#and I like that title Much more. lotta more drama.

[the-sixth-house-unmourned]

Meanwhile, in the afterlife-

[empyreanwritings]

January Book Review

Every month I will be doing a minor review of all the books I have read so far in 2023. I'll always include the title, author, and overall rating! I hope you all find a gem on this list the way I have ❤️

Good Girl Complex - Elle Kennedy: First impression is DEAR GOD PLEASE WHY DOES THERE HAVE TO BE A BET. I was thrown back to circa 2012 when After was all the rage and questioned everything about my purchase. And while this book was a little cliche, I really enjoyed that, unlike After, the characters are actually loveable and there's so much more charm to it outside of the bet & it delves much deeper than just bad boy meets good college girl. I was hooked and read the whole thing in 5 hours because I needed to know how it was going to go. Overall rating: 8/10

Ship Wrecked - Olivia Dade: My first impression is a refreshing one bc thank god I'm reading a book where both leads are plus-size. Media is so hellbent on only one person in the relationship being plus-sized that I actually was surprised to see them on the cover and know they'd still get the hot romance, smutty treatment other leads do. The overall story and smut were fantastic. I did enjoy seeing them grow and confess things they were afraid of as the story went on. That being said, the timing was weird. There were a lot of time skips, and in between each chapter, there were texts/interviews/fanfics that didn't coincide with the time of the story. So I was lost a lot, esp when they did a random 6-year skip without saying there was a skip at the beginning. Overall rating: 8.5/10

The Demon's Bargain - Katee Robert: If you didn't know by now, Katee Robert has me by the throat. I love all of her books sm so I was super excited for this one. It's a lot shorter than her other books in the A Deal with a Demon series - only about 120 pages, so I finished it in a few hours. There's not much plot development bc the story is focused on just a three day span then the epilogue shows what happened years later. This book has everything - revenge on shitty exes, non-binary demons, pegging, and a whole lotta bloody sex. If you want an in-depth, profound story then this one may not be for you. This is clearly just for demon-fuckers, and while I wished I could have had more of Lenora and Ramanu bc I really enjoyed them, I know we'll see them in other books so I'm okay with it. Overall rating: 10/10 bc I'm a simple horny bitch.

To Marry and To Meddle - Martha Waters: Martha Waters is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I loved To Have and To Hoax & To Love and To Loathe, so I looked forward to this one a lot. Emily and Julian were a really interesting story bc they weren't enemies to lovers, they weren't constantly quarreling over things to rekindle their love - they were just two people attracted to each other that entered into a marriage of convenience. Their conflict lied within the fact they weren't supposed to fall in love, and they were only supposed to help each other with their respective problems. I'm also a huge sucker for a rake with a soft center, who just wants to be loved and accepted by people; and that's who Julian is. It was spicy and funny and so tender at moments that I read it within a day. Overall rating: 12/10

Sense & Sensibility - Jane Austen: I will be honest and say I did not pick up this book because of personal preference. I am currently in a class that has a focus on Jane Austen, so this was the first book I read, and honestly, I loved it. It took me a few days to really get into it, but MAN the drama??? Jane Austen was the OG scandal writer in my eyes idc. I was listening to the audiobook and when I heard someone say that Edward was engaged I went "WHO?" out loud. I felt like I was listening to a reality tv show in that moment. Marianne is my fave character, but I did not want to see her end up with who she ended up with. Nor did I want Elinor to end with her husband because he made her seem like a second choice. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and characters. Overall rating: 9/10

Book Lovers - Emily Henry: The first Emily Henry book I read was The People We Meet on Vacation, and while I liked it, it wasn't something that made me go "WOW, I'd reread that!" But Book Lovers?? I absolutely would - and WILL - reread it. There was so much to unpack with the main character, Nora, and I absolutely loved that she did not have to change or lose herself at the end of the book because she found someone who understood her. If you are someone who roots for the woman that always gets left behind for the wholesome farm girl in cheesy Hallmark movies then this book is for you. Overall rating: 10/10

Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen: I don't know if Jane Austen was the first to really write enemies to lovers, but she sure wrote the kind I thoroughly enjoy. There's not much I can say about this book that hasn't been said by others. It was good--dragged on a bit longer than I anticipated at some points--but its a classic for a reason. Ngl tho I think I enjoyed Pride & Prejudice & Zombies a lot more. Scandalous, I know. Overall Rating: 9.5/10

[starriskyy]

short rant on DSMP (please ignore)

CW: DSMP, mention of Wilbur and Dream

My cousin just discovered the DSMP, and I'm not sure what to do. He keeps chattering about how cool it is, and I'm wondering how to explain that there was a groomer and an abuser on there. Like, he seems to enjoy watching Tommy the most, but many things weren't exactly lovely with that server. I personally liked Technoblade the most so I tried pushing the convo that way, but now my cousin keeps bringing up a whole lotta drama that happened. I am worried he might like the bad people, but I can't really do much other than explain if he asks.

Though, I kind of feel more sad by the fact that I don't remember a lot of what happened since it's been years since I've watched anything to do with the DSMP. He keeps being like "do you remember this?" And I'm like "No?" So I feel bad.

Overall, I just don't want him to be badly influenced by anyone who has been on the server. So, hopefully we can avoid that.

If you're reading this, congrats, you're a rebel who didn't listen to the title's advice.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Ya know what these self-indulgent Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow posts need? Self-indulgent banner art, that’s what.

Spoilers for issue #4!

Let’s start this off right with CREATOR CREDITS. Issue 4 of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is titled “Restraint, Endurance, and Passion.” Written by Tom King, Art by Bilquis Evely, Colors by Matheus Lopes, Letters by Clayton Cowles, and Edited by Brittany Holzherr. (w/ Assist. Editor: Bixie Mathieu & Senior Editor Mike Cotton)

THE STORY: 

Right, so this? This issue? Best one yet.

Also the bleakest of the bunch thus far; even though we don’t always see the brutality of the space pirates that Kara and Ruthye are following, there’s...the suggestion of it. The aftermath. And how Kara responds to it.

Okay, getting a little ahead of myself. BASIC PLOT SUMMARY: Ruthye and Kara continue their pursuit of Krem, who has taken up with Barbond’s Brigands.

The Brigands basically just. Murder and terrorize people, for profit.

Each planet they visit brings new horrors, as well as people who need Supergirl’s help.

And help she does.

KARA-CTERIZATION:

I yell a lot about the art on this book, and have, in fact, openly admitted that I’m primarily here for Evely and Lopes.

Well, that wily son-of-a-gun King went and wrote some of the best ‘Super’ stuff I’ve ever read and dang it, dang it, now I gotta yell about the words too. XD

Specifically, I wanna yell (in a good way!) about some words that occur towards the very end of the book.

Kara and Ruthye have Seen Some Things; things like genocide and mass grave sites and horrible violence, and upon reaching a planet where peaceful monks were slaughtered, Kara’s had enough, and needs to leave because if she screams, she’ll destroy what little is left of the monks’ monastery.

Here’s the text in full, because my gosh. It’s so good:

“What I write next I write based on my observations in those long-ago days at the side of the greatest warrior in the history of this august reality we all call home. It is important to note that my assertions do not rely on anything Supergirl said. It was not a subject we ever discussed or even approached, but nonetheless I believe it to be as true as the turning of worlds. You see, what is not well understood about the daughter of Krypton is that her power was not one of action but one of restraint, endurance, and passion. She did not choose to fire a beam from her eyes, or have breath of ice, or run faster than a speeding bullet. Or any of her other well-documented miracles. No, she held back her heat vision to look you in the face. She warmed her breath to converse with you. She slowed herself to walk by your side. Ever moment of every day, she suppressed the forces churning inside of her. All of the energy of a dead world that strained against her many barriers, eternally demanded to be released. I believe this effort hurt her. I believe she lived her life in pain. But I reiterate again, for I think it important enough to repeat--These beliefs are based on my time at her side, watching her as she moved through strife and sorrow. If you were to have asked her, I have little doubt she would have claimed that such as assertion was absurd. She would say she felt fine and well and then she’d as you if you needed any help.”

A long chunk of words, I know (this comic is DENSE!) but like. This is it. This is one of the defining attributes of the Supers--all that raw power at their disposal and they choose to help people, to be kind, to suppress that power for the benefit and safety of others.

HNNNNNNNG.

Hope, Help, and Compassion for All.

Whole lotta folks claimed at the outset of this book that King did not understand Kara, that he was a bad fit. And that may be so, I suppose--there’s a whole other discussion about like. The violence and swearing and ‘does that belong in a Supergirl book?’ But the characterization? Getting that Kara and Clark are just good people? 

King gets it. He got it in Superman: Up in the Sky and he gets it here, in Woman of Tomorrow.

Other things King gets! Kara is stubborn! Kara is passionate! Kara is going to fix things, even if the effort of doing so hurts her, physically, emotionally, and mentally!

(Fuuuuuuun fact for the crowd saying that Woman of Tomorrow is vastly superior to the CW show: TV Kara is ALSO all of those things! King isn’t pulling this stuff out of thin air. It’s almost like...gosh. I don’t know! Both the show and Tom King are pulling from the character’s comic history, or something!!!! HOW NOVEL.) 

Like, seriously. There’s a lot of overlap. Stop pitting Karas against each other!

Anyways!

I promised art, so here is art!

Oh, right, forgot to mention, Kara literally THROWS HERSELF INTO THE SUN to express her grief and anger, so as to not cause that unnecessary destruction. She gives new meaning to the phrase: Set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm. 

More art yelling: GOTTDAMN, the way Evely draws Kara just colliding with the surface of the sun and then the way Kara’s hair like...becomes the flames...

I am FEELING FEELINGS. HOW DARE.

Also, props to King and Cowles; King for deciding to have that initial scream, Cowles for the way the letters burst forth from the point of impact on the sun, and then back to King who decided that it would just be...devastating silent screaming from Kara, for the remainder of the scene. 

Back to the characterization, I just wanted to highlight something I mentioned...earlier on, I think? In these posts? But haven’t brought up recently, and that is how this book has not once brought up Zor-El, and I think Superman only got a quick mention in issue 2.

Honestly, I think that’s gotta be some kind of record.

It’s so refreshing. Not because I think there should never be mentions of Clark, or anything--I love that boy--but because so much of modern Supergirl comic drama is mined from the same like, angsting over her place compared to Clark, or her crazy sometimes-a-supervillain dad. 

There is no Clark and Kara drama here, no manufactured friction, because it’s just. A cool Supergirl story! 

Gonna keep going, but let’s do it with some more...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTT!!!!

Once again, Mat Lopes is all over the dang place with his palettes, it’s marvelous.

Each new planet gives Evely the opportunity to go hog wild on the worldbuilding and design, and similarly! Each new locale is an opportunity for Lopes to set the tone with colors. Like, here, towards the beginning of the book, we’ve got a planet bathed in this warm, pale yellow/orange light. 

(Quick note: “Sure, yeah, I get it. We all have our duties. And it’s mine as a neighbor to do what I can to help you with yours. Please.” A+ Kara content. We love to see it. And then locating the remains of the alien’s daughter, so that they can go visit the grave site and have some emotional closure???? It’s just. So. Touching.)

Anyways, back to colors.

Like!!!! LOOK AT THAT JUMP. From the soft, almost pastoral feel of the delicate oranges and yellows to HARD GREEN, PINK, AND PURPLE. (Difficult colors to pull off in print, I might add.) 

(This is also an interesting scene, character-wise, because I think it helps re-contextualize some earlier stuff with Kara. Like, I’m mostly thinking that incident on the bus, where she was swearing at the passengers as the space dragon was about to destroy them. Here, we see Kara kind of...goad this alien woman into releasing her pent up emotions by yelling at her/getting her to fight, and you can clearly see at the end of it that Kara did not mean the things she said, because check this out:

She goes and gives her a hug once the woman is able to finally cry.

It’s not ‘Kara is being mean, Kara is swearing at her’, it’s, ‘Kara has an unorthodox solution to a problem, and she’s gonna FIX that problem, NO MATTER WHAT.’

Circling back to the bus thing--again, that could be an instance of ‘unorthodox approach to a weird situation that Kara is going to handle because lives are at stake.’)

But also, DIG THAT KIRBY KRACKLE, BAY-BEEEEE!

