#anyway.... surfing and good vibes only

[rogerdeakinsdp]

BLUE CRUSH (2002) dir. John Stockwell

[ham1lton]

DO YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME ?

summary: assistant yn takes to instagram to answer some questions from her followers!

pairings: mentions of lando/reader, lewis/reader, max/reader, charles/reader, jude/reader and oscar/reader.

author’s note: thank you to everyone who sent in questions! i can’t thank you all individually, but genuinely i want to say i appreciated your asks!!! this series has only gone on as long as it has due to everyone’s interest and contributions ! <3

— part of the dream girl universe!

START INSTAGRAM LIVE. (5K WATCHING)

(the camera turns to show yn, smiling as she balances the phone against the bathroom mirror as she attempts to finish doing her hair as she faces the camera. she hums along with the song in background which is anticipating by britney spears.)

YN: hello my darlings!! i promised i’d do a ig live once i reached five million followers and here i am!

user1: HI QUEEN

user3: are you at lewis’ house?

YN: no, i’m actually at my own apartment. i do have my own apartment. i don’t live with lewis? you do know that right? it’s important to me that you know this.

user4: coulda fooled us.

user2: this song is a BOP!

user5: thought u were couch surfing.

YN: anyways, i’m gonna answer some questions.

user6: if you had to describe your aesthetic in 3 words, how would you describe it?

YN: hmmmm…. i’d like to say fun, loud and sexy. i like bright colours. my dream comparison is to the hot older sisters from those 2000s movies. y’know? love graphic tees but also form fitting dresses. best part of having a athlete as a boss is that i always get to use his home gym to work out! and i get tips from his nutritionist and personal trainer all the time.

user7: is that the best part of your job?

YN: um… obviously roscoe is the best part of my job. we’re besties. lewis hates it. you know those trends were the family stand next to each other and wait for the kid to choose who’s arms to run into? we did that with roscoe and he chose me. i don’t think lewis has gotten over the betrayal.

user8: it only happened once though right?

user9: maybe it was a fluke?

YN: he said that so we did it five times… and he chose me every time. i really can’t help it that everyone loves me!

user8: yn, what is your type in a guy?

YN: it’s so specific but it’s also not specific at all? like i’ll need to feel out vibes and chemistry before i can say yes or no? but generally i like guys who make me laugh, i feel comfortable around and who smell good. also a cute smile is a big bonus.

user2: i need your thoughts on the new f1 movie and the season so far!!

YN: lewis winning his home race was just pure perfection. he’s the GOAT. i don’t care what you twitter warriors have to say. also charles winning his home race was very emotional for me. that’s all i’ll say. lando’s race win was so much fun cause we were in the club for hours afterwards. the film is a bit much but i keep seeing damson idris everytime i walk onto the paddock and that’s a treat. he’s so fine.

user6: hey yn where and how do i bag a man like charles?? i need a play by play …. i want princess treatment too😩😩

YN: babe i’ve been asking the same thing but lewis forbade me from taking roscoe out on walks to entice rich monegasque men. it’s very upsetting to me. i’ll text charles about your proposal, maybe he’ll accept?!

landonorris: HI YN 👋🏼

YN: hi lando! we still on for tonight?

landonorris: always 😁

user10: what’s happening tonight??

landoynnie: MY TIME TO SHINE 😁😁😁

landonorris: i love britney spears too!

user9: landonorris name five britney songs GO!

landonorris: slave 4 u, toxic, hit me baby one more time, anticipating (cause yn always plays it in the car) and deep in my heart.

YN: i do love anticipating. this is my pump up and get ready song!

landoynnie: WAIT…. U AND LANDO SHARE THE SAME CAR?????? U GUYS R MARRIED REALLY

user10: landoynnie ur delusional

YN: my normal apartment is close to lando’s, so he gives me a lift sometimes. no biggie.

lewishamilton: next time i’ll order you an uber yn.

landonorris: it’s better this way lewishamilton, good for the environment 😁

lewishamilton: 🙄

user11: yn, what does your daily routine look like?

YN: wake up, get breakfast. i usually make my way over to lewis’ if i’m not already there. i feed roscoe, take him out for his business if you get my drift. play with him, triple check lewis’ schedule and then lewis will meet me at around seven. he eats, then he goes for a run or a workout. i don’t join him so i sort through emails and boring paperwork. a lot of my job is basically just emails and paperwork. then i go with lewis to whatever events he has that day, do a bunch of behind the scenes work and then i come back. i eat dinner with him most days, and then i go home and sleep!

user12: sounds boring.

user13: sound sexy omg. i would DIE to be around lewis all day.

YN (laughing): it is boring! it’s a job.

user13: what are your fav tasks to do for lewis?

YN: i get to drive his cars sometimes. he has a bad habit of forgetting things so i’m the one who jumps in the car and goes back and gets it. i love doing that. the drives are so smooth and i get to blast my playlist but i always blast my playlists.

user14: do u listen to xnda’s feature?

user15: i listen to ur playlists all the time btw!

YN: pookies, i listen to xnda’s songs all the time. i get access to his unreleased stuff. i’m there when he records it sometimes.

user14: IM SO JEALOUS

user16: THAT SHOULD BE ME 😒😒😔

user17: pookie they are saying youre fucking that bald guy for diamonds, bags and trips is it true??? please say it isn’t 😭😭

YN: WHAT BALD GUY?

user18: THE WAY U DIDNT EVEN DENY IT???

YN: i have never slept with anyone for diamonds or bags or trips. i work! i have a good salary and a great boss. you can check my bank account honestly.

user19: is ur type bald men?

YN: god no! shout out to the baldies though.

user20: LMFAOOOOOO

user4: yn, i heard you were interviewed quite a few times for this season of drive to survive. can you give us a little spoiler? what was it about?

YN: omg who’s leaking this info…. but yes! i was! a lot of it was just about lewis obviously but who doesn’t love hearing new info about thee sir lewis hamilton? i don’t think i can tell you anything more than that. i’m scared i’ll get sued or that netflix have a sniper trained on me and will shoot me before i finish the sentence.

user4: thank you for what you did tell us!

user21: what is the most unexpected song u and lewis have sang at karaoke

YN: well, lewis is a better singer than me. so i like to do the rap parts but he’s also a better rapper than me. so i do like the adlibs. but we did umbrella the other day! that was fun. i usually do karaoke with lando because we both get so drunk it’s fun. also he can’t sing at all. so it makes me feel better.

user22: what do you and lando sing?

YN: we did high school musical the other day! i was troy.

user23: HELSOSO

user24: lando: oh is this necklace ‘Y’ for yn? 😃

user16: if lando is gabrielle… who’s sharpay and stealing yn from lando….

user19: obvi oscar.

user25: i miss landoyn’s drunk ig stories.

user21: speaking of music, yn how did you feel when jessica left snsd 😔

YN: i remember exactly where i was. same thing when zayn left one direction. they both affected me personally. worst day ever. she was my bias too…. my comfort bad bitch….

user12: ZAYN LEAVING 1D OH GOD

user13: i remember that…. my school was in shambles!!!

user7: SHOUT OUT JESSICA GIRLIES … we all suffered together 😔

oscarpiastri: hi yn. what’s this.

YN: hello oscar piastri. this is my instagram live. do you have a question for me?

oscarpiastri: yes. what are you doing later?

user21: OOOP

user12: oscaryn comes up to clinch the title of couple goals.

lewisynnie: say ur busy yn <3

landoynnie: why is he asking out his teammate’s gf??

charlesynnie: landoynnie maybe because they’re not dating and you’re delusional?

landoynnie: charlesynnie says the CHARLESYN STAN ACCOUNT !!!

judeynnie: the way all of you are delusional. did you see yn like the jude tiktok edit? that’s her man.

lewisynnie: judeynnie A FLUKE! a mistake. maybe she just liked the beat. it means nothing.

maxynnie: well. this is a lot. hmm.

oscarynnie: SAY YES YN!!!! OSCARYN ENDGAME PLEASE GOD!!!!

YN: i am free this evening. what do you have planned?

oscarpiastri: i’ll text you, see you later yn!

oscarynnie: WE WON WE WONW EON WE WON

lewisynnie: oscarynnie who cares.

landoynnie: literally like… 😹

user21: YOU’RE ALL DELUSIONAL HOW ABOUT THAT !

