#my parents are weirdly unique

[the-catboy-minyan]

I saw you are Israeli with an asexual flag icon. I know you it's not your job to educate me and have no obligation, but if you don't mind, could I ask what your experience of views towards asexuality in Israel are? I'm an American asexual with Israeli family I'm just getting to know since we were in different countries and weren't really in contact until recently. I'm wondering how asexuality is viewed there and what to expect about social attitudes towards it?

honestly I got no clue, the only people who really know I'm ace are my queer friends (who are already educated from western media on what lgbtq is), and my mom.

my mom is all "don't label yourself because you're putting yourself in a box and blocking yourself to new experiences, you're you and that's what matters (also asexuality isn't a thing you're just childish)", I don't know if her views are an accurate example of what the average Israeli thinks, because I'm pretty sure she's somewhere under the NB and bi umbrellas and just doesn't feel the need to use labels, but she's the only "negative" experience I had with coming out as ace, other people probably wouldn't care about your lack of sex life.

also my dad is a whole other story but I gave up on explaining to him what queerness is, he tries to support at least, in a way of "I have no idea what this is and I don't really like it, but it's your life and I can't control what you do with it, I'm gonna give my opinion sometimes (aka scoff and say it's bullshit) but I'm not gonna force you to do anything". which is better than nothing! I can't force him to understand what non binary means or why I want top surgery (he's against all cosmetical surgeries not just gender), and he can't force me to be Normal™, win win ☺️.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

bestie what’s your beef with what the river knows 👀 please do full spoilers it’s on my tbr!

YOU CANNOT ATTEMPT TO WRITE A BOOK CRITIQUING COLONIAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN EGYPT AND MAKE YOUR PROTAGONIST A RICH SPANISH ARGENTINIAN AKA A MEMBER OF THE FORMER COLONIAL RULING CLASS!!!! AND SAY ACTUALLY IT'S OK WHEN SHE DOES IT!!! listen to me Lindsay listen to me apparently some authors think colonialism isn't real when it's not done by English speakers what if. I lost my shit.

ALSO listen ok listen. No one is as cartoonishly evil as the one evil guy in this was in his very first conversation with our protagonist. He was like hmm did you know I think women are weak and also Egyptians are inferior to the English? And then stole shit from her and it's like where is the subtle insidious nature of widely accepted racism???? Where is the realism?? Why does it feel like this book is written as Baby's First Introduction To The Evils Of Colonialism And Misogyny?????? GIRL WE'VE BEEN KNEW

also frankly. Listen I hate female protagonists who make genuinely stupid decisions and it's held up as girlboss. She's like oh damn my parents are missing I'm going to travel to Egypt with NO PLANS with NO FRIENDS with NO EXPECTATIONS and like if she really felt driven to it FINE but no one's going to be doing that like yasss slay queen! That's going to be terrifying! Make it feel conflicted! Please!!!! Not a girlboss moment!

She meets a British man in his twenties btw and immediately insults him and blames him fully for British colonialism and like listen I'm completely on board with the politics but that is just a guy why are we being like this. he's just a guy. He's not The British Government.

But also what really annoyed me, frankly, is that our protagonist (fully cannot remember her name) has extremely modern liberal politics regarding women, race, Colonialism, class, etc. but the thing is that she IS from the ruling elite in the late 1800s. She's extremely wealthy, she's given an unexpected amount of control over her own life, she has servants. And ok to me, if people are served by the status quo they need a reason to want to break it. And we're never told why she does. The current system works specifically for her and her parents, there's no reason for her to hear alternate opinions and we're never told that she does or how she does, so her entire politics feel very empty because it's like the author wanted to have her cake and eat it too - she wanted an unproblematic modern character but to not have to deal with actual realities of how one becomes progressive. I know a lot of people who have this approach about modern day btw, they're like oh OBVIOUSLY we all agree on this one thing because that's The Good Opinion but it's still like no, you got that opinion from somewhere, probably the people around you. But in the book it never addresses at all where she and her parents got those opinions and it just feels a bit hollow.

Basically it's just not fun! And it's not original! And it's about a girl with no unique features as a YA protagonist who thinks like someone from 2024 but exists in 1884 and is somehow excused from the fact she is also complicit in a colonial system so she can show her anti-colonial girlbossery! Also the male protagonist is obsessed with her immediately but in the most boring predictable way possible he's so bland I'm sorry.

This isn't even getting into the fact it's weirdly paced and the mystery is kinda stupid, I frankly don't know if it redeems itself in that regard because I didn't finish but yeah it kinda sucked.

[louloulemons-posts]

weirdly specific I know but what about fem!goth!reader who's been best friends with eddie for years. he thinks he knows everything about her until one day he climbs through her window to hang (bc of course he does, he can't use a door like a normal person, even if her parents aren't home, where's the fun in that?) and finds her rocking out to taylor swift and it turns out shes a massive closet swiftie.

Weird But F-ing Beautiful

Modern!Eddie X Fem!Gothic!Reader

Summary : You were a metal head with a secret, you love Taylor Swift.

Word Count : 1k

(How I imagine Reader would defend Taylor)

Warnings : not proofread, 3am writing (again-pls someone save my sleep schedule), so many taylor references!, swears, petnames, cuteness, eddie and reader are just adorable honestly

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

You and Eddie had known each other for years now, you’d say he was your best friend in the whole world.

The pair of you had a lot in common, you were both unusual and unique people. You bonded over that, along with your love of bands like Metallica and Black Sabbath.

You’d always liked darker things, loving halloween whilst most liked christmas. Horror movies and true crime documentaries brought you comfort.

Complaining about summer as your dark wardrobe made the heat cling to you, it was just the person you were. But you had a secret, one that even Eddie didn’t know of.

You absolutely loved Taylor Swift. You’d found yourself bopping along to one of her songs that was on the radio and were hooked, owing all of her albums and having them on regularly.

Enter Sandman to All of the Girls you Loved Before was quite the contrast, but you loved it.Walking down the halls to your locker, Lover was playing in your ears.

People who passed you wouldn’t think that, ripped tights, a skirt that went just above your knees, dark top with long flowing sleeves - bat wings Eddie liked to call them.

Fingers and neck decorated in mismatching jewels, huge boots, a corset around your waist and eye liner that took longer than you’d care to admit. Love Story didn’t really look like a song that’d be your favourite.

Arms wrapped around your waist, squeezing you softly. Pulling out an earbud you spoke, “Edward.”

“Hello Sweetheart.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Milkshakes?”

“You paying?”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Sipping on your strawberry shake you chuckled at Eddie, leaning over the table you wiped whipped cream off his nose. “Thank you,” he blushed.

“Don’t mention it Rockstar.”

“Sooo,” he said.

“Hm?”

“I may or may not have gotten two tickets to see one of the best bands of all time, and I was wondering if you’d like to come with?”

“Oh my god One Direction have reunited?” You laughed, “Shut up. Will you come with me?”

