#this movie absolutely rocks btw you should check it out

[ms-spkhd]

thinking about a Blast From the Past steddie au tonight. like, think about it for a second--steve as the sweet, well-meaning himbo raised in a fallout shelter and eddie as the cynic who shows him the world as it is:

The year was 1962, and an atomic bomb had just dropped on top of the Harrington household.

Okay, not really. It was actually a fighter jet that suffered a mechanical failure just above the little plot of land the Harringtons called their home, but Walter Harrington took it differently. Far differently.

See, the thing was that the man was living in a state of paranoid delusion over the Cold War--terrified of the possibility of an outright nuclear holocaust over the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Soviet Union. He had been carefully building a fallout shelter under his home for his wife and possible children to live in with the works--canned food, running water, and even a working television.

And one day they went in and simply never left. The explosion right when they closed the door was tangible proof that the nuclear war was happening right above them.

A few years later, around 1968, a baby boy was born in a fallout shelter with no one but his mom and dad to keep him company.

They raised Steve the best they could, even if Walter Harrington was a mad genius and Madeline Harrington was a borderline alcoholic. Even if the boy was living in a perfect little time capsule of the fifties and early sixties. Walter made sure to educate him right and teach him how to be a sociable gentleman--even if he had no idea what swear words or the concept of sex were. That was for another time. Although, twenty-four years came and went for Steve Harrington, his father still owes him 'another time'.

Steve Harrington grows twenty-four years in perfect seclusion, but that changes at the flick of a switch.

The year is 1992: supplies are dwindling Walter is growing sick, and Steve is tasked to bravely set foot in the nuclear fallout to retrieve more material. (The only reason why Walter assumes they can even get more stuff is because he observed the outside world when the shelter unlocked and mistook it as a post-apocalyptic mutant society.)

The moment Steve made it outside his little bubble, he was utterly fascinated by the world--how different the people were outside of his television and his little books, how bright the sky was outside, how the irritable man on the bus wouldn't accept the money he tried to give him, how the bus moved and didn't fling him right off his seat.

(He even saw an adult bookstore. Dad told him that those things were filled with poisonous gas. How were they even to operate if they were filled with poisonous gas? That's dangerous and totally inconsiderate of the general public's safety.)

Anyway, he tries to follow the grocery list that Mom and Dad gave him the best he can, stocking up on poultry and tissue paper and the works. But by the end of the day, he doesn't know where he came from. Not a single sign or building or person can give him a single clue where to go.

After a few hours of wandering, suitcase in hand, he comes across a store with WE BUY BASEBALL CARDS written on the window.

Golly, Steve loves baseball cards--could look at Dad's collection for hours, and with the collection he has, he could make a pretty penny selling them for supplies. Despite the little hobby store being beside an adult bookstore with poisonous gas, he scampers right in.

"I see you're looking to buy baseball cards," he says breezily to the gruff, scary-looking man behind the counter.

"That I am," he replies.

Steve pulls a few from his jacket's inner pocket. "Well, these are a bit old, you see, but I was hoping you still might be interested."

The gruff man yanks them from his hands, a spark in his eye. He looks delighted to see them, and it fills Steve with an excitement he hadn't felt at all today. Nobody has been this happy over something he's done today. "Woah," he gasps, then covers it with a cough. "Mickey Mantle rookie season...how much do you want?"

"I was hoping to sell all of my cards, actually!"

The man sputters incredulously. "All of 'em? Are you fucking with me?"

"I'm not sure what that means, but all I have are hundred-dollar bills and I need something smaller. Like, uh...ones, tens, fives..."

"Tell you what, I'll give you five hundred in small bills for all you got."

Steve smiles brightly. "Oh, that would be wonderful, sir--"

"Five hundred for a case-full of rookie season Mickey Mantles, Rick, are you fucking joking?" A deep voice cuts through Steve's thanks from the other side of the small store. He turns around to find a man leaning against a magazine rack, arms folded sternly.

The man is unlike Steve's ever seen before. Long, long limbs and big brown eyes that look traced with black and smudged around the edges. Pretty lips, too almost girl-ish, in the way they were big and plush like the women he'd see on the television. The strangest thing about him, though, was the curly hair that tumbled past his shoulders.

He looked mad, though. Madder than mad.

"Tell the poor guy you're fucking with him," long-hair-pretty-lips says to the man behind the counter, who bristles.

"Were you raised in a fucking barn, Munson? Who told you to interrupt on business?" Rick counters. Steve was really not appreciating the amount of f-words dropped in the conversation, it was uncouth.

"Sure I was!" Munson saunters towards the counter and Steve's eyes follow him like a moth to a light. "But my morals go past your business practices at this point. You remember the ninth commandment, yeah?"

"You shut your Goddamn mouth--"

"Excuse me sir, but I really don't appreciate how you're using the Lord's name in vain like that," Steve says firmly.

"See?" Munson smiles. It's like sunlight. "He gets it."

He plucks the baseball card from Rick's hand and holds it over his head when he tries to reach for it again. "See this little thing?" He says to Steve sweetly. "This guy costs six grand alone."

"Get out of town! Really?"

"Oh yeah, big guy. Selling the thing would give you a small fortune, and Rick over here is trying to con you out of it."

Steve frowns. "Is that true?" He asks Rick.

"Nothing but," Munson says in place of him. He slips the card back into Steve's hands and gives them a pat.

"The Hell is even keeping you here, Munson?" Rick sneers. "Did the gig you won't shut up about fall through like they usually do? Better to bum it out here than in your shithole apartment? Stop loitering in my damn store and make like a fucking tree. You're banned."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Munson says rolling his eyes. He looks at Steve, then the door, gesturing at it with a flick of his head. "I'll see you out, Beaver."

He walks them both out the door, stopping to gesture at Rick strangely--hands balled into fists with only his middle fingers up--before stepping outside onto the sidewalk.

"Well merci, Monsieur," Steve says appreciatively, because Dad taught him French was always to be used on such occasions.

"What, you're French?"

"Oh no, I'm"--he thinks back to what Dad told him if a mutant asks where he's from. Gosh, he thinks he's supposed to be--"out on business."

"And you don't even have a clue about the little business trick that Rick tried to pull?"

"No...no, I--"

"Yeah, doesn't matter." Munson shrugs. He smiles sympathetically at Steve before turning on his heel and walking off. Oh boy, what would he do without him?

He follows him like a lost puppy, that's what.

"...You going the same way?" Munson asks incredulously. Steve shakes his head.

"Well, I'm following you."

Munson stops in his tracks, blinking, and Steve almost runs into him in his state. "Me?"

"Well yes! Where are we going?"

"We?" Munson asserts. "I'm going back to my shithole apartment, and judging by that jacket you're wearing, you should be taking the next left and hop-skipping straight to the barber college."

"Oh, I'm lost, though."

"Aren't we all?"

"Say, did you just get banned from that hobby store because of me?" Steve says to change the subject.

Munson sighs. "Seems like I did, sailor. The place was shitty anyways, with that dickhead running the operation. Wayne could get better cards from a different joint."

...dickhead? Steve's never heard that leave the seams of anyone's lips before. "Dickhead?"

"Yeah, he's a real fucking loser. A walking talking penis capable of human speech."

Steve gets queasy at the image he's concocted in his head. He leans against the nearest brick wall, his suitcase tumbling to the ground as he drops into a contemplative squat.

"Dude, what is wrong with you?"

"Well, the mental image that I..."

Munson's eyebrows scrunch before he reaches out a hand to Steve. He takes it, letting the man haul him upward. "Look, man, where'd you park your car?"

"I came by bus."

"Aren't you full of surprises."

"I am?"

"Okay look." Eddie raises his hands, palms splayed in the air. "It's your first time in Los Angeles, right? Everyone wants a taste of it, I know, and you're out for business and fucking famished. You got the opportunity to see the great big world outside of your little bubble and you got excited--but you took a bus and got mixed up in the middle of San Fernando Valley without a clue in the world. Am I correct?"

Steve listens in wonderment. So far, Munson's been correct in a way. He's convinced he might be psychic. He nods slowly and seriously just to see Munson flash that lighting-strike smile.

"Great, great. Which brings us to here. Correct again?"

"Oh yeah."

"Where are you staying?"

Nowhere, at the moment. Steve opens his mouth to say so, but Munson interrupts quickly. "Holiday Inn?"

"Yes, the Holiday Inn!" Steve says totally truthfully.

"Okay, cool. Cool." Munson claps his hands together with finality and starts walking. "The nearest bus station is a couple of blocks away if you take a right--"

"Don't you have a car?"

Munson stops in his tracks again. He turns to face Steve once again. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

Something warm pools in Steve's gut at the pet name. Something about the way those pretty lips form that word sends blood rushing to his cheeks. "Steve," he says.

"Alright, Steve." Oh boy, his name sounds even better when Munson says it. "Rule number one in Los Angeles? Never let a stranger drive you anywhere."

"If it makes you feel any better," Steve says sweetly, "I don't have a gun."

Munson pales, then starts running.

"Hey!" Steve cries and makes haste to follow him. "I must've said something wrong, please forgive me!"

"Nope, nope--get the fuck away from me, man!"

He grabs Munson's wrist to pull him back, which is a bad move since the man starts writhing around in his grip. "I'm not going to hurt you, sir!"

Steve drops Munson's hand and raises his in surrender. "See?"

"...Just let me get to my car."

"I'll give you a Rogers Hornsby if you take me to my hotel," Steve reasons.

Munson stills. "...That's like four grand, don't bullshit me."

He pulls the card from his jacket and presents it as evidence. "See? I was holding it back." He wants Munson to feel safe. "I got two." He reaches for the other cards in his pockets and pulls them out. "And-and all these other ones, too!"

"Okay, okay. You'll give me four thousand dollars if I drive you to your place?"

"Uh-uh!"

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"And I don't have to give you a quickie in the backseat or anything?"

"Yes sir--wait, what?"

Munson blows past his question like it didn't even leave Steve's mouth. "Can you stop with the sir crap?"

"Well, I'm sorry, sir--"

"My name is Eddie."

Eddie...Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. Wow, what a name. It's almost like something he's heard on the television.

"Why, it's nice to meet you, Eddie."

"Tolerable to meet you too, Steve."

Steve smiles shyly, then asks, "So are you a girl?"

"Excuse me?"

"Well it's just your hair...it's so long." Steve points at his as an example. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Dude, it's 1992, every other guy looks like this--have you been living under a rock or something?"

Something like that. Steve shrugs.

"Well guys having long hair doesn't mean that they're girls, Steve, that's a given. It's not 1962 anymore." Eddie backtracks. "Well, I mean, dudes can have long hair and be chicks and chicks can be dudes too but that's not--"

"Oh, wow, my dad told me about one of those the last time he went here!"

"Oh that's fantastic, sweetheart," Eddie says, sugary-sweet. "But how about I drive you home?"

"That'd be a pleasure, Eddie."

[dorefasolsido]

2.

1. What are you doing at this exact moment? (I want details, people!)

Details, okay. Sitting on the floor in the living room and doing a survey on my laptop while half listening to this true crime video my sister is watching. Occasionally checking my phone too.

2. The one song you will never get sick of? Additionally, any song recommendations?

I feel like there are sooo many songs I won’t get sick of. But I’ll go with Blood Sweat & Tears by BTS -- that song is just *chef’s kiss*. Alsooo, Jimin’s whole new album is fantastic, so that’s my recommendation.

3. Name everything you have ever wanted to be (occupations and random things, like animals!)

Oof, I’m pretty sure I won’t even be able to remember it all. But here goes nothing: writer, translator, chocolate factory owner, astronaut, archaeologist, Santa Claus, teacher, wizard in Harry Potter, actor, singer, artist, and ever since I got a cat, I’ve really wanted to switch places with it too.

4. What is the best fanfic you have ever read?

Ahahah so honestly, I only read really bad fanfics since I find them so funny. When I was younger I used to read some good ones too. But at this stage of my life, the more messy they are, the better. My absolute favourite of all time is My Immortal and well, it’s not good per se, but it’s a work of art.

5. Name every fandom you have ever been in! 

I’m a fan of many things but I used to avoid fandoms, so it’s only recently that I’ve actually got involved in a few. So I’d say just AoT fandom (a complete mess btw) and Army.

6. What is the saddest movie you have ever watched? Additionally, movie recommendations?

Any films where dogs die or watch their owners die, like, why. I think I cried my soul out watching Hachi and I’m not even much of a crier normally.

As for movie recs, Oldboy. Korean version though. Thank me or curse me later.

7. If you could direct your own TV show/movie, what would it be like?

I’d probably go for psychological horror with some really bizarre twist or so.

8. The cringiest account/fan account you’ve ever made? (oh god) 

I didn’t really have any, I think. There was a time I had this weird Google+ account where I followed anime pages and even became an admin of one, but I don’t think there was anything super cringy there.

...I hope.

9. What’s your aesthetic? Describe it to us.

I’m not really sure I even have an aesthetic, but I’m like a mixture of K-pop and rock/alternative/grunge scene with a little dash of Halloween (so, all in all, lots of black clothes).

10. One thing you’ve always wished you could do / be good at?

Dancing or painting.

11. Put a picture of your best (or your worst!) fanart/drawing ever!

I only do little chibi doodles here and there but they’re all pretty horrible lol

12. The best book you have ever read? Additionally, any book recommendations?

Oof, that’s a hard one. I guess one of my all-time favourites is The Trial by Kafka, but I have to mention Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata because I feel like that book both fully understands me and also changed my entire outlook on life. It’s really short too, so everyone can and should read it!

13. Most exotic food you’ve ever had?

Idk, I don’t think I’ve eaten anything too exotic. I guess octopus is kind exotic in these parts, so I’ll go with that.

14. Post a picture of the weirdest/funniest text conversation you’ve ever had!

I don’t really save pictures of my convos with friends and I won’t go looking for anything now.

15. Random fun fact about you!

Last summer at 4 am in the morning, I decided to just chop off my bangs, so I grabbed regular kitchen scissors and did it, no planning, no idea what I’m doing, no nothing. Surprisingly, they turned out okay -- not the best, but acceptable. I shudder to think what could’ve been now that I actually watched some tutorials and know how I'm supposed to do it.

16. What do you think of me?

You’re a real engima.

17. Do you have any fake names? Pseudonyms? Idk, stage names, street names? If not, what would it be?

Nah, and I don’t know what name I would give myself anyway.

18. What is your idea of a perfect life?

Just having the financial freedom to travel the world whenever I want and health to support such adventures for as long as possible. 

19. Finish the sentence: “Oh, to be a _____”

Cat.

20. Is there a stranger you would like to meet again?

A sweet old woman I met on the bus once who was telling me about her health problems. She was so grateful because I adjusted something on her phone, and I really hope she’s doing better now.

21. Post a picture of you/someone you know doing something weird. Do it, you won’t. Coward. (Obviously the pic doesn’t have to have a face in it)

Nah, I’m definitely a coward

22. Is there a place you feel homesick for even though you’ve never been there? 

So, I wouldn’t really call that homesick, but I desperately want to visit Japan. And sometimes when I watch stuff related to Japan and see the nature and the streets and all, I just go like ;-; take me there already

23. Basic, but what’s your sign?

Leo

24. What sign do you act like? What sign do you wish you were?

Idk for sure, but I always think I act more like my rising sign, Aquarius. And I don’t know which sign I’d like to be, it doesn’t really make a difference to me

25. What is one unusual thing you do?

I’m in the process of making 1000 origami cranes because a legend says you can make a wish once you’re done. I don’t actually know what I’d wish for, but by the time I’m done, I’m sure I’ll figure it out

[smellybead]

I have SOME specific bands (ofc they would have more that theyd listen to but this is just like some examples) but not for all the ninja afdsbsdfh just the ones i can project stuff i listen to onto them (also ik morros not one of the ninja in canon but shhh)

Lloyd: Car seat headrest, mitski, vocaloid (hc that one of his spins is/was miku/vocaloid LOL), sign crushes motorist, the front bottoms, hozier, bedroom, alex g, AJJ, mcr, ptv, and uhh some other emo artists also scene idk i dont listen to heaps of that so im not sure

Cole: foo fighters, nirvana, alice in chains, jimmy hendrix, TOOL, nirvana, korn, ghost (get it akjbfjhds), AC/DC seeing as its on his shirt from the movie lol, rage against the machine, deftones, soad, rammstein, pearl jam, radiohead, kittie, also soft rock ofc bc of canon ig

Morro: The exploited, the misfits, days n daze, the subhumans, *insert some hardcore punk bands sorry idk im a folk punk girly*, apes of the state, sister wife sex strike (BTW YOU SHOULD CHECK THIS BAND OUT !!), Mischeif brew, i wont put too many folk punk bands bc he prob doesnt listen to folk punk as much but yk i wanna put a few, also: The cure, souixsie and the banshees, bauhaus, strawberry switchblade, the crane wives (pretends like he doesnt listen to tcw but he absolutely does listen to them), uhhh i could def think of more but im sure thats enough for you to get my vision

Out of curiosity, what are peoples headcanons for the ninja’s music tastes?

I want to make playlists for some of the characters so thought it’d be cool to hear ppls diff ideas :o

[colorseeingchick]

Ho! Congratulations for your 200 followers! If the event is still open, could I request a matchup with a character from BNHA? I’m Italian (sorry for my english btw) my pronouns are she/her and I’m bisexual. I’m an ESFJ and a Gemini. I have green eyes and dyed cherry red hair. I dress with black clothes and I wear black eyeshadow or eyeliner. I’m the sweet mom friend of the group, always there for everyone and my friends say that I’m really good at comforting people. I’m very optimistic, I always try to see the good in everything and I often put other’s needs before my own, I would do everything for the people I care about and sometimes I’ve been told that I’m too kind for my own good. I have a sarcastic humor and I love making others laugh, people say that I should be more serious and that I shouldn’t joke around so much. I don’t like when people tell me what to do and I’m not afraid to stand up for myself or for someone else. I absolutely love listening to music ( Mother Mother are my favs!), it helps me relax, after a bad day when I get home I put on music and dance. I also love watching horror movies even though it’s impossible to scare me. I really hope I did this right, have a great day :)

Hello! Your English is perfect don’t even worry!

I feel like there are so many people I could match you with, but I think the best fit is…

Kirishima Eijirou!

