#which is why its so early 2000s but i think it turned out nice

[homoeroticvillain]

need to fix it up a bit and do a full character sheet but! new angie design

[aezuria]

uptown girl!

"she's been living in her uptown world, i bet she's never had a backstreet guy" —billy joel

content: mortal au!leo valdez x reader

╰┈▸ info: stuck-up reader (she gets character development later), cursing, reader is ~18, early 2000s core

notes: stella finally posted a fic !? (pls tell me if u enjoy i need validation 😔)

this has got to be the worst way to start summer ever. first, your morning was ruined by a bird shitting all over your car window—not a mess you had the time nor the patience to clean. then, on your way to pick up your friends for some much needed girl time, your car had the fun idea of breaking down. great. it left you on the side of the road, dialing up your father. which, when you think about it, really wasn't your fault! your precious ride just spontaneously combusted or something. nothing to do with the fact that you've crashed the front about seven times since january. after all, you'd gotten them fixed! it should be the mechanic's fault. or maybe, this car was cursed!

but of course, your dad just had to disagree. apparently it was his "last straw."

you winced away from the phone's speaker as his voice burst through. "you have been so ungrateful lately! when you asked for that car, i bought it for you! i looked over the fact that you don't even have your license yet! all i asked was for you to take care of your things!" he cried. from the tone of his voice, you could imagine the creases dug into his forehead. okay, now you felt bad. just a little.

before you could apologize, he finished with, "you just wait until i get there, young lady."

leave it to him to take away your guiltiness.

"dad!" you watched in horror as the truck towed your sleek red baby to god knows where. you turned your stricken expression on him, hoping to elicit at least a little bit of sympathy. but it seemed like his mind was made up on this one. dammit.

he crossed his arms sternly, putting his foot down. "let's go. we'll talk more in the house."

"-so you want to ship me away to some place crawling with bugs and creeps for the rest of the summer!?" you screeched along with the chair as its legs slid across the kitchen's tile floor.

your dad raised his hand in a placating gesture. "now, now, just until your car is fixed. it might not even be a whole month." he shrugged. yeah, real comforting. "and the city's a nice place. we lived there when you were young, remember?"

"no, i don't remember." you snapped. you did remember, but that brought on memories you'd rather not have right now.

he sucked in a breath. "alright then. it won't be so bad. we still have that apartment, and i got it cleaned up recently. it'll teach you some responsibility and independence." he nodded, satisfied with his decision.

you opened your mouth to snark at him again, but he continued, "and you won't be completely alone. there's a nice young man who will be fixing up your car, just down the street from the apartment building. i asked him to show you around when he has the time. and you'll have your phone, so make sure to call me, okay?" his strict behavior gave way to the soft spot you knew he had for you.

"...okay," you agreed reluctantly. once he really made up his mind about something, there was no changing it, so there was no use in arguing.

he smiled, patting your shoulder gently. "great. now pack your bags."

"be sure to buy groceries, and do the laundry, and clean every so often-" your father rambled on and on. if he was this worried, why wouldn't he just not go through with it? and why was he acting like you couldn't do basic chores!? it's not like you ever did them, but they couldn't be too hard, right?

"i get it dad." you rolled your eyes, staring out the car window. the buildings were all drab, painted in browns and grays, without a single bright color in sight, save for the red stop signs.

he pulled into an empty parking spot in front of the building. your insides recoiled. you swore it didn't look this... dilapidated all those years ago. or maybe you just had better taste now.

"we're here! looks like it's got a lot of.. character." he tried to cheer you up, but even you could tell he didn't think to check how it looked. it would've hurt too much to do so.

your lip scrunched in distaste. "i can't spend a single second in there."

"don't worry, it'll be over before you know it." with one last reassuring smile, he turned and left.

the apartment itself wasn't too bad, it was all cleaned up, just as your father had said. it smelled faintly of lemon cleaner, pillows fluffed and spritzed. your room was cold despite the warmth that came with summer. the pristine sheets were unfamiliar against your skin, as if you were tucked into a hotel bed. the sound of tire rolling against pavement never ceased, people had places to go, places to be even in the dead of night. a draft through your window made you shiver. you should close that in the morning. you curled in on yourself like you did when you were little, only this time there was only the unfeeling fabric to hold you, instead of the warm, long forgotten embrace no one could quite replicate.

you cringed at the shoddy place your phone had led you to, and looked up at the peeling paint sign that read: valdez mechanics. how charming. you even debated touching the rusty doorknob, but it swung open before you could turn it. which would be nice, if it didn't almost smack you in the face.

"watch it!" you hissed, side-stepping in time to see a boy your age walking through. his hair was a mess, and there were grease stains all over his face and clothes. his fingers were tap, tap, tapping away at his leg, to the rhythm of the song blaring inside. you think he'd be cute if he wasn't so dirty.

“sorry ‘bout that!” he laughed sheepishly. he stared at you for a moment too long before asking, “you here for the thunderbird?”

“yes,” you said shortly.

he chose to ignore your clipped tone, flashing you a smile. “come on in then, yeah?”

you followed him into the tiny shop, already wanting to leave. the place smelled of oil, and you could barely find a clean place to sit on. there were tools thrown everywhere, the floor sticky with dried up grease.

“i’m leo, by the way.” his voice snapped you out of your judging thoughts as he led you to the back. you finally saw your car, propped up with the hood open.

“y/n.” you barely glanced at him as you rushed over, examining the damage. “so? what’s wrong with her?”

he gestured with the wrench in his hand—when’d he get that?—and pointed to the engine. “well that’s all busted up, so i’m gonna have to build a new one for ya. i’ll do you an oil change too and-“

“yeah um, how long will it take?” you interrupted, giving him a smile you did not want to have on.

“i’d say three to five weeks? depends if i have any other stuff that comes in so…”

three to five weeks of your summer wasted away here? when you’re supposed to be having the best time of your life before college!?

“are you serious? can you get it done sooner? i can pay you some more-“ you reached into your purse.

“whoa!” he caught your wrist. his hands were clean now, must’ve wiped them on a rag. “money won’t make me work faster, honey.” he let go and shrugged. “sorry.”

honey? “well then what will? cause i need to leave as soon as-“

“some help, maybe?”

you blinked at him, utterly flabbergasted. “you want me to help you? the person who’s paying for all this?”

“technically, your father’s the one paying,” leo pointed out. “and y’know. you don’t have to help, of course. it just might make it go a bit quicker…” he trailed off, dimples poking through as he tried to hide a cheeky smile.

you huffed. “what do i have to do?”

”i am not sticking my hands in those.” you defied, shaking your head firmly.

leo scoffed, flapping the gloves around. “come on! this is the cleanest pair i have!”

"put this here?" you asked, shoving a part that you forgot the name of into an empty space.

"hm?" leo looked up from his fiddling, jaw dropping in horror. "no no no!"

"oh i know how to do this!" you exclaimed as he gave you a screwdriver. "my dad always said 'lefty loosey, righty tighty.'"

the boy nodded. "yeah! try it out." he pointed to a loose screw.

you successfully tightened it (to the right), giving him a proud smirk. "see?"

"yup." leo grinned at your enthusiasm, even though it was the most basic thing ever. "try and tighten the rest. i'll be right back."

a loud clatter made leo jump from across the repair shop. he rushed over to you, finding the parts that were supposed to be screwed together in complete disarray. "uh, maybe you shouldn't help..."

"really?" you deadpanned. "i hadn't noticed."

"sorry." he laughed. "scooch."

you pursed your lips. no one told you to "scooch" before. but you moved over anyway.

"wanna keep me company?" leo slid his gloves on and began putting the contraption back together.

no, you thought. but you didn't have anything better to do other than wander the city like a clueless idiot. and you hated looking like an idiot. "fine."

the shop was quiet, save for the occasional clanging as leo worked on the engine. his rambling was cut short as he focused on his work, something you didn't know he could do.

"nice car you got here. i've always wanted to drive one of these." he patted its side appreciatively. "where'd you buy this?"

scratch that. maybe he could only shut up in two minute increments.

"don't know. my dad bought it for me." you looked around, not even bothering to hide your boredom.

"right." leo laughed. you found he did that a lot. "must be nice."

your eyebrows knitted in confusion. "i guess?" what did he mean by that?

"i hate it here. it's so boring!" you complained over the phone. cooking dinner had been an absolute mess. “and that leo guy is so weird.”

"give him a chance, will you? he could show you around town, maybe teach you some manners…” you father muttered the last bit.

"what?"

"nothing! all i'm saying is give that boy a chance. who knows, he could be a great friend."

“‘great friend’ my… foot.”

