#cranberry discourse

[unofficial-trader-joes]

cranberreies are good. youu agree.

[littlethingwithfeathers]

Can I make my own cranberry sauce?

Yes.

Do I?

No. I don't have room for one more pot on the stove. Long live goo can!!!!!!!!

And they look out so hard for the well being of the spiders AND the dolphins

[citrustan]

for what it's worth [1/4] (jjk)

pairing: jeon jungkook x reader

genre: angst, fluff (this comes in a bit later), light smut, college student!reader x crush!jungkook

summary: you make an awful revelation about your crush of two years.

word count: 3k

warnings: none! except for the fact that this might read a teeny tiny bit creepy to some.

note: hello, here is me trying to give you this story before i scrap it because who knows? maybe some of you might not hate it! i need to edit it a little more but that happens later :) please tell me what you think! don't be silent! even if you think it's bad, i'd really love to know about it!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4

“You know, this may sound delusional but I think he’s kind of into me,” you blush, hiding half of your blushing face behind your fingers. 

“Oh?” Jia smiles at you. 

“Yeah, I mean, I think so?” 

“What makes you say that?” Jia tilts her head, asking out of curiosity. 

“Well, during the whole ‘Antonio is homosexual’ discourse, he sided with me and he sat next to me for the third time this week--” you pause to take a sip out of your cranberry and lychee juice box, “And he drew in my journal. Roses and bunnies. There’s nothing he can’t do.”

Jia reached forward to play with your braided hair, “_____, is he, like, single?”

Anxiously biting at the paper straw that the café gave you, your response was immediate. 

“I think so. Nothing on his social media indicates that he’s, you know, not single. He barely posts!” you pout. “Jungkook’s so pretty, he could easily be a model. Super photogenic.”

“Hm, that’s true.” Jia bit her lip. “But what if he was dating someone? It would change things for you,” - “I mean, yeah sure, but I still think I want to confess when I have the chance to.” 

“Even if he wasn’t single? Isn’t that kind of an asshole move?” Jia snapped. 

Your eyes momentarily widen at her sudden outburst. What had gotten into her?

You grimace at her. “Um, yes. I wouldn’t-” you shrug, “if he has a girlfriend, I will not try anything, of course. But he doesn’t.”

Jia gave you a pointed look, “It was just hypothetical.”

“I know.” You frown.

It’s been a while since you first set your eyes on Jeon Jungkook. But never has the thought of him having a girlfriend ever crossed your mind. He just seemed like a solo rider. It felt safe to crush on him.

The first time you laid your eyes on Jungkook was at a mutual friend’s freshman mixer. You’d like to think you hit it off but couldn’t figure out how to proceed, with your schedules overlapping. Neither of you made the effort to switch around or make it work. So, you don’t feel too bad about it. You have never really crossed paths after that before he was out in the same class as you this semester. 

Most people know him as the secret weapon of the music theory and software development thingy departments. He’s easily the most beautiful man on campus and his smarts and personality somehow match up.

You’re pretty sure if this was some shitty, unoriginal, K-drama, he could be the perfect second lead who never gets the girl he wants.

Naturally, after the night of the mixer, you couldn’t help but garner a small, minuscule, almost insignificant crush on the man; which has grown astronomically since then.

You can’t seem to understand what made Jia even ask you something like that. Unless---

“Why would you ask me that out of nowhere? Have you heard otherwise?” You suddenly interrogate her, startling her. She visibly flinches.

“What? No.” You hear her scoff. “I just realised we never discussed it before, ever.” 

She laughed it off while you stared at her, unconvinced.

“I told you. Hypothetical.” She reminds you after taking note of your curious and somewhat frazzled state.

Jia was usually never interested in anything you had to say about Jungkook.

Although, you’re able to catch on to some cues slowly. Jia gets annoyed when you blabber about Jungkook. It’s understandable though. You speak of him almost every single day. If Jia were to gush about someone to you the same way, you couldn’t promise you’d receive it any better than she does.

Attempting to change the subject, you offer her a bite of your red velvet pastry, “I think they’ve stopped using the off-brand cream cheese.”

She opens her mouth, waiting for you to feed her.

You spoon a proper amount of cake to icing ratio and wave it in front of her nose.

“It does smell better,” she hums with a pleased expression on her face. “But, the overly sweet cake and bitter matcha combo was charming in its own way.”

An animated, pink, heart-shaped light bulb goes off in your head.

“Do you think Jungkook would like it if I brought him matcha or another drink? It’s a… you know, a gesture. Might put me on his radar.”

So much for wanting to stop discussing him.

You stare at her, eagerly waiting for her take on your little idea.

She snickered, but you swore it could be mistaken for a scoff, “Just leave him be.”

You quiet down but internally make a note to yourself to buy two cranberry lychee juice boxes instead of one tomorrow. Boys like cranberry, right? 

Recently, you’ve been finding Jia more irritable. Not just when you blab about some guy but even in general. You swore you could feel her distancing herself from you and that’s a chance you don’t want to take. 

Jia isn’t the only one on the receiving end of your love-foolish chatter. 

By now, you’ve most definitely discussed it with almost every friend of yours, excluding the mutual ones you share with Jungkook. Even the friends who don’t go to the same university as you know of your crush on Jungkook. Although, they’re a tad more receptive to your endless chatter than Jia. 

It’s embarrassing only if you really, really think about it. But, you generally brush the humiliation off as a secondary, less important issue.

