#does it show

[aslyran]

Yoohankim grocery shopping AU for @/constellaorv on twt⭐️

Thank you for donating to the @orv-gotcha-for-gaza !!

[locustsend]

starboy

[serene-cinders]

A Caretaker adopting a pet Whumpee from a shelter out of pity. Whumpee’s been abused. Maybe they can’t, or won’t speak, so their pain is a mystery, but it shows in their empty eyes, maimed form, scars running criss-cross all over.

Maybe Whumpee’s on the older side. Maybe they’re not conventionally attractive. They’ve been abandoned by the world, they’ve been at the shelter for years, and they’re slowly succumbing. Dying.

Caretaker never agreed with this ‘human pet’ business. They find it despicable, and wouldn’t support it. But… that wretched husk, so rigorously broken down, brings tears to their eyes. And they can’t bare the thought of somebody dying alone in this unfeeling, underfunded shit hole.

So, Caretaker makes the choice to give them the kindest few weeks of their life.

[dinosaurwithablog]

Perry, Della, and Paul!! I love the way they are so happy when they're together ❤️ They are great friends on and off the screen.

I love these actors and the characters who they portrayed!! I love this show!! Have you noticed 😉🤣😍

[thebat-musicman]

being an author gives you unreal amount of power, honestly. You say anything and they just believe you. That JR Tolkein guy could have said that Gollum was a “smokin hot babe with huge tits and a fantastic ass” and all yall would have been writing x reader fantasies about him. unreal

[goth1c-pinki3-pi3]

Casual by Chappell Roan is so Iwaoi coded. “Its hard being casual when my favorite [alien toy] lives in your [bed]” “Your mom invites me to her long beach house” “I hate that i dragged this on so long, now i hate myself”

[honeygrahambitch]

If they don't play love crime at my funeral then i don't want it. They can leave me unburied. It's sad enough no one will be devoted enough to consume my body

[gvfimagines]

typical kiszka interaction

[dracdliweht]

hoo boy it's been a while since I animated

[spacechalk]

Persuasion

The sky had been grey for so long Aziraphale couldn’t tell what time of day it was, or even if it was the same day at all. It made no difference to him. He was liable to lose time reading anyway, regardless of the weather.

            The kettle came to a boil and he reluctantly marked the page using a pressed leaf from one of Crowley’s plants and stood. A few minutes later he was back on the sofa, the faint scent of lavender wafting from the steaming mug freshly placed on the end table beside him. He eagerly reopened Anne of the Island and fell immediately back into the story. The rain was a comforting hiss in the background. The lush plants on the windowsills and hanging from the ceiling seemed to press their leaves against the cool glass as though trying to catch a glimpse outside.

            Aziraphale heard but did not note the footsteps, but he was forced to look up from his book once again when Crowley pitched backward over the sofa’s armrest, sprawling across the whole length of the cushions, and ending up with his head in Aziraphale’s lap. Aziraphale blinked down at him, nonplussed.

            “There’s nothing to do,” Crowley complained. He held up the book in his hand by way of explanation. “I thought I’d join you.”

            Aziraphale tilted his head to catch the title and his whole face brightened as he beamed. “Oh, Persuasion! It’s one of my favorites. What part are you on?”

            “Hmmm,” Crowley hummed, brow creasing as he opened the book and scanned its pages. “Anne is visiting Mary. Wentworth just showed up and she’s all in a snit about it.”

            Aziraphale sighed dreamily, looking out the window. His fingers found their way into Crowley’s hair and brushed it back from his forehead. “Oh, the first time she sees him again and she’s so nervous and overcome and he’s acting all cool and unaffected – it’s so deliciously poignant, don’t you think, my dear?”

            “I guess,” Crowley said doubtfully.  

            Aziraphale poked him gently. “Why don’t you read to me for a little while? It’s been a long time since I read it, I’d like to revisit it a little.

            For some reason, Crowley’s cheeks flushed red. “I don’t know, angel. I’m not the best reader.”

            “That doesn’t bother me. I’d like to read with you for a while, if that’s all right with you.”

            Crowley hesitated. Finally he lifted the book and held it above his face. Aziraphale’s fingers sank deeper into his hair in encouragement.

