#Hyphen Magazine

[tllgrrl]

Lupita Nyong’o

photographed by Christian Cody for The Hollywood Reporter - 2021

[rosy2k]

CUTiE（キューティ） 2009

[agendabymooner]

mastermind ! max v. x ofc (hearth sister!ofc) - tltl series

"i laid the groundwork, and then saw a wide smirk on your face."

summary: it was either sylvie ford was oblivious, or she actually knew that the result of her blind date was his doing and hadn't had the heart to express her admiration towards his effort. nevertheless, their first australian gp was successful in a way. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)

content warning: use of explicit language, actions of people who are "just friends" mentioned, max verstappen is a scheming bastard and i love him your honour

note: i didn't do anything today so here's an update :) check out my previous works! i don't have much reblogs so you can literally just scroll down the blog and binge read hehe. enjoy xx

masterlist

THE FAST LANE DAILY

SYLVIE FORD AND MAX VERSTAPPEN SPARK DATING RUMORS AS FORMULA ONE SEASON BEGINS IN AUSTRALIA, INTRODUCING MARINARA FORD-VERSTAPPEN

The 2017 Formula One season kicked off in Australia with a thrilling display of speed and skill on the track. However, it was not just the racing action that captured attention. Supermodel Sylvie Ford, Red Bull Racing's communication coordinator, made a striking entrance, accompanied by her adorable miniature schnauzer puppy, Marinara. Little did she know that this furry companion would become a catalyst for dating rumors involving her and Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen.

As Sylvie graciously signed autographs for eager fans, all eyes turned to her and Verstappen. In a surprising twist, Verstappen called out for Marinara, prompting Sylvie to clarify that the pup was "ours," hinting at a shared ownership between the two. This revelation immediately sparked speculation about a romantic relationship, despite their insistence that they are just friends.

Adding fuel to the fire, Sylvie and Verstappen currently reside together in England and share the responsibility of raising Marinara. The fact that they live under the same roof and have a puppy together has led many to believe that their connection runs deeper than friendship.

Their close bond was further highlighted when Sylvie recently featured in Architectural Digest's Open House, offering a glimpse into their shared English abode. The magazine feature showcased a harmonious blend of their personal belongings, indicating joint ownership and decision-making.

In an unexpected twist, Marinara, the adorable pup, has taken on a hyphenated surname, becoming Marinara Ford-Verstappen. This development has only intensified speculation about the true nature of Sylvie and Verstappen's relationship. While they continue to deny any romantic involvement, the addition of a shared surname for their beloved pet suggests a deeper commitment between the Formula One duo.

As the 2017 Formula One season unfolds, fans and media alike will closely monitor Sylvie Ford and Max Verstappen, both on and off the track, eagerly awaiting any further hints about the nature of their relationship. Whether they are just friends or something more, the undeniable chemistry and shared experiences between Sylvie, Verstappen, and their adorable pup Marinara Ford-Verstappen continue to captivate the imagination of Formula One enthusiasts worldwide.

AUSTRALIAN GP 2017

Arriving at the Albert Park Circuit for the first round of the season wasn’t an easy feat for everyone. The same could be said for dogs. 

If Sylvie was being honest, she didn’t know how Lewis had done it with Roscoe. Sylvie was equally as busy and she didn’t want to waste any time away from Marinara. 

Max had expressed the same opinion about the miniature schnauzer, practically begging Sylvie to take the puppy along on their work trips and leave the dog to him whenever she would be out for fashion weeks and photoshoot gigs. 

As much as Sylvie wanted to bite back, “Fat chances, Max Emilian” she thought that it was only fair they would do that. Why have a caretaker when they could just spend money on supplies they’d need to get for Marinara’s traveling needs? So they never left Marinara at Buckinghamshire — nor have they left her at Tilly's house or under their Maman’s care — and brought the little puppy along.

Sylvie was one of the most prominent figures of Red Bull that would continue to make her presence known in the paddock and the tracks for the rest of the year, and because of her fame and image in public — many F1 fans came to embrace her presence as Red Bull’s feisty communications coordinator and would often ask for her signature. Who was she to say no? 

Her walk towards the Red Bull area came to last longer than five minutes, signing and taking photos with fans who wanted to brag about meeting the supermodel on the rise. Some of them had even asked her about her plans with her schedule this year. She was answering the questions and in the process was signing a kid’s cap, the puppy tried to drag her away as Marinara whined. The dog wasn’t happy with being restrained by a leash. Too bad, Sylvie told herself, she had her leash and harness made with a navy fabric full of Red Bull logos all over it. She even had the “Verstappen 33” imprinted on the side, indicating that she was Max’s best girl others from Sylvie herself.

Turning away from the kid for a moment, Sylvie found Marinara’s tail wagging as her little voice barked and cried for the person she was looking at. People stared and Sylvie found her cheeks burning in shame.

“Come, Mari!” The Dutchman grinned at the puppy, his arms outstretched as he crouched down at the puppy's level - few feet away from Sylvie and Marinara as the puppy whined.

Sylvie didn’t like it when Max was around— Marinara favoured Max at times that all she could do as of this point was let go of the leash, watching as Marinara’s little legs ran towards Max. Sylvie’s eyes narrowed as Max picked up the schnauzer and began to praise the puppy, “Good girl, Marinara. Gooood girl~”

“Is that your puppy?” Sylvie turned back to the fans as she smiled at the question, the burning on her cheeks long gone as she nodded.

“Ours,” Sylvie rolled her eyes playfully, “I feel like she’s gonna become more like Max’s if he continues to steal her from me.” 

She didn’t notice how the word ours rolled off her tongue so smoothly and how perfectly it sounded to everyone who had been rooting for Max and Sylvie. But everyone heard it perfectly well, and they were all certain that the media would have a field day running this story.

Max had picked her up from the entrance and they both made their way to the Red Bull area, Max still holding Marinara in one hand as he beamed and chatted with his best friend about this morning. 

“Did she actually wake up at two?” Max’s eyes widened at the news, peering down at the puppy. 

“You have a bad habit of waking up in the middle of the night to do some random shit— she really takes after you, Max,” Sylvie shook her head. 

“You just said she woke up to go potty,” Max gasped at the insinuation that Sylvie made as she smirked. The Dutchman scowled, “I do not.” 

“Charles says otherwise—“

“Leclerc needs to stop telling you shit that didn’t happen,” Sylvie tried to bite back her laughter as Max ranted, “you and him are bad together, you know that?” 

“We made good rivals in the track for a reason, lad,” Sylvie’s hand made its way to Max as she patted his cheek, Max’s face turning red at the contact as she cluelessly grinned, “It’s always the rivals that share the same energy. Also— do you mind watching Nara tonight?” 

“What- why?” Max returned to his conscious state after hearing her request. She doesn’t go out after work and none of her sisters were here.

Sylvie shrugged mindlessly, “Russell George has a friend he wants me to meet after the race. Said he’s here watching the race but… I do not know, truthfully. The bloke probably just wants me to go on a blind date.”

Max’s face turned red once more. But not because he was flustered, but rather he was annoyed and confused by her statement. Something told him he was jealous though but it wasn’t as if he’d admit that. 

“Oh,” he muttered quietly, “I’ll watch her.” 

“Thanks,” Sylvie grinned, “I haven’t been on a date for a while now so hopefully the poor bloke understands that.” 

“He’d be stupid if he didn’t,” Max rolled his eyes, this time his attitude was directed at the faceless fool. “He’s here today, you said?” 

“Yeah, George said he’s at the Mercedes hospitality,” Sylvie said, indifference showed how little she cared or knew about the man, “I’m making a quick trip there later to introduce Lewis and the others to Mari. I couldn’t seem to care much about finding the guy— since we are working and all.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Max murmured, a smile threatening to spread on his lips as he felt like he won all over again. 

Max: Who are you setting Sylvie up with???

George: Why 😕

Max: What, can’t a guy just ask?

George: It’s one of our acquaintances who did karting once. Remember Jack Madison?

Max: Gotcha.

George: Please don’t do something stupid.

Max: You know it ;)

Max: Sylvie’s going on a blind date with some Jack Madison tonight after the race. I don’t know who he is and I’m pretty sure none of us does. He’s a guest in Mercedes. Just giving you a heads up. 

Toto: Okay, thank you Max.

Max swung the door open, shushing Marinara as the puppy barked at whoever was at the front door at eleven in the evening. Turning back to the person, his eyes widened a little at the sight of an exasperated Sylvie, the straps of her heels on her hand as she gave him an annoyed look.

“The fool wanted to see me more often,” Sylvie didn’t look too happy at the news and Max clearly wasn’t any better. The woman continued, “He said he should come by to the races— he wasn’t even that subtle about free paddock passes, Max. Can you believe that idiot?” 

“Oh yikes,” Max cringed, feeling a furry body walk past him as he watched Marinara get picked up by Sylvie. “Do you want to stay in my room?” 

“My room’s next door,” Sylvie told him with a frown, as if she was asking if he just said that loudly. 

“But Mari’s bed and things are already in here,” Max told her with his own challenging brows before he grabbed the heels off her hand and said, “it takes a lot of time to put them back and forth and the heels on your hand tells me you’ve been walking too much. So?” 

Sylvie peered over his shoulder, looking at the barely creased sheets of his double bed. Then she looked down at the dog bowls next to the kitchenette and the leash and collar resting at the couch. Yeah, she really didn’t want to clean that up now.

“I guess,” Sylvie sighed, walking past Max after he stepped aside. Max swiftly grabbed onto the strap of her purse before hanging it on the rack. Hearing the door shut close behind Max, she placed Marinara down on the floor and asked, “Do you have some clothes to spare?” 

