#and like. these people are fine. but (unsurprisingly since I dislike this man) they are not too my taste

[violetclarity]

god grant me the strength to get through divorce party dinner at a bougie taqueria with my friend and most of her polycule, amen

[cloudbells]

some of your posts actually got me thinking about these questions! i'm very curious how people feel about this sort of stuff, since my own fandom opinions are relatively mild and it got me wondering how other people's experiences compare...

so how about #'s 2 (for stony), #9 and #27 (other than frostshield??😉)

Thank you for the ask (and for creating the game)! Lol, I'm glad me and my inability to keep an opinion to myself was a part of the inspo <3 And sorry for the long wait!!!

2) What's your biggest stony pet peeve?

BIGGEST? Oh man, I'm not sure...Teenification of Tony Stark. He's written so...infantile and emotionally weak (I love vulnerability, but my word choice of him being written as weak is my gripe) in many Stony fics. It genuinely gets on my last nerve. He's damn near 40 in AV1. And he only gets older. And sure, maybe there's some arrested development there, but he isn't a damn child. He knows this. And actually conducts himself well enough in canon (in a way that matches his issues) but it's the fanon portrayal I don't like.

WAIT...I think I have something that's popular for the ship itself. Not very fan of the lengths that misunderstandings go for Steve and Tony...Like, I understand they aren't great at communication, but sometimes it gets to the point where I'm like, "It's passed dense and shot straight into pure asshole territory". I know a lot of people write like this because of CACW, but hot take, I don't think CW was so much of a communication or misunderstandings problem. I'll elaborate on this in a separate post, maybe. But the way misunderstandings are drawn out with seemingly no reason gets on my nerves, but it really depends. I can love misunderstandings, but it can't be something that's contrived for drama's sake.

Oh! Another one is in AUs where Steve was still Captain America, and Tony is still Iron Man, and Howard was still lovesick after Steve died and Tony knew all about Steve as a child....and then the AU has Steve undercover or something and Tony doesn't recognize Steve's face. LOL. This sounds specific, but this exact set up has happened enough to where it bothers me. Like, it's kind of funny though, how annoyed I get over it lmao.

9) What's something that bugs you in fanfiction that you encounter often but isn't necessarily a dealbreaker for you as a reader?

I have a lot of not-dealbreakers. Primarily because if I were to strictly stick to my vision of every possible portrayal, I'd have like 3 fics to read. I'm picky in theory, not so much in practice because I'm also extremely greedy. I'll give one each for Stucky and Stony.

Stucky: That Steve crashed the Valkyrie because he was so sad about Bucky dying. I talk a little about how much I generally dislike this trope here. I think it's a huge disservice to this character, I will never take it seriously, and I will never write it. But, it's not a dealbreaker as long as it's not repeatedly more than....let's say 3 times in a fic. Looking back, I already gave this answer, so an additional one - Bucky being community dick and then getting upset that Steve doesn't realize that Bucky wants him and the tone of the fic also supporting that Bucky has a right to be mad lol. It's a weirdly common narrative point in a lot of fics and I just don't care for it. It's actually one of the reasons I tend to stay away from pre-CATFA fics. This trope also happens in Stony too, now that I'm thinking about it. What's up with that?

Stony: I (unsurprisingly) have a few to choose from, but I'll say - when it's written like Steve was horrifically out of line or the aggressor in AV1. It's super common (from throwaway lines to paragraphs about how Steve was an asshole) and there is a fine line that this has to walk for me not to dip. Usually, it's a couple of line about it, which I can ignore.

27) What's something that you think [insert fandom/pairing] doesn't have nearly enough of that you're starving for?

I have an embarrassing amount of rare pairs that I ship and I've been itching for a chance to let them out (/ = romantic or sexual, & = platonic).

Steve & Wanda. Oh my goodness, I am absolutely starving for more fics that show their growing bond from AOU to CACW. I would eat it up. Even in AUs, honestly. I said in another ask that I dislike kidfics, but guess what I'm outlining right now involving kid!Wanda...I just think there is something to explore there with Steve's care towards Wanda in canon. I feel like he understands her, to an extent, and anything he doesn't understand, he tries to sympathize with. He reaches out to her and that's so, so important to me. Because I adore Wanda. So much.

Rumlow/Steve. I want to clarify, not so much as a romance pairing (though I have read a couple like that), but more so as a one-sided creepfest on Rumlow's end. Something about him feeling an erotized violence/hatred towards Steve is so delicious to me. In my mind, it's not even love/hate - it's obsession. Maybe even coupled with a childhood admiration morphing into a disturbed/twisted fixation on Steve. I think this Rumlow likes to see Steve hurt. I also think he hates to be kept away from him. He's not deluded enough to think that Steve loves him back, he in fact, probably loves how much Steve hates him after the Hydra reveal. Yum.

Carol & Steve. Nothing much to say here, but I'm sure it's not too surprising. Captain Marvel is my 2nd most-watched MCU movie after CATFA. And I think their stories and journeys and experiences are so, so amazingly similar that I cannot resist the temptation of wanting them to be in every scene together. The squeal I let out when she first met Steve probably broke a few records.

Can I get a little more obscure? I have Steve-ships with characters who aren't in the MCU. Here's a speedrun, no elaboration:

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian)/Steve Rogers

Kushina (Naruto) & Steve Rogers

Sesshomaru (Inuyasha) /Steve Rogers

Ginko (Mushishi) & Steve Rogers

Epsilon (Pluto) & Steve Rogers

Kurenai/Steve/Asuma (Naruto).

Izaya Orihara (Durarara) & Steve....or Izaya/Steve...Izaya would hate him so much haha.

[thelazyhermits]

Happy Halloween, everyone!!! ^-^

In order to celebrate everyone’s favorite spooky holiday, I decided to make a post about Fortune & Eri’s first Halloween since I haven’t done anything Halloween-related for TABF.

Hope y’all enjoy it! ^^

As I’ve mentioned previously, Halloween isn’t as big a deal in Japan as it is in other countries. It’s mostly just celebrated via having parties.

That, combined with the fact that the students are all busy gettting ready for the Cultural Festival, meant that there really weren’t any big plans for Fortune & Eri’s first Halloween.

Thankfully, Nedzu came up with the idea of putting something together so the students at UA could dress up, play games, and receive free candy on campus. He claimed that it was a reward for all the students working hard for the Cultural Festival, but he also did it for Fortune & Eri’s sake since he wanted them to have fun on their first Halloween.

So, on Halloween night, the celebration begins and all the staff members are in charge of running things, meaning the kids don’t have to do anything but have fun.

Naturally, everyone is very excited about this, and many of the students are eager to dress up for the festivities.

Unsurprisingly, Midoriya is deeply considering dressing up as All Might like he always does. After hearing that, Fortune came up with the fun idea of dressing up as Nighteye, so the two could be a pair. Plus, she just thought it’d be funny and wanted to see how Nighteye would react.

What Fortune didn’t expect was for Eri to ask to be Nighteye too. Of course, Fortune was totally fine with this and made sure they had everything they needed so they could both be Nighteye.

The reason Eri asked to be Nighteye was strictly because that was who Fortune was dressing up as. Since this is only a few weeks after Eri moves into the dorm, she’s in the stage where she’s not super open about what she wants to do and what she likes/dislikes. She mostly just does whatever Fortune does cause that feels the most comfortable for her.

For future Halloweens, Eri would definitely branch out about costumes, so it’s just her first one that she wanted to be whatever Fortune was.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people get a huge kick out of the Nighteye pair, Mirio especially. He takes so many pictures of them in their costumes and sends them all to the members of the Nighteye Agency.

Bubble Girl and Centipeder find it absolutely hilarious. Nighteye is honestly a little impressed by how well the costumes turned out since the girls really do resemble him.

So, Nighteye does pass along some praise for the girls’ costumes. Unfortunately, Midoriya in his All Might costume isn’t nearly as lucky lol

One of the many fun things the Halloween event has to offer is a costume contest that has several different prizes like “Best Overall Costume”, “Scariest Costume”, etc.

Fortune won the “Most Realistic Costume” because in addition to looking just like Nighteye she acted like him to a scarily accurate degree pretty much the whole night. She had people like All Might and Mirio impressed with her performance, the latter so much so that he was calling her Sir the whole night lol

So it only seemed right for Fortune to get that award. Meanwhile, Eri got the “Cutest Costume” award cause she really looked adorable in her suit and glasses. Although, to be fair, it’s not like anyone could compete with someone as cute as Eri no matter what she’s wearing lol

There was also some trick-or-treating where the kids could go to different booths manned by the staff to ask for candy. That was mostlyset up just for Eri, but a lot of the students ended up wanting to do it too lol Since she’s with Eri the whole time, Fortune naturally also gets to enjoy her first trick-or-treating experience.

If y’all are curious about Fortune’s thoughts on Halloween as far as the scary aspect is concerned, she can handle costumes until they get scarily realistic. That’s when she starts to get nervous, but what really will send her over the edge is when they jump out of hiding to scare her.

So, for the most part, she can handle Halloween costumes. She just can’t do things like haunted houses or anything that involves people trying to scare her.

Thankfully, UA focused more on the fun side of Halloween for this particular event than the scary side, so there wasn’t anything to worry about on Fortune’s end.

As a result, it was a very enjoyable first experience for Fortune and Eri. While Eri didn’t smile since this happened before the Cultural Festival, Fortune could tell that Eri had a lot of fun and was just as happy as she was.

[neighbourskid]

2020

What a year, huh? Surely not anything anyone has expected to happen when we woke up on this day a year ago. I certainly haven’t. I’m not even sure, now, where to begin to sum up this year like I’ve done years prior. But then again... I may just as well just dive right into all the media I consumed this year, as I have done every year. I haven’t kept track as detailed as I have last year, but my year was definitely punctuated by pieces of entertainment that have come into my life.

Continuing on from 2019, my obsession with Good Omens was still going strong. Which was ideal, since I was gonna spend the first half of the year writing my Bachelor thesis on it. The intensity of the obsession may have waned a bit since, but I still love that show and book dearly and hold it close to my heart, and I don’t think that will ever stop. But while Good Omens was certainly an overall theme throughout my year, there were some other things that actually stood out.

With January came new episodes of Doctor Who, and having returned to that particular bandwagon the year prior, I was all about that. Jodie’s second season finally brought what I had longed for in her first--a darker kind of Doctor. She wasn’t quite as bubbly anymore, you could finally see some of the depths in the character that I loved so in the previous regenerations, which made me love Peter’s Doctor so incredibly much. In this season, I felt, Jodie was finally becoming the Doctor. Overall, that season catered to me personally every single episode. So many of the time periods they visited were of people I loved, and the introduction of Sacha Dhawan as the Master was absolutely....well, masterful. Sacha is brilliant in that role and I am utterly stunned by his talent. Although both John Simm and Michelle Gomez brought things to the Master that I liked, it’s Sacha’s completely unhinged take on it that made me finally like the character. He’s a madman and I love it.

The next major thing was The Good Place. I tend to have a talent of getting into shows just as they either ended their entire show, or the final season is just coming up. It’s happened quite a bit, and it was the same with this. I finally binged the show early in January and it would end its final season at the end of the month. True to form, I was completely obsessed with it for about a month, before I only occasionally thought about it again. But, thinking back now, I get this incredibly fond feeling for this show, and I remember that the finale absolutely wrecked me and I basically ugly sobbed through the entirety of it. Also very true to form, actually. I want to rewatch it again some time, but honestly preferably with someone who has never seen it before. Which, obviously, is a difficult thing to do given, well, everything.

Next up is something that surprised me a lot. In the middle of having to write my BA thesis, my procrastination thought it would be a great idea to rewatch and catch up on the entirety of Criminal Minds. And so I binged 15 seasons of that instead of writing my thesis. Which, coincidentally, had also just aired its final season not long before I started my binge in March. Rewatching this, I realised just how little I took in of the actual, like, stuff in the show when I first watched it as a teen. Although I mostly cared about the characters and their found family this time around--although I do find the cases really fascinating most of the time too--I noticed just how much I am not watching this for the fact that they are in the FBI. I was hyperaware of how often they shot at people before doing anything else, how many of the suspects died before ever being questioned or being brought in, and it made my skin crawl. I am aware how fucked up the criminal justice system is, and especially in the US, how the police functions and how incredibly glorified they are in the media. But rewatching this show, I realised how little I actually paid attention to anything when I was younger. Big yikes. Still, I remembered my love for these characters, and I really enjoyed that rewatch a whole lot. Found family will always get to me.

Once I finished writing my thesis and handed it in early in July, I then found my next momentary obsession: Community. The show had finally come to Netflix earlier in the year and a friend of mine had watched it then. I remember watching that pilot episode back then and being completely uninterested in watching it. The comedy felt like it wasn’t quite up my street, the characters were entirely unlikeable, and I especially disliked Jeff who the show was more or less centred around. I binged Criminal Minds instead, but then decided to give it another try. And, well, I watched it twice through without taking a break to watch something else in-between. Ironically, and maybe actually unsurprisingly, Jeff ended up being my favourite and I found myself relating a lot to him and his arc throughout the series. I even found myself writing some short ficlet-like things in the notes app on my phone. I made an attempt at starting a third watch, but I guess then the month was up, and my brain decided it was time for something else. My hyperfixations usually tend to die out after about a month. Which is why my complete devotion to Good Omens was a pleasant surprise. I did, however, end up watching quite a bit of Joel McHale and Ken Jeong’s The Darkest Timeline podcast throughout August. 

Early in September, while already preparing for the new term at uni, and my first semester in my Master’s studies, I then turned to New Girl. Friends of mine had seen it and recommended it, and I remember watching probably the entire first season on TV while I was in San Diego the first time around back in 2016. Or at least I think it was the entire first season. Either way, I binged that whole thing, realised through Nick Miller that the go-to character I am drawn to and tend to project on in any piece of media is usually what I like to call “the garbage man,” which Nick is a prime example of. And although I spent a month watching the show in-between starting university again and volunteering at a film festival, I didn’t spend much time afterward thinking about it and moved on to other things rather quickly. I enjoyed watching it, that much I remember, and I’m pretty sure I cried at the finale because it was done wonderfully, but seeing as another month was up, my brain was probably like “okay fine that’s enough”.

I then spent most of fall and early winter watching every single bad Christmas movie available on Netflix, which was quite fun. In that moment of festivity, I also watched a movie I found absolutely brilliant and fell in love with immediately. It’s a beautiful movie called Jingle Jangle, it has a magnificent soundtrack and is absolutely incredible. I had no idea Forest Whitaker could sing and he completely blew me away. If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend it. It doesn’t matter that Christmas is already over, it’s beautiful either way.

