#sorry this took me a minute

[mukamibabe]

Hi Cindy!

How do you think teen S,M,T boys (maybe around 13 years old) will react to getting in trouble in school and the principal calls their step-mother (Karl's new wife in S and M boys case (they love her dearly) and T's aunt who is like a mother to them) to school,but when she arrives the principal starts flirting with her and threatens to kick the boys out of school and make sure they don't get admission anywhere else if she wouldn't submit to his wishes?

AND how will Karl react to such behaviour towards his beautiful wife?

oooh this was pretty creative, thanks for requesting! under the cut due to length, but that shouldn't surprise you at this point lol

also before i get into this, i know you said teen/preteen, but here's the tough thing,,, . dl timelines.. they're tricky Jdgfhgdg yes i know lore shouldn't matter in this case but,,,, sajfhsdf anyways think of the younger diaboy sprites just ..slightly older? i have no idea, basically im just envisioning them as their young sprites + with the early trauma. i guess? no idea, i know i'm overthinking it haha

also, i guess this is technically an au and i'm most likely bending things a bit but i'll leave it up to you whether or not the younger boys know of one another's existences. or at least, specifically the mukami's. idk??

oh and !! i ended up writing this where like.. it would be each boy separately, if that makes sense? instead of the principal like.. expelling all of them

sakamaki's

shu:

okay, so i'm picturing during this time, shu was still pretty naive, at least in comparison to his current self. 

though, it makes a lot of sense for him to get in trouble at school due to his lack of like.. wanting to do things. he’s still a kid, or at least he wants to be. and this is most likely before uhhh the whole.. polar bear thing so he doesn’t know the extremities of his father’s consequences,,,

anyway. he knows he’s going to be in trouble. he’ll just deal with it. but, once he sees his step-mother?? (who he genuinely sees as a mother as opposed to all of karl’s other wives,, bc she’s actually nice to them) 

shu isn’t sure whether or not he should be relieved because this means he’s not going to get reprimanded, as he definitely expected literally anyone but his stepmom,, there’s also a part of him that almost feels guilty? 

i mean, what can you expect? shu truly doesn’t want to disappoint his stepmother, who has basically (assumingly???) been the only one to actually praise him and even just show him affection. so yea, he feels kind of bad. he doesn’t want to let her down, specifically. 

the guilt only grows more once the principal starts getting a little bold, i guess you could say

at first, shu doesn’t really pick up on the flirting- he’s not an idiot, but his stepmother is quite charming, so it’s understandable? he guesses?? he isn’t slow to notice the sudden shift of mood from his stepmother, either. even if she hides it well, he’ll pick up on any sort of discomfort, and it concerns him.

shu eventually insists on sticking up for his stepmother, at least in the best way he can without causing a scene. as i said, shu isn’t stupid, he knows that the principal literally just threatened her, and he knows it was wrong

he jumps in right away, trying to reassure both his stepmom and the principal that it’s not going to happen again. he does want to threaten the principal in return, but he doesn’t want anything to escalate

now, in this situation, i’m guessing they end up leaving anyways, because like ?? what’s the principal gonna do?? hold everyone hostage??? 

so.. yeah. that happens. and after it happens, shu honestly feels horrible about it. he’s not worried about his own education or anything, he just feels bad that his stepmother had to go through this, specifically because of him. 

reiji:

so.. if such thing were to happen, reiji would straight up be distraught over it. not specifically the harassment of his stepmother (which is something he’s not happy about either but what comes first for reiji is those grades) 

the amount of self hatred he feels for this?? he has no idea how it even happened. he’s always done his best, and has never been in trouble before so that kind of is,, his main worry;;

if reiji did actually do something to get in trouble, i doubt it would be over grades. and if that were the case, i’m not sure he’d own up to it. or any of it at all, actually. he’s persistent that he’s done nothing wrong.

now, once the principal comes in with all of the threats and whatnot? reiji is livid. it’s amazing how angry he is, honestly.