“Yeah, I even brought your makeup remover- it's in the bathroom,” Max said as he reached for his suitcase, pulling out a jumper and some plaid pajama pants before tossing them towards Sylvie’s direction. “I got some spare toothbrush, if you need it.”

“You are god sent, Max Emilian,” Sylvie sighed in relief, giving him a half hug before she entered and locked herself in the bathroom.

Max chuckled at the comment, not even feeling his face burn as he turned back and exclaimed, “Tell me something I don’t know, Sylv!”

“I hate you!” She yelled back.

“I said something I don’t know, not something that’s a lie!” 

He wanted to pat himself in the back, feeling proud about telling Toto about her date tonight. Lewis had approached Max after the race to let him know that Toto had spoken to Jack Madison and as if he was testing the waters, had told the boy that Sylvie could get him any paddock passes should he ask for it— he just needed to persuade the woman.

Jack was quite foolish for believing the man. It was even more foolish of him to negotiate with her by saying that she’d most likely see him more if she gave him some passes. 

Sylvie wasn’t that desperate to be in a relationship, after all. So with her turning him down, Max could only smile at himself as he made his way back to his side of the bed. 

Meanwhile, behind the bathroom door stood Sylvie, smirking lightly. She only chuckled to herself, feeling a little better knowing that Max was behind all of those troubles that managed to get her out of the blind date fast. 

She just wouldn’t tell him that she knew. It was more amusing that way

[theroyalsims]

GUS CATCHES ATTENTION OF SWANKY FASHION HOUSES

He's an engineer, self-made tycoon, and the dreamy boyfriend-cum-first-love of our Crown Princess Anya, but is he also the next face of luxury brand Draap?

Rumour has it that Gus has caught the attention of multiple luxury brands including Tartosan designer house Draap. The company is reportedly intent on getting the multi-hyphenated hunk to be the face of their next campaign. An industry source shares:

"There's been lots of offers for him ever since he and Anya went public. Suddenly, he's all everyone could talk about, and really, it's no surprise - he's incredibly handsome and he's got that rugged, manly look down to a T. Those piercing brown eyes, a jawline that could cut glass, and those darn dimples - he's 100% eye-candy material."

"People just want to see more of him, and that includes some really big names - like... I just learned today that G&D wants him for their underwear advert, but it's really Draap who's super intent on meeting with him and asking him to be the face of their new campaign for a new scent their launching."

Alas, it's said to be highly unlikely that he'll ever say "yes" to the offers, no matter how lucrative they may be. The source further spills:

"I honestly don't think he's considering any of them. He just wants to focus on his work, spend more time with Anya, and get out of everyone's way. As it is, he gets plenty of attention - too much, really, and he's well aware that anything he does will eventually affect Anya, so he's very, very careful to not do anything to harm her. Anya is his priority - period. He couldn't care less about being on a glossy magazine, and it's not like he needs more money, either."

Gus and Anya are reportedly laughing off his new celebrity status:

"They joke about it often, and they get a kick out of it. Just last week, they got invites to walk the red carpet at the Tartosan Film Festival - an event people would kill to get invites for. But, again, they don't need to be seen because they're happy and they have nothing to prove. " "Deep down, I think he hates all the attention, but he knows it can't be avoided. He used to be able to walk down the street, get a sandwich from a nearby stall, or have lunch at the park - now, he can't even get out of his office without being papped. But again, he's willing to deal with everything for Anya."

Sigh. All for the love of Anya. Where does one get a Gus these days?

[future-boi]

Get To Know Me Tag Game!

Thanks to @mythical-bookworm and @alex-a-fans for tagging me.

tbh this is just a song rec list LMAO [easier to open in a browser fyi]

1) Spell your name in songs

Y'all get two for the price of one cuz I couldn't decide if I wanted to go with all non-English songs or not.

The non-English songs are labeled with 🧋 in case you wanna avoid 🤪

Warning: Most of the songs in english have swear words so... just in case u got kids or ur strict parents around LMAO.

⚡️ F: Fighter Not a Lover

aro/ace people gonna love that shit ^ + no swear words

alt: fml u fucked me up

⚡️ U: URARA🧋

It translates to 'Oo-la-la', which I now realize is the magazine Biff was carrying around in the second movie... this was unintentional and the meaning of the song is very wholesome, trust me

alt: Upside Down

⚡️ T: this was a demo for this one song...

That one's like 50% f-bombs ^ i love it

alt: Toxic but its NOT Brittany, B*tch 💅

The most aggressive entry on this list

⚡️ U: Up Up and Away

The only f-bomb is in the second verse

alt: Unmei no Roulette Mawashite 🧋

'unmei' means 'destiny' so you know I had to include it

⚡️ R: Raining in Manila (half 🧋)

Couple of dudes just vibin' out in the studio, what's not to love?

alt: RAHHHH

^im convinced this is what suburbanites see in their nightmares

⚡️ E: Electricity (half 🧋)

alt: Extensyon

Both make up the most WHOLESOME entry in this

⚡️ -(hyphen): Hatid Sundo 🧋

Baby. Baby boi. Baby. vibes ^

alt: Hell to Sell

EVIL. vibes ^

🚫🧢 I have a problem with tonal whiplash. Did I cheat and use the hyphen to include the most wholesome and cute song right before pulling out the lowkey most scandalous song in the list? YES.

Just realized it doesn't work as well if you can't understand it, but trust me. I mean just listening to its vibes is enough 😩

⚡️ B: Balik Sa Umpisa 🧋

Any song that samples/remixes 'Stand By Me' is a W in my book.

alt: Bodybag

I'm just self-reporting at this point.

Ok the rest are very wholesome songs I swear

⚡️ O: Oretachi Rookies 🧋

alt: Oh, Imagine That

ok this one's tied for most wholesome in the list

⚡️ I: I/Me/Myself

gnc/nb people gonna love this shit ^

alt: I Really Like You

that was a struggle, R is the top pick to check out imo. E, O and I are the wholesome ones with no swear words if u care.

2) Why did you choose your URL?

Its based. ..off the song in the musical. I got back into the fandom because of the musical so I owe it that much. 'boi' sounds more gender-neutral than 'boy'

3) What is your middle name?

That's a secret!

4) If you could be any mythical creature, what would you be?

Shapeshifter.

5) Favorite color?

Purple. Lavender/Periwinkle specifically.

6) Song you love right now?

What? 🧋 The amount of crackhead energy, but genuine emotion... AND AESTHETIC. it was literally made for me LMAO Ken is so aggro but hes singing about not littering. like why is he so intimidating-- but i support the eco-friendly king. but fr the song is about waving ur flag with pride??? PRIDE???? and they look androgynous asf??? whats not to love

7) Top four fandoms? (Current Fandoms?)

Back to the Future

That's it

jk uhhh, Invincible

Thats it, dont wanna get into past fandoms rn

8) Tag nine people

mf u think i know 9 people??

im playin, lemme tag some cool people... not that u have to do this, i just wanted to bother u 🤪 but feel free to do it, i wanna hear other music 🥺🥺🥺

⚡️ @maxintime LOVE UR ART STYLE. BEEN TOO SHY TO BOTHER U THO 😭

⚡️ @jowritesfanfiction my inspo, my density, ILY. Im never shy bout bothering u in my posts HAVE U GOTTEN THE RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST ME YET 🤪🤪😭😭😭 ive tagged this mf in every other post istg

⚡️ @moth-makay ur great frfr 😭😭 all the hugs. r u gonna post more art??? cuz u shouuuld 🥺

⚡️ @bttf-dork ur name and pfp give comfy vibes??? its very endearing. dunno how to describe it, but i like seeing u in my notifs 🥰 bUT UR ART DOHHH. immaculate. underrated.

⚡️ @pepsifox88 i hope u continue to cook ✨ everyone go and GIVE THEM SUPPORT, I AM NO LONGER ASKING

and to the rest of u, thank u for liking a bunch of my work, whenever i see long lists of likes like that, or if i see ur name often 'nuff, i always notice 😇, i never know how to say thank you!!

@leftoverspagehhti

@karorurodriguez

@epikprinc

@mapleflavedpepperoni

@xmaster3000

@jayisnotdrawing

@jackofthecards

@ectojester

@cat0marble

Didn't include everyone, but just know that i noticed you!!! 💝

watch me get reported for harassment by all these people 😂

[familyabolisher]

In “Professing Criticism,” Guillory concludes an essay titled “On the Permanent Crisis of Graduate Education” by pointing to the rise of venues that accommodate the kinds of criticism that the university cannot. “These are sites (for the most part) of intellectual exchange on the internet, new versions of ‘little magazines,’ such as n+1, or of journals such as The Point, as well as the now vast proliferation of blogs on cultural matters, some of which host high-level exchanges,” he writes. “Such sites disclose the widespread desire for an engagement with literature and culture that is more serious than the habits of mass consumption and that demands new genres and forms of discourse.” He does not develop the point further. Yet one suspects, given what such magazines and blogs can afford to pay, that any prospective contributor will have to hold a job, or several. Here one catches a sudden glimpse of a future in which the Scholar-Critic kaleidoscopes into many hyphenated identities: the Critic-Copy Editor, the Critic-Community Organizer, the Critic-Assistant, the Critic-Amazon Warehouse Associate-Uber Driver. (I leave to one side the Critic of Independent Means and the Critic Who Married Into Money.)