            Crowley found his place and cleared his throat. “The walking party had crossed the lane,” he began slowly, bringing the page closer to his face as he read. Aziraphale closed his eyes and relaxed into the sofa. “…and were sor – sum –” Crowley paused. There came the sounds of tapping against paper. “Sur – mount – ing,” Crowley read with a tap each time, and continued: “an opposite stile; and the admiral was putting his horse into motion again, when Captain Wentworth cleared the hedge in a moment to say something to his sister, guessed by its – no wait.” Crowley shook the book and tossed his head a little, jaw a bit tight. Aziraphale brushed his fingers gently through his hair. Crowley brought a hand up and followed the line with a finger. “Captain Wentworth cleared the hedge in a moment to say something to his sister, - The something might be guessed by its effects.”

            Once Anne was safely in the carriage, Aziraphale sighed. “Poor Anne,” he mused. “No one pays any attention to her.”

            “Wentworth does,” Crowley protested.

            “Hmmm,” Aziraphale hummed uncertainly. He squinted down at Crowley. “Does he?”

            Crowley’s eyes flicked up to meet his, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean? Everyone else is wrapped up in their own shit, but he’s always looking out for her.”

            “He’s always aware of her,” Aziraphale agreed. “He’s always thinking about her. He loves her, so he wants her to be happy and comfortable. But it’s not clear to me that he understands her.”

            Crowley squinted at him, a smile slashing his mouth. “Are we getting into spoiler territory here, angel?”

            Aziraphale tilted his head, considering. “My point might be even more clear once you’ve finished the book,” he said, “but I think it’s evident from the beginning. How does he seem to you?”

            Crowley shrugged a little. “He loves her, but he’s mad at her. And he’s embarrassed. She rejected him and he doesn’t want to look pathetic by showing that he still likes her.”

            Aziraphale blinked. “Oh, I hadn’t picked up on that,” he said, delighted. “The anger is apparent, but it hadn’t occurred to me it might be compensating for wounded pride.” He sighed. “Silly man.”

            Crowley quirked an eyebrow at him. “Why? What do you think he’s missing?”

            Aziraphale smiled wryly. “He thinks that because she wouldn’t marry him, that means she doesn’t love him,” he said, his tone indicating the depths of stupidity he thought this revealed.

            Crowley stared at him. “…doesn’t it?” he asked.

            Aziraphale reeled back and stared down at him with huge eyes. “No! Of course not!”

            Crowley threw his hands up. “Why didn’t she marry him then?” he hollered.

            "There were other things to consider!" Aziraphale protested.

Crowley sat up slightly, twisting urgently toward him. "They were in love! What else is there to consider?"

"Quite a lot!" Aziraphale shouted.

They both paused, staring at each other. They took in the tension in the other's shoulders, the lines in the other's face. Slowly, they both relented.

Aziraphale’s face softened. "I'm just saying - as important as he is to her, she has connections and obligations to so many other people. She couldn't make this one relationship the only important thing in her life to the exclusion of everything else."

Crowley’s jaw tightened. It was a moment before he could speak. "It's not right that she's responsible for all of them," he said. "They're all adults, they should be able to take care of themselves. She shouldn't let them take advantage of her like that."

Aziraphale shrugged helplessly. "Maybe not. But she would never be able to cut ties with them entirely. She loves them too," he said.

Slowly Crowley lay back in his lap. He stared up at the ceiling. Aziraphale’s fingers had gone a bit tight in his hair. He quickly relaxed his hand and stroked soothingly through the strands in apology.

"I suppose..." Crowley said slowly, "He should have known she wouldn't be able to choose between him and her other ties. Her kindness is part of what he loves about her."

Aziraphale hesitated. "And I suppose that she could have done a better job of making sure he knew her rejection wasn't about his worthiness or her feelings for him."

They were both silent for a while.

Crowley turned his head toward him. "I think I'm done reading for today," he said. "Do you want to read me some of yours?"

Aziraphale offered him a hesitant but genuine smile. “Of course, my dear.”

