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videoplanchette · 1 year

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TLDR: This is a marketing tool to sell dolls

So, I finished the live-action Monster High Movie last night.

It was fine. Like everything it has its pros and cons which I will be covering.

And I don't know why this is the camel that's breaking my straws or whatever the hell-- but if I see one more hyperbolic clickbaity thumbnail or post describing why this is somehow the "worst" movie people have ever seen, I think I'm going be arrested. I've binged all of the monster high shorts, and 3D animated movies, and my brain is complete goddamn mush at this point. The live-action movie isn't even the worst thing associated with the monster high brand. Like to the veteran fans who have been here and are saying that this series used to be "better"-- What crack are you smoking, just curious? Like this series has been straight-up nonsense at points because it's meant to sell toys first and foremost. I want to highlight the whole nostalgia goggles we tend to wear and tell you what it actually is. It's bias. just call it what it is, it's bias.

There are a few different reasons why this claim of Gen3 or the live-action movie, in general, being toted as "the worst thing ever" gets under my skin. I'll be trying to engage with this movie as well as most of the marketing choices with this new line of dolls in good faith. Versus assuming every misstep or mistake is somehow an attack. During this long tangent of a post, I want everyone to repeat to themselves "this is a show meant to sell toys to children; I will not send death threats over this."

To immediately get this out of the way, if you're mad because they made Frankie Stein Nonbinary/Trans, or if they made Draculaura chubby? I'm sorry but you are beyond even my help-- get well soon.

I mostly want to address the criticism of the changed art style, personalities, dynamics, and interests of the characters themselves. I guess why this is exhausting for me because as a long-time fan of other franchises which has canon routinely altered to adhere to trends or the whim of new writers, this happens a lot.

Lot

Actually

Don't even get me started on Scooby Doo.

And I've seen this trend of trying to pigeonhole each new reboot of a beloved franchise as either the "best" or "worst" thing ever. And sure enough, when a good thing like Rottmnt is there, it's canceled before anyone actually realized it was worth a second look, even though the animation and voice cast was always on point. Or in Voltron's case, while met with initial praise, it tried to please everybody, while pleasing nobody. Nobody likes change, I get it.

Personally, I wish we had fewer reboots and more of an emphasis on original projects these days, but then how would we buy dolls?

Speaking of the Monster High Dolls. One thing I find hilariously hypocritical about people criticizing the changes made to the characters complaining about "coherency" and the like-- You folks do remember that this series was made specifically to adapt horror icons from the famed Universal Monster library and Gothic Literature characters into teenagers who attend school, make out with each other and wear gaudy clothes? Like again you guys are watching a derivative of a derivative! Like Monster High is a high school AU of HG Wells, Mary Shelley, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, and GREEK MYTH!

I can understand the reservations to like the reboot, but I can guarantee you it's a more faithful adaptation than Winx: Fate or River Dale. It doesn't even scratch the batshit wildness that either of those series tried to pull. It's not entertainingly bad. The movie is genuinely decent. All the actors look like they wanted to be there and they all deliver their performances (especially Frankie's) with energy and charm.

Yes, the effects, costumes, and make-up are cheap, but I'd rather have cheap makeup done by unionized compensated workers with ambition than CGI everything. If anything it reminds me of my favorite made for TV Halloween movies from my childhood, like Scary Godmother or Halloweentown.

I guess what I'm trying to say, for a commercial to sell me a new line of dolls, it could have been a lot worse.

#monster high #monster high the movie #txt☆#captain's log☆

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rcsbardin · 2 years

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Finding and testing a super 8 camera

I am working on a project about history and tourism and decided that super 8 was a really interesting format to use because of its association with nostalgia, home movies and vacation Elizabeth Czach's thesis Home Movies Then and Now has provocative examples of how super 8 has been used and marketed. The old Wonder Years intro scene is another interesting touchstone (it looks like simulated super 8). This post is about some of the research and thought process behind using this format and then finding and testing a camera.