By the time December finally rolled around, I was already over the whole Christmas thing, to be honest and I turned away from festive movies or shows, and eventually ended up finally picking up a gem I had heard much about and had been meaning to watch for a while. A show which, as it were, also aired its final season earlier this year. This little show is Schitt’s Creek. I will be going on about what this show means to me probably in another post at length, but for now just let me say: if you haven’t seen it, find some place to watch it, and put this beautiful show in your eyeballs. I am on my second run through already (although I’ve seen the second half of the show a second time already while watching it with a friend on their first run through), and it brings me so much fucking joy. It’s a gift, this show. And it will likely stay with me for a very, very long time.

That’s about it for the big things. I also watched a whole lot of other stuff, including entirely new things, or just newly released seasons of things I was already watching. Here’s what I can remember off the top of my head:

Charlie’s Angels (2020). The Night Manager. The Witcher. Dolittle (2020). The Librarians (rewatch). Harley Quinn (2020). Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). The Chef Show (S1 part 3, S2 part 1). Avenue 5. Money Heist (part 4). The Good Fight (S4). Brooklyn Nine-Nine (S7). DuckTales (2017 reboot). Frankenstein live. Staged (2020). Hamilton. Sense8. Julie and the Phantoms. The Boys in the Band. One Night in Miami. Enola Holmes. Supernova. His Dark Materials (S2). Happiest Season. The Great Canadian Baking Show.

I also got some reading done in-between what I had to read for my thesis in spring, and then for regular university courses in fall. Here’s some of what I can remember:

Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk. Ramona Meisel, Sunblind. Donna Tartt, The Secret History. Good Omens novel and script book. Matt Forbeck, Leverage: The Con Job. Keith R.A. Decandido, Leverage: The Zoo Job. Greg Cox, Leverage: The Bestseller Job. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Lost Lamp. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase. Greg Cox, The Librarians and the Pot of Gold. Neil Gaiman, Marvel 1602. Christina Henry, The Lost Boy. Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology. John Green, An Abundance of Katherines. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh. Maria Konnikova, The Confidence Game. 

Having mulled over all this entertainment I consumed in 2020, there are also some non-tv or book things I need to point out. As many, many other people around the globe, I have also spent a large amount of time this year on my Nintendo Switch, playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It is a game I have waited for since the Switch was first announced, and I fell in love with it from the moment the first trailer dropped. It has brought me great joy in this weird fucking year, and I have more or less consistently played it since it came out in March. I ended this year with the in-game New Year’s Eve celebration and I feel like that summed up this year quite neatly and appropriately.

This year also brought with it another game very close to my heart: Super Mario Sunshine. With their release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars in September, Nintendo finally brought my all-time favourite Mario game to my all-time favourite console, and I played the entire game through in the first week of owning it, in-between university courses and volunteering at the film festival. Also contained in that package was Super Mario Galaxy which I have also played through in its entirety since. All that’s left for me now is Super Mario 64, which I am excited to play through in the coming year.

And to round off my year of entertainment, there are two more things I would like to mention. First, David Tennant Does A Podcast With..., which released its second season this summer. It is one of the only, if not the only podcast I keep up to date with and listen to immediately whenever a new episode drops. I’ve loved the first season dearly, and David came back with some incredibly fantastic guests for the second season as well. I can’t wait for what the podcast will bring in the future, but I will wait patiently until it is time. I can highly recommend it for everyone who likes interesting conversations between lovely people who clearly adore each other a whole lot.

And finally, while this year brought a whole lot of bullshit with it, it also gave me something I never thought possible and did not even dare to imagine in my wildest dreams. My all-time favourite show announced that it would be rebooted with the same main cast (minus one), a new wonderful member, and involvement of the original creators, and even started filming already in summer. Leverage is coming back. I still cannot believe it. I hoped for a movie, always. That maybe one day, they might bring the gang back together, for one last job, just one more encore. But to get a whole new tv-show with Aldis, Christian, Gina and Beth returning? With the addition of Noah Wyle? I can’t wrap my head around it. I am so excited for this. I predict that I will ugly sob through the entirety of the pilot episode, if not the first season, and will have to rewatch every episode because of it, but I have no doubt that it will be brilliant and wonderful.

True to form, I have now gone on about tv shows and movies for far too long, and haven’t really said anything about this year at all. 2020 was fucking weird. And I don’t think 2021 will be much different quite yet. I wrote an entire BA thesis in 2020. I successfully finished by Bachelor’s degree and started my Master’s studies and even got some excellent first grades in as well. I was lucky enough to be able to see some friends and family throughout the year, and even celebrate my birthday with a small circle of friends. I’ve become closer with friends, shared experiences I wouldn’t trade for the world, and, I think, maybe also grown a bit as a person.

I started this year excited to finally be able to start taking testosterone in February, and to finish the first part of my studies by summer. Although I did both of these things, they didn’t happen quite how I imagined them, but I am glad that I could do these things nevertheless.

2020 was a hell year, for sure. But there were some moments in there that I wouldn’t want to lose.

I’ve tried very hard to not be optimistic about this upcoming year, and rather take a more realistic, even pessimistic approach. But I can’t help but be hopeful. Hopeful that this year will be kind to us, and if it isn’t, that at least, we’ll be kind to ourselves and each other. It won’t be easy, and not much will change, I think. But we have to approach the coming time with kindness and compassion. That’s where I’m at currently. And I think that’s all for now.

Be well, friends, and take care.

[moonyulspeach]

OKAY BUT LISTEN...

Single Parent AU!! for Bokuroo. Like, both are single parents (or just one, you choose) struggling to keep up with life because, eventhough they love their respective child SO FUCKING MUCH, life is a BITCH and paying bills, raise a kid and not die while at it is twice as difficult without someone there to help.

Sure, they have their friends that are more than happy to help, because that's how much they care about them but Bokuto and Kuroo try to keep it as minimum since they really feel like they are pushing their responsibilities onto their friends (eventhough that's FAR FAR from the truth, everyone is more than happy to be there).

Anyways, they first meet at the school's parent's meeting and in the beginning they kind of dislike each other. In his defense, Kuroo worked 75hrs that week, he is DONE with with his company's policies, he haven't been sleeping well, the fridge is broken and he had to throw away a lot of the food they had, put the rest in temporary coolers and long story short, his week has been fucking tiring so he just kind of snaps because THIS MAN (Bokuto) CAN'T SHUT THE HELL UP. He has been interrupting the teacher to ask more and more questions and laughing stupidly hard and everyone seems to be okay with it because they are LAUGHING with him. And Kuroo is just so tired and wants this to be over so he can get home to his kid because is getting late and he has to prepare dinner and bath the child and Kenma is helping him babysitting but he has a stream very soon and he feels bad because he is bothering his best friend again and is just so much... so he snaps. He gets up and shouts at Bokuto to shut up because clearly he wasn't as funny as he thinks he was (Kuroo isn't laughing, thank you very much) tells him that some people have actual responsibilities outside this meeting so it would be very much appreciated if he could stop interrupting and let the teacher's speak.

Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere at the meeting gets really tense and Bokuto is confused and honestly a bit offended cuz who the hell does this guy thinks he is? However, he might be loud and somewhat obnoxious but if there is something that Bokuto Koutarou dislikes is confrontation (sure, friendly banter is totally fine but this guy looks like he is genuinely pissed off and THAT is a ground that he has learned he can get too intense in) so he just looks at the guy with a weird expression, mutters a quiet "what's your problem, man?" And sits back down, in silence.

The whole exchange surprises Kuroo, who was expecting at least some sort of retort or even an apology but the situation is already really tense and he is still standing up, looking at the guy and processing the fact that he just snapped at a complete stranger because he had a bad week. The other parents are starting to send him dirty looks and murmuring between each other so he shakes off his surprise and gets back to sitting down in silence until the meeting ends. So, yeah their first meeting goes anything but fine.

So yeah, that's what I got so far. I was considering turning this into a child!AU as well, with Hinata as Bokuto's son and Tsukki as Kuroo's but honestly I'm not so sure.

[jellyfax]

So, I kinda got a rebuttal to this ask I had sent to an "anti-shipper." I'm still pretty confused, frustrated, disappointed, and disturbed that a fair number of "anti-shippers" essentially OK’d the statements from Lindsay Ellis shown below. They, rather poorly, attempted to argue that she's not trying to portray all "anti-shippers" as being unreasonable, overly emotional, aggressive pearl clutchers who have their priorities mixed up. Even though that's clearly what she's doing here. She's using the Beetlejuice franchise as an example, a patient zero of sorts, for how "antis" (people critical of positive and romanticized depictions of abuse in media) ruin fandom with what Ellis views as unsolicited antics.

That group of so-called anti shippers also ignored how Ellis shows approval for what she describes as "an asexual couple [that] give off couple vibes." The couple in question are a 12-year-old child (Lydia) and an adult of indeterminate age (Beetlejuice). The implication here is that Ellis views the pair as a romantic couple which should be concerning to supposed antis. Those anti-shippers made no attempt to claim that that would constitute as a pedophilic relationship. And, they didn't seem even the slightest bit disturbed that, at least according to Ellis, the pedophilic ship could be canon to the Beetlejuice cartoon. Albeit, there's no real, hard proof that that's the case, it seems more like wishful thinking on the part of people who ship Lydia and Beetlejuice, but you'd think that anti-shippers would still be alarmed that child grooming and pedophilic child abuse may be being promoted in a children's cartoon.

It stands to reason that if she's fine with the elements of child grooming embedded in a relationship between Beetlejuice and Lydia,  it's not a stretch that she'd be alright with shipping something like Sesshomaru and Rin from Inuyasha. Oddly enough if you really think about it, Beetlejuice x Lydia is arguably worse than Sesshomaru x Rin, because it's rumored to be a canon romantic, "asexual" be dammed, relationship between a pre-pubescent girl and a grown man. Even SessRin doesn't have that kind of baggage because canonical shipping has not occurred between Rin as a child and the young adult Sesshomaru. It's strange that these anti-shippers express more ire towards the least substantiated and comparatively less controversial pairing (SessRin) while the more contentious ship basically gets a slide (Beetlebabe). Needless to say, both pairings represent child grooming in a positive way, so they're both atrocious and it's so bizarre that some antis would be so hesitant to admit that.🤷🏽‍♀️ UPDATE 3/21/2021: In retrospect, SessRin is a much worse pairing as to date it's been canonized in Yashahime. Even so, given her comments, it's safe to say that Lindsay Ellis would definitely think SessRin was fine too.

Then, those antis completely neglected the fact that Ellis presents antis here as mostly newbie fans brought in by recent adaptations and are largely interlopers in decades-old fandoms. Such intruders resist the "ship and let ship" way of elder fans and Ellis is not having it. No matter how unfazed she tries to seem about it, she's obviously very upset by what she believes is new fandom presumably spearheaded by those darn young'uns. What I'm saying is she's giving off noxious levels of fandom mom 'tude here. However, yet again the anti-shippers, some of whom practically wrote essay-length retorts, didn't even mention her clear bias against antis and her favor towards pro-shippers.

Lindsay Ellis isn't just passing overly generalized judgment against anti-shippers in the Beetlejuice fandom, she's applying that judgment to all antis across all fandoms. To defend her statements as an anti is antithetical, contradictory, and even hypocritical. If antis side with Lindsay Ellis on these ideas, it really means that they're going against most of what they claim they stand for. And for what? Ellis has a few good takes, so you won’t oppose her in anyway when it's brought to light that she bears a clear resentment towards people who speak out against media that portrays child grooming as attractive and harmless?

Like, yo she don't like people like you, why ya stanning her? She's not only passing judgment on antis who behave badly, those who harrass, bully, make false claims and are overall very abrasive, she dislikes all antis regardless of behavior. Lindsay Ellis wouldn't consider you one of the "good" antis and she'd never want to side with you over her ilk: pro-shippers. If you're an anti with a blog devoted to anti topics, you better believe she wrote this thread to make you feel like an unwanted, purity policing intruder in fan spaces. Geez, also the fact that these "anti-shippers" are pretty tolerant of fans shipping children characters with adult characters is unnerving in how incongruous it is. "When big media corporations OK positive depictions of child grooming it's totally bad, but if fans do it, those depictions don't really affect anyone or anything. Fan-made media, especially if it's easily and publicly accessible as well as prevalent, exists in a vacuum and bears no weight on how we view and interact with our world! Anti-shippers and pro-shippers can all just coexist, guys!!!"🤦🏽‍♀️ On second thought, maybe ~anti anti fandom moms~ like Ellis would be cool with you, since you give them so much leeway. I swear, this isn't the first time I've encountered antis that are this hypocritical and backpedal on their stances, and it won't be the last.

I had also mentioned how Lindsay Ellis's defense of the Twilight Saga greatly downplayed and even omitted core criticisms of the franchise like it's racism, misogyny, and child grooming in favor of only stressing how backlash against Twilight was due to misogyny directed at the writer and fanbase. Unsurprisingly, the anti-shippers dismissed that claim without much thought despite that being an ongoing issue prevalent in many assessments of the Twilight franchise.

Anyway, if you're critical of positive and romanticized depictions of abuse in media (both mainstream and fan-made), maybe don't stan or defend Lindsay Ellis. Especially when she makes "anti anti" comments like that shown below

[mikexfaisty]

My first IT fic and it’s finally reddie! Terrible pun but please go review! I’m going to be posting more IT related stuff on my AOA account. I have a couple ideas in mind. Send me prompts! I’ll write about any of the losers! 

 https://archiveofourown.org/users/amanderrpanderr

Title: Forever

Summary:  Eddie reveals to Richie he's leaving Derry. Takes place after IT Chapter 1.

"My mom's selling the house".

It had came rather abruptly and for once, the loudmouth Richie Tozier was too stunned to speak. He turned to look over at Eddie, who was looking away from him. Maybe he had misheard his best friend. Eddie had his scarf so tightly round his neck, it was covering his mouth. He looked like the little brother from A Christmas Story. Perhaps Richie had just misheard him.

"I'm sorry did I hear you correctly? Your mother is selling your house?" Richie asked when he was finally able to find his voice. Eddie nodded, refusing to look at him.

Richie should have known something was up since earlier that morning. Eddie had been oddly quiet, not quite himself. It was the first week back since winter break. February had been a harsh winter for Derry. This past weekend had brought a lot of snow. It was Thursday and the pair were doing what they had always done, walked home from school together. Usually, they would have taken their bikes but that was hard to do in the winter. It was easier, and safer, to walk in the snow. Lucky for them, the sidewalks were neatly paved. Though it hadn't been that way on Monday. Derry high school didn't close for shit and Richie had spent the whole walk listening to Eddie freak out about how they were going to get frostbite. Though he had played off being annoyed, he secretly liked Eddie's little rants. God, for once he wished it was still Monday.