You and Kiri would be such a cUTE couple. Your vibes would match and your roles in your friend group would be complimentary. You’d be each other’s safe spaces and keep each other grounded. Also he’s a libra (he just VIBES like a libra I was so happy to see I was right when I looked it up HAHA), and libra-gemini couples are my FAVORITE (but I might be a bit biased as a gemini).

Kirishima would meet you at the beginning of the year. You were all first years, but you were an international student coming from Italy - so you were a bit more nervous. I think from the moment you walked into class though, Kirishima found you to be so pretty. He absolutely lost it when he saw your hair, because someone else had red hair like his (he thought it looked so good on you). He’s a really extroverted kind guy as we know, and I’m sure that he would introduce himself and try to befriend you right away.

And that friendship would blossom pretty quickly. You would find your way into the Bakusquad over time. It was a natural progression, really. It would start with you and Jirou becoming best friends right away, both rocking black fits with dark makeup. You would do her makeup for her, and would listen to music together often just hanging out in her room. For fun, Mina would often join you two, spilling tea and listening to your music as well. She’d be the one to dance with you while Jirou ‘DJ’ed. From there, Denki, Sero, and Kiri would crash, occasionally dragging Bakugou along as well. And that’s how the gang formed.

You fit in with them so well, and by spending so much time with them, Kirishima really wasn’t given much of an option but to fall for you. You loved cracking jokes, so Denki and Sero were always making practical jokes with them. You also loved to have sarcastic commentary to piss Bakugou off, which Kirishima found hilarious. However, you filled the mom-friend role in the group, taking care of them and being the person who they could go to if they were feeling down. There were a lot of scary things that happened as UA hero course students, so they found an insane amount of comfort in you, especially Kirishima. He had a hard time opening up to Bakugou about it, so he’d come to you (Sero and Denki didn’t seem like the types who would be good with that type of comfort). You also would do anything for them. This resonated with Kiri heavily. He was the same way. He found that loyalty to be a key part of his personality, and to find that in a girl was insanely attractive to him. But I think the point where he found you to be the one for him was when he saw how you stood up to Monoma when he was harassing your classmates. You weren’t afraid, nor did you back down. And that was insanely ‘manly.’ Kiri was basically in love at that point.

It took a lot of bullying coaxing by Mina, Denki, Sero, and Bakugou to get Kiri to confess, but he did. He was ready to be rejected and he was gonna take it like a real man (IE- be a gentleman about it and still be kind to you, but cry in his room later), but he felt like the world was floating when you said yes and gave him a hug.

As a couple, you both were able to support each other while also keeping each other in place with realism. You were both very optimistic- and being optimistic is a toll! But because you both had each other, you felt less alone in your optimism and it was easier on you both. It was also hard to put other’s needs before your own, because it was draining, but because you both gave unconditionally to each other, it felt like you both weren’t gonna burn out for the first time. You did keep each other in check, though. When you felt like people were using Kirishima, you weren’t afraid to tell them upfront to knock it off, because Kiri wouldn’t do it himself. And Kiri would return that favor. You both knew when the other had to take care of themself more. Kiri would also remind you when to take something a little bit more seriously if you were in a high stakes situation. That being said, he’d never tell you what to do. He’d always be the boyfriend to give you suggestions and advice, but support your decisions unless they were actively hurting you. If he thought you were going to far, he’d step in even if you were mad at him. To him, your wellbeing comes before all.

As a couple you spent your time in a lot of ways. You both loved watching horror movies. While you didn’t get scared, Kiri definitely did, but he’d try and hide it as much as possible. Usually he’d just hug you tight and try not to flinch, but if it was too scary he’d just hide behind you, and you’d usually laugh at him. He’d also listen to music with you (he loved doing what you loved, it made him feel closer to you), and he’d always make you dance with him. Whether it's just jumping around or actually partner dancing (he thinks partner dancing is so manly), he’d love it. Whenever either of you needed to touch up your roots, you’d often just do it for each other. But you both also spent a lot of time with your friend group. You’d go on adventures together and make a lot of jokes, Kiri always laughing and by your side.

