#iit just has such good vibes

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Never Met a Duke Like You by Amalie Howard

4.25/5. Releases 11/14/2023.

Vibes: childhood best friends to enemies (Iite) to lovers, nerd in the streets freak in the sheets, actual factual social issues, and a very good cat/kitty joke.

This is a retelling of Clueless, which is a retelling of Emma, which in theory sounds very messy but ultimately worked out in a historical romcom I really liked. It touches on some serious problems of the time (heads up: a lot of discussion of asylums and their abuses) and there's a great chemistry between our leads. She's a flighty eye-catching popular type, he wants to hunt for dinosaur bones, and they haven't seen each other for years but have been building up to this since childhood. It's a good mix.

Quick Takes:

--I was honestly a little "why do we need this" when I first understood the concept. Yes, the previous book in the series, Always Be My Duchess, is a retelling of Pretty Woman, which is a retelling of My Fairy Lady (and MFL is a retelling of Pygmalion). But Emma is an Austen novel, and such a clear precursor to historical romance subgenre of today. I was a little worried about how that would work.

But here's the thing. Clueless is very much not a direct retelling of Emma, and you change a lot in the Emma/Knightley dynamic when you switch it up from a girl and her neighbor/friend who's like 17 years her senior and held her when she was a baby, to a girl and her somewhat older former stepbrother (no shade, Emma is my favorite Austen and I adore Clueless). If you like Cher and Josh, that's the sweet spot Vesper and Aspen hit. It's very much that sequence in The Swan Princess wherein Derek and Odette bug each other as kids, then realize as adults that they wanna bang it out--but with a bit more of a friendship slant. In the childhood days. When they're adults, there's an edge added by their years of separation and misunderstandings. And I'll admit, I eat a "childhood friends separated and reunited as adults" dynamic right up. If that's your itch, this book will definitely scratch it.

--Aspen is really into DINOSAURS, and I personally loved that angle. He was nerdy enough for me to call him a nerdy hero (and Vesper does love his glasses) but he wasn't a cliche nerdy hero. Yes, he loves to look at fossils and discourse over prehistoric creatures, but he's also confident, snarky, and quite prone to putting it down. Honestly, I arguably could've used more dinosaur content (though Howard definitely uses it at just the right moment).

--A big part of this book is mental illness and the absolutely horrible was in which it was addressed at this point in time. Aspen's father was confined to an asylum and abused in that asylum--exactly how that happened is a major point in the book. Additionally, its specter hangs over Aspen's head, his father's "diagnosis" (I hesitate to call it legitimate) a potential means through which his own committal could be justified. It's rough, dude.

And I will say, I suspect that some readers will be dissatisfied with the comeuppance the villain of this book receives. For me, it worked--because it was realistic, and because I really couldn't think of any way through which the issue could be resolved without taking away from Aspen and Vesper's relationship. The point of this story isn't really punishing the bad guy--it's making it so Aspen and Vesper can have a healthy relationship without this threat in the midst of it all.

As an added note, Vesper has ADHD, which isn't a massive part of the novel but does figure into her character and journey. I thought it was a nice touch--people with ADHD didn't just suddenly pop into existence in the twentieth century, and the rep is good to see.

--The thing I really liked about Aspen and Vesper's dynamic is that there really was this undercurrent of childlike... knowledge, and playfulness. They've changed a lot, and there are a lot of confused feelings between them; but you still get the sense that at one point, these people really knew each other. And that sense of knowing and affection remains.

I also really loved the moments when the childhood besties jumped out--there's a teasing vibe to the relationship, this sense that they kind of want to kiss each other and kind of want to poke each other (non-sexually). It makes the tone of the book a bit bubblier, which is key, I think, when you're dealing with subject matter as dark as Aspen's backstory could be.

The Sex:

It's hot. These two have a very clear physical connection, and it's immediately noticeable. You get a lot of double entendres in this book, a lot of teasing that goes just over the line--like when Aspen casually tells Vesper she looks like she's just had an orgasm in public. Very normal thing to say to the former childhood friend you're not interested in! At all!

One sex scene in particular was so delightful--the perfect mixture of hot and funny, which sums up the tone of the book pretty well. I mean, this dude is really about his fossils, and they definitely play into the... plot. More than you might think. (Not in that way, in THAT way. Don't worry about it. Read the book.)

Frothy yet not without substance, Never Met a Duke Like You is another enjoyable entry from Amalie Howard. If I'm being real, I think I liked it a bit more than Always Be My Duchess (also a good book). Would recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[kankuroplease]

This is completely random and my brain just came up with it and I need to share it with you. So what if Michiko is chozas cousins since their from the same clan and she’s so bubbly and cute and her and choza get along very well and inoshikacho is a thing so obv she knows his two best buddies and since inoichis s/o isn’t really present in the series i hc that they’re either separated or she passed away somehow which means that he’s single. And he has such a cute gentleman dad joke yet very respectable and intimidating if necessary vibe. And they hang with mostly the same people and they get along well and joke around and ino thinks michiko is the prettiest clan member and michiko loves giving her girl advice and inoichi is happy that ino has a confident mature woman she can sometimes vent to and even besides that he likes michikos vibe and they also like some of the same food and she’s so easy going and fun to be around that he subconsciously starts crushing on her and one day choza jokingly tells inoichi to ask her out while she’s standing next to him and he blushes and she gets Iit and then things evolve and ahh idk is this good is it realistic wdyt

Cute idea, but Ino has a lovely mom that I assume Inoichi loves very much and probably lends to the Ino we know and love 💕

[gillianthecat]

thoughts while watching A Boss and A Babe, episode 3.

* I really like the vibe of this conversation between Gun and his ex. They seem so comfortable with each other; iit feels very real, and it's nice to see Gun like this with someone in his life. I can't remember if we knew about this ex already? Either way it's not what I was expecting.

* I don't remember the exact deal with Thyme and his "theft," but I remember thinking he was in the right, and that it should have been his IP.

* This workplace is kind of a disaster. Who is this random headmistress-looking older woman scolding interns for being late? Why is Gun grinning at the idea that he has a thing for his intern. But Cher and Gun are cute enough together that I can ignore all the HR violations and lawsuits waiting to happen.

* "When I give, I give it all. But when I want to take, I take it all as well." This man is moving fast! Also I feel like he has a kink about power dynamics that Cher is not quite playing along with the way he expects. But Gun likes it anyway.

* Aw, I just met disaster child Thoop but I think I love him. I too stay up til 5 am even though I'm not a gamer. He's so resentful over having to borrow money. Like my favorite gossipy employee (can't remember he name but I love her) I want to know this "long story." Cher clearly relishes having at least one relationship where he's the "responsible adult."

* Cher you FLIRT! Stripping and taking this video call into the shower. You know what you're doing, don't play the innocent 😂

* Episode three and we've already had the first kiss and now are going home to meet the parents. How are they going to fill the rest of the run time? I do like this shakeup of the standard pacing, but it also worries me about what's coming in the second half of the series.

* I'm trying to think of a Thai QL I've seen with a class/culture difference between the leads where there ISN'T a "can you handle this spicy food to prove you're down?" scene. I feel like it's been in all of them.

* Omg, of course it's a product placement. 😂 A fairly original take on it, I'll give them that. They must be running out of ways to talk about Nivea. Anyway, the nail painting was cute.

* I like this quiet awkward moment full of mutual longing, in between the play fighting.

* Is this show just going to be a slow burn of not-plausibly-deniable-but -they're-pretending-anyway flirting for 12 episodes? That wouldn't be the worst thing.

* This isn't a show to binge, but it's still a fun trifle when I don't want to think much, so there's a good chance I'll slowly finish it.

* It's a couple that on paper would bother me, but they're making it work. I think because they're making all of the various power dynamics around them just seem like another playful part of their flirting. And the whole world around them feels just unreal enough that I don't worry.

[thatone-highlighter]

What’s ur favorite and least favorite bugsnax characters,,, I know you’ve said ur favorites but I’m curious to know more why those r ur favorites (and ofc what ur least faves r)

I think my favs are Filbo and Chandlo but i really like most of the characters, my least fav is Beffica easy. I Do Not Like Her At All.

I am not surprised i like Chandlo so much he is literally the Epitome of the characters im usually drawn to. Hes the stereotypical jock guy, hes nice to ppl and just wants to make friends, hes autistic, hes a himbo, he wants to help whenever he can, hes chill. And then his dynamic with Snorpy, the gay ppl, the codependency, the care you can Feel for each-other, the way they dance around eachother so much. Its The Most Ever, a good part of why i enjoyed BrokenTooth so much.

Filbo is, hes just fun. I couldnt specifically cite a reason why i like him so much hes just, comforting. Hes just this guy he tries so hard all the time over and over again. Hes so nice and wants whats best for everyone and will do whatever he can to make sure people are happy, he doesnt know why Elizabert left him in charge and neither he nor anyone else things he should have been, but he still works so so hard to try and fill her shoes and to be the leader they need him to be. Oh and ofc the frogs hes got his own little froggies and mayo,,,,,,,

Im sorry i know you said Beffica was your favourite but i Hate Her. From the moment i met her i didnt like her and it did not get better. I get the little thing they tried to do with her about her just spreading the truth and getting the blame for things other people did but st the same time like, shes just a shit and i Do Not vibe with her. I dealt with her up until her last sidequest when she had the Nerve to go after my boys Chandlo and Snorpy. Like come on she finds out Chandlo is 100% genuine and immidiately instead tricks Snorpy into confessing about how he feels about Chandlo to her. He still thinks that was Chandlo hes gonna think that Chandlo’s reaction to him confessing was to run away and never address it ever again. Like come on the Least she could was not try to cover her ass and be upfront about it, what reputation is she protecting everyone already doesnt like her. Wished there was a dialogue option where the player Doesnt say theyre her friend i do Not want to be her friend

The rest of the characters i generally like, im kinda indifferent to Wiggle and Cramdo tho. Cramdo i think makes sense he kinda reminds me of spamton but less endearing, dont not like him but dont like him either. For Wiggle i just dont vibe with her much, nothing against her either just dont vibe.

I like Floofty and their whole vibe, particularly the autism and their lack of a moral compass and how it has them interacting with everyone else. I like Triffany and her archeological stuff, and her tendency to distance herself from people when she gets stressed, iits nice to see her contrast everyone else who either desperately wants everyone to stay together or to have absolutely nothing to do with anyone and instead she likes being in the town, but shes conflict avoidant so when one breaks out she’ll just leave, its reasonable. I love Gramble hes such a funky little guy and he loves his bugsnax, plus he just Radiates autism just by looking at him. I love Snorpy, talked about him a bit too when i was talking about Chandlo, hes a fun character on his own with his little conspiracy theories and stuff but to me where he really shines is when he interacts with other people, im sure theres other examples but i Really Really like watching him interact with Chandlo and Floofty, i want to study it under a microscope. I like Wambus his thing with like the gardening and just his overall vibes, not someone i would interact with regularly but i did get a bit excited whenever i had a quest, plus his relationship with Triffany is so wholesome and the cactriffany he made is rlly funny, and ofc Whatever The Fuck is going on with him and Gramble. Shelda had to grow on me a bit, i started off very indifferent she seemed kinda pretentious but she grew on me over her side quests and i did really like her in BrokenTooth, her whole religious experience plotline thing is very interesting to me and has me surprisingly invested for someone whos not and never been religious. Eggabell i… i dont have too much of an opinion on Eggabell, but her motives and the way she treats other people is very interesting, she kinda reminds of Luz in a lot of ways

I havent finished the game yet so i havent met Elizabert but she kinda makes me think of Rose Quartz, makes me think they’re gonna pull something with her at the end. The way everyone hyped her up so much at the start of the game saying all this incredible stuff and they all think shes so great snd then you get further in and some people start talking shit and pointing out her flaws and stuff. Very inch resting

[rentnhop]

How a Student Can Get a Bike on Rent in Delhi?

