#10/10 would recommend weird bug lesbian

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

Had a terrible day, broke, and went catch up on the new character interactions. Anyway. Considering the potential of turning an old Moira skin concept into her own lady. Yknow, if I was still doing overwatch ocs. Please god I can’t do this again.

[11peachbunny11]

Review of Nothing to See Here

Overall rating: 10/10

Quick Take: The feral representation we’ve been needing in literature

Suggestion to Other Readers: This book is 254~ pages and the writing is quickly paced and snappy, so I’d suggest just clearing out a couple of hours and devour this book whole. I think this took me around 3 hours to finish? Maybe 4. 

Overall vibe: Feral found-family, with a side of kids bursting into flames when they get angry (for spice)

Hot Take: I am so horribly biased about this book because I’m an elementary education major and this book is about problem children. I was going to love this book no matter what. If you are someone who loves rebellious little kids or the found family trope I really do highly recommend this book. Or if you’re looking for something so excitingly feral. This book has such gremlin energy it’s amazing. 

The core of this book, truly, is accepting your wildness. All of the characters (and I do mean all of them, Madison puts on a good show but as the book progresses you see she’s just as wonderfully crazy as the rest of them) in this book are scrappy and love-hungry. They’ve been done dirty by everyone around them and have learned that fighting is the only way they can survive. And the lovely thing about this book is that that survival instinct, so intrinsic to all of these characters, is not “fixed” but instead re-directed in a healthy way. 

This book slowly strips back the layers of all characters present through the eyes of our main character, Lillian. I love this girl so much. She had no idea how to take care of children, but she understood one incredibly important fact, a game changer if you will--that children are also people and all you need to do is listen to them. Anyone passionately going into the field of education can tell you this, and it was so refreshing to see this in a piece of literature. (I could go on whole rants about how children are constantly ignored and denied basic human rights by the adults around them in the name of “caring” for them, and maybe someday I’ll write some short papers on it, but I digress.) Lillian really takes the stance of “I was done wrong by the people around me and I refuse to let these kids suffer the way I have,” and damn is it so wonderfully amazing to watch as she quickly falls into the protective caregiver role.

The kids, Bessie and Roland, are also so wonderfully written. They truly jump off the pages and it’s such a ride to see how they slowly open up to Lillian and the deep connection that develops between the kids and their new caretaker. They feel and act like real feral kids who have been greatly traumatized by the adults around them, and considering how easy it is to caricature children, this made my little heart so happy. And oh yes, we really do get into some horrifying stuff in this book. I’m not going to spoil it but… damn. 

Madison is also such a fascinating character and I loved how, throughout the book, I wouldn’t say she develops but more so slowly reveals to us who she truly is. She’s also insane--don’t let her first entrance fool you. And ALSO, spoilers here, so skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want this fun little surprise to be ruined for you, but god the lesbian vibes between Lillian and Madison, and then the reveal that yes actual these two loved each other romantically during their high school days but Madison was to scared to get into that relationship and Lillian just gay panicking during the first half of the book. What a fucking ride. I, a lesbian, was fucking shook at 1. The feral lesbian representation, and 2. The heartbreaking realism of these two’s past relationship. And I guess I should backtrack here and say neither of these two’s sexuality is actually ever said, they could be bisexual or pansexual for all I know, but I’m going to project because I want to so… lesbians. 

Another thing that’s so lovely about this book is the writing. God what a fucking trip. Kevin Wilson’s writing is what I’d almost call the exact opposite of flowery writing. It’s quick and precise and raw and powerful. Here’s one of my favorite parts of the book--

“You want to stay here?” I shouted back at Bessie. My hand was hurting so bad, the kind of pain where I didn’t even want to look at it because I knew how fucking angry it would make me, how many times I would time travel to think about all the ways I could have kept my finger from being bitten off by some feral child. “You want to stay with those old people who are boring and probably don’t even know what things you like?”

“No,” she said. Her skin was turning back to a normal shade, the fire already flickering out. It seemed like their bodies could only sustain the fire for a brief moment. Her shirt was in tatters, almost ash.

“Or do you want to be with me because I’m cool, and I’ll keep being cool, and you’ll like hanging out with me?” I just kept on going, didn’t even wait for her to respond. “You want to stay with your shitty grandparents and never get fed and scratch bug bites underneath sheets that haven’t been washed? You want that?”

“No, I don’t want that,” Bessie said, not crying but wheezing from anger. 

“Or do you want to come with me, and I’ll take care of you and buy you all new clothes, and I’ll feed you whatever you want and play games with you and watch movies with you and swim in the pool with you and rock you to bed and kiss you good night and sing you lullabies and then wake you up and let you watch cartoons?”

“That,” she said, her teeth chattering. “We want that.”

“Okay, then,” I said. “Then you have to trust me that I’m going to take care of you. It’s going to be weird, okay? It’s going to make you angry sometimes. But I’ll take care of you. It’s what I’m going to do.” (p.74)

So, yeah. I love this book a lot and highly recommend it!

[grellsuke]

do you have any good lgbt manga recs? i just finished shimanami tasogare and loved it

yes!!!

Authors:

yuhki kamatani - the author of shimanami tasogare! kamatani is x-gender (and ace!) and thoroughly incorporates lgbt characters into their works. the others aren’t like focused on the lgbt experience like how shimanami is, but they’re all wonderful and beautiful and have lgbt characters and i highly, highly rec them.

akiko morishima - a lesbian mangaka who i really like! she’s really good abt tackling the traditional stereotypes in yuri manga as well as writing stuff about older characters and frankly discussing sexuality and shit. she also has works that are not yuri manga-centric but iirc a good chunk if not all of them still have lgbt characters, so they’re worth checking out as well! (she does have a few works with some fuckshit in them tho, fair warning)

takako shimura - i don’t personally know what her sexuality is (tho shes a woman, i know this), but shimura is pretty well-known for her lgbt works. wandering son and aoi hana are probably her most famous, at least over here in the west! she also tends to incorporate lgbt themes into her works that don’t center on lgbt characters as well.

ebine yamaji - another lesbian mangaka! yamaji’s works are very... realistic, usually about lesbian working through things. there’s a lot of trauma and a lot of sadness in her works, as well as sexual content, and i really love her art. i haven’t read ALL of her works, but what i have, i’m enamored with. they’re sad but rarely TRAGIC.

hiyori otsu - i don’t actually know otsu’s sexuality, but she’s a shoujo ai/yuri mangaka who writes a lot of genuinely sweet stuff. her works tend to very much be on the softer side of things, even if they can be bittersweet, and i’ve really enjoyed all i’ve read by her. it’s nice to just, be able to read a simple and nice lesbian manga without any major angst or tragedy or even sexual content sometimes, you know?

Autobiographies:

honey x honey by sachiko takeuchi - a slice of life little manga about the author and her girlfriend! it is abt a decade old, which you can see some of, but it’s a really cute peek into their lives and japanese lgbt culture. there ARE sequel(s?), but i unfortunately haven’t managed to find any english translations for them. if you do, let me know!

my lesbian experience with loneliness by kabi nagata - i own this manga! i keep it squirreled away in the bottom of my desk and pull it out every few weeks or so because it’s deeply, deeply relatable to me. the first time i read this manga i sat down and cried because i felt it deep in my soul. absolutely rec!!! there’s also a sequel, my solo exchange diary.

the bride was a boy by chii - a cute little manga about a trans woman named chii, recounting her early years up to her current life, her transition and how she met her husband (+ abt their relationship). it’s super cute and sweet, and very informative!! an absolute rec!!

i was born the wrong sex! by mayufu konishi - i haven’t quite finished this one yet, but this is a highly informative manga about a trans woman heading to thailand for her surgery! it’s extremely extremely informative about every single step of the process, and the author is an absolute delight, so it’s one i’d absolutely rec.

our journey to lesbian motherhood by emiko sugiyama/koyuki higashi/hiroko masuhara - have you heard of the lesbians that got married in disneyland tokyo? this is them!!! this is their autobiographical story of, well, their journey to lesbian motherhood! it’s very good, i definitely enjoyed it - it IS a sequel to another manga by them, but i sadly couldn’t find an english translation anywhere… it’s completely understandable without having read it, though!!

fictional manga:

my brother’s husband by gengoroh tagame - this is one i haven’t read myself, but is pretty damn high up on my ‘next to read’ list. the author is a prominent gay bara author - this is his first dabbling into more family-friendly series. he’s also recently started another family-friendly one called our colors that may be worth looking into as well!

