#I love that Al is evil tho don’t ever change

[notherpuppet]

Alastor is my fave easily but he is so evil and I hope Vaggie is the one who defeats him

[albino-whumpee]

Safe

Words are hard for me too at the moment, so I’m just gonna go ahead and half explain half narrate this. Didn´t expect it to be this long tho. Writing Sann´s point of view it´s always so fun! Hope you like it.

Taglist:  @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @giggly-evil-puppy @cowboysrappin @haro-whumps @burtlederp @neuro-whump @comfortforthepain @whumps-the-word @whole-and-apart-and-between @broken-horn @ashintheairlikesnow @rosesareviolentlyread​ @starnight-whump @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @as-a-matter-of-whump​  @whumpasaurus101 @grizzlie70​ @twistedcaretaker

CW// PTSD, non con and dub con (slightly NS*W), night terrors, pet whump, negative actions towards stimming, conditioning and deconditioning, slavery, dehumanization. creepy whumpers, homelessness, chronic exhaustion and eating disorders, kind of fucky and creepy at the end. Be careful! Ask to tag.

After coming to their home, Sann had to relearn many things that had become his standard. For example, no, don’t stretch your neck expecting a collar. No, you don’t need to go down on your knees to apologize. No, you don’t need to sit on the floor and lay your head on someone’s knees to eat. No, we don’t want you to thank us with your body.

It took several meals on the floor until he was confident enough to go up on a chair. Many nights of gently guiding his hands and body to himself and Albus sleeping on the bed sofa in the studio for a month, and bluntly be explained so he understood that someone sleeping with him doesn’t mean they want sex. It takes many words to let him know mistakes aren’t punished.

And it takes a lot to tell him he won’t wear a collar because he’s not a pet to them.

So Sann is confused about Albus. Why he not a pet but Al is is? He’s not blind to the comfort they give him but Albus doesn’t receive from his owner. Or at least, not like his. With Claude’s friend treating his throat. Even when he has noticed Albus is easily tired and has a very weak immune system. Maybe because he eats so little…

He slowly pieces it together and finally, gets to a conclusion.

He’s charity.

Save the poor abused pet from his sadistic owner. Allow him to feel loved and safe and he will be forever grateful to you, the nicest person ever. Then, maybe, if everything goes right, he could go away and do his own life. But Albus is hers. Albus doesn’t need charity. He already has everything he needs and he’s not mistreated. There’s no reason for him to go anywhere because she’s sure to provide that.

He feels grateful, enormously so, but there’s something that rubs him wrong about it.

He thinks it like that for a while. After Albus and him get comfortable enough around each other to sleep together. When he starts nuzzling up to him and smiles whenever he wakes up with him at his side. Even if its nightmares he has to hold him tight to avoid him injuring himself. After he comes home from work and thanks him for helping him with chores with a little peck on the cheek, because he’s so tired he feels like he might close his eyes and sleep an eternity. Promising to make it up to him in the weekend.

On Sunday, Claude is holding Zarai’s hand. After a while of being MIA, he showed up on the door and stayed with them. Goes to work but Sann isn’t quite sure he’s going to Robert’s mansion. He smells different too. Lost in thought Sann hears Albus call for him. Hands him a cone of ice cream and pulls down his wallet. His Pet ID on his fingers. A plastic rectangle that allows them to go mostly anywhere without their owner. Sann has seen him show it to the cashier in the supermarket enough times.

Sann snatches the blue card before the other can say anything and giggles at his face. So used to see him with glasses already, the guy on the photo feels like he’s missing something. Albus scuffs, nags at him to take out his. The brunette does and sees a rounder version of himself. Shorter hair and the scar on his neck visible.

Albus passes his thumb over it. Silent and gives it back a second later.

“We will change it sometime” Albus promises staring at the street before looking at him “It still has his father’s name on it”

“To change it to Ma’am’s right?” Sann signs with a hint of discomfort on his eyes. Albus doesn’t respond. He goes deadly silent. A slight blush appearing on the tip of his ears. “Al?” Sann calls. Signing white.

“Yeah, yeah… you’re right” He sighs.

“Got gloomy there, something wrong?”

The albino smiled “Yeah, they’re leaving us behind” he pointed at the couple crossing the street. The woman waving at them.

Al stood up, the deep black coat making a whoosh. “Race!” He yelled suddenly. Sann followed him a quick smile appearing on his face. They got there just when the traffic light was turning yellow.

Albus, almost like expecting Sann would try to get across before it turned red, like he did when they went to buy groceries together, stopped him by holding his hand and pulling. The light went red as the boy stumbled back into Albus. Sann pouted, wanting to say they would’ve made it when Albus let out an honest laughter.

“You never care about the street lights. Can’t have you running off like that” Albus said squeezing a bit before letting go so he could use his hands.

“Always so thoughtful!” He signed, sarcasm so blatant in his face.

“You would have gotten ran over ten times if I didn’t!” The albino followed. “It’s safer that way too” he thought to himself. The dream of the highway very present on his mind. 

The light turned green eventually and so, they crossed the street holding hands. Not letting go even as they got to the restaurant where the other couple was waiting and got guided to their table by a young lady after they showed their IDs. Smoking area for Zarai and Claude. Once they were settled, small talk continued.

It was so different to Sann’s memories of going out with Robert. 

Laying his head on his lap in a private corner. Waiting for him to let him lick the food from his fingers. Sometimes, waiters giving him a little pat on the head or somewhere else. Depended if he was sitting or bent over the table. Very different to when Robert took him to Jefferson’s and had the other pet, the girl, on his lap. Him wearing a harness with handcuffs on his back. Moved on his knees at the tug of the leash on Jefferson’s hand. Harshly setting his head between the man´s pants who said “bon appetite” with a grin.

Sann closed his eyes for a moment. Savoring the pasta on his mouth. 

I´m not there. I´m not with him anymore. 

I´m with them. I´m here.

I´m here.

Sann forced himself to open his eyes. A bit of him afraid he wouldn´t see any of them. 

Only his Master with his sharp smirk and the black and golden collar on his hand.

But he opened them to find Zarai and Albus talking about work and Claude begging them to talk about anything else but their jobs for one night, please. The albino stretched to hold his hand with that sweet smile of his. He replied with another smile. 

I´m safe.

An hour later, the moon hanged up high in the sky as they came out of the restaurant. Albus was a bit green, holding a paper bag with the rest of his dish.

“Maybe a kid’s meal would’ve been better” Zarai said passing a hand over his face.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I was sure I would finish it this time” he said in a small voice. Sann saw him struggle too early for that to be true.

“You don’t have to force it, Hun. We can always have it wrapped up for later. Don’t worry ok?” she reassured him.

Albus just nodded. Saying a small “yes, ma’am” under his breath. He had gained some weight since Zarai bought him but it wasn’t enough. Albus had told him he had tried to eat more when he learnt Zarai was worried about him not gaining weight. It had smacked his face later, getting so sick he couldn’t move away from the bathroom for two days.

As they waited for the car, Albus saw a couple of vagabonds and their dog. A sign and a can at their feet. The kid was staring at his bag quietly.

A deep inhale and Albus took out his wallet. Put almost all of it into the bag and closed it. A few steps and he was crouching in front of them.

Sann had stayed back as Albus had rested a hand in his shoulder before walking to them. The kid was weirded out and wary at first, seeing him pet the dog gently, but as he handed him the bag he switched it to confusion. Albus pointed at the man behind him and the boy got gloomy. Said something that made Albus go still. He looked around for a second and pointed to his left. Made his hand curve and straight, before Sann saw the kid’s eyes gleam.

“Albus! Sann!” Claude yelled before getting in the car’s passenger sit.

“Coming!” Sann heard him say from behind. Passing an arm over his waist “I’m glad he didn’t take it badly” he smiled walking to the car “His uncle’s got a bad cough so I hope he can buy him some meds with what I gave him…”

“Told him where to buy them?” 

“Yeah, a clinic that gives free checkups. The doctor there is quite nice. They have sweaters for homeless people in winter” he said opening the door “Gave Annie a blue one with pink flowers and I got an oversized orange sweater. I think they also gave me a scarf” he laughed. That absent look on his eyes whenever he talked about her sitting oddly.

Albus felt too many eyes on him to be comfortable. “I’m sorry” he said immediately.

“Don´t be, who’s Annie Albus?” Claude asked making the boy uncharacteristically nervous. Zarai made the conscious effort not to look back. His thumbs were frantically running one over the other.

“I don’t…I don’t know? Not for sure. Her name came to mind that’s all. M-Maybe someone I, I knew?” He felt a sharp sting on the side of his head, letting a whimper out. Sann jumped to hold his hand but Albus flinched so wildly he shoot it back “I- I´m sorry. I´m fine, don´t worry” Albus hid his hands between his thighs, like trying to hide his stim “I´m sorry, I swear I´m fine”

There were no more questions asked. Not even when they got home and Albus went to say goodnight to both of them. But there was a certain unsettled look on him. Like he was racking his brain. Trying to remember.

Sann was about to follow him out of the room when Zarai told him to wait. Just Sann. Albus got stiff but obeyed and closed the door behind him quietly.

“Sann, I need you to do something for me” Sann straightened. A direct order from his owner “Has he told you anything about Annie?” A nod “Does he remember telling you after?”

“No, ma’am. This is the first time I see he does”

“I see, what has he told you?”

Sann looked up, tilting his head. Then he told her the times Albus said Annie would do cartwheels, snored and always had her feet cold, or how much she was scared of dogs, about how he would braid his hair when it was long, or that it was a mess to sleep together in winter cause they lacked covers and she always pulled them to her side, or how hard it had been to find a fresh place to sleep on the streets on summer or about the scar on her arm when “he” had gotten angry at her.

“‘He’?” Claude asked in a frown. Sann shook his head.

“If he tells you more you come and tell me, yes?” Her face softened suddenly “How are you doing? Did you remember the song? We´re very excited to hear you play” Sann smiled, dimples appearing on his cheeks.

“I´m still practicing it. I´m sure I will have it for the anniversary” Sann said. He hadn´t quite remembered how it went, but in the long hours they were at work he could practice without spoiling Album’s surprise. Could have his headaches without worrying him. 

“Can you believe he has been here a year? Time flies…” She said mostly to herself “Thanks, Sann I´m sure he will love it” she smiled giving him a small pat on the head he leaned on to before she pulled it back “Goodnight Sann” the boy stayed still for a second before he nodded and walked out of the room. “Hey, Claude, can you like, erase someone from your memories?”

Claude took a deep breathe. “That would make things much easier if it was conscious” He explained. 

“Then it might be his way of coping? But if it was so bad to try to suppress them, why now?”

“He might be feeling comfortable enough to remember her. That happens sometimes with PTSD. You forget until your brain feels strong enough to remember. I don’t know what happened, but I’m sure that if he still talks with a smile about her, it must mean she’s someone important to him” Zarai slipped into bed, Momo chirping at her presence. Claude scooting to cuddle her “Sann´s doing a good job in keeping him calm. They look like a bonded pair”

“A what?” Zarai asked. Claude just soothed her hair in a long sigh. 

“Let´s sleep yes? I´m tired” he gave her a forehead kiss “Good night”

Zarai allowed him that. Claude had been so…out of himself lately. He had completely cut ties with the lawyer friend too… She was worried but she pressed a kiss on his shoulder, he answered with a kiss on her hand. 

She would find her answers in the morning.

On his dreams, Albus was starting to see everything more clearly. The men´s faces weren´t blurred as much anymore. He could make up their faces.

Sann was still groggy when he heard the boy bolt awake in heavy pants and rushed to take out the notebook on his nightstand and a pen. 

“Al?” he signed rubbing his eyes with the other hand as he heard him scratch the paper.

“It was them, it was them, it was them, and it was them” he kept muttering over and over. Trembling and shivering. Then he stopped. Froze. Crying his eyes out. Sann had almost jumped to see what he had drawn. The portraits of two men. He gently passed a hand over his eyes and put the notebook away, pulling him closer. Holding him in place with his arms as he rocked him slowly. “It was them, it was them, it was them, and it was them” Sann kept hearing until he fell asleep on his chest. 

He let out a big sigh. Tucked him back to bed and used a pillow as replacement to himself. The albino held to it so tightly, like his life depended on it. Sann´s heart broke at the image. Until a few months ago, it was Sann who clung like that to him. 

He took a look at the notebook. 

So this were the people on his dreams? 

Albus had drawn them before, in the same fashion as that night. But he always destroyed the drawing before he could see them. It was hard. The strokes were too aggressive to make a real face. But he could definitely make out the bird´s tattoo on the man´s chest. Taking flight. Sann ripped out the drawing and hid it below the mattress. He would show it to Zarai later. For now, he would try to get him and his boyfriend, a good night sleep. 

[thelakesuite]

more roots musical ideas (bet you thought you've seen the last of these) this time not in chronological order cause idk how to rearrange them.

- 'the search' number has emma runnin round worriedly(?) through the house (the theatre house not the vanderboom house) while sam and al (maybe mary too, she deserves more involvement) do a call-and-response with her, like 'how much do you love him' 'how far will you go for him' 'what do you think happened to him' kinda deal. not sure yet what theyre doing on stage besides lookin at her ig? perhaps following her movements and swayin, thats all i got rn. al looks Hella Evil, all proud of himself, and dense lil sam is finally getting suspicious

- transition to the painting scene. emma, er, paints, while venting her despair to ol c-willy. just the two of em center stage he collects her tears 'discreetly' while she's still alive, discreetly here meaning its hella obvious but she either doesnt notice or doesnt care. i really do not think we could pull off a hanging without Damaging the Actors but idk how else she could kill herself. knife to throat laura style perhaps

- al has a recurring. ditty? no more than two sung lines, showin up basically whenever he does something Evilll. rn im thinking something like 'i'll have you my way' but thats a lil rough. and of course, karmic retribution, that's frank's last words to al before he Gets Vengeance

- teen-leonard walks in during the brood. al immediately turns to violence. pulls a knife on his own nephew because he's just like that. leonard stands his ground for a good bit before remembering 'oh yeah my uncle actually wouldn't hesitate to kill me' and backs down. no frank's not in this it's not feasible i think

- oh also i think the same actor would be for leonard from band to war hero. prolly just makeup changes

- We Are Not Doing Childbirth.

- in time with crow's last lines as he exits the stage and william's body is hauled off, the basement backdrop is lifted, the 'outside the house' props move in, william is confused a bit, doesnt move all that much, then james walks on from the other direction reading the letter aloud. which is where the other line i found comes in - 'dear james vanderboom, your uncle has passed // your father is missing, as such you're the last // that stands to inherit your uncle's house and fortune' - which is rough yeah but a start nonetheless

- i really wanna do that bit the-terrible-triplets did back in the day of 'do you know how to climb, frank?' 'no' *casually chucks into well* but thats a bad! might adapt it to Formality tho the dialogues pretty ace

- rose explains the whole sacrifice deal to frank and leonard (and the audience 😏) in the parlor. frank's like 'yeah plausible enough i've seen more absurd' while leonard thinks rose is full of shit even after she pulls out the reciepts. they deliberate on how theyre gonna find these timepieces, though i have zero idea what they'd say.