“I mean I guess I could free up some time for you,” you smirked, taking another sip of your shake.

“Cool.”

“Cool.”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Thank you for the milkshake.”

“Anytime Sweetheart, I’ll text you the details of the concert and stuff.”

“Please do. I’ll see you later,” Leaning over and kissing his cheek, cherry red stain being left on his skin.

Heading up to your room, neither of your parents were home yet. Throwing your bag down you put a record on, Taylor.

Humming to yourself as you undid your boots, you decided to start on some homework. Turning up the music and tuning everything out for a while.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Stood in front of your mirror, you began wiping your makeup from your face, eventually singing along. “I remember when we broke up,” you sang softly, humming mainly.

Sliding off your rings and necklaces, your hair being pulled out of your face, comfortable for the night. God how did this woman make these songs so catchy? What was in them?

You couldn’t help yourself, “I used to think we were forever ever …” You put your books away, cleaning your desk, “We are never ever ever getting back together!”

Dancing around your room, you laughed as you spun around your room. These songs just made you so happy, “We are never ever ever ever getting back together!”

“Okay I get the message,” a voice laughed.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” you screamed.

“Wow chill it’s me.” Eddie.

Storming over to your record player you turned it down, Stay Stay Stay playing quietly in the background. “What the fuck are you doing here? How’d you get in?” you shouted.

“Window. Came to bring this back, wasn’t expecting a concert.”

“Oh fuck off Edward,” you huffed, taking a ring out of his hand. Turning away from him and putting it with your others.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I um didn’t know you liked this music.”

“Well I do, got an issue?”

“No. Just … do you actually like metal or was that just umm …”

“I like both okay? Sometimes I just want to feel like a happy, silly teenage girl. Her music helps me do that, or if I need to cry, or fall in love or anything really. I love metal, I didn’t lie!”

“Okay. I believe you. She’s cool.”

“You think?”

“Well you like her, so she must be.”

“Shut up,” you smiled.

“I’m serious. Teach me the way of Taylor Swift,” he grinned, dropping on your bed.

“Well thats 10 albums, and then there’s Taylor’s versions.”

“God you’re a proper little nerd.”

“Says the one who loves D&D,” you smacked him lightly.

“I’m not saying she’s bad! I like that one umm … Enchanted?”

“Yes! It’s her newest re-release, god I love that album and 1989s out soon as well.”

“Slow down babe, you’re losing me.”

“Sorry, so um Enchanted?” you asked, standing up, pulling the vinyl out of its case, replacing it on the record player. The song played softly. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is,” you smiled, turning back to Eddie. “Thank you for bringing my ring back, where was it?”

“My van, must have fallen off.”

“Or you stole it.”

“Me?” You nodded.

“Don’t think it’d fit Sweetheart.” The chorus played, and Eddie began to hum along, standing to be in front of you. “I like this other side of you.”

“Thought you’d make fun of me.”

“I’d never. I like all parts of you, this might be my new favourite, maybe we can see her concert.”

You snorted, “You willing to sell a couple organs?”

“For you, I do anything.” You smiled up at him softly, he nudged your nose with his.

“As Taylor said, I was Enchanted to meet you,” he smiled, leaning down to press his lips to yours.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

A/N : This was so fun to do! I just jammed out to Taylor the whole time and it was great. Thank you so much for this request I hope you enjoyed it 🤍

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave any requests 🤍

[musicalmoritz]

Just saw your TBHK headcanons post and saw the one about Akane being the father who stepped up for Tiara since she sees him and Teru as her parents (Literally adore the mental image btw) Do you have any other headcanons for how Akane and Tiara would interact?

Omg yayyyyy yay more TBHK found family asks. Ya’ll are giving me too much to yap about, I feel spoiled. Alright onto the silliest father/daughter duo of all time, we’re about to take more liberties with fanon so everybody fasten your seatbelts

• So this headcanon happened as a result of the whole “Teru is basically raising Kou and Tiara” thing

• I feel like it’s true, their dad is absent and while most of the household work falls on Kou (a massive responsibility on its own), Teru seems to take on more of the “parenting” responsibilities. Such as training Kou and giving him guidance, plus the way he interacts with Tiara feels v much like a parent and their child

• I don’t mean to take away the sibling dynamic at all tho, there are plenty of oldest siblings out there that have had to raise their younger siblings. Being a parental figure doesn’t cancel out one’s role as a sibling

• Anyways that made me think that whoever Teru ends up dating is probably gonna end up co-parenting Tiara, especially if it turns into a long term relationship

• If their dad never gets his act together Teru will likely be the one having to raise Tiara into adulthood, I don’t think he’d let Kou take on that much responsibility (plus he likes to be involved in his siblings lives, I think he’d genuinely enjoy it)

• Since Teru and Kou are closer in age tho I don’t think the co-parenting thing applies to Kou, he’d be a regular brother-in-law (minus maybe one awkward “I’m not calling him dad” moment)

• Terukane is my main Teru ship so naturally I have to imagine Akane getting overly involved with the Minamotos

• “But what would that progression look like?” Tysm for asking, I’ve given way too much thought to this

• Tiara initially goes through a phase of not liking Akane very much, he’s way too blunt with her and she’s used to being coddled

• In return, Akane doesn’t like Tiara too much bcuz we all know he’s not above beefing with toddlers

• Since Tiara is five tho she gets over that hatred pretty quickly. All Akane has to do is, like, bring her a juice box and suddenly they’re best friends

• Akane wants to make Teru’s life a little easier bcuz he can’t help but want to take care of every person he falls for. I do believe his obsession with Aoi was unique but I also like to think it’s partially just an Akane thing, when he falls he falls hard. He locks in

• When I write Terukane I usually try to balance their canon dynamic with Akane’s obsessiveness, tho I don’t mind when some writers lean more into his yandere side for the ship. I know some shippers really hate it but I kinda like seeing various interpretations (keep in mind tho I don’t read Terukane fics often so I’m not the best authority on this lol)

• Holy Tangent, Batman! That is not what these headcanons are about. I need to yap on track

• Anyways, because Akane wants to take care of Teru he ends up babysitting Tiara a lot. This gives both the Minamoto brothers more free time, and it fulfills Akane’s need to constantly be making himself useful

• Their dynamic is one of the very imaginative, hyperactive child and the apathetic dad who adores her. He’s not overly doting like Kou and Teru are but that’s weirdly what makes Tiara attach herself to him, he’s different from most people she knows

• Oh yeah she calls him papa btw. This stems from my headcanon that she calls Teru mama, and this is where I have to reaffirm that I’m not trying to feminize him guys I just think it’s funny :(

• Basically just picture Loid and Anya from Spy x Family, that is how I imagine Akane and Tiara

• He hangs around so often that she genuinely starts to think of Teru and Akane as her dads. This indirectly strengthens their relationship bcuz like…they can’t just break up now. That would be like divorce for Tiara