Jia and your relationship started and ended right where it began--- at university. She’s your only friend in university with whom you share most of your classes, precisely six out of nine in total.

During your first year, you decided to stick together out of convenience, sharing a fashion designing and styling major and whatnot. It’s easier to latch onto each other when you’re expected to work in a group than find someone new and socialize at this level. The competition is pretty cutthroat, you wouldn’t want to risk working alongside someone you have no chemistry with. It’s too late for experimentation.

Jia, unlike you, lives off-campus and her bus arrives almost twenty minutes before your college shuttle that goes directly from the cafe to your dorm gate. So, you accompany her to the bus station and wander off for a while.  

Remembering to run a small errand, you stop at a stationary store to buy ribbons and envelopes. Just in case.

It was a fifteen-minute walk to the store and back. You swing your fluffy, white bag and trot to your favourite place within a five-mile radius of your campus.

You liked to envision your relationships. It’s most certainly not healthy but Jungkook is just oh, so dreamy, you couldn’t help it even if you tried.

You stare off into the sky, daydreaming of your non-existent relationship with him.

You would write him love notes and letters frequently and decorate them with fresh, red, or pink lipstick stain kisses, maybe a few doodles and stickers as well. And when he’d buy you flowers, you’d do your best to dry them and preserve them so that you can look back at your relationship and swoon.

Maybe he’d take you to watch plays or concerts or maybe he’s the type to win you a stuffed toy at the carnival or to dress up for a theme party. And you could save the tickets and wristbands from those events.

You can’t even bear the thought of actually being able to go to a regular college party with him, being his date, the one who gets to dance on him, hold him and kiss him--- that’d disappoint quite a lot of people, you reckon. He is well-liked. A tiny bit private too. Maybe you could be his little secret. The thought of being his secret girlfriend turns you redder than a plum. Imagining yourself being his anything makes your heart pump blood twice as hard as the normal rate.

“Hey?”

Sigh.

“_____?”

Involuntarily, you respond to your name being called, “Huh?”

“Hey, you’re holding up the line.”

Your eyes focus on the familiar-faced cashier. An embarrassed giggle escapes your lips. You quietly apologised to the customers behind you.

“Joon. Hi, sorry. Spaced out.” You blush. As if he knows what you’re thinking about, he smiles fondly, “I don’t know if it’s cute or creepy that you think of him this often.”

Furrowing your brows, “It’s innocent! I’m not, like, harassing him or sexualizing him or anything.”

Namjoon scans your ribbons and the packet of off-white envelopes, “I’m only messing with you, cloud.”

You hum knowingly. “See you in class.”

You wave him off.

'Cloud' is one of the nicknames lovingly given to you by your seniors, Namjoon and Yoongi.

Yoongi says that you think miles ahead and higher than anyone else he knows and Namjoon agrees. But, you’ve always thought it was because you’ve got your head up in the clouds most of the time. It’s like a permanent state of consciousness. It is your only indulgence. Time goes by way too fast, you’re busy all the time. The only ‘escape’ is your silly little daydreams.

While people find your crush on Jungkook cute, sometimes you can’t help but put yourself in his shoes. 

You wouldn’t want someone like you crushing on you, so why would he? It’s one of the things that has stopped you from actually asking him out, or talking to him at all in the past.

Now, on the other hand, you’re nearing the end of the semester and the beginning of your winter break. Soon, you’ll have all the time in the world.

This time, you refuse to get too ahead of yourself and fantasize about your prementioned relationship. Perhaps, it’s ambitious or even egoistical to call it a premonition.   

You’re on your way back to the shuttle pick up point when you notice another oddly familiar figure. 

Jungkook!

You shake your nerves and walk as casually as you possibly can, to where he stood.

Secretly clearing your throat, you greet him with a shy smile, “Hi.”

When he doesn’t respond, you debate on shifting even closer, but that would be an awkward move and a serious invasion of his personal space. His dark hoodie seemed to interfere with his peripheral vision, too.

So, you tap him gently on the arm. His head swiftly faces yours, making you take a step or two back.

“Hi,” You owlishly stare at him.

Jungkook scrunches his brows, a little embarrassed that he doesn’t recognise you.

“Hey… how are you?” He recovers. “Good! A little cold.” You smile. 

It smelt like snow, but you wouldn’t want to creep him out with your odd senses.

Where did he know you from? He’s positive he has seen you before.

“Right, yeah. It smells like snow,” he responds.

t that, your mouth almost drops open. That’s what you were going to say too!  

Your enthusiasm shows as you explain, “It does! I thought I’d scare you if I said something like that.”  

The corners of Jungkook’s eyes crinkle, complimenting the huge smile that adorned his face.

“I’m Jungkook. Or JK. What’s your name?”

Oh?

Ow, you internally clench your heart.

Your face momentarily falls deep down into the ground, but you almost instantaneously pick it right back up.

The object of your secret affection doesn’t :) even :) know :) you.  

“_____.” You shyly brush your hair off your shoulder to your back, “We’re in literary theory studies with-” -  “Carmichael? Right! You’re Jia’s _____.” 

You falter but register what he just said to you.

Whose what now? 

He nods, “I knew I saw your face before! I remember your elocution thing about Woolf. It left a mark on me!” He pats you on the shoulder. Like you would a child. 

But, more importantly, Jia’s _____?

