#Well Hello Dolly: Velvet

[bzedan]

June 2023 Playlist

It's JUNE! And it actually still is June, because I wanted to get this playlist out while it was still officially Pride Month since I'm proud of this queer little playlist. I'd shared some possible covers earlier, but of course, I settled on the Dio-inspired one. As much as I love dance-pop, at my heart, I am just a power-metal guy.

At 71 songs, this is the most packed list so far and is longer than even my birthday month playlist. I took a lot of inspo from a friend's playlist "Songs where the narrator is a lesbian against all evidence," as well as snagging quite a few songs from it (though I will note that Ginuwine's "Pony" had already made its way onto the playlist well before I'd figured the theme/vibe). Though a LOT of these songs are by queer artists of various flavours, there are also quite a few that are songs I enjoy recontextualised through a queer lens.

I don't know if you've ever made a playlist for a character* (whether an OC or your personal blorbo), but I've often found it to be a good exercise in the malleability of interpretation. Specifically, a very gay interpretation in the case of most of my character playlists. I tried to go no emotionally lower than wistful, because damn, friend, let's embrace joy.

And also, if you don't know why I ended this playlist with the song I did well, I finally played Portal 2 because of a Tumblr post.

Related media to some of the songs:

I'm not going to tell you what Mariah Angeliq's "Bobo" is a cover of, just start listening (and here's the music video) and enjoy.

"Lovefool" by The Cardigans is because of Romeo + Juliet, with  Harold Perrineau's beautiful heartbroken Mercutioand the best possible Tybalt.

I remain a fan of Pom Pom Squad's vibe and enjoy when a cover is a direct copywhen you do it with your whole ass.

Hello, can I interest you in the good word of Velvet Goldmine?

Big Freedia has been a constant fave for a long time, her latest album dropped recently, and "Bigfoot" is a jam.

Sure, you've seen Miike Snow's "Genghis Kahn" video but have you seen this version of it?

*And I do mean any flavour of character playlist - either songs they'd put together themself, songs about them, or vibe-based character playlists.

Anyway here's a link to June's playlist on Spotify, with the track list under the cut.

Also embedded, if you like that.

'Lovefool' - The Cardigans

'Never Get Ahead' - Bobby Conn

'Unusual Heat' - Foreigner

'Hang on to Your Love' - Sade

'Boy' - Book Of Love

'The Boys Of Summer' - Don Henley

'Shake Ya Ass' - Mystikal

'Dangerous' - Big Freedia

'I Touch Myself' - Divinyls

'Big Jeans Boy' - Louie Zong

'Papa Was a Rodeo' - The Magnetic Fields

'Daddy' - MAN ON MAN

'Career Boy' - Dorian Electra

'Hanging Around the Day, Pt. 2' - The Polyphonic Spree

'Us' - Jennifer Lopez

'Facility Girls' - Soft Cell

'Qui est cette fille?' - Yelle

'Heels' - Sir Babygirl

'The Way I Loved You' - REYNA

'All I Wanna Do' - Sheryl Crow

'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' - Cyndi Lauper

'Pepper' - Butthole Surfers

'She Is Beautiful' - Andrew W.K.

'Jolene' - Dolly Parton

'I'm Not Strong Enough to Say No' - BlackHawk

'Faces' - Sam Buck

'Sunday Morning' - No Doubt

'Here In Your Bedroom' - Goldfinger

'Kiss' - Prince

'Sucked Out' - Superdrag

'BOBO' - Mariah Angeliq

'Bad Liar' - Selena Gomez

'Satellite Of Love' - Lou Reed

'Baby's On Fire - 2004 Digital Remaster' - Brian Eno

'Boys of Summer' - Daddy Issues

'Normal' - Kodie Shane

'Red Wine Supernova' - Chappell Roan

'Hate Dancin'' - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

'Don't Speak' - No Doubt

'Cost Your Love' - Miya Folick

'Genghis Khan' - Miike Snow

'Grace Kelly' - MIKA

'Let 'Em Talk (feat. Eagles of Death Metal)' - Kesha

'Get Around To It' - Arthur Russell

'Caro' - Bad Bunny

'Mystery of Love' - Boy Jr.

'Rainbow in the Dark' - Dio

'Walk The Night' - Skatt Bros

'How Soon Is Now?' - t.A.T.u.

'Man To Man' - Dorian Electra

'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)' - Sylvester

'Are They Actually Attractive?' - Boy Jr.

'Hounds Of Love' - Kate Bush

'Faith - Remastered' - George Michael

'A Little Respect' - Erasure

'Kiss from a Rose' - Seal

'It's Okay To Cry' - SOPHIE

'Why Did You Separate Me from the Earth?' - ANOHNI

'Hollow Days' - Twin Shadow

'New Slang' - Porridge Radio

'Popular (feat. Matthew Caws of Nada Surf)' - Pom Pom Squad

'Dead of Night' - Orville Peck

'Your Motion Says' - Arthur Russell

'It Don't Fade' - Mya Byrne

'Take Me Home' - Phantogram

'Tomboy' - Princess Nokia

'Louder (feat. Icona Pop)' - Big Freedia

'Say Nothing' - Kalifa

'MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)' - Lil Nas X

'Crush on Me (Outro)' - Sir Babygirl

'Want You Gone' - Aperture Science Psychoacoustic Laboratories

[diivergence]

Okay! Time for some basic characterization!

My Velvet is black (because I’m bias, shut up)

Back when she was human she was the daughter of an infamous kingpin that controlled a huge drug ring. Her parents mostly ignored that she exists, mostly focusing on their own endeavors, leaving Velvet to fend for herself. 

She was mostly raised by her lesbian governess until said governess died during a shootout.

She was your classic Regina George when she was in school, burn book and all.... Only a tad bit more violent. And by a tad bit, of course I mean a lot. 

In high school, Velvet fell in love with a boy, but both cheated on and broke up with her during prom season. He also started dating her “best friend.” So after she graduated she handled like any reasonable person would... She killed her dad, took over his empire and had them both killed right in front of her.

Velvet died about 28 at the hands of a rival gang.

When she got to hell she had to start from scratch building her drug empire, but with her experience in the land of the living, she quickly made her way to the top and joined the triple Vs.

Vox & Valentino are... light amusement to her. She’s mostly buddy-buddy with them cause she wants what they have. Sometimes, you catch more flies with honey than with Vinegar.

She lowkey hates Valentino. She thinks he’s an immature spoiled baby that’s never been told “No” his entire life. Most pimps are in her experience.

She’s bi-bi-bi bisexuals, baby!! Her type includes gnc women, High femme ladies, and submissive men. 

Dominate men are a huge turn off for her and she’ll often laugh in their faces. Unless they’re service tops. She’ll make an exception for them.

You bet her ass she’s the one with the Kleenex while scrolling through her phone, listening to Val cry like a little bitch about breaking up with Vox... for the 314th time. She’ll even livestream it sometimes and post it online. Vox & Val’s relationship is like a bad telenovela for her. 

While she mostly controls the drug ring, fashioning her drugs into little candies and super cute packaging, you bet your ass she’s a huge ass E-girl.

She Loves attracting and stringing along yandere boys. Watching them squirm and anguish over the fact that they can’t “catch” her is so fun to her.

She’s extremely flexible and is a talented spellcaster/potion-maker.

She has a ton of living doll servants that tend to her ever beck and call. 

Her weapon of choice is a purse she likes to call “Her Toybox.” It’s pretty much a purse with a bunch of pastel/pink weapons/guns/potions inside. 

She loves to gossip. 

[serialxsocial-a]

“One of the best things I ever got done that continues to go thankless is putting coke back in the soda.”

[zatyrlucy]

Australia Wildfire Relief Charity Stream!

Hi people. Last night the crew accomplished something amazing. More than 30k dollars will be donated to help the Australia wildlife affected by the fires. Thank you so much to the people who donated! Viv gave good pieces of information to the ones who donated and by getting to 25k and later to 30k she rewarded the fans with the real names of two of the protagonists. Here is the list of facts she said, enjoy. 

1.       The song that sounds for a couple of seconds when Alastor spins Charlie is Put it on the Ritz from Fred Astaire  

2.       Dealmakers are a group of sinners in hell. They have a lot of power because they deal with souls. Is not recommended to be near them.  

3.       Why vaggie is in hell? That’s spoilers

4.       The Goat bois Razze and Dazzle would like or dislike someone depending on Charlie’s attitude. They would get along with people Charlie likes (eg. Vaggie) and in the same way they wouldn’t get along with people Charlie hates.  

5.       The Headcanon voice for Rosie would be Barbara Streisand in Hello Dolly, because she is an adult lady but with the voice of a young woman.

6.       Alastor’s is a “food snob” which means he is a perfectionist in the kitchen. If Gordon Ramsay would be in hell they would get along very well.  

7.       Angel likes to cook, he has low standards for drugs but high ones about food.  

8.       The songs of the pilot can’t be on Spotify because is a huge process to put them there and viv is busy at the moment. Also the songs doesn’t have an extended version, what we hear in the pilot is all that is.    

