#but it is relevant as to why i took the url in the first place

[geminusrufus]

Scraping Raw HTML

Say you're browsing through the library of searchable Greek inscriptions on the Packard Humanities Institute website. While you're there, browsing through the Boeotian inscriptions as one does, you find the inscription IG VII 2708. You read it, and something catches your eye: that αὐτῦς in line 5 — that looks an awful lot like a dative plural! But if that's the case, why is it not spelled αὐτοῖς? Is this evidence of a consistent dialectal feature in the area? In order to figure that out, you need to collect more evidence. There's a few ways of going about it.

The first option which comes to mind is to start copy-pasting data from the website into a spreadsheet. This has the benefit of being immediately available, since you only need an internet connection, a spreadsheet editor, and patience. In fact, this is how I collected my data for my first epigraphic survey, way back in the first semester of my masters!

However, this option is pretty seriously flawed. There are multiple thousands of inscriptions on this one site, so any increase to the size of the study corpus would mandate a disproportionate amount of time spent on data collection. For my first survey, I spent an entire week on collection — flipping through and copying texts like it was 1802 — and I only gathered 248 inscriptions. At the time I was pleased with the amount I collected, but it only took a few days of work for me to see how inefficient the whole process was.

The next option is automation. Fortunately, this task is the perfect candidate! First, it's repetitive: copy the inscription number, paste it, copy the date, paste it, copy the text... that sort of repeated work is exactly what computers excel at. Next, it's consistent: every inscription page is laid out in the same format as every other, making it simple to find the appropriate data. Any code scraping the library wouldn't need to worry about page format or how the data is stored, since the relevant info is always in the same place. Finally, it's boring as hell to do by hand. That alone should be reason enough.

"So, uh, how do we do that?"

Great question! Look at the right side of the page (you still have G VII 2708 open, right?). See the green text there? The one that says "PH146216" — click it. Now look at the address bar and squint contemplatively as you notice that the number in the button you pressed is also at the end of the inscription's URL.

Now, hit the back button. The number should still be there, but with a bunch of other gook at the end. But none of that gook is actually necessary, just the PH number! Let's test it out: replace that number in the URL with "1" and... good heavens it took us to a different inscription. We could put anything there and the site will try to serve us a corresponding inscription!

Okay, some code. Let's make a function that builds a URL for us. For this, we'll use the R function paste() to combine the main body of the URL with a chosen PH number.

paste('https://inscriptions.packhum.org/text/', ph_no, sep = "")

Notice the sep = "" in there. That just tells the function that we don't want anything to separate the two elements as they are pasted together. For convenience, we can save this as the variable link.

link = paste('https://inscriptions.packhum.org/text/', ph_no, sep = "")

(Line breaks don't typically matter in R, and they can make things a lot easier to read. Normally there would be better indentation, but somebody thought we didn't need that in our posts any more.)

Now we need to tell the code to access that URL. To do that, we'll use the function read_html() from the library rvest. NB: libraries are essentially code someone else has written. That's a bit reductive, since libraries offer some standardization, consistency, and ease of use... but it's also definitely true. However, I don't know how to open a page in R entirely from scratch, and it's usually best practice to use a library anyways, so here it is. Whenever we use a function imported from a library, it will be preceded by the library name and two colons, like this: rvest::read_html(). This notation is a little slower for the computer than just saying read_html(), but it's a lot better for readability.

anyways, now that we have a URL saved, let's have R scrape it and save it as the variable page.

page = rvest::read_html(link)

Great! Now we have all the raw HTML for any PH number we want! Now we just wrap it into a custom function so that we could use an arbitrary number without editing any code:

MakePage = function(ph_no) { link = paste('https://inscriptions.packhum.org/text/', ph_no, sep = "") page = rvest::read_html(link) return(page) }

It looks like a lot, so let's break it down. The first line tells R that MakePage is now a name, that the name corresponds to a function, and that the function takes the variable ph_no as an input. That input can be anything — the text ph_no is just a placeholder.

Lines 2-4 take the input ph_no and creates a URL with it, which it saves as the variable link. Line 5 then uses that link to grab whatever raw HTML it can find, then saves it as the variable page.

Line 6 is the function's return. See, a function is just a collection of actions. They do stuff. They're great at doing stuff. They live to do stuff. Except they suck at doing stuff to things, and they can only actually output one stuff-ed thing at a time. No matter how many inputs you provide to a function, it can only output one. When you want it to output something, you use return() — so, here, the function is returning the variable page, meaning any other function could use that variable if we told it to.

And there it is! A function!

It looks nicer in R studio, doesn't it?

If you run that function, it will spit out some HTML at you!

And if you want to use that HTML later (and we do!), then simply save it to a variable!

voilà!

Next time we'll look at what exactly is in that HTML and how you can use it to answer your αὐτῦς question from earlier! (You remembered that, right?)

[bigscaryblueberry]

In addition to my usual ask-related content, I have been working on a special little project... Something I have wanted to do for a very long time, before I even started this blog.

And now, he’s finally here.

It’s a King Shimeji! A cute little blueberry buddy for your desktop!

Here is the download! (Copy and paste the URL into the address bar.)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KO9OWvbmllx0g0ztEcqUzKezpcUpK5sv/view?usp=sharing

(Make sure you have a program that can unzip the folder, such as 7-Zip, and also make sure you have Java installed as it is required for the program to run. To run it, double-click Shimeji-ee.jar located inside the folder.)

(Some questions and answers under the cut!)

Questions and Answers:

Q: Does this work on Mac? A: I don’t know. I created and tested this on Windows. I’d guess that it probably doesn’t. I won’t stop you from trying, however, so you can let me know how it goes. (If it doesn’t work, then I’m sorry...)

Q: How do I stop him from cloning himself and/or throwing certain windows? A: Right-click the icon, and this should open a small window with various options. (You must right-click, as left-clicking just spawns a new Shimeji instead.)

Click on “Allowed Behaviors”, and from here you can disable cloning and window-throwing. There is also an option to disable sound effects, but I do not know how to give a Shimeji sound in the first place, so that isn’t relevant here. (Note: If you disable cloning, he will still occasionally play the animations, just without a second Shimeji spawning from it. If you want to disable the behavior outright, try opening the behaviors.xml file in a text editor like Notepad, finding the “SplitIntoTwo” and “PullUpShimeji” behaviors, and changing their frequency value to 0.)

Q: How do I close the program? A: Right-click the Shimeji and select “Dismiss All”, or even just “Dismiss” if there is only one.

Q: Where did he go? He disappeared! A: Did he crawl up into the top-left corner? This happens sometimes with Shimejis in general for some reason, he is just offscreen and will climb down eventually.

Q: Don’t you normally draw him with scars on his face? Why doesn’t he have them here? A: If I gave him his two face scars, then it would be mirrored whenever he faces the right. I’d rather have him with no scars at all than have his asymmetrical features be on the wrong side half the time.

Q: How long did it take you to make this? What inspired you to create it? A: About a week. I wanted to make this Shimeji since all the way back in early 2019, but I lost motivation after finishing only one drawing due to the intimidating scale of the project. But after the release of Chapter 2, and seeing Shimejis created quickly of a certain new character, I revived the project with boosted motivation and it took a little under a week to complete. I felt like if I didn’t create this King Shimeji, then no one would, since it had been almost 3 years since Chapter 1 and he still didn’t have any as far as I’m aware. So, just like how this blog was created to “fill in a void” after the deaths of previous King ask blogs, the reasons behind this Shimeji are similar. It’s an expression of appreciation for an unpopular character I love and adore.

Have fun!

[septembersghost]

my beloved @fancykraken tagged me! 💖

1. Why did you choose your url?

so, i've technically had six urls through my tumblr history, but the most consistent and important one sits in quiet mausoleum-like reverence because i was only going to be here temporarily (lol), and didn't want to reclaim it, and didn't feel right going back to that blog. alas, here we are. (and now there's an added weight to it because we exist in a world without stephen sondheim.)

when i secretly made this blog in early 2020, i was on a Romantics kick and had borrowed "melodious" from Keats in Ode to a Nightingale (thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees/In some melodious plot/Of beechen green, and shadows numberless/Singest of summer in full-throated ease) because i wanted something music-themed, and "ghost" obviously from my constant theme of being a ghost girl who is herself a haunted house, but it never felt "right," and for some reason i didn't like the way ~melodious~ looked the longer i sat with it, so i switched it to "septembers," because almost all of my urls have begun with an -S, and because it's my birth month, and tied subtly to dean (my birthday being pilot anniversary day on the 13th, then the significance of september 18th). i am quite attached to september in general outside of that, and thus septembersghost felt very much like an accurate depiction of me.

2. Any side blogs?

not here, no, though i have a couple of urls saved despite the fact that i'd never use them.

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

off and on since 2011.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

the very boring "q," i used to always have cute personalized ones (almost all were musical theatre lyric-based) but was too lazy to do that here asdsajkfdh

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

i started my original blog literally because of bonnie, whomst did tag me in this post, and because so many people from LJ were migrating here (hilariously, i also started my LJ in 2004 because of bonnie...alexa, play "every breath you take." BLAME HER FOR MY INTERNET PRESENCE! 😂). this one i started in 2020 "just in case"/to lurk (interestingly, for taylor and penny dreadful and better call saul, not at all for spn), but then 15x18 happened and i had...a bit of a hard time...and realized i couldn't handle enduring the last two episodes of that alone after suffering and engaging for fifteen years. (little did i know how MUCH i wouldn't be able to handle it?) so i crept back to spend those final weeks here and never left.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

because i love her and she IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME and i wanted to mix it up a little. something yet remains.

7. Why did you choose your header?

"are there still beautiful things?" is like...the eternal beating question of my heart. seven in general, with the themes of haunting and memory and the sorrow in nostalgia and grief in love and stories being passed on even when you can't recall every moment or detail. that's my whole essence. also, pink.

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

that quote of jennifer carpenter's...you don't understand. she was talking about haunting HIM? but now she haunts ME. the intensity of the irony now considering that i posted it for my own reference, it was the very first dexter-related post i made here (i didn't even have a tag for the show! i didn't think i'd ever be able to watch that show AGAIN! i'm happy i was wrong, paul rudd look at us.gif), i thought it would be relevant to like three people so i didn't source it in the caption, and the gothic horror tumblrinas got hold of it and it took on a life of its own. i like to pretend that revival never happened and was a very poorly constructed bad dream, and i have to ignore the rest of that interview by extension, but girlie really tapped into the other side when she said that.

9. How many mutuals do you have?

i have no idea but 💛💛💛

10. How many followers do you have?

354, i was at like 395 but then the great bot clearance happened. i am teensy, but once upon a time i had over 1200 and that was a lot. seeing the number bon put on this gives me anxiety omg

11. How many people do you follow? 133

12. Have you ever made a shit post?

maybe? i'm not sure what qualifies as that.

13. How often do you use tumblr a day?

sometimes a lot, even if i'm only here for like five minutes at a time. sometimes i'm not here at all and it's just my queue running ghostily for me, it depends how i'm feeling illness-wise from day to day.

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog?

an actual fight, no. minor disagreements, yes, being falsely accused of something and having to defend myself to complete strangers, yes, and the zany hate messages which were all one-sided beef from anons who think hating on my faves is a power trip? 🥴

15. How do you feel about the ‘you need to reblog’ posts?

Hate them even if they’re something that is important and with good information. If you add that then I will not reblog them. <- this. it's an unnecessary guilt trip and distracts from whatever information or message is being given.

16. Do you like tag games?

I do! Even if I forget to complete them I still appreciate being thought of. <- this too!!! 🥺

17. Do you like ask games?

i never do them because i'm shy and anxious and also think no one will send any of them to me lol

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

i don't know if any of them are tumblr "famous"? (are any of you secretly internet celebrities and holding out on me?! 👀) but one of the nice things about tumblr is how that absolutely does not matter here. we can support each other and enjoy one another's content whether we have 12 followers or 12,000 and that's cozy. you're all stars to meeee

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

i do not, but i'd hold your hands and kiss your foreheads and wrap you in blankets no matter what.

20. Tags!

i am not tagging anyone because this is long and i talk too much, but please feel free to take it and tag me in it if you do so that i can see your answers! 🥰

[earlgreytea68]

Tagged by @carbonbased000 and @pyrchance

1. why did you choose your url?

