#also shoutout to me for screwing up my hard drive

[breezypunk]

Bree. -

Yet another OC who fell into my lap when I needed her the most.

I had the pleasure of deleting my entire hard drive which not only had all of my presets, but all my modding stuff as well. While I got some of it back, not all of it, so I decided to make a new OC, and I absolutely adore her.

Yes I gave her my name, just spelled differently! She's an aro/ace pansexual like yours truly. Figured I'd give her a little bit of a self insert title. Although Vaughn carries 99% of my traits (yikes), so will Bree. (bigger yikes) ;p

Happy friday & happy pride month to all my lovelies, you are loved and adored and absolutely amazing just as you are. ♥

[ticklishraspberries]

Ren Faire (Eddie/Steve)

Summary: Steve, Eddie, and Robin go to a Renaissance Fair and see some interesting demonstrations. (This fic is for my lovely friend @gigglyrambles!! I literally just pulled this whole plot out of my ass and wrote it in one sitting, so I really hope you like it, LOL. Also, shoutout to @wordstrings because I know she has written something similar for Our Flag Means Death, I hope you don't mind me taking inspiration!!)

Steve isn’t sure how he ended up being dragged along to a Renaissance Fair with none other than Robin and Eddie, but he found it hard to say no to either of their puppy dog eyes and incessant begging.

His outfit is simple, consisting of a white, long-sleeved shirt with laces at the neckline, tight brown pants, and brown boots. He feels only a little bit ridiculous, but after seeing what his friends are wearing, he supposes he isn’t the weirdest looking one.

Eddie is decked out in black, an intricately detailed top with ruffles and buttons. A fake sword sits in a holder on his waist. Robin has gone for a more masculine look, a cloak over her shoulders and a bow and arrow in her hand.

“Screw historical accuracy,” she’d said.

“The fact that you’re a girl isn’t the problem, it’s that you couldn’t hit a moving target with an arrow to save your life,” Eddie had teased, and Robin had elbowed him in the ribs, making Steve laugh.

Now that they’ve arrived, Steve has relaxed a bit. He used to feel out of place whenever he attended events that he wouldn’t have been caught dead at in high school. Corroded Coffin concerts, DnD campaigns, and that one time he drove Eddie and Robin to the nearest gay bar in Indiana. It had definitely been more awkward sober, and before he realized that he’s bisexual, and could have totally had more fun if he’d been aware of and okay with that information at the time.

He’s sort of glad he wasn’t, though, because kissing Eddie Munson during a childish game of truth or dare was a much funnier way to have your queer awakening, and dating Eddie Munson is way more fun than hooking up with random guys in a bar.

“They have really good beer here,” Eddie comments, to which Steve holds up his car keys and jingles them. No medieval mead is going to keep him from being the designated driver.

“I can drive us home,” Robin says, absolutely joking, but Steve still gives her a horrified look and makes a show of sliding his keys back into his pocket, patting the denim for safe keeping. She sticks her tongue out at him, and he flicks her cheek.

Eddie does end up getting some beer, and Steve allows himself a few sips. They’ll be here for at least a few hours, he’ll surely sober up by then. He also samples the gigantic turkey leg that Eddie gets, and Robin wrinkles her nose in disgust at the messy nature of the food.

As they walk around, Steve finds himself getting into the spirit more than he had expected. They eat, watch musical performances, and shop at the little stalls set up by various vendors. Eddie buys a few rings for himself, and buys a handmade mug for Uncle Wayne. Robin indulges in candles and soaps, and even dares to see a fortune teller.

“She said that I’ll meet my future husband soon,” she says, giggling. “Clearly she’s a fraud, or she’d know I’m not interested.”

When Robin runs off to find a bathroom, somehow, Eddie and Steve end up standing around a demonstration about medieval punishments and torture, which Steve expects to be gruesome, and quickly finds he would rather hear gritty, gorey details than stand her and watch this happen.

A pretty girl, probably around their age, is locked into a pair of wooden stocks, and—

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Steve mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

Eddie looks absolutely delighted as he leans in close. “What’s wrong, Stevie? The demonstration isn’t bothering you, is it?” he asks. His cheeks are flushed, too. A few months ago, Eddie would probably be the one stuttering and staring at the ground right now, but ever since he introduced this little world to Steve, he’s gained a confidence about it that only comes out when he gets to tease Steve into oblivion.

“Shut up.”

“You shut up, I’m trying to watch. Maybe I can get some pointers from these guys.”

‘These guys’ refers to the two men who have started tickling the girl’s trapped feet, and frantic giggles fill the air and make Steve’s stomach flip.

“Oh, she’s handling this better than you would,” Eddie continues to tease. “I’d already be called every insult under the sun if you couldn’t kick me instead.”

“I will kick you right now,” Steve threatens. It’s a complete lie. He’s frozen to the spot on the grass, torn between watching and focusing on the grass. Everyone else in the crowd is behaving like this is so normal, no big deal, just a silly show.

One of the men has moved behind the girl to tickle her ribs, her arms secured above her head. Steve crosses his arms over his chest, subconsciously protecting his own sensitive spots, like just watching her could tickle him, too.

“You love that spot,” Eddie coos. “You make the cutest sounds when I tickle you there.”

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill you,” Steve grits out.

“Sure you will, sweetheart. Can it wait ‘til after I’ve made you cry real pretty for me?”

Just then, Robin appears at his side. “This looks like my worst nightmare,” she says. “I hope this girl is getting paid well.”

Steve makes a noise of agreement, but can’t bring himself to look over. Eddie Munson is going to be the fucking death of him. Thankfully, Robin is immediately bored of the display and drags them off to explore. Eddie subtly gives Steve’s side a quick pinch as he walks past him, and Steve suddenly can’t wait to go home.

***

“You are a fucking menace,” Steve accuses the moment they’ve made it through the door.

His parents aren’t home, Robin was dropped off back at her house, and now, Steve is alone with Eddie for the first time all day, and he refuses to voice how excited he is for whatever Eddie’s got planned.

But Eddie just grins, tugging off the more elaborate pieces of his costume, leaving himself in socks, boxers, and a white t-shirt. He makes his way to the kitchen, comes back with two cans of beer, sits on the couch like he isn’t ignoring the clear tension in the room.

Steve gapes at him for a minute before joining him on the couch, kicking off his boots and taking a beer as well. Maybe Eddie’s changed his mind…Maybe he just isn’t the mood, and Steve isn’t going to pressure him into anything.

But…Well, he has a sneaking suspicion that isn’t the case at all.

“If you’re waiting for me to ask, it’s not gonna happen,” he says.

“Ask for what?” Eddie tilts his head curiously, but there’s a glint in his eye that proves Steve’s theory.

“Nothing,” Steve replies, playing along. “All that talk back there just made me think you had a plan for when we got home. But if you’re not interested, that’s fine too.”

“Did you want me to have a plan?”

Steve huffs. “Maybe. But if you don’t, then let’s forget about it.”

“Oh, c’mon baby,” Eddie says, throwing an arm around Steve’s shoulders and pulling him close. “All you’ve gotta do is ask if you want it so bad.”

His cheeks burn. Stubborn as ever, he shakes his head.

Eddie sighs with exaggerated disappointment. “If you insist. I guess I’ll just keep my hands to myself tonight…”

“Good,” Steve says, and turns the television on.

It takes two beers and a stupid scene in a film to break him. It’s a quick, barely there tickle, but the character’s laugh makes Steve perk up like a dog hearing a doorbell ring.

“Fine,” he says.

“What’s fine?” Eddie asks.

“Just fucking tickle me, you dick.”

Eddie grins and wastes no time, lunging across the couch and pinning Steve to the cushions.

“I knew you’d crack eventually, sweetheart,” he teases. “Sorry we don’t have quite the same set up, but I’ll hold you down real nice, okay?”

Steve is already grinning. He can’t help it, he’s so lovestruck by his boyfriend and desperate to laugh his head off. And laugh he does when Eddie goes straight for his ribs, scratching at the dips between each little bone.

“There’s that pretty sound,” he says, pressing a kiss to Steve’s jaw that is both sweet and ticklish under the current circumstance.

The stupid shirt with the laces is pulled over his head and discarded on the floor, and Eddie pins Steve’s wrists and tells him to stay still before exploring each ticklish spot on his torso, making him shriek and cackle and snort like a fool.

He doesn’t stay still for very long, arms shooting down to his sides when Eddie attacks his belly with blunt fingernails, and Eddie scolds him but doesn’t stop.

As he squirms on the couch, giggling like mad, he wonders if they sell some of those bondage contraptions there. He thinks that they should go back to the Ren Faire sometime. 

[hopeshoodie]

I feel so bad letting this sit for so long, but better late than never I suppose! Thank you to literally everyone who tagged me in this. Literally every time I see these posts it makes me grin like an absolute dope at my phone. This is one of the best fandoms I’ve ever been in. I know I joke that I’m just sitting in my corner making garbage, so thank yall for making the room my corner is in so lovely.

So here’s a shoutout to the people who made my 2020 better. If I’m following you (from my main @hyperspacial because despite being on tumblr for nearly a decade I still hardly know how to run a sideblog) I 100% like you. I’m sorry if I forget to tag people :( Also this is about to be a long ass post- don’t feel obligated to reply or like or whatever just because you’re tagged :P

@garyandhisnan. I just…. I adore you. Highkey would walk to the ends of the earth if you asked. Your writing, your posts, everything is top notch (and you’re an awesome person to boot which like… shouldn’t be allowed). Thank you for letting me rant about American late-stage capitalism and all the other nonsense I flood your inbox with. If yall aren’t following them, go do it now.

@deuchess  

@ariendiel Why you would want to collaborate with me, ME, of all people? Still astounds me. I pinkie promise we’re gonna do it though, and it’s gonna be so good. I’m so excited. But seriously, your fics are some of the only ones that I can keep coming back to. Your writing is *chefs kiss* and your edits/moodboards are literally so pretty. I love your blog and I cherish you, you slut cheat.

@kiki-the-creator same brain saME BRAIN SAME BRAIN how do we have the exact same brain!? Your fics literally are the best thing this fandom has produced- I come up with these half baked concepts, you make them actually good, then I play dollhouse with them over and over again in my head forever :3 That Erikah fic? Literally every Marisol fic you write?? I love them. Also you’re highkey so funny and ugh. Te adoro.

@bubblelaureno you’re literally too good for me. For real. I’m sorry I’m so shitty about keeping up to date with fics and edits, you deserve way more than my shitty memory and my 2 second long attention span. Your blog is literally a beacon of positivity and it’s absurd how much I admire your drive and your analytical way of thinking. This fandom is so lucky to have you.

@codename-mango controversial yet brave opinion- your blog is the best LITG blog on tumblr. Your headcanons, your jokes, your route overviews? All immaculate. Even your reblogs are the best of what everyone else is posting. You’re the only reason I have notes, and I appreciate you sm.

@oneflewoverthecuckoos my comment to mango is controversial only because if not her, then your LITG sideblog for sure. For a ‘Lucas’ blog, the diversity of content and LIs you talk about is refreshing. I fucking love seeing people talk about non-LI characters.

@inthenewblood thank you for letting me bitch about the reddit oml it’s needed. Also having someone to be salty with? A new but not unwelcome experience lmfao

@noahssidechick you are literally so sweet oml I treasure our chats and the pictures of your dogs. You bring such a chill and earnest vibe to the fandom and ugh, I’m so glad to have you.

@fuseboxmusebox I feel like you’re so consistent in the fandom, like you were here when I first joined and you’ll be here after I inevitably lose interest and leave. Your reblogs are top notch, the takes are even topper notch, and it wouldn’t be a ‘litg blogs that made me happy’ list without you.

@crvsh-culture I will never not sing your praises. I love your blog, I love you perspective, I love your vibe. I consider you a friend even though we’ve talked like… once.

@radiantdae your artbreeder edits were the first thing in the fandom that left me genuinely astounded. Like holy shit they were so good. Kassam??? That was a REAL MAN. Obviously the stuff you post now is really good too and your blog is excellent. But tbh when I think of the LITG fandom, the first think I think of is your artbreeder pictures. Also your ‘filipino words that make me think of the islanders’. I still think of that often. 

@therealityofthematteris seeing you in my notes makes me smile every time. That’s basically all, just needed to say it lmao. Also if anyone has almost convinced me to start playing TWC, it’s you and Seliné.

@bellarxse my dash would be dry af without you. Same with TWC- I’m so tempted to play because of your posts (I have it downloaded on my phone but like…. I haven’t finished a single route in Arcana and starting a new thing is overwhelming). But also your prompts are one of the few things that makes me want to write lmfao.