This new kind of critic may write for one of the magazines that Guillory names. But there’s no reason to restrict ourselves to such venues. It is not unusual to stumble upon an essay on Goodreads or Substack that is just as perceptive as academic or journalistic essays, which, no matter how many rounds of revision they undergo, reflect the déformation professionnelle of their respective spheres. Nor should we limit the domain of criticism to writing. Anyone who has taught students knows that the best critiques are often produced in the classroom, through conversations in which one is trying to demonstrate how a poem or a novel works to many different readers, few of whom aspire to write or to join the professoriat.

Early in “Professing Criticism,” Guillory writes that I. A. Richards regarded criticism “as a practice in which every reader of literature was engaged.” But a different proposition presents itself: If everybody is a critic, then no one is. The idea recalls Guillory’s ending to “Cultural Capital,” in which he walks his reader through a thought experiment that Karl Marx undertook in “The German Ideology.” Under the communist organization of society, Marx speculates, eliminating the division of labor will also eliminate the distinction that accrues to artists—writers, painters, sculptors, composers, actors, critics, and other producers of “unique labors.” The utopian horizon of aesthetic production is the disappearance of the painter, the writer, the actor, the composer, and the critic—or, rather, the disappearance of painting, writing, and so on as autonomous domains. In this world, there would be no professional critics, only people who engage in criticism as one activity among many.

“Cultural producers would still compete to have their products read, studied, looked at, heard, lived in, sung, worn, and would still accumulate cultural capital in the form of ‘prestige’ or fame,” Guillory writes. But it would not matter whether you published criticism in the form of a Goodreads review or a magazine article; whether criticism was transmitted through the written word or the spoken one, in the form of podcasts or public lectures; whether the object of criticism was a novel, a film, a show, a song, a dance, a painting, a dress. All that would matter would be the logic of the critic’s thought, the pleasure of her style, the persuasiveness of her judgments, and the education imparted through her words. The result would be to liberate criticism from the institutions of the materially advantaged, allowing it to overflow into the activities of daily life.

[omniversecomicsguide]

Clash of the hyphens!

I swear blind this was from a feature in Wizard Magazine, but I can’t find the issue. Anyone remember?

Featured art:

‘Lion-O vs He-Man’ by Ed McGuinness

[zined3sign]

☆FAQ - ZineDesign☆

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

𝓦𝓱𝓸 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾?

We’re a student-led, zine-publication club based in Connecticut. Our mission is to celebrate our campus community, amplify marginalized voices, and share our love for intersectional passions while exploring the art of zine-making.

Check out our Linktr.ee to connect with us on Insta and learn more!

⒪⒰⒭ ⒨⒤⒮⒮⒤⒪⒩

We are a student-led organization made up of multi-passionate and multi-hyphenated individuals! Zine Design was created because we noticed that in our particular campus community, we were lacking two essential things: pride in our community and an outlet for creatives with so much to offer. It is our mission to remedy both of these issues by utilizing the unique intersections that a college community allows us to be a part of!

𝖂𝖍𝖊𝖓/𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖉𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖒𝖊𝖊𝖙?

We meet biweekly (every other Friday) in the Communication Building rom 103 from 3-5pm! Stop by whenever you can :)

Wₕₐₜ ᵢₛ ₐ Zᵢₙₑ?

A Zine is not exactly a magazine, and it's not exactly a newspaper either. Our zine is going to be a semester-long collection of the best things our campus community has to offer. We want to have a section dedicated to cheap and delicious dorm recipes, a section dedicated to celebrating and advertising events happening in Willi and on campus, a section dedicated to displaying the amazing artists at our school, but most of all, we will dedicate the entire zine to what YOU want to see. We will open submissions soon to be a part of the action, so stay tuned!

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?

"Zine" is short for magazine, so it's technically pronounced like "zeen", but for our specific naming purposes it is pronounced like "sign", but with more of a "z" sound.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

[maconthepen]

The full name I was born with had eight syllables. Six of those syllables came from my mothers: three from the mother who birthed me and three from the mother who raised me. An even spread. When it changed, I was too young to know the meaning of a name. I was so young when it left me that I can’t remember the sound of it leaving anyone’s lips. But I remember the green, green eyes of the woman who gave it to me. 

Or maybe I don’t. Maybe I just saw her in a photograph once. Maybe I saw her in the mirror. I look so like her that it sometimes inspires an uncomfortable double-take from those who knew her. 

My second name resulted from a quarrel, the sort only parents can have. It slashed my surname from three syllables to one, axed the mother who birthed me in favour of the name of the man who would give me up not three years later. Letting that name past my lips was to let slip a bright balloon, to watch it deflate, to see it fall down and down, endlessly down, until it landed on the ground in silence. I don’t have any photos of the man whose name I shared for six years. I don’t remember him at all, except as a vague apparition that once walked away from me in a courtyard while I stood surrounded by basket grass and wilting agapanthuses. The sky was grey, and I’d refused to put on a jacket.

My third name replenished the lost syllables. It was a name borne from love, a promise from the woman I once called mum mum mum while she had no intentions of being one, while she was still in mourning for my birth mother. It was a sturdy name, as hearty as a good winter stew. I still have it, but now I’ve given it to my fourth name, a hyphenated compromise that still sits awkwardly on my tongue. You see, it’s two syllables bigger, and I’m not used to having more than I was born with. 

Today, I have a fifth name to put down on paper, hopefully in a magazine or on the cover of a novel. It’s short; a writer’s name cast from the mould of writer’s tradition. It’s androgynous, ambiguous and anonymous, and in it are the three syllables of my original surname. It reminds me of green eyes, almost-black hair, and the tartan carpet of the pub that hosted my first mother’s wake.  

When I look at it, I know exactly who I am. 

[doevademe]

PROMPT. Emmy's friends crushing on dilf Percy cause ofc he doesn't look his age and is too charming and clueless for his own good as usual. 😂

P.s when i propose this I do it out of hilarity I understand if you find the promt unsettling.

"Dad, I'm home!" Emilia called. Behind her were her friends Erica, Mark and Jules.

"Hey sweety, did you end up bringing your friends?" Her dad asked from the kitchen.

Emilia sighed.

"Yeah I did... are you cooking?" She asked, halfway between curious and aprehensive. She wasn't offering her friends buttered noodles or omelettes for dinner.

If Asher wasn't on his stupid school excursion and their papa away on a mission, it wouldn't need to come to this.

"Nah, just looking for a snack in the fridge," he said, closing the door to the fridge. "I'll order some Thai for all of us later."

Her friends peeked curiously. It was the first time they came to her house.

She heard Jules gasp as they stared at the kitchen. Emilia looked back, only to see her three friends staring at her dad.

"Oh, hey there!" Her dad greeted, giving that smile that always seemed a bit too friendly to Emilia. "You must be Emmy's friends. Erica, Jules and... wow Mark, you've grown since I last saw you!"

Mark blushed and looked down giving a 'meep'.

Emilia's eyes widened.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr di Angelo-Jackson," Erica said, smiling timidly.

Erica. The girl who once punched someone for embarrassing her crush. Acting demure and shy.

"Just Jackson, actually." Percy laughed. "But Percy is also fine."

"Papa is Italian," she explained quickly before they got the wrong idea. "Italians don't take their spouses' last names."

"And he wouldn't let me either," Percy said, grinning.

"But... your last name is hyphenated, Emilia," Jules pointed out.

"Because I'm the daughter of both of them," she explained. "Now, let's go, we need to start that group project!"

She practically shoved them towards her room, while her dad, oblivious as always just waved at them.

"Good luck!" He called, and Emilia swore she heard her friends swoon.

"What the hell?" She asked once the door was closed.

"Mark, why didn't you tell us Emilia's dad was hot?" Erica demanded, grabiing Mark by his shoulders.

"I last saw him when I was like 7! I wasn't paying attention to boys at that age, much less men!" Mark said, defending himself.

"And what a man!" Jules gushed, hugging one of Emilia's pillows against their chest.

Emilia felt like she was going to puke.

"Ew, guys! You're talking about my dad!" She said, glad her papa had soundproffed her room. "My happily married dad!"

"Emmy, you know I prefer women," Erica said seriously. "You know that, like, only one in three million men will hold my attention. Well, your dad is one in three million."

Emilia covered her ears and started chanting. She was not going to hear this!

"And you tell me he's over 40?" Jules asked Mark, who nodded. "Wouldn't put him a day past 30!"

"That's still too old for you!" Emilia shouted. "Stop talking about him!"

"So? That we can't touch doesn't mean we can't look," Erica said simply. "And believe me, girl, we're looking."

Emilia had half a mind to fetch her Celestial Bronze short sword and start stabbing her friends. The divine ore would go right through them, but the shock it would cause would be so satisfying!

"Sorry, Emmy," Mark said, noticing her distress. "I... I'll try to stop."

"Why are you bisexual?" She asked, full of dispair. "Why couldn't you be interested in only girls? Or at least girls and boys who aren't my dad!"

"I'm not interested!" Mark said, voice full of indignation. "I just have eyes! And... and your dad is a very attractive man. It's not like I want to date him or anything."

"Yeah, Emmy, none of us want that," Erica said, voice softer. "It's like those models in magazines, we just like looking, right Jules?"

They all turned to look at their friend, who remained oddly quiet.

"Jules?" Mark pressed.

"I mean, if he offered..."

"Jules!" All three of them shouted.

"All right, all right, it's just eye candy!" They held up their hands in surrender. "Better?"

"Not really, but it will have to do." Emilia sighed. She suddenly got an idea. "I need to use the bathroom, can you guys get started with the project?"

"Yeah, don't worry," Erica said, waving her off. Emilia smiled gratefully and discreetly grabbed a drachma from her desk.