- the last dance is a reprise of the family band (a la the vanderboom's family time now available on record), except instead of it being how sam and ida love each other or w/ever it's rose n frank all somber about the inevitable, accepting fate, realizing their entire lives and the lives of their parents have been building up to this they cant bail out now no matter how it pains them, etc. angsty dude. typical duo dancing jazz. william aint there that's creepy. actually i don't think william's there for a lot of act 3* it just feels out of place (*tentative)

- god i really wanna do a bit where albert gets pissed (sometime between lying game and family band, nearing cap of tension) and just fuckin smashes ida's crystal ball in front of her and probably sam but. i don't think that's sustainable

[slipperyskell]

Skyrim/Witcher Crossover - Cicero Fuckeries

alright so i’m gonna make this its own post since I have a lot in mind for this specific lil scenario, and i don’t want to make a too big a text wall ajs;dlfkjasldk

just hear me out on this one, this would be a lot more entertaining than you might think

Cicero, Geralt and Jaskier first meet out on the road, out in front of the Loreius farm

Geralt was fully intent on ignoring Cicero’s call for help, but Jaskier is the one to be like “hey, why don’t we give this guy a hand?”

honestly the two prolly bicker a bit on what they should do but then Jaskier hits him with That Look and Geralt finally relents

Geralt helps up to the farm while Jaskier sticks around with Cicero, making small talk 

aint long for Geralt to come back down the hill with Loreius in tow - really not hard for him to change Loreius’s mind on the whole ordeal

Jaskier finds the little man very odd, but still fun to talk to 

Cicero also thinks he’s fun, but at the same time, i would not be surprised in the slightest if he’s lowkey plotting a murder - getting mother home stays his blade, of course, but if he has the free time? hmm... tempting, tempting indeed... 

Once Loreius is down there helping Cicero, Geralt starts to leave, but Cicero calls out to him, asks him to wait, before tossing a coin purse his way as a thank you

he accepts it without a word, and off Geralt and Jaskier go

Jaskier has no idea what’s up with Cicero, but Geralt knows there’s something definitely not right 

he wasn’t lying about his mother being in that box, as far as he could tell - his sharp sense of smell confirmed it - but there was just something... wrong. something dark. something evil

they don’t see each other again for a while, not until the Cure for Madness happens and Cicero is all alone in Dawnstar (assuming he’s been spared)

Geralt and Jaskier happen to be there, too, looking for work 

they’re in the tavern, with Jaskier playing tunes for coin and Geralt sitting alone at a table, watching him and takin swigs of his ale, and Cicero sees em and he’s just like !!!!!!

just scampers his tiny ass over to Geralt and plops down next to him with a big smile on his face 

“Well, well, well! Long time, no see, dearest Witcher! I was wondering if we’d ever cross paths again.”

“Cicero.” 

they chat up a storm - or more Cicero’s talking to him while Geralt listens and prolly says like... five words in one sentence at most

definitely asks about his mother, who Cicero simply says is enjoying her new home 

which confirms something on Geralt’s mind, but he keeps it to himself

Jaskier had seen the jester walk over to Geralt while he was performing, and once he’s done he goes over to say hello

ain’t long before it’s the three of them sittin there, chattin it up. Err, well, Cicero and Jaskier chatting it up while Geralt offers his most enlightening hmm’s

something something Cicero ends up more or less inviting himself along on the adventure since he, at that time between the Cure for Madness and the end of the DB questline, has nowhere else to be 

something something also tagging along so he can go through with his little Jaskier murder plot 

something something he does attempt to kill him a couple times but some thing or another foils it without him actually getting caught by the bard in question, or more importantly, Geralt 

mind you, Jaskier actually likes Cicero - as eccentric as the man is, he relates 

but then he hits him with the bard joke 

and poor Jaskier 

a lad is CONCERNED

HE’S TALKIN ABOUT SMASHIN LUTES AND BURNIN BARDS

starts sticking around Geralt a bit closer than usual

Cicero learns very, very quickly that you do not make murder jokes around Geralt 

he does not appreciate them 

he especially does not appreciate murder jokes about Jaskier 

Regardless of this, Cicero tries very hard to get Geralt to laugh when the three of them are out on the road 

he’s never seen him do anything more than smirk and “hmmph” in a way that he’s pretty sure was a laugh but isn’t positive on

he’s done countless jokes, no matter how well structured or not, desperate to get a chuckle, a smile, anything 

Usually doesn’t work, but Jaskier gets a kick out of most of em 

there’s some point in time where Cicero gives up on trying to kill Jaskier, for a couple of different reasons. 

One, Geralt Will Find Him. Cicero may have outrun Arnbjorn but he will not stand a chance against a Witcher. He knows this. 

Two, he’s found enough bloodshed travelling with these two to keep him contented 

Three - honestly? Jaskier is friend-shaped. He can never know about who or what Cicero actually is since saying anything about him would technically break one of the Tenets, but he’s helped Cicero out in ways he may never know

at some point, the trio are at a jarl’s palace, attending some celebration (prolly the “slaying” or Alduin or something to do with the Civil War, regardless if we’re taking Dragonborn!Geralt into account)

Jaskier gets harassed by someone, who claims he slept with their spouse the last time they were there 

Geralt steps in, tells em to fuck off, right

But Cicero’s watching from afar as the person leaves, and he walks over after they go with a grin on his face 

“Tsk tsk tsk tsk! Naughty, naughty, Jaskier! You ought to know better than to sleep with a noble’s lover! You’ve gotten yourself in a situation now, haven’t you?” 

Jaskier apologizes (kinda sarcastically, kinda awkwardly, not really sure where Cicero’s going with this)

and then the little fucker just hits him with

“Well... Geralt may scare them off for now, but... oh, what are you going to do if you’re alone, hmm?” 

his grin widens and he leans closer 

“Cicero could make sure they don’t come back. If you would like.” 

and Jaskier is just like “wat” for a solid couple of seconds before he realizes he’s talking MURDER

Jaskier appreciates and utilizes Cicero’s murderiness and you caN’T TELL ME OTHERWISE

HE IS A FERAL FUCKING BABY NOT AFRAID TO SEND THE LITTLE GREMLIN JESTER MAN OUT TO STAB A BITCH FOR HIM

AND CICERO THRIVES OFF JASKIER’S FERAL BABINESS BECAUSE IT’S A SIDE OF HIM HE NEVER SAW UNTIL NOW

and poor Geralt 

Geralt is very tired 

not only does he have to make sure Jaskier doesn’t get killed, he has to make sure Cicero doesn’t go out killing people himself 

the trio is often mockingly called the travelling circus by those living in the towns and cities they pass through 

Geralt knows Cicero’s Dark Brotherhood and caught on pretty early, but he actually doesn’t do anything, per se 

he keeps him in line as best he can when they’re travelling together - more or less makes sure he’s not killing people he shouldn’t be 

but he knows Cicero’s off to his own devices when he leaves to go do whatever it is he does before travelling again 

And, while he would NEVER openly admit it, he is aware the Dark Brotherhood is something of a necessary evil in Tamriel. From what he understands, they kill people, yes, but the ones they’re called upon to kill aren’t innocent people by any sense of the word. They’re slavers, they’re abusers, they’re corrupt politicians - the scum of the earth. Geralt (likely with a little bit of convincing from Jaskier if/when he finds out about Cicero’s true identity), tries his best to keep Cicero in line outside of the contracts he was once called upon to fulfill

I’m gonna leave it here for now and do separate interaction headcanon posts between Cicero and Geralt and Jaskier individually because this is a fucking huge text block but really tho 

i just fucking love the idea of the gremlin jester travelling with the gremlin bard and gremlin monster hunter. there is a chaos there that i’m thriving on

[daggerzine]

Celebrity Mixtape Party #1 with Steve Michener (Volcano Suns, Dumptruck, Big Dipper) Part 1

Steve (far left with Big Dipper) 

Mixtapes. They're back! Or maybe they never went away? What happens when you make a mixtape for someone who MAKES music? And then they talk about that mixtape? Well, dear reader, let's find out in..

Okay!  First song. Side A. So I'll give my impressions and then we can talk about the song. Okay? Then the reveal, when appropriate.

Sexy

Thanks for this tape, Matthew, I've really been enjoying it.  However, I gotta say the first song is my least favorite.

What is it pray tell

I don't know but I usually love that style of song.  Very Love/Byrds-y but there was something cloying about that hook of 'Let's Get Together'

Oh yes. Justin Trouble.

Can't tell if it's authentic 60's pop or revival

Early '80s. He was friends with Johnny Thunders.New York City area guy

Never heard of him but I'm not inspired to search him up. Too many words.

Aw man he's just riffing

Anything you wanna say in his defense?

I mean I could. I think that song and the whole record is genius. To me it's the very essence of rock and roll.

Okay, maybe that's just one song that I wouldn't like. I'll check it out. I know you love your 60s stuff  but to me it's just too twee. But if you were using this as a "courtship tape", the relationship is over.

Since we can't "get together" on that song?

Courtship tape. I think they were called love mixes back in the day my friend.

I'm older than you. We used to bring them and play them in the parlor. So this second song is right up my Alley. Great guitar sound, great drummer.  I love that it's poppy but it takes a minor key/dissonant turn when he sings the tagline 'Solid Gold'. Kind of a Fall vibe to that hook.

So what is that second song?

Boston band....Real Kids...1974 demo...EARLY REAL KIDS

I knew you'd get a Real Kids song on there but that is very 'Unreal' real kids.  Sounds like they were way ahead of their time

Yeah. That song is unhinged. Nothing twee about it.

Amazing band.  I would have maybe guessed that but that chorus is so left field.  If I knew about that song back then, I would have had the band cover it. Real Kids sounding like the Fall. They should have been as big as the Ramones.  Worse drug and ego problems I guess.

To me it sounds like The Dolls. A little bit of Glam in there.

I saw them a few times at the Rat.  Always a reliable live band. I hear the 60's thing in there but that turnaround into the chorus is at least 5 years ahead of its time. I need to hear more of those demos.

It's on vinyl.

Next song- One thing that I know about you is that you love your 60s stuff.  This sounds like an authentic acid rock band. Roky?

I don't have the tracklist

Ah, okay.  It's by Girl Trouble-"Storm Warning'. Don't know them but I love the song.

The pride of Bellingham

Kind of like the Seeds meet Nick Cave. What year?

1993 on Empty

Love the sax and guitar interplay at the end.  Wow. I would have placed that in 1965

Yeah except for the production. I think he's one of the Great rock and roll vocalists of the '90s

Yeah, great singer.  Are they still around or mutate into something else?

Kurt Kendall. No, I don't think they really play around much anymore. There was a reunion show not too long ago but I missed it.

Great stuff, I'll check it out. Next song? Okay, this one I knew from the first note--the great NRBQ. The greatest rock and roll band ever, at least in this incarnation.

Green Lights?

Yes.

I saw them around this time with the WW Horns, opening for Thorogood.

Another great vocalist

I didn't appreciate them back then cuz I was too into the alternative scene (tho still loved GT) but when I saw them in the 80's I was amazed.

This is a band that should have played the bar band in every '80s movie ever made

Exactly.  they were my template for 'a band'

That's Joey singing that one? favorite bass player ever, favorite drummer ever.

I'm not entirely sure what that guitar is in the solo. Sounds almost like a pedal steel or something.

Big Al could make anything sound like anything.  Genius band. Shoulda been huge.

The YouTube comments say Joey.

Yeah, Joey wrote the hits. Like most bass players.

Lol. The album is called nrbq at Yankee stadium and it's funny because the picture shows an empty Yankee stadium with them far away in the bleachers...a play on words...clever

I see.

I'll explain humor to you another time.

Make me a 'humor' mixtape

Okay next song

The 5th song on side A is called Buried Alive.  A 3 chord slab of brilliance.  Sounds like another Boston Band.  More Real Kids?

Hmmm

Should I peek?

It could be Avenged Sevenfold. Yes peek.

Oh no, it's the Nervous Eaters!  Born to Die.  I thought he was singing Buried Alive.

Ahhh!!

I knew it was Boston, can't believe I missed the Eaters.  Loved that band.

Another Boston band you didn't ID! You are 0 for 2

I wrote down it was "the Lyres without keyboards" so I get half credit.

Okay so one of the cool things about this band is it had one of the Paley Brothers. Who never did anything this "heavy" outside of this band?

I had their singles and saw them live a few times.  They were great. Just Head is a classic.

The major label debut was a bit of a disaster:  slick production, terrible cover art. I swore that I'd never let that happen to any band that I was in.

This song for some reason reminds me of Judas Priest.

I thought Saints at first but Priest would work

Next song?

Ok

This is one that I will probably miss too. Sounds VERY familiar and my first guess is Rockpile/Brinsley Schwarz.  "I'll have another drink and then I tried to crawl out the door.."

"I never did know a thing about it." It's got that Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds vibe.

Take a peek

Status Quo-Lies

Ah yes

Wow, I don't think of SQ sounding like this. This is pub rock, I thought they were harder

Very boogie

Don't you get the Rockpile thing tho?

Oh absolutely

Great song.  I'd cover this. Was it a hit?

That status quo song is from 1980. I think so. They did it on Top of the Pops

Good. I'd be depressed if a song that great didn't get an audience.

Agreed

Next?

Yes

I also don't know this and I'm not sure what the hook is but it sounds like what I imagine the Muffs sound like. Be my baby.?  Sneering female vocals, 3 chords, loud guitars.

Fastbacks - Read my Letters

Yeah, another band I completely missed out on.  From the PNW?

Seattle

I've seen them quite a few times and they were always amazing. Big fan.

I'm sorry I missed them live. I don't care much for this song but I'll bet it sounded good in a sweaty club.

Ok

Did you like the Muffs?

Not really. I mean I respect them a lot but they never resonated with me. I think Kurt Bloch is a great lyricist. And I love that he didn't sing his own lyrics.

Wait, that was a guy singing?

No. The guitar player Kurt wrote the lyrics for most of their songs.

Got it.  So he left them to join YFF?

He did both simultaneously. Kim Warnick is the singer and bass player.

Too talented.

Definitely.

I saw the Fellows quite a few times also.

They opened for us in Seattle in 1990. I loved them but, as an east coaster, had never seen them.

