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moonchildsaurora · 4 years ago

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Darling, Dance for Me?

✤ sniper!San x female exotic dancer!reader ✤ genre: Mafia AU // 30% fluff, 60% spice, 10% platonic flirting with Woo ✤ t/w: mentions of guns/shooting, mentions of alcohol, mature clubbing themes, highly suggestive in the second half (but not smut), rated M ✤ count: 2k+

a/n - this was suppose to be for Valentine’s Day but, oh well! Enjoy some spice with one pink haired Sannie, coz we all know even though he looks soft. . . .he’s just a devil in disguise. This is probs my most suggestive writing till date as well, it was fun and am looking forward to writing more spice in the future hehet 💙

✛ play these vibes: BOBBY - ‘DeViL’, Sunmi - ‘Black Pearl’, Kai - ‘Mmmh’ ✛

“Mother told me, never to dance with the devil, So I danced for him instead.”

Cherry rouge.

Not your usual go-to, but a special occasion calls for some special exceptions. And damn did you look like fine wine tonight. Giving your styled curls another spritz of hair spray, you took one last inspection in your vanity mirror.

Work was throwing a Valentine’s event and thus you found yourself having to dig through the back of your wardrobe to find a suitable outfit for tonight. Bold burgundy lace hugged tightly around your body replacing the mellower neutral tones you’d wear on any other night. Your roommate had even shoved a pair of thigh highs and heels on you to match the garter.

And cherry lips to bring the whole look together.

“You’ll thank me later! Hell everyone in the club would, for presenting god’s gift to them!”

You had laughed at her supportive enthusiasm, waving her away with embarrassment though you greatly appreciated the pre-shift hype.

When you headed for the kitchen, you could hear the TV in the lounge and glanced to see your roommate watching the evening news. She turned to call out for you but stopped mid-way upon realising you were already out of your room.

“Damn girl…you’ll sure be breaking hearts tonight with that fit!!” she yelled-gasped, brows waggling for a cheeky added effect.

“Well that’s no good. Dancers are supposed to be Cupids of the night, maybe they should’ve given me Aphrodite instead.”

A smile tugged on your lips as you saw your roommate falling back on the sofa snickering. Grabbing the bottle of Ten to One from what you both named ‘The Life Juice’ shelf, you started to fill your rose gold hip flask with the white rum. The debonair bartender at the club would usually be more than happy to concoct you a cup of much-needed poison to get you through the night. However, on such a busy event, you might not even have time to swing by the bar – so plan B was in order.

Also, whoever thought to invent garter pouches was a genius in your eyes. The amount of times you had snuck in a sip or two up on the podium without missing a beat or being noticed had to be one of your greatest feat till date.

Except maybe for the one who bought said pouch and flask for you. Seeing the shadow of their pleased smirk whenever you donned on something from them never failed to coax the goosebumps across your skin. Perhaps that garnet embellished choker would be the icing on the cake then. You made a mental note to put that on before you headed out.

“Hey honey…”

The tone of your roommate turned a little more serious.

“On the news just then, another one of those random sniper attacks happened along Soleil Street. Shit, that’s only two streets away from the club.”

The city has gotten used to such news every now and then. All leads of the serial sniper always went cold, not that they left behind any substantial traces for the authorities to begin with.

The law wasn’t the only ruling force in the area. Everyone knew that.

So long as one didn’t attract the wrong attention, they’d be free to go about their business.

“I’m dropping you off, are you ready to go?”

“Wait! It’s alright, I don’t want to trouble you.”

Your roommate gave you a look before swiping her car keys from the counter. “What would trouble me is not knowing whether you’ve made it to work and back safely. Now c’mon, the night is awaiting that cute booty of yours!”

“Yes mum.”

How lucky were you to have an angel for a roommate?

“Give me a heads up if you intend to bring anyone home tonight yeah? I’ll be sure to vacate the apartment before any sinning begins here.”

Or not.

A euphoric buzz filled every corner of the club tonight. Whether it was due to the special occasion or not, everyone was getting drunk off the atmosphere. The bar was a never-ending fountain of liquid luck and smoke veiled corners of the venue where patrons dealt cards and wits. A sea of bodies dominated the dancefloor, curling around one another in ecstasy as the thumping bass set the rhythm for them.

The centre podium was where the real magic unfurled.

Up on there, you felt powerful. Up on there, was your domain to rule.

Long have you enticed all those who returned back to ‘The Blue Butterfly’. So close, yet so far, for most could only have the visual satisfaction. Of watching you, along with your fellow dancers weave around golden poles and offer hands to those who sat in plush velvet chairs closest to the podium. Only to sashay away the last minute.

How bees are drawn to nectar and moths to light, the people keep coming back.

Tonight the club was decked out in a more sensual feel to fit the Valentine’s vibe. Long drapes of rose silk hung around the podium and you used those to accentuate the flow and movement of your body curves. The silks caressed the bare skin not hidden underneath your outfit and you pretended to take shy peeks around the fabrics at the audience. Sending a lucky wink or flying kiss their way.

In the middle of a mid-air twirl, you saw a familiar figure heading towards your side of the podium. You slowly lowered yourself back down to the floor, using your legs to wrap around the silks as leverage. Not missing the opportunity to be playful – you mimed shooting an arrow towards the club’s top croupier.

Wooyoung instantly clutched his heart with his hand that wasn’t occupied with holding one of Mingi’s own cocktail infusion. Letting out a hearty giggle, you slid over the podium floors to the edge where Wooyoung had propped himself up on.

“Don’t you look simply irresistible?” he crooned at you.

You could’ve said the exact same for him. All fitted to a tee in Givenchy with a classic choker that demanded attention for prominent collarbones.

“Now, how may I be of service to you tonight handsome?” you spoke over the music.

The youthful charmer leaned in towards you, shaking dark wavy strands out of his eyes. Eyeing his cotton candy pink drink, you ducked your head and took a few sips from the straw before Wooyoung drew it away. It tasted vaguely like pink lemonade with hints of vodka and vanilla.

“Ah ah, this isn’t for you poppet. Besides…” he tipped your chin back up with two fingers, “…wouldn’t want to waste your appetite before your main course tonight, would we?”

That made you perk right up.

“V.I.P Room Aurora has kindly requested for you. Drinks have already been sent up and the room’s been booked for the whole night.”

Not that booking was really needed since it was your room. It was just for formality.

Wooyoung helped you off the podium and smoothly guided you through the crowd, placing you in front of him so as to avoid being grabbed by uninvited hands from behind. You both stopped at the foot of the polished glass stairs that led up to the V.I.P guest rooms.

“Off you go now! Oh and try not to make too much of a mess for our cleaners, they really ought to get a pay rise from some of the things they’ve witnessed in those rooms.”

You would’ve kicked Wooyoung for his brazen tongue, but you did well to remind yourself that would be rather impudent on your part. Whilst you have a jovial bond with him, it still doesn’t erase his high-standing status within the inner circle. You knew better than to cross that line of respect.

“Won’t make any promises I can’t keep, Jung!”

You left him with a soft pat on his cheek and ascended towards your utopia that awaited.

Swinging the golden embossed doors open, sultry melodious tune of a saxophone greeted you. Like molten dark chocolate, it was rich and tantalizing. The crystalline blue hue of the room’s lighting was fitting for the slow jazzy blues.

A spacious circular sofa curved around a glass table in the centre, providing a perfect view of the bejewelled podium. The wide one-way windows were especially designed for privacy. You could spectate over almost the whole club below, something you quite enjoyed during your breaks. The countless types of people that you observed stepping into your world; from the timid newcomers to the seasoned hedonists and the stories they brought with them of their journey to ‘The Blue Butterfly’.

But there was no time for that tonight. Not when you see broad sculptured shoulders that your hands have meticulously memorised the planes of – right in front of you.

Still clad in his all-black incognito leather fit, you couldn’t help but stay by the door to appreciate his form. A huge bouquet of ivory and deep red roses sat on the glass table with an open box of what you suspected were chocolates inside. A loud pop of the champagne bottle went off. You bit your lips when you saw his toned arms flex as he gripped the bottle in one hand and tipped a stream of golden bubbles into two flute glasses in the other.

As the music picked up, you decided it was time to make your presence known. Walking with confident steps over the velveteen carpet you went to wrap your arms around his cinched waist. Resting your cheek on the cool leather vest of his back, you took his scent in.

Smoke and city musk lingered around.

You figured he must’ve come straight from his assignment. What better reason to use than to spoil him extra as post-work relaxation? His hand came up to wrap around yours and you felt the dancing of lips leaving petal kisses across your knuckles.

“You stink…” you mumbled lightly against his back.

San let out a low chuckle before setting the champagne bottle down and turning around to snake both arms around you. Calloused hands from the years of gripping guns instead of supple flesh imprinted their warm touch into your skin.

“Oh? Then I’m sure you won’t mind helping me freshen up, right Princess?”

“San!” you squealed when you felt him deliberately rub sweat against your neck before attacking it with more love bites.

“You taste like sweet temptation.”

You arched your neck out of habit when you felt his tongue swipe across it. Teeth bit down lightly around the garnet choker San bought for you for Christmas.

When you felt hands travelling down west towards your garter, you gave San a light shove backwards to the sofa.

“Not so fast, Choi.”

His predatory feline eyes took its time to rake down your body, committing every inch to memory. You made a show of bending over to grab the two champagne flutes off the table, the sharp intake of breath behind you made you preen with pride. You took your seat on your throne, not at all surprised to feel how much pent-up tension San had through the tight leather.

Clink. A toast made for the love of two.

“Happy Valentine’s, darling.”

“Thank you, San. You sure know how to spoil a lady don’t you?”

“Only the one who’s sniped right through my heart.”

Oh the irony.

You smiled when he pulled you close and claimed a proper kiss, whispering a, “You sap,” against his wind-chapped lips. Tasting the fruit acidity from the golden bubbles as you both exchanged kitten licks.

San’s rouge-stained lips chased after yours when you broke off from the kiss to place your champagne flute back down on the table. Hands anchoring your hips in place as you reached to pluck a couverture chocolate-covered strawberry from the box. Turning back round to San, your lips formed a small pout noticing that his freshly dyed hair was still hidden underneath his cap.

He let you discard it behind the sofa and you could’ve sworn he purred with satisfaction when you ran your hands through his cotton candy pink strands. Hands gave your bottom a firm squeeze and San begun to run his fingers along the hem of your lace. The husky vocals from the record player drifted back, interlacing with the saxophone.

That was your cue.

“Eyes on me.”

You held San’s gaze, fire reflecting fire. The strawberry gets slipped past the seams of his lips and all the while San chews intently, his eyes never wavered. He’s got his precious pearl all to himself, just the way he loves it. And you have the city’s most lethal hitman watching your back from dawn to dusk. San was the dangerous game you played, only to win the safest love.

“Darling, won’t you please dance for me?”

“With pleasure, Sir.”

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spnwatch · 4 years ago

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Season 2: The Rankings

Whew. Oh boy.

They were still puttering about in season 1 to an extent. But now? Now they’ve really hit their stride. This season was a veritable chocolate box of delights and I ate my way through it. The overall myth arc was kind of nonsensical, but that emotional throughline? Christ. Spn buries SO MUCH emotional complexity into its leads, and they cashed in every cent in that two part finale. It packs one hell of a punch. And yeah, okay, I knew the broad strokes, the twists and turns. It’s hard not to be spoilered for a season of tv that aired over a decade ago. But reader! It mattered not!! I. Still. Wept. That’s when you know it’s the good kush. 1.) 2x12: NIGHTSHIFTER. This one just snagged the top spot by merit of its sheer ambition. Supernatural often feels like a very empty universe to me, just two guys and one car drifting from place to place. Which is fine, it makes for compelling TV, but they totally flipped the script here and this episode really dazzles precisely because of that contrast. It’s a huge, cinematic episode, a metropolitan setting full of uncontrollable elements, and it’s great to see Sam and Dean so profoundly vulnerable. The outside world is pressing up against the windows. They have sniper dots trained on them! They are, literally and figuratively, out of their depth! We’re not in Kansas any more, baby. God, I haven’t even mentioned the supporting characters. The entire mandroid rant deserves an Emmy. Victor Henrickson’s entrance! Heist movie antics! Agh! 10/10

2.) 2x07: THE USUAL SUSPECTS. Again this episode was a cut above precisely because it showed us what the brothers look like from the outside: sketchy as all hell. It’s so good when reality ensures, because it’s great to be reminded they lead objectively insane lives! Through Linda Blair’s eyes we get to see just how unknowable, feral and amoral they appear to the eyes of polite society. Put under a microscope like this, they’re scary guys! They’re just not socialised like normal people. They don’t really care about being arrested, or about the felonies. Getting arrested is an irritant above everything else. They’re still working the case from the inside. They’re professionals; excellent liars, and totally in sync with each other. The handwritten notes they pass, like delinquent school kids! A delight! The thrill lies in watching Blair slowly unwrap their strange logic, and unravel the mystery of both the brothers and the ghost. Ugh, what a great perspective shift. I’m 100% here for it. 10/10

3.) 2x09: CROATOAN. Ugh, this setting. Small Town Gothic, complete with eerie mist, hostile locals and creepy Stepford vibes. Sam really shone in this episode. He’s so soothing and giant, and it made his suffering at the end all the more devastaing. The real reason this episode ranks so highly is their conversation in the surgery. It just killed me. Dean’s sheer, bone-deep exhaustion, his admission that he’s tired of the life. Sam’s despair, because he knows Dean won’t leave. The performances were so steller. I can’t even really think too deeply about it because it makes me too crazy. 10/10

4.) 2x21: ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE: PART ONE. I loved this finale so much more than the finale in Season 1, LOL. It might just be because I’m more invested now, who knows. The opening of this episode is a piece of art: Boston playing on the car stereo, the rain, the small cafe, the lighting. Gorgeous. I love when they have to interact with ordinary people! It adds so much: texture, humour, personality! It draws things out of Sam and Dean that we just don’t see when they have each other to bounce off of. It was so good to see Ava and Andy again. “I just woke up in freakin’ Frontierland!” The gang’s all here, folks! This episode would rank higher, but recieves minus points for the long boring speech the demon gives Sam, and killing off the first gay in the show 0.2 seconds after her introduction. Anyway. The ending of course unzipped me; Dean cradling Sam’s dead body, muttering “It’s okay, it’s not even that bad.” The elation of their reunion, so devastaingly cut short! Sam, twenty two years old, bleeding out in the mud. The sheer, hopelessness of it all. The horror. My notes for the end of the episode simply read: “Dean oh Christ. Oh my God. Oh no.” It’s just one of those scenes that stay with you long after the credits start rolling. 9/10