@lahelakoh I feel like I’ve said it before but your posts SEND me oml. The tiktok references, the chaotic energy. Both the taste and the flavour is immaculate.

@kiwi-tai we haven’t talked that much but oml I love your content so much 15/10

@confused-inalltheways-human you’re literally so cool and I think about that Harry fic all the time. Am I ever gonna get around to writing it? Probably not. But it was such a good idea. Also thank you for lighting up my notification.

@oceanatydes you come here, you post literally spectacular content, and then you peace out like bruh I wish I had your mind. I adore your edits, but my favorites are your posts/headcanons.

@voile-de-lune your aesthetic is everything I aspire to be and your headcanons/edits are such a refreshing take on characters that we’ve all gotten so stale with. I still live for that Rahim moodboard you made. Also your headcanons are so fantastic.

@lasswithumor this fandom desperately needs more Carl stans, thank you for doing the lords work. Also I highkey stalk your blog on a regular basis jsjsjsjsjsjs every chat we’ve had has been lovely and ugh, you’re just lovely

@bobbysapron your vibes are literally so immaculate. I know it’s been awhile since we chatted but I highkey adore your content and ugh. You’re such a cool person.

@beebips I feel like you’ve vanished off my dash, but you made up for it with that 3rd chapter of The Other Side of Seventh Ave made up for it.

@nerdferatum I don’t think I’ve ever breathed a word in your direction but oml you’re so sweet and supportive and every time your posts cross my dash I *pleading emoji*

@mrsgaryrennell I’m still agog that we’re mutuals because like… You are so talented. It took me waaaayyy too long to get into Blue and Hazel but now that I have… It’s highkey better than the actual season skskskskss

@kingkassam Like the above, you are waaaayyy too cool to be following me sksksksk. I’ve still got a few edits you had ideas for in the pipeline, and highkey the Kassam icons you requested are my favorite edits I’ve ever made. I live for someone else playing Matchmaker.

@hermitclaw  hello?????? You’re so funny what the FUCK are you doing following me. Ik you don’t post that much anymore, but every LITG you grace us with is a knockout. It feels unreal when you reblog my stuff. Basically the same to @mchamster. Like you’re both so funny and have been in the fandom for so long that it fully feels like royalty whenever yall interact with me.

@ravenadottir I am fully unworthy to even mention your name but oml. Your guides are the only thing that help me retain information about the season, and your recent outfit edits? Oh my god they’re so good. Hope’s especially, with the brightly colored swimsuit, left me absolutely speechless. You’re just above everything in the fandom and I admire that so much. Plus you really don’t have to flex that hard in your fics, and yet-

@smaiihands saving the best for last because you are one of the single most talented people in this fandom. Your art is the strongest life support for the fandom and like I know we haven’t talked in awhile but you’re also such a dope person. So.

And a big shoutout to all the people I follow who I don’t talk to but have nothing but good vibes. I appreciate yall way more than I can articulate: @richhdesire @needsomesorrel @ficticiouspastry @cranesandshipyards @litg-ish @princesslove19060 @fictitiouspastery​  @icedcoffee-please @demons-dogs-and-puns @sparklydinosaurr @mountainmanxoxo  @diamondsdiary @bucket-bill@another-lottie-simp @bobbys-darling @cyn-onlyyou @mikcove @officialpapa-johns @Amaxn @dxncingthroughlife @myfictionalobsessions  @screw-u-vaanu @kittidot @chichiguitarist123 @myfictionalobsessions @Azibear @amelia-w @lilithlibrxa @litghoe @priyas-tiddies @daisybarks @ajs-wife

At this point this post is just a directory of the LITG fandom lmfao but genuinely. Thank every single one of you. 2020 was hard as shit, but I’ve been hyperfixated on LITG for like a year and I treasure your content sm.

[lampmanliveblogs]

Sense and Insensitivity

Post-Episode Discussion

King was right. 

”Impossible!” I hear you typing really hard on your keyboards. Don’t worry, I’ll explain momentarily.

But first, two quick little things.

Firstly, I totally missed Piñata sitting next to Jon De Plume at the beginning of the episode. Or rather, the first time watching, I didn’t think he’d be more important than any of the other random background characters. So that was kinda neat, showing him ahead of his introduction and a nice little subversion by making him the villain and not Jon, the guy we were actually paying attention to.

Secondly, shoutout to @sepublic who pointed out that Luz and King being trapped inside a box was also likely a pun on writer’s block. Writer’s block is something I’m very familiar with, so I should’ve caught that, but I didn’t.

Now, to elaborate on my opening statement, which I’m sure was very controversial and upset a lot of emotions.

King was right. When Luz told him that he was crossing a line, he replied with ”Yeah, into greatness.” And he was right. His book was great (apparently, I don’t know what kind of standards Piñata and the people of the Boiling Isles have). Better than Luz’ works, which Piñata didn’t like at all. So all the edits King made really did make the story better. So King was right.

Of course, the methods he used to become right were not right, alright? He ended up nearly destroying his and Luz’ friendship by insulting her and essentially stealing her work without giving her any credit or even a percentage of the profits. So he was also wrong.

He was right and wrong at the same time. This is what we in the writing biz call a ”morally grey character.”

I think.

As a writer myself, I really appreciated the scenes where they were planning and writing the book. I felt those. It actually reminded me a bit of when Steven and Peridot did something similar in In Dreams (Steven Universe Future, episode 11). Is this a new trend? To just have an episode showing the audience what’s going on in the writer’s room? Cause I’m up for that.

I sorta touched on this in the liveblog, but I’m gonna expand on it a little bit here. King’s biggest flaw, that we’ve seen repeated a few times is that he has this need for validation. He wants people to admire, praise and obey him. He wants to feel powerful, in control, respected. This stems from a crippling feeling of insecurity and a feeling that no one respects him. And this drive he has ends up being self-destructive as he constantly ends up putting the relationships with his friends on the line to satisfy it.

I get it. I’m the same. Insecure and constantly seeking validation.

To tie back into this episode; I believe that the message it was trying to convey was that you should not strive to create solely for validation, money or praise. You should create because it is something you’re passionate about. King sought validation through his work, whereas Luz was content writing the things she wanted to write because she enjoyed it. AndI think that can be a valuable message for any creator, whether it be a writer, artist or what have you.

Anyways, have I mentioned I write fanfiction? You should go check them out and leave a comment telling me how much you love them and how great of a writer I am.

Oh, and there was also the subplot with Eda and Lilith i suppose. It was alright. I liked their dynamic. It had some funny moments. Didn’t really do all that much for the overall story, but it wasn’t detrimental to the episode either. It was good.

In Conclusion

Overall, a pretty good episode. I really appreciated it as a writer. Though as a writer I do have to mention that it might’ve not been the best idea to have two episodes with prominent ”King screws up” plots involving accidentally hurting his fiends back-to-back, but that’s only a minor thing. It did make me more curious to see what how they’re going to handle King going forward, if he’s ever gonna learn a lesson or two about respecting himself.

Aaaand that’s finally a wrap on Sense and Insensitivity. I’ll see you… some other time. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe within the next five minutes. Who knows? Until that time comes, take care of the planet Earth and remember that anything can happen in space!

<--Previous Episode: Owl Pellets

Masterlist

Next Episode: Adventures in the Elements-->

[beantown-boy]

Punch Bowl ||An Andi Mack Fic|| (CW Homophobia)

Quick Shoutout to @abg-blah​ and @luzawithoutu​ for providing me with motivation, and to @dumb-binch-juice​ for providing me with inspiration

"Cyrus, please DON'T wear a tux to homecoming."

“Please, wear a tux,” TJ countered, giving Buffy a pointed look before turning to his boyfriend with a smile. Cyrus looked amazing. It was like the universe had decided that Cyrus should be able to look both handsome and comfortable in formalwear. He wasn’t so lucky. The shoulders of his suit jacket were awkwardly tight, and he was pretty sure that his socks hadn’t shown this much when he wore this last Homecoming.

“It’s too formal,” Buffy pleaded. “I’d go with the blue suit. Why stray from a classic? Plus, you just had it tailored. It would be a shame for that to go to waste.”

“But the tux makes a statement.”

“Yeah it does. ‘I’m too good for normal dress clothes’”

“Which you are. Don't let her undermine your confidence.”

Cyrus drew his hands up dramatically, cutting them off mid-argument.

“Dearest and most beloved advisors, I have come to my conclusion. Before I state it, I must say, I love you both in equal, though different measures. That being said, Buffy is right. It’s just a little too much. Don’t worry, Teej, I’ll rock the tux for next year’s prom.”

He jumped onto the bed, and quickly kissed TJ on the cheek before walking back into his closet.

“Gross,” Buffy teased.

As the closet door clicked shut, a series of sharp knocks came from the door to Cyrus’ room, followed by Marty’s muffled voice. “Hey, guys? Are you done in there? Jonah and Lenni are here, and they’re starting to think that Buffy killed TJ. Which you didn’t, right?”

Buffy smirked and gave TJ a playful shove before going to open the door.

“Not yet. I could never do that to Cyrus.”

“More like you couldn’t do it, period, Driscoll.” TJ shot back.

“Can you guys please make it through one night without bickering?”

“No.” They replied in unison before bursting into laughter.

Being friends with Buffy was great, but ever since she and Marty had started the whole 'being straightforward' thing she'd needed someone else for verbal sparring. And joking with her kept TJ on his toes. It was nice to know that he still had his sharp tongue, even if he rarely used it. Marty and Jonah were fun, but sometimes a bit witless. Buffy was anything but.

The pre-Homecoming dinner at the Goodmans' was just as good as the year before, if not better. Cyrus' dad always went all out when his son had friends over. And even if the meal still devolved into Jonah and Lenni heating up hot pockets and seeing who could eat the most of them without burning themselves, TJ was happy to spend the time surrounded by his friends and his boyfriend.

By the time the group split up between TJ and Buffy's cars, TJ was already getting snaps of the dance from Chet and William. He put his phone down as Cyrus and Jonah climbed into the backseat, leaving him alone up front. He stared at the two of them, as the awkwardness seeped in.

"So no one wants shotgun, huh?" TJ deadpanned.

"I mean, I was going to," Jonah explained, "but then I thought Cyrus might want to, and then-"

"I just know that the passenger seat is the least safe one in the car." Cyrus stated. "And I do trust your driving skills, but I don't necessarily trust everyone else on the road."

"Oh, so if I die, I'm dying alone, gotcha. Since that's cleared up, Jonah, do you wanna ride shotgun."

"Risk of death, let's goooo!" Jonah shouted, climbing over the passenger seat.

"See," TJ said as he pulled into the Grant High parking lot, "no fatal accidents."

“Told you I trusted you.” Cyrus

The dance was already in full swing as they entered the overcrowded gymnasium. A swarm of students surrounded the DJ booth, while others milled about between the snacks and the neatly decorated tables.

“Isn’t this amazing?”

Cyrus sighed as he took it all in. He and the other class reps had worked really hard to make sure that the dance went flawlessly, and judging by the look on his boyfriend’s face, TJ believed they’d succeeded. The junior class rep, Avery, TJ thought, waved Cyrus over towards the punch bowl. Cyrus looked cautiously between her and his friends.

“Can I just -”

“It’s fine.” Buffy interrupted. “Go talk to her, grab some punch and then meet us on the dancefloor.”

Buffy, as it turned out was a very good dancer. TJ didn't think he was abysmal himself, but he certainly wouldn't have managed half as well if she hadn't been by his side. They slid this way to that beat, as they ran into Jonah again. They made a turn at that moment because it seemed to fit just right, and Buffy broke off from him to join Marty. TJ spun into the guys from the team before Lenni pulled him back towards the others. The energy between the five of them was electrifying. TJ wasn’t sure how much time had passed before they settled with just bouncing in the crowd of Grant High students.

“Okay, Buffy,” Lenni huffed, “we get it. You’re tireless. But some of us would rather just watch someone else dance for a change. In your car you were talking about the Cyrus Shuffle. What even is that?”

Buffy’s laugh was almost drowned out by the sound of the crowd.

“It’s whatever dance moves Cyrus throws together whenever he says he’s gonna do the Cyrus Shuffle.”

TJ picked up after her.

“Each one is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You have to see it. He should be back any second now, unless-” He turned back to Buffy, who was already giving him her ‘I know exactly what’s happening’ smile. They had left Cyrus with Avery, another huge nerd. They’d almost definitely started seventeen different tangent conversations, and if no one interrupted them the class reps would probably spend the whole dance talking about chemistry or exam prep. One of them would have to get Cyrus.

“You’re his boyfriend,” Buffy said quickly. “You go get him.”

“You just want to kiss Marty while I’m not around to make fun of you.”

