#music is a huge part of like .. my Self™ so when loved ones actually enjoy the music i love my heart grows 3 sizes like the grinch

[frmtheroombelow]

my favourite moment after the sleep token concert was how my partner found new songs that she really enjoyed which 💗💗 she'd listened to most of their disco beforehand but she really loved chokehold and tmbte live my HEART BRO 😩

[septembersghost]

I saw a comment on reddit that said they love taylor swift the musician and artist, they care about and respect what they know about taylor the person, but they really, really dislike Taylor Swift the Celebrity and that's where I'm at. I can't stand the attention whoring and the pap walks and the constant headlines and her feeding into it on purpose with her dating life and her friends and everything again after years of growth and privacy. it's exhausting. I love her artistry and when we get to see her true self, but I don't like the PR machine and wish she'd give it a rest. She's already the most popular, successful pop star right now. She doesn't have to do this much.

oh this is such an interesting topic, and there's more to unpack in this than i can probably address properly, but the first thing i will say is: you don't have to like the celebrity® stuff to love and enjoy her music, appreciate her artistry, and respect the parts of her true human self that we're aware of (ie: what she has shared herself, what fellow artists/collaborators have said, how she treats others, like workers, her documented kindness to fans, her generosity, her humor, etc).

it's a tricky thing because taylor the artist, taylor the woman, and taylor swift™ the brand are all intertwined, but they're not the same, and the brand aspect - the marketing, the planned photos and arranged articles, the business savvy, the vinyl variants (idc about this but i know some do), is far further away from the real person than the music itself is, which is a much more intimate, vulnerable extension of her. yet they have to exist in tandem, because you cannot gain the massive success she has without selling that, without playing that game and being calculated in the media. this is true of any very famous musician, they have to craft that and market it.

i know i have quoted this a lot by now, but: "the image is one thing and the human being is another. it's very hard to live up to an image."

the celebrity aspect is often uncomfortable, because by nature of its glitz and hugeness (the monster on the hill), it is more devoid of the personhood. (this is actually one of my stumbling blocks with midnights, because it's very much an album of taylor regarding celebrity and fame, as she was clearly grappling with that and how to engage with it, but it's a less accessible topic and generally leaves me feeling that distinct barrier.) the wealth, play-by-plays of her dinners, constant coverage of where she is (when she's not performing or doing something publicly related to her art, it's not actually our business), news outlets using her for clicks, other brands using her for clout, the pap walks, the general fame aura of the whole thing, it is exhausting. i love her, i respect and admire her talent/creativity/dedication/work ethic, i don't need to see her in every news app, and i don't think it's healthy.

taylor the human has certainly made mistakes, because that's the nature of living and having human flaws, but some of those have been in service to the celebrity (a condition which we know has hurt her in the past). taylor the celebrity attends events and plays to the camera, taylor the celebrity knows when to deal with the paparazzi, taylor the celebrity can have google create puzzles to serve taylor the artist and let the fans have fun. taylor the person has given introspective, honest interviews, taylor the person lays herself into those lyrics and the artistry, but that and the image blur together because it's her constant state of existence. lyrics are poetry set to music, so while hers are often diaristic, they also condense, and alter, and take poetic license to turn those experiences into song.

but taylor the very real human being, who wakes up in the morning and brushes her hair and makes her coffee - we do not know her. we do not ever see her, the moment she steps into public view, that shift has to happen. we do not ever interact with her. and she is not for us. she is not our friend, nor our personal property. we have no right to any aspect of her life. taylor who stands onstage and shares her meaningful connection with us and talks about our shared relationship and love, that's the artist, and there is nothing wrong with caring about her and being excited about her and following her work and discussing its content. however, she does not go home in the night to us in her living room, and that's how it's supposed to be! we are not a replacement for her inner circle of loved ones. we cannot provide her support or company in her quiet moments, in the private times when she leans on the people around her. "yas queen"ing her success or her genius strategies or her street style is not real interaction, it's being a fan. that's fine! i certainly do that and it's great! i enjoy seeing her succeed. i will analyze and discuss her music and what it tells us, i will talk anytime about how much her music means to me and how it's helped save me and how dearly close i hold it and how i love her for that, and it's a real form of love, we are perfectly capable of loving someone we don't know and that remaining healthy. don't cross boundaries of idolization, obsession, stalking, it's all good. if we use the dreaded word - parasocial - there are studies about those bonds being positive things and helpful for people! it's not only a negative term, it's all about boundaries and recognition of reality. if we could know the real person, our dynamic towards her would immediately change.