And a little Strange Adventures easter egg! The Pykkts! 

(I think those guys are unique to the Black Label series, rather than deep Adam Strange lore, but don’t quote me on that.)

Moving on to YET ANOTHER PALETTE, one I’ve dubbed, ‘Treasure Planet Purple/Grey’

Love Ruthye’s snoozing against the door, waiting for Kara.

Also, just as striking as the colors of the environment, are the colors used on Kara. 

If you compare this page with the previous one, Kara’s eyes are a paler shade of blue, and the red-rimmed look on her eyes here is not as intense as the red-rimmed look we saw back in issue one, when she was confronting Krem. 

All of which to say! There’s a pale, haunted quality to both the linework and the colors. Like. We know Kara has Seen Some Things. But she’s shoving all that stuff down to protect Ruthye, to save Krypto, and to stop these monsters, and you get all of that WITH COLORS AND LINES ON A PAGE.

I love it, I love it so much.

OTHER BOOKS WISH THEY HAD THIS LEVEL OF CHARACTER ACTING, I TELL YA! THEY WISH THEY HAD THIS BEAUTIFUL ALCHEMY OF INKER, COLORIST, AND WRITER WORKING IN SUCH TIGHT TANDEM!

Ahem. XD

Alright, last bit of art, lest I just. Post the whole issue in here. (Which I’m honestly always tempted to do but Strong Feelings about Piracy hold me back.)

JUST HECKIN’ LOOK AT THAT BLUE, MAN. JUST LOOK AT IT. S’BEAUTIFUL.

And more stunning character acting from Evely. Like. Bottom middle panel. The expression, the tilt of her head and the shadows on her eyes...

*insert silent flailing here*

Oh, also, KRYPTO LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVESSSS (for now). 

I’m never right about these things, so I’m glad the one time I’ve correctly read a thing is when it involves Krypto not, ya know. Being dead. XD

Also absolutely love that Kara’s instinct is to send Ruthye home to protect her--once more leaning into that whole, ‘I’m going to protect you, even at great cost to myself’, though of course we know that she can’t send her home, not here, not now, just halfway through our journey. 

ERRRRRRGH, so mad we’re not getting twelve issues of this! CURSE YOU, POOR SUPERGIRL TRADE SALES! CURSE YOOOOOOU!

That said, King’s pacing? Has been phenomenal. I feel like Strange Adventures and even Mr. Miracle kinda...I’m not gonna say dragged, that’s not quite right. But it is more build up, I guess. Takes a while to get to the payoff.

Here, I think King is pushing things steadily along as he doesn’t have the benefit of an additional four issues, so he has to get to the point, so to speak. Keeps everything moving.

SOME FINAL, MISC. STUFF:

I’ve sort of glossed over the darker stuff from this issue, and I just wanna note that like. This is a book that features a bad guy getting stoned (in the death sentence way, not the drug way) on panel. Like. I can’t recommend this to children.

I can’t even really recommend it to some other Supergirl fans, because I know that the King elements will be too off-putting. 

It never feels like the book is going too far, though. At least in like an...exploitative way? If that makes sense?

The violence is handled with discretion, I guess is what I’m trying to convey. This could very easily tip over into like, gross shock factor territory, if not handled well, but I think the creative team pulls it off.

...Still wouldn’t hand this book to kids, though. XD

As mentioned, we’re halfway through this series! Can’t wait to see where it goes--every time I think I have this book figured out, it surprises me. So, like. Bring on the Dinosaur planet! With no sunlight! I wanna see how Lopes handles THAT. XD

(But Oh, OooooOOooh, we gotta wait until NOVEMBER.)

(Hhhnnnnng!)

(Then again, maybe that’s good; we’ve got the TV show in the meantime, and then once it ends we can pick right up with new Supergirl content just a few weeks later.)

(...Aw. Made myself a little sad, thinking about the TV show coming to an end.)

:C

So as not to end on that sad note, here once again is tiny, smushed Kara:

Give ‘em the ol razzle dazzle.

[cherriesradio]

“I… I think I’m different. Not in a hero kinda way, ya know?”

You coming out to different pro hero’s about your sexuality.

(Because I am currently craving validation)

All Might, EraserHead, Hawks, and Fat Gum

All Might

You always knew that the pro hero was incredibly supportive of everyone.

But for some reason… he had never mentioned on the news or on media if he supports the LGBTQ community.

Which, was strange. Of course he hadn’t gone out of his way to support ANY community, he was busy, ya know, SAVING people from those community’s.

And knowing how friendly and good of a perosn the hero was, you decided that he was one of the best to confide in about a secret you had had for a while.

You stayed after class that day, not wanting to attract attention.

You had heard that All Might was staying later then normal to do some extra paper work, which meant that this was the perfect time.

You walked down the long white halls, going up flight after flight of stairs till you were at the floor of cubicles and the feeling of boredom.

“All Might?” You said, peaking around the corner of the large room.

“Young L/n! What do you need?” He looked up, his black eyes and large smile looking as welcoming as always.

“Um… I wanted to tell you something. It’s uh… kinda important.” You stepped in and rubbed the back of your neck.

He nodded, and stood from his seat, walking to you at the front of the room. “Would you want to sit over there?”

He pointed to the white chair next to the window.

“Sure.” You nodded, already nervous as ever.

“So, Young L/n, what is so important? Is it something involving hero work, or your future career?” He titled his head. You gulped.

“Well, I- it technically will probably heavily effect more future career, but it doenst really invoke hero stuff.” You bite your lip and played with your hands inbetween your legs.

“Hm. What’s important that you need to tell me, even if it doenst involve hero’s? I am a hero expert, after all.” He smiled. He was trying to make you laugh, he could probably feel the nerves coming off your body.

You awkwardly chuckle.

“Well … uh, it’s real personal and your really accepting of everything and stuff and I thought I could trust you with it, and I’m…”

All Might smiled to himself. “True. Now, what were you wanting to tell me? No pony in beating around the bush.”

You sighed, quickly gaining a billion pounds more of anxiousness.

“I…” You squeezed your hands. “I think I’m y/s.” (Y/s = your sexuality)

He had a slight look of surprise, looking up with his electric blue and black eyes right into yours.

“That’s wonderful, L/n!” He smiled.

“R-really!?”

“Yes! Have you told anyone else yet?” He asked

“Well, no, not really.” You giggle.

“Oh. I’m honored!”

EraserHead

You always liked Mr. Aizawa

He was calm in any situation, and knew how to handle most things. You admired his strong quirk and how he didn’t need attention from the public.

He was, after all, always your favorite hero.

And being put up on such a podium, why would you not tell him first? He deeply cared for his students and you knew deep inside that he would never hate you for be LGBTQ.

It was lunch break. You ate half your rice and one huge gulp, and gave the rest to Mina.

Your steps were loud as you ran down the hall to the tecaher lounge.

“HELLO!” You yelled, sliding and grasping at the door for life.

“Um, hello L/n? What do you need?” Aizawa lazily said after a few silent seconds of teachers staring at you.

“Hi I need to talk to you in private for a second!” You were filled with energy, having had thought about this for weeks.

“Alright.” He said, sighing as he moved away from his shared table table with Midnight and Mic.

“What is it, L/n?” He said once you were both out of sight of anyone walking by. His hair looked more silky and almost greasier then normal, he clearly forgot to wash it.

You took in a deep breath, breathing out. Your hands in fists raised up, for whatever reason.

“I haven’t told anyone this and I felt I could trust you with it. So, I’m y/s.”

He honestly didn’t look that surprised at the fact you were y/s. He was more proud that you decided to trust him, of all teachers, to tell

“That’s… thank you for telling me, L/n.” He said and had a smile of warmth.

“I’m glad you decided to tell me. I support you fully.” He nodded.

You smiled and your eyebrows were furrowed, a sympathetic and grateful expression.

“Thanks.”

He patted your back as he walked back to the teachers loung. “Have a good lunch, valid child.”

You laughed at the new, silly nick name and how it was similar to him calling Deku “problem child”

Hawks

You had known Hawks since you were a kid.

Your dad worked at the agency, and bought you to work often after school since your mom left and he worked late so often.

He would have anyone at the agency that he trusted babysit you, so you were known across the agency as “the favorite”

Everyone loved you, including our good old feathery fried chicken. He was one of your favorite babysitters, cause he would bring you on patrol and fly around holding you, and if he had any money on him he would buy you food

So, your little kid mind made up that this man was the human equivalent of god

so would I

Now your 14, and still adore Hawks, visiting the agency and all your friends whenever you had the time, often training with the hero’s

And you started questioning a while ago. You didn’t think anyone suspected anything, and decided that it was time you tell someone.

So, Hawks. He treated you the same he treated full grown adults, so he would treat you seriously with this. And you knew that even if he didn’t like that you were y/s, that he would still love you in his older brother/ cool uncle way

You rush off the bullet train with your usual smile, running as fast as you could after an intense training session before getting out of school for the day.

Of course it took a little longer than normal, since you just moved into the the dorms, Iida was suspicious about letting you leave campus.

You gently pushed through the crowd, muttering about a thousand “Excuse me!”’s on your way in.

You walked in, taking in the familar sent of crappy deodorant and sented candles.

You quickly press the up button and to the top floor, which was the place Hawks always was at this exact time.

You got up there just in time, he had just arrived.

“Hey Kid!” He grinned.

“Hey Keigo!!” You excitedly shout from the otehr side of the roof. “How’s work doin’?” You said, running to the other side.

“Eh, crappy and long as normal. How was school? Are Deku and the angry kid still at it?” He raised an eyebrow

“Yeah, did you think they’d ever stop? Mic put them to together for training and they had this whole angsty monologue with each other, it was hilarious.” You smiled and sat the on the railing that Hawks was perched on

“Haha!” He laughed. “Those two are gonna be interesting heros! Imagine the drama our good old corrupt government will make of them!”

You two continued to chat for a while, until Hawks told you he only had a few more minutes till his turn on patrol.

You nodded, taking in that you have to say it now.

“Hey Keigo?”

“Yeah, Y/n?”

“I think I’m y/s. Actually, I know I am.”

He didn’t seem surprised. If anything, he looked excited.

“I knew it!” He grinned. “Great job, kid! I’m proud of you, that musta’ taken a lotta courage!” He said, hand i your shoulder.

“Your fine with it?” You sheepishly said.

“Well duh! I love ya kid, why would I not be okay with it?” He leaned on your shoulder.

“And what do you mean by “I knew it?”

“Oh don’t pretend you don’t take side glance’s at them~” He winked. You two laughed.

You smiled. “Thanks, Keigo.”

Fat Gum

You and Fat Gum hadn’t known each other to long. You were there for your inturship, with Tamaki and Kirishima.

Even so, you two trusted each other. He was accepting and a caring guy, who would do anything for you interns.

So, you made a plan to tell him your y/s.

He smiled as you walked into the room you four always meet at, you saw that the other three were already waiting for you.

“Hey guys!” You waved. A small “Hi” came from Tamaki and Kirishima did his normal, aka running up and fist bumping you with a loud “Hey Y/n!”

You all were on patrol pretty much all day, so it would be difficult to pull Fat Gum away for a minute.

As you all walked along the streets, looking out for the smallest sign of villains, you asked Fat Gum if you two could talk for a minute.

“Sure L/n! You two stay here for a little, me and L/n are gonna talk for a second!” He calls toward Kirishima and Tamaki.

You two go inbetween two buildings.

“So, what’s up L/n?” He smiled down at you.

You rubbed the back of your neck.

“Well, it’s not really a hero thing. Is that okay?”

“Yeah! You can talk to me about anything.”

You nodded. “Okay… I think I’m y/s.”

He looked down at you with surprised.

He then got out of his fat state, back to the size of a normal human and hugged you.

“That’s great! I’m glad you told me!”

Notes: this is probably repetitive and bad but like ✨imaginary validation is nice✨

[magioftheseas]

Hiya magi do you have any Yuri manga/manhwa recs? Angst is very welcome

I’ve actually already made two rec posts involving yuri stuff in the past, buuuut I’m all too eager to spotlight these two again to give some updates!

Run Away With Me, Girl was completed recently on dynasty scans and it’s so fucking good. It’s got drama but the kind of ending that’s super heartwarming.