He stroked through Crowley’s hair once more before reluctantly letting go to open his book to the appropriate place. He found his spot and opened his mouth. Anne was speaking: “Of course. Everybody has. It wouldn’t do for us to have all our dreams fulfilled. We would be as good as dead if we had nothing left to dream about…”

[concubi-thoughts]

Don't need three genie wishes all I need is to be able to tickle someone who'll writhe and scream for me whenever I want

[chekovs-merkin]

a (draft) list of every time Mr. Spock had an interaction that might be construed as romantic

*this version will be deleted when (if) i fix this list up with some gifs and screenshots*

so, i have decided to compile some independent evidence on a few points that have been in (more than usual) contention lately in the fandom. my focus, as always, is tos. this one is a bit more controversial in that while i very much understand and respect that many fans see Spock as gay and/or ace, i personally feel like there's canon evidence for his being bi/pan and interested on the segs even outside of Pon Farr.

my interpretation is that both spock and kirk are bi/pan, though kirk has a marked preference towards women (see the rodenberry footnote. the love of his life just turned out not to be one. and he wouldn't have it any other way) and spock leans towards men (an interpretation not backed up statistically by the list, but who cares). again, this is my opinion, and the beauty of fandom is that it's in the eye of the beholder.

previously i made a draft list of the evidence for kirk being into men (excepting spirk evidence) in tos. the goal is to have one on all of the references to chapel's feelings for spock too, but that will be more work so maybe in a few days? never trust any promises i make on this blog

three important disclaimers before we begin: kirk, chapel and uhura will not be featured.

the reasons being, in kirk's case... *gestures vaguely at the entirety of tos*; in chapel's because i intend to go into her feelings for spock and how he reacts to them on-screen separately; and in uhura's because iirc there's only one instance of her flirting with him outside of their duets (where it can be construed as part of the performance), and it's not only in the beginning of the series, where it might be seen as Early Installment Weirdness, but also in The Naked Time, the episode where everyone goes crazy. also, uhura flirts with Everyone in this show, and i say good for her.

but enough with the preambles and on with the list:

the what the fuck?!? ones:

Leila Kalomi (This Side of Paradise) - this episode is baffling to me -- did spock and leila have something going on in the past that he ended because logic and rejection of humanity and putting starfleet first? or was it one-sided? spock says it was the first time he ever felt happy, but he acts so antithetically to who and what spock is that i personally find it hard to believe. maybe he just thought that was how happiness felt, and later on he discovers he was wrong (moments like the end of Amok Time, "this simple feeling", the beginning of WoK etc.). anyways cool motive, still drug-facilitated s.a.. big fan of sex pollen fics and that quote spock says about self-made purgatories though

T'Pring (Amok Time) - going strictly by the episode, vulcan biology... the biology of vulcans made spock want her, but he feels humiliated by the loss of logic. her reasons for not wanting him are two-fold: she simply likes stonn better (in that roundabout way vulcans admit to feelings), and she doesn't want to marry an absentee living legend, which, fair. the fact that spock's not a full vulcan must play some part in it too. but there's plenty left for interpretation. they are distant at the moment, but have they always been? how long has she been into stonn? why did they not divorce more amicably previously? i could go on forever, but i this is already too long. point being, even if it doesn't gel with my personal headcanon, there's nothing really wrong with snw's interpretation of this relationship.

the lighter ones:

Romulan Commander (The Enterprise Incident) - this woman is My Commander. I would follow her to the ends of the galaxy for the imagery she has blessed my eyes with. this being said, i think the important bit here is their conversation in the turbolift at the end. spock is not one to lie out of politeness. he could have said nothing, but he used those contorted phrases of his to imply he was a willing participant, and liked it. and she picks up what he puts down. also at some point kirk complains spock is taking too long and it cuts to them in her quarters, implying that spock got kinda into it (also, jealous, jimmy?)

Kollos (Is There No Truth in Beauty?) - this one's debatable, but i'd argue there was some attraction there, in a brainy way. smart is sexy, and all. dr. jones certainly thought so, from her reactions

Adam (The Way to Eden) - Pacifist Discount Roger Daltrey Hippie Musician In A Monokini Seduces Rebellious Vulcan was the tabloid headline

Droxine (The Cloud Minders) - insert cringey line about extreme female beauty. how the seven-year cycle became public knowledge given the drama of amok time is a mystery to me. the attraction flew out of the window real quick when the planet's situation made itself know though. anyway i shipped her with vanna.