TJ didn’t catch her reply as he turned and tried to make his way through the crowd. Now that he was trying to get out, he realized that making people move was so much harder than he remembered it being. Even last year, people still had given him a bit of precautionary space, and sure, it had stung, but it had also been useful. He pushed the thought out of his mind as he slid between flying elbows. He was nice now. He had been for two years. It made sense that people would feel at least comfortable around him. And if that feeling came with feeling small and cramped sometimes, so be it.

Finally, he made it out of the crush of bodies. Relief crashed over him with a wave of cooler air, but the jostling of the crowd still left him a bit on edge. TJ took a moment to get his bearings before heading towards the punch bowl. He spotted Cyrus’ familiar blue suit from across the room, and immediately he felt more relaxed. It took him another moment to realize that something was wrong.

Avery was nowhere in sight, and Cyrus was shifting from foot to foot like he was ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. He was talking to someone who TJ couldn’t quite make out in the dim gymnasium light. TJ nearly sprinted past the tables to get to Cyrus. And as he got close, he recognized Ethan practically towering over his boyfriend. He felt himself go cold, hot, then cold again as he stalked toward the senior.

TJ was sick of him. Ethan had been a jerk to Cyrus before. He’d done horrible things to Chet’s sister Charlotte. Cyrus had tried reporting the guy last year, but despite the school’s zero tolerance policy for bullying, Ethan was still around. And now he was screwing with Cyrus again. TJ interrupted whatever insulting comment Ethan was making as he made it to the punch bowl.

“Don’t you have anywhere else to be? Or did your soccer buddies’ house party get busted?”

That was nice enough. He hadn’t outright insulted Ethan, which was good. Civility wasn’t his strong suit.

“I was just swinging by to my last ever HoCo,” Ethan replied. He flashed a toothy sneer that made TJ’s skin crawl. “And then I saw your little boyfriend here, and I couldn’t help but share a little senior wisdom.”

“Can we just go?” Cyrus suggested before freezing again when Ethan turned his attention back to him.

“No.” The way Ethan spoke made it seem more like a fact than anything else. Cyrus shrank back even further, and TJ tasted metal in his mouth.

“Ethan’s right,” TJ said. He felt like he wasn’t the one speaking. His voice was surprisingly level, even as his nails began to dig into his palms and a painful heat began to spread from the pit of his stomach. Whatever force was carrying him continued. “I’d personally love to hear what an idiot calls wisdom.”

“It’s easy, kids. Homecoming is for normal people. And that’s not you guys. I don’t care if you do the whole gay thing. But not at my homecoming. So get lost,” He shoved Cyrus towards the door, and muttered something under his breath that made Cyrus wince. Adrenaline and panic spiked in a moment of white-hot fury and-

“TJ, are you okay!”

Cyrus’ voice connected through the haze, and TJ felt himself slowly becoming a person again. He tasted blood in his mouth, and his face was still burning with wildfire. He realized he was on his back. His head hurt. His chest hurt. His hands hurt worst of all. He looked to find blood on his knuckles and under his fingernails. Then, he saw Cyrus standing worriedly above him, right next to Principal Donaghue, whose face was set in an unforgiving line.

“Mr. Kippen, I must ask you to leave the premises immediately. We will be discussing disciplinary actions Monday.”

The next few moments still felt like a dream. Cyrus was still looking at him with that concern, or maybe it was fear, as Buffy seemed to materialize to help him to his feet. The next thing he knew he was lying on his back, on the football field, in the chilly October night. Buffy was resting on his left, either unaware or uncaring of the grass stains on her dress. Cyrus was sitting on his right, more contemplative than concerned.

“I���m sorry.” TJ offered, eyes fixed on the night sky.

“Well,” Cyrus supplied tentatively, “This isn’t my first run in with school administration. I just haven’t been kicked out of a dance before.”

“I’m so sorry,” TJ repeated, thinking back to the look of shock on Ethan’s face when he leapt forward to punch the senior.

“I never meant to actually-- It was just so-- And he was-- I’m sorry. For ruining our night.”

Buffy laughed, and a plume of fog erupted with it.

"Congratulations, Blood-Nose, you are officially the loose cannon of Grant High's sophomore class, again." She paused, weighing her words, before continuing. “Besides, that Ethan guy had it coming. I’m actually a little bit jealous I missed the action. He’s one of those very punchable people. Right, Cyrus?”

Cyrus’s breath steamed in the silence. A moment passed, then another, and TJ’s heart clenched as Cyrus finally spoke.

"You are a great guy, TJ, and I know that. And I should’ve spoken up more to stop that from happening. But you’re still you. You’re headstrong and brave, and remarkably kind. But, sometimes, you remind people why they used to fear you. And that’s not a bad thing, as long as they know they don’t have to anymore. I know I don’t. I just love you. So, I will see you either after detention, or at your house if you get suspended. But tonight-"

Cyrus kissed him, and TJ was still scared. He was scared about what repercussions would come on Monday. He was scared about telling his parents what had happened that night. He was scared about all the rumors that were probably already spreading through the sophomore class. But for once, he wasn’t scared of himself. And for ten seconds he let himself enjoy that. Until Buffy said, “Gross,” and the three of them collapsed in crazy stressed laughter.

[deanieweaniewrites]

A Party and a Stripper Truck

Rated: E

Words: 1917

For the @supernaturaltropecelebration Halloween mini! My trope was ‘Sexy Costume’

Also shoutout to the Profound Bond Discord for some help with this. Thanks to @nickelkeep for telling me to write about the Stripper Truck, because that made this about 10x better so ily

Read on AO3

Tags: Sexy Costumes, Unestablished Destiel, First Kiss, First Time, Early-Season Vibes

“Dean, why don’t you wear a costume for Halloween?”

Dean nearly jumped out of his seat when the familiar deep voice of his best friend came from behind. He thought he was alone in the motel room, Sam being out for a food and beer run. He turned around and saw Castiel standing right behind his chair. “Dude, first of all, you scared the shit out of me. Secondly, I hate Halloween. I have to live through Halloween every day of my life.”

Castiel took a moment to think about that. “I thought you were telling Sam about crashing that college girl’s Halloween party and wearing a costume.”

“Okay, I was mostly joking. I’m not gonna wear a costume. Also, she’s a grad student.”

“Are you still going to go?”

Dean shrugged. “Probably. What’s better than free booze and a bunch of grad student girls in sexy costumes?”

“I could name a few things…”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Right, ever the heavenly prude.”

Castiel narrowed his eyes at Dean before disappearing with the sound of flapping feathers. Dean turned back around in his seat and took a swig of his beer, frowning when he finished it off. Oh well, Sam would be back with more soon.

Dean just grinned and ignored Sam while he was lectured on why going to the party was stupid. Dean was an adult, he could do whatever he wanted. Maybe he actually wanted to enjoy Halloween this year. Screw research, he wanted to have a good time. 

When the evening came around, Dean just shrugged with a smug smile at Sam, who was pulling a major bitch-face at him for leaving. Dean checked the address he had scribbled on a napkin when the woman throwing the party had given him. He usually didn’t interact this much with people involved with cases he was working, but who was he to turn down this opportunity?

Dean didn’t even remember her name. She was an acquaintance of the family who was being haunted, and she had recognized Dean and Sam in a diner, having seen them at the family’s house when the police were investigating. Dean had put his charm on and earned himself an invitation to her Halloween bash.

Dean took a cab to the party, knowing damn well he’d be too inebriated to drive Baby back to the motel room. The house was already booming with bass, and young adults were pouring out of the front door onto the lawn. Even in the cool Tennesee evening air, almost everyone was in extremely revealing costumes. Dean took in the sight of all the exposed skin with a smirk as he stepped out of the cab and handed the driver a wad of cash.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and waltzed up to the front door, slipping his way inside to find the booze. As he made his way inside, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, you made it.”

Dean’s head snapped around and he grinned when he saw his inviter standing there in a sexy cat outfit. Basic, but sexy. The black bodycon dress hugged her curves nicely. “Hey, yeah, I made it.”

“Where’s your costume?”

“Eh, I’m not really a costume guy.” Dean shrugged. “Where can a guy get a drink around here?”

“Over here.” 

Dean followed the girl into the kitchen and found an array of drinks. He poured himself a rum and coke and surveyed the area. There were a few couples making out in dark corners, girls in little groups, chatting up a storm, and guys stalking the floor, looking for a lay for the night. Dean almost wished he went to college just for nights like this.

“Do you remember my name?” The girl asked, taking a swig of her beer.

Dean chuckled. “You remember mine?”

“Nope.”

“Dean.”

“Sarah.” 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, again, Sarah.” Dean grinned. “Got anything planned for tonight.”

“Well, there’s the costume contest, and then the winners have to perform on the stripper truck.”

“The what?” 

Sarah chuckled. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s a big truck with dancers in it. You get in the truck and watch. It’s a stripper truck. The sexiest costumes have to dance. I think I’ve spotted a couple winners already. The dude in assless chaps is really killing it.”

Dean laughed. “Please point him out if you see him, I’ve got to see that.” He knocked back the rest of his drink and picked up a shot off a tray as it passed him, throwing it back. “I think I’m gonna survey the field a little more. Come find me if you need anything.” Throwing Sarah a wink, Dean disappeared into the crowd to see what other kinds of costumes he could find. 

All of the standards were there. Sarah had the sexy cat, along with at least five other girls. There were devils, angels, and zombies everywhere. The men seemed to all go along with careers rather than creatures. There were sexy policemen, firefighters, priests, and even some guys that were just shirtless.

Dean mingled around the party, laughing at the drunk shenanigans. He played beer pong with a group of guys and beat their asses at it. They challenged him to a game of pool, and Dean only agreed to it with a bet. Dean walked away from the game $100 richer. 

A few hours into the night, a voice came on over the speaker system announcing that the winners of the costume contest were being crowned. Dean slowly made his way back to the living room, the voice continuing on the microphone. By the time he made it to where it was being announced, the winners were being sent to the stripper truck. Dean huffed and walked outside to see a line forming behind the truck. It was about five people deep now, so Dean hopped in on it quickly. He had to see what kind of costumes won this contest, and the idea of a stripper truck was too good to pass up on.

Unfortunately, there was a $10 admission for the truck, but Dean just used some of the money he won from pool to get his spot. There were three costume contest winners, so seven spectators were allowed in at a time. Dean hopped into the truck with a grin. The first thing he saw was a girl in an awesome Lara Croft costume. She looked the part and nailed the costume and makeup. The second winner was a classic playboy bunny costume on one of the bustiest, curviest girls Dean had ever seen. All Dean could see of the last one was from the waist down, and he was in assless chaps. 

Dean grinned widely and took his spectator seat. It was then that the man in chaps started turning around, and Dean’s face paled. “Cas?”

Castiel turned quickly towards Dean, nearly knocking his own cowboy hat off of his head. “Dean?”

Dean stood up. “Cas, what the hell are you doing here in...that?!” He gestured to Castiel’s outfit, which consisted of a cowboy hat, a brown leather vest with fringe, and chaps that only covered his legs and crotch, leaving his ass fully exposed. 

“I tried to find you here, and then these girls, they said I needed a costume, so they gave me this and...now I’m here.”

Dean buried his face in his hands, trying not to stare at any of Castiel. “Oh my god, dude. We’ve got to get you out of here.” Just when Dean was about to start pulling Castiel out of the truck when the door closed and music started pumping. The other two winners pulled Castiel to the middle and started dancing around him. 

Castiel looked like a deer caught in the headlights until one of the girls whispered in his ear and took his hand, urging him to dance. It took a few seconds, but soon Castiel started bouncing a little to the beat of the music. The angel turned to Dean, following the girl’s movement of swinging his hips back and forth to the beat. 

Dean met Castiel’s eyes and his cheeks went beet red. It was hard not to notice how hot Castiel looked in the costume. He tried to avert his gaze, but Castiel’s stare on him was too heavy. Maybe it was the buzz of the alcohol or the atmosphere of the stripper truck, but Dean really wanted Castiel to himself right now. The look on the angel’s face was certainly giving Dean clues as to what he wanted. 

The truck drove around the block before returning in front of the house. Castiel had gotten into the dancing by now, grinning as he swayed around between the two girls. But as soon as the truck stopped and the doors opened, he was being pulled away by Dean. 

“Dean, I-”

Dean pulled Castiel behind the truck and grabbed his vest. “Please tell me I’m not seeing things and that you were starin’ at me how I think you were.”

Castiel paused, hands moving to Dean’s sides. After waiting for a moment, he leaned forward and captured Dean’s lips in his own, pulling him closer.