Hey students! Is the travel bug biting but the bank account isn't cooperating? I feel you. As a student trying to explore Delhi on a budget, getting a bike rental in Delhi can be a great affordable way to satisfy your wanderlust without breaking the bank.

Delhi offers tons of places to discover - from historic monuments to markets, parks, and more. But paying for public transportation, cabs, or Uber rides to see it all adds up quickly. Hopping on a bike on rent in Delhi or scooty on rent in Delhi lets you take in all the sights solo, on your own schedule, and without draining your wallet.

Here's my guide on how students can get bike on rent in Delhi on a budget and travel smart:

Affordable Bike Rental Options

The good news is Delhi has lots of options for cheap bike rentals specially targeted at students and youth. Here are some great ones to check out:

Looking for an easy and affordable way to get a bike on rent in Delhi? Check out Rentnhop! This convenient bike rental shop offers students special discounted rates for hourly and daily bike rentals across Delhi. Simply go to the Rentnhop website, browse bike rental listings, and book your wheels for wherever and whenever you need them in Delhi. With just a few taps, you can avoid public transport and explore the city at your own pace on an inexpensive rented bike from Rentnhop. 

Tips for Booking

When booking your rental bike, keep these money-saving tips in mind:

Book Longer Rentals - Daily or weekly rates are always cheaper than hourly. Book for a full day or more to maximize savings.

Share with Friends - Split costs by sharing the same bike rental with other students when your itineraries overlap.

Use Student Discounts - Don't forget to ask for the student discount when booking and show your valid student ID.

Join Loyalty Programs - There are so many Apps and Facebook groups that have free loyalty programs that unlock special promos and credits over time.

Best Budget-Friendly Routes

Once you've booked your budget bike, here are some student-friendly routes for exploring Delhi on the cheap:

Street Food Crawl - Delhi is a paradise for street foodies. Grab a bike and go tasting through food stall hotspots like Paranthe Wali Gali, Kamla Nagar, etc.

University Hop - Bike around North Campus and check out the campus vibes at DU, JNU, IIT, and more. Great for cafes, bookshops, and hangouts.

Old Delhi History Tour - Meander through ancient bazaars, old monuments, and iconic sites like the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Raj Ghat, etc.

Parks & Gardens - Pedal through leafy havens like Lodhi Gardens, Nehru Park, or Buddha Jayanti Park. Pack a picnic too. 

Saving on Expenses

Make your bike rental last longer with these handy money-saving tips:

Use Public Bike Stands - Park at public stands to avoid paying for parking repeatedly at each spot.

Carry Water & Snacks - Pack your own water and snacks to avoid having to buy overpriced food and drinks on the go.

Time Sightseeing for Discounts - Many attractions have student discounts on entry tickets at certain times or days. Plan smartly to save.

Take Scenic Detours - Skip Ubering and pedal down pretty residential areas, leafy university roads, etc. to soak in the vibe for free.

Conclusion

So don't let budget woes stop you from exploring Delhi by bike. Follow these student tips and you can get a bike rental in Delhi cheaply, save on the go, and still enjoy the ride. Let me know if you have any other questions about biking on a budget in Delhi. Ride on.

[surpriseslmkshecares]

A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO FAKING YOUR DEATH - Jhariah

hi here's this album track by track, my favorite song from the album is at the bottom if you wanna listen to it while you read this yo

ENTER: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO FAKING YOUR DEATH - 4/5

Fantastic tone-setter, honestly - love the vibes of this track. I only caution to rate is a 5/5 because i know pressure bomb 3 is on here and that song is a 5/5 for sure lol

NEEDED A CHANGE OF PACE - 3/5

I just wanna say I really like the cover art and capitalizing all of the titles is so fun, and it just sets a distinct energy, and I just thought about it now so I'm jamming it in here. uhhh anyway, this song is so funky, I love the energy of it so much, this song has a B section, and it's pretty solid.

also @ urself i'm him crying at the end and going "and scene"

PRESSURE BOMB 3?!?! - 5/5

this song is how I found this album actually. it's really good. I listened to Pressure Bomb 1&2 and 3 is definitely my favorite, but they get progressively better over time. This song is really good though,,, it's my favorite

DEBT COLLECTOR - 4/5

there's a certain electronic sound in the instrumental and I'm fuckin' with it so much, because it's why I'm getting this like techno energy, and I can't put my finger on it but i'm fucking with it oh my god. the B side of this song is really good, too.

Who's Eye Is It Anyway? - Live from the Faraday cage - 2.5/5

normal punctuation for the slower pace song? oh fuck yes I'm here for it I love it when albums have a little thing yo

I probably won't listen to it way too much outside of my first full listen of the album.

To Take For Granted. - Live from the Faraday cage - 4/5

I accidentally listened to the first few seconds of this earlier because I put it on shuffle by accident, it hooks you in so fast, I love this song >=D

Only complaint: it feels long near the end I don't know why lmfao

BAD LUCK! - 2.5/5 i think

I always get burnt out around here with any album < 3 my last 3 reviews will be weird probably

uhhh this song has 3 sections and I think that's really cool, I like songs that are dynamic, thas have parts and stuff to better tell a story. this song i think does it really well structurally, I just wasn't a huge fan of it

Flight of the Crows - 5/5

okay this one gave pressure bomb 3 a run for it's money as my favorite song. tells the story it intends to really well. I really like songs that make me feel like the sing is agonizing. I love this song so much oh my god

PRESSURE BOMB 2!!!! (Bonus Track) - 2.5/5 IIt's alright lol. I prefer this over PB 1, but then I prefer pb3 over them all. weird that pb 2 comes after pb 3 in the album but it is a bonus track lol

[koipiu]

ur tags r so sweet !!! ah! fuzzy warm and happy. :'] thank u. i want to draw them in the little cottage u describe sometimes.. its such a comfy thought

fwshsjd waaa

ii do too wawawa mmayb iill remebr to someday >:Dc

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Reggie//want you stealing my time even though i said i wanna be alone

Request: Can I request a Reggie/Reader with the song That's Us by Anson Seabra, maybe angst with a happy ending somehow? or just like the "vibe" of the song?

hey! i hope you like this!! its angsty which is something i love writing, but it does have a happy ending (sort of)!! have a great day everyone!! 

“So are you and Reggie officially over?” Betty asks, your bedroom goes silent as everyone looks at her and then at you. You feel yourself shrink slightly and you shift on the bed, not really knowing what to do. All eyes are on you as Betty, Veronica and Josie wait for you to answer. 

“Erm. Yep, I would say so.” You nod, keeping your gaze on the white duvet. Your fingers trace the flowers delicately sewn onto the fabric while you try and think of a way out of the conversation. It’s a conversation you’ve had over and over again, and it’s one you dread a little more every time it happens. 

“But you’ve broke up before. What makes you so sure this time?” Veronica asks, earning a small muttering of her name from Betty and an eye roll from Josie. You’d invited them over to cheer you up, but if anything you feel more depressed than before. And to make it worse, you know there’s no way you’re going to get out of it, however desperate you are. 

They’ll just keep pushing until they know what happened, they always do. You love your friends dearly, but they don’t know when to take a hint and to just leave something alone. 

So you take a deep breath and force yourself to look at them, trying to keep a neutral expression as you tell them details of how Reggie had broken your heart a mere two hours earlier. 

“The fact that he told me to get out of his life made it pretty clear.” You say, the words desperately trying to stay unspoken, but you force them out. You’re sure you sound bitter. 

You tried your best to make it sound like you didn’t care, like its happened so many other times so whats the difference now? But the way their expressions change from curiosity to sympathy shows that you tried and failed. Something you’re getting quite good at these days. 

“Oh.” Josie says quietly, placing a hand on your thigh.  

“Yep.” 

“Well, at least he can’t upset you anymore.” Betty tries, looking at the others in hopes that they’ll agree. 

“I think I’m still gonna be upset.” You sigh. 

“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.” Josie says, and the three of you look at her confused. “All I’m saying is that you and Reggie have been together and not before. I’m not saying I’m happy that this happened, but maybe it’ll be good for you. You can find somebody that will love you through everything, not just the good bits.” 

i thought he did 

“Yeah, maybe.” You shrug. 

She has a point. Everyone knows that you and Reggie have a complicated relationship. You clearly like each other, but as soon as you try anything serious, he gets scared and it ends in disaster. Your friends are left to pick up the pieces while Reggie goes off and does god knows what with whoever will let him. It’s obvious that you like each other, but no matter how many times you try, something always seems to go wrong.

“I should’ve known it wouldn’t happen this time.” 

“Why?” Veronica asks. 

“I dunno, just something didn’t feel right.” You look at her. “Don’t give me that look. Nothing about this time felt right.” 

“You did start seeing each other again very quickly.” Betty says. “Maybe thats it. Maybe you need to take things slowly.” 

“Yeah, but it happens every goddam time. We like each other, we get together and it gets too much for him.” 

“Y/n-” 

“And to make it worse, for a while I thought this time we could have actually been something. I mean yeah, it didn’t feel entirely right, but I thought maybe thats just what we needed. Maybe we needed something different for it to work. I thought we could actually try, but we didn’t and then...” 

The girls just look at each other, unsure of what to say. Every single one of your friends have been rooting for the two of you. Since the day you met, there’s been something between the two of you. They watched two best friends fall in love over the years, a love that was blindingly obvious to everyone but the two of you. So when Reggie finally confessed that he liked you, everyone, including  yourself thought that was it. You’d live happily ever after and that would be it. 

But then you entered a casual relationship and it was a disaster from start to finish. Full of feelings and complicated emotions that neither one of you knew how to deal with. So it always ended in tears. 

You had tried to make it work properly, but Reggie hears the word relationship and he breaks out in a cold sweat, no matter how hard he wants one with you. You’re the only girl he could ever actually picture a future with, but his heart and his head want different things and he follows his head every single time. 

A few hours pass and eventually Josie, Betty and Veronica go home. Leaving you alone with your own thoughts, which is never good. You stare at your phone, wishing for it to light up. A text, a call anything. Anything to distract yourself from the thoughts swirling around your head. 

Everyone says life isn’t fair, and right now, you couldn’t agree more. 

Life isn’t fair, timing’s a bitch and boys are the worst. 

You glance at your phone again but the only thing you see is your reflection in the dark screen. You sigh and climb under the covers, pulling them all the way up over your head. You pull a teddy out from under your back you have to squeeze your eyes closed to stop yourself from crying. Reggie had seen it while he was out with his friends, they made fun of him, but he bought it proudly, excited to give it to you when he saw you. 