like, such a young little thing to feel so much wrath? uhmm yikes. rip.

he looses his composure just a bit, you’ll notice that he’s really on edge because he knows the principal is full of it- 

there’s a part of reiji that literally wants to slit the principal’s throat, but.. he wont. he’s not going to make a mess, at least not in front of his mother.

in this period of time, i’m still assuming reiji decided to uhh set fire to edgar, so reiji wanting to,,,dispose of the principal? not super surprising

reiji tries to hide how upset he is, but his stepmother knows him well enough that he’s lowkey livid. he keeps it together for the most part, though

he doesn’t actually acknowledge the reason for her being there, but he does say that the principal doesn’t matter- the stepmother, in the long run, ultimately has more power. i mean, she’s married to his father. a king. there’s no way some school principal is going to be more powerful than that. 

lmao not really accurate but i definitely thought of My FAther will hEar aBOut tHis’ 

anyways. reiji is standing beside his stepmom like a little devil on her shoulder, basically reassuring her that the principal can’t even lay a hand on either of them, and their life means little. easily disposable. literal devil, lol

ayato:

so, it’s probably not the first time this has happened. ayato does try, sometimes. but he’s not some nerd. he can be the greatest even without learning all this school stuff, so whatever

..that doesn’t stop the school from punishing him lol

his stepmother should be used to it, at this point, so maybe the principal has had their eyes on her for a while? idk. either way, a majority of the time, ayato is oblivious to it all. after getting in trouble with things like this, ayato will be there physically, but he basically just ignores everything else going on around him. 

but, maybe out of boredom or something, ayato starts paying attention. and he’s not at all pleased to hear the principal threaten his stepmom. 

he feels the same way reiji does, honestly. except, rather than thinking like?? stfu principal, youre threating a king’s wife+son, ayato literally thinks: you’re messing with me, the great ayato sakamaki. 

lmao this mindset is most likely the reason for him being in trouble in the first place,,,

anyway, another thing that makes his reaction completely different from reiji’s is that: he’s literally the opposite. this poor kid is willing to create the biggest commotion, so long as it means his stepmother is safe and feels comfortable. 

i don’t want to say he’s entirely oblivious to her discomfort, but just the tension in the room doesn’t feel right to him, and he wants to get this over with, quickly.

i almost hate to say it lol but think of him like a rabid chihuahua or something. screaming little guy with pure fire JHDFSDF seriously though. that’s basically it

also unfortunately i imagine that the triplets don’t get to see the stepmom often, so long as cordelia is around. as soon as ‘that woman’, being the stepmother, is around, cordelia will be watching her sons like a hawk. because cordelia knows that the other woman will treat her sons differently. ..though, this isn’t the topic for now 

anyways that’s just another reason why ayato is so defensive about the situation. he does value his step mother because he does crave her praise and just.. the love that he’s not gotten to feel before. it’s natural that he’d want to be super protective over her.

kanato:

most likely got in trouble for throwing a tantrum or something,, and probably doesn’t really know why he’s being disciplined in the first place.

so when he hears the principal say he’s going to get kicked out of school?? along some other things, of which he didn’t bother to listen to, he kind of.. loses it. 

whether he goes batshit or starts sobbing, i’m not sure. that, or he’ll completely just.. go silent. head empty, sort of thing

kanato’s reaction, in comparison to the others so far, might be more dull and less,,, emotional? or because of his relationship with his stepmom, i guess?

i’ve always imagined scenario’s like this to be super conflicting for kanato because there’s a part of him that wants to stay loyal to his own blood mother, but all he wants is attention. and the way his stepmother feels? he feels so warm inside, and he loves it. he wishes he could feel that with cordelia, but.. .

yeah. so, it’s a tough one. kanato would definitely love his stepmother though, or at least the care he receives from her. 

