#whitney has time to shape up and get better also and i feel like they will

[getinthefuckingcarkitten]

You know who else is Alpha Bitch + Unloved Freak? Whitney

HmmMMMMMmm i mean. I guess u could say that but i feel like Whitney has actual friends and doesn't really need to buy people into making her company. Even a PC who picks Whit as a LI has an actual relationship with them that is reciprocated in their fuckedupness. Whitney has a LOT of issues but being bitter and lonely isn't really one of them imo

[musicalmoritz]

Hey uh ,,, do you have any songs that reminds you of tbhk? Like specific characters or relationships ?? (Also I plan on updating my mitsukou playlist I have for coping reasons so some recommendations on that would be nice) ( little cat ^. . ^ / )

OKAY so a little bit embarrassing but the way I listen to music 99% of the time is by imagining my hyperfixations with whatever I’m listening to so I am the perfect person to ask this question. Fair warning tho my music taste does dabble in basic territory. This is gonna be looooooong so fasten your seatbelts

• Using You by Mars Ago is such an AoiAoi song to me. There’s always one specific ship in a fandom that fits this song perfectly and for TBHK that is 100% AoiAoi

• Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana gives me HakuSumi and Sakuhiko vibes. I lean more towards HakuSumi tho bcuz…well…those of you who know the meaning of this song will get it LOL

• Soooooo many Beetlejuice musical songs remind me of TBHK. I started to make like a whole playlist that told the plot of TBHK through musical theatre songs but I gave up after the Mitsuba arc and it never made it to Spotify. Maybe someday…

• Say My Name from Beetlejuice is obviously very HanaNene coded. And The Whole “Being Dead” Thing is giving Hanako coded. Dead Mom is very Kouded

• I Know It’s Today from the Shrek musical always makes me think of Nene

• Drift Away from Steven Universe…very Yako. Her waiting for Misaki every day before learning he died…oof

• Dear Theodosia from Hamilton Remind’s me of the Minamoto Siblings. With Teru as Burr singing abt Kou and then Kou as Hamilton singing abt Tiara

• Beautiful Boy by John Lennon reminds me of Teru and Kou

• On a similar note, I Wanna Hold Your Hand by The Beatles is soooooooo NeneMei coded. Yes I’m talking abt that scene where Nene asked Mei to hold her hand to trick her in an escape attempt. I think about it often

• Townie by Mitski makes me think of Teru. “I am not gonna be what my daddy wants me to be” yeah…

• Ever since I heard HISS by Megan Thee Stallion it has made me think of Teru. I feel like he would be her biggest fan

• Mine by Taylor Swift works so well for any Aoi ship but specifically Aoinene or AoiAoi. “You made a rebel of a careless man’s careful daughter” I mean c’mon her fears surrounding love all stem from her father abandoning her so yeah

• Okay you specifically asked for Mitsukou so I should probably talk abt them

• To me they are so Lana Del Rey core…Video Games…Ultraviolence…the Diet Mountain Dew demo…Summertime Sadness…Yes I know I’m making her most popular songs, hush

• Line Without A Hook by Ricky Montgomery. It’s extra gut-wrenching when it’s from Mitsuba’s pov imo but it works both ways

• Waving Through A Window from Dear Evan Hansen is so Sousuke core

• All of Taylor Swift’s Red album reminds me of them but specifically All Too Well (both versions), Red, Sad Beautiful Tragic, Stay Stay Stay, Begin Again, Better Man, Come Back…Be Here, The Very First Night, and…yeah basically all of Red (Taylor’s Version)

• Northern Downpour by Panic! At the Disco also makes me think of them, this is embarrassingly my favorite song of all time I can’t lie

• Lacy by Olivia Rodrigo is so Aoinene core, yes I have written a fic abt them with that title (a lot of these come from my fic titles ngl)

• Tainted Love by Soft Cell gives me strong Terukane vibes from Akane’s pov

• I Wanna Dance With Somebody and So Emotional by Whitney Houston both remind me of Aoinene as well, basically all of her album Whitney does ngl

• Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks makes me think of Natsuhiko

• Bernadette by IAMX reminds me of Sakuhiko

• She Liked A Boy by Nxdia is very Aoinene coded

• Stupid With Love from the Mean Girls musical makes me think of MeiAoi, specifically the version with No.4 Mei

• Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera is canonically Hanako coded like c’mon we have a whole au for this

• In addition, Think Of Mei is very Nene coded, All I Ask Of You is Mitsukouded, Notes is v Terukane coded, and the title song is so HanaNene

• Valley Of The Dolls by Marina is lowkey Aoi core with the whole “pick a personality” line and the concept of losing your identity as a woman due to the boxes society puts us in

• Gemini Moon by Reneé Rapp reminds me of Kou or Akane (mainly bcuz of the “I could never pick a side” line…bi kings)

• Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra makes me think of HanaNene (any old music does tbh, I have a whole playlist for it)

• Me and My Husband by Mitski is, like, THE Hakusumi song

• There Is A Light And It Never Goes Out by The Smiths is so Mitsukou like “to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die” ?? C’mon

• Violently shaking trying not to name every Fall Out Boy song in existence

• The Pros and Cons of Breathing is SO Aoinene guys (“wish that I was as invisible as you make me feel”)

• Hum Hallelujah could theoretically be Kou

• HOT TO GO! by Chappell Roan is the vibe I have assigned to Minami and Himari

• Stacy’s Mom for Mitsuba’s mother. No elaboration needed.

• You’re On Your Own, Kid by Taylor Swift makes me think of Teru :(

• Lithium by Nirvana reminds me of Akane but also every Nirvana song ever reminds me of Akane, I have assigned Akane to Nirvana

• Whitney Houston’s iconic cover of I Will Always Love You for HanaNene…yes indeed

• Taste by Sabrina Carpenter with Terukaneaoi (Teru sings it to Akane so instead it’s “you’ll just have to taste me while SHE’S kissing you”)

• I have assigned Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts album to HanaNene and Sour to Mitsukou

• Bcuz c’mon, Deja Vu is such a Mitsukou/Soukou song

• Maneater by Daryl Hall & John Oates is Ghost Hotel au Kou and then Maneater by Nelly Furtado is main universe Mitsuba (get it? bcuz cannibalism but also they’re gay-)

• I like the concept of a “maneater” being a gay man and a “womanizer” being a lesbian. Therefore Womanizer by Britney Spears is Mei’s song

• Oops! I Did It Again by Britney Spears is Aoi with AoiAoi

• Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter is Aoimei with OG Mei, Bad Chem is HakuSumi, and Please Please Please is Sakuhiko

• Holding Out For A Hero by Bonnie Tyler is a Natsuteru song I have dubbed it that way

• Landslide by Stevie Nicks is so Aoinene it hurts… “well I’ve been afraid of changing ‘cuz I built my life around you”

• Every Breath You Take by The Police reminds me of Mitsukou from Kou’s pov…my boy can get a little obsessive

• Obsessed by Olivia Rodrigo is THE Sakunene song, especially since Nene thought Sakura was Hanako’s girlfriend when they first met

• Honorable Mention by Fall Out Boy is lowkey Mitsuba like hear me out…or maybe more-so Sousuke

• Their song Pretty In Punk reminds me of both Mitsukou and Hanamitsu

• Two Player Game from Be More Chill is HanaKou and then A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into is Mitsukou

• Part Of Your World from The Little Mermaid makes me think of Nene and then Poor Unfortunate Souls is Sakura (or Tsukasa). Kiss The Girl is HanaNene or Aoinene

• Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer is Terunene, I’m sorry Ik a lot of ppl hate it but I adore them

• On that note of overhated ships I love, Jessie���s Girl by Rick Springfield reminds me of TeruAoi

• Ooooh and Uptown Girl by Billy Joel is a MeiAoi song

• My Girlfriend Is A Witch by October Country is so Aoimei and Sakuhiko core

• I Fall In Love Too Easily by Chet Baker makes me think of Nene

• I could make a whole separate post abt TBHK and Taylor Swift songs so I’m trying not to yap abt her too much but When Emma Falls In Love also reminds me of Nene. And The Archer is Hanako. And Mirrorball is Akane. And The Lucky One is Aoi. And-

• The Masochism Tango by Tom Lehrer is so Mitsukou but specifically the way I write them, you guys have to see the vision (Natsuteru as well)

• Miss You Much by Janet Jackson is lowkey AoiAoi core, ngl I just wanted an excuse to bring up Janet Jackson

• And Escapade by Janet Jackson is Aoinene so real so true

• I have seen ppl attribute Picture You by Chappell Roan to Meinene and I agree. I will add that Casual is Sakuhiko core from Natsuhiko’s pov

• Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide by David Bowie reminds me of Terukane, both as individual characters and as a ship

• I Know You by Faye Webster is like THE AoiAoi/Terukaneaoi song to me

• Paper Bag by Fiona Apple is Mitsuba to me, trust I will be writing a fic that uses a line from this song as the title (unless it’s already been done before…it’s a very popular song so like that’s possible…)

• Lonely Hearts Club by Marina makes me think of TeruAoi

• Animal Cannibal from Possibly in Michigan fits both Sumire and Mitsuba imo

• No Surprises by Radiohead makes me think of both Teru and Kou

• Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths also makes me think of Kou

• Our Last Summer by ABBA reminds me of the Severance arc in a very bittersweet way, specifically the ending

• Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac fits like so many ships. Hakusumi, Mitsukou, HanaNene…

• Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees and Ms. Lauryn Hill makes me think of Sumire/Hakusumi

• I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone is very Sakura core to me

• Heart Of Glass by Blondie with Mitsuba hear me out hear me out

• Smooth Criminal by Micheal Jackson with Aoi and the amount of times she’s almost died lol

• The Boys Of Summer by Don Henley with Hanako and Kou, or Kou/Yokoo/Satou

• Moon River with HanaNene. Now cry.

• Romeo And Juliet by the Indigo Girls with Aoimei

• Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads with Tsukasa

• And circling back to the musical songs. A Lovely Night from La La Land with MeiAoi

• Fight For Me from Heathers with Mitsukou. Candy Store with Terukaneaoi. Seventeen with HanaNene. Meant To Be Yours with any ship tbh these guys are all insane. Lifeboat with Aoi. Much to think about

• Stars from Les Misérables with Teru. Let me repeat. STARS FROM LES MISÉRABLES WITH TERU. He is so Javert coded Javert my babygirl from my favorite piece of media of all time that literally shaped who I am as a person

• Right Where You Left Me by Taylor Swift with Sumire

• Also all of the Sweeney Todd musical gives me TBHK vibes with all the cannibalism, I could make a whole au

• Camisado by Panic! At the Disco with Teru

• No Good Deed from Wicked with Hakubo snapping after Sumire’s death…Hakubo my beloved

• Popular from Wicked with Aoinene, What Is This Feeling? with Terukane

• The Confrontation from Jekyll & Hyde with the Yugi twins

• Don’t Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl with Nene

• Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop Of Horrors with Aoinene, AoiAoi, Mitsukou, or HanaNene

• I like to imagine Unlikely Lovers from Falsettos with Aoinene and Terukane

• Two Wuv by Tally Hall with Teruaoinene

• American Beauty/American Psycho by Fall Out Boy with AoiAoi

Okay I’m cutting myself off because the music + hyperfixation brainrot will never end. I hope this was somewhat enjoyable to ya’ll lol ty for giving me the chance to yap abt this

[taeminyourmind]

Music and Us x Taemin (M)

Genre - Fluff, Smut (protected sex), Strangers to Lovers

Synopsis - Brought together by music, you and Taemin begin a friendship that flourishes into a romance. After a year together, you tell Taemin that you’re ready, and he makes it his priority to make your first time gentle.

Words - 6.5k+

*Requested

Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know blasts through the store’s speakers while you straighten the crates of records. Closing time is lurking in the shadows to release you from your shift so you can enjoy the night. 

Tonight was unusually warm, making people swarm the sidewalk and streets - groups of friends joke around while playfully pushing one another, people are drunkenly clinging to one another and slurring their words before laughing, people in their business attire loosened their buttons and ties as they navigate through the crowd. You love watching people walk by and sometimes wonder what their lives are like - Are they happy? Where are they going? Have they had their heart broken recently? Are they in love? But the one thing that keeps you on the night shift is the city’s lights that cast the buildings in neon hues. Something is addicting about its beauty.

Spinners is a record store that sits towards the edge of Myeondong shopping street. It's run by an older gentleman named Gio who wants to share his love of vinyl with Seoul. When you met him for an interview you were hired right away for the night shift so he could go home and be with his wife and toddler. Besides that, Gio is a private fellow whom you don’t know much more about. You’ve learned through the years that some things are meant to be unknown.

The song’s powerful vocals and perky 80s dance beat make a great combination that it’s impossible to not move along with its melody. The song’s composition engulfs your mind and transports you to the middle of a brightly colored dance floor, alone with only the music to keep you company. While you sway your body, mouthing the words to yourself, you fail to notice someone has entered the store.

“Encore!” A voice exclaimed when the song ends causing you to jump at the sudden noise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s alright. I’m just a little embarrassed, I was expecting anyone to be here. Did you need any help?”

There’s a height difference between you and the young man standing in front of you. His broad shoulders are the first things you see until your eyes travel up more to see his face. His black hair is parted down the middle with the bangs slightly covering his eyes, on his ears, his cross earring reflects the store’s lights.

“I’m here to pick up an order,” he answers with a smile.

The records that are resting in your arms are soon put down before you go behind the register. Taemin follows and stands on the other side, his eyes looking at the posters and signed memorabilia hanging on the walls.

“I love coming in here,” he says.

“Do you come here often?”

“At least twice a week. But I worked late, so I came tonight.”

“That explains why I don’t remember your face,” you smile and look behind you at the boxes of orders. “What’s your name?”

“Lee Taemin.”

“Lee Taemin,” you say repeatedly to yourself as your eyes scan the names in front of the packages. “Here it is.”

You grab the package and place it on the counter while you enter the information into the computer system. While the loading screen swirled, you take a few glances at Taemin who’s leaning against the counter on one elbow, his head turned to watch the people go by the window. The different colors of neon lights paint over his face to create a watercolor design. From the side, you can better see his features - he is a rare beauty.

The sound of a receipt printing snaps you out your trance and makes Taemin turn to look at you. A soft smile appears on his face when your eyes lock for a moment.

“Here’s your order,” you say.

When you look up, you see the boy lost in a trance. You wave your hand in front of his face but to no avail. It’s not until you snap your fingers that he breaks his trance.

“Something on your mind?” You ask while handing him his package that he tucks under his arm.

Taemin stays still for a moment before sliding a hand in his pocket and bringing out a small piece of yellow paper. He hands you the paper and your eyes skim over the words that talk about an upcoming show for artists and musicians.

“I’m going to perform some songs,” he says. “Some covers and some original work.”

“So, you’re a singer?” You inquire while leaning forward on the counter.

“Will you come?” His fingers brush against your hand to point at the details on the bottom of the paper.

“Oh, I don’t know,” you answer while avoiding eye contact.

“What’s your name?”

“___.”

“___,” he repeats with a smile. “You won’t regret it if you come.”

He turns on his heels and walks towards the door. When his back faces you, you look up and watch how his poised body moves - his head held and his broad shoulders swaying confidently. His dark backside contrasts with the bright neon lights that shine through the window. Your mind swirls as you look down at the paper in front of you - should you or should you not go? It’s been a while since you went out and had fun, and you decided it’s time you go out and enjoy yourself.

“I think I’ll be able to make it,” you call out to the boy.

Taemin stops with his hand on the door and turns to look at you.

“Alright, ___,” he smiles before winking. “I’ll see you then.”

Taemin pushes the door open and disappears into the crowd. You rush to the door to switch off the open sign and spot Taemin among the crowd, your eyes following him until he’s out of sight. You feel yourself breathe for the first time since he came into the store. Were you holding your breath the whole time? Or were you trying to control yourself from letting any feelings show through. You shake your head and switch the sign off.

“I just met him,” you say to yourself while locking the store’s door. “No way I caught feelings that fast.”

Taemin’s face continues to pop into your mind as you put things in place to close the store. Your eye catches the yellow paper resting on the counter when you shut down the computer. Placing it in your back pocket, you grab your bag and bike from the back and exit the store. The street is less busy as the night goes on making it easy to lock the doors and pull down the security gate. You thought the bike ride home would help you clear Taemin out your mind, but all that does is solidify him in your thoughts and make you wish for Wednesday to quickly come.

Each day seemed drawn-out as Wednesday approached. The hours seemed longer and you found yourself unable to get proper rest and wishing the day to quickly go by. When Wednesday finally came, its hours teased you as you watched the clock move at a glacial pace. You had gotten permission from Gio to close early, which also resulted in a tease about you having a crush.

The night sky blankets the city with its building beginning to display their colorful neon signs. The sidewalk begins to flood with characters of all ages as the sounds of night fill the air. You change into a green silk blouse, black leather pants, and a gold heel. You close the store for the night and find yourself flowing the flow of the crowd. There’s a feeling of excitement leaping around your chest as you are engulfed in the night scene. You stand at a crosswalk, waiting for the okay to walk, and look at HoneyB’s bright honeycomb sign.

HoneyB’s is a place where music and food lovers can come and indulge in these pleasures without judgment. They pride themselves in supplying homemade food and providing live entertainment from local talent. It’s a hot place to perform if you’re an up-and-coming artist because many music executives frequent there.

