#now i’ve gotta write a whole new creative writing piece
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NAH WHY ARE UK UNIVERSITY APPLICATION DEADLINES JAN 25 I HAVENT STARTED MY APPLICATION
why’d my ucg councillor go on holiday and just leave me to suffer like she didn’t know the deadlines were soon
#i should have used stardust minus the smut for my creative writing piece#i’m gonna kms#now i’ve gotta write a whole new creative writing piece
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hey ur writing a so good vould you write a smut with miles Morales( not 42) and reader using webs as hand cuffs, thanks <333
Ofc, babes!! IF ANY OF YALL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THIS, SAY IT WITH ME KNOW. IF IT DON’T APPLY, LET IT FLY. LEAVE ME TF ALONE IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH MY SMUT BC I GENUINELY DO NOT GAF
A/N; Hey y’all. Keep requesting as always and if you have an issue with this particular piece of work or any of my other smuts, please feel free to politely fuck off 🥰(I’m sorry I’m so sick of the comments under my post y’all).
Warnings: imma try not to put too many bc Tumblr will shadowban this post and i gotta feed y’all, look at the request, b0nd@ge, fluff, br33ding,d1rty t@lk, nicknames, $mut,lmk if I missed some
As the rain pattered against your dorm window, you sipped from a mug of tea as you had just finished your English essay and designing Miles’ new web shooters. He was currently out using them and trying them out as you took notes on their flaws and how they could be fixed. Miles always told you not too worry about his web shooters and just focus on making his suit more durable and you always told him:
“I can do both, Spider-Man’s girlfriend/engineer always does both"
He would chuckle and laugh and say:
“As long as you’re happy, Mami."
Miles let you have a lot of creative freedom with his design seeing as you were also his “girl in the chair” assisting him on missions sometimes, designing/building him new tech, testing out new fluid combos and overall, keeping him safe. As much as Miles enjoyed you being active in his escapades, he worries that something will happen and you’ll be targeted and used for something horrible. You reassure Miles that this will never happen because there is nothing connecting you to his suit or machinery due to your advanced tracking system being untraceable by outside forces. You installed a firewall so potent, it took you three months of nonstop work to crack it. When you finally did, Miles and you had celebrated for a whole week.
As you enjoyed your unusual alone time, you waited for Miles to tap on your window and enter.
“Hey, Spidey. How’d they work?” you smiled at your tall boyfriend
“They held up, thats for sure. I had to stop a bank robbery and those guys had some pretty jacked up weapons but the shooters did their job. How are you amor?” Miles spoke
“I’m good. I pounded through my English essay and yours.” You said, grabbing his suit to tinker with some of the shooters leaving him bare in your room in only his mask
“What’s the essay on again?” He said, grabbing a shirt as you saw his visible goosebumps on his skin due to the sudden temperature change
“The effects of technology on modern civilization” you smiled at Miles
Miles chuckled at this
“Damn, they called you out, huh?” Miles said, climbing on your ceiling and attempting to web a bottle of water
“looking for something?” you smiled, waving his shooters at him
“yeah actually.” he smirked
“You’ll have them in a sec.” you said screwing something in
“try em now” you said, throwing them to Miles
Miles tried them and they worked perfectly, even better than you had anticipated. Of course, he tested them by webbing you to him.
“Thank you, mami. You always get me right.”
Miles pulled you in for a kiss. The kiss was long and passionate, you could tell he was incredibly grateful for the time and effort you put into him and his alter ego. The kiss could’ve lasted eternity as your mouths moved in perfect motion of each other before you pulled away:
“Should we try out new web formula?” you said barely above a whisper, your eyes fluttering open
Miles chuckled
“Nah, the current one will work fine for this”
Before you could ask what was going on, Miles webbed you to the wall. He turned you around so your stomach was against the wall. He made sure to strategically place the webs so that your hands and ankles were bonded extra tight to the wall.
“I’ve wanted to do this forever” Miles said
Miles webbed your mouth before you could say anything and started rubbing you through your clothes. He fondled your perfect tits and cursed under his breath:
“Shit I’m so lucky"
He sucked on your neck as little moans and whimpers escaped. He moved his hands under your clothes and ripped them in one swift motion:
“I’ll buy you a new top and shorts, mami” Miles said
You moaned out an “awww” but it was quickly interrupted by Miles rubbing your clit while leaving kisses along the back of your neck. You felt a knot in your stomach and you wanted nothing more than to moan out Miles’ name as you approached your orgasm.
You felt yourself twitch as you moaned and whimpered, tears falling from your face as Miles stopped and started palming and smacking your ass:
“You thought it was gonna be that easy, Mami? como si no me conocieras” Miles taunted in your ear
All you could do was just moan and cry as you were completely under his command. He then snaked two fingers inside of you and started prepping you for his dick:
"Es tan apretada, mi princesa” he said, lowly
Miles knew that when he spoke Spanish to you, you get flustered and shut down. You turn into a giggling mess and this situation was no different; It didn’t help because Miles was kissing your sweet spot on your neck causing you to feel overstimulated. Your legs shook and you were practically sobbing as your boyfriend abused your technology and your body:
“Fuckkk you wanna cum, Mami? You want me inside of you, princesa? I wanna fuck your tight little pussy so bad I’m gonna cum in your womb when I’m in there. You gonna let me? You gonna let me make you feel good, hm?” Miles taunted
“Mhmmm” you mumbled. You nodded and turned to face him.
“If you weren’t webbed, I’d make you beg for it; but you’re formula makes it so that you won’t be begging for another three hours” Miles smirked
“mmmmmm” you mumbled
All this time, Miles was taunting your hole with his head, pushing it in and out and watching your hole drip with anticipation. You were sobbing and all you wanted was to feel full and to cum but Miles more interested in watching his powerful, smart girlfriend, fall apart on his cock like putty. The lewd sounds your pussy exuded were driving Miles crazy as he watched you beg for him with your eyes.
Miles pushed himself in and bottomed out. Your soft, plush walls sending his senses into overdrive as he forced himself to move and not just enjoy your pussy squeezing around him. The feeling of being full and the sight of Miles inside of you was enough to make your high return on steroids. Your legs shook as you moaned and whimpered alongside Miles’ own whimpers and groans. As you approached your highs, Miles’ thrusts became sloppier and harder as your body followed the rhythm of his thrusts and began to shake. Before you knew it, your eyes blurred, and you let out a long drawn out moan and a wave of pleasure came crashing down on you; had it not been for the webs, you would’ve fell to your knees.
Not long after, you felt Miles twitch and his movements stilled as he emptied his cum inside of you, his breathing became heavier as yours did too. Miles placed soft kisses along your figure and whispered praises against your body:
“Fuck you’re so beautiful, Mami. I love you so much. You did so well"
You felt yourself get weak in the knees but Miles had been supporting your stomach and your weight. You wanted nothing more than to kiss the man who emptied his cum into your womb but due to the webbing situation, you couldn’t. Miles felt this and he snapped the webs off of your hands and ankles in a flash. As you both were calming down, you saw a geometric blast of light before seeing Gwen’s face:
“WOAH! uh did I catch you guys at a bad time?” She asked awkwardly, covering her eyes.
You and Miles exchanged glances before he smirked and you felt the heat rise to your cheeks
#mcu fanfiction#miles morales x reader#miles morales x y/n#miles morales headcannons#miles morales#miles x reader#across the spiderverse#spider man: across the spider verse#spiderman#across the spiderverse spoilers#miles morales smut#miles morales fanfiction#across the spiderverse fanart#spiderman into the spiderverse#into the spider verse#spiderverse#spiderverse spoilers#i need him#foryou
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think creatively!
< w. @renxbe >
stevie can’t say he’s a super creative person. he can’t really…play an instrument, can’t write a lyric that isn’t nonsense and he can’t compose a remix or a whole new composition. he’s never had a super imaginative mind for things that actually matter. but, stevie can get a little creative with dancing. choreography is fun, and half of it feels like just piecing things together. moving your limbs until something make sense. and sometimes– it doesn’t have to! dancing itself is an artform, right? it’s subjective. sometimes it’s supposed to make you feel, sometime it makes you think.
and damn, does stevie think. especially this time around. from this episode on, it’s new territory for stevie. he didn’t last this long last time, so he feels like he’s going in blind– and now he’s really gotta show for it. especially with how tense last episode made things. approaching ren, stevie slows from his light jog to an easy walk. “hey,” he says, slipping into english easily. out of habit more than anything, but also maybe ren would appreciate the ease of it. “i’ve got an idea for something.” he starts with, tugging out his phone and pulling up a video; it’s an older dance video, mostly focused on a dance ensemble around school desks. “the dance they're actually doing doesn’t really fit, but what do you think about the like, dancing around with desks? teen crush and all that. you think we could get desks or something?”
#p: think creatively!#thread.#be:ngs2p4#renxbe#( hehehe here u go i hope it was okay <3 )#( lmk if not and i'll fix it up!! )
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Jacob + Graham—SYSTEM UPDATE—[01/05/23]
First, the best part of today, we received the most beautiful gift from our girlfriend—it was picked out with such care and obvious love; it is a blue crescent moon wrapped around a pink heart shaped stone. We quite adore it; it is amazing and so is she——
On to the tasks of the day, we have to dry some sweaters and clean our room; we had a salad for lunch (it was gross and wilted, but we had to try—new year resolution? Salad 3x a week. 2 done so far—Friday will be a fruit salad and I think it will be a bit more pleasant.) We also have to call the local pharmacy about my risperidone. (The spiders on the floors and walls have already started again, and it has only been four days, gag) We also want to get some knitting done, but there is no guarantee because the to do list is pretty full;
Collectively we are like way behind on our creative work. We need to write 14 poems today to stick to schedule (insane—i think i should just get off schedule—14??? 14??——that’s too much) We need to write 800 words on our current novel project——honestly we should get some planning done for some of the other works in progress too, but I don’t know where we will find the time. We want to do an art piece today too—because David has been missing that part of ourself; we haven’t done anything but creative writing for so so long—art is missing and he wants it back.
On top of that, we are working on an academic project——Harley has really, really been enjoying it. She has lit up on the inside and it is really nice to see. We got a tremendous amount of research started yesterday——mostly the ideas centered around horror, gender roles, privacy, and collective consciousness. It is still in development—very jello like and loose right now—but it will get more solid.
Anyway, in the last few days, academic writing has become a golden shining thing again, especially since we have been away from it for so long. In grad school, the professors were always trying to tell us that we have real analytical talent and good research habits—they thought we should really consider being an an academic writer; and we always kinda resented it because we felt like they were shitting on us for wanting to be a creative writer; but that was a stupid anger and attitude to have. In the end, now that we’ve been away for a couple years—we realize how much we’ve missed it.
One last thing for the day, we are going to attempt a semi-cleanse of social media—we are gonna cut back drastically. No TikTok’s until the whole day’s tasks are done. We can continue to post our usual System Update on tumblr—but no browsing—no chatting—no pointless meme scrolling. We will also post instapoetry and tumblr poet things——because this is part of our daily tasks. We can use YouTube—but only for music, movies, and TV. (And they can be used in the background for noise—but no comment scrolling—no videos of influencers, beauty gurus, slice of life, etc.) And on the days we have to do TikToks, we will post those, but not stick around to watch videos or lives or anything.
No twitter. No facebook.
Twitter exception is when I am scrolling for submission opportunities for poetry and writing and such—but otherwise—none, and I can’t do it until every other task is complete.
Pinterest is approved for story plotting/planning/and character stories. Again only after all other tasks are completed.
This social media fast seems really intimidating right now, but a dopamine reset might actually help a lot. Maybe if you followed along with my blog at all the last few years you have seen a long descent into a deep dark place; we are at a point man—last appointment with our T, she was like, if you don’t change your attitude and thoughts to ones of being present and accepting self-love—you can’t be saved.
And I’ve got to say, that’s a crazy scary place to be——I’m scared every day that I wake up and ever day I say—today, you just have to make it through today, you just gotta succeed at today’s task list—tomorrow doesn’t matter yet; yesterday doesn’t matter anymore. Even right now, I’m just wondering if we can even do it. But I just can’t look forward past the hour, the minute, the second I’m in.
I’m hoping taking a break from social media will help—I will be cutting back a lot; I have to do it. I don’t know how to fix us; but people are relying on us——pets, children, loved ones, friends——they want me here, and I owe to them to stay; I just gotta get myself out of the pit.
In conclusion, the next era begins today—we are always living a new page in today; today is all we really have—perspective is what rides out the wave or lets you drown; yes, some things objectively suck, but you have to move forward and peace comes with the acknowledgement that life moves at its own whims.
#actuallydid#dissociative identity disorder#actuallytraumatized#did system#actuallymultiple#dissociativeidenitydisorder#david's tag 💥#long post#jacob tag 😶🌫️#graham tag 🦌#vent post#system update#traumagenic system#dissociative system#plural system#system stuff#system things#system#tw dissociation#dissociation station 🤪#dissociativeidentitydisorder#dissociative disorder#actually dissociative#dissociative identities#dissociation#collective#actually multiple#multiple#writblr#research
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Rainy Retreat (Billy Russo x Reader)
Author’s Note: Hi everyone! I know I’ve really been MIA and I have other stories to update, but between my senior year of college and a lack of creativity, I haven’t had much time to write. But, things have lightened and I’m starting to get back into different ideas, and I want to throw this out there. I don’t know about you, but I love a good Coffee Shop AU. This will have a second part, but you don’t really need that one as a follow up to this. Thanks for being patient with me. I really hope you guys enjoy, and let me know if you want to be tagged in anything! :)
*Disclaimer: I have never watched The Punisher, but I’ve seen bits and pieces and I know general plot points. This is also the first time I’m writing for Billy Russo. Please be kind with comments/critiques.
Summary: For as long as you’ve owned your little coffee shop, the devastatingly handsome Billy Russo has been coming to your for his morning cup of joe. You know each other well enough, but you have always wanted to talk with him beyond pleasant casualties and small talk. Luck is on your side, one rainy night . . .
Warnings: Fluff, implied smut
Other Characters: None
Word Count: 1,504
You’re just about to pull the blinds down when you see a familiar figure walking in the pouring rain. Abandoning the strings, you unlock the front doors of your coffee shop and call out over the heavy drops: “Billy?”
The silhouette is responsive, and even with his hair soaked, you know you’re right. You wave your best and favorite customer over and he hurriedly crosses the street and into the coffee shop.
“What are you doing walking in the rain?” you ask as you lock the door back up. “Here, let me put that by the heater.”
“Thank you,” he says, handing you his dripping, drenched coat. “I flew my driver’s daughter in for his birthday as a surprise and gave him the day off, and I thought it’d be nice to have a walk back to my place.”
“In the rain?”
“I didn’t know the rain was coming tonight,” he says with a small smile. “It started maybe five minutes into my walk, and in true New York fashion, there’s never a taxi around when you need one.”
“I guess I’m glad it looked like a tornado blew through here, otherwise, you would’ve been washed away out there,” you say, moving to the back stairwell to get some fresh towels for him.
“Thank you,” he says, taking one towel to rough dry his wet hair, then letting the towel hang around his neck. Damn, this man is an adonis.
“What do you want?” you ask. “Tea? I can brew a fresh pot of coffee—hot cocoa might actually be better since it’s so late—.”
“No, you’re in the middle of cleaning,” Billy says. “I’m just glad you gave me shelter.”
“Yes, and as part of my hospitality, you get a warm beverage. Do you want me to make you your usual?”
He tilts his head slightly, a small grin on his lips as his tongue peaks out to moisten the skin.
“I haven’t cleaned the machines yet if that’s what you’re worried about,” you inform him. “Besides, even if I had, I still would be making you something. So, what’s it gonna be?”
“A black coffee would be more than fine,” he says at last.
“Perfect,” you grin as you turn around to gather what you need. “And I swear, if you’re taking out your wallet to pay me right now, this hot coffee is going in your lap.”
“That would probably help with the whole ‘soaked-to-the-bone’ situation,” he chuckles. “C’mon, (Y/N), I gotta pay you.”
“No, you don’t,” you say as you turn around. Quickly, you take the tip jar by his right side and hide it under the counter. “Can’t tip, either,” you say, folding your arms as you rest against the counter.
“Will you at least then have a cup of coffee with me?” he asks, and those damn dark eyes are impossible to resist.
“I guess that sounds fair,” you concede.
“Wait, let me guess,” he says, putting two fingers to his temple, closing his eyes while holding up his free hand. “You take your coffee with . . . two sugars and a splash of cream—no, soy milk. Iced.”
You can’t help but contain a huge laugh.
“Nope,” you chuckle.
“Seriously?” Billy asks with a tilt of his head, completely shocked.
“Black,” you say as you hand him a large mug. As dark as those eyes of yours. “Sometimes if I’m feeling crazy, I’ll put some sugar in it, but nine times out of ten, I’m drinking it black. The hot or cold part depends on the weather.”
“Wow,” he sighs, letting the drink warm his hands. “And here I was thinkin’ I knew my favorite barista better. I guess it’s a good thing we’re having coffee together.”
“I guess it is,” you say, clinking the ceramic together to toast the drink.
“I’ve always meant to ask,” Billy says, taking a sip of his drink. “How’d someone as young as you open a place like this?”
You chuckle as you rest your elbows on the counter, making the conversation more intimate. “How old do you think I am?”
“I dunno,” he hums, his eyes scanning over what he can see of my body. “Late twenties?”
“I think the rain and the cold made you delusional,” you laugh.
“No, seriously!” he smiles. “How old are you? I can’t be that far off!”
“Try early early thirties,” you chuckle, sipping your coffee. “I could be asking the same about you, you know. You opened up a pretty big private security company and you’re still young.”
“Yeah, but I did that with the help of my friend, Frank. You seem to be the one-woman machine that made all this happen.”
“Not entirely. This place was my Uncle’s,” you explain. “It wasn’t a coffee shop, but the space was all his. When he died, he did something in his will that would give me this space for the least amount of taxes and the least amount of hassle.”
“Wow.”
“Well, he was a lawyer, so don’t be too surprised. But it was weird. Getting your master’s degree is supposed to mean a better job within your current field, but I was overqualified for the one I had and under qualified for others. So I said screw it and turned this space into a coffee shop and I haven’t looked back.”
“That is impressive,” he smiles holding up his mug. “Worthy of a toast.”
You give him a small smile and clink on the rim of his cup. He doesn’t break his gaze as he takes a sip, but you blush and look away. You continue to talk about your days; you present him anecdotes about the difficult customers that the day brought as you clean the machines, while he tells you which high-profile figures his men were protecting this week.
“I think I can definitively say you’ve had a more interesting week,” you chuckle as you move to clean your mug.
“I don’t know,” he says with a quirk of his head, finishing the drink in the mug. “That woman who insisted that you put almond milk instead of coconut milk even though she watched you sounds like a character.”
“And the thing is, I don’t know why I’m surprised by her antics anymore!” you say, taking his empty mug. “See, this is why I love you.”
You feel your face burn as you realize what you just said. All you can do is thank whatever coffee gods are looking out for you that your back is turned. “As a customer,” you quickly try to correct, but the silence has been too long between the addition and your initial statement. Billy is fully aware of what you really mean. Still, you try to backpedal. “You’re always polite, you’re great to my staff, you’re very nice to talk to, and I think in all the time you’ve been here, you’ve never complained—or at least I haven’t heard you complain.”
“I actually do have one complaint,” he says.
Putting down the mugs in the sink, you slowly turn around and move to the drink bar, carefully looking at him. “I’m all ears,” you breathe.
“You obviously value customer service,” he starts. “So why haven’t you kissed me yet?”
You feel all moisture leave your mouth.
“I don’t want to lose my best customer,” you say, just above a whisper.
A small smile pulls at his lips as he brushes away hair from your face that escaped your ponytail. His fingertips graze your cheek, moving through your hair, before his hand cradles your head, his thumb stroking the skin just behind your ear.
“I don’t ever see that happening,” Billy breathes as he pulls you in for a kiss over the counter. It’s soft, but you can feel his pent up emotions as he moves his lips against yours—you know, because you do the same thing. When his lips leave yours, you feel as if all the air has been sucked out of your lungs. He nuzzles your nose with his. Without much thought, you go back in for another kiss, needing to feel his soft lips again in the worst way. Billy readily accepts it, kissing you as he did before, but with more urgency. You let out a small moan into his mouth, which prompts him to card his fingers through your hair. This time, you’re the one to pull back from the kiss, and you stare at one another with stunned expressions.
“Do you want to have some coffee upstairs?” you ask, your mind moving extremely fast and incredibly slow all at once.
“Upstairs?”
“My apartment is above the shop,” you clarify. “It’s probably more comfortable up there than a hard stool is.”
A shimmer enters his onyx eyes as the corners of his lips turn up. He knows exactly what you’re thinking.
“That sounds like just the thing to warm me up.”
Permanent Taglist: @majesticavenger @steampowerednightvaler @themusingsofmany @just-the-hiddles @toozmanykids @dangertoozmanykids101 @clints-worldavengers
Fic Taglist: @snowkestrel @vissidarte213 @allegra-writes
#billy russo#billy russo fanfic#billy russo fanfiction#billy russo x reader#billy russo x reader fluff#billy russo fluff#ben barnes#marvel#the punisher au#marvel fanfic#marvel fanfiction#the punisher#the punisher au fanfic#the punisher au fanfiction#billy russo x you#coffee shop au
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wish I were (pt2)
harry acts like everything is good and dandy but reader sees Heather wearing the sweater
part 1 here
‘heather’ by conan gray WARNINGS - ANGST WORD COUNT - 1,892
A/N: hehe because it was december 3rd, I just had to get this chapter done to post even if it might be a little late but here ya go
____________________________________________________________
My guitar rested on my thigh as i brought my head down to lay on the fret, staring at the blank piece of lined paper in front of me. I sighed, turning my head away and just bathed in the silence of the separate room from the main studio. The weight on my chest might of suggested the frustration out of my creative block, unable to produce words or lyrics for the past weeks. Or that I was progressively losing the will to even pick up an instrument, as strumming the strings took a lot of energy for me to do.
The oversized hoodie I brought kept me warm, but i knew that wasn't satisfying enough. However the idea of wearing one of his hoodies I've place in a closed box in the corner of my apartment hurt too much and that now I'm back in the studio after weeks of trying to avoid coming here at all costs. After the New Year's party, I've done nothing but wallow up in my apartment alone, trying to come up with songs as quickly as possible just so I could get this project done and over with. That proved to be difficult however, especially with Harry trying to call on a normal basis.
"Helllooo bubs, why haven't you been showing up at the studio eh?" "You said at the beginning of this project that I could work at home whenever I want. I'm just taking you up on that offer." "Of course, you'd remember me sayin' that. How've you been love, haven't seen you in a while though." "Fine, just been doing my job." "Well yeah, can't write all these lovely songs without your talent, can I? You gonna come in tomorrow then?"
I hesitated for a second, biting my tongue when I felt my eyes pool up again. "I'll just send a pdf of lyrics to you Harry." "O-oh. Well that would conventionally work... yes but you have to come in tomorrow though." "Why? Just text me what you like and don't like about the verses and I'll fix them." "Bubs you know how I feel about in person collaboration. Plus the deadlines are coming up and it'll be easier and faster to have you in the studio." "Okay." He hesitates this time and I could see his brows furrowed together as well as having a hand on his hip. Most likely wearing lose sweats and the knitted cardigan he's been falling in love with over the months. His hair a bit longer than it was last time I saw him and his pink lips quirked to the side in thought. Maybe the bags under his eyes are gone, has been looking more happier lately. More happier than I could of made him to be over the months. "Are you okay?" "I have to go Harry, I'll see you tomorrow." "Oh see yo-"
He was the first one to greet me when I arrived, and I wanted nothing more than to burst out sobbing when I see his smile. It took everything not to do so, giving him a tight lip smile and quick side hug before sitting down farthest away from him. For the first hour and a half of discussion, I didn't say much and zoned off a lot, tuning in and out of the conversation Harry leaded about a song he had written recently. I felt his glances on me when I turned away, probably sensing my unwillingness to comment so he was considerate enough to not put me under the spotlight in the discussion. In the middle of it, Harry's phone started ringing and he didn't waste a second to excuse himself to answer it. "Hello? Oh hey darling, you almost here?" I froze when he grows a cheesy smile on his face as he walks further to the other side of the studio before telling us to continue without him. I took a deep breathe, not mentally prepared to be in the same room as her. Has she always been coming to the studio or did I just choose to worse day to finally come in? I try to focus doodling in my little notebook, but it grew harder and harder to focus on anything else but the way he crosses his arms and laughs while on the phone with her. From the corner of my eye, it was definite he's completely captivated just hearing her voice and I could just picture the angelic tone of it. I didn't realize I was tapping my pencil till I hear Sarah calling out my name, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay, haven't seen you in a while." I nodded, putting on a smile. "Yeah sorry, been getting a lot of work opportunities and just a bunch of family stuff that's exhausted me." Sarah gives me a look that resembles one of a mother who knows their child isn't telling the full truth, but she nods and pats my hand. "Completely understandable. But that's exciting, new artists been reaching out to you n' all that?" "Ha surprisingly, considering saying yes to all of them." my smile was growing genuine a little, thinking about how content I was with my career. Being a lyricist and songwriter was a definite risky path to take in terms of stability, but it made me happier knowing I was able to to do. "Oh of course, you can totally do it. Probably wanted to see what all the hype was about when Harry couldn't stop talking about you at every social gathering he's been at." Sarah chuckles, rolling her eyes playfully. "Yeah?" I quickly looked down, feeling my eyes water as the pang in my chest came back. "Mhmm, acts like Thomas and Mitch don't even exist." I laugh lightly at that, fiddling with my fingers as I focused down on my notebook. I found myself in an awkward situation, not knowing how to continue the conversation but knowing I didn't want to try. I love Sarah, but I was close to break down right there if I tried and it was not the place to do so. Not when everyone is trying to meet deadlines and Harry was about to walk in with Heather at any moment. "Hey, I actually have a lot of emails to respond to so I'm gonna be in the other room." I stood up, taking a guitar and my notebook. "Might actually be better for me to focus in." "Sure, we'll let Harry know." I gave her a grateful smile, walking out into the hallway to a different room. I let out another shaky breath, feeling overwhelmed once I was finally alone. But before I could close the door, I hear her. I peak out to see both her and Harry standing at the entrance of the building, huddled close together. "Sorry I forget it gets this cold in LA sometimes." She says, looking up at him while he rubs the sleeves of his sweater that was wrapped perfectly around her. It was a simple orange stripped sweater. A vintage that Harry bought in Vienna and became one of his favorites. It was just a simple polyester sweater, but it became my favorite too. So it was hard to give it back after wearing it that night we kissed, but fuck was it harder to see her wearing it. Now as I sit alone with no sense of motivation to do anything else but wallow in my own pity I thought about a lot of things. I should be angry, be fuming and cursing at Harry for how he's been acting. I should confront him, make him feel as hurt as he made me for choosing her. Or maybe I should hate Heather, despise her for taking the chance I had with him. But deep down I know I couldn't hate Heather. She's such an angel, it wasn't her fault he's still hung up on her. And as much as the image of his arm wrapped around her kills me, I couldn't hate him either for the same reason. She looked prettier in his sweater than I did. "You okay in here bubs?" As if the tears welling up in my eyes and heavy weight on my chest wasn't enough, the sound of knuckles against the door and his voice calling out my name made me almost sob. "Yeah, I'm good. Door's open." I quickly try to compose myself when he enters the room, giving me that warming smile of his. "Just wanted to check up on ya, been quiet since you got here." Harry looks at me with concerning eyes as he places a hand on my shoulder before crossing his arms and leaning against the wall in front of me. Keep your hand on my shoulder, the second it was there all the nerves went away. I wanted to say but instead I fake a smile again, waving it off and shrugging. "Oh no, just have a lot on my plate don't worry." He nods, feeling his eyes on me while I try to avoid his by opening my laptop and skimming through my inbox. "Sarah told me about different singers reaching out to you." He points at my laptop before taking a seat on the chair to the side. I nodded, humming while I typed out quick responses. "Yup, thanks by the way but now I gotta sort out a whole schedule for this year." I took a glance up to see him focused on my song journal on the table in front of us.
“So...you and Heather huh?” The sheepish smile he has tugs my heart strings but I tried to keep from fumbling with my fingers.
“Yeah uhh...” He scratches the back of his neck, keeping his eyes on his hands and looking like a young kid with a crush. “Started talking again and catching up, been working out stuff between us since the party.”
I tilt my head to the side, motioning him to continue. “She’s gorgeous...”
“She’s amazing.”
I finally looked away from him and onto my screen, letting out a little chuckle.
“So you guys are back together?”
“No no, we’re just sort of figuring things out at the moment.” Though it was an answer I was hoping for, the look in his face was none the less comforting.
“Well, hope everything goes great. You guys look perfect together.” I managed to say, going back to typing while he only responds with a nod and hum.
There was silence. Does he not feel it too? Uncomfortable silence was never a thing between us but it was prevalent here. "Not gonna leave early are you though?" He says out of no where and I stopped typing for a sec to give my attention to him. "Not going to ditch me for someone else of course." He says it with a laugh, playing it off like an obvious joke... but the way he looked at me. Part of me wanted to scream at how oblivious and selfish that statement sounded coming from him, as if he has no idea the drastic shift our relationship has taken. But I see the vulnerability in his eyes, sensing the subtext in his question that is practically asking me to stay. Stick by his side and help finish this passion project he's dedicated to put out, not only for his fans but for himself. Be with him to figure out what to do next, even if I would be in a different county or continent and working with someone else. Keep in touch throughout because I've become an important person in his life. Even if that person who used to fill that spot came back, he's still here and asking me to stay with him in a similar sense. It wasn't the kind of love I wanted, but never the less, it was still love from Harry. Did the smile I wear at that moment reach my eyes? When I placed my hand on top of his in reassurance, was the hesitance obvious? Maybe he did notice the little signs, but he took my hand in his anyways and placed it against his heart.
"Of course, 'm always gonna here Harry."
____________________________________________________________
part 3
A/N: guys my heart hurts writing this lol. There’s gonna be one or two more parts of this series, but thank you for reading! feedback is appreciated :)
#Harry Styles#harry styles angst#harry styles imagine#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles one shot#harry styles fluff#harry styles x reader#one direction#harry styles blurb#heather
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i gotta Juke AU story
————
this is inspired by this one filipino movie i watched “para sa hopeless romantic” but julie and luke go to the same uni and julie writes a random line of lyrics on a schools desk and luke writes the next lines when he’s in his class. the next day julie sees someone finished her lyrics and they end up having a finished song throughout the week. they obviously end up falling in love with each other’s words but one day the desks in that classroom were thrown out so julie and luke try and find the desk and run into each other only for Luke to find out it’s Julie, his crush since the beginning of school, and Julie finds out it’s Luke, they boy who she’s been eyeing ever since she’s first seen him. honestly this is all over the place. this is just another random college au. tehe
I DID NOT KNOW THIS WAS FROM A FILIPINO MOVIE!
I have much more pride in my culture now you have no idea haha! But no really, Filipino movies can be the cheesiest, silliest, most cliche things I’ve ever seen. And I mean that endearingly.
So it makes total sense that this super cute trope that I see popping up in different fandoms came from a Filipino movie.
I think I’ve seen an iteration of this on AO3 and it was super cute! (But I think it was more like leaving a piece of paper on a desk).
But yes, yes , YES.
Juke is the perfect ship for this.
Hmm... I think it would be an interesting take, because my mind went to Luke first, if it was Julie who would start it- yes I agree with you.
It is canon that Luke helped Julie finish the song that she had been working on with her mom (’Stand Tall’), so might as well run with it.
Maybe during her quiet year, where she didn’t sing or play piano, she often found herself doodling a lot. She kinda threw herself into drawing. It was her creative outlet that brought her comfort during these rough times.
She’d have trouble paying attention in class sometimes, and so she would end up doodling.
Now, I used to have a history class that frowned upon doodling in notebooks. The notebooks would be graded, and if there is a non-history, non-relevant doodle in the margins or anything- you get points docked off.
So Julie, like me, tried remedying this by doodling on post it notes to avoid getting in trouble.
But one day, Julie forgets or runs out of post it notes, and she’s only got her history notebook and textbook with her. And since she has no qualms marking up her jeans and shoes, she thought she’d be discrete and doodle on the desks.
Not like anyone would have a problem with that anyway. These desks are old af and scratched up and had doodles on them already.
She would start drawing her usual stuff- funky creatures, bubble letter-ed profanities, etc.
But then she starts thinking about her mom, she starts doodling dahlias and even a rose in one corner. Memories start flooding back and she starts absentmindedly writing down a lyric of a song they never finished, just bits of pieces figured out:
‘Don’t blink...no, I don’t want to miss it’
She didn’t think to erase it. Just grabbed her stuff and went to her next class.
The following day however, she pulls out her post-notes (after getting more) and is about to doodle when she sees a new scribble on the corner of the desk where she wrote her lyrics.
Squinting, she realizes those are words (geez, the penmanship sucks). But she was able to make it out:
‘One thing, and it's back to the beginning’
It’s written right under her line. And she reads them together-
Wow. This sounds... pretty good.
She quickly jots this mysterious new addition to the song in her post-notes, but not before giving writing another shot and provide another line. Curious, if she would get another response.
She does.
And it’s perfect.
It’s been a year, a year since she felt the urge to write, to think about music- but, when all the lyrics fall into place, Julie is suddenly inspired to continue.
She spends the entire class thinking about how to reply, how to keep the momentum of this song going.
When she gets it, she writes it down underneath the new line. And waits.
And like clockwork, next day she sits down and there’s a new addition.
First verse done- Julie couldn’t believe it.
Smiling, she records it all and had to erase everything from before to make more room.
‘Thanks’ she writes ‘Keep going?’
The reply the next day has her grinning from ear to ear:
‘I’m game :)’
And that’s how it goes: Another day, Another killer line.
Julie would rush from her next class, confusing Flynn who did not think she would be so excited going to history, smile on her face, anticipating another message from this mystery writing partner.
Sometimes, she gets too caught up in her head, eagerly thinking up new lines that she often doesn’t watch where she’s going. One time, she pretty much embarrassed herself while bumping into the cute Luke Patterson in her rush to History.
(She practically fell on him and he tried to talk to her after, but she jumped out of his arms before whatever awkward conversation that was bound to happen if she stayed).
Julie and her pen pal would keep working on the song, even came up with a system to let each other know if they’ve finished a verse.
And sometimes it’s not just lyrics. Julie draws her normal doodles next to her lines, and she’s delighted to find even more ridiculous ones waiting for her when she gets back.
There was one time when she’s had to stifle a laugh because a crude caricature of their History teacher in their corner, yelling out the next lyric:
‘I'm goin’ out of my mind!’
(Glad to know someone else shares the same sentiments about their strict history teacher.)
They finish her mom’s song and Julie’s glad... grateful even. But she couldn’t help but feel disappointed... assuming it’s over.
But come Monday the following weekend, her pen pal decided to leave another line-
‘Running from the past... Tripping on the now’
and a new comment:
‘My turn now?’
A new song, and Julie grins, already coming up with ideas...
She loves writing again, especially music. Sparked by this exchange, she eases herself back into listening to music again, looking for inspiration to use for the song she and her mysterious partner are working on.
And writing with this person... is really something else.
But Julie’s favorite part of the whole experience really is the comments written on the upper corner. Stuff like:
‘This part is killer!’
‘Mindreader, much? :P’
‘Wrecking ball at it again. So talented :)’
and her favorite:
‘You make me a better writer...’
She ducks down so no one can see her blush as she writes back:
‘I think we make each other better...’
Flynn one day tells her straight up she’s got a crush on her pen pal, to which Julie denies because how could she have a crush on someone she doesn’t even know.
But as she thinks about it.. she feels like she does. Or at least know enough to establish this sort of connection that feels like they’re in each other’s heads, know how the other person thinks, inspiring the other.
It was... special.
Flynn suggests that she needs to figure out who is leaving these notes. But it’s hard seeing as though Julie has the class in an earlier period, a bunch of other classes are held in the same room after she leaves.
(Flynn tries a sting operation, but ends up getting caught ditching class before she could solve the mystery).
Julie’s worried though. As much as she wants to figure out who this great pen pal is, she wonders if they would be disappointed to find out they’ve been writing her. And not someone as cool and as pretty as Carrie Wilson or her friend Kayla. It’s hard to live up to those expectations.
In the end, she wants to know. At least so she could maybe thank them in person, for helping bring music back into her life and for making history class the highlight of her day.
She decides this right before they break for Thanksgiving. She writes down:
‘I wanna meet you. Can we talk?’
And she’s on pins and needles the entire break, just wondering what her pen pal would say back. ‘Yes’, ‘no?’.
But what she finds when she comes back from break is so much worse than the fear of rejection.
They got new desks.
Their school finally got their shit together and replaced their old, worn down desks.
‘No, no, no, no, no’.
That means she’ll never know what her penpal end up replying...
She runs out of class and finds Flynn, panicked, she tells her what happened. And Flynn does some digging, and she’s able to find out where the janitors dumped the old desks.
Julie totally underestimates just how desperate she is in finding out the identity of her pen pal because she finds herself sneaking back to school at night with Flynn, seeking out the lot behind school where the dumpsters were piled high with the old desks.
Flynn, the ride or die she is, armed with a flashlight, starts taking out the desks along with Julie, and there are... a lot of desks.
They go at it for an hour, and the situation starts to look hopeless, especially when Flynn discovers a whole new set of dumpsters with desks that they haven’t even checked yet.
They’re about to throw in the towel-
But then they hear voices.
Quickly, they hide behind a dumpster right when three guys, with flashlights, come onto the scene.
“Dude, I can’t believe we’re here at this hour-”
“Oh my god. There’s like a boatload of stuff here-”
“Guys. Can you not? And please help me? It’s gotta be here somewhere”.
They sound... familiar. They were definitely not the custodians.
Risking it, Julie leaves her hiding spot-
“Luke?”
Luke Patterson jumps and whips around to face her, “Julie?”
Behind him are his bandmates, Alex and Reggie. Everyone looks at each other confused.
“What are you doing here?” he asks.
“I...uh, I’m-” Julie stammers, “Well-”
Flynn cuts in, “She’s looking for something,”
Luke nods, “Really? So are we.”
Alex scoffs, “Nope. Just you, dude. But we’re helping.”
“Maybe we can help you too?” Reggie offers, “What are you looking for?”
Julie sighs, “... a desk?”
“Well... you came to the right place...” Luke laughs, shining his flashlight on the dumpsters, “Funny enough that’s what we’re looking for too.”
“One in particular?”
Then the guy gets all clammed up, “Uh... yeah. I think... I might have... left something... in it. Something important.”
“How about we all look together?” suggests Flynn, “Help each other out?”
And so they exchange the descriptions on the desk, with Julie leaving out the glaring obvious detail of the note.
They’re surprised to find out that they’re looking for the same kind of desk. The ones they used in a particular building at school, the same one her history class is in.
So they break off and search. And she ends up in the same dumpster as Luke.
“So what’s in your desk?” he ends up asking.
“Huh?”
“You know... that’s so important that you’re here on a Friday night, digging through a dumpster,”
“Right... uh,” Julie scrambles for an answer, “There’s something on- I mean, in the desk... that really helped me. I was going through a hard time. Lost my mom last year-”
Luke stops his search, “Oh, I’m so sorry-”
“It’s okay. I just...” she sighs, finding another desk that looks like hers but not quite, “I just want to find it...”
“I get it. Hopefully we can find your desk.”
“Hopefully we’ll find yours too,”
After another 20 minutes searching, Julie finds it. At the very bottom of the dumpster. Luke’s face lights up once she brings it out.
“Oh my god, you found it!” He exclaims, hands gripping the edge to take it off her hands.
She tugs it back, “Yeah... I found it... my desk,”
“Your desk? But this is my-” he breaks off, eyes widening, “Wait. Are you...?”
“Am I what?”
Luke drops the desk, clears his throat, and starts reciting:
‘I believe... I believe that we're just one dream...’
Julie gasps, then continues:
“Away from who we're meant to be...”
Then together: “That we're standing on the edge of...”
“...great.” Luke finishes, in awe, “You! You’re ‘Lyric Girl’!”
“You’re my pen pal?” Julie says in disbelief.
Luke Patterson has been her pen pal this entire time? The cutie with the cutoffs? It makes total sense. He’s in a rock band and the songs she’s heard from them have amazing lyrics.
Wait... she has been lowkey crushing on Luke Patterson through his words...
“Wow, it’s you! Luke... wow...” she honestly has no words. They used to come easy to her when she talks to him via the desk, but now, after finding out that the local heartthrob is her writing partner, she’s super nervous.
“Look... if you’re disappointed that it’s me... I get it. I’ll give you an out, and you won’t ever have to talk to me again-”
“Julie-”
“-like this is weird- this is weird right? But I mean what we had was nice and all-”
“Julie, can you-?”
“-we don’t ever have to talk about this if you don’t-”
“Julie!” He reaches for her hands and intertwines their fingers, shutting her up.
“Yeah...?”
He takes a deep breath before saying: “Why would I ever be disappointed that it’s you? I’ve... got like a mad crush on you since freshman year...”
Julie choked, “Wait, what?”
��Voice of an angel and wicked beauty to boot? How could I not?” he smiles, “And... finding out that you’re my mystery muse is just... you don’t know how happy that makes me.”
His smile drops and he’s all the sudden bashful, “Wait... are you disappointed that it’s me?”
She shakes her head, “No, no! That’s not why! It’s just... you’re this rockstar in the making! I didn’t think- I didn’t think you’d ever pay attention to me.”
“I do... I do pay attention,” he looks down at their desk, “Well... maybe not enough attention, otherwise we would have met sooner.”
She laughs, “Totally,”
They stand there for a while, grinning at each other like idiots.
“So...” Julie decides to jump the gun, “Do you... maybe wanna grab something to eat?”
Luke raises an eyebrow, “Are you asking me out, Julie?”
She blushes, “Maybe,”
“Interesting,”
“So what’s your answer?”
He leans in, “Might wanna look down,” he whispers.
She does, right on their desk and finally reads the reply she’s spent weeks thinking about.
‘Tell me where and when...
I’ll be there...’
Needless to say, but that from that day on- they don’t need to use their desk to talk anymore...
#this... has been sitting in my inbox#and finally I have answered!#I LOVE THIS CONCEPT#giving me the same vibes as my imaginary friends penpal juke idea#i guess this means i just... love Dash & Lily#julie and the phantoms#jatp#julie and the himbos#juke#palina#juke-box#julie x luke#luke x julie#julie molina#luke patterson#how many times am i gonna sneak in 'wicked beauty' in whatever I write?
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Hi so I'm gonna make a quick post just to go over some things in the wake of likely oncoming news.
First and foremost, I will be happy with any outcome we get for Tim unless it turns out to be queerbaiting because fuck that DC. Either go 100% for bi or gay or don't play at people's heartstrings. Commit or be burned. I myself like to headcanon Tim as bi. I think he's always been very clearly attracted to women, but that doesn't mean he can't also be attracted to men. I've shipped TimKon before and still do, just less so than my main, which brings me to the next obvious thing of note.
Yes, obviously I'm very sad that Tim and Steph broke up. More because it was mentioned in passing which I think does a disservice to their entire relationship as a whole. Where is the respect for their tenure together? I do hope we get some explanation since there was nothing going on in current continuity that predicted this and I'd rather not just have it written off as "yeah they're over, move on." I want to dig in a bit, because Tim's attitude seems like something bad happened which would have to be huge considering that they've been fine up until this point. I do not feel confident that my curiosity will be humored.
Regarding Steph, I hope she doesn't get written out. i hope she gets respect, her own stories, her own life. I want her to not just be cast aside as a nothing in Tim's life, or as cheap training wheels for this new chapter. I don't want mlm representation at the expense of misogyny because media does that a lot. Shippers on this site do this a lot. Someone can't be queer unless you effectively bury their prior relationships in a trauma filled heap of garbage. It's frustrating and I don't want her sucked into that. I believe in my heart that she would be supportive, so if Tim is gonna come out, LET ME SEE SOME DAMN SUPPORT FROM STEPH. This could change her stories too though, which I'm happy for as well. they could let her be canonly bi (not mentioning Future's End as that's BARELY Steph...) and give her some new adventures that I will be thrilled to read. But I don't want her turned into the devil of Tim's life journey. Don't make her his oppressor, don't make her the thing that held him back from happiness. She can be something that was happy for him as well, and now he has something else that makes him happy. It can be both.
My theory right now is that Tim is getting a ton of memories flooding back into his head and he's remembering old friends which is bringing up old suppressed feelings that he wasn't aware of. Bernard is in his memories and I think that's a really interesting way for them to take his. It's not making a new character or starting things out of the blue, it's very much saying HEY! We heard you. This is something people have seen in Tim for a while so maybe it was always there but he never knew it himself. Very cool move, I hope they handle it well.
My next concern is...my fic. Regardless of the outcome, gay or bi, I will post it. If he's bi, I'm not gonna have any issues, but if he's gay, I will pin a disclaimer at the top of my blog and on the fic itself. I just want to post it. I'm a slow writer, but I've been working on this piece since 2019, and I've been wanting to write it since I first got into Tim and Steph. Is it perfect? No. It's very self indulgent and angsty, but I'm proud of it, and I want to post it. With either outcome I'm afraid I'll get backlash, and I will just probably have to link them to a disclaimer. If Tim is confirmed gay, I will be heartbroken at not feeling comfortable discussing my fic with anyone. I won't be able to talk about why I've loved TimSteph for years. I won't be able to post headcanons. I won't be able to participate. I will still love them both separately, but I'll be losing the drive for my art. Those two have inspired me for years and I have list of wips and ideas that will unfortunately never be able to be published. It breaks my heart to have to abandon all of that, but it's my own fault for not writing fast enough or not feeling confident in my drawing abilities. I have been a bit selfish today in hoping that Tim is bi, and I do wholeheartedly apologize for that, but my creativity is going to halt immediately and I'll never get to do what I planned to do because I believe it would be disrespectful to continue to put out TimSteph media if Tim were gay.
More than anything, I am worried about losing friends. I won't get to have deepdives into their characters anymore with a couple people, and those deepdives have kept me going many days during quarantine. I wont get to bounce fic ideas or art ideas off of people anymore, and I'm worried that over time without TimSteph being a bit of glue, I'll lose those people. This is kind of my one big ship. I don't ship a lot of things and while it's not necessary to ship things to be happy, I like having at least one solid ship to fall back on. I don't have a backup, most of my ships are from discontinued shows and I have no desire to write or draw for them a lot of the time. I gotta shift this energy somewhere, but where? And I just do not want this lack of energy period that might come in the wake of Tim being confirmed gay, to lose me connections with the people I've gotten to know over the past couple years BECAUSE of TimSteph. I'm mourning a future that might not even come, but I can't help it. I'm afraid that I'll get left behind.
This is all very dramatic and personal, the comic today was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm being selfish for the sake of my art and my personal relationships which overall doesn't matter in lieu of potential representation!!!!!!! Like actual tangible representation YES. There's ways that I want this to go and ways that I don't, but for the record I want to make sure it's clear: If Tim is canonically confirmed as LGBT+, I will be celebrating with everyone else. I am not here to suppress representation for the sake of a fictional ship that I enjoy. Everyone should get a chance to see themselves in a story, and Tim is a big character to make that leap with. This will hopefully be a diversity win that will make a huge impact in all big name comics going forward, not just DC comics.
#personal#timsteph#tim drake#robin iii#red robin#batfam#batfamily#dc comics#batman#batman urban legends#wednesday spoilers
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Secrets to a Successful Home Renovation with Van Sturgeon & Jay Conner, The Private Money Authority
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34:20 – Van Sturgeon’s parting message
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Secrets to a Successful Home Renovation with Van Sturgeon & Jay Conner
Jay Conner:
A seasoned real estate investor, who has over 30 years of experience in the business. And he has successfully created several businesses in the real estate industry that cover land acquisitions, development, management, construction, and big time renovations and rehabbing. As you all know, here in Eastern North Carolina, my wife, Carol Joy, and I have been investing full time since 2003 and in our little area we’ve rehabbed about 450 houses. And to have another expert come here on the show to talk about rehabbing and renovations is very exciting to me.
Personally owns over 1,000 properties all across North America. And of course it won’t surprise you that he’s semi-retired from the day-to-day operations of his business. So he’s passionate about helping homeowners and real estate investors overcome their fears of house renovations and rehabbing. I mean, stop and think about it. If you’ve never rehabbed a house, you probably have got some trepidation and you scratch your head about, “Well, where on the road should I start?” when it comes to rehabbing and such. And my guest also loves to be actively involved in helping people like you reach their goals. He’s been written up all over the place with articles about his expertise. For example, he’s been written up in the Los Angeles Tribune, Yahoo Finance, the Ritz Herald, Belmont Star.
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I was born and raised in Chicago and I spent half of my life over there. And then I moved up to Toronto, Canada, and I spent time over there, as well. So I’m a bit of a mutt, I’m a mixture of a bunch of things.
Jay Conner:
I got you. So where are you living now?
Van Sturgeon:
Well, I spent half my time in Toronto, Canada as well as half of it down in Miami Beach.
Jay Conner:
Okay. So you’re back and forth.
Van Sturgeon:
Yeah, that is correct. I’m not too keen on the winter, on that snow in the winter, all that kind of stuff I saw. I’m like those birds that take off, those Canadian geese. I’m one of them that heads down south.
Jay Conner:
Well, let us jump in. Well, tell us, what got you started in real estate?
Van Sturgeon:
Well my story started, I’m a product of the ’60s and I was born and raised in Chicago, as I mentioned. And my parents, we lived in a one-bedroom apartment with my little brother. And what happened was my parents were trying to save up their money to buy their first home, their dream home. And ultimately what ended up happening was they discovered that the apartment building that they were renting from, had actually gone up for sale. So instead of buying their dream home, they put down their down payment, borrowed a bunch of money from friends and family, and became landlords instead of homeowners. And that’s what got me introduced into multi-family or into real estate. We purchased this apartment building and what happened was in the late ’70s, things kind of turned for the worse, as you know, with interest rates climbing 18, 20%.
The whole Iran hostage situation was occurring at the time. The economy was in the dumps and this building that we had purchased that was fully occupied, all of a sudden we were suffering anywhere between 40-60% vacancy. And so, as a family, we had to do everything we could to try to survive and hold onto that investment. And so we ended up doing everything ourselves, whether it’s painting, plastering, cleaning toilets, and God knows how many toilets I’ve cleaned in my life. Whatever it took to be able to hold onto that building and survive, we did as a family. And so ultimately we were able to get through that early part of the late ’70s, early ’80s. And it was a great investment that my parents made. Eventually, I went off to university and graduated, and I could have gone off to become a lawyer, but I decided that I wanted to get it back into construction and renovation.
That was really my calling. I really enjoyed it. And so I broke the bad news to my parents because they were hoping that their boy would have become that type of cat with the three-piece suit and alligator shoes. I wasn’t a lawyer. I decided I wanted to get into general contractors. So that’s what I did. I opened up my business over there in Chicago and as it slowly but surely over a period of time, I started to grow my business and it was very successful. I was lucky in that I got in at the right time, but, Jay, I kept running into the same cats, so same individuals, these real estate investors who buy properties, renovate them, flip them, buy properties, hold onto them, create a portfolio. And that’s when I started to transition to doing that as well. So I had my general contracting businesses growing and prospering, but also started doing flips and then moved on to actually holding, creating real estate portfolios. So, that’s where I’m at.
Jay Conner:
So with your rehabbing and renovation experience, have you focused over the years more on rehabbing single-family houses or commercial properties such as apartments?
Van Sturgeon:
To be honest with you, I’ve renovated, and I still do through my renovation companies, I also have a restoration company. I do both. I do multi-family all the way down to commercial properties, to single family homes. So yeah, I have diverse experiences. I’ve done, literally, thousands of renovations on residential and commercial, as well. So there isn’t really much I haven’t done in real estate.
Jay Conner:
Gotcha. So I know you can speak from experience when I asked you this question and I know you can speak from observing other people. So, when someone’s a new real estate investor, from your own experience and from other people you’ve observed, what would you say the biggest challenges are when they’re working on their first rehab? And the second part of that question is, where do most people mess up based on your experience?
Van Sturgeon:
Well, there’s a variety of mistakes that I see new real estate investors make in their first purchase. And look, when we’re buying property, we’re not buying these beautiful emeralds or diamonds. We’re buying diamonds on the rough. These are ugly ducklings that, hopefully, we’ve got a great deal on. And ultimately we need to infuse some type of renovation, repair, rehab in it to raise value. And then the ironic part about the whole process is when you take a property, you, literally, gotta decrease the value of the property by ripping it apart, throwing more money into it, to be able to reach back to the very minimum that you purchased it for, but then raise the value. And so through that whole process, there’s a lot of fear and there’s a lot of apprehension that real new real estate investors have because you’re talking about, literally, tens of thousands of dollars being spent.
And there’s a lot of apprehension through the whole process because you’re, literally, tearing things apart. So one of the things that I find that the biggest mistake new real estate investors make is really in not sitting down and actually writing down what their goals are. What is it they’re looking to accomplish with this particular property? You can’t go Willy Wally all over the place on it. You actually have to sit down and write down what it is you’re looking to accomplish. If it’s a rental property, what’s the rental rate you want to get? Do you want to get $800, $1,200 a month? If you’re looking to flip it, how much money are you looking to make out of that flip? You got to write that goal down. And because it is through that goal, that the whole process of planning and managing that renovation rehab is going to flow through that goal. Then the actions that we’re going to take.
The steps that we’re going to take are going to flow through that goal. So once you establish that goal, you have to go out there in the marketplace and validate it. And often I find new these new real estate investors, don’t go out there to really do their due diligence, to find out if they’re looking to rent that apartment out or a house out for $1,200 a month, what is it that’s in the marketplace that they need to create or need to do to their property in order to be able to get that $1,200? Or if they’re looking to flip it, what is it that they need to do? And you got to get out there, you gotta do so. You gotta get out there and you got to knock on doors. You got to look at it and some of you can do it off of the internet, but you also need to go and visit properties to get a sense of what the neighborhood is like, and what is the value needed to put in to your property, or to get to that goal once you’ve been able to do that.
The final thing that I really want to get into with you, Jay, is I find that new real estate investors don’t get into writing a scope of work. And a scope of work in my field where in the commercial side, there isn’t a job that I’ve quoted on that doesn’t have a scope of work written where it details exactly what it is that needs to be done to that property. It specifies the appliances, the coloring, everything that’s associated with that renovation or rehab. On the residential side, very rarely do I come across people actually going through that. So that’s another huge mistake that a lot of new real estate investors make is they don’t go into the minutiae and actually detailing what it is they’re looking for.
Jay Conner:
Yeah. So you mentioned a moment ago setting a renovation goal, in other words, “What is it you want to accomplish with this property?” Do you recommend setting that renovation goal before you go under contract? Before you close? What’s the timeline through the process that the real estate investors should go through the renovation goal or establish the goal?
Van Sturgeon:
Well, both actually. I think that in the process of you trying to determine whether a property is the deal, you got to have a good sense of what’s out there in the marketplace and compare that to what market value is. But once you’ve actually acquired a property, put it on contract, then you really got to fine tune that goal and really make sure that if you’re going into the property, looking to flip it, then you need to actually go out there and validate that with what the numbers are and what is it that you need to do this property in order to be able to get to that dollar value. So if you’re looking to make $40,000 on that flip, well, you got to go out there, figure out what it is that you need to put into this property to get to that $40,000.
Jay Conner:
Yeah. You bring up a really, really good point because with every property, as far as single family properties go, we always have multiple exit strategies that we can choose from, right? So for example, case in point to what you’re talking about, Van, I personally went and looked at a house last night at 6:30 PM after my wife, Carol Joy, and I just flew back in from Ketchikan, Alaska. Time to go look at houses, right? So I went and looked. Well, my contractor had already looked at it, and if I’m going to flip the house and get top retail, it’s going to take almost $30,000. Well, the numbers aren’t going to work to do that. So my other strategy upon looking at the property last night was, “Well, wait a minute. Can I buy it subject to the existing note, using the seller’s mortgage and sell it on a rent-to-own and not touch the house?”
Can I just sell it out on rent-to-own and not do it? And when I went and looked, now I can get the numbers to work. We just got to negotiate with the seller for them to take our offers. So I just wanted to give a little color to what you said. Part of that renovation goal, knowing what’s the exit strategy you want to have, it’s always very helpful in my experience to have backup other exit strategies you can look at instead of just being pigeonholed into one. Like if my only exit strategy is to make this house absolutely drop dead gorgeous and sell it at retail in the multiple listing service, I’m going to miss out on some deals. Would you agree with that?
Van Sturgeon:
Absolutely. And it goes to show you that experience goes a long way. Absolutely. I never go into any property purchase without having multiple exit strategies on that property or whether it’s on the renovation side or whether it’s an actual acquisition itself and how to structure that. Like, there’s situations where I purchased property, where, for whatever reason, I got too far into something. And then I’ve had to transition into actually creating something, some other value. For example, finishing a basement, turning that into an in-law suite where I can rent the basement out and rent the upstairs separately, adding additional rental income. These are the types of things, or if there’s additional land on that property, separately selling that parcel of land, adding value to the whole transaction. Those are the types of things that you’re talking about. And I totally agree. You gotta do that. You gotta have multiple exit strategies.
Jay Conner:
Excellent. Now you mentioned a phrase a moment ago, and you said you wanted to dive into this, and I’m really glad you do, because this is something that, particularly, all new real estate investors that are interested in rehabbing need to hear, and that’s the scope of work. So first of all, Van, tell the audience, what’s the definition of scope of work? Let’s not assume that we’re all speaking the same language. So what is scope of work? What does a scope of work look like? And then after you define it, please tell everyone, how do you go about creating the scope of work?
Van Sturgeon:
A scope of work is an actual document that is created, and in that document, you’ll have pictures, drawings, diagrams, specifications, of exactly what you’re looking to accomplish in this renovation rehab of this property. On the commercial side, typically architects, interior designers, engineers are the ones who create the scope of work, and then it goes out to tender. And then once contractors or trades, people who receive that document, there are specific sections within that scope of work that they read, they digest, and then they submit their quotes and estimates based on that scope of work. On the residential side, that’s hardly ever the case. And in fact, the scope of works that I’ve really seen are really, really checklists from what I’ve seen out there and are not really truly scopes of work that can be and should be used in the process of getting contractors and tradespeople to put their estimates or quotes together and send them to you.
Ultimately, if you don’t have a document, how is it that you expect contractors and tradespeople to be able to price out work associated with your project if you don’t have something in writing? Like, literally, I’ve had conversations with new real estate investors where they’ve gone through the process of contacting 20-some odd contractors and tradespeople and only 3 or 4 show up. And of those 3 or 4 that show up, only 2 or 3 give them quotes or estimates on the work. And the reason for that is that good general contractors, good tradespeople really want something in writing to be able to know exactly what it is that this potential client of theirs wants to accomplish within their property. Nobody wants to get into this whole gray area of trying to figure it out along the way because there’s no money in it.
I, speaking as a general contractor who’s done thousands of renovations, will walk away from people if they don’t know what they’re looking for because I know the name of the game for me to be able to profit the most is to have high turnover. Quickly go into a project, complete it, move on to the next one, move on to the next one, move on to the next one. And by virtue of me being bogged down and having to handhold a person, figure out what it is they’re looking to accomplish in this renovation rehab is not good business for me. So if I see somebody who’s got a scope of work and knows exactly what it is they’re looking for in terms of the renovation rehab of their property, then I’m more inclined to be interested in quoting it and being aggressive on that quote because I want to deal with professional people.
And often a lot of new real estate investors scratch their heads and wonder why it is that these contractors treat people like they don’t call them back or give them quotes. Well, that’s because they’re busy and they want to move. They want to deal with professionals. They don’t want to waste time holding you by the hand and trying to figure things out. So that’s the reason why a lot of people have difficulties, especially with this heated real estate market, they can’t find tradespeople or contractors to quote on their work. So I strongly encourage people to create a scope of work. Now, Jay, you asked me about how to create the scope of work. We don’t have enough time to really get into detail of how to create one, but it’s really you having to go through the process of figuring out what it is that you want to accomplish in the property.
You need to do some due diligence with regards to the types of colors and paints and specifications of appliances. You’ve got to put those in. Also, you got to take photographs, maybe do a little sketches of what it is that you’re looking to accomplish in this renovation rehab. And you put it all together in this document and you create subsections in that document for the electrician, the plumber, painter, whoever it is that you’re looking to have to do work on this property so they can clear the goal to that section. See exactly what it is that they’re looking to accomplish, what you’re looking to accomplish, and they quote on it. And you’ll be amazed at how many tradespeople and contractors will quote or bid on it because all the information is there.
Jay Conner:
I’m excited to have as my guest today, Van Sturgeon, expert renovator and rehabber of thousands and thousands of properties. And if you’re curious about what a scope of work really looks like, my best guess is when you contact Van and his team, they will be able to show you what a scope of work looks like. You can contact Van Sturgeon at www.VanSturgeon.com. Now, Van, once the scope of work is put together, you’re now ready to put it out for bid. I think we got the cart before the horse. It’s been my experience. It’s always best to have some relationships in place, or at least some contacts in place, instead of me now having a scope of work. And now I’m running around, where in the world am I going to submit this to? Right? So, at whatever point in the process, what is the best way to go find good contractors that you want to submit your scopes of work to?
Van Sturgeon:
Well, I’m pretty sure that you would tell folks the same thing I’m going to tell you that before you get to roll in on this, you’ve already created sort of your power team within the areas that you’re concentrating in. And in finding properties, doing investments, you have relationships with real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, insurance brokers, all those types of people that you need to have on your team. And it’s amazing once you have those relationships with those people, they will provide you with references of people that they’ve done work with in the past. Also, Jay, you know, we got these beautiful things called REIA, these real estate investors associations, a lot of great people in them. If I came across you, I’m pretty sure that if I have chatted you up and had a conversation with you, you would love to be able to share your wisdom and experience that you’ve had for over so many years.
Just like how I would. And so these are great opportunities for new real estate investors, really to educate themselves and really create relationships with people who know something, to join these associations. There’s Facebook groups, there’s a lot of places where birds of the same feather flock together and go into these places and create relationships. And also at the same time you will learn, “Hey, I need an electrician. Do you have anybody?” “Oh, I’m running into a snag here with a plumber. And he’s telling me to do this. What do you think?” And those are the areas. That’s where I would start. I would never go to my local home improvement center and stand out there and try to write down cell phone numbers or find people that way.
That’s just the wrong way to go. The only way for you to be able to do that is if you’re a seasoned veteran, if you’re an expert, you know exactly what you’re doing. Like, surely, I could pick out people like that. And then, immediately, I could put them on a job site and determine whether they know what they’re doing or not know what they’re doing. But if you’re not at that stage yet, you cannot go down that road. You really should focus your efforts on finding bonafide individuals that will handle the work. And you’ll have less problems going in that direction.
Jay Conner:
Absolutely. Back to the scope of work for a second there, Van. When you get a bid from a contractor, do you require the general contractor to line item their bid? Or are you satisfied with a bottom line?
Van Sturgeon:
Well, if I have a detailed scope of work, I’m fine with them just giving me a line item. Ultimately, what I tell people is that I would love to have a general contractor, tradespeople, include all of their material, and the price, just give me the bottom line. I don’t want to get into running out to buy a pail of paint for people or a box of tile that they’re running short on. It’s amazing when they look after the material, when they bring it onsite, how you’re able to see how efficient they are, and you don’t see things all over a place loosey goosey when they’re paying for it. So when starting out, that’s what I recommend. Once you become experienced and seasoned, then you can turn things around and maybe you might supply material for your contractor, tradespeople. But in the early stages, when you’re starting off, I strongly suggest you just get the bottom line. You have a detailed scope of work, which is included as part of the quote and contract that exists with your contractor, tradesperson, and then you get a bottom line number. And that’s all, move on
Jay Conner:
When you’re brand new as a real estate investor, what percentage deposit upfront should they expect to hear from qualified general contractors, say for their first deal or two?
Van Sturgeon:
I get this question asked often. And what I suggest to people is try to minimize that dollar amount, as least amount as possible. And as far as if that money is going towards purchase of materials, I would even go to the extent of purchasing the materials and having that under my name, somehow structured in that way. Legally, you want to do that because then you retain ownership of the materials instead of in the ownership of that general contractor, tradesperson. But I try to minimize the amount of money put down, and I understand that there’s been an ongoing trend especially now because of this real estate market, how heated it is and everybody’s running, running, running, that more and more people are looking for deposits, especially these tradespeople and contractors.
But I try to minimize that dollar amount. In fact, not give any. Like when you walk into McDonald’s, you’re going to give your $10 over to purchase that hamburger. And you step aside and wait for it to be made. But none of these guys are McDonald’s. So this whole notion that me paying upfront for these contractors, tradespeople to reserve them, or for them to go to my job is something that I try to avoid as much as I can. I encourage people to avoid it as best they can. They don’t need to get 50%. I’ve heard some outrageous sums of money, 50, 80% upfront. And that’s not the way to do business because guess what? You’ve lost control, Jay, you’ve lost control when you’ve overpaid your contractor, tradesperson, you’ve lost control because then they can jerk you around.
They can go now. They started your job and they got another job that they got to run off to. They’re going to go run off to that one. And they’ll tell you, they’ll be there. They’ll be back at your place in a couple of days. It turns into being a couple of weeks and who’s paying for that? But you’ve already paid them. So they got you in a headlock and you got no wiggle room. If I got them coming to me every week or 2 weeks with an invoice to pay them, trust me, I got control. They’re going to show up on my job site. They’re going to finish their work. And then they’re going to go take advantage of somebody else’s good graces, but they’re not gonna do that with me. So that’s part of the seasoning and the experience that you and I have, fortunately. You can’t buy that in a book. You can’t download a YouTube video and watch it. These are the types of things that I can tell you, thousands of stories that I’ve come across these situations where it’s just experience.
Jay Conner:
Absolutely. When you talk about maintaining control, one way that I learned the hard way years ago is I never write that final check to the general contractor, that final draw, until my realtor, who’s going to be selling that house, does a walk through and does their punch lists. Then we get the final punch list, and then we pay that final check. So speaking of these contractors, Van, what should real estate investors do to make sure that the contractors they’re working with are qualified and what are the qualities that you want to look for in a contractor?
Van Sturgeon:
Well, obviously, when you come across a contractor or a tradesperson, hopefully you’ve got them from references that you’ve received from people that you trust. But even in those situations, you still need to go out there and you need to do your due diligence. You need to go visit the job sites, if they have a current job site that they’re working on, go and find out what their condition is. And also, hopefully you can get a hold of that principal, or the person who they’re doing work for to find out how this tradesperson, contractor are. Are they showing up all the time? Are they happy with the service that they’re being provided? And that’s where you really need to start to figure out whether this is an individual that you want to do business with, or you don’t. It is a process where once you’ve been able to find those contractors and tradesperson that you want to do business with, then ultimately the process of trying to manage them is easy. Because if you have a scope of work in place and you know the details associated with what everybody’s supposed to do, then you can then create a flow chart and create when it is that they’re supposed to arrive and not arrive. And it flows beautifully. I don’t know if I’ve answered your question.
Jay Conner:
Sure. So do you recommend that real estate investors manage their own renovation? And if so, how do they go about doing that if they’ve got a general contractor hired?
Van Sturgeon:
Well, I’m going to suggest that people don’t hire a general contractor. And in fact, I suggest that they plan and manage their own renovation without a general contractor and think of saving between 30 to 50% on the whole total renovation rehab budget. Like, if you follow the step-by-step process that I’ve just sort of touched on right now with you, you don’t need a general contractor, you can handle this all on your own. It’s just a matter of knowing how to plan and manage it. And there’s tens of thousand dollars that you can save. And with you starting off as a new real estate investor, I think you need to go down that road and do it yourself because, not physically do the work, Jay, I’m not suggesting that at all, but hiring the right plumber, the electrician, the painter directly, you eliminate the general contractor acting as a middleman, and you’re dealing directly with these folks and you get the best bang for your buck. And listen, at the end of the day, Jay, you gotta have that skill set just as, as important it is to find a great deal.
It’s also really great to be able to plan and manage your own renovation and minimize the rental budget as least amount as possible because that’s more money in your pocket. And if you don’t have that skill set, it’s a problem. Because guess what? Tomorrow you’re going to get a phone call and it says, “Hey, there’s a great deal on this property.” You get over there and you know these properties we’re looking at are ugly ducklings. And if you don’t have a semblance or an understanding of what it is, what kind of work you need to do in that property, how are you going to be in a position to be able to snap that deal up? You got to call up your contractor friend, you’re going to call up your property inspector to come over there? By the time they show up, that property is long gone. So you need to have the skillset. If you’re going to be a successful real estate investor, be able to walk in, determine exactly what it is you need to do, what the value is, how long it’s going to take and bang that, and then make a decision whether you want to buy that property or not.
Jay Conner:
Yeah. When I started out back in 2003, that year we only rehabbed 3 houses our first year into it. From 2003 up until just a few years ago, I’ve just been working with 2 different crew leaders managing my own renovations through my project managers. But then a few years ago here in North Carolina, and I’m sure this varies from state to state, here in North Carolina, if a rehab is going to cost $30,000 or more, and it’s not your primary residence, they will lock you up if you don’t have a general contractor. Ask me how I know. But, anyway, so I do both. Adhering to the law here in North Carolina. And again, I know it varies from state to state, 30,000 or more, you got to have a general contractor involved, overseeing all that work. Under 30,000, you can use your own crews. But what I love about your advice, Van, is whether you’re using general contractors or not, you need to know what those line item costs are by the tradesman. If you’re getting plumbing done, what’s that? If you’re getting your paint done, what’s that? Exterior paint, what’s that? LVP flooring, what’s that? Otherwise, you’re going to be taken to the cleaners. Van, wow! It’s been exciting to have you here on the show, parting comments to the audience.
Van Sturgeon:
Well, I really appreciate the time that you’ve given me. And hopefully if there’s folks that will learn something about what I’ve been preaching, if they want to learn more about myself and the process of planning and managing a successful renovation rehab, I encourage them to go over to my website at VanSturgeon.com. I’ve got a bunch of information there from articles I’ve written, podcasts I’ve been on, and also got a free training video. That’s on my website where people can watch to be able to give them a good idea and understand what it is that they need to do to plan and manage a successful renovation rehab, whether they use a general contractor or not. It really is a good process to really understand and to be able to really navigate the trouble, the difficult waters that everybody goes through when they purchase their first or second property. And they got to do a substantial renovation rehab to it.
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how do u feel about the comments towards sf9's taeyang as a dancer? he often gets a lot of hate for being a "kai copycat" (and thus, is unoriginal and not a "good" dancer). its no surprise that kai does influence taeyang because he frequently mentions kai as his role model. but like, the hate towards him seems odd and uncalled for?
its only natural to be inspired by others and study and take pieces from their art (whether its conscious or not). its the same when i saw hoshi's spider, and was able to see how taem, his role model, inspires him a lot. similarly with how there are obvious stages of taem's that is a homage to michael jackson. i think what becomes distinguishable and makes someone an "artist" is when they're able to build their own identity from their influences. (not sure if that makes sense). but like, it takes years to do this; using taem as an example, it wasnt until want (in my opinion) did i think he really established himself as Taemin - the soloist. i think when taeyang is able to branch out into his own solo works, go through different trials, will we see him in his own light. but even now, though he's influenced by kai, he's still a very good dancer? one of the best from 3rd gen imo.
when you get famous for dancing sexy, everybody after you who dances sexy gotta live with being compared to you, basically. your observations are entirely right anon, no art is created in a vacuum and we are all recycling and remaking the same ideas in perpetual motion, and what distinguishes a creative artist is how you synthesize and adapt those ideas. hoshi did this particularly well with spider, as you pointed out, where it's obvious that he's influenced by taemin, but there are also his own original ideas and synthesis in there. i think a part of what's happening with taeyang is that he's a broody, tall dancer that sometimes mixes non-hiphop elements and kai is also a broody, tall dancer that mixes non-hiphop elements. and as soon as people hear that his inspiration is kai, they're going to immediately associate the two, and because the human brain loves to find patterns, once they're looking, they're seeing. personally i don't actually see that much of kai in what taeyang does, because in my eyes kai has an extremely unique form of movement that would be extremely hard for anyone to replicate (thanks to the ballet training and the injuries). it might also be that i don't retain a lot of memory of kai's dancing, but i've noticed more times that taeyang has lifted a taemin move than i have noticed him dancing similar to kai.
obviously if taeyang is like, lifting move sequences from kai wholecloth then yea, give him flak for that, but in order to be measured up to kai in the first place you have to be a pretty good dancer anyways? i would also personally put him in the upper half of third gen dancers too.
also this is gonna be a bit of a tangent but i'm feeling a bit feisty so i wanna speak on the whole "unoriginal" and "copying means you're a bad artist" thing. is a classical violinist who has never composed a piece of music but plays first chair in a symphony orchestra a bad artist? is a shakespearean actor a bad artist? if you making your living saying words, playing notes that hundreds of thousands of people in hundreds of years have released out into the world before you, are you unoriginal and a copycat? are your years of tireless training invalidated because you weren't the first person to play a mozart symphony or speak a hamlet soliloquy out into the ether?
there's an ugly conflation that has happened in coincidence with the rise of the myth of the artist monolith and post modernist art theory, and that is that skill does not equal artistry. that on the scales of judgement, idea and concept trumps skill in what is more valuable. and while i do agree, one thing that makes you a consummate artist is how you synthesize influences to create a new work, this is often not a solitary task. and very few people are actually good at it. art, especially of the performative variety, is collective, and the idea of the 'auteur' and auteur theory has dramatically destroyed the general public's understanding of that. no matter how many scripts you write, they do. not. exist in their intended form unless you have a crew to realize them. there is no kpop artist writing and producing and choreographing and styling themselves. there are no western artists either. there are stylists and composers and choreographers working tirelessly behind idol faces; taemin didn't compose advice, nor did he style it, or make the choreography, or scout the locations, or operate the cameras: does that make him less of an artist? there is no shame in being 'only' skilled, the big brained 'idea' people will always need you.
#kpop questions#taeyang#kai#kai w#there's a hierarchy of power assumed with the creation of art thanks to capitalism and auteur theory#because it's easier to market one or two faces than it is to market a collective#also historically a lot of the people who were self described auteurs are shitty people who don't care about the collective#and/or want credit only for themselves#this is also connected to the divided between low and high art and also low and high class. its another form of othering#that both keeps people away and props up the higher status. a further dividing wedge#commonly in the contemp art world they phrase it as the 'craftsperson vs artist' debate. and boy does that shit make me mad#anyways to bring this back to taeyang i don't think it matters if he's a 'kai copycat'. yea it might hurt his pride#and maybe that means we'll get more solo work out of him. which would be nice to see. but also he can still be a good dancer#even if he never makes whatever yoo taeyang's criminal or mmmh is#text#answers#this isnt aimed at anyone in particular its just rhetorical. why do i use rhetorical questions so much#it makes it seem like im always accusing someone. im not usually. i just like forcing people to think about stuff i guess?#many thoughts about this but mostly i wish people would stop putting so much emphasize on the artist monolith it drives me fucking insane#like there are literally always so many people working on things. like 90% of the time idols arent even dancing to their own choreography#like seriously stop making everyone out to be artistic geniuses. its not true and its very ok that theyre just good at their jobs#which are performing. they put in a lot of work and its shitty to be dismissive of that skill just because they dont also choreo#or write music or whatever#you can tell im touchy about this because one too many times has my work been attributed to a director#OR they just havent bothered to learn my name at all#obviously i dont expect laypeople to know the intricacies of working in an art field but we really need to dismantle the artist monolith#it helps no one except the elites and they dont deserve that credit#ANYWAYS im done now. thank you for sending this in! i dont know what prompted it but thank you regardless
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how did you get into writing fic? i'd love to start but idk even where to begin! I loved adats so I was wondering do you have any advice?
Oh my goodness! I am so flattered you’ve asked me this. Yes, I can absolutely help. I’ll throw a bunch of rambling under the cut.
I started writing fic probably when I was... sixteen years old? A lot of my early works were oneshots. I couldn’t figure out how to do anything plot heavy for the life of me, so I just stuck to AUs or whatever I felt like. I wasn’t in any particular fandom -- I really wrote whatever I had ideas for. I remember I tried once to do a plot-heavy story and I received a review absolutely ripping it to shreds. Like, it was so cruel I cried lol. I ended up deleting the fic. Years later, I get what they were trying to say (basically, more substance, less style), but at the time it cut to the quick. Really, it was only when I was in my twenties that I started writing work that was longer and/or better.
The fandom that helped me actually write plot heavy work was a historical-based fandom. As I’m a historian, it was perfect. I got to use my research skills and knowledge to create works that, above all, aimed to feel authentic. I mainly read historical fiction, so I was familiar with how that genre worked. Miraculously, people loved my work. I think I wrote about ~200k in the period of a year? These were several short stories (20-40k) and a few oneshot filler fics. While I was part of this fandom I also helped organise a Big Bang which was a lot of hard work but was extremely rewarding. Along with that, I interacted mainly with other fic writers, so I spent a lot of time chatting to people about ideas and encouraging other writers, and it just created a lovely medley where no concept was impossible or any line of dialogue too difficult. We supported each other and it was truly like a little commune. I gradually stepped away from the fandom mainly because it was just a part of my life at a very specific time, and almost as soon as that time was over, my love for that story/ship faded, but I firmly believe I figured out a lot of how/what I do now purely through that experience.
Regarding ADATS
With ADATS, it stemmed entirely from wanting to “explain” three months in canon (at the end of season three). I was interested in the idea of season four setting up Will/Mike in canon, and I wanted to test the source material to see if I could draw from what already existed to create something authentic. I began with that simple idea: what happened from July to October in 1985? Then I thought about the major themes I wanted to hit -- family, friendship, coming of age, sexuality -- and I nested them around the bigger concept: how do I get Mike from being ostensibly straight to realising he is gay? That meant thinking of two steps: Mike discovering his attraction to guys; Mike discovering his attraction to Will. Those two concepts were separate “arcs” that needed addressing in different ways. Balance was key to weaving them together and making the reader feel like they knew what was coming (and that they felt smart for putting the pieces together) without just rushing through and going “now kiss!” That’s partly why ADATS needs a sequel, lol: because it’s not finished!
Writing process
The first thing I do when I start to get an idea is I write it down. Sounds obvious. But when you have a killer line of dialogue come to you in the shower and you think “I’ll remember that” -- reader, you will not remember it. You gotta get it down ASAP! I do that the whole way through, as generally I’ll be thinking of scenes I’m stuck on and then it’ll just come to me and I’ll quickly jot it down.
The next thing -- or what I do in the meantime -- is start structuring. I plan. I try to plan a lot. Sometimes it’s okay to write “and something happens here to get them here”, because you’ll figure it out later, but for the most part I’ve discovered that planning is like gold and you can’t get enough of it. I break my work up into generally 3-4 parts/sections, and I treat each section like a mini story. So each part needs a conflict and resolution, and it needs to flow into the next section. You need to have a feeling of things evolving and maturing. Once I’ve planned those little bits, I start thinking about the bigger plot arc and how I can drop in hints along the way. I’m probably not a subtle or skilled enough writer to yet pull off that sort of gasping twist you get in really excellent books, but I’m trying to get there. It’s hard, is what I’m trying to say, but that’s okay, because we’re all learning.
Then I generally do aesthetic stuff. Sounds stupid, probably. But nothing helps me get more into a mood than doing a Pinterest board or -- most of all -- making a Spotify mix. I start thinking about the vibe and the general atmosphere, and then I almost exclusively listen to that mix when I’m working. Sort of like muscle memory? Just to get the creative juices associated with that particular selection of songs.
Another thing I’ll do along with plot structure is character structure. This is a biggie. I mean, a story is nothing without characters. So I’ll just jot down a bunch of bullet points of characters and particular aspects that I want to highlight or remember. I hate continuity errors in fiction. Like, if someone says they work on Maple Street but later in the fic they’re working on Pine Street. I hate that. So I keep note of specific things that my main character might notice at repeated points in the story (colours, places, smells, names, sounds -- so they’re all consistent even as the narrative evolves). That’s another thing -- your characters’ motivations. Not everyone is going to be a huge player, but they all do serve a purpose. The most important character is obviously your main character. I personally think it’s important to let your M.C. be an arse at times. They’re going to be mean, they’re going to misinterpret things or fly off the handle... just let ‘em. Let them be wretched humans, and then bring them back and make them realise what they’ve done. Let them learn! I love consequences in fiction, lol.
At the same time, I’ll probably start writing. We’ve already written down some snippets of neat dialogue or descriptions, but now we should start the actual process. For me, I used to start at the beginning. Usually this was the most fleshed out anyway: I’ll have a clear idea of the beginning and the end, but nothing in the middle. These days, if I have a scene in mind that I can’t forget, I’ll just write it. It will possibly get scrapped or rewritten, but that’s okay, because at least you’ve got it down and now you can devote your brain power to something useful (like figuring out what the middle is supposed to be). I’ll have half a dozen of totally out of context scenes just littered in my Word document that I’ll add to as I go along. Eventually, though, you’re going to start writing properly, and that’s when you write your opening scene.
Opening scenes: super important. Every time I write a scene I think: what is the point of this? What do I want the reader to learn or takeaway? Sometimes you do have filler scenes, but they also serve a different purpose (perhaps to establish a group dynamic or to explore/describe a character’s surroundings). Mainly, though, every scene should push something forward in some way, whether it’s character development or a plot point. So, with an opening scene, I always think you have to establish: where you are; who you are; what they are doing; where they’ve come from (in a philosophical and practical sense); and where they’re going (ditto). That doesn’t have to happen in the first paragraph -- that would be silly. But if you sprinkle that information in over time it’ll gradually build up a picture of your character and that way the reader can get an idea of who they are. You basically need to give a snapshot of what your story is about. This also goes back to the character creator stuff: where they are at the start should be different to where they end up. How that happens is, of course, because of plot, and because you’ve structured everything to the nth degree, we’ve got a very clear progression of that character’s growth (/s easier said than done lol).
General advice
Write down everything: every idea, a bit of dialogue, a description, whatever. Write it down. Doesn’t have to be neat. Just has to be on paper. You can’t remember everything, so if you’re spending time trying to hold those things in your head, it’s taking up space for new ideas to come along.
Structure, plan, structure, plan. Sometimes it’s boring and I hate it. Other times, when I’ve not written in a few days and I open the Word doc and think wtf is this supposed to be, I am very grateful for Past Me for leaving such detailed notes. Seriously, it helps so much. Oneshots don’t really need planning, in my experience. You just get those out there. But multi-chaptered stories really do, even ones that “just” focus on a relationship.
Whatever you want to write, commit to it. Space goblins invade Hawkins? Do it. Eleven and Max find themselves in a cult akin to Midsommar (2019) and must escape? Yes. Just... whatever you want to do, remember that you’re writing it for you. Write what most interests you, what makes you when you reread it go AHHHHH I LOVE THIS!! Because that makes it a thousand times easier to actually get on with the writing when you enjoy what you’re doing.
Write a lot. Every day, if you can, or at least at designated times. Occasionally I have a very specific headspace/vibe I have to be in, but sometimes it just hits me and I’ll say to my partner “I need to write now” and just disappear, lol. The more you write the more you write. It’s so, so, so true. Cannot emphasise this enough. When I wrote that ~200k in twelve months? It was because I literally wrote every. day. Or near enough. Remember that some days you’ll write 200 words, and other days you’ll write 20k (this happened to me with ADATS -- part of the reason I finished it so quickly was because I had sprints of writing 10k+ at a time that only happened because I was in the rhythm of it). Write, write, write. Who cares if it’s crap! No one will see it until you are ready. In the meantime, just write!
Probably last of all (although I could go on and on) is connect with other writers. If you’re struggling to start, sometimes just talking about it can help a huge amount. I hope it goes without saying that you can message me whenever you want, anon or not, and I will talk to you. We can talk about ideas or I can beta stuff, whatever you want! Find like-minded people and talk to them about what you want to do. Another thing this helps is in advertising your work when you do publish. I see a lot of first time fic writers get super down because they publish their magnum opus on AO3 but no one comments. Honestly, it’s because no one knows you’ve published! You don’t have to be tooting your own horn every which way, but just actively talking about your work and even collaborating with other content creators with get you hyped and other people too (and the input and encouragement other fandom members give is just... out of this world. Anon messages helped me finish ADATS when I was really worried I wouldn’t [that’s the truth]. Seriously, support is everything). When you have people excited about your work, you get excited. It’s really as simple as that.
I could go on but this is already horrendously long. I hope even a bit of this helps! If you want to chat or have any more questions, just hit me up any time.
#writing tips#writing help#writing advice#answered#i really hope this helps/answers your question!#i can do something more structured if you want#otherwise here are just my initial thoughts#Anonymous
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[Aoi Asahina, Sonia Nevermind, Chiaki Nanami, Rantarou Amami, Ibuki Mioda] x reader imagine: comforting an insecure guitarist s/o after their band plays live
Request: Oh my god, are DR blogs coming back again?? This is the third new one I've found this month!! Really happy about that. Great writing so far by the way! Could you maybe do Asahina, Sonia, Chiaki, Rantaro, and Ibuki (separate) comforting an insecure, guitarist S/O after they just performed a live show with their band? And like, the S/O is really worried that they sucked even though they did well? Oddly specific, I know. Would appreciate it though! Cheers!
OMG I NERDED OUT AND HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH CHIAKI’S, POINTS TO THE FANS WHO GET THE REFERENCE, though it’s an easy one Nishishi~
Thank you for this imagine request and being so specific about what you want while still giving me a lot of creative freedom! I immediately had some simple but cute ideas about this! - Mod Kokichi
Gender Neutral reader, a few brief lewd humorous lines, but SFW otherwise.
Aoi Asahina
- You were nervous, pre-show jitters shuddering through your body, but you couldn’t back out now.
- Not when your super hot, super excited, super supportive girlfriend had hyped you up just before the show.
- “Stage fright?! How’d you even get into a band in the first place with that mentality?!” Hina teased you backstage, mere moments before going on out to preform. She saw you chuckle nervously, not taking her joke as well as she’d hoped.
- She took your hand firmly. “Look, you know that face you love, the one I make when I’m thinking about pastries?” She continued.
- “The one that makes you look like a chipmunk?” You answered flatly.
- “I don’t agree, but yes! That one! When you’re scared up there, imagine me doing that face! Or better yet, I’ll be front row, in the V.I.P. standing section anyway. Just look for me there!” With a peck on your cheek, she gave you a determined look before pushing you toward the stage and disappearing.
- “H-hina!” You stuttered, but it couldn’t be helped, it was time.
- To your surprise, the nervousness went away as your band was about half way through the first song.
1. The attention is mainly on the lead singer.
2. You were focusing on playing too much to fully take in the screaming crowd.
3. You were actually enjoying yourself.
- As the first song ended, however, the music fading out and the crowd going wild, you felt that little pinch of panic settle back in. There was no music to focus on and protect you, just a hundred faces to look out upon.
- Your eyes darted back and forth over the audience, searching. Your breathing came out a little heavier, until your eyes landed on a lean, curvy, athletic figure, with tanned skin and a smile sweet like honey...no, like doughnuts
- She put her hands up near her face like paws, closing her eyes in an open-mouth smile. You smirked, nodding and strumming your strings once again.
- At the end of the show, fans flooded to the hallway that connected the venue’s main hall to the dressing rooms backstage, reaching out to try and grab band members, hoping to take how an autograph or lock of hair as a souvenir, and you rushed through, sweating and ultimately disappointed with the overall performance you put on that night.
- Hina was already waiting in your temporary dressing room for the night, standing and throwing her arms around your neck before praising you endlessly.
- “S/O, that was amazing! That third song, I felt like the bass shook the place! It was intense, like the final lap in a freestyle race, you know?! We gotta bring Sakura next time. I think she’d really get into the pull of the steady rhythm!” Her little dramatic expressions, her brow knitted together passionately as she spoke...she reminded you every day why you fell in love with her.
- “You...you really liked it? I thought I was kinda just going down further and further in quality as the show went on. I felt like shit by the end…”
- “Are you kidding me! It was fantastic. I think the whole audience was immersed. I know I was! Hey...you better not have all these groupies flocking you looking for a piece tonight!” She teased, hugging your arm!
Sonia Nevermind
- Sonia was extremely excited to go to a public concert. Anything that brought her closer to commoners, to feeling like she belonged around ordinary people was just swell to her.
- Even better that it was in a country foreign to her, where she could be immersed in the cultural norms and behaviors.
- Even better that she was watching the one she loved play.
- She was afraid that you’d judge her when she first admitted her love for the occult, horror, and all things gothic and metal.
- You thought that was pretty hot.
- So there she stood, in the front row of your concert, in a poofy green dress with expensive jewelry and accessories decorating her frame. She stuck out like a sore thumb, but Sonia, blissfully unaware, felt like one of the normal people.
- She jumped when the crowd did, her fist in the air, entranced by each note that came from your instrument.
- Sweaty metal-heads and ravers bumped into her endlessly in the tightly packed crowd, and she couldn’t care less.
- You looked amazing up on stage, and she felt like she was a part of some fan fiction she read once.
- You know the trope, where the reader is in the crowd at a famous band’s concert reluctantly, and her favorite member locks eyes with her and either pulls her on stage with them or takes her backstage after the show and ravished her!
- And she felt her love for you and your musical talent swell within her heart.
- After the concert, she met you outside the back door of the venue, and you were shocked silent at her appearance.
- “S-Sonia are you okay??” The tights under her dress were ripped, her bracelet missing some jewels, the bow tie falling out of her blonde locks, which by the way looked like a rat’s nest. Topping the look off were the pit stains under her arms and in the valley of her cleavage.
- “I’m sorry. I knew this would be a shitty experience. I shouldn’t have brought you. The music was bad anyway, huh? I shouldn’t practiced more.” You looked down in shame, before she nearly tackled you, her arms around your neck and kissing you everywhere, up and down your face and neck and chest.
- “D-do not say these things! Tonight was the b-best night of my life!!!” she sputtered, too excited to enunciate. “You looked like a hero in this J-Drama I watched years ago! Like the protagonist Sawayama Keito!! And I??? I was your romantic love interest, the plain Jane in the crowd, Ito Aiyaka!”
- “You really enjoyed it that much?” You could smell the body odor and adrenaline pouring off of her, very un-princess-like, but you couldn’t care less, grinning like a fool.
- “I love you, Sonia, you crazy kid.”
- “Play for me again tonight, in the dorm room…” she spoke desperately.
Chiaki Nanami
- Chiaki did not want to be in that crowd that night.
- A short, skinny, lazy, introverted girl at a live concert full of rabid fans and no seats? Standing room only?
- She briefly mentioned this to you days before the show, not wanting to hurt your feelings. It was something mentioned in passing, in her normal flat and tired tone.
- “I hope I don’t get stepped on...maybe I can bring my Gameboy and play when things get too wild?” She mused, leaning back on you as you prepared to start practicing on the edge of the bed next to her.
- You loved Chiaki, and you knew how to take her hints by now.
- “Chi, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I know crowds aren’t your thing.”
- “No, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she smiled that lazy, half-lidded smile. She loved you too, and she wasn’t about to be the only one on campus not there to support you. She yawned and took your guitar from your hands before falling asleep on your lap.
- You thought the gesture was cute, but inside you were a bit irritated. You’d told her many times prior to that night that you needed all the practice you could get, and that you were afraid of bombing. So why would she purposely stop you in the middle of practicing?
- Oh well. You leaned back, memorizing chords and lyrics in your head until you, too, passed out
- The night of the concert, Chiaki stood in the front row, her backpack strapped to her front, oddly snug on her chest and obviously on backwards, but it was easier to access her Gameboy and fidget toys in case she needed to retreat from the overwhelming noise.
- She told herself they were just for emergencies. She was there for you, and frowned thinking about how you’d feel if you looked down off the stage and saw her not paying attention.
- People piled in, and soon your band came on stage. The lead singer introducing you all.
- Chiaki was already feeling like the ceiling was lowering, like the people around her were far too close, and looked down, hoping seeing just the dark venue floor and her shoes would calm her, one hand on her backpack for security.
- “Oh!” She gasped, her little bangs flying up and her eyes widening like saucers as the lead singer sang the first notes. Three notes, that’s all it took.
- “Aha~aha ah ah...ha~uh huh huh…” the lead singer breathily voiced into the microphone, and Chiaki smiled wider than she had in months.
- You met her eyes on stage knowingly, smirking at first, then suddenly anxious that you might slip up or disappoint her. You strummed two loud, vibrating notes, stern and piercing through the air.
- Again the same two notes, before you joined the singer by the microphone, inhaling before singing in harmony:
- “In you~ and I, there’s a new land~ yeah~he heah!”
- She relaxed, tilting her head back as the sound waves overtook her.
- “Angels in flight~”
- “My sanctuary. My sanctuary, yeah~”
- You didn’t tell her you’d be doing covers that night. Video game covers, nonetheless. Her head shot up, looking at her phone quickly. She looked at the date.
- February 14th.
- Man, she spaced out often…but this…
- She blushed furiously, and her eyes locked with yours. You grew nervous, playing even harder. She swooned and let herself get lost in the bass.
- You played iconic video game themes all night, and by the end, Chiaki was more overwhelmed and exhausted then she’d ever been, but in a good way.
- When you walked into your dressing room back stage with flowers you had hidden earlier, she accepted them with a flush of her cheeks.
- “You didn’t need to do all that...s/o...this was…”
- “Y-you didn’t like it? I was nervous for a month planning this gig. I know I’ve still got a ways to go with playing live but-“
- “I loved it.”
- “What?” You weren’t convinced.
- “I loved it. Every second. I’m sorry I didn’t get you a gift, I didn’t even realize.”
- “Gifts don’t mean anything to me, Chi. You’re all I need.” you pulled her into your chest for a tight embrace. “You’re My Sanctuary.”
Rantarou Amami
- Rantarou was so excited about seeing your debut concert, snatching the tickets as soon as you presented them to him.
- “Can I bring along my sisters, too, S/O? They’ve been wanting to hear you play ever since I first mentioned that you were in a band.
- “Of course, but...I don’t know why they’d wanna all waste a Saturday night on my shitty band. We don’t even play that well ye-“
- “Silence!” He picked you up by your waist and squeezed you until you couldn’t breath, much less put yourself down with a self deprecating jab. He kissed your cheek playfully. “You’re sexy and the way you play guitar is sexy. I listened you practice all night the other day!”
- “Y-you did? I didn’t even see you!”
- “Huh...” he scoffed, “ maybe because you were lost in your passion, becasue news flash, you’re good at it, stinker!” He pinched your cheek, always knowing how to make you flustered. “Yeah, I heard every single note, and even peaked in once or twice, seeing you stroke those strings so tenderly…” He forced you against the wall, his hot breath against your ear “ I wish you’d stroke me like that.” You face ran hot and you roughly shoved him away, him giggling like a fool.
- “Okay, okay you win, Amami, bring whoever you want!” You stomped off with a huff.
- The day of the concert, the entire front row looked like a field of spring grass, the large family of green-haired siblings shouting before you even began your first song. You shook your head at Rantarou and his many sisters, half-embarrassed, half-flattered. You felt your hands stumble across the strings, Rantarou giving you a thumbs up and a wink.
- After the show, you couldn’t run off the stage any faster. You ran into the staff room backstage where refreshments and spare equipment were usually set out, and were greeted by a row of Amami’s swarming you and praising you, talking much too quickly and all at once.
- Rantarou simply let his sisters flock you, asking you to teach them to play, to help them meet hot musicians you knew, to learn to read music. You felt your ego rise, flustered once again at the hand’s an an Amami.
Ibuki Mioda
- Ibuki shouted to the band backstage, tuning her guitar and hyping up the other members. She noticed you a little out of place, looking a quite queasy and apprehensive.
- “S/O! The hell are you doin’ over there! Hudddddddle up!” She pulled you by your shoulders.
- “I don’t know why I let you force me into joining the music club...I shouldn’t have mentioned my interest at all…” you grumbled.
- Months ago, Ibuki had heard you, her darling and adorable s/o mentioning that you played guitar in elementary school, and wanted to listen in on her band once practice one in awhile. Well, that was the end of that. She decided it was time to freshen up your skills and get you comfortable with the strings again. Now here you were, moments from your first live performance since you were 10 years old.
- “Whaaat! That’s like, a major no no, that low energy, ya dig?!” She held your hand, swinging it back and forth with a feral look on her face. “You’re bitchin’! And Ibuki is bitchin’! And tonight we’re gonna set the stage on fire!”
- The show went on as planned, you and Ibuki on guitar while she screamed into the front mic. Your drummer just barely cut through the vibrations of your combined sound waves, and you buckled down and reminded yourself that with Ibuki at your back, that stage was yours. That audience was yours.
- Plus...who was staring at you when Ibuki was up front, looking like that, acting like that. That passion, that intensity, it’s what drew you to her in the first place.
- The crowd roared viciously, opening up a mosh pit in front of your neon gothic goddess of a girlfriend, and you couldn’t have found her more attractive than you did right now, her arms swinging open, releasing the guitar and simply bellowing into the mic, commanding the hellish pit in front of her like one of the succubi from Gundham’s wild tall tales.
- You suddenly felt so unworthy of her in all her glory, simply providing the backup and harmonies.
- When the show ended, you and Ibuki equally carried each other back stage to the school’s stagehand room, leaning on each other’s sweaty bodies for support.
- “Sheesh, that was straight fire tonight, s/o, huh?! Immolation on the stage, in the fleeeesh!” She shredded an air guitar in front of her before collapsing on a folding chair. How did she still have any energy at all?! You scoffed incredulously. “ Ibuki was worried for a second there, but we pulled it off! I knew we’d be amazing!” Huh???
- “You were worried?” You quickly realized what she probably meant, “Oh...like nervous that I’d mess it up for us?” Her eyes widened, a shocked look on her face as her hands flew up to her hair.
-“What? No! Ibuki was worried about Ibuki~” She grimaced.
- “Why would you ever be nervous, you’re the best musician for miles around.” You drank from a water bottle before tossing it to her. She caught it in one hand, downing it.
- “Hey, Ibuki gets worried too~” She winked at you, a flirty glimmer in her eye as she held up a heart made from her connected hands. “But s/o is Ibuki’s rock! Partners in crime, yeah? No need to worry with you at my back tearing it up!”
#danganronpa#imagines#ibuki x reader#rantaro x reader#sonia nevermind x reader#fanfic#request#fanfiction#scenario#reader insert#x reader#gender neutral reader#male reader#female reader#chiaki x reader#fluff#comfort#aoi asahina x reader#drabble#Trigger happy havoc#super danganronpa 2#sdr2#danganronpa v3#v3#new danganronpa killing harmony#modkokichi#ibuki mioda#rantaro amami#musician#shsl guitarist
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On the Spade Arc & Tabata’s Evasion of His Own Story like They’re Taxes or Some Shit
Since catching up on the manga, I been thinking about why I feel so detached from the story for the past eight or so chapters, even though I was fully invested right up until the actual invasion. As the arc progressed (quickly, I might add), I realized that I was experiencing an onslaught of powerups (cool!) and new characters (also cool!).
But in the process, I once again began to note Tabata’s really awful, no good, barely passable attempt at dropping hints that someone somewhere was committing violent war crimes, and then his evasion of his own goddamn plot points by turning the focus back to cool powerups and two-page spreads. Listen - I LOVE a great character design and sick spread, but Tabata, bro... You can’t sprinkle intrigue into the story once in a while, and then straight up run for the hills when it comes time to elaborate on the plot point. One thing I’ve noticed since I started reading the manga is that much of the story is essentially fill-in-the-blank, which is great fanfiction fuel, but does little to help build on the greater aspects of the story.
One of the reasons why I really loved the Elf Reincarnation Arc, despite its mediocre resolution, was the overarching theme of statehood’s responsibility in the face of historical war crimes. The arcs prior to the elves built up to this one major theme, through Gauche’s tale, through Vanessa’s childhood incarceration, through Finral’s exile, through Zora’s backstory, etc. Black Clover, though still a shounen depicting the common boy’s struggle in a world that’s overwhelmingly against him, was also a story about interspecies racism, poverty, genocide, and love. ERA especially encapsulated all those themes by having our MC face off against a villain who had every right to be a villain because he was a product of state-sponsored violence. ERA highlighted historical revisionism and deification. Lumiere death was historically revised from saving-friend-from-himself to king-saving-kingdom, and he himself was deified into an icon when he was ultimately a victim who died because of Clover’s crimes. The arc, through its many layers and staunch character-building, worked through some pretty intense themes while keeping true to the shounen flare.
And in the same breath, the resolution sucked every bit of intrigue from the gravity of the themes discussed, and pretty much reversed some key moments in order to keep the story as dry and non-problematic as possible. Moments that come to mind are Julius’ fake death, Patolli’s easy shift to the “good” side, Pato/Vetto/Rhya/Fana surviving the true death, etc.
When I started the Spade Arc, I wondered how Tabata was going to be able to balance his editors and his own passion for writing bootleg Berserk, because by the time Baby Julius made an appearance, it was becoming more and more obvious that whatever heavy themes he wanted to depict would need to be watered down in their execution, or risk getting wiped altogether.
When I saw that Spade started with an attempted rape, I was taken aback, because wasn’t this the same mangaka who pussied out with Julius going six feet under? I let it go, thinking he’d eventually explain what exactly was going down in Spade, but here we are several powerups later, Liebe out of his grimoire and Asta with his Demon Union form, and we still don’t know what the actual fuck is going on in Spade, what the fuck the Dark Triad is actually doing, and how it all ties into the overall themes of love, poverty, racism, genocide, and of course, a state’s responsibility to its citizenry.
Part of it is because Tabata’s done everything in his power to avoid talking about it all this time. We get tidbits here and there, and then it’s on to the next battle, the next powerup, the next spread, etc. I feel bad for the man, I really do, I’m sure he’s experiencing the same creative restrictions that the mangaka of old have had to go through, but it’s exhausting to flip through battle after battle and not get any insight into why the story’s going down the way it is. Why do Dante and his siblings want to sacrifice their own people to demons, why is Lucifero so quiet, why the Spade Kingdom sitting on two ancient demons, how Patolli and Co. manage to sneak into Spade, and so on and so forth. The threads wouldn’t be such a problem if they made sense on a larger scale, but with the Clover civil war and the continent-wide war arcs looking less and less likely, something’s gotta give.
I feel like Tabata thinks it’s gonna be a big surprise when he drops whatever plot twist it is that he’s cooking up, but the arc’s definitely lost its initial luster and I think part of it is because we didn’t get an elaboration on the circumstances of the Spade situation, like we did with ERA, the Witch Forest Arc, even Gauche’s early arc, etc. We still know next to nothing about the Dark Triad, and now that Asta’s finally on his way to Spade, I kind of feel like Tabata lost sight of his own tale in the midst of slapping together some demon designs.
The only reason I bring it up is because I worry he’s gonna punk out again. Dante is a canonical creep, and Vanica aint that far behind. Unlike Patolli, who became a terrorist because of Clover and foreign interference (Zagred), I don’t know what Tabata could do to apologize for the Dark Triad. Maybe he won’t. One can only hope. I still worry, because now the kingdom knows Julius is a baby, and Damnatio’s witnessed Asta cutting down the big demon, so like, if Tabata were to punk out, he easily could by making Damnatio eat his words for doubting Asta’s loyalty to Clover.
I dunno. Something just aint right about this arc. It feels like it could be such a big piece of the story, but there are just so many holes. Feel like we need a Turn Back the Pendulum Arc for Spade just so we could get some goddamn detail. I’m tired of filling in the blanks for this twink. Give me the mcfucking lore Tabata, I’m tired.
tl;dr: Spade Kingdom arc, as a whole, has been incredibly mid. Little lore, even less elaboration on key themes, doesn’t really tie into the greater themes in the story, and a lot of the intensity is downplayed or just straight up ignored. Definitely sense that Tabata and the editors aint on the same page with this one. Arc ending has a potential of going either really well or really bad, and I’m afraid it’s gonna go the bad route especially if Tabata goes the ERA resolution route.
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Spring/Summer & Haute Couture Week 2021: Whoops, I’ve Missed a Loooot (Part 2)
Hey to anyone reading,
I’m so sorry for the gap between the last fashion week review post and this one! Argh. I had no idea I posted it as long ago as the beginning of March but I think we can all agree that lockdown has fucked with our perceptions of time completely. I wish I could say the delay in posting was as simple as me being busy but I’ve also started to reflect on whether or not I want to carry on this format of posts for the time being; on the scale of problems, this one is wayyy down there in the very lower quartile of the first world region, but my motivation to carry on this kind of content in the form of long-winded text posts is...meh...not so much there anymore. At first I was thinking the issue was that working on these was my last priority on my daily to-do lists but as I’ve got back into writing fiction, it’s kind of occurred to me that the fact I was putting these posts on my to-do lists in the first place along with things like doing the ironing and contacting student finance speaks volumes. When I’m back from work or winding down, opening up Tumblr and coming back to this draft isn’t something that I think of as a fun stress reliever in the way drafting stories is. It doesn’t feel like I’m using my imagination or my creativity or expressing myself in any way and it’s not much of an escape from day to day life in the way that writing dialogue or exploring characters is. Maybe it’s because I’ve done quite a few of these posts now but I just tend to feel like I’m repeating myself, you know kinda like when you’re writing an essay and trying to fill up a word count; of course there are collections that I do have a lot of opinions on but by and large, sometimes it boils down to THESE CLOTHES ARE JUST FUCKING PRETTY, OKAY?! There’s only so many things you can say about a tulle skirt or an exaggerated collar before you want to strangle yourself with said tulle. I used to think iF VoGUe RuNwaY wRitErs CaN dO iT WhAT's MY exCusE until I realised that 1). Vogue Runway writers actually get paid and 2). for the most part all they do is explain the designer's intentions behind the collections verbatim without giving a critical opinion anyway.
I think a lot of the pressure I feel to justify what are in reality quite simple observations and opinions goes back to some of the feelings I explained in my first ever fashion week review where people who know more about fashion and have a formal education in the subject tend to be kind of gatekeep-y and elitist. It can never be that you appreciate different things about a collection but rather than one of you has taste and the other doesn’t and if it wasn’t obvious, the taste level assigned to you by the powers that be tend to positively correlate with the amount of money you have available to spend on a degree that has a reputation for failing to provide a steady income, which for most makes it an unrealistic avenue to pursue. I know, I know, the pressure is totally self-inflicted and wholly imagined seeing as I have under 500 followers on here and those who do interact with these posts most likely do so for the pictures but I still feel it, and given that I’m going to have enough external pressure to write essays when I return to uni in September, why on earth am I wasting time putting it on myself? When just posting photosets of my favourite looks is not only actually enjoyable for me but is also what other people WANT to see too? Nobody wants to read a self-indulgent paragraph like this when they’re here for the clothes and to be honest, for the most part I don’t want to write them anyway unless it’s something I have strong feelings about or if a collection can only be properly appreciated with analysis. I think I’ve made pretty clear which designers I’m a fan of, do you really need to hear me raving about Gucci or Zimmerman or Miu Miu or Balenciaga again? Is there gonna be anything revolutionary in yet another rant about Maria Grazia? Course not. I mean, if you are reading, you might have to witness those things one last time because I do intend to finish off this season’s review in this format for consistency purposes and because I’ve already got all the notes now but on the whole, I doubt anyone will miss my rambles.
So, with all that in mind, I think after I finish my S/S21 posts I am gonna start just uploading these posts without the written part. I mean, for one, the simplicity of doing this means I’m much less likely to procrastinate making them which in turn means I’ll be able to get them out right after the shows as a kind of summary as opposed to months later when they’re no longer as relevant. This will also give me more time to work on the writing I actually enjoy. Right now I’m going through and editing my 17 year old self’s “grown-up” take on the Pretty Little Liars blackmail murder mystery style plot line which I wrote back when I was completely and utterly obsessed with the show and bitterly disappointed by the last couple of seasons. The writing is pretty mediocre and often hugely cringey to read back now but I am still a fan of the basic plot and I’m genuinely motivated to see if I can make it something actually worth reading, and to get onto that ASAP; this feels especially important right now given that the HBO version of the series’ apparent upcoming release has sent that ever-present writer’s fear of seeing-your-same-storyline-done-better-by-somebody-else-thus-forever-relegating-your-version-to-being-the-poor-imitation-so-you-gotta-get-there-first into overdrive (or maybe that’s just me and my neuroses). Again, it’s a totally unfounded fear based on the fact that the HBO show will probs get millions of viewers whilst I will be doing little more than shouting into the void but anybody who’s used Turnitin to submit an essay that ultimately counts for little more than like 1% of your grade or degree will know that no matter how irrelevant your work is, the concept of failing a plagiarism check, be it via a computer algorithm or one random stranger on the internet’s assessment, is enough to conjure visions of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse galloping towards you screaming “START THE WHOLE THING AGAIN” before releasing a hoarde of 2015 Chanel vs. Walmart style comparison memes.
Now, speaking of Chanel, I should probably get back into the reviewing.
So for the last time for a little while, here’s Christian Siriano:
Siriano’s designs are a great example of work I feel guilty enjoying. I know that when it comes to quality, the high fashion community have a lot of (negative) things to say and I really can’t speak to that because quite honestly, I know very little about textile manufacturing. Solely from my own point of view though, I do like his work a lot. I wouldn’t claim for a minute that he’s a pioneer in terms of his creations but I would 100% love to wear them and I DO hugely admire his commitment to putting women of all sizes on the runway and designing pieces that don’t simply cater to straight up and down types which is more than can be said for most brands. I get that his collections are pretty formulaic, taking what has worked for the likes of Chanel and Alessandra Rich, De La Renta and Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors too (who is kind of guilty of the same thing himself), but that’s not to say his work is bad. Let’s be real, we’ve been on this planet thousands of years, we’re all taking inspiration from someone, and maybe figures like Kors and Siriano could wait a *little* longer before taking said inspiration but their aim at the end of the day is to sell clothes, not break barriers, a task which although often left to the big name brands, they too often fail at. I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling this whimsical mid-century tea party vibe, it’s elegant and it’s cutesy and My Fair Lady-esque, and you bet your arse I would be absolutely thrilled to wear one of these looks on a summer red carpet. I just can’t say no to anything tulle-maybe it’s that I was on Toddlers & Tiaras in a past life or maybe it’s that I watched too many Barbie Princess films growing up, but I like pretty much everything going on here, especially Siriano is giving us matching fedoras too. Plus, can we take a moment to praise Siriano for his COVID relief efforts? Near the beginning of the pandemic, he turned his studio into a mask manufacturing factory in order to send them out as donations, and I think that is very cool.
Then there’s Christopher Kane who once again came through with the most insanely gorgeous prints:
I mean, paint splattering is hardly a new technique but I haven’t seen it done as a print so tastefully before-it eats the Moschino biro scribble print (which apparently was copied too speaking of the tendencies of designers to “borrow” inspiration) for breakfast. It’s shit because there weren’t many looks in this collection and they weren’t really shot in a way that does them any justice but I thought I’d include the few I saved.
Comme Des Garcons is a fave of the high fashion community and one I look forward to seeing at fashion week but can never quite get behind. I appreciate the what-the-fuckery of it all with this show totally being able to pass as a run-through of some kind of nuclear waste themed scare house at one of Thorpe Park’s fright nights. I assume given that and the plastic Mickey Mouse print it’s supposed to be some kind of reference to the part late-stage capitalism has played in the hellish landscape we find ourselves in today? Or something all intellectual? In which case I made my interpretation with farrrr too much confidence. But Anyway! Who knows! I’ll leave the analysis to the fashion students, and give it one word: trippy.
Onto Dion Lee, a brand I truly do get excited to talk about because it’s rare that I don’t LOVE his work.
Without fail, Lee manages to be confidently ahead of the curve without going out of his way to announce it and his genius to everyone with flamboyant shows and exaggerated designs and extortionate prices. He is very much an underdog in the fashion world in terms of big names but you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t love his collections. His S/S21 collection is one of my favourites of the bunch. I love seeing something I’ve never seen before and the palm leaf breast plate is so odd but so cool and so perfectly Dion Lee at the same time; we’ve seen jungle/tropical inspired collections sooo many times *cough cough D&G cough cough* and THIS is how you make them fresh and unique. I mean, never in a million years did I think I’d get behind the resurgence of the gladiator sandal trend but Lee has me changing my mind. This is one of the very rare times you will ever see me using this meme to praise a man but:
I mean, he has Fernanda Ly modelling for him, that the man has taste goes without saying.
Now for a bit of a full circle moment, given that I did actually praise Dior’s haute couture collection in my first ever post; Maria Grazia did GOOD. Well, with haute couture at least.
She’s always pretty hamfisted with her references, there’s no denying, with that Grecian Goddess style RTW collection typifying that statement completely, but luckily she struck gold this time round; as someone who studied the Tudors for A-level history, seeing a modern take on the exaggeratedly feminine renaissance silhouettes with the baroque prints and the deep jewell tones got me super excited especially when you throw in the dreamy tarot theming and the nods to the mystical and arcane. Seeing as the Heavenly Bodies Met Gala (I know, I know, I need to move on) was some time ago now and Cersei Lannister’s *SPOILER* been crushed by a rock (could also be seen as a metaphor for the irrelevancy David Benioff and D.B Wise condemned GoT to when they aired that shitty ending tehe) and so probably won’t be getting a collection based on her costumes any time soon, this is the only fashion take on this kind of period dress I’m going to get…and you know what? I’m okay with that. Thanks Maria, I guess?
Her RTW collection wasn’t absolutely awful either, and slightly better than the past few collections at least. Put a monkey in a room with a typewriter (or show it enough similar well-received collections) and it will eventually write something that makes sense, don’t they say? I like the nomadic feel of a lot of the looks and there’s beautiful layering going on but the aura of exotic opulence unsurprisingly didn’t stick around for long and I found that there was a decline in quality in the midsection of the show that landed a lot of the outfits in either awkward mother of the bride at a beach wedding or The Only Way is Essex Ocean Beach PLT sponsored poolside party territory. The looks picked back up a bit towards the end stretch of the show but I wasn’t a fan of the Gucci style oversized glasses which were so out of place with the rest of the theming that if anything they seemed like a cheap grab at relevancy. So yeah, a middling, subpar Etro-esque collection which is better than usual for Dior I suppose.
Next, Elie Saab, whose S/S21 collection was kinda disappointing, tbh. Oh how the turns have tabled given that positive Dior review and my usual love of Saab’s collections.
I know his dresses lose some of their appeal when we can’t see them in motion but even ON the runway I can’t see myself being dazzled by any of these pieces the way I usually am. They’re lacking the level of detail and craftsmanship I associate with the brand seemingly in favour of block colours and suits and the issue is that the whole Disney Princess fantasy has always been the appeal for me because the silhouettes aren’t interesting enough on their own. They’re not ugly pieces, they’re nice, but does nice really have a place in high fashion when the pieces are so basic in both their design and presentation that the shots could pass as ripped from a catalogue? The strongest parts of the collection were when it did go down the more delicate route with the muted blue suits and the white feather trimmed dresses, the small, ornamental gold details reminding me of a very toned down nod to Schiaparelli’s hardware, but with regards to the bright coloured pieces, I can’t lie-they did look like something you could find in the M&S Per Una holiday section. Then you’ve got the weakest parts, which were just flat out ugly: sheer giraffe print, sweat band style elasticated waits, and long chiffon shirts that I hate to admit read as frumpy. There are times where I’ve not been particularly excited by an Elie Saab collection in the past, but I do think this is the first time I’ve actively disliked parts of it.
Conversely, Erdem’s S/S21 collection was super strong, and solidified the brand’s place in my mind as a dependable source of kooky maximalism, this time round giving us Anya Taylor Joy’s Emma wardrobe on speed. You could tell me Erdem Moralıoğlu had just raided the Bridgerton set’s fitting rooms and put it on a runway and I would 100% believe you and I mean that in a positive way because to give my unpopular opinion, the clothes were the only good thing about that show. The endearingly florid details of exaggerated bows and clashing florals were still there but this time in a way that felt more subtle and self-assured, as if the calming influence of the wooded set’d had a direct hand in the designs, giving the rugged, ethereal feel to the collection I associate with brands like Brock and Simone Rocha, all whilst keeping the parts of Erdem I’m so fond of.
Is it really much of a shock that I included pretty much every look from the Etro S/S21 show? Like, you know that Christian idea of God, like, (the voice in my head is very much taking on the dumb valley girl voice that anybody who reads this is most probably getting too) knowing our souls? I think Veronica Etro knows mine. So no, no surprise. Though there were a few unconventional touches thrown into these looks (the campier prints and nautical theming we see with the 80s beach towel print, for example, reminded me a bit of Versace) the mystical bohemian it girl that Etro designs for would still be highly satisfied. Sure, it might be a wardrobe fit for a holiday less adventurous than backpacking but if she wanted a tropical poolside holiday, this collection is the one, the paisley print chiffon mini and maxi dresses especially. I’m just gonna pretend I don’t see the monstrosity that is leggings worn as trousers-it’s a fashion rule I refuse to abandon-because they are the only stain on an otherwise expectedly gorgeous collection.
Next, an unusually reserved RTW collection from Fendi:
More in line with the wardrobe of a European fashion editor than the glamorous trophy wife (who let’s say uses that facade as a guise to ruthlessly run her husband’s whole business empire from behind the scenes because in this house we do complex female characters only), these pieces are lot “smarter” and more professional looking than Fendi’s typical offerings; where I feel Fendi usually designs for the society girl who wouldn’t mind a front page scandal, these are the kind of outfits a young member of Monaco’s royal family would wear for a positively received but business-as-usual press tour. I know, Fendi is an Italian brand, but this is more Southern France to me. We’re talking some 2nd page shots of a Kate Middleton type on a yacht on the Riviera smiling and waving as her PR team’s ideal scenario. Still, whilst fewer exaggerated silhouettes, animal prints and overtly luxurious fabrics (real leathers, silks and furs for example) mean that the drama’s a little toned down, it’s all still very expensive looking and combines the classically feminine glamour of the past and the minimalism of modernity in the artful manner that we’re used to. Maybe it’s me being a basic bitch but I always love seeing Ashley Graham on the runway too, even if brands to tend to use her as their single token plus size model.
Kim Jones’ debut haute couture collection for Fendi, however, wasn’t a very well received one. I don’t hate it personally but I can see where the criticisms are coming from. Whilst it’s closer to the version of Fendi I’ve come to expect and there were some stunning pieces which completely encapsulated that distinctive aura of luxe and glamour, there were quite a few lazy pieces which could’ve been from any designer. I also felt the collection was a bit upstaged by what seemed to be a who’s who of the modelling world; having Bella, Cara, Kate and Naomi ALL walk in one show was a bit distracting and took the focus off the clothes completely.
Giambattista Valli’s RTW collection was gorgeous as ever; the man has undeniably mastered the art of delivering classic, objective elegance, the kind of designs I feel would make you light on your feet and smell like strawberries and cream the minute you put one on. Whilst as a brand his RTW shows are rarely trendsetting, they reliably produce a plethora of unfailingly graceful and demure pieces, as appealing to your mum and your grandma as they are to young women and little girls, and this collection is another victory lap for Valli when it comes to upholding his signature tea party and artisan cupcake making and rose garden strolling and bottomless rosé brunch appropriate aesthetic. There were a lot of outfits that were bordering on overly juvenile, with structures a little too basic to justify the amount of sequins thrown on, but when it’s good, it’s so sweet that regardless of how to formula it is, I can’t help but fall in love.
Valli’s haute couture collection was stunning too and for sure a more exciting offering than the RTW. There was of course a lot of the signature tulle but it was head-turning, over the top in a way that leant far more towards the experimental than I expected. The photos themselves are 100% believable as a some kind of Vogue behind the scenes editorial shoot on the set of live action Disney princess movie (in between takes of the climactic ball scene if you wanna get specific with the vision); if you are looking for a prettier alternative to the primary colours and disruptive shapes of a Molly Goddard collection, this is the one. It’s giving the themes of excess and abundance I associate with that of the Hunger Games Capitol but through the softer lens of a Sofia Coppola movie, and being the typical cinema loving white girl I am, I’m obviously on board with that vibe.
I did SUCH a 180 on Givency’s S/S21 collection from when I first saw it to writing a review. My initial reaction was one of disappointment, I guess simply because Givenchy has given us so many bold pieces and presentations over the last few years whereas this is more low-key. After properly considering it though as I would any other brand, I came to the conclusion that I do actually really like it. It’s still got the strange, androgynous silhouettes popping up throughout and the futuristic space-age details but with a more down-to-earth, streetwear feel, albeit a very slick, glossy spin on the trends of the rabble (that’s us guys) of course before we go believing it’s achievable. On the one hand, the devil horn accents are a touch Claire’s accessories halloween range but at the same time, done with confidence they’re kind of cool and bring something new and fun to the table in line with the dark theatre of Givenchy’s last few shows.
Now for Gucci, which for the first time I have to say, if I'm attempting objectivity, is not a standout.
Like, can I just start by saying though the format it’s presented in is cute, it’s not ideal as a way of actually showing the collection. I get that the vintage shop bin vibe is a huge part of Gucci’s brand but polaroids make it SO hard to actually see the clothes, and that’s what we’re here for right? I don’t want to give the impression that I don’t like what I see here-the clothes are gorgeous, an idyllic ode to the off-duty wardrobes of Studio 54-ers, bohemian style icons like Charlotte Rampling and young Olivia Newton-John, psychedelic rock guitarists and the inhabitants of San Fransisco’s Haight during the late 60s and early 70s, Alessandro Michele’s favourite period of reference. I can’t pretend otherwise, or act like I wouldn’t want to wear the shit out of this collection. Buut, for Gucci? It’s a little underwhelming. These are the kind of filler looks we get in a typical Gucci show to go alongside the more statement pieces, which this collection is lacking. It’s just that these are designs which usually gets people talking and these pieces don’t do that. It sucks because for most other brands this would be a stand out collection, an immersive, luscious vignette of what people tend to think of as a cultural golden era, but when you’ve had a show that involved models carrying replicas of their own decapitated heads down the runway in the last 5 years, of course something more toned down like this is gonna generate a lot of “is that it?”s.
I owe Hermes an apology. Looking back, I have disliked all their previous collections for the same reason that I now really like this one; maybe it’s in part down to the frustration of still having to whack out the winter coat on occasion in May (fuck British weather and climate change), but suddenly I really appreciate the value of some good quality, versatile outerwear. Hermes is giving us that in spades here and for that, I bow down to them. The pieces on offer are clearly well-made and genuinely practical, and through the minimalist approach manage to retain both an air of timeless sophistication whilst also being youthful and on trend. The leather tactical vest co-ord I can easily see edged up and taking centre stage on one of those insane Seoul street style slow-mo TikToks that were big a couple of months ago and there are several pieces that could tie together a grunge influenced k-style look just as well as they could exist for years on end as the wardrobe staple of a high-powered businesswoman. Designer Nadège Vanhee-Cybulski’s strengths really come through with the simpler looks and it’s the patterned pieces that drag down an otherwise flawless collection; I guess because the aesthetic is very minimalist, the patterns can’t be anything overly decorative but unfortunately this has a bit of a dowdy effect when you pair it with such modest silhouettes. Disregarding those elements of the collection though, it was super good.
It goes without saying that Iris Van Herpen’s haute couture collection was breathtaking; if the fashion community can agree on anything, it’s that this woman’s work is consistently awe-inspiring. She captures the wonder of the universe, the biological structures and kaleidoscopic colours we don’t even register, through fashion in a way that others can only imitate, to mesmerising, truly transcendent effect; I can only assume Van Herpen has mother nature whispering into her ear because how the hell else do you explain her ability to take the kind of microscopic organisms they show you images of in an outdated GCSE science powerpoint and make a dress that resembles one so stunning? Care to explain, Iris? Because if there is some kind of line of communication between the two of you can you please tell the bitch I’m over this weather and that I have cute summer outfits I’m waiting to wear so can she pack this torrential rain shit in? K, thanks xoxo
See it seems shady as fuck to go from IVH to Isabel Marant like this because we are talking 2 designers with totallyyyy different approaches to fashion; Iris Van Herpen is haute couture for starters whereas Marant is commercial, and that’s her thing, but unfair comparisons aside this collection is still a bit of a let down. This is considering I do usually really like Isabel Marant collections based on whether or not I’d wear the pieces, which seems a more appropriate barometer to use to come to a quality verdict. Whilst there were a few of the elegant bohemian pieces my mind goes to when it comes to her brand, the steps outside of that comfort zone didn’t pay off; graffiti print (can be cool if done with some subtlety which apart from a few exceptions was not the case here), cheap looking reflective fabric, and MC Hammer style dungarees, it seems to be an attempt to merge 80s trends with modern urban culture, and an attempt that at times verged on the disastrous. It’s good for a brand to experiment, of course, and appeal to a wider client base than usual, but when it’s bad the unfortunate take away is that the design team don’t have the chops to pull off straying from familiar territory; designers wouldn’t be showing at fashion week if this was truly the case because disregarding the influence of nepotism, fashion is an area you need real talent, perseverance and business smarts to excel in, and so it doesn’t do a team justice when they do fail.
J.W Anderson, on the other hand, really put his best foot forward this season and presented this work in a really cool way too which only added to the positives; whilst the way the shots were edited was funky af, it didn’t detract from the actual outfits, and if we are to see the same limitations when it comes to the F/W collections being released, this is something a lot of designers and editing teams should take note of. The idiosyncratic exaggerated shapes that we see as a recurring feature of Anderon’s collections were still on show but this time round with added femininity, billowing skirts and trailing jewellery that channel the stage looks of Stevie Nicks in a way that’s modern and functional and maybe even fit for the office if you were to work in a more creative industry with a chill boss. Could also work for a coven of witches who practice meditation by bonfires in the moonlight and burn the letters of men who wronged them in some Arizonian desert, so like I said, functional! Who doesn’t like versatility? The only thing I’m not too keen on is the shoes but they’re not so bad that it affects my opinion of the collection and they look comfy I guess.
Lastly, we’ve got to talk about Jacquemus, one of the most influential names in fashion at the moment. And yes, this time round, I’m doing it: I’m buying into the hype.
This collection is gorgeousss! I can see already that a lot of the recurring elements of the show are going to be big summer trends for this year (the cut outs and strappy details on the blouses are everywhere already) even though it isn’t hot enough to have collectively decided the time to start dressing for heat is upon us yet, and that’s always a good indicator of how successful the designer was in their vision and attempts to assess the needs and wants of fashion enthusiasts; whether I’m as big a fan of his work as everyone else seems to be, there’s no denying Simon Porte Jacquemus has always excelled at this practice if the buzz around him is anything to go by. It makes sense given the last year of us all being stuck in and suppressed that a lot of us are already romanticising the summer ahead, anticipating picnics and beach days and general Theresa May running through wheat fields type shenanigans galore, in spite of how dubious an assumption it is to make that British weather will allow for this; Porte Jacquemus has very much catered to this wishful thinking and the popularity of the whole escapist “cottage core” aesthetic, sexing it up a little bit with pieces that hug the body in ways only Mugler knows how whilst being lightweight and relaxed enough to look good with windswept, sandy hair and a little dose of sunburn. I’m talking enough to give you some cutesy freckles and rosy cheeks not PSA on the importance of suncream territory, guys, what is it with those of us on the gen Z/millennial cusp not taking sun damage seriously!? Why do I have to beg so many of my friends to wear it!? Does nobody else remember those photos they’d show you in PSHE in English primary schools of burnt people’s skin under UV lights? Or is that just me being weird and only having such a vivid memory of the images because teachers told us we had to wait until year 6 to see them due they to their “graphic” nature only for my gore-loving self to be extremely underwhelmed when we finally did get that lesson? They showed us a woman giving birth in year 4 for fuck’s sake. THAT was traumatising.
Back to the actual point anyway, with just a couple of negatives, the first of which being that the pieces are very similar to those feminine looks we saw dotted about the Jacquemus menswear collection from last year that were all over fashion Twitter. In Simon Porte Jacquemus’ defence though, it makes sense that those tones and silhouettes would be revisited in a full womenswear collection for that very reason; considering they went down so well and that lockdown gave us a bit of a half-baked summer in 2020, expanding on those elements enough for a whole new collection makes good business sense. We did get some cool additions too, mainly in the form of accessories, with the hardware details on the belts similar to those included in the Givenchy collection and the abstract hair slides being standouts for me. It was all exquisite-the shoes, the jewellery, the styling, everything 10/10. My other nitpick, and I say nitpick not because it’s not important but because it’s an issue that’s hardly restricted to Jacquemus (this casting team are far from the worst offenders, Saint Laurent I’m looking at you), is that I WISH we’d see more diversity with the models. Despite what my body dysmorphia yells at me, I am small, and yet seeing all those fucking minuscule waists made me die a little inside; it’s crazy to me that in 2020 the lack of variety in body types on the runway is still such a problem.
I must have said this a million times but I don’t want to end on a negative note so let me reiterate: this collection was STUN. NING. Plus there were some others I’ve talked about in this post that I’m sure will make it into my top 20 in the final part, Jacquemus, Dion Lee and Etro for sure; we even got some gorgeous pieces from Maria Grazia which I thought was a sentence I’d never type out. Have I said enough to not leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who read to the end of this post? I hope so, lol! TBH, it’s impressive given everything that’s going on that the majority of designers did roll out collections in September as usual so serious respect to them and their design teams for that.
In the next post, I’ll fingers crossed be able to include everything from Kim Shui (exciting!) through to at least Off-White (actually pretty good this time?!) and make this whole thing a 4 parter before getting straight on top of the photo posts I’m thinking about doing for the time being for the F/W21 shows. So as usual, if you did read to the end thank you so much and I respect the perseverance you must have to get through all my rambling, lmao. Hope everyone is well and coping okay and again, my inbox is always open for any post suggestions, constructive criticism, or just a chat for anyone who needs a listening ear.
Big love and thank you again!
Lauren x
#fashion#fashion post#trends#fashion trends#summer#summer fashion#ss21#designer#high fashion#accessories#haute couture#couture#fashion week#personal style#review#nyfw#style#style inspo#runway#details#super models#supermodel#dion lee#fendi#gucci#erdem#jacquemus#simon porte jacquemus#uxury#luxury fashion
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Call me cheesy, but I wanna sit down and say nice things out loud tonight! so you got this. The order if anything reveals my last wanderings into the Simblrverse! but doesn't quantify the fondness I have for you guys. One once very good friend told me, love is the only thing that doubles when you share it.
----pretend---theres---a---readmore----
@wannabecatwriter I just love how no matter how many characters you introduce, theyre all so unique, and how it adds to your plots. Also, I kind of envy your plotting skills. Writing seems so easy reading you, and God knows it ain't! so thank you for sharing your stories. The word that comes to mind when I think of your blog is, practical. Everything is in the right place, you know where you're taking us and we just gotta sit down and enjoy the show!
@dynastiasimss two words lol. Felix and Felicia. or like, Winter and Felicia. They fill me with joy and everytime I see a new post of their adventures it makes me happy. as simple as that. Loving your aesthetics also! Colorful is the word.
@andantezen what can I say? your writing taught me many lessons. When I think of you, the first word that comes to my mind is, poetry. There's a sort of beautiful melancholy, a rare sensibility to your writing that I find absolutely heartbreaking. This is what I want to read and therefore, what I want to write. Since I found you you always have been an inspiration to me and I think you know for how long. Not to mention your great kindness... There's forever a special spot in my heart, and it's invested by Armand DeMontbelle. I can't wait to see where The Prince will take us next!
@shhhushhh fren, this one is for you! I think you know just how much your peps and vitality make this place so special to be in. when I think of your blog, I think, colorful. Lively. Profoundly endearing. And Drago lmao. I love how I'd probably do all your sims if I could, your sense of humor and your decorating skills! It feels like you're fearless in storytelling and you always give the best of yourself in setting up your scenes and it shows. And your freeplays are golden 😭 your sharp insight is so precious to me... And to so many others simmers I believe. You're my Tumblero. stands for tumblr hero ❤
@rollo-rolls girl your sims are so beautiful, and so are you. You make me think of a Rose, cause its red and beautiful and seemingly fragile but whoever ever picked a Rose know of thorns ;b thank you for gifting us with quality content every once in a while. Thank you for providing us with sims with features so special. Thank you for being lovely and kind to everyone.
@dreamsascend Lovely Reena. I miss you. You're so classy lady and so are your aesthetics. When I think of your blog I think, subtle and graceful. I love everything about your blog and simmies, Emelie in particular. I love that you make your tumblr a safe place for everyone. Thank you for your kindness. its beautiful. Take good care of yourself dearest ❤
@treason-and-plot hehehe, of course. Your word is, realism. I've been your devoted reader for a few years now and I'm always amazed how no matter how long youve been writing them, your characters never finish to surprise us, in good and bad ways. Youre the ultimate Show, don't tell. Queen to me. Your writing had me going from laughters to being shed to pieces, more than once. Thank you so much for that.
@subaruthesimmer heheh, I've known you for a short amount of time but I love your blog. your Word is Scott, because of course it is xD no wonder. You love your sims and it shows (😂yes it does), and thats really sweet I think.
@descendantdragfi excuse me, is it really the sims you're playing? because omg it looks so amazingly beautiful! ahah okay awkward let me just say your aesthetics are like, goals. The amount of detail in just ONE picture is incredible. Your colour schemes are always so on point. You really got an eye. So eye is the word I pick for you. I hesitated with 'home' lmao, because I'm french and your pics kinda remind me of Amélie Poulain. anyway, loving it so much!
@silverspringsimmer your Word is positivity. Care. your heart is so big the whole world must fit in it. I love you and your stories. I'll never get enough of your premades. of your ts2 canons. Of you, in general. Old simblr pal ahah, follow forever. love you girl.
of course there are names I have left out. I'm so very sorry. Its too late or too early in the morning for me to think ahaha.
I'm so thankful that you are here, making Tumblr a better place with your love and creativity. Thanks for your art. You rock big time! Ana loves you❤
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So, about the movie...
At long last, a week after it came out, I was finally able to see the Sonic movie. The Daytona 500 being held across the street from my favorite theater and conflicting work schedules had been keeping me away, but now I’ve finally seen it. And it was...
Decent!
Which is way, way, way, way, way better than a movie with this awful premise has any right being. That’s for damn sure. I enjoyed my time at the theater. I don’t know how they did it, but they did it. If you like Sonic and haven’t already seen it, you will probably get a kick out of this film. If you don’t like Sonic (or Jim Carrey), there is very little in this movie for you
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to break that whole movie down. This will contain full spoilers for the Sonic movie
This movie kinda gave me deja vu because it’s set up so similarly to the Bumblebee movie. Both open with a slavishly faithful CGI sequence on another planet to ensure long time fans that the creative team gives a shit, but a conflict sends the title character to Earth. There, they form an emotional bond with the human lead as they’re pursued by the bad guys, who are working with the US government and tracking the energy signature of the title character. This setup worked extremely well for Bumblebee, because it’s so similar to the usual plot of Transformers. For Sonic, it was... a mixed bag. But it worked better than I expected
(This shot does not happen in the movie.)
That opening though, huh? Green Hill Zone looked great, and I was pleasantly surprised to see they did, in fact, use the Hyper Potions track from Sonic Mania in the actual film. (The piano rendition of the Green Hill theme used later was also lovely.) Longclaw was also interesting. I’ve seen one person bring up all the bird-themed ruins in Sonic 1 and 2 as a possible source of inspiration for the character, and I think that’s a valid take. And man, the echidnas! I wasn’t expecting that AT ALL. I guess that was probably the Knuckles Clan or something? I would never, ever picture them being alive during Sonic’s lifetime, but like... I guess Knuckles had to come from somewhere, right? If they do another movie with Knuckles, will the rest of his kind have died out?
Sadly, though, this sequence felt like it was over in a heartbeat. We barely see Sonic’s life on his home planet, and we’re expected to feel emotional over Longclaw’s sacrifice when she only gets like three lines before Sonic is sent to Earth. This is a common theme with the film--it goes for these big emotional beats that it just does not earn with its rapid fire pacing
Anyway, then we fast forward and Sonic’s a teen. This is actually kind of an interesting one if you’re constantly neck deep in Sonic Character Analysis like me, because it’s a pretty different take on the character. It’s hard to give them credit for doing something somewhat fresh with the character, though, because like... how much of that was intentional, and how much was just Hollywood writers trying to squeeze a generic action-adventure movie out of Sonic? (Honestly, it’s probably mostly the latter.)
The closest other piece of Sonic media to the movie would probably be Sonic X, a story in which Sonic isn’t really the protagonist. The Sonic of the anime is fairly emotionally distant. He cares deeply about his friends, and does nice things for them, but he’s totally fine with running off on his own for extended lengths of time, and he doesn’t really talk about his feelings. He’s not the character the audience is meant to sympathize with, but is instead this cool older kid who Chris wants to impress. This is pretty much in line with how Sega likes to depict the character. He cares about his friends, but he’s also cool with being a loner. It feels like he only runs into them incidentally, usually when Eggman is causing trouble, and then when the crisis of the week is taken care of he’s back to going on his own adventures. There’s a reason why one of his catchphrases is “long time no see”
The Sonic of the movie is the polar opposite. His main conflict is that he’s lonely and desperately seeks friendship. He’s also an overly-eager, extremely earnest goober. He literally flosses twice. (Which I loved.) I’ve seen him compared to Silver, and honestly, that’s not a bad comparison. I did like it, though! I don’t mind Sonic being a more emotionally open character, like he was in a lot of older Western media. I mean, he cried in like the second or third episode of SatAM
It’s just that, like many things in the movie, it feels less like a deliberate creative choice and more like a logical string of decisions to make when writing a generic action-adventure film for general audiences. Sonic’s the only one of his kind on Earth, so of course he’d be lonely. He has to have some sort of arc for audiences to connect with him, and if he’s gotta be accompanied by James Marsden for the whole movie, well, his arc’s gotta be about them becoming friends
I’ve gotta say, though: Ben Schwartz is great as Sonic. As much as I like Roger Craig Smith, I wouldn’t complain if he became the new main voice of the character. And thanks to the redesign, he looked great. I can’t imagine how nightmarish this movie would’ve been if Sonic wasn’t cute
My main fear with this movie, though, was that Sonic wouldn’t really be the protagonist. As a fan of Transformers, I know all too well that the cost of doing a full CGI character usually means that said character can’t really be the star of the film. Optimus and Bumblebee aren’t the stars of the Transformers movies--they’re supporting characters who are primarily present for the sake of the action scenes. The humans are the real stars in those movies, and the robots are barely even characters. I was terrified that Sonic would be the same, with the actual character I paid to see taking a backseat to James Marsden The Cop
I’m not quite sure if they struck the right balance there, but they did better than I worried they would. Sonic is central enough to the film and gets enough screentime that you can easily say he’s the protagonist. BUT there is absolutely too much of Tom and his family. The human cast is fine, the performances are fine, and there were a few good jokes, but every time the movie tried to get me to care about Tom’s life I was bored out of my mind. It’s just so trite and passionless. The other characters barely felt fleshed out at all, including Tom’s girlfriend (wife?) and Agent Stone. The little girl who gives Sonic the shoes had some cute moments, though
I do, however, love the part in which James Marsden is walking around in a San Francisco t-shirt, to remind us that he’s planning on moving to San Francisco... which then becomes the excuse for Sonic to think about San Francisco and accidentally send his warp rings there, which becomes the excuse for the buddy road trip aspect of the film. And as much as that was a focus of the marketing, the actual road trip part is like... maybe 20 minutes of the movie? There’s like three scenes with Sonic and Tom on the road and then they’re in San Francisco for act 3. The movie tries to act like they’ve formed this deep bond and I just did not give a shit. I don’t care about the cop. All Cops Are Bastards, and that absolutely includes Tom, whose dream in life is to join the extremely corrupt San Francisco PD
The whole excuse for Sonic having to sit in the passenger seat of a car going the speed limit for a good chunk of the movie is also, just. Stupid. If he doesn’t know where San Francisco is and time is of the essence, just... give him a map?
And then there’s Jim Carrey. I was worried about this one. The previews tended to highlight his most Jim Carrey Being Wacky moments, and as fond as I am of movies like The Truman Show and Bruce Almighty, that’s just. That’s not Robotnik. I was pleasantly surprised by the actual movie, though! I thought he was pretty good. I’m not sure what incarnation of Eggman I’d most compare him to, but like... it was close enough, and he was entertaining enough. I’d pay to go see another movie with him as Robotnik. Sure. (Especially with how he was looking at the end of the film.)
There were some other little interesting tidbits here with Eggman, although again, a lot of that is less “let’s do a new take on Eggman” and more “let’s do a marketable movie with Eggman in it, which requires us to explain some stuff.” Like him straight up just being a normal human from Earth, with none of the confusion present in the current “two worlds” canon of the games. Or him apparently being an orphan who was bullied in school, and who trusts machines more than other humans. It’s a safe way to depict the character in a Hollywood movie, but I thought it worked
The way they got to his nickname was kind of funny, though. Like, obviously they didn’t put Jim Carrey in a fat suit, and thank god for that. So instead of mocking his weight, the nickname is derived from the egg-shaped robots he uses. Which made sense, I guess. It at least felt logical for this incarnation of Sonic, who had annoyingly been calling Tom “Donut Lord” the whole movie, to make up the nickname “Eggman.” (Said robots, by the way, were a weak point of the movie to me. They just didn’t have that Eggman whimsy and felt very safe and very Hollywood. Honestly, though, if they had just made Robotnik’s ship grey and slapped some hazard stripes on it, it’d probably be fine.)
As a whole, I thought the humor of the movie was... okay. Sonic had a lot of good moments thanks to Schwartz’s great performance, as did Robotnik. There were just so many weird lines, like James Marsden telling Robotnik that he was breast fed, or the agonizingly long child trafficking joke with Sonic in the duffel bag. Stuff like that
The action was great, though. They definitely owe a lot to the Quicksilver scene in that one X-men movie (I forget the one), but they had a lot of fun with Sonic’s powers and it felt extremely true to the character. Seeing him do one of his Smash poses during the San Francisco fight was great. The action scenes were an absolute delight
And then the ending. Oh, that ending
So, I had already heard that Tails shows up in the stinger before I saw the film. And when I heard that, I expected it to be like, the classic Tails origin story. Maybe Sonic would return to his planet, and run into this precocious kid who decides to follow him around... but no! Not at all! Tails is already the Tails we know and love. He’s already an inventor, he’s already tracking down Sonic. I’m shocked that Sonic actually stayed with Tom instead of running off to have new adventures, but hopefully this is a sign that more characters will be brought into the fray if they make a sequel
And boy, they better make that damn sequel. This movie had a great opening weekend and a positive reception. They have no excuse not to. GIVE US SONIC AND TAILS GOING ON AN ADVENTURE
Other stray thoughts
Holy shit they put Sanic in the movie
The Sega logo animation meant that Kiryu from Yakuza was in this movie for a few seconds
The pixel art credits sequence, which featured both the Sonic 2 special stage and Get Blue Spheres as well as the Eggman logo screens from the Studiopolis Zone boss, was cute
The Saturn logo could be seen on the diagram of the other habitable planets
Robotnik had a label for “Badniks” on his circuit breaker. I wonder if the drones in the movie are intended to be Badniks, or if we’ll see actual ones if a sequel gets made
Also, was it implied that Robotnik committed war crimes for the US government
One of the government guys who I think only got one line was played by Garry Chalk and as such sounded exactly like Optimus Primal
I can’t tell if Sonic getting a red race car bed was an intentional shout out to the Archie comics or if it’s just a coincidence, but I loved it
A dude about my age wearing a Sonic Mania t-shirt literally stood up and clutched his head in shock when Tails showed up
After the movie a very excited kid got his mom to take his photo with the Sonic display in the lobby. Afterwards he was so excited that he flossed
I can’t believe they talked about Olive Garden so much
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