Overall your relationship with Kirishima would be super supportive and loving. He’d have your back no matter what, and he slept peacefully every night knowing that you would do the same for him.

~~~ I hope you enjoyed!!! You seem so so fun and like a wonderful human being please stop by my askbox if you want to!

[gra-sonas]

Hello! Can you recommend me some good songs in German and some tv shows? I started to learn it and i think it will help Danke? I am not sure if that's the right way Please stay safe! Also i came for TW and i think i'll stay for RNM

Hallo German-learning nonnie! :D

Mhmm, good songs in German. 🤔 Let me think.

I would definitely recommend listening to songs from “Neue Deutsche Welle” (New German Wave”). That’s not a band btw, it’s a (West) German rock music genre from the late 70s/early 80s. Sooo many great songs, and great lyrics (which is kind of the point for you, right?)

Maybe you’ve even listened to one? “99 Luftballons” (99 Red Balloons) by Nena is probably the internationally most well known NDW song.

If you have Spotify or Deezer, just search for Neue Deutsche Welle, that should provide you with some excellent playlists. I’m sure YT also has NDW playlists.

I’m not overly familiar with the current German music scene tbh. I don’t listen to the radio and don’t pay attention to German charts. 

There are several rock or pop artists and bands singing in German tho. In no particular order and not necessarily music I listen to myself, but at the top of my head I can think of the following artists (mixed genres across the board): Adel Tawil, Wincent Weiss, Annett Louisan, Glasperlenspiel, Silbermond, Herbert Grönemeyer, Die Ärzte, Fettes Brot, Die Fantastischen Vier, Sarah Connor, Mark Forster, Gil Ofarim, Tim Bendzko, Ich + Ich, Die Toten Hosen, Unheilig, and a million others.

Maybe just listen to some of them and see wether you like their music and then let the algorithm suggest you similar artists? Also check the lyrics and see whether that’s what you’ve been looking for and if it can help you to learn German.

Something I think could also be very beneficial: reading books. It doesn’t have to be Goethe (to Germany what Shakespeare is to Great Britain). It can be children’s books, or young adult books, also comics. (FUCK JKTERFROWLING TO HELL AND BACK, but if you liked Harry Potter, the books have been translated into German, pls just don’t buy them and make that transphobic asshole richer, the HP books in German are available as ebooks “for free”). 

Reading a familiar story in a foreign language will be easier than trying to read something completely new. Pretty much any YA book series will also be available in German, same goes for comics, romance novels, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, crime stories and so on. My English VASTLY improved by reading books (and fanfic 😌) in case you like to read, that’s something I‘d definitely suggest you also check out.

As for German TV shows. LOL, I watch so little German TV, kinda difficult for me to come up with recs. One show I highly recommend is DARK tho, it’s 3 seasons, all done and wrapped, and it’s on Netflix. It’s a bit like Stranger Things, only in 3-D (it’s super complex with various timelines, but it’s glorious and so, so good!). 

If you have Netflix, you could also see whether there are any other German shows available. IDK, Netflix differs from country to country/region to region, there are probably differences.

Oh, and I think on YT you can find several queer storylines from recent and older German soaps with English subtitles. We’ve had queer storylines on most soaps since the 90s, and international fans have been really great at curating playlists. Maybe that’s something you might enjoy.

Something that rather pains me to suggest: just watch your favorite TV show or movie in German. 🤦‍♀️ In Germany EVERYTHING (on TV and in movie theaters) is dubbed. Game of Thrones? Available in German. Wonder Woman? Sure, she speaks German fluently. This won’t help you with 1:1 translations (German dubbing tries its best to lip-sync, meaning that the spoken German is in sync with the lip movements of the original speaker, so dialogue translations are not always 100% accurate, certain jokes or word games will also be changed to make them work in German). A bit like reading a book you like in German, watching a familiar film or show in German can give you a better idea of the “flow” of the language. 

Also pronunciation. Shows and movies are usually dubbed in “high German”, so no tricky German accents you’ll struggle to understand. And if possible, download GERMAN subtitles for whatever you watch. You might not understand everything they say, but reading what they say will help you to recognize words much better than watching sth in German with subtitles in your own language and than you’re just busy constantly “translating” instead of paying attention to the German. 

Another genre we have in Germany, and German kids (and adults) LOVE: Hörspiele (audio dramas)! Whether you listened to Benjamin Blümchen (a talking elephant who lives at the local zoo), Bibi Blocksberg (a kid witch) as a kid or Die Drei ??? (The Three Investigators, most successful audio drama series world wide, the series recently celebrated its 40th birthday - the speakers started when they were kids in the late 1970s, they are all over 50yrs old now and still record 4-6 dramas/year and their live tours with more than 10K audience/show are legendary) as a young adult, most kids in Germany grow up listening to audio dramas. 

Even adults continue to listen to them (I’m a HUGE Drei ??? fan myself, I don’t listen to the dramas to fall asleep tho, unlike most other people, but I went to see them live last year and it was The Absolute Best Thing In All Of 2019). There are so many different genres, and stories, there are audio dramas for almost any age group (and thus language skill level), and it’s really cool.

Okay, this got long. Not sure if any of this will be helpful for you, but I hope you’ll find something you’ll enjoy, that will also help you tackling the German language. Good luck and “viel Spaß”!

You stay safe, too, nonnie!

And yay for staying for RNM, chances are you won’t regret it! ❤️

ETA: German movie rec from @manesalex : Lola Rennt (Thanks, Molly!)

[elven-ariaera]

Read the New Leaf Diaries first here!

Start from NH Diaries part 1: Permanent Island Getaway

Day 7

Kitt moved in this morning. It felt so good to have her back in my life. I did not realize how nostalgic I would get already, but no matter what, I am sticking with my plan to move forward. Citytown is behind me, and Islandtown is my future.

I got a free tee-shirt in the mail from Dodo Airlines. Audie didn’t seem to care much about it and gave me a lecture on fashion. I guess she does know what she’s talking about. Maybe I should pawn it off on some poor unsuspecting fool…

Until then, all I can do is think about my life choices while wearing this dumb dodo shirt…

That night a terrifying thing happened. A tarantula appeared and tried to get Audie! Luckily for her, I had a bug net in hand. I crept up next to the little sucker and swiped my net! …Only to miss and get bitten by the arachnid. Luckily she dragged me back to my house and all was well again. 

You know, that’s a reoccurrence that I could never quite figure out. Whenever I am bitten by a spider or stung by bees to the point of passing out, I always wind up back in my home. Who is taking me there? Is that you, Antonio? 

Day 8

I caught a Whale Shark! I thought about doing a little more fishing after my excellent finds two nights ago and my word I’ve done it again! Sure it was the most ridiculously heavy thing I’ve ever had to reel in — I’m surprised the line didn’t snap — but I did it!

I brought it to Blathers to give it a nice new home in the museum. Let me tell you, finding a plastic baggie big enough to bring it in was its own challenge. He told me some interesting tidbits about the gentle giant. Learning can be fun sometimes!

Is that an actual option?

I had also been working on a garden for a while now and I must say it is really coming along! I’m so pleased… That’s it. There’s no punchline. Not everything in life is a joke! Can’t I just have a moment of serenity for once in my life?

Oh, I had nearly forgotten! Stitches finally moved in! I’m not sure why he was the last one to move in when I asked him first, but I guess he had a lot of things to unpack. I visited him to welcome him to the neighborhood as he unpacked and he was very persistent about cleaning the back left corner of his home… Even though the entire floor was coated in dirt.

In other news, Audie and I have continued to bond and I’ve learned some things about her. She might not be as innocent as I initially thought…

I didn’t realize you played Smash Bros too!

But then we got to chatting about movies and it turns out she’s writing one. A rock-opera to be exact. While I was genuinely interested, its plot was a little hard to follow…

Really, all the neighbors and I have been getting along rather well. I jumped in on a conversation between Bud and Kitt, though, and it seems they have rather opposite tastes. Literally.

All these wacky shenanigans that go on in this town, I swear, it’d make for some kind of sitcom. I actually just received a cartoonist set from Kitt earlier, perhaps I’ll try my hand at it sometime. For now, these journals will have to suffice.

Day 9

I had gotten a new room expansion for my house the other day and it seems that word spread quickly! Audie has been dying to come over and see the place since the first day, but now she has sort of been inviting herself over. 

It’s not that I don’t want her over, she’s easily become my best friend of all the island’s residents that live here. I simply want to gussy up the place before she comes. Still, she remains persistent… Is this what Antonio felt like about my persistence? 

…Man, what a great feeling to be loved and admired so much.

I headed over to check in on Stitches today seeing as he was still new to island life. He seems to be progressing rather quickly and is already doing stuff.

On another note, he keeps insisting that he has bug friends who live inside the floor and whisper things to him while he sleeps. Should I be concerned? 

Mabel dropped by today to set up shop in the town plaza. I always enjoy her selection of clothing to pick from. She’s also quite the trooper — It rained practically all day today, and still, she stood outside waiting for potential customers. I do think I was the only one though…

She just stands there… Menacingly!

Later that night Audie insisted on coming over again. I did explain to her that I was waiting for the renovations on my new room aka extension walk-in closet to be finished before anyone saw, and she seemed to understand, so we went back to her place to chat for a while. I found it a little ironic that she didn’t want me to snoop around her house yet she kept trying to persuade me to invite her over to my house… Does she have a secret shrine of me? 

…That would be so sweet! She’s the best friend I ever had!

We later went on a late-night stroll and things got real. I told her about my previous fishing escapades and she kept freaking out. It seems she has a severe case of ichthyophobia. 

Day 10

The resident’s hall was under construction and they have now finished and revealed the new and improved plaza. It looks magnificent! Nook had even gotten new help from off-island. He hired Isabelle, my assistant from back home. I guess Citytown isn’t doing so hot without me… 

Now I have no quarrel with Isabelle under normal circumstances, but I can’t help but feel that Nook is trying to replace me. I am your island representative, not her! Don’t you dare get any ideas…

Ugh, Isabelle, you make it so hard to hate you when you act so precious!

Anyway, it’s clear that I’m still the favorite of the residents. Stitches came by and gave me a house-warming gift even though he was the one who just moved in… Still, it was much appreciated.

I dropped by the town hall today to carry on business as usual, but of course, Tom Nook just had to rave about what a great help Isabelle would be. I mean, sure, she did let me change the flag because of my magnificent artistic potential, but that doesn’t change anything! I’ve got my eye on you, Isabelle…

Btw, the flag looks fabulous. 

Other business included the construction of a suspension bridge. Of course, most of that money was coming out of my pocket, but still, if it could save me from a pole-vaulting accident, I’d gladly pay the majority.

I decided to look for more resources to sell off-island and the dodo’s brought me to a wonderful place. They brought me to an island filled with rare hybrid colored cosmos growing all over! It was truly a sight to behold! My garden would look absolutely stunning with some of these added in the variety! Why haven’t these dodo-brains ever brought me here before? Oh…

In addition, I think my talk with Audie yesterday night helped her overcome her fear of fish. But I still don’t think she understands how fishing works…

Day 11

I still needed to make some money for that suspension bridge, so I thought a little bug catching and tree shaking would do the trick. Kitt called out to me, asking if I was having a fun time bug catching. She then apologized for assuming, and though she did assume correctly, I appreciate her earnest apology. 

We also opened a campsite today! To think, the future resident of my town would soon be here! Nook was very persistent about persuading people to settle down here, and I couldn’t agree more. I wonder what kind of animal they would be? I wonder if maybe… No. Certainly he wouldn’t be there…

Enough stressing myself out over the thought of my future resident. I also took another mystery flight from Dodo Airlines to see what magnificent isle they might bring me to today. Yesterdays “Hybrid Island,” as I am thoughtfully dubbing it, was a sight to behold. How could they ever top that?

In short, they didn’t. They brought me to an island where every fish in the river was a black bass. Every. Single. One.

I hate you all…

As awful as that experience was, I had to be grateful that the ocean fish were not all sea basses. Ugh. I shudder at the very thought of such a place even existing. Still, I complained to their manager. I had already booked a Nook Miles Ticket in advance, so their flight tomorrow had better be good!

All the neighbors today kept stressing out about the Happy Home Designers committee and I just couldn’t understand why. They give you nice presents if you do a good job decorating your home, right? Well, when speaking to Audie, she presented it to me in a whole different way. I’ll never look at the Happy Home community the same way again…

A friend of mine had invited me and another chum over to his island later that evening. It was a delightful night filled with picnics and hide-and-go-seek.

I also met someone. Roald. His eyes were so striking, I could not look away. With that and his chiseled features, one could easily… No. Stop it. You are a one-anteater kind of woman! Someday he’ll come back. I know he will. Until then, I must resist the sweet temptations of this gorgeous hunk of penguin. 

Oh, you lift? I can tell…

Day 12

Today’s the day~

We have a guest at the campsite! Oh, I can’t wait to meet them! I’m so excited that I had to write about it the first minute I got up today! This lucky fellow isn’t even aware that they’re going to be our future resident! Ooo, I’m so excited! I have to go! I’ll write more when I get back tonight!

I don’t want to talk about it. Ugh, but I have to vent somewhere, don’t I?

Our guest today was Graham, the hamster. Ugh. I do not like Graham. Why? He’s such a wannabe poser! He claims he’s a celebrity and uses corny terms all the time. He greeted me by saying “Bonjourno!” and later exclaimed his excitement by shouting “Guten Tag!” First — that’s not even the same language as you were faking before, second, you’re not using that phrase properly! Don’t think I’m not onto you, hamster.

To make matters worse, he doesn’t even refer to me by my name. He just calls me “Hey, you!” Do you even know who I am, pal? I’m more a celebrity than you’ll ever be!

Ugh, after that nightmare finally ended (for now,) I needed a bit of joy in my life. Stitches was the perfect friend to brighten my day. But then I screwed that up too — I thought it would be cute to give him a stuffed Panda Bear, and then I remembered he is a stuffed bear. Oh, my dear sweet Stitches, I am so very sorry.

Then Gulliver washed up on my shore again. Even he is aware of my excess loads of free time so, of course, I had to help him…

I decided it was time to just take a breather and use that Nook Miles Ticket I had. I looked the pilot dead in the eyes before we took off and said, “I swear, if you bring me to black bass island one more time, it will be the last thing you ever do.” Needless to say, he brought me to Bell Rock island today. I went to the island with 5,000 bells and came home with 87,000. I am one satisfied customer.

By the way, how does that work? I understand when I chip away at a rock and things like stone or clay fall from it, but bells? Perhaps bells are actually a type of stone valued so much by the animal people it’s used as currency? You see, I could accept that, but the fact that sometimes it flies out of the rock wrapped in little bags, it just baffles me!

Well, with all my profits from that trip I managed to pay for another bridge. Audie and I were discussing how this would benefit us by not having to use the vaulting poles anymore.

Also, Kitt hurt my feelings today too. She said that my style was basic. She could see I was a bit upset by this, so she covered it up by saying she meant I wore basics well, but I knew what she really meant. I’m starting to remember why I let her move from Citytown…

Yeah, well, your hat doesn’t match your jacket!

Though this day was full of ups and downs, the final part of my story ends with the highest high one could feel. Later in the evening, I thought I should attempt to find the rumored Tarantula Island. I haven’t had any luck finding a specimen for the museum, so certainly I would be able to find one in a place literally named after the creature. But I did not find the island. However, what I found was even better. Love.

I got off the plane, and lo and behold, there he was. My precious, my darling — Antonio was there! I ran to his side, thrilled to see him, nearly jumping into his arms — but I controlled myself.

We talked and talked, catching up on life since we last saw each other. It turned out he was doing a survival training challenge, which is why he was out on the island. Typical Antonio. Still, his training was doing him wonders, ooh, those muscles!

He also noticed how much I have been toning myself as well, what with all this island hopping and hard labor Nook tasks me with.

He off-hand mentioned that he’d love to his island training full time, so I took the opportunity and asked him to move in with me— I mean, to Islandtown. After everything that had happened between us, I thought perhaps I came on a bit too strong, but he answered in the affirmative. Antonio, sweet, sweet, Antonio, is going to be part of my village once again!

Despite all the bad things that happened today, I can rest easy knowing my favorite animal is going to be with me.

Day 13

Graham was the first one to move in today, but Antonio will be here tomorrow! I’m so excited! Audie and I got together and talked about it all morning. It was funny because she was watching a romance movie the day before and had an inkling something special might happen!

But sadly, poor little Stitches was sick today! I immediately ran over when Kitt told me the news and brought him some medicine. He was feeling a lot better afterward, but I told him he should still rest inside for the day.

I proceeded from there to go to the Town Hall as Tom Nook had requested for my assistance — MY assistance, not Isabelle’s… Okay, Isabelle’s too. Ugh.

If you think for one second that I’m your task force you’ve got another thing coming…

Anyway, the two of them asked me to keep inviting new residents to live in our town. Easy enough! I knew plenty of people from back home who would love to live here! I called up my girl Whitney from back home and invited her to camp out with us here on the island. I figured we’d hang out a bit and then I’d ask her about moving in.

She was thrilled when I called her and came over immediately. We had such a good time catching up, it’s been so long! These past few days have been overwhelming me with emotion with so many familiar faces.

However, when I mentioned that Whitney should move to Islandtown, she didn’t say no, but she didn’t quite feel ready yet. I get it. Citytown is a great place. I mean, it’s less great now that I’m not mayor anymore, but it’s still pretty cool. I’ll invite her over again after she’s thought it over a bit.

Oh! With my garden doing so well, I decided to set up my own little flower shop right outside my house. I stood there for three hours today and not a single customer. Mabel, I applaud your patience and durability.

I was hoping to raise a bit of money through this stand to set up a bridge. You see, when I picked a spot for Antonio’s house to be, I didn’t realize he had no connection to the other parts of the island. It was imperative that I got this bridge funded and finished by tonight. Luckily I had some help from friends to donate enough bells for the project to be completed. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of fishing…

But it will all be worth it. Tomorrow, my prince charming moves to town. 

A Residents Representatives work is never done! With so many tasks to complete and more residents moving in, how will our solo human villager handle the heat? Read the New Leaf Diaries first here! Start from NH Diaries part 1: Permanent Island Getaway…

[kaleldobrev]

I Love The Way You...

Pairing: Dean x Witch!Reader

Summary:  Requested by @witch-of-letters | Hey there! 😀 Could I request a Dean one-shot, where he finally wants to propose to R (who he has known since he was 26 and her 17), but doesn't know how to do it in a heartfelt way and is nervous, because Mary is gone again with the British. He ultimately asks Sam, Jody, and Donna for help with the proposal, where they ask him to tell R everything he loves about her and why she is so important to him. Some details: Set in season 12, R is a powerful natural witch/BAMF!Huntress.

Reader Gender: Female

Word Count: 2993

Warnings: Some language

Author’s Notes: Sorry this took so long to write! Work has been busy and stressful, but I really enjoyed doing this request! I hope you are happy with this @witch-of-letters (btw, your username is amazing and I love it). If you guys liked this, feedback is always appreciated. Please like and reblog! XOXO, KD.

October 2005 – New Orleans, Louisiana

You sat on the porch in your rocking chair, skimming through one of the many journals your mother had passed down to you from her mother, and her mother before her, and so on and so on. A glass of lemonade was next to you on a wicker end table that you’ve been slowly sipping at for the past half hour. If you hadn’t been so invested in reading this journal, you would have finished the glass just as quickly as you poured it.

  As you were about to finish the journal, you heard the sound of heavy boots on the stairs of your porch. Without looking up, you greeted the stranger. “Hello Dean.” You said, your voice calm; which clearly took the man by surprise.

“How did you…” He began to say, but a light chuckle left his lips before he could finish. “Mind reader? Or am I just that famous?” Without even looking up, you could tell that the man had the biggest smirk on his face. A smirk you thought, that probably looked absolutely adorable on him. So in that instance, you looked up to see if your notion was correct; and boy was it correct. His smirk was the kind that could make anyone blush and fall to their knees. Luckily for you, you were sitting down.

“Never met a witch that could read minds before?” You asked, already knowing the answer.

He nodded. “Never really messed with a lot of witches period. They aren’t…You guys aren’t really my specialty.” The way Dean talked, he tried to make it sound like he was trying his very best not to offend you; which honestly made you want to laugh. But you refrained and decided not to laugh at the already semi-scared man who was trying oh so very hard not to think inappropriate thoughts.

