#blue Jean committee

[fandomtransmandom]

My dear friend bought me a record player so I can finally hear my Blue Jean Committee vinyl!

[greenteanlemon]

I remember my mom telling me all about them! Been a fan ever since! Carried the 70's !

[greensparty]

Talking with Fred Armisen

This marks only the second time (I hope not the last) that I have had the chance to interview an SNL alum (the first was Siobhan Fallon Hogan). Mr. Fred Armisen joined SNL in 2002 and ended his run in 2013, but he's made a number of appearances since then and even hosted in 2016. He has had a very unique career in that he began as a musician, drumming for the Chicago punk band Trenchmouth, and then got into comedy, which lead to SNL. As a cast member he brought musical elements to many sketches he was in. He garnered a lot of attention by becoming a cast member doing an impression of a sitting president when he played President Obama during the first Obama term. Beyond SNL, he has appeared in a number of films and TV shows both big and small, notably Wednesday, Eurotrip, Band Aid, and a number of Kevin Smith films (including Clerks III). He made a big swing as an actor on the limited series Forever, where he and Maya Rudolph play a married couple in the afterlife. He's also made Comedy Gold with TV's Portlandia (IFC 2011-2018) and Documentary Now! (IFC 2015-2022). In addition to his acting, he is the musical director and sometimes band leader on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Mr. Armisen still does comedy tours and he is going to be in Boston at the Wilbur Theatre on August 15. I recently spoke to him via zoom and he was just as cool and nice as I hoped.

promo poster for Fred Armisen's current comedy tour

Me: You have had such a fascinating career, unlike anyone else in SNL history. You began as a musician and then evolved into comedy and acting. At this point in your career, do you consider yourself to be a musician who does comedy? Or a comedian who does music? Or basically both?

FA: I feel like I'm a comedian who does music. Because comedian is where I really found my footing. Even when I do music, it's in the comedy genre. It's all parody and impressions and stuff like that. So there's not enough music in my artistic life to really call myself a musician first. Although music is a gigantic part of my comedy, I'd say comedian is my vocation.

Me: You have this show coming up at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston. You're no stranger to Boston. Just last year you were here to host the Zildjian 400th Anniversary Concert. Do you enjoy playing Boston?

FA: I love playing Boston! It's been a part of my touring life since I was in a band. When I was in Trenchmouth we used to play The Middle East. Always had a great time there! And then doing stand-up, I played Boston Calling [in 2019] and I really loved that show. I can't think of a show I did here that was less than spectacular. It's always been really really fun! You know, Boston looks so cool. Even though it's a little hard for me to find parking and stuff, I do like that it looks a little like England. It's set up like London a little bit. That's always exciting to me.

Me: At this point and time in your career, do you enjoy mixing it up by filming a TV show or movie and then going out on the road and doing some live shows?

FA: Oh I love it. I really give me an eclectic lifestyle. Like I'll do a fancy TV show for Netflix, and then I'll do a record store show where I do punk rock covers for like 100 people or a stand-up show at a theater. Then some weird movie. I love jumping around, it really makes me feel like I'm in many different aspects of show business. I love show business! I love performing, I love comedy, I love music. It's a weird thing. I've been doing it for a while now and I'm way into it. Like even a soundcheck is fun and thrilling for me. I'm just into it, I love doing it.

Armisen and some of his many SNL characters

Me: Looking at SNL history, there's always been musical sketches, i.e. Wayne's World performing with Aerosmith, The Blues Brothers, the list goes on and on. But looking at your run at SNL so many of the characters you played were musicians, i.e. Fericito, part of Garth and Kat, and Ian Rubbish to name a few. Do you feel like your style of comedy which included music was really embraced and supported when you started on SNL?

FA: Oh, in a big way. Right down to my audition, which was Fericito, who's like a Tito Puente kind of character. All throughout my run there I used music as a framework around the characters that I did. The show was really supportive of that. Some of the sketches were abstract like The Blue Jean Committee, these really weird ideas that the show was very supportive of. And we played the music live so they really wanted to make sure the sound was good. They - the show - put a lot of work into it.

The other thing I want to say about it is, it's what I grew up on. I grew up on SNL. I always loved SNL, I worshipped SNL. All of the stuff I did was because of the stuff I watched on SNL. I knew it would fit somehow, because of Candy Slice (Gilda Radner's character that was kind of like a version of Patti Smith), and I was a little kid, but I understood and wanted to be whatever that was. She just sang a song, there was really no joke to it. Eddie Murphy did one where he was this reggae singer [Tyrone Green] at an Elks Club and that idea of a performer somewhere that isn't the right place to play. Then, of course, Wayne's World. Even Sprockets had it to a certain degree, like when they're all dancing and stuff, that had a big effect on me. I didn't even know Mike Myers personally or anything but I could tell that it was influenced by Kraftwerk. And then it turned out it was influenced by Kraftwerk. So all the way though I really lived for what SNL was all about when it came to fake bands.

Me: Let's talk about Portlandia, the comedy you co-created and starred in for IFC. I actually worked for AMC Networks (the entertainment company that owns AMC, IFC, We and Sundance Channel) when Portlandia premiered in 2011. You could really tell early on that the show was catching on. I have to ask, did you have a favorite sketch you did on Portlandia?

FA: I loved doing Portlandia, which was also an extension of band stuff. Carrie [Brownstein] is from the band Sleater-Kinney, who are my favorite band so to do a show with Carrie is the best! My favorite sketch - we had these characters who were like these goth characters. Not even goth, more like death metal / goth mix of the two. Where our faces were painted with dark circles around our eyes. It was kind of scary. One time we did one where we were going to the beach, but no one's aware because we had these flowy robes and we see Glenn Danzig who says "sometimes in order to have fun you have to look a little lame". So the sketch had a real point to it and I liked doing those characters.

early TV ad for Portlandia

Me: I got to cover Sleater-Kinney's concert in Boston earlier this year. I said in my review and I'll say this now, that it is so ironic that the masses know Carrie Brownstein for her acting and Portlandia versus Sleater-Kinney.

FA: Yeah, it's such a funny thing. I guess there's a few people who know both. But I feel like over the last ten or fifteen years, it seems like there are a lot of people who do multiple types of entertainment. Like something just happened where you would see Jane Lynch hosting a game show and then also in a well-reviewed movie or TV show. A good example is Questlove is like that, where he's a bandleader, but at the same time he's an Academy Award winning director. So it fits that Carrie is known for Sleater-Kinney and Portlandia. She's a director too by the way!

Me: I, myself, am a documentarian. We both have a mutual friend in Scott Crawford, who directed Salad Days, which you were interviewed for. That doc and my doc Life on the V: The Story of V66 were on the festival circuit at the same time playing similar festivals and we both have the same distributor as well. Do you think the experience you've had being interviewed for documentaries was something you brought to Documentary Now!, where you were lampooning not just popular documentaries but the tropes of documentary filmmakers as well?

FA: Wow, that's an interesting question. [pauses] I never thought about it, but now that you mention it, it does feel very separate. Because when I'm interviewed for documentaries, I just try to help the documentary itself. What can I say in an interview that's on the subject matter. Where can I contribute to it without trying to make it into too much of a big deal. Like one thing I do is I always try to keep it concise. Just so I'm not lingering and talking about a band forever, keep it quick. With Documentary Now! it's almost like we're making fun of something that already exists. So they haven't crossed over yet, but they are very separate things. I feel like "let me do a good job being interviewed for this documentary" and the other is "okay, how can we parody this documentary that already exists".

Going back to what you said about working for AMC, that was an exciting time. I remember things were starting to happen on cable. Shows are starting to happen. A whole new world of shows. I remember The Walking Dead was so gigantic on AMC. To me, that felt like the first big show that really made networks re-think what they were doing. They had serious numbers, it was like there was a real pull audience out there.

Armisen in Documentary Now!'s "Final Transmission" parody of Stop Making Sense

Me: Absolutely. I was there during the run of The Walking Dead and Mad Men on AMC and then IFC making a name for themselves with alt-comedy with Portlandia. It was really an exciting time when I was there. But, I think it's very cool that with IFC's Portlandia and Documentary Now! they are very different, but your voice is very much there in both. I do need to ask one quick question about Documentary Now!: I am a lifelong Jonathan Demme fanatic and I was curious if you ever heard from Demme or the Talking Heads about the Stop Making Sense parody?

FA: Oh yeah. I've talked to David Byrne about it. Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth helped do a promo for our version of Stop Making Sense, the Test Pattern. So we've mixed our worlds together. David [Bryne] knows about it, he's very familiar with Test Pattern. I have some friends who worked on American Utopia, David Byrne's Broadway show, and just as a joke he said he didn't have anyone as an understudy, so he was like "well, Fred can do it" as a joke. We're very much in touch about that. With Jonathan Demme, I never spoke to him but I would think he would know that we did it out of love. We just wanted to re-create what that was.

I remember when that movie came out. Boy, I loved that movie so much. That movie also used to keep re-coming out. It was always playing at the artsy movie theaters. So you'd go to the movies and there'd be some Terry Gilliam or Monty Python movie playing and then Stop Making Sense. But I went to that original tour for Speaking in Tongues, I remember seeing that show live. Talking Heads and David Byrne will always be a huge influence on me!

Me: In 2015, I was at a film festival, actually Salad Days was at that same festival as well. And they had a big anniversary screening of Stop Making Sense. It was an amazing sound system, a great venue. The entire audience was on their feet dancing and singing along the whole time. I later read that that was what their intention was for the documentary.

FA: Yeah and it worked. The screenings they've had this year, same thing. People dancing all the way through. We're so used to, I grew up later on MTV so we're so used to everything being so edited down. It's pretty wild to sit through Stop Making Sense and it's a full song, then another full song - you can't help but dance. It actually does become a concert.