to bring up some more trauma,,, i both feel as if kanato is completely unaware of the principal’s predatory actions, but also entirely aware of it. i’m not sure how to explain it, but something about it seems familiar to him, and there’s a part of him that’s just.. acknowledging it as a bad thing for his stepmom

because of that, kanato will do his best to ensure he and his stepmother get out of there as soon as possible. might literally tug her by the hand just.. out of the office lmao

laito:

hm.. this one is tricky because it kind of.. depends. but, i really can’t see laito getting in too much trouble other than grades itself, or like a lack of participation, which might go hand in hand,,?

anyways, his reaction to the principal threatening his stepmother is quite.. stale, i guess? 

i definitely think laito would recognize it for what it is, that being predatory and just disgusting behavior,, but how he would respond to it.. is a bit tricky

at this time, i’m picturing him to be still fairly innocent, though not entirely. anyway, laito knows. 

he knows the principal is awful for trying to threaten both laito and his stepmother. but.. what can he do?

he feels lost, really. there is a part of him that feels a tinge of regret- if he had done as he was supposed to, this entire mess wouldn’t be happening. though the regret isn’t exactly his biggest worry

he genuinely has no idea how to respond or what to do, so he just tries to reaffirm his stepmother that everything’s going to be fine- he can get into a new school, the principal’s words don’t matter, ect

subaru:

scholarly things just.. aren’t for subaru. so it doesn’t surprise me that he’d get in trouble over it

that being said, his principal treating his stepmother like that?? it fuels something in him that he had no idea existed

he’s pissed, and he really can’t put a finger on why he’s so upset over this. but, does he need a reason? 

subaru reacts instantly upon hearing the principal. like, instantly. he lashes out, quickly switching from his quiet manner into this.. explosion

he couldn’t help it. it just triggered something in him, honestly. and.. subaru really isn’t the best at handling his emotions, as we know. so yeah, it’s kind of a surprise, i guess

he could care less about the consequences, he just doesn’t want any more of his loved ones to get hurt. though, technically speaking,,, i dont think subaru knows what love is, nor does he know what it’s like to feel loved, but you get what im saying

i mean, if his stepmom is going to get themself in trouble somehow, subaru would rather not be the one responsible. yes, he knows, he’s not responsible for it (like some of the others, there’s a tad bit of guilt, but subaru doesn’t care that much) but listen. if he can stop the principal from harassing his stepmother, he will. even more so because his stepmother has been good to him

honestly, it’s a bit weird but subaru’s situation might be the messiest out of all of them. 

deep down, he knows his father could probably help the situation, but subaru would hate that. he has no idea why his stepmother is even with him, and if his father were to be a good husband for once, his wife wouldn’t have to put up with this. 

realistically,,,, maybe not,, but. .subaru has it out for karl. for a good reason,,,.

mukami’s

ruki: 

ooof ok this one is also tricky because he’s like reiji. at least, in regards to education. sort of. not really. but sort of.

basically, errors in school just aren’t really likely for ruki. he’s smart, he knows it, and rarely does he skip out on educational stuff kjsdghsdg

so im ? guessing . .maybe he was being a brat. i have no idea lmao 

all that is besides the point, though. and because this is after the mukami’’s have been turned, ruki is a little less of a brat. only a bit lol

either way, ruki has a similar response to reiji. the principal has literally no power in comparison to ruki, or at least, ruki’s savoir. that being: karl. karlheinz’ wife, who also happens to be his stepmother, and someone he does somewhat see as a maternal figure (though it’s super super complicated and wayyy too in depth for me to explain here-), he knows the principal literally has nothing in comparison to them.