Dean let out an internal sigh of relief, his eyes slipping closed as he kissed Castiel back. When the angel pulled away, Dean opened his eyes, slightly breathless. “Come back to the motel?”

Castiel nodded quickly. “I think that would be a more appropriate setting than behind a truck.”

Dean laughed and rolled his eyes. “Dork.”

~~~

Thirty minutes later, Dean and Castiel were tumbling back into the motel room, hands all over each other, making up for all the time they insisted that they were “just friends”. It was heated, passionate, and a declaration of unspoken love. The door slammed closed and the bed squeaked from their weights underneath it. Breathless moans began when Castiel started opening himself with lubed-up fingers. Breathless moans turned to grunts and groans of pleasure, the bedsprings moaning their own complaints. 

Dean held his lover’s hips and swore at the feeling of leather against his thighs. The fucker didn’t even take the chaps off. The pair desperately grabbed at one another, catching each other’s lips at every chance they got. Castiel came unraveled on top of Dean, all of that angelic poise and grace slipping away.

When Castiel came, light filled the room for a brief second. Dean’s brain short-circuited when he came as well, fingers digging into the angel’s hips. After something as life-altering as that, there wasn’t much more they could do except strip off Castiel’s chaps and curl up together under the blankets.

That was, until the bathroom door opened and a mop of brown hair poked out. Sam had a hand over his eyes. “Don’t say a word. I’m getting another room.”

Dean snorted and laughed hard enough that he threw his head back against the pillow as his poor brother ran out of the motel room. “Aw, poor Sammy.”

Castiel looked to Dean. “You think he’ll be okay?”

“He’s fine. Not the first time he’s gotten stuck in a bathroom while I’ve gotten down and dirty.”

“So, it was good?”

Dean hugged Castiel close. “Cas, that was awesome. Hey, happy Halloween.”

Castiel narrowed his eyes. “I thought you hated Halloween.”

“If you’re going to dress up like that, it’s my new favorite holiday.”

“Ah, so this is a tradition for us now?” 

Dean chuckled. “Guess so. Night, Cas.”

“Goodnight, Dean.”

[kyuubiheir]

ANOTHER MUNDAY PROMPT.

*  REMEMBER TO REPOST, NOT REBLOG!

NAME:   ariel , red   ( they’re aliases but yaa. )

PREFERRED PRONOUNS:   she / her. 

SELECTIVITY:   private.   i wish i could write with everyone but lyf is so hectic now.   what with family  &  friend time , work , spending time with the pupper , college.

FAVORITE ANIMAL:    WOLVES !!   h ECK i love animals more than people.

FAVORITE MUSE YOU’VE HAD SO FAR EVER:   honestly ??   i would say menma , he is so fun to write  &  i like being able to play out the different aspects  /  emotions of him.   plus the nardo fandom has been nothing but lovely  &  drama free , it’s just so refreshing.

MUSE YOU KINDA WANNA PICK UP:    no one at the moment  &  any muses i do wish to play are already over on my multi.   i’ve learnt the hard way that too many single blogs is a pain , also i actually hate sideblogs.   it gets confusing , so i will only have 1 possibly 2 at best  &  these are usually if a specific character is made for a specific person.

MOST IDENTIFIABLE FICTIONAL CHARACTER:   i’m gonna have to go with buffy.   it’s scary sometimes how similar our lives are   ( ‘cept for the vamp slayer part , though wouldn’t that be cool right ?! )   but seriously , i can just watch an episode  &  it’s like i’m being told my life.   like yes hi ?  been there , done that , STOP NOW.   we’re both emotional who give our heart to anyone ; always thinking of others more than ourselves  &  yet we’re always the ones to suffer  &  get our hearts broken in the end.   oh  &  we both have rotten luck when it comes to relationships.

WHAT COLOR YOUR AURA IS/THINK IT IS:   i’d love it to be pink or red , i’m thinking it might be red due to me being really hot-tempered  ??  though i don’t know if that’s just a redhead thing.   or it’s black like my soul.

PERSONALITY STUFF YOU AGREE WITH (ASTROLOGY, MBTI, HOGWARTS HOUSE, ETC. BE AS SPECIFIC AS YOU WANT):   i ... believe in astrology  &  hogwarts house , both have been accurate for me.   WHERE MY FELLOW SLYTHERINS AT ?!  B)   honestly not sure about the others ??   but then again , you are who you are.   personality is unique to each individual person.   it’s all on you to be who you truly are , don’t take anyone else’s word but your own for it.

DO YOU THINK YOU’RE A GOOD DRIVER:   i can drive to an extent , however i don’t have a legal licence but in my lessons it’s good to just know you have the right of the road when you do  &  just screw the other ass holes on the road.   it’s just about being confident , though i’m not sure how safe it is for me to be in control of a killing machine.  o.o

FAVORITE MINOR DISCOUR.SE:   i’ve never actually been involved in any discourse.   i prefer to stay away from any drama related thing.

FAVORITE VINE AND/OR MEME:  oh god !   I LIIIVE FOR VINES !   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3kM56dxS0s   <<   MY FAV THOUGH !!  you need to watch this :’) , but i love LOOVE king bach  &  thomas sanders as well.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS MUSE:  tbh my bro introduced me to ‘naruto’ in general  &  he had all the films aswell.   after watching through the series he told me to watch the rtn one  ( that was his fav at the time )  so i did  &  WOW !   i just found it hilarious , how all the characters were backwards but then seeing the concept of a dark naruto , just had me hooked !   i’m always drawn to the bad boy , darker muses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯    also in a way , i feel like menma is underrated  /  overlooked in favour of the series main which yes i get makes sense  &  menma only existed in a fake universe but   STILL i wanted to give menma some backstory , really delve into his character.  make him more than just evil naruto .. look i just love my angsty emo bois  fITE ME.

FAVORITE RP MEMORY:  oh gosh ,  TOO MANY !   i think the main is definitely all the friends i make here  &  finally get to actually meet them in RL.   also i’m a sucker for positivity  &  it warms my heart when the dash is just filled with love for each other , none of this stupid competition because someone has the same muse or what not.

GIVE A SHOUTOUT TO SOMEONE: @biteheir @cursedteme @sageheir @strawberrysakura @karukv    i cheated  &  added multiple someones because honestly  THESE GUYS RIGHT HERE !   are helping me so much with developing menma further , i love lengthy discussions of head canons  &  possible scenarios at 2AM.   &  i know this might sound lame but it feels like i’m part of a family on here , it’s nice.   especially knowing that i can always go to these bebs for anything  &  they will always be there to listen. ilu. <3 <3 <3

i know it’s the wrong blog but i also gotta shoutout to shorp @fangbled for taking a chance on my mad idea for an oc  &  loving her regardless :P  it’s fun to develop mimi alongside you , i can’t wait to see what surprises 2019 will have for papa dog  &  lil pup. ilu. <3 <3 <3

tagged by: @kabukv !    thank youu <3

tagging: erm who’s done this ?   probably everyone rn.  so uh , if you see this - steal it !  c:

[vaguely-concerned]

UNCHARTED 4 REACTIONS

- uuuh can I just… find out who the FUCK looked at tiny beautiful baby boy Nate and decided to leave him with a bunch of nuns who don’t get why other kids telling him his mom’s in hell because she committed suicide would upset him??????? Like I don’t know who his biological father is but I feel a strong need to divest him of his kneecaps. (C’mon Sully with your con man expertise and my vengeful nature we could figure this out between us)

- Sam reminds me a lot of one of my uncles. I’m not sure what to do with that except applaud Naughty Dog on their eye for people ha ha. I guess everyone has that slightly sleazy and self absorbed yet periodically charming and decent man in their lives. (Can I point out how amazing his costume design is, in a way you rarely see? He’s one of those dudes who look rumpled wearing pretty much anything, everything is so unflattering on him it’s a miracle. Contrast his and Sully’s outfits in the Scotland section — what they’re actually wearing isn’t that dissimilar and Sully is like twice Sam’s age but looks a) stylish, b) warm and c) Incredibly American somehow while Sam looks like a bum and it’s  h i l a r i o u s.)

- When bb Nate’s face already does the thing where he goes from genuinely upset to dissembling smile… no… ow…  

- “You only pull something like this when you’re trying to make up for something” lasjfdlsakjfslkdjfalskj my soul has left my body and I am crying hot saltwater tears

- a) Nadine is just so incredibly, vibrantly beautiful and I feel like sending a thank you note to the offices of Naughty Dog for putting her face and overarms on my screen, b) she’s already completely done with everything and we’re not even halfway through the game, c) she’s awfully uppity about Chloe’s methods for someone whose instinctual approach to archaeology is ‘dynamite’

- NATE PLAYING CRASH BANDICOOT

THE MOST PRECIOUS SHIT

I’VE EVER LAID MY EYES ON

“THIS IS TAKING VERY LONG” THIS BLESSED ADHD BOY

- OKAY NAUGHTY DOG YOU’VE GONE AND DONE IT I’M ROOTING FOR THE HETS

- the note from Chloe in the attic :( :( :( I feel bad for her even though she eventually upgraded big time on the spouse material, she does like him a lot even if they didn’t make each other very happy.

Can you imagine if Nate and Chloe had actually stayed together tho. They’d have the smartest, snarkiest, most-unprepared-to-deal-with-emotions children in history lol just as well things worked out like they did, probably

- did u guys know… that I would die for nathan drake… I mean you all probably do by now because I never shut up about it but it bears repeating… I would….  

- oh no… nate no… don’t lie to elena she not only tolerates you she loves you despite the warning signs don’t throw this away

- It’s very impressive that they’ve managed to show that Sam genuinely does love Nate a lot while also making it clear how easily he tips into being a toxic influence — it makes all the psychological sense in the world that he’s trying to emulate the relationship they had when they were at their closest and only had each other, but purposefully trying to drive Nate away from the other people who love him is just… so perfectly the worst possible thing to do to him, jeeeeesus christ. No wonder he and Sully don’t get along — Sully is wonderfully protective without being possessive

- When Sam asks Sully why he’s there and it’s like… because… he’s HIS FUCKN DAD SAM???! YOU NUMBSKULL???!!? YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL??!?!

- All my fanfic wants for these games are so lame and low-key… like ‘the first time a teenaged Nate comes back to the hotel drunk as a total emotional mess, and Sully being like ‘oh wow… oh god… help… he’s like a tiny puppy I need to protect him being a parent is terrifying’... ‘Nadine and Chloe have a nice night in and make sweet character developing love, maybe braid each other’s hair and get in a fist fight with some dude’... ‘the gang go to an amusement park, have a good time, Charlie gets cotton candy and makes fun of Nate’...

(actually what I really, really want is a fic of Sully surreptitiously picking up the pieces of Nate after Sam ‘dies’, but, y’know. The heart wants what it wants and mine wants Nate to be taken care of)

- Sully’s face when he drops them off in Scotland… goddamn it he loves that boy so much ;___;

- The only illustration of Sam’s personality that matters is that he thinks  S u l l y  of all people might screw Nate over while thinking he can work with Rafe without it all going to hell

Just… the worst judge of character ever lol how’s that projection working out for you Sammy boy

- I played some multiplayer and Elena really has just the warmest, most reassuring presence, I absolutely see what Nate sees there ha ha

Also I love what they’ve done with her clothes, all her outfits are plausible and non-sexualized and look so chill and comfortable

- Nate’s high-pitched nervous laugh is everything to me, such a deeply endearing character tic

- Sam… you dumbass… when will you learn that the real treasure… is your little brother and his happiness…

- I have to applaud Troy Baker for his work here — he matches Nolan North’s speech patterns and timbre as Nate so well, you absolutely believe they’re brothers. (Also between them they’re like… 90% of all male characters in video games, it’s a wonder the fabric of reality isn’t fraying with two giants in such close proximity)

- Shoutout to my boy Charlie for getting one (1) whole reference in this entire game! Naughty Dog may have forgotten you but the face you pulled at Nathan in the scene with the torches will stay with me forever, you big British lug <3

- I LOVE that Nate and Sam still use ‘Father Duffy’ like you would ‘Goody Two-shoes’ or the ‘dad’ in a sarcastic ‘thanks, dad’, it’s an authentic-feeling kind of in-joke

- Nate’s journal entries are SO FUNNY in this one oh my god. I’m so happy they’re acknowledging that he’s actually an excellent artist, I hope he ends up with a sideline in making illustrated children’s books. (I have since learned they were drawn by Naughty Dog artist Alexandria Neonakis. From the bottom of my heart: thank you for everything, especially Lemur Sully)

- Gideon Emery is wasted — WASTED — in the role of ‘random goon #43’ yet again,  but whatever, at least I got to hear his voice

- Sam’s supremely shitty tattoos give me life

- I realized during the Madagascar opening that in all likelihood the person who taught Nate to drive was Sully and can I just say… this reinforces my theory that Sully is the real hero of the Uncharted games because can you imagine taking on that responsibility for Nathan ‘Adrenaline Junkie Whoops Everything I Touch Explodes and Collapses’ Drake? No, because you and I don’t have what it takes to live that life but Victor Sullivan does

- It feels like they went a bit more naturalistic with the dialogue and characterization in this one? (As naturalistic as you can go with great big undiscovered cathedrals/pirate recruiting hubs under Scotland, anyway. Scotland ain’t that big, yo, pretty sure someone would have spotted it lol) I actually enjoyed it — U3 is still pretty much an Indiana Jones-esque adventure story with some purposefully discordant notes when you get to know Nate’s real backstory and stuff like that, but this feels all round a bit more grounded in reality and characters and it works

- Sully ineffectually keeping a grip on Nate’s shirt while he’s scrabbling to get back into the driver’s seat after the car goes off the cliff ascended my soul to a higher dimension. Big mood.

Also genuinely laughed for five minutes at Sam, lapsed Catholic and born opportunist, getting in as many Hail Marys as he could just in case he was about to die. I’m an atheist from a half-halfheartedly Protestant country but even I am pretty sure that’s not how it works buddy