I filmed with super 8 many years ago but forgot to leave myself notes and had to do a lot of research to catch up. I vaguely remembered compatibility issues with certain film stocks and troubles with built in internal filters. I used a variety of resources, blogs and forums to get caught up which I'll try and link to throughout.

From a director's perspective, the automated aspects and imperfections of the super 8 format are an important part of its qualities and appeal. As a cinematographer, relinquishing control of exposure and metering and lenses is challenging after working with manual still and movie cameras.

My wish list for a Super 8 camera involved a Goldilocks-esque list of factors:

Overall reputation of camera and lens quality

Compatibility with a variety of modern film stocks

Manual exposure controls - Many super 8 cameras can't meter for higher ASA film stocks but manual control can help override that. This is helpful also in case the internal meter is inaccurate or broken. Analog Resurgence has a good video explainer of this. Or read Shoot It With Film's What You Need to Know Before Buying a Super 8 Camera.

Expense and ease of batteries - Cameras like the Beaulieus have custom batteries that either require re-celling or expensive or DIY modernized battery packs. Many other cameras require button cell batteries for the light meter which aren't too hard to find but not as easy as AAs.

Cost and condition - While I love fixing things and DIY projects, I was hoping to find something that would work pretty well off the bat because the project is coming up soon. But a camera that has a guarantee of having been tested and professionally maintained costs a lot more. What can I test for to feel comfortable with the risks?

Locally available - I'd had a tragedy of shipping a super 8 camera before another project years ago that meant I had to buy a 2nd, less desirable camera last minute. Avoiding shipping and getting to hold a camera and test it in person ranked highly for me in terms of risk assessment.

I found a great local seller of a Nizo Professional who was able to walk me through the camera and let me test things out before committing. The Nizo Pro only needs AA batteries and while it's limited to only automatically metering for film stocks up to 160T, it does have the ability to manually adjust the iris. It will meter Kodak 500T as if were 160T, overexposing the film. But I can stop down by 1 & 2/3 of a stop to compensate. It would meter 250D as 100D so stop down 1 & 1/3rd stop. (Here's a chart of ASAs in 1/3rds stops increments)

The seller helped me check the following things in person before purchasing: Initial Super 8 camera purchasing checklist Powered on and ran (no film inside but motors sounded good, only do this at low speeds!) No major battery corrosion Viewfinder and lens were clear of fungus and scratches and all barrels turned smoothly Meter activated (not testing for exposure accuracy, just that it responds to light at all). It responded both in Auto and Manual modes. That was enough for me to feel like it was worth it. He also threw in 7 cartridges of 200t, which, might be super expired and totally unusable but they also might be ok! They are useful for making sure film transports through the camera if nothing else.

I had a lot of questions still and wanted to run more tests at home.

At home Super 8 tests

Motorized zoom test - Buttons work and speed responds to varying pressure.

2. Is the iris / aperture actually moving along with the meter needle? I check this by looking through the gate while running the camera and seeing the iris expand and contract in automatic mode by pointing the camera at bright and darker spots and seeing it respond to the manual dial also. This doesn't establish accuracy of the stops indicated in the viewfinder but confirms that the iris at least works in some capacity.

3. What's going on with the internal filter, color temperature and ASA settings? TLDR; The metering and internal filter activation pins and switches are interconnected and all worked as designed.

I tested this by looking through the gate and pressing on the ASA and color temperature pins and flipping the filter switch. The filter engaged (looked orange) and disengaged appropriately with the switch and color temperature pin.

The iris opened and closed with the ASA measuring wedge being pressed in.

For accurate exposure reading, heed the manual's instructions on daylight and b&w film always being set to the sun symbol on the filter switch. Daylight film + lamp symbol will mean underexposure by 2/3rds of a stop.