END INSTAGRAM LIVE. (123K WATCHING)

— dream girl series taglist: @flowergirl1134 @laur20a23 @greantii @rafebun @sumlovesjude @papayadays

— all works taglist: @luvsforme @yelenasloverrrrr @donttouchthegnote @chelle1306 @bloodyymaryy @aliciaablueprint @lennnooshh @km-23mr @stinkyjax @f1kenzzz @ctrlyomomma @theblueblub @lavisenri @marshmummy @23victoria @ourlifeforchaos @namgification @tallrock35 @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @ariellovelynn @shhhchriss @lifeless-firefly @xylinasdiary @evie-119 @itseightbeats @tsireyasgf @landososcar @yongi-lee @maxlarens @velentine @m1892 @blushmimi

[razorblade180]

Catching a Vibe

At the home of The People of the Springs, Aether finds himself calmly on a surfboard. Dawn has barely broken and the waves are calmer than his thoughts; although that wasn’t exactly a hard task. His mind flowed like the currents underneath him and his eyes stared off into the horizon so much he didn’t notice the tribe’s most famous guide paddle up to him.

Mualani:Ah, so you’re the brooding type. You and Kinich are going to hit it off.

Aether:Huh?! Oh, h-hey. What brings you out here.

Mualani:Shouldn’t that be my line. This entire place is practically my backyard. Where’s Paimon?

Aether:Asleep. I wanted to practice my surfing. She’s not exactly a swimmer and gets anxious when we’re separated.

Mualani:Ah, how kind of you. No worries can happen when her head is full of dreams. Also to answer your question, I’m out here because someone was wading in the water at the crack of dawn all alone.

Aether:That’s not normal here?

She gestured to the entire area. Aside from a few fishing boats in the distance, there was a definite lack of people in the water.

Aether:Hehe, I guess not.

Mualani:It’s one thing if you were in a hot spring, but open water is another thing entirely. Not that I’m particularly worried for ya. I imagine Fontaine has made you quite the strong swimmer.

Aether:*shudders* Honestly I think it’s the only reason I find it normal to be out here right now. Anyways, I’m fine. I’ll head back in a little while so if you have anything you need to do…

Mualani:I got nothing that can’t wait for actual sunlight. Staying out here isn’t a problem. Also…*leans closer* between you and me, a certain floating companion asked me to keep an eye on you a couple days ago.

Aether:…Haha, man, I guess I can’t get past her.

Mualani:I won’t disclose details but I will say I pretty confused at first. From what I could tell you seemed to be managing. But…after everything we’ve been through recently I think I understand a bit better. Things sure got complicated fast.

The surfer let out a chuckle and a wary sigh before shaking off the feeling.

Aether:Things really got crazy for you. Need to vent?

Mualani:Nah I’m good. At first it was… a lot. Still is, but I’ve processed the situation more or less. No need to sweat it. I’m actually grateful. From the moment we met your vibe felt a little out of wack in a way I couldn’t explain. Now I’m sure it’s because you’ve been dealing with crisis like this often, right?

Aether:Did you just call my vibes horrendous?

Mualani:You get what I mean! Paimon sure would.

Aether:I…can’t argue that.

Mualani:Don’t worry. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to and I won’t pry.

Aether:So what exactly are you hoping to accomplish.

Mualani:Hmmmm…

She takes her pointer fingers and places them on the corners of Aether’s mouth, raising them up to make a smile to…well…smile at. She removes her fingers to pleasantly see her work stay as Aether looked at her with mild confusion.

Mualani:Uh huh. Just as I suspected. Your smile used to be way bigger I bet. That’s probably what Paimon is worried about. It’s gone into hiding, hasn’t it?

Aether:I-I wouldn’t know. I’m pretty sure my smile has been the same so… sighs

Mualani:See? Can’t even convince yourself. Never a good sign. I don’t know when you lost it; only you can really answer that. Your friend misses it, and I honestly would love to see it. Not to say your smiles so far haven’t been wonderful, but now I’m invested. Kind people always have the best smiles. They really light up a room!

Aether:Haha, you’re right about that. Kachina really knows how to make a person want to do their best.

Mualani:I know right! She’s so adorable. That smile means so much to me. I can also tell yours brought her a lot of comfort. Seriously, thanks for sticking your neck out for her. It means a lot. Kinich typically reins me in whatever someone is bothering her. It was quite the interesting change to have someone also want throw down against those jerks slandering her.

Aether:I don’t know if we should call that solitary or enabling.

Mualani:Hahaha! Either way, I’d say we’re thick as thieves now. More importantly, war buddies. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

Aether:Heh, funnily enough, I seem to make war buddies left and right. Never thought it would be as common as it is. Although…this time is a little different. You’re different.

Mualani:Oh?

Aether:Natlan is pretty amazing, and the way of your people, the way you act is refreshing. I know I said something about solidarity earlier, but honestly it’s more like I’m catching your vibe. Instead of worrying about my journey and the things ahead I’m just…taking things as they come. No use worrying about it all, right? Thanks Mualani. *smiles* You’re pretty cool.

Mualani:*smiles* Oh hehe, thank you. *holds fist out* “No one fights alone.” From here on out, we have each other’s back. How about tomorrow I can teach you some really epic surfing tricks. If you can keep up that is.

Aether:You’re on.

He bumps fists her proudly as the horizon makes the water shimme. For the first time in what felt like awhile, the Sun emerged in full force.

[alpineshift]

random ask time!

pick five Devils players and assign them a summer Olympics sport to compete in. why did you choose that sport for them?

go!

oh I love this, it's making me think! personally I'm assigning them sports for entirely selfish reasons (aka events I want to see them compete in). it wouldn't necessarily be bc I think one of the boys has any super specific characteristic that makes them suitable for a particular sport 😂 also nobody gets golf bc fuck golf LOL

Jonas Siegenthaler - surfing. IDK - I think Siegs has the vibes. I think he'd do well in the water. He's such a balanced and steady kind of guy. I think he's one of those dudes that look effortlessly cool with a wetsuit tied around his waist and a board tucked under the arm. I want him to do the Gabriel Medina #1 pose flying out of the water like a rock star.

Nico Hischier - rugby. On the Paris Olympics site it says ruby sevens and IDK what the difference is, but whatever. I assume Nico is decent in field sports bc he used to play soccer. I think some of his on-ice playmaking skills would be useful in this scenario. This has nothing to do with the fact that rugby players have monster thighs I swear. I also want to see him go full beast mode and drag all the guys trying to tackle him as he makes a break for the try line.

Jack Hughes - tennis. I'm imagining him competing in men's singles, but I think he could also play doubles with one of his brothers or something. Jack's quick, strategic, got stamina, has good eye-hand coordination. I also think he could thrive pretty well in a solo sport, he's got that 'dialled in' mode down to a science. Not known for super powerful serves but gets internet love/hate for really sneaky saves and tricky shots that are hard to receive.

Luke Hughes - fencing. Specifically the épée category, which is the only discipline where the whole body is a valid target. Since Luke is a defensemen, it'd be interesting to put him in the one event where he has to do the most to defend! He's a tall boy so I think having a reach advantage would be great. I also didn't know this but the épée sword is the heaviest of the three. I also just want to give Luke a sword.

Nate Bastian - mountain biking. So it's not olympics related but I saw that clip of the American biker Aaron Gwin snapping his bike's chain literally a second after he left the gate but went full 'fuck it we ball' mode and won anyway. I'm assigning this vibe to Nater. I think Nate is someone who's a little rough-and-tumble and not afraid to get out there and get dirty! Speedy downhill racing! Out in the wilderness! Thriving in the noise of the spectators and cowbells and cheers!

That's my five - thanks for the fun ask! (You gotta tell me your top five picks and their assigned sports now too LOL)

[radiance1]

Amity Park is an unusual place. Home to the ghost crazed inventors Jack and Maddie Fenton and their two children, Jasmine and Daniel Fenton.

It is a peaceful town, if only when the Fenton's aren't up to their shenanigans, besides that it was a town were nothing to significant happened.

Which is why it was so weird how the town was built right next to a magical leyline.

(His parents are actually weirdly connected now that he thinks of it.)

Now you see, Danny never cared about his parents' obsession with ghosts, nor their apparent 'portal to hell' that's a work in progress.

(Danny is 12 here AGAIN because I'm just built like that)

He did like to invent small versions of the Chaos Emeralds from the sonic comics he asked his parents for. He was honestly completely surprised they managed to get him actual real-life copies of the comics, considering they ceased productions years before he was born.

He isn't even going to ask any questions about the where and how.

So, he read through the books, told his two friends about it and they came over then they read together. Sam was a bit surprised, since even her parents didn't know where to source them from.