“So, what can I do for you? Or, do you want to talk to my mother? She’s who you came to see right?” You asked him. He nodded in response. “The voodoo thing that’s been going around right?” Again, he nodded, and you nodded back. “Her and I have a theory about that. Come on, she’s inside.” You said and grabbed the journal you had been reading as well as the now empty glass of lemonade and took Dean inside the house.

  Present Day – February 2017 – Lebanon, Kansas

Dean was the first one to wake between the two of you, which was a rare occurrence; because usually, by the time Dean gets up, you would have already gotten back from your morning jog with Sam, taken a shower, finished breakfast and would be about finished with your second cup of coffee already. But not today; today Dean had planned to wake up before you because today was the day he was going to ask you to marry him. The only problem was, he wasn’t completely sure how he was going to do it. All he really knew, was that he wanted to do something special, but nothing too cheesy like they did in the romantic comedies the both of you secretly loved to watch together, but didn’t dare tell Sam about because he’d never let either one of you live it down. 

Dean had known you for twelve years, and the two of you had been dating on and off for almost nine of those years. Your relationship with Dean was anything but simple. For years, the two of you avoided dating each other because the hunting life was anything but safe; and he thought that if the two of you were together, then the both of you would be vulnerable and unsafe. But eventually, the feelings the two of you had for one another started to get deeper, and even though you two weren’t together, the two of you were still vulnerable; you were each other’s weakness; so the two of you took a chance and it’s been on and off ever since. 

The truth was, Dean has been wanting to propose to you for almost seven years, but he could never find the right time to do it. One of the times he wanted to do it, the two of you found out that Sam had been back from Hell for over a year. Another time, Dean got sent to Purgatory and was gone for almost a year. Another time, Metatron killed him and he got turned into a demon. But as of right now, even though his mother was MIA with the British Men of Letters, things at the Bunker, as well as your lives have been calm lately, and he thought that before anything else bad happened in your lives, that he should propose now.

  Before Dean got out of the bed, he looked at you as you were sound asleep. Your breathing was calm, and you had the smallest smile on your face. You looked so content and so at peace. Even though he loved every single thing about you, moments like these were his favorite because he loved how happy you looked in this moment. He loved that you didn’t look like the world was heavy on your shoulders. “You have no idea how much I love you.” Dean whispered. He leaned down and kissed your temple, trying his best to not wake you, and slowly got out of bed to grab his robe.

  When Dean entered the kitchen, Sam was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a newspaper in hand. Going over to the coffee pot, Dean grabbed his mug and poured himself a cup before joining his younger brother at the table. Sam looked up, almost in awe to see Dean sitting in front of him. He looked at his watch, and then back at Dean. “You’re up early.” He commented before putting the newspaper down.

“Today’s the day Sammy.” Dean said taking a sip from the mug.

“What’s today?” Sam asked.

“The day.” Dean repeated. “I’m gonna ask Y/N to marry me.” Dean said in a whisper.

“Oh…Oh!” Sam said, trying his best to whisper, but he was honestly too excited himself. “Do you know how you’re going to as her yet?”

Dean shook his head. “No freaking clue.” He took another sip from the mug. His mind was blank trying to figure out the perfect way to do it. He’s known you for over twelve years and yet, he couldn’t think of the perfect way to propose to you. He didn’t want to do something cheesy, but at the same time, he kind of wanted to do cheesy. He wanted to do something romantic, but he didn’t want to turn it into a chick flick. He honestly thought proposing to you would be simple and easy, but he didn’t want to do simple and easy.

“You know that whatever you do, Y/N is going to love. You could propose to her during the bloodiest part of a horror movie and she’ll say yes.” Sam said letting out a small chuckle. Dean nodded in agreement, knowing how true that was. He could also propose to you by sticking the engagement ring in the middle of your grimoire and you’d say yes.

“Well, since you’re honestly no help. I think I’m gonna call someone that might actually be help.” Dean said getting up from the table.

Sam looked at him, slightly confused. “Who?”

Dean took out his phone, flipping through his contacts list, finding the person that he was looking for. “Jody of course.” Dean said, ready to select her phone number. But before he could, Sam spoke up.

“You’re not calling her because she’s one of the only females you know are you?” Sam said, sounding a little skeptical.

Dean looked at Sam and let out a small scoff. “N-No…Of course not.” He lied.

Sam nodded, knowing he was right. “Sure.” He said going back to reading the newspaper, in an attempt to find them a case.

  Dean walked out of the kitchen and walked down the hallway to a room that was barely used in the Bunker. It was just storage space that the Men of Letter’s used and now was used as their storage space, for anything that they might have gathered over the years, which wasn’t much, but still, it felt nice having a storage space even if it was only for a few knickknacks. 

Walking into the room, Dean dialed Jody’s number and shut the door, hoping that she’d answer. After a few rings, Jody picked up. “Hey Dean.” Jody said. He could hear the smile in her voice. “You three aren’t getting into any trouble are you?” She joked, letting out a small laugh, which caused Dean to laugh a little.

“Oh Jody, you know the three of us are always in some kind of trouble.” Dean said, still using his joking tone.

“Okay Winchester. If you guys aren’t in any kind of trouble, why are you calling? Not that I don’t love when one of you calls, but I know you’re not just calling to see how things are here.” She commented. Sam and Dean called Jody whenever they could, Y/N calling her a little bit more often than them because she liked to check up on the girls; especially to check up on Claire since, Y/N is one of the only people that Claire connects with since they are very similar to one another. They are both badass female hunters who like to do things on their own and is sometimes afraid to ask for help, even if they really need it.

“I’m gonna propose to Y/N today, and…I’m not really sure how I want to do it. I don’t wanna do cheesy, because you know how she is, but I don’t want to do something super simple either because –” Dean started to say, but before he could finish his rant, Jody cut him off.

“Dean. Relax. I know how scary this can be.” She told him in one of the most calmest voices possible. “But whatever you do, she’s going to love it.” She said, giving the same kind of generic answer that Sam had given to him earlier.

“Sam said the same thing.” Dean commented. “But I know that. I know that whatever I do, she’s going to love it, but, I want to do something that she’ll actually remember; that will actually mean something to her.”

“Tell him to make a list of all the things he loves about her!” Dean heard on the other end of the phone. This voice caused him to let out a small laugh, and a small smile formed on his lips.

“Donna there with you?” Dean asked.

Jody nodded into the phone. “It’s girls weekend.” Jody said, sounding not even the least bit enthusiastic.

“Ah.” Dean commented.

“Let me talk to him.” He heard Donna say. Before Jody could answer her, Donna had the phone in her hand. “Hey Dean.” She said. Her voice was so cheerful and upbeat; it was one of the things that he loved about her; she was always so positive and joyful.

“Hey Donna.” Dean said, now placing his free hand in his pocket where the engagement ring was. “You think telling her all the things that I love about her isn’t too cheesy? I feel like a lot of people do that.” He said.

Donna sighed and rolled her eyes. “How many engagements have you seen Winchester?” Her voice was slightly filled with annoyance now. “Just because she’s a badass hunter and witch, doesn’t meant she doesn’t still like cheesy. I think if you tell her very specific things that you love about her, instead of generic things, she’s going to love it.” Donna explained to him. “Try avoiding things like, ‘I love your eyes,’ or ‘I love your smile.’” At that moment, Dean’s face dropped a little; because one of the many things he did love about Y/N was her smile and how her eyes always seemed so full of hope even when she thought the worst was going to happen.

“Okay.” Dean said, starting to actually sound confident about proposing. “Well…I’ll you guys know if she says yes.”

“She will!” He heard Jody yell.

“Thank you. You two were more help than Sam was.” Dean said, and hung up the phone.

  When Dean walked down the hallway to the bedroom the two of you shared, you were sitting on the bed reading your grimoire. Your brows were furrowed, and you looked so deep in concentration that Dean thought you wouldn’t even notice him entering the room, but of course you always did. “Hey babe.” You said, not looking up your book. You were on the last page of this section and you wanted to finish up the page before looking up at Dean; because when you looked up at Dean, there would be no way you could go back to this.

“Hey Sweetheart.” He said, walking over to the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed closer to the middle where your feet were. Your waist down was completely underneath the covers, and your top half was covered up with your favorite black sweatshirt that read in white lettering, You Say Witch Like It’s A Bad Thing. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.” He tried his best to keep his voice even, and to blank out his thoughts so you couldn’t hear what was about to happen; because for once, he wanted to be a step ahead of you.

After finishing up the page you were reading, you placed your bookmark into the book and placed it on your lap, looking up at Dean. His face was slightly serious, but it was also calm. This was the kind of expression that you rarely saw in Dean, because most of the time, he either looked angry or annoyed, or stressed. You hated seeing him like that, and you tried your best to help him with that stress anyway you could, which usually involved making some kind of potion or giving him something simple like a back massage. “What do you want to talk about?” You asked. You tried to rack through his mind for any indication of what he possibly would want to talk about, but nothing was appearing in his mind. It was just blank for the most part.

“I’ve known you for over twelve years. And over these twelve years, you have shown how much of a badass you are; sometimes I think you might even be more badass than me. And you know, I think I’m pretty badass.” Dean chuckled. “You have been nothing but helpful, and you’ve been nothing but caring, even when Sam or I didn’t deserve it. We’ve treated you so bad over the years sometimes, and yet, you still cared about us. I put you through Hell when I was a demon, and you were still by my side trying to find a cure.” Dean took your hand in his. He was starting to get nervous, but not nervous enough that it didn’t show quite yet. “I love how much you care about people, even when you aren’t showing it outwardly. I love how much you make me feel like I actually deserve to be loved even when I don’t think I deserve it. I love the way you show me how much you love me by doing simple things for me. When you come up behind me in the War Room when I’m frustrated and tired and just hug me from behind. When you reach across the table and do this.” At the moment, Dean brought your hand up and kissed your knuckles. You couldn’t help but have a soft smile on your face.

“Dean…” You began to say, but Dean stopped you.

“I’m not done.” He told you, and you quickly became quiet again. “I love that I can be vulnerable when I’m around you, and I love that you can be vulnerable about me. I love that I don’t have to put any kind of front in front of you. Because hey, I know you’d see right through it anyway.” He laughed. “When I first met you, it never crossed my mind that we would ever be here right now. I thought you’d never want to leave New Orleans and come hunt with me. I never thought I’d ever fall in love with a witch, or that a witch would be in love with me.” He let go of your hand at that moment, and you hated the lack of contact. But your eyes started to grow wide as Dean pulled out a small black box from the pocket of his jeans.

“Dean…” Was all you could say.

“Y/N.” Dean got up from the bed, and went down on one knee. He opened the box and inside contained a simple rose gold ring that was similar in design to Mary’s wedding band. “Y/F/N Y/L/N, badass huntress extraordinaire who also happens to be the love of my life, will you marry me?” 

You looked at him, shocked. “Holy shit.” You mumbled to yourself, but without hesitation, you answered him. “Of course I’ll marry you Dean Winchester.” You told him, and quickly bent down, wrapping your arms around his neck. For as long as you’ve known him, you never thought you’d ever be at this moment either. You thought that this moment would only be a dream, but it was a reality now.

Placing the ring on your finger, Dean kissed your lips, and you kissed him back; enjoying the slight taste of his coffee that he had almost an hour before. After the kiss was broken, he looked at you almost in awe. “I love you.”

A smile formed on your lips and you cupped his cheek in your hand, slightly rubbing it with your thumb. “I love you too.” 

TAGGING: @witch-of-letters @waywardwboys @22sarah08 @polina-93

[emosnakeboy]

Do all the ice cream questions!

oh sweet jesus ok yeah i suppose thats one way to cute boredom thanks 

chocolate: when was your first kiss? June 13th of 2016, huge ass regrets

french vanilla: how old are you? not old enough to make a difference, in the eyes of the government (but that’s just what i let them think)

cotton candy: three places you want to travel to? hmmm Cairo, Egypt; London, England; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

strawberry: a language you wish you could speak? probably german or finnish so i can go to college in one of those countries for free, either that or french or latin so i can pass my classes

coffee: favorite cosmetics brands? i dont use makeup

mint chocolate chip: indoors or outdoors? probably indoors, less sunburn more AC and wifi

cookie dough: do you play any instruments? yes several, i play baritone, clarinet, ukulele (badly), and probably some others that i should be working on. lately i’ve been inspired to learn how to play the trombone.

rocky road: favorite songs at the moment? ohhh boy... Nicotine by Panic! At The Disco, The Sharpest Lives by My Chemical Romance, The Last of The Real Ones by Fall Out Boy, If These Sheets Were The States by All Time Low, and Ground Control by All Time Low (i hecking love atl fight me) (there are so many more songs i could say)

butter pecan: favorite songs for life? oh shit those above, plus both Boy Division and The Light Behind Your Eyes by My Chemical Romance

cheesecake: what’s your zodiac sign? capricorn

toasted coconut: the beach or the pool? pool, sorry, i don’t really like sand. i like being able to sit underwater and see through my goggles and i just cant do that at the beach

chocolate chip: what’s your most popular post? lemme check... the one that wasn’t even mine it’s about how the sanders sides reacted in virgil’s room portraying their fears and shit, my friend sent it via a group chat and i loved it so i posted it and now everyone else loves it

bubblegum: books or movies? can’t pick i love both reading and watching movies for different reasons

pistachio: manga or anime? anime, easier to focus on and takes less time to get through

salted caramel: favorite movies? Love, Simon; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, i can’t remember any others atm

birthday cake: favorite books? The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Claire, The Maze Runner series by James Dashner, The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling (particularly the Prisoner of Azkaban), Secrets For The Mad by Dodie Clark

moose tracks: favorites for manga? Fairy Tail Zero and Death Note

orange sherbet: favorites for anime? Yuuri! On Ice and Death Note, but Hetalia is fuckin funny and Fairy Tail is amazing

peanut butter: favorite acedemic subject? honestly i really don’t have a favorite not because i hate them all but because i love them all. my last history and english teachers made the classes fun so i’ve really been loving those two, and science and math are just practical and fascinating and i can’t not love them. i’m a nerd, what else do you want from me?

black raspberry: do you have any pets? 4 cats 3 dogs and a shitload of guppy fish, not to mention my plants

mango: when and why did you start your blog? i think in like March or April of 2018 because it was about time, i wanted to follow fandom shit but then i realized people like my art and moodboards so that’s kinda become what i do now (requests still open btw)

mocha: ideal weather conditions? London weather. Not too hot, not too cold, not too sunny. i don’t like sunburn. plus the rain is relaxing, and thunderstorms are awesome.

black cherry: four words that describe you? what the fuck evenjk i know people want positive.. respectable, intelligent, talented, pretty

NOTE: it’s not being vain to say that ^^ i don’t dwell on them more than i have to, and honestly since i usually feel like a piece of rat shit it’s very good that im able to describe myself as anything other than that. 

neapolitan: things that stress you out? too much clutter when i’m working, assholes interrupting class, my friends hiding things from me, my anxiety and depression constantly telling me to yeet myself off the nearest cliff

raspberry truffle: favorite kind of music? pop-rock, pop-punk, rock, sometimes indie shit.. mostly alternative/pop

chocolate marshmellow: favorite brands of candy? TWIZZLERS and i particuarly love hershey stuff, and starburst but i forget who starburst is by

toffee: a card game that you’re good at? solitaire... but i do like Texas Hold ‘Em

lemon custard: do you eat breakfast? most days yeah

peach: how do you relax? drawing, writing, reading, listen to music, sometimes just lie down and do nothing, hug my friends if i can

praline: a popular book you haven’t read yet? oh god i read a lot.. Wings of Fire series, i’ve heard a lot about it and i really wanna read it

superman: do you like sweaters? absolutely i do, however not during the summer when it’s this hot

cherry: do you drink tea or coffee? both but not very frequently

dulce de leche: an instrument you wish you could play? ukulele, baritone, guitar, trombone

blackberry: have you ever laughed so hard you cried? yes several times at stuff that’s ridiculously stupid

ginger: a new feature you wish tumblr would have? do they let me block certain tags and i just haven’t figured out how yet? idk im still pretty new to this site

blueberry lemon: favorite blogs? oh god there’s a lot... im gonna leave it at three for now, and those would be mostly my art idols @elentori-art @the-pastel-peach and @voidsides but there are so many more i wish i could put aiehgsbngu

almond: favorite mean girls quote? i’ve never seen mean girls idk if any of the possible quotes im thinking of are even from mean girls and im not gonna embarrass myself by saying them

butterscotch: what color are your nails right now? unpainted, but last they were black with glitter over the top

cinnamon: have you ever been confessed to? yes a few times

blue moon: have you ever had a crush on someone? yeap and 9/10 times it sucks but then there’s the 1 time where everything goes right and it makes every point in your life up until then worth it

cappuccino crunch: do you ever take naps? not really

mint: the most embarrassing thing you’ve done? think i was straight until 2016 and humiliate myself by chasing these guys but never truly feeling like i liked them

brownie batter: do you like sushi? never had it but i don’t think so, im not a big fish person

key lime: where do you want to be right now? probably about 30 minutes away from where i am in my s.o.’s arms on their couch watching soul eater or avatar: the last airbender with them

red velvet: do you wear prescription glasses? yep im blind as fuck

green tea: favorite flavors of ice cream? sea salt caramel, banana peanut butter, pistachio almond, white house/cherry vanilla

ok wow that took a while.. thank u though that cured my boredom and now i have to do stuff so sbfguisng adios y gracias 

[childofjesus]

People In Front Of Mr Driving Responsibly And Going The Speed Limit T Shirt

I have never felt so insulted or humiliated by someone today I went into the valdosta ga store to exchange some items that were sent to my cousin he is living with us by his aunt in another state everything was too small all I asked was to exchange for different items or sizes she paid with her children’s place card no big deal didn’t want a People In Front Of Mr Driving Responsibly And Going The Speed Limit T Shirt return I had 2 receipts because things were sent at 2 different times one packaged arrived this morning she proceeds to tell me this is complicated just going to return it I said no because it was on her card then I can’t get what he needs she said i’m just going to give you the cash I said ok whatever I just need different sizes of course it wouldn’t go through and she went to the back and got the manager she comes out and says no you can not get a return again told her I do not want a return I just need to exchange for different items she then picks up one of the items smells it and tells me in front of several other customers well these smell I said what excuse me they just came in the mail she looks at me with a face of disgust and not believing me and said they did I told her you know what forget it i’ll just mail them back and she can get a refund she tries to stop me by saying it’s ok we’ll get this figured out I again said no I am done i’m not giving your store any of my business she proceeds to tell me well i’m sorry if I offended you very unprofessional I can’t even imagine saying that to a family member let alone a customer I use to be a manager in a shoe store I can not even imagine to tell someone oh these stink btw everything had the tags I had both receipts and they were brand new awful customer service and now I have to pay out of pocket to ship these back never shopping with children’s place again btw asked a few other to smell the clothes outside of children’s place and they said they smelled like new clothes. Some examples from the lefthand side of things in this weel’s last unicorn tattwosday jessica erin has one of the most intensely colorful last unicorn tattoos we ve ever seen on her upper left arm jessica says I posted these photos shortly after my tattoo touch up last year but thought I would share again since you all are celebrating last unicorn tattoos I have been a fan since I watched the last unicorn on vhs when I was 4 years old I am 33 now and have read the book I have an autographed book by mr beagle a litograph picture signed by him and had my friend draw up some ideas and went to a local tattoo shop in baton rouge and worked with an artist to come up with this design I wanted to have this done for years and was finally able to get the piece started in november 2014 and finished march of 2015 it took 16 hours total I absolutely love it the last unicorn holds special significance to my childhood and my father who passed away in 2012 from cancer gabriella bella carrasco is from mexico and does some pretty amazing competitive pole dancing among other things she carries the last unicorn on her left thigh as you can see from these pics she says I want to show my latest tattoo I love unicorns and the first unicorn in my life was from the last unicorn movie she is so perfect i’m so happy to share my tattoo with another people who love unicorns. All about that bronze whether you’re looking to enhance your natural glow or glam all out our spectrum of bronzers has everything you need shop the bronzer collection