whispered words by takashi ikeda - it’s been a good long while since i’ve read this, but i really enjoyed this when i was younger! (has it already been almost 8 years since it ended?? i feel old) it’s about two lesbians who are best friends - one of which is secretly in love with the other. unfortunately, she’s very much not her friend’s type. :( i vaguely remember some kind of weird crossdressing shenanigans with one character, tho, so tread lightly with that.

koimonogatari by tohru tagura - if you liked shimanami, this is also probably right up your alley! it’s a very realistic manga about a boy finding out that one of his classmates is closeted and gay - and he promptly decides to tell no one because he’s not an asshole, which leads to him being one of this boy’s main confidants. it realistically deals with the homophobia that gay people face, as well as the main character’s slow realization that he’s not necessarily straight, either (or at least, that’s my hypothesis - it’s still ongoing!!). i really enjoyed it.

lonely wolf, lonely sheep by fuka mizutani - two women with the same name, same birth month, and same injury end up meeting by complete coincidence at the hospital. i genuinely adore this manga and all it is. despite it only being one volume long, it deals with heavier topics such as depression, self harm, homophobia, and iirc even suicide. it’s really, really good though and i wish all the best for them.

kono koi ni mirai wa nai by morihashi bingo - i recommend this one tentatively, as the last two chapters are not yet translated (as of 1/11/19), but i enjoyed what was there. despite the label as BL on many sites, this story is actually about a trans woman (tho there is also a gay man in the manga!). the note left off on the most recent chapter, chapter 10, was a very uplifting note that she is not alone and that how she feels is completely, utterly normal, and i have hope for the last two chapters! the art’s really pretty, too, and the metaphors. but again - who knows what could go down in the last two chaps. fingers crossed!

i hear the sunspot by yuki fumino - PLEASE read this one. this manga is about two college-aged young men who end up meeting when one LITERALLY stumbles across the other. kouhei, one of the boys, is hard of hearing - and the other boy, taichi, starts taking notes for him in class in exchange for lunch, and thus begins a friendship that will blossom into romance! it absolutely gets in depth on the hoh/Deaf community in Japan, and is definitely informative - and the guys are just genuinely so sweet (as well as the other characters!!!) and I wish them all the happiness. it’s STILL ONGOING so like, warning on that, but i’m really enjoying it so far. i think there’s also a movie based off it!

cirque arachne by nika saida - this one has some sexual elements to it, so fair warning on that, but i really enjoyed it! it’s a single volume manga about two acrobats that fall in love. the art was cute and i genuinely liked the characters, quite a lot. would definitely rec.

yuureitou by tarou nogizaka - i have not actually read this manga, but it’s another that’s amazingly high up on my to read list. it’s a supernatural horror manga, and the main couple is a trans man and a cis man! i’ve heard good things about it - from people i know personally, as well as just in general - and it’s one i can’t wait to check out.

ohana holoholo by shino tarino - i FEEL like this one is completed, but if it is, the translation isn’t done. either way, i did love what i read from this! ohana holoholo is about a bi woman raising her son along with her ex-girlfriend and their neighbor, nico. it’s really good, one that i HIGHLY recommend, and one of the woman is implied to be trans, too! (fingers crossed they explicitly state it please please please-) overall, i absolutely rec it, please check this out!

no. 6 by atsuko asano/hinoki kino - who HASN’T heard of no. 6? no. 6 is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the government is, well, the government. it involves two young men working to take it down alongside others and they fall in love. and one of the other characters is non-binary! ...honestly that’s probably the best i can describe no. 6 because WOW is it a wild trip. it’s a wild trip that i highly, highly recommend though! you want gays taking down the government alongside killer bees and a magical bug goddess? this is the manga for you. please read it.

asagao to kase san by hiromi takashima & bloom into you by nio nakatani - two shoujo ai manga centering around high schoolers that i haven’t actually read yet, both of which recently got animated adaptations!!! i have heard genuinely fantastic things about both of them (ESPECIALLY) the latter, and bloom into you is actually next on my reading list. they absolutely sound fantastic and i can’t wait to read them!!

seven days by rihito takarai/venio tachibana - a two-volume manga about two high school boys. every week, a boy named seryou goes out with a different girl - he treats them very well, showers them in attention, and then promptly breaks up with them at the end of the week because he didn’t fall in love with them. out of curiosity, his upperclassman, shino, asks him out one week - and thus begins their seven day romance. i really loved this, i really really did.

tamen de gushi by tan jiu - it’s an on-going webcomic about how two girls, qui tong and sun jing, meet and fall in love. the characters are all absurdly fantastic, from the two girls to all of the supporting characters around them, and it’s an absolute TREAT to read. i would highly rec it, there’s some lovely shenanigans in there.

last but not least, i highly rec manga written by the year 24 group. this group was a non-formal group of female mangaka in the 1970s that really revolutionized and influenced the shoujo manga genre. many of their works are considered classics today, with works such as kaze to ki no uta, claudine...!, the heart of thomas, and shiroi heya no futari among them. a lot of their works really dug in and examined sexuality and gender, and you can find some of the original shounen ai, shoujo ai, and trans manga among them. i’m a sucker for the classics, and i highly recommend them. i honestly could have listed every single of one these mangaka in my recommend authors list, but decided it was just easier to promote the group as a whole. the best for last, you know?

hope this helps, anon!

[crazyrandomfucker]

Marichat May Day 10: Can I borrow your miraculous?

Summary:

Kitty Noire is going to model for Marin, but having to wear clothes over her suit creates some problems for Marin so he asks her a controversia question.

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

"Finally, the day has come to model for my dear Prince" says Kitty Noire jumping from roof to roof doing her morning patrol. "Aaah, I can't wait to be with him. We'll have to be quite close if he's going to retouch anything from his designs and maybe he'll blush because of that, Marin looks so cute when he blushes".

"Um... Kitty, you remember we're doing patrol right? You can think on your prince charming later, but focus a bit for now" says Ladybug giggling.

"Oh! Sorry about that Ladybug, it's just that I'm so excited!" says Kitty as she does an extra pirouette while jumping to the next roof.

"I can see that, maye even Hawk Moth can see that" says Ladybug. "But I can relate to that. How about we finish earlier today's patrol? There's barely anyone in the streets on a saturday morning and I could use the sleep".

"Of course! After all, m'lady has to have her beauty sleep to be even more beautiful and woo her mysterious precious boy" teases Kitty Noire.

"Actually, it's because I'm usually sleeping at such unholy hours" replies Ladybug.

"But it's half past nine already" points Kitty.

"I wake up barely before eating on my free days" says Ladybug.

"My, my. I never thought LB would be that much of a bedbug" says Kitty smirking. "But again, you eed to sleep to dream with your lovely boy".

"As if, I used to daydream whenever I saw him" says Ladybug. "Now it's not that bad, but I still do it from time to time".

"Such a pure maiden in love" teases Kitty smirking.

"Hello kettle, I'm the pot" says Ladybug rolling her eyes

"But you're red and I'm black" says Kitty. "So I'm not a kettle calling a pot black".

"You're so ridiculous sometimes" says Ladybug miling.

"That's part of my charm, isn't it?" says Kitty teasingly.

"It surely is, along with your unrivaled beauty and your kindness" says Ladybug.

"Unrivaled beauty, says the most beautiful heroine" comments Kitty.

"Please, you're gorgeous Kitty, you're definitely more beautyful than I am" says Ladybug.

"Bug, you're definitely the cutest and most beautiful between us. You have more fans because of that" says Kitty.

"Let's agree to disagree for now. We've already finished patrolling and I'm sure you'll want to take a shower before modelling for Marin" says Ladybug.

"Thank you for your consideration m'lady, I'll take that shower gladly, it's been oddly hot in the mornings lately" says Kitty as she leaves.

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

After having taken a shower, put on some cologne and make sure that she didn't even have a speck of food left on her teeth; Adrienne calls upon her transformation and jumps out of the window, heading towards the Dupain-Cheng household with quite a gleeful demeanour. In no time, she gets to Marin's rooftop and Marin immediately greets her with a big smile. Marin opens his trapdoor and let's her go first, recieving some light teasing from Kitty Noire, who is secretly enjoying herself perhaps a bit too much. Marin follows her inside but leaves her alone on his room for a moment while he goes to pick from Marinette's bedroom a seamstress tape because he can't find his.

