#with punky elements

[badnikbreaker]

none of u are ready for the roleswap im cookin up

[demoreelrewound]

Quinn (Mulryan)

Un-f*cking-defeated.

Canon traits: surly, steadfast, to-the-point, casual to the idea of violence, protective, keeps to himself, evasive on personal details beyond jokes and little anecdotes, nominally the cinematographer, perhaps the make-up tech, an affinity for guns

Canon backstory: a former soldier of the IRA with a very large family, he had to leave to escape authorities. One of his siblings woke up dressed as Punky Brewster after a wild night. He and Karl broke into Planet Hollywood after another bender in the States.

My ideas:

His parents - Gráinne (graw-nyuh) and Fionn (fin) used to own a corner shop near the border which supplied black market goods to Northern Catholics during WW2. They moved further down when becoming more involved in the IRA. Not outright soldiers, but trained as such, they were intelligence gatherers and resource managers, meaning many people came and left the house when Quinn was younger. "If anyone asks, they're your uncles and aunties." the children were told.

Well, I say Quinn... but that wasn't his name back then, neither was his surname Mulryan. Someone's idea of a good US disguise was to up the Irish to a degree that no one would believe a defector would be that foolish. His birth name is much tamer: Seán Ó Díomasaigh, anglicised to John Dempsey.

Has three siblings - elder siblings Ruaidhrí (ryoo-uh-ryee with a rolled r) and Aoife (ee-fa), and younger brother Dáithí (da-hee). They were thick as thieves, always watching out for each other and (minus Ruaidhrí as there's a three year gap between him and Aoife) sticking up for each other in school.

As mentioned in the past-present picrew, he and his siblings went around local pubs collecting donations for the cause - "The Boys" as they said. While scrappy and boisterous sometimes, the patrons and soldiers adored them for their cute faces and naïve optimism - they'd be described as the reason to fight.

Unfortunately, this didn't stop the family from being exposed to bursts of violence, having to learn how to best hide, fight, and play dead fairly young. It became a game that continued even as things eased off, a competition between siblings to see who could stay still the longest or who could tell the best lie under the threat of a sharp stick in the eye. It became a dark joke among them, something to shake heads about over a pint alongside the other silly childish things they did.

As long as he could remember, Seán could see the beauty in the everyday, figure out the most interesting and emotive ways of expressing something visually. This showed whenever he was the one filming family get-togethers or trips, earning him the moniker of "our little Spielberg/George Lucas/ [whatever director that came to mind]" - they encouraged him, even as it was his turn for paramilitary training, to keep at it and make a career for himself when victory came.

Once he'd become a reserve he was given leave to enroll in a part-time college film course in a nearby city, the nearest one he could find but still away from home. He learned everything he could about cinematography and what different shots meant, quickly deciding that was where his passions truly lay, but wasn't able to do much actual handling of cameras to his chagrin. As covert as he tried to be, his loyalties betrayed themselves in his coursework and led to his dangerously neutral mentor basically saying "You're better than just a propaganda filmmaker, step out of your comfort zone, make something truly creative." He graduated with a final piece under this idea, but didn't have a chance to show his family before things got bad again.

By the time he came back, his mother and father were sick, Aoife their carer and supplier, with Ruaídhrí trained as intelligence and Dáithí as an on-the-ground fighter with fire in his eyes. The little brother had become hardened, partly by Seán's own doing, and had a devastating plan that would endanger many civilians and himself but eliminate a key figure in the British side. As you may guess, this was a step he couldn't let happen - the opportunity to express himself creatively had made a crack in his desensitised shell, not much by outside standards, but enough to have him interfere to save his brother and dozens of civilians. He aimed at the target himself from on high, succeeding in killing... a bodyguard.

The fallout was life-shattering - family and cause betrayed, a target of enemy assassins, a promising career ruined before it could start. Seán ran and incapacitated anyone sent his way, first to Europe, then to the States on the same journey as a particular former East German informant.

[alpaca-clouds]

The history of Solarpunk

Okay, I guess this has to be said, because the people will always claim the same wrong thing: No, Solarpunk did not "start out as an aesthetic". Jesus, where the hell does this claim even come from? Like, honestly, I am asking.

Solarpunk started out as a genre, that yes, did also include design elements, but also literary elements. A vaguely defined literary genre, but a genre never the less.

And I am not even talking about those early books that we today also claim under the Solarpunk umbrella. So, no, I am not talking about Ursula K. LeGuin, even though she definitely was a big influence on the genre.

The actual history of Solarpunk goes something like that: In the late 1990s and early 2000s the term "Ecopunk" was coined, which was used to refer to books that kinda fit into the Cyberpunk genre umbrella, but were more focused on ecological themes. This was less focused on the "high tech, high life" mantra that Solarpunk ended up with, but it was SciFi stories, that were focused on people interacting with the environment. Often set to a backdrop of environmental apocalypse. Now, other than Solarpunk just a bit later, this genre never got that well defined (especially with Solarpunk kinda taking over the role). As such there is only a handful of things that ever officially called themselves Ecopunk.

At the same time, though, the same sort of thought was picked up in the Brazilian science fiction scene, where the idea was further developed. Both artistically, where it got a lot of influence from the Amazofuturism movement, but also as an ideology. In this there were the ideas from Ecopunk as the "scifi in the ecological collaps" in there, but also the idea of "scifi with technology that allows us to live within the changing world/allows us to live more in harmony with nature".

Now, we do not really know who came up with the idea of naming this "Solarpunk". From all I can find the earliest mention of the term "Solarpunk" that is still online today is in this article from the Blog Republic of Bees. But given the way the blogger talks about it, it is clear there was some vague definition of the genre before it.

These days it is kinda argued about whether that title originally arose in Brazil or in the Anglosphere. But it seems very likely that the term was coined between 2006 and 2008, coming either out of the Brazilian movement around Ecopunk or out of the English Steampunk movement (specifically the literary branch of the Steampunk genre).

In the following years it was thrown around for a bit (there is an archived Wired article from 2009, that mentions the term once, as well as one other article), but for the moment there was not a lot happening in this regard.

Until 2012, when the Brazilian Solarpunk movement really started to bloom and at the same time in Italy Commando Jugendstil made their appearance. In 2012 in Brazil the anthology "Solarpunk: Histórias ecológicas e fantásticas em um mundo sustentável" was released (that did get an English translation not too long ago) establishing some groundwork for the genre. And Commando Jugendstil, who describe themselves as both a "Communication Project" and an "Art Movement", started to work on Solarpunk in Italy. Now, Commando Jugendstil is a bit more complicated than just one or the other. As they very much were a big influence on some of the aesthetic concepts, but also were releasing short stories and did some actual punky political action within Italy.

And all of that was happening in 2012, where the term really started to take off.

And only after this, in 2014, Solarpunk became this aesthetic we know today, when a (now defuct) tumblr blog started posting photos, artworks and other aesthetical things under the caption of Solarpunk. Especially as it was the first time the term was widely used within the Anglosphere.

Undoubtedly: This was probably how most people first learned of Solarpunk... But it was not how Solarpunk started. So, please stop spreading that myth.

The reason this bothers me so much is, that it so widely ignores how this movement definitely has its roots within Latin America and specifically Brazil. Instead this myth basically tries to claim Solarpunk as a thing that fully and completely originated within the anglosphere. Which is just is not.

And yes, there was artistic aspects to that early Solarpunk movement, too. But also a literary and political aspectt. That is not something that was put onto a term that was originally an aesthetic - but rather it was something that was there from the very beginning.

Again: There has been an artistic and aesthetic aspect in Solarpunk from the very beginning, yes. But there has been a literary and political aspect in it the entire time, too. And trying to divorce Solarpunk from those things is just wrong and also... kinda misses the point.

So, please. Just stop claiming that entire "it has been an aesthetic first" thing. Solarpunk is a genre of fiction, it is a political movement, just as much as it is an artistic movement. Always has been. And there has always been punk in it. So, please, stop acting as if Solarpunk is just "pretty artistic vibes". It is not.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, I guess.

