#just-- in a way that isn't worded like 'wow so creative!' which sounds like your aunt trying to be polite about Weird art she Doesn't Get

[blujayonthewing]

I never tell people 'wow, you're so creative!' because that feels like a patronizing twee compliment somehow I guess? but as an artist (more or less) who is NOT very creative at all I think it all the time with complete sincerity and admiration

[crimeronan]

god i know i keep half-tongue-in-cheek saying that my dad is literally belos owlhouse but. i've apparently gotten a little desensitized to Just How Bad He Is (because i have ESCAPED, YAY) & so today has been a delightful adventure.

i wrote an AITA post from his POV about stuff that happened several years ago, bc i was curious about how bad he'd get dragged - i updated the timeline but the Only fact i changed was the reason for his Woes (i blamed COVID economic struggles, which actually makes him a Hero compared to the truth. the truth being so ugly i'm not gonna detail it here good god).

i kept it true to POV by only using things that he actually did say to me at the time about why he was doing the things that he was doing, & blocking out all the relevant info about why the wronged party (me) was so upset, & having him praise his daughter (me) and go "i love her so much :) she's so smart and independent and i would never hurt her :)", & having him half-assedly admit he might've sounded unreasonable/angry/malicious, in a way that was clearly supposed to earn Good Dad points for being so Willing To Admit Imperfections, despite a continued constant doubling-down refusal to answer questions about actual important shit or fix anything ever.

cannot emphasize enough that this was not a fictionalized/embellished/creative POV. the only points of fiction were 1) my dad did not write these things on reddit, he said them to me in real life word for word instead and 2) this happened many years ago, not like... yesterday.

anyway the thread blew up and the commenters were all so kind and genuinely worried for me (as in, the daughter) and offering so much help that i hopped on a diff account to be my past self so i could reassure people i'm okay & had a plan in motion for gettin' the hell outta dodge. because i felt REALLY BAD that they didn't know i..... did in fact get out. people were so nice it made me actually fucking cry jesus CHRIST. i had in fact perhaps forgotten that these things were all as bad and worrying as they were

now. this is all a very serious and harrowing-sounding prelude to the actual point of this post, which is. a bullet list of some of my FAVORITE FUCKING RESPONSES. revel in these with me i had so much fucking fun. i have taken DOZENS AND DOZENS of screenshots to peruse whenever i need a healthy dose of Perspective

here they r:

you are CARTOONISHLY EVIL?

HOLY ABUSE BATMAN

DO BETTER. RIGHT NOW.

did you even listen to yourself writing this. HOW

there's something seriously wrong with you. like on an intrinsic unfixable level

hey this happened to me too! my parent died and i had a party about it btw

your daughter is never going to speak to you again after this

(note from the future: yeah)

you're going to act confused and sad when she goes no-contact aren't you

(NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: HE SURE FUCKING IS)

i think you are creating your own problems and then getting mad at them. maybe instead you could not do that

is this ragebait. i can't imagine anyone this horrible actually existing

this isn't ragebait. i can tell this isn't ragebait because I Know This Kind Of Man So Intimately

you are the asshole on literally so many levels i'm going to write a 15 paragraph response line-by-line dissecting everything wrong with you

are you aware that you're lying or are you literally this incapable of 2 seconds of honest self-reflection

i need to donate to a gofundme for your daughter right now immediately

(note from the future: i am not going to scam people by pretending a long-done sitch is a current emergency on gofundme. have no fear.)

wow. okay i'm gonna go hug my mom and thank her for not being you

you are Actually Literally Empirically the Actual Literal Worst Parent who has Actually Literally Ever Existed

HOW FUCKING DARE YOU????

WHO DO YOU FUCKING THINK YOU ARE.

I AM A 57-YEAR-OLD MOM OF FOUR ADULT CHILDREN AND THE MERE THOUGHT OF DOING ANY OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE DONE HERE MAKES ME PHYSICALLY NAUSEOUS

these vibes are so skeevy. leave her the fuck alone????

along with ASTONISHINGLY accurate inferences about exactly what was happening with the daughter (me) in all the missing missing reasons & like..... exactly how the situation was So Much More Ugly And Horrifying than an innocently confused i'm-so-well-intentioned dad-POV post would have you believe.

so. anyway. that was literally the most validating experience i've ever had in my entire life. i know i've said he's a bad guy before but i also always forget just how far beyond the pale he is. like wow that was. that was not a normal average human experience to have growing up huh.

IN CONCLUSION.

if you guys are ever wondering why i am the way that i am about, like........ anything....... everything....... whatever......

just remember.

i was raised by belos owlhouse.

[baconcolacan]

Haha you're probably so sick of these au swaps but im really invested!

I imagine if S!Tom and R!tom changed places spiritually instead, just imagine R!Tom waking up (in S!Toms body) freaking out because 1 he cant see shit and 2 someone is hugging him from behind?? Stay Tomm from the other hand..Oh..god. I doubt he'd be able to defend himself with R!Toms injuries

HAHAHA NOT AT ALL! Its good brain exercise for my creative flow, I dont mind the au swaps at all.

Oh definitely, R!Tom would NOT handle suddenly being blind too well. He'd probably think Tord had done something to him while he was asleep, plus he HATES physical contact so he would definitely freak out and start kicking/hitting at whoever is hugging him. This of course causes S!Tord to yell and curse "AY FY FAEN!!" which would only DOUBLE R!Tom's panic at hearing an (almost) familiar voice speak Norwegian. He'll tumble out of the bed in his panic and back away as much as he can until his back hits the wall, but he won't move since he cant see, though his fight instincts will be dialed up HIGH and will be ready to retaliate if anybody even comes CLOSE. Then...he starts seeing heat signatures. Which freaks him out EVEN MORE. "Owwww fuck! Thomas what the hell was that for?!"

The figure on the bed says, and Tom has no doubts that it's Tord. He growls and somehow his throat makes an animalistic sound, which, huh cool, but also not his main focus right now. "You stay the fuck back Larsin or so help me god I will KILL you."

That seems to make Tord pause on the bed. "...Kjaere that isn't funny."

Tom bears his teeth and somehow they feel sharper, he hears Tord pull in a quiet breath. "Come any closer and we'll see who's laughing you bastard."

They stay in silence for a while, and Tord's....fidgeting? On the bed. "What...is going on? Love are you...okay? What-" "Do NOT fucking call me that." Somehow his words sounded jumbled, a clicking noise in his throat followed after his growl. "Kjae- T-Tom..." That makes Tom pause at least. Tord never really called him Tom- at least not when he isn't trying to annoy him- plus...the way he said it seems...different somehow?? "Please...be calm, your hound, you're starting to trigger a shift...doesn't it hurt??" His what?? What in the world is happening?? "What are you-" Suddenly a door bursts open and Tom is back to raising his hackles. An actual goddamned hiss tears out from his throat as a new presence runs into the room. But...the scent (?) is familiar, and....he doesn't feel threatened by it. "...Daddy??"

Pup. Puppy. His (?) pup. His child- what??? he doesn't have a child!! - his pup. He makes a few clicking sounds before he could stop himself. The new presence stops. Then chirps. Suddenly he's all fours and running towards his pup the kid (?), he feels something lashing behind him as he curls himself around the kid before leaning up to growl low at Tord still on the bed. "...Uh...pappa??" The kid burrows himself closer to Tom, who calms down a bit at the action and lowers himself just a little. "What...is happening??" "I...don't know, puffin...." It takes a while, but eventually, AK manages to corral his dad (?) away from his papa. Meanwhile Tord makes a call to get Bing down to the cabin to find out just what the hell is going on. Why is Tom acting so strange?? ...And how come a partial shift didn't seem to hurt him?? ---- So....his eyes are back. Thats...wow, weird?? But....it seems like he's lost every other sense he had as a hellhound. Everything feels dull and limited. He cant feel any heat signatures, scents dont differentiate each other anymore. He can't feel the thrum of his hound in his veins. His body....ough fuck, holy hell. What the fuck ate him up and spat him out??? He sees all the bandages on him, and wondered how the fuck he wasn't dead yet. A door opened. Tom looks up and almost reels back in shock. T...Tord?? No, wait, how could...he's young, 30 at most, there are subtle differences to him, but he looks exactly like his husband used to when they were in their 30s. ...And why is he dressed like a douchebag?? What the hell?? "T...Elskede?"

'Tord' seemed to come at an abrupt stop as the door closed behind him. His one eye went wide, though it wouldn't be obvious to outsiders, Tom was extremely familiar with Tord's emotions when he tried to keep them subtle. Then a smile crawled up his face. And it looked too cold. "Hm, interesting..." Tom found himself wincing at the tone of voice 'Tord' used. It sounded too hollow, too distant, too...eerie, he supposed. His husband never spoke to him like that, as if he were some interesting toy. "I was wondering if you ever picked up on my language...." 'Tord' approached him, and suddenly all of Tom's senses were screaming at him to get out- His hands stopped before he could lift them. He was strapped down. What the hell?! "Have you been keeping secrets from me, Thomas?" 'Tord' was at his side now, and Tom flinched when his flesh hand came to caress the side of his face. "Did you study my mother tongue for me?" 'Tord' chuckled low, a cruel little laugh, as he gripped at Tom's chin to forcibly make him look at him. "I feel so touched!"

Tom felt his blood go cold. This man....isn't his husband....

"Won't you say it again, Thomas?" Red frowned at him, trying to look pleading, but his grip deepened more and more as Tom kept his silence, enough that his fingers were starting to dig into his skin. FUCK! THAT HURTS! Tom growled and pulled his head away, only for Tord to grip at his cheeks and yank him back towards him as he cried out. "Oh, no no no no no!" Red tutted at him as he held his face in a bruising grip. "You don't get to play with my feelings like that Thomas! How could you say something so sweet then suddenly act so cold??" Red tilted his head. "That's not very nice you know."

Tom scowled up at him. "Go fuck yourself, Larsin." He hissed.

Red chuckled. "Oh well." He said before letting Tom go only to grab him by the neck and slam him backwards on the bed, causing Tom to yelp and choke as the hold on him tightened.

He tried to break out of the hold, humans weren't as strong as hounds. But....he can't. What in the world is happening?! "I don't mind doing things the hard way."

---

hahaha I did have fun! As much as I could on a business trip anyway lmao. And the rest was good and well and long <3 I saw lots of birds.

[cursivebloodlines]

The way Dougie was about to genuinely respond before he realised that was the whole point of pretending that biscuit-gate wasn't initiated by them. Their little secret. Silly man, always a bit delayed to a joke. Though, he could argue that it was quite late - and he was deprived of biscuits until now, that is. So he needed the energy boost. It wasn't a big deal anyway; he'd happily buy them back if their owner became miffed. Felicity's rambling was precious, and once again she reminded him of him. Such a random conversation topic to have and yet he kept up just fine. "You know what, you're absolutely right!" he said, eliciting a soft chuckle. "If it's bad for you and you're having a biscuit anyway then you may as well have the sugar. I know two wrongs don't equal a right but I'm hardly inclined to believe sugar and a biscuit or two will kill us. I think we'll be just fine," he teased slightly, grinning a little over at her. Now it was his turn to ramble and...did he even make any sense? Probably not. Doubtful. But he had a feeling that she could keep up. Or at least, that was what he hoped anyway.

