#can you believe joel is actually my fave and hes not in here ?!?!

[sososososouspicious]

It's mostly empty but that's okay bc i just wanted my Life!series designs out there please bear with me

Here’s some (sort of?????) close ups:

[actualbird]

tot ao3 fic recs part 5: character studies or just any fic that made me go, "damn, author knows/interprets this character AMAZINGLY!!!"

previous tot fic recs post can be found at the very bottom of my tot masterlist

these are fave fics ive read that made me further Understand the tot character in question, that opened my eyes or delved deeper into an already visible trait, that well and truly studied tot characters like a bugs under a microscope (affectionate).

all 6 fics here feature no ships and are completed

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it waits for you by quarterweeb

“I hope you liked the city; it’s a favorite of mine.” Artem nodded, and the old woman smiled indulgently. “Did you visit Vienna, too?” - Inspired by Billy Joel's "Vienna."

focus on artem, outsider pov

this fic is the most recent one on this list that i read and oh my god, it made me actually cry. real tears, yo. in the span of 1.5k words, artem wing was gently pried open and told the exact kindness he NEEDS to hear and also will have the MOST trouble believing. the prose here is so like, beautifully simple, just an everyday conversation that can happen to any of us. but then there are lines of dialog that happen that artem is never gonna forget.

and also im never gonna forget a very specific line here. it's been etched into my BRAIN. i wont spoil it tho, GO READ THIS! ESP IF UR AN ARTEM ENJOYER!!!

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artblock by quarterweeb

There’s the sound of some slapping, and then a switch flicks on. Cody blinks against the light, although it’s still kinda dim. The whole hallway looks...gross. It looks gross! The walls and the floors are just gray-brown concrete with little posters and stuff hung up to make it look less like a jail. In front of him is a guy with normal clothes on and dog tags. “You look like an asshole,” Cody says, because it's true and his parents aren’t around. - Cody Teller is locked in the depths of the Stellis Art Gallery, when some random guy comes out of nowhere to help him out.

focus on marius, outsider pov

yo, i think quarterweeb is a master of outsider pov by this point. this is another one of her fics and it's SO DELIGHTFUL!! LITTLE KID POV and thru this pov the fic takes us thru this like, rlly sincere snapshot of who marius is when hes connected over something he loves: art. thru just the interaction in here, a very clear understanding of marius shines thru even if the fic isnt going too "deep" so to speak.

all in all, this is funny and very earnest read!!

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Two Degrees (of Separation) by samandspam

“... After all, I have two doctorate degrees, whereas Artem has only one.” Sure, he only had a doctorate in law, but he had managed to pass an exam that had a one percent pass rate with flying colors. He may have the patience and goodwill of a saint, but Neil and Celestine had honed on his subtle pettiness. But such was the saying: you should always lookout for the quiet ones. or alternatively: Artem is a petty guy who does not take lightly to being called out without reason.

focus on artem, comedy

who says character studies have to be "serious" all the time? not sam cuz this fic is a frigging HOOT. showcases an artem wing that, under what many think is a wooden sign that says No Fun Allowed, is a person who actually is Very Fun Allowed (Because Of Spite). sam is super great at taking what you "expect" a character to do and then turning that on its head in a way that still completely fits, and that specialty is v much highlighted here!

v much recommend if you want something lighthearted!!

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Penne for your thoughts? by samandspam

"If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him... The people who give you their food give you their heart." — Cesar Chavez or alternatively: artem makes food for the nxx. a series of three (maybe four) drabbles where artem makes food for marius, vyn, and luke.

focus on all nxx boys, comedy, found family

i like to call this fic "i cant believe pasta counts as therapy!" kJBKJKFGS but rlly, this fic is the 2nd in a series where artem is rlly fucking good at making pasta and each chapter delves into each nxx boys' insecurities or feelings. and then those feelings r met with warmth and comfort and pasta. each chapter shows a rlly wonderful understanding of who the boys are thru what they fear and how to address those fears.

in this fic, you'll get a laugh and also maybe a cry if ur a repressed bastard like me who really kins luke, HAHA. deffo give this a read if u want to feel an ache in ur heart but then like, a hug after that.

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Despite All Odds, It Seems I've Met My Match by sure_galena

Now that she’s facing him — and at a closer distance — Artem notices there’s something familiar about her eyes. He’s used to seeing them each time he looks in the mirror. “Who—” Artem clears his throat, trying to shove away the pinpricks of fear, the snake’s fangs beginning to poke at him. “Who are you?” The woman stops about a meter away from him, keeping a cautious distance between them. “Artemis Wing, senior attorney at Justitia Law Firm. And I’m inclined to ask you the same question.” * Or: after an NXX mission causes Artem to get transported into a parallel universe, he meets the genderbent counterparts of the NXX Investigation Team.

focus on artem, found family

man mAAANNNNN!!! this fic is such a huge fave of mine!!! the artem wing we know and love ends up in a universe where things r the same but Not Really. that in itself had me hooked but then galena goes the extra mile by using this fantastic premise as a way to make artem realize and confront his flaws and fears. that + some rlly cool plot + SO MUCH FOUND FAMILY FEEEELLLSSSSS //SOBS. artem's pov here is exquisite, it's got this solid/strict vibe in how he handles himself but also this like, looping and almost endless questioning of his faults as a person, IT'S SO GREAT TO READ!!!

artem enjoyers, check this fic out!!

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In the end, all I hope for is to be a bit of warmth for you by sure_galena

When Vyn is away on a business trip and needs help with his plants, Luke (and the rest of the NXX crew) end up signing up for more than they thought they would

focus on luke, action, found family

nothing brings a team together than fighting a giant evil plant that vyn supposedly ordered!!! vyn, what the HELL?? but srsly, this fic is wonderful and i love it to bits. galena back at it again with a wonderfully absurd premise and then uses that premise to dissect character and this fic's victim is Luke Pearce. take it from me, self diagnosed luke pearce enthusiast, that this fic is incredible. be it through little quirks luke does with his phone contacts or how he strategizes a battle plan or the thoughts only us readers are privy to in his internal monolog, this fic delivers a LOVELY interpretation of who luke is. all the while telling a very entertaining and well paced story.

im pspspsppspss-ing luke enjoyers, come here, read this fic, it's great!!

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if you enjoy these fics, make sure to support the story with a kudos, comment, and/or bookmark!!!! feedback is the best way to make an author happy :D

[johannesviii]

Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2020

You know, when I finished my latest list and realised every decade had the same pattern and that we were slowly going towards a series of great years for pop, I didn’t realise how good that year would be.

