#love the name. big fan of alliteration

[eyed-hawkmoth]

silver-sided sector spider (zygiella x-notata)

[jesncin]

Since you're poking at DC twins, do you have any thoughts on Booster Gold and Goldstar? (Michael & Michelle Carter)

I'm a big fan of Michael and Miss Skeets Michelle Carter,,, I think (what is going on with their lore). I love that they have rhyme-y whime-y alliteration names as twins. As a fellow twin with rhyme-y whime-y names I respect the hustle and craft.

[silverwhittlingknife]

hi Silver! o/ because that fanart made me wonder - would you happen to know when/where Dick's stuffed elephant plush Zitka turns up in the comics?

GREETINGS CAM <3333 THAT ART WAS SO CUTE

Yeah, I think your instincts are right - it's a truly adorable bit of transformative fandom, but I'm 95% percent sure it's not comics canon. Barbara has canon plushies, but I don't think anyone else does.

I got kinda invested in the investigation (it's hard to prove a negative!) and I ended up typing out an entire History of Elinore/Zitka, so, uh, if you're curious, meet me below the cut for:

Where does Elinore / Zitka - the animal - appear in comics?

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

Where does Elinore / Zitka appear in comics?

We're gonna go in chronological order!

Dick's circus elephant friend was first created for practical reasons: in Batman 436, Marv Wolfman does a big expanded flashback to Dick's circus backstory as a way to subtly show us Tim before officially introducing him (so that we can have a technically-solvable mystery-of-Tim's-identity in LPoD). In this comic, there's an elephant named Elinore who loves Dick:

Aww. Such a cute elephant!

Batman 436 comes out in August 1989. New Titans 60 comes out a few months later, in November, and guess what? When Dick visits the circus, he is suddenly surprised by an unexpected blast from the past! It turns out that even though it's been years, Elinore still remembers him!

Here's the part where Elinore remembers Dick:

SUCH a cute elephant. I love her.

(Guess who else still remembers Dick even though it was so long ago. Guess which other character is about to be an unexpected blast from the past. Guess which character Elinore is directly paralleling guess guess guess sorry everything is about Dick and Tim in my mind but I can focus I swear)

Four years later, in 1993, Batman: The Animated Series retells Dick's origin story. They like and keep Wolfman's elephant, but they change her name to Zitka:

Wolfman doesn't return to the elephant beyond those two appearances, and a few years down the line, New Titans gets cancelled and Wolfman's not writing Dick anymore anyway. So the animal gets abandoned for a while, until Devin Grayson, a fan of both Wolfman and B:tAS, revives the Wolfman-era Titans team in JLA/Titans and then the ongoing series Titans 1999.

Grayson then brings back the elephant in a flashback to Dick's past in Titans 16 (Jun 2000), where she imports the B:tAS name. Sometimes I'm skeptical of TV-to-comics imports, but honestly, I endorse this one. You lose the alliteration, which is a shame, but IMO Zitka is a better elephant name than Elinore.

Here's Dick with the newly-christened Zitka in Titans 16:

Grayson also briefly references the elephant in Gotham Knights 20 and - in a final angsty callback - in Nightwing 88 (Feb 2004), where Zitka tries futilely to comfort Dick in the midst of his trauma conga line:

... And... honestly, I think that's it for comic appearances? The two Wolfman comics plus the three Grayson comics.

Both Wolfman and Grayson are writing multiple titles - Batman, New Titans, Titans, Gotham Knights, and Nightwing between the two of them, spanning a big chunk of Dick's post-Crisis canon - and both writers use the elephant for heartwarming moments of nostalgia, which means if you're doing a post-Crisis readthrough for Dick, Elinore/Zitka feels memorable. But I don't think she actually shows up that much.

For post-2011, I am not as well-informed - throwing this out to the dash? anyone know? - but I feel like Zitka the heartwarming symbol of Dick's heartwarming circus past is, uh, thematically very at odds with the Court of Owls evil!circus vibes, so my instinct is that this story element was almost certainly dropped in the reboot.

Did Dick ever have a stuffed elephant toy in comics?

In WFA, yes; in main comics continuity, no. Technically, I have not read every comic ever published, so I could be wrong!! But I don't think so.

Below, find my rambling reasoning on the tonal vibes of pre-Crisis, post-Crisis, and post-2011, and why this particular story element doesn't seem right to me for the first two.

Pre-Crisis (...okay, mostly the Silver Age): stuffed animal, yes or no?

tl;dr no, requires too much background knowledge on the part of the reader, plus the elephant wasn't a thing until later

Elinore doesn't get created until post-Crisis, but also just generally, pre-Crisis callbacks are more along the lines of this reference in Batman 129 (published in 1960), where, wow, Batman and Robin are hunting jewel thieves - and it turns out Robin recognized this strongman! BUT HOW?!

The comic goes on to recap Dick's entire origin story in flashback, on the assumption that you may not know it.

(BTW, if you'd like to know more about Haly's Circus throughout the years, nightwingology has a great post here summarizing a lot of fun plotlines and characters!)

Basically: Silver Age comics are very self-consciously episodic and kid-friendly; they're not generally gonna do overly-elaborate callbacks because they don't know what comics their kid readers may have randomly picked up or remember.

By the time of post-Crisis, comic books were being written for an adult audience buying from the direct market, i.e. readers who are collecting whole runs & don't need or want Dick's origin story to be recapped to us in full every time it's referenced. That's why in post-Crisis, we get stuff like "hey, neat, this particular soda brand is getting mentioned in several different books!!" or "in order to understand this story arc, buy SIXTEEN DIFFERENT COMICS in FIVE DIFFERENT RUNS and read them ALL ACCORDING TO A NUMBERED ORDER and also you better be following the individual plotlines and recognize these five minor characters who we don't bother to introduce!! Good luck!!" But the elaborate post-Crisis plotlines - and subtler worldbuilding like a stuffed animal callback to Dick's backstory - don't make a lot of story sense UNLESS you're imagining your readers as completionist adult fans.

So IMO a stuffed animal wouldn't be a pre-Crisis thing unless it was The Episodic Story Of the Week, and I don't think a stuffed animal is action-adventure-y enough for the fast-paced storytelling of the Silver Age. (Unless it, like, came to life and tried to eat you or something.)

Post-Crisis: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr: no, Dick's a manly tough guy, he's not gonna have a stuffed animal, that'd be lame, like something Tim might do

Part of the edgy grimdark adult vibes in 80s/90s comics is that some characters who used to be kinda silly & goofy & lighthearted - like Batman and Robin - get reimagined as Serious and Angsty and Edgy in a Tough Cool Manly Brooding Way. This massively affects characterization for Bruce, Dick, and Bruce and Dick's relationship.

(I obviously love this change & love the tense Bruce-and-Dick interactions, but plenty of fans of the earlier fluffy comics really disliked the edgy retcons of Miller / Wolfman / Starlin / et al.)

The upshot is that post-Crisis is a period when you could have a recurring reference like a stuffed elephant, but you wouldn't have a stuffed elephant, not for Dick. I think a toy like that would be too cutesy / childish / effeminate to give a male character in post-Crisis, unless you were poking fun at him.

Now, you could probably let Tim have a stuffed animal, because Tim is sometimes cool but also sometimes a tryhard loser who is faking being cool and not entirely pulling it off (see e.g. the Robin comic where he practices tough-guy faces in the mirror, or the Teen Titans comic where Conner discovers his cringy Enya CD, or when he's fanboying over Connor and it's awkward, etc etc.). A stuffed animal would be deeply embarrassing, and you'd have to be careful to compensate by having Tim do something cool afterward - but Tim's character concept allows for "he's kind of a loser sometimes."

But Dick isn't!! In post-Crisis, Dick's a tough / impressive / "cool guy" character, the kind of guy anyone would want to be, even in the flashbacks where he's Robin, and even in the stories where he's more lighthearted than angsty. It'd be kinda lame for Dick to have a stuffed elephant, so he wouldn't. I feel like Dick would be more likely to poke fun at it if someone had one, like when he's making fun of Wally for liking the Hardy Boys. Dick could have a Batman action figure, at most, and if he had one he would have it ironically.

Basically: in post-Crisis, a male character hugging a stuffed elephant feels more likely to be a punchline to me, not something poignant. (Even with Tim, Tim could have an embarrassing stuffed animal, but he couldn't hug it when sad - that's too far. Maybe Booster Gold might do this. Probably he wouldn't, but spiritually, he would. Sorry Booster ilu! <3)

Instead, Dick instinctively deals with his inner turmoil like the TORTURED ACTION HERO he is: by punching things and brooding and yelling and joining the mob and sleeping on rooftops and going on obsessive secret missions and acquiring Angsty Stubble!! Just like Batman!

(Technically I don't know if Bruce ever joined the mob but you know he would.)

Anyway as you know this is my favorite continuity and I am poking fun affectionately, but uh, yeah sdfsfdsfs. No stuffed animals.

Post-2011 / Infinite Frontier / Wayne Family Adventures: stuffed animals, yes or no?

tl;dr it's in WFA! Probably not anywhere else, but it could be.

Post-2011 stuff tends to be cutesier overall, most of all in the current Infinite Frontier era. So I don't feel like this would be tonally out-of-line with IF comics. Taylor tends to go for more meme-y references rather than fanfic references, though.

So the obvious best fit is WFA, which is aiming for a rough approximation of Silver Age family-friendly vibes - wholesome, episodic plots, Teaching Good Moral Lessons For The Youth, etc. - plus lots of Easter eggs for fanfic readers and some comic references.

And look, here we are:

Aww.

Whew - that's everything I could find!

Anyway as you can probably tell, I LOVE the elephant, so this was a very entertaining rabbit hole to go down, thank you <3

[dingochef]

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x You (OFC)

Warnings: Swearing, Smut (MDNI 18+ Only), Angst with a Happy Ending, Stalking, P in V, oral (female and male receiving), Semi-public sex, light spanking,

Word Count:  2.5k

Summary: The jackass you wrote off last night seeks you out for an apology. At least you get a baseball game out of it.

Masterlist

Chapter 1

Chapter 2: I'm just here for the baseball.

You're coming back from your  morning run, endorphins pumping through your body, when a text notification from an unknown number flashes across the screen of your phone.  

Unknown Number: Hey, it's Jake the Jackass from the bar last night.  Just wanted to apologize again and thank you for the apparently needed ego check.

You: Glad I could provide some much needed grounding.  How did you get my number?

Unknown Number: Lydia ended up back here with Rooster last night.  I asked her when she briefly emerged from their sex den.

You: Ahh sweet traitorous Lydia. Anyway, I accept the apology.  Bye and have a nice life.

Unknown Number: That's abrupt, lol.  Let me try to redeem myself at least.  I've got two home plate tickets to the Padres game today.  Interested in joining me?