Also amazing one of my favorites. During that time that both the Fastbacks and the Young Fresh Fellows were active it made me envy Seattle because Portland didn't have bands like those bands.

This is a different convo, but Seattle is a much more rockin town than Portland.

Full disclosure in the '90s I was not a fan of Portland's music scene. But I did like Hazel.

They were so cute!

Alright, let's not get distracted!   Next song I recognized easily , though I may not have a few years ago.  This is Sparks - Something For The Girl Who Has Everything. Brilliant band but one that I missed out on until recently

You know I never introduced you at the beginning of all this. Dear readers, I am discussing a mixtape with our esteemed guest Steve Michener from Skid Row.

Skid Row UK, legally. Not to be confused with those dorks from Hollyweird. Michael Cudahy was my roommate back in the day and he was way into them. I could never get past the vocals.Recently though, I have come to appreciate them and now I am a big fan.

I love the vocals. It's its own thing. Who is this Michael you speak of?

Michael was in Christmas at the time and then started Combustible Edison.  Now he does movie soundtracks.

Have you ever seen the video of Ron Mael singing karaoke to a Sparks song?

No, I'll google it.

Next song?

Ok

Well, I didn't recognize the song itself but it's hard to miss the unique guitar sound of The Wedding Present-The Boy Can Wait

Fastest wrist in the west

Trademark double strum. They're one of those bands that I just love the sound of but never bought any records.

That's a Peel session by the way.

They were around last year but I failed to attend.

I like the lyrics. They're clever. Kind of misanthropic but not in a Morrissey way. More humorous.

I'm not a lyric guy but I do love a good Morrisey couplet

The dude could pen a tune

Stephen I mean

Moz

The Moz

Himself.

He should pull a Prince and just change his name to Himself

Next song is one that you would never get past me, tho I'm 0-2 with Boston bands before this.  Heading into a Boston binge here.

Ok. Just another band out of Boston

I was the world's biggest Peter Dayton fan for years.  I moved to Boston the week that LaPeste broke up so I never got to see them.  So I made up for that by seeing every PD gig for years. 'She's a Girl' by LaPeste, probably one of the best bands out of Boston ever.

I like how evil La Peste sound. They sound like they carried shivs.

It means "the pest"

Perfect

"la" is "the" in french

Waow

I don't know if you knew that. Anyway, this must have been an Ocasek demo?  Sounds like they were trying to go pop. I had a live tape of them from the rock and roll rumble in 1979 that I wore out. Just a great pop punk band. Next song is also LaPeste- Die in My Sleep.Ric got involved with them later in their career and produced some demos.  Or maybe it was Greg Hawkes.  But Ocasek worked with him solo for a few years.  Dayton's EP, which came out the same time as Panorama by the Cars. It's a fun record.Better off Dead is an amazing single.

I'll check out solo Dayton.

Jim Janota on bass. I think he was in some of those early boston punk bands

But Ric was the producer guy then . Alan Vega etc

Yeah, Ocasek was cool.  He had Dayton's band open for The Cars at the Boston Garden.  Big supporter of smaller bands.

Next two songs had me stumped. I just wrote 'Sex Pistols'.

I would never put a sex pistols song on anything ever. But I do love a lot of things that Cook and Jones were on later

This just has a Pistols energy and sneer. Hey Hey! Hey Hey!

Hmm

3 chords, English. Fall-like but harder.

Not ringing any bells

Ha! I looked at the list--Naked Raygun-Roller Queen.

Yes

"trying" to be british

Nooo

I tuned this band out early.  Not my cup of tea.

I love the Raygun. Midwest thing

Just like Soul Asylum.  I was (and remain) a judgemental asshole when it comes to music.

Hard. Arty. Humorous.

I lump them together.  Prejudice.  But this is why I like the idea of listening to the tape blind.

Throb Throb is fantastic

It can blow up my preconceived notions  or reinforce them. I know they were hugely popular in the scene and it's probably my loss that I didn't explore their stuff. I was probably reacting negatively to the Big Black thing.  Lots of competition and jealousy-fuelled listening bias.

Eh no biggy. I never really liked Big Black. To me they were great in theory but not in practice.

I prefer Shellac

Great band

But i think BD covered 'Bazooka Joe'. Not my idea.

There was another Chicago band from that time that I like a lot called Breaking Circus.

Yes, I liked Breaking Circus.  We played with them.

Yay

Next song. 60s sounding psychedelia

Ok

Didn't recognize it, but liked it. reverby guitar,

Hmm

La Luz- I Want to Be Alone. Cool sound.  What's their story?

Ah. Seattle. Then moved to LA. 4 women. On Hardly Art (label). Started in 2012. They have three lps. Saw them at The Aladdin.

Short but sweet. I'll check them out.

Very very good band

I like good bands

No bad songs. They were VERY GOOD live. Jealous of the drummer's speed and dexterity. They play with a lot of feeling.

If we ever get to see live music again, I'll check them out.

You need to.

Next song is a classic Boston number called 'No Place Like Home' by The Neighborhoods. Such a great power pop song. B-side to Prettiest Girl, which was probably the biggest indie single of the time in Boston.  That and Academy Fight Song. Both on Ace of Hearts records

Oh really? Nice that I got airplay in Boston. I mean it. I didn't get any airplay in Boston

Yes, it was huge! (sorry about your lack of airplay)  top song on WBCN, the local rock station. They should have been huge-they had it all.  Cute guys, great songs, amazing live show. I woulda bet on them

Despite looking like a reggae album I've read good reviews with their first LP. The thing with a lot of these bands is they're from a time when there were regional scenes period and if they didn't make the jump to Major label then a lot of what they were about might have been lost on people outside of their scene

Honestly, I don't remember that LP at all.  Maybe I had dropped them and moved onto hipper stuff. They were kind of a high school crush for me. They got progressively more hard rock as time went on. Yes, probably a common theme with local bands. Some focused on getting a 'deal' and making it big.  Thank god for labels like Homestead, who gave smaller bands a chance to make mistakes and grow

If you had any anecdotes about any of these guys share away.

Anecdotes? I do

'dote away

Dave and Lee worked at Harrington's Liquor, the biggest booze shop in Allston and were always in there when I went to buy cheap vodka. Then, one day, they were fired. Word was that they tried to lift some expensive champagne from the shop to celebrate a record release party or something.  They were both dating members of Salem 66 at the time and Dave married Judy.  They were very nice guys.

Lee?

Lee Harrington, Beth's brother was their bassist in the late 80's. Beth Harrington was in Jonathan's band.

That's a good anecdote.

Jonathan?

Richman

Oh I thought I recognized her voice from Jonathan Richmond records. She was a backup singer. She had kind of a classically trained sounding voice

Yes, her and Ellie Marshall. Beth married my old roommate, whose girlfriend when I knew him, left him for Steve Forbert.

Ellie Marshall was related to who?

Something related to Paley Bros. It'll come to me.  Barry Marshall.

The next song is the Office Supply song. Swivel Chair. I don't recognize the song but it's gotta be something like Fountains of Wayne or Weezer.

Nothing Painted Blue

Oops. Hope they aren't insulted!  I kinda knew of NPB but obviously didn't get into their stuff.  Sounds like a certain pop band from Boston in the late 80s. Where were they from?

Franklin Bruno. Great songwriter in my opinion. Great band. LA

Oh, I know Franklin.  Of course.  I confuse them with that band from Boise

Franklin bears a slight passing resemblance to Bill? Cool that you know Franklin.

Well, on FB at least.  Very nice guy.  He's probably gonna unfriend me if he reads this.

I can edit it out. Celebrity mixtapes is about bringing people together, not about fighting.

No, it's fine.  It's part of the process. I'll take my lumps.

Ok

I just thought it was a little bit of a novelty song.

I just think it's adorably nebbishy

Not that we didn't veer close to that sometimes. It's a risk when you are trying to write songs that have humor in them.

Singing about office supplies. One of my favorite things about Big Dipper is you guys never crossed over into parody even though you were slyly funny.

Yeah, it def sounds like something I would write. I was an office supply nerd.

Maybe I sensed that. Dilbert Rock

Thanks. It's a fine line between clever and stupid, as the Tap says. Anyway, super catchy but maybe a little too clever for me.

NEXT!

Next song has to be Scrawl. Apple of his Eye.

Nope

Very Gang of Four with female vocals.

I did like Scrawl back in the day though. Bratmobile-Queenie.

Ah, well they should write a check to Sue and Marcy. Sounds like early Scrawl. Catchy song but a little derivative to my ears.

Yeah Scrawl predates the Bratmobile.By a few years.

You could steal from worse.

True

Scrawl were an amazing band.

Pride of Columbus

Really had the goods live and on record.

Never saw them live unfortunately.I always thought they were on Homestead but it turns out no.

You had your Homestead goggles on.

"I like everything that comes out on Homestead..."

Well that was me back then too

Last song on side A.  Permanent Wave.  No idea who it is, a short, catchy, new wave song.  Mo-dettes?

I do like the Mo-Dettes but no.

Oh Ok. From Athens

Ah!  i had their single, was this on it?

Michael Stipe's sister

Sister of Stipe

Matthew Sweet was in the band for a minute too, later on.

I bought it, I think, cuz I thought I could resell it when rem got famous. Retirement investment

I think the single and the lp are both amazing

Kind of twee, to revisit a theme

The lp is not as twee

That song sounds a little thin

I like the production. it sounds live.

I see that. Okay, I've gotta run.  This was fun.

Ok. Thanks for doing it.

https://www.mixcloud.com/matthewkenneth9/steve-michener-mix-pt-1/?fbclid=IwAR2hhMS8KXo51QjlpJ__ANfdmKY3Ux7vRyIqHHOxGfY_UK4H6tz6vIXyaxE

[a-merman-not-a-guppy]

What I love about your Muses and You

A positivity post by me (Lena) with some commentary by my muses

MK:

You do an incredible job with all kinds of characters, and I love that you do a good balance of good and evil, but you also know how to find that gray area. I think working in that gray shady area is a lot of fun and you really pull it off. You come up with some wild plot arcs and you always find a way to keep people guessing (personally am thrilled about the polyamorous relationship. Nice one!)

Louie: yeah Lou’s been a real cool dude. A R T man. I may not be skilled, but he was always fun to learn with. Someday I’ll learn more. Ashley: Belle like is literally saving my ass with this job. Seriously my favorite person at the moment.

Avarick:

man I’ve always loved writing with you. We always clicked well with that, and I’ve loved all the characters you brought into the rp. I was so so so excited to see that you were coming back and that you wanted to bring RIKU! I couldn’t believe it! I loved it when we wrote horse buddies back in the day, and I’ve loved every other opportunity we’ve had to do stuff. I’m so so glad you’re back to writing with us.

Sora: =DDD RIKuUUUUU. I missed him so muuuuch. Roxas: yo who the f is this Riku guy?

Mckala:

You have always been the backstory queen, and I tip my hat to you. You do the level of research that always blows my mind. I just do not have the time or the energy for it, but you have all these lists, giant ass family trees, you know the works. It’s really impressive, and one can see the dedication that you put into your characters.

Louie: so Elena’s like a sick Crown PrincesS? That’s dope! When you gonna take back the kingdom man? Queen it uuup!

Finn: Adella’s always been nice to me when I would visit Ariel. She’s really talented.

Wilbur: (imagine a happier time) mum’s great! She’s always there if I need her to be, and while she won’t buy me everything I bloody want, she knows what I really need.

 Ashley:

honestly such a great person and great rper. I think the most memorable thing for me lately has been Ashley popping in occasionally when she thought I might be upset or bothered by something and checking in. Talking things out and venting together. She’s honestly such a great listening ear, I think we’re really lucky to have her in this rp. I may be slightly biased toward Ashlee T. and Ollie, but all her babes have nuance and I love them. Ashley: Ashlee!!! One of the only people in this world that matter!!! <3 We made it through some nightmares. Things look up from here babe. Wilbur: duuude Ollie I didn’t realize you were adopted too and it’s the coolest fact I got to know about you. It’s awesome to have someone to relate with.

 Pet:

I feel like we used to have a harder time connecting writing wise and things were awkward, and I’m so happy to say it doesn’t feel that way at all anymore. The things we’ve written have been so fun, and I feel like (correct me if I’m wrong), but I feel like bringing Chickaroo together allowed for us to start having more conversation and plotting and just. It opened doors in some way. I think it’s awesome because I love your writing and I love getting to connect with your babes more. As you know, Al has my heart now because he just does, and Barrel has also managed to steal my heart. But all of your babes are so great, and I’m glad that we’ve managed to connect better. I look forward to more time spent writing hilarious things like Dipper and Roxas at the bar, or Al teaching Arthur about the internet.

Louie: yo Al’s like the chillest boss I’ve ever had. He’s also the only boss I’ve ever had but still! Cool dude!

Roxas: Dipper’s a nice guy. I hope I can get to know him more.

Sora: Dipper is Mabel’s TWIN BROTHER =DDDD that’s SO cool!!!

Wilbur: duuude. Barrel is like the person I didn’t expect to ever care about in a billion years, but if anyone did anything to him...like...die.

Alex:

I feel like we also used to not really vibe and were awkward with each other, and I’m super glad that’s changed because you’re literally so cool and you send such fun stuff and we just have a great time! I love Nyx, you know that I have an appreciation of Arista from afar, and Haley is just...great. All your babes are. I’m so happy we’ve finally made that writing connection because it’s been so fun to talk to you and get your perspective on things. Ahh it’s great. Can’t wait to see what you come up with in the future.

Ashley: Haley was like...almost cool. It’s a shame she’s such a goodie goodie two shoes.

Dot: Haley’s a good dragon? What the hell? She seems okay, but I’m still not sorry I shot her in the foot. She totally deserved it.

Clarion: Nyx has been my constant companion for some time now. I’m so grateful for her presence.

Bee:

Bee my big bro, my wife, my partner in ridiculous here too. You’re such a great joy to write with, and I love the way you tell your stories. I’m still so impressed by your take with Hera, and how she is as a sorceress. That’s so damn cool! And of course you’ve got the lovely Marie who’s charming and vain and I love that about her. Marie is a gift, your writing’s a gift and I’m grateful you’re in the rp. Not to mention you and Chloe are our resident British experts and that’s great. Thank you for joining the rp and for bringing the perspective you bring. Look forward to more crazy storylines with you.

Louie: yo nerd! Just kidding, wassup Huey? You’re the best big bro a guy could have. Keep it real, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

Fflewddur: Marie! My beautiful wife! Love of my life! The world must envy me for having the most amazing wife in the entire world.