"Fuck," Richie muttered, before getting louder, "Fucking christ this sucks the rot Eds! First Bev, now you" He kicked angrily at a rock that was in their pathway, watching as it sunk into the snow, "Maybe no one will take it," he added quickly. His mind coming up with a million reasons on why and how this move was not going to happen, "I mean, who in their right mind would move to this shit-hole anyway".

At first, Eddie didn't say anything. He didn't even object to his hated nickname. But then Eddie had stopped walking, which in turn caused Richie too as well. Eddie looked nervous, his eyes darting everywhere except at Richie, "She already sold it," he mumbled softly, twiddling with the zipper on his jacket, "We leave for New York right after school ends..."

Richie was dumbfounded, "Are you fucking serious?! That's only like...four months from now". This was all happening way to fast. He had been to Eddie's house nearly everyday the past few months. Not once did he see a for sale sign or any other indication that Sonia had been trying to sell, "I guess property value goes up when the child eating clown gets killed! Who the fuck knew!" It had been several months since the defeat of Pennywise and nearly as long since they lost Beverly to Portland. The once seven members would soon be down to five.

Eddie had always knew his future laid outside Derry. After all the shit he had been through in Derry, he knew he couldn't stay here for the rest of his life. It was being separated from his friends that was going to be the hard part. He thought he had three years till they would all go off to college. Now he would have to start high school all over again at a new school... with no friends. Eddie shook his head, "She sold it pretty quickly. I didn't know until she had already done it".

"I can't believe we had to spend our last summer together nearly getting eaten by that shape shifting fuckface," Richie said angrily, "What's so great about New York anyway?"

The smaller boy was looking a little green, "My mom's sister lives there. She's got cancer and mom wants to be closer to her. We're the only family she's got," Eddie sighed, "Plus what had happened this summer".

Sonia Kaspbrak had always disliked his friends, that was abundantly clear. After his arm accident on Neibolt, she had sworn that he would never be allowed around them. Hell, if she had had it her way, he probably would have never left the house unless it was to pick up his medicine. Oddly enough it had been Gretta who had freed him from his mother's lies. After he confronted his mother about his medication, it had been a whirlwind. The night he had returned after the defeat of Pennywise had been particularly rough. Unsurprisingly, she had freaked out when he had come home covered in filth and shit. After he had taken a shower and convinced his mother he was physically alright, they had continued their talk from earlier that day. She had once again denied making up his illnesses and was quick to blame his friends for his problems. Eddie had been firm. It took a lot of convincing, and mild threats that he'd never speak to her again, for her to back down. Their relationship was far from perfect, but he had hoped this would set them in the right direction. Although, there was no convincing his mother to at least hold out till he graduated. The house was sold. There was no going back now.

"And the others? Do they know?"

Eddie shook his head, "No. I-I want to but..." he was shaking a little now. His left hand was deep in his coat pocket, digging, "I was thinking maybe tomorrow bu-but,"

Richie stared at the inhaler which Eddie had removed from his pocket. He frowned, "I thought you got rid of that thing," Richie grabbed it, much to Eddie's protest. He shook it and sprayed, holding it out of Eddie's reach, "Gazebos remember?"

"Yeah I know just..." and Eddie continued in his attempt to grab the inhaler, "Stop you're wasting it!"

"You don't need this stuff," Richie said firmly. He had stopped spraying but still help it above Eddie's head, "Not anymore,"

The inhaler had sat on the nightstand in his room since the day they defeated Pennywise. Eddie hadn't thought he would ever need to use it, not since the confrontation with his mother. The day she had revealed they would be moving, he had felt drawn to use it. He had lasted about a week, before he had slipped it on his coat early this morning. It had sat there all day. As soon as he had announced the move, he could feel it weighing down in his pocket. Eddie knew Richie was right. He didn't need it. But there was still a part of him missed the comfort the inhaler once gave him. He stopped reaching, "Fine I wont use it,". Richie didn't look to convinced, "I wont", he insisted again, "Just give it back. Please". At first, Eddie wasn't sure Richie would. But after a beat, Richie had capped it and placed it in Eddie's open hand.

"Fine," Richie said shortly. He watched as Eddie hesitated, before it was slipped back in his coat.

They continued to walk for another two blocks. Neither of them spoke until they had reached Eddie's house. There was no car in the driveway indicating Sonia was still at work. The two stood in silence, as if waiting for the other to speak first. The person ended up being Eddie. He was shifting back and forth in his spot, his bottom lip quivering, "Remember what Stan asked in the club house awhile back?" he began, once again refusing to meet Richie's eyes, "He asked if we'd all remain friends....if we'd still remember each other"

"No way I could forget that ugly mug of yours".

Eddie's eye twitched, but he once again ignored the jest, "We'll still be friends right?"

Forget the losers? Forget Eddie? Richie wasn't sure it was possible to forget them. They weren't just his friends, they were family. The thought of losing touch with any of them was scary to Richie. And he could tell Eddie had similar feelings. But after all they had been through, they were worth fighting for. Richie had to believe their friendship could withstand distance.

"Forever," Richie said, trying to sound as confident as he could. Eddie nodded but the worried look on his face stayed the same. Richie gripped Eddie's arm, "I mean it Eddie. Derry, New York, wherever. You'll never be able to get rid of me," he said teasingly. He let go of Eddie's arm before adding, "No way I'm letting any of you guys go," and for a moment, Richie could feel a twinge of pain on his hand where Bill had sliced it.

"Forever," Eddie echoed back.

Richie could see Eddie was relaxing a bit. He nodded "We'll make sure to do everything," he promised. As he gazed at Eddie's house, he felt a bit uneasy. The thought that by this time next year, some other people would be living there crossed his mind. He pushed those thoughts away, putting on his best smile, "We'll see ever movie the Aladdin has to offer, the arcade, sleepovers with the other guys, panty raids, finally getting someone to touch your dick beside your right ha-"

"Bee-beep, asshole," Eddie interrupted, shoving Richie lightly. He tried to sound annoyed but Richie could tell he was trying not to smile.

"I'm serious spaghetti man! Make me a list of all the stuff you wanna do and we'll do it," Richie was already coming up with a million other ideas, "And...and I can visit New York,". Fuck his parents better let him. Even if he had to do extra chores all year. Hell, he'd hitchhike to New York if he'd have to. Although, he'd probably have more of a problem convincing Eddie's mom.

For the first time of the afternoon, Eddie smiled, "Thanks Richie,". He then made to turn towards the path that led to his house. But suddenly, Eddie stopped himself. He turned back, slamming his body into Richie's and wrapping his arms tightly around him. The hug had took him by surprise, though definitely not unwanted, causing Richie to fumble back a few steps. Then sudden warmth had brought a tint of red to his cheeks and caused his glasses to began to fog up. When he got his bearings, Richie returned the hug. After what seemed like forever, Eddie finally pulled away and headed up to the house.

Before Eddie made it inside, Richie called out to him, "Give your mom a kiss for me!"

He watched as his friend paused at the door. Not bothering to turn around, Eddie slipped Richie the finger. Richie laughed and watched as Eddie went inside.

No way I'm letting you go...

[sevens-evan]

pride month day 18

author: daisys-quake

rated: t

pairing: natasha romanoff/wanda maximoff

word count:

prompt: Wanda and Nat live with Steve and Tony, respectively. Steve and Tony hate each other, of course. This causes issues when Wanda and Natasha start dating.

a/n: not that happy with this tbh, but c’est la vie. i hope you enjoy it anyway. high school au because i have never written a story about real life, ever, in my life.

“I’ll see you later,” Wanda calls over her shoulder as she heads for the front door.

“Are you going to be home for dinner?” Steve calls from the kitchen. Wanda hesitates.

“Do I have to be?” she asks, walking back down the hall and standing in front of the kitchen.

“No,” Steve says. “But are you going to be?”

“No,” Wanda says, smiling sheepishly. “Natasha said she would order Chinese food.”

“Is Tony going to be there?”

“No.” Steve gives her a look, and Wanda flushes with embarrassment.

“I’m trusting you’ll make good decisions,” he says, turning back to the sink full of dishes.

“I will,” Wanda mutters. “I would be more likely to make bad decisions with Tony there.” The words don’t come out exactly how she wants them. Her English is a lot better now than it was when she and Pietro first came to America, but sometimes she just can’t figure out how to phrase things quite the way she wants to.

“You’re probably right,” Steve says with a snort, catching her meaning. “He’s a bad influence on everyone he meets. It’s a miracle Natasha turned out good.”

“She has only lived with him for a year,” Wanda points out.

“And I’ve only known him for six months, but I’ve needed more therapy in the past six months than I have in five years,” Steve says. Wanda rolls her eyes. Steve and Tony’s undying hatred for each other was only funny for about three weeks. Natasha still finds it hilarious, but Natasha is one of the most argumentative people Wanda has ever met besides Pietro, so her opinion hardly counts.

“I have to go,” Wanda says, stepping back out into the hallway. “Pietro should be home before dinner. I’ll be home later.”

“Midnight or earlier!” Steve calls after her as Wanda hurries down the hall, tossing her jacket on and heading for the door. Natasha’s car is parked in the driveway. She has her windows down, whatever indie band she’s into at the moment playing quietly through the speakers. She grins at Wanda as Wanda closes the front door behind herself, and the look makes Wanda’s heart flutter pleasantly.

“Hi,” Natasha says as Wanda slides into the passenger seat. She leans over the center console for a kiss, and Wanda obliges happily. “You look good.” Wanda rolls her eyes.

“This is your shirt,” she points out, tugging at the hem of the t-shirt.

“Exactly.” Natasha kisses her again before settling back into her seat, putting the car in reverse and backing out of the driveway. She turns the music up. It’s softer than what Natasha usually listens to; slow, solid, a wavering electronic tune with soft vocals instead of a wall of guitars and yelling. It suits the moment perfectly: the soft afternoon light, the grey skies, the light rain falling and being swept away by Natasha’s windshield wipers.

They don’t talk on the car ride. They don’t need to. The music plays softly, the rain falls rhythmically, and they hold hands between their seats. Wanda loves this about being with Natasha: that they can just be, no strings, no expectations, no pressure. It’s a sort of peace that Wanda treasures.

“After you,” Natasha says with a smile, opening the door to the house she shares with Tony with a smile. Wanda returns the smile, stepping inside.

The house is much larger than Wanda’s; at first, Wanda had been a bit insecure about that. It hadn't helped that Natasha’s guardian, Tony, seems to have an unending and vicious dislike of Steve. That dislike, in reality, has nothing to do Steve’s wealth or lack thereof, and everything to do with…well, Wanda hasn’t actually figured that out yet. She loves Steve. He’s more of a much older brother than a father, but she and Pietro haven’t had family like him since their parents died, and she’s incredibly thankful for him. She genuinely doesn’t understand how someone could detest him the way Tony does.

“Hey, Wanda,” Tony says from the couch as Wanda and Natasha walk into the living room. “Still living with Steve?” Wanda glances over at Natasha in surprise.

“Uh, yes,” she says, widening her eyes at Natasha in question. She had been under the very clear impression that Tony would not be home tonight. “Yes, I am.”

“Tony’s just about to leave for his date,” Natasha says, giving Tony a pointed look. “Right, Tony?”

“Sure,” Tony agrees. “Have fun, be safe, use protection, yadda yadda yadda.” Wanda blushes, but Natasha just grabs the TV remote off the coffee table and throws it at him. He catches it, standing up off the couch. “See you later, Nat,” he says to Natasha. “Tell Steve to go fuck himself, Wanda.” Wanda coughs, but can’t actually manage a response to that. Natasha just snorts in amusement.

“Get out of here, old man,” she says.

“So ungrateful,” Tony comments, shaking his head. “Is it too late to send you back?” He doesn’t wait for a response, instead opting to just walk out of the room.

“Well,” Wanda murmurs once she hears the front door shut. She’s spoken to Tony plenty of times now, since she’s been dating Natasha for almost eight months, but it’s still…an experience.

“Sorry,” Natasha says, crouching by the DVD player and digging through the cabinet of DVD cases. “I didn’t realize he’d still be here. Apparently he doesn’t feel the need to be on time to his date.”

“Date?” Wanda echoes. “Tony has a date?”

“I asked the same question.” Natasha finds the case she’s looking for and stands up, holding it up for Wanda to see. Buffy season four. Unsurprisingly.

“Well, maybe if he starts seeing someone, he can spend less time hating my family,” Wanda says as Natasha loads the DVD up. Natasha pauses, glancing over her shoulder at Wanda with concern in her eyes.

“Does it bother you?” she asks. “Because I can ask Tony to tone it down. He’ll listen to me.”

“It is fine,” Wanda says, waving a hand dismissively. “I know he isn’t being serious.” Natasha slides the DVD in and walks back over to the couch, settling in beside Wanda and slipping an arm around her.

“I don’t know about that,” she says as she selects an episode. “I’m pretty sure he and Steve could start the second civil war if you gave them a couple years and made them look at each other more than once a month.” Wanda sighs, acknowledging the truth of the statement.

“Still,” she says. “They will have to learn to get along.”

“Why’s that?” Natasha asks, tugging Wanda farther into her side.

“Because Steve is my family,” Wanda says. “And you are my family too, and I won’t lose either of you.” Natasha smiles, kissing Wanda’s temple.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she murmurs. Wanda sighs happily, curling up into Natasha’s side and settling in, turning her attention to the TV.

She still sort of wishes Steve and Tony got along better, but their mutual antagonism is more of a force of nature than anything, and besides, Wanda gets a family and a girlfriend, and if the price of that is a little bickering, she’ll take it.

my ao3

[looselucy]

November

I walked out of my Thursday lecture with a spring in my step, still incredibly happy that thanks to my schedule, I always had a four day weekend, only actually expected in uni on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I did have to try not to think about how much I was paying simply to do those 3 days a week, because that would ruin the whole thing.