You consider the offer, a free ticket to a game and something to do this afternoon.  In an unusual fit of impulse you grab your phone and reply.

You: Sure, why not.  I'll meet you at the entrance opposite the convention center at 12:30.  

Unknown Number: Sounds great, it's a date. See you then.

You: It's not a date, it's amends.  Especially if I buy the beer.

You don't receive a response.  you save his number in your phone as Jackass, Jake in the last name first format.  

Jake the Jackass has such a nice alliteration to it.  Looking at the clock you've got just enough time to clean up, shove some food down your gullet, and catch the ferry from Coronado Island over to the stadium.  

It's a beautiful day that happens more often than not in San Diego when you get off the ferry and walk towards Petco Park.  You can see Jake waiting from a distance, he's easy to pick out with the ramrod military posture, sun lightened blond hair waving gently in the wind, and those ubiquitous aviator sunglasses.  Are they contractually required to wear them all the time?

You're about 50 feet away when he spots you and you can see the smile bloom in his face in recognition as you approach.  He opens his arms for a hug and to your own surprise you reciprocate the gesture.  The warmth of his hand seeps through the light cotton sundress you chose for today and almost sears where your bare skin meets his.  With the sensible sandals you're wearing he's almost a foot taller than you and you feel very small, yet safe in his arms.  Again you get the woodsy smell of his aftershave and think how nice he smells.  He pulls back and says, 

"I wasn't sure you were going to come.  Thought you might want to finish grinding my ego into the ground."

You laugh and reply, 

"I keep my word.  Besides I figure anyone who's enough of a glutton for punishment to try again is probably worth a second chance. That and a tiny soft spot in my heart that decided at least I get out to a Padres game. It's hard to find someone to go with sometimes."

You start walking towards the turnstile to enter the stadium.

"Lydia and Beth, not big sports fans?" He asks.

"Hardly, the funny thing is that I work with a whole lot of dudes who love baseball, but I just can't imagine spending time with them outside of work without them getting the wrong idea."

"What idea would that be?" He asks waggling his eyebrows.  

You point at him,

"That one.  For some reason I can't just hang out with a guy from work without them thinking it's more than just someone to hang with and watch some baseball.  They try to make it more and it gets real awkward at work when I don't reciprocate. I dated one guy from work and it got pretty serious before it went down in spectacular flames." 

You make explosion gestures with your hands. 

"Ended up leaving that job, it got so bad, but that led me to your  job at Lockheed Martin so it works out in the end." 

You take a deep breath, you usually don't reveal that much personal info so early.  You know you have trust issues. Jake's brows have furrowed into what you read as anger when thinking about some long ago asshole. For some reason the thought of him wanting to kick some guys ass for you makes you feel fuzzy, then you can feel your  feminist brain sigh in disappointment. Sensing the mood has shifted too far towards serious, you laugh your nervous laugh, and point over to the concession stand and ask, 

"You got drinks last night so it's your  turn.  What do you want?" 

Jake surprisingly goes along easily with your offer and says, 

"Stone Hazy IPA."

Most guys seem affronted that you want to pay your fair share for a date, another ex had called it emasculating when you bought  dinner or drinks and for the fact that you made more money than him.  You pick a lighter lager from Ballast Point along with a bottle of water. 

You've settled into your seats, drinks in tow just as the pregame announcements start.  The national anthem plays and you see just how ingrained military habits can be when Jake rises automatically to that perfect posture and removes his sunglasses and raises his hand over his heart and sings surprisingly well along with the music.  His voice is mellow and deep and just a charming amount off key in a couple places of the song.  An image of you lying your head on his naked chest and feeling that voice reverberate flashes through your brain.  Quickly, you shake it away to applaud the end of the anthem and the first pitch.  

"These seats are great," you offer to keep the conversation going. You're just far enough down the third base line that we've got a good view of the batter, but still close enough to action that we can hear the catcher trash talking the batters. 

"How'd you score these?"

"One of my buddies has season tickets, but got called out to a new assignment and knew I was going to be in the area so he gifted me the rest of the season since he can't use them."

"Nice friend, if you've got these seats all season, I might be more likely to hang out with you again."

"Aha, so the way into the Ice Queen's heart is through baseball, who knew?"

"I've got a few passions in life, you just have to dig a little deeper to get to know them. So, I've got a question, how are you so well acquainted with Frozen?  You’re not exactly the market demographic for Frozen.  Are you a secret super fan of Disney?"

He laughs, 

"Not a secret super fan of Disney, although the Lion King did break my   little 10 year old heart.  First time I cried at a movie.  I've got two nieces who are eight and five.  Right in that target demographic. I babysit them occasionally when I'm back in Texas."

"So what does the Seresin family situation look like?" you ask. 

"Painfully middle class white, my  parents have been married since the beginning of time, met in college. Had my brother pretty early, and a few years later I came along.  Dad was a doctor, my older brother is too. Mom had a Physics degree from UT but never had a chance to use it as she stayed home with us and didn't work.  Grew up in Austin as the all American family."

"Wow, high achieving family.  Imagine being the disappointment as a fighter pilot."

"Who says I'm the disappointment?  Mike is just a doctor." He says in mock offense.  

"What does the…I don't even know your last name.  I just saved you as Elsa Ice in my phone."

You give him a mock glare, "Matthews, so you can correct that now.  To be fair I saved you as Jake Jackass in my phone.  We'll see how the day goes to see if you upgrade that status. The Matthews family is also painfully bland and white.  My Dad retired from the Navy after his service in Vietnam, came back to Michigan and met my mom at a house party at Michigan State.  Dad's an automotive engineer and Mom taught high school math for many years. Grew up in a Lansing suburb.  I'm the oldest, I have a sister who's 3 years younger than me.  She's a tattoo artist in Chicago."

"That's at least a little bit interesting, do you have any of her work on you?"

A mischievous smirk creeps onto your lips as you respond, 

"Yeah, I've got a few pieces of hers on me.  She's the only one I'd ever let tattoo me.  I'd show you, but that would probably earn me a public indecency ticket." 

You slyly wink at the last sentence and enjoy the way Jake slightly chokes on his beer as the thought registers.

After a slight coughing fit, Jake regains his smooth demeanor.  "As you informed me last night you've got a PhD in aerospace engineering from Stanford, did you go to Michigan State for undergrad?"

"Nope, love my family dearly but I needed some distance so I went to Notre Dame. "

He laughs and you can see those charming laugh lines peeking out from the sides of his aviators.  "I get that, I've got some family legacy in the Air Force and wanted to earn my place on my own merits, not on my last name."

"You go to the Naval Academy  then?" 

He nods in the affirmative, 

"That must have been anarchy when you made that choice."

He chuckles at the memory, 

"Nearly gave my grandfather a heart attack and almost got my ass beat by uncles and cousins.  But I kind of enjoy being the black sheep."

"Yeah, my dad blew a gasket when I got into Notre Dame.  He thought he was going to have to pay for it all, private out-of-state tuition made his mind melt, but luckily I got an athletic scholarship that covered most of it."

"What sport?" 

Before you can reply there is a high foul ball headed towards your seats.  You're seated closer to home plate than Jake and you instinctively stretch your  arms up to try and catch the ball.  It's coming closer and you can see that it's going to sail over your  head.  You, for the millionth time, curse your  shortness.  Suddenly you feel strong hands on your waist and you're being propelled up high enough to catch the ball.  You catch the ball with a satisfying thud and whip your  head around to see how you're presumably flying in the air.  Jake is holding you as high as he can above his head with his long arms. His muscles are rippling but not trembling, the thought of how he could hold you up easily while fucking you against a wall flashes through your brain and a flush of heat rolls down your body and straight to your  pussy.  You almost drop the ball at the thought as he returns you to the ground.

"I didn't expect that, the foul ball or the complimentary flight."

He shrugs, 

"It was all you, I just gave you the boost."

"Well, thank you. I've never caught a ball at a game.  This is going to be an excellent addition to my desk on Monday, it'll inspire so much jealousy among my coworkers."

The game continues on at the easy pace of baseball, plenty of time to talk but not miss the action. The Padres are playing the Milwaukee Brewers so it gives you a chance to talk about your mom's roots in Wisconsin and the family legacy of cheese making.  

"So, you’re telling me that you’re the first person in five generations of your mom's family not to work in a cheese factory.  That is so Wisconsin it hurts." He can't stop laughing maniacally at the thought.  you give him a mock punch on the arm as you roll your eyes.  "I might be changing your name in my phone to Elsa Cheese Queen." He is laughing so hard that he takes his aviators off to wipe at his eyes.

"Oh my god, you’re turning into a lobster.  Did you put any sunscreen on today?"

"No, thought didn't occur to me."

"What is it about guys and sunscreen? Nobody remembers, here I've got some in my purse."

You pull out a small tube of sunscreen and pull his hand over to squeeze some on his fingers.  He attempts to slather it on his face leaving a few big globs along his jawline.  

"Here, let me help you with that."

You reach out and blend the sunscreen along his jawline, your fingers graze over a hint of stubble.  Your apparently overactive and very horny brain sends the thought of feeling that stubble tracing up your  thighs.  You let the thought linger and quickly hand the tube to Jake and stutter out, 

"Now do me." 

You mentally cringe at the innuendo, "My back," you quickly amend and turn in your seat to present your  back to him.  You can feel the cool lotion spread across your  back with calloused hands, he gently moves the thin straps of your sundress to make sure he doesn't miss a spot.  Horny brain is already piecing together scenarios where that is your bra strap and is followed by exploring lips.  Rational brain manages to squeak out a thank you and retrieve the sunscreen from Jake.  You settle back into your  seat and Jake rests his arm on the back of your  seat.  You let it stay.

The game ends with the Padres winning 8-4. You're shuffling out of the game and your stomach growls.  In another one of those moments of impulse you'll attribute to your horny brain you ask, 

"Are you up for a bite to eat? I know a good tapas place a few blocks from here."

Jake is visibly surprised at your invite, he smiles as he replies, 

"Yeah, that sounds great. I must have grown on you if you're wanting to spend more time with me. I half expected you to bolt the minute the game was over."  

He smirks and cracks that toothpaste smile that you immediately rename the panty dropper.  

"Ah yes, like a cute little fungus, you've grown on me.  You’re not so bad, once you drop the smug idiot act."

"Fair, I can work with that…so does this mean you’re asking me on a date?"

You pause and lower your  sunglasses, it's your  turn to be smooth for once in your life.  

@mayhemmanaged

"Why yes, Jake Seresin, will you go on a dinner date with me?"

Chapter 3

@callmemana

@hangmanscoming

@lanie-k

[octoqueen10]

Daphne's Reference Sheet

(Note: this is vaguely designed after @jokerislandgirl32 ‘s reference sheet for her selfship kids)

Under the cut due to length

Full Name: Daphne Catalina Donata

Birthday: November 17th

Name Significance: Donita found a model named Daphne in a fashion magazine, who she thought dazzled every photo she was in, and she wanted her daughter to be like that + alliteration. Catalina was Henry’s grandmother who taught him to play the guitar’s name. Daphne got Donita's last name due to a game of rock paper scissors she won.