Felicity's words were sweet and for some reason her kindness meant a lot to him. It didn't take a lot for Dougie to find any words of positivity nice or sweet. Having spent so long being told otherwise, years of being told how he wasn't enough essentially, he clung on to any positivity directed at him like a dog tethered to a bone. Even something as simple as I really hope whatever disruption it was wasn't too unkind to you. "To me, it was whatever, it was nothing. You know how things could be but...I think some of my friends might disagree with me on that one so the jury's out...but thank you, really. That's lovely of you to say." That was an understatement and he could already hear the voice of his friends at the back of his head telling him that losing your self-worth because of one person to the point where it affected you getting to where you want in life was indeed, very unkind. But he chose to ignore that. Was that already oversharing? Dougie wasn't sure. It's not like he wanted to get into specifics and he didn't want her to feel sorry for him by all means. He was just simply...doing what he always did. Talked too much. His brief moment of panic faded when she started talking about herself, he was always better at listening to other people instead of talking about himself. "An artist? Wow! That sounds amazing," Dougie said sincerely, giving her another warm smile. "What sort of things do you like to paint? A variety of things like people or landscapes or do you dabble in a bit of everything?" he asked out of interest, genuinely intrigued. He had never been remotely good at art but he wanted to. Instead, he enjoyed appreciating it from a distance.

Which, the thought was, perfect for Felicity's next question. His eyes widened, visibly impressed that her work was being displayed in a show. The rambles started again but he listened attentively, a smile crossing his lips as he said nothing until she was finished. She was sweet, creative, a rambler like him and not to mention she was pretty and - Dougie ought to stop letting his mind wander like that. "I'm not so good at the whole words thing either if it's any comfort," he replied first, eliciting a soft laugh though he wasn't laughing at her directly. "I like art, yeah. Art is everywhere, isn't it? Even the people who say they don't like art have to like it to some degree. Music, painting - like you - or writing, television, etc. Art is all around us always." Where did that come from? Bloody hell. "And I'd - I'd love to come and see your work displayed. if it's not a bother, of course, to get a ticket! I can always pay for my own if you can't... I - and it will be just the one for me. Unless you want me to find someone to drag along..." he offered, laughing quietly at the thought. "But thank you! For inviting me along. That's - I - that's really kind of you and I'd love to."

"What biscuits?" she joked as she took one from the pack, agreeing that she would keep this a secret from god knows who in the practice. "I like mine with a splash of milk too, and one sugar...I know it's bad for you but I think there's no point in not having the sugar, if you're going to have a biscuit anyways, and you can't not have a biscuit with tea so therefore you might as well have the sugar, you know?" she rambled as she took another sip. What was she saying? It made sense to her anyways.

"It does that sometimes doesn't it" she said when he remarked how life got in the way of his career at a certain point. "I really hope whatever disruption it was wan't too unkind to you" she said, the words falling out before she could really stop herself. For some reason she felt the heat rise to her cheeks when he asked her what did she do, she never was that comfortable talking about her art, even though putting yourself out there and talking about it was part of the business, but in a normal conversation like this where she wasn't trying to sell him a painting for her to pay her bills, she found herself stuttering a litte. "I am an artist actually...mostly paintings, it's uh...well it's been a lot better here in comparison to other places" this was for many reasons. There seemed to be an interest in art in this city, and galleries and exhibitions had been a lot more accomodating for 'new artists' than in previous places, and also she no longer had James who would have persuaded her to stop art as best he could. That it was a waste of time...

But that was in the past. "do you like art? because you know I am...well I have some paintings that are going to be featured in a show next week...it's not that big of a deal really, it's uhh...well it is kind of cool too but...anyways yeah it's on next friday night if you had any interest...maybe I could get you a ticket...or two...if you need a two ticket, i mean second ticket...like I said I deal with art...not so good on the whole words thing" she really was trying to stop herself from talking, but something about the handsome heroic vet made her words run like a river. It was also her way of seeing if he was already taken...if this crush would end there tonight.

[buttercream-squad-imagines]

Tinder in Real Life

Pairings: Harry Lewis x fem!Reader, Sidemen x platonic!Reader Word Count: 2k Warnings: Language some people may find offensive, sexual themes, recycled lines from Sidemen Tinder in Real Life because I'm not at all creative Request: Hey! Could you do reader x Harry imagine where the sidemen do a collab video with the reader who is also a big youtuber and Harrys celebrity crush. And during the video the reader is very flirty, leaving Harry a flustered mess when the flirting is directed towards him, but very jealous when its with any other sidemen.

The Sidemen were one of the biggest groups on YouTube and one that you were very familiar with. At the age of 23, you were a fair bit younger than some of its oldest members but yet you had a close relationship with JJ, whom you had met through YouTube.

You had started your channel when you were 17, just under four years ago, making makeup videos, which was a passion of yours when you were younger. Not that you were any good at it back then. Those videos quickly become unlisted when your channel started blowing up in late 2016, now nearing 20 million at the present time.

It wasn't long before you expanded your horizons and had started making different sorts of videos, including vlogs of your everyday life - which wasn't and still isn't that exciting in your opinion - and those where you just had a laugh, attempting to do stupid challenges that were so popular back then. It was those, however, that grew your channel. Your fans seemed to love them and so you gradually started to make more.

As your small channel began to grow significantly, it caught the attention of KSI, a member of the Sidemen, who reached out to you to for a collab. You were ecstatic. You couldn't believe it at the time, why would someone like KSI with 20 million subscribers want to collaborate with you? By that time, you couldn't exactly call yourself a small channel anymore, with almost 5 million subscribers but it still didn't make any sense to you.

You and JJ quickly bonded after filming together. You had a very similar sense of humour and interests. As the years went, the older boy became one of your best friends, the nature of your relationship being very teasing and flirtatious but the both of you knew it was a joke. It was just the way you both were.

Though despite having known him for nearing 3 years now, you had never met the rest of the Sidemen, with the exception of Simon, as he lived with JJ. Which is why when he texted asking you to collaborate with the Sidemen, you couldn't turn the offer down. You were a fan of the group and the content they were producing. You thought the videos that they made were exceptional, that they were pushing the envelope of the standard of content on YouTube and often found yourself excited for new videos.

He had explained that they were filming another of their 'Tinder in real life' but a YouTuber version with the likes of BambinoBecky and ChiWithAC. You were so excited. You were finally going to meet the rest of JJ's friends and you had the opportunity to be a part of a Sidemen Sunday.

You arrived at the studio the boys were filming at in the afternoon, finding and greeting JJ before he introduced you to the other sidemen in addition to Lux, Freezy and Stephen.

"And you've already met Simon." He finished.

"Yeah. Nice to finally meet you all. JJ tells me a lot about you guys." You laughed.

"Because that's assuring." Ethan pointed out with a chuckle, the other boys letting out agreements.

"Not all bad, I promise." You teased, winking at him. Ethan felt the blood rushing to his face, immediately becoming flustered and stumbling over his words. You found that you often had that effect on people as you could be very direct and flirtatious even when you didn't mean it. To you it was just friendly banter.

"Geez Y/N, stop flirting with people you met literally five minutes ago." JJ rolled his eyes.

"You sound a bit jealous, Jide." You smirked, a teasing grin spread across your face.

"Nah, allow it." There were eruptions of laughter around the room, coming from the boys. You were quick to notice Harry standing out of the way and was significantly quieter than the others, with what seemed to be a forced smile on his face.

Harry was in his own head, barely paying attention to what was going on around him. When JJ had told him that you were going to be in the next Sidemen video, he panicked. You were an accomplished YouTuber who he was quite fond of to say the least. Well, that would be an understatement, he had a fairly large crush on you. A crush that no one but Freezy and Lux knew about.

He knew that JJ had been friends with you for some time now but never considered the possibility of even meeting you. His anxiety acted as a barrier to even the thought of it. But he was currently in the same room as you and had said nothing more than a short 'hello'. He longed to have the confidence Ethan had to speak to you, even more so for you to look at him the way you were.

Already you were flirting with JJ and Ethan, something that caused a pit to form at the bottom of his stomach. He wouldn't admit it, but he could slowly feel the jealousy forming. Not that he had anything to be jealous about in the first place!

You continued to speak with the boys as you got your mic set up, telling them stories you were sure would embarrass JJ.

"Y/N, stop." The older boy whined. He could be like a child sometimes, but it was one of his more endearing qualities. He simply wouldn't be JJ if he wasn't.

"No, carry on." Simon laughed.

"Oh, don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from." You teased.

"I think it's time we started, don't you think?" Harry grumbled.

"Right." You smiled at the boy, who's cheeks became tinted red. He ducked to hide his face and walked around to stand in the line, hiding himself in the middle.

"Hi, I'm Y/N, I'm 23 and I'm from Y/H/T." You spoke to the camera once you were given the go ahead.

"I'm Simon, I'm 28. I like to practice safe sex."

"Always a good start."

"I could tie you to the bed, so you don't fall off." He finished with a giggle. You acted like you were pondering it for a moment before letting out a laugh and swiping right.

"I'm down for that." You teased. The boys all let out rumbles of laughter

"Hi, I'm Ethan, I'm 26 and kiss me if I'm wrong, but you're gonna swipe right."

"What would you rather?" You joked. Ethan shrugged his shoulders and walked closer to the board, sticking his head through with his lips puckered, eliciting a cry of protest from Harry that this wasn't allowed. You laughed and made an over exaggerated motion to swipe to the right, causing him to pout playfully but walked over to the right anyway.

"Hi, I'm Josh, I'm 28. KSI has a top ten single, but you're the only hot single I can see."

"Wow, that was smooth!" You said with a grin. "Definite yes from me."

"I'm Callum, I'm 26. Are you into fitness?" Freezy asked.

"Can't say I am." You replied, unsure of what turn this could take.

"How about you fitness dick in your mouth?"

"I wouldn't get too excited babes, I gag on my toothbrush." You laughed. "We could try though."

You swiped right on him, chuckling as you watched him let out a yes before joining Simon, Ethan, and Josh. You frowned slightly, a crease forming between your brows as you saw Harry whisper something furiously at his friend but ultimately got distracted by Vik stepping up to go next.

"I'm Vik, I'm 25. My ex-girlfriend always said I'd never do better than her, wanna prove her right?" You could hear the cries of the boys in the background, some scolding him, others laughing.

"Man actually said prove her right. Not wrong." JJ shrieked with a shocked look on his face, holding his head with his hands.

"You need to find someone for that." You snarked, swiping left on the boy, who shrugged and walked off.

"Damn! You got told!" Lux cackled.

"Uh hi. I'm Harry. I'm uh 25, no I'm not I'm 24." He stumbled. "Are you sure you're a muggle? Because that ass is magical."

"You should see how magical it can be." You spoke before cringing at yourself and laughing, swiping right to avoid a reply. The boy's face grew a bright shade of red, closely resembling the colour of a tomato.

"Geez, is that an offer?!" Freezy yelled from the right side. You laughed, observing how Harry whispered furiously to the boy to stop and winked at him once he had could see. Your laughter only increased as you watched JJ step up.

"I'm JJ. I'm 28 and are you a raisin? Cause you're raising my dick." The boy in question stood in front of you so confidently, hands clasped together in front of him so seriously that you just lost it. By the time you composed yourself, there were tears almost falling from your eyes.

"A* for effort." You laughed, swiping right eliciting a cry of success.

You had wrapped up filming your segment of the video, which conveniently was the last of the day. You found JJ who you spoke to whilst the other boys were otherwise occupied talking to each other.

"Cheers for coming, Y/N/N. You've been great."

"Anything for you." You joked.

"Don't tempt me." He laughed. You could feel eyes on you, eyes that were burning into your side. You turned your head to see Harry staring you and JJ down before looking away after being caught in the act, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"Does Harry not like me or something?" You whispered to JJ, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.

"Not that I know of." He frowned looking at the younger boy. "He can be a bit awkward at times and gets flustered a lot."