5.) 2x20: WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE. I never thought I could be so profoundly upset by watching a man happily mowing a lawn. Dean’s trauma over the loss of his mother has undercut the whole show up until this point, and here it bursts to the fore. What really got me was the simplicity of it all. Just a sit-down dinner, an engagement. A beer on the porch. Fuck, he deserves it. He deserves everything. All the performances were great, they really served to show there’s a whole life in these AU characters. The fact it wasn’t all perfect was bizarrely more devastating. AU Sam’s weird straight hair and dorky jacket sealed the deal for me, as did his baffled terror in the warehouse. But even here, with no training and no idea what’s happening, he gets into the Impala! Because that’s his brother! Because I’m a huge baby I had to remove points because of how upsetting I found Sam’s quiet hostility towards Dean, HA. But that’s really just a testament to how well-realised their dynamic has become by the second season. 9/10

6.) 2x15: TALL TALES. Every single thing Sam does in any of Dean’s memories. Also alien slowdance set to “Lady in Red.” Also Bobby breaking them up like they’re petulant children. Gold, all of it gold. 9/10

7.) 2x11: PLAYTHINGS. So I’m a slut for a cool setting, obviously. Turns out, Supernatural did The Haunting of Bly Manor fifteen years ago. The swimming pool! The attic! Creepy dolls! The weird little playground! This episode has it all! I loved the saga between the ghost sister and the old lady, which would honestly make a killer movie in its own right. But I’m digressing. The main star of this episode was, of course, Dean’s profound and escalating sexual insecurities. “Well, you are kinda butch. People probably think you’re overcompensating.” FATALITY. I would’ve placed this one higher but the weird incestuous undertones kinda squicked me out... however, I did think we were meant to be creeped out by it, which is more than I can say for some other uh. Instances. It was, after all, beautifully paralelled at the end with the two sisters reuniting in death. “I can’t leave here, and you can’t leave me.” SHUDDER. Also, honestly, can Sam have one (1) breakdown on his own without Dean’s own emotional baggage taking over? Older siblings, smh. 9/10

8.) 2x22: ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE: PART TWO. This one ranks lower than part one purely because I thought the yellow-eyed demon’s overall plot was kinda nonsensical, and I cared not for John’s weird deux ex machina moment. Like do you expect me to feel sorry for that bitch? I don’t! Anyway, that being said, let’s move on to Dean’s eyes in the junkyard when Bobby asks him, “do you have that low an opinion of yourself?” They’re so flat. So dead, like a shark’s. He doesn’t need to say anything back, because it’s all over his face. That non-expression says it all. This is the culmination of the emotional arc that began with his savage beatdown of the Impala in episode 2x02. To call it survivor’s guilt wouldn’t even begin to cover what Dean goes through this episode. It’s all in Ackles’ performance; in the the way he yells, “What am I supposed to do now, Sammy?” The complete claustrophobia of it all. There’s nothing for it but to make the deal. Dean’s been moving inexorably towards this moment for the entire season. 9/10

9.) 2x13: HOUSES OF THE HOLY. What a kooky little episode! Magic fingers! Sam’s costcutter seance purchases! The scooby-doo placemat he uses as a makeshift altar! I love him, your honour. Obviously this episode has a lot of *~dramatic irony~* in it because of the later seasons, but it stands alone as a total banger. I was so gutted for Sam when the "angel” was revealed. So many good little Sam moments to be found in this episode. His soft, quiet little revelation that he prays every day. His awkward, earnest explanation to the horrified priest! Dean gets some great moments chasing down the would-be rapist down those dark, snow-covered streets. His speech to Sam where he explains his lack of belief is brief, but it’s a total gut punch. Rounding it off with Knockin on Heaven’s Door was just the cherry on top. 9/10

10.) 2x14: BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN. Ahaha I love the way Dean acts whenever Sam’s psychic powers come up. He treats him like a rebellious teen, it’s so funny. “What’s going on with you, Sam? Smokin’, drinkin’?” As if Sam’s behaviour was a) at all under his control or b) anything Dean wouldn’t HIMSELF do. Dean’s just like, this isn’t how I raised you! Truly hysterical. The whole sequence between Meg!Sam and Jo was fantastic and horrible. Sam’s huge physique is never threatening, but it really was in that moment. The interplay between them was totally spine-tingling. Meg’s impression Sam slowly crumbling away over the course of the episode was so compelling and I’m sure it will be a really fun rewatch now I know the *twist*. 9/10

Favourite lines this season:

The way Sam says “black cat’s bone” in 2x08

“You’re not gonna go kill somebody because a ghost told you to, are you insane?!” - Dean, 2x13

“Dean, this is a very serious investigation, we don’t have time for your blah blah blah blah.” - Sam (according to Dean), 2x15

“I’m fine, except for every single thing that’s happening.” - Ava, 2x21

#I feel like I'm exposing myself as a sam girl here #I love them equally I swear #supernatural #there's so much i left out like my comprehensive love for JO #what does she have? A KNIFE #I just didn't really dig NO EXIT as an episode sadly #spnwatch

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letterstothemidnightsociety · 4 years ago

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It's 2007 and somehow, miraculously, Supernatural survives yet another rocky (?) season of mediocre ratings to come back for a third season, or at least, half season, but that season starts out with a real bang! Like, just a real solid trio of an opener for season three. It reminds me of all the things I love about SPN and also it reminds us of all the things that frustrate the hell out of me on SPN. So where did we leave things off?

First up, there’s Dean, who sold his soul to the devil in order to bring Sam back from the dead. Sam, you’ll remember, was part of some overly complicated ponzi scheme to find the perfect vessel to open a door - yep, open a door - and lost to Aldous Hodge who just straight up murders Sam in the season finale. So Dean get’s Sammy back, but in exchange, he’s only got one year left before he permanently moves down south. Oh! And even though they got Sam back and Sam kills Aldous Hodge (RIP pal), they neglected to keep the door from opening. The door to Hell, that is, and now they’ve allowed a shiz ton of demons out to freely roam the earth. Way to go, boys, you lost again! They are two for two on these season finales guys!

OH but they DO kill the Yellow Eyed Demon, so that’s a plus, but not before he plants the most perfect seed of doubt in Dean’s mind - “How do you know what you brought back is all Sammy?” Like, ugh, UGH, ugh!!!! What a way to drive the knife in deeper! What a way to make the heart of this show slowly start to crumble! C’est Magnifique!! *chef's kissy fingers*

So with all that emotional baggage weighing us down, how do we start season 3? How else - with a threesome of course! And also some technicolor grading, it’s wild guys.

Oh boy guys, let’s talk about this opener for a hot sec. I got into it a little bit last season, but as much as I love Dean, you HAVE to admit that that boy is gross. Just like...he’s a little gross. I’m also old enough now to see exactly how many red flags he’s raising through the last 45 episodes. Like, sorry Little Me, but he is not boyfriend material. Not to mention that all this debauchery is 1,000% him distracting himself from the consequences of his own actions, but we’ll get into that later.

Meanwhile, Sam is doing something constructive and trying to figure out how to reverse the curse and save Dean’s soul. And here we have the culmination of two seasons worth of character development - faced with the imminent demise of Dean Samuel Winchester, Sam tries to step up and take care of his brother for once in his life; Dean parties like it’s 1999. There were two things I thought of during this episode - 1) isn’t this not unlike the sort of behavior you see in suicidal people who have finally decided to take their own life? Which is just, like, further held up by the fact that Dean’s big monologue at the end literally has the line “Truth is I’m tired, Sam. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.” and like...dude, you are NOT ok! Why isn't??? ANYONE??? ADDRESSING THIS????? And 2) Dean is sharing a lot of similarities with the demons in this episode.

Because MEANwhile, there’s demons! So many demons! Specifically, the Seven Deadly Sins ones, but also, spoiler alert, Ruby, who is gettin’ reeeeealll into that ketchup.

All these baddies just really taking advantage of their time topside cuz Hell is, as they so artfully put it, it’s like Hell, so they’re just livin’ it up while they still can ~almost like foreshadowing or something~?!?!?

Real talk though, it being a real long time since I’ve watched this season, it’s these kinds of details that I’m impressed with this time around. There is so much character work that goes into this show and it’s something I definitely connected with the first time around, but not on conscious level. Now I can look at it through time and experience and articulate what I’m seeing, which makes this re-watch infinitely more enjoyable.

Episode 1 of this season continues what they started in season 2 and just keeps building out that Hunter Community. Like, there really is a whole Community out there that keeps in contact and works together and makes sure everyone’s up to date on the latest hot goss, and it all makes John Winchester come off like a real creepy splinter cell lone gunman type. And that in turn makes the Winchester sons look like total, unprofessional boneheads who managed to open a portal to Hell. “UGH Great Jorb Guys, but can we blame them? They’re John’s kids,” is a conversation between hunters that I am headcannoning, but also 100% support.

Honestly, I love the idea of the Winchesters being just these real, like, b-grade, Walmart Brand Hunters that other Hunters are just SO done with. We kind of see a little bit of that with Isaac and Tamara, but by the end of the episode, the Winchesters prove that they’re...better Hunters? I hope somewhere in the next 12 seasons I get an episode that is told from another Hunter’s POV who is legitimately better/more emotionally balanced than the Winchesters and the whole episode is them just, like, cleaning up a bunch of Winchester messes like, SONuvabitch, these two ASSholes. I think we see a fair amount of episodes from the POV of people who are less qualified than the Winchesters who end up being mentored by them, but I’d be stoked for them to run into just a group of people who hate them for totally legitimate, professional vs amature reasons.

Bobby does not count because Bobby signed up to be their Dad and so he agreed to take care of their messes when he took that job.

And then we get to “The Kids Are Alright” which showcases one of my fav changes for this season - BRIGHTLY! LIT! HIGH! SATURATION!!!! And of course, by fav, I mean, Most Hilarious.

I do walk a fine line on this one truth be told. Like, season 1 was definitely going for A Look. It’s super gritty and high contrasty and stylized. Now, I got what they were going for but I wasn’t always crazy about it, mostly because the quality on the DVD’s was terrible. Quick tip for everyone: in order to get 2+ hours worth of content on a DVD, you have to compress the final edit of the program to a pretty small bitrate. When we drop videos onto DVD’s at my work (it isn’t often, thank goodness), the discs themselves only hold, like, 2GB worth of content and that is NOT A LOT when it comes to video files. The more compressed a video file is, the less detail you’re gonna get in the visuals. Watching episodes on Netflix (where everything’s probably at a higher bitrate and therefore is a better quality visual), it’s not bad, but on my DVDs, the compression is so heavy that we get SUPER hot highlights and SUPER crunchy shadows - what a lot of people would called “crushed blacks” because you’ve lost all the detail in the shadows and you’re left with a grainy, noisy, black hole on the screen. Like I lost so much detail in the pilot episode guys, I could not make out this guy’s face.

A rough approximation of my DVD quality. Still recommend it over Netflix for the Accurate Soundtrack tho.

Season 2 SPN toned that Look down a lot, like, a lot a lot. Enough that you still got the general vibe they were going for but not enough that you couldn’t make out faces anymore. But through this whole process, the CW execs kept pushing for the show to look lighter, more colorful, less film noir more...well, CW. And in season 3 it finally happened!!!

I get what those execs were going for, but also, I feel like the colorists on these first few episodes just REALLY went wild out of spite. Lookit this shot from “Magnificent Seven” right before Envy causes some rando innocent bystander to beat a girl to death for her shoes -

GREEN GREEN GREEN GREEN!!!! I WONDER WHICH SIN THIS GUY IS????

Then in “The Kids Are Alright” the birthday party looks like everything is coated in day-glow neon.

The Winchester Bros look like they just got back from 3 weeks in Aruba - LOOK at the saturation levels in these skin tones! LOOK AT THEM!!

My screencap ability aside, only in SPN can a cemetery at night have brighter lighting than a diner in the middle of the afternoon.

This is definitely a thing I will be tracking the rest of the season because I have a distinct memory of a future episode where the brothers have been magically gifted completely different lives where they were never Hunters, they know nothing of Hunting, and they’re completely normal until the end when everything gets snapped back and the episode literally changes colors. V. Excited to see just how saturated this season stays through the end.

But maybe more importantly in “The Kids Are Alright” we learn that Dean does NOT, in fact, have a son. Not that he would be a good father...well...maybe? I mean, this Dean, this season 3, definitely-suicidal, completely-reckless, can’t-keep-it-together Dean, is not good Dad material. Later seasons Dean? Probably fine? Earlier seasons Dean might ALSO be fine? And if he’d found out that Ben was his legitimate kid, it could have made a WORLD of difference, who knows. I know he ultimately does become father-like to Ben and that gives me a lot of feelings. But this Dean is not in a good place to take care of anyone, including himself and really, someone ought to do something about that.

I gotta say, this is an actual bummer. I can’t remember if, in the later seasons, they do any clarifying on this or not, but I am legitimately bummed that Ben is not Dean’s kid and that as far as we know, Dean has no natural children floating around out there with surly attitudes and soft hearts. Dean’s motivation from Day 1 has always been family and despite what comments he may make in early seasons, Dean’s secret desire is to have the wife and the kids and the dog and the white picket fence. And honestly, we’re only 3 seasons in and I just want Dean to have nice things!!

And then guys, we come to “Bad Day at Black Rock,” and I just...WHAT a masterpiece. I had almost NO memory of ever watching this episode before and I don't understand why. What a glorious masterpiece this episode is. Let’s make a list -

More Hunters™, who should be really annoying but were actually kinda charming in a Marx Brothers kind of way

Gordon’s in jail, where he belongs, but also is masterminding a coup against the Winchesters which is A+ spooky stuff

Slapstick comedy that I didn’t know I was missing from my life

Bela F*cking Talbot

Guys, I think this is my fav episode so far purely because I felt, while watching it, that the last 10 years of my life were not in vain and that I had in fact grown as a human person. I remembered hating Bela Talbot. Like, I DID. NOT. LIKE. HER. To the point that I questioned if her British accent was even real. It is, her mother is from the UK and she lived there for a time, but like, honestly, the audacity of Little Me.

This time around? Oh she’s defs my new fav. Just everything about her is like, A+, Great Job, Why-Did-We-Cancel-Her??? Like, oh yeah, probably because somewhere in here they try to shoehorn a romantic side plot with Dean. I don’t actually mind rioting over shoehorned romance, but also, if they’d let this play out for a season or two and then got the two of them to bone? I’m on board. I’m 100% on board.

Maybe it’s just that she is unapologetically out for herself, maybe it’s the fact that she is definitely a match for the Winchesters in a non-murdery way, probably it is both of those things. She's smart, she’s crooked, she has impeccable taste, she’s honestly a helluva lot of fun and I am so excited to see more of her and so BUMMED that she will not make it past this season.