You shove it underneath your pillow and turn around, to stare at the blank wall beside you. Your eyes flutter shut and you find yourself thinking of him. Thinking of how the other night when you couldn’t sleep, you’d rang him. He’d been the only thing you could think of so you thought if you spoke to him, you’d sleep easier. 

He’d answered after the second ring and when he spoke you smiled so wide your entire face hurt. His voice was groggy from sleep but it was the cutest thing you’d ever heard and you wondered why you hadn’t done this sooner. Your mind had been racing with what ifs, but as soon as you heard him talk, you felt yourself relax. 

You talked for a while and he listened. You thought he’d fallen asleep, so you apologized for stealing his precious sleep and were just about to hang up but he quickly stopped you.  

“I want you stealing my time.” 

“Even though you said you wanted to be alone?” You tease, remembering a time when he was drunk. You said you’d stay with him, but he’d argued, saying he wanted to be by himself and that he’d be fine. Of course you didn’t listen and he was so confused when he woke up the next morning to find you asleep on his bedroom floor. 

“Always.” He replies. You didn’t even have to see him to know he was smiling. 

At the time, you thought the moment was perfect. But when you look back at it now, it makes your chest ache. 

How foolish you were to think it could have worked, that it could have ended well. 

But then again, you’re only human and it seems you never learn. You couldn’t help falling for him again, and iit doesn’t make it right. You don’t think anything can. 

You’ve probably called him all the names under the sun by the time you fall asleep. Some of them were whispered to yourself, others you text him. 

He’s the most selfish person you’ve ever met, and you make sure to tell him. To make him hurt even a fraction of how he hurt you. Because its not nice to be picked up and thrown away whenever he feels like it. You can’t tell someone you love them if you don’t mean it. 

You don’t get a reply, but you know he feels the same way. He’s probably talking to all of his friends. They’ll be telling him that everything is okay, that we’ll be fine, reassuring him that he did the right thing. 

Your sleep is restless, he breaks your heart even when you’re dreaming. You dream of him coming over at midnight, telling you he’s sorry and that he loves you. He spends the night but when you wake up he’s gone, leaving your bed cold and lonely while you want more of him. 

“Y/n?” You hear someone whisper and it makes you sit up quickly. You flip the lamp on, and your eyes scan the dimly lit room until they settle on a figure stood by the window. Your stare hardens as you watch the last person you want to see slowly make his way towards you. 

He looks sad. Good, you think. He deserves it. But then you feel bad for thinking that so you just decide to look at your duvet again, the flowers being a welcome distraction. 

“Y/n?” He repeats, his voice a little louder, but the tone is the same. Cautious, like he’s waiting to see what your reaction will be. 

“What do you want?” You ask through gritted teeth, forcing yourself to look him in the eye and he shrinks under your gaze. 

“I came here to say sorry.” He replies making you scoff. 

“And what number will this be?” 

“I really am sorry Y/n.” 

“Like you were the last time? And the time before that? Oh and what about the time before that?” 

“Yes.” He says louder. “I get it okay. I’m an ass.” 

“Well, at least there’s something we agree on.” 

“But please Y/n. Listen to me.” 

“Why should I?” 

“Because I asked you to.” 

“I don’t owe you anything.” You shrug. 

“You’re right. You don’t. But I owe you an explanation.” 

“What’s there to explain? We get together and then when I think it’s going to get serious, when you give me all of these hints and clues that you want more from us, you say it’s too much.” 

“I need to tell you something.” He pleads, but you just stare at him. 

“No, there’s something I need to tell you.” You argue and he stares at you in shock. “I can take the fall, but I can only fall for you so many times. I can only fall without you there to catch me so many times before I start to bruise. And I can take all the pain and pleasure, but I need you beside me during it. I need you to want all of it too. For better, or for worse. But what I can’t take is this. I can’t do it anymore.” You finish, tears flow down your cheeks as you look anywhere but at him. 

He stares at you in shock, before hesitantly walking towards you and sitting at the bottom of your bed. 

“Y/n. I came here to tell you that I love you.” He says and you look at him cautiously. “I know I’ve made you feel like I loved you before, but this time I really mean it. I’ve never had a girlfriend, not a serious one anyway. To be honest the idea of one absolutely terrifies me. And when I thought of being in a relationship with you, it terrified me too, despite how much I wanted it. But then I thought about it more, and I thought about how I would feel if I didn’t have you in my life and that scared me a hell of a lot more than anything else. I want you. I want this.” 

“Reggi-” 

“I’m not finished yet.” He interrupts you and you stare at him annoyed. “Y/n, I love you. I’m so in love with and I know I’m the last person to know and I definitely don’t deserve you. But I want to make this work. It’s the one thing I want more than anything in the world. I know we can make this work. I know I want to. So please,” He grabs your hand and squeezes it making you look at him. “Can we try again. And I mean really try?” 

“I-” You start, not really sure what to say. Well, you know what you want to say. But you can’t quite let yourself say yes, not yet. There’s still so many what-ifs and unanswered questions. “But what if we’re wrong? What if we’re not all that we thought?” 

“Then we won’t make it.” 

“Reggie...” You tear up again and he sighs, quickly wiping the few tears that have escaped away. His hands rest on your cheek and the two of you look at each other. You see an entire future with him, but it feels too far away. Too hard to get to. 

“But it doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. I think the possibility that it might not work out, that this is our last chance to make it work, will make us fight more.” 

“But isn’t that just forcing it?” You ask.

“Maybe. But maybe thats what we need.” 

“You want us to force a relationship?” 

“No. I want us to really try at a relationship. Because when I think of my future, I really do see you in it. And I like what I see, so I want to try as hard as I can to make sure that happens.” 

“This is gonna be really fucking difficult isn’t it?” You sigh, sitting back a little. 

His hands drop from your cheeks, finding your own again and he holds them tightly. He slouches and the two of you stare at the open window, a gentle breeze makes the curtain move a little and the two of you just watch for a while. 

Finally, after what feels like seconds and hours all at once, he answers your question. 

“I guess that's love”

[ihavetheblade]

okay so yk how people hc like the humanised version of c!techno as having long pink hair, i have like these hcs about what hairstyles technos tftsmp characters would have because i have a massive brain

sir billiam iii - he so has something super fancy, like i saw this one design of him as having a high ponytail with like a few plaits going up into the ponytail, and some long bits of hair hanging by the side of his face, thats not Super fancy but you bet he has a bunch of like fancy expensive hair clips he uses

sheriff thompson - i havent acc watched the wild west yet but atm im thinking either a low ponytail, like a loose low ponytail or just down, but it would not be as long if it was down, like past the shoulders but not Super long (or it could be super long hmmm idk)

porkums - my beloved, okay okay so i thought of this one today and i think it is super big brain, like two plaits or two bunches, idk i think it just fits, and those styles would look good w the hat (iit would be like past the shoulders but not Super long as well) (again it could look nice super long tooooo)

porkius vii - i think like shoulder length with a fringe, idek just i vibe w that idea, and it would defo be wavy instead of straight

if anyone were to draw any of these i would kiss you directly on the lips /p /j

[shorkbrian]

I dont usually send in things to anyone, but I felt like I had to send this because I love your account so much. I get so excited when I see that you posted and all your writing are always soooooo good! Your new kiri fic was amazing btw. I was also wondering if there was gonna be anymore creepy sero cause that shit was gooood. Thanks and keep up the good work :) x

Don’t mind me I’m over here just SAWBING

                                            A HELPING HAND

Prelude - I saw some fan art of Sero with a skateboard and I have decided that is the only criticism I will accept about his canon character. Lil tape elbow child totally has the skateboard & stoner vibe. My interpretation of Sero does a horrible thing by talking reader into touching him. Don’t do that. Reader is obviously uncomfortable and he completely ignores that. That’s creepy. He tries to pass off his actions as ‘normal’, which is also creepy. He threatens to slander reader for not doing what he wants them to do, which is maybe the biggest creepy. Sero is not a good dude here.

Prompt - Right at the top bby 

Pairing -  Sero Hanta X Reader

Warnings - Coercion, dub-con. NSFW. Non-con.

Music - https://youtu.be/rY8H-vztguQ

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sero tugged at your wrist excitedly, leading you towards his dorm. He had sprung on you the second you got out of the locker rooms after training. Luckily it was your last class of the day, so Sero wasn’t making you miss school. He would do that often, tugging you away from your friends to show you a new video or gifset he had found.

You hadn’t been in his room before, but it was no big surprise. It was a regular bedroom, dark covers on his bed, posters on the wall. A skateboard rested in the corner, and you noticed a humidifier on his otherwise-bare desk. A skateboard? Sure. But you had never pegged him as the type to own - or even know - what a humidifier was. Did he have asthma? Probably had something to do with the amount of weed he smoked. You could detect a faint trace of it in the air, skunky-smelling, making your face twist with each breath.

Sero was excited, his movements jerky and fast as he let go of your wrist, moving to shuffle around the blankets on his bed as he searched for whatever it is he wanted to show you. When he had accosted you, he had snatched your wrist, pulling you along as he explained that there was something he wanted to show you. You hoped it wasn’t anything weird. You didn’t exactly like it when the black-haired boy showed you the lewd things he found on the internet, but Sero never seemed to pick up on your discomfort. But this was what friends did, so you guessed it was fine.

With a cheery “Aha!” Sero pulled his laptop out from amid the covers, turning to show you with a grin on his face. He sat on the bed, patting the space beside him to indicate where he wanted you to be. 

“Are we watching a movie?”

That’d be fun. You had been wanting to see the new John Wick movie, but none of the girls had wanted to go with you. Maybe Sero had heard you complaining and pirated the movie for you. He was nice like that.

Sero shrugged, squishing closer to you as you sat down. “Something like that.” 

He scooted back, and you gasped as tape wrapped around your waist, dragging you along the bed until you were seated beside him, back against the wall, pressed against his side. 

“Ah, didn’t mean to scare you man! Thought this would just be more comfortable.”

The male grinned at you, his teeth bared in a leering smile as he flipped open the laptop, booting it up. You shrugged, attention drawn to the site that was already plastered across the screen, still there from the last time he had used his laptop.

Pornhub.

Of course.

Irritation bubbled up within you. This had been going on for months now, Sero taking you aside to show you inappropriate things, ask you what you thought of them. You never knew what to say, blushing and stammering at the naked bodies splayed across the screen.

Enough was enough. You needed to stand up for yourself.

“Jeez, seriously Sero??!”

“What?”

“This is too far! I dont like doing this, it’s weird and it makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Sero’s shocked face collapsed as he did, sniggering at your vexed expression.

“Oh my god, (Y/N) are you PMS’ing?”

Would it be bad if you slapped him? You settled for scoffing, moving to scoot off the bed.

“That’s it, I’m leaving. You’re being gross Sero.”

“Wait, aww, C’mon!”

Tape wrapped around your waist again, pulling you back to your previous position.

“SERO! Stop-“

He leaned against your arm, giving you a sly smirk.

“(Y/N), I’m just trying to help you relieve some stress! Having outbursts like this can’t be good for you. You just need to relax.”

Sero winked at you before pulling away, turning back to his laptop and tapping away.  You spluttered, angry and confused.