• Every time they have a mild argument Teru’s like “think of Tiara :(”

• In turn, Akane starts acting more like a dad. He takes Tiara to the park and prepares her snacks when Kou is busy

• One day Tiara calls him papa in front of his parents and they have to grapple with the realization that their son has had a whole ass child for months and neither of them knew

• Akane’s dad panicked for like a full minute thinking it was a teen pregnancy before he realized that’s not really possible

• Akane would def introduce Tiara to his favorite rock bands (totally not based off me and my dad)

• Seeing Teru and Akane together actually helped Tiara understand the concept of marriage (since she doesn’t seem to understand it in canon), and that there are different types of relationships. Teru had to sit her down once and carefully explain that he and Akane aren’t married. She didn’t get it but, oh well, baby steps

• Akane introduces Tiara to people as his daughter, which results in a lot of confused looks from strangers

• When she gets older Teru becomes “dad” but Akane stays papa. She also calls him “old man” sometimes

• Since everyone seems to agree Mirai is a sister-figure to Akane, I could def see her making Tiara call her “Aunt Mirai” lmao (they would be best friends, trust)

• If someone upsets Akane or tries to hurt him, Tiara will go full lightning mode on them. Legend has it her first words were “Nah, I’d win”

• By the time Akane meets the Minamoto Father it goes down like “Who are you??” “I’m the owner of this house🤨”

• “Father?? No, you’ve been demoted to grandpa”

• Akane gives Tiara a lot of piggyback rides

• He tries to give her a lot of attention bcuz his own parents aren’t very involved in his life and he knows that can cause issues

• She likes her sandwiches cut into little shapes and Akane can accurately guess which shape she wants every time

• He can do hair really well because of Aoi and Mirai so he styles Tiara’s for her a lot

• I like the headcanon of Akane becoming a psych major (we’re twinning) so I like to imagine that when he eventually takes a lifespan development or child psych class he’s like “Teru. Teru we need to develop authoritative parenting styles. Teru we’ve been too permissive. Teru.” • I think they’d already be authoritative but shhh

• He becomes mindful of the type of attachment style Tiara has and tries to make her feel as secure as possible

• He picks up a couple parenting books

• Him and Teru would also be the type to read their Tiara LGBTQ+ children’s books. Woke parenting/j

• I think it would make both Teru and Akane happy to know they don’t have to go through with getting married and a whole adoption process for Tiara to see them as her parents. They don’t have to rush into anything or follow any standard process, they can just do their own thing and be a happy little family

• And Tiara gets to grow up with two parents who love her more than anything in the world

I’m ending it there because I could yap abt the Minamotos forever. Glad I got to spend my Terukane Girl Dads agenda again. Hope you enjoyed!!

[dr-spectre]

Octo Expansion is now over 6 years old... dang...

I know I missed the anniversary by a few days but who cares. It's really weird to think about just how much time has passed since this DLC came out...

I remember asking my parents badly for this DLC because I didn't have my own money at the time and I remember speedrunning this because I wanted to play as an Octoling in multiplayer before I had to go to sleep for school the next morning. And uh... I really wish I took my time with this instead of worrying about being able to finish it in time before I had to go to bed.

This DLC's atmosphere stands above all the other entries in the series, it's weirdly nostalgic atmosphere and beautiful music makes this such a unique experience to play. Even though I didn't grow up in the 80s, I still feel nostalgic for the environments. It's like this DLC teleported my brain back to when I was a kid playing games on the Wii. It's a weird feeling but... I love it.

Also, getting to learn more about Off the Hook as well was incredible. Octo Expansion really fleshed them out and they became incredibly beloved characters in the series because of Octo Expansion.

The final boss too.. actually just the whole finale in general is still probably my favourite out of the entire series. It takes such a drastic turn in tone and it becomes a stealth game for a bit, it's fucking awesome. Battling against Agent 3 and hearing Splattack?!?! OH. MY. GOD. AND SEEING A HUMAN ON SCREEN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE SERIES THAT ISNT A SKELETON?!?! AND ITS A GIANT FUCKING STATUE HEAD THATS GONNA DESTORY THE WORLD?!?! HOLY. FUCK. THATS INCREDIBLE!!! FLY OCTO FLY AS WELL OH MY GODODODODODOD!!!!

Whoever on the team thought of that idea needs the biggest sloppy toppy ever man I swear to go-

Um... Anyways, to cap it off, I also remember beating Inner Agent 3 and let me tell you. It was the most satisfying feeling I've ever felt in a video game. Period. It took me months to beat them but once I did. I stood up and screamed as loud as I could while my heart was about to combust into flames.

Octo Expansion is one of the best DLCs in gaming, ever in my opinion. Sure some aspects might be overrated but, I don't care, this DLC rules. I love it.

[ranticore]

Okay I’m really curious because visors as a concept are just so neat, are there any visors whose “characters” are considered to be paired together, at least to the longwings? Do the stock characters of specific visors ever show up in media and such? Any weirdly specific niches visored harpies find themselves in?

yes to all three questions :)

Visor “characters” considered to be paired together: My two big swan harpies Mia and Ebb (Mia-kef and Ebb-a-vef in the East Spire naming system, they're world-class delivery and postal workers) both have swan visors - a mute swan and a black swan respectively. These visors used to belong to two ex-military pilots who were within the same fighting wing back on Ceti, the colony from which humans travelled to Siren. They were offered substantial pay to become part of the Sirenian mission's private military, but they stipulated in the contract that the two of them would always work together (i.e don't fire one without firing the other lol). They brought their visors with them on the mission, which is why they're uniquely detailed and themed after Earth birds (see my header image). And now, looong after those two people are dead and all records of them mostly lost to time, it is still considered mandatory to the longwings that the black swan and white swan visors (Signaswun and Signastoo) are paired together - at first, just because they look very alike, just palette-shifted, but after a while they grew their own little mythos about being a matched pair who should not be separated.

The stock characters of specific visors showing up in media: For young longwings in the western continent (where the visors are stored), they often grow up with puppet shows depicting several archetypal visored characters, similar to the comedy and tragedy masks in theatre. The main character is usually a basic mass-produced model (similar to Terwy's) who is given the role of The Fool, the audience stand-in guy who stumbles into all sorts of adventures, is dumb enough that it gives the spectating kids an opportunity to yell the right answers to a problem he's trying to solve, etc. The Fool meets a variety of different, more unique characters often based off of real visors, though with rather simplified personality traits based on what the show is about - Wise Elder, Parent Who is Always Right, Child Who Should Eat More Vegetables, etc.

Weirdly specific niches? Some of the visors are marked by bloodshed, betrayal, heartbreak, and all that good stuff. If you are assigned the visor that once belonged to some longwing famous for stabbing people in the back, well, there are certain expectations resting on that. But they're not forced into these roles, exactly - it's like pulling a tarot card and having that omen hanging over your head for life, good or bad.