Many years ago, EarlGreyTea was the name I chose for the late, great Television Without Pity. I didn’t want something fandom-specific, so I chose the name of my favorite tea. I only found it later that it’s a Star Trek reference, oops. EarlGreyTea was already taken on LJ, so I added the 68, which is my birthday, and I’ve kept the name on every platform ever since.

2. any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

I actually have several, but I don’t really use any of them, except the armes4eva blog, which I sometimes post interior design and Sebastian Stan things to lol

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

oh, goodness, I think 2012. Yes, I just checked, 2012.

4. do you have a queue tag?

No, I can’t be bothered lol. The only time I use the queue is when I do my year-end round-up (which didn’t happen this year because I was too depressed alas).

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

Right after “The Reichenbach Fall” aired, I started writing “Sherlock” fic. But I was having a hard time finding active Sherlock communities on LJ. When I asked about it on Twitter, many people were like, “Oh, you’ve got to go to Tumblr, that’s where fandom is now.” And so that’s what I did!

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

That’s my icon! I’ve had it for years. I wonder if I can even remember how long. It’s a picture I took of a teapot and teacup I was served at breakfast outside by the pool at a fancy hotel in Las Vegas. I haven’t been to Las Vegas in a long time, let me see, it must have been...11 or 12 years ago.

7. why did you choose your header?

Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is basically my favorite book (I count them as one). The older I get, the more relevant I find those books to what adulthood turned out to be like. So, anyway, it’s a quote from “Looking-Glass,” it’s what the Red Queen tells Alice, and I say it *all the time.*

8. how many mutuals do you have?

I do not even know how to figure that out, I fail Tumblr lol

9. how many followers do you have?

7,359

10. how many people do you follow?

Why don’t I see this information??? In the beginning, I tried to follow back everybody who followed me, and that was how I learned that at the time there was a limit to how many people you can follow. So I stopped following back at that point (this was years ago). Then I realized I could follow people again because I guess people had deleted their Tumblrs or whatever, so I’ve tried to start following people back again, but I’m kind of sporadic about it. Anyway, all this is to say that I probably follow a lot of people.

11. have you ever made a shitpost?

I suppose I will let all of you be the judge of that!

12. how often do you use tumblr each day?

I mostly just glance at it for twenty minutes or so a night. Sometimes I might scroll on mobile during the day, and it’s actually my favorite social media platform to just scroll endlessly through if I’m feeling anxious and need to calm down. But if I’m having a normal stress-level day, I just kind of glance it over a little to see what’s going on in fandom-world.

13. did you ever fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

I don’t think so.

14. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

I don’t do any of the chain-mail-ish ones. However, I am superstitious enough that I always reblog the good luck ones. They have never actually had an effect that I can see but why tempt fate! I’m not going to turn down luck!

15. do you like tag games?

Love them.

16. do you like ask games?

Love these, too.

17. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

“Tumblr famous” seems like it should be an oxymoron lol

18. do you have a crush on a mutual?

I’m sure they’re all awesome, but sorry, I’ve got no notes to pass “Do you like me? circle y or n!” 

Tagging whoever feels like doing this! And I guess I’ll also tag @godless-lunatic @thisisnotjuli @thumbllebee @unicornshatetacos @jinxwild19

[fictionkinfessions]

Some people have been slandering me on other blog(s?) very recently. I would like to explain my side of the situation regarding this. [Thank you to anonymous person who DMed me about this.]

edited 12/2: I mistakenly assumed the 'second server admin' was someone involved with creating or moderating the server. I apologize for making assumptions, and have corrected 'second server admin' to 'second person on behalf of the server' also abbreviated as ‘second person’.

The original server admin was not involved in the slander or misleading ask messages to other blog(s?). I apologize for stating they were. They were not involved with such messages or posts.

I also forgot the first server admin did respond after my refusal. I did purposefully ended the conversation early in order to avoid engaging in system discourse as a singlet. I realize now that I should have been more communicative and clearer on my part. I am sorry I was not, and will take care to do so in the future.

I also want to clarify w/r/t to taking a neutral stance isn’t the best answer to system discourse, and it is taking a side on the conversation whether I intend to as a singlet or not. My intention is to minimize harm caused on my part as a singlet navigating through intracommunity discussions.

Lastly, the concern of lesbophobia has no relation to this server or server admin. I am largely unaware of the origins of these accusations and apologize for mistakenly assigning them to the server admin and server. I’m aware lesbians can be lesbophobic. For the sake of post length and relevance, I omitted this.

note: I'm using they / them because there’s two people involved, and I don't know their respective pronouns. This is not purposeful misgendering. There is a summary on the bottom, but I appreciate anyone who reads this.

This is what happened.

Yesterday, 11/30. someone asked for a server promo for an interest check they sent in. On their server promo post they stated 'no endo systems, no tulpas'.

This blog doesn't promo blogs or servers that prohibit any type of system from joining or interacting with the person's blog or server.

note: this is long and is below the read more. 

I informed the person about this rule. They said nothing in response. [correction: they did respond. I purposefully ended the conversation abruptly to avoid engaging in system discourse as a singlet.]

A second person on behalf of the server, came into this blog's DMs requesting a promo, saying they changed their mind about restricting endogenic systems and tulpas from joining them.

I declined to promo their blog again, having private concerns that they were being dishonest about their intentions. This is because their message came within 30 minutes of my response to the original server admin.

If they really hadn't changed their minds, then I would be sending people into a harmful situation. [My response to the second person was, as quoted here, "No, thank you! Good luck with your server!"]

The person immediately became upset and stated that as a singlet I was gatekeeping their server by refusing to engage with them in any form. I explained this rule was a public guideline on this blog's page, it's not a secret requirement, and that I cannot engage in encouraging system discourse since it's not my community.

I am a singlet. People have in the past been rightfully vocal about not giving a platform on this blog to anyone gatekeeping specific types of systems. I understand and respect that this is an intracommunity discussion, and I will not disseminate such content as it's not my place to.

I responded to their message point by point, expounding on what I meant with the promo rules and so forth. I ended my message trying to disengage with the person in a positive manner and go to bed.

This person responded, claiming I was making jokes about needing to be paid to joke about systemcourse.  I have a copy of our entire conversation and can verify I never said anything like that.

My last reply to that was to state I was disengaging in case it wasn't clear from the prior message, because communication is tricky over the internet.

I felt it was clear from the conversation that I could offer no further help for them. I felt there was nothing left to explain, that they would continue to put words in my mouth, and they only wanted to berate me. I had no further contact with them as I went to bed.

As for the dishonesty and rumors those two have tried to spread about me:

I have not invalidated any type of system in private dms or publicly anywhere. I have never said a type of system was the only correct one, or more legitimate than others. I have never tried to inform anyone about systems as if I knew more than them. [correction: I have and I will apologize for it summarily in another post.]

I have not told anyone to not make servers or promo posts for their servers.

Not promoting a server isn't lesbophobia.

I have never said anything lesbophobic or discussed anything about lgbt identities to anyone regarding system discourse, their system, or anything like that.

I'm a transmisogyny exempt nonbinary lesbian. I have never been purposefully lesbophobic to anyone publicly or privately. I don't even make or reblog ironic homophobia jokes. I might live in the closet for the rest of my life aside from being freely lesbian in online spaces. I'm excruciatingly aware how terrible lesbophobia is and would never wish it on anyone.

The blog rule of not promoting servers who exclude types of systems is for all systems. Endo-, trauma-, quoi-, and so on. Tbh this goes for soulbonds as well because hey, there's an overlap of them and the system community.

My refraining from participating in intracommunity discussions is not ableism. My refusal to reblog promos for anything at all, for any reason is not oppression or ableism. [correction: it’s not a perfect resolution on my part to attempt neutrality. My aim is to prevent excessive harm or distress on a blog meant for the alterhuman community. Me remaining silent on system discourse is taking a side or stance,whether I intend to or not.]

I'm aware this blog has a large audience and I'd rather be careful about what I show to 5,000 people. The purpose of promos is to share that which would help the alterhuman community at large. To promote anything that divides sections of the overlapping communities would go against that. I can’t see how this is unreasonable.

I know this blog posts some sketchy and out there confessions. That is generally the purpose of a confession blog. [Within reason, ofc. No death threats, etc] I feel that vent / heavy themed posts limited to a single blockable blog is not the same as promoting servers where 'Us vs Them' mentalities are grown and encouraged.

If you disagree with me trying to maintain a neutral stance regarding system discourse, ok. I'm not here to change minds or take sides. I don't have the right to a voice in this specific conversation. I only want to make it clear what happened between me and two other people, and why they are saying hurtful things about me.

In summary:

Two different people asked me to promote their discord server that banned endogenic systems and tulpas from joining. As per the Promo Guidelines page, we do not promote those servers. I am a singlet and engaging in system discourse is not acceptable. [correction: one server admin asked me to promote their server. I declined. A second person on behalf of the server tried again to request a server promo.]

One of the server admins had a conversation with me. I explained the rule regarding banning types of Systems. The server admin took it poorly, stating my refusal to join in intracommunity discourse as a singlet was ableism on my part. [Correction: the second person may not have been an server admin, but acting on behalf of the server]

The two server admins are now slandering me on other blog(s?), saying I'm ableist, taking sides on system discourse despite being a singlet, and being lesbophobic. [Correction: it was only the second person, not the server admin.]

I've done none of those things. I have a copy of the conversations to prove it. I don’t want to post it without their consent, unless I really must to prove I wasn’t behaving inappropriately.

I am a transmisogyny exempt nonbinary lesbian who can only be publicly open about my identity online. I am in the closet in real life to my entire family. I know how torturous lesbophobia is and would never be lesbophobic to anyone.

[In fact, the topic of lgbt+ identities never came up in that conversation. I'm confused where that came from.]

If you read any of this, thank you. I really hope I haven’t behaved poorly regarding this. I would like to apologize if I have. I genuinely don’t think I have been unreasonable in this situation.

Connie / Mod Party Cat!

ps, if you know their blog urls, please do not harass them. Also, please don’t harass anyone in their kin community. Don’t be goofy like that, thank you.

pps I’m ok with people linking or reblogging this if someone is confused about what new terrible thing has happened on fictionkinfessions. It’s not required but hey, it’s out there, for eternal record on the internets. Hello world.

pps sorry for putting it in the community tags, but it is relevant insofar as clarifying rumors and dishonesty.

[saecookie]

9pm thanks @goneadrift and sorry for coming around so late haha.

1. why did you choose your url?

I feel like I keep telling this story haha. My partners url and regular @ is their chosen name + biscuit name. So I... Did the same like the unoriginal gremlin I am.

2. any side-blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

I have one but it's my dumpsterfire of anger release so i'm not gonna make it public bc it is very agressive.

3. how long have you been on Tumblr?

Joined at the end of 2016 but been around for longer.

4. do you have a queue tag?

l o l

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

reblogging pretty gif of yuri on ice. It took me figure skating to give in.

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

It me! Bisexual pride! In London 2017! I was very happy with my makeup.

7. why did you choose your header?

Do I look like I have a header ?

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

This one calling out @ french staff

9. how many mutuals do you have?

50.

10. how many followers do you have?

253

11. how many people do you follow?

160.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

on my own? I think I might have? But nothing really relevant.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

... too often.

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

Nope. I guess we almost upon meeting with @kaleidoscopegirl but let's say it turned out real good.

15. how do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

I reblog it before the "you need to reblog it" addition if I want to reblog it.

16. do you like tag games?

LOVE THEM.

17. do you like ask games?

ADORE THEM.

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

Tumblr famous is a big word.

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

Define crush? Bc depending if we're taking into account a broad definition or mine, the answer might differ.

20. tags?

@zet-sway @cleverlittlejay @sunnibits @temporary-dysphoria @effervescentdragon @emjee

[dreamautonomy]

Thank you, thank you for the tag @fanarain. I took my time with this. I swear, I got to find a tag game to share with my followers and those I follow. @dreamautonomy needs more love and activity. 😭

I will answer questions about @dreamautonomy (my main that’s not officially a main) and @defectiveconantoy (my more popular Tumblr).

1. Why did you choose your url? I came up with the name Dream Autonomy waaaaay back in 2008. At the time, I was inspired by Kazimierz Dąbrowski's theory of positive disintegration (TPD), where he explained that one must go through anxiety and psychological tension to achieve autonomy and true individuality. In my teens, I dreamt of independence and autonomy, to live on my own terms and break away from society’s rat race. I still do to this day.