"Right." You agreed. You excused yourself before sauntering up to the boy in question, calling his name to snap him out of the daze he appeared to be in.

"Oh, um hey Y/N." He stumbled.

"Hi." You smiled gently. "I uh, I was just wondering, do you... have I done something to offend you?"

"Offend me? Why, uh, why would you think that?" He rambled.

"It's just... it's nothing, it's probably just me overthinking things." You waved it off, feeling like a complete idiot.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I don't like you. I don't not like you, in fact I really like you! Oh, um I mean I like you, you're very pretty." The boy couldn't stop rambling which made you laugh. "No, wait."

"You think I'm pretty?" You blushed interrupting him. Harry felt his mouth go dry, not being able to get anything coherent to come out. "Well, Harry, I really like you too."

"What?" His eyebrows shot up so far it was almost comical. "Really? So, you don't like the other guys?"

"What? No." You laughed. "That's absurd. Why would you think that?"

"You seemed very..." The boy trailed off, not wanting to offend you after you had admitted to liking him.

"Flirty?" You finished, causing him to nod. "I'm like that with everyone, I don't mean to be half the time."

"Oh."

"Well, how about you give me your phone number and when you finally grow a pair, you can ask me out?" Your confidence levels had shot up spontaneously.

"Uh, sure." His cheeks had become a dark shade of red as he passed his phone to you so you could put your number in. You kept looking up at him as you typed, putting your name under 'Y/N x' in his contacts before handing it back to him.

"Y/N! Come on! We're going to Nando's!" JJ called from the other side of the room.

"Call me." You winked. Your bottom lip was caught between your teeth and was currently the only thing from stopping the wide grin from spreading across your face. A grin that hadn't disappeared from your face for the rest of the day, much to the curiosity of JJ, who was disappointed when you refused to tell him why, or more appropriately who, had put the smile on your face.

[asherlockstudy]

Uncomfortable close-up to their Valentine Newlywed answers

Since Rhett was a tad reluctant to compliment Link sincerely I decided to use my psychoanalytical skills (anyway whatever) and seek the underlying honest answers they wanted to give. This could be a bit much at times and perhaps you shouldn't read if you are not a Rhink shipper, that's why I used a cut.

"What he loves about me" Link's expression is a little confusing - maybe an attempt at doubt or self-deprecation but it looks to me more like the embarrassment of the blushing bride.

"I love your..."

Who wants to bet that the first thing that came to Rhett's mind was ass but then he changed it to the first word that came to his mind after ass? A-ccent. Like, there's just no case accent was the first thing he thought because Link's accent isn't even that strong at this point. When Link got surprised at that, Rhett simply replied that he was trying to find something funny. But even so, like I said earlier, Rhett does love Link's accent. I am sure he is fond of it, he finds it adorable. And let's not forget he said "there was so much he could choose from"!

Link looks disappointed that it's not his guess, his eyes. An interesting thing here is that although he used a personality trait for Rhett, he expected / hoped for this physical trait for himself. But don't feel sorry - Rhett has talked about his baby blues and has even gone to the ridiculous extents of planning to make a blog exclusively for Link's eyes. So don't worry; it is known that Rhett at least acknowledges the beauty of Link's eyes. At least. And Link was expecting this from a place of knowledge and not as an attempt to be silly-sappy.

Things Rhett thinks Link loves about him:

voice (Link will later say he loves his laugh and this is close, he's also enchanted every time Rhett sings so...)

height (Link once said he is attracted to "people of extreme heights")

hair (we know that)

beard (lie detector test)

giving spirit (lol totally)

creativity (they've talked about this many times)

eyebrows (if Link has said he likes Rhett's eyelashes then liking his eyebrows is certain)

Rhett was guessing from a place of knowledge too.

Rhett then said he loves stories of Link's grandma doing weird things with him and I don't like being the weirdo to spell out the weird thing but Rhett's interest in that is vaguely associated to his weird mind being always in the gutter. I don't mean it turns him on of course but he loves hearing weird stuff that border on creepy. You know it's true. Sometimes he's like that. Link took revenge for the accent joke with the psoriasis.

Wow we saw some Rhett teeth. Link answered sincerely with a super cute "I love your laugh" but Rhett just said "I love the sound your mouth makes when you don't chew". Oh well. Link regretted being sincere and Rhett, after some good laughter, defended himself by saying "he (Link) walked himself into it". This makes exactly zero sense and I am wondering whether he meant Link walked himself into it by choosing the vulnerable / sincere way. Or if he just didn't know what he was talking about.

Rhett then asks for the next answer to be complimentary. He then repeats he has strong feelings about Link's accent. Again, I believe this! In a positive light. IDK, I do believe this. Link said he has strong positive feelings for Rhett's car which I found weird like Rhett because I thought it was established Link has the better car of the two. Who knows, maybe he lied about the positive thing. Unless he connects it in his mind with memories / experiences.

Link's guess a little later:

Link: If I wanted to, I could easily... start over.

Rhett: Start over?! Like, whole life?

L: ...Yeah, just like, get a re-do.

R: Huh.

L: And I would be like "Really? How?"

R: Mmkay. I said "If you wanted to, you could easily kill me".

Okay, this gets a little deeper. I think what initially Link meant was a joke about starting over regarding his relationship with Rhett. Rhett didn't get that and asked him if he meant his whole life. Link considered that "mmyeah..." and realised it wasn't that far off from what he meant, all jokes aside. Link does wish he could start over and redo many things in his life. This surely has A LOT to do with their religious upbringing. And maybe how it affected Link's choices. Stevie's laughter is so out of place sometimes. Rhett does not laugh and tries to rush this moment. Rhett's answer about Link killing him is not exactly weird or offensive or mean as I saw some people consider it. It shows, maybe subconsiously, several things; Link's intensity, Rhett's pliable nature especially to Link and it might be more indicative of how Rhett feels about Link than anything else, at least in this video.

And then, out of nowhere, or maybe so it seems to us, Rhett goes ballistic against everyone. He starts complaining about those complaining when they didn't give each other heartfelt compliments. Link joked he agrees with them. Rhett attempted to let this slip although it angered him. The crew laughed with Link's joke, meaning they kinda sided with him, and Rhett turned basically mad at Link.

He accused Link that he did the same that day and Link entirely deflected the conversation. All I'm gonna say is that don't think they don't communicate with each other about how they approach certain situations. I wonder if at times they misunderstand each other or one changes opinion suddenly and leaves the other hanging. Link tries to stop Rhett from going on but Rhett is unstoppable at this point.

You might say Rhett was straight out mean right there and I sure was like "whoa where did this all come from, man" but mean is not a reasonable explanation. He was angry and his words show he is in a pressured state. Unless you tend to have mood swings, which Rhett doesn't really have as far as I know, you don't go from all cutesy and mischievous to furious in milliseconds. Except if there is an underlying suppressed cause. And you may ask, okay does he feel pressured to say a compliment to Link? Is this such a big deal? Well, yes and no. I don't think Rhett meant "we're not gonna hold hands" or "compliment each other" when we ask it. I think we know what he means. I think he's talking about the - well, in his words - elephant in the room. The actually serious consideration that there is something more there. The expectation that it might get revealed at any point - whether intentionally or unintentionally. Rhett loses control at that moment, which is why Link, who knows him well, warns him to not go there but Rhett still does. And again, you might say: well, no fan asked them to kiss or to confirm anything! We asked them simple stuff that can be normal between platonic friends too. Yes, but there is something we don't take often into account. The mythical crew. The mythical crew are actually the ones who monitor closely what the fans believe, want and prefer to watch. This means that the crew has to inform and discuss with Rhett and Link how much they are gonna please the audience and in what ways. Which means that a crew of 50+ people have an elaborate opinion on what fans think of Rhett and Link's relationship (next to their own opinion of course) and this has to be communicated with them face to face. In short, Rhett and Link have their privacy invaded not only by the fans but by their employees and, moreover, they are forced to always have fun with it and take it lightly. Again, you could think: well, they could forbid any rhink reference to the crew from now on. And you would think this WOULDN'T make the crew MORE suspicious at this point? All I am saying, they are fine when they make rhink insinuations / jokes voluntarily but most of the time is forced upon them by both the fans and employees and this can be uncomfortable at best if they are just friends or tyrannical if there is something more there that they still keep for themselves. So, Rhett's frustration comes from a deeper place than being expected to give a compliment. If I were in their place as I imagine it (I could always be entirely wrong) I would feel like a muppet trying to balance all my reactions towards thousands of people, with several dozens of them being paid by me to scrutinize me and order me how exactly to act!

There is a cut following Rhett's vent and you can see that Rhett is trying to calm himself down.

He speaks to himself, mumbling "yeah alright yeah ok ok" and by the expressions I can tell he acknowledges he lost control. That doesn't mean he regretted what he said - just that he said more than it benefits him to say and apparently he said a lot more in the unedited video. Kudos then to Link, who actively tries to calm his friend down and make him feel more comfortable.

This might be unpleasant to some but from his stance I conclude that Link agrees with Rhett or at least understands him. He was just wise enough to not say it out loud. Link first warned Rhett to not speak and then stayed quiet as Rhett was venting. After the cut, we see him trying to help Rhett calm down and relax and he characteristically invites Rhett to focus his attention on him and find something he really loves about him. This is not a complaint - Link is smiling and is warm to Rhett. What he essentially does is trying to help Rhett forget he is being watched by thousands and his every word is weighted, which of course is Rhett's main problem. He just says "forget about them and focus on me and just say something you love, it's all good". I just love Link here. He's supportive and caring.

The next question is what Link loves when Rhett blanks his blank and Rhett is trying to picture it-

I have no doubt Link loves that. The ear thumbing, I mean.

So, then I am adding the stills that redeemed Rhett in the fandom:

But not to be that person, it's obvious that Rhett plays it up a ridiculous lot. And not even to appease the angry fans but probably to make fun of their anger. That's why Link laughs with his face and his answer "I love remembering the time we met".

This doesn't interest me at all. Instead, I am much more interested in Link's nonsensical answer "I love remembering the time we died" because what?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Link tends to say occasionally stuff that doesn't make sense but I don't think he would pass on the chance to say something even remotely meaningful in an opportunity like this and especially regarding his relationship with Rhett. Link clarifies: "...when we died. This is heaven". There are two possibilities and only two: a) this makes ZERO sense and it's the worst and most pointless joke ever and b) this is symbolic or something only Rhett could understand. Rhett does not dismiss this as stupid or silly with his usual done look. He asks questions about it and they discuss at length about how it happened that they died and why they went to heaven since it seems they killed each other. Well, it's because they killed each other in the exact same time with a prod-like tool and they escaped Good Ol' God's (in Link's words) notice. Okay. I'm just leaving this here and you can all draw your own conclusions. Personally, I am torn between a symbolical death and rebirth when they left their religious selves behind and death being used as a well known old metaphor of a certain physical state. It would work even more if it was both. Or Link was just talking nonsense. Let's not exclude that. So yeah. That's all I had to say................

[ultraclops]

Semi-Live Blogging: Finale Time!

With reaction images this time!

Adoradad

TRAINING EXERCIIISE

Adorabat's practicing her screaming! Bet that's gonna come in handy later.

"Fneh!" Wow what an introduction Eugene

His design is like? Really cool?? He looks practically nothing like Adorabat tho. And why does he have a spade on his stomach instead of a heart??

Badgerclops drew him with a giant ass mustache lol.

Adorabat takes banjo lessons? More importantly, Eugene thought she was at a banjo lesson FOR 8 MONTHS?!

"She scares me" lol

Adorabat ran away from home? Why?

"I thought you were a ward of the state!" Remember when everyone thought Adorabat was an orphan? Yea.