Despite the fact that I absolutely adore all three of these episodes, they also bring up the problem that I was starting to see in season 2 - WHO is this show about? Isn’t it supposed to be about the Brothers as a whole? But the majority of these first three lean pretty heavily on Dean’s emotional arc. Granted, it makes sense. I mean, of COURSE Dean’s demon deal is gonna be the BIG thing in a season where he is literally staring down the barrel, but knowing that there’s a side plot about Is Sam Evil?? seems like...something we should really explore more? I believe it comes up in season 4, or at least, Sam’s demon-blood powers become a bigger deal in season 4, but I would have enjoyed seeing Sam have a more active stake in this season. I can see planting some weird new ticks being planted for Alive-Again Sam that just get weirder and darker and then a mid-season finale or a run up episode to the end of the season where Dean (finally) decides he needs to stop his demon deal because he needs to stick around so he can keep Sam from going completely off the rails. As much as I love Dean 5ever, I do think the show works best when the emotional weight of the season is distributed equally is all. And to be fair to the writers this season, there could have been a bigger plan for something like that but they ran out of time - their season was cut by about a third due to the Writer’s Strike.

Still, all in all, a solid opening to the third season. I want to say that these episodes feel like Classic SPN, but then I remember that this is season three out of fifteen. These ARE Classic SPN. Mostly self contained with enough emotional drama to remind us of the overarching plot. Maybe a little heavy on the emotional drama, but Dean’s only got a year to live and the show’s only got 16 episodes to resolve that crisis, so it’s fine.

#Supernatural #Supernatural rewatch #Season 3 #Magnificent Seven #The Kids are Alright #bad day at black rock #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #Bela Talbot #Hunters #Sam and Dean #Writer's Strike #TV #TV History #Bela talbot is maybe great #and I should say it

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dykehaus · 5 years ago

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real housewives of new york ranked by lesbianism as definitively decided by me

from “gayest” to straightest ( & yes im ranking all of them)

1) Bethenny - if you ignore the fact that she’s definitely heterosexual, she’s the gayest of the bunch. mommy issues, friendship breakups that play out like DIVORCES (jill... carole...). might just be that she’s a scorpio but the vibes are off the chart (she said.. with an obvious B bias).

2) Carole - i actually think she might be a bisexual closet case for real but i’m a B stan so i’m knocking Carole down one spot for that s10 nonsense. latches onto female friends and morphs into them (see her friendships with Heather, then with B, and then with Tinsley... i rest my case) and her approach to men and her relationship with Adam is a head scratcher. has two cats. only one who might kinda actually be gay.

3) Heather - sporty girl vibes. nice demure husband. throwing that axe in montana. weirdly competitive. designs women’s underwear. that moment where we learned she def likes a threesome. deserves a high ranking here.

4) Sonja - would use the split attraction model if she was born in the 90s and call herself like heteroflexible or something equally rotted. her preference for gay/borderline gay guys and macking on female friends while drunk and her jealousy over that bethenny/barbara kiss puts her clear and away in the top five though.

5) Jill - before you protest that she simply does not have the chops to be lesbian-adjacent... may i remind you: her forever fixation on bethenny is heartbreaking like bethenny is the one who got away in like a heterosexual way but still... the devotion... jill... Also, I loved Bobby Zarin he’s the best of the RHONY men so, she gets top billing. no apologies.

6) Alex - she and Simon are both sexually fluid and probably swingers in Australia right now. #GoodForThem

7) Aviva - her weird inability to play nice with the other girls, crazy jealousy issues, inappropriate father who she idolizes, and the leg stunt gives her a “leg” up over some of these other ladies. she was maybe not so secretly a freak and i could see her being down as long as the lesbian sex wasn’t in an elevator or airplane.

8) Cindy - who? jk. she was into the arts and lived “downtown” right? she had a horse party. so i’ll give her a middling position here. her fashion kinda gave off lesbian aunt vibes and she had those twins on her own right so that’s p gay.

9) Leah - well, she’s the new girl but based on her being friends with cat marnell that puts her in the crackhead straight girl category so she’d probably have sex with a girl for adderall or something in a pinch. just deranged enough for me to put her here for now.

10) Jules - had no idea where to place her and almost forgot about her on this list but if what bethenny said about her getting on the show just to get divorced is true then that’s a stunt and that’s gay enough to put her higher than these next ladies. also her husband was two feet shorter than her.

11) Dorinda - OK so Doris is like the drunk mom of a group of drunk moms which makes her hard to place but i do like her Princess Di hair and that house in the Berkshires looks like where i would place a lesbian commune so there!

12) Luann - wannabe grand old dame but she does bring the drama. not a single lesbian bone in her body other than perhaps her vocal cords which give her such a low voice. straight but not, like, uncool.

13) Kristen - bland and blah and straight straight straight. former catalogue model with mean bald husband.

14) Kelly - a lesbian would never go running in the street with the cars we’re very practical. on or off her meds, STRAIGHT... AND CUCKOO.

15) Tinsley - the straight girl who called you a dyke in junior high and still wears the same clothes thirty years later. i have nightmares about this kind of woman i grew up in the south so i just can’t deal with her or her fox news anchor looking mother periodt.

16) Ramona - the most demonic straight woman on the face of the planet. she makes for great tv but not sure i’d go near her in real life out of pure fear.

#rhony #all constructive discourse on this subject welcome

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crashdevlin · 6 years ago

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Cave-in

Author’s Note: This is part one of my card for @spnskinnyballs‘s 500 Follower Challenge. The prompts for this were John and ‘You can not be serious.’ I took it in an A/B/O direction.

Summary: Y/n is an Omega hunter who gets in a sticky situation on a Wendigo hunt. In the process of helping her out of that trouble, John Winchester drops her into a worse situation: trapped in cave with an Alpha in rut. Set in Season One.

Pairing: Alpha!John Winchester x Omega!Reader

Word Count: 4553

Story Warnings: A/B/O dynamics, rut, feral!John, loss of control Non-con, forced oral (fem rec), forced vaginal sex, loss of virginity, unprotected sex, knotting sex, talk of abortions, guilt, 18+ HERE BE SEX, DON’T READ IF YOU’RE A YOUNG’UN!!!

Being an Omega hunter meant you hunted alone. It was the only way to avoid the second-guessing and posturing of other hunters, many of whom were Alphas. That was just the natural breakdown of a job like that. Most cops were Alpha, as were most soldiers and firefighters. Omegas took more domestic jobs, caregivers roles. Alphas took dangerous jobs, aggressive roles. Betas filled in the spaces in-between.

You weren't a caregiver. God knows you'd tried. When you presented, you'd tried to do the good Omega thing, got a job at an Omega birthing hospital taking care of the pups in the NICU, but it never felt right. Everyone said that one day it'd click. It was in your genes and one day everything would fit.

It never fit. You never fit. But when Omegas started dying at your hospital from some unknown virus and that redneck Beta in the cheap suit showed up claiming to be CDC but didn't know some basic medical jargon you threw at him, you felt that fit. Because that was the day you found out about monsters, about witches, about hunting.

Bobby Singer tried to warn you off from hunting. “It's too damn dangerous fer an unmated Omega to be running around in dark buildings and back alleys and-”

“And you'd be dead if it weren't for this Omega's perfect aim.” He grumbled, thinking about how he'd dropped his gun and you'd had to pick it up and shoot the witch for him. That moment, that finger-on-the-trigger, watching a bullet create a hole in a witch's forehead, adrenaline pumping, heart pounding in your ears… that moment clicked. “You can teach me how to do this, or you can let me figure it out, myself, but I'm doing it.”

Bobby gave you the basics, set you up with your first fake Fed credentials and a small cache of weapons and suggested, very strongly, that you get yourself prescribed the absolute most powerful suppressants your doctor would give you, because the thought of you going into heat on a hunt had the older man's panties in a twist. You followed his instructions to the T, grateful that he'd chosen not to let you go out into the fray without guidance.

He did request that you find someone to hunt with, but you refused that. You hunted alone, mostly to avoid situations like the one you ended up in in February of 2006.

The Wendigos were faster than you expected, and you'd gone in expecting two, not three. Running from them became the only option and you ran straight into another hunter, who ordered you to follow him and ran ahead. The Wendigos were so close on your heels that you didn't have a chance to question it, following the man as quickly as your short legs would allow. He ran into an opening in the mountain, a cave, and as soon as you were inside it, he pulled a gun and shot at the roof of the mouth of the cave. Rocks crumbled down and blocked the Wendigos from entering, also of course, blocking up your exit.

“You okay?” He asked, as you pulled your flashlight and surveyed the small cave.

“Yeah. The third one just came out of fuckin’ nowhere.” You shined your light to the wall next to where he was leaning, not in his face but where you could see his face. He was tall, with salt and pepper in his beard and hair, his eyes looked dark in the dim light but you were sure they were green or hazel. He was attractive, especially for a man old enough to be your father… and he was Alpha, because of course he was. You ignored it, dropping the light to the cave floor and moving to shrug your bag off your shoulders. “Thanks for the assist back there.”

“Rescue.” He corrected, as a small LED lantern lit up the area.

“Excuse me?” You asked, dropping to sit on the floor and inventory your bag.

“I think you meant to say ‘Thanks for the rescue’.” He demanded, sliding down the cave wall to do the same with his bag.

You scoffed. “Sorry. I’m not really feeling the ‘rescue’ vibes, since we’re now trapped in a cave with very few provisions, no way to keep warm, and no cell service to call for help.” You made a show of flipping open your Razr and looking at the service bars, before closing it with a snap. “But, hey, if it helps your ego, dude, thank you for rescuing me into another bad situation.”

He growled under his breath and it made you shiver, but you played it off like you were cold, wrapping your arms around yourself. “Shoulda let ‘em eat you.” He said, roughly.

You shrugged. “Yeah, probably.”

He stared at you for a few minutes, eyes seeming to burn into you. “What’s yer name?”

“Y/n.”

“John.” He grunted back, and that’s when the image in front of you made sense. John was sweating, even after unzipping his heavy camo coat to let in the February air. John was agitated, trying to expel energy through his leg jumping. John was in rut.

You groaned at the realization and his eyes jumped to your face. “You can not be serious.” You rolled your eyes. How had you not smelled it before? “You went hunting while in rut?”

“Alpha aggression is good for hunts.” He growled and your heart rate jumped. “What’s Omega submission good for?”

You could tell he had a few ideas in mind. “Nothing. It’s like war. It’s why I don’t participate.”

John laughed. “Little Omega thinks she can get the better of her genetics.”

“I’ve done just fine, thank you.”

“‘Cause you’ve been taking suppressants since you presented, right? Bet you’ve never even been through a real heat, just yer first one, right?”

His rut scent was getting stronger, permeating the small area of the cave and attacking your senses. You pulled your scarf over your mouth, but it didn’t filter it, at all. “I had enough of ‘em to get tired of ‘em.” You said into the wool covering your nose and mouth.

“That’s ‘cause you weren’t doin’ ‘em right.” He leaned forward, suddenly, and you instinctively leaned back, trying to melt into the cave wall. “Never let an Alpha in, did ya?”

“Why the hell would I do that? So I could end up marked and bred and stuck taking care of some Alpha’s pups and dirty laundry for the rest of my life? I stuck with silicone back then and I stick to suppressants, now. I’m good, thanks.”

“You know what happens to Omegas that never get fucked, right?” His vulgar words sent heat between your legs.

“I’m dyin’ bloody and painful, either way.” You shrugged, forcing yourself to be nonchalant.

“Then why not let it happen? Prolong your life as much as you can.”

“Kinda messed up that taking some Alpha’s knot is the one surefire way to prolong my inevitable demise.” You sighed, taking a deep breath and deciding to change the subject. “Anyone gonna come looking for you?”

“No. No one knows where I am. You?”

You pulled your scarf down, talking into it just causing condensation to wet the fabric. “Yeah. Bobby Singer’ll come looking when I miss check-in tomorrow. Just gotta not die for a few days.” You nodded at him. “And you just gotta keep from going feral before Bobby gets us out.”

He scoffed, but his body tensed at the thought of losing control. “That can’t happen.” Not ‘won’t happen’- ‘can’t’ happen’.

“Unmated Omega trapped in a small, enclosed space with an Alpha in rut? It can happen and will if you don’t keep control.”

“I’ve never gone feral. It’ll be fine.”

You rolled your eyes and moved to lie down. “Yeah. Well, you just keep your distance, okay?” He just grunted again in response and clicked the lantern off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you woke, you were covered in a thin layer of sweat. Uncomfortable, feverish, a pulsing thrum of need deep inside you that made you press your thighs together to get any sort of relief. John’s scent had worked its magic on your sleeping form and your body was now screaming for the strange Alpha’s attention. “Shoulda let ‘em eat me.” You groaned, sitting up and looking across the cave at John. Your eyes were adjusted to the dark so you could see him staring at you. *He looks like he might eat me, though.* “You good, John?”

“You smell so fuckin’ good.” He whispered and there was the shiver you couldn’t even hope to control. “But, yeah, still under control. Didn’t mount you in your sleep, did I, Omega?”

You shivered again, this time at the use of your title, and swallowed. “It’s ‘y/n’, and I’m glad you’re doing so well.”

“You’re not.” He responded, pulling a protein bar out of his bag and tossing it in your lap with perfect accuracy.

“What?” You asked, pulling it open.

“Doing so well. Your suppressants wearin’ off, sweetheart?” He sounded almost smug about it as he turned the lantern on.

“No. My suppressants just can’t stand up to being soaked in Alpha pheromones, that’s all.”

“Not very good at their job, then, are they?”

“Their job is to keep my heat from happening, not to stop my reactions to your rut.” You ground out, but if you were being honest, you weren’t happy about them giving out when you needed them most. If either of you got much worse, you were gonna lose your virginity to a man whose last name you didn’t even know. You bit off a chunk of the bar and leaned your head back against the wall. “Where ya from, John?”

“Really? Small talk?”

“Trying to distract us, man.”

“Kansas.” He answered, with a sigh.

You unzipped your jacket and shrugged it off, your feverish body rejoicing in the removal of your thickest layer. “No wonder you became a hunter. If I lived in Kansas, I’d start killing shit, too.”

He chuckled. “That is why I joined the Marines.”

“Typical Alpha. Not enough to be a knothead, you gotta be a Jarhead, too.” You joked.

“Oo-rah.”

And with that, a bit of the tension broke and you started talking with ease. He told you about his sons, Sam (who wanted the normal life so he’d gone off to college to get a start on a life with a picket fence, a pretty Omega and pups, but who got back in the life when the Omega he’d planned to mark and marry was killed) and Dean (who hadn’t disobeyed an order since he was ten years old and who’d picked up the slack of raising Sam) who were amazing hunters and good men.

He told you about his wife, Mary, the reason he hunts, and his illegitimate son, Adam. As you started to tell him about the hospital and saving Bobby from the witch, about everything clicking, about how hunting made more sense than anything ever had, something in the back of your mind said that you were drunk. You weren’t really getting along because of your personalities. You were getting along because of the sedative influence Alphas and Omegas sometimes had on each other. It didn’t stop you from pouring your hearts out to each other like you’d shared a bottle of the good stuff, though.