I pulled my phone out of my bag and rang Zayn straight away, hugging my coat tight around me, the weather as shocking as always, drizzle soaking me through. “Alright!” Zayn beamed down the phone. “You need some booze? I’m going to the shop now, I’ll pick you some up.” “Yes! A bottle of vodka, please.” “No worries. Okay, I’ll see you soon.” “WAIT!” He yelled. “What?” “Guess who I’ve just met?” “Who?” I quizzed. “New boy.” I hadn’t had an interaction with him since the morning / afternoon before, when I first met him. He had stayed locked in his room, not coming out to introduce himself or make any kind of effort with anyone. It was safe to say, I had a bad impression of him from the get go. “Really?” “Yeah. He seemed alright. I invited him to drink with us tonight but I don’t think he’s up for it.” “Maybe he doesn’t drink.” I tried to have his back, for some reason. “Nah I asked him that. Said he does.” I scoffed out loud and rolled my eyes, because to me it just sounded like he couldn’t be arsed making any effort with us, and if that was how he was going to be, I would do the same to him. “Fuck him then.” I replied. “If he doesn’t wanna get involved I’m not gunna put in any effort. He seems like a bit of an arse to me.” “I think he seems sound.” I knew Zayn was just excited to have another lad around. He got on well enough with Mike, but the two of them weren’t really similar. Zayn, even though he was a lads-lad, had ended up developing closer friendships with the girls he lived with. And I think he was excited to have another boy around. “Did you find out his name?” I grinned. “Umm, no. Sorry.” “Oh for fuck sake.” I groaned. “I needed to know beforehand so I could have time to like... think up some snotty comment about it. Something witty. You have been absolutely zero help with my plan, Zayn.” “Sorry, but he like, started asking about my tattoos and we got chatting and I didn’t even think!” God, it was ridiculous how utterly desperate I was just to make some stupid comment about his name, so I could high-five myself and start walking off into the sunset with a massive smile on my face. So I could die happy just knowing I had made fun of his name. But I was never too good at thinking up comebacks on the spot. I needed time to mentally prepare myself and think up something hilarious, so everyone could laugh with me and what’s-his-name could cringe for the rest of his life. Zayn was not helping me. “Woops.” He chuckled. “That’s my new name for you. Zero help Zayn.” “You’re a pain in the arse!” “Right, I’ll be back soon. Whack the kettle on.” I groaned. “Don’t forget my vodka, Pain In The Arse Pippa.” “Fuck off!” I laughed, before swiftly hanging up. + + + Myself and Tally sat expertly doing our makeup on my bedroom floor, using the mirror on the back of my door to prepare ourselves for the evening ahead, hair done and outfits on, almost ready. “Y’know, Zayn is dead keen on having this new chap drink with us tonight.” Tally said. “I finally saw him too. You didn’t say he was so fucking fit Pippa!” “Urgh, I know. I’ve been trying to forget about it.” I nearly rubbed over my eyes, forgetting my fresh mascara. “Seriously. He is nice.” It was easier to dislike him when I could forget how nice he was on my tired, hungover eyes that morning, how it looked like I could have cracked a coconut on his fucking abs. “Hm.” I tried not to think about it. “I think we should ask him to drink with us.” “Why?” “Maybe you just got the wrong impression. Or like... maybe he didn’t mean to take the piss. If we spend the night with him, we can all make a good, solid judgment.” I wanted to disagree with her, but she was totally right. I knew I was being dramatic, but that was me through and through, as much as I’d like to deny it, I had always been a pretty dramatic person. So maybe I had misconstrued what he meant a little. Maybe I heard it wrong, and he wasn’t being as snotty as I first thought. It was probably a good idea to give him a second chance. “Suppose.” I sighed. “Right. Yeah. Let’s go invite him.” “Now?” “Yeah yeah yeah. You ready?” She nodded, and we awkwardly stood up, pulling down our dresses as soon as we were on our feet to make sure our bums remained covered. I wasn’t nervous as we approached his door, thankfully. We had shared a few light vodkas in my room whilst we were getting ready, and I was prepared to be nice to him and make the effort. Tally seemed a little more nervous, definitely the type of person who needed a number of drinks in her to be confident around lads that looked like this one. But I was holding up nicely. I knocked loud and chipper on his door, hearing a few scuttles from inside before he opened the door wide, face low, unenthusiastic, looking between both of us like we were mad for being there. And in that moment, I realised even that my first impression was going to stick. “Hi.” I smiled. “We were wondering if you wanted to come out tonight?” His eyebrows dropped even lower, looking us up and down now, a little stuck for a reply, and clearly uninterested by the idea. “I dunno.” He groaned. “Not sure it’s my scene.” “Well, why don’t you come and find out?” I tried my best not to roll my eyes, but the fact he thought he had a scene made it difficult. Zayn walked out of his room, dressed ready for the night, pushing his long hair out of his eyes, greeting the new boy with a slight raise of his chin, which was returned. And I knew it wouldn’t be me who would be able to convince this guy to make some effort with the people he lived with; to actually introduce himself and not be such an arse. Zayn said he had gotten a good impression of him, so if anyone was going to convince him, it would be Zayn. “C’mon, man.” He began his attempts. “I’ll share my vodka.” He looked as though he really didn’t want to. If it was me who had kept asking him, there was no way in hell he would have said yes. I could tell right off he was one of those lads-lads, but not in the same way Zayn was. He was the type who always wanted beers with the lads, and laughs with the lads, and pulling girls with the lads, and it made me cringe. I was really trying not to snort at the whole idea of the boy in front of me. “Alright, I’ll get ready.” He hesitated. He swiftly shut the door in my face, all three of us feeling the gust form the harsh action, stood a little baffled by the interaction. “Prick.” I mumbled, finally rolling my eyes, feeling the relief off my shoulders, having ached to do it. The three of us wandered into the kitchen, Zayn running to be the first to put his phone in the speakers, sticking his fingers up at us and laughing, pleased with himself. He put on music that, unsurprisingly, me and Tally had never heard, but it was perfect to drink to. Hearing noise, Mike jumped out of his room, one of those people who could smell fun from a mile off. “We drinking? We going out?” His eyes lit up, obviously forgetting we’d already invited him that very afternoon. “Yeah.” I giggled over my shoulder, pouring myself and Tally a drink. “Yes!” He clapped and rubbed his hands together. “Where we going?” “Guess?” Tally smiled, sinking into the sofa. “Thimble?” “Damn right.” Zayn smirked, taking a big swig of his strong drink. We all went and sat down on the settees, fresh drinks in our hands and our bottles down by our sides, ready to top up our beverages once we had emptied our cups, which would probably happen pretty quickly if we played Ring of Fire, like we always bloody did. Zayn had even poured a drink for the newbie. Only a few minutes after his reluctant acceptance of our invite, new boy walked calmly out of his room. He was wearing a black baggy top (thankfully covering that body, and that stupid tattoo) skinny black jeans, and light tan boots. I could see Tally’s mouth drop from beside me. He pulled out a camping chair we had purchased in our first week here, knowing there just wasn’t enough space for everyone, and I quite enjoyed seeing him sat on a pink chair with butterflies on it, and a little drinks holder, seeming more uncomfortable by the second. “Glad you changed your mind, man.” Zayn reached a hand across to him. “What’s your name?” This is it, I thought. This is my moment. The moment of truth. Come on Pippa, be witty. Think of something quick. Get him good. Humiliate him. Make me proud. “Harry.” He replied, voice stupidly low. “Harry what?” I asked, I needed more to work with. “Harry Styles.” I was aggressively tapping my foot, trying to think of something funny to say, something hilarious and something to belittle him… but there was absolutely no way it was happening. It was a perfectly fine name, nothing could come to my mind quickly enough because his name was... a fucking decent name. I could see Zayn staring at me, egging me to say something quickly before it just got weird, but I had to bite my tongue. I had nothing. “Umm, well I’m Zayn. Malik.” “Mike Jones. The girl hiding in her room is called Ringo. Don’t know her last name, don’t even know if that’s her real first name, to be honest, mate.” Harry chuckled to himself, and then turned to Tally, waiting for her to introduce herself. “I’m Tally Jacobs.” She breathed steadily. He then turned to me quickly, an annoying smirk on his face and I knew he was going to say something that would boil my blood. “What’s your name again?” He looked me up and down. “I can’t remember what it was, I just remember it was funny.” “Pippa Payne.” I shot him daggers. “Fucking hell!” He laughed, leaning back in his chair. “Gutted.” Everyone was awkward. Zayn even cleared his throat, for fuck sake. Mike downed his drink in about two seconds and Tally was just staring at Harry, now understanding why I’d gotten such a bad impression of him. “What the fuck is your problem?” I gawped. “Nowt.” He held is hands up in surrender. “Just... your mum must have been fucked on morphine when she named you that.” “And your mum must have thought of the most typical name she could, for a typical, boring, bog-standard, British twat.” That just made him laugh more, clutching at his stomach, probably liking that he had gotten a rise out of me. “Least there’s not alliteration in my name.” He raised his drink to me proudly, before downing it all. If I could have gotten away with smacking him in the face without everyone there thinking I had completely lost my mind, I genuinely would have done. I hated him. Never before had I come to such a quick conclusion about anyone, but with him my mind was firmly made up. I think a part of it was the fact he was so clearly trying to wind me up. It reminded me of being younger, having an older brother and dad who knew exactly how to piss me off, they were bloody experts and they did it at every given opportunity. Thankfully, over the years they had grown out of picking on me, and I was bloody grateful for it. I hated it. Some lad that had stormed into my life, someone I was going to have to live with, who was clearly getting a kick out of pissing me off as much as he could. I shouldn’t have reacted to him, really. It probably would have put a stop to it right then, but I couldn’t help myself. I topped up my coke with more vodka, feeling his eyes on me and a smirk on his mouth, and he knew from the start I was the perfect target for him. “So, what you studying?” Zayn asked Harry, trying to move the conversation on. “Photography.” He answered. I would have taken the piss out of him, but I probably would have taken photography myself if my parents hadn’t told me it wasn’t worth a degree, that I should stick to something solid like English and just enjoy taking photos on the side. Truth be told I hadn’t bothered to take any since they told me to forget it. “Nice, man. I do art.” Zayn replied. Harry looked next to Mike, obviously wanting to go around the group again, and I suppose I was just surprised he was showing interest in any of us. “Me and Tally do theatre.” Mike told him. “How about you P.P?” He grinned. P.P. Like pee-pee. The guy should have been taking a degree on how to grind on my nerves. He’d pass with flying colours. “English.” I told him glumly. He didn’t say anything snarky, he just curved his lips downwards, shrugged, and raised his eyebrows. Unfazed, uninterested. Everyone did interesting subjects to do with the arts in our flat, other than me. Ringo, unsurprisingly, was doing music. For the first time since I’d moved in, I felt boring, and I knew Harry was thinking that too, but even he wasn’t that rude, to just come right out and say it. The look on his face said it all. “Any-fucking-way,” Mike clapped his hands together. “This conversation is boring as shit. I say we drink and talk about interesting things, like other times we’ve been drunk... And stories about drinks and... anything other than fucking uni, ‘cause I’m definitely not going to my lecture tomorrow.” “Cheers to that!” Harry raised his glass again, in the direction of Zayn and Mike, pretty much ignoring me and Tally. + + + “You’re drunk!” Zayn shouted in my ear. “Am not!” I yelled back. “Yes you are!” He poked my stomach playfully. I tried to pretend that didn’t make me feel like I was going to throw up, but it definitely did, probably because I was as drunk as Zayn had been telling me I was. Why I felt the need to deny it every time, I’ll never know. I was happy to admit the morning after how much of a mess I was, but when it actually came to someone pointing it out to me in the peak of my drunkness, I was all up for pretending I was as sober as a judge. “I’m not! I’ve not even hardly even drank anything. You’re drunk.” I scoffed. “I love you.” He yelled. “I love you more!” We had to yell. It was loud, and we were stood in the middle of the dancefloor declaring our love for one another. I knew me and Tally were always going to be close, we were girly-girls and we worked well together. But me and Zayn had something a little more special. I knew out of everyone, now that Grace had gone, I would be closest with him. “Are you two fucking?” We heard. I turned around, stumbling forward and knocking my forehead into Harry’s chest, before stumbling back, Zayn catching my shoulders to try and keep me steady. “She’s my best fucking mate!” Zayn pointed aggressively. “My best... My best friend.” Harry looked me up and down, and I knew he didn’t expect me to best friends with Zayn. Zayn was all tattoos and long hair and totally, undoubtedly interesting. He just was. I was a pretty typical girl. I got drunk easily, cried a lot, liked wearing dresses and doing my hair and makeup for a night out and giggling about boys with girls. Maybe to look at, we weren’t matched to be best mates, but in other ways, we totally were. We were similar and we connected well. We were best mates. And I knew that. So I stuck my middle finger up at Harry, before he could say anything else. He ignored me, and talked directly to Zayn. “I got the tabs.” “Sound, man! Let’s do it.” Zayn replied eagerly. Harry looked around him for some reason, probably not realising that we were in the grottiest club this town had to offer, and no one would bat an eye at them taking drugs in the middle of the dancefloor. Everyone other than me. It didn’t surprise me that Zayn was into that kind of thing, I think he had mentioned it briefly before, but I certainly hadn’t seen it. Harry handed a small, pink pill over to Zayn. I kept my eyes on the curly haired prick as he stuck his tongue out, and placed a pill on it, staring right back at me as he tucked his tongue back into his mouth, raising his eyebrows as though he had just accomplished something. “You want one, P.P?” “Nope. Not from you.” I scowled. Not that I would have taken drugs from anyone else, it totally wasn’t my thing. I had once taken some kind of MDMA at college and I thought I was the queen of the world, yet woke up remembering very little, in the middle of a puddle down some street near my old home, alone and lost and totally vulnerable. Never to be repeated. The only reason I got through that come-down was because Timmy-Two, my dog, must have sensed that I wasn’t all there, and he stayed sat on my lap all day. “You scared?” He asked me. “No!” I growled. “You are.” “I’m not fucking scared!” “I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to call you Pip-Squeak from now on. Suits your personality more. You scared, Pip-Squeak?” “Are you really trying to manipulate me? Like, is this peer pressure? Are we twelve?” He chuckled, before opening his mouth wide, revealing how empty it was to me, like he thought I would be impressed by his idiotic ways. I was sad Zayn was going along with it. Especially drunk. When I was drunk, it was like Zayn was choosing Harry over me. Totally not the case, I realised at a later date, but in that moment Zayn may as well have skipped off hand in hand with Harry, singing ‘make friends make friends never never break friends’’ leaving me in a pool of my own tears, in the middle of Thimble. “ZEE!” We all turned around to where the yell of one of Zayn’s nicknames came from, and my heart fluttered seeing the lad I had met on Monday night in the same place. “LOU-LOU!” Zayn cupped his mouth for dramatic effect. They shared a hug again, and he was all smiles and friendliness and I wished that it was him who had moved in with us, rather than the complete arsehole whose new life aim was to make me furious. Louis turned to me, drunk and fascinating to look at, another boy who somehow had a tan even though we lived in the UK, in the bloody North of the UK. “The Crier.” He addressed me with a smile. “That’s me.” I smiled back, wishing to sober up to impress him. “What?” Harry chortled from beside us. “You get pissy with me for calling you Pip-Squeak, and this kid walks in calling you The Crier and you’re swooning? You two are definitely fucking.” I looked over to Louis, and I was happy to see him looking Harry up and down with a displeased look. He then pointed a finger towards him, and turned to Zayn. “Who the fuck is this?” “Shit.” The effect of whatever Zayn had taken was hitting him fast, but he just seemed drowsy. “This is Harry. Umm. Shit. I forgot your last name, bro.” “Styles.” ”You’re Harry Styles?” Louis gawped. I groaned, thinking I’d done it quietly but it came out extremely loud, because the fact Louis knew his name lead me to believe they’d be fast friends. “Yeah.” Harry looked confused. “You got kicked out of our halls!” Louis beamed. “I heard about what you did! Nice work, man.” “Cheers.” Harry smirked. I was bitterly disappointed as the two lads started shaking hands, and I ignored them as they sparked up a conversation, turning around to face Zayn, who was dancing on his spot with his eyes shut tight. “You’re my best friend!” I slurred, poking his chest. “Mine.” He went to bite my finger, laughing away to himself, and I knew no matter how fucked he was he would never try to bite Harry’s finger, even if he really, really wanted to. He was my best friend. I turned around in time to see Louis reject a pill from Harry, which made me like him all the more. I grabbed hold of his shoulder, hoping it wasn’t a rude way to grab his attention, but I was drunk and it was done. “You want a drink?” I asked, even though it was not a wise idea. “Only if I’m buying.” He smirked at me. I was almost sure he’d just flirted with me. But he couldn’t have done. He was just being nice. A nice boy with a nice face. I was fucked. “Yeah. Um. Okay.” I spluttered. I guess that did sober me up a bit. Any attention I ever got from boys, if any, went unnoticed unless a boy automatically grabbed my attention. I’d never been the type to settle for any boy on a night out. But most boys that caught my eye, I failed to catch theirs. I had a slight inkling in that moment that maybe, I had caught Louis’ eye. And that terrified me. He ticked his head towards the bar, revealing a devilish grin to me. Honestly, I don’t really remember anything after that drink. + + + I had made it to my bed. That was the first thing I thought when I woke up the morning after. Grateful, so, so grateful, that I was in my bed. Even if it was a rubbish, rock hard, single bed. At least it was a bed, and I was in it. I then realised what had made me wake up, after a second set of knocks went off against my bedroom door. “Come in!” My voice failed me. “I can’t it’s locked.” I heard Zayn on the other side. “Don’t make me get out of bed!” “Come on. I need to go to my lecture in like five minutes!” He knocked again. “I can’t move. I want to, honestly. My day would be off to a flying start seeing your face Zayn-” “You’re a sarcastic little shit.” He huffed. “- but that involves moving. Something that I am not capable of right now.” I could hear him mumbling that he hated me over and over again, possibly lightly banging his forehead against the door. I smiled to myself, enjoying the reaction I was getting from him. “Fine.” He eventually huffed. “I guess we won’t discuss the fact you kissed Louis last night.” I practically fell out of bed, before running over to the door, nearly colliding head first with it before I twisted the lock and swung the door open, seeing that stupid grin on his face because he knew that was going to work. “I did what now?” I gawped. “I knew you wouldn’t remember.” “Did I really?” “Yeah.” “Holy. Shit.” I had kissed Louis. I was the Queen of the world knowing that. I didn’t remember it. It was probably awful and based on vodka rather than attraction but I just thought I was the greatest person in the world. My hangover was practically cured. “You were a mess.” Zayn chortled. “You’re one to talk, Mr Drugs.” “I don’t turn down free drugs, Pip. This is something you should learn about me.” It had shocked me how common drugs were as soon as I went to uni, how common it was for people to be using them and for it to be this completely casual thing, rather than a big deal like it had been only a few, short, innocent years before. They were everywhere. And everyone took them. “I’m well proud of myself.” I leaned against the doorframe. “Do you remember what you said to Harry?” He asked me next. “What? No! Why? Shit! What did I say?” I knew it was going to be bad, something I should have kept to myself, because I didn’t have a positive word to say about him. “I dunno.” Zayn now hushed his tone. “Something along the lines of being an arrogant prick, to stay away from you. And you were all like, you’re not my type of person and I’m not yours so lets keep it at that.” I cringed. I meant every word but that didn’t mean they needed to be said. It made me just as bad as him, if not worse. “That’ll be nice and awkward.” I cursed myself. “You’re telling me, mate!” He puffed. “Right. I’ve gotta go. It’s just a drawing session, so I’ll only be a couple of hours then I’m gunna cook for everyone.” “You’re my favourite.” I pinched his cheek. “Fuck off!” He swatted my hand away. “Reyt, I’ll see you in a bit.” “Would you-” “Yes. I’ll ask Louis about it. And let him know you’re amazing, blah blah.” “Love you.” I cooed. He rolled his eyes and flipped me off over his shoulder as he let himself out of the flat, always choosing to bob down the stairs rather than take the lift, something I would never understand. Almost on cue, I heard a lock, that was uncomfortably close, unlocking. Harry let himself out of the room next to mine, his room, eyed me up and down once, before walking up to the kitchen, shouting over his shoulder just to bring my hangover back, and to make me like him even less. “You look like shit, Pip-Squeak.”