Conclusion on internal filter: If I have daylight film, I'll listen to the manual and put the switch on the sun symbol mode. If I have tungsten film but I want to use a fancy glass 85 filter instead of the internal 85 filter, I'll put the switch on the light bulb symbol so that I don't double filter (the metering is done through the lens).

Final test: A roll of film!

The last test I did was putting in a 200T cartridge in and filming with it. I haven't gotten the footage back yet but I can confirm it made it to the end of the roll where it says Exposed. I know the shutter was working and the iris moved. So these are all good signs.

I tested filming with and without the internal filter engaged to see what the quality differences might be.

I filmed a color chart as well.

The test should give me an idea if the meter is exposing film at all in the ball park. Of course, 200t is more sensitive than the 160 it is being read at, so it should be overexposed by 1/3rd of a stop which I didn't bother to accommodate for manually.

I noticed a lot of flaring so I picked up a rubber hood (after the fact). I also used a variable ND because 200t is quite sensitive!

There could be other issues revealed by the test, so we shall see!

Long version of notching and internal filter testing: Super 8 cameras were designed to take a lot of guesswork out of filming. The cartridges of film have notches that correspond to mechanisms inside the camera that tells it what sensitivity and color temperature the film stock is. There is also usually a switch that you flip to tell the camera whether it is outside or inside. All of these factors impact the metering and whether or not an internal orange filter engages.

It's easy to get into the weeds on this subject so I recommend the Analog Resurgence video How Does My Camera Detect Film?, reading Pro8mm's blog about the filter and Friedemann Wachsmuth's blog post about his Super 8 notch ruler that helps measure a cartridge and camera. http://www.peaceman.de/blog/index.php/super-8-notch-ruler-new-and-improved

Above is a photo from Wachsmuth's ruler which shows the measurements and locations of the notches in a super 8 cartridge and below is a photo of the inside of the Nizo Pro where you can see the gate, the ASA notch reader and the tungsten / daylight reader.

I ultimately wanted to see if the notch readers and filter switch were working as designed (and also I needed to test things out to fully comprehend the concepts and design)

Super 8 cameras mostly expected tungsten (~3200 kelvin) balanced film and have a built in 85 / orange filter to correct (~5600k) daylight to tungsten so outdoor footage didn't look blue. Many experts suggest not using these built in filters because they are probably deteriorating or dirty.

I only ever want an 85 filter if I'm using tungsten film outdoors or under 5600k balanced movie lights.

Below is a photo of the Nizo's Outdoor / Indoor setting switch. It's not a simply a filter switch, it also impacts exposure!

Observations and facts:

Setting the switch to the daylight sun symbol extends the internal pin and engages the internal 85 filter *if* it has a tungsten cartridge loaded or is totally empty.

Tungsten cartridges have a notch cut out at the bottom which gives the pin room to extend into.

A daylight cartridge has no notch so it won't allow the pin to be extended. It pushes that back pin in. Pushing back on the pin disengages the 85 filter and tells the camera this is daylight film.

*When the switch is set to the sun symbol, the meter reading does not change whether the pin is pressed in or extended out* - this is because an 85 filter on 160 cuts 2/3rds of a stop of light which the light needed equivalent to 100ASA. Setting the switch to the tungsten light bulb symbol

Turning the filter switch on the Nizo Pro to the light bulb symbol does many things: 1. retracts the pin 2. disengages the 85 filter 3. lights up a light bulb symbol in the viewfinder and 4. stops down the iris to accommodate for the extra light being let in now that there isn't a filter. I got the following readings

Sun symbol (filter engaged) f. 4 1/3 Light bulb symbol (no filter) f. 5.6

This is a good sign since 85 filters cut 2/3rds of a stop of light.

*When the switch is set to the light bulb symbol, the meter reading changes by 2/3rds of a stop (less light is let in)*

The light bulb warning light on the top right is there to remind you that you have no filter engaged in case you walk outdoors.

So what if we have daylight balanced film and put the switch to the light bulb symbol?