[apuff]

i hope people understand that this sort of thing is what is going through my head at any given moment

here is my explanation of terminology

masc and fem are already well enough known, you know what those mean surely

for these purposes. i'd say that "softboy" is one general strategy of androgyny that walks the line between masculinity and femininity by having a general softening of masculine features in a way that brings them closer to what is considered feminine. i consider this to have more cutesy vibes

"genderfuck" is the polar opposite of this: a strategy that achieves androgyny by layering clashing masculine and feminine elements on top of each other, especially in a punky or "fuck you fuck your gender norms fuck your ideas of how i should present myself" type of way. i consider this to have more rebellious vibes

[afterdarkprincess]

Acts of Contrition- Part 1

Pairing: Drew/Punk Rating: Explicit Word Count: 2,581 Summary:“Shh- this is for your own good you know.” Drew's finger rubs and tugs at his slack lips. It’s uncomfortable. “I thought about it a lot, why you’ve gotten into my head, why you’re tormenting me. You’ve been possessed, by something with real nasty power, and no one else can see it! But I can… “

Tags for @thlayli-ra @harmshake @feelschicken @elementaldoughnut12 and @sparklylap (if anyone else wants tagged in my Punkintyre fics please let me know!

This fic is EXPLICIT!! And involves Rape/Non-con elements, Kidnapping, Hardcore BDSM, Religious Imagery, Object Insertion, and more (full tag list on AO3) Please read at your own discretion!

Based on this lovely post from @thlayli-ra

This is part one- more to come soon!

--

“Ugh”

CM Punk opens his eyes blearily. He feels like he has the worst hangover known to man combined with the worst jetlag. His head feels like it’s going to split open any minute, and his muscles are sore.

He tries to think, what on earth did he do to deserve this? It’s been a long time since he lost control and relapsed in such a way that would leave him feeling this way. If only he could remember. The last thing he registers is leaving the arena after Raw, heading to his car in the backstage lot, then-

He’s splashed in the face with water, which both helps his headache and brings him to full alertness.

Oh god what happened to him?

He’s upright, his arms strapped to something at an angle above his head, leather digging roughly into his wrists.

A light breeze in the room informs him that he’s completely naked. His legs aren’t bound, but his feet aren’t on the floor. He flexes his foot and determines he’s standing on something plastic? He tries to look down to see, but his eyes are caught by movement.

“Yer awake…” The words are whispered reverently, almost a prayer, as Drew McIntyre steps into the light.

Punk recoils violently despite himself, and he finds himself unsteady on his feet.

Drew rushes to help stabilize him, big hands on his chest. “Oh you’ll wanna be careful there Punky, don’t wanna move too much and go too fast now.”

He doesn’t understand what Drew is talking about, but it’s not like he can do much to move anyway.

“What- what is going on?” He mumbles out, slurring over the words.

Drew puts a finger to his lips, and Punk has to resist the urge to bite at him.

“Shh- this is for your own good you know.” The finger rubs and tugs at his slack lips. It’s uncomfortable. “I thought about it a lot, why you’ve gotten into my head, why you’re tormenting me. You’ve been possessed, by something with real nasty power, and no one else can see it! But I can… “

He doesn’t give a fuck what Drew said- he has to try something. He jerks at his arm restraints with a powerful push from his shoulder, but his right foot starts to slide and-

He feels something.

Something hard poke against his cheeks, mere inches from his asshole. It’s too hard and at the wrong angle to be Drew’s dick. What on earth?

Drew clicks his tongue against his mouth. “I told ya to be careful- I didn’t prep you too much.”

Punk’s suddenly aware of a wet sensation, like he’s been lubricated but not really stretched at all. Fear crawls up his spine.

“Please- Drew just let me go, man. I won’t tell anybody, we can just forget this ever happened-“

“But I CAN’T forget!” Drew roars, his face so close to Punk’s that he can feel the warmth of his breath against his cheek, the smell of whisky overwhelming. “I have to do this, once you’ve been cleansed I can touch you.” His hand shakes, hovering above his cheek, but he doesn’t quite touch.

Drew steps back, and the sudden motion puts Punk off his balance, and his left foot slides a few more inches, and he can really feel it now.

It’s big, thick like a cock, maybe a little thicker and rock hard, ungiving.

It’s going to hurt. Did Drew know that he would enjoy that? Maybe he’s too far gone to even care.

Punk tests the restraints, more carefully this time, trying not to move his lower body at all. The leather doesn’t give even a little. Figures. He can see the structure he’s affixed to, shaped like an X, it looks like a medieval torture device. Hell, maybe it is.

Drew sits at a wooden chair that faces him, kicks his feet out and leans back. Seemingly content to just watch the show.

Well fuck him. Punk isn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

There’s not much leverage he can get with his arms, but he tightens his core to keep himself stable.

That works. For a while.

He’s tempted to try and talk to Drew, but it’s hard enough trying to concentrate to keep himself up and keep breathing.

Drew doesn’t say anything either, he just watches with the same intensity, never wavering. Hell he barely blinks.

Punk has no idea how long he holds out. Could be ten minutes, could be an hour. He focuses on his breath, stays aware as much as possible in case Drew changes his mind about laying his hands on him, but he tries to remain calm and not give the Scot the satisfaction of seeing him panic.

He’s doing okay, his abs are sore and aching, but he think’s he’s stable enough to readjust his weight to his left side.

But in the process his knee spasms, not quite fully buckling, but it’s enough.

His body’s natural response causes whatever is supporting his feet to slide a few inches on either side and he hears the scream tear out of his mouth before he realizes he opened it.

Whatever amount of lube Drew put in him was not enough. The thing tears him open, gravity forcing his hole to open up for the thing impaling him. It has to be a dildo, a thick one, he feels the distinct ridge of a cock head at his rim. Only an inch or two is inside of him, but his ass is on fire.

His cock twitches and he can feel himself getting hard.

Drew sits up a little straighter.

His breath comes hard in labored pants as he tries to adjust to the intrusion inside of him. Pain and pleasure race through him in equal measure, just as he feared they would. He’s known this about himself for a long time, since the day he first set foot into the squared circle, he imagines. The day he first saw his own blood and felt thrill and delight.

But still there’s a little voice in his head.

How disgusting are you? You’ve been drugged and kidnapped and sodomized, he’s probably going to rape you. And the dirty little whore that you are, you love it. Already getting hard.

Perhaps the worst part is that the voice sounds like Drew.

Gradually he relaxes, and he feels less like he’s splitting apart. He gets an idea to try and lift himself a bit, try to find a little relief. He engages his core muscles again and tries to press up onto the balls of his feet to get a little height.

The thick head pops as it comes out, and it drags a guttural moan from his throat.

His ass hurts like hell and there’s no doubt in his mind that he’s bleeding. He’s not even sure that the relief was worth it, knowing that it will end up inside of him again sooner than later.

Sooner comes very soon, his knee protesting from the odd angle. He’s a little more prepared this time, angles his hips so it hits his hole head on before sinking into him.

Fuck if it doesn’t feel amazing. It’s less painful this time, his hole having adjusted along with his blood no doubt slicking the way.

It still hurts, of course. But it’s the kind of hurt he craves desperately. The kind of hurt that comes with a hardcore match, with dog collars and barbed wire. The kind of hurt that makes him feel useful and gives him purpose.

He finds himself rocking his hips, using what little leverage he can to fuck himself on the hard rod, shallow still, just enjoying the push and pull at his tight rim.

It’s intoxicating, but it’s not enough. He’s hard and wanting, sure. And he could let his feet slide, let it slip further into his guts, but he needs more. He needs the purpose, he needs the feet of a warm hand around his throat, squeezing his balls, cutting into his skin.

There’s an indignity in this, a coldness of the lifeless thing he’s being made to fuck. He’d rather Drew just fuck him himself at this point.

His breath comes quickly, and he whimpers. “Drew- drew please.”