[retro-pure-jdonica]

Chapter 32

This chapter is dedicated to @ask-veronica-sawyer-heathers for leaving such sweet messages in my inbox and also to @scouts-mockingbird because the conversation Ronnie has with her mother at the end is very Aunt Alexandra-esque

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"I thought about this the night after the drive in and just yesterday. I'm scared that I've become dependent on you, like, emotionally dependent." I vaguely explain to him but J.D. doesn't appear to catch on.

"What do you mean?" He asks unsurprisingly.

"That night of the drive-in after I called you and you came over and talked to me, you went to leave but I couldn't handle it. I ran over to you and stopped you from leaving, you had to give me your jacket for it to be okay. I couldn't cope with what happened on my own, I felt the need for you to be there with me." I elaborate on the subject.

"Well, why is that a bad thing? I'm always going to be here for you so you needing me is fine, in fact, it's good. It makes me feel like I have a purpose." J.D. informs me on his perspective on the matter.

"J.D., you can always find a purpose in me, that is good, but it needs to be in moderation. If I simply want you and you help me, that still gives you a purpose, but needing you, while it still gives you a purpose, makes me unstable. We don't know that you're always going to be here, I could also move. I need to be able to handle some of my stuff on my own, and for a while there I wasn't able to. Don't worry, I'm still going to be very open with you about my life, and I hope you will be open with me about yours. Now that I've said all this I'm not quite sure what the purpose of the conversation was..." I trail off, laughing slightly about me not thinking this through.

"No, no, thank you for telling me this, I truly appreciate your sincerity and openness." J.D. smiles, taking my hand in his. "Say, why don't we go out to Rosie's and just forget about all of these troubling matters for a while?" He suggests.

"That sounds quite fun." I reply, standing up from the couch at the same time as him. We go outside to his motorcycle so we can drive off to Rosie's. Since it was just me and J.D., we sit at the bar instead of a booth.

"So, I know I said this was to forget about our troubles, but what is the current standpoint of your parents when it comes to my presence around you?" J.D. asks me. "I'm only bringing this up because, well, I believe that we are pretty serious now." His words suddenly remind me of what mother requested just before I left today.

"Well, I did tell mother that I was actually going to be with you today and she gave me permission, but just before I left she told me that when I get back she wants to talk to me about you." I inform him, suddenly being filled with dread and worry at the thought of conversing, more accurately arguing, with mother about J.D. yet again. "Oh, Veronica, I didn't mean to remind you of that if you were trying to forget about it." J.D. quickly begins apologizing.

"Oh, no, don't worry. It's not a problem, even if it were one it wouldn't be your fault." I smile in an attempt to make him feel better. Before our conversation could continue a waitress came to take our orders.

We then spend the rest of our afternoon chit chatting over burgers and Coke floats. At the end of our date, which lasts nearly an hour, J.D. picks up the tab and drives me back home. I thank him for the date before walking back inside my house, bracing myself for the conversation with mother. Per usual, I find her sat on the couch watching the news on tv and crocheting some new piece. Doilies were her favorite, and our house was covered in them. Turns out that when you're the housewife of a decently self-sufficient family, you have a lot of free time.

"Oh, Veronica, you're back." Mother smiles, placing her work down in the basket on the floor. "Come sit." She requests as she scoots over and pats a spot on the couch right next to her. I do as instructed silently. "I suppose you remember what I told you before you left?"

"Yes." I quietly reply as I fidget with my hands in my lap.

"I assume you think that I'm trying to keep you away from that boy because I'm some horrible mother, after all, you're just a teenager and that's how teenagers think." Mother prefaces the lecture she is about to give. Her words are quite degrading but I attempt to brush them off, knowing that what she's said isn't true. I'm not sure why she dislikes me seeing J.D., she's never actually said why. "But that's simply not true. Even though you are just a teenager I do think you will be able to understand what I am about to explain to you: family pride." She says and it takes all of my power to not roll my eyes. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less about my surname. "Back in the 1870s, the Sawyers were one of the first families to arrive in Sherwood, they were easily the wealthiest of all of the families to first arrive. The name Sawyer in this town should attract more respectable men with rich family history."

"And you assume that just because J.D. wears leather jackets and drives a motorcycle he is not a respectable person?" I ask, not caring how rude I sound.

"People who carry themselves in that manner tend to not be." Mother shrugs. I know she is wrong but there is only one thing I can say to someone with the opinions on wealth and family like mother to prove them wrong. Pushing back the disgust for what I'm about to say, I raise my left hand up to mother's face.

"Mother, this is the diamond ring J.D. gave to me as a going steady ring. Would you like to know what he said when he gave it to me?" I ask rhetorically, not waiting for an answer before continuing speaking. "He said whenever I'm alone I don't have to be scared because now a part of him is with me. Now, may I ask, what kind of disrespectful man lacking wealth would give this diamond ring with such meaning simply to a girlfriend?"

Mother pauses before picking up on her side in the conversation. "I see." She quietly replies, realizing that she had been wrong about J.D..

"Mother, I really like J.D. and I am not prepared to nor do I plan to end my relationship with him just because of the fact that our family has been here possibly the longest. It means virtually nothing now. And do you recall asking me to have a conversation with him about my limits? Well, I did, and the entire time he sat and listened and in later... situations he abided by everything I had requested of him." I state my ground.

"Alright then. I suppose I did not accurately understand,” She pauses before continuing “J.D.'s personality." Mother finally gives up on her grudge against him. It felt strange to hear her refer to him as J.D. instead of Jason. "Veronica, you have my permission to continue seeing him." Mother finishes the conversation and I smile widely.

"Thank you." I reply, leaning forward and hugging her. I have never until right now, stood up for something so strongly, not caring if I sounded rude or disrespectful and it truly paid off. I may have to start doing this more often.

[shouldwefall]

Crushing! Dino

-you were sixteen of age when you first met Dino

-after moving from Daegu to Seoul, you transferred into Seoul Broadcasting High School

-the atmosphere was so welcoming?? Everyone you passed smiled or dipped their head in greeting and you’re bewildered because your old schoolmates were so cold

-your homeroom teacher introduces you to your new official class and the boys are all so good-looking wtf

-you had to rub your eyes twice like why are Seoul students all so perfect

-”good morning class! this is our new student, please help her around the school since she is not yet familiar with the layout of the building.”

-”hello, my name is y/n! I’m from Daegu; it’s a pleasure to meet you all!”

-each person in the room applauds after your introduction and you’re taken aback because it genuinely sounds like they can’t wait to meet you

-the homeroom teacher proceeds to assign you to sit next to a boy doodling in his notebook and you just gasp in awe because of his silverish hair it’s beautiful goddamn

-he doesn’t look up when you slip into the seat next to his

-it’s a w k w a r d as hell

-so you try to start up a conversation with the simplest and most boring line ever:

-”uhm i’m y/n, what’s your name?”

-the boy’s eyebrows furrow, and you’re terrified you insulted him in some way already

-you had a knack for accidentally offending others

-he finally answers in a matter-of-fact tone, much to your relief

-”it’s dino.”

-”oh… uh... nice to meet you dino!!” he doesn’t reply, but you persist, determined to at least make one friend today. “hey, what do you have for first period class?”

-there’s a slight pause in the boy’s scribbling, but he still avoids your gaze

-”i have mr. park.”

-you have absolutely no idea who mister park is, which subject he teaches and which room he’s at

-”that’s… um… cool…”

-”...”

-”ah, um, you must know this school really well huh!!”

-seriously you’re running out of things to converse about and the uncomfortable silence is sweeping in

-”... yeah… i do.”

-dino’s so quiet when responding to your questions that you’re beginning to think that he might already dislike you

-eventually, the conversation if there was any at all  dies off and both of you just awkwardly raise your hands when the teacher calls attendance

-the bell rings for first period and he bolts out of the door in a flash

-is he annoyed at me already?? You couldn’t help but get another unpleasant feeling in your stomach

-obviously you shake it off because you and Dino haven’t even known each other for an hour yet… there’s a chance you guys could get on better terms, right?

-wrong

-all throughout the week Dino ignores you or pretends not to see you

-like this one time you were wandering around the school because you couldn’t find your fifth period class and you spot Dino near his locker

-approaching him while looking down, you busily pull out your schedule from your backpack to ask him where room 507, the science lab, was (the stupid school didn’t have door numbers above each room for some idiotic reason)

-andd he’s gone

-you’re alone in the deserted corridors

-seething, you had to walk allll the way down to the first floor, ask the lady at the counter for help, then climb the stairs allll the way up to the fifth floor when you could’ve just turned right

-”the next time I catch him he’ll face my wrath URRGGH”

-but unsurprisingly, that boy sure could run

-he miraculously managed to steer clear of your presence every time you ‘ambushed’ him after class

-it’s frustrating to the point where you start waiting for him to come out of the boys’ locker room so you two could ‘talk’

-dino, being the smart honors student he is, takes the back door

-”sayonara idiot”

-yOU FINALLY get him in your hands after he miscalculates and heads to the vending machines to buy a sports drink

-”hellooo there dino”

-”pfft- why are you here” he chokes on his drink and his eyes immediately dart around to find a way to escape

-too bad there would be no escape now

-”lee chan… why are you trying to hide from me huh? What did i ever do to you to cause you to keep your distance from me? I was simply trying to find my way through the school and you ignored my pleas for help? Honestly, and i thought Seoul students were more polite? Yah- get back here!!”