When Marin returns, he measures Kitty's height to make sure that his designs will fit her, even if not they wouldn't fit because of her height. He gives Kitty Noire a couple of shirts to pick from and a skirt, after which he let's her change behind his room divider. She puts on a white sleazy shirt paired with a light blue skirt and shows it to Marin, who doesn't seems quite convinced about it and tells Kitty to try a dress instead. She puts on the dress and shows off to Marin again, but there is something wrong with it since Marin burrows his forehead and puts his hand on his chin, as if he was trying to solve some sort of mistery about Kitty. Suddenly, his face lits up and then goes back to his previous state.

"There's something wrong Marin" asks Kitty a bit worried.

"I'm not sure..." says Marin pensative. "The color of your suit kind of fits nicely enough with my designs, but there's something bothering me".

"What is it? Can I help you in any way?" asks Kitty.

"Can I borrow your miraculous?" asks Marin suddenly, with a bit more of determination on his face.

"My miraculous? What do you need it for?" asks Kitty confused.

"The thing is that your suit doesn't fits with the clothes you're wearing, but I'm not sure if it's because of the clothes or if it could be because of the miraculous" explains Marin. "So I thought about trying some of my clothes while wearing your miraculous to see if the problems are the designs or the suit".

"I would gladly do a lot of thinks for you Prince Charming, but I can't reveal my identity even if you ask me with that pretty face of yours" says Kitty Noire, a bit disappointed because she lowkey wants to see him as a hero.

"Well of course I wouldn't ask you to reveal yourself to me, I thought of giving you some clothes and a mask So I won't recognise you" says Marin. "Plus, maybe it will be more comfortable for you to try on my designs like that. I saw how you looked at your nails when I gave you the dress".

"Well, well. Aren't you considerate now? Or should I think that you're secretly Hawk Moth?" says Kitty a bit nervous, not registering what she says.

"Oh no! You got me!" says Marin dramatically. "I was planning on stealing your miraculous to become a catty butterfly and conquer the world. Look, I'll even transform in frot of you so you can see the miraculous all the time, I won't change in another room or anything as well".

"Silly, I was just messing with you. But the miraculous aren't things one should easily lend you know, not even to handsome boys like you" says Kitty. "I'm sorry but I fear you can't borrow my miraculous".

"Don't worry, I understand it" says Marin. "Then we're finished for today, I'm going to make some modifications to the designs so they fit your suit. Can you come by next week?"

"Wait, we don't need to stop now. Don't bother changing your designs" says Kitty. "I can still do the detransforming thing with a mask".

"Are you sure? I really don't mind redesigning" asks Marin.

"Yeah, I'll just need a bit of cheese, brie if possible" says Kitty a bit relieved.

"Ok, I'll go for it in a sec, let me get you some a bag for your own clothes, some clothes and the mask so you can detransform and everything" says Marin before handing her what she'd need.

"Okay, I'll be preparing myself" says Kitty as she goes behind the changer.

As soon as Marin leaves, Kitty detransforms and Plaggue gives her an inquiring yet amused look. "Well, well, well. Daring, aren't we? At least you didn't lend the miraculous to the baker boy"

"Of course I didn't. I'm in love, but I'm not stupid" says Adrienne as she changes her clothes and folds her own.

"Is that so? I think I saw you doubt for a second back there" teases Plaggue. "Lucky you that Prince Charming was so comprehensive".

"Of course he was, he's probably as wity as Lordbug if not more" says Adrienne.

"Poor Buggyboy, being udervalued just because his oponent is your beloved" teases Plaggue. "I still think you should give him a chance".

"Plaggue, we've talked about this milions of times, Lordbug doesn't likes me. Well he doesn't likes me anymore, he said that he was dating someone" points Adrienne.

"Didn't he also said some time later that they broke up because it turned that the girl was lesbian but she didn't knew?" points Plaggue.

"Yeah, that was a bit funny because it was quite similar to what happened with Marin and Sakura, if it wasn't that Sakura discovered she was lesbian after breaking up and then talking with Marinette" recalls Adrienne.

"That was hilarious, though baker boy seemed rather relieved after breaking up, he was a bit hurt, but not to the point of doing typical post-break up things" points Plaggue. "I would even dare to say that he paid some special attention to you afterwards".

"Don't be silly Plaggue, it's just that he's very selfless" says Adrienne as she puts on the mask. "Maybe I should do my hair?"

"Yes, you should. I'd recommend a tendril twist" says Plaggue."Give me some rubbers and I'll do it for you".

"Thak you Plaggue, you're a lifesaver from time to time" says Adrienne thankful.

"Well don't expect too much from me, I'm not always in such a good humour like now" says Plaggue doing Adrienne's hair.

Someone knocks at the door. "Can I enter?" says Marin.

"Sure! Come in" says Adrienne. "My kwami is doing my hair right now".

"Good idea, that way  I won't recognise you for you hair" says Marin entering to his room. "I've got the cheese. There was just a bit of brie, so I also brought some roquefort just in case".

"That boy is good" says Plaggue. "I'll make sure to treat him well".

"You always think with your stomach Plaggue" says Adrienne giggling.

"You sure get along with your kwami, don't you?" says Marin smiling.

"Just whenever she's not talking about a certain someone" says Plaggue snickering.

"Or when you're not pestering me for cheese" replies Adrienne.

"So your kwami is also your confident?" says Marin. "Must be good at keeping secrets if you tell her about your boyfriend".

"He's not my boyfriend!" says Adrienne nervous. "Not yet".

"Oho~ Determined, aren't you?" says Marin chuckling. "I guess you'll be coming less once you're dating with him".

"Why should I?" asks Kitty.

"Well, it'd be weird if you were alone with another boy quite often" points Marin. "Plus, you'd have less time".

"Hey, you should date baker boy, that way you'd have more reasons to come often" says Plaggue chuckling. "Don't you sometimes call him Pretty Face?"

"This and that are different things" says Marin. "But I think that even if it was an honour, Lordbug and Ladybug wouldn't be quite happy about ti because I know their identities".

"But if that wasn't like that, you'd date her" points Plaggue smugly.

"Plaggue, stop with the teasing and finish my hair" says Adrienne.

"But I finished some time ago" says Plaggue.

"Then tell us sooner!" says Adrienne. "I'm sure Marin has other things to do instead of hearing us".

"Don't worry, it's lovely to hear your banter" says Marin smiling. "Besides, the other thing I have to do is perfectionating my designs".

"Well then, I'll be eating the cheese" says Plaggue.

Kitty goes out of the changer with a Kitty mask, beige jeans and a simple white shirt without sleeves. "How do I look? Would you recognise me if you saw me on the street?"

"Without the mask? Nope. But I must say, you look incredible like that" says Marin after some time he spent being speechless. "You're just like Adrienne, my model friend. You both can wear lots of different style and look great on them".

"Well thank you, I'm flattered to be as cute as a model in your eyes" says Kitty while she melts internally.

"This kind of simple countryside outfits look good on you, I wonder if I could experiment some more to find which style fits you better" says Marin pensative. "Well, for now, let's see how well do my designs fit on you".

"I like the simplicity of this one. Perhaps you should recommended to your model friend, if she's like me she'll probably like it" says Kitty.

"I don't know if her father would allow it, but I could consult it with him. I'm her particular designer for the moment. It's like an apprenticship, but only until I'm 18 because her father wants me to be his protegeé" explains Marin.

"Well, maybe if you manage to make a sort of collections you'll convince him" says Kitty. "Isn't that what you should do on an apprenticeship?"

"You know what? I'll try to. This beautiful simplicity remembers me of... Greeks! Greek myths like the goddesses or the nymphs didn't have complex dresses and yet they irradiated beauty" says Marin.

"Oh my, are you saying that I'm your goddess?" teases Kitty.

"Obviously" says Marin winking. "Though maybue you're more like a muse, since you give me this wonderful ideas".

Kitty blushes a lot and Plaggue burst into laughs. "Oh my god kid! This boy is way too much" says Plaggue cackling. "Hey boy, you'll make my kitten fall for you if you keep being this smooth".

"Plaggue!" complains Kitty.

"Don't worry, I know she's just teasing us" says Marin. "How about I give you your next outfit?"

"Sure! If it's as cute as this one I might consider taking one of this home" says Kitty joking.

"I could make you something, you know" says Marin.

"You could make me the happiest girl if you proposed to me" thinks Adrienne.

After changing into the next design, Marin gives his thumbs up and keeps giving clothes to Kitty for her to change into. With each new design, they banter for a bit about the style of the design and other things, teasing each other and enjoying the moment. Outfit after outfit, they spent gleefully their time and even Plaggue had to admit that she was having quite a good time. Unfortunately, everything had to come to an end at lunch time, specially because Adrienne had to go back home for lunch since his father had decided that it would be a good day to act like a father for once and eat with his children. With a bit of disappointmet, both of them said goodbye and parted ways.

[nonbinarysasquatch]

DC Rebirth Rundown Round 1

I’ll go ahead and do a rundown of the first 10 books, just because the list could start getting unwieldy:

The Excellent:

1. Detective Comics Vol. 1: Rise of the Batmen:

This was far and away my favourite book, having a perfect blend of everything I want from superhero comics. Batman and Batwoman (who is a Jewish lesbian) are equal partners, leading a team of younger batfamily members... and Clayface. Oh and the team has gender parity and everyone gets their moments to shine. And I kinda started shipping Spoiler (Stephanie Brown) and Orphan (Cassandra Cain.) This book has excitement, drama, fun and a lot of emotions. The art is also excellent. And amazingly enough, despite how large the cast is I didn’t feel confused about who anyone was (though admittedly, I know more about what went on with the Batman books during the New 52 than most others.) I definitely recommend it to anyone who is curious about comics or is disappointed with how bland and grim the DCEU is and wants something that manages to balance action, fun and drama without needing to be dark. (The writer of this series, James Tynion IV is queer, so that’s something.)

2. Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol. 1: Who is Oracle?:

Not quite as perfect as Detective Comics (high bar is high there) but this was still a lot of fun and did a good job of making it clear who everyone was. It’s a pretty simple story and the scale is more personal than many of the other books I’ve read. As someone who knows very little about the Birds of Prey who what any of these characters were doing during the New 52, I didn’t feel lost at all. It was a cute, fun book with an interesting story and lot of emotions. (Written by two women: Shawna and Julie Benson)

The Great:

3. Titans Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West:

I’ll be honest in that everything I know about the Titans comes from watching Linkara’s retrospective. I didn’t read any of their books back in the day. That said, this book had an amazing pace and DC Universe Rebirth #1 told me everything I needed to know about Wally’s situation. I still feel like I would appreciate it more with more context about their history but on the whole I didn’t feel lost. It’s probably not a coincidence that my top 3 books are all team books...

4. DC Universe Rebirth #1:

I mean this is kinda a prerequisite anyway. It’s hard to judge it on retrospect but it lead well into both Titans and The Flash but most of the things in the book I’ve yet to get to follow up on so...

5. Nightwing Vol. 1: Better than Batman:

I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy this book but once it got going I was intrigued by Raptor as a character, even if I wasn’t 100% happy with the resolution of the story. This book also gets points for being pretty easy to follow for a new reader

6. Batgirl Vol. 1: Beyond Burnside:

This book was pretty cute and fun. It wasn’t all that emotionally or thematically complex but that’s all right. The art was neat, though there were bad faces here and there. (Written by a woman, Hope Larson)

The Good:

7. Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Lies: This mostly suffers for feeling incomplete. It’s the start of a story and not much of a story in of itself. But the art is fantastic and the idea of the story is intriguing. But it’s a bit of a tease.

8. The Flash Vol. 1: Lightning Strikes Twice: I was initially probably harder on this story than I would be in retrospect. Ironically, I feel like one of this book’s main problems is the pace and exactly how much time is spent bringing new readers up to speed. The story is all right. The art was pretty good.

The Meh:

9. Batman Vol. 1: I Am Gotham: Mehhhhh. This book wasn’t so much bland as it was boring and weird. The Gotham and Gotham Girl story just felt... so weird and wrong. It’s hard to put into words what bugs me about the whole thing. It’s fair to say there’s a huge quality disparity between the two main Batman books. There’s not much I can say about this other than it wasn’t totally horrible. 

The Bad:

10. Batman: Night of the Monster Men:

My first crossover story and man it was not good. This felt like a complete waste of my time. It felt mostly like an excuse for the writers to have fun drawing giant monsters. It felt like something a twelve year old would come up with, not caring about the story having depth. Yeah, the thing with Hugo Strange is slightly interesting but the payoff doesn’t feel meaningful. I’d skip this unless you just really want to be complete. It didn’t really have any bearing on any of the other books I read (though I guess it still might.) (One of the co-writers of this book, Steve Orlando, is gay but unfortunately I cannot recommend this book.)

So yeah. Because I’m following this DC Rebirth reading order for the most part, I mostly ended up reading Batfamily books. 

[the-last-airbadger]

Get To Know Me Questions

Ok so I reblogged this thing a few days ago, and even though nobody asked me questions, I’m still going to answer them, because I really like doing these things and maybe, just maybe, there’s someone out there that’s actually interested in my answers to these questions but was too shy to ask me or didn’t see the post. But now the answers will be in my personal tag forever. Yay ^-^

(please beware this is a very long post these are 125(!) questions! It took me three days to finish!)

I hope you enjoy these questions and my answers to these questions!

1. What is your full name? Skylar Elliott (Dutch last name). (I’m not sure if I wanna post my last name on tumblr…)

2. What is your nickname? I don’t really have a nickname… everyone calls me Sky though, I guess that counts…

3. What is your zodiac sign?   Gemini! 

4. What is your favorite book series? Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I have never enjoyed reading a book as much as I enjoyed reading these books.

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? I don’t know? I’d like to say I believe in aliens and ghosts but there’s always this voice in the back of my head that tells me that it’s ��cool, but they don’t actually excist because it hasn’t been proven”. Although I do believe that aliens must be out there somewhere I mean the universe is so big we cannot be the only life forms. I just think aliens are so much more different than we humans can even imagine.

6. Who is your favorite author? Rick Riordan! Very sassy, author of my favourite book series and cares a lot about representation in books which is very gud.

7. What is your favorite radio station? I mean I don’t really listen to the radio but I kinda like skyradio because it has part of my name in it and I also love npo2 between christmas and new years eve because they play a top2000 of music that you can vote for and it’s really fun. (These are both dutch stations I believe, so if you don’t recognise these stations, that’s why)

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? Usually strawberry. Strawberry ice cream, strawberry sweets, strawberry sauce, strawberry lemonade, strawberry tea, strawberry smoothies… I love them all.

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? “Awesome” or “cool” 

10. What is your current favorite song? Heaven - Troye Sivan ft. Betty Who Prove me wrong - Fireflight Escape - Fireflight They share the first place so I listed them all. I literally cannot choose. 

Heaven makes me feel much lgbtq+ pride and happiness, as well as sadness and determination to change the world. Plus I can really relate and let my emotions out by listening to this song

Escape is a very good song about overcoming fears and, again, I can really relate to this song. I really like the refrain because when singing it I can really throw my emotions into this and let them out. Again, this song fills me with determination to change the world and the way I handle problems. It makes me feel stronger. And the ending is really reassuring and beautiful.

Prove me wrong, I can also really relate to. It’s about being insecure about yourself but then someone else helps you see that you are actually a really nice person. It reminds me of my friends.

11. What is your favorite word? Ethereal -  “Extremely delicate and light in a way that seems not to be of this world” 

12. What was the last song you listened to? Heaven - Troye Sivan ft. Betty Who (listening to it right now)

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? Brooklyn Nine-Nine because it’s hillarious and very progressive and inclusive and the characters are very lovable.

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? Probably just any Harry Potter movie. They never get old.

15. Do you play video games? Sometimes. I’m not that big of a fan of videogames but I like games like life is stranger or all the harry potter games and I sometimes play mario with my brother.

16. What is your biggest fear? I’m afraid of my house setting fire and I’m kinda afraid of all bugs but I think my biggest fear is wasting my life and dying unhappy and unfulfilled. 

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? I’m a very positive person and I have and okay face and I make bad jokes (that I secretly think are hillarious). And I always try to learn and improve myself and become the best person I can be.

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? I’m insecure about EVERYTHING and I overthink every move I make in life and that makes me feel like I’m failing everything and everyone especially the people I care about.

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? Cats! I think dogs are very cute but irl I kinda shy away from dogs because I’m still lowkey scared of dogs but cats are so cuddly and cute and I want

20. What is your favorite season? Probably fall. Because of Halloween and the leaves FALLing (get it? Fall, falling. haha) from the trees and the colours and the wind and the whole leadup to christmas. I also like that the temperature isn’t to high or to low. Winter’s too cold and summer’s to hot and spring is okay but not that special.

21. Are you in a relationship? Nope. But right now I’m only interested in friendships anyway so I don’t mind. (also being both ace and trans I kinda feel like it’s impossible to find anyone who’d actually want to date me so I kinda just… don’t bother. Transition first, relationships later)

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? I miss that I was so social and talked to everyone without restraint or fear. And I miss having the time to read.

23. Who is your best friend? @asiandutchgirl @the-official-pentacorn  They’re both two of the most wonderfull people I’ve ever met don’t you dare make me choose

24. What is your eye color? Brown. There’s some green in them somewhere too if you look really closely but it’s mostly brown.

25. What is your hair color? Also brown but I’ve been thinking about dyeing it for a long time… but usually I can’t because my acting class won’t allow it.

26. Who is someone you love? My siblings, my parents, my best friends, my grandparents, my household, my pets (although pets aren’t really people but I LOVE THEM OKAY)

27. Who is someone you trust? My siblings and my best friends. I could tell them anything.

28. Who is someone you think about often? I hope this doesn’t sound weird but My best friends. They make me happy and they’re a big part of my life even though I don’t see them nearly as often as I should. And I guess, because of that, I just miss them often. 

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? I’m in the middle of the process of legally changing my name and gendermarker! I cannot wait to see them on my new ID!!

30. What is your biggest obsession? At the moment definately VOLTRON (season 2 was so guddd)

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? I used to loooooove Zack and Cody. And after that I started to enjoy ICarly and Victorious a lot. I used to spend whole weekends watching these shows. 

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? My best friends and my sister.

33. Are you superstitious? A little bit. I mean I know it’s bullshit but somewhere, in the back of my mind, I still believe bringing “lucky items” to stressfull situations will help me somehow.

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? Uhh… not really? I mean the only thing I can think of is that I cannot sleep in a room with, for example, my mom, because I know she snores and then I am so afraid that it’ll keep me awake that I cannot sleep… -_-

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? I prefer to be in front of the camera because being behind the camera makes me responsible for the final product while being in front of the camera comes pretty natural to me. My granddad always films every important family event and I grew up with a love for acting and being on stage so… I like that.

36. What is your favorite hobby? Watching a show that is soooo goood you just have to binge it and being on the edge of your seat the whole time and just getting lost in it basically. 

37. What was the last book you read? A book for school. “Two women” by Harry Mulish. I didn’t really like it. *spoilers* a lesbian main character was killed in the last two pages just as I thought she’d live happily ever after -_-

38. What was the last movie you watched? Iron man… I think… yeah I watched that the day before my brothers birthday when his friend stayed over.

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? I play the piano! I’m not that good at it but hey, I enjoy it.

40. What is your favorite animal? I really like Lions. They’re like big cats and also super majestic.

41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? the-official-pentacorn, asiandutchgirl, hagraeven-side-blog, slytherin-bookworm-guy, relatable-pictures-of-pidge… I think…. there are much more, I’m sure, but these are the first ones I came up with and they all have a special place in my heart.

42. What superpower do you wish you had? I’d love to be able to fly, but, as a trans guy, I think shapeshifting would probably make me the happiest.

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? In the cinema. Just comfortably sitting in a chair with food. My only responsibilities being watching a movie, keeping my mouth shut and eating. Perfect.

44. What makes you smile? Music, My friends, A happy scene in a tv-show or book, a very bad joke, realising how much I love the people that matter to me, having an actual nice social interaction that wasn’t in any way awkward, gender euforia, doing something I love.

45. What sports do you play, if any? …Have you ever seen me trying to exercise? 

46. What is your favorite drink? Fresh Lemonade. I had some in Greece and it was literally the best thing I’ve ever tasted… Why don’t we have that in the Netherlands :’(

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Probably sometime when I left the house to get some groceries and didn’t know when my dad would be home so I left him a note on the table

48. Are you afraid of heights? It depends. If I’m walking next to a very deep drop I’m terrified I’ll fall, but in a rollercoaster, on a plane, or even a on bus that’s driving on narrow roads next to a massive ravine, I have no problem with heights. I guess I just don’t trust myself at great heights because of my clumsiness. 

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? Whenever I’m trying to concentrate on something I cannot handle it when people ! start ! to ! eat ! crisps ! or ! nuts ! or ! something ! VERY ! LOUDLY !!!! Somehow this mainly happens around my mom and sister and not really anyone else but sometimes it gets so bad I literally have to leave the room. Also snoring… because if someone starts to snore I will not be able to sleep for hours unless I have my phone and some earbuds nearby.

50. Have you ever been to a concert? Yes! I’ve seen Al di Meola (when I was six, with my dad), Lissie, Maria Mena, Delain, Within Temptation (twice), Vanessa Carlton and K3 and I’m gonna see Lindsey Stirling in March!

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? Nope! But my dad is vegan so half of the time the only meat I eat is the sausage on my sandwiches.

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? Cassier, Artist, Inventor, Archaologist, Game-Designer, Actor, Writer, Idfk. All in this order.

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’d love to live in the world from Avatar: The Last Airbender because it’s basically the same as ours only with DRAGONS and BENDING and all other kinds of cool animals and cool stuff.

54. What is something you worry about? In a week and a half I have test-week and then in a little more than a month I have another test week and then in May I have my final exams and I have SO MUCH LEFT to study and SO MANY PROJECTS left to do and SO MANY BOOKS left to read and I worry I will never pass and die in the process and start hating my life. (which I already kind of do because of school, but hey, only four months left… only four months left…)

55. Are you scared of the dark? Depends. Around 8pm I have no problem with the dark but around 11pm/12pm/1am I am not a fan of walking down two sets of stairs to go to the toilet.

56. Do you like to sing? YES. Omg I absolutely love singing!! I sing everyday and I’m also in a choir (that has been founded for trans people specifically so I don’t have to worry about my high voice) which is super awesome and I love it.

57. Have you ever skipped school? Nope. At least not without my parent’s permission.

58. What is your favorite place on the planet? Probably just any cinema or my home. They’re both places I can just feel at ease and eat.

59. Where would you like to live? Tbh I am perfectly happy in the places I live right now and I don’t think I’ll ever move far away from here, but it would be supercool to live in London!

60. Do you have any pets? Yes! I have two guinea pigs (who are both supercute and cuddly) and a cat (who is supercute, but anything but cuddly)!

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? Night owl. Mornings are for sleep

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? Sunsets because sunsets happen around my favourite time of the day, and I only see sunrises if I have to wake up very early or if I’ve pulled an all-nighter and I hate both of these things. Like I said, mornings are for sleep.

63. Do you know how to drive? No, I don’t. I will probably start lessons next year though!

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? I prefer headphones because of the sound quality, but after I’ve worn my headphones for an entire day they always start to hurt because they press my glasses against my head and when I’m going outside earbuds are a lot easier to take with me. Same when I’m trying to listen something calming to fall asleep, earbuds are easier. 

65. Have you ever had braces? Yes, I’ve worn braces for about nine months when I was thirteen

66. What is your favorite genre of music? I don’t really have a favourite genre, but I really enjoy soundtracks, rock, some pop and some dubstep songs.

67. Who is your hero? I don’t really have a hero. There are a lot of people I look up to but I think that if I’d have to choose someone right now I’d choose Thomas Sanders because he’s just the nicest human on the planet and I aspire to make people laugh and smile like he does.

68. Do you read comic books? No, not really. They don’t really grab my attention the way books or tv-shows do and I always end up skimming the pages and spoiling myself.

69. What makes you the most angry? Ignorance. Whenever someone refuses to be open minded. Whenever someone claims to know something better than I do and refuses to listen to me. Whenever someone tells me how I should be feeling when they don’t even try to understand what I’m feeling. Whenever someone even tries to shit on my community, friends and interests. 

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? I prefer reading a real book because books never run out of power, smell good, and just give me that nice reading vibe. And because my e-reader is slow as heck and I have to wait ages for the pages to turn. 

71. What is your favorite subject in school? My favourite subject is probably Ancient Greek. I really like learning the ancient greek language and culture and I’m also pretty good at it. Plus my ancient greek class is a very nice group of people and we have an awesome teacher.

72. Do you have any siblings? Yes! I have a sister who’s eightteen and a brother who’s fourteen and I love them very much.

73. What was the last thing you bought? Last monday I bought myself crisps, cola and some liquorice candy because I had a sore throat. (edit: and today I bought some more crisps, some more cola, and candy’s agains coughing… they didn’t help)

74. How tall are you? Last time I checked (about nine months ago at the hospital) I was about 165 cm tall which is about 5’5″

75. Can you cook? … I can make eggs… and pancakes… and really easy pieces of meat that you basically only have to heat up in a pan…. And I can warm up soup from a can… and that’s about it I guess lol

76. What are three things that you love? Time for myself, watching tv-shows, rain. 

77. What are three things that you hate? playing sports, homework, stress.

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? Definately more female friends. I can’t relate as much with cis men and I don’t have that many trans people that are actively involved in my day to day life. Plus girls are amazing.

79. What is your sexual orientation? I identify as asexual. I don’t really understand what sexual attraction is exactly… and like… I do not understand how you can associate people you actually know in your life with sex without being creeped out? And the idea that people that are in a relationship are having sex with eachother just… really boggles my mind. Especially because to everyone it seems so normal? and then I’m just like “why would you do that…”

80. Where do you currently live? I have two houses (divorced parents) and I live in both a small city and a big village. They’re both about half an hour away from Rotterdam in the Netherlands but I’m not sure if I wanna post the exact places I live on tumblr…

81. Who was the last person you texted? My brother. He asked me which one of us would buy banana’s and chocolate. I said he should because I was still at school.

82. When was the last time you cried? Last sunday. I was super stressed out because of school. I had to finish a project and I had two hours left but my brain was dead so I kinda crashed.

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? Phil Lester (AmazingPhil), Dan Howell (danisnotonfire), Sean McLaughlin (Jacksepticeye) and Chase Ross (uppercasechase1). Dan and Phil always make me laugh and make me feel appreciated and I love them and their video’s and their dynamic a lot, Jack feels like one of my closest friends and he’s such a nice and funny guy, and Chase has helped me so much with transition-related problems. They’re all amazing and I cannot imagine my life without them.

84. Do you like to take selfies? Yes, I do! A lot! Whenever I’m on a trip or I look good or I just feel like trying on some new clothes and stuff, I always make selfies.

85. What is your favorite app? Probably the tumblr app. I spend half my life on there. Nothing is better than using my tumblr app to avoid social contact.

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? Really good. My mom is a very warm person that I can tell almost anything to. She’s very understanding and her hugs are very soft. She values my opinions a lot and is always there to listen to what I say. With my dad I find it harder to tell him everything but that’s probably because I get the feeling that he expects a bit more from me? Idk if that’s true though, might just be my imagination. But he’s a very chill and self-assured person and I like that it’s always so calm at his house, whereas at my moms house things can be very chaotic and sometimes stressfull. My dad is very open and very accepting and he keeps surprizing me with how much he’s okay with.  Overall my parents are really really nice. They support my transition and my life choices and they just want me to be happy. I couldn’t have wished for better parents. 

87. What is your favorite foreign accent? I really love scottish it’s amazing. A gift to humanity.

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? Japan!! I really wanna go there it seems so awesome!!

89. What is your favorite number? 13

90. Can you juggle? I can’t even aim, throw or catch a ball of course I can’t juggle

91. Are you religious? Nope

92. Do you find outer space of the deep ocean to be more interesting? Outer space. There are so many things left to discover and it’s so big!! It feels like everything is possible in space. Also it’s very pretty.

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? Not really. Whenever something scary happens, I’m out. I’ll run away as fast as I can.  I do really like rollercoaster and stuff though and I’d love to try and sky-dive or bungee-jump… but I guess that’s because I’m not the one who’s in control in these situations.

94. Are you allergic to anything? Not that I know…

95. Can you curl your tongue? Yup.

96. Can you wiggle your ears? A little bit

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? I try to always admit it when I’m wrong about something. It’s a very decent thing to do and it prevents conflicts from happening or escalating. Plus you won’t really gain anything by refusing to admit you’re wrong about something.

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? The forest. I hate the beach. It’s either way too hot or way too cold and there’s sand everywhere I hate it.

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? I don’t know. I can’t really remember all the advices I’ve ever been given, and I don't think that one piece of advice alone can have that much impact. It’s the combinations of all the advice you’ve ever had that really makes a difference. If you can combine different people’s experiences and advices you’ll figure out what to do by yourself. But I guess if I had to choose one piece of advise that I value, I’d say: “It’s good to think about others and help other people, as long as it isn’t at the expense of yourself. In the end, you are the most important to yourself. You are the one that has to live with yourself for the rest of your life. You shouldn’t always put others before yourself because you are important too and you deserve love and kindness and happiness too. You deserve to be happy” (I think most of this advice I actually got from markiplier, from his most recent believe in yourself video. It’s a very motivational video, go and watch it!)

100. Are you a good liar? Yes I am. I used to lie about everything to fit in with the cool kids and keep them as my friends. It was like second nature to me. I guess I did learn something from acting class…  I still lie a lot to my acting friends by the way, just because they party every week and I hate parties but if I tell the truth they think I don’t like them, which isn’t true at all. I like them! But I really hate parties… and they can be a bit draining to be around.

101. What is your Hogwarts House? You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil

102. Do you talk to yourself? Yep. Pretty often. Whenever I’m home alone I just sorta narrate my life. Sometimes I make it a musical!

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Introvert. Interacting with people is fun but after a while I really need time alone, it really drains my energy, especially when I am not feeling well anyway. The only interactions with people that actually give me energy are interactions with my closest friends and family.

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? I keep a transition-diary to write down the important moments related to transition, so I can read it back when I’m older and I won’t forget anything.

105. Do you believe in second chances? Yes. If someone is really willing to better themselves and are working hard to improve I think they deserve a second chance to give them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. 

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Probably leave it. I woudn’t want to go through either the trouble of handing it in or the guilt of not doing that, so I’d probably place it somewhere more noticable and let someone else decide what happens with it. 

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? Yes. People go through all kinds of things in live and they keep learning and bettering themselves. If a person really wants to change then I believe they can, no matter how long it takes. They’ll get there.

108. Are you ticklish? Yes. Very. If you tickle me I start screaming and kicking and I sometimes fall on the floor. It’s my weakness…

109. Have you ever been on a plane? Eight times. To Rome and back, to portugal and back, twice to greece and back.

110. Do you have any piercings? Do earrings count? Because I wear earrings sometimes.

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? Aang. I feel like we would be pretty good friends and our world really needs the avatar tbh.

112. Do you have any tattoos? Nope. But I do want one. I just cannot decide what I would want on my body forever… probably either something avatar related (like the air-nation logo or something, because that’s really cool) or something transition-related because it’s such an important part of my life and it’s something about me that will never change.

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? Coming out and contacting the hospital to start my medical transition. Because without that, where would I be? I’d be the unhappiest little shit ever.

114. Do you believe in karma? Nope

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I’ve worn glasses ever since I was eight years old. I will never wear contacts. ever. They freak me out! Why would you put something in your eye.

116. Do you want children? I don’t know. I always wanted kids, but ever since I found out I was trans and realised that I couldn’t have them naturally, I’m not sure anymore, because I don’t know if I want to adopt. I think it’s really gonna depend on if I have a partner or not and what the possibilities are… we’ll see. Babies are very cute though… and I think I’d love being a dad, even though I’m very afraid of becoming a terrible father. If I have kids I want them to be happy and decent humans. My sister will definately have kids though because she really really wants kids so I’ll definately be an uncle and maybe that’ll be enough for me. Who knows? And mayble I’ll get a partner with young kids and help them raise their kids… I think I’d prefer helping someone raising kids and giving the kids good life advice and do fun things together without being the one who has the most responsibilities.

117. Who is the smartest person you know? My sister has a friend who scored really well in school (an average score of around 90% I believe), who now studies both medical science and classics, plays the piano flawlessly, and is also a very nice person. She also won a price in an ancient greek competition, she was the best of the country!!

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? I was ten years old and I had a friend who was a pretty big bully and I really wanted to stay her friend so I kinda just went along with it. One day I thought I was being cool and asked said friend to place a folded airplane on the bullied guy’s table that said something like “idiot” on it.  The guy then proceded to tell the teacher who told the entire class and demanded to know who had done it. I was terrified! Then my supposed friend ratted me out. I wanted to dissappear!! My teacher at the time was kind of my hero and I did not want to dissappoint her at all. I then proceded to lie that I just wanted to give the guy a folded airplane because I knew he liked them and didn’t know that it had the word “idiot” on it. I said that the word idiot wasn’t directed toward the guy and that I didn’t turn myself in because I was to scared the teacher would be angry at me. She believed me and everything went well but damn. This is the memory that still haunts me at 3am when I’m trying to sleep.

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? Yes. A lot. Always at sleep-over parties. I used to really love pulling an all-nighter but now… not so much. When it’s 4am, I just want to sleeepppp.

120. What color are most of you clothes? Most of my clothes are blue! I have a lot of dark blue sweaters and hoodies.

121. Do you like adventures? Meh. I used to, but now I just want to go home and watch a movie.

122. Have you ever been on TV? Nope, but I’m probably gonna be! Right now there is a documentary in the making about my choir, which will be on TV and I’ll be in it!

123. How old are you? I’m 17 years old and I’ll turn 18 on June 4th 2017.

124. What is your favorite quote? I really like the entire songtext of escape by fireflight, but I can’t really put an entire songtext here, can I? The part of the song I love most are: “You are not hopeless. You are not worthless. You are loved. Don’t give up. This is your time” and “We don’t want to save ourselves”  But if I had to pick an all-time favourite quote I’d probably pick the following quote from Dan Howell: “And at the end of the day, if something makes you and other people happy, that’s what’s important”

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? Savory. I really like sweet foods from time to time but I am always craving savory foodsss ohm yg od

So there it is, I hope you enjoyed these questions and getting to know me a bit more! I really enjoyed answering these questions and they also kinda helped me study, because I only allowed myself to answer ten questions after finishing a certain amout of homework, so that’s good…

I hope you liked this and have a nice day!

[ujuro]

when you get this, it would be cool to post 10 facts about yourself and then pass it along to 10 followers! 💕

Ummmmm ten facts shiittt I’m not that interesting

1. I’m actually a writer at heart despite my awful typing style. ive always had a sort of…talent for it? like I’m probably going to be an English major and I’m generally MUCH better at organizing my thoughts through writing than like…actually speaking them out. I can usually translate my thoughts into speech given enough time, but…most class discussions don’t give me that time lol generally I trick people into thinking I’m good at public speaking tho I’m good at hiding terror when forced to do shit 2. im also really self-aware and good at understanding why I do things and my emotions nshit. this doesn’t translate into being able to read other people necessarily, but instead makes me good at understanding others motives and reasoning behind their actions, even if they haven’t really thought about it themselves

3.I’ve had this blog since I was 14 almost 15, and i got a Tumblr because I was way into nine inch nails and wanted a place to look at all of the pictures of ron zernert. over the years my blog sort of turned into general punk music to nothing in particular to the like exclusively kpop and shitposts it is now. I really love music tho, all of it not just kpop. I really recommend the woods by sleater-kinney and the fragile by nin those are basically my two favorite albums EVER also fontanelle by babes in toyland le trigre and bikini kill hole the raincoats…ill stop now but know that if system of a down me in seventh grade saw the kpop now she’d try to beat me up. college me is over it tho thank god I was doomed the minute I got into marina and the diamonds at age 13

4. I loooovveeee animals like even most bugs they’re interesting and calming compared to people

5. my therapist called me highly intelligent once that counts for something in my life right

6. I’m not sure if I’m a lesbian or not like I’m attracted to some men but how I approach that attraction and generally how I approach men in general is really complicated and would take me like an hour to type out sooooo for now I’m bi but who even knows I sure don’t

7. I’m godawful at drawing but that doesn’t stop my love of art and art history heeeyyyy

8. I say my ult bias in kpop is minho of shinee but that’s a lie it’s yoongi from bts but the bias is kind of different in that it’s due to me and yoongi being. really similar personality-wise. like we-both-get-infp-on-meyers-Briggs-but-think-it’s-fucking-wrong-similar. I laughed so hard when i saw that during festa omg

9. speaking of which fuck personality tests they never get me right Idk my meyers Briggs I’m both a ravenclaw and a slytherin I don’t remember any astrology shit other than me being a Scorpio is anything really real anyway?

10. i have like 2000 words worth of writing to do this week in between classes so like. I’m not going to ramble on about personal shit for too much longer anyway I’m elizabeth if you’re ever in minneapolis and see some almost 19-year-old white girl with a huge nose and bad hair alone and probably looking nervous or doing some weird idle motion it’s likely me say hi lol also I love chicken and am craving Panda Express rn so we’ll see if I waste more money after class in over

I hate to impose so like I’m too anxious to send this on but I don’t get many opportunities to overshare the way I want too irl so thank u for sending friend

[djscrewhead]

Screwhead - In Memoriam

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It's been a year since you left us. I got that final phone call that they were stopping resuscitation attempts at 4:20 in the morning, Valentine's Day, and had to laugh; it was get-laid-day, at smoke-weed-o'clock, two of your favorite things!

We had all sorts of times, both good and bad, in my 36 years of knowing you.

You got me into reading. I don't think I was much older than 8 or 9 when you first gave me Dune, Salem's Lot and Pet Sematary to read through. I’d read It and Tommyknockers before the TV Miniseries aired. Read through all your Dean Koontz before I was 12. All those small Conan reprints by Sphere.

You got me into comics, and what always stood out for me were those comics with the Jack Kirby art; Kamandi, Devil Dinosaur, and all those Marvel Treasury Edition reprints of Avengers, Thor and The Fantastic Four.

I still remember the day Superman died; you gave me a note to bring to school, telling them I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon and that you were picking me up at lunch time so that we could make sure to get to Hero Comics and buy a few issues before they sold out.

We'd pull the same thing two other times; first for Batman Returns and then Jurassic Park both came out on the last day of school, so you'd given me a note that we were going away on vacation and had to leave early, and I would only make the half-day. You picked me up at lunch time so that we could catch the first showing of them while everyone else was still stuck in school.

You just barely missed Doctor Strange and Iron Fist, and you would have loved them! The Punisher would have absolutely blown your mind away. First episode and there was a fight scene set to Tom Waits and I couldn’t help but think you’d have gone absolutely nuts seeing that. Defenders was pretty good, too. You'd have loved Guardians of the Galaxy 2, if just to see throwbacks to Kirby art in the visual style of a ton of the effects. Black Panther comes out this week and it looks fucking amazing.

You got me into movies, even horror movies, a genre you weren't a fan of. Poltergeist was the first movie you rented when we got our first Betamax, and it’s the first movie I ever remember watching. You saw Steven Spielberg on the box and figured it couldn't be THAT scary!

For my 11th birthday, I was bugging you to rent a horror movie because I always wanted to see one, so you said OK, as long as you pick the movie. We made it up to the dog scene in The Thing before turning it off and switching over to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but I spent weeks getting nightmares from that, and it's now one of my favorite movies of all time. Apocalypse Now, The Killing Fields, The Deer Hunter, anything with Harvey Keitel in it, The Usual Suspects.. So many incredible movies that you recommended I watch that I probably wouldn't have watched otherwise.

And of course, Ghostbusters. I was 3 in the summer of '84, and Cecile was working for a newspaper and she'd gotten a bunch of tickets to an early showing of the movie, and she'd already seen it and said it was a great movie, so she gave you a couple of tickets to it and holy shit was she ever right!

But out of everything you'd introduced me to that helped make me who I am today, music probably had the biggest impact. You had a huge record collection and you were always listening to something different. Then when you had some money, you started getting into the audiophile gear, I learned to really listen to music, and not just hear it. The little details that most wouldn't notice, like the faint rustling of the robes of a choir, the two dogs barking at each other at the start of Amused to Death. You taught me not to just hear music as a fun distraction, but to really listen and appreciate the artistry of it.

Aside from that brief stint of wanting to be a Ghostbuster, which, if I'm being completely honest, I'd still absolutely love to be if it were a real thing, I don't think I've ever wanted to do anything with my life that wasn't firmly rooted in music. You got me my first guitar and amp. You helped me out getting a laptop and soundcard/ram upgrade. When I wanted to start DJing, you got me my turntables and mixer, and let me order 200$ worth of records from Chemical Records on your credit card. Any time I wanted to do anything that involved music, you would help me out and encourage me. Any time I'd make something, even if it wasn't the kind of music you were into, you'd still listen to it.

So, this is me, as a DJ, trying to find some way to put something together with all the music that was important to me that you introduced me to.

↓Track List follows ↓

Frank Zappa - Willie the Pimp

I don't think this one needs any explanation, especially for those that knew you. If you had a theme song, this was it. Frank Zappa was your favorite singer/musician, and was the one act you'd seen the most live in concert, back when you had a nice camera and a fake press pass to get into every concert you wanted to see.

The Fugs - CCD/I Couldn't Get High/Saran Wrap

I mean, it's hard not putting the whole Golden Filth album in this thing. In hindsight, I was probably listening to some music I *REALLY* shouldn't have been listening to! The FBI's File on The Fugs called them “The Most Vulgar Thing the Human Mind Could Possibly Conceive". The benefits of a Coca Cola Douche. A lesbian dwarf tomato orgy leading to doing more drugs than a human should ever do. Using saran wrap as an impromptu condom. None of my friends at school believed that I wasn’t just making up songs when I told them about these until finally you weren’t home one day and they came over and I put the album on.