So, you give a twelve-year-old access to discontinued comics about a hedgehog who can run faster than the speed of soun and he sees these super powerful gems and has access to highly advanced tech made his parents (mostly ghost centered but eh) and you expect him not to do anything?

So, he, Tucker and Sam came together and sketched out a design for what they wanted this machine to look like to (hopefully) make their own versions of the Chaos Emeralds.

It wouldn't be the real thing, but they just want something close enough that they can look at.

So, they drew the machine, trying to see which parts would be needed in the actual building part of it. To which they kinda grew to a stump at, Tucker is insanely good with computers, Danny is insanely good at building things and Sam has extensive knowledge of the occult and money.

But they weren't good with the actual designing part. The drawing was pretty crude, not as good as his parents' blueprints, but it was good enough. They just couldn't figure out what materials would go where and which they would even need.

Then his parents caught a glance at what they were working on and extended their help, surprising all three of them since this wasn't anything ghost related. With their help the actual parts for the machine came together, and sure the design had to be changed a bit here and there, but it was worth it!

They didn't know where exactly to build said machine though. Until Sam mentioned the nearby forest, and really, it just went on from there.

So there they were, walking through the forest, looking for the perfect spot to build their machine. Finally coming to at a small hill, Danny decided to build the machine here!

It was the perfect spot for a replica of a super powerful, mega awesome giant emerald!

The spot did however feel really weird, like there was something living in the area. Not that Danny minded though, he wouldn't be a Fenton if he didn't ignore something crazy like this!

Sam was honestly just there for the vibe to be honest.

Tucker was persuaded to be here with the newest PDA that came out and practically unlimited data (He was going to be there anyways but who could pass up that.)

So it took a while, having to carry the materials out there (or carrying them in a cart, for the bigger pieces) and then having Danny putting it all together with his friends handing him some pieces here and there, and then Sam and Tucker having to goddamn drag Danny away from the unfinished machine to take a break and play a game.

Most of the time, Sam would distract herself with reading some occult books, while Tucker would surf the internet while Danny built his machine.

After about a week Danny finally managed to bring the machine to life, a giant mold in the middle of it in the shape of the Master Emerald when it came together and 21 smaller molds.

Coincidently, that was also the time his parents finished their 'portal to hell'.

So, Danny closed the machine, pouring the resin for the master emerald into the machine while his friend poured in resin of different colors into the other molds.

White for Danny.

Black for Sam.

Red for Tucker.

And green for the Master Emerald.

After that, well. All that was left was to turn it on, so they did.

At the exact moment the Fenton's turned on their ghost portal.

The magical energies of the leyline flooded into the molds of the gems, it was extremely chaotic and unfocused, its magical energies unable to be controlled.

For there to then be what is basically the perfect vessels for its excess power?

Well, safe to say it took the opportunity as it was.

At the exact same time Ectoplasm flooded into the world from the portal, and the door to the other side was opened.

The world, tilted off the combined events of the portal opening and the leyline finding a vessel for its power.

Shifted.

Then it and another world became one, a relatively smooth transition as barely anyone noticed.

Barely.

But that isn't what we're going to focus on right now. ;)

The entirety of Amity Park experienced city-wide electronic mayhem. Basic household appliances started going wack, as did their phones or anything electronic. Then the power went out as an earthquake ran through the city.

It stopped as suddenly as it began, everything was normal. So the Amity parkers went on about their day as normal too.

Danny, Sam and Tucker were knocked unconscious by the event, to which they then awoke about an hour later and saw the sight of their machine broken beyond repair. Danny ran forward and cried over the loss of his hard work, then Sam and Tucker got him to look up a bit higher to see it.

The Master Emerald in all of its beautiful, rainbow glory, and floating around was 21 gems made alongside it.

At first, Danny was stunned, unable to figure out how the hell the gem replicas are floating when they were made to be just that, replicas and not anything else.

They then floated down to each of them, the reds circling Tucker, the blacks circling Sam and the whites circling Danny.

And Danny, being 12 years old forgot all about that and went fuck it.

They stayed there for a while, playing with their new gems. They tried to be responsible, they swear! But they just couldn't help but test what they could do...

They found out that, while they aren't as powerful as the originals in the comics. They were still pretty damn strong, so then Sam had the great idea to train themselves in the usage of the gems like responsible people would.

(Which is basically just an excuse to run over to her books and try out each and every spell she could see.)

Which is how they also found out that the Master Emerald replica also had the ability to render their own gems inert like in the comics after they went a bit overboard with them.

Then they came back home and apparently ghosts are a thing now. They politely kept their new gems and the existence of the giant one a secret.

And like that, two years passed by. All of them now 14 and having very good control over the gems, with the help of the Master Emerald that somehow became semi-sentient and finding out that the reason why it happened is because they literally built the machine on top of a magical leyline.

They took on the role of guarding the gem, just like Knuckles the Echidna. Which also doubles as their hangout spot too, so there's that.

They had super-secret personas and totally cool outfits for when they're guarding it too. Which isn't really necessary since nothing happens, but they don't really care about that too be honest.

Amity Park is a relatively closed off town, new faces only being there in the ways of tourists. It is a peaceful town, minus all the ghosts and the Fenton's in their battles, it is a nice town where nothing too big happens.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker thought so as well. Thought that nobody would find out about their little secret.

They were not pleased when they found some old British guy was walking around the Master Emerald.

The Fenton parents were very pleased when three of earth's greatest heroes, batguy, supersomething and Wondergirl pulled up at their doorstep asking to see their inventions. (They swear they could never quite remember those three's names, what with all the ghost fighting, realizing they weren't quite right in their research and renouncing everything they ever said about ghosts as a whole while also trying to reconnect with their kids after realizing how neglectful they've been over the years.)

[acceleracers-baby]

Acceleracers HC’s! Road Trip Roles! Teku Edition!

Teku

(Nolo Pasaro, Vert Wheeler, Shirako Takamoto, Kurt Wylde, Karma Eiss)

+Bonus Round

(Brian Kadeem & Banjee Castillo)

Teku

Nolo Pasaro - Nolo is in charge of picking the movies- assuming whatever big ass van they renovated comes with one of those little movie player things. Who am I kidding- these guys probably would have just installed one if it didn’t come stock. Unfortunately, Nolo’s movie choices are always pretty predictable. It’s either going to be one of the now TEN Fast and Furious movies, Pacific Rim, Transformers, or The Losers. That being said, Nolo DOES take bribes. Vert once washed his car for a week just so they could watch Surfs Up.

Vert Wheeler - Speaking of Vert, he’s the snack guy! At first, he gathered up everyone’s requests a few days before they got on the road, but now he practically has everyone’s snack preferences memorized. Let it be known that he takes this job very seriously. He genuinely goes out of his way to ensure everyone’s got at least one or two things to munch on. That’s also why he starts shopping a few days out from the actual trip, so that way if he has to run by different stores, or cut up fruit and divide them up into little ziplock bags he’s got enough time to do it. I also like to imagine at some point Jack comes home early from one of his missions and sees his son just surrounded by a shit ton of food like “are we doomsday prepers now??? What the hell is going on???”

Shirako Takamoto - I feel like I don’t even have to say it, but I’m going to anyway. Shirako is the DJ. Like Vert, he is very serious about this role. He starts curating a playlist as soon as he knows a road trip is going to happen. It doesn’t matter if he’s learning about it months in advance, he starts on it immediately. Despite always having headphones on and seemingly vibing in his own little world most of the time, Shirako is an astounding listener. He never fails to add the perfect mix of everyone’s favorite songs to the playlist. Not only that, but he has it sectioned out by hour. He wants to make sure whatever music they have playing, whether it be background noise for group conversations, or loud sing along sessions, it’s perfect!

Kurt Wylde - Spoilers for Karma, but they’re the two drivers. They work in shifts, switching off every few hours to (1) make sure they’re making the best time and (2) prevent any unnecessary road fatigue. Kurt is also practically the group big brother, so before any trip he’s sending everyone checklists to make sure they don’t forget anything. It’s ridiculous how in-depth they are. Obviously, he trusts them to fulfill their individual road trip roles but he’s on their asses for literally anything else. They’ll be ready to go at like 4am- everyone’s tired asf and he’s going around like “wallets? phones? chargers? toothbrushes???” making sure they didn’t forget any last minute items.

Karma Eiss - Like you read for Kurt, she is one of the designated drivers. On top of that though she is also the group navigator. She has like Waze levels of finding the best routes. With her at the helm, they’re able to make a 12 hour drive in a fraction of the time. Karma also has his uncanny ability to pick the best rest stops. Want to use the restroom but also take a quick breather in a nice scenic area? Good thing Karma was able to find the most beautiful truck stop you’ve ever seen with the cleanest bathroom ever. It’s honestly a little scary.