For my DCMK stuff, I’ve considered the name Conanology, but someone on Twitter took it. I wanted something witty. Then, I stumbled upon that Reddit post with the counterfeit Conan and Ayumi action figures. They looked so ridiculous and badly made it’s almost a joke. The thread’s first comment: perfect as a funny username. Unfortunately, defectiveconan was already taken here, so I settled with defectiveconantoy (also nicknamed by me as DFCT - DeFective Conan Toy) instead.

2. Any side blogs? @relaxwithanime because there’s a lot of relaxing anime, and I want to showcase relaxing anime scenes. @sillydogpictures, which has no posts. I wanted to show pictures of dogs with intentionally or unintentionally silly faces. 🐶

3. How long have you been on tumblr? It’s complicated! I began lurking back in 2010 or 2011 but didn’t create an account until 2014 with the original dreamautonomy, now the defunct @olddreamautonomy. I never used it until mid or late 2020.

I made @defectiveconantoy back in October 2020 because I considered participating in the DCMK Secret Santa event. I eventually decided not to, as I was busy with school and coping with the pandemic. I didn’t need more deadlines then.

4. Do you have a queue tag? Nope! I should make one once I learn how.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? I planned to use @dreamautonomy as a creative blog for posting photography, graphic design, food and travel stuff, motivational stuff, and more. Never happened!

DFCT was made for Detective Conan and Magic Kaito fandom stuff, nothing else.

Stupid me made @defectiveconantoy a completely separate account, even after realizing minutes later that I could have made it a side blog. Oh well! I mostly use Tumblr for fandom stuff nowadays, so I deleted my old Dream account and made a new account as a side blog under @defectiveconantoy. Now, I no longer have to use different apps and browsers for both blogs. Life is good!

6 . Why did you choose your icon/pfp? For Dream, I chose Retsuko from Aggretsuko. That scene wonderfully represents the agony of one’s twenties: working miserable jobs, not being taken seriously, and wishing life was more fulfilling than the average adult life. There she is being “one of us” on a Sunday by lying in bed and scratching her butt. 😂

And for DFCT, how could I not post action Conan from The Fist of Blue Sapphire with the counterfeit action figure’s head replacing the original Conan’s head? 🤣

7. Why did you choose your header? For Dream, because Retsuko’s bouncing her little tail off. For DFCT, because Ran is precious in that scene, all soft and shy.

8. What's your post with the most notes? @defectiveconantoy’s set of GIFs from the Ferris Wheel scene in the Episode ONE special. And that’s my original post. I’ve reblogged even more popular stuff by others.

9. How many mutuals do you have? About a dozen.

10. How many followers do you have? @dreamautonomy: 9 (Most are p*rn bots I’ve reported for spam and blocked. Have no idea WTF I did to attract them.). @defectiveconantoy: 175!! 😁

11. How many people do you follow? 72!

12. Have you ever made a shitpost? I don’t know. I think I only post relevant memes.

Here am I typing this after spending years confusing shitposts with really funny, sometimes offensive memes. I’m still confused about the meaning of a shitpost. I’m not very trend or meme savvy.

13. How often do you use tumblr each day? About 10-20 times a day, usually through my phone app.

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? Over ten years ago on websites that Tumblr, Twitter, etc. long replaced in popularity. Even then, I’ve usually been a lurker for most of my life and rarely engaged in arguments or debates. Whenever I did, I regret it to this day. I looked stupid (everyone did, actually). What a waste of time!

I wish I hadn’t forgotten about Detective Conan back in 2004. The DCMK Tumblr fandom is chill and AWESOME! I wonder what the fandom was like back in the 2000s.

15. How do you feel about "you need to reblog this" posts? Ehh…it depends. If it’s something most or everyone agrees with, I might reblog it. I don’t know about you, but such posts often bring the rebel in me. If you say, “REBLOG IT,” I say, “Ehh! Nope.” 😋 Anyway, life is short. I’d rather stick to fandom and humor, things that unite people and make them smile.

16. Do you like tag games? Of course! That’s how I get to know everyone. I should initiate tag games and tag all of you.

17. Do you like ask games? YES! I should start ask games as well.

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is [tumblr] famous? We interrupt this program to give mad props to that nicely formatted Tumblr logo-fied text. 👌

Aaaanyway, I won’t name names. Some are Tumblr famous for different reasons, and that’s what matters. We all contribute different things while being under the same main fandom, ships, arcs, and adaptations aside.

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? No! Why ruin this nice little Tumblr space for drama? It’s not worth having a crush on people you’ve never met face-to-face imo. I’m not repeating my teenage mistakes.

20. Tags: anyone happy to participate! 😁

[m-madeleine]

Tagged by @kikidiesunddas, thank you!

1. Why did you choose your url?

It’s a reference to Monsieur Madeleine from Les Mis, from alllllll the way back. I’m too uncreative to change it.

2. Any side blogs?

Yeah, but I don’t use them and barely every have, really. One’s for art tutorials

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

2011 sounds about right.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

Yeah, it’s ‘queue’

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

Wanted to follow an anime cosplayer (I did say 2011)

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

Got into a habit of “black and white pic of fave du jour” years ago, stumbled across this young RDJ pic while I was in an RDJ fandom....but at this point I don’t even really think of it as him anymore - it feels right as an abstracted representation of me, if that makes sense

7. Why did you choose your header?

Hobbit fandom, just wanted something black and white to match my icon. This isn’t going anywhere either, it’s pretty and Tolkien is perenially relevant.

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

Dude, I don’t know, can you look that up anywhere? I haven’t had anything go viral anyway. Maybe some Les Mis jokes or fanart way back then.

9. How many mutuals do you have?

A handful

10. How many followers do you have?

267

11. How many people do you follow?

129

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

Not recently, but I had some good stuff in Les Mis fandom (Javert’s pug boobs come to mind)

13. How often do you use tumblr each day?

Not as much as I used to, but I do always catch up on my dash

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once?

I’ve @t people, but I don’t think anyone took me up on it.

15. How do u feel about “u need to reblog this” posts?

>:(

16. Do you like tag games?

Yeah! But it’ll take me a while to get back to you about them

17. Do you like ask games?

Ditto.

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

Does that even still exist? Aren’t we all racoons sorting through our shiny garbage next to each other?

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

In this economy?

Tagging whoever feels like doing this!

[therappundit]

Best of the 1st Half: 2020′s Best Rap Projects (*so far*)...

“I’ve had, the halftime of my life...!”

*record scratch*

2020, WHAT THE F**K. 😳

Ohhh what a first half it has been. If 2020 ended today, it would still be one of the most historic years in a century...and NOT in a pleasant way. Years from now 2020 will be studied for the long-term damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential breaking point (hopefully??) of this country’s ignorance to systematic racism and the need for a complete overhaul of our police departments, and of course, whatever the hell comes from the November Presidential election....and, not to mention whatever additional ‘tbd’ chaos rings in the second half of ‘20 that we haven’t even heard about yet!? These are trying times, folks.

My whole life, I have tried to use humor and entertainment to help me with processing high levels of stress and anxiety. This year, that process has felt more daunting than usual. I am writing less and less, and often find Twitter to be too dark of a place for me to navigate. It’s anything but a fulfilling “escape”. Still, I am constantly inspired by all of the new music that fills my headspace during life’s precious little moments, and it really keeps me grounded in the day to day. 

At the end of 2019, I wrote the below in one of my posts. It took me back to a special feeling that I had, at a moment when the future seemed more like an opportunity, rather than a worrisome question mark. I’m going to work towards finding that place again, and I wanted to re-share this because it speaks to how the love of any art can be a healthy reminder of what we have to be thankful for in our daily lives:

“Regardless of how you feel about this list, I hope that you visit (or re-visit) any one of these pieces of strong work and find the same level of enjoyment that I did. I loved so much rap music this year and I could not be more excited about what the future holds. On a personal note, in 2019 I found myself even more in love with my wife, feeling luckier than I have in a long time, more satisfied with my hobbies and passions, and above all else, more in awe of my child (and anyone that ever raised a child) than ever before. I became a father for the first time in 2019, so as my baby daughter continues to fill my heart, I am beginning to wonder what she will think of her father’s love for this art form that has brought him so much joy over the years…I suppose time will tell.”

This list is long, because I think the talent that went into these projects is worth your time (and I put a lot of thought into creating this list as well...I do not work in the industry or know anyone that does, and I do not have any real platform - I just do this because I love the music).

If you are an artist on this list, I want to thank you, because you helped me stay positive and focused on a brighter future that I hope will soon come to us all...because everyone has been through something this year, and we deserve better.  So salute to you and many, many others. 🙏🙏🙏

- THE Rap Pundit

The “Rules” for my list of the Best Projects of Q1-Q2 2020:

- the album/mixtape/EP/project/whatever you want to call it had to be released this year, by June 26, 2020

- the project must have at least 6 songs 

- these rankings are a combination of my own personal preference, my take on overall quality of the project (whether it speaks deeply to my sensibilities or not), and how the final product compares to other work from the artists’ peers that occupy the same lane/‘sub-genre’ of rap music

So here we go 👀...

1. The Price of Tea in China by Boldy James and The Alchemist

Sometimes the greatest albums are not the most ambitious or flashy, they are remembered based off the strength of artistic chemistry and execution. Basketball fans know the beauty of a perfectly timed chest pass to a teammate streaking towards the basket can be more impressive than a behind the back pass that’s simply done for the sake of showing everyone that you can do a fancy pass. Staying with that theme, The Price of Tea in China is The Alchemist doing his best John Stockton impression, serving to Boldy James’ Karl Malone, and by album’s end you realize that Boldy scored a quiet 40 points while making this rap shit look like an easy lay-up.

TPOTIC finds Boldy sprinkling every ounce of his Detroit seasoning into Al’s pot to yield one of the most Mobb Deep-esque collaboration albums since Mobb Deep was dropping albums. In turn, this project is not only Boldy’s greatest work, but it serves as a re-introduction of a veteran MC that is suddenly more relevant than ever.  Much like what Freddie Gibbs and Madlib did with 2019′s Bandana, this project is a great lesson on what MC and Producer chemistry can sound like when both parties are 100% on the same page when it comes to message, tone, and aesthetic goals. 

It would make sense that Boldy James would fall into the Griselda fold, because much like Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher, he comes from a city with a rich rap music scene that still struggles to reach the level of exposure that the NYCs, L.A.’s, Chicago's and Atlanta’s have basked in for so long. He writes from a place of “been there, done that”, showing a rich attention to detail that separates his street tales from that of his peers in the same way someone telling a story second or third hand can’t match the level of detail that an eye witness has saved in the memory bank. Boldy has survived both real world and music business challenges to rise from the ashes of “hey whatever happened to so & so, he was about to blow” conversations to reach a new peak in his mid-30′s. He deserved this suite of incredible Alchemist soundscapes (Al is deep in his bag here, delivering some of his most low-key impressive instrumentals in years), and like his super-producer buddy, Boldy is looking down at us from atop an already prolific 2020 at its’ midpoint.  

I’m not sure anyone can match the chemistry that Prodigy and Mobb Deep had with The Alchemist, but in 2020, The Price of Tea in China delivers some of the most brutally subdued, occasionally humorous, stripped down rap records since P was throwing TV’s at us like he had nothing left to lose. If The Price of Tea in China isn’t holding the championship at year’s end, it still deserves to be mentioned as an impressive work by one of the strongest title-worthy unions running the pick and roll in the genre today.

2. Àdá Irin by Navy Blue 

Okay let’s be honest: the “sub-genre” that is often referred to as lo-fi rap music (whether you consider it an actual lane or not, I know you know what I’m talking about...which I suppose proves its’ existence, right?), is beginning to suffer from the same affliction that all other sub-genres tend to suffer from once the word is out that this is “the thing” that the kids find trendy right now. A lot of folks in this lane sound *exactly* the same to the average listener. I’m not even the average listener, and I often feel that way. The irony that comes with being part of the sound that’s supposed to be bucking the mainstream clone machine turning into a mini-clone machine itself, means that the window is in danger of closing to avoid over-saturation of the artists that are already thriving between the gravelly, whisper-welcoming walls of Soundcloud URLs and Bandcamp EPs being slid to their heady fanbase with zero promotion. So with that all being said...why give Navy Blue a chance?