You knew the girl had godly looks and an angelic personality, but- “Hey, is everything okay? I swear I meant it in the best way possible. I didn’t have much interest in literature. But ever since that speech, I’ve been focusing more on figuring out books by myself rather than depending on what the author tries to convey. It’s fun to be rebellious.” Jungkook elaborates when he sees your eyes dim.

You fail to register his compliments for a bit. A million thoughts are racing in your mind at thousands of miles an hour.

“_____?” Jungkook slightly bends his knees to get a better look at you.

“Mhm, right. The correct term is intentional fallacy,” you mutter with a ghost of a smile. “And, thanks.”

Although Jungkook’s a little confused, he nods anyway. “Yeah! I-”

Tilting your head to the side, you blurt, “How do you know Jia?”

Jungkook stares at you.

“Sorry, I mean, I don’t know. She has never… mentioned you before?” you offer. 

“Oh. Well, I’m- Jia’s my girlfriend. She has talked about you a few times. Enough to know you’re good friends,” he blushes.

“Oh!” You squeak.

You clutched the bag of accessories tighter. You’re sure your nails have made little, crescent injunctions on your palm because of how tightly you gripped the handle.

“Yeah. She didn’t tell you it was me…?” Jungkook was starting to look worried.

“Huh? No, yeah.” You nervously laugh, “I must’ve glossed over it, I mean- you know.”

You’ve never stuttered so hard in your entire twenty years of living.

“Actually, yes, I believe she did talk about you. The- uh, the candles?” You suddenly, vaguely remembered Jia talking about making candles with an ‘almost boyfriend’ friend.

Talk about quick reflexes.

Just like that, Jungkook lets out a sigh of relief, “Oh, good! You looked like you were about to start crying. Because- well, she tells me about this girl she's friends with who has some kind of a creepy, schoolgirl crush on me or something. And for a hot second, I thought that’d be you.” 

You raised a brow. Way too many revelations are being made against your will. And your mind is empty. Null. Nada. Not a thought in that pretty little head of yours.

“Yeah. I know it sounds strange, turns out I don’t even know this girl.” Jungkook looked down at his phone, “The bus is later than usual.”

It’s hard to make sense of everything. Why would he suddenly assume you were the girl even though you’re Jia’s friend? 

You press your lips together. “Do you think it’s creepy?”

“The- what?” He looks up from his phone, with his full attention on you.

“The girl. Who crushes on you or whatever.” You reiterate, “Do you find that creepy?”

Jungkook pauses. He tilted his head from side to side, deep in thought.

“Honestly?” He leans in closer to you and raises a brow, “Maybe a little. I mean, I don’t even know her. But, Jia does. They’re friends. Then again, maybe, creepy is an overstatement.”

You hum and stare at your feet.

Sadness and cold do not go well together. This time, actual tears threaten to slide down your cheeks. You shift your weight from one foot to another.

“Why’d you ask?” Jungkook senses a shift in mood.

“Oh, just out of curiosity.” You flash him a small smile. It didn’t reach your eyes. Jungkook slowly nods and goes back to checking his phone for updates.

Part of you wants to admit to him that it was you because suddenly, Jia’s questions from earlier that day made sense.

But then, you don’t want him to think of you as some creepy girl with a creepy crush.

You weren’t creepy.

People would’ve told you off if that were to be the case. They mostly encouraged you or at least didn’t stop you.

With the exception of Jia, of course. Even then, she wasn’t entirely vocal about it.

Is it pity or sadism?

Was everyone hiding this from you? Did everyone but you know about it?

You doubt that Sieun, a mutual friend of yours and Jia, would keep something like this from you if she knew. 

But then again, you never expected Jia to turn out to be so… sneaky.

Your sadness outweighs your embarrassment.

“Are you waiting for the shuttle too?” he questions you with a raised brow. 

You open your mouth for a second or two before settling on nodding. 

“I don’t think the bus will get here anytime soon. It’s already snowed in on the fifth.” Jungkook turns the bright screen towards you. “We can Uber out of here before the snow sets in here. Unless you want to wait?”

“Sure,” you plainly reply. 

“Is that a yes to the waiting or?” Jungkook chuckled. 

“No. No more waiting. Uber’s good.” you softly spoke. 

“Great, I’m on it!” He affirms.

It’s still unsettling for you to have no natural, outward reaction to indirectly being called a creep by someone you admired for so long.

Suddenly, your embarrassment skyrockets. 

You can’t comprehend your emotions; you feel like you’ve been punched in the throat with a stone brick.

There are dead butterflies in your tummy--- moths. The wind feels colder, and you shudder.

You stare at the chipped nail polish on your thumb. 

A warm jacket suddenly dons on your shoulders. “You need it way more than I do.” Jungkook frowns, “Are you okay?”

You abruptly turn to him, thanking him gently for his jacket, “I was just cold.” 

You softly scoff, “You’re awfully kind.”

Jungkook pats you on the shoulder before he says, “Any friend of my girlfriend is a friend of mine! Plus, you’re cute.”

He’s really cheesy. Even though the single mention of Jia struck very thick, large needles in your tummy, you couldn’t help but smile at his words.

Au contraire to your expression, for the first time in a while, you’re not in the clouds but the complete opposite--- grounded, perhaps a more accurate term would be ‘devastated’. You’re absolutely, completely floored. Underground. Downright stumped. Confused. Definitely angry. 

You vowed to push your emotions away for the duration of your travel with Jungkook. 