"I thought you were my conscience!" Badgerclops...you've lived with Adorabat for a year...went to her school...AND YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS A PIECE OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS?!

...why did Badgerclops use Adorabat as monster bait...

I expected to hate Eugene but he's actually really cute and interesting?? Aside from the fact he thinks Mao Mao & Badgerclops are criminals. Love to see him again sometime!

Wow her dad has a whole badass mansion!! Why doesn't she just stay there...

Oh...her mom died...that's why he's so protective of her and was so upset when she left. Also her mom looks amazing & I wanna see a flashback episode with her. For some reason I can imagine her sounding like a deeper version of Scoops?

Aww Adorabat's room is super cool! Also Eugene cracking the door for her asfgjkl

"Do you think that monsters attacking the city are gonna - wait, does that have peanut butter in it? " (Cuts to MM & BC eating ice cream while crying) That's a perfectly rational reaction to losing your adoptive daughter

"I can keep it together!" (Cut to Mao Mao trying and failing to shovel ice cream in his mouth with his helmet on) NSADGEDHAMADH

Wait a second. Mao's eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. ISN'T CHOCOLATE TOXIC TO CATS?!

"But you said I was part of the team!!" "Then you're...off the team."

Adorabat crying while showing Eugene the picture OUCH MY HEART...

"I used to go exploring in those caves with Mom all the time..." I'm guessing those are the caves from the promo?

"She wasn't afraid of anything!" " Well Adorabat definitely takes after her mother...

"And then one day, Sonara didn't come back with you." Ooh her name's Sonara!! Pretty!! I can't tell if they chose it cuz it sounds like Sonar or because it means "pleasant sounding"

Glad to see Adorabat's still a die-hard metal fan, even with Eugene

Oof Mao isn't taking this well at ALL if he's pretending Adorabat's molt is her...

OOH SHIT ADORABAT RAN OFF TO THE CAVES - wait a minute no she didn't. OH NO EUGENE WENT TO THE CAVES

Ooh there's Sonara's looking glass, bet that's gonna be important

Yay Adorabat saved her dad!

Damn Adorabat must be super traumatized after basically watching her mother die. No wonder she tried to murder Boba-Chan!

Oh the only way to stop the monster is by screaming!

(Mao Mao hears Adorabat scream) "ADORABAT?!" ADOPTIVE DAD POWERS ACTIVATE

Ooh her mother's figure appears over her when she says she's not afraid of anyone...maybe her spirit's inside of her or something?

REVENGE TIME BAYBEY

HOLY SHIT ADORABAT FUCKING MURDERED THAT THING

Eugene & Adorabat both apologized to each other I...

"You can't just leave without the most fearless member of the group!" YAAY ADORABAT'S BACK (Also how are we gonna explain to Eugene Adorabat's scared of the dark?)

"I'll mess 'em up real good! So good, their mommies and daddies won't be able to recognize them when I'm done..." Daaammmnnn...

"She scares me :)"

I wonder...is Sonara really dead? Or are they gonna pull a Kipo & have her still be alive but in a different form?

Badge-A-Fire explosion

Uhh...where is Badgerclops? And why is Mao Mao on the top bunk?!

Of course Badgerclops is petty enough to install a fake monster alarm on his laptop to wake Mao Mao and Adorabat up.

"This is a super-serious work meeting, as you can see by the fact that I haven't provided any snacks!" No snacks?! This must be a serious issue!! /s

"As you know, I am a creative genius. Sometimes there's so much natural creative genius that my brain overloads, and I enter a heightened state that I call 'Ultra Focus'..." Oh so basically like hyperfixation?

"...where I break into a creative sprint, inventing super-advanced technology at supernatural speeds, unparalleled by anyone in the entire field of science." Okay maybe only a LITTLE bit like hyperfixation...wait a second, IS THAT WHY BADGERCLOPS IS SO TIRED ALL THE TIME?!

Uhh did he get his arm stuck in the front door? HE TOOK THE AEROCYCLE?!

"...I forget everything the next morning." Remember my headcanon that Badgerclops represses his memories? Yea...

"Which is why it's not my fault and I don't think I should be criticized :D" TBH I screamed with laughter at this scene solely because of the expression he made

...HE GAVE THE SKY PIRATES THE GEM CELL?! I mean he clearly wasn't thinking right when he did it BUT STILL?!

"Oh hey, I told you I'd use that weird elevator thing!" Dude you LITERALLY used it in Ultraclops. What are you talking about.

"If the Sky Pirates had the Gem Cell, they would've used it already!" That is a fair point ngl.

Umm...did Badgerclops give Adorabat a BOMB?!

Tbh if my friend woke me up in the middle of the night with weird-looking eyes and handed me a timer while saying something about an explosion I would DEFINITELY not go back to sleep afterwards...

I'm sorry, IS THE WHOLE VALLEY GONNA BLOW UP?! WHAT THE HELL DID HE MAKE?!

Mao wiping Badgerclops' tears I'm

A paper towel dispenser? Well that's not that bad - IS THAT A GIANT PAIR OF PANTS?!

Ooh it's not a shock collar it's a translator!! That makes a bit more sense... "I HAVE NO REMORSE OR CONCEPT OF EMPATHY!" ...if the monster doesn't have remorse or empathy how does it know what those words mean...

Badgerclops keeps telling Mao Mao & Adorabat not to criticize him...hmm...I wonder who criticized his inventions that made him that way...*cough* HIS MOM *cough*

"Are all your inventions this weird?!" "YOU'RE WEIRD!!"

IM SORRY DID BADGERCLOPS BUILD A DANCING MACHINE INTO MAO MAO'S BONES?! HIS BONES?! AND HE MADE ADORABAT A SECOND MEGAPEG?!

What in the absolute hell is going on dgaadhdagdadga

Okay but when Badgerclops clutched his head and started shaking when Mao Mao asked why he made those things...I FELT THAT IN MY HEART I FELT THAT IN MY SOUL

Ngl this scene really hit home for me cuz that's how I act when I have a breakdown...

The timer went off but nothing blew up - WAIT, IS THAT A REPLICA OF MECHA HOSSORAFFASNAKEARANG?!

"Initializing Totally Humane Knockout Procedure." (Proceeds to slam the Sheriff's Dept. into the ground) ajdajdgdad

Ooh...ohh they're on some sort of water park...ride...thing??

"And if I didn't want us to get out, then I made sure we couldn't...with super-strong shoe things." But there isn't any on Adorabat, can't she just squeeze herself out?

Ooh I'm getting Pirates of the Caribbean vibes

There's the Gem Cell, it must be powering the ride! Also the robotic arm slaps Mao's hand the same way Mao slaps Badgerclops' hand in Flyaway skkkk

"My amazing creativity is finally gonna destroy us all..." "Hey, at least we'll be destroyed together!" Fair point, fair point

The shoosh returneth

"I always loved inventing." So he was an inventor ever since he was little? Daww.

YOUNG BC IS SO ADORABLE!! He has a lil medical patch instead of an eyepatch which is def more accurate to real life...but what's the vest for? Protection in case he falls? A pressure stim?

That figure's def his mom since they rejected his ideas & he mentions she was mean to him. Also the theory that his mom's a villain seems a bit stronger since they straight-up hand him a tool kid + a set of blueprints with no regard to his safety...

"Also there was a bunch of other kids at school and some other people throughout my life who mocked me relentlessly." THEN WHY'D YOU TELL ADORABAT YOU COULDN'T RELATE TO HER WHEN SHE SAID NO ONE WANTED TO BE HER FRIEND?! (Also I noticed literally all the kids are other badgers, so I'm assuming Badgerclops grew up sheltered like Mao Mao did.)

So the Ultra Focus is basically a really weird coping mechanism to deal with all the abuse and bullying he went through? Holy fuckkk

"They only made fun of you because they were jealous. Happened to me my whole life!" Umm...

"Even the dance chip I surgically implanted in your brain?" Excuse me the dance chip that you WHAT

"I love you-" HE SAID IT 💗💓💗💓

"I'm finally around people who love and understand me..."

Wait did the cannon misfire? DID IT BLOW A HOLE IN THE GROUND?!

OH HE ACTUALLY DID CREATE AN ANIMATRONIC BAND?! I THOUGHT IT WAS A JOKE!!

"Take it away, Boss Hosstritch!" (Distorted garbling)

Oof Mao caught all the water

"We hope you all enjoyed being Badgerclops' friend." 💞💕💞💕

Not that anyone cares but I noticed there's a picture of some of the Sweetypies on the monitors, meaning 1. Badgerclops tested it out using them first, or 2. Badgerclops just likes those Sweetypies for whatever reason. Tho that makes me wonder why he'd choose Pinky of all people...

THE SKY PIRATES WERE INSIDE THE ANIMATRONICS THE WHOLE TIME?! THE MAN BEHIND THE SLAUGHTE

Zing Your Heart Out

Why are they giving out rotten sushi??

"HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME EATING SOMETHING GROSSLY?!"

Ooh god Chester's gonna be super freaking annoying in this episode, I can feel it.

"What's blue and smells like red paint? Blue paint!" BAYBEY

Jesus what a prick. GET HIM MAO MAO

Ngl that background's really pretty...

Oooh no the Ruby Pure Heart's being weird again. Ooh no.

FUCK YEA ROAST HIM BABY - Did Adorabat's eyes turn purple because the Ruby Pure Heart gave her powers?

Oh so the siren in Badgerclops' robo-arm is a backup monster alarm?

More Sky Pirates - and the Pure Heart's being weird again...

"I'd tell you but despite your height it'd go right over your HEAD!" Asdfgghjjk

"For someone with two brains, you're not very BRIGHT!" EVEN BETTER

Kevin said he was raising money for a school trip, then for a trip to the hospital...which one is he raising money for?!

"SILENCE PANCAKE, LEST YE BE BUTTERED"

OOH NO SHE ATTACKED MAO AND BC

"IT FEELS LIKE THE WEIGHT OF ONE THOUSAND PLANETS!!"

"One second, I'm getting mad, and the next thing you know-" Is she freaking possessed??

Wait, is the Pure Heart TALKING to Adorabat?! How?!

Cluckins you don't ask people what's wrong with their eyeballs...even if there is something wrong with their eyeballs

"I CAN'T FEEL MY SELF-RESPECT!!"

The pure 'oh shit' on Marion's face when Adorabat turns to her

Half of the people she insulted showed up to her party! Didn't that mean she loved them?!

Oh god not this bitch again - nvm, thanks Adorabat

"Taking over the castle and ruling Pure Heart Valley forever does sound nice..." This is starting to remind me of that one AU where Adorabat turns evil, becomes the ruler of the Sky Pirates, then convinces them to kill Snugglemagne and becomes the queen of Pure Heart...she isn't gonna kill Snugglemagne, is she?

What did Adorabat tell Snugglemagne?! I WANNA KNO

Why is Pinky stealing teeth...reminds me of this

NO BC DON'T EAT THE TEETH

"I...hate myself! Therefore, I'm invincible!" So the trick to not getting your ego destroyed...is to not have an ego. Sounds reasonable.

"Your bug platter, my king?" Genderfluid Adorabat rights

"Mao Mao, your head looks like a CROW!" (Mao Mao caws) IT WAS A LIE HE ISN'T A CAT HE WAS A CROW THIS WHOLE TIME-

"It looks like a half-melted ice cream cone!!" That is...a strange way to describe your own neck...

"Well, I'm...bad (◡‿◡)" Kinda weird that the canonically depressed character can't even cleverly insult himself

...why does Adorabat's skin smell like old cantaloupe

OH SHE IS POSSESSED!!

