#I know a lot of these are probably popular opinions but this is my list so. nyah

[naturalkillercyborg]

My personal ranking of the Ace Attorney cases I've played thus far, from least favorite to favorite

Turnabout Big Top (2-3) Reunion and Turnabout (2-2) The First Turnabout (1-1) The Lost Turnabout (2-1) Turnabout Sisters (1-2) Turnabout Memories (3-1) Turnabout Samurai (1-3) Rise from the Ashes (1-5) Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) Farewell my Turnabout (2-4)

[countingdots-tc]

TEACHER/STUDENT BOOK RECS

*if you want me to add a forbidden romance list, let me know*

𓃠 This is a list with links to books that have teacher/student, age gap, and experienced/less experienced themes that I have read! These are in order from most recommended to least recommended based on my opinion.

𓃠 This will be updated as I read more! Think something should be added to the list, then let me know!

𓃠 To find the Age Gap/TeacherxStudent Movie list, click on the link on my pinned post!

⭐️= highly recommend/changed my life

😇= no smut

🌶️=contains smut

💦=read to really get your rocks off

highlighted=warning

PROFESSOR/COACH BOOK LIST

The Unrequited by Saffron A. Kent-⭐️😇

ProfessorxStudent & mental health themes

Cute little poet embarrassingly falls for her grumpy professor. Beautiful slow burn and perfectly describes what it feels like to want someone and not feel enough for them. She is such a realistic female lead and reminds me a lot of y’all 😂. This is THE teacher crush community book. If you don’t read anything read this!!

The Professor by Invi Wright-⭐️🌶️

ProfessorxStudent

Cute romance by young, new, and self published author. Very relatable female lead. If you enjoyed The Unrequited, you will like this book for all of the same reasons. Quick and easy read, only 240. She isn’t perfect, she clumsy, and I wouldn’t even say she’s socially awkward, she just a normal college student in her early 20s. She’s a fun narrator. This author has a lot of potential and her writing will only get better.

Gabriel’s Inferno by Slyvain Reynard-⭐️😇

ProfessorxStudent

Such a good dark academia book. Beautifully written and actually has a movie adaptation. I would definitely recommend this if you want a realistic couple but a bit more serious. Characters have so much depth

Off Balance Series by Lucia Franco- 💦

CoachxStudent

Warning: female lead is age of consent NOT legal age.

If you want something really forbidden and fucked up, read this. If you want the MOST insane sex scenes, read this (MINORS STOP). I really don’t even want to add this series to this list but for the girls who wanna go there, have fun. I started this when I was still in high school, read the 3rd one as an adult, it’s not as easy to read now. Take that info as you please

Lessons In Sin by Pam Goodwin-🌶️

TeacherxStudent with 18 Y.O female lead

Troubled rich girl gets sent off to a catholic boarding school and falls for the asshole Dean of the school. Smut is pretty good, plot works. I’m not going to say it’s bad, I think whether or not it’s enjoyable depends on the person. It wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t obsessed. If you’re just trying to live vicariously through her (aren’t we all), then it works!

Teach Me by L. L. Ash-🌶️

ProfessorxStudent

Really good start, and I do mean GREAT start… I just feel like the sex scene came too soon (Ch. 9/32) and it threw me off but I also like SUPER slow burns. It’s still a good book. I enjoyed the male love interest, Professor Harlo. They’re cute together. Grump and Sunshine.

Dark Notes by Pam Goodwin-

TeacherxStudent & themes of abuse

Probably DNF-ing

AGE GAP BOOK LIST

Something In The Way Series by Jessica Hawkins-⭐️😇

Sister’s Boyfriend/Husband & “I saw him first”

Most beautiful romance series I’ve ever read, best written books by Jessica Hawkins. I recommend all of her other books. Lake is 16 when she first meets Manning but nothing sexual happens between them for another 3 books until she’s in her 20s. Beautiful slow burn with characters full of depth.

Sinner by Sierra Simone- ⭐️💦

Brother’s Best Friend & religious themes

Amazing character creation and mapping. These characters feel real! This book is about “teaching” a girl about sex before she becomes a nun. It’s not just a bang bang, hump hump book. It has heart and it really good. If you enjoy religious themed romance, you may enjoy Priest by Sierra Simone too. I didn’t 💀

Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas- 💦

Ex’s Dad

Most popular forbidden romance so whatever you’ve heard about it, dump it. This might be the most tame book on this list. Pacing is good, well written main character. Insane amounts of smut but it doesn’t drive the story forward so feel free to skip it if you get tired.

Love Unexpected by Q. B. Tyler- 💦

Ex Stepdad & parent death

This book is HOT! However after the first few scenes, I got a bit tired of the smut. Well written enough female lead with a rushed ending. However if you just need something to read and not despise it, it’s good enough.

Strictly Off Limits by Jessica Hawkins-🌶️

Dad’s Best Friend

Jessica is my favorite author so I’m a bit biased but she definitely isn’t a smut writer. This novella would’ve been better without smut however it isn’t super present and doesn’t really drive the story forward so don’t feel like you’re missing anything if you skip the smut!

The Doctor by Nikki Sloane- 💦

Ex’s Dad

personally didn’t care for this book, smut starts off way too quick and I’m more of a slow burn girl. It is a novella however, it was still too quick. However! You may love it <3

𓃠 If I’m not reading fast enough for you and you want to see what I will be reading in the future here is my Amazon TBR, have at it!

𓃠 If you want to see a more organized bookshelf of what I’ve read, here is my Goodreads!

[genericpuff]

Webtoon Canvas is pay-to-win now, I guess.

DISCLAIMER: All of the series I show here is for the sake of comparing statistics and criticizing Webtoons' Super Likes system. I have nothing personal against these series or their creators and I do not want anyone to get the impression that I am encouraging any sort of action against these creators. The following rant is merely my own observations and opinions concerning Webtoons itself as a platform.

I found out today that Webtoon has implemented a Super Likes ranking board.

This does exactly what it sounds like - it ranks Canvas series based on how many Super Likes they have. Whether or not this ranking board is on a weekly rotation (like the Originals rankings) or just overall, I don't know, but something immediately felt off with this system and it took very little time at all to realize what was really going on here.

When you actually click on the series listed here, it'll tell you how many Super Likes they've accrued overall. The first thing that made me raise an eyebrow was the fact that the Super Likes listed in the ranking boards isn't the same as what's listed in the comics' landing pages, but I chalked that up to a simple delay on WT's end as I can assume the ranking board doesn't refresh at pace with whatever Super Likes are coming in.

But the real red flag was this:

Limitless : Untold is a series with 1,657 followers and seems to get an average of 35-45 likes per episode.

But it somehow has 1,715 Super Likes?

Anyone who's run a Patreon, Ko-Fi, Ad Revenue, or any other sort of revenue-based system with their content will probably realize how that doesn't add up. The reality is that regardless of how many readers / followers you have, only a small fraction of them will actually spend money on your work or to support you. Not every person reading an Originals series is FastPassing. Not every person reading a webcomic is supporting the creator on Patreon. This ratio is even apparent outside of income-based statistics - for example, not every person who follows will read new updates each week and hit the like button (which is why you can have a comic with 1700 followers that only gets a few hundred views and a handful of likes per update). This ratio can be influenced by all sorts of different things, but one thing that doesn't typically happen is for the ratio to flip itself in this fashion.

To put it bluntly: how can a comic with a high of 45 likes in the past 3 months possibly accrue 1,715 Super Likes since it was launched just last week? You've probably already come to the conclusion on your own, but for those who haven't: there's very strong evidence to suggest that creators are buying their own Super Likes to get on this ranking board.

That's assuming the worst of this, though - after all, maybe some of these creators just have super supportive friends who are tossing them a ton of Super Likes? It costs $1 for 5 of them, in this example the amount of Super Likes comes out to approximately $343 (assuming my math is right lmao) which isn't massive amounts of money but it's, again, still really impressive for a comic with only 40 likes on average.

Bu Limitless : Untold isn't the only one in the rankings board that's like this. In fact, the top three spots are occupied by webtoons with the same tilted ratio.

But then, suddenly, after those top three positions, the following webtoons Super Likes totals that make a LOT more sense and reflect the usual ratio more accurately:

The Little Trashmaid, one of the most popular Canvas webtoons of all time and the first one to hit the 1 million subscriber mark in the Canvas section has only accrued 355 Super Likes so far... and you seriously want me to believe a comic like Limitless : Untold with only 0.08% of its readership is somehow genuinely earning five times the amount of Super Likes?

I want to make it clear yet again that I have nothing against the series that have managed to break the system in their own favor. None of this is meant to "slam" them or judge their work or anything of the sort, I'm simply comparing the numbers here and coming to a very reasonable conclusion as someone who's well aware of how ratios like this tend to work in webcomics and content creation. It's just not feasible for the top three comics in the Super Likes ranking boards to organically earn that many Super Likes relative to the sizes of their audiences, especially when compared to the bigger comics that are only pulling in a fraction of that amount. The ratios of Super Likes : actual likes for those bigger comics actually looks reasonable and expected, the ratios for the smaller comics that are sitting at the top are not.

If anything, Webtoons has created a broken system and these creators are simply using that system to their advantage. And I'm not necessarily going to fault them for that because I can get wanting to do whatever it takes to get eyes on your work.

But it does raise the question of what kind of system Webtoons has cultivated here - a system where creators are resorting to Super Liking their own episodes to bump themselves up in the leaderboards.

And before anyone asks me how I can be so sure that these creators are Super Liking their own works - I literally opted into the Super Likes system myself and proceeded to Super Like one of my own episodes.