What’s at the top? Am I boringly predictable because I already said I loved that song all the way back in January 2020? Let’s find out.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will probably be stuff in French somewhere on this post. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

So. Uh. How was your 2020?

Mine was actually surprisingly good, considering. I’m lucky enough to have a job that I can partially do from home, and I was extremely paranoid from the get-go and nobody got sick under this roof so far. Turns out I’m even better at my job from home and I got permission to work from home one day per week even after the health crisis is over! My first name was also finally officially approved and I can’t tell you how happy I feel about that. I almost feel bad to have had such a good year considering the circumstances. I feel like an asshole just because I’m happy, haha.

The only frustrating part was that I was supposed to see Hatari in concert in Paris in early April which, as you can guess, was cancelled. I’m not too mad about it though, since their tour was called “Europe will crumble” and the message saying the tour was cancelled started with “since Europe is actually crumbling due to Covid-19″ and that’s hysterical.

Good or interesting albums that came out in 2020 now, let’s see.

Nightwish released Human/Nature, which was a huge letdown compared to their previous album, but I will relisten to it at some point to make sure I wasn’t just in a bad mood that day.

The Birthday Massacre released Diamonds, which might be their weakest album since their debut, but contained some real gems (I listened to The Last Goodbye on a loop, it floored me. Flashback and Enter are also very good).

The 1975 released Notes On A Conditional Form, and let’s be real, it’s a f█cking mess. You could cut half the tracks and end up with an excellent album, but as it is it’s like, yes, a collection of notes ; however there’s some truely excellent shit on it (see unelligible songs).

Thanks to a friend on a discord server I was exposed to Dorian Electra’s music and I haven’t been quite the same ever since. I’m so happy to be alive to see other enbies making such great music with an insanely good aesthetic surrounding it and asking so many interesting questions about gender. Also the arc the ‘gentleman’ character goes through over the course of the entire tracklist of the 2020 My Agenda album is absolutely hilarious, don’t @ me.

I also discovered 100 Gecs this year. Why are most of you guys saying it’s unlistenable garbage. It’s just as abrasive and over the top as industrial music is, but with none of the edginess or drama. I love it. What the hell. But yeah Tree of Clues was released this year. Good.

Speaking of industrial, in March 2020 Nine Inch Nails were like “hey remember when we released Ghosts I-IV a decade ago entirely for free and how amazing that was? Well we’re all in lockdown and bored as hell so here’s Ghosts V-VI and it’s also free. Enjoy” and I f█cking died instantly. And it’s even better than I-IV. What the hell was that year

Jonsi released Shiver. It’s strange and highly experimental. I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing I was into hyperpop this year, otherwise going from his previous material straight to this album would have been brutal.

Yadda yadda yadda After Hours by the Weeknd good yadda yadda.

I’ve joked about that already but if you had told me in 2019 that 2020 would have fires, a pandemic, riots, monoliths appearing and disappearing, and also a super good Machine Gun Kelly album, guess which part I would have found the most ridiculous. But yeah uh. Tickets to my Downfall good

So uh this year I tried to listen to some hyperpop and liked it a lot, and I also dipped my toes timidly into screamo and listened to Svalbard, who released When I Die this year, and the entire album was a very beautiful, very intricately decorated punch to the face. It sounds like God Is An Astronaut except with a shit ton of yelling. I love it. Open Wound is my favorite track on it.

But no, despite all of this, my album of the year was from a band I had never even heard about before that year, called Spanish Love Songs. The album is titled Brave Faces Everyone and it’s line after line after line of extremely relatable generational angst but yelled with complete sincerity and it’s so propulsive and energetic you can’t help but feel both exhausted and ready to fight the entire universe. I don’t know how it works, but it’s incredible. The entire album is wonderfully brutal, so it’s kind of difficult to pick my favorite songs on it, but Beachfront Property and the title track stand out.

Unelligible songs, now, and there’s, uh, quite a few of them too so I’m also gonna use bullet points. Good lord this post is gonna be long.

First, let me say I have literally no idea why Midnight Sky by Miley Cyrus wasn’t a bigger hit. It’s not on the year-end US top 100 and it feels extremely wrong. Would have made it to #4 on this list otherwise.

I still entertain the vague hope that stuff from Machine Gun Kelly will chart higher in 2021 but I doubt it will happen so I might as well tackle it now and say that Bloody Valentine and especially Forget Me Too are both excellent and that it’s a shame radios aren’t playing them more often.

Heaven by the late Avicii featuring Coldplay should have charted in 2019 and still didn’t chart in 2020 and that’s a real shame.

If the world was a bit less unfair, Lovesick Girls by Blackpink would have been a hit rather than the awful Ice Cream.

One day I will stop complaining about my bafflement concerning the lack of mainstream pop charts success of The 1975. Today is not that day. I just love how they keep making songs about extremely awkward relationships full of weird details, and I haven’t grown tired of that yet. So yeah If You’re Too Shy is about a guy who’s crush is asking him to get naked on Skype in his hotel room and he’s, uh, not too sure about that idea.

And Me & You Together is about a guy who never finds the right moment to tell his best friend he’s in love with her, and he manages to do so at the end and it’s cute as hell. My fave part is “I'm sorry that I'm kinda queer / It's not as weird as it appears / It's 'cause my body doesn't stop me (Stop me) / Oh, it's okay, lots of people think I'm gay / But we're friends, so it's cool, why would it not be?”. Relatable as f█ck.

And now for an international hit that should have been bigger in the US and/or in my country but wasn’t: Head & Heart by Joel Corry and MNEK.

I’ve heard Nos Célébrations by Indochine extremely often on French radio for months now so I was very surprised to see that it didn’t crack the local year-end list. What happened.

I can finally hear the appeal of Bring Me The Horizon. It took me ages. And also Death Stranding. The song Ludens isn’t in the game per say, but it’s among the ones you can pick to broadcast briefly when people drive by your constructions, and long story short it's been living rent-free in my head for months now.

Phew.

It’s time for a round of Honorable Mentions for elligible songs, containing a couple of guilty pleasures, which is saying something considering the kind of shit I put on some of my previous lists.

Ne Reviens Pas (Gradur et Heuss l’Enfoiré) - Heuss is a French artist that kept baffling me while making my lists for the previous years, and I was like “??? ok, that’s it then, I guess I’m getting too old to get what teenagers find funny”. This one worked for me, though. And the music video doesn’t hurt. Really dumb and really fun.

Adore You (Harry Styles) - Perfectly good little pop song, very pleasant to listen to, never outstayed its welcome for me.