-dino takes off through the hallways

-in a frenzy, you dart after him

-it’s a wild goose chase but you’re gaining ground on him

-both of you eventually get tired of running and begin panting like mad dogs

-”stop…. *heave* right… *heavy breathing* there… *collapse*”

-”what… *cough* do… *sneeze* you… *cough*... want… *collapse*”

-and you’re just glaring at each other

-and glaring

-glaring

-still glaring

-until dino bursts into laughter

-complete confusion breaks out across your face you have no idea what he’s laughing about

-was there toilet paper on your shoe? Lettuce stuck between your teeth??

-meanwhile dino’s still cracking up on the floor, trying to exhale through his nose

- “what’s so funny?” you ask, starting to get seriously mad

- dino just keeps laughing, despite the growing tension

- “look, i just wanted to be able to fit in here and get along with people? why are you being so cold to me? you’re making it difficult for me to feel comfortable here”

- the laughter stops with those words

-dino looks at you, and he looks like he’s been slapped across the face right then

- “i… i’m sorry"

- you’re surprised to hear an apology

- "thank… you?”

- “there’s nothing wrong with you, i promise. y-you just…”

- frowning, you take a step closer to him, trying to connect the dots. He backs away, much to your annoyance.

-”i just what?”

-”you make me nervous, alright?”

- you??? made him??? nervous??? how on earth???

- “what?"

- he shakes his head quickly, eyes wide as a deer caught in headlights

-"pretend i didn’t say that. please. my reputation is at stake here.”

-so the two of you stand in silence in the hallway, not looking at each other because he?? doesn’t stop blushing??

- you’re still honestly so confused… he didn’t explain why he felt nervous around you… unless…

-”hey, do you have a crush on me?”

- but you'd literally just gotten to the school? oh man, your head was going to hurt if you thought about it more.

-dino’s ears grow pink, and he shakes his head vigorously

-”of course not!” he says with such defiance you’re almost insulted i mean who wouldn’t want your fine ass he’s probably blind

- ”i-i… you won in last year’s Seoul dancing competition, right?”

-hesitantly, you respond to his question

- “yes… i did…”

-”that last move you did… was it based off michael jackson’s thriller choreography?”

-astounded, you nodded your head. Even the judges didn’t recognize that move; you were a little disappointed they didn’t, that specific move took you months to perfect

-dino gets up from the floor and scratches the back of his neck, ears turning even redder than it was before

-you just realized how cute he looked like when he was embarrassed

-”uhm… could you teach me the way you dance?”

-the smile on his face’s hopeful; he clearly wanted to learn those moves badly

-it’s touching, it really is

-”sure”, you grin, “under one condition”

-dino’s smile immediately falters

-”... what’s the condition?”

-”you must bow whenever you see me in the hallways”

-he breathes a sigh of relief and dips his head in acknowledgement

-and that’s how you two became the best of friends

-you could always have a nice laugh with him about the first time you guys met each other

-surprisingly (or not), dino’s also really caring?? you were kicked out of your house a couple months back because you couldn’t pay the rent fast enough and he grew so worried he forced you to move into his house

-so you ended up living at a ginormous condominium

-dino has twelve?? Older?? Brothers??

-and they’re all hot asf aghjkl

-take seungcheol for example

-biceps, the eldest and strongest of all the brothers

-jeonghan; aka the mother, and angel also devil working part-time

-jisoo; handsome gentleman that speaks english

-junhui; huge greaseball, but deeply cares for his family

-hoshi; 10:10, star, kwon FIRREE, closest to dino obviously

-wonwoo; scary at first, is actually a big softie

-jihoon; don’t ever call him cute he WILL hit you with his guitar

-seokmin; ball of sunshine what’s not to like

-mingyu; germyu more like HAH

-minghao; don’t ever make him mad he’s scarily good at roasts but other than that cute & reserved

-seungkwan; your favorite brother other than chan tbh tbvh

-vernon; eyelashes you would kill for

-but they’re always up to some weird shiet

-they’ve always landed you and Dino in awkward situations… especially that time one week ago ugh

-so you and Dino were studying in his room and the atmosphere was light and comedic

-but guess what

-naega hosh decides to ruin it

-”hey y/n and chan- GUYS WHAT ARE YOU DOING OMGGG DINO DIDN’T I TELL YOU TO LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN??”

-you two are literally only exchanging notes from the classes you shared together

-Dino’s entire face grows red, from the tip of his ears to his neck and you can’t tell if it’s from anger or embarrassment

-you’re staring at hoshi, dumbfounded and still not grasping the meaning of his words

-groaning, your best friend dashes after hoshi

-you prayed for his well-being after a series of screams and “i was tRYING TO HELP” enters the vicinity of your ears

-you don’t mind all their teasing although dino screams in agony every time his brothers even slightly mention the two of you looking good together

-in fact, you have a crush on chan yourself you’d never admit it but you do

-so whenever dino denies having a crush on you a piece of your heart breaks a little

-it’s obvious he only sees you as a good friend who’s like a sister to him... not that the truth doesn’t sting

-you’ll rather it stay this way; the less dino knows the better

-here comes the huge plot twist though

-your best friend actually does like you

-dino liked you before you even thought of liking him

-he liked you before you two even knew each other

-he liked you even when those petty arguments got in the way of your friendship, he liked you even when you were a disastrous mess in the morning, he liked you even when you liked that senior who picked up the wallet that you dropped during lunch one time

-dino liked you a lot, but he also was afraid

-afraid you would reject him

-afraid this uncommon friendship would be no more

-afraid he’d lose you, no, terrified you’d be out of his life if he ever confessed

-that fear got in the way to taking the next step of his relationship with you, and your obliviousness to his subtle flirting and overbearing concerns didn’t contribute to the progression of the confession at all

-that’s where the rest of his brothers come in

-jeonghan, the mastermind behind all the miraculous ‘coincidences’ is the head of the ‘find a suitable partner for baby chan’ agency and literally dedicates his free time to try to hook you two up together

-none of his cleverly designed plans would work however… except for one

-and that one successful attempt made you and dino realize that you two couldn’t go on without admitting the blossoming feelings you had for each other

-it worked... in a way that wasn’t planned..

-it was on a friday evening when the scheme took place

-as usual, jeonghan would be up to no good, and his brain was brewing with purely evil thoughts and tactics

-so on that night, jeonghan’s like “hey guys, let’s play truth or dare!”

-and the rest of dino’s brothers seem to catch on to what he’s going for, but for whatever reason, dino is none the wiser

-the rest of the brothers are exchanging sly smiles and they know where agent 1004 would be going with this

-you’re also unaware of what they’re doing, thinking that they’re just going to be boys being boys, and daring each other to do crazy things like lick each other’s armpits or run laps around the house naked

-all of you gather around in a circle and just to make sure that dino’s not going to chicken out, jeonghan orders the boys to lock up all available exits

-you’re starting to get suspicious, but you let it pass, thinking that you’re just being paranoid

-they go through a few dares (the most notable being jeonghan daring seungcheol to lie down on the couch and letting hoshi put ice on his nipples for ten seconds)

-eventually all 12 brothers decided on ‘dare’; each of them being dared to do all sorts of creepy things that would be weird just to think about

-it’s dino’s turn, and you realize he’s the second-to-last-one left of the bunch you’re last

-dino’s feeling quite bold and wants to live up to the “brave” show that his brothers had put up

-so he goes ‘dare!’ with a lot of gusto

-and jeonghan smiles evilly and you think “oh no”

-and jeonghan looks at you, and then looks at dino, and he goes “dino, i dare you to kiss y/n”

-dino goes bright red in the face

-like he literally turns into a tomato

-you watch him out of the corner of your eye, afraid to express any kind of movement other than shifting your pupils

-and you watch as his feelings go from complete embarrassment to pure rage

-and he stands to his feet

-and he starts berating jeonghan - everyone is just shocked

-dino’s on a complete roll now; there’s no stopping him and his harsh words

-“i wish, for once, that you could be at least a little considerate on my part! you’re always planning something to make me uncomfortable or feel stupid and you ALL think you’re so smart and so sly because i’m the youngest here??”

-he takes a deep breath... and continues

-”I’m more than capable of expressing myself and who i am!! I’m as much as a man as any of you in here, but guess what? GUESS WHAT?! I have to put up with all of your crap because you’re older and i have to respect my elders but no more!! No more!! I-I.. stop being such a terrible brother! Stop being such terrible BROTHERS!!”

-everyone’s like ‘holy shit what the flying f*ck just happened

-dino storms out of the room because he’s furious, he’s so mad at the world and at himself

-everyone’s looking between one another because dino gets angry often but he’s never snapped like that

-and jeonghan looks genuinely hurt

-you look at him carefully and sigh, getting to your feet

-‘i’ll go talk to him, okay?’

-they all agree that’d be best

-so you start looking for dino and you find him in his room, blasting heavy rock on top volume

-gathering all the air in your lungs, you scream over the deafening music

-”DINO! It’s me!”

-for a while, you thought your attempt at conversing with him was a lost cause, and the music just keeps blaring

-it comes to an abrupt stop suddenly, and dino’s voice, sad and sullen, brings you back to his door

-“y/n...don’t come in”

-“why not?”

-“I don’t want to see you”

-you never knew that one line could hurt so much, nevertheless, you persist

-“dino… please”

-“no”

-“dino… i know you’re upset, but please, don’t take this out on me”

-he goes quiet for a moment

-and you’re about to walk away, sheepish at your futile efforts

-he opens his door a small crack, peering out to make sure it was really you

-“hey” you grin, nodding at the tall male. “How’re you doing by yourself?”

-he rolls his eyes, but still returns a withered smile

-“never been better y/n”

-”may i come in?”

-your best friend ponders about the pros and cons of the request for a little while before conceding, and you step into his room, shutting the door behind you

-you walk alongside his bed, admiring the tons of Michael Jackson and Haikyuu figurines he had in his collection

-truth to be told, you’ve always preferred to stay in dino’s room more than any other room in the house; it was just so cozy and full of memories of his childhood

-the left wall was tacked entirely with photos of him and his brothers; dino would often tell you stories about his misadventures with them-- there was one year where the family went on a camping trip and wonwoo’s snacks were stolen by a giant grizzly bear, and there was that one week where woozi’s guitar was accidentally sat on by mingyu and he had refused to talk to him or any of his brothers until one of them got the exact copy of his previous instrument (which joshua had to travel to the usa for)

-you know dino loves his brothers deeply, and wouldn’t give them for the world, heck, even the next door lady with a whole set of teeth missing knew

-and especially not jeonghan

-it’s been quiet for a while now, and you glance back to see dino peacefully resting against the right wall

-the right wall the male was currently leaning on, on the other hand, was full of his achievements he had gained over the years; the numerous certificates and trophies of him getting in the basketball team and making the honor roll every single year in school... he was extremely talented and clever

-stepping closer to dino and to the wall, you marvel at the amount of  passion your best friend had poured into everything before you’ve even met him

-and in the center of the concrete structure , was a letter, laminated and hanged up accordingly, that notified him that he had made it to the prestigious national youth dance program

-you smile to yourself; dino had told you that out of all his brothers (which had all been tremendously supportive of him chasing after his dreams), jeonghan was the happiest after hearing him say that, and had dialed all their relatives that lived across the globe just to alert them of the good news. He definitely loved jeonghan more than he let on

-dino’s eyes flicker open, and in spite of himself, he smiles along with you

-”y/n, i hope you didn’t take offense to what i said before”

-you glance back at him, empathetic

-”it wouldn’t be me who would be taking offense”

-the male’s eyes flicker back to his feet, and he sighs

-”i shouldn’t have lashed out like that, should’ve i?”

-as gently as you could, you shake your head. “You shouldn’t have, but i understand how you feel,” you say, patting his shoulder.

-dino gazes at you softly, a remorseful look drifting over his features

-he directs his gaze back to his feet, most likely slapping himself mentally for screaming out what he didn’t mean

-it was then you realized how young he looked. young, not as in immature, but more so a youth who recognized the errors of their recklessness too late

-trying to offer some form of encouragement, you reach out for his face, and that’s when your brain started hollering “danger”

-when had dino become so handsome?

-his infamous chicken hairstyle was the talk of the class until he had gotten rid of it, but even after that, the girls hadn’t paid him much attention

-it wasn’t like he had been bad-looking all these years; you just found his personality the most attractive part of him

-subconsciously, you reach out for dino’s face and stroke his chiseled jaw without a second thought

-his gaze shoots to the position of your hand, questions forming in his racing mind

-”y-y/n?”

-your heart skips a beat, and your eyes soften at the sound of his voice… you were going to hate yourself for doing this, but you couldn’t resist anymore

-that’s it all it took; one breathy whisper from him that unleashed all the emotions you’ve been hiding for so long

-you lean in slowly, still stroking dino’s jaw with your fingertips, and meet his pale pink lips with yours

-it was as if time froze itself, and that it was only the two of you left in this world, with nothing to disturb the anticipated moment

-dino stops breathing, motionless in his spot

-your brain registers his motions almost instantly... dino wasn’t kissing you back.

-you immediately pull back from his lips, suddenly nauseous 

-you made a mistake, didn’t you?

-you never touch your best friend

-not ever

-no matter how quick it was, no matter how much you liked them, you don’t. you don’t do it for fear of ruining the friendship

-instead of voicing your apologies aloud, you bow your head in fear that your voice would crack while saying sorry

-it hurt, but this was the truth, wasn’t it?

-the kiss... if you could even call it one, would just be a rueful memory imprinted on your mind for the rest of your life

-the clock ticks by, and neither of you move

-you’re shaking

-dino touches your shoulder, and you glance up, eyes already welling up with tears

-you couldn’t bear to let him see you in this pitiful state, but to your surprise, he tenderly wipes the droplets running down your cheeks away

-dino then slowly cups your chin, and leans in, his and your heartbeat increasing to a rate of one million

-your mind goes blank the moment his smooth pink lips touched yours, and your legs falter from the excitement and thrill of finally requiting your feelings for each other

-it was one of the briefest kisses recorded down in history, but to you, it felt like a decade

-you were in absolute bliss because...

-dino liked you back

Bonus:

-”you guys did kiss back then, didn’t you??” hoshi exclaims, resuming his exuberant twirling across the bedroom

-your face turns apple red, and you pretend to be immersed in your book

-dino chokes on his water, his face turning just as red as yours

-”I-I... we... it’s not what you think-”

-”relax, relax, all of us know. coupsie, jihoon, and i heard y/n sniffling behind the door and thought you must’ve hurt her or something, but whaddya know? she went from snivelling to silent in .2 seconds... seungcheol was about to break down the door if her whimpering wouldn’t stop, so thank god for that. jeonghan was jumping from door to door after we told him our hunch.”