Failed Princesses got an official English release recently! I read it under the title Useless Princesses, but I highly rec buying it and supporting the official creator! It’s also very sweet but has some Good Angst.

Okay, as for some new series:

Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl by Canno focuses on multiple girls in the same school so it has a lot of bases covered...for better and for worse. But I still really love most of it, especially the main pairing.

Hana & Hina After School is a short 3 volume series by the apparently super renowned Milk Morinaga. Just from this short work, I can see why. It’s a super refreshing and cozy read that breathes life into its tropes.

Goodbye, My Rose Garden by Doctor Pepperco is historical yuri! Lotta drama, lotta angst! What’s not to love?! It’s also focused on literature (which includes references to Wilde) so it’s just up the alley of any GAY BOOK NERD.

Picture of Tears by Tatami Yuka is the most tentative reccomendation on here but you asked for angst and this mangaka like...worked under the fucking Goodnight Punpun guy, so I feel like I should draw attention to it. Being only six chapter though, it feels pretty rushed with its ending kinda...out of nowhere? At least it needed a lot more build-up than it got. But it’s definitely interesting. It certainly left an impact.

Mage & Demon Queen by Color_LES is actually a webtoon, but like... I love it so much. There’s a lotta meme humor, but it’s one of those self-aware, self-parody comedies that’s all the better when focused on gaaaaaay gals. It’s a very...compassionate comedy, despite having *some* mean-spirited moments. That I still found hilarious. Lmao.

[battendownthewhatsit]

stream of consciousness ramblings

ah so Vane’s just gone full 80s unkillable slasher monster now

...I’m okay with this! this rocks actually, this is Very Good, very myffic, bring it. 

An assortment of Thoughts at this Point, as yet not overexamined or coherent: 

-Not gonna talk about the Max situation. the Max situation is gonna be for effortposts. 

-Also not gonna talk much about the slave trade situation, much like the Max thing it goes into the “when I have time and brains to even vaguely  begin to address atrocity properly” so like. Lot of emotions don’t think it’s not eating my brains but also Who Knows if I will ever be able to talk about these things properly 

- I will note there has not been one single sex scene in this show that was Pleasant or in any way enjoyable to witness and I’m? confused?  are they all supposed  to be Super Icky as like a challenge to the idea of. Something. Or am I supposed to be getting a thrill off some of them? is this supposed to be hot I don’t even know anymore 

- I think I will never  tire of watching Silver dance his way out of the disasters he just danced himself into. High comedy , excellent , my greatest source of joy in this show so far.  I hope he’s right about Randall and that together they continue to make a wreck of everything as Disaster and Disaster Apprentice

- lotta people trying to mitigate or undermine the Life Choices of their more impulsive and high-flying loved ones and that’s interesting bc while I suppose it is a Sympathetic motive to some degree it’s in direct opposition to the Enjoyable Narrative? The Narrative is always  a Messy Bench who Loves Drama, and given the meta-ness of this  story that maybe puts Mr Scott (..?) and Mrs Barlow(e?)  and so on into an inherently antagonist role?more thoughts later maybe 

-while Flint is obviously a major character loaded with Story and Motives and Complexity and whatever I can already tell he will never be my favorite pirate 

- ...Dufresne, however, is making a serious bid for the title do not ask why I do not know 

- I know Billy Bones has to still be alive and my current theory is that he’s actually been hanging onto the boat since the the whole thing with the Scarborough and it’s just so easy for him that he’s fallen asleep and been taking a nap while his biceps carry him home 

- WHERE IS THE SHIP’S CAT

[twilightofthe]

Thoughts on the True Mandolorians being de-canonized? It pisses me off because so much of Mandolore involved Temura Morrison like the Kelbabe Kiss being Maori. The new canon gets left with Satine (who literally dies for manpain) and Death Watch, the terrorist group who kills civilans and kidnaps kids.

Ohhh Anon I am the WRONG WRONG PERSON to ask about this, because tbh?  I know like jackshit about the True Mandalorians or any EU Mandalore content.

It’s cuz like-- and here I am going to beg forgiveness in advance to my at least five followers whom I know are deep, active Tolkien fans 

To me, Mandalorians are to the Skywalker Saga what the Elves are to Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit.

Like, you get into this fun fantasy series, right?  It’s cool!  Action!  Drama!  Adventure!  Romance!  And you like the main characters and you like the story.

And then there’s this race of side characters.  Or, well, not side characters because at least one of them plays an active major character role in the big adventure.  But they’re never the protagonist, and the story’s never quite about them, ya know?  Right away, you notice how detailed and complex they are in comparison to their race’s overall role in the story.  They’re cool warriors.  Their character design is badass.  They have fancy armor and a fancy language and one of them looks like Cate Blanchett and she’s really pretty and you kinda wanna steal her wardrobe.  They’ve got a wee superiority complex and act Very Serious about things but you think they’re cool!  They’re fun!  Entertaining!  Very good addition to the story you really liked!

And then you finish the fun fantasy story and you go poking around fandom, and you notice a whole lotta people are REALLY into these side characters, and you start seeing ppl talking about names and places and events you’ve literally never heard of.

So you do research.

And holy SHIT, these guys are like the main characters in a totally different massive work or series of works that is CANON (or at least was for the Mandos) and has really nothing to do with the story you knew, and there is a whole-ass fandom just devoted to this race.

Not only are they just fancy warriors with a cool language, oh no, these people have thousands of years of war and history-- and you did not know just how much time they spent trying to murder the absolute shit out of each other, like jeez guys, could you chill for literally a sec? --and everyone has ten thousand names and titles and they’ve got an entire culture with rules and laws and religions and art and music and tradition that real life people now have like college-degree level knowledge of.  And they all have opinions on shit, grudges about history that happened a hundred years ago and debates on what really happened at the battle of such and such and who’s tenth descendant is related to so and so.  And you know exactly none of it.

And then you look at all of this and then you look back at where you came from, the pop culture famous fantasy story, and you realize that these “side characters” have more canon history and mythos and knowledge than the media you were into, like ten times over.

And you take a moment to seriously appreciate this dedicated subsection of the fandom that has put so much of themselves into this wild, creative culture and everything that’s been done with it.

And then you turn right back around and walk off to revisit your Jedi and your Hobbits because while you may seriously appreciate the talent and the dedication of those who like the more complex characters, you’re a history major in real life and your ADHD brain does not have the capacity to also shove some space aside to minor specialize in Mandalore or Middle Earth and sometimes you just need to focus on things with a little less history and canon so you can explore things yourself.

[thebluelemontree]

Hello! I love reading what you have to say about Sansan and I’ve been wondering in my head recently about where their relationship will be at the end of the series. Do you think it’s plausible that Sansa and Sandor could actually be romantically involved at the end of the series and live a happy ending? GRRM has too much set up to not have them cross paths again. Many people have thought of different ways their stories may connect at the end of series. (1/2)

Some say Sandor will save Sansa from fire, he will die for her, she will knight him, or that they may be romantically involved and I have no idea what GRRM may choose. Will Sansa be queen and she can just marry Sandor? Will she never live a high born life again and she and Sandor just live as commoners? I seriously don’t know what to expect and I wanted to know what you think would be the most realistic ending or the one you want. Sorry this got so long! (2/2

Lotta questions here.  No need to appologize.

Do you think it’s plausible that Sansa and Sandor could actually be romantically involved at the end of the series and live a happy ending?

Yes, oh yes; however, we still got a ways to go.  A lot can happen in two books.

GRRM has too much set up to not have them cross paths again.

Agreed.

Some say Sandor will save Sansa from fire, he will die for her, she will knight him, or that they may be romantically involved and I have no idea what GRRM may choose.

I think Sandor’s arc has had him facing fire by drawing him closer and closer to it all along, but not in an ultimately bad way.  I think it’s GRRM’s exposure therapy to bring him to a place of overcoming his trauma.  His helmet is singed by fire at the Blackwater battle => His arm is burned when he is judged by the BwB for his role in Mycah’s death, rendering him a helpless child, so he’s forced to relate to his victim => He WILLINGLY submits to being burned by the boiling wine so that he might live a little bit longer to help Arya get to her aunt in the Eyrie.  Then I have my speculations and theory concerning the Burned Men of the Vale, who ritually burn themselves to prove their strength and courage, as well as magic that notably feels like it’s burning.  Would he die for her?  Absolutely.  That much is certain.  I don’t think that means he needs to actually die to prove what we all already know is true; however, he could still die in other ways for other reasons.  I think we need to read Winds first to get an idea of what his role in the endgame will look like.  I try to keep my specific theories narrowly focused on the immediate future events in Winds rather than stray too far ahead.  There are just too many unknown factors.      

As for knighting, only a knight can make a knight.  I don’t know if it will be literally or metaphorically, but I think that role goes to Elder Brother, who was a knight in his former life.  Sansa did teach Sandor that true knighthood is about what you choose to do and what you stand for, not ceremony or title.  All knights are not secretly bad people, as Sandor likes to think.  That belief comes from the knighting of his biological older brother that caused his original trauma.  If he chooses to let go of all that and embrace knighthood after earning it through selfless and noble actions, I think it would be a profoundly emotional moment to have his replacement older brother, the one that healed his wounds and cared for him, do the knighting.  Like Dunk and the ambiguity surrounding official his knighting, it doesn’t matter if it’s recognized by the rest of the world.  Just that the people that care about him are there to witness his character come full circle with it.  That is totally appropriate for Sansa to witness his knighting and be his #1 cheerleader.

Will Sansa be queen and she can just marry Sandor?

If that were to happen, I think the Starks would first set him up with a title and some land as a reward for his service to their house.  Sort of like how Littlefinger smoothed the way to being able to marry Lysa Arryn by getting upjumped to Lord of Harrenhal.  I have doubts about Sansa being a literal queen, though.  A leader, advisor, and influencer definitely, and still a highborn lady no matter what.

Will she never live a high born life again and she and Sandor just live as commoners?

Only very temporarily.  I think they will have a brief moment where she’s still under the guise of Alayne Stone, and she’ll be able to express herself more confidently and freely.  That would be a good time to rehash things and act on some feelings.  Except then there will be the pull back to being Sansa Stark again, which will inevitably bring with it a lot of drama and conflict.  What about her marriage to Tyrion?  What about the regicide charge and the bounty on her head?  How will she explain her role in Littlefinger’s schemes?  I mean, if she publically reveals herself to be Sansa Stark she looks really suspect just being associated with LF all this time and with her aunt’s timely death.  How will she manage to win the Vale to her side?  Will she be pressured to marry someone else to secure that?  I do think Sandor will play a role in helping her reclaim her identity, but I think it will also be a double-edged sword for them for at least a while.  Duty vs. love, and all that. 

I seriously don’t know what to expect and I wanted to know what you think would be the most realistic ending or the one you want.         

I'm of the opinion that a happy ending as in they are together and have a family to carry on into the future is one realistic ending George could write.  I disagree with the idea that he thinks unhappy endings are just more realistic and that romance is always doomed.  Fuck, the man married his longtime girlfriend after having a failed marriage in the past.  Why would he, who finally got the girl he always wanted to be with, think this type of ending is dumb or unrealistic?  It’s his real life!  And I think even if a tragedy like a character death happened, it would not be because he’s out to punish romantic love or the reader for caring. I think, at the very worst, their final endgame would be both bitter and sweet, with still plenty of sweet.  Maybe they can’t be together openly as they wish, but they are still passionate and devoted to each other.  Maybe Sandor is killed in the final battle, but Sansa is pregnant.  But my money is on 100% sweet and an earned optimistic ending for them after a rough ride of more war and nearly dying with a post-Quiet Isle rehab Sandor, and a post-Littlefinger reclaimed Sansa Stark.                      

