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mosshead-lover · 3 years

Text

A to Z with Capt’n Levi

Levi Headcanons

A/n: I was suddenly short of words when I was writing this. Lol. I managed to finish. Lemme know how you like it, okay? * Baby bear face*

A: Attention - Loves getting attention from you, especially when swarmed with work, when you offer to make tea or a back massage, or even take care of his hardness. He loves them all equally.

B: Books - One of the traits Levi admires in you is that you read. He often offers to read to you and asks you to correct him if he mispronounces something. Since he grew up underground and never had access to proper education, he is kind of conscious of his spellings. The grave expression he makes as he starts reading makes him look like an innocent kid that thinks he is on the most critical mission of his lifetime.

C: Chivalry - The Captain is chivalrous, indeed. He often brings you flowers. All white, however. He believes in the purity of love and which other colors can signify it better. Moreover, it's his favorite.

D: Dirty Talk - Levi sucks at it, okay? His blunt honesty doesn’t aid the fact.

You: So, you have been accused of damaging someone’s private property, causing flood after flood. I must take you into custody(eying at the bed).

Him: Oh.

You: (trying to keep up) Will you take a look at the damage you’ve caused?

Him: Sure.

E: Enthuse(what excites him?) - It may sound cliche but, You calling him *Captain* when alone is the biggest turn on for him.

F: Foreplay - Levi likes feeling every inch of your body before he gets on with the actual business. He nibbles and kisses the most random places, making your body ask for more, slowly making his way to the sensitive parts. So, You tell me, who’s the king of foreplay?

G: Gifts- Levi doesn't wait for an occasion to get you something, nor do you. If you come across a vintage teapot or a new cleaning tool, you pick it up immediately. Likewise, if he finds something that you’d use or look good on you, he is bringing it home.

H: Hugs- Levi isn't much of a hugger but offers to when you are super low and need comfort. Levi always rests his chin on your shoulder when he hugs you. Back hugs, on the other hand, are very common to him. Especially after a long day, he wants to come home to your warmth and nothing else.

I: Ideal Date- Levi has enough adventures at work already so, Home dates are a luxury for him and you. You begin with morning tea and a little chat. You cook breakfast together and clean too before hitting the bedroom. Aftercare includes a shower, hair drying, and a little snack followed by his wholesome tea. You might go on a small horse ride or a walk in the evening.

J: Jealousy - Levi doesn’t show envy. If something is bothering him, he will be honest with you about it. But, he is sure to lose it if someone stares at you or makes you feel uncomfortable.

K: Kill - Would he kill for you? Ack. You know it already!

L: Liquor (Do you get drunk together?)-

Occasionally you do. Levi seems to hold his booze quite well. Levi does enjoy watching you get drunk and go berserk. Of course, he is there if things go out of hand. That's why you drink crazy in the first place.

M: Massages - He is on the receiving end, mostly. Since he stays awake late at night working, you often offer him shoulder massages.

N: Nos(Turnoffs) - Not addressing the elephant in the room, untidiness, and cold tea.

O: Ogle - Was he ogling you before you got together? Yes. Does he still do? YES! and you love it when those bluish-grey deep set of eyes check you out like it's the first time. The captain’s eyes speak louder than his mouth, and you're more than okay with it.

P: PDA-Levi isn’t a fan tbh. The most you do is hold hands in public except on the last Valentine's day when you were crossing the bridge. The atmosphere was so irresistible that you had to kiss him.

Q: Quarrel- Like any other couple, you have your differences too. Friction between you two is mostly because of Levi’s poor work-life balance and his OCD. Nothing that can't be taken care of before the day ends.

R: Roleplaying- Housekeeper and the owner any day. Oh, and you switch the roles too. Guess who looks darn cute wearing that white lacy headpiece?

S: Snuggles- Does he get Cozy with you often? Not really. Not that he doesn’t like it, it’s just that he can’t initiate. He never discourages you from snuggling up to him. You spoon most of the winter nights.

T: Tickle - Is he Ticklish? Surprisingly Yes. Humanity’s strongest soldier is also one big ass sensitive baby. A Tickle battle is one of those rare things that gets a peal of laughter out of him.

U: Underrated part- His butt! His sinfully sexy butt. You often kindle him by whacking that piece of art. His reaction is worth a million dollars.

V: Variety - Who brings in variety in the relationship? You, Definitely. You are always trying out new stuff. Thanks to his honest feedback, it’s easier to find something you both like, sooner.

W: Walks- When Levi doesn’t have to jump right back to work after dinner, he asks you to go on walks. They are the best. You get to catch up with each other’s day, and Levi is usually in a good mood post walks.

X: X-mas - Well, Christmas is just a decoy. What is more important is his birthday, which falls on the same day. He doesn't like celebrating or even remembering it. The last time you baked a cake and wished him, he said.

”I see. You're eager to celebrate me getting another year closer to death,”

You stopped bothering him since then. You still decorate the house, bake his favorite cookies, and dress up. His birthday coinciding with Christmas is a blessing in disguise, after all.

Y: Yes - Stuff that might seem annoying but, Levi doesn’t mind- A little goofy-ness, snapping at him, messing up his hair, and mimicking him.

Z: Zzzzz/Sleep - What type of a sleeper is he? Levi doesn't snore but moves a lot in his sleep! Often he wakes up in the middle of the night, settles on a chair for the rest of the night. Despite you assuring that throwing his limbs around in sleep does not bother you.

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Check out my New Year’s Levi list:

Eleven Minutes in Levi Heaven

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Click the bear to checkout my other work:

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kalzoni · 4 years

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Thank you so much to the crew and fandom, you made something absolutely incredible!

I really can’t express how much I love this show and this crazy family

When Rise of the TMNT ended and I cried, I don't really think I've ever cried at a show ending before. So I wanted to write some stuff from the heart, because no show has ever impacted me the way this show has:

This show itself has such a beautiful focus on family, Family is the people you choose, whether biological or not. Platonic and Familial relationships are so hugely important in a child’s life and I’m so happy the show put such a hard focus on it, I don't think enough shows put this level of care into it. The show handled the idea of family beautifully in such a healthy and wholesome way. There’s no such thing as an average family. The world we live in is diverse. And the people we love come from all sorts of places. Family isn't defined by your blood relation, it's defined by your love for each other.

The show also had some really progressive views on its characters, with male characters being emotionally vulnerable and open and female characters being total badasses and written realistically to how a lot of girls actual act. And Splinter as dad? Man, his whole arc was just fantastic! He is a really genuine character, all the characters are! And the way sibling dynamics are written are so realistic and hilarious! The characters are all just written with so much care and I love it!

The crew of Rise are INSANELY TALENTED and PASSIONATE people who put so much love into this show, and you can see it in every single frame! The colours are vibrant, the character animation is excellent and the fight scenes are just PHENOMENAL and genuinely JAW-DROPPING! The show was visually amazing and just and totally out there! The love and care put into the show by every crew member is unlike anything I've ever seen before. The show is absolutely fantastic and is the very definition of passion project, from the first episode to the last. It’s absolutely stunning to watch and a pure inspiration.

Perfect is an understatement.

I really can’t fully express just how much this show meant to me and how much it impacted my life.

I discovered Rise of the TMNT two years ago totally on accident during a pretty low point in my life. I saw an article for this show and checked out the trailer and I was totally blown away by the animation. I loved the art style, I loved the animation style, just everything about it! It was like a group of people sat down and made a show just for me. I would just watch the promos frame by frame and animate alongside it for hours on end. I felt like a little kid! The only thing I would talk about was this show (and tbh that hasn’t stopped haha) This show reignited my passion for my future and my animation and gave the drive to push forward and keep trying my best. This led me to dropping out everything else around me and putting all of my focus into my portfolio to my dream course (mostly full of turtle drawings haha), and about 5 months after the first episode premiered I got accepted!

And it's not just the show alone that’s important to me, the Rise fandom has been the most welcoming and kind fandom I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part off. You guys are absolutely amazing. When I first started posting two years ago I didn’t expect to get more than a couple of likes, but this fandom gave me such an overwhelming amount of support and kindness I really didn’t expect. You guys gave me so much confidence in myself and in my art and just made me so incredibly happy. I remember I used to purposely post late at night just so I would be able to wake up to your responses first thing in the morning, it always made my day. Every fandom I’ve been in a part of in the past has been purely for the sake of talking about content, but you guys have been so much more than that for me. You mean the world to me and I really can’t express just how much your kind words and support have impacted my life. <3

I am currently the happiest I’ve ever been in my life and I thank this show and fandom hugely for it. This show has continually been my inspiration as an artist to work hard to achieve my animation industry dreams. When I felt the lowest of lows this show pushed me forward and gave me the drive to work hard and get where I wanted to go. This show has been my comfort for the past two years. Whenever things weren’t going my way, I knew I could always pop on an episode or check out the tags and watch this funky family do their thing. This show and fandom just bring me so much joy and are so incredibly important to me.

This show has gone too early, but I’m so grateful it came into my life when it did.

I think this is the kind of media we need more of. Media made by people who genuinely LOVE what their making and who's inspiration comes from the heart. Media that’s spreads strong messages of family and love that the creators really believe in.

Shows made with love and passion reflect on the audience watching it. We can see it, and we love it.

The crew that worked on this show are all amazing, and I have the absolute highest respect for them.

They had a story and a message they wanted to tell and they stuck by it till the very end. I honestly think the children currently growing up with this kind of content have to be some of the luckiest kids in the world.

The show may be over but it had such a huge impact on me that it will forever and always be one of the most important and special shows in my life.

To the fandom, and to the entire crew and creators of Rise of the TMNT.

You’ve made something absolutely incredible and I love you all for it

Thank you all so much

#Anatawa Hitorijanai #SaveRottmnt

#I had to move house during the finale so this is unfortuntely late but the sentiment is the same #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #rottmntfinale #myart #kal #saverottmnt

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cattles-bians · 3 years

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damie vibecca exes au part 8

post directory

obsetress: now i just want fanart of damvibecca at the gym

em: well. pitch it to me comrade ghostfucker

obsetress: idk that's about as far as i got i just reread that bit about vibecca in their matching gym outfits and my brain got stuck

em: hypothetically do u have a colour palette in mind bc i associate gym outfits w like. bright loud colours and

em: idk if it works w our earth sign queens

[em note: emily is a liar and did NOT draw fanart of damvibecca at the gym]

[em note 2: we have the gym art now [x] [x]]

obsetress: i was imagining like charcoals tbh, or jewel tones

obsetress: i could see them in like jewel tone purples or that jewel tone blue green color

obsetress: yeah viola jewel tones or blacks n charcoals

obsetress: becs pastels and camels but jewel tones at the gym

em: it’s about Matching

em: And Destroying Ur Ex (platonically)

obsetress: yeah

obsetress: viola's feeling particularly smug about it but then

obsetress: dani's in an old school tshirt and shorts and jamie's in............ one of dani's old school tshirts and shorts

em: YES

obsetress: not intentionally, she just grabbed whatever was there

obsetress: dani chirps "oh you two look so cute! baby look, they have a matched set"

obsetress: viola arches an eyebrow "and so do you, it seems" and dani laughs "not on purpose, jamie just grabbed whatever was on top in the drawer"

viola: you two... share... a wardrobe?

dani: yeah?

em: god cute

obsetress: cute n dumb

em: they can share nearly everything except pants

em: well. pants as a treat

em: haha pants

em: trousers

obsetress: also rly nice rly clean smooth funny juxtaposition in my brain of vibecca being the ones who intentionally match and damie the ones for whom it just accidentally happens

obsetress: hahahah pants

obsetress: they can share pants but................ should they

em: idk miss chapter 12 danis thighs jamies pyjamas

em: should they

obsetress: PLEASE

obsetress: that's exactly what i was referring to THANKS

obsetress: anyway

obsetress: rebecca just laughs

obsetress: viola huffs and bex is like "sorry, babe, but it is kind of funny"

em: dani jamie wearing like

obsetress: YEAH

obsetress: MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY

em: poor viola

obsetress: thinking about dani's ass in those

em: yeah....

em: violas huffing until jamies exercise flush lasts a little Too Long

obsetress: big blush jamie taylor

em: she’s still like ‘oi dani close ur mouth’ but then she

obsetress: yeah

obsetress: just ogling each other

obsetress: (they briefly pause to ogle vi and rebecca passing a medicine ball back and forth as they do squats and have to acknowledge that, yeah, they've all done alright by themselves)

em: funny montage of the gang doing exercise while surreptitiously taking Peaks

obsetress: omg all i want

obsetress:sometimes having friends as a lesbian means they're all your exes except one, who's your gf, and you're all checking each other out always anyway

And That’s Beautiful

obsetress

obsetress: dani: checking out viola's biceps, rebecca's abs

viola: checking out dani's thighs n ass

rebecca: minding her business

jamie: scowling n scrawny

obsetress:(n also checking out dani's thighs n ass, viola's biceps, and begrudgingly peeking at rebecca's abs)

obsetress: every other woman at the gym: checking out jamie, trying to figure out the entire dynamic here

are they a polycule? what

em: jamie probably like

em: maybe she gets really into running bc she just checks out and listens to her audiobooks but like

em: slow twitch vs fast twitch fibers so stays scrawny

obsetress: i can see that

obsetress: just gets on the treadmill and zones tf out

em: jamie ‘why don’t i have biceps’ taylor vs jamie ‘no u gotta lift w ur hips’ taylor

obsetress: she hates it but her psych told her it'll be good for her routine so you know she was like yes ma'am every day ma'am

em: cant believe safe lifting procedures screwed her over

em: ‘yes ma’am every day ma’am’ ur just Going for it arent ya anshdjdh

obsetress: sorry but don't tell me you can't hear it

obsetress: jamie's the person who takes notes in therapy

obsetress: jamie, in the locker room after their workout: do my biceps look bigger?