Punk watches the expression on Drew’s face change. There’s excitement, frustration and guilt. His brow furrows and he shakes his head roughly.

“Not yet,” It’s just barely loud enough for Punk to hear it. “Don’t try to tempt me, you siren. I will stay the course.”

Punk whines in frustration, but true to his word Drew is unmoved. His head bows, palms press together in prayer and he begins to speak.

“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishments-“

He grunts in frustration, clearly he’s going to have to do this himself for now.

Drew’s voice drones on as he takes a deep breath and puts his concentration on lifting himself, teasing his rim again before lowering and bearing down, letting his feet slide a little more so he can take another inch or two inside.

He feels each and every millimeter as it pushes deeper inside of him. He hisses at the burning stretch, aching for additional stimulation. He tilts his pelvis just so and-

“Ughhhhh fuck! Fuck!”

The thick head presses against his prostate, and his vision goes white. His hard cock jolts and dribbles precum onto the floor.

Punk fights the urge to beg Drew, for something, anything. A hand on his cock, pinch his nipples, pull his hair, anything.

Drew’s still reciting, though now he has a blood red rosary in his hands, rubbing the beads between his thick fingers.

God he wants those hands on him.

“O my Mother, preserve me this day from mortal sin."

He’ll show him mortal sin.

His legs are splayed wide already but he flexes even further, and he moans wantonly as he takes the rest of the fake cock inside of him.

He arches his back and writhes as best he can, showing off his rock hard nipples.

“Oh god, oh god, fuck!” His whines creep higher in pitch from the stimulation, the burning stretch that feels damn near in his stomach, aiding in the performance he’s putting on. “Drew, p-please, it’s so- ahhhh OH!”

His hard cock bobs in the air as he bounces, grinding the dildo against his prostate at each pass.

He seems to notice Drew stumbling over his words, his hands shaking as he handles the rosary. Good.

_ H-holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death._

Punk keens, moaning like a pornstar. He tosses his head back and forth, and struggles at his bindings, starting a rhythm as he grinds on the dildo. He’s going to have to come without his dick touched it seems, so he better get to work.

Arousal burns hot in his gut, spurred on by the pain and discomfort as well as the hard dick churning in his ass.

“Please!” He cries, tears falling in hot rivulets down his cheeks. “Please, just touch me, smack me, fuck me Drew, please- ah ah!”

Drew’s cheeks are burning red, eyes staring at Punk’s cock and his undoubtedly messy hole. He’s gripping the rosary by the cross, his knuckles white with how tightly he’s holding it.

Honestly he’s not sure who’s enduring the real punishment here, him or Drew.

Sure this should be a situation where he feels powerless, but Punk has never felt more in control of his situation with Drew.

Maybe Drew has a point, maybe he is a demon, a siren sent to lead the man astray.

And lead him astray he shall.

“Drew…” He pants, pleading. “Drew, I- I’m sorry, I’m sorry- please, please! What do you want? What can I do!?”

Drew stands abruptly, rosary still held tightly in his hands, before dropping to his knees with a thud.

“Free me from this torment.” He’s not even looking at Punk now, his eyes glued to the ceiling, but still hazy.

He can see the bulge in his jeans, clearly his wanton display is working.

He takes a gamble, “Help me, h-help me be free.”

It’s softer, more of a whimper than anything else, but something changes in Drew with those words.

His head lowers, eyes locked on Punk’s as he crawls forward towards him. Drew kneels before him, not unlike how he did at Mania, though their positions are reversed now.

Drew’s eyes shine with unshed tears as he reaches up a hand, slowly, so slowly.

Punk is close to the edge already, his thighs shake as he rocks back and forth, grinding the dildo against his prostate. He’s sweating all over with the exertion and stress of the whole ordeal.

Drew’s fingers hover over his thigh, so close to touching but just not quite.

His cock is angry red and bobbing with each rut of his hips. Even the idea of Drew touching him is spurring him on now.

“Please, please, please, god please-“ He’s so close, the hot tension in his gut cresting as he approaches the edge.

Punk feels the pressure of warm fingers against his upper thigh and he comes undone. He’s silent as his vision goes white, his legs spasming as his battered ass clenches around the dildo.

When he comes back to his senses, he’s greeted to the sight of Drew’s face covered in cum, a look of rapture on his face.

His chest rises and falls roughly as he watches Drew’s tongue dart out to lick at the cum staining his beard.

“Drew-“ The name barely makes it past Punk’s lips and the man is standing, one arm wrapped around his torso taking on his weight as their mouths collide.

Punk can taste his own cum as Drew’s tongue invades his mouth, devouring him in long hot kisses. Big hands roam over his skin, touching him everywhere, grounding him after his ordeal.

Drew finally pauses for breath, resting his forehead against Punk’s.

“Mine,” The growled word sends shivers down his spine.

The scotsman makes quick work of releasing his bound arms before hooking his hands around Punk’s thighs.

“Easy, easy,” he murmurs into Punk’s ear as he slowly lifts him up and off of the thick dildo.

Punk feels each agonizing inch leave his body, leaving him hollow and aching. There’s a loud squelching sound that follows, and he buries his face in Drew’s shoulder in shame.

Drew gathers his legs and settles him into a bridal carry, and Punk’s emotions are all over the place. He should be angry, should be fighting Drew with tooth and nail to get away now that he’s free, but somehow he can’t find it in himself to do so.

Drew’s arms are warm around his naked body, and here with his face in the crook of Drew’s shoulder, the sickly smell of whisky and sex is replaced with a deep woodsy scent and the salt of his sweat.

He’s carried for a while, his eyelids grow heavy at the smooth pace of Drew’s steps.

Finally they arrive at a sparsely decorated bedroom, with a large soft-looking bed. Drew sets him down gently and covers him in a thick down comforter before disappearing.

He can keep his eyes open no longer, and he falls deep into sleep.

----

Hope you enjoyed!!! Please continue to feed my unhinged obsession with these twoooo

[bluewings55]

No charmix redesign…

But a Sirenix redesign of my first Sirenix redesign!

I finished the Flora, Bloom Roxy and my Sona first so imma compare them with the old and new styles:

Note: i got inspired by bethnan.draws on Instagram. Obv i didn’t steal/copy her designs, i did however used similar/same inspiration she had, but obv changed a few things to keep it original.

Main changes: i kept the tail/skirt, but made them more transparent and a little longer. In general the colors are more simplified. I also went with a more bathsuit/bikini design too. I also removed the leggings cus they were a little too much. I also made the hair longer cus i like long hair :3 and i changed the wings too.

Generally, i have a power concept: i believe that certain fairies have more power depending on the transformation. (´neutral´ transformations like Enchantix or Mythix are excluded from this) They are more ˋconnected´ to their source so they are more powerful. The opposite works for fairies who have the opposite power, they feel less connected and are a little weaker bc of that. Imma tell you who has the most connection and how i symbolised it with shoes. Barefoot = more connected, sandals = less connected, shoes = least connected

Old VS New:

So for Roxy, i used a more simpler design. I did keep the beta fish look, but used a moon tail rather than a krontail. I made her hair longer and more colorful to fit her aesthetic more. I made her look more fishy and barefeeted cus i believe her animal powers are nature based, so she feels a lot more connected to the aquatic creatures that live there.

For my Sona, i went with a more simpler look too, making her look more similar to those dragon sea slugs (they so fcking pretty omg). Due to her dragon powers (read sona profile to find out more) she actually has scales on her body. Her element is the sky, so she doesnt feel as connected to the ocean so she wears sandals. Other than that, her look stayed pretty much the same, only her wings changed from silhouette

Old VS New:

Ok, i gave Bloom some leafy dragon seahorse elements, but in a totally different way ofc. Ofc, shes part dragon so she has scales too! Bc she has the power of the dragon flame, shes the least connected to the Sirenix transformation bc Fire is the opposite of water, indicated by her shoes.