...it would not be that big of a deal if they were to, say, go missing without a trace. seriously, who would care? also, they’d deserved it, right?

unlike reiji, though, ruki isn’t going to set the principal’s house on fire LMAO he just rats him out to karlheinz honestly

or he encourages his stepmom to do something about it. wink. DJFSJDF

kou:

why :( that’s honestly so mean LOL

kou’s a pretty good kid in school. struggles a bit, and is, by no means the perfect student, but he’s not the worst. but, rude!!

kou thinks so, anyways. though, i think out of all the diaboys in this situation, as horrible as it is, kou’s probably used to this? and/or has been through a similar situation at some point in his early life. 

he’s not sure how to respond to it, though. he just looks up at his stepmother expectantly, almost pleading for her to just put her foot down and leave

if the principal is willing to suspend him or ban him, whatever. kou doesn’t care, and he’d rather not be in a school with a corrupt principal like that. it scares him, honestly.

yeah, he’s just very adamant about leaving. kou will be very open about how he doesn’t mind getting kicked out of the school, he’ll take the repercussions, he just .. doesn’t want to be near that person

even if they weren’t harassing kou himself, who’s to say they wont?? if they have the nerve to threaten his stepmom, then.. yeah he’s kind of worried

yuma:

another oof lol i mean, yuma gets it. i can picture him struggling with school, some things more than others, but still,,,

even yuma recognizes that it’s a bit extreme. yeah, he knows that the principal doesn’t have it out for him but rather his stepmom. still, though. really??

yuma doesn’t have any problem arguing with the principal, though. he’ll do so without hesitation lol

like, seriously? you think that would work?? your school fuckin’ sucks anyway,

aand he continues to rat out the principal sjfhsfd

what, you’re so shitty that you have to bribe someone to be with you??? 

jsdfhd honestly there’s not much else to say other than yuma will tear this principal down and not care

he’s gotta protect his stepmom, ok?? he’d probably do it for anyone else, because yuma hates the abuse of power, but like.. still. really?? his stepmom??? is the principal that dumb?? do they not know who his stepmom is married to??

azusa:

like yuma, azusa isn’t the best with school. i imagine it’s a pretty big struggle for him, and i bet his stepmother knows that as well

no matter how much reassuring his stepmother does for him, he’ll feel so bad about it. he wont be sobbing or crying or anything, but just a sort of like.. numbness. he’d feel worthless. 

that feeling gets worse once the principal starts threatening him. and his mom. 

i doubt azusa trusted the principal in the first place, but either way, it still feels like a betrayal and lowkey it hurts him. a lot.

what hurts even more is that his stepmother is involved, and she doesn’t seem keen to be flirted with by the principal. he really can’t help but feel at fault.

honestly, in this case, i think the stepmother would probably carry along the situation because azusa will just stand there like :(

he’s too nervous to speak up and what not

tsukinami’s

carla:

the audacity,,,,

why? why would they even dare to do that?? it’s honestly funny to carla

also, both me and probably carla lmao have no idea why he’d get in trouble at school. he doesn’t believe the principal because like.. he doesn’t do anything wrong

honestly i don’t think there’s much to say about this one because carla knows he’s got more power over the principal. 

...and because of that, the principal is likely,,, not going to be there for any longer

seriously lol don’t worry auntie <3 he’s got you DJFHSJDF how? no idea. but this boy will dispose of him without any issues

shin:

no. 

no, no you don’t. his aunt is one of the few people shin appreciates in his life, and some loser of a principal isn’t going to get away with threatening her. or himself, for that matter. 

truthfully, he doesn’t care about getting kicked from school, and i wouldn’t be surprised that he’d gotten in trouble. shin isn’t the naughtiest kid, but he’s not the best, either. super mouthy lol

his mouth is probably the reason for his trouble, and it’ll continue to be the issue. like yuma, he’ll tell the principal off, and then, like his brother, will do whatever he can in order to make them disappear. because what difference would it make, really?

+ karlheinz:

yeahhh this principal.. probably wont live for much longer. or, he’ll live slightly longer but at the cost of being karlheinz’ new lab rat. 

the issue isn’t actually that big of a deal for karlheinz- his wife has been flirted with before, surely- karlheinz has good taste, afterall- so he’s not worried. she knows better to get with anyone else, anyways. 

it’s also.. quite annoying that the principal has the nerve to threaten his children. nevermind the tsukinami’s, he doesn’t really care because.. they’re not his to control, basically jsdfhsdf

that’s exactly why he’s not happy with the principal, though. just the audacity, really. to even think that they have the power to do so?? it’s almost funny to karl. 

but no. no one gets to threaten his children, or his wife, but him. KJfdsfs 

[stereopticons]

Deep down, he didn't know what he wanted.