You walk through the honeycomb-shaped doors and are immediately greeted with the aroma of hotteok. The interior decoration was a combination of peach yellows and olive greens with gold accents relating to bees along the walls and tables and its floor was brown laminate wood flooring. 

You take a seat in the back where you have a clear view of the presenter on stage. He’s wearing navy blue thick-framed glasses and a maroon suit with intricate gold accents and a black tie. He exudes charisma as he interacts with the audience and cracks a couple of jokes that make you chuckle. Each time he steps on stage to present the next artist you feel your stomach flip, hoping to hear Taemin’s name. And each time his name isn’t called, you feel a little disappointed.

“And now ladies and gentlemen, the man you’ve all been waiting for,” the present zealously began. “Taemin!”

The sound of Taemin’s name piqued your attention. You raise your head and watch the lights dim as the room explodes in applause. Taemin seems to glide when he walks to take his place behind the microphone. A short sleeve fitted blue jumpsuit with black belts fastened around his waist drapes his body as one arm sports a black leather glove that goes up to his elbow. His hair is gelled back and his eyes are covered in a dark eyeshadow. The outfit complements his body and you scold yourself taking in his physique.

From the moment the music began to eerily play from the speakers, you are hypnotized by the way his body is fluidly moving with the rhythm and hits each beat. And then, he begins to sing in a sultry tone that takes over the music. He grips the microphone stand while his body moves provocatively against it as if it were a person. His moves mesmerize you and his voice captivates you. If nobody else in this world was born to do so, he was born to be a performer.

The audience erupts in applause and whistles when his set ends. The overwhelming support makes Taemin put his hand on his heart and smile bashfully. He collects the roses that are thrown on stage and bows before exiting.

“He’s amazing!”

“Do you think we can sign him?”

“I hear he only performs twice a month and for a lot of money. And if he’s pulling crowds like this, I understand why.”

So many people talk loudly to praise Taemin’s performance and make you feel proud to see how many enjoyed his performance. With Taemin as the last act, the house band begins playing jazz classics. Your body sways with the melody until a rose appears in front of your eyes. Your eyes follow the arm and see Taemin smiling warmly at you. You take the rose in your hands while he takes the seat beside you, placing the rest of the roses on the table.

“What’s this for?” You ask while smiling at the rose and then at him.

“For coming tonight.”

He scoots his chair closer to yours and turns his body so he faces you. He leans his elbow on the table and rests his cheek in his palm. His eyes study your face as you admire the rose in your hand.

“You did amazing,” you compliment. “You’re amazing.”

“Oh, no,” he humbly answers.

“Oh, c’mon,” you say while softly pushing him. “You can say you’re amazing. There’s nothing wrong with boasting a little.”

“Okay, I am kind of amazing.”

The two of you remain quiet and enjoy the next two selections from the band. Now and then someone will notice Taemin and congratulate him on his successful performance, and each time, Taemin humbly thanks them.

“Have you ever thought about going into the business,” you ask before the band starts their next selection.

“Think? I dream about it!” He exclaims. “I love performing. There’s nothing more I want to do than be on stage and entertain.”

His face lights up in his excitement. His eyes are wide and his hands move along with his words that are flying from his mouth. The passion he possesses for the stage is a rare thing to see these days; many people you know are miserable in their jobs and have long lost any motivation they had for their passions. Similarly, you feel the same about music and can find yourself excited to teach and recommend new music to others.

“In the meantime, I work at my mother’s bakery,” he says while resting back in his chair.

“Your mother owns a bakery?” You ask in surprise. He smiles at the change in your face and nods.

“She opened it a few years ago when she got laid off from a job she was miserable at. She took a chance and used much of her savings to build her dream and it’s growing despite a couple of rough patches in the beginning. Her ambition makes me want to work harder for my dream.”

Taemin’s eyes sparkle as he talks about his mother. You can see how important she is to him and how much he admires her. A part of you breaks at the thought of having a mother that deeply cares for and loves you. Maybe in another life, you will have a mother like that.

“Hey,” he whispers, his hand gently rubbing yours to get your attention. “Are you alright?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” You nod, trying your best to smile.

Perhaps he can feel the shift in your emotion because he softly smiles at you and squeezes your hand. You’re thankful he doesn’t press forward and make you talk about the thoughts swirling in your mind. Squeezing his hand back, you stand to your feet with the rose resting one hand while the other reaches out to Taemin.

“Shall we?”

He looks at your hand for a moment before grabbing it and standing to his feet. The height difference between you seems greater than the first time you met; your head is at the same level as his chest making you crane your head to look up to him. Together, you walk out of the establishment and into the soft summer breeze that’s carrying a floral scent from the nearby tree.

“___,” he says. “Are you able to have lunch this Friday?”

“This Friday?” You look up and think for a second. “Sounds good. I’ll be at Spinners.”

“Great, I’ll pick you up after I leave work,” he says while bringing out a napkin from his back pocket and using a pole to write his number on it. “Here’s my number.”

He hands you the piece of paper before standing on the curb and hailing a taxi. It takes a minute before one pulls up to the curbside. Taemin opens the taxi door and turns to you. Before you can walk to the taxi, your body is met with a warm embrace as he wraps his arms around you. Hesitant at first, you allow yourself to relax and place your head against his chest and wrap your arms around his waist. He smells like a mixture of cologne and the hotteok from HoneyB’s. You feel him give you a soft squeeze and kiss the top of your head before letting go.

“Call me when you get home,” he whispers into your head and lets your body go.

“I will,” you smile before entering the taxi.

You wave to Taemin as the taxi begins its journey down the street. Your eyes stay focused on his figure until it gets lost in the crowd.

“Was that your boyfriend?” The older taxi driver asks when you turn around.

“Him? Oh, no. He’s just a friend.”

“I’ve had many friends in my life, and the only one that put a smile on my face like the one on yours was my wife.”

You relax your face when they point out your smile, realizing you haven’t stopped smiling since the hug. Your fingers caress the rose’s petals while you look out the window at the change of scenery. You live on the outskirts of the city even though you dream of living in its heart one day.

Entering your apartment, you immediately place the rose in a cup of water and dig in your pocket to find Taemin’s number. For a second, you hesitate before calling. Each ring makes your heart pound faster as you begin to think that perhaps he was pulling your leg and gave you a fake number.

“Hello?” A voice finally answers.

“I told you I would call when I made it home,” you say, trying to hide the smile in your voice.

“I’m glad you made it safely,” Taemin says softly. “Good night, ___.”

“Good night, Taemin,” you whisper as you lay in bed and look out the window at the stars pulsating in the night sky. “I’ll see you Friday.”

Friday - 1 p.m.

The record store is empty aside for you and Gio who are placing the newly released records in a bin by the front door. Cheap Trick’s mellow When You Need Someone plays through the speakers causing you to sway with the melody and hum the words. You are so deep in the song’s rhythm that you don’t hear Gio talking to you.

“Earth to ___,” Gio says, giving you a light push to bring you back.

“Huh?”

“I asked if you were going on lunch break soon.”

“Oh yeah, I am! I’m just waiting on Tae -”

You stop yourself from saying Taemin’s name, making Gio raise one eyebrow. He watches you turn your back to him and make busy by straightening records that were already straightened. Walking beside you, he bumps your shoulder.

“This is the same guy you went to see the other night?”

A sigh falls off your lips. You nod your head and try your best not to look at Gio who has his eyebrows raised in excitement.

“___, if you have a crush on him, then say so!”

“I don’t have a crush on him!”

“Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself? Look,” Gio turns you to look at him with a fatherly look. “There’s nothing wrong with having a crush on someone you just met. Don’t go your whole life not knowing what it is to love and be loved.”

“I love music and you love me,” you protest.

“I’m talking about love in the romantic sense. Music isn’t going to love you back and of course, I love you, you’re like a daughter to me.”

You open your mouth to speak but close it when someone taps on the store’s window. You and Gio turn and see Taemin smiling and pointing to his watch. You smile and wave at the boy and give the rest of your record crate to Gio.

“Not a word,” you warn before grabbing your jacket and walking out the door.

Taemin is wearing a distressed light wash denim jacket and matching jeans, an 80s inspired white tee, and red converse. He has an apple hairstyle with the ponytail pulling his bangs out his face. Seeing you come out of the store, he immediately walks to you and wraps his arms around you. You take in his scent and melt at the smell of fruit-filled pastries lingering on his clothes.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starving, I haven’t eaten all morning.”

“Why?” He asks and pulls away. His face contorts in confusion while he grabs your shoulders.

“I’m not really hungry in the morning,” you shrug.

Taemin’s eyes travel over your face and release his grip. Wrapping his arm around your shoulders, he pulls you to walk with him down the sidewalk. He holds you close as the sidewalk crowds with people rushing for lunch. The feeling of being held close to his body makes butterflies flutter in your stomach. You try to get rid of the feeling by thinking that he is just overly friendly and shows his care and love through touches.

“You just met him,” you think to yourself. “You can’t fall for someone you just met.”

The diner Taemin decided to take you to is only a 15-minute walk from Spinners, but it wouldn’t seem as bad if it wasn’t for the crowds and waiting at crosswalks. The clouds provide shade from the scorching sun making the walk pleasant overall. The blue painted brick and mortar building stands alone with small tables placed outside. From your view, the place isn’t too crowded but is plenty busy. The smell of freshly made waffles tickles your nose and triggers your stomach to grumble. You place your hand over it in an attempt to quiet its noise, but you fear Taemin has already heard it by the suppressed smile on his face.

“Hi,” he says to the hostess posted behind a stand. “I made reservations under Lee Taemin.”

The hostess looks at a sheet of paper before grabbing two menus from the shelf behind her.

“Follow me,” she smiles and begins walking to the back of the building.

Taemin’s arm falls from your shoulders and takes your hand in his. His thumb caresses the top of your hand as you keep up with the hostess who’s speed walking to your table. He stops at the door the hostess walked through and turns to wink at you. A confused expression spreads across your face until he walks in front of you and helps you cross the threshold.

You bring your other hand to shield your eyes from the sun and are amazed at what is in front of you. A small man-made pond sits in the middle of the small space with beautifully planted flowers and bushes surrounding it, small vintage tables and chairs of different pastel colors are placed around the area, and a white wooden fence encloses the space. Taemin smiles at your reaction and guides you to a pink table located under the shade of a tree that is decorated in white blossoms.

“Enjoy your meal,” the hostess says before retreating inside.

You and Taemin sit across from each other in a booth next to a large window. Plants and small trinkets line the windowsill while large pink bubbly letters reading “Sweety’s”. His eyes dart back and forth on the menu.

“How did you find out about this place?”

“My father used to take me here every Friday after dance lessons,” Taemin says, smiling at the sweet memories playing in his mind. “This place became our little secret, not even my mother knew about it.”

“But I know about it.”

Taemin shrugs and leans back in his seat. “I only bring special people here.”

“And how many special people have you brought here?” You inquire, raising your eyebrows slightly.

Taemin leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. The corner of his mouth tugs upward as he smirks at you. The closeness of his face makes you lean back a little, your emotions feeling tangled as his warm eyes stare into yours.

“Only one,” he replies. The faint scent of spearmint lingers on his breath “and I think she’s pretty special.”

You try to conceal the smile growing on your face as you watch Taemin lean back. Throughout lunch, you allow the smile you once tried to conceal to show as you and Taemin exchange stories from your youth. The thought of lunch coming to an end makes you want to remember his face, his words, and his voice until he suggests you have lunch at Sweety’s every Friday afternoon. You eagerly agree to his suggestion, finding yourself excited for the times you can be in his presence.

For the next few months, Taemin takes you to Sweety’s every Friday afternoon and surprises you by returning to Spinners to escort you home. Between the Friday lunches, long walks home that consist of meaningful conversations, and phone calls that go until late at night, you find yourself feeling more attached to Taemin. He’s someone you can trust, someone who comforts you, someone who you don’t want to be without. To describe the feeling Taemin gives you with just his soft stare would be similar to being filled with so much love that it overflows.

This Friday starts as usual - you go to work, have lunch with Taemin, and he escorts you home after your shift. But at lunch, Taemin invites you to stop by his mother’s bakery after closing hours. When you arrive at the quaint store, you can see Taemin is vigorously cleaning the countertops through the storefront window, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His head immediately turns in your direction when you gently tap on the window. A smile grows on his face as he, almost skipping, quickly goes to the door to allow you in. Before stepping in, you’re met with the sweet scent of fresh cinnamon raisin bread and a warm embrace.

“How was the rest of your day?” Taemin whispers. He takes your hand and leads you to a round table along the back wall.

“Busy as usual, but why are we at your job?” You ask while having a seat.

“I thought you might enjoy a sweet treat,” he winks before disappearing into the kitchen area behind a set of double doors.

The bakery is dimly lit with the air sweetly scented with pastries and freshly brewed coffee. The marble floors reflect the lowlights, causing an illusion of sparkles to glimmer throughout the area. The faint words and rhythm of a song playing overhead make you sway along with the song.

“What song is playing?” You ask when Taemin returns with a tray in his hands.

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” he says softly while placing the tray on a table nearby. “But it’s my demo. I’ll get you a copy.”

“Autographed?”

“Of course,” he winks before placing a small plate in front of you. “And I now present you with an arlette ice cream sandwich, all made by yours truly.”

Taemin rests his chin in his palm while you melt at the fresh and sweet flavors exploding on your tongue. He chuckles lightly and reaches over to wipe away some ice cream that smeared on the corner of your mouth. His thumb lingers against your face, gently stroking your cheek and watching you with gentle eyes.

“There’s something I wanted to say to you,” he says before pulling back, his face tightening as he straightens his posture. “But I don’t know how to say it.”

You slowly lower the treat from your mouth and focus your attention on Taemin. He fidgets in his seat as his eyes dart back and forth overhead, like the words he wants to say will magically appear.

“I’m afraid,” he says low. “I love our friendship. I love how we can confide in one another, I love how we trust one another, I love how we can have different opinions, and I love the way I feel when I’m with you. And I tried to convince myself that it was just an infatuation, but you’re always on my mind. I think about you more than anything, I think about your voice, your smile, the way you longingly gaze at me, and I love the way you call my name and how it echoes in my head. But I’m afraid of losing our friendship.”

“Why would you be afraid?” You ask with tears brimming your eyes. To see Taemin on the brink of tears while confessing to you makes you want to leap up and hold him in your arms. Instead, you try to suppress your tears until you no longer can. A few fall on the tabletop when you reach across the table and lay your hand on top of his and squeeze it gently, encouraging him to continue.

“I love you, ___. And I don’t want to lose our friendship or have you slip away from me, because I love you. And I understand if you don’t feel the same,” he whispers the last sentence while his thumb softly strokes the top of your hand. “I just need to hear you say something.”

Taemin’s head hangs when you retract your hand from his grip. You hurry to his side and kneel beside him and gently direct him to look at you before gently pressing your lips against his. His hands tenderly cup the sides of your face as he presses into the kiss, his lips slowly moving against yours. Your forehead presses against his as you slowly pull away.

“What took you so long to tell me?” You ask while flashing a wide smile, your hands holding onto his wrists.

“Then I guess I know the answer if I ask you to be my girlfriend?” He smiles eagerly, ready to bounce out his seat as he awaits your answer.

“I would love to be your girlfriend, Taemin.”

It’s been a year since Taemin asked you to be his girlfriend. To say love is a rollercoaster of emotions is an understatement, a generalization of what it truly feels like to feel the high and the lows. There’s something wonderful about being able to run to each other’s arms when things don’t go well, when insecurities taunt you, and even after arguments you find the strength to get through it together. He’s become the one person you can trust, besides Gio, and the only person you’ve felt this strongly about.

You find yourself wrapped in Taemin that you notice the change in how you act and think about him. You find yourself passionately kissing him like you’re breathing life in his lungs and find him in your fantasies. You think it’s just a phase until he enters your dreams and you look at his hands and wish they were touching your skin.

He finds your stares impassioning and he can feel his stomach knot each time his eyes meet yours. Whenever your lips passionately collide with his, he feels the world stop around him. And he wants nothing more than to hold you close and have his fingers caress your body. When you confided in him that you will let him know when you are ready, he’s done his best to not pressure you or even hint at it. But tonight, you were ready.

You stand in front of the mirror, tying a robe around your naked body. Your stomach is swarmed with butterflies the more you think about Taemin waiting outside the door. This is it, you think while giving yourself a smile of encouragement in the mirror. With a deep breath, you place your hand on the handle and open the door.

The room is dim and painted in a warm hue as the candles flicker on the dresser and nightstand, creating shadows on the walls. Taemin’s back faces you while the candles cast shadows in the dips where his muscles are. Hearing the door open, he slowly turns around with a soft smile.

“Hi beautiful,” he whispers while walking towards you. The closer he gets, the more nervous you become. When you glance at the floor, he gently lifts your head. “It’s okay. I got you.”

Taemin closes space between you with a deep kiss, your lips hungrily moving against one another. His hands quickly untie your robe and slide it off your body. Before you can cover yourself with your arms, his hands rest on your waist, squeezing it gently. Your palms press against his chest as he pulls your body to his.

Swiftly, Taemin drops his hands to the back of your thighs. His fingers grip them as he hoists you up and carries you to the bed, placing you on the cool, satin sheets. His lips stay against yours as he positions himself on top of you. His hand slowly snakes up the side of your body until it cups your breast. You sigh sensually when his fingertips gently squeeze your aroused nipple.