(this is like the one helpful thing with my work still being on WT even though I'm not updating there anymore, it lets me test shit like this LOL)

So yes, this is a thing that creators can do and it would certainly explain the massive discrepancy in the ratio of Super Likes : regular likes for these smaller series.

This is literally pay-to-win. And who do we have to blame for this? Webtoons, full stop. Not only for implementing a ranking board for an optional monetization service while still allowing creators to use that monetization system to support themselves as a way to climb up that ranking board, but for creating this gross psychological dependency on the platform as the "only way" to build an audience, to the point that people are now paying Webtoons out of their own pocket just to have their thumbnail visible in a ranking board and maybe get some extra views (and 49% of their money back if they hit that $100 threshold). And on top of all that, further putting on the pressure of competition and 'exclusivity' among many budding creators who are doing what they do for free and for fun. Why are creators now being forced to compete in a metric that's solely determined by how much expendable income their own audience has?

Sure, at least this means creators can get themselves into a ranking board by their own power unlike the other categories that are hand-picked by Webtoons and / or determined by daily stats, but at what cost? The literal financial hit of paying for advertising with extra steps, and the ethical dilemma of essentially paying for potential views with microtransactions. This is no better than paying bots on Instagram to follow your profile and inflate your worth to those who aren't following you. None of it is real, it will not legitimize your work to throw money at Webtoons just to have your thumbnail visible in a ranking board. These are microtransactions meant to benefit Webtoons, not you, the creator.

[zepskies]

PSA on Tumblr Tags: Tag Lists & # Tags

Just wanted to spread this news for people who don't know the new Tumblr updates that have to do with tagging on posts, both for user tag lists and for descriptive hashtags to help people find your post. I've had to learn them the hard way. 😅

User Tagging:

This first part is for people who have tag lists. Tumblr has recently changed the rules on tagging other blogs/users on a post.

You can still tag up to 50 blogs per post, but they must be spread out into groups of 5. Otherwise, the blog won't be highlighted/tagged and the person will not be notified.

Example (and more) below the cut: ⤵️

✅ Example:

And this is what it will probably look like if you don't spread them out into groups of 5:

Notice that only the first 5 blogs in each section are actually tagged.

Also something important to note: copy/pasting a tag list alone often isn't enough. After I copy over a tag list from another post, I always have to click on each blog name individually to select the blog and make sure it's tagged properly, so people get notified.

Trust me, I get why some writers have decided to ditch tag lists altogether. They can be tricky. 😂

Hashtags on Posts:

As most of you guys know, hashtags help people find your post. The limit of how many tags you can use has bumped up to 30 tags.

Now, this doesn't mean you have to use all 30 slots. But using the most popular tags will increase the likelihood that people will find your post.

By no means am I an expert on this, but I've been reading a lot of stories that should have SO many more reblogs, comments, etc. If some of them were using a few more key tags, they'd likely be getting much more traffic and notes on them.

Want to find out which hashtags are the most popular, relevant to your post?

Well, you can actually search them in the Your Tags tab, Tags You Follow, and go to Manage:

For Dean Winchester fanfiction, for example, here are the tags I use most often:

Ignore the first and last tags, which are just for me to organize the post for my blog. But I would say the most important tags here are the first few:

[character's full name]

[character's full name] x reader or [character's full name] x oc

fandom name

These three are absolutely key for any romance pairing fanfiction post, in my opinion.

Aside from being the most relevant for a pairing fanfic, these are often the most popular tags overall, as they are the tags with a high follower count. The rest can also be important supplemental hashtags relevant to the post.

You can also just start typing into this bar in your post draft and see what "popular tag" recommendations Tumblr gives you:

And that's it! For anyone who finds this PSA helpful, I salute you! 🫡 And I wish you all luck on future tagging endeavors. 💜

I'm also including some of my fellow writers just in case they have something to add to this — or if they don't know this info, though I'm sure they probably do already:

@luci-in-trenchcoats @dean-winchester-is-a-warrior @rizlowwritessortof @artyandink @waynes-multiverse

@jacklesbrainworms @deanwritings @deanwinchesterswitch @deanbrainrotwritings @waywardxwords

@angelbabyyy99 @jackles010378 @cevansbaby-dove @kaleldobrev @kayleighwinchester

[oxycodone-soup]

As someone who has watched @janmisali's "how many Super Mario games are there" video several times and is eagerly awaiting the sequel (don't worry, I filled out the new survey already), I noticed something interesting in the beginning of GMTK's newest video. During the intro, he says he's played "... every single mainline entry in the Super Mario Brothers series". Naturally, my first reaction was to figure out what exact list of games that is. During this scene (mostly as a gag), he's set up a stack of games on the side. From bottom to top, they are:

Super Mario 3D World New Super Mario Bros U Super Mario Galaxy 2 New Super Mario Bros Wii Super Mario Sunshine Super Mario Galaxy New Super Mario Bros New Super Mario Bros 2 Super Mario 3D Land Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS Super Mario 3D All-Stars Super Mario Maker 2 Super Mario Odyssey Super Mario Maker Super Mario Bros Super Mario 64 Super Mario Bros 2 (aka "USA") Super Mario Bros 3 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins 2 Unidentifiable SNES/Super Famicom cartriges Super Mario Land

This is mostly similar to the "popular" 18-game list in the jan Misali video, with a couple differences. GMTK does include all 3 Maker games, which is completely fine since it's consistent.

While making this list I learned that the European SNES used the same design as the Super Famicom. I think this makes it likely that one of the unidentified carts is The Lost Levels, which would make the list otherwise match Misali's. I think the best candidate for the other cart is Yoshi's Island. Both of those appear in the video footage, but I don't know how to confirm either guess.

If someone has Mark Brown's contact and wants to waste his time asking for his justification on the enumeration and classification of the mainline series of games within the Mario franchise, let me know.

He also includes the following games in the video as footage, although seeing as the video also includes a lot of non-Mario games this probably means nothing for GMTK's opinion on what games are part of the mainline series:

Super Mario Bros Wonder Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Super Mario Bros Deluxe Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels New Super Luigi U New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe Super Mario Run

[888-fr]

WHY I DON'T RETIRE MY SKINS: an essay

Disclaimer that I'm speaking from a point of being established here, because not everybody can afford to run their skin shop like I do. I don't judge less established artists for needing to limit their skins because they can't afford to print a run with only 2 people on it. I'm also not judging anybody who does retire their skins after a set number of prints - whole different matter! I'm giving an opinion piece based on my own personal thoughts about running my own skin shop.

Okay, now that's out of the way. I really dislike the idea of time-limiting my skins. There's just no actual justification for me, as an established skin artist, to limit skins I know will sell... aside from prestige, and putting buying pressure on my customers. So there's a couple of reasons I don't like that:

1) Erodes trust in the artist.

Yes, I could probably make more money if I kept my skins limited so people HAD to pick up my skin on release. Maybe even all 4 colors of the skin, including the one they don't really keep in their hoard. Just in case they want it down the line but it won't be available anymore.

Is this good business practice though? Do I want people to start feeling panicked every time I ping for a release, because they just picked up a new project and really really CAN'T afford to be buying skins right now but there's 5 colorways of my skin available and they'll probably be resold for 2kg as soon as they retire?

Personally, no! I want people excited when I ping, not feeling dread in their hearts and budgets. I want people to be thinking: 'Awesome, a new skin! I can't afford that right now but I know he always keeps a few on the AH at print price even after preorders end. Even if I can't buy a skin just this moment, I'll be sure to keep an eye on his thread for when I have gems again.' Or: "Awesome, a new skin! This one doesn't appeal to my lair aesthetic, so I will just nod and smile. I don't feel the need to buy it in case it gets popular for resale, because it will always be on the AH for print price."

People tell me about unsubscribing from GASP because they get anxiety being pinged for skins they want but can't have. So I want people to stay on my pinglist because there's no pressure on them whatsoever to purchase anything. It'll always be here, okay? In the meantime, just enjoy the art, maybe preview it on a scry or two. I'll be here if you're back in three weeks, or three months.

2) Passive income!

I lied. I probably would've made less money time limiting all my skins than by keeping my skins restocked. A couple of reasons for this:

- My earlier skins sold worse. This isn't psychology, it's just numbers. Some of my most popular stock were made early on in 2021/2022. I didn't have that many sales then, so could you imagine if I had retired them immediately after that? There's 230something copies of SAILOR'S WARNING out in the world right now. If that skin was time limited after preorders died down, I would've sold "only" 50 forever.

- People see my shop stock whenever you ping for a new releases. I get 3-4 sales off auction house whenever I release something new and people check my front page. It's not a lot but it's consistent.

- It's a win-win situation, okay? If a skin is popular, there's no reason to time limit it to drive up sales. If it IS popular, then people are going to see it on other people's dragons, go "damn that's a nice skin," and maybe do an AH search for it. And if there's a cheap print price copy available, they're gonna buy it.

2) Reprints are easy!

It was a lot more annoying to keep track of queue numbers and inventory back when reprints had to go through regular queue for a week. Did I put in 10 copies of SUNHEAVEN already? Wait, are my kitsune aethers back yet? How many of MOLOCH are still listed?

Now I can put in a blueprint and get my reprint instantly. No fuss at all.

3) I don't want to buy into the 'this is a retired skin' hype...

This is just personal preference. It makes me feel a little bad when a public skin I made is popular and people can't afford to have it. I'm not judging anybody who does like it when their skins are rare, special, and sought after.

It's just... I get that part of my brain scratched from my customs. They're gorgeous, they're 5 prints, they're on the AH for 30kg if you really want one. Most importantly they're niche and high coverage enough that even if someone hadn't paid me to draw an exclusive skin specifically for their dragon, they'd never do well as a public skin anyway.