the problem i think you're struggling with (if it's okay for me to say so) is dissonance because we have not experienced this level of bombardment with the celebrity for many years, and it feels a little jarring, even a little false, regardless of intent. she had successfully been much more private for a while (and lessened some of the worse aspects of the media intrusion and fans' invasive bad behavior, which sadly has all ramped up again), and now she's chosen to change that strategy. that's her prerogative, it comes with its benefits and its downsides. hopefully she's finding a new sense of balance and safety with it. my suggestion is to ignore the aspects that are bothering you and prioritize what you love and what feels enriching. you do not have to engage with all facets of the fandom at all times. it's not required, there's no test here in being a fan. you love the music? that's enough. you need to block out gossip and tabloid fodder for a while? that's completely fine. you find yourself annoyed at stuff happening in the fandom? (same. the lack of perspective, media literacy, boundaries, the cruel, immature commentary towards others, i'm over it and disappointed in a lot of people on my dash tbh.) utilize your filters and prioritize whatever you need. those interactions are always up to you.

hang in there, we've got an incredible october coming up with the eras film and 1989 tv. anything else is noise. the art and the music is beautiful and exciting, and we're so lucky to be spoiled with that like we are. look forward to the positive things, i promise that's worth it.

[gerrydelano]

it’s time for an actual, legitimate, in-depth discussion about sea shanties, and some corresponding meta about the tundra!

this covers what shanties actually are, what they are not, and why peter lukas wouldn’t be caught dead listening to or participating in one (nevermind allowing his crew to so much as consider them an option.)

i think a lot of people forget what sea shanties actually ARE, tbh! and i won’t say that it annoys me to see people using it wrong, but i always do itch to explain when i see it because it’s just so cool. my time has come.

more specifically, this post is going to talk about:

01. what a shanty actually is, versus other types of sea songs 02. the way they are composed (lyrically, etc.) 03. the practical function they served 04. types of shanties (with examples!) 05. the SOCIAL function they served (genuinely emotional) 06. Peter Lukas Hates Shanties And Everything They Stand For (actual meta discussion about the tundra)

i numbered them so you can skip to the peter part if you don’t care about the Really Specific history of maritime music & don’t want to leaf through examples! 

EDIT: i put the videos used here on a playlist by request, too! i’m adding additional ones that i find/love at the end of it, too. other playlist recs here!

OKAY! here goes. about 3.2k words of pure autism. BOY oh BOY.

01. "shanty” is not just a blanket term for maritime music of any kind! those are actually just called sea songs as a broad umbrella term and there are all sorts of them that were sang for leisure! particularly:

forebitters or fo'c's'le songs - a recreational sea song typically sang at rest, during fair weather, before sleep. 

forebitters refers to singing in fine weather, gathered near large posts on the foredeck, literally called fore bitts. so these would be outside!

fo’c’s’le means “forecastle,” which is the sailors’ sleeping quarters, so those are the bedtime songs™

these could have ranged from any number of popular songs to ballads on any subject, as long as they’re not on watch.

speaking of, ballads are narrative songs that tell stories! often when they would sing about women, missing home, etc. could have been about any subject, but always telling a story specifically.

so basically, forebitters and fo’c’s’le songs are leisure songs, and the distinction between them lies in the setting and circumstance by which they’re sung.

but a shanty (or chantey, chanty, etc.) is specifically what you would call a Call-And-Response Work Song! they’re intended to boost morale and keep sailors in time and in good spirits while performing hard physical labor.

they actually have a specific function and composition, and social purpose which sets them apart from other maritime music! it’s actually seriously awesome!