You can have your opinions about this, i believe in this. No i dont hate Bloom or make her weak for fun. This rules counts to all the transformations and i will obv say whos weaker and stronger in what transformation. And just cus Bloom is weaker doesn’t mean she can’t kick ass. So haters don’t leave any nasty comments, this just feels more realistic to me.

Back to the topic: I made her hair more punky, kept her outfit pretty much the same since i adore the pink/plum colors on her.

My dear Flora looks as gorgeous as always. She too is more connected to the ocean due to her nature powers. The only changes i really did are the streaks in her hair and her wings.

[sanstropfremir]

ok nana unsubtly kicked me in the ass about this and i realized they were mostly done anyways so here we go! only four months late!

best stylings 2023 - first half

runners' up

rising - triples

there are two good stages with funky athletic wear, but it wasn't enough to bump it up to the overall category. mcountdown 230216, the show 230221

abyss - woodz

didn't promote it which is a shame, but the variety in the costuming for the different versions of himself is well done and it's a beautifully shot bottle mv.

moody - superkind

you got a fake member you gotta make it spooky!!! he's not real that's inherently spooky!!! anyways this is what i wanted them to do right off the bat some i'm glad they finally got my psychic memo.

golden hour - mark

absolutely fucking crazy. fantastic imagery. i think i talked about it earlier in the year but it's such a stupid and hilarious idea to make a whole diss track mv about a several year old meme and then actually make it strange and weird art. obsessed with it still.

sos - kang daniel

i'm also including the wasteland music sequence here because holy shit when this dropped i lost my mind. i'm always surprised by what kang daniel does bc i can never predict it, which over the last few years i'm coming to enjoy. and i absolutely did not expect him to produce basically an entire wild west mad max movie with equal the production value???? literally how did he do this. how. and then everyone paid it dirt??? it's an amazing mv and one of my faves of the year, the only reason it's not bumped up categories is bc although the styling was actually one of the only times tactical gear has been thematically relevant to a cb, its been so overused that it has no punch anymore, which makes me sad bc the tactical gear was good! and a good choice! and i feel bad saying it has no punch bc it should have!

small talk - kim sungkyu

we love when sungkyu acknowledges that he's annoying and a loser. all these outfits were so losercore. i loved this deviation from form for him; he's normally king wailer supreme, but he does smooth upbeat rock very well and it's a nice contrast with the capital y yearning that's in the bsides. it's only here bc he didn't promote much and i'm mad at him for putting dancing in the mv and then not dancing in any of the stages. mcountdown 230629, music core 230708, inkigayo 230709

ay-yo - nct 127

this is just here for taeyong's urchin outfit. well i'm a bit of liar it is actually a really fun early 00s inspired mv, but we all know the urchin outfit stole the show.

stamp on it - got the beat

i will hear NO slander against got the beat in this house, this was a great mv i love hot women planning a heist.

tricky house - xikers

FANTASTIC debut. does a really great job of establishing a character for them as a group and it's got such unique flavour. kq has made great use of their ateez money and also the lessons that they learned with ateez. i'm excited to see where xikers goes in the future, and since i'm writing this section from the future i can say that i do like where they've gone with full confidence. the only reason it didn't make the top list is bc the styling is kinda average for this era of kpop.

best overall

rose blossom - h1 key

i was aware of h1key before this but they hadn't really grabbed me, but damn this cb was so good. the mv is a nice mix of story and dance sections. plus a surreal section in the middle! and by virtue of being like the first cb of the year, they got the jump on this alt girl look that would be the dominating look for ggs this year. and i do think first did it best in this case, all the looks are smart with good group synergy and and a lot of creativity; when you do this type of alt-y punky style it's important that there's a diy element to it, which a lot of groups fail to grasp bc stylists are obsessed with luxury branding. h1key manages to avoid that mostly by being flops, but i'd like to believe its also bc their creative team cared about capturing the true spirit of the style.

stages: music bank 230106, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, mcountdown 230119, inkigayo 230108

tic tac - 8turn

honestly i was kinda ready to not like these guys since mnh shat the bed with chungha, but then i remembered that the mnh creative team is very good at their jobs, so here we are. this is one of the few debuts/cbs this year where every single stage was a hit and it was very hard to narrow down to just a few for here; lots of good emphasis on shape and colour and accent pieces with repeated motifs, which was a big part of the fashion in the 00s that they are remixing here. very strong debut especially for so early in the year and i'm looking forward to more.

stages: show champion 230208, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, show champion 230222, music core 230211, mcountdown 230223, music core 230225, inkigayo 230226

bonus: this absolutely hysterical 4minute cover (they even got the name bucket hats! not in the stage, but they had them in photos)

sweet juice - purple kiss

i'm not normally a fan of wes anderson or wes anderson inspired aesthetics because i find them too twee and perfect, but this wasn't too direct in it's inspirations and definitely had the spooky purki flavour. i really liked the uniformity of the costuming, both literally using uniform motifs and using the same fabrics; i really do miss the days when kpop costumes were design to actually be costumes with the group image in mind.

stages: mcountdown 230216, inkigayo 230219, music core 230225, music bank 230224, inkigayo 230226, music core 230304, inkigayo 230305

sour & sweet - bambam

bambam again proving that he's one of the few idols that knows his shit in terms of interesting styling. also if anyone knows where he filmed the mv/performance vid please tell me i need to know bc its so beautiful.

stages: mcountdown 230330, music bank 230331, inkigayo 230402, music bank 230407, music core 230408, inkigayo 230409,

bsides: music bank 230331, inkigayo 230409,

macarena - blitzers

i'm so so so glad blitzers got a bit more attention this year bc they deserve it and macarena was so good. perfect culmination of their goofy ass talents and the unusual creativity of their performance + creative directors. i'm even linking the mv teaser here bc its so goofy and offbeat and different. honestly i'd recommend watching as many of the stages as you can find bc they do different intros every time and it's very funny, but unfortunately tumblr has a link limit so i can't link them all.

stages: show champion 230426, music bank 230428, music core 230429, inkigayo 230430, inkigayo 230514, music core 230527

bouncy - ateez

yea yea yea nobody is surprised so sue me. this was a crazy followup to halazia and proved that ateez can deftly switch between serious dramatic performance and comedic but no less dramatic. i'm very happy to see how much work has been going into the main ateez mvs in the last year because it has very clear and striking direction that fits both their performance style and their creative ambition, as well as their growth as a group. also yea i'm not immune to neon cowboy shit.

stages: inkigayo 230618, music bank 230616, the show 230620, mcountdown 230622, music bank 230623, mcountdown 230629, music core 230701, inkigayo 230702

kick it 4 now - tnx

tnx had an absolutely banging 2023 and although kick it 4 now is has superior and more comprehensive production, love or die is also a very good cb, and both of them together have shown that they have a really good grasp on the genre of teen listlessness, from two different directions. kick it 4 now has been i think the most successful cb to actually capture the feel of first gen, and the creative team did a lot of extra work in order to pull that off. from all the graphic design to the goofy lil 90s style music show promos, to the styling, they had a clear goal and achieved it. i think it will be quite difficult for any other group to pull it off this thoroughly.

stages: music bank 230609 (the giant lyrics!!!), music core 230610, show champion 230614 (more giant lyrics!!), music core 230617, mcountdown 230622

shooting star + left right - xg

we all already know that left right was my most listened song this year, but the fact that the mv was b movie sci fi star trek themed? it's like simon made everything about this specifically for me thank you. xg blew everyone out of the water this year on every front; music, styling, choreography, you name it. i said i wanted groups to commit to their bits and i got it. they were completely unafraid to actually commit to the y2k nostalgia AND to harajuku styling; a lot of groups have weakly pawed at it but always back away due to the fact that harajuku and y2k are not actually 'pretty' fashion trends, which leaves their attempts half assed with no real understanding of why and how those trends happened. xg came saw and conquered the current trend in a way that only a japanese gg can do. my only annoyance is that they tone down the stylings when they promote on music shows, and i know why they do it, so it's not an annoyance at them, it's an annoyance at everyone else.

stages: shooting star - mcountdown 230202, con-tour 230217, the show 230221, inkigayo 230212, inkigayo 230205, con-tour 230224

left right - the show 230228, show champion 230222

circle - onew

absolute masterpiece. album of the year in every way. it's a profoundly beautiful unpacking of grief and the sadness that comes with acknowledging that things change, and the way that in that change life and humanity and story is eternal. a circle. the theatre imagery combined with the 60s style children's tv show use their similar but contrasting forms to illustrate the same point: something can be eternal and fleeting at the same time, and that heightens its value rather than diminishing it. the promo campaign was so thought out as well, i love the integration of the theatre imagery into the highlight medley and i highly recommend you watch it if you haven't. one of the best cbs from a solo artist in years.

stages: mcountdown 230309, music core 230311, music bank 230317, inkigayo 230319

--

ignore the fact this was almost five months late even though i started writing in like. november. i'm busy ok. it's planting season and i have to send so much post. the choreos post is the next most finished so that will probably be out before the styling second half one.