----

"Dinner's ready!" Her dad's voice shouted. Emilia smiled and dropped her pen, opening her door.

"Coming!" She said happily. The other's raised an eyebrow, but Emilia just followed her nose.

Right now, it smelled her papa's pomodoro.

"Hello there," her papa said with a halfway amused voice as the other three teenagers stopped dead in their tracks like deer in the headlights. "Percy did tell me we had visits."

"Your papa finished his... errand early," her dad informed her as he hugged his husband from behind. "Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, I was getting tired of takeout," Emilia said as she sat down. She smirked and turned to look at her friends. "Aren't you guys eating?"

The three shook off their surprise and stiffly walked to the table as Mark sat on her right, Erica on her left, and Jules on Mark's right.

"It smells really good," Mark said quietly. Nico hummed.

"Why, thank you," he said courteously. "It's an old family recipe."

They all ate in silence as Emilia watched her dad obssess over her papa's wellbeing like he always did after one of his missions.

Usually, her papa would just shake him off, but considering the situation, he was for once letting him touch and kiss him all over.

"A sandwich sounds really good right now..." Jules muttered. Emilia whipped her head at them, glaring.

"What?" she said dangerously. Jules gulped.

"Y-you know, for the meatballs!" They said nervously. "These things are delish, Mr. di Angelo!"

Nico laughed, and Emilia watched in horror as her three friends all hung up on the sound.

"I think we have some ciabatta, if you'd like," he offered. "Percy, be a dear and bring it."

Her dad smiled. He kissed him on the cheek.

"Sure thing, Ni!"

"Two, two in three million," Erica whispered.

Mark shook his head frantically to reassure Emilia, but she could see he was blushing again.

Her papa went back to his meatballs.

Why were both of her parents oblivious idiots?!

[nickmaghighlights]

Nick Mag Highlights - #20 April 1996

Greetings and various apropos felicitations. Once again it’s time for another issue of Nick Mag Highlights! Today we’ll be heading back to the 90’s and taking a trip through issue #20. Ready to see if this “Mega Movie Issue'' is really as mega as it says? Then let’s get on with the show!

Man, that cover is a blast from the past for me, and it might just be the same for some of you. I haven't seen the film adaptation of James and The Giant Peach ever since I was a kid. I forget how I even first experienced it, since I couldn’t have seen it in theaters and I never owned a physical copy. I think a babysitter put it on for me once. 

Whatever the case, despite the time it's been I can still envision a smattering of visuals and emotions from the experience. So it must’ve been good if it’s managed to still stick with me positively all these years later. I guess a grade-a art style and memorable visuals will do that for a film. So as shallow as these behind-the-scenes “previews” tend to be when it comes to Nick Magazine, I’m still excited to go down memory lane and hopefully gleam one or two cool bits of trivia. 

Beyond my nostalgia bias though I’ve gotta say I’m surprised by the lack of promises this cover is making. A preview of James and The Giant Peach and a “Special Flip Book” is all you’ve got to wow the proverbial audience here, Nick? Even issue #1 promised more content on its cover to grab your attention if Ren & Stimpy weren’t enough for you. Let’s hope 20 issues in they weren’t starting to struggle for content.

You can read along too, if that’s what you wanna do. The issue’s right here.

Alright, go ahead and roll your eyes, but I’ve got a thing or two to say about this Cheetos ad. Or rather, “Chee●tos”, as it's called here and would be titled as such until Frito-Lays dropped the hyphen from the name in 1998. Not the worst name change, if I’m being honest.

First off, let’s just bask in the moment for a second. This is a wacky snack from the 90’s, even a “spinoff snack”, if you will, of a still very popular snack brand… that hasn’t been brought back to capitalize on nostalgia! 

Yes, Cheesy Checkers have yet to return to shelves since their discontinuation in ‘98. Suffice to say, I’m stunned. In a world where Ecto-Cooler returned from the grave, Trix Yogurt is still readily available, Boo Berry, Count Chocula and all those other monster-themed cereals manifest themselves every Halloween, and the McRib seems to come back whenever the heck it feels like, Cheetos Cheesy Checkers of all things is barred from re-entry into the mainstream to take advantage of your sorely missed childhood. 

Guess they really just weren’t popular enough? You can’t capitalize on nostalgia if there’s no nostalgia to capitalize on, after all. And yet it seems like a foolproof idea for a snack if you ask me. Waffles and waffle fries have already proven that checkerboard patterns are naturally delicious. And on top of that it even had a rad commercial featuring an awesome Chester Cheetah puppet. What’s not to like? I guess 33% more cheese is crossing the line of “Dangerously Cheesy” into something more like… “Hazardously Cheesy”.

Oh, and by the way. I may have never had a bag of Cheesy Checkers, but I sincerely doubt the snack pieces were that big. You really want me to believe one checker is nearly 1/3rd the size of this magazine page? They don’t even look that big in the commercial.

Just like the cover said, this is indeed a movie-themed issue. And I’ve got good news regarding this: I actually know about movies! Well, I like movies, anyway. Okay, I know more about movies than I do about music, which should mean my dissection of the content at hand will be a little more thoughtful than my retrospective of the music-based issue from last time. Hopefully, anyway.

Can’t help but feel these jokes are trying a little too hard. I guess when you’ve got to come up with twenty and base them all off of movies and TV shows, it can’t be easy. It probably doesn’t help either that there’s only like, three or four good puns in the whole world to begin with.

Anyway, look. Bugs Bunny in Nickelodeon Magazine. Woah.

Well, it’s a little less surprising for those, ahem, in the know. 

Nickelodeon actually aired Looney Tunes shorts for more than ten years, from 1988 to 1999. Once Warner Bros. established their new kids’ entertainment channel, Cartoon Network, they were pretty quick to take back their old school cartoons to bolster their numbers a bit. Although even following the departure of the classic Looney Tunes, Nickelodeon would go on to license other Warner Bros. content for their channel in the following years, airing shows such as Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures in the early 2000s.

Oh, how convenient! Now I can prove my film expertise by trouncing this quiz and- 

Hey! Some kid already answered two of the questions. Well now there’s no point in doing the quiz now. Its sanctity has been compromised.

But yeah, this book’s been written in just a bit. Sorry if that bothers you, but it’s not like I can clean the pages off. I do kinda wish the scan was totally clean just for the sake of archival purposes, but as long as the marks stay minor I’m not too picky. If anything I guess it helps make things a little more interesting. Kinda adds to the whole “time capsule” aspect of it, doesn’t it?

Shouldn’t be an issue so long as it’s not-

Ah, criminy! The kid got me again! Now this is stepping over the line. Answering a quiz question or two is one thing, but completely solving the hidden pictures puzzle promoting the home video release of Babe? That sours my mood. I don’t even feel like watching Babe now.

This a neat activity: a screenplay for two kids to act out and potentially film like a home movie. It actually caught me off guard with its originality, and in hindsight it seems like a no-brainer. Kids love to play pretend after all, and I know I certainly loved shooting little movies with my family’s cheap digital camera. Well, here kids, we came up with the story for you. Go nuts. Not to mention it's a good excuse to whip up a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches.

Here’s a nifty fun fact for you: The writer of this screenplay activity, David Lewman, has basically been on Nickelodeon’s speed dial since the 90’s. He’s written tons of Nickelodeon tie-in books, spanning a bunch of different franchises including SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron, Rugrats, among many others. If you’ve read a SpongeBob book before, I say look him up. There’s a good chance you were reading something of his. 

Kind of nice of them to make a whole game out of their adspace, eh? I mean, I’m guessing the amount of people who played isn’t particularly high, but… uh… The art is cool!

Speaking of the art, you never see these mascots in 2D anymore. Which I find unfortunate because I think they look a lot cuter and tolerable here.  

Also wow, you can see the orange and brown candies before their designs were finalized. Or before their transitions, either or. Very proud of them regardless!

Pretty awesome article here about some of the gimmicks that filmmakers tried out during the black-and-white days of cinema. Love a bit of history alongside my Nickelodeon.

While we’re here, I’d like to contribute my own similar black-and-white movie gimmick factoid that I find amusing:

In 1961, a film called Mr. Sardonicus featured a gimmick called the “Punishment Poll”, where each audience member was given a card to decide the fate of the titular villain, Mr. Sardonicus, by either showing the side of their card with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on it right before the end of the film. Once the total was tallied, the theater was supposed to show the ending with the most votes.

The funny part is that the movie only has one ending. The gimmick was just a total lie and the only ending filmed was the one with the negative outcome for Mr. Sardonicus, so I guess the director was pretty confident that potential audiences would mostly be comprised of sadists that want to see a bad guy get his comeuppance. 

Speaking of the director, Mr. Sardonicus just so happened to be directed by a mister William Castle, who also directed four out of the six films listed in the magazine article here. Guess those gimmicks really were good for profits.

Imagine watching a whole movie while sitting in a pool. Now stop imagining! I don’t like that very much. Your eyelids would prune shut before you could even see the ending. 

Man, all these movie gimmicks and funky types of theaters is making me wish I was around when movies were more of an event. Y’know? The movie theater experience has pretty much been ironed out at this point, so the idea of watching the big screen outside or with the looming possibility of a big plastic skeleton popping out and waving around is particularly alluring. Take note, modern movie theaters, this may be your way of competing with streaming!

What? No, it doesn’t bother me at all that whoever owned this magazine already filled out this Sanrio quiz advertisement. Why would I be ENRAGED and UPSET about that!?!? IT'S NOT EVEN A BIG DEAL!!