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Kairi

kairi is the third protagonist of the kingdom hearts series and the third member of the destiny trio, alongside fan favorites sora and riku. sora/riku shippers HATE kairi, and will go out of their way to discount her at every turn. the hate for her ranges from typical "she's a boring bitch" to fans of soriku making five-hour long video essays reassuring their fellow shippers that the big bad kairi won't show up in the next installment – to quote one video, "she's in a box. she's on the shelf. four walls, no door." kairi is the greatest bogeyman the soriku fandom has ever known, to the point where most of said video essays and fanon meta posts focus not on why sora and riku should get together, but rather on why they don't like kairi.

Literally has a 100+ page Google doc fan theory writing her out of the narrative and putting all of her (few) canonical accomplishments onto half of the popular m/m ship (soriku). Don't even get me started on how her memory was completely written out of the canon plot of re:coded. KH is a nightmare to explain so dude trust me she is THE victim of yaoi

She is so fundamental to the plot and themes and narratives of game and yet it is near impossible to find anything about her thats not ship bashing pre-mlm with the other two characters. I dont even care if she ends up with one of the main characters i just want fans to see her as a cool character to love or like, anything other than “annoying comphet girl.” You can write your mlm but pleaae stop inventing comphet where it doesnt exist. She does not even get to spend time with sora ever?? Why does everyone see her as a threat and a thing to destroy?? Let her have friends so help me

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

[runwayrunway]

I was recently surprised to see this livery while boarding, and snapped a pic. Apparently enough people asked the crew questions to the effect of "Why is the plane yellow?" as we were boarding that the captain explained it during his take off announcements. Turns out we were on 'New Mexico One' (N8655D).

Maybe they were worried they accidentally got on a Spirit flight. Happens to the best of us. (Also, knowing pilots I think there's a legitimate chance he was excited about it himself and would have brought it up no matter what.)

This is your girl! This is actually New Mexico 1.2.0 - the New Mexico One livery is the fifth Southwest state livery, and one of the first special liveries they had full stop.

Southwest Airlines has had a lot of special liveries. The documentation is incomplete, but they have a timeline for them up to 2013 publicly available. It turns out there were at least three Shamu jets (unfortunately I cannot find the purported pictures of Herb Kelleher in a penguin suit), and that my guess was right - their first state-themed livery was a Texas one to commemorate their origin as an intrastate carrier.

Since then, they've released quite a few more in honor of some of their more-served or milestone states. The states with special liveries are Arizona; California; Colorado; Florida; Hawai'i; Illinois; Louisiana; Maryland; Missouri; Nevada; New Mexico; Tennessee; and of course Texas. These really vary in level of detail and inspiration, and I definitely have no desire or plans to do a massive joint post on them all. That is thirteen liveries. But there's one or two that have been hanging out on the distant fringes of my interest and one (Colorado One) has already been requested, so if anyone particularly wants to see any of them covered just know I am treating them as full, separate, self-contained liveries even though they're technically sort of a set. It just doesn't make any sense to do it any other way.

(I never want to see a Massachusetts One. The concept is actively repellant to me.)

Most of Southwest's special liveries have 'one' at the end, like Air Force One, you know, it's the famous plane, Air Force One, they made a film about it with Harrison Ford in. I do think hypothetically the implication of 'New Mexico One' would be a plane transporting the governor of New Mexico, but, well, that's their name scheme.

image: Southwest Airlines

This is the original New Mexico One, N781WN. Thanks to the information Southwest provides on its website for once I know the exact date a livery was debuted - 18th September, 2000. I'm not sure how to feel about the fact that this picture is younger than me, because it looks incredibly crunchy and vintage, like it couldn't have been taken later than 1985. I have a Polaroid SX-70 that was kept in working condition by a relative and it takes cleaner-looking pictures. It must have been taken very early on in the livery's lifetime because when Canyon Blue was introduced the tailfin was updated to match. As with all Southwest's special liveries - the tailfins remain untouched from the default.

image: Eddie Maloney

The initial iteration with the mustard-yellow and red tail looks very nice, seamless with the main body. Although the placement of the name on the fin is quite subdued and against the ethos of the low-cost carrier it is in the case of special liveries useful, making the interaction of the wordmark with the main design a non-issue. Part of me really wishes that they'd kept the old colors for longer or maybe even done custom schemes for the stripes on each of their special liveries, because the blue looks pretty out-of-place on the New Mexico livery. I'll be completely honest, I also think the older, more angular shape of the stripes suits the similarly geometric bulk of the design while the modern incarnation - the haphazardly placed little wordmark with no natural home on the tail, the fin which looks like it was removed from a wholly different plane - is just sort of generally worse than the original state. The use of a minimally-altered tailfin with a crammed-on wordmark does seem to be something about which Southwest is unwilling to negotiate, though, and I guess that's what I'm going to have to live with.

(...generally, I do have to live with all the liveries I discuss here, until the magical day that someone at a massive company decides that the opinions of a blog with under 1,000 followers are something they want to capitulate to.)

The basis of the livery is extremely straightforward. It's...the flag of New Mexico. This is a fantastic starting point. The New Mexico flag is my favorite of the US states' - though, to be fair, that's damning by faint praise in the extreme. Just based on the sorts of people I've met I feel like at least a few followers of this blog will have particularly vivid opinions about vexillology, but it doesn't take someone with the level of investment I have in liveries to know that most US state flags are just absurdly poorly designed. New Mexico's flag is not just acceptable but good.

Yellow and red aren't uncommon colors in flags, but the complete absence of very popular choices like blue and white definitely is striking. Unlike many US state flags, which are morasses of complex and jumbled iconography, it contains only one image - the sun symbol of the indigenous Zia (Tsi’ya) Pueblo group. Unfortunately, not only was the design not suggested by Zia individuals but it was used without the group's knowledge or consent, and there has been an ongoing discussion about this being properly acknowledged by the state - a good summary, albeit from 2012, is this El Palacio article written by the Zia Pueblo administrator.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Southwest actually did consult the Zia, including administrator and author of the above article Peter Pino. A contemporary news release from Southwest even discusses Zia children performing a Crow Dance as part of the ceremony. I was able to find a photograph of this in a blog post by a Southwest employee.

So safe to say people were pretty excited about this livery! Southwest's state liveries tend to be pretty beloved by the people from said state, as far as I can tell.

N781WN was retired earlier this year and sometime in the late summer the livery was repainted onto N8655D. The livery is largely unchanged except for the fact that it's on a longer plane now.

Anyway, I like New Mexico One. Not terribly much happens here in the way of detail so there's not much to say about it but I like the way it's placed at a sort of angle instead of just smacked in the middle of the plane directly above the wings or something. The fact that there's some yellow and red in the tail prevents it from looking as bad as it could (and definitely does on other state liveries) even though I kind of really genuinely dislike the wordmark placement like a lot. I'm not sure how they could have done it better. I just think if you're making it that small and out-of-the-way you could honestly just go without. Not like there's even one other plane flying around with this livery.

Why is the inside of the winglets totally bare? I can't be the only one that thinks that's strange, can I?

I'll give her a C+. I think there's a pretty low ceiling on how good a livery that's just the flag of New Mexico can be, and Southwest did a job I would call 'correct' - they didn't really mess anything up and they didn't have some sort of brain explosion that let them create a design more captivating than putting a good flag onto an airplane but leaving the tail Southwest colors. This is a good special livery and it seems like a nice little tribute to New Mexico, and it's always nice to see a beloved old livery be preserved on a new airframe. Congratulations to the people of New Mexico, particularly the Zia, on a pretty neat commemorative livery.

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

Now That's What I Call Music! 6 2001 Adult Contemporary / Pop-Rock / Alternative Rock / R&B / Teen Pop / Pop / Boy Bands / Post-Grunge

Here we go, folks. Another dispatch from the most pervasive compilation series to ever grace US shores: it's the triple-platinum-selling,  #1-spot-on-the-Billboard-200-album-chart-achieving, sixth installment from the king conglomerate of repackaging contemporary chart hits itself; the one and only Now That's What I Call Music!

Lots of fun stories behind this eclectic set of pop songs that, overall, feels like turning on your favorite top 40 radio station sometime between 2000 and 2001, but let's start with what was probably the most popular tune in the entirety of those two full years: Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me." If you've ever wondered why or how a song on which Shaggy himself doesn't really do that much came to be the signature hit of his whole career, it's because it wasn't actually ever intended to have been released as a single in the first place! Presumably, this was just a song that was to be included on his 2000 album, Hot Shot, that would serve as a showcase for another budding vocalist, Rik Rok, who sings the song's long pre-choruses, choruses, and bridge. Now, nothing substantial ever ended up materializing for Rik Rok after this song, but the story behind its global takeover started with a radio DJ in Hawaii who downloaded Hot Shot from a p2p network, like Napster, and then decided that his favorite track on it was "It Wasn't Me." He then played it on the air and received numerous requests to keep playing it, and that clamoring audience response then persuaded MCA to release it as the album's lead single, three months after the LP had already dropped.