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At last the rising tour arrives in the form of springsteen s first ever appearance in finland helsinki serves as a People In Front Of Mr Driving Responsibly And Going The Speed Limit T Shirt potent album showcase and features nine rising cuts including lonesome day empty sky world s apart you re missing into the fire and the title track the set s poignancy is well balanced by playfulness with vibrant versions of no surrender dancing in the dark darlington county seven nights to rock and glory days plus a striking set opening solo acoustic version of born in the u s a. About six months ago I went to the vs at 640 5th avenue i’m not usually someone who likes attention from salespeople but I had such a great experience with a saleswoman named stephanie on the floor it felt like I was shopping with a super helpful best friend fast forward to this weekend a friend of mine was in the city and had some time to kill so I told her she should check out vs she comes back and tells me how she doesn’t normally like salespeople to help her but man stephanie took care of me sure enough the same saleswoman helped her out and she had the same great experience I did so impressed and big thank you to stephanie. Good luck to our under 23s who are in action away to middlesbrough at 13 00 bst later today here’s a reminder of how they fared last time out muacademy See Other related products: Making A Difference Virtually Principals Strong Colorful T Shirt

[yoyoplisetsky]

what are some of your favorite fics for yuri on ice?

i assume since i already answered the “favorite of my own fics” ask, this is a “favorite in general” ask? i’m gonna pick like 10 because i could go on forever this fandom has some amazing fics

Beside the Dancing Sea - lily_winterwood - @omgkatsudonplease​ - He’s finally here in this lovely and quiet little beach cottage, and the rest of the year seems to stretch out infinitely before him. Time will pass, though, and it will pass faster than he realises, but in the meantime he will stop worrying about writer’s block and deadlines and not even having the foggiest clue what his next novel’s going to be about, and live.New York Times-bestselling author Viktor Nikiforov arrives in the sleepy seaside town of Torvill Cove to cure his writer's block. After encountering local wallflower Yuuri Katsuki at a party, he discovers that this mysterious dark-haired man has a couple secrets up his sleeve.And Viktor will be damned if he doesn't find out just what those secrets are.(selkie au and author au which i’m crying about forever. fun fact that this is the first fic i ever read for this fandom. forever in water cryptid hell, and lily knows this now. i plan on rereading this fic. soon.)

Eros, and Other Love Stories - FullmetalChords - @phoenixrei​ - Eros. Yuuri understands it in theory, of course. He’s seen what must be hundreds of movies about the very topic, but never really understood them. Never understood why the protagonists of these films make such fools of themselves for sex, or why they fall head over heels in love with the first pretty face they see. He nods and smiles and sighs along with the rest of them… but he’s never related to those characters’ struggles. Not even a little.What is wrong with him?--A character study of Japan's ace, Katsuki Yuuri.(meg already knows that her ace!yuuri character study made me cry, but that doesn’t keep me from reccing it. it’s so beautifully written and amazingly well characterized and executed and all the little details;;; this story will forever be one of my favorites.)

even sinners have hearts - seventhstar - @pencilwalla​ - Alexei Ivanov is watching Yuuri as he lifts the cup to his mouth. His lips part to drink; Yuuri has never wanted to be a mouthful of sake more.I have to kill him, Yuuri thinks, and he stands up and announces to the room the time and place of the tour he’s giving tomorrow.Or, the one where they're powered criminals in love. (so this story is very different from a lot in the fandom because of the dark elements to it but i ??? love it so much. yuuri will do anything for viktor and i just ??? it’s so well characterized. give it a try.)

Katsuki Yuuri: Ascended Fanboy - DefiantDreams - @gia-comeatme​ - “And wow, that was a beautiful Viktor—I mean, a beautiful Quad Flip by Viktor.” Yuuri visibly winces and he momentarily covers his face. Morooka glances at him in concern but Yuuri shrugs it off quickly and shakes his head as he continues, “Really, others try to do it, but no one does a Quad Flip quite as well or quite as clean as Viktor—if they even manage to land it.”Or:AU where Yuuri goes into commentating instead but he still has a Huge Gay Crush on Viktor Nikiforov and everyone can tell.(WHAT A SURPRISE CARY IS RECCING ASCENDED FANBOY AGAIN no but i love this fic so much and i have read it like at least 4 times so. go give it a shot)

all the world’s a stage - braveten - @actualyuuri​ - Everyone has a guilty pleasure.For Yuuri, it just happens to be romance movies starring famous heartthrob Victor Nikiforov.(And, honestly, on the spectrum of guilty pleasures, he figures that his is on the far, far more innocent side.)(i’m weak for actor aus and this one is super well characterized and i love that yuuri isn’t also an actor but still a skater and just ??? everything about this au is great)

never tasted rubies - ebenroot - @ebenroot​ - Phichit puts up a poll on the radio website. It reads ‘What Do U Think About Yuuri K. from Hasetsu Nights and the Mysterious Caller Victor?’Seventy-five percent of listeners said ‘lol they should just f*ck already tbh’.--in which Yuuri is an unwilling radio host and Victor won't stop calling in to chat with him(i’ve read this fic two or three times, actually, too. it’s such a fun fic and a different concept and i love it)

set sail from sense - spookyfoot - @katsukiyuuristrophyhusband - Though he’s rarely seen them framed by the chunky blue glasses he knows Yuuri wears, Victor would recognize those eyes anywhere. His hand instinctively flies to his pocket and palms his phone where his @viknik Twitter account is still open. Thank god his phone has a passcode.(It's Yuuri’s birthday).“Katsuki,” Yakov nods, one word conveying enough impatience to render the rest of the sentence necessary.“Our marketing department’s noticed the popularity of two—" Yakov looks down at the paper in front off him and frowns, mouth faltering around the unfamiliar words, “role-play accounts on The Twitter for the both of you. They’ve advised me that we should,” he looks at the paper again, “ quote ‘catch that social media lighting in in a bottle,’”.On The Official Yakov Feltsman Scale of Exasperation it’s a solid 7.5._______________________Dancer/Choreographer Katsuki Yuuri and Singer/Songwriter Victor Nikiforov are finally Twitter official. The catch? It's for the "fake" role-play accounts they use to escape the pressure of their official images — and neither of them know that the "fake" celebrity they're talking to is actually the real deal.(hi i’m cary i’m weak for fandom aus and spooky’s fandom au is unreal. this fic is adorable and perfect and i’m so glad to be reading it basically)

Let Me Sail Across the Sea for There is Never One Who Loved You More Than Me - tothebatcave53 - @tothebatcave53 - Victor has always loved the ocean, he is drawn to it's beauty and it's power. He sets out, a simple day in a simple boat with a simple desire to just exist in peace out in the ocean. When Victor wakes it is to the turmoil of the waves, desperate to sink him and his tiny boat into it's murky depths. It is only the most beautiful hallucination that keeps Victor sane in what he assumes are his last moments.(I LOVE MERMAID AUS and i absolutely adore this one. they took the prompt and just made it literally perfect. thank you for cpp for getting this fic into the world, we needed it)

Shooken, Not Stirred - MariaMediaOverThere - "I'm- I'll- I mean," Deep breaths, deep breaths. Don't look directly into the cute bartender's eyes- it's like looking at Medusa! He'll turn you rock solid!Shit- wait. That's not... "I'd like a-"Seung-Gil frantically reads from the menu pinned underneath his elbow."-blowjob."(i love seungchuchu and this fic is hilarious. it takes normal seungchuchu/seung-gil tropes and flips them all over. seriously, gve it a shot)

If U Seek Amy - thesleepingsatellite - “YOU SAID NO?” Phichit exclaimed, his voice rising in tone and hysteria. Yuuri turned and watched as Phichit took a deep breath, as if trying to compose himself. “Are you crazy? I mean, you turned down the sex god himself, Christophe Giacometti?”In which Yuuri and Chris discuss Britney Spears and Yuuri's sex life, or lack thereof.(hi i really love yuuri/chris, and this fic is a really really really great take on this ship.)

btw any author with a fic on this list who has written more than fic - they’re all amazing. even the ones i haven't read yet. check them all out. some of these were me “i love the author i need to pick one fic by them tho they didn’t ask for authors”

and like i said i could go on for 5000 years

[villa-kulla]

I was hoping you might find time for the commentary! I expect this may be a common request, but would you do the scene at the end of Chisolm's 7, from '6 months later' to 'gradually remembered how to be himself'?

I had a feeling you’d choose that one haha and I’m so glad you did! It was exTREMEly satisfying to write. Thanks for the ask!

(***copy-paste disclaimer that this is NOT under a readmore because my blog’s black background makes reading long things a chore, so SCROLL FAST IF YOU’RE NOT INTERESTED!***)

                                                        *

Before this section even starts, for the 6 months later heading I intentionally left such ridiculously huge paragraph gaps before and after, just because I knew people would be scrolling and I wanted to convey distance for the time jump. If this had been a book I’d have wanted an almost blank page that says ‘6 months later’, so I guess wide gaps in between scrolling is the online version of that haha)

Goodnight stretched back on the lounge chair contentedly, baking underneath the hot sun. Billy would give him hell for having taken off his thin linen shirt in the middle of the day, but Billy was out swimming as it happened, and what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Goody and I are one where the sun is concerned, in that we KNOW we burn easily but the allure of sunbathing properly is too much to resist haha, much to the despair of the ones who are trying to save us from ourselves/UV rays. This is absoLUTEly a source of much bickering for them haha

He reached for his drink, moving the colourful umbrella to the side as he took a pull from the straw. He licked his lips, the sweet juice mingling with the salty taste from when he’d gone swimming earlier.

They did that every day. Swimming, that is. Swimming, sailing, and making their way around the islands, no plans for the day other than if they should up the sails and find a new port to explore, or stay anchored, bobbing in crystal blue and green waters next to white beaches, alternating between swimming or laying back on the deck while they enjoyed each other’s company. Whether that was by playing cards, reading, tanning, keeping the large yacht in ship-shape, or having frankly ridiculous amounts of sex, the bliss of living with Billy Rocks still hadn’t worn off. And at this rate, Goodnight didn’t think it ever would.

living the high liiiiife. Back in chapter 1, Sam asks Goody what his plans with the bank money are, and Goody says ‘I see a yacht in my future’, and then BOOM, just like that I had the ending for this fic completely in place haha. Like the second I typed him saying that it was like “oh okay, so this fic ends with Goody and Billy on a yacht together, k cool”, and the whole way through I couldn’t wait to actually write it. And as we talked about before, this Dorothy L. Sayers quote was in my head the entire time writing it: “Lord Peter’s large income… cost me nothing and at the time I was particularly hard up and it gave me pleasure to spend his fortune for him. When I was dissatisfied with my single unfurnished room I took a luxurious flat for him in Piccadilly. When my cheap rug got a hole in it, I ordered him an Aubusson carpet.” Spending fictional money is extremely satisfying haha, so yeah, I was very much looking forward to spoiling these two

Goodnight nudged down his sunglasses, keeping an eye on Billy out in the water, smiling when he saw his dark head bobbing out in the water like a seal’s. They were anchored by a coral reef and Billy was out snorkeling again. Never content to just float on the water though, Goodnight often saw his head dip under to go chase a fish or pick up a shell on the sandy bottom.

I had to include the seal comparison, because as always, Billy is such a water creature to me. I blame River Grit lol, but the seal bit is my little shoutout to my own damn obsession with him as a water spirit. Also protective!Goody nudging down his glasses

Goodnight smiled and took another sip of his drink, making a mental note to ask Billy if he wanted to have dinner on shore or fix something on the boat. They were anchored off one of the many islands in the area, and this one had an appealing night market they’d explored the night before before, walking through the bright lights with cold beers in their hands, listening to the sounds of drums from the street bands, the smell of fish, pineapples, and coconuts thick on the air.

I like the domesticity in the phrasing of ‘fix something’, and how it suggests the kind of dinner routines they might have built up at this point in their little floating home. Can’t you just picture them in the kitchen, hips bumping while they both make supper, and holding things out for each other to taste? My heart

They’d seen what felt like half of the Pacific islands this way: sailing to different areas and exploring the local cities, enjoying the colour of each one. But as fun as their travels had been, Goodnight also enjoyed the time he spent with Billy just staying in on the boat: days spent lounging on the deck while they soaked up the sun, the ocean rippling clear around them; warm evenings of throwing something together in the yacht’s kitchen and eating dinner out on the deck with their feet dangling in the water as they watched the sun set; rainy evenings curled up in the lounge watching old movies on their flat screen while the rain drummed on the roof overhead and made the ocean outside as rippled and dented as a golfball. And then there were the nights spent with the windows thrown open, the hot breeze coming in while they moved together on the sheets, feeling and tasting every inch of each other, the movement of their bodies as steady and uplifting as the roll of waves.

I’ve often felt like this big chunky paragraph could have been more elegantly done, but I wasn’t sure how. But either way it was very satisfying to imagine and write these little scenarios for them. Personally I like the image of them eating on the side of the boat with their feet dangling in the water while the sun goes down best, but I also like the image of a rainy ocean being like a ‘golfball’. I was very keen to get the golfball comparison in there, but again, I feel like I could have done it more elegantly but just didn’t know how lol but ah well

Goodnight and Billy had each chipped in from their shares of the casino job so that they could buy the yacht. It was the closest thing either had had to a steady home in a long time, it had been worth every penny.

so they each made off with about 25 million if I remember correctly? I looked at a lot of yachts for sale while writing this (which was both fun and envy-inducing haha), and honestly a reeeeeally swanky mid-sized yacht could EASILY go for at least 50 million. But also I didn’t want them to spend their WHOLE cut of the take on a yacht, because they need to have millions left over to play around with! So idk, let’s say their yacht is certainly high end but not ostentatiously so, and they afforded it just fine with plenty left over for caviar. And btw, in all my yacht research, this one was probably closest to what I imagined for the exterior, although not exactly: https://www.burgessyachts.com/en/sale-purchase-category/yachts-for-sale/sailing-yachts/khaleesi-00006286.html (I couldn’t find an exACT match for what I had in my head but that one’s close-ish)

And speaking of a million dollar view…

coming up is my version of ‘Ursula Andress ascending from the sea in a white bikini in Dr. No’, only it’s Billy haha

Billy was climbing up the ladder, and god, this was just the best part of Goody’s day. He pulled himself up onto the deck, dripping wet, muscles glistening beneath the hot sun, black swimsuit clinging to his hips. He reached up to take off his snorkelling mask, the plastic strap tangling briefly in his hair which he then squeezed out. It was past his shoulders these days, either by preference or simply not being bothered enough to cut it.

would that not be a sight and a half……writing this paragraph was shameless voyeurism I tell you haha. Oh and also the ‘this was just the best part of Goody’s day’ was a reference to Matt Damon’s line in the movie when we see Julia Roberts coming down the stairs looking lovely and he says ‘This is just the best part of my day.’ Like it says in the fic notes, the plot itself is only LOOSELY based on Ocean’s 11 (in that it’s a team and they rob a casino haha), but there are a number of homages, lines, and references to the movie sprinkled throughout, because I love it so much

Billy bent down to take off his flippers, and Goodnight took the opportunity to quickly throw on his white shirt again, not bothering to button it. Billy would say he was burning up, although truthfully Goodnight had never been more brown in his life. He ran his fingers through his salty hair, mussing it up, knowing Billy found it fetching when his hair, sun-streaked with blonde these days, fell across his eyes.

while I do love canon-Goody’s gross, slicked-down hair as an endearing character trait, this was my chance to actually give him some nice, free hair, and I took it haha.

Billy straightened up and walked towards Goodnight on the lounge chair, clearly finding Goodnight as appealing a picture right now as Goodnight found him.

it’s fair to assume they don’t get a lot done, what with how much they just check each other out all the time

“Nice swim, cher?” Goodnight asked with a smile.

“Saw a lionfish,” Billy said with satisfaction as he picked up Goodnight’s drink and took a sip of it.

went back and forth for aaaages between ‘Billy said with satisfaction’ and ‘Billy said happily’. I really liked the ‘happily’ but felt it was coming off as too childish, especially for Billy’s first lines in this scene. I wasn’t trying to infantilize him with pure unfiltered pleasure at a lion fish, but that’s just how the ‘happily’ seemed to be coming off

“Bravo, darling. What’s that, only two thousand species left to go?” Goodnight asked, referring to the list Billy had taped to the fridge of all the different fish he wanted to see in the wild.

he WOULD have that though. oh I do love you, fishboy

“Something like that,” Billy agreed, handing Goodnight back his glass where he’d been batting at it. “Saw a leopard shark too.”

that ‘batting at it’ was completely meant to suggest lazy cat behaviour in Goody. ‘cause. I don’t know, man. They just make nice cats haha

Goodnight narrowed his eyes. “How big are those ones again?”

Billy warns Goody against messing with the sun, and Goody warns Billy against messing with sharks, it evens out in the end;) Protective bbs

Billy smiled. “They’re harmless, Goody.”

“Well maybe so, but you just remember what I said about chasing off after anything with bigger teeth than you,” Goodnight said warningly.

“You’ll be cross,” Billy said, smile still tugging at his lips.

“I’ll be cross,” Goodnight agreed.

“And you’ll scold me,” Billy murmured, bending down, his lips tickling Goodnight’s.

okay but writing Goody scolding people is just SO FUN FOR SOME REASON? I can see him getting all puffed up and ranting at people, and those who know him well know it’s best to just let him talk himself out. The scene earlier in this chapter of him floridly telling off Sam was extremely delightful to write lol. Goodnight definitely has a well developed sense of righteous indignation. Although any shark-related warnings Billy may have received would certainly have been given with love, they’d be given with fervour too, ‘cause I mean Goody didn’t go to all this trouble just to have Billy eaten by a SHARK

“Darn right,” Goodnight said with finality, leaning in to catch Billy’s lips, salty and cool against his own, and delicious every time.

He felt Billy’s lip turn up against his own, and suddenly Billy was pulling back and wiping a thick glob of cream against Goodnight’s nose.

“You were burning,” Billy said.

don’t know if anyone would have remembered the scene from chapter 6 at this point, but Billy was also warning Goody that he was getting a sunburn, and this is my little echo to that. Trapped or free, Billy is head of the ‘make Goody wear sunblock’ squad

Goodnight made a sound of protest but laughed and rubbed the sunscreen in. Billy kissed the tip of his nose when he was finished, and then hopped back onto the deck to go towel off.

I feel like Goody makes a lot of ‘sounds of protest’ in my fics lol, but sometimes it’s hard not to overuse the same mannerisms for characters. But on an unrelated note, BILLY. KISSING. GOODY’S. NOSE. I still can’t decide if that’s a very unBilly-like thing to do, or a VERY Billy-like thing to do, but either way, the image pleased me so in it stayed

Goodnight felt his heart swell to watch Billy move about the deck, limbs loose, posture relaxed, a world removed from the Billy Rocks he’d met in Vegas. That Billy had watched everything with wary eyes, posture tense, too skinny and his skin pale from so much time inside, suspicious of everyone and everything around him.

Goodnight had still found him the most beautiful man alive back then. But the Billy that had emerged these past six months was nothing short of a wonder. He was tanned and golden, muscles strong and healthy from hours spent swimming and doing work on the boat every day. His quietness from before had made him seem pent-up, almost like it was a defense. But any stretches of silence these days seemed borne of confidence instead, telling Goodnight what he thought of something with an eloquent lift of his eyebrows or a mere quirk to his lips. He was relaxed, cocky, so dry-as-dust funny he made Goodnight’s sides hurt, and so vibrantly self-possessed Goodnight felt he was seeing the real Billy Rocks come out more and more every day, leaving behind the buttoned-up Billy he’d met in Vegas as Billy gradually remembered how to be himself.

Hardest DVD commentary paragraph for last, but Billy was often a challenge to write in this one. I kept trying to write him as the Billy Rocks I’m used to - the one described in this paragraph - but he kept coming out as so wary, wound tight, and extremely vulnerable. But then again, why wouldn’t he be?? If you think about it, his situation is HORRIBLE. I think it’s realistic that he would feel extremely vulnerable and defensive, so that’s the Billy I ended up writing for much of the fic. And I told myself that the Billy we see on the yacht is when we finally see the REAL Billy Rocks….long hair and all:) Although if I can briefly mention the next paragraph, (‘Sometimes Billy would withdraw, and Goodnight knew he was retreating to years of repression and tension and wondering what he could have done differently to have changed his situation, or wondering if there was nothing he could have done at all. Sometimes it was hard to know which was worse.’) I felt it was really important to include that to show he’s not going to get over it just like that, or just because he has a nice house now. Billy would realistically have some ptsd for a long time after spending 10 years trapped and under extreme mental pressure. So it’ll definitely take Billy a while to cope with, but he has a much better footing to do it now, and I imagine given time, he’ll be even more like the Billy Rocks we’re all used to. And I like the last words of “Billy gradually remembered how to be himself”, because I’ve found in my own experience when it comes to getting over a traumatic period, those little flashes where you feel completely normal and like yourself again do feel like ‘remembering’ in a strange way. Like your whole body is remembering or something. So while it will still be a struggle sometimes, the more he remembers, the more like himself he’ll stay.