- Nate’s continual refusal to think ahead enough to carry his own matches (and being saved by surrounding himself with smokers) is one of the most satisfying running jokes in the series

- “Lemurs, Sully!” “Rabies, Nate” fsdajfkljdaskjhasjkhfasjdk

*cries helplessly like a little baby because I love everyone in this bar*

- I must say the clock tower felt like one of Nate’s most catastrophic onsets of… Nateness. That delicate complicated piece of machinery was still functioning perfectly after four hundred years and yet… Nate’s in there for five minutes and it crumbles like paper. I guess technically sinking the entirety of a city into the sand beats it, but… I keep coming back to the image of the cracked bell and then *high pitched giddy voice* “Hi Sully” JFC Nate ha ha

- *screams as Nate sends Sully and Elena away, literally turning to the adrenaline/treasure hunting madness he used to cope with trauma before he managed to work up to emotional intimacy with people who care about him because Sam is a jackass who knew exactly what buttons to press and is weirdly possessive of his little brother*

- You know… forgiving Sam is so hard when he repeatedly doubles down on his lies, making up further details unprovoked, because he knows it keeps Nate hooked and feeling guilty? Like Nate is far enough along in his character development at this point that just waving some treasure under his nose alone wouldn’t do it, you need that illusion that he’s saving someone he loves — the first person he ever relied on, who he thought he lost once because he failed him — to make him keep going, and Sam knows this and uses it and it’s so horribly, calculatedly cruel? I think there are a few times where he kind of wants to come clean (uh already too late because what the HELL he’s already fucked up all his relationships lol) only to be interrupted by Action but in the end it’s a deliberate, long con of assholery that it’s extremely difficult to look past. Ah well I guess he’s stuck as my ‘I will mercilessly yet affectionately mock you’ character, that’s something.

- Aaagh the scene where Elena’s like ‘who are you’ is so good because it must be such a blow, knowing this man she loves and (bravely, because he is a disaster magnet) made the choice to try to make a life with for the second time still thinks he needs to lie to her, like he’s been lying to the world at large for most of his life — his name is a lie, so much of his outer identity is invented, but hey she wouldn’t have married him if she didn’t think they were past that this time and trusted each other with honesty… and then out of the blue a dead-yet-still-somehow-smoking-a-sketchy-cigarette brother???? Normally the ‘what else have you been lying about’ line makes me roll my eyes but she is ABSOLUTELY right to wonder about that and it breaks my heart

as does Nate going ‘I’m just me’ in that voice aaaaaaauuuuuugh he does try but he’s not completely at the point where he thinks he can be acceptable and loved as he is, no need to hide the broken things, still that kid learning that it’s better to not be seen or tell the truth because it just makes things worse

(I feel it’s a good balance between ‘protagonist making some DUMB SELF-DESTRUCTIVE CHOICES LIKE AN IDIOT’ and ‘makes perfect, tragic sense considering their history’, ending up at sympathetic but still in the wrong and in need of getting it the hell together in a hurry. At least he clearly realizes he’s fucked up pretty much immediately, which is something I GUESS)

TL;DR Nate, listen to Sully and go talk it out with your wife, I’m real upset now I’ll go make myself a cup of tea ;____;

- Sam was straight up going to shoot Nadine in the head, huh. I mean… wow. I wonder why she doesn’t like you very much, bro lol

- I’m a Black Sails fan so whenever Anne Bonny shows up I’m like *golden retriever face* HI FRIEND HI sorry about the... poison

- ...is it weird that I want to write fix it fic for Evelyn and Ken

All his letters are so  c u t e  and loving and I am devastated

Puzzling their story together like that was super effective too — it was so cool that if you know what to look for you could find the Tokugawa armor he mentions in the first letter before any other clues, I was going ‘Oh she totally married that beautiful nerd’ right there and then ha ha. Evelyn’s design was wonderful, you could tell the force of nature she must have been in her prime.

Bonus points for Nate looking up at her like a puppy who’s found someone really cool to aspire to. Also their father looks nominally less of a rampant unrepentant asshole if he sold Cassandra’s things specifically to her mentor. Microscopically. I’d still like to kick his ass tho.

- I guess Sam is three to five years older than Nate, then, if he remembers (vaguely) going to Windsor before Nate was even born? Bit hazy on the timeline here, because Nate’s memories of their parents — especially their mum — must be quite hazy if, like Marlowe states in U3, he was surrendered to the state at the age of five and they moved around with their dad a lot even before that.

- Nate was the most tired-looking twelve year old I have ever seen and it hurts me

The fact that Nate started off looking exhausted and a little snub-nosed and grew into a very handsome and charming young man (ssssh I’m in no way biased here just because he’s my son) while Sam was sweet and bright-eyed as a teenager and now looks like someone who is low-key dealing drugs around the local high school… this game is truly a tour de force of character design

- So apparently Shoreline was already off to a bad start when Nadine took over? That makes it doubly sad that she’s judging herself so harshly for losing it when her father had already left it to her as a mess :(

- THANK YOU ELENA AND SULLY FOR SAVING THIS WONDERFUL FOOLISH BOY YET AGAIN. “I left my life for you”  D: D: D:

Also slightly sad that Sam has… literally nothing except Nate and Avery’s treasure? On the other hand that’s entirely his own fault so. Less sad. (Makes me immensely thankful Sully and then Elena found Nate when they did)

- Nate… using his words… cautiously expressing how he actually felt… Elena mulling it over… realizing part of why she loves him is that weird restless brain of his doing its thing……. coming up with a solution where they can solve it as partners in the ending………... I am clinically ded, go on without me

- Realest GPOY moment: Sully’s flat immediate ‘no’ to Nate going off to save Sam on his own. He’s so scared!!!! And so was I!!!! My soul bond with an American con man three times my age continues to be unbreakable

- Relieved that my sister was in control for the fencing bit, because I don’t know if I could handle being responsible for Nate’s safety like that

That said, how destroyed was I that Nate didn’t really start fighting back before Rafe threatened his family? Completely, though it does force me to take the words ‘ludonarrative dissonance’ in my mouth for the first time in my life — no way does he kill as many people in the reality of the story as you do in gameplay if he’s still this hesitant to respond to someone openly trying to murder him lol. I realize this is a game and they need some kind of pretense to keep it from being a movie with the occasional QTE, but Naughty Dog you can’t just… repeatedly show that Nate has a hard time killing in cold blood and then have him take out an army in the next breath

(Naughty Dog: We did and you’re completely willing to go with it lawl. Me: Oooooh I hate that you’re right)

- Nadine stone cold leaving those bitches behind Worked for me, you do you you beautiful disaster, see you next game with your excellent character development. Another wonderful thread they continue into The Lost Legacy: Sam being forever relegated to the back seat. Yes good.  

- Sully promptly semi-adopting a second Drake brother, arguably the tougher case. A power move if ever I saw one.

- I deeply respect Naughty Dog’s decision to make an epilogue to let me know everyone is safe and happy and it all turned out okay, but I also wish they wouldn’t have ha ha. The last scene with Elena and Nate perfectly set that up for me already, specifically spelling out one happy ending among the many that could have happened actually somewhat cheapened it for me? The ‘flash forward, now they have children, get immediately invested!’ move is already suuuuch a hard one to pull off and I think it did it about as well as they possibly could, but somehow I also begrudge Cassie for her position in the narrative and that’s not how I want to feel about it, y’know? Actually it’s fine, I’ll accept it, because their dog is named Vicky and Nate writes in his journal that he’d call his pet lemur Victor and it made my entire week

- Having played three of the games I can still say that Uncharted 3 is definitely my fave, but then parts of that seem genuinely tailor made specifically for me, so that’s not really a surprise ha ha

- Thank you, Uncharted, for being the emotionally intelligent yet light hearted adventure story with lovable characters I needed in this dark cold winter and making me spill over with so many flaily happy words. 

[wrestlingbabe]

Make it all better.

Baron Corbin/OC- Reader and Baron get into an argument that leads to Baron showing her how much he was sorry.

Warnings: Arguing(like a little bit, does this need to be a warning,), smut, hair pulling, like a spank.

Shoutout to that anon who requested this. I just recently started to get into Baron so I hope this was everything you’ve ever wanted. Sorry that it was kind of short. Also shoutout to the people who want to get tagged in this stuff @the-geekgoddes @vebner37

I used to love when Baron came home. We would spend majority of the time together and never worry about anything. He always treated me like I was the greatest thing to ever happen to him, but recently everything has kind of changed.

Now when he comes home we spend maybe a day out of a week or two together. The guys are always around either hanging out at our place or him at theirs. If he isn’t doing that than he is working on his motorcycle. When he is home he never helps me out with anything like taking out the trash or laundry and it was starting to upset me.

1 week later----

“Hey babe can you make sure you take out the trash before I get back?” I yelled over him and the guys watching T.V.

“Uh yeah I got you.” Baron didn’t even look at me.

I walked out of our place and got into my car trying not to have a breakdown. I didn’t understand why everything had to be a problem with him. I got to the grocery store and went inside. I was half way done when I got a text from Baron.

3:21 “Wait what did I need to do? I forgot.”

I looked up at the ceiling for a second and groaned. I replied and went on with shopping.

3:21 “Just need you to take out the trash please.”

I didn’t hear back from him so I assumed everything was fine. I finished my shopping list and went home.

When I arrived I didn’t see Baron’s motorcycle there.”Please Please Please just of taken out the trash.” I opened the door with my arms full of groceries and groaned. The trash was still sitting there. I put the groceries on the counter and picked up my phone to call Baron.

“Hello.” I barely heard him over the music in the background.

“Baron seriously! I asked you to do one thing and you couldn’t even accomplish that. You are barely here and I would love if you could just help me out every once in a while.” Tears started to run down my cheek as I tried to keep my composure. “You barely hang out with me and I’m kind of thinking that maybe its because you don’t want to.” I said the last part quietly as the thought dawned on me.

“WHAT! No babe I love you I could never. I just forgot-”

“YOU TEXTED ME ASKING ME WHAT IT WAS YOU NEEDED TO DO. Just don’t. I’ll just see you when you get home, if you come home.” I hung up the phone before I could hear anymore excuses.

I put the groceries up and went to our bedroom. I laid down on the bed and took a shaky breath. I loved Baron so much but I feel like its only me with those feelings. Maybe he didn’t need me anymore. I moved further up the bed and laid on his side. I laid there for a few minutes before I felt like I was being suffocated by his scent. I rolled over to my side and slowly my eyes started to shut.

I woke up about an hour later to Baron rubbing my back gently. I huffed and wiggled further away from him.

“Y/N I’m really sorry. I know I screw up sometimes and sometimes I act like a dick, but I promise I love you with all my heart and that could never change. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I don’t know what I would do without you.” I felt Baron grab at my waist and pull me closer to him.

“God that was cliche. Which movie did you steal that from? If you wanted to be anymore original you could of quoted the Notebook.” I sarcastically replied while I rolled over to face him.

Baron laid down by side me and pulled me into his chest. “I’m going to work on this more okay. I’m going to tell the boys that I need my lady more than them sometimes and I’m going to take out all the trash always.”

I smiled up at him,” Well I’m taking you up on that promise. So next week when you aren’t here, you better find a way to get here to take it out.” Baron laughed and kissed the top of my head.

“I missed you babe.” Baron placed his hand on my lower back. 

“Oh yeah. Why don’t you show me?” I pushed my hands under his shirt and scratched up his abs.

Baron groaned and pushed me over onto my back. “I would love to.” He got up on his knees and pulled my shirt over my head. He kissed me hungrily. His tongue sliding against mine.

I groaned and started to push my pants down. Baron caught my hands between his, “Let me do that.” Baron kissed down my neck, nipping at the skin there. He reached behind me to undo my bra and immediately started to pinch my nipple. 

I gasped at the sudden harsh movement, ”More baby please.” Baron bent down and started to flick his tongue over my nipple causing me to arch my back. I felt myself getting wetter and started to rub my thighs together to get some sort of relief. 

Baron saw my movement and pushed my thighs open, “Stay still.” He switched to my other breast and gently bit on it, enough to cause a small hickey. “Mine. Understand?”

 I moaned at his words and nodded, “Will you touch me?” Baron smiled and moved further down the bed. He crawled between my legs and pulled my pants off. He played with the top of my panties and then dragged his finger down to my clothed clit.

“You’re so wet. Did you miss me?” He started to rub circles on my clit while I grind my hips up trying to speed him up. Baron pulled my underwear down my legs. He traced his fingers back up my legs starting at my ankles. I let out a small giggle when he got to my thighs. 

“M’sorry just a little ticklish you know.” Baron spread my legs and smiled at me.

“Well than I’m sure my beard will have you squirming.” It took all but a second for me to register what he meant, but the moment I felt him slowly lick my slit I understood.