9.       Viv doesn’t think Alastor sleeps, but if he does, he would probably be in the corner of the room with his eyes open.  

10.   Vox is very manipulative and an attention seeker

11.   Valentino has a lot of staffs. He constantly brakes them on people heads so he has to replace them a lot.  

12.   A headcanon voice for Vox would be the one of Mark Hamill

13.   Vox watch Tv game shows, he likes commercials too.  

14.   Angels watch soaps operas and trash realities to judge and roast the contestants

15.   How vaggie and Charlie meet? That’s spoilers

16.   In future episodes we will get to know how Alastor got so powerful

17.   Vox is almost as tall as Alastor

18.   Viv doesn’t like the Hazbin wiki and says the information there is wrong. According to her, most of the info in that webpage is very old, incorrect or just assumptions. So she recommends the fans not to take the wiki’s info as canon.  

19.   Alastor is like 7 feet tall and Angel 9, they are really big. (She still doesn’t have a size chart but I guess with those confirmed heights someone could calculate the other’s)  

20.   There will be a husk plushie? In this moment they are making new plushies and new merchandise of Helluva, but because plushies are expensive, is necessary to do only characters on demand and Viv doesn’t know how many people would be interested in buying a Husk plushie.  

21.   Arackniss would be redesigned when he appears in the show alongside with other old characters of Viv that could appear in Hazbin.  

22.   Velvet is a trendy stylish social media sinner and she gets along with Vox because they like technology and they try to know the most about technology advances. Something that separates them from Alastor because he doesn’t like those new artifacts at all.

23.   Velvet is really good at making food and potions

24.   Stolas is a born in hell demon and he is “a different level of demon”. Something that will be explored in Helluva.  

25.   Viv likes the fanon human version of Alastor. She says is very accurate because human Alastor would never have the same hairstyle he has now as a demon

26.   Viv doesn’t want the Voice Actors of her shows “to double up” (one VA making the voice of two or more characters), she likes every character to have their own VA, with the clear exception of background characters.  Because of this, there could be a new voice actor for Millie, while Erika would stay as the voice of Loona.

27.   After some thinking, Viv has decided for Cherri to be Australian.

28.   Viv would prefer a movie instead of a videogame about Hazbin.  

29.  Angel can play the accordion and other instruments but…not very well

30.  Husk can play the sax.  

31.  Vox and Velvet have real names, most sinners do. They prefer to be called by nicknames in order to leave their past names and human lives behind.

32.  Angel Dust real name is Anthony!!! 

33.  VAGGIE’S REAL NAME IS VAGATHA!!

34.  ….Alastor’s real name is Alastor (lol)

35.   Al doesn’t like nicknames so he decided to use his real name in hell and not change it (but he must have a last name isn’t it?)

Source 

(I want to thank @kiddoryder​ for helping me in the last lists I have made with some names I dont know about or some phrases I dont understand, thank you!) 

[cowboyshit]

my new tablet came in the mail so I decided to draw adam’s mare from starlight, my rodeo au fic!!! 

The mare drew close at the sight of Hazel’s hand and brushed her velvet, whiskered lips over the back of it, huffing a warm breath gently that smelled like sweet hay. Hazel smiled. “Hello, beautiful,” she said, gently turning her hand and letting the mare sniff and lip curiously at it, testing her smell. 

“You have a little snip on your nose!” she exclaimed softly with delight, seeing the oddly shaped little white mark between the mare’s nostrils. 

“When I was a little girl I had an imaginary horse I used to pretend was with me when I ran around, and I always imagined she was a pretty golden palomino with a little white snip on her nose just like you, and one, two,” Hazel scratched beneath the mares chin and leaned to try and count the markings on her legs, “Oh, darn. Almost.” She looked back at the mare’s face and smiled. “My imaginary mare had three socks, but you’ve only got two. Well, you’re still beautiful anyways. Dreams can’t always come true, hm?”

She laughed gently under her breath as the mare stepped closer to the fence, stretching out her neck and as if to offer more areas to scratch. 

“Her name is Dolly.” A warm, low, soft voice nearly startled her, but she kept herself calm so as not to spook the mare. The mare clearly knew this intruder, though, as she swung her head forward and pointed her ears, letting out a loud rumbling whicker in immediate greeting. She forgot all about Hazel’s scratches, clearly too happy to see whoever had joined them. Hazel glanced over her shoulder and saw him - Adam - with his blond curls tucked neatly beneath his wide-brim cowboy hat and a sheepish expression across his face. He almost looked embarrassed to have interjected. “Well, it’s Lil Dun Dolly, officially. But I just call her Dolly.” -  (From Part One of Starlight)

[lovieebby]

What's the first day Judy comes to work for Henry and Reader like?

YESS tbh I’ve been waiting to post this and now here it issssss!! I also went overboard but #notsorry

Yall pls send me more vic!daddy!hen stuff 🥺

—

When Judy first came to the Cavill household, she was mainly in Henry’s office with him. He had made sure to give her specific details and instructions.

Judy hadn’t minded that Mr. Cavill’s tone was more stern and judgmental than sweet and understanding. She was being hired to to watch and care for the love of his life. Judy understood completely and brought everything he had requested from her.

Even though she had been highly talked about in Henry’s closed friend group, he still had to be cautious. They both equally agreed that Judy herself wasn’t here mainly for him, but for you. And he had told her that if you enjoyed her and preferred her over all others in the home, he would be more than willing to keep her around.

When you, personally, met Judy, Henry had led her into the second living room dubbed as your playroom. He had a booming voice in the large home, and you had heard them both approaching the room before you even saw them.

You knew you didn’t need to hide a thing; not your paints, papers and dollies. But something made you nervous about meeting a new person. You quickly shot up from the floor, hitting your knee on the marble table. You spewed a line of words, rubbing your knee cap as you leaned over the table and messily pushed the brushes and paints into their bucket.

As Henry’s voice became more clear, you moved as fast as you could to grab the two dolls that were out and shoved them under the couch. And by the time you heard the clicking of heels and the voices deceased, you stood where you stood and brushed your dress out flat.

Henry was the first one you had seen, then Judy coming in. She wore a dark plum dress, her hands clasped at her front and her small black felt hat with a dainty peacock feather stitched to its side. Henry had told you she was a little older than himself but Judy didn’t look a day past thirty.

Her face looked soft to the touch, her hands just as equal. It made you want to hold her hands all the time if they were as soft as they looked. She also smelled like calming chamomile and patchouli with maybe a hint of something warm like sandalwood.

Judy was also as tall as Henry’s shoulders, or maybe a little smaller. You couldn’t figure out if she had tall heels on or not. There were also small streaks of grey in her dark hair, it made Judy look mature and well put together. And not just in her hair— it was the way she dressed, stood and probably talked. She had definitely lived a good life and might have gone to a good girls school, all the way up to university from the way she looked.

“Say hello now y/n.” Henry called, snapping out of your deep insight. Your eyes widened when you noticed that Judy had spoke her greetings and Henry had called on you twice.

“Hi— I-I’m sorry.” You rushed, your hands wringing and sweatinng at the front of your waist, “I’m y/n!”

You blushed when you snapped your mouth shut, Henry had already said your name multiple times. You internally groaned, smacking your forehead.

“You already knew that though.”

Judy chuckled along with Henry clearing his throat, looking at you with his lips pressed in a line. He gave you a knowing look to use your manners and to act good— this is a moment to gain good girl points.

“It’s quite alright sweetie!” She smiled, coming away from Henry and closer to your flustered form. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

You blushed more at the sound of her angelic voice, there was a rasp but it still felt like velvet in your ears. You politely curtsied as Henry walked to your right and gently squeezed your left arm in a silent reassurance.

[phrynewrites]

24 with jan/gigi? Or any other ship you wanna do!

Thank you so much for the ask! It was really fun to try my hand at a s12 ship and also get back into talking about marching band because I completely miss being a dorky clarinetist. Maybe I’ll expand this au? Either way, enjoy!

Jan has always loved summer band camp. Yes, band camp means long hours out on the field, arguing with the football team over who had time on the turf that day and who would be relegated to the grass across the street with spray painted lines — which by her count were five standard steps off, and drilling thirty-second note runs until her fingers tired and her lips became numb and sweat slicked. 

But Jan loved coming back after a long summer of babysitting and SAT prep. She couldn’t wait to see her friends, get the new field show, and teach it to her section, especially since this year she finally made first chair. 

With Brita, her stand partner’s help, Jan begins pulling chairs off of the rack to set up the section. And when she’s satisfied with their work, looking over her dominion of thirty-six chairs, evenly divided into first, second, and third music, she grabs a stand and settles into her own chair. As she opens her case and begins putting together her clarinet, she sees Director Visage lead someone into her office before shutting the door. 

She’s intrigued, but nonetheless distracted by Brita, who pops her reed out of her mouth to ask about their upcoming AP World History class together, divulging how ridiculous the summer assignment was. Jan nods along, pausing to grease her upper joint cork before closing her case and laying the clarinet across her lap. 