(P.S. Still not entirely sure if I’d do a sequel or if it’s just an idea to amuse myself with sometimes haha, but I’m sure the Billy Rocks in any ‘Chisolm’s 8′ would be more what we’re used to haha.  And my image of the team meeting up again for the first time would contain a lot of whistles and ‘damn Billy’ and Billy’s just like ‘what??!’ and all alarmed by the attention, much like how he met them for the first time, and Sam’s just amused like “Nothing. You look good, Billy,” and Goody trails in after with him a dreamy smile all like “Doesn’t he though?”. Smitten, styling, criminals ‘till the last haha. And yes, Billy absolutely keeps the hair haha)

                                                         *

Thanks for the ask!:)

[assimkamukaadvancedcomp]

Advanced Compositing

This is by far the most ideas I had for a project, which was kind of like a blessing and a curse. I had enough good ideas but because there was so much I was constantly thinking it over, starting and switching projects.

So these are some of the other concepts.

The first concept that I pursue and fully planned was called K.Academy which revolved around a school that trains kids on becoming lethal assassins, the ‘Academy’ gets its student by forcing the parents to sell their kids to the academy or something bad will happen to them. 

I asked Kris to play the headmaster of this academy and I was planning on having him talk into the camera from an office room that I would've comped together. He would be talking to a parent and telling them what was going. While he’d be doing that I would’ve cut to some children training at target practice, using real targets.

I even started drawing up a storyboard: (StoryBoard Image here)

But after a lot of thought I decided that I don’t want to rush this concept and do it properly in the future because I am into making it into a indie series.

Moving on to the next concept was a World War Then vs Now, which is pretty much self explanatory, I was planning on shooting videos in Cardiff and London, and then comp them as if they were World War footage, using a layer masking cutting back and forth showing the Now vs Then concept.

Another concept was also related to the World War 2 theme, it was going to be 3 matte paintings featuring soldier characters in each one. The first one was going to be a pilot running to his fighter plane in the airfield as he was called to action, the second one was going to be soldiers enjoying a can of baked beans on a checkpoint and the third would’ve been some sort of a bunker shot.

The final concept I experimented with was a fantasy theme where they would be two characters fighting with superpowers, but this theme wasn’t strong enough and was disregarded.

The rest of the concepts I felt I would want to to explore in the future and experiment with more time and skill.

This brings us to the final concept that I decided to follow through with which was originally called “Overtime” but was later changed to “Small Job” and I’ll get into that.

Small Job: 

So the original concept for this project was to have a hit man have a call from his boss while he’s eating breakfast (cornflakes) on his day of, his boss calls him and tells him to come in and work overtime for a small job since his co-worker’s wife is giving birth. Frustrated the hitman walks to his in-house gun vault muttering and cursing while picking out the right tool for this ‘small job’.

This had a comedic value and would’ve been sort of like a short film, it created a sense of mystery since we don’t really find out he’s a hitman until he walks into his domestic gun vault.

But I had trouble recording the audio and the footage where the hitman was eating breakfast was to grainy and would’ve bought the project’s value down. So I decided to re-shape the concept and keep in the last two scenes with no audio and slightly changing up the hitman character. 

Originally the hitman was supposed to come across as a grungy and rough - gun to hire character, someone that’s from like the expendables or the A-Team to give you an idea.

Instead of having a typical tie and suit hitman.

So I was planning on having the main character be wearing his pyjamas and robe while he got his phone call, I filmed it back at my place but it came out to noise, blurry and had no audio. Also it was to late to reshoot it so I just went with a casual guy walking into his gun vault.

The vault:

I looked at so many movies and how they shot gun vaults or gun walls. Some of the movies that I looked at where John Wick 2, we all remember the iconic scene where the handler was describing the guns so exquisitely while standing in front of a beautiful ‘exhibit’ of weaponry.

There was also a rugged looking scene with the hobo underground that caught my interest.

I love how the gold design goes well with the red pattern and the black silhouette of the guns, looks absolutely stunning.

I also looked at Kingsman which was super classy, and I liked it even though it wasn’t what I was initially looking for.

Am pretty sure the following ones are fan made mock ups (or not) but they still have the same vibe.

Polar, the new Netflix movie also fuled my inspiration. (Btw AMAZING MOVIE, MACHINE GUN FINGERS!!!).

The main character for polar was also rocking an eyepatch which was something I considered adding to my character.

In addition to looking to movies for reference, I also looked at what gun enthusiasts built in their home. These are usually rough looking and fit more into my theme.

After looking at these reference images I realized that messy and rugged looking gun vaults are usually mess on the shelves and the ground, not the racks since there isn’t room to mess up there. So I started designing my gun wall.

This was my first prototype, from the get go I knew I wanted artiellery shells for comedic value, since this hitman is well equipped for any job, be it small or big job. I also wanted to have the gun that I would be holding in the end which is the Mac 10.

Eventually I completed this prototype and was planning on using it for the comp.

I interpreted with different HDRI’s to get the best lighting.

Storeroom

Satara

Preller

Moonless

Lounge.

With all this planned I headed to the shooting phase.

The Shoot:

So there is this huge lift in the back of the uni that’s just way to big I feel, every time I go in it I always picture it as something, sometimes a space shuttle, or a sci-fi room that will mess you up when you inside. And I though that if the buttons were removed it would look like a gun vault. So I decided to use it as the gun vault room and planned to track gun racks on to its walls.

I was playing on having a dolly track where the camera starts of facing the door, and as soon as the character walks in and faces the wall the camera follows him, then we get a shot from that’s from the walls perspective. 

But it turned out that the dolly wasn’t on my media account and Kris didn’t add in time, but I still wanted the tracking shot so I settled for a tripod tilt that turned out pretty well. 

I scouted it one last time before the shoot to make sure that it would work. Then I headed there with my trusty camera man Hayden. We placed tracking markers on the wall to make sure it tracks, this is something I learnt in tracking 1, which you should always have tracking markers no matter how easy you think the track will be.

I took out the FS5 camera along side a tripod and filmed a basic panning shot.

The shoot went pretty well but as you would imagine it was kind of awkward with people walking in and out always asking “am I in your shot” like no mate am still putting up tracking markers. Also since the main character would step outside and would need to enter the lift aka the “gun vault”, the lift would get called to other floor, but nonetheless, we still got our shot.

The second shot required the green screen studio since I wanted to add an element of reality to the project by actually handling a physical gun, it was an airsoft gun so put the phone down. But it did look realistic so I couldn’t be waving that thing around in the lift since so many people walk in and out.  I asked the person handeling the camera to hold the gun so I could reach for it and it would look as if I was pulling the thing of the rack. 

Kris helped me film in the studio but even though we still rushed it. I forgot to pull the curtains back, push the cameras back up, light the screen properly, light the character properly. Check the camera’s setting, (Kris actually handled the camera, I know sound like am blaming Kris, but, am not). All of these issues caused problems in the keying process. 

Shot 1: 

The first shot was the Lift shot and I immediately realized that my original model wasn’t going to work. Because the lift wasn’t symmetrical like my model and most of the model wouldn’t even fit in the shot.

The shelf on the left looked odd because the wall it’s against is smaller than the one opposite it, so I had to get rid of the shelf and shift some models around to make the wall looking packed with weapons.

Since the far right of the image was visible and the middle wasn’t, I moved the models to the right and left the model kind of empty.

Now that the model was adjusted, I moved onto comping it with the footage..

Comping and 3D Tracking: 

In order to really sell this as a hitman home work space I couldn’t just leave the university hallway in, I had to remove it and replace it with a suitable hallway.

So using luma keys and key merges I managed to isolate hair detail from the background, and I rotoed the rest out. 

I tried using the bear minimum of keyframes for the roto but there were gaps where the alpha masks didn’t join up that I had to adjust which caused more keyframes.

Also I had to make sure that the roto was clean and no part of the background could act like spill.

I did separate rotos for the head, one for each ear, nose, one of the right and left side of the neck, a final roto for all the hair, one for the torso, bottom, one of each arm, one for each hand, one for each side of the hood, and one for the hoodlace. 

After fine tuning and refining the results were pretty good.

Then all I dead was colour grade the character plate and the gun rack plate separately so they could blend in together, then I merged them together and then did a joint grade to make them seem as if they’re part of the same shoot.

For the background I decided to make it into a sort of hallyway with art on the wall and the cannon in there as well. It looks like an exhibit. I just wanted to fit the cannon in since it was to big and awkward in the lift shot, but it actually brings the background picture together very well. 

So this is it raw staright out of the render, I actually faced a small challenge with this because the 3D render messed up and speed up the frames even though I’m pretty sure I matched the frame rate. In order to fix it and get it to line up again I basically found out the frame that the camera starts to move and set my read starting point there and everything worked out.

Also am most proud of this for colour grading. 

First I took bought down the contrast. 

Then I reduced the saturation 

Added a blur

Colour graded it once again

Then I drew a mask for the right side of the wall to grade separately, and I rotoed the cannon so it would be out the way. but I feathred it to look like as if the light is spilling onto the cannon 

But I feathred it to look like as if the light is spilling onto the cannon

Same thing done to the wall at the back. I fitted it in with the roof using roto and edge blurs to give it a nice shadow.

I achieved this result with diffrenet experiments withe the roto node, playing around with the position and feather.

Then I did the gun racks that were tracked onto the walls of the lift. Colour grading them wasn’t that difficult since I found a HDRI that resemble the lift a lot. Adding a radial blur and grade nodes really made the the metalness and shininess of the lift pop.

Keying:

This was the most difficult thing to be honest, there is a small ring around the character. I tried using multiple keying techniques, first one was done through the basics, where I got a primate keyer to have a silhouette of the body, then I used multiple keylights get an alpha for the hair and then mix them all together with keymix. Unfortunately that didn’t look to great, the hair details was fine but there was so much spill and whenever I tried keying it, the inner matte will be affected.

So instead I used a keylight for the whole key and used gizmo to suppress the spill.

I used a backdrop to check the mask and I was happy with the results.

Grading the green screen shot was so difficult because I wanted it to follow the same colour schemes as the shot before, and sometimes I would be thinking it’s not cold enough.

Or it’s not warm enough.

In the end I decided to use a radial node to cast contrast and give variation to the grade instead of keeping it flat.

A huge problem with my keying is that there is a bit of white despilled on the top of the characters head, but with this grade it looks like a light reflection so it doesn’t really stick out like a sore thumb.

Clean up:

As for clean up I removed the buttons on the side of the lift by rotoing around it and using a constant and a ramp to match the gardiant to the other plates of the wall. I even animated the constant and the ramp since there is a change in lighting. I even added noise just to make it seem even more natural.

Mistakes were made:

After all the roto, grading and luma keying, I was only able to use around 40 frames from the original 8 second clip. This is because the background track was HIDEOUS. The wall on the right would slightly come out towards the left one. When I saw it I immediately knew what was the problem, when I modeled  this scene in Maya there was a problem on Maya’s end where I couldn’t see my render port or the tracking image plane, so I had to place it based on the previous gun rack. However, even though I measured the distance using basic geometry I still placed the gallery hallway to far back for whatever reason. I realised how far back it was, I just ignored it. But when I saw problems in the track immediately guessed that it was at fault. I really should’ve take the posting more seriously.

Solutions: I tried moving the background plate around in Nuke in hopes in finding a new perspective, but that didn’t help. The only option was to just cut it out of the project, but I realised that the beginning and the ending are actually useful since the beginning is static and towards the end the perspective matches the track. 

I considered keeping the first 100 frames where its static.

Then cutting to the second shot.

Then cut again to the first shot but it would be towards the end, so I basically cut out the walking in part.

Then back to the second shot where I’m about to grab the gun of the rack.

However this felt taccy and way to forces, I wouldn’t enjoy a piece that was this choppy, so I just decided to use 40 frames of the first shot and just move on to the second shot.

Evaluation:

This was the most stressful project ever, I really doubt that the FMP will be this stressful, but then again I did keep on switching idea back and forth so I need to be more decisive. 

Overall this project has shown how powerful of a compositor nuke is and how it could go so deep into the footage grading every nook and cranny, for example the layersheet just blew my mind with what you could with it. How you could go and isolate a CG object and grade it on its own even if it was rendered with other objects.

I learnt so much and I am planning on learning even more. However, I am also truly disappointed and gutted at the end result of the first shot when I realised that the background hasn’t tracked. I’m aiming to become a tracker or a matchmover so seeing such a stupid mistake ruin the whole project that I’ve worked so hard on just broke my heart, but at the end of the day it was a stupid mistake that I made, no one else. I will defiantly learn from this and make sure everything is in line and the perspective is correct in future tracks.     

[rhina988]

I Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind - Part 2

I’m glad many of you liked Part 1 (which you could read HERE), and since I was inspired I wrote a Part 2 - but that still won’t be the end. :) The story will have a Part 3, that will come out really soon. 

Thanks for all the feedback, feel free to comment on this one as well and send your suggestions.

I’m always open for requests.

Enjoy!

Part 2

I knew I won’t be able to refuse to see Justin any longer if I want to make this evening perfect for me and Jared. That’s why I decided to send Justin a peace offering.

“Fine, I’ll talk to you, but not tonight!. I’m not in the city. I’ll call you tomorrow when I get back, and we can talk.”

“Everything OK?”, Jared asked and it seemed as if he was a bit concerned.

“Yeah, nothing to worry about. Some mix up with the schedule at work. Nothing that Ashley can’t take care of. I just tend to overreact sometimes.” I said and smiled, trying to make sure nothing ruins tonight.

“Good. I wouldn’t want this night to be anything but perfect”, Jared said and put his hand on top of mine which was on my left thigh. Chills instantly went through my stomach and up my spine. His touch was so compelling. 

We’ve finally arrived in front of the restaurant and after he got out of the car Jared opened the door for me and took my hand to hold while we were getting inside. Everybody seemed to know him, and we got the best table at the restaurant. It was one of the tables in the back, where you could see the entire room, while almost nobody could see you perfectly. It was perfect for me, since I wanted us to have as much privacy as possible. It would be so uncomfortable to be photographed by paparazzi on our first date. Not only was this our first date, but the day that we met for the first time. Everything was happening so fast that the last thing I needed was to see my picture online in the morning saying that Jared and I are “a thing”. 

The waiter came to take our order and after we’ve ordered dinner and a bottle of white wine we started to talk. I got to know a bit more about Jared’s personal life. I only knew a couple of basic things, about his brother, a single mom and their not at all easy childhood. But tonight he told me almost every little thing about their struggle, and path to success. It’s so refreshing to talk to someone who doesn’t take their success, fortune and fame for granted. Jared worked so hard for every little thing he owns, that he can’t help but be humble and grateful for everything he has now. 

“It’s so nice to see that a celebrity could actually be so down to earth as you are. I feel like I have known you my entire life. It’s so easy to talk to you.”, I said and smiled the whole time. Jared was so comfortable to be around. Not for a minute did I feel any kind of pressure talking to a rock star. 

“I can say the same about you. It seems as if we clicked the moment we met. I could talk to you for hours.”, Jared said and took a glass to clink with mine.

“So tell me, how is that you chose to do what you do?”, Jared asked me.

“Well, I’ve always known I’m gonna end up doing something that has to do with television. As a little kid I used to act, sing, recite, and I was always involved with activities that included public speaking or some type of performance.”

“Yeah, you really are charismatic, that’s for sure. There’s something about you that’s enchanting. It’s really hard to keep my eyes off of you”, Jared said with the cutest grin on his smile, taking a sip of his wine.

“Stop, you’re gonna make me blush.”, I said and waved my head.

“I’m serious, you are beautiful and so charming I’m surprised you’re still single.”

Here we go. It’s time to mention the exes, and past relationships. I was so hoping we wouldn’t have to go that far on the first date, but that’s just my luck.

“I guess I was out of luck on that field. Somehow no matter how much I want a guy to be the one, they never seemed to be able to meet all of my expectations and criteria.”

“Wow, you’ve set some high standards, huh?”, Jared said and raised his eyebrow.

“I guess you could say that. I just know how much I’m worth, and I won’t go below that.”

“I like that in a woman. You know exactly what you want, and you’re not afraid to look for it.”

“Exactly!”, I said and smiled flirtatiously.”And what about you, mister?” I was trying to keep him away from my love life, at least until I fix everything with Justin.

“Well, between the albums, tours, movies and all other craziness, it’s real miracle I was able to date any women in my life. ”, Jared said and started laughing.

“So, the problem was just the time. Or to be specific, the lack of one?”

“Absolutely. You wouldn’t imagine how difficult it is to juggle all the errands you have to do in a day. And when the tour comes, I am basically almost the entire year away. And for the most part of it I’m even on other continents, so it’s anything but easy to keep in touch.”

Good job, Y/N. You’ve found yet another guy who’s definitely not going to be a keeper. But then again how on earth could I be feeling the way I do? It’s like we’re all alone in this restaurant, even though the place is crowded with people. Not for a second did we keep our eyes off each other. How would be even be able to keep any form of relationship alive if he lives the life he just described? This was starting to get more complicated by the minute, and I was feeling more attracted to him as the night went on. 

It was already time for dessert but we both agreed not to take anything, and head out instead.

“Dinner was so delicious, I don’t think I could taste anything else without ripping the zipper on this dress”, I said and sighed a bit.

“Don’t be silly, we didn’t have that much to eat. Plus, I wouldn’t let anything or anyone rip that dress unless myself.”, Jared said and leaned towards me to drop a kiss on my lips. He definitely didn’t waste a minute, that’s for sure.

I didn’t get the chance to speak my mind after Jared, because the waiter came to bring us the check. After Jared took care of it, we went to the car and he gave me a ride home.

We were in front of my building, and Jared parked, turned off the engine and walked outside to open the door for me. Such a gentleman! 

“Thank you” I said as Jared offered me a hand to get out of the car. These heels were no joke, so neither of us would like for me to trip and fall down on my nose.

“Well, this was quite the night”, Jared said and I stopped in front of the stairs to my building, leaning against the railings.

“It sure was. The whole day’s been really intense”, I said and looked into Jared’s sky blue eyes. I swear this man had the most unique eyes as I’ve ever seen.  

“It would be great if it could become even more intense.” Jared said and grabbed me by the waist pulling me closer to him. We were face to face. So close we could feel each other’s breaths on our faces. 

We were standing still for a split second, both eager to kiss each other. As I bit my lower lip in anticipation, Jared licked his lips and couldn’t wait a second longer. 

He cupped my cheeks, and locked his lips to mine. I ran my fingers through his hair, as his embrace became stronger with every breath we exchanged. I swear I thought we’d have sex right then and there. We were all over each other, I completely forgot we were actually standing in the middle of the street.

“OK, wait, wait, wait…”, I pushed Jared slowly away from me, trying to catch a breath. “We should definitely stop this now.” 

I could hear a small growl coming out of his chest as his eyes were closed for a second or two. He was trying to cool down himself from this fire-burning feeling we just had. 

“Yeah…. I guess you’re right… I mean, I had a great time, and it’s best if we end the night with this.”, he said and kissed me again, but this time slowly, shortly and so sweet. It was more of a cute smooch that barely lasted for a millisecond. Just enough to say “good night” without causing another tide of steamy feelings.

“How about we have a lunch tomorrow?”, Jared suggested and started walking towards the car.

“Lunch sounds great. How about 2?” I asked and smiled.

“Perfect. I’ll pick you up. Good night.”, he said and blew me a kiss with his hand. 

“Good night. See you tomorrow”, I said and started walking up the stairs.

I went inside the condo, and instantly got out of this damn dress. My God I’ve never felt this hot in my life. It’s like it was a 1000 degrees in this apartment. I instantly hit the cold shower to try to cool myself down as fast as possible. This man was giving me such intense feelings, I thought I was on fire. 