Armisen's Ian Rubbish sits down with members of The Clash in this LOL short The Clash: The Last Gang in Town

During our interview, Mr. Armisen took notice of my CD collection in the background behind me and asked about my collection and he briefly talked about his love of physical media. As our interview was ending, I thanked him and joked that next time he should check out my CD collection. He said "I'm glad you have it on your screen. Because there's a lot happening in politics and none of the candidates are talking about how we should be proud of our CD collections. We need to come to a time in our lives where we're displaying them. We all have CDs somewhere." I laughed and said "I think they need to court the CD vote". He laughed and I said "Wow - I just made you laugh, I'm so proud of myself" and he replied "That was a real laugh too by the way". I've had some cool celebrity encounters, but knowing I got to make Fred Armisen laugh is definitely pretty high on my list of coolest celebrity encounters ever!

For info on Fred Armisen

For info on his show at Wilbur Theatre on August 15

[slytherheign]

YOU BELONG WITH ME | tasm!peter parker

PAIRING: high school senior!tasm!peter parker x high school senior!fem!reader

WORD COUNT: 3.9k

SUMMARY: you can’t help but feel insecure when you realize your best friend peter and the most famous girl in the school are keeping a sweet secret from you.

WARNINGS: cursing/swearing, awkwardness, jealousy, insecurities, self-loathing, reader is an overthinker and assumes things easily. let me know if i missed any warnings. [⚠︎︎RATING: G]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: inspired by taylor swift’s song with the same title. angst with happy ending. dedicated to @joshiiieeenesx, thanks for supporting me and requesting this. i hope you’re having a great day!

DESTINATION: Sweet Street | GO BACK TO THE STATION. CLICK HERE FOR ALL THINGS YBWM (reviews, commentary, etc. about this fic).

It was Friday Night.

Your favorite day and time of the week because of your tradition with Peter to order pizza and watch a movie. Tonight was a bit different though, you both decided to order your least favorite flavor of pizza and watch the lowest-rated movie ever. 

Peter made a joke in the middle of the movie, causing you to laugh and cover your face with your hands. It was a habit you developed since you were a kid when a bully made fun of you for having an ‘ugly-laughing’ face. “Stop,” he chuckled as he captured your wrists with his hands. “Stop what?” you questioned unknowingly, allowing him to hold your wrists and pull them away from your face. You stared at him confusingly.

“Stop covering your face when you laugh,” he said. “I can’t see your pretty face.” Peter would always make little comments here and there about you, most of them being compliments. You ought not to make it serious since you’d always tell flirty jokes to each other, but you just can’t help but feel a little flutter in your stomach every time he would compliment you.

You tried covering the increasing redness of your cheeks with laughter. “I’m serious. Stop covering your face,” he told you. “What if I told you I’m doing it on purpose?” you thought of a quick funny remark.  “And why, may I ask, are you doing it on purpose?” he quirked an eyebrow. 

“Let’s just say, if you see my beautiful face when I’m laughing, you might just fall in love,” you joked, smirking at him. There was a tinge of the color red in his cheeks, but he was quick to hide it with a chuckle.

“Well, why don’t you let me see your beautiful face then let’s see if I really fall in love?” he remarked. Once again, you laughed because you didn’t know how to respond. Peter was laughing with you when his phone suddenly rang. He quickly stood up, covering the name of the caller with his hand before walking to a private secluded room in his house to answer it. You didn’t mind it. After all, everyone deserved privacy when they’re talking to someone on the phone. Besides, you were actually quite thankful because the phone call interrupted the growing awkwardness in the room. You paused the movie while Peter talked on the phone in the other room.

Minutes passed and you were getting bored of waiting for him. You decided to pull your phone from your jeans pocket and open the Instagram app for a bit. Your feed was pretty much full of your schoolmates that were either busy preparing for prom next friday or busy with the upcoming game on Monday. You scrolled mindlessly, double-tapping each post from your close friends when you stumbled upon a post from her.

Gwen Stacy. Blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect body. The cheer captain, head of the planning committee, the smartest in school… well, not the smartest because that would be Peter… but still the smartest girl in school. Having all that, you’d think she was the type to be the typical mean girl, but no… she’s actually the nicest.

In the picture, she was smiling with the other cheerleaders, their teeth as white as snow and their faces as beautiful as barbie dolls even when they were sweating. Sometimes you just wonder if they ever had a bad hair day or they’re just perfect all the time.

“Please! Gwen, come on!” you heard Peter yell. Gwen? Why was he talking to Gwen Stacy?

“Really? Yes!” you heard him exclaim excitedly. A pang of jealousy hit your chest, the feeling was unwelcome because you knew he wasn’t even yours to begin with. But still, it hurt.

The next thing you heard was his footsteps nearing the door. You collected yourself immediately, greeting him with a smile as he opened the door.

“Sorry about that,” he smiled, with the same fucking smile you fell in love with. He sat next to you on the couch, subtly putting his arm on the back just around where your head was resting. He grabbed the remote from your hand, but for a few seconds, you felt it linger when his hand touched yours.

He pressed the play button and you both continued to watch the movie.

“Okay, just so we’re clear. You think Peter and Gwen are dating?” your other friend, Mary Jane, iterated on the phone. It was Sunday night, the only time MJ had free time this week since she was also a cheerleader.

“Yes,” you answered clearly. “I heard them talking on the phone the other night. Peter seemed really happy and excited.”

“And what do you feel about that?” she asked.

“Uh–I don’t know?” you admitted.

“I call bull. Come on, I know you’re in love with Peter.”

“Okay. I do have feelings for him… but I don’t think he feels the same about me. He probably asked Gwen to be his prom date even though we promised we’d take each other to the event.”

“So you’re not going to prom anymore?”

“I mean I already have a dress so I guess I’ll still go. It just sucks that I’ll be going without him.”

“Since when did you get a dress?!” 

“Uhh… since last week?” 

“And you didn’t even tell me?” she made a sound of absolute shock. Knowing her, you knew she probably had her hand on her chest while making that sound. “I could’ve helped you pick.”

“It’s not a problem honestly. Besides, I kinda wanted it to be a surprise?”

“Can you at least tell me the color?” she pleaded.

“Blue. Like the kind of blue in Spider-Man’s suit.”

“Weird way to describe a color. Is there a specific reason why you chose blue? I thought you never liked blue.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you but don’t tell anyone about this because I think Peter is kinda embarrassed about it… Peter is obsessed with Spider-Man. He’s such a huge fan of his–maybe even his number one fan. He even tried to hide it from me, but when I found a Spider-Man suit in his closet he just started getting really nervous and he only stopped when I told him it’s fine if he’s a fan. I’m not judging him, I think Spider-Man is really cool too,” you explained. “I was hoping he’d notice the color reference but now that he’s going with Gwen Stacy, I doubt he would even look at me.”

“You really think Peter would ignore you? Have you seen how that man looks at you?”

“He looks at everyone like that. It’s nothing special,” you denied.

“Listen, believe what you want to believe but I know Peter is definitely in love with you too. But if you did end up alone and out of place at the event, you’re welcome to sit with me.”

“Thanks, but you literally have a date. I don’t wanna be a third wheel,” you laughed. “I appreciate the thought though,” you exchanged goodbyes not long after that, wishing her good luck on their cheer performance.

You thought hard about what she said. Peter did become more clingy to you these last few months and he always made sure to text or call you every day. You guessed there really was a chance Peter shared the same feelings with you. 

Maybe he was just talking to Gwen as a friend.

You were at the gymnasium where you'd have to watch student-athletes pass the ball to each other, all having the same objective to shoot the ball in their respective goals. And when a member of a team claimed their shot, it would repeat all over again. 

You were never into sports. If you had a choice, you’d rather stay in bed and continue reading Looking For Alaska, but instead, you were stuck sitting on the bleachers while watching cheerleaders dance their routine in such a flawless manner. As much as you wanted to focus on MJ and support her, your eyes couldn’t help but look at Gwen. She really was mesmerizing.

You were too busy comparing her shiny legs and the way they moved with their short flowy skirts with your simple t-shirt and sneakers to even notice someone sitting beside you.

You continued watching Gwen dance, focusing on her pretty face and realizing that even in her sweaty condition she still kept dazzling everyone in the room with her beautiful smile. You noticed her wink in your direction. For a moment you thought she was winking at you, but when you followed the direction she was smiling at you noticed it was directed at someone beside you—Peter. 

Funny. You didn’t even know Peter was beside you.

“Hi?” you greeted, putting your best smile in front of him while your stomach ached from cruel jealousy.

“Hey,” he simply replied, before focusing on the phone he just got out of his pocket. He was busy texting someone. 

“So…you already have a suit for Friday?” you asked, trying to start a conversation. He shook his head. “Nope. But I plan on looking later today.”

“Cool. Do you want me to go with you? I don’t have anything to do after this,” you offered. 

He stopped and finally looked at you. You noticed how his eyes widened at your question and after mere seconds of looking at your eye, he looked away. He didn’t even need to open his mouth, his body language already told you that he already had someone he was going with.

You felt too sick to even hear his reply, immediately knowing the answer. You excused yourself, going straight to the bathroom to try to compose yourself and your body that was slowly starting to shake. You looked at yourself in the mirror, yelling inside your head to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. 

You and Peter were supposed to be inseparable. From childhood up until that moment earlier on the bleachers, you thought you would end up together.

All those years, you have convinced yourself you would be together and told the stars that he belonged with you.

But maybe he belonged with someone else.

And if you truly loved him, who were you to stop him from following his heart?

The moment you stepped inside the school tomorrow morning, Peter immediately wrapped his arm around your shoulder.

If it was yesterday or the days before, you would’ve loved it and your stomach would’ve already been swarmed with butterflies. But today, all it felt was aching pain.

