#and i love discovering new music through tv it's one of my favorite past times

[multiheadcanons]

TF2 MERCS AND MUSIC

scout: scout, as we know, loves tom jones. he’d probably also be an elvis guy. but that’s not what i’m here to talk about, frankly. i’m here to talk about how scout is the team’s sole music influence. anything the team discovers past like… the 80s scout put them on. and scout gives anything at least one listen. he’s actually got an s tier music taste. knows exactly what to recommend to each of his team members, except snipes. he never knows what to do with that guy. making active attempts to listen to more classical, though will naturally opt for 70s pop. he loves elton john. also loves tom cardy. blasts mixed messages. on his really shitty days, both the enemy team and his own team taunt him with this stupid fucking song, he has no idea where they came up with it; but when he’s getting his shit rocked everyone follows him around yelling “my name is the scout. doc. i need some healing. scout. that is my name. scout. i want another. scout. where is my baaaaaaall? i’m running out of the spawn; there is a booooooomb, and it is gonna hit me—” AND THEN THEY KILL HIM AGAIN. that shit pisses him off so much.

soldier: this man was wrecked when he heard the news of karen carpenter. the day scout showed him the carpenters he was gobbling it up. when he’s not listening to straight up “women still don’t have credit cards” doo-wop, he opts for what he calls the hippie dippie shit, it’s a guilty pleasure. love hates the beatles. loves a lady with a nice voice. demo put him on the proclaimers. he’ll listen to them when he misses his bud. really enjoys christmas music!

pyro: pyro is a white knight swiftie and nothing will ever change that, bar her like… purposefully running over puppies. in the pit five times during rep tour. CRUSHED when loverfest got canceled. LOVES their pop girlies. loves all the girlies, really! has NEVER been a barb and will never BE a barb. is an active member of stan twitter. is the kind to harass you aggressively online if they don’t agree with you. has a very long dni list. is blocked by many people. spy won’t help them dox people.

demo: demo loves the proclaimers and jazz in all its forms. god, he loves jazz so much. regular attendee of jazz clubs. brings his own drinks, just goes for the music. goes to jazz open mics. also loves sade. he adores that woman. does the old man two step when he’s really getting into a song, and if someone’s in in the room with them he will urge them to dance with him. if you don’t know what the old man two step is, it is a very effective dance move. you do a wide two step with your elbows out. it is not an old man two step if your elbows are any less than a 45 degree angle from your body. scout put him on thundercat and his life has never been the same. will drunkenly scream sing dragonball durag. he’s an appreciator of hemlocke springs.

engineer: obviously engie loves country. he’s from texas. but here’s the thing about him; he is a strange elitist and HATES covers. he will not listen to a cover, he wants to hear the person who wrote it sing the song. has a stupid amount of random country facts floating through his head at all times. tries to bond with pyro through what he knows about country taylor swift but pyro knows everything there is to know about her. pyro is actually the one to educate him about taylor swift. pyro appreciates the attempt though. they ate up red tv together. engie tried really hard to deny the fact that he was tearing up to all too well but pyro placed a hand on his shoulder, paused the track, and said “it’s okay to cry.” like a cult initiation. and frankly that was it. “it’s just so well done.” he mumbled. and pyro supported him through it. also LOVES tracy chapman. he has cried to fast car a couple times. loves all his country girls. carrie underwood being an anti-vaxxer threw him off though.

heavy: heavy is an opera nut. his favorite is the nose by shostakovich. has taken medic and anyone else who’s interested to any opera he can find within five hours of them. will go on AT LENGTH if allowed about it. picked up on the old man two step from demo. has found a great appreciation for hozier. oh he eats that irishman up actually. finds him to be a prolific, unsung poet of the modern day. he told scout this; said his favorite song was eat your young. scout said “oh the take me to church guy, didn’t peg you for the yearning lover type. noted”. medic heard that, gave the song a listen, came back, and stared heavy down the rest of the day. his face was unreadable. he never asked who he could possibly relate that to. and heavy did that on purpose. it was so hard for him to keep a straight face, the second he got to his room that night, he tried so hard to remain quiet, but his laughter echoed through the base. has a signed unreal unearth on accident. he thought he was just buying the regular cd. also a supporter of npr. he’s got the mug and the tote.

sniper: snipes is a genuine “i’ll listen to anything” person. he prefers podcasts anyway. he’s got a favorite song in any genre you can think of, and no interest in listening to music outside of the one “favorite song” slot per genre. there’s only like, three songs he actually ever wants to listen to when he has the itch though. and you bet your ass down under is one of them. he’s got an old walkman with cassettes that he recorded his favorite songs on over the years. he’s got maybe seven, eight of those cassettes total. he’s got some crazy live performances on there that nobody would believe for a day sniper was at. but he’ll tell you go look up pictures in the crowd, and you’ll find him everytime by his hat. this doesn’t mean he doesn’t listen to music; he just never goes out of his way to pick anything. he’s open to everything. me, personally, i think snipes would enjoy distractible. he’d find them humorous. probably listens to like…. critical and strategic dnd podcasts abt how to build encounters and craft dungeons.

medic: DEFINITELY a rave kid. made a POINT to go to the brat concert. team was just down a doctor while he went on holiday. told everyone to not die while he was gone. i mean, come on. go look at him. right now. you don’t even have to look at the fanart, you can go watch meet the medic, or literally look at his face in any panel of the comics. i’ll wait right here. welcome back. you saw that face, right? at all angles? that is the face of a young man from a time past who went by “DJDEADDOVE” and stole from the hospital he worked at in his mid twenties to sell drugs at raves and frame the intern on duty. his buyers LOVED him. you want to tell me that man DOESN’T listen to techno? you mean to tell me his synapses don’t function to erratic cracks of static and his heart is not fueled by a steady drum? you’re insane. a hard beat always takes him back to the good old days. back when he was a young man and the world was his to conquer! loves seeing the rave scene nowadays, but he doesn’t think he’s got energy like that anymore. ach! the days! how they pass!

spy: spy prefers silence most of the time. but there was one song he had a spiritual experience with. scout played fireflies by owl city offhandedly and it altered spy’s mindset, genuinely. he has never listened to it since. otherwise, he will take one (1) quiet instrument solo at a very low volume. hates brass instruments. the woodwinds can also fuck off. he will take a string instrument. percussions can stay but they’re on thin ice. he just likes to be able to hear his surroundings. when people ask him what his favorite song is he says 4’33” by john cage.

[allnightlongzine]

“How I Discovered My Chemical Romance 15 Years After the Rest of the World”

May 25, 2020 | Scott Raymer | concertcrap.com

To obsess or not to obsess.  That is the question.  My apologies to Shakespeare. I tend to lack focus in many aspects of my life.  Bouncing back and forth between learning a foreign language, playing guitar, photography, and many other endeavors. However, when it comes to music I can become obsessed and fixated on a single artist, song, or album.  I mostly ignore radio and have a habit of listening to a single artist for months or sometimes years while ignoring others.  I have gone from the Beatles to Olivia Newton-John to Duran Duran to Green Day to Amy Grant to Sum 41 to the Sick Puppies back to Green Day.  The result is that I miss out on a lot of great music unless I manage to catch something on TV, due to not paying attention.

Sometimes it can take me years to discover a band.  This happened recently.  Around six months ago I started seeing all this chatter on Facebook about this band called My Chemical Romance.  My Chemical Who? The name triggered some deep memories making me think that maybe I had heard the name before. A quick search of Apple Music displayed a long list of songs by the band. The first song on the list was “Welcome to The Black Parade”. I clicked on the song title and began listening to see why people were so excited about this band.  It started off with a slow piano intro, followed by some mellow vocals by Gerard Way, which gradually increased in intensity.  I was rapidly losing interest and the finger was just getting ready to swipe the app closed when at 1:48 into the song, Ray Toro and Frank Iero’s guitars kicked in. My finger instantly pulled away from my phone.  I started listening intently and by the time Way got to “And through it all, the rise and fall, The Bodies in the streets” I was hooked.

Moving down the list brought songs like “Teenagers”, “Helena”, and “I’m Not OK”.  Even though I am long past my teenage years and missed the Emo movement by a couple of decades, these are all songs that I can still relate to and which take me back to life as a depressed, harassed, bullied, suicidal tempted teenager.  Some of us never truly become OK. When I got to “Famous Last Words”, I was totally blown away and my obsession began.

One of the things I find interesting about the great bands is how they transform and evolve. I saw this in both of my favorite bands, the Beatles and Green Day.  The Beatles first US album Meet The Beatles was raw and packed full of energy, but with musicianship which was somewhat lackluster. As they progressed from album to album, you could hear the music getting more and more polished; the lyrics getting more complex; culminating in their concept album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Green Day displayed a similar evolution going from Kerplunk to Dookie to their rock opera American Idiot, with Billie Joe Armstrong transforming his guitar abilities all along the way.

I feel My Chemical Romance’s evolution was more dramatic than either The Beatles or Green Day.  It’s relatively easy to classify both the latter band’s music without much debate.  However, there is no consensus on My Chemical Romance.  Each of their four studio albums, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, The Black Parade, and Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys are each unique and show Way and the band transitioning from punk to emo/post-hardcore to pop-punk with a half-dozen other genres thrown in the mix.  It was as if the band purposely hit the reset button attempting to reinvent themselves with each album.

Not only did the band reinvent themselves with their music, but also with their look.  Way changed his appearance throughout the band’s dash through the first decade of the new millennium.   Going from a dark emo goth in Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, to a Sgt Pepperish platinum blonde look for The Black Parade, to pop punkish red hair for Danger Days.  This change symbolizes what I admire most about the band; a constant changing flux of identity. It is hard to get bored with a band that is always striving to do something different. A band not content with where they are now but being in constant pursuit of what they can become.

It’s been seven years since we last saw the band.  I can’t wait to see want the next evolution will bring.  This is no longer a band of restless youths.  It is a band now composed of husbands and fathers, hitting middle age in a new decade.  How will this influence the direction of the music?  We will have to wait and see.  All I know is that of my litany of musical obsessions, this one may be the hardest one to overcome. Ten years from now I may still be listening to the band, looking back, and wondering what happened in the rest of the music world.

[akainferno]

Hi! I'm new-ish to Tumblr. Coming here from Twitter (or I guess it's called X now), so here's an introduction to me!

Name : My irl name is Cameron, but my online username is Inferno, so you can call me either of those.

Age : I'm 17 years old.

Pronouns : My most preferred pronouns are he/him, but I also like they/them. I'll also accept basically any pronouns (except for it/its) as long as you say it respectfully.

Sexuality : I'm biromantic asexual.

Gender : I was assigned male at birth, but I'm not sure I fully identify with that anymore. Right now, I'm liking either demiboy or just unlabeled.

Now, here's a list of some of my interests.

Art - I've been working on digital art and improving my art skills for about 2 and a half years, but I've been drawing casually my whole life. I'm mostly a fan artist, but I do have 1 dnd oc that I draw occasionally.

Pokémon - I've loved Pokémon my entire life. It is my favorite franchise of all time. My favorite Pokémon is Growlithe, and my favorite generation is gen 4.

Gaming - I've been gaming my whole life. I tend to prefer Nintendo games like Pokémon, Super Mario, and The Legend of Zelda, but I have been trying to branch out to other types of games recently.

Fire Emblem - The only Fire Emblem game I've played is Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, but this game is now one of my favorite games of all time. I eventually wanna play Fire Emblem: Three Houses and then branch out from there.

KOllOK - This is my current obsession/hyperfixation/whatever you wanna call it. If you haven't watched KOllOK, please, please, please go watch it! I highly recommend it, even if you've never watched a ttrpg before! It was my first ttrpg ever, and now I love it more than any TV show or movie I've ever watched! I recommend starting with KOllOK 1991, then KOllOK 1991: Bleach, and then KOllOK.

Music - I only recently discovered my love of music within the past 2-3 years. I eventually wanna learn to sing and play guitar and/or drums, but I doubt that'll be anytime soon. My favorite artists to listen to are Billie Eilish, Finneas, Em Beihold, Malinda, and RØZE.

MCYT - I love Minecraft, both playing and watching it. My favorite SMPs to watch are Empires, Hermitcraft, and the ___ Life series. My favorite YouTuber (both in MCYT and of all time) is Shubble. She is so funny and wholesome and has helped me learn so much about myself (she basically taught me what asexuality is). (She's also the entire reason I got into KOllOK. The only reason I watched it in the first place was because she's in it. Did i mention that you should watch KOllOK?)

If you actually sat and read through all of this... why? I mean, thank you, but why? Anyway, I'm gonna try to post on here more often now that Elon is running Twitter into the ground.

[jbblackwell]

KISS - Music from Fridays 1982 (franKENstein Redux) from KENN NARDI on Vimeo.

I consider myself a "charter Elder fan", meaning I got the album on release day back in 1981 and loved it from the beginning. I had been a fan since 1977 and after I watched most of my friends jump ship after Dynasty (and the rest long gone by Unmasked) I felt like the only KISS fan left in the world.

I had seen photos of the band in 16 Magazines showing their new makeup and costumes and wondering what to expect. I went to the local Music Vision and got the new single "A World Without Heroes". For me, anything new from KISS was beyond exciting and I liked what I heard. Even better, the B-side was a new song by my hero Ace. This music was fresh to my ears and even though I was only 12-going-on-13 I personally liked this more "musical" version of the band. Eric's drumming was really cool on "Dark Light" and Ace's solo was great. I also liked Gene's "mellow" voice which reminded me of some of my favorite songs from his '78 solo album.