Here are some tips for people looking into keeping their skins unlimited:

- You don't need to do it like I do.

Blueprints are expensive. Even I don't have my entire catalogue stocked, only the ones I noticed always have reprint requests. For example, only SAILOR'S WARNING out of 4 total colors for my impm skins is kept stocked because the others don't sell enough to justify it.

If you can't afford to stock them 10 at a time, have the customer provide the blueprints. Shelving your skins but having them be reprintable with a BP and a fee (350g is good for 850g print prices; remember, 500g of that went to you purchasing blueprints in the public run, so it doesn't make sense to charge customers a whole 850g when they're already providing the blueprint) is a good alternative to permanently retiring your skins. You don't get a ton of people who can afford that, but the option is there for people who want it.

- Notice which skins sell!

If you already have a good amount of skins in catalogue and have trouble figuring out which ones to begin stocking, you can start by checking in with your pinglist. Poll them and see which ones you'd want to rerun.

- Don't have so many recolors.

It's a law of the universe that they more recolors you have, the worse they sell collectively. I usually do 2, no more than 3. If you have to time limit your skins to get 6 recolors to hit print, then it's time to cut those recolors down.

There's reasons for this: it's choice paralysis, people may want 'complete sets' and will skip out if you're making that complete set cost 4kg total, and it just plain doesn't make sense for very similar color schemes to cover 4 different skins. Feel free to print personal recolors or have custom recolors open.

[iouinotes]

"The Cole Effect" | Cole Walter

pairing: Cole Walter x female!reader

show: My life with the Walter Boys

warnings: smut, but just a little (I had to after seeing him in that last scene)

word count: 4k

summary: Cole asks the reader out on a date and after he convinced her, they spend a fun (if you know you know) evening together.

a/n: please pretend that his restored car has backseats...thanks (also I'm sorry for the way this ff ended. I wanted to write smut all the way, but it just didnt feel right anymore after the first half. So please enjoy the rest of it and bear with me...)

"So, when do I pick you up?"

He leans against my locker, looking over my shoulder and reading my notes. "Cole, how many times do I have to tell you? I dont have the time and patience, I'm sorry-" sighing I look at him, studying his smug grin.

"You have the chance to get to know me better. In my opinion, that sounds like the perfect way to spend the afternoon." He smiles at me, his eyes scanning my face.

The fact is, I didnt want to fall in love with him and I knew, if I would let him take me out, it wouldnt turn out for the best. Well, mostly for me. He would probably date the next woman, that would catch his eye. And I would be on his list, sitting at home on the weekends and waiting for him to call. No, that wasnt how I planned to spend my time.

I mean, he obviously is very handsome, blonde hair, dreamy eyes, pink lips that somehow always look kissable. And to be honest, sometimes when I get lost in a daydream, forgetting about the math class, he appears in my head. Always smiling as bright as the sun. I dont know what it is, but something about him is so attractive, I dont even know how to discribe it.

Of course, I'm not the only one who feels that sort of attraction. His magical appearance, how he talks, walks, smiles, flirts.

It´s called "the Cole effect". For most of the time, I didnt really get it. But as soon as his eyes landed on me, as soon as he talked to me, trust me, I got it. He is charming, enchanting, funny and he has a way with words that makes it addictive to hear his voice.

It´s crazy, but it is reality.

When I look at him now, I feel another pair of eyes watching me. Erin. The girl, who is in a on-off realtionship with him. Cole has many women, who want him, not just because he is popular. But because he is what every girl dreams of. Thats the problem, he is a dream till he gets bored and then you find yourself in your own nightmare.

"Its just- I cant. Also, there is a really pretty and wonderful girl, standing right next to you, thats been waiting for you to notice her." I never unterstood how Cole could want someone else, when Erin existed.

"Well, Im currently talking to her, so I know when to pick her up." His eyes stay clued to me. Confused, I draw my eyebrows together. "But Erin is this way-" I turn my head to look at her, but at the same second I feel a finger tenderly turning my head back. I freeze, butterflies awake in my stomach and I have to keep myself from looking too flustered by his gesture. Of course, my body has its mind of his own, so I feel my cheeks turn red.

At that, he grins. "I know you feel it, beautiful. One date, thats all Im asking for. I promise, you will have a good time." Im too caught up in my emotions to think reasonable. So I quietly nod and feel myself holding my breath, when he leans down to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His finger again, linger slightly on my cheek.

"See you then, 9 o'clock. I'll be on time, you have my word." Winking, he turns around and walks down the aisle.

Finally I get to breath again.

☀️☀️☀️☀️

Why the fuck did I agree to this? Standing infront of my mirror, I look at my summer dress, warm yellow colour with beautiful, little sunflowers on it. It was the dress, I got a lot of compliments for. But then again, what was my intention with wearing this dress? Im not sure.

While I pick out a golden necklace in the shape of a sun and put on a few bracelets, I leave my hair down and the way it always is. I don't want him to think that I'm trying too hard.

He knows the truth anyway.

A few minutes later, I hear the doorbell ring and with one last, deep breath I open the door. If I'm honest, I would have liked to close it straight away. Because there's no way to avoid staring at him the whole time when he looks like that. Wearing blue jeans, slightly oversize, a white tank top and his red jersey. He looks hot, in a way I want to spend the rest of the day, riding something other than his car. God, help me survive this.

To my suprise, he is quiet the gentleman. He compliments my dress, he holds the door open to his car, he lets me pick the music and as I sit in the passanger seat, listining to Taylor Swift, I smile to myself. Unfortunetely I´m not very subtle about it, because he asks me right away about my good mood.

"I dont know, Im just having a good time, I guess." I look at him, while he is focusing on the road. I see one of his hand rising, so he dramatically holds onto his chest.

"I'm hurt. Did you think, I was that boring?" Laughing, I shake my head. "No, its not that. To best honest, I didnt expect myself to enjoy today." I turn my head and look at my lap, fiddling with my fingers. "Why not?" I see his head looking in my direction, a curious tone in his voice.

"I´ve had a hard time this last year, everything with school and you are- I mean, I dont know what intention do you have with me? Im not a one night stand type of person, I want something real. You know, like in the love songs, the real feelings, a real relationship. With a person, who wants me the same way, I feel about them. I think, thats the reason Im not sure, if this-" I gesture between us "is a good idea."

He´s quite for a moment and I feel more embarassed, the more seconds pass.

"Im sorry. I didnt mean that we´re going to be, you know like a thing. I respect your decision to spend your time with other girls, I didnt mean it is something bad. Its just-" He finishes my sentence. "-not for you. I know." His eyes are on the road, but I see his hands nervously tapping the wheel.

"Sorry, if I just crashed the vibe. I didnt intend to do it." I look at my hands. "No, its okay. Dont be sorry. I like your honesty. You know, you state your point. Thats good."

We look at each other and I try to search in his eyes for a sign, that he´s pissed. But he just lightly smiles at me, reaching out and holding my hands. While one of his hands is still on the wheel, of course. I feel myself blushing.

"Look, lets not pretend that I´m the best choice for a relationship or boyfriend material. Because I´m not and you knew that, even before you agreed to spend the afternoon with me. So, I´m just curious. Why did you change your mind?"

His thumb is massaging the back of my hand and I try not to settle with this warm feeling in my chest. "Because you dont give up that easily and it's hard not to give in to you." I see a smile tuck at his lips. "You think so?" I role my eyes.

"You know the affect you have on people, Cole. It wouldnt suprise me, if you run for president and won. People like you." He laughs at my comparison, turning the wheel and driving into the driveway to a nice restaurant. When he parks the car and turns of the light, he turns in my direction and looks at me.

"Do you like me?"

The question suprises me. "What?" I laugh quietly. "You said, people like me. So, do you like me too?" His eyes search mine.

"Well, if I would hate you, I think i wouldnt have agreed to go to dinner with you." He leans forward.

"Well you could just be here for the food?" I grin at him. "You got me, Im just hungry, sorry. Can we go in and be silent the entire time?" His hands are still holding mine, but now one of them is caressing my arm, leaving me with goosebumbs.

We sit in silent, but when he opens his mouth to break the comfortable atmosphere, Im shocked by his honest words.

"Well, I like you. You´re funny, endearing, honest and smart. You are nice to everyone, even if you have do deal with a guy like me, who gets on your nerves, so you agree to go on a date with him. It´s something about you, that is special and I would like to get to know you better. If you do, I promise you´ll get more food."

I smile at his last sentence, even though I dont know what to say. "God, you´re making me speechless." He leans even closer. "I can do many other things, that can make you speechless." At that I look at his lips. I see him grin and when I look up again, he is even closer than before.

"There are two choices now. One, we go into his lovely restaurant and talk about god knows what or two, we test whether the seats can be tilted backwards." At his voice I feel myself getting flustered. God knows, I would love to test what the car is capable of. But we´re out in a driveway, infront of a restaurant and people could see us. And even though I´m not really against the idea, its to early.

"Or three, we eat first and maybe later, you show me why I need to hate you less." He rises his eyebrows. "So you really are just here for the food." I laugh. "I guess, I am."

The time we spend in the restaurant was wonderful. I didnt expect us to connect this way, its like he just gets me. We ate a huge meal, in the end we almost forget to pay and I feel myself being so entchanted to him.

Even though the waitress tried to flirt with him (which by the way is rude, because what about girls support girls?), he kept his attention on me, also reaching out infront of her and taking my hand. I really couldnt tell myself to stop imagining, what it would be like, if we were a couple.

I mean, its ridiculous, because he made it very clear, that he didnt want to be in a relationship. But still, a girl could dream, right? Right.