-the youngest brother begins hyperventilating, clutching his head in a wild panic

-”you guys were outside?!! Jeonghan knows we kissed?!”

-snorting, hoshi collapses on the seat next to yours, checking his hair out in the nearby window

-”he would find out even if none of us made a peep channie”

-”goshdarn it!! he’s not home yet, is he??”

-the front door slams rightfully shut, and as if on cue, jeonghan’s blonde head pops through the wooden door

-”dinooo~ you have some explaining to do~”

-”runnnnn!!!”

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 19th August 2018

This is probably just gonna be a bit of a slap-dash episode since I just finished my list of the best and worst hit songs of 1994 and I’m kinda drained, but we’ll still have to get this out so here it is. REVIEWING THE CHARTS for the week of 19th August, 2018.

Top 10

First of all, we have a new #1... but it’s not exactly new at all, since it has been #1 for a few weeks before, it’s just returned to the top spot after it usurped Drake. I’m not mad at all that this is our new #1 – I may not be fond of it, but it’s better than Drake. George Ezra’s “Shotgun” is up one spot to #1.

Speak of the devil; here’s Drake with “In My Feelings” featuring City Girls, down a space to number-two. I hope it stays there, or better yet, decreases even more, although it still has the stronghold over “Shotgun” in streaming.

Not moving from last week at number-three is “No Brainer” by DJ Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo.

Surprisingly, “Eastside” by benny blanco, Khalid and Halsey has zoomed past competition as it’s increased eight spaces to number-four.

“Rise” by Jonas Blue featuring Jack & Jack has since gone down a single space since the success of “Eastside”, leading it down to number-five.

At number-six, we have a two-space increase for Loud Luxury and brando’s “Body”, which I’m glad is increasing as much as it is, even if it’s just for the fact that they’re both relatively unknown artists.

Oh, yeah, at number-seven, we have “Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer down two spaces.

Unfortunately,”Jackie Chan” by Tiesto and Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone has jumped two spaces down to number-eight.

Meanwhile at number-nine, the identical hit has effected “Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, which is ALSO down two spaces.

Thankfully, NOT down two spaces, is “Taste” by Tyga featuring Offset. Not sure how I feel about a pedophile featuring a homophobe having a song (that I personally like) in the top 10 of both the US and UK, but that’s a whole thinkpiece I won’t be writing.

Climbers

Unsurprisingly, there are a few big gains but otherwise nothing of note here. In terms of smaller six-space gains, we (sadly) have “Nevermind” by Dennis Lloyd up to #19 and “Ocean” by Martin Garrix and Khalid up to #25, but we also have an inexplicably massive gain for “079ME” by B Young, up 11 spots to #28. Please don’t let this become a top 20 hit, just for the sake of preventing humanity and society crumbling under your hands. Oh, yeah, and pathetic human being Nicki Minaj had her album Queen release, so naturally “Bed” featuring Ariana Grande (who will also have some gains due to HER album next week) increased up 15 spaces to #23.

Fallers

Naturally, we have two losses for Travis Scott after ASTROWORLD had three tracks debut on the chart last week. “SICKO MODE” featuring Drake and Swae Lee is down six spaces to #15, while “STARGAZING” is, tragically, down 12 to #27. However, there’s only one other loss, and it is just an absolute collapse for “I Like It” by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, down 17 spaces to #31. It’ll undoubtedly be out next week, unless people revenge-stream Cardi because of the nonsense Nicki’s been spouting for the past two weeks, I don’t know. That probably won’t happen but it’d be kind of funny to see Nicki not get the #1 album after how desperate she was, and then have her “rival” succeed, though pitting female rappers against each other is borderline sexist and does not help normalise females in a more-often-than-not male-dominated genre, which is something Nicki could actually learn from... Huh. Anyway, this isn’t a Nicki Minaj roast, she has a new entry so I think I’ll rant about her there.

Dropouts

Well, we have a few utterly demolished tracks that dropped out this week, like “Butterflies” by AJ Tracey and Not3s now out from #22, “Oh My” by Dappy featuring Ay Em struggling as it’s been kicked out from #27, and “CAROUSEL” by Travis Scott featuring Frank Ocean being pushed out from #29, but that’s it, and there’s no Returning Entries either, so welcome back to:

The Ed Sheeran Update!

“Perfect” is down only a single space to #61, and “Shape of You” is up a single space to #76, somehow. Can these just go away, please?

Now to the part all three of you were waiting for...

NEW ARRIVALS

#40 – “When I Kissed the Teacher” – Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies and Celia Imrie

You probably shouldn’t be doing that.

Anyways, this is an ABBA cover, straight out of the hit musical Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which I actually checked out because, my, my, how could I resist it? Well, it’s okay, not particularly my thing, but definitely watchable, however I am surprised that it took this long for a song to get into the top 40. Let me preface this by saying I strongly dislike the ABBA version, mostly because of the... interesting vocals and how everything feels so manufactured and pretty sickeningly sweet, which is incredibly unfitting for the subject matter. I don’t like the song at all, but I’d recommend “Scandalous Scholastics” by Gym Class Heroes for a better take on a student-teacher affair. It’s a pretty awful track but at least it’s a bit groovier and has some darker swagger, as well as an eerie yet catchy chorus, which is actually pretty creepy in some way, especially that it’s implied that 1.) they had sex, 2.) Travie McCoy, the singer, is still in school. He gets into some detail and the charismatic “so sexy!” ad-lib I know Travie for... yeah, well, this is the only time it should not be there, in fact, do NOT check out that song, what am I talking about? It’s horrible.

This cover, though, is somehow even worse. I don’t know who’s singing at what points because, honestly, who cares? Nevertheless, the instrumentation is cookie-cutter yet still over-processed so that it drowns out the singers, who try to belt and struggle, with some not-at-all subtle multi-tracking from seemingly better singers that isn’t helpful at all. I do like that they have more charisma for the most part, making the admittedly funny geometry line sound so much better, and I do appreciate the fact that there are female singers talking about a female teacher – now, that’s cool – although it doesn’t really make much sense in the context of the film, at all, because I’m pretty sure they all have male love interests. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not sure if your teacher is the best to experiment with, Lily.

#37 – “Don’t Leave Me Alone” – David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie

David Guetta, okay, you’re cool, you’re fine, I like you. Anne-Marie, nope, go away, please. I liked her in “FRIENDS”, initially, but, man, she can definitely become pretty insufferable. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good singer, but the attitude and forced faux-Jamaican inflections rub me the wrong way. You know what else rubs me the wrong way? How the beginning of the song sounds like stock Windows-activating sound effects. It sounds like it’s a buffering loading screen for God’s sake. Regardless, Anne-Marie sounds okay and I do like the subtle touch of the guitars and especially the piano chords under Anne-Marie and I believe Ed Sheeran harmonising in the pre-chorus, right before a pretty cool Vocaloid drop. I have really grown to love these things, as you can probably tell from my “Solo” review, and this was am especially great one, because the autotune is turned up to insane levels and the vocals sound like they’re stretched and manipulated over the hard-hitting but pleasant synth tones. The combination of the drop and some of the vocal chops with the pre-chorus melody is just fantastic. I can look past the flat production in the verses if that chorus is as incredible as it is. Damn, that surprised me. David Guetta, you win again, and I’m excited for your upcoming album.

#36 – “Barbie Dreams” – Nicki Minaj

Okay, let’s get this over with. This track caused a lot of buzz because it’s basically a tribute to a Notorious B.I.G. song full of light-hearted disses torwards people who she is friends with, and you know, I like a bit of pointless rap beef and some disses can be pretty fire even if they are completely uncalled for. I mean, I prefer hard-hitting, absolutely awful personal disses like when Pusha T slaughtered Drake and held his decapitated head over a building in “The Story of Adidon”, but I like a bit of light-hearted no-harassment-intended jabs so, let’s see what she’s got.

Well, first of all, I love the slick beat and her flow is pretty nice too. Too bad it’s all taken from “Just Playing (Dreams)” by Biggie. This is a remix then? Okay, well, you didn’t preface it as such, but that’s fine, using someone else’s beat isn’t bad as long as you spit some nice bars over it. So, what’s the “Queen of Rap” got for us? Well, she starts with some complements... yep, she just says she wants a man to settle down and have some kids, and either them or the man will look like Lil Wayne or Dave East, but they’re already fathers, so I’m assuming she wants a man who is as good of a dad as Wayne and Dave are to their kids. That’s a very nice thing to say.

Man, I ain’t got no type like Jxmmi and Swae Lee

Okay, but the song you’re referencing by Rae Sremmurd, “No Type”, makes it pretty clear that they’re joking when they say they don’t have a type, given by how they immediately contradict that statement?

I ain’t got no type / Bad b****es is the only thing that I like – Swae Lee, “No Type”

Oh, they’ve actually tried to argue that “bad b****es” are NOT a type? Okay, well, then, secondly: That’s not a diss, that’s just mentioning them in passing.

Then she gets into some admittedly funny (and probably true) disses to 50 Cent, making some nice wordplay with other members of G-Unit like Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. That’s all fine and dandy. Then she mentions Karreuche Tran... Tran... Tran...

Used to f*** with Young Thug, I ain’t addressin’ this s**t / C-caught him in my dressing room, stealing dresses and s**t

Okay, well, that’s insensitive and incredibly uncalled for. If the dude wants to reject typical gender norms, more power to him, but Thugger, you probably shouldn’t be stealing her dresses, man, and I’m pretty sure this is related to that, and is no way meant to be offensive or transphobic.

They switchin’ like sissies now – Nicki Minaj, “Majesty”

On the same album? Uh, I mean, well, okay, but maybe that’s also misinterpreted...

First they love you, then they switch / Yeah,they switch like f****ts

Yeah, okay, 1.) I’m not uncensoring that word, you know what it is, and 2.) Yikes, Nicki! I know that was back in 2009 but these recent lines prove you haven’t changed, in fact, all of these recent antics prove you haven’t changed, at all! You collaborate with a pedophile, then you try and play the feminist angle – after collaborating with an absolute scumbag who respects women as much as a tampon made out of bricks – to explain why your album didn’t get to #1, although it still sold pretty well, even though you don’t label yourself as a feminist as you’ve stated before. In fact, this whole track is just to stir up controversy and attention, isn’t it? You wanted that #1 album so desperately that you added a song that’s not even by you to your album, then you put out a lot of trash merch, some of which was promoting 6ix9ine, all of which came with a copy of your album, made JAY-Z give you a discount code on TIDAL that literally gave the album away for free, however, due to a faulty system, made all albums on TIDAL free to download, probably causing serious financial issues in the future for Jay, leading to him having to release the rest of Prince’s discography onto Spotify (not necessarily a bad thing), and reported fake news when you were projected to sell 190,000, only to be proved to sell less when the final numbers were released, all for a #1 album, which you only wanted out of spite for Cardi being more successful than you, because, I don’t know, she’s not an absolutely trash human being who doesn’t know how to promote a damn album? I guess you could say the TIDAL issue wasn’t her fault, but, yes, it was, as if it wasn’t for her own desperate need for a #1, the code wouldn’t exist at all. At least that’s only one line, right? She doesn’t cross the line otherwise.

Shout-out Desiigner ‘cause he made it out of special ed

You called a man struggling to hold onto his crippling career which is still under the hands of Pusha T’s mismanagement, being forced to constantly promote himself because his label definitely isn’t, who’s probably in debt right now, and just desperately trying to pick up the pieces to still live while doing what he wants to do – music, trapped under a label that doesn’t let him succeed, who released a better and more consistent EP this year than any project you’ve ever put out, retarded because of the energy he puts into his songs, which you, missy, are severely lacking in, despite the fact that your mentor and person you want your husband to be like, Lil Wayne, was in the same dire situation for nearly a decade, and you and Drake have been carrying him and helping him still strive in the industry while he’s being trampled on and confined by the tyrant of a label owner Birdman? Yeah, nope, not having it, you’ve lost all my respect, Nicki. I don’t usually focus on lyrics as much as I did here but when they’re this ignorant and disgusting, I think I’ll stream Cardi instead, you petty, little child.

Conclusion

“Don’t Leave Me Alone” easily gives David Guetta and Anne-Marie the title of Best of the Week, as Nicki Minaj takes Worst of the Week for “Barbie Dreams”. Hopefully I’ll have calmed down by next time. See ya!

[drink-n-watch]

I’m sure you’ve all seen this tag already. Cactus Matt created it a few weeks ago but it’s already made the rounds because it’s so much fun!!! And not only does Matt have these great creative ideas all the time, he is an absolute dear who nominated me in the first round. I, on the other hand, am an absolute bum which is why I’m only answering this now. I have an excuse though. It was hhhhaaaarrrddd !!!

Medium time readers of this blog may already know that I am a generous harem owner who believes in giving (super hot) characters a chance… As a result my harem has grown far and wide with multiple levels, little private subharems, exclusive secret groups even I’m not allowed to join… Moreover, I also have The Worst Tastes in Anime and husbandoes, often favoring variously sociopathic characters that wouldn’t touch me with a stick unless it was really pointy and maybe poison tipped. I also dislike breaking up cannon couples. I may have some issues…

Here are just a few of my favorites:

  As you can imagine, picking just 5 that all fall into different harem archetypes was a challenge. I may have failed..

But first, what’s the point of playing if there aren’t any rules…

Link back to the original post on Anime QandA so they can check out everyone’s picks! OK!!

Use the ‘Build A Harem’ logo somewhere in the post. DONE

Make sure to mention the person who nominated you too! MATT!

Pick 5 Anime Characters (any show & any gender) that would be in your ideal harem if you were the main character of a harem anime, explain a little bit as to why they are your picks (if you want). I TRIED

Make sure each character you pick falls into some of the following harem character types: Childhood friend, tom boy/girl, genki girl/boy, loli/shota, trap, tsundere, yandere, kuudere, dandere, etc. (If there’s a character you’ve picked that doesn’t specifically fall into one of these types or falls into multiple types that’s fine too!) ECT.

Nominate 5 people to participate in this tag!

The Childhood Friend:

poor Shiro (by the very talented Kumo)

Mephisto Pheles – Blue Exorcist

I won’t deny that part of this choice certainly has to do with the fact that I recently watched the Kyoto arc and my enthusiasm for this franchise got somewhat renewed.

Although my heart belongs to Shiro now and forever (decent father figures will get me every time man)… I can’t help but be drawn to the sneaky and perpetually snarky archdemon with a permasmirk. Sure he’s the embodiment of evil who never shows his cards and has 18 aces up his sleeve and he may be plotting To Take Over the World. But he’s got a great sense of humor and is a real snazzy dresser! Priorities are important.