HOLY SHIT MAO WAS GONNA FUCKING MURDER ADORABAT TO SAVE THE KINGDOM?! THANK GOD HE SAW HER JOKE BOOK, HOLY SHIT

Positivity outweighs negativity!

"WHERE DOES A 800 POUND GORILLA SIT?!" "Where ever it wants!◝(⁰▿⁰)◜" Curse you for making me laugh...

OOH NO THE JOKEBOOK! - Wait nvm Mao remembers Adorabat's jokes!

I think the reason they used that joke is because it represents Mao Mao and Adorabat - Adorabat is blue, and she wants to be like Mao Mao, who wears red. What is BLUE, and smells like (is similar to) RED paint?

YAAAY HE BROKE HER FREE FROM MIND CONTROL!! And did BC get Thanos snapped in the background?

"Thank goodness you're alright! We almost..." Fucking murdered you? Yea

"Might we have our crown and kingdom back, yes?"

"Sorry for being such a monster today." "You're a monster everyday." Is that a joke because she was today's villain, a reference to Sleeper Sofa or foreshadowing?

I hope Mao Mao and Badgerclops decide to investigate what's up with the Heart in Season Two, cause I highly doubt they'll let Adorabat getting fucking possessed go under the radar.

The visual gag of Mao trying to stomp out his ice cream cone like a cigarette is perfect. This is peak comedy everyone else go home

WHOOP CHESTER'S ASS GUYS

Strange Bedfellows

"So, your name is Boss Hosstrich, but you're not actually the boss?" How long did it take him to realize that

JFC Mao & Orangusnake are REALLY hellbent on killing each other huh...at least the deputies and the other Sky Pirates have common sense.

Hahaha nice Dragon Ball Z reference - and they both got crushed by the monster! Lovely.

...did Mao seriously think he died and went to heaven?

So does Orangusnake breathe through Tanner or do they both breathe independently & Coby can feel when Tanner can't?

Dang those skeletons remind me of the Steven Universe Future episode Growing Pains. And why is Lucky inside of Orangusnake? "THAT WAS MY LUNCH, JERK!" Ooh that's why.

"They're full of these tiny, little cracks or, as they're known in the medical field, 'whoopsie-boo-boos'." AGSADGASGADGDASG

Damn their skeletons are just gonna freaking evaporate huh...

"The doctor said I was very brave :D"

Ooh shit the Deputies and the other Sky Pirates met at the same elevator, are they gonna fight - nevermind, they're still calling time.

JESUS CHRIST ARE MAO & ORANGUSNAKE EVER GONNA STOP?!

"You don't have the guts!" "I have a million guts." That is...mildly concerning

"Yeah, I wanted to be a baker, before I realized I liked hurting people so much." Then why doesn't she just like, help Muffins or something?

Tbh I thought Ratarang was holding a gun and I'm glad it was just a weirdly wrapped banana

CONE OF SHAME. CONE OF SHAME. CONE OF SHAME.

"Aww, y'all shouldn't have - this is empty." "Just like my heart when you injure yourself!!" He loves him sm...💓💓

"Why didn't you bring me weapons?!" "Because this is a hospital, and I'm a good boy (◡‿◡ )"

"I really feel like this could be a turning point in their relationship." (Mao and Orangusnake proceed to try and kill each other again) *sigh*

Ngl Mao & Orangusnake constantly repeating themselves is getting super annoying.

That hospital bed beeping is giving me flashbacks to all the times I went to the hospital for seizures...

"You know y'all could live like this, like, all the time if you didn't go around hurting people, right?" "Pssh! Tsk-tsk, boy. You know I gots to hurt people." Uhh you guys should really listen to Badgerclops he knows what tf he's talking about

UUhh, whose egg is that? "MAMA" ASGagddahDh

Of course they had to land in freaking CEMENT to realize that maybe they shouldn't kill each other

Did Mao just deflate like a ballo- oh nvm there he go.

Boneless Mao. Boneless Mao.

And Mao saved Orangusnake!! By...breaking every bone in his body somehow.

"I'm the kind of hero who wants to save you so I can fight you later...at the right time and place." Just gonna file this along with the credit score scene from Perfect Couple in the 'Orangumao' folder.

Is Badgerclops duct taping Mao to the stretcher? I mean, at least he won't move & hurt himself again but geez

Tbh Zing would’ve made a better finale than this ep. At least it had a sequel hook

[dearkatherineplumber]

My BMC Experience

Disclaimer: Spoilers!

The Cast

Will Roland: He literally has some of the best vocals I've heard in a long time. Will can BELT and Dear Evan Hansen didn't showcase that at all, so it's great he has a chance to play a character that allows him to do that. His acting and mannerisms were spot on (keep in mind I don't know what Will Connolly's portrayal was like). When Will deactivates the Squip, he makes the weirdest, most impressive noises ever. His voice actually sounds like a malfunctioning computer; it's insane . I think he plays an amazing Jeremy.

George Salazar: He plays the purest Michael ever. I just wanted to hug him throughout the entire show. He slayed "Michael in the Bathroom" and his scenes with Will were fantastic. Michael's character is beautifully written and George deserves all of the appreciation he gets.

Jason Tam: Wow. Jason is so amazing as the Squip. His voice radiates throughout the theater and he belts out notes like they're nothing. He and Will have the BEST chemistry. His costumes? His voice? His acting? Insane.

Stephanie Hsu: She plays the PUREST Christine ever. "I Love Play Rehearsal" was spot on and her scenes with Will made you feel for her and Jeremy. She just makes Christine the most beautiful character and sounds so perfect.

Gerard Canonico: Uh? Wow? I have like zero words. His Rich is INSANE. He KILLED "The Squip Song" and you could visibly see him glitching. He and Will are phenomenal together and he just makes you hate and love Rich. (P.S. when he came out as bi, the audience clapped)

Jason SweetTooth Williams: Amazing. A king. What an icon. "The Pants Song" was the cutest, most pure thing. 10/10.

Katlyn Carlson: She made you hate Chloe and also sympathize with her. Katlyn was amazing and sounds beautiful.

Lauren Marcus: Brooke 👏 deserved 👏 better 👏. Lauren is incredibly talented and she's so good as Brooke. What a star.

Tiffany Mann: Girl can SING! Omg her Jenna blew me away. "The Smartphone Hour" was insane. Tiffany is so talented ahh there's just no words (Sidenote: I'd die to see her as Becky in Waitress).

Britton Smith: Britton is a force to be reckoned with on stage. He is so funny with Brooke and you almost hate him when he's with Christine. He's also got the softest voice that sounds like literal velvet but then he belts and you're shook. Amazing.

The Set/Lighting/Costumes/Orchestra

Uhhhhh the set was so cool? They had a conveyor belt thing at the rear and people descended from the sky at points; it was WILD.

The lighting was like a rock show. There were strobes and pink lighting for Jeremy and Christine and just wow.

The COSTUMES. The Squip's costumes alone were insane. And the way Jeremy comes full circle with his costumes? Genius.

The orchestra is literally the loudest thing on the planet. They look like they're having a blast and the sound radiates through your bones.

Stagedoor

I went with a school trip and by some crazy connections, we got to meet THE Joe Iconis! He was SO nice and we got to ask him about the show. It was magical. I was totally starstruck.

So Ben Platt saw the show? We were talking with Joe Iconis and I spotted Ben on the stage and slapped my friend while saying unintelligible words. My heart rate doubled. (P.S. Joe's assistant noticed me freaking out and said "ah you've noticed a Platt" which was hilarious)

George Salazar, Jason Tam, and Jason Sweettooth Williams came out to stagedoor. They were all so nice and I'm glad I met them!

General Thoughts

BMC isn't my style of a musical. I'm not into Sci-Fi and I'd probably never have chosen to see BMC without a school trip opportunity. However, I really enjoyed the show and wouldn't change my experience for anything.

The metaphors in the show were so deep and resonant; I loved all of the social commentary and portrayal of highschool.

BMC, though not my type of musical, definitely deserves all the love and hype it gets. The cast, creative, and everything about the show are perfection.

[muggle-writes]

Rules: Answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

tagged by @elizabethsyson

Nickname: Muggle is my nickname, but when I went by Muggle in person for more than a month at a time, it naturally got abbreviated, usually to Mugz

Zodiac: Aquarius

Last movie I saw: into the spiderverse (same answer as last time. I don't watch that many movies tbh except around Christmas. unless YouTube counts in which case... music of some sort? idk links for the next answer)

Favorite musician: changes by the day. I've kinda been in an acapella and/or folk music mood recently so the Maccabeats and Peter Hollens are in my YouTube and Spotify history a lot recently. also I'm eternally in awe of Forte Handbell Quartet (eta a longer video; i recommend skipping to the techno piece or the Jurassic Park theme)

Last thing I googled: "vine why are you buying clothes at the soup store" (my wife hasn't seen it; also i can't find the vine because apparently it's a much bigger meme than I realized). before that it was "chgrp not root" because work and group permissions are useful when they work

Song stuck in my head: well for most of the day when I haven't been actively listening to something, it's been the Pokemon RSE route-walking music. (but that somehow happens frequently when I'm in the no-music-no-internet room at work, as I was for most of the day, and I don't know how I accidentally trained my brain to make that connection). right now, surprisingly, I don't have any background music playing in my head. I think it's because the humidifier provides just enough white noise that my brain doesn't feel the need to provide its own

Other blogs: my main is @muggle-the-hat and I'm a mod on @why-do-neurotypicals but we've gotten one ask ever so that blog has been dormant for a while. I have a bunch of other sideblogs, but they're all small and I use different screen names on each of them (enby life: no idea which name suits me best so I may as well try them out) so i feel like it would just confuse things to link them.

Following: blogs matching all the themes of my sideblogs, (including this one, which is writeblr), korean langblr, jumblr, assorted fandom blogs, authors of my more favorite fanfictions (some overlap with other categories), and irl friends and acquaintances (including one fandom blog turned irl friend)

Do I get asks: on my main if at all, which isn't really surprising because i have hundreds of followers there and maybe 60 followers combined among the rest. but I get asks far less often than I reblog ask memes so... I'm always happy to get more. I do get tagged in ask games more on this one, but writeblr is actually vaguely organized about tag lists so that makes sense. also I used to get tagged a bunch on my main and I rarely could find the posts again to follow up when I had time to answer.