Navy Blue lacks the name recognition of many of his peers (for now), but he has now been thriving in the lo-fi pocket for some time as both a MC and producer, a young artist that’s closely connected to the lane’s most famous figureheads (Earl Sweatshirt, and to some extent, Mach-Hommy), as well as less heralded trailblazers like MIKE and the whole sLUms collective. Sure you can check out Navy’s Soundcloud page to get a taste of his work, but with this Àdá Irin album, we don’t just hear raw snippets of a freshly discovered unsigned talent. With this album we hear Navy as a self-assured solo artist, capable of sharing an inspirational song with the likes of Ka and sounding like every bit of the veteran next to the iconic soft-spoken lyricist. This is a very, very impressive debut full length album that showcases the best that the (sub)genre has to offer: some experimentation, jazzy loops, the diary-like intimacy of words that sit like dust on an old basement book shelf, and the raw emotions that come from working through love, pain and loss in real time. In 2020 there may be nothing completely new under the sun, but it’s the aesthetic choices that Navy Blue makes with every verse and every instrumental that make Àdá Irin feel like a perfect balance of beauty and sadness. If you want to dip a toe in this water but you’re not sure you can get into the mumblecore-ish world of MIKE, MAVI, Medhane or Earl’s work from the past two years, this Navy Blue album might actually be the perfect intro.

3. A Written Testimony by Jay Electronica (featuring JAY-Z)

Not a lot of positive breaking news in 2020...but when Jay Electronica surprised Twitter with a few cryptic Tweets back in February, implying that he was dropping an album (and Jay-Z would likely be involved), the rap game was set ablaze with excitement, skepticism, disbelief, and hope (albeit with some measured caution there as well). 

This is something that fans, and arguably the entire rap world, had been clamoring for for a decade, many long since moving on believing that Jay Elec’s debut album had gone the way of Detox, sharing “1a & 1b” status as the most eagerly anticipated projects none of us seriously expected to hear. 

Then it dropped....and then it went. In a Twitter-run rap world, quality is too often measured by how long a piece of art stays within the “trending” mix, as opposed to...well, whether or not it’s actually good! The truth is, A Written Testimony is not just good, it’s very, very good, and while it’s not the “Illmatic 2″ that some may have been expecting, realistically it’s superior to what I imagined a new project from such a reclusive artist would sound like in 2020. If you at least try to table the expectations laid out when “Exhibit C” came out in 2009...I think you will find a project (it’s up to you whether or not you want to count this a “solo debut” or not, but at this point, it’s new Jay Electronica - can we just leave it at that??) stacked with memorable moments, quotable gems throughout, stellar production (this is one of the best produced projects of 2020 by far, not sure how/why this piece of the puzzle would receive anything less than acclaim), and some moments of questionable preaching made more palatable by a strong overall voice and package.

Jay Electronica raps with conviction throughout, and while the project feels brief, it lasts long enough to be more than a quick feeling, even if many feel that it’s not long enough to feel like a full album. If "Exhibit C" was the teaser then this is the redband trailer, flashing enough skill and details to resonate for far longer than its’ duration. Much has been said about the heavy hand of JAY-Z on most of the project’s 7 tracks, but let’s be clear, this is not Watch The Throne 2 (even though at points, it may feel like something along those lines). Yes, in impressive fashion, Hov comes through riding shotgun to show a deeper shade of one of his more complex dimensions, with many of his rhymes begging for dissection with every bar. However, AWT features a JAY-Z that’s rapping through Jay Electronica’s lens, not by any means where 4:44 or Everything Is Love left off. This is definitely a Jay Electronica album. AWT dives in and out of Jay Electronica’s beliefs in broad strokes that appear and disappear rather quickly, but even when certain verses raise more questions than provide answers, every song still has at least a handful of the gripping words that remind us of what made Jay Elec-Hanukkah sound like the chosen one in the first place (his tussle with writer’s block and hesitation to put out any art make for some of the projects most engaging moments).

If A Written Testimony is the last Jay Electronica album we ever here - which I truly hope it is not the case - it is still a memorable piece of work. So if you were one of the folks that moved on from it after the “surprise” of Jay finally dropping a project subsided, I hope you change that stance and revisit it once again.

4. Descendants of Cain by Ka

“Quiet and frigid disposition, growin' up in the cold /  Surprised I ain't get high from what I was low enough to behold /  Like when Pops shot at the neighbor's shop, put one in his head /  He knew how he grew me, threw me the gun, a hundred, and fled /  Didn't play, 'fore po' arose dispose of exhibit A / I was raised to age a few years in a day /  If not elite, didn't eat if you didn't pray /  As much as I heal, had to deal, all my scars are here to stay /  Our senseis spent days peddling /  Our heroes sold heroin.” - Ka, “Patron Saints”

He makes it seem almost too easy. If the writing wasn't so gripping, you might not even revisit it. Ka’s Descendants of Cain arrived with little fanfare, except for the collective awe of his humble but religiously devoted fan-base. The religious devotion is an important piece here, as Cain adds to Ka’s quietly impressive discography another strong album that leans on classic scribes as inspiration to spin poignant metaphors on Brooklyn street philosophy. 

This time, the classic work is the Christian Bible, and Ka being the brilliant MC/poet that he is, seems to have little trouble working with the medium to preach without sounding preachy, and wax familiar-sounding nostalgia over wax that sounds as dusty as it feels fresh, rich, and urgent. Producing much of the album himself, along with a few trusted collaborators, the album’s strength is in its’ density, as each song feels like it requires a pause to unpack every bar...and to be honest, that’s exactly the type of attention this work deserves. If you missed this one in the first half of 2020′s feverish dump of new releases, you need to remedy that immediately.

5. Pray for Paris by Westside Gunn 

If The Alchemist is the overall rap music MVP for his many contributions to 2020 thus far,  Westside Gunn may deserve at least a few honorable mentions. From becoming the ambassador of Buffalo New York to stepping up as an ambassador of the underground rap resurgence, I don’t think any other rap artist has done more to run with the torch that Roc Marciano has been waving for a damn decade than the Griselda mastermind. If you happened to hear Gunn name-dropping to Peter Rosenberg on Rosenberg’s long-standing Real Late show on Hot 97, you know exactly what I mean. Shouting-out close allies and lesser known peers alike, Gunn’s presence proudly announced the underground movement’s invasion of the highly known New York City radio station. It felt like ECW invading WWE’s Monday Night Raw all over again. Of course Gunn’s voice was met with more ears than usual during that interview, since that appearance came hot off the heels of the release of his much discussed side project turned full-blown album, Pray for Paris.

By now most fervent rap fans know the story behind the album (a project that miraculously arrived to completion while Gunn was suffering from the affects of coronavirus), but for many Pray for Paris is the introduction to the story of Griselda Records and the world that they revel in. If Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher are responsible for the Griselda team’s grittiest street tales, Westside Gunn’s success leans on his ability to blur the line between all-too-real violence and cartoon violence, splattered with elite luxury references and shout-outs for his fellow wrestling addicts. The song titles are merely scattered trains of thoughts that may or may not have anything directly to do with a song’s actual meaning, it’s like naming your child ‘brunch in Williamsburg’ just because it was the last meal you happened to have that day. An audience brought up on Lil Wayne as the God MC may be completely lost at the appeal, but audiences brought up on Wu, DOOM and Sean Price know exactly what vibe Westisde Gunn is going for.

At times Gunn can come across as more of a talent curator than a stand alone MC, so if this is the album that takes Gunn to the next level as a rap star, it would make him the most unselfish rap star to come along in some time. A rapper doesn’t jump on an Alchemist produced track with the likes of Freddie Gibbs and Roc Marciano and expect to leave with anything but the Bronze medal. The same can be said for his chopped and screwed contribution to “Claiborne Kick”, which clearly belongs to Boldy James. That’s not to say that Gunn’s verse is a weak moment on any of the joints on Paris, but the fact that he consistently surrounds himself with high caliber writers confirms that he is well aware that the quality of the final product will be determined by the team involved, not just the artists’ name on the album cover.

For someone that considers himself more of an artist than a rapper, he continues to paint intriguing collages with every album, featuring him at the center of an ever-expanding portrait of MCs, producers, singers, designers, and dancers. Pray for Paris is a typical Griselda project that also happens to sport the potential of something larger than most of their fanbase ever imagined. Yes we get the dark backdrops, elite underground production, and quotables throughout, but we also get a few additional shades, as Gunn dabbles with a “beauty and the beast” dynamic that cleanly pairs his violent imagery with fashionista pomp and circumstance (which no doubt helped draw the likes of Wale and Tyler, the Creator to this project). But t’s all less of a solo album to push a mainstream solo career forward, and much more of a cannonball through the mainstream wall, just to allow some sunlight to shine on his people...and his city, for that matter - because best believe, Paris may be the inspiration behind the project but Buffalo, New York is still with him every step of the way. 

6. Alfredo by Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist

A highly enjoyable surprise drop from two-thirds of the potent combination that gave us the fan favorite project that was Fetti (shout-out to Curren$y, though), Alfredo feels like the perfect treat to hold us over during these trying times. It feels rushed, but simultaneously sharp and activated. It has the feeling of a controlled experiment that was slapped together in separate rooms, rather than carefully curated by multiple artists hunched over the same mixer for days on end. Alfredo is more of a display of two power hitters putting on an impressive showing at a Home Run Derby, rather than the collaboration that has been slowly simmering for years...but that’s also part of the fun, because it feels like Al & Fredo (eh?) were just as excited to release it as we all were to hear it.

Neither party is reinventing the wheel here, but if you are going to have a rapper and a producer connect for an album of great rapping over great beats, you would be hard pressed to find a more natural pairing than these two. The Alchemist delivers with samples that channel the speakeasy jazz of an old piano, and Freddie is simply the king of hard-rap soul right now, so he excels on every song. There are moments of darkness, moments of hope, and moments of self reflection (Gibbs is a logical choice to swing haymakers back at cops abusing their power), all delivered by Freddie at a break-neck speed over Al's significantly less urgent production....as if Gibbs frantically spilled his guts to his buddy over the phone while Al was kickin’ back with a joint saying “uh-huh...yup, I hear ya man.” The final result is an effective one, if not a quick teaser of what a lengthier amount of collaboration time between the two might sound like. It should also be said that the guest verses on this album (especially those from Tyler, The Creator and Conway) took this album up a few spots on this ‘best of’ list. Alfredo is easily one of the strongest surprises of 2020.

7. Reasonable Drought by Stove God Cook$ and Roc Marciano

There is a tradition in the rap music biz that newer/younger artists are often shepherded along by more seasoned artists in order to insure that the less experienced artist is blessed with the built-in audience that comes with a co-sign. It doesn’t always work, but typically the initiation comes with a solid musical foundation on a debut project accompanied by a greener MC still finding his/her way. Not the case with Stove God Cook$, he is perhaps the most unexpectedly fresh MC to be cut from classic rap cloth since Griselda & Mach-Hommy began to build cult-like followings.

While Reasonable Drought (and seriously, how bold of a title is that for a debut!?) is blessed by the impressive production and mentorship of underground rap icon Roc Marciano, it truly is the lesser known MC himself that captures the imagination right from the get-go. When I say that in my life time, I cannot recall such a strong debut performance by a MC that I have heard virtually no work from prior to his 2019 emergence, with the help of minimal publicity/ad budget (if any? Cook$ was barely on social media until *after* his album had already been released) on his way to dropping an album with zero features...then you should take my recommendation very seriously. Fresh style, some of the most rewind-worthy quotables in recent memory (an Uncle Buck reference!? Bow down, people), and a new following built exclusively on the word of mouth of equal-minded folks that were blown away by a project many copped on a passing whim... it’s clear that this moment could be the beginning of an amazing, fascinating career. 

Similar to Roc Marciano before him, Cook$ possesses a rare flare with his wordplay and delivery that makes even the ugliest tales of coke dealing and disrespectful criminal activity sound like the colorful exploits of a post-Blaxploitation hero. He delivers every bar with the uber-specific word choice of Roc, but the outgoing swag of a Max B. The man that has people that never touched cocaine in their life singing that they’re “smelling like a brick right now”, is smelling like a winner in 2020 and beyond.

8. Battle Scar Decorated by Monday Night & Henny L.O.

Last call to board the Mutant Academy bandwagon! 