“It was stupid,” Jan nods. “All the answers were on a quizlet. It was clearly a book final exam to psych us out.” 

“Can you send me yours tonight? I wanna check my answers.” 

“Of course, but only if you send me your calc,” Jan jibes. 

It’s all coming up roses, Jan supposes, musing on the upcoming year. Her schedule is packed with AP classes, she is a list of colleges she toured and was sure she wanted to apply to, the fall musical would finally be Hello Dolly. And she’ll have prom, spring break, spirit week, and graduation parties with all of her friends before getting onto their next great adventure. It’s a touch saddening, thinking about parting ways, but she also feels sure they’re close enough to resist losing touch as they part ways.

“Who’s that,” Brita whispers, elbowing Jan. 

Jan had to admit, Brita whispering did concern her. She follows her gaze, landing back on Director Visage’s now open office door, and the girl now standing just outside of it, holding a clarinet in her hands. It looked weighty, probably a concert clarinet rather than a marching clarinet, with well-polished gold accenting, making the cheap nickel ligature look off. 

Scratch that, nothing looks off. From the tip of her well tousled amber hair tied up in a velvet scrunchie, to her little running shorts, down to her chunky sneakers, it all stirs Jan right up, catching her off guard when both the girl and Director Visage end up stood right in front of her and Brita’s stand.  

Director Visage hands the girl a flipbook. 

Jan decides to focus on the flip book, rather than any other part of the girl in front of her, if for nothing but to slow her racing heart and maintain some sense of control. 

“Jan, this is Gigi,” Michelle begins, lightly resting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “She’s a senior and she’s going to be joining the section.” 

Jan waves, before considering that her wave looks a little silly, a little childish. She changes to a finger-wave instead, before realizing it probably looks like jazz hands. “Hi Gigi.” 

“She’ll be an asset to this band,” Director Visage continues, “She auditioned very, very well.” 

The way Director Visage looks between Gigi and Jan makes her squirm as she tries to connect what was just said together, registering that this Gigi is in fact good, before it starts to sink in. She crosses her legs, stopping her clarinet from rolling off. She’s looking at Jan because she beat her out of her chair. She’s been here no more than ten minutes and she beat her out of her chair. 

“So we’re gonna start her at second chair.” 

Jan tries not to exhale too loudly, especially as Brita, who didn’t seem bothered before, tenses. At this point, the whole section’s looking onward at what’s happening at the front, visibly shocked as Brita tilts her head toward Jan, gathers her things, and shifts down a chair. The whole section shuffles, leaving Crystal, already sitting at the thirty-sixth chair, looking around for a new chair, which she finds in the percussion section. 

Director Visage leaves to get her scores and Gigi gets situated, placing her case just so underneath her chair, leaning forward to flip through the field show music in the folder. She’s already made herself at home in a seat that wasn’t hers only a few seconds ago.

“It’s old movie themed, like it’s classics,” Jan explains tentatively, watching as Gigi flips through the music, her face falling as she continues. “Ugh that one’s so tricky. I mean four sharps? D sharp is so obnoxious.” She laughs, daring to look at Gigi. 

But Gigi doesn’t seem distressed anymore, rather flat, almost displeased. Her fingers halt. “It’s not going to be a problem for me.” 

Jan nods, reminding herself to stash that reaction away for later. She tries again. “So, where are you from? Are you excited to be at Charles?” 

“Woah, somebody’s eager to know me.” Gigi tightens her ponytail before turning in her seat to face Jan, placing her hand on Jan’s arm. 

Jan feels Gigi scan over her, though most of her focus is still on Gigi’s hand on her arm, as though she’s created instant intimacy through one touch alone, sectioning their conversation off from the increasingly loud band room. 

“Yeah, we’ll be sitting together for —” 

“You’re cute,” Gigi says, patting Jan’s arm. “I’m sure we’ll end up in the music library together…” She trails off with a raised brow and a faint smile, but all Jan feels is a cold sweat break, right underneath Gigi’s fingertips. 

“Uh, no…we’re not allowed back there,” Jan tries, desperate for rehearsal to finally begin, if for no other reason but to get Gigi’s fingers off of her and onto her clarinet. 

Director Visage returns with her folder, unsheathes her baron, and taps on the edge of the stand. The room quiets and Jan is thankful. 

“Sure, you tell yourself that,” Gigi whispers. “Just try not to fall in love with me.”

Gigi turns to face forward, taking her clarinet into her hands. 

She takes out Danger Zone and begins fingering through. 

Jan loosens her ligature to wet her reed, finding her mouth has gone completely dry. 

[waekey]

Simblreen | Found (old) suggestions | More

Anonymous said: the gift for today was so amazing??? i love it, thank you sooo much!

Anonymous said: Holy shit today's treat is awesome thank u so much for it!! love u

You’re so welcome! I’m really happy you like them and thank you all for coming - also again to everyone I replied to privately! ;D

@zzzcorpion said: hi! i love your cc sm

@candychucotton said: Hello! I love your cc, it's so well made!

Anonymous said: I hope you know who great you are!

Thank yooooou! <<3<3<3

Anonymous said: do you do non-kpop things? melanie martinez clothes from her mvs, esp in k-12 era, are GORGEOUS and cute af :x can you maybe do something similar? 

Yes I do. ;)

Could this dress by @cas-fulleditmode be what you are looking for? :D

moon light submitted

[photo]

blackpink jennie 

@simssysworld submitted: 

hello there!! i love all your sims 4 cc and i download all of them because every work of yours is pretty and amazing.. can you please do this produce 48 uniform if u have time. thx xoxo

@melancholicangelx submitted:

[photo]

Hello, i love your cc’s and i’m a kpop fan too. anyways, i just wanna suggest if you can make the outfit of wsjn in their new single “save me, save you” it is just so cute. thanks. 

@pinksaintgeorge submitted:

Suggestion: Weki Meki "Picky Picky" uniform.

Some of these are different, but the general idea is a jacket, a skirt, a white shirt, a tie / bow, white net stockings or blue / white socks and white shoes. Two of them wear dresses but since it’s only 2 of 8 is not essential.

[photos]

@Alice submitted:

Weki Meki CC

Hi I don’t know if you know of the group Weki Meki but they recently came back and they had some really interesting outfits

I’ve attached a few pictures to give you some ideas but I think specifically the mesh kilt/short combo would be really cool

Love your cc!!

[photos]

To all the school uniform suggestions, check out these links. ^^

Link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4

@dailydoseofbutera submitted: BT21

Can you make BT21 merch clothes? For example the ones inside hot topic can you go off that look and make it for sims?

Something like this: Link 1, link 2, link 3 ? :D

Yuka-chan submitted:

Hi! Could you please make Jimin’s Outfit from Blood, Sweat & Tears M/V? Or the Outfits from Red Velvet’s RBB? 

@pastel--simmer submitted:

I already made a suggestion for Jimin’s outfit in Blood, Sweat and Tears, but I thought I should include a picture. 

[photo]

I have a blazer here with a swatch that looks a bit like Jimin’s blue one. :D

(I cannot see the included photo, so I don’t know if it’s referring to the blue blazer or something else. ^^”)

anon submitted: VIXX Hongbin and N

I understand that you may have many requests, but I hope that any point in time you could either do N’s black turtle neck or pink/salmon?? overcoat, or Hongbin’s shirt (I’m not so sure as how to describe it) and his blazer/suit(?). I hope my request isn’t such a chore if you do it, thank you.

[photo]

N’s looks a bit like this one and this one looks like Hongbin’s. :D

Anonymous said:Do you think you will ever make Ddu Du Ddu Du outfits? My faves are Lisa's checkered shirt and Jisoo's collared black dress and, of course, the plaid outfits at the end. It'd be cool to see one of those since your AIIYL outfits were so beautiful! (thank you for the time and effort you put into these clothes btw you're my fave for sure) 

anonymous submitted:

[photo]

this top 

Here is Jisoo’s dress and Lisa’s top. :D

@patysimd submitted:

[photos]

Okay! I have two suggestions for you. The first two photos is a flannel-dress thing and the last photo is a cute pocket skirt. If you can’t make this at least tell me if someone made something similar. Thanks! 

Here is a similar babydoll dress. :D

misha submitted:

more unif please!!!

https://www.unifclothing.com/collections/womens/products/dolly-sweater

literally anything unif… please

This top has a swatch similar to the top you linked. :D

Hans submitted:

SHORTS

glitter shorts/skirts

[photo]

You can get the whole outfit here! :D

@lexilolita submitted:

Heart zip turtle neck + plaid dress

I would love to see this recreated? up to you if you make it one dress or an undershirt and dress separately! and if possible i would love to see a few pastel swatches instead of just dark colours? (like pink and blue) Thank you!

[photo]

This dress is perhaps very similar. ;)

@lieswithoutlife submitted:

[photo]

Hi~ I was wondering if you can make Jungkook’s Euphoria jacket, if it’s possible. Thank you! 