[cosmossystem]

hi! we're the cosmos system. (as featured on award-winning world-renown nobel-prize-winning subreddits such as r/SC!!!)

first off: minors should not follow us. we will not vet every single follower personally but we DO post about adult topics and we are NOT comfortable with you interacting with us about those things (normal interaction is fine.)

bodily 20, treat all of us like adults. we're traumagenic-ish with OSDD but we're friendly to all system types. we've known we were a system for 8 years now. there's about 40 of us including our several subsystems. all of us are either fictives, therians, alterhumans, or usually a mix. so for privacy, we use nicknames on this account.

we're mostly multiple with some degree of median, but don't care to figure out what, except to know that we have several subsystems. we also have a lot of age sliding.

collectively we are nonbinary and transmasc and struggle with avpd & ocd, so you'll see posts about our experiences with that. additionally, we post a lot about our experiences with invisible illness, and we are VERY anti-psych-industry and pro-unity when it comes to disability activism. we're also autistic & semiverbal! (but we don't struggle with autism, we're actually quite good at it.)

PLEASE SEND US ASKS!!! we love attention!!!! we don't bite and we would LOVE to be your friend!!!! we use emojis when writing so you'll know who you're talking to, but you can ask to speak to someone specific if you want. check the tags to see who posted what.

no dni, but we block zionists, anti-endos, exclusionists, transandrophobes, most radqueers, "cripplepunks", and transmeds. (we don't post about ship discourse here so anyone can follow, but for the record we're pro-fic & pro-ship. please enforce your own DNI, because we won't do it for you.)

members below :] this isn't everyone, just the ones comfortable posting and chatting.

💙 cass / max (they/kit/it, aux he)

🍒 cranberry (any/they)

🅰 amelia (they/she interchangeably, or no pronouns)

💿 red / taylor (he/ae)

🖤 vann (he/him)

🌼 winter / gem / jazz / penelope or penny (she/they)

☀ memory (she/her)

🤖 malware (he/they)

🥚 jam (he/they)

🐾 sage (she/he/they/cat neos)

🧤 crush (he/him)

💜 mike / micah / michael or any variants of that (he/any except she)

previously:

🤍 angel (any pronouns)

[zwalrus]

Don’t ask why, because I literally have no clue, but my family always had cranberry sauce (usually canned cause it’s hard to find raw or even frozen cranberries outside of their harvest season) every week for Shabbat dinner. Which resulted in:

1. Me not really realizing cranberry sauce is mostly just a thanksgiving thing for most people until absurdly late in life

2. Around channukah time we were more likely to have home made cranberry sauce because raw/frozen cranberries are available, hence the latke/cranberry combo

Cranberry sauce on latkes. Specifically my mom’s home made cranberry sauce which is very citrus heavy and tart. We also do the standard sour cream and applesauce (separate but both options available)

smacks of Thanksgiving supersessionism but maybe that's my own flawed associations and inability to imagine how expansively we can use cranberry sauce.

[l0ve-lett3r-4-u-txt]

⋆.ೃ࿔* :･🌱⋆.ೃ࿔* :･

rusty / Russell / r0b0 / clover

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

any + all prns !!

┆ ⤿ 🚃 ⌗

Lesbian, Objectum, genderfluid

╰┈➤ interests . . . 🍋

‧₊˚ ┊aliens, gore, blood, sci-fi, , science, cryptids, Alfred’s playhouse, object shows, biology, objects in general, anatomy, photography, aqua teen hunger force, moomins, bugs, marine biology, plants, electric dreams, technology, etc. !

Bolded = favs !!

𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋ music . . .┊MF DOOM, limp bizkit, bloodhound gang, ICP, femtanyl, 4lung, Harley Poe, lustsickpuppy, Albert Hammond, David Byrne, S3RL, Disko Warp, kikuo, maretu, luvwillow, goreshit, SacriStuff, Andrew W.K., oingo boingo, creepP, vampyx, Styx, M, strawberry switchblade, she wants revenge, toy-box, sir mix-a-lot, junie & thehutfriends, MSI, MAILPUP, boy fantasy, ANGELMANE, rebzyyx, death grips, Hollywood undead, millionaires, Ayesha erotica, beastie boys, they might be giants, kitty gore, sum 41, the offspring, your favorite Martian, Kevin Macleod, pixies, David Bowie, Radiohead, the strokes, Jeff Buckley, weezer, the cardigans, the cranberries, the smiths, dazey and the scouts, bratmobile, Le Tigre, hole, MCR, the velvet underground, the white stripes, Fiona Apple, mitski, odie Leigh, the sugar cubes, the moldy peaches, the crane wives, cosmo sheldrake, yaelokre, CBMC, big thief

── .✦ dislikes . . . 🌿

.☘︎ ݁˖ certain textures and sounds, getting injected w things, getting blood work done, veins, human species

↳ dni . . . 🍯

♬⋆.˚ I have no dni ! I block + follow freely

⋆. 𐙚 ˚ byf . . . 🌾

⋮ ⌗┊ I do not partake in ship discourse, and believe everyone is free to ship what they want since fiction ≠ reality. Please do not follow if this makes you uncomfortable !!

₊˚ʚ 🧃₊˚✧ ﾟ. Socials . . .

ᨒ↟ 𖠰 insta . . .

୧ ‧₊˚ 🍵 ⋅airbuds . . .

⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ letterboxd . . .

(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶🍀) Carrd . . .