Also, Shaggy became known as something of a heavy sampler and interpolator, with his follow-up single, "Angel," revitalizing the melody from Juice Newton's country-pop classic, "Angel of the Morning," and a popular remix of "Boombastic" using Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" (I actually wrote about how we should be taking that Marvin song off of our collective sex playlists earlier this week). But something that probably slipped under some people's radar is how he just pretty much took the intro from a song that’s a bit more obscure in order to make "It Wasn't Me": "Smile Happy," by War, the band who became famous in the 70s for songs like "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends," all of which are from the same album. Listen to that song's opening! It's basically the same!

I don't think War or any of its members ever received a songwriting credit for "It Wasn't Me" either, but they did when One Direction's Liam Payne made his solo debut with "Strip That Down" in 2017, which interpolated Shaggy's song. So, nice to see that War finally started to accumulate some scratch from those few bars!

Next, *NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye," the lead single from No Strings Attached that served doubly as a dynamic teen pop breakup anthem and possibly as something of a middle finger to their former manager, Lou Pearlman, as well. It's an early 2000s pop masterpiece that comes from the famed Cheiron Studios in Sweden, which gave us the brunt of all those teen pop hits that use similar production techniques and lyrics that don't always quite make sense 😅. The most iconic producer from that teen pop haven was Max Martin, but he actually wasn't directly involved with this one. Instead, other guys from Cheiron produced and wrote it: Jake Schulze, Kristian Lundin—who was also behind "Tearin' Up My Heart"—and Andreas Carlsson.

And it's Carlsson who actually first took the song to UK boy band 5ive, who had previously charted Stateside in the top 10 with "When the Lights Go Out," in 1998. Carlsson's original conception of "Bye Bye Bye" had a rap chorus on it, and 5ive ended up really despising it, so much so, that one of the members actually called security on him 😂. Apparently, 5ive had decided that they wanted to be a "rap band" and sound like Eminem, so this "Bye Bye Bye" song, despite its chorus, was very much not for them anymore. So, the tune was then later retooled for *NSYNC, who would end up taking it to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and it then summarily became one of the most memorable songs of the early 2000s and the boy band/teen pop era as a whole. And as a result, 5ive would never chart again anywhere after 2001 😬.

OK, now for Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open.” Did you know that this fucking song, the band's only single to top the Billboard Hot 100, which also contains some utterly incomprehensible choices in enunciation from lead vocalist Scott Stapp, took home a Grammy for Best Rock Song? Unreal, right? And what might be even more unreal is the fact that notoriously cool dude Dave Grohl actually genuinely loves it, having called it one of the most amazing songs he’s ever heard! What, Dave?!

And then there's U2's "Beautiful Day," a simply epic song to buy shampoo to that marked a departure from the electronic dance experiments that the band had become known for in the 90s, and began their transformation into the most ubiquitously annoying and insufferable act in the world for the next 15 years or so. Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Steve Lillywhite's production was really stellar on it, but a writer at NME wrote that John Lennon's assassin should be let out of prison so he could shoot Bono for making this one. And I mean, that's certainly a drastic measure, but then that other album wouldn't have ended up invading all of our iPhones in the 2010s, so... 🤷‍♂️....actually, I'm just kidding. Wanting people shot for making songs you don't like is unethical. Don't do that!

And lastly, I totally forgot that K-Ci & JoJo's "Crazy" even existed before I gave this album a spin today. Those guys were probably the most iconic vocal male R&B duo of the Y2K era, and were known especially for their super soulful adult contemporaryish slow jam-ballads, like "All My Life" and "Tell Me It's Real." But I don't think I'd heard "Crazy" once since it came out over 20 years ago, so, that was a total jolt of nostalgia for me, personally, right there. And I really wasn't cognizant of it at the time, but that song's also one of the first big hits to use a considerable amount of autotune on it too, long before people like T-Pain would go on to define their career with it towards the end of the decade. So, it's sort of a trailblazing song, I guess, but it was also K-Ci & JoJo's final appearance on the Hot 100 as well, so also bittersweet. And there’s another song with some autotune on here too, an early 2000s R&B classic, “No More (Baby I’ma Do Right),” by 3LW. It doesn’t use the autotune to the same extent, but it’s there in the first verse. Fantastic throwback.

So, this album was a lot of fun. Always love taking these trips down memory lane and re-experiencing, evaluating, and learning all these backstories behind these songs that I grew up with years ago 😊. Now was probably something of a nuisance when it arrived in the US because all it did was cash-grabbingly gather big chart hits onto CD, but now it's just a great collection of artifacts that document the music of bygone eras.

Highlights:

Britney Spears - “Stronger” *NSYNC - “Bye Bye Bye” ATC - "Around the World (La La La La)" Jennifer Lopez - “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” Destiny's Child - "Independent Women, Part 1" Shaggy - “It Wasn’t Me” 3LW - "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)" K-Ci & JoJo - “Crazy” R. Kelly - “I Wish” Backstreet Boys - “Shape of My Heart” Evan and Jaron - “Crazy for This Girl” Coldplay - “Yellow” Lenny Kravitz - “Again” Fuel - "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" Creed - “With Arms Wide Open” Incubus - “Drive” U2 - “Beautiful Day”

[lovelynim]

Thank you guys so f*cking much ❤️

Today we reached the 500 followers milestone and I, honestly, couldn't be happier. Day by day, I still question myself if people actually like my content or not, if I should keep going or not, but there is always that little note you guys left when you reblog my stuff that cheers me up and gives me the boost to keep going.

I don't mean to get emotional or anything, but I'm honestly surprised I made this far, specially when I'm surrounded by such amazing creators - which, thanks to this trashy blog, I could become friends with.

This is halfway through my life-time goal (which is 1k, heheh, maybe one day ~) and I really wanted to do something nice to play and celebrate with you guys, but the question is: what should I do?

I have asked a few people around what would be a good day and I'm not quite sure, so... could you guys help me out on this one? I plan to make this quick so we can jump into the celebrations, heheh

A little context in what each of this options mean:

3 sentences fic

I'm pretty sure everyone here is familiar with this concept already, since Ginny's game got pretty popular, buuut: basically, you guys send me a pairing + a spot and I write a 3 sentences fic based on it. If this options win, I plan to do, like, a LOT of them heheh

Speed writing drabbles

I already did this one once, but it's basically as the name goes: I'll have my inbox open for requests and try to write as many drabbles as I can. Might not take as many prompts as the option above, but they might be a little longer (and some might even turn into fics if the prompt really inspires me ~)

Public's choice

The same as my 400 milestone event: you send me a pairing and a starter prompt and I will write roughly half of it and open a poll at the end, with the second half being up to you guys decide ~

5 special fics

This probably won't be the final name, but bear it with me just while we decide, hehe. Heavily inspired on Mia's 2000 followers event, I'll prepare 5 themes (which I'll think of later if this option wins) and you guys can leave suggestions for one of them. Each theme will get its own fic later on, wrote with all the passion from the bottom of my heart ~ (why 5? because it's 500 followers, duh)

I hope it's all clear enough to understand, because it's almost 1 am here where I live and I have to wake up early tomorrow to work hahaha *gets shot*

Again, thank you guys so much for all the support (I'll go through all this rant again in the official post, but anyway) and please vote for you favorite options because I really wanna do something nice to you all ❤️

[randomnameless]

"even if IS just said she was the villain and needed to be stopped, clear as day, people would reject it." Let's be real: the moment people started using "death of the author" to reject the Nintendo dream interview where IS confirms Supreme Leader is the villain, that's when we should've realized that people have already made up their minds and don't care anymore. It's like telling a flat-earther that the earth is not flat or trying to debunk a conspiracy theory to believers of that theory.

Tbh, I agree sometimes with disregarding the author's intent, especially in some games where the "author" wants to push "feels" and tells the olayer how they should react.

Take Berkut for instance, for a reason I still don't understand, SoV wants to paint him as a tragic figure, who ultimately redeems himself dying. You're supposed to feel bad for Berkut and sad for what happened, to the point where Alm, the Hero - who was challenged on earlier opinions - plainly states Duma is the reason why Berkut turned sour, and no one is here to tell him "uh no sorry to tell you but your cousin was a bona fide asshole".

Ditto for the devs's lunar interview about Clout's story being a "heart-warming story", like no, sorry, no matter how much you push for it, I personally don't think his story is heart warming, rather it's blood boiling.

Does it mean I use the "death of the author" like the people we're talking about?

Yeah, maybe!

But what is more gratting about those people isn't how they use DoA to make up their own canon and story (everyone can make headcanons!), but how they push their headcanon on everyone's lawns and asking for everyone else to treat it as the truth - the Aeneid is the perfect example, people really rec this fanfiction to have a "better understanding" of canon characters, or some people said it understands the characters better than the canon does. For a fanfic, sure, it's cool and all*, but to treat this as canon?