Mood (24kGoldn) - This doesn’t sound like a very good relationship, my dude, but that’s still a super pleasant song.

WAP (Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion) - This song is absolutely hilarious and I will hear no argument from any of you.

Control (Zoe Wees) - Was clearly a hit here. Should have been even bigger though. What a powerful but comfy voice. If I had better taste it would be on the list.

Hot Girl Bummer (Blackbear) - I. Uh. Listen. I keep saying I have bad taste and nobody believes me. Do you believe me now. But yeah. “F█ck you, and you, and you~, I hate your friends and they hate me too” is gonna pop in my head every single time someone is being a jerk anywhere near me now. It’s been happening all year already. Someone trashed my documents at work? Someone isn’t wearing a mask in public? That guy has filled his car with rolls of toilet paper? Brain goes “F█ck you, and you, and you~”. Every. Single. Time.

Come & Go (Juice WRLD & Marshmello ) - Damn, that’s a pretty good little song. I’ve seen plenty of people saying it’s ruined by the drop, but may I remind you I’m the person who loves Blue by Eiffel 65 with all my heart. If the song was ramping up consistently until the end instead of ending like that, it would have made the list, definitely.

And now, the actual list. This one actually feels pretty solid, I genuinely like everything on it, there’s no filler here for once.

10 - The Box (Roddy Rich)

US: #3 / FR: #23

Now this is a weird case, because for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why this song was so popular and I was completely neutral about it. Then, one morning in September, my mental jukebox (which always, always puts a song on a loop in my head when I wake up) decided to play it. And I was like oh wow?? I never noticed the atmosphere in that song before? It’s so great. And that hook too. Let’s listen to it.

So yeah, I don’t know what happened. It just clicked one day and everything fell into place, I guess.

9 - Alane (Wes & Robin Shulz)

US: Not on the list / FR: #93

Come on. You can’t do a remake of one of my previous #1 songs and let it chart in 2020. That’s cheating. Even with this subpar drop, I have to put it on the list, now.

I’ve already said my piece about the original, so I’m just going to send you back to my 1997 list.

8 - Kings and Queens (Ava Max)

US: Not on the list / FR: #76

[BBC documentary voice] After Lady Gaga decided to make piano balads and left her musical niche vacant, Ava Max quickly took her place as the top predator pop diva. Even after Lady Gaga was re-introduced to her natural habitat in 2020, she still hasn’t fully recovered in Europe, where Ava Max still reigns supreme on the charts -

(tldr I think it’s hilarious that this isn’t on the US Billboard while Lady Gaga isn’t on the French year-end top 100)

7 - Roses (Saint Jhn & Imanbek)

US: #19 / FR: #3

What an earworm. It doesn’t even bother trying to have an intro or an outro, so it loops almost perfectly. It’s like entering a party that started long before you arrived, and it will go on long after you leave it to go back home. Kind of hypnotic in a way.

And yes, my mental jukebox was very fond of using it to wake me up this year, so this is another song that’s here almost solely because of that.

6 - Physical (Dua Lipa)

US: Not on the list / FR: #69 (hehehe)

“Hey I’m not that old” says the guy who’s definitely a sucker for this kind of retro throwback that was so popular this year. Oh well.

I don’t have anything interesting to say about this one, though. Apart from the fact that everyone seems to have a different fave song on that album. Guess that’s quality for you.

5 - Rain on Me (Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande)

US: #48 / FR: Not on the list

That is far from being Lady Gaga’s best song, but it was a joy to listen to everytime it was on the radio anyway. Also Ariana Grande has surprisingly good chemistry with Gaga! This year was full of strange duets mostly made for commercial reasons, and this one isn’t an exception, but unlike a lot of them, it really, really works.

4 - Dynamite (BTS)

US: #38 / FR: Not on the list

I’m still not 100% sold on k-pop even if a ton of it sounds super good, but come on. Even if some bits of this song (especially the beginning of the second chorus) sound a bit like they were made on autopilot, it still sounds just as happy and fun several months after I first heard it and I never got tired of it. That’s quality. You hear it and you can’t help but tap your feet and smile.

Actually, I’m sure there’s people somewhere that don’t smile when they hear this song. And they must be avoided at all costs.

3 - Godzilla (Eminem ft Juice WRLD)

US: #62 / FR: Not on the list

What are you doing so high on this list, old man. Why are you still here in the year 2020. I thought we left you in the previous decade. Who gave you the right.

I’m gonna tell you who did, and it’s actually Juice WRLD. Because that chorus is incredible, and like a lot of people I’m pissed off because the guy died super young and this shit shouldn’t happen to anybody. No, his early material wasn’t great, but I’m sorry I’m gonna say it again: have you heard this damn chorus? It’s suspenseful and dark, it’s got this lowkey menacing quality, it’s an earworm and a half, and it’s more convincing in like six lines than Eminem’s own flexing is in the entire song.

The beat is extremely good as well, and the flow, obviously, impressive. The weakest link is Eminem’s writing, which is as usual full of puns and weird wordplay, except here a lot of it isn’t great, and that last ultra fast part at the end is technically impressive but it also drives the song up a cliff and stops it dead in its tracks once it’s over. But frankly the lines fly by so fast it’s difficult to be too annoyed by them.

Can I sincerely put this extremely flawed song so high on my list? A better question would be “did I spend hours trying to learn how to sing this shit without choking on my own spit?”. The answer is yes. To both.

2 - Heartless (The Weeknd)

US: #28 / FR: Not on the list

I’ve said it on my 2015 and 2016 lists already, but just for the record I’ll say it again: it took me ages to like The Weeknd, mostly because I found most of his songs fairly boring, or disliked the lyrics, or both. Also I never really liked the general vibe of his “sexy” songs like The Hills, they felt dark but in an unpleasant creepy way. Felt like miserable hedonism, if that makes sense.

So, because I’m a person with extremely consistent and logical tastes, here’s the exact same shit he was making before, except that this time I absolutely adore it.

What is he doing differently that makes the whole After Hours album click for me whereas almost all of his previous material failed to do so? Is it the energy? Is it the reverb? Is it the fact that the narrator sounds properly unhinged and, frankly, scared to be spiralling out of control? Why are the colors so beautiful yet full of anxiety? Why is that bridge so fantastic? How can you make your voice look like a glowstick in the dark?

I give up. I have no clue. At least I’m done talking about-

Oh.

1 - Blinding Lights (The Weeknd)

US: #1 / FR: #1 (listen sometimes something’s just that good, ok)

Surprise. Or not.