“Stress relief? How is this relaxing?? I don’t want to watch two people bone, especially while I’m sitting next to my friend.”

You frowned at him, but Sero seemed unperturbed.

“You don’t masturbate after? Wow, no wonder you’re so cranky all the time.”

“You show me during lunch!!!!! What do you expect, that I’ll drop my pants right there and go after it?!?”

Sero stopped typing, turning to look at you.

“Well, If exhibitionism is your thing, sure. Personally I just go jack off in the bathroom, but you do you.”

You turned red at his blatant admission, afraid to even ask what “exhibitionism”  was. Sero was entirely comfortable with sex and the like, but you were a bit more reserved. 

Turning the laptop so the both of you could easily see, Sero turned your attention to the screen. You were so irritated, so confused and exasperated and bewildered at his behavior, at the casual way he talked about this sort of thing. Noticing your squirming, picking at the tape around your waist, Sero sighed, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

“(Y/N), I’m trying to help you. I want you to  be comfortable around this sort of thing. Denki and I do this all the time - if it makes you feel better I can text him and he can watch too?”

“NO!-“ You covered your face with your hands. ‘I just…… I don’t know….. guess I’m embarrassed….”

It was awkward sitting here with Sero, you couldn’t even imagine how weird it would be for Denki to join the two of you.

Sero rubbed your shoulder soothingly, giving you a reassuring smile.

“It’s fine, I remember being weirded out by all this stuff before I knew what it was. Lucky for you that I’m here.”

He started the video

----

You cringed at the fake moans coming from the laptop speakers, face hot and flushed as Sero kept making commentary and asking you questions to keep your attention on the video. He had already played a few, insisting you stay until he found one to “fit the mood”. You don’t know why you had agreed. Maybe because the videos had sparked a tiny flame in your stomach, making you subtly shift your thighs as you tried to alleviate the throbbing in between your legs. Maybe because the tape was still wrapped around your waist. 

“Hey, I don’t mind if you feel like touching yourself.”

“What!?!?!”

You gaped at Sero in shock, trying to process what he just said. He had seen you, noticed you rubbing your thighs together. You wanted to die from embarrassment.  You would never dream of touching yourself like that that in front of your friend; even getting caught clenching your thighs was humiliating. it was too awkward and he might think you’re weird and-

“Here, I’ll help.”

A hand thumbed at the waistband of your shorts, fingers barely dipping past before you were shoving at Sero, panicked.

“No! No it’s okay! Please don’t!”

The male retracted his hands, holding them both up in defeat as he chuckled.

“Yo, no worries man. Just thought I’d try and make you feel good.”

That was nice of him, but no. Your lower parts already had a tingly sense to them, a pleasurable throbbing that made you bite your lip. You ached to touch yourself, fondle your clit and pinch at it until you came, follow Sero’s advice and relieve some stress. But you could do that later, back in your own room. It felt too weird to do that in front of Sero.

You were so lost in thought that you didn’t notice the black haired male thumbing at the button of his jeans, unzipping them, sliding them off his hips. A throaty groan snapped you back to the present, and you let out a nervous “Oh” at the sight that greeted you.

Sero was palming himself over his boxers, a noticeable bulge present. They were damp in one spot, wet enough that they stuck to the head of his cock, hidden every few seconds as he rubbed his fingers over the bulge. 

This was even more awkward.

You felt like you should leave, and you wanted to, but Sero’s voice stopped you before you could even begin moving off the bed or picking at the tape that held you.

“Wait! Iit’s just about to get good, look.”

Your eyes returned to the laptop screen, just in time to see the man slip his dick inside the wet opening of his female partner. 

You felt strangely uneasy, your ears burning. Sero had never gone this far before when he was showing you things-

“(Y/N), can you-shit- can you c’mere?” There was a look in his eye, calculating, watching you tremble as you tried to decide whether to obey or not. You didn’t like this, didn’t feel comfortable. This felt too intimate for two friends. You opened your mouth to speak as you moved to scramble off the bed, tell Sero that you were tired and you were going to go rest, but he cut you off before you could speak.

“C’mon, don’t be mean. I was going tome you feel good before you turned chicken earlier…. You aren’t gonna even try to return the favor?”

“Sero I-“

He clicked his tongue, recognizing your tone of voice. It was the one you used to get away, to escape whenever he would talk about sex, to make excuses when he offered to teach you how to kiss. He picked up his phone, simultaneously pausing the video.

“What are you doing?”

Your tone had switched, now scared and shaky as he began tapping at his phone.  He didn’t even look up as he answered, palm still slipping up and down his clothed length.

“I’m texting the boy’s group chat. They get how frustrating it is when girls pretend like it’s a big deal.” Black eyes met yours as Sero glanced up at you, voice low and dangerous. “Especially when they act like horny little sluts, trying to get themselves off first and then leave you hanging.”

You didn’t like this.

That’s not what had happened.

“Anways-“ Tone chipper again, Sero flicked his eyes back to his phone. “The boys’ll understand; we vent about bitchy girls all the time, helps us feel better about getting denied yanno?”

You weren’t a bitch. You weren’t a horny slut either. Maybe you were just making too big of a deal about it? You clenched your fists.

You slowly crawled back over to Sero, and the male lowered his phone as you did so.

“I-I just.... I’ve never….. ‘M sorry.”

A hand came up to pat your head, and he pressed play on the video again. “It’s okay.” he grabbed your hand as you settled down beside him again, stomach doing flips. “Make me feel good?”

You hesitated, pulling against his grip as he tried to lower your hand to his crotch. Sero quirked an eyebrow.

“It’s just a hand job, stop freaking out over it. It’s not even sex.”

You cringed at his choice of words, wanting to recoil and run out of his room, wash your hands and scrub your ears with soap. This all felt wrong.  But if it wasn’t sex? Plus, you didn’t want Sero laughing with his friends about how much of a slut you were, what a bitch you had been for leading him on.   You let him guide your hand to his lap, and he pulled down his boxers.

“See? Nothing to be scared of. I’ll talk you through it.”

You didn’t like looking between his legs, averting your eyes to the porn playing on the laptop. You flinched when you touched him too, your hands meeting warm flesh. He brought your hand up to his mouth, and to your surprise, spat into it before he guided it back down. This felt disgusting and slimy and gros- Your thoughts were interrupted by his low moan when his hand wrapped yours around his shaft.

“Oh, that feels good.”

You didn’t know what to say. His hand covered yours as he guided you into pumping along the length, jerking himself off with your hand in slow motions.

“Maybe when I’m done, you might be in the mood for me to make you feel good too.”

You wondered if the nausea bubbling up in your stomach was normal.

[radiant-flutterbun]

Lair review for Slate021

@slate02fr​ - 25 dragons

First impressions: A large lair with a lot of different dragons! Also quite a few mirrors which I always love to see.

1. 

Monstrosity is a very cool looking mirror. I love the color eldritch and when paired with Shadow okapi it gives a cool effect. I also love how his eyes match his tert.

2. 

Mortality is beautiful! Sunset gembond goes so well with Sanguine. Also I love how you dressed her the gold in her apparel beautifully matches her sunset gembond. I love the little poem in her bio too. 

3. 

Moriz is a very cool fire primal! Abyss ragged and tear make it look like he has fire within him which is a very cool look. Plus azure ghost looks amazing I had no idea it had that gradient to it! Overall very cool lad.

4. 

Oolaatra has so many colors! I love how bright he is. I like how his ghost breaks up the bright colors of his pinstripe. He’s just a really pretty dragon!

5. 

Xhera looks so elegant. I love veils so much. They’re all so pretty. But Xhera is absolutely STUNNING.  Phthalo is a color that’s really starting to grow on me. it’s such a nice shade of blue.

6. 

Servala I love because she looks like a abstract painting. I... honestly don’t remember swirl being released? Where did this gene come from? But anyway I like it on Servala.

7. 

Shadow’s art is really cool! Also it’s good to see an old gene like crackle being used so well. I really like how it looks on Shadow! I also like how you dressed him. His armor and shadowstrike give him a lot of personality, and the scars make him look like a war hardened fighter.

8. 

Glom is really cute! I like that he’s next to Shadow in your lair. They give off completely opposite looks and I hope they’re friends. His apparel give off a steampunk vibe, despite none of it being from the steampunk set. I like it!

9. 

Moonstone is elegant due to her fashion sense. The purple pops against her white colors. So looks so fancy!

10. 

Adolin is a bright boy! I love the neon brightness of his ghost. Well everything is neon bright about him. And that’s why I love him!

11. 

Orion is well deserving of his name. He looks like the night sky! I love the way you dressed him up too. The starlight guise matches his colors well and makes him looks elegant. I also like that iit doesn’t cover him up completely. 

12. 

April is a sapphire gem! Everything about his is blue and magnificent! 

13. 

I love FruitGummy’s name. Not only does it perfectly describe them, but it’s just a cute name. I never thought that crystal could look so much like candy.

14. 

Cherimoya looks like a dragon you would find hiding in the jungle. I think lionfish would allow them to perfectly blend in when surrounded by vegetation. 

15. 

Robin is so bright and colorful! She looks like an art piece from an acrylic paint pour video.

16. 

I like how well Glacier’s cloak matches the very pretty skin you have her wearing!

17. 

Is Angler named after an anglerfish? Because she looks like she could be found in the deep ocean with those dark blue colors and her large eyes!

18. 

Dalmis is one cool looking mirror! The way you dressed him gives him lots of personality. I feel like he’s a hunter with his arrows and hood. Also his ghost looks very cool over metallic. 

19. 

Masul is a glow in the dark friend! His clans mates don’t have to fear the dark with him around, because he’s a natural nightlight. Also I appreciate dragons with basic. Not every dragon needs triple genes to look stunning!

20. 

Oran is nice and purple. I like how the light color purple of her secondary color makes it look like her mane and wings are glowing!

21. 

George looks adorable with those pink bows! Something about pink dragons just makes me want to hug them, and George is no exception! 

22. 

Sherry looks sweet! She makes me think of taffy

23. 

Latte looks exactly what he’s named after. The paint and piebald looks like foam, while the ringlets look like someone made latte art on him!

24. 

Python is a dragon with genes I don’t see too often these days. He looks like someone you don’t want to mess with. He looks strong and powerful. Whoever or whatever his charge is, is very lucky to have him as their guardian.

25. 

Venom is probably venomous with those colorful patterns! He’s a very pretty bog, even if he may be a bit dangerous

[thebladeblaster]

Pokémon: the Dark Circuit (aka Vanguard Descends season 2)

Chapter 5 Battle At Sea

Aichi’s current team

Level 79 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock

Moves:

Stealth rock

Crunch

Stone edge

Play rough

Level 77 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug

Moves:

Sucker punch

Blizzard

Liquidation

First impression

Level 78 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel

Moves:

Focus blast

Stone edge

Meteor mash

Dragon pulse

Level 85 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon

Moves:

Outrage

Iron tail

Dragon dance

Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel

Moves:

Sacred sword

King’s shield

Iron head

Shadow Claw

After getting out of the bath, they went to the dining room. Like most other rooms in the castle it was unnecessarily large. Aichi didn’t linger on that too long after the food was set on the table. He felt his mouth water as his stomach growled again. He tried to remember his table manners despite his intense hunger. Though, just shoveling food into his mouth was extremely tempting. He resisted the urge and ate at a reasonable pace. Llew however instantly dug in. Wingal sniffed the food cautiously before deciding it was safe and started eating. Gancelot ate more cleanly than the other two, but in their defense they can’t hold silverware anyway. Soul Saver mimicked his table manners similarly to how she did in Alfred’s castle. Speaking of Alfred…

Aichi looked over to where Alfred was; he seemed to have wandered off. He felt a bit worried especially with Ahmes already missing.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario.(Don’t worry about Alfred, he told me he’s just checking up on something.)”, Gancelot told him.