Not sure if you have already seen this since it’s an old suggestion + an old piece of CC, but @casteru​ has created it. QwQ

[whatwillthegirlbecome]

Okay, so I was tagged by the incandescent pineapple-scented land mermaid @village-skeptic 

Sorry it took me so long to do this. In my defense, I am very very lazy:

nicknames: Never. I have always been called by my full first name, even as a small child. I think I was probably too serious for anything to really stick. I love the trope of using someone’s last name as a nickname, but my last name is deeply terrible and uncool, so even though I would love to participate in that, I would cringe if anyone called me by my last name.

zodiac sign: I’m an Aries, but I don’t feel like I fit the Aries profile very well. It’s neither here nor there really, since don’t really put a lot of stock in astrology. However, I do sometimes feel kind of wistful when those “the signs as...” posts go around, and never hit the mark for me.

height: 5′1″. I will give almost anything for 4 more inches. All leg please!

hogwarts house: All signs point to Ravenclaw, but with a VERY STRONG Hufflepuff rising. I’m super brave to the point of recklessness, but only on other people’s behalf. I would probably let you murder me out of, you know, not wanting to be impolite to a murderer, but look at one of my friends funny and I will throw down in the street! I’m the mom friend who gets tequila drunk and then threatens offers to fight all the dudes - creepy or otherwise - who are hitting on my girls.

last thing i googled: “Anthony Perkins.” Over the holiday weekend I had a big argument with one of my friends about whether Anthony Perkins was in a movie version of Hello Dolly! I knew it wasn’t the Barbara version, but I was sure there was something. I’m going to claim victory, because he was in The Matchmaker, which is the play Hello Dolly! was based on. Did you guys know it was written by Thorton Wilder? !!! And OMG what a cast - Shirley Booth, Robert Morse, Shirley MacLaine!

fave musicians: Too many to list. I generally like everything, except really commercial country music, and even then I could probably be tricked into liking something if the lyrics are good. The musicians I’ve seen live the most include: The Pixies, Metric, Fishbone, Decemberists, Matthew Sweet, and John Prine. I also really love Baroque music.

song stuck in your head: This is actually @village-skeptic‘s fault for posting it earlier: Personal Jesus. Also, I may have mentioned before I wanna [redacted] Dave Gahan. Like a screen door in a hurricane.

following: 138

followers: 40. I’m gonna quote Mike Conovan here: Not much meat on her, but what's there is cherce. Every single one of my followers is a g-d delight. You make my life better!

do you get asks: Almost never! Not sure why. I hope it’s not because ppl find me off-putting, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t kind of fear that.

amount of sleep: Generally I get 7 1/2 or 8 hours a night, but my body would really much prefer 9 or 10.

what are you wearing: My pajamas! Which go on almost as soon as I get home from work.

dream job: Well it depends on if this is a magical-wish-fulfillment dream job, or just a what-would-have-been-realistic-if-you’d-made-better-choices dream job.

Magic-enabled dream job is definitely character actor/comedian/member of Mike Schur’s repertory company. Famous enough to support myself and my extended family/treat my friends whenever I feel like it, but not famous enough for the paps to stake out my vacation/wedding. (guys! is Jenny Slate my dream job?)

“Achievable” dream job is Rare Book Librarian/Archivist. This is actually what my background/training is in, but alas you can’t support yourself in the most expensive real estate market in the known universe on a librarian’s salary.

dream trip:  Since college I have had a dream of visiting every continent. Where’d You Go Bernadette kinda cured me of wanting to go to Antarctica, but I haven’t completely given up on everywhere else. So far, I’ve only made it to 2 (including the one where I live). Somehow I keep going back to Europe instead.

instruments: Sadly none, but I would love to be able to make music with all of my heart.

languages: English. I used to be fluent in French, but I’ve lost almost all of it.

favorite songs: This one can’t be answered. However, I will offer up Phoebe Snow’s No Regrets, (I believe it’s an old jazz standard though) as the song I am most likely to sing if I am showing off (this is more French 75-drunk than tequila drunk though).

random fact:  My Bacon number is 3.

I’m kind of a recovering theater kid. In my callow youth, I won a regional drama competition, the prize for which was a small part in a play that was touring, and had a 2 week stop in my city. The lead actor was Ian McKellen. This is pretty much ancient history, so he wasn’t nearly as famous then as he is now, but he was still a little bit famous. At any rate, he was nothing but charming and encouraging to me, despite the fact that I was basically a glorified extra. He low-key hit on my dad at the cast party. My dad was utterly charmed

aesthetic: I like a close juxtaposition of whimsy and minimalism. Like if Chrissy Hynde and Audrey Hepburn and Carol Kane had a baby, that baby would be my aesthetic. A fitted black jacket, over a Betty Boop graphic tee, boot cut jeans, vintage charm bracelet, and chucks. A motocross jacket over a ruffled circus-print blouse, velvet pants, suede booties, giant cocktail ring, and day-3 hair. LBD, kitten heel, big chunky silver rings, and an Olympia Le-Tan clutch. Sparkly things in the dark - the Eiffel tower after sundown; the Christmas tree after everyone’s gone to bed; city lights from your fire escape when you’re too worked up to sleep; fireworks on the Fourth of July.

And this isn’t so much an aesthetic, but rather a mood that pervades my life. To quote Dolly Parton in Steel Magnolias: Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.

I think most of you have probably been tagged already, but if not and you want to, consider this your invitation!

 ​

[lunabeaner]

Am I Worthless or Worthwhile?

Characters: Dolly Kagami (si/oc), Shota Aizawa 

Song I got inspired with: https://youtu.be/pvzE4ZofxGw

Word count:  2033  sorry I got carried away dbhds

Notes: angst, fluff, tw: cat mentions, tw: cats/kittens, self shipping, probably part 1 *sweats*

Worth

adjective

sufficiently good, important, or interesting to justify a specified action; deserving to be treated or regarded in the way specified.

“What is it like?”

“To feel like you’re worthy.”

“To be appreciated by the people around you?

“To feel loved and wanted by people you’ve never met?”

“To be someone’s hero.”

Beep beep beep.

Beep beep beep.

… ...

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

Oh. It was morning already? Of course the thoughts inside her head were always going… Even in her dreams. Dolly tapped the clock off before she stretched out her arms and legs before turning around sort of stretching her back and legs out like a cat before a tiny fluffy ball of fur hopped beside her, mewling. Her soft lavender eyes practically shining as she smiled, turning her attention to it.

“Hello baby!” She cheered, chuckling lowly as she picked up the small kitten causing it to let out a tiny squeak in reply. “Today’s another day, isn’t it?” She beamed as it stared back at her with its large curious green baby eyes. “Let’s defeat the worst of it!” She exclaimed as she hoisted herself out of bed, gently placing her feet onto the plush carpet. Before she knew it the sound of more tiny squeaking from many more areas filled the air.

As she placed the itty bitty orange kitten onto the ground, a group of 4 more equally small hand-sized kittens. She had just recently found these babies from the rubble of one of the results of a previous villain attack. She waited with them for a whole day and a half, but there mommy never returned. She felt awful for them, and brought them home to take care of them. She knew what it was like to lose someone who you relied on for many reasons.

When Dolly made her way to the kitchen the sound of tiny feet pitter pattered against the wooden floor followed by some slightly bigger tapping. “Good morning to you too, Lilly.” She said to her tortoiseshell cat as the slim cat rubbed against her legs. “I know it’s breakfast time, hold on,” She mumbled, scratching the top of her head, starting up the kittens milk formula on the stove, taking a striped orange tom cat off of the counter. “You guys are eating me out of house and home.” She stated, going up onto her tippy toes to open a cabinet to grab the cat food bin. If she left the food any lower the other cats would be slapping food cans around the house. She’d never get to go to sleep if that was the case!

After she opened up some salmon cat food from a can about 1 other adult cat appeared in the room. Good. Everyone was here! She scooped up the food into the cat dishes, pushing the cats out of the way from trying to eat the food before the other. Taking a deep breath she picked the bowls up, sprinting off to place them onto the floor as she was chased.

“Eat up everyone!” She exclaimed cheerfully before hearing her doorbell go off. Who could it be? What time was it even? She couldn’t even remember why her alarm clock was on..? Well, the buttons were on the top of the clock… A kitten probably hopped onto it and turned it on… She walked back into her room, searching for her phone. Where’d it go? She looked to the floor, staring at it on her bedside. Ah. It was knocked down… Maybe a kitten had done that. She bent over, picking it up before looking at the time. It appeared to be about 9:20. She let out a sigh. A bit early for the weekend… She shrugged it off, heading back to the kitchen to get the bottle formula finished up before the bell went off again.