“Hey,” he kissed your cheek, a thing he always did whenever he saw you at school. “MJ told me you went home early yesterday because you weren’t feeling well. Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve walked you home.”

“It’s fine, really,” you answered. It wasn’t fine, but how could you tell him he was the reason you couldn’t bear to stay at school yesterday?

“Well, I missed you. You got me really worried.”

And there it was again, the feeling of your heart jumping just from the words he said and how his voice spoke them. Was Gwen even okay with him putting his arm around your shoulder and walking with you in the hallways?

You did your best acting like everything was alright for the rest of today. Peter was busy texting Gwen for most of the time anyway, it wasn’t hard to convince him everything was fine.

Classes for Wednesday and Thursday were suspended to give way for prom preparations. You didn’t have much to do on Wednesday, so when MJ offered an idea to practice doing makeup and putting on the dresses to prepare for prom, you agreed.

You sat in your room in front of your vanity mirror while MJ did your makeup for you. She matched the eyeshadow with the color of your dress, and you must admit, she did amazing. Next was your hair, you requested it to be an updo, with the hairpins you picked out scattered attractively.

For a moment, you wondered what Peter could be doing right now. His house was just next to yours, his bedroom window facing yours and if you only pulled your curtains aside, you would see him through his window—if it wasn’t covered by his curtains.

Mary Jane snapped you back to reality by complimenting the details of the dress she just pulled out of your closet. “I need to see you in this dress now.”

You chuckled but complied nonetheless. With her help, you carefully put on the dark blue long dress. “Shit. This dress is made for you,” she complimented. It was true, you were indeed a vision. The dress hugged your body perfectly and the details were perfect to your liking. You never liked the color blue, but this dress got you second thinking. 

After putting on your heels, you checked yourself out in the mirror when MJ’s phone suddenly rang. “Peter? Hi,” she answered. As soon as she said his name, you turned around to face her.

“Are you okay?” MJ asked Peter. “You sound ill.”

“What’s happening?” you didn’t care anymore if Peter wasn’t talking to you. Something was wrong with him based on MJ’s reaction, and you were concerned.

“Oh my god.”

“MJ, what is it?” 

“Something is really wrong with him. I think we need to go to his hou–” she didn’t have the opportunity to finish her sentence when you immediately walked out of your room still in your dress and on your way to Peter’s house. MJ followed you but stayed outside Peter’s house. She smirked the moment you entered his house. Everything was going as planned.

Aunt May was thankfully on vacation somewhere, you couldn’t imagine her reaction if she saw you rushing towards her nephew’s room in a long dress and in heels. 

You carefully knocked on his bedroom door, announcing your presence. “Y/N?” he asked and you hummed in response. “I’m in here,” he answered from the next room. As far as you can remember, that room was an empty one. You weren’t sure why Peter was in there but in times of emergencies like this one, you didn’t care. “Can I open the door?” you asked.

“Yes.”

You did not expect what you saw.

The room was dark as a result of the windows being covered. On the floor were littered little candles with your favorite scent lit up to light the room in a romantic manner. There was an area left for you to walk leading to the middle of the room, which had a space just enough for two people. You also noticed the petals of roses scattered on the floor as a string version of your favorite song started playing. 

A figure emerged from the shadows—Peter. He offered his hand for you to take and only then when he led you to the middle did the fire from the candles revealed his outfit. He was wearing a suit that perfectly matched the color of your dress. You didn’t know how he knew the exact color of your dress, you would ask him that later.

You were both speechless, neither knowing what to say. “Wow…” he breathed out. “How could a person look so beautiful? You are unreal.”

“Thank you,” you blushed. “You look handsome too.”

He held your hand and guided it towards his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of it before holding each of your hands with both of his.

“Peter?” you started to say. “What–”

“You know I prepared a whole speech just for this moment,” he interrupted. “And then as soon as I saw you, I just forgot every single thing in the world because you’re the only one that matters.”

Tears were starting to gloss your eyes but before you could start crying from his sentiment, you asked him a question that has been vexing you for quite a while.

“What about Gwen?”

His face was quick to react to your question. His forehead scrunched up, looking at you as if to tell you if you could emphasize your question.

“I thought you were together. You were talking to each other pretty much the whole week. You were texting and calling each other, she was with you when you picked your suit, and then I saw her wink at you at the game.”

His face slowly dawned with realization. As soon as he realized what you were talking about, he couldn’t help but laugh. But upon seeing your worried face, he stopped laughing at once and looked straight into your eyes with absolute seriousness.

“Gwen and I are nothing more than just friends. We are not together. We’ve been talking to each other a lot because I asked her for help on how to surprise you. She also helped me pick the right suit so I wouldn’t embarrass myself with a lousy one. She winked at me at the game because she was excited that after the game ended, we would set up this surprise. And also because I was sitting next to you in the bleachers, she kinda saw me stare at you while you were busy watching the cheer routine. The wink was just her teasing and being excited. It doesn’t mean anything, I swear. It’s only you. I only want you.”

“Shit. So I really just overthought the whole situation,” you chuckled. “I’m so stupid.”

“No, you’re not stupid. Don’t invalidate your feelings, It’s completely understandable. If I was you I’d think the same too.”

After a short moment of soft understanding silence, you felt him stiffen. His hands now held yours a little bit tighter. “Can I ask you a question?” he finally said.

“Let me guess, you want me to be your prom date?” you tried to ease the tension with the obvious question.

“Yes, and no.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I want to take you to prom, yes. But that’s not the only thing I want. I want to take you on dates, I want to dance with you not just at events organized by the school, I want to buy you flowers, every day if I can; I want to watch scary movies with you and laugh when you’re too scared and you hide yourself with a pillow, I want to watch sad movies with you and bring you tissues and cuddle you the moment you cry, I want to watch romantic movies with you and cringe together when the characters do something embarrassing and wrap my arms around you when you blush at something sweet that they do. I want the tears, the pain, the frustration, the confusion, the sweetness, the laughter—everything. I want everything. With you.”

“Pete…”

“We’re seniors. Next year, we’re going to college. We will take on different paths and places, but before that even happens, I want you to be my place that’s never changing. And if you feel the same, I want to be your place that’s never changing too. You have been my best friend since we were kids, and I don’t want my memory of us to be just two people being friends since childhood,” he said before resting his forehead against yours. “I am in love with you, Y/N L/N. Would you be willing to enter a relationship that’s more than friends with me?”

Tears glossed over your eyes again, but this time, you let one fall. Peter was quick to wipe it with his hand. “Tell me you don’t feel the same and I will not hold it against you. Tell me you don’t feel the same and I will not cross the line of being more than friends. Know that I will not force you into a relationship you do not want. Tell me if you don’t feel the same and I–”

“Yes,” you stopped him before he could finish his sentence. “The answer is yes. I am in love with you as well, Peter Parker. I have been for a long time.”

Peter smiled, now feeling his own tears try to escape his eyes but he didn’t let them fall. “May I dance with you?”

You chuckled but agreed, letting him guide you into position. Your forearms rested on his shoulders, your hands softly stroking the back of his neck while his hands were positioned at both sides of your waist. As the music still played in the background, you both started swaying.

“I can’t take my eyes off of you. You’re gorgeous,” he commented. “You don’t look so bad yourself. Your suit even matched my dress,” you said back.

“I’ll have to thank MJ for that.”

“Wait–MJ is a part of this?” 

“Of course, she is. How’d you think I knew the color of your dress?”

You suddenly remembered the conversation you had with MJ when she asked you about the color of your dress. And then you also remembered that MJ was the reason why you were even inside Peter’s house right now in the first place. Peter called her and then she said that something was wrong with him and urged you to come here. Where was she even now anyways?

Peter laughed as he watched your face change from confusion to realization. “You know what–I’ll give it to y’all. You, Gwen, and MJ are good at this,” you admitted.

“The dressing up with our prom outfits and dancing was my idea though,” he spoke as he guided you into a spin. “I wanted our first dance to be private, not in a room filled with other students.”

You saw him glance at your lips for a moment before looking back into your eyes. “I also want to do this,” he said as he leaned in closer and met your lips with his.

You’ve imagined this moment ever since your heart started beating for him. But still, the feeling of his lips against yours for real was better than what you’d imagined it to be. The kiss was soft but intimate, neither of you having a need to rush into things but at the same time making up for lost time pining over each other silently. You wished you could kiss him forever and stay like this but you eventually needed to pull away to breathe.

“So, you really thought I was in love with Gwen?” he teased while you were catching your breath.

“Way to ruin the moment,” you chuckled, lightly punching his arm before nodding.

“Shit. I really made you jealous?” he seemed really proud of what he had done from the way he was smirking.

“Are you happy?” you jokingly asked, rolling your eyes with fake annoyance.

“Am I happy? Of course, I am. I just kissed you.”

You couldn’t find the words to reply as you blushed harder than you’d ever blushed before. Instead, you just laughed out of blissful happiness.

For the first time ever, he saw you laugh without covering your face and it was the most beautiful sight he’s ever seen. He couldn’t help but kiss you again.

Needless to say, the future was exciting.

If only he could tell you that he was Spider-Man.

SLYTHERHEIGN TAGLIST: @writingstoraes @joshiiieeenesx

TASM!PETER PARKER TAGLIST:  @mymilkducts @i-am-woman-strong @lauraneedstochill @jeanettexkillian @ms-mandalore @enaraism @alessandralol @sad-darksoul @sincericida @mentallystablepotato @mich0731 @logolepsic-insomniac @k0miiki @dreamsarecloserwithyou @jumilzzz @primroseparker @preciousbabypeter @myheartonthemove @rebecca-johnson-28 @silkholland @ellievickstar @okkulta @geekygamerchick @starqwerty20 ​ @the-quiet-observer @softiepeterpan

[everlastingremorse-blog]

Breaking News: Olympics consider whether or not to invite stoat athletes next year.