[simplyolivers]

( ooc: so i literally put the every single one of the lyrics under the cut so if you’re trying to read this i’m so sorry also i’m too lazy to make a cover soooooo p.s. greg is what neptune call his fans k bye ) today neptune bentley, known as his youtube rap alias of ‘young face’, in a comedy ep called, [ title of album ]

i. spooky boy: ( based on neptune’s love of halloween & slightly dedicated to @elvvce & @ofcmargos‘s show ) boo bitch, you just got spooked (ayy) by a certified spooky ass dude (ayy) somebody let the monster loose in a graveyard sippin’ pumpkin juice wait (shh) do you hear that sound? every october it’s so profound all these other dudes act spooky for a month but a real spooky boy spooky all year ‘round plastic fangs on my teeth, sleeping in a coffin step up to all my cribs and all these decorations poppin’ i might go ooga booga booga boo i might just spook you and your homies too i’m just so spooky and greg is my crew (yeah) ayy, i’m a spooky boy ayy, with some spooky hands ayy, come up in your house and do a little spooky dance ayy, i’m a spooky boy, with a spooky face ayy it don’t matter i’ll spook at any time or place chillin’ with a skeleton, bitch, and a pumpkin on my head if you try to spook me you gon’ end up dead if you spook me again you gon’ end up undead (uh) that’s the life of the spooky boy better watch out if you see a full moon bitch yeah, i’ve been spooky like a mummy in a tomb bitch i don’t have a car because i fly on a broomstick pull up to the club, skrrt skrrt vroom vroom witch go to girls and they hella hella thin how thin are they? are they motherfucking skeletons?  that is not a joke about their weight, they are skeletons  Halloween music got us jigglin' like gelatin got a couch covered in cobwebs (cobwebs) got a whip covered in cobwebs (cobwebs) got a dog covered in cobwebs (cobwebs) spent way too much on cobwebs (ayy)  fake spooky dudes suck like Dracula i don’t give a damn if you a goblin you can back it up ghouls get crazy while i blow this cash, if you tryna monster smash ayy, I'm a spooky boy ayy, with some spooky knees ayy, I could teach you how to spook too for a spooky fee ayy, I'm a spooky boy ayy, with some spooky shoes ayy, and before this song is over you'll be spooky too  chillin’ with a skeleton, bitch, and a pumpkin on my head if you try to spook me you gon’ end up dead if you spook me again you gon’ end up undead (uh) that’s the life of the spooky boy

ii. beef with me: ( songs about people who start fake drama on yt for views ) ay, scrolling all day like I do (like I do) trying to see what's popping on the tube (youtube, ay) checking up on logan paul, too you know I'm not a maverick, that's true wait, what is this? jake paul, diss track logan paul, diss track ricegum, diss track all getting millions of views at first I'm like "what the fuck's up with these dudes?" 'till I saw they were getting views like cheap receipts I know that I'm an all around really nice guy but why nobody want to beef with me? I see this other guys roasting each other and raking in views the channels are flourishing so if you think I'd get mad if you roasted me I can endure it, man, I would encourage it, honestly all I want is them views original content's old news that shit makes me snooze start beef with me, you can't lose, ay  someone come beef with me someone come beef with me somebody who has a whole lot of subscribers please come and beef with me, uh someone come beef with me someone come beef with me my ego is fragile and you will destroy me if you come and beef with me I can send you a list of things I'm self-conscious about anything is fair game except for my feet ay, I could roast your vids, yeah you could roast my clothes, ay I could roast your diss track you could roast my nose you could write a whole song 'bout what I look like starting beef for views the oldest trick in the book, like trick is older than the sphynx come and roast me 'cause my content stinks I want a lot of views on YouTube I'm gonna need a long beef like sausage links I can pretend that you kidnapped my dog you can pretend that I beat up your mom we can pretend the police got involved we gon' be dropping this drama like bombs, ay  someone come beef with me someone come beef with me somebody who has a whole lot of subscribers please come and beef with me, uh someone come beef with me someone come beef with me my ego is fragile and you will destroy me if you come and beef with me  

iii. hop out the whip ( songs about people who ‘flex’ on yt ) skrtt! yeah, Tesla, Benz what do y'all know about hopping out of $300,000 cars?  hop out the whip hop back in (yeah) hop out the whip (ooh!) that's my shit (yeah!)  talk about look at the look in your eyes when I hop out of the Porsche hop out the Benz, hop out the Beamer, bitch I ain't got open the doors and I got a bad lil mama (lil mama!) she wanna go for a ride jokes on her, I'm only fourteen years old I do not know how to drive we just be sittin' in the car we just be sittin' in the whip I might hop right out right before I hop back in I've been working on my squats I've been working on my sprints I got a tramp in the garage, I bought brand new kicks so I can  hop out the whip hop back in (hop back in!) hop out the whip (hop out the whip!) that's my shit (yeah!) hop out the whip (hop out the whip y'all!) hop back in hop out the whip (hop out the whip!) ooh, that's my shit  this whippin' is serious (serious) it ain't even funny (nah) these bitches be buggin' (buggin', buggin', buggin', buggin') I just stay hopping like bunnies covered in carrots, what's up doc, can you look at my hip? I didn't take care of myself, I think I dislocated it when I hopped in the whip doin' tricks in the whip, 360 degrees in a flip going up to the highdive and diving this shit going up in a plane and skydiving in this and when I land we're highfiving I bet it did have a roof but it doesn't no more I put it away like I'm doing some chores now I can hop in and out of the whip 'til I figure out how to open the doors  hop out the whip (hop out the whip) hop back in (hop back in) hop out the whip (hop out the whip!) that's my shit, yeah hop out the whip (Hop out the whip!) hop back in (yeah, hop back in) hop out the whip (yeah, yeah) ooh, that's my shit (yuh!) can someone please tell me how to open the goddamn doors to this car game's over for y'all when I get my license, learn how to drive

iv. greg ( mostly for his fans but also for tom holland ) greg is the number one fanbase we livin' life in the fast lane we just hit 21 mil (ooh) time to pop open the champagne if you ain't Greg, that's lame greg is a beast that you can't tame greg takin' over the rap game greg is logan paul's dad's name  greg takin' off but these other dudes stalling greg full sprint but these other dudes crawling greg is hot on the court, we balling greg is hot on the web, Tom Holland number one Spiderman, hands down bitch talk about casting, such a great fit andrew Garfield still ain't shit toby maguire, you are not lit greg is a family, don't forget I would do anything for my gregs strongest army on the net fastest growing, please don't check greg is destroying, man, Greg is a winner greg is just eatin' up YouTube for dinner tom holland please, dm me on Twitter greg is a savage, man, greg is a killer haters are riding the wave (yeah) hoping that Greg will fall off (ooh) they say I got a young face (aye) just like Tom Holland, he's hot (uh) have you even seen his abs? (uh) I bet his skin is so soft (uh) greg is the realest on earth just in case all y'all forgot  I am truly greg, greg is all I need I don't fuck with craigs, they can kiss my knees we are a movement, you cannot divide us i'm Mr. Worldwide pitbull come and fight us 

v. spooky guy ( another song based on @elvvce & @ofcmargos‘s show? looks like it ) boo bitch, spooky boy's back ay, with the brand new spooky boy track waited all year for a chance to attack aside from orange I’m wearing all black not a treat but I got some tricks not a gang member but i live in crypts bright orbs in the background to all my pics you can call me drake 'cause I'm from that 6(66) (yuh) if you see me you better run outside, yeah you could be jekyll but you still couldn’t hyde, yeah spook ya then i'll eat some pumpkin pie and apple cida' hannibal lecter how i eat the track alive, yeah I'm a spooky guy I will never stop spookin' 'till the day I die I waited all year just so y'all would wanna see me now all these fake spooky guys wanna be me I ain't sippin’ lean, nah and I ain’t poppin' xans, yuh only poppin’ I do is to spook you and your friends, yuh poppin' out the casket then I do my spooky dance, yuh I do it for the spook, give a fuck if it offends ya  make spooky boys do the most, ay new whip looking like a ghost, ay new boo looking like a ghost, yuh cause she died three years ago, ohh that shit was really sad (yeahhh) and it was all over the news (spooked to death) and the only way I had to cope was a whole lotta booze (boo! boo!) spook you into a coma then I'll spook your ass out my spooking is advanced y'all still tryna learn how I can teach you how to spook for the right amount I’m dracula these witches going down for the count  'cause I'm a spooky dude and I will spook you every day, even if it's rude I waited all year just so y'all would wanna see me now all these fake spooky guys wanna be me I ain't sippin' lean, nah and I ain't poppin' xans, yuh only poppin' I do is to spook you and your friends, yuh poppin' out the casket then I do my spooky dance, yuh I do it for the spook, give a fuck if it offends ya 

[kanasmusings]

[Translation] SQP Bonus Drama Track 7

Track 7~ I love this track so much! Such heartfelt emotions from Eichi and Issei that it made me feel like crying, too T_T

Track 7: [昨日見た夢。その余韻] “A dream I saw yesterday. A lingering memory.”

Under the cut, enjoy~

Track 7: [昨日見た夢。その余韻] “A dream I saw yesterday. A lingering memory.”

  EICHI: Huh…? This is my room… Why was I sleeping again…?

EICHI: I feel like I already woke up earlier though…

EICHI: A dream…?

(Eichi sits up)

EICHI: (groans) My head’s spinning…

EICHI: Ah, that’s right…! Shu said I had a fever and then…

EICHI: Ah, I see… A fever, huh…

EICHI: Now I’ve done it… I’m pretty sure I made everyone worry…

EICHI: Well, it’s great that it happened after the live.

EICHI: The live… It’s over, huh…

(faint cheering sounds as Eichi recalls it)

EICHI: When I close my eyes, I feel like I’m still in the stadium.

EICHI: A sea of stars from everyone’s pen-lights and everyone’s cheers.

EICHI: Everyone was so cool~

EICHI: SolidS had their own presence as usual and Shu was dignified as expected.

EICHI: And then, Issei and Icchi, too~

EICHI: I wonder if I did well, too…

EICHI: Of course I had fun singing with everyone but… Did I properly…

(someone knocks on the door)

EICHI: A-ah…

ICHIRU: (over the door) Eichi, I’m coming in.

EICHI: Icchi…?

ICHIRU: Ah, did I wake you up…?

EICHI: No, I was already up. (Eichi tries to stand up)

ICHIRU: Come on, just keep lying down.

ICHIRU: (sighs) Your face is still so red. You have a fever so don’t push yourself too much, geez!

EICHI: (chuckles) I see. I’m sorry~

ICHIRU: You’re a patient! You don’t have to do anything today. Just sleep.

EICHI: I don’t… have to do anything…?

ICHIRU: I bought a lotta things good for a cold.

ICHIRU: Water, right~? Oh, and that cold thingy you put on your forehead. Towels, and… Oh! Medicine.

ICHIRU: Some jelly thing is in the fridge, too.

EICHI: These… Did you prepare it all, Icchi?

ICHIRU: You… You’re making a super surprised face. I can do shopping myself, you know?

ICHIRU: Plus… Dai came shopping with me.

EICHI: I see.

ICHIRU: Issei’s making porridge right now.

EICHI: I see. (sniffles and tries to hold back his tears) Thank you.

ICHIRU: Hah? W-wait, you… Wh-why are you crying…?

EICHI: Eh…? A-ah… (he wipes his tears) It’s true…

EICHI: I wonder why…? My eyes just started watering all of a sudden…

ICHIRU: I-I… Did I say something weird just now?

EICHI: No, not at all.

ICHIRU: Then why are you crying?

EICHI: Um… (with a trembling voice) I wonder why…

ICHIRU: Don’t ask me.

(Issei knocks on the door and opens it)

ISSEI: What’s wrong? I could hear your voice from outside…

EICHI: Ah! No, I’m sorry. I was just a little…

ISSEI: Ichiru?

ICHIRU: Eh? Ah… Um, Issei, can I leave Eichi to you?

ISSEI: Hm? Okay. Let’s switch.

ISSEI: You can go eat lunch first.

ICHIRU: Thank you.

(Ichiru leaves and closes the door)

EICHI: A-ah… Icchi!

ISSEI: You don’t have to mind him. He’s not angry or anything.

EICHI: That’s not it… It’s… I, um…

ISSEI: That, too. You don’t have to mind it for now.

ISSEI: All you have to focus on right now is getting better.

EICHI: Ah…

ISSEI: (sets a tray down) I made some porridge. It’s bad for your body if you drink medicine with an empty stomach.

EICHI: Uwah~ How classic.

ISSEI: Rikka-san helped me. He even lent me the small pot. Are you hungry?

EICHI: To be honest, I can’t really tell.

ISSEI: Then, eat it at your own pace, okay?

ISSEI: The pot’s good at keeping temperature so it won’t get easily, he [Rikka] said.