You’d been speaking for hours by the time you noticed he’d migrated across the cave, sitting right in front of you, eyes dark and focused in on your lips. “John.” You swallowed and pulled your legs out of being crossed under you. “You’re a little close, buddy.”

“Omega.” He growled, deep in his chest, and you gasped… at the tone, the look in his eyes, the title. You scrambled to stand, but he was quicker, wrapping his arms around your thighs and pulling you to the ground. He easily covered your body with his and buried his face in your neck, breathing in deeply to scent you. “‘mega.”

You cried out as his teeth scraped at your neck. “John, stop!” Your heart was pounding, your body betraying your brain as slick flooded your underwear, but you still managed to make yourself push at his shoulders.

“‘mega.” He mumbled against your skin as he kissed and sucked marks into your neck. His hands started to paw roughly at your sides, and fuck if the Omega in you that you’d been denying wasn’t loving every minute.

But your brain knew it was bad. You tried to push him away, but it wasn’t working. He was too strong, too big, and his leverage on you was absolute. You tried to push, tried to punch, tried to scratch his face. You managed that one, short nails digging into his cheek, but he just reared back slightly, grabbed your wrists and rumbled out a deep, “No.” before collecting your wrists into his large left hand and using his right to pull your overshirt, t-shirt and thermal undershirt up to give him access to your breasts. He pulled the cups of your bra down, the straps biting into your shoulders as he started to lick and bite at your chest, marking your skin just as he’d done with your neck.

You arched into his touch before you could stop yourself, your body thriving under the Alpha’s attention. You whimpered as his hand slipped down your side, tongue laving across your nipple. You jerked, trying to get your hands free as his fingers slipped into the waistband of your jeans. “John, please.” You whined, before clarifying to both of you what you were asking for. “Please, stop.”

“Need you, Omega.” He growled and slick rushed out of you again.

“You don’t. You don’t even know me, John.”

“Need you.” He repeated, shoving his hand under your thermal leggings and into your panties, biting your nipple and humming appreciatively when his fingertips met with warm wetness. “Omega needs me.”

“I’m not your Omega, John! Get off me!” You demanded, trying again to twist out of his grasp.

He forced his fingers into your entrance, but growled when he couldn’t push all the way inside. He dropped your wrists and sat up, grabbing your waistbands and ripping every layer of protection down your legs. You kicked at him, flipping over and scrambling to get away, clawing at the ground. He just grabbed you by the hips and buried his face in your cunt from behind, tongue lapping at your core like the feral creature he’d become. You screamed as he fucked you with his tongue, your body shaking with the feeling. It was amazing, better than anything you’d ever managed for yourself, and you felt the fight leaving you, your genetics telling you that you were supposed to let this happen.

He pulled away and hovered over you. The sound of his zipper caused one more burst of fight from you, and you tried to elbow him, but he just put one large hand between your shoulder blades and pushed your face into the ground. “Be still.” He growled, deep Alpha voice commanding you, forcing you to obey. “Good.” He praised, and you shivered as slick gushed out of you. You closed your eyes as his cockhead poked at your entrance. “Good Omega.”

He reached forward, wrapping the fingers of his right hand in your hair and tugging lightly. His left hand gripped your hip and held you in place as he slammed his hips forward. You screamed again, but this time it was less pleasure and more pain. He was stretching you further than any of your silicone toys ever did and you hadn’t used one of those in years. He started moving immediately, long hard strokes that sent the tip of his cock against your cervix. You squeaked every time he thrust into you, clenching around the Alpha’s cock.

He reached around with his left hand and rubbed at your clit. Something in you broke. The genetic presentation you’d been fighting for years reared its stupid fucking head and all you wanted was to finally have a fucking knot stretching you, Alpha cum warming your insides. You moaned, loudly, and he let his fingers move to pinch at your clit, instead. “Alpha, please.” You whined, your pussy clenching around him. “Harder. Please.”

“So good, Omega.” John purred, snapping his hips into you harder, twisting his fingers into your hair and yanking you backwards, making you arch your back. “So soft. So wet. So. Fuckin’. Good!”

“Yes, Alpha!”

“Need to knot. Need to knot you, ‘mega.”

“Need it, Alpha! Please!” You whined as his knot started to inflate, catching at your entrance with each thrust.

He growled, low in his chest, as he shoved his knot into you with one last hard, decisive thrust and you came so hard your vision filled with white stars. John collapsed on top of you, then rolled you on your sides, cushioning your head with his arm. You whimpered when you felt his cock twitching as your pussy milked the last bits of his cum out of him.

As your breathing slowed, your brain showed itself again and you could feel the moment John’s brain came back, too. He tensed behind you, knowing he couldn’t physically distance himself yet, and moved his hand away from your hip. You saw, in your peripheral vision, John reach up to run his fingers over the scratch marks on his cheek, the physical evidence of how much you didn’t want him, how he’d forced himself on you.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered, horror in his tone.

“Least you didn’t mark me.” You whispered back. That was the silver lining in this whole event, that he wasn’t so feral he claimed you.

“You were a virgin. You- I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll take care of it if anything…”

You swallowed. “I’m perfectly capable of getting an abortion on my own, John.” But the idea of even becoming pregnant made you want to cry. You’d worked at the hospital long enough to know how and where to acquire a termination, but you’d also worked there long enough to see many botched operations. “You were feral. You couldn’t stop yourself.”

“Don’t be understanding.” He groaned.

“Should I be hysterical? You’re still stuck in me, John… and we’re still stuck in this cave. Better to keep my head about me, right?” You sighed. “Bobby Singer will kick your ass for me when we get out of here.”

“He could try.” John said, but there wasn’t any smugness in his tone. Just exhaustion and sadness. Regret.

“You should sleep, John.” You pulled your clothes as close to right as you could, reaching out to grab your coat and drape it over you and John where you couldn’t pull your pants up anymore. You didn’t want to think about what would happen when he woke up still in rut, you just wanted to sleep long enough to convince yourself that this hadn’t happened.

When you woke up, John was on the other side of the cave again, covered in sweat. Your pants and underwear had been pulled up while you were passed out. You groaned as you sat up, your whole body in pain. John flinched at the sound and moved to sit up, too. “Are you…”

“I’m not broken, John. It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine.” He growled and you flinched, the sound making you flush with heat. He sighed, then took a sharp inhalation as you stood and walked over to him. “What are you doing? Go back to the other side of the cave.”

“No. Look, John, the damage is already done, right?” He looked at you with wide eyes as you straddled his lap. “You’re still in rut and I just…” Something in you made you lean forward and press your lips to his. He wrapped his arms around you, deepening the kiss and thrusting his erection against you. You pulled away and made him look in your eyes. “I need that to not be it, okay? I need it to be better, okay? I need you to kiss me and hold me and know that you’re knotting me, not just popping it in some Omega. Okay?”

He nodded, hazel eyes still wide, but dark with lust. You swallowed, standing and kicking your boots off before pulling your pants, leggings and panties off. John slid his pants off, too, and wrapped his hand around his cock, pumping it a few times as he looked up at you. You straddled him again, wasting no time to sink down on his cock, whimpering when he was fully seated in you. He rested his hands on your waist and his mouth dropped open. “Y/n.”

“Yeah?” You weren’t moving, hands rested on his shoulders, letting your body calm down before starting to move.

“What’s your last name?”

“Y/l/n.”

“Winchester.”

You scoffed. “No fuckin’ way. You’re John Winchester?” He raised an eyebrow and you just shook your head. “I’ve just heard stories.” You started to move, raising up and dropping yourself back down onto him. It was different when you were in control of the situation, when you could look into his eyes, when he could use that hand in your hair to pull you in for kisses and lick at the bruises and marks he left on your neck. This time when his knot caught in you and you came together, you were able to rest your head against his shoulder and rest while his knot went down. “That was a lot better.”

“You’re good at that.” He whispered. “Riding. You’re good at that. I wouldn’t have known that was your first time… doing that.”

You blushed. “Thanks.”

“So innocent.” He chuckled.

“I would disagree, as you currently have your cock in me.”

He chuckled again. “Got me there.”

“I’m hungry.” You said, suddenly.

John reached over and grabbed his bag, handing you another protein bar. “I’ve only got a couple more of those, so I hope Bobby shows up soon.”

“Me, too.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later, the rocks at the mouth of the cave started move, Bobby calling out to make sure you were still alive. “Yeah, we’re fine, Bobby. Restless to get out of here.”

“We? Who’s we?”

“Nice to hear from you, too, Singer.” John called out as the two of you made sure that neither of you looked too blatantly like you’d been fucking for three days straight and you gathered your packs.

“John? Where the hell have you been? Sam and Dean been-”

“Can we get the fuck out of here before you start tellin’ me how to deal with my kids, Bobby?” John growled. You put your hand on his shoulder and he immediately calmed.

“Be nice.” You whispered.

John nodded. “I’ll be nice… for you.” He whispered back, leaning down to press his lips to yours one more time as the sunlight started to infiltrate the cave.

“I hope you got jerky in that old Chevelle, Bobby. We're starving.” You said, beginning to help push rocks out of the way now that there was less pressure on them.

“Yeah, I got supplies. You get the Wendigos?”

“Unfortunately not. We’ll have to hit ‘em after we get some food in us.” John called out. Bobby’s eyes went to John’s cheek as soon as he crawled through the hole you and Bobby made. The Alpha bit his lip and ran his fingertips across the scabs. “Wendigo got me. Coulda been worse.”

“Uh-huh.” Bobby said, disbelieving. “You know yer sons been lookin’ for you?”

“Yeah, Bobby. I know.” John tensed again, but he didn't growl this time. He was being nice. “I'll find them when I'm ready. There's more important things going on right now.”

“Uh-huh.” Bobby repeated, before turning to you. “Ya ain't ever gonna give me shit about me makin’ you do check-ins again, are ya?”

“Never again. Your safety protocols just saved my life.” You said, wrapping your arms around him.

“Never known Wendigos to have such small nails.” He whispered in your ear as John started walking in the direction of the road. You didn't respond. “He hurt you?”

“No, Bobby. Don’t worry about me.”

“I been worryin’ ‘bout you since I met you, girl.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taking care of the Wendigos was easy with three hunters to set them ablaze. Bobby left you afterward, making you promise to call when you got back on the road. “Yeah, that’ll be a few days, Bobby. I need a shower and to sleep for the next week.”

John was lying on your motel room bed when you stepped out of the shower. “Bobby had a few choice words for me.”

You shrugged, dropping your duffel on the bed next to him. “He likes to think he’s my father.”

“Likes to think he’s everybody’s father.” John sat up. “I didn’t wanna leave without sayin’ ‘Goodbye’... and I realized I never gave you my number.”

“You don’t have to do this, John.” You shook your head and started to dig through your duffel bag to get clean clothes on.

“I think I like it better when you call me ‘Alpha’, little Omega.” You shivered at the title. “And I want you to be able to call me when your heat hits.” He smirked. “Assuming my independent Omega doesn’t wanna pack into my truck and track down the demon that killed my wife with me.”

“I’m not your Omega, John.” You dropped your towel and went to pull a shirt on over your head, but he grabbed it.

He leaned forward, pulling you onto the bed and rolling on top of you. “Think you might be wrong about that, sweetheart. After the last few days, I think we’d both like to change that.”

“You want me to come with you?” You whispered, breathlessly, looking up into his eyes.

“No. It’s dangerous.” He dropped his head to the crook of your neck and scented you, remedying the fact that you’d showered away his scent. “But, fuck, I don’t wanna leave you behind, either.”

“What about your sons?”

“What about my sons?” He mumbled against your skin.

“You won’t hunt with them, but you’re gonna hunt with some Omega you just met?”

John leaned up, looking down into your eyes. “I’d rather they focus on the regular hunts and leave the demon to me. Me and maybe my new Omega?”

You bit your lip and nodded. “Yeah. I’ll come with you.” He smiled, brightly, and kissed you. “But you don’t mark me.”

“Why the hell not?” He growled.

“Because I know what happens to folks when their mates die, John. When one of us dies, and one of us will die, I don’t want the other to wither without them.”

John sighed. “Makes sense. It’d be nice to see my mark on your neck, but… you’re right. Losing Mary almost killed me.”

“Of course I’m right. Usually am.” You smirked up at him.

He chuckled, thrusting his denim-covered erection against your core. “You’d think I’d be done with sex for a couple days, but fuck… One more for the road?”

“Yeah.” You laughed. “Let’s see if it’s as good on a bed as it was on the floor of the cave.”

Supernatural Tags- @mrswhozeewhatsis, @adoptdontshoppets, @letsby

Everything Tags- @heyitscam99

#cassie writes stuff #skinnyballscards #reader-insert #john/reader #a/b/o dynamics #non-con #john winchester

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edelgay · 5 years ago

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Let me get this straight. The only way to get any points with Marisol is to lick her ass and to cheer her on as she falls in love with every single guy she meets in a blink of an eye? She isn't making any effort to spend time with the MC. "BuT wE DoN't KnOw EaCh OtHeR YeT" smh. Why would anyone want to date a girl who only talks to you about the guys she likes and snubs you every time you try to talk to her about your "relationship"? Why can't we have a loyal sassy top?

My feelings on Marisol have been flipflopping just like her ass, which is why i don't appreciate her being so haughty to Lottie. Is Lottie hypocritical and agressive? Yeah. Does Lottie knows ? Yes ! She apologizes often when you manage to go through her thick skull and she tries to control her bad temper but she means well and is still protective of the girls. I'm willing to work with that. That hair dyeing scene showed how vulnerable Lottie can be with you. Marisol ? Completely out for herself and her way of acting like she can read everyone because she took a psych 101 class was hard but in the end she always choose the worse guy, get burn and re-strategize. Love is not back up plans. She wants a good vibe but is all business no friendship and then her and bobby makes it your responsability to make everyone happy. She has shown very little qualities and i don't know what fusebox is doing this year.

This time around , everyone seems to be struggling with finding a real connection and Marisol making sure we're the plan B she can falls on stings. BUT it us also on Fusebox to give us scenes and options to talk to her. We're the most demanded girl of the villa and casa de amor and she still gets to string us along ? Worse she admits overtly to wanting to make you jealous, don't want to spend time with you and dismiss you so carelessly on purpose in front of her ugly fisherman.

We left the flirty joke zone. We're in the manipulative zone. Marisol holds all the cards and is hell bent on messing with our head and that's why i love Lottie far more. She always gets her due when she fucks up but Marisol gets no flake outsidebof her rocco bit. Hope was all friendship and happiness because she had what she wanted from the start and wqs nice as long as you played along her game wether you were happy or not. Priya is honest to god a disaster but she has a sweet side and a bit clumsy and she tries. I have a bit of a soft spot for her. I trust Chelsea as far as i can throw her. That cheeriness can get her a lot of leeway and opportunities to act up.