Bonus Round

Brian Kadeem - With Kadeem, it’s all about the journey, not the destination. When this guy road trips, he ROAD TRIPS. What I mean by that is you will be stopping at just about every cite to stop and smell the roses. It doesn’t matter if it’s some tacky tourist trap or one of the seven wonders of the world, he wants to see it, learn about it, and appreciate it. And if anyone one deserves to be able to relax a little, it’s Kadeem. Let this man enjoy his goofy little side quests. Especially, cause he ends up finding the greatest hole in the wall places to stop at too.

Banjee Castillo - Banjee quite literally never runs out of energy, so you HAVE to give this guy something to do or he will be miserable the entire ride. Thankfully, he is absurdly versatile. Obviously, his preferred role is to be in the drivers seat, but when he is not doing that he is the king of road trip games. 21 questions, I spy, and trivia are child’s play compared to the shit that Banjee brings to the table. Don’t get him wrong, he loves the classics, but they get old pretty fast on long road trips so he’s had to get creative in the past. It’s not uncommon for there to be three games going on at once half way through the drive. Usually two “spot em” games like Punch Buggies & Cows on my Side, and one actual game like Mafia or Song Quizzes.

——— Thanks for Reading ———

[notasouleater]

Baby N-8's Grindr Adventures

In which things happen. I don't know why my friends that actually know star wars still talk to me with this nonsense tbh. Thanks as always to @justheretolurk24 for being an excellent editor.

N-8 was getting a bit bored. He’d been planet hopping for a bit, and was finding that it was often a bit difficult to get settled in new planets. Heck, even in just new cities when he needed to leave quickly but didn’t have the money to completely bail ship. It was hard to find a place to stay without knowing anyone that knew the area, especially on his budget. Sure he was pretty well-built to be outside, but he found that unideal. Especially as it gave him very little to do for leisure. Again, bored.

He was snooping around the holonet on his ipad when he found something that looked promising. It was an app- advertised as being Galaxy’s-Reach-Inclusive (excellent, it would still be useful on other planets) for all Networking/Dating/Relationship needs. Worst case scenario it would be a good distraction.

The thing asked for his name and gender. Haha! He had both of those. It also asked for his age, which was of course-

Well-

How old was he?

Chronologically, strictly speaking, he was about 3 or 4 standard years old. Now, there was a wide variance among sapient creatures in rates of maturation and lifespan, but he was still fairly certain that for about every sapient organic out there 3-4 years would be a baby child. He may be fairly new to existing, and especially new to existing with free-will, but he wasn’t a kid.

He finally settled on just putting [category]- [young adult]. He was an adult. He was young. It worked.

Account made, he settled back to wait for it to connect him to someone nearby, hopefully someone with a television. He couldn’t keep relying on sports bars. They wanted you to buy things. And only played sports.

It wasn’t long before he got a notification. He pulled open his messages.

Oh, hmm, that was a way to start a conversation with a stranger.

He blocked them and closed the app immediately.

The next couple interactions went much better, but he was getting the vibe that in practice this app was not, despite advertisements, actually used for all Networking/Dating/Relationship needs. Tough, because he was going to do it anyway. He should probably make some adjustments to his profile to clarify some things for potential matches. Such as the fact he was, under no circumstances, removing any layers. He didn’t even have a mouth for void’s sake. (Not that he was telling anyone that)

Soon, through his impeccable taste and a lot of swiping, he found something that looked promising. A beautiful man (just because he wasn’t going anywhere serious with this didn’t mean he didn’t have standards), looking for a casual platonic one night stand, and was mainly interested in watching movies. N-8 was going to a movie night and hopefully getting an introduction to the city for free. G-R-I.N/D/R was great actually.

Besides having to excuse himself by pretending he ‘ate before he got there’, the venture went pretty well, actually. He got to watch movies, and was pointed towards several dirt cheap places to rent, if you didn’t need things like water which he didn’t. Also, to his delight, the guy let him crash for the night.

Initially N-8 spent a while after that, in the short times between living places, doing what many might describe as a particularly fascinating variety of couch surfing. But pretty soon he was settling faster in new places and was, if anything, using this tactic more often while he had a place of his own. Televisions were expensive and hard to lug between planets, after all. At some point in the future he would decide he was far enough out into the rim and start to settle. He would stay in place long enough to form work relationships with strange people in tall buildings and neighborly relationships with little old ladies. For the time being he was getting really into a lot of shows which was a problem when you were usually only able to watch the same thing for like a week max. 

Did he once have a month-long Something with someone formed in good part on the basis of wanting to finish a really long show? Possibly.

You found weird trends in shows going through them like this. Most material out there you could only actually find on the one planet it was made on, or even state, not to mention what the imperial censorship on the holonet was like. During some more underground connections he found that there was a selection of rare shows a bit fixated on clones. Imperial media liked to use them a lot as little propaganda symbols (no wonder, they attracted people that missed the republic and certainly had the looks for television), but anti-imperial media, when it included them, made a point of dealing with the Empire’s cannon fodder as actual individuals. As something beyond soldiers that might not even stay there.

He tended to gravitate towards these shows. His series had a lot in common with them, he thought, more than most would care to think about. Two sides of the same credit maybe. He’s pretty sure most would probably deck him for saying something like that. There was an event though, that their plot lines tended to come back to. 

He usually stopped watching, after that. No point in retreading the same story.

It was also interesting the different places you could end up like this. Sometimes you found yourself in a nice apartment owned by some asshole you were definitely going to steal from, and sometimes you found yourself in a basement owned by anarchist punks that probably shouldn’t be so laissez-faire about exposing their home and anti-imperial activities to randos they found on G-R-I.N/D/R.

There were weird trends in the people you met too. A lot of the people straight-up trying to find people to watch soaps with were romantics. He got teased his fair share for rooting for the so-called “bad-boys” in shows rather than the “nice guys”. But the shows always made it too intense. The “nice” choice was just too nice. No one would actually treat you like that, it was suspicious, really. Besides, how can you snark with someone like that?

[sunsetrubdowns]

Also. Hi. I remembered I can talk as much as I want to on here. Do you want to hear about this guy I kind of broke up with but kind of wasnt really dating to begin with and will probably have to break up with again for good measure. This actually turned into an insanely long post because it's an insane situation so I'm putting it under a cut because I love you and your scrolling experience and it's probably incoherent anyways

So. Well you may or may not be aware but I was couch surfing for like 3 weeks in September and a friend of mine who I met through work helped me out a lot with moving my stuff out of my apartment and into storage and helping me get my shit together. And in the weeks leading up to me moving out/while I was homeless we spent a lot of time together (like. Pretty much every day LOL) because I needed to be constantly distracted and he apparently had all the free time in the world. Cool!

Now it's important to give the context that he had asked me out back in like June and I said no because not only did I think we had very little chemistry and he was very needy but ALSO I was going through one of the worst depressive periods in my life. Really just was not the vibe at the time. Also my read on the situation was 100% correct like I was right about everything lol.

So you know obviously I'm aware that he has a little crush on me this whole time but I'm in a truly delusional headspace where I'm like well this is not so bad :) I'm having fun hanging out with him so whatever happens, happens :). And what happens is that WHILE I am still homeless we end up having a little feelings talk where I'm like well this is nice but I've kind of got a lot going on right now and I need to settle my life situation out before I'm comfortable getting into anything official or serious. And he's like yeah I totally understand that. But then maybe a week later after I secure and move into my place he IMMEDIATELY. And I mean like immediately. Starts calling me his girlfriend. Not to me but to other people. Like going around to my coworkers and people at work to be like btw we're together now :). Which made me kind of uncomfortable but I just brushed it off because I am a huuuuuge pushover and I was like, sure I guess we're together. Even though I'm very private about my personal life and it took me like a good month to refer to him as my boyfriend out loud and I didn't even MENTION him to my best friends (hi besties) for a couple weeks after that. Because I was like damn I don't even know what to say. Also he never even attempted to do anything more than hold my hand a few times so we were still just hanging out the way we had been to begin with.