After the shocking win of Jaysohn Lastname last week, conversations about letting them compete in next years competition have commenced.

“The fact that he broke the record on his first try is astounding,” Peter Ueberroth, chair of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, said.

Lastname’s long jump measured at 14.7 meters, almost doubling the previous record of 8.9 meters.

Bob Beamon, previous record holder, argued that it wasn’t a fair competition.

“It’s like letting a cheetah participate in the 100 meter dash. There’s just no way for a human to win,” Beamon said.

It did come to a surprise that the stoat was able to jump so far. While the other competitors only had two legs to run on, each step was longer than a stoat.

Nevertheless, when Lastname went up to jump, he suddenly grew large, blue arms, and used them to hurtle himself the impressive distance.

When asked how he did that, Lastname simply said “Jaysohn rules!”

According to Dr. Tara Steel, stoats are able to absorb and use radiation for their incredible feats.

This has led to some questions about how safe it is for these stoats to compete. Dr. Steel has previously said that the radiation is only a minor danger, releasing radiation comparable to that released by the sun.

“Yeah, it should be fine,” Dr. Lila Lastname, Jaysohn’s sister and first stoat physicist, said.

The UN has currently stalled in recognizing the land within Ukrainian borders as it’s own country.

Jeane Kirkpatrick, US ambassador to the united nation, explained that there is very little political gain for such a move.

“These stoats are just little guys,” Kirkpatrick said.

There’s also the problem that these stoats have very little economic or social ties with the rest of the world.

“It also feels a little weird to have a country named Stoat Place.” Kirkpatrick explained. “I think it would help their efforts to change the name.”

“We are not changing the name,” Thorn Vale, Stoat Ambassador, has repeatedly said.

[zlebooks]

03 — the list

love equation [ prev / masterlist / next ]

embarrassed by your five year (and counting) long crush on zhongli, you suddenly claim you have a boyfriend. there enters childe, your crush's best friend and the one who'll either save your ass or report you to the police for harassment. or in which caught up in a lie, you had no choice but to kiss the closest person next to you.

FEATURING: childe x she/her!reader, a little bit of zhongli x reader, other genshin impact characters! (they are too many to list)

TAGLIST: send an ask to be added! @blov3d @r0ttenhearts @afoxesgreed @kalncallily @aiikalvr @rrasado @belovedxiao @kunisbeloved @raideneiari @multifandoms27-blog @xxyuixe @kairxse @cameshitpost @xingqiusliegee

fun facts ★

kokomi has the school directory all the time; perks of being part of a committee. there’s a rumor about her that she has a microsoft excel file that contains everyone’s secrets and dirt.

mona, ayaka, and kokomi, as shown at the last panel, have short ass attention spans. you could literally distract them with a random snail fact and they’d eat it up.

the list is a crossover between genshin, haikyuu (oikawa), blue lock (itoshi), owari no seraph (ichinose) characters because there wasn’t just enough genshin male characters that suited the “senior” vibe i’m going for.

which brings us to the next bullet: y/n and friends are juniors (along with kazuha, xiao, scaramouche, heizou, cyno, nilou) while childe and friends are seniors (along with the list, venti, baal, jean, ningguang). I CAN’T EXPLAIN THE LOGIC BUT IT’S THEIR VIBE OK

kokomi got the school directory from the student council’s internal secretary— kojou sara 😍

ayato is pretty popular… he’s called everyone’s ayato because there was an occurrence with his admirers who tried to fight over him… they realized that the kamisato wouldn’t want that 👍

[fandomtransmandom]

Treats from Rhys Thomas' Instagram Takeover!

More on Instagram @docnowifc🥰

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Hello! I'd love to join in on the spidersona fun, but I'm a bit hesitant about it being publically viewable. Is there any sort of Discord server?

I've been holding out answering this, because I've been searching around - but I'd just like to say:

I'd love to make and work on a Spidersona RP discord. [if anyone was interested in that]

I haven't really mentioned it before, but I'm an rper with nearly 10 years experience - and after a break I'd love to get back into it!

With all the amazing spidersonas I see - I would love to make a spidersona rp discord, and I have a lot of ideas I'd like to bring to it.

but sadly - I have no idea how discord works!

But I have a lot of ideas of things that could make an amazing rp community.

Join the discord server (with or without art of course!), and meet up with other Spidersonas on Spider Society Campus

Pitch or answer prompts, and go on missions with other Spidersonas all over the spiderverse

RP your canon events, and RP in other spidersonas' events, with your sona getting to jump into cool new universes

RP as canon characters (if you want), or roleplay with them! Make friendships with your favorite characters. (I'd be down to rp Hobie or Gwen or either of the Miles)

RP going to the Spider-Band shows - complete with backstage passes and afterparties thrown by Disco-Spider, living in dorms on campus, and other cool things

Join clubs you can tag yourself with in discord - like the Hobie Brown Fanclub, The Welcome Committee, or a Spider-band of your own

Send in stuff to the 'Canon Event Advice Column' channel and get funny advice from other spider people

Take turns babysitting Mayday all around campus (- she can be a handful)

Link up and meet spidersonas from the same era, or with similar powers

Meet others around campus - like in Sensory Soothing rooms or the Food Court

Get your watch hacked and jump into other spidersonas universes - to chill, party, or fight normal ol' crime together

Having a hard time in your universe? Crash with another spidersona in theirs - or invite someone else's spidersona into your universe

Or move into dorms

Develop your spidersona and watch them (figuratively) level up as you complete missions - and make super cool spider-friends

And a lot of other stuff!

I'd be down to make art, drop daily scenarios and prompts, and roleplay daily myself! As well as roleplaying canon characters, being on the Welcome Committee, whatever!

It'd love it to be low-skill and accessible. Replies would NOT need to be fancy and you wouldn't need fancy art or anything. Prompts would be simple as well. Something like (in this case Lyla could be me or you if you have an idea and wanna start one)

!! Attention: ANOMALY ALERT !! Lyla: Heeeree, we go - Another one on the web. Looks like we've got an anomaly over in [Disco-Spider]'s universe. Green Goblin looks like he's going crazy over at the Alchemax Factory. [Earth - 1294A is a dystopia from the 70's, where cops are lethal and it's nighttime, all-the-time. Would you like to respond? - Meet Jess in the briefing room.]

Or and even simpler prompt could be like

** Weekly Prompt!! ** It's Saturday night and the Spider-band has just finished their 8pm show! The night is young and Disco-Spider is down to boogie. She's having an afterparty with the Spider-crew over in Mumbattan. Wanna come?

Replies and jumping in can be as simple or complex as you want, and there's no permissioned need or anything - just go with the flow, even in battle (if you wanna rp that - no biggie if you just wanna hang on campus).

Responding to a prompt could be like

RPer1: [Spider-Jane] Mary-Jane Watson of Earth-42069 has arrived in Mumbattan! She's wearing a tie dye t-shirt and jean shorts. Her curly red hair in a ponytail. She heard about the party from Margo [ or some made up scenario you want] and wanted to come.

And a reply could be

Disco-Spider: [Disco-Spider] Diane is hanging outside the warehouse in Mumbattan, out of uniform and wearing a sparkly blue dress. Her eyes light up when she sees Jane's portal open in front of her. "Hey, Jane! I heard you were coming! What's up? How'd your last mission go?"

and it can go from there or whatever it doesn't have to be fancy at all. These are just examples , honestly just me rambling.

IDK if that's basic but I'd love it to be basic and open to beginners. Because someone invited me into a super chill rp years ago and I fell in love with it!! And it can go into deep rp if theres some people more experienced because I'd love to do that too.

I just love ATSV and when I saw it I was like 'omg this has SO much RP potential and with so many spidersonas yoooooooo' Like Spider Society seems so interesting that even a fic can't even do it just yknow what I mean like i wanna hang out in the food court and spar with other spidersonas in the training rooms or talk about canon events in support groups or see other universes or whatever

But I have NO idea if enough people would be into this or if anyone would be. Or how to work discord. But I'd be willing to go all in if some people (like even 4 or 10 is enough) and make it like a super cool chill community of developed spidersonas and stuff

maybe its a pipedream but I figured I'd put it out there

If you'd be interested reply or something if u'd like and if you'd be interested in like helping on the discord side or being on welcome committtee let me know

or even if you just have a good amount of discord rp experience hit me up

This post is for me to guage interest in something like this, I'm hoping this asks indicates some kind of interest.

If you read this far, thank you!!! Bye :) Please let me know or tell me your thoughts if you have any

[liaromancewriter]

Rock On

Premise: Sienna and Cassie meet an international rockstar.

Book: Open Heart Characters: Sienna Trinh, Cassie Valentine (F!MC) and Raleigh Carrera from Choices' Platinum Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 795

A/N: I got the idea for this fic from @creativepromptsforwriting Rockstar AU prompt list (#2). Tagging for reblog to @creativepromptfills. I'm using @choicesflashfics week 25, prompt 3 (in bold.). Submission for @choicesmonthlychallenge March prompt "Good music"

The two interns never thought their shift in the hospital would turn out like this. With an international rockstar with a broken arm in front of them because he tried to stage dive and failed.

Doctors Sienna Trinh and Cassie Valentine were on floater duty this week, covering other residents on vacation. Sienna loved it when their rotations synced up. There was no one else she’d rather partner with than her bestie.

Halfway through a twenty-six-hour shift, their senior resident, Dr. Zaid Mirani, ordered them to report to the Emergency Department. He waited for them just inside the doors, his face dour as usual.

“Trinh, Valentine,” he barked, handing them a tablet. “Trauma bay one. I want this patient handled quickly and quietly.”

Sienna nodded, but her hand shook slightly as she gripped the tablet. Zaid seemed to have that effect on her sometimes.