Deep down, David didn't know what he wanted. On one hand, the urge to run was strong--just like he'd done when Stevie said she couldn't go to New York with him. Running was his go-to, his comfort zone. He still didn't have a car, but he at least had a little bit of money now. But on the other hand, there was a weird sense of defiance deep within him, something that said this was his town and he was here first, and Patrick should be the one to leave. But the thing that actually made him stay, the thing that kept him rooted in the bed, was the knowledge that he'd already forgiven Patrick and that maybe, just maybe, they could get past this.

send me a sentence and i'll write the next five!

[intheticklecloset]

Uuum oh, what’s an enjoyable tic fic each on here you’ve read with the characters

Todoroki

Hinata

Iida

Shinsou?

That you enjoyed?

Todoroki

Hinata

Iida

Shinsou

[itsallwearecalledtodo]

Book asks 2, 4, 12, 15, 17?

2. top 5 books of all time?

Ohh this is hard. In no particular order:

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The King of Attolia

Silence (even though I will probably never read it again. emotional damages)

The Little Princess

Pride & Prejudice

4. what sections of a bookstore do you browse?

YA (I know I know) and classics

12. did you enjoy any compulsory high school readings?

Yeah! I enjoyed the Jane Austen & C. S. Lewis we read, Fahrenheit 451 (although I’d hate it now I think), The Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and Anna Karenina. Those are the ones off the top of my head.

15. recommend and review a book.

I love The King of Attolia because of the way it keeps you guessing. The perspective from a character who doesn’t quite understand the King’s inner machinations adds a lot to a novel full of romance and political intrigue. It’s been a minute since I read it, and I tore through it without thinking too much, but it’s wonderful and everyone interested in fantasy or YA should read it. Of course, first you’d have to read The Thief and The Queen of Attolia :)

17. top 5 children’s books?

Another tricky one! Again, not in any particular order:

The Little Princess

The Hobbit

The Lion, The Witch, & the Wardrobe

Little House in the Big Woods

The Tale of Despereaux

[torotits]

bullets

this changes frequently but

skylines and turnstiles. The Literal Classic.

this is the best day ever (starless eyes for heavens sake‼️‼️‼️‼️)

demo lovers i got a new found love for her after la1 (like a bed of roses there’s a dozen reasons in this gun‼️‼️‼️‼️)

vampires????????????????????????

sorrows. it has to be on here no two ways about it i’m a fag

(send me an album and i’ll give you my top five!!)

[multianime]

@sportbaes​ sent a meme 👫 for kise & shirakami (Still Accepting)

4 Headcanons for Kise/Shirakami

Even if Shirakami offers to get him dinner, he always insists on paying for it. Mainly because she does so much for them on the team and she shouldn’t have to pay for his dinner too just because she wants to take him out to congratulate them. So, even if she tells him that she’ll pay at some point during their dinner he tells the waiter or waitress that he’ll pay afterward and not to let her pay for him. 

Ryota often forgets that there are people shorter than him. So, when he does run into this issue like he does with Shirakami he might tease her a little bit, but in the end he’ll always be the one to let her in front of him at concerts if it’s crowded, or he’d be williing to get something that she couldn’t reach. Sometimes, she doesn’t even need to ask he just does it.

If there is ever someone messing with Shirakami in a way that she doesn’t like, he’s quick to come and defend her. Although, he knows that she can handle herself when it comes to situations like that he just likes to be there just in case. Because if something were to happen to her, while he was standing nearby he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

If she has a lot on her plate after practices sometimes Ryota will stay and offer to help out. He knows that they can be a handful sometimes and he does like spending time with her. So, of course he doesn’t mind helping out with some of the work at the end of practice. Even if normally he’d rather just go home.