“SHOOT! THAT’S RIGHT!” The brunette sputtered, running to go turn the stove down before calling out: “I’m sorry! I’m coming!” She rushed towards the door before swerving around a kitten, tripping and rolling towards the front door slamming against it. Dolly quickly sat up, gasping and turning towards them. “I’m sorry baby! I didn’t hurt you did I?” She turned to face the kitten as it happily hopped towards her, hopping onto her lap and into her hands. “I know you’re hungry sweetheart, but I’ve gotta get the door, ok? Yeah! I’ll get your breakfast aaaall ready and you and your brothers and sisters are going to enjoy the most delicious food you can get next to your mama’s! That’s right!” She nuzzled her nose against the tiny grey kitten’s nose as it mewed. “Oh you’re just the cutest! I love you so much! Yes I do! You’re so sweet and kind and-”

BRRRRRZZZZZT.

“AUGH! THE DOOR!” The scatterbrained young woman cried out immediately standing up, unlocking the door and swinging it open as she held the kitten close before closing it again to make sure the others didn’t trot their way out to the great unknown to be forever lost and possibly die from being on their own without someone to protect them.

Messy brown hair, wrinkly clothes, no glasses, one sock on her foot, no makeup… A kitten in her arms… This girl was an absolute mess, but could you blame someone who just woke up without expecting someone coming to her house?

Aizawa stood there at, looking back and forth. Had he even come to the right house? This was the right address. Right? He raised a paper up to his face, staring at it for a hot minute. Yup, this was the address he’d received. As he looked back up he noticed Dolly trying to make her great escape by reopening her door, not turning her back to him before her hand slipped back to her hip.

“Kagami?”

“Yes?”

Silence once again as the birds chirped gently.

“This is where you live, huh?” He looked up towards the sky as her top lip twitched as she laughed nervously. “Oh? Uh- yeah! I moved in recently because uh… Well, I got kicked out because I reached an animal limit…” She muttered, slightly shrinking back. “A-aaaanyway!Wh-what are you doing here?” She straightened her posture as she jolted when the kitten in her hand let out a loud meow. She’d forgotten it was in her hands! Goodness that was a startle!

“I was curious about where you lived and Mic opened his mouth and told me.”

“Ahaha, that’s so like him. But why’s it on paper?”

“I forgot so he ended up writing it instead.”

“Oh… Well, is that… Really just why you came all the way to my house?” Dolly asked hesitantly as his eyes wandered towards the kitten. Ah. He must have overheard her conversation with some of the students that she’d found kittens. “Th-that’s fine if it is! Come on in! I’ll make you some tea.” She opened the door a cat mad sprinting out her door. She let out an unholy screech as she handed the kitten into his hands and went to run after them. “Mikan, come back you big jerk!!” She yelled out as she ran down the street after her orange tom cat, calling out to him to come back as she ran a good block or too straight before leaping and grabbing him. After that she ran all the way back, panting heavily, wheezing as she shoved him back into the house as the cat trotted back into the house before sprinting into a room.

“S...S...So..Sorry…!” She wheezed before she swore she heard a chuckle out of him but when she looked back to him he was patting the gray kitten’s head. “Oh! Do you like him? His name’s Smokey!” She exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “I have 4 others in the h-”

Before she could finish she found him stolling straight into her house. “Where are they?” He asked. “Oh! Th-they’re… OH NO!” Dolly squeaked again, rushing into the house, closing the door behind her as she ran into the kitchen. “THE KITTEN FORMULA!!” She wept as she turned the stove off, stirring it. Thankfully it hadn’t burned, but all of the kittens were sitting by the oven waiting for the food to be ready. “T...Thank goodness…” She placed her hand onto her chest letting out a sigh. “It… It’s all ok!!” She cheered, giving them a thumbs up as they responded with happy meowing.

“Aizawa, do you mind helping me feed the babies?” She asked as he responded with a light nod. He definitely didn’t seem to mind, which, in fact, was fantastic. She went to cool off the formula as she went to go get the bottles.

Soon after it cooled and the babies were fed, Dolly turned her attention towards the raven haired male, smiling awkwardly. “Sorry I dragged you into helping me feed these kids.” She fumbled, blushing and averting her eyes. “And blinding you by my morning look..” She placed her hand on her forehead, laughing nervously before her head was greeted by a gentle pat on the head. “It’s fine, Kagami. I actually came here to ask you something.”

Eh? Really? Her face was basically a deep velvet as she tried to stuff her face into her t-shirt, not doing well. “Oh? W-what is it?” She wondered out loud, clearing her throat.

“Last week… When you got those kittens, I saw you.”

HE DID? HOW EMBARRASSING!!

“I returned to the site the day after the incident and I saw you picking them up, but you were crying.”

“O-oh! I just felt b-bad for them is all, I-”

“That’s not what it seemed like.”

H...Huh? J...Just exactly how close had he been to her if he knew what was up?

“I heard the things you said to them. Are you ok?”

“Don’t worry babies. I’m right here. I know what it feels like. But don’t you fear! I’m right here to make you feel like you’re worthwhile to this world. I won’t make you feel like I do, you hear me? I’ll be your mama.”

Had he really heard those words she said? All of it? Did he really hear those embarrassing words that slipped out of her mouth?

“I-I’m fine! I was just rambling is all! I’m totally ok. Really!” She raised her hands, waving them around before both were grabbed ahold of by his large hands. “Listen to me, Kagami.” He said, staring right into her eyes. “I’m here to talk to you if you ever need someone. Ok?” He placed his hand against her cheek before jolting when she squeaked. “Th-th-thank you!” She sputtered before standing up. “B-b-b-b-BUT I THINK YOU HAVE TO LEAVE!” She demanded, grabbing his hands to yank him up before she strived to push him away. “I have things to do today! I-I-I-I’ve got- uh! Chores! Uh, house things!”

“Your house is spotless despite all of the cat hair though.”

“I-I’ve got shopping to do!”

“When you opened your fridge it looked ok to me.”

WHY WAS HE CHECKING HER HOUSE OUT SO KEENLY! Couldn’t he get a clue that she was overwhelmed by his words and couldn’t deal with it?!

“Dolly.”

Her heart skipped a beat as her head turned upwards to look at him. “Would you get dressed? Let’s go.. To breakfast.” He insisted, his voice soft and calm causing her brain nearly to fry. “Is that ok? We can just talk about anything. I don’t mind if you don’t.”

She was quiet for a long time before she stopped trying to push him. “I… …” She stared at the cats for a moment before sitting up straight. “Give me 30 minutes and I’ll be ready.” She said, her eyes sparkling. A smirk appeared on his face. “That sounds more like you.”

IT WAS A DATE!!! Wait, was this a date?? But it was more of a sympathy thing though, wasn’t it?? Oh, maybe it was…

“Alright then. It’s a date. I’ll wait outside.”

With a poker face, Dolly froze up. “HE… HE... HE READ… HE READ MY MIND?!?!”

[diivergence]

“Celestial Ludenberg could only dream about owning a luxury home filled with handsome vampire butlers/bodyguards. I actually own a luxury home filled with handsome vampire butlers/bodyguards. We are not the same~”

[serialxsocial-a]

“WELL! I tried.”

And with that she just plops right back into her seat. Phone magically just back in her hands after her very brief advice to Vox.

[uyuro]

[UYU REVIEW] o-lens russian velvet brown circle lenses from pinkicon 💕 keep reading for the review!

Hello everyone! I hope your January was good and that your 2017 got off to a great start! Mine was okay, but I feel like I've done nothing since I'm still on summer break, haha. Anyway, today I'm going to be my first circle lenses review in a long time! The last review I posted on circle lenses was about 1.5 years ago 😱

The lenses I'm reviewing today are the O-Lens Russian Velvet Brown, which I purchased from Pinkicon!

O-Lens is a pretty well-known Korean circle lenses brand, although they're still not as accessible as other circle lens brands like GEO, for example. You might have heard of them because EXID's Hani has been their model for a while now.  Pinkicon is a circle lens store which is based in Hong Kong, and I've purchased from them quite a few times. They stock a lot more 'unknown' brands of lenses, including Korean and Japanese brands such as O-Lens, Pienage, Heroine Make, as well as the more common brands like GEO and Dueba. The really cool thing is that they have free worldwide shipping on most of their lenses!

DISCLAIMER: I purchased the mentioned products independently and I am not being compensated for this review. I am not affiliated with O-Lens or Pinkicon, and all opinions are my own.

ABOUT THE LENSES

First, I just want to talk a little bit about these lenses and why I chose them.

The Russian Velvet line is a fairly new product line from O-Lens, and as well as Brown, they’re also available in Grey and Blue. The thing that really struck me about these circle lenses is that they looked super bright, even on dark eyes. 

Maybe it was just the styling of the model. but the lenses really reminded me of the Ice Cream Cake concept from Red Velvet!

These are monthly lenses that are sold in boxes only, with 2 lenses per box. Unforunately, that means if you have a different prescription for each eye, like me, you’ll need to buy two boxes 😕

Here’s a summary of all the details:

O-LENS RUSSIAN VELVET

Colours: Brown, Grey, Blue Duration: Monthly, 2 pieces per box Prescription: 0.00 to -8.00 Base curve: 8.6mm Diameter: 14.0mm / Graphic diameter: 12.7mm

PHOTOS + DETAILS

My order came in one of those yellow bubble mailers, and the shipping was so fast. I ordered on December 30th, and they were shipped out on January 4th, so about 4 business days for processing. I just chose the free option for shipping, Hong Kong iMail, and the estimated time was 20 to 35 business days to New Zealand. The package actually came on January 11th, which is only 5 business days from the shipment date! I was really pleasantly surprised ☺️

Here is the contents of the mailer. As well as the lenses I ordered, which were wrapped in bubble wrap, there were two free lens cases as well as the order receipt and a care manual.