Wow, look at that, Johannes has put this year’s number one pop song at number one on their personal playlist. The audacity. The edge. What a hot take.

I discovered that song when it first came out at the end of 2019 and I adored it instantly. And I was so scared it wouldn’t be a hit. Which means I’m a f█cking dumbass considering it ended up breaking all sorts of records in 2020. But what can I say, overplay can be a blessing when you love a song that much.

Like every single song I put at number one on one of my lists, I will draw this one at some point and you will understand how incredibly satisfying it is to listen to a song called Blinding Lights, talking about city lights looking blurry when you’re driving at night, while looking itself like a bunch of blurry city lights passing by super fast. Perfect in every way.

Also it sounds exactly like A-ha, and that never hurts.

See you next year! Pretty sure it will be even better music-wise.

[thefudge]

any trash songs that are dear to you, dr. fudge? especially that go well with trashy ships hehe

sorry for replying eons later 

well, this question has the power to truly Expose™ me on the first day of Christmas, but… here goes nothing

i think ppl expect me to respond with something like “tear you apart” from she wants revenge, which is a great song! but i’m afraid i’m going to have to take you back to the ye olde days and show you what really embarrassing, early ‘00s trash sounded like. 

first, a few concessions: 

 trash by suede and poison by alice cooper are 80s/90s classics of the “you’re bad for me but i can’t help it” dynamic. but they’re too classy for this list. there’s not gonna be any Divine on this list, no 80s late-disco jams, no “west end girls” by pet shop boys, no britney doing “toxic” or “momma i’m in love with a criminal”, no christina aguilera wrestling in the mud while singing about being “dirty”, no baz luhrmann-esque “lady marmalade”. that’s all great. it’s just not this list.

 you also won’t find any my chemical romance, panic at the disco, evanescence, papa roach, marilyn manson etc. because they weren’t part of my trash experience. i mean they were there in the background, i was aware of them (and who hasn’t watched edits with “bring me to life”? don’t lie…)… and they’re kind of similar to what i have here, but they weren’t the trash i was particularly attuned to (plus, manson can choke).  

some other exclusions: i remember the original p&p edits back in 2005 had all of these “cuz there’s you and me and all other people” songs that were really wonderful, cheesy, shippy songs. but that’s…not this list (although that would make a great list too! remind me to do that one too!) 

i once got a message about how “mr. brightside” by the killers would make a great song for a bonkai edit, and…i like the killers just fine, and that’s a great song, but…no. this list ain’t that. 

the trash here is not trash on purpose, it’s not tongue-in-cheek, it’s not a “steamy hot mess”, it’s just…really bad and angsty and earnest and totally committed to the “no one understands me (but you)” vibe that a lot of early ‘00s trash ships fostered. 

okay…let’s…shame…me…: 

1. cold by crossfade - back in the late ‘00s, you couldn’t find an anime AMV that didn’t have this song in the background, ESPECIALLY if your male character was a murderous, brooding (secretly soft) boi who disdained the female sex because “feelings are weakness” or something. it was baaaad, but it’s a nostalgic fave.  the whole song is basically about how that arrogant, cold guy who’s shunned you and treated you badly was secretly into you all this time. yeaahhhh. (i remember this song was also popular with m/m ships because you had that classic dynamic where one of the guys was still in denial about his “gay” feelings. god i miss 2006.)

2. vermilion pt. 2 by slipknot - another 2005/2006 era song that capitalizes on the bad guy/good girl trope where she’s too “good” for the brooding antihero, but he can’t help but ruin her. or something. it’s soooo angsty. it has the great, eerie feeling of a doomed romance which was also definitely written by teenagers. i love it. 

3. i hate everything about you by three days grace - obviously, you can’t leave out the big dick energy song. 

4. anything by nine inch nails’ 2000-2010 period, but especially “fragile” and “we’re in this together now”, because they’re very much trashy power couple aesthetics, but also aaaaangsssst. “fragile” always cracks me up because it’s basically that one direction song about how the girl doesn’t know she’s beautiful, except it’s alternative rock and trent reznor is screaming about how he has to save this beautiful, pure soul from the corruption of the world. (for anyone expecting “closer”, that’s a great song…but i said real, embarrassing trash).

5. vampire heart by HIM - because OF COURSE. 2006 me was LIVING for Vampire Hunter D AMVs. that iconic line “love me like you love the sun” POETRY OKAY. another fave line has to be “you can’t escape the wrath of my heart”….like, whew, what a badass. 

6. hate me by blue october - AAAANGST. aaaaaaaaaangst. maybe the apogee of late ‘00s cheesy alternative rock. but probably not. there’s always one that goes harder. this list, unfortunately, is 90% this genre because they really SLAPPED when you put them together with trashy ships okayyyyy there was an innocence and earnestness that the ‘post-9/11 iraq invasion’ atmosphere really captured. 

7. let me go by 3 doors down - see, i was wrong, THIS is the apogee. “you love meeeee, but you don’t know who i aaaaaam” belts the lead singer of this oft-forgotten band aaaaand 15-year old me screamed yaaaaaaaaas

8. pieces by sum 41 - WRONG AGAIN. IT’S THIS ONE. the anime AMVs…my god….i can even tell you, beat by beat where the angsty edits happened depending on the breaks in the song.

9. sour girl by stone temple pilots -  “bad” boy waxing about how he’s ruined a good girl? check. super Extra lyrics that go “what would you do? what would you do if i followed you?” check. sarah michelle gellar/buffy being a dark goth muse for the tormented bad boy? triple check!!

10. hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me by U2 - i meaaaaaaan. it’s in the title. 10-year old me WAS LIVING. this is THE batman song, and if there’s a god, it will be featured in the upcoming robert pattinson movie. ppl wanna say this song is more of the “trash on purpose” variety, but i don’t think so. i think joel schumacher plays this dead straight (and “batman forever”, while being one of the cheesiest movies ever made, takes itself extremely serious). 

11. insatiable by darren hayes - finally breaking away from the alt rock scene a bit for this one. ppl who are now trying to make this song “respectable” and classify it as sweet 00s nostalgia are WRONG. everything about this song is convoluted and overly wrought and pitch perfect, even the fact that you would never believe that this waspy blond dude in the music video has anything to do with the actual song.  

12. behind blue eyes by limp bizkit - don’t look at meeeee. this is basically a meme song. the band itself turned out to be dumpster fire and fred durst is…blehh. but this song stiiiiiill slaps, i have the courage to say it.  the video definitely helps, i mean u got that trashy dynamic of prisoner/guardian @___@ and halle berry @___@. half-naked fred durst kinda ruins it, but it’s still got its charm. 