Zaid’s face became even more dour if that was possible. “If I see anything about this on Pictagram, you will answer to Chief Harper and the ethics committee. Understood?”

“What’s up his butt?” Cassie said, rolling her eyes at Zaid’s retreating back.

Sienna glanced up from the screen, her brown eyes wide with excitement. “Cassie! Our patient is Raleigh Carrera. The rockstar!”

She squealed as she handed Cassie the tablet.

“No fucking way,” Cassie gasped, scanning the patient intake form. “One of my most memorable make-out sessions was to his song, Famous. The man’s a walking wet dream.”

They walked over to the curtained treatment area generally reserved for severe emergencies.

“He’s certainly featured heavily in my dreams,” Sienna grinned, fanning herself. “And they were seriously NSFW. His voice alone could make me….”

Suddenly, the light blue curtain covering the entrance to the trauma bay was shoved aside. Sienna stared at a burly chest with a large gold necklace hanging down its middle.

But it was the handsome face peeking from behind that made her heart skip for a second. And then her cheeks turned red at the knowing smirk on Raleigh Carrera’s lips.

When he winked, Sienna wanted the ground to swallow her up.

“Always nice to meet a fan, doc,” Raleigh drawled. “Step aside, Frank. This trip to the ER just got a whole lot more interesting.”

When the big security guard moved to the side, Raleigh Carrera reached for Sienna’s hand and tugged her close. “Now, tell me about these dreams of yours, doc. Just how NSFW are we talking here?”

Sienna sputtered in embarrassment and was positive her entire body was blushing. It didn’t help that she was tongue-tied at the thought of being in the same room as Raleigh Carrera.

Up close, his brown eyes were like the chocolate ganache she poured on a cake she’d baked last week. He wore a sleeveless black t-shirt and ripped black jeans, and his signature black denim jacket lay across his lap. He was holding his tattoo-covered left arm protectively against his chest.

When he quirked an eyebrow and grinned, Sienna found her gumption and decided to give as good as she got.

“Very,” she teased, her whiskey-colored eyes beaming with amusement. “Like can’t-keep-our-hands-to-ourselves, set-the-bedsheets-on-fire hot. I’d tell you more, but,” she paused dramatically and then winked slowly. “Good girls don’t kiss and tell.”

Raleigh threw his head back and burst into body-shaking laughter, slapping one hand on his thighs. His mirth was contagious, and soon Frank and Cassie were laughing too.

“I haven’t laughed like this in a long time,” Raleigh said eventually, wiping tears from his eyes and taking deep breaths to control his laughter.

Gone were the bad-boy persona and the teasing smirk. The expression on Raleigh’s face was open and friendly. Sienna thought he was more attractive like this. It was too bad he already had a girlfriend. A talented and beautiful one at that.

“You’re alright, doc,” he said, extending his right hand. “My friends call me Raleigh.”

Sienna shook it and smiled. “Doctor Trinh, but my friends call me Sienna.” She nodded at Cassie. “And that’s Doctor Valentine. Now,” she continued in a professional tone, “let’s find out if your arm is broken or just badly sprained, and then get you back on tour.”

The next night, Sienna and Cassie watched from the wings backstage as Raleigh Carrera stepped onto a raised dais at The Garden. He launched into his opening number to the soundtrack of a deep bass intro and screaming fans.

Halfway through his set, he crooned the opening line to his song Famous. When he dedicated the song to them by name, a group of dancers escorted the friends onstage and into the limelight.

Sienna and Cassie spent the next five minutes being serenaded by an international rockstar and having the time of their lives being famous.

-----------

All Fics & Edits: @annfg8 @bluebelle08 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @lady-calypso @mainstreetreader @peonierose @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @socalwriterbee @takemyopenheart @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

[herrlindemann]

KERRANG! - 2005 - Interview with Till Lindemann

Till Lindemann is metal’s most enigmatic star. Speaking with unprecedented candor, the Rammstein frontman opens up about porn, punk rock and his subversive past…

Till Lindemann never gives much of himself away in interviews. But judging by his band’s penchant for storming, industrially-tinged rock’n’roll, you’d assume the hulking, inscrutable voice of Rammstein was just as scary as the music he makes.

Guess again. Right now he’s sat within the plush executive suite of London’s ultra-swish Sanderson Hotel. A German to English translator sits next to him. Very quietly.

“Oh, hello,” says Lindemann, rising to extend a bear-trap handshake. “Have a seat. Would you like some coffee?” Sure. You could probably use some yourself — you’ve got a busy press day ahead.

“Oh, but we don’t mind,” he says in baritone English, cracking a faint smile. “We’re a German band so how we’ve had any success is still a mystery to us.”

But what’s ‘German’? You grew up in East Germany — a socialist country.

(Through the translator) It’s true. Life before the German reunification (in 1990) was a major influence on us. Our world got much bigger when the wall came down.

Did you grow up jealous of the West?

Oh yeah, it was all about blue jeans and Matchbox cars, but that wasn’t the worst of our deprivation. Sometimes we could pick up radio stations from the West, but we felt so cut off because it was forbidden. We’d secretly tape the radio but what we were doing was very illegal. There was a black market for albums from non-socialist countries but they’d cost an entire month’s salary.

What groups did you covet?

Kiss was a big one, and one of the most exciting moments in my life was when Rammstein supported them. Growing up they were such a totally forbidden group with all that blood, and then they made the ‘SS’ in their name look like the ‘SS’ that Nazi officers would wear — a huge taboo. People would secretly carry little pictures of them which was a huge no-no (laughs).

So they were an influence?

(Suddenly speaking in fluent English) Of course. That’s because of what they meant in East Germany. (Switching back to German) In the States the average American has absolutely no clue about history so they don’t understand how provocative ‘SS’ or Nazi helmets can be. It’s their total inability to know anything about history, to have any idea what that’s really saying. For them it’s just a prop.

So Rammstein is about provocation?

(Shaking his head) It’s not so much provocation. It’s breaking taboos in order to have an impact. That’s punk rock. Banding a spoon on a table is provocative in a country where that’s prohibited. Punk rock’s about risk and it’s all relative to where you are.

So you had to avoid authorities growing up?

It was very bizarre in those days. If you were in a band you’d have to appear before a state committee and play your entire set for approval, after which you’d get a licence to play exactly that and nothing else, no improvisation or else you’d get into big trouble. Even what you’d say between songs needed approval, so speaking politics was out of the question. You could chatter with the audience, but anything else was untouchable.

But you played in a Punk band, First Arsch, before the wall came down…

Yes, and it was incredibly fun but it smacked of danger. We’d find abandoned buildings outside the city or empty factories and set our equipment up on a trailer so if we got discovered we could get out in a hurry. There’d be word-of-mouth news on the day that there was going to be a gig wherever. You’d set up spies and lookouts for police and remember, we didn’t have mobiles in those days so it wasn’t easy. (Smiling nostalgically) We’d give ourselves 90 minutes to set up, play and then fuck off in all directions.

You must find playing rock boring now that it’s legal.

No, but it’s all very different today. A lot get bounced around about provocation, but that sense of excitement and tension doesn’t really happen in a culture that accepts what you’re doing. Green Day are a really good band, but that crackle just isn’t there.

(In English) The true spirit of punk is gone. It died with the Sex Pistols and now it just doesn’t have a soul because there’s no resistance to it.

Were you ever arrested?

No, but we were very smart about it. We’d go to the Cultural Department saying we wanted to do a big artistic event with movies and paintings and some music to camouflage it as a multicultural event. They were like, ‘Ooh, culture, good’. And then we just got a bunch of bands together and let them play three songs. That subversiveness had a big effect on what I do now.

But your father was a poet and your mother a writer — surely that was also a factor…

Yes, but at a much earlier age. My original plan was deep sea fishing, so my dad very gently told me, ‘Do you want to think about this? Maybe do some studying, look at art…’. He was really pissed with me. His power of observation, the fact that he’d leave notebooks all over the house or he’d disappear into the woods for inspiration — I wasn’t interested in it at the time. But it stayed with me. I told him I could always go back and be an author. In a way I did.

You were a champion swimmer but got thrown off the team. Some say it was a torn muscle, others something more sinister…

(note: true reason he stopped swimming here) We were at the Junior European Championships in Florence and we climbed down the fire escape in the middle of the night to look for these little sex shops to find porno magazines. For an East German boy that was a dream, to see some porno magazines because they were prohibited (laughs). The coaches weren’t at all happy about that.

Did you locate the porn?

No, which was a huge disappointment. In the village I grew up in there was this kid who had the one and only porno picture. It looked like the map from ‘Treasure Island’ (he rips a page out of our translator’s notebook and crumples it up). This bit of paper that had been folded over, touched, felt, and fingered by countless boys. It was so faded you had to hold it up to the light to get anything and it was kept in this little plastic folder. And he was always like, ‘You want to look? Okay, buy me a lemonade. That’s too long, now give it back.’

[spicykaraage]

Tenipuri Complete Character Profile - Seiichi Yukimura

[PROFILE]

Birthday: March 5th (Pisces)

Blood Type: A

Relatives: Grandmother, Father, Mother, Younger Sister

Father’s Occupation: Company Employee (advertising company)

Elementary School: South Shonan Elementary School

Middle School: Rikkai University Junior High School

Grade & Class: Third Year | Class 3-C | Seat 21

Club: Tennis Club (Captain)

Committee: Beautification Committee

Strong Subjects: English, Math, Art

Weak Subjects: Chemistry (the smell of chemicals reminds him of the hospital…)

Frequently Visited Spot at School: The campus flowerbeds, the rooftop garden

World Cup Team: U-17 World Cup Japanese Representatives

Favorite Motto: “If you have not experienced the cold of winter, you will never know the warmth of spring.”