He’s been around long enough for me to have known him since childhood and an ill advised friendship formed before either of us knew any better is probably the Only way we could ever stand each other. What my own imaginary childhood was like that I was befriending Satan’s kids is a story for another time.

The Genderbent

Ruka & Ringo

  https://www.zerochan.net/Foge

https://www.zerochan.net/Karuha

I have already proclaimed my love for androgynous characters in general with two top 5 posts but even then I only got to scratch the surface. Let me take this opportunity to add a couple more. Ruka . Steins;GATE and Ringo UtaPri.

Although from very different franchises, both these characters fill out the same basic role with panache. Namely they balance out a cast of strong willed eccentrics with a touch of calm and fragility. Identity issues aside, both are kind, patient inherently soft characters that I want to support and help… I mean they’re both hopelessly in love with men that are unable to reciprocate but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

The Genki Boy

by the amazing marimaripink

Shusei Kagari – Psycho Pass

I love Psycho Pass..i think all of the main characters are in my harem… Except for Kogami. Yeah…I told you: issues.

However, sweet and very callous Kagari is the only one I could fit into a recognizable category. In fact it’s probably a bit of a stretch but you will admit he is the most genki of the cast. Is there such a thing as bitter genki? He’s that…

Kagari was a whirlpool of color and surprising good humour in an otherwise dour universe and rather morbid story. You could usually count on him to find the black comedy in a situation and when push comes to shove he’s a really friendly and relatable guy. I still miss him.

The Kuudere (maybe)

by the amazing Rushka

The Mediator – Humanity has Declined

Although I’m fascinated by dere types, I rarely find myself attracted to them. Until they come up with a dere types for “troll”that is. I guess tsunderes can occasionally be cute is they err on the side of dere but I don’t understand the yandere appeal at all. This said, I figured I would try to fit one in….

Wel, to be honest I just wanted to find a way to include ny generally overlooked best girl ever. I wasn’t sure where to fit her. As far as archetypes go she’s The Stoic. However, though she tends to keep a straight face, we know through her inner dialogue that she’s basically entirely made up of sarcasm. In fact, I’m not entirely sure there’s any dere in her at all.

Unsurprisingly, I absolutely love this character and I never get the chance to talk about her. From the cute character design to the razor sharp wit and the no nonsense attitude, I found myself wanting to be the mediator almost as much as I wanted to be with the mediator (I have similar feelings for Utena). As I was going through options in my head for “becoming” someone specific, it sort of dawned on me that I may not be attracted to yandere because I’m already the yandere in the relationship… well that’s not good. (For those less familiar with my brand of *humor*, that was a joke)…

The Monster Girl

by Loki God of Tricks

Hevlaska – D.Gray-man

Since Matt left the door open for any other harem character archetype, I figured I’d try one I hadn’t yet seen in other build a harem posts (as of writing, one of you has probably published a post exclusively on this type since): the monster boy/girl. I really considered any of the lovely aquatic boys from Orenchi…, (Don’t worry, they are in my harem), however I decided to embrace my weird and go with Hevlaska from D.Gray-man.

I read the manga first and despite D.Gray-man being a veritable brothel of bishies I was almost supernaturally fascinated by Hevlaska. The innocence corrupted girl completely captured my imagination and I found (find) my mind wandering back to her on a regular basis.

I don’t think I can properly explain this one. It was sudden but deep infatuation and it lingers still.

So did I convince you to never trust my tastes on anything from now on?

You’ll probably need a few “good” harems to balance this out, I hope these guys can deliver:

ED – This will teach me to schedule posts way in advance, all my original nominations were taken (some have even published heir tags already…) so last minute change:

Leap250 : It can be idols – that would be interesting!

Curiously Dead Cat: I’m very curious here

BiblioNyan: I can’t wait to read this one

MangaKast: A Manga Harem sounds pretty yummy too

Shokamoka: I don’t care – I’m still nominating Shoka

This are going to be such great reads!

The ‘Build a Harem’ Tag (or what Irina does with 90% of her time) I'm sure you've all seen this tag already. Cactus Matt created it a few weeks ago but it's already made the rounds because it's so much fun!!!

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Daily Digest

Apple Funds Left-Wing Hate Group

Cut Down the Jungles!

Statue of Lincoln Defaced In Chicago

Gore: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Who toppled that statue in Durham?

Apple Funds Left-Wing Hate Group

Posted: 17 Aug 2017 06:02 PM PDT

(John Hinderaker)

I suppose this is a dog-bites-man story, given the crazy politics of Silicon Valley. But the Associated Press reports that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, a politically ignorant lefty, has pledged $2 million “to help lead the fight against the hate that fueled the violence in Virginia during a white-nationalist rally last weekend.”

So is Apple coming out against Antifa? Just kidding:

Cook also told Apple employees in the memo that he strongly disagrees with President Donald Trump’s attempts to draw comparisons between the actions of the white nationalists and protesters opposing them.

Like so many others, Cook misrepresents what President Trump has said. Maybe he did it intentionally, or maybe he was relying on pundits, including a number of conservatives, who have shamefully misrepresented Trump’s words. Trump said that white nationalists and violent Antifa thugs–not “protesters,” who Trump said were “fine people”–both bore responsibility for violence in Charlottesville. I don’t know how anyone who has seen the videos of those events can dispute the truth of that assertion.

Apple is giving $1 million apiece to Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League. It will also match employee donations to those two groups and other human rights organizations on a two-for-one basis.

As has been documented many times, the Southern Poverty Law Center is a left-wing hate group that has blood on its hands. I don’t know whether Cook shares SPLC’s hateful agenda, or whether he is just a naive stooge. Either way, Apple has aligned itself with some very bad actors. And either way, it is time to sell my Apple stock.

   Cut Down the Jungles!

Posted: 17 Aug 2017 02:54 PM PDT

(Steven Hayward)

I sometimes like to muse that nearly all the trouble and confusion of the modern era comes from the obfuscations of nomenclature. Actually I think I heard George Carlin explains this first, but it goes something like this: it used to be swamps were for draining, until we started calling them wetlands, and now they are sacred—and don’t you even think of draining a wetland! We used to throw our garbage into the dump, but now we call them landfills. And the “jungle” became a tropical rain forest, which is romanticized more than a Lifetime movie on steroids.

Well, maybe we should go back to calling them jungles, because as Nature news explains this week:

The monster El Niño weather pattern of 2014–16 caused tropical forests to burp up 3 billion tonnes of carbon, according to a new analysis. That’s equivalent to nearly 20% of the emissions produced during the same period by burning fossil fuels and making cement. . . The overall jump in emissions from tropical forests was roughly three times the annual average carbon output from deforestation and land-use change globally between 2006 and 2015.

Wait! I thought deadly greenhouse gas emissions only came from evil tailpipes and smokestacks? Maybe we should just chop down the jungles rain forests so they don’t choke us!

   Statue of Lincoln Defaced In Chicago

Posted: 17 Aug 2017 02:11 PM PDT

(John Hinderaker)

The people who are tearing down statues of Confederates in the South are barbarians, not notably different from the Taliban fanatics who blow up Buddhas and other historical monuments. Many have noted that if the barbarians want to erase Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis today, it is only a matter of time before they come for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

We can add Abraham Lincoln to that list. Last night, a bust of Lincoln in Chicago was vandalized, apparently as a political act:

Abraham Lincoln has joined George Washington on the list of those targeted by Chicagoans in a national debate over Civil War-era monuments.

Alderman Raymond Lopez took to Facebook Wednesday night to decry a defaced statue of the nation’s 16th president in the Englewood neighborhood. The giant bust appears to have been damaged after someone in the 15th Ward sprayed and ignited a flammable liquid.

Alderman Lopez called on residents to contact the police with any information about the vandalism. His request did not meet with universal approval:

“F- Abe Lincoln,” responded Quintin Mitchell, whose comment was “liked” or deemed “funny” by 160 others.

These are not good people. There is, of course, no coherent theory on which the Left should try to erase Lincoln from our history, but so what? From a Communist’s point of view (or a nihilist’s) there is no important difference between Jefferson Davis, John Calhoun, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Our civilization is under siege, and meanwhile, many conservative intellectuals can’t think about anything other than new ways to attack President Trump.

   Gore: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Posted: 17 Aug 2017 10:55 AM PDT

(Steven Hayward)

Almost ten years ago, not long after Al Gore’s first entry into the slasher/horror film genre (An Inconvenient Truth), I had occasion to ask a straight-shooting “mainstream” climate scientist I know slightly what he thought of Gore’s film. I was fishing to see whether he’d comment on some of the more obvious howlers that Gore included in the film, but instead, after a long pause he said, “I wish he’d made the film with John McCain.” In other words, Gore should have tried to make it a bipartisan effort. McCain is the perfect person and is so vain that he surely would have done it. He had, at that point, sponsored two greenhouse gas emissions-trading bills with Democratic senators, and also a bill with John Kerry to mandate much higher mileage standards in the American car fleet (22 Senate Democrats voted against that proposal, incidentally).

Now that Gore is out with a sequel (that is bombing at the box office, so there probably won’t be a sequel Oscar in Gore’s future), it is worth taking in the reflections of two young political scientists at the University of British Columbia who conclude that Gore’s efforts on behalf of climate change have only succeeded in polarizing the issue, and set back the cause of climate action.

“An Inconvenient Truth about ‘An Inconvenient Truth’” has some interesting findings that run counter to the slogans of the climatistas:

However, 11 years after its release, there is also evidence that it might have had an unintended consequence: serving as a catalyst in the polarization of American public opinion on climate change.

We have studied in detail how the media covered the issue of climate change since the 1980s and how it may have played a role in polarizing the American public. The commonly observed pattern is that public opinion tends to follow, rather than lead, debate among political elites. . .

What we found is a nuanced story that sheds considerable light on why the public polarized on climate change. First, politicians became increasingly common in coverage, politicizing the issue as it grew in importance. As a result, the public has been exposed to a growing number of messages about climate change from party elites.

Second, When one side’s messages are clear and the other side’s are muddled, as was the case here, it’s plausible that Republican voters took their cues from Democrats. This should not be surprising. In an age of affective polarization where Republicans and Democrats each increasingly dislike the other, it makes sense that Republicans may have taken an oppositional stance on climate change, at least partly, in response to signals from Democratic elites.Democratic messages have been more common in news coverage, and, unsurprisingly, consistent in a pro-climate direction. Meanwhile, Republican messages have been fewer in number, and, until the Obama presidency, ambiguous in direction. Contrary to conventional wisdom, only a small fraction of Republican messages on climate change explicitly denied the scientific consensus on climate change.

When one side’s messages are clear and the other side’s are muddled, as was the case here, it’s plausible that Republican voters took their cues from Democrats. This should not be surprising. In an age of affective polarization where Republicans and Democrats each increasingly dislike the other, it makes sense that Republicans may have taken an oppositional stance on climate change, at least partly, in response to signals from Democratic elites.

A couple of observations. First, what this study suggests is that Al Gore is the best friend climate skeptics ever had. Here’s to hoping Gore makes many more sequels to An Inconvenient Truth. With enemies like him, who needs enemies? Second, the first bolded sentence above—”Democratic messages have been more common in news coverage”—should not surprise us in the least, since the media is the echo chamber of the Democratic Party and most environmental “reporters” are just stenographers for activist group talking points. But in an age when public trust in the media is in free fall, how smart was this if you’re a sincere climate change worrier?

This passage from the story is especially interesting:

For example, Al Gore was featured in 48 per cent of climate change stories on Fox News in 2006 and in 57 per cent in 2007. There were explicit references to the movie in 28 per cent of the stories in 2006 and 17 per cent of the stories in 2007. On the other hand, a leading Republican climate change denier, Sen. Jim Inhofe, was not featured in a single story on Fox News in 2006 and in only one per cent of the stories in 2007.

The traditional media also focused heavily on Al Gore. In 2006 and 2007, the former U.S. vice-president was featured in 13 per cent and 17 per cent of news stories in the highest circulation newspapers in the United States, and in 16 per cent and 23 per cent of the network broadcasts.

In other words, if you tuned in to news about climate change in that time period, you were exposed to Al Gore and his message. And even though that message was unabashedly pro-climate and for strong climate action, it likely played a role in turning Republicans against that message, since to them, Gore was simply a Democratic politician they disliked.

In other words, the best way to stop climate action is to give Gore more air time. And memo to Hillary Clinton: please please please make a movie about climate change. It would probably kill off the issue once and for all.

Also this:

   Who toppled that statue in Durham?

Posted: 17 Aug 2017 08:57 AM PDT

(Paul Mirengoff)

According to local reporting from North Carolina, members of the Workers World Party (WWP) toppled the memorial to Confederate soldiers in Durham. The group said it destroyed the statue hoping to “take down white supremacy.”

I see.

Takiyah Thompson, a member of the WWP who climbed to the top of the statue to tie a rope around its neck, declared: “The people decided to take matters into our own hands and remove the statue.” Dana Milbank has placed Thompson and her commie group squarely among “the rest of us,” so maybe they have cause to think they can act for “the people.”

But what is the WWP? It is a communist party that was founded in 1959. Apparently, it split off from the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) because it thought the SWP didn’t sufficiently support Mao’s China and was wrong to condemn the Soviet invasion of Hungary. In other words, the SWP wasn’t viciously totalitarian enough to suit the WWP. Today, the WWP says it’s “dedicated to organizing and fighting for a socialist revolution in the United States and around the world.”

I’m going to risk never being able to convene an advisory council of the titans (or wimps, as I see them) of U.S. industry. I’m going to suggest a parallel between the tactics of the communist revolutionaries of the WWP and the racist Nazis of the “alt-right” Charlottesville rally.

Both are using the issue of monuments to Confederates to generate momentum for their extremism. The WWP wants to appeal to the many non-communists who oppose such monuments. The Nazis want to appeal to non-racists who don’t want these monuments removed.

It’s a standard tactic — one with which I’m personally familiar. As a student radical in the late 1960s and early 1970s, we always tried to exploit opposition to the Vietnam War as a means of attracting support for our radicalism. We would advertise our rallies as anti-war, but use them to preach anti-capitalism, in addition to the anti-war message. We considered opposition to the war as the gateway to overarching radicalism.

That’s why President Trump was probably right to say there were good people alongside the abominable Nazi protesters. I wasn’t in Charlottesville, but I have attended protests off and on for 54 years and, as just noted, have helped organize a few small ones.

The “alt-right” rally was billed as an attempt to unite the right — in other words, to bring in an array of folks united around the idea that the statue of Robert E. Lee shouldn’t be removed. It would shock me if the only people who were induced to attend were Nazis and other racists. That’s not how such protests work.

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