After we did pay (much to the relief of the waitress), we went outside and walked a few minutes along a path, our hands entangled by the time we got back to the car. I didnt want to admit it, but he managed to make me fall in love with him in one day.

And even though I was scared, he made me feel alive. I couldnt concentrate on anything over than him, his sweet compliments, his eyes that kept looking at my lips, his arm that went around my shoulder to keep me warm.

He was so caring, it made me loose my mind. I didnt want the night to end. So when we were back in his car on the way home and he asked me, if I wanted to see his new car, I agreed.

We talked on the way back about our interests. He told me about his passion for football, even though he didnt get to play anymore and about his fascination for restoring cars. I told him about my love for books and that I would rather spend the day waching a new Netflix series, than doing sports. We talked about our goals for the future and that we both want to get out of this town, finally seeing something new.

By the time we arrived at the ranch and he parked the car outside the door, it felt like I knew his past selve, his present and future self. I never had a date like this before, something so honest and great.

But I mean, I also never knew a person like Cole before, so maybe that is the reason.

☀️☀️☀️☀️

When we arrived, it was dark outside, but because it´s summer, neither one of us felt cold. "Is it okay for me to be here? I mean, are your parents cool with you, bringing a girl home?" I look to the house, checking if some of his family members are still awake, but no lights are seen. "As long as they dont know about it, they´re cool." He grins at me and I shake my head.

"Come on, I want to show you what I´ve been working on for the last months." He leads me, one of his hands on my back to the garage, opening the door and letting me in. Its dark inside, but I hear him shifting around to find the switch to turn on the light. When I hear a click and the light flickers on, I look around and at the tools, all the stuff standing around and finally at the car.

He´s standing next to it, a proud smile on his face. "So, what do you think?" Im walking towards him, inspecting his work. "I mean, I dont have a clue about cars, but it looks really good and like it was restored by a proffesional." My fingers run over the open hood.

When he carefully closes it a few seconds later, I look up and see him watching me. "What?" I say, starring back. He takes a step towards me, searching in my gaze, trying to make out if I want this the same way, he wants to feel me. But as I stand still, waching him get closer, centimeter by centimeter, until our faces almost touch, I feel myself breathing heavily.

His hands sneak around my waist, pulling me gently closer to him. He turns around, so he leans onto the car, directing me, so I stand between his legs. I feel myself getting hot, I hear his breath and watch his eyes trailing down to my lips and finally to my eyes. I do the same. And before I know it, he leans in and catches my lips in a captivating way. I feel myself melt.

One of my arms sneak around his shoulders, so I get closer to him. I feel butterflies fly around in my stomach, smiling in the kiss and when he breaks apart, he looks at me.

"Hate me less now?" He wispers.

"Not really, try again."

So he does. Our lips meet, our breath gets taken and I feel my knees weaken, when one of his hands capture my face. He holds me still and I feel every touch, my skin burns.

The temparature rises and when one of his hands travel down, first to my neck, then to my collarbone and lastly to my shoulders, his fingers hold the straps of my dress. Again, he breaks apart, so I open my eyes and immedialy want to kiss him again. Although my hands wander over his shoulder, Im not sure what to do now.

"Are you nervous?" His hands caress my sides, his question leaves me uncertain. I nod, not in the right state to use my words. At that, he gently smiles. "Then I will help you relax. You can do that for me right?"

His words make me clench my thights and I feel myself getting wet. When I nod again, he leans forward and wispers in my ear. "Good girl." That and that his lips nip at my ear and leave a wet trail at my neck, makes me whimper slightly. I feel him smirk, so he earns a light smack on his arm. He laughs quietly and when I open my eyes, his ones are shining with a hidding mischief.

"You enjoy this too much." I say it as a joke, but he takes it seriously. "I do, actually. I dreamt about you making these sounds a lot more often, than I would like to admit."

At that, I gasps. "You what?" I try to concentrate on his words, but his wandering hands dont help with that. He kisses me, but now he turns us around and presses me against the car. Helping me sit on it, so he can get between my legs.

"I said" he beginns to speak and his lips find a certain spot, that makes me moan. "I want to hear all the little sounds, that escape you." My hands wander to his hair, holding it and messing with it. His hands again find the straps of my dress and when I kiss him more passionate, he slowly beginns to pull it down. First the right side until he lets go of it, so he can pull the other one down. All that, while still kissing me.

I feel myself getting lost in him, his lips are like a drug and I feel myself getting addicted. When I feel the air hitting my skin, I break apart. He looks at me, checking if I’m still okay with what we´re doing. "What do you want to do?" he holds the straps of my dress, gesturing that he wants to get me out of it. I breath, trying to know, what I want.

I come to the simple conclusion, that I do want him. Even if its just for now. So I kiss him and try to strip him out his jacket. To do that, he lets go of my dress and it falls to the floor, leaving me in my underwear. His eyes scan my body as his hands caress my skin, his finger going from my shoulders to my breasts.

Breathing heavily I look at him. "Your turn." His hands leave my body and with a teasing smile he takes off his jacket, leaving me starring at his muscles.

One of his fingers turn my head to look at him. "You like what you see?" His grin says it all. My hands find their way to touch his arms, going further down until i tuck at his shirt.

"I would like you more without it." His eyes turn dark. Swiftly he strips off his tanktop, leaving us both starring at each other. Before I can do something else, his arms direct me to him.

"You´re having second thoughts about this, sunshine?" He´s touching my necklace.

"Have you?" I look at him, seeing him smile.

"Never." His hands go to my legs, so he can lift me up and my legs hold on to his hip. I lean towards him, kissing his neck and stopping by his ear.

"What do you want to do to me?" At that, he stands up, still holding me, while opening the door of his restored car and lays me gently on the back seats. He´s hovering over me, a look in his eyes that makes me shiver. When he leans down and presses a kiss on my chest, near my neck, I try to focus on my breathing.

"I want to do so many things to you." His hands tangle in my hair, lightly tugging on it while he leans down, his lips ghost over my own.

"I want to-" his voice goes quiet, I feel his hands touching my legs, breaking them apart, so he can sit between them. "-take of your panties first. Alright?" I nod, looking up to him. Slowly his fingers find my underwear, so he can slide them down and I get out of it.

When he holds them in his hands, he puts it in his pocket, because he still wears his jeans. He starts to kiss me, leaving my mind with a relaxed feeling, going further down, kissing my chest and my stomach, eventually leaving a kiss above the one spot, thats been dying to be touched.

"I already have you this wet, how sweet of you." When his hand comes down and touches me, sliding one finger gently over my folds, I try to hold myself together.

"You dont need to be quiet. Nobody can hear you." But when I keep holding in my moans, he takes it as a personal challenge. As he leaves kisses all over my body, his finger carefully begin to speed up and I feel my walls clenching.

"God, you´re so tight. How long havent you been touched?" His mouth his hot on my skin and when he adds a second finger, I moan loudly. My eyes squeeze shut at the feeling that consumes me, I cant concentrate on a word he says.

"Already too turned on to answer me, huh? Thats a shame, because Im curious to know the answer of my question." He stops the movements of his fingers, leaving me with a needy feeling. And when I try to move, he stills my hips.

"As much as I like to see you sqirm, I want you to answer me. Can you do that for me?" I try to remember his question. "I-I havent." He rises his eyebrows in confusion. "You what?" His fingers leave my body. When I open my eyes, I realise what he has been asking me.

"I-I havent been touched like that before." His mouth opens in disbelief. "You never had a boyfriend or someone you´ve been intimitated with?" I look at the ceiling of his car. "I mean, not really. I´ve dated someone once, but we didnt reach a level, where we got to this point. So, I never did something like this." I can see the conflict in his eyes. "You´re sure, you want me to be your first?" Its sweet, that he cares.

"I- I guess so, Im sure it wont be a bad experience with you." He quietly laughs. "I hope so, but I cant get my head around the fact, that this is your first time. I mean, youre beautiful and fun to be around." He´s silent for a moment. "You know, we dont have to go all the way, right? I wont be mad, if we stop here."

I think for a moment and while my hands trace his muscles, I try to sort out my thoughts. Now that his fingers are no longer distracting me, I try to understand my feelings.

"We should maybe take it slow? I do want to get to know you better, before-" I dont have to finish the sentence, he just nods and when he smiles at me, I feel myself relax.

"That´s okay, don´t worry. I can drive you home, if that is what you want?" My eyes are searching for a sign, that he is mad. But he just gently brushes my hair aside and kisses the side of my mouth.

„I like you. That means, so we are clear here, that I want you to want me. And if thats the case, which I hope so, then we dont need to rush anything. If the time is right, who knows what will happen. Even if that means, I need to beg you to go out with me again.“

I raise my eyebrows, laughing at his words.

„You would do that?“ He shrugs, smiling at me.