Daily Routines: Watering his potted plants, scenario training

Hobbies: Gardening

Favorite Color: Light Blue

Favorite Music: Brahms’ Symphony No. 4

Favorite Movie: Films by Jean-Luc Godard

Favorite Book: Poetry books (especially French) ➜ Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry [23.5]

Favorite Food: Grilled fish (mostly white meat [23.5]), tea [23.5]

Favorite Anniversary: July 1st (the day his first flower bloomed)

Preferred Type: A healthy person ➜ A person who pursues their dreams [23.5]

Ideal Date Spot: Art museum “They’re holding an impressionism exhibit right now.” ➜ An art museum or a library “I want to know more about French history.” [23.5]

His Gift for a Special Person: Candied violets

Where He Wants to Travel: Kunsthaus Zürich

Thing He Wants Most Right Now: A book of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s paintings ➜ An outdoor easel stand [23.5]

Dislikes: Talking about people behind their backs

Skills Outside of Tennis: Watercolor painting, identifying plants and animals

Spends Allowance On: Gardening supplies, books

Routine During the World Cup: Sketching

[DATA]

Height: 175cm ➜ 176cm [23.5]

Weight: 61kg ➜ 63kg [23.5]

Shoe Size: 26.5cm

Dominant Arm: Right

Vision: 1.5 Left & Right

Play Style: All Rounder

Signature Moves: Selfless State, Yips (not a technique), Howling, Sixth Sense

Time He Wakes Up: 6:30am

Time He Goes to Sleep: 10:45pm

Number of Times He’s Been Hit By Sanada as Punishment: 1 time

Favorite Brands:

Racquet: WING HEART (FORJE Z 115)

Shoes: YONEX (POWER CUSHION 190)

Overall Rating: Speed: 4 / Power: 3.5 / Stamina: 3.5 / Mental: 6 / Technique: 6 / Total: 23

Kurobe Memo: “It is quite surprising that at his age he can play a style of tennis that makes use of the slightest movements to the greatest effects. Once he fully recovers from his illness, I would like to see him play more aggressively.” [RB]

[POSSESSIONS]

What’s in His Bag:

Supplements and Chinese herbal medicines // He occasionally gives them to his classmates

Patient registration card and telephone card

Book of Paul Verlaine’s poems // He got into French literature while he was in the hospital

Reference books // He’s been doing a few make up exams when there’s no after school practice

Club notebook

Sanada’s calligraphy: “I pray you live a long and healthy life.”

What’s in His Locker [C&S]:

Homemade potpourri // Potpourri made from dried flowers that he grew himself. He brought it to share with Yagyuu

A nostalgic music box // A cute music box, he will not give any details regarding it though

Dumbbells Shiraishi gave to him

[freshlyrage]

I'm obsessed with Running like water and it is such a good fic and I was wondering, Since you posted about wanting to do mini chapters for the before, Would you ever write a homecoming chapter since yk Texas?

Ahhhh. Thank you so much bae. I got a little carried away and decided this will be a two part mini flashback from the Running Like Water. I phoned my Texan friends for this, its getting real. Read note where this falls in the timeline hehe. ENJOY

Homecoming Part 1

pairing: Javier Peña x OFC (written as xReader)

fic warnings: HIGH SCHOOL just angst and fluff these two mini chapters

fic tags: Best friends younger sister, Life-long crush, Friends to lovers, Unrequited love, slow burn, Push and Pull, Small Town Dynamics, Secret Relationships, latina MC, Fluff and Angst, OFC!Jessica Alba face claim, sorry Lorraine I'm bringing you into this, Time jumps, 2 year age gap, pre-canon

authors note: This is a flashback chapter, this falls between Chapter 1 and 2 of Running Like Water . Enjoy some baby andrea and javi angst.

word count: 3.4k

Liandra hated mums. And no, not her mom, you guys were from Texas not the UK for god's sake. 

The girls lacrosse team stood in the mouth of the gym doors to the field, Liandra flicked the blue streams of ribbon. She narrowed her eyes at the 4 senior girls who’s mums were large, covered in white streamers, a small teddy bear attached to its heart. I just will never be that extra when I’m a senior. She whispers to you and you slap her shoulder, your own mum making a crunching sound as your arm swipes past it. 

Monica on the other hand loved her mum, she was huge on school spirit and homecoming, president of the hoco committee, she was smiling ear to ear, waiting to yell and run on field for pictures. 

It was your first homecoming but you knew all about it. You helped Genie make her senior year mum, you shouted at your brother from the bleachers when they let all other sports present themselves before the big football game. It was your turn now, second to last to run out. The entire football team stood behind you and your girls. Your hair pulled in a ponytail, lacrosse jersey hanging loose on your body casting an unflattering look with your flared jeans. 

You had a cute blue top to go with your school's colors but your coach scolded you and forced you into your jersey. 

You look over your shoulder at the tall boys fraternizing and chanting, we lose every year but they seem hopeful. 

Your eyes fall on Brian Flores, a senior who had pulled you aside last week to call you beautiful. Your freshman self blushed so hard you could feel the heat in your ears. He asked you to homecoming which shocked you, you almost wanted to ask why. He was a senior and freshman weren't allowed to go unless their date was an upperclassman. Your suspicion up and left when he kissed your cheek.

You like to think you’re a sucker for romance but your friends just think you're a sucker for attention.

 Monica did not approve, only loser seniors feel the need to sweeten up freshman. 

He flashes you a bright smile with his mouth guard half out his mouth, your stomach flips and you smile back. Staring back at Liandra who wiggles her brows and Monica leans into your ear,

“He wants you so bad, it's sickening. In a bad way.” 

You roll your eyes and the doors open, cueing your team. Hand in hand with Liandra you run, Monica was on the front lines. You stare down at your feet pressed to grass, the friday night lights reigning down on you as the crowd cheers. 

One thing Texas doesn't play about is homecoming, you learned that young. The bleachers are packed, so packed you’re already overthinking, how the fuck am I going to find space. 

You hated events like these, it always felt like the entire student section was eyeing down and sizing you up when you looked for a seat.

Well you were a bit too distracted, running while staring at the crowd. You bump into a tall volleyball player's back very awkwardly. “Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry.” You look up slightly, the girl turns. 

Fabulous. 

Lorraine Smithfield. 

One of the many girls on Javier’s rotation. The one people are saying is the one. According to lunch gossip the two have been going on dates, apparently he drives her home now too. You screwed your brows and frowned to yourself, feeling jealous over a silly little crush. You always awaited the day you would finally be able to be in school with Javi but that fantasy crashed and burned the first week of school. You attended the school bonfire and there you saw Javier with a beer in his left hand and his arm slung over some girl. That was pre-Lorraine. 

But Lorraine is here now, It hurts all the worst when the girl is as pretty as she is. 

Lean, long blonde hair and killer brows. Ripped out of a magazine, and even sweeter, so you've heard. And your pastor's daughter. 

Well here she was, looking down at you with a sweet smile. “It's okay girlie,” she glances at the photographer and then tugs you into her side and forces you to be prepared for your high school photo op. A bright flash makes you blink hard and without giving you any time to think the coaches begin herding you to the sidelines. Lorraine still got her arm hooked with yours. Taking you with her. She smiles, flipping her blonde locks over her shoulder.  “Little Andrea Peña right?” 

Your heart slams in your chest and you look a bit confused, afraid she knows about your crush. 

But it's worse. 

Seeing your confusion, walking you off the field with the rest of the girls, she continues. “Don Chucho calls you little Andrea Peña, your Javis family friend, no?”

You blink rapidly, your mouth parted a bit. 

Great, beautiful, you think, making you sound like Javier's family, not inappropriate and mortifying at all. 

You nod, following her into the bleachers. My god she’s met his dad. Feeling your chest tighten you look at the ground as a final attempt to hide your red face. The feeling of being watched by all the students cheering doesn't go away. “Uh-sure. Brothers friend but-”

She cuts you off, “Do you want to sit with us, he's all the way in the end.” She points and you don't even bother following her finger. Your stomach twists in untangle-able knots at the thought of third wheeling, you smile weakly looking over your shoulder. Monica and Liandra were already settling down. Somehow, you could feel Javier's gaze. 

“I’m okay, but thank you.”

Javier watches you from the bleachers. Lips quirking at its corners, he felt like he’s known you for much longer then he has. 3 years is a long time in high school.  He felt his chest tighten when he saw you in your small top at the 7/11, your skin spread flush when you realized it was him who had stopped in his tracks. 

Andrea?

Watching you run, your friends running in front of you, Liandra let go of your hand. He watched your face change, that face you always seem to make. Like a kid lost in a store, your lips parting and eyes wide. Javi still kept his eye trained on you as you—run straight into Lorraine.

Oh, right. 

The reason he showed up, the pretty girl he had been seeing. Javier didn't care for school events, especially anything involving the football team. Jonathan Saylor in his trig class had talked him up about the football team bucket list which included heinous acts, Javier moved his seat the next day, next to Lorraine. That's how it started.  The sweet girl who showed up at his house and accidentally met his father. His father who, could never shut up about you, telling his possible future girlfriend that;

Have you met little Andrea Peña? You two would get along well. 

Javi shot the illest look at his embarrassing dad.

Now you have and she's holding your arm dragging you towards him. He's exactly not sure why but the idea of you and Lorraine on either side of him makes him nervous. Like Javier is doing something wrong, like he's caught in the act.  You still have that face, like she said something that makes you turn red. It doesn't take much to get you all flustered, for Javi all it takes is a hello, he thinks it's sweet. 

Sometimes he wonders if you really did have a crush on him when you were younger or if it just was your brother teasing him. 

Lorraine points to Javi, his eyes widen and you don't bother looking up. 

You just say a few words and walk away, leaving Lorraine confused at the foot of the bleachers. You hurry away, head straight down like you were meaning to hide your face. And Javi watches you with concern, until you're walking up to your friends, still you somehow find a way to cover your face from his view. Lorraine furrows her brow as she walks up the steps to Javier’s side. 