So honestly ? If Lottie is not a tricky LI like Noah since shes always coming to our defense, asking for helps and pushes us towards Marisol ( tho im sure if we were to tell her how marisol acted she would stomp her ass) priya or a new girl from casa de amor, Marisol will feel that connection.... when i dump her ass in front of everyone and take the money.

#that was long but litg got me in my feels this year #i really like lottie even if i call her out often to chill #but unless marisol does something big to be real and apologize a bit shes gonna get her due #im not afraid to go full hope on noah...#at least im fully involvedbin that stupid game i wanna wiiiiiin

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airadam · 3 years ago

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Episode 145 : Setting Levels

"Appetite for construction..."

- Swigga

We celebrate another birthday for the podcast this month, marking twelve full years since that inaugural experimental episode! This month's mix includes new tracks from artists who are setting themselves new standards, as well as some deep album cuts, B-sides, and unreleased gems. Sadly, we also mark the passing of Gift of Gab of Blackalicious, who left us just a few days ago. We include just one of his tracks this month, but he's an MC who left a deep body of work behind for us to continue to celebrate.

Twitter : @airadam13

Twitch : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Children of Zeus : I Need You

Manchester's finest are back with their brand new album "Balance" and this was an early favourite of mine. Not uptempo, but much more so than "I Want You", with lots of bump, Tyler and Konny gave themselves a perfect canvas to get busy on the vocals. Go get that album!

Ilajide : Please Set Me At Ease

If Ilajide punches as hard as his beats are, a lot of heavyweights could be in trouble. Always bringing the heat, he shows his literal chops right here on this beat from the "Latex" LP.

Cocoa Brovaz : Get Up

For those that never knew or had forgotten, there was a period of almost ten years when due to the threat of legal action from the firearm manufacturer of similar name, Smif-N-Wessun had to change their name to Cocoa Brovaz. During this time you could hear the Brooklyn legends popping up on all kinds of quality records, and this was no exception - the B-side to the Mos Def/Pharoahe/Nate Dogg "Oh No" single, and a worthy inclusion on the "Lyricist Lounge 2" collection. Hi-Tek's beat on this was unconventional back in 2000 and still stands out as unusual today.

Special Teamz ft. Sean Price : Boston To Bucktown

Special Teamz was a Boston supergroup made up of Edo G, Jaysaun, and Slaine, who dropped the "Stereotypez" album in 2007. As signees to Duck Down Records, it was a natural move to tap them up for a guest appearance - and here, the late great Sean Price joins them on this Pete Rock-produced cut.

LL Cool J : Summer Luv

The B-Side to "Loungin'" and an inclusion on the deluxe edition of "Mr. Smith", this is a track I just don't hear enough! LL isn't showing love to the weak MCs he takes out on this one, and Rashad Smith's beat is a punchy and relatively sparse bit of 90s boom-bap crispiness.

Rakim : Last Resort

I think this one may have slipped past a lot of listeners - I got it on one of those random bootleg 12"s - entitled "Unreleased Jewels", released in 2003. According to Discogs, Da Beatminerz provided the beat, and it's an overall solid track. The hook is borrowed from a line from one of my favourite Rakim records, "Teach The Children" from the "Don't Sweat The Technique" LP.

Moods, Yasper : Vibe Vibe

From the "Endless Sunday Vol.1" album, these two Dutch producers on the Chillhop label do indeed bring the vibe. This would do the job for cruising with the top down, BBQing in the backyard, relaxing in the park - it's a pure summery feel-good track!

Swigga : Pendulum

1/3 of the great Natural Elements crew here, from his brand new LP "Sunset Mindset (Swigga SZN)". I can't quite describe the sound - it's dramatic, with a little rock edge to it - almost like a stadium track. Swigga (who some of you will have known as L-Swift) matches the vibe without going head-to-head in loudness, and keeps the flow accessible on the surface - but check the multisyllabic rhymes.

Blackalicious ft. Lyrics Born : Do This My Way

RIP Gift of Gab. He may have been in less than ideal health for some time, but his passing still hit the community hard. On this track from the Blackalicious debut LP "Nia", Lyrics Born of Latryx produces as well as supplying his half-sung, half-rapped vocals as the special guest, but without Gab, it wouldn't have been the tune that it is. He holds down his side of the lyrics with the skill and insight that made him a favourite for those that knew throughout his whole career.

The Mouse Outfit : Sunrise (Shift Ops Remix)

We switch into a little D&B mode here with a remix of a fairly recent track by The Mouse Outfit - in fact, I played it here on episode 132 when it came out! You still get the vocals of One Only, but Chini and Metrodome's production has to move over a little for the work of fellow Mancunian Shift Ops, with sharp drums and plenty of low end.

Lenzman & Konny Kon : Food

Staying with the vibe for one more track, the Metalheadz veteran combines with Manchester's own Konny Kon - no stranger to D&B by a long shot - who flows at half time over this extra-clean track from the 2019 "Bobby" LP.

[Charlemagne] Natural Elements : Paper Chase (Instrumental)

A dope 80s sample for those in the know, with the added bass and slow-walking boom-bap drums on the top make this a personal favourite. 100% check the vocal version of this track by the incredibly underappreciated Natural Elements - I played it a while back, pick up a copy if you can!

Mobb Deep : All Mines

"...where the people do murder for money" is a hell of a half-bar at the kick-off of the second verse, the kind of classic Prodigy line that would have been scratched and sampled in the late 90s for sure. Not much info on this track, which was on a 2005 bootleg release, so I don't know if Havoc produced it or not, but that menacing beat with that muted trumpet accent running through it is dopeness for sure.

Skyzoo & Aaria : St. James Liquors

Brooklyn bars from Skyzoo, from his new "All The Brilliant Things" album, which is themed around the gentrification of his home borough. Kenny Keys' beat is a bass-heavy gem, and Detroit vocalist Aaria adds a little sparkle on the hook.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth : What's Next On The Menu?

Classic Pete Rock and C.L! This was banging heavy on the pirates and mixtapes when it dropped back in 1993 - it was on the soundtrack to the Hip-Hop cameo-packed "Who's The Man?" as well as the apparently unofficial "Never Coming Out" EP (banned from Discogs). Pete Rock blends three huge staple samples on this one but still has ir sounding fresh, and C.L. glides on the jeep-rocking beat. Straight winner.

Platinum Pied Pipers ft. Jay Dee : Act Like You Know

Heavy, nasty, grinding. Perfect. The late great Jay Dee/J Dilla features on this track produced by Waajeed, one of his protoges. Waajeed and Saadiq made up PPP, whose debut "Triple P" definitely worth having in your collection - a mix of Hip-Hop and soul with a kind of jazzy sensibility in places.

Marco Polo : Ps and Qs (Remix Instrumental)

Just a nice instrumental from Marco's "Baker's Dozen" compilation. I had to loop this up a little bit to stretch it out, as he kept it very short and sweet. MP on the MP strikes once again!

Nipsey Hussle and Jay-Z : What It Feels Like

A cross-continental meeting of the lyrics, if not the minds, as the late Nipsey Hussle combines with Jay on this selection from the "Judas and the Black Messiah : The Inspired Album", taking its spark from the film about the assassination of Black Panther Fred Hampton. Nipsey recorded this verse eight years ago, and didn't like the song at the time. It was developed in stages over years, with more and more instrumentation and arrangement, plus Jay's verse rougly a year ago. The final product is bombastic and epic-sounding, with the production headed up by Mike & Keys, and there are a stack of guests in the background - for me, highlighted by the distinctive vocals of James Fauntleroy. It was clearly worth the wait,

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

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brigdh · 7 years ago

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Reading Wednesday

The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh. A space opera more concerned with ethics and friendships than battles and politics. The Pride of Chanur is a merchant ship crewed by the Hani, a lion-like species in which the females are in charge of trade and diplomacy while the males stay back home and fight one another for control of powerful households. Captain Pyanfar is on a typical trip, docked at a trading station, when a strange, naked alien that looks like nothing she's ever seen (though readers will quickly recognize it as a human) runs onto her ship. Another species, the Kif, soon demand its return, but Pyanfar refuses, as much because she dislikes the Kif and is happy to annoy them than for any deep reason. That choice lands her and her crew in escalating danger, as the Kif are determined to get the alien back and will declare war to do it and other species are drawn into the conflict. A great deal of the book is about the difficulty of translation; even with long-contacted species like the Kif, the Hani are forced to communicate in short, broken sentences and deal with deep cultural differences. With the humans, they're starting from the ground up, and matters like gestures, clothing, and food are as prone to misunderstandings as language itself. How do you even tell the difference between an sentient alien and an animal, if you have nothing in common? I loved this sociological part of the book. Unfortunately, I didn't like much of the rest of The Pride of Chanur. I didn't connect emotionally with any of the characters, I found the descriptions of space travel deeply confusing, and I have no idea at all how Hani society is supposed to function. For example, it seems like the male fights over households are supposed to be one-on-one, but then we're given a description of a whole crew invading and pillaging an enemy house. Is that illegal? Are there laws regulating these fights? What does a new male leader mean to the daughters and sisters of the former ruler – are they cast out too, or do they just have to obey a new boss? All of this is pretty important to the climax, but I just couldn't figure it out. The Pride of Chanur has its positives, but I don't think I'll be reading the sequels unless someone talks me into it. Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. The fourth book in The Expanse series, and so inevitably this review will contain spoilers for previous books. After the events of Abaddon's Gate , humanity suddenly has access to thousands of solar systems, most with inhabitable, Earth-like planets. And yet in a very believable, petty example of human nature, we're fighting a war over just one. The Cibola in the title is metaphorical; it's one of the mythical 'cities of gold' the Spanish conquistadors searched and killed for in their early days in the New World. The idea of being beyond the law, of pillaging fortunes from a new land, is a major theme in this book, and Cortez and his methods get name-dropped at least twice. A group of refugees, homeless after Ganymede was torn apart by war, riots, and alien monsters, settle on a planet they name Ilus. At the same time, the UN grants the Royal Charter Energy corporation the exploration and exploitation rights to the same planet, which they've named New Terra. This immediately sets up several consequential questions that no one has the answer to: since the refugees beat RCE to Ilus/New Terra by a year, do they have rights of priority? Does the UN even have the authority to give out contracts over these new planets? Where do Mars and the Outer Planet Alliance stand? Who owns the lithium ore the refugees have already mined and transported into space? And since the rest of humanity is months or even years away from Ilus/New Terra, can anyone stop RCE and the refugees from killing each other before politicians settle the matter? James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are sent in to act as mediators, since a) Holden is, by this point, a popular celebrity, and b) as an Earth native and former OPA operative, he can be seen as neutral. Unfortunately matters quickly grow beyond his ability to control them, particularly when the defense system set up by long-dead aliens wakes up and adds a third front to the killing-everyone campaign. As always in The Expanse series, we have a set of new POVs. Unfortunately this time I didn't like any of them as much as usual. Holden repeats again, and our others are Basia Merton, Elvi Okoye, and Dimitri Havelock. Basia was formerly a minor character in Caliban's War, the father of one of the other kidnapped children. His son died, and in reaction to that Basia has become fiercely, perhaps stupidly, protective of his surviving family. They are some of the refugees, and Basia's grief leads him to make several dangerous choices when confronted by the RCE. He's a sympathetic character, but I just didn't find him as captivating as Avasarala, Bobbie, or Pastor Anna. Havelock was also a minor character before; he was Detective Miller's partner in Leviathan Wakes. Now he's second-in-command of security for the RCE. It's just too bad that his boss is Murtry, a straight-up sociopath who doesn't care how many people he has to kill to give RCE an advantage. Havelock explicitly says that he's overly influenced by the people around him, and so goes along with Murtry's plan for far too long. As a character arc, this did not work for me at all. There is some suspense in waiting to see if Havelock will grow a spine and do the right thing, but it's not nearly as intriguing than if he was genuinely convinced of Murtry's ideas and had to change his mind, or was in some sort of physical danger that prevented him from helping the heroes. Finally, we have Elvi, an exo-zoologist working as part of RCE's science exploration team. More than anyone else, she understands Ilus/New Terra and how very different it is from Earth, despite superficial similarities. She makes several important discoveries that save lives, but she's dangerously naive regarding politics and human relationships. She also falls desperately in love with Holden and begins to act like a besotted teenager; this is believable as a reaction to the stress and life-threatening circumstances she finds herself in – and the narration does make it clear that's what's happening – but it was still somewhat annoying to read. It was hard to take her seriously as a respected professor when she was blushing and stammering over her crush. Overall, I didn't like this book as much as the previous ones in the series. It just wasn't as exciting and the characters weren't as likeable. On the other hand, I did really enjoy the found-family vibes between Holden and his crew: Naomi, Amos, and Alex. (Which reminds me: I forgot to mention the AMAZING scene in Caliban's War where Holden literally proposes marriage to the whole crew. He's half-joking, suggesting it more as a way for them to easily become co-owners of their spaceship than to actually enter into a poly romance, but I still loved it.) We have Amos nearly murdering people when Naomi is taken hostage, Naomi issuing vicious threats when Alex's safety is endangered, and Holden going to new extremes to protect Amos. It's just a whole circle of love and family-of-choice and it is my very favorite trope. I'm totally giving this book an extra star just for that. In general, Cibola Burn is a step down in quality from previous books, but I'll still be reading the sequel. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant: Survival Tips for the Horticulturally Challenged by Veronica Peerless. A really excellent how-to guide for houseplants, possibly the best book on the topic I've ever seen. It's split into two halves, with "The Basics" offering general tips and "The Houseplants" giving specific guidance on 119 common species. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant is aimed towards newbies, but it also included tricks that were new to me, such as how to save an overwatered plant by wrapping its soil in newspaper. I particularly liked the troubleshooting offered in "The Houseplants"; it explains, for instance, that yellow leaves on one plant might mean it needs more water, while yellow leaves on another species might indicate that it's getting too much sunlight. It's easy to look up your specific plants and get tips on how to best care for them. How Not to Kill Your Houseplant is available as both an ebook and a physical book, but I'd highly recommend the physical book. It's beautifully laid out, with a collage-like style that mixes photographs and abstract cutouts. A great book for anyone who raises houseplants, 'horticulturally challenged' or not! I read this as an ARC via NetGalley. One Way by S.J. Morden. A sci-fi thriller set in the near future: 2048, to be exact. Mars has been visited, and it's time for humanity to build a permanent base there for the ease of future astronauts. But how to do it? Robots are expensive and prone to breaking down, whereas human labor is even more expensive and when they break down there's likely to be lawsuits from family members. Xenosystems Operations, the company who has contracted with NASA to build the base, hits on the perfect solution: convict labor. After all, it's not like they can escape; they'll be on fucking Mars, and there's not a lot of spare oxygen or rocket ships for them to steal. XO runs a private prison in California (named Panopticon; subtle, Morden), so all they have to do is select a team of seven people with life-sentences who are willing to serve the rest of their time on Mars, give them a few months of training, and send them on a one-way journey – even once the base is built, they'll be a need for maintenance and janitorial services, since astronauts have more important things to do than unclog drains or charge batteries. In exchange, the prisoners get work they can be proud of and a bit more freedom in their daily lives. Frank is our narrator and main character. Sentenced to life for murdering his son's drug dealer, Frank is a former construction worker, an obviously useful background. He and his team of six other prisoners, each with their own specialities (transportation, plumbing, electricity, computers, hydroponics, and a doctor), plus an XO employee to be their guard/boss, quickly find out that XO has cut every possible corner to save money. They have no redundant supplies in case of wear or mishap; broken or missing necessary parts; barely enough food to get them through; problems with producing their own oxygen, water, and power; and not enough training for emergencies. Unsurprisingly, this quickly starts to take its toll, and people die in easily preventable accidents. Except by the third death, Frank suspects that they're not just accidents – someone on the team is deliberately murdering the others. He has no one he trusts, help from Earth is months away, and in the harsh environment of Mars the smallest mistake can kill, so Frank is left to figure out the murderer by himself before he's the next victim. Morden is an excellent writer of tension; there's several wonderfully dramatic scenes involving characters in spacesuits running out of time on their oxygen supplies that were heart-pounding and thrilling. Unfortunately he's not a great author of mysteries. The murderer is SUPER obvious, so much so that it makes Frank look dumb for taking so long to figure it out. At the point where Frank discovers a bunch of empty oxycontin packets around the murderer's bed and still doesn't think it might be him, I had to groan out loud. (Of course, being a drug addict doesn't make one a murderer, except that this is totally the kind of book where it does.) I also had problems with Morden's science writing; I think he expects his average reader to know more about space than I, at least, do. There was a lot of techno-jargon I didn't know, and I never could manage to picture what the base Frank and the others built was supposed to look like. On the other hand, I am highly predisposed to like a book that's this critical of the use of convict labor for corporate profit, and the excerpts scattered throughout of XO's private communications really make it clear how far down the path of evil a bit of greed and pure capitalism can get you. Hooray for a nice dose of contemporary politics in my escapist reading! I do want to note – because I didn't know before reading it – One Way is not a stand-alone. A sequel is due out soon. Nonetheless, One Way ends at a good point, with almost all of the plot threads wrapped up. You won't feel like you've gotten only half of the story if you read this book alone. I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