ISSEI: Wait here a bit.

(Issei walks out)

ISSEI: I drenched the towel for you. It’ll be refreshing to put on your face.

EICHI: Thank you.

EICHI: (chuckles) It’s so cold and feels so good~

ISSEI: I… Would it be okay if I sat here with you for a while?

EICHI: That’d make me super happy but… You might catch my cold, you know?

ISSEI: I’m pretty sure yours is not a cold. I think you’re just tired and your body wants to rest for a bit.

ISSEI: If I’m a bother though then… I’ll leave…

EICHI: No, you’re not [a bother]…! Not at all.

EICHI: If I’ll say something, it’s… um, how do I put it…? It’s reassuring.

EICHI: It’s been a while since I’ve been down with a cold  so…

(Issei places a chair beside Eichi’s bed and sits down)

ISSEI: I’m sorry. I think I said it in an unfair way…

EICHI: Unfair?

ISSEI: I know that you don’t think I’m a bother. I just said it on purpose so you would tell me, ‘Yes, you can stay~’.

ISSEI: That’s why I’m sorry…

EICHI: Issei…

ISSEI: You’re always looking after us so I thought I wanted to do something for you. It’s just my being selfish.

EICHI: (chuckles) Issei told me about his being selfish~ I see.

EICHI: Somehow that makes me happy~

ISSEI: Let’s check your temperature again. Here.

EICHI: Sure~

(thermometer beeps)

EICHI: Ah… So it was that high…? I’m at a loss.

EICHI: Is it that? That thing they call a ‘teething fever’?

ISSEI: Isn’t that for kids only?

EICHI: Huh? Is that so?

ISSEI: Eichi, your body’s super tired. You won’t get better if you won’t acknowledge it.

EICHI: (chuckles) I don’t feel tired at all, really.

ISSEI: That’s not possible. We had a live yesterday after all.

EICHI: Hm… I see. Yeah, you’re right.

ISSEI: Yesterday was really amazing.

EICHI: Yep, it was.

EICHI: Even now, when I close my eyes, I feel like I can still see the lights in the stadium.

ISSEI: Yep, me too.

EICHI: Issei, you looked really cool~

EICHI: But that really surprised me, y’know~ Remember? Your falsetto during your solo song?

EICHI: It was super high and beautiful that even the staff was surprised!

ISSEI: Hm… I was surprised, too…

EICHI: Eh? Really?

ISSEI: Somehow, I just thought that maybe… Maybe I could do it right now.

ISSEI: I thought that maybe it’d be good to do it at that time.

EICHI: Amazing…! I was super nervous the entire time.

ISSEI: I was nervous, too. But… when the dark stadium suddenly lit up it looked like a starry sky and then… At that time, I saw some red lights, too.

ISSEI: I thought, ‘Ah, Ichiru’s here, too~!’

ISSEI: And then, somehow… I felt super relieved. I was there and Ichiru was, too.

ISSEI: I thought that I’d be fine if I had that. Plus, I know that you and Shu were watching me from behind, too.

ISSEI: If that’s so then I felt like I could reach greater heights!

ISSEI: I thought that I wanted to see a new scenery with everyone by my side.

EICHI: (sniffles)

ISSEI: Hm? Eichi?

EICHI: Sorry… I just… I can’t hold my emotions back today for some reason…

ISSEI: Cry your heart out. And then you’ll feel better.

ISSEI: Just like Ichiru.

EICHI: (giggles) That might be true!

ISSEI: Oh, and I’ve been holding back saying this but… I really love your new song!

EICHI: Thank you. But, it’s Shu who’s the amazing one for making the song.

ISSEI: No, it’s a song that Shu could never have finished alone.

ISSEI: I can’t sing it. Ichiru nor Shu can’t, either.

ISSEI: It’s super kind and warm. Just like you, Eichi.

ISSEI: It was a special song.

ISSEI: With the title, ‘Rainbow’ it felt like the stadium was on a rainbow, too. Everyone’s smiles were shining.

EICHI: I see… Is that so? Then that’d be great!

ISSEI: So, there are some things you’re anxious about, too.

EICHI: Of course I do! There are a lot of times that I think I can’t do it.

EICHI: Even more so because I admire you all.

ISSEI: Hmm… If you’re feeling anxious then I’ll support you. Your voice and your song has always taught me that there’s warmth.

ISSEI: It’s a very important sound that only you can sing.

ISSEI: If it’s not there then it won’t be QUELL.

EICHI: Issei. Thank you.

EICHI: When I received that song from Shu I thought that it was a song that feels like a treasure.

ISSEI: Hearing you say our names really made us happy. It’s amazing that Shu can make a song like that, too.

ISSEI: I wonder how he comes up with that stuff…

ISSEI: I totally don’t get it.

EICHI: (chuckles) Me, too. It was my first solo and my nervousness was off the charts.

EICHI: I thought then that I was really standing on that stage when I saw the audience’s green lights and when I heard their cheering voices.

EICHI: I’m really glad I got to sing.

ISSEI: Hm… Eichi, your face is looking much better now!

EICHI: Eh? Really?

ISSEI: Yeah. You feel like you can eat now?

EICHI: Yep~ I’ll eat~

ISSEI: Ah, what a relief…! Eat slowly, drink medicine, and rest as much as you want.

  ==END==

※ Please don’t re-post these translations without permission.

[andthentheresanne]

Fic: raised on the edge of the devil’s backbone

Title: raised on the edge of the devil’s backbone Fandoms: Overwatch & Leverage Characters/Pairings: Jesse McCree, The Leverage OT3 (Parker/Eliot/Hardison) Summary: Jesse grew up on fairy tales where the bad guys are good guys and all justice needs is a little leverage. He hasn't believed in fairy tales for a long time.

They hadn’t meant to leave their children a war, the three of them, but that's the way the world crumbled.

--

Aka the Leverage/Overwatch crossover that no one actually asked for.  

Blame a re-watch of Leverage, McCree starring in my other current WIP, and a certain line about a huckleberry.

(I'm aware the timeline doesn't quite work out (as far as I can tell), but I'm not one to let a plot weasel go to waste.)

--

The stories that his folks told him and his sisters, growing up, Jesse knew that they were nothing more than bedtime stories. Fairy tales to try and convince a couple of kids that the world was not always as bad as it had once been. Or rather, that it had, but that there had been heroes once. That someone had cared enough to do something. That before the world had fallen apart, there had been heroes, and champions, and people willing to do what was right.

His mother and fathers had thought the world of the three of them, their kids. They never told the kids which one of them was whose--it didn't matter, they were family. Sophia had gotten their mother’s blonde hair, curling out in a frizz. Maggie never freckled, saw systems with her startlingly blue eyes like a game she could beat. All three of them got their mother’s light fingers, their fathers’ quick minds, their own unique talents. All with that big heart lying under everything that would’ve buried it deep beneath the simple business of trying to survive in a world gone mad.

They hadn’t meant to leave their children a war. Jesse once remembered a whispered argument, or so it had sounded, between his folks, late at night when the kids were all in bed, supposedly. His mother, insisting they could have done more. Papa reassuring her in hushed tones, Dad gripping the back of the chair like it could give answers if he squeezed hard enough.

His mother’s final foray into blaming herself in some way was met with Dad thumping the palm of his hand onto the back of the chair. “Gonna check on the kids,” Dad muttered to the other two as he walked toward where Jesse had been hiding on the stairs.

Dad hadn’t been fooled for a second at Jesse’s curled-up form under the blankets, feigning sleep. He’d heard the thumping of little feet trying to not thump. Unlike his sisters he hadn’t quite learned that skill yet. Dad sat down on his bed, ruffling his hair with a fond hand. “Hey, kiddo. What’re you doing up at this hour?”

Jesse had given up the play-acting immediately, sitting up in bed, giving a shrug. “Dunno. Couldn’t sleep.”

“Were you eavesdropping?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t even think of denying it. “Mom says it’s how you learn things sometimes.”

Dad laughed, but it didn’t sound like the kind of laugh you gave when you were happy. “There is that.”

Jesse twisted up his mouth in a frown, not understanding most of what he’d heard. “What’d mom mean? When she, when she was talking about stopping the robots?”

His father’s calloused hand stroked through Jesse’s hair as he thought, soothing. “There are a lotta woulda, coulda, shouldas in this world. Your mom’s just thinking about one of those. That’s all.”

Jesse didn’t understand it, but couldn’t figure out how to get around that not-understanding in his head, so he let it go. Years later, when he was older, there were so many questions he regretted not asking, but back then he was a child, and if Dad said it was so, then it was so.

Jesse once remembered a time when he thought his parents had stolen the stars to hang in the sky, believed his mother when she said the moon was the greatest heist she just hadn’t pulled yet, thought his fathers could protect him and his sisters from the rest of the world.

That had been a long time ago.

He always knew his parents were criminals of some kind, but then, who wasn’t, in this new world? There were the criminals and the dead, eventually. Even if some of those crimes were small, petty things, things that a court, if things still worked the way they once had, wouldn’t even bother with. Neglect and little cruelties that leaked through into his sheltered world on occasion. He was the youngest, the baby, but he had a good eye. Jesse never missed much, growing up.

Jesse feels like his world should have been shattered in a single moment or maybe night of high drama, fleeing and blood and darkness. Something suitably dramatic, like something out of one of his parents’ stories. But instead their safety had seeped away, drips and drabs and long nights sleeping in the back of Papa’s van as his folks drove.

He remembers his folks arguing long and low with Sophia, that night she left. That she felt she could make a difference in this fight, and wasn’t that what they had always taught her? And Dad’s eyes seemed so far away and Mom seemed like she was gonna cry and Pops circled back to the arguments he’d pulled out forty minutes before.

In the end, she had left with one of Dad’s friends, Mom whispering advice into her hair and Pops reassuring her that if she changed her mind, at any moment, they’d be there, all she had to do was say the word, and…

“You’re really going?”

Sophia crouched, ruffling his hair. Jesse swiped it back into place. “I got to, baby bro.”

Jesse crossed his arms, half-self-consciously trying to mimic one of Dad’s poses. She just laughed, gathering him into a hug. “Don’t give me that look. I’ll keep in touch. And I’ll be back.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Jesse learned later not to make promises he couldn’t keep. He never blamed her for that one, but it had still hurt. Never officially declared, of course. Things had been too chaotic, by then. But Pops had looked and looked, and every time Dad would come back without Sophia and it seemed like something in Mom went behind a locked door, after that. A door he didn’t know how to open, even with all his parents had taught him.

Maggie hadn’t even been a victim of the war, not really. First responders went into dangerous and deadly situations all the time, Jesse knew that. That building could have collapsed on anyone. Jesse knew, but it didn’t make it any better.

Not for his folks, either. They clung to him tighter, but got more distant, Jesse the one thing they hadn’t lost yet, besides each other. They whispered in secrets to each other more often, Dad going hard-eyed and tight-lipped whenever Jesse was around. No more easily-forgiven eavesdropping in those days. The other problem was that the tighter they held onto Jesse, the more his budding teenage rebellion grew. He stopped trying to listen in, stopped trying to get behind those doors and walls all three of his parents had hidden themselves behind, and so he drifted away.

He remembers the last time he saw them, though maybe not exactly as it happened. He isn’t sure how much of a teenage asshole he was. A fair bit of one, he knows, from the way Pops had rolled his eyes, from Mom’s pained smile. He remembers Dad was serious, drilling Jesse on where the emergency cash was, how to get out, what to do, when, how, Jesse playing along in pre-teen irony.

Dad caught the irony, of course. Did that thing where he looked like four different things tried to come out of his mouth at once, and finally gave up, grabbing Jesse in a crushing hug. “Dad!”

Despite protest, Dad hadn’t let him go for a good long moment. “Hold down the fort for us.” Abruptly he released Jesse, bracing him, then turned and grabbed up his duffel in one swift motion.

Pops watched him go, then pulled Jesse into a hug too, far less over-bearing than Dad’s had been. “What your dad said.”

Jesse was a little unnerved now, the weirdness of the situation seeping through his ironic detachment. “Y-yeah, of course, Pops.”

Then it was mom’s turn for a brisk squeeze of a hug and she was leaving too. House to himself for a weekend, that’s what they had told him. He had believed them.