“What would that be?”, Aichi thought.

With Alfred…

“Oh is that you Aichi boy?”, Pegasus asked as the door opened.

“No, it’s Alfred Pendragon. The once and future king of Galar.”, Alfred replied, revealing himself.

“Ah, it talks?!”, Pegasus replied with mock surprise.

“Why are you doing this?”, Alfred asked.

“Is it hard to believe I’m just helping out Aichi boy from the goodness of my heart?”, Pegasus replied.

“I know you already know about him. You knew who were before we ever entered the castle.”, Alfred replied.

“What makes you say that?”, Pegasus asked.

“You didn’t react when Aichi talked to us. I noticed your men giving him weird looks, but you didn’t look weirded out or surprised at all. Also, it’s your tone. I can tell you know more than your letting on.”, Alfred explained.

“Ah, I see you are rather clever Alfred. Yes, I know very well who Aichi boy is. It’s hard not to know when he was able to defeat one of Team Asteroid’s Psyqualia users. I don’t want anything bad if you’re thinking about that. I simply don’t like Team Asteroid. They have spoiled the fun of the whole world. Back in the olden days people used to do fun things like make cartoons that aren’t war propaganda. Cartoons just for the sake of entertainment they were the best. Now, it’s all about the war blah blah and convincing young chaps to risk their lives for their region. Anyway, I want things to go back to a more whimsical and fun time. Giving Aichi boy medical attention, a bath, and food is a small price to pay for that.”, Pegasus explained.

“I see...you don’t seem to be lying. Sorry about being so paranoid, but with the nature of what Aichi is. A lot of people with not so good intentions try to take advantage of him.”, Alfred replied.

“Even his own father only thinks about him as a tool for world domination.”, Alfred thought.

“I don’t blame you, Alfred. It’s just smart for you to be cautious. You all are so protective of him, he definitely seems like he needs it.”, Pegasus replied.

Alfred nodded, that’s why he had originally joined Aichi in the place. He’s young, naive, and has lots of power. A very bad combination. And all the malicious programming placed in his brain certainly didn’t help. Iit messed up his ability to think clearly and made him act very unlike himself when it took hold of him. He seemed to be grappling with it again. He needs positive guidance in his life. So, he wouldn’t end up going down a dark path not unlike his father and even himself at one point. He saw him personally almost like a son. He had gotten rather attached to Aichi.

“Right, goodbye Pegasus. I believe Aichi still intends to leave after dinner to find our lost party member.”, Alfred said, with a light bow before seeing himself out.

With Aichi…

Every few minutes Aichi paused his eating to look over for Alfred. The poor boy was so worried about him. He was very relieved when he saw Alfred float back in. It made him able to relax a bit and focus on filling his stomach. He’s going to need all the energy he can get to find Ahmes. Eventually, they finished and Aichi was given a new bag along with potions, revives, and food.

“Thank you very much, Pegasus. For everything, I don’t really have anything to give to repay you. I hope we meet again one day.”, Aichi thanked, with a polite bow.

“It’s nothing Aichi boy. I was glad to help you.”, Pegasus replied.

Then, they all left Pegasus’s castle and were back into the wilderness of Alola. Aichi put his finger to his head trying to sense around for Ahmes. He didn’t feel him at all. Sure, he felt other Gallades but not Ahmes. Aichi frowned hoping he hadn’t gotten too far or...the worst had happened to him. Aichi shook his head, not wanting to even consider the possibility. He was probably just somewhere else in Alola out of his range.

In Sanctuary town…

Naoki looked around Sanctuary town after school, eventually ending up in front of the Sendou household. Word had already gotten around fast that Aichi didn’t go to school today. He felt a bit worried for him and decided to go to his house.

“Maybe he’s just sick and I’m making a big deal out of this.”, Naoki thought.

He hesitatingly walked up to the door and knocked on it. The door slowly creaked open a little eerily which made Naoki raise an eyebrow. He flinched when a scaly finger pointed at him with a watery bullet starting to form. Naoki couldn’t help, but let out a startled gasp.

“Mom, that's Aichi’s friend.”, Naoki froze, recognizing the voice of Aichi’s sister.

The door opened more and he now saw Shizuka with Elaine by her side who was the one pointing at him.

“Man, your guys’ mom totally gives off gang boss vibes.”, Naoki blurted out.

Shizuka’s eyebrow twitched a bit at the ‘gang boss’ comment and Naoki flinched.

“I’m sorry, but Aichi is not here right now.”, Shizuka informed him.

She still felt very ticked off that the evacuation people wouldn’t let her look for her son. Now, he was lost who knows where and possibly in her ex-husband’s hands. She honestly considered just tying her son to her hip at this point. He always finds a way to get himself in danger. She was finding it extremely difficult to contain her motherly worry for him. She wanted to go out and find him, but she had to take care of her daughter too. She was completely stuck and it was frustrating. She remembered back when things were so much simpler. However, she never regretted having kids just the person she had them with.

“Oh...do you know when he’ll get back?”, Naoki asked.

“No.”, Shizuka replied, feeling her heart sink.

“Okay...uh...see ya later Mrs.Sendou and uh...Aichi’s sister.”, Naoki replied, waving goodbye.

“My name is Emi.”, Emi told him.

Emi looked down very worried about her brother as well. Especially after she kept having those weird dreams of what seemed like Shuka’s world. She never wanted to see Aichi be like how he was in those dreams. She just wanted her dorky older brother that she knew back. She didn’t mind having to deal with waking him up as long as he was safe at home. The dreams still felt like some kind of a bizzaro world to her. Though, Aichi was able to do some of the stuff she saw in them. First of all he could obviously always understand Pokémon. Second, he was crazy strong. She wasn’t quite sure if he was as strong as the dream Aichi. Third, he was able to do that weird absolute lock thing against Shuka just like in the dreams. She had this really bad feeling that wherever he was something was wrong with him. She just hoped when he came back he would still be himself.

In Alola…

Aichi brandished Alfred as a blade. He held up Alfred’s shield in defense when a Turtonator breathed fire at him.

“Wingal use stone edge! Llew use Liquidation! Gancelot use focus blast! Soul Saver use scale shot!”, Aichi ordered.

The Turtonator growled in pain as it was bombarded by sharp rocks. However, he wasn’t the only Pokémon attacking them. Those Pokémon are hit by the others attacks. A Bisharp charged at him and he guarded. With a simple foot movement he got behind him and delivered a hard knock on the back of its head with Alfred’s hilt. They continued on like this for a few days walking through Alola and ending up with fights from the not so friendly locals. Aichi grew increasingly worried as he still had no luck finding Ahmes. They ended up setting up camp a few times with rotating who’s on lookout.

Near Alola…

Our heroes and the Quatre Knights soon approached Alola. Little did our heroes know they were slowly being pursued by someone hiding their power. Yami couldn’t put down this bad feeling he had. He continued looking over the boat, but didn’t see anything. He stopped when he picked up Aichi’s aura and was getting closer and his exact position became a lot clearer. The Quatre Knights arrived before our heroes and quickly flew over the islands looking for Aichi. Though with the massive overgrowth it was rather hard. The trees had grown up super high in some parts and plants covered most of the region. They all flinched when in the distance the Akala island volcano suddenly went off. Lava seeped from the volcano quickly overflowing at an unnaturally rapid rate. The Kantonians looked especially panicked at this especially when they saw the shadow of a titanic Pokémon.

“It’s him!”, Yugi said, sweating nervously.

“That jerk must have followed us!”, Jonouchi said.

The others rushed up as they got a better view of the colossal Pokémon. It had red scales and a grey underbelly. It had lots of spikes on it and strange black markings. It had massive claws, a row of sharp teeth and golden eyes.

“You have got to be shitting me. Is that Groudon?!”, Misaki gasped in disbelief.

“He’s huge! He’s not even dynamaxed, yet he’s that big?!”, Kamui commented, his jaw dropped.

They all paled as a massive fiery blast was sent in their direction. They quickly threw out their Pokémon to try and get out of the boat. Kai threw out Overlord and flew on his back. Misaki threw out Guardian and flew on its back. Kamui threw out Kaiser who for some odd reason could surf. (How it could, was beyond me. Even I don’t know. It just works. I’m not joking, you can actually teach Tyranitar surf.) Miwa flew in Dauntless. Kourin flew on Bridgette. Yugi surfed on his Blastoise with Anzu. Joey threw out his own Charizard which was shiny and flew on it with Honda. The others on the boat hastily jumped onto their own Pokémon who could fly or swim.

Kai, Misaki, and Kamui mega evolved their Pokémon. To their surprise Yugi and Joey were able to as well. Joey’s mega Charizard was mega Charizard Y though. They didn’t have much time to dwell on it though and quickly rushed to stop Groudon. Though, they were at a massive disadvantage right now because they couldn’t use all their Pokémon while over open sea.

“Overlord use hurricane!”, Kai ordered.

“Guardian use psychic!”, Misaki ordered.

“Kaiser use surf!”, Kamui ordered.

“Dauntless use giga drain!”, Miwa ordered.

“Bridgette use giga drain!”, Kourin ordered.

“Catapult use hydro cannon!”, Yugi ordered.

“Red eyes use solar beam!”, Joey ordered.

“Punisher use eruption!”, the boy from before ordered on top of Groudon.

The attacks all collided with each other causing the ground to shake.

Meanwhile on Melemele island (Alola)...

Aichi and his Pokémon minus Alfred stumbled as they felt tremors ripple through the ground. They were in a thick forest and the mountain covered their view.

“What’s going on?!”, Aichi questioned.

“I don’t know, maybe one of the volcanoes erupted?”, Alfred replied.

“Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. Lucario. (I sense one did, it’s on one of the other islands though.), Gancelot said.

“Ahh!!! One of them erupted! Where is it?”, Aichi asked.

“Lucario. Lucario. (The one right of us.)”, Gancelot told him.

Aichi turned to the direction of the island.

“Lycanroc! Lycanroc! Lycanroc . Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc . Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc . Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc . Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Oh no! No you don’t! There’s no way you can save all the Pokémon on that island unless you stopped the lava somehow.)”, Wingal yelled, knowing exactly what Aichi’s thinking.

“Then that’s what I’ll do.”, Aichi replied, they jumped as Aichi seemed gone in an instant and Alfred lunged forward nearly catching Aichi before he seemed to disappear.

“Lycanroc! (That stupid idiot!)”, Wingal yelled.

“Haxorus! Haxorus! Haxorus. (We gotta catch up to momma!)”, Soul Saver yelled, running as fast as possible after Aichi.