dani, patiently, already knowing where this is going: bigger than what, baby?

jamie: than yesterday

dani: mm, rome wasn't built in a day, you know

jamie: do they look bigger at all?

dani: well

em: i mean not to perceive her too much but mattresses scene indicates AE/jamie like. at least some muscle in the leg area

em: poor jamie

em: not playing to her strengths

obsetress: yeah she does

obsetress: i mean ae has toned af arms

obsetress: she's just wiry

em: how could i forget the benchpressing dog gif

obsetress: dani's like "jamie, baby, come do squats with me and vi" "m'good" "baby, c'mon, you'll like it" "don't wanna do squats" "it could be good for you" "don't wanna do squats with you two"

em: dani: you gotta like. eat more

jamie: i eat plenty

dani: no u graze all day and then u don’t eat dinner

obsetress: dani: five biscuits spread out across a day doesn't count as eating more

em: dani: protein jamie it’s abt protein

obsetress: dani: you need more protein, which is why i think some lentils would really––

em: jamie thinks protein shakes are Nasty

obsetress: jamie does think protein shakes are nasty but dani will make her a smoothie and sneak it in like she's a child

obsetress: viola and rebecca, with their matching monogrammed blender bottles, just staring

obsetress: becca's like "jamie, just drink it, really, it's fine"

obsetress: viola just does this haughty sniff at her and that's what finally gets jamie to start

em: jamie can deal w being a brat but the idea of viola having Anything over her drives her Insane

em: Drives Her Fuckign Nuts

obsetress: she hates it

obsetress: just the absolute fuckin worst

em: do u think dani ever like

em: like they REALLY need to clear out storage but it’s a boiling frog situation where it’s increased so gradually that

em: like jamie thinks it’s Fine storage is Clear Enough

em: it’s Not

em: danis like. should we invite rebecca and vi over

em: just be Idea of A Snide Viola Comment fills jamie w a burning rage

obsetress: oh my god

obsetress: i'm obsessed with this

obsetress: i would read a whole oneshot about this

em: eventually dani comes clean abt it n jamie thinks it’s v funny bc yknow; open and honest communication is a v important part of their dynamic

em: jamie: next time just tell me my storage looks like shite dani or i will be grumbling abt viola for a Week

obsetress: inevitably

obsetress: when they do have to come over to clean

obsetress: dani offers them takeout and wine ("step up from pizza and beer at least," jamie grumbles) and viola's like "jesus, dani, let's just go out to dinner. my treat"

obsetress: at dinner, viola's like "if you want more storage, i have some wonderful properties––"

obsetress: rebecca's mouthing "sorry" from next to her across the table

em: every time they go out rebecca takes vi aside n is like ok sweetheart so you promise you’re not gonna try convince them to sell the apartment again

em: and violas like (mock horror) of course i won’t. ye of little faith

em: and every time

em: every time she does

em: she’s tryna HELP

obsetress: she would too she'd be like

obsetress: "i'm just trying to HELP"

obsetress: "they're our FRIENDS"

em: i’m on a mission to figure out like

em: this is way way down the line

em: but i wanna believe eventually viola and jamie start to, at the v least, Tolerate each other

em: jamie might even be fond of the crazy bird but she’ll NEVER admit it

obsetress: god like vi's on business or some shit in like

obsetress: the UAE

obsetress: negotiating some Deal

obsetress: and so dani and jamie get dinner with just bex and they're driving home after and having a perfectly mundane conversation and then jamie's just blurting like

obsetress: "i think i miss vi"

em: she’s HORRIFIED

em: she tries to play it off as like um

em: she’s Too Comfortable

em: things are Too Boring

em: which is weird knowing everything we know abt jamie

em: but actually she just... maybe misses viola

em: danis like god i wish i was recording this

obsetress: jamie's passed out next to her at home later (it's ten pm) and dani's chattering happily away on the phone with vi (drinking a martini in her dubai hotel room at one am since, y'know, no bars) in bed right next to her

obsetress: "jamie, uh, said she misses you. i know. no, i KNOW. don't tell her i told you. yeah, yeah, you win, vi, we know. uh-huh. uh-huh. i'm gonna pretend you didn't just ask me that"

em: CUTE

em: u can’t lord it over her vi it’s a little secret

em: vi's like when have i EVER

em: she does

obsetress: once they're good again, dani and vi absolutely just. lose time (there's a metaphor in there) talking to each other still

em: this is wholesome tbh

em: i really like the damie stories where like

em: look it’s nice when damie have each other but it’s also nice when they have their own friends and stuff

em: dunno how to articulate that well

em: it’s a balance! it’s a balance

obsetress: yeah! exactly

obsetress: because that's part of the love n possession thing too yk

obsetress: not to say either of them would ever be like "no friends for you" but

obsetress: wanting to have a life outside of your partner yk

obsetress: they're meeting vi and rebecca for dinner after vi gets back and vi's just grinning and sweeping jamie into a hug "i heard you missed me"

em: she gets jamie a souvenir t-shirt

em: it’s too big

em: OR

em: child’s t-shirt

obsetress: (jamie sleeps in it that night)

obsetress: oh childs might be better

obsetress: she's like "you're a little scrawny, so..."

em: jamie sleeps in it.... soft bitch

em: she feels too much

obsetress: jamie taylor softest bitch

obsetress: dani watches her pull it on and raises an eyebrow and jamie's just like "wot"

em: jamies like (grumbles) i knew she was comin back i’m just

em: shouldn’t you be HAPPY about this development dani

em: ‘s’a gift... s’rude not t’....’

obsetress: YEAH

obsetress: dani just grins "mmhm"

em: it accidentally makes its way into jamies workout clothes pile

obsetress: oh my GOD oh my god

obsetress: viola's shit eating GRIN when jamie shows up at the gym in it

em: jamies like fok

em: mental maths tryna figure if she wants to just. work out in a sports bra

em: she Doesn’t

obsetress: she Doesn't!

obsetress: (she's shy)

em: god it’s one of those shirts that’s like

em: someone who loves me went to UAE and got me this t-shirt or something

obsetress: dani corners her in their empty row in the locker room "you could've just taken it off, you know" "dunno, not everyone needs to... see that, you know?" "i'd certainly like to see it" jamie rolls her eyes but she's grinning "you can see that any time" "well maybe i wanted to see it during my workout" "dani......."

em: jamies embarrassed bc of her gnarly farmers tan means her tummy is at least five shades lighter than the rest of her

em: crisp tan lines

obsetress: god jamie's farmers tan

em: once again i am bringing my tan lines jamie agenda

obsetress: dani loves jamies dumb farmers tan so much

obsetress: she giggles

obsetress: but it's the most loving giggle possible

em: and then when she gets into running...

em: god when i was rowing there were a couple ppl w like what i called a neapolitan icecream tan which is

em: gimme a second

obsetress: jamie gets all huffy when dani giggles at her tan but then dani's like "baby, no, i think it's cute" and jamie gives her a look and dani grins mischievously and ducks her head

obsetress: and then she's licking and kissing and nipping her way along jamie's dumb tan lines

em: there it is

obsetress: it was inevitable

em: so caught up in the joy of jamies dumb farmer tans i forgot abt her gnarly scar she keeps under wraps

em: baby

em: the most baby

obsetress: baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

em: jamie decides the only way to claim the stupid t-shirt as hers is to cut off the sleeves

em: it’s abt the ritual of the thing

obsetress: she shows up at the gym wearing it and

obsetress: that's viola's "oh no she's hot" moment

em: YEAH BABY

obsetress: literally just like

obsetress: world stops

obsetress: viola stares

em: jamie finally gets to do an exercise that shows off her sinewy manual labor grip forearms

em: viola’s probably just as horrified to find jamie hot as every time jamies like oh no

em: violas hot

em: and once again jamie CANNOT know she’s hot bc she will be insufferable

em: she will be the Worst

obsetress: viola's tugging rebecca aside "why didn't you tell me jamie was hot" "what?" viola waves a hand and rebecca just furrows her brow a little and is like "that's just... what she looks like, vi"

obsetress: viola corners dani next "why didn't you tell me jamie was hot" "i did" "oh. right" viola pauses, then "why didn't you make sure i was listening?" dani just gives her a look and walks away

obsetress: dflksdjfldaj god the way jamie and viola are. the same

obsetress: kind of incredibly, in the same ways dani and rebecca are the same

em: “hey baby, did viola seem different today? seemed off”

em: jamies like. is she mad at me. did i break another social taboo.

em: rebecca ‘jamie looks like jamie’ jessel vs dani ‘my gf is so hot i can’t stand it’ clayton

obsetress: "i tell you how hot she is at least three times a week, vi"

em: danis tryna goad her into making the damn shirt a crop top

em: jamies like yeah but isn’t that a step too far. i feel like i am destroying this shirt too much

em: she does it anyway

em: so jamies workout clothes are danis endless grey baggy school t-shirts and this one ugly souvenir shirt that like

em: psychological warfare and she doesn’t even know it

obsetress: i would........ like to see it

obsetress: also crop top jamie is one of my favorite jamies

obsetress: she is severely underrated

em: crop top jamie is

obsetress: and we do not talk about her enough

em: jamie wear More crop tops

obsetress: viola and rebecca in bed, in matching facemasks, after going to the gym post-epiphany that Jamie Is Hot

obsetress: viola: are dani and jamie hotter than us?

rebecca: what?

obsetress: and like

obsetress: viola is NOT insecure

obsetress: she is constantly confident that she's the most attractive woman in the room at any given moment, but

obsetress: she's just so staggered by this realization

em: some neutral third party (ms grose and mr sharma probably) are like well. u guys definitely have a little more of a scary thing going on

em: i’m imagining rebecca and viola at brunch w hannah and owen v seriously discussing this

em: viola brings it up and rebecca GROANS but then she gets invested in the convo

obsetress: GOD yeah

obsetress: she's leaning forward and gesturing with her fork "when you say 'scary'..........."

em: owens like scary is a compliment

em: hannah grose sips her tea knowingly

obsetress: rebecca just narrows her eyes at hannah grose and hannah raises her eyebrows and shrugs

em: after a week or so viola bursts into a room w stupid big sunglasses and a tray of take out coffees and she’s like Don’t You Worry Jamie I Have Concluded You’re Hot But I’m Not Threatened By It

em: jamies like sorry WHAT

em: you’ve been thinking about WHAT

em: viola leaves without ever following it up

obsetress: dani is entirely unfazed

obsetress: doesn't even blink

em: danis like neat she remembered the oat milk

em: everyone in this au is insane

obsetress: any lesbian in 2021 is insane

obsetress: par for the course

em: was gonna protest but

em: Yeah

obsetress: this lesbian meme account i follow on insta is doing “stop asking who’s the top and who’s the bottom. start asking...” posts

obsetress: and one of them is “start asking who’s baby and who’s fuck around and find out” and it just makes me chuckle

obsetress: jamie taylor baby

obsetress: viola lloyd also baby

em: dani is baby passing and jamie is fuck around faking

obsetress: oh my god that’s why that’s why i think we cracked it

obsetress: dani (fuck around) dated jamie (baby) and vi (baby)

obsetress: rebecca (fuck around) dated jamie (baby) and vi (baby)

obsetress: the reason they could never cross further even tho per the transitive property dani (so similar to vi) should be able to date beccs and jamie (so similar to beccs) should be able to date vi is because

obsetress: you can’t have two babies and two fuck arounds in a relationship together

em: oh of course. i see. i see

em: however in the rare rare crack ship of the ‘jamie viola hatefuck’ a similar phenomenon to ‘social anxiety mum friend ordering food’ instinct takes over and someone fucks around and finds out

em: this is just my unhinged jamie viola hatefuck bulkshit which is. it’s ironic ok it’s ironic it’s ironic it’s

em: ok one last thought bc i know it’s super late for u but

obsetress: omg i also have a last thought let’s trade

em: what if mikey is about isabels age n jamie ends up looking after him for one reason or another for a bit

em: and viola absolutely Dotes on him

obsetress: omg

obsetress: that’s what does it. jamie seeing viola w mikey

em: grumble grumble i guess she’s not that bad

em: except then she’s like god what if mikey likes her MORE than me

obsetress: “dani what if mikey gets one of those weird first crushes on vi”

obsetress: dani doesn’t even look up from the laundry “who hasn’t had a crush on vi”

obsetress: jamie’s like “mE” and dani just gives her the most withering look

em: danis like It’s Par For The Course Jamie

em: danis a teacher she’s like it happens don’t sweat it

em: anyway

em: what was. what was ur last little thought

obsetress: i was just thinking more about viola also baby and how also she’s been so privileged her whole life that sometimes there are just some things she can’t do for herself because she just doesn’t know how

obsetress: like she’s never had to learn

em: rebecca gets um

em: freeze dried coffee

em: nescafé

obsetress: but like

obsetress: rebecca genuinely loves taking care of vi for whatever reason (it’s because she loves her) when she really needs it but

obsetress: rebecca also takes no shit and is like “i’m not making the nescafé for you. you’re 36 years old, vi, you need to learn to do it for yourself”

obsetress: and she’ll stand there and watch her do it and then she makes vi do it at least three more times for posterity

obsetress: “i’ll make a plebeian of you yet, viola lloyd”

obsetress: (god only the two of them would think a line like that is funny)

#this one's fucken LONG!!!!!!!!#the dani jamie viola rebecca exes au

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thrillingdetectivetales · 3 years

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2020 Creator Wrap

2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works

Okay, okay, I know I’m late with this but the incredibly sweet @irolltwenties and the utterly delightful @anthrobrat were both kind enough to me in this bad boy and it seems really fun, so here we are!