Zarabeth (All Our Yesterdays) - i... don't get how logic can be time-locked? is the st universe secretly like a civ game? takes me out of this episode way too much. anyways he almost went full warrior vulcan and stayed in the past with her

the meme ones:

The Computer (The Ultimate Computer) - mccoy said it best.

Surak (The Savage Curtain) - spock, he's your ancestor! and at this point any intellectual crush is pretty quickly superseded by how thirsty he is for That Human Booty Intuition

[things-about-cars-in-posts]

favorite band/artist?

Sheesh. Complicated one.

You see, my music tastes are, to put it mildly, rather varied. I think it showed in my music recommendation post and the post that further explored one of those artists, but to further illustrate, my library includes:

Earth, Wind & Fire

New Kids On The Block's Jordan Knight's first solo single

Dubstep band Hadouken!’s Lana Del Rey cover

A mashup of Wham! and a fishing anime

A Japanese bilingual melodic punk rock band's two songs about bowling

80s remixes of Justin Bieber songs

A Japanese "punk ska and melodic hardcore band"'s cover of Scatman’s World

A 140+ song Beatles remix collection, featuring such gems as "Octopus's 3D Garden", "I Saw Her Yankin' There" and "Help!" (suspicious)

A eurobeat female duo of rotating Italian and British members’ Abracadabra-sampling track about falling in love with a banana

A remix of Azumanga Daioh’s Sata Andagi scene I retrieved from a porn site reupload

Moldovan folk punk band and folk musician duo’s collab about celebrating the reopening of a railroad

The soundtrack of Pictionary for the NES

A mashup of AVICII, Rick Astley and Chumbawumba

An 80s pop Linkin Park remix

Black Sabbath covers by The Cardigans (of Lovefool fame)

JT's solo debut

A Flock Of Seagulls (of I Ran (So Far Away) fame)

One (1) DJ Khaled song

A 2011 My Little Pony-themed song by then commentary youtuber

(And I beg each and every one of the people who read this list and thought "Okay that one cannot possibly be good" to hop in my askbox and allow me to prove them wrong.)

But let's go through bands and artists I've not posted about before.

Two Door Cinema Club Just out of statistics. I can prove I played I Can Talk over a hundred times and I can tell you any number under two hundred is underselling it. There is genuinely some problem with my brain that that intro slots into perfectly.

Oh also all the rest of their first album this comes from is this great too, and if you ask me what a perfect album sounds like I will tell you it's not that far off their second album.

OK Go Now, I like the music. Actually, I'd left my two guitars alone for years until an easy OK Go song made me think "Oh, maybe I can play this" and realize that rather than -as I had prior- just play the music I'd been taught, I could actually teach myself to play the music I was listening to, which snowballed into playing more OK Go songs and then it expanded and now I have a ukulele, a bass, a third guitar I need to merge with that bass (it's complicated), a fourth "guitar" (it's complicated), a Casio calculator/synth (it's complicated), a melodica, a launchpad and a kazoo. Whoops. But really, all you need to be sold on OK Go is see two of their videos. One to find out what they're like (and you're already good on that front because you have visited the internet ever and have thus seen Here It Goes Again aka "The Treadmill Video" aka what when posted to YouTube upon its CEO begging them to do so became the biggest video of all time) and another to find out that no the first one was not a one-off fluke. I am serious, go click that link, it takes you to a playlist of their videos and each one is crazier than the last. I mean they played a song with a car. A song. That has a guitar solo. With a car. Have you seen the name of this channel.

Ah, right, the name of this channel. I guess I have to say a thing about that car now. Uhhh this video was sponsored by Chevrolet to promote the Aveo which, despite being badged as a Chevrolet, like many of the more Europe-oriented Chevrolets was made by the automotive branch of Daewoo, brand General Motors picked up after the Daewoo conglomerate (then the second largest in South-Korea which may as well be called Samsungland) went bankrupt in '99 over almost $90B modern dollars in debt. Its founder Kim Woo-chong (because Lord knows the "woo" in Daewoo did not stand for "woo what a great car") earned a ten year sentence, but I feel they focused too much on the wrong guy. The REAL criminal is whoever penned Daewoo cars.

A good person doesn't do this on purpose.