02. so, the way they worked is that they alternated between:

a solo part sang by a shantyman (just a regular old sailor, usually self-appointed, who had a booming voice, notable lyrical wit, who would come up with his part of the words on the spot holy SHIT.)

and the simplistic refrains, intended to be repeated at a shouting bellow by the whole crew

that’s the “call and response” part of it, which in and of itself sets a rhythm and a tone. the shantyman calls out over the tandem silence of everyone waiting for their cue to respond, for the collective moment, for the rush of being a part of something bigger. swell of waves. the signal to heave or haul.

g-d it’s so beautiful like literally just typing this fills my chest with a very deep love for the way that human beings connect and communicate.

(which is a huge part of why peter lukas would literally never enjoy a shanty. but i’ll get there.)

the tempo usually followed either a 6/8 or a 9/8 time signature, and the basic beat/simplistic refrain would be set before the shantyman gets to work with his improvised lyrics i am still not over that. the simplistic chorus works out for the crew because largely they are VERY busy with the whole Hard Labor thing, so their part of it is less the Lyrics and more the OOMPH, the bellow sound, the moment. 

some of the examples i list in part 4 will include demonstrative videos showing how they work in accordance to the tasks they’re used for! exciting!

03. the “work song” part of it is the most important! a shanty is a WORK SONG, not a leisure song like a forebitter or a ballad.

functionally, shanties literally served the purpose of synchronizing the whole crew’s movements and pacing repetitive tasks like weighing anchor and setting sail. they boosted morale, they kept everyone in time, and were specifically suited to particular tasks on the ship.

there was typically no musical accompaniment to a proper shanty (such as with a fiddle or a concertina) because these songs were performed while everyone’s hands were occupied. it’s all voices. the drum is in your heart, in your footsteps, in the motion of machinery, in the rock of the boat.

so if you’re thinking of a song that a bunch of guys sing while swinging around pints of beer and laughing about pretty girls they miss from back home, you’re thinking of a different subset of drinking songs!

(and if you’re thinking about bloodwater ballad, which i’ve had referred to as a “slow shanty” in the tags, that’s definitely just what it says on the box - a ballad. a murder ballad, specifically, because the story being told has a particular theme. but it’s a ballad nonetheless! DEFINITELY not a shanty, as COOL as that’d have been. please forgive my geekery i’m not mad about the mislableing i just LOVE to talk about the distinctions!)

multiple voices or maritime themes don’t necessarily denote a shanty! there are so many types of sea songs that could cover those, and you’ve definitely heard more of those than you have heard actual shanties.

04. broadly speaking, you can categorize shanties in two easy ways: 

shanties related to hauling actions (pulling)

shanties related to heaving actions (pushing)

there were 6 basic hauling shanty types (this is where i go nuts):

long-drag: also called a halyard shanty! usually sang when hoisting topsails and yards. they tend to contain TWO Pulls per chorus, to a beat such as ”Way, ay, Blow the man down!”

EXAMPLE: hurrah for the blackball line

^ this is actually a video where a guy is EXPLAINING how the shanty works in time with the action, and they demonstrate!

short-drag: sung for short hauling jobs requiring a few bursts of great force, such as changing direction of sails. characterized by one strong pull, timed on the last syllable of the refrain.

EXAMPLE: haul away joe

VERY quick and snappy overall

sweating-up: also called a “swaying off chant” and classed as “sing-outs,” they’re sand for brief hauling tasks like for a few sharp pulls on a halyard to tighten the sail. comparable to short-drags.

EXAMPLE: roll the woodpile down

this is actually my favorite one on this example list so far, i forgot to say so, but the dreadnoughts? good band if you want more of this.

hand over hand:  used for lighter hauling tasks, like setting staysails and jibs, or just hauling in the slack of a rope. the corresponding action is tugging alternately with each hand, on each beat.

EXAMPLE: hellie hellie shumra

honestly just any chant with this particular tempo!

bunt:  used for "bousing up" (i.e. hauling) the tightly bunched bundle of a sail that would need to be gathered up and fastened to the yard when furling. there are only a few of these!

EXAMPLE: paddy doyle’s boots

johnny bowker is also cited, which is also a short-drag used for sweating up, too! here’s the one used in assassin’s creed, and here’s one where a guy is demonstrating the pull timing.

stamp and go: also called a “runaway” or “walk away” shanty, these had longer choruses and were actually more similar to heaving shanties! because the work that went along with these was continuous in nature.  