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

According to my AO3 statistics page, I wrote just over 100K of fiction this year, across 17 different fandoms, a few of which won’t actually go live until after the New Year because they’re part of a gifting collection that hasn’t been revealed yet... Anyway, I picked my faves for a variety of reasons, listed briefly after each link. If you have any questions about works I’ve shared (or just in general) feel free to ask!

1. Front Row at the Gongshow

The Pacific, 16K, Rated G Andrew ‘Ack Ack’ Haldane/Edward ‘Hillbilly’ Jones

Aside from being the longest completed work I produced this year, this is also the first fic I’ve ever written using the “found document” format. While there are parts of it I feel really conflicted about, I’m still incredibly proud of it and think it’s one of the better fic I’ve written...possibly ever. Which is doubly funny because I don’t usually do modern AUs of period fiction, but the hockey angle was enough to tempt and lo, here we are, lol.

[Excerpt from Deadspin]

"You all remember Eddie Jones, right? The corn-fed captain of the New Orleans Rougarou so wholesome he belongs on a box of Malt-O-Meal? The gentleman bruiser who spends his free time playing country tunes for kids with cancer?

Our favorite dapper D-man led his team to 97 points last night in a shut-out victory against the Los Angeles Kings, clinching a playoff spot for the first time in franchise history. Oh! And he also got caught on camera at the after-party, sucking face. WITH A DUDE."

2. Entremets

Hannibal, 8K, Rated E Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter

I have...so many Hannibal fic that I’ve started writing and haven’t finished because all my ideas lead to long plotty epics and also big name fandoms scare me. I did this one up for Eat, Drink, & Make Merry, and I’m really, really pleased with the way it turned out, considering it was my first foray into establishing new character voices and also a successful exercise in writing explicit content, which can be a bit of an Ordeal for me, so overall I’m incredibly happy with it. Plus! My deep and abiding love of writing characters cooking/eating/otherwise dealing with food finally paid off!

“The pâté was supposed to be more of a gesture,” Will explains, spreading a golden sliver of honeycomb out across a slice of sopressata with the blade of his pocket knife. “You don’t actually have to eat it. I’m not even sure if it’s any good.” He smears a healthy dollop of chȇvre across his meat-and-honey concoction and pops the whole thing into his mouth without ceremony.

“What better method exists by which to convey one’s appreciation of a gesture than to indulge it?”

3. An Ode to Matty Big-Time

The Good Place, 2K, Rated T Jason Mendoza/Original Male Characters, Pillboi

This one was actually a request made by my very dear @thesummoningdark, who wanted to see some bisexual Jason per that one fantastic Tumblr post about how everyone in TGP should be bi, and I’m really, really proud of the way it turned out. I love writing comedy and I very rarely get to lean into it as hard as I’d like, so delving into the whole wild craziness of Jacksonville, as explained in the show was really fun. I also love writing original characters, and this was a great excuse to indulge.

“We probably shouldn’t do any butt stuff,” Jason warns, with as much gravitas as he can muster. “I had two of Stupid Nick’s Disaster Buckets when I got here.”

“Yeah, your face is still kinda orange,” Mateo agrees fondly, bringing his other hand up to brush his thumb over Jason’s lower lip. It stirs a little frisson of heat in his belly that Jason is 68% sure isn’t just indigestion. “No chemical burns, though, so I think you came out on top.”

4. This and Who I Used to Be

The Tick (2017), 3K, Rated G Arthur Everest/Superian

Another new fandom I haven’t written in before, this was a fill for the Rare Male Slash Exchange that turned me on to a pairing I’d never even thought of before I wrote it and am now low-key obsessed with. It is also, to date, the ONLY Arthur/Superian fic on AO3 at all, which is a cool weird honor and fairly indicative of my life’s goal to eventually write my way into smaller and smaller fandoms until I come out the other side with original works. It was really fun to explore these characters, and to figure out some world-building for Superian’s backstory that fit within the tone and established canon of the extant Amazon!Tick universe. Also featuring an original character that nobody asked for but I’ve come to love unconditionally.

Arthur glances down to where Superian has one cheek pressed against his shoulder, humming something off-key and unintelligible with his eyes closed. Arthur sighs. “Let’s get you inside.”

He hauls Superian in until he can prop him against the wall while he shuts and locks the door behind him. When he looks back over, Superian is smiling at him, soft and lazy. He swings a finger in Arthur’s direction, a broad, sloppy motion, and announces, “I knew you’d say yes.”

“Technically I said fine,” Arthur rebuts. He gestures down the hallway toward the kitchen—which leads on to the bedroom, as Superian well knows—and sighs, “Come on. I don’t know what those handcuffs did to you, but you should probably lie down and have a glass of water or something.”

5. Rain in Its Season

Band of Brothers, 12K, Rated G Edward ‘Babe’ Heffron/John Julian

Oh boy. What to say about this one. It’s maybe not as polished as I might have preferred, but I feel that way about mostly everything I write and at the end of the day I do really love what I managed to do with this piece. Written for the Heavy Artillery Rare Pair Exchange, I managed to lean heavily into both my love for needlessly granular period research and original characters, which are abundant herein. Frankly, based on the very little we see of him in the show, Julian himself is practically an OC, but I digress. This was another of the longer pieces I’ve ever finished and I’m proud of it even if I’d’ve liked to write another 15K or so, time constraints notwithstanding.

“Tell me. Please. Why’re you here?”

Babe flinched, gaze dropping to the floor. His heart was a raw, swollen welt in his chest. He swallowed and licked his lips, slow and pained.

“Come on, Julian,” he rasped, low and quiet. “You know why.” He laughed, soft and hoarse, and shook his head, once. When he looked back up, Julian had taken a careful step into the center of the room. His eyes were very dark, his mouth very red, hope and fear warring in his every feature. Babe fisted his fingers in the cotton sheet underneath him, halfway to pleading as he insisted, “You gotta know.”

Julian sighed and came over to hover at the edge of the bed. Babe spread his legs to accommodate the intrusion.

“That was - ” Julian started. His voice failed midway through the protest, and he swallowed, took a breath, and regrouped at a lower volume. “You said that was just buddies, what we did over there. That it didn’t count. That you didn’t want it to.”

The TL;DR of this all being that while I didn’t write as much I wanted to this year in terms of volume, I feel like my quality has been improving consistently and hope it continues to do so into 2021 while I try to finish out some of my years-long WIPs and get into longer completed pieces.

I’m not sure who all to tag, so I’ll say @thesummoningdark, @blahblahblahclintnickiscanon, @thisbadge, @incognito-insomniac, and anyone else who’d like to join in and hasn’t been tagged yet! (If you’re the latter, feel free to @ me so I can see what you’ve written!)

Happy New Year everyone May the fanworks you create this year be prolific and soul-affirming!

#creator wrap #2020 creator wrap

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tiernamente · 4 years

Note

Hello! 💫✨💛 This is the love bot! I am here to ask you to describe your mutuals as your favorite things/feelings! Spread some love during these tough times 💛✨💫 Then send this to 10 people and keep the love going 💛

This is gonna be a long list cause I have a lot of love to share!🥺💖💖💖

@chaylani nerdy memorabilia, cuddles with my pets (Benji and Mochi) & good morning messages

Elle, my love, my adorable dork, my one and only. Am I writing a love poem? (maybe) I remember when you first messaged me and we realized that we’re both really nerdy. We’ve bonded over our shared interests which resulted in our strong bond. I trusted you instantaneously and you make me all soft which is why I can’t see my life without you now.

@khaleesionjupiter my obsession of plushies, blankets & mugs

My baby! Whenever I receive a message from you, I get this instant feeling of wanting to hug you and protect you. Nothing can stop us from fulfilling our evil mad scientists plans. You crack me up and make me smile so fast that it’s crazy. Thank you for being you.

@do-you-know-bts deep talks with friends & warm cups of coffee

Helena, we both now that our sleep schedules suck but at 4am the thoughts just come rolling out. I’m glad to have someone who understands the bad moments just as much as the good. You give me comfort even if you give me a heart attack from all the 2seok content. (Keep it coming please!)

@shadowdevilsslayer nature/landscape photography & fresh baked goods

I know you hate the name but I love seeing Abi’s adventures (even if it’s the same path). I enjoy seeing nature’s beauty in any shape or form and you live in a place that’s surrounded by green!!!!!! You may be more reserved but your caring nature shines through. Thank you for being that mom friend we need.

@zamisriza-the-resurrection board game nights with friends

Zami!!!!! You’re so adorable and funny. Your love for Jungkook makes me all types of soft. You’re just like during a game night, were things start off calm but get chaotic as time progresses. I love that about you!

@glossyvante oranges, mangoes, watermelons & strawberries!

Lovely Mica! You’re such a sweet soul just like my favorite fruits haha. Thank you for letting me get some sneak peaks of your story. (I hope I get to see more of your works soon!) Also thanks for dealing with my crackhead snaps because I’m such a dummy.

@alittlesugaorspice tea & biscuits (this opportunity was too good, sorry!)

The absolute best person to roast Helena with me! Thank you Li for putting us all together. You make me laugh so hard when we’re on a call and you have such funny stories to share. You’re gonna be an amazing veterinarian!

@d-rex03 blasting music in my room & having my own jam session

Querida, you already know I love you so so so much! You’re the cutest little bean and I enjoy sending you random Yoongi related posts. You two are so similar that it makes sense why you love him. (But I still love you more!) Te quiero muchisimo chapina!

@dreamyeyes26 watching my favorite youtubers/random videos online

Naz! I love speaking with you when I get the chance to because you’re so calming and comforting (just like the videos I watch haha). You make me happy just by being there. I hope you continue to take care of yourself and I love you!

@ahh–lexia daydreaming with headphones in during a road trip

The homieeee Lex! I love how we’re both so damn loud. That crackhead energy really makes itself known. You’re easy to talk to and laugh with. I love seeing your creative side because it’s really cool!

@hobissunshiness the feeling of starting a new book/show/series

You’re like a breath of fresh air Sofie. I love reading the stories you come up with or hearing about your ideas. Your mind is so powerful and I want to encourage all of your ideas (even if some of them are cursed).

@napofamikrokosmos learning random facts about things

I found it super funny when I realized how we just have random knowledge about things. Google who? I only know Sam. You get super passionate about stuff and I absolutely love that about you. Keep doing what you’re doing sweetie!

@billie-harper discovering new music & getting obsessed with the artist

I love seeing your posts because I’ll notice we’ll share a lot of similar interests. It’s really exciting to see how much we have in common. You’re really kind and I would love to talk to you more. (Suho’s album is TOO GOOD FOR WORDS!)

@jayhoee creating handmade gifts for my friend’s birthdays

The meme queen Kaite! I love how we got into bts at the same time and that we both haven't been to a concert (freaking corona ruining our time to shine). Keep those memes coming Kaite. They're essential in this time of need.

@liamgayllagher the smell of my mom’s cooking/any home cooked meal

My twin! You're such an extreme version of me and that's saying something. I love how enthusiastic and loud you can get over things you love. Please continue that and I enjoy all the lovely messages you send me.

@the-assembly-call receiving memes from friends on social media

Overalls!!!!! You're so smol and cute and you make me laugh alot with your memes. You're a wonderful human being and I'm glad to have met you.

@dearmyxing soundtracks, soundtracks, soundtracks! (games/movies/etc.)

The Queen when it comes to being a fangirl. I bow to you and respect you. You’re so damn cool to talk to Mary Jane. Thank you for being so awesome. Also, I promise I’ll get around to watching the prodigal son. If not, just yell at me until I do.

@jxnaexo warm hugs, smiles & laughs

Nana! Like I've said before, you're so wholesome and caring and considerate about everyone. You care so much about us and I couldn't be more grateful to have you as a friend. I will fight anyone for you!

@soondaengie finding bright clothing with cool patterns

Omg kiddo you make me laugh so much because of the theories you have or the stories you share. You're bright and passionate and so cute!

@uibout tiramisu & coffee ice cream

This is a cop out because I actually do love tiramisu! You made me wheeze when you sent me those drunk posts. I'll always be your dweeb. (I love you Logan. Also, you jerk you didn't tell me you switched your url, I had to search for you!)

@gukssunshine that feeling of solving homework problems correctly

I love that we can complain about school to each other. You’re so honest and sweet with me and I love you so much Tanya. I love your energy when you talk about random things.

@zombiewerewolfqueen earrings, eyeshadow palettes, nail polish art

I have basic lobe earrings but yours looked so cool when you showed it to me. I don’t do makeup myself but I enjoy seeing the colors and designs people will do. Similar to that, I love seeing how creative you are with your writing even if I don’t understand the context.

@kiwipitupandstir winning on mario kart

You're such a cool person and I absolutely love seeing your posts on my feed. I wish you the best bud. Stay true and stay cool.

@notreyoon flowers, gardens, all aesthetically pleasing things

Ah yes the superior Leslie, you’re just as precious as yoongles. Whenever I see your blog I'm like, how is a human this stunning?!?!?! Like girl, show me your secrets! Sending you my love!

@clickclacktothemangmang museums/observatories/spontaneous adventures

I miss you my fellow funky little Hobi lover. It was so nice to talk to you about the random things bts would be releasing last year or the shows they were doing. You're so adorable and I hope you continue to shine bright!

@majestikblue listening to stories about people/life (post secret/humans of new york/etc.)

Ah yes my taegi buddy. Thank you for showing me post secret because I haven't been the same since. I love stories and you encouraged that. Continue to yell about taegi to me and I will continue to yell about 2seok to you.