[time2commitbastardlyactions]

My thoughts on HEARTSTEEL (even though no one asked):

I should start off by saying that my expectations going into this were very low. I know that Riot's music team never disappoints, but the leaked splash art was a bit of a let down in my opinion so I tried not to get my hopes up and I was hoping some things would be changed before the skins' release.

Regardless, I watched the music video as soon as it premiered... and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since. The song is SO GOOD!! It took me a couple of listens before I really got into it, but to say it's grown on me is an understatement. Sure, it's not better than POP/STARS (that's a given), but I can honestly say I like it better than GIANTS.

The song might be a banger, but my grievances come from pretty much everything else.

First of all, I think the casting could have been better. Baekhyun as Ezreal was great, but everyone else just felt... Off?? I got whiplash when Kayn started rapping because his voice just caught me so off-guard (though I suppose it was Rhaast rapping, so that makes more sense). Sett and K'Sante were a bit better, but I still think it was iffy casting overall. There's just such a stark contrast between their singing/rapping voices and their normal talking voices that doesn't sound quite right to me.

Second, the music video was pretty decent. As I stated before, my expectations weren't very high, so considering how low the bar was I wasn't disappointed. There were a lot of good moments in it that I really enjoyed, but overall I felt that it didn't flow as well as it could have. I thought it was very flashy, fast-paced, and chaotic. This is all subjective, but I think the video could have been better. For what it was, though, it was decent.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about the skin designs. I said before that I was disappointed when the splash art was leaked, and the same holds true now. What I liked about K/DA and True Damage is that the skins provided a new, modern spin on the characters while still holding true to who they are. The HEARTSTEEL designs were disappointing for me because it kind of feels like they tried to change too much. Some of them work, but some of them don't. Ezreal and Yone both look amazing and I'm considering picking up Yone just so I can play the skin when it comes out. I'm still on the fence about K'Sante, Sett, and Aphelios. Kayn just looks mid, which is upsetting for me because I literally started maining him just for the skin. Sett looks like a car mechanic. These skins could have been so good, and I think what they should have done instead is gone for a more edgy/punky vibe all around. There are a lot of bright colours in some of these designs, and I think that's what's throwing me off. Kayn is the literal edgelord of Runeterra, and you CANNOT convince me that he would actually dress like that. The pink hair is fine, but the brightness of the pink should be balanced out with darker clothing (PLEASE just get rid of the yellow pants, Riot, I'm begging you. The design would immediately go from a 6/10 to 9/10 if you just made the pants black instead of piss yellow). The same goes for Aphelios, who is often characterized by dark, emo aesthetics. His design doesn't look bad, but again, it could have been significantly improved by incorporating some darker elements. This is kind of a gripe that I've had with HEARTSTEEL in general. Riot went with the same pop vibes instead of innovating and coming up with something new. The band in general should have been more punk-rock oriented than what we got. I saw someone online saying that Kayn should have been a screamo rapper, and I can't agree more. Overall I don't dislike the designs, but they could have been done better.

So that's the end of my spiel. I love the song, but there are a lot of things about the band that left me wishing. I just hope that Kayn gets a black chroma or something, and I hope that when they get a comeback after 5 years or so (if Riot doesn't forget about them before then), Riot listens to fan feedback and we get something even better. I think the group has a lot of potential and I've really been enjoying the Discord chats on Twitter. If you have opinions about the group, feel free to add on to this, as these are all just my opinions.

[variousqueerthings]

8 11 32 PLEASE!

HELLOOOOO AND THANK YOUUUUUU! also I remembered how much I overthink when looking at these whoops

8. Describe your gender without using any words traditionally related to gender: You know the opening to the Mr Bean series? Mr Bean gets beamed down onto earth and then it's implied that everyone Mr Bean does after that is literally because of being an alien, but it's never actually confirmed in the text? that but like. with a much more extensive wardrobe

11. Favorite (or just one you love) piece of LGBT media?: WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME???? I'm gonna give u three out of Many that are perfect. and I'm going to connect them to a Theme (I'VE CONNECTED THE DOTS). the thing is that these movies are movies that have at some point held me gently and guided me into a greater understanding of the queer community and history generally, as well as my own feeling of place within this community

My Beautiful Laundrette: This is one of my personal seminal queer movies, I watched it as a young'un/baby queer and it's just. Oh. such softness amidst the violence of the times, and the thing is that the softness is something that saves the main characters from the violence, both as potential perpetrators and victims (and how those can be blurred concepts to begin with). the core of it is two men who come back together amidst the height of neo-nazi anti-immigration 80s England, one of whom is Pakistani British and the other a white skinhead. And they open a laundrette together. This movie is sweet, I promise! it also features one of the subtly hottest moments to me in film history, in which one of them licks the others' neck in public while being watched on one side by Pakistani family members and on the other by white racists but it's angled so none of them see it!

City of Lost Souls: Listen, Rosa Von Praunheim's documentation of trans people (and generally queer people) is so so important for our community and you should check him out, but this film in particular is such a wild fucking ride that is hard to explain. a bunch of queer artists in 80s Berlin (and this movie was made in the 80s so you get some real footage of that great big wall) just like... fuck around? share intense elder wisdom? connect? sing! (oh yeah, it's kind of a musical, a trashy punky musical). This is some of the real deep magic of queer connection. there's an iconic moment in this film (there are several) in which a trans woman picks up a one-night stand and explains to him that she's trans and he's like. "eh no idea what all of that means, but you're saying you're a woman right? great!" and it's just Fine

Desire Lines: listen this movie... I'm almost hesitant to recommend it, because I feel so personally affected by it and it's a one-of-a-kind (so far) insight into transmasculine gay culture that is just. deeply precious and not understood by a lot of even the wider queer community. myself and every transmasc person I know who's seen it have felt somewhat transcendent about it, the way you do the first time you see yourself as (positively) visible in this way, it's almost too much. it's a documentary at heart, but quite experimental in elements of its structure, with parts of it being a fictional telling of a middle-aged iranian trans man who works in an archive and is told of the history of trans men's inclusion in gay bathhouses, lou sullivan, and personal testimonies from gay transmasc people. sometimes you don't notice how deprived you've been until something gives you real oxygen

Hon. mentions: Joyland, Great Freedom, Die Beautiful my personal favourite queer films of 2023, still have me by the throat!!!