[steddieas-shegoes]

When Eddie is introduced to Jonathan, they both give each other a look that says “if you say anything, you’re dead” and naturally, Nancy clocks it immediately.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” they said at the same time, only growing the suspicion.

“Seriously? Do you know each other already?”

“No!”

“Yes, but-“

They glare at each other, but Eddie speaks up again.

“He bought from me a couple times. No big deal.”

Nancy looks between them, shakes her head. “There’s something else going on. But we’ve got bigger problems.”

And they did.

For months, their problems seemed to get worse by the day. It was a great distraction.

But honestly, anytime Eddie spent more time with Jonathan, it got harder not to say how they actually knew each other: a make out session in a bathroom at a party when Jonathan was yearning for Nancy.

He told Steve eventually, had to with the way he kept finding ways to avoid being around Jonathan and Steve got suspicious.

“If he said something to you about us, I’ll take care of it. He doesn’t get to say shit about what makes us happy.”

And Eddie couldn’t have Steve lose another fight, so he told him.

“So wait. You and Jonathan…”

“Made out. Yes.”

“Like…with tongue?”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I remember tongue being involved.”

“And hands?”

“They were there too.”

Steve puts his hands on his hips, lifts one to wipe over his face, then settles it back on his hip. “And you liked it?”

“Considering at the time my options were Jonathan or the girl in Hellfire who insisted I wasn’t gay because I looked at her during campaigns, yeah. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve been through.”

Steve huffed. “Yeah, but like. Compared to me-“

“Oh my god.”

“What?!”

“I cannot believe you’re jealous of Jonathan Byers. Again.”

“I’m not! I’ve never-“

Eddie raised his brows. “Never? Not once?”

“That was different!”

“That was worse.”

“I dunno, finding out your boyfriend has made out with the only other guy in Hawkins who’d be up for it is arguably worse.”

Steve pouted for hours. Eddie let him.

It was cute, alright?

And when he got over it, they made out for hours in his bed.

Steve, of course, was the one who told Nancy.

In his defense, he was very high, and Nancy had been pushing him all night, from the moment she caught wind that he might know how they knew each other.

Eddie went inside to grab them all water, and she pounced.

By the time Eddie got back, Steve was half asleep and Nancy was smirking at Eddie.

“You could’ve just said.”

“He’s never getting high for free again.”

“He’s your boyfriend.”

“He’s back to being a paying customer, too.”

Nancy laughed, startling Steve into opening his eyes. He smiled up at Eddie, no clue he’d just given up one of their secrets.

“Hi, baby. You know Nancy didn’t know about you and Jonathan?”

Eddie glanced over to see Nancy rolling on her side, laughing hysterically.

“Yeah. I’m sure that was on purpose. How about we get you to bed, superstar?”

He managed to get Steve onto the couch, where he immediately passed out.

Nancy hugged him, kissed his cheek, like she always did before leaving.

“It’s not a big deal, you know. He’s mentioned that he isn’t only into women. We’ve talked a lot about the Argyle situation.” She walked towards the door. “Steve will get over the jealousy eventually. It’s not like Jonathan wouldn’t have made out with him if he could have.”

She left before Eddie could respond.

Eddie suddenly understood exactly what Steve was feeling.

“Not gonna happen,” he mumbled to himself before joining Steve on the couch and pulling him close.

[apricior]

happy autism awareness month

[aconfusedkitten]

okay, as someone on both the ace and aro spectrums, there is nothing wrong with shipping aroace characters.

it is a Spectrum, and just like there are sex favorable aces, sex neutral ones, and sex averse ones (or people like myself who are somewhere in between!), there is more than one way to identify as aro. for fucks sake, please stop harassing people in fandom for shipping things because it doesn't fit your definition of what being aroace means.