… Anyway this ad is weird. I guess they didn't know how to market Sanrio in the west yet*. Cause I'm not exactly the most familiar but I'm pretty confident blaring red and yellow colors and funky multicolor Wow! text isn't exactly befitting of the Sanrio spirit. Also there's not really any point to the quiz. It's not like you can mail in your answers and get a free Hello Kitty lunchbox or something. I guess they just figured that kids love quizzes and will always jump at the opportunity to do them, circling the correct responses in permanent pen ink, and causing them to not consider the possibility that someoNE MIGHT WANT TO READ THE MAGAZINE AD AFTER THEM AND WOULD WANT IT MAINTAINED IN PEAK CLEANLINESS FOR THE SAKE OF THE SANCTITY OF THEIR ONLINE BLOG i must calm myself.

*Which is weird to me, because Hello Kitty feels like one of those characters who’s always been popular. Like Mickey Mouse or Steven Spielburg.

Don’t mind me, just gonna insert this contest page here so that if I ever do the issue that contains the actual responses, I can link back to here and go full circle. Pretty excited to someday see the responses! I wonder what they could be. I also wonder why you had to include a phone number with your response. Maybe Tommy Pickles congratulated you on the phone? 

Okay, so I think this issue might be missing pages. I can’t prove that exactly, considering I don’t have the real thing sitting in front of me, but the way this ad has text that’s oddly cut off on the right side leads me to believe this was a two page spread originally. Maybe not, maybe the magazine was really like this and it's a printing error, maybe they spilled juice on the design document for page two and couldn’t fix it in time for publishing. 

Whatever the case, I really wish I had that Aaahh!!! Real Monsters hat.

A rather understated cover for this edition of The Comic Book, and I can appreciate it. Simple and effective bit of zaniness with a spin on the old “fake-can-with-a-scary-thing-that-pops-out-when-you-open-it” gag. This comes to us from award-winning illustrator Jim Woodring, who’s got probably one of the nicest websites of any artist I’ve mentioned on this blog so far, so kudos. I took a look through his gallery, and it’s a lovely trip, so go take a look if you want some eye candy.

Been a while since we’ve last seen the Southern Fried Fugitives on this blog, one of Nick Magazine’s earliest recurring comic series. Unfortunately they’re not exactly in top form here, I’d say, even as someone who’s not the biggest fan of the comic to begin with. This is essentially a bit of filler so they could make their deadline and finish up the next “all new real adventure” that this episode tells you of at the end. I mean, I get it, this comic usually spanned a full three or four pages, I’m sure they took quite a bit of time. I just don’t really appreciate being shown a gross naked stitched up chicken. 

A great hidden picture puzzle here, I could see kids having a lot of fun with this one and just looking through all the art. I guess my only issue would be that none of the answers are exactly hidden, since almost every figure in the page is related to one of the film titles below. But that’s a small nitpick considering that for just one activity of a much larger publication, it’s still pretty entertaining and eye-catching.

And here we’ve got ourselves what the powers at be call Smudgy and Scribbly. A comic about two inventive robots that I thought were supposed to be pencil erasers at first considering their names. I’m not sure if these abstract little guys ever had more than one or a couple of comics, but I know they didn’t stick around forever, since this is the first time I’m hearing of them. They’re cute! They’re fun! They don’t have a lot of personality per se, but that’s okay, because they eat fruit cocktails. And that’s a lesson for the kids.

I’ve been really impressed with this issue so far! They’ve really been making the most of the movie theme, what with aforementioned stuff like the quality movie gimmick article and the nice hidden picture puzzle. And to top it all off now we’ve even got an interview with Siskel & Ebert, two of the most famous film critics of all time. I’m not even sure how many kids at the time would appreciate this sort of thing, but whoever did must’ve been pretty happy. Said interview was conducted about three years before Siskel’s incredibly unfortunate passing, and three years after being parodied in an episode of Doug.

Anyway, yeah the interview questions are really silly, but that’s pretty par for the course by now. I just think it’s just cool they’re even in an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine at all.

Talking about the calendar included with each issue has become a bit of a tradition for this blog by now, hasn’t it? Although I’m sure I probably forgot to mention it one time. Overall this one’s not bad, it’s chock-full of facts and the little set-up & punchline at the Charlie Chaplin section is a ‘lil funny. And I think it’s sort of themed around artisans, maybe? Well worth being pinned on your bedroom door if you ask me, the only problem is that you’d also be ripping out a page of the Siskel & Ebert interview that’s printed on the back of this. At least the kid who wrote all over the magazine showed some restraint there.

Oh come on… I spoke too soon about showing restraint. The kid ripped out the flip book! What a trick… now I’ll never know what it looks like. At least we have the instructions here, which also could be doubly used for instructions on how to make your own flipbook by following the format, which is cool. Sorry for anyone who clicked on this post because you wanted to see the flipbook specifically. Sorry to you.

Moving past a five page article about the history of movies and movie effects (which is solid but doesn’t have much for me to say about), we now come across the cover story: James and the Giant Peach. And this is an alright interview, but it’s especially good  for Nickelodeon Magazine! The questions for the film’s director, Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, among others), actually allow for some pretty nice informative detail regarding the process of stop-motion animation and how aspects of it work. For an interview intended for kids, this is great, especially for ones with an interest in the medium.

Interviews, interviews, and more interviews! If you’ve ever wanted to learn all that you could ever want to know Kenan & Kel, these are the pages for you. It’s nice to hear that apparently these guys were good friends off set, I guess. But y’know it’s never really bothered me finding out that seemingly inseparable co-stars actually aren’t best friends in real life like it does for a lot of people, I can still watch MythBusters perfectly fine even if I know Adam and Jamie aren’t going to go get drinks together after they finish dropping a car off a mountain for science. Acting’s still a job and I’m not expecting people to become friends just because they both stand in front of the same camera. 

But hey, if K&K really were as good of friends as this magazine says, that’s really cool for them. Pretty lucky too, since this was just mere months away from the premiere of their own All That spinoff show, Kenan & Kel, which ran for four years, and less than a year before the premiere of their own movie, Good Burger*, so being friendly must’ve helped when they were spending that much time together. Not to mention they’re getting back together for Good Burger 2, so I guess when your legacies are so intrinsically tied together, I guess you’re bound to find some things to like about each other.

*One of my favorite comedies by the way, and no I’m not sorry. There’s very few films that match its vibes.

Feels like I should mention the 9th annual Kids’ Choice Awards was just around the corner, which featured such notable moments like Jim Carrey taking home two awards for Ace Ventura and his performance in Batman Forever, alongside Free Willy winning “Favorite Animal Star” for his(?) performance (?) in Free Willy 2: Willy Goes to Chile*. That category in particular got pretty heated, considering he was up against fierce competition in the form of Babe from… Babe. “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio won best song. Although Brandy would beat out both Coolio and Michael Jackson for winner of “Favorite Singer”, so it wasn’t exactly a Coolio sweep, per se.

But of course, the real big winner of that night was Tim Allen, for winning “Favorite TV Actor” and being enacted into the Nickelodeon Hall of Fame (yes, for real). All while Home Improvement won ”Favorite TV Show”, which I find is an outright snubbing of the also nominated Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Again, just my opinion.

*(Okay, it was actually called Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, but I like my idea more).

Before we go, I’d just like to draw attention to this winner of a parade float idea contest held in a previous issue, finally presented in all its glory here. No offense to the kid who designed it but I can only imagine the type of child nightmares that could spawn from a giant Elvis making its way down the street, pulled along by his Elvis impersonating minions. Just a thought.

This was a really good issue, I’m actually pretty shocked with how much of it I found interesting and entertaining, even now as an adult. They really put their all into this one and I think the movie theme really paid off.

Some parts I didn’t get to were the aforementioned article on the history of film and film effects, which isn’t a bad read, especially if you’re into the good old days of practical effects. 

There was an interview with at-the-time child star Michelle Trachtenberg, to promote the upcoming release of the Nickelodeon film Harriet the Spy, which featured her in the starring role. I partly didn’t talk about it because I didn’t think there was much to say, and partly out of spite because that movie was pretty bad. Also because I’m running out of available image slots on this post. But mainly the first two reasons! Sort of.

Oh, yeah, and that alien mongrel QZ made another appearance, answering kids’ questions and just looking gross as usual. Avoid page 52 at all costs!

So yeah, that’ll do it! I’m glad I got to tackle another 90’s issue. I’ve also been thinking about branching out a bit, maybe talking about other Nickelodeon books, or heck, maybe even doing retrospectives of some of their shows! If anybody’s interested or has any requests (Nickelodeon Magazine related or otherwise), feel free to let me know. Otherwise I’ll just keep using my little spinner board that I use to make all decisions related to this blog. 

Until next time, have a good one, and keep on reading!

[dailyexo]

Lay - 221210 The Glass Magazine Instagram update

"In a global industry where everyone is looking for the next big thing, Lay Zhang has managed to sustain his position in the spotlight for a decade. The Chinese multi-hyphenate sits down with Glass Man to reflect on the past ten years, he tells us “2022 is a year of enrichment and innovation for me. This is the 10th year since my debut, and I perceive my own transformation in multiple dimensions. I hope to let go of all the labels or constraints of the past and start with a new attitude”.

Rising to fame as a member of K-Pop group Exo in 2012, Lay’s success with the band saw them become one of the biggest groups in Asia, consistently selling millions of copies for each album and winning Album of the Year five consecutive times at the Mnet Asian Music Awards.