Sora: Kristoff! Best roomie ever !!! =DDDD hope you don’t mind if my best pal Riku stays with us. Thnx dude <3 <3 <3

Becky:

I mean where do I begin. We’ve had such great stories and ridiculous teen hijinks and theatrics. It’s been such a good time. And of course, there are few people I’d be sure about doing a big plot like the one we’ve got going with Ashley and Roo, but we’ve managed it, and I think it’s been a really really fun story to tell. So thanks for taking that leap with me and letting us tell a ridiculous story together. It’s been awesome. Glad to have you in the rp.

Ashley: well, you’re an alright guy I guess Roo.

Bryer:

we’ve only really had a little bit of time to write together before with Dash, but it was super fun, and even just observing, I’ve loved seeing your characters on the dash and seeing where they’re at. Hatter’s awesome too. It’s great to have him around in the rp, and especially with such a different take than we’ve had in the past. Love the werewolf storyline, love to see it.

Chloe:

I feel like you’re a person after my own heart. Mitte often makes me think of my old Shego muse, and that just makes me happy because I just love the chaos that she brings. I love all of your babes of course, but that just makes her a bit more #1 in my heart. You’re also so chill to plot with and to come up with these crazy schemes. I mean remember how we sort of pitched Mitte turning on a bit of a whim and now here she is? It’s literally so good and you went with it and I just...ugh. I truly love it and seeing the growth. All your babes tell such awesome stories, and this just tells me I need to find a way to plot with you more when time/work allows. Keep up the good work. You’re kicking ass.

Anthony: what a brat. As long as this girl doesn’t cause me any more trouble though I suppose she’s tolerable. 

Dezi:

We haven’t been able to interact much writing wise, but I hope to change that someday soon/when time/work allows. Charlotte is honestly such a great character, and I think it’s awesome to see her and Tiana around, I think it’s the first time in a long time...if we’ve ever managed that before? I don’t know. It’s seriously so cool and I love reading your stuff together, and just Charlotte’s stuff in general. Keep cool and carry on writing a great babe. 

I wish I had things my muses could say but I don’t think I’ve had the chance to interact with Charlotte. Just Judy before ;-; Forgive me. I still think you’re swell.

Emma:

Boy do I love that you swooped in with your kids. Phineas, Tiana and Aquata are such dynamic characters. It blows my mind, truly. I love them all. I love how ready you are to plot and to throw out great ideas. Phineas has the kind of chaos energy that I love (obviously, as Louie is my chaos energy). You’re so chill with me trolling your babes on twitter, and a joy to write with. Thank you for coming back as well. I’m glad we’ve gotten the chance to write together. <3

Louie: duuuude we gotta do something crazy again soon? Operation dumbass commence? Jk jk Operation Too Cool For School.

Wilbur: what is with that twitter lady tho? Too old to be arguing with teens on twitter don’t you think?

Ginny:

Ahhh i mean we’ve done so many fun things and continue to do. With so many connections and stuff it’s hard not to! I’m so glad you rejoined as I have and that we got to bring these characters into the rp that vibe (and/or fight each other). To each their own. Our kids have an energy what can you do? I think your characters are all awesome, and I love seeing them on the dash. I love writing with them. Two besties, no wait THREE now with Kairi, isn’t that just wild? I love that best friend energy our babes have. Support it, thanks for writing all kinds of good things with me. You’re a gem.

Finn: I love you Ariel. You’re the best of friends. I’m so lucky to know you =]

Ashley: Ashle B!!! Babe you are a rockstar. You’ve kind of been the glue of our friendship I think. I love you babe. Stay true to you and kick some ass in college!

Wilbur: (in happier times) DADDD!!! Best dad to ever dad, person that gets me cool things. Coolest of dads. You rock.

Sora: ????!!! KAIRI???!!???

Hannah:

Hannah Hannah Bo Bannah Fee Fi Fo Fannah HANNAH...I couldn’t resist. You’ve been so great to talk to and write with and honestly it’s been so great to love our babes together and talk about BTS together and talk kpop in general. I’m so so so glad that we’ve gotten to know each other more over these last few months and stuff. You’ve really been so great, and our plots and characters are such a good time. So glad you got my brother, and my best friend. It’s awesome to have and to write with you.

Louie: DEWEEEEEEEEEEY. DEWFORD. DEWEYYYYY….hi.

Louie: TAEEEEEEE. Bro. my dude. Sorry I make memes outta you all the time. But in my defense...your face is kinda funny. Love u dude =]

Sora: Mabel!!! My GIRLFRIEND =DDDD you’re great! I love spending time with you and looking at hot boys! Speaking of...I have a friend you might think is hot…

Finn: Tae! Thanks for being so nice to me and allowing me to open myself up and get to know you. I’m so lucky that Nemo introduced us. You’re a really great friend =]

Jaby:

JABYYYYYYYYYY. Man we always had muses that vibed and our writing just clicked and that always brought me joy. I’m so glad you came back, because your characters are great, the stories you tell are great, and I really really missed having you around. I know we’ve both been busy lately with our own work stuff, but I definitely want the chance to connect some muses again, because I love your babes and you and I’ve been so happy to see you. Let’s figure something out someday when my schedule stuff evens out a bit better.

Jean:

you haven’t been in the rp long, but boy have you made an impact already. Lachlan is amazing!! Truly an icon and I’m so glad that you brought him in. And so glad that you’re here. We’re all lucky to have you. I really think you’re bringing in such a unique take and writing and it’s just awesome to see and to see Launchpad driving around, and driving people a little wild on twitter. It’s beautiful.

Louie: soooooo did you really nearly kill my bro?

Kiara:

We also don’t really have any interactions right now but that is a-okay because you are living a life doing the real life hero work. Truly I’m amazed by you, and I think we’re all lucky you’re around. I hope you take care of yourself and that you do get to enjoy that time to just write and love your characters. They’re all truly fantastic and I love seeing where you take them. Especially Georgette. I think her journey has absolutely captivated me.

Kit:

man you are awesome to plot with. The pirate au was such a good time, just brainstorming some ridiculous ideas. And your ladies are so truly dynamic and powerful and I am so excited to see where you take them. I don’t think we really have had much interaction besides the au, but I look forward to a day where life is less stressful and we can do some more stuff. That’d be great. <3 Keep doing you, you’re killing it.

Lauren:

Man I love your characters so much. Greg is such an icon on the board and otherwise. And I love pushing your characters buttons almost as much as I love agreeing with them. They’re just such joys to have around. Lol well I’m sure Roscoe would argue about that and be all Roscoe, but I’m glad to have him around. It’s been great talking to you and having debates over milk being a capitalist scam. I am glad you’re in the rp, and I continue to look forward to seeing what new things you and your characters bring.

Lauryl:

This go around of me rejoining the rp I feel like we’ve gotten a lot closer and that makes me really happy. =] It all started with a Jimin, how did it end up like this? It was only a...just kidding. I know exactly why. Nemo and your brilliant writing and his connecting with Louie drew me into this BTS zone and then before I knew it there was Finn and Lunch Squad and and and. The list really does go on because we’ve just come up with some really ridiculous and fun stories and it’s been great. Thank you for bringing Olaf and teaching me a lot more about aromanticism, for Atta and that sister bond that I am stoked about (reminds me we gotta do another thing for them that yes). I’m so glad we’ve connected more and that you are in the rp <3

Louie: Neeeeeeeeeeemo I have a crisis of boy things! CRISIS. WEE OO WEE OO chop chop and help me out. Also I’ve got cookies.

Finn: Nemo, I can’t believe how close we’ve gotten in so short a time. You’re one of my very best friends. I love you lots.

Finn: Hyung, you’re so warm and kind. I’m so lucky I know you.

Dot: did you drink water today Atta? You better not be going anywhere crazy without ME.

Lins:

You’ve just joined but I’m so stoked we’re already talking and talking about TORTALL of all things. Like WOW! I didn’t think anyone out there appreciated those books the way I did. It is so nice to be wrong, and to have a source to discuss my fave childhood books. It’s also exciting to have Eilonwy, and I’m excited to interact with her. <3 

Sav:

I know life keeps you pretty busy, but you push through and you bring your babes and keep steady with all of that and I think that’s really admirable. You’ve got the older gentleman muse energy and I respect that. I think it’s great that you have your niche. I myself have the teens as we know. I’m sorry we haven’t had much chance to interact, but I hope to improve that in the future. Especially with Seamus. That’s my rich uncle. I wanna do something about that when life gets less hectic. Either way, you’ve got great babes and you’re doing a great job. Take care of yourself lovely.

Louie: soooooo gonna buy me a motorcycle Uncle Seamus?

Sid:

man you’ve got a great bunch of characters and they’re all so different and dynamic and I love that. Ratigan is complex, and he was especially good fun in the pirate event I have to say. Truly loved the take we had on the ship and everything. He’s so great. I also love seeing Eric on the dash, and am excited to interact more with him cause I think he’s just groovy. They’re all groovy. I can’t think of any whimsical things to say but you’re doing awesome and your babes are great. Take care lovely.

Sierra:

I have not had a chance to interact with you or your Tod yet, but I look forward to the day where I can. Tod’s a great character, and it’s exciting to see that he’s come back. I know I saw him connecting with some of the other Swynlakers and I think that’s even better. Love a character with history, and Tod definitely has that. I hope you take care of yourself, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of Tod in the future.

[secreterces-charlie]

Yo yo yo! It’s Valentine’s Day and I’m tired, sad and single, but I cope by baking cupcakes and drawing my ships smooching ❤️

The original template is by @a-moop, and thanks @charliecharlo for calling my attention to this because it inspired me to draw some of these characters for the first time in years! Some of them I never even colored in any other drawings before!

Here’s the ship list👇

First row:

Marcus & Secret, a weird angel-demon thing and a very confused human, two characters from a story I have yet two write

LizardHat – Demencia & Black Hat, from the show Villainous by Alan Ituriel, and I know Hattie’s scowling, but we all know he loves his pretty little psycho dearly~

Lumpygrab – LSP & Lemongrab, a ship I dedicated a blog to because even though they’re canon, they’re still a rarepair and a crackship – what other craziness would you expect from Adventure Time?

Second row:

Francoeur & Vlaštovka (Swallow bird in English) – a robot dictator and his harpy companion, villains of another story I have yet to write. And yes, Vlaštovka does indeed have four arms. I drew those, but was too lazy to draw her actual wings.

Zora & Akta – the first gay characters I ever made, I think. Zora was a creepypasta/demon OC who I gave overpowered abilities to, but then redesigned her because she was killing me with cringe. Akta is... not exactly a demon? Her story is in progress, but I keep rethinking what she should be, exactly. As you could probably guess, she was inspired by Chara from Undertale :)

Trirax – Trixie & Thorax, from My Little Pony, the rarepair ship I will go down with. They’d be adorable together and you can’t tell me otherwise!

Third row:

Darx & Vitalia – would you believe if I told you these were Minecraft OCs? Yeah. I read a few books written in the Minecraft universe a while ago and was inspired, but I wanted to make it different. So, I wrote a story where Vitalia (the white-haired one) manages to topple over a bunch of potions that mix together and do something to her and the Enderman chasing her (Darx!). They discover that they’re slowly turning into each other’s race, she’s becoming a monster and he’s becoming human, hence the weird skin colours.

Goddess Secret & Rwakk – I made A LOT of alternate versions of Secret. She was originally a pony OC, and most of her AU versions are also ponies. In one story I was co-writing with a friend of mine, we started joking about him always writing bad endings and me always writing good and happy endings. This resulted in the creation of two gods of story-telling, influencing worlds, battling each other and playing with each other, and keeping the story-writing universe in balance. It’s not exactly a ship, but Rwakk is a dear friend of mine and he deserves a kiss 😘 Also we use these characters to cope sometimes, so 🤷‍♀️

Jabu and (the OG) Secret – two dorks from an RP filled with pirates, slavery and underage drinking, what fun! Basically Jabu (the zebra) has been serving a rich guy his whole life and never knew anything else, until Secret came with a pirate crew she joined on accident and, too empathetic for her own good, decided to show him friendship, and kindness, and a world where he didn’t have to always return favors, where he didn’t always have to listen to orders. While playing this RP and trying to get Jabu to understand as simple concepts as “this isn’t a deal, I’m just being nice, you don’t have to immediately pledge your service to me bro, chill” really challenged my writing (and also sometimes my morals, as Jabu had none).

Fourth row:

Entrapdak – Hordak & Entrapta from She-Ra: The Princesses of Power! One of my more controversial ships because Hordak is the villain, and he’s pretty evil, and then Entrapta is the greatest example of a morally grey character and his first real friend. I really hope they end up being okay, but with the way the series is going right now, I’m slightly worried about them. Also just a note, if you ever get into the fandom and ship them, know that there are ppl arguing against this ship everywhere. It’s not worth it to join the fights. Let the ship wars be.

Papara – Chara & Papyrus from Undertale, my two faves from the game. Over time I sorta gave Chara my own headcanon of abilities and backstory and stuff, and decided that someone like them could really use someone with endless forgiveness in his heart in their life. I wrote tons of “second chance for Chara” fanfics I never finished, and I hope there’ll be more content of them.

Prie & Lavinne – OCs from a comic I’m determined to make! Everything about them keeps changing except for their designs but rest assured that their stories are magnificient! Also you don’t get to see it from this angle but Prie has three eyes, two on this side and one on the side we can’t see.

Fifth row:

Penny and Marion – the OG ship. I got into MLP and FNAF fandoms around the same time and since I’ve never before been in one, I was absolutely in love with all of it, especially the Brony community. So, I wrote a crossover fan fiction about a robot pony fighting Purple Guy! I wrote two and a half story about her, with twenty parts total, and to this day I am immensely proud of this. The fact that she somehow falls in love with the puppet of all animatronics should not be important 😅

Lemon Pancakes – Lemongrab 2 & Breakfast Princess, a magnificient ship @charliecharlo came up with (bless you for this treasure) I realized I absolutely love BP’s design (especially in normal clothes tho) and I live for the angst that has to come eventually when LG2 becomes a part of LG3.

Charlastor – Charlie Magne & Alastor form @vivziepop’s Hazbin Hotel cartoon! If anyone dares tell me a) that Al is asexual and cannot therefore have romantic relationships or b) that Charlie is canonically with Vaggie, I won’t do anything but I’ll be silently judging you from over here. Once more I call to all of you. Let the ship wars be, they’re especially aggressive in this fandom, and it hasn’t even existed for that long. That being said, I love that they’re both musical souls and I really really hope Alastor becomes genuine friends with her in canon, at least.

So yeah, that’s a wrap!

Happy Valentine’s to all of you!

[sarasanddollar]

SARA'S VAGUE SENSE OF HOW CARTOONS PROGRESSED:

as requested by @chintastic and @whatdoesthefauxsay, and specifically requested by @lunagalemaster to be posted to Tumblr!