32. Do you do arts and crafts? Post a pic of a project you've done: okay I will share a picture of something, but I need to go take a picture when I have a sec. It's not complete, but I've started a little zine that's just a big collection of euphemisms and ways of talking about queerness and it's such a fascinating, fun project that's made me think more expansively about how queerness gets talked about, whether it's in the past or present (or potential futures), within and without the community, as modern, or bigoted, or outdated, or fun, or out-of-the-box, or specific, etc. -- it's very far from done, but I can give a sense of just how many words/phrases/concepts I've picked up + imagery I want to include + the construction of the zine itself, which has a few little secrets to it

[resident-gay-bitch]

heavy themes, minors dni, homophobia, slurs?, mentions of alcohol abuse, mentions of drug abuse, mentions of death, mentions of sexual assault.

ten years ago, eddie left the safety of his hospital room and braved the outside world. see, hawkins was hell. not just metaphorically, small town america where the satanic panic was everywhere and people beat up queers regularly. but also, it was literally hell. the upside down was bleeding out into the real world, and after experiencing five minuets of being legally dead, eddie was fuckin out of there.

ten years ago, he rounded up the troops after graduation and fucked off to chicago, lived it out in a shitty little apartment and played whatever gigs he could get on his blessed sweetheart that wayne had thankfully saved before the rip.

ten years ago was the last time he had seen steve harrington, the town famous jock and ladies man that had selfishly stolen eddie’s heart during the hardest week of his life.

eddie left. and he didn’t look back.

over the years, his friends came to visit him, or he’d bump into them elsewhere. he ended up closest with nancy since she was living close to him for about six months back in ‘88.

that was the year corroded coffin got big.

like, really big.

like, playing at the garden and partying with mötley crüe, sex scandles and overdoses making the front page kind of big.

eddie was a star.

it was everything he had dreamed of.

when performing, he was in his element. when writing lyrics, he was in his element. when being chased down the street by a hoard of teenage girls just trying to touch his hair or get an autograph or even just trying to get him to look them in the eye, he was in his fucking element.

eddie had always been an attention whore.

in ‘91, the tabloids went off the charts when eddie was seen standing awfully close to another man in a dark allyway, both sharing a cigarette, and then another photo of them walking into an underground, invite only club together that was infamous for its suspected queerness.

christmas ‘92, eddie announced during a massive fucking christmas concert in new york, live streamed across the world, for all ages, that he was in a committed relationship with a man. and then he pulled said man on stage, and kissed him. really fucking hard.

his manager fired him the next morning, but that didn’t stop eddie.

his fame outweighed the queerness. plus, it totally boosted his popularity in that community and people started figuring out that a whole bunch of his lyrics were really queer coded.

eddie and his boyfriend broke up in ‘93. he got cheated on. right under his nose. his brilliant, punky boyfriend was fucking his pencil skirt wearing assistant the entire fucking time. turns out, punky boy was only with eddie for his money.

eddie loved him.

it hurt.

he developed a life threatening addiction after that, following in his mums footsteps. it started with the drinking. then it turned to coke. then he found heroine.

he ended up overdosing three times, he’s lucky to still have his life.

he did meet some really cool people in rehab though.

it took him till december ‘95 to make one month clean. he’d managed to stay clean. gareth threatened to kick him out of the band if he didn’t.

in ‘96, corroded coffin went on a short tour to their favourite places to perform. rocking the house out and showing the world that eddie was okay. that he could still party and perform and get caught up in several sex scandles, like the one with popular actor james rowan or the playboy model, eliza truman. that he was clean and nothing that bad had ever really happened.

ninety percent of being a rockstar is just lying.

eddie got home at three in the morning post tour. finally able to sleep in his own bed again, rather than the stupid tour busses or random hotels. eddie was glad to be home.

he’d bought himself a lavish place. he didn’t have much as a kid, so he wanted to have it all now that he could. he’d bought wayne a place too, though, it was a penthouse, wayne didn’t need a mansion. eddie was living down in LA too, by the coast. he had a private beach. he loved it.

he locked the door behind him, resetting the security alarm. that was always his top priority, after that crazy fan smashed his window and crawled into his bed in the middle of the night and tried to suck him off in his sleep.

eddie was kinda traumatised.

he walked through the downstairs area, grabbing himself a bottle of apple juice out of the far too big fridge in his kitchen, and walked over to check on his guitar room.

yup, they were all safe.

he walked over to the counter where his new assistant placed his mail when he was gone and shuffled through it.

he found an invite from hawkins high for the ten year reunion.

eddie never thought he would ever go to a highschool reunion, he hated highschool. and he hated everyone at highschool. but after some thinking and a bowl of kraft max n cheese, he decided he might go pay the old town a visit.

he knew the gates were closed, nancy told him that.

and there were less homophobes, robin told him that, though… it was still hawkins.

most people eddie hated (carver) were either dead, moved away, or had the most mundane jobs known to man. they all had pathetic lives. and eddie was a world famous rockstar.

freak, bullied, beaten and ridiculed his whole life, turned rockstar, egotistical sex symbol desired by all.

he bet he could make a few of those assholes jealous with a simple wink their bored wives way.

fuck it. let’s raise a little hell.

——

the reunion was as boring as he has suspected. dull, shit music, people that bullied him asking him for his autograph and having the audacity to say ‘i never thought you were a freak’.

it was an entire night of eye rolls for eddie.

he was ready to head back to cali the next morning, but robin begged him to stay. she was hosting a charity fundraiser to put more money into the schools for the kids. the town was pretty run down, and the schools were falling apart and the entire arts program was shut down and eddie’s money would be really useful. eddie was happy to give her some, kids deserved a good education, but he didn’t want to stick around.

but then she had told him all the kids would be there, and they’d want to see him, and it would actually be fun. because robin was fun, and so were her events.

so eddie gave in and stuck around for a few more nights.

eddie got all dressed up, per robins request. a smart black suit with metallic embroidery all over it. a black button up underneath, left partly unbuttoned so you could see the low hanging chains around his neck and the tattoo between his breast plates. a large sword pointing towards his stomach, woven with vines and very fantasy badass. he topped it off with his usual rings, some dress shoes, and his sunnies that he wore everywhere to hide his face.

when he got to the event, thankfully, there were no paparazzi. eddie thanked the heavens robin didn’t tell anyone of his attendance. he walked in and overheard a few murmurs, of course, he stood out. most men here were dressed in simple dress shirts and blazers with their short cut hair. some people recognised him from around town. some people recognised him for his music. some people recognised him from the papers. and some people recognised him as that murderous queer.

yeah, it suddenly felt a little hot.

there were a lot of older people here.

older people really didn’t like queers.

eddie pushed through, keeping his shades on for that extra protection.

when he found robin, she was dressed in lovely green silk and she looked devine. he took her hand graciously and spun her around before bowing down and kissing her hand. the photographer for the event - jonothan byers - snapped a few pics.

“lady robin.” eddie smiled, standing again.

she pulled hand back and waved it at him, “oh my goodness, world famous rockstar eddie munson! i’m never washing my hand again. defile me, please, i beg of you!”

“ha ha. your real funny, you know that?”

“i do.” she smirked and tapped his shoulder with her purse, “nance is over there if you wanna say hi. i’ve sat you at the table at the back over there with dustin, el, erica and argyle. is that cool?”

“cool with me.” he nodded, hands behind his back, “your the boss lady. i am here to simply follow along and throw all my money at you.”