13. i have to include some linkin’ park songs here at the end and i’m choosing the ones that were trashiest to me and that’s gotta be “one step closer” and “somewhere i belong”  because they were always juxtaposed with villain/heroine ships in edits, and i remember fanfic authors would use them in songfics. “in the end” and “numb” are waaaayyy too classy.

additional “kinda too good for this list” rec:  the entire Queen of the Damned soundtrack, but especially “slept so long”, “system” and “before i’m dead” and really ALL the songs.

this disaster list could definitely go on (i’m sure u guys can pitch in. and hey, i might be persuaded to do part 2) but imma stop here before i lose my last shred of credibility on this website lol. k byeeeeeee

[rediscoverthespark]

realized i should probably send you some huh!! how about 2, 10, 11, and 14 for the bmc ask game :D

Thank you, you’re wonderful! c: 

This is long, I’m sorry. XD;

( BMC-themed ask game )

2. Who is your favorite and least favorite character? Why? 

So funny story: my favourite and only liked character when I first found out about BMC a couple years ago was Michael. Like, I had listened to a couple songs on youtube from the OG cast and I was like, ‘…these lyrics are super weird, wtf is this plot?? I don’t like this.’ and moved on to a different fandom. But I held onto Michael as an RP muse because a friend of mine has a Jeremy muse. And then a couple months ago after the OBC soundtrack came out my friend started enthusiastically talking about BMC again and I was like, ‘Okay, I wanna give the Broadway cast a shot because I love Will Roland.’ and it was so much better, and I let my friend drag me into the fandom, and then I fell in love with Rich when I found out he’s actually a precious nerd boi with a lisp.

…so basically Michael and Rich are both my faves. But only if it’s Gerard!Rich, because Troy!Rich would probably actually be my top fave. 

My least favourite character if I have to pick one is probably Jeremy’s dad. Jeremy’s dad is…a hot mess. (Also I love Joel!Mr. Heere so much more than Jason!Mr. Heere because Jason’s sounds really harsh and Joel’s sounds more genuine and even in his depressed state he recognises that he’s talking to teenagers when he talks to Jeremy and Michael, he sounds like he understands that he can’t talk to them like adults yet.) Like, I do want to believe that post-canon he starts going to therapy and/or gets on some antidepressants or whatever so he doesn’t relapse back into that depressed not-leaving-the-house state and he becomes the supportive dad that Jeremy needs. I know it’s a musical and it needed to end on a happy note, but realistically I don’t believe he just decided he needed to change and then immediately changed just because his son snapped at him which was way overdue to begin with. But for who he is in the canon story he is not particularly likeable 

and also The Pants Song just creeps me out because Mr. Heere legit went all the way over to Michael’s house and barged in on him without putting pants on first, like ???? Michael is a minor, I don’t care if your junk is covered, you’re still exposing yourself in a way that Michael did not consent to seeing!! I understand it’s meant to be comical but that’s not funny, someone needs to tell that man that that’s not appropriate behaviour. On top of that he literally tells Michael to “just suck it up and go” and I’m really not a fan of that attitude since he has no understanding of why Michael is avoiding Jeremy now (other than that Jeremy called him a loser) and he doesn’t bother to ask Michael for clarification, it’s just ‘well too bad, Jeremy needs you to suck it up and help him’ and cool, I hate it.

10.  Favorite and least favorite generally accepted fanon?

Favourite: TRANS MICHAEL. As a transmasculine agender person I’m so here for trans Michael. Though personally I see Michael as transmasculine non-binary and sticking with he/him pronouns and sometimes he feels more feminine than other days but he never identifies with the female gender itself. So binary trans boy Michael is also totally cool with me. (All trans headcanons are cool with me, I just feel strongest about trans Michael.)

Least favourite: Michael is either a pure uwu cinnamon roll who can do no wrong!! OR the opposite extreme of Michael is a bitter asshole jerkface to Jeremy post-canon. Like…@ both of those interpretations, did we really watch the same show? He is definitely not incapable of doing wrong, he puts his foot in his mouth a lot without realising he’s hurting Jeremy when he does so because Jeremy doesn’t express his feelings and Michael isn’t great at picking up on social cues. But on the opposite end of the spectrum: we never see Michael be an asshole to Jeremy in canon either. Michael is actually completely mature when he confronts Jeremy in the bathroom and doesn’t insult him at all (is he being a little mean in there? sure, he’s angry and he’s already prone to putting his foot in his mouth without reading Jeremy’s mood correctly, but he isn’t outright insulting him and he’s doing it out of concern).

11.  Favorite and least favorite crossover? (Like BMC/DEH, BMC/Heathers, etc?)

So the only crossovers I’ve actually seen are BMC/DEH and BMC/Black Suits. I still need to look into Black Suits so I can’t really speak for how that works. And a lot of DEH makes me angry (like everything apart from the existence of Jared, Zoe, and Alana makes me angry tbh) so I tend to stay away from that fandom. But the friend who got me into BMC that I RP with, my Jared is good friends with his Jeremy (and my Michael). I love the idea of those three being friends because Jared needs better friends than Evan. I also love the idea of Tiffany!Jenna and Alana meeting and bonding over their familiarity with loneliness unless someone needs something from them (and then no longer being lonely because they have each other!!) and also bonding over poc and women’s issues and just generally amazing black girls supporting each other!! …also in my friend and I’s RP I have this headcanon that Rich was friends with Connor freshman - they weren’t particularly close, but they sat together at lunch and sometimes they hung out after school at the school until the late bus came (neither one particularly in a rush to get home) because Rich was one of the few people not scared of Connor and Connor didn’t judge Rich for the way he talks. But then when Rich got Squipped over the summer the first thing his Squip did sophomore year was basically make him sever ties with Connor by embarrassing him in front of a bunch of their peers so that Connor would never trust him again. 8′)

Like tl;dr I think BMC/DEH is both my favourite and my least favourite because I love certain things in specific contexts and they compliment each other nicely but I hate so much of how the DEH fandom interprets things and excuses problematic behaviour and ignores canon in favour of doing whatever they want (i.e. Connor alive AUs just for the sake of shipping, making Connor an uwu pure cinnamon roll even though he was an abusive asshole who literally threatened to kill Zoe, etc). Like…you folks do you and I’ll do me, but I just don’t wanna see that stuff on my dash.