Here is what the box looks like! As I mentioned earlier, I had to get two boxes because you can only get two pieces of the same prescription in each box, and my eyes have different prescriptions.

Here are what the lens packaging looks like. These are peel-open capsules, and the foil wrapper also has the information for each lens. 

Here is what the lens looks like once taken out. As you can see, it’s super, super light and almost transparent! At first, I was kind of worried because I wasn’t sure if it was going to show up on my eye properly.

TRY-ON + FIRST IMPRESSIONS

As you can see from these pictures, the colour is a lot brighter than my natural eye colour and the size is almost the same as my pupil. These are really natural looking for circle lenses, and most people couldn’t tell that I was wearing anything. 

To be honest, they’re actually a bit lighter than this in real life and I thought they looked a bit spooky when worn without make-up at first. Unfortunately, it was really hard to capture the true colour with my camera, but the last picture is pretty colour-accurate! 😖

They were really easy to put on since they are quite soft - usually the shorter the duration, the softer the lens - and I really liked them at first. I think one of the cons with how soft they are is that they damage quite easily though. I think I may have scratched the lens for my left eye at some point because after the first week, it was super irritating to put in so I’ve had to throw it out and use the other one and it has been fine so far.

Here are some selcas of me wearing these circle lenses! I would say the right half on the second picture is the most accurate colour to real life! 💕

OVERVIEW + THOUGHTS

O-LENS RUSSIAN VELVET BROWN: 4 / 5

Enlargement: 1 / 5 These are really natural looking circle lenses, and the englargement is very minimal since the graphic diameter is pretty small and there’s no limbal ring. I would definitely recommend these if you want a natural lens with a bit of ‘pop’ but these aren’t the best for huge dolly eyes.

Comfort: 4 / 5 These aren’t quite as comfortable as some other lenses I own, even from O-Lens but it’s not too bad. They do feel quite dry after 6 hours and on one occasion where I had to wear them for 10 hours (I was dumb and forgot to bring my glasses when I had to gym before work), it was super sore even with eyedrops.  Another thing I had with thes lenses is that the left one became really uncomfortable suddenly, just after a week of wearing. I’m pretty sure I might have scratched the lens, or something along those lines, but that kinda thing hasn’t happened to me even after years of weekly lenses that are much more delicate. It’s just a slight annoyance since I didn’t even get half the wear time out of these that I wanted to, so it’s basically $16 gone 😞

Colour and design: 5 / 5 I really enjoy the colour of these! The light brown shows up quite well on my eyes and it has a kind of ‘ethereal’ look, although I think if you have light brown eyes already, it’ll just look the same on you? 

Overall, I really do like these circle lenses and I would recommend them if you’re looking for a different kind of natural circle lenses that pops even on darker eyes. I’m not sure if I would repurchase to be honest, since $16 per month is kinda pricey when my other O-Lens lenses, the Jenith 3 Colour Natural Gray, are $26 for 6 months. I might still try the Blue lenses from the Russian Velvet line still, but I don’t think they’ll be my go-to lenses, even though I do like them, just because of the cost. 

PINKICON: 5 / 5

Shipping: 5 / 5 Their shipping was extremely fast, and I’m pretty happy about that. The specific dates are outlined earlier in this post, but the processing time took 4 business days and the actual shipping time was 5 business days. I’m even more impressed with this since I ordered just after Christmas and the postal service and a lot of businesses are still really backed up at this time.

Communication: 5 / 5 Some people asked me if their customer service is good, and the only experience I’ve had with the customer service is from over 2 years ago now. I had ordered the GEO Honey Gray lenses in two different prescriptions, but when I received the order, I got them both in the same prescription. I messaged them about it with a photo of the vials and they got back to me ASAP and sent out a new package with the correct prescription for my other eye, so I was pretty happy with that.

I’ve shopped with Pinkicon many times before and I’m really happy with their site and service in general! I’d definitely purchase from them again, especially since the shipping is so much faster now for some reason.

Thank you so much for reading my review today! I hope you enjoyed it ;u; A lot of you have asked me about the Etude House products I’ve shown on Instagram recently, and thanks for your interest!! I’m currently working on those reviews, but it’s been hard since my skin has been terrible for the past week and I didn’t feel up to taking photos with how bad the texture was 😭 Things are relatively back to normal now, and I should have those reviews up soon❣

Thanks again for reading, and have a wonderful day! 💖

[davidastbury]

Friday

We were walking towards the main entrance of Manchester Royal Infirmary and I was anxious and tense. A stranger appeared and asked for help - he had the look of someone sleeping rough and not getting much food. Just a glance was enough to guess what that help would be - money. He started to explain his predicament - he was a long-term patient in the hospital; he had no family and he had no friends. He had a long story to tell - I was worried and wanted to get away - but the telling of the story was important to him, and Pat listened to him. But I think it became too convoluted and improbable even for her - she managed to shut him up and asked how much he needed.

He replied - ‘Eleven pounds fifty - but I’ve already got some’. He held out both hands, showing an assortment of coins. Pat counted it out, moving coins from one hand to the other. She then took out her own money and added to his total. He nodded his head as it was counted out.

I was still worried as the glass doors slid closed behind us and we all hoped for the best.

Today In Town

She has Bette Davis eyes! She is like a beautiful goldfish blinking behind glass. Sitting under the illuminated sign displaying the single word ‘Enquiries’ - sitting all day - answering questions and handling complaints. A queue of confused, bored people, some tight-mouthed with discontent, wait their turn to speak to her. The queue is an example of self-regulation, it never gets too long, after a certain point people give up and go away - fascinating.

She’s fascinating too. She looks up and smiles bravely - even though she isn’t well. She has a cold, probably caused by the breaths of hundreds of people every day - too many people - too close together. She has a slack mouth, slightly open because her nose is blocked. Every now and then she unfolds a tight ball of tissues, rather like a golf-ball, and gently dabs her nostrils and the reddened wings of her nose. Her hair is lank and loose, shiny over the top of her head and then hanging down like thin leather straps. I can hear the clickety-clack of her fingertips on the keyboard - it’s like the sound of tiny feet running - running away - running through a dream landscape with pixies and elves!

Scandal 1966

It was a scandal at the time; it enlivened the chat in the firm’s tea room for a few days. One of the managers had been in a fight with a young man who had been staying with him. It made the papers - but the full story didn’t really appear. The manager - the dependable, loyal, seemingly conventional Roger - was taken away in an ambulance and later questioned by detectives. Two weeks or so passed and he didn’t come back to work.

It occurred to me that the reason he hadn’t appeared was sheer embarrassment and shame. He was a sensitive, secretive and thoroughly decent person - the thought of his colleagues being aware of this side of his private life must have been unbearable to him.

So I decided to call round and visit him.

He was shocked to see me and I was shocked at how he had changed - he had aged ten years. He stepped back to let me in. His flat, where he had lived for years, was like a hotel room - hardly any sign of personal tastes. Everything neat, in place, dusted and polished; everything old fashioned but well looked after, standard lamp with parchment shade, velvet curtains, books behind glass, old family pictures in steel frames, a tea trolley, carpet showing the lines of a vacuum-cleaner. I didn’t know what to say.

So I didn’t say very much. I was struck by how his face was slightly out of shape, probably not fully healed after the violence. He looked so thin and somehow hollow. Even his voice was lacking in colour. He asked about what was going on at the office and I told him things that I hoped he’d find amusing. I made out that we were struggling and needed him back. I stayed for about three-quarters of an hour.

And that was it. Roger eventually - maybe a couple of weeks or so - showed up at work and things returned to normal. But there is a footnote ... much later, I was chatting with one of the firm’s part-timers and he said that Roger had told him about my visit. Roger had said - ‘David Astbury turned up at my flat. He came to see me - and he never, never once made any mention of “the trouble” - so tactful!’

Not often I get it right.

Early Days

One of the things about her that puzzled him was her choice of music. She was an amateur musician, a violinist in the university student orchestra - and naturally, he expected her taste to run to classical composers. It didn’t. Instead, she liked the really heavy rockers of that time - James Brown, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Etta James, The Big Bopper - the really hard men of rock.

It was early days in their relationship and he felt he should enquire into this matter. Why did she like this type of music - these wild-eyed, screaming madmen?

‘Because - they are musicians’ she answered.

‘Musicians?’ he replied.

‘Yes. They are musicians and they understand the shapes of music - the dynamics, the flow of notes.’

That did it for him. It was the inconsistency that attracted her - the contrast of the softness of musical disciplines with the anarchy of their performances.