And Lay’s success didn’t stop there. Since those boy group days, he debuted as a solo artist with four studio albums to his name, founded Chromosome Entertainment Group and has since found himself on the silver screen. Only scratching the surface of his achievements to date, Lay is a self-proclaimed workaholic who is in no rush to press the breaks and slow down, but rather the next ten years will see him even more focused. “I know who I ultimately want to be and what I want to achieve, so all my efforts are to go all out for this goal, and this has become my strongest inner drive”.

Since breaking out on the global stage, Lay Zhang has paved his own path, finding himself constantly evolving with each new project. Sitting down and taking a moment to pause and look back at the past decade in the winter issue, we can only expect the next ten years to be even more fruitful than he can imagine."

Credit: theglassmagazine.

[jhsharman]

"Carpet Caper"

All they’ve been able to learn is that the expression can be traced to 19th-century America. But “Betsy” herself remains stubbornly anonymous. As the Oxford English Dictionary comments: “The origin of the exclamation Heavens to Betsy is unknown.”

The earliest published reference found so far, according to the OED, comes from an 1857 issue of Ballou’s Dollar Monthly Magazine: “ ‘Heavens to Betsy!’ he exclaims, clapping his hand to his throat, ‘I’ve cut my head off!’ ”

Fred Shapiro, editor of the Yale Dictionary of Quotations, found this hyphenated example in an an 1878 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine: “Heavens-to-Betsy! You don’t think I ever see a copper o’ her cash, do ye?”

And the OED has this one from a short-story collection by Rose Terry Cooke, Huckleberries Gathered From New England Hills (1892): “’Heavens to Betsey!’ gasped Josiah.” (“Betsy,” as you can see, is spelled there with a second “e.”)

On the identity of Betsy, speculation goes Betsy Ross, but another line of thought is it was just a common feminine name.

[im-getting-cynical]

Vintage 90s / y2k brands I search for online or at the thrift:

- Morgan and Co. by Linda Bernell

- City Triangles

- Byer too!

- Leslie Fay evenings

- Laundry by shelli segal

- I.N. San Francisco

- Dave & Johnny by Laura Ryner

- Alex evenings

- Rampage, CDC, R- wear

- Gilligan & O’malley

- My Michelle

- Hourglass

- Ceduxion

- Speechless

- ENT

- Charlotte Russe

- Be Smart

- Per Seption

- Per Se

- Betsy & Adam by Linda Bernell

- Candy Rocket

- Bari Jay

- A fortiori

- Michaelangelo

- Steppin Out

- Jessica Howard

- Younique

- Sally USA

- Simco formal wear

- Rave city

- Blushe impressions

- Express

- Barbizon

- Taboo

- Cloud 8

- All That Jazz

- Robbie Bee

- La Belle

- Jay Jacob’s

- Brunnella

- ASpeed design

- LoLo

- Brilliante by J.A.

- Roberta

- CR Signature

- City Studio

- Two Roads

- Too Hot

- Moa Moa

- Ice

- XOXO

- Duplex by Tyte

- Get Used

- Jonden

- Self Esteem

- Ruby Rox

- Hot Kiss

- Hennes

- Personal Identity

- Judy Knopp

- Just in Time

- Diesel

- Lip service

- Vanity

- Interi

- 579

- Cosabella

- Limited Too

- Accomplice

- Hell Bunny

- Backstage

- Catch Me

- Mistress

- TV Firenze

- Helium

- Fleurish

- Necessary Objects

- Monsoon

- New Look

- Vixen

- Jonathan Martin

- Miss Chievous

- Gunne Sacs

- Soda Blu

- Eye Candy

- Beware

- 4 U Design

- Maxima

- No Boundaries

- Jamie Nicole

- Horoscopez

- Dollhouse

- Magazine

- Misdemeanor

- Goddess Trends

- Ellemenno

- Onyx

- Exact Change

- La petite francaise

- Bray Steven Alan

- Toba & Co

- Joey B

- Tahari

- Blondie Nites

- Van Heusen

- Mudd

- Miss Sixty

- Donna Ricco

- HYFVE

- Outlooks

- Susan Lawrence

- Cato Woman

- Save The Queen

- YMI

- Gasoline

- Southpole

- Heart Moon Star

- Pimkie

- Morgan De Toi

- K-scion

- i-doll

- Joule

- J for Justify

- Vol. 1

- Delaru

- Golf Punk

- Moa collection

- Minerva

- Bay

- Planet

- Aftershock

- Pilot

- Etam

- Hyphen

There’s so many here already but I’m constantly finding new brands to add. Also some of these brands are still active but I often look for old label pieces.

[corhore]

Welp, it’s been confirmed that Tony Stark and Emma Frost DO get married, as an upcoming issue describes their honeymoon.

Perhaps worryingly though, a cover for ASM 31 has a tabloid-style headline describing “Mary Jane Watson - the classic multi-hyphenate adds another”.

Now that term means a skillset, so you would assume Jackpot, but Jackpot has a headline on the same cover treating her and MJ as separate. And it feels like it’s written to have a double meaning. We all know she used to be Watson-Parker after all. And Lowe joked her and Paul aren’t married “yet?”

So if she’s adding a Rabin hyphen to her surname, this is going to be a shitshow.

I doubt that cus the cover was a 2nd print cover that was made to look like a tabloid magazine so it probably means nothing.

I mean Marvel would be out of there fucking gord if they actually get MJ and Paul married. Like that wouldn't even make any sense, and literally everyone would hate them 100 times more.

[kcyars520]

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CUT COVERS11:00 A.M.

Keke Palmer Is the Internet’s Sweetheart

But the multi-hyphenate is more than just the Queen of Meme.

Photo: Micaiah Carter

Keke Palmer grips the false lashes on her eyelids with two fingers and slowly peels them off her skin. She’s had a long day, and it’s nearly 7 p.m.

The sun in the window behind her is blaring over a palm tree without any sign of eventually making its descent somewhere behind the horizon. And yet, Palmer has endured multiple flight delays from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, had a glamorous hours-long photo shoot, found herself at the center of Twitter discourse about her relationship, and still made it home in time to feed her new baby his early-dinner bottle. “Yup, he’s asleep,” she says, looking over playfully at her 4-month-old son, Leo.

About that discourse: Palmer’s motherhood recently became an uninvited topic of conversation online. Last Wednesday, while she was photographed and interviewed for this cover, a video circulated of Palmer, clad in a sheer black dress with a bodysuit underneath, getting serenaded by Usher at one of his Las Vegas residency concerts. Darius Daulton Jackson, the father of her child, saw the video and tweeted his criticisms of Palmer for her outfit choice, later doubling down on his stance when her fans swarmed his replies. While on set and by the time we spoke, Palmer hadn’t yet engaged, but internet bystanders rallied around her, forming a sort of virtual shield attempting to protect her and, in turn, shunning him.

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Even though the 29-year-old actor and producer finds herself in an entirely different life stage from me, it’s impossible to shake the feeling that we grew up together or that we have some sort of shared history. Not in a traditional sense, of course, considering she’s been a movie star since the tender age of 10, but by way of having a front-row seat to her organic matriculation through life, from project to project. She starred as a strong-willed spelling-bee champ in Akeelah and the Bee, a double-Dutch savant on the Disney Channel movie Jump In!, and a teen fashion executive on True Jackson, VP, and many of us who were once precocious little girls watched a young Palmer on the screen with awe as she evolved into the powerhouse we know her as today. By the time she was getting Oscar buzz for roles in more grown-up fare, like Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers (based on a true story originally reported in this magazine) and Jordan Peele’s Nope (a New York Times critic’s pick that won her widespread acclaim and an invitation to the Academy this summer), we became acquainted with Palmer in her role as a serious, well-adjusted, fully fledged actor. And, of course, along the way was her music career, which she’s still working on, anchored by her song “Bottoms Up,” a pivotal moment in the Zeitgeist for teenage girls everywhere. (She released a sequel of sorts to the track last year.)

In the same way we’ve come to know her, she feels as though she’s come to know us: “I do feel like America’s little sister, little cousin. I feel very much so related to everybody,” she tells me. “I’m like that second cousin that you see every two years at the family reunion.”

Now, as she branches off into newer, more experimental ventures with KeyTV, an avenue for Palmer to support other young creatives of color, and her podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, on which she has interviewed guests like Vice-President Kamala Harris (Palmer asked her to clarify both if she does have a silk press and what policies should be developed to deal with the maternal mortality crisis), John Stamos, and fellow child stars Aly and AJ Michalka, Palmer is entering her “big boss era,” as she’s dubbed it.

Online, Palmer is generally unafraid to discuss potentially taboo topics, like acne and breast milk, while also finding ways to inject humor into whatever she’s speaking about. From “Sorry to this man” to “You know it’s your girlllll,” she has kept the culture quenched with a steady stream of delightful sound bites, which inevitably become endearing memes. Admittedly, as a self-described citizen of the internet, she loves this too: “When people see themselves in me enough to repost a meme or use a GIF, it really humanizes me in a way that I think sometimes feels lost in my life,” she says. “So I really do feel appreciative of being a meme.”

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There are a lot of moms hyping you up online right now, defending your integrity. What’s something you would say to them?

Do you, new moms. Do you. Girl, if there’s one person on this earth that loves you for sure, it’s that baby. Be happy, because there’s no love like it. Somebody loving you like that, hell, who cares?

You just had a baby, you host a podcast, and you also started a production company called KeyTV. Tell me what that’s about.