Like, there is no discussion possible between people who argue canon and others who argue using headcanons and imo that's the crux of the discourse bcs FE Fodlan is vague about 70% of its worldbuilding.

I don't like Berkut and believe he toasted Rinea because he loved being Rudolf's heir more than he loved her, but FE15 makes it uwu clear that Berkut apparently loved Rinea a lot and apparently torched her just because Duma promised him power, which makes somehow Duma the reason why Rinea was Bernie'd.

But you won't see me pop up in a discussion about FE15 or people talking about their favourite ships in that game to point out how Berkut burnt his fiancée at stake for "power" on his own volition - canon is canon - even when it blows - I'd rather rant about it and have my own HC in this space rather than piss canon-lovers/users with it.

Saying in your hcs Supreme Leader isn't the villain of the game?

Sure, do whatever you want, have a nice day, eat a sandwich, whatever. Maybe some people will join you, share your sandwich and you'll have fun developping hcs!

Saying in canon Supreme Leader isn't the villain and disregarding the dev's interviews?

That's going to be more problematic, in a way that this specific interview isn't subjective or open to interpretation (thus hcs, like Sylvia being FE4!Claude's relative or not), so people are going to disagree and be more vocal about it.

Some other blogs already explained it, but it seems like FE Fodlan attracted a lot of persons who aren't used to fandom, as in a place with transformative works and where making OCs and fics and having headcanons isn't "BaD" - so they try to retrofit canon in their headcanons because "fanfics" and transformative works are BaD etc etc (insert the general dislike for fanfictions from the early 2000s (?) and the regular/usual insults towards people who write fanfiction from the same era (them being fujos, etc etc)) so they're not writing fanfictions or arguing headcanons, no, they're just writing "totally meta pieces that are better than the canon".

Imo, the second you're disregarding canon to write something about a work, you're writing a fanfic (let it be a "real fic", random hcs, etc etc etc) and that's totally fine! You're not a "fujo degenerate" for not liking the canon and "rewritting" scenes, or building more stories about a character your like!

What's not "fine" is forcing everyone to adopt your headcanons and fanfictions - if the flower is red, you cannot force people to admit the flower is blue, otoh, if you write a story where the flower isn't red but blue, it's your story and you can whatever you want with it! Ditto with fanfic writers when someone argues canon against them, dude, you're reading a story where the author wrote the flower to be blue, like they gaf about the flower's canonical colour to be red - it's a fanfic!

Don't like, Don't read!

*not withstanding with the actual quality and body of the Aeneid, which isn't something I'd personally call cool or "alright", but that's another debate.

[luaspersona]

this fic was one of the best surprises i've had on this site and i can't possibly stress enough how in love with it i am.

this review comes in the fifth (maybe seventh?) time i'm reading this and i can't get enough 😭 this is so good, so charming, so fucking perfect that i need to point a bunch of this out, so bear with me 🫡

the story starts with the best use of synesthesia i've read in years. the way the reader describes yoongi's voice, and how it becomes a vessel for the attraction she feels despite the fact she's never seen him before.

the idea of rawness in his voice, of yoongi expressing himself through his cadence, his tone, his breathing… god, that's so enticing 😩 i mean, look at this paragraph 🚨

But regardless of being cut short, the metallic nature of his voice still managed to worm its way directly into your chest, where it festered into something so captivating that you couldn’t help but sigh. It was cool to the touch as the syllables of his chosen words sent an intrusion of goosebumps along your arms and thighs. It had a certain gravel, a deepness that you could sometimes feel in the pit of your belly if you listened to him long enough with your eyes closed. However, more times than not, the grit would be severed with a vibrant laugh that rang so sweetly that you could feel it clamoring around your heart with giddiness on its heels.

again: so 👏🏽 fucking 👏🏽 synesthesic 👏🏽

the wording, the sentencing, everything just adds up to the sensations yoongi's voice provoke — and god, if we don't know the effect his voice has 😮‍💨

but i think that the most charming aspect of the fic has to be the dialogues. they're so ridiculously smooth, so natural! and they flash out the character with such easy, it almost seems like an actual conversation transcribed. like, hobi and yoongi bickering during the podcast, their light teasing and easy back and forth: it's all so palpable and i was smiling all throughout that part (i was mostly crying in the ones after, but we'll get there), like:

“Well I am fratty, but not the douche kind.” “Debatable, but admittedly sometimes I do forget that you’re part of Delta Delta Dickhead.” “Fuck you.” “That’s next week’s topic, sorry for the wait.”

and the whole KJ Apa tangent too omg.

and ugh, hobi's so fucking unserious, i couldn't DEAL with him, i was wheezing 😭:

“You cried for hours over that fucking sports anime, Ace of some shit. I had to buy you like three pizzas just to calm your ass down – which you never Venmo'd me back for… just sayin'.”

but also:

“Oh my god, wow I'm getting so hard just thinkin about those flexible paper rectangles. Mhm, oh yeah.”

or even:

“—College sex life! That’s right, my friends, we’re gonna get all down in that bow chicka wow wow nitty gritty—”

gdi, why can't mixtape be a real thing 😠 not to mention this story had such strong early 2000's romcom vibes (without all the problematic and misogynistic shit ofc).

(quick sidenote before continuing: i first thought i misread yoongi's pseudo in the show, but when the café scene happened omg lmao is was so gooood 😩)

i also want to talk about the tone of the story, because the control you have over the atmosphere and the overall feel of the scenes is p-e-r-f-e-c-t 😭 i was drawn into their interactions and their banter so easily, because it's so damn captivating: everything feels tangible.

and god!! your yoongi 🗣

soooooooo hot, so sexy ugh, the ✨things✨ he says to reader while always making sure of her consent and being mindful of her comfort — as if my standard for men can afford to get bigger??

and 👏🏽 when 👏🏽 they 👏🏽 meet

god, this pairing was written with such nice and natural chemistry. i loved their dialogues and how smoothly their interaction turns flirty, and even if they get super into each other after a couple of days together, it doesn't feel rushed at all because you make us feel their chemistry right off the bat! god, i wish i knew more adjectives to praise you like you deserve 😠

and like, even the way yoongi makes the proposition! how they lock eyes and the stare turns into mutual understanding and then to tension. not to mention the way he asks to eat her out in the most respectful way, like??

but it's the constant reassuring that gets me tho, like:

“Not at all,” He replied, confidence dripping past his lips. “Just you, honestly. You’re someone that looks like they need help focusing, who happens to have an unopened pack of flashcards that they seemed to have purchased for a certain reason. But please tell me if I’m wrong or if you’re just not interested. If that’s the case, then I’ll be happy to help you study in whatever… mundane way that you want. I’ll even spot you a coffee.”

and even after her initial consent, he never assumes she's comfortable: he asks for her confirmation, and even waits for her to relax before touching her like🚨🚨🚨 (the sirens are me screaming).

and as if all that wasn't enough there's the teasing too😭 yoongi's so fucking hot here, like—

Your brows furrowed in confusion, but admittedly it piqued your interest. “Practice round? Don’t exactly think you’re brave enough to lay me out on this table and just go for it in the middle of the library.” “Wanna see if that’s true?” He asked, a certain fire flaring across his eyes. It sent a swirl of arousal through your lower stomach, but you quickly pulled it back in.

YES I WANNA

ahem

*clears throat*

and the fact that he knows how fucking sexy he is, god, his cockiness was so gooood:

“Ah, glad my intellect hasn’t been overshadowed by the things you’re picturing my mouth and hands doing to you right now.” You bit at your lip to try and stifle the grin that threatened to split across your face, and Yoongi seemed highly amused with your failed attempt.

but he can be so cute and sweet too:

“But c’mon, time for you to learn what’s in that pretty head of yours.”

and the same goes for reader! she's so relatable, suffering that pied piper syndrome not being able to study because of min yoongi 😔 oh bestie i feel you. but she's also super funny and sexy 😩

“How about how fast you can make me cum?”

it made me scREAM, like, when she actually started to feel herself and got comfortable with the situation i was gone

and 👏🏽 the 👏🏽 smut

the teasing, the edging, the begging — but also the learning! and the studying! that's what this was all about folks 🥹 no but, for real, i really liked every single aspect of this story, from the tone, to the wording, to the humor, to the teasing, the dialogues and the smut. the pairing was unbelievably sweet and i was so into them.

thank you for taking your time writing this, author! it made me so happy and your words brought me peace at some weird, difficult times, so i really appreciate it 🥺💐

mixtape (m)

pairing: min yoongi x reader 

genre: smut, fluff, comedy / college, podcast personality au

word count: 15,610

description: Two mystery students from your college run the podcast dubbed ‘mixtape.’ It’s become a sort of phenomenon around campus, listened to by almost everyone. In their most recent episode they discussed various study methods… One of them being oh so tempting.