Shortly after that, the album was released. I remember going to the store 2 or 3 days in a row asking about it, but it seemed to be a couple days late in arriving. Finally, I got it and instantly fell in love with the music. Having discovered stuff like Pink Floyd's the Wall (still my favorite album of all time) I though it was great to hear something a bit "deeper" from the guys than "Shout It Out Loud". I had even formed my first band that same year which I called "ODYSSEY" because of the song. I should also mention I was one of those unfortunate fans who got the LP with the clear sleeve, but NO lyric sheet. I still didn't know some of the words until the Internet was born many years later.

I also can remember like it was yesterday watching Fridays when it aired and being beyond thrilled to see KISS on TV (not that common back then). Plus...three new songs played! The perfect "Elder sandwich" of the opener ("the Oath"), closer ("I") and the middle track "A World Without Heroes". I don't care what anyone says, I agree with the record label and the album MUST have the 1981 US running order. The "original" Japanese release is horrible. It sounds like climbing up a very long hill to find nothing at the top. As for the "story line", for me "The Oath" sets the stage and gives a great overview of what's to come (as told through the rest of the songs). The musical balance is perfect in that order. It flows great and begins and ends with a bang. I consider "The Oath" to be proto-power-metal with its riffing, drumming and lyrical content. Musically speaking, the album overall was incredibly influential on my own writing throughout the years.

So, here is my version of the Fridays appearance, upscaled to 1080p.

For the audio, I wanted to remix and recreate the sound for a stereo mix. To do this I had to borrow a bit of Paul's guitar from the album. Ace's guitar dominates the original mix, so it was isolated and used for his parts. Paul's rhythm parts on "The Oath" and "I" are taken from the album, but edited to match his playing as he does a few things differently live (mostly due to his over-the-top theatrics, ha). Ace was also badly out of tune (or bending the stings) on a lot of parts, so I did some cut-and-paste work replacing the rougher spots with better parts where the same things are played.

Gene's bass is 100% from the show as are Eric's drums, which I have augmented using kick, snare, tom and cymbal samples I created rather than using "modern" samples. These are blended with his original drums.

For "A World Without Heroes" a stereo guitar/keyboard mix was created using the parts from the show mixed with some from the album to get separation (the show actually did have keyboards). I tweaked Paul's solo slightly just to fix up a couple bum notes and also blended his album solo very low to give a bit of the same ambiance since his tone is very dry on the show.

Even in 1982, as I watched the show I could tell the singing was a bit "off" in places. Particularly Paul, who comes out of the gate hot, singing uncharacteristically sharp all over "The Oath" with Ace's very loud and out of tune guitar not helping. So, for this version, I borrowed a few words from the 3rd verse where he re-sings the same lyrics and blended it with the rest to make the first verse a little more on-key. Gene also gets the same treatment for his 2nd "and you don't know why you don't know". I also used very small bit the album vocal tracks for a few words that were missing or very low in the mix due to the guys not being on-mic at time. I also blended a VERY small bit of the background vocals from the album on "I" just to fill them out a bit.

As I always say, these videos are NOT for the purists. This performance is MOSTLY true to the original, but approached the same way KISS might approach an official release, with just a bit of "clean-up" for a more enjoyable experience. The original is readily available, so this in no way is intended to replace it or re-write "kisstory".

Enjoy!

[megan-loves-surveys]

#34.

The last time you ate leftovers, what was it that you were eating? Pasta bake, it's the only thing I have leftovers of, cos it tastes just as good the next day.

What is your favorite board that you’ve made on Pinterest? -

Do you get on Facebook or Instagram more? I don't use Insta, so FB.

What was the last thing you ate or drank that was blue raspberry-flavored? Some lolly most likely, prob from the USA xD

What is one annoying thing your computer does? It gets super hot when I play games, but that can't be helped I guess.

What was the last song you listened to? The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony

Have you discovered any new hobbies in the past couple months? No. I have enough hobbies as it is xD

What’s the wildest animal you’ve ever come in contact with? I stroked a lion cub once at a safari park lol. Very cute.

Do you trust your doctor? I don't have a regular doctor cos I barely go there.

Do you ever question if your mother loves you? Never, I know she does! <3

Do you ever feel scared or unsafe around your dad? NEVER.

What is your favorite type of Lunchables? Never had one.

Do you have someone you feel completely safe around? Yes.

What church do you go to? I'm atheist.

Are any of your siblings’ friends like family to you? -

Do you have any friends who you exchange memes with? Haha yeah. Esp my wrestling friends.

What was the last photo you took? Good question! *unlocks her phone to look* It was a selfie from when I got my hair dyed LOL.

Are you in any Discord servers? How often do you use them? Oh god I'm a member of dozens but the main ones I post in are my wrestling friends Discord and the last.fm Discord. I post on the lfm one so often I'm it's #24 overall poster LOL. And the wrestling one I've been a member since day 1 and I'm a mod.

Have you ever had to see an emergency vet after hours? Yes, and unfortunately it turned out horrible.

When was the last time you sat under a blanket on a couch? Hmm, dunno.

Can you bite into ice cream or are your teeth too sensitive? I can, but it's still not too pleasant.

Do you like snowy winter days or do you prefer rainy days? It doesn't snow where I live, and rain sucks so neither.

Do you know anyone who doesn’t have a middle name? Yep.

What was the last thing you complained about? I've been sick for the last few days, so it was definitely about how shitty I'm feeling lol.

What celebrity irritates you the most? Most of them xD But especially the Kardashians, Meghan Markle, Taylor Swift (her music is great but I'm SO sick of hearing about her!), any of these 'influencers' who randomly get famous etc.

Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through? Not all the way, but this year my Mum and I watched to the end of the halftime show then we gave up xD

Would you like to know the exact date of your death? No.

What’s on your to-do list for today? Nothing, I'm sick and taking time off work so I'm just relaxing and trying to get over it.

Do you know anyone who’s been bitten by a snake? Probably not, but who knows.

Are you excited for Halloween? I don't celebrate it.

What makes you smile or laugh no matter what? Certain TV shows like Simpsons, Friends or Big Bang Theory.

Do you prefer strawberries or cherries? Strawberries! Cherries are gross, my least fave fruit.

Biggest insecurity? My stomach.

Have you ever had braces? No.

Do you feel awkward using public transportation? Good lord no lol, I take it constantly xD

Describe your mom with one word. Hilarious.

Would you rather bake a cake or cookies? Cake.

What curse word do you use most? Fuck lol.

Were you always one of those kids who got in trouble with everyone around? No, I was a good kid.

When was the last time you took a nap? Did it relax you any? Yesterday, and not really, I was overheated due to being sick so I slept like crap.

Honestly, do you see yourself as a slut? Hahaha, I used to be xD Not anymore cos I'm in a long-term relationship but back in my late teens I was definitely slutty.

Is there a secret you’ve never told your parents? Yes.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever been through? Getting hit by a car and breaking several bones, including my shoulder in 5 different places.

Do you like fast food or does it disgust you? I love it, not even ashamed. My fave is KFC but I like most of them!

Who was the last person you kissed? My boyfriend.

What’s your favourite alcoholic drink? Jim Beam or Malibu.

Do you like the smell of BBQs? Oh yeah! I love smelling them in the summer, my Mum and I always wonder who's having one LOL.

Do you crash on people’s sofas often? No.

Do wasps scare you? Yes, scary little fuckers lol.

Have you ever worn flip flops in the snow? No.

Has anyone ever told you that you & your significant other could be siblings? Have they ever assumed you were siblings? God no lol. We look nothing alike xD

Have you ever heard people having sex in the next room? Probably.

Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? No.

Have you ever lost your voice? Yes.

Museum date or aquarium date? Depends on what the museum has in it.

Did you ever have an emo or scene phase? No.

Name a subject you know a lot about. Wrestling, Pokemon or geography.

Most embarrassing poster you’ve ever owned? None?

Could you see yourself having a child with the last person you kissed? No, cos I don't want kids lol.

Who is your favorite person to have random conversations with? Depends, cos I have random convos with loads of people.

Who was the last person to make you feel embarrassed or uncomfortable? Not sure.

What are you known for? Online, it's being a big Jon Moxley fan lol, at various Wrestlemanias people were recognizing me!

Which of the guys you’ve been interested in hurt you the most? Meh.

Do you know anyone who is engaged? No.

What is your relationship status on Facebook? I don't have one listed actually! LOL.

What are you listening to? Bebe Rexha - I'm Gonna Show You Crazy

What was the last thing you looked up on Google? I googled why water tastes so weird when you're sick - I usually drink loads of water but since I've been sick it's been hard to stomach it. It's apparently cos of the bacteria in your mouth and throat making it taste weird!

Ever been kissed on the leg? Haha, who knows.

Last person to hear you cry? Dunno, my Mum probably.

What do you think of the term plus-sized in modeling? Is it empowering or demeaning? It's lame, cos half the time the women aren't even plus-sized, they're regular sized.

Do you think you are ready to be on your own (have your own home, job, etc.)? Well, I have a job... but I can't afford my own house xD

Has your ex ever gone out with someone close to you? No.

Are you friends with someone who’s autistic? Probably.

Have you ever had a Bic Mac? No.

Have you ever been to a convention? (comic, YouTube, etc.) Yes, I go to the NZ version of ComicCon every year, it's called Armageddon.

What is the biggest difference between you and your best friend? She has a son! I don't want kids lol xD

Have you ever had a sexually gay experience? Yes.

Do you find any of your friends hot? Not really. I love 'em but not in that way.

Are your legs freshly shaven? No, I need to do them actually lol, but since I'm wearing pants a lot, I haven't bothered. But they get itchy so I will when I'm over being sick.

Does your best friend wear glasses? No.

Have you ever woke up crying from a bad dream? Yes.

Who knows more about you: online friends or offline? Online.

Does your family own any land? No.

Who is the oldest sibling in your family? -

Are you close to any of your aunts/uncles? I barely see them.

When was the last time you were in a hospital? June 2017.

Do you plan on losing weight any time soon? I'm in the middle of doing so.

What do you think of people who get drunk every weekend? Whatever floats their boat, I guess.

Are you looking forward to anything? Sure, small things, nothing big.

What was the last bad news you heard? Hmm, not sure.

What was your GPA in high school? -

Do you require a lot of private time? Sure.

Do you know how to play any odd instruments most people can’t play? No.

Have you ever had a parasite before? No.

Have you ever been punched in the face before? No.

Are there regular trains in and out of your town/city? Yes.

Do you bathe your pets regularly? -

What was the last animal you saw, and was it a pet? It was a cat in a shorts video lol.

Who was the last person you messaged on Facebook? My boyfriend.

When was the last time you saw them? Saturday, I haven't seen him since then cos of being sick, I don't want to give him my cold.

Where do you see yourself in a year? Who knows.

[TW: OVERDOSE/SUICIDE] Do you know anyone who has overdosed? No.

Where are your siblings as of now? -

Have you ever lost anyone close to cancer? Depends what you consider close - cos I lost a friend to cancer last year but I hadn't seen her in person in a few years.

Do you personally know anyone who is transgender? Yes.

When was the last time you got a shot? My last Covid booster prob. Though I might get the flu shot, I've already been sick and it's not even winter yet :/ I have to pay for it though, so that's why I don't usually get it.

Have you ever been into a car accident? If getting hit by a car counts, then yes.

When was the last time you spent over $100 in one transaction? What did you buy? I got my hair dyed, it cost over 300 bucks.

Are you a breakfast person? Not really, but I do eat it on occasion.

What type of books do you like to read? All sorts - non fiction about topics I like, fantasy, romance, joke books etc.

How do you get rid of hiccups? Drink water super fast without breathing.

Do you have any healthy addictions? Dunno xD

Do you pay much attention to speed limits while driving? -

Which parent was more strict when you were growing up? My Mum definitely. I used to ask my Dad to do things cos I knew he'd say yes, while I knew my Mum would say no. My Dad was only strict about me doing well in Maths cos I was so awful at it, he was chill the rest of the time. I used to tell him about things that I never told my Mum!

Have you ever watched The Golden Girls? I've watched clips on YT, it's funny.

Do you like getting dirty? No.

Are you a very flirty person? It depends.

Who was your favorite babysitter? I never had any, it wasn't a thing for me. If my parents needed someone to watch me, my Grandma would usually do it or another family member.

Do you believe in the death penalty? It depends what the person did.

Name a person that you can’t stand and tell us why? Nobody. There's people I dislike, but nobody I hate or can't stand.

If you could have a video of one event in your life, what would the video be? Hmm.

What is the most illegal thing you have ever done? O_O

Last person you sang happy birthday to? Good question.

What form of government do you like the most? (capitalism, socialism, etc.) I have no idea tbh.

Is there a song you can’t handle listening to, even though you like it? Sarah Cothran - As The World Caves In. I legit can't listen to this song without sobbing like an absolute bitch. I love it but it's just way too sad :(

Last time you saw fireworks? Ages ago.

Do you have a black dog? I have no dog at all.

If you took someone on a tour of your town, what would you show them? That depends what they want to see, no? If they want touristy things then I'd take them to the Sky Tower, MOTAT and the museum. If they want shopping, I'd take them to Sylvia Park for sure.

Have you been to the capital of your state? -

Would you be more in your element camping in a tent or an RV? RV.