And THEN he started coming to the bowling alley where I work every single night and just like.... hanging around for hours and hours until we closed to drive me home (6 blocks away) and to talk to me while I'm working and on my breaks. And when he drove me home after work every SINGLE night he would park and walk me to my door and unless I was very clearly like yeahhh I'm exhausted Goodnight Bye :) he would often invite himself into my apartment just to hang around until I was like. Okay I have to go to bed because it's after 1am please leave. And it got to the point where I felt like I never had any time to myself and my social battery was constantly at 0 and I was also spending way more money than was within my budget because he was dragging me out to eat and do things constantly and to go to Disneyland and shit and also at the place where I work every single day and not leaving no matter how clearly Im like hey sorry I'm just. soooo tired right now and work is so busy etc. There were only THREE days in October that I had totally to myself. I could barely even find time to spend with my roommate I had just moved in with and he also was not really seeming to spend time with any of his own friends when he'd had an incredibly active social life like, just a month ago.

It was starting to really freak me out that I felt like he was trying to replace not only his previous long term girlfriend who broke up with him earlier this year but also his entire social circle. With lil old me. And I felt like he was trying to force a level of familiarity with me that simply was not there like... man you don't even KNOW me like that don't talk to me like you know me. Don't talk to me like you know me when you're also trying so hard all the time to like, impress me and prove something to me.

It got to the point by mid October that I was like desperate for time to myself to decompress and process things and most of my mental energy was going to trying to find ways to avoid him and scripting a breakup speech in my head. And instead of trying to talk to ME he would go into my workplace and try to ask my work friends. While they were working. For advice on what to do when I seemed distant or unhappy. And even though they really only ever told him to just communicate with me he decided to wait until the day before Halloween to be like "I realized that I was maybe doing to much by going to hang around your workplace every day and also it's been a month and a half but I want to officially ask you to be my girlfriend now :)" and was somehow genuinely shocked when I said no. And basically outlined everything I've said here to be like I need to be left alone or I'm going to kill myself a little bit so please leave me alone.

But it seems like what he took out of the conversation was "I need to take some naps and then I'll feel better and then we can go back to normal :)" because he just kept being like "how do you feel how are you doing you look better are you feeling rested" and continuing to go to my coworkers and my roommate at work and asking about me and show up at the bowling alley frequently and text me continually as I just brushed him off over and over and eventually stopped replying to his messages. Until finally last week I was working on a day I normally don't work and he came in and I, again, kind of brushed him off when he came to just like do small talk with me. So he went to my roommate who was also working to be like "oh I think I'm going to talk to them today we need to talk but I don't know if they just want to be left alone or not..." while she (blessed angel that she is) just refused to give him any real information. But then he just kept like, trying to chitchat with me while I was working so I started brushing him off again and he ended up going to my roommate AGAIN to vent about me. And then left and texted her all this stuff about how he doesn't know if I like him anymore but he's just going to leave me alone and try to get over me etc and how he's been so stressed over stuff with his parents etc etc and framing it as if HE is breaking things off with ME. But since then has continued to go to her to ask about me and talk about how he's trying to get over me and heartbreak and whatever and etc. But has not expressed anything at all to me personally in any capacity since I told him I needed space.

Meanwhile I've gone on multiple dates with someone I genuinely really like and who has slept over at my apartment multiple times LOL. And there are so many little details of weird shit that I've had to cut for time here but like genuinely what the hell man

Anyways have I mentioned that this man is 34 years old. Because he's 34 years old. And if you've read all this you are so cordially invited to share your thoughts and/or guess his chart placements in the replies. Funny as fuck situation that I'm in

[tadpal]

if you were a mermaid... what kind of tail would you have?? (species, colour, vibe, etc)

this is such a contentious question for girls who grew up on a beach so i do have several answers prepared bc obviously it was needed at the time ESPECIALLY since 2000s mermaid trend was ON TREND anyway

all that to say when i was a kid i would pretend to be a dolphin girl. yeah fr. i had several glass figures and when i was learning to surf i got a board with a dolphin on but this was all a ruse to impress the girls in my surf class. although i have seen dolphins often in the cove and off the rocky beach and i did and do think they're incredible honestly i preferred to watch for blue whales and thought dolphin mermaids weren't very cool. dolphins are cool companions for mermaids but i was kind of a mermaid purist: mermaids should be fish with obvious scales. but for the dolphin girls all the boys in their games would be sharks and i hated sharks as i was deadly afraid of tiger sharks which in fairness, did swim up the river to breed every year and attacks did happen but. yeah i thought the shark boys were also lame. so when trying to fit in with this lot i made the decision to be an orca mermaid who had lost its pod and was trying to live with the dolphins. the dolphin girls hated this until they realised that they could do a storyline in which i never move past my evil orca hunger and end up killing and eating several girls in a bloodlust that would then fade and i weep over their bodies. in real life this looked like a game of tag with biting and theatrics.

so that was probably my first mermaidsona and it was definitely a poser moment for however it was not the only poser sona i had. outside of my swim+surf classes i had friends who were also mermaid girls but who weren't sporty or into The Ocean like the dolphin girls tended to be. they thought the dolphin girls were weird and wanted to be Mermaids like you would see in Barbie mermaidtopia, but with them, the personas tended to be less in depth. my tail was aquamarine or blue, with white fins, and i can swim really fast and crest the waves without being easily seen. i was not usually a royal but sometimes i was a middle sister if we were all princesses. often i was was the boy or prince merman. my best friends were a school of flying fish and a sperm whale. i was really good at hiding (bc of the wave thing) and my romance plot was often the princess noticing the weird hiding prince when no one else would and i show them all the magic of the seas etc. if we were playing mermaids who were are landpeople, my land job would be guy who cleans/owns an oceanfront hotel/bnb and sneaks out to water at night when hes not working. while this was More Me than the dolphin girl persona, it didnt really feel like me either, i disliked the vagueness and how none of them cared about the ocean only using it as a setting with no curiosity for it. (alas ive always been a bit of a snob)

my TRUE MERMAID SELF was this: yellowfin tuna

idk why i just felt a lot of kinship with them. at the time i was so scared of sharks and seals and everything really. just a very fearful child and i remember really longing for that school (of fish) mentality of just moving as one and that keeping them safe. i also knew that i had to be a migratory species bc we moved so constantly and i needed a fish that never really had a home. the yellowfins would come yearly to the coast i lived on and that was important to me. mostly i felt like they had a desperation to the way they move I remember seeing one in the bottom of a boat and it just fighting for its life choking to death and thinking oh hell yeah me too brother. i loved their reputation for tourists coming to fish them and then snapping their shitty lines. I loved their sleek cool bodies and their sick long fins (cooler and longer than all the other tuna). i liked that they were fast as hell and Big. i liked how they tasted fresh! i was so convinced that i was Destined to be a tuna mermaid but god. that was so lame to both my groups of mermaid friends. i drew it once i think and petitioned my Barbie Mermaid friends to be a flying fish mermaid, which was the better design i think but had less soul... ack well. being a kid a weird

[chaserainbows]

cooking some emerald (amano's cut) gym leader teams

roxanne's honestly fine i just think that most rock gym leader teams are very similar and wanted to give her some unique pokemon with the advantage that this makes her gym less of a clean sweep for mudkip and treecko while also giving torchic some neutral damage options

i was gonna say that brawly's team is kinda homophobic considering how overused the machop line is but upon Further Inspection he literally has no other option so i just evolved his ace since makuhita evolves really early and gave him an extra makuhita to show off the evolutionary line

wattson's an interesting case because his team was bad in rs then they fixed it in emerald and clowned it again in oras so really the only thing he needs is to have manectric as his ace

plusle and minun are there because they don't get used anywhere else and he has them (but doesn't use in battle) in oras he could totally keep his voltorb though

also i could add chinchou to give him a ground check but it doesn't really fit his vibe, maybe in rematches

flannery's the most tragic one because on one hand she has a fucking slugma and 2 members of the numel line even though literally everyone in team magma also uses them but on the other hand that's basically the best she can do since slugma evolves super late and hoenn only has 4 non-starter fire options even though it has 4 fire specialist npcs

jail

but yeah i gave her an underleveled magcargo because it's not even that good anyway and pulled in a ninetales from mt pyre because i think it kinda fits her vibe

norman's fun i like the idea of giving him both vigoroth and slaking because they're from the same line but work very differently so they feel distinct

i replaced linoone with dodrio because dodrio's a pokemon that you kinda tend to forget you can catch in hoenn while linoone's very common in his gym but also it's a pokemon you can find in johto and that's his home region

i wanted to give him girafarig for that same reason but the vibe wasn't vibing

winona has a really fun varied team in emerald honestly no notes

i COULD replace swablu with swellow since it's an iconic pokemon of hers in the anime but i kinda like the idea of swablu as a support team member that also foreshadows mother altaria about to clean house, if she had swellow here though it'd also make perfect sense

tate and liza are so camp like they're the only double battle gym leaders until gen 8 and they have a cool concept in emerald with all their pokemon being immune to ground for earthquake spam but at the same time almost every single pokemon they have is weak to water you need surf to get to them and surf's good in doubles in gen 3

their rsoras teams are even campier but i digress

they basically just need more pokemon that don't get one shot by surf so i added wobbuffet and chimecho because they don't get hit by earthquake and it's ridiculous how easy it is to get through emerald without knowing that chimecho exists

also wynaut can be found in mirage island which is very close to mossdeep and i like the implications

juan's also pretty good i basically just added a lanturn so he doesn't have less pokemon than tate and liza and because it does fit his vibe way better than wattson's

i was a little hesitant about keeping crawdaunt because it overlaps with sidney but it's probably okay since it's better for 2 league members to repeat crawdaunt instead of sharpedo like every fucking team aqua member

i also wanted to feature huntail and gorebyss somewhere but couldn't figure out where to fit them on the team and then i realized that they'd be almost perfect for matt and shelly to help them stand out from the rest of team aqua