In more practical terms, some of the visors are suited for specific jobs - for example, there are geo-scanning visors with more robust sensors that can return information about the bedrock composition. Obviously you'd end up maybe in a mining sector if you pulled that visor. The military ones, like the swans, still have their targeting systems intact in the HUD, even though the actual aircraft that carried all the weapons is long gone. They are used to keep track of a moving target from a distance of thousands of kilometres, and very handy if you have to deliver a letter to a whaling ship at sea.

[max1461]

My parents were like "what if we constantly made weirdly sexist and weirdly sexual remarks that made both men and women sound sound disgusting and contemptible in their own unique ways and made romantic relationships between them seem inherently fraught and destructive I bet this won't fuck up our kids views on anything at all" and well. They weren't correct.

[t00thpasteface]

Hiiiii₍⁠₍⁠◞⁠(⁠ ⁠•⁠௰⁠•⁠ ⁠)⁠◟⁠₎⁠₎

Could you explain the hipster Vs fandom war. I've been on here for like four years and I never knew that existed lol and btw I really really love your art and you are one my biggest inspos for how I imagine and draw my Clark.

i'm not sure i can explain it in a way that makes sense, and certainly not in a way that makes you say "i understand why this was such a big deal", but gl'bgolyb knows i can try.

first, let me take you on a sensory experience... picture in your mind the following things... skinny jeans... nerd glasses... a weirdly dapper fashion sense in a time where everything is baggy and neon... boom, you have 2010-2014 online tumblr hipster culture. and also 70s elvis costello, oddly enough.

although admittedly i don't know his stance on pumpkin spice lattes.

anyway. now that that's burned into your brain, consider a significant population of this exact type of person that has already been well-established on this microblogging platform around the turn of the decade. tumblr doesn't really have an app yet because smartphones haven't taken over everyone's life yet, and online fandom culture is still largely dominated by deviantart as the main "fandom hub". most people, myself included, are getting their main meme fixes from facebook (which your parents were not yet on) or the icanhazcheezburger image-aggregator network. THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED WHEN THE FANDOM NATION ATTACKED.

somehow, a huge crowd of people who considered their favorite books/movies/games to be core personality traits began to set up shop on this fair slate-blue isle. i number myself among this crowd, having been lured here by google-image-searching for miscellaneous fanart in 2011. the "old guard" largely belongs to, and continuously attracts new bloggers within, a burgeoning subculture that 100% defines itself by bucking popular trends and social expectations... whether or not this is actually accomplished by purchasing beverages from starbucks and putting old film filters on every photo, i cannot say.

you may be seeing an issue already arising: hey, if the hipsters hate everything that's popular and gatekeep all their interests, and the fandom bloggers are obsessed with extremely popular franchises and are hell-bent making them even more popular, isn't that going to cause a little friction?

well, yes. it caused a fuck ton of friction. a division arose early on between "the fandom side of tumblr" and "the hipster side of tumblr." some people, like myself, played both sides. others abstained from the rigid dichotomy and considered themselves to be on another "side," like the science side of tumblr, known for explaining relatively straightforward STEM concepts in large essays that began with something like "listen up fuckers."

ahhh, unfriendable. such a narrow little window in time where cheezburger sites and facebook had equal sway in the online zeitgeist.

interestingly, as someone who trawled a LOT of aesthetic tags, the most popular of which was simply #aesthetic (it was shockingly consistent in there), i never actually saw hipster bloggers complaining about fandom bloggers. it was always the other way around, with fandom bloggers bragging about how much they're freaking out the squares to get cool points with other fandom bloggers, all while never actually engaging with the hipster bloggers because their tags rarely overlapped.

hi, marge! we're freaking out the hipsters!

regardless of whether there was any material reality to it, or if it was simply a Minitrue level of entirely fictional warfare, this concept entrenched itself into the fandom bloggers, likely as a way to still feel "edgy" and unique while, again, obsessing over extremely popular and mainstream things like doctor who, pokemon, avatar the last airbender, the brand-new mcu, and other decidedly non-counterculture media. even with things it felt like no one irl had heard of, like hetalia and homestuck, those were online juggernauts nonetheless, the former of which had dominated deviantart for years and the latter of which prompted hotels and convention centers across the world to implement very strict rules about unsealed body paint. people treated fandoms like they were some sort of exclusive country club with membership fees and a dress code. and dunking on hipsters became an entire genre of Fake Internet Story, which were already pervasive on this website.

what's the point of being in a clique if there's no outgroup to flex on? #swag

this whole phenomenon ran concurrently, even symbiotically, with other tumblrisms like "tumblr university" and those horrendous "not like other girls" memes...

which means, of course, it was absolutely dead in the fucking water once DashCon happened in 2014. i don't need to tell you what happened at DashCon (there's a million essays and videos about it if you're one of today's lucky ten thousand who's never heard of it), but all across the fandom side of tumblr, it felt like finding out your parents lied about santa claus. turns out the fandoms you're in don't actually say anything about who you are as a person, a bunch of tumblrinas can't just will a fully functional micronation into existence just by wearing tacky merchandise in a public venue, and magic probably isn't real.

i wish i had some grand way to end this story, but really the moral is the same as it ever was: online drama is eternal, inescapable, and completely fucking worthless. if you only post to get mad at shit, especially if you're just making up a guy to get mad at, cut that out. touch grass. look at images of cats. i don't remember any of the enemies i made from this era, but i fondly remember all the friends, and i'm richer for making those positive connections. that's all for today's episode of Tumblr History with Toothpaste Face... remember to tip your waitress and stay minty.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hi,

Can you rec historical romance where hero abruptly has to take care of his family and is impacted by it?

Not Anthony Bridgerton but Julian Blackthorn style

Thanks 🙂

Yes!

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden is one! The hero had a very cold father and has sort of become the man of the house, is managing a total mess of a brother... who compromised a mousy girl in a non-sexual way, and now the hero is marrying her to make up for it. Fortunately, he's DEEPLY obsessed with her hands.

I would say that Lisa Kleypas's The Hathaways series has this. I can't remember exactly how both Hathaway parents died (one had scarlet fever, I think) but point is that Leo becomes head of the household fairly young, and having just lost his fiancee to the fever... He is a MESS. A MESS. Total dissolute rake. His book is next to last in the series, but each book (about his sisters) shows you his character development. The second one introduces his heroine, too, and they have this slow burn supporting tension. Her Ravenels series has a similar situation, but you get that hero's journey first as he's the hero of the first book. He inherits a title unexpectedly, and with it his three cousins who he now has to take care of lol.

Alexandra Vasti's Ne'er Duke Well has a hero who has to care for his two younger illegitimate siblings. It's pretty fun—he needs to get married in order to maintain full custody of them, and the heroine tries to help him find a wife while CLEARLY being the right wife.

Duke Most Wicked by Lenora Bell is about a duke who was a bit of a mess before, but now has to shape up to find good matches for his sisters. Too bad he's really into their poor music teacher...

Lorraine Heath's The Return of the Duke is about a hero who's doing this in a unique way... His father is a duke and ends up executed and losing his title after he's convicted of treason. The hero has been lowkey trying to reclaim the title and get the family name restored for years, which is what leads him to the heroine... his father's former mistress.

Her Protector's Pleasure by Graced Callaway introduces Ambrose Kent, the patriarch of her Kent family, who is in charge of his billions of younger siblings who all find love in their own books lol (their father had most of them quite young). If I'm HONEST, Ambrose is one of my lower-ranked Grace heroes because he is very like... stolid? In a lot of ways? BUT it fits this trope very well.

An m/m option would be The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles. Joss Doomsday has kind of fallen into a "protector" role in his crime family, though he certainly has relatives that oppose him and the family matriarch (his grandmother) technically isn't dead... Just very old. He's really sweet with his little cousin.

Lmao if you want "dark but also weirdly comical" Hart Mackenzie was forced to become the family father figure even before his own father died because the man was so abusive. Hart... doesn't always do it right... But he deeply loves his family, and the moment in his book (The Duke's Perfect Wife) where he and Ian have this big like... recognition of how much they love each other... Makes me wanna cry. He's got a lot of paternalistic shit in the first three books in the series (both literally and metaphorically) BUT again, his book is The Duke's Perfect Wife.

OH! Devil Cynster in the Cynster series is TOTALLY this. Deeply dominating and bossy. Also a doting brother/cousin/uncle/whatever he is to all of the family.

[ilikereadingactually]

Rakesfall

Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera

i'm honestly not sure where to begin with this book, except that i really liked it, and also i had a glitch in the NetGalley app halfway through and thought it had disappeared, so i read two other books in between. the many layers of this story would have fallen together a little easier for me if i had read the whole thing consecutively, so i'm looking forward to an enlightening reread at some point! but i also think, as Molly Templeton pointed out in this great column, that i can't possibly understand everything happening in this book, and i'm not meant to. i don't have the necessary cultural context about Sri Lanka, but i can ride along and thoroughly enjoy myself, and i can learn!

i really dig a lot of what i do understand that's going on in this book though; the layered, looping structure is really exciting, and the way Chandrasekera weaves speculative elements into so many different settings—iterations of the past and the future and the even farther future—is unique each time, with some connecting elements that carry you through from one story to the next. and there's so much incredibly striking imagery, visuals that are going to stay with me for a long time. my reading experience of this book was weirdly drawn out through my own ineptitude with the app, but i would keep reading about Annelid and Leveret through so many more of their strange lifetimes.

the deets

how i read it: as i said, i had a weird experience of this one in the NetGalley app, but as always i'm delighted to have the access.

try this if you: love to float on a book like floating on the ocean and maybe go down rabbit holes afterward, dig reincarnation stories, or are into things that span huge swaths of time and wander all over the speculative genres!

some bits i really liked: i have so many more screenshots than i could possibly include here but this is a selection of things that made me gasp

We know another year has passed when the new year birds hoot in the background. Leveret and Annelid will grow older, too. This is that kind of show. There are only two kinds of show: the kind where people grow older and the kind where they don't. We, the fandom, love the first kind best. We love this show so much.

___

I am reborn, but not in a womb; I pass into this life midstride, walking on the street. I stumble, trip over myself, nearly faceplant. I am in media res, trying to swallow what for a moment seemed to choke in my throat. Is that true, or had I forgotten myself until this moment?

___

I voted for him myself, in the parliamentary election earlier this month where sixty people died. I voted for peace, even though peace seems like the kind of science fiction that posits a future utopia, sleek and bald and rational, without satisfactory explanation of how we get to there from here, this convoluted, bloody, tainted here, except by appealing to our better natures at critical moments, a long arc bending toward justice. It seems like science fiction, wrapped in a pulp cover.

___

Be anything other than a man, I tell my younger self now through the akashic record; be a mother of witches. My parents didn't want the devil in me out. She was already almost out; that was the problem. No, they wanted her sealed, stitched in tight. My unhealing wound.

___

I love, the Rake whispers like thunder, rattling her bones. I forgive. Embi stares at them. "You...forgive. I've left you trapped in a foreign poetic regime for ten thousand years. It should have been otherwise." There is no other wisdom, the Rake says. "You don't have to protect me," Embi says. "If protecting the world means that I need to be sacrificed, I'm ready. It took me a while to get ready, but I'm ready." You are the world, the Rake says. There is no difference.

___

The difference is that stories have endings, and histories understand that nothing ever ends. The difference is that stories are made and histories are told.

___

You and I are a we right here and now, whether we like it or not.

pub date: June 18, 2024! Go read it!

[kenonade]

for the ask game—3, 5, 18, and 25 for peter wiggin?

THE GUY!!!!!!!!!

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

It’s hard to say because, and I say this with shame—I haven’t read the books in a long, long time. Off the top of my head though, I didn’t like that part in Ender’s Stocking where he became weirdly misogynistic. That was weird. I’m not and have never been a genius teen boy with a younger sister who got rejected by a girl at high school so I can’t say if the interplay between those specific factors would create that outcome—but I sure can say, I didn’t like it.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Ether Strike - Akira Complex. It’s hard to explain because it’s a rhythm game song (hello Arcaea fans) whose lyrics consists of like 4 unique lines but I’ll try. “An intense dissatisfaction with the world / And a compulsion to do something about it / Heaven and Earth / My guiding star” It is a compulsion, right? The way he decided he’d be the one to be in charge of it all. Fueled by a sense of desperation for any amount of validation and the guilt that came with. “My guiding star” reminds me of the conversation he had with Ender at the end of Shadow of the Giant where he said that he’d always think, what would Ender do? It helps that I hear a lot of grief, longing, and determination in the drop, too. Honorable mentions to All You Had To Do Was Stay by TS and Mirror Man by Jack Stauber.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

Admire is a weirdly specific word in this context. There’s Bean, Petra, his parents, Graff, Achilles, Ender, Val whom I can see him having notable relationships with. Honestly, none of them are quite admirable? These relationships are interesting and complex and I like reading about them but I wouldn’t say that I look up to them for guidance on what to do with my own social life? The only exception is his relationship with Petra. He gave her space to grieve and a cushion to fall back on. He learned to love and they learned to trust.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Dude, the first time I read Ender’s Game I was 12 years old. I don’t even remember how I felt towards the book overall. If I had to guess, I probably didn’t like him. At that stage in my life I would’ve related more to Ender. I do, however, remember the first time I picked EG up for a reread. I fell in love IMMEDIATELY. From the moment the book underlined his hatred with how he felt he wasn’t good enough, I knew he was THE standout character. The scene where he apologizes to Ender thinking that Ender’s asleep… HEARTWRENCHING. His heart-to-heart with Val… MY HEART BROKE. Meanwhile he was also so silly and goofy… literally the most crass character, always saying some wild out of pocket thing that made me go “hang on, we read this in sixth grade??!??” Now, with the part of the Enderverse that pertains to him completely in my pocket, it’s hard to pin down how I feel about him. From a personal perspective, he’s still by far my favorite character. His struggles and triumphs are vivid in a way that the other character’s just don’t live up to, and his failures are incredibly real. Viewing the books from a more critical view, Peter’s existence is interesting in and of itself because he occupies a lot of gray areas in the narrative. He’s a major antagonist in EG, and the only one that changes from an antagonist to a protagonist. He’s meant to be untrustworthy while being likable, making him rather unserious. In a narrative that usually frames characters as People We Should Listen To and People We Shouldn’t Listen To, Peter is the only character that we sorta kinda maybe should listen to depending on how much despair he’s experiencing. He’s explicitly allowed to make terribly embarrassing mistakes that threaten to debase his entire character, but he’s allowed to be helped. He’s allowed to crack jokes; the narrative is allowed to crack jokes about him. There’s an inherent levity to any scene he’s in. He can’t take the moral high ground in any argument—we’ve all seen him at his worst—yet he’s also working towards putting more good in the world. He’s a character filled to the brim with contradictions and even more determination to work through them. As a result, his viewpoints have a nebulous, fluid quality that made it impossible for OSC to use him as a personal megaphone, since, though the reader encouraged to challenge Peter’s assumptions, at the end of the day we’re still on Peter’s side—we want him to succeed, but we know that he WILL fumble doing it. He’s personable. And vivid. Which makes him a poor tool and a fabulous icon. A role that sort of echos his treatment in the novels themselves. Anyway. I think he’s neat.

[saguaropokevariants]

A challenge for the crackship. My Frills x Occa

Vuala! These three are probably the most unique hybrids I've designed.

Reef has the least amount of snow-fluff, just the poof on his head, the rest is skin or very short fur. He's a bit of a wonderer, exploring areas and finding interesting things that he brings back to his siblings and parents.

Droop is very similar to Occa... No thoughts, head empy, short stubby body. Her horns point downwards, so they can't ram someone like an Orinatan Mareep could. I don't think it was ever a thought on her mind... if there are any thoughts going on in that head of her's...

Mond is a perfect blend between a Helioptile and an Orinatan Mareep, but has black snow instead of the usual white. He's not a shiny, shinies are purple in their fur coloration... he's just weirdly unique. He also tends to be a bit shy due to his unusual snow-wool coloration, it kind of makes him stick out like a sore thumb.

Included a color chart that all three share. You're free to take them if you want!

Also, if you do evolve them, shoot me a message, I can send you the evolutions for Orinatan Mareep so you can properly draw how they'd look evolving!

[mockramblings]

Weirdly Specific Poll, Fantasy Edition

This one's for you OCs and PCs.

Stories in the replies/reblogs, please! (I am begging you, I really want to hear them. RPG character hijinks are one of my favorite genres of storytelling.)

[gumasantan]

i'm reviewing for my exams tomorrow...but i've been thinking a lot about 1000xRESIST lately.

it's a game, not a film or a show or a book. 1000xRESIST is a game about...many things: surviving an alien invasion, living underground, clones of human beings, stubborn parents, angst of a teenage girl, generational trauma, and a lot of things. i don't exaggerate when i say the title describes just how much themes the game dives into. since i finished the game a week ago, a feeling of longing has grown and grown inside me that can only probably be helped by replaying the game, but i can't anymore. i want to restart my memory just so i can play it again without any prior knowledge. we all feel like that sometimes, right? when we deeply resonate with a piece of media we now consider a transcendent level of art form we just wanna keep replaying it and have our minds reset, so that we may able to uniquely experience them again and again, forever, even.

i attached a pretty landscape of hong kong to not only help reel you and others in reading this, but also to remind myself how this game made me long for a memory i never had. it connected with me so much that everytime i try to recall parts of the game, it's difficult for me to dissociate myself from them, and so, i end up with a mess of thoughts, unable to properly communicate what i'm trying to say; the memories of watcher, iris, (two of the game's main characters) and i seemingly fused together into one. heck, it is not explicitly a "self-insert" type of game where the devs intend you to project yourself into it so that the story makes sense.

so, why do i reminisce about hong kong when i haven't even visited the place? for context, the troubles during the 2019 hong kong protests are ultimately what sets off the events in the game, even though the game takes place around 3047 onwards. it is one of the few games where i actually see and feel the emotional impact that such a historic moment had on the lived experiences of fictional video game characters. fictional, in name only, but they are very much real in our world: expatriates who had to flee persecution as a result of resistance. one could say that this game is dedicated to these courageous people. not only to them, but to their children who are yet to exist.

i mention this because iris was born from these people. walked on earth away from hong kong, and as she grew up, came to realize how homesick she was about that place she was a stranger to. iris and i—we are as different as we can be. i was born and am living in my native country, doing my best to live since birth. i shouldn't ever feel homesick, but weirdly, touching this game and seeing iris' life through watcher's eyes, i can't help but go back and revisit the life i swear i lived in hong kong.

i'm not the only one who feels like this, however. watcher feels the same way. of course, watcher was cloned from a clone that was cloned from iris. it's only natural that watcher retains some of that "irisness" two generations down. though she is aware that she is reliving an amalgamation of hers and iris' memories, i relate to her struggle to separate her own consciousness from iris'. this is my belief: when you keep confusing someone's memories with your own, that just proves that you two are more alike than you would think.

i said before that iris and i were as different as we can be, but by my own words, that shouldn't be true. am i hypocritical? delusional? i'm contradicting myself, but not intentionally. i would 100% disagree with myself here had i not played this game and this predicament came up in another situation, but after playing the game, i don't know. the more i think about it, the more i get convinced that iris, though raised in very different circumstances, ended up sharing some of the same traits as i do. i would argue that there are just human characteristics that we all just happen to share, kindness for example, but no, these ones—they're too personal for and very understood by me to say "no, we're different."

at the end, the game rewards you for sticking to the end: a future of your own choosing. this may be a part of the game where some people would get stuck in for more than an hour, or as short as a minute, depending how much the player sticks to their own convictions. for me, i don't know how to build a future i want because i don't know what i want out of it; i don't know what's right. the game slapped me in my face with my own hypocrisies and dared me to stick with these foolish principles. eventually, i did reach the epilogue, but it didn't feel like i actually crossed the bridge.

i'm still trying to understand just as much as i'm trying to examine every minute detail in the game. the game's mechanics are mainly built around memories and the more i keep playing the game and watch multiple playthroughs of it, i realize just how important each memory is to conveying a message that's ultimately different for all of us. a thousand different lessons for anyone to learn; it is THAT complex.

if you stuck around this long, thank you. please, please, PLEASE play 1000xRESIST. there's something here for us to learn, a thing or more. these things about hong kong and memories are part of a bigger whole that i will want to talk about once i know how to express it. especially to my fellow asians, this game will speak to your heart. i've never felt a surge of emotions this strong since i finished signalis, another masterpiece which i may get around to talking about later! (play that too!)

[need-a-hobbie]

Identity Crisis: Prologue

Summary: Naya’il is a young na’vi woman that has yet to share her past with the Sully children. Only Jake, Neytiri, Norm, and Mo’at know the pains she went through as a child and that is why she is accepted into the Omatikaya as a sitter for the children. That’s before her, Spider, Lo’ak, Kiri, and Tuk go out into the forest to explore and get captured. This time, Spider isn’t the only one the Sully parents fail to get. Naya’il and Lo’ak join him, the three bonding as teenagers. The only question is, why do the colonel and that bald headed corporal keep looking at her so weirdly?

Warnings: Mature language, trauma, abuse, mentions of death, smidge of stolkhom syndrome, slow burn, smut, graphic sex scenes

Pandora, or as the natives called it eywa’eveng, was the battle ground of human and a humanoid race called the na’vi. First, they came to learn from the people, to build bonds and trade, then it turned to tearing up the ground for unobtanium wich would supply energy to their dying Earth. Now, fifteen years after The Great War that ended with humans being thrown from the planet, they have returned to ensure a new planet for the humans to thrive on and kill. It ends with every creature not domesticated killed, every na’vi hunted and destroyed, the ecosystems, so beautiful and unique replaced with housing for the humans. They will destroy everything, everyone, for their own gain.

“What the hell were you thinking?! I take you two out and you can’t follow a simple order? What happened to staying in the skies and calling out incoming ships?!” The olo’eyktan of our tribe, the great Toruk Makto, tells at his two sons. They had disobeyed, almost died, and I watch with crossed arms. Kiri had come over with Tuk at some point to argue the fact that the oldest sibling, Neteyam, was bleeding. From what Lo’ak explained, an explosion went off and he had been caught in it, flying and cutting up his back pretty decently. “Ma Jake,” Neytiri, his mate, Palulukan Makto, sighs. Her hand, four fingers, rests on her son’s shoulder.

“Go to your grandmother’s tent.” He waves them off and I don’t miss the look she sends him while brushing past. The four leaving to tend to the oldest leaves Jake and Lo’ak, a potent mix of every daddy issue ever. “Olo’eyktan.” His eyes, muck more intense with the black paint surrounding them, land on me, daring me to say anything. “I will take care of Lo’ak.” He opens his mouth and I place my hand on the young boy’s shoulder. “Your yelling is attracting the attention of the clan. Go with Neteyam, please.” A moment of tense silence between us, the ikran chittering and wind rushing through the opening of High Camp. “You’re grounded, no flying for a month.”

He turns on his heel and I squeeze Lo’ak’s shoulder as we watch him stalk off. While I respected him, yelling at the boy who’s a carbon copy of him isn’t something I condone. “You okay, Lo’ak?” I turn him to face me, ears pinning at the tear filled eyes that meet mine. “I got you.” I pull him into a hug, resting a hand on the back of his head. “You’re okay now.” His shoulder’s shake and he cries into my shoulder, hugging me tightly. He reminded me of my younger brother so much, and to see him so upset and emotionally neglected hurt my heart. My ears twitch at the small patter of approaching footsteps and Spider peaks his head out from behind one of the many rock formations.

“Hey guys.” Lo’ak pulls away from me and Spider approaches with a wet cloth. “Jake wanted me to get you something to clean your face off.” Lo’ak lets me take it and I cup his cheek, carefully wiping the paint from his face. “Your father’s war paint. Very important. Very symbolic.” No response and I sigh. “You know, I remember what he was like when you and your brother were babes. Kiri as well, of course, but I distinctly remember the look on his face when he saw you two.” I rub gently, folding over the towel to get a clean spot as to not smear the paint on his face. “So proud, so happy, so young.”

Spider stands beside us, watching, listening. “That was before the humans came back. Before he had to worry for the safety of those who shared his blood, who were made from the very material of his body.” Lo’ak meets my eyes, his ears twitching. “The forest burned when the ships came, destroying much of the forest and burning many of the animals that were caught in the flames.” A pause while I turn his face. “They died horribly, unable to put out the flames on their skin.” A sad look from Spider, and I curse myself for not considering my words. “It was very sad, a very unhappy time for the tribes. Now, he sees himself in you, and he is scared that you will have to go through the same pain that he did as a young warrior.”

The paint is gone, so stains left behind by the pigment and I pat his head, smiling. “Spider, of course, had nothing to do with the pain brought. Only the pain that he brings by pulling pranks all the time.” The boy gives a sarcastic laugh and I grin at him. “Very funny, Naya’il.” I shrug, throwing the rag at his chest before messing with his dreads. “It is true, small man.” A gasp and he smacks the rag into my thigh very harshly. The sound is loud and I yelp, my skin stinging. “Oh! Watch your back, human!” He laughs, Lo’ak joining in and I pout.

“Since you think this is funny, you two can tend to the ikran by yourself. All thirteen that went on the war party!” Groans from the two teenage boys and I give a sarcastic laugh, which turns into a real one after the looks they give me. “C’mon. Let us get them tended before the great Toruk Makto comes back to yell.” Lo’ak snicker, Spider joining in before we start unsaddling the ikran. It takes close to an hour before all of them are fed, watered, unsaddled and sent on their way. He seems in better spirits when Spider starts joking around with him, and his smile reminds me so much of my brother I have to look away from the two as tears well in my eyes. He is not him, and he will never be.

After the ikran tending I head to my tent, head pounding. For the past few days, constant memories have been plaguing me, almost like a warning. I sigh, pulling back the leather of a strumbeast that had been given to me. Not a courting gift, but something that could be spared since others used blankets and rugs for their own tents. My fingers rub over the textured leather before I shake my head. Right, nap time. I enter my tent, stopping at the sight of Tuk. She’s sitting on my worn pillows, an uncharacteristic serious expression on her young face. “Thank you for joining me, Naya’il.” I feel my face scrunch up in confusion, questions on the tip of my tongue before I sigh.

“What can I help you with, young Tuk?” A tense smile and I sit on my bedding, crossing my legs. She had turned on the lamp, setting it behind her, and the idea that she did so to look intimidating crosses my mind. “Lo’ak is going to the forest later, with Kiri and Spider.” I nod. “Okay, what does this have to do with me?” A smile, sickly sweet and dangerous takes over her serious expression. “They want you to go. I want to go.” Another nod and concerned expression from me. “Are you wanting me to force them to take you as well?” She nods. “Yes, you are the oldest.”

I raise my eyebrow, or the muscle that would move one of Lo’ak’s and give her a pointed look. “Tuk. I turn eighteen in two days, that does not make me as old, wise, or persuading as your grandmother.” She frowns and I sigh, slouching enough to rest my elbow on my thigh and prop my chin in the palm of my hand. “Okay, but! You have to stay close and listen to what we say. I cannot promise you will be allowed, but I will try.” The youngest Sully child throws herself at me, squealing and I let the force of it push me onto my back. I hug her back, blinking up at the shadows on the leather, created by the light striking the sticks on the opposite side. “Get out. I need a nap.”

[firethekitty]

okay you reblog a lot of albums ive never heard of and am curious about but it’s hard to get myself to sit down and listen to a whole album so please please, Top Ten-ish Songs To Get To Know You kind of list? pretty please?

i literally daydream about people asking me stuff like this LOL. so this is hardly a comprehensive list of all my favorite songs ever but here are some songs that are really important to me!!! this got REALLY long so i put it under a read more

1. meet me in the woods by lord huron

my absolute favorite song Ever like of all time. means everything to me. i could listen to this every single day and never get tired of it. INSANELY fun, incredible vibes, makes me want to go outside and shoot a beam into somebody. lord huron is an Experience. all their albums are concept albums and there’s actually a fair amount of lore going on. on the physical CD for strange trails it actually has the characters’ names next to their respective songs

for meet me in the woods, it sounds very upbeat and happy, but listen closely and you’ll realize it’s not quite as it seems… in-universe, it’s narrated by a woman named francine lu, and the song has the same chords as the first track of the album (and another of her songs) “love like ghosts”. she also narrates “the night we met”, easily LH’s most famous song. francine lu is not having a normal one. what’s her problem? listen to find out…..

2. crystals by of monsters and men

this was my favorite song ever for about 6 years until meet me in the woods ranked just a tiny bit higher. sooo fucking fun, itches a part of my brain that’s only accessible via icelandic stomp & holler. makes me very happy and always cheers me up! of monsters and men was the first new (at the time) band i ever really discovered on my own without hearing about from my parents or other people, and i’ve been listening to them ever since (almost 13 years!!) they are incredibly important to me and i highly recommend all of their albums

3. sunblind by fleet foxes

relatively new but became a favorite as soon as i heard it. this is also one of the most Me songs i can think of on top of just being so fucking gorgeous and raw and heartfelt. this song is a tribute to deceased musicians who influenced robin pecknold (the lead singer and songwriter for fleet foxes) and how their music is pretty much the reason he’s even alive today. my favorite lines are “only way that i made it for a long time / but i’m loud and alive, singing you all night”. this entire album is sincerely a masterpiece and i highly recommend listening to it all. fleet foxes have really beautiful and unique lyrics, they remind me of mitski’s lyrics in that they’re very poetic and personal and emotional but still subjective enough that you can connect them to your own life

4. this must be the place by talking heads

specifically the stop making sense live recording, which i still half-refuse to believe is a live recording because it’s just THAT fucking good. whenever someone says david byrne can’t sing i direct them here, because he does sincerely have an incredible voice and he simply Chooses to sing weirdly bc he’s a quirked up white boy with autistic swag.

this is just a really sweet and romantic song from a band that otherwise stays far away from love songs and it works extremely well. this entire album is fucking incredible and easily the best live album of all time. half of them are BETTER than the studio recordings, and you can also watch david byrne leap straight up backwards like a full 4 feet

highly recommend watching stop making sense just the entire film

5. vein of stars by the flaming lips

back in 2014, i watched a very beloved streamer play a game called “space engine”, in which you explore as much of the universe as we’ve theorized to exist. this was a little before copyright laws got so fucking strict on youtube and twitch, so mr. vinny vinesauce could play any music he wanted while planet-hopping. one of those songs was vein of stars, and it’s been one of my absolute favorites ever since.

the flaming lips are definitely an acquired taste. wayne coyne does Not have a very good voice and it can get extremely grating, especially to someone who hasn't heard them before. but when it works, god it works. this song is so pretty and nostalgic to me, always calms me down whenever i’m In A Mood. it’s nihilistic but not in a depressing way, more like “yeah maybe we aren’t here for any particular reason, maybe there’s nothing after this life. there’s nothing we can do about that, so why worry?”. very peaceful. REQUIRED listening when stargazing

6. good old-fashioned lover boy by queen

one of the first songs i ever truly hyperfixated on. unfortunately i listened to it SO fucking much it kind of ruined it for me, but i still do really love it. i may not listen to it that often anymore but i felt obligated to put it here bc it had a Profound Effect on my developing brain

7. too much time by john vanderslice

the year is 2012 and you're halfway through the newest episode of the hit podcast welcome to nightvale. cecil announces the weather. little do you know that you will carry the next 3 and a half minutes with you for the rest of your life. this one is just absurdly nostalgic to me (and not to mention incredibly vash the stampede coded). beloved song!!!

8. waltz for zizi & the real folk blues by the seatbelts & mai yamane

well it’s no secret that i think cowboy bebop has the greatest anime soundtrack of all time and one of THE greatest soundtracks of all time Ever. this is just an objective fact actually.

i believe this is because the seatbelts and specifically the composer yoko kanno studied real jazz, blues, and bebop to make the ost. like it's not just "jazz-flavored", there is genuine, deep respect and you can hear it in every single track. waltz for zizi gives me physical goosebumps every single time i listen to it, it's absolutely perfect. i've made it a ritual to listen to every time i visit the shore at night and go stargazing. sincerely transcendent experience

9. cuckoo song by cosmo sheldrake

hhhhhrrr this entire fucking albummmm hhhhhhhrhhhhrhhhaauuuuUUUUOOOGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

back during my final semesters of college, i had to take a course for art degree seniors. we’d pick something we were passionate about, make art for it, and it would be hung up for a week in the exhibition room. i chose birds of course, but wake-up calls inspired me to shift that choice to something more important than just random funny bird drawings. i focused on bird species that have gone extinct within the last 60 years because wake-up calls is made almost entirely out of endangered bird songs.

i’ll be honest i can barely listen to this song or anything on the album because i WILL literally start sobbing like in real life. cuckoo song in particular just makes me start crying every single time i listen to it, it’s like a magic spell. it’s not even necessarily sad but just viscerally bittersweet. the art for the album is made by flora wallace. here’s the spotify canvas i made a gif just for you 👍

10. take you back by orville peck

and finally………….. the song that made me realize that i actually DO love real country music a lot, and that the derivative “bro country” sub-genre that developed in the early 2000s has absolutely destroyed any positive opinion of country music in society. we NEED to go back, and orville peck is more than doing his part. this is the first song i ever heard by him and it's just so goddamn fun. i am completely unable to not sing along to this when it comes on

not only do i highly recommend orville peck but also any country music from the 50s and 60s, especially marty robbins, charley pride, conway twitty, and of course mrs. dolly parton. and later country rock/folk rock bands like america and creedence clearwater revival. it’s SO good i’m so serious

orville peck is the only modern country singer i can think of who's not afraid to bring back the harmonicas and whistling and steel guitars and whip cracks and yeehaws. it's fantastic. he's also gay and an outspoken trans ally. i believe this gives him the power to revive country music from the dead 🙏