“and you are a gem for that.” she pet his face a couple of times with a smile and hurried off, “catch you later.”

he saluted her before making his way over to nancy.

the night flew by, he got to catch up with dustin, el and erica whom he hadn’t seen in well over a year now. the last time was at dustin and els wedding, he just found out they were pregnant with their first. eddie tried his best not to cry. he also got reacquainted with argyle. he’d only met the guy once, seemed cool enough. he was cool now, had really awesome hair that eddie admired. and he was sorta cute and really gave off gay vibes. eddie spent half the night flirting with him until jonothan walked over on his break and greeted argyle with a kiss. safe to say eddie was embarrassed and he apologised profusely, argyle was flattered.

the food was good. like, really fuckin good. eddie was a little confused as to how rob could pay for it all, she was a primary school teacher, but apparently nancy scored some brilliant reporters gig and made stacks now, and they were together. eddie was proud of her.

then came the charity part of the night. there was a silent auction where people donated items amongst the art pieces the primary and middle school kids supplied. eddie won a bunch of things. he won a hand painted vase that ms henderson donated for two thousand dollars. he won a homemade candle set that he only wanted because it smelt like the tour van after their first concert, for eight hundred dollars. he won a canvas painting from a six year old of a pink dinosaur for five thousand. he won an attempted teapot from a ten year old that was painted like an enchanted forrest for eight thousand dollars. and he won a clay monster with nine arms and seven eyes and two mouths and a weird shaped figure created by some siblings aged thirteen and four, and eddie thought he could hang his rings on it, for twelve thousand.

when robin calculated the amount he had spent just from the auction, she cried. that meant she could put on a play this year.

eddie himself donated a guitar, an old electric that robin ended up scoring herself, she wanted to learn and be able to teach the kids.

the next charity event was a bet. people were drawn out of the crowd at random and forced to compete against each-other at random games, and guests could place bets on who would win or lose.

eddie bet on the losing side for all the jocks, and won almost every time. (all the winning money went to the schools). eddie was called up for a competition, and he was ready for it.

beer pong.

he had this in the fucking bag.

oh, and look who it was against… steve mother fucking harrington.

when eddie first locked eyes on steve, his heart raced. he still looked just as beautiful as he did ten years ago. all those horrible memories of unrequited love and his broken heart came flooding back. he’d lost a love he’d never had for no fault but his own. he was dressed in a smart black suit with a bow tie and shiny shoes and… by god, is that strawberry lipgloss? and blonde highlights?

yeah, eddie wasn’t making it out of here alive.

eddie stepped up to the table, droning out the oohs and ahhs of the crowd, he was used to it. he watched robin fill steve’s cups with beer and then watched her fill his own (secretly) with soda. thank the sober gods.

“are my eyes deceiving me, or is that king steve?”

steve laughed, “in the flesh. im honoured to grace your presence though.” he bowed, and god, he was an actual dork now. fuck dustin for being so influential.

“hmm.” eddie nodded with a smile, “love the hair. going for ‘ken doll’ or something?”

steve smirked, “insult me all you want, i get all the barbies i want.”

eddie tried not to laugh. apparently steve was not as slick as he used to be, “right… we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

steve shook his head, and they both turned to robin.

“okay!” she announced through the mic, “how much are we betting on steve to win?”

people started voting, the money adding up. steve was the basketball champ and resident party boy back in highschool, so it made sense most people voted for him.

but no one had played beer pong with eddie back in highschool. and they were in for a treat.

“and who votes for eddie to win?”

a couple of people placed their votes, those being eddie’s friends who had played beer pong with him before. eddie looked at the boards, only three hundred dollars was casted his way, compared to steve’s five thousand. he looked back to steve with a smirk.

“i’d like to bet, robin.”

“uh…” she looked over to nancy with a questioning face, who just shrugged, “alright… i guess.”

“i bet…” eddie pretended to think, “ten thousand dollars that i win.

“oh,” steve laughed, “i can see someone’s not cocky just for show.”

“i have a right to be, don’t you think? i mean, you get it, stevie.” eddie grinned, “lotta money, fancy clothes, chicks love me…”

steve deadpanned him and picked up the ball, “suck a dick, munson.”

“oh, i do. quite often, actually.” eddie leant on the table as steve readied himself, “why? you interested?”

steve’s cheeks flushed pink and he terribly bounced the ball, and it missed.

eddie smirked, picking up the ball himself, tossing it, and landing it perfectly in the cup, “bottoms up, big boy.”

the game was over faster than it started, eddie sunk every single cup. the crowd groaned in annoyance, and steve seemed a little ticked off. eddie chucked him a devilish wink before finding his seat again. a few more bets were played before the final charity event of the night started.

“okay,” robin leant over into the mic, “this is entirely backwards of me, but the lovely ms butterscotch insisted we add this to the list. just for some light fun. so!” robin cleared her throat, “a little disclaimer before we start, you are not owed shit.”

the crowd nodded.

“okay, you lovely people with heavy wallets out there get to buy yourselves a date with some of hawkins most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. the deal is one dinner of your choice with the your partner and that is it! you are just buying a dinner with them!”

eddie laughed to himself. this was the type of shit you would see in movies.

“up first, we have the lovely ms butterscotch herself. who would like to take this lovely lady out for the night?”

a few younger guys, probably freshly graduated all placed their bets with charming smiles, wooing the sweet old lady. eddie thought about placing one just for fun, taking her out on the town for a night, but he wasn’t sure how she’d feel about his whole demonistic metal look.

“next up, we have the lovely ms jane hopper.”

there was a little cheer, and dustin started placing bets against mike and will. and he was losing. and eddie found it very amusing. so he placed a bet too, seven thousand dollars. he won. dustin death stared him down. when el approached the table with the date ticket for eddie, he took her hand and kissed it graciously before slamming the ticket down in dustin’s palm, along with a couple hundred dollar bills.

“take your wife out somewhere nice, a congrats on the baby or whatever.”

dustin smiled warmly and helped el back into her seat.

a few names went by, both male and female, most of them eddie didn’t know.

“and last, our most eligible bachelor, as all you lovely ladies out there know, we’ve got steve harrington.”

there was a cheer in the little crowd and eddie thought it was a bit much. but he also totally understood, steve was, and always has been, a total babe. the bet started off small, working its way higher and higher into the hundreds increasingly quick. it got to just two ladies bickering a dollar higher each time, both red faced and determined to get their date with steve. eddie was having a big laugh. steve was making faces with dustin the whole time, unable to believe what was happening.

“seven hundred and twenty.”

“seven hundred and twenty two!”

it was giving eddie a headache. he reached for his water and took a sip, looking over his glass at steve on the stage. he looked a little nervous, all flushed in the cheeks and fiddling his fingers. eddie noticed he was wearing a ring on his pointer finger. steve looked very well put together. and honestly, it had been making eddie feel a little hot under the collar all night. steve looked over his shoulder at robin wearily, and then back down at the ground. watching steve made eddie’s heart race. he missed him. the boy he barely knew all those years ago. he missed looking at the softness of steve’s eyes and feeling safe there. of never wanting to leave.

then he did the cutest thing.

he scrunched up his nose, trying to get his top lip to touch it out of pure boredom.

“fifty thousand dollars!” eddie slammed his hand down on the table without a second thought, not even processing that it was him who spoke at all, until he felt every single eye in the room fall on him.

“what?” robin choked out wide eyed.

eddie swallowed. well, he was in it now.

“i said, i bet fifty thousand,” he stood slowly, reaching his hands out and bowing graciously, “for a date with steve harrington.”

“jesus.” steve muttered.

“uh…” robin looked around the room, “has he got any competition?”

silence.

the two girls looked furious.

eddie smirked.

“sold!”

steve was bright red in the face, and robin handed him the ticket with a little wink. steve walked up to eddie’s table and handed the ticket to him.

“munson-“

“uh!” he shook his head, snatching the ticket, “i’ll be referred to as baby, or your highness from now on. whichever you choose.”

steve glared at him, “fine… your highness. i’m free tomorrow night.”

“wonderfull.” eddie smiled, chucking him a little wink as he looked down at the ticket, “i’ll give you a call.”

steve nodded as he began to back away, “i won’t look forward to it.”

oh, but eddie would.