14.  Two River or OBC?

This seems to be a very unpopular opinion in this fandom, but catch me over in my corner pretending Will C’s Jeremy never existed because he…just was not a good actor. (I’m exaggerating, I acknowledge him, but I don’t talk about him or blog about his Jeremy much.) You can tell a lot of the time he’s singing incorrectly and straining his voice and upon skimming the partial Two River bootleg (literally I didn’t even wanna watch it all, I just wanted to see a couple things like Two-Player Game) Will C’s acting was so stiff and awkwardly jerky that you can tell the poor guy had stage fright, he wasn’t acting anxious like I keep seeing everyone commend him for, he WAS literally anxious. (I did theatre all through school, I know what you should and should not do on stage and the fact the people running the show didn’t recognise he wasn’t ready by the time performances came around is kind of disconcerting.) He also kinda flinched away from George whenever George tried to touch or nudge him playfully which did not sell to me that Jeremy and Michael are friends, yikes. Whereas if you contrast the chemistry of George and Will R, they’re touchy feely hugging each other off-stage too, that’s the kind of actor chemistry you can’t fake, and it makes George’s Michael so much better because he’s playing off another actor who trusts himself and what he’s doing as well as his scene partners which is something Will C could not completely do. I’m not saying Will C is not talented, he is. But he was way too undertrained for Jeremy. I’m sure he could have been better if he had had more time to train on the role, but I still don’t think he would ever be on Will R’s level, he’s just not Broadway material.

Also OG!Jake was a fuckboy. Not the actor, the actor did his best with the material as it was back then and that’s not my complaint. I mean the way the character was written, he was a spoiled rich white kid who only cared about sex. The re-write of Jake’s character on Broadway and casting a black actor and the way Britton plays him made him so much more genuine. The most popular guy in school is black? That’s amazing. He also no longer sleeps with Chloe after chasing Jeremy (like, why was that originally a thing?? she’s drunk?? now they just argue about it). His dialogue with Christine is so much more sincere (but the OBC soundtrack does a bad job of showing it, especially in Upgrade where they couldn’t pause the song for like FIVE seconds for Christine to agree with him when he asks her if she feels the way he does, they had to make it sound like he just talks over her and that’s not what happens in the show??) So yeah, Broadway Jake also way better than Two River Jake.

Likewise, casting Jenna as a black actress complimented the addition of black Jake to a well-distributed diversity among the cast. And Tiffany!Jenna is so sassy and she has such an amazing voice, like I could not imagine the show without her, The Smartphone Hour is just amazing. Also the creepy opera solo she does in Pitiful Children?? It gives me chills every time I hear it.

That being said, Jason Tam’s Squip took a while to grow on me. I actually did like Eric’s voice more for a little while there because Jason’s stoner surfer drug dealer voice is kind of awful. (Honestly I like Cameron’s Keanu voice a lot more than Jason’s.) But now I prefer Jason’s over Eric after actually seeing bootlegs and how fucking amazing his on-stage acting is. The creepy robotic movements and choreography in Be More Chill Part 1 are so terrifying, it just blows me away. Jason’s Squip vocals on the soundtrack don’t sound anywhere near as good as they do in live performances so once I’d see the live version then he grew on me.

I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS (RED AND FRANTIC FEELINGS ABOUT MOST EVERYTHING) AND I LIKE TO RAMBLE, SORRY TO ANYONE WHO ACTUALLY READS ALL OF THIS. 8D;;

[galadrieljones]

Has anyone asked RDR2 yet? If so then maybe TLoU?

Hey thanks bear!! I’m still doing these apparently lol. You can find my RDR2 questionnaire here, and now I’ll do The Last of Us!!

the first character i ever fell in love with:

Ellie, actually. It took me a while to warm up to Joel. I think he’s a little like Arthur Morgan but tbh you can really feel that like, ten year difference between them. Joel is in his late 40s and his stoicism is…severe. He’s very hard and even mean. In the  beginning of the Summer chapter, he has cast away the little things that once gave him happiness, like his music, because I believe some part of him feels he doesn’t deserve happiness, and this makes him very hard to be around. But Ellie I was instantly warm to, and she brought out the warm in Joel, and so by the time we finally got to Pittsburgh, I was ready to just throw down and be his wife. Merp.

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not:

None.

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not:

None.

my ultimate favorite character™:

Joel. He has many layers. He is a Texas hometown boy in flannel who ran into some unfortunate stuff in his youth, got a girl pregnant, was a single dad, then lost his daughter, on his birthday, at the end of the world. He is Provider Man and a compulsive martyr for those he loves. It is maddening, but I love him.

prettiest character:

Tommy’s wife Maria is quite pretty.

my most hated character: 

David. Bleh. I’m not a fan of Marlene either but Marlene I can understand. David….I cannot.

my OTP:

Joel x Me xoxoxoxoxoxoxox. Just kidding my only OTP for this story is platonic: Joel and Ellie as a found family.

my NOTP:

Joel x Ellie pLeEeEase stop.

favorite episode mission:

Ugh they’re all so hard lol. I love the hotel in Pittsburgh, as that’s where a LOT of Joel and Ellie’s early bonding takes place. And of course, the giraffes.

saddest death:

Henry and Sam. ;;

favorite season chapter season:

I love them all, honestly. Summer is, to me, the most fun chapter to play, once you get to Pittsburgh. You get to meet Henry and Sam, and there are so many insane trials for Ellie and Joel to overcome together, and so they learn to trust each other, which is the foundation for both their relationship and their survival. Fall is beautiful, because it is when we finally see Joel make a choice, and once he does, his relationship with Ellie can finally take shape. Winter is terrifying but necessary as the underworld chapter in which we get to see Ellie fend for herself, save Joel’s life, and then their relationship just cracks wide open. Spring is…well…spring. ;__;

I also love Left Behind. The imagery and subtext of Left Behind is really strange and beautiful. I love the return to the mall as the quintessential zombie narrative setting. I love the juxtaposition of the almost tropical teen dream aesthetic of the past with the post-apocalyptic tundra of the present. I like the love story with Riley, but more than anything I love seeing Ellie on her own in that freezing mall, using Joel’s wisdom to help guide her own survival as she rushes through the grueling process of finding sutures so she can save his life. If you haven’t yet, I really recommend doing a new playthrough, and playing Left Behind chronologically, ie: between the Fall and Winter chapters. It’s wildly immersive.

least favorite season chapter:

I love them all!