“This week’s topic is—” Sugar started, of course only to be swiftly interrupted by the second half of the two-man show podcast that had sort of gone viral around your college campus.

But regardless of being cut short, the metallic nature of his voice still managed to worm its way directly into your chest, where it festered into something so captivating that you couldn’t help but sigh. It was cool to the touch as the syllables of his chosen words sent an intrusion of goosebumps along your arms and thighs. It had a certain gravel, a deepness that you could sometimes feel in the pit of your belly if you listened to him long enough with your eyes closed. However, more times than not, the grit would be severed with a vibrant laugh that rang so sweetly that you could feel it clamoring around your heart with giddiness on its heels.

“—Studying! So sexy, right?” Jay interjected mid-sentence, something that anyone who listened to their weekly episodes would quickly learn is a norm.

However, there were times of course where Sugar was allowed the courtesy of going off on long tangents without his friend’s interruption, and in those moments his voice was hypnotic, if you had to put it simply. It tugged you beneath the current of concentration until you were pressing the volume button on your phone to raise his vocals higher. The small hitch of his breath, or exhale against the mic when he would sigh due to the topic at hand, they made you lean in closer to the invisible man on the other side of the pre-recorded audio that filtered through your headphones.

Keep reading

[fxirybun]

i swear we never had this much issue honestly 90s was the only last moderately "normal" times bc its just been nuts even from observing kpop and other things from afar

and whats dishartening as well is that the groups u do want to succeed cannot do so bc of knetz not supporting them enough and u know the moment u faves get into dating or whatever that all hell will break loose online again i just cant be fcking with that unhealthy type of attachment / behaviour. then whenever u go to idols personal contrnt on youtube or other platforms like toktoq or tiktok it always seems the comment section eventually winds up being out of hand or immature so it makes it hard to get a genuine compliment or message across to them bc their audiences is largely young folk nowadays even the groups i used to like are still around but the audience is different or more unhinged than it was when i left them lmao. its like i thought fan bases were usually extreme but its ramped up much more in current times

somenoe my age aint going to want to associate with that sort of behaviour same for going to the airport and stalking out their hotels or other private moments seem childish or silly. and the way folk overreact to idols doing things required of them like military service if anything i think its nice for them to get a break from idol activities they buff up a bit too but its smth else that their hard core fans take to heart and make a scene abt anything to do with idols these days. be it their slight weight change or their idfk something activity they did online that sparked chaos blah blah u get the picture lol. i think u can inly really casually enjoy these groups in ur own way than following the rest of their younger fans. plus its actually crazy to me how different it all become yet time aint stopping for nobody. rlly it feels bizzare like anyone got a functioning tardis yet? i also think these unhealthy obsessions ppl have to idols is bc before u could just put the hobbies down and do smth else now its like everyones online all the time everything anyone popular does is also online its kind of a making of their own doing at the same time.

well you got a point 'cause the landscape of fandom in kpop has shifted significantly over the years. the 90s and early 2000s definitely felt like a more balanced time in terms of fan behavior and celebrity culture , both in the west and internationally. though these days the intensity of fan culture has ramped up to a point where some fans seem to feel entitled to every aspect of idols' lives , and how the influence of social media brings more fire to this behavior.

it can be exhausting for fans who simply just want to enjoy their songs and support their fave groups without getting involved in all the chaos and drama that often unfolds online. again , the unhealthy attachments fans form , particularly with younger audiences make it even harder for idols to live normal lives. when issues like dating , military service , or even minor personal changes become seen as massive scandals. the internet allows all users for constant access due to its versatility and how other platforms like tiktok , twitter , and youtube can turn some innocent content into a battleground that is filled with negative comments.

for long-time fans like yourself it can be annoying to watch these behaviors which is making it harder to engage with idols or fandoms in a meaningful way without being dragged into some petty drama.

if you're going to ask me , enjoying kpop or any form of entertainment without getting sucked into the extreme parts of the fandom culture seems like the healthiest route , as everything has become so hyperconnected and fast-paced. with the constant flow of online content and real-time updates , it’s easy to see why fans feel more intense about their idols , but it’s also important to create boundaries.

and yes , things have changed drastically and while it's bizarre to watch it unfold , there's also comfort in enjoying these groups from a distance and focusing on what truly matters: the music and the concept behind those songs , rather than the havoc surrounding it.

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #61: “Help Me” | December 7, 2008 - 11:30PM | S04E01

In the early 2000s, my family shared a hotel room during one of our trips. The kids, myself and my sister, were getting older, almost alarmingly adult-like, and this would probably be one of the final times we ever did this. We were all trying to figure out a thing to watch on the television set that would please all, or at least most, of us. South Park was starting. Mom didn’t wanna watch. Dad and the kids did. It was an episode I’d seen already, and I it was a fairly mild one as far as vulgarity was concerned. I turned to my mom and said “don’t worry, this one isn’t so bad”. When it ended, she agreed, it wasn’t “that bad”.

That moment occurred to me during some of this show’s least-worst sketches, because at its best, Robot Chicken seems to elicit a “not that bad” reaction in me. I still hate the show, but some of the sketches manage to not piss me off. Anyway, that was my review of the episode. Goodnight. 

Okay, fine, I’ll write about some of the sketches. 

The first one is the now customary “resolving last season’s cliffhanger” sketch, which has the Chicken boys begging Hollywood elites to help them revive the show after being canceled last season. They talk to Josh Weaties and the guy who made Battlestar Garfieldia. I don’t like those guys/shows, so I don’t know what any of them were on about. They finally get in Seth MacFarlane’s ear, and he does Family Guy style cutaway gags to make their dreams come true. Cute. I didn’t mind that bit!

Next was a PaRappa the Rapper sketch, which seemed well done but I don’t know shit about that game other than the commercials for it. There is also a parody of the Trojan Man, which was an ad campaign I’m assuming is no longer relevant in 2023. Not to brag, but I don’t watch commercial television too much, so I really have no idea. It turns out I have little to say about this one, which is why I grouped it with the other sketch I don’t have much to say about. 

The worst sketch of the night is titled (according to the robot chicken wiki) “Pre-Pubescent Alien Whore”, which is about A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila. I lived through this era as a semi-conscious adult, and it was a little comforting realizing that I nearly forgot everything about Tila Tequila. She is actually providing her own voice in this. Anyway, the premise of the show was that it was a dating game show and both men and women competed for her affections because she was a very sexy bi. In this she is revealed to be like, a robot? I don’t know man, this was dogshit. I might argue that it aged better as a quaint throwback that only exists to jog the memories of old assholes like me. In 2008 one of the main things I got mad at was parodies of highly-ephemeral TV shows, just like what this is. Still sucks!

The last sketch is maybe the best sketch; it’s a subscription service that only shows you the good parts of movies and TV shows. I didn’t laugh at this, but at least I felt slightly less alienated by the jokes about older motion pictures. The gag where they condense Wizard of Oz and they briefly show a Munchkin hanging itself in plain sight was funny. Joke of the episode. Hey, why not end this on a positive note? I’m nice!

EPHEMERA CORNER:

MAIL BAG

Message from KON!

Well, *I* like the Drinky Crow Show. It's odd to me that AS would talk shit about it, but still make other shows with the same production company (Mongo Wrestling Alliance and King Star King, each of which is objectively worse).

I never saw a second of King Star King, but yes, Mongo Wrestling Alliance might be in the running for the worst show Adult Swim ever aired. It's basically Ripping Friends but everyone smiles too much.

Also I think Drinky Crow is roughly a good show writing-wise, but the animation really turns me off! It looks okay sometimes. I think it would be incredible if Tony Millionaire were allowed to make a big-budget Maakies thing with actual good animation. At least a short. Uncle Gabby brings Drinky Crow a bunch of cans without labels...