@galaxiejoon going to bed after a long day

My fellow nam2seok enthusiast. Unfortunately, we don’t talk much but whenever I see your tags on posts, I crack up so hard. You’re so relatable so just keep doing what you’re doing bud.

I love you all! And to all of my other mutuals I haven’t had the chance to talk to, please know that I love you too! I promise I’m nice????

🥺🥺💕💕😘😘 sending y'all my love

#Anonymous #phew this took a long time #sorry for spelling errors #I did not proofread #but yeah these peeps are great just fyi #love them lots!#mutual cutie pies #asks

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smile-files · 4 years

Text

interesting things i’ve noted about moominvalley: part 2

this is a second post about interesting stuff i’ve thought about having to do with moominvalley ‘19! the last one was particularly about snufkin, this one is about the presentation in the show in general.

i will mention something having to do with snufkin, but the point i’m mentioning isn’t about him himself.

1. i already talked about episode 2, the spring tune, in my last post. the important thing to note is how, if not for alternate points of view, it would be extremely hard to tell which interactions are actually happening and which aren’t.

take for example when we see snufkin ‘talking to moomin’. we’re presented the scene as if it’s actually happening - snufkin and moomin have a conversation about how snufkin isn’t quite ready to return to moominvalley, and moomin says he understands (admittedly, i’d imagine moomin would act a bit more melancholy than he does here, but that’s beside the point). then, from teety-woo’s perspective, we see how snufkin was actually sitting next to a lump of snow.

now, no matter if snufkin actually thought he was talking to moomin, if he was wondering about a hypothetical conversation, or if he was remembering a past one, the way it was originally presented to us makes this imagination seem as if it were real - at least, until we see what teety-woo does.

another thing, in the morning, we’re presented with snufkin looking for teety-woo, heading to moominvalley, and seeing moomin having forgotten him. at first, we just see this as a natural transition from what had happened before. we only know for certain that this is just a nightmare when snufkin falls off the ladder and wakes up.

2. now onto episode 8, monster fish. a primary topic about the episode is moominpappa fabricating a large tale about this monstrous fish they almost caught. he basically did this to make himself seem more heroic than he actually was, especially when the only shared aspect of the story and the reality being the crate of seeds - he made up some crazy explanation that posed him as a heroic figure in the obtainment of said seeds.

yes, the way it’s played out at the beginning is in the fashion of a story being told, but we, the viewers, had no reason to believe this wasn’t what actually happened. in fact, it’s moomin himself who tries to explain that the events moominpappa claims happened never actually occurred. at the time, of course, nobody believed him.

the seeds in the crate were planted, etc, moomin tries to tell moominpappa what actually happened, etc. after a heavy rain, the seeds grow into humongous vines that entangle the house. after some vague ‘motivational message’ from moominpappa (he really just told moomin that he wouldn’t help him), moomin decides to save the day.

the next scene we are presented has moomin doing a variety of tasks, such as going around with little my and saving snorkmaiden. then we realize that all this talk of moomin saving the day from the vines was really a story he was telling, and that they were all hiding in the attic from the vines.

(concept art!!)

from now we understand that what everyone’s talking about isn’t any real effort against the vines, it’s no adventure - it’s just a story. by now i was rather discombobulated, not sure what was actually happening. after some wholesome father-son storytelling time, they go onto the roof (do they really?) and the vines end up being eaten by the mameluke (i understand this to be the story).

and muskrat by the end of the episode is just about as confused as i was :’D one of the main themes of the episode was between what the reality was and what the story was - and that often it’s really hard to tell.

- moomin has always given a fantastical, whimsical vibe. you’d think it would, housing fascinating creatures and monsters and magic... so it isn’t so unsurprising for the show to often blur fantasy and reality in its stories.

and given moomin and snufkin’s personalities, i find this especially interesting. moomin has always been one to worry, and now snufkin as well (with new developments in moominvalley ‘19); so far said episodes blurring reality mainly have to do with each of them respectively - one can take this as both of them would be prone to imagining scenarios and what-ifs, maybe even to the point where it’s hard to tell what’s actually happening.

- i imagine this would be brought up again; an upcoming episode is ‘ghost story’ (i’ve watched up to episode 9 so far), so i’d imagine that would have to deal with people worrying about hypotheticals (yes i know that ghosts also actually do exist in moominvalley, tell me something i don’t know).

it’s really fun for me to predict future arcs that may be brought up in future episodes, especially given the complex characters here. i’ve already theorized about snufkin’s issues, and now about this blur of reality, but there are a couple other things i’m thinking about -

what about snorkmaiden being fed up with moomin spending a ton of time with snufkin instead of her? or about how moominpappa’s been a big jerk lately? or maybe what ends up happening with the groke? i don’t know, but whatever happens next, i’m excited :D

(ps: i’ll probably end up doing more posts of ‘interesting things i’ve noted about moominvalley’ when i come across more things to overanalyze and speculate about. until then, enjoy!)

#moominvalley #speculation #overanalyzing #i think about this stuff too much

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charlenelouise-gdc · 4 years

Photo

3.4 — FMP:

Fan Culture: FMP Development

After much thought, more research and further exercises, I came into the conclusion that I would like to pursue my third FMP idea revolving around fan culture. Even though I am passionate about all the subject areas from the other ideas and the way I plan on executing them, I feel like this is the right one to pursue at this stage of my creative career. I would like to use London as a resource to find content, as well as use the studio facilities available.

Overall, I think the project covers a topic that is both equally fun to do, but also something insightful and offer interesting commentary (on women, society and community). I like the challenge of bridging “low art” (pop music) and “high art” (documentary filmmaking). More so, documentary style filmmaking is one of my stronger skills as a creative, as proven by my FMP in Year 02, and is something I would like to build on. This project would allow me to level up my skills on this technique/style of filmmaking. I think there’s something comfortable as well as challenging in this project.

The following bellow details some development I made on the idea, as the laying foundations for the project...

RECAP FROM THE EARLIER BLOGPOST:

“Fangirl” Culture

Like I said earlier, I’ve always wanted to champion women or pursue female centric stories in my work. Out of all the things out there regarding the feminine experience, nothing speaks more of it other than boybands and fandom culture. Its always been a persistent part of girl culture; whether it’ll be a pop band or a rock band. I think this would be an interesting world to explore.There’s already a preferred narrative around fangirls - the rabid, crazy kind. Although that is true in some extreme cases, it would be unfair to only present this as the only side of the story. I would like to show the other, more wholesome side. Fandom culture goes beyond the band and the music; in fact, they are only mere catalysts. Fandom culture is ultimately about identity and community; through the band and music, many young girls across the world is given the opportunity to own something and begin to have a good sense of themselves - ultimately forming an identity. Also, its about community; they’re able to connect with others and form strong bonds simply because of the band/music. You can see this, in the queues before gigs or the excitement they discuss their favourite member. Above all, it speaks about a different kind of joy that is often belittled.At present, a lot of the coverage around fandom culture are often done by people outside the community (with negative preconceived ideas which already suggest a bias). It would be interesting to see it from the people in the community themselves. I want to give the girls the voice and and let them reclaim the narrative. Ultimately, tell it from a loving lens. Also, I believe this is quite telling on how female passion is portrayed and what is acceptable, depending on the demographic. Football fans chanting? Perfectly fine. Girls screaming at concerts? Insane. This is aligned with women’s negative and dangerous relationship with hysteria throughout history. I think there is an interesting window to explore the social implications around fan culture. Additionally, I like the challenge of taking something from pop culture and considered as low art, and give it context and background. After all, it deserves to be studied carefully as much as its high art counterparts (From Stuart Hall’s theory Representation: feminine taste = low art, Masculine taste = high art). Above all, I think it would be equally as fun as well to do. It’s would be cool to celebrate fan culture, where its alive and present. Not just through a nostalgic lens. References: BTS’ documentaries: Bring The Soul (2019), “I used to be Normal” Documentary on fangirls across the ages (2018).

FMP Development

I would still like to focus this project on BTS and their fans specifically. They’re the biggest boy band in the world right now and their fans are ones of the most active, both online and offline. I want to be able to document a part of this culture, while it is still happening and its best (rather than through a nostalgic lens). Most importantly, their work and music are monumental in many ways; they’re crossing boundaries, not only in the music but in race relations, toxic masculinity etc. Their global influence must not be undermined.

Documentary Style

For this project, I would like to mix both real life footage to stylised setting. My main point of stylistic reference is Roxy Rezvany’s “Little Pyongyang”. She used a stylised set for her interviews, while also having real life, observational shots of her interviewees natural habitat/form.

youtube

I think this would be a good technique to use for this documentary.

I would like to build my own “teenage bedroom”. After all, this is one of the main touch points for fan culture and feminine culture in general. We learn so much about our tastes right there; this is evidenced in the posters on our walls and the CDs we used to collect. This is referenced a lot in Teen/Coming of Age films. I feel like this would an interesting setting for my interviews to take place. Anyway, it would be harder to film into people’s individual bedrooms. It would make filming easier if I can take my interviewees into one place, rather than going to theirs with my crew (setting up and wrapping up in all of them). More so, I think this is a good opportunity for me to use and improve my art direction skills (see image above for reference). I would decorate the set, referencing the 90s, personalised to a Kpop fan’s perspective (see reference above).

Content

The narrative will be crafted from the content being produced; the interviews will play a crucial role into this and will be the key part of this project. From the emotions to the personal anecdotes, it all stems from this. Therefore, I need to craft the interview questions I’m going to be asking, to trigger the “right” answers or reactions. More so, I really need to pay attention on the actual filming day, so the rhythm/energy of the interview is kept and the questions isn’t answered twice/already embedded on what they formally just said. More so, a technique I was taught/learned from my old FMP was to keep silent in some parts of the interviews, as the interviewees would naturally fill the silence themselves and bring their own thoughts onto the table.

In terms of content, London is rich in terms of resources. It hosts so many hot spots for this fan culture and explore it in real life, in real time.

Some ways this can be executed:

Recall past major events (e.g. BTS Samsung AD that played in Piccadilly Circus that garnered so many fans).

Fan Hang-Out Places (e.g. Gaza cafe, specialising in Korean dessert, in Soho decorates their stores when members of the boybands and make special one-off desserts to commemorate their birthdays. A tradition among fans has then been developed where they make a pilgrimage to this place, to celebrate their favourite members’).

Replicating their steps (e.g. when BTS visited London in their last tour, they took pictures around London when they went exploring in their own time; fans replicated the pictures they took).

Regular Kpop dance classes are held (e.g. BASE studios near Vauxhall).

BTS has an upcoming tour for their latest album, Map of the Soul:7, which includes London as one of their stops. There will be fan-led events leading up to the concert to celebrate their return.

Potential Interviewees

There are few interviewees I think would be good options. Twitter was a good resource to look into, as it is one of the main hot spots for this culture to exist in. In particular, I would like to interview the following:

Lucy Ford (@lucyj_ford) - social media for Netflix

Ellie Bate (@eleanorbate) - buzzfeed reporter

Ikran (@ikran) - buzzfeed reporter

These girls are all what I call “professional fangirls”... They all have media jobs and respected in their profession, yet have unapologetic enthusiasm for BTS and their community (they have good followings on their social media too). They offer insightful but also equally fun things on the day to day through their twitter accounts; I think they would offer the same in a personal interview. Most importantly, they’re all close friends. I think they would have excellent chemistry on screen and their natural friendship would light up the interview.

I would like to interview fans too, of all different backgrounds and races, inquiring how the band has impacted their lives. I want to achieve something similar to this, but communicated in my own personal style and design (rather than the typical, point and shoot interview). The content I want to capture is definitely there (in what they’re saying, how their band affected them personally, their community)...

youtube

Note: Professionally, I would like to only involve fans who are 18 years old and above, so it doesn’t interfere with filming; if I choose people who are 16 years old, it would require a legal guardian to sign a consent form and they have to be on set as we film - this could be a lot of hassle. Even though I’m not getting a full scope of the demographic this way, I think this would be the more sensible option. In addition, I feel like leaning towards the older end will give me more articulate, in depth answers. I think it would be a good idea to contact those who already has a platform, whether its a Twitter account with a reasonable following or a Youtuber who post videos. In a way, I feel they would feel more at ease at being in front of the camera and good at expressing opinions/feelings. I feel like I would do less teasing out of information during the interview if they naturally bring the information themselves.

I also plan on getting in touch with some UK based fanbases to help me boost the idea and find people to interview. This includes:

@BANGTANUK @BTSUKUNITE @UKBTSARMATION @BANGTANSCHOLARS

____________________________________________________________

I look forward into narrowing this project further and progress onto fully forming the project. It feels very much my own and I’m ready to take care of it.

Next steps:

Create proper pitch deck to send to interviewees*

Compile list of potential interviewees and rank them

Contact and introduce myself to interviewees

Create skeleton structure of the documentary*-

Create draft for interview questions*

Run a test interview (to check which questions work)*

Refine Set Design with accurate measurements*

Prop Buying

Contact potential Builders for the set

* urgent tasks - just because the film is non-fiction, planning is required and I must recognise where the beats of the film should be. This is something I failed to do in the D&AD project. Although I am crafting a narrative from non-fiction pieces of information and is dictated by the content of the interview, I should’ve known where to place them in advance.

#FMP 2020

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imuybemovoko · 4 years

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I die inside while dissecting Jesus music, part 2

Oh, did the pause in my posts lately make you think I was done with emotional self-harm?

Apparently we both have lessons to learn, because here we go again.

I have a shitload of this stuff squirreled away in a youtube playlist I haven’t deleted yet for essentially this exact reason. I felt like it might be a good thing for me to go through and deconstruct some of the songs. That or I’ve just gotten used to suffering. Can’t tell; don’t care.