The manual tells us not to do this and cautions the user to always have the switch on the sun symbol when using daylight or black and white film.

What will happen if we do it anyway? We are going to underexpose our daylight or black and white film by 2/3rds of a stop. The pin that can tell the difference between daylight and tungsten film has been retracted by the switch and can't tell the difference between 100D and 160T now (which have the same top notch cutout measurement). The camera just assumes you have tungsten film that's unfiltered and stops down to compensate. But hey, the manual tried to warn us!

#super 8 #film #nizo #super 8mm

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purplesurveys · 9 months

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1707

When was the last time you swam in a pool? 🏊‍♀️ Oh wow. When was the last time...? I’m generally not a fan of pools as I find the smell of chlorine too strong, but I think it was in 2021 when my co-workers and I went to Zambales for a quick vacation. Nobody was staying in the resort but us so we wanted to take advantage of the empty pool.

Would you rather have an indoor pool or outdoor pool? Outdoor, so I can be under the sun.

What was the last thing you said out loud? “You can eat the dumplings,” to my sister. I had bought them thinking I was craving dumplings, but I realized I wasn’t so I just gave the whole pack to her.

Do you think you could ever be an opera singer? Not at all. I can’t even be a ‘normal’ singer.

How often do you eat bread? 🥖 Idk...once a week? Maybe less on average? Bread isn’t all that common here; that’s what we have rice for.

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and thought you looked pale? Wednesday. I didn’t get enough sleep, hadn’t eaten in like...18 hours by that point, and it happened to be office day. I was pretty disoriented and I know it showed because I had like 5 people come up to me and ask if I even slept.

Have you ever wanted to be a nurse? 👩‍⚕️ Not once did it ever occur in my mind.

Would you ever want to be a nurse? Why or why not? No. The work just doesn’t suit my skillset so it’s not really something I ever considered.

Who or what do you worship? Nobody.

What was the last thing someone made fun of you for? My sister laughed at me burping.

Do you own a mini sewing kit that you use for altering clothing? 🧵 Yes. Well it’s not mine, but yes we have one at home for emergency alterations.

Do you know a Ted? Barely. He’s someone a handful of my friends know, but that Ted and I don’t actually know one another.

Do you own a beret? 👩‍🎨 I do not.

When was the last time you wore a beret? I don’t even know if I’ve ever put one on.

What is one thing you have found to be a bore? The whole Barbie hype. I didn’t like dolls as a kid, so I’m finding all the memes and social media posts and childhood nostalgia super unrelatable rn.

Where do you keep your out-of-season clothes? Yeah that’s not a thing here. I wear the same clothes all year round; the seasons don’t drastically change.

If you had to pick your top three favorite colors, what would they be? Purple, pastel pink, olive green.

How many inches do you normally have to hem up your pants? 👖 I don’t.

What are three things you would buy if you were rich? 🤑 A new batch of clothes and shoes, a new Nintendo switch, the largest plot of land for stray dogs.

How many times in your life have you been stung by a bee or a wasp? 🐝 None.

Have you ever swam in one of the Great Lakes? No.

....and if so, how many of the Great Lakes have you swam in? I have not.

Do you believe in the devil? 👹 Nope.

What is one thing you wish were more easily accessible? Literally, places to live in. Filipinos are compensated too little for how much houses or condos or rent cost these days, making it impossible for anybody in my age range to move out unless your parents pay for your place or you have a widely successful multi-million business as a Gen Z.

Do you enjoy playing icebreaker games when you're in a group of people you just met? It depends on the situation I’m stuck in. I fucking hate icebreakers at work seminars/conferences; they’re always awkward, everyone is unwilling, and the games are almost always cringey, hahaha.

What is your favorite icebreaker game? Two truths, one lie is always a fun one.

What is one thing you find serene? Staring out into the sea. I can do it for hours.

Have you ever chopped something with an axe? 🪓 I’ve never even held an axe.