[chorusfm]

Liner Notes (January 13th, 2024)

Ringing in 2024 with a new newsletter. We have some thoughts on music out this week and some early thoughts on music coming in the first part of the year. Can it live up to 2023? We’re about to find out. If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here. A Few Things * And we’re back! At the end of every year, I always find myself struggling with what to write about on a week-to-week basis. When the entire music industry goes into hibernation, and no new music is being released, I also tend to hunker down. I spend a lot of time reviewing albums I listened to during the year to prepare for building my favorite albums of the year list, and I like to look for things I’ve missed or spent less time with throughout the year. Oh, and listen to a lot of holiday music. And when I don’t have a lot of new things to write about, it’s more challenging to carve out the space to sit down and write knowing I don’t have a lot of content to mine from. So, it was nice to take a little break. November and December are two of my favorite months of the year, and this year was no exception. Now we’re into January, and I’m feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the new year. * We published our annual favorite albums of the year list this week. My personal list of albums, movies, TV shows, and other stuff can be found here. I listened to more music in 2023 than in any previous year, and the difficulty I had in choosing my favorite albums of the year showed the year’s strength. So many bands that I loved for years came out with albums that I feel sit proudly in their storied discographies. And so many new artists I discovered that I’ll be following for years to come. * A few quick hits to get caught up on things from the past few months: I’m exploring how I want to move this newsletter from Substack. I originally started using the platform for the backend because it was easy to set up quickly and would let me take my audience with me if I wanted to. And now I want to. Idiots run the company, and the latest Nazi defending is the final straw. No one subscribed will need to do anything; it will be a seamless transition. Once I move the newsletter backend over, I’ll start linking directly to the website’s archive for these posts, and that will be the place where new subscribers can sign up. And that’s a better way to do this anyway: keep everything in-house. I’ll have to build a new email template, so it’ll probably be a few weeks until I’m ready to move fully, but it is happening. (If you use the Substack RSS feed, please replace it with the official one.) * Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve (finally) been going through the archive of the Chris Demakes a Podcast to check out episodes from some of my favorite bands/songs. It’s quite good. I love how they break down songs, and I’ve heard stories from Blink-182, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Yellowcard, MxPx, and New Found Glory that I’d never heard told before about the making of some of their most iconic songs. It’s become my default “while making/eating lunch” podcast. * I finally moved from Deliveries to Parcel as my package tracking app of choice. The built-in Amazon integration is nice, and it actually works with all the major shipping platforms. It gets my recommendation. In Case You Missed It * Chorus. fm’s Top 30 Albums of 2023 * Jason Tate’s Top Albums of 2023 * Yellowcard Announce New Collaboration Album * Third Eye Blind and Yellowcard Announce Tour * Craig Manning’s Top Albums of 2023 * Adam Grundy’s Top Albums of 2023 * SCP Merchandising Closes Down * Garrett Lemons’ Top Albums of 2023 * Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties Announces New Album * Albums in Stores – Jan 12th, 2024 Music Thoughts * A lot of my music listening through December was holiday music. Of course all the staples, and all the pop-punk staples, but also just throwing on instrumental or piano versions of classic songs to have on in the… https://chorus.fm/features/articles/liner-notes-january-13th-2024/

[superhero--imagines]

Part 12

Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here! / Part 7 Here! / Part 8 Here! / Part 9 Here! / Part 10 Here! / Part 11 Here!

* You stare at the blank ceiling, the smooth unblemished surface like freshly fallen snow

* you should really put some nudie posters up there or something to lighten the mood a little. 

* Light notes from the piano float around your room

* You sigh, so these are the facts as you know them:

* Edward is your best friend who has occasional bouts of brooding and flirtatious behavior.

* Bella is not albino, she has a lovely peach undertone, and a lovely grilled peach scent

* The entire coven has treated your attraction to this young lady’s blood like you got caught masturbating or wetting the bed or something

* “You don’t need to be embarrassed it’s a perfectly natural feeling.” Esme tells you while rubbing your shoulders

* “We’ve all been there” Rosalie reassures

* “Totally not a big deal, it happens to me everyday!” Jasper chimes in

* You wish sunlight hurt you so you could combust into flames on the spot

* The piano notes get louder, and you feel your mouth pinch into a frown.

* “Oh my god Edward! Read the room, I want brooding music!”

* Edward stops, up until then he had been playing a pretty cheerful Mozart piece

* You can tell he wants to ask why, you’ve been radiating joy non-stop since biology. But he decides against it

* “You really shouldn’t eat lying down.” He says as you sip blood while lying flat on your bed.

* “Okay dad.” You snort

* Edward starts to imagine what it would be like if you called him ‘daddy’

* All needy on top of him, your hands curled in fists against his chest, the breathy “daddy please” that leaves your mouth

* All of a sudden he’s ugly turned on

* “Ugh you’re no fun, I’m going to hang out with Rosalie”

* You leave the room and Edward has a total meltdown, is this what a kink is? Is he discovering a kink?!? At 100 years of age?!?!?!?

* Edward.exe is broken

* You don’t even make it to Rosalie’s room, you can smell them a mile away

* Broccoli, sugar and fat, and axe body spray. No peaches you realize with a sigh.

* They’ve only just barely rung the door bell when you open the door

* “Hey what are you guys doing here?”

* Jessica’s standing in front, looking pretty at ease, while Mike and Angela look equally uncomfortable.

* Makes sense, Jessica’s here all the time now either for homework or to watch TV.

* Mike and Angela haven’t been back since your sweet sixteen

* “How did you get down here so fast?”

* “I saw your car from upstairs” you say with a sheepish smile.

* You wish Alice would have given you a heads up, you weren’t planning on pretending to be human right now. Still you probably look raggedy enough right now in sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt

* You can probably pull this sick thing off

* “We just wanted to check up on you, I heard from Mike and Angela you got sick during class.” And then in a more annoyed tone Jessica adds “And I guess you’re too sick to respond to all my texts and calls”

* Oh crap, where is your phone.

* You pat your pockets, and think when you saw it last

* “I left it in my locker” you smack your head. You told Edward to go grab your bag from class but you forgot your phone.

* “Hey don’t worry about it, I can get it for you tomorrow if you want.” Jessica rushes to your side and pats your arm. You shake your head

* “No I can get it myself, I’m fine I just ate something bad.” You mumble.

* You’re not missing school tomorrow. You would literally risk murder to smell Bella again.

* It’s not insatiable thirst like described in the books, more like a craving, like someone might have for nachos.

* It itches at you for a while, but if you just distract yourself long enough you can move on

* “Would you like to come in? I think Esme just baked cookies or scones or something.”

* Esme likes to bake for the smell and donate the food to the local shelter. That, or take it for her employees at her architectural firm in town.

* Firm is a loose word, she has maybe four employees, and they get one job a month, but it seems to make her happy.

* Angela and Mike give each other looks but Jessica perks up

* “Is she making those delicious earl grey scones again?” You sniff the air

* “I think she made some of that orange zest butter too”

* “Omg I am so happy you left your phone at school” Jessica giggles walking inside past you, you hear her greet Esme with a squeal

* “They really are good.” You tell them and your remaining human friends enter the house carefully

* “Soooo where is everyone?” Mike asks taking a look around your living room.

* “Ummm Rosalie’s in the garage, Alice is probably meditating on the roof, Emmett’s at swim practice, and Jasper’s probably at the barn.”

* “What about Edward?” Angela asks before Mike can ask about the barn

* Last you saw him he was playing the piano in your room, but it’s been a while since then

* “He’s probably in his room monologuing about the degradation of the American dream or something.”

* You lead them into the kitchen where Esme and Jessica are already deep in conversation about the wonder of her baking

* “-side is so light and fluffy, how do you get the tea flavor though”

* “Witchcraft.” Esme jokes, giving a full smile before putting another tray in the oven. Only Jessica laughs, the other two are too nervous to even sit down

* “Why don’t I teach you how when you come over next week.”

* Yeah you’re pretty sure Jessica is really only a fan of the “eating” and not of the “baking”

* You’re half surprised when she seems happy at the invitation. 

* “Oh that sounds great, I can’t wait for it!” Jessica’s practically beaming

* Where’s Edward when you need him? You wonder what her motivations are. 

* Jasper is not going to like this. He’s already irritated enough that he’s kicked out of his own house every Friday when Jessica comes over to watch arrested development

* Before you can say anything to Esme the conversation moves forward

* “Did you guys hear about that security guard that died in Mason county?”

* She’s just making small talk, you know that. But you and Esme instantly tense at the mention

* Carlisle had mentioned he thought there was a nomad wandering through, they were still far enough not to cause the coven immediate trouble, but anything that brought more attention to them was a disadvantage

* “My Dad says he heard from Chief Swan it was probably a wild animal attack” Mike mumbles over a bite of scone, you figured he would be the easiest to win over with food

* You hide a smile behind your hand, he really is like a golden retriever

* “What kind of a wild animal climbs stairs into a building” Jessica mumbles over another bite of scone. And maybe to fit in, or maybe because she’s always been a nervous eater, Angela takes a bite too.

* “Oh wow, these are really good” she murmurs

* Esme Cullen ladies and gentleman, winning the hearts of teenagers with baked goods since 19XX

* “Well you kids stay safe, stay together if you can.” She pats your head and you nod.

* You don’t know the details of the attack, you get the feeling Carlisle still see’s you as a kid and he doesn’t want to burden you.

* But assuming the small changes that have happened have nothing to do with the large changes, that means Laurent, James and Victoria will be passing through soon.

* Maybe it’s for the best Bella doesn’t get involved with Edward until later.

* You’d really like to not get all mixed up in the whole “James Thing” if you can help it.

* “Are you staying for dinner? I’m thinking of whipping up some pasta, maybe a chicken?” Esme looks to you, yeah you have no idea how she’s going to manage that. Besides the baking basics there’s no actually food in this kitchen. And the one upstairs is just for your blood bags.

* “(Y/N), do you think...Carlisle would mind if we used one of... his chickens?”

* His chickens? The only chickens in the house-

* “No Esme! My chickens are only for love and chicken snuggles” and their blood which tastes very leans yet rich. “Not to eat!”

* “It would just be one-we’ll eat your least favorite!”

* You’re really hoping this is her way of chasing the humans out because she doesn’t want to cook.

* “No- oh my god- we’re going to the diner come on!” You say tugging Jessica and Angela to stand.

* “It was great seeing you again Mrs. Cullen, see you next week!” Jessica shouts as the three of them follow you out.

* “Going out? Is that such a good idea it’s late and a school night.” Edward says as he descends down the stairs

* “Oh my god, yes Dad I’ll be home before my curfew.” You say before leaving, cue Edward crumbling onto the stairs as he imagines you calling him “daddy” again

* “I’m going to hell, I’m definitely going to hell.” He mumbles, his face in his hand.

* It’s a really short drive to the diner, also known as the only place to eat in Forks in the mid 2000’s. 

*There’s not even a McDonald’s. It’s almost sad

* And when you get there, while everyone moves ahead to the table you see a familiar face.

* “Oh, Hey Bella”

* Your eyes met and you figured it would be rude not to say anything. It looks like she’s here having dinner with her Dad. 

*She really does look like her dad, same eyes, same cheekbones.

* “Nice to see you again Chief Swan”

* “Nice to see you too, how’s Carlisle doing? Heard it’s been busy at the hospital.”

* “Yeah, it’s like he doesn’t sleep anymore.” You grin at your own joke.

* “Are you feeling alright now?” Bella asks, she looks genuinely concerned

* “Yeah, I um, made some questionable food choices at lunch.”

* There’s an awkward moment of silence. You get the impression that Chief Swan and his daughter are both the “strong silent” types.

* It looks like they’ve both finished eating already

* If you had known she was going to be here you would have made Edward come with you. 

* “Oh hey, do you want to join us for dinner?” It just seems like the friendly thing to do for the new girl, something on-brand with human character

* Definitely not because if you get on her good side now, maybe she won’t kick you out once her and Edward get married. 

*Father and daughter exchange a glance and the familiar connection they have makes you nervous. 

*“Of course you don’t have to, I know you’re here with your dad so-“

* “I’m sure Bella would love to join-“ Charlie says at the same time Bella says:

* “Wouldn’t it be kind of weird since I already ate.”

* Ah, so they’re not as in sync as you thought. 

* You give your best “Golden Girl - You can totally trust me with your daughter” smile.

* “I’m actually not eating either,” you place a hand over your stomach like a human might. “The uh, Clam Linguine is still haunting me, so I’m sticking to broth and sprite.”

* Why did you say Clam? You don’t even eat meat, it’s how you’ve been getting away with eating so little at lunch. 

* “not a lot of vegetarian choices” You say to your human friends who nod solemnly. 

* Father and Daughter exchange another look likening telepathic communication and they both move to stand

* “I’m going to finish up some paperwork at the precinct, don’t stay out to late.” Charlie says, leaning down to kiss his daughter on the forehead

* You watch with warm eyes and a small smile twitching onto your lips

* Bella is so loved.

* You can’t believe she’s willing to break her dad’s heart just so she can be 19 forever.

* Which, as you are 19 forever, you can fairly say is overrated

* “Hey guys Bella’s joining us.”

* Your female friends offer her a polite smile, you see Angela gaze flick from the menu to Bella’s face. Silently calculating the worth of this opportunity

* Any intel on this new girl would be pretty valuable

* Same old Angela

* Mike sits up straight so fast that he actually knocks his silverware off the table.

* “H-hey Bella, Hi, w-what, what are you doing here?”