Owl City I have too few of his songs, but I absolutely love how comically upbeat he is. He is so precious. If c: walked this Earth. I mean "Golf and alcohol don't mix and that's why I don't drink and drive / Because, good grief, I'd knock out my teeth and have to kiss my smile goodbye". Protect this man at all costs. Also one time I saw the Fireflies video after what must have been a good decade and you know when you feel near crying? I adored that song when I was a kid and I was right.

Liquido European one-hit wonders - and not even "people know them just for one song", not even "people don't know them and just know the song"; I found you can tell people the name of their hit and they won't know what you're talking about. But hum the riff and infallibly, invariably any single person in my country (and, in my limited experience, the rest of Europe) will go "Ooooooh, that one". And to be fair, those guys did stumble on one of the most memorable riffs in modern history.

Not saying this is a hidden gem of a band, I am sure some bigger music nerd would stamp a big fat "SEEN BEFORE" on all their stuff, beyond some enjoyable splashes of "I wonder how much of this is them leaning into it" cheese (yes, even more than that video) - but I've still got their whole discography including all the B-sides, because to me, so what? It's good music and I'll treat it like it. What's the point of praising "groundbreaking", "genre defining" works and then glossing over those inhabiting the ground they broke and making the genres they defined? When I eat bread I don't complain that it doesn't innovate or set itself apart from the rest of the genre, so as long as my music doesn't bore me why should those be problems there? I feel like people have a problem in general separating their enjoyment of a work from its artistic merit. I'm digressing.

The Beatles If you ask me "What's your favorite number of pant legs?" I'm not going to answer five because two would be cliché.

And now we get to the final answer, the real answer, in such a league of its own it deserves to be separated from the rest via a Read More.

I lied, this is under a Read More because it's an entire fucking dissertation. Your fault for asking.

Caparezza I've spent well over a decade of my life mulling over his lyrics to the point me and my ex-flatmate played this game where she told me a random word and I'd try to find it in his lyrics (e.g. the first word of your ask, "favorite", was used in the second verse of the sixteenth track of his sixth album, yes I am neurodivergent why do you ask), and still it happens that as I am going through my everyday life I happen to accrue some information and slam my forehead going "Oh my God THAT'S what he meant there". His songs are more layered, more deep, more thoughtful, more cutting, more witty, more clever than most prose you see around and still he manages to play with his words and rhymes with incredible dexterity.

Take his last record, Exuvia - actually, take the previous record Exuvia picks up from, Prisoner 709:

Its name not only introduces the theme of imprisonment, but also of dilemmas and juxtapositions, since the prisoner's number, 709, stands for the dilemma about the number of the record: it's the 7th in his discography as Caparezza, but the 9th if one also counts the two shit records he made under his previous name Mikimix (we don't talk about those). Its tracklist, indeed, while being as typical for him incredibly varied in topics (from religions to his affinity with Ludwig II of Bavaria to "I'm not [x], BUT-" types) is arranged as chapters of the story of an imprisonment (The Crime, The Punishment, The Weight, The Psychologist, The Letter, The Visit, The Yard Time, The Torture, The Revolt, The Guard, The Infirmary, The Window, The Evasion, The Hiding) and associated to dilemmas - for instance, as the record is about his feeling imprisoned in his body and in his role, the first song -and first chapter, The Crime- is indeed Prosopagnosia (i.e. face blindness), a track about him no longer recognizing himself in the artistic reputation he built himself, with the dilemma being between "Michele", his name, and "Caparezza", his rap name. Oh, and if you also want a taste of the impressive wordplay, well, count the letters of those two names. Yep. Every single one of the 16 tracks is a dilemma is between a 7 letter word and a 9 letter word. Because of course it is.

So now, let's get to the last record, Exuvia.

Nah, the pop-up edition's cover fucks way harder.

That's more like it.

Exuvia is the exoskeletal remains left behind by ecdysozoans after ecdysis, i.e. when creatures like insects and crustaceans develop a new exoskeleton and crawl out of their old one, as this record starts from his escaping from the anguish compounded through all his previous records and through a deep analysis of his past, his self, his surroundings, his fate, condensing it all and moving on to a new self, a new birth, a new shell. (Understand how I feel when people say the greatest rapper of all time is one whose greatest record is called "Damn" because the songs made him go "Damn" and whose biggest song is "Biggie Smalls' Juicy but this time about me".)