“Fuck Baron. God don’t stop.” He sped up his actions. When he got to my clit he sucked on it hard and than flicked his tongue back and forth on it quickly. My thighs felt like they were on fire from his beard rubbing them. I knew that tomorrow I would be redder than a brick. My thighs squeezed his head as I was about to go over the edge. “Baby, Baby oh go- Fu- Fu- Fuck. About to.” Baron slipped two fingers into me and my orgasm washed over my whole body. He continued to drive his fingers into me as I rode out my orgasm. I pushed at his shoulder and he sat up.

“Does my baby feel any better?” He said in between sliding his jeans off.

“Much better but I think you could make it a little better.” I said as I slid my hands down my body to my clit. Baron moaned and flipped me to my stomach. I huffed out a breath and pushed my ass up a little.

“Don’t be a tease.” Baron said as he delivered a slap to my ass. I hissed at the contact and Baron ran his hands up my back. He used one hand to direct his dick to my core. He slipped in just his tip causing me to moan,”See, I can be a tease to.”

I smiled to myself and pushed my hips back at him causing him to slide completely in me. We both moaned at the same time and Baron started thrusting at a brutal pace. He pulled my hair into a makeshift ponytail and pulled me up to make my back flushed against his chest. “Missed you so-o much baby. Wanted to do this for such a long time.” Baron moaned and bit my neck. 

His other hand slid down my stomach to my clit. He started to rub slow circles making me whine, “Baron, babe oh speed up, harder please.” Baron lowered me to my elbows and gripped onto my hips. He pulled almost completely out and slam back into me. Every other thrust it felt like the air getting knocked out of me. 

I brought my fingers to my clit and rubbed fast. My eyes rolled back as the pleasure of my orgasm started to build up. “I’m going to cum. Cum with me ple-ease.” 

Baron grunted and started to slow down his thrust giving me a heads up that he was right there with me. He slapped my ass hard and my orgasm finally peaked. My toes curled and legs started to shake at the power of it. “Ba- Ba-beeee.”

Baron moaned at my walls clenching around him, “Baby feel so good. Going-” He groaned out my name as he came.

My arms finally gave out leaving me to land on my stomach. Baron laughed and got up off the bed. As I laid there I heard the shower start up. Baron came up to the bed, “Ready for a shower babe?” I groaned at the thought of getting up but  squealed when Baron picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist.

“Missed you.” I mumbled into his shoulder as he started to walk us to the shower.

“I missed you more. But do I really have to take out the trash?” I rolled my eyes at his question

[4ever-untitled]

My Favorite 20 albums of 2017!

Do these things really need an introduction? This year sucked once again, so let’s just focus on the good music that happened okay? Without further ado, my favorite 20 albums of 2017:

Honorable mentions

St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION 

Rapsody - Laila’s Wisdom 

Blanck Mass - World Eater 

Kesha - Rainbow

Pond - The Weather

Rostam - Half-Light

Birthing Hips - Urge To Merge

20.  Alex G - Rocket

“Incoherent” is a word I suppose you could use to describe Rocket, the seventh album from Alex Giannascoli, but I prefer the term “idea-full”. When your head is full of shit to say, it’s not all gonna come out as a simple little guitar ditty. It might come out as a strange looping piano ballad, or even a Death Grips-esque noise rap track. What I’m saying is, feelings are complex and hard to pin down, and Alex G does his best to wrestle with them on here. It’s a balls-to-the-wall, heart-on-your-sleeve country/folk/rock/noise odyssey that feels immensely personal and universal at the same time. Incoherent? Hey, aren’t we all?

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPuxLpVus-k

19. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

Everyone’s doing trap. Everyone’s doing mumble rap with the Migos flow. Fuck rattling high hats. Fuck ad-libs. Big Fish Theory was an important statement this year; a high profile rapper who teamed up with some underground electronic music producers (not beat makers) to make something truly unique that tried to give the hip-hop envelope a little shove. Here’s the thing though: it still goes really REALLY hard. Vince took a lot of risks on Big Fish Theory, songwriting and production wise, and the results speak for themselves.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6iAzyhm0p0

18. Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives

Sometimes cold, nearly inhuman music can be some of the most emotionally potent. Radiohead's Kid A comes to mind. Albums that are unflinchingly ugly in their worldview and take every effort to make the music sound like it was created against their will, or perhaps by some machine. Love What Survives manages to sound distant, even otherworldly, and yet also jam packed with feeling. Electronic music has an inherent disconnect to it, like the listener was never considered in the first place, but Mount Kimbie manages to put a great amount of humanity to their throbbing electro post-punk. The results, a mix of electronic bleakness and a rich emotional core, are extraordinarily potent front to back, with excellent vocal performances from some of indie music's most unique voices. Mount Kimbie puts humanity into ugly music because, when you take a good look at it, life as a human is pretty damn ugly.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1kzMFnFSh0

17. Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods

(Read my full review here) Yes, I’m serious. You know why I’m serious? Because everyone has their thing. We all have our little niche that we fulfill in this world. We all have something we’re good at. Neil Cicerega’s niche (while he is multi-talented) is making mashup albums, and I’ll be damned if he’s not the best at it. With this, his third installment in the Mouth series, Neil has made the mashup a form of high art. The lines between ironic enjoyment and genuine appreciation are blurred as songs you’ve become familiar with are chopped and screwed and combined in a way that seems in one sense horrific, but in another sense totally amazing. Mouth Moods is hilarious and incredibly enjoyable, but after a couple listens, you don’t listen to laugh, you listen to appreciate. A lot of time and care went into these tracks, and the mere idea of some of these combinations are commendable in their own right (AC/DC’s ”Back in Black” and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” absolutely should not work together, and yet...) This is some of the most fun I’ve had with an album this year, and many moments left me genuinely very impressed, so I’d say that more than justifies it being on this list. It’s not just a meme. This is good music, whether you like it or not.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsoCe7C4Kmk

16. milo - who told you to think??!!??!!??

“I don’t even really have to rap/my nigga, it’s about if you can talk good” proclaims Milo on so the flies don’t come cut “A Song About a Raygunn (An Ode To Driver)”, and on who told you to think, it seems he’s begun talking really good. Milo’s lyricism on flies was poetic, but what he does here on the follow up is straight-up poetry. Less focus on hooks and beats (though those are also very good) and more focus on the words. He seems like the kind of person who obsesses over every syllable, and will never throw in a bar that doesn’t mean the world to him. Milo’s meticulous and abstract style makes diving into his lyrics an absolute blast. He’s a rapper for kids who are tired of hearing about bitches and hoes and want more Shakespeare references and terms that they have to look up in the regular dictionary rather than the urban one. High poetry over a beat. The essence of hip-hop.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mMOsl8qpfc

15. Richard Dawson - Peasant

I, and I’m am sure many others, would file this album in the same category as Joanna Newsom’s Ys. What category is that you ask? Lyrics and melodies that exude a sense of adventure, song structures that meander and drift like waves on the ocean, and stories that feel like mini epics. It doesn’t have a name, but it’s a damn exciting little nook of music that isn’t heard often, and Dawson nails it. Listening to this thing really does feel like a journey; one that’s constantly evolving and never ever boring. Dawson appears to have some sort of fascination with medieval storytelling and instrumentation. But don’t worry, this thing doesn’t sound like Renaissance Fair music. It has a great sense of modern experimentation and loose song structure that differentiates it from actual medieval music, and from pretty much anyone else making folk music right now. It’s an ambitious and wildly fun freak folk album that will draw you in with both its story and its charisma.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7iW5OEeCUw

14. Remo Drive - Greatest Hits

Aw man I miss being in a band in high school. We were one of the smart ones who weren’t under the illusion that “getting big” would be easy if we just really wanted it. We were just in it for fun. Remo Drive, a Minnesotan emo band, are some young whippersnappers who were in the same boat as me in high school, but through some good promotion (including a shoutout from a certain popular music nerd), the boys made it big. I’d be jealous if these guys didn’t completely deserve their success. Okay well, I’m still a little jealous. Regardless, Greatest Hits is a remarkably good debut, and one that has given emo kids around the country something new to latch onto and rightfully obsess over. Is it perfect? No. There are still kinks to work out. But I fucking love this thing and, considering this is their debut album, they can only get better and will hopefully one day become one of the emo greats. Just a prediction though. Maybe they’ll totally blow it. That would suck, but at least we’ll always have the awesome soaring hooks of Greatest Hits to re-listen to over and over and over. And over. 

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kaMiIaT-sg

13. SZA - Ctrl

Love in 2017 is a weird thing. Everyone's so sex positive (which is a great thing!) that more people are open to hookups or being friends with benefits. That's all good and fun, but it can potentially lead to a lot of hurt feelings and heartbreak if there is a lack of communication. Modern music likes to pretend this isn't the case and that we're all out there trying to find a soulmate, but SZA knows what's really going on. She's tired of being used, and she's not afraid to call out shitty behavior by the men in her life. As you could probably guess, this album is very sexual. In fact, “Doves In The Wind” features the word "pussy" exactly 27 times. But sex and relationships is topic that needs to be discussed in 2017, especially from the female perspective. Having a casual hookup can be awkward and being sexually adventurous sometimes leaves something to be desired; a deep connection with another human being. It's not easy, but it's something worth fighting for. SZA tackles all this with a unique flow and swagger, while still keeping herself vulnerable enough for the listeners to connect to her struggle, which is one the most relatable struggles for young people today: have fun and be casual, or try to find something serious? What Ctrl teaches us is that the answer will only come if you try both, inevitably fail, and then learn from your mistakes. Maybe make a great album about it while you’re at it.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMD63TwzB1o

12. Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

Your childhood home is more than just 4 walls with a floor and a ceiling.  Your childhood home is your childhood. Every memory, good or bad, significant or minor, revolves around your home. Mike Eagle’s childhood home, the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago, was demolished several years ago. Using this symbolic destruction, Open Mike Eagle crafted a subtly ambitious and low-key concept album. He uses it is a jumping off point for insightful takes on life for poor minorities in big cities. He also takes time to reminisce on his memories of the projects, both good and bad. It's intimate, smart, and breezy. But most importantly, it's a meaningful exploration on what it really means to be at home. 

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQxXubLTIBw

11. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up

Six years may feel like a long time to wait for an album, but the scope and ambition of Crack-Up justifies it. This is Fleet Foxes’ most dense and intricate album, and one that takes a few listens to fully digest, but also rewards multiple listens with it’s lush soundscapes that reveal a little more of themselves each time. People who, like me, felt that Helplessness Blues was near perfection may not completely vibe with this, but I think that if you truly sit down and give this album a chance, you’ll find a deep beauty to it that’s just as satisfying as anything the band has ever made. It really does feel like an album that would take six whole years to make.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GqgNebPm50

10. Brockhampton - SATURATION Trilogy

In a decade or so when I’m looking back at music through the years, I’ll think about 2017, and immediately go “Oh shit! That was the year of Saturation!” I can’t remember the last time I was as excited about a new force in hip hop as I am about Brockhampton. The three records they dropped this year were somehow all excellent in their own way. Every member shines in their own unique beautiful way, and the production choices are fresh and wonderfully off-kilter. The Saturation trilogy was an amazing feat that could have gone horribly wrong, but all the members and all the fans were extremely invested in making this work, and it did. And then some. The truth of the matter is, no one made an impact this year quite like Brockhampton. 

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_ZRRlVDVa8

9. Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy

Growing up is really a decision you make and not a fact of life. There are always gonna be man-children who never decided to do something with their life. Flower Boy is the sound of Tyler, The Creator finally deciding to grow up and give listeners something that’s been lacking in his music: sincerity. For the first time, Tyler really lets his sensitive side show, and he created a project that peels back the layers on the wild persona he’s created. Turns out he can do a lot more than just shock value rap. He actually has a great ear for melody and production, and his lyrics have become much more nuanced and emotionally resonant. It seems crazy to say this about a Tyler, The Creator album, but Flower Boy is beautiful, and hopefully Tyler will continue to follow this musical direction for future projects. There’s always more room to blossom.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxlBOBOZHqI

8. Perfume Genius - No Shape