EXAMPLE: drunken sailor

you ALL have heard this one before, i can GUARANTEE. fun fact, it was one of the ONLY shanties allowed in the royal navy.

and 3 heaving shanty types:

capstan: that big winch wheel thing, you know? like everyone gets a wooden bar and walks forward to push it? it was a continuous action so they had longer solo verses and a “grand chorus” in addition to the call and response pattern.

EXAMPLE: santiana

(i love the longest johns they’re SO much fun. i’ll link another of theirs later when i talk about my favorite heaving shanty.)

EXAMPLE 2: roll the old chariot along

literally just fucking adore this one okay please take it

windlass: so, when raising anchor! operated by the see-saw like action of pumping hand brakes.

EXAMPLE: heave away, my johnny

and here is another live demonstration of how it works in accordance with the windlass, using cheer up, my lively lads!

pump: that’s right! PUMP SHANTY! you all know that song! (i did a meta here about why it’s not. actually an accurate pump shanty but HEY!) historically, these were sang when alleviating leakage in the holds.

EXAMPLE: fire down below

an ABSOLUTE favorite for sure

EXAMPLE 2: leave her, johnny, leave her was specifically sang during the last round of pumping the ship dry once it was tied up in port, before the crew was set to leave the ship! kind of a goodbye ritual! i have a lot of feelings about this one, alright! fuck!

seriously also take this version of leave her johnny sung by a bunch of dudes sitting around a table it’s so organic and their harmonies are killing me it’s SO emotional to me for some reason FUCK.

there were other miscellaneous ones, as well! like:

deep-water shanties: sang when holystoning the deck, or in ritual fashion when celebrating finalky getting paid after the first month’s work was done because they’d burned through their advance pay (by throwing a stuffed horse overboard? wack.)

EXAMPLE: poor old man

yes. the assassin’s creed ones are good. that’s the one they’d use when the horse ritual went down. the more you know.

“men are weird. especially when you put them on a boat for months. they come up with some Shit.”

EDIT: explanation of the horse ritual!

coastwise/longshore shanties: cargo ship/fishing/whaleboating shanties! used when loading and unloading heavy timber, pulling in nets, etc. the musical forms of these differ from the deep-water shanties, namely in that the workers "pull" in between rather than concurrently with certain words of the songs.

EXAMPLE: help me to raise ‘em

this is a demonstration video of the same song done by fishermen in virginia! because that’s right! this tradition exists in places other than europe! the southern US, the caribbean, alaska for the salmon run, etc. and still used in the modern day!

in terms of where you can find more of these: the dreadnoughts, the jolly rogers, and the longest johns are best sources i’ve found so far for clear modern recordings of classic shanties! i love the dreadnoughts’ covers of eliza lee and old maui, fuck.

EDIT: the storm weather shanty choir, too! lots of modernized covers, but VERY enjoyable. check out their renditions of rio grande and a drop of nelson’s blood. 

also, this isn’t quite a shanty, but rye whiskey by the pirate charles is one of the most gorgeous songs i’ve ever heard. the lyrics are INTENSE, definitely give this a shot if you can.

my personal favorite shanty is still RANDY DANDY O, which is a capstan/pump shanty! it’s SO much fun and very influential, total classic. PLEASE listen to that video i just linked there if NONE of the others, it’s like. genuinely really special to me and activates my autism full blast jkdsjfhs. the AC version is also INCREDIBLE.

like fun fact, as i was trying to pick which version to link, i found this one and was actually just. grinning, flapping, rocking, and laughing about it because it just! gets in my chest! the WHOOPING and the RHYTHM it just! this gets inside my heart, dude, that’s what shanties are supposed to do.

which brings me to the most important part of this meta!

05. there is a SOCIAL and PSYCHOLOGICAL component to a shanty that is DEEPLY important (especially in the context of the tundra)

shanties alleviated boredom, reduced the psychological burden of hard labor, and built and strengthened camaraderie!

the point was to keep people together, both physically so work can be done efficiently and socially so that the crew didn’t lose their spirit or drive. they’re not just a song that happens to be sung by many voices; they’re meant to be give and take. call and response. someone to call to; someone to call for you. the very nature of a shanty is a dialogue. you cannot sing a shanty alone.

even just sitting and listening to them on fucking youtube can fill a person with so much feeling and a weird yearning for that kind of togetherness and that open space being filled with voices so many voices all coming together, imagine what it must be like to actually be a part of it in real life! in real time!

even outside of the context of sea shanties specifically, there is a POWER that comes with singing with a chorus at all. there’s a LOVE and EXHILARATION that comes with hearing that many people singing together, with being one of the people singing. 

combine that feeling with the way your blood would be pumping with all that hard work, with the weird broad sweeping intimacy of knowing the people all around you are feeling all the same aches and pains and have the same rope burn calloused hands and the same salt soaked shirts and pinching boots and you’re still singing together through how thirsty you all are and later that night you’re all going to be feeling the same bone deep weariness, the same yearning for sleep, the same human experience.

a sea shanty isn’t just any maritime song. it meant something. it embodied something. and i really don’t think peter lukas would like it very much.

06. there is actually no WAY peter lukas Enjoys sea shanties, or allowed them to be sang on his ship. hell, dumbass rich boy growing up with isolation and money would have no NEED to understand the culture of hard labor. he owns a boat, sure! he ain’t worked a day in his damn life. he wouldn’t even have gone yachting because that implies his family would encourage fun and leisure, which they don’t even! it’s all detrimental solitude and rejection of things people do to feel connected.

peter’s understanding of the need for human connection is based in specifically how to destroy it.

the very nature of a shanty is togetherness and teamwork. it’s the Direct Opposition to Loneliness. they’re supposed to fill your chest with this kind of adrenaline and make you feel surrounded and in step with other people and honestly that’d just give the dude hives.

the boat itself isn’t actually even a real cargo ship. the containments are empty! they’re not actually doing meaningful work of any kind that would require the backbeat of a shanty to carry them through it.

the tundra is JUST a cover for finding and sacrificing people in need of work like this - work that is lonely before and after you get on the boat.

ordinarily, to get jobs like this, you’d wander around in search of a vacancy and sign on for one voyage, and when you hit port? you leave! and don’t typically stay in contact with the people you worked with the whole time you were there! and then you find another boat, and start the process over again.

this cover specifically targets people who are already port hopping and presumably don’t have much that’ll call them back home anywhere. people who are already traveling alone, who aren’t anchored to land. who are already lonely.

it’s not forever work, usually. the more stationary crew on the tundra are not normal sailors, they don’t do normal work, they are kept there for other reasons — presumably the money, at first, but more likely the fear for their lives.

algie’s tags on this post just reminded me of this, and while she’s completely right about peter not knowing/liking/willingly listening to shanties, i have to disagree a bit about his crew ever using them if only because of some technicalities and distinctions between sea songs & their functions.

shanties as a whole became somewhat obsolete as technological advances were made to larger sailing vessels and whatnot over time. pretty sure the tundra is a modernized cargo ship, likely steam, and so there is far less of even a NEED for the TYPE of work tasks that would typically be performed with a shanty at the backbone.

but beyond that, the crew of the tundra is painfully quiet, avoidant of one another, won’t even look each other in the eyes. they don’t even speak the same languages; people who Couldn’t communicate smoothly even if they Wanted to are now forced to feel even more isolated because of that lack of common threading, and understanding.

the job of a port hopping sailor is lonely when you’re hopping between ports. in the in-between. when you’re actually on the ship, though? on a normal ship, there’d be conversation. games. friendships, however fleeting. song. there’d be at least something to make the work bearable before you set off alone again, if you decide not to stay.

on the tundra, the entire point of their business there and their jobs is to somehow work alone doing a job that has always been better done with a hundred parts combined into one thriving collection of human beings relying on each other, moving in sync with each other, communicating with each other.

it’s actually, like. genuinely heartbreaking to think about this? yeah, we associate the ocean with Loneliness for good, obvious reasons but sailors? as a profession? as a type of person? on a big ship, part of a crew? are not meant to be quiet when they’re actually on the job. they are not meant to be solitary. are not meant not to speak.

this is obviously said to be the atmosphere when they’re waiting on a sacrifice to be chosen and made, they’re trying to Behave and Not get chosen. that takes up a majority of their time working there, and is presumably the long-term vibe.

and then, even as the atmosphere is said to change AFTER a sacrifice (“After that night, the atmosphere on board changed. People talked, and you’d occasionally hear actual laughter on board. Games were played, people drank, and there was this sense of relief to it all.” - MAG 33) the laughter is still only occasional. they’re still in that environment, still in the Know about how you Need to behave to survive. still scared of talking about it. still scared.

so if they DID sing, i think it’d be more likely to be fo’c’s’le songs! as mentioned before. those are sang at rest, in celebration, for leisure, in the sleeping quarters. in private, somewhat. it’s much safer, just slightly less obtrusive and symbolic, much more likely given the TONE (if they’re relieved and glad They didn’t get chosen to be eaten by the Lonely) and also just? generally more applicable to the setting. it’s a broader selection of potential #tunes. drinking songs, maybe! but drinking songs aren’t shanties.

they wouldn’t be allowed to sing a sea shanty even if it were applicable to their physical job. by this point i have to wonder if they would have ever even in a position to learn the words to any even before coming aboard the tundra, if only because of how much this particular tool has fallen out of usage in the modern maritime scene. it’s not like they’d get the chance to take part in it here.

they just stand for too much. they embody the human spirit of collaboration and togetherness too much. they represent too much that opposes what peter wants to foster here. they’re too powerful as a very human ritual, however simple it may sound just as a word. shanty. chanty. chorus. crew.

there was never room on the tundra for a shantyman.

but consider — shanties as a way to leave the lonely. 

you start singing a shanty to yourself, and from the distance, other voices join in.

a response to your call. 

the fog clears.

[katyobsesses]

What do YOU think of Kurtofsky, Sebofsky, Blaineofsky and St Karofsky? I have so many thoughts about them that your ask is gonna take awhile lmao

oh no, I should have prepared for this.

Kurtofsky -

I honestly love the idea of them together, but not, like right off the bat after The Kiss. They would have to work through a lot of Stuff™ together first. I think, if Kurt hadn't been with Blaine in Heart and had agreed to go out with Dave after his showering of gifts, then they would have worked really well. Dave grew a lot from 2x06 to Heart, got more confident with himself, and I think, while they would need a nice long conversation with a fair amount of apologies on Dave's side, they would have been good together in S3b. Kurt would have totally been right by his side after he was outed, and supported him though that, actually picking up his phone when he called.

I could also see them working later in life, I love fics like that, where they stumble across each other in New York.

I love them and how they compliment each other, juxtapositions in character. They're almost how I would picture Burt and Elizabeth, so would be a fun parallel of them. One gruff and 'manly' and outwardly tough but totally a teddy bear, the other seeming delicate and snooty but is actually very kind-hearted and mentally tough.

Sebofsky -

I like this pairing too (but then again I like most pairings, it's a problem). They're not up there as a Dave ship like Kurtofsky is, but in the handful of fics I've read of them they're fun. Sebastian is a huge flirt, and I can kind of see him showering Dave with compliments, not like sweet things though, naughty ones (but sweet ones in private), and I think being with him would help Dave's self esteem somewhat. I guess it entirely depends on what version of Sebastian it is, because there are a few floating around out there in Fandom, but I'm imagining the snarky, flirty, secretly doting one. They'd share a lot of snarky banter and from the outside people would think they were about to break up, when that's just kinda how they show affection to one another. They're a fun ship, with an interesting dynamic and I enjoy reading fics with the pairing!

Blainofsky -

Sunshine, that is my thoughts about them. If Blaine hadn't been hung up on Kurt, or if Kurt hadn't been hung up on Blaine, I could see them staying together for a long while. It seemed like Blaine was Dave's first serious boyfriend after an impressive line of hook ups (? first dates??). I mean, they're living together fairly soon after getting together (judging by the confusing glee timeline) and them sitting in the truck during homecoming makes my heart swell. They're sweet, like I can imagine them being a cavity inducing couple. Blaine would bring out Dave's soft and cuddly side, and Dave would encourage Blaine to better himself, but not necessarily push him out of his comfort zone. They'd be a really stable couple, once Blaine got over Kurt, even with the weird history between them. I can imagine that they talked about that before getting together, though, at least I would assume!

But yeah, sweet and stable and soft.

St. Karofsky -

This was a throwaway random ship, dude, i have never thought of it before sending you that ask! But I am of the mindset that Jesse St. James can be shipped with everyone in the glee verse (provided they're not lesbians and/or much too old) so I am going to try my best to figure out what their dynamic would be, and if I would ship it.

...

...

I can't see myself shipping it. this is a tragedy. I can ship Jesse St. James with fucking everyone. but they don't mesh, they have no parts of themselves that would gel, nothing. I can't imagine the two of them sharing a space together, let alone sharing a life!

Maybe Jesse would feel some sort of musical chemistry with him, like imagining some weird S1 AU where the jocks have to sing with the Glee Club and Jesse hears Dave's smooth, deep, baritone and pops a boner for it. idk. I can imagine him being a thorn in Dave's side for a good while afterwards, stalking him in the halls, talking to him at his locker, being a general annoyance without realising so. Like just weird backhanded compliments left right and centre while somehow also complimenting himself. He's like full on flirting with Dave, but Dave kinda can't tell because it's such a weird brand of flirting, but gradually Jesse wears down his Fort Knox closet door and they make out backstage in the auditorium.

This is the only way I can imagine them.

I think I've redeemed myself with my St. Crackships because this could be a cute little one shot if I knew how to write Jesse St. James as a character.

That was fun!! I hope you had fun answering too 😂

Send me a ship and I'll give you my (brutally) honest opinion on it

[bwaldorf]

For soft asks: 1, 2 ,3, 4, 8, 20, 22, 23, and 30 (full disclosure - I did not look at the whole list so this'll be a surprise for me as well)

thank you, kendra! 🥺

1) what song makes you feel better?

there’s SO many ... music is just such a huge part of my life for all the tumultuous emotions i go through. some of the songs i claim are ‘comfort songs’ are actually ones that make me cry and so its questionable whether it’s actually making me feel better KJNKJRGG but some examples include: moon river by audrey hepburn and close to you by the carpenters. (just a lot of carpenters music in general)

2) what’s your feel-good movie?

answered here!

3) what’s your favorite candle scent?

answered here!

4) what flower would you like to be given?

interestingly, while i do like flowers, i’ve never been very picky about them. i dont even really have much of a Favorite™ flower either ... so i’d say i’d be happy with just about anything!

8) tag someone (or multiple people) who make you feel good

oof i’m sure i’d miss out a ton of people but here’s just a select few (mainly based on who i talk to the most on here). if i forgot to put you here it’s not bc you don’t make me feel good, i am just operating on a singular brain cell

@forever-and-almost-always @pamelaicley @sleepybosmer @xuxiscottagewife @gyubimbo @ultyuta @silveraiichiro @lleejeno i love u all!!! i hope you’re doing well and thank u for just .. Dealing with me as a person omg. you’re the best 💗💕💖💘

20) what do you want most in the world right now?

that’s a loaded question .. phew! it’d be SICKENING if i said Love ... bc i do have that. sure it’s not romantic, but platonic is no lesser than that. i honestly don’t know ... happiness? just to feel content with who i am and where i am in life at any given moment, i suppose

22) what would you say to your future self?

this is so deep i am just a dumb fool ... idk, i suppose i’d ask myself i was doing well. to keep on pushing through and taking care of myself, even when it requires making the hard calls. i trust myself (somewhat)

23) favorite piece of clothing?

i honestly don’t really know ... as of currently perhaps the slytherin sweatshirt you got me? i wear it really often, esp since it’s been chillier here lately. thank u again for that 💗

30) what reminds you of home (doesn’t have to mean house… just things that remind you of the feeling of home)?

hmm this was always a tricky question for me to think of answering. home is home. home are the people who i hold dear in my heart, like friends and family. and i suppose there are even places i could classify as second homes since i enjoy being in them so much, like bookstores and libraries. even coming back to media that i enjoy (esp nostalgia inducing ones from my childhood) feels very Home-y

send me some asks? 😙