He slowly pulls his lips away from yours, his teeth lightly biting your bottom lip as he does so. His luscious lips place tender, wet kisses from your neck to the sensitive area between your inner thighs, making you squirm as butterflies tickle your stomach. His eyes are laced in seduction, watching you squirm under his touch.

Taemin spreads your legs and softly kisses your lips. Your hips buck when you feel his tongue part your lips and brush against your clit. You suck in air through clenched teeth at the brief moment of pleasure. Before you can recover, Taemin’s tongue circles and teases your entrance while his thumb rubs against your clit. The overwhelming dual sensation makes you reach down and grip his hair with your hand while the other grips the sheet. Your breaths shudder as you try to suppress any moans begging to escape.

You let out a small whimper when the pleasure ends and sit up on your elbows to see him more. You watch as his fingers glide up and down your folds, spreading your wetness. Your body shudders and you choke on a small moan whenever his fingers pass over your clit. Two of his fingers slowly begin to push into your entrance until you reach down and grip his wrist.

“Are you okay?” He softly asks, worried when he sees the nervousness on your face. “We can stop if you want.”

You’re quiet for a second until you let go of his wrist and smile gently at him. “I’m okay, just nervous.”

Taemin’s face softens as he reassures you. When you’re ready, he slowly enters the middle finger and then the ring finger. Their presence in you makes you shift as you grow accustomed to them. He slowly begins to pump his fingers in and out of you. The slight uncomfortableness on your face changes to pleasure as your eyebrows furrow while you moan under your breath. He notices the way your chest rises and falls quickly with the pace of fingers.

When your walls grip around his fingers, Taemin slides his free hand down his sweatpants and grip his member, jacking himself off to the pace of his fingers. He bites his bottom lip as he imagines your bodies grinding against each other. He groans at the sound of your wetness stirring in the air.

A ball of warmth heats your core when Taemin’s fingers curl in angles. Once you were afraid to let out a moan, now you can’t do anything but moan at the waves of pleasure continuously crashing into you. Your hips grind a little onto his fingers, desperate to allow him to go deeper.

You whimper when he abruptly retracts his fingers. You watch as they glisten against the light, drenched in your wetness. Your fingers unconsciously grip the sheets when he locks eyes with you, pushing them past his lips before licking them clean. You follow his hands as he slowly slides off his pants, revealing his erect cock. It twitches when his eyes look over your body. Reaching over to the nightstand, he opens a condom and places it over his member.

Taemin grips your thighs, pulling you closer to his body. He gently lowers himself on top of you, his chest pressing against yours so you can feel his pounding heartbeat. Moving slightly, he positions himself at your entrance.

“Are you ready?” He asks softly.

When you nod, he places a kiss on your forehead while slowly pushing his cock through your entrance. Your eyebrows furrow in discomfort as you grip onto his upper arms. Soft praises flood from Taemin’s lips until he is fully inside you. He stays still for a while to allow you to adjust before slowly rocking in and out of you. The light kisses he places over your eyes, nose, and lips tickles, allowing you to get your mind off of the unusual pressure for a moment. Your nose scrunches as you squeeze your eyes shut.

Gradually, the feeling of discomfort subsides and transforms into pleasure. The feeling of him rubbing against your walls makes you close your eyes and softly moan his name. Your sultry tone when moaning his name becomes his motivation as his rocks become faster and his lips caress your jawline. You hold onto the back of his head and allow yourself to repeatedly call out his name.

Taemin sits up and grabs your hips, holding them in place as he pulls back before snapping back into you, making your breasts bounce each time. The unexpected harshness makes you choke on a moan each time his tip rubs against your sweet spot. His face flushes as he quickens his pace, his bangs sticking to the sweat on his forehead. He groans your name loudly before pulling out of you.

With a few swift movements, he flips you on your stomach and guides you up so your back is against his chest and legs are apart. His strong arm holds you tight while the other holds his cock, rubbing it along your folds before positioning it to your entrance and thrusting it in. 

You sigh together as he enters you. You look far enough to the side for Taemin to press his lips but accidentally bump your forehead against his. You both softly laugh at the mistake before he catches your lips on his while he slowly grinds into you. He, once again, whispers praises and encouragement against your lips. One hand plays with one breast as the other descends to your clit and quickly rubs it, making you loudly moan against his lips. You feel him smirk when you beg him to go faster, and he obliges.

A knot forms in your core causing you to pull away from the kiss and rest your forehead against his jaw. You begin to whimper at the sensation and find yourself trying to pull away from his body, but he holds you tighter.

“It’s okay,” he struggles to say through a moan. “Just relax.”

Your small whimpers turn into a pleasurable scream of his name as you throw your head back, allowing your body to let go. Your body twitches in his arms as the wave crashes into you and leaves you. The euphoric relief that settles over you makes you softly smile. But the smile is short-lived when Taemin holds you tightly and thrusts into you quickly, chasing after his end.

The sound of your skin slapping against each other bounces off the walls as your intimate shadows move along them. Taemin’s breathing becomes hitched as his thrusts become arrhythmic. Whines of your name drip from his tongue as he inches closer to his end. Finally, when he reaches his gratification. He squeezes your body tight and cums into the condom, his hips thrusting forward with each spurt.

For a few moments, Taemin keeps you close, his heavy breathing tickling the side of your neck. Gently, he pulls out of you and guides you to lay on your back. He sits beside you, his eyes looking over your face as his fingertips gently stroke the side of your face.

“You did so well,” he whispers with a gentle smile. “Are you okay?”

You smile bashfully and cover your face before nodding. His soft chuckle makes you feel warm as he removes your hands from your face and gazes into your eyes.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[dance-your-vision]

DWTS Week 7 - Queen Night

Amanda & Alan

I knew they would get deducted for that lift, I was just surprised Len pointed it out first. The dance itself was quick with high energy, although I agree with the judges that there’s something same-y about Amanda’s performances. She’s an excellent dancer, there just doesn’t seem to be much growth or nuance from her over the season.

Olivia & Val

I’ve heard about the behind the scenes drama about Olivia and her mom but I’m really just here for the dancing, so this is said without outside influence. The song choice didn’t really fit with the dance style imo but Olivia danced it very well. It did look to me like there was a misstep in one of the turns, but that might’ve been the odd camera angle. That scoring was very generous though, I really don’t think she was *that* much better than Amanda.

Iman & Daniella

After last week’s performance, I knew it would be incredibly difficult to follow up, but I thought Iman actually did pretty well with this. His arm shaping is still odd and he needs to soften the connection between his neck and arms but there was plenty of attack and I think he’s actually improving a lot as a dancer.

Jimmie & Emma

Jimmie has become my favorite performer to watch grow this season. I did not think he would make it this far after watching the first episode but there is a fluidity and connection with the music I’m seeing now that wasn’t there before. I don’t want to say he’s another Rashad, but he’s paired with Emma and they were both underdogs so there are similarities there… His lines are beautiful, even if the song itself is not an easy one to dance smoothly to.

The Miz & Whitney

I usually enjoy the Miz’s performances so much but I didn’t feel like he was “performing” this week as much as he has others. He seemed very focused on the dance rather than giving a show. His frame is better, but I think that focus created a lot of tension in his chest an arms. He needs to release that energy and loosen up more.

JoJo & Jenna

It frustrates me so much that people are complaining about JoJo’s dance background giving her an advantage when she is far from the first contestant to have a professional background. Many stars do these days. Also, nobody complained how the other cast members had an advantage over the 75 year old. There will always be someone with an extra advantage out there and I wish people would just sit back and enjoy the performances. As usual, this one was stellar and it was great to see a new side of JoJo.

Suni & Sasha

I cannot imagine feeling sick and giving off a powerful performance like that. Suni is so talented and I can really see she’s working on putting more attitude into her dances. There’s still some more opening up she can do, but improvement is still improvement and I’m very proud of her!

Cody & Cheryl

The dedication for this dance was very touching, I can’t imagine how hard that loss must have been. I actually disagree with the judges though, somehow Cody has both swagger and awkward movements at the same time. I honestly don’t think he’s improving, his hand placement is still so awkward. I keep waiting for his breakout week to “wow” me, because some of his moves are clearly dancer-like, but it’s just not clicking together.

Melora & Artem

Melora is elegant as always, but the ending looked really odd to me. I don’t know if she just forgot a move or stumbled but the rest of the dance was very well performed. I’m glad to see her improvement again after a few weeks of plateauing.

Competition Round

Round 1

The Miz was the clear winner here, I don’t know what the judges are on. Iman’s swagger was fun to watch though, I love seeing how much he’s improved. Cody had too many technical issues, I don’t understand how he received any points.

Round 2

This was a much closer race, but as much as I love watching Jimmie perform, I have to agree that Olivia had the better performance. Both Jimmie and JoJo were excellent though and very well danced.

Round 3

What happened to the sound? All three of these women are extremely talented, at this point I think it comes down to personal preference. I would have given my point to Suni, I thought she performed that very well. Lots of love to all of them though, and I look forward to seeing them dance more next week!

Elimination

Genuinely shocked to see JoJo in the bottom two when she has consistently been at the top of the leaderboard. I knew immediately the Miz would be sent home, but I’m still upset to see him go. He was so fun to watch and has worked so hard to be there, I hope he knows what a joy he was to have in the ballroom ❤️

[hoochy-coo]

TYN was big, no doubt. Probably the biggest era in recent years except maybe Billie debut album. But i don't think Ari will do something more succesful than TYN, her recent droplets were all forgetten by GP, even feat with Lady Gaga. But she still has very strong and loyal fanbase so she will be good anyway imo, still making numbers and sells, just not as much as she did with TYN🤷‍♀️but i honestly think Ari is ok with this while Tay probably still worried about not having another 1989 moment.

Ok so recently an anon brought up the fact that Taylor Swift kinda hindered critics’ perception of her by releasing ‘1989’ and all its theatric and I said that I thought it was a worth-while sacrifice because it set her on the path of being pop culture icon. I still stand by the fact that I believe that she still considers it to have been the right sacrifice to make at the time for her career, but now that I’m thinking about it with Ariana being thrown into the conversation, I realise that that’s probably where the GP and critics’ view them differently.

I feel like Ariana is better received by critics and people believe her music and album to be of better quality. Imo it has a lot to do with how she seemingly focuses most of her resources into the music and maybe spend 15%-20% on media play/PR. Ariana gives the image that she shys from the press rather than embrace it in an almost-phoney manner that Taylor did during ‘Red’ and leading up to the conclusion of ‘1989.’ There’s also way more attention being paid to Taylor’s fast-paced love life (her music called out men, dissed boys, attacked her enemies in the industry) and because she played into that rather than shunned it, GP perceived it as her using the music as an outlet for petty revenge and to throw shades. With Ariana, she kinda refuses to discuss her trauma and heartbreak unless it’s within the scope of her album. People aren’t expecting it with Ariana like they are with Taylor. If Taylor had not gone through with the performativeness of ‘1989,’ she probably would be taken more seriously by the critics. (I’m in no way saying it’s her fault because I don’t believe that a woman should have to sacrifice mainstream success for critical success and vice versa but the industry is largely sexist and the critics who are 90% white male can’t seem to grasp that a female artist can give us both lmao.) With that being said, Ariana’s brand of pop music is majorly different to Taylor’s. Her music is considered ‘grown pop’ and because she flirts very closely to RnB, the critics feel comfortable labelling her as a ‘soulful singer’ ala Mariah and Whitney. She can also sing exceptionally well that it sets her apart from her peers who are all mediocre vocalists. In addition to that, Ariana’s lyricism was very mature in ‘Sweetener’ and I think that album cemented her as a ‘serious’ artist in the critics’ and even the GP’s eyes. ‘7 rings’ which followed after in the TYN era and had a way less serious undertone but by that point, people felt comfortable saying that she wanted to put out a pure pop record for the radio and “that’s fine because the album deals with heavy topics!” Also, imo the GP and even her fan base don’t care for her features or loosey drops, she’s one of those artists where people seem to get around whenever an album or an era is on the horizon but anything in between is passable lol.

But yes, I agree that Ariana probably can’t top ‘TYN’ as an era but imo, she’s got other highly critical-acclaimed albums coming and it’s going to be like that for a while. I see her as an artist with longevity. I also agree that she doesn’t and has never cared about having a big era like Taylor so she’s less concerned about shaping her album around media play and marketability. She’s not hands-on when it comes to PR team and leaves it to her team to do whatever they want, unlike Taylor who needs to control every aspect of her rollout lol

[moonvalecrossing]

Now here's something I haven't asked you in a long time: a "Fav and Least Fav" ask related to Pokémon. Favorite and least favorite Gym Leaders of each type they specialize in? Kahunas and Trial Captains will count, but if one ends up as your fav/least fav, I'd suggest separating them and the actual Gym Leader that's your fav/least fav of their type. Also, Bede and Marnie's statuses as Gym Leaders will count too, mostly just so Piers can have some competition with his sis. :P

Alrighty. Time to sit down and tackle this!

Normal Type- Least Favorite: Whitney. WHITNEY. That damn Milktank. I’m sure she’s killed many a Nuzlocke team. And yet still has the gall to cry like a baby when she loses. She also comes across as one of those vapid dumb and pretty trend girls. “Everyone was into pokemon so I got into it too!” I really think skill is the only thing they care about when they hand out the title of Gym Leader sometime because this chick really doesn’t seem to be the type who’d normally get this type of authority.

Normal Type- Most Favorite: Cheren. He is adorable baby husband. Though mostly it’s really cool to see another rival become a gym leader like Green did. I just wish they’d kept his glasses instead of for some reason swapping them to Bianca for some reason.

Fighting Type- Least Favorite: Korrina. Her character art bugs me. Is she seriously supposed to be wearing skates and also doing fighting moves? I can’t even stand on four wheel skates without nearly breaking every bone below my waist. And you’re telling me this girl runs around doing axe kicks on roller blades??? No thank you. Also she hoists a Lucario onto you. I like raising my pokemon from their earliest point and you go and make me have to take one because I’d feel bad if I didn’t since it wants to come with me now.

Fighting Type- Most Favorite: Brawly. Mostly because he’s hot. Slightly because his gym is actually a gym with workout equipment in the remake and I find that amazing and hilarious.

Flying Type- Least Favorite: Skyla. Partially because of her anime counterpart. Mostly because I hate her design. Why are her wrists so thick on those gloves? Why is she wearing boots, a cropped jacket, those weird gloves, and what look closer to boxer style panties than shorts underneath a bunch of bondage-y belts? She looks like a generic anime waifu more than a pokemon character. Like a Mega Man OC. Of one of those weird dating games where the women are just objects in female coded human form Skyla’s a humanized seatbelt.

Flying Type- Most Favorite: Falkner. Because Kahili isn’t a gym leader. Congrats, Falkner. You cute little bugger. Also he’s the only notable male flying type trainer.

Poison Type- Least Favorite: Prepare the flame shields. I don’t like Roxie. Small children as Gym Leaders bug the hell out of me. I see Gym Leaders as characters with high authority in the pokemon world. I hate the idea of kids who look like they’re only a few years out from learning the alphabet and basic mathematics having any kind of power in a region. The only exception I have is Galar because the gym leaders feel less important since they’re merely sports celebrities. ...Also I hate Roxie’s Pebbles Flintstone hair. It makes her look even more like a baby to me.

Poison Type- Most Favorite: Koga. Despite the fact I still think that he and Sabrina had their gyms switched, he’s still my favorite. He even became a member of the Elite 4 and left the gym to his daughter. I find that sweet.

Ground Type- Least Favorite: (Actually Hapu, because of reasons stated above for Roxie, except even more because this kid is a freaking KAHUNA. Why is this little mud farm girl chosen to be the KAHUNA of a whole dang island and one of the most important people in Alola? Surely the Tapus could find someone better, but then again the gods must be crazy.) Clay. Because he looks like a Texan Business Tycoon. And I’m a left-leaning American. That should probably explain things well enough. Because boy howdy do I not wanna open that can of worms. Maybe if I ever get to the point of fighting him in Black Version my opinion will change. But like I said. My real answer is Hapu. Clay just has the misfortune of being next at the bottom of the line.

Ground Type- Most Favorite: Giovanni. Because he is my mafia husbando and I am a garbage human. Have you seen a picture of the man in the “How I became a Pokemon Card” manga? Hot damn. And his newer pokemon cards? HOT DAMN.

Rock Type- Least Favorite: Gordie. This Ronaldo Fryman looking fucknugget with accessory tips from Bling Bling Boy on Johnny Test. He looks like one of those smug basement dweller types who’d call me a FEEEEEMALE if I turned him down for a date. Also his official art does the same thing I hate about Diantha’s. His knee faces more inner-forward but his foot’s pointing outward. Unless that picture’s drawn with him in mid dance spin, dude’s ankle is broken. At least he looks kind of cute when he doesn’t have his hair styled back in that douchey style. I feel like he’d yell about feemales again if I told him I thought his mom was hot. Also he’s not wearing socks with dress shoes and that should be a criminal offense.

Rock Type- Most Favorite: Roxanne is super cute. Even if she’s skirting the line of young people in positions of power she actually looks like a mature person who was ahead of her age level in school. However I will object to the idea of her being a teacher in any shape or form like in the anime. This person hasn’t even struggled through the mental ravages of puberty aint no way she should be allowed to be a teacher.

Bug Type- Least Favorite: Burgh, if only because people use him as a stereotype a lot and I hate that. Toxic masculinity is bs. MEN CAN BE FABULOUS WITHOUT BEING GAY. That said, his pants and shoes are a color crime.