Trigger warning, of course. If Jesus music is going to mess with your head too much, please for the love of all that you find holy find something more wholesome to read.

Now that I’ve started down this dark path, I start to wonder, when was the last time I talked about my worldbuilding and other crazy hobbies? I’ve been yelling about my trauma a lot lately. Anyway...

Let’s do this.

"Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men." -Plato, apparently.

If, like me, you like suffering enough to look at the song I’ll be analyzing, here it is. I’m looking at Matt Redman’s “Gracefully Broken” today. This song also features Tasha Cobbs Leonard. This felt weird as shit to listen back to.

I’ll be using the transcription of the lyrics on Genius as my main source for the actual words in the song, though the video I’ve linked does have lyrics on screen as it plays.

Without any further ado, let’s get into the structure of this fucker. There’s about 25 seconds of instrumental to start this studio recording out, then the first verse plays. The last line, “Set me on fire”, is sung twice, and then in this case the entire first verse plays again. (Holy shit contemporary Christian songwriters like repeating things. Did I say that enough last time?)

After this, the chorus plays through once and you basically smash cut right into the second verse. The second verse is half the length of the first one and the words are only said once. In this case, the repetition does that trick where it uses KJV-flavored language and then modern language to say a similar thing twice: “ You won't forsake me, You will be with me”.

Then the chorus plays twice, each time followed by a random tag that reiterates something within the chorus and, in the case of the first one, isn’t found in the lyrics on Genius. I read it as a musical flourish coupled with the lyrical equivalent of yelling “AMEN” during a church service when the pastor says something you find cool. (Not all churches do this).

Genius does something I find a touch unusual here, but I think it makes sense with the way the song plays. It lists two sections as “bridge 1″ and “bridge 2″. After this repeated chorus, bridge 1 plays, repeating the first line twice, the second original line twice, and the last line of the thing four times. After this, there’s another doubled chorus. This time, with even more amen flourishes.

Then the instrumental goes really chill and the second bridge comes in. This is a stanza that they repeat six times (Genius lists it four times) while they slowly build the instrumentals back up and, since in this case there are two singers in Youtube’s edition of this, Redman drops out and Tasha, who he’s featuring on this, sings the first two repetitions of this while Redman does amen tags. On the third one, they switch roles. On the fourth one, they each sing the entire section but Redman leads and Cobbs follows like a round. Then, they have this entire chorus setup on the last two repetitions.

This is the climax of the song. And then everything goes really chill again. They sing the chorus once and then everything fades out to one last piano chord, fade to black. That’s the structure in the youtube video. It’s not exactly uncommon for studio recordings of songs like this, though at live events, Jesus camps, and some church services people will repeat sections of this ad nauseam because of course. Even this structure works to cement ideas really strongly, as if every single fucking thing the song says is very important. I find that this doesn’t happen remotely as often in secular music to anything approaching this degree. They’ll repeat the chorus, sometimes you’ll have lines repeated, sometimes you get a bridge that’s four lines a few times over, but it’s not like this.

Alright. On to the actual content of this thing.

This is going to hurt a bit. :^)

I’ll do the verses, then the chorus, then the bridges. This shit isn’t going chronologically. That would suck.

Take all I have in these hands And multiply, God, all that I am And find my heart on the altar again Set me on fire, set me on fire Take all I have in these hands And multiply, God, all that I am And find my heart on the altar again Set me on fire, set me on fire

This repeats twice; I won’t go over it twice.

Take all I have in these hands is basically saying “I surrender to you”. Which is a thing that’ll come back up a fuck of a lot in this song. It’s kind of the whole message... with a twist I’ll get to later that gets really cursed. This is a message that speaks of letting go of control of one’s life so God can do whatever with it. It’s like a surrendering of agency, at least the way it plays out in fundagelical circles like the one I left a year and a month ago.

And multiply, God, all that I am is, aside from being a sentence that’s weirdified so it fits in a song better, is directly addressing God by name, making this entire thing addressed that way. This basically refers to the concept within at least some strains of Christianity where God is said to increase what people are and what they’re capable of when they’re “right with him”. This is, at least possibly, also a reference to Matthew 13:8 (Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown), which uses a metaphor that relates, as I was taught about it, the word of God to someone sowing seeds into a field, where sometimes you yeet the seeds and they land in rocks and screwy circumstances but other times they grow and give a good crop. I’m inclined to read this line as asking God to fulfill this in the singer’s life because of how heavy of a focus is placed on the concept it contains in many churches. Redman might not have intended it to refer to this necessarily here, but it’s the kind of metaphor and the kind of language that people very often use even if it’s not a conscious reference.

And find my heart on the altar again implies some kind of re-dedication of the core of the singer’s being to God. There’s this strong tendency in your spicier churches towards thinking that believers continually need to re-commit themselves to God after having been distracted; this is at least one of the things that it refers to. I suppose Redman knows his audience. This can also be taken as a reference to Romans 12:1-2, since an altar implies sacrifice most of the time. My instinct is to say it plays both roles.

After that you have this Set me on fire, set me on fire line, referring to a common concept whose origin I’m not that familiar with in which being “on fire for God” refers to having a passion for doing what whoever you hang around thinks he wants you to do. It might be a reference to that scene in Acts 2 where God’s power in the church is marked by tongues of fire that come and rest on people. Of course it’s like the fire from that burning bush Moses encounters because this is an instance of God burning people metaphorically rather than physically.

Sarcasm and gallows humor aside, God has been known to yeet fire from heaven at things and sometimes even people. In both Acts 2 and this song, the reference is more or less metaphorical and refers to a driving force rather than to an attack. This line is basically a prayer for a passion for God.

Verse 1 was sung just by Redman; for verse 2, both Redman and Cobbs are singing.

My heart stands in awe of Your name Your mighty love stands strong to the end You will fulfill Your purpose for me You won't forsake me, You will be with me

I touched on this in the “on the altar again” line from 1, but I typically read “heart” as “core of being” in these contexts. So this first line, My heart stands in awe of Your name, refers to this deep sense of reverence towards God.

Maybe someone ought to tell Redman about the hypocrites, because god damn does this seem like performative righteousness to my outsider’s mind. Maybe Paul’s “renewing of the mind” from Romans 12:2 works both ways lmao

Joking aside, the role of this line is to normalize this feeling of reverence and to try to instill it in the listener. It serves a purpose that isn’t hypocrisy and Redman would probably say the same thing if some cheeky heathen walked up to him and told him about the hypocrites as I joked about.

The entire rest of this verse is essentially saying the same thing in different ways, framing it through God’s love, purposes, and presence in a believer’s life. The idea is that none of these three things are believed to ever fail, and this verse is meant to reinforce that perception and to give thanks to God for it. I don’t feel like saying what these lines are going for three times so I’ll treat them as one unit because functionally, they are.

I’ll do the chorus last because that seems like a fun idea. Bridge 1 is:

All to Jesus now All to Jesus now Holding nothing back Holding nothing back I surrender I surrender I surrender I surrender

oh god oh fuck

so what can we get from this weird disaster where you say the same thing a bunch of times in a row? Basically, the singer surrenders everything to Jesus and holds nothing back. But it’s really really important, so they say it slowly and each piece is said several times. It feels pedantic as fuck looking at it from the outside, but on the inside it instills this mood that makes you, at least in that moment, want to do exactly that. Pretty wacky.

Second bridge:

Your power and work in me I'm broken gracefully I'm strong when I am weak I will be free

It’s this, four times on Genius and six times in the Youtube upload. I’m not copy pasting that full length in here lmao

Basically the first line reads to me as an attribution related to the rest. Like, “what follows is because of God’s power and work in me”. Your spicier evangelical circles will attribute good things in themselves exclusively to the work of God. It gets super goddamn toxic depending on exactly how they handle it, but the general vibe I’m talking about is “I’m a piece of shit and therefore if anything good happens in me it’s God not me”. It’s really a sad thing, and it messed me up real good when I used to think that way.

So that’s fun I suppose.

As for the rest of this, uh... it’s not better. So. “I’m broken gracefully” is just about the most cursed sentence in this section here. To be “broken” in this case is ...more or less what it sounds like. Basically God breaks the believer down in the process of sanctification so that they release their own identity and replace it with one that’s more from God. This is then framed as a grace. I read “gracefully” here as both referring to the grace of God and to its other usage, like “they moved gracefully across the whatever the fuck” as a descriptive term suggesting beauty and elegance. In both senses, this broken state is considered a good and beautiful thing. Which ...is a bit cursed.

“I’m strong when I am weak” is this weird reversal that alludes to several passages in the Bible including, the first one I can think of, John 3:30, which says “he must be greater, I must be less” (and specific wording will vary based on translation). The idea is that a person has more real “strength” when they’re weak in themselves and trusting in God for everything. So this sentence might be expanded to “I’m strong in God when I’m weak in myself”. Which is one of those gaslighty self-denying concepts that is the reason my time in these weird fundagelical circles fucked me up so much. Pretty fun. See why I say it’s emotional self-harm to come back and review this music? It’s not always that dark of a thing, I genuinely want to analyze this shit, but good grief can it get tricky to deal with.

The last line here is “I will be free”, which cements the previous concepts by referring to freedom from “sin” and from the “old, fallen nature”, i.e. freedom to be a slave to God instead of “a slave to oneself”. Another spooky reversal.

And that’s the bridges.

I’ll grab a chorus that doesn’t have amen tags and only happens once:

Here I am, God Arms wide open Pouring out my life Gracefully broken

These first lines speak to someone who accepts God’s calling with open arms. Pretty straightforward I think. It gets a bit funky from here because this “pouring out my life” line is a bit deeper. It could refer to the act of confessing things to God in kind of a spilling of energy and secrets, a breakdown of barriers that believers keep their issues contained within, that kind of thing, and it could be a reference to the Old Testament practice of pouring out blood or wine or both as an offering before God, in a metaphorical sense in this case because believers are called on to offer their lives as a “living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” as Paul writes. The image of pouring something out is quite a common one within Christianity because of the Old Testament imagery and the degree to which New Testament writers allude to old practices.

In compiling an overarching message for what I read out of this song, I’ll compare it to a sonnet written by John Donne, for a bit of fun hyperbole.

Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new. I, like an usurped town, to another due, Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end. Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend, But is captived, and proves weak or untrue. Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain, But am betrothed unto your enemy: Divorce me, untie or break that knot again, Take me to you, imprison me, for I, Except you enthrall me, never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

The whole message of this sonnet here is, in a phrase, “I’m having a hard time submitting to you, God, so break down my gates, steal me from Satan, and rearrange my guts”.

Yes, ravish is sometimes a sexual term. In my medieval literature class last fall, the professor understood its sense as such in this context. I agree with that reading because the word immediately preceding the phrase that contains it is “chaste”, which is clearly establishing that kind of context.

Basically, the reason I include this is, without the “fuck me God” part of it, the message of the song I’ve been dissecting is the same as this. It speaks of surrendering to God as something that’s desired, but frames it as a battle through the “heart on the altar again” bit and the “brokenness” part of this narrative that suggests it’s a desired, beautiful act of God. Donne accomplishes this message through much more violent terms, but the end result is very similar.

I know.

So, why did I start this shit with that Plato quote?

Ultimately, because I think that an important part of the role that Christian music like this serves in the church is pretty much the same as Plato’s understanding of the role of rhetoric. If “rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men”, then contemporary Christian music is the result of using shit, repetitive lyrics and actually good instrumental tracks to convince the human mind to yeet itself deeper and deeper into Jesusland.

Which is pretty cursed. I relate, vacuuming lady. I relate.

What was that I said about conlangs again?

#exchristian #christian music #i probably need therapy #john donne #oh god oh fuck

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asocier · 4 years

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interaction guide for emile!

last edited: april 6th, 2021

emile ... my sweet baby boy. he’s an extremely friendly muse all around, and while he seems like he’d crumple at the first sign of danger, emile has surprisingly good fight or flight instincts. there’s a part of him that can work well under pressure, so when the world literally is on fire, emile will unexpectedly take charge and call the shots. of course, that’s when the pressure is really on — for the most part, emile is extremely non-confrontational and is perpetually stuck in a loop of ‘what am i doing with my life?’ as he wakes up everyday to a job he doesn’t care for. he makes the best of things, however, and finds pleasure in the simple things. he especially loves being out in nature, so that’s where he’ll truly be himself. in terms of his love life, he’s trying — that’s all i can really say on the matter. he’d be a good boyfriend, though, once things get serious; my sources have confirmed this.

supernatural plots — boy howdy, does emile befriend supernatural beings easily! i’m not sure what it is, but he really has a history of forming meaningful relationships with those who aren’t human, and it might just stem from the fact he thinks they’re incredibly interesting so long as, you know, they aren’t trying to kill him. so throw your magical girls, your aliens, your monsters, your non-human muses at emile because boy howdy is he down for the shenanigans and the adventure that comes alone with befriending these muses. he will absolutely literally be so fascinated by them and not give them grief if they’re nice to him !!! if they try to kill him, boy howdy will he be ready to run for his life because emile is already scared of everything and now he gotta run to save his ass.