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh early 1900's animation becomes a thing in the West? Merrie Melodies, early Looney Tunes, that kind of thing. Black and white stuff, view in theater only, it's not "adult" but it's really for adults going to the theater and sort of "look at our technical skill!" sort of show (and as a form of escapism from the war, then the Depression, then the war again)

skip on down, Snow White happens, Disney is a phenomenon, we're not really looking at cartoons in the film circuit here tho so I won't be talking abt like Disney movies and Pixar et al. because that's a whole other animal

television gets invented !

"adult cartoons" that are like funny/sexy happen, stuff like Betty Boop, we're still figuring out what animation is for but plot starts to show up esp with the now popular Mickey/Bugs Bunny stuff

It's the mid 1900's, we're out of the war, I don't know what happens in this period, I know the Hays Law becomes a thing so censorship happens pretty fast, and Saturday morning cartoons directed solely for kids are officially a thing, so Inspector Gadget, Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones + the Jetsons, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Tom & Jerry, more Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse cartoons. A lot of these toe that line between "cartoons for kids" and "cartoons for adults" by including little things that make it fun for parents too

It's the eighties!!! The Industry has figured out that they can make cartoons that [gasp] Sell Merchandise!!! to kids. So toy cartoons come out, that's all stuff like TMNT, My Little Pony, Transformers, X-Men, He-Man/She-Ra, Voltron, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, and Strawberry Shortcake. The quality of storytelling goes DOWN down down down down and everything is just factory-churned out with the purpose of Selling Toys (tho we still hold a lot of these things pretty near and dear)

The nineties happen. Nickelodeon figures out that cartoons are good and kids like them! And starts airing those instead of live action and puppet shows. They realize, hey, what if... We had cartoons. ALL DAY. Instead of just on Saturdays, for an hour in the morning. They instate an all-day all-cartoon channel that is ONLY their original content (they borrowed stuff like Tom & Jerry up until then), and they follow a brand guideline to make sure it's... The kind of stuff kids like. It's funny, it's interesting, it's creator-driven, and it's not just to sell toys or just churned out to fill a time slot. Quality picks up! This is why 90s cartoons are still a classic today. But also TLDR Nickelodeon killed the Saturday morning timeslot

Cartoon Network follows suit. We get good stuff well into the early 2000s, and then Disney decides to throw in as well - they'd already had shows in the 80s based on their existing brand properties (Little Mermaid, Hercules, Aladdin, and ofc Micky Mouse, Chip+Dale, and DuckTales!) but we start getting original channel-only stuff like, well, American Dragon. More on that later.

The Simpsons. We start to get adults for cartoon that also have heart and morals, instead of just. Sex jokes (Simpsons has quite a few of those too though!). The Simpsons is a cultural icon and influences pretty much every kids cartoon you can imagine, from SpongeBob to Fairly OddParents.

Anime. Anime was beginning to become VERY popular in the States sometime in the seventies (backtracking a bit here) and popular stuff like, AstroBoy, Akira, Speed Racer, started getting ported to kids channels later on (with really bad dubs.) That got a greater and greater influence ESPECIALLY among adult weebs that weren't really as huge a group as they are now demanding Better Quality English-accessible stuff (there's a whole thing on the history of this that I don't have enough internet time to get into) and that started to happen, esp when Ghibli became a huge success, people started going crazy for it, and Disney was like hey ! a market ! and made Good Dubs with A-list guest star voice actors that started the anime revolution overseas

Speeding back up, we start getting things with overarching plots. Avatar happens. Avatar ... Is revolutionary, and that starts making people realize that hey :pikagasp: we can have things that are Complete. Instead of you know axing them halfway or keeping them static status quo for every episode. This is due to the influence of anime on the industry! Remember we're well into the early 2000s and anime is now more mainstream than ever. Naruto, FMA, Black Butler, OHSHC, Death Note, all that good stuff is happening at this point in time.

Avatar doesn't do anything though. It's just, different. Different enough that people remember. (And enough that everyone who worked on it worked on the aforementioned American Dragon - a lot of the same writers and actors, giving it a pretty good internal plot of its own!)

Stuff like Totally Spies happens! That's also anime influenced. Later we'll get stuff like the new Voltron, the new She-Ra, the return of Avatar with Korra, slowly but surely everyone is deciding that Japan is the good trend. Even Winx Club or Angel's Friends over in Italy gets the anime influence! Everyone knows what's up.

It's the early 2010 and cartoon quality goes... Down for a bit, around these points, we get stuff like Fanboy and Chum Chum, Fish Hooks, just, the so random xD rawr humor is what kids are into and the industry doesn't know what to do except gross out humor and barfing rainbows and it's just... Not memorable.

Except Adventure Time nails it and it's a PHENOMENON. I don't know what happened there but something about the childlike wonder and good humor being connected to the (you guessed it!) overarching plot causes a sensation like never before.

Gravity Falls.

Steven Universe.

Star vs. the Forces of Evil.

In Canada, Detentionaire.

A Scooby-Doo reboot during this time called Mystery Incorporated.

Suddenly this is the trend. Starting with ATLA but leading to AT, big scary mystery, big scary villain, episodes that CAN be viewed stand-alone but also super connect? THIS is the industry trend now and we are LOVING it. We love a story that... Progresses. Characters that grow and change. 80s kids are now older and want cartoons that are good, not just. Toys selling machines.

Streaming services killed the television star. It's a LOT easier to do the overarching plot thing now that you can sit and binge something in one sitting instead of waiting once a week/month to see one ep of a thing you already forgot what happened in last time.

My Little Pony!! Gets rebooted. It's 2013 and for SOME reason this has a huge following? A huge following of adult men, where it's a show for little girls. The brony movement was so huge it's often compared to how Star Trek became a big hit among female viewers way back when. This doesn't influence other shows in storytelling terms but it does change marketing - now your only audience might not be what you think it is. Everyone tries to follow suit by selling their shows to "adult fans," it doesn't always work but boy howdy! And well, MLP follows the trend of overarching plot too, best as it can.

It's the late 2010s and we're in the nostalgia age. Now 90s kids are older and they run the market - we're not trying to make new stuff or support new creators, we're trying to salvage what was and make money off what people loved before. Reboot after reboot after reboot, Disney with its big movies and Nickelodeon doing (a great job, admittedly!) with their Rocko, Zim, and Arnold movies. It's working out fine, but it's a pretty big indicator that there are no new ideas - or rather, new ideas are being snuffed out in favor of bad PowerPuff Girls reboots (Cartoon Network not doing so hot, SU is what saved it!)

this is probably not well written I kept backtracking and adding other stuff pff I hope it's coherent ;; ENJOY

[cryptidofthekeys]

Its another tf2 oc and im not ashamed

Let me break it down to y’all how this happened, so basically- I wanted a mafia-esque spy character but then my brain decided ok mafia mans is coolio BUT WHAT IF... t e n t a s p y mafia boss man? And voila here this fucker is

Name: Alphonse Blanchard | Titles/Nicknames: The Spy, Boss which usually his "partners" call him that, or just call him Alphonse, only ONE person can call him AL, anyone else tries it and well it wont be a very pleasant experience | Gender: Male | Species/Race: Used to be a normal human, now he's a Tentaspy- a m o n s t e r. | Age: 49s/50s | Occupation: Even tho he's got the title of The Spy n such- he's p much teechnically a Mafia Boss- b i g boss man for sure- | Height: When he was human he was about 5'7", but now he's 8'9" (nearly 9ft) | Eye Color: His eye color when he was human was a Steel Gray color, his eyes are now a Charcoal color (mostly for their meanings n stuff), his pupils are also slit ones now. | Hair Color: (even though most of his face except for his eyes and mouth are covered by a balaclava and you'd most likely never see him without his mask on, his hair color is black with grey streaks in the sides of it, however for the record- his hair is VERY tidy and slicked back) | Appearance: Now, not much changes tbh- except... he cant wear pants bc of the tentacles on his lower half but I'll get to those in a minute, he wears v e r y fancy and HIGHLY expensive suits, only the f i n e s t of clothing for him, usually he wears dark gray or black suits but he does have other colors- their just ALL dark colors, he likes the appeal of black or gray colors- and he d e f i n i t e l y loves the meaning behind them, they fit him so well... He also wears fedoras, he has some rings (you know the ones- the ones that some mafia characters or just big shots in general tend to wear- yeaah, his biggest ring and the one he usually wears has a skull on it-), and he of course has a circle beard, oh and he has a lot of scars both on his upper human body and his tentacles even, just- gettin that outta the way right quick- now onto his more monstrous features... For starters, let's get the simple one out of the way, he DOES have claws now, long sharp black claws to be more specific- his tentacles are pitch black on top with Smoke Gray tiger-like stripes going down them his underbelly is also Smoke Gray color- and oh boy... here's the most complex thing- his teeth, while all his teeth are p much bear trap teeth, his lateral incisors both top and bottom are longer kinda like vampire teeth or something like that ya know, his actual canines both top and bottom ones along with his first AND second premolars (again both the top ones AND the bottom ones are actually curved (kinda like an anaconda's in a way- p much- just- hooked teeth, perfect for hooking onto prey and not letting go if need be) | Personality: Oh b o y well, where to even begin with this motherfucker? He's narcissistic as hell "I k n o w I'm handsome, yes~" and god forbid you compliment him or anything- bc with e v e r y compliment, every good thing said about him his ego inflates and grows tenfold, even if you say bad shit about him- he don't give a fuck- as long as it doesn't affect his reputation then you'll be fine! He'll just pay no mind to petty insults or anything, at first- insults calling him a monster n anything similar bothered him, it made him feel sick every time someone had used those insults but now? Now... While he would MUCH prefer to have legs again (its honestly just bc its easier to walk around with legs than tentacles), he e m b r a c e s the fact he's a monster, he knows there's no reversing this, if there was- he would... he wouldn't go OUT of his way for it BUT he would at the very least TRY  to get his hands on whatever could cure this, ahem anyways- he's come to terms with what he is even if some things about it aren't... ideal... I wouldn't say he's EVIL really, he's more so a neutral unless provoked/attacked- t h e n he'll "take care" of whatever or whoever's causing the problem with NO mercy whatsoever, but other than that he can be a reasonable man, just don't piss him off, steal from him, etc- basically don't make enemies with him and you should be just fine, he isn't one for small talk or anything like that, he wants to talk business, business and m o n e y even, even if he is a fucking HIGHLY rich bastard, he always wants more- he's got a BIT of a greed streak in him for sure (that doesn't mean however he won't let others borrow money, he just expects them to pay it back in the end or sometimes... he'll use his money for ahem, undercover classified reasons...) He'll flirt with a n y o n e if they happen to catch his eye, not just ladies either- men, ladies, no gender? What the fuck ever, if he wants- he's GONNA flirt with anyone, even if it might not end in love or whatever, he doesn't? really? He doesn't really care tbh, love is alright and if it happens it happens but honestly- he's just a fucking flirty b i t c h, who loves to see that flustered look and get a reaction from the other, you'll never truly know... feelings? Maybe but probably not... (tl;dr: Flirty bitch- I wouldnt hold hopes for feelings, greed streak but isn't afraid to let others borrow money so long as they pay it back in the end- some things he uses it for are classified- p much [REDACTED] info, neutral unless provoked/attacked, no mercy nor care towards enemies- can and WILL wipe out every single one of his enemies without a single t r a c e being left behind, even tho he's a monster now and has a LOT more strength than a normal human, he still tends to use guns or knives but isn't afraid to use his monstrous features if need be, narcissistic bastardery at its finest- compliment him and watch his ego inflate! "Don't you want r e a l friends Alphonse and not just henchmen or lackeys?" "....Non, not in the slightest, absolutely disgusting to even ASSUME I need friends, I, myself am my best company, better than any friend could e v e r do" w o w- b a s t a r d energy there huh) | Side Facts: ...Truth be told, he won't e v e r forget the day he turned into... this... this t h i n g... Even if he's accepted his fate, even if he's accepted to be this monster, the memory still lingers and haunts him and his very dreams, he has nightmares about it, and its mostly due to the agonizing pain he felt d u r i n g his little "transformation", it happened one day- he was in his own medic's lab (yes, the bitch has his o w n doctor), it was a normal routine health check up his medic liked to do- the man was always harping onto Alphonse for that pesky smoking habit of his, but then suddenly, one of the rival- well, t h e y call themselves family- Alphonse only considers the people he hired to be henchmen, lackeys, OR- just employees for basic terms, but one of his rivals broke in and decided to open fire and of course, it turned into an all out gun war, Alphonse DID get shot- which is what caused him to stumble backwards into a shelf full of god knows what, after he bumped it, a few jars of weird substances had fallen onto him, after that he could feel his body twisting and contorting, he remembers the a g o n i z i n g pain he felt that day, it was worse than that mere gunshot wound that he had... Aside from the horrifying memory of what fate had befell him... He also remembers what he d i d to his little rivals... He remembers the mortified and terror-stricken look on their faces, all of them had ran- except for... their boss... so much for "family sticks together" huh, he remembers slithering over towards the boss, who- well, he tried to fire from the looks of it, but he was so terrified that he had dropped his gun, Alphonse had never seen such terror on a grown man's face like that, but he loved e v e r y. s e c o n d. until the very end, he doesn't remember what came over him in the end, maybe it was blind fury, or maybe it was just instincts, but after he did what he did... He remembers seeing the boss's head ripped off completely along with other limbs ripped off and flung across the room. Unfortunately, his suit was v e r y messy after that- He actually still keeps the boss's head preserved- almost like a t r o p h y in fact... ....Oh, your probably wondering what happened to his doctor, right? ....Well, I'll say is he's still out there, he didn't get killed- neither by the rivals nor Alphonse's instincts/fury, but truth be told... He doesn't REALLY wanna come back, he wants to stay hidden- I will say, yes- he DID see Alphonse transform, but after that he fled- part of him figured deep down that Alphonse would be v e r y angry with him since h e was technically the one who had those jars just sitting around on the shelf and he did NOT wanna stick around if that man was c r o s s with him... now whether or not Alphonse will ever encounter/find him again? ... Who knows- h e h ASIDE from all the backstory of why he turned into a Tentaspy, let's move onto things Alphonse just- likes to do in his spare time when he's not talking business n all that jazz- He usually smokes some of his cigarettes or cigars, he loves the cigars more though- he'll also do some reading in his spare time as well, or he'll listen to some calming music- sometimes he'll do all three, smoke, read, and listen to some calming music- he's not... the most exciting man, he's just usually busy- so when he's not- he'll just do those things- He'll SOMETIMES go outside and get some fresh air, usually its at night- not necessarily just bc there's l e s s people to worry about- but usually because he enjoys looking up and seeing the moonlight when its out, such a beautiful sight...

[parf-fan]

2019 shows have been posted!