Bug Type- Most Favorite: Guzma is the equivalent of a Bug Type trial captain and you will never convince me otherwise. I- what- you’re really gonna fight me on this? Fine. Bugsy. Bugsy is my precious bug-catching child. Precious baby.

Ghost Type- Least Favorite: Acerola. I’ve already stated why I hate kids in power like this. Plus I just. do not like. characters with the bubbly personality and the cat mouth. I instantly know I’m going to dislike a character the moment I see that damn catmouth. I’m not coming up with a non-trial alternative for this one. I am either neutral to or love the other ghost trainers.

Ghost Type- Most Favorite: Morty. Because 1. He’s hot. 2. He’s got a sweet scarf. 3. Agatha’s not a gym leader. :P Morty has a very nice design. After the remakes came out anyways.

Steel Type- Least Favorite: There’s only like two of these. I don’t hate Jasmine at all but she’s the only other actual gym leader of the Steel Type. So we’re gonna use Molayne anyways. Mostly because his stick-ass gangly legs give me the creeps.

Steel Type- Most Favorite: I’ve never met him but Byron looks like a miner hobo and I dig that. Plus he made Roark and Roark’s hot. (Then why isn’t Roark my favorite rock gym leader? Because not all my favorites can be because of my asexual thirst.)

Fire Type- Least Favorite: Blaine always makes me think of my grandfather and I am not that fond of my grandfather. Even though Blaine seems much much nicer and friendlier a grandpa than my actual grandfather.

Fire Type- Most Favorite: Flannery’s design is adorable and I love it. Doesn’t hurt that it’s also the kind of outfit my more pro-fire trainer would wear.

Water Type- Least Favorite: Marlon. Don’t get me wrong. Marlon’s hot. But he gets to be least favorite for lying about being a tan boy. Seriously look at that tan line around his swim suit that pastey white skin does not do his design favors.

Water Type- Most Favorite: Wallace. This one is pure thirst. Pure. Thirst. Wallace is a babe. I love everything about this fabulous bastard. Especially his hat and scarf in the remake. Especially the remake. Babe.

Grass Type- Least Favorite: Milo. I’m starting to feel like the people who design and did the art for some of these newer characters don’t know how bulkier people’s legs work. Because Milo and Gordie’s legs just look really, really wrong. These characters do not have ankles their calves just end at flat feet. Also milo’s leg is doin that broken ankle thing too. Other images don’t make them look as bad, though. Other than that I hate characters who have no whites to their eyes. It’s freaking creepy and Milo’s baby face doesn’t help. And I can not figure out the design of this guy’s eyebrows either. I know he has them but they don’t look like the anything but exist to blend with his bangs.

Grass Type- Most Favorite: Erika. I like her design a lot. I guess some of the weeb in me still exists deep in there.

Electric Type- Least Favorite: Sophocles. I just don’t like his design. At all. Only other arguments I could give are the kid with with Clemont again. That and his jumpsuit.

Electric Type- Most Favorite: Lt. Surge, Volkner, and Elesa are are great. But Elesa wins because Lt. Surge is a paranoid soldier who makes getting to him a chore and Volkner looks like he takes the same brooding pills they fed to Cloud after Final Fantasy Advent Children turned into into the broodlord. Also ‘urgh need actually challenging opponents’ characters bug me, regardless of how attractive they are.

Psychic Type- Least Favorite: Tate and Liza. But this time the main reason ISN’T because they’re babies. No, no. That’s a big reason, but even being psychics can’t save them. They have a BIG problem. The main reason for these two is that their gym team is garbage. Emerald and Black2/White2 not counting in this because of the remake being their current gym team in my eyes its just a damn solrock and lunatone! I love me Lunatone, don’t get me wrong. But damn, kids. How are you actually gym leaders with a team of pokemon that is barely suitable for the gym trainer in the first gym of the region? The only starter that can’t hit you with a super effective move is the fire starter. Being a double battle only means that I can get rid of your pokemon faster because I get to use TWO pokemon moves on my turn.

Psychic Type- Most Favorite: Olympia. Her design is absolutely beautiful. I want her dress. I want her cape. She is the black and silver space queen and she WILL BE RESPECTED IN THIS HOUSE. Even if whoever did her art doesn’t seem to realize dresses don’t slip into the navel or hug into the crotch hole. Surprised whoever drew it didn’t also add the camel-toe since they think fabric works that way. If I were her I’d strangle someone with one of those magical floaty ring bracelets. Space mom aint having non of your objectification shit.

Ice Type- Least Favorite: Candice. You live in a winter town. Your gym is an ice slide hell. Put on some goddamn pants and a coat. I’m not gonna give you any sympathy when you end up with the worst cold ever.

Ice Type- Most Favorite: Melony. She is adorable and has actual weight to her. And she loves her kids. And holy shit look at her she’s actually dressed for cold weather and ice unlike nearly every other goddamn Ice Gym Leader besides Pryce.

Dragon Type- Least Favorite: Claire is an arrogant b-witch who cant accept defeat and is worst that whitney because at least Whitney gave you your earned badge when she stopped crying like a baby. Claire refused until you did some ‘trial’ and still didn’t think she’d have to give you the badge until granddad dragon master told her to stop being a child. Also she gets more least favorite points because she’s what has prevented me from talking about how much I hate Iris here. That’s right, Claire. I dislike you so much you get MORE hate points because you prevent me from hating another character more than you.

Dragon Type- Most Favorite: Raihan is a babe and the most challenging Gym Leader I’ve ever faced. Bonus points because technically I wouldn’t call him a type-based gym leader but a strategy based leader because he focuses on weather more than dragons. Plus his “Leader Challenges You!” post makes him look a little wild.

Dark Type- Least Favorite: Marnie. Because I wanted to see her brother again so I invited him to the Championship thing and Marnie freaking cockblocked me by beating her brother in the first round. LET ME SEE YOUR BROTHER, MARNIE.

Dark Type- Most Favorite: Piers is my husband and Marnie’s just gonna have to deal with it. :P He’s super cute and his worrying over Marnie in the post game was the cutest damn thing. Plus young Piers in his rare league card is so precious and gives me life. It’s gonna take a lot of work for any other dark type trainer to top Piers.

Fairy Type- Least Favorite: Mina. I hate Mina. Lazy/Unfocused/High artist characters piss me off. Alo Mina should have been a normal type trial captain because of smeargle and the fact that Ilima has pink hair and the same huge buggy-like water eyes Valerie has. Mina even dips her damn hair in paint like Smeargle does with its tail. Mina couldn’t be assed to have an actual trial the first time around. Second time around she just made you go collect something from people you already beat.

Fairy Type- Most Favorite: Bede. If you can’t look this beautiful sparkly eye angel of a child in the eyes and find him amazing once he becomes Opal’s apprentice, you have no soul and should probably get that looked at.

[mountains-and-mayhem]

Day 64-66 (Ian) - Lone Pine to Crabtree Meadows

Driving in the van on July 6 (Day 64) back up the switchbacks from Lone Pine at 3,500 feet to Horseshoe Meadows Campground at 10,000 feet was dizzying and gave me some motion sickness / altitude sickness. When we arrived Kim made me some ginger tea and I laid down for about an hour. With the nausea gone, we excitedly began hiking. Not far from the campground we ran into our first ranger. Bandaid was so excited. He checked our permits and made sure we all had bear vaults. Then, as we continued to climb, we ran into our first real patches of snow.

At the top of Cottonwood Pass (mile 750), we found a large slope to practice self arresting with our ice axes. Bandaid has mountaineering experience and was an excellent teacher. It was pretty fun throwing yourself head first down the slope and fighting gravity with such a simple tool as an ice axe. It's easy really: reorient onto your belly, put your feet up, reorient your head uphill, slam the axe head into the snow with your body weight, wait to come to a complete stop, plant your feet, and plunge the axe handle deep. Now you have self arrested! The trick with the practice is to get those steps down to a fast response time. I also learned that it was important during the reorientation step not to roll over the side I was holding the axe handle with, it was much easier and faster to roll to the other side.

Between my altitude/motion sickness and self arrest training, we didn't actually hike very far, but we were pretty tired anyway. That first night we stayed at Chicken Spring Lake (mile 751) - which is nestled between the mountain and the trees in the photo. After dinner, as the was sun setting, I sat for 45 minutes and watched the light slowly move across the rock face. I wondered how long those rocks have been staring back at us, were they once covered in a glacier, how did it become shaped? The geology is fascinating! Bandaid is a geo-engineer, so we got a few rock lessons along the way.

The next day we crossed the boundary into Sequoia National Park (mile 754) and had a bit of blessed downhill walking. As we descended, we were approaching our first big creek: Rock Creek. Thinking it would be better to tackle the creek in the morning and not wanting to sleep too low in elevation or too near to water to stay away from the mosquitos, we walked a quarter mile off trail at mile 759 to a beautiful flat spot and played a game of catch before setting up camp.

The next morning we reached Rock Creek (mile 761). We had heard from passing hikers that there was a log that made crossing easy, so Bandaid, Scribe, and I crossed the first log we saw not knowing that was right were Perrin Creek came off the hillside and joined with Rock Creek. Our choice would doom us to a 1.5 mile marshy slog to the good log crossing. Jailbreak and CB were a bit behind us and didn't make the same mistake.

After the creek crossing, we started going back up and I was feeling really high. I chased the endorohins and pushed hard up the several mile climb, a little too hard, especially given the weight of my pack after the last resupply. After my rest at the top, reshouldering my pack brought a sharp pain. I think that my scoliosis has affected the balance of stength in my abdominal wall and I had taxed the weaker side too much. Bandaid feared a hernia, but the pain receded quickly and did not return. Regardless, I took it easier from then on.

Not long later, we got a really good glimpse of Mt. Whitney. It gave me shivers of excited anticipation down my spine that I had to shake off like a dog would. The terrain was an interesting mix of dusty, granite sand with sparse vegetation and dense pine forests. I noticed the tree species were changing too. Up high the white pines were replaced by bristlecone pines; and down in the valleys ponderosa pines gave way to red firs and lodgepole pines.

Coming into Crabtree Meadows on July 8th (Day 66) - a few miles off the PCT at mile 766 - we had our very first stream that required fording: Whitney Creek! It took much longer than I liked for me to wardrobe change on each side of the creek, but I feared the damp could cause new blisters - a problem I was glad to no longer be nursing daily. Scribe however is a no-nonsense hiker and simply walked across!

But it was worth it. Crabtree Meadows was beautiful and had a latrine! Perfect for prepping for Mt. Whitney. The meadow stays so nice because they prohibit camping on the grass, so everyone sets up in the trees. Another hiker the rest of the crew had met earlier joined us just a little later and we gave him the trailname Patch Adam on account of his real name being Adam and all the patches on his pants. Adam had started his adventures months before us on the Arizona trail. By Crabtree Meadows, he had already hiked over 1200 miles!

Tomorrow... Whitney...

[intp-ishh]

I feel as if sensors always have the short end of the stick on tumblr.

Okay. So, sensors have been brought down by intuitive types a lot on tumblr. Some intuitive types like to say that sensors are stupid, are impulsive, and other hurtful things. One post I remember the most is one saying something like, “I’m so sick of SFs arguing with me. Them being an SF already lost the argument.” And this absolutely disgusted me. The MBTI fandom is a place were we can relate to others based on 16 categories or understand ourselves better.

Another thing I’ve seen, is intuitives complaining about their sensor parents. I am an ENFP, with a sister who is an ESFP, my dad is also an ESFP, and my mom is an ISFP. I’ve grown up with sensors, and they’ve helped me keep my feet on the ground, but also pushing me to help me become the best person I could. I know there are bad sensor parents who are rude or disrespectful, but that is not just because they are a sensor, it’s because they are not a good parent.

Without sensors, we would not have:

Marilyn Monroe (ISFP) an actress who had a difficult childhood and became one of the most famous actresses ever. Showing people they can get over their struggles. And, also was a big civil rights advocate who helped change the world.

Michelangelo (ESFP) an influential artist who has been known throughout history as an amazing artist.

George Washington (ISTJ) one of the founding fathers of the USA and the first president who fought for the country and helped proclaim independence from Britain.

Steve Jobs (ISTP) the founder of apple and an amazing inventor.

Epicurus (ESTP) the founder of one of the most major philosophies in Ancient Greece and helped carve the pass with modern science.

Andrew Jackson (ESTJ) was a leader in the Revolutionary war between Britain and US who became one of the most influential people at the time.

Whitney Houston (ESFJ) an amazing singer who inspired many many other people and shaped the music we hear today.

Rosa Parks (ISFJ) a civil rights activist who sparked a revolution to stop the discrimination period.

Sensors are needed in this world just like intuitives. We do not need to turn against each other for things out of our control. Instead we can help each other become better people, and accept our differences. Someone’s personality type does NOT make them a bad person.

sources:

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-isfj/

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-istp/

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-esfj/

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-estj/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/topics/us-presidents/andrew-jackson

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-estp/

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-esfp/

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-isfp/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/celebs.amerikanki.com/reasons-marilyn-monroe-wonderful-role-model/amp-list/

https://www.personalityclub.com/blog/famous-isfj/

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/rosa-parks

[twitchesandstitches]

Pokemon in Crossthicc - Trainers and Gym Leaders

TRAINERS

An important note, regarding the use of the Japanese original names of the trainers or the Americanized names; personally i prefer the original names, but I figure the English ones are more familiar. So, consider this: the majority of the Pokemon trainer characters originate from worlds and territories that were culturally dominated by, and descended from, Japan. Their actual names are, thus, their Japanese ones. However, as they learned the languages of many different worlds, they came to adopt various screen names and nicknames, regarding their real names as something personal and special. They use these names, like Ash, Brock or Dawn, among strangers, reserving the names of their homeland for only trusted family-friends.

They’re all older in this AU; around 20 years old at minimum. If they’ve been around for the majority of the fleet’s existence, they’ll be a few hundred years old, kept eternally young by longevity mods and their increasing power, and bonds to their Pokemon.

It can be generally assumed that Pokemon characters that were originally from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh are descended from Japanese colonists from ancient human explorers, Unovans are a grab-bag of different colonists and ancestries, Kalosites are descended from France, and the Alolans’ ancestors were indigenous Hawaiians. Other possibilities can be worked out individually, or just going with what feels right. If non-human species feels right for them, that can also be factored in.

Finally, any Pokemon trainer can assume any trait, mod or physical mutation that would be appropriate to the Pokemon most associated with them: if they have ever trained a particular Pokemon, or it suit their theme, they can take on traits from that Pokemon. This can be a deliberate mod they’ve taken, or a consequence of growing close to their Pokemon summons.

Ash/Satoshi: Combining elements of both their anime character and Red from the first generation, he’s a bit of a dork who is staggeringly good with Pokemon. Rather genderfluid, keeping with later games allowing you to play as girl or boy without issue, though retaining a very macho attitude through it all, and not terribly bright. Generally has Pikachu traits, but has manifested aspects from all befriended Pokemon; Charizard wings, Squirtle shell, Meganium vines, Latias wings… really, it’d be easier to say what traits they haven’t got access to!

Misty/Kasumi: Endowed, favoring water-themed powers and partially transforming into a liquid state. Likes modding herself into an aquatic dragon girl or with fierce sea monster traits. She’s something of a big sister to anyone around her, but very fiercely so. Romantically involved with Ash, but probably gives them noogies. Hyper hourglass body, absolutely massive bust. Even bigger hair! That side ponytail is to get it out of the way, really. For mutations, she often has the gills, sharp claws and tail of a Gyrados, the strong horns and tough shell of a Corsola, and the angelic wings of a Togetic. She likes any mutation or power that is water-related and cute, though.

May/Haruka: Endowed, and prefers a life of showmanship and performance to the battlefield, taking part in acts of daring choreography and bonding with Pokemon through art. Her choice of mods tend to include big wings, soft fur, a dextrous tail, and big digging claws, as well as hyper flexibility for really interesting possibilities in performance art. Generally thick, but with impressively hyper breasts. Generally goes for fire powers and avian legs from her Blaziken friend, but she’s also sported Beautifly wings, Venusaur vines, and the jaws of a Snorlax (With an appetite to match).

Iris: A brash, cocky and tough fighter doing her absolute best to prove herself worthy of being Endowed, and to this end she is constantly going on adventures to power up Sierra to the point that she’ll be happy to give Iris the gift of being Huge! As it is, Iris is already a pretty big girl, with absolutely ludicrous hair mods of astounding size, and immensely wide hips for a hyper pear shape. She favors dragon-themed mods, including transforming into a mash-up of different dragon Pokemon for dicey fights. Otherwise she prefers Dragonite wings, can turn her limbs into Excadrill weapons, and a lot of Garchomp power ups. Unlike some other Pokemon summoners, she’s fine using her homeland name among outsiders.

Serana: Not technically a trainer of any kind; she just has a hard-earned knack for getting the respect of Pokemon. An accomplished dancer and racer, she has declined the opportunity to become Endowed in favor of settling down on a fleet world somewhere. Until then, she is a valued member of a performance troupe. Slimmer than average for a thicc girl, but very fit and strong, and still bigger than humanly possible. She often sports the flame powers and fur of a Fennekin, Pancham jaws, and the ribbon-like tendrils of a Sylveon.