I came from a very traditional space in entertainment, and it was very hard for me to create my own narrative and help get the work that I ended up getting as I’ve continued to evolve as a creator. Because of the internet, I was able to produce and create my own content and make a financial career that invests back into itself. It helps to keep the creativity going, especially when you think about brands and sponsorships. Not a lot of Black creatives get those same opportunities. KeyTV is an opportunity; it’s a way to bridge the gap and feed more eyes back to the work of BIPOC creators, and using my brand as a launchpad. It is inspired a lot by AwesomenessTV.

Let’s talk about Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, your podcast. What made you want to flip the table and start a podcast? Why did you want to be on the other side of an interview? 

I started hosting stuff when I was about 17 or 18. It came from me being a curious person. This was when Twitter started really kind of becoming a thing and you only had so many characters. I wanted a forum where we could discuss the things we’re talking about online with one another. That made me want to have my own talk show that I did shortly on BET for a season. From that moment on, I was always looking for an opportunity. I wanted to bridge the gap between millennial and Gen-Z audiences. That’s always fun for me.

What excites you about talking to somebody you’ve never met before?

That everything is going to be a surprise! I genuinely am so jazzed about life at all times. On regular daytime talk television, you have only a few minutes to really talk about a few things. On a podcast, you can go from talking about aliens to talking about all types of weird stuff. Just from the simple fact that a podcast has no limit.

Which guest has surprised you the most?

When we think about the Black Eyed Peas, we think inspired, fun, wholesome but cool, worldly music that makes people feel good. When I was interviewing Will.i.am., it was just so incredible because that’s in every aspect of what he does, whether it’s in technology or music, because he wants to transfer his mentality.

Who is your dream podcast guest?

I absolutely would love to talk to Taylor Swift. And Nicki Minaj. Both for similar reasons. I would totally do it at the same time because it would be a big boss conversation, Ms. Lady. I think they’re both Sagittariuses and I’m a Sag moon. They’re not afraid to talk about the business, the music industry, and the things that people don’t understand. Nicki Minaj has spoken to the things that she’s trying to overcome and how they’re able to get in certain rooms or awards or conversations, etc. She’s very much so wanting to gun for some old ways of things being done.

And it’s the same thing with Taylor Swift when it was coming to owning her masters and just … I’ve also talked a lot about my experience in the music industry, but I just think it’s really cool when you can sit down with your peers and you can discuss the real deal that goes on behind the scenes with the industry.

To hear from us three women would be great. Obviously, I can name a whole list of people that have done similar things. We could talk about Master P., we could talk about Tyler Perry, we could talk about Beyoncé, the list goes on. But those are just two that most recently had spoken about these things. We could have a really good deep conversation and unpacking lyrics because Nicki writes down, and so does Ms. Swift. It’s giving astral projection, it’s giving lucid dreaming.

So when you’re being interviewed now, do you, ahem, judge the interviewer’s questions from a different lens?

I don’t want to say judge, but I definitely try to figure out where we can go. I’m always willing to go somewhere. When I’m talking to people, I’m obviously giving them the respect of knowing whatever their boundaries are. But when they’re answering, I’m thinking, Well, where else would they want this to lead to?Another thing I’ve learned is that pre-conversations are really awesome because you can talk to that person about where their headspace is, what kind of things are most important to them right now.

Well, then let me backtrack a little bit, because we didn’t get to have much of a pre-conversation. What’s your mental headspace and what’s important to you today?

After having my baby, I’ve just gotten so much more powerful. I’m just so strengthened in a crazy way. Strutting my stuff, enjoying. I’ll be honest, I think before I even had the baby, I was really actually quite self-conscious. In a way that you would expect, considering the kind of work that I do as a public figure. Always trying to be on point with my body and always trying to make sure I’m taking care of this and that. There’s a lot of physical attention. Being slim and being fit in a particular way was always something that I was gunning for. After having the baby, my body got so much bigger and I started getting fluff in areas I never had before.

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Obviously I don’t know you like that, but when I see you from the outside, you have always seemed like a woman and a girl who’s always stood in her own power. Sometimes women are expected to shrink, and I feel like when I see you, I don’t see a woman who shrinks.

I think it’s important to say that both things can be true, which I’m sure you know. I’m ready to talk to you, you are also very confident, but both things can be true. I speak to my insecurities and it actually makes me feel more confident. Because I’m not trying to hide. When I really talked about my skin issues and stuff like that, it was really for me.

As I confront my issues head-on and I’m like, “Well, I feel terrible about this,” or, “This ain’t work for me,” I turn it into a joke, but I don’t ignore it. I try not to hide it. Confident people, it’s not that they’re not insecure, it’s that they just accept the fact that they’re going to have some insecurities, work on them when they can, and love themselves. Because at the end of the day, what else are you going to do? Hate yourself for who you’re not?

This is a weird question, but what would you say your brain looks like, sounds like, and smells like?

Not Jeffrey Dahmer, girl! The inside of my brain smells like vanilla or something warm and cuddly. It smells like something safe. It’s like, Hey, we are here for you. What does it look like? Colorful, shit is like synapses are going, you know what I mean? There are some gray spots. There are definitely some gray spots, but most of all, it’s neons, sparkling, it’s electric. Almost like when you have a PC gaming computer and all the colors that are going on in there. That’s how my brain is. What does it sound like? Shit, Jordin Sparks, “One step at a time, there’s no need to rush.” I’m always in some type of coming-of-age comedy.

I want to walk inside your brain, that sounds nice. On the flip side, you’ve got a lot going on in your life. You’re acting, you’re singing, you have a podcast, you’re a new mom, you’re keeping the culture consistently quenched with delightful sound bites and memes. How do you stay grounded and at peace?

My family, my friends, my loved ones. Keke Palmer’s who I am, but it’s almost like Spider-Man. I’m Peter Parker at the end of the day, and at some point, I have to take the suit off. It’s still me, I’m still there. It’s still Keke and there’s no LaurenShe was born Lauren Keyana Palmer. without Keke. There’s no Keke without Lauren. But it’s just one aspect of who I am. We all have cultural aspects of ourselves that we sometimes bring out more or less than others.

When it comes to being able to get balance in my life, it’s taking off that suit, taking off the Keke Palmer side of myself and putting her to rest. Giving her an opportunity to recharge and relax and also know that the other side of me that maybe isn’t that jazzed up all the time, has a place, is needed, is valued, and able to just breathe. It’s really awesome.

Do you ever wish that you could just be Lauren or Keke part two, Keke without the visibility?

Sure, sure. Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes I feel like I would love a little bit of more anonymity, or at least a version that wasn’t so chaotic. We live in a particular generation where the fame thing is a little bit too much. The way that celebrities are idolized. Popularity to some degree is fine. It’s normal. It could be expected, especially if you’re a public servant or someone that’s a public figure. But now it’s the desire and the goal as opposed to being the aftereffect of being good at something or being known for something. It’s just being known to be known.

Fame used to be a little bit more mayorlike, and now it’s almost gone to some type of godlike vibe. That can be quite dangerous and a lot of pressure. I don’t think any human should be that adored. I’m happy when people say that I’m their role model or I inspire them or whatever. I think the basis of anything I’m trying to do is to lead you to you, toward you. You can rock with me. You can buy into my stuff, you can support me. Obviously, that’s my career. But never do I ever want somebody to think they need to be like me. If they want to be like me in any regard, hopefully it’s to be authentically themselves. Hopefully that is the biggest message that they’re receiving.

When you said mayorlike, I pictured you in a little top hat.

Walking around, Mayor Keke, “Hello there. You know it’s your girl.”

Speaking of “You know it’s your girl,” which was a viral clip taken from your Met Gala red carpet interview with Megan Thee Stallion, how does it feel to consistently become a meme?

I felt like that was a hit movie. “Sorry to this man,” I could not have predicted the “sorry to this man” reaction. It’s crazy, but cool and dope at the same time. It’s randomized how that happens. But it’s a very humbling thing because sometimes as an entertainer, people do not have a safe space for you to be relatable. You probably live a drastically different life than them. But at the end of the day, outside of whatever our daily life activities could be, I’m still going to work. I’m still trying my best, I’m still trying to make it in this workaholic country we’re in, we both got 24 hours and we both just trying to get it done.

And so we all are the same. When people see themselves in me enough to repost a meme or use a GIF, it humanizes me in a way that I think sometimes feels lost in my life. I really do feel appreciative of being a meme. Because what they’re saying is, She’s like me, or they relate to it. It doesn’t get any better than that.

You don’t try to go viral? It just comes naturally, basically?

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What keeps you authentic when you are in the public eye? Especially when it could be so much easier, and so many others have gone the route of, Here’s my public persona and I’m going to do everything and be perfect. What is your motivation to be you?

There is such a thing as privacy. I’m not showing y’all my ass at night. I’m a human being. I have things that make me just a normal person. I’m flawed. I definitely try to put my best foot forward. But again, because I don’t like the idealism and I don’t like the kind of era that we are in with fame, I definitely self-deprecate, point to my flaws, constantly say I’m not perfect because I really don’t want people putting me to this unbelievable standard. I don’t live to be a celebrity. I live to do what I love, to share love, to give something positive to the world. Being under a magnifying glass for all of my life, it was kind of a surrender to realizing no matter what I do, it’s never going to be enough, so that’s okay. Let me at least be me.

Are you really online? Do you consume social media? And if so, what does a late-night scrolling sesh look like for you? For me, I’m doing YouTube deep dives of a couple that cosplays like they live in the 1800s. 