꒰ 🍀 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*: discord . . . l0v3bvg.txt

✮ ⋆ ˚｡𖦹 ��｡°🌻✩ ˚⋆𐙚｡ 𖦹.ᡣ𐭩˚

[penig]

Concerning Pink Lemonade

So, in the wake of yesterday’s brief lemonade discourse with @prismatic-bell, I started wondering. I began my researches at home, by consulting my late-70s edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Yes, Betty Crocker is a corporate invention and shill, but her cookbook (at least for that edition ) is very handy for a lot basic things. If a dish is frequently found on American tables, odds are good it’ll have some sort recipe for it, even if it isn’t your favorite version of the dish. And sure enough, “pink” was down as a variation on lemonade, and the lemonade recipe itself is an acceptable one. Alas, to make pink lemonade the instructions are to make basic lemonade and add two tablespoons of grenadine syrup and a drop or two of food coloring! Which is about what you’d expect from commercial lemonade but I think we can all probably agree that it’s a cheat in a private kitchen and not worthy of the name “home cooking.”

So I started considering what I knew, or thought I knew, about pink lemonade, and why I thought so. That it was made from grapefruit I had no doubt - I distinctly remember my mom’s voice telling me that when I hesitated to drink it the first time. But I think the rest of the idea I had about it, though logical and experience-based, is not something anyone ever told me. (I have never actually made the stuff myself; never had that much grapefruit juice on hand.) Because, pink lemonade excepted, if a drink is made from a fruit, water, and sugar, it is fruitade - lemonade, limeade, orangeade. But grapefruitade is not a word and you only have to see or say it to know why. So grapefruitade became pink lemonade - essentially the same recipe, with an appropriate amount of grapefruit juice in place of the lemon juice. If a fruit is added to lemonade it becomes fruit lemonade - strawberry lemonade, raspberry lemonade, etc. Add one more fruit and you’ve got yourself a fruit punch.

This all seems tolerably obvious to me. But prismatic-bell’s evidence demonstrates that, to some people, strawberry lemonade is an alternate term for pink lemonade, not a separate thing.

So I asked my husband what was in pink lemonade and he said: “Well, if it’s real pink lemonade, grapefruit.” Which was highly gratifying but not definitive. He’s from Georgia and my family is all midwestern (though I”m an Air Force Brat and my cuisine, like my accent, is a kind of American Fusion). We are, however, the same age, and I thought it entirely possible that the original pink lemonade had fallen out of fashion and that Kids Today had never known The Real Stuff. So I cranked up the old search engine and went looking for pink lemonade recipes and culinary histories.

Well! Imagine my consternation when I turned up not one single pure grapefruitade recipe, only a lot of variations on fruit lemonade. Cranberry is apparently far the most common, but prismatic-bell’s strawberries, raspberries, pomegranates, and even watermelon appeared. Even more shockingly, one of the legends of its invention (which are lost in the mists of the 19th century circus) is that it was created when a refreshment stand worker threw cinnamon candies into the lemonade. I can believe a lot of things, but I do not believe that.

So now I’m curious. I have no particular hope of a poll made on my blog getting any traction, but I’m going to turn the Shiny New Post Editor back on and make a poll, and plead for it to be reblogged around. I’m typing this in Legacy because I forgot and anyway who’s going to read all this before voting in a poll?

[cranberrytea451]

Have tea with me!

Ask game I made in the middle of the night.

Green: ask me for an unpopular opinion or tell me one of yours

Ginger: tell me about your comfort character and I’ll talk to you about mine

Black: music discourse! Let’s talk about songs and artists

Earl grey: I’ll tell you my personal head canons on characters and stories(you can also tell me yours)

Peppermint: weird stories. Ask me about one or tell me one of yours

White: send me a meme or tell me a joke

Golden flower: I’ll pour my heart out to you, if you need some comfort I’ll draw you something small and cute

Lavender: random thoughts and questions you have

Cranberry: guess something about me!

[honey-makes-mogai]

[ID: A nine horizontal striped flag. The fourth and sixth lines are wavy, while the second and eighth lines have wide semicircles on them facing inwards. On the bumpy lines there are six hot pink hearts. The colors, from top to bottom, are dull red, cranberry pink, hot pink, neon fuchsia, pastel magenta, neon fuchsia, hot pink, cranberry pink, and dull red. End ID]

Lustadored -

[PT: Lustadored -]

A gender under the genderadored system related to the sin of lust and being adorable / adored, being lustful and adorable / adored, being the sin of lust and adorable / adored, the sin of lust being adored by all, the sin of lust being adorable / adored, etc!

[ID: A nine horizontal striped flag. The fourth and sixth lines are wavy, while the second and eighth lines have wide semicircles on them facing inwards. On the bumpy lines there are six light pink hearts. The colors, from top to bottom, are light gray, white, light pink, plum pink, dark magenta-red, plum pink, light pink, white, and light gray. End ID]

Chastityadored -

[PT: Chastityadored -]

A gender under the genderadored system related to the virtue of chastity and being adorable / adored, being chaste and adorable / adored, being the virtue of chastity and adorable / adored, the virtue of chastity being adored by all, the virtue of chastity being adorable / adored, etc!

IDs by: @/mogaidescribed

Tagging: @radiomogai

[Banner ID: A pastel yellow banner with a sunflower on either side. In brown text with a white outline, it says "- Please let me know if this has been coined before! -" /End ID.]