Lillie: Daughter of Lusamine, and possibly with no father at all, born of genetic cloning here. (Her canon dad DID raise her, though.) She harbors a deep terror of Pokemon after seeing the destruction they can unleash in their corruption, and to be fair, that is quite sensible. Nonetheless they are drawn to her, and she has been taught how to deal with them and relieve them from their pains. She has a very complicated relationship with her mother, and prefers not to deal with her if she can avoid it at all. Not Endowed herself, she lives off the fleet on one of their worlds, working at a quiet shipping company. Hyper pear shape-type figure! Very close to her Cosmog, which tends to be a floaty shortstack monster girl. Lillie herself often has a cosmic-looking body of black, gaseous substance glowing with starlike shapes. Should she have to power up for a fight, she can materialize the aspects of Lunala (large batlike wings and hard outer shell) and Solgaleo (spiky mane hair, huge claws, organic armor).

Hilda: A good-natured and somewhat BOOYAH type heroine, she is very obviously one of the Endowed, being much taller than any of the other trainer girls and having the absolute largest, most hyper thicc body of anyone of them. Her hair isn’t modded much, it's just really big. Older than any of the other trainers, she’s a mom-friend leader of the magical creature caretakers on the Fleet. Her taste in mods is a bit all over the place, and she favors pretty much any style of mod, with a lean towards raw athletic potential and destructive power. In general, her physical mutations lean towards Tepig tusks and legs, and the thick tail of a Serperior.

Other characters: Characters like Brock, Max, Tracey, Cilan, minor trainers of all sorts, and other characters that don’t seem instantly suitable to the ‘big girls’ nature of the AU. They are most likely all researchers and investigators into the resurgent Pokemon, with twists for their canon interests or expertise, and close to at least a few Pokemon friends: Brock, for instance, is likely a veterinarian for magical beings. They are likely to be in the Fleet, but it's most likely they are just living on its worlds as citizens. Originally part of the Smash Fleet, but headed off on their own after they merged with the MILF Fleet, settling down on various worlds the MILFs claimed.

We can’t forget the most important characters either: the Pokemon themselves. All Pokemon associated with the characters (such as on their teams in the anime) travel with their human friend pretty much full time, without really concerned about team number restrictions, as that’s not a factor here, with no real Elite Four or League questions arising. Some Pokemon may prefer to take a bit of a vacation at the various zoos where animals and beasts of the Fleet or Stingers are cared for, so that can be LIKE the whole ‘hanging out on the ranch’ deal.

Their personalities are pretty much as per canon; protectors are liable to be guardians and proactive fighters on behalf of their friends, the more calm like to sit back and do their own thing and avoid too much adventure, and the more inquisitive or bright might be doing science work. Pokemon in this AU are, fundamentally, people, even if they are eldritch spirit-beings.

GYM LEADERS

Gym Leaders, in this AU, are people who have a long-time expertise understanding Pokemon and working with them, as best they can. Ultimately this may not mean much, based on how dangerous a corrupted Pokemon can be, but they are by far much more experienced than anyone else in a practical sense. Professors are similar, with more interest in theory and research. Given the nature of the AU, they may not even have any connection to Pokemon at all, but be magical researchers in a broader sense pursuing their own investigations entirely. For the most part, assume that they are not connected to the fleet, but are independants, with some exceptions as noted below.

Erika: A motherly and hyper thicc woman (though not Endowed) with plant-like traits; her feet are roots, and flowers sprout from her bust. She enjoys working in the agriculture part of the fleet, using her bond with Grass Pokemon to understand how plants work and devise superior methods of growing crops.

Sabrina: An incredibly powerful psionic, to the point that she is periodically crippled by the intense pain her growing powers can cause her body. She has become Endowed and has gotten better at handling them, but her powers grow in proportion to her expanding body, and so she’s something of a glass cannon. Powerful, but not able to fight for long. Very fit and super thicc, but burns through her curves easily. Often has the big tail and whisker-things of the Abra line.

Whitney: A very big, curvaceous woman that runs a farm on the agriculture fleet ships, favoring Miltank-based mods; she’s effectively a superpower cowgirl at this point! Extremely big, strong, nad using the Rollout power to catapult herself at high speeds, she’s also become a contender in big time racing as well. Uses Miltank mods and LOTS of them; she’s had huge horns, hooves, a bovine tail, and sometimes multi boob when she feels like it.

Claire: Hyper hourglass traveling heroine, seeking out dragon Pokemon to save them from the corruption, often by besting them in physical combat. A hyper hourglass-type, she is incredibly strong, as befits her massive proportions, and bears many dragon-themed mods. Wings sprout from her back, her limbs end in fearsome claws, and her scaly skin resists damage like armor. She may even be able to physically transform into a dragon herself.

Roxanne: A studious, thicc researcher with an affinity for mods that make her more resilient and stonelike, and rumored to have actually spoken with the mysterious Regirock at some point. Sher certainly develops stony skin at times.

Flannery: Big-time hourglass with flame characteristics, and an enthusiastic prizefighter who can fight well against the Fleet’s best when they face off against her. She’s made use of various fire-like mods and strung them together so that she has awakened flame-themed powers by communing with her fire Pokemon friends. Sports a Torkoal shell, as well.

Lenora: A hyper thicc MILF; she’s a gentle soul who has opted to remain with the Fleet, intent on seeing legendary archeological discoveries with her own eyes. She is close with the Megido trolls, and forms a kind of team alongside them when they go to dig zones and ancient sites to explore or examine them. Her mods are mostly subtle (sub-dermal armor, hard nail-claws, enhanced muscles) but can be activated to enhance themselves and mutate for maximum effect. One of the main Pokemon characters of the AU! She can swell her tongue into a massive prehensile form like a Lickiliki, grow large Sawsbuck antlers, Braviary wings and talons, and the fearsome armor of a Kangaskhan mother.

Skyla: an explorer and ace fighter pilot, she enjoys traveling worlds with a small group of flying Pokemon she is working to fully counsel, and is friendly enough with the Fleet, though she finds them a bit wanton. She is thinking about signing up, maybe. Not much of a modder herself, she has still gone in for an unusual mod: built-in organic jet engines on her body, so she can fly on her own! Hyper hourglass, fit body type. She has multiple wings, the different sets various mixtures of avian pokemon (Swanna, Archeops, Braviary, and Mandibuzz), her arms can transform into the multiple limbs of a Drifblim, and she can sport fluffy feathers when she likes.

Olivia: A Fleet member with excellent reputation, a good-natured competitor who does her best to bring out all her opponents have to offer, she has bonded with her own Pokemon friends so well they can fight through her, fusing with her in order to battle effectively. She has innovated the Pokemon fusion techniques, to excellent effect. Hyper thicc, very tall, and Endowed as well. She’s got a wide variety of different mods to choose from, and her most common arsenal includes Armaldo claws and tail (with some armor mods based off them, too), Cradily tendrils, Gigalith spikes, and the jaws and fluff from a Lycanroc.

[mamavirtuemoir]

Stars on Ice, Hamilton

So as some of you may know I had the pleasure of going to the Hamilton SOI tonight and it was great.

I will try to recall as much as I can.  I did film a few things, but tried to stay in the moment as much as possible.  So that means that I am drawing from memory and there were a lot (a lot a lot) to take in.

I would like to preface my take on the night, by saying that I have been to multiple Worlds through the years.  One of which was the 2016 Worlds in Boston.  Besides being a huge Tessa and Scott fan for years, I have been a skating fan for even longer than both of them have been alive.  So to get to see so many world champions (and of course Olympic Champions) in one show was really something super emotional for me.

Some highlights 

Meagan and Eric’s program really got a huge response tonight.  With a well deserved standing Ovation at the end.  The memories of me cheering so hard for them in Boston and crying when the got gold came rushing back to me.  They were entertaining and fun.

Javier Fernandez was another skater I was lucky enough to see win gold in Boston.  His first program was a little shaky and had to have a retake at the end of the show.  But his second program was emotional and engaging.  Sometimes Javi seems to go for humor, this program went for depth.  I felt it for sure.

Gabby Daleman was shaky in her first program, but kill the Whitney number later.  

And Kaitlyn Osmond was welcomed in to the World Champions club by all the rest of the world Champs, which was sweet.  Her jumps are so powerful and magnificent.

Elvis was entertaining and botched his lutz and had to do another retake at the end. As did Jeffery Buttle.  He just feels every note and fills the program.  It is so clear why he is such a talented choreographer.

Weapo’s better program was definitely the Tennessee Whiskey program.  People seemed to like it.

On a side note, number that they did with Tessa was short but sweet.  I have decided that Tessa just makes everyone look better (by that I am not trying to say that Weapo looked bad without her - please don’t come for me).  She really does have something magical about her somehow. 

Patrick Chan... there is just no singles skater like him.  I always find him amazing, but every time I see him skate in person it reminds me how quickly I forget how much more he really is.  It just does not come across when you see him skate on TV.  His glide and flow is completely unmatched by anyone (so the chan-flation people can go stuff it).  It cannot be explained.  He covers so much ice in a few strokes and seems to gain speed during transitions.  He just makes me so emotional when I watch him skate live.  It has to be experience.  

Fields of Gold was another big moment - standing ovation again for the Gold medal winners.  

I also loved Meagan and Eric’s number with Patrick.  They final lift off ice was great.

Now Tessa and Scott...How can I even begin.  It was some night for sure.  Those two will have me emotionally drained and I still have to drive back home tomorrow for more than 8 hours.

First off - I posted the MJ program. It was fun and flirty.  In shapes of you, they were over the top as usual.  Scott’s mouth on Tessa’s shoulder and Tessa grabbing the nape of Scott’s neck.  You know --- Usual Standard Business Practice.  

There were are a lot of kisses and arm stroking.  Stolen glances and smiling.  I am hoping that people with better seats than I captured that.  The family next to me were discussing when they would get married, which I found funny.  Someone else mentioned to them that according to Scott they were not romantically involved.  The dad actually snorted and rolled his eyes.  I had to turn away, to stop myself from laughing.  

MR was everything I hoped for. This is the main reason I decided to make the long journey.  I wanted to get a chance to see some form of the the program live.  It is never the same on TV.  And it was worth the trip.  It was glorious.  

And the I will be found with the entire cast was also super emotional (it does not help that I just saw  Dear, Evan Hansen a few months ago -  and I ugly, snot bubble, cried at that show).

But as if my shipping heart had not already seized from all the PDA from Scott and Tessa all night.  They had to freaking go an do the whole get married stunt that still gets me wound up.  WHY DO THEY DO THIS? Scott could have just ignored it.  A person yelled it out, but it could have been ignored.  It was not so obnoxiously loud that it could not be ignored.  But NOOOOOO....... Scott ‘platonic skating partner’ Moir had to repeat the request with his microphone so that the entire arena could hear it too.  And then the sweet Tessa and captain of our ship had to pretend to kneel down.  I think I saw spots in front of my eyes.  Thank god I had the where with all to record some of that.  I actually had to rewatch that clip as I was leaving the arena just to make sure that actually happened.  They were out there to fill time, because they had to do some retakes for the TV recording.  

We got quiet a few retakes. The boys number was a bit of a mess the first time around so they had to do the whole thing over again.  I am not 100% sure what happened, but I think Eric got tangled up with the boom arm from the TV camera that was in the corner were I was sitting.

All in all - it was a glorious night.  I am so glad I took the time to come see it live.  There really is no substitute.

[silviasutton1989]

Open Your Heart to Me (Liamx Olivia RileyxDrake MaxwellXHana)

Author’s Note: I worked really hard on this one so I hope it comes through how I intended. Let me know what you guys think. If you clock on the bold words it will send you to the song they will be singing. It you want to read the chapter before THIS. @everythingchoices @choicesfanficlibrary if you would like to be tagged in later work just let me know!

Raiting: PG13

Summary: The gang has finally made it to the Karaoke bar but tension will be high.

"Oh My Gosh! We are here!!!!"

Maxwell's squeals wakes Riley from her thoughts. As the gang pile out of the limo they are greeted with loud music hardly stifled by the building which also holds a large purple and green neon microphone blinking above it. 

At the sight of all the people in the area Olivia speaks, "Surely they have private seating in this place." Her possession of Liam's hand has taken over to his full left side. Liam looks defeated as he keeps his focus in any other direction but Riley's.

Once they reach the front door Maxwell pulls the bouncer aside. 

"So um.. buddy how about we talk about a VIP area for a second."

With her friends preoccupied Riley reluctantly turns in Drake's direction as he is looking around the building.

"Can we talk?" She motions for him to move further out of Olivia and Liam's earshot, he obliges.

"Hey are you mad at me or something?" Drake leans into Riley's ear making sure she could hear him through the loud playing of "Living La Vida Loca". His voice and hot breathe near her ear sends chills down her body.

"Why did you do that in the limo Drake?" Riley crosses her arms and takes a cautionary step back from him.

"I thought you liked the way I touch you." A sly smile creeps upon Drake's face he closes in the distance between the two yearning to kiss her exposed shoulder but settling for simply grazing the area with his fingertips.

Riley exhales loudly and takes another step back.

"I don't like these mind games you play."

"Mind games?" Drake scoffs and look towards an unsuspecting  Liam. Olivia has whispered something in his ear and a full smile has taken over his face. "Or are you just upset that the Royal Highness is too busy to flirt with you at the moment."

"Stop trying to put Liam in this and stop trying to guess how I feel abut him! You tease me with these touches and looks and secret kisses just so I'll be the one who has to ask for more."

Riley and Drake are complete mirrors of each other, arms crossed eyes widen.

"Then you play this whole noble card leaving me to feel desperate and cheap. Saying "Oh we can't do this because Liam is my best friend and he is n love with you". Yet you don't mind sitting across from hi with your hand u my dress do you?! And I'm tired of it Drake I'm tired of playing this same game with you especially when your always the one with the upper hand."

"Oh so I'm the one playing the games? I'm the one who has the upper hand? Tell me something have you told Liam how you feel about me?"

Riley stammers, "Well...No-"

"Have you told him how you feel about him?"

"No but you know he's helping clear----"

"No right! Your just stringing him along till Beaumont's name is cleared. What's going to happen when he dumps Madeline and tries sticks a ring on your finger? Who will be strung along then Riley? Me or him?"

Riley takes a moment to respond the rise and fall of Drake's chest as he breathes told her his "games" we not to entertain him but to protect him.

"Drake I want to be with you... but.... it seems our issues aren't that we have to wait till the time is right. You don't trust me do you?"

Riley searches for an answer in his face, he quickly looks away.

"You make it hard to see where your priorities lie and you are the one playing mind games. With Liam, Maxwell, and Bertrand, is it so hard to think you maybe doing it with me too. It's really hard to trust you Sutton."

With those words piercing through her body, Riley walks away as she meets back up with the rest of the group Maxwell is all ready speaking with them.

"So let's go!!"

"We got a table?"

"Yeah Hana has been here for like 20 minuets already we are over there."

They reach Hanna who is waving frantically at the gang "Hey  guys the waitress is on her way. I've had two drinks all ready see"

Riley hurries to sit next to Hana at the end of the crescent shape table. As Olivia and Liam sit in the middle Olivia begins to stroke his hand again she whispers in his ear, "Liam you know I have terrible stage fright let's do a song together ok?" He leans in and whispers back to her "As you wish." They flip open the large binder and begin to look for a song.

The waitress appears to take orders.

"What can I get you all?"

"Whiskey neat" Riley and Drake call out at the same time

The table laughs at the coincidence everyone but Riley and Drake.

Maxwell waves at the waitress "How about a couple round of Jolly Ranchers for the table mam?"

In no time the drinks come and after a couple of terrible renditions of "I Like Big Butts" and Before He Cheats" play the hostess announce for Maxwell to come on up.

Maxwell quickly takes a shot and jumps up "Ok are you guys ready because " He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a handful of confetti and blows it over the table "IT'S SHOWTIME!" 

"Go Maxwell!" Hanna shouts. As the beat for Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" begins to play He quickly turns to Hana "hey how about we make this a duet?"

He extends his hand to her and as she takes it "Are you sure I'm not as experienced as you." As they walk to the stage he responds "No on is my dear. No one"

They begin to sing awkwardly at first but soon finding their own rhythm on which parts to sing.

"Awe aren't they ...cute" Olivia starts and she hands the waitress their selection to sing. "Are you not singing Riley?"

"Yes I am" Riley hands the waitress her selection while Olivia sets her sights to Drake "Looks like its just Drake huh?" she turns to Liam "and I thought I was the party pooper!"

Drake looks at the waitress who stands waiting for his selection. He hands her his empty glass "Keep them coming please"

After a couple of songs end, the hostess announces Liam and Olivia to the stand. The song "Nights with you" by Mo begins to play.

To calm Olivia obvious nervers Liam starts the song off looking directly in her eyes.

"Girl your gorgeous you know you might not always feel like it but you are." He picks up her chin with his fingers and and once it was her turn Olivia is  fully into the song signing only to Liam. 

"Lose Attention. Even though this world is mad and you feel out of control.

But your the best at When you let it off by banging your head and putting your hands up in the air.

oh babe Ill take you out tonight Don't care about your fiancee waking up alone!"

"Wow" Maxwell stares at the display in front of him mouth agape.  "She almost looks---"

"Human" Hanna laughs.

"I was going to say harmless but that's close enough."

They all chuckle lightly. All but Drake as his thought and focus has been solely on Riley who hasn't looked in his direction all night. 

By the time Liam and Olivia find their seats the third round of drinks have made its way to the table. Drake's liquid courage kicks in and in front of the whole gang he stands. "Riley can we talk?"

