if he’d imagined it on an exhale, and the moment was so intimate it bordered on painful, tipping them both over a precipice across which there would never be any return.

ok so this was one of those bits where i wrote that last line, looked at it, announced out loud, "fuck yeah, i wrote that," then proceeded to treat myself to oreos. i fully stand by this today. sailing stones my first child, i love u dearly and will edit u soon, but this piece won't be touched. i feel like it captures the feeling of the whole fic exactly how i wanted it to.

from We Don't Talk About Fight Club (length warning but it's all short lines)

“So… you did fuck,” Naruto said gleefully. “Who topped?” “Naruto!” Sakura stage-whispered, appalled. “What? I always thought Bushy Brow kinda had like, bottom energy, ya know?” Sai’s face went suddenly curious, and he pulled out a notebook from seemingly nowhere in an action that reminded Kankurō creepily of Lee. He asked, weirdly polite, “Is this ‘bottom energy’ a mutually recognisable feeling between those with a proclivity towards that position? Because Sasuke is always the penetrating partner when you two fuck, Naruto.” Hot damn. The table went eerily silent again. Naruto inhaled his water and came up sputtering. “That… how the fuck do you—no. No. We’re talking about Gaara and Bushy Brow right now! Anyway, Gaara?” “That…” Gaara said sedately, returning to his lunch, his sand silent, all his composure returned, “is not your business.” Kankurō filed away that tidbit of information to snicker at later, returning to focus on his brother. Gaara wasn’t tall enough to bone someone on a kitchen table comfortably, and now that he thought about it, that crater on Lee’s kitchen table looked a lot like a handprint… “Please at least tell me you were responsible and used protection,” Temari asked, one hand rubbing her temple like she was in pain. … Gaara had been walking slow all day, had barely moved in his seat, and he’d definitely winced at least once this morning… The answering silence told everyone far, far too much. …oh man… “Gaara!” Temari scolded. …his little brother… “I mean, does it matter? Sai confirmed they both have dicks, they probably can’t knock each other up,” Naruto said, still laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes now. …Gaara of the Desert… “You can still. Get. Herpes!” Sakura shrieked. …the Kazekage of Sunagakure… Naruto looked at her, skeptical. “If Bushy Brow has herpes, I’ll eat Gaara’s Kage hat. You think he’s actually piped anyone before?” …had let a foreign ninja… Temari choked on her tea. …had let fucking Rock Lee… “Oh my gods, Naruto, I’m making you sit through Sex Ed again, did you learn nothing!?” …green jumpsuit enthusiast Rock Lee… “Hey, at least the lube we gave him for his last birthday would have come in handy!” Naruto chortled, completely ignoring his teammate. …bowlcut Rock Lee… Sakura sighed. “I’m sorry to ask this,” she said to Gaara, “but as a medic… please tell me whatever lubricant you used was sealed in a white tube with a yellow label? If it was, that’s the one we got him , and it wouldn’t be expired, since that was only a few months ago.” …who wore orange fucking legwarmers... Gaara nodded to her. She nodded back, as pink as her hair. …rail him over a kitchen table. That was so fucking funny he was going to shit—

ok so this passage i think is the absolute most Chaotic Stupid piece in the whole megadong anime crackfic extravaganza and that's exactly the energy i wanted to convey. i loved writing from kankuro's pov because i basically use him to write from My POV so it's just dumbass hours all day, plus naruto is just an absolute meme in this fic and i love it. bonus points to me for including 1(one) brooklyn99 reference. i will never be this funny again i wasted all my life savings of comedy on this one fkcmdngnldgjd fic

and finally, from in the space between:

Pressed between their bodies in Gaara’s coat pocket, a pale jade ring, inlaid with a delicate, winding ribbon of Gaara’s chakra-infused sand, burns like a star.

not only does this line out me as have fiance fever because i was thinking about the ring im shopping around for when i wrote it, but also SOMFT, and i think it's the most stunning ending line i've written for it's simplicity, though in context it answers multiple questions and completely changes what the scene means when you read it again. and i will use it to end my really long answers! hope u enjoyed thank u for enabling me xoxo

ask me things, ao3 wrapped style

[cheeriosandwine]

I posted 3,082 times in 2022

145 posts created (5%)

2,937 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fanishjuli

@infinitevariety

@octoberspirit

@transaziraphale

@akinmytua2

I tagged 2,489 of my posts in 2022

Only 19% of my posts had no tags

#good omens - 1,782 posts

#q - 1,722 posts

#ofmd - 141 posts

#😍😍😍 - 106 posts

#awww - 98 posts

#nsft - 87 posts

#fic - 76 posts

#💜💜💜 - 72 posts

#aro - 52 posts

#fave - 47 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i love that when i start typing let them hug i'm presented with a tag w no exclamation points‚ two exclamation points‚ and this one w three

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Ace flag inspired nails! Click for better quality lol

[ID: Two images, one of each of my hands' nails. They are painted grey and purple, split evenly down the middle lengthwise. Over top they have a lacy floral pattern stamped on, and the pattern alternates between black and white on the nails. End ID]

51 notes - Posted September 19, 2022

#4

Me: I'm gonna write a new kink fic

Me: *writes angst that makes me sad*

Me: *writes heavy, emotional dialogue*

Me: *writes potentially unnecessary backstory with more feels*

Me: *writes fluff that's literally making me go awww*

I swear there's gonna be actual sex in this fic at some point, I have like three sex scenes planned 😅😬

54 notes - Posted November 12, 2022

#3

I wonder if Aziraphale or Crowley ever miss the music/songs they used to hear in long-gone eras - Mesopotamian, Roman, Medieval, etc. I wonder if Aziraphale has any ancient instruments stashed away or if Crowley ever miracles one up, just so they can hear some of those sounds again

64 notes - Posted March 31, 2022

#2

Okay but I'll never be over Aziraphale lifting his wing to cover Crowley's head and I'll never be over Crowley taking that first step to stand under his wing and I'll never be over these two extending that first bit of kindness and friendship towards each other, probably the first either of them has experienced

ahhhhhhhhhh

348 notes - Posted April 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Aro and ace nail designs I've done recently!! 💜💚

[ID: Two photos of my left hand's fingers curled to show off the nails. The first has an ombre design in the asexual flag colors with purple at the base, fading into white, gray, and black at the tips. The second is the aromantic flag painted in messy brush stokes horizontally across the nail, going from black at the base to gray, white, pale green, and dark green at the tips. There is a black cat sitting in the background of the second picture.]

366 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →