#I also have the local conventions & festivals to plan for

[nardacci-does-art]

When I was a kid, the world was full of wonder. Now the world is still full of wonder, but it's very expensive, & the capitalists & conservatives are actively trying to kill the wonder, & between my health, social anxiety & inability to justify spending on travel, I just order things online now & then to give myself something to look forward to. You know how it is.

[runaway-workshop]

2024 in review and what to expect in 2025

With a big convention line up, 2024 was a big year for me hitting the road and showing off my wears live, this was a goal I had at the end of 2023 and while I didnt hit it with the expectation I had set out with, here are the conventions I did manage to work:

LARPcon 2nd-3rd March & 2nd - 3rd Nov

Super local, relaxed, and well organised, LARPcon is a great convention, I love chatting with people there and I always learn something new. 

I didn't get a photo of my final setup for the November LARPcon for some reason, but my last con of the year was a blast, I spoke with lots of people who had traded with me through the year and enjoyed their costumes during the LARPing summer season. I also scored a huge box of leather scraps ready for more dragons in 2025

The Alternitive Convention 7th April

This was a new convention for 2024, I saw it advertised and thought I would give it a try for experience if nothing else. It was very interesting with a different enough crowd to showcase to a broader audeince of costume enthusiasts, but not so different that my stall was completely out of place. I don't believe I'm likely to do this convention again as I have a lot planned for this year now.

UK Games Expo 31st May - 2nd June

I was very excited for UKGX, but also super nervous because it's the biggest and most professional convention I've vented at (for now?). My biggest worry was that I would be totally out of place, but everyone was very friendly, particularly fellow vendors who were more than happy to offer tips and advice that I will be applying to my stall in the not-too-distant furture.

What about the furry conventions?

I don't want to talk too much about the conventions that I didnt get into, but as I've mentioned in the past about wanting to do Scotiacon again, and Confuzzled being my staple convention, I thought it would be worth a mention too.

Scotiacon was simply a logistcs issue, my van was in and out of the mechanics for various issues through all of Q4 in 2023, I couldn't afford a new van and I wasn't sure it would get me to Scotland without a tow truck, so I didn't risk applying. With Confuzzled I got caught up in the cogs of the new application process and was left on the waiting list. But, despite my vending list being smaller than I'd hoped, It was probably a blessing in the end as I was able to try out some new conventions. 

Conventions 2025

Alongside my new staple of LARP con, I'm really pleased to say that I will be vending at Confuzzled in 2025, as well as Fantasty Forest Festival!

I will also be vending at various actual LARP events over the year, I have spoken to some organisers, but not finalised anything yet so I will confirm which games I will be vending at at a later date.

 What else I got up to in 2024

My favourite project has been working on all these Dragons, as time-consuming as it is, it is a fun and relaxing process that I've enjoyed and I hope to make more going into 2025

I had a lot of fun experimenting with some new masks as well, including working on a mossy wood elk ready for Fantasy Forest. I only got to attend one day at FF in 2024, but I had a great time wandering around as this branchy antlered beast, I didn't even take it off when I was skanking to the Whiskey Rebellion at the Dragon stage.

Launching several new base designs, I also made lots of animal LARP masks as pre-mades and commissions, A few people shared images with me of them wearing their masks in full character, which was cool to see

I did do some more work on my campervan, this might be Irrelevant to my work, it did interrupt it a bit over July to be fair as I was getting ready for Noisily Festival, but it's also going to be necessary this year if I'm going to be travelling to more events.

What is more irrelevant to my work is that I then spent the next few summer months laying the groundwork for our wildlife garden which I'll be finally completing this year. It's been so slow because I've been basically skip-diving for most of the materials as I go, but It's going to be worth it for all the little newts, bee, birds, hedgehogs and all the other critters that come to visit, they're going to be in a safe and more welcoming environment, and the workshop is going to be surrounded by nature

What's in store for 2025?

More: playing - creating - sculpting 

My biggest goal this year is to see more of my work out in the world, so while I'm out attending festivals and events, I'll be keeping my eyes out. If you know I'm at an event please don't hesitate to seek me out, or send me some photos, I'd love to create a whole page on my website to show off your characters and how you've brought my work to life.

I have a few new sculpts that I'm working on, the main priority is a Stoat / weasel design, I'm also working on an Owl, these should both be ready at least before May, but I'm hoping to have them done in time for LARP con in March.

I haven't abandond slimline head bases, there are two new designs (Fox and a Dragon) that are ready for listing in the next week or so once I have taken some photos. I will be sculpting two more in the run-up to Confuzzled, one will be a Hyena as I've been meaning to work on that for many months, and the other is yet to be decided.

I also want to finish this Highland bull, and I have plans for a couple of others in different colours and with different horns.

Finally, I have caved and started using TikTok over the last few months, so please give me a follow if you use the platform. I don't post there much yet, but any followers would be great

[poupeesdecirque]

NiSaCon 2024 - 08/06/24 - Travel Blog

Here we go again for the next (smaller) Convention!

The NiSaCon is a local(ish) Convention for me, I never attended bc of reasons (might geht into that later in the post) but this year I just want to challenge myself into getting out more again.

I only went one day but that was plenty of time to enjoy, it had a lot of surprises for me.

The first was overall that I actually managed to arrange a meet up with another DGM Fan BEFORE the actual con as we both posted our Line ups on Insta and the official con account featured them in their stories. That was a reason for me to be hyped up already.

I kind of changed my plans as I wanted to do casual Allen in before but switched to Crown Clown to test the cosplay before the Dokomi.

For photos, meet ups, kind words and some surpises please read further under the cut.

Day started at home for me, I got partially ready as I was easily able to drive with the basic outfit, just to pop into the rest of the costume as soon as I would arrive. I ... made the curse gear for the NisaCon but forgot it at home, but I just had left and decided to fetch it.

After not even 1 hour of driving I arrived at the location and got the rest of the costume on.

I learned putting on a bag with the claw and the ornaments is .. difficult. Good for me was that I got a little hip bag (originally for Link) that I took with me, I was able to put my purse and phone along with the ticket and my keys into it. The parking lot was not far off I later on just threw Tim into the car.

The Con itself was small but bigger than the HanaCon! There was an artists alley and some other booths with merchandise and nice little things. Also the club that was hosting the convention and a booth for the local queer community of my area which I was especially excited for as I always was too shy to go there just like that.

Then you had several other rooms one big for workshops, a games room, the big stage and a karaoke area. Also a restaurant/café. The overall location was bright, had a very good AC and was clean and kudos to the con itself for deciding to go here after they had changed locations (the other one was in a city 15 minutes away), good choice.

I met KandaxMusa (the other DGM Cosplayer) quite early but she had several program related events she wanted to attend before taking photos, I was to be honest... a bit interested in one workshop so I ran around for a while and had lunch.

After that I decided to have some courage and visited the booth of our local queer community and the person at the booth called one of their coworkers and we got to know each other, talked a lot about different things, difficulties, I got invited to their CSD next month and their newly founded Anime/Manga/Cosplay meet up that will start in August. We both ran around for a bit and even go to attend a workshop about wig styling. And I met my Cross from the Bookfair again (maybe you remember my Cross and them being Valentino at the HanaCon?).

Also I got talked into attending ... the cosplay competition and I actually signed up. I had no idea why but that was the day of challenges.

Then we finally teamed up for photos together I hope I get to see the pics soon.

Time then ran somehow super fast as the cosplay contest already started. I got the last number and had to wait until the very end to ... come up with something to do on stage. I talked a lot with the other contestants, even with someone who mainly spoke english.. like yeah I can speak english but I rarely do, doing it and just switching around is such a big step for me.

Photos by KandaxMusa (Insta) :)

In the end my entrance was a mash up of what I did at the Anime Festival and I got interaction from the audience... it was super exciting!

And I got so so much positive feedback from people who have watched the contest T___T aah. Like this was my fav:

A Blitzo and Fizzarolli stopped with their car in the parking lot to tell me they loved my performance because it was so authentic and they wish me all the best to win as it was their favorite, I am still in awe and so thankful for all those kind words. And all the exchanges with people who still know the series and even cosplayed from it in before T___T

The announcement of the ranking for the 5 categories was planned late in the evening. We (aka my Cross and some more cool people) teamed up to get some food in and we roleplayed a bit with the cosplays and I enjoyed every little minute of it. Also we learned I eat the most and the fastest of us all :') actually in character here lol.

The ranking for the categories were all perfect, I would have ranked almost all of them the same, really. We had 'best performance', 'best wig', 'best make up', 'best costume (sewn)' and 'best costume (crafts)' and I can say everyone did a damn good job here.

It was super late already but I was truly pumped because the day was so amazing.

In the end, short before I left, I actually talked to the man behind the whole convention after ... avoiding talking to people from the club for 10 years now. Long story short: i was in the council back in the day but the work at the club destroyed my mental health and I usually avoid it like the plaque. Actually talking with someone from them is such a huge step for me towards healing old wounds.

In general the whole convention was fantastic, the program was not my cup of tea mainly (but that's me not being into newer series or things like jpop/kpop) but the atmosphere and people were truly amazing. Just casually talking, having fun, getting out of my comfort zone but in a positive and joyful way.

I am just thankful and happy I attended. I feel so much better about the Dokomi (i have my concerns about a bunch of things I might address later on) because I know a lot of those wonderful people will be there and I can connect, I do amazing when I am in a good mood and I can reach out and ask for help. I'm so proud of myself. Really.

[suyooo]

Making BIG SIF2 (Part 1)

If you have been following the SIF series for a while, you might have seen "Hop Hop With Everyone ♪ Big SIF" (jp. "Minna de Pyonpyon ♪ Deka Sukufesu") before. It was an attraction made by Klab for the original SIF, which appeared a few times at the SIF Festival locations and Sunshine City. And as the name implies, it's big SIF. You play as a team of nine, one for each of the nine spots, and have to tap a big button with your feet or jump on it to hit the notes on your spot:

However, it has not been seen since 2019. I guess there's a certain virus to blame, and with the original SIF kind of not existing anymore and Klab being gone, we don't really know what is happening to it.

It is now 2023. SIF 2 has released, but it is not big.

Time to fix that.

What follows is me writing along while I am working on this project. If you want to find out how this works or how you could make one yourself, read on, otherwise, the TL;DR is I have one working switch out of nine so far (the one that has a cable sticking out of it) and there's a little video of it working at the bottom of the post :)

In June 2022, I ran a little contest about trying to play SIF with things you shouldn't play SIF with, inspired by the legendary sausage/soldier game video. There were guinea pigs and dogs, apples and garlic, a tatacon and a shower head, and it was a lot of fun. In the lead-up to the contest, BIG SIF obviously came up as a related topic, along with some thoughts about how one could build it themselves. I think big buttons are just a really cool way to play games in general. Big buttons are fun. I've made a pop'n' controller setup with 5 Donkey Konga bongo controllers before so you could really slap them down, and that was neat, too.

I actually did some brainstorming about how to approach a DIY BIG SIF around that time, but I ended up never pulling the trigger to start working on it. I did remember about those plans around the start of this year though, since conventions and such were starting to come back. (Obviously ignoring D*komi, which is more of a safety hazard than a convention at this point.) Maybe BIG SIF could be something to bring to these, as a mini-event? Even if not, I can play it locally with others - and you could play it with just three people too, it doesn't need to be nine players...

I'm just making excuses, really. The truth is simply I think it looks cool and I want to try making one.

There's obviously a lot of details to deal with, but what I like to do is focus on the most important questions first. In this case, to make the project possible, I need to find out: - How do I build a foot switch? - How do I control the game with external switches?

Anything else - like how to connect everything, making things look nice or easier to use - can come later, because those parts are not vital. Those two questions are what I need to answer to make sure the project is possible in the first place. I'm obviously not the first one with the idea of making a DIY BIG SIF, obviously, so in case you want to see another - one I found was made by members of the Rikkyo University Love Live! Club (which sounds extremely cool), with some pictures shown here.

The foot switch method I ended up choosing is really simple: it works by having strips of copper tape touch. Put it on two surfaces facing each other, put an air gap between them so they don't have contact, but can bend and touch each other when there's a weight on the button. This way, you don't need to deal with any sensors, it's just a simple electric circuit. In fact, now that I am writing this down and looking at the photos again, I think that's also the method the Rikkyo club's BIG SIF used? I think I can see copper tape stuck onto what seems like acrylic plates, and some light foam between to keep them seperated when there's no weight on them. (Again, I'm not the first to have any of these ideas. Also, their controller probably works with SIF 2, too, so I'm not the first one on that, either. I just want to feel fancy and write about the setup I'm building)

Though, in order to make the entire controller thing easier to transport, I didn't want to go with a solid material like that. There was one thing I found that seemed like it would fit the bill: making switches out of shelf liner. That's what makes up the two surfaces, and anti-slip rug pads can be cut to create the air gap. That was the perfect approach: it results in an extremely flat button, the materials are light and flexible so I could just roll the switches up for transport, they're easy to clean after use, and also, I had more than enough at home that I could use for the project! I basically already had everything I needed - copper tape, shelf liner and rug pads. Of course, the fact that it keeps the project cheap is a nice bonus, but the main thing that makes me happy about it is that I really like recycling old stuff that's not in use anymore.

I went with the same tape layouting approach as the original shelf liner mat switch: each surface has the tape arranged in parallel, with one of them rotated 90 degrees so they form a grid, and the rug pad has holes in the locations where they cross over each other. The width of the copper tape I had just perfectly worked out, which was pure luck and 0% planning. There was a different problem though - my tape required a lot of soldering. The copper tape didn't have conductive adhesive, so I couldn't just stick tape on top of tape and have it connect electrically, it needed a seperate connection. If you want to make one of these yourself, get copper tape with conductive adhesive. It will save you so much work, oh god.

Doing the solder job also revealed another problem that I probably should have seen coming a mile away - the shelf liner melts in the places where I take too much time. (If you ever play on my setup, make sure to check the bottom of the switch to see how badly I messed up on the one you're using! (Actually, please don't.)) Instead of trying to get good at soldering, I just added another piece to the stack: another layer of shelf liner that is just decorative and can hide my mistakes. This one I had to purchase, but that's alright because I found some colored shelf liner that matches the three SIF attributes!! That's worth it, right!??

Some snap caps on the bottom shelf liner and the decorative top will be holding everything together, so I can take it apart again to repair or clean the switches easily after use. In general, the buttons built like this should be fairly resilient - there's nothing to break apart through excessive force, and I can replace single layers of each switch in case something does end up failing. The main thing I'm worried about is the solder joints, and how they'll hold up when I roll up the switches or otherwise transport them.

And with that, we have our first foot switch. Wow! I only did a little bit of multimeter poking to confirm it works at this point. Note that the sensitivity of the pad can also be somewhat calibrated by simply making the holes in the rug pad bigger or smaller. I think I overdid it a little - even if the switch is nice and sensitive enough to even register the smallest of tippy toe taps, it sometimes gets stuck in the pressed state for a bit when releasing after standing on it. And that's really bad, since hold notes in the game will require perfect timing on the releases as well. So, I'll probably redo that layer, and just make the holes one row smaller to have the perfect sensitivity.

Now, it's time to get the controller side of the project going, to see whether I can actually play a game with it.

The easy choice here was to simply get a board made for DIY arcade controller panels. These are meant to be easily connected to buttons and joysticks you purchase seperately, and are recognized by any device you plug them into as a normal gamepad. But in practice, they don't care about what you wire to them, as long as it acts as a button - like the floor switch I just built! I get an easy way to convert them into input, without any need to write custom code, or to deal with debouncing the signal or anything. It just works!

The next step was to connect the board to my phone. That's because another thing I want to do is run the game as intended, no modified app or emulation or anything. I just really want to not deal with all those Android emulators and any lag that could possibly cause, or in case any hosts have reservations about using emulated games (and also emulators are just a pain on Linux in the first place). But even with that as a limitation, this part was surprisingly painless! The board just connects through a USB-A to USB-C adapter, it's recognized as a generic gamepad as mentioned above, and the Key Mapper app for Android simply lets you map all of the inputs to taps on the screen. That's all that's needed!

So far, only one button is finished, but it is connected and it works - which means I can already play the most important part of the game...

... the timing calibration.

On the next part of Making BIG SIF2: doing the same thing, but eight more times. Also maybe I'll write about something else too, just so the post is not just a picture of eight more circles.

update: the second part is over here!

[gealach-in-a-misty-world]

Running from strife in her homeland, Maribella Waters becomes the new owner of the fabled Cozy Quill. After finding squatters on her property, she employs Asteria Helsdottir, a giant, barbarian warrior woman more accustomed to swinging an axe than opening a book. Together, the odd couple must make a success out of the bookshop—and survive a dizzying procession of seasonal festivals. But the local evil noblewoman has other plans in mind. Threatened with being run off the land, Maribella and Asteria must use their wits to outsmart Lady Malicent and keep their business open. Along the way, the whole town lends a hand, friendships are forged, and mysteries are revealed.

This was such a delightful read! Morgan Stang's The Bookshop and the Barbarian is a low-stakes cozy novella about the importance of reading and finding new friends. It's also frankly hilarious, to the point where I laughed out loud more than a couple of times. The author gently makes fun of the conventions of the genre, while following them to a T. It even references another famous cozy fantasy novella almost directly, to much hilarity.

This is an incredibly sweet, fun little adventure that I'm really glad to have read. The soft blooming romance between the young businesswoman and the barbarian warrior is the icing on the cake. The dialogue is so incredibly witty, and the funny parts are balanced well with more profound moments. The fourth wall is constantly broken and it's fantastic; the way the haunted books were handled, particularly, had me in stitches.

The Bookshop and the Barbarian is perfect to cleanse your palate in-between heavier reads.

✨ 3.5 stars

[You can find more of my reviews about queer speculative fiction on my blog MISTY WORLD]

[avaantares]

At a con a while back, a casual acquaintance invited my group to a room party, bragging that they had a couple of kegs and a variety of hard liquor, and were going to get hammered. I politely declined the invite, explaining that I don't drink -- and it was like the guy bluescreened right in front of me. He just stared at me for a moment, then stammered, "But... if you don't drink... how do you have any fun?"

What I immediately thought (but didn't say at the time) was: "If you're incapable of having a good time without chemical assistance, it sounds like you're the one who doesn't know how to have fun." (also: *points to previous post re "that's not normal"*)

Thanks to a serious family history of alcoholism, I grew up with firsthand awareness of the detrimental effects of excessive drinking, so I decided early on that I wasn't going to risk it. I set strict rules for myself (only on special occasions, never more than one drink, never in a place where I didn't have someone I trusted watching out for me) and I cultivated friends who understood my family background and wouldn't pressure me into drinking with them.

That meant going out drinking was never on my list of weekend plans to begin with, and I developed lots of other interests and hobbies instead. Now, my schedule is SO FREAKING FULL I can't imagine taking time out of it for something as mundane as going to a bar. That time spent getting inebriated could be used for so many more interesting things!

Stuff I do on weekends without drinking:

see movies at neat vintage venues (I have both a century-old movie house that shows classic films and a drive-in theatre that shows current films within 40 minutes of my house; it's super fun!)

go to/work at fan conventions

make costumes for fan conventions (I'm a Masters-level cosplayer)

play tabletop RPGs with friends (yes, it's possible to do that without beer!)

attend local festivals and street fairs

visit museums

watch stage plays/musicals

create new art or jewelry designs for my Etsy shop

write fiction

build special exhibits for a nonprofit historic preservation organization I work with

try out new restaurants with friends

read books (if I want to chill at home)

play video games (solo or couch party)

go hiking

host cookouts on my patio

travel to new places (I've been to all 7 continents)

...and much more!

There's certainly nothing wrong with having a drink now and then, but it shouldn't be the default method you use to relax -- and like the previous post said, if you wouldn't want to go to those places or hang out with those people without drinking, you might want to do some self-evaluation or talk to someone. If you don't enjoy your friends or social activities sober, they probably aren't the best match for you.

some sobriety ideas

[erinpilolla]

The Genius Behind The Las Vegas Superbowl Location Choice

October 15, 2023

By Erin Pilolla

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), who formed in 1955. This company handles all state sponsored destination marketing for Southern Nevada. They promote businesses, tourist landmarks, concerts, sporting events and more. One notable event the company has been collaborating with in terms of advertising is the NFL, a high-profile client to sponsor. According to one article I found on KTNV.com, a major Nevada news outlet, the LVCVA is planning to spend up to 60 million dollars on sponsoring the 2024 Super Bowl. The company shared their estimation that they could make up to 700 million dollars in revenue from this event and would bring in a lot of opportunities for the city of Las Vegas2.

This organization has been helping to sustain the tourism industry in Las Vegas even through the pandemic, while striking a fine line of respecting current residents as well. One of their most notable campaigns, which has become so ubiquitous I didn’t even know it was a sponsored message, surrounded around the “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” catchphrase. Since then, the company has continued to present Las Vegas as a place to escape the ordinary and live free of the usual repercussions or burdens1.

Another advertising and public relations campaign the company has been pursuing is the “Down for Anything” campaign, which mostly highlights all of the various entertainment and lifestyle options Las Vegas has to offer. “Down to Play,” an offshoot of the main campaign, has advertised to people visiting and those who already live there by creating specialized itineraries of activities you can do in the city and providing discounts for some of them3.

The organization has also spent years building relationships with hundreds of concert venues, who host comedy shows, other forms of live entertainment, and gain sponsorship through the visit LVCVA website. Local restaurants, festivals, hotels, even weddings are easy to find and advertised through the website, social media, and other channels around the city.

One example of public relations activities which took a more traditional route is the “Average isn’t invited to Vegas” message which was spread through television commercials and a radio advertisement4,5,6. It has also been used as the tagline/homepage of a secondary website the organization has launched called Vegas Means Business, which promotes their professional and corporate amenities7.

A more modern but less commonly seen route of advertising the company has taken up is maintaining a fairly active blog which provides tips on things to do in the city, sometimes highlighting things other than partying such as natural landmarks nearby and outdoor nature tours (see screenshot).

In terms of how well the company is appealing to their target markets with all of these activities and creating a favorable image for themselves, I think they are doing a very impressive job. According to one literature review done by a student at the University of Nevada reviewing the demographics of Las Vegas tourism, adults around age 27-42 (millennials) were the most common visitor but many other age ranges and demographics exist as well9. It is a huge city with lots of appeal for both older adults and younger people. Both are important markets to consider, and it can be difficult to engage in company activities which will make all of these varied groups happy, but they are doing a good job.

In one last piece of data which was sourced LVCVA records, they have kept information about tourism in Las Vegas since as far back as the 60s. Although technically 2016 had the highest number of visitors the city has ever had10, the city is showing an upward trend in tourism again since the pandemic, although they held strong numbers even through that.

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

Sources

https://www.lvcva.com/destination-marketing/advertising-campaigns/what-happens-here-stays-here/

https://www.ktnv.com/news/lvcva-gets-prepared-to-put-on-a-60-million-super-bowl-in-2024

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/tourism/new-ad-campaign-for-downtown-las-vegas-wants-to-turn-locals-into-tourists-2738568/

https://www.vegasmeansbusiness.com/

https://press.lvcva.com/all/fall-adventure-entertainment-quick-trip-vegas-boulder-city-laughlin-mesquite/S/403687e0-55f2-4f3c-9175-46b7386903f2

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1595&context=thesesdissertations

[yukiwhitetm]

Hey! Happy October! 🎃

If you're wondering what I have been up to, well, I've been trying to get back on my feet since the passing and funeral of my childhood friend's mum. I've lost three friends in the past year, two to cancer and one to sepsis, two that I've known since childhood and been practically family and one that helped my family a great deal (he founded a charity, that's how generous a person he was). So, it's taking me some time but I'm trying to get back on my feet.

Last month, I went to a local convention as modern!Rapunzel and whilst I was there I spoke to some authors who told me that traditional publishing with a literary agent and publisher no longer includes them marketing you unless you're a big name already (which is the whole reason I wanted to publish traditionally!) and also about a writing festival in the county (think like a state) over from mine. I went to the aforementioned writing festival this weekend and took a load of notes during their publishing and marketing workshops! It turns out it's true that I'm going to have to market myself on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok (which I don't even have right now) no matter which publishing route I take for my first book (which is finished already).

So, I'm considering self-publishing instead of my original plan of traditionally publishing so that I can keep full ownership (i.e. own the copyright and ISBN code) of my stories and am thinking over ideas on how to market myself on TikTok and Instagram. I'm a pretty boring person really, very grandma (I like books, tea and crochet/knitting), so it's a bit of challenge.

Anyway! I have my PIP consultation (disability living benefit) at the end of the month so I think I'll plan what to do until then and actually start doing stuff to market myself after that.

I hope you are doing well. Feel free to reply to this post and let me know how you're doing.

Once I start marketing myself, would you like me to link you to my socials? (I will be using my real name to publish so it would include a name reveal.)

Your friend,

Yuki_White

[whatsonmedia]

'Dhaka Summer Con' theme song 'Escape' releases

The official theme song of Dhaka Summer Con is out now : The country's biggest pop culture festival ‘Dhaka Summer Con 2023’ is going to be held for three days on July 13th, 14th and 15th at International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in the capital. To add a new dimension to the excitement of the upcoming festival, the 'Dhaka Summer Con' theme song 'Escape' was released; it is the first ever theme song created for a pop culture festival. Renowned heavy metal band Mechanix has joined by star artists Raef Al Hasan Rafa, Shishir Ahmed and Black Zang to compose the music for this unique arrangement; On Tuesday, the song got released along with its music video on the official YouTube channel of 'Dhaka Summer Con' and all other social media platforms. The song 'Escape' is penned by Sheikh M Reaz, renowned drummer of Mechanics Band and AGM of MediaQuest Bangladesh. ‘Escape’ will motivate and inspire those youth who are full of passion, fearless and have the urge to do something different. A portion of the song has been rapped by the popular hip-hop artist, Black Zang. Shishir Ahmed directed and supervised the composition of the theme song. Mechanix vocalist Aftabuzzaman Tridib Tridib said about the song 'Escape', 'Mechanix is always committed to giving fans something new. Our plan remained the same with this theme song of Dhaka Summer Con. I hope everyone will listen to the song and make the festival a success by participating in Dhaka Summer Con 2023. Convener of Dhaka Summer Con and Co-founder of MediaQuest Bangladesh, Tariqul Sumon said 'We are going to organize this festival for the first time with all kinds of entertainment. Dhaka Summer Con will be like a grand get together of all the popular music bands and comic communities of the country. The song 'Escape' will instill confidence in every person and inspire them to do something new.’ Srabon Sagor, Co-founder of MediaQuest Bangladesh said, 'MediaQuest is always trying to do something extraordinary out of the ordinary. Dhaka Summer Con is one such initiative. Dhaka Summer Con is determined to give pop-culture a platform in our country and that's exactly what is revealed in this song 'Escape'. This is the first pop-culture festival in the country to have its own theme-song. The country's top local event management and public relations organization MediaQuest Bangladesh is going to organize this festival for the first time with Comics, Cosplay, Concert, Gaming, K-pop, Hip-hop, Art and all kinds of entertainment. Dhaka Summer Con is being organized with the idea of ​​creating a globally inspiring experience and establishing an international standard platform in the concerned community. For more updates visit the official Facebook page, Dhaka Summer Con - https://www.facebook.com/dhakasummercon Listen to the song on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TX3r_rPHA98 । Also the official event page- https://facebook.com/events/s/dhaka-summer-con-2023/196643493359105/ Read the full article

[ceruleanchillin]

Honeymoon Headcanons: Mayans Edition

Characters: Angel, Coco, EZ x F!Reader

Miami (Angel)

It wasn’t difficult at all to decide where the two of you would take your honeymoon. When you weren’t gonna be naked, Angel wanted you in sundresses and bikinis. You wanted him in linen shirts, and to feel him up in a club. Couple that with you both wanting a tropical environment, and Miami it is.

Angel letting you handle the accommodations, because you seem to know more about what you wanna see/where you wanna go than he does. He only cares about a bed and shower for when he’s not taking you in the inappropriate places. He just hands over the cash, though he complains about his hurt wallet.

Angel hard as a rock when he sees your new name on your plane ticket.

The two of you nearly missing your flight because your husband needs to “show his wife he loves her”.

You babying him on the flight, because Angel has never flown anywhere before.

“Mami, it’s perfectly valid to feel like a flying toaster can’t safely get you anywhere but a casket. Which they can’t even put you in, because you’ll be everywhere!”

Cue you distracting him with kisses and dirty words in his ear, which gets you initiated into the Mile High Club

Barely making it into the cute little condo before the two of you are at it again, collapsing in the late hours to jet lag and mutual satisfaction.

Your first official day is spent dragging Angel around the humid streets. Knowing he stresses easily if you plan things too tightly, and wanting to wing it yourself. It’s surprising how well you to fit in, it almost feels like home.

Angel switching from being jealous, because your tiny cotton sundress is attracting more than just his attention, to him kissing all over your dewy skin because so much of it is visible.

You getting as jealous as Angel, because it seems like each place you drag him to has openly interested ladies. It’s the white linen shirt that he won’t fully button no matter how many times you try to make him.

Angel basking in the attention, and even playing it up to force you to be the one to initiate inappropriate public sex.

Smirking when you break after a woman pays for his (and unintentionally yours) order at a small cafe you stepped into and you snap and drag him to a hidden place.

“I only love you querida, mi alma.” he whispers in your ear when he bottoms out inside you.

You two are a beautiful couple. Photogenic as all hell. Alone, neither of you have a problem attracting interest, but together, you make people want to be seen around you. That’s why you have no problem club hopping to all the exclusive places.

Angel taking photos and videos of you dancing because he’s so enthralled. He can’t wait to show your kids one day when they ask why he fell for you, and he explains how full of life you are.

Getting enough liquor in Angel to get him dance somewhere away from the club, especially since he (lies) and says he can’t.

You and Angel competing to see who can get the most people to buy your drinks + the two of you losing track because you both get drunk.

A quickie in the coatroom is the prize, Angel fucking you to the hypnotic beat.

Spending a few hours apart the following day, only to still keep texting and FaceTiming each other until you met up, touch starved, at a small restaurant.

Deciding to spend the rest of the day at your Airbnb laid up under each other after Angel scores weed. Teasing Angel about his monetary complaints when you spend all night enjoying the small backyard pool.

Angel thanking God for getting an adventure loving woman as his soulmate when you wake him up the next afternoon to inform him you rented jet skis for the day.

You being impressed when, while jet skiing, Angel silver tongues your way into an invitation to a nearby yacht party out of the host.

FaceTiming Gilly to make him jealous that you two are doing Hookah and drinking Casamigos in a hot tub.

Angel ramping up the mockery when EZ and Coco appear on screen, attracted by Gilly’s whining. Everyone looking overworked and salty, while you and Angel are living your best non-sober lives.

Slipping away from the party to one of the rooms on the boat, because once again, you and Angel never know when to stop teasing each other before it ends up in sex.

Feeling bold enough to suggest that since Angel’s been documenting so much of the trip, that maybe he should film this too.

The aftermath being a surprisingly sweet series of kisses and confessions where the two of you express how thankful you are to have found each other. How you can’t wait to build a forever together.

Marfa + Roswell (Coco)

No one knew how you got Coco to agree to travel for your honeymoon until you finally revealed where you were going. Splitting a week between Marfa and Roswell.

You and Coco are that “weird” conspiracy, incense, and weed couple, so it makes sense.

Giving Coco an edible before you leave, because like Angel, he doesn’t fuck with air travel like that.

“They got me with that bullshit in the military, but that was out of my control. You askin’ a lot right now, you’re lucky you’re cute mujer.”

Coco getting progressively handsy during the flight as the edible hits. Eventually, you stop fake-fighting his neck kisses and forward touches.

Also like Angel in that he’s unafraid to become a member of the Mile High Club.

The ride from the El Paso airport, to the car rental place, to Marfa takes far longer than Coco would like.

He’s used to long stretches of trip on his bike, and when you notice him becoming antsy, you distract him with interesting facts about Marfa.

The entire time, Coco can’t help but think that you’re the perfect road trip co-pilot, only to realize he actually meant his life in general now.

Coco proud as hell when you fall in love with his accommodations choice like he did. The colorful airstream trailers of the El Cosmico hotel are the two of you through and through.

You both trying to be responsible adults and refresh after travel, but continuing to get lost in each other during the whole process.

Shower sex -> Making out while drying off -> Touching while searching through your bags for something to wear -> bed sex -> repeat

Looking thoroughly mauled when you finally manage to get Coco off of you and into the car in search of food the next afternoon.

Coco being happy you can’t cover up due to the heat, while you wonder what superpower he and his boys have that let them wear flannel and long sleeves in the heat.

Dragging Coco to a cute cafe you saw on instagram, and him knowing, by the hipster design of it, that his wallet is about to cry.

Stealing food from his plate, and laughing at him sucking his teeth and whining when he catches you.

“You’re stuck with me forever now Johnny sooo….get used to this.”

“Small price to pay for that I guess.”

Finding small shops to go to and being Siamese twins in every one. Coco showing he has good taste in a lot of things one might think he wouldn’t. Him opening up his wallet at everything you 'ooh' and 'aww' at. He can’t help it, he likes you happy, and your kisses and adoring looks are addicting.

For almost everything you get, Letty gets something too. Neither of you wants that tantrum when you get back.

You fighting yourself to avoid the art supply store, and Coco not having it.

“I have so many supplies already, it’s an addiction at this point.”

“So? Get some more. It’s our week, we shouldn’t stress about shit.”

Coco bragging on your talents and successes to the art shop cashier when you checkout.

“Cocoooo.” you murmur hiding your face in his shoulder, arms around his waist.

“Don’t be shy ma, you’re fucking amazing. I love your skills.”

Cue the cashier swooning at the two of you.

Finding unique liquor stores and getting tipsy on samples. It becomes twice as fun when locals, and other tourists alike, start discussing the Marfa lights with you, and you and Coco impress everyone with your ideas.

Being invited to a bonfire smoke session with the other El Cosmico guests when you get back.

Sketching Coco by the firelight, because he’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in that moment, and now he’s officially yours.

The sex being on another level of intimate that night, because all day you and Coco have been engaging in your respective love languages, and it culminates in mutual need for each other.

The drive to Roswell being more tolerable for Coco, but he still misses his bike. Your excitement about AlienFest is so palpable however, he quickly forgets.

Your hotel being more conventional, but the people you meet making up for it. Finally, you and Coco aren’t the weirdest ones in the room.

Taking the time before the festival starts to check in with friends and family and accumulate odd souvenirs for them. You believe Coco is intentionally getting them stuff they’ll hate.

“Taza won’t wear that baby, he has better taste in jewelry than UFO earrings.”

“Ok, but can he bitch about us not getting him anything? Plus, you can guilt anyone into anything.”

Doing cute edible pastries at the festival.

“You know Aliens are demons right? Jack Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard were doing summoning rituals in the Mojave in 1946, and Roswell was the following year.”

“Word?…Shit. Tell me that again when we’re not rolling. I wanna read about it………you’re so smart mami.”

Coco realizing between every snack stop, every dance he shares with you, every trinket you pick up, and every little conspiracy tidbit you share, that you’re his wife now. That the peace he’s been feeling all week, that he thought he’d never have, is going to be his new normal.

New Orleans (EZ)

You and EZ both enjoy engaging with history and culture, and felt that your honeymoon should be built off of your shared interests. During your meticulous wedding planning, it was decided New Orleans would be the honeymoon destination. It didn’t hurt that you missed your southern roots too, even if you weren’t from New Orleans.

Traveling with EZ is a dream considering you’re both pretty organized, together people. He’s not afraid of flying, but you’re always a little nervous.

EZ being Best Husband™️ and soothing even the most minor of your stresses by turning your attention to the excitement of your trip and your new relationship status.

Teasing EZ in-flight won’t get you Mile High Club initiated, because he finds it much more entertaining to punish you by letting you work the both of you up, and making you stay that way for the duration of the flight. He’s got enough will power to suffer through it, because your soft whines make it worth it.

The airbnb is everything it was promised to be, and you’d appreciate that later, but all you can think of is your husband when you step through the door. That’s the other half of why EZ likes to leave you waiting. Your aggression and exclusive desire for him gets, and keeps, him hard.

It rains the following day, which is just as well, because neither of you are quite ready to stop physically expressing your love for each other. The day consists of ordering food, falling out of your clothes and onto each other, separating to read, falling back on each other, and quick naps.

Angel sending mocking texts in your Reyes group about how you’re trying to turn his brother bamma like you, only to stop when you threaten him with no souvenirs.

EZ and you taking responsibility for your own tour because let’s face it, you both know exactly what you want to see, and can plan a more satisfying tour for the both of you. You take turns deciding where to go next.

When it’s his turn, EZ picks an art museum, and can’t quit smiling about it. You think it’s because he picked a place he really wanted to go to.

“Babe, I have a surprise for you.”

“What?” your excitement always makes EZ’s heart race with his own.

He hands you the guide brochure he picked up at the door, folded to the section he wants you to look at.

“Faith Ringgold exhibit?!”

He hums and nods, grunting when you knock into him with a hug.

“Thank you for thinking of me. I love you.” you look up at him, eyes shining with unshed tears and he just kisses you, afraid he’ll cry if he says anything.

The two of you avoid the tourist trap spots for lunch and find a cute family owned cafe. You order for the both of you based on what you know about southern cuisine and both of your tastes.

You love watching EZ fall in love with the food as he keeps asking “Can you make this?” about everything he eats.

The two of you walking through the Garden District in the evening. Hands swinging between you with no plans but to admire the beautiful homes and foliage.

EZ noting how awestruck you are, and you describing what you love about the historic, towering homes.

He catches that when you describe what your dream home in the area would be, he and your future children are mentioned frequently, and it makes butterflies dance in his stomach. He can picture your family in the yards around him.

The two of you almost make it back to your Airbnb, but give into your baser urges after all the domestic conversation. EZ pulls you into an alley for a quickie, the two of you fighting to silence the other’s vocal expression.

You teasing EZ after that he’s more like his brother than he thinks. Him teasing back the two of you would’ve been caught and arrested if he was like Angel.

The following day is relaxed and less planned. The both of you getting thoughtful gifts for each member of your family, blood and otherwise. EZ scores major points for the gifts he suggests for your mom and dad, and you kind of want to jump him again.

EZ is glad you’re impressed, but it’s nothing to him. It all comes naturally because he loves you so much, and refuses to be anything other than the husband he knows you deserve.

AN:

I didn’t want to add this, cuz I wanted to end on a sweet note, but you just know Angel would accidentally send that vid to one of his boys.

Personally, I lose it for shit like this. Anything domestic in writings is my jam, so I decided to make these headcanons.

- Fun fact: Jet Ski is kind of like Bandaid in that it’s become the generic term for “personal water vehicles”, but it’s actually a specific brand’s name for their PWVs. I learned this while writing this enjoy💀.

[idreamofplaid]

Married in Austin

Square Filled: Woke Up Married for @spnfluffbingo ; Free Space for @spngenrebingo ; Austin, Texas for @spndeanbingo

Characters: Jensen x Reader; Jared; Kim, Brianna, and Ruth mentioned

Rating: M

Summary: The reader wakes up to find herself living a dream.

Word Count: 4398

A/N: Beta’d by the in all ways wonderful @dean-winchesters-bacon . Thank you Kat! This is Part I of three parts.

It was the biggest diamond ring you’d ever seen in person that wasn’t inside a case in a jewelry store, and it was sitting on your finger. If that wasn’t enough to have your heart pounding nearly out of your chest, there was a gold band sitting next to it. You stared at the two rings, couldn’t tear your eyes from them. They were gorgeous, exactly what you would have wanted. You just wished you knew how they got there.

You pulled the gray down filled comforter covering Jensen’s California King sized bed around your naked body. It didn’t surprise you that you’d spent the night; you had been spending a lot of nights at Jensen’s house lately. You remembered the party. You had planned it with him, looked forward to it for weeks. It was your big debut in his world in a way. You had met some of his friends from Supernatural due to the conventions you’d been to over the months you’d been together. The plan had been to invite all his friends from the show as well as his local Austin friends that he knew from his brewery business, his involvement in local music festivals, and even some he’d known since high school.

You remembered Jensen playing the guitar, and you remembered him singing to you. It was a song from his latest album, a song he had written for you. Since Supernatural had wrapped, he’d devoted his time to music and directing. So far he had enjoyed his time away from being in front of the camera. That would be changing soon when the announcement came about a new project he had in the works with Kripke that would push him back into the bright lights. For the time being, it had given your relationship time to develop without the pressure of so much publicity. 

The memory of his voice from last night, the way he sang to you, the way he could make you feel like the only person in a room calmed you a little. It always did when you could feel the anxiety bubbling up inside you. When you actually heard his voice calling your name, it had the opposite effect for once. “Y/N, babe are you up?”

When Jensen came through the door, he was breathtaking just like he always was in your opinion. He was wearing one of those Henleys that Dean had so rarely worn, much to the chagrin of many fans. It clearly defined the muscles in his shoulders, chest, and arms. Your eyes were fixed on him while he walked across the room and sat down next to you, leaning in for a kiss. “How’s my beautiful wife this morning?”

You were still holding the comforter next to you like he’d never seen you naked before. He looked at your hands clutching the covers to your body and back to your face. “Y/N, is everything okay? What is it, baby?”

You feebly held up your hand with the new rings on it. Then your eyes landed on Jensen’s hand. There was a thick gold band there too. You picked up his hand and ran your fingers over his ring. “Jensen, are we...did we...get married?” You felt stupid asking because all the evidence was there.

Jensen was silent, then finally asked, “You don’t remember?”

You let go of his hand and sat back, shaking your head. “I remember you singing.” Your eyes were wide, searching Jensen’s. “We had a wedding?”

Jensen took your hands in his and started to rub his thumb over your knuckles.”We had a party; our friends were here, and I proposed to you.”

You started to shake your head harder. “I don’t…”

Jensen stopped moving his thumb. “You had two drinks last night. That’s it. That’s never made you drunk before, especially not so drunk that you don’t remember anything.”

You brought your newly wedded, ring laden finger to your mouth and started to nibble at your fingertip. “I took one of my anxiety pills last night because I was nervous about making a good impression for your friends. It must have interacted with the alcohol.” You looked around the room, over the bed and back to him. “I don’t remember you proposing to me. You proposed to me, and we got married the same night? How? I don’t remember any of it.” Your eyes started to fill with tears.

Jensen took you into his arms, turned so his back was against the headboard, and settled your head on his shoulder. “Shh, baby. We don’t have to stay married if you don’t want to. You were so happy; I thought it was what you wanted too. I didn’t know how out of it you were; I should have. I’m sorry.”

You raised your head quickly.  “Please don’t say you’re sorry. I do want to be married to you. I just want to know how it happened.”

Jensen guided your head back down to his shoulder. “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you all of it.” He stroked your hair and told you, “Breathe with me, okay?” You adjusted your breathing to the steady rhythm of his, and it calmed you.

Jensen held your head in his hand and started to tell the story. “I had planned this big, surprise proposal for you. Jared has been listening to me go on about it for weeks now.” Jensen chuckled and kissed your temple then went on. “I told you I had gotten you an early birthday present, and I gave you the envelope. You were so excited when you opened it and saw the plane tickets.”

You raised your head again. “You got me plane tickets? A trip?”

“Yeah. It was going to be a destination wedding. I had the ring in my pocket. It was in one of those fancy little boxes. I got down on one knee, opened it up and asked you to marry me.” Jensen laughed. “You dropped the tickets and started crying right there. After I put the ring on your finger, I stood up and held you until you stopped crying.” He ran his fingers through your hair. “You also did maybe say you love me once or twice.”

You whispered, “I wish I remembered.” Then your voice got even quieter. “I don’t even remember marrying you. How did it happen?”

“I was still holding you, even after your tears went away. I think we started swaying in each other’s arms; I just didn’t want to let you go,” he sighed, and it was a contented sound. “Rob started playing some music, and we started dancing. After a couple of minutes, I don’t know who it was, Briana maybe. Someone said, ‘Why are you waiting? Why don’t you get married now?’”

He rested his chin on top of your head and continued with the story. “We looked at each other, and I saw it in your eyes. We were thinking the same thing. That the destination wedding I had planned would be a great honeymoon. My friend Eric is a judge here in Austin. I’ve known him since high school, and he agreed to marry us.”

You tilted your head up to look at him. “What was the ceremony like?”

Jensen rubbed his hand soothingly down your back. “Tell you what. You want to take a little nap with me, then we’ll watch it together? Jared filmed the whole thing on his phone. I’ll ask him to send it to me. We can have our own private ceremony right here.”

Jensen knew how to bring you back from the edge of a downward spiral. Maybe it came from years of helping his best friend deal with depression and anxiety; he invariably knew how to make you feel better, no matter the circumstances. It also had a lot to do with how attentive he was with you; Jensen noticed everything.

You nodded against his shoulder. “Yeah. I want to see it with you.”

Jensen tipped your chin up with his finger so you were looking at him. “Rest first.” Then, he placed a gentle kiss on your lips.

Reluctantly, you pulled yourself away from the snug place he had created for you, cuddled next to him. “I’ll be right back.” You stopped on your way to the bathroom to grab a tank top and some panties from the drawer that was “yours” at his house. You stood staring at them in your hands for a couple of seconds because it hit you that all the drawers were yours now.

When you returned, Jensen was stripped down to his underwear. He was wearing black boxer briefs that you loved to see on him, no doubt he remembered that too. The covers were thrown back, and he was waiting for you to join him. You crawled in beside him;  he settled the bedding over you and opened his arms, beckoning you to him. You took your place, curling into his side, your head on his chest.

You opened your eyes a couple of hours later and had a momentary surge of panic when Jensen wasn’t next to you, until he opened the door carrying a champagne flute filled with what looked like strawberry yogurt. He handed it to you with a smile. “Just like a fancy hotel.” With his other hand, he brought a spoon from behind his back with a flourish. He dipped it into the yogurt and brought the spoon to your mouth. You opened your mouth so Jensen could feed you. It was, indeed, strawberry. You let the sweet, tangy taste cover your tongue, and Jensen stuck the spoon into the remaining yogurt. “Breakfast first, then we watch our wedding together.”

You couldn’t resist feeding Jensen a couple of spoonfuls of your yogurt, joking with him that he needed breakfast too. Really, you wanted the intimacy and simplicity of the moment. When the last bite was gone, Jensen put the glass and spoon on the bedside table and picked up his phone. He moved his fingers over the screen. When he found what he was looking for, he asked, “Are you ready?”

You looked at him for the longest time, not answering. The first thing you said wasn’t an answer, but instead, “Kiss me, Jensen.” He closed his eyes as his face moved in closer to yours, and when your lips met; your eyes were closed too. You were completely focused on his kiss, lost in it. He could ground your world; Jensen was your world.

When he broke the kiss, his fingers were lightly stroking your cheek. “I love you, Y/N.”

You slowly opened your eyes. “I love you too. I’m ready now.”

The two of you snuggled under the covers together and propped yourselves up against a massive number of pillows on the bed. Jensen held up the phone so you could watch last night’s events together. The first thing you saw was Jensen waving his hand at the camera. “C’mon, Jay. Get that thing out of my face. I’m nervous enough already.”

Jared’s voice answered. “This is for history. It’s the story of you and Y/N.” He centered the camera on Jensen’s face again. “Tell her what you’re thinking right now, but remember your kids will watch this one day.”

For a second, it looked like Jensen was going to fire back with some smart remark, but he stopped. His mouth softened first, his lips coming together, then his eyes filled with that far away look he got when he was withdrawing into the deepest part of himself where he kept his most private and treasured feelings. “Y/N, I love you. You’ve made me happy again, and I am so scared right now. Scared that I won’t be able to give you that kind of happiness back.” Jensen was silent for a minute, then he waved his hand good naturedly at Jared with a smile. “Now, get that thing away from me.”

You brushed tears from your eyes, and Jensen pressed pause so he could do it for you. “Hey, honey, it’s okay.”

“You were scared? Of not making me happy?” His thumb was still resting lightly on your cheekbone, and you put your hand over his. “You do. You make me happier than I’ve ever been.”

His eyes were a warm, deep crystal jade, and they were filled with more love than you had ever hoped to see returned to you. “I come with a lot of strings attached, strings that can be really hard to deal with.”

“So do I, Jensen, and you’re still here.” He smiled, kissed you, and pressed play again.

The next scene was near the pool where the caterers had set up tables laden with party finger foods as well as heartier fare. This was Texas, so brisket was a must at a gathering like this. Large potted plants and strings of twinkle lights had been added to the already gorgeous and immaculate landscaping.

All the new friends you’d made since you’d been with Jensen were gathered around, and he was sitting on a stool with his guitar propped on his thigh. You were standing beside him, and he was singing “The Man I’m Meant to Be”. It was the song he had written for you. 

This was the part of the night you remembered. He looked at you as he sang the last line. You are the one who changed me. He played the last chords to loud applause, and when he got up, put the guitar down, and kissed you; the applause got even louder. 

Jensen stood holding your arms and looking deeply into your eyes for a couple of seconds before he lowered himself down to one knee. He took that box he’d told you about from his pocket, looked up at you, and slowly opened it. “Y/N, it’s just like I said in the song. You’ve changed my life; you’ve changed me, made me better than who I was before I met you. I hope I can give you back just part of that and make you happy for the rest of your life. Would you let me try? Will you marry me?”

Your hands were cupped over your mouth and nose as you listened to him, your breath coming in deep gasps. Finally, you reached out to him, one hand still covering your face. He took your hand in his, still holding up the ring box in his other. “Jensen, I...I...Yes, I want to marry you.” He let go of your hand so he could take the ring from the box and slip it onto your finger. Then he stood and circled his arms around you, making the two of you an island in this group of people. 

You wished you could remember how that had felt. 

The video kept playing, and you heard the voice Jensen had mentioned. It sounded more like Kim to you than Briana, but the words clearly were, “Why don’t you just get married now?” 

You saw the way you and Jensen stopped and looked at each other. It was just like something out of a movie. The way he looked at you was making you feel butterflies gently stirring in your stomach right now. “What do you think? I can’t imagine anything better than not spending another day without you as my wife.”

You nodded and answered, “Let’s do it.” The smile on your face was so radiant, you almost didn’t recognize yourself. 

In the next scene, you were standing with Jensen in front of a man who must be his high school friend Eric, the judge. Jared was at Jensen’s side so it was unclear who was doing the filming now. Ruth had taken the place next to you to serve as your maid of honor. She had been so warm and welcoming to you when you had first shown up on the set of Supernatural in its last year. You’d quickly formed a friendship, and you couldn’t help but notice the subtle flirting that was going on between her and Jared, so this was probably also your way of giving them a nudge. 

There was no rehearsal, no weeks of shopping for the perfect dress, picking out the flowers that expressed just the right sentiment, choosing colors, selecting a menu, planning a guest list. Your wedding dress was the dress you’d chosen for the party. It was a blue, off the shoulder style with loose sleeves that fell just beneath your elbows trimmed in a wide ruffle. It made you think of the poem your grandmother used to tell you when you were a little girl. Married in blue, your love is true. Jensen’s shirt was blue too, such a deep navy it was almost black. It was one of your favorite colors on him, and he looked absolutely breathtaking. 

There had been no time to learn the traditional vows, not that you and Jensen would have said them anyway. There wasn’t much time to even think about writing your own, so everything you said to each other came from the heart. Jensen talked about the way you inspired him to always be better because that was what he saw in you, beauty that radiated from the inside, grace, kindness, and hope. He talked about how much you had given him, how much you brought to his life and made it richer.

The things he’d said to you were so beautiful. How could you have said anything that compared to that? What if you had said was unremarkable, ordinary? You moved in closer to him, and Jensen tightened his arm around you. Your hands were in his, and your voice sounded strong and sure when you started to talk. “Jensen, you are more than anything I ever dreamed of. You are incredible in every way. Talented, thoughtful, intelligent, handsome, and bigger than life. You’ve given a part of yourself to so many people, encouraged them, made them laugh, made them believe in themselves. You’ve changed more people than you even realize, but you are still so humble. I can’t quite comprehend you; you are that amazing and rare, but I do know how much I love you. I’ll be the best wife I can be for you. I promise.”

You finished talking, and Jensen leaned down to kiss your cheek. Then you put rings on each other as an outward symbol of your bond. Jensen had bought yours with your engagement ring as a set. That much was obvious when you looked down at your hand, but when Ruth gave you the ring for Jensen; you had no idea where it came from. You hadn’t bought him a ring. You turned to him, and he stopped the video. “Jensen, where did I get your ring?”

Jensen looked down at his hand and chuckled. “Jared had it. I mean he was still wearing it because he forgot to take it off after filming that day. Thank God, Walker is a grief stricken widower who refuses to stop wearing his wedding ring. I told him he’s not getting it back.”

Jensen’s ring was a prop. “Is it real? I mean is it actual gold?”

“I seriously doubt it; props usually aren’t that valuable. Could be though. Real stuff lasts longer.” He noticed you nibbling at your bottom lip. “Hey, it’s perfect. It tells the world I’m yours. You can get me whatever kind of ring you want, but for right now I’m wearing this one so everyone knows I’m your husband.”

“I want you to have something real. You should have a real ring.” 

He kissed you gently, just barely pushing his tongue into your mouth and letting it circle yours softly. “I have you.”

The rest of the video showed your first kiss as a married couple, the presentation of Jensen and Y/N Ackles to your assembled friends, and your first dance as husband and wife. There wasn’t a cake, so you fed each other chocolate covered strawberries. Your bouquet consisted of a floral arrangement taken from one the vases with the sash from Felicia’s dress tied around it. Your aim was good, and Ruth caught your bouquet just as you intended. That was the last of the video, and Jensen turned it off.

He put the phone on the table and turned to you to take you full into his arms. He kissed your mouth first and then left a long line of kisses along your jaw up to ear. He gently nibbled at the lobe. “Do you feel married now?”

“Jensen, what about last night? We made love, didn’t we?” He let go of your ear and sighed. “Tell me.”

“Yes, we did.” He threaded his fingers through yours to hold your hand. “It was amazing, everything it should be. Except that you don’t remember it.” He brought your hand to his lips and kissed it. I’ll make it up to you.” He shook his head. I should have known. I should have known something was off with you.”

“Don’t say that.” You ran the back of your hand along his jaw that was beginning to show the first signs of a shadow of scruff. “I wouldn’t change anything because then we wouldn’t be married right now.” Jensen examined your eyes for evidence of truth. He was satisfied with what he saw there because he smiled. “I do remember flashes of being here with you, in this bed.” The reality of the situation settled over your again, and you changed your wording. “Our bed.” 

You slid down under the sheets and tugged gently on his hand so he’d join you. “I remember you kissing me, and feeling safe. You were on top of me, and I can remember feeling wanted, loved, and safe.” He was on his side looking at you and listening to every word intently. “Jensen, I know everybody makes a big deal out of the wedding night, but could we have a wedding morning?”

He raised up and positioned himself over you, his face just inches from yours. “You can have anything you want, Mrs. Ackles.” He lowered himself that last short distance to your mouth. Your lips parted for him, and his tongue slowly explored your mouth. You circled one arm around his neck, fingers reaching up to feel the hair just above the nape of his neck. He was in no hurry, like you had forever. Jensen kissed you until your lips were pink and a little swollen from his attention.

Your lips weren’t the only ones that bore the evidence of your kissing. His lips were even fuller, even more enticing than they usually were. You lightly touched his bottom one, running your fingertip across it. “I want you, Jensen. Show me everything you did last night.” 

He caressed your body, worshipped it. He kissed all the places that made you shiver and tingle, tasted you, watched you come undone, sighed and groaned at the feel of your mouth on him, filled you, and made you cry out for more. 

Jensen. It was the only thought your mind was capable of having.

He held you in his arms after he had thoroughly loved you. His kisses were soft on your temple and your cheek. He whispered all the words in your ear that a bride should hear. He told you how beautiful you were, how much he loved you. Jensen told you he would always take care of you, and he told you he had never been so happy. He talked about the future you would have together. 

It was after he made a comment about wanting to know every single one of your dreams that you asked him if you could see the plane tickets. He knew traveling and seeing the world was one of your dreams. Jensen opened the drawer in the table on his side of the bed and pulled them out. He handed them down to you, and you glanced down to read the destination. Florence. He was taking you to Italy. “Oh, Jensen.” 

A smile crossed his face as he watched your reaction. “Will you marry me again there? You can have any kind of wedding you want, a wedding you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”

“You are perfect, Jensen Ackles, you know that?” His hair was a little longer on top now that he wasn’t Dean, and you ran your fingers through it. “I would love to do that.” You let yourself enjoy this moment in your husband’s arms, imagining the life you would have together. The sheer depth of the hope and possibility you were feeling could only be diminished by one thing, and that thing reared its ugly head. 

You had to let your family know you were married. Considering your mother’s reaction when she first found out you were dating Jensen that wasn’t something you were looking forward to doing. You could hear her words in your head now when you had shared your excitement about your new relationship with her. “Y/N, what are you thinking? Are you ready to be dragged through the tabloids?” It didn’t matter to her when you tried to explain that Jensen stayed out of the tabloids.

Her next attack had been about his past and how you could never be compatible with him. “You’re only twenty-nine years old, Y/N. He’s just playing with you. He’s at a totally different place in his life. He has an ex wife, don’t even get me started with all the problems that could cause, and three children. Do you actually think he’ll want more?” You’d listened, not even defending yourself, just like you had when you were a little girl. Saying you had a complicated relationship with your mother would be a polite understatement.

Jensen noticed the change in your mood. “What is it, sweetheart?” 

“Nothing. I’m just going to have to tell my family about this, about us being married, and I’m not looking forward to it, especially the conversation with my mom.” You refused to let her invade this most private space between the two of you. You’d deal with the family drama later. Right now you were going to enjoy the love this incredible man had brought into your life. 

Everything: @gambitwinchester @princessmisery666 @onethirstyunicorn @peridottea91 @logical-princey @emilyshurley @beenlovingromansincedayoneish @fangirlxwritesx67 @waywardbaby @atc74 @ledzeppelinsbonzo @shaniquacynthia @mariekoukie6661 @tumbler-tidbits @67-chevy-baby @fandom-princess-forevermore @terrarium-jpeg @emoryhemsworth @crashdevlin @heycasbutt @jules-1999 @mrsdeannafuckingwinchester @cosicas-cuquis @sammyimpala-67 @queenoftheunderdark @dean-winchesters-bacon @mrs-meghan-winchester @timelordy-fangirl2 @sweetness47 @hobby27 @awesomesusiebstuff @kickingitwithkirk @becs-bunker @sandlee44 @supernaturalgrandma @lonewolf471 @sea040561 @dawnie1988 @volleyballer519 @outcastedangel @kdfrqqg @lizette50 @daisymoder72 @sorenmarie87 @winchesterxfamilybusiness @deansotherotherblog 

Dean/Jensen: @deansyahtzee @flamencodiva @deanwinchesterswitch @feelmyroarrrr @sammit-janet​ @focusonspn​ @akshi8278​ @ladywinchester1967​ @sgarrett49​ @wingedcatninja​ @coffee-obsessed-writer​ @adoptdontshoppets​ @ellewritesfix05​ 

[cowperviolet]

A GUIDE TO MEDIEVAL TOURNAMENTS

Do you have a dynastic wedding to celebrate? A diplomatic visit to spice up? An axe to grind with a neighbour whose pageantry is eclipsing yours? Organize a tournament. It’s always the answer. A tournament of the greatest knights of the realm cannot go wrong.

Of course, it’s also a great and complex undertaking; but, thankfully, this step-by-step handbook should guide you through the process with only minimal pain and no injury

Obtain permission.

In England in France at least, organizing tourneys had become mostly a royal and ducal prerogative after 1340 – if you are not lucky enough to belong to one of those miniscule categories of the population, you would have to seek a special license. Obtaining it shouldn’t be a problem… unless, of course, there is a war on. In that case, you’d better check the latest royal proclamations – it’s more than possible that one of them contains a temporary ban on all tournaments while men of fighting age might have to risk their lives and limbs against an actual enemy. If this is true, it would be prudent of you to postpone your plans for a few months (or years, depending on how the war is going) – you wouldn’t want to content yourself with the kind of furtive affair that was the Le Hem tournament of 1278. It was hastily staged in direct violation of Louis IX ’s prohibition of tournaments because of the ongoing war, and as a result had to even dispense with the mêlée on the third day.

(If you think the prohibition overbearing and unfair, plenty of people would agree with you – and not just the kind of people who can afford swords and horses. The poet Sarrasin criticized the king in his Le Roman du Hem for bankrupting the heralds, armourers, saddlers and provisioners of France with his tournament ban).

2. Consider the time and place.

Most tourneys run from Monday to Sunday, with Friday being the rest day. You would need a spacious marketplace to divide into lists, too.

A lot depends on what kind of tournament you want to host. A general mêlée whose absence so disappointed the spectators in Le Hem would need more space than a contained joust; on the other hand, mêlée combat has been steadily losing its popularity as of late in favour of one-on-one jousts.

Of course, some people grumble that the old days when horsemen smashing into enemy in massed formations were the fixture of any tournament where the days when men were still men. But we are modern, fifteenth-century people, and we understand the importance of ensuring safety both for the participants and the spectators – hence the barriers down the centre of each list to prevent the knights from actually colliding with each other, and fenced enclosures to keep the audience strictly away from the danger. Which brings us to…

3. Decide on the rules.

The traditional rules of joust are the following: the knights are divided into two teams, those ‘within’ and those ‘without’ – or, in other words, the ‘defenders’ and the ‘attackers’. The space is, in turn, divided into three lists, each separated from the other by high barriers. The courses – the charges by two opposing knights – are going to be run down each, towards the spectacular splintering of lances. Each day, a prize, usually in the form of a small jewel or a golden chain, should be given to the best-performing knight and squire from each team.

You can, however, add or tweak a few details in order to make the sport safer for the participants – or more exhilarating for the audience. For example, you could take a page out of Maximillian I’s book and provide the knights with special spring-loaded shields that would flow apart if struck in the right place. You could also follow King Edward of England’s example and model your tournament after the béhourd he sponsored in Windsor in 1278: he specified, among other things, that the participants would have to wear cuir bouilli – a type of leather boiled until it was almost as hard as metal – and use wooden shields and whalebone swords.

If you scoff at the lightweight kind of tourneys popular these days, and especially if you care little for pageantry, then a different kind of joust might be more up your alley. The so-called passage of arms, or pas d’armes, is an undertaking to defend a certain place (usually a bridge or a gate) from all comers. It was inspired by various episodes from Arthurian romances, such as the Romance of Yvain by Chrétien de Troyes. In fiction, the knights undertook the defend a bridge, a gate, or a ford in single combat, and, if they were defeated, the winner took their place. Naturally, a real passage of arms plays out somewhat differently – for one thing, the defense only lasts a specified period of time (rarely longer than two weeks), and one defeat in a particular joust does not mean surrender. The most famous example of any knights attempting this kind of endeavor is probably the pas d’armes that Suero de Quinones organized at the Orbigo Bridge in northern Spain for two weeks until the St. James’ Day of 1434. They claimed a plan of breaking 300 lances in total – if they failed, the organizers promised, they would remain there for a further fortnight. They fulfilled that promise, and ended up withdrawing only on the 9th of August – but even with that extra time, they’ve only managed to break 178 lances in total. It’s no mean result, of course – plenty of minor conventional tourneys end in mighty disappointment for the spectators with not a single lance ending up broken at all.

It must be said that, although a passage of arms is a grandiose undertaking, jousting proper usually only takes a couple of hours a day there – in other words, the spectators are likely to be disappointed anyway. Your fellow knights, however, are going to be delighted by the concept – if, of course, they are true connoisseurs of tourneys just like you.

4. Think of the logistics.

The matter might begin with the rules of fighting itself, but it doesn’t end there. If you are in a position to organize a tournament out of your own purse in the first place, you must be the master of the lands where it’s going to be held, so make sure your subjects don’t suffer as a result of the soaring prices that usually accompany such events, not to mention the influx of professional warriors. Fix the prices firmly for the duration of the tournament, especially the prices on bread, fish, and meat; stipulate that no spectators or unarmed persons are to mix with the participants; make sure each gate of the city is manned by about twelve armed men, and station at least five hundred guards around the setting of the tournament itself.

5. Send out invitations.

Sending letters of invite seems to be the most logical course – however, it is also the most excruciating one, given the number of noblemen of fighting age who would be eligible for participation. In your situation, it would be better to contact the organizer of the tourney closest to yours and ask him to have your upcoming event announced there.

You would also do well to contact the tournament societies in your region – if you live in Germany, it’s going to be particularly easy: the whole concept, after all, originated in Bavaria. Tournament societies are essentially permanent tournament teams from different regions. Instead of laboriously summoning individual knights, one could simply issue a challenge from one society to another. Moreover, some societies’ rules even specify that the members have to meet annually at a tournament -it might as well be yours!

6. Think of the theme.

Of course, you don’t have to have a theme – you might want your tournament to simply be a bit of rough, honest fun it used to be in William Marshall’s days. We don’t live in William Marshall’s days anymore, though, and I suspect you wouldn’t want to be outdone by your neighbours.

The most go-to theme are Arthurian legends. It’s the kind of oldie-but-goldie you cannot go wrong with. The fashion was arguably started by Edward I of England, who set out a round table and acted out a number of Arthurian romances with the other noblemen at the feast after the tournament in honour of his daughter’s wedding. That was a far cry from the spectacular Arthurian festival arranged across the Channel by the lords Longueval and Bazentin in Picardy: they had the tournament presided over by ‘Queen Guinevere’, and stipulated that all the attendant knights had to bring a damsel with them. Another member of the theatricals was named as Chevalier au Lyon, who supposedly ‘rescued’ the ladies in ‘Guinevere’s retinue, and even had a real lion with him.

If this is all a bit too out there for you (or, the other way around, too pedestrian – everyone does the Round Table these days!), you could organize the pageantry of the tournament around your heroic ancestor or your sigil – possibly both. For example, the joust that Adolf of Cleves staged in Lille had been inspired by the story of the Cleves’ progenitor, a knight who was miraculously led along the Rhine by a swan and ended up marrying the local princess. During the joust, the ‘Knight of the Swan’ was to take on all challengers.

The procession, to quote the words of a contemporary, included

‘…drummers; and after them a pursuivant of arms dressed in a coat of arms full of swans; after him came a large swan, marvellously and skilfully made, with a crown of gold around its neck, from which hung a shield of the full arms of Cleves; and from this crown hung a golden chain on which, from one end, there hung the shield of the knight; and this swan was flanked by two very well made centaurs who had bows and arrows in their hands, and made as though to shoot at anyone who tried to approach the swan’.

7. Plan the banquet.

Nothing can sour the impression of a great tourney as a meagre banquet afterwards. The need for a generous display of food is self-explanatory – roebucks, suckling pigs, silvered eels, gilded bread, almond soup, kid goats, and the like – however, this is sadly not enough. You also have to think about the entremets.

What are the entremets? To put it simply, everything that is a part of the banquet, but is not edible. I’m not simply talking about straightforward entertainments like music, theatre pieces, or juggling. Entremets can also be elaborate installations for your guests to admire, such as a mini-carrack, exquisitely executed up to the last rope and laden with goods, or a mechanical forest full of strange, if thankfully unmoving, beasts. Even vessels sometimes count – you could have the sweets be contained in little chariots decorated with gold and azure. If you prefer to walk on the wild side, take a page out of Taillevent’s book (quite literally – it’s called Viandier) and construct a fake lion equipped to spout flame: ‘make it with a brass-lined mouth and a thin brass tongue, and with paper teeth glued in the mouth; and put camphor and a little cotton in the mouth and, when it is about to be served before the lords, set fire to this’.

Just don’t do what they did for the Feast of the Pheasant when they’ve made a statue of a naked woman in a large hat who spouted sweetened wine from her breasts for the duration of the dinner. Please.

Sources:

Normore, Christina. A Feast for the Eyes.

Andrew Brown and Graeme Small, Court and Civic Society in the Burgundian Low Countries c. 1420–1530.

Kelcey Wilson-Lee, Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of Edward I.

[misedejem]

I wrote 75 headcanons about Kannao

25 for Kanji, 25 for Naoto, 25 for them as a couple

Why?

Why not.

 Kanji Tatsumi

1.     He does actually need glasses, but he was hesitant to ask for contacts, so he spent most of P4 struggling to see until Naoto brought up that he looked like he was having a hard time. He wore contacts for a bit, but eventually he just stuck to glasses.

2.     The scar on his head was a source of speculation for the other members of the Investigation Team for years, because he never cared to explain, resulting in some very wacky theories. Eventually they found out it was just from a fight with a gang member, but considering he got it when he was twelve, the story is still pretty interesting.

3.     He hates mentioning medical stuff to anybody, but he’s prone to fainting spells out of nowhere. Thankfully, it never happened in the TV, which several members of the IT very angrily said to him when he blacked out in front of them one day.

4.     He’s the spitting image of his father, only with shorter hair. He could never let it grow out for that reason.

5.     He’s the only one from the Investigation Team B to go to college. He studies textiles and trains to become a teacher in Tokyo. He ends up being an art teacher at a middle school.

6.     He’s actually pretty good at literature and humanities subjects, though he struggles applying those skills in a school setting until a teacher who hasn’t given up on him yet helps him through them.

7.     Rise forced him to take dance classes the minute he moved to the city because he was ‘super good at it dammit’. Ditto the drums. He can sing too, but she’s not allowed to know that.

8.     He actually just tends to go along with Rise’s plans a lot, partially because he knows her well enough to know stopping her is futile, and also because she understands his tastes very well once she learns what they are

9.     He doesn’t dislike the way he used to dress in high school, but it wasn’t quite him. It needed more cuteness, and softer colours, which is how he started to dress once he graduated high school.

10.  The black hair and glasses stay forever, but when he’s sewing, he still wears his hair pushed back. Yukiko gave him a hairband for it when she noticed him growing slowly more irritated with it getting in his eyes.

11.  As well as his nose and ears, he also gets an eyebrow piercing in college.

12.  He manages to make a small group of friends in college, with his course being the perfect way for him to find likeminded individuals who applaud his skills rather than shunning them

13.  Kanji is the best cook in the Investigation Team. His baking skills, especially, are exemplary.

14.  He has an online, worldwide store where he sells his plushies and the occasional drawing and outfit. He’s semi-fluent in English by the time he graduates college, so when Naoto travels abroad sometimes he goes too and hits up the conventions.

15.  Ann is his go-to model once they meet. He helps her with outfits for a college final once and they work together so well that she sticks with him.

16.  The reason Koromaru dislikes him is that he can tell he’s kinda rough with physical affection. He doesn’t realise it for the longest time because nobody points it out. He is really good with animals otherwise though, and he’s also really good with kids.

17.  He’s a back-up fighter for the Shadow Ops should they need him, by virtue of being married to their resident detective.

18.  The main reason he keeps training his body though is actually because Chie is determined to beat him at arm wrestling one day, and he’s too proud to let anyone win without a fight.

19.  When Naoto’s cat, Mochi, had kittens, he got to name the one they kept. His name is Pocky. He has a little leather jacket that Kanji painstakingly crafted one night when he couldn’t sleep.

20.  He needs a lot of alcohol to get drunk (which makes nights out with the IT interesting for him, given that the others are all serious lightweights)

21.  If you give him a life sim, especially that one with the cute animals, you will not see him again for days at a time. He’s not huge on video games, but life sims will take over his life

22.  Even if he does retreat into a cave to build a pristine village though, he will still probably emerge with a smooth face because he doesn’t grow facial hair very easily. He can, but it takes a while.

23.  He can’t sleep as easily unless he’s holding something soft.

24.  The easiest time to get him to speak his mind about certain things is when he’s sick and more vulnerable, which doesn’t happen very often. For example, the IT had no idea their jokes at his expense bothered him until he confessed it while extremely out of it on cold medication one time. He doesn’t remember saying it either, but he did notice they were more sincere with him after that.

25.  Everybody in the Investigation Team ends up facing their Shadow again in their adulthood, but by the time Shadow Kanji returns, Kanji has become so accepting of the self the Shadow had represented in the past that he takes on a completely different form. Naoto is the only other person with this same experience.

Naoto Shirogane:

1.     By the time they stop growing, Naoto is nearly 5’1” and they absolutely make it a point to let their friends know

2.     They don’t really know how to look after their hair at all, hence the cap and general messiness. They tend to forget about it until it becomes too long and gets all tangled.

3.     They’re very accident prone, and are covered in a lot of scars from their childhood. The worst one though is one on their back from that time Sho stabbed them at Junes.

4.     One of said scars came from their neighbours’ huge dog biting them when they were five. To this day, they’re still absolutely terrified of big dogs.

5.     They’ve experienced panic attacks for most of their life, though they occur less frequently as an adult.

6.     They resemble their mother more than their father, but the height comes from the Shirogane side. Grampa Shirogane was quite small as well.

7.     They are the only member of the Investigation Team who can tolerate Rise’s cooking. The others suspect potential spice immunity.

8.     As well as piano and ballroom dance, they were also trained in a choir as a child, but fell out of favour with it in their teens. The Velvet Siblings hold a final Theatre Showdown with their guests in 2019, and this is when Naoto fully rediscovers their musical side again.

9.     If you ask Naoto how much those specially tailor-made clothes cost, they will mumble and then change the subject

10.  Naoto returns to Yasogami as a full-time student in third year after Mitsuru enrols Labrys in the school out of nowhere, intent on investigating her motives.

11.  They hold the school’s record for highest graded paper for decades. It was on Sherlock Holmes.

12.  Naoto has written a lot of Sherlock Holmes fanfiction as a kid. The others are aware this exists, but are not allowed to read it.

13.  They don’t attend college after graduation, but don’t have much time to figure out what they will do. The mental shutdown incidents begin the same year, and Naoto decided to help the Shadow Operatives with it as much as possible.

14.  Naoto hates the title ‘detective prince’, and actively tries to shed it. Akechi was a godsend in that light.

15.  They actually hate the media’s attention in general but figured that they may as well use the platform they have for a good cause. They want to be the kind of person they needed to see on TV as a kid, but they very vocally opposed the ‘detective prince’ crap until it ended – which it did quite abruptly when the truth about Akechi came out.

16.  Much of what Goro Akechi likes, he got from Naoto’s indirect influence, from the way he dresses to knowledge of that jazz club in Kichijoji. They’re more of a regular there than he is.

17.  Rise set them up on social media, but they don’t really get how to use it. Their fans discovered it though, so they still have a fair number of followers.

18.  Naoto has a slight friendly rivalry with the people who run a local escape room place. Their goal as a company is to one day leave Naoto stumped.

19.  Naoto doesn’t actually like coffee. Too bitter. Tea is their go-to.

20.  They got a standard-size motorcycle at eighteen but doesn’t drive a car. Yakushiji and Kanji refuse to let them behind the wheel.

21.  After becoming comfortable with their childish side once again, they became openly enamoured once more with Neo Featherman, and have a lot of very expensive figures on display in their house. They even cosplayed at a convention once with some of Kanji’s college friends (though it was difficult to convince them to do it)

22.  Yosuke was paid back all the money the IT owed him shortly after Naoto joined the team and discovered they were mooching from him. Yosuke doesn’t know for certain where it came from.

23.  They adopted a kitten they named Mochi in 2017, who they found abandoned outside a supermarket (in an old box that had contained a shipment of mochi, hence the name). She’s an orange tabby, and she became something of a comfort animal when Naoto was at their lowest.

24.  Their grandfather died from an illness in early February 2017. They didn’t handle his loss well, and they ended up falling into a depression that they never really came out of, though they weren’t able to admit that they weren’t okay. It was an encounter with their Shadow that eventually led to them seeking help.

25.  While they’re still a Private Detective in theory, most of the work they do following the events of P5 are Shadow-related. The Shirogane Agency became one of the Shadow Operatives’ closest allies. Makoto Niijima is currently doing an internship there (they met after the Phantom Thieves helped the SOs deal with another incident in Tokyo in 2018)

Kannao

1.     Naoto ‘came down with a fever’ around the time of the Love Meets Bonds festival that had absolutely nothing to do with their friend Kanji suddenly seeming way cooler than before.

2.     The ‘fever’ got worse when they started having classes together in school, and Naoto agreed to help Kanji with his college entrance exams.

3.     At this point Kanji had kinda accepted his feelings existed, but were unrequited, and that he didn’t want that to interfere with their friendship. Naoto was one of the only people who really got him, and he didn’t want to lose them so soon after building a rapport with them. Little did he know.

4.     Naoto was the first one to eventually confess, once Rise, Yu, Grampa, Nanako, several books and google searches, and a random stall vendor at the summer festival in their hometown had convinced them that the weird feeling in their chest wasn’t actually an illness. They did it in the summer of 2013, at said festival.

5.     They were also the first one to say they were in love. The realisation hit them one day as they were watching Kanji play a cute life-simulator game in his college dorm.

6.     While they’re no longer awkward around each other all the time, there are ways they can still make the other very flustered. For example, with Naoto, it’s any time Kanji is wearing a suit.

7.     They got married at Christmas in 2019. Kanji had a proposal planned. Naoto misread the vibe and proposed early and spontaneously on the day he had planned to, though he still got to go ahead with his as well.

8.     Kanji doesn’t really like PDA. They get a lot of people staring at them anyway because of how they look, or because Naoto is recognisable from the TV, and he doesn’t want to make the stares worse. In private though, he’s the more affectionate one.

9.     Naoto accidentally fuelled the rumours that ‘Kanji Tatsumi is in a biker gang’ again when they first started dating by parking their motorcycle outside the textile shop. Ma Tatsumi was quick to tell anybody who questioned it that it belonged to her son’s significant other long before she was supposed to know they were dating

10.  Kanji keeps forgetting to specify which number in his phone is for Naoto’s personal phone and which is for work, which has lead to such wonderful anecdotes as ‘I accidentally hired a private investigator to fix my broken car’

11.  They’re both used to the other bolting upright in bed at 3am because they’ve had an idea for a new pair of socks for the cat, or another hypothesis for a case. Naoto also wakes up quite a bit due to nightmares.

12.  They lived together with the rest of the Investigation Team since 2016, but they don’t get an apartment as just the two of them until the year they get married. It doesn’t take long before there is an entire room in that apartment filled from floor to ceiling with toys.

13.  Kanji is much tidier and more organised than Naoto, even though Naoto isn’t bad, so he’s the one who figures out where things should go. Decorating the house is his favourite thing

14.  They are the unparalleled board-game kings. Somehow, they’re an unstoppable force of nature when paired together for them.

15.  Surprising everyone, Naoto is the more likely of the two to use pet names. They are the only person who won’t be threatened if they call him ‘Kan-chan’.

16.  Before it became common knowledge amongst Naoto’s fanclub that Kanji was their boyfriend, they thought he was their bodyguard. (The Risette fandom had the same idea)

17.  Kanji never helped that rumour die, considering that when the media tries to shove cameras into Naoto’s face, he yells obscenities and gets in the way until the footage is unusable.

18.  They have a daughter in 2025, when Naoto is 30 and Kanji is 29. She’s named Chihiro, mostly because it’s like a phonetic portmanteau of Kanji’s father’s name (Koichi Tatsumi) and Naoto’s grandfather’s (Yasuhiro Shirogane). But also, that was the name of the actor who played Naoto’s favourite version of Feather Swan. Naoto isn’t creative enough to come up with a portmanteau.

19.  They are each 80% of the other’s impulse control

20.  Naoto couldn’t care less that Kanji isn’t the brightest, despite common misconception. The Shirogane family, and the people who work for it, always placed emphasis on a person’s intelligence (hence Yu’s requirement for a lot of knowledge to start the Fortune link) but Naoto is strongly opposed to that mindset. To them, it’s freeing to have somebody around who doesn’t want to be an intellectual 95% of the time.

21.  They are very private when it comes to their relationship, to the point that sometimes even friends or colleagues have no idea what’s going on in their lives until it’s let slip somehow. When Junpei and Yukari – the Shadow Ops Naoto worked with the least - found out they were expecting, it first had to be explained to them that they’d been married for five years.

22.  They sometimes get mistaken for father and son at restaurants until their early thirties, to which point Naoto will make a scene of ordering a lot of alcohol to prove they’re old enough. Naoto can’t really handle booze.

23.  They’re really bad at making face to face announcements about anything big to their friends, so they always find some way to do it elaborately instead. They told the IT they were having a kid, for example, through a series of puzzles put together by Naoto

24.  Kanji loves making couples costumes and outfits, but then gets too embarrassed to wear them

25.  Naoto is a fiend for stealing Kanji’s clothes as pyjamas. They are large and warm, and when they’re travelling for work, they remind them of him. It got to the point where Kanji would pack a shirt of his secretly in Naoto’s suitcase, knowing that’s why his clothes always went missing.

[woman-loving]

Reception of Gender Diversity in Indonesia and Women’s Erotic Literature

Selections from "Between sastra wangi and perda sharia: debates over gendered citizenship in post-authoritarian Indonesia," Susanne Schröter, Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs (RIMA), 48(1), 2014.

In Indonesia, we encounter a somewhat paradoxical situation where gender deviance is tolerated in many quarters while there is, at the same time, an increasingly repressive-patriarchal gender mainstream. This becomes particularly apparent in the issue of acceptance of queer lifestyles. After the end of the New Order period, the emerging liberalisation in the urban areas included that aspect as well. A group called Q-Munity has organised an annual queer film festival, the Q!Festival, in Jakarta since 2002 and activists join in public debates, trying to reduce prejudice and to put an end to discrimination. Within the women’s rights network, Kartini, a training manual was developed to strengthen the position of non-heteronormative life models (Bhaiya und Wieringa 2007), and Siti Musdah Mulia proclaimed in the newspaper Jakarta Globe of 23 September 2009 that lesbian desire was created by God just like its heterosexual counterpart and hence must be accepted as natural. Until today, her statement triggers controversial discussions within Indonesia and beyond.

As could be expected, this unusual awakening was criticised by Islamist hardliners as an adoption of Western decadence. Performance venues of the Q! Festival were repeatedly raided by ‘goon squads’ and in 2010 Surabaya became the site of an éclat that was even covered by the international media. It was sparked by plans of the Asian branch of the International Lesbian and Gay Association to hold an international conference in March of that year. There had been similar conventions before in Mumbai, Cebu and Chiang Mai. The organisers were eager to be as discrete as possible in order to avoid protests. There was to be no Gay Pride Parade, and the organisers planned to publish a press release only on the last day of the event. Due to an unlucky coincidence, however, the local media learned about the planned event in its run-up and there were quick reactions by Islamic organisations. Statements were issued by religious authorities, claiming that homosexuality is irreconcilable with both Indonesian culture and Islam. Such language immediately mobilised the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam) and the Indonesian fraction of Hizb-ut Tahrir[14] to take militant action against the organisers. As a result, the local authorities prohibited the conference and those participants who had already arrived were besieged at their hotels by the mob until they were brought to safety under police protection (Vacano 2010).

These incidents appear to be at odds with the supposedly tolerant attitude towards gender variances in Indonesia as described by anthropologists such as Boellstorff (2005), Peletz (2009), Davis (2010) and Blackwood (2010). These scholars base their claims on the existence of so-called third and fourth genders rooted in local social orders. An often-cited example of this are the Bugis of South Sulawesi who use five gender terms: besides women and men, there are calalai (masculine women), calabai (feminine men), and bissu (ritual experts and shamans who are ambiguous in terms of gender). The bissu have always particularly attracted the attention of anthropologists, who interpreted them as a culturally-accepted variant of non-binary gender. In the Bugis system of gender categories, they are classified as calabai, that is, individuals with a male body and a feminine or ambivalent habitus. They are viewed as embodying a pre-Islamic, double-gendered Supreme Being which is attributed the ability to mediate between humans and spirits; hence, they act as healers and shamans. There is some debate, however, among anthropologists about whether the existence of this phenomenon can actually be interpreted as an indicator of tolerance and liberalism. Birgit Röttger-Rössler, who has done fieldwork among the Bugis, is sceptical, and even objects to applying the term ‘third gender’. According to her, calabai are ‘institutionalised, socially-accepted variants or subcategories of the male gender’ (Röttger-Rössler 2009:287, translation mine). She adds that these types of transgenderism can by no means be interpreted as a negation of heteronormative gender concepts. The reverse is true: they reinforce the latter. As Röttger-Rössler sees it, the order legitimated by this exception is not only ‘defined clearly and rigidly’(Röttger-Rössler 2009:287–8), but also asymmetrical, putting  women at a disadvantage.

On top if this, the mere existence of a local ‘third gender’ does not allow the conclusion that local communities are generally characterised by a liberal attitude towards gender issues. This becomes particularly evident when modern phenomena of transgression, which are usually referred to as queer, meet local forms of deviance. The mobilisation of queer activists in Indonesia and the resulting Islamic counteroffensive is a well-documented example of this.

The same applies to shifts in local gender structures that were triggered by the general climate of open-mindedness after the end of the New Order. In the year when the conference in Surabaya was wrecked by conservative moral ideas, there was also a remarkable public debate on local Indonesian transgenders who are subsumed by the collective term of waria.[15] The debate was sparked by a ‘Miss Aceh Transsexual’ beauty pageant held in February 2010. Many people in Aceh have ambivalent and contradictory attitudes towards waria. On the one hand, they view the latter’s existence as a disgrace for the community; on the other hand, waria are tolerated half-heartedly, not least because men secretly relish their sexual services. Waria often use their beauty parlours and hairdressing salons as brothels and engage in prostitution in the semi-clandestine red light district of the capital Banda Aceh. It is obvious that neither Aceh society nor the police intend to actually eliminate this option for extramarital sex, which is punishable under current legislation. Representatives of the authorities, however, take advantage of the waria’s extralegal status and arbitrary arrests as well as rape in police custody are common. Everyday discrimination, humiliation, and assaults by the sharia police are rampant. In the wake of the devastating tsunami in 2004, which was interpreted by Islamic clerics as a warning to disobedient believers, waria were repeatedly expelled from their homes and businesses because their neighbours feared that their presence might evoke the wrath of God to descend upon them again.

In Indonesia, both the human rights and the Qur’an and Sunna are invoked in the discussion about whether or not the existence of waria is legitimate. In Aceh, more importance is attached to the religious narratives of justification, however, than to secular reasoning, because Islam is viewed as the measure of all things. In the end, phenomena that are incompatible with the commandments of Allah will not gain acceptance. The experts disagree, however, about what is compatible with Islam, particularly if waria make their appearance in modern contexts. The pageant mentioned above, where they performed in burlesque costumes, sparked a pan-Indonesian controversy which dominated the headlines of the local and national press for several days. Well-known politicians, activists, and Islamic clerics piped up to express their opinion. The majority of the religious contributions condemned waria as being immoral and sinners, while secular commentators came to their defence, referring to minority rights.

I had the opportunity to discuss that issue in March 2010 with students at the State Islamic University (Universitas Islam Negeri, UIN) in Yogyakarta and at the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) which is also located in Yogyakarta. The Islamic students, in particular, engaged in a lively debate about whether the Qur’an makes a clear statement about the matter and what the prophet Muhammad said about it. This was their sole criterion for tolerating or condemning waria. On the personal level, the subject did not trigger any emotions in them; it was a purely matter-of-fact discussion without any recourse to moral categories. My colleague Sahiron Syamsuddin, a respected Islamic scholar with whom I held the event, eventually made an important point. He said that three gender categories were already known in Muhammad’s time: men, women, and khunta--transgenders who resembled the waria. He went on to explain that the third gender had fallen into oblivion due to subsequent patriarchal developments. This was acceptable to the students. Sahiron’s reasoning is typical of so-called ‘progressive’ Muslims who attempt to substantiate liberal ideas with little-known data from the Islamic past or new interpretations of the Qur’an and Sunna.

As becomes apparent from the abovementioned examples, upon closer examination, the much-cited Indonesian open-mindedness with regard to gender variances turns out to be a restrictive straightjacket into which some phenomena can be fitted, while others cannot. Transgender individuals are tolerated and may even hold respected positions, provided that they stay within narrow, strictly-defined social confines or already-accepted cultural constructs. Above all, they are expected to be inconspicuous. As long as a beauty pageant is held in a village, whether or not the event is made into a scandal depends on the social relations between the individual actors. At the national level, it is not possible to rely on such local relations. Other narratives of justification then take effect, particularly narratives backed by Islam. It appears that only a minority of the Indonesian Muslims subscribe to progressive interpretations of the Qur’an and the Islamic traditions, and my colleague Syamsuddin would certainly have had a hard time if rhetorically-versed Islamists had participated in the discussion. According to a study conducted in 2013 by the Pew Research Center, 93 per cent of all Indonesians disapprove of homosexuality. Thus, in terms of tolerance, the country is behind Malaysia (86 per cent) and Pakistan (87 per cent) and at the same level as Palestine. As has been noted by Jamison Liang, homophobia is on the rise (Liang 2010). This development is due not only to the strength gained by a conservative, partly militant Islam, but also to the fact that by now there is a public debate on the issue of gender deviance.

----

The virulently liberal face of Indonesian culture, despite Islamist zealotry, is also represented by the genre of female erotic literature. Called sastra wangi (fragrant literature) it caused an international sensation.[12] Writers such as Djenar Maesa Ayu, Ayu Utami, Fira Basuki, Dewi Lestari, and Nova Riyanti Yusuf picked out incest, extramarital sex, and homosexuality as central themes. They were not afraid of giving drastic descriptions of sexuality and they played offensively with the breach of all social conventions (Hatley 1999; Listyowulan 2010). One of the most prominent examples is Ayu Utami’s book Saman, of which more than one hundred thousand copies were sold in Indonesia. The novel is about the sexual adventures of three young women from good families, about split identities and the transgression of patriarchal moral ideas. Shakuntala, one of the protagonists, deflowers herself with a spoon and feeds the hymen to a dog. Later, she enters into a lesbian relationship in which she takes the male-connoted part. These are the scandal-provoking parts of the novel. It also has, however, another, political dimension which centres on the priest Saman. During a conflict, he takes sides with oppressed rubber farmers who are struggling against dispossession. He is denounced as their leader, arrested and tortured.

[cw for discussion of incest, child sexuality/assault]

In Djenar Maesa Ayu’s Menjusuh Ayah (Suckled by the Father), a woman recounts the sexual childhood experiences she had with older men, including her father. She states that as a baby she was not fed her mother’s milk, but her father’s semen. When she confronts her father with that story, he accuses her of lying and hits her with his belt. She insists, however, on her version of the past. The first-person narrator tells the reader that her father eventually refused to feed her any longer. Hence, she turned to his friends as a child. ‘I liked the way they slowly pushed down my head and allowed me to suckle there for a long time’ (Ayu 2008:95). When one of her father’s friends penetrates her, she kills him: ‘I am a woman, but I am not weaker than a man’, she writes, ‘because I have not suckled on mother’s breast’ (Ayu 2008:97).

[end cw]

The new erotic women’s literature led to a controversial discussion in Indonesia. The term sastra wangi itself alludes to the public erotic self-staging of the women, which was eagerly picked up by the media. Many stories about the young writers opened with exact descriptions of their looks, mentioning the high heels, the strapless t-shirts, the long loose hair, or the fact that the audience smoked and consumed alcohol during the readings. Like the provocative titles and texts, the media stagings brought fast fame and high sales figures. On the other hand, the women were accused of using sex as a marketing strategy. Not surprisingly, criticism of the taboo breaches came from the religious side, while secular-urban intellectuals mostly appreciated the new literary awakening. Saman won several awards, including a writing contest of the Jakarta Art Institute in 1997 and an award of the Jakarta Art Council (Dewan Kesenian Jakarta) for best novel in 1998. In 2000, Ayu Utami won the Claus Award in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, there has been some reserve on the part of literary scholars. Katrin Bandel criticises the unquestioned male perspective of the sastra wangi (Bandel 2006:115), Arnez and Dewojati find fault with the virulent phallocentrism (Arnez and Dewojati 2010).[13] Positive appraisal, however, prevails in the overall judgment. According to Arnez and Dewojati, the issue of whether sastra wangi can be called emancipatory is still controversial, but nevertheless ‘it can be claimed that in modern Indonesian literature such an open discussion of sexuality and female desire has not taken place before, especially not in such an outspoken language’ (Arnez and Dewojati 2010:20).

[randomvarious]

Capt. Rock - “Cosmic Blast” Street Sounds Electro 6 by DJ Maurice & DJ Noel Song released in 1984. Mix released in 1985. Electro / Hip Hop

***Song starts at 5:49 and ends at 12:07***

I just wanna preface this long-ass post I had queued up for today to say rest in peace to MF DOOM, the greatest rapper of all time, bar none, and an incredible beatsmith, too. No one has ever had quite the incredible way with words that DOOM had or managed to cultivate the air of mysterious intrigue around themselves like he was able to with his mask. I saw him perform once at a festival in 2007 and I don’t even really know if it was actually him on that stage. It would’ve been one of the DOOM-iest moves to trot out an impostor to perform his own songs while he still got to collect that check; a move whose abject ballsiness you really can’t help but just chuckle at. 

Fuck this year, royally, man.

A rhyming cannibal who's dressed to kill and cynical Whether is it animal, vegetable or mineral It's a miracle how he get so lyrical And proceed to move the crowd like a old negro spiritual

JUST REMEMBER, ALL CAPS WHEN YOU SPELL THE MAN NAME

*     *     *

There’s so much to dig into with this record, and I’m not even really sure where to even begin with this post, but I guess I’ll start with the Aleem twins, two (duh) enterprising guys from Harlem who loved all kinds of music. Born in the mid-40s, the Aleem twins got their musical education from many local sources. They frequented the Apollo Theater and then a legendary local gangster, Jack “Fat Man” Taylor, signed them to his label, Rojac Records. The Aleems didn’t go anywhere with Rojac, but they learned the ins and outs of running an independent record label and they also met the enigmatic Blowfly, who was an in-house writer for Rojac at the time. Through Taylor the Aleems also met Jimi Hendrix’s friend and love interest, Lithofayne “Faye” Pridgeon, who ended up hatching quite a scheme involving the Aleems and Hendrix.

Pridgeon wanted to get Hendrix evicted from his apartment, in which he lived with her friend June Vasquenza. So Pridgeon sent the Aleem twins to the apartment to kick him out, with one of them to claim that he was going to marry June in order to help her secure a green card since she was undocumented at the time. But the plan fell apart when the Aleems actually met Hendrix and discovered that the three of them all shared a deep passion for music. Rather than Hendrix being evicted, the trio would end up sharing an apartment together. 

Hendrix would then ship off to Europe and become a superstar, but upon his return to Harlem, he kept close to the Aleems. They provided backing vocals on a number of Hendrix songs and they also promoted a street fair in Harlem that Hendrix headlined, which took place just a few weeks after his legendary performance at Woodstock. Hendrix had bigger plans for the Aleems, too; he was set on producing an album that they were planning, for which they would call themselves the Ghetto Fighters. Hendrix envisioned the album as a “street opera.”

But then in 1970, while in London, Jimi Hendrix tragically died, which, to say the least, put a really big crimp in the Aleems’ plans. However, they kept at it throughout the remainder of the 70s; they expanded their group to four members, including their sister, Juliette, changed their name to The Prana People, and got to be managed and financed by New York Knicks star, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe (Is this post New York enough for you yet?). In ‘77, the Prana People released their debut album, and in ‘79, the Aleem twins decided they wanted to move towards more of an electronic sound and ended up releasing a club hit called “Hooked on Your Love,” which stayed on the Billboard Dance chart for months and had both a barely known Jocelyn Brown and a young Luther Vandross on backing vocals.

Off of the success of that record and from being disillusioned by aspects of the music business, the Aleems decided to start their own independent label, NIA Records, which was to release disco, funk, soul, electro, and hip hop music. 

Around this same time, Jack “Fat Man” Taylor, who now owned the famous Harlem World club, wanted to promote his neighborhood’s burgeoning hip hop scene, and in 1980 released a record called Rapper’s Convention, whose a-side featured a duo who would break off afterwards and call themselves Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde. A frequent patron of Harlem World was a guy named Ronnie Greene, and he would one day run into Mr. Hyde and convince him to make him Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde’s DJ.

Fast forward to 1982 and the Aleem twins are holding auditions to put out a new George Clinton and Tom Tom Club-influenced electro-funk-hip hop record called Cosmic Glide. It’s a record that introduces a main character, Captain Rock, who’s an extraterrestrial that just wants earthlings to get down to his space-funk jams. The Aleems and Mr. Hyde already had the song written and Mr. Hyde then brought Ronnie Greene in to audition to be Captain Rock. And even though Greene had never really rapped before, he managed to win the Aleems over with his smooth delivery, his cool and varied flows, and his swaggeringly captivating mic presence.

However, despite it being a quality tune, “Cosmic Glide” didn’t perform all that well. But the next Captain Rock record, 1983′s The Return Of Capt. Rock, again written by Mr. Hyde and the Aleem twins, fared much better, and also became the first record to really earn a name for the NIA label. This new bit of fame for both Greene and NIA then allowed for the third and fourth Captain Rock records, respectively 1984′s Capt. Rock To The Future Shock and Cosmic Blast, to flourish. “Cosmic Blast” became both Captain Rock’s biggest and best hit and it also marked Ronnie Greene’s musical peak. Mr. Hyde had moved on to do other things, so the Aleems allowed Greene to write the song’s lyrics and they also involved him in the production process. 

Not long before “Cosmic Blast” was recorded, Doug E. Fresh, who was also a Harlem resident, had released a record called The Original Human Beat Box, and that was a record that was simply fly as fuck. It put Doug’s deft skills as a beatboxer on full display, and it also gave Ronnie Greene the idea to include some beatboxing on his own upcoming record. So he got his friend Richie Rich, who was a pretty good beatboxer himself, to come breathily box his beats for “Cosmic Blast”. And with Richie Rich, and an unforgettable electro-chiming melody supplied by the Aleem twins, and Greene’s fun party-rocking rap demeanor as Captain Rock, that quartet spun some real, dynamic, mid-80s New York gold.

It was actually a quintet though, because also in on the fun of that record was none other than Marley Marl, who’d go on to become one of hip hop’s greatest, most prolific, and most important producers. While mixing “Cosmic Blast,” Marley discovered, totally by accident, how to sample drums. He was trying to take a riff from a song, and in the process of playing back “Cosmic Blast,” discovered that he had lifted a snare drum, too. But the snare he had sampled sounded better than the drums that were originally programmed, so he kept the sample as is. This discovery led to an epiphany for Marley, in which he realized that he could sample any drum from any point within any record that was in his massive collection and then use those sampled drums as part of his own drumbeats instead of having to program the drumbeats on his own with a drum machine. This was a huge freaking deal; Marley’s beats could now sound uniquely authentic, like the drums had come from an actual drumkit, instead of sounding like they had come from the same inferior-sounding drum machines that every other producer was using. Pandora’s Box had suddenly been opened for Marley Marl with “Cosmic Blast,” and it helped set him on a course to attain legendary status as a producer.

But there’s even more to this story. Not only was electro big in New York; it was pretty popular in the UK, too; so much so, that Captain Rock actually went out there to perform at Wembley Stadium for a hip hop and electro festival called UK Fresh ‘86. He had absolutely no idea that people in the UK even knew anything about his music, but a compilation label called Street Sounds, which specialized in electro and hip hop, had been lacing their mixes with Captain Rock songs since ‘83, and in 1985, a pair of UK DJs by the names of Maurice and Noel included “Cosmic Blast” on the sixth installment of Street Sounds’ wonderful Street Sounds Electro series. 

It’s there you’ll find this fantastic version of “Cosmic Blast,” which features the addition of some really dope scratches from DJs Maurice and Noel that you won’t hear on the original cut; and those scratches have a way of really fucking enhancing the song. Maurice and Noel speed things up a little bit, too, which raises the pitch ever so slightly, and makes the tune way more danceable, overall. They also completely transform the third verse by mixing in other dubby vocals from Captain Rock and then instead of running with the electric guitar solo from the original, Maurice and Noel close their version out with more scratching with a little Run-D.M.C. mixed in there.

Very cool stuff all around. An already incredible jam made even better by two British DJs. Ring in the new year with this shit. Long live electro!

[ladyherenya]

Books read in December

I set myself some reading goals for the end of the year -- finish any books I’d already started, read the books I'd already borrowed, and to read ebooks I’d bought before buying any more. But I guess most of those books just weren’t the right genre? A few exceptions aside, this month I read a bunch of other things instead.

Also read: The Frost Fair Affair and Holiday Brew by Tansy Rayner Roberts, and Sweetest in the Gale and 40-Love by Olivia Dade.

Reread: Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn and Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston.

Total: thirteen novels (including two audiobooks and two rereads), three novellas, and three story/novella collections.

Favourite cover: The cover was what caught my attention for Finding My Voice and Old Baggage.

Still reading: Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks, Or What You Will by Jo Walton and The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett.

Next up: A Most Improper Magick by Stephanie Burgis.

*

Queen’s Play by Dorothy Dunnett (narrated by David Monteath): In 1548, Francis Crawford of Lymond arrives in France, incognito in order to protect Scotland’s queen, seven-year-old Mary. I enjoyed this, even though I am not very interested in the antics of the French court and thought The Game of Kings benefitted from having more characters who I found wholly likeable and/or who matter, personally, to Lymond. Dunnett is an impressive storyteller -- vivid descriptions, lively dialogue, nuanced characters and twists that take me by surprise. Moreover, those satisfying puzzle pieces explain the plots and intrigue, give insight into personalities and develop the narrative’s themes (here, the consequences of power). 

The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim: In 1950, four year old Inja lives with her grandparents and uncle in Seoul, while her sister Miran is in America with their parents. War delays the family’s reunion. This is a fascinating portrayal of two sisters growing up in different countries, and an incredibly poignant story about a family separated. Compelling, and beautifully written, and despite moments of intense grief, hopeful. I liked how, in the end, Inja and Miran didn’t have all the answers.. But I wonder if I’d have found the ending more satisfying if I had a deeper understanding of who they both were as adults.

Teacup Magic series by Tansy Rayner Roberts:

Tea and Sympathetic Magic: Stephanie Burgis recommended this novella as something similar to her Harwood Spellbook series and it certainly has a similar appeal: romantic fantasy, bordering on comedy-of-manners territory. Like Georgette Heyer but with magic and diversity and an intention to challenge problematic and outdated attitudes. Charming and cosy, like a good cup of tea rather than a frothy hot chocolate. Miss Mnemosyne Seaborne, a reluctant guest at a houseparty. She joins forces with the other guests after an unexpected abduction occurs. Entertaining, and even though it was too short for me to really become invested, I immediately wanted to read the sequel.

The Frost Fair Affair: After her previous adventures, Mneme has new friends, a suitor and a campaign: overturning the social conventions which prevent women from travelling by portal. After someone in Town steals her political pamphlets, she gets caught up in a mystery. I enjoyed this oh so much! I found myself caring a lot more about Mneme and her relationships; I liked the mixture of intrigue and danger, and how in the cause of dealing with these, Mneme learns more about the man she hopes to marry; and the Frost Fair, on a frozen river, makes a delightful setting. I'd love to read more.

Belladonna U(niversity) series by Tansy Rayner Roberts:

Unreal Alchemy: Oh, this is my new favourite! Urban fantasy about Australian uni students who are connected to an indie rock band, Fake Geek Girl. These stories are funny, geeky and romantic, with great chapter titles and lots of fandom references. They employ different points of view and different narrative styles in a way that’s really effective. I love the characters and how important and intense their non-romantic relationships are. Between them they have a variety of romantic/sexual relationships and feelings, but friendships and familial relationships, like the one between twin sisters Hebe and Holly, also drive the narrative. The first collection contains four stories/novellas.

Fake Geek Girl -- Ferd moves into the Manic Pixie Dream House; Holly and Sage argue about the future of the band.

Unmagical Boy Story -- Viola has feelings about her best friend losing his magic, transferring colleges and making new friends.

The Bromancers --  The band and frriends spend a weekend at a magical music festival.

The Alchemy of Fine -- A prequel about the band’s origins.

Holiday Brew: This collection is more serious and less overtly fandom-y than the first, but arguably still very meta (especially if you consider Viola, Jules and Ferd as a response to the trio in Harry Potter). I sat down intending to read just one of these stories -- and ended up reading them all.

Halloween Is Not A Verb -- Holly invites various people to their mums’ place for Halloween.

Solstice on the Rocks -- A short story about university graduation.

Kissing Basilisks --  Begins on New Year’s Day, is compelling, and picks up the non-band-related narrative threads from Fake Geek Girl.

Missing Christmas by Kate Clayborn: This novella is loosely connected to Beginer's Luck but stands alone. It's sweet. Business partners and best friends Jasper and Kristen pay a last minute trip to a client and get trapped by a blizzard, which pushes them to reconsider the boundaries they’ve drawn in their relationship. I liked the moments which showed that they’re an effective team because they know each other so well and can communicate through subtle body language. 

Finding My Voice by Marie Myung-Ok Lee: Ellen is a Korean-American teenager in her final year of high school. Her story is about applying for college, gymnastics training, Ellen’s relationships with her best friend and her first boyfriend, dealing with racism at school and with her parents’ expectations that she will follow her sister to Harvard. It’s very short, first published in 1993. I was aware of all the places where a YA novel written today would be allowed to give more details and to expand the story, but it was still interesting.

The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas: I’ve borrowed this several times this year, only to return it unread each time, and I was starting to wonder if I really wanted to read it. But once I actually sat down and focused, I quickly realised that I definitely did! I became completely engrossed in this Mulan retelling. It’s a tense adventure. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions, particularly the elaborate courtesy of formal conversations, and the way Mulan and her companions value loyalty and camaraderie. I thought this was a very believable take on the whole girl-disguised-as-a-boy thing too.

Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce: In 1940, Emmy wants a newspaper job but is instead typing up letters for a women’s magazine and discarding mail from readers whose problems are Unacceptable. Frustrated that Mrs Bird won’t offer advice to so many women in need, Emmy's tempted to take matters into her own hands. Her optimism means she makes some naive mistakes, some of which made me wince, but it’s also an incredible strength. She's delightful company. I really like how much of this story is about her friendship with Bunty and I enjoyed the insight into women's magazines and the Auxiliary Fire Service.

The Lonely Hearts Dog Walkers by Sheila Norton: Recently separated, Nicola moves back in with her mother, starts as a teaching assistant at her daughter’s new school, gets a puppy and joins a group of dog walkers, who embark upon a mission to save the local park. This was very low-angst and, once I realised the sort of story it was, kind of predictable. I can recognise the appeal of this brand of realism, but personally would have preferred more humour or more emotional complexity. Were Nicola a colleague, it’d be easy to find things in common to discuss, but her story wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett: When Josie and her mother return to Beauty to look after the family bookshop, Josie has plans -- keep to herself, finish high school, secure a photography apprenticeship, move to LA. But after Josie accidentally breaks a store-front window and her childhood friend Lucky takes the blame, Josie’s priorities change. I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I particularly liked how Lucky subverts people’s expectations, and how Josie’s family works at communicating better with each other.

Old Baggage by Lissa Evans (narrated by Joanna Scanlan): It’s 1928 and Mattie Simpkin, a now-middle-aged militant suffragette, lives in Hampstead with her friend Florrie Lee (aka The Flea). Mattie gives lectures about the suffragettes but realises she’s not reaching the younger generation. So she starts a club for “healthy outdoor fun” for teenage girls. Mattie is wonderfully forthright -- amusing, engaging and informative when it comes to things she’s passionate about -- but she’s also fallible.  A really delightful yet bittersweet story about friendship and loss and the opportunities available for women. I liked its awareness that being able to loudly be yourself is a privilege not everyone has. 

There’s Something About Marysburg series by Olivia Dade:

Teach Me: Rose is unimpressed -- not only must she share her classroom with the new history teacher, he’s been given her Honors World History class. There’s something particularly satisfying about people who have been hurt and lonely finding support and love in each other. I like that they get to know each other over many months. I like Martin’s relationship with his teenage daughter and Rose’s relationship with her ex’s parents is so touching that one scene made me cry. And it was interesting seeing the US school system from the perspective of experienced teachers; I appreciated the details about their jobs.

Sweetest in the Gale: a Marysburg story collection contains three novellas about couples in their forties.

Sweetest in the Gale -- Griff is worried when Candy, a fellow English teacher, returns for the new school year uncharacteristically sombre and subdued. A really sweet romance about people who are navigating loss and grief.

Unraveled -- Maths teacher Simon is assigned to observe and mentor the new art teacher, Poppy. I enjoyed the threads of mystery.

Cover Me -- After a concerning mammogram result, Elizabeth marries an old friend so she’s covered by his health insurance. Predictable as anything, but that made it a safe position from which to explore serious and sobering topics.

40-Love: I’m not interested in tennis or holiday resorts; I was disappointed that this novel wouldn’t show Tess being an assistant principal; and even though some of my favourite fictional couples have a significant age-gap, I’m wary about age-gap romances (and socially-programmed to think it’s odd for a woman to date a much younger guy). But I liked the other stories in this series and I was curious. It’s Not really My Cup of Tea, but I was convinced that Tess and Lucas were both capable of making their (somewhat unconventional) relationship work. An interesting exercise in challenging my social-programming.

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn: After watching Bridgerton (not always to my tastes but mostly fun), curiosity prompted me to read the opening of the second novel, and I was so entertained by Kate Sheffield verbally sparring with the viscount, whom Kate is determined to prevent from marrying her younger sister. I continued to be entertained up until the viscount acts a bit too entitled on his wedding night (that’s unattractive, if outrightly problematic). Which left me in rather an uncharitable mood for the final act, so I can’t identify if the drama of dealing with past traumas didn’t meet the standard of the earlier comedy or if I just hold such scenes to differing standards.