„For you, I would.“

[blue-thief]

ranking bllk ships based on how likely they are to be canon

this is me trying to be as objective as possible. my biases are def gonna shine through though lmao. i'll only be addressing popular ships for the sake of my sanity. also these are just my opinions so i'd be curious to see everyone else's predictions

ryusae - already semi-canon. their relationship probably won't get a lot of focus but i wouldn't be surprised if we got a post-retirement timeskip at the end of the series and it's revealed they got married lmao

reonagi - what even is the point of episode nagi if we're not gonna have a dramatic confession in the rain that wouldn't tonally fit with the main series

kunigiri - canon bi kunigami + the whole princess/fallen hero thing. i'm only 95% certain the development of their relationship will be romantic, but their relationship is def gonna be a core part of their characters as the series goes on

kainess - in my eyes they're already semi-canon ("it's a beautiful blue" sounds a lot like "the moon is beautiful, isn't it?") but i don't think ness's feelings will ever be reciprocated. or even if they are i don't think they'll be endgame for the sake of both their character developments yk

kaisagi - they're my favs so that's why they're this high but if i'm being serious, they won't become anything more than semi-canon. at most, we're gonna have a short bit with kaiser watching isagi clips again and going "wait a minute am i actually gay" and he accepts, moves on, and it's never addressed again

bachisagi - they have a better chance than most other ships but i really don't think they'll be anything more than platonic.

rinsagi - they have pretty decent chances but def not high enough to warrant them getting higher on this list

bachirin - i WISH they could be higher on this list :,)

nagisagi - the chances aren't zero but considering how much is going into reo & nagi's relationship + all the other relationships isagi has going on.... yeah they have no chance

barousagi - i'm literally just adding them bc i wanted a nice list of ten. as much as i love this ship i really don't think we'll be seeing anything from them :,,,,,)

honorable mention: egonoa/noaego - we don't know much about their relationship yet but i think it would be hilarious if they turned out to be canon exes. kaneshiro please

[seat-safety-switch]

Hey friend. I know we all managed to escape the holiday season by the skin of our teeth, but it's time to start thinking about next holiday season. After a couple years, or in some of our cases, a few decades of feral snarls at anyone who comes near your house, people expect you to go out in the world and interact with human beings again. That means you need to update your "talk like a person" list.

When I first started socializing, I thought it would be easy. All I'd have to do is find another person and start talking about the things I liked. Then they'd talk about the things they liked. Then we would be instant friends and throw each other into a fountain and drink coffee together, like on teevee. Unfortunately, it didn't quite happen that way. It turns out that the things other people care about are really boring, and they think that the things I care about are really weird.

To survive, I've developed a sort of party planner kit, but it's only useful when you keep it up to date. Let me explain by way of an example. Here in Canada, a lot of people like ice hockey. It is a perfectly valid sport, but you are expected to have opinions about it in order to have polite discussion with people. I have developed exactly three opinions, and use them at random when interacting with new people. Unfortunately, the opinions need to keep up with the times.

In hockey, as in life, players move on or get injured, teams move to different cities, and the Zamboni® is no longer powered by a propane-fuelled Volkswagen inline four from the 1980s using an overcomplicated carb hat arrangement. See, that last one? I did it again. To help keep this from happening, I have to do some research, and update my bon mots to make sure that they're the bon most they can be. I do it around now, when my motivation is at its peak and it is too cold to interact with any other human beings. After spending about an hour googling for "who is the worst NHL player right now" and "A1 vw rabbit coilover conversion kits for british lever shock cars" – shit, I did it again – I have my inoculation against other people thinking I'm weird. You don't think I'm weird, right?

This can work for all kinds of other sports, and even business events, if you live in a country that hasn't yet invented sports. I strongly encourage you to figure out three facts about something that is popular, and use them in rotation like me. Hell, you can probably get away with two, as long as you immediately make up an excuse to leave as soon as you've run out of ammo. And that's what the holiday spirit is all about.

[aestheticsstyleguide]

With these ±50 items you can create countless (or around 120.960) of 2014 Tumblr Soft Grunge outfits!

Tops:

- Simple black and white tops in different shapes, like the American Apparel ones pictured. A simple black and white t-shirt is also always good to have.

- Tops with a design. Especially horizontal black and white stripes and grids are a need!

- Band merch! Arctic Monkeys is the most popular one, but e.g. The 1975, The Neighbourhood and Nirvana are also good!

- The alien shirt! I think everyone remembers this one, the OG is from Brandy Melville, but there are a lot of remakes.

- A top with a Japanese word, I found these on Pinterest, but you can find a word that you like :)

- Flannels. Go for a dark colour like grey, green or red. Wear it as usual or around the waist.

- A jean jacket, usually a little baggy. Vintage Levi's are a good option, but any brand works.

Sets:

- Another popular outfit is the Lulu set from American Apparel, this one was available in several designs, but for the soft grunge look we're looking for the black and white versions. Like the ones pictured.

Bottoms:

- Pleated tennis skirts! Specifically from American Apparel, the black and white ones are a must! One with a plaid print is also good to have, especially when the rest of the outfit is a bit plain and you want that little extra.

- Jean shorts, preferably a bit baggy. Washed out denim, grey tints and black are great options.

- Jeans! I'll make a separate list here.

Jeans:

- 2 pairs of blue denim baggy jeans (preferably a bit of a lighter shade). 1 ripped and 1 not.

- 2 pairs of black baggy jeans. Again, 1 ripped and 1 not.

- 1 pair of black skinny jeans.

Shoes:

Shoes are usually black, but white is also seen.

- Chunky heels, like the ones from UNIF.

- Platform sneakers, Buffalo is a good brand for that.

- A pair of black Dr. Martens. High ones are the most versatile in my opinion, but the low ones are cute too.

- Black High Top Converse All-Stars are a must. Checkered ones are nice as well.

- And so are the classic Checkered Vans slip ons.

- Nike Air Force 1, in black and/or white.

- Black creepers.

Accessoires:

- Fishnet tights! You can get them in different sizes :) you can also get fishnet socks

- Kneehigh socks! Get 4 different ones so you have a bit of versatility. 2 plain in black and white, 2 with stripes, so black with white stripes (like the one pictured) and white with black stripes.

- Chokers! There are many different designs but the tattoo choker is iconic! A plain black one is the other most important one. If you got those two you're free to get any choker you like! Not before that tho >:)

- Crystal necklaces, you know? THOSE ones :) in silver obvi

- A beanie for the winter. A black one with white stars or text maybe? It's up to you :)

- Black and white tote bags, specifically The American Apparel cities bag and the one with 'This Bag Contains [some illegal stuff]

This all together can be very expensive, but you probably already have some things in your closet! I suggest going to thrift stores :) also, ofc you don't have to buy these brands, you can look for cheaper look a likes :)

I hope this helped you so that you can dress like THAT Tumblr girl!

[lilixxmoon]

Some unhinged astrology opinions:

I have delved deep into learning astrology in the last two years, and after looking at a variety of charts and comparing them to my real life experiences, here is a brief list of my favorite vs unfavorite placements in general. Note: This relates to my chart specifically but if you have similar placements as me you'll probably feel the same way. *I have a lot of Cancer/Leo energy*

Least Favorites:

Libra Moons 🔮 A controversial pick but I have to say my piece. Having your moon sign in Libra is considered a pleasant placement and indictive of a peace seeking person. However, the insatiable need to be such a people pleaser makes me really ticked with this placement. Initially it's pretty hard to dislike any Libra placements, as their gifted chameleons that are known for being harmonious, attractive, and diplomatic. All good things. But in the moon sign I have found these people to be especially needy of everyone's approval that it's to their detriment. Their lack of individuality and independence is a sore point that doesn't get talked about enough. If you have heavy Aquarius placements l think this is a tough placement to relate to even if they are trine air signs. Beware of Libra moons in relationships, they tend to change themselves to fit the perfect person they think their partner wants. While in some cases that sounds great, in a toxic person this placement can play out extremely manipulative. They will go to great lengths to bend and twist who they are in an effort to get the approval of the ones they seek. I once heard it referred to as the gold digger moon sign. Even in men they may charm you but watch out for those lingering eyes, they can be a flirt and more easily transform around all the women they pursue. It's a gift for them but a warning for everyone else. If you have this placement you know it's true lol don't lie. Fire placements in birth chart will help confidence and hopefully subdue some of this toxicity.

Gemini Sun 🔎- Not too much to say here. This probably has to do with my Cancer Sun. Gemini's dual nature is so wild to me in general but especially in the sun placement, they can be fickle and petty. If you bruise the ego of a Gemini sun, I have seen things get nasty. Talk about they sure can dish it but they sure can't take it. On one hand, I hate admitting how much I dislike this placement since it's one of the most popular placements among some of the most talented entertainers! But in real life, some of that allusion and spark wears off that you see on screen. Gemini sun's dual nature is tough for a lot of the other zodiac signs especially if you have heavy Taurus placements. If you have a Gemini sun, hopefully you have some more earth placements to ground this fidgety energy a bit better. Just remember to check that ego and you'll be more loved for that entertaining curious soul rather than despised.

Aries Venus 💥- Out of all the Venus signs, this is definitely one that I tend to have some beef with in general, even when it's someone I have a non romantic relationship with. Here Venus is in its detriment. An Aries Venus can manifest as someone who falls in love fast, and falls out of love just as fast. All the fire sign Venus can be difficult since they tend to "burn" through a relationship quickly and suffer from this need for lots of stimulus. However, Aries in Venus I have noticed can be particularly challenging because they have a tendency to ghost, run, or even engage in some secretive behavior, but above all that I find people with this Venus sign to have a childlike quality that can quickly turn from endearing to just out right annoying. Unconventional relationships and lifestyles might best suit an Aries Venus. Relationship stuff aside, please explain to me how people with this Venus can be so passive aggressive??? Fire energy is generally more direct but I have noticed that to be the opposite with this sign, which is odd.

Top Favs 🌼🌷💟

🎀Pisces Venus - Where do I even start with how beautiful this placement is. I am jealous I don't have it. I've heard this placement be criticized for it's boundless nature, the love of this placement can lack conventional boundaries in relationships. In my opinion though everyone will probably feel a bit better if they have at least one Pisces Venus in their lives. They just give such an abundance of love, empathy, kindness, and joy to the one's they care about. True empath and healer placement. This placement is so romantic and dreamy. They're just so pure of heart. Hopefully this placement doesn't have anything weighing it down in an overall birth chart. I think this is a lovely placement and if you hurt a Pisces Venus your probably the problem not them.