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate:

Idk. I think we’re all pretty much on the same page lol. If we’re talking about TLOU2, though, I remember during the initial explosion after E3 last year, EVERYONE was very excited about Dina. I like Dina. I am very hopeful that Ellie finds love in TLOU2, but I wasn’t quite as taken with her and the whole Ellie x Dina ship as some other members of the fandom. I seriously think it’s just because I’m old, and I’m far too worried about my missing murder husband at the moment to focus on teenage love lol (nothing against it–I AM ALL FOR ELLIE AND DINA…i’m just…distracted lmfao)

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave:

Idk are there pieces of trash in this game? Nah.

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave:

Ellie. I found her to just be an incredibly well-adjusted teenager who had lived much of her life so far in relative safety. There’s nothing hardcore about Ellie in TLOU. I am actually very sad to see how hardened she has become in the sequel. She’s such an optimistic person and a pure soul. I just don’t know what could have driven her to the brink like that, and tbh I’m scared to learn. 

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship:

None.

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship:

Ellie x Dina. It’s cute. Though I low key thought it was a little rude of Dina to make out with Ellie right in front of her ex like five minutes after they broke up. Shrugs. 

[bluesneighbourhood]

2016 faves

Hey guys!! I thought it would be fun to just list some of my favorite things on 2016. There were some shitty things last year but these made it better! It’s kinda long so everything is below the cut!! If you have any questions, comments, opinions, recs of your own, want to discuss, want links to anything i mentioned, anything at all, send me an ask!!!!

M U S I C

I fell in love with so much new music and fell back in love with some old favorites as well!! btw here’s my spotify check it out

songs

SOMEBODY ELSE - THE 1975 (my favorite song of the year, it’s been on repeat since the day it dropped and i’m still so in love with it. one of my all-time faves.)

Tongue Tied - Iwan Rheon (The guy?? Who plays Ramsay Bolton on Game of Thrones??? Has the voice of a hot angel??? I love all his music but this was the first song of his I fell in love with x)

Holocene - Bon Iver (Bon Iver is incredible and this song has got to be my favorite, though the whole self-titled album is amazing and what I listen to every night tbh. This song in particular is so sad and nostalgic and ugh I just love it.)

Monster - Kanye West (HONESTLY. A fucking jam. Idc what he’s done this song is my jam, I have it memorized and it always helps my mood??? I love it sm.)

I can’t write an essay on each song though so here are some othersss:

Sex - The 1975

The Other Side of Paradise - Glass Animals

Friends - Ed Sheeran

Bang!Bang! - Iwan Rheon

Light of the Seven - Ramin Djawadi

20 Dollar Nose Bleed - Fall Out Boy

Middle - DJ Snake

Unsteady - X Ambassadors

Do It, Try It - M83

Back to Your Love - Night Riots

Do Me a Favour - Arctic Monkeys

albums

ILIWYSFYASBYSUOI - The 1975 (so good, i love the mood and lyrics and ugh i LOVE IT)

Bon Iver - Bon Iver (my ultimate chill album. i love it to pieces.)

Dinard - Iwan Rheon (I LOVE IWANNN)

How to Be a Human Being - Glass Animals (can u believe i have barely listened to anything else since i saw them open for the 1975 in december)

Game of Thrones season 6 score - Ramin Djawadi (a masterpiece!! especially light of the seven.)

artists

the 1975

iwan rheon

glass animals

T V  S H O W S

What a good year in tv. I found some of my favorite shows ever this year like honestly god bless america (and ireland and norway).

GAME OF THRONES (my ultimate fave. i’m currently rewatching it *coughs and making a gifset per episode on my main blog and u should check it out* and i just. this will turn into an essay bUT I LOVE IT OKAY)

friends (a CLASSIC and i’m almost done with it and that’s so sad but ugh, my favorite comedy and one of my favorite shows. it’s just so good it never fails to make me laugh.)

skam (honestly everyone knows this i’m like a half skam blog now bUT I JUST STARTED THIS RECENTLY AND LOVE IT!!! my snake son isak!!! can u believe!!!)

M O V I E S

some of these are from 2016 and others are older but i fell in love with in 2016 so!!! here we go!!!

sw: revenge of the sith (i only got into sw this year but holy s h i t i sobbed through the last hour of rots i am WEAK)

coraline (i actually never saw this as a kid??? but it’s so twisted and good wtf)

what if (omg?? this solidified my love for daniel radcliffe tbh he was so good in this and it’s just a funny, well-acted movie i really enjoyed)

sw: rogue one (can u see a pattern? i’ve become sw trash and ahh rogue one was so good tbh i’m gonna see it again next week i think!! also this is probably the only movie from 2016 on this list hmm)

pay it forward (honestly...watch it. it’s so powerful and i can’t really explain it but it’s about spreading good and real life and it’s a classic in my book. it touches on some sensitive topics but yeah. hayley joel osment...kevin spacey...everyone in this was fucking brilliant.)

honorable mentions:

the scorch trials

midnight special

joy

the invisible

fantastic beasts and where to find them

Y O U T U B E R S

I don’t watch as many youtubers as i used to but these are my favesss

Shaaanxo (beauty/makeup videos!!! my fav!!!)

Philip DeFranco (honestly one of the ways i keep up w the news, so it’s not a light channel but he’s generally not very biased so!! a good show)

Sasha Alsberg/abookutopia (book blogger/vlogger!! she has a smallerish channel but ugh she’s precious and i’ve been following her for like...3 or 4 years now!)

Ben J Pierce (my son!!! precious @benjpierce!!! his song was so good awww i love him)

Screen Rant (i’m so lame i gtg but i love these videos lmao)

Shane Dawson (i met him??? and also he’s funny and i love him)

M A K E U P

This is the first year I got really into makeup and got some quality products and I am really happy with how much I’ve improved!! Here are some of my very favorite products of the year <33

lips

it was the year of liquid lipsticks, so 2/3 of these are liquid lipsticks but yeahhh

NYX soft matte lip creme (possibly my favorite liquid lipstick formula?? it stays on quite well and doesn’t emphasize any fine lines and is THE most lightweight lipstick, liquid or not, that i own. i own the shades stockholm [a deepish pinky nude on my pale ass skin], san paulo [a true bright but kinda deep pink. idk it’s a statement], and vancouver [a very blue purple that’s patchy but you can build up these lipsticks even when they’re dry and there’s no difference. i’m obsessed with the formula and they’re like $6 a piece.] but!!! please look at pictures/videos with the lipsticks ON because they look nothing like they do in the tube. they’re all darker than they look but yeah know what you’re getting yourself into.)