[andradrawsstuff]

Oooo great question, this is gonna turn into a bit of a massive ramble eeeee

Honestly, the movie was decent enough and I absolutely love rewatching it, but I think that the action was a bit lacklustre compared to their show and the other movies imo. I think they also don’t feel as chaotic neutral-y as their other portrayals which makes them a little more bland (I mean, they did blow up the old lady’s house in the Christmas special and then purposely ran her over TWICE in Madagascar 2 💀 as well as having a disregard for humans in general). But the movie does have some good bits which I love:

Skipper’s character development is great and they turned him into a rlly sweet character by the end, which I kinda wish they did with the show. I mean, I could do a whole character analysis on the two versions of Skipper but for the sake of this not turning into an essay imma keep it short: in the show he starts off relatively calm but kinda starts losing it as the show goes on and kinda goes backwards, so I think the movie did a good thing with that

The story focuses on Private, who honestly doesn’t get enough attention so that’s a win for the lil guy :)

The animation is really pretty and well done, especially with the lighting and stuff. I love the art style too and how wonky it is. Also the concept art is SO GOODDDDD OMGGGG I highly recommend getting “the art of PoM”book bc it’s awesome and it’s been a massive inspo for me and my art

THE SOUNDTRACK OMG I can name each and every piece from memory 💀 But it fits them rlly well and captures their vibe perfectly. Also Pitbull at the end bc as a kid I’d always headcannon his songs as their theme so you can imagine how crazy I went when I heard him in the end credits

I think the main issue is that bc the movie came out when the show was still airing, it made ppl expect it to be connected, which wasn’t the case. I guess it was expected that Dr Blowhole would be the main villain and that recurring characters would reappear. Ik 11 year old me was so excited to see Marlene and throughout the whole movie I waited, only for her not to even be mentioned 🥲

Another thing is that a lot of that early 2000s humour that you see in the show isn’t present in the movie which also contributed to its blandness and is why the show feels more adult and funny (ignoring all the fart jokes lmao). I mean, the movie did release in 2014, which is when you start to see a pretty big shift in children’s media, with a lot less mature jokes and captivating stories and a big focus on simply keeping kids occupied - but that’s a topic for another day lmao this is already getting ridiculously long.

But I will say that after reading the art of PoM, they did put a lot of love and effort into the movie and Tom McGrath’s note at the beginning is so sweet omg 🥺 So I don’t think it deserves all the hate, but it would have been nice if it were connected to the show.

TLDR: I think the main problem ppl have with the movie is that there was zero connection to the show, the writing style was different, and that their personalities were so contrasting from what people were used to seeing on tv.

okay, i've seen people who don't like the TPoM movie, and i've read discussions about it on one or two servers before but i am genuinely curious, what made you dislike the film, or think it's not good enough? which part specifically? i never thought too deeply about but it's nice to hear what others think abt the movie!!

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

Nancy Wheeler

A lot of fics will make her the “bad guy” to help push their ship of Steve/whichever guy they’re pairing him with. Nancy deserves better than that she is a great character with a lot of depth. While she and Steve don’t have to be besties I hate it when they turn her into some homophobic or bitchy ex just there to propel the story 

Poor girl can't get a break ever

I got back into ST right after S4 came out, and I almost stepped out bc of how rude people were being to Nancy. She was called a bitch for dumping Steve (which was 2 years ago in canon and 6 years irl???) and she was blamed for Steddie (and in at least 1 post, harringgroove, which ugh) not getting together. Basically she got a lot of uncalled for hate for existing, because how dare she be so stubborn and get in Steve and the other characters way!

[randomvarious]

Today's mix:

In Stereo (1) by Angel Moraes 2001 House / Deep House / Garage House / Progressive House / Tribal House

Pretty neat turn-of-the-millennium house stuff from the tragically late Angel Moraes here. Brooklyn-born-and-raised, Angel was one of those guys whose life was changed the instant he stepped foot inside of Larry Levan's famed Paradise Garage for the first time, so much so, that after being invited up to Montréal to play a set and falling in love with the city and its club scene, he decided to relocate there and opened up his own club in 1998 called STEREO, which he tried to model after the Paradise Garage itself. And that's why this release is called In Stereo. I don't think it was recorded live there, but I'm guessing it's reflective of the varied type of set that Moraes would play there in the early 2000s.

And this CD appears to be the first commercial mix that he released since moving up to Montréal, which made it his first in about five years…at least kinda, because there's actually a different version of this mix that was released the year prior on Bombay Records too; same name, same catalog number, and same cover photo, but different track lists. The 2000 mix has 13 tracks and this 2001 mix has 14, and between the two of them, they share nine selections in common.

Now, I definitely didn't love all of this thing. Credit to Moraes for being a pretty innovative producer himself, but the deeper and progressive path he took throughout much of the second half of this mix really didn't click with me too much. But the beautifully Balearic closer, "Pineapple," by Portugal's Miguel Graça, is definitely one hell of a tremendous send-off—intricately crafted backbeat and then eventually some lovely bits of lead improvisational guitar are gracefully placed on top of it. Total banger 👍.

And here's a really dope connection for ya too: I haven't mentioned it yet, but in addition to being a club owner, a DJ, and a producer, Angel also co-ran a record label in New York called Hot 'N' Spycy, which also moved its HQ to Montréal. And a guy who was tasked with mastering a bunch of Hot 'N' Spycy's own tracks was none other than the disco maven himself, Tom Moulton. Now, if you don't know who Tom Moulton is, he's kinda quietly one of the most important people in the history of modern music as we know it. Here's why: the entire fucking concept of what a dance "remix" even is? That was him. The implementation of the "break down" in a dance tune? That was him too. And you know whose idea it also was to release singles in a 12-inch vinyl format? Tom's! 🤯

And guess what else? He's on this mix too. Somewhat early on, Moraes lays down "The Music," by Florida's Richard Fite, who performs here under the name of Phunkie Souls. This fantastic piece of late 90s filter house, which is one of my favorite selections on this mix, samples Moulton's own "I Don't Need No Music," which was the lead track off of his only album, 1979's TJM, released on Casablanca Records. "The Music" is certainly worthy of being on plenty of mixes itself, but knowing Moraes' own personal linkage to Moulton, you gotta think that his choice to include it here is a little bit of an Easter egg; a clever show of personal gratitude to one of the greatest of all time; a terrific tune sure, but with more meaning than just merely being another "dope selection," you know?

So, all in all, a very solid early 2000s mix with a bunch of different contemporaneous house styles packed within. I really dug a whole lot of the first half, which started out on a seriously nice garage tip, while also fitting in "The Music" and D.J. Spen's wigged-out "Disco Dreams Vol. 2." as well. Wasn't nearly as enthralled by what then came after that, but Angel still managed to finish off wonderfully with "Pineapple" 😊.

Listen to the full mix here.

Highlights:

Kenny Bobien - "You Gave Me Love" Phunkie Souls - "The Music" Angel Moraes - "Ur Luv Is All I Need" Fused - "This Party Sucks (Fire Island Saturday Night Mix)" D.J. Spen - "Disco Dreams Vol. 2" Miguel Graça - "Pineapple"

[audreydoeskaren]

Why do you think so many dramas are obsessed with the Qianlong era?

Very very good question, thank you for asking. This turned into sort of a rant but I’ve been wanting to say these things for a long time. I don't know how well known this trope is outside China but there is the idea of 康雍乾盛世, or the "Golden Age of Kangxi-Yongzheng-Qianlong" in Chinese history discourse, which glorifies the second half of the 17th and the whole of the 18th century as this super powerful and amazing time period within the Qing. Emperor Qianlong himself has somewhat of a cult of personality and is a popular figure in historical fiction, especially the bogus and disreputable kind involving romances (野史). His status as the monarch made it easy to write dramas set in the court, which is a perfect fit for the 清宫剧 or Qing court/harem drama genre popularized in the late 1940s. Actually, thinking about it Marvelous Women is one of the only famous Qianlong era dramas that are set outside of court, that's commendable (but then its inaccuracy makes it a lamentable missed opportunity). Actually maybe there are more out there but the inaccurate costuming makes it very difficult to address them as Qianlong era. In the 2000s and early 2010s there were multiple Qing court dramas set in the 17th and 18th centuries, so they have developed into a familiar television cliche and even a cinematic universe of sorts. It’s kind of similar to how a lot of European period dramas are obsessed with Marie Antoinette? Once you make a couple dramas about the same person/group it just keeps going.

On the contrary, the 19th century is known as the "century of humiliation" in China because of Western imperialism, and the Qing court in the 19th century has always been depicted as barbaric and backward in the colonial, Orientalist narratives touted by both actual Western imperialists and Chinese nationalists who internalized their views, so most people don't feel comfortable romanticizing the 19th century court. Personally I am not burdened with this whole shame baggage because I think the Qing was not at fault for being colonized at all, it was the colonizers’ fault, if anything. We do not victim blame in this house. Also, there is plenty of photographic evidence for 19th century China, so in a way it doesn't feel distant enough to sustain a fantasy. Most dramas set in the 19th century court are so called 正剧 or "serious dramas" about political intrigues and grand nationalist undertakings, which are supposed to be more realistic (though I feel like they’re only considered serious because they have a male target audience...)

Sorry got a bit carried away here. Going back to the popularity of the Qianlong era, "Golden Age of Kangxi-Yongzheng-Qianlong" is a concept that irritates me to no end. The assignment of golden ages arbitrarily creates some periods that become overrepresented and some underappreciated, and marginalizes transitional periods where potentially important changes take place. Oftentimes when I see people’s reactions to beautiful artifacts or art from conventionally “weak” time periods, how they act all surprised and say something like “wow I did not expect such nice things to come from this time period” I can’t help but roll my eyes. Life will always be difficult for some people and enjoyable for others regardless of time period, in order to write a story the perspective has to be cherrypicked anyway, so why bother shying away from conventionally “weak” or “unstable” periods. This is not to mention how the criteria for choosing a golden age often reinforce structures of power and bigotry; “golden ages” in Chinese history were usually times when the military was strong and society was conservative, when China was invading other countries left and right and subjugating other peoples. It’s so uncomfortably male centered and overly nationalistic, and plain immature... 