🌙Cancer Rising - This is my favorite rising sign especially for girls. I just love the witchy, mermaid like aesthetic of this placement. The big eyes!!! Oh it's just so pretty. Is it any wonder that this is the placement Margot Robbie has? I also love Taurus Risings, but first place for me has to be cancer. I mean I am a Tumblr girly and Tumble aesthetic in it's prime was definitely giving Cancer Rising vibes. I know it's not for everyone but idk for me it's that cuteness this placement has too. Cancer risings look like fairytale princesses to me with their glowy skin, and round baby doll faces. It breaks my heart that so many Cancer risings may not see how beautiful they are right now since it's so trendy to have buccal fat removal from your cheeks. Their youthful ingenue appearance is precious to me even if it's not on a trend. More love to round faces.

💚Aquarius Mercury - Few people are in my opinion as naturally witty and entertaining as an Aquarius Mercury. Intelligent, bold, and unique. People with this Mercury sign seem to have so many natural talents. This Mercury sign is usually the best conversationalist in any social setting as well as a savvy spokesperson in any work setting. Not everyone can keep up with the deep mind of this Mercury sign. So they can be unfairly labeled as being too kooky, or far fetched in their ideas. Aquarius is a tough sign in general since it is ruled by Saturn and can be associated with progressiveness, independence, and even rebelliousness. However, in Mercury Aquarius seems to be a great placement for anyone that wants to be a jack of all trades or wants to think outside the box and try new things. Most likely an Aquarius Mercury is sure to be an interesting individual with a signature flare that stands out. I personally find these individuals fascinating.

[autism-rizz-tournament]

Autism Rizz Tournament

Rizz: Originally short for "Charisma", Rizz (for this tournament, at least) refers to the appeal, charm or general "ability to pull" a character has, either romantically and/or sexually. (The character doesn't necessarily need to be attracted to anyone to have rizz. If they can make others fall for them, it counts)

How to vote

Propaganda

Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time/ Adventure Time: Fionna and cake)

Bro gets super hyperfixated on his studies of magical artifacts , with a scene where he's infodumping about something he's reading about and paying zero attention to anything else in a fun lighthearted manner. There's also a scene in fionna and cake where he has a meltdown that looks to my autism ass like something of a sensory overload. He also is big into reading (did I mention that?) and goes on little autism walks alone to process stuff He's also got a crazy magic girlfriend chasing him because of his rizz, along with his literal doppelganger alt universe clone hitting on him. His fluffy hair, cute little glasses and snazzy sense of dress lead to even more rizz.

I LOVE MAH CURSED MANNNNNN hes so adorable I WANT ONLY JOY IN HIS LIFE

Marina (Splatoon)

While not canonically autistic, she does have a lot of autistic traits--she's rarely seen without her headphones (to the point where her ears aren't modeled in game), her tentacles constantly moving could be seen as stimming, and she has a very strong interest in machinery, to name a few. Marina also has a crush on her bandmate, Pearl. While it is never directly stated in-game, supplementary material basically confirms it. The Japanese version of the Splatoon database has described her as a "maiden in love," with the specific words used being in romantic contexts. Along with that, she has drawn a manga about Pearl, drawing flowers and hearts around her, and generally acts affectionate towards her in-game. It is unknown if Pearl reciprocates canonically, but she does have a very close relationship with Marina. She reciprocates Marina's hug at the end of Octo Expansion, and she is seen to be quite worried about her in the second trailer for Side Order. Pearl x Marina is a very popular ship in the fandom for these reasons.

she wears headphones near-constantly, is obsessed with heavy machinery, and is skilled in multiple forms of art (music, shoujo manga-style visual art, and stage design). she also notably chose team Order in the Chaos vs Order splatfest, and her dialogue in the announcement suggests she's resistant to change (though it could also just be interpreted as her being gay for her co-host)

this was a partly 'for fun'-type headcanon i quietly held for a while that i think was kinda niche at the time (though it is entirely possible i just wasn't in the right corners of the fandom) but then side order released and brought with it a ton of new reinforcement. to get the question of her rizz out of the way, people were so consistently horny for her while splatoon 2's splatfests were ongoing that it actually caused drama because her team typically had the popular vote and people chalked that up to participants voting based on their favorite hosts' opinion rather than their own. whether that's true or not is hard to prove, but the fact that it was plausible illustrates my point, and her popularity was even referenced in-game at one point. there's also MAJOR subtext that she and her bandmate pearl (who reads as adhd to me) are dating. now for the fun part, listed in no particular order but will probably trend towards sillier argumentation as it goes on. (includes some mild side order spoilers) the "final" splatfest of splatoon 2 was chaos versus order, and marina's reasoning for picking order implies a resistance to change. this is reinforced in side order, in which she has to reconcile her inner desire to live in a consistent world with the fact that she knows forcing other people to conform for the sake of that is immoral when a rogue ai hijacks her virtual-reality program. - she shows signs of having social anxiety in a lot of dialogue, and it even arguably extends into her visual design because of her consistently pouty eyebrows. - at one point a childhood friend of hers mentions a time she infodumped to nobody in particular about excavators for 2 hours straight, and then pearl says she regularly goes on for longer now. - she has skill in a ridiculous amount of art forms: music, stage design (for splatfest battles, not music performance), shoujo manga-style visual art, and even programming, game design, and 3d modeling. -the logo of the virtual-reality program she designed is an infinity symbol, which also shows up in a few other places throughout it. - always seen wearing headphones, outside of specific promo art and images from her military backstory.

[trainsinanime]

I sometimes reblog posts about US Americans being weird here, but honestly I don't love how angry or smug most of these posts are. It's just that angry and smug posts tend to get more traction, and so they get reblogged more, and so I tend to see them and reblog them myself. Hm, maybe there's a lesson for all of social media and for me in particular here.

Anyway, what I want out of these posts is not for any US Americans here to feel bad; it's just "funny" and perhaps, perhaps a tiny bit of consideration for how being US American means you experience the internet on easy mode.

This is not your personal fault. Nor is it ethically wrong. It's just a thing that exists, and it may be worth thinking about it.

Examples of that easy mode include:

It's your language. The vast majority of people on the internet need to know a second language to at least participate passively, let alone actively post. It's not just the internet; for e.g. my job, all documentation for all the tools is only in English, and I was required to listen to English lectures and write both my bachelor's and master's thesis in English, my second language, to pass. That's why e.g. posts about bilingualism tend to cause a bit of a discussion, because knowing a second language isn't a special skill but a necessary survival tool.

It is your world-wide culture. The list of most popular video games, TV shows, movies and songs tend to be fairly similar across the world (in particular the part of it we call it the western world, another discussion that I'll get into below), and they're dominated by the output of US media. There is no equivalent to e.g. Disney anywhere outside of the US.

It's your debates and discussions. Because of the huge importance the US has economically and culturally (not to mention militarily), we tend to discuss US topics a lot, and we tend to discuss them from an American point of view.

This introduces American oddities into a lot of the world. For example, I'm a STEM guy, I have a STEM education, a STEM job and my primary hobbies are also STEM based, so what I notice are imperial measurements like feet and inches. Those are not "one of two equally valid choices", they're the unique hobby of the English-speaking countries, and within them, increasingly only the US. But we still tend to see them here as if they were a normal usual thing, and often europeans (including me) feel compelled to provide translations into these units.

But it's not limited to that, court room dramas are another example where courts in the English-speaking world tend to work very differently from those in the rest of the world. E.g. there's no pleading guilty or innocent in most of the world. There are boundless more examples of that, and these things can be grating every once in a while.

As I said before, I don't think there's any moral value here either way. You're not wrong for being an American (but you're also not better because of it). As I hinted at before, I'm still in a very privileged position myself, being from a wealthy European country, and my culture even without Disney is still far closer to that of the US than it is to most of the rest of the world. I'm sitting in the very same glass house, just maybe a different corner (TODO fix this metaphor before posting).

For example, I'm talking about court rooms and inches versus meters, but if we're thinking about history and ethics, there's deep issues in both of them. When it comes to measurements, it's ultimately the question of whether you use the measurements of London or those of Paris. For most of the world it's a colonial imposition either way. You can make arguments for why one is better for technology than the other (and as you can probably guess, I have strong opinions here), but in the grand scheme of things, neither of them is more "ethical" or more "universal", not really anyway. Same with the way legal systems work, where again, countries either adopted (and more often than not were forced to adopt) either the English system or the French system (with quite a few countries choosing to adopt the German version of the French system as well).

I know that's a boring digression but it's something that's usually missing from these posts, especially ones written by europeans, including some I've written myself. I don't really have a conclusion to any of this either, except perhaps that this is something that's worth being aware of.

[joels-shitty-puns]

The Key to Your Heart - Track 1

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x Musician!Reader

Summary: After writing your feelings for Pedro into a song, it gains a lot more popularity than expected. Ultimately it brings both criticism and support, with new possibilities around the corner.

Warnings: 18+ only (MDNI). Potential for puns/dad jokes (name of my blog, and the fic) should give that away. This is my first fic which should be its own warning, lol. Also some cursing. Mentions of masturbation (f) maybe more smut later idk. Sadness, reader is pretty depressed. Poor body image. Rude people. Bullying-ish and just lack of support? Anxiety. Age gap! Reader is in her mid 20's, Pedro is current age (48).

Other stuff: Reader is plus sized. AFAB. Inexperienced. Also has a dog, but you can pretend it is another creature probably.

Word Count: 1.9K

Series List: Here!

Thank you for checking it out :) let me know what you think. I made this probably more wordy and personal than I should've... OOF.