While 2014’s Too Bright was an exploration of Mike Hadreas’ beaming confidence trying its best to balance out his crippling insecurities and fears, No Shape is pure confidence with no room for fear and all the room in the world for love. The opener “Otherside” recalls the opening tracks of his previous albums with its hushed piano balladry. but a minute goes by and suddenly there is an explosion of sparkling synths that pulls you right into the majestic world of this album and lets you know this one isn’t like the ones that came before it. From then on it’s one excellently written and immaculately produced track after another on what may be Perfume Genius’s most endearingly weird and wonderful project to date. Mike’s heart was full of love when he made this album, and you can tell. The grace and care that was put into every song is clear, and it makes for a tremendously satisfying listen.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EVhFTw4igw

7. Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights

The most astounding part about Turn Out The Lights is that, after you hear how heartbreaking and beautiful and fearless it is, you listen a little closer and realize how damn relatable it is. Baker makes epic songs about little things that secretly hurt a lot more than we wished they did. The things we’ve all felt and thought about on lonely nights. Like all great art, it’s not just about the artist, it’s about all of us. It’s about the pain of existing and trying to be a human. Julien’s words are the words we’ve all been wanting to say but have never quite know how to put it, and every line hits like punch to the gut. But through all the turmoil, Baker maintains a sense of hope. As she herself put so gracefully, “The existence of anxiety or depression does not negate my own capacity for joy, or my intelligence; when I can embrace those things, I can have power over them.” Through her music, she gives herself power over her illness and let's us know that, even if everything feels like it's breaking, there is still hope.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV1dMqeb4_U

6. The National - Sleep Well Beast

(Read my full review here) I think Sleep Well Beast might be my favorite National album. That’s right, even better than the near-unanimously agreed upon high mark Boxer. I came to this conclusion when I realized that for every great song Boxer has, Sleep Well Beast raises it one. Boxer’s melancholy opener “Fake Empire” is pretty, but “Nobody Else Will Be There” takes the emotion to whole new levels of devastation. You a fan of “Mistaken For Strangers”? I raise you “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness”. Like “Brainy”? You’ll love “Day I Die”. It’s basically a better version of Boxer, but it still manages to sound entirely distinct. The main difference being that their songwriting has become more mature and subdued, which in turn made room for the emotions to really ruminate within the music. I mean, it’s been 10(!) years since Boxer hit shelves, and since then The National have really grown up. Everything has more nuance, more depth, and more maturity. Out of all their albums, it’s the one that hits the most consistently, and also hits the hardest.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O6duDDkhis

5. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

Pure Comedy isn’t for everybody because it wasn’t made for everybody. Honestly, it wasn’t really made for anybody but Josh Tillman himself. He decided to take a step back from the personal squabbles he dealt with on the fantastic I Love You, Honeybear and takes aim at...well, everything really. No topic is safe from Tillman’s deadpan wit and hilariously cynical worldview. The music itself is merely a vessel for Tillman’s impressively coherent rants, which walk that fine line between genius and complete pretension, admittedly slipping into the latter category on some occasions. But even though it can seem like a little much, the scale and ambition of it all can not be undersold. Plus, considering the shitshow that 2017 was, I’d say it’s a perfect time for humanity to get a bit of a wake up call. We needed some crazy old man like Father John Misty to go up on rooftops and tells us that what we’re doing is fucked up. So fucked up, that it’s actually pretty hilarious when you think about it.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHpV08wI-bw

4. King Krule - The OOZ

It really does ooze. Every song, every word, every little moment seems to just pour out of you speakers like syrup. The OOZ is like a puzzle. It has so many moving parts that it takes many listens for it all to start sinking into place. The big picture it slowly reveals is pretty ugly. Krule’s worldview seems tragic, and he constantly feels alone and lost in this world. Nothing makes any sense to him, or the listener for that matter. Why is it called Biscuit Town? What’s a Dum Surfer? I still don’t have all the answers, but every time I listen I get a little closer to this album’s real main idea. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but the joy of listening comes from those little revelations, and from the amazement of knowing how much meaning and detail King Krule put into this wild, unflinchingly weird record. It doesn’t need to be fully understood to understand that it is absolutely brilliant.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5-f1Bnltu8

3. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

What is a king to do now that he’s sitting comfortably on his throne? The answer: do what everyone else is trying to do to replace you, and do it way better than any of them. First, he releases  “The Heart Part IV”, a track that dares anyone to fuck with him. Then a week later, he shuts down anyone who would ever try with “Humble”, a track that sees Kendrick being anything but. After the absolute shock of “Humble”, we got DAMN, an album very different from but in many aspects just as admirable as To Pimp a Butterfly or Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City. Kendrick manages to blow every other rapper completely out of the water with his brilliance and talent while still making it look easy. He breezily flows over some of 2017’s most unique instrumentals with bar after bar about life post-TPAB. Kendrick tries not to let his fans, his haters, his family, or Fox News get in his head. He reflects on his past, looks towards the future, and secures his spot as one of the all time greatest rappers to walk the earth. Damn is right.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glaG64Ao7sM

2. Lorde - Melodrama

If there is one musical lesson I’ve learned over the past 2 years, it’s that you should never underestimate pop music. Last year, Beyonce blew me away with Lemonade, and now in 2017, Lorde is the pop star who didn’t let her one hit wonder define her and ended up with an absolute stunner of an album. When pop music is done as well as it on Melodrama, it strikes a nerve with the listener, connects with them on a deep level, and unleashes their basic instincts: to dance, to cry, to laugh, to remember, to hope. This album makes me want to do all of those things, often all at the the same time. I listen to this album and I feel a real connection with Lorde as she too tries to make heads or tails of life as an adult. Does she ever make heads or tails of it? Of course not, but she’s not here to give answers, she’s here to give you an album that will help you through it, an incredibly powerful and mature album at that, and one that perfectly captures the feeling of being on the edge of adulthood in 2017. This early adulthood college era is a messy time in our lives where we try to pretend that we’re fine and that we totally get it, but at a certain point we just can’t keep pretending. It’s all wild parties, broken hearts, lost friends, and trying to just enjoy it all while we’re still young. It’s a confusing, scary and amazing time in our lives where our only focus is getting what we want. It’s all for fun. It’s all for show. It’s all just a bunch of fucking melodrama, and Lorde captured all of it perfectly. For college kids, Melodrama is a gem. A pop album that wasn’t manufactured by a company, but created by someone who really is just like us. Someone who actually gets it. In a time where millennial bashing seems to be the cool thing to do, I am very happy that this album exists to remind me that it’s okay to be young and a little reckless. I mean, if we’re not reckless now, when the hell else can we be?

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0DjcsK_-HY

1. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me

I really wanted to make Melodrama my number one this year. I mean, did you see what I wrote up here? That’s an album of the year write up if I’ve ever seen one. Alas, I had to give it to this album. It would be irresponsible not to. No album, hell, no piece of art that I am aware of has ever captured and expressed the experience of grief so intensely as this album. After the passing of his wife Genevieve, Phil Elvrum hid away in his home and eventually gave us this collection of 12 vignettes discussing the complete and utter emptiness he feels now that his greatest love has gone. Every single thing he does, every place he visits, every word he hears is a reminder of her death. It’s completely and utterly heartbreaking, so much so that listening to it feels almost disrespectful, like you’re eavesdropping in on someone’s very private life. Some call it exploitative, and I would be inclined to agree, yet the songs on here treat her with such deep, rich love and true respect. Even so It is a bit paradoxical. As he says in the beginning: “Death is real/someones there and then they’re not/and it’it’s not for singing about/it’s not for making into art” He dismisses the idea of turning the death of a loved one into art while doing just that. But can you really blame him? Phil just doesn’t know what to think about all this, but he knows how to make music, and that’s what he did. Was it to help with grieving? Was it for closure? Understanding? Was it to honor her memory? No one knows, and I don’t ever need to, because the fact still stands that this one of the most powerful pieces of art I have ever experienced. So yeah, it’s the best album of the year, and in fact one of the best ever made.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2R2Ck8qKWM

Well, thanks for reading everyone! Here’s to a great 2018!

Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/1241380934/playlist/03JmDr3dJSvNigvFAISnbh

[lxvechauncey]

THE LAST AIRBENDER (lol) The frustration of being a faithful man in a time where they don’t exist

I’m confident that there are only a handful of men in America who are 100% faithful to their s/o’s. I am very proud to say that I am one of them. It’s really not difficult to be loyal. But we live in a very bad time. Love isn’t love anymore. Love doesn’t last. I feel like we as a generation of people don’t even really know who we are, still. We live in a generation where it’s no longer frowned upon [or considered at least a little bit cringe worthy] to hear our favorite singers serenade us with stories of infidelity. Admittedly, I’ve definitely found myself boppin’ to some Bryson Tiller and 6lack, and I’m in no way blaming today’s musicians for how we treat one another. But fellas, could you imagine finding out your shorty slept around on you, just for her apology to include “it’s all that Sza I’ve been listening to lately!” Chill, lol. We’re grown. I’m 28. I have a home that I live in with the woman I call the love of my life, I have a job that pays for said home, I have things that I bring to said home that feed my woman, my kid and myself and I have a bed that I sleep in with said woman (sometimes the kid joins us, but that’s usually during a middle-of-the-day nap).

The point that I’m attempting to drive is that I’ve built a very sturdy foundation with a person. You may have noticed that I only mentioned tangible things; house, job, bed, groceries. I bring up those things first because, as a man, I hold an emotional attachment to the shit in my life that I share with the woman in my life. There’s no “hers and mine”. It’s ours. That house feels like an embrace from her, that bed smells like her, and she puts most of those groceries in the oven, lol. I’m so blessed to have this person, I’m blessed to have these things and if I were to succumb to the embrace and the scent of another woman, all my blessings would go away. All these things that God gave me would, not cease to exist but rather continue existing… Without me, in front of me, all because I couldn’t resist temptation? Fuck that.

Now I suppose I’ll get to the good stuff. The feelings. I can feel you guys saying “niggaaa, chill” lol. Don’t stop reading, fellas this is still for you (there’s a Call of Duty reference coming). My shorty and I are not yet married (workin’ on it), that’s where the importance of the job comes in, lol. But we know what we want and we know where we’re headed and so in the mean time, we try and walk the path as much as possible. We don’t just tell each other everything, we don’t just compromise on who should get to drive home from the restaurant when we’re both too tired to touch a steering wheel and why the fuck did we agree to go on this double date on a Wednesday night anyway, knowing that we have to be up for work in the morning? Sometimes I’m still a guy, which means sometimes I’m an idiot who doesn’t consider her feelings, but this relationship has allowed me to step outside of myself. It’s a gift when a person can change you in that way.

Coming from a man who had communication as his biggest weak point in the past, I’m happy to say that I’ve communicated more in this relationship than I have ever communicated in my life with anyone else. Sometimes even, SHE’S the one who needs to pick up the slack in that area (insert flex and milly rock). But the thing I admire most about us is our desire to find a solution to the problem, rather than dwell on who hurt who. I call that keeping score. When you’re in a relationship and your person hurts you and you hold on to it, and then you hurt her and she holds on to it, you’re no longer on the same team. It’s not co-op anymore, it’s versus. In a versus match, only one can emerge the victor. In co-op, you HAVE work together for the win. You have to know your partner and you have to pick up in fields that they lack and they have to do the same for you. But the dope thing about co-op is that there’s no time to keep score. If I accidentally shoot my partner, I gotta run over and heal her before the zombies get close enough to attack me too. In that case, we both lose (we play a lot of Black Ops: Zombies at my place). But I digress…

*Plays J. Cole “Love Yourz”* So my girl’s found a guy who can be man enough to say “oh shit, I was wrong for that, I’m sorry” and I’ve found a shorty who can be woman enough to say “I didn’t realize that hurts you, I won’t do it anymore”. My relationship sounds dope, right? I haven’t even scratched the surface (shoutout to God for the one time). But I said all of that to give you a real glimpse of the sturdy foundation I mentioned earlier. It’s not hard, it’s really just a decision at the end of the day. A vow before the vows, to give it what you have and hold up your half. So, if you’re reading this and you haven’t already found the person worthy enough for your co-op mission in life, just for a moment, imagine you have. Now imagine some saucy little twitch-in-her-step-insta-thot slides in your DMs. Maybe her ass is fatter, maybe her tits are bigger or maybe she’s just a plain ol’ freak with hella followers. After all you’ve been through with your Player 2, after all the levels you’ve been through and all the times you’ve had her back and she’s had yours, wouldn’t it be easier to just shoot that zombie bitch dead in the head, than to let her bite you and get infected? Lol, perhaps I’m driving the reference a little too hard.