I have been saying that this deep underground collective of MCs & producers has been low key having a banner year all year long, and scrolling through this list you can see exactly what I mean. Henny L.O. is too good to be slotted as just a battle rapper, while Monday Night is far too strong of a presence to be considered a mere associate of the core Mutant team. When you think of Mutant Academy and their respective affiliated acts, think of them as a gathering of solo artists that happen to make dope rap music together, but all parties involved are capable of standing on their own two. I think that’s what consistently impresses me about their projects...hat, and the lack of filler material.

Along with a deep Rolodex of mostly under-the-radar talent, the hunger and confidence of a thriving Richmond, Viriginia rap scene is present on every track of Battle Scar Decorated. Much like many of my favorite albums of 2020, there is no reinventing of the wheel here, the triumph is in the execution. Monday & Henny tag in and out, each with the confidence that they have spit the best verse on the song before they have even finished. It’s that level of ability combined with a shocking amount of production talent that makes Battle Scar Decorated essential listening to anyone that wants to be reminded of a vibe that hasn’t been in abundance in the underground rap scene since L.A. in the late 90′s. It wouldn’t be fair to talk about how much I enjoyed this project without including the great producers involved, so a big s/o to: Sycho Sid, C.R.I.S.T.E.N, James Couch, Savvy, Heather Grey, and Ewonne.

9. Eastern Medicine, Western Illness by Preservation

Accompanied by a who’s who of underground hip-hop’s finest (Roc Marciano, Mach-Hommy, Your Old Droog, Quelle Chris, Nickelus F, Tree, Navy Blue, Billy Woods, Ka *and more* - I mean seriously!?), Preservation has assembled an impressively cohesive compilation album both sonically and thematically. 

Incorporating record samples from his travels in China, Eastern Medicine, Western Illness feels born in simplicity even though it is anything but a casual collection of dope verses over tightly wound production. A quietly gifted producer, Preservation knows how to squeeze the best out of his guests without shouting the results through the speakers, the choices are more subtle but yield a high impact and replay value. Listening to the project feels more like listening to a secret, unreleased project, because it’s hard to believe that this much talent would gift this much high caliber writing to a compilation of songs...although that was not uncommon in the 90′s and early 00′s (ah, I’m showing my old age again). Perhaps that’s a testament to Preservation’s vision, a DJ/producer with a relatively small catalog built on curated quality (see his fantastic 2015 collaboration with Ka on Days With Dr. Yen Lo). Eastern Medicine has enough talent involved that it could have been a worthy listen even if it was just as a hodgepodge of donated loosies, so the fact that the final product is so much more than that makes it an album that warrants a great deal of more attention.

10. The Allegory by Royce Da 5′9″

No accomplished lyricist makes life harder on himself than Royce Da 5′9″. Be it his tendency to cram personal observations and disclosures in and around his punchlines, or experimenting production wise, the Detroit veteran is intent on finding new ways to approach fine wine music, tossing more complex offerings into his catalog over the past few years. Things are no different with The Allegory. 

Not only did Royce once again pen an album that speaks to his ability to cope with his own past and present, he inserts himself in the producer chair as well, addressing the trials and tribulations of the increasingly problematic world around him, over backdrops crafted by only his hand a a few trusted peers. The effect is mostly successful, with the production exceeding the expectations of many (myself included), while the writing is at times both thought-provoking and in need of further exploration on Royce’s part. The guest features range from effective to scene stealing (not because Royce ‘s verse is outshined, but there are moments where it seems as if the guest is better suited over Royce’s own production than he is). If you’re Royce Da 5′9″ and you release an album titled The Allegory, no one should expect a simple quick fix of bars over easily digestible instrumentals. The highs come in abundance, and while the lows come in small trip-ups and the occasional skit that the listener probably could have done without, you get the sense that with some editing and further focus of his lofty goals, his sermons could have been sharpened into a more effective analysis of many of his topics (the music business, being black in America, history, conspiracy theories), resulting in an incredible album instead of a very good one. Nevertheless, it is all worth the ride to hear the latest work from one of rap music’s most gifted MC’s from the past decade. If The Allegory isn’t a home-run, it’s at the very least a strong base hit.

Top 50 (all belong in the Top 10-25, but...there’s only 25 spots in the Top 25, soooo):

11. Cold Water by Medhane

12. Shrines by Armand Hammer

13. Bag Talk by yungmorpheus & Pink Siifu

14. Try Again by ovrkast.

15. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels

16. Noise Kandy 4 by Rome Streetz

17. Innocent Country 2 by Quelle Chris

18. Weight of the World by MIKE

19. Sages by Henny L.O. & Ohbliv

20. Milestones by Skyzoo

21. Carpe Noctem by Big Ghost Ltd

22. Lake Water by SeKwence

23. At the End of the Day. by Fly Anakin

24. Sole Food by Deniro Farrar

25. The Oracle 3 by Grafh

26. The Blue Tape by Tree

27. lo&behold by lojii

28. Infinite Wisdom by Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon

29. FULL CIRCLE by Medhane

30. UNLOCKED by Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats

31. The Throwaways by The Opioid Era

32. Anyways by Young Nudy

33. PTSD (Deluxe) by G Herbo

34. Holly Favored by Monday Night & Foisey

35. THE GOAT by Polo G

36. Demon & Mufasa by Yhung T.O. & DaBoii 

37. The Face of Jason by ANKHLEJOHN

38. My Turn by Lil Baby 

39. No One Mourns the Wicked by Conway & Big Ghost Ltd.

40. Two4one by Jay Worthy 

41. Free Drakeo by Drakeo

42. Alone Time by YL

43. Assata by CV$ a.k.a. Con$piracy & Teller Bank$

44. Thug Tear by Big Kashuna O.G. & Monday Night

45. Ways and Means by Rasheed Chappell & 38 Spesh

46. IMMORTALKOMBAT by Al Divino & Estee Nack

47. Young & Turnt 2 by 42 Dugg

48. Sleeper Effect by Sleep Sinatra

49. Juno by Che Noir & 38 Spesh

50. LULU by Conway & The Alchemist

THE REST OF THE BEST (all belong in the Top 50 releases of 2020, but..what can I say, blame 2020 for being such a stacked year for music/events I guess):

Black Schemata by yungmorpheus,  The Smartest by Tee Grizzley,  Polly by the Powder Keg by Chuck Chan & Pad Scientist,  High Off Life by Future,  Gotham City Album by Plex Diamonds,  Memphis Massacre 2 by Duke Deuce, Poetic Substance by RIM & Vinyl Villain,  Styles David: Ghost Your Enthusiasm by Styles P,  MF Bloo by Bloo & Spanish Ran,  LSD by The Leonard Simpson Duo & Guilty Simpson,  Funeral by Lil Wayne,  RAW UNKNOWN by Spectacular Diagnostics,  Nezzie’s Star by Eddie Kaine,  ShrapKnel (self-titled),  The Bluest Note by Skyzoo & Dumbo Station,  WUNNA by Gunna,  Get Money Teach Babies by Heist Life & Spanish Ran,  Open Casket by Killer Kane,  6 Rings by Yung Mal,  The Beauty of It by Eto,  Meet The Woo 2 by Pop Smoke,  Fresh Air by UFO Fev & Statik Selektah,  Vito by Vince Ash,  GRIMM & EViL by GRiMM Doza,  RUDEBWOY by CJ Fly,  Rocket to Nebula by Killah Priest,  EVERYTHING by Kota the Friend,  NO Blade of Grass by V Don,  Eternal Atake by Lil Uzi Vert,  I’m My Brother’s Keeper by Yella Beezy & Trapboy Freddy,  Carhartt Champions by Tree Mason,  Viral Viral! by Dunbar,  Rowhouse Whispers by Ray West & Zilla Rocca,  Magneto Was Right #4 by Raz Fresco,  DUMP LIFE by Tha God Fahim, Jay NiCE & Left Lane Didon,  Burn One, Tap In, Zone Out by Dot Demo,  FNTG: From Niggaz to Godz by Squeegie O,   PANAGNL4E, Vol. 2 by Los and Nutty,  Death 2 All Haterz 2 by Rigz & Symph,  Thank You For Using GTL by Drakeo & JoogSzn,  Adjust to the Game by Larry June,  Martyr’s Prayer by Elcamino & 38 Spesh,  BETTER by Deante’ Hitchcock,  Attack of the Future Shocked, Flesh Covered, Meatbags of the 85 by $ilkMoney,  No Cosign Just Cocaine 3 by Ty Farris,  Hear No Equal by Chuuwee,  MSYKM by Tsu Surf,  Your Birthday’s Cancelled by Iron Wigs,  Spring Clean by Curren$y & Fuse,  Arctic Plus Degrees (The Sun Don’t Chill Allah) by Planet Asia & DirtyDiggs,  Psychological Cheat Sheet by Vic Spencer, Glass 2.0 by Meyhem Lauren & Harry Fraud,  Trust the Chain by Planet Asia & 38 Spesh, Director’s Cut (Scene Two) by Ransom & Nicholas Craven, and Son Of A Gun by Key Glock.

[razanartuk]

about me tag game thing

i was tagged by the wonderful @nothingunrealistic! thank you very much ily <3

under read more bc i was not capable of keeping my answers brief this time around

why did you choose your url?

this...was supposed to be a short explanation but it turned into quite a tale so strap in i guess because we are going on a ride. back in 2017 i was just getting into musical theatre rp and i was still feeling too shy to really talk to anyone ooc so i would just wait for people i wanted to interact with to post starter calls so i could just do things in character with them the easy way. So i did this with my friend cam, who posted a starter for me using a lyric from If I Could Tell Her. she linked the song so i could listen to it, so i did and i went ‘wait a minute, is that Ben Platt from Pitch Perfect?? (and other things too, but i only recognized his voice at the time bc of the acappella girl movies)’ and yes it certainly was.

i had zero idea what the plot of Dear Evan Hansen was about at that point, and for some reason based off Just That One Song and the poster art of who i assumed was Some Guy in a Polo Shirt i started to think it was about some jock guy who broke his arm and had an emo/goth friend who had either died or gone missing under mysterious circumstances. also i intuited that Evan had a crush on his friend’s sister but he couldn’t tell her that directly or his emo friend would kick his ass. so i was like mostly wrong, but a little bit right.

oh and i knew jared and alana were characters from the show bc cam said that they were i think?? but i had no idea what their role was. so after listening to if i could tell her, i listened to good for you and all i really got out of that was that evan the apparently not-jock guy had done...something... that really hurt jared and alana. and at that point i finally decided to go look up a plot synopsis and i found out i was waaay off base. but honestly this is why cast recordings should include scene dialogue in the songs bc otherwise you just get soundtracks like dear evan hansen where the songs have like. zero context. we really just go from waving through a window to for forever to sincerely me without like. any reason as to what is happening huh. It’s honestly not a surprise anymore that all those people on twitter had no idea the plot isn’t about gay teenagers.

anyways. cam was writing jared and she made a post at one point about wishing somebody would write alana and i was like ‘oh i could do that!’ (after i had actually Seen a bootleg and finally knew what the whole story was, of course) so i made a multimuse rp blog featuring alana beck, nabulungi hatimbi, chloe valentine and some other characters, and cam started sharing her headcanons with me that alana is trans, jared and alana were close friends when they were little kids but they sort of drifted apart as they got older and their priorities in life changed, jared was the first person alana came out to when she realized she’s trans, etc.

one night i started talking about wanting to pick a more theatre-relevant url for my blog and trans-[character name] urls were getting pretty popular, and at least 3 of the friends i made through rp had changed theirs to coordinating trans-[character name] and i think it was cam suggested i should make mine be trans-alana so i did. eventually i realized the unhyphenated version was available so i changed it to transalana with no hyphen and i have lived here ever since. sometimes i think about changing it but i feel like transalana has become a part of My Brand and i am not so great with coming up with cool names for things.

any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them

in theory, i have sideblogs... i don’t really use them, but of the ones i do have, there is:

emsbookblog - this was supposed to be where i would post excerpts of the book that i’m working on, but i think i did that maybe one time roughly 2 years ago and then promptly forgot about it/got nervous about my writing and was scared to share anything else. the rest of the stuff that is there is assorted writing tips. i don’t really know what to do with it now. i probably should post all my little thoughts about em and anita and caleb there instead of infodumping on my main from time to time, but if i do that then i have to promo a sideblog and direct people over to it which is always annoying to me when i could just do it on this blog which is much easier

dearnovelhansen - this is basically no longer used, but was a sideblog i made specifically to talk/complain about the novel adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen which was about 3 years ago?? maybe? i can’t be trusted to understand the passage of time. but to summarize: i thought it was an honor just to have the story be made more accessible since many of us couldn’t see the stage performance, but i hated a lot of the creative liberties that were taken. my main grumbles are that everyone who isn’t evan or connor is done so dirty in the novel. connor’s still kind of done dirty in the book, but not as much as like. heidi, alana, jared, and zoe are.