BH Cosmetics liquid lipstick (so!! nice!!! these colors are probably my favorite and they go on so so so nice and smooth! and they’re pretty cheap as well!! i will say though that they feel drying on the lips and if you’re not into that then this may not be fore you. it’s something i deal with most of the time but sometimes you just wanna take it off. also note that once it’s dry you can’t really layer up again. like it’s not *comfortably* buildable when dry. so it’s a lot heavier than the nyx one but i still like it a lot. i own the shades sandy [a really nice light nude on me!], lust [a deep red that i loveee. it has a bit of a purple undertone too that i really like!], and endora [a purplish-pink that’s brighter than most mauves while still being totally wearable imo]. i think they’re like $11 but i bought them on sale for $6-8 dollars and they often have sales so look out for that!!! i will warn you though that they’re only available online.)

Rimmel london lasting finish by kate moss lipstick (my favorite lipstick from a bullet! it lasts well--especially the more matte shade i own--and isn’t the least bit uncomfortable! i’d heard a lot about this lipstick and honestly it lived up to the hype for me. it’s so lightweight and not drying in the least, it’s so comfortable and i don’t have much of a problem with this lipstick fading. i just always keep it in my bag just in case because i’m paranoid but yeah!! i own the shades 107 [the perfect cool-toned red for me. i love it to pieces] and 08 [a really pretty, creamier pink]. and they’re only $5!!!)

eyeshadow

colourpop and bh cosmetics are the fucking best if you’re looking to spend under $50 (and both i dare say are better than the too faced palette i have) though they are both online almost exclusively

FUCKING COLOURPOP (i’m not one to buy into the hype easily, but then colourpop’s black friday sale rolled around and i bought 6 super shock shadows for $4 a piece and have been in heaven since. they are THE MOST PIGMENTED shadows ever way more than too faced and they’re like $5 on a normal day. i will say there’s not a TON of product in each but it’s so pigmented it’s not a big deal for me. they go on so smooth and blend easily and last all day long without budging. they’re like a cross between a cream and powder eyeshadow and i couldn’t be more obsessed. i own the shades nillionaire [such a unique bronze color that’s kinda brown with gold undertones], amaze [a coppery gold. the one i reach for most], stereo [plum purple!! i’ll admit i’ve been a little scared to use this one, but tomorrow i’m going to do a look with it i swear], eye candy [a very light pink. i actually bought this to use as a highlighter and it works nicely!!], sequin [similar to amaze but more coppery-pink and darker. bold but i love it!!], and la la [another coppery color, very similar to sequin but definitely lighter]. note that they are all either metallic or ultra metallic shades! also colourpop is online only. and like with the nyx lipsticks, i suggest watching swatch videos on youtube because the colors are so different than what they look like on the site.)

BH cosmetics carli bybel palette (10 shadows and 4 highlighters. all superrrr pigmented. i use this almost daily. if i’m highlighting, 9 times out of 10 i will use the lightest highlighter shade in this palette [a pink, perfect shade]. so pigmented, just like the eyeshadows!!! they all follow a golden/bronze/copper and a little bit of purple theme and it works so well!!! i use the darker highlighter shades as eyeshadow and ugh. i can’t recommend this palette enough. and for about $15 dollards?! check it outtt)

BH cosmetics neutral eyes original 28 color eyeshadow palette (all the shadows are perfect oh my god. so many mattes too, which i appreciate in a wide variety of neutrals and nudes. the shimmery colors in this palette though are so pigmented as well. if i’m wearing eyeshadow, i’m wearing at least one of these shades. so many transition shades and crease colors!!! and i bought it for $8 or $10. if you’re turned off completely by powdery eyeshadows you won’t like bh cosmetics, but they don’t move or shed throughout the day, trust me i wear it everyday. they blend s o nicely and there’s a shade for just about every occasion. strongly recommend.)

lashes and liner

drugstore for the win tbh

rimmel exaggerate waterproof eye definer (i use this for my waterline and tightline and it makes all the difference in the world for any look. it’s so pigmented and doesn’t budge throughout the day. i really love it. btw the shade i use is 262 blackest black.)

elf liquid eyeliner (can you believe a $2 eyeliner lasted me a fucking sob fest??? it doesn’t budge at ALL throughout the day. it’s so easy to apply if you’re comfy/familiar with liquid eyeliner and god i just love it. give it a try, you’ll be as surprised as i was. [btw my shade is jet black!! and ugh it’s perfectly matte i LOVE it and it’s so thin too god])

bh cosmetics liquid eyeliner (this was on sale for $2 [it’s usually $10 or $12 i think] and god it’s so perfect and precise??? lasts so well, i really love it. so simple to use and get a thin or thick line. i got the shade, surprise surprise, black.)

maybelline lash sensational mascara (i wasn’t keen on this mascara at ALL at first if we’re being honest, but as i used it more i really grew to love it!!! maybelline just does mascara right tbh. the label has worn off but i think i had the shade “blackest black” or whatever the darkest possible shade is.)

face

if anyone has foundation recs at any price point pls hmu i only have one and idk how i feel about it really and it’s running out rip

rimmel stay matte long lasting pressed powder (so cheap and compact!!! i always throw this along with a powder brush in my bag. it’s just perfect for me tbh. i use the shade 003 natural and have hit pan like...there’s barely any left i really need another or i’m fucked makeup-wise. but yeah!!! under $5 i believe and it lasted me months and months of using it several times a week plus touch-ups!!)

ulta full coverage waterproof concealer (who knew?? ulta brand has by far the best concealer i’ve tried. it’s the only mascara that keeps my dark undereye circles covered and bright allll day without even using a lot of product!! it’s relatively thick without feeling heavy at all and ugh i love it. holy grail concealer. and it’s $9! i just bought a second tube yesterday. [btw i’m pale as fuck and my shade is the lightest available, “light cool.”])

brushes

honestly decent brushes can make or break a routine like once i got my brush set i feel like i instantly was 10x better at makeup idk

bh cosmetics sculpt and blend 3 - 10 piece brush set (so soft and perfect for powders and liquids alike!!!! this is the perfect set for me tbh like there’s not a great NEED for many more brushes after this and ugh yeah i just love it anyway)

bh cosmetics brow brush (it has a thin brush on one end and a spooly on the other and!!! i’ve never had better brows. i use eyeshadow to fill them in btw)

i figure i should stop after that literal essay i pasted this into a word doc this is nearly 2.5k words guys what the actual fuck did i do but yeah!!! if you read that tell me omfg and if anyone has questions, comments, opnions, recs of your own???? HMU IN MY ASK BOX. ilu guys and here’s to a good 2017 xx