I understand that there will always be men who cheat. I understand that there will always be women who cheat. I am no saint. I’ve been a revenge cheater before, but listen… Those people suck, especially the ones who keep it a secret for years and don’t apologize for it until after they’ve been caught. I’m not a blogger by any means, but I just had to get this out, and it all seemed to be too many words for a rap verse, lol. For the women who post “men ain’t shit” tweets and the male celebrities who always find a way to prove them right. For the people who truly believe that love is a fool’s game because in the long run, we all get screwed over in some way. And especially for the girl in a relationship with a faithful and monogamous man, but also who listens too intently to today’s music and watches too much Scandal to see that her life is not as insignificant as a television show or a line in a song, y'all only get half a bar: take a chill pill.

This message is really for the guy who spends all of his time loving only his s/o. If you’re one of those who sees a cute woman walking down the street and doesn’t feel a desire to run up and get her number. If you’re a guy who ignores and/or blocks those insta-thots who slide in his DMs because (they’re probably in 10 other DMs with a copy/pasted introduction and that’s how niggas get herpes but also cuz) there’s no way they could possibly compare to what you already have, all I can say to you, sir is keep going. If you’re a guy who knows what he wants in life, and you know how to truly appreciate what God has given you. Keep going. If you’ve built your foundation with the person you want to spend your life with and you’ve got no intention on fuckin’ up forever. Keep going. You’re a diamond in the rough, bro. You’re not a lame, somebody gotta show the youth and it might as well be us right? Continue shining and the blessings will rain down on you and yours as long as you stay true. You got it.

“And I hope that you stay blessed and highly favored, not stressed and highly labored”

- Chaunce

[mightbedamian]

#TMIishTuesday #51 - DHL - Drama Help Line?

Hey, Before we start: This Austrian human rights organisation “SOS Mitmensch” has called for people to participate in their “Populistenpause”, so ignoring any populistic, anti-islamic, anti-foreigners messages spoken out by people from the right-winged parties. The goal is to not mention anything the political right say - and just ignore them for the entire month of March. I’m going to participate in this campaign, even if I’m from Germany. So, if AfD or CSU or whoever else talk shit from tomorrow on, you won’t hear anything from me on that. It will be hard, but it will be a message. Obviously, the more people participate, the more the impact will be noticable. Feel free to join! Also: Last week I told you that this post would be about dubbing, aka. the synchronised German (or whichever language's) version of the original dialogues of films. I also debated whether I should share my two cents about carnival. But things changed - and so did this week's topic.

Btw, next week's post will be a special one (which is happening upcoming weekend), so the post on dubbing will be up in two weeks. God! So much planning ahead going on. But okay, enough of this rambling. Let's get the drama started! Hey there mighty people of the internet! And welcome to issue #51 of #TMIishTuesday - my weekly Tumblr post about what goes through my weird mind and on what you guys want to know more about. It can be something very personal, it can be something political, it can be completely pointless - but in 99.9 % of the cases, it involves opinions. And mine as well. // Last week was not only the 50th post of #TMIishTuesday. I also talked about my water-proof trousers. Oh, and self-confidence. That's the most important topic. Have a read, if you haven't yet. // Right. Where to start this rant? Probably with the reason that I got into all this shit: My phone. The on/off/unlock key of my beloved Wiko Stairway had had some issues for the last two weeks or so. It wasn't working first touch all the time. On Wednesday afternoon it stopped working completely. Naïve Damian thought, maybe taking out the battery and putting it back in would solve the problem. Erm… But how to turn this thing back on? Mind you: The on/off-key wasn't working. So the only thing that taking out the battery did, was turn off the phone. GG! After a good 30 minutes of trying to loosen the screws to check the inside of the phone, I gave up and accepted that I needed to take the phone to the repair shop the next day - or get a new one. After all I'd had this phone for 4 years. Btw, shout-out to Wiko: I was really satisfied with it! Anyway, given the age of the phone - and remembering that I had thought about replacing it early this year anyway - I decided to look for a new phone. So I spent about 5 hours researching phones on the internet - aka. reading up on test reports. In the end I had enough of it and decided for the Sony Xperia X (which ultimately sent the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the OnePlus 3 to second and third place). And I tried to get it online - with speedy delivery. It turned out that all three electronic shops in Osnabrück didn't have it in stock. It was in stock in ALL stores in the surroundings, though. Typical. I ended up placing an order at Saturn and paying 360 Euros. They told me it would be at my place within 1 or 2 working days. Fair enough. Amazon needed 3-5 days. Would have saved me 40 Euros, but I already couldn't stand the phoneliness after those 6 hours. And I didn't want to spent the entire weekend without one. As usual I put in my Packstation address. If you don't know what Packstation is: German delivery company DHL put up some lockers at basically every other supermarket in German cities. You can register online and then use any of these lockers as delivery address. Advantage over the usual home delivery: They can put it there - no matter whether you're home or not. And you can collect it 24/7. So far - so good of a concept. But I used the locker as delivery address a fair few times so far. And it didn't quite work: Two times the lockers were full - so I had to collect it from the post office. Another time they returned it to sender cause the address options on Amazon didn't indicate my "post no." - the number needed to tell the locker I can retrieve it with my pass. One time I ordered it to my home address cause I was already fed up by this - and they took it to a Packstation further away after I wasn't home. Great job! Oh, and I have to give you that: Last month it actually worked for once! Anyway, I knew I had school all morning and half of the afternoon on both Thursday and Friday, but wanted to make sure I could actually collect the phone the day it arrived. So I thought sending it to the Packstation was a great idea. And it looked like that. I mean… DHL decided to let the parcel sit at the distribution center for an entire day before putting it in the van to Osnabrück. But it's not like I had expect speedy delivery anyway :P And you might be thinking that this is coming to a quick and happy end now. And so did I. But... Things took a turn! At 3.08 pm I got an email telling me: "Hey! Your parcel is ready to be collected at Packstation No. B." I mean… I told them to send it to Packstation No. A, but hey! At least it was there. And given that the post office was closing at 4 pm, I was glad they put it into the other Packstation (assuming that the one I designated was full again). And I got really excited to retrieve my phone! But: Drama gets really drama-ry right now. Get some popcorn! In the email it said: "Hey! When you retrieve your parcel, remember to bring your pass and your one-time pin that's been sent to your phone." When I read this sentence my face turned into utter shock and terror! What the hell!? You need a pin to retrieve parcels from the lockers? I had only done this once before, so I just had forgotten. I was getting really, really mad. So I googled basically anything I could imagine to come up with a solution. Result: It seems you indeed cannot retrieve parcels, if you don't have that stupid pin! I tried, if my phone provider offered an option to look into your messages online. Cause that would make sense, right? But the customer support chat told me "no." (shoutout to the simplytel customer support, btw! Really easy to access the chat and really quick reply!). I then rang all my neighbours' doors to see, if I could borrow their phone for a minute, put my sim card in, get the code - and I would be done. But: Since lots of my neighbours are students and it was carnival, it so happened that none of them was home. So I called the DHL customer service (thank God, they don't make you pay for that!) asking, if there was any way around this? Or if they could send it to my email instead? Nope. No chance. Only by phone. Great! Mine was broken - and I told the kind lady on the other end of the line exactly that. She just said: We can't do anything about that. But you could change the number of your account online and press the “send new pin” button. That's exactly what I did: Called my father to figure out, if he was available. He was in the middle of drinking a coffee at a café with friends, but technically, he was available. Btw, I was REALLY lucky that I have a landline telephone! Don't want to think about how the following conversations would have been, if email had been the only option. So I changed the number of my Packstation account to my father's phone (his secondary phone cause the system didn't accept his first number - it's already saved for his account - great feature, too, DHL! Really handy!) and pressed the "send new pin" button. A moment later, he called telling me the code. I thanked him for his help and made my way to the Packstation my parcel was waiting for me (10 minutes one way). I got really excited when I entered my pass and  the four-character pin. But it said: Incorrect pin. I retried. Incorrect pin. Double-checked on the paper that I had taken with me on which I had put it down during the call: That's the one! Why don't you work then!? Entered the same code a third time. "Entered incorrect code three times. Your parcel is now locked. Call customer service to unlock." - Great! I was out of my mind at this point! WHAT THE HELL WAS HAPPENING!? I stormed home - with no parcel. On the way back I already thought about just hitting the road and driving to the next electronics store that had the phone in stock. That would have meant at least 30 minutes one-way on the road. But at least I would get my phone! At home I saw an email from my dad: "Hey, I just got sent a second code. Hope, you see this in time." - Clearly I did not... And he had sent it only five minutes earlier. That was when I was on my way back from the Packstation already. Shout-out to DHL! So I did the only thing I was left with: Call the customer service again. Thank God, it was a Saturday! Both times my call was answered within one minute, after I had denied the robot service. Anyway, I decided to not tell the customer service about all my anger, but rather just ask them to reset the pin. A minute later my dad rang again: "Hey, so… I just got a third code. Did you ask for that?" - Yes, I did. I thanked him again and both of us hoped the code would not be reset again. Luckily, it wasn't this time. I entered the code and - FINALLY - collected my parcel. A full two hours after the time I would have, if they just had sent the code to my email. -.- Anyway, that's probably the last time I used their Packstation "service". You know, it's a nice concept and everything. But your just screwed when you don't have a phone! Well… A working phone. (Update: I wrote this Monday night. But I already collected another parcel from the locker. This time it worked fine. Cause my phone worked...) Oh, by now I figured out that the first pin DHL sent my dad, after I changed the number on the DHL website, was actually the pin they had sent me earlier (which I couldn't see because of acute deadphonitis). Apparently the website couldn't cope with SO MUCH information - changing the number and "ordering" a new pin - that it took 30 minutes to send the new pin. GG! -.- To end this on a positive note: Shout-out to my dad for supporting me all the way! And: My new phone works perfectly fine! As far as I can see, it's definitely worth the money! Downside: I lost all my contacts (cause I had saved them on my old phone - and you can only access the storage when the phone is turned on. Which it won't anymore. Screw this!). Slowly but steadily collecting all the contacts again now. Anyway, thanks for listening to my rant. And if I may give you one piece of advice: Only use the Packstation “service” when you have a back-up plan! Get a back-up phone first. Instead I might send everything to the post office directly from now on. Extra work for them. Revenge is sweet! Before I go let me know your thought on DHL and the Packstation thingy. Have you used it? Were you more lucky than me or was it quite the disaster I experienced? Place a comment, tweet me, dm me, or do anything else you can think of to get to me. Queer Shoutout you say? First off: Massive congrats to everyone involved in the Moonlight film for winning the Best Picture Oscar! So cool to see an LGBTQ+ film rocking the Oscars! And congrats to Mahershala Ali, who played the drug dealer Juan at his younger age. And finally congrats to Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney who won the Writing Oscar for the story! Queer Shoutout of the week: An article in German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung - a story about an Israeli family. In short: A gay guy is looking for a lesbian to make a baby. They move in together, take care of their child - and each of them still has a(nother) partner. Sounds strange? It is! But very much worth the read. As always: Next #TMIishTuesday next Tuesday. If you have any questions in the meantime, just ask away. Whatever you’re curious about - I don’t bite. :)

Until then: Stay mighty!

Linkage: - Populistenpause: http://www.sosmitmensch.at/populistenpause - Queer shoutout: http://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/45579

 Oh, and here’s some self-promo: - Last #TMIishTuesday: http://mightbedamian.tumblr.com/post/157536488943/tmiishtuesday-50-being-me-or-self-confidence - All #TMIishTuesdays: mightbedamian.tumblr.com/tagged/tmi - More #TMIishTuesdays on random topics: http://mightbedamian.tumblr.com/tagged/me - More very cool stuff: www.twitter.com/mightbedamian - Even more very cool stuff: mightbedamian.tumblr.com