* “Eating.” Bella says it so bluntly that you can’t help but laugh.

* Mike flushes bright red and Jessica and Angela exchange a look before giggling.

* “I thought it would be cool if she came over since I didn’t get to talk to her much.” You take a seat next to Jessica and Bella follows by taking the last seat between you and Mike.

* You still catch whiffs of her scent her and there, especially when she’s sitting so close to you.

* But it’s not so bad, the peachy smell is making you a little lightheaded, but you can handle it.

* At least you’re not fantascizing about killing her and everyone in this room like a certain dork you know.

* “Do you guys want to do that promotion where we get the basket of fries for the table?” Jessica asks

* “I don’t like sharing fries with Mike he eats them all.” Angela mumbles

* Yeah you remember last time when after a football game the three of them actually sat down and divided the plate in three equal portions

* They even measured out each fry dividing up the extra long ones 

* “Says the person who basically eats ketchup with a spoon.” Mike retorts and Angela scoffs

* “It’s America’s best condiment for a reason Mike.” Angela snaps back

* “I think we’re getting off track, I say Mike buys us all french fries to make up for all the times he hogged the joint basket” Jessica’s teasing but Mike takes it seriously

* “What so I’m a French fry monster now?”

* “Yes” Both Angela and Jessica respond in unison without looking up from their menu cards

* “What do you think Bella?” You’re surprised that Jessica’s the one asking. You get the feeling she’s not very happy about Mike’s crush on Bella.

* “I think Mike should buy everyone their own basket since he has such a bad history with sharing.”

* “You traitor!” Mike mocks hurt and you all laugh.

* You look at Bella through the corner of your eye, maybe it’s just the lighting but she looks pinker when she’s laughing.

* She looks happy as she starts contributing to the conversation.

* “I will say the pie here is really good, I wouldn’t share even if someone paid me to.”

* “Omg yes, the cheery icebox pie is out of this world” Jessica responds

* “I’m partial to chess pie” Mike pipes in and Angela laughs

* “You guys are crazy, the fruit custard they make is the best”

* You grin as your four new friends argue about the superior dessert, watching Bella laugh beside you.

* Welcome to team human Bella

Tags:  @moonlights27 @thebluetint @the100thtwilight @awesomebooklover17 @oneofthepotterheads @smileygirl08 @imdoingathingmom @iconicgguk @yrawn @alyciaswhore @little-horror-show @wicked-watering-can @lazydreamers @xxxmuxxx @puritanicalhypocrite

[kcrabb88]

Queer Movies/Books/TV Shows for Pride Month!

Happy Pride everyone!! For your viewing/reading pleasure I have made a (non-exhaustive) list of queer media that I have enjoyed! 

Movies/Documentaries

Pride (2014): An old tried and true favorite, which meets at the intersection of queer and workers’ rights. A group of queer activists support the 1985 miners’ strike in Wales (complete with a sing-through of Bread and Roses + Power in a Union)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman (or, two young lesbians fall in love by the sea, and you cry)

God’s Own Country: Young farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path (Seriously this movie is GREAT and doesn’t get enough love, watch it! It’s rough but ends happily)

The Half of It:  When smart but cash-strapped teen Ellie Chu agrees to write a love letter for a jock, she doesn't expect to become his friend - or fall for his crush (as in she falls for his crush who is another girl. This movie was so good, and really friendship focused!) 

Saving Face:  A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations (this is an oldie and a goodie, with a happy ending!)

Moonlight:  A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood (featuring gay men of color!)

Carol:  An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York (everyone’s seen this I think, but I couldn’t not have it here)

Milk: The story of Harvey Milk and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official (the speech at the end of this made me cry. Warning, of course, for death, if you don’t know about Harvey Milk)

Pride (Hulu Documentary):  A six-part documentary series chronicling the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in America (they go by decade from the 50s-2000s, and there is a lot of great trans inclusion in this)

Paris is Burning (Documentary): A 1990s documentary about the African American and Latinx ballroom scene. Available on Youtube!

A New York Christmas Wedding:  As her Christmas Eve wedding draws near, Jennifer is visited by an angel and shown what could have been if she hadn't denied her true feelings for her childhood best friend (this movie is SO CUTE. It’s really only nominally a Christmas movie and easily watched anytime. Features an interracial sapphic couple!) 

TV Shows 

Love, Victor: Victor is a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation (this is a spin-off of Love, Simon, and it’s very sweet and well done! Featuring a young gay man of color)

Sex Education:  A teenage boy with a sex therapist mother teams up with a high school classmate to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school (this has multiple queer characters, including a featured young Black gay man and also in season 2 there is a side ace character!) 

Black Sails: I mean, do I even need to put a summary here? If you follow me you know that Black Sails is full of queer pirates, just queers everywhere.

Gentleman Jack:  A dramatization of the life of LGBTQ+ trailblazer, voracious learner and cryptic diarist Anne Lister, who returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home Shibden Hall (Period drama lesbians!!! A title sequence  that will make you gay just by watching!) 

Tales of the City (2019):  A middle-aged Mary Ann returns to San Francisco and reunites with the eccentric friends she left behind. "Tales of the City" focuses primarily on the people who live in a boardinghouse turned apartment complex owned by Anna Madrigal at 28 Barbary Lane, all of whom quickly become part of what Maupin coined a "logical family". It's no longer a secret that Mrs. Madrigal is transgender. Instead, she is haunted by something from her past that has long been too painful to share (this is based on a book series and it’s got lots of great inter-generational queer relationships!) 

The Haunting of Bly Manor:  After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (sweet, tender, wonderful lesbians. A bittersweet ending but this show is so so wonderful)

Sense8: A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world's order (queers just EVERYWHERE in this show, of all kinds)

Books

Loveless by Alice Oseman:  Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance (don’t be turned off by this title, it’s tongue-in-cheek. This is a book about an aroace college girl discovering herself and centers the importance and power of platonic relationships! I have it on my TBR and have heard great things)

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters: Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby—and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel (again, don’t be thrown off by the title, it too, is tongue-in-cheek. This book was GREAT, and written by a trans women with a queer-and especially trans--audience in mind)

A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein: A gay Christopher Marlowe, at Cambridge and trying to become England’s best new playwright, finds himself wrapped up in royal espionage schemes while also falling in love (this book is by a Twitter friend of mine, and it is a wonderful historical thriller with a gay man at the center).

Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer: a very very queer remix of The Picture of Dorian Gray (which was already quite queer), featuring amazing female characters, a gay Basil, and a much happier ending than the original. 

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: The gay prince of England and the bisexual, biracial first son of the president fall in love (think an AU of 2016 where a woman becomes president). Featuring a fantastic discovery of bisexuality, ruminations on grief, and just a truly astonishing book. One of my favorites!

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston:  For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train (This is Casey McQuiston’s brand new novel featuring time-travel, queer women, and I absolutely cannot WAIT to read it)

The Heiress by Molly Greely: Set in the Pride and Prejudice universe, this takes on Anne de Bourg (Lady Catherine’s daughter), and makes her queer! 

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters:  Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins (Sarah Waters is the queen of historical lesbians. All of her books are good, and they’re all gay! The Paying Guests is another great one)

(On a side note re: queer books, there are MANY, these are just ones I’ve read more recently. Also there are a lot of indie/self-published writers doing great work writing queer books, so definitely support your local indie authors!) 

[maximoffcarter]

Please write a fic where Wanda Maximoff is trying to make a new youngish avenger laugh because the reader doesn’t laugh a lot but Wanda loves hearing him/her laugh and eventually discovers that the reader is VERY ticklish and she pins down and tickles the reader? :)

Love the way you laugh.

Pairings: Wanda x reader

Summary: Every since y/n joined the team, Wanda noticed how serious she sometimes was, but loved when she could see her smile or she heard the silent laugh. So after some time, it became Wanda’s mission to make her laugh...not exactly with jokes or tv shows or movies...

A/n: This was fun to write, cause I’m actually ticklish and I know how it feels lol. If you have any other requests, my ask box is open, and messages too. I have free time so I have some time to write every now and then ;)

Wanda was never one to be the funniest person on earth, she didn’t smile much, not after all that she had gone through. Of course she had moments with her brother, she had moments with the avengers when she joined, but she couldn’t really say she had been the happiest. Now, she tried her best to be happy and accept life as it was. Natasha had been her mentor this whole time, and every now and then, they joked with each other and Wanda had learned that at the end of the day, there were things to smile for and it was possible to be happy and have bad days, everyone had their bad and happy days.

So when Tony introduced the new members of the avengers, she was surprised to notice a girl that was behind Peter. They had already known Peter for a while, but he was now going to stay with them in the compound, and behind him, seemed to be a shy girl that looked somehow lost. Wanda promised herself she wouldn’t go into her mind, she didn’t want to invade her privacy plus she didn’t know the girl, so she didn’t exactly know if she had powers or not, so she decided to be patient to know this girl. Even with everyone greeting her with a smile on their faces, she didn’t smile much or really showed much emotion as she said her hello’s.

Natasha walked behind Wanda and whispered softly against her ear. “Someone caught your attention?”

“Who is that girl?” Wanda hadn’t even moved when Natasha attempted to scare her, her focus was entirely on the new girl.

“Peter’s friend, apparently. Tony mentioned she had powers and it would be good for the team. Plus, she doesn’t really have family, so she needed somewhere else to stay.” Natasha laid beside Wanda as she looked at her. “You and I will train her.”

Wanda then looked at Natasha. “We will?”

“Yes.” Natasha nodded. “Apparently, she has similar powers like yours.” She offered a small smile before she walked to the new girl to introduce herself.

Wanda had been deep in thought as she tried to convince herself to not go through her mind, something had caught her attention, but she couldn’t quiet tell why.

“Wanda!” Peter smiled as he jumped in front of her, this time, making Wanda jump. “This is y/n. Y/n, this is Wanda.”

Y/n offered a small smile, barely there. “Hey.”

Wanda smiled. “Hi. Welcome.” She simply said as she looked how Peter pulled y/n to give her a tour around. It would be interesting to meet this new girl.

   _____________________

As usual, Tony said they needed a little break from the whole superhero thing,  and it would be good to throw a party just because he could, and he wanted to. They had all being excited about it and said nothing as more people appeared in the compound, only increasing the volume of the music, and making it hard to walk around. Wanda had decided to stay in her room for a little while until she was pulled by Natasha to join them and have a little fun. She walked around with a cup of soda, looking how everyone laughed and danced. But then she noticed someone in a hidden spot, apparently doing the same thing as Wanda. Wanda decided to go on and talk to her, wanting to break the ice.

Wanda rested her back against the wall just like y/n but turned to look at her. “What is miss y/n doing here on her own? The party sure seems to be fun.”

Y/n raised her brow. “Well…some people find parties fun. I certainly don’t.” She turned to look at Wanda. “And neither do you, apparently.”

Wanda rolled her eyes playfully and shrugged. “Never been my favorite. But it’s also kinda boring to stay in my room.”

Y/n nodded as she turned her attention back to the crowd. “Can’t say I don’t enjoy being alone.”

Wanda tilted her head softly. “I can tell.”

“But I must say, I’m not really much of a talker, so you’re probably gonna get bored with me too.” Y/n shrugged as she drank from her cup again.

“We are talking, aren’t we?” Wanda smirked as she bumped her shoulder with y/n’s.

Y/n only rolled her eyes playfully as smirked. “I guess we are.”

Wanda could’ve sworn that she had done something good but didn’t comment on it seeing that she tried to not smile. “We don’t have to talk about us, we can randomly talk about anything really. Even about the people in here.”

Y/n looked at Wanda and bit her lip as she turned to look back at the crowd. “What do you think about that girl that’s talking to Steve?”

Wanda only smiled as she turned to look at the girl, knowing that somehow she had accomplished something small.

____________________

For the past few months, Wanda had somehow made y/n open up a little more to her, she had gotten y/n to laugh when she was with Wanda, even if she didn’t like it much, in occasions…weird occasions. Wanda had truly fallen for her laugh and her smile; as small as the laugh was, it was there, and it was the best for her. Y/n would mostly laughed with Wanda, not with the others, of course she smiled and joked with them, but never showed her laugh, only a silent laugh.

When Wanda wasn’t looking, she’d feel y/n looking at her and sometimes smiling, she knew that there was something stopping her from saying something, and she didn’t really blame her. Peter had told Wanda that no one really knew her past, all they knew was that she didn’t have any family and she had nowhere else to go, it was no surprise to her, being lonely in the world and feeling you had no one; Wanda had been there before until she found her family here.

After some convincing, she had finally gotten y/n to watch a show with her, she thought that maybe if she shared some of her favorite sitcoms, y/n would finally be able to laugh out of nowhere. She had prepared the whole thing, the others were out on a mission, so she thought it would finally be time for y/n to laugh for her. Even if…Wanda wasn’t trying to really force her to, but she could feel the struggle inside her, some darkness that y/n couldn’t really push away. So pushing her a little to do so wasn’t so bad.

They had seen already 3 episodes, the food was already gone and only small laughs coming from y/n; quiet laughs. Wanda felt embarrassed for laughing too much or smiling, it made her happy because it was a comfort zone for her. She sometimes felt y/n’s eyes on her, she tried not to look back, but she was curious about her staring, so as the episode finished, Wanda turned the tv off, making y/n look at the tv confused as to why she had done that.

Y/n looked back at Wanda, a confused look on her face. “You okay?”