They all ran and Alfred floated to catch up with their reckless trainer. Aichi was flying high in the air looking over to the island. He had a light blue aura around him and his eyes had rainbow spirals. However now that he was in the air the Quatre Knights spotted him as he flew over to Akala island.

With the other…

Misaki got in closer with guardian who punched Groudon with icy punches. The others continued to launch their attacks at Groudon in different spots. The boy sat on top of Groudon not very impressed as he could hear Groudon cringe in pain. It shot more fire balls and swiped at them with its claws. Large spikes erupted from the ground which nailed Kaiser and Catapult. Thankfully, it didn’t impale them but it did damage them, cutting them multiple times. Their strong shells protected them from being impaled.

“Kaiser!”, Kamui called out.

“Catapult!”, Yugi called out.

They started sinking as the Pokémon that they were riding on was heavily injured. Their hearts beat loudly against their chest.

“Y-yugi!”, Anzu called out, holding out her hand to Yugi.

Yugi reached out for Anzu as his necklace suddenly glowed with a bright golden light. Kamui threw out Tough Boy and recalled Kaiser.

“Yugi!”, Kamui called out concerned, riding over to him on Tough Boy.

“Yu-gi-oh!”, Kamui had no idea where that noise was coming from, but the light got brighter.

Kamui stumbled a bit surprised when Tough Boy shook a bit. He looked up to see Yugi? No Yami, but he wasn’t transparent and others could see him. He was holding Anzu in his arms sitting on the back of Tough Boy with Kamui. Yugi became Yami? Kamui blinked in shock, completely stunned.

“How the heck did you do that thing where you grew taller?”, Kamui asked.

“We’re at a disadvantage in the sea. We need to get to land and attack there.”, Yami told him, as he pointed to land.

“A-alright man.”, Kamui replied, still trying to process what just happened.

They rode Tough Boy over to the shores of Melemele island because there was no lava. As they reached the shores Aichi who was in the air saw Groudon. He gasped in shock seeing Groudon. He quickly flew over to Akala island too focused on saving the Pokémon to notice the other people flying in the sky especially since they were tiny dots compared to Groudon. He had to stop the volcano somehow. He hoped Groudon didn’t cause it. Aichi flew so fast the others didn’t see him they only felt a sharp wind blow past them.

“Woah, that the heck was that?!”, Joey questioned, desperately holding onto Red Eyes with Honda.

The Quatre Knights pursued Aichi who hovered over the Akala volcano.

“Now...how do I stop it?”, Aichi questioned.

He remembered that blast attack he shot from his finger. Maybe he could just destroy the volcano? Wait...that was probably a horrible idea and would be too destructive.

“Stop...stop...how do I make it stop...wait a minute.”, Aichi pondered, before looking at his pointer finger wondering if what he was thinking of would work on inanimate objects like lava.

“Well...I might as well try. Absolute lock!”, Aichi called out.

He shot at the lava hoping for the best. He squealed when Groudon shot fire at him in annoyance.

“Well if Groudon is the cause then...Absolute lock!”, Aichi said, pointing his finger at Groudon.

The others gasped in shock when Groudon suddenly became stuck in place. Two intersecting white rings with a golden lining and a light blue aura surrounded Groudon. Misaki and Kourin’s eyes widened, realizing who shot the attack at Groudon instantly. Aichi looked relieved when the eruption actually did stop and the lava came to a halt. Kamui was too preoccupied trying to get to land. The boy on top of Groudon’s eyes twitched with annoyance.

“Who dares?!”, the boy questioned angrily, looking around.

The aura the rings gave off was unfamiliar to him. No one he knows did this. The boy growled angrily.

“Kill them. Whoever they are.”, the boy said.

Groudon roared as the red orb was activated. Suddenly Groudon was encased in a red gem. A golden omega symbol flashed on the gem. When it broke out it’s markings had changed and now looked like lava. It’s underbelly was now black and it’s spikes became black. Not to mention it was even bigger than before. The boy touched its head and it was surrounded by his murky gold aura and broke through the absolute lock. Aichi’s jaw dropped, looking stunned that Groudon actually broke out.

“That dumb giant! He broke through my absolute lock!”, Aichi sweated nervously as he felt a anger that wasn’t his boil up inside him.

Aichi twitched trying to keep control of himself.

“Calm down!”, he told himself, hoping that would work.

“You! You don’t understand! My pride is being threatened! I am supposed to be the supreme being! First you let yourself get punched by that stupid armored scientist! Second you let us get thrown around by Celebi! Freaking Celebi! Third, that lower Psyqualia user knocked us out! Then some dumb giant is going to breaks through one of my signature moves!”, 003v replied, his voice full of venom in his mind, which made Aichi jump.

Aichi sweated nervously in complete disbelief not understanding 003v’s complete insanity. He didn’t even realize 003v was keeping score. He thought maybe he was insane too for talking to himself.

[thenighttrain]

folklore first listen

pls feel free to ignore this, i just wanted to record my screaming on my blog so that i can refer back to it and laugh at myself someday x

The 1

THE PIANO OMG I LOVE IT AND I LOVE THE BEAT I looooove THIS SONG IT’S SO NOSTALGIC WHO THE FUCK IS IT ABOUT OH MY OGD IM SCREAMING also the swearing I’m living… ok seriously who is this about I am losing my mind. This is so bittersweet I’m ?!!!!!!!!!!!! I REALLY LOVE THIS

CARDIGAN

I ALSO LOVE THIS WHAT ITS’ SO NOSTALGIC and the music video is so pretty wit the green and she looks like an actual forest nymph with the piano and the water and it’s all incredible. YOU DREW STARS AROUND MY SCARS BUT NOW I’M BLEEDING???????? BITCH. THE LYRICS IN THIS ARE FUCKING INCREDIBLE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK OH MY DISJFASLDFNSADF OH MY GDO I knew you’d linger like a tattoo kiss??????? MAAM?

The last great American dynasty

SO INTRIGUING HOW SHE WROTE THIS??? WHAT IS IT ABOUT? IDK BUT I LOVE IT

Exile

BON IVERRRRRR I LOVE THE WAY HIS VOICE SOUNDS IN THIS AND THE CHORUS IS HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL and the background vocals… omg. This album his the most unique thing she’s ever written I????? I LOVE HOW HER VOICE SOUNDS N THE CHORUS. ‘You were my crown now I’m in exile seeing you out’? YOU KNOW LIKE I CAN IMAGINE THESE SONGS AS THE SOUNDTRACK TO SO MANY OF MY FAVOURITE FANTASY BOOKS IM LOSING MY MIND. ALSO OH MY GOD BON IVERS VOICE AT THE END HOLY FUCK!!!! THIS IS SO GOOD THIS IS ONE OF HER BEST DUETS IM LOSING MY SHIT this song is incredible I am in LOVE

My tears ricochet

TRACK 5 TRACK 5 TRACK 5 AHH I LOVE HOW DEEP HER VOICE GOES AND THE BACKGROUND VOCALS OMG. Oh my god the chorus I am in love, I love her voice sounds so raw on this album, we haven’t heard that in years IF I’M DEAD TO YOU WHY ARE YOU AT THE WAKE CURSING MY NAME?? OMG. This is fully giving me like fae woodland imagery I just love it, the vibes of it all!  AS YOU BURY ME? OH MY GOD IS SHE A GHOST IM SCREAMING I LOVE THIS PERSPECTIVE. HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK THE BRIDGE!!!!!!!! THE LINES ABOUT SCREAMING. THE BRIDGE IS UNBELIEVABLE AND THE WAY IT JUST FADES OUT I?

Mirrorball

Omg I love the vocal effects! This is full indie pop vibes I AM DIGGING IT. OH MY GOD THE CHORUS BROOO OK I OFFICIALLY LOVE THIS SONG IT’S EXACTLY THE KIND OF MUSIC I LIKE LISTENING TO. ‘Drunk as they watch my shadow, edges glisten’ oh wow the lyrics in this album are fucking otherworldly. Oh fuck this is  agood bridge. I really cannot wait for all the analysis of this album by smarter people because I am not understanding BUT I AM LOVING IT. ALSO IDK WHAT A MIRRORBALL IS BUT I LOVE IT ANYWAY. How does she know such fancy words, I want her brain

Seven

‘I ht my peak at seven’ ok but same? HEYY SHE MENTIONED MOON AND SATURN I AM LIVINGGGGG. It’s so soft and wistful, those are the vibes of this album so far and I am really LOVING IT. PLEASE PICTURE ME IN THE WEEDS BEFORE I LEARNED CIVILITIY I USED TO SCREAM FEROCIOUSLY ANY TIME I WANTED?? IM YELLING I LOVEEEEE THESE LYRICS OH MY GOODNESS

August

ONCE AGAIN I LOVE THE VOCAL EFFECTS, I LOVE THE WAY HER VOICE SOUNDS.  Omg the chorus is catchy! I love the way she sings ‘I can see’! OK THSI SONG IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITES I MEAN JUST LISTEN TO IT? I HAVE BEEN IN A STATE OF SHOCK SINCE LAST NIGHT BUT THIS IS MAGICAL ETHEREAL GROUNDBREAKING NEVER BEFORE SEEN INCREDIBLE PERFECT. OHH GOD THE BRIDGE IS COMNIG UP- YES IT’S AJFDSNAFKJSDFAF SHE WROTE THIS SONG IITS’ SO GOOD MISDFN JASDNFLJK SO MUCH FOR SUMMER LOVE AND SAYING US CAUSE U WERENT MINE TO LOSE!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAYLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is one fo her best songs ever EVER OMG AND THE BACKING VOCALS AT THE END AHH AND THE BEAT DROP TAYLOR WHAT THE FUCK YOU’VE OUTDONE YOURSELF A G A I N ??? IM NEVER GONNA RECOVER FROM THIS FUCK

This is me trying

Firstly, this song title is such a mood, especially this year. The beat in this song s so good - THIS SICK BEAT. AHH THERE IS THS COOL INSTRUMENT IS IT A VIOLIN IDK BUT I LOVE IT OMG. ‘THEY TOLD ME ALL OF MY CAGES WERE MENTAL SO I GOT WASTED LIKE ALL MY POTENTIAL AND MY WORDS SHOOT TO KILL WHEN I’M BAD I HAVE A LOT OF REGRETS ABOUT THAT II WAS SO AHEAD OF THE CURVE THAT THE CURVE BECAME A SPHERE I FELL BEHIND ON MY CLASS LATE UNTIL I ENDED UP HERE POURING OUT MY HEART TO A STRANGER BUT I DIDNT POUR THE WHISKEY! Oh god the ‘AT LEAST IM TRYING’ MAAAAM. THAT LAST VERSE FUCK FUCK FUF ASJDO FUCK THE BUILD UP. Listen I don’t know what the fuck this song is about but I do know that I love it I ADORE IT I FEEL LIKE EVERY SONG IS BETTER THAN THE LAST WHAT THE FUCK

Illicit affairs

I’m so intrigued by the title of this song! I LOVE the guitar in this song omg it’s so soft and wistful? IT DIES A MIIIILLIOON LITTLE TIMES……….. I love the little falsettos, that you picked out just for HIM! Take the words for what they are, a dwindling mercurial HIGH a drug that only worked the first few hundred times AND THAT’S THE THING ABOUT ILLICIT AFFAIRS AND CLANDESTINE MEETINGS AND STOLEN STARES they show their truth one single time BUT THEY LIE AND THEY LIE AND THEY LIE A MIILION LITTLE TIMES. LOOK AT THIS IDIOTIC FOOL THAT YOU MADE ME YOU TAUGHT ME A SECRET LANGUAGE I CAN’T SPEAK WITH ANYONE ELSE and you know damn well for you I would ruin myself a million little times. Holy fuck I have 0 words this is. Unbelievable it’s sunning I LOVE the bridge? I?