[mermaidsirennikita]

thoughts on the new daisy jones and the six episodes? honestly just need you to voice thoughts on how mediocre/bad this adaptation is lmao

Mediocre is a good word. It's not like, OFFENSIVELY bad, but it definitely isn't good, and I keep thinking of how it feels like a Lifetime series with... somewhat more of a budget? But You season 1 was on Lifetime, and it didn't look this... bleh (and was miles ahead in terms of writing and performance).

I'll break down my issues:

--On the surface, it's a faithful adaptation, but it actually loses so much nuance. It tricks you into thinking it's got the book by hitting the story beats, but in reality it doesn't seem to accomplish what the story was telling you at all ("TJR was involved!" authors are almost always involved on some level, doesn't mean their voices are heard/she's getting a fat check from this, so I don't blame her if some selling out is involved).

As someone who loved the love triangle (it's one of my favorites, ever) in the book... The book was also a lot more than the triangle. There was more on music making (and not hokey Glee-esque "let's close our eyes and bop a little" moments). There was more on addiction (the scene where Daisy is walking around, stepping on glass and bleeding and PARTYING while Billy thinks "she looks like she knows how to have fun" is toned down to "Daisy is by the pool slurring a little" lmao). There was more on toxic masculinity (there were SHADES of Billy seeming like Billy when he got pissed at Daisy in episode 6 and demanding a million retakes, but like... Billy was a dick about controlling the musical output to EVERYONE, not just Daisy, because Billy had some alpha male toxicity that stemmed from his need for control to maintain sobriety AND his daddy issues). It's all beats, no nuance.

--Lol they have BUTCHERED Karen. Karen is now a NLOG who wants to surf to show Graham how much cooler she is than the UNCOOL GIRL who LIKES BARRY MANILOW (a perfectly nice young lady who seemed FUN). I think they're weaving in Karen and Daisy instead of Karen and Camila, because you know. Bad music bitches > stay at home moms, I guess? Never mind that Camila supported Karen through her abortion in the book, which was hugely affirming textually as Camila ISSSS maternity embodied (wonder if they'll include the abortion at all).

--I was big on not needing people experienced with music in these roles before the show came out. Now I wonder if I was wrong? Or if Riley and Sam just SUCK AT IT. (I say this as someone who has liked Sam in other roles, and though I'm less familiar with Riley, I actually did enjoy her in The Lodge, and that role seemed MUCH more suited to her.) Riley does a lot of Stevie mimicry to compensate (how many times shall she flap her arms). Sam does some weird like. Snapping and weaving? Which, I've said this a lot to my friends--I think the show is trying to lean into the Jim Morrison -> Billy thing. Which--I think Jim is one of several artists who influenced Billy's vibe. Lindsey is another one, obviously. The "look" and sex appeal and lost poet vibe of Billy says Morrison, imo; Morrison is what Billy would've been like if Billy did not get on the wagon and stay on it. (Also, check out pics of Morrison and Pamela Courson and try to tell me that TJR didn't think of those visuals with Billy and Daisy and the album cover scene especially--Fleetwood Mac ain't the only influence here). Anyway, suffice to say that Morrison had a distinct performance style that I feel Sam is trying to emulate, along with some Jagger? It's definitely more that than Lindsey, imo. AND HE DOESN'T HAVE THE SWAGGER TO DO IT I'M SORRY.

(Look at his episode 6 hair after they gave him some salt spray for bounce and body and try to tell me they aren't attempting a Morrison Young Lion era vibe.)

So much of the performance scenes read as earnest theater kids versus experienced musicians, several of which are drunk or high in these scenes.

--I hate how much they've made Daisy and Billy explicitly aware of their feelings and like. Confronting them. One thing I loved about the book is that they had this one impetuous, super brief kiss and it like. Ruined the band lmao. Was the beginning of the end. Here it's like, this intentional thing where Daisy is like WHAT ARE WE and he knows and I'm like dude. A huge issue with Billy and Daisy is that she knew they were in love and he kNEW but wouldn't let himself acknowledge it and dead-ass tried to sit there and LIE TO HIS KID'S FACE ABOUT IT LMAO until he was so emotionally wrecked that he had to cop to it. Here it's so. Boring. Juvenile. Camila is taking pics of it, oooh!!!

--Even though they're basicifying Camila, one of the most confident women in literature, into a jealous wife type... Camila is still one of the highlights because Camila Morrone plays her very naturally and has charisma. The biggest highlight is Warren, however, because he is funny and played to perfection, and is the oNLY person in the doc clips that seems like an aging rock star who's still high on pure vibes.

--I've already said this, but to reiterate: the music is mid as hell. Every time they play real music that is good, I weep a little inside.

--Daisy in the book was someone who did obnoxious, narcissistic things... But you were like it's okay, because she seemed genuinely impulsive and also was half to fully zonked the entire time. Here, she seems sober a lot of the time (if Daisy is supposed to be high... it ain't coming through unless Riley is slurring, and believe me, I know what functional drugged people look like) and just like. A calculated asshole lmao. Like, the scene where she jumped ahead in the performance wasn't charming or wacky, it was obnoxious. She's supposed to be a charismatic if problematic celeb. You should think back on her behavior and go mmm that was fucked but not initially clock it as hard because she's so mystifying. Also, Riley and Sam have very little chemistry, so I think that while Daisy's antics in the book were called out by Billy, there was this lens of "Billy is madder than he normally would be because he wants to fuck her" that is lacking here.

--What is pacing. Six episodes in and they've barely performed. Daisy and Billy should've been writing songs together as of episode 3. Nah, we needed to slow things down for the riveting CLINGY JEALOUS GIRL KAREN KAREN moment.

--Very cheap wigs, meh "Camila is dying" makeup in the present day lens.

--It feels very much like Daisy has been toned down so that the average girl can project onto her and feel validated by her. Daisy in the books was on HARD shit and was not doing well. At all. She pulled it off, but I'll go back to the Morrison/Courson inspo--she was 27 Club-bound, and if Billy had fallen off the wagon he would've had a similar fate... Which is why they could not be together. So much of the book to me is about the complexity of love; of how you love people for different reasons, and how sometimes, you give up what you love a little more because there's something you also love fully that is bETTER FOR YOU.

Like, I think the show is leaning hard into "man, if only Billy and Daisy had been able to meet earlier, twin flames" while the book was like "Billy and Daisy were in love, but they would've died if they'd been together, and also Billy gave up Daisy and music but fuck shit he also had an amazing woman he adored and kids, so choosing life and 'losing something' isn't actually a loss". The show feels very "ooh wish fulfillment" whereas the book felt emotionally real.

Anyway, I think it's pretty weak.

[sugarsnappeases]

top films of the year!!!

tagged by @standardlovers <3333 who actually has like Film Opinions that don't revolve around how silly/sexy the films were but anyway here's my films...

np tags for @themuseoftheviolets @stillagoodwitch @quillkiller @fxreflyes @star4daisy <3333

i’m also gonna do some comments like teddy did bc i never know how to shut up ever so…

1. Point Break (1991), the film of all films, i think i rewatched it like three times this year, its my favourite film of all time, i never shut up about it, it literally has it all - surfing, bank robbery, skydiving, keanu reeves, patrick swayze, an excessive amount of deaths, rampant homoeroticism etc etc

2. Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), another rewatch, another banger, hugh grant is his typical bumbling englishman but this time it involved the mafia!! which i love, and manslaughter and the fbi and it’s a bit ridiculous which, of course, is a necessity

3. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), i said it on my letterboxd and i’ll say it again - there is NOTHING like the love between a man and his razor blades, also helena bonham carter is SO sexy as always and there’s a lot of fun murder, my only note would be that they don’t sing the ballad of sweeney todd, which is clearly the best song from the musical, but otherwise very enjoyable

4. My Own Private Idaho (1991), what was in the water for keanu in 1991?? bc honestly this film is incredible, the campfire scene broke me into pieces, humpty dumpty style, and i’m still not back together again, also there are excellent insults in this eg. you starfish, you vile punk etc so i loved it a lot, and river phoenix is brilliant, are you kidding me??

5. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), another keanu but this one is Overtly silly rather than just being silly by association (all keanu films are silly bc he’s a lovably awful actor but this one takes the cake), literally party on dudes like be excellent to each other, what more do you want me to say??

6. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), ohhh my god guys idk how i’d never watched this before but honestly just incredible, so so so SO good, my friends told me that i give riff-raff vibes which… i’ve chosen to take as a compliment bc after all… it’s astounding… time is fleeeting (picture me bursting into a choreographed musical number)

7. Dangerous Liaisons (1988), a banger, i watched cruel intentions like years ago but this is dare i say it… better??? there’s just something about a period drama that elevates everything, keanu was very sweet, i loved when he was all covered in blood and bedraggled, and just in general i love when women are evil and malicious

8. A Knight’s Tale (2001), this film was an experience… i do think it should’ve just been about the bros going on an adventure and doing a spot of jousting instead of having that romance plot which was kinda eh, but the soundtrack fucks and there were generally excellent vibes and heath ledger was fantastic

anyway that’s that i guess!!!

honourable mention for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) bc god that film goes so hard, and also But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) bc like come on now, need i say more??

[castlebyersafterdark]

I don't understand the hate about this outfit like he looks goofy but he was cute in this!!!

omg it's my time to shine hahah i love talking costumes! firstly, mike's shirt is described as orange here by the costume designer so its not part of the blue and yellow theory really, sorry y'all! but we dont need that as byler evidence cos theyre clearly in love anyway. will was definitely judging his ensemble and my fav part is the way it says 'SURF' splashed across the back in huge pastel letters. it's an all-round cringe shirt for mike wheeler whose personality does NOT suit surfer boy style let alone fake, ill-fitting surfer boy knock off style haha. so really what the costume designers were doing is not trying to make mike look objectively bad in terms of out of context outfit, but rather its so awkward for his character and delivers the awkward vibes in as little time as possible in order to set the tone of the scene. so we can add into this...

the camera angle showing him cluelessly looking around for them

the way he's wearing sunglasses indoors, a feat only julian casablancas can pull off. mike wasnt on the concourse, he was never exposed to sunlight since he got on the plane in indianapolis and perhaps not even then lmao, no need for shades!

his goofy wave and squeaky, performative voice 'oh! oh hi will! fancy seeing you here!'

and the biggest culprit of all: THAT HAT

I mean, what is that hat? its the way its sat on his head making his hair look like a wig. major worzel gummidge vibes tbh. that hat cannot be worn with hair down, it should be with a high ponytail which makes me think is this even a man's hat? subtle costume design.

and lastly, the clothes are ill-fitting (just like his hellfire shirt which hangs off him and washes him out, making him look pallid and weary in episode 1). the orange washes him out, making his skin look extra pale (compare to the warmth of the van scene and how golden his skin looks there). the purple shirt does the same, and the vest is far too big for him. finn described the whole outfit, but mainly the flip flops as 'gross' lol, but its made worse by the sheer contrast of mike to will and el and everyone. he's so not cool here, in every way. perfect costume design storytelling!

so yeah, these details are subjective really, but then again you could say all of art is subjective. they try to create a mood and make you feel certain things when watching, and some people just won't get it. thats not a bad thing, but i think recognising when your taste butts heads with the artistic intention is very interesting! i always found mike to be a babe but i cringed so hard when he rocked up in this ensemble lmao. and i think the duffers wanted me to! compare it to how much his brown hair and pale skin suits the forest greens of season 1 and 2. mike is an autumnal colour complexion, not spring/summer pastels :)

THANK YOU for this! I love costume and wardrobes but I don't really feel like my knowledge base is adequate to deep dive beyond surface level vibes and this was a cool read.

Also yes! to the minimizing 'color theory' a little - it's a nice element for these two but I think too much stock is placed in what's a minor detail when so much more is important about these characters. And agree, Will was totally judging - even if he's into Mike, it's so clear that he's doing something out of character and awkward and trying to put on a different image for his girlfriend. I don't necessarily think the outfit is ugly - simply not Mike. That's what I'm saying but oh man, so right on every point. It's a very good storytelling tool. Yes, it's ill-fitting and the coloring makes him look off, like everything about how he's presenting himself is wrong. Overcompensation. Desaturation. I find the mistaken effort endearing, which I think is the point as well. The cringe along with the oh, Mike. He tried so hard and it turned out so wrong. You feel for him!!

(Hides though 🫣 as I'd absolutely wear the hat, I love an ugly hat. Then again - I go out of my way to wear ugly fashion on purpose sometimes because it's fun and amuses me, but that's a pointed choice haha. Mike probably thought it all was cool. I am not trying to be cool ever.)

He is an autumn boy! Fall colors and fall in general! Loved your take, very good insights. Agree agree, there's a lot of meaningful layers here and reasons for what we saw in that scene.

[siskiyn]

so yeah a couple weeks ago i started playing neopets again after 13+? years. i'm over here making a discount dnd party with names like these. i kinda like it though..... my oc brain is stirring after a long, long time. like i want them to be a crew. the found family trope incarnate. ride-or-die. i have no idea what colors i want these babies to be but i'm MOTIVATED. there are so many new paint brush / colors to consider too, i am actually having a blast over here making goals to reach & learning stuff i never ever bothered with in the past.

(please join me)

ONTO THE PETS + OC BRAINSTORMING

MALFEEN thinking wraith for Malfeen, first. he's becoming my battledome pet! something badass and/or eternal looking. that's all really. eventide zafara could be ok too with some customization. he look a little too unimposing with those eyes. something about wraith though OOH i want one.

VHAMPIRR Vhampirr has GOT to change species and color, grundos gotta be the UGLIEST mfers out in neopia i'm sorry. Vhamp's gonna be the leader because i rescued him from the pound first and ngl it was exciting. teenaged sisk never found anything good while pound surfing. now i don't even know how many painted pets i've seen in there. the satisfaction is astronomical.

anyways i don't wanna be too derivative with a name like Vhampirr but then again cringe is dead, he could be some cool undead mfer. i'm thinking darigan? (once a darigan fan always a darigan fan.) there are many good species options something about darigan xweetok makes me wanna punch it (lovingly). he looks like he'd make fun of you and be camp as hell. he looks like he gets a new piecing every time he's depressed because he finds it quite bracing and rejuvenating, actually.

OAXUN Oaxun is the only pet i made from scratch, in homage to an old pet from an old account (rip). the rest are pound finds. at first i was thinking making her into a little baby eyrie. babygirl of the party who everyone dotes on, receives the chaotic parenting of the whole gang. but man i love eyries a lot & with a name like Oaxun i feel like a material color like maractite, water or relic would be soo fitting. i'm less and less attached to baby the longer i think on it tbh.

GRIMSVONTE literally just adopted this dude tonight. idk if i'll keep him but i think royalboy or something fancy like that would match the name. he could be that escort mission tag-along that you absolutely suffer through. Grimsvonte hahaha... royalboy gelert got me fucked up with the bowl cut hair. it's giving trust fund kid, Grimsvonte the 3rd... it's giving "mother father i'm off on a harrowing adventure don't look for me". idk it could be comedy gold!!

not many of the royals appeal to me although royalboy peophin is kinda hot? Hot Middle-aged Grimsvonte?? no i'm not accepting comments. just think about it.

& that's it!!! well i have a baby kougra pound rescue but *covers his ears* i don't really like him or his ugly ass name. i think i'm overly attached to baby neopets due to Nostalgia only. they're relatively cheap to get too. i don't know! can you feel the vibe of this group so far? the vision?? if i do get a baby neopet it'll prolly be a more thoughtful addition. maybe one of the above will magically turn into a single parent. like, say... baby peophin for daddy Grimsvonte? (i know you agree. you agree with me right. look at them together.)