[DNI transcript: "-DNI- Basic criteria, anti-mogai, proshippers, ableists, aphobes, racists, zoophiles, rpf shippers, fandom discourse, under 13, transid/transx". /End transcript.]

[hachama]

We are a week and a half out from chanukah and I haven't seen nearly enough discourse.

Reblog with:

Favorite Hanukkah spelling

Favorite latke topping

Favorite tradition

And the thing other Jews do for Hanukkah that you just can't get onboard with.

For me, it's a tie between Janice and Honk

Solidly applesauce, but for the scorching hot take I'm going to say cranberry sauce is underrated

Sufganiyot. We have traditional donuts. How cool is that??

Hanukkah Harry/ Hanukkah trees. I know this is rich coming from the person with blue and white lights and garlands on my desk, but that's too goyische.

References to get your brain ticking:

https://at.tumblr.com/hachama/634452880243539968/sz4mnsj4c3hi

https://at.tumblr.com/hachama/701457240813649920/dwfum6pqiiid

https://at.tumblr.com/hachama/189071286751/teuzbcfmt2rp

https://at.tumblr.com/hachama/189945254421/0g2sdxnmtd1k

[prospitian-monarch]

Under the cut: my palamedes' sollux DNA proof, recently unearthed while rummaging through tazmuir's fanfic for vrisrezi quotes (vote vrisrezi here!).

@diamond-rings-and-gutter-bones as per request. (note if you want to see me talk more about tlt or post with any regularity you'll have to find me at my main at @augerer!)

Also please note I've turned off reblogs on this post because I don't want to be misconstrued as trying to get into discourse about tlt being homestuck fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, which for the record i think is completely untrue. although as you've been mentioned i think you can reblog if you'd like to reply!

From "The Last Hearing of Gamzee Makara", urbananchorite:

Kanaya is mopping a little at the cracked goggles with an embroidered handkerchief, smelling luminous, clean. “Sollux was a marvel,” she says, with surprising warmth.

From Gideon the Ninth:

"Sextus was a marvel," admitted Harrow. "Too bad you didn't marry him. You're both into old dead chicks."

(second line maintained for the Aradia comparison).

From "BL4CK HOL3, green 2un", urbananchorite:

The story is a terezi-narrated oneshot about the moment when Sollux dies piloting the meteor through the veil. I think it illustrates well the type of Sollux characterization that ua and e.g. paratactician generally had (not entirely the same as canon sollux) which is specifically what palamedes has the vibe of. Also there's the very similar line at the end.

Blood comes in great mustardy gouts from his empty eyeholes. It fills up his goggles and squelches out the rims, khaki on cranberry. It leaks out his nose and you know his screams without hearing them; not from the pain, but as acceleration. You know what he’s like, don’t you? His mind is cracking its whip to never mind his shell, his meat, where the hell did they ever get him. They’re bullshit. An ecstasy of contempt. Do it, asshole, do it, do it. You think you can hear his bloodpusher pounding, quicker and quicker, hurling itself against his ribcage with beating wings. You think you pinpoint when it starts to give; when it misses those first few beats and he screams through them, the moment when at last Sollux Captor’s heart bursts. The remaining ten seconds he runs on adrenaline and wild, maniac stubbornness, his mind running up a bill that his body can't pay. His mind skips town, his mind goes running far into the distance. There's so much light. You swear you can see it. [. . .] Sollux becomes a falling star.

From Gideon the Ninth:

"Yes," said Palamedes. "I also know you must have studied radical thanergetic fission, so you know what happens when a necromancer disperses their entire reserve of thanergy very, very quickly." [. . .] The sickroom exploded into white fire, and the bonds pinning Gideon snapped. She fell hard against the wall and spun, drunkenly, lurching back down the corridor as Palamedes Sextus made everything burn [. . .] She ran for her life down the long corridors, past the ancient portraits and crumbling statues, the grave goods of the tomb of Canaan House, the mechanisms of this feeble shitty machine crumbling as Palamedes Sextus became a god-killing star.

[lovejustforaday]

Shoegaze Classics - Doppelgänger

Doppelgänger - Curve (1992)

Main Genres - Shoegaze, Alternative Dance

A decent sampling of: Industrial Rock, Ethereal Wave, Dream Pop, Neo-Psychedelia

The common story of the origins of the term "shoegaze" itself is often told in a way that would suggest the term's meaning is twofold.

The more literal meaning comes from the heavy usage of multiple guitar pedals for bands to achieve their signature swirling, washy, dense guitar sounds, the guitarists spending more time at live shows staring down at their feet as they prepared to adjust their pedal board.

But it is also often implied that the idea of these bands coming to be known as "shoegazers" is for the generally introverted, shy, wall-flower disposition of the performers. I suppose it doesn't help that long bangs that hide the face, and baggy clothes were common fashion choices for the scene at the time. Of course, your mileage with this stereotype will vary depending on the band.

Next on my shoegaze classics retrospective, I wanted to take a look at a band that defies the wall-flower stereotype of the shoegazers, by taking the genre's signature heavy guitar reverb and turning it into the most bewitching, trancey, and euphoric 90s dance music. Today, we will be discussing Curve.

The Band

Curve emerged onto the London alternative scene in 1990 as a creative duo, comprised of the mysterious, semi-goth and generally badass vocalist and guitarist Toni Halliday, and the guitarist, bassist, drummer and programmer Dean Garcia, a signature lover of wearing sunglasses even at night.