Nicknames: Mi Narcisa by Henry, Daffy by her younger siblings (They couldn’t pronounce Daphne); Daphne was never a huge fan of nicknames, preferring to just go by her name

Style/Signature Colors: Daphne prefers bold bright colors, like yellows and pinks, she likes to stand out in a crowd, and will wear whatever is trending at the moment, but her mother dresses her most of the time.

Height: 5’8; Her parents are both tall and she inherited those genes, but she is still slightly shorter than them both

Personality: Daphne is very career and fame oriented, almost to the point of obsession, but she isn’t shallow, often sacrificing for others when they need her help. Daphne is a very sassy girl, and would like you to think she doesn’t care, but it’s actually quite the opposite, with her gauging the reaction to everything she says. She has always been a very funny person, with a kind of dry humor, something she becomes known for on her social medias. Daphne is a very kind and ambitious person, but she is also very insecure about herself, often believing everyone hates her, even with evidence to the contrary. 

Family Relationships: Daphne, Dabio, and Donita are like three peas in a pod. As Daphne has grown older, they have only gotten closer, and Daphne views Donita and Dabio as her greatest inspirations to become a success story. Daphne’s father has pulled back from her a lot as she’s grown up, but she is determined to try and fix their relationship, if not for her sake, for the sake of her half-siblings. Daphne loves her half-siblings, and although there is a large age gap, she calls and texts them as often as she can, and is as enamored with them as they are with her. Allison, Daphne’s stepmom, hates her and has never had a meaningful conversation with her, so Daphne has begun to pull away from that toxic relationship, in favor of better ones. 

Love Intrests/Future Family: Daphne had a couple boyfriends in high school, nothing serious, always ending after a couple weeks/months, but she has always been looking for ‘the one’. She began to question if they even existed, after seeing people around her fall in love so quickly, and and questioned if she was even worthy of someone’s unconditional love. She eventually finds that in Vallen Varmitech, Zach and Violet’s youngest male child. (Ill add how they met at a later date, @jokerislandgirl32, if you have any ideas hmu)

Career and Talents: Daphne has been focused on becoming famous her entire life, eventually finding it through being an online influencer. As a result, her grades in school, while okay, were never as high as they should have been, with her really struggling in math and sciences, barely passing those classes. The only reason she passed was through extensive tutoring by Zach and Vera. Daphne also tried to become a musician like her father, to quickly realize she had no talent musically despite her best efforts, a big insecurity and disconnect from her father. 

A few years after high school, Daphne is invited to join a content creation house (Think Hype House etc) which she accepts the invitation. It is here where Daphne finally gets the worldwide fame and recognition she always craved. She stayed there for a couple years, before leaving and going on a trip to Greece to try and meet her grandparents and uncles. It is in Greece where Daphne realizes she doesn’t like where her content has gone, with the quality decreasing significantly from when she first started, and started to return to her roots of fashion and travel, with a bit of comedy skits mixed in. Daphne finds comfort in her new life as a superstar, and began to branch out and started her own PR company that she owns and operates.

Fun Facts:

Daphne’s favorite holidays are Fourth of July and New Years because she is udderly obsessed with fireworks

Her diet consists of almost anything, with an emphasis on sustainable sourcing of her meat, with a notable exception of shellfish and nuts, as she is deathly allergic to them both. She is a notorious picky eater though, making mealtimes difficult at times.

Daphne loves country and latin pop music, with her favorites being Shakira, Bad Bunny, Morgan Wallen, and Luke Combs, but she will listen to almost anything; she isn’t picky about music at all.

Daphne loves all nature except for bugs. She will scream when she sees any type of bugs (incuding moths and butterflies) and will run in the opposite direction. Other than bugs though, Daphne is down to hang out in nature, loving to take pictures of all the interesting wildlife. Her favorite animals are starfish and flamingos

Through her family and travels, Daphne has become fluent in Greek, Spanish and French in addition to English, a fact she will brag about to anybody who will listen

As a child, she didn’t watch much traditional tv, opting to watch reality tv, like The Real Housewives and Love Island, which her parents agreed to due to lack of knowledge of what they were. Her favorite movies though was the Barbie franchise, watching all of the movies and shows religiously, almost memorizing parts of them. She wanted to be Barbie so badly as a child, dressing like her for 5 Halloweens in a row.

[nebulous-nevermore]

Tagged by: @its-chips-main

Name: Nebulous

Sexuality: Asexual & Queer

Favorite D&D class: Clerics—Grave Clerics specifically.

Dog or cat person: Cats! I do love dogs, but given the choice, I’m always gonna be taking a cat.

Current time: 12:22 pm

Dream job: Maybe a little boring but I would love to just caption Youtube videos or movies properly for a living.

Favorite Animal: Snakes, owls, or bees. In terms of fantasy animals, I’m a big fan of griffins and chimeras.

Blog creation date: idk! I’m definitely newer than most, but I was around a good few years before the twitter and reddit refugees started coming in. Post-Mishapocalypse, at the very least.

Reason for URL: The Raven is a favorite poem of mine, and I’d wanted some alliteration for my chosen name of Nebula at the time of creating my blog. Things changed from there, and I shifted from Nebula to Nebulous—And so here we are. Nebulous Nevermore.

Followers I’d like to know better (no pressure! just if you’d like to 💜): @simplyender @zeldaenby @msmoon-and-the-cyberdemon

[fayoftheforest]

hey hey!! random question but what do you think kyle's kids are like? or even cartman's kids. i've just been sitting in my little corner with my own little characterizations so i figured might as well break out of my shell a little and ask other ppl what their interpretations are, and ur rlly fun!! :D

Thank you so much for the ask!! I love all your art of Kyle and Cartmans' children very much, it's fantastic :D I thought long and hard, and have come up with these wildly unfounded headcanons for Kyle’s children, partially influenced by kidfics I have read by authors such as Hollycomb and Sekrit (credit to the latter for being the first to name Kyle’s kid Benji!)

Benjamin Bartholemew Broflovski: I’ve always headcanoned Kyle’s middle name as Benjamin. Likewise, I hc Bartholomew is a family name on Gerald’s side, so Kyle wanted to honour that too. Plus, he's a big fan of alliteration :D

Benji is an overachieving, do-no-wrong golden child. He plays a lot of soccer in his youth (watched over by Soccer Mom Kyle) but switches to basketball in high school after a generous growth spurt. He’s also academically gifted, getting great grades in all of his classes. His favourite subject is history, specifically early civilisation. Would you like to know how the ancient Egyptians mummified the dead? Or the process of constructing an ancient Roman road? Well, he’s going to tell you anyway, and the lecture will last no less than two hours, and no, you don’t get a break. The only time that Benji does not exude confidence is when it comes to dating when he's older, wherein he’s a flustered and stuttering mess. He’s got the Bitchless Broflovski curse, I’m afraid 😔

Despite his radiant childhood, he goes through a rebellious phase in his early teen years. He starts to worry that people see him as boring or stuck-up, and so acts out. I doubt he’d go full goth, but maybe he’d get busted for drinking on school property or something, camped out behind the bleachers with some of the Bad Kids. Kyle gets SO MAD that the full name is cracked out: "Benjamin Bartholemew Broflovski!" but Benji figures if it’s pissing his dad off, then he must be doing something right. This behaviour spirals out of control until he has a bit of a scare (someone gets hurt, but not seriously), and after Kyle comes to his rescue, the two have a good ol’ heart to heart and all is well once more :) 

During the brief moment we see him in Post Covid, Benji is shown wearing a kippah, which could indicate that he’s an orthodox Jew. However, Kyle’s lifestyle does not seem to adhere to orthodoxy on the show, and I imagine he’d raise Benji as a reform/liberal Jew, just like I think Kyle is. The kippah could be because they’re at a Denny’s Applebees Max, and some Jews choose to cover their heads when eating, but I believe that, like Gerald, he simply wears his all of the time. As the post-covid conclusion is a utopian vision, Benji has been raised without the same antisemitic bullying that his father experienced, and so has no shame or self-loathing about being Jewish. He’s proud and he’s passionate about his faith!

Ada-May Sheila Broflovski: Kyle strikes me as the kind of guy to name his daughter after a famous feminist figure. Ada is after Ada Lovelace, who’s widely considered to be the first computer programmer! The ‘May’ is a family name, double barreled because he likes the ring to it. Sheila is of course after his mother, who he may have his gripes with, but still loves very dearly.

Ada is a quiet child. Raised in her older brother’s shadow, she’s not as naturally gifted at sports, and despite her namesake struggles quite a lot with math. Kyle loves both his children equally of course, but sometimes he doesn’t know what to make of her, because she’s not very expressive and quite emotionally closed off at times. She really enjoys reading, particularly nonfiction, so Kyle finds ways to connect with her by talking to her about the books she enjoys, and reading her favourites with her.

Ada doesn’t have too many friends whilst growing up, which Kyle stresses over to no end, but she doesn’t mind too much, happy in her own little world. In high school she makes friends with Moisha, Cartman’s son, and they start the school paper together. This kickstarts her passion for photography, as she follows Moisha around with a camera whist he asks people invasive and leading questions. The pair get into a lot of trouble together, and many hijinks ensue. Kyle blames it on Moisha's upbringing by his inept father and secretly misses the days when Ada didn’t have so many friends.

Tzedakah (charity work) is one of the most important commandments that Jews are obligated to observe, and I can see Ada really connecting with this mitzvah. She loves helping people in need, and works on many, many charity drives and events throughout her youth. She inherits a strong sense of justice from her father, and I love the idea of them bonding over this! They volunteer every Wednesday night at a soup kitchen together, and Benji sometimes comes too, making it a family affair :D

So, those are my main headcanons for Benji and Ada at the moment! I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts if they’d like to share theirs as well. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to ramble!!

[evvlevie]

❤️‍🔥♥️ random things about Evie ♥️❤️‍🔥

(because why not? what if you want to get to know me?)

🍓my full name is Evangeline, and I am evil Evie on here because I liked the alliteration and I can be quite mean if I really want to

🍓my favorite color is red. But if I go to buy something and the shade of red is ugly, my next preferred color is pink.

🍓if I was a fruit I think I‘d be a peach because I like peaches and they are fuzzy which is kind of unique

🍓I love everything with hearts on it or shaped in a heart or just generally hearts. I wipe my ass with toilet paper that has hearts on it I am not even kidding.