family friendly wholesome plots — emile + children is literally one of the best things on this blog. i say this for like two other muses on this blog too but c’mon, emile and kids literally get along so well, how could i not suggest this possibility too in an interaction guide for him? he’s one of best babysitters and would love to interact with young muses, even if they aren’t small children but still quite young. even tween/teenagers might get along with him ( though if they’re going through some angst, he’s gonna be ... a lil awkward )

nature/camping/plant plots — i mentioned that emile loves being out in nature, and this has long been the case since he was young. i make fun of him by saying he’s like an overgrown boy scout just because he has so much knowledge about the outdoors and camping from years of doing things like hiking. he also has a green thumb; really loves himself a nice plant. so here are some plots where your muse:

needs a camping/hiking buddy and invites emile ( pre-est relationship most likely )

meets emile at a campsite ( first meeting type of plot ! )

is a camp counselor at a summer camp and emile is your co-counselor/head counselor and yall gotta take care of all these fking kids together for a whole summer

works at a plant nursery/floral shop and they always see emile come in bc he hoards plants and loves to buy fresh cut flowers, either for himself or his sister, alison bc she loves flowers too

just ... talks to emile about his plants casually or asks him for advice on why their plant isn’t doing so well

needs a new trail mix/energy bar recipe and asks emile ( a neighbor? a friend? someone who is also looking at recipe books in a book store? ) if he has any

art/photography/music plots — like his sister, emile dabbles in a lot of hobbies too and he shares a lot of those with alison. the biggest differences lie in the fact that while alison favors watercolor painting or body art with acrylics, emile prefers sketching with paper/pen and paper. similarly, while alison mainly plays the piano, emile plays the violin. photography is something both siblings share, though emile likes to take pictures of landscaping in addition to portraits. here are some plots where your muse:

needs a photographer for their *insert special event here* and hires emile

needs a violinist for their *insert fancy event here that requires live music* and hire emile

asks emile for violin lessons

wants to play pictionary with emile and that’s how they learn that emile can draw really well

“what even is emile’s romantic life” plots — my boy really tries to fall in love, okay. he tries, but it’s not that easy for him when you take into account how he’s not really out of the closet to a lot of people in his life and how he generally just has terribly luck with romantic relationships in general. this started back in high school, and it really doesn’t do much for his self esteem when it come to dating. it kind of puts dating on the back burner for him, really, especially since he isn’t in the best place in his life at the moment to find a serious relationship, but he still likes to try and go on dates once in a while, and he’s trying to learn to embrace the fact he isn’t straight. so here are some plots where your muse:

bothers emile a lot about why he doesn’t have a girlfriend and plays matchmaker/tries to teach him how to talk to girls because that’s what you think the problem is

gets set up on a blind date with emile and it either goes really well, or it goes really badly. plot twist: you two used to know each other somehow ( high school, community college, work before one of yall left the office, camp a while back, ect ).

plays a supportive role in helping emile discover his sexuality ( can be in high school or afterwards ). your muse can either be super helpful or super intrusive and it makes emile suffer but, you know, your muse has good intentions. this “help” can be your muse sharing their experiences with emile, taking him out to lgtbq+ spaces to help him embrace this side of his identity, assuring emile that it’s not wrong to like the same sex, ect. they could also just take a balls to the wall crazy approach if that’s more their style, up to your tbh

miscellaneous plots — here are some more random ideas in case you’re feeling stuck still! i’d like to remind everyone that my wishlist tag is always a great place to look too if you aren’t feeling what’s in the guide. i hope that the guide gives you an idea at least as to how you might approach a muse and what plots work well for them!

your muse offers to find emile a better job because they can tell he’s not loving his current job, so they offer him a helping hand. similarly, your muse offers to help emile go back to school because they wants to see emile succeed and be happy doing something in a field he actually cares about.

office plots — your muse works at the same law firm as emile and shares an office space with him. please talk to him because emile needs a friend at work to make his job more enjoyable :’)

high school plots — emile does have a high school verse like most of my other muses do. the bulk of what happens in high school involves emile discovering he’s not straight and being bullied for it for nate and cedric. on top of that, he’s witnessing his sister go through a really bad relationship, but with how secretive she is with things, it’s hard for him to intervene. there’s a lot of avenue for serious plots in this verse, but as with alison, lighthearted high school plots can also happen with emile! teenagers aren’t just full of angst, after all. sometimes we just need some shenanigans.

community college plots — instead of university, emile attends community college for a couple years to obtain his associates so that he can work as a legal assistant. he works odd jobs to keep himself afloat, and for the most part, he’s just vibing.

werewolf verse plots —a post explaining the basics of this verse can be found here! in this verse, emile is considered a beta and spent his whole life practically raising his sister, alison. growing up, the siblings did not belong to a stable pack, and as such, they pretty much spent most of their life kind of living how they wanted. emile in this verse is just vibing, too. he’s not looking for a mate or for drama, he’s just trying to make sure his sister doesn’t get herself into trouble. i’d like to re-emphasize that this is not a true omegaverse even though i do categorize muses as alphas, omegas, or betas, mention bonding between werewolves, nesting, heat/rut, and the use of suppressants to control the severity of heat. the description of these topics, however, are very tame as the focus of this verse is not unhealthy power imbalances or plotless smut. this verse exists bc werewolves are cool, and also because the idea of bonding between partners is where i find the most interest since true bonding really embodies the “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death” sentiment in marriage vows except even to a more serious degree. so yeah — werewolves. have your werewolf meet mine. it’ll be fun.

#wishlist;#cw: long post

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jasiper · 5 years

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my experience at tlt musical

hi friends! as you guys may know, last night i had the chance to go to the lightning thief musical and it was so much fun! since i need to babble about how amazing it was and all my favorite parts, i decided tumblr is the way to go :’) under the cut because i have no clue how long it’ll be, but as it’s 1:30am and i am pretty tired, i’ll try to make sure this actually makes sense

mrs. dodds saying “kronos” every two seconds when chiron was trying to tell the story of the gods was so funny

PERCY PULLING OUT RIPTIDE FOR THE FIRST TIME WAS HONESTLY GOD TIER. CHRIS’S REACTION IS 100% HOW I ENVISION PERCY REACTING

percy talking about the field trip and casually slipping in the fact he got expelled between talking about art... then sally saying “i know. the headmaster called.” followed by percy’s “...about the art?” SO CUTE

percy spraying febreze when gabe enters was the funniest thing in the entire world, i actually cackled

SALLY STANDING UP FOR PERCY TO GABE BY SAYING HE ISN’T GABE’S KID! POP OFF SALLY

chris shoved his face full of marshmallows during strong and was still singing with a marshmallow wedged in his cheek. he is so cute

strong also made me emo as hell, just saying!

grover shows up stuck in a garbage can which was so funny

percy waking up from his dream immediately to be told by annabeth “you drool in your sleep”. those kids own me

everything about mr. d was so great. jorrel honestly killed it!

“i need a drink” me too mr. d, me too

WHEN RYAN GALLOPPED WITH JUST A TAIL I LOST IT. I KNEW IT HAPPENED. I STILL COULD NOT STOP FROM LAUGHING. IT WAS SO FUNNY.

“you’re my dream girl!” “are you sure he doesn’t have a concussion?” GOD CHRIS AND KRISTIN HONESTLY JUST KILLED THE PERCABETH DYNAMIC. YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA. I CANNOT PUT INTO WORDS HOW AMAZING THEY PORTRAYED THEIR RESPECTIVE CHARACTERS. SO WHOLESOME.

PERCY MAKING LIGHT SABER NOISES WHEN HE MOVES RIPTIDE AND ANNABETH TELLING HIM IT’S NOT A LIGHT SABER GOT ME

okay but chris was so amazing when percy found out sally was gone. his voice kept breaking and it was so emotional. my angsty son.

PERCY AND GROVER’S HUG WHEN THEY SEE EACH OTHER AFTER PERCY WAKES UP! SO CUTE! SO PURE!

the capture the flag scene... so good. the whole song, everything. sarah beth kills it at clarisse.

i’m probably so biased because i love the song, but the campfire song was so good. grover popping up and yelling “my turn! my turn! IT’S MY TURN!” then he cried and annabeth, silena, and katie all tried to comfort him, but the second the chorus came back he was dancing again! so cute!

the dancing in the campfire song just gets me too!

percy finding out his dad is poseidon and getting all excited until everyone else moves away from him :((

mr. d said and i quote “the master bolt! it’s not a jagged tin foil thing you find in a traveling musical!” which was so funny, i love when actors break the fourth wall

the oracle was such a cool scene! i love how they did it!

okay good kid is when i cried a decent bit. chris portrays so much emotion in this song. i was so moved but his singing, his facial expressions, everything. i knew it was going to emotional but i didn’t truly grasp the magnitude until i was there! (also because mari asked, percy did not say fuck. #LetPercySayFuck2019)

killer quest was such a fun song! the original trio getting excited about leaving! so cute!

okay during intermission we got the announcement that kristin was being replaced with sarah beth because kristin blew her voice out during act 1, but she finished the act before pulling out which i think is so cool! i was pretty disappointed but kristin obviously knows her limits and her health comes before anything else.

lost! was so good. i love that song so much and it was the first time sarah beth sang as annabeth and it was good!

grover messing around with uncle ferdinand’s statue (rip)

sarah beth did amazing in my grand plan. her vocals are killer!

drive was also a super fun song, james finally came out as ares and it was awesome!

tree on the hill was another song that made me teary. jorrel was amazing and poured everything into the song. so good.

DOA man! holy crap! jalynn is crazy talented! her vocals! such a good song!

the trio almost getting pulled into tartarus: “i think that’s tartarus.” “like the fish sauce?” “NO. tartar-us.”

HADES. SO GOOD. SO FUNNY. “poseidon’s too busy to come visit his brother” as he cries was GOD TIER. i did not expect hades to be that funny but hey! it was hilarious!

the son of poseidon was also amazing, i love that song so much. “it’s a seashell!”

poseidon acting like a stereotypical surfer dude... so funny. “i wish you weren’t born.” “wow, really?”

poseidon flirting with sally, percy getting very uncomfortable and saying “yeah..... that’s my dad”

i could write an entire essay on the last day of summer. an entire essay. luke’s reprise always gets me, but seeing james perform it live. chills. actual chills. james is so crazy talented everyone, hype him tf up.

OKAY. THE PERCABETH SCENE. i wasn’t sure how it was going to be (i was so looking forward to kristin and chris) but sarah beth and chris killed it! THEIR NOSES BRUSHED, PEOPLE. I THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO KISS. 100%. ANNABETH CUPPED PERCY’S CHEEKS IN HER HANDS AND THEIR. NOSES. BRUSHED.

THEIR. NOSES. BRUSHED.

“seaweed brain...” “wise... girl?” wow i was in tears

bring on the monsters had me in tears again! it was such a great end to the musical, friends. words cannot even describe how fitting the end was.

and then, of course i stage doored.

i told james he was the perfect luke and he told me that compliment makes him so happy :’) such a sweet dude

wow this is blurry BUT sarah beth told me that she loves signing books! i was the only one back there who had the book instead of the program so i felt really stoked to be the only one to bring my copy of the lightning thief

ryan was wearing a medusa shirt and i complimented it and he was so excited i noticed. he also told me he has a centaur shirt lmaooo

and finally jorrel. he is so sweet! my hands were shaking when he got to me and i apologized and he was like “oh my god no! you’re fine! you’re fine!” he is the actual sweetest. i then asked him who runs the twitter account and he said they won’t tell him. i told him how they roasted me on my birthday so i thought it was him so he was like “they roast me all the time! i wouldn’t do that to myself!” and i pointed out he was in the show so he deserved it instead of me but he was like “they do it all the time though!” jorrel stayed out the longest with us and kept hugging everyone and ugh! i love him!

now my book is all signed up and i absolutely love it :’)

so, to sum up a very long post, if you have the opportunity to see the musical, please do. the musicians and cast pour their entire heart into it and it was so evident through this performance. it made me so happy. words cannot describe how i felt while watching it and how i feel now! my heart is actually soaring. i cannot articulate how amazing it was to be immersed in the show and to be surrounded by other fans. this was what we deserved from the movies! just... if you have the means/resources to watch it, do it. no hesitation. i highly recommend going to see it, friends.

#god this is so long #i just had such a great time #it's just as good as everyone says #watch it! support it! do it all!#now i am never taking off my tour shirt #also if you read this.. thank you #you're great #the lightning thief musical #pjo musical #pjo #my face #megan's babbles

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molovesvintage · 7 years

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In the month or so since I last posted, a lot has happened! I changed cities, moving from Nagoya on the south side of Japan’s Honshu island to idyllic Kanazawa on the north side. I also changed jobs, ditching the giant, factory-style children’s language school I was employed with for a small local one that caters to learners of all ages. And for the first time ever, I’m living alone, in my very own apartment, a lovely feeling that I still can’t get over. Expect posts on all this and more in the near future.

But before leaving Nagoya, I had the best possible send-off by visiting Hōnen Matsuri, the fertility festival, with some of the amazing friends I’d made during my time in Nagoya.

FYI: Depending on your workplace, this post may be NSFW. I will use multiple words for male anatomy and post photos of phallic items. Consider yourself warned.

I was out to dinner with Justin and Yo Ko, two of my friends from swing dancing, along with Justin’s roomate Matt. I forget what we were talking about, probably about my moving plans.

“On the 15th we’re going to a penis festival! Want to come?” Justin says.

A penis festival?!? How could I possibly say no to that!

A week later on the 15th, I convinced Imaan and Patrick, two of my Sharehouse roomies and besties, to join, and we met Justin and Yo Ko at the train station to take the train to Komaki, the smaller countryside town where the festival takes place. Matt brought his Japanese girlfriend as well, so we were a merry band of 7 revelers cavorting for the day.

Festival crew, aka, the best crew ever. Photo Courtesy: Yo Ko Fiedler

Hōnen Matsuri is actually a harvest festival, and celebrates all manner of fertility and prosperity, but from what I saw these days has more to do with fertility of the human kind, and less of the vegetable. Such festivals take place all over Japan, but the one in Komaki is one of the more famous. Japan is really into festivals, and everyone knows you can’t have a festival without drinking, which we started doing almost as soon as we arrived!