horseisle3 - this one was meant to be a place where i could just enthusiastically post screenshots from hi3, but instead it turned into a blog where i occasionally reblog other players’ hi3 content and bitch about how bad the game admins are bc hi3 is the tumblr famous (infamous?) homophobic horse game. the game where it was once okay to call your club store the gulag bc according to their head of hr, ‘it’s just a russian word for prison’ but you can’t say ‘im gay’ without somebody accusing you of corrupting young children who play the game. unfortunately there aren’t very many good interactive horse games out there, so this one is still about as good as it gets. it’s either that or star stable and i don’t care about star stable.

mlaenie - i’ve had this url saved for i don’t even know how long. way way way back in the day when i wanted to escape from the clutches of the onceler fandom i abandoned my first blog where i basically had an alter ego i guess?? and i decided to just be myself on the new blog. i don’t fully remember who came up with it, but one of my sister’s mutuals suggested that if you scrambled the letters in your name you could come up with aesthetic-looking urls. so lauren’s url became lrauen, and to match with her mine became mlaenie, which i abandoned on tumblr after about a year or so? but have continued to use as my main username on twitter, reddit, youtube, xbox, steam, and discord. i barely ever use any of these accounts aside from twitter, steam, and xbox, but yeah. so i’ve decided to try and turn this empty sideblog into a place for video game thoughts maybe. we’ll see how long it lasts this time around.

how long have you been on tumblr?

i made my first tumblr account in december of 2010, but i didn’t understand how to use it at all or how to customize my theme to look cool and unique so i quickly abandoned it. i made a new account in september of 2011 after some kids at school and my sister told me i should and i have been trapped here with varying degrees of activity/inactivity ever since. i have witnessed the rise and fall of the lorax/onceler fandom, hyperfocused on lord of the rings, star wars and back to the future all at the same time, and for the past 4 years i’ve mostly been a musical theatre blog with assorted other fandom stuff mixed in. i feel i have seen everything and nothing, but mostly i’m just tired and bored.

do you have a queue tag?

no bc i don’t use a queue. i’ve tried using it in the past but i irrationally feel pressured to sustain a coherent theme to queued posts and my brain simply does not vibe with that so i just don’t use it at all anymore. Instead i instantly reblog or post several unrelated thoughts in succession and then don’t post again at all for 3 days. the way god intended

why did you start your blog in the first place?

my very first blog was intended to be a place for me to post all of my petz 5 animals’ profile info, but i didn’t have any understanding of how coding worked at all and i don’t think i really wanted to learn, either. so it just sat there, unused. my second attempt at blogging was as a classic rock fandom person, so as you can probably imagine i was pretty pretentious about ‘modern pop’ vs the beatles, the rolling stones, the who, the monkees, and so on. and then i slowly devolved into a lorax fandom blog and everything went to shit so i made a new blog for lord of the rings/the hobbit which later evolved to include star wars and back to the future blogging. and then for the past 4 years i’ve been mainly a musical theatre blog with other random stuff i like thrown haphazardly into the pot. wonderful.

why did you choose your icon/pfp?

because my url is transalana and two of my most prominent lgbt headcanons are that alana beck is trans and a lesbian. i gotta be shouting out @kinqmike though bc she’s the one i adopted the trans alana beck headcanon from in the first place!

why did you choose your header?

in 2017 i was hyperfixating on Dear Evan Hansen (and Be More Chill, but there weren’t many gif-able videos then considering it ran for a month in New Jersey in 2015 and there was only one yet-to-resurface 35 minute bootleg) so i just grabbed a random gif off of google. i really should get to replacing it with a new header of my own though. i just don’t know what i should do for it.

what’s your post with the most notes?

i have lost track of how many notes it has (i think it’s somewhere around 200 now?) but when Will Roland and George Salazar performed Two Player Game on Good Morning America, i posted a screencap of their Jeremy and Michael along with that one quiz answer meme that says stuff like ‘i want to see it grow up healthy’. i didn’t tag it with any ship names or anything because i was anxious about having it show up in the tags, but somebody who reblogged it from me did tag it as boyf riends and i firmly believe it took off because of that. i don’t think i make posts that are relevant enough to amass thousands of notes, even by accident. which is probably a good thing bc if i did i would have to block so many of them.

how many followers do you have?

on this blog? 175 according to the counter. how many of those are still real people and how many are bots and abandoned accounts? i have no idea.

how many people do you follow?

i try to keep it somewhere around 200. i think i’m sitting at 180 right now but i kind of need to go through and clear out the really inactive blogs.

have you made a shitpost?

let’s think about this for a second. i’ve been on tumblr for nearly 10 years. you might even be able to say i’ve made more than one. they’re just not what you would call...popular shitposts.

how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ post?

that stuff makes me so incredibly anxious that i have to fight the urge to want to yeet my laptop or mobile device through the closest window whenever i read it, so i try very hard to avoid any sort of ‘if you don’t reblog this, i’m judging you’ posts. i find them very manipulative and not particularly helpful

do you like tag games?

yeah babey!! i just frequently forget to do them, but please know that if you have ever tagged me in a tag game i felt incredibly touched by the gesture and the @mention even if i completely forgot to do the thing afterward

do you like ask games?

i do! but also rip to literally anyone who has ever sent me an ask meme bc it takes me so long to answer them. i’m still working on a micro fic prompt from a few weeks ago. also, horrified to realized that it has in fact been a few weeks and not 3 days anymore.

which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

i don’t know that any are tumblr famous as a whole. but probably @neverheardnothing

do you have a crush on a mutual?

in any sort of romantic connotation? no. not that i’m aware of. there are mutuals that i have friend crushes on where i want to be friends with them but i get so anxious when it comes to meeting new people that usually nothing ever comes of it. i’m really not good at small talk or other casual conversation either which, as you may or may not be able to imagine, sucks. i just wanna skip over all of the awkward introductions and ‘hey how are you, how is life, what are you doing with yourself?’ stuff. not because i don’t care about it. i do, but i think most of my friends/the people i want to be my friends are also depressed and anxious so asking these basic questions about life tends to uh. make us all nervous. and i don’t do much with my life so i always have the most boring answers anyways.

i’m not tagging anyone officially bc the @ thing has just completely given up on me at this point, but if you want to do it, go for it. and then say i tagged you so i can read it c:

[reddish-light]

tagged by @umibekafka; ty buddy I love you this was fun to do

1. Why did you choose your url?

To match all my gamer tag stuff across a lot of different sites. It actually came from a friend I played Dead by Daylight with and they were a killer and I was a survivor they had just downed. I think they said something along the lines of me being a slug in a puddle of reddish light and I thought it sounded cool so I took it. Now I use it everywhere I don't want my name attached and I use another name for people I know irl primarily.

2. Any sideblogs? If you have them name them and why you have them.

One blog that won't be named because it's my most popular blog full of angry venting stuff / poetry that resonates with similarly angry people that need to vent.

@lilred-fighting-hood for the Achievement Hunter fandom although I'm no longer part of, but I still reblog posts for the people that do follow that blog because I hope it brings them joy.

@lumos-nyx for my aesthetic blog. Lots of purple and space stuff, though recently it's been flowers.

@icecourt-crows for the Six of Crows fandom! Used to post my writing but I kinda fell out of SOC for now (just wait until I watch the Netflix series though.)

@snxwflakeheart for an old RP thing that I couldn't figure out because I am not good at RP lmao.

3. How long have you’ve been on tumblr?

2012/2013 I believe. Oh wow it's been nearly a decade (using decade puts things in perspective, huh).

4. Do you have a queue tag?

No; I'm sorry. I reblog everything when I am online and the only reprieve my followers get is when I am not online. I don't want to sully their dashboards when I'm not even there to watch.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

I believe it was for H/etalia? Migrated from Quotev because I heard there was better fanart and fanfiction here.

6. Why did you choose your icon?

It's a Picrew I did for Halloween and it feeds into so many of my interests (tits out, hearts, heart eyes, dark red, how I see myself in my head or how I'd like to portray myself to others).

7. Why did you choose your header?

I don't have one and that's because I couldn't find one I liked.

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

I don't know how to check that and I am too lazy to find out; I'm sorry ask game :(

9. How many mutuals do you have?

"I don't know how to check that and I am too lazy to find out; I'm sorry ask game :(" PART 2

10. How many followers do you have?

613! Hello everyone that follows me (or followed me by mistake lmao).

11. How many people do you follow?

779 people! I pruned it recently so it's not as high as it was a month ago.

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

I haven't because I rarely personal post on this blog (aside from tag games like this).

13. How often do you use tumblr each day?

Daily and sometimes I catch myself getting bored of Tumblr, so I open Tumblr in another tab without realizing it :|

14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won?

Not on this blog, but I have like once or twice maybe? I "won" both times, but there is no "winning" in tumblr drama.

15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?

I really dislike them because of the guilt tripping, but if the information is important to me, then I would reblog it. It would probably be better practice to reblog it from the last most relevant RB to avoid the guilt tripping, but alas.

16. Do you like tag games?

Tag games are fun! Too bad I don't notice I get tagged until much later because I don't check the activity tag lmao.

17. Do you like ask games?

They're fun to do on occasion; I don't like doing them on this blog though because the reach isn't as wide as my more popular side blog. At times, I thrive off the attention. At other times, please do not acknowledge my existence. And also, if one of the people I follow does an ask game, I send them something because I hope it'll brighten their day!

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

A few of them! I know for sure that @vorpaldick is popular bc they did the JFK post and are generally witty, eloquent, and hot. Similarily, @exeunt-pursued-by-a-bear is also intelligent and well-spoken and has very in-depth knowledge on theater-related stuff!

19. Do I have a crush on a mutual?

Yeah and they know who they are; I even have a specific tag for them when I find posts that remind me of them.

20. Tags?

Anyone who wants to do it tbh! Just tag me if you're embarrassed abt wanting to do it unprompted :)

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

asks (26)

@spickerzocker​ said:

hey there! just a heads up that i tried to click on the "why i don't ship" explanation link in your faq and it says that there is no post with that url/it's generally broken. also your "a conversation about recovery" thing is beautiful and hurts in the best way and i love it. have a nice day!

Yes, I intentionally took that link down awhile ago, and last night I went and updated some of the tabs on my blog. Here are my basic thoughts:

I wrote that link years and years ago, while I was first navigating the internet and while I was still figuring out important things about my own identity and opinions. I ran my blog differently back then, but by the end of the first few months, I knew I was uncomfortable with shipping. 

As people began to interact with me and my work, I told them over and over again no, I don’t want to talk about that, and I don’t want to write about it, and it makes me uncomfortable. I don’t think that was a common position to take at the time, so it wasn’t what people expected from me. 

During those years, I felt like I had to justify myself and give a valid explanation. I wrote that post explaining why I had that boundary, and I put it in a place where anyone could find it.

I said no when people asked, let them make jokes about it, and made jokes about it myself in response. As time went on I got more and more exasperated when I had to repeat myself. I wrote definite rules into my ask box, request tab, and FAQ. People still asked. I wrote it into my description. People still asked. 

The truth is yeah, there’s a pretty simple explanation for my discomfort. It makes sense. It’s easy to understand, and most folks think it’s a “good enough” reason to leave me alone. The difference between young-me and current-me is that I no longer feel the need to justify myself. 

None of y’all need to know why I set the boundaries that I set. My explanation isn’t relevant, and I’m not obligated to give it. I said no. That’s enough. 

I think a good number of folks remember my explanation from the past, and I don’t mind that at all. There may be a time where I talk about it again, in a more appropriate context, so I guess we’ll see.

That’s a lot of information in response to a very helpful ask. Thanks! The link is gone now, and I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the fic :)

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Anonymous said:

U suck

Kenza sent this anon as a joke. She’s right, and I thank her. 

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Anonymous said:

I'm a doctor and ive seen it all.....but the milk fic made me gag

Excellent

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@wingedskyes said:

Ah. Wait. I wasn't on anon....uhm. oh well. It's fine. I like milk and am not ashamed. 😆

I don’t think I received another message from you actually, but I too like milk and I’m glad we’re on the same page

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@thelittleredheadedmusician said:

To add to the milk discussions: my best friend from home and best friend from college have each finished a gallon a milk by themselves within 2 days.