[buglaur]

fireworks show 🎆

material preview version is very cute also :)

i struggled with the lighting on this one so badly, but it turned out alright in the end.

i actually started it last year for new years 2023 but never got around to finishing it, hence no progress pictures this time sadly lol. i do have a very low-res, first draft, test gif though

stills 🥳

[hexadopamine]

just a lineless sketch dump :P

[stereopticons]

🌹

“Mm, well, Mr. Numbers Guy, what are you planning to bribe me with?” David leans into Patrick despite himself. “Because a case of wine isn’t going to do it.”

Send me a 🌹 and I'll send you a sentence from one of my WIPs

[teddybeartoji]

Do you think Jason fucks or makes love to his girlfriend/wife?

it's both at the same time - he fucks passionately

in missionary, he's resting his elbows right next to your head, trapping you in this little space as he stares down at his beloved - taking in every single one of the sounds you let out and every single scrunch of your eyebrows and the way your lips part and the way your chest keeps brushing up against his stronger and bigger one. he's pressing kisses all over your face - kissing away the tears of pleasure brimming in your eyes while smiling into your skin. when he feels you getting close to your high, he cradles your face, squishing your cheeks together and forcing you to look at him. this is definitely one of his favourite things of all time - your pretty little orgasm face, eyes rolling right back into your head and your body trembling under his. he's so in love with you.

and i think he would absolutely love prone bone position; he's putting almost all of his weight on top of you and it's almost too much but it feels so fucking good; he's whispering praise into your ear while he's so deep inside you it's making it hard for you to breathe; his one hand is under your head/neck almost like a chokehold but it's not too rough, he just wants to keep you close; his hips roll into yours at a steady pace, pushing you into the mattress. and when you cum, he doesn't stop - fucking you through your orgasm and straight towards the next one.

i know u didn't ask for positions but your question just got me thinking hehehe anyway merry christmas nonnie!! thank u for the ask i hope u like it!!

[overtake]

“a sexual awakening so intense it registered on the richter scale” is the single best and most accurate description I have ever heard.

pov: you're 16 years old and doing the final test for your super license ahead of joining f1 as the youngest ever driver. you expect the doubt and hate, and you know you can prove on track why you deserve to be there once you actually get in a car, but until then, you just have to be the subject of everyone's headlines and criticism for a factor you can't control.

then this guy comes along.

race winner who got himself to a top team and is beating his world champion teammate, a cool older handsome charismatic guy with a giant smile and big brown eyes, beloved and kind while still being fiercely talented, competitive, and hungry? the guy who you met in 2011 and who gave you the time of day before you were old enough to sniff at the f1 grid. he's not even going to be your actual teammate (yet), but he still takes the time to tell you he's looking forward to seeing you on the grid when so much of what you've heard is nonstop criticism.

he tells you good luck for your super license with a big grin meant just for you

and this is how it makes you feel.

this is live footage of daniel ricciardo becoming a permanent fixture in max's spank bank. it's one of those foundational crushes you have at a young age that sticks with you for life and unconsciously affects "your type" forever and never truly goes away.

also, i just think everyone should hear the way max very softly says "he's a really nice guy, yeah" with so much affection packed into every word.

how are you not to psychosexually imprint on him? one look at that video and max was ready to risk it all. he's been metaphorically tucking his hair, kicking his feet, and giggling since day one. he found a guy who he could race hard, who would challenge him on track, but who would still make the miserable pr days better for them, who was always laughing at max's jokes every time he did his little glance over to ensure it landed. max is so fiercely loyal to his people, and daniel has clearly earned that trust.

tldr: max verstappen is number one dirlie and if he were on f1blr, he would be writing long posts with onboards, data, and that ☝️🤓 attitude of his explaining in detail why everyone is wrong about daniel, and i hope it haunts all the max fans who get their rocks off to calling daniel a washed asshole loser that max's porn folder is daniel late braking compilations.