It's easy to say that Toni Halliday had a considerably more memorable stage presence than almost any other frontman, woman, or person in the shoegazing scene. Her performances were animated, but in a very transfixed sort of way, her eyes casting a piercing gaze, with a dark and commanding, but nonetheless ethereal contralto voice coming out of what seems like a rather small woman.

Aesthetically, Curve were kind of in a separate category from most other shoegaze bands. They seemed to have more of a sleek, futuristic, and dare I say sexy image as a band. This was also reflected in their sound, which was decidedly much more intertwined with uptempo 90s dance music and industrial rock, their performances more frenetic and adrenergic.

Unfortunately, Curve is a band whose legacy has been obscured by tired comparisons (and the surrounding discourse) to garbage. *cough* that is, as in the band Garbage. So much so, that I feel compelled to take a minute of my own review to chime in with my own two cents on this ridiculously clichéd fan dispute. For those not in the know, Garbage were a frankly much more commercially successful and mainstream alternative rock outfit from the 90s, started by legendary Nevermind and Siamese Dream producer Butch Vig and a couple of his buddies, plus the 90s most iconically sullen yet outspoken Shirley Manson. The band already started out with connections to some of the biggest 90s alternative bands, most notably Smashing Pumpkins and The Foo Fighters.

Garbage has often been accused of ripping off Curve's sound and style, and at the very least, there are some undeniable similarities. Both bands took a maximalist approach to their sound, making layered, dancey alternative rock that incorporated many of the emerging subgenres of the time, and both with a moody "sad chick" contralto vocalist.

I'll be transparent: Garbage was (along with Smashing Pumpkins and The Cranberries), the band that really got me into 90s alternative rock. There was a time in high school when I was much less versed, and considered them to be one of, if not my #1 favourite band. Like many of my generation, I first learned about Curve THROUGH these comparisons.

And so I imagine it's hard for OG Curve fans not to look at Garbage's success, notice how a decent part of that success was tied to Butch Vig's industry connections, and not become very resentful towards Garbage and the band's many fans.

But let's also be fair: neither Curve nor Garbage were the first band to have a glum, sardonic female vocalist (Lydia Lunch and Kim Gordon come to mind almost immediately). Neither band invented the alternative dance subgenre. And to their credit, Garbage has acknowledged the comparisons to Curve over the years while only having nice things to say about the smaller band. Lesser people with bigger egos from that time (*cough* Billy Corgan *cough* Courtney Love) probably would've taken the opportunity to shit on the band.

Moreover, as their inclusion in this list would suggest, Curve were and are a shoegaze band first, which is a pretty clear distinction. Garbage's sound was never really shoegaze at all; at best, there's a lot of noise pop on the first Garbage record. But Garbage's brand of alternative rock is a lot more poppy, and sometimes trip hoppy (which was hugely successful in the 90s). Likewise, Curve's sound was almost certainly never going to go as mainstream as Garbage. And that's okay, because most great music doesn't go mainstream.

But honestly, even having to acknowledge all of this is kinda lame. It's beating a dead horse that's already been dead for at least 20 years, and Curve's legacy as a band should not be "the band that was Garbage before Garbage".

Instead, Curve should be understood as shoegaze pioneers, being one of the first shoegaze bands to experiment with fusing electronica elements, and playing around with more studio-based guitar sound layering. They are the studio nerds of the original scene, and they deserve to be celebrated for their gorgeously crafted, methodical 90s hybrid sound. Shoegaze walls of sound had never felt this pristine.

The Record

Doppelgänger is Curve's debut record, released after a string of EPs and subsequent compilation LP, as per usual for 90s first wave British bands. It is by all means a very stylish sounding record, co-produced with the famed alternative producer Flood, who's impressive resume of collaborative work spans from electronic bands like New Order and Depeche Mode to abrasive alternative rock like P.J. Harvey and The Jesus And Mary Chain.

As I've hinted at already, this is one of the most 'produced' albums of the first wave of shoegaze records. Far from being a negative, I really enjoy this approach. There is a lot of layering of different tracks happening in the mix, and the whole project comes together as this really punchy, roaring, and technicolor shoegaze that feels very urban and dancefloor ready for your local goth club.

The album's second single "Horror Head" is, put simply, one of the many masterpieces of the first wave of shoegaze. Among the trippiest and most surreal songs of its era, with dazzling, iridescent guitar feedback, sparkling drum machine sounds bouncing off of thin metallic sheets, and sonic colours of violet and indigo. Toni's haunting refrain of "heys" guide the listener to an enchanted nowhere like little forest fairies, while her deliciously dark lead vocals peek through all the many layers with the sense of a delirious protagonist in the songs' swirling universe. Like having the most unusually pleasant sensory overload headache.

As the second track on the record, this is frankly an incredibly hard act to follow, and I'd be lying if I didn't say that some other tracks feel like an attempt to recapture the godlike production of "Horror Head".

Oh, and for some odd reason, the version of the track that I downloaded off of Bandcamp is compressed and a little bass-heavy, versus the version on most other platforms. It would be a bit unfortunate if it is indeed an album/single discrepancy, since the mastering of the version up on YouTube is definitely superior. Regardless, I will judging this based off of the superior version, because its my blog and I can do what I want. Plus, in the age of mp3 files you can just go in and switch it out anyway.