[miashyperfixations]

"I'm pretty when I cry"

The track starts out sounding like the average acoustic guitar pop song, leading listeners to believe Rodrigo's sophomore album is more partial to the pop genre, as everyone expected her to venture into and become the next big pop girl. However, the track gradually shifts after the halfway mark into something more. It transforms into a punky, screamy riot grrrl track filled with prominent drums, guitar riffs and beautiful lyricism about not fitting into western culture but trying to do so anyway. It sets the tone for the album with a perfect blend of pop and pop-punk elements. 

track-by-track: all-american bitch • bad idea right? • vampire • lacy • ballad of a homeschooled girl • making the bed • logical • get him back! • love is embarrassing • the grudge • pretty isn’t pretty • teenage dream

[dokkywokky]

(My art on the left, the original commissioner's design on the right)

EMERGENCY COMM | 1 OF 5 REMAINING

@anastasia285's Virtue-Class battleship was a lot of fun to try and translate to a shipgirl!! A major inspiration was Azure Lane, but we also had a long discussion on what parts of the design philosophy were and weren't to her liking, and how to implement certain elements of the ship as character features. :3

Justice.MGLD, an AI adapted from a template program named Marigold, was installed aboard the battleship *SDFS Justice* as part of a modernization effort by the Selenican Navy in order to address the ship's lackluster capabilities in modern void theatres. As the ship changed in accordance with evolving navy doctrine, Justice did, too; with a move towards missiles, improved armor characteristics, and more reserved uses of artillery defining her current tenure in combat and her punchy attitude. Her crew has frequently retuned her to match their perception of the ship, but she's also taken on a character of her own! Punky, cheerful, (and concerningly for the strategic branch,) irreverent when it comes to certain orders. Inexplicably, she seems to have picked up a Colonial tongue called 'finnish' during her operational period. Attempts to purge this anomaly from her model remain unsuccessful, but ongoing.

[animaljamrendog]

GoodtimeswithScar, Cowboy AUs, and Horses

I'm a big horse guy, I love thinking about and messing with horses- and making AUs is no exception. When I got into the Life Series/Hermitcraft(-ish), I wanted to represent Scar's disability like many other AUs- and fandom interpretation- do.

I began to look more into parapalegic equestrianism, and found a treasure trove of valuable information to make any cowboy or horse-aligned AU all the more inclusive of Scar designs that use wheelchairs or canes (or any other steam-punky assistive devices I've seen).

First off, The horse.

This is an excellent situation where one really doesnt require a certian breed standard to be met in order for this AU to work. Any horse will do, with only maybe a temperment or height check to keep things in line. Horses can spook at wheelchairs, and, in a AU that has more steampunky elements, become nervous around the hissing steam of pipes and wires, so a calm horse (maybe an older one, or one that is incredibley well trained) is in order.

What comes to mind distinctly was a Tiktok I saw months ago about a trainer and their horse, who had been taught to bow so their rider with physical limitations did not have to throw a high leg or jump up to be able to ride. (Although with further research along the lines of actually teaching a horse to bow, I found an article where a poor woman had taught her horse so well every time the farrier would come and pick up her hoof she would go into a bow without cue.) A bowing horse- or maybe even one who lays down on command- is a helpful addition to Cowboy Scar's arsenal.

In another line, if he uses a wheelchair in your AU and is a bit of a traveler, look for a more endurance-aligned horse to be able to shoulder the weight of Scar's chair. An average horse can carry 20% percent of their body weight comfortably. I would look more towards wider, stronger horses- if they are, of course, available in your AU.

No matter your AU's Scar's opinion on horses- whether he loves or hates them- it is almost vital that his relationship with his horse is specifically special. He might not be all crazy for every horse out there, but it's good for him to have HIS horse, one who understands him without words, one who is connected to him by seemingly beyond souls. I'm talking SPECIAL SPECIAL.

Second, the tack

This is a more indepth part, where there are differences between english and western and the type of AU you're going for can make the direct answer look more like a shopping mall of tack selection.

The Classic Cowboy AU

Whether your Scar is a gunslinging sheriff, a lonesome cowboy, or a snake oil salesman- His tack is probably always going to be westerned aligned, usually simple and rawhide. The issue with Western Saddles and a man in a wheelchair or using a cane- especially if he's toting around said wheelchair on whatever quirky adventure he's going on- is that they are BIG. They are CLUNKY. Part of them is made of WOOD for heaven's sake. I'm completely abled and I have trouble carrying them sometimes. A good solution to this problem is opting for a freer, bareback style of riding. Although requiring a good sense of balance, it can be assissted by a bareback pad, or even a saddle blanket simply draped over the back of his beloved partner in cowboy crime.

2. English-Centric Aus

Now I know that sounds... weird. No, we're not turning Scar British- but along the style of English riding... Personally- he seems the more savvy owner type, a guy who admires horses from the sidelines, focused more on the economy of his gold-leafed stud barns. If he had to ride, it'd probably be one of thoser custom made english saddles, like the one this woman uses to ride:

3. Racing

He's too tall to be a jockey, but he has- like I said- a savvy buisnessman feel about him. He'd be an awesome owner... I think.

Admittedly, My knowledge is mostly cowboy-centric, and also most I had to say about, but in general I hope this is a good overview on horses and Scar. Thanks! I love Horse Racing- but that's a topic for another day.

[indigaux]

Ξ♡ЯᎩᎿᏂՈɠ ᏂᏒtƶ 🦋✨ dreamy noise + punky queercore music + vibes! located somewhere in Connecticut

Like the five elements that construct the universe, these handful of artists are coming together to harmonize an intense sonic experience that builds up the energy in the room, and breaks down our expectations. Throw away everything you thought you knew about “good music” and prepare to enter a nu world of sound. Built by artists, sustained by audience: let’s generate a new haven together!

Live Performance Lineup (last to first order)

» @tief.mp3 (MA) ~ dreamy noise, ambient, poppy

» @indigauxthefae (CT) ~ bubblegrunge, ethereal

» @lavagxrl (MA) ~ anti-pop

» @slujjzz (CT) ~ hyperpunk

» @gr1mg0rl (CT) ~ alternative hip hop

$10 tix online (limited)

$15 at the door

*use password “ HIFA333” for secret tickets*

link 2 tix: https://posh.vip/e/evrythng-hrtz-

[globalatomic]

PUMA x THE RAGGED PRIEST Mayze Stack Buckled Platform Sneakers - Black

CA$155.00

PUMA x THE RAGGED PRIEST celebrates the British fashion brand's grunge roots and unapologetic attitude. The collection is inspired by self-expression and subculture. This version of Puma platform Mayze Stack sneaker is updated with contrast stitching and punky elements.

DETAILS

Low sneaker

Leather upper

Chrome-free upper

Oversized buckle detail

Rubber midsole

Rubber outsole

PUMA x THE RAGGED PRIEST co-branding

LWG: The leather sourced in this product comes from environmentally responsible leather manufacturing and is audited and certified via the Leather Working Group protocol

[apencilandpen]

After living with and listening to the xikers debut album for a few weeks, I have a lot of thoughts about it actually!

I actually really really like it. I'm impressed by how cohesive it is in sound, if a little one note, and the songs are just the level of overwhelming that I like. I like the pop punky elements and how crunchy but still polished it sounds. I'm not a genre-ologist so I'm simply going off of vibes 😄

I think their performances are super engaging and dynamic, and I'm very impressed by how live they've been able to be during their promotion stages. It was an incredibly smart move to make their promotion songs more belt-y and shout-y so they can all be as live as possible.

I don't actually follow follow them so I don't really know everyone's names but their rap line is so fun to watch and listen to (lowkey giving 3racha vibes stylistically? But also kinda joohoney? It's very cool) and especially yechan. He's killing it and it's wild to learn that he's the youngest but NOT wild to learn that he's been a trainee for such a long time.

I've heard about people comparing them to ateez, which is gonna happen since they're from the same company and whatever, but like I don't think you can compare them any more than that? They're going in a totally different direction sonically and the only thing that kind of ties them together is how rich and layered the production quality is on their tracks. It is fun to try and pick out hongjoong's voice in the backing vocals on some of the tracks. The man is nothing if not distinctive! (Also its so cool that he got to be so involved with their stuff and people who say we have to make him think he's good enough for ateez stuff need to take a step back bc that's not our job) (also also sir if this is what the inside of your head sounds like I'm so sorry).

I think it's really funny and fun that the physical version of their album looks like a personal pan pizza 😄

I also really like that their vibe is young but not childish. Idk if that makes sense

Tracks: Rockstar > oh my gosh = tricky house = dynamic > doorbell ringing > xikey > the intro

- and that's just bc I don't love the genre change in xikey, I just don't remember doorbell ringing very well, and I'm not a fan of spoken intros in general

Overall, I'm really excited to see how they progress going forward and I'm enjoying the album immensely!