The clock was nearing 4 AM when, with a sniffle, you closed the app you were on and clicked the power button on your phone. A single tear ran down your face as you rolled on your side and hoped that maybe in your dreams you could experience the love you craved so desperately. For the past few hours, and every night you didn't have work in the morning, or had free time before bed, you would read fanfiction. You knew people had a lot of poor opinions about fanfic, but the best thing about them is that unlike other stories, you were in these. You could imagine it was you in the story spending time with your favorite characters.

The worst part of fanfiction, however… is when you realize it isn't real and won't ever happen. Sure, you can imagine it, and you can feel the emotions and even give yourself pleasure at the thoughts, but when it wears off, you realize that it's just you. You're alone, and not your mind, nor your hands, can give you what you truly want. What you need.

You aren't so dumb or delusional as to think it's real, or to think you have a chance. If your own mind didn't tell you that enough, your family and friends would remind you plenty. At the mention of your crush, you'd get comments that had a playfulness, or childlike connotation at the idea of you crushing on someone famous. If not that, you'd get pity, or told you should put yourself out there and find someone you actually have a chance with… as if you chose to have these feelings. Why would you choose to fall in love with someone you have no chance with?

For a while, you could pretend it was just a crush and that you couldn't be in love with someone you've never met. But ultimately you accepted that it wasn't true. This isn't the first time, and you're sure it won't be the last. With the previous crush lasting several years, you knew you'd just have to wait it out. 

This time around, the crush was on Pedro Pascal. Current heartthrob of the world, starring in some of the most popular franchises of the time. If people didn't know his name, they certainly knew a character of his; unless they lived under a rock. 

With this information in the back of your mind, the fact that everyone knew him and everyone loved him and he could have anyone he wanted, you sighed, hoping it would finally get through your head, and rolled over to your other side. Unable to sleep, you pulled out your journal to write down your feelings before eventually drifting off, pen in hand.

Letting out a groan, you awoke too few hours later to your dog Skipper crying in your face. "Gotta pee, buddy? Alright.." You climbed out of bed and he spun in a circle before galloping through the house towards the patio door. Humming a song you don't yet know, you sit by the door and think about what you wrote the night before. It wasn't uncommon for you to write songs, and you found it comforting to play instruments and sing your feelings out into the lyrics. Although you often recorded and purchased the copyrights to your music, you never posted it.  Maybe someday…you always told yourself, pondering with the idea of some extra money. 

After letting the dog in, you sat at the piano with last night's journal and wrote a song which spilled your feelings for Pedro. You recorded it and went about your day, but it kept nagging you. Finally, after another sleepless night, you posted it onto some music streaming websites. Using a stage name of just your first nickname, you added the song, which you titled "Imaginary Love." It never mentions Pedro by name, only talking of the strong feelings you have for someone famous that you'll never be with. 

Once that was out of the way, you didn't check your accounts for several days. Eventually, however, you began receiving emails. Radio stations wanted to play your song, record companies wanted to sign you, they wanted an album. Your head swirled, and you agreed to put out an album with other songs you've written, still maintaining your stage identity. I'll just be like Hannah Montana, you thought, with a laugh of disbelief. 

About a month later, you and your music were still a mystery to people. People loved your song. People related to it. But of course, there were critics. Negative impressions spurred about you being childish, immature, naive, and silly. Others just wanted to know the gossip. Who were you? Where did you come from? And WHO were you singing about?!

Trying to ignore the chatter, you noticed a new interview of Pedro being posted, as advertisement for his newest film. Finally something to look forward to and get your mind off of this! Flicking on your television, you broadcast the interview of Pedro from your cell phone. Your heart skipped as you looked at him, his messy brown curls falling near his ears that held his large black framed glasses. His brown eyes twinkled as the interviewer talked to him about his work.

Eventually they broke into more casual conversation, discussing current favorite movies, what he last saw in theaters, what he's binge-watching, last concert he saw, and finally… the current song he can't stop listening to. 

"Oh, man… I can't stop listening to "Imaginary Love," he answered without hesitation, hand on his heart.

Your stomach lurched. Your heart stopped. You forgot how to breathe. What. The. Fuck. Shit shit shit shit shit. This can't. Be real. You rewound the video. This HAS to be a dream. But it wasn't. "Imaginary Love," he said. Oh. Crap. You replayed it several more times, but it didn't make it more real. The interviewer replied "oh… here we go. The song everyone is talking about! I am curious though, what are your thoughts on it? Who do you think it's about?" Pedro's smile faltered a bit at the man's tone, but he remained his usual genuine, sincere self when he answered. "I… I'm also curious about who she is and who the song is about, but I think that ultimately it's up to her whether she decides to reveal that. I think we can all relate to the pain of love, especially unrequited, and I think it's brave of her to share that level of open vulnerability with the world. I can't expect her to share more than what she already has."

Your heart fluttered.

Yet the interviewer continued. "Don't you think it's a little… I dunno… naive? I mean, you get it, you're in show business. The average kid really doesn't have a chance, and even more so, isn't it a little… creepy? The way she's put this guy on a pedestal? Claims she's in love with a man she doesn't even know?"

Pedro's fingers twitched around the base of the microphone, his eyebrows furrowed, and he slowly nodded while pondering his response. I can't watch this anymore.. His pause felt like a lifetime, and you couldn't handle the tension. The interviewer was an ass, but his words were nothing new. He was probably right... You are creepy and naive. You reached for the remote to turn off the television. It had only been a few seconds, but you couldn't bear the potential heartbreak that you knew would come. This is exactly why you haven't revealed yourself or the subject of your lyrics.

Pedro cleared his throat before speaking. "You're right… I am in show business and I get it. I get that in order to get what you truly want in life, we all seem a bit naive. I've spent my life trying to make it as an actor, sometimes struggling if it hadn't been for the help of my friends. I was naive, and I suppose a bit delusional. Obviously this is a bit different though. Unlike jobs, we can't choose who we love. I think we've all had celebrity crushes at some point in our lives."

Your breath was caught in your throat and you could feel tears welling up in your eyes. He doesn't even know you, and he's somehow able to reach into your lyrics to understand exactly how you feel without the judgment or pity you often feel from those who know you personally. And yet… the asshole interviewer kept on. Seriously dude… how long are you going to drag this on? Talk to Pedro about his achievements. Quit ranting. The interview has completely gone off the rails. "Okay.. I gotta ask though.." Ugh what now??! He continued, "this girl is a fan. The only thing she knows is what's made public. She's keeping her identity hidden but doesn’t seem to wonder what her so-called “love” is hiding from the world. Would you, as a celebrity, genuinely consider someone like her, a fan, if she came out and said the song was about you? I mean, would any of you out there? We're not just talking about a normal person, or even a slight fan. We're talking write-a-song-about-him level obsessed."

Pedro answered without hesitation. "Sure I would consider it. You can already feel her emotional vulnerability and passion. I think she's deserving of happiness just like anyone." If only you knew.. It is you, Pedro.. But your negative thoughts filled your consciousness. Like he'd want you.. he's almost twice your age.. look at yourself. He can have anyone he wants. He'd never actually choose you. Look at your blemishes. Your big stomach, flab, and stretch marks. Nobody has ever wanted you. You've never even been kissed, you fool. A grown adult.

You frowned and finished watching the interview, swept away in your self-hatred. You slunk onto the floor, cuddling your dog, seeking the only comfort you're able to receive. This is why I prefer animals, you think. They love you no matter what you look like or who you are.

A few days later, the events of Pedro's interview went viral, spurring both negative and positive responses.

"Pedro Pascal Defends Unknown Artist"

"Mandalorian Actor Slams Interviewer"

"Watch: Pedro Pascal Interview Gets Heated"

The headlines get more and more dramatic, acting as if fist fights broke out or a gun battle ensued. It was all pretty tame. A simple conversation of differing opinions. However… you still couldn't help but feel guilty that he put his own reputation on the line for you in a way. He doesn't even know you. What was in this for him, that he felt the need to defend you?

It was at this moment that you decided to log into Instagram from your stage artist profile. Hopping into the message section, you typed out Pedro Pascal and clicked his profile, writing out a message. "Hi Mr. Pascal! I recently watched your interview and I can't begin to express my gratitude towards you. I feel terribly guilty that this is beginning to weigh on your own image, but I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for your defense, thank you for your support of my music, but most importantly, thank you for seeing my lyrics as they were meant to be… from my heart. Thank you for your kindness."

You tapped send and waited with bated breath. After ten minutes of staring at the screen, you decided you needed a break from the internet, dropped your phone, and went for a walk with Skipper.

Meanwhile, from the couch at home, your phone lit up with a notification.

Instagram

Pedro Pascal (pascalispunk): replied to your message

Thanks for reading!! Interested in track 2? Read it here!

[aranarumei]

you listed gsnk as an option and my dopamine receptors lit up. What dyou think about mikorin and mayu

ask me about a ship and I’ll give my opinions + classify them as does / doesn’t make sense, does / doesn’t compel me

heyyy surprise for you. yeah i actually was cleaning up my notes app today and realized I'd answered this and never posted this lol. gonna start off with a does make sense, does compel me and continue under the cut.

okay. hear me out. for a period of time I genuinely believe mayumiko was the gsnk duo closest to being, like, romantic. in a sense. horikashi, nozachiyo, and wakaseo have sure got a lot of development since then (in ch 60, kashima avoids hori and we get a REALLY good moment out of it) but like. just one chapter before that, we have ch 59. one of my favorite chapters. and at that point, I feel like the main couples have had their setup and they're really fun and comedic, but there hasn't been much... advancement, in a sense?

and then we hit ch 59, where "mayumayu" (nozaki mayu, who's been conned into posing as a girl) and "mamiko" (mikoshiba mikoto, who's posing as a girl so that he's not a creepy guy commenting on mayumayu's blog, unwittingly using the name of the protagonist of let's love by nozaki umetarou under alias of yumeno sakiko without knowing that he's the inspiration for the character's personality) basically immediately hit it off over text. seriously, past the first couple of texts where there's a bunch of people commenting on it, all they say is that they'll instantly reply to any texts that come their way. what commences is a hell of texting, probably, but it is a LOT of texting that happens. and that's not something that can be empty! both mikoshiba and mayu seem worn out by the amount of time they spend on it, but they don't seem worn out by each other in the slightest, judging by the fact that in ch 89, not only is mikoshiba still regularly checking mayumayu's blog, he's getting texts with extra art and well-wishes for his exams! they talk to each other about their lives! and it's not something that exists only online, too... mayu and mikoshiba are genuinely and obviously good friends outside of their online identities.