Another standout moment is "Lillies Dying", the most rhythmic song on the record, with a groovy semi-baggy bassline, a descending, melting vocal lead, and a grainy sandstorm of guitar soundscapes. Music for a rave in a barren wasteland, makes me feel like spinning in circles.

I also really like the other single "Faît Accompli", less of a shoegaze track and more of a jagged, darkly erotic industrial rock dancefloor banger. Feels very intended for accompanying a light bondage session in a dimly lit BDSM dungeon.

The record eschews the dance beats for closer "Sandpit", a more atmospheric and introspective song featuring a more traditional combination of dream pop and shoegaze. The track is a nice palette cleanser, bringing a night of Dionysian wonders and relentless dancefloor madness to a definitive close with soft headphone sounds to acompany the bleary transit ride home.

What Came After That?

Curve had a longer original run than most first wave shoegaze bands, releasing 5 LPs from Doppelganger up to their last record in 2002 titled The New Adventures of Curve. I have not heard any of these records in full, but it seems like the band largely continued to do their thing, sometimes veering more into industrial rock territory.

Since then, the band has remained largely inactive save for a few archival releases. Curve are not among the many bands like Slowdive and Ride whom have gotten back together to record and release new records in the 2010s and 2020s.

Toni Halliday started a solo project in 2008 called Chatelaine which has also been mostly inactive, meanwhile Dean Garcia has been in and contributed to about a dozen bands since Curve finished.

But then not every band should have to keep putting out records indefinitely. Curve has a respectable discography, and I've heard bits and pieces from Cuckoo and the more overtly electronic Come Clean that assure me I would thoroughly enjoy those albums as well.

As it stands, Doppelgänger is inadvertently probably one of the most prescient shoegaze records of the 90s, even if it isn't nearly as acclaimed as any of the big three. There were several bands that blended with electronic dance music during the 2000s Nu-Gaze revival that owe a bit of influence to Curve whether they know it or not.

I also feel like this record broke ground for a lot of late 90s records in the alternative scene that were getting darker and dancier, like Smashing Pumpkins' Adore and Tori Amos' From The Choirgirl Hotel.

So here's to Curve, the too often unsung pioneers and studio witchcraft makers of the 90s first wave of shoegaze.

8/10

Highlights: "Horror Head", "Lillies Dying", "Faît Accompli", "Sandpit"

[aurumacadicus]

I was so busy reading about canned cranberry sauce discourse that I missed five minutes of my podcast 😒😮‍💨

[bisluthq]

She’s often out sober? She never misses a show. She produces great work. Her life is reasonably together for someone who’s had 20 years of a highly unusual life. I think you probably are too deep in your Annie Grace era (a fraudulent opportunist imo) if you’re so judgemental and intolerant of another person having a drink. Perhaps think about why Taylor Swift (rich bitch stranger - you called it) holding vodka cranberry and smiling and being affectionate to her boyfriend is always so triggering for you. There are no other messy signs of a problem. She’s 34 and has no kids at home that she’s slobbing on and she’s on a tour break. Relax.

…. when is she often out sober lol except at work (where I’m not even sure she’s sober 😂😂😂😂😂). I mean idc but idk why you do. This lady drinks a lot and normalizes drinking a lot (hardly the first person to - she does this through public behavior and lyrics). Also dunno what Annie Grace did to you or what alcohol did to you to make you its bestie. Drink, don’t drink, do whatever the fuck u want, but like… also why are we so caught up on “problem”?? I hate that. It’s not a “problem” necessarily but MOST people in western society could cut back on alcohol dude. Go to like a shop and see all the alcohol merch and ask yourself why we think that’s normal or admirable? Why do we want people to not be sober? Why do we think it’s “cool”? Again do what you want, I really don’t give a fuck, but you cannot deny Taylor drinks a lot. Also many people are super fucking functional and take a lot of substances. And “problem” discourse ain’t it for me btw.

[allieisacrybaby]

not to start food discourse but cranberry apple juice 🤌🏼💋

[glimmering-brainfamily]

...Okay I, as a non-american, did not realize that this was discourse. But let me put my finger on the scales for a second.

A chicken sandwich and a chicken burger are two very different things. If I ask you for a chicken burger and you hand me a chicken sandwich I'm going to complain to the chef and say I got the wrong order. A chicken sandwich:

-Always served cold -Pretty much always served between two slices of bread, although it might be between two sourdough buns if you're buying it from one of those fancy cafes -The chicken is pre-cooked and shredded and usually mixed with mayonnaise. It's going to have some fresh greens as well, and the best ones find some way to incorporate cranberry somehow (the one pictured literally just threw some fresh cranberries in but usually it's cranberry sauce). A chicken burger:

-The chicken can be breaded and deep-fried, breaded and pan-fried, or grilled without being breaded (among other methods of preparation). It can be a ground chicken patty or it can be a whole breast of chicken, or a thigh if you're feeling decadent. The only thing that matters is that it's one contiguous piece and that it is served hot. -It can be served between burger buns or between slices of bread. Using slices of bread is a lot rarer though. -Just about any burger fillings you'd use for a beef burger can be used for a chicken burger. Pickles, lettuce, tomato sauce, sliced tomato, barbeque sauce, fried egg, beetroot, whatever. Burger fillings are as flexible as they are universal.

i just went on a 5 minute rant about a burger being not a food, but a feeling deep in ur soul and had the horrible realisation that my time in america has changed me

but also chicken in a burger is absolutely a burger and i will fucking die on this hill