“We’ll be back,” Mom nodded firmly, then shut the door behind her.

At least she hadn’t promised, Jesse thought later. After.

Jesse was never sure what happened to them, still isn’t. Heard rumors, of course. He could have found out, he was sure, sifted through everything and found the truth hidden among the lies. But he chose to believe the stories he’d heard, the ones that sounded like a fairytale, full of justice and honor and a little bit of payback. He’d been worried, then scared, then everything his folks had taught him had kicked in. Before he knew it he was going down the only path open to him, the one to survival.

Later on, after the blood on his hands and a second chance, Jesse still chose to believe in something. Maybe it wasn’t your traditional fairy story, but a man had to have something to cling to. And what Jesse knew was that maybe there was justice to be found in the world, and maybe there wasn’t, but you couldn’t do a damn thing without leverage

[gunnygazette-blog]

CONFERENCE ‘SHIPS: GAME BY GAME

Regardless of seedings, the top four ranked teams have all made it to the Conference Championships…  Gone are the Most Vocal and their feather headbands...gone are the Dirtiest...gone are the “We lookin’ past as we walk into a sign post”...gone are the Duck-outs…  As they join the Criminally Charged...the Walkin’ Dead...the out of state team...the “somebody had to win the Division”...on the exit lane of the play-offs…  They now take their seat on the bench with the Scrappy but still have milk on their breadth...the Most Disappointing...the waited too long to start playing...and the Abysmally Aweful...

Though everyone will have eyes on these two games...the team owners will still be watching very closely at how the league front office acts…  Will they allow illegal players...will they actually enforce their own rules and suspensions…  Or will they continue with this “Tom-Fu<#ery” and spark an exodus of teams that will doom the 2.0 to a “One and Done” experiment in Papa Doc management…  

Team Owners are watching and asking, “Are socks and leg skin more important than kicking/stomping  an opponent on the ground…???”  “Is a backflap more important then integrity?”  They want professionalism…rules that are not fluid and subject to feelings... If they wanted this drama, they could always go to the club and pick-up a Ho that’s all about her weave and swag...than her lack of loyalty...  

  GAME OF THE WEEK

#2(3) Wild Weasels (9-1, 1-0) @ #1(2) Aud-i-Bulls (9-1, 1-0)

Why?:  First game was a good game of like teams

Third Conference ‘Ship featuring these two  Seems to becoming an odd year tradition… 2017… 2019… and now 2021… The Rubber match…  Back in week six we were treated to a preview that ended the Waskily-ones streak and continued Da Horned-ones...12-8…  A game that showed the Donut Boys leading until the 4th quarter...

The Weasels have the 3rd ranked offense...averaging 28.3ppg…that relies heavily on the QB play...with his arm or legs… They can exploit the perimeters of the Horned-ones D...as the front seven has difficulty covering sideline to sideline...  If they can force the secondary to help with containment it’ll open up holes in the coverage…  Finding the voids will be important as some of the Horned-ones will take risks...   Defensively their ranked 2nd in the league averaging 9.2ppg…  They have an edge on speed off the edge but have to be careful not to open run lanes or viewable passing lanes for a vertically challenged QB...  If they can force them to chuck it deep from wihin the pocket...they can get some INTs...

Quot-a-Bulls are in a familiar place...as this is their 16th Conference Championship game…having been denied of reaching this game only once...by a team now in the other conference…  The Horned-ones have had a lotta of success in getting to the Championship...but have struggled to earn their 13th Conference Title...as they have been unable to win it going on four years…  Last week they got to take out the team that started this slump...dominating them 35-6…  This week they get to face the team that last knocked them out…  They’ve broken out new “color rush” uniforms in an attempt to look newer…  But they lack the rushing attack of yore...where they moved people off the line and had a back that could grind out yards…  Their 8th ranked offense...who average 22.2ppg...are now pass first and once they’ve spread out the defense...they have a quick back to pick his way through the voids…  They have had ball security issues at times… Defensively they have the size and experience to shut down most offenses…  Not as dominate up front as they once were...they are consistent...  And the reason they are ranked #1 and allowing only 7.3ppg…  Like any veteran team...injuries could be a achille’s heel...  

  Prediction:  Waskily Weasels...14-13...

My pick:  ...It’s hard to pick against da former Champs...but I’m leaning the same way...Donut Boys in a squeaker...

Game #2

#4 (4) A.R.M.Y. (8-2, 2-0) @ #1(1) Glads (10*-0, 1-0)

Why?: Uniformed-ones have struggled only against the Sorry-ass Champs...

Week three was a defensive struggle where Glads mistakes kept it close while their defense dominated in a 13-6 game…  In week eight the only two things that were the same was the ball security issues of the Sorry-Ass Champs...and the A.R.M.Y playing error free until the fourth quarter…  Being down three scores in the fourth quarter...the Glad Offense stormed back with 20 unanswered points for the 34-30 win...

The Uniformed-ones are the only team entering this week from the Wild Card week...they have now eliminated the top two North teams...dominating the Grizzleds and outlasting the Nekkids…but now they take a step up in competition to take on a team that has handed them their only two losses…  Eventhough they may have a top-ranked Offense, it is mostly relies on the run as a way to set up the pass… It’s limited by an O-line that lacks size and explosion to move people…  It requires run game to the edges and quick timing passes or a roll-out to protect the QB…  Defensively they are in the top five...but rely a lot on a gimmick defense of constant blitzing to cover-up the lack of size and talent up front…  Against most teams that are hurting for seasoned O-linemen...it will pay-off big…but against veterans...not so much…  In their last lost they learned that being up three scores can disappear in less than a quarter… They will need to jump out front...big...and than hold on at the end...

The Sorry-Ass Champs have looked disinterested this season…  Kinda taking the first half of games for granted...poor ball security...all the aspects shown in last weeks game…  Offensively...accept for two drives...they either scored (3) or fumbled the ball away...often extinguishing promising drives…  The ability to self destruct over and over at goal-to-go...kept the game from being a complete blow out…      

That same apathy spills over to the defense...especially the backend...who seem to be confused and lost in some head-scratching ways…  Whether the Press not holding the edge…blown coverage...or not driving on and contesting receptions...the Glads have relied on talent more than working the system…  It will be interesting if they ever put four quarters together...and eliminate the self-destructive plays...

Prediction: Sorry-Ass Champs back in the ‘Ship...24-20...

My pick:  ...A.R.M.Y. fall apart in the fourth again…

CAN BE FOUND AT THE CAUSEWAY FISHING

(5) Gardens Crew (6-4, 1-1)

(6) Runnin’ Naked (7-3*,0-1)

(7) Pee-Rats (5-5, 1-1)

(8) Teddy Bears (5-5, 0-1)

(9) Mee-Ah-mee Raid (4-6, 1-1)

(10) Reaps (5-5, 0-1)    

(11) Sparkies (4-6, 0-1)

(12) Stanky Feet (4-5, 0-1)

(13) Duu-vowel Raid (3-6)

(14) Flat Fish (2-8)

(15) Cow Puppies (1-9)

(16) Rust Curtains (2-8)

(17) Sea Ponies (0-10)

[oldmyths]

hiya drew, what are a couple bands/songs you'd recommend for someone interested in getting into classic rock? I hope you're having a great day

hey anon! this is an extremely loaded question! sdfjdfkgjd (and i’m really flattered you’re askin me, because, omg, it’s an honor)

(under a read more bc i talk too god damn much)

okay. lemme preface this by saying i barely scratch the surface when it comes to classic rock. in fact i just like the “popular” classic rock bands, because i’m a hipster loser (and i grew up on some of this stuff and don’t really have much of an interest venturing further but hey, who knows, maybe i’ll expand my spotify library in due time)

there are people on this website in the CR fandom who are so much better equipped to answer this, but u asked me, and i never really bothered to integrate into the cr fandom anyway because i feel like theyre all cooler than me and i just wanna sit down and listen to like, the same two albums on repeat, but anyway. to answer your question…

it really just depends on what genre you like. what kind of music you want to get into; i can sit here and tell you to listen to pink floyd and go on about their significance but i can’t make you Like them yknow?

so…..i’m just gonna list a few of my favorite songs by the most well-known classic rock bands because, like i said i just kind of barely scratch the surface on the classic rock format as a whole

as some of you may be aware, i am drew “beatlefucker” angelshane (thanks ana) and to get these bug boys out of the way, i’ll give u some song recs from the beatles! (early 1960s to 1970) (genres: rock, pop, psychedelia)

surely you’ve heard of them; if not, they caused a huge uproar across the world called beatlemania. think of like…tumblr, as a planet, and the beatles is the newest, hottest anime of the season, and everybody’s got a huge heart boner for them. because that’s basically what it was.

here are some of their songs that have been in my head for the past few days: drive my car (rubber soul, 1965); eleanor rigby (revolver, 1966); and if i fell (a hard day’s night, 1964)

revolver is the most recent album i’ve listened to, they have more but the next proper Album is sgt. pepper and that feels…like. so much. it’s a Huge Album, both content-wise and…history-wise? anyway, it’s very intimidating for me and i think i want to take my time with it before i rush in

i’m just gonna get led zeppelin (late 1960s to 1980, some reunions sprinkled here and there,) out of the way, now, too. (genres: hard rock, blues rock, folk rock, heavy metal)

let me just say right here: i hate jimmy page. as a person. and i honestly think most of his solos aren’t…that great. but for real, i won’t tolerate any of that ugly shithead on my blog and just because i like LZ doesn’t mean i condone any of the shit he did.

(you’ll notice a trend, especially in the older bands, that controversy is super common. u can’t..really get into classic rock without having to see the darker side of your faves. it sucks, nobody’s perfect, and i don’t agree with separating the artist from the art, but it does get hard to like certain music when you know the shit that happened with certain artists.)

Anyway! that being said, i truthfully only really listen to led zeppelin and led zeppelin ii. some physical graffiti but, eh. So, if you wanted to get into lz, you’re askin the wrong person, is what i’m saying jfkgsdj

here’s my song recs: good times bad times and dazed and confused (led zeppelin, 1968); whole lotta love and ramble on (led zeppelin ii, 1969); kashmir (physical graffiti, 1975)

and honestly the JP thing is why i don’t really listen to LZ much outside of their self titled and lz2. cos like. i just can’t.

QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN (1970s to…now? personally, if freddie mercury isn’t involved then..is it really queen) (genre: rock)

if you don’t know who queen is, you know who queen is. bohemian rhapsody? of course you know that song. everyone does.

but if you don’t then that’s perfectly ok too. it’s a good song imo. not their Best, but it’s good

i gotta be honest, i listen to singles mostly. i’ve got a lot on my proverbial plate and while i Love freddie mercury (bi king) sometimes i’m just. not in the headspace for queen. they’re good but a certain specific set of circumstances need to happen where i feel aligned with queen music enough to listen to it. also, freddie’s death makes me really sad and if i think about it too hard i’ll get depressed.

here’s my favorite queen songs!!!

brighton rock and killer queen (sheer heart attack, 1974); you’re my best friend (a night at the opera, 1975); somebody to love and GOOD OLD FASHIONED LOVER BOY (a day at the races, 1976); TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU (made in heaven, 1996)

honestly..queen is so influential and inspiring and i fucking love freddie mercury so like. those are just a few of my favorites. i could honestly go on forever about it but let’s stop there

now let’s get away from the boys and talk about stevie nicks because she is my mother and i would die in her place given the chance. i love her. I Love Her.

but i mean you’d probably better begin at fleetwood mac (late 1960s to the mid 1990s; late 1990s to …now?) (genres: pop rock, soft rock, blues rock, art pop, british blues)

this is a band i don’t know much about. because there’s apparently so much to know about them, so much inter-band dynamic drama. from what i’ve skimmed. So Much Drama.

i…can’t provide any songs for you, because i dont listen to fleetwood mac and i need to fix this ASAP but i feel like the time isn’t right yet. is that dumb of me to think? probably, but i’m gonna stick by my guns.

you should listen to fleetwood mac and tell me what you think!!!