And as we can see in the miserable level of accuracy in dramas set in the Qianlong era (or any other popular era to be honest), this obsession is nothing more than 叶公好龙, an obsession with the idea of something and not its content. Most producers don't actually give two hot fucks about real fashion in the Qianlong era, just ways in which they can use it as a backdrop for a fantasy. Despite the wealth of dramas and other media set in the Qianlong era, I have never seen a single Han women’s costume that is actually based on real sources from the Qianlong era (though I have seen some in Song of Youth, which is... set in the Ming Dynasty). 

The second half of the 18th century is a non era in Chinese fashion history, a void with next to zero recognition and a public ready to either deny its complete existence or appropriate it as the late Ming. Personal anecdote: I was once visiting the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna with a friend and there was this wallpaper from the Qianlong era with human figures in realistic fashion on display. This friend was quite interested in historical fashion so I pointed out to her that those clothes were Qianlong era (it also said that in the description of the artwork), and she straight out fucking refused to believe that and insisted they were from the “very early Qing”. This is not at all her personal opinion but a very widespread mindset in Chinese history discourse. I guess this goes back to the misconception of “late Ming fashion continuing into the early Qing” and all Qing fashion that do not look like stereotypical 19th century clothing getting mislabelled as Ming instead. It is incredibly frustrating. This is what I mean when I say 18th century erasure. It is so normalized in the Chinese period costuming industry that it doesn’t even sound weird or wrong to a lot of people, even though it should. 

I know many readers of my blog are interested in Western historical fashion as well, so to illustrate how absolutely bonkers 18th century erasure is let me make up some examples. Imagine, there is this new drama set in Georgian Britain, and they use exclusively costumes like this:

Source

Or like this:

Source

Or even like this!!!

Source

(A lot of Manchu fashion featured in period dramas are legit from the 1940s)

And then you show someone an 18th century fashion plate you found

Source

and they say, “oh this looks kind of Tudor, it must be 17th century! In the 18th century people actually wore what is shown in the drama, which is very accurate.” Wouldn’t you want to metaphorically yeet yourself out of the window?? How is this widespread and acceptable?? 

[heyclickadee]

This. A thousand times this.

Star Wars is, more than anything else, a fairy tale, and it often operates according to fairy tale logic. That doesn’t mean everything is going to be nice or hunky-dory, because a lot of fairy tales are miserable right up until the last few lines—if they have a happy ending for the central character at all—but it does mean that it’s going to center emotional sincerity over realism, and it absolutely means that there are going to be elements that are silly and pulpy and weird. It’s not hard science fiction, and it’s not trying to be.

I think some of it might be a side effect of chunks of the audience coming at Star Wars like the come at YA fiction—and YA fiction is good, but it does feature a very bare bones, no meat, no fat, no garnish, no sides, maybe a glass of water if you’re lucky style of storytelling that you don’t see elsewhere—and expecting it to operate the same way. I think audiences probably have a lingering post-9/11 “oh realism, oh real, oh here, oh now, oh hell,” kind of expectation for fiction to be dark and gritty. And I absolutely think there’s something about American society (probably other societies, too, but it’s the only one I can speak for) that wants so badly to pretend it’s allergic to anything that isn’t dripping in five layers of sarcasm. And maybe the way that the dominant form of pop media criticism from the mid 2000’s to the early 2010’s was stuff like “How it should have ended” and “Everything wrong with X in 60 seconds”—videos that started out as funny shticks but eventually turned into a critical framework based around digging up continuity errors and “flaws” in character logic—doesn’t help.

But more than anything, I think, there’s this desire on the part of good chunks of the audience to be perceived as serious and mature, and an awareness that Star Wars isn’t either one. That doesn’t mean it’s not good, because is often is. Star Wars at its best can be stirring, emotionally complex, funny, well-told, visually stunning, and even thought provoking, but it’s not really serious the same way that, say, Dunkirk is serious, and it’s not mature the way some people want it to be, because even at it’s darkest, it’s made with kids in mind. Rogue One and Andor are the only real exceptions, and even they have teeny tiny (itty bitty microscopic) little moments that border on camp. And because we have this misconception that anything made with kids in mind is automatically lesser, especially if there are elements that are lighthearted or campy, there’s a kind of…I don’t know, shame? Embarrassment? That comes with liking it, in some people’s cases, at least. Which is why you get people arguing that no, Star Wars isn’t for kids, or at least a particular Star Wars isn’t for kids because it’s too dark and complex on the one hand, and then people insisting that the campier and lighter elements aren’t really Star Wars, or shouldn’t be, and that all Star Wars should be grimdark and gritty on the other.

That’s fine—people can have preferences—and bits of the audience losing their shit at the camp has always been there. You should hear one of my uncles talk about the ewoks; he insists that nothing in Star Wars has been good since Wicket popped up on screen*. My brother is really enjoying Ahsoka, but he’s coming at things from a SW video game perspective, and he has a really hard time with the purrgil. And even in the SW animation part of the fandom, there are Clone Wars fans who refuse to give Rebels or Resistance a chance, partly because they seem too kid friendly, are still upset that The Bad Batch isn’t Rep Comm the show, and ignore huge chunks of The Clone Wars because a lot of The Clone Wars is very silly.

But the thing that really pushed the cringe against the camp of Star Wars was, I think, Andor. Or part of the audience reaction to Andor, at least. Andor is slick, mature, expressly for the adults in the audience, sprinkled with grittiness without just becoming a hopeless dirge—and not camp. It’s not silly. No green muppets or laser swords; just grim political drama. It came out, and suddenly there was a star war people could like without feeling weird about the the silly stuff or the campy elements. Which—great! Andor is an incredible show. I’m glad the people who had a hard time with those elements have a star war they can really get into.

Eeexcept that Andor very quickly became the standard of how Star Wars should be all the time, with no exceptions—not that Star Wars should always be that good, which is reasonable, but that Star Wars is only good when it is exactly like Andor, which is ridiculous. Andor is amazing, but it’s also a very particular flavor of Star Wars that’s tonally incongruous with the rest of the franchise.

And I think even Andor gets mischaracterized to some extent. I see a lot of people talk about Andor as though it’s just depressing, but, as gritty as it is, it still arcs towards hope. And even if it didn’t—there’s room enough in Star Wars for the Luthen Rael speeches and the space whales. It can be a kid running in terror as the only home she’s ever known gets firebombed into oblivion and it can be high stakes Mario Kart. Give me the collapse of space democracy AND the snail hobbits. What, a character living through *insert thing here* is silly? Oh, Vader didn’t earn his redemption and the idea that he’d do one last good thing because a part of him loves his son more than he hates himself is unrealistic? Good. Don’t go looking for realism here—that’s not the kind of story we’re in. Here we’ve got a government run by a cackling space wizard in a black robe and a dude who came back with spider legs made out of trash because he was literally too angry to die. Embrace the camp. The camp is fun.

Star Wars is, at its heart, very campy. We should embrace this.

[hansoloswhore]

One Night in Sokovia

Pietro Maximoff x reader (Female reader). Steve Rogers x Reader (Platonic)

This is my first small fic so its fucking cringe <3

semi slow burn i think

It was Tony’s idea , he wanted to go out to one of the night clubs in Sakovia due to is being there recruiting two new avengers

“One last night together before the new recruits join” 

“Tony we need to be up early to see them we can’t just stay out not like last time when we recruited summers over here”

Steve sends you a wink. Thats why you heard Pepper shouting a Tony to get of his ass, the morning you were recruited

Tony eyes Nat , Thor , Banner and finally you “come on it’ll be fun, like the good old days” “Tony we was out drinking last week and we had to carry Banner home” you said laughing

Everyone agreed Steve still staying quiet “Come on Capcicle it will be fine i promise to keep an eye on them with you”

Pre party shots Thor suggested with his iconic Asgardian drink which we all know doesn’t end well hence why we’re having ‘shots’ you see tony take it as soon as thor pours it

“hey were supposed  to take it all together” nat shouts at tony

“another one then least favourite midgarden” tony gives are sarcastic smile

“yes please point break”

Thor pours everyone a shot and himself a glass one you look over at Steve and do your annual shot pack you do where you cross you arms and do it together. Be puts his arm out and you hold on to it and you hear Banner fidgeting with the front door, and everyone running out.