Wanda turned to look at y/n as she crossed her legs. “Do you know that I can read minds?”

Y/n raised her brow. “Can you?” Wanda nodded. “What does that have to do with you turning the tv off?”

“I feel you, y/n…somehow I just…I feel you.” Wanda bit her lip. “I know what it’s like to be alone and I don’t know much about you, and what I know…I feel like there’s more.” She swallowed softly as she looked down at her hands. “I know the feeling. I’ve been there.”

Y/n only nodded. “And you understand that is not easy to talk about those things when you don’t really trust people.”

“I do.” Wanda looked back at y/n. “And I am not trying to push you, I just…I want you to know that I’m here.”

Y/n looked down at her hands as she thought. She licked her lips nervously as she looked up at Wanda. “I’ve been an orphan since I have memory. Changing houses almost every month. No stable family. I got my powers out of nowhere, I was an experiment and then I ran away.” She sighed. “I don’t even know if I have family.”

“You have one, right here.”

Y/n smiled softly. “I know. They had shown that.”

“But it’s hard.” Wanda completed her sentence.

“Yeah.” She huffed softly. “But…I trust you.” She offered a small smile and then she turned away from Wanda.

Wanda smiled softly at this. “Okay…how about jokes? They can make you laugh, right?”

“Why do you want so badly to make me laugh, Maximoff?” She turned to look at Wanda again as she raised her brow.

“And why not? I’m curious to hear you laugh more.” Wanda shrugged. “Is it so bad for someone to like to see people laugh?”

“No.” Y/n shook her head. “Cause I like making you laugh.” She grinned softly at this.

Wanda chuckled at this. “You do make me laugh and smile.”

Y/n tilted her head. “Do I?” She smiled at this and nodded. “Well, at least to someone, I am funny.” She shrugged as she chuckled softly and yet quietly.

Wanda squinted her eyes. “What if-“ she shrugged as she moved a little closer to her. “I think I may know another way to make you laugh.” She raised her brow teasingly, she then moved her hand and poked y/n’s side; what she didn’t expect was for y/n to jump a little and to hear a small giggle coming from her.

She cleared her throat. “You know what? We should call it a night.” Y/n said as she poked Wanda’s side before she stood up.

“Oh, c’mon. We were just starting.” Wanda stood up and walked to y/n. “You don’t like being with me or what?”

Y/n turned to look at Wanda and shook her head. “I actually do. Pretty much.” She smiled. “But…I am tired, and I did promise Natasha I’d be up early to train. But…” she looked down at Wanda’s hand and couldn’t help but hold it. “Tomorrow night…” she brought the hand up to her lips and kissed the back of it. “…we can continue to watch the show. I did enjoy it.” Y/n looked back at Wanda as she opened the door and left the room.

Wanda only smiled as she the door closed, looking down at her hand. She looked back up at the door and nodded. “Tomorrow night…”

____________________

It happened every night. Every night after dinner, y/n would go to Wanda’s room and continued where they left off. They had gotten closer somehow which made Wanda very happy because she didn’t think she would get y/n to even talk to her, so now having her come to her room every single night, it made her feel safe, and it made her happy. Y/n also felt safe around Wanda, and it made her happy to know that Wanda actually enjoyed her company; she was not the lonely girl she used to be, she had opened herself up with everyone and now she felt part of the family.

As every other night, y/n laid in bed together as they watched the show; Wanda’s laugh filled the room while y/n laughed more to herself. They had finally watched the last episode of the show and y/n sighed loudly as she looked at Wanda.

“Are you sad that you didn’t make me laugh as you expected me to?” Y/n smirked.

“You’re boring.” Wanda rolled her eyes as she sat up on the bed and looked back at y/n. “I’m sure you have a nice laugh and you’re just too scared to show it.”

“I am not, I just…don’t like my laugh.”

“So you do laugh loudly.” Wanda teased.

“I haven’t in…maybe never. Just like…chuckles or…silent laugh.” Y/n shrugged.

Wanda then smirked and moved without saying anything. She got on top of y/n and smiled down at her as she chuckled.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Y/n furrowed her brows as she looked up at Wanda, a little nervous but at the same time curious about what she was going to do?”

“A little experiment.” Wanda smirked as she placed her hand on y/n sides.

Y/n’s breath hitched, not sure where this was going but then, Wanda’s fingers started tickling her sides and y/n couldn’t take it anymore. She stared laughing loudly as she tried to push Wanda off her, but the tickles had taken over her body and she didn’t have enough strength to even push her away. Wanda laughed along her as she had finally gotten what she had been waiting for, she loved every moment of this.

“W-Wanda…s-stop.” She laughed more as she tried to push her away. “I’m gonna…it h-hurts. My tummy.” She laughed a little more before she got to place her hands on Wanda’s waist and she turned the around, ending up on top of Wanda and pinning her down.

Wanda laughed as she looked up at y/n. “Finally, I got it. You’re ticklish!”

“How dare you do that?” Y/n still laughed as she looked down at Wanda. “You’re truly insane.”

“Maybe. But I got to hear that pretty laugh.” Wanda smiled.

Y/n finally felt her breathing coming back to normal and she sighed as she looked down at her. “You did get to hear it.” She got off of Wanda and sat on the bed.

Wanda tilted her head as she sat down with y/n. “Hey…I’m sorry if you didn’t want me to do that.”

Y/n turned to look at Wanda. “It’s not that I just…I’ve never laughed that way before. And…being here just…it makes me happy.” She smiled.

Wanda hugged her legs. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy.”

“You made that.” Y/n confessed as she turned her body to be in front of Wanda.

“Did I?”

“Yep.” Y/n chuckled. “Why?”

Wanda shrugged. “Does it matter the why? Like I said, I love your laugh.”

“You said you liked, not loved.” Y/n teased.

Wanda rolled her eyes playfully. “I know what it’s like to not wanting to laugh or smile or not finding the purpose on it. I spent some time that way, but then I found my family. And…you also make me happy. I just…you caught my attention the moment you came here. No other reason.”

“Be honest…you got into my mind?” Y/n raised her brow.

“No…but I thought about it.” Wanda shrugged, she looked back at her. “Didn’t want to invade your privacy.”

“I trust you. Maybe some other time.” Y/n smiled. “So…is miss Maximoff ticklish too?”

“Don’t you dare.” Wanda raised her brow. “But not really, not that much.”

Y/n chuckled. “Fine. Some other time too.” She looked down at her hands for a moment. “So…” she looked at Wanda again. “What do you say about a date?”

Wanda smiled. “A date?”

“A date.” Y/n chuckled.

“I’d like that very much.” Wanda giggled. “Do you promise you’ll laugh?”

Y/n rolled her eyes. “No, I won’t.”

Wanda raised her brow. “Are you sure about that?” She smirked as she moved slowly.

“Don’t you dare, Maximoff.”

“Just a little laugh.” Wanda chuckled as she jumped on top of y/n and started tickling her again.

“Stop!” Y/n laughed loudly again as she tried to push her off, but at the same time, she didn’t mind it if it meant she would hear Wanda laugh.

“What is going on in there?” Steve asked as he stopped right outside Wanda’s door.

Natasha chuckled. “Wanda and y/n.” She smirked.

Steve looked at her for a moment. “What?”

“C’mon, fossil. I’ll explain it after you get me some dinner.” Natasha said as she pulled Steve with her, wanting to give them some privacy. 

[phoebe-delia]

hi !! i love all your tswift content !! it’s always so fun when interests in fandom overlap. i know you already answered about your favorite songs by her but i was wondering what your top 5 favorite albums are and also how/when you got into tswift !! 💖

(ps. i’m a new swiftie - my sister got me into her just this past year right before red (taylor’s version) came out so i only know all the songs from lover, fearless (taylor’s version), red (taylor’s version), and also reputation bc my sister just spent a whole week playing me every single song by her and she would ask me how i liked each song after and i guess a lot of my favorites were from reputation hahah - i have a thing about having to motivate myself to learning new albums bc when i start i basically just play it on loop until i know every song and i haven’t been able to get myself to do that since red but folklore and evermore are def next !! :) - and so far my ranking would be reputation, lover, red, fearless !!!)

HI!! This ask made me smile so big, so thank you. I sometimes worry that I talk about her too much, or people will get annoyed, but it's always gratifying and relieving and fun when other people love her too and are willing to indulge and/or join me in ranting about her and her music and its connections to Drarry.

Also, welcome to the madness! And kudos to your sister for getting you into Taylor. Mine did the same for me, actually, to answer your second question first lol. I was aware of Taylor growing up—I have a vivid memory of seeing Teardrops On My Guitar advertised on Disney channel. I heard YBWM and Love Story on the radio. (And "White Horse," though for a long time I thought it was called "Come Around" lmaooo).

I discovered even more of her songs when my older sister would drive us both to school and blast Taylor's music in the car. It was around the time that Red first came out. My sister would blast "All Too Well," and when it got to the lead-up to the bridge, she'd turn the volume increasingly louder, and louder, and louder until it got to "Well maybe we got lost in translation." We'd listen to songs from Red and Speak Now and Fearless, and I loved every second of it. (I have one memory of not knowing all the lyrics to "Forever and Always" but trying to sing along anyway and my sister asking me to stop singing if I didn't know the words 😂😂).

Taylor's songs really defined a lot of my adolescence. Her songs got me through heartbreaks and made me feel so seen. They still do. And it's incredible to see new Swifties like you get the same value from her music.

So, to answer your first question, here are my top 5 favorite Taylor albums!

1. Speak Now

2. Red (TV)

3. 1989

4. Fearless (TV)

5. folklore

I really love all her albums, but I have very vivid associations with the songs on those 5 albums, both in my personal life and with just experiencing being a fan when they came out.

I do with rep, too! I remember being shocked—in the best way—by LWYMMD song/music video and gasping when I heard her say "shit" for the first time. Also, since you ranked it first on your list, reputation has a ton of bangers and underrated songs; I can't wait for the vault tracks lol. Lover is underrated too. And Fearless is just a classic. Taylor really is a genius lol.

Thank you so so much for sending this in. I always get a thrill from asks, but it's especially exciting to get these kinds of requests and to hear from fellow Swiftie/Drarry people. 💛

[livingforthewhump]

Paladin Series Characters

Because I did this instead of writing so I might as well post it :) Here’s a more formal intro for the ones you’ve met as well as the ones you haven’t!

Paladin (27)

Each city has a Hero that acts as law enforcement and receives federal funding. Paladin is his city’s appointed Hero and is known for being charming and adored by all. His powers are telekinesis and général mind magic. He likes to be in control of a situation. The Heroes of various cities have an underground human trafficking operation where they can get whumpees, but Paladin had never found one he liked until Caroline walked through his door.

Caroline (18)

Rather than going to college, Caroline decided to try and see if she could apprentice under Paladin, since they have the same powers. Like everyone else, she was enthralled with Paladin. She’s kind of spunky and hipster and likes discovering things no one else knows about. She’s usually very sarcastic, and she has claustrophobia.

Hugo (20)

He is a college student in the city, and he changes his major so often that he probably couldn’t even tell you what it is. He has definitely had enough caffeine in the past hour to kill three grown men, and has probably not spoken to another human being in over a week. He struggles with depression and feels isolated ever since cutting ties with his family because he’s bisexual and had a boyfriend freshman year of college. Said boyfriend left him when he discovered his powers, which are basically that he can absorb his opponent’s attack and use it against them.

Vert (18)

Vert is part of The Agency, an undercover group that is dedicated to taking down the Heroes because of their corruption. He joined two years ago. He likes facts and reason, and is the Softest Boy. His parents named him Vert because he was born with green eyes, but as he grew up they turned hazel. Green is still his favorite color, though, so it’s okay.

Sai (21)

He is very protective of Vert, basically his big brother. He also opposes the Heroes, but rather than join The Agency he trained himself with knives and used his parkour skills to become a self-proclaimed Villain, as he is in complete opposition with the Heroes. He is very morally gray, which people who know him would never guess since he’s very charming and sociable. He takes great advantage of the fact that he can drink and never stops making gags of it around Vert and the others when they’re back on their bs. He’s also an art student.

Iris (19)

She is new both to The Agency and the the city, as she was sent there on assignment. She really likes girly self-care things and even though she’s an amazing cook she still eats mostly junk food. She’s super sweet and loves classic rock. Although she’s taking a couple years off of school, she wants to be a therapist one day.

Thaddeus (19)

They’re a college history student, a certified Nerd, and they’re Iris’ partner. They like finding obscure old tv shows and movies and WILL argue that Star Trek (TOS) is better than Star Wars. They garden and go to the farmer’s market a lot (they’re kind of a homebody) so they can spend time cooking with Iris and listening to her favorite music. Although they’re not a part of The Agency, they know what’s going on and are fully supportive of Iris as long as she’s not pushing herself too hard.

Siren (18)

She’s new to the city but knows a lot about The Agency. Mostly avoids people despite being passionate and sweet when you talk to her. She’s incredibly work-oriented but enjoys spending time in nature and being spontaneous when she has time. She’s an idealist and opposes everyone who uses their powers: heroes, villains, or vigilantes. Although she spends her time working towards a better world, she has a dark side that few see.