(yes i included a portion on stevie nicks without giving song recs because i’m awful: listen to edge of seventeen, bella donna, 1981)

okay back to smelly dudes cos that’s all the world fuckin cares about i guess

pink floyd!!! (mid 1960s to mid 1990s, mid 2000s, and early/mid 2010s) (genres: progrock, art rock, psychedelic rock)

i mean i love them but i’m just dipping my toes in the water here. i’ve barely listened to them, but from what i’ve heard they’re very good. VERY politically driven. i cannot stress this enough. they’re the good kind of politics i think though

you’ve most definitely seen the album art for the dark side of the moon. like, you just have. there’s probably no way you couldn’t have. (but if u haven’t thats fine)

here’s some tunes: money (tdsotm, 1973); the wall. just. the wall. if you love concept albums, here you go. listen to the wall.

that’s all i got. pathetic, i know, but i’m workin my way up i promise

here’s where we get into more familiar territory. ..having said that, i don’t really know much about the history of the rolling stones, but a good friend of mine Does and maybe i can pry info out of her. but i won’t bc she’s too cool 4 school and she’s really great

anyway, the rolling stones!!! (early 1960s to like. now i guess) (genres: rock, blues, blues rock, rock and roll)

woof. what can be said about them really. there’s…..almost too much to say. i love them a lot.

Okay when i get into bands, its in my DNA to listen from the very earliest recording i can find (usually on spotify nowadays) so i’ve been sslowly working my way past the baby pebbles albums (mostly covers) to their original work (fun fact did you know john and paul of beatles fame wrote their own music, and when mick and keith of stones fame found out it was In Fact That Easy they began to write their own music too? fascinating.)

ANYWAY here’s some stones songs: gimme shelter and you can’t always get what you want (let it bleed, 1969); angie (goats head soup, 1973); sympathy for the devil (beggars banquet, 1968)

again i am….Slowly inching my way up their discography. snails pace. i’ll get there. (u can ask glimmerkeith on tumblr for stones song recs, bc shes great and knows much more than i do and i would die for jenn)

now here’s a band…….that i’ve rediscovered pretty recently. try, last week.

AC/DC!!!!!!!! (early 1970s to now) (genres: hard rock, blues rock, rock and roll)

this is Very Much Your Dads™ Music. probably. most likely, anyway. but listen: i saw them in concert once and (while it probably…wasnt the best experience for me) i had a fucking Blast. very sad things happened in this band in the last few months.

not recent, but very important, in 1980 their lead singer bon scott died and everyone was sad. then brian johnson came out with his fuckin voice and everyone was like “ok sweet lets get back to rock n’ roll”

so this will be split by scott’s era and the johnson era (heh heh) And, because i’m familiar with this band, i’ll list the album in question and name a few songs off it instead of just naming songs. because yes.

scott:

T.N.T (1975); it’s a long way to the top (if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll); T.N.T; high voltage

dirty deeds done dirt cheap (1976); dirty deeds done dirt cheap (edit: i just realized how much i actually hate this album and only like that song so WHOOPS but i wanna keep the formatting so, yknow)

let there be rock (1977); let there be rock; whole lotta rosie

highway to hell (1979); highway to hell (it just felt really weird, making a reclist of songs by ac/dc and Not including this one)

johnson:

back in black (1980); HELLS BELLS; shoot to thrill; given the dog a bone; back in black; you shook me all night long

for those about to rock we salute you (1981); for those about to rock (we salute you)

the razors edge (1990); thunderstruck

making this list, it hit me how much of bon scott i actually Listen to when i listen to ac/dc dfkjghjdfksdsfj but uh yeah those. are good

AND NOW…FOR THE FUCKIN MOMENT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

GUNS! AND! ROSES! (mid 1980s to NOW MOTHERFUCKERS!!! THEYRE BACK!!! well, touring at least) (genres: hard rock, heavy metal

arguably my favorite band. subjectively, my favorite classic rock band. objectively? they own a huuuge portion of my heart, and my ass.

so listen up: these two kids from indiana run away to california to get out of fucking indiana, because who wants to stay in indiana, (it’s more like, one gets out, and like a year later the other kid tries to find him in the big mean streets of L.A) and along the way they get shuffled in and out of bands together. they start bands, break up bands, the whole fuckin shebang.

and then a few chance miracles happen and suddenly guns n’ roses is formed in like 1985. my boys? those are my boys.

i’m gonna do what i did w ac/dc and bullet the albums and then i’m gonna talk about the albums because i got SHIT to SAY

appetite for destruction (1987); welcome to the jungle, out ta get me, paradise city, sweet child o’ mine, ROCKET QUEEN

all right so here’s the deal, it was very hard not picking every single song on the album because every single song on the album is fucking perfection. actual gold. there’s no flaws in this album. Nothing. everything is good and perfect and i’m not biased at all

did you know axl rose (one of the boys from indiana) recorded each line individually? so, he sang a line, and then stopped recording, and then started recording the next line because he wanted it to be perfect?

did you know appetite was originally a flop album but after this dude got the guys at MTV to play the music video for Jungle at like 5am, guns n’ roses BLEW THE FUCK UP. Everybody know about them practically overnight. it was surreal and really cool, apparently.

and did you know axl played the synthesizer in paradise city? that’s adorable. i fucking love him.

gn��r lies (1988); patience; used to love her

the first four tracks in this EP are from their very first EP ever recorded - it Sounds like it’s taken from a live show but they dubbed in the audience in post, to make it seem like they had huge crowds attending their shows when in reality that wasn’t the case. (their first ep was released in december 1986, they had loyal fans but the crowd wasn’t that rowdy until after appetite came out)

believe me when i tell you. don’t listen to one in a million. or like, do. but i’m not gonna fight anyone about this. it’s fucked up. i’m not defending axl at all and i actually struggled with liking guns after i listened to it.

but unfortunately here we are and i saw them in concert and i had to deal with some fuckhead in the row behind me and his friend who kept Shouting that they play the song, when nobody on stage could her them, and like. of course they wouldn’t play it today. fuck off man

use your illusion i (1991); right next door to hell; dust n’ bones; perfect crime; november rain; BAD APPLES; COMA

i tried to limit these to five songs an album but i fuckin can’t, anon. illusion1 is just so fucking perfect. i can’t choose between my children. pls forgive me

on dust n’ bones and double talkin’ jive is izzy stradlin doing vocals (the second indiana boy, the one who left indiana first) and he’s regarded as the most unnderrated member in gnr by like everybody. so much so that it’s almost…too much. but like basically he was addicted to drugs and everything and then he sobered up when everyone else in the band was still hooked and he was like “wtf i’m out” and axl was like noooo :(

use your illusion ii (1991); civil war; 14 years; GET IN THE RING; locomotive; estranged; you could be mine

UYI1 and 2 were released on the same day. can you imagine how fuckin wild that day was? gnr fans scrambled to their record stores by the hordes probably.

izzy does vocal work in 14 years and this album was his last contribution to the band

uhhhh this album is also fucking perfect but i get sad listening to it sometimes so i try not to? very emotionally driven work. but like, where UYI1 was mostly passionate and angry-ish based, UYI2 is much more contemplative and uhh. sad. i guess.

“the spaghetti incident?” (1993)

this is a cover album and also the last album to feature my love, my soul, my light, my heart, slash. also duff. i mean i love him probably almost just as much but, yeah. duff actually looks like my cousin’s dad so i can’t really…. um. i feel weird about talking about him kjdfgd

but SLASH my god what a perfect man. i love him more than almost everything.

hey fun fact in between UYI and TSI, guns n’ roses toured with metallica and that tour is when slash, In His Autobiography, said he “lost” axl. his word. he Lost axl.

axl rose is a whole fuckin…..topic for another time, and i’m not gonna get into my own bullshit here, but that’s basically the situation when you listen to TSI. the band is fractured and barely holding together. after TSI, slash and duff leave GNR and axl is the only original member from the band still in it

(of course that opens up a conversation of who was originally in guns n’ roses but that’s another discourse for another time)

CHINESE DEMOCRACY (2008); CHINESE DEMOCRACY; BETTER; THERE WAS A TIME; SORRY; MADAGASCAR; PROSTITUTE

I. FUCKING. LOVE. THIS. ALBUM. MORE THAN I COULD EVER EXPRESS. everyone says it’s “not gnr” of COURSE it isn’t gnr, when YOU think of GNR, you see slash. and like, i love slash? but he didn’t make the band. EVERYONE - axl, izzy, steven, duff, And slash made the band. after steven was kicked, gnr lost a huge part of what made them stand out, what made the band unique.

and like, fuck, i love dizzy. i love all of the new additions. but you cannot. fucking look me in the eyes and tell me you love UYI But you hate CD because it’s “not gnr”. like. fuck you man.

ugh anyway. i just gotta let y’all know my Stance on this. i love chinese democracy. i’ll defend this album with my fucking life. i was really…disappointed when, at my concert, i didn’t hear more CD but like i also saw slash in person (albeit, from far away, but we shared the same arena and that’s. more than i can handle)

i wanna get lyrics from prostitute tattooed on my body.

also like you can’t tell me better and sorry aren’t about slash sorry but that’s just the fuckin tea

Now, listen, this ask got away from me. i didn’t include…SO many bands because, like i said, i just scratch the surface of what classic rock is. my word isn’t law, ok? that bein said, i am always, ALWAYS down to talk about any of the bands here, and others!!! if i know of them. i’m always taking music/song recs, too.

thanks..for reading this stupid answer to your innocent ask sdfkjghsdf

[aceofwands]

Ria hateblogs Discovery Episode 3: “Context doesn’t make this show any better Is For Kings” (originally livelogged to @kendradaynes and a car full of her friends)

(I’m only watching this now cause I was waiting to watch it with my Dad, but today he told me he didn’t want to!)

I’m sorry, miners for the war effort? yes. the Federation DEFINITELY uses forced labour (just like it definitely sentences Starfleet officers to life in prison instead of dishonourably discharging them)

oh but it’s okay, cause these prisoners are racist! “Andorians are cold in all the wrong places” fuck OFF with this bigotry in Federation citizens

... there are ... electricity eating ... space bugs ... eating the shuttle ... 

oh and now the pilot’s dead?!!! what IS this rubbish

oh

oh I see

this is all so they could introduce the Discovery with maximum drama

(of course it is, everything this show does is based on ‘what will look the coolest and make the least sense?’)

also, it arrived just in time to conveniently tractor their prison shuttle (wait, is this a warp shuttle? didn’t TOS shuttles, y’know, not have warp drives?) buuut not save the pilot who was JUST THERE with a transporter I guess?

w o w the Discovery design is even worse than the schematics in the title sequence suggested

... we have a Starfleet security chief who just said “I see we’re here to unload all kinds of garbage today” to the prisoners

THIS IS SO FUCKING WRONG

honestly, I’m surprised mutiny is even a problem in this AU verse (no fucking way is this prime) considering what colossal assholes every Starfleet officer is on this show

omg “silver shirts” “black badge” what is it with these endless attempts to be ~edgy~

... Michael is getting in a fight with the prisoners entirely for drama

seriously why does this scene exist? it makes no sense (the Captain wanted to see her anyway, the prisoners are in the brig, no one ate anything)

oh cool cool cool the security chief just said Vulcans should stick to logic and dissed their martial arts ... is everyone here racist???

oh lord here we go, time to meet edge lord Lorca (why is he American)

... ... he needs light to change slowly because of a recent battle injury NOT because this show needs pointlessly dramatic lighting to make its mundane nonsense writing ~exciting~

also he has a glass standing desk with a bowl of fortune cookies ... I can’t

riiiight Michael is refusing to help Lorca and he’s like ‘lol I don’t care, you don’t have a choice’

I hate everything about this

his mission is 'ending the war', and ofc he needs Michael's help

whyyyy can't they just make a regular Star Trek show

oh lord, WHY does everyone love Cadet Tilly?

black ... alert 

~mysterious science things~

it's SO BAD omfg

lord, Saru's first officer on the Discovery how

he's eating blueberries out of a glass bowl while they walk ... w h y 

it's all just so negative. it's fucking gloomy. everyone's weird and ~quirky~ or ~mysterious~

she's mostly wandering around engineering being confused cause no one's telling her anything for drama

lord Lieutenant Stamets has arrived. he's a colossal ass. poor Anthony Rapp, you deserve better

20 mins in I'm sooooo bored

it's trying SO HARD to be dramatic. and it's so FLAT

Michael just found a flaw in Stamets code and the ~dramatic music~ is playing. even though it's boring as

also there's a breath test to enter the engineering lab, and Michael is using Tilly's snoring breath to enter

WHY

you said you weren't gonna cause trouble Michael

the lab has idk something growing looks like seaweed

even the fucking computer voice sounds wrong

uuuuuuuuuuugh

Stamets is arguing with Lorca

I hate this. so much.