[DW link for easier commenting, if you prefer]

#books #book reviews #james s.a. corey #cj cherryh #S. J. Morden #gardening #the expanse

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evenstevensranked · 7 years ago

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#20: Season 2, Episode 14 - “Sadie Hawkins Day”

The Sadie Hawkins dance rolls around and Louis is expecting Tawny to ask him. He ends up blowing his chances with her by trying to seem desperately desirable to all the girls. He's left to go to the dance with Monique last minute.. and Tawny goes with some popular, shirtless dude Tad. Meanwhile, Ren’s stuck taking care of a pig. Seriously. So, let’s listen to some Relient K and get into the Top 20!

This one opens with Ren getting everything settled for the upcoming Sadie Hawkins Dance. Of course she’s in charge of it. Who other than Vice Principal Ren Stevens? We see that a pig has been delivered to the school a day early, so Ren is now stuck taking care of it for the rest of the episode. Ren honestly deserves better plots. Like.. what the heck. Louis gets an entertaining, romance-y main plot -- and Ren gets... a pig. Christy Romano even said in an interview recently that working with this pig was a low point in her career, lol. Wow.

A scene later, Tawny and Ren have a little conversation about the dance and Tawny mentions that she’s gonna ask Louis!! Yeeeee! She asks Ren if she’s gonna ask Bobby, but the melodrama strikes and Ren is all “That’s actually been over for a while...” EXCEPT!!! This episode initially aired the literal day before Sibling Rivalry, which is Ren and Bobby’s official break up episode. Seriously, Disney?! I will never understand why they jack up their airing schedules so bad. At least the order of my countdown inadvertently tackles these episodes sequentially! I’d also like to mention that Tawny says the idea of the girls asking the guys is cool, but states “I don’t do Hillbilly” with an air of disgust. I RELATE TO HER CHARACTER SO MUCH???

At lunch, 6 girls who have asked Twitty to the dance swarm him, anxiously awaiting his decision. This is one of those instances where you realize... Oh, right. Twitty is supposed to be cute and kinda popular even though he hangs out with the outcasts? Okay. Louis walks over with Tom and shouts to the girls “Hey, what’s up! I’m Louis!” The girls scatter and you hear one snicker “Yeah. No kidding! So what?!” HAHA. Louis is a little salty over the fact that not one girl has come “within 50 feet” of him, yet Twitty has 8 potential dates lined up. I think y’all know by now that if I were a student at LJH back in the day, I totally would’ve been that weird girl who asked Louis Stevens lol. Tom exclaims that the only other guy with as many offers as Twitty is Tad Taylor. Some popular dude we’ve never seen or heard of, who Disney clearly didn’t want to cut a check for because he never says a word.

Twitty himself is shocked that the Sadie Hawkins thing has suddenly turned him into a “babe magnet.” Tom interjects “I’m like a lint magnet! I mean, how am I getting this stuff all over my trousers?!” *whips out a lint roller and gets to work.* Gee, I wonder why Tom hasn’t received any invites!! Tom doesn’t understand it either! “Why do all the really good looking guys with sparkling personalities get all the girls?!” he asks. Which is possibly one of the greatest lines in the entire series. Louis is left wondering the same thing! So, Twitty reassures him that no girls have asked him because they all assume that Tawny will. :)

Later that day, the guys are hanging around Louis’ locker when Tawny starts approaching. Twitty tells Louis “This is it! She was just makin’ you sweat a little!” and Tom says yet another gem: “Yeah, ya know. Girls are always doing that! ...................*cough* or, so I’ve read.” Tom seriously has SO MANY incredible lines in this episode. I don’t know how I’m gonna make it through this review without quoting every single one. This is probably my personal favorite Tom performance ever.

Louis royally messes everything up. Tawny was totally going to ask him, until he tried to be over-confident. “Yeah, I figured. You wouldn’t believe how many girls have been asking me out to that thing. Can’t keep their paws off me!” Since Tawny is the greatest ever, she’s immediately turned off and doesn’t ask him. Yaaaasss, gurl.

Twitty: I said play it cool.

Tom: “Yeah, and you played the foooooool! ...Sorry. Ya know, I just like to bust the occasional rhyme.” -- I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW FANTASTIC TOM IS.

After school that day, the guys go to Louis’ house and spin a literal wheel of dates to help Twitty make a decision. We get yet another A+ Tom moment. “Big money, big money!” he shouts as it spins... and lands on DORIS!!! HIS FREAKIN’ MOTHER. The camera zooms in on her photo and it kills me. “Oh. *nervous laughter* Sorry. That... Must’ve fallen out of my wallet” is Tom’s excuse. I don’t even fully understand this comment or why the HELL Tom (or Twitty accidentally) would put her on the wheel to begin with, but it’s hilarious. Just because it’s one of my favorite moments, I have to gif it:

That zoom in is something straight out of The Office and Louis’ reaction is the best.

Just then, Donnie receives a phone call from a random girl who called to say he’s hot. Donnie tells Louis his appeal and ability to nab dates comes from giving off a “bad boy” vibe. Louis takes that information a little too far (as usual) and transforms into the most repulsive version of Louis Stevens ever:

First of all: He’s burping here. Secondly: Yeah, Louis. Dressing like a total bum from Middle of Nowhere USA with a taped-on anchor tattoo and bag of cheese puffs is really gonna reel in the ladies.

Obviously, this attempt at being a “bad boy” did not work for Louis. It did, however, work for Tom. Who looks absolutely amazing!! haha.

“Hu hu hu, au contriare pierre!” he says as Gwendolyn, his date, appears. Are we sure this chick isn’t at least 30 years old? Is that part of the joke? No way in heck she’s in 7th grade. I always thought that was a little disturbing, lol.

It’s weird because Louis is actually already a “bad boy” ...is he not? I mean, he’s not the stereotypical “bad boy” but it’s not like he’s a nerd. He’s always getting into trouble, always in detention, etc. I guess people like the idea and aesthetic of a bad boy instead of the real thing, ayyyy!

We get a montage of Ren trying to ask numerous guys to the dance but the pig keeps ruining everything for her. It eats one guy’s lunch, farts in front of another guy, and attacks some other dude. Which means that guy is really weak, or that pig is really strong:

If this were a lame sitcom someone would shout “Aw, shucks! That darn pig!!” and the audience would erupt in laughter and applause.

Louis runs into Tawny in the hall and tries to apologize for acting stupid earlier by yelling "WHY DON’T YOU JUST ASK ME!!!!” assuming she hasn’t asked anyone else yet. Wow, Louis. Wow. But Tawny, being the badass that she is, tells Louis “There’s one little problem with your logic... I do have a date. Bye.” Yes. Just, yes. Louis is left sulking on the floor when Monique approaches him. She’s trying to give him a bag of some pig food that Ren left in her locker, but Louis jumps to conclusions and is all “YESSS, I’LL GO TO THE DANCE WITH YOU!!” before she even says anything lol. Even though that wasn’t Monique’s plan, she agrees to go with him. So, in the end Louis basically asked a girl to the Sadie Hawkins Dance... that’s not how it works, Lou.

That banner tho... “GALS GIT YOUR’N FELLERS for the SADIE HAWKINS DANCE!”

CUT TO THE DANCE! Monique isn’t there yet. So, once Twitty and Tom arrive with their dates, Tom gives us his last great line of the episode: “I gotta say, we’re all a little worried about ya. Truth be told I had Doris on standby.” Louis is so insulted: “DORIS? YOUR MOM DORIS?! No, Tom. I’m NOT gonna go out with your mom!” -- The way Shia says this gets me every time. He informs them that he was “asked to the dance” by the head of the cheerleading squad -- Yeah, that’s a bit of a fib, Louis.. but I’ma let it slide. Louis thought he was going to the dance with a hot cheerleader.. but Monique shows up in full hillbilly mode.. complete with blacked-out teeth and everything. Meanwhile, Ren is stuck in the pig pen. She’s purposely dressed to kinda look like a young farm girl so this is one of the only times I’ve watched this show and thought “wow, Christy actually looks 14.″

Lawrence Jr. High is really dedicated to ~immersion~ I guess, because Principal Wexler gets up on stage and speaks in the most ridiculous southern accent. Like... I always wonder... How do people from the south feel about stuff like this? Wexler announces that the square dance caller for the night is STEVE STEVENS. Oh my freaking god. Steve is the best, hahaha. He pops up outta nowhere like “HOWDYYYYY” and a crowd of 30-something-year-old adult extras stare back at him, confused and unimpressed.

Yeah, Gwendolyn probably is 30+ years old.. because apparently the majority of LJH students are grown adults. Either that or... Did these adults not get the memo that it’s a dance for middle schoolers? Why is no one concerned that adults are partying it up with 13 year olds? WHO LET THEM IN?! *shrugs* But, seriously. Disney couldn’t find some KIDS to attend the dance? Come on, now.

Monique invites Louis to square dance with her and Louis says "I'm not a square dancer, I'm more of a circular kinda guy." Idk I just kinda like that line. Tawny shows up with her date, the popular silent boy Tad Taylor. She and Louis spend their night trying to act like they’re having a great time without each other. Tawny is specifically trying to make Louis jealous and it’s pretty great. They give us these dramatic slow-mo shots of them dancing and glancing longingly at each other from across the room. I love it. There’s also a bit where Monique takes the call “Swing your partner round’n round!” a little too seriously and I can’t help but laugh:

I will always be a sucker for a good obviously fake dummy gag.

That crazy swing ends with yet ANOTHER Louis stunt double flying into (and destroying) the pig pen. I seriously never realized how many stunts happen on this show!! There has literally been a stunt every week of this countdown as of late! Anyway, the pig gets loose, runs to the principal’s office, and starts oinking into the intercom. That’s basically the end of the pig subplot.

Louis is scarred from the twirling incident so he hides from Monique in a tiny, little pig house. For whatever reason, Monique looks for Louis in handfuls of hay! WHAT?! She literally holds some hay, looks at it and asks “Louuuuis???” I kid you not:

WHY IS THIS SO FUNNY

She eventually finds him, of course. Right around then Wexler announces that it’s hitchin’ time! While Monique excitedly asks Louis to go get hitched, Tawny looks on and decides to get hitched to Tad before them as a way to get back at Louis... and it works. He’s all depressed watching the two of them up on stage. Monique can clearly see he’d rather be with Tawny so she encourages him “Go get her, cowboy!” So Louis ruuuuuuns up there and interrupts the “wedding.” Which is something else that must be gif’d:

“If ya’ll wanna get hitched, say waaAHHH-HOOO!” I love how Margo is laughing as she shouts “waaaahhh” lol. That zoom in on her confused face as Louis runs up there is too good.

Louis objects and claims “This whole wedding is a mockery!” To which Wexler says “Oooo! You’re a sharp tack, Stevens” as he points to a sign that says “Mock Weddin’s: 5 Cents.” That’s one of my favorite moments ever honestly.

Tawny pulls Louis off stage and out into the hallway where they end up having a really sweet talk where Louis admits to messing everything up. It’s so nice, complete with tinkering romantic piano in the background and everything, haha. I love their dynamic so much. So, yeah. They makeup and square dance the night away to royalty-free, generic bluegrass music.

And that’s it!

I like this one a lot. Tom pretty much MAKES it, he’s so good here. I obviously adore the Louis/Tawny content as well. It’s just a fun and solid episode overall, imo.

Question: Did your school ever have a Sadie Hawkins dance? I remember both Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire (among other childhood shows, I’m sure...) had Sadie Hawkins episodes. So in Junior High, I remember waiting for my school to hold one but it never happened. For the longest time I was under the impression that Sadie Hawkins dances only existed on television. To this day, I still kinda believe that lol.

Thanks for reading! Chime in via Disqus below please. :)

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Redbubble

#rank #even stevens #disney channel #old school #shia labeouf #louis stevens #ren stevens #christy carlson romano #louis x tawny #louis and tawny #top 20 #review #tv review #retro review #comedy #tom gribalski #tawny dean #doris #season 2

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2019neworleansteentour · 5 years ago

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Day One...

Perspectives from First Experience, June 28-30th…

Today I had a great experience helping with the two gardens. I love teamwork so working with the group to complete a common task was something I enjoyed. During our short tour of the Congo Square I got to learn about African American history and what jazz originally stood for and why our (African American) music is so important. I also got to try different, new things and foods that I’ve never experienced before. -Ayshia B.