“What’s Andreas' problem,'' Lorraine's voice calls him from his weird space of concern and chest pain, what's his issue? Javier furrows his brows, “She's a bit socially challenged or what?”

Javier’s eyes snap to his not yet girlfriend, annoyance bubbling. You were a shy kid, always have been even with him despite your closeness. Especially in school, every time he waved at you in front of your friends you would like you've just gotten pantsed in the middle of the hall. He didn't want to add salt to the wound by starting up a conversation and embarrassing you even more. Maybe you were just embarrassed of him. In some weird teenage girl way, and maybe he was embarrassing in that same teenage boy way. Maybe it was because he would say hi to you around Lorraine, but that was simply coincidence. “Don’t be an asshole.” Javi snapped. Lorraine frowns but slides her hand between Javier’s crossed arms. Her manicured hand held onto the bend of his arm.

 Javier’s eyes scan the football field and the rest of the bleachers, trying hard not to look at you again.

He does anyway and you're standing, arms crossed like him with a small pout. Javi looks down at the nails scraping his arm and then back at the side of your face.

 No one has their hand holding you as you stare off at the field, so maybe it was that. 

Javier straightens out his arms at his sides, dropping the girl's arm, earning another frown from Lorraine.

“Has Laredo ever won a homecoming game?” 

“No, trust me I’ve been to all of them. It ends like this every time.” Monica yawns with you and Liandra on either side of her. The game was always a big deal and kind of fun, but for everything but the sports. It was really just the energy of the crowd and the idea of being allowed out late.

The sounds of metal creaking speared your ears but the sound of Liandra’s insane cackle makes it better. You're stumbling over your feet as you jam with the rest of the crowd at the end of the stairs. Liandra wanted to stay by the field entrance to wait for the players to leave, Brian looks hot sweaty were her words of encouragement.

So you all stand in the school parking lot, lit with food trucks and parents indulging in the nostalgia of being at homecoming. 

Out of the corner of your eye you see Javier approaching you and your friends, alone. You did your best to ignore him and the supermodel the entire two hours of the game. The one thing about caring too much about what others think is that you are unfortunately also on high alert of the looks from anyone… ever.

God forbid a look from Javier Peña.

Javier’s look is one far too familiar, so you could feel his eyes on you most of the game and it completely ruined your night. The whole time, arms cross trying to conceal whatever you were feeling in your belly. Like you were going to break if someone asked you if you were okay. 

And if they did, fuck because how do you explain to a normal person a crush this ridiculous. This serious to you at least. I mean you had to take a cold shower after he hugged you in 7-11. 

So again you did your best to ignore him, like you hadn't just seen him kiss Lorraine on the cheek and start walking towards you. 

“Andrea,” He calls and your friend's heads snaps towards him. Kill me now. You smile flatly at him. Coming closer, you let go of Monica's arm. He looks awfully handsome tonight, sporting a laredo high school hoodie, it was so casual that it made your head spin a bit. Again, it made your head spin again, you saw what he was wearing earlier when he was attached at the hip with Lorraine in a hoodie and denim he just looked like a boyfriend. And he’s standing in front of you and your friends, tall enough to block the light shining from the parking lot. “Can we talk?”

Your mouth parts slightly in pure horror, before you can even think Monica has her hand flat on your back, shoving you forward. 

“Uh–yeah sure.”

He says nothing and tilts his head away from your friends and walks. Your wet eyes widen and you give a pleading glance to your friends who couldn't give a damn. You follow Javi a few feet from your girls. 

You take a mental image of the position he has you in right now, you are against the field fence and he's in front of you, not too close but close enough that through the smell of deep fried goods you can smell that nutty cologne he always wears. 

“So?”

He narrows his eyes, “You met Lorraine.”

“I did, yes.”

You cross your arms, hiding in any way you can. You could make a run for it, if you tried. 

“Why didn't you sit with me?”

Your chest caves at that, but your face screws in confusion simultaneously so he’ll never know how flustered the question made you. “Why would I?”

It came out ruder than intended, Javier frowned, his gaze falling to the ground. “‘Cause Lorraine invited you.” His accent poking through.

“My friends were waiting on me, and I didnt feel like third wheeling.” You mumble the last bit and somehow, beyond all the noise of homecoming, he hears it. His lips twitching into a smile he has to bite back.

“You third wheel with Frankie and Genie every day-”

“We don't even hang out anymore” You cut him off, your emotions getting the best of you. Your voice was slightly whiny and annoying but you couldn't care, it was the truth. You were close when you were a tween, you're 2 months from sixteen now, he left without telling you a word. And fuck it, you were a bit pissed about it. You knew that the two of you weren’t best friends, Frankie was his best friend. But Javier was your friend too. 

Was your friend, now, you aren't so sure. 

He looks wounded, “Andrea come on now-”

“No–its true. Last time we hung out, like really spent time together, you were fifteen and I was thirteen. Sorry that I didn't want to tag along awkwardly with you and your girlfriend.”

His jaw ticked at that. And despite your burst of anger, when his softened eyes scan your body you find yourself fighting the urge of just kissing him once and for all. 

But the flare in his nostril makes you flush in a whole other way. In a way devoid of crushing, blushing and

kisses, just fear that he’ll say something to hurt you. 

“Lorraine isn't my girlfriend,” Just a girl who has met your dad you think. “and I didn't mean to upset you.” 

Your eyes widen at the half apology, and you're all flustered again. But before you can talk he–

“Next time I’ll think twice before I invite my best friend's kid sister to hang out. I apologize for trying to be polite and include you, god knows you used to whine about being left out.” 

You straighten up at the low blow, your heart slowly breaking at the unnecessary cruelness from the one boy who has ever been nice to you. The one you convinced yourself that his kindness wasn't  out of pity but maybe out of actually liking you, I guess not, I guess I was wrong. “Don't call me kid. We’re not even two years apart.” You grit, hating how childish you sounded in that moment. Sounding just like a fucking kid.

And he notices and laughs a mean one. The two of you stand in silence, waiting for someone else to hurt the other, it wasn't going to be you. You wouldn’t. 

And you hadn't known then, but it sure as hell wasn't going to be Javier. He hated seeing you cry and in that moment his brain was on fire, killing himself internally for taking it there with you. 

“Andrea–oh am I interrupting something?”

Your eyes snap to Brian as stood with his helmet in one hand, Javier still had his eyes peeled on you. You were so focused on your argument that you hadn't noticed the boy approaching you. Trying to figure out how to fix this with you, how to make up with you. Also trying to figure out why he feels torn in half after a small argument, why he feels like he’s going to be sick. 

“No”

“Yes”

You both say at once, your eyes narrowing at Javier who had said yes. The conversation was done for you, you just wanted Monica to take you home so you could cry over this, over everything. Over the fact that he called you out on what you were most insecure about, about how Lorraine wasn't even his girlfriend and has met Chucho, how she's been to his house. And cry hard at him calling you kid for crying out loud. 

The poor boy stares puzzled, his eyes scanning between the two of you. “Uh-I was just going to tell you that I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 5. You okay?” He places a large palm on your shoulder and you smile a small one, wrapping your hand around the boy's wrist.

“Yeah, I’m good–go-go change and go home, sorry about the loss today.” You throw in some fake sympathy. Like earlier you feel Javier’s gaze burn at the way you are holding Brian. 

He laughs, “Ya tú sabes, es lo que es. See you tomorrow then?”

You remove his hand and smile warmly, your eyes still wet from the threat of crying over Javier Peña who was fuming from behind you. “See you…”

Just when Brian gets far enough…

“What the fuck was that?”

Your nose scrunches and you turn with a look of annoyance at Javier. “What do you mean?”

His arms are crossed and he’s close to you, in that same annoying protective way he did whenever you two were out together during summer. It was a bit endearing and made the tips of your ears hot. Two summers ago he was like this, you remind yourself why you're pissed and that crush fog clears. 

“He’s too old for you. Homecoming? You’re a freshman.”

“Oh please Javi!” You groan and start walking away but he follows you.

“Go with me instead–he’s bad news.” His voice so whiny and urgent. 

Your heart drops but you don't have enough time to take him seriously. He's just stringing you along. You’ve had it with his pity, his selfish ways and how he looks at you like he’s about to get down on one knee. It fucks with your head. You turn to him one last time.

 “Please stop acting like you care, I don't feel left out anymore. I have my own friends and life now. You guys only had me around because my mom made you, cus’ i couldn't make friends but obviously-” You wave your hand in a half circle, he got the memo. “-Obviously I’m doing better now, so just please leave me alone.”

The look on his face, boyish, soft and hurt and at that point you just couldn't bear it. If you looked at him any longer you'd crumble and beg for forgiveness. If you gave him time to respond you would fold over for him once again

 So you leave him instead, this time you leave him. 

Javi watched you go, his mouth dry and his chest in that strange pain. Driving home replaying how desperate he was the second he saw you with another man, what was his problem? How he had nearly seen red at Brian holding onto you like that.

The image of Brian in his shoulder pads making you blush spun in his head while he tried to sleep.

 It wasn’t until Javier was then, in his bed at 3 am when he was reminded of the football team bucket list.

[mappingthemoon]

Books Read 2023

Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations / Mira Jacob

A Grief Observed / C. S. Lewis

Grit Lit: A Rough South Reader / ed. Brian Carpenter & Tom Franklin

Two or Three Things I Know for Sure / Dorothy Allison

Weather: Air Masses, Clouds, Rainfall, Storms, Weather Maps, Climate (A Golden Nature Guide) / Paul E. Lehr, R. Will Burnett, Herbert S. Zim ; Harry McNaught (ill.)