"Come to the stage Riley!!" announces the Hostess.

Riley walks past Drake and before she can make it on the stage she is stopped by the hostess.

"Hey hun look I know know you wanted that Bebe Rexha song "The Way I Are" but look I got you something better very close to Whitney just follow the words you'll be fine!"

Before Riley can respond she is on the stage a bright light blinding her. Somehow the only visible thing is Drake still standing watching her.

The song "How will I Know" covered by Sam Smith starts to play.

Riley looks at the hostess who gives her a thumbs up and points to the screen. She closes her eyes, she knows the words. This song is the whole relationship with the only man she can see see at the moment.

"Oh it's you I know your the one I dream of 

Look into my eyes take me to the stars above

Oh I lose control cant seem to get enough

When I wake from dream tell me is it really love

How will I know if you really love me?"

Once Riley gets enough courage to open her eyes Drake has disappeared.And she sees no one, nothing but the light before her. The crowd is quiet and she stumbles through the song ending with a forced smile and wet eyes. When she finds her seat back at the quiet table Maxwell begins.

"Hey Riley don't be embarrassed you were great up there." He reaches over the table and places a hand on hers

"Hmm it looked like she was about to cry if you ask me."

Liam nudges Olivia "Hey you were perfect right Hana" He scoots over and wraps his arm around Riley.

"Right I think you gave a whole new emotional feel to the song Like I really didn't hear the words until I heard you sing it like that."

Before Riley could say or move from Liam the hostess begins another announcement.

"We will now have Drake to the stage."

A clearly drunken Drake makes his way to the stage as the crowd claps softly. He finds Riley in the crowd and sees she is wrapped in the arms of Liam.

The music for Dancing on my Own by Calum Scott begins to play.

The table is silent as Drake begins to sing it is Hana who speaks. "I didn't know Drake could sing." No one answers her. 

"I'm in the corner watching you kiss him Ohh 

I'm right over here why cant you see me Ohh

I'm giving it my all but I'm not the guy your taking home

Ohh I keep dancing on my own."

Riley looks up at Drake his dark brown eyes piercing through her. She hasn't notice Liam's arm is no longer around her. She never heard him tell her he was leaving with Olivia . She hasn't even realized how rudely she said "No" when he asked her to come with them. 

Drake finishes his song and quickly leaves the stage. Riley starts to run after him when Hana grabs her arm.

"Hey are you leaving too? Your going to miss my rendition of "Fantasy". 

"You can do Mariah? You sure bout that you may need a backup singer don't want you to have to whistle through your high notes"Maxwell insists. 

"No I got this!" She places a hand in front of his face.

"So you leaving Riley?" 

"Yeah I think so I'm going to check on Drake. You all have fun!"

And with that she was off past the door spotting Drake climbing into a back of a taxi. He sees her and waits for her to get in before shutting the door. Madonna's Open Your Heart blasting through the building as they drive away.

[wellesleyunderground]

Wellesley in Art: Hannah Heller ‘09, Museum Educator (@museum_matters)

Hannah Heller is an NYC based freelance museum educator, and has taught and worked on research and evaluation projects in several cultural institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., Whitney Museum of American Art, El Museo del Barrio, the American Folk Art Museum, and the Museum of Arts and Design. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Art & Art Education program at Teachers College, and holds a MA in Museum Education from Tufts University. Her research interests include developing orientations towards social justice through close looking at art; she believes art can play an active and healing role, especially when addressing difficult topics such as race and racism in a group setting. Follow her on Twitter @museum_matters! Interview by Tiffany Chan ‘15, Arts Series Editor

Q: What is your ‘origin story’? How did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in the arts? In museums and education specifically?

I actually took a course my last semester senior year at Wellesley on “art museum issues,” which really opened my eyes to the inner workings of museums, and the prospect of museum work as a viable career.  

After graduating I did my first unpaid internship (out of about a thousand) abroad with an upstart website creating content on Israeli artists. While there I applied to museum studies MA programs and ultimately came back to Boston for my Museum Education MA at Tufts. It finally made sense to me why I was so drawn to the art history courses I had taken at Wellesley but for some reason didn’t excel at-- I was missing the personal connection, the humanity behind these objects, the “why” of the work. The more collections and audiences I work with the more certain I become about the power of art and my role in facilitating those experiences.

Q: What was your professional journey like? How did you get to this job?

After finishing my MA program I went to intern at Lincoln Center in NY with their guided tour program. The internship turned into a full time fellowship, which turned into a job and I ended up staying there for about three years advancing ultimately to manage their entire volunteer corps, part time staff, and summer interns. But after a couple years I realized that even though I was working super closely with our audiences in a customer service role, I was no longer doing work that felt as meaningful as anything I did as an unpaid intern working with the tour program and helping shape those prolonged, more educational experiences. I also found that I missed school a little bit, that I still had questions about the nature of my work that I wanted to research. So I quit and went back to school to get my Ed.D. in Art & Art Education at Teachers College, where I am currently finishing up my 4th year.

Being back to school affords me the opportunity to get back into freelance museum education work, and finally delve into and sharpen some of those questions I had related to practice, creating a really productive theory/practice feedback loop. I get to read all this theory, apply it to my work, see what works and what doesn’t, go back to the literature and sharpen some of those ideas, and try it all over again.

Q: What does a normal day look like for you?

Because I’m a freelance educator, and I’m also in school, every day looks like really different. But most days start with a morning school group tour at one of the museums I teach at (I teach at three), or at one of the schools that my museums partner with. Each of my museums coordinates several school partnerships, and will send educators like me out to the schools, and then invite the students to come to the museum a couple times-- I love partnerships because I get to know the kids so much better than I would on a one-off field trip. I love field trips too; depending on the museum, it’s either an hour-long gallery tour where we focus on maybe 3-4 art works and include lots of sketching and movement activities, or a tour plus art making workshop.

Then I clean up, and I might jump on the train and teach another tour/program at another museum, or go the library, do an observation for my research, or go to a coffee shop and do some curriculum writing/planning. What’s really fun about my job is at each of my three museums the exhibitions switch up every couple months, which means I’m always doing research on something new. I like to say that I know a little bit about a lot of different things. The switching up goes for the audience too; on a given day I could be in a kindergarten classroom, teach a tour to 9th graders, do some planning for a college internship program, and finish up the day doing a “VIP” tour at a corporate sponsor event.

And then I come home and shift into admin mode-- answer emails, respond to bookings, send some invoices, follow up with teachers, plan or collect materials for the next day, etc etc. I’m always carrying around a tote bag or two full of art materials.

One thing that helps clarify my job for other people is to explain that NYC is super unique in that people like me get paid (pretty well too, relatively) to do this work, whereas in a lot of other cities the work is done by unpaid volunteer docents. I can make $50-$150 an hour depending on the program (though of course I don’t work a 40-hour week at that rate!). I think that’s a gesture to the competition in this city, and the high standard for museum educational programming that that competition supports. It also means that a part time teaching gig typically requires a MA degree, 4+ years experience, etc etc, all these bonkers qualifications that can make it really hard to break into.

Q: What was your ‘eureka moment’ in wrestling with race and the art world? Or was it even a moment or rather a long process?

I point to Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson in the summer of 2014 as a turning point for me. Obviously it wasn’t the first time a Black person was extradjudicially shot by a White police officer, but it began to feel impossible for me to both witness the explosion of discourse in the media that his death spurred, the advent of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and also do nothing about it. My journey started with having conversations with friends and family about their reactions to Ferguson and subsequent shootings, which were often really uncomfortable and awkward.

It was particularly hard with my family; I notice a trend with a lot of people in my Jewish social networks, where so many Jewish Americans come from families where their grand or great grandparents came here with nothing after experiencing profound oppression in their home countries, and then were discriminated against when they got here, but then climbed the ladder, achieved the American dream, etc etc. So when you bring up discrimination against another group of people, there’s almost this knee-jerk reaction among older Jewish people I’ve spoken to be like, oh, don’t tell me about oppression, I get it. It was pretty shocking at the time, since I’d only known the privileges associated with being brought up in a close knit Jewish community, so for me it was like-- well all right, let’s take this history of oppression, and see if we can harness that experience towards alleviating current forms of oppression where we can. The more awkward it got the more it signalled to me how necessary these conversations are, particularly amongst White folks purporting to be “progressive” and liberal, but also can’t be bothered to really address these issues critically (ie  in a way that would address their own privilege).

Running parallel to these personal conversations was a field-specific awakening to our own equity issues, and lots of people have done amazing work to bring attention to racist hiring and curating practices, as well as cultural barriers to success for employees of color. The big question for museums has to be: how can we hold ourselves to treating our guests equitably if we can’t even treat our own fairly? Tackling diversity and equity issues in museum work has to have a multi-pronged approach, and I’ve sussed out my own little niche in this much larger conversation by examining the various techniques museum educators use to discuss race and other equity issues using objects as the catalyst.

More recently, my research is focusing on manifestations of whiteness in gallery teaching. I think centering whiteness in a conversation about anti-racism is important so that White people can first of all name it, critique it, and figure out what it means for them first as individuals and then as part of a system-- we can think specifically about museum education in these terms-- that on one hand acts as the oppressor but which can also be used dismantle the status quo. And the only way this happens though is if we ALL (managers, educators, curators, directors, board members) make a shift from conceptualizing our various roles as supporting a "culturally sensitive," or "multicultural," or perhaps just at a base level not-racist neutral stance, to being full on, explicitly anti-racist and anti oppression.

Q: How have other people responded to your writings?

So far so good! I’ll always be nervous as a White person to discuss this work publically; am I offending anyone, have I said something problematic, etc etc. But the bottom line is POC can’t do this work alone, and they put themselves out there every day just by existing, so writing the occasional journal article or blog post seems really like the least I can do.

Q: What are the best ways that we can start productive conversations regarding race and art?

Such a great question, and there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but in my experience as a museum educator, there’s some really simple, go-to tools in our educator toolboxes to help navigate these conversations authentically and productively. The question is about starting, and I like to start with the art. Gather some basic observations from the group, see where they’re at and go from there. Object based learning provides a really nice context for having conversations about difficult topics without it being explicitly about the people involved in the discussion. There’s a sense of safety there, where we’re talking about the artwork, not ourselves per se. I like to choose objects based on what aspect of a counter story to the dominant narrative they can reveal. This counter story can say something about the artist, the content, the subject-- something that reveals a turn away from the dominant (while, male, straight, cis, "able" bodied) canon. A lot of educators feel like they can't talk about oppression because their institutions' collections don't explicitly treat the topic (ie are made by and picture all White men). So pick an object and ask students to create narratives to fill in the gaps. Who isn't there? Why? What if the artist was working today in your neighborhood, what might look different? What if YOU were the subject-- how would you be represented? (I obviously take certain liberties when it comes to "respecting" the "intent" of the artist which some educators or managers may take issue with. So be it).

When problematic comments based on biases and assumptions do come up, and that’s where those educator tools come in. One tool I like a lot is inspired by Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), which is a student centered methodology for looking at art. Part of the method involves asking the question, “What do you see that makes you say that?” when a student makes a comment the includes an inference. So if a student says something like, “I think that painting looks weird,” you can respond by saying okay cool, what do you see that makes you say that, putting the onus on them to back it up. That being said, while we like to say there’s no right or wrong answers in art, sometimes we do get a problematic comment and my position is I don’t want to validate those, but I do want to turn it into a learning moment. So when that does happen, I’ll say something like, “okay, you’re making an observation based on a racial stereotype xyz; what do you see that makes you say that?” More often than not the student is forced into this “aha” moment of oh, I don’t really know why I think that, maybe I need to readjust my thinking.

Another tool we have is language. It’s our primary mode of teaching, and I think museum educators need to shift from thinking of verbal discourse as non-neutral terrain; it’s either helping or it’s hindering. I’m digging into this idea more in dissertation research, but my pilot data suggests that the more explicit educators can be in our facilitation of dialogue with our language, the more productive our conversations will be. So, for example, most museum educators paraphrase each student comment (or I think they should!)-- those paraphrases are great opportunities to insert appropriate language and vocabulary. In other words, we can keep our teaching student centered, without mirroring their biases.

Q: What are several steps that we can/should take to be better allies/educators within the arts world specifically?

Something I have observed is that not only is it really tough for POC to get through the doors and actually hired in meaningful museum positions, but also the culture of privilege, exclusivity, and whiteness that pervades museums makes it really hard to sustain POC in those positions should they get there. Museums have a problem with distinguishing between performing diversity and actually achieving equity. Cultural change needs to happen on every level of management, but it begins on an individual level, and requires a transfer of power. It just does. So whenever I see a job posting I post it right away in a job forum specifically for job seekers of color. I share my salary info. I recommend POC to positions. I’m super honest with my POC colleagues about which institutions/managers I know of who are supportive and progressive, and which aren’t. I’m not in a position right now to be hiring people or shifting workplace culture on a large scale, but I’ve worked hard to identify what power I do have and try and push the needle towards equity in the ways that I can.

But to all those managers out there, whatever your field, I encourage you to rethink the qualifications you use to hire, and the culture you create in your workplaces. I’m pretty obsessed with Nonprofit AF, a blog on inclusion in the nonprofit world and can recommend the following articles on shifting those practices:

Our hiring practices are inequitable and need to change

When you don’t disclose salary range on a job posting, a unicorn loses its wings

Basing pay on salary history is a harmful, borderline-unethical practice that we need to abolish

Why we need to end the culture of “Cultural Fit”

Q: Traditionally, introductory art history classes focus on works within the Western canon and there is a specific way that instructors analyze the works and that students remember the works. Simply put, these intro classes prioritize rote memorization of a very specific way about thinking about/talking about art. What do you think that institutions can do to change or amend the way we teach introductory courses to tackle issues of race?

Representation is key. At every moment of time in every place POC were making art, being represented in art, funding art projects, etc. It is a fallacy to suggest that like, all Classical art is of White people by White people. There were tons of POC Greeks and Romans hustling and making cool shit. I follow medievalpoc on Twitter, which is an account that highlights contributions by POC during the Middle Ages in Europe, an era we traditionally think of being exclusively White…  because that’s what we’ve been taught it was. Professors need to stop being lazy and seek out those opportunities to break out of the canon.

I think art history professors need to also address the circumstances contributing to lack of representation in the arts. Like, cool let’s study Jeffersonian architecture but if you’re not also talking about the Black enslaved people who built it then you’re doing it wrong.

For what it’s worth, I don’t mind the rote memorization. I sort of love knowing(ish) when a thing was made, or what museum I could find it in. In a weird way I find that information has served me pretty well. But if you’re going to make me memorize what year Stonehenge was made then you better also make me memorize the dates and provenances of those Dogon masks too.

Q: How have your teaching practices evolved as a result of grappling with this issue head-on?

I experienced a big shift in my teaching after collecting my pilot data during an interview with a POC educator and she said something I'll never forget. I was asking about her thoughts on the pedagogical role of discomfort (it was something I was big into at the time, problematizing discomfort in a field that prizes "soft" skills, emotional intelligence etc). And she was like yeah, I get it, some kids need to made to feel uncomfortable in order to shift their thinking, but for the most part (I'm paraphrasing her response here) I mostly work with POC students and to be honest I want to think about how to get them to feel comfortable in this space that traditionally doesn't feel safe or comfortable for them. How can I help make it feel like it's theirs too? She cited a Banksy quote, "art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” And since then I've really shifted my teaching to thinking about well okay, I'm clearly White -- these Black or Latinx kids do not need me to tell them about racism-- they live with it. Yes, I can facilitate the conversation if it's coming up for them, but if the students want to talk about color, or shapes, or what random stories or emotions are emerging from an abstract work or whatever I'm open to that too-- basically what's going to help these kids feel some ownership here.

That all being said, if it's a bunch of White kids from the suburbs or whatever, believe me they will be made to feel at least a little uncomfortable at some point during my tour. I see my role as someone who strives towards allyship as a White person to be someone who models what it looks like for a White person to talk about their own complicity, think about systems of oppression on both individual and systemic levels, and ultimately help students take the next step to think in terms of: what can I do?

Q: What is one thing that you wish the general public knew about the art world?

So many things! If I had to pick one I think I wish more museum visitors understood that the label text on the wall offers just one story, one way to interpret the work. It’s probably an interpretation guided by lots of curatorial research, precedence, art historical facts, etc. Which is all great and important, but those interpretations don’t take into account our own stories, our memories, associations, questions, problems, wonderings, etc etc. I encourage visitors to not even read the labels at first; who cares who made it-- just walk into the room and go up to the work that draws you in the most. What’s drawing you to it? Where do your eyes want to go? What knowledges can YOU bring to help you interpret its significance for YOU? A lot of people approach art like there’s one answer, but the thing is I’ve spoken to artists and nothing excites them more than observing visitors react personally to their work and see things in it that the artist never even saw themselves. At the end of the day the best art is art that offers endless entry points, and I wish visitors felt more empowered to make meaning in a way that makes sense to them, not the way dictated by others.

[doof-doofblog]

"God Help You!"