Going to the gardens were beautiful. While at Ms. Gloria’s garden i truly enjoyed digging a whole to plant a new tree and also trying fresh fig. Seeing what I could do to help a whole community helped me want to do more. Being that i wanted to do more I was able to help Ms. Gloria make more soil with Cow Manure and composted soil. This taught me a lot about gardening makes me feel like i have a green thumb now. While at the Magellan Garden it was nice to see how we could help them recover their new garden. Comparing my first time coming to the Magellan Garden to this time, I was able to see the growth and decay of the garden. While a at the garden we were able to clean up the trash and weed the flower beds. After visiting the gardens we were able to capture some of the history of New Orleans and even the Congo Square. It amazed me to learn that one of my favorite genres of music was derived from black people being called “Jack Ass Music”, now known as Jazz. Later on that night we went to the French Quarters and me, my mom, and cousin were able to explore some fine New Orleans Cuisine. After eating we walked around a little and soon met back up near Cafe Du Monde. -Roderick T.

Today was an inspiration. I was in awe of Ms. Gloria’s vision, and assisting with beautifying the garden gave me a sense of pride. I was also proud of the students and their hard work. Hearing the students chime in during the history lesson and insight into New Orleans society at Louis Armstrong park was refreshing, to know that the next generation will not allow the memory of where we came from to fade away. The highlight of today for me was Gio’s discussion with Daryl, and hearing Daryl open up and respond to him. -Miriam C

As I compose this email the entirety of my energy has been completely expended; I struggle to keep my weary eyes open. This is a great thing as my sheer exhaustion is indicative of the intense manual labor conducted during both of today's volunteering projects. In both projects we revitalized community gardens further supporting the community in maintaining a sustainable source of fresh produce. The small abrasions that cover my forearms and hands are signs of the tremendous impact we made in the community today and for that I brandish them with honor. -Giovan B.

When I went to Bourbon Street, it was really fun because I saw different races of people. And all these people coming together and having fun. -Jamil B

Today, I experienced community service with building gardens for the New Orleans community. Although I got bonding time with the people I’m on this trip with, I learned and experienced the progress and product of a woman following her dreams to give back to her community and people by letting her passion for art and gardening lead her path. It was a powerful experience, showing me that some things in life aren’t as complicated as they seem, and you could really make do with a vision and very little. -Daryl C.

Today was my first full day in New Orleans. I learned a lot of things that I either didn’t know or knew about but had a refresher on. For an example the different meanings of the statues of men on horses, the Congo Square, and more about my African American culture. I really enjoyed myself today since I’ve never been to New Orleans. I got to try new kinds of foods like beignets, which is like a “mini funnel cake” to me. -Kylah F.

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the history of the Louisiana Purchase and how Jazz was first started. Working in the gardens was amazing. Seeing Jamil work so hard and have fun was my own personal gift. -TeShania B.

Today was very fulfilling and educational, with all of the jewels that were dropped. From gardening with Ms. Gloria, assisting her with the uprooting of weeds and planting trees I most definitely can say the garden looked very beautiful. Taking a stroll through Louis Armstrong Park we would get more knowledge about Congo Plaza and the origin of its name. Overall today was great the food was even better and being able to share this day amongst a team was delightful. -Tia J.

When we first arrived in New Orleans we where treated to a snack that resemble funnel cake. They where overall good, and if given the chance I would definitely go back. After that we arrived at the hostel to get our shirts and settle in, then it was straight to work. We picked weeds, collected scrap to throw away, placed stones, and planted trees. After that and a brief resting period we then went to Luis Armstrong Park. There we were given a quick rundown of the areas history and more. Later in the day we then would go eat and have fun as the night came to an end. It was an overall great day and brought upon tons of information and fun. -Bobby H.

My group went to eat at Daisy Dukes. We also experienced a street rapper who was free styling and got to take a picture with him and his band. It was lots of fun we I got to hang with some friends. But it was a lot of entertainment out there. -Elijah H.W.

Perspectives from Second Experience, July 26-28th…

Today was a fantastic Friday. I started the day off at the monumental Cafe du Monde, where I thoroughly enjoyed beignets. Afterwards, I learned a lot about Louisiana history and saw the Mississippi River. It’s quite interesting to me that the waters around New Orleans are never still, it says a lot about the city and the energy here. I was really disappointed to know that the state government enforced martial law during Hurricane Katrina. They were willing to shoot people to stop them from traveling from lower lands to find refuge on safe higher ground. I enjoyed our act of service; pulling up weeds in the community garden made me feel grounded. I enjoyed my day in the sun as well as communing with my peers on the trip. Our walk along bourbon street was also quite eventful. This is a city full of culture and such powerful energies. New Orleans is a place like no other. It’s so different from the rest of the country, the French influence is still heavy here despite it being over a century since the French relinquished control over the territory. -Jzada J.

First official day in New Orleans! The highlight of my day was volunteering in Magellan Gardens where I’ve assisted 3 times before. I’m so pleased with the support and upkeep of this community garden, although there’s still a long way to go. It was very rewarding knowing I made an impact today, this trip wouldn’t have been fulfilled without community involvement. Overall, I appreciate the culture and authenticity New Orleans offers. I’m looking forward to what tomorrow brings. -Shauna J.

Today was a great experience for me, because I kind of learned what it takes to own a garden and how to take care of one. But it was hot and kind of fun helping in the garden today. When we went downtown it was also a great experience. Seeing everybody daily culture and how what they eat and etc. -Iterrius J.

The trip on the way here wasn’t that bad as I expected. I thought I would have to use the bathroom a lot and be really uncomfortable but it was the opposite. When we arrived at Cafe Du Monde it was something I’ve never seen before. The beignets that we ate were good, they reminded me of the taste of a funnel cake. The volunteer work was fun that we did. Then when we went out to explore the vibe that I got was different but it was a great experience. -Jordan J.

Today has been awesome! I enjoyed listening to history about Andrew Jackson, the Revolutionary War and the war of 1812 in the French quarter that hadn’t completely stuck on my trips as a teen. I also greatly enjoyed volunteering at the community garden that’s grown so much since I last saw it. It made me realize how much I enjoy garden work and feeling close to the earth by caring for it. I lastly had a great time on Bourbon St. and the French quarter. It has been exciting for me to see friends and other participants experience the city for the first time because I know the lasting impact it’s had over the past years on me. I’m very much enjoying my first service trip as an adult so far! -Caris A.

My day didn't really start because I was up before the sun. We did some work pulling weeds in a community garden and that was fun but tiring. We went to change and then wandered around the French quarter for the rest of the day. It was fun but I'm tired and I wish I could sleep now. -Essence H.

Today I arrived at New Orleans the breakfast I had was good it was bread with powdered sugar. After that I went to a garden to pick weeds from the ground. Next I went to a off brand cici’s pizza place the pizza was good. Then after that I got ice cream and eat it but I was still hungry. -Derrick T.

Today we spent our morning at Magellan community gardens. It was great to see the growth and changes that have transpired since my last visit! I throughly enjoyed meeting with and serving Mrs. Prosper in the garden. There have been changes both good and not so beneficial to the garden due to the changes in the weather. I was sad to learn the fishery didn't survive, however the Prospers seem to have great plans and aspirations for Magellan. I found it rewarding not only to provide service to Magellan but also to share what knowledge and experiences I gleaned from previous tours to the area. I look forward to making future visits to assist with the continued success of Magellan gardens. -Minka W.

I am a 27 year old graduate student. I had a great time today. I haven’t worked in a community garden since my years in college and it is always a rewarding experience to serve my community in different ways. Bourbon street was interesting. I’ve always wanted to visit but I’ve since learned that it is very crowded, a great thing to experience nonetheless. I feel like I was valuable to my community today. -Aleeka M.

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antaniashanae · 6 years ago

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It’s Another Badu Birthday!

THEE most anticipated event, a holiday, and a celebration would happen on the evening of February 23, 2019! It’s another Badu birthday! This will be my 3rd year attending the celebration and every year it gets more beautiful than the last. The first time I attended the event in 2017, I was still living in Indiana and I flew to Dallas for ONE day to join the festivities. I absolutely LOVE Erykah Badu!

If you’ve ever attended the event, it’s best to get there early. This year, I wasted no time. Arriving at nearly 3p, there was already a line formed. Doors didn’t open until 7p and the show wouldn’t start til 8p. I sat in my car, charged all of my devises until about 5:30p and made my way to a line that was already wrapped around the building. Thankfully, someone was “holding my spot” :-)

THE VENUE:

The Bomb Factory is located in Deep Ellum of Dallas, TX. This has been the venue for the event over the last few years. Upon walking into the venue, there’s a massive open space with a bar area to the right. There’s a balcony as well. The stage sits straight ahead where there’s a giant projector screen behind it. The slides are usually animated images of Erykah; there are some videos that play while she performs certain songs. Depending on whose performing, their stage name is plastered on it. I’ve even seen screensaver-like images that move so fast they make your eyes cross.

OPENING ARTISTS:

Previously, Badu has been known to give the stage to Dallas locals and even hip-hop legends like Scarface and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def). This year, there were two opening acts and a number of surprise guests. The acts included Houston rapper: Tobe Nwigwe. Hitting the stage in black basketball shorts, a black hoodie, Nike slides with tube socks. I thought.. This is pretty casual attire for such an amazing event–Nevermind me, because he blew the crowd away! Performing an ode to Erykah Badu and Dave Chappelle titled “I’m Dope.” The lyrics include, “My mama thought I was a joke, but Ms. Badu (Dave Chappelle) told me I’m dope. Yeah, I’m dope.” –And then...the unexpected happened. ERYKAH BADU surprised him on stage! How incredible is that?

Although, he and “The Originals” came out after the first group, the opening act would be another band out of Houston, Texas. They are called Khruangbin which is “Engine Fly” in Thai. This 3 person band includes a bassists; Laura Lee, a guitarist; Mark Spencer, and a drummer; Donald Johnson. They can also be seen on The Tiny Desk video series. The 60s influenced, soul and psychedelia group, graced the stage in noticeably thick bangs, playing instrumentals of OBD’s “Baby, I Got Your Money” and The Luniz “I Got 5 On It.”

Keep up with Tobe Nwigwe:

www.tobenwigwe.com

Twitter- @TobeNwigwe

Instagram- @TobeNwigwe

Facebook- Tobe Nwigwe

Snapchat- @TobeNwigwe

Keep up with Khruangbin:

www.khruangbin.com

Twitter: @khruangbin

Facebook: @Khruangbin

SoundCloud: @Khruangbin

ERYKAH TAKES THE STAGE:

It’s after 11p and the Queen of Neo-Soul is going to grace the stage at any moment. I look around and The Bomb Factory is packed out! There’s not enough room for anyone to do anything, except breathe at this point. The air smells of cannabis and beer. The stage is full of fog and the slides on the projector come to a stop. The musicians take their places on stage, vocalists come in after them, and suddenly it’s quiet. Dave Chappelle is one of Erykah’s longtime friends. He’s been to every one of the parties since I’ve attended. He introduces her to the stage and mentions that the event is like a church he attends once a year. Despite the recent backlash Badu received for expressing her love for R&B artist; R. Kelly, it didn’t stop those who support her from celebrating with her. The subject is an uncomfortable one, but her stance is LOVE. Period.

ERYKAH is here! Taking robotic steps to the mic, the crowd begins to scream. Erykah is wearing a dark colored jumpsuit and a cream top hat. She opens with “Hello” from the “But You Caint Use My Phone” album she released in 2015. This is how she welcomes us into this mystical and psychedelic whirlwind we’re about to experience- I’d compare it to the Alice In Wonderland fall. When Alice goes to the hole and says “My.. What a peculiar place to have a party,” and she falls? I imagine my fall having a mix of Erykah’s music with a few echos of her advice in the background to avoid crashing? Too deep? LOL

In her intro, she introduces herself with “I’m Erykah Badu, also know as Maria Manuela, also known as Badoula, also known as Sarah Bellum, also known as Analogue Girl in a Digital World, also known as Fat Belly Bella, also known as SHE ILL, also known as Maria Mexico” ...and 142 other Characters.

She performed a series of songs (in no order), including “Out My Mind, Just In Time” and “Window Seat” from the New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh album. “Next Lifetime,” “Rimshot,” from the Baduizm album, and “Kiss Me on My Neck” from the Mama’s Gun album just to name a few.

SURPRISE!

Erykah is performing and is surprised with a 3 tier cake, followed by her friends and family coming to the stage. The concert sorta morphed into a jam session. Tobe Nwigwe and Dave Chappelle reappear on stage, (THEE) Talib Kweli appears on stage as well (check out my blog on the Radio Silence Tour) Kweli performs “Get By” from the Quality album and “The Blast” from the Reflection Eternal- Train of Thought album. Everyone’s going back and forth with “Hot 16′s.” Like... this is dope. The vibe is so dope. This is where the show gets a litter more special. Performances go from rapping to singing and Durand Bernarr is given the mic. Durand is one of Erykahs BGVs, but is an artist in his own right. He performs Bobby Caldwell's “What You Won’t Do For Love” while incorporating his own song, “Fuck N*gga Free” :-) #SaaangDurand

Erykah Badu got the mic, continued singing the song, then Dave Chappelle got a mic, breaking the music. He gives a speech, stating he’s not a ‘church n*gga” and he starts singing “Never Would’ve Made It” by Marvin Sapp to Erykah. Suddenly, the audience is a massive gospel choir. The lyrics include, “Never would’ve made it, never could’ve made it without you.. I would’ve lost it all, but now I see how you were there for me. I’m stronger, I’m wiser, I’m better, much better..” She sheds a few tears as he continues with the song. Like... Dave Chappelle was really singing!

THE END:

A few noticeable faces graced the stage, including Willow and Jada Smith. Erykah Badu’s children; Seven, her son with OutKasts Andre 3000. Puma, her daughter with rapper The D.O.C., and Mars, her daughter with Jay Electronica appeared as well. The party came to a close with beautiful words from Erykah stating, “Don’t grow up, it’s a trap. Stay young, stay fresh, stay new, stay creative, stay loving, stay compassionate, stay honest. Don’t follow these other mfers, especially mad mfers!”—As her speech is interrupted by confetti.

I’m so happy I could attend #AnotherBaduBirthday and I’m thankful for the gift Erykah shared with us. Thank you, Queen. Happy birthday!