—

Picrews I used:

Caroline, Iris, and Siren

Paladin and Hugo

Vert, Sai, and Thaddeus

Tag list below the cut (because I want you all to see my children):

@castielamigos-whump-side-blog @twistedcaretaker @lonesome--hunter @poppys-writing @endless-whump @jkoo7jkoo5-baby-susan @mostlytryingtostayalive @shadowylemon @cherryblossomskye @utopian819 @whole-and-apart-and-between @written-to-death @ill-eat-you-if-you-cross-me @villain-enthusiast @hurting-fictional-people @kixngiggles @onestopheroxvillain @lave-e @bibliophilelifestyle

[summersun4youforever]

✨ Tag 9 people to learn more about their interests!

tagged by my fav @loulovehome thank you pu hope that this quells your curiosity! 

MUSIC

fav genre? not to be that person but i think i have a toe in most genres, i suppose my favorites have got to be anything taylor swift does, pop punk, r&b pop/new age r&b, and bluegrass

fav artist? again, not to be that person but i love so many artists! let’s do this based off of genre: taylor swift, 1D, 5sos, massive focus on ZAYN, the Avett brothers, and counting crows

fav song? fav song of all time (since i was young) is going to be come around by rhett miller but more currently i’d say you are in love by taylor swift and dRuNk by ZAYN

song currently stuck in your head? i have no idea how it got there but i have stressed out by 21 pilots stuck in my head??

5 fav lyrics? ok let’s do this kids. edit: this went in a “fav love song lyrics” way so sorry in advance.

1)  I hope that I don't sound to insane when I say / There is darkness all around us / I don't feel weak but I do need sometimes for her to protect me / And reconnect me to the beauty that I'm missin' (January Wedding - The Avett Brothers)

2)  Hands around my waist / You're counting up the hills across the sheets / And I'm a falling star / A glimmer lighting up these cotton streets / I admit I'm a bit of a fool for playing by the rules / But I've found my sweet escape when I'm alone with you (Disconnected - 5sos)

3)  This is the worthwhile fight / Love is a ruthless game / Unless you play it good and right / These are the hands of fate / You're my Achilles heel / This is the golden age of something good / And right and real (State of Grace - Taylor Swift) 

4)  What if I changed my mind / What if I said it's over / I been flying so long / Can't remember what it was like to be sober / What if I lost my lives? / What if I said "Game over"? / What if I forget my lies? / And I lose all my composure (Back to Life - ZAYN)

5)   I never said I was perfect / Or you don't deserve a good person to carry your baggage / I know a few girls that can handle it / I ain't that kind of chick, but I can call 'em for you if you want / I never said that you wasn't attractive / Your style and that beard, ooh, don't get me distracted / I'm tryna be patient, and patience takes practice / The fact is I'm leaving, so just let me have this (Jerome - Lizzo)

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

fav book genre? murder mystery and young love!

fav writer? jane austen, lisa jewell, and rick riordan (nostalgia ok?!)

fav book? the way i used to be my amber smith, rebecca by daphane du maurier, and then she was gone OR watching you (both by Lisa Jewell)

fav book series? i guess the whole percy jackson situations? i have everything RR every wrote, and i liked it all but i havent touched the older ones in ages

comfort book? not one specifically but the nancy drew books

perfect book to read on a rainy day? bird summons by leila aboulela

5 quotes from your fav book that you know by heart? i hope i can name five...

1)  “The point is, life has to be endured, and lived. But how to live it is the problem.” “I am no traveller, you are my world.” (both are My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier)

2)  “And I’m terrified he’ll see through the tough iceberg layer, and he’ll discover not a soft, sweet girl, but an ugly fucking disaster underneath.” (The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith)

3)  "I cannot make speeches, Emma," he soon resumed; and in a tone of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was tolerably convincing. "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it. Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover. But you understand me. Yes, you see, you understand my feelings and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice.” (Emma by Jane Austen) (sorry for the length, the shortened versions were not cutting it for me)

4)  “Read, read, read. That's all I can say.” (The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene)

5)  “...amazing how boring you can get away with being when you’re pretty. No one seems to notice. When you’re pretty everyone just assumes you must have a great life. People are so short-sighted, sometimes. People are so stupid. I have a dark past and I have dark thoughts. I do dark things and I scare myself sometimes.” (Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell)

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary (im a very judgmental reader) | rereading or reading just once

TV AND MOVIES

fav tv/movie genre? i like dramedies, mockumentaries, and procedurals 

fav movie? ive got a massive list on my phone but ill pick Doob (No Bed of Roses) and 3-Iron as my favs for today

comfort movie? 2000s romcoms, im talking clueless, 13 going on 30, how to loe a guy in ten days, ten things i hate abt you, legally blonde

movie you watch every year? mamma mia and all listed in prev question

fav tv show? too many, currently im rewatching arrested development

comfort tv show? new girl

most rewatched tv show? new girl

ultimate otp? shawn and jules from psych (ultimate bc ive been watching since diapers literally)

5 fav characters? winston bishop, stiles stilinski, bellamy blake, clarke griffin, lydia martin

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga | half hour or one hour long episodes | subtitles on or off | rewatching or watching just once | downloads or watches online

super fun even though it took me an hour lmao, I'm tagging @technosoot @hometothecanyonmoon @sassylilnoodle @sushiniall @rosegold-thorns no pressure and sorry if youve already been tagged!

edit: i somehow managed to forget what i consider to be one of the greatest opening verses ever???? so bonus lyrics:

Step out the front door like a ghost into the fog / Where no one notices the contrast of white on white / And in between the moon and you / The angels get a better view / Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right (Round Here - Counting Crows)

[happyandticklish]

Silent Laughter

Notes: It has come to my attention that I have written nothing for Shincelty, despite the two of them being one of my favorite parings on that show, and I have decided to right that wrong today. 

Summary: Shinra proposes an experiment and Celty deals with her own inner doubt.

Usually, Celty didn’t mind the fact that she couldn’t speak.

It had its downfalls, of course. Pulling her phone out every time she wanted to communicate even the simplest of concepts wasn’t ideal, and could be highly frustrating at times. However, she had found over the years that there weren’t many moments when she needed to speak. Living with Shinra meant that conversations tended to carry themselves, even if she never spoke a word. His bubbly enthusiasm for everything more than made up for her monotonous silence.

There were moments, though, when she found the block highly aggravating.

That day brought forth one such moment. Celty had been relaxing, her body splayed lazily upon the leather couch the two shared while she waited for her husband to return. Normally, Shinra was the main occupant of their household, as he worked from home. Today though, he had been invited out by Izaya.

Or. Well. Invited probably wasn’t the right word. Izaya had called the other up on the phone and threatened to kill Shizuo should Shinra not meet with him to discuss “important personal matters”. This was code for Izaya being too stubborn to merely ask Shinra to hang out with him. He did this often, threatening homicide (usually towards their beloved Shizuo) if the other did not agree to meet up with him. At first, Shinra had been concerned, but after it had happened a couple of times he quickly saw through Izaya’s lazy façade. He called him out on it occasionally, but each time Izaya would merely shrug, insisting he had no idea what the other was talking about.

Celty herself had never understood their friendship. It wasn’t that she necessarily disliked Izaya; she understood that people were complicated and did complicated things because of it. Still, he seemed like a dangerous friend to keep, and one whom Shinra was often irritated by. Whenever she inquired about it, Shinra would just smile in confusion, replying, “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t we be friends?”

Celty allowed her thoughts to drift aimlessly as she waited, allowing the sun filtering through the blinds to warm her. Today was the first day in a while that she hadn’t been busy with work. Izaya, one of her main employers, was pre-occupied for the day as previously stated. Even the various gangs scattered throughout the city, all of whom tended to want her for some impossible task or another, had lightened up in their normally relentless persistence. She could hardly remember the last time she had been free to simply lounge around. She decided to take advantage of the moment, allowing herself to drift off into the vague semblance of sleep she exhibited.

She was roused almost minutes later by the sounds of a door kicked open and the exuberant tones of Shinra’s voice as he entered. “Celty! I have returned! Sorry I’m late; Izaya ended up running into Shizuo at Simon’s and I had to prevent the two from destroying the city in one go. Are you home?”

He struggled out of his shoes, hopping back several steps in his attempts. He popped his head into the living room, smiling once he noticed her. “Hey.”

Celty sat up, waving slowly as she brushed off the remaining lull of sleep. Shinra slowly slipped off his coat, taking a seat besides her on the couch. She started to bring her phone out from her pocket, intent on typing some semblance of a “how was your day?”, but before she could do so she found herself enveloped in the arms of the scientist. She froze, the suddenness of the action throwing her off guard for a moment. He buried his face into her shoulder, softly mumbling, “I missed you.”

Slowly, Celty allowed her muscles to relax, melting into the embrace. Shinra tended to be a more physical person than most, eagerly leaning against shoulders and knocking knees with others while watching movies; whenever they went out for any kind of date he always made sure to interlace his fingers with hers as they walked through the crowded streets. Sometimes, if the stress of work had caught up to him, he would curl up on her lap and she would run her fingers through his hair, allowing the other to relax. For him, touch meant affection, love, and caring. She had learned as much over the years.

She wrapped her arms around him in unison, wishing she had a mouth to kiss him, to reassure him how much she loved him too.

“How about we stay here?” he implored into her shoulder. “Forever. Just you and me and Shooter. We’ll both quit our jobs and I’ll cook you omelets and you can watch those dumb tv shows you’re so fond of, and neither of us puts our lives on the line for the sake of Ikebukuro.”

She curled her fingers in his hair, implying in that gesture everything she couldn’t say. He sighed, his body drooping against her. “I know. That doesn’t mean a man can’t hope.”

Celty retrieved her phone where she had dropped it on the cushion. She typed out a quick sentence, tapping Shinra’s shoulders insistently. He glanced up, eyes scanning the screen. We can grab something to eat, if you’d like? There’s a new sandwich place that opened up downtown.

“No,” he said, shaking his head resolutely. “If I cannot stop time, then at the very least I can make this moment last as long as possible. I’m sorry Celty, but I’m afraid I cannot move from this position. If I were to let go of you, there could be earth-shattering consequences.”

Earth-shattering? she replied skeptically.

“Utterly disastrous,” he confirmed in deadpan.

She tilted her neck down at him disapprovingly. You’ll have to let go eventually, you know.

“You can’t make me.”

Those words, spoken impetuously from the mouth of the foolish scientist, forewarned his doom. In the two’s time together, Celty had discovered many things about Shinra. She knew that he was fond of games and had a strange taste in cooking. She knew that he still listened to pop music, completely unashamedly, she might add. She had also learned that he was, quite possibly, one of the most ticklish people she had ever met before.

If she had possessed a mouth, she might’ve smirked.

Slowly, she returned her hands to his back, running her nails gently up and down the other’s spine. Shinra closed his eyes with a relaxed sigh, utterly unaware of the trick she would soon play on him. As time went on, her touch traveled casually away from his back, almost, almost, brushing against his sides. He tensed against her, arching a little against her touch.

“Celty.”

One finger carefully drew a path up his left side.

“C-Celty,” he tried again, his smile transforming into a wobbly grin as he tightened his grip around her. “No.”

Two fingers, scratching just under his ribs.

“This is entirely unfair,” he informed her, squirming away from her touch. “C-Completely and u-utterly uncalled fohor.”

All at once ten fingers on either side, scribbling with devastating softness. He yelped, bursting into a round of panicked giggles and squeezing her tight as he fought to keep himself from shoving her away. “Cehehelty, thihis ihihis mehehehean!”

His thin button-up did little to protect him, and she managed to get at his slender sides with ease. Each curl and twitch of her fingers sent him into helpless spasms, his arms trembling in their hold. Only when she pinched that one spot on his hips did he finally let go, arms shooting down protectively.

“Ohohokay, okay!” Shinra yelped, scrambling back on the couch. He took a moment to regain his bearings, pointing a finger at her accusingly. “You can’t use that against me every time you want something, you know.”

But you love it?

“That is…” he trailed off, a flush rising on his cheeks. “Irrelevant information. Besides, it’s not fair. How come you’re the only one who ever gets to tickle me?”

The black smoke surrounding her swirled inquiringly. What do you mean?

“Well, I mean, you’re—” he stopped himself, giving her a stern look. “You’re… not ticklish, right?”

Why wouldn’t I be ticklish?

“Well you’ve never reacted when I tried before,” he pointed out.

Shinra, she typed slowly, as though she were speaking to a child. I don’t have a head—I wouldn’t be able to laugh.

This gave the other pause. It had never occurred to him that her lack of reaction could have been because she couldn’t react, as opposed to her being unaffected. Now that the idea had entered his head however, it wouldn’t leave him alone. Part of it stemmed from a purely scientific viewpoint (could Dullahans be ticklish?), though he couldn’t deny that a greater portion of him was grateful for the chance at revenge.

He leaned across the couch eagerly, his attention entirely captivated by this new concept. Celty leaned back warily, but not away. “We do know that you feel pain, admittedly to a more muted level than most. That would imply that you can feel sensation. I guess I never connected the dots in my head before.” He put his hand to his chin, considering. Finally, he looked back up at her, a slightly hesitant look to his eyes. “Would you… would you be okay if I tested it?”

Tested it? Celty repeated slowly. As in…

“Tickle you,” Shinra filled in. “Only if you want to, of course. I wouldn’t consider doing it without your permission. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be dying of curiosity. But I understand if you don’t want to.”

Celty tried to imagine it, what it would be like to experience what had brought Shinra to the ground many times in the past. She knew she had been tickled before, though usually never purposefully. Merely an accidental glance against the side, a poke to get her attention. Once Shinra had grabbed her hips and squeezed suddenly, but his attempt had ultimately failed as Celty merely turned questioningly towards him.