I do that too, every once in awhile. When the milk craving hits it’s a gallon a day

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Anonymous said:

"TIM! POUR HIM. A GLASS OF M A L K!"

Hold on I have to google some things

Yeah this is funny

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Anonymous said:

I have read that milk fic three separate times and every time I’m laughing just as hard as Tim and dick by the end it’s just so excellently executed and builds so perfectly that by the time dick cracks I’m ready to go too and I just lose it it’s amazing I love it

Awww anon I’m so pleased :)

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@the-smartass-under-the-mountain said:

Just wanted to drop by and say your recent fic with Tim antagonizing Damian with increasingly outrageous milk concoctions had me giggling. It was so cute and refreshing to see Dick enjoying Tim's little prank. And Bruce's reaction to just... walk away was fantastic!

Thank you! I’m always so thrilled when y’all think the jokes hit

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@njtheboywonder​ said:

I havnt really enjoyed a fic in years, but i stopped to read ur fanfic with tim drinking milk just to fuck w dami amd it made me smile. Thanks, for writing it.

Oh that warms my heart <3

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@bruciewayneisbatman​ said:

Tim Is totally the guy who would drink ridiculous amounts of dalgona coffee to annoy damian, according to that fic.

Had to google that one, but I guess so huh

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Anonymous said:

(diff anon) but that birthday fic was so good oml and you have opened my eyes as to the batfam in quarantine this is such a Concept

We’re all here dying..... together...

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Anonymous said:

Happy birthday! 🎉 or belated! 🎂 thank you for being in the fandom. 😊

&

Anonymous said:

To anon! Sorry. I forgot to add that! Anyway, thanks to them we get a lovely fic. I hope you have many more birthdays! 😊

Message for you anon

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Anonymous said:

Your writing gives off good vibes

Hear that guys I “passed my vibe check.” Is that what the youth say these days? I am an elder now and I do not know

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Anonymous said:

finding your blog while being relatively new to batman fandom is such a bliss. your batfam content especially is *chef's kiss* amazing.

Thank you my darling :) I’m glad you’re here

------

Anonymous said:

Best line in a fic? Hard to pick just one, but this particular one from "Just Desserts" by fyeahbatmanandrobin on Tumblr is one of my faves: “Anyone else would be hard-pressed to provide the particular brand of excitement you bring to my life, Dami.”

&

@noisypaintersong​ said:

For the line thing: "I don't doubt it. Bruce Wayne, the unexpectedly normal guy wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a superhero wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a fake socialite wrapped in a businessman wrapped in a secretive billionaire." He paused. "…You're the seven-layer burrito of Gotham," he pondered. - Barry to Bruce in 'Of Friends and Foes' by Paganpunk2 on FFN. It's one of the funniest things I've read someone say to Bruce LOL

& 

@kirakats​ submitted:

&

Anonymous said:

“I do know that according to everyone else, there is no chance, no future, no universe where I stay a hero.” Describes my frustration with the way DC treats Damian so accurately. Let the kid be a hero dammit.

Thanks! That’s really helpful. I’ve got a decent answer to my question now. 

@kurawastaken​ submitted:

So this is Kenza retaliating against me for the milk fic. I very much hate tomatoes and specifically ketchup. This photo (1) is a nightmare and (2) fulfills its intended purpose.

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Anonymous said:

I love your blog!!!

And I love you 

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Anonymous said:

quick question: how do you think jason reconciles with the fam?? i think in the comics they kinda just reboot and now he’s on better terms. but like what conversations happened, yknow??? (you’re doin great work by the way, it rips out my heart but it’s great)

This is an amazing question, and I’ll be thinking about it for the next bit, I think. That would be a really interesting topic to explore in depth

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@angel-gidget​ said:

*hugs you real tight* would you please send this to the first 10 people in your dash? Make sure someone gets a hug today and stay safe!

Oh thank you for the hug <3

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Anonymous said:

I hadn’t been aware of that Memphis petition, but I live in Memphis too (Altho I know you said you just grew up there so you may not be living here currently haha) so ig I just wanted to say thanks for bringing it to my attention!

!!!

I’ve been in Texas for six years now, ever since I started school, but I’m still in and out of Memphis for family purposes. Love the trash heap of my birth 

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@damianwaynerocks​ said:

hey! any chance you know of any other dc heroes around damian’s age?

Sure! You could try Billy Batson, Jon Kent, or Maya Ducard

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Anonymous said:

hi! i don't know if it's okay to leave anons like these but ive been feeling down because my country has passed a bill that deprives us of lots of human rights freedom and i want you to know that i just found your blog through the damian/bruce + justice fic and it comforted me. im slowly going thru your works and so far they are all comforting. i love your stuff, thank you.

Philippines? I’ve heard some things, and I’m real sorry y’all’re going through that. I don’t know that there’s anything I could say about that to help, but I hope you’re finding joy somewhere

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@awesomeness-ofgaybitches​ said:

Tumblr hates you. The links in your bio and to your fic masterlist don't work on mobile. I'm sorry.

FUCK

[sevdoesnotexist]

Kk! So, I’ll put mine back up and you can let me know when they answer you since... they blocked me lol

You're being incredibly immature dude this isn't ABOUT YOU this is about the comfort and security of the minor you fucking borderline harassed how do you not get that yet? What? Don't like being accountable for your actions? Don't like it that people can see the evidence of your strawmanning over a minors post for the sake of fandom? Don't like people knowing an adult went and made a fucking rant post about a minor and then put it in the trans tag to be inflammatory? You need to fucking stop. You're an adult. Act like it.

I'm seriously starting to get fucking tired of the casual transphobia trans people get from other members of the lgbt community. How about y'all starting listening to trans adults? Or do you have too much fun attacking trans teenagers for being upset over not having many other trans friends in their fandom? And constantly hearing people shitting on men to the point it was negatively effecting their mental health which they clearly state in the post you're referring to. Trans men saying "hey when you are constantly saying "men suck, men are evil, men are awful, men are gross" trans teenagers are going to fucking internalize that. You took that post, which was a non problematic post made by a teenager, and turned it into an attack on wlw as a whole when that was never there in the first place.

Blood fucking hell, I'm tired of y'all. I blocked you already stop interacting with me. That minor blocked you, you forced interactions onto them. I block you for being inflammatory, casually transphobic (CIS person speaking over trans persons experience after I tried to explain to you WHY what you were saying was problematic) and whatever else was fucking going on with you bringing up you're black when it was literally not relevant to the conversation or issues at hand but y'know what I won't touch that past stating it happened because I'm not black, I'm also visibly white, so no experience with that it just felt out of place. You're now coming into my inbox, sending me fucking anon hate calling me a whiny fag and such, I find it hard to believe I start getting gender based hated within minutes of informing I would take the post down after/if/when the person who was being attacked in the first place got back to me.

I cannot reiterate this enough, anon. I won't tag you, I won't put your own url on blast, a courtesy you refused to extend to a trans minor, but it's time to act like a fucking adult. If you're getting his mad over what trans teenagers post about, it's time to step away from the computer for a bit and reflect on why it bothers you so much, as an adult.

[prorevenge]

You okay the project for the whole team? Great turn it in to the professor tomorrow

Tl/dr; Kids in group project don’t take having a real life client seriously, 1 fails, 1 fails and doesn’t graduate, and 1 goes from A to C and screws up GPA.

  Enough of the Backstory, here are the characters, obviously no where near their real names:

Matt - Professor

Client - Store owner

Damien - Project Partner

Jeff - Project Partner

Kirk - Project Partner

Barry - Me

      The SPRING class in this story was a Implementing Business Computer Systems class. For the yearly project we had a real life client that our school volunteered the students for Pro Bono work of small business in the area. We were seniors, so we are trusted with the clients work as it is oversaw by our professor. This is a big step and I, for one, am excited. I had been doing nothing but working as a Bartender/Server in a fine dining restaurant and having my head in books learning how to code with barely any time to do much else - this was an opportunity to get a taste of the real world we were about to embark on.

      The project started out fine, we all drive thirty minutes away to meet our client. A wonderful woman that owned a small floral business and she was paying 1-800-flowers to sell her product for her, which came with a website itself and a HUGEEEE price. This lady was also in her 60s and by no means fluent in computer - this is important for later. We talk, find out she wants a new website, her contract with 1-800-assholes ends in the summer. No pressure, we will be able to finish the web site and give it to her by the end of the semester, if not earlier. This will give us time to teach her what is needed and what to do so that she can maintain and run the website by her self. Afterwards we delegate the tasks, and since I have the most extensive background in coding and computers, I volunteer to learn how to create this website for our client as long as Damien, Jeff and Kirk work on the other parts of the project - the user guide and the technical documentation. For our client, this needed to be extensive so that she would be able to post her product on the website with an easy transition.

      As we weigh our options over the next week, we come up with some proposals to the client and we set a meeting to go over these on a Tuesday - the day everybody is the most free in their schedule - the following week. Sunday - Jeff says he can't make it, Kirk quickly responds and says he can't make it either. I say its cool, Damien and I will be able to make it. Monday - Damien says we should reschedule because now he can't make it. I say no, I will go by myself we shouldn't cancel on the client - no biggie, I understand things come up. As the project went through the semester, I am killing the website. I have a working e-commerce store integrated with the stores paypal, i have a shop tab, and a featured page for in season flowers. I ask about the documentation and the user manual and I am told by the all three of them that they are working on it and will have a rough draft for me soon to check out. Cool, No problem. Time to show the client the product to see if she wants any changes or if we should just continue creating this website for her; we set a meeting with the client on a Tuesday a week or two in advance and everybody says that is okay.

      Same song, different story. Sunday - Jeff says he can't make it, Kirk quickly responds and says he can't make it either. I say its cool, Damien and I will be able to make it. Monday - Damien says we should reschedule because now he can't make it. "I say fuck no, this is a client. You don't do that to clients." So I hop my ass by myself to drive 30 minutes to meet our client. I show the Client the website and she client is happy with the product and asks us to continue and she is excited for the finished product.

      How our weeks are set up is in such a way which they start on a Wednesday and end on a Tuesday. So the last day of classes are on a Tuesday. The school then gives an extra free day that Wednesday for a "Study Day", then the exams schedule goes Thu-Fri-Sat || Mon-Tues-Wed. I am sure you can infer what students do on that Tuesday before study day. Fast forward to the end of the semester, I still haven't seen any documentation or user manual and it is due on the class' exam day, which is the first day of exam week. So a week before it is due I am told I will have the documentation and user manual in my hand before our meeting which is at 12PM that study day - Wednesday. I receive a email at 11PM on Tuesday as I am getting off work and I see that is the technical documentation and the user manual. i open it up, promptly get pissed, turn off my laptop, play some xbox and pass out before midnight. The reason being, technical documentation was 1 page and did not contain anything about the Database Schema used, the website language, the paypal information, the emails registered. Just the URL and some other information that wasn't important and was half a page long. Remember how our client was in her 60s? The user manual was 1 and a half pages long and, I shit you not, contained about 5 sentences and 3 pictures with an arrow. 0 explanation on how to use the website.

      Come to the meeting at 12pm, I show up and wait about 5 minutes. I then text everybody asking where they are at, no response. I start looking over how to fix the user manual since I obviously have to start over. While I am working on it, I haven't said anything and then Damien walks into the room.

  D: "Did you get the docs?"

Me: "Yeah. You guys really think this is finished?"

D: "Oh yeah, it should be good to turn in."

Me: "Idk, I think we should add a little more, this is for our client, she won't understand this. Where is Jeff and Kirk?"

D: " ahhahaha We all got fucked up last night after finishing up the documentation, they are probably still passed out. Also, I'm turning it in tomorrow, if you want to do anything else go ahead, but whatever I have I am turning it in. I think its ready to turn it so I won't be doing anything else, I have other classes to study for. I already have an A in this class so it doesn't matter to me and Kirk and Jeff have A's as well so they don't care at all."