Enjoy the clips from the bash and follow me on IG: AntaniaShanae

#ErykahBadu #Dallas #thebombfactorydallas #davechappelle #talibkweli #durandbernarr #AnotherBaduBirthday #cocoagal #AntaniaShanae #Blogger #Music #MamasGun #WorldwideUnderground #TobeNwigwe #khruangbin

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dnprenaissance · 6 years ago

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personal/i’m gay and have a lot of feelings

before i realized i was lesbian, i never wanted to date anyone or even think about getting potentially married. i didn’t want it and it didn’t make sense to me. i didn’t know other young girls actually really wanted to get married and planned their weddings as children. once i realized i wouldn’t have to do any of those things w a man, that i’d get to do them w a lady, my whole opinion and perspective changed. suddenly these things i’d pretty much avoided even thinking about were all available to me in a way they never had been. like, growing up, i was always insistent on no kids and probably not marriage, bc i didn’t get the point- y would i want to marry a dumb boy ? compulsive heterosexuality literally made me incapable of imagining wanting to spend the rest of my life w someone i loved bc i didn’t know i didn’t have to do that w a man. and i’m Still Getting Over It. it took me three years to go from bi/pan to lesbian bc CompHet was so strong that i never realized until i was asked up front “why don’t you want to date a guy” (the answer was “i’m a lesbian tamarick” but that’s a story for another time). and i questioned about being just a straight up lesbian for at least six months before realizing it. that’s bc it scared me 2 not be even “a little bit str8” and i was scared 2 b a big ol lesbian and nothing else,, like internalized homophobia much ? and i have these lil moments all the time where i rmr that when i start dating someone, it’s gonna be a woman. when i get married, it’s gonna be to a woman. now it’s a When i get married instead of If. and that alone is New for me ! like i never wanted that before and now that i do,, it’s like,, holy fuck ?? and on top of all this, i don’t have any (irl) lesbian friends to talk about this to. i have 2 close friends that i’d even remotely consider for this stuff but they r both tragically str8 and therefore wouldn’t understand (i mean i do get a vibe from one but i’mma let her do her) everything that goes into being a lesbian, esp about not wanting 2 come out even though i feel like i have to at this point. b4, when i though i was bi/pan, i figures i just wouldn’t tell my family unless i ended up dating someone that wasn’t a dude. but since i’ve really come 2 terms w being a lesbian, it like, hurts me 2 not be out. p much since last october (coming out day hello) ive been wanting to come out to my one bff (the one i have a vibe about) bc ik she’s had gay friends b4 but it still scares me bc idk exactly how she’ll react ? and i don’t want 2 lose our friendship bc i love her so much ! and i wanna tell my sister too but i don’t want her to freak out and be Not OK w it and tell my parents to retaliate. and i can’t tell my parents bc they’re both gently homophobic the same way every other goddamn person in the south is -“i love you but i do not accept your lifestyle.” like watching queer eye and listening 2 bobby talks just hits the fuck home so much ! i literally Can Not McFuckin Wait to move out to [college name] and be out and proud and go to a pride festival !! i’ve wanted to go to pride for the last two years but i couldn’t think of a reason to give my parents for wanting to go that wasn’t a come out and i don’t want them 2 start think of things and have them suspect (more... my mom asked if i still liked boys once when j was in hs,, at the time i thought i did so i said yes). like this year i saw friends of mine posting about pride and being at pride and it made my heart hurt bc i just wanted 2 b there !! not even w them just out in a gay space w other gays havin a gay time w/o worry and i’m literally too fuckin scared. and i don’t think ive ever said “i’m a lesbian” out loud? which is so fuckin sad.

like thinking about being out is so fun? and when my parents say things my first instinct is a “i’m gay harold”esque joke and i bite my tongue and keep a str8 face (ha) bc if i ever come out to them it’s not gonna be when i’m still depending on them for a place to live. and once i finish college i’m not coming the fuck back to this town. this town can suck a dick it’s racist and old as fuck bc apparently everyone my mom went to hs w moved back here too so everyone is old and racist and homophobic. i have to live in a city like SF or NYC just to be out and live how i want w less fear. and i can’t tell my parents that’s the reason i wanna live in those places but that’s literally the only reason. and every1 i went to school with comes back for the summer which really sucks bc i work at the local walmart which means i have 2 fuckin see people i could otherwise forget existed.

#dont mind me #Dont Reblog #personal #why i dont need 2 stay up laye and just think #bc this happens and i get (more) depressed

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placetobenation · 5 years ago

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This week in the WWE was a bloodbath.

On Wednesday, the company made a series of announcements that owner Vince McMahon said would save the company $4 million a month and $140 million in upcoming costs in what would have been a move into the new WWE headquarters in Stamford, CT. . On the personal side, it also cost over 30 people their jobs with the WWE.

Among the cuts were Kurt Angle, Rusev, Zack Ryder, Karl Anderson and Lio Rush along with both Maria and Mike Bennett. In addition to on-air superstars, there were many familiar names backstage who were let go with Fit Finley, Shane Helms, Mike Rotunda and Billy Kidman amongst them.

It appears as if the producers were all furloughed and fired. They’ve reportedly been given a date of July 1st that they could be back with the company. Also, it’s been reported that all talent that was let go have 90-day compete clauses in their contracts.

One of the more emotional superstars to be cut that spoke publicly was Drew Maverick. Maverick, ironically, is still scheduled to be shown this upcoming Wednesday night as part of the Cruiserweight Tournament on NXT.

My immediate thoughts.@WWE @WWENXT #WWE #NXT @TripleH @ShawnMichaels #Cruiserweight pic.twitter.com/Afw58V7eo1

— Drake Maverick (@WWEMaverick) April 15, 2020

The full list is: Kurt Angle, Rusev, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Drake Maverick, Eric Young, EC3, Lio Rush, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Heath Slater, Sarah Logan, Erick Rowan, No Way Jose, Primo & Epico Colon, Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, Deonna Purrazzo, Aleksander Jaksic, Aiden English (announcer), Mike Chioda (referee), Billy Kidman (producer), Mike Rotunda (producer), Dave “Fit” Finlay (producer), Pat Buck (producer), Shawn Daivari (producer), Scott Armstrong (producer), Sarah Stock (producer), Shane Helms (producer), Lance Storm (producer), Andrea Listenberger (writer), Serena Deeb (coach) Ace Steel (coach), MJ Jenkins, Norman Smiley (coach), Josiah Williams (announcer), Jerry Soto (announcer – furloughed), Tino Sabbatelli, Cezar Bononi, Mars Wang, Taynara Conti, Nick Ogarelli and Kendo Kashin (coach).

Now, it will be interesting to see who ends up where, right? Of interest to AEW should be Rusev, Rowan, Maria & Mike Kanellis for starters. Although, you have to think AEW won’t want to oversaturate the roster and be efficient with their company size and tv time. Gallows and Anderson you would think would be destined back to NJPW. ROH and Impact Wrestling are also spots to look to add. Lio Rush would be a good compliment to any roster these days.

As for the WWE, as much as the roster cuts hurt the individuals, there is one way to look at it in the positive. Most of these superstars weren’t getting the tv time or the right push they deserved. So, pairing it down and concentrating on more creative with less people might help the product in the end. Who knows. In the end, though, my hearts and prayers go out to all affected, especially in these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oh yeah, the coronavirus pandemic, something the WWE has still yet to utter and acknowledge head on in any of its television programming. A mistake then, now and forever. They should’ve been honest with the WWE Universe they so richly tell us they care about. Right!

RAW

RESULTS

Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Asuka defeated Ruby Riott

Aleister Black defeated Oney Lorcan

Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Shayna Baszler defeated Sarah Logan (match stopped)

Austin Theory defeated Akira Tozawa

Angel Garza defeated Tehuti Miles

Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Nia Jax defeated Kairi Sane

Bobby Lashley defeated No Way Jose

The Viking Raiders defeated Ricochet & Cedric Alexander

Champion vs. Champion Match: WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defeated United States Champion Andrade

Familia.#WWERaw @Zelina_VegaWWE @AndradeCienWWE @AngelGarzaWwe @austintheory1 pic.twitter.com/pgFmIH6JoB

— WWE (@WWE) April 14, 2020

We’ll just call Monday Night RAW what it was – Monday Night Zelina Vega! With her hands in both Austin Theory and Angel Garza’s victories and subsequent beatdowns after their matches along with Andrade, the new female face of Monday nights led the US Champ into a champion vs. champion match against WWE champion Drew McIntyre. It’s good to see a new faction taking the spotlight, but will it stick or is it just part of the circumstances with a decreased roster available due to the pandemic? We shall see, but I like what I see so far. They’ll have to keep Andrade strong after his main event loss.

The #MondayNightMessiah @WWERollins enjoyed EVERY second of that. #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/l3NEiqtviy

— WWE (@WWE) April 14, 2020

Now, after the win, McIntyre gets curbstomped by Seth Rollins, who seemingly is now in line for a title shot at Money in the Bank. The other question will be that is Rollins now aligned with the new Vega faction or just partners in crime for a night? We shall see. Also, since Seth lost at WrestleMania to Kevin Owens, should KO be getting a shot and not the Monday Night Messiah? Seems odd.

It was disappointing to see Kairi Sane get decimated by Nia Jax in less than 3 minutes. She deserves better. The same could be said for the now departing Sarah Logan, who got stopped by an “arm injury” at the hands of Shayna Baszler.

I don’t quite get having Ricochet & Cedric Alexander lose just one week after being put together. It was a fun match with The Viking Raiders but didn’t seem like it gave the up-and-coming team the help it needed. One week does NOT a push make.

Finally, is the WWE really out of creativity? Three times we got the (insert superstar) is here on the graphics! Be better!

NXT

RESULTS

Finn Balor defeated Fabian Aichner

Xia Li defeated Aliyah

Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament – B Block: Akira Tozawa defeated Isaiah Scott

Tegan Nox defeated Rachel Gonzalez

Dexter Lumis defeated Tehuti Miles

NXT Tag Team Title Match: Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher (picked by Pete Dunne) defeated Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong

Twitter; tick tock https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1250605674649858048

Twitter: thatcher: https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1250604949802795015

Twitter: dream date: https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1250597231541063682

Another solid show to win the Wednesday night viewership wars over AEW for the second straight week. I guess now we know why Lio Rush wasn’t named to the Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, right?

Welcome to @WWENXT, Timothy!@SuperKingOfBros & TIMOTHY THATCHER retain the #WWENXT #TagTeamTitles! #AndStill pic.twitter.com/E2mmwD2KgF

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 16, 2020

We did get the debut with Timothy Thatcher being hand-picked by Pete Dunne, who can’t travel to the US with the pandemic restrictions. Not too shabby starting the NXT career with a hand-given title and a win over Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong, who was subbing for Kyle O’Reilly.

So, Charlotte Flair wants Mia Yim to get her first shot in NXT since it was her first match in NXT. That’s cute and detailed. I like it.

Next Wednesday. @FinnBalor. @DreamWWE. It's a date. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/on5mvh44L5

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) April 16, 2020

Loved the intimate showdown between Finn Balor and The Velveteen Dream, who have a “date” set for next week’s show.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!? @NXTCiampa did not see THIS coming!!!#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/XOzLNuxqpX

— WWE (@WWE) April 16, 2020

And how about that first sighting of Killer Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux! Kross takes out Tommaso Ciampa during Ciampa’s congratulatory promo to Johnny Gargano while we get the outline of Bordeaux’s boot around his head. Big things ahead I’m sure are coming between Kross, Ciampa, Bordeaux and Candice LeRae.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Tamina defeated Sasha Banks – Tamina wins a shot at Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Title

Sheamus defeated Denzel DeJournette

Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Dana Brooke defeated Naomi

Men’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Daniel Bryan defeated Cesaro

Triple Threat Tag Team Title Match: Big E defeated The Miz and Jey Uso to win the SmackDown Tag Team Titles for The New Day

I’ll give it the blue crew. SmackDown definitely had more urgency, emotion and a good vibe too it than in the past few weeks. I don’t think that’s just because it went “live.” It was a very enjoyable two-hours and I’d give it the show of the week, two thumbs up!

BREAKING: WWE Superstars will climb the corporate ladder at #MITB! The match begins on the ground floor of WWE Headquarters but the briefcases will be hanging all the way up on the roof of the corporate tower! https://t.co/iGoIUggwzo pic.twitter.com/TqawawkBXs

— WWE (@WWE) April 18, 2020

MITB on the roof? pic.twitter.com/irORaoN5TV

— Malcolm Bivens (@Malcolmvelli) April 18, 2020

First things first. Let me get this straight. For this year’s Money in the Bank matches, superstars have to climb to the roof of WWE corporate headquarters to grab the vaunted briefacases? Did I hear that right? OK, you’ve got my attention. I’m officially intrigued to see how this one plays out.

Nobody plays mind games better than @WWEBrayWyatt. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/P6d5Tfq6pq

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) April 18, 2020

The Little Big Things start the night as Universal Champion Braun Strowman joins former teammate Alexa Bliss (and Nikki Cross) on A Moment of Bliss. Love that they are tying in the old storyline with Braun and The Wyatt Family, complete with Braun’s old goat mask as a gift. If they make it emotional and full of mind games, The Fiend vs. The Monster could have legs.

Looks like we’ll get more Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks as Evans helps Tamina to take down The Boss to earn her a shot at Banks’ BFF Bayley’s Women’s Smackdown Title. Next Friday, it’s Evans vs. Banks in a MITB Qualifying match.

We guess @WWESheamus isn't a fan of @JEFFHARDYBRAND. #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/r4RXbR1x9s

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) April 18, 2020

Sheamus in another <1 minute squash. Why? And yeah, BTW: what’s his beef with Michael Cole and Jeff Hardy?

Shocker of the night – Dana Brooke over Naomi in the Women’s Qualifying Match. Did not see that coming. Between that win and a future tag team title match, things are looking up for Miss Brooke.

We got more emotion and backstory out of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in five minutes Friday night than we’ve got out of Fire and Desire in five years. Keep it personal and keep it up ladies!

Give me more of those short introductory vignettes like we saw for The Forgotten Sons! Now’s the time to let us know these superstars really are!

Some keep their friends close…#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/igLNbOJheL

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) April 18, 2020

We wanted more of the hacker and we’ve got him. Could this week’s spot be teasing a twist and potential heel turn between teams like The Miz & John Morrison, The New Day, The Usos and Bliss & Cross? Or maybe the hacker means Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn or Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak. Intriguing!

Daniel Bryan and Cesaro in the same ring is truly a clinic and their short time together Friday night didn’t disappoint. Good to see Bryan back in the title picture too by qualifying for the MITB match. I wonder if we’ll see Drew Gulak join him there as next Friday, Gulak faces King Corbin in a MITB qualifying match.

Not for nothing, but shouldn’t Corbin and Elias do a match in Memphis for the rightful title of The King when it’s all said and done? Jerry “The King” Lawler would have to do commentary of course!

DON'T YOU DARE BE SOUR! (via @WWE) #SmackDownpic.twitter.com/ockboZz3sF

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) April 18, 2020

Congrats to The New Day – now 8 time WWE Tag Team Champions! Big E gets it done over Jey Uso and The Miz in the triple threat match. Nice touch using the “social media” reactions from Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods too!

Parting shots:

RIP Howard Finkel. A legendary voice. But so much more. Simply a legend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

If you haven’t gotten a chance to see The Big Show Show on Netflix, do it. It’s very entertaining and funny. Paul Wight’s got some acting chops folks!

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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