Friday 12th February 2021

Part 2

Hello again everyone! Hope your day has been going well so far! As mentioned in my previous post, this is the second blog following Friday's second episode. I am still planning on writing a blog every day this week in an attempt to catch up fully, if I'm correct, I should be up to date come Thursday's episode. But before we jump into the second episode, some EastEnders news was once again announced that I would love to share with you. Last night EastEnders announced that Brian Conely will be joining the cast as Sonia's long last Father, Terry Cant. We know that before Sonia left the Square, she appeared to be in distress - had she been searching for her Dad? With Sonia's return set to be in late Spring, Terry's arrival on the Square will also happen during Spring time. It's been revealed that the character of Terry is said to be charming, people-pleasing and making himself at home. The big question is how will Sonia react when her Father appears out of the blue? Has he been searching for her also? Either way, I'm super excited to see Brian Conely bring this new character of Terry to life! What do you guys think of the news?!

Now lets focus on Friday's second episode, so its plain to see that it's Valentines Day on the Square and the first people I'm going to mention is Keegan and Tiffany. It's been quite a while since we've seen these two. Can anyone remember when it was we last saw them? From what I recall it was when they revealed to Stuart and Rainie that they can't go through with being their surrogate. Since then, they've kind of been on the down low. Now it's been known that Tiffany is someone who loves getting expensive gifts, loves the lavish items and such - (To be fair now she's married to Keegan, that has since decreased), however it looks as if it's made no secret that she had been longing for a new handbag. At first, it's Stuart who mentions it to the young couple, acknowledging that she's not carrying a new bag, much to Keegan's confusion. Of course, trying to defend her husband she shrugs it off and claims that it's not important because they're trying to save their money. However, it looks as if Keegan notices and claims that if Tiffany really wants a handbag, then he will take her out to buy one! Only, later on when they return from their shopping spree, Tiffany and Keegan are sat in the cafe, Tiffany is gushing over her brand new handbag until Rainie appears, eager to see the bag that apparently Tiffany was so hopeful in getting, only when she sees the small pink bag on the table, she comments that that isn't the one that Tiffany originally showed her. Tiffany looks as if she wants the ground to open up and swallow her whole, poor Keegan is left completely humiliated. His wife tries to reassure him that she's happy with the one that he's bought for her, but it's clear to Keegan that his wife never said anything, because she knows he can't afford it. 

It's fair to say that both Keegan and Tiffany haven't had much luck since getting married - struggling for cash to make a living, trying to find somewhere to live on their own, life has been hard for the young couple. Keegan does all he can by making and selling sandwiches and of course Tiffany does all she can to support her husband, but it looks as if Keegan is getting fed up of being skint, not being able to spoil his wife and been made to feel like a waste of space. Later on, without his wife's knowledge, Keegan approaches Dotty at the club, asking whether there are any jobs going. At first, Dotty is concerned that he's even asking in the first place, seeing as he already has a business which gets him up early in the mornings, working till 3am in a bar serving drinks might not be the best idea to add on top of his working schedule. Regardless, Keegan still seems interested. Something tells me this is not going to end well for Keegan, will he end up making himself exhausted and working himself to the ground, just so he can spoil his wife? Who knows?! -- The next thing I need to talk about is Sharon, after the previous episode, she's faced with a huge decision to make. What is she going to do? Sell the Vic back to the Carter's or simply face the consequences of her and Phil's attack on Ian? As she's sat with baby Albie contemplating her next steps, Kathy approaches her, almost as if she's no longer interested in having a blazing row with her, she simply asks her that if Ian does eventually get in touch with her, to please let her know, to which she nods in agreement. As Kathy leaves peacefully, Phil approaches his ex-wife and they happen to reminisce about Dennis, suddenly Sharon drops the bombshell to Phil about what's happened with Linda. Of course Phil is absolutely furious to learn about Linda's threat and takes it upon himself to give her a visit, without Sharon's knowledge. As he arrives at the Carter's apartment, Linda at first doesn't seem phased by his presence, she's come to learn that Phil isn't as scary as he makes out to be. However, things get a little confusing when Phil asks her whether she's spoken to her children lately, what have her children got to do with anything? But as soon as Phil makes himself comfortable in their apartment, Linda feels the need to call her children. At first we see that Nancy is fine, but then when she tries calling her son, Lee, the phone just rings and rings without any answer, it soon becomes clear that Phil is threatening to harm Lee. As Linda begins to worry about her son, Phil shows her a picture of Lee on his phone, which was taken around an hour ago. Now I have to state that, as far as I know, Phil is not a killer, he has never killed anyone - only ever threatened a life to get something he wants. Threatening to harm Lee is plainly a warning to the Carter's to leave Sharon and the Vic alone, otherwise something will happen to their son! He makes the interesting point that they have no idea what it's like to loose a child, whereas of course both Phil and Sharon do! Of course, Linda isn't going to put her children's lives at risk, it look as if she receives his message loud and clear. 

Later on, Phil returns to the pub with a little teddy bear in hand for Albie. He informs Sharon that she has nothing to worry about and that Linda is going to be off their case. Little Albie is in his playpen next to Phil, as Sharon is thankful to Phil for helping her, it looks as if their relationship and feelings for each other as slowly reappearing. Sharon leaves the room very briefly to take a call, leaving Phil alone with her young son. This particular moment really moved me, considering the history he has with the small child - neglecting him after finding out that he biologically wasn't his. Placing the small teddy in the young boy's playpen he interreacts with the infant, smiling and laughing speaks very softly "Dennis would have loved you!" - Almost on que, Sharon walks in to hear Phil bonding with her young son and acknowledges the possibility of Dennis enjoying being an older brother. Phil then does something which genuinely surprised me, he apologises for the way he treated young Albie when he was first born, to be fair, it was completely understandable - he was led to believe the youngster was his, his heart was broken when he found out the truth, he seems to have another sense of thought - that Albie is Dennis's half-brother, regardless of who Albie's biological Father is, he's someone important to Dennis. Both Sharon and Phil look as if they've come full circle, could there be a possibility that they're both wanting to rekindle their romance?! -- The third thing I have to mention is Whitney and Kush, with it being Valentines Day and both of them being single, they agree to have a "Housemate Date" where they just watch a good action movie, with pizza and beer, no roses or hearts or rings or anything of that kind! What better way to spend Valentines Day if you don't have someone to celebrate it with? However, as their day progresses, all sorts of unpredicted lovey-dovey things begin to happen. Firstly, Jack leaves a bunch of flowers on Kush's stall after being rejected by Denise, as Kush grabs hold of them to possibly throw away, he turns to see Whitney standing behind him, much to her surprise - of course they laugh it off! The second thing is when they're chatting away on the Square with Bernadette, who's happily eating a packet of sweets. As they're discussing what alcohol and snacks to grab for their movie night, Kush hollers Bernie to share out her sweets, as she chucks them over, Kush misses the catch and they fall out all over the floor. The three of them pick them all up but as Kush does so, without even realising from the looks of things, he picks up a Haribo ring and attempts to pass it to Whitney as she stands up - almost looking as if he's proposing to her - once again, they laugh it off! It's ironic but somewhat funny! These two minor signs were just the beginning of what was to come in the evening, almost as if the universe was trying to tell them something. It truly was a mate-date gone wrong. 

Later on as they get ready for their movie, as Kush flicks through all the channels on the TV, every station is playing something romantic, to which he responds with putting on a DVD that has action, fire and guns! The funny thing also is that when their pizza arrives, the pepperoni is only decorated in the shape of a heart! Both Whitney and Kush cannot believe how their day has turned out, plus the last thing to top if off, the electrics all blow in the house, causing them to light some candles. As they contemplate the day they have both had, it looks as if they're both sharing the same thoughts. Should they listen to the signs that the universe is obviously trying to tell them? As almost as if it was written in the stars, Kush and Whitney begin to kiss and get intimate. Unfortunately, the one thing that crosses my mind - Gray! We know that Kush is going to be leaving soon and Gray has already approached Whitney about his feelings towards her, if he finds out about her night with Kush, he is not going to be happy! I feel as if he'll think if he can't have Whitney, no one can! Will Kush possibly be Gray's next victim? Simply out of jealousy?! As much as I love Kush, I worry for his character now - I've always hoped that they would keep the door open for him to return one day, what do you think?! Do you think it's possible that Kush could be Gray's next victim?! Will he maybe be able to fight against Gray? Or will Gray simply warn him or blackmail him in some way to stay away from Whitney and potentially leave Walford?! --

The final thing I have to mention is Denise and Lucas. After learning the truth about his daughter's intentions and how she really feels about him, it looks as if Lucas had done another vanishing act. Both Denise and Chelsea are fretting, claiming if Lucas isn't around to do the job that needs to be done, Caleb could come for them. Chelsea then states that it simply has to be her, because if the job isn't done, she'll be dead! Of course Denise doesn't want her daughter to put her life at risk for someone who is clearly very dangerous, especially when it means drug trafficking and running the risk of being caught and being sent to prison! Denise realises that they actually need Lucas, as much as it sickens her to say it, in a desperate attempt to find Lucas's whereabouts, she visits Pastor Lawrence at the church, asking for help or even information as to where Lucas could be. She claims that he needs to be found as they need him, more than they actually realised, whereas the Pastor seems reluctant to give her any information, Lucas appears from another room, as if he's listened to every word she's said. The Pastor decides to leave them to it and have their discussion, it's then that Denise informs Lucas that if he's really wanting to do the right thing, to put his family first, he needs to step up and do this job for Chelsea, otherwise it'll be her life on the line, she'll either end up dead or in prison. Would he really want his child to go through what he has been through? 

I love the way Denise talks to Lucas, I don't know what it is but she certainly has a way of talking to him, using the right words to make him understand what needs to be done and how desperate they are for his help, to save their daughter. Later on, Denise returns home and Lucas slowly follows, it looks as if Denise's words have sunk in to him. He's come to realise the seriousness of the situation and how much he is actually needed. He reveals that he will go to Ibiza to deliver the drugs, he attempts to sound a little optimistic, claiming that if all goes well and to plan, he'll get a nice holiday out of it. But when Chelsea drops the scenario if it doesn't go to plan, what is going to happen then? Lucas looks as if he's lost for words, but as sad as it sounds, he reveals that it won't matter. He claims if he hasn't got his daughter, there's nothing left for him on the outside world, so his life won't matter. He's basically putting his life before hers - which is something a Dad should do! He's finally stepping up, he's doing this for his family, for his daughter, to keep them safe! Part of me does believe that Lucas has changed, I'm unsure where this storyline is going to go - but I'm hoping everything goes to plan. Even though Lucas has a very dark side, I have to be honest, I have always loved his character, I find him so interesting! I'd be gutted if they were to bring him back, just to kill him off! As Chelsea thanks both her Mum and Dad for helping her with her situation, Denise warns her ex-husband that their daughter's life is in his hands and he needs to make sure everything goes to plan, if not - things could look very bad for the Fox family! 

Overall a really good episode! I apologise for this post being late, but I'm eager to make sure I get completely up to date by Thursday! Thank you all for reading! I'm really looking forward to finding out what happens next! Please feel free to leave me a comment or a message, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thank you again everyone! Enjoy the rest of your day! Love you all xXx

[tamanzio]

Letters in the sea… Frankenstein

All the letters at the beginning of the novel are written by a 28 years old man called Robert Walton. He is in a voyage of discovery towards the North Pole in the 1700 and he writes for his “beloved sister” (as he refers to her) Margaret. In this letters, Robert tells her about how lonely he feels, his lack of friends and his ambitious to get to “the land of mist and snow”. For the first 14 years of his life, he read nothing but his Uncle Thomas’s books of voyage what made him being passionate and very enthusiastic for the dangerous mysteries of the ocean, and explore the unvisited areas of the Earth. What encouraged him to write the letters was the needed of tranquillizes his mind and his heart which “glows with an enthusiasm which elevates him to heaven” and also that all the books that he read with ardour in his early years from his Uncle’s library which were about voyages made for purposes of discovery, made him dream about this expedition. His main objective is discover a passage near the Pole but also he may discover the secret of magnet or regulate a thousand celestial observations to render their seeming last forever. Along the different letters we can see that the emotions of the writer are more or less the same. In the first one, written in Russia, he was curious with the sight of a part of the world never before visited and was frightened of danger or death, but instead of that he started his trip with joy. On the second letter, appears the deepest feeling he could have, loneliness. He wants to have a friend to participate in his joy when he is completely enthusiastic of success, to have a company of a man who could sympathize with him, who could repair his faults. On the third letter, unlike the others, we can see a peaceful Robert, no incident had happened to him and his men, and he is very secure about the voyage, he has no fear. Finally, the fourth letter, which had been written in three parts, doesn’t explain much about Walton’s feelings, but it tell us about a stranger that his sailors found on a sledge which had drifted towards them in the night on a large fragment of ice. It seems to be that the stranger is finally the friend that Robert was looking forward to have in the second letter.

I think that the reason why the writer decided to begin the novel with a letter-format is to make the reader feel as one of the character of the story, to make us feel more involve with the reading. Also I think that they will be very important for the story, like they give us, some relevant information about previous events that we must know to understand better the novel.

The main scientific discoveries that were made in the 1800s were:

1. THE COTTON GIN

Eli Whitney’s, with his cotton-picking machine capable of producing twenty bails of cotton for every one produced by slave labor, he made slavery economically unfeasible as well.

2. PHOTOGRAPHY

Up to the 1840s people could be photographed as they really appeared: dour, unsmiling, grainy. Plus, by the 1890s the first motion picture cameras had been introduced, showing people as they looked when they moved about in the cheerless century as well.

3. ELECTRICITY/LIGHT BULB

Clearly, the advent of electricity in the waning years of the nineteenth century had an enormous impact on society, for it not only reduced the fire danger by replacing gas-fed street lamps with non flammable electric light bulbs, but paved the way for everything from the television and the radio to the refrigerator.

4. IRONCLAD SHIPS

The replacement of sail and wooden ships with great behemoths belching smoke and wrought in riveted iron. So swift and complete was this transformation that by the end of the century sail was considered a quant anachronism while even the smallest freighters were being built out of metal and powered by massive steam-engines. Its impact on warfare was even more immense, with Trafalgar-like battles between scores of ships of the line spewing cannon balls at each other from a few hundred feet apart being replaced by metal monsters hurtling shaped charges at each other from miles away.

5. THE RIFLE

Though the cannon had been around for centuries, it wasn’t until the mid-nineteenth century that the firearm really came into its own to become the epitome of cutting edge technology for its era. First was the advent of rifling, which improved both accuracy and range; then it was the invention of the cartridge, which did away with powder and flints and made it possible to increase the rate of fire exponentially; and finally it was the advent of breech loading, which made it possible to load a rifle or cannon from the back rather than from the front.

6. THE STEAM ENGINE

Though steam as a means of power had been first experimented with by the ancient Greeks and Romans thousands of years ago, and the first experimental steam engines had been manufactured as early as the late seventeenth century, it wasn’t until the turn of the nineteenth century that it became the truly practical energy source which was to ignite the industrial revolution.

7. THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

While steam remained the primary power source throughout the century, by the end of the 1880’s its successor, the internal combustion engine, was making its first appearance, both in the form of the gasoline powered four-stroke engine and the more efficient diesel engine. Though both were not yet developed enough and remained largely underpowered during the waning years of the nineteenth century, they were to lay the foundation not only for the ultimate demise of the steam engine, but for a number of industries people at the time could only imagine: the automobile, the airplane, and even the five-speed, multi-level adjustable lawn mower. Plus, despite all the bad press fossil-fuel powered engines get nowadays, they produced a hundred times less pollutant than coal-fed steam engines.

8. THE TELEGRAPH

The telegraph was developed independently in the United States by Samuel Morse and his assistant, Alfred Vail, in 1837.

9. THE TELEPHONE

Alexander Graham Bell patented his “electric telegraph” in March of 1876, it was not only a reality, but was to forever change the world.

10. THE LOCOMOTIVE

First appearing in the United States in 1829 with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s Tom Thumb demonstration locomotive, by the middle of the century literally hundreds of engines were operating in the country and by the end of the nineteenth century, the entire nation could be crossed by rail in a matter of days. It could truly be said that in many ways, it was the locomotive that made America what it was and is today.

[musicgoonmail]

Wedding Cake

In This Edition

In this week’s edition, I share my most recent interviews, reflect on Instagram turning 10, and write on what I’ve been enjoying in entertainment. As always, I share what’s new with my book reviews and point you to the all of the new free eBooks around the web.

Even though the Southern California heat does not cool down, it is starting to feel like the Fall season in my mind. I think it shows in these longer newsletters that I love to write. Don’t forget that you can always let me know what you think simply by replying to this email. Thanks for spending your weekend with me here.

Interview: "Stop Taking Sides" with Adam Mabry

Instagram Turns 10

Godly Wisdom

Book Reviews

Free eBooks for October

More Free eBooks for October

Extended Play

Lightning Links

Playlists

Coming Soon

Weekly Review

Interview: "Stop Taking Sides" with Adam Mabry

Earlier this week I went LIVE on Instagram to interview author and Pastor Adam Mabry about his book "Stop Taking Sides." It was an encouraging conversation and I'm thankful for the opportunity. We talked about his book, his writing process, and publishing with The Good Book Company. He also gave some tips to writers. You can watch our interview on IGTV or listen on Spotify and Podcasts.

I have been interviewing my pastors and members at my church with my Walnut Commentary, Walnut Notes, and Unikoi Questions podcasts. It is a joy to serve our congregation in this way. Starting at SOLA Network and growing Dive In Dig Deep has allowed me to interview a wider group of people. On my website, I made a working list of the interviews I've conducted. I hope to get to do a few more before the end of the year.