Invisible string

Oh lord I am not ready for this one. I love the way she sings the pre chorus! Were the CLUUUES I didn’t see—ee-ee. Omg this song is actually so cute. CHAINS AROUND MY DEMONS? WOOL TO BRAVE THE SEASONS? HOW THE FUCK DID SHE WRITE THIS IT’S SO GOOD IM SPEECHLESS also I LOVE the strings in this song, I love the production of this entire album tbh. It’s so chill and stripped back and it makes you focus on her vocals which sound soooo good.

Mad woman

TAYLOR SAID FUCK TAYLOR SAID FUCK TAYLOR SAID FUCK IM LIVINNGGGGG. ANYYWAY I LOOOVE THIS IM DIGGING ITTT I LOVE THE CHORUS EEEEK. the second verse omg I love the anger, the bitterness, you can HEAR it in her voice! It’s obvious that wanting me dead has already brought you two together??? EEK THE BRIDGE a spinster? What a shame she went mad… YOU MADE HER LIKE THAT OMG BITCH

Epiphany

Omg the intro build up - I love it. This sounds like a church choir? Is this about a soldier in war? What? It reminds me of Dunkirk or something omg. This is again so haunting, very slow and the piano only adds to the somber tone

Betty

WHO? IS? BETTY??????? Oh hey this is a gentle intro with this instrument that sounds familiar but idk what it is but I love it. I love the melody in this omg!  SHE SAID FUCK AGAIN SHE SAID FUCK AGAI NOGAS JDFHLDSDKFLD TAYLORRRRRR WOULD YOU TELL ME TO GO FUCK MYSELF??? IM ONLY 17 I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING BUT I KNNOW MISS YOU! BITCH!!!!!!!! This is about like a lost first love! Anyway I really looove how her voice sounds in this and the melody…. I DREAMT OF YOU ALL SUMMER LONG OMG THE BRIDGE IS INCREDIBLE!!!!! Omg awww the only thing I wanna do is make it up to you so I showed up at your party?? AHH THE KEY CHANGE INI THE LAST CHORUS EEEEKKKKKK OMGGGGG WILL IT PATCH YOUR BROKEN WINGS I’M ONLY 17 IDK ANYTHING BUT I KNOW I MISS YOU OMG THE REFERENCE TO A CARDIGAN AGAIN!!!!!!!! AND THE STREETLIGHT! IM YELLING I LOVE THE PARALLELS AND THE MOTIFS and you can just hear the childish innocence int his song, I love it

Peace

This intro is SO COOL AND I AM VIBING HARD TO IT, I LOVE THE GUITAR IN THE BACKGROUND? Ok oh god I really like this one. The devil’s in the details but you got a friend in me I— THIS CHORUS IS AMAZING I ADORE IT. Omg this might be one of my favourites. Holy fuck I cannot get over how good the lyrics in this album are!!!!!!! I TALK SHIT WITH MY FRIENDS IT’S LIKE I’M WASTING YOUR HONOUR! Sit with you in the TRENCHES? Omg! WHAT IS THIS ABOUT I AM YELLING!!!!!!!!! ‘Clowns to the west’ oh hey that’s me. EEK THE SOFT KEYBOARD IN THE BACKGROUND - YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hoax

Last song? Ma’am I am not ready!!!!!!!!! THE PIANO IN THIS OMG. The chorus….. it’s beautiful……….. YOUR FAITHLESS LOVE’S THE ONLY HOAX I BELIEVE IN OH MY GODDDD. I’m yelling I love this so much. I loooove the angst of the chorus, the resignation that this is the one love she wants, even if it’s faithless!  ‘You know I left a part of me back in New York’… THE LOUIS TOMLINSON PARALLEL DAFJKHASFKADS (I know you left a part of you in New York). ‘What you didd was just as hard’ omg what did he doooo?? MY KINGDOM COME UNDONE AHHHHH YOU HAVE BEATEN MY HEART! WHY IS THIS SONG SO BITTERSWEET IM ???????

[sippin-on-red-wine]

No. 6 Collaborations Project: A review!

It’s been a week since this fabulous album has dropped into our hands. Click “Keep reading to hear my thoughts on each track!

Track 1. Beautiful People Khalid ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: You look stunning dear/So don’t ask that question here

Thoughts/Reflection: Ed keeps referring to this song as ‘cozy’ and I completely agree. The vibe is cool. I love the tone of his voice here and I think it meshes really nicely with Khalid’s. The content isn’t super relatable, but I think we can all take something away from this one. It’s a good note on self-awareness and being able to see the reality in things that may look glamorous on the surface. 

-

Track 2. South of the Border feat. Camila Cabello, Cardi B ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: So join me in this bed that I’m in/Push up on me and sweat darlin’/So I’m gonna put my time in/Won’t stop until the angels sing

Thoughts/Reflection: This track is literally freaking scorching hot fire. TBH I’m surprised that they led the album with IDC and not this one. It feels like big radio potential to me. Regardless, this song is an absolute BOP - so catchy and so fucking sexy. 

I know Ed’s Spanish leaves something to be desired ☺ But I feel like we can cut him some slack after singing (yet another) song dedicated to going down on a woman. The ginger is forgiven! Five stars for him! And I’m going to have SOTB on repeat all summer (or for the rest of my life).

Oh, I also really like Cardi on this song. IDK if she’s problematic or w/e, I don’t really follow her in the media at all. But her verse is fun. (I think Ed got a lil jungle fever AY) bahahahah

-

Track 3. Cross Me feat. Chance the Rapper, PnB Rock ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: Know she gonna slide anytime you bitches talk shit/Keep a lil blade in her fuckin’ lip gloss kit 

Thoughts/Reflection: Love love love LOVE this one. It just makes you want to get up and DANCE the damn thing! I have to laugh a little at the thought of Ed being hard & tough, lol, but it’s a cool concept nonetheless. Like he said in his Charlemagne interview, it’s kind of a love song…. but a different tempo. It’s catchy as all hell and Chance’s verse is fucking cool. 

Full points. 

-

Track 4. Take Me Back to London feat. Stormzy ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: Coz you can win BRITS (it don’t stop)/And you can do Glasto (headline slot)

Thoughts/Reflection: Fuck. This song, though. IIt’s the first one that jumped out at me when I did my first full album listen. And I haven’t stopped listening since. The chorus is so syncopated. Stormzy is sick on this track, I love his voice so much. And it just feels like the two of them really play off each other nicely and probably had a blast making this song. 

Also, Ed flexing “Grossed half a billi on the Divide tour/No I’m not kidding what would I lie for” is BDE and I’m personally really here for it.

This song is a banger and you should dance in your kitchen to it while baking pastries. FIve stars for you, Big Mike and Teddy.

(Dear God please let Stormzy guest live in Ipswich)

-

Track 5. Best Part of Me feat. YEBBA ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: it’s not a lyric but that part when Ed & YEBBA are harmonizing perfectly in the whoooaaAAaaaA 

Thoughts/Reflection: I love the sound on this song! His voice is so raw and tender here. It reminds me of Plus era, but grown up. I think it may be how delicately he approaches the syllables in his verse and the chorus. YEBBA’s tone is super rich and lovely, and they sound great together.

I’m taking a “star” off here because I don’t love the lyrics. I get that he’s being vulnerable and showing insecurities in verse 1, but then YEBBA follows that up with lamenting about misplacing things and being late for the train? It doesn’t seem to match up with admitting physical/bodily insecurities. Also, it could just be that I hate that Ed thinks of himself this way.

DUDE IS HOT AF

-

Track 6. I Don’t Care feat. Justin Bieber ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: I don’t like nobody but you/I hate everyone here

Thoughts/Reflection: Oh god. When did this song come out? I’m trying to think back to my first impressions of it, LOL. It’s bright and poppy and of course it went and stayed #1 all summer (thus far). I remember thinking it was so cool that the melody is super mainstream and upbeat, but the underlying theme is around social anxiety. “Crippled with anxiety/But I’m told I’m where I’m sposed to be” 

I mostly skip this one now that the full album is out, but I think I listened to it for a full 48 hours on repeat when it first dropped. Bieber is problematic and shit, and honestly I don’t think he adds much to the song. I really like Ed’s acoustic version where he does the whole thing solo.

The bridge slaps. Literally. I love that clapping bit behind it. I wish that Ed hadn’t fucked up the lyrics to the bridge in the acoustic version lolololol

Four stars, will bop along for many moons to come

-

Track 7. Antisocial feat. Travis Scott ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: So antisocial but I don’t care/Don’t give a damn I’m gonna smoke here/Got a bottle in my hand bring more tho

Thoughts/Reflection: DID YOU SEE HIM GUEST AT TRAVIS’ SHOW LAST NIGHT? This song was already one of my faves but holy shit. In interviews, Ed talks a lot about feeling awkward on stage without a guitar - but it didn’t look like that last night. He was bouncy as all hell, sounded great, looked great. Looked like he was loving the crowd’s energy too.

And the music video? That deserves a post all on it’s own.

This track is pretty short but it’s packed with good stuff. Ed’s intro is really strong here, the chorus is interesting despite the repetition. I physically can’t help but groove along to this tune. I’m sorry. I have no say in the matter

-

Track 8. Remember the Name feat. Eminem, 50 Cent ★★★★★ Favorite Lyric: 20 years old is when I came in the game/And now it's eight years on and you remember the name/And if you thought I was good, well, then I'm better today

Thoughts/Reflection: YES. YES. YES.  The song intros with a reference to Ipswich, bitch. I love how Ed makes those connections back to his upbringing.

It’s a little unreal that these three iconic voices/styles can flow so well on a song and still sound so balanced. 

I’ve got this one on repeat too. I’m determined to learn all of the words damnit!!

Five stars for a tune that I would love to see performed live someday.

-

Track 9. Feels feat. Young Thug, J Hus ★★★

Favorite Lyric: See you wigglin’, jigglin/If I have a bite will it taste like cinnamon?

Thoughts/Reflection: This song is fine. I like the feature verses. The song just doesn’t stick out that much for me.

-

Track 10. Put It All on Me feat. Ella Mai ★★★

Favorite Lyric: I try to be strong but I got demons/So can I lean on you?/I need a strong heart and a soft touch

Thoughts/Reflection: Falsetto. Falsetto everywhere. I love that! Ella Mai’s voice is so rich. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot more to say on this one. It’s not a song I’m playing on repeat, but I don’t skip it either.