What I’m Wearing: pajamas. staying warm and cozy

Lucky number: I don't remember what I said last time, but I like a lot of numbers. 64 is a good number. recently I've been debugging software in which 0x3E is my lucky status number and 0x0E taunts me. (um, decimal 62 and 14). Also my other favorite number i can't share until it's no longer the combination to the lock to the Secret Room. (or realistically never because opsec and i shouldn't make public the types of parents we use for that combination lock), honestly I aim to be like.... ah, I'm sure the anecdote involves G.H. Hardy but i don't remember on which side. anyway one mathematician remarked to another about how the id number of the taxi he rode in was sadly uninteresting, and the one I aspire to be like, argued "what are you talking about, this number is interesting because ______" and I'd like to be able to do that for any arbitrary number thrown at me. (hi yes math is good, history is hard, math history is interesting yet i still forget the people even if i remember the math. except when things are named after people, but that tends to be, like, Euler and LaGrange and other people who did lots of cool science things so i remember the methods and the names of the methods separately which never helps)

Amount of sleep: ....depression both screws with my sleep schedule and means I always feel like I need more sleep except when I wake up at 5pm and feel like I've wasted the day. so yeah. I can never get enough sleep

Favorite food: yes (why do I have to pick a favorite?) uh, chocolate in most forms, many other sweet things, red meats (especially if served with potatoes), curry (especially if it has "too much" ginger), fresh-baked bread, chai the way my favorite local Indian restaurant makes it (spicier with just a little bit of sweet, which is the opposite of what i can get from the mocha machine at work which is wayyy sweet with a hint of spice but that inferior chai is still superior to coffee so i drink too much of it). also vegetables which I really don't eat enough of: sauteed zucchini and onions, roasted broccoli

Dream trip: dreaming requires creativity and tbh I funnel that mostly into my writing instead. I wouldn't mind going back to Korea for another visit though

Dream job: my current job is pretty good when I feel productive and when my debugging tools actually produce data maybe??? (they were not being helpful today. but i still mostly like my job.) dream job is probably this but with seniority and confidence and double the salary (while living in a similar area of the country; I wouldn't want to double my salary by moving to work for Google in California and having less available after rent than I do now)

Describe yourself as aesthetic things:

the smell of old books

the first glow of sunrise (the sunrise painting the mountains pink and gold)

a rainbow in the spray from a waterfall

the flicker of distant lightning (watching a thunderstorm fade into the distance)

this picture

Random fact: about me or about the world?

how about a combination answer: when we got our new handbell music this season, we only looked at half the pieces our first rehearsal and afterwards I tried to look up one of the pieces we hadn't gotten to on YouTube because it's got a weird time signature and I wanted to get a feel for how fast it would go and how strict the counting is...... except it turns out we're the first group to ever play the piece. it was commissioned recently but seeing my conductor's name on the page didn't tell me how new it was because he's super prolific. (the fact that it was on printer paper without the publisher's graphics should have been a giveaway but it's only the second time I've been among the first to play one of his pieces so I think I can be excused for not realizing)

Languages: mostly just English, but I took Spanish for years, so I can hold simple conversations in it. I can almost read sound out Hebrew fast enough to keep up in services, and I know some random Hebrew vocab but comparatively no grammar. and I took Korean in college, enough that I can recognize sentence structure but I can really only speak tourist-Korean, though I can sound anything out (if it's typed. handwriting is hit or miss.) in both Hebrew and Korean (and Spanish tbh but i don't often listen to Spanish music) I'm very proud when I can separate the words enough, listening to a song, to translate them without looking up the lyrics. also I tried to learn Japanese from Duolingo when it was new, but I still hadn't gotten the kana straight when it started progressing to kanji so that was a rough time and I went back to Hebrew.

tbh I "dabble" in "language learning" which really means I start a million courses on Duo and stick with none of them. with the notable exception of French, which I acknowledge is super common and probably a good idea to learn but the spelling and pronunciation seem so arbitrary I'm scared to look close enough to learn it properly, and I've never particularly considered starting the Duolingo course for French

I think I lost a few questions, because that's only 18 answers. whoops.

um... who to tag

@abluescarfonwaston if school hasn't drowned you in work yet and @copperscales I'm interested in both of your choices for lucky numbers especially.

... wow I'm blanking on other mutuals I haven't tagged recently. as usual lmk if you'd like to be edited in, or just answer the questions and tag me back, that's great too.

[sparkledfirecracker]

Tumblr fix your damn tagging, because again this failed 😣

Better late than never ♥️

He had several long, full days of interviews scheduled to promote it and explain what they hoped to achieve and, after the first week, he was exhausted which made him moody and withdrawn.

Nervous Nellie made his entrance. This is going to stir the pot 😧

It didn't help that Grayson had quickly adjusted to having our undivided attention and was growing increasingly frustrated with his dad's busy schedule. The Friday after the launch, Chris promised him that he'd be done by bedtime so he could tuck him in, but technical difficulties got in the way and he was once again stuck in front of his laptop until well into the evening.

Someone is bound to have a complete meltdown and refuse everything and come kicking and screaming, poor Gray.

My words weren't meant to add guilt to his stress, but I realized my mistake when he winced.

Oh poor Whit, mistakes happen, it’s okay. I will punch the meatball if he takes it out on you and throw it back your way.

"I was actually thinking of taking him to the museum to see the dinosaur exhibit," Chris admitted. "They just reopened, but he'd have to wear a mask."

Oh the Dino obsession, he’d love that 😍. Oh this got me right in my feels.

"Or I can," I suggested, kissing the side of his head. "You're busy enough at the moment. And you're stressed, I can feel the tension in your shoulders."

Ooooef those shoulders, hmmm 🤤

"Don't be such a perv!"

Don’t blame a man for trying. He likes what he sees and thinks with different bodyparts 🙆🏼‍♀️

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed."

Proven my own point. But damn their little conversations always go straight for my heart and make me swoon like an idiot 😍

As he did, I couldn't help, but stare. He seemed to be toning up even more during our quarantine and the sight of his perfectly sculpted body took my breath away every time I had the luxury of seeing it. He caught my gaze and colour flooded my cheeks as I knew that he'd seen me gawking at him, but despite the smug look on his face, he made no comment as he climbed into the tub.

I felt this on a very personal level. Girl you’re living the dream, stare all you want, he’s yours 😍

I was smiling as I broke the news to him because obviously I knew it wasn't true, but Chris let out a groan of annoyance.

This is going to stir the pot even more, isn’t it? 😫 I can’t, I have to go and mentally prepare for this heartbreaking episode to come.

"Engaged to who?! To you?"

The tone in this, to me they sound like true venom. So wow, well written 🙌🏼

"Funny isn't the word I'd use."

Get your panties out of twist, meatball! At least your girl here finds it amusing, there’s nothing going on, just a little poking fun at the weird shit people make up.

"No, I didn't," I laughed. "You have some very creative fans."

It’s not called fan fiction for no reason, but people find it extremely hard to separate real life and fiction life apparently 🙃

"Like, some of them were saying how glad they were that you'd moved on from me finally because of how cruel it is that I ruined your life by trapping you with a baby."

A little self-deprication at its time is okay, but Whit, I’m sorry sweetie, but this is unacceptable. You both had a well good time and you both were there, no trap, so go wash your mouth with soap 🧼. So yes I get the scowl on Chris’s face.

"Besides, it doesn't really bother me. I'm the one sitting next to you while you lounge completely naked in a bubble bath while they spiral into a jealous pit of despair."

Golden 🤩, now that’s the humor we like to see ♥️

"And what better way to relax than to share a bath with the woman I love?"

He tried earlier and he tries again and you’re falling for it, ‘cause you want to dip your pretty little feet in. Go on, sweetie, take one for the team here, we’re rooting for you, we’re ALL rooting for you 🙌🏼

"Wow," Chris grinned. "You're so fuckin' hot."

He appreciates what he’s got, love a man who can praise his woman

I explained that I wasn't just fishing for compliments all the time. I had some serious insecurities and - as analyzed by Hannah who was a very well trained psychologist - I tended to put myself down first before someone else could do it. I informed him that it wasn't just the body changes that come from pregnancy that bothered me, but the fact that I hadn't had much time to go to the gym since Gray was born - when he was with me, I was busy with him and when he was with Chris, I was busy with work.

Okay, we all have these issues at some point. You let them bubble for a couple of years. But I love how open this is written as if we’re being sat at that table and hear it falling from her mouth. ♥️

Sure, I wanted to look good, but I missed feeling strong and healthy.

You’re chasing a three year old darling. I’m sure you’re fit and healthy enough as it should be, but I love your personal reasons for this and to break your kinda destructive cycle.

It appeared - for a brief moment - that Chris' eyes grew a little bit glassy, but he blinked a few times and they were clear once again.

I can’t copy the entire dialogue for this, but every single time it amazes me. It’s so open and so vulnerable and they allow one another to touch those sensitive insecure parts of themselves. It makes me swoon and leaves me in awe, I really mean it when I say their dialogue is my favourite thing about this. They’re not scared to go for it how tough a conversation between two partners can be.

Once the world of Hollywood got it's claws back in Chris, I couldn't help but wonder where that would leave me.

No no, Whitney. You don’t get to think that, we banish those thoughts okay, we don’t think em, we don’t act upon them, they’re thoughts that shouldn’t even be there, okay?

"A little extra relaxation," I told him, deliberately keeping it vague. "But I guess now, you'll never know."

Girl knows what she’s playing at 😈

I heard Chris take in a shaky breath and felt him tighten his grip on me as I took him in my hand. Smiling against his skin and enjoying his little reactions, I stroked him until he was thick and full from my touch.

What’s a story without a little smut, I’m not complaining 🤤

I could feel myself growing wet. His reactions, the position we were in, the slight tug of my hair - it was all overwhelming me and increasing the temptation to let him fall from my mouth, push him onto the bed and ride him until we both couldn't take it anymore, but I tried to stay focused as I worked his cock.

Like for real the smut is on point. It never misses a single detail, all praise your way my love for writing an exceptional piece 🙌🏼

"Fuck," Chris groaned, a pained look on his face as I shot up from where I was kneeling. "Fuck, that kid has bad timing."

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA YES HE DOES!!!! So get to work yourself, meatball

I gestured to his still very hard and throbbing cock and the poor man looked like he wanted to cry as I hurried out of the room.

I’m laughing so hard right now, the pained look and the complete cock block. It’s not fun, but damn it always is so satisfying to read as it never fails to get a good giggle out of me.

Drinking cups next to bed, he won’t bother you again until it’s empty.

Oh this was such a delight to read. Can’t thank you enough for creating this story, they read away so easily and I get sucked in so easily ♥️

Only For A Moment: July

Summary: A series of shorter one shots from Chris and Whitney’s life together throughout the pandemic. Some happy times, some harder times, some fluff and some things a little more sexy - they work through it all as they try to get settled in their new and blossoming relationship.

Chris Evans x OFC

Part of the Once Bitten/More Hearts series

Only For A Moment: June

—–

July 2020

Keep reading

[abassi-okoro]

WHITE ATHLETES KNEELING IN PROTEST IS NOT HELPFUL. WHY?

I'm not saying that white athletes shouldn't kneel and nor am I saying that they should. But some do and so the question is why do they? Well, the answer is simple. White athletes kneel in protest during the National Anthem because whites are becoming sympathetic to the racial disparities facing this country. That's the cut-n-dry short answer.

But here's the problem we have, kneeling for white athletes has now become a fashionable thing to do. Sort of how it was the "thing" years ago for Hollywood celebrities to adopt little black kids from Africa or how white folks wanted to extend the use of the N-word to their daily suburban colloquialism. It usually takes a little time for white people to catch on to the newest fad or trend but when they do, boy do they claim it and run with it. I don't recall many white athletes coming to the defense Colin Kaepernick when he pioneered the kneel - which caused him his career. If my memory serves me correctly, white athletes either hated him for it or dared not to show their support. And now, white athletes want to be "Rebellious" and "Warriors for Social Justice." Kneeling in protest is now the "COOL" thing to do. It's gone viral. It's like a meme or one of those Internet challenges or like the ALS Ice Bucket challenge years ago where everyone just had to try outdo the next person by showing how creative they can be dumping ice on their head. Wow! Did we find a cure for ALS because no one has even bothered to talk about ALS since? That's what we call, a fad. It comes and it goes. Here's the truth about white athletes kneeling;

1. They're not going to lose their job over it! They might even get invited to the White House for their public protest.

2. Their protest is going to make them a household name. I had no idea who Megan Rapinoe was before she kneeled and chances are, neither did you.

3. If I remake a Stevie Wonder song then I should give credit to Stevie Wonder, right?! If you're going to kneel then you should give credit to Kaepernick who sacrificed himself so that YOU can mimic his actions but without all the negative press, losses and racism that he got.