“You first pretty boy” he gives you a small laugh

“Ladies first you should know by know i’m a true gentleman”

Holding Steves arm as you walk through Sokova from what you can see it seems nice and really pretty you wish it was early in the day so you could see it all. Seeing Bruce on Thor’s back and Nat Holding on Tony’s you really do love them.

they all came to a stop when Tony saw Heaven Nightclub “here we are”

Tonys eyes light up from the flashing purple light of the sign

You turn to look at steve “Same as always we stick with each other unless i see a really good looking lad”

In the club it was bigger than you thought it was playing 2000s music which you could tell Steve hated first round of drinks Steve got Tony said he gets it all free but Steve insisted. Forth round you choose you made everyone do those 10 lines of shots Thor did them all Tony did around 6 ans said they where nasty and went back to whatever you and nat did all 10 together and banner he did them all with a little help from Thor, Steve did 5 wanting to join in but you could tell he hated being there at times

Yours and Natasha’s Song came on and ran straight to the dance floor.

She's a maneater, make you work hard. Make you spend hard, make you want all of her love. Natashas hands on your hips as you dance with your back to her. She's a maneater, make you buy cars. Make you cut cards, wish you never ever met her at all

You look over at Steve and send a wink and mouth “come on” he waves his hands and mouths “No way” “Its our last night lets all go”. you see Tony say to Steve “loosen up abit mussel man” Banner says to him “Fuck it”

The whole team is now dance together Steve spinning you around like its an old dance back in 1940s you laugh into his chest as the music stops and everyone sits back at the table

Im taking banner back Thor says just as his about to rip is shirt and tell avery one hes the Hulk while standing on the bar

“I’m off to get a drink do yous want anything” “Water” they all sort of shout at you

Making your way over to the bar you see a man still alone with an half empy beer bottle Silver Hair strong jawline and a fair amount of stubble

Fuck me he was gorgeous

“3 waters please and ill have a...

you can see him in the corner of your eye

“you know whats good on the menu”

His soft Sokovian accent almost made you melt right there and then

“what should i be then..” you rase a brow hoping he says his name

“Pietro Pietro Maximoff”

Hi you say and offer you hand he takes it and shakes it. “Y/N Y/N Summers”

“Y/N here will have a...

God my name sounded so good coming from his lips

...Tom collins” he sends a wink at you and slides money to the bar tender

“Thank you ill give these to my friends them ill be back over.. I promise” and you send him a wink back

Nat was passed out over Tony and Steve, Tony with his bed on Steve’s shoulder passes out to Steve and you just laugh “i better get them back to the house” as you was about to open your mouth Steve Buts in and says “stay with him have fun before tomorrow, juts don’t drink to much and stay out to late” “God Steve you sound like my mom , and you know i will be ans anyway i know how to fight, learnt from a good teacher” you wink and him “Goodnight pretty boy see you later” you said as he gave you a kiss on your head

you walk back to the bar sorted now your hair and adding a tad bit more lip gloss

“i was staring to think you ran out on me princessa”

the petname he called you send shivers down your spine

Taking a few sips of your Cocktail

and why would i do that”

he smirks at you with a quiet laugh coming out “that man you was with is he your”

you cut him of straight away “Boyfriend no”

you both smile and start talking about conspiracy theories what happens after you die space, not talking about your job felt amazing

a few drinks you where all over each other laughing fingers touching his hand ever so slightly on your thigh

both locking eyes he pulls you closer so his thigh between you leg, feeling a tight not in your stomach as his knee brushed along the front of your pants

“do you wanna get out of here”

“yes please” you say in a whisper lust filling your eyes eyeing his lips leaning down and kissing your lips softly

dragging you out he shouts out for a taxi

“its quite a long drive to mine so best get. comfy” placings a longer and harder kiss to you pushing him on the back seat so he’s lying down 

“comfy?”

“very” you lean down and start kissing slowly over his neck

a coughing comes from the front seat

“ever so sorry Eric back home please”

the ride to his was quite the radio on low giggling in to his neck him placing gentle kisses on yours

his hand traveling up your thigh his fingers just trailing up to the top when looking him in the eyes leaning in to his neck you let out a moan

“pietro.. please.. piet..”

“save those moans for when we’re inside princessa”

you pull up to his apparent block throwing money at the driver grabbing his hand,taking you to the apparent door pushing your back against the door swiping his tongue on your bottom lip to ask for entry.

Both of you fighting for dominance he finally gets the key in pushing the door in and kicking in with his foot dropping his key and you coats t the floor you hear a slight cough

“im going over to Mrs lovats i don’t want to be here while you do are sceewing , and she’s pretty Piet be nice to here” she waves and smiles at you”

“by wanda” he ways facing you with blushing cheeks

he walks over to you placing his large hands over your hips and kissing down your neck

“piet please”

“please what use your words sweetheart”

“t ..touch me pietro please”

“thats it princessa say my name”

fuck you thought he hadn’t even touched you yet and you where almost a wet mess

lifting his hands to the hem of your dress and taking it of

thank fuck i wore my nice black set

“oh princessa you look gorgeous”

throwing you over his shoulder and carrying you too his bedroom his strong muscles and broad shoulders made you feel safe 

laying you on the bed he hovers over you stopping close to your lips

“let me make you feel good”

he kisses and sucks on your neck you’ll have marks there tomorrow slowly trailing down your neck

“lets take this of shall we”

“hold silver streak you still have your shirt on”

lifting of your back and grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling it of your hand travels up hos toned abs and gabs the back if his neck pulling him in for a deep kiss

unclasping your bra he trails down the middle of them kissing down your stomach

“fuck” you breath out

his hand trails up your leg and reaches your pants his fingers diving in your pants

“oh gorgeous your all ready wet for me”

“please pietro do something”

he takes your pants of and starts to place gentle kisses on your thigh inching closer to your pussy he gently licks your folds

“more pietro please”

his tounge was heaven, you swear you saw stars when he moaned it sent small vibrations to your clit making you moan louder

“come on gorgeous let out those moans for me be a good girl” his broken english accent made everything sound better.

“oh pietro I need you inside me”

“your wish is my command princesa” coming up to your lips and giving you a passionate kiss

he enters you slowly and you feel yourself adjust to him, he lets out a slow moan “You feel so good”

he starts moving faster but not you roughly

please pietro cum inside me” he looks at you concerned as to say “is this the alcohol talking” “it’s okay i’m on the pill”

“Only of you cum for me first Y/N” he’s still thrusting into you this time a little harder , grabbing your cheeks he wants you to look him in the eyes while you do so and you do so,

“you.. feel so so gooddd” while saying this you feel his cum dripping out of you as he pulls out giving him a passionate after sex kiss you look at the time and the moment is ruined

“Fuck I have to be up in 5 hours fuck , shit Piet I have to go I’ll leave you my number

he cuts you of

“where do you have to be”

“some people are having a job interview and I’m interviewing them tonight was amazing let’s go for dinner tomorrow yeh later on the night” kissing him on the cheek

“see you tomorrow” with sadness in his eyes you’re outside calling steve

before you know it he’s out side

“Have I ever told you how much I love you Stevie” kissing him on the cheek

“yes all the time but I love hearing it, so how was the lucky guy”

“that’s a story for tomorrow”

“No no tell me now”

slamming the door to the car your back at the compound “can’t hear you steve I’m already inside”

Thor giving you a wink, you smile and saying goodnight to him and Steve again mouthing thank you to Steve he smiles back and walks to his room, Thor falling back to sleep on the sofa while watching modern family, his had his own big room and bed but he always has said he find the couch more comfortable.

Walking to your room

You close the door having a short was and getting your Pyjamas on you receive a text

Goodnight princessa sleep well x

You to Piet <3

Alarm going off at 7:25 you get ready you train with Steve for an hour after washing doing your hair and getting ready for the two new superhero’s to come.

Wearing a navy blue suit with the top 3 buttons undone you’re practising the presentation 9:45 comes around way to quick.

“Y/L/N they’re here Tony shouts everyone in the office”

turning round you lock eyes with the Ocean eyes Pietro you fucked last night

you both let out the fakest cough nat looking at you with wide eyes and mouths

“Good on you with a wink know one else saw apart from Tony who goes”

“Wednesday Adams everything okay you’re looking a bit flushed”

snapping you back in to reality you hear the other red head say.

“I’m Wanda and this is Pietro”

“Y/N so pleased to meet you” shaking Wandas hand and making what felt like the longest eye contact ever with Piet (thinking about how he looked on top of you last night) Steve nudges you and your back in the land of the living

“Sliver boy and Y/N/N do you to know each other”

“No”

“Yes”

You eye each other , him smirking at you and Steve almost laughing at you for going a little bit warm I n the cheeks

“We sort of do”

“How do you mean sort of” Tony says eyeing up both of you ,both staying quiet.

Nat buts in and says

“That’s a story for later let’s get on with the meeting”