Well, in the second track of it, about running away from the dire situation of hatred, decay and persecution described in the first track, he says, and I paraphrase,

I give it all up, I'm dying, I retreat - Caporetto plus Waterloo Dripping and smelling like my head was in a station's toilet- oh.

introducing the desperation and hopelessness of military defeats and immediately following it up with an image whose comedic nature makes a contrast so stark as to surprise even him while still, being a reference to the military's hazing and bullying, latching back to the line before. While the prose I represent it with is deliberately poor, the concept behind the words is brilliant enough that it would be a good line if it didn't rhyme at all. And yet the original lines rhyme for twenty syllables. TWENTY.

Thing is, you can be as clever as you want, but the underlying music, you know, it can't be clever, it can just be good or bad. One would think. And yet the music is not just good but full of clever, witty samples and ideas that don't just reinforce the track's mood but tie the instrumental inextricably into the lyrics' themes, like Larsen (the track about his tinnitus, which he calls by audio feedback's technical name of Larsen effect) using high-pitched synths and emphasizing cymbals, Prisoner 709's title track being 79bpm (I wager 709bpm was a bit non-doable), House Credibility's instrumental featuring intercom buzz and cowbells reminiscent of cookware, or, well, everything in Exuvia's second single. See, that song is about the choice he faces between the story of Beethoven, who despite all his challenges kept devoting himself to music until the day he died, or that of Mark Hollis, lead of Talk Talk, who despite all the fame peaced out to focus on his private life - and the entire instrumental is devoted to that concept: the verses' reference Für Elise, the chorus Such A Shame, and the bridge I Believe In You; and when you tun into the background choirs you find they are rhythmically repeating "I don't know".

You start to get a clue why there's three years between his records.

So if his songs are so fucking good, why is he not famous? Well, he is! Except for his first album which no one really noticed (fairly so in my opinion - while I like a few songs I feel he really got going in his second one), the following records did really well for someone with such dense content: his third record has been certified gold! And all the others platinum. Some twice. Never since the first one did a record of his peak under 5 in the charts, and he's got 8 gold singles, 3 platinums and a double platinum. And don't get me started on the shows.

(That's me in the background!) Hell, he's even been on the cover of Billboard! So why've you never heard of him? Well, see the word next to Billboard.

Yep. The man, Michele Salvemini, is an Italian born and raised and, like any proper Italian, doesn't speak a whole lot of English, so pretty much all the English you'll hear in his music are the handful of English features, like Michael Franti, DMC (!) and Spandau Ballet's Tony Hadley, with which he made a song about Italy's emigration crisis.

Emigration that is also internal, from the underdeveloped, falling aparty and criminality-run south of Italy to where all the industries are, the richer and we-pretend-it's-not-criminality-run north. And since he's from Apulia, Italy's heel (his rap name in fact means "curly head" in Apulian dialect), he's made a song about its woes too, featuring the music of the tarantella, Apulia's traditional dance. (I don't know why y'all add an A in front. It's fucking "Puglia", y'all.) Here's an imperfect translation with a couple of helpful explainers to the asterisked terms over in the video's description.

It depresses me every time I think about it that all the English speakers I know will never be able to fully appreciate his lyrical brilliance. But oh well. At least y'all can appreciate the music... so fuck it, have that song whose music I yapped about so much. You'll hear the choirs in the background say "non so" (I don't know)... and a bunch more Italian words (translated here for those on desktop who want to follow along).

Links in blue are posts of mine about the topic in question - if you liked this post, you might like those!

[ivycopper]

Ladies and gentlemen, and fellow bellringers! I regret to inform you that the brain worms have got to me, and I've conceived of yet another Farncest oneshot idea. It must out, there's no way around it. Here's your chance to prevent The Worst.

It's not going to be explicit, and it will focus on romance rather than attraction.

Pls vote. If I can't have absolution, at least have some mercy on this poor writer's soul.

(Pls don't hate me.)

[just-your-average-tangerine]

What an interesting time of year to be both too queer to not get called slurs at the grocery store and not queer enough to actually count as a part of the queer community

AND

Too disabled to actually function on a day to day basis but not disabled enough to actually count as disabled

[chiimeramanticore]

dude you gotta watch severance it's so exciting. in season 2 they go outside