White athletes kneeling doesn't help oppressed people no where in the world and it doesn't help black people. It's only a "gesture" and it's especially a gesture coming from someone white who falls short of using their privilege to fight the system of oppression or police brutality. And of course there's the media who takes these stories of white athletes kneeling and runs with it and use terms like, "Taking action" or "Great White Heroes Bringing Awareness to Police Brutality." So I guess now white people are the ones getting credit for bringing awareness to police brutality? Has anyone been listening to black people all these damn years? Did not NWA back in 1988 scream, "Fuck Tha Police?" Did not Ice-T in 1990 scream "Cop Killer?" Did not KRS One in 1993 say, "Woop Woop, that's the Sound of the Police?" Did not Rodney King get his ass beat damn near to death by the LAPD? Was not Amadou Diallo shot 41 times by the police in New York in 1999? The police killed 1,165 people in 2018 and it's white "Heroes" bringing awareness to police brutality?

And why are they heroes? Because they kneeled? Because they did something that a black man did first but they get to keep their career and THAT makes THEM a hero? I understand protest but I also understand that protest often lacks mobility. Anyone can protest but can you divest? In the mid 90's the PTC (Parents Teachers Council) didn't appreciate some of the sexism and violence that they were seeing on television. They could have easily "protested" but they didn't. Instead, they divested completely and they encouraged others to divest and ratings for entire networks nationwide dropped significantly. They didn't just not watch particular shows, they disconnected their televisions all together and the Neilson's Group couldn't get ratings across the board and sponsors, aka "money" dropped out. That's mobility!

If you're white and you're not prepared to lose your career for kneeling then don't kneel and if your kneeling isn't enough to put your career in jeopardy then you're not doing enough, no one is threatened by you and kneeling is pointless as a white athlete. There is no success without sacrifice. White athletes are being hailed as heroes and courageous men and women for doing nothing and we ought to be disgusted by it and sick of it. We should be sick of white folks doing the bare minimum and being celebrated for it. We should be sick of white folks taking the "safer" path, the path traveled by the many before them, the path that others cleared the way for, the path of less resistance. Black people have always been on the front line of every social fight in this country and after we have taken the full brunt, after we've become the collateral damage, then and only then do white folks walk through and try to take the credit for being brave and courageous.

America never misses an opportunity to create the white savior.

[noise-eternal]

Khadavra - Interview

Hey Khadavra! Can you introduce yourselves for us?

Hello! We are Alex, Seb, Jón, Nils & Ole - Khadavra. A band started by Alex in Arvika, Värmland in the spring of 2012. Started as a doom metal band, but after regrouping in september we changed our path and started treading in the footsteps of Tool. Trying to make emotional, cinematic and complex music that could invoke the presence of the profound.

This were times when I, Alex, was very naive, pretentious and looked for meaning in my own way. Now, seven years, a move to Gothenburg and two albums later it's easier to just call us a progressive rock band with a shoegaze attitude and a post-rock state of mind.

How does it feel to have your new album out, are you pleased with the process and where did you record it?

Great. Incredibly relieving! Now all that music and emotional bagage has manifested in something that no longer burdens us. It is now free and not something that is kept alive by our imagination, it lives it's own little life, fed by the collective imagination.

As with our first album, Hypnagogia was conceived and recorded in Khadavergrottan, our rehearsal studio in Gothenburg (as all recordings with Alex and Seb's other projects: Enstam, Dimma GBG and She Sees). This is where all the drums were recorded in may 2017. Additionally all bass and almost all guitars and vocals were done there as well. Keyboards was recorded in Nils home studio.

We are very happy with the result! But the process.... well, let's not go there...recording on your own, without much production knowledge or experience and with no real budget, well there's a lot of backsides. But the tedious and frustrating process was worth it.

Who writes the lyrics and/or music in Khadavra?

Well, the creation of the music is a pure collaborative process. Usually Seb or Jón has ideas for riffs or melodies that make up the foundation for the songs, but those original ideas go through a long process of jamming that lets us all be an essential part of the shaping of the idea, and the creation of the rest of the song.

When it comes to lyrics it's same but different. The lyrics to Lucid Parasitosis I on our previous album was written by Jón, Down the Rabbithole was written by Alex and Seb, Nils and Jón collected the words to Tryptophan. We don't really have rules for this, It's all very intuitive.

Your first album were to me, frankly, a bit too sterile sounding for my liking. Do you agree or was this perhaps just a mistake with the production?

Wow. We find that really odd, and have a hard time agreeing with that statement actually. A big part of our first album was recorded live (bass and drums were recorded together on most of the tracks), with only like 6 shitty microphones in our rehearsal space, by Alex. Den första vilan, Den sista vilan, Lucid Parasitosis II, I sol itu and Födelsen was done with guitar, bass and drums recorded simultaneously in a few takes with keyboards done after.

We recorded it during 2 weeks, as we lived 4 people in Alex tiny cottage. We told Tobias Carlsson to do as little as possible to the songs in his mixing production, and he did it in only a couple of weeks. With that said, and having the sound of it in mind we don't really find that album sterile at all... if anything, Hypnagogia is the sterile sounding of the two. But as this statement of defense is made, we respect your opinion. And to answer the last part of your question: No real mistakes were made in the production of our first album. Some of the performances on the recordings could have been better... but it was a conscious decision to make everything as pure as possible at the time.

To me you sound like some sort of dreamy progressive rock, have you also taken any cues from bands from the swedish genre “progg”? Like Nationalteatern, Hoola Bandoola Band etc? Because I can somewhat sense that as well.

Well... even though we absolutely have listened to a lot of the good ol' "Progg" we wouldn't say that we have been taking cues or inspiration in a conscious or direct way. At least not in a melodically technical way. I think we've taken more of the attitude and the perception of music as a weapon that is found in the swedish "progg" scene in the early to mid 70's.

We take a lot more of direct creative inspiration and cues from other bands active in Sweden in the same time period as: Bo Hansson, Träd, Gräs och Stenar, Älgarnas Trädgård, Baby Grandmothers, Pärson Sound, Fläsket Brinner and Samla Mammas Manna.

If we’re talking inspiration/influences we have to mention: Tool, Anekdoten, Dungen, Slowdive, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and of course BLACK SABBATH!!!

You originally are from Arvika, Värmland. How has this affected the band? Are there any bands to talk of in Arvika?

Well, firstly: Värmland has really beautiful, wild and authentic landscapes of deep, narrow and dark woods. I cherish the fact that me (Alex) and my brother (Seb) always had the opportunity to explore and play in the woods as kids. When we make music together, most of the times it moves to some kind of spiritual forest-rock, I like to imagine that it has to do with our environment while growing up. I also think that the monotonous vibe integrated in Arvika's social nature had a big effect on us. Having the same friends from kindergarten until graduation, walking the same streets, meeting all the same people who only talk about past activities, always repeating routines - you grow up being bored. At least for me this was frustrating and made us seek some kind of outlet, something that could set some of those suppressed feelings in motions and to find our identity.

So the music, in a sense, came out of neccessity. That we wanted to do experimental and somewhat edgy music was because of the state of Arvika's music scene at the time. Nothing stimulating in it, at all. When you don't have anything inspirational around you to tap in to, you have to make it yourself - that was pretty much my take on that situation and period in my life.

The sound of the first album (written while still living in Arvika) is representative of my and Seb's experience of living there. Frustrated, angry and a bit lost in the newly found adulthood. There's a lot of factors that effect the way we make music and our sound.

Bands in Arvika? Well... Nephila is pretty cool. Feels like they have kept something we stirred up alive after we left. One of Sweden's best bands, Vulkan are almost from Arvika... they are always worth talking about.

I always like this one even though it’s a boring question one might argue, which (up to) three records have each of you had a hard on for lately?

Alex: Russian Circles - Memorial, Sonic Youth - The Eternal, Nirvana - In Utero

Seb: Catherine wheel - chrome, My Bloody Valentine - Isn't anything, Aphex twin - I care because you do

Jon: Black Sabbath - Technical ecstasy, Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmores Rainbow, Captain Beefheart - Safe as milk

Ole: Porcupine Tree - In Absentia, Björk - Utopia, John Frusciante - The Empyrian

Nils: Toby Driver - They are the Shield, All Traps on Earth - A Drop of Light, Steve Reich - Pulse/Quartet

Can you explain some of the albums’ themes and/or messages? If there are any.

Ok. Hypnagogia is the state between awake and dreaming. Sometimes, before falling into deep sleep you can enter this state of pure hallucination, reminicient of the kind you can experience on hallucinogenic drugs but different. In a segment of a lecture called "Dreaming Awake at the End of Times" Terence McKenna argues that we, as we are now in our time of civilization, are neither awake or asleep (like conspirationists saying that we are asleep and must wake up to see and acknowledge the truth), we are in an universal hypnagogic state. Hallucinating together.

I don't really remember the rest of the lecture, and what the real point is... but this is in a way a backdrop to the theme of the album. You need to sleep to wake up, and if we're not really sleeping or being awake... an interesting idea to linger on, but without much sense or hope of resolution. The album explores different sensations that are in one sense completely natural but at the same time it has a somewhat supernatural vibe to it. Maybe these sensations are a product of what could be deemed hypnagogia, not completely real or unreal, but a personal experience nevertheless.

But mostly the themes is a projection stemming in our personal experiences, individual and collective evolution and growth as human beings in this new urban environment in Gothenburg. If our first album was based on our perception about life in a town like Arvika, then this one is based on life in Gothenburg.

We wouldn't say the album holds any conceived and coherent messages though...

What’s up for Khadavra in the future. How come the long wait between the albums?

Just gonna take it as it comes for a while... we got some cool shows closing in, maybe got some more coming this fall. We have been given the chance of playing with musical heroes Gösta Berlings Saga in august and Vulkan in october. It's going to be amazing!

We've also completed the writing of two new songs! Both are featured on our setlist for the summer and we're planning on recording them both and releasing them separately, when the time comes...

At this moment we're not that keen on the idea of any new full length album though. Well, maybe if it comes naturally, but for now we got more of an urge to relearn and renew older songs and perfect our new ones for the shows ahead, because playing live is actually our main outlet and something we finally can put more energy and focus into.

Oh yeah! We got a new member, Ole, by the way. A lot of our time will be spent getting him in our unit and let him shine brightly in our sonic landscape. He provides vocals and a lot of guitar to our upcoming shows!

[thirstyfortom]

i can't exactly see if the requests are closed or opened so if they're closed, please feel free to ignore this ^^ how would the RFA react to MC being a past pageant queen who was very successful, yet is very insecure because her pageants had brought her attention to her flaws that she became obsessed with trying to be beautiful, even to this day when she isn't doing pageants. i'm so sorry if it's too much to ask!

Such an interesting request, and it feels very close to home. As I said before, I used to do pageants as a kid, and up until these days is still very bittersweet. So… I honestly don’t know if I did s good job with this, I aplogize in advance if this wasn’t what you wanted :(

Anyway, here it is… don’t hate me if this is bad. 

RFA react to MC being a former pageant queen

Zen

Hecaught you going through some photos one day. Tons of photos of you smiling,waving, holding the crown and probably the tears.

Youmentioned your pageants before, but very superficially. So he thought it wassomething you weren’t really proud of.

Buthe’s watching you seeing these photos and… oh, he knows this look, you’relooking for flaws. Yeah, he does that occasionally watching himself, which parthe can improve, what he could correct, these kind of things that perfectionistsenjoy.

“Hey,babe, what are you up to?” you show the photos and tell him the story behindevery pageant, you don’t talk much about the ones you won, your attention isall on that one you’re a runner up.

Youkeep on going about the winner of that particular pageant. She’s so beautiful,so nice, so talented, so charismatic, ugh… she’s just… flawless.