Queen's Court

The town gathers to officially welcome Her Majesty as she makes her first visit to the Shire of Mt. Hope. Her glorious court will be introduced, and the Queen herself shall pass judgement on petitions submitted by the townsfolk. 'Twill be a merry gathering that sets the tone for the rest of the festival day!

The Irish Revels

The O'Sullivan Quintuplets, a touring sibling band from the Emerald Isle, who have just lost their lead musician to a new position in her Majesty's court, are now down to four. Join this misfit family as they pull themselves up by their bootstraps with their impressive music chops and delightful chaotic energy. [I’m so bloody pleased this group is still a thing.]

Boarshead Brawl

Mistress Quickly is hoping for a smooth grand opening to her new establishment: the Boarshead Inn. But as two feuding local families encounter each other, the tension threatens to boil over into a violent fray. Watch as Mistress Quickly defends her tavern against brawlers, swordmasters, and worst of all…playwrights. [THE BOARSHEAD BRAWL IS BACK YOU GUYS YASSSSSS! Don’t get me wrong, I adored the Melee, but the Brawl was the first in-house show I ever saw at the Faire, and it holds a very special place in my heart. Also, the stage was (and presumably now will be once more) cool as heck.]

The Sirens

Four pirate captains, members of The Order of The Relentless Contessa (Heave Ho!), have land-sailed far inland to hammer out the details for a new accord. Join these fearsome females for many sea shanties and a healthy dose of filthy pirate humor. [OH MY GODS THAT’S WHAT ORC STANDS FOR HOLY FUCKING SHIT look, you don’t understand, okay, when I saw that I squeed at such a high frequency that I’m surprised the windows didn’t break, and I couldn’t stop hand-flapping for like a solid ten minutes. I’ve never been happier.]

Trunk Shows

The citizens of our shire have been tasked with providing family-friendly entertainment for our guests! Witness the Story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf like you've never seen it before, learn the tale of Doctor Faustus, and witness one of England's oldest tales: The Legend of Black Shuck! Join us at the Discovery Stage for some entertainment that everyone, young and old, can enjoy!

The Boy who Cried Wolf Sheriff Perry has apprehended one of the shire's most devious ne'er-do-wells and as his community service, the good Sheriff is making him do the hardest task possible: entertain nipperkins with a morality fable!

Faustus Christopher Marlowe has entrusted some of our shire's citizenry with producing his most famous play: Dr. Faustus. Unfortunately it is REALLY long. It's up to young William Shakespeare and his friends to condense the tale on the spot. Is the young glover a good enough writer to pull off such a feat?

The Legend of Black Shuck England's most haunting creature has never felt sillier. Learn of the demon dog that prowls England's countryside, and decide for yourself if he is really a bad dog, or just a misunderstood puppy.

The Rakish Rogues

Sterling Armstrong leads this band of terrifying and dangerous highwaymen...or at least that is how they think they appear in their heads. Join this merry band of misfits in celebrating a successful sting with song, filthy humor and a touch of bumbling charm. [I’m still shocked that it took us this long to think of highwaymen for the Rogues, because it’s friggin’ perfect.]

Trial and Dunke

One thing Sheriff Jacob Perry loves about festival days: they make a great excuse to execute mob justice. He's acquired a brand new dunke tank and has assembled some of the shire's most devious criminals so that he may deliver their punishment. So what if they insist that they are innocent? That's what they all say! Come and see cold wet justice served. [There, all ye patrons who do nothing but gripe about changes, here’s one of the old shows back.]

Midday Revels

The Queen and her court are offered the best music and talents the Shire has to offer! Join her Majesty in the entertaining merriment! [From what I understand, it’s like Music With Her/Their Majesty(s), except it’s just the invasions by other groups. A bit variety-show ish.]

Human Chess

A dispute between two Mt. Hope families shall be resolved in traditional fashion: with a game of Human Chess! Witness the clash of steel and the thrill of melee combat as the citizen of Mt. Hope fight for their respective sides before the watching eyes of Her Majesty and all her court.

The Rogues and Sirens

These two groupings of highwaymen and pirates have joined their thieving forces to perform filthy pub songs for the good people of The Shire. Buy an ale and spend some time singing along with these delightful criminals. [Y’all, this is gonna be hecking rad.]

Disasterpiece Theater

Young master William Shakespeare has a day away from the glove shop, and he's been dying to try his hand at playwrighting. He has assembled the best performers the shire has to offer (and that he can afford with his meager budget of beer and the mysterious currency "exposure"). Presenting a different modern story with a 16th century twist every weekend of the Faire, only one thing is for certain: it is sure to be a Disasterpiece! [One: YESSSS IT’S BACK IT’S BACK IT’S BAAAAAAACK!!!! Two: having young William host this is a stroke of genius. Three: exposure tho, I’m gonna shit myself.]

Ultimate Joust

Knights both good and evil gather to joust for honor, glory, and the entertainment of all the people of Mt. Hope. Elizabeth hopes for naught but a bit of rousing sport, but some of the villainous knights may have other ideas…An epic conclusion to a thrilling festival day that is not to be missed!

Finale in Song

The time hath come for Her Majesty's royal coronation before her court and all the good people of Mt. Hope. But though 'tis a sacred ceremony, Elizabeth sees no reason why it cannot be accompanied by song, dance, and celebration! Become a part of the village of Mt. Hope, and end your festival day with merry music, and joyous laughter.

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Also, Friday Knight Improv is here still, and though it’s not listed, I presume that Tournament Joust is still a thing.

It appears that Bloody Best is no more, though, which does sadden me, for I enjoyed the heck out of that show, but believe it or not, the Faire’s still gonna be great.

I’m so excited. This is gonna be fantastic.

[rinthehecker]

Livin Large

Danny why are you walking around your house as Phantom are you trying to get caught ALSO was that a dead pun I love it

Oh joy the guys in white who I love so much yay

YO DANNY FENTON HE WAS JUST FOURTEEN A BOP yeet

ok suffering will begin soon agh I know once this song ends it’s all downhill

Ok that notecard gag was funny once not three times

just why

Danny did you really just almost ask how you’ll use the portal how have you kept this secret for three seasons lmao

if they can literally just close the portal WHY HAVENT THEY

heh hi vlad

What in the name of evil lmao

Ok so he’s so down about the new house but literally five minutes later his whole character changes and he loves all the money yeah surrreeeee butch

why are I doing this again

When are the GIW not up to smtg tbh Sam

Did they literally just forget that Sam is rich too cause I stg Tucker’s acting like they’ve never been to her house

Sams the only reasonable one this episode ngl

Great a rocket- not like ghosts can turn... idk... intangible or anything what is a rocket going to even do

And Danny takes approximately 5 minutes to forget and stop caring about any responsibility he has ever felt as Phantom great characterization butch

IF CLOSING THE PORTAL STOPS GHOST ATTACKS YOU COULD HAVE DONE IT SEASON ONE SMH WHATS EVEN THE POINT

oh it’s an anti-ECTO missile. Great. Cause the GIW are competent enough to build that sure

you literally don’t have to blow it up you can literally just close the portal and shouldn’t they know that destroying the ghost zone will destroy their world ugh

why am I watching this

Tuckbot great. Gothbot. Great. He literally replaced his friends with robots okay. If you want to see them that bad literally just walk outside you’re not trapped there but ok sure

Why does he even have any access to their money like what the hecc

Great so he told them to their faces their worse friends than robots nice going danny

SAM PREACH

Danny is so out of character how did butch even manage aghsjaja

He would NEVER just hecking act like this and ditch all responsibilities he has I stg

I hate this so much agh

OH CRAP I STILL HAVE TO WATCH PHANTOM PLANET NEXT RIP

Why am I doing this

Regret

Yes sam tell him he is being a rich snobby jerk

Tucker is al of us, we’ve all wanted to be called meddling kids lol let’s be real

Ugh there’s still 8 minutes agh

Hobbson what a guy

Yeah no duh this isn’t the real you Danny

#notmydannyphantom

Ectolatte lol ghost hunger?

THE BEST TRANSFORMATION SCENE YESSS THAT ALMOST MADE THE REST OF THIS WORTH THE CRINGINESS

Danny you can turn invisible I stg come on man

TURN. INVISIBLE.

sneaking through Vlads house yeet

There’s a better way than watering through the ghost zone

Ok but Danny on a motorcycle is sick

Ay youngblood

Sam saying exactly what I’m thinking is great

Ok say what you want about Danny this episode he sucked but Sam was ON IT this episode she was great we Stan

TUCKER no don’t- welp they know the password you all hurt things more than helped whoop

hi skulker

Oh no they got it open

why am I doing this again

oh right I have to

How is this supposed to help

Danny for all you know you’re about to blow up your OWN world and your friends

Ok that’s not how a rocket works it doesn’t blow up and destroy everything there but act harmless in their world just- WHY

“I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE” me neither random GIW guy me neither let’s end this please end my suffering

What’ll the ectogoo do to him tho he’s a halfa???

“I miss being rich already” you can totally tell he’s learned a lesson yup

OH THANK GOD ITS OVER

Oh no

Oh god

PHANTOM PLANET IS NEXT CRAP

NO RELIEF

I’ll start a new post

Rip me

[btsxlami]

How Kim Namjoon ISNT as problematic as he was before and how he is growing/owning up to his past actions

(dick sclaimer, I am not and NEVER defending his actions in the past, they are not excusable and I am very sorry if I am offending you)

*at the end of the day I’m not forcing you to accept or support Namjoon, if you don’t want to.... I guess “fuck” with him because of his actions in the past thats totally okay 

*also dont feel as if I am biased towards him I’m trying to write this with a open mind, I won’t baby him and be like My POOR BABY AND WENT THRU SO MUCH BLAHDUFU

So lets start off with what  Namjoon did for him to be called problematic:

“Talking black as a talent”

Saying the n-word during Shinhwa’s cover (k but why did no one beef shinhwa tho?)

RM said: “When I first saw V and J-Hope, I couldn’t see them because they were too black.. Yeah when the nights get too dark I couldn’t find them.” (this was in English

Just cultural appropriation of black culture, like having dreads (many of my black friends referred to him as a blackboo

Also I don’t personally like the term “trying to act black” but my black friends said he was basically “a wannabe hoodman”.

His background

Overall I feel as if Namjoon had a little phase where he really was lost in identity (i talk about this more don’t attack me). Like I’m not saying LOL HE WAS HAVING A KPOP PHASE, but as he mentions further on in post he had a really closed minded view on hip hop.That rapping only had one style, one culture, one way to act and speak. When Namjoon first started rapping he had the whole dreadlocks thing going on, kind of showing that he believed you had to black in order to rap, overall he was receiving and interpretating a close minded view on hip hop. I definitely don’t think Namjoon has hateful thoughts against black people. But you can still NOT be racist and culturally appropriate. He was just being oblivious and ignorant that his actions are offensive (I explain this more).

How he learned from his mistakes (so basically the proof section of my rant)

*Acknowledging he had a close minded view on hip hop

Namjoon admits his mistakes, in his mixtape interview: in 2015

Q: You shouted, “Westside Till I Die” during ‘If I Ruled The World’.

RM: That’s well… I was really wrong then (laughter). After the album came out and I listened to it, I thought “Ah”. I think I was immersed in the emotions while recording and ended up shouting like that.

Q: What’s the specific reason why you feel you were wrong?

RM: First off, I didn’t even live in the 'west side’… And even if that song had a G-Funk sound, what I shouted wasn’t the way to respect the west coast hip-hop musicians. I believe there are many meanings inside the words “Westside Till I Die”. Sweat, struggles, pride, etc. Isn’t it a phrase that compressed all these factors of life.

Q: Are you saying that you overlooked the weight and complex undertones that the phrase has within hip-hop?

RM: That’s right. I believe it’s different from words like “Yo!” or “Check It!”. As a result, I was thoughtless.

Q: Are you admitting it to be a mistake?

RM: Further than a mistake, it was a wrong. I have nothing to say.

*honestly this part is really self explanatory. This interview was in 2015 while the song was in 2013. So he was basically justified how in the beginning of his career he was ignorant and oblivious to the real meaning of hip hop. You can definitely see his music grow for the better after this.

*Why I M Y S E L F personally forgave him for this action.

I feel as if this quote doesn't only signify him saying “west side” when he’s not from the west side, but him acknowledging his mistakes of having a close minded view hip hop IN G E N E R AL and being ignorant of “what hip hop is”. He definitely owned up to his actions “ Further than a mistake, it was a wrong.”

He acknowledges them and admitted to them “ First off, I didn’t even live in the 'west side “

and never repeated them ever since. His music now definitely doesn't fit the stereotype of rapping nowadays. Might I suggest watching politically woke MV “CHANGE” he did with black rapper WALE. 

Respecting black culture or hip hop’s origins (THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF HIS MOST OPEN MINDED MOMENTS THIS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST REASONS I FORGAVE HIM)

I’ve seen many people think Namjoon mocks black culture but this interview really opened up my eyes to many things and how we can learn from our mistakes

In this interview he did in 2015 >> you can really see how compared to the last interview, he seems more confident with what he is saying, he has no hesitation, and CLEARLY states what he feels about hip hop and black culture.

“There are two things that Warren G told me that I will never be able to forget. The first is, hip-hop is open to any one. Despite what your race is or where you’re from, hip-hop is a type of music that is always ready to give you space for anyone who enjoys hip-hop. So, don’t restrain yourself behind any type of prejudiced thought, and the other one was you’re doing well, so no matter what others say, believe in yourself and do what you want.”

This connects to what I mentioned before of Namjoon having a close minded view on hip hop before and thinking hip hop was associated to one certain race. Now he fully understands that hip hop is for everyone. 

“Defining hip-hop is the same as trying to define love. If there are 6 billion people in the world, then there are 6 billion definitions of love, and like that, each definition of hip-hop is different for each person. Of course, it’s possible to give a dictionary definition. In 1970, there was a person called DJ Herc in South Bronx. At a party that he was hosting, he set breaks on a beat and during that break, someone would be rapping, someone would be dancing, and someone else would be doing graffiti… That’s how hip-hop was born, and they call that the 4 elements of hip-hop, but dictionary definitions like these is something anyone knows, but to explain that spirit… In one word, it’s something that can’t be explained. It’s a way that expresses me as well as being a meaning for freedom and rebelling. Because it’s something where people play and have fun with, it can have messages of peace and love placed in it. If you compare it to a Pokemon, it’s like a Ditto. Personally, hip-hop to me is the world. The world that I’m living in… It’s difficult, right? To be honest, it’s still hard for me too.”

He is now owning up to his actions by making his own music about his own life. His own hip hop.