I should’ve asked him to come inside. The hell with the first date thing, I WANTED him so much I started to feel physical pain. This is definitely the first time I’ve felt something so strong for someone in such a short notice. I mean, we haven’t known each other for the whole 24 hours yet, and I was completely obsessed with the thought of him. And me. Together. 

I walked out of the shower, put my white fluffy bathrobe on and went to lay down to bed a bit before I dried my hair. I took my phone and saw a text from Jared.

“I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Holly crap. Just when I started to think if he was feeling the same way I did I see this text. It’s official. This is going to be anything but an ordinary relationship.

“I can’t get you off my mind either. I had a great time tonight.”, I replied and started drying off my hair with a towel.

“Can’t wait for tomorrow. Sleep tight.”

I didn’t reply anything and started to dry my hair thinking about all the possible versions of this little commotion. Is it possible that we’re in for a long run? Or are we just going to heat up this fast, only to crash and burn all together in the end? How was even possible that this was happening so fast? No anticipation for the messages, no games that serve only to test the other one’s nerves (the one that I hate BTW. I mean if you like me, tell me so, if you don’t tell me as well, so I can move on. All these games about who should call first and do the first move are so tiring and gross I could vomit). We were starting off with such passion, excitement and arousal that it’s impossible we’ll last long. OK, these thoughts are becoming too much. It’s time to go to bed for sure.

The next morning was wonderful. I woke up and saw a gorgeous sunny day waiting for me to make the best of it. I got up, made coffee and started going through my messages. Fortunately today was my day off, so I didn’t have to go to the studio. I could spend a carefree afternoon with Jared.

“Shit!”, just as I thought about that carefree day I saw a message from Justin.

“I hope you’ll be home soon. I’m coming over later.”

Who the hell does he think he is? We broke up a month ago, (well, actually I broke up but he was fine with it) and now he wants me to listen to him, and acts like I owe him something. I’m not letting him ruin this thing with Jared for me. 

“Don’t come over,  I won’t be home till tonight. We better meet at the coffee place. Could you be there in an hour?”

It was about 11 o’clock so I figured we could talk for about half an hour which would leave me plenty of room to get back home and wait to meet Jared. 

“Fine. See you there in an hour.”

We had our favorite coffee place near my home where we actually met for the first time. I haven’t even been there since we broke up. That’s why I hate meeting guys at my favorite restaurants, coffee places or other places I love, they always become less attractive locations after I broke up with a guy. 

Anyway, now I just needed to mentally prepare for this damn conversation, and not let anything ruin my day with Jared.

I went to a coffee place and there he was. Justin, sitting at the table outside, with a cup of coffee to go in his hand, sipping it slowly and glancing at his watch to check the time. Good, he sat outside, this will stop me from making a huge scene if he pushes too far with his attitude and behavior. He came a bit early, so he was probably hoping I wouldn’t be late. As I wasn’t. If anything, I was punctual. Which I also appreciated in others. Time is money, so every minute is carefully planned out. Who ever can’t respect that, we part ways fast.

“Hi.”, I said and sat across Justin.

“Hi. I was hoping you’ll be here soon.”, he said nervously.

“So, what’s up? Why am I here anyway Justin?”, I said and rolled my eyes at him.

“I want you back.”

“Ha ha ha”, slipped my mouth.

“What’s so funny?”

“Really? Are you kidding me? ”

He watched in disbelief and waved his head. I guess he thought I maybe felt the similar way. But I didn’t at all. As a matter of fact, I’m sure I haven’t thought about him since the day we broke up. 

“Look, I broke up with you for a reason, OK?”, I said and lean forward to him putting one arm on the table. “I stopped having feelings for you, so it was time we both went our separate ways.”

“But I still have feelings for you.”, Justin said and put his hand over mine, “I think we could work this out if we tried.”

I quickly pulled my hand beneath his and leaned back against the chair.

“No, Justin. When one person stops having feelings for another, that’s where things end. I’m not confused, or unreasonable, I just know how I feel. And I don’t feel a thing for you anymore. I’m sorry but that’s how things are. Can you make peace with it or not?”

Justin sat there for a moment, clearly disturbed and disappointed. But he finally spoke.

“Fine. Can we at least be friends?” 

“Sure. Why not. Just don’t try this again. I’m serious, we’re done. For good.”

I said and got up, going back to my apartment. My God this was awful. How could he even thought I’d want him back. Never have I ever sent him mixed signals or anything. I was always straightforward and he pulls this one on me. Horrible. Thankfully there’s something to look forward today. In an hour we’ll finally meet.

I was ready in ten minutes. The anticipation left me all tingly, that I couldn’t think much about the perfect outfit, so I grabbed what I felt most comfortable at. Jared’s already seen me in my sexiest edition, so it was time for something less sexy but still feminine and cute.

I was done with the clothes, fixed my hair and make-up a bit and it was time to head out. As I looked through the window I saw Jared arriving. He came by foot, which was a bit surprising, but great since I needed a lot of fresh air if I was gonna be around him in the middle of broad daylight.

“Hello beautiful”, Jared said and tilted his head to the right, smiling at the same time.

“Hello handsome.”, I said and started quickly coming down the stairs. I wrapped my hands around him giving him the biggest hug. Then he quickly kissed me, grabbed my hand and we started walking to lunch.

“I thought we could use this beautiful day to go for a walk, and enjoy the outdoors. ”, Jared said and seamed like that’s not all he wanted to tell me.

“Great idea. It really is the perfect day, I love to be outside when the sun is shining and it’s this warm.”

“I can tell. You sure have been busy today, haven’t you?”, he looked at me a bit angry.

“Not really, no. Why?” I was trying to play dumb, just so see if he was implying what I thought he was implying.

Jared quickly jerked my arm and pulled me into an alley. He pushed me hard against the wall and cupped my face. I was a bit scared and flustered at the same time. I started to breathe heavily and couldn’t say a word.

“You don’t think I know what you’ve been up to earlier today?”, Jared asked and started to caress my face with his thumb.

“Nothing… I just… I went…”, I couldn’t think of any good excuse. My mind was spinning around with desire to kiss him, and the need to not disappoint him. The last thing I wanted was for Jared to think I’m seeing someone else while I’m dating him as well.

“You went to a date with someone else, right?”

“No, I didn’t. It wasn’t…”

“Don’t lie to me. That’s the one thing I won’t tolerate. Ever.”

“I am not lying. I just went…”

Jared kissed me without letting me finish the sentence. His arms were all over my body and mine were playing with his hair, pulling him closer to me. Our bodies were on fire. Suddenly he broke the kiss and looked deep into my eyes. 

“Whatever THAT was earlier, now it’s over. Got it? I won’t share you with anyone. I am crazy about you and you’re gonna be JUST mine. ”, Jared said as he pulled a bit away. Biting his lower lip he glanced at my lips, eager to kiss them again.

“He’s an ex boyfriend who just misunderstood some things and I met him to clear everything out. OK?”, I could barely catch a breath but I managed to tell him this.

Jared stepped a bit closer again cupping my face and he whispered “Good. Now we can go to lunch.” He kissed me again so passionately that I felt every nerve in my body tingling. Who on earth could think about lunch right now? I guess I’m gonna have to…

But wait, how could he have known what happen earlier today? Was he following me? Did someone see me and told him about it? I’m definitely gonna have to find out because he didn’t sound harmless at all. Not that I am afraid of him or anything, but this obsession of ours might escalate incredibly. 

Read Part 3

@spaceshipteam44

@nikkitasevoli

[randomvarious]

Aaron Carter - “I’m Gonna Miss You Forever” Bravo Hits 20 Song released in 1997. Compilation released in 1998. Pop

Hey, girl. I’m sad.

Oh yeah, we’re doing this. 

You all know who Aaron Carter is, but you don’t know how funny this kid’s story was. I’m serious. Yeah, he was a manufactured tween pop star who rode his Backstreet Boy brother’s coattails, and yeah, he only sold because his music was spoonfed to Radio Disney listeners and Nickelodeon kids, but there’s more hilarious facts in his backstory than you probably know.

But before we get into that, did you know that Aaron, much like the Backstreet Boys themselves, was a star in Europe before he made songs like “Aaron’s Party,” “That’s How I Beat Shaq,” and his “I Want Candy” cover? It’s true. His self-titled debut album made minimal noise in the States and none of the singles charted, but that album sold a million copies worldwide, with 250,000 of those solely bought in Germany. Released when he was only nine years old, Carter sounds absolutely ridiculous on it and the album cover depicts him wearing a red set of overalls with the letter “A” on his chest like he’s some Alvin & The Chipmunks gimmick:

But let’s get to the story of how he came to release music in the first place, because it’s really funny. There’s a book on the Internet Archive called Biography today. Volume 11, issue 3 : profiles of people of interest to young readers, which contains an entry that Aaron Carter’s publicist one hundred percent definitely wrote:

Aaron’s musical career began officially at the age of seven, when he took the lead singer position in a band called Dead End in Orlando, Florida. Aaron met the members of the band in a “rock school” he was attending in Tampa, where he was studying voice, music, and dance, determined to follow in his brother Nick’s footsteps. But the band did’t prove to be a good fit. As it turned out, the other band members wanted to play alternative rock, including songs by Green Day. According to Aaron, “they wanted to do alternative music and I wanted to do more pop.” Concerts with the Dead End would be a scene of screaming angry lyrics with young audiences of head-banging fans. This was a far cry from the upbeat crooning and slick choreography that Nick was performing with the Backstreet Boys.

I would kill for some footage of a Dead End concert. Just clones of the bullies from the Little Rascals movie losing their shit to covers of “Basket Case,” mixed in with screaming originals about subjects they despise like girls and homework. Fuck, that would be incredible. But, ultimately, all that negativity wasn’t the life for Aaron. He would’ve been faking the funk had he continued on with his band, what with being rich and admiring the success of his big brother (an alleged rapst, btw), and so, due to creative differences, Dead End eventually reached a...dead end. 

Following the band break-up, Aaron’s mom asked one of the Backstreet Boys’ musicians, Gary Carolla, to write and produce a song for him. That song ended up being “Crush on You,” which would serve as the lead single on Carter’s debut album. With months of practicing his performance of this one song under his belt, the Backstreet Boys’ producer, Johnny Wright, agreed to let him open for BSB in Berlin with a one-song set.

More from this ridiculous biographical entry:

And as it turned out, it was that one song, one show, one chance, that set Aaron Carter’s career in motion in a big way. His mother describes how Aaron, only nine years old at the time, “torpedoed out there on the stage [in front of 50,000 screaming girls]. He sang his one song. He gave that one shot his best. The girls went absolutely nuts!” Sitting amidst the pandemonium was a representative from Edel, a German record company, and she immediately got on her cell phone to her boss ["Chuck, Chuck! It's Marvin! Your cousin, Marvin Berry! You know that new sound you looking for? Well listen to THIS!"]. Before the night was over, Aaron Carter had his first record contract.

That summer, Aaron would continue to open for BSB, and by early December, he released his debut album. The guy who produced his first song, Gary Carolla, would end up producing or co-producing most of the songs on the album, including its third single, “I’m Gonna Miss You Forever,” which, as it turns out, is a big pile of dogshit. 

You’re probably saying, “yeah, but all of that teenybopper pop stuff is garbage.” Not so. Hanson made. some. fucking. bops. Production on “MMMBop” is phenomenal (it has turntable scratches!) and it goes, eternally. And I’m not even faulting Aaron Carter for the quality of this song. He was only nine years old and he couldn’t help the fact that he sounded like Brett Kazoo at the time. He was fortunate enough to be living a fantasy, having been given an opportunity to follow in his brother’s footsteps. 

But I am going to go in on Gary Carolla. How do you get away with writing a song with the following lyrics?:

My girlfriend, my best friend I don't wanna see you go I just wanna let you know That I have a crush on you I can wait no longer, girl To say what I feel

First of all, why would Aaron need to tell his girlfriend that he has a crush on her? That’s not how relationships work in any age bracket. Crushing comes before the relationship. How could you fuck this up so badly? Like, what possesses you to write something this nonsensical and lazy? And secondly, the production. This isn’t 1992. This is a beat for an old Toni Braxton ballad or something, man. Know your talent. I get that you didn’t have much time to flesh out an album and you probably had a limited budget, but damn, this shit sucks on so many levels.

Check out the video which features Aaron’s rockin’ bowl cut:

Here’s another little nugget. Also appearing on that album is a song called “Shake It,” which is also co-produced by Carolla, and features none other than Florida rap / Miami bass duo 95 South. You remember them, right? They’re responsible for that 1993 hit, “Whoot, There It Is” (which you should never, under any circumstances, ever confuse with Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is),” which came out a month later). “Shake It” wasn’t a single, but there was a music video, and if you’ve made it this far, you really need to see that, too.

Oh yeah, we did that.

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                                                            MAY                      2020

PAGE  RIB

Check out the We are One Global film fest on youtube from May 29-June 7. We will be able to experience movies from Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca and Venice for free!! Yahoo!!

*****

May 10 will bring us The Feeding America comedy Fest. So far the stars on board are Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Tiffany Haddish, Chris Rock, Louie Anderson, JB Smoove, Brad Garrett, Jon Lovitz, Tim Meadows, Keegan-Michael Key, George Lopez and Sarah Silverman, just to mention a few.

*****

Jim Carrey will release his Memoirs and Misinformation on May 5.

*****

If you need honest medical info, take a look at Quackwatch: A guide to quackery, health fraud and intelligent decisions.

*****

Current times are a magnification of a problem that has been brewing for quite some time. The kiss ass, the indifferent, the greedy who don’t miss a trick are todays fortunate sons.** If half of this country didn’t want the other half to have a fighting chance we wouldn’t be in this situation right now. The Federal government should have all of our best interests at heart.  I will never understand why so many of the’ have not’ voters love supporting the’ haves ‘that love to fuck over the little guy.

*****

SAVE THE USPS!!

*****

I guess we know how this country would be prepared to react to bioterrorism.

*****

SNL is working from home like so many but with Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Fred Armisen, Paul Rudd, Miley and Sandler.

*****

George Gray, announcer for the Price is Right is recovering after a week of 3 heart attacks.

*****

Marijuana use is at an all -time high. Alcohol use is up 40%.

*****

What is up with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp who seemed so surprised at the virus months after everybody else seemed to know the facts? This is what happens if we only listen to Trump and Fox news.** He is so ready to open up the state early. ** A Georgia citizen said it best: Kemp mandates restaurants open, whether I reopen dining rooms or not. I file for business interruption insurance, it does not go through since I am “allowed” to operate full capacity. My landlord can demand all their money since I am allowed to fully operate. Furloughed staff that is collecting unemployment insurance have to come back to work or I have to let them go. Their unemployment insurance then goes on my tab. If things blow up again they are still on my tab, not on the state since they are no longer employed. This is about screwing the working class.** A dog has now been diagnosed with the virus as well as some cats.

*****

UFO footage has been declassified by the pentagon. Wow, anything to distract! ** This whole Scary Clown 45 mess often seems like a big government experiment. Just how much will we put up with? How stupid or complacent are we??

*****

The President’s council on reopening America has a message for our country: Die you fucking slaves. Die Die Die. We’re rich and you’re not and we’ll be even richer after the mass burials are over. Sucks to be you.

*****

The Federal government does not have absolute power. Why do “big government” haters suddenly want the Feds to run their lives??** Some checks were delayed because Trump wanted his name on them?** The Huffington Post has reported that $180,000 a year of Trump campaign money is given to his son’s significant others.

*****

The Carter’s have asked donors to the Carter Center to instead give those donations to local organizations in need.** A great charity is RIP medical debt which puts $100 to every dollar you donate to wipe out medical debt.

*****

Need some nature sounds in your life? Visit NPS.gov/sounds

*****

It looks like Macgruber may become an 8 episode series according to Will Forte.

*****

It is sort of reassuring to see that the late night hosts who mostly hover around my age, are no better at technology than I am.** BTW, Billy Eichner is such a great guest from home.. more please!** I see that one of the 8G band on Late Night has a big pic of Mick’s face behind him at home. I also see that same pic everyday above my desk. A kindred spirit.

*****

Linda McMahon, wife of WWE chair, announced the18.5 million Trump super PAC in Florida. Governor DeSantis now calls WWE essential. Many of the wrestlers were fired so the bottom line looks good.

*****

Being willfully stupid is not part of the Christian tradition.- John Meecham

*****

Some fast food workers went on strike. This is a good time to do it. Risking your lives for minimum wage is hardly worth it.

*****

Threadgill’s, the Austin bar that helped launch Janis Joplin is closing down.

*****

Is this true? 150 members of the Saudi royal family tested positive for covid-19.** Did Trump play down the virus because he owes millions to China’s state owned banks or was it to try to get dirt on Biden?

*****

I am not sure what has happened to the American workplace. So many strides were made in the mid 20th century but a lot of that seems to have fallen away. I see so many employers leaving it to employees to provide supplies before they even get the job. Teachers sometimes buy things for the classrooms. Some employees must buy their own cell phones for video conferences or even punching in and out. Some nursing home employees bring in their own cough drops or snacks for residents. How much $ do the people at the top need?? No sick pay? Work or starve!

*****

Everyone staying at home proves how badly we need a better high speed internet system in the U.S.

*****

Porn hub has been giving free porn.** The My Pillow guy is praising Trump as he donates 50,000 masks.

*****

All these Trump worshipping MAGA shills, they’re willing to die for the dumbest, flounciest fancy lad in history. –Patton Oswalt.

*****

So we don’t want to give Government help to immigrants who pay taxes, we do want to help cruise lines who avoid taxes by registering as foreign companies. Got it! ???

*****

The Neo confederate hate group, ‘league of the south’ is moving ahead with its annual conference in June.** Trump is getting ready to open the country with a coalition of his republican Governors and companies (some of whom seemed surprised). ** How did we get here? If our Pres is incapable of reading simple memos, he is incompetent. ** Scary Clown is trying to speed up the Wall as we are dropping like flies.

*****

This can’t be true. Federal agents are confiscating masks and supplies in hospitals, presumably for ICE agents??** Was Scary Clown 45 trying to force congress out of session so that he could skate some recess appointments by?** Rules have been weakened as to the release of mercury and various toxins from oil and coal power plants.** Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil do not seem to concerned about the virus.** Trump circled back around to the heat and light thing as a cure because he could not get over the shit he got for telling us that spring’s warm weather would take care of everything, right?

*****

Chicago businessman Gene Staples has purchased Indiana Beach amusement park and will open in July if he is able.

*****

Nascar will be back this month with new races but without the live audience.

*****

Catch Ashes to Ash: The disappearance of Robert Bee on Youtube.

*****

As everyone is sick with respiratory problems and the pollution has ebbed a bit, scary clown 45 has to roll back some of our rules that protect clean air. Auto emissions are rolled back to 1.5%.  He has to be loving the fact that we can’t all gather and protest. Hmmm?? Perhaps it is a conspiracy.. but his.** Oh but the disbelievers did gather in Michigan with dolls in nooses and confederate flags. Why do they think that the medical experts are telling them this for partisan reasons or just for their own kicks? They have our safety in mind. Use your fucking heads. How can this country get stupider as time goes on? ** Why can’t they just cover Covid treatment? Medical debt is gonna skyrocket.** I don’t like big government either but in times of crises and health care, we need it to work properly. ** But when the powers that be tell us that animals can’t get it and then a tiger gets it or that masks don’t protect you and then they suddenly do, it makes us all skeptical. Way to confuse us fuckers!!  Even with the ignorant and the panicked, just tell us the truth and the average person will be with ya!!** It was snowing in April? Where was this warmer weather that was going to kill the virus?

*****

You just knew that Trump and his cronies had money on the line when it came to hydroxychloroquine. ** Scary Clown 45 has removed the very man who was set to oversee the $ 2 trillion stimulus. The good ol boys can’t wait to get their hands on that money while people are dying. ** Trump delayed checks that are not direct deposit because he wants his name on them.** People had trouble getting thru when applying for unemployment. Canada gave out the benefits and then checked the details.** States and companies are very confused. Jared claims he is in charge, Pence is supposed to be in charge and FEMA claims they are the final word.  Trump seems to thrive on chaos. The states bidding, stocks up and down and Doctors disagreeing are right up his alley. He probably does hate being stuck at the WH.

*****

People will forgive you for not being the leader you should be, they will never forgive you for not being the leader you claim to be.