🍓because of my obsession with hearts, my favorite holiday is Valentinesday. Yes it’s a commercialization of love, but every holiday is commercializing SOMETHING and a day to show your loved ones that you appreciate them is not a bad thing plus everything is pink and heart shaped and I can only thrive in that loving environment

🍓if I was nut I’d be a coconut

🍓my most favorite TV-show is >>how I met your mother<< when I want to watch something to feel good. But other than that I believe >>Stranger Things<< and >>YOU<< are pure artwork.

🍓I love Christopher Nolan movies. They are cinematic gold and always leave you still thinking about the movie and his movies always spawn great Fan theories which makes his artwork stick with you even after you have finished watching it and that’s what true art is about in my opinion. Therefore my favorite movie is >>Inception<<.

🍓I have a red tattoo on my wrist, and it’s the word „you“ which symbolizes the way people create artwork around other people and how you can devote yourself to someone else which as a concept in itself seems to beautiful to me that we as humans are able to feel so deeply for others, that we make art out of our devotion.

🍓I sneeze when I eat chocolate and I am not even kidding.

🍓I love Office supplies. If you put me into a shop full of pens and notebooks I would spend an entire day there and not notice the sky falling or a tsunami hitting my city, I am just such a Virgo it hurts.

🍓I have been DREAMING of buying a MINI Cooper S Countryman in a brownish color and as soon as I have my driver’s license that’s what I will be manifesting for myself 😩

🍓I love ripndip clothing because it’s so colorful and creative.

🍓I am neither a dog or a cat person I am allergic to both and I like both. Used to be more on the dog side but learned to love cats too and now it’s equal love for both

🍓I love Dr Pepper

🍓my favorite animals are hippos

🍓my favorite music is the nbhd, the arctic monkeys, Chase Atlantic, The Weeknd, Lana del Rey and Blackbear and Billie Eilish

🍓I own 6 pairs of converse chucks because that is my favorite shoe and my most favorite pair are my cdg-play ones because they have a heart on their sides.

🍓I hate avocados so much and you can not change my mind. Honestly. I have tried that stupid fruit far too many times in order for anyone to tell me that this tasteless green slob is amazing and a game changer. If I have to slap on 17 spices in order for that thing to even taste like ANYTHING and that anything only being the spices, then I am wasting my time, money and water in order to grow that useless ass fruit and just straight up eat a spoon full of seasoning and call it a day.

🍓I am a passionate hater

🍓and a really picky eater. I eat like a three year old at my 19 years of age. And I am not ashamed of it. I have a BIG problem with textures, and trusting food, so if any picky eater is reading this: don’t let anybody make you feel bad for disliking certain textures or having struggles with eating or food in general. Your feelings are valid and I don‘t want to hear from ANYONE that they are forcing down food because people around them think that it’s „childish“ not to like certain things. ONLY EVER EAT THE THINGS YOU WANT TO EAT. I fully understand anyone who struggles with eating and picky eaters are never picky by choice. None of us wake up and decide they want to be a problem today.

🍓I only wear silver jewelry

🍓my dream wedding would be a trashy Elvis-Impersonator-Wedding in Vegas because I believe that if someone truly loves you, they would marry you on the spot in a split decision and not think about it for 6 months first before they ask you and give themselves 1 year + time to think about if they are really making the right decision. You may disagree but that’s my perspective on things and romance <3

🍓I have a label maker and I am deeply attached to it (I am a Virgo remember)

So this is me. I thought you might like to know your favorite shifting blogger a little better, and now you might have a more clear picture on who is sitting behind all of these posts 😽😼

Yours in every reality

Evie ❤️‍🔥

[baronetcoins]

buddy you KNOW i want those speeches thoughts

*deep sigh* fine. let's do this.

My qualifications here are thus: I did three years of competitive speech and debate, and did pretty well for myself (two time state qualifier, two time national qualifier, one time state champion). I also spent a year as team co-captain, and a year helping a teacher at my school teach the speech and communications class. Also, i'm an extremely judgemental bitch. With that in mind,

Hakeem Jeffries

Jeffries started out his speech by thanking the Democratic caucus, and by calling them out for being unified. Which makes sense, that's a good contrast to draw and it comes across as more dignified for not mentioning the Republicans or their negative example by name and instead just going on the positives.

He then moved on to praising Pelosi for her leadership, calling her the greatest speaker of all time, and setting up what I'd call the main rhetorical theme of Jeffries' speech: alliteration. Jeffries loves alliteration. I can't tell you if that's a common factor of all of his speeches, because I haven't watched any outside of this one, but boy. Does he like his alliteration.

"Throughout her time in congress she's been a legendary legislator, a fabulous facilitator, and a non-nonsense negotiator. [...] A defender of democracy. A voice for the voiceless, and a powerful champion for the children, the climate, charm city, California, the caucus, the congress, the country, and the constitution."

There's a bible Quote detour after the Pelosi section, which I'm not personally a fan of because it seems like it's a detour that's unnecessary. However, what he uses it to transition to is great and something more democrats should do: talk about their goddamn accomplishments. It includes a line that I think any other speaker would have made sound incredibly cheesy, but I think Jeffries pulls off:

"The D in Democrat stands for 'deliver'."

(which of course got boos from the Republican side. lots of heckling. whatever, children.)

The next section does a lot of laying out an agenda going forwards, I think it's inoffensive and fine, and there's another big chunk of alliteration. You think I'm kidding about this speech? go watch it for yourself.

I liked the language about diversity, mostly, though did notice that trans people were glaringly missing from his whole thing about the kind of people who make up America. Whatever.

Rhetorically, I like framing the Democratic party as the party of the American dream. For as much as like. leftists will criticize that idea, I think it's probably still persuasive to a lot of people and I'm always going to argue for effectiveness of outcome over ideological purity. I also like pointing at the house Republicans and their bullshit and saying "we're reasonable! ball's in your court" (paraphrasing).

And then, the main event. The grand listing of Democratic values, an alphabetical list of alliteration. You can watch it here, set to music. I kinda liked how pointed it got! I'm a big fan of people who don't pull punches when they're dealing with bullshit, and I don't think this did that. Also, I respect that he got all the way to the end of the alphabet that's a hard feat to pull off. Do you know how hard it is to find political contrasts to make where both parts start with X or Z? I don't think I could have done that!

Overall, I liked it. I don't know if it was great, but it's certainly unique enough to be memorable for a bit, at least among the kind of people who watch 15 minute speeches at like 10 in the evening on a friday (me).

Also, you could see how hard he struggled to find nice things to say as he introduced Kevin lmao

Kevin McCarthy

Starting off strong with an ineffectual little gavel hit like a kid with a new toy, and then an incredibly stupid little joke.

"That was easy, huh?" -Kevin McCarthy, 2023, after 15 ballots.

Followed by a dig at the opposition, for no reason

"Hakeem, I've gotta warn ya. 2 years ago, I got 100% of the vote from my conference."

He then thanked the Clerk, which I actually think is a very good thing to do. I'll give him that. That lady deserves all the kudos she's been getting: normally, nobody knows who she is and then all of a sudden the eyes of the nation are on her. Then he makes an appeal to "my father once told me" which. eugh. I don't like these.

"My father once told me, it's not how you start. It's how you finish."

He then talks about being the son of a firefighter (we get it! we know! I don't know what he thinks this proves!) and then being able to achieve high office in the most uninspiring possible way, as well as shouting out Jeffries' life story too as if we did not just hear it in much more engaging detail like 15 minutes ago.

pictured: a man who is wondering if he has to clap.

Kevin then promises Jeffries that he'll keep debates civil, which. LMAO. Jeffries mouths something in response which might be "no" or "bet". I don't know I don't read lips. (also side note: LOVING the free CSPAN camera angles throughout all of this. Free the cameras. I want to watch reaction shots always.)

He hits the highlights. Bladyada the economy, respect law enforcement, dreams come true in america, etc. He wants to cut spending, lower prices, stop the rise of the national debt (if you're playing the Republican speech drinking game, here's where you take a drink), slash regulations (another drink), do more american energy, the works.

The interesting bit comes after, where he talks about some specifics of his plan for governance. He promises the first bill when they come back is to repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents. He wants to tackle the southern border (take a drink) and stop "woke indoctrination in our schools" (another drink, or maybe throw one at your tv. either way). He's really repetitive in his speech: if i hear "wasteful washington spending" one more time I am going to Lose It. There's some dumb line he seems very proud of here. Oo look at you doing assonance how clever:

"From now on, if a Washington bureaucrat wants to spend it, they will come before us to defend it."

He promises a bipartisan select committee on China, because of course the Republican party has to be hyper focused on China. There are also, apparently, going to be committees on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of COVID (really? really?? it is the year of our lord 2023 and we're still doing lab leak bullshit?), and the "weaponization of the FBI" (read: raiding Mar-a-lago). These feel like presumably some of the compromises made with the freedom caucus to buy their vote.

IDK I'm focusing on policy so much because his speaking style is so bland. every attempt at flourish falls flat. he is like the lukewarm oatmeal of speaking styles. It just feels clumsy.

He focuses a lot on his little section about opening up the house (physically). Including a dumb little metaphor about the debates being open too. Actually he just talks about debate good a lot which, I say as a former debate kid: lmao.

The thanks to his family does have huge oscar acceptance speech vibes, but it is also probably the best part of this speech. Comes across as cute and genuine. He then follows it with a very dumb quote from a Song, losing the moment entirely. Kevin, fire your speechwriter. He then goes back to his father being a firefighter! We KNOW.

Again, if I have to give him some kudos (reluctantly) it's for his bits about the families of the lawmakers supporting them. I think it's humanizing, a thing he needs desperately.

There's then a whole thing about Lincoln, and the statuary hall because that's where Lincoln served, and oh boy does it sounds like he jerks off to fantasies of Lincoln. Like, listen to this. I'm just going to excerpt it all. (emphasis mine)

"My most favorite spot in this building is not in this Chamber. It's in the chamber they met before, in the statuary hall. It's my favorite place to take people on a tour. You see, it's where Abraham Lincoln served. Just a one term congressman, sat in the back. I like to go to that spot, and I like to stand where he stood. I like to do it at night, when people aren't around. I like to look over, and look at the clock, because that's the same clock and same view that Abraham Lincoln saw. I've watched Lincoln serve in the greatest challenge to our constitution, the Civil War. I watched him take peoples who were rivals. I watched in a time that he did not know if the nation could sustain itself, but he dreamt of a future, and built a railroad across the nation. I want us to all take a moment one time that you are here. I want you to stand there. I want you to look. And I want you to think, if America could do it then, we could do it now one more time."

He promises an open door opportunity, which. Lmao, we'll see. And then he goes on a LONG ramble about the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware that doesn't appear to have a point. If I was coaching this speech, I'd tell him to make the point more explicit or cut this section entirely. It's so weird. It sounds like a freshman paper. He also makes a GREAT mouth typo here:

"If we let everybody in the boat. If we row in the same cadence together. There is no obstacle this body can overcome for this nation."

pictured: Matt Gaetz, on his phone throughout the painting section.