“The culture of shooting guns and doing drugs is not the actual self of hip-hop. It’s just become a by-product that appeared around hip-hop music, it’s not the actual self of hip-hop. Although there’s a certain image that pops up clearly when you think of hip-hop fashion, that’s also becoming something that’s more broad. Look at A$AP Rocky or Kanye West. They don’t wear pants that drag around any more. To understand ‘swag’, you need to understand what kind of meaning ‘making it on your own’ has in hip-hop. Making it on your own is a very cool and important concept in hip-hop. I’ll use Jay-Z as an example. Jay-Z was a drug dealer. He’s someone that sold drugs on the rooftop of a very large stadium called Barclays Center, but he succeeded and bought that building. After buying that building, he dressed up in hip-hop and then went up to the rooftop and looked down at that building. Then they took a picture of that and posted it. After seeing that, everyone died. Kya… Just how cool is that?”

Namjoon acknowledges that there are many stereotypes associated with hip hop and also a “culture” to it. But he should try to do his own thing and not generalize.

Namjoon’s personal apologies

Personally I noticed especially for bighit, when it comes to western fans that seem to have a problem with what BTS is doing they never allow their idols to apologize. I’ve seen Namjoon apologizing facing korean fan based controversies.

The two interviews were already big indicators of how Namjoon grew from a close minded hip hop enthusiast to his own rapper and artist, but I found one v live where he personally talked about his actions as a general. He wasnt as specific but it was short and sweet kinda XD. 

Long story short he mentions how he apologizes if his action ever offended anyone and that he was oblivious that what he could say or do could cause others harm (relate to this man) and finally how he needs to hold responsibility and think before he acts and speaks.

Overall I am saying that Namjoon isnt an idol who made the best decisions in his life but he definitely should not be viewed as someone who is evil but at the same time I don’t view  him as someone who is a wOKE KING!212 Mistakes are mistakes but its how you own up to them which ultimately says how you are as a person.

He is human after all and instead of degrading him I simply just recognized his growth and willingness to learn and that was enough for me.

[lilnasxvevo]

KINGSMAN 2 SPOILERS

Okay I have a lot of thoughts about Kingsman and I am going to share them with you. They are silly and disjointed thoughts. This post is extremely long. 

Uh the fight scenes in this movie were fucking top notch. No single scene beat the true majesty of The Church Scene in the first Kingsman, but overall the quality of fight scenes was higher.

This movie was also a lot grosser than the first one tho? I did not need ANY of that meat grinder shit. Literally did not enjoy a single second of it. Kingsman has gone from campy violence to Coen brothers violence, and while I absolutely love the Coen brothers, I didn’t like that level of violence in Kingsman.

Listen. Roxy isn’t dead. Brandon isn’t dead. JB isn’t dead. Whiskey isn’t dead. Merlin isn’t dead. Nobody is dead. No one has ever died. Those deaths were so bullshit and I hated all of them and I haven’t emotionally processed any of them but I am probably going to cry my heart out the next time I watch this movie. (Here’s my rationale: Mark Strong has already teased that Merlin might still be alive so obviously he’s alive--plus  I covered my eyes when he died because I was afraid it would be super gross. We didn’t see the bodies of Roxy, Brandon, or JB, so obviously they’re still alive. Finally, that wasn’t Whiskey at the end of the movie, it was...his evil twin. That’s all I got on that one.)

I LOVE AGENT WHISKEY and I literally refuse to believe he was a bad guy. That was so sloppily done. At the very least they should have explained how Harry knew that Whiskey was a bad guy--that might have gone a little ways towards convincing me. But in general, Kingsman’s shit-ass treatment of people of color has got to stop. Whiskey could have just been a good guy but apparently Kingsman as a franchise has devoted itself to taking men of color down a notch. It sucks. There have been, what, four named men of color in two movies? And out of all four, Jamal is the only one who’s still alive. Fuck that shit a lot. (I believe half of the named women of color have died--I can only think of two across both movies.) 

I was suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper disappointed that there wasn’t more Agent Tequila. The trailers and the whole premise of the movie made it seem like he would be an actual character and not a guy who gets three appearances and ends up in a damn cryo pod for most of the movie. 

I wish this whole movie had just been about Ginger Ale. Okay, here’s a more realistic wish: I wish Ginger Ale had gone with the Kingsman guys instead of Whiskey. When she told Merlin that she really wanted to be a field agent, he should have stood up for her when the time came to decide who went on literally either or both of the field missions in the movie. (Honestly, she probably would have been more help in Italy than Harry--no offense, Harry, but you almost killed Eggsy twice and Whiskey three times.) 

Elton John was fucking stellar in this movie. Totally divine. I love him. I ship him with Harry now.

I’m literally going to cry for the rest of my life about the fact that Harry wanted to be a butterfly scientist. Regressed amnesiac Harry was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Scratch that, it’s the second cutest thing--the cutest thing was Harry in the flashback in the plaid Kingsman trainee jumpsuit that they’ve apparently been using since time immemorial. 

I was unclear on this, but surely if Harry remembered everything else about being 20-something, he would remember his own name. “We didn’t know who he was so we didn’t know what to do with him” Bullshit. Do a fuckin google search for “Harry Hart,” which is both his legal name and the name he introduces himself by to literally everyone despite the fact that he has a code name. 

I love Tilde. I really love Tilde. I promise I love Tilde so much--I think she is cool and funny and down-to-earth and smart and kind. But. Why did she and Eggsy get fucking married. Really? Someone who is royalty dates a foreign commoner for like a year and they decide that’s enough time to know whether or not they wanted to get married? Plus, at the music festival, Eggsy literally sounded zero percent into the idea. I’m so mad. 

Speaking of the music festival...Why? Why? I get that Kingsman logic is the logic of the absurd, but that was way too much Plot Gymnastics just to get in a pseudo sex scene. Fuck off with that bullshit. “Mucous membrane.” Just stick your finger up her nose and run away!

There were not one but two puppies in this movie. I am pleased. It almost makes up for the fact that I am meant to believe that JB is dead. Which he isn’t. Because reasons. (I have always been and always will be a “IF WE DIDN’T SEE THE BODY THEY AREN’T DEAD” kind of fan.)

Harry is gay. Harry is literally gay. Literally everything about him suggests that he is gay and I really wish someone would just mention that he likes men. He’s gay. In both movies, he got into a bar fight because someone who just met him called him gay in an insulting way. I know straight men are like really into that brand of insult, but that’s just excessive, especially the bar fight in this movie--someone approached him to call him homophobic slurs just because the sheer force of Harry’s gay aura offended him. I believe this counts as deliberate queerbaiting but because I don’t have any self-respect I’m totally falling for it because I need positive gay male role models. (Harry counts as a positive role model, doesn’t he? ...Doesn’t he?)

Ginger Ale is a lesbian. Roxy is (PRESENT TENSE BECAUSE SHE’S STILL ALIVE) a lesbian. Everyone in these movies is gay or bi. It is law.

I wasn’t expecting the president to be so Trumplike. I appreciate that he was impeached. I’m a little troubled because this movie is supposed to take place in 2015 and so the president would still be Obama like it was in the last movie. I thought for a moment that maybe Kingsman!Obama accepted Valentine’s invitation and was killed during the head explosion part, but Kingsman!Obama is likely a Democrat just like the real Obama, and the president in this movie was C L E A R L Y a Republican, when in real life it would be Obama’s vice president, who would also be a Democrat. So just a plot hole I guess. 

Weird that just like last movie, the villain was a person with a reasonable goal (stop climate change, legalize drugs) going about it in an incredibly unreasonable and genocidal way. I think both movies are going for positive social messages, but it...it’s just weird. IDK.

Boy, Kingsman sure is getting a lot of mileage out of those mountain-camouflage white snow suits. Where’s the next movie going to take place, Siberia?

Charlie better stay dead this time. I hate that bastard. 

Did I mention Elton John was great in this movie?

Ginger looked so good at the wedding. I love her. 

I did like that this movie showed that most people who do drugs are just normal people. 

I liked that Statesman was more diverse than Kingsman but I straight up saw like one Asian woman and one black man (and Whiskey) and then a ton of white guys. Call me back when Statesman is half women with just...considerably more people of color. Considerably more. It’s cool that Ginger is an agent now but keep working.

Are code names linked to your position in Statesman like in Kingsman? Is Ginger now Agent Whiskey, or still Agent Ginger Ale? (I didn’t like that the only woman was the only non-alcoholic beverage, by the way. I get that it miiiight be tied to her being the only non-field-agent but I still hate it.) Also, how do they not run out of beverage names? Can people be named after their favorite mixed drink? Agent Cosmopolitan? Agent Screwdriver?

Oh my god here are some agent names that totally exist within Statesman: Agent Beer. Agent Wine. Agent Scotch. Agent Brandy. Agent Gin (hard to say). I love this stupid organization. I hope Agent Beer is from Wisconsin. 

Eggsy jumping through Whiskey’s lasso was so fucking sick. I saw the movie with three other people and we all SCREAMED. 

Colin Firth in a wet white shirt can only ever make me think of Pride and Prejudice. Thanks for that, Kingsman. 

I knew I was forgetting something I really wanted to talk about: GOD SHITTING FUCK I CAN’T BELIEVE EGGSY AND TILDE MOVED INTO HARRY’S OLD HOUSE. I GET THAT IT MIGHT BE TIED TO THE GALAHAD POSITION BUT GOD FUCKING DAMN. It’s been a year and they haven’t redecorated? Possibly at all? That one bathroom is still full of butterflies and Mr Pickle is still mounted on the wall? 

Eggsy’s voice breaking and his lip quivering when he and Tilde talk about Harry. Kill me.

THE BREAKFAST SCENE MADE IT INTO A MOVIE PLEASE KILL ME

Harry and Eggsy are in love? They’re in love

I love Roxy so much. Did I mention she’s still alive? 

Agent Tequila’s thighs when they take him out of deep freeze. God damn. 

Just remembered that Eggsy was like “this dinner is really important to me” and everyone assumes that it’s the dinner with Tilde’s parents from the trailer but it’s his friend Brandon’s birthday party. ;___________;

I think that’s all I got. 

[niniadepapa]

Nini! Since we seem to have the same tastes in tv shows, i was wondering what are your favorite books???

uoHHHHHH BOIIIIII where do i even start?!?!?!?! take a seat my friend because this is gonna be a LONG ride…

the classics i’ve loved since forever:

the famous five series by enid blyton - i read them ALL and reread them dozens of times

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupéry. nothing else to say,

literary any play by federico garcía lorca, but ‘la casa de bernarda alba’ still makes me !!!!!! it’s so good jfc 

ella enchanted by gail carson levine like i’m sorry i know the movie has anne hathaway and hugh dancy but still i feel robbed of the wonderful perfect book i’ve reread 937562937456923 bazillion times. i deserve a proper ella enchanted movie/show, yall. 

 the last cato by matilde asensi. i legit made all my friends AND their moms read it when we were 17.

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chobsky. it pretty much changed my life.

atonement by ian mcewan. wow. just wow. 

gone girl, by gillian flynn because we all need to read amy dunne’s cool girl speech 

it’s difficult to even type never let me go by kazuo ishiguro without shedding tears.

the perfume by patrick suskind traumatized me but also enchanted me?? idek man, it’s a very special book.

i read the entire the physician series by noah gordon when i was a teenager and i still love it sooooo much!!!!!!

peter pan by j.m. barrie bcs lbr everybody should learn that peter was a fucking asshole

the harry potter series by jk rowling. that abomination of a fanfic slash play that came out last summer obviously isn’t included here. 

the percy jackson and the heroes of the olympus series by rick riordan - my savage demigod son, i’ll always heart u

don’t judge me but the mortal instruments, the dark artifices, the infernal devices - all of the motherfucking shadowhunter books to ever be, i’ll read, no matter how much i hate cc. i hate her for the hold she has over me.

i did enjoy the hunger games back in the day lbr

stardust by neil gaiman ksjbdfakdfjalsdfjbaglsjdfblkas literary my most favorite i love it so much it hurts me

and now as of things i’ve read in the past years that i can rec w a hand over my heart staring into your eyes and claiming they’re Good Shit:

across the universe series by beth revis was pretty fun for sci-fi even tho there was a twist that i wasn’t very happy with

under the never sky by veronica rossi was actually very cool i really enjoyed it

i REALLY loved the shatter me series by tahereh mafi like oh my god a heroine that truly learns how to accept and love herself!!!!!! fuckbois get rekt!!!!! incredible character arcs!!!! i’m pumped for the next book tahereh announced lbr

the lynburn legacy series by sarah rees brennan was suuuuper fun because magic?? family drama??? actual woc main character?? bisexuals??? i was living while reading them tbh

vicious by v.e. schwab was really fun because it was nothing like i’d ever read before, i’m really looking forward to reading her other series 

i’ll only rec leigh bardugo’s six of crows duology because i refuse to acknowledge the fucking mess that was the grisha trilogy, jfc. six of crows, excluding some stuff, is super fun, has great characters, good ships, and teenagers that pull cool stunts to get $$$. incredible.

the fixer series by jennifer lynn barnes are !!!!!!!!!!!!! i wish she wrote more of them i would legit beg her and throw money in her face for more. teens swept off by washington/politics drama/conspiracies… my jam ladies and gents

the study series by maria snyder. are. so. good.

i’ve only read two of melina marchetta’s books and both of them broke me. i’m onto her.

big little lies by liane moriarty - if you haven’t watched the show, do it. if you haven’t read the book, do it.

i loooooved the first two books in the falconer series by elizabeth may and still have to read the third but i haven’t seen good reviews about it so i’m kind of… waiting a bit…

i’m not gonna talk much about sarah j maas here because even if there are things in her books that i really enjoy -specially some ships and the worldbuilding- the inherently whiteness, straightness and the unbelievably high number of times she writes the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ makes me want to punch her repeteadly in the face. 

simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli is so funny and heartwarming dkzfjbzdjfkblz

uprooted by naomi novik had lowkey w/w but also an incredible het ship that was dkjfbksdjfs also living evil woods and strange shit that was amazing

what we saw by aaron hartzler is very rough to read, especially considering it’s based on a real life case (Steubenville High School rape case) but holy shit do i think it’s important to read and know. 

in that same line i put one of my favorite books i read last year: the female of the species, by mindy mcginnis. that book broke me on so many levels, every time i think about it i burst into tears. it’s so raw and real and just… ugh. i swear it’s gonna stay with me until my last day, it’s /that/ kind of book.

i still haven’t forgiven my best friend for making me read the mistborn series by brandon sanderson. that’s al i’m gonna say about it.

cruel beauty by rosamund hodge is so unique and i just loooooove the characters so much because they do acknowledge their flaws and that they’re not perfect?? and just??? recognize that in each other??? which is a+++ in my book u do u. also super beautiful writing!

the anna and the french kiss series by stephenie perkins will always have a special place in my heart bcs they’re so fun and light-hearted and witty and i really love them 

AND NOW, TOP FIVE:

the daughter of smoke and bone series by laini taylor IS INCREDIBLE. WHY IS EVERYBODY SLEEPING ON THIS BOOKS. ANGELS AND MONSTERS. ANGELS ARE ACTUALLY BAD, MONSTERS ARE GOOD. ANGST. IT’S SO GOOD.