I’m always looking at weird stuff too. I’m looking at TikTok. I can get crossed in a conspiracy theory. I can be looking at some new articles online and just all types of random stuff. I’m definitely 100 percent like an internet person. I guess that’s a personality trait. A lot of my friends that I’ve met, even as kids, were online. Through chat or MySpace. I’ll see somebody’s page online or I’ll check somebody’s life out and I’m like, I want that person to be my friend. I feel like online literally gives us the opportunity to see in other people’s worlds, to reach things that we otherwise didn’t get to reach. I really do use it as a tool and I really respect it. Especially growing up, being in the entertainment industry, being homeschooled, not having a real school, I really was appreciative of online.

Now that you made me think of it, somebody else that I would love to talk to would be Tom from MySpace. What he created really helped my life because I didn’t have any other way to be friends. I might be a celebrity, but in my mind, in my world, I felt like an outcast. I turned to the internet where I could create space for me, and build my world and have friends and feel like I was normal. It all feels very full circle, me being a meme queen. The internet is a place that I’ve always loved and adored and felt like I could be myself, and in a way, that is a space that was not always given to me in real life. That’s why we all played The Sims too.

Do you think the human race is better or worse off with social media?

I think it’s better, but not when you don’t use it right. When I was talking to Will.i.am about it, he was definitely like, “Yo, I would much rather be in a world where there’s AI and all this kind of stuff than in a world that it’s not.” With the internet, the problem is that it’s extremely powerful and it can be used in bad ways and people have used it in bad ways, and that’s what scares us. But when we use it in good ways, man, we’re able to really do some incredible things.

You recently interviewed Vice-President Kamala Harris and asked her about her silk press. You also used the phrase “poop on a stick” in the interview, which knocked me on my knees. What does podcast prep before you start the conversation look like for you?

It’s different each time. I have support with my producing team. I always script out the top halves of my show. And then the other halves of them are obviously just conversation, but I have bullet points or CliffsNotes of what I want to discuss and talk to whoever I’m having on with me that may not be the actual interview guest, whether it’s my mom or whether it’s Darius or whether it’s Max. We’ll kind of discuss what our POVs are. That way we all know that we have some unique perspective on the topic. When it comes to the interviewee, as much as I have questions that I want to ask them, I also listen and just try to see where their conversation would take us.

Anyone you’ve been nervous to record with?

I was nervous for Kamala.

Who wouldn’t be?

For Madam VP, I was definitely nervous because I wanted to give respect to what she’s trying to do and have a conversation about it while at the same time humanizing the conversation because there’s a huge disconnect, in my opinion, with our generation in the government. It’s beyond just getting people to vote. There’s a bigger flaw where we don’t believe in the system. It’s how to get people to believe that there’s a reason to support our public servants and actually believe that they’re going to be good at their job or they’re going to be worth us listening to. It’s about asking important questions, but also, are you a person in there?

We need to see that these people are real. We need to know why they wanted to get into these positions. A lot of this is starting to look like a joke and has been a joke and looks like a reality show and it just seems like a big money grab and it just doesn’t seem real. But there’s no way to work in any system of anything and be perfectly perfect or do something that’s totally agreeable.

The point is to get to a place where we can at least feel like somebody is human and touchable and real, that they can be reached even if they are working within a system that is clearly flawed and corrupt. We need them to speak to that. I was happy when I was talking to Kamala, Madam VP, excuse me, about this topic. She was saying to me that she knows that people don’t believe, and that’s why she’s doing it. She knows what she’s working against. I wanted that interview to be something that we felt was real so we can actually be engaged. Because right now, honey, it’s giving, like, stale news variety show.

I listened to another episode where you talked about being a child star and you said if you weren’t an entertainer, you may have gone into politics. Would you ever go into politics now?

I don’t know what role I would play.

President?

Well, let’s think about it. What is the president’s job, really? Because he can’t change no laws for real. I mean, they can, but it’s like they really aren’t the ones that are doing that work. If the president’s job is to be a figurehead, speak to the issues, encourage the people, represent them and create a positive democracy and good morale, then, yeah, I mean, I could. This is the concept of politics I love because it’s being a public servant. Child, sign me up. I love being a public servant. I love being serviceable.

I know a lot of people don’t think about entertainment as that, but, I mean, I am still doing a service. I’m literally tapping and singing and dancing for you to laugh and enjoy. I’m trying to serve you, for sure. That’s something I’ve already been doing all my life. So in that regard, yes, the part of politics that makes things difficult is feeling like that I believe in what I’m doing and that I can actually believe that I can get something done. If I was going to ever go into politics, it would be because I really believed that I could fix some shit or figure something out. So I think that’s what it would really take is for me to feel like I could actually be useful.

Would you consider yourself America’s sweetheart?

Girl, that is crazy as hell.

Come on.

If that is what the people think, I’m truly gagged and gooped because, wow. I don’t even know what that entails, truly, what that really means. But, by golly, if you all feel like I’m America’s sweetheart, I’m fucking here for that shit all day and night. I appreciate it because it feels like a term of endearment. But what do I think? If I were to declare myself, I do feel like America’s little sister, little cousin.

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Like a lot of people in their late 20s, I feel like I grew up with you, and whatever project you were involved with seemed to mirror whatever life stage I was going through at the time. What was child stardom like for you, and what was it like to have so many eyes on you at such a young age?

Honestly speaking, initially it was traumatic when I really experienced it, like after I did True Jackson, VP. And then I got used to it and I tried to kind of control it a little bit more by setting boundaries for myself and being a little bit more realistic about what I needed from the people that would be around me. Fame is a lot. People think that they want it, but it’s intense. It could be fun and cool in certain times if it can possibly help you get quicker dinner reservations. But a good job will do that. You know, you don’t have to be famous. You just have to network.

I don’t know why anybody wants it. It’s a lot to have a lot of attention on you all the time. It gives you a lot of anxiety. It’s nerve-racking. You’re looking over your shoulder all the time. Is somebody going to try and humiliate me or use me for clicks or likes or, you know, whatever? Not everybody can handle it. It’s just a dangerous game.

Time for a few rapid-fire questions. Do you think aliens exist?

Yes.

Would you ever explore the deep sea?

No.

What would your last meal be? You can have multiple courses or just one bite of something and then move on. It can be anything. Multiple things.

A charcuterie board. I always needed a charcuterie board. I need to start off with a charcuterie board and a nice tall glass of wine. Then, I’d like to take it to a big pizza. From Little Italy in New York. A particular pizza place called Little Italy’s in New York. There’s one right across the street from Papaya Dog.It’s the sauce that they do that makes it what it is. If this is the last meal, I don’t need it to be fancy, I just need it to be good. And, lastly, some snickerdoodle cookies. We got to make it feel like home again.

What do you think happens when we die?

I think we go to nothing. And, I mean that so happily, not in a sad way. I feel like, before we come to our human bodies, we already are in a utopia. The reason why it’s a utopia is because it’s like everything and nothing at the same time. We’re beholden to nothing, we have no attachments, we’re completely and utterly free, and we know in whatever this energy space is that we are all interconnected. So there’s such a freedom and such a happiness. It’s not necessarily we’re riding roller coasters and stuff. We don’t need those things. The happiness and joy is purely innately within us as a spiritual being.

And then I think we come here and we put this suit on, and the suit is actually what makes life really hard, because what comes with humanity and being a human person, as opposed to being an animal, or a rock, or something like that, is our very heightened consciousness and awareness that is sometimes competitive with our spiritual thing that doesn’t actually need words, or language, or actions to just be and understand. And we confuse ourselves when we’re down here.

I think, when we die, we realize, Oh my gosh. It wasn’t that deep. I was always going to be okay. Everything was always going to be all right. Because, this world, this experience is everything and nothing at the same time. It’s so nothingness that it became everything. I think that’s odd. But, I mean, I grew up Catholic. I believe in Jesus. I believe in all the shits. But at the same time, I also feel like some things are like a mixture of spirituality and metaphysical stuff. I go down on the loops. But I be in church too. I’m everywhere with it.

If you could live forever, would you? Absolutely not. No, there’s nothing about that that sounds good. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

That sounds crazy. I want to have a nice, good long life. I don’t want to be that grandma that’s holding on for dear life and her body falling apart. Let me go looking fine and sexy in my sleep naturally. I don’t want my body to be just turned inside out and I’m like, “I’m still here, kids.” No. Unplug me if I’m falling apart.

What is the most interesting thing in your bag right now?

The truth is, I only carry around one bag. And it’s the mommy bag. And you know what it has in there? My pump, my nipple cream, some contacts, and some prenatal vitamins, post-prenatal lactation supplements.

What is the question that keeps you up at night?

What is this about? I always ask myself, What’s the reason? What is the reason for this all?

That’s beautiful. Can you spell pulchritude?

Of course I can. P-U-L-C-H-R-I-T-U-D-E. Pulchritude?

What does the future look like? What does it look like five years from now, or even in the next few months?

I’m going to continue to be killing these fashions, honey. Continue to expand. I can’t really say exactly what it’s going to be, because I feel like I’m even surprised sometimes about where I end up. But definitely more hosting, and acting, and all that stuff. A lot more stuff behind the scenes too. I really do love producing, and I love helping put stuff together and support people. With KeyTV, we made a short film with a kid from L.A. Film School, supported him with a production crew, and collaborated from different perspectives. I was grateful. To be close in age with him was awesome, too. I’m in a unique vantage point to be able to communicate, and talk, and relate, but also have wisdom that is granted only through the experience that I’ve had.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Photography by Micaiah Carter

Fashion Director Jessica Willis

Hair by Keshaun Williamson

Makeup by Sheika Daley

Manicure by Vanessa Sanchez McCullough

Set Design by Ali Gallagher

Tailoring by Susie Kourinian

Production by Petty Cash Production

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