The thought of Chuck Berry understanding crochets and minims was exciting to her.

On the Train Last Night

For a few miles the train ran parallel to a motorway and we were going a lot faster than the cars. A young couple moved seats so that they can be together. We were all being quickly carried to our destinations - we have no control, no say in the matter.

The young couple are sharing their food, pouring drinks, having a laugh about something and the lights have been dimmed as the future rushes towards us.

When waiting for my appointment in the Apple Store I stopped for tea in a nearby cafe. It was late morning and already very busy. I found a table outside and settled down to watching the people passing in both directions. It was a Saturday; there were a lot of families.

Watching this flow of humanity - particularly the families - caused something to cross my mind. It wasn’t altogether rational and I more or less forgot about it until today - several months later - when talking about young people triggered the memory - it goes like this ...

How disappointing it was to look at many of the dads. So many of them attempting to look Alpha males with their odd haircuts, bulging arms, badly-shaved faces and sagging shorts displaying legs disfigured with smudged tattoos of dragons, sculls and daggers. More disappointing was their rather heavy manner with their children - essentially, the strong man imposing his priorities on the weak.

I wish I could have explained to them that they are barking up the wrong tree. Masculinity is essentially giving way; strength is actually not using it. The male, when true to his nature, is the gentler of the sexes - particularly where children are concerned - where his tenderness is balanced by the common-sense of the mother. Every act of concession, of recognising the burgeoning individuality of his offsprings will be remembered with affection - instead of the heavy ranting of a macho bully.

People ... #28

A young Australian couple; he got a job with the BBC and quickly made a name for himself in the news departments - in fact he went to the very top. He covered the aftermath of the shooting of President Kennedy and then the Apollo 11 moon landing - the two extremes of US history.

There was a lot of interesting talk in their home but his wife always mentioned her younger brother back in Australia. She loved talking about him and clearly admired him more than anyone. But visitors were puzzled - the brother didn’t appear to be doing anything; he was perpetually on ‘walkabout’ in the Northern Territory - endlessly walking. He would be missing for months, sometimes years.

She adored him.

Away from Home 2013

I remember those dreary hotels - those carpets - and worst of all those breakfasts! Coming down in the morning - twenty tables, each occupied by a single male (mid-week businessmen), each crouched behind a newspaper and eating boiled eggs to the sound of a loop-tape playing ‘Hello Dolly‘.

Alone

I could hear them getting closer - a group of young people, singing loudly. It’s that time of year. And this is their territory; new-build blocks of flats, warehouse conversions, boutique hotels - all very nice. I couldn’t recognise the song but the females were giving it all they had - the men were pretty useless. It wasn’t a cold night; the girls in sleeveless, backless dresses; the men casual and cool. I suppose they were going from one party to the next in this dreamland of tall buildings and coloured lights.

How the drinks had freed them from themselves! How they radiated friendship and randy goodwill. And then they passed me and for quite a while I floated in the slipstream of their happiness.

Frank and Jane ... 1965

They made a dreadful mess of things - twice! I must say that what I’m writing is conjecture - neither Frank nor Jane discussed their relationship with me; I wasn’t even very close to the story as it dragged out - I was shocked like everyone else. The only merit in what I have to say is the softening remoteness in time past, where the playful mixture of ambiguities of true events is stirred with a fanciful fascination and cries out to be told.

I was there when they first met and I made the mistake - and so did one or two others - in thinking that they already knew each other. It was at a friend’s house; a small party; music and drink, a lot of talk - some of it aggressive, hardly any food, bedrooms occupied, people sprawling on the stairs, all the usual things that young people get up to.

So Frank met Jane and it was the start of the most intense pairing I’ve ever seen. I won’t go into the harm they caused each other - the sheer destructive intensity of their feelings - and the way it overspilled into the lives of others. My interest is in the cause of it. Individually, they were both fairly normal - where did all that wildness originate?

When two people meet - in the context of a possible relationship - there is the charm of natural restraint - of ‘getting to know’ - of exploration - of testing humour - of appraising attractiveness - of imagining how the other might be in day-to-day situations - of checking out interests and so on, and so on.

I don’t think Frank and Jane had any of that - to them it had no relevance. There wasn’t any of the natural barriers - inhibition or shyness or plain good manners, whatever you call it, they didn’t have it. There was no slow burn - no development. They instantly recognised and understood the other person with a lethal insight, as if coming face to face with their own selves; as if each enabled the other to bring out the force of ferocious banked-down energy and cravings.

I saw them and I didn’t know what to think.

As Told To Me ... #33

‘My trouble is that I cannot flirt. You probably think that is trivial, but to me, it’s been a problem all my life - much more when I was younger but sometimes even now, I have the old difficulties and I feel the same as I did when I was seventeen. You see I cannot flirt; I cannot make small-talk with the opposite sex. I cannot do what most males can do and that inability to banter has hung like a great weight - socially I was a disaster- it stopped me enjoying myself - I was tongue-tied and clumsy - I couldn’t say the right things - I couldn’t be ‘engaging’.

‘ My pals found it natural and easy to talk to girls and I envied them. I was gauche and awkward. I have never been able to insinuate or imply ‘double meanings’ or talk the way that seemed to impress. Instead I was literal and heavy and I frightened them - they didn’t want my seriousness. The fact that my pals were insincere didn’t matter - they liked that type of focus; that tingle of audacity and that’s something I cannot manage.’

[yoursongmaker]

Using Names in Song Lyrics

Using someone’s name in lyrics you write can be powerful. And I probably don’t need to tell you that there approximate 8 million names of females who men have written about. There are female artists who write about names as well, but ironically, they are mostly woman as well. Joline by Dolly Parton, for example is about her begging another romantic rival to leave her relationship alone with her “man”. There are quite a few songs with male names in them, but by far more famous songs with female names.

This can be tricky. Because lyrics with names can get cheesy. The cheese factor is big. It needs to be written correctly and musically composed correctly. Here are some things to think about when writing lyrics with names in them.

When using a name in song lyrics sometimes it takes relatability out of the song for the listener. Except of course whose name is the same name in the lyrics. Think about it, I bet you can think of a song, a famous song, that sings your name. Because you think it could relate to you…even if it doesn’t at all. If it does it makes an even greater impact.

Using name in lyrics can be very loving and romantic. It shows the person you care enough about them and thinking enough about them to put their name in to a piece of artwork. That’s pretty cool.

Names in lyrics are fun and can have a great impact for the person you are writing it for. If the lyrics and song are good enough, they can have a very wide appeal – as you can see from this ridiculously long list of names from the website flashback.com:

1. Eleanor Rigby – The Beatles

2. Cecilia – Simon & Garfunkel

3. Suite Judy Blue Eyes – Crosby, Stills and Nash

4. Martha My Dear – The Beatles

5. Along Comes Mary – The Association

6. Lola – The Kinks

7. Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) – Looking Glass

8. Mandy – Barry Manilow

9. My Sharona – The Knack

10. For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her – Simon & Garfunkel

11. Aimee – Pure Prairie League

12. Michelle – The Beatles

13. Beth – KISS

14. Gloria – Them

15. A Rose for Emily – The Zombies

16. Ruby (Don’t Take Your Love to Town) – Kenny Rogers

17. Billie Jean – Michael Jackson

18. Lovely Rita – The Beatles

19. Layla – Derek and the Dominos

20. Sarah Smile – Hall and Oates

21. Sheena is a Punk Rocker – The Ramones

22. Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac

23. Josie – Steely Dan

24. Help Me, Rhonda – The Beach Boys

25. Cara-Lin – The Strangeloves

26. Sally G -Paul McCartney

27. Melissa – The Allman Brothers

28. Lucille – Kenny Rogers

29. Peg- Steely Dan

30. Aubrey – Bread

31. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – The Beatles

32. Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners

33. The Wind Cries Mary – Jimi Hendrix and the Experience

34. Rosanna – Toto

A tribute to Rosanna Arquette – sadly, she wasn’t impressed.