Instagram Turns 10

Instagram turned 10 this week. As hidden features, they brought back the classic icons and added a private map and archive of your stories from the past three years. To access the icons, click on your profile icon on the bottom right corner, click the hamburger menu on the top right corner, click on the settings menu, and do a long swipe up. For the private map, click on your profile icon on the bottom right corner, click the hamburger menu on the top right corner, click on the settings menu, and click on the archive.

Instagram is, probably, the app that I spend the most time on. While it's afforded me a lot of fun, I know we can't deny that it is still dangerous. In a recent newsletter, tech writer Casey Newton spoke with Bloomberg’s Sarah Frier. He asked: "Of all the changes made to Instagram since then, which do you think has had the biggest consequences?" She answered: "The crucial change was the addition of stories. We usually think about it in terms of its significance from a competitive standpoint — like Instagram vs. Snapchat. I think it's actually more significant from the standpoint of Instagram recognizing that the immense pressure that people have to perform on Instagram, and portray their lives a certain way, is actually bad for growth. The anxiety that goes into deciding whether something is Instagrammable actually made people post less. Since they introduced stories, they’ve taken away some of that pressure. That’s what really brought them down their path to a billion users, and the ensuing conflicts with Facebook over whether they would cannibalize Facebook's success."

Even though Frier states that stories has taken away some pressure, I think there is still a performative aspect to sharing stories. We're crafting our image, creating our persona, and it doesn't always align with reality. And the dangers are more than what we create. It also includes what we consume. We can get jealous, greedy, assume the worst, and judge others. There's also the dangers of pornography and lust, emotional attachment and sliding into DMs for inappropriate relationships.

I have two points to make after sharing on this. First, I hope to reawaken us to the reality of the platforms that we use. To think of them in a sober way and to stay safe. Second, I want to remind us that our true selves aren't always reflected in what we share. I hope to show a better glimpse of my heart here in this newsletter, and I'll do my best to keep it real.

Godly Wisdom

I made another short sermon excerpt video for my home church, FCBC Walnut. I trimmed a clip from our youth pastor Kevin, grabbed a photo, added some effects, and made some music. Can you guess what song I played? Here is the main point: “Godly wisdom should move you to work towards future goals, hopes, and dreams while surrendering everything to the good and perfect will of God.” You can watch the excerpt on YouTube and IGTV.

October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and I took the opportunity to record a 2-minute video to thank our pastors. You can watch it on YouTube and IGTV. And in the most recent episode of our Walnut Women podcast, my friend Leslie asked Regina, Meryl, and Vanessa - who are pastor’s wives: “How can the church love and encourage the pastors and their families?” You can watch the 9-minute clip on YouTube and IGTV, and catch the entire 40-minute interview on YouTube.

Book Reviews

This week I published a total of 6 reviews. There was a good variety, including a book of articles compiled from Christianity Today through the years on American Evangelism and political engagement, some classic Christian books, a festschrift to Don Whitney (author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life), and Crossway's Unfolding Grace (with the accompanying Study Guide).

Unfolding Grace

Study Guide Review: Unfolding Grace

Grace and Glory by Geerhardus Vos

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

The Spirit of Holiness

Dual Citizens

Free eBooks for October

Monergism added two new eBooks this week: Assurance to All the Heirs of Promise: Sermons on Hebrews 6:18 by Thomas Manton and The Balm of the Covenant Applied to the Bleeding Wounds of Afflicted Saints by John Flavel. 

Ligonier is offering for free the Luther and the Reformation video teaching series with R.C. Sproul and the ebook edition of The Legacy of Luther edited by R.C. Sproul and Stephen Nichols. And to further celebrate Reformation month, you can also stream the Luther Documentary for free.

Monergism: Assurance to All the Heirs of Promise: Sermons on Hebrews 6:18 by Thomas Manton

Monergism: The Balm of the Covenant Applied to the Bleeding Wounds of Afflicted Saints by John Flavel

Ligonier: The Legacy of Luther edited by R.C. Sproul and Stephen Nichols

More Free eBooks for October

This week, DesiringGod featured This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence. It is available to download for free as a PDF on their website. I consider it one of my top reads on marriage and I highly recommend it. The free eBook for the month of October from The Good Book Company is Time for Every Thing? by Matt Fuller. In this book, Matt Fuller shows how following Jesus frees us from the tyranny of the to-do list. 

The October issue of Ligonier’s Tabletalk Magazine is on Covenant Theology, and this issue seeks to help readers better understand covenant theology by exploring its basics and the many ways it applies to the Christian life. The October issue of the 9Marks Journal is about Learning from Scripture and History on Pastoring in Political Turmoil. The October issue of Credo Magazine looks at the Nicene Creed and the doctrine of the Trinity. The Fall edition of The Master’s Seminary Journal opens with an editorial on how their new direction will be focused less on popular-level articles and more on academic papers. Check out the list below for more free recent reads.

The Good Book Company: Time for Every Thing? by Matt Fuller

Tabletalk Magazine: Covenant Theology

The Master’s Seminary Journal: Fall 2020

9Marks Journal: Learning from Scripture and History on Pastoring in Political Turmoil

Credo Magazine: The Nicene Creed

DesiringGod: This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence

The Gospel Coalition: 250 Theological Essays

Crossway and 9 Marks: How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics?

Crossway and 9Marks: Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church by John Onwuchekwa

The Gospel Coalition: 9 Free eBooks by D. A. Carson

Extended Play

Jess and I are having fun watching "Halloween" movies that aren't really Halloween movies. We watched A Bug's Life (because bugs are creepy) Monsters Inc (because monsters), Monsters University (because monsters again), and Beauty and the Beast (because of Beast). 1991's Beauty and the Beast is a classic, and rightfully so - the animation is beautiful and the songs are made for Broadway. It holds a special place in Disney history, and you can read about it on Wikipedia and watch the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty on Disney+ for your own insight and entertainment.

The podcast that impacted me the most this week was the Ask Pastor John episode: Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online? Today more than ever, Christians have access to a wealth of faithful Bible teaching online. So, why do we need to read the Bible for ourselves? Here is my takeaway quote: "Perhaps at the bottom of the problem is that our friend has so completely intellectualized his faith that the only category in which he thinks, the only category that’s going to profit him, he thinks, is the category of verbal explanation. There are a lot of people who think about sermons that way. They just think, “I need to know; I need some more information, some more explanation,” rather than also the heartfelt exultation that a lover has in reading the very words of his beloved."

Throwback: Trials are Tests

Article: Bach: A Theologian at the Workplace by Jonathan Camire

Podcast: Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online? by John Piper

Movie: Beauty and the Beast (1991)

TV: Community

Book: The Gathering Storm by Albert Mohler (Thanks, Endora!)

Music: Wedding Cake by Damien Jurado

Lightning Links

These quick hits are exclusive to my newsletter readers. Some struck immediately before writing this newsletter. I don’t necessarily endorse the positions or lives of these authors. Some may contain sensitive language. I find them all extremely interesting.

Instagram Turns 10: How the App Helped Democratize Art

‘High School Musical: The Musical: The Series’ sets surprise holiday special

The Problem with the Inconsequential Quest

Asian Americans most likely to live in multigenerational homes. How Covid has taken a toll

Kelly Marie Tran on Why Quitting Social Media Was Her Best Decision Ever

Jiayang Fan’s Grub Street Diet: Jiayang Fan Misses Chinatown’s Muscadines “They’re like a summer-camp boyfriend. By August you think, I’m gonna have to part with you soon …”

Playlists

MUSICGOON: 7 songs I enjoyed this week.

SVRGNLA: Jess and I love these songs.

ETJ: Music that inspires my band.

DIDD: A crowd-sourced worship playlist.

TGIF: SOLA Network friends and faves.

This is FCBC Walnut: The songs we sing at church.

Coming Soon

I’m finalizing some lyrics to a new original worship song I want to sing at church soon, and I’m trying to squeeze some remote recording worship covers in with some friends before the end of the year. 

I have some BIbles and children’s books arriving soon for reviews, and several Christmas books are also starting to be sent out. But before Jess and I start getting ready for Christmas, we’re excited to get Linus and Ark dressed up in their Halloween costumes.

Weekly Review

SOLA: Justin Giboney’s Both/AND Politics / When God Chooses Not to Give You Children / Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online?

TGIF: This I Believe (The Creed) / Stream the Luther Documentary for Free / Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online?

Book Review: Unfolding Grace

Book Review: Grace and Glory by Geerhardus Vos

Study Guide Review: Unfolding Grace

Book Review: The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

Book Review: The Spirit of Holiness

Book Review: Dual Citizens

Recommended Reading: Forgiveness Is Spiritual Warfare / The Church Is You, So the Church Will Be Like You / Folding Singles into Family in the Life of the Church / Sisters, You Have Permission to Lead an Ordinary Life

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 29 Week 2: Y’all Already Starting to Piss Me Off

So listen. Tyra is not perfect. Tyra is not making this show bad. Tyra did NOT yell at Derek. Like anyone else, Tyra is finding her footing. Tom, Lisa, Samantha, Brooke and Erin all had to do that. And they were all granted the ability to learn and get used to it (not really Lisa since they dropped her after season 1). And damnit, y’all will give Tyra that same opportunity. Also, let’s talk about this “yelling” situation. I have seen enough comments and I just know people are going to write articles about that bullshit. Stop. What is different between when Tyra told Derek to hurry up and when Tom was telling all them judges to hurry up every week? They used the same exact tone of voice and same volume. So again, what’s the difference. Anyone saying that she yelled, why? Why do you say that? Be honest. What is the difference? I just told you all that it was delivered similarly. So what is it? Is it the recipient? Instead of it being an elderly man, it was a young and attractive white man? Or is it the fact that Tyra is a Black woman and Tom is a white man? Ask yourselves that. I don’t wanna have to get on here every week, mad, and have to address things like this because people are being stupid racist. But I will if I have to. Trust that I will. You don’t have to like her, but be fair. Some of these critiques are not fair at all.

Anyway, I thought the intro was cute. It was a nice way to remind everyone that there was an elimination tonight while being fun and allowing Tyra bring a little more of herself to the table. As for the show, it was very meh. A lot of wtf scores were given out. The elimination was bs in my opinion. And most of the dances were mid. So with that said, let’s just get this ranking started.

1. Kaitlyn and Artem- They got the highest score of the night (a 22) and I think it was well deserved. Last week I talked about how soft and pretty she moves and how it’s something that I don’t like in Latin? Yeah, well this week, it worked perfectly for this foxtrot. It always does. Kaitlyn’s lines were gorgeous and she was incredibly graceful and elegant. There were a couple of iffy moments in there though I wasn’t able to quite catch what happened. The camerawork was kinda sloppy tonight. I think she may have slipped which makes me think that the floor was pretty slick tonight as many people slipped. But yeah, she had a great showing.

2. Nev and Jenna- This dance was the most shocking of the night to me. I’m a Nev believer now. He’s got what it takes to go far. Now his dance was slightly awkward in my opinion. He danced really high tonight. Some of that may come from his shoulders, but some of it felt like he was just lifting his entire body up unnaturally. It was strange. But other than that, he’s actually a lot better than I expected he would be in Latin. As far as the whole Jenna situation goes that was revealed recently, I don’t know y’all. I just can’t get behind them. But they’re good.

3. AJ and Cheryl- Right now, AJ is the best mover of the men. I say that cautiously because there are two more who might be better once they really get settled into the competition (more on them later). I thought this foxtrot was really good. AJ was elegant. And he actually leads Cheryl pretty well. My big issue with this dance is actually kind of petty But it was that I wanted him to close his mouth. It was wide open for most of the dance and it really bothered me lol. I know I know. I thought they did a great job though. I wish they would have been scored properly. He should’ve gotten a 21.

4. Jeannie and Brandon- I waffled back and forth between Justina and Jeannie for this spot. I ended up going with Jeannie though because I though Brandon’s choreography was better than Sasha’s. Jeannie was much improved from last week. She had a lot more hip action and she was more controlled. As Bruno said, she needs some more polish and she still needs to reign in her energy a bit more. But she is definitely one to watch. As far as the score goes, bogus. She should’ve gotten at least two 7s. She didn’t trip and the judges said she improved. So that should’ve translated into scores.

5. Justina and Sasha- I just realized that I don’t really care for Sasha’s foxtrots. This dance was nice and pretty. Justina performed it well. But I was left feeling kinda whatever about it. I’m sure the singers had something to do with that. Sorry to Whitney and Mariah. That vocal was atrocious and I honestly couldn’t even focus on the dance the first time around because they were so bad. Anyway, Justina has issues with her turns, but otherwise, she’s still a contender.

6. Skai and Alan- From the score that these two got, you would have thought that this dance was a complete disaster. But it was far from that. A samba in week 2 rarely goes over well. The rhythm, technique, bounce and hip action needed are all very complicated to put together this early in the competition. It should be done no earlier than week 3. With that said, I think Skai did a pretty okay job. She did slip but it was one moment that she recovered from. I think the floors were very slick last night because quite a few celebs stumbled. Straight 5s were just really low considering the fact that the rest of the dance went fine and many other celebs that had worse dances than her scored similarly or higher.

7. Johnny and Britt- The choreography was very interesting and I have to really commend Britt for what she came up with. It was really dynamic and just very intriguing. Unfortunately, Johnny struggled a bit. He seemed to have issues keeping up and I’m not quite sure what made that happen. He also just seemed a little clumsy throughout the dance. I do think it’s a confidence thing and once he really starts to believe that he is capable of doing this, that he will truly blossom. He is one of the two male celebs that I think has the potential to be a better mover than AJ. 

8. Anne and Keo- I can’t remember if I said this last week, but I think Anne is the actual dark horse. She’s doing alright. She’s going to get better. She has a very endearing personality. And her partnership with Keo is one of the best this season. The judges were right in their assessment of all that energy in Anne’s upper body (specifically her shoulders) and that it needs to be calmed down. Other than that, I’m enjoying these two together and I can’t wait to see what they bring next week.

9. Nelly and Daniella- Nelly is the other male celeb that I think can be a better mover than AJ. The reason that he’s not right now is that he’s just not fully letting go. That’s not saying that he’s not committed to doing the show. He clearly is. I mean his technique and his attention to the smaller details should make that crystal clear. But I just think he doesn’t want to look goofy. Him getting custom made dance shoes that look like Jordans (genius by the way) revealed that. But to be honest, he will never look goofy. Once he loosens up some more and lets go of the image he wants to uphold, I think he will shock a lot of people. Also let me give kudos to Daniella for meeting him where he’s at and working with him so well. She is doing a great job so far.

10. Jesse and Sharna- I did not understand the score this dance got or the praise that was heaped on it at all. I don’t think it was worthy of 7s. I think he should’ve gotten the same score as Monica. He wasn’t smooth and his posture was bad. His technique also wasn’t great. I do see he’s good at leading, but that’s really it. I didn’t see what the judges saw. It was forgettable and not great. It wasn’t bad, it was just very meh.

11.Vernon and Peta- Something about Vernon’s costume felt very off. I don’t want to call it amateurish because the costume department is usually very very good at their jobs (the best along with makeup). But that costume? Yeah well, it happened. As for the dance, I didn’t start out liking it, but as it went on, I enjoyed it more. Vernon settled into it and gave a very respectable performance. Now the issue was that his shaping was off. His butt kept going further and further out. He also dances kind of small and for such a large man, he can’t do that. They’ll be fine for now. I just can’t wait for Vernon to have his breakthrough. He is definitely a diamond in the rough.

12. Chrishell and Gleb- I did not like this dance at all and I have to blame that all on Gleb. What Chrishell did was fine for the most part. But Gleb gave her very little content and the choreo was just strange. It honestly just didn’t make sense. Idk. I feel bad because Chrishell had some goregeous lines and some nice movement in that dance (even if she lacked hip action). I can see how much potential she has. But I just don’t think Gleb is going to be able to pull it out of her.

13. Monica and Val- These two are a non-event for me. Monica isn’t doing anything wrong. I like her fine. I actually think she’s a cool person and would be willing to sit down and hang out with her. But this dance was strange. The set was odd. I don’t understand what that was about. Their costumes made no sense either. The choreo felt aimless. And then Val added in that unnecessary lift. Listen, I get taking risks to try and a big splash. Sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice the scores in order to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. But that risk has to actually mean something. What was the purpose of that lift that he added? It did nothing for the dance. It was just there. And Monica is not someone who can sacrifice points at this time. I do think that she’s in the danger zone and if they don’t really make a splash, they could be eliminated soon.

14. Charles and Emma- I liked Charles’s dance this week. He improved a lot and I don’t think he should’ve been eliminated. Based on what we saw, I felt as though he had more in him than Carole has in her. It just is what it is. It frustrated me that for the second season in a row the first person eliminated was actually better and showed more promise than the person that was saved.

15. Carole and Pasha- Was this an improvement? Yes. Did Carole do all the steps mostly right? Yes. Did I still hate this dance? Also, yes. This was strange. I hated it. The cat theme went way over the top and it went from cute to just flat out creepy. I hated it. Now I’m not sure what voting is like this season, but I feel that Carole may see a slight vote increase since she ended up in the bottom 2 last night and also was emotional in her package and during her interview with Tyra and all that. This wouldn’t be an issue normally because I would still fully expect for her to be in the bottom again next week. But I am not sure how Chrishell, Monica, Jesse and a couple others are doing with fans. So she could be spared next week and not even end up in the bottom 2.

So that’s that. Hope you all liked last night’s show. Again, it was just alright for me. Let me know your thoughts and I will talk to you all soon.