-

Track 11. Nothing On You feat. Paulo Londra, Dave ★★★★ Favorite Lyric: You and I/Whisky on ice/Maybe later we can turn down all the lights

Thoughts/Reflection: This song is SEXY and cool…. ‘smoke clouds and the scent of perfume’.... the imagery. Man. More falsetto here. Also, please go look up the translation of Paulo Londra’s verse. Thanks. I’m sweating. Is it hot in here? This album is *sexual* 

ALSO THE ‘BRRRP’ AFTER “they keep ringing my phone”  bahahahahah 

-

Track 12. I Don’t Want Your Money feat. H.E.R. ★★★★★

Favorite Lyric: I need you here for the good times and the bad times/Yeah the pullin’ out my hair gettin’ mad times/Not just the when I’m in your bed on my back times

Thoughts/Reflection: THIS IS SUCH A GODDAMN TUUUUNEEEEEE!!!!!!! I love this song so much. 10/10 jamming out to this in the car at every opportunity. Finger snappin’ cool r&b vibe. I love the super quick tempo (but not quite rap?) in Ed’s verses. And I always appreciate the little double-meaning-references in Ed’s songs - like ‘diamonds, silver or gold’ means $$$ of course, but also just success in terms of album sales performance.

TBH when I saw the title on Ed’s tracklist reveal, I totally thought this would be a slow mushy love song about how Ed’s lucky to have found someone who wasn’t into him for his money. This was a pleasant surprise!! I love that it’s a little angsty.

Five STARS bitch I love this song and y’all are sleeping on it

-

Track 13. 1000 Nights feat. Meek Mill, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie ★★★★

Favorite Lyric: Birds eye view/Pay my dues/For a two-mile queue

Thoughts/Reflection: i been ON for a thousAND NIGHTSSSSS NEW YORK TO LONDONNN DIFFERENT CITY EVERY DAYAYYY

1000 Nights: a flexy bop and I love it

This song is about the Divide tour which has been going for approximately 572 years. Not that I’m complaining.

But it’s cool (how many times have I said ‘cool’ in this post? don’t answer that). Ed loves touring and that comes out in this song. And Meek’s verse is so fun to rap along to!

Four stars.

-

Track 14. Way To Break My Heart feat. Skrillex ★★★★★

Favorite Lyric: I can’t stop thinkin’ bout her/And her lips on mine, so soft/Feelings I don’t know the name of

Thoughts/Reflection: biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch.

This song is NOSTALGIC and I simply adore it. It has that same… “cozy” feel that Beautiful People does. Which is strange, considering it’s a song about heartbreak. But it’s just so. Soft. And warm. 

We’re back to super soft placement of words and such pure tone. 

It’s hauntingly beautiful. And yet uptempo! Bless, Skrillex. I especially love the drums that come in during the chorus, after “you’re still gone, and i’ll say”

PS, the soft sound of mouth smacking at :13. Use headphones.

Some of my favorite Ed songs are ones about heartbreak, and I appreciate that he included one here. About an imaginary heartbreak 👀

Take another five stars from me, bud

- Track 15. BLOW feat. Chris Stapleton, Bruno Mars ★★★★★

Favorite Lyric: Hot damn/Pop it like a pistol mama/You got me down on my knees/Baby please?

Thoughts/Reflection: *laughing nervously*

Again, definitely not what I expected out of this track when the titles were all revealed. I LOVED release day on this one. The world collectively lost their shit. I need nothing more in this world than to see this song performed live, especially with a full band and Ed on an electric guitar. 

I’m still not over this loud, full, energetic song full of men bellowing about wanting to, well, fuck.

Bye

(five stars from me and also my 62 year old coworker Jan)

:::OVERALL:::

This album is SO GOOD MATE and I already cannot wait until the next collabs project! Ed blessed us with 15 amazing tracks to tide us over until Subtract comes out. They’re so different from his normal album stuff and I really love to see him try new sounds and get to create/collaborate with artists he admires so much.

it also has me real hot and bothered lmao

Thanks for coming to my tEd talk.

[takerfoxx]

Part 4

…

“Hey, you good?”

The girl looked up at the shadowy figure towering over her, carrying a spent grief seed in one hand. Several, actually.

Okay, she thought play it cool. Which in this case, meant nodding slowly.

“Great. So, you wanna be friends?”

“Why the hell not?” The girl was too tired for this crap.

Tall and shadowy, meanwhile, pumped her fist in the air.

“Woohoo! Guess what guys? we got a keeper!” Then she whispered to the girl. “I’ll introduce you to the others later. Welcome to the Council, sister!”

The girl groaned. She was going to have to deal with this upbeat stranger for awhile, wasn’t she?

Four years later…

They called themselves the Maho Council, a quartet of vigilantes traveling from city to city, bringing long overdue law and order wherever they travelled. Everyone else knew them as those four maniacs in an ice cream truck who went around blowing up witches willy-nilly and heckling the local girls for supplies and grief seeds.

But as much as she hated to admit iit, the girl was becoming… used to her companions. There was something satisfying about helping the others sort out their fears, and driving the truck, and just being around a crowd where she was the quiet one. Then again, whenever she thought of going off on her own she’d remember that day and feel barbed hooks going through her heart, dragging her back. It was at these times when billiards girl’s questions of “Am I a good person?” started to make a chilling sort of sense.

Speaking of billiards girl, the girl thought about her constantly, usually while driving down the long, empty roads of the American midwest. Sometimes these thoughts were fond memories, other times they were more… intimate, for lack of a better word. Thankfully, that tall shadowy figure she first met in the van, really a blonde girl who called herself Ironsides, was there to explain that yes, imagining other girls naked was a perfectly normal thing at her age.

They had a symbiotic relationship, Ironsides and her. In the four years they’d been together, she’d saved the blonde girl’s life over fifty times, and in exchange Ironsides taught her two things:

1.) Mr. Ferret was a devious, sneaky little weasel that exploited the dreams of the helpless for his own personal gain under the guise of preventing universal entropy when in reality he just liked watching others suffer for his own sick amusement. 

2.)Love, friendship and magic couldn’t save the world, but they sure as heck could make an awesome pair of sideburns. And the girl couldn’t deny the facts: Ironsides did rock some good sideburns.

And so they went, roving around America in their ice cream truck, touring towns and running over witches. But it was too good to last. See, everywhere they went, Ironsides was sure to give her spiel about the evils of Mr. Ferret. That wasn’t a problem. The problem was girls actually listened. Started spreading word to potential contractors. And Mr. Ferret, well he couldn’t have that. So one day he went up to the Council and told them they were guilty of sedition and would be dealt with thusly. 

So they fled, driving from town to town, not sure who to trust, staying only long as they needed to, knowing Mr. Ferret had an army at his beck and call, that he was likely already ten steps ahead.

Then one day, they woke to find their beloved van riddled with holes the size of baseballs. They tried to flee, only to be taken out one by one until the girl was the last one standing. It was then the assassin decided to reveal herself: billiards girl.

The girl cowered, knowing this was the end. But instead of death, billiards girl reached out a hand.

“Its’ been awhile. Let’s talk.”

.   .   .

Okay, so maybe I need one more part to wrap things up. But I’ll end this soon, I promise!

Also if anybody has any questions I’ll answer them.

I’m starting to get a real strong Worm vibe from this. Especially with the ice cream truck.

Also, American Incubator is apparently a lot more gangster than Kyubey is.

[filmstruck]

A Cinephile’s Guide to Telluride by Pablo Kjolseth

This Labor Day Weekend the Telluride Film Festival turns 45. With over 3,000 film festivals to choose from worldwide, why choose a trip to Telluride? Here’s why:

It's a beautiful place. Telluride is a former silver mining camp located almost 9,000 feet up in elevation alongside the San Miguel River in the Western San Juan Mountains. You’ll be in a box canyon with breathtaking views. If you stand downtown on Colorado Avenue at dusk, you'll see amazing sunsets to the west and steep canyon walls with the postcard-perfect Bridal Veil Falls to the east. Of course, most of the time you’ll be inside a movie theater being transported who-knows-where. But in-between shows and while waiting in line, you can drink in the views.

It's a challenge. In a good way. Attending Sundance is easy as there are plenty of cheap flights into Salt Lake City and then Park City is only a half-hour drive away. Maybe that's why it gets mobbed by 40,000 people. Telluride? It has a tiny airport with tiny planes and what has to be one of the tiniest runways in the U.S. The bulk of people attending, therefore, drive seven or so hours to get there and this helps to separate the wheat from the chaff, with attendance being about a tenth of what Sundance supports.

It's selective. A Sundance or Toronto catalog looks and weighs as much as a phone book and you know what you’re getting into in advance. Which can be a good thing, in terms of giving you many options and choices. But a Telluride catalog is a slim booklet that fits in your back pocket, and people attending won't know what will be in that booklet until they are there, usually the night before the big communal feast on Friday where pass holders and filmmakers commingle and jockey for paper plates in the same buffet line. It's a blind date, one in which you are being asked to trust the movie curators. It’s like a restaurant with no online menu and a great chef who wants to surprise you with all manner of unusual food items that you’ve never tasted.

It celebrates the legacy of film. They show archive prints, silent films with live musical accompaniment and they screen 35mm prints too (although sometimes they don't print this information in their programs, a strange oversight). And, of course, they have the ever-popular world and U.S. premieres by well-known directors or new talented filmmakers about to make a big splash.

It has free events. In the daytime, panel discussions in the park. At night, open air screenings under the stars.

It has a great campground with showers and bathrooms that are only a ten-minute walk from downtown. Warning: show up early if you want a shot at a spot. Otherwise you’ll find yourself driving out of town along Last Dollar Road looking for a place to squat.

It usually has Werner Herzog in attendance. Unless Herzog is on location elsewhere shooting a movie, he'll probably be there to celebrate his birthday alongside screenings that take place in the huge theater named after him or in one of the half-dozen or so other theaters that are within walking distance of each other (the exception to this being the Chuck Jones Cinema in Mountain Village, accessible via a free but half-hour long gondola ride from downtown). Speaking of which:

It has incredible staff, tech crew and theaters. Each theater has a theme, be it the Chuck Jones Cinema or The Galaxy. These theaters are built by volunteers, staff and top-notch technical crewmembers, who all put their heart-and-soul into transforming what is normally a climbing gym or some other public use space into temporary, state-of-the-art dedicated film auditoriums with its own vibe and magic.

IIt has no paparazzi. No press screenings. No rubber-neckers or throngs of people crowding out the celebrities for selfies (okay, some of those). As a result, in Telluride you might find yourself buying a bagel behind Willem Dafoe or bumping shoulders with Danny Elfman. It has a casual vibe. It's not a zoo. It's not a circus. It's not a market. It's a film festival devoted to cinephiles and serious filmmakers, one that just happens to be taking place in a gorgeous mountain setting where you half expect Julie Andrews to break out into song.

It always has a Guest Director. Sometimes a well-known director (John Boorman), or musician (Laurie Anderson), or philosopher (Slavoj Zizek) or, as is the case this year, a novelist: Jonathan Lethem. This is one of my favorite sections because Telluride staff will bend over backwards to find six titles that have had a profound influence on the Guest Director’s life. The choices usually go back in time, swerve among genres and always include new discoveries. They also serve to showcase the power of cinema. This year that program is sponsored by FilmStruck, because we cinephiles have to stick together.