Improbable Memories / Sarah Moon

Endless Endless: A Lo-Fi History of the Elephant 6 Mystery / Adam Clair

The Difference Between / Billy McCall

The Submissive (The Submissive #1) / Tara Sue Me

Last Night at the Casino [v. 1] / Billy McCall

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing / Marie Kondo ; Cathy Hirano (tr.)

Pnin / Vladimir Nabokov

My Heart Is a Chainsaw / Stephen Graham Jones

"Waltz of the Body Snatchers" / Alfred Bester, in Andromeda I: An original SF anthology / ed. Peter Weston

Blue Highways: A Journey Into America / William Least Heat-Moon

The Stars My Destination (The Gregg Press Science Fiction Series) / Alfred Bester

Laughter in the Dark / Vladimir Nabokov

Man and His Symbols / Carl G. Jung

Mysteries of the Unexplained / ed. Carroll C. Calkins

The Westing Game / Ellen Raskin

The Seven Ages / Louise Glück

The Wild Iris / Louise Glück

Vita Nova / Louise Glück

Doctor Who: Impossible Worlds: A 50-Year Treasury of Art and Design / Stephen Nicholas & Mike Tucker

Where's Waldo? (Where's Waldo #1) / Martin Handford

Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey (Where's Waldo #3) / Martin Handford

Doctor Who 50 Years #3: The Doctors / ed. Marcus Hearn

Rabbit, Run / John Updike

Mother Night / Kurt Vonnegut

Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Materials (Books) / Bibliographic Standards Committee, Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries, in collaboration with The Policy Standards Office of the Library of Congress

"Descriptive Bibliography" / Terry Belanger, in Book Collecting: A Modern Guide / ed. Jean Peters

The Essential Doctor Who #2: The TARDIS / ed. Marcus Hearn

Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited / Vladimir Nabokov

Chicago: City on the Make / Nelson Algren

Gustav Klimt, 1862-1918 / Gilles Néret

American Gods: A Novel / Neil Gaiman

Marcel Duchamp, 1887-1968: Art as Anti-Art / Janis Mink

The Empathy Exams: Essays / Leslie Jamison

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Three Tenant Families / James Agee & Walker Evans

Hallucination Orbit: Psychology in Science Fiction / ed. Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, Martin H. Greenberg

Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project / W. Eugene Smith ; ed. Sam Stephenson

Twilight / Gregory Crewdson ; Rick Moody

Magic Eye: A New Way of Looking at the World / N.E. Thing Enterprises

Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams / Steve Horton & Michael Allred ; Laura Allred (ill.)

After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path / Jack Kornfield

The Gin Closet: A Novel / Leslie Jamison

The New Kid on the Block / Jack Prelutsky ; James Stevenson (ill.)

A Book of Common Prayer / Joan Didion

Mariette in Ecstasy / Ron Hansen

Camp Damascus / Chuck Tingle

The Mass Production of Memory: Travel and Personal Archiving in the Age of the Kodak (Public History in Historical Perspective) / Tammy S. Gordon

Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas / Rebecca Solnit & Rebecca Snedeker

Other Voices, Other Rooms / Truman Capote

Fabulous New Orleans / Lyle Saxon ; E.H. Suydam (ill.)

Weird Pennsylvania: Your Travel Guide to Pennsylvania's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets / Matt Lake

Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence (Griffin & Sabine #1) / Nick Bantock

Sabine's Notebook: In Which The Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues (Griffin & Sabine #2) / Nick Bantock

The Golden Mean: In Which The Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes (Griffin & Sabine #3) / Nick Bantock

Breath, Eyes, Memory / Edwidge Danticat

Last Night at the Casino, v. 2 / Billy McCall

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions / Randall Munroe

Collection-Level Cataloging: Bound-with Books (Third Millennium Cataloging) / Jain Fletcher

Speaking Pittsburghese: The Story of a Dialect (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics) / Barbara Johnstone

My Misspent Youth: Essays / Meghan Daum

Slender Intuition: Essays on Artist's Block / Brian Hitselberger

The Mister / E L James

Crapalachia: A Biography of a Place / Scott McClanahan

The Transcriptionist: A Novel / Amy Rowland

Explanations/Opinions below the cut:

Ok so I have several reading lists/stacks that I rotate through: my to-read spreadsheet (which has almost 300 titles listed in chronological order by date added, with the oldest being from 8/22/2014), my to-read bookcase/nightstand (which holds ~50 books I’ve acquired over the past few years but haven’t yet read), a stack of oversized unreads that don’t fit on the nightstand shelves (this gets its own list bc I need to read them and find a permanent home for them before the stack gets too tall), and “interruptions” (books that override the list order bc I didn’t want to wait to read them, for whatever reason).

Maybe it’s weird that I’m so attached to reading things “in order”? Idk. I’ve always been like this. It’s only a mild compulsion – obviously, I am perfectly capable of ignoring what’s supposed to be next on the list, in favor of reading something that catches my interest more strongly in the moment, but in general, I like to read things either in the order I added them to the list, or the order I personally acquired a physical copy (if I went by the list only, I’d be drowning in unread books [yay, college town thrift stores], so I gotta stay on top of that pile pretty regularly). So that is why I am often reading things that I first became aware of/added to my list nearly 10 years ago. Sometimes this practice results in feelings like, “Dang, I wish I would’ve actually read this 10 years ago,” but also sometimes, “WOW, I’m so glad I’m reading this RIGHT NOW, as opposed to 10 years ago when I first heard about it!”

I think my favorites this year were Mariette in Ecstasy; Other Voices, Other Rooms; Crapalachia; and Speak, Memory.

Mild disappointments were the essay collections by Leslie Jamison and Meghan Daum, two authors I’m pretty sure I discovered via popular and relateable quotes reblogged on tumblr ca. 2014, but the collections taken as a whole just had too many moments of cringe – casual classism, arrogant self-absorption, and other annoying and unrelateable qualities typical of privileged 20-something writers (this tone definitely appealed to me when I was a naïve and melodramatic snotty 20-something, so there’s that).

As a kind of memorial, Rachael and I read David’s three favorite books: The Stars My Destination, Mother Night, and American Gods. In all the time I knew him, including all the times we used to sit on the porch together, reading quietly while he drank whiskey, I never thought to ask him his favorites. I kept looking for pieces of him in the stories, wondering what lines stood out, what made a book memorable, what did it say about him that these were his favorites.

Being an elder Millennial, I’m in the stage of nostalgically re-acquiring important artifacts from my childhood, so that’s why there are some children’s books on my list. Where’s Waldo? was one of the most coveted books in my grade-school library! There was always a list of people waiting to check it out, but usually, whoever actually had the book that week would let the other kids gather around and look together.

My Heart Is a Chainsaw was a recommendation from my goth teenaged birthdaughter <3 which I probably read too much personal symbolism into but maybe not!

I thought John Updike was overrated, lol.

Favorite photography book: W. Eugene Smith’s Dream Street. His pictures made me so homesick, and it was wild because he took them from 1955-1957 but they still really, REALLY, to me, looked like the Pittsburgh of my ‘80s/’90s memories (bc Pittsburgh doesn’t change, and also the “idea” or “brand” of Pittsburgh in the ‘80s/’90s was ofc consciously referencing its industrial working-class past). He took over 10,000 photos but was never able to “finish” the project to his intense, obsessive standards of perfection (I KNOW THAT FEEL) and felt it failed to capture the multifaceted essence of the city. WELL, not in my opinion at least!

PS I'm moonmoth on LibraryThing.

[imperaptorfuriosa]

very catchy song about western mass btw

[chronicandironic]

I wanted to make a post about disabled peoples, activism, and protest.

Let’s start with the Capitol Crawl in 1990.

In the winter of 1990, when the Congressional legislation to turn a proposed Americans with Disabilities Act into law stalled in the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation, hundreds of concerned disability rights activists and others from the affected community descended on Washington, D.C. There, they joined with local activists at the White House and at the U.S. Capitol Building to protest the efforts within government to stall and stop the Act from passing.

Id: two disability rights activist are climbing up the capital steps. There are other protestors climbing up the steps are just out of frame. A younger protestor is looking to the camera, she is wearing a red and white scarf around her head, and jeans and a blue shirt. The young blonde girl is Jennifer Keelan. The other protestor head is out of frame but they are wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans.

Id: two disability rights activist are climbing up the Capitol steps. The photo is black and wide and take from the base of the stairs, the one protestor is going backward up the stairs we can’t see they’re face but they have shoulder length dark hair, while the other farther away is going forward to climb up with short dark hair. They are both wearing t-shirts and jeans.

Id: two disability rights activist are climbing up the captions steps. There are other protestors climbing up the steps just out of frame. A younger protestor is looking to the camera, she is wearing a red and white scarf around her head, and jeans and a blue shirt. She is Jennifer Keelan. In this photo, you see more of the people behind the one protestor, they have blonde hair and are looking at Jennifer.

Id: a black and white photo of two people crawling up the captiol steps. One is going backwards, they have glasses and longer hair with a beard, they are wearing a white shirt, and the other is crawling forwards and is harder to see.

you want to watch videos:

Id: a black woman is holding a green and blue sign with the wheelchair symbol on the left of the sign and Americans With Disabilities Act in the center of the sign, the right side has the words, Equal Access American Dream. She is outside on a green lawn.

Id: a young white woman with blonde hair is wearing a pink shirt and is in a wheelchair. We only see the top half of her body. She is leaning back, with her arms up like she’s telling a story. She is the same young woman who was crawling up the steps in other photos. Jennifer Keelan.

Id: a woman in a black and white photos photo is talking into a mic, she has short hair and glasses. Clip air is behind her of an elevator and a person in a wheelchair turned away from the camera and is before the elevator. There’s blue text in front of the first woman, with the words ADA Explained. The woman speaking into the mic is Judith Heumann, a popular disability rights activist.