She found it difficult to believe that something as simple as a light touch could bring her to hysterics, though she’d seen it work on Shinra countless times.

Alright, she agreed at last, finding that she herself was curious as to the outcome. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.

Shinra’s eyes widened, clearly having expected more of a fight from her. Still, he wasn’t about to let a chance like this pass him up. Cautiously, he uncurled her leg, placing it on his lap gently. He raised his hand, pausing inches away from her foot and quickly adding, “Oh, and make sure to tell me exactly how this feels! This is research, after all.”

Celty tensed, preparing herself for an onslaught of… well, what she wasn’t sure. But when Shinra lightly dragged his finger up her sole, she didn’t experience any kind of profound reaction. It was a prickling sensation, one that alerted her nerves to the action, but nothing altogether noteworthy. Shinra continued to drag the same finger up and down her arches, seemingly wanting to take it slow so she had time to process.

“How does it feel?” he asked curiously, glancing up from his task but not stopping as he did so.

Celty raised her phone, ready to type out a response, when suddenly Shinra’s finger drifted slightly, going in vague zig-zags down her foot. She jerked forward with a start, her toes curling protectively.

“Celty?” Shinra asked hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

Yes, she typed out, the words halted as she tried to come to terms with her own feelings. It just… tickled.

“It did?” Shinra confirmed excitedly. “That’s incredible! What did it feel like?”

You know what tickling feels like, she pointed out.

“Well, yes,” he said, nodding. “But for all we know, it’s an entirely different sensation for you.”

Celty’s fingers paused over her phone as she tried to decide a way to describe the earlier feeling. Electric. But also soft, at the same time. Sort of like when a bug crawls on your skin, but more intense.

“Interesting,” Shinra murmured. “I would say that’s pretty accurate to what it feels like. Still, we’ll probably have to do more testing to further confirm it. Would you be okay if I kept going?”

Celty thought about saying no, the vague devious excitement in his eyes making her wary, but she found that she was just as curious to experience the startling sensation again. It was strange to think that in all the time she had been among humans, she had never participated in the silly ritual. She nodded, and eagerly Shinra returned to his task, scratching lightly at her soles once more.

Again, strange sparks of feeling shot up her leg, and she jerked against his hold unconsciously. Shinra appeared more bold now, spidering his fingers softly over her sole with reckless abandon. She clutched her phone tightly, drawing her other knee up to her chest. It was somehow a comfort to protect the one foot that she could, the action giving her a strange sense of control over the situation. When he reached the ball of her feet, she spasmed, hilarity rising in her throat.

It was odd. Throughout all her life, Celty had never known the ability to laugh like others could, and never before had she felt an especial need for it. Now though, with Shinra’s fingers wrecking hell upon her, she found the need to laugh growing stronger, despite the fact that there was no outlet for it. She shook noiselessly, her shoulders drawing in.

“Wow Celty,” Shinra said, smiling affectionately over at her. “I never realized you were this ticklish. If I had known, I would’ve struck my revenge years ago.”

Celty wrapped her arms around herself, knowing that had she the ability to, she would be blushing right then.

She was able to survive a couple more minutes, squirming futilely on the couch, though that was more an unconscious protest than a genuine attempt to escape. He had discovered a spot on her toes that made her jump, her hands fisting into the fabric of the couch as she fought to keep herself from shoving him off.

It was only after five minutes had elapsed, that she began to realize the silence filling the room, stretching like a chasm between them. Guilt prickled slightly at her chest. Normally when the two of them were together, she had her phone on her and could therefore uphold easy conversation. Now though, with the distractingly pleasant and unbearable sensations squirreling through her, she was finding it impossible to type anything.

In an instant, black mist had wrapped itself tightly around Shinra’s wrists, pulling his hand away. His eyes widened in surprise at the sudden gesture, and he turned to see Celty quickly typing out a response. “C-Celty—”

Wait.

He frowned, tilting his head in concern. “Is… is everything alright? I didn’t go overboard did I? Whatever I did, I’m sorry—”

No, she interrupted, waving her hand fiercely in denial of his statement. You didn’t do anything. It’s only…

She hesitated on her next sentence, trying to think of a way to phrase it. Shinra waited calmly for her response, his eyebrows drawn down with vague worry.

I was just thinking that this can’t possibly be fun for you, she said at last. Shinra opened his mouth to deny the statement, but she quickly began typing again before he could say anything. I can’t laugh like other humans, or smile, even though everything in me wants to. Doesn’t that take away from it? For you I mean?

Shinra blinked, the words clearly the last thing he had expected. “Celty… how could you possibly think that?”

Celty didn’t respond, though her silence said everything he needed to hear.

He held up his hands imploringly, and after a moment Celty dissipated the mist with a flick of her hand. Once he was free again, he reached out, grasping her hand in his.

“For all the time I’ve known you, I’ve never had to identify you with a voice. And so I learned to recognize you by the other things that made you you, the soft step of your footsteps, the impatient cross of your arms when you’re exasperated with me. I don’t need to hear your voice to know you’re there. So in that case, how could I possibly long for a sound I’ve never even heard? I don’t need to hear your laugh to sense its presence. I can see it in the way you scrunch your shoulders, the tension in your muscles, the way your body shakes besides me. It may not be audible, but to me, it’s the most beautiful sound in the world—the laughter of silence. It’s so perfectly you, how could I possibly hate it?”

His words were spoken innocently, like when a child brings forth a truth they know to be real beyond a shadow of a doubt because they haven’t learned to suspect the world yet. Celty’s heart lifted in her chest, a burst of euphoria lighting and melting her limbs. She clutched his hand back, before reaching for her phone once more and quickly typing a response.

Thank you.

He grinned, flushing a little, as though her ineloquent reply had meant just as much to him as his words had to her. “There’s no need for that. I was simply speaking the truth. Although…”

She startled as he reached forward suddenly, enclosing the two of them in a hug. The true intention of his gesture became clear in a moment as his hands latched onto her sides, his fingers curling in just slightly. “If you really want to thank me, then I wouldn’t mind a continuation of our earlier experimentation?”

Celty paused, and then, with a wild carelessness, she hugged him back, tracing out a simple word onto his back.

Yes.

[jazinerambles]

Persona 2 Innocent Sin Review

I wanted to have some time in between playing the game and writing my thoughts for Persona 2 Innocent Sin. I will be referencing it and other Persona games so there may be some light spoilers for games 2-5. 

I played the psp version of the game on a Playstation TV. I beat the game at 76 hours on the dot. I have not completed most of the theater missions, but I have completed the main story of the game and did do a few sidequests.

My review will be organized in several sections-gameplay, story, music, characters, LGBTQ representation, extra content, wishlist and recommendation.

Gameplay:

Persona 2 Innocent Sin was released in 1999. Therefore plays as a game from 1999. The PSP rerelease updated menus, changed the difficulty, and added all out attack art similar to P3-P5 for the fusion spells. I love the all out attack animation and although the menus got a little cumbersome, it didn’t really impact gameplay for me. 

The biggest complaint about Persona 2 IS is how easy and repetitive it is and the high encounter rate. The battles for the most part are easy and if you set up all your attacks in the first round, you can basically use autoplay until an emergency occurs or you encounter an enemy in which you must change it up. 

I never saw the gameplay as repetitive as others do and I feel those who do only just battle and that’s it. I was constantly trying to get all the fusion spells, max up my personas to trade them for items, try different combinations for the demon negotiations and spread demon rumors to get items, spells, and cards (you need cards to summon new personas in the velvet room.) Demon negotiations also allow you a better look into each of the characters’ personalities and relationships. Events in the game will change how the characters react in these negotiations so it is always nice to go back to them throughout the course of the game. 

The demons you encounter have emotions. I believe they are intrigued, happy, angry and fearsome. Make them happy and they will offer a pact with you and give you free stuff and willing to spread rumors for you. Make them angry they will fight you. Make them fear you they will run away. Make them intrigued and you get the cards needed to summon personas and even more if you already have a pact with them. 

I wanted to return to the big complaint though, the high encounter rate. This was something that I felt hot and cold about. Most of the time this didn’t bother me, because I needed to level up my personas anyway. But when I needed to backtrack and explore further, it did get a little bothersome. 

You can use estoma to avoid enemies weaker than you. It is not a passive skill, so once you have a persona that has it, you have to cast it every time it wears off. At the Mu casino, you can also purchase a disguise kit that does the same thing, but it effects last about the same amount of time and it is ridiculously expensive. Just use estoma. 

As briefly mentioned above, unlike Persona 5 in which you can just catch Personas, in P2IS there are only two ways to get them. You get cards from demon negations, take those cards to the velvet room and then trade them in for a Persona. But you have to enough cards to summon it and the persona has to be 5 cards within your character level. 

You can also talk to the demon painter, for him to make you cards for the specific arcana you want by using blank cards. These are also given through demon negotiations that you have a pact with. 

In P2, ALL your characters are capable of changing out Personas, but their compatibility with different personas varies with their Arcana. 

The other way to get personas is through the story. There are certain actions that you must take to get the prime personas and then the final personas. These personas are character specific and you can’t give them to other characters. 

I wanted to talk about three more things before I move on to the story: rumormongers, fusion spells, and dungeons. 

Persona 2IS is based around rumors. Just like P3 is for the dark hour, P4 the midnight channel, P5 around palaces and so on...

To get certain items and progress the story, you MUST gather and spread rumors. There are five characters throughout the game called rumormongers. They will give you information in exchange for receiving information. You then share this information to the detective agency, pay a fee for them to spread them for you, and there you go. rumor spread. As mentioned earlier, there are also demon specific rumors. 

Fusion spells were something I really enjoyed in this game. Although hearing “Are you ready? Here goes” and “Let’s go everybody” will be stuck in my head for the rest of eternity...

Basically, to create a fusion spell, members in your party require a requisite spell and then that party member is placed in a specific order when taking turns. Once that spell is unlocked, it will let you know if you have the requisite spells and you no longer have to adjust the order of party members. Some of the spells you need to unlock fusion spells are persona specific. The fusion spells are elemental. 

I will not go into weaknesses of elemental spells, I am just going to say that you aren’t “down”’ed like you are in 3-5. 

Finally, my first real pet peeve with this game-the dungeons.

Oh boy. Air raid, AeroSpace and one of the four Zodiac dungeons (I am pretty sure its Eikichi’s) gets ALL my hate. There are cheap gimmicks that make the game artificially hard but only for these dungeons and more so, frustrating. 

But I am not going to go into detail why, and the other dungeons are not bad at all. But play the game and experience these dungeons for yourself. That is all I am going to say about that.

Story:

This section will be nowhere was long as gameplay. The story did not go where I thought it would, but that’s a good thing. I would go in completely blind if you can. The ending definitely surprised me a bit. I think it has one of the best stories of the persona games.

It does not follow a calendar like the later Persona games and time just blends together. By the end of the game, you won't know if a day, week or month passed from the beginning to the end.

Music:

The music is actually really good. It is the reason why I played the game in the first place. Just don’t look at the soundtracks names. Spotify has it available if you live in the US. You are better off listening to the soundtrack because I promise you that most dungeons songs will be cut off due to the frequency of battles. 

Some of my favorite songs are Smile Hirasaka, Unbreakable Tie, Kurosu’s theme, Joker and the Taurus dungeon’s theme.

Characters:

Despite Persona 2 not having social links, I feel like I know these characters better than some of the persona games that do have social links. It is also the only Persona game that I can say without any hesitation that I like the entire main cast. 

I truly love them all, but my favorite would probably be Yukino or Maya. 

Unlike other Personas, the dynamics for Persona 2 IS are different, because not all of your party members are high school students. The adult characters have adult problems, the high school students have high school problems, and all of them have deep psychological problems and abandonment issues that will take years of intense therapy (or Philemeon) to forget.

One of the biggest themes of Persona 2 is confronting your past and learning from the mistakes of your childhood. And the characters do! And by the end of the game you are so proud of how far they have come. And then things happen...

LGBTQ representation

Let me say that I started P2IS off on the wrong foot, but I am still absolutely justified at being upset by it. One of the very first interactions you can have with a NPC is through a very uncomfortable exchange between you, Eikichi and a transman that is pretty transphobic. And to add the icing on the cake, Atlus refers to him as a “weird woman.” 

I was literally going to just stop playing the game like an hour in because of that, but I decided to continue.

What I discovered was a game that has highs and lows when it comes to LGBTQ representation. 

You can play as a bi character who can confess his feelings to men and women. *Stares hard at Persona 4 and Persona 5*

You have a gay character that has an interesting story, character development, is unabashedly gay and isn’t a walking stereotype. Nor is his entire arc centered around gay panic. 

From what I understand the dialogue from the NPC does get better, but I am not holding my breath. 

And the one sapphic kiss scene we get in a Persona game is a kiss of manipulation and not love. So that is a little sad. 

But overall, P2IS does try to make an effort. And it definitely makes a better effort than its successor released almost 2 decades later.

Extra content:

Again, Persona 2 doesn’t have social links or a calendar. Please don’t approach it like the other games where you have to fill up your time between dungeons. It is not a necessity, but there are things you can do. 

Mu is a casino that you can visit that allows you to play mini games to gain coins that you can use to get weapons, rare items, and even unlock personas. I spent a little too much time at Mu....

You can also talk to NPCs to do side missions. Be careful though. You have to do the side missions in a given amount of time or you may not get rewarded for it. Also P2IS is very much like Final Fantasy 9 where it is much better to go to a place sooner than later, because there may not be a later...