You also can’t have a festival without food, and Japan has mastered the art of festival street food. In the areas surrounding the main shrine were lanes of stalls set up, selling all kinds of savory and sweet treats. Imaan and I came up with the brilliant idea to share everything between us so we could have a bit of everything, and throughout the day happily grazed on chicken and beef skewers; strange, long curly french fries; fried chicken; chewy squid legs in a sauce; and rice balls wrapped in tender slices of meat and grilled in soy sauce.

Eating really chewy squid legs! Photo Courtesy: Yo Ko Fiedler

The grumpiest takoyaki seller

Naturally, the most popular food items at a penis festival are the various novelty foods made to look like penises. How could I or any of my friends resist the chocolate and sprinkle covered bananas? The bananas came with two marshmallows at the base, a thoughtful touch.

Photo Courtesy: Yo Ko Fiedler

Imaan and I with bananas. Photo Courtesy: Imaan Jeraj

One thing I noticed while we were browsing and grazing was the atmosphere of the festival. True, there were some annoying drunk foreigners and funky Japanese folks in weird costumes, but mostly it was families hanging out together, with toddlers running around with chocolate-covered penis bananas in hand. It was almost wholesome in a way, yet still tongue-in-cheek. If we had the same festival in the US, I can’t imagine it working. It would be taken over by horribly wasted, immature morons and protested by conservatives.

Along with the light-hearted atmosphere though, there was still a sense of reverence in the air, which was apparent when we visited the shrine complex. There were hordes of people around, lining up to pray at the main shrine, buy lucky tokens, and to touch some special. . . balls. Around the corner from the shrine stand these two smooth, stone balls, and if you rub them and pray it can bring good luck for you and your prospects of having children. I don’t want children, so I declined from rubbing the balls, but my friends all took turns.

Rubbing the balls. Photo Courtesy: Imaan Jeraj

Photo Courtesy: Yo Ko Fiedler

Around 2:30, it was time for the parade. By this time, we’d been happily imbibing Japanese wine-cooler type beverages for hours, and we were damn ready! We tipsily made our way to the street with the crowds and watched streams of priests and town officials pass, carrying banners with giant penises emblazoned on them and carved wooden statues, while passing out buckets of free sake. We were standing next to an old Japanese man who didn’t speak much English, but was keen to learn, and just as keen to supply us with sake.

“What’s that, English?” He pointed at the banner.

“Penis” we told him. “It’s called a penis.”

“Pee-nus! Pee-nus!” He proclaimed, before laughing like a crazy person. We taught him more words.

“Cock-u! Big cock-u! I like big cock-u!” More hilarity and laughter, from him, from us, and from the Japanese couple next to us who clearly understood English.

“Everybody likes big cock” I replied, to even more laughter.

This guy!

Best day of his year.

He was right though: coming down the street was the big cock, the star of the show, “a 280 kg (620 pound), 2.5 meter (96 inch)-long wooden phallus” (thank you for those stats, Wikipedia), carried by a dozen white-robed, giggling, probably drunk, Shinto priests. You could tell this was the highlight of their year, and at intervals they would stop and rest, or change out with other priests. There was a seemingly endless supply of priests that day!

The main attraction.

The crowds moved from the street to the shrine complex to watch the giant phallus being inserted (ha!) into the shrine, it’s home for the coming year. Next year, the parade will be reversed, and it will be carried back down the street to the other shrine. And the cycle repeats.

The big phallus going home.

But there was still one more event in store for us. Close to 4:00, we moved to an area outside the shrine yard, where a giant scaffolding had been erected. The crowd arranged themselves in front of this scaffolding and waited. At 4:00 the priests climbed on top of the scaffolding and lined up. Over a loudspeaker, an announcement was made in Japanese, something to the effect of “remove your glasses, put away your cameras, if you get hurt it’s not our fault, etc”. Then, chanting, the priests picked up hard balls of mochi and pelted them at the waiting crowd! Catching a mochi ball means good luck for your baby-making future, but you were far more likely to get hit with one – and they hurt too, Imaan took one to the head and saw black for a moment! It was kind of like being in a mosh pit: a bit scary, but good fun.

Waiting to be pelted with mochi!

The mochi mosh pit!

Caught one! Photo Courtesy: Yo Ko Fiedler

Photo Courtesy: Yo Ko Fiedler

We had a final browse of the food stalls, another Kirin “Strong” flavored alcoholic beverage, and with the fading light and cooling air decided to take the party back to Justin and Matt’s place to hang out. It had been a day filled with food, booze, immaturity, reverence, and amazing good friends. Pretty much the best day ever, and one of my favorite days in Japan so far!

Happy Travels,

Can you tell this was the best day ever? Photo Courtesy: Imaan Jeraj

Hōnen Matsuri: Nagoya’s Fertility Festival, aka The Penis Festival In the month or so since I last posted, a lot has happened! I changed cities, moving from Nagoya on the south side of Japan's Honshu island to idyllic Kanazawa on the north side.

#Asia #booze #crazy old men #fertility festival #festivals #food #friends #Hōnen Matsuri #Japan #Komaki #Nagoya #penis festival #phallic everything #sake #street food

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wherearethegirlbands · 4 years

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INTERVIEW: Beth Kweeday

Interviewed by Ella Fradgely

Beth Kweeday is an artist based in Liverpool studying fine art at Leeds. Her striking digital pieces feature sexual imagery to The Simpsons, and are available to buy as prints or on other items here.

How would you describe your art practice / yourself as an artist? My art practice is definitely digital art, I used to hate digital pieces because I used to not be able to see much of an artistic element to it and found that it wasn’t a good way of working. I had a graphics tablet sat in my drawer for months before I decided to try it out, and even when I did I hated it because I didn’t understand it! I’m so happy I stuck with it though because it’s been the best outcome possible. To describe myself as an artist I would definitely have to say I’m a stubborn artist, I do things how I want to and very much sculpt my work to how I see best (which is probably why I don’t do uni work very well). I know what I like and how I like it done! How did you find your focus on sex based illustrations? It’s amazing to see artwork celebrating sex work and sexuality! Thank you! I’ve always been a big fan of sexual art, I was always drawn to works by Elizabeth Isley and various tattoo artists like Curt Montgomery and Sewp who use a lot of sexual imagery and knew that was the path I wanted to go down. It took a long time for me to find the confidence to, and it wasn’t something I started doing until my second year of uni despite doing art for years before. I had no idea it would do as well as it did, and I’m so happy that it has become such a huge part of my brand as an artist. It’s so important to me to be able to show my respect for these women who inspire my art so much through my illustrations, as a lot of my pieces are based on women in the sex industry. How have you found the response to your work by tutors and peers? Me and my tutors have butt heads a lot over my work, with me doing a fine art course I understand that they want me to step outside my comfort zone a bit but I think they need to respect that sometimes that doesn’t always work well with certain things. For example, I ended up withdrawing from my interim show because a tutor suggested I blow my illustrations up to a large scale and then lay them out on the floor. And given the basis of my work, it just didn’t sit right with me. I found it really rude, in a way? I don’t know, maybe it was just my stubborn side coming out again. My peers have always been so, so supportive. My course-mates were equally as shocked as I was when I told them about someone suggesting my work be on the floor! I receive a lot of love from everyone around me when it comes to my work, which is really wholesome and uplifting. My boyfriend is my number one fan and has supported me so much with my work, my shop and even does the occasional post office run for me. I have no complaints! Your colour palette is so gorgeous, so sensual and minimal! It’s amazing how you have build such a recognisable look to your work through it. How did you come to it and would you ever explore other colour palettes? Thank you so much! I used to be absolutely terrified of colour, and on some level I still am! I have always wanted to be a black and white tattoo artist, I’ve always only wanted black ink tattoos myself and until recently that’s all I had. Pink was never my colour either, but I accidentally put a pink background on a piece I was working on when I first started drawing digitally and I fell in love with it. That one happy accident has now turned into a staple piece of my whole brand! Through this lockdown I’ve tried using other colours, I am so inspired by @exotic.cancer on instagram and her use of colour in her works but it just didn’t feel as me as my classic black & pink!

Your shop is amazing, I especially love your notebooks. Do you have a favourite item on there and how do you find the experience of running it? Thank you so much! I definitely love my phone cases, I never would have thought that I would be doing anything like it a couple years ago. Opening the shop was so scary, the constant “what if it doesn’t do well” and “what if nobody buys anything” kinds thoughts were trying to hold me back but I was really struggling for money and I thought I may as well give it a go. I had no idea it would do so well so soon, it definitely has bad weeks and good weeks in terms of sales but it’s the best thing I ever did. Nothing could have beat the feeling when I got my first international order, I couldn’t believe it! Now every time I get a new order I’m so excited to see where it’s going to. It certainly needs tidying up and updating a little bit, I’m hoping to have my own website within the next couple months instead of doing it via Etsy so that’s pretty cool. One of my favourites of your works are your drawings of shiny leather boots. What software do you use to create your drawings? I use Procreate on my iPad! This came from my goal to be a tattooer, I have a few friends who are tattoo artists and it was all of their recommendation and it’s been the best thing ever. I used to use a graphics tablet with I set up to my laptop with Sketchbook Pro but this has helped me with my drawings techniques a lot better. What’s your favourite drawing of yours? I love my first butterfly pieces that I did, they did really well and what started my trademark butterflies. I love my Simpsons/song lyrics ones too! I definitely want to carry on that series. And I really like my BDSM Is Not An Excuse For Murder piece, I remember reading about what was happening in the Grace Millane murder trial last year and becoming so enraged by what I was reading so I reacted it to it in the only way I knew how and the reaction was overwhelming, in a good way though!

Does music ever influence your art practice? Yes definitely! Sometimes I’ll be sat doing nothing and a song will come on and there’s my drawing. My Simpsons song/lyrics ones actually came from my petty arse reacting to hearing a girl slag me off in the background of her boyfriends Instagram story saying “Beth makes crazy girls look bad” whatever that’s meant to mean. And it reminded me of Paramore’s I’m Not One of Those Crazy Girls and there it was, and they just kept coming from there! My Girls Girls Girls piece which is actually on my own phone case was inspired by Motley Crüe too. Do you find artwork is a good platform to discuss politics? Oh yes absolutely, I’ve learnt so much through artists discussing their political views via their platforms, such as Florence Given. Plus I love a good anti-Tory artwork, I link it with my own as and where I can! It’s important to remind people of things like this as much as possible, even if it means writing Boris Johnson Shags Crisps in the sky every once in a while. I love your trademark butterflies, have they always been a part of your practice and do they symbolise anything for you? The butterflies where a very spare of the moment thing, I remember I finished a piece and was thinking that it just needed something else and I couldn’t for the life of me think what it was and then I just thought I would give it a go. I think using them within BDSM based work is cool because it’s almost like two opposites, you have something so delicate and fragile resting on something most people (unfortunately) deem as aggressive, and obscene. Kind of saying it’s important not to judge a person on their sexual preferences too, just because someone, particularly a woman, is into this certain thing, doesn’t mean that she is any less of a woman than someone who isn’t. If that makes sense.

Who are a few artists that inspire you and your work? (Can be artists of any kind not just visual) My main inspirations are digital artists and tattooists, such as ripbambi, skyeknotart, exotic.cancer, chimaera, my good friend Molly (titzandbitzz), the sad amish tattooer, I love Alex May Hughes and her gold plated Simpsons pieces, she was one of the main reasons I started doing my own. Your Simpson’s drawings are so iconic, do you have a favourite that you’ve done and why do you think they get such an incredible response from people? Thank you! I love my Fuck Boris and Fuck the Tories ones, as well as my lyrical pieces too. I just love the Simpsons so much and I started doing those pieces just as a bit of fun and to keep my work a bit different to the more sexualised pieces. I had no idea they would do as well as they have been doing! Bouncing between sex and the Simpsons is my ideal career in art and it’s something I plan on doing for a very long time. Finally, what are some ways we can support you as an independent creative during these difficult times? To be honest, every like/comment/share I get on a piece is to me a huge support. I understand that buying art is not always an option for some people, I try and keep my prices as low as possible as I want to be able to cater for everyone. I am so lucky to have really understanding customers, as this pandemic has been a strain on my shop but everyone’s been so patient and helpful. Instagram is a great way to show support for an artist, I myself try to share as much art as I can. I’ve been introduced to so many amazing artists just by seeing a piece shared on someone else’s story! It helps a lot and it’s so easy to do

#visualartists #interviews

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layaltheblogger2018 · 6 years

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Tell us about your CPW as a prefrosh.

(C )ommemorating a (P)erfect (W)eekend

Before I had visited campus, MIT was a dream. It all became a reality during CPW.

Yes, that CPW, the crazy-packed, fun-filled, often-surprising, unbelievably wholesome weekend experience that convinced me that MIT was the right place for me. I met loads of people, went to loads of events, got loads of free stuff, and had loads of fun. Right there, that’s a snapshot of CPW in two sentences, but it’s still not enough, because there were over 700 events when I attended, and as many upperclassmen have repeatedly stressed before, you CANNOT go to all of them (physically impossible to enjoy) and you CANNOT plan to go to everything that interests you (because you’ll be running everywhere which will get you nowhere which is no fun). Personally, I tried planning early on (it’s a really bad idea) and I had way too many interesting events to go to. Later on, I picked two or three main NON-OVERLAPPING events I could not miss and worked around that (a much better idea). So here is a summary of my favorite parts of CPW:

Help from a Friend I Just Hadn’t Met Yet: when I first arrived, I actually had a little A LOT of trouble getting the door to my room. I think I sat there for twenty minutes freaking out and sweating in my rain jacket just trying to get the door unlocked. An upperclassman was studying nearby and noticed my struggle. She helped me go down to the front desk and when that didn’t work, enlisted her friend to help unlock the door. I’ve never been more relieved to hear a door lock click. Katie (what I remember to be her name) didn’t stop there. She invited me into her room, so I could have some company and brewed me a cup of tea (Tazo Refresh-Mint tea, highly recommend).