What is your favorite genre of music? K-pop.

What is one thing you like that tastes sour? Kimchi.

Do you think "Sour Patch Kids" sounds too much like "Cabbage Patch Kids"? No.

Did you ever own a Cabbage Patch doll when you were a kid? No I didn’t even know what those were until I got older and started taking these surveys.

Do you like the candy Sour Patch Kids? I’ve tried liking them but I just hate sour food so much to change my mind haha.

What was the last song you listened to on repeat? Seven by Jungkook and Latto (with 2-3 songs in between, because we wanna stream responsibly, heh).

What is one mistake you've made that you hope to never repeat? Taking a friend back in after they’ve already broken my trust/fucked up the first time. Apparently they will 100% do it again. That said I wish nothing but misery for Marielle the rest of her life.

What was the last thing you baked in the oven? The last thing I baked was a batch of chocolate chip cookies a decade ago.

Have you ever been to a track meet? 🏃‍♀️ Yes. I facilitated/managed the event itself; I was not one of the runners, lmao.

What do you call the bathroom? Do you say bathroom, restroom, washroom, lavatory, loo, toilet, latrine, or....? Washroom or restroom for the public facility. Bathroom if I’m at a private space, like a hotel room or a friend’s house.

When was the last time you made guacamole? 🥑 I have never made that.

Do you know of any schools that have the beaver for a mascot? No.

Have you ever stayed in a suite? Yes but it’s not something we *always* do; we’ve gotten a suite a total of only like three times I think (and ALWAYS as a free upgrade, because my mom is in the industry haha). Just seems like throwing so much money for a place you’ll be at for only one or two days.

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renatedagmarmilada · 1 year

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a rocket for a satelite

This tale is about guilt and evil!

Anna of Human Research St Barths would have got a rocket if their deeds of past and present had been discovered then they even put me on a satellite to the Big Apple a little housewife caring for her family setting off the alarms at Santa Monika!

Aggressive, intrusive and all the other evil ‘ives

Interruptions into lives, over tv, music and the rest Interventions into lives, over tv, music and the rest Intervening into lives, over tv, music and the rest Interjections into lives, over tv, music and the rest even causing deaths! and not even intermittently Internationally now called globally, into lives, over tv, music and the rest Interpolating lies into lives, over tv, music and the rest Interposing reality with their crazed virtual reality Interpreting with their nasty, evil minds all things pure and impure allowing no interventions by the good and helpful Interweaving their rubbish with our solid good

destroying the fabric of so many lives destroying so many lives!

caught red handed beaming looped all over the place everyone viewed so the blacking began none of us knew with Royal Prerogative to boot sadistic as never before war by the most powerful against a tiny family living quiet lives and the population at large.

“Give me all you’ve got,” said Steven from Kaspar and Kissinger lying even to them! Anna is sadistic enough the quacks corrupt enough our girls sadistic enough our health workers evil enough for the ‘phase-out’ to work to turn life into a living hell for this one tiny family (called British style pressure we didn’t know) who aren’t even aware can’t even imagine such crap from a professional body, supposedly and only just grasping how evil Brits can be after two decades (an Arab business man escaped to Dublin they did some of this to him too and others)

Use this little family for all illegal physical experiments totally outlawed in the States.

Ring round the worst practitioners ask them to come and practice using our whole system globally using the family totally everyone use them!

cripple, maime, manslaughter, raise havoc isolate, alienate, rob, cheat and all the rest all at once, gang bang, go!

Involving Ministries the lovers of Anna will destroy life’s fabric and their careful little savings leaving them nothing after we’ve done. (the family still don’t know while she tries to think what have we done wrong?)

Using their professional status every company on the isle to cheat, syphon and allow robbery by all the students and lab workers closing all loopholes some old codger at the Lords allowed cheating on the little family give prison sentences and massive fines low and no marks for academic work then give the work to one of ours and they wonder why the country runs wild nothing ever returned or sorted not even nostalgia and paintings robbed by protected pilfering or the post not allowed!