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater, even if i still have hashtag problems w things in it (more girls. why aren’t there more girls. NOAH.) i just… i love my stupid kids so much. 

the wrath and the dawn by renee ahdieh is fucking INCREDIBLE it’s so good i get so mad bcs it’s legit unknown pls do urselves a favor and read this masterpiece it’s based on a 1001 nights and the main ship and characters are!!!! just!!!!! a++++!

the song of achilles by madeline miller is probably one of the books that i have most enjoyed and suffered with in my entire life. the true illyad i deserved. the most heartbreaking thing ever.

the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski is literary the best series i’ve read these past years and i’ll forever be in cee’s debt for making me read them. the most savage slytherins in love with the angstiest motherfucking relationship ever, a super clever look into colonialism and discrimination, the most beautifully haunting writing, IT’S JUST SO FUCKING GOOD I’LL NEVER READ ANYTHING AS GOOD AS TWT WHY AREN’T THERE 398465923846 FICS ABOUT IT JFC *sobs*

this got LONG lmao i’m sorry i get really excited talking about books in case u were wondering!!!!!!! i’m more than happy to talk about literary any of them, and welcome recs and will pretty much spew shit about anything i know ig u wanna holler @ me. i just really love books and i’ve been in an anxious-reading mode for the past three years so yEAH thanks for the ask anon it made me super happy!!!!!!

[ionica01]

Tagged

Maud girl, I love you, but you'll hate me for this ramble😅 A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed. Well, I'll go with all of them. For OTP, my biggest are EdWin and Royai (from FMA), Karmanami from Assassination Classroom and NaLu from FT. Friendships... I love GrayLu platonically and RoyxMaes is the best brotp😍 and of course I freaking loooove all friendships from Haikyuu and Akatsuki no Yona... And I love Zen and Mitsuhide's relationship in Akagami no shirayuki-hime and Al and Ed are best bros and the freaking platinocial relationship between Handa and Naru gets me everytime and I should probably gp to the next ask before I ramble more than necessary. B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind. Asano x Nakamura... I never even imagined them as a couple... Until I read a perfect fanfiction... And now I ship⛵️⛵️ C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will. I'll be hated.... But EdxRoy (just no, okay?! Mustang's like a dad to Ed!!) and Shirayuki x Obi because Zen😍😍 (I love their friendship tho) D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t. Yamaguchi x Yachi because I wnat Yams to be happy... But HinaYachi is love, HinaYachi is life!! E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what? Not yet, but I joined FMABigBang so I'll add Ed being an overprotective drama queen (or rather, king) dad, so stay tuned! F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom? Hmm... Almost a year in the FT fanfom!!! Happy birthday, I guess? G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it? I live for my OTPs! (Which just proved why I'm still single... I have my whole life aheeeaaaad~~) I think one of my first conscious OTPs (in that I knew what that was) was Harry x Hermione and it was shattered to pieces... Damn you, JK Rowling! (I still love you). H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)? Hmm... Anime. Because it's lively and you can actually picture the characters miving when reading a fanfic! I agree with manga too... And sometimes books. Movies feel just too real to be placed in cartoons, though. I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why? No, but the haters were closed to it. Tho I did stop liking the small Usagi Drop fandom because of the manga spoilers that ruined my experience... To those who want to watch it, take my friendly advice, PLEASE don't read the manga. The anime is the fluffiest thing, so please just watch that. J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.) Bnha, which is why I started reading it. And Voltron.... I'll watch that soon, too. K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc? Uhm... Well that's a hard one. I absolutely love the subtle and endearing development in Oreki (hyouka) and Haruhi in Ouran, but my favourite has to go to Tsukki for how well-built it was!! Furudate-sensei, I bow im front of you. Also, honrable mention to Karma in Assassination Clasroom. L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.) I don't especially love oikawa. I admire him a tone, and I have a lot of his quotes forever saved in my phone, and I think he's the best setter of them all (I'm sorry, he has more experience and tehnique than Kags or Asaaahi, tho I agree that they'll become better than him in one year's time). So there: I aknowledge his amazingness altough he isn't my fave. M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend. Edward. I want to spend a full day with him and learn how alchemy works (and we'd complain together about how short we are). Also, Haruhi: I feel like she'd give the best advice when I'd need it. N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice). My faveourite fandom is FMA: everyone gets love and attention, and there's little to no hate. What I'd like for it is to make it alive again! I mean, there are events and the such, but the manga finished almost 10 years ago, guys! I hope the new live action will bring us back alive. O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of? Hmm... Well On my Own by Ashes Remain was the first one that popped into my head and it kind of reminds me pf Natsu. He's that character that would always smile, but he's always surpressing his feeling ('I've been stuck in a cage with my doubt/I tried forever getting out on my own') P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas). Random AU...? Honestly, I'm not the biggest AU fan, but if I had to, I'd choose 'we've been stuck in a traffic jam for two hours and we're bored, let's play cards; hey wait Gray, you're cheeting; no way I'm not!; mira, doing cutesy things won't help you win... Laxus don't give in!!; if Laxus is allied with Mira so is the thunder legion! Then I'm starting one on my own! Erza, I'll join... Great, now we have Wendy on Erza's side... All dragon slayers together! And exceeds! Wait lucy, starting a female club isn't gonna help ya! ...guys? That's not how you play pocker!' AU. Okay, I may like this one in particular. Maybe I'll write it:) Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why. I've abandoned the HP fandom. I still like the books, but I kinda grew out of it...? (And into anime😇) R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom? Uhm... In which one? If I'm going with FT, my favourite friendship is GrayLu. In FMA, it's a tie... I love Roy/Hughes brotp and Al/Ed brotp. In Haikyuu... Damn they're too many to choose! But I'd say the Karasuno third years: they have such a tight-knit bond!! And in AssClass it would be Karma/Okuda (it's canon in my mind but friendship in the manga). I just love how easygoing they are. Also, I love Karma/Nagisa in the second half. S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged) Hmm... There are many. My fetish is seeing people sleep: I think you can tell alot about their inner selfes from the position they use when sleeping and from their habits, because they can't control or put up a façade when it comes to that. So my headcanon is that despite being loud and obnoxious, Natsu actually occupies less space than Lucy when sleeping: he takes a baby-posture, while she lashes all over the bed, sometimes punching him im sleep unintentionately. Natsu learnt to deal with it: he actually likes holding Lucy close to make sure she's safe while sleeping. She doesn't mind, especially not during winter. Oh and they also cuddle with a cup of hot coffee in their hands during the morning. Just an after-thought~~ T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? I do! I don't care if you agree or not, but Karma can be sweet, okay? Like he can actually be a good boyfriend (tho maybe a bit possessive). He's the best at telling what's on Okuda's mind and he always buys her toffee when she's feeling down. Oh and also, Riza is a very good mother, always putting her family first. Just letting you know. U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites. Yes!! 1)Karma-assassination classroom. He's that one character that believes he's the best, only to get proven that he can be wrong. What's evenbegter is how he has room to develop and grow to be a better person... Plus, it seems I have a thing for evil goofballs. 2)This is a hard one, but Ed/Roy-Fullmetal Alchemist. I abso-freaking-lutely love all the characters in FMA, but these two attracted my attention. Ed because of how he thinks, how he wants to do good deeds in spite of his thorny exterior and how he miserably fails. I love the way he admits his failures and the way he deals with them can be childish (he's 14, for God's sake!) but he learns from them. Also, Roy because even though he went through Ishval, he still dreams of making the world a better place. I can respect a man who doesn't step over the ethics just to achieve that dream and who always bends and avoides hurting others, while never giving up. Maybe it's a dream, but I very much resonate with it. 3) Lucy from FT. She's the one character in Fairy Tail that has enough of a backstory and is weak enough to evolve. Moreover, she's not your typical girl: yes, she cares about how she looks, because she IS an woman, but she also cares about what's on the inside. She cares about her friends more than anything and even without being the strongest mage, still puts herself in danger for them. I love her resolve and her cute side, too. V - Which character do you relate to most? Hmm... Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran Highschool Host Club. Haruhi is the type to do things on her own and she repells the help of others to do her thing, which I also tend to do. Also, she shoulders a lot of her worries by herself. Plus, she never judges people on appearance and doesn't care about her own (being a girl, that's rare and helps me relate all the more). I just love her😍 (and sometimes am compared to her by my friends). W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom. Whiny female protagonist. I'm not a feminist or anything, but I've had enough of that! Yes, we all want a prince charming, but we can carry ourselves, thank you very much. X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom. Someone pursuing their dreams. Also, I love genre deconstructions (browny points if it's comedic). Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)? Voltron and Yuri on Ice (I feel like I've watched this shows even though I haven't). Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.) Don't tempt me, I will! ( I kinda have this whole post tho) Okay so I'll rant about FMA because I feel it doesn't get all he love it deserves!!! (And because I refrained from fangirling on it up to now) And since we're talking FMA, let's talk Roy Mustang (you knew this would come). Roy is just one of those very strong people that are actually just goofballs on the interior and need love. Seriously, let's take a look at what this guy went through, ok? He's an orphan, but he never complains and learnt to love his cousins (sisters) and aunt (mom). He was taught by a pretty crazy (very talented, but Hawkeye did have a screw loose for inscripting a tatoo on Riza's back and you can't convince me otherwise) alchemist, and yet he managed to become the next flame alchemy. Despite being told not to, he joined the military with a childish dream and even after learning of the harsh reality in the Ishval war, he still went on believing that he can make the country a better place. Yet he's not perfect: he can lose his temper when it comes to those he loves (Mustang being killed) and he doesn't want any more people to die. He cheerisbes his team and wants to keep them all safe. He can be a cheapskate and also a bit of an annoying guy with Ed, and he can be obnoxious, yet funny as hell (tiny miniskirts!!!) Above all, Mustang feels HUMAN! Yes, he puts up a great act, but it's an *act*. He has a more sensitive side and you better not mess with it, or he'll burn you to ashes. This concludes the short version of my Roy Mustang appeciation post. Also, I have some headcanons about him being best dad (and his child being a daddy's girl/boy because of it) and of being a pretty intimidating Führer. This concludes my post. @bookstvseriesandanimes and @paperrabbit13 know what I'm talking about😅 And I tag @bookstvseriesandanimes @paperrabbit13 @shoujoinsights @candyforever123 @funnyshoujomoments and whoever else feels up to it:)

[the-sun-princess]

OKAY BACK TO THE GAY FATESING even if it will be like 6 chapters before i can really be gay (at least it’s sooner than in CQ, making me wait til chapter 9 to start in on Azura, gods)

Windmire is so. Big. it’s a cool layout oo all the lighting is neat. I suppose to make up for the lack of sun

anyways SUP POPS

i made it here safely yes. Wonder when the last time I was here/if ever was.

well ya ain’t dreamin Marjy. Probably spent the ride over just looking at anything new in the scenery tbh

yes i’m totally on par with Xander it’s not like he can take 3x as many hits as I can or anything considering i had to heal twice and he just let me hit him

are you telling me everyone else had to beat up Xander too. Elise you do all right outside the fortress and ur just a healer

wait, magical barrier????????????? what is that. is it like Hoshido that there’s a “keep foreigners” out thing or is it to keep my dragon powers supressed OOOOOOOOOO an explanation i can use for that ohoohoo

yeah gosh hey don’t stick me back in that dump I’ll fight if it means i don’t have to be stuck there. Tho what am I even fighting really. Oh are we actually in effective war with Hoshido at this point. The like One thing we know. I’m a direct descendant from one of those dragons i’m cooler than you even tho u probably drank a lot of Anankos’ dragon blood. wait that effectively makes Garon a vampire right he drank Anankos blood and is a walking corpse GASP ALL VALLITE SOLDIERS ARE VAMPIRES. Yes i HAVE THE POWAH i’ll lve up to ur harsh af expectations whatever except not really

time to get the Evil Sword That Kills My Mom. just magic that creepy looking thing right up in front of you. Infused with Vallite power....hmm. I wonder if Azura could sense that.

i don’t wanna crush the hoshidan army though ;; i wonder if they even gave her a reason to fight hoshido or its just ‘we’re fighting them’

Xander goin hmmmm cause he knows daddy-o isnt usually like this

im not slaughtering prisonors i LIKE Rinkah and Kaze. also Kaze. You are not gonna die on me this time. I will even put off romancing Azura to save ur green ass

i’m so happy to have Felicia with me instead of Jakass ;;;; oh god i love her so much more ;; 

I’m Marjorie, hi Rinkah. changing Marj’s name from Kamui to Marjorie would probably ruin this scene hum. but there’s always rumors possible, I suppose

garon says DO IT he is emporer palpatine GASP I WON’T BE DRAWN TO THE DARK SIDE. I don’t wanna kill them all tho pops

yeah why would I execute helpless prisoners you trained me to fight and defend, yes, but unnecessary killing is just so. ugh. just goin NO that’s my girl right there

I love my kiddo, defending people even against her tyrant dad. she’s a goodie

seriously Xander your voice is throwing me off i thought it was deeper. hey he’s off his horsie for once

“why not show mercy” like rlly, right there. if we have the power to show mercy why shouldn’t we

i am very softhearted and so is marj no wonder i love her so much.oh wow Leo’s collar really is different pff the inside out thing is hilarious. AND YET. NO PJ MODEL. Leo good job KO-ing them. So used to lying to help others/

Oh please an act of kindness will not be the death of Marj. it is however the death of Azura ;;;;; well sacrificing herself to weaken a dragon i guess is kindness i dunno. “Perhaps, but if I’m kind, I will die without regrets” you know ppl can say corrin is boring all they want I still love the dialogue bc i’m a boring softhearted goody two shoes too.

Camilla and Elise always make such a fuss when he upsets me pff. poor Leo

“father never forgets a slight” boy don’t i know it camilla. marj doesnt but i do.

Kaze listens well. Yes, hi Rinkah, my name is Marjorie, not Kamui. you don’t know me MARJ 

Rinkah: next time we meet, I will make you pay for this humilation! 

Marj: I was hoping we could be friends tho

CALL ME SOFTHEARTED ALL U WANT ITS A COMPLIMENT. Marj already goin like “let’s please not fight i wanna plan for peace so i can travel and see all the cool things the world has to offer with a less risk of dying”

Yes i am indeed that sheltered Nohrian Princess who knows nothing of the world, what an apt description.