King Crimson - 21st Century Schizoid Man

You had many stories of going to concerts with a camera and a fake press pass to get in for free. You’d always tell me the one about that first time you saw King Crimson in this tiny venue, and at the very end of their set they turned on a strobe light. As the song progressed, the time between the flashes of light got longer and longer until the room was pitch-black for 5-10 seconds at a time in between brief camera-like flashes of light, until one by one the band members disappeared from the stage while they kept playing their instruments, until finally everyone was gone from the stage, and on what would have been the last flash of the strobe, they abruptly stopped playing and all the lights in the venue came on.

In ‘99 you got me tickets to their side-project, ProjeKct Two, and later in 2000 or 2001 to a proper King Crimson gig, but that ProjeKct Two show was mindblowingly amazing!

Dr. John - I Walk on Guilded Splinters

You listened to a lot of music, and I heard a ton of stuff growing up that most kids never heard. This was probably the first thing I can remember really thinking that it was SO much different than anything I'd ever heard before. It wasn't really rock, jazz, blues, funk, or anything else.. There was something weird and different about this one in a way I couldn't explain or understand until much later. It's that voodoo swamp vibe and I don't think I've ever heard anyone else do anything even remotely similar to it since. It's like listening in on a secret voodoo ritual going on deep in the swamps of New Orleans.

Tom Waits - What's He Building

Another one of those weird tracks, a bit of a theme going I guess. No one tells a story quite like Tom Waits, and I'll get more into why his music means so much to me a little later on. But this is another one of those that, as soon as you got the album, you knew I'd love it, but specifically this track, and you were totally right. I even did a bootleg remix of it a while back!

Dire Straits - Money for Nothing

Back when we lived on Davignon, any time ground beef was on sale, you'd get a whole bunch of it and spend a whole Sunday morning making chili. This was our making-chili album, but we'd always start on Money for Nothing. You had those huge Cerwin Vega speakers and you'd crank the music up so loud that those synth chords and tom-toms had so much power to them I was almost scared that one day we'd bring the walls down with the power behind that intro.

Roger Waters - The Ballad of Bill Hubbard/What God Wants, Part I

Any time you got a new piece of stereo gear, whether it was a new amp, speakers, or even just new cables/interconnects, this is the first album we'd listen to from start to finish, but it's those first two tracks that were the real test; at 11 seconds in, the dogs barking to each other. The mixing and mastering on this album is easily the best I've ever heard. No other album manages to give you what feels like a full surround sound experience from two front speakers, and no one writes a concept album quite like Roger Waters. I'd already understood that religion was an absolute crock of shit at a much earlier age than this, but this album was the first time that I'd ever heard anyone else really saying the same sort of observations about religion and the world that I'd been making for nearly as long as I could think and observe people and current affairs.

ZZ Top - Viva Las Vegas

You often played ZZ Top and I’ve always loved their music. When I was 12 or 13 they came to Montreal for a concert and I wanted to go see them. Before getting tickets, though, you wanted to make sure that I understood that their concerts weren’t going to be like their music videos or album artwork; it was going to be the band playing, and there weren’t going to be any scantily clad women dancing around. I told you I understood, and you got the tickets. The night of the concert, again, you reminded me that this was a concert and not to expect any scantily clad women dancing around.

Then Viva Las Vegas came on, and lo and behold, a parade of scantily clad Las Vegas showgirls came out and started dancing on stage and we spent the whole song laughing!

Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs

We were watching Much Music one day and the music video came on. As soon as it was over we went out to HMV so you could get me the cassette!

Motorhead - Ace of Spades

I remember this like it was yesterday. I was 11, and while going through your records together, you jokingly said that this is the best record you could ever use to wake someone up with. I don't remember you having ever put it on before, so I don't think I'd ever heard it, but, that weekend, I woke up before you did, got the record out, cued it up, and turned the sound system aaaaaaaaaall the way up. You (understandably) woke up COMPLETELY freaked out, ran out of your room, saw me in the living room laughing and realized how you'd absolutely set yourself up for that. We ended up going for breakfast at that place across from Center 2000 and spent the whole day laughing about it.

KISS - Domino

Another one of those "probably not appropriate for an 11 year old to be listening to", but it was a great and catchy rock song that we would often blast in the car as we would drive around. I’m pretty certain this is the first time I’d heard any Kiss. Before this, the only thing I knew about Kiss was that you had the first issue of their Marvel comic.

Marilyn Manson - I Put a Spell on You

Another one that I remember like it was yesterday. It was boxing day 1996. I was living with mom at the time, so for boxing day I went to meet you downtown. We ate at Bistro Duluth, had some coffee at Deux Maries, and then we went to HMV because, amongst other things, you'd given me a gift card for there. I'd started going goth about a year or two before, but other than a couple of KMFDM tapes that Fuzzball Mike had given me, I really only listened to Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Dead Can Dance, and similar type of goth music.

I had never really gotten into music that was too heavy or aggressive, but stuff like Type O Negative and Nine Inch Nails was starting to slowly seep into what I was listening to. I was looking through the more industrial-metal section, and couldn't make up my mind on what to get, since I didn't really know any of the bands I was looking at. You came by and saw Marilyn Manson - Smells Like Children, and in your typical joking-but-dead-serious tone, said you'd heard of Marilyn Manson and that I should get that one because it would probably piss off my mother.

So I did!

At the time there was still Magic and boardgames nights every friday at the Croissanterie across the street from McMagic, so we parted ways and I decided I would walk there since it was only a few metro stops away. I put on the CD and instead spent the next two or three hours walking through the streets of Montreal, from around 7-9pm as the snow was gently falling, getting my mind absolutely blown away by these sounds I'd never heard before.

A few years later, you watched Lost Highway and immediately called me to ask me if I could make you a copy of the soundtrack. You thought his cover of I Put a Spell on You was one of the best and truest covers you'd ever heard, making the song even creepier and more sinister than the original. Also, you liked the Rammstein tracks, because they weren't the same sort of "headbanger thrash shit" that you normally thought of whenever someone mentioned metal.

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Midnight Black Earth

By this time I was completely into Drum and Bass, and you’d listened to some and didn’t really like it much, but you knew that one of my favorite things about DnB was the deep bass. You discovered this album when you still had your house up north and your stereo was still in full working order. I came over one weekend and, after we’d eaten supper, you said you had something to listen to. You turned off all the lights, and we sat down in the living room and you put this on and we silently listened to the whole thing. It immediately became one of my favorite albums of all time. Because of my tinnitus, I can’t sleep without music playing, and this is one of the albums that I put on whenever I go to bed.

Tom Waits - Big Joe and Phantom 309

There was only one place I could put this song, and it was right at the very end of this mix. 1991 was a pretty rough year. I'd been living with my mother, but constantly getting into arguments and fights with her until finally I moved in with you. You were living with Claudine at the time in a small 3 1/2 in St-Leonard. It was one of those tiny "we turned the garage into a rental and just added a B to our address because it was too small to get a real address" type of deals. We used Bobone's address to keep me registered at the school I was at in Laval so that I wouldn't have to change schools and have to make new friends.

Every day we'd wake up at 5am so that we could both be ready and drive all the way from St-Leonard to Laval for the 8am bell. Being a garage-turned-3 1/2, there was only one bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen/diningroom combo. But you still had those huge, beige foam sofas that were 100% foam, no wood or any sort of support structure within, that weighed nothing and were SUPER comfortable.

Every night when it was time to go to bed, we'd move the sofas and pouf around to give me a little nook up against a wall that I could sleep in. For those first few months, every night that I went to bed, you'd sit at the foot of my little nook, and we'd talk about how my day was, how I was handling things, and you would always reassure me that, even though things weren't ideal right now, everything was eventually going to work out.

Then, as you saw that I was starting to nod off, you'd take out Nighthawks at the Diner, and put on this track, and sit with me as it played through and I drifted off to sleep. Every single night until the lease on the 3 1/2 was over and we could move to a new place in Laval that I could have my own room in, you were there to make sure I knew I was loved and cared for.

You didn't really know of any stories that you could tell to help me fall asleep, so you entrusted the telling of my bedtime stories to the greatest storyteller in the world, Tom Waits.

So this is where I'm going to end this mix; with the hope that somehow, somewhere, all this music and what it means to me reaches you. Sleep well.