You also have the factory which is an optional dungeon that opens up more and more as you progress through the game. 

There is the theater which is a PSP exclusive which has side missions unrelated to the main story that you can play. They are okay.

Wishlist

I hear so many people wanting a remake of P2IS so the game can be more accessible. I am very torn about this. Besides the difficulty and maaybe tweaking the encounter rate a bit, I wouldn’t change a thing. However, I also know that I couldn’t enjoy Shadow of Colossus until the controls were updated. Like I tried and then just gave up. 

I honestly don’t want a remake. I don’t trust the Atlus of today with this game.

I do want it to be acknowledged and more accessible though. 

But if I had to make a wish list, this is what it would be. Again, this would be a “it would be nice list.”

Make the battles harder.

Update cut scenes? I really like the art for the cut scenes already, but would like some more. Maybe keep the drawings but update the CG?

Social side quests. I do not want social links in Persona 2. However, side quests that allow you to learn more about your character like a social link would, would be something I would be very interested in. 

Make the portraits consistent. The art from the original game and the new art put in the PSP game (I am talking about you climax lady) clash so much. Pick one style and stick to it.

I want to fight Ms. Ideal. Let me do it for reasons. Give me a chance to battle her.

I want the option to switch out characters. I love both Jun and Yukki, but I want to be able to play with both. 

Let me skip the animation when I create a new Persona. 

*EDIT*  I can’t believe I forgot this and feel awful I did, but I do think they should keep the trans NPC, but change the dialogue and the the name. It isn’t the NPC that is the problem but the dialogue and actions. Otherwise, I think it would be ok. 

I think that’s it.

Recommendation:

So should you play Persona 2 IS? Short answer, yes. Long answer is that it is complicated. In a few months the game will no longer be accessible for psp consoles. The physical version of the game is ridiculously expensive. You will have to accept the fact this game is on psp and its sequel’s psp version never came to English speaking markets.

You may not like the graphics, gameplay, or that it doesn’t feel like the later persona games. And as much as I love this game, that is alright. You do you. But I truly do think you are missing out on a great game. So if you have the opportunity to do so, yeah absolutely give it a shot. 

[billiejs]

Three times the boys are blown away by pop culture and new technologies (and one time when Julie can’t resist the 90s)

Julie and the Phantoms, Julie/Luke, the timelines are not super accurate but bear with me, 1.9k 

ALEX is obsessed with the Harry Potter books 

Luke checks his phone again for the seventh time in the past ten minutes, his guitar hanging from his shoulders. 

“DUDE!” He shouts out, eyebrows furrowed. “Are you gonna join us or what? We were supposed to start rehearsing half an hour ago!” 

Alex’s head peeks from the loft: he’s laying on the pavement beside the sofa, and his eyes are barely visible from behind a battered copy of a book. 

Julie sighs. Luke looks ready to blow Alex off, but she’s pretty sure it’ll make no difference. 

“I’m sorry! I’m nearly finished with this chapter, I swear!” Alex turns a page, eyes glued to the book. 

“You said that three chapters ago!” Luke’s eyes bulge out and he turns to Julie, pointing frantically upwards. “Is he serious? Are you serious?” 

Julie opens her mouth, but she’s not sure of what to say. Alex has been like that for the past three days. 

“Hey guys,” Reggie strides in, an open bag of Doritos in one hand and an aura of complete calm around him. Julie hadn’t even noticed he’d left. “Here Luke, you look nervous. Have some of these.” 

Luke looks at Julie, then at Reggie, then he shoves his hand in the bag of chips and starts munching angrily on a handful of Doritos. 

“Hey, ‘lex!” Reggie happily calls out. “Want some Doritos?” 

“Not now, I’m reading!” 

“IT SHOULD BE, NOT NOW I’M PLAYING!” 

“Luke, calm down.” Julie pleads, “He’s about to finish the book anyway.”

“Whatcha reading, Alex?” Reggie calls out to the loft. 

“It’s those damn Harry Potter things.” Luke seethes. “It’s like he can’t stop reading, he’s obsessed! Am I the only one who remembers we have a gig in four days?”

Reggie nods sympathetically at Luke. 

“Yeah man. But that’s a really cool story, I watched the films with Carlos last week,” Reggie mimics a brain explosion. “I was mind blown. Hey Alex, which one are you reading?” 

“Half-Blood Prince.” Alex replies, “And I’m almost done so…” 

“Ohhh that’s a good one. Did you already get to the part where Dumbledore dies?” 

A stunned silence falls over the studio. 

“Oh, boy.” Julie covers her face with her hands. A heavy rumble of footsteps announces Alex’s descent from the loft: his hair is sticking in weird directions and his eyes are bloodshot. He looks at Reggie like he’s ready to murder him. 

“Dumbledore what now?” Alex hisses, stepping forward.

“Dies. Snape kills him. Were you there yet?” 

Alex points his drumstick at Reggie’s face like it’s a magic wand. 

“NO, I WAS NOT!” Alex shouts. “HOW COULD YOU, REGGIE?” 

Before either Julie or Luke can do anything to stop him, Alex throws himself at Reggie and they both roll around the floor, trying to get on top of each other. Julie slips an arm around Luke’s waist to give him a comforting squeeze.

“We’re not going to get anything done today if we let them do this.” She reminds him. Reggie is currently smacking Alex with a throw pillow and Luke observes attentively. 

“Just a little more. Alex deserved it.” 

LUKE adores School of Rock

“Your boyfriend,” Alex comes into the kitchen with his hands on his hips and glares at Julie, “Is a hypocrite.” 

Julie, on her tiptoes to reach a jar of strawberry jam on the top shelf, just stares back.

“Be a little less specific, will you?” 

“Come see for yourself.” Alex grabs her by the hand and pulls her all the way to the studio, where Luke is currently busy playing a guitar solo kneeling on the floor, hair drenched in sweat.

“NO YOU’RE NOT HARDCORE,” he shouts, “UNLESS YOU LIVE HARDCORE!” 

“Ah,” Julie stands back and enjoys the show. “Luke, have you been watching School of Rock again?” 

“No,” Luke lies, smiling like Julie’s just brought the sun back after a dark winter. “Maybe?”

Julie purses her lips, smiling. She gets why Luke identifies so much with that movie. Jack Black’s love for rock music and the whole ‘stick it to the Man’ talk are all Luke is about. 

“You got mad at me for wanting to read Harry Potter instead of playing…” Alex accuses. 

“But I am playing.” Luke protests, his fingers sliding on his guitar to play a riff that Julie’s pretty sure he’s stealing from Hendrix. 

“Not our music!” Alex protests. “And before you even think about suggesting it, no, we’re not going to dress up in school uniforms for our next gig.” 

“You would rock a skirt, though.” Reggie points out.

“I would,” Alex flips his hair out, “And knee socks too. But can we please get to practicing now?” 

“It’s just, such a good story,” Luke tells Julie in a dreamy tone later that evening, while he’s splayed out in the garden squinting at the sky. There’s way too much light pollution to see any stars though. “I mean, the guy has a dream, and not only he manages to stay true to himself despite everyone going against him, he also inspires younger kids to do the same!” 

“Yeah, I know,” Julie laughs, petting Luke’s head in her lap. “You see yourself in him.” 

“I do,” Luke grins. “But I’m much better looking.” 

Julie lightly pulls at the hair on the back of his neck. 

“And people think Reggie is the vain one…”

Luke laughs, nestling more comfortably against her touch. Ever since they’ve become human again, he can’t seem to get enough. 

“You know what I was thinking…” he begins, tentatively. 

“No.” 

“You didn’t even let me speak.” 

“I already know what you’re going to say.” 

Luke sits up, making puppy eyes at her. 

“Come on, Jules! It would be epic!” 

Julie sighs, taking Luke’s hands in hers and looking him straight into his eyes. 

“No, Luke. You’re not stage diving at our next gig.” 

REGGIE can’t get enough of Siri

“Guys, I think something is wrong with Reggie.” Julie announces nervously, twisting her hands as she walks into the living room. Alex and Luke are sprawled in front of the Tv and don’t look half as worried as she thinks they should. 

“And you’re only noticing this now?” Alex arches his eyebrows, unbothered. 

“I’m serious, guys! Come see!” 

Julie guides them upstairs to the room that’s become Reggie’s, and they all peek from the semi-closed door.

“Hey, Siri,” they hear Reggie say, “Does anyone ever ask you, like, how are you?” 

“I’m fine, thank you. Helping you makes me happy.” 

“That’s very nice, thanks Siri.” Reggie sighs happily, kicking his feet up on his bed. “You never judge me, even when I asked you what a wi-fey was.”

“I don’t know what a wi-fey is. Were you looking for Wi-Fi?”

“I was!” Reggie slaps himself in the forehead. “You get me so well. Here, play our song Stand Tall, it’s one of my favorites.”

“Now playing: Stand Tall, by Julie and the Phantoms on Spotify.”

Outside in the corridor, Julie gestures frantically towards the room. 

“See what I mean?” She whispers, “That can’t possibly be okay.” 

“Think he feels a little lonely?” Alex scratches the back of his head. 

“I mean, he’s basically using Siri as a therapist so…” 

“I think you’re overreacting,” Luke shrugs. “He’s always liked robots. Siri is basically a talking computer, Reggie digs that stuff. 

Another happy sigh from Reggie as the song ends has them all listening intently. 

“So, this is one of the new songs. Sometimes I think to the fact that I actually died and lost my whole family and it’s a bit much, you know what I mean? I would like to find my parents, I think.” 

“Here are all the results I found for ‘parents’”

“Wait, you can do that?” Reggie sits up on his bed, his mouth hanging open. “I thought you could only call the pizza guys!” 

“Calling: pizza guy.” 

“Siri, you’re a blessing!” Reggie is enraptured. “I was feeling sad and you call pizza! It’s like you can read my mind!” 

“He shouldn’t be talking to Siri when he feels sad,” Julie hisses. Alex has sort of caught onto her concerns, but Luke merely giggles.

“I bet he’s going to call the milkshake place next.” 

“Siri,” Reggie says as soon as he’s placed his pizza order, “Can we call Gordon’s Milkshack next? I have a craving for a chocolate banana shake.” 

“Called it!”

(Bonus: JULIE discovers the Spice Girls)

Luke knows that one of Julie’s favorite parts of hanging out with them is introducing new technologies and pop culture wonders for the Millennials and Gen Z experience; she does this thing where she tilts her head to the right while she watches them discover something new and has a cute little smile Luke can’t get tired of seeing. 

He’s tried to do the same for her, but it seems that she already knows everything about the early 90’s. 

Except one day, he’s walking into the studio a little earlier than usual and finds it occupied by a Julie like he’s never seen her before, flailing her arms around and shaking her hips to the beat of a sugary pop song he knows all too well. 

“If you wanna be my lover…” 

Luke slaps a hand on his mouth and hides behind the door, watching Julie belt out Scary’s rap verse in perfect time. When the song ends, he comes out of his hiding spot with a cheek-splitting grin. 

“That was amazing!” 

“Luke!” Julie’s cheeks are blazing, but Luke can’t tell if it’s embarrassment or rage. Probably both. 

“Before you say anything,” Luke holds up his hands, “I was here for only a minute, but you rocked every single second of it.”

“Yeah, I like the Spice Girls, okay?” Julie nervously twists her hair into a ponytail and refuses to look him in the eyes. “I was going through a playlist and it came up, it’s good fun!” 

“Hey, no judgment!” Luke laughs, cupping her heated cheek in his hand and pulling her forward or a quick kiss. “You’re almost seventeen now, basically an adult. You can listen to whatever you want.” 

Julie smiles against his lips and kisses him again, humming the melody of Wannabe as he does. 

“Good thing your friends love me,” Luke laughs. 

“We have the same friends, I’m not sure it counts.”

Reggie and Alex choose that very moment to barge in, as if they’d been summoned. 

“Practice time!” Reggie announces, pinching Luke’s waist and sneaking out of reach immediately. “No more love-birding here.” 

Alex reaches Julie’s laptop that’s still plugged into the sound system.

“Oh, let’s see what your love tunes are…”

“NO!” Julie’s horrified shout comes too late, because Alex is already doubled over laughing. 

Luke leaves her to shout about privacy while Say you’ll be there blasts over the speakers.

“I’ll be right back guys.” He says, stepping out of the studio. He’s got an idea and there’s no time to waste. 

Luke fishes his phone from his pocket and scans through his contact list. Reggie’s right: these touch screen thingies are pretty cool after all. 

“What do you want?” A shrill, annoyed voice comes up from the other end of the line. 

“Hello to you too, Carrie,”  Luke smiles through the phone.

“Is Julie sick? Did she find out about the surprise party? Is this why you’re calling?” Carrie’s tone sounds accusatory, and Luke just knows that there is no way he’ll ever be able to get along with her. She is the spawn of his traitor ex bandmate after all. 

“No, but that’s why I’m calling you.” He explains, “How would Dirty Candy like to become Julie’s favorite performance of the party?” 

There’s a pause. 

“I’m listening.” 

Luke grins. He’s about to win the best-boyfriend-in-the-universe award. 

“I hope you’re ready to Spice it up, Carrie.” 

_______________________________________________ Thank you for reading! I know the Spice Girls are late 90s so the boys wouldn’t really know them, but bear with me.  Feel free to drop a prompt in my askbox if you’d like! More minifics (x)