[leonardcohenofficial]

vinyl + turntable basic info / general tips

while i am by no means a real audiophile or vinyl expert here are some tips that have worked for me over my almost two decades of collecting!

turntables + speakers

do not buy suitcase players. i cannot overstate this enough. do not buy suitcase players. the all-in-one players are generally cheaper, but there isn't enough support from the platter because they are smaller than 12 inch LPs. this can lead to shitty sound quality, the needle can fall out of the groove, and you can actually break your records. save up and pay a little more and get a proper turntable

there is a lot of debate about belt vs. direct drive turntables (belt drive turntables use a belt to spin the turntable while direct drive turntables have the motor directly under the platter) and which is better. very generally speaking if you want better sound quality, belt drive is the way to go; if you want a player that's a little easier to use that's also a little more durable, direct drive is a better option (most DJ turntables are also direct drive, as a side note)

i currently have three turntables and they are all audio-technica, which is a well respected brand (especially for beginners)—i have an AT-LP60X ($149) which is a belt driven player, as well as two AT-LP120XUSB ($349 each) which i use for practicing DJing/selecting. i also have a stanton M.203 mixer (insane to me that it's listed for $350 on amazon, i paid eighty bucks for mine on ebay), audio-technica ATH-M20x headphones (they were a gift but are listed for $49 on amazon) and a set of edifier R1280DB bluetooth speakers ($149). the speakers are hooked up directly into my mixer, but because both the speakers and the AT-LP60X are bluetooth, i can also play records on that turntable too

change your needle! general rule of thumb is to replace your needle every thousand hours of listening; for the average person if you change it once a year you should be good, i'm on the cautious side and change them every six months

i really like my setup; it's on the cheaper side when it comes to "grownup" gear but true audiophiles would probably scoff at my basics. regardless of what you end up getting, a decent turntable that doesn't have the speakers built in that fits within your budget and a good set of speaker or headphones is all you need

buying records

any time that you can, i recommend buying vinyl directly from the artist! whether it's through bandcamp their website or at a show i think it's better to buy direct when you can (and often times it's cheaper than buying through a third party)

when you can, buy local. not only is it good to support independently owned shops, developing a relationship with local music people is great and if they're good they'll start to know you/your tastes. it also allows you to get good at crate digging, because you never know what you're going to find in a dollar section

utilize listening stations if the store has them! people can be pretty fast and loose with grading used records, so it's better to listen to it and see if the audio quality corresponds with the price (i don't always buy mint/nearly mint records and can tolerate a fair amount of noise but not if i'm being ripped off lmfao)

look things up on discogs to see if you're getting ripped off. not only is discogs great for keeping track of your collection (also you can friend me here!), the online marketplace is great for checking average sale prices for a given release. also handy for seeing how rare a release is!

buying records on discogs can be a crapshoot, ebay even more so. read seller's reviews; if there's feedback that they generally grade conservatively, that's a good thing

i have such a large collection that maintaining a record of what i have is really necessary; discogs is really fantastic for this. you can even scan barcodes on specific releases to find them through the discogs app! it's super handy for me as sometimes i forget that i have certain albums already and end up buying multiple copies and having to get rid of them (i need to get better at cataloguing immediately after i get new stuff, i currently have about forty five records i still need to add lmfao)

storing + maintaining records

keep your records clean! get a good cleaning kit and have microfiber cloths on hand to keep your vinyl as dust free as possible. also use those storage sleeves, it makes a different in keeping your records cleaner longer

a general rule of vinyl storage that i learned from the owner of the shop that i've been going to since i was nine years old is to store them in less than 70 degrees F environments with less than 70% humidity (funnily enough this is apparently the same rule for cigars)

i recommend those ikea square storage bookcases, as they're generally study, aren't too expensive, are pretty easy to put together, and hold a lot of records (do not store your records in milk crates long term)

actually listen to your records! there are very few releases i keep sealed for the sake of keeping them in mint condition. vinyl can be a very expensive habit (800+ records later i am living proof lol) but it's no fun to keep them sitting around. have fun collecting and play your music!

[i-wanna-hug]

i'm front row at their wedding sobbing violently and shaking like a frightened animal