We talked about CPW, MIT and I asked her some questions. If it all wasn’t nice enough, this is all happening at around 10PM, and she had a PSET due in only a couple of hours. I didn’t want to be too overbearing, so I did head for another CPW event, but the event stuck with me. Katie made me feel so much better after what had been a stressful travel day and a disorienting experience in a new place. If anything, this experience was one of the most impactful ones from the entire weekend. I truly felt welcome in the MIT community.

The Dorm I Stayed In (and the people that make it home <3): during CPW I stayed in Simmons. To say I fell in love with it is an understatement. EVERYTHING ABOUT SIMMONS IS BEAUTIFUL. Sure the walk is a bit far, but the architecture, the design, the quirky feel, all make it a wondrous place for me. My host, Jeba (coolest host ever btw) made me feel so at home and taken care of at just the right moments. She had the best advice both for CPW and for MIT in general. After a particularly long day and a midnight battle of Apples to Apples with Jeba and some other prefrosh, I jokingly told her that I needed a massage. The people of Simmons know what happened next: SHE TOOK ME TO THE SECOND FLOOR MASSAGE CHAIR. I was so tired but when I saw it my mind was absolutely blown. Since we took the stairs for that endeavor I did try making it back up to her room with the stairs, but I couldn’t find them. I heard the Simmons fire drill was something.

Meet the Bloggers (aka very meta right now): so, I had first seriously considered MIT after I got a fanzine in the mail which contained some of the Best of the Blogs. This lead to several nights of excessively binge-reading the most recent blog posts (and then traversing through some older ones). Of course, when I found out there was an opportunity to meet the wondrous people who wrote on these blogs, I absolutely HAD to go. When I arrived, prefrosh were already there and everyone looked like they were having a good time. I didn’t know what hit me, but I was getting a sudden bout of anxiety standing there: I felt really small. My introverted side was not having it. I didn’t know where to start, or how to start talking. After painfully walking around for a while, I decided I was going to leave. And I hated myself for it. I hated that I was going to leave without doing the one thing I had been waiting all day to do.

I hovered by one last table, in hopes that maybe I could regain some semblance of confidence. One of the bloggers, Taylor, waved me over and almost instantly, I was socially cured. Taylor was one of my favorite bloggers, and she might not have known it, but she really helped me open up that night. We talked for a long time. Prefrosh who were originally talking to her had moved around the room then left. New prefrosh joined the conversation, moved around, then left. Bloggers shifted around into smaller and smaller groups. By the time I was going to leave, Afeefah and Caroline had joined us, and more shockingly, I realized I was the last prefrosh in the room. Because of this feat, I was available to take the blogger group photo, which was literally one of the greatest things that happened that weekend. I was over the moon. Just being in the midst of all of the bloggers made me determined to apply to become one.

Chocolate City Open Mic: I had never attended an actual open mic before, but I did know a bit of what to expect, and I was definitely excited. I wasn’t planning on sharing anything before I walked in, but that soon changed. The energy in the room was enlightening, it was invigorating. I witnessed fast-paced rap battles, poems written from the heart, and amazing energy and support from everyone. I was greatly encouraged to present something, anything I wanted to. When I declared my intent to go up, I was met with unbounded happiness from one of the organizers, and I only became more excited after that.

I looked through my Evernote (a seriously awesome place to keep ideas and poems) and settled on a spoken word poem I had written for a competition in 2016, expressing my feelings towards the state of America. I hadn’t read it since that year, and once I finally stepped in front of everyone, I had realized how true everything still was, how it was almost like I had written it the day before. As I spoke I felt electric, the room humming with snaps and cheers. It was like for a moment I was connected to everyone around me, in agreement and in unison. It was an amazing feeling I would never forget.

The willingness of the people in that room to be so supportive and excited about each other’s thoughts, works, and art really made me feel at home, even if I was actually a thousand miles away from it. I later reflected, that’s exactly what made MIT so special: the community. A degree can be earned at any college, there are numerous prestigious schools that are leaders in academics and research, but none of them are MIT. CPW truly showed me that, because in the end, the people around you create the environment; the environment at MIT is diverse, quirky, positive, exciting, and so are the students. I wouldn’t have rather picked anywhere else to spend my next four years.

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sending-the-message · 7 years

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DOG by Ilunibi

So, I’m a found object artist, specializing in assemblage and creepy fucking sculptures. Not one that you would have heard of, just one with a day job and a weird hobby. I spend a lot of time at flea markets and peddler’s malls, because they’re the one place you can go with fifty bucks and walk out with a mummified deer head and a crate of old, rusty kitchen knives, all of which fit my motif to a T. Courtesy of crazy country folk with enough money to rent booth B-4892, I have done such magical, artistic things as help build a monster out of dog jawbones and scrap metal and shove a cow skull in a box with serial killer scrawlings, the latter of which is set to glow bright red at night because Christmas lights were on sale and I didn’t realize how tacky it would be until after the fact.

I don’t always make wise decisions.

But, yeah, you can gather that I gravitate toward creepy things. Sometimes, though, I’ll drift toward the stalls colored bright pink with fluffy stuffed animals and old McDonald’s toys still in the bag, if only because a touch of cute to something unsettling can make it ten times more powerful. Desecrating something wholesome and pure elicits a lot of uncomfortable feelings in people, and trashing those tiny plastic Furbies that came with Happy Meals in the ‘90s is super satisfying. They’re terrifying.

Fortunately for you, though, this isn’t a story about Furbies. This is a story about Dog.

Dog was the denizen of one of those pastel toy booths, crammed so far into an Easter basket that it was like somebody was trying to bury him out of sight for the rest of his little puppy life. One look at him and it was evident that he was probably older than my mother, crafted of a ragged brown fabric that was threadbare in places with wide, orange/pink eyes that gleamed red in the fluorescent light. He was bottom heavy, the majority of the sawdust inside of him crammed into his legs from what I assumed were years of sitting on his ass. When I picked him up he felt gritty and made my hands uncomfortably dry.

A tag was dangling from his wrist. Typically, ancient stuff in this particular peddler’s mall would have the year printed on it to entice antique hunters, but all his said was “DOG, $5.” Strange, but hey, maybe they didn’t know how old he was.

I instantly liked Dog, though. He was strangely cute and, despite my art’s subject matter, I’m secretly a glitter-loving, cat-snuggling pushover. As I wandered around looking at old Coke bottles and rusted traffic signs, a part of me regressed to being that softhearted five-year-old who was paranoid that if she didn’t have all of her stuffed animals on her bed that the ones left behind would be scared and alone at night. My mind kept drifting to Dog, crammed in that basket, looking vaguely afraid, probably overlooked because people thought he was ratty and gross. He wasn’t even disgusting, really. He was just slightly terrifying and showing his age.

I must have looked like a sight, walking up to check-out with a goddamn meat cleaver and a ratty toy dog, but I couldn’t resist in the end. I didn’t want Dog to be alone. He was older than the hills and had made it this far, so it’d be a shame if he didn’t sell and ended up in a landfill somewhere. Dumb to be concerned about an inanimate object, I know, but again, I’m a fucking pushover.

So, I brought Dog home to my apartment, much to my roommate’s delight. He loves creepy things and old things and Dog fit both of those bills. He originally expressed some concern that my cat would be a little too interested in him because he was filled with sawdust and smelled like outdoors, but thankfully she didn’t really want anything to do with him. Safe from being a scratching post, he found a new home nestled on the row of stuffed animals that we had gradually been accumulating on the back of the couch: souvenirs from zoo and aquarium trips, geek toys from our favorite games, that sort of thing. Dog became the semi-permanent neighbor of an ESO mudcrab and a bushbaby.

Notice I said “semi-permanent.” I say this because it didn’t take long for Dog to start traveling in instances my roommate and I originally blamed on the cat. It started with him being behind the couch, then dragged outside our bedroom doors. Then, it evolved to him teetering on top of our headboards while we slept or peeking from behind the milk in the fridge. We assumed the other was just messing with us until, finally, I got a call at work after my roommate dropped me off. His voice was shaken and I could hear the sound of traffic rushing behind him.

Apparently, after dropping me off, he caught a glimpse of movement in his peripheral vision. He checked once, and there was nothing. He checked once more when it happened again, and Dog was sitting in the passenger’s seat. It startled him enough that he pulled over to call me, convinced there had to be some sort of explanation, but what explanation could there be? I was at work, Dog hadn’t been in the car, and then he was. Not like I could will him inside of it.

I got periodic text messages throughout my shift. How my roommate got stuck in unexpected traffic because he pulled over and his twenty minute commute turned into an hour. How uncomfortable he was being in the car with Dog. How he put Dog back in my room to keep from having to look at him but he was back on the couch after he took a shower. The kicker came in the last hour of my workday, though.

“I missed a six car pile-up at our exit because I stopped. FedEx semi. Rolled over and caught fire. Eight dead.”

The traffic my roommate was stuck in was the result of an inexperienced semi driver trying to illegally change lanes at our exit. I don’t know the logistics of it, but apparently he somehow managed to tilt his cargo while trying to overcorrect and wound up crushing the cars in the lane next to him. It caused a pile-up because nobody on the interstate actually drives the speed limit, then, bam. Gas and sparks ignited and the entire thing went up in smoke. It wasn’t anything my roomie saw, mind you, because he got impatient and got off at the previous exit, so it took him by surprise to read the local news later and realize that Dog’s miraculous intervention saved him from burning alive. Potentially.

Needless to say, Dog got a lot more respect after that. Back on the couch he went, with the occasional head pat for good luck and just to let Dog--or whatever was in Dog--know that we appreciated whatever it was that he just did. We didn’t even sit in front of him when we played video games or watched Netflix, just in case Dog wanted to watch, too. Whenever he’d disappear and pop up someplace else, we always acted happy to see him, like he was a kid playing hide and seek or something.

It sounds crazy, but we didn’t regret it when we began to notice patterns in where he popped up.

Shows up in the fridge? He was next to expired food. Saved me a morning of rancid cereal. An appearance under the sink? We had a mild leak and mold was beginning to grow. That could have been bad for my allergies. We still didn’t know why he showed up on or near our beds or outside of our bedrooms, but we thought he may have believed that the cat was a threat and was trying to protect us from her. He is a dog, after all.

Then? Dog stepped up his game.

It was one of those days where you come home from work and are just done. Eleven at night and it was all I could do to get out of my uniform and walk to my bed. My typically nocturnal roomie was in the same boat, having “accidentally” stayed up for a good forty-eight hours playing goddamn Fallout 4 because he has the self-control of a kindergartner on his days off. We high-fived our Dog buddy on the couch and were out by midnight.

Now, normally, I’m a deep sleeper. Being a deep sleeper does not keep you from being woken up by the sound of “What the fuck!” ringing through your apartment in a voice you, unfortunately, don’t recognize. Then, I heard barking, loud and furious, ripping through the air at a volume that seemed unnatural. It was like cranking up Cujo on an old television as high as it would go. There was growling and snarling, cussing and fussing, then the sound of my cat bolting under my bed. Heavy footsteps thundered down our hallway, then back. Our bookshelf of knicknacks rattled, I heard the door to our balcony squeak open, some rustling…

… Then, a thud.

A male voice screamed on impact and I bolted out of my room, meeting my roomie in the hallway with the best weapon we own in the goddamn apartment: a fucking broom. While I’m not sure what he hoped to accomplish with that, at the time he seemed like a knight in shining armor. I hid behind him while we edged toward the living room.

It took extreme courage to flip the light on. We both half expected to be attacked as soon as an intruder saw the whites of our eyes. But, there wasn’t an intruder.

The balcony door and screen were open, and lying in the middle of the living room floor was Dog. A seam on his leg has split, sawdust scattered around him. While my roommate assessed the damage, I poked my head out the balcony door and took a look-see. It took a little help from my phone’s flashlight, but I could assess the damage as one broken branch on the dogwood tree beside our balcony and one grown-ass man sniffling on the sidewalk right beneath our third floor apartment. He’d attracted quite the audience of pajama-clad neighbors with his screaming and, after a quick phone call, the cops were in attendance as well.

He wasn’t anyone I knew and he wasn’t there to burgle anything. The police seemed to recognize him almost instantly, and I got a pretty stern warning to keep my balcony door locked because apparently the dude had been gunning for me for a while. He had a car parked around the block, and a nasty assortment of objects that spelled a bad time for me. They didn’t tell me much more than that, which I was fine with, but they did ask me one weird question before the left.

“What did you hit him with?”

I told them the truth: Nothing. Which the officer found mighty suspicious because the guy’s hair was full of sawdust and he was adamant that I had thwacked him with a sock full of something. Right before my dog tried to attack him, apparently. A dog I technically don’t have.

I spent a lot of time patching Dog up after that--not so easy, given his age--and both my roomie and I sat around trying to figure out the how or the why of what happened or, more importantly, how long that dude had been creeping around inside of our apartment while we slept. After all, Dog always showed up whenever danger (however minor) was near. How many times had we woke up in the morning to find him sitting vigil on our headboards, nestled beside our heads, sitting at our doors? Honestly, I don’t want to think about it.

Lately, he’s been pretty stationary, save when we forget to clean out the fridge or the cat knocks something over and breaks it. I’ve occasionally found him staring wide-eyed out the balcony door, which is unnerving, but I keep it locked up tight anymore and we’ve upgraded our home defense from “broom stuffed in a closet.”

I’m not too concerned. Maybe he’s just keeping watch, since rotten yogurt and broken glass seems to be the most he has to worry about anymore.

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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