*****

Why should it be surprising that poor communities are being hit so hard? The poor, the minorities do so much of the cleaning, the cooking and delivering that still has to be done. When people are not sheltering in place because they are needed or they need that paycheck, of course they are getting infected since they are still out there. Add to that, little or no health care and poor diets from food deserts etc. and there you go.

*****

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham is out after 9 months.  Kayleigh Mcenany is in.** Vaccine chief Rick Bright is reassigned. He recently wanted to put hydroxychloroquine to some rigorous tests. He has been vocal about the administration.

*****

Lights Out is leaving Comedy Central and looking for another place to air.

*****

Can’t wait to see Mrs. America about the women who shaped our past.

*****

I rarely pay attention to advertising but I love that Chantix turkey. I hate the fact that he had a smoking problem, though.

*****

Every prisoner in every prison, especially the non -violent and the elderly should be reviewed. There needs to be more room made for white collar crimes that hurt so many more of us.

*****

Word is that Kim Jung un is brain dead.

*****

Rumble media has released Planet of the Humans from Jeff Gibbs on Youtube . The film will run free for 30 days and sort of explodes the myth of our ‘green’ heroes.

*****

Common, Woody Harrelson and Shinola watch co. have created a cannabis leak motif watch and the proceeds will go to criminal justice reform.

*****

Navy Captain Crozier was fired for telling the truth and looking after his crew. ** The U.S.S. Comfort isn’t taking Covid patients??

*****

Good bye Schitt’s Creek. We sure will miss ya!!

*****

Franklin Graham was asking volunteers for his field hospital in NY to sign a ‘statement of faith.’  It stated that they, “believe in God’s plan for human sexuality within the context of marriage between a man and a woman and that those that stray from those beliefs face eternal damnation and eternal judgement in Hell.”**

*****

Jon Cryer has a new book out: So that happened.

We can see now what would happen if all the humans were dead. The mountain goats have come down the hill and taken over a town in Wales. The Pandas are finally mating in Hong Kong now that they have some privacy.

*****

Bernie is out after 4 long conversations with Obama and tells us that he will concentrate on the pandemic. Looks like we are stuck with Biden.  At least Biden is talking about lowering Medicare to 60. It’s not enough but at least it’s a start.** Who will the female VP pick be, Klobuchar, Witmer, Abrams??

*****

Netflix along with Steve Carell and Greg Daniel will bring us Space Force on May 29 with Lisa Kudrow and John Malkovich.

*****

In Sweden, all land is for public use. Imagine!!

*****

ICP cancelled their Juggalo fest.

*****

Perhaps home schooling will become more popular. Perhaps with the pollution dropping, humans will get the message that we have really fucked ourselves in this world. Less cars people!!** The Twitter CEO donated a billion. That made the other top $ people look like schmucks.

*****

Kleenex Cottonelle is donating a million rolls and a million bucks. Share A Square!!

*****

Fight Island??

*****

Tiger King.. who cares.. Crip Camp is the one to watch.  A Secret Love is also great. This is the world that we should build from the ashes of Covid-19.** Stop trying to get me to watch Tiger King. –Bill Maher

*****

We are in a recession.** I don’t understand when I see so many “devout”  people show no respect for religions other than their own.

*****

Tom Pelphrey on Ozark this season just blew me away!! He has to be the one to watch at the Emmy’s.

*****

On a personal note: Hey Aunt Ritski, I will never forget that you saved a couple of people from drowning when you were a lifeguard. I will never forget one of your favorite tales, that you wanted to be Miss Kitty when you were 5 years old and got a little drunk trying. I will never forget the times that you drove thru the ditches, your Cooter Brown stories or the way that you often left all the change on the bar when we were out.  How could anyone forget the weddings, the bullet you had to live with the rest of your life and the love you had for your siblings. We will miss you forever because all of the lives you touched would have been a whole lot different without you in it. What the fuck would we have talked about if not for the saga of you? I can think of nobody who would disagree with that. Your family loves you baby. Go in Peace and serenity.

 R.I.P. Adam Schlesinger, Ellis Marsalis Jr., Mort Drucker, Lorena Boreja, Janet Alexander,  Patricia Bosworth, Bucky Pizzarelli, Logan Wiliams, Maeve Williams, Wallace Roney, Joe Diffie, Andrew Jack, Alan Merrill, John Prine, Thomas L. Miller, tornado victims, Charlotte Figi, David Driscoll, Hal Willner, Patricia Bosworth, Ann Sullivan, Brooke Taylor, the Canadian shooting victims, Matt Seligman, Barney Ales, Bootsy Barnes, Bruce Meyers,Roger Beatty, the tornado victims, Tim Brooke- Taylor, Jorge Camara, Andrew J. Fenady, Brian Dennehy, Don Reed Herring, Henry Graff, Allen Daviou, Tom Lester,  Bill Withers and Rita Hale.

[makeover-blog1]

Wild Style Completionisms

via WordPress ift.tt/2IRIqOw

Stickup Kids: “A to the K?” “A to the mother fuckin Z.”

(feel free to click on any pic to zoom in)

Related to Elements: DJ, MC, B-Boying, Graffiti, Wild Style, Crate Digging

Of all the Old School Hip Hop movies, Wild Style is the absolute best. Billboard Magazine is even more flattering.

“#1 Hip-Hop movie of all time” – Billboard Magazine

That’s not too bold of a claim since it is essentially a fly on the wall view of the birth of the forthcoming worldwide cultural Hip Hop explosion. The tale is told from an insider’s perspective where you see the original 4 elements of Hip Hop all on equal footing. Even at the grand finale scene of the movie, the raw energy and talent doesn’t reach beyond the South Bronx’s Amphitheater. Nevertheless, this is where it all began, and the confidence and freshness factor of this movie’s real life players can’t be fucked with.

Now, 30 years down the line, you can pop in the DVD and it’s still as fresh now as it was back then. No other movie unidealistically touches the reality of early days of Hip Hop more than Wild Style.

Right, But What about the Music?

Various Wild Style Records, the OST CD and 30th Anniversary DVD

One of the very first records I ever bought was the Wild Style Soundtrack. When the mailman dropped it off on my stoop I was stoked and soon after unboxing it the stoked feeling turned to “Oh, wait, this is kinda flimsy.” Turns out I bought a “bootlegunofficial” copy. For all intensive purposes “Bootleg” and “Unofficial” are the same thing, but Discogs says it like that so I guess I better follow their lead. Still, I had the soundtrack and I was elated. I reluctantly realized it didn’t sound the best but, frankly, back then I was happy to have any classic Hip Hop record even if it was just a crappy boot. At some point I realized I wasn’t happy enough. It sounded like crap and I knew an original copy had to be out there. But back in those days that original OST went for 50-100 bucks on Ebay (which is incidentally why it had been bootlegged) and that was well out of my financial grasp. Luckily, the good people at Mr Bongo out of the UK had guys like me covered because they procured the rights to a legitimate and nicely pressed 2LP reissue with Bonus Tracks. Obviously I was all over that along with other various Wild Style records along the way… TLDR. Fast forward to today, I finally got the original copy and hell yeah, it was worth the wait. It sounds just as sweet as I hoped it would.

Various Wild Style Records (click to zoom in)

Wild Style Soundtrack: The Bootleg vs the Original

Other than tell-tale wear and tear the covers look the same

The covers may look the same but the original can be identified by extra printing on the back cover and on the record label.

If it doesn’t say “Jem” it’s fake. (click to zoom)

Look for the “Manufactured by Jem Records” writing on the back cover and on the record label.

Click to zoom in on the label of the “unofficial” Wild Style OST

Click to zoom in on the label of the Original Wild Style OST

The bootleg is the absolute worst sounding pressing so it should be avoided at all costs. The Mr Bongo 2LP pressing is fantastic and so is the OG. I personally like the OG best because of the way the songs are originally mixed. It’s almost like a DJ mix not unlike the style of mixing on the classic Street Sound’s Electro compilations. Mr Bongo’s (andor Beyongolia) versions are great pressings too but listening to it them has more of a compilation flow and “feel” to it.

The Wild Style Theme Rap 12″ (Animal) 1983

Wild Style Theme Rap 12″

The version on this twelve inch single is VERY different from the rap of the same name on the OST. This seems more electo-beat laced. It has thicker production and it’s a different beast of a classic altogether. I was a bit surprised to see how dope this was when I played it expecting the album version. Grandmaster Caz will always be the man, but back in 83 he was making undeniable moves on hot singles like this one.

“Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album” Origins

DJ Black Steel Presents: The Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album LP (Music of Life) 1990

During my early Wild Style collecting years I came across the “Original Wild Style Breakbeats”

the “Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album” record cover

OWSBBA back cover “Straight Outta the South Bronx”

OWSBBA record label

What’s the deal with this album? Who the hell is DJ Black Steel? I felt compelled to find out the origins. Apparently there is this rare record out there called the Wild Style Test Pressing and he was one of the insanely lucky dudes who had a copy.

Yeah, right! What kind of holy grail tall tale is this? Turns out it’s very true, let’s get it straight from the horse’s mouth… Check out what Freddy Fresh said on the matter.

“Taken from my book… ANIMAL RECORDS (Wild Style Soundtrack) This record was originally available through special screenings of the B Boy culture documentary of the film by the same name. At the end of screenings they would sell the album soundtrack of this film. I purchased my copy in 1983 at a screening of the film at the Bell Theater University of Minnesota. There were a handful of test pressings made of the instrumental versions of the songs as well, these were made for the DJ’s in the actual film to play and scratch with etc.. A few copies leaked out but almost NO ONE has an original test pressing of this record. (see test pressings, bootlegs etc..) see scan near end of book

6005 Wildstyle Soundtrack (Grand Wizard Theodore – Military Cut, Busy Bee Vs. Rodney C – MC Battle, Cold Crush Brothers vs. Fantastic Freaks – Basketball Throwdown, Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie, Grand Wizard Theodore – Subway Theme, Cold Crush Brothers at the Dixie, Double Trouble – Stoop Rap, Double Trouble at the Amphitheater, Busy Bee at the Amphitheater, DJ Grand Wizard Theodore – Gangbusters, Rammellzee & Shockwell at the Amphitheater) **** 1983 This album has been reissued through Beyongolia Records London England and includes 6 exclusive tracks not on the original Wildstyle album they are (Busy Bee’s –Limo Rap, Grandmaster Caz – South Bronx Subway Rap, Busy Bee – Street Rap, Fantastic Freaks at the Amphitheater, Fab 5 Freddy – Down By Law) 1998″

and

“Wild style inst. originally released as TEST PRESSING 20 copies or so is INVALUABLE. The Black Steel EP (Music OF LIFE) is the same thing basically and much more available.. also the BONGO cats in London re-released this and is fantastic pressing.” – Freddy Fresh (source: Oldschoolhiphop.forumco.com)

This info about this uber-rare Wild Style Test Pressing was in fact taken from his own book, Freddy Fresh’s Rap Records Volume 2…

Info from Rap Records Volume 2 on pages 31 and 637

Chalie Ahearn signed Wild Style Test Pressing pic courtesy of Rob at TSL

BTW, this book is an incredible crate diggers’ reference. Here is a link to Freddy Fresh’s Shop page with active links to buy it.

However, recently it has been brought to light that as many as 100 of these test pressings exist…

Quote from Sureshot La Rock Confirms 100 Test Pressings were made

Regardless, who am I kidding if I think I’ll land one of those hundred known blank white label test pressings? Let’s be realistic here. These Original Breakbeats Album and Mr Bongo’s Instrumental Beats album will have to suffice.

Mr Bongo’s and Beyongolia Wild Style Incarnations

Wild Style Original Soundtrack 2LP Version (Beyongolia) 1998

You’ve seen the cover… Back of Wild Style OST 2LP (zoom in for track list)

Wild Style OST 2LP shown in center with Gatefold Open, Nice shot of the Amphitheater. (zoomable)

The Wild Style OST 2LP pressing not only sounds good, but as already mentioned. it’s also got a few bonus tracks and a gatefold cover.

Wild Style Instrumental Beats LP (Beyongolia) 1998

Front cover of Wild Style Instrumental Beats

Track listing and back cover of Wild Style Instrumental Beats

As mentioned above these Wild Style Instrumental Beats are exactly that. A Wild Style Test Press for the rest of us kinda deal. Very similar to the “Wild Style Original Breakbeats” but different track lengths and a few different tracks altogether. Having both this Instrumental Beats and the Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album isn’t essential unless you are a completionist. Frankly, I should have two of both since they are screaming to be juggled.

Wild Style Instrumental Beats Record Label

Wild Style Lesson EP (Mr Bongo) 2007

Jumping on “the Lessons” bandwagon, Mr Bongo released the Wild Style Lesson EP on the 25th anniversary of the movie.

Wild Style Lesson EP in rotation

This Wild Style Lesson EP is a collection of a mega-mix, some alternate mixes, remixes and even a collection of “scratch tools” made from select movie dialogs and related Wild Style sound effects. This isn’t as corny as I thought it would be, it’s actually well-wicked and completely different from the OST.

Wild Style Lesson EP back cover (zoom in for track listing)

Grandmaster Caz & Chris Stein ‎– Wild Style Theme Rap 1 / Wild Style Subway Rap 12″ (Beyongolia) 1998

Grandmaster Caz & Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 12″ Front Cover

Grandmaster Caz & Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 12″ Back Cover

After synchronizing this Mr Bongo version with the original single on Animal Records it proved that this is essentially the same thing as the original 12″ release. However, to my ears at least, the original sounds much better at 45 RPM.

Discogs Link: Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 1 / Wild Style Subway Rap 12″ (Benongolia) 1998

Wild Style Original Soundtrack CD” (Rhino) 1997

Wild Style OST CD on Rhino Entertainment (back) (zoom for track listing)

There have been other CD versions of this, but really this is the only one that you need in for road trips. Manufactured at the high quality levels you’d expect from Rhino Entertainment, this disc is official and it sounds nice and loud. The tracks are unmixed unlike the original LP.

Wild Style 30th Anniversary DVD (Submarine Deluxe) 2013

Wild Style 30th Anniversary DVD (gate fold open) with Booklet

The movie was painstakingly remastered in a labor of love with this nice reissue by Submarine Deluxe. This comes with 2 Discs including the original movie and extra features including interviews of the cast and crew. A thorough book of some never before seen photos is a nice addition as well. Wanna know where they are now? Put in the second disc.

Great photos faithfully compiled within this booklet. (Zoom in for a peek)

Wanna see more iconic photos? Flip through the book or watch the visual slide show on the first disc. I’ve seen the film many times on good old VHS and I don’t even have to tell you that this obviously blows that out of the water. Even if you already have the DVD, hardcore fans of the movie should buy this for the added footage and valuable information within. I learned a lot from this DVD and book including a lot of interesting back stories.

What’s Missing From the so-called Completionist Collection?

Ok, you got me. I don’t have every single incarnation of the movie and it’s soundtracks, EPs or singles. For example I clearly don’t have the white label test pressing. I have learned to live with that and I suppose I can still die a happy man never even glimpsing it, knowing I at least have the music on vinyl.

Rare Wild Style Theme Rap Japanese 7″

Also, I don’t have the above shown seemingly impossible to find Japanese 7″ versions of Wild Style Theme Rap, nor do I have the promo version of this 7″ in a plain white sleeve.

BUT, I do have the 12″ version which I am assuming is a longer edit of the same song. Will I pay an arm and a leg to get this even though I already have the 12″? Don’t tempt me. I probably would. Incidentally if you have any leads on these please contact me here by posting on this blog and I’ll move heaven and earth if needed to get it. Not to mention there are other foreign pressings of the Wild Style Soundtrack. While I consider myself a completionist, I don’t feel the desire to get the same music with a simple “Made in France” sticker on it, that’s just silly. True, I got the collector sickness, but there is still a smidgen of common sense ruling my accumulation quirks.

So other than the test pressing (which won’t happen) and the 7″ (also, won’t happen) I am finally done buying Wild Style records. It only took me 18 years to feel some sense of finality, but alas, it’s finally over. Unless of course some new-jack label comes along and unearths a hidden chapter of Wild Style that doesn’t exist. In that case I’ll probably have to bite on that too.

DJ Black Steel & The 45 King ‎– 22 Wildstyle Beats 2CD (Music Station) 1995

Picture courtesy of Discogs

As per Discogs, this 2CD has the original DJ Black Steel Wildstyle Breakbeats untouched on disc one and disc two has the breaks mixed, looped, juggled, and extended by the incomparable 45 King. No doubt an unforgetable mixtape that I’m sleeping on but according to Discogs this has not been sold there so I’m guessing I’ll never see this in person either.

But You Forgot About These! (Update)

Since dropping this blog post on DWG Forums a few more omissions were brought to my attention. Some are promo versions of a few I already have, some have yet to be added to Discogs, and others are just amazing eye candy I cannot justify omitting from this blog post update. It goes without saying that I’m envious of the owners of these newly discovered holes in my soul.

DJ Black Steel Presents: The Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album LP (Music of Life) (Later Reissue)

Front Cover (Picture courtesy of Benjamin Hatton)

Factory Sticker and Label (Pictures courtesy of Benjamin Hatton)

This later (mid 2000’s) reissue on Music of Life is not listed on Discogs.

DJ Black Steel Presents: The Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album LP (Bootleg) (Music Station)

Music Station/Dancefloor Dist./Disc-stinct Bootleg (Photo courtesy of Manphat)

Apparently this bootleg has “extended versions” of the original original breakbeats.

Grandmaster Caz & Chris Stein ‎– Wild Style Theme Rap 1 / Wild Style Subway Rap 12″ (Beyongolia) 1998 (Signed Test Pressing)

Photo Courtesy of Cro

Signed by Grandmaster Caz! (Photo Courtesy of Cro)

Another Discogs omission… As if having the test pressing of this isn’t cool enough, Cro’s copy is signed by the man himself!

What, No Love for the Tapes?

Wild Style Movie (VHS) (Irish)

Photo courtesy of Jesper

Wild Style Movie (VHS) (Pyramid)

Photo Courtesy of Jesper

Then there’s the good old VHS release of the movie. Mine was a generic copy of a copy but luckily Jesper was kind enough to provide a few foreign copies of the movie. It’s something that you take for granted that there are countless variants of the video tape from countries all over the world.

And the cassettes too, there are numerous versions out there of the cassette that I haven’t accounted for.

Yet more Relics… Posters, Flyers, and original Tickets!

Flyer courtesy of Soul Safari

Original Poster! (photo courtesy of Sureshot La Rock)

Tickets to the filming. Be there to make history! Courtesy of Atilladahun

Front of Admissions Ticket (Courtesy of Atilladahun)

It’s not enough that they gotta taunt me with autographed test pressings of singles I never knew existed but then they gotta pour lemon juice all over my wounds with original admission tickets to the filming of the movie, movie posters from back in the day and even an original flyer! These are so cool and historical I certainly can’t blame them for pointing these out to a mezo-completionist such as myself. These are the kind of special pieces that true fans will never get rid of at any price. So I’ll have to live knowing that these are out there and maybe if I am lucky I’ll get to touch them some day.

As per DWG member Beattrooper via private message…

There’s 4 more Wildstyle bits out there.

Wildstyle Theme 12″ Japan issue from 83′ on Toshiba promo only (Thick Sleeve) Wildstyle Theme 12″ UK Test press 83′ Wildstyle Soundtrack vinyl LP with Obi strip and lyric sheet (1995?) Wildstyle Soundtrack Cassette with obi boxed like a VHS comes with a small booklet of photos again from 83′ (this is rarer then the 45!)

I guess I haven’t even scratched the surface of this iceberg. As more of these pieces come to light it’s becoming more and more apparent that I’ll never get a chance to become a true Wild Style completionist.

LBNL, Wild Style Comic Book Art

Here’s a late but worthy addition… Check out the Wild Style comic book! Some seriously enlightening reading for Wild Style fanatics.

Ed Piskor’s story behind the Wild Style story.

You can own these limited addition books while supplies last. Piskor is a hot Hip Hop specialty artist right now and the artwork in these pages is spectacular so who knows how long they’ll last. They are currently available at Fantagraphics Books.

Special Thanks to all the bonus information and pics from DWG members Chris, Sureshot La Rock, Cro, Atilladahun, Manphat, Benjamin Hatton, Jesper, Soul Safari, and Beattrooper and other members there. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!

-rchecka

Reference: Quick Links To Discogs Wild Style Related Records and CDs

Various – Wild Style Original Soundtrack LP (Animal) 1983 Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 12″ (Animal) 1983 Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 7″ (Japanese) (Chysalis) 1983

Various – Wild Style Original Soundtrack LP (Animal) Unofficial/Bootleg

Various – Wild Style Soundtrack 2LP (Beyongolia) 1998

DJ Black Steel – The Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album LP (Music of Life) 1990 DJ Black Steel – The Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album LP Bootleg (Music Station) 1995 Various – Wild Style Instrumental Beats (Beyongolia) 1998 Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 1 / Wild Style Subway Rap 12″ (Benongolia) 1998 Various – Wild Style Lesson EP (Mr Bongo) 2007

Various – Wild Style CD (Rhino) 1997

DJ Black Steel & The 45 King – 22 Wildstyle Beats 2CD (Music Station) 1995

Known records missing from Discogs:

DJ Black Steel – The Original Wild Style Breakbeats Album LP (Music of Life) (Factory Stickered Reissue)

Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wild Style Theme Rap 12″ (Beyongolia) Test Press

Also allegedly missing from Discogs:

Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wildstyle Theme 12″ (Japan issue) 1983 on Toshiba promo only

Grandmaster Caz and Chris Stein – Wildstyle Theme 12″ (UK Test press) 1983

Various – Wildstyle Soundtrack vinyl LP (with Obi strip and lyric sheet) 1995(?)

Various – Wildstyle Soundtrack Cassette (with obi boxed like a VHS comes with a small booklet of photos) 1983

See Also:

Wild Style The Movie 30th Aniversary DVD (Submarine Deluxe)

DJ Skeme’s The Nostoglia King – Wild Style Autographed Poster Blog Post

Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style Era New York (Interview + Gallery)

An Original Amphitheatre Jam Poster (jpg)

The Big Breakdance Contest Extra Tidbit: Some of the B-Boys and B-Girls of “the Big Breakdance Contest” were featured in Wild Style. Watch their incredible routines in the Big Breakdance Contest on my Youtube Channel.

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Posted by richmegavideo on 2019-03-04 22:05:29

Tagged: , Hip , Hop

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