I will also give Kevin one other thing: he's pretty self-deprecating in this speech, and I think that's the only correct tone to take after this embarrassment of a process. Congrats on reading the room, Kevin. Now if you could read the room and make your goddamn speech shorter, that'd be great.

Overall, C-. Terribly boring. It feels very... clumsy? Is probably the best way to put it? and It's so long. It did not need to be this long. I'm looking at the clock and I've spent almost an hour and a half writing this post. Jesus Christ. Good night, and God bless America.

[afieldofheather]

regular a book you meant to read in 2022 | Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon a book you bought from an independent bookstore | They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie a book about a vacation | A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie a book by a first-time author | The Hall of the Two Truths by Susannah Parker Sinard a book with mythical creatures | Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart and Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott a book about a forbidden romance | The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell a book with "girl" in the title | Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire a celebrity memoir | Spare by Prince Harry a book with a color in the title | Black Powder War by Naomi Novik a romance with a fat lead | Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson a book about or set in hollywood | Ghost 19 by Simone St James a book published in the first half of 2023 | Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo a book published the year you were born | Murder and the First Lady by Elliot Roosevelt a modern retelling of a classic | The Hawkman by Jane Rosenburg LaForge a book with a song lyric as its title | It's in His Kiss by Julia Quinn a book where the main character's name is in the title | Kali's Wrath by Keith RA DeCandido a book with a love triangle | When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn a book that was banned or challenged in 2022 | Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik a book that fulfills your favorite prompt from a past challenge | Nemesis by Agatha Christie a book becoming a tv series or movie in 2023 | Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski a book set in the decade you were born | E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton a book with a queer lead | Drowned Country by Emily Tesh a book with a map | Summers End by Juneau Black a book with a rabbit on the cover | What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher a book with just text on the cover | Zero Days by Ruth Ware the shortest book (by pages) on your tbr list | What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher a #booktok recommendation | The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst a book you bought secondhand | Hostile Ground by Sally Malcolm a book your friend recommended | Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik a book that's on a celebrity book-club list | The Cloisters by Katy Hays a book about a family | An Inquiry Into Love and Death by Simone St James a book that comes out in the second half of 2023 | What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez a book about an athlete/sport | You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian a historical-fiction book | Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik a book about divorce | The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James a book you think your best friend would like | Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie a book you should have read in high school | The Once and Future King by TH White a book you read more than 10 years ago | The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien a book you wish you could read for the first time again | Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik a book by an author with the same initials as you | Small Town Big Magic by Hazel Beck

advanced a book written during nanowrimo | Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal a book based on a popular movie | Far Horizons by Sally Malcolm a book that takes place entirely in one day | Skeleton Song by Seanan McGuire a book that was self-published | Ouroboros by Melissa Scott a book that started out as fan fiction | Infiltration by Susannah Parker Sinard a book with a pet character | Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen a book about a holiday that's not christmas | Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson a book that features two languages | Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik the longest book (by pages) on your tbr list | Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray a book with alliteration in the title | The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie

completed | October 20, 2024

[maribel-bat]

carly for the ask meme! :3

Why I like them/why I don’t: Love her! Love her! I love Carly so much!! She just really stumbles her way into the narrative and they did her so dirty in the second half but like, she carries so much in the first half its fucking crazy. Also I have so many screenshots of her making expressions of all time because like...they really went hard with those. I think her character arc is compelling and I'm a big fan of failgirl girlfailures.

What I like about their appearance: The glasses! Tbh as someone who's drawn her more than once, those are always fun to draw, but the hair is also great. It's just one big chunky block and its really funny. She's so shaped.

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: I'm torn honestly, because they both have a nice ring to it. Carly Carmine really gives off the kinda awkward bit with alliteration while Carly Nagisa is very pretty. I think its the dichotomy of Carly herself that makes me so indecisive.

OTP: It'd have to be Scoopshipping for sure. I mean, it's pretty much canon, and again, failgirl girlfailure and guy who is trying so so so hard and doing it very badly is just a hilarious recipe for Funny Things. Besides I also think reporter and celebrity is a fun dynamic, it's just entertaining to have her definitely not beating the Jack Atlas Bias Allegations.

NOTP: Can't pick a specific one. Just. Don't ship her with any of the obvious No's, thanks.

OT3: Hm. Maybe adding in Misty would work? Don't know how well Jack would share but her and Carly seem to have some compatibility. It'd be funny to see her trying to introduce the two of them like you introduce animals who don't quite get along yet but you really want them to. Yes she likes both of you. Please get over it already.

Favourite card they use: I have to pick Aslla piscu on principle. Partly because I'd feel bad trying to pick between any of the fortune fairies. I can't pick favorites!

Favourite moment they were in: Episode 31. The whole thing is so fucking funny.

Least favourite moment: Listen I could try to pick a specific bit but honestly, any of the love. triangle(?) thing. that she ends up having going on. Idk what to call that shit. It's just uncomfortable.

Something you associate with the character: this thing

also under the cut (because its not technically part of the askmeme) i want my dash and everyone to have a picture of the actual cat I own named Carly Nyagisa, thank you for looking at her

i could have grabbed a better picture but this was maybe two seconds before she completely fell off the cat tree in some sort of blissful ignorance of her surroundings brought on by the ecstasy of trying her damnedest to kill a feather toy and thus its the best picture.

[shadeedee]

Producers & MBS crossover fic- COSTUME COMPETITION: ROUND 2

Roger Debris was determined to win the costume competition this year. Last time Constance Contraire had beaten him and he wasn’t going to lose this time. Not to a toddler! Roger sat on his lavish sofa, laughing evilly. “Ah revenge. Sweet like candy and a dish best served cold like ice cream,” he said. Carmen smiled. “Oh Roger what great alliteration,” he said. “Thank you darling,” Roger said, and they both chuckled. Then he turned serious. “Guys! Bring out the costumes!” he bellowed. The production team rushed downstairs, with Kevin carrying a pile of clothing in his arms. “Here we are Mr Debris. The finest costumes of this year,” he said, placing them in front of Roger. Roger sat down in deep thought. He didn’t know which one to choose from. “Hmm. Decisions, decisions,” he said. It had to be a costume that would wow the judges and one that would have him as the winner. “Roger darling, we always win you know that. There’s no need to worry,” Carmen said. Roger stood up. “Carmen, you’re forgetting about last year! That stupid little girl and her idiot Benedict society beat me! I was left humiliated! My name in shambles! My dress in shreds!” he wept, and collapsed in his chair. Carmen took out a fan and waved it in his face. “There there darling yes you’re right i’m sorry i forgot. Not to worry. We shall get you a gorgeous gown! A splendid gown! One that has the audience gasping with amazement! It will be the talk of the town!” he said, happily. Kevin held up a golden sparkly dress with ruffles on the bottom. Roger’s eyes widened with glee. “Yes! That’s it! That’s the one! Now let’s add some shoes!” he cried, putting his feet into a pair of golden heels. “Oh Mr Debris! You look absolutely divine!” Kevin gushed. “LOVE IT!” the team cheered. Roger wiped a happy tear from his eye. He put on his wig and then added the makeup. Just gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful,” Carmen said. Roger smiled at him. “Aren’t i always?” he said, and they both chuckled. Roger knew he was sure to win in this dress. “The Benedict society doesn’t stand a chance against me now. And i’m going to send that little girl crying home to her papa!” he said, and they all laughed flamboyantly.

At the Benedict house, Constance scowled. She was getting a little soldier uniform put on complete with the hat and cane. “I look ridiculous,” she said. “Nonsense you look adorable! Mr Benedict gushed. “Do you remember your tap dance routine?” asked Kate. Constance huffed. “Yes,” she replied. “Just to warn you all, Roger Debris is going to be attending. He’s hungry for revenge,” Number Two said. They gasped. Mr Benedict held Constance in his arms. “Don’t worry my dear. Even if you don’t win you’ll still be as cute as a button!” he beamed. “Oh I don’t know about that,” a voice said. They turned to see Roger coming over to them, in his glamorous costume. Their mouths were wide with shock. Roger took one look at Constance’s outfit and burst out laughing. “Oh Carmen darling have you ever seen anything so ridiculous!?” he cackled. Carmen laughed with him. Mr Benedict glared at them. “How dare you insult a child like that. Have some respect,” he said. But Roger laughed in his face. “Pardon me old man, but i think i know mediocre when i see it, and that definitely wins the most mediocre costume of the year award!” he replied, laughing. Carmen clapped his hands, gleefully. Roger smiled as they all stared at his gown. “I know. Wonderful isn’t it? As golden as the sun is how i feel in this dress. And the blonde wig is just the icing on the cake,” he gushed. “You look like a big blonde pineapple,” Constance said. Roger glared at her and then whimpered. “Oh Roger darling never mind her! You look beautiful,” Carmen said. “That’s the last time you insult Roger Elizabeth Debris!” Roger cried, and he stormed off. Mr Benedict sighed. “Constance my dear that was rather rude,” he said. “Well he was mean to me so he deserves it,” she replied, and toddled away angrily. “A little firecracker that one,” Rhonda said. “Yes i see what you mean,” Mr Benedict said, sighing.

Roger made sure he was full up and well fed before the competition started. The chef placed a big plate of steak and chips on the table with plenty of spices and marinades. “Mmmmm. Yummy. Just what i ordered. Although, those chips will go straight to my thighs,” he said, sighing. “Never mind that darling. Tonight you treat yourself. We both do. And after you win tomorrow, we’ll both go out for some sundaes,” Carmen said. Roger clapped his hands, gleefully. The whole production team sat down with them to eat and Sabu came in with the drinks. “Tomorrow after Mr Debris wins, i bring the champagne,” he said. They all cheered. “Who does that little girl think she is insulting you?” Scott said. “She clearly doesn’t know who i am or what i’m capable of. Don’t worry. Tomorrow she’ll see exactly what i can do!” Roger replied, and they all chuckled. Roger took a bite of the steak on his plate. “Mmm! So juicy and tender!” he gushed. “Just like your ass,” Carmen said. The team hollered and whistled. “Now Carmen darling let’s not be too naughty at the dinner table. Save it for the bedroom,” Roger said and they both smiled at each other. “What’s for dessert?” Roger asked. “Chocolate mousse Mr Debris. Your favourite,” the chef replied. “Ooh so tempting and yummy,” Roger said, sighing with pleasure. Then his stomach gurgled. He moved to one side and suddenly let out a big, giant fart. The entire production team burst out laughing and Carmen’s eyes widened before he too burst into laughter. “Oh pardon me. Excuse my bottom,” Roger said, shifting around in his chair.

The next day was competition day. Constance showed up in her costume and so did Roger. “Knock em dead, darling,” Carmen said. “I’ll knock them dead alright. And i’ll win,” Roger replied. He smirked at the society. “Well if it isn’t the soon to be losers,” he said, chuckling. They glared at him. “He needs an attitude adjustment,” Kate said. Constance was first up on the stage and she did her tap routine perfectly and they loved her adorable soldier costume. Roger scowled from backstage. Now it was his turn. He strutted on stage like it was a fashion show and blew kisses to the crowd. The judges loved his dress. “Yes! There’s your winner right there!” Carmen hollered. The production team clapped and cheered. “I hate to say it, but he’s actually really good,” Number Two said. Next Roger began to dance and shake his butt to the crowd. The production team whistled and Carmen clapped with delight. When it was time to announce the winner, Roger was sure he would win. However, he didn’t. Neither did Constance. The winner turned out to be Kate who had entered her amazing circus routine. “This is an outrage! I always win!” Roger shouted. “Yes! You’re making a big mistake! We’re supposed to win!” Carmen cried. Constance was happy for Kate and handed her the competition trophy. “You deserve it, Weatherall,” she said. Mr Benedict was very proud of them both. “Well done girls! Excellent teamwork,” he said. Roger was furious. He was sure the competition was rigged. “I think there’s been some sort of mistake,” he said to the judge. “We’re sorry Mr Debris, but we wanted to give someone else a chance this year,” a lady said. “But Roger had the best routine and the best costume! He always does!” Carmen cried. Roger glared at the society. “You just wait. I’ll get even with you. Roger Elizabeth Debris never loses!” he yelled, and stormed off with Carmen strutting behind him.

Milligan hugged Kate. “I’m so proud of you, Katie cat,” he said. Kate smiled.

[benefits1986]

Steady Small Streaks & Strikes

Alliteration and allusion FTW x WTF... now and then.

This week came with overthinking and being unfuckable with. Lala 'di ba? Saltik szn is on talaga, but in the name of being gentle but firm, let me list down the wins and losses that would remind me that, while malayo pa, malayo na rin naman.

Reclaiming my space after taking a solid step to address a trauma that I choose to bury deep in my closet.

Being able to sleep sa car on the way home means bumababa na nga ang adrenaline + fight, fight, fight mode ko. Also, sleeping well after so many months of having UGH sleep na 3 hours lang, mostly. Partida, kanina, I vaped pa right before dozing off. Nicotine keeps you up all night daw, but not kanina, Satan. :D

Praying passionately while my chest is pounding mala-180 KPH sa SLEX or Skyway levels for the things I need and want even if I hate a good number of those.

Syempre, Ateneo UP game. Sabi ko pa talaga, okay, malabo na 'to kasi nga malala din ang performance nila in 10 years. But, hey! That 1% chance of winning is still a probability. Lakas neto maka-good vibes kasi miss ko na talaga ex-team members na kasama ko sa silent battles ko kahit sobrang guarded ng emotions ko lalo noon.

Maroon-blue drip for a big meeting na bawat slide and pakikisuyo e dasal lang talaga ang kasama ko. HAHAHHAHA. And sabi is for the first time in forever, kalmado at excited ang vibes. HUHUHUHUHUHUHU. Para kasi akong nanood ng Netflix na literal na I'm on my toes. Pero, natawid. TYL. As in. Saka I know, this is the start of something worthwhile, collaboration from kaibuturan speaking.

Align-meant with mother dragon after avoiding this for a long, long time. Shemay. While mom is top tier in my terror list, this time around, the terror is transforming to distilled love from above. HUY.

Appreciating Taylor Swift apart from Beyonce, Alicia Keys, India Arie and Alanis Morissette. My soul sis is my go-to in every song, every line that hits home and hits hard. Syempre, rekta Reputation tayo pero may halong Midnights din. LUH. Hahahahaha. Ganda ng tunog e.

While work is so crazy, truth is that it is my first time to let my guards down sa lagay na 'to. 'Di ko siya expected kasi sa akin, trabaho lang talaga lahat, walang personalan. While I have a really distinct work persona, I'm trying my best to make amends with my non-negotiable bits and pieces. Probably, eto 'yung universe telling me, okay, ex-workaholic, since 'di ka naman din yata mapipigilan, sige, test natin if you can allow yourself to fuck off mga trusted trust issues mo. LECHE. Hahahahaha. Eto na nga po.

Seeing green and growing KPIs na talaga namang pong matindihan ang BTS and internal bugbog ng inner child ko. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Shemay. Wala e, siguro dala talaga ito ng start up life ko and my scarlet sins na on atonement.

Kasya na ulit 'yung Uniqlo burgundy pants na gamit ko sa Japan nung 2020. HIHIHIHIHIHI. Gulat ako ihhh. As in before going to the office, damn. Ready na nga akong mag-Japan. Also, super love my travel buddies talaga. Sabi nung isa, may pa-novena x daily devotion pa sila ni hubby niya para makasama na talaga ako.

Divine intervention talaga kasi nakita ko calendar ng ganaps sa opis sa meeting. It's giving... Ateneo season 86 na ang lala ng standing, pero pasok pa rin sa finals. SHET. Paano ko ba 'yan ma-wing? Let's see. Tapos winter pa yata 'yun. Baka final destination levels na siya kasi malamigin talaga ako BUT sure akong gusto ko ulit mag-travel kasama ng OG peeps ko. 'Pag natuloy ako sa Japan ng walang laptop and work phone, eto na talaga 'yun.

Tito Ro is keeping up with me and soul sis' pop cult indulgence. They're on a road trip and just got a KISS message. Pic ni soul sis sa Walk of Fame na merong Daniel Radcliffe mark. Sabi pa: Heard your also a fan. O 'di ba? As a legit Tito, win 'yan. Wala kasi pake masyado 'yun sa lahat ng bagay, pero anxiety and paranoia niya wagas. Hahahahahaha. Matuto kasi siya mag-Tagalog para ma-gets niya lahat ng sinasabi namin ni soul sis. Mukha naman siyang Fil-Jap e. LOL.

Second dad and I's convo are evolving. As an example, sabi ko thank you for always keeping up with my shit as I grow. Sabi naman niya: Can't take any credit... it's the inner thing and how you internalize the entire learning experience... Me: Bakit 'pag ikaw nagsabi dalisay saka ang ganda ng English? Hahahahahahahaha.

Tatay kong pakitong-kitong and I are reaching out to each other more and more. HALA. Stress pa rin siya to the point na gusto na niya akong ihatid-sundo sa BGC then bike siya and kape. LUL. Ganyan 'yan. Akala mo walang pake, pero 'pag may sunog, kahit wala siyang dalang tubig, susugod siya. Ni-hug pa ako and sabi na kaya ko na dahil anak nila ako ng nanay kong dragon. OPAK. Cringe. Hahahaha.

Chixxxx update. While I am getting bored kasi ambagal ng ganaps, I straight up asked her kung type niya ako. Sagot niya, kita kami December. HAHAHAHHAHAHAH. Bakit ba kasi sobrang complicated ng mga XX? Tacca. 'Pag ako sinaltik, rektahin ko na ba 'tong si legit rare Pokemon para matapos na rin ang pago-overthink ko? Maiba naman.

Friendship bracelet from one of the juniors. Alam mo, whenever I'm in doubt, I look at it. Touch it. Reminds me of my why and why not. Kahit na 'di madali. Kahit kakatamad pumasok kaso 'yung isang junior, excited siya and mas okay naman talaga personal alignments. UGH. FUDGE. Also, Gen Zs are teaching me lessons kahit ang hassle mag-adjust ng slang and lens. Perfect combo sa convos ng boomer second dad ko.

Small talks from the kaibuturan sa mga team members within and outside my team. And actually, looking each other eye to eye. Funny how I'm able to handle a specific one-sided sigaw-sigaw session with someone who told me that I'm political and a people pleaser. HAHAHAHA. That person expected na I will fight fire with fire and bugbog abot sa akin.

True naman, gusto ko talaga siya sampalin and tuhuran right because sobrang irrelevant and out of line na 'yung sinasabi niya. BUT... in the name of dalisay season and anger management 101, sinabi ko na: I'm loyal to myself, not my team. Also, I'm but loyal to the customer, the end user. And dahil kups talaga argument niya, sinabi ko na bawat linya, bawat spiel, bawat slide, buong team ang sumuporta at lumaban. Gulat siya ihhh. Sinabi ko rin na 'di ko na 'yan para i-explain sa lahat pero, ginusto mo, so eto. Politics is not my cup of tea. Wala nga akong pake sa org chart at ratings e. HAHAHAHAHA. E 'di natahimik at kumalma. Thicccc Virgo talaga, kaya I can handle as a Taurus-Aries impostor. Yep, kwento ko 'tong Aries development as a Venn Diagram girly soon.

Ako kasi, 'pag pinasa ko na bola sa work, kahit pa overthinker ako, tinatayaan ko na 'yung pinasahan. Periodt. Ganun ako magtrabaho. Walang personalan. I will continue advocating for my team so as long as dama ko 'yung full support which is honestly fullest support sila sa akin lalo the past months. HUHUHUHUHU. Wala rin naman kasi silang choice e. Hahahahahaha. Trust issues, pasowkkk. Dali. LUH SIYA.

Soul sis reels and memes deluge na hindi na lang puro rant and shit. Sineseryoso ko 'yung boss bitch era on training wheels niya. It's me talking to my naive self in the name of 14 going 40 peg namin. LOL.

My Genats home. HUHUHUHUHU. Sobrang care kahit mga ilang buwan na akong 'di nakakadalaw. Laging may message na 'wag akong pabinat and may padala pang food. :D Cabbage rolls na 'di ko pa nga pala nakakain kasi kakatamad mag-init ng food.

Better state ng skin tumors ni Vidi. He's really getting weaker kasi nga 11 years old. Tapos, may newly opened crematory malapit sa amin. Galit na galit tatay ko kasi bakit daw ako nagse-send ng ads na ganun sa kanya. Sabi ko, para lang prepared na sa tamang panahon. Sabi, until 20 years pa raw si Vidi. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Mag-roadtrip pa raw sila sa Bats area and hybrid bike with basket. LUH.

Souvenirs ng binyag ng bunso ng kapatid ko arrived. :D Takte talaga. Pero tuhog ito sa aking project so, test market na po tayo real quick para bago naman ilabas sa niche merkado, check natin anong pulso ng madlang pipolzzz. Shemay. Wala na akong pang-Shein dahil bibili pa ako ng gatas na hypoallergenic bukas. FUDGE talaga.

Kakiligan na tahimik pero tumatagos. LUH. ULOL. Hahahaha. Iinom ko na lang ito ng malala. Lagnat laki lang yata ito. :D LUL. Kinikilig pa pala ako noh. Baka nga hindi nga ako halaman after all. Pero 'di ko pa talaga sure kasi okay naman ako now. Isa-isa lang, pero derecho lang. Weekend naaaaa!

[mariocki]

Infinite list of favourite lyrics: 187/?

Cat Stevens - Matthew and Son (1966)

"There's a five minute break,

And that's all you take

For a cup of cold coffee and a piece of cake.

Matthew and Son:

The work's never done,

There's always something new.

The files in your head,

You take them to bed,

You're never ever through.

And they've been working all day,

All day,

All day!

He's got people who've been working

For fifty years;

No one asks for more money

Cos nobody dares,

Even though they're pretty low and

Their rent's in arrears.

Matthew and Son..."

[riddle-me-ri]

Who is this wee riddlebit?

Heyo!

Since I’ve gone up in followers, I thought it would be cool to do a little introductory post so y’all can get an idea of who this riddlebit is!

First and foremost, again, I’m an 18+ adult blog. I reblog adult content, I cuss like a sailor, and I also post adult content. If you’re a minor please don’t follow or interact. There are plentiful ways to get scarred in this world, I don’t want it to be here. 

Aside from that, you guys can call me Ri! It’s the first two letters of my middle name, and as the literary nerd I am, I couldn’t turn down the alliteration between riddle and ri, hence riddlemeri was born! (also just from being an obnoxious riddler fan rip)

I’m a 25 year old heterosexual cis woman (she/her pronouns) from Texas (yee haw u-u), but I’m a strong ally and honestly still figuring things out (fiction has me questioning things sometimes I stg). I suffer from anxiety and seasonal depression. I was diagnosed about seven yeaars ago. I still tend to get overwhelmed periodically and disappear to try and ground myself again. Just gimme some time and I’ll be back!

My birthday is November 20th, but don’t be fooled, I was due on the 23rd but my fetus self was like, nah, now! I’m the most non-scorpion scorpio that’s ever scorped. My MBTI is INFJ-T if that still interests anyone, I took it once like years ago and then recently this year and yep it’s the same rip. 

I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts’ degree in Animation from SCAD, so if you have any questions about art school or SCAD in general, feel free to ask! It can definitely be intimidating at first and I’d love to help out!

Animation is a huge passion of mine in any and all forms. I’m a big animation history buff and the medium is a huge inspiration and comfort for me. My dream career is to be a storyboard artist so I can combine both my love for reading/writing and drawing. 

My other interests include just about anything horror (especially films and games), paranormal/supernatural things (I’ve got some crazy stories from Savannah, city is literally a walking graveyard rip), and I love anything to do with history and the obscure. I also enjoy true crime and mysteries. While I’m absolute shit at playing them, I love video games, what I make up for in lack of skill, I like to try and make up in knowing all about the production, story, and characters. 

If you have any questions or want to send me stuff you think I may like please feel free to! I love seeing stuff like that in my inbox! I’m really just a shy wee nerdly little riddlebit looking to make like minded friends but I worry about being a bother. 

Other Introductory Posts: 

Fanfic Masterlist or look under my tag: ri writes

Request Info Post

For my artwork you can look under my tag: ri draws

[tillidontneedfantasy]

A Track-by-Track Breakdown of Taylor Swift’s 9th Studio Album: ‘evermore’

“My collaborators and I are proud to announce that my 9th studio album and folklore’s sister record is here. It’s called evermore,” is how Taylor Swift introduces us to this album in its foreword. One might assume a “sister record” would entail b-sides, or tracks that didn’t quite make the cut for folklore, despite Taylor’s explanation that “we just couldn’t stop writing songs.” evermore’s release came at a strange time, upon the heels of the Folklore: Long Pond Studio Sessions film on Disney+, as well as 5 Grammy nominations for folklore. The world still captivated by folklore, it’s understandable why one might not consume evermore as critically. Even as a die-hard fan, I felt some whiplash by this announcement; I am still processing folklore! Hell, I’m still processing reputation!

If this was the Taylor from two years ago, this may have been a big enough fear of hers to hold off on releasing evermore. But as she explained upon folklore’s surprise release, life is too unpredictable now, and there are zero givens or guarantees. So she followed the same path this time (although making sure it fell in line with her birthday weekend). But it’s not just the strategic timing of the release that she’s thrown out the window for now, but also her mindset whilst making records. As she explains in the evermore album foreword,

“I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one as soon as an album was released. There was something different with folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found. So I just kept writing them.”

This is a revelation for Swift, to let the music lead her into artistic freedom, which is what makes evermore such a triumphant return. Truly folklore’s sister record, Taylor wrote evermore with the same creative team: Aaron Dessner of The National (Swift’s favorite band), long-time pal and collaborator Jack Antonoff, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and William Bowery aka Swift’s boyfriend, Joe Alwyn (as officially revealed in the Long Pond Studio Sessions). Additionally, former 1989 tour openers and close friends of Taylor, the HAIM sisters, join the crew, along with Marcus Mumford for some dreamy backup vocals.

The production is just as wistful and mesmerizing as it was on folklore, yet the storytelling on evermore is kicked up a notch, expanding on the topics and worldbuilding established in its sister record, with even sharper lyrics and an effective and elaborate use of alliteration. The best thing about Taylor is that no matter what she does, her masterful lyricism is always at the heart of her art, and somehow, she keeps getting better. Once again, I wanted to explore the rich stories she’s crafted in this woodsy universe. This is how I’ve interpreted the album, but I hope you find your own meaning in the songs as well.

1. willow It is fitting that the opening track to folklore’s sister album, where we wade further into the forest that is Taylor Swift’s imagination and storytelling, would center on the type of tree that is a symbol of hope, belonging, safety, stability, and healing. “willow,” one of the few more obviously autobiographical tracks on the album, is a hymn of gratitude for her man (as she wants you to know, yes, thirteen times), Joe Alwyn, and how the invisible string tethering them together pulled her to him in a time when everyone else was counting her out. Though not as present on many of the other songs later to come on this record, you can feel the lightness in her heart on this song as she embraces the way in which the willow has bent, wrecking her plans, throwing her into the water and leaving her happily lost and afloat in his current. The downward key modulation throughout the last two repetitions of the chorus is beautiful and very fitting for Swift vocally, but also sounds like the feeling of finding your comfort and settling into it, basking it in while you wait for the next place the wind pulls you. Best lyric: “Now this is an open/shut case / I guess I should’ve known from the look on your face / Every bait and switch was a work of art.”

2. champagne problems On the second track of the album, Taylor dives back into the fictional worldbuilding she began to explore on folklore. While on folklore high school relationships and dramatics took center-stage, evermore graduates from adolescence to young adulthood, not that it is any easier emotionally on the listener’s heart. “champagne problems” chronicles a rejected marriage proposal between two college sweethearts at their old dorm building. Taylor sings as the narrator, a reflective, self-deprecating young woman who jokes about belonging in a madhouse and dismisses all her turmoil as champagne problems. The term ‘champagne problems’ itself could have various meanings here: their trivial concerns, the fact that their “sister splashed out on the bottle” of champagne that they will not be using to celebrate as they had hoped, or perhaps it could even hint that excessive drinking is a piece of all the ways the narrator is “fucked in the head,” as they said. Although the person she is singing to is the one who got hurt in the story, the hurt in the narrator’s heart is just as palpable and relatable, because you only have yourself to blame when you self-destruct. Best lyric: “’She would’ve made such a lovely bride, / what a shame she’s fucked in the head,’ they said / but you’ll find the real thing instead / she’ll patch up your tapestry that I shred.”

3. gold rush On her YouTube live chat prior to the album’s release, Taylor explained that this song “takes place inside a single daydream where you get lost in thought for a minute and then snap out of it.” The daydream consists of a love story so pure that the town had never seen such a thing; it could only happen in a fantasy for the narrator. How could she possibly have the gall to call them out on their contrarian shit, or end up with her Eagles t-shirt hanging from their door, when they are so coveted by all, and when she cannot withstand the thought of even competing? She sings, “My mind turns your life into folklore / I can’t dare to dream about you anymore,” a sweet little connecting piece to this album’s older sister, effectively convincing herself out of the idea of jumping into the chaos of the gold rush because even inside her own imagination it’s too dangerous. Best lyric: “I don’t like that falling feels like flying ‘till the bone crush.”

4. ‘tis the damn season According to Aaron Dessner, Taylor had written the lyrics for “’tis the damn season” in the middle of the night amidst their Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions recording after a long night of chatting and drinking with their co-conspirator, Jack Antonoff. The lyrics perfectly encapsulate the guttural ache the track evokes. It is a tale of two people who always find their way back to one another in their hometown, which acts as the ever-returning fork in the road. The path taken, back to L.A. in pursuit of her dreams, is the one she chose and continues to choose, but whenever she returns home, she takes a ride down the road not taken, just to get a taste of what could have been, even if just for the weekend. What starts off as an icy homecoming always transforms into the warmest intimacy. The success of this track is aligned with the success of Taylor’s entire career; even with such specific details, it feels so deeply personal to the listener. You know the street you’d drive along late at night laughing, the spot you’d park the car, the person who stars in every what-if. You will never really know if the road not taken is as good as it seems, but that might be ok; sometimes, the fantasy is better than the reality, anyway. Best lyric: “It’s the kind of cold / fogs up windshield glass, but I felt it when I passed you / There’s an ache in you / put there by the ache in me.”

5. tolerate it Inspired by the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, “tolerate it” is an agonizing track from the perspective of a devoted wife who polishes plates and paints portraits and waits by the door for her husband with a battle hero’s welcome, who at best tolerates all her adoration. There are few things as painful as idolization being met with indifference, when you have all this love to give to someone who just leaves it there untouched. “tolerate it” captures that desperation for the approval you know will never arrive, but you sit and watch, waiting for it just in case you’re wrong, but you know you’re not. Best lyric: “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky / now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life / drawing hearts in the byline”

6. no body, no crime feat. HAIM “no body, no crime,” the one evermore song solo-written by Taylor, has the clearest plot from beginning to end. In the same vein as the female powerhouse country classic “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks, Taylor is out for blood to avenge her friend, Este (named for one of the HAIM sisters). The story goes as such: Este’s husband kills her for calling him out on his infidelity, and then Taylor kills the husband and frames his mistress. The HAIM girls, who are long-time friends of Taylor’s and former touring mates, lend their vocals to reinforce the accusation on the husband and to provide Taylor’s alibi. “no body, no crime” is so far the closest we’ve gotten to a return to “country Taylor,” proving that she is still the master of a killer country tune (yes, pun intended, it had to be done I’m sorry). Best lyric: “Good thing Este’s sister’s gonna swear she was with me / (she was with me, dude) / Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy”

7. happiness Written a week before the album’s release, “happiness” is one of Swift’s strongest and most reflective breakup songs. Although she writes it as though it is recent, there’s a lot of power in knowing that she’s been happily in love for four years, and that she is even better now at doing the thing that has always been best at. She is finally “above the trees,” as she sings, and is able to see it all for what it is, but her character is still in the heat of it all, trying to navigate the stages of grief when a relationship ends. We see the narrator grapple with many of those stages throughout the song. Most striking is the anger displayed in the second verse when she sings: “I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool who takes my spot next to you / No, I didn’t mean that, / sorry, I can’t see facts through all of my fury.” That section is jarring and feels like one of the most honest moments in a Taylor song, the insanely difficult emotional balancing act when we are grieving a relationship. The devastation of loss can distort our perception, and a part of that is the difficulty of understanding how multiple seemingly opposing things can co-exist in our hearts, such as happiness because of someone and happiness after them. But when you leave it all behind and finally find your place above the trees, you can find happiness after someone and also look back and appreciate the happiness they once provided. Both of these things can be true. Best lyric: “Showed you all of my hiding spots / I was dancing when the music stopped.”

8. dorothea Taylor Swift has the uncanny ability to create such developed and well-rounded characters with such little information, which is what makes her storytelling so compelling. In “dorothea,” we learn much about the title character through the narrator’s eyes, and the relationship they once had. The lyric “skipping the prom just to piss off your mom and her pageant schemes” alone tells an entire story in itself. “dorothea” is also the companion song to “’tis the damn season,” just from the other person’s perspective, which helps shine even more light on the story. The narrator of “dorothea” reveres her but wonders if she’s still the same soul in L.A. as she was back in their never-changing town. Whatever the answer, they’re still willing to support her no matter where she is, but she’s always welcome back in Tupelo by her hometown love’s side if she ever just wants to be herself rather than someone known for who they know. Besides, they’re the only soul who can tell which smiles she’s faking. And you can always return to the road not taken. Best lyric: “They all wanna be ya / but are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers? / Well, I guess I’ll never know / and you’ll go on with the show.”

9. coney island feat. The National What really started the folklore / evermore journey was Taylor’s love for The National. Taylor has cited them as one of her favorite bands for many years, and as we know, this led to her beautiful new collaborative relationship with Aaron Dessner. So it would make sense for the track written with the intention of this duet to be so well executed; you can feel the love and care Taylor put into writing this song. In her press for these sister albums, she has spoken about trying to channel frontman Matt Berninger’s writing style. But what actually happened was she just produced her own signature lyricism at its sharpest. “We were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be / the mischief, the gift-wrapped suburban dreams / sorry for not winning you an arcade ring over and over,” is a hall of famer Swift-ian lyric. “coney island” explores the confusion, hurt, and self-reflection when a passionate affair burns out fast because you did not prioritize that person. And to top it off, Swift and Berninger’s harmonies are achingly beautiful, transporting you right there in the story, on the bench, wondering, over and over. Best lyric: “Do you miss the rogue who coaxed you into paradise and left you there? / Will you forgive my soul when you’re too wise to trust me and too old to care?”

10. ivy Leave it to Taylor Swift to make a song about an affair sound so romantic, and so sympathetic to the narrator, that you’re rooting for adultery. “ivy” tells the tale of a woman in a lifeless marriage, likening her home with him to the tombstone that the widow in town visits each day. I like to think this is the same wife whose husband was out there building other worlds without her in “tolerate it,” because then that means she found someone who celebrates her love, who holds her pain for her, who blooms all over her; they started it, but she’s fighting for it all the way to the end, nonetheless. “ivy” showcases Swift’s gorgeous vocals and her sharp lyrics, with a melody so infectious it is bound to permanently plant its roots in your dreamland. Best lyric: “Oh, I can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland / my house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I’m covered in you.”

11. cowboy like me With the beautifully blended backing vocals of Marcus Mumford, “cowboy like me” is an entrancing love story of two con artists who lost at their own game and got conned into forever with each other. She’d gone from swindling old men for their money and fancy cars to falling victim to the danger of dancing with someone who only has eyes full of stars, and she knows she’ll pay for it. “cowboy like me” is one of the most romantic tracks on the record, proving that life never plays out quite as we plan. Best lyric: “Now you hang from my lips like the gardens of Babylon / with your boots beneath my bed / Forever is the sweetest con.”

12. long story short One of the more pop-sounding tracks on evermore, “long story short” is pretty much a summary of the long story behind reputation (2017). The song is filled with various metaphors for her reputation crumbling around her, and then finally putting her defenses down to be with her lover, someone as “rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky.” It is a sweet ode to her boyfriend, and a gentle comfort to her past self that it will all work out. But it is also an oddly relatable example of how we shrug off our struggles and minimize them to just a “bad time,” when the time she is singing about was obviously something that deeply affected her (as will be further explored in the title track); but sometimes it actually feels good to just shrug it off as just a blip in your life, because at the end of the day, you survived, and that’s what counts- even if you’re not keeping score anymore. Best lyric: “Pushed from the precipice / clung to the nearest lips / long story short, it was the wrong guy. / Now I’m all about you.”

13. marjorie Whereas track 13 on folklore was a tribute to Swift’s paternal grandfather, evermore’s track 13 is a tribute to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, who was an opera singer in the 50s, and passed away in 2003 when Taylor was 13 years old. “marjorie” is quite possibly the most touching track Taylor has ever written thus far in her career. Grief is one of the most difficult topics to tackle in a song; the genius of “marjorie” is that it is simple, yet not understated. Swift reflects on the profound lessons she learned from her grandmother, about the difficult balances of kindness and cleverness, and politeness and power. She curses herself for not cherishing the moments she had with her, for complaining rather than understanding in the moment how admirable her spirit was, for all the amber skies she’d love but will never see. The chorus, blunt and hard-hitting, reminds us that someone does not have to be living to be alive, to be all around, to be with us. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were singing to me now,” Taylor sings towards the end of the song, right before you hear a sample of Finlay’s opera singing in the background, a truly eye-swelling moment. It is clear that Finlay played a pivotal role in Swift’s own ambitions, as she sings, “all your closets of backlogged dreams, and how you left them all to me.” Marjorie knew she was leaving them in good hands. If you haven’t yet, check out the moving lyric video for the song, where you can see photos and video clips of Marjorie, both throughout her career and in her time with Taylor. Best lyric: “Never be so polite you forget your power, / never wield such power you forget to be polite.”

14. closure On the most experimental track musically on the record, Taylor writes off her need for closure from a relationship of some sort, whether it be romantic or platonic or business, all of which can cause hurt of equal intensity. The subject of the song is trying to make nice with Taylor, and she is just not having it, as it is not coming from a genuine place, but rather to ensure that their life remains picture perfect, or to clear their guilty conscience, or to preserve their own ego. This is a deeply relatable sentiment; as valuable as forgiveness can be, sometimes the person who hurt you just doesn’t deserve it, and all you can do is forgive yourself for blocking their number or shredding their letters. Best lyric: “I know I’m just a wrinkle in your new life / staying friends would iron it out so nice.”

15. evermore feat. Bon Iver To close out the standard edition of the album, Taylor joins forces once again with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, with whom she collaborated on the Grammy-nominated duet, “exile” for folklore. However, Swift leads most of the track this time, lamenting the difficult time she went through in 2016. The piano and Swift’s vocals are haunting, particularly when she describes this time in her life as “catching my death,” consumed by a pain that she feels will never end. If you’ve ever been depressed, you know what that feels like, and the dark places it leads you. Although she is singing about a time four years prior, it sounds so present, and it is heartbreaking to hear her in such a state. When Bon Iver comes in, the tempo of the song picks up, the piano riff becomes more erratic, like a winter storm hitting you in the face, and he voices all the anxieties of the cost of such a downfall. But through those anxieties, Taylor finds not a cure, but an anchor in love, and then the tempo slows back down. By the end of the song, Taylor has the foresight to understand that although it may not feel like it now, the pain she is experiencing is not permanent (a sentiment my therapist has been trying to instill in me for years). In her Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, Taylor explained how the lyrics parallel the times we are in currently, and so it feels really special to have the album end with someone who knows how it feels to be imprisoned by your pain gently comfort us with the wisdom that “this pain wouldn’t be for evermore.” I hope one day soon, as we leave 2020 far behind, we can all truly believe her. Best lyric: “I was catching my breath / barefoot in the wildest winter catching my death.”

16. right where you left me (bonus track) The first bonus track on evermore, “right where you left me,” captures a moment so earth-crushing, a piece of you is trapped in it forever. In this song specifically, the narrator finds herself stuck in the same corner of a restaurant where she was told by someone she loved that they had met someone else. “Glass shattered on the white cloth, everybody moved on,” she sings in mourning. We have all experienced those moments that we could teleport back to if we just closed our eyes; the scenery, what you wore, the smell and taste of the season, the very point in your body where it felt like your insides were collapsing. Or that one particular person, who is long-gone from your life but seeing them is like time-travelling back to that person you once were, ready to pick up where you left off. But as much as you want to stay in that moment forever, just in case it changes in your favor, the cold reality is that the world stops for no one. Best lyric: “If our love died young, I can’t bear witness / And it’s been so long, but if you ever think you got it wrong / I’m right where you left me.”

17. it’s time to go (bonus track) “right where you left me” was Taylor’s cry for help to get out of restaurant, and “it’s time to go” is the answer to the call, as she sings in the first line, “when the dinner gets cold, and the chatter gets old / you ask for the tab.” This song is about gathering the strength to leave situations and relationships behind that no longer serve you. She grieves the betrayal of someone she thought to be a twin from her dreams (almost definitely referring to former friend, Karlie Kloss), acknowledges that keeping a marriage together for the sake of the kids often actually has the opposite intended effect (possibly- but not certainly- something she and her brother experienced), and recounts attempting to bargain with someone consumed by greed, only able to leave with herself (absolutely referring to the end of her fifteen-year long business relationship with Scott Borchetta, her former record-label owner). But as painful as leaving all of those situations was, Taylor has gained the wisdom to understand that walking away sometimes takes as much strength as persevering. You can’t stay at the restaurant, or at the mercy of someone else forever; you have to forge your own path, even if it’s in the opposite direction of what you envisioned for so long. And even with all her past success behind her, as folklore and evermore have proved, there is so much more ahead of her. Best lyric: “That old familiar body ache, the snaps from the same little breaks in your soul / You know when it’s time to go.”

In a time where we are all trapped in our homes and in our heads, the folklore/evermore experience has been the sweetest escape. If anything, the creation of these wonderful sister records has taught me that our most powerful tool in times of distress is our own imagination. Even just the ability to close my eyes while listening to one of these tracks and feel the character’s story is a gift. The way I’ve always been able to pick up Harry Potter and escape to Hogwarts when I’ve felt alone and friendless, I can listen to folklore and evermore when I feel scared or hopeless and escape into this enchanted forest Taylor has built, where I can climb above the trees and see it all for what it is. I feel so lucky to watch Taylor’s imaginative world unravel around me. I can’t wait to see what she creates next.

DISCLAIMER – REVIEWER’S BIAS: I would literally die for this bitch.