[wavernot4love]

hello wanted 2 talk about a bunch of fun things from Thursday first show of War All The Time tour 2nite at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo (this will include setlist spoilers)

(starting with a random little video of title track, the rest of it is in the keep reading thingy)

- TURNPIKE DIVIDES FOR THE LAST SONG??? they let her see the light of day!!! i am probably the only person who has heard her at 2/3 of the thursday sets they have seen /lh

- geoff took the piss out of victory records for not paying bands while talking about how i'll be you & jbny are mirrors of each other then played them back to back (also described jbny as their heaviest song.... correct!!!)

- crowd was GREAT. great pits, surfing vibes, actually hell, vibes were just great all around.

- make sure you get there early so you can catch both many eyes & rival schools (steve (thursday) actually played for rival schools today which was cool). i thoroughly enjoyed both sets, and tonight honestly made me a fan of many eyes as a project. i wasn't sure what to expect receptionwise from a buffalo crowd [insert every time i die lore] but everyone showed up for keith (buckley, former singer of etid)/them. i also thought he/they did great, and he seemed genuinely humbled. also saw him around after the show, bro was loading out merch so i didn't wanna bother him, but yeah, dude seemed chill. really enjoyed the songs as well, i'll be spinning them and staying tuned for future releases for sure.

- between that set, everyone just feeling like a true community all night, & a cameo from a local scene legend (if you know hardcore, the singer of terror/buried alive was watching sidestage all show, keith shouted him out hahaha), let's just say i felt like how i'd imagine patriotic americans feel when they hear the national anthem, but the western new yorker edition.

- between rupture and rapture & division st. were probably my favorite non big singles. so great to hear watt in full dude and the crowd was very engaged the whole time

- one thing that really sucks is geoff explained as they came out that pretty much all their instruments randomly got stolen right before they left for tour, so they were a little panicky and stuff but basically, nothing was gonna stop them from having a good time in buffalo (paraphrased). apparently when they were sorting out the tour routing a while back someone told them they should start in toronto but they were like, nah dude, we want to start in buffalo. back to my western ny patriotism analogy, i see. anyways, now that's what i call resilience. they put on a great performamce with such great energy, you can tell this is a band that truly loves doing this whole thing. support the guys extra hard this run.

- as the opening bit of understanding started i looked back at the carnage going on in the giant pit that was open at the moment and had to just. smile at That being a moment people were crowdkilling each other to /lh

- i brought my (digital) point & shoot and shot from the crowd! very stoked on those as i was quite close all show, will update with those once i edit em! will probably also be posting a review kinda thing on my site/ziney thing once i get that back up and published

- one final thing that haunts me is the wonder of what geoff was talking about here in this instagram story post from earlier. i even stuck around after the show (which ended around 10:30) in case... i don't know, thursday were to fly out of some sort of confetti cannon at 11 pm sharp, i have no idea, dude. someday i will ask geoff about Minds Blown - 11.00pm

anyway, every time i've seen thursday this past year of having the joy of really knowing their music (i'd heard of them of course just through being in the scene for years, but had just never listened then) thursdayband has come 2 mean more and more to me and i truly hope they never stop playing together as long as it makes them happy <3

[latesunsetovermonroeville]

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet analysis

Disclaimer: I know that Patrick had talked about this song in an interview before, but this is my attempt at trying to get behind the words, to tear it down and see what’s behind the curtain. Of course, you are always free to think otherwise, since this is just my personal take. But it’s worth to try, isn’t it?

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet

The origin of the title can be found in any transcription of Patrick’s interview about Headfirst Slide with MTV. I think this one explains it well enough.

Let’s get into the lyrics.

Mr. Sandman showing his beam

When he walks into the room the walls leans in to listen

A short and descriptive introduction about the main character of the song – Mr. Sandman. He had got the charm that was approved by everyone, even unanimated objects had to come alive at his presence.

Surfed out brain waves flick back and forth

“surfed out” is another word for “being used up”, and “flick back and forth” brings in both the swaggy vibe of leaning from side to side and the feeling of unsteadiness. This line can be derived into describing the main character’s mental exhaustion and instability as a whole. It makes me think of having random mood swings, which is a prominent trait of bipolar disorder.

Like old headlights sniffing model glue again

If we see our narrator, Mr. Sandman, as old car headlights then it is obvious that such a weak thing as model glue would never be able to fix him properly. He was running, low in need of maintenance, maybe even falling off since he used glue to glue himself back. But it didn’t really work, because the act of gluing something together only further confirms the unsteadiness. Not to mention the glue is only “sniffed”.  This can be understood in two ways. Either he enjoyed being fixed, though the fixing never really worked; or he had been trying to get himself together so many times that the distinct smell of glue was everywhere. Or both.

Head like a steal trap

Wish I didn’t

“like a steel trap” is an idiom referring to people with sharp mind that can remember or understand things quickly and easily. Our narrator was aware of his traits and values, yet he regretted, thus the line “wish I didn’t”. Maybe he regretted letting himself becoming who he was, or regetted being a homewrecker. This is very up to interpretation.

I don’t just want to be a footnote in someone else’s happiness

Despite sounding pretty casual, this declaration had a sense of dread. He kept being a homewrecker, but he didn’t want to be a small part of other’s happiness. Either he wanted to be special, or to have a happiness of his own, but this view of himself contradicts what was said about Mr. Sandman in the beginning of the verse: bewitching and attractive.

Maybe that was just his cover to hide how wrong and broken he was from the inside.

Does your husband know the way

That the sunshine gleams from your wedding band?

A flirtatous line, yet this is the main idea of the song: a charming, likable homewrecker who did it anyway knowing his lover was already married. That’s why he openly mentioned the wedding ring. Moreover, he paid attention to small but beautiful details like the sun’s reflection on the ring because he was also an artist.

Does he know the way

Of the crickets that would convince me to call it a night?

Crickets only sing at night, the time when people are up to no good. He was aware that what he did was wrong, yet he kept doing anyway. And all the time, there were voices telling him to quit being a homewrecker, or to quit being a mess that was himself.

Does he know the way I worship our love?

This is intersting, because this implies that although he dated the woman, he cared more about the idea of their forbidden relationship than her. I think this is because he was an artist who was fascinated more by abstract ideations. He wanted to be love, clearly, but he knew he couldn’t be love in the right way because he was also not quite right in the head, so he seeked for the kind of love that was wrong to pair with his impairment.

But I will never end up like him

Behind my back I already am

The narrator is ignorant of his own problems and the illegitimate nature of the affair, as ignorant as how the husband was unaware or ignorant of his wife’s unfaithfulness. Another way to interpret this is maybe, the husband was also a cheater, which explains how Mr. Sandman never mentioned of having to hide the relationship because he was also being fair.

He used the words “Behind my back” instead of “Behind your back” – which would have implied that the affair was a secret while it really wasn’t. “Behind my back” means something happening without him knowing or his acknowledgement. And it was true, because behind his back, people had already called him a cheater and a homewrecker, which was also partly why he didn’t bother to keep it a secret anymore.

Keep a calendar, this way you will always know

The last time you came through

Oh darling, I know what you’re going through

“Coming through” means successing in surviving or dealing with something, which goes well with the next line “I know what you’re going through”, although it appears to be in a courting manner at first glance. Maybe the woman only came for him when she was having a bad time and would leave when she had overcome the obstacles, which now makes these lines sound more like he was mocking her.

Tempest in a teacup, get unique

The original idioms are “tempest in a teapot” or “storm in a teacup”, which describe how a small event has been exaggerated. By changing “teapot” into a smaller object like “teacup”, it emphathises that the matter at hand is so much smaller that it is made up to be. Maybe the matter was the affair, or Mr. Sandman’s mental state, we can not be sure. “get unique” can just be a ‘fuck you’ to the people who had been gossipping to take care of their own business.

Peroxide princes shine like shark teeth

It’s a sign – what if you peeked early?

Peroxide can be used in stain removal. It was another attempt to fix himself. He called himself “prince” but to me it sounds more like a self-reassurance that he would be shiny and at his best again, like how he had been when he was at the top – sharp (hence “shark teeth”) and loved by everyone.

Yet the next lines are like a slap to his face, saying that what if him getting better was just a sign to his oncoming downfall, like the calm before the storm (pardon the reference) because he had already “peeked early”? Maybe this whole thing was a sign that this was the end, the furthest he would ever get to before falling down.

So, it was a wild ride, isn’t it? Please tell me what you think and what is your personal interpretation of the song, because this song has been in my head for weeks and I just can’t get rid of it before my curiousity is satified.