      Perfect he said the magic words and then he left with a flash drive. I immediately went upstairs and told my professor, Matt, everything. I said I don't want to leave my client hanging, yes my client, not ours. Matt said that he completely understands and even commends me for wanting to stay on top of everything and not give our client a bad taste for our students. He then asks why. I simply stated, "What you are about to receive tomorrow for 'our' project is completely unacceptable. It is unfair for us and for our client to leave her hanging." I showed him the website, which he likes and then I showed him the user guide and technical documentation. I asked for an extra week to finish the documentation and user guide - as I had a plan for what it should be and needed time to create it all. Matt said absolutely, but forget about the documentation. You obviously know what is in it, just focus on the client. So I created user videos with dictation, drove to the client and showed her how to use it all, where to find the videos. I even created a program that had all the videos inside so she could have it on her desktop and the program pulled up the video of her choice for whatever she needed help with with some buttons so she wouldn't have to search folders for the videos. I gave her my contact info and said I'll be here over the summer if she ever needs help with the website or has any questions and I can swing by.

    After all of this happened and afterwards I gave an update to Matt who also had an update from me. Apparently he almost failed the rest of my group because they turned in their project by slipping an unmarked USB drive under his door. He only accepted it after they emailed him asking him if he received the USB. Matt also called our client to verify my story of the fact that they never showed for client meetings and the client told him I was the only person that has been showing up. Hearing this from other people, anybody in my group that had A's in the class leading up to the project got a C, anybody with a B in the class failed. Damien's GPA was screwed up from this class as it was a 4 hours class. Kirk and Jeff both failed and Jeff wasn't allowed to graduate and Kirk had to retake it the next semester even though he wasn't graduating. My grade which was an 84 before the project was bumped to an A. The next year Damien asked how I did in that class because he was confused about his final grade, and I simply said I did fine, received an A. He has no idea the reason why. Don't f*ck with me and my grade and I won't f*ck with you.

(source) story by (/u/sw1mm3r202)

[artmwrites]

How I Write Blog Posts and Why You Need a Writing Routine

A lot of small business owners want to start writing blog posts for their business. Writing takes one part discipline, one part research, and one part art with a touch of psychology to do. I’ve written this post to help those starting out building their own writing habits. Writing is like any other skill, it takes practice and dedication. We all start somewhere and every one of us can become pro bloggers.

Planning

The first step I take to write my content is to sit and plan the post out. Writing isn’t like the movies where you sit by a sunny window and type away building a million dollar blog. Writing quality content takes practice and planning. You can achieve both over time.

Planning your post starts with your topic. Planning topics can be a huge roadblock and many people quit writing before they begin. Develop categories for your blog based on your products or services. After that develop topics for each category. Try to develop 10 to 20 topics to start. These topics can be further broken down or developed into long-form content.

Once you have a topic you know you can write 300 or more words for, start to plan out the post. On a Word document or Google Doc, start with a basic title you'll build-out later. Make a section for keywords to help get your post ranked. Make a section for SEO meta titles and descriptions. Finally, outline the actual post with headings for each point you want to make in your post.

Research for Your Blog

Researching key aspects of your blog before you write will help you create content that brings value to the people that need to read it. Researching before you write will refresh your memory and help you back up your facts. With researched data and info, you boost your authority and trust with readers. People that trust their information sources are more likely to convert.

Persona

Personas are a fictitious person that represents a segment of your target audience. Building an in-depth profile for your persona including a name, family, job, and pain points humanize your persona. Personalizing personas give you a “person” to create your blog post to read.

Having these personas allows you to write like you are having a conversation about your company to a friend. Knowing who you are writing for is a huge step in creating great blog posts. 

Keywords

Keywords act like triggers for search engines when people are looking for specific topics. Finding keywords can be tricky if you don’t know where to look or how to use them. How to do keyword research is an entire post on its own

Brainstorm a list of words that you would use to search for the topic of your post. You can use a tool like Google Keyword Tool or a free tool like Ubersuggest by Neil Patel to get an estimate of how much traffic those keywords get. Once you find a handful of relevant keywords, search them on Google, and look at the “People Also Asked” section. This is a great way to either find new topics related, refine your post, or find your alternative or long-tail keywords.

Authoritative Sources

The last thing to research to create your post is several sources to back your content and show trust and authority. Trying to find at least one credible source per point will help with readers and your SEO. You can also learn something new about the topic you’re writing about. If you use someone else’s work to back your post then it’s only right to give them credit.

Blog Writing

Now comes the fun part. Many people, myself included, get stuck in the writing phase. Here are a few suggestions and tips I use to start and finish a blog post.

Make Time to Write Like it’s Your Job

You need to set aside time to write. Create a block of time in your workday to just sit and write. Write one or two blog posts for practice and to publish later. Writing can be a very Zen-like activity once you start to develop solid writing habits. You’ll get better at writing as time goes on and you’ll start writing more and faster.

If you write your blog post a little bit a day, eventually you’ll find it takes 2 months to finish and by then the entire thing could be outdated or look like a jumbled mess. You need to sit and get your thoughts down while everything is fresh in your mind.

Find a Place to Write

Finding a comfortable place with little distractions is the next step. Unrestricted writing is key to getting your post written quickly. Find a space to call your own and camp out to build your writing habits. You need as little interruptions as possible to get all your thoughts on paper.

Don’t Stop to Edit or Think

One of the biggest contributors to writer’s block I run into is when I stop to correct grammar, spelling, or anything that doesn’t look right to me. I’ll fix all those little red underlines from Grammarly and next thing I know, boom there goes my train of thought.

When you start writing, don’t stop until you’re finished. Get all your thoughts out and in a logical order for your blog post. You’ll have time after to edit, add, or take whatever you want away. This is why large publishing companies and marketing agencies have editors. Their job is to fix errors and make sure the post is readable. Don’t let imperfections stop your progress.

Blog Editing

My process for editing my blog posts is waiting a day until I even look at the post again. By waiting a day to read and edit the post, I give myself a fresh set of eyes and detach from the post. I can make sure the post is accurate and conveys the message I need it to.

The first thing I do is make sure grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct through an app like Grammarly. I use the free version which works great for me. Using another app like the Hemingway app will help you when you’re starting out to keep your post readable.

Next, I read through and make sure the information is organized and makes sense. I may reword sections or even completely remove anything I don’t see as relevant. Sometimes on more complex posts, I’ll ask someone to read it and make sure they understand what I wrote.

Blog Publishing & Distribution

Once the post is edited, it's ready for publishing. Before you publish, find a few decent and relevant images to add to the post including a featured image. These can be stock images or photos you took for your business. Your photos need to look professional and you need to be able to size them appropriately.

Once you’ve entered your post and images into your preferred platform, optimize it for SEO. Make sure you have one H1 and the other headings follow suit according to importance. Use ALT text on your images. Add your meta title and description. Any links need to be semantic for Google. Finally, make your URL short and descriptive for Google and readers.

Once you publish your post, decide what platforms and when you’ll distribute your post. Just writing a post won’t get eyes on it. The more traffic you get to your post, the more authority your post will get. Decide how you want to section your post for social media. Do you want to publish to Medium? Maybe you want to repurpose the post into a video for YouTube. There are a ton of possibilities. The most important thing is to get your post out there.

Repurposing Blogs

Repurposing your posts is something to consider down the road. There are several key ways to repurpose content that works great. Repurposing allows you to take an existing blog, build it out or fix it, and keep your existing link and SEO juice.

Pillar Posts

Pillar posts are for posts you can easily make into 3,000 plus words and create a web of links between smaller posts. Pillar posts are a comprehensive, long-form post that acts as the hub for a web of similar links. Pillar posts are amazing for boosting SEO.

One downfall is you need around 10 posts on the same topic you can tie together to start your pillar post. Once you have a good amount of posts on a topic, it's truly something you need to consider.

Updating Blog Posts

Google loves when content is updated with new information. I’ve seen client posts skyrocket and do extremely well with SEO once they were updated and given a fresh headline. The best part about updating posts is you get to put a new perspective and eyes on it while keeping the SEO you earned for the original post.

Alternate Media

Making your post into different media types is a great way to create funnels with video, infographics, podcasts, and other content types. Having your message out in multiple formats gives you a great opportunity to get more eyes and ears on it. The more funnels you get out there, the more traffic you get back to your site.

Social Media Posts for Funnels

This isn’t so much repurposing but a way to build more funnels with your post. I usually add this as part of a content marketing strategy. Planning to take stand-alone parts of your post with custom graphics make great social media posts. If you have a post with enough info, you can have months worth of social media posts from one piece of content.

Conclusion

Writing a blog post can be daunting and sometimes writer’s block will hit you and you’ll give up. Hopefully, this post will give you a little light on how someone who does this for a living handles it. With planning, research, and practice, you’ll become a pro in no time.

If you find yourself stuck or just don’t have time to start building your content, feel free to contact me to learn more about how I can help. I’m a content marketer, writer, and SEO specialist helping small businesses build an online presence for more conversions and sales. Contact me or email me today.

[dracimexidae]

I was tagged by @whitestnoise​ (thank youuuuuuuuu!!! :-* )

Rules: answer the questions below and tag 20 blogs you would like to know better. whoever wants to do this!! <3

Nickname(s): if I don’t consider the variations of my name (Chiarina, Chiaretta... thankfully they weren’t often used, and actually I’m luckier, there are other names which get distorted in far more - and worse - ways) or the one a friend used to call me in primary school (”Cherry”... can’t even remember why, but I’m pretty sure the fruit wasn’t involved in the reason lol), plus one or two stupid others I used to make with another friend when I was a child when we were playing games (not even worthy mentioning, btw I think they were all too “temporary” to be even called proper nicknames) I think I have never had any relevant ones!

Star Sign: Capricorn

Height:

I AM THE POWERFUL, THE PLEASURABLE, THE INDESTRUCTABLE... ok I’m 155 cm... BUT I’M 155 FULL OF RUDENESS (ok, this I really think not, unless someone reeeeeeeeeally pisses me off) SARCASM AND BACK SPASMS (these two however tend to feature a lot more - ok not really back spasms but my back isn’t in top shape...)

Time Right Now: 9:51pm

** Last Thing You Googled: lol to just check the quote above to make sure I got it right

Favourite Music Artist: grumble grumble... I’m actually angry at them at the moment, because Two Steps From Hell next spring will actually come to Europe for their first tour, but OBVIOUSLY they didn’t consider adding Italy to their dates, and unless some extraordinary lucky circumstance happens it’s rather unlikely that my ass will have the chance to move abroad, let alone go to one of their concerts... I’M SO BITTER FOR THIS GODDAMN IT I’M CONSIDERING TO REVOKE THIS “PRIVILEGE” OF BEING MY FAVOURITES (lmao ok I’ll stop sound like a spoiled little brat having a fit, I’m obviously joking with the last part, as if I could btw, I love them too much for that) 

Song Stuck In Your Head: oh, that’s something, I actually have nothing playing in my mind right now, could it be?! The last one though I think it was this one ... don’t ask, I don’t know why myself... XD And actually it’s the music that got stuck, because not knowing German all it comes out about the lyrics would be jibberish XD

Last Movie You Watched: oh goodness, what was the last movie???!! Was it really this long since I watched a movie?? I remember Green Book as last movie actually, or at least the last memorable one, because I can’t recall others... Well, anyway it is worth mentioning because it was wonderful!!!

Last TV Show You Watched: The Good Place! :D

What Are You Wearing Right Now?: oh, a (sort of) sweater and sweatpants

When Did You Create Your Blog: I actually had to check because I couldn’t remember: the first post was made the 22 May, 2012!! (and I wrote in Italian, wut??! And a rather “cringey” introduction too lol, btw oh my god while checking this I just had a quick scroll in the archive of that month - the things I was posting about!!!!)

What Kind Of Stuff Do You Post?: well, mainly a bunch of tv shows (and movies) I like and things I fancy: nature, animals, a bit of fashion and pictures of beautiful people mixed with stupid posts and a glimpse of myself mainly through others’ words... Basically, A (not so) HOT MESS 

Do You Have Other Blogs?: lmao should I mention them? Ok, at least I recently added some posts in the Black Sails blog (the queue is already over though lolololol), but my photography blog alas is chilling there, abandoned...

Do You Get Asks On A Regular Basis?: nope, and in a way given my hopeless lateness in replying maybe it’s better this way (not that I don’t appreciate people reaching out to chat with me :’) )

Why Did You Choose Your URL?: let me tell you a story, about the first (of many) idiotic decisions I took lmao... No okay, better if I show you -  few of you have read about this time and time again and will have the nausea reading about this, but that’s what that is, so (at the end of the video you’ll find the answer to this question XD ):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbzfINsCcVY