#straight up 'monking it' in the club

[semi-entropy]

style tests for my senior project

[newkatzkafe2023]

😅I know that there has already been a similar request, but you can please Yandere Monkey Kings and Destined One with a female frivolous reader who has chubby thighs.

Her Hair, Her eyes, Her thighs🥰🤤

(Lmk Wukong) He saw you at pigsy's noodle shop adorably Slurping away at your bowl, Wukong though you were super cute with your satisfied smile. That's when you got up and went to pay for your food, let me tell you Wukong felt out his seat when he saw those thick thighs in those little shorts. Wukong felt like a huge perverts but he couldn't control himself, drooling and blushing and purring. Which leads up to now Wukong trying to woo you over, with pick up lines and little DIY gifts he had for you and before you knew it you both got together and he will keep you forever.

(HIB Wukong) Man he is so cute when he thinks you don't know he's stalking you. It all began a month ago when you went to the market to get a new dress, to replace your old ripped one. Wukong was at the market to get more fish and that went you and unknowingly bump into him. Wukong was angry Turn to yell at you until he say you, your pretty sad eyes, your long beautiful long fur going down your back, and finally those thick wonderful juicy thighs. Wukong already imagining baby monkies basically cartwheeling out of your birthing hips, he just had to have you. Which lead to his stalking, and it didn't take long for you to notice as he stuck out like a sore thumb but his handsome face you couldn't be mad at him. Especially when he keeps killing annoying rivals and bringing you fish.

(NR Wukong) it all started on a Saturday night when he went to get wasted and party, that was until he saw you. Let me tell you his jaw was on that floor seeing you with your short dress and those THICC THIGHS !!!! Your ass looked really good to and Wukong need to win you over before someone gets wise. It was a cat and mouse game as he would chase you across the club, as you ran off in your heels giggling away and chirping. This continues on in every in various different night clubs but one night Wukong wore his best clothes as he walked into the club......but unfortunately he saw some beta male was flirting with you. As we glared at the man but Wukong on the other hand he looked like he was gonna commit murder so when you left man still running his gums. You didn't know what to think the blood on your short dress, and Wukong standing over the dead body, he turned to you finally asking for a date. With a blush on your cheeks you purred in agreement.

(MKR Wukong) When Wukong wasn't stuck following the monk, he stalking you like you were both in a nature film. His other staff definitely shot right out of his pants when he seen you crush all types of skull and break necks with just those thighs. He got to have you and he wants you now, so one day you were fighting off a bunch of bandits for trying to rob you. That's when Wukong stepped in and slaughtered every single one of them, right infront of you making your purr at the blood on his face and in the area. You beckoned him to come over and granted him attention and affection making hearts appear in Wukong's eyes.

(Netflix Wukong) Wukong had a deep blush on his face when he first met you. He knows he shouldn't be staring but he can't look away at all, your so pretty and sooo hot especially your thighs. What kills Wukong the most is the fact that you look so mom shaped but you don't have children, he's got to have you no matter what. So for weeks he made forced himself to do impressive tricks and impossible feats to get your attention and impress you, as you happily watched him do so. Though whenever he does something in particular to make you smile, you reward him with a kiss and to lay his head on your heavenly thighs.

(BMW Wukong) Wukong was always interested in you, but the second he saw those cute but Thick thighs his mind went straight to the gutter. Crushing melons, skulls and breaking necks with those deadly thighs made Wukong lose it entirely. So one night he made his way to the Village festival where he found you, sitting on a bench and made his way over to work his magic. Though you found him to be handsome and charming he still needed a little something to competly win you over, but that didn't take long because some doofus decided to flirt with you infront of Wukong. Well long story short Wukong spilled some blood on the grass in a fit of jealousy, but it aroused you enough to accept his proposal for courting.

(Destined one) NOW you have been teasing him for weeks, shaking your thicc ass for only his eyes only. The Destined one would be at his wits end because of you, showing off how hot you are and wiggling your hips at him to get him to chase you. Now you really shouldn't provoke the quiet because they are known to be huge freaks, and the Destined one proved that quite well because when he finally got his claws on you. Well you will be in for a world of pleasure and obsession.

FEEL FREE TO REBLOG

[blueikeproductions]

We now have a mostly proper look at the current iterations of the Thirteen Primes via a presentation at Cybertron Con.

Perhaps to no one’s surprise, none of them use the TFONE designs, but the designs do seem to be hodgepodges of their first designs mixed with other more well known versions.

Micronus is very clearly based on his RiD15 design for example, while Alchemist is a hybrid of his Cyberverse and Marvel G1 designs. Liege Maximo meanwhile is just straight up his G2 design but tweaked to make it look like he can Transform, into what I don’t know yet.

Prima is perhaps the more curious one. Instead of using the generic Marvel G1 design, they combine the random gladiator robot in G1 with Aligned Prima and claim he turns into a space truck.

(Here’s a thought though, why did Primus see fit to make these versions have cabs passengers can sit in? Did Mini-Cons get carried around in there? Did Primus predict humans and other similar lifeforms bonding with Transformers?)

Solus meanwhile seems to be her Prime Wars design.

The superior design I might add.

I’m a bit mixed on her also being a space truck also, as I would’ve expected her to be a construction vehicle tbh. At the very least I would’ve expected her to be a tow truck if she HAD to be a truck.

Onyx is also very interesting, as they seem to better establish he has a regular Robot Mode, with another piece of art showing he also has the centaur mode.

Though atm it’s not clear if this centaur mode IS his Beast Mode, or if it’s an in-between mode like Airachnid’s spider-taur mode and he just becomes an animalistic truck also.

Another thing I find funny is Onyx’s tiki mask relic is instead depicted as more of a totem pole staff. It reminds me of Garudamon X’s weapon, so maybe Onyx clubs people with his relic now.

I think I’m most disappointed by Quintus still being his Aligned design because I still have no idea what he’s supposed to turn into, and going by Solus, Micronus and Maccadam, I would’ve expected him to be his EarthSpark design with traits of his ONE and Aligned designs so get can more easily contort him into … another space truck presumably. Maybe he’s a fire truck? That involves saving lives, so that’s kinda fitting for his life theming.

I just think his Aligned design is hideous, being mostly ribbons and tentacles, making his Robot Mode extremely hard to read, vs TFONE simplifying it into more of a Hindu deity while ES opts for a monk, though what either of them officially Transform into is anyone’s guess.

Apparently a lot of fans are infuriated Nexus Prime is just his Aligned design vs what they say they want: his original Energon style combiner form he debuted in.

Now you would think it would be the one on the right, going by Liege Maximo and The Fallen being based on their original comic forms specifically but I guess not. I heard a rumor the Nexus Prime toy is more like Vehicle Voltron, in that he splits apart into vehicles only. Funny enough this does still homage the Energon roots, as the anime suggests Superion, Bruticus and Constructicon’s component parts are drone vehicles anyway. The Fun Pub comics would establish his components are individuals called Skyfall, Landquake, Breakaway, Topspin and Heatwave (no not THAT Heatwave). The initial concept saw Nexus’ components scattered to the multiverse where some would become Autobots and others Decepticons, with destiny calling them back together to reform into Nexus Prime. The same story also says Nexus was “cut apart” originally by the Star Saber, implying he wasn’t a Combiner originally. Nexus’ purpose was ultimately to do away with Hasbro’s initial idea of multiversal singularities (meaning all 13 existed at once in every universe and were the same individual), and once that was accomplished, all the Primes could be distinct again in each universe. This means in particular for Nexus that his component parts aren’t named individuals atm, so how Nexus’ new toy is handled will be interesting. Either we get the original named components, brand new components, or he’s a box set and all his limbs are drones with a central robot loosely based on his ONE design.

Amalgamous is also funny to me, as he still has the ED-209 vibe of his ONE counterpart, but he now has a proper head that resembles Whirl. In fact he kinda looks like a fat IDW Whirl, which is funny considering Cyberverse Mac’s Strong-Fat Rung design.

Star Convoy seemingly being the Thirteenth suggests a splitting of the difference. TFONE uses Zeta, which implies other cartoons and comics can probably just use whoever they want in that role, but Hasbro still seems to want Optimus as the Arisen, and Star Convoy fits the concept better, as he’s a reborn Optimus, revived by the power of the Zodiac (the ancient primordial force used by Dai Atlas in Zone). It also helps it’s a more distinct design, so it’s not just G1/Prime Optimus awkwardly tacked on to these more regal robots. As the toy is called Star Optimus Prime I wonder if other cartoons could dance around it, with the robot being called Star Prime, Galaxy Prime (Galaxy Convoy?) or something Star related to make him a unique character rather than just Optimus.

So what happens now?

I’m very worried about this toy line. I think Hasbro is trying to coast on adult fans like Digimon is, but as we’ve seen we NEED kids to get into this to keep it going. Adult fans alone aren’t enough by the abysmal failure of Cyberverse, EarthSpark and ONE, and I fear Age of the Primes will suffer by adult fans not being that interested in the Primes concept, and casuals just not caring or even knowing who the Primes are. The Fallen and Alpha Trion are who most people are vaguely aware of, alongside Vector Prime, everyone else is just kinda there with no mainstream fiction really helping get people invested in these robots. Nostalgia for Bay Fallen and GF Vector Prime is what keeps them relevant, with the anime fleshing out Vector pretty well, while as other attempts with Maccadam and Quintus have fallen very flat.

There’s likely no real story for Age, because it seems Hasbro has given up on trying to make the collector line have a narrative. Legacy was supposed to have a story, but because Netflix turned down a cartoon after the WFC show failed, Hasbro just seemed to forgo a story altogether. What possible story Age would have I have no idea, there’s a descendent thing brought up, but what story could be made here is too vague to fathom. I would assume that a typical story would see 13 direct descendants of the Primes, Optimus among them, come together to inherit their ancestors powers to defeat a great evil (be it Unicron or something else like the Quintessons). That would make sense, and you could have a better Autobots and Decepticons coming together story in this way, but I don’t see Hasbro doing this. Not even as a cheap Flash web cartoon. I don’t see Skybound invested in doing a comic about this either, so what story this is supposed to have is probably fan fiction for now.

Interestingly, in China, where the presentation was held, fans there cheered excitedly at The Fallen and Star Convoy in particular which makes me feel they have to be the main villain and hero. In particular they should have a final showdown thar mirrors Brave ExKaiser and Galaxy Force…!

A more anime style final battle between Optimus and The Fallen would be pretty awesome, but whether Optimus still rips off The Fallen’s face I dunno.

[featherwurm]

How to Karlach's and Tav's tail lengths and width compare? Are they the same, if one shorter/longer, is one thicker/thinner, do they have any scars etc :)

They both have pretty average tails overall - the length of their outseam plus about a foot or so - which for both of them is quite long. While I know Karlach shares the in-game model height with the tall fem tief of about 6', in my heart (and drawings) she is the same as her character brief of 7' (putting Zatavia at 6'9".) Tav's tail is a little longer than Karlach's, tapering to a thinner tip because she doesn't have the same skin webbing that Karlach does, and she just has a lighter build overall. Karlach's tail tip is more typical in shape - although Tav's tail isn't unusual in that regard - it's like having an attached or detached earlobe.

How I, personally, think BG3 tief tails work, with the caveat that I'm of the opinion that tiefs should still be able to be weird as hell despite Hasbro standardizing them a lot for marketability (compare 3e to 5e). You'll sometimes see cartilage on both sides (for a more classic devil 'point') and more variation on proportion of skin, making for heart or club shaped tail tips too. Similarly you might more rarely see bifurcation, or multiple cartilage ridges. I think of their tails as being about as dexterous and strong as a pinky finger - able to wrap around things and hold them, but not strong enough to pick up heavy things, hold their whole body, wield a weapon, or do fine, detailed work unless specifically trained for. With minimal fat distribution the tail tends to be the one of the last places on the body to show significant weight gain or loss.

Karlach's tail has scars in similar proportion to the rest of her body - lots of old, well-healed cuts and scratches, but nothing exceptional. Some probably have stories attached, others are just in the milieu of 'was fighting in hell for 10 years straight after being a bodyguard and a rambunctious kid.' Nothing particularly stands out as exceptionally bad.

Tav is similar, though less scarred overall, with markers of 25 years traveling as a wandering monk after 10 years of monastery training and a similarly active childhood. The one significant one is that she's missing the very tip of the hook of her tail - which she accidentally bit off as a toddler. She had gotten into a fight with it, as kids do, and the tail lost. Her poor mum came home to a bloody kitchen, husband, and daughter, although Tav was easily soothed after the initial shock and flailing. There was a surprisingly large amount of cleanup - tail wounds bleed like a bitch.

I know I draw them all over the place but this is because I operate on a principle called vibes, but that's my personal feelings on size and shape and such!

[no-psi-nan]

Based on that previous anon ask, I started wondering what could possibly motivate Saiki to be the one actually wooing Toritsuka, given his general passivity and the Inherent Cringe of liking Toritsuka.

And I think it would almost have to be a life-threatening situation for Saiki to do it hsfjdlshfks. His disastrous ace ass would really rather suppress eternal pining for Toritsuka to making a move on him than actually admit to having feelings lol. Maybe after like 5-10 years of Toritsuka being clueless would Saiki start making moves!

Here's the premise for a situation I thought up though, that would be fun:

Okay so in manga chapter 109, the occult club trip episode, Toritsuka shows off his bedroom, which has been outfitted with the latest in trendy goods.

Where'd he get the money for it? The monks were definitely not financing this, and the only time we see Toritsuka make money is afterwards, in chapter 130, when he charges tourists money to ring the new year's bell.

Toritsuka is obviously not working any sort of job, and it's unlikely that he's straight-up stealing money, so my explanation is that his dad has $$$$$ and occasionally feels a little guilty about sending his son to superhell a random temple, and can be convinced to fork over cash sometimes.

So anyways here's the actual situation: Toritsuka's dad is actually hella rich but Toritsuka has no clue that when his dad kicks the bucket that he's in for a mega inheritance.

However, there's a woman who's figured that out, and she's thinking that if she can trick Toritsuka into marrying her, she can get his dad killed off and then take everything in the divorce by making it seem like he was cheating on her or abusing her or something.

Saiki finds this out when Toritsuka excitedly presents his new girlfriend to him. Saiki would normally just tell him that she was evil, but he catches onto Toritsuka's excited and happy thoughts about finally feeling wanted instead of always being considered trash, and his hope that he'll finally get over his impossible crush on Saiki.

Now Saiki is stuck, because he knows Toritsuka will be completely crushed if he reveals to him that he's still garbage and that girl only wants him for financial reasons. Even if Saiki can trick the girl into admitting the truth, or if he can terrorize the girl into abandoning her scheme and dumping Toritsuka, the end result will still be Toritsuka feeling like shit.

The only way to save Toritsuka's newfound self-esteem would be to convince him to dump her on his own, at which point Saiki can get rid of her more permanently.

And at first, Saiki tries to make her look bad in front of Toritsuka, but this accomplishes nothing because Toritsuka is really determined to hang onto the only girl who's ever accepted him and he's also trying really hard to get over Saiki.

Saiki knows if he just bluntly tells Toritsuka that he likes him, Toritsuka won't believe it, and will (correctly) think that there's some ulterior motive involved. Toritsuka's not THAT stupid.

So there's basically no option left, except wooing Toritsuka so he dumps the girl in favor of Saiki. Saiki has to make it obvious that he really likes Toritsuka and would be open to dating him, but make it subtle enough that Toritsuka doesn't get suspicious.

And you could do this by having Saiki as himself or having Saiki go one step further and approaching Toritsuka as Kuriko, with a different enough look that Toritsuka won't recognize Saiki (and then have a moment where Toritsuka ends up recognizing her anyways because she keeps reminding him of Saiki).

"How would Saiki attempt to woo someone" is already a hilarious question to ponder, but adding in an oblivious Toritsuka makes that even funnier.

Adding this idea to the free real estate pile in case anyone wants to write this lmao.

[slovo-kvnnt]

✦HEADCANONS by

Tf2 Freakshow.✦

<×(and small drawings of my Heancanons)×>

⚠️warning⚠️.

These ARE HEADCANONS, that is, they are not really canons of the characters and it is used for PERSONAL USE. nothing here is confirmed by the creators of different Freaks. but hey thanks for watching ;).

✦Panis cupcakes may not know how to read, write or even count well, but he is an excellent piano player.

(by the way I made these drawings of the different versions of painis cupcakes, includes my Heancanon).

✦Intelligent Heavy and Vagineer are the only ones with the sense of humor of...

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES.

✦Both Cakehole and Pi$$ are fans of Naruto. And in fact, Cakehole is the vice-president of the Otaku Club and Handsome Rogue is the president-at-large.

✦Ass Pancakes is wondering if he's really straight.

that is why both Gentlemanspy, as Spyper and even his best friend, SoupCock Porkpie often call him "bisexual Dumbass".

✦Pi$$ cakehole unlike the others, he needs glasses to see from a distance or read more comfortably. But once Cakehole grabbed his glasses and half and part of the glass broke, so he had to fix it himself, and since that day nobody touches him.

and curiously, he is in a relationship with Cbs but let's say that his relationship is something... unusual

(and they both smoke marijuana, while Cakejole prefers cocaine)

a strange mix between obsession and hate... yes hehe...

✦Polite Spy when he has a specific feeling or emotion his eyes change color depending on what emotion it is.

✦Cps smokes in the church bathroom, yes literally everyone calls him a ...

H Y P O C R I T E

EVEN ERZENGEL, Karmasolly and Dream demo (rarely, but does).

✦Allright, we all know that erzengel and cps hate each other and it's for the same reason that cbs would HAVE to BE in hell. but let's say that he only defended him from his fate and that's it, arguments, fights, dissolution, etc., but even so Brutal and Pure are friends.

✦Karma Soldier and Lord Degroot used to be best friends until one day everything changed forever ...

✦Each Freak has his sexual orientation or how that Freak identifies.

for example, Soldine IDENTIFIES AS AN ORANGE CAR- okno( but they tend to make those kinds of jokes with Ghost, MSG, Orangeman, Cyborgneer and Medizard).

(I was thinking about digitizing but due to personal problems and mere laziness, I couldn't do it, and now I realized that I didn't color the pants from CBS XDDDDDD)

✦The Spyper Red, or simply Red. And his personality is the opposite, he is someone malevolent and a professional psychopath.

✦Medizard x Cakehole pi$$ is good

✦Demo Samedi and Samedi Spy are Haitian

✦Ghost doesn't like to be called "GHOSTY" (Major and Soldine never misses an opportunity to call it that).

✦Madic has a collection of pigeons in his laboratory and one of the birds he has is a raven named Lewis, after Major Lewis.

✦Cyborspy has CyborSoldier as a sex slave. not to specify their shady situations... but for now no one knows... FOR NOW.

CyborPyro has the appearance of a woman, because once everything was destroyed. The only thing they were able to recover was his head and some small parts of it.

Cybormedic cleverly spruced up its appearance and gave it some personality and the FemCyborPyro was born. her appearance is because it would be easier to distract her enemies using her female "Methods".

Fem/CyborPyro can be identified as both "SHE" and "HE" but can also be referred to as "they" or "It"

✦Cyborscout and Drunk Monk (actually this is Canon XD) are a couple. And they're planning a wedding, they just can't decide who the best man will be.

precisely MSG and cyborneer fight over that.

✦everything you saw here is an "AU" Alternate Universe (Slovo's AU).

a world where innocent respawners and mercenaries leave the servers empty and discolored.

The pacifist Freaks are more dangerous than the feared High Ranker, but their psycho mode or "killer instinct" is disabled, of course unless you want to unleash TRUE CHAOS.

Let's assume that the real danger would be the peaceful Freaks like Cps, I.H and Politespy ESPECIALLY.

So HECU, from time to time interrogate Freaks of this type and examine their way of thinking, socializing, defending themselves, and seeing the Tf2Freaks-Wolrd in their angle view ...

"So, those idiots over there *points to all the freaks, including Soldine and the entire HECU staff* are they one step from the far future?...."

yes... but not at the same time. My AU is in the 20's post 2001. Psycho Freaks lost interest in killing due to server inactivity and are getting more and more modernized, until reaching a "current" state.

HECU Staff Documentary Narrator: Everyone is in a neutral or peaceful state for now, but they miss the good old days...

[therecordchanger62279]

18 NEW PLAYLISTS

     I’ve been building more playlists for my iTunes file so that I can get more use out of my collection. It enables me to listen on the computer when I’m working, or at the exercise room when I’m working out. And it’s a great opportunity to mix and match artists, albums or styles so that all the music sounds fresh, and new. Context matters. And most music fits together far better than any radio programmer or Spotify algorithm would lead you to believe.

     Here’s the latest. The number of tracks is in parentheses.

1971 (283) 1972 (317) 1973 (377) An overview of each entire year in popular music. Most of it is Rock, Pop, and Soul but there's a sprinkling of Jazz, and Country as well.

Beg, Scream & Shout (144) The complete box set of the same name – a Rhino set of 144 great Soul singles of the 1960s.

Bill Evans (31) Sourced from The Complete Riverside Recordings box set, and The Best of Bill Evans on Verve. Three of Evans’ classic albums for Riverside along with an overview of his recordings for Verve.

Dexter Gordon (27) A collection of 70s recordings sourced from The Complete Prestige Recordings box (four of his best albums on the label), and closes with his Manhattan Symphonie album for Columbia.

James “Blood” Ulmer (50) A mix of 40 years of his recordings as a solo artist, and including the Music Revelation Ensemble, The Odyssey Band, and The Thing band recordings. His first album, Revealing, from 1977 kicks it off.

Jefferson Airplane (79) The first five albums complete, a selection of tracks from Bark, Early Flight, and the live Thirty Seconds Over Winterland, too. It closes with the 1989 self-titled reunion album.

John Wetton (80) Sourced from the excellent The Studio Recordings Anthology Vol. 1, along with his work with King Crimson, Uriah Heep, U.K., Asia, and the Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited project.

Laswell Mixes (18) Collects all three Bill Laswell remix albums of the works of Miles Davis, Panthalassa, and Panthalassa: The Remixes, and Carlos Santana, Divine Light - Reconstruction & Mix Translation.

Miles (Circle in The Round) (10) Straight recreation of the Miles Davis anthology Circle in The Round – a brilliant overview of Miles’ career with Columbia from 1955-1975.

Miles (Directions) (12) Another recreation of another Miles anthology from Columbia spanning his first 20 years with the label. This is not available on CD, nor is it available to stream, but all the tracks have been issued elsewhere since its 1981 release. I just brought them all together to recreate the album.

Miles Live (41) One of my better ideas, I think. This collects five editions of live recordings from The Miles Davis Quintet spanning the years 1960-1965. What makes it unique is that each of the quintets features a different saxophonist – none of whom is John Coltrane. Stockholm 1960 features Sonny Stitt, In Person Friday Night at The Blackhawk (1961) features Hank Mobley, Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival has George Coleman, Miles in Tokyo (1964) showcases Sam Rivers, and Highlights from The Plugged Nickel (1965) is with Wayne Shorter. Great opportunity to hear how the quintet evolved through the years, and how each of the saxophonists changed Miles’ sound.

Monk on Riverside (75) 12 Monk studio and live classic albums sourced from the massive 15 CD The Complete Riverside Recordings Box.

Northern Soul (124) Sourced from the Northern Soul box set, and The Decca Scene: Northern Soul CD. The best music from that uniquely British club scene.

Sonny Rollins (14) A trio of Rollins albums beginning with The Freedom Suite from 1958, The Bridge from 1962, and the Live in Graz, Austria November 12, 1966 trio set. Rollins in three different settings playing at his best.

Tacocat (25) Until a couple of weeks ago, I’d never heard this band. I picked up their first two CDs after hearing about them on a music podcast. Three girls and a guy with a girl group/pop/punk/alternative bent. Lots of hooks, and lots of fun. Reminded me of the 1980s indie scene before everything turned serious, and dark. NVM, and Lost Time are available direct from Sub Pop at very reasonable prices.

Virtuosos (132) Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Vangelis, John Paul Jones, Brand X, Steve Howe, Phil Manzanera, and Anthony Phillips – all great players collected in one place in a music clinic free for all. I wanted something different, so I brought great players together who really didn’t fit elsewhere.

I also split The Bangles playlist into a group list (89), and a side projects list (137). My two PJ Harvey lists are now three – the original albums (86), the demo albums (68), and a live only playlist (55). The 1969 (300) and 1970 (370) playlists were expanded by nearly double. The 1969-1973 playlists now total more than 1600 songs. Large playlists are best for genres, or year in music lists, and best heard on shuffle. Shorter playlists work better for artists, I find. The larger lists are films, the shorter ones work as snapshots.

[stardust948]

ATLA Live action eps. 1

Already the bending and action is really good. (eat it 2010 movie)

Rooting for EK guy! Even though I know what's gonna happen to him </3

NOW ALL OF CHINA KNOWS YOUR HERE!!!!

Yeahhhh I liked it better when Katara narrated.

Oong

The actor who plays Aang is so cute!!!

Homie can straight up fly in this one huh?

"There may come a day when you wished you spent more time with your teachers" ---- GAHHHH WHY???

OK I like that Sozin made everyone think they're going to attack the EK instead of Airbenders. Very clever.

BRO!!! THE INVASION PART WAS INSANE!!!

Love seeing all the different AN fighting and defending themselves. Also nooo Monk Gyasto and the babies 😭😭😭

People kept talking about how intense the AN massacre was. Honestly, I was expecting it to be a lot more graphic but maybe that's just me.

Wolf Cove?! Why am I just now finding out Sokka and Katara's village is called Wolf Cove?! God, I got so many fics to re-edit.

Katara baby I miss your RAGGEEEEE

Aang's awaking is pretty underwhelming compared to the cartoon ngl.

LA - accident??? Aang passes out.

OG - Pure unbridled 14 y/o girl rage + Katara purposely hacking away the rest of the ice with Sokka's club. Aang immediately wants to play games 1st ask questions later.

Dallas I'll give you 5 bucks and a hug if you say honor just once.

Glad to see Sokka is still done with everything.

Thank you Gran-Gran for the OG opening we all know by heart.

Ok that was way too much exposition.

1st cuss of the show goes to... this guy.

JEE! IT'S JEE!!!

Gran-Gran quit spoileriing thing! (JK we still love you)

The FN ship docks. Silently. Not plows through the ice almost right through the village.

Okay.

I am Sokka, son of Hakoda, lord of... Snow and Ice.

Love him in every universe.

I miss Sokka and Zuko's ridiculous 1st fight.

"Where's the glory in that?"

G-Glory?! Dallas, 5 bucks, a hug, and half a sandwich for one HONOR. Just one!

Love Sokka's child army pelting them with rocks

"There's no way you're getting me on that-"

*hard cut to Sokka screaming on Appa*

Fantastic.

FN ship escape was underwhelming too.

No Aang interrupting Iroh's nap. Or Zuko yeeting himself off the top deck onto Aang's glider. Or Sokka smacking Zuko in the head with his club. Or Katara freezing the solider on deck.

"Where do we go?"

North. To learn waterbending. Like you always wanted to!

Good lord they even took Katara's drive to learn waterbending 😭

No snapping Aang out of Avatar State and promising to be his new family.

Okay.

Zuko's angerly drawing at his desk! 🤣🤣🤣

Honestly mood.

Ok that was fine. Gonna watch the OG episode now.

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

For the relationship prompt, which interactions or friendship do you think affected Robin the most ?

Send my muse anons about their relationships. ANON ASK

Oh man, I'm going to have to answer this one as a mun because this changes a lot depending on where in the timeline you're asking. There's also A LOT of muses that Robin has interacted with! Please note that for this I will be mostly sticking to threads/interactions that have been developed in writing, almost all of Robin's relations have had an influence on him, but as for MOST--It'll be things me and the mun have developed/written together. I assume you mean in general but even that is a loaded question, so I'll be breaking this up into specific parts of his life or AUs because I do consider those quintessential for helping me as a mun develop him. (I will NOT be discussing Abel or Bel in this post as it is WAY too much and I could write a novel on their relationship. If you all would want this explained in a separate post, just let me know because it is extremely extensive).This is going to be LONG FYI, there's no way I could condense all of the wonderful relations Robin has made. So! Lets get this long post GOING!

POST-DEATH CANON VERSE:

Who would have thought being a revived corpse wandering for 2 straight years within Ionia would bring so many people into his life? One of the first and immensely influential relationships he had was when he left Ionia to travel to Bilgewater during the Harrowing, where he met Akio (@aquatic-hybrid) by coincidence, and the two worked together to clear the docks of the lost souls traveling from the Shadow Isles. Their relationships started off suspicious and unsure, but has led to one of the warmest, sweetest friendships Robin has had in a long time. It's a little stupid, but Akio gets hurt a lot and Robin has really been able to reconnect with the magic he's actually good at by healing him. Akio has pushed him over and over to be a better person, he hasn't asked too much about his past...and he just...accepts him. Robin really loves Akio as if he were his own brother, one of the people he truly feels at home with.

Another relationship that has humanized Robin is his friendship with Noelle (@songofsilentechoes), something about her kind nature just immediately drew him in and sparked his urge to protect her. This is one of those relationships that started off quite well and only got better as time passed; there was no judgement between the two of them and Noelle, like Akio, simply accepted him as he is. They meet together often for tea and a weekly book club where they read together and chit chat about life, Noelle's travels, any advice she might need in regards to magic etc. She is an extremely sympathetic and nice person--genuine to the point that Robin lowered his walls quite quickly with her, and now considers her close to his heart. This influence was much more passive on her end, as her own curiosity in terms of magic has reignited Robin's love of learning. He wants to be someone she can depend on, and be better. Side note: Bel actually finds Noelle VERY charming, it knows she won't harm Robin and has decided that she's worth protecting to keep its food happy.

Something more recent in terms of interactions falls to Lee SIn (@ionianelder), where Robin's fears and lies for himself have just melted away. Where Akio and Noelle fall into friends, equals and even students of magic, Lee Sin falls into a category that Robin has desperately needed since he was younger; a mentor. His memories of other figures like this are jumbled at best and lost at worst, but Lee Sin is one of the first to truly connect with him emotionally and tell him, from the heart, that he will be okay and get through this torment. Robin sort of...broke when he met Lee, granted he was already on his way to the edge of the plateau but the monk really pushed him over the edge and now he's hanging on desperately--when in reality he needs to just...let go. Lee Sin, although it hasn't happened yet, is going to really help Robin drop the past pain he's carried with him. It'll be a very good change, Robin may even learn to forgive himself.

Another one, man this is really never ending Robin stop meeting people, is Sett...Oh Sett, angry, traumatized, pained Sett (@pitgritted). This interaction definitely takes place a bit more in the future once Robin has left his burrow and is ready to speak with people again, and he found himself working as the chief medical staff for the pit fighters. This is another case of "he can practice healing magic for its original intended purpose" and has become a mentor figure to the younger, less experienced staff members. Not only this but his actual connection to Sett himself is an immensely interesting study into how people suffer the consequences of causing trauma, not just experiencing it themselves. Jojo and I have spoken in length about how they both have toxic qualities that bleed into their everyday lives, but they are trying so hard to dampen the harshness of these affects. Sett who can't use physical intimidation on Robin, and Robin who can't use emotional manipulation on Sett--because they do genuinely care for the other and don't want to scare/hurt them. There is, well, a certain peace I think that they feel with eachother--there is no antipathy for what the other has done, no need to "fix" the other, after all what hypocrisy would that be? It is an equally terrifying and comforting feeling to see a reflected inversion of yourself within another person, to want to be there for them but also knowing that they are acutely aware of your shortcomings because they, too, experience them. Robin has remarked, not outloud of course, that Sett's heart is fragile, I'm not sure Sett would ever be able to defend that from Robin; how could he when he sees the same fragility within the mage? They're very sweet. It'll be a very confounding, yet satisfying, arc in their lives, I'm sure.

In another timeline, something I call the bad ending (where Robin does heal but ends up falling into bad habits again), he actually has a quite captivating relationship with Jhin (@curtain-cxll). This also takes place moreso in the future, but where Robin has stayed in his burrow and has not abandoned it yet. Although the thread is just taking its first steps, Raven and I have plotted that it will fall into a game of cat and mouse that is intellectually stimulating for both Jhin and Robin. And also...something else happened by accident. Once again these two do not try to "fix" one another, but rather nurture what life has molded them into. From their first meeting there was a strange predilection that invaded both of them, I honestly think this is what made them want to burrow inside of the other one--its rare to find someone you instantly spark with (romantically or otherwise). Jhin really allows Robin to open up in terms of accepting the darker parts of himself, a part of him he will never fully get rid of, a specific toxicity Jhin can play off of, he just...accepts this part of him, and continues to encourage Robin's interests and it is shockingly quite sweet. This isn't to say Jhin is immune either, how he has craved someone who will not mock his ideas and actually listen to what he has to say, he is still human after all--and holds all of the insecurities of one. Even though the beginning is majority manipulation, Robin's reverence and appreciation of Jhin's thoughts is just intoxicating. "It isnt time yet, after all, I'd prefer my performance to be a duet." has me by the throat, the one person that has ever valued him in the same light that he values them. As art, as beauty despite all of his faults. Hell we've even discussed them living and traveling together. It's very much crafted around the poem of "Life and Death are lovers", and as a mun I really wasn't expecting to plot such a...weirdly pleasant story about self love with these two, both souls lost in solitude finding solace in one another. With a lot of murder on the side, of course. Side note: Bel and Jhin actually get along quite well too--it's very very funny to me. Bel legit gives him advice--best wingman. The demon will eventually also decide to protect Jhin as a way to keep its food safe--lord have mercy upon Runeterra.

MODERN VERSE

Oh Miss Evelynn (@agonizedembrace) do you even know how much you've shifted the course of his life? Modern verse is a...weird one, I originally wasn't planning on having Robin be a reincarnation but it led to so much deliciousness I can't imagine it any other way. For Evelynn, this is the second time their souls have met, but now she truly understands what it means to care and even love, and what she was not able to recognize within the long ago past. As such, when she meets Robin again, she makes the rather emotional instantaneous decision to pseudo-adopt him into KDA and her other nefarious activities. She wants to keep him safe, perhaps due to past guilt of not being able to save his life before, and actively funds not only his life, but is emotionally invested in him, even if he doesn't remember her. Robin's family is still alive in this verse, and he can't deny that Evelynn has become part of his family within his own heart, he adores her and considers her one of his closest friends, despite the fact that she is his boss. He feels an exceptional depth of emotion towards her that he cannot explain, perhaps he will never be able to explain why he trusts her so much, why he knows almost instantly that he loves her, and that she, despite not showing it, loves him. I think this relationship captures the essence of how love transcends time and never truly leaves our souls, it is like a stain--impossible to scrub away no matter how roughly we scrub and bleach and try to erase. It is apart of us-- forever, even if we did not categorize it as love at the time, and affects us from that moment onward. Their interactions in Modern verse show what could have been if life had been kinder, if they had understood how to feel properly when they first met, a second chance to embrace and love and cry and feel so much more than they ever thought possible within their own lives. I think they are two souls that will continue to find eachother over and over again, they are sure to follow one another...maybe even after the sun burns out.

There are certain relationships that just...help one shed the stresses of life and expectations, and Robin finds that relaxation within Danny (@bells-of-black-sunday). In this timeline Robin has less so fallen into a dark pit, and moreso walked into it willingly, and this allows him to fall for someone who is by no means a good person--but makes him laugh and smile and is healthy for him. In all verses, but specifically Modern, Robin is stressed out beyond belief, he is constantly working, constantly trying to be the best WITHIN his work, and has a very difficult time accepting himself as he is. He's a very lonely mind often plagued with delusions of imposter syndrome and never feeling very good about himself--and Danny has this uncanny ability to just make him feel at ease and help wipe that all away. Perhaps it is his casual nature, his ability to just...speak how he feels and be honest with Robin about things, but coming home feels like letting 50lbs off of his shoulders. He can enjoy a quiet, simple little life with his boyfriend who, unknowingly, erases the thoughts of "never being enough" by confirming and showing how much he loves him, as he is, and that he actively wants him in his life. They know what the other does, what evil deeds they perform, and openly communicate that it doesn't matter--their desire for the other doesn't have an expiration date. Danny shows Robin how to enjoy life's simple pleasures, and Robin returns that in the affection Danny craves. Their communication methods have also influenced Robin immensely, he doesn't have to worry about arguing with Danny or being imperfect, since they tackle disagreements as a team. It's really healthy for Robin, and has taught him a lot of self love.

PRE-DEATH ROBIN: ACADEMIA DAYS

I've left this one for last because where it is heading is still a huge coin toss and it is exceedingly exciting to divert from Robin's pre-established canon. While the thread is also in its baby steps, I already know that Viktor, Silco, and Jinx (@misstantabismuses) are going to steer Robin's storyline in a completely different direction than was previously explored. It's a blank slate with a version of Robin that hasn't full let himself descend into wickedness. I've often stated that Robin just needed one person to walk beside him in his darkest hours, and maybe he would have actually healed when he needed to, and Abel is pushing him to open up to Viktor. He feels comfortable around the surgeon, and wants to bond with him since he does admire him quite a bit. Who knows if this will be good for him? Who knows if he won't follow the Machine Herald down into Zaun's depths? How will this jump into darkness be different? I can't help but feel that Viktor's own empathy for people will rub off on Robin, he may fall into using "good" magic way sooner than anticipated. I'm rubbing my evil little fly hands in anticipation. Silco and Jinx will most likely affect him in a negative way, although I can't say for certain because there's so much to explore. It's been revealed that Robin has an accidental saviour complex towards Jinx as well since he sees himself in her, so that's a whole other can of worms to dive into and explore. While not much has happened in terms of threads, I KNOW this is going to drastically influence him in this timeline, and man oh man is it going to be a FUN exploration since Miss T is exceptional at writing and plotting. A "what if" timeline that will probably end up affecting his timeline with specific parts.

If your muse wasn't mentioned here, and you want to know more about how they've affected Robin, feel free to drop into my inbox and ask! I had to forcibly stop myself from writing more since this was already getting exceptionally long, LOL. He has had MANY interactions and it would be impossible to list them all here, so feel free to pop in if you want more info!

[mywifeleftme]

308: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever // Hope Downs

Hope Downs Rolling Fevers Coastal Blackout 2018, Sub Pop (Bandcamp)

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, one of those borderline-insufferable indie rock names like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or Two-Door Cinema Club that seems to confirm every negative stereotype about the genre in a single phrase, rolled into my life in the spring of 2018 and went into near constant rotation for a solid year before slipping almost entirely out of memory until I pulled this record off the shelf today. A Melbourne five-piece with three guitarists who all sing (and all sing kinda the same way), Rolling Fever Coastal Blackouts were owners of the most propulsive jangle of the late part of the decade, the kind of band who put wheels on your feet if you’re walking and wings on your wheels if you’re biking or driving. Absolute summer montagecore lads, and as I sink back into the grooves of their debut LP Hope Downs I’m won over all over again. Nearly any of these songs, with their mileage-eating consistency of four-through-the-floor pace and thousand-yard-stare affect that make three minutes sound like five or seven, could satisfyingly open or close the record or a show. 35 of said minutes is just the perfect amount to leave you balanced on a knife’s edge as to whether to play the whole thing over again if the record’s done and your errand isn’t. There’s an easy mastery of dynamics, the sense of just when to step in with a harmony to kick things up a notch—I’ve seldom heard a better set of these tricks than this record’s “Exclusive Grave.” Jangle pop’s a well-worn genre, so there are plenty of easy names to drop here (Aussie and otherwise), but I don’t think it’s needed—Rolling Coastal Fever Blackouts are a refinement rather than a revolution, but they’re a refinement of a sound that to me’s as necessary to the continuation of life as the song of those ancient monks who can’t stop chanting or the world’ll end. Probably only the spirit-freeing “Talking Straight” transcends Hope Downs’ confines to stand on its own as an enduring anthem, but within its environs, there’s a long ribbon of pleasure that can easily become a figure-eight if you let it.

308/365

[newkatzkafe2023]

charlotte la bouff reader with the monkey kings. (She's my favorite character 💗)

Blonde female monkey, loves pink, has a southern accent.

eager princess meeting a king.

😍 heart eyes for her seeing Wukong maybe at a ball or party.

Awwww Lottie from the princess and the frog, not to many Rich girls with golden hearts lately 🥰🥰🥰🥰

(Lmk Wukong) Oh Wukong what a wild blush you have especially being fond over and flirted with by a blond pink monkey. He was so cute you could eat him up, and Wukong was all for it. He also thinks your super cute with your cheerful personality, thick accent, and pink dresses. The best part is that your genuine with everything you both have and wel, he would be stupid to turn you down.🥰

(HIB Wukong) You were cooing at Not only Wukong and his cute little family, and it never fails to Baffle him. You have met him when you were shopping and you saw the most handsomest monkey you ever did see. I mean You thought you were the only stone monkey , but that's besides the point you ran over to him chirping with hearts in your eyes while Wukong stood there like a half-wit mouth agape. You flirted and purred as you hung on his arm, as he was blushing and his head spinning. From that day you would spoil him and his family with love and anything money can buy, and Wukong Although needed to get used to it never found you to be so bad yourself. 🤭

(MKR Wukong) Ohhhhhhhhhh man the best way to get on his good side is to inflat his ego until it pops. This all happened at a temple festival and he was stuck on guard duty as the monk was preying with some others. This is soooooooooo boring until he heard chirping. Wukong confused had looked around and spotted you in the distance, you wore a pink hatfu looking sweetly at him and let out another chirp. Wukong's jaw dropped and made his way to you in Curiosity and snuck over to meet you, and the next thing you both knew you and Wukong were flirting, purring and snuggling as You both got to know each other. He can do without the pink but God your to cute and irresistible for him to care.

(NR Wukong) Oh, How cute a blonde monkey came up to him with sparkles and hearts in her eyes......Like he ain't doing the same🙄😒 but anyway he met you at a club. You a brightly hot pink blonde monkey dancing to the music, he was making bedroom eyes at you. Then the shocking part came you had noticed him and looked over before purring giving him the same eyes and headed over, and found yourself chatting and having a few drinks he thought you were so adorable and hot. Before anyone one knew you were both making out in the back of the bar🤭🤭🤭

(Netflix Wukong) He LOVES your accent your clearly not from around here aren't you? Wukong favorite pass time is to listen to you talk about anything and everything, it's next to Listening to himself talk. I imagine you both having matching energies especially when getting excited or happy, and he always thinks it's adorable. It's also never hard to not spot you from a mile away as you always wore pink and let out your happy high pitch chirps. Over all Wukong adores you and everything you do for him, and makes sure to have always have you around.

(BMW Wukong) He got very cocky and full of himself especially learning that he got he had a blonde pink fan and cheerleader. You always had a crush on him from the time he crashed your birthday party to the celestial banquet, especially after the war with heaven. You found him so powerful and strong, and it was sooo sexy, but you were to shy to talk to him feeling to girly until one night he crashed another Celestial party and headed straight for you. You have know clue on what's happening but took his attention and affection as he promises to make you his queen.

(Destined one) My you make the destined one's head spinning with your seemingly endless energy, it's as goofy as it is terrifying. Although the destined one found it baffling why you show Interest in him of all demons, but didn't have the heart to send you away. After all you were clearly not a threat at all and just like him a little to much, although after months of getting use to your personality he really started to adore you and your loud, pink, sweet self. You also remind him of a ripe and tasty peach.

FEEL FREE TO REBLOG ♀️🎀👚🍨💟👜🐩💕💖💝💓

[pentanguine]

Worst Books of 2023

5. In Search of a Prince by Toni Shiloh

Whose fault is it: School book club

One thing I will say about this book is that it exceeded my expectations. The writing was decent! The author did actually research West African culture and history! Unfortunately, the book simply cannot escape the fact that a) it’s a plot point for plot point retelling of the Princess Diaries; and b) it’s a Christian romance. The villain is a sexually promiscuous woman born out of wedlock (whose motivations also make no sense), and every romantic scene leaves so much room for Jesus it forgets to leave room for romance. At one point the villain says: “Love is for children and pets. Just like Santa.” Spoilers, the last line of the book is “they would say I loved God, loved my country, and loved my husband,” and when I read that I think I retched.

4. Seducing the Sorcerer by Lee Welch

Whose fault is it: School book club and EBF

Honestly, the first part of this book was good. The characters were well-drawn and sympathetic, they had good chemistry and clear reasons to be interested in each other, and who wouldn’t love the worple horse. And then, somewhere in the second half, it all went to shit. The romance was underwhelming when they actually got together, and the sex was thin on the page and way less intense than what the book (and the baffling Goodreads reviews) had been implying. The political situation quickly went off the rails, before being wrapped up in an ending so neat and tidy Marie Kondo could have written it. Everything that can’t be logically resolved gets conveniently handwaved, and compelling character development goes out the window so the author can abruptly focus on high stakes international conflict. The villain is ultimately defeated by the vague threat of an army of enchanted fabric. In a lifetime first, I’m going to say this book needed less politics and more romance.

3. Devil's Night Dawning by Damien Black

Whose fault is it: Mine :(

I should never have picked it up knowing it was by a straight white man. “Great worldbuilding, truly epic,” said the reviews. “Dark, creepy horror vibes,” said the reviews. “It’s so original,” said the reviews. The great worldbuilding is periodic info-dumping on unimportant historical details by someone who thinks they’re writing LOTR and is actually writing a textbook. The dark, creepy horror vibes would be there if only the author could focus on his alleged main character, a demon hunting monk, for longer than one chapter out of ten. The originality is a religion in which Jesus The Redeemer dies on the cross wheel for our sins, and characters wander around saying “the power of the redeemer compels you.” Throw in a few misogynistic knights who casually murder each other while fetishizing chivalry, one (1) female character who of course has a very nice figure, and a lot of irrelevant POV characters who simply weren’t interesting, and I gave up at page 291.

2. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Whose fault is it: Mine and everyone who’s ever raved about it

I finished this book out of sheer bloody spite, and I wish I hadn’t. Tedious, overly full of itself, impenetrable, opaque, misogynistic, and enmeshed in ideas of machismo and the nuclear family that made it impossible for me to connect with. The truly frustrating thing is that there were many genuinely good moments of skin-tingling horror, but they’re so buried under all the bloated academic hogwash that they failed to make an impact. This book is the guy in your philosophy class who thinks he’s smart but has just never been told to shut up. This book is a male author who thinks he can write women well because he gives them compelling thoughts on sex, motherhood, romance, sex, stripping, modeling, their own bodies, and sex. I would rather live on Ash Tree Lane than read this book again.

All Four Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer

Whose fault is it: EBF

These books are genuinely, appallingly, hilariously, pathetically, bad. As an adult, I try to be charitable to things that I disliked (or in this case, refused to interact with at all) when I was younger, because teenage girls get a lot of shit and the things that they like tend to automatically be labeled cringe, but…these books are actually shit. Not just mediocre, or a little juvenile, or with some notable flaws, but BAD. And they’re not even shockingly sexy! I thought Twilight was the series that parents wanted to protect their innocent children from, in which maidens were ravished by whole covens of vampires, bodices torn, innocence lost, werewolves howling in pleasure, etc. Stephanie Meyer is way too fucking Mormon for that. I’ve never read a less sexy vampire in my life, and yet these were the teen heartthrobs of my youth?? The first book was honestly fun to hate-read, but by the time I got to the fourth one I was just depressed. It opens with Bella feeling genuine dread at her upcoming marriage to “the love of her life” that she’s been manipulated into at the age of 18 against her will, and the idea of this being the thing anyone is obsessing over just makes me sad. It’s just Mormonism with bad writing and worse characterization. Allow me to present my reviews for each:

Twilight: “Such a fucking dumb book.”

New Moon: “A whole lot of nothing happens to the world’s most depressed teenager”

Eclipse: “No plot, just endless rehashes of the same vampires vs. werewolves argument with pedophilia for flavor.”

Breaking Dawn: “The bar was in hell, and she still managed to let me down.”

[theloniousbach]

GETTING BACK TO THE JAZZ GALLERY

RALPH ALESSI with Matt Mitchell, John Hebert, and Ches Smith, 31 JANUARY 2025, 9:30 pm set

CAROLINE DAVIS with Dave Smith, Kenny Warren, Julian Shore, Chris Tordini, and Jimmy Macbride, 1 FEBRUARY 2025, 9:30 pm set

Each club has its own feel—where in town it is, food or just drinks, and booking policy. The Smalls/Mezzrow’s 7 days a week, jam sessions, eclectic Village vibe is different than Smoke Uptown with dinner for more uniformly established players. Even down to streaming capabilities, Smalls/Mezzrow’s is from the tapers’ section and Smoke is a soundboard. There are charms to each.

And there are charms at The Jazz Gallery in Midtown. Gallery is I think the key word. It’s on the whole arty music, composed, programmatic, bumping up against/going over to New Music territory. Now, they have a big fundraiser (and no stream—sad face) with Kenny Barron/Ron Carter/Jeff Tain Watts, but on the whole that’s too straight ahead for TJG. For a year and a half or so during Lockdown, I had a TJG membership that got me a steep discount for their streams. I let that lapse as I could get to in person events and other things sorted out. Recently they offered a Jazz Streamer membership which offers at least some shows free (ZOH AMBA earlier this week was), though these two were 75% off for a flat fee. I have already saved half of the value of the flat fee on just these three shows, though it’s not the money. I have more time and want to stretch my ears.

RALPH ALESSI with John Hebert plays Smalls about monthly and I’ve seen him there; equally, CAROLINE DAVIS will play a few times a year. I have caught them a Smalls and appreciated them for, well, stretching my ears with interesting, edgy compositions and conceptions.

It is usually Hebert’s presence who prompts me to give RALPH ALESSI his periodic chance. Hebert’s a spiky but fascinating bassist and Alessi himself has a pleasing tone and approach to the trumpet. His tunes are just fine, but, and of course this is purely a matter of taste, not as good as Monk, Ellington, Shorter, Cole Porter, Vernon Duke, etc. I like standards as reference points that can illuminate one’s own tunes and the structure of tunes too are guide posts without which, as here, players can seem to be terse in their statements and tangential to the tune and their bandmates. The presence of Matt Mitchell on this gig, given his role in some significant recent recordings was another attraction. He is touted as innovative and even leading a trio I might get that sense. But, paradoxically, there is a kind of stylish Innovation with a capital I that is generic. With at least a few exposures, I can appreciate what Alessi is on about and actually really like Hebert’s subversiveness. It was a worthwhile gig and with better production values than at Smalls. I bet I’d watch Alessi sometime in the next few months and no reason it shouldn’t be this one.

I’ve heard CAROLINE DAVIS perform music from her project of responding instrumentally to her grandmother’s poetry and I’ve heard her alto playing enough times in relation to tunes to have a sense of her aesthetic. Marquis Hill was the advertised trumpeter and I’d have been interested to see him again, but Kenny Warren was perfectly capable. Davis gave the two of them interesting voicings, including intertwining Ornette/Cherry lines, and each, more than Alessi with Mitchell, had chances to stretch out. Julian Shore didn’t relax into things as much so he remains a cipher on piano. Chris Tordini, like Mitchell, has shown up in interesting places and he got into good mischief. I see Jimmy Macbride rather frequently so I knew what to listen for and could smile whereas Ches Smith with Alessi was extremely capable without making an impression behind the kit. He did play vibes sometimes which was both interesting and gave the Alessi gig a bit of the New Music/chamber music feel. Davis most decidedly didn’t have that particular feel as her opener and closer featured spoken word (rap/hip hop?) artist Dave Smith who was both rhythmically effective and unintelligible to an old Jewish guy who doesn’t hear lyrics very well anyway. I’m not opposed to incorporating that part of the culture into the synthesis, being well aware of how soul/funk/rock came in from my generation, but be patient with me.

I get the GALLERY part of the Jazz Gallery. That is a part of my listening, but I usually want more unqualified JAZZ.

[txxxciii]

Welcome to pride month Mortal Kombat headcanons part 2!! I'll leave the link to the first part in the end of this post.

If you thought I'd go in a chronological order, like how I started with MK9 and should do MKX, but no. I'm just doing it in a completely random order. When will I stop? Who knows. :)

Amyways

MORTAL KOMBAT (2021) LGBT HEADCANONS

(Note: any characters I don't include I most likely consider cis straight. Another heads-up, I didn't feel like screenshoting the characters, so I'll instead use fanmade icons, but since I don't want to accidentally be disrespectful, I won't add in any flags. Also, for certain reasons, Cole and his family are entirely absent)

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

BI-HAN (HE/HIM) — HOMOSEXUAL

Man is legit so thirsty he fucking killed his crush's family /j

In all honesty, as much as I love bireena and think they're destined to be together (but every time something's wrong), I cannot comprehend the thought of 2021!Bi-han unironically liking women. Something about that fight with Hanzo just felt intimate, y'know... (if you ignore the awful camera work). Alas, he's the type of a gay person you wouldn't respect, and shouldn't, in fact.

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

SONYA BLADE (SHE/HER) — AROMANTIC ASEXUAL

2021!Sonya is sooo me fr fr. Like, the attitude? The humor? The fact that she lives somewhere in a dirt hole? The nerdy fixation?? Slay though, queen.

With everything said and checked, it's only natural that I will project my own identity into her. I feel like during her more youthful days she'd try to find some kind of a crush or a partner so she can relate to her peers, but each time it felt like a waste of space and energy. It's only when got into Special Forces that she completely gave up.

She respects people who share her mindset, or those who simply don't have the charm. She cannot stand, however, if someone insists on "fixing her" with a saying "I'm not like the other guys you've been with!". Those types of guys wake up in a dumpsite with their faces covered in bruises.

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

KUNG LAO (HE/HIM) — HOMOSEXUAL

Every iteration of Kung Lao is gay in my headcanons. The way it's presented is different.

Kung Lao, as a monk, cannot commit himself to marrying someone, therefore, falling in love is also off the list. The difficulties in maintaining a cold-hearted demeanor began when he was assigned as a temporary supervisor to Liu Kang and his heart began to melt (side note: THEY'RE NOT COUSINS! IT'S A MISTRANSLATION! THE WORD LIU USES ROUGHLY MEANS "A STUDENT SENIOR"! READ JOHN TOBIAS' TWEETS WHERE HE DISPROVES THIS MISCONCEPTION! ALSO LIU LITERALLY SAID HE'S AN ORPHAN HOW THE FUCK WOULD HE HAVE A COUSIN? THINK, MK FANDOM, THINK! sorry I'm just so sick of seeing this same statement over and over again. back to hc ^^☆). Lao knew he felt something for Liu, but was it simple friendly love, or more? He couldn't tell, as he didn't have anyone close prior to Liu Kang. Sometimes, his anxiousness becomes so intense he isolates himself, but not for long until Liu brings him down to ground.

[ICON BY instewv (deactivated)]

LIU KANG (HE/THEY) — DEMISEXUAL, DEMIBOY

I'd imagine it's hard to get to know Liu Kang on a meaningful level, not because he's avoidant, but because 99% of the time you wouldn't know what the fuck is bro thinking about (only Kung Lao could decipher the code, and he doesn't share). Liu, in general, is pretty apathetic towards people, but once he likes you, he'll let you know. Whether it's regular private talks, sharing what's his or, hell, even saying "I like you" straightforwardly.

Don't ask why he's a demiboy though. It fits the vibes ok!!

(Insert meme: "Demiboy is a spectrum", on one end - 2021!Liu Kang, on the other - 2011!Baraka)

[ICON BY evaporated-milf]

KANO (HE/HIM) — PANSEXUAL

"For you, I don't have any standards" should speak for itself.

He's that one guy who'd fantasize about being in a str/p club with all those present in the room with him right now. But then he doesn't actually do anything romantic or sexual, he just bashes someone's head against the wall.

(Bro really meant it when he suggested Liu and Lao s/ck him off in that dinner scene /j/j/j)

[ICON BY evaporated-milf]

MILEENA (SHE/HER) — BISEXUAL

Mileena is bi and it's canon, though I feel like 2021!Mileena would be masc-leaning. Doesn't mean she can't feel attracted to ladies (like girl you know you didn't need to lay on top of Sonya like that right?), but with how she's basically surrounded by men, it's obvious she'll notice her attraction with them easier.

[ICON BY evaporated-milf]

KABAL (HE/HIM) — HOMOROMANTIC ASEXUAL

Listen, at first I headcanoned 2021!Kabal as aroace since it just made sense in my eyes. But then I watched the Behind the scenes video where they said that Kabal carries Stryker's badge, "his fallen partner", and I'm like "Okay man, weird way of coming out but congrats". That's when I thought I should just make him homoace as a way of satisfying both the demon and the angel on my shoulders.

———

I didn't bother to include Raiden (genderfluid aroace) and Shang Tsung (genderfluid) since the reasoning would be the same.

This was way more fun to write as MK2021 is my niche interest that I unironically love despite knowing it's absolute trash ^^)

Anyways byeee and happy pride month!

Part 1 (Mortal Kombat 9)

[digyalikeatomb]

Shit that reminds me of my BG3 custom characters bc I just wanna talk ab them

Kedril Hunzrin (Lolth-sworn Drow Fighter Tav)

That one tiktok sound where its like "DARRRRlingggg guess who's back from JAILLLLL"

doc martens but they HAVE to be off brand and barely in one piece

that part of the music video of mr capgras encounters a secondhand vanity by will wood and the tapeworms where he's just holding up a sign that says "FUCK"

that one spongebob clip where the green fish goes "ohhHH BROTHER THIS GUY STINKS"

in man of la mancha when aldonza asks sancho why he follows him and he basically just responds with "i just like him"

I can't explain it but that Olivia Rodrigo song that plays during the credits of the new hunger games movie

Kaen Ramah/Dekarios (Wood Elf Sorcerer Tav)

also a dragon age origin tranfer if any of you care 🙄🙄 /j

"does autism give you these powers?" "yes, actually!"

any mitski song

bowtie pasta

VERY niche ref here but gwen lamorte from the prescription

taylor tomlinson's comedy bit about trying to explain empathy to straight men

that one part in bottoms where the principal goes "will the ugly, untalented gays please report to my office" over the intercom

keyleth from vox machina kinda

that big eyed hamster meme going around

"all units: my tummy hurts. I'm gonna need a warm blanky and a cup of hot choccy"

Gesa Kel (Half-Drow Monk Durge)

fuck how is this the way I'm realizing gesa doesn't really have a personality

uh

that squinting cat meme

that one part of your body my temple by will wood where the lyrics are literally just "I want to die I want to die I want to die I want to die I want to die"

actually fuck it the entirety of self-ish by will wood and the tapeworms

jane doe from ride the cyclone

voice type two (despite being voice type 6)

pcos

the asexual lesbian tumblr war that happened for some reason????

club 33 at Disneyland

[semi-imaginary-place]

#i kinda see it as a reversal or enlightenment kinda#like the gems and their society had issues but most of the issues came from the invading lunarians#we literally get to see their peace when they stopped coming#but the thing is... the gems are ultimately unfulfilled in the end#like yes....theyre happy... but in the most superficial way#the gems ultimately had their culture wiped in favor of having human luxaries#as we see when they become lunarians#but of course the gems are also so inexperienced with handling emotion and personal issues that they ultimately ignore them#we see it again and again with dia...cairn...ghost...pad...#like the life of the gems on earth lowkey is like being a monk#little to no possessions etc etc#so at the end of the day i think the gems being unfulfilled is intentional#mostly because its something they did themselves#*reversal OF enlightenment#i think the point where the lunarians stopped invading was probably the point where gem society was at its peak in terms of happiness#random addition: I know why when people color the gem lunarians as vaguely the color their gem was but personally i think it makes way more#sense for them to be the yellow/white.... they basically gave up everything that made them unique....practically indistinguishable from#moon lunarians#especially because of what amethyst says about the shine of a food kinda looking like a gem almost reminded them of something#i think that they straight up choose to ignore the fact they were gems#sorry for my prolonged insanity op 😔

You left a feast in the tags, these are such good points. I mean 10,000 years and none of them could find enlightenment and delete themselves they had to wait to be prayed away instead of doing it themselves. They just ignore their problems and never deal with them leaving them unresolved. Like Dia never did anything to to resolve their issues surrounding bort, just focused on being a pop idol instead. I hadn't thought about it but the more I do the more the gem school does resemble a monastery. It's extremely isolated with simple living, a uniform, and has no greater goal than existing (compare to most like sierra club lobbies for environmental protection, or who is for global health). Phos felt unfulfilled enough at the begining of the series to do something about it. They take the easy path of assimilating into moon society and erasing their uniqueness in favor of an easy life where they don't have to struggle with complex uncomfortable ideas. They immediately give up on finding their own enlightenment and just wait for phos to do it for them.

Part of the gem story resolution came in an Japan only art book thing "Party at the End" which was released with.. vol 12?

Because of how intentional things in hnk are. I wonder if the gems stories left unfinished was intentional like in the end it doesn't really matter how they end. Those are 10,000 years we don't see as are the other timeskips because Phos is the main and pov character.