I'm aware not everyone sees it that way, but like, to me, ch 59 was like the most outright romantic the series had gotten. so it's very special to me. so is mayumiko! mayumiko’s so fun because they’re both soooo cool and soooo uncool. but while the mayumiko situation is objectively hilarious, the way they're friends is like... surprisingly understated? it's just something that happens and it works for both of them, even when it seems like it shouldn't. like, let's be real, mikoshiba can be kind of annoying, and mayu can be kind of grating. despite that they end up being really comfortable with each other. like. no wonder they could keep up that texting chain. they just click in general.

so we meet mayu in ch 33, and in ch 37, mikoshiba runs into him, and they've got this fun chapter together where miyako both compares them to cats. then in ch 49, mayu gets mikoshiba to lend him his... questionable? sure. questionable manga. calls him mikoto-san. and it just kind of... happens, them being friends. since they both hang out at nozaki's place. it's neat. in ch 64, post-The Incident, mikoshiba's comfortable enough to ask mayu for help with working out. and mayu knows mikoshiba enough to shout out the specific name of the fake high school from one of the games mikoshiba likes (sure, it's a super popular galge, but that's a strange thing to know well! especially for a guy who's traditionally lazy about everything but judo)

then of course we get to the mayu chapters where he's just so. iconic. in ch 76, mikoshiba needs to bring a guy to the mixer and then after nozaki rejects him sakura's like, ask mayu, who's been on the floor this whole time. side note i think its cute that when mikoshiba asks mayu, he calls himself "mikoshiba-nii-san." and mayu rejects him at first (also using "mikoshiba-nii-san" lol), but he ends up going once he's told he doesn't have to do that much work. and then he grills a girl about her boyfriend bc she says he does judo. and then tries to get some guy's number because he's apparently strong. judo freak (affectionate). and then, of course, as mikoshiba's thinking that "ah, they totally think mayu likes guys, but i guess it's fine since he doesn't seem to care" and when he's surrounded by girls mayu jumps in and says "he's mine," just like nozaki's shoujo manga advice had told him to do. love that for them. in ch 81, though it's a pain, mayu goes along with the idea that all the stuff in the back room is his and not mikoshiba's (though maybe he thought it was more of a pain to explain) and when talking about dating sims, mayu says, "well, guys or girls, both are pretty similar." love that guy for real.

then, in one of the moments of all time that make me insane, in ch 94, seo's pinning mikoshiba, and suddenly goes, it's boring without waka (makes sense! he's normally the guy she pushes around like this) and mikoshiba's like. oh! that's right! I haven't gotten a souvenir for mayu yet! (makes... sense...? because. because he's getting PINNED??? and we KNOW that mikoshiba hasn't done judo with mayu because it happens for the first time in ch 135, where after some really nice moments, mikoshiba sheepishly asks if mayu wants to try throwing him around too. it's a weird expression of care and also the fact that they're still friends after this fact, considering the violence nozaki translates it as, is a testament to their friendship.)

also in the extras for that volume, we see mikoshiba got him a smartphone case, which sucks because mayu's got a flip phone (though it's better than the hairpin nozaki got mayu) but then when mayu figures out a use for that smartphone case, he runs to mikoshiba to give him the good news! 'cause mikoshiba was sulking before... they're fun.

i think I've already said this but they really are close. and i think mayu's kinda clingy. in ch 114 when kashima rei asks to talk to him again, he's like, "go through mikoto-san." in ch 128 we find out that mayu shows girls in his class photos of mikoshiba so they make sure he doesn't get caught napping. this begs the question: HOW did this arrangement exist in the first place? because there's no way I can think about it that doesn't involve mayu and mikoshiba being at some level of closeness. and there's no way mayu can get so many nice looking photos of mikoshiba without being close to him. and in that same fucking chapter when nozaki’s making posts for his blog and turns mikoshiba into a girl, people think that he and mayu are dating. like oh my god. even in gekkan shoujo nozaki-san, when the main cast is meant to be a bit older than the canon timeline, mikoshiba and mayu are hanging out together at nozaki's place. and when mikoshiba and nozaki are getting all chummy with miyoshi, mayu walks in and he's like. ah. a challenger emerges (because he presumably wants to be pampered instead). my point is that they're close they just hang out. it's comfortable, which says a lot for both of them.

in ch 59 mayu's friends are like. his type is 1) someone who's stronger than him at judo or 2) someone older who'd take care of him and. mikoshiba's not #1 but he is #2. those two can be pretty sweetly considerate actually. as we see mayu gets dragged into quite a bit of stuff and does it. in ch 101 he actually finishes up the chapter of let's love while everyone's fallen asleep. and in the vol 14 extras mikoshiba gifts a water plant to a guy he barely knows. just because. so I feel like they're both sweet people underneath it all. and extra fact about ch 59 i know you'll feel crazy about. kobayashi (the guy who actually runs the mayumayu blog) calls mayu maa-kun. i am not joking.

anyways to me mikoshiba and mayu are both this weird security to each other. mayu’s someone who doesn’t care abt social graces and mikoshiba’s someone who cares too much. but when they’re weird to each other it’s like they accept everything. and I just think. despite all of the mistaken identity drama it’s like. idk. they just like each other. they just get along well. and for mikoshiba who’s so awkward with girls, this works out well. also the way that in ch 144 his fav ever gacha character is this kind of gloomy and lazy girl… fascinating thing you’re being charmed by. what a taste you have.

so in the end despite all of the wild situations i think it’ll be simple. mikoshiba will think a little too much and mayu a little too little. but they've gotten along well for so long that I think this will go pretty well, too. it'll just be a feeling that grows kind of slowly until it works for the two of them.

[legallybrunettedotcom]

idk if you've already talked about brat but i'd love to know your opinion on the album (if you've listened to it)

hi, jade! i have listened to it, quite a lot now. i have a lot of conflicting, incoherent thoughts. so when it dropped, i thought well, that was okay. fun pop, dance music. then i go online, i open youtube and suddenly see there's a bunch of videos, essays, reviews etc. about the album all with the title or thumbnail saying "revolutionary", "changed the music" etc etc. and i'm like am i going insane? does this album deserve this much attention and discourse? it's quite difficult to escape the album if you're online a lot, so some of those songs just nestled inside my ear. decided to give it a few more listens and it definitely grew on me. like maybe i do want to be going crazy to this in a club. it's obvious sophie's spirit is still somewhat present here, two of them collaborating on vroom vroom ep did change the pop music and we've seen this shift towards something more experimental and avant garde in pop. i think charli's always been a bit too mainstream for indie, and too indie for the mainstream. brat is unique, but also still very much charli. i think what she did expertly is crack the marketing strategy. we know music alone isn't enough anymore, you need a whole "aesthetic", you need to build your own world and lore. y2k, party girl persona but make it vulnerable. the specific shade of green on the cover is now associated with this album and everything that comes with it. "oh, green eye-shadow, that's so brat of you." how long that reference will last, we're yet to see. we're still very much in the whirlwind of brat summer after all. using lowercase as song/album titles has been quite popular for a few years now and ig it's this attempt at casualness, yk carefully curated carelessness, but it also reminds me of those lyric videos i used to watch when i was 12. when the remix with lorde dropped, ngl, i did tear up a bit, but i also can't help but be a bit cynical, like this too is marketing. the music video for 360, i didn't enjoy the song that much, 365 is better but also i understand you can't have one without the other, but the music video specifically sums up the entirety of brat imo. the criticisms i've seen of it are all on point, like "myopic, self-referential for ppl who live in 4 neighbourhoods in nyc/la, reminder that you're not on the list" all of that is correct, but on the other hand, it's pastiche, you have these internet famous women congregating in an ugly restaurant deciding who will be the next it girl and choosing a random waitress, a reminder that everyone can be a hottie, the it girl, the cool girl whatever. ok, that's cute, but like... i'm still not on the list. it's difficult for me to believe you aren't enjoying your fame and pedestal status, but i think she's also aware how easily you can be replaced as soon as the public gets bored. i also felt a bit insane when people started analyzing the lyrics, like specifically the song apple and being flabbergasted that it's about family and familial trauma, because the apple has been such a widely used metaphor for family since the 19th century. it felt like she was receiving the taylor swift treatment, which is funny considering that one song, yk acting like this has never been done before. of course it hits if you don't read and you don't listen to a lot of different music. in general my problem with a lot of discussions surrounding musical artists nowadays is how a lot of people seemingly have no understanding that music wasn't invented a mere 10 years ago. i'm ranting, and i'm saying a whole lotta nothing, but all in all, i do ultimately enjoy the album, like it's obviously fun and silly, and sexy and i love dancing to it. it will probably end up on my favourite albums of 2024 list, but i just don't see it as revolutionary. i could say "oh that's mother" and "those that get it, get it and those that don't, don't", but i feel like that kills any meaningful conversation and the art of criticism, which is not something i'm good at, but it's not just about "consuming" art, we have to discuss it too.