35. See Emily Play – Pink Floyd

36. Lucille – Little Richard

37. Fanny (Be Tender with My Love) – Bee Gees

38. Roxanne- The Police

39. Matilda Mother – Pink Floyd

40. Sweet Jane – Velvet Underground

41. Victoria – The Kinks

42. Wendy – Beach Boys

43. Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond

44. My Cherie Amour – Stevie Wonder

45. Jennifer Juniper – Donovan

46. (Love Song) For Annie – Kaleidoscope

47. Maggie Mae – Rod Stewart

48. My Maria – BW Stephenson

49. Angie – The Rolling Stones

50. Valerie – The Monkees

51. Angie Baby – Helen Reddy

52. Peggy Sue – Buddy Holly

53. Candida – Tony Orlando and Dawn

54. Bernadette – The Four Tops

55. Annie’s Song – John Denver

56. Charlena – Ruben and the Jets

57. Fannie Mae – Buster Brown

58. Jennie Lee – Shuggie Otis

59. Jessica – Allman Brothers

60. Linda Lu – Ray Sharpe

61. Sheila – Tommy Roe

62. Darling Nikki – Prince and the Revolution

63. Sheila Take a Bow – The Smiths

64. Mary Ann – Link Wray

65. Rosalie – The Searchers

66. Barbara Ann – The Beach Boys

67. Sylvia’s Mother – Dr. Hook

68. Ophelia – The Band

69. Mary Lou – Buddy Knox

70. Suzie Q – Dale Hawkins

71. She Sheila – The Producers

72. Rio – Duran Duran

73. Candy-O – The Cars

74. Emily – Frank Sinatra

75. Jolene – Dolly Parton

76. Sara – Fleetwood Mac

77. Windy – The Association

78. Wake Up Little Susie – The Everly Brothers

79. Barbara Ann – The Beach Boys

80. Elvira – The Oak Ridge Boys

81. Amanda – Waylon Jennings

82. Carrie Ann – The Hollies

83. Think of Laura – Christopher Cross

84. Christine 16- KISS

85. Delilah – Tom Jones

86. Sherry – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

87. Eleanor – The Turtles

88. Nadine – Chuck Berry.

89. Sad Lisa – Cat Stevens

90. Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett

91. Jamie’s Cryin’ – Van Halen

92. Caroline – Status Quo

93. Oh! Ma Jolie Sarah – Johnny Halliday

94. Denise – Randy & The Rainbows

95. Rosie – Joan Armatrading

96. Alice Long – Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart

97. Pamela – Toto

98. Sorry Suzanne – The Hollies

99. Jeanette – The English Beat (UK The Beat)

100. Eloise – Barry Ryan

101. Runaround Sue – Dion & The Belmonts

102. Alice’s Restaurant – Arlo Guthrie

103. Lady Samantha – Orange Bicycle

104. Sweet Lorraine – Uriah Heep

105. Charlotte the Harlot – Iron Maiden

106. Jenny Artichoke – Kaleidoscope

107. Suzy Creamcheese – Frank Zappa

108. Izabella – Jimi Hendrix

109. Oh, Candy – Cheap Trick

110. Anna (El Negro Zumbon) – Esquivel

111. Ballade de Melody Nelson – Serge Gainsbourg

112. Roberta – Billy Joel

113. Cinderella – Sonics

114. Tracy- Cuff Links

115. Hello Mabel – The Bonzo Dog Band

116. Sweet Rosie Jones – Buck Owens

117. 867-5309/Jenny – Tommy Tutone

118. Daisy Mae – The Seeds

119. Jennifer Tomkins – Street People

120. Jennifer Eccles – The Hollies

121. Margorine – Tinkerbells Fairydust

122. Hallo Susie – Amen Corner

123. Fade Away Maureen – Cherry Smash

124. Sara Wells – Stone Circus

125. Caroline Goodbye – Colin Blunstone

This is the list, from the website and here are some others in the comments section… it’s literally almost never ending!

Walk Away Renee - The Left Banke

Carmelita - Warren Zevon

Marie - Randy Newman

Polk Salad Annie - Tony Joe White

Middle to lower:

Thoughts of Mary Jane - Nick Drake

Alison - Elvis Costello

Corinna - Taj Majal

Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan

Maggie's Farm - Bob Dylan

Queen Jane Approximately - Bob Dylan

Angelina/Zooma Zooma - Louis Prima

Mona Lisa - Nat King Cole

Hadie Brown (My Little Lady) - Roy Rogers & the Sons of the Pioneers

Angie - Rolling Stones

Blue Jean - David Bowie

Venus - Shocking Blue

Molina - CCR

Sandy - Bruce Springsteen

Candy-O - The Cars

Candy's Room - Bruce Springsteen

Are you ready to write your lyrics with someone’s name in them?

[bestforlessmove]

Just Accept It: Christmas Is Tacky, and These Jaw-Dropping Pics Prove It

kokkai/iStock

At one point in my life, I was aspirational with my Christmas decorating. This involved a strict rule against colored lights. A single strand of white lights lit our fresh balsam tree-and it would have been candles instead if they weren't such an obvious fire hazard. Handmade wooden and felt ornaments hung from the branches. The skirt was burgundy silk velvet. Literal boughs of holly decked my halls. I unwrapped gifts from family members and rewrapped them in matching paper of my own choosing. No plastic whatsoever was allowed anywhere. Because.

Yet one object stood in the way of my vision: the filthy Santa pillow.

Relic from the 1970s

Adriana Velez

This relic from my then-husband's childhood was a faded cotton cushion in the shape of Santa's head. Over the years, the white of his beard and hat trim had turned the same brown-gray as New York City snow two weeks after a storm. Foam stuffing poked out of the threadbare seams, leaving a trail of polyurethane crumbs wherever it went, mocking all my attempts at holiday refinement. And I couldn't get rid of it.

Thanks a lot, nostalgia.

The slippery slope of tacky Christmas decor

Little by little, more tacky holiday treasures from our respective childhoods infiltrated my carefully curated Christmas decor. Then we had a kid, at which point resistance became futile. Soon we were setting out a plastic Playmobil nativity scene every year, and it got harder to tell the difference between my son's toys and the tree ornaments.

For unto us a plastic knob is given.

Giuseppe/Instagram

Finally one year, when I gave in and bought colored lights, I took in the cacophony of colors, bling, and noise, and realized this is actually how it should be. Christmas decor is tacky. Let's just embrace the holiday bling in all its gaudy glory. What kind of cold-hearted zealot tries to restrain the exuberant joy of Christmas through good taste? And who says a burgundy silk velvet tree skirt is tasteful, anyhow? This here Mexican-American kid from lower-middle-class suburbia, that's who.

I was hovering inches away from velvet Elvis painting territory all this time, and I didn't even realize it.

The King of Christmas

VelvetPaintings/Etsy

Speaking of which, if the spirit is moving you to mount a Christmas-themed Elvis black velvet oil painting, Etsy has you covered ($135).

So now I'm all in with the shiny painted tin ornaments of my childhood. It's not Christmas if you don't have parrots, guitar-playing mermaids, and dancing monkeys. This is a holiday about exuberant joy, is it not? Well, exuberant joy is inclusive, and kind of garish too-in a wonderful way. Accept it!

Shiny!

drsusanahouse/Instagram

Not even the nativity is sacred anymore

In fact, maybe this year I'll try out a Stormtrooper nativity. There's the sweet Lego baby Jesus! And behold a star in the East-it is the Death Star.

He has your eyes.

agueda gras/Instagram

Isn't there something in the New Testament about giving those who thirst something to drink? Well then.

A rollicking guide to tacky Christmas decor

Everyone loves the scent of fresh balsam. But if inflated nylon with a whiff of sea salt is more your thing, this ol' tannenbaum says, I'm on a boat.

Ahoy there, ol' tannenbaum!

clareoclare/Instagram

Your tree doesn't even have to be green. A true patriot would #MakeChristmasGreatAgain with a gaudy yet respectable red, white, and blue tree.

'Merican trees

jojothefashionpop/Instagram

For the more low-key minimalist types, go KonMari and decorate some white sticks with Only Things That Provoke Joy. No more than 10, please.

Move over, Charlie Brown Christmas tree!

damoau/Instagram

Yes, it's true: You can be minimalist and tacky, and this tree certainly proves it.

Or let your tree wear a tutu. Gotta dance…

Preeetty!

JennabooBoutique/Etsy

Looking for something that says “spent the holidays in Florida”? Look no further than this Santa sea star ($10, Etsy).

You actually can improve upon nature.

Weirdandugly/Etsy

Or top your tree with the angel gnome version of Carol Channing ($14, Etsy). Oh come on, yes you do know who Carol Channing is.

Well hello, Dolly

Vintage tacky/Etsy

Tacky 101 for the richest 1%

I should also point out that people with too much money are absolute geniuses at tacky Christmas decor. Nothing garish happening here! Photo by Regina Gust Designs 

Hot tip: Tuck a life-size Santa mannequin in a corner by the fireplace and scare the living Dickens out of everyone who wanders in the room.

Photo by Regina Gust Designs 

Lights: Go big or go ho ho home

Let Disney be your guide when it comes to holiday lights. Anything less is a war on Christmas.

Cars aren't exempt, either, as this auto proves below. Step out of the vehicle, sir. I need to issue a citation for exceeding the limit of Christmas joy.

Your sleigh awaits.

buckthebronco/Instagram

I see a red and green palm tree here. If you see something else, maybe you need to put on your Christmas glasses.

An explosive display

Laura Edwards/Instagram

I think you get the point. Once I let go of my sad, insecure need to display good taste, Christmas decorating became a whole lot more fun. I became a whole lot more fun. So if you find yourself tightening your butt cheeks while you're tying the perfect red ribbon bow on your perfect pine bough banister garland, just remember the true spirit of Christmas can be found anywhere. Even in colored lights.

Not on board with tacky? Tune in tomorrow on how to go glam with your Christmas decor! 

Nothing tacky, folks

The post Just Accept It: Christmas Is Tacky, and These Jaw-Dropping Pics Prove It appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.