I might not agree with Roddenberry’s edict that Starfleet crews shouldn’t have conflict, but this goes way, way too far in the opposite direction

omg the fucking warp effects

oh lord the tac vests are back

I haaaate Tilly. omg. how does everyone love her?

I kinda like that Stamets hates Michael, because I don't like her either. but seriously, everyone's just an ASS

what does this awful dialogue even mean??? he's having a dramatic bitch about how he and his partner's fungus research was supposed to discover the ~building blocks of the universe~ but how it's been co-opted for war. 

they're trying soooo hard to make it mysterious that it's just like, who cares

ewwwww got up to the gross stuff. oh and now we're in a monster movie!

idk, I feel like I'd appreciate all of this a lot more if it wasn't pretending to be a normal Trek series, and wasn't promised as more Star Trek.

like if they'd said, we're making a horror action drama set in the Trek universe, I'd be like 'okay cool'

this Klingon just shushed the Fleet crew and this monster ate him ... was I supposed to be excited or impressed by any of this? it’s just a whole lotta who gives a fuck tbh

non red shirt is dead. ewwwwwwwwww talk about body horror  D:  they got like ... twisted in whatever mysterious accident happened

Michael's lured the creature off into the Jefferies Tubes while the others escape

ohhhhh lord

FUCKS SAKE

Michael is reciting lines from Alice in Wonderland WHILE CRAWLING THROUGH THE JEFFERIES TUBES

NO. (NO ONE DOES THAT. NO ONE. IT’S FUCKING STUPID!)

OMFG. she just dropped out of the tubes through a hatch straight into the shuttle which had its top hatch open. I can't even. STOP TRYING TO BE COOL SHOW

seriously, this is exactly what Michael Piller was talking about in that quote I shared the other day: “there’s a new kind of action writing in Hollywood ... it begins with identifying ‘set pieces’, big self-contained action moments that are thrilling and memorable, and then finding some way way to string all your set pieces into a coherent narrative.” 1701% that is how Discovery is written.

Saru: "You were always a good officer, until you weren't." so much ~angst~

Lorca: "don't worry about Starfleet, they gave me discretion to fight this war however I see fit" THAT'S NOT HOW STARFLEET WORKS (and there’s no fucking way ONE GUY is in charge of the entire war effort)

Michael thinks they're building a biological spore based weapon against the Geneva Conventions and that's what they need her help for

NO. they just site to site transported. they can't DO THAT YET.

Lorca is explaining that they're developing a biological propulsion drive. with these spores ... ooookay this scene makes no sense. she's standing in a chamber they put these spores into. and then he just pressed some buttons and showed her on the surface of a bunch of planets???  I don't understand this nonsense

Lorca chose her because she was ~right~ about the Klingons at the battle of the binary stars ... no. no she wasn’t. the whole prelude was fucking dumb and that makes this all so much harder to stomach.

now he's offering her a fortune cookie asking what she wished for. "you helped start a war, don't you wanna help me end it?' sigh.

there are bits ... I don't entirely hate ... I mean it's REALLY DUMB. don't get me wrong.

ohhh now we're getting the gross Lorca and security chief Landry ominous scene

he's in a lab of horrors ???? he has a Cardassian Vole HOW

HE BEAMED THE MONSTER ON BOARD DISCOVERY. WTF. WHYYYYYY

I was starting to not 100% hate you show! (just 99%)

and then you go and RUIN IT

[lavendergrace13]

Album Review - reputation

SO! Hey guys! reputation has been out for over a week now and OF COURSE I was gonna write a review, because duh. But it took some time, since I really wanted to *feel* the album first and I needed to et it in my system in order to properly gather my thoughts. I have listened to it just about 10 times now and I can finally make up my mind about the songs that I like, the hidden gems, the nah-songs (spoiler: almost NO nah-songs) and my overall opinion. Since it’s a ver rainy Sunday and I don’t plan on doing much the rest of the day, I thought it would be fun to write an in-depth review.Or maybe not that in-depth, just a few sentances about each song... ready for it? I am, so let’s get to it!

OVERALL OPINION: God, I love this album. I’m not gonna say it’s my favourite or it’s better than RED or 1989 (my two favourites) because it’s just so different and so strong as a stand-on-itself album, especially since it’s a whole lotta Taylor and a whole new side of Taylor. That’s also the thing I love most about it: I think it’s amazing how the album is both vulmerable and honest, because it’s her telling her own story, and sassy and badass, because it’s her clapback to haters, the media and, well, pretty much everyone who ever hurt or neglected or bullied her. The album makes me FEEL stuff, guys. I love how many sides of Taylor’s voice we can hear, how some songs are soft and slow and others are YOOO IN YOUR FACE and BOOM and THIS IS ME DEAL WITH IT. I love how some of the songs are sexy and others talk about drugs and alcohol and how that shows that she is DONE with the good girl/sweetheart image and no longer ashamed of being who she is and liking the stuff she likes. This is Taylor at her best, her finest, her most honest and her most authentic and dear God, I adore that.

...Ready For It?: I love how she clears her throat. I love her rapping and then singing slowly and romantically There’s kind of a Wildest Dreams-vibe and i ADORE the second verse, especially from /And he can be my jailor / Burton to this Taylor / Every love I’ve known in comparision is a failiure.. And her moaning in the chrous, and the WOO-ing, the bridge... I love the lyrics and the switching between loud and pumping and soft and romantic makes me love the song.

End Game (feat. Ed Sheeran and Future): I was pretty disapointed by this song at first, but I’ve definitely come to love it. Truth be told, I don’t like the long rap verses, but I LOVe how the song makes me dance and I LOVE Taylor’s parts. The idea of her wanting someone to be her end game and her one and only is just so beautiful and I love how she sings about /I just wanna be / Drinking on the beach with you all over me/ because that gives me chills. Her parts are great. I also love the BIG REPUTATION thing and reputation proceeds me but as for the rest, it’s kinda nah. 

I Did Something Bad: I feel like this is, lyrically speaking, kind of a sequel to Blank Space, because it talks about her being the female Casanova type and playing guys and serial dating. I like how it’s also her way of saying ‘’so what, I date guys and I like that, what’s wronig with that’’ and how she is the one to decide how she plays the game. I also LOVE the bridge, it’s genius and so accurate and haunting and I think it’s the perfect way to illustrate how people think of strong woman who just do whatever the hell they want. It’s not one of my favourites though, but I like how it’s a perfect girl power song.

Don’t Blame Me: Words seriously cannot expres how awesome I think this song is. I LOVE the jazzy sound it has, and it has me screaming along with the chorus because it’s SO soulful. I think was the first song from the album to get stuck in my head. I also love how it’s about how compelling love can be and how you can get drunk on it. In comparision to the previous song, it’s funny how she now sings about being totally bound to someone and your feelings for that person. Diversity, I told you!

Delicate: God, I love this song to pieces. It hit me right in the heart when I first heard it and I still love it so much. I love the pre-chorus and the chorus itself is just so delicate indeed. There’s vulmerability and tenderness and carefulness and insecurity and wall-breaking and opening up to someone in there and I love how the beat kicks in during the chorus and makes it even more powerful. I think this song has a really powerful sound that I think it’s amazing that the lyrics are so pure and romantic and it’s still a very dancey song.

Look What You Made Me Do: I still love this song. I love the lyrics and the sound and the bridge and Taylor’s voice in it I love how it’s a perfect snub song, sassy and kickass and perfect. She’s speaking her own truth here and I think that’s awesome. I must admit though that it’s the song with the less depth.

So It Goes...: A total hidden gem. I have come to love this song with all my heart over the last days, because there’s some kind of magic in the sound of her voice and the lyrics. It gives me this grand feeling and I don’t really know what it is, but there’s something bombastic and heart-stopping about this song and i LOVE it. I really do. That counting too... my heart. It’s a song that reminds me of two people meeting after some time apart and realizing that they can conquer the world together and that all is right because their love is so strong. 

Gorgeous: Love it. To pieces. It’s the perfect falling for someone-song and I love how the lyrics show that that exact thing is often not romantic or convenient at all, and that it’s just captivating and awkward. The song is so easy to sing along to, and i LOVE the *DING*! Great song. Also, the part about her cats in the bridge? GOLD.

Getaway Car: God... this song. Out of this world. Seriously. The lyrics are genious and telling such a compelling story, but the song itself is just SO DAMN GOOD. The way the pre-chorus gets louder and faster and then BANG there’s this SUPERNATURAL BEAT and I kind of jump out of my seat every time. This is an absolutely EPIC song and the chorus is amazing. She’s vocally so strong and put-together here and oh my God I love this. Oh, and her saying ‘’getaway car’’ in a British accent is EVERYTHING. This song has my soul.

King of My Heart: This is pretty much the one song that doesn’t really get to me. I don’t know what it is, but when I saw the track title I was already like ‘’nah’’ and it’s just not it for me. The lyrics are cool, but it’s that kind of song that just silently plays and goes by without really being noticed. Maybe it’s because it follows Getaway Car and seriously, that’s a song you need to catch your breath after hearing. This is not a bad song, it’s just not awesome for me. 

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: Another epic song! This kind of reminds me of Titanic, I don’t even know why but I love it. It doesn’t really stand out on the album, but I love how the lyrics tell the story of finally finding someone who wants you even though you’re broken and the world keeps breaking you and even though you’re afraid that you’re going to break what you have. There’s something special to it that I really have a soft spot for. 

Dress: What’s not to love about this song, honestly? I love the intro. I love the pre-chorus, I love the ‘’ha ha ha ha’’ and I love the lyrics. Don’t think it’s all that sexy though, but it’s definitely one of her more risky songs because it doesn’t necessarily bring up thoughts about sweet and romantic sex, but it’s more like she is saying ‘’I’m not ashamed of loving to have sex with someone who’s special to me’’ and it’s also like she’s opening up about her previous sex life (rebounds) so that makes it a pretty deep song. I like it!

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: YASSSS TELL THEM TAYLOR! TELL THEM! I love how she finally strikes back to people like Kanye in this song and talks about how she is sick of the drama and tricks and DONE with everyone playing and using and hating on her. I LOVE the bridge and I LOVE her talking about not keeping a straight face. This song is SAVAGE and it was about DAMN TIME. Love it. The Gatsby-vibe is awesome too.

Call It What You Want: This is definitely one of my favourite songs on the album: she is so honest here and I love how calmly she sings about not caring what is happening because she has someone who got her back She doesn’t care about her reputation and being called names and people who don’t know her anymore and I love how this song tells the story of how she’s grown and what matters to her. So beautiful. The bridge is so pretty too, and I love how it makes a statement by being near the ending of the album. THIS is what mattters, not her image or her bad experiences or her previous relationships. THIS.

New Year’s Day: I can totally understand why people cried during this song. It sounds so beautiful and the message is so strong and the lyrics are so pure and the song is just gold. I love how she ends with a song about what really matters to her and then a song about finally being in a happy and healthy and wonderful relationship with someone who isn’t perfect, but who she knows is going to stick around. It’s such a sensitive and heartfelt song and it really touches me when I hear it. Like I said, these two songs are so different and emotional compared to the upbeat and powerful anthem songs and stories about failed love and that’s what makes this album really strong and soulful: it’s Taylor’s story about who she’s become and how she’s grown and how she’s found love and that is just so special. 

CONCLUSION: Iadore the album. It may not be my favourite, but I DO think that it’s definitely Taylor’s best work yet because of the diversity, the incredibly strong feelings that each song evokes, the messages and stories she’s telling and spreading and how personal and daring and vocally incredible it is. I love it and will listen to it untill the end of time and I cannot wait for more music videos and performances.

TOP 10 FAVOURITE SONGS:

In no particular order:

1. Getaway Car

2. So It Goes...

3. Call It What You Want

4. Delicate

5. New Year’s Day

6. Gorgeous

7. ...Ready For It?

8. Daning With Our Hands Tied

9. Don’t Blame Me

10. Dress