Sohe gets it, he’s usually very worried about what other people think, and you…are struggling because of what you think of yourself. He would be sad for anyperson on this situation, but being you… it hurts him a lot more.

Becausehe keeps telling you how perfect you are, and how you two are such a perfectcouple… is he pressuring you on the same way these pageants did?

Andthe press isn’t really helping, talking about “power couple” “just imaginetheir kids” and all that shallow bullshit.

Sothere’s one thing he can do, it won’t solve your self-image problems entirely,but maybe you’ll be able to at least move on from that one pageant.Hetakes you to meet the girl who beat you. It’s so weird, you haven’t spoken withher for years… you feel so embarrassed for all the jealousy you felt back then.

“Jealous?Girl, you won every state pageant you’ve been on since you were a teenager, youmade the word pay attention to South Korea and showed million of women howasian is beautiful. I know all that because I’ve been your fan for so long, andbeating you was the most bittersweet feeling I ever felt. So, on that note… Ithink you should have this…” and she hands you her sash.

“Ohno… I can’t take it, it’s… no, this is wrong.” “Please… you have to! Wouldn’tyou do this for the winner?” you sigh and reluctantly let her put the sash onyou.

Zengives you a bouquet and hugs you, then he whispers to you: “Now, prance, myqueen.” You blush and weirdly stride, waving and smiling with the two of themclapping, and now you don’t hold your tears.

Yoosung

Hesaw you looking those photos, he would stare at them like this too as you lookstunning in all of them.

Youtold him about the pageants and he didn’t feel less than impressed. Wow, hisgirlfriend is a big deal on something huge like this, he’s proud of you, morethan that, he’s proud of being with you.

Butyou don’t look amazed, you’re more like scanning those photos or something, asyou were seeing something really wrong.

“Hey,honey, what’s up?” you tell him about the pageants and how you lost that one inparticular, nobody ever mentioned this, but you’re pretty sure you lost becauseyou fell on the stairs.

 Youaccess Youtube and look up the video of your fall, it’s painful to watch. No,not your fall, your face while you’re watching this.

 Youkeep telling him you still don’t understand what happened, did the gown crawlup on your heel? Did you miss one of the stair’s steps?

Well,he doesn’t know much about gowns, and heels or pageants, but he knows all aboutbeing self-conscious. So he gets your struggle, and it hurts him even more thatyou would feel like he used to feel almost everyday before you came along.

Yes,he has you always lifting him up, telling him how great he is, how he can doit. Why can’t he be like this to you?

Hesees you as the most amazing person in the world, sometimes he feels he’s notenough for you, and you’re struggling for something it happened years ago, anddoesn’t represent you or your pageant career?

Butthis isn’t about him, right? No… it’s time for him to lift you up! He’s notsure of what he can do, but he has a goofy idea that can at least bring somesmile on your face.

Sohe appears in the living room, you just notice his legs trembling, when youlook down… you see your boyfriend wearing a pair of heels. “Can you teach mehow to walk on these?”

You…aren’t sure how to react, is he… making fun of you? “N-No! Not at all! I just…think it’s a very difficult thing, and I saw how you move so elegant on these,so you might be the right person to teach me. Please don’t let me destroy themor Seven will kill me”

 “Andwhy would you want to learn something like this?” “For the same reason youwanted me to teach you how to play LOLOL.” Your heart flutters, he just wantsyou to show him something you’re really good at it.

Soyou give up and teach him. The right posture, some tricks to don’t look souncomfortable, stuff like that.

He’strying so hard, you can see the pain on his face, but he keeps on going, youwould never laugh at him, but you can’t hold back a chuckle when he falls inyour arms and blushes. “That’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with fallingsometimes.”

Andyou realize what you just said, did he… did he do this just so you could cometo this conclusion?

“Notreally, I… just wanted to make you laugh at me for being a dork. But let’s staywith your way of seeing this.”

Jaehee

You’vealready show her the photos prom your pageant days, she loves your smile oneach one of them

Actually,she loves all the stories about it. The places you went to, the people you met,the works you did, it’s very impressive.

Andthen there were the photos about that one pageant, that one you won, but didn’tfeel like you deserve it, as all the rumors pointed out that you slept with oneof the judges

 Youhaven’t told her this, she knew because of a little research she did aftergetting so fascinated with your pageant career.

Andshe knows you pretty well by now to know it wasn’t just because of the rumors,it was because you couldn’t understand why people would think you couldn’t winthis by your own merits.

Yes,that’s the problem. You really didn’t deserve it? Why? What was wrong with you?Did you answer the questions too vaguely? Did you look dumb? But that kind ofdumb who’s smart enough to make a move on one of the judges?

Itkills her to see you like this, you have no idea! She used to have a very lowself esteem, but you and your encouragement boost her confidence so much!

You’rebeautiful, no doubt, but your ability to make other people feel  beautiful, inside and out, it’s somethingcompletely hors-concours

Soyes, you should be more aware of this talent of yours, so she organizes a lady-onlyday in the café.

Andshe asks you to give a small workshop about ways of finding your inner beautyand boosting your confidence.

“But,Jaehee, I know nothing about this, I’m not… smart enough to give a workshop!”“Of course you do! You’ve been giving me these workshops ever since we met.”

“Well,that’s different…” “Okay, so before you start, shall I tell these ladies whatyou’ve done for me?”

Andshe shows pictures of her before meeting you, she didn’t look hideous, ofcourse, but she looked tired and unhappy… a very different person from thisglowing woman standing in front of all these ladies.

“Looksaren’t everything, but it’s so fulfilling when your outside reflects yourinside,  I learned that thanks to thisamazing woman here. She won several pageants and agreed on doing this for free,so listen to all of her wisdom with attention, it can change your life like itchanged mine.”

Well,nothing you say can sound more amazing than that, but you did your best, mainlybecause your super amazing girlfriend was watching.

Jumin

Youtwo were on a business party and one of his associates recognized you.

“Iheard you won Miss Congeniality, good consolation prize, huh?” “Yes, it feelsvery special knowing the other girls saw me as the most congenial.” Oh, thissmile… this smile is so fake, Jumin can tell very easily.

 Andyou didn’t smile genuinely for the rest of the night, he couldn’t help to beconcerned.

Whenyou go back to his place, he observes you looking to your Miss Congeniality’ssash, it isn’t pride, it isn’t admiration, it’s disappointment.

“Youare, indeed, very congenial” he hugs you from behind. “I was also not really athreat, not real competition, that’s why they gave me this, because I’m sooooonice.”

He’sconfused, being nice isn’t something good? Oh, but when it comes tocompetition, if you’re just seen as nice, maybe you’re not taken serious… butwhy wouldn’t be taken serious, didn’t you make it to the top 5, after all?

Ithurts seeing you like this. You not taking yourself seriously and valuing whatyou accomplished bother him a lot.

Yes,you’re nice. But you’re also smart, and spontaneous and creative, and don’teven mention your beauty, sometimes he even wonders if you’re real.

What could he do to make you feel better?Generally, you’re the one thinking of ways to cheer him up.

Showeringyou with gifts? Body worshiping in bed? Giving you Elizabeth so you can pether? How does this pull these self-loathing thoughts away from your mind?

Sohe comes up with this very goofy solution. Not only because he thinks it’llwork, but also because you keep telling him how you would love to see him beingsilly sometimes.

“Jumin,do you really want to play Monopoly at this time of the night?” “Well, Ihaven’t realized there’s a right hour to play Monopoly, my dear. Give it achance, maybe you’ll enjoy more than you think…”

Andyou’re killing on Monopoly, seriously, who’s the business man around here?“You’re letting me win on purpose, Jumin?” “I wish I could say that, but no, Iguess this is your doing, my love. You are fierce competition, after all.”

“You’reso goofy!” and you smile, but right now is genuine.

Saeyoung

Heknows basically everything due to the background check. You’re a big deal onthis, aren’t you?

Whathe didn’t know is how sometimes your jokes can be very self-depreciative, whywould you be so mean with yourself?

 Andwhen you’re taking pictures together, you always refuse to make funny faces,also, you never let him post it in the chat room if you think you don’t lookpretty enough.

Thatbothers him, you’re so amazing and beautiful, why would you doubt this and be sohard on yourself?

Youexplain him how strict some of the rules of your pageants were, you could neverget out of this plan they made for you, so acting silly was pretty much off thetable most of the time, but you couldn’t control yourself, and that’s probablywhy you didn’t make it to the finals on that pageant.

Hefeels really sad for you. Restraining yourself like this for something it’sover? For one particular pageant among all the ones you won? Jesus, what kindof brainwash they do on these girls?

Heknows self-loathing thoughts very well, so he knows how torturing it can be.Hiding your truly self like this… you should never hide your wonderful self!

Whatcan he do to make you understand you don’t need to be perfect all the time?That your flaws also make you this special and sweet girl too?

“Oh,MC… could you come to the kitchen for a moment?” you go and don’t even have thetime to respond, he welcomes you with a pie in your face. “What the hell,Saeyoung?”

“What?I thought you like whipped cream!” “Yeah… but not like this! I… I… oh! I mustlook hideous right now!” “You look always beautiful to me, but I’m kind ofbiased here, so…” “Oh, yeah? So take this bias!” and you shove a pie on hisface too, yeah, your boyfriend prepared a bunch of these pies so you can justthrow it at each other’s faces.

Andwhen you ran out of pies, it became a truly food war, that only stopped whenSaeran showed up: “What the fuck?”

“Hi,Saeran! Wanna join?” you ask throwing the spaghetti that was all over your hairon him. “Oh no! I must protect my lady!” Saeyoung runs to you, falls on thefloor and drags you with him, now you’re rolling on this mess, you don’t evenhear Saeran cursing, you’re having so much fun! And you show everybody how muchfun you’re having spamming the chat room with pictures of your mess.

[inyoursheets]

18, 24, 28 for the fic writers asks <3

hello dear!!!! thank you for these

18. What’s the best writing advice you have for others?

not to be all nike but just do it. also i still stand by what ive said before,

follow your every self-indulgent whim. center joy. write for yourself. and when you somewhat inevitably fail at keeping that as the goal of your writing, find your way back even if it’s the last thing you do

24. Do you use a beta?

answered!

28. Are there any words, phrases, mannerisms, or scenes that you tend to use a lot?

oh totally. id tell you which ones but i dont want to make them jump out of the page more than they already do lol

i know every writer has this but i feel like part of it is also bc english isn't my first language? while i have a decent range of english vocab i cant always think of eight different ways to phrase something the first time i write something, the moment i have the idea for what i want to say. even if i know those eight words already, the easiest ones will resurface first

i'll be working on a fic, right? so i’ll be in a ficcy state of mind. and then i read something or listen to music and be reminded of a phrase and write it down in my phone to use in a fic. bc i just... forget words sometimes? i mean i think id also have this when writing in my first language and ofc i cant really distinguish why i do this every time but there are times where i’ll read a word and realize: wow ive literally never used this word before myself but i think i know what it means

and sometimes when i learn a new word i’ll use it a lot. i’ll incorporate it into my regular online speech, i’ll throw it into every fic im working on, i’ll overuse it in my tags. it’s just part of getting a feeling for the word i guess. idk if that sounds odd but that’s how i sponge up a word and make it my own

part of the repetition -- whether born out of new language acquisition or laziness or lack of creativity or just bc it’s a good fucking word or a phrase im simply a fan of -- feels kinda inevitable. especially for scenes/kinds of interactions that i write often across different fics such as sex scenes. there's only so many ways i can formulate the act of fucking. i try to give each sex scene something unique but i reuse a lot of the same words tbh

get ficcy with me