Just a mum, kids, and scared grandparents stateless refugees of before kids born over here, british father don’t know where to flee in this closed off bordered world The liberation wasn’t worse allow no recompense

All for compensation which the jewish Health Minister feared would be a job of millions the family knew nothing about!

Now you understand Burnt ground and guilt effects and that old saying lie once lie thrice… That evil crew got away with it all made themselves rich with it and trained semi literates to cruelty with the States blessings. any one who helped them has been sent on the ladder up by them regardless of talent or suitability even copying all academic and creative works for all the lab, (jews copying our jewish memories from little Slovakia as their own! ugh…) quacks families and friends new artists they have created none with any talent all at the top and a few famous they’ve used these Stars for safety told them odd tales about me and mine (‘I wish you to rob my work, I am a retarded person who has gone to University’ eh?) now have to silence me and shun so their shame should never be known!

Thank God for American poetry sites which still allow free speech.

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curatedbyhatto · 2 years

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Patterns - Give it Up

Ok well, don't get me wrong, I love doing curated by hatto, but it is nonetheless exhausting. That's why I love curating about bands that I know a lot about, or that have little history, little changes, etc. It's easy for me and it takes way little time than bands like Ghandi, bôa or bloc party. I loved doing those, but it took several hours to research everything and condense it just for a single post (way more than making the videos themselves). Perks of doing this, I guess. I'm not complaining, just letting it out of my system. Anyway...

✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈

This week's song (which I uploaded late, but compensated with a cool video) is called 'Give It Up', from Patterns. I opted for an 4:3, VCR font, kinda vintage looking video, which you can see on hatto's dumpster youtube channel

About the band

Patterns is a Costarican synthpop band from San José, founded on 2012, as a form of fulfilling the nostalgia for the 80s and the desire of experimentation from its members.

The group was originally formed by:

Mario Miranda: drums and synths Allan Rojas: guitar and synths Michelle Gonzales: vocals Luigi Jiménez: bass Later on there would be changes on it's lineup when Estefani Brolo (GT) replaced Michelle on vocals when the latter decided to go solo as 'MishCatt' in 2014. Brolo's addition to the band was seemingly a bit rough as some individuals critiqued the band for not having a Costarican vocalist, but a Guatemalan one; however, people had two options really: love it or hate it. The concerns and negative comments faded away and Patterns still preserved its status and kept rocking.

They've played in several Costarican and international festivals, and even had the chance to perform for Sofar sounds in 2013. So far, the band has released 2 LPs, 2 EPs and a bunch of singles here and there.

They were one of the 5 runner ups for the 'artist of the year 2014' award by the now disappeared 89decibeles, along Las Robertas, Los Waldners, 424 and Florian Droids. That same year they were also featured and heavily promoted by Bavaria beer, both licensing their music for adverts and working with them on concerts.

Their latest release is called 'Veneno', the second full length album of the band. It includes music in Spanish, something we hadn't seen from patterns up until now. Now, the song of this week.

About the song

'Give It Up' is the 3rd track on Patterns' 2015 EP 'Shout'. This was not the song that I discovered the band for (it was with Burning Man instead) but I could say it was the track I listened to the most for a good while, before discovering more of their music.

I really like this track because of the perfect blend it makes between synthpop and Latinamerican rhythms. The lyrics are also cool, on that same note

Any meaning?

The song has a very clear message: things haven't worked out for the protagonist nor for their love interest, but it's time to start over, and make things right once and for all. That's basically it, give it up.

Go follow Patterns on instagram, facebook and twitter.

You can of course listen to them on bandcamp, spotify and youtube.

Sources (except the ones already linked on text) 'patterns' in compi.la 'MishCatt' on wikipedia 'Michelle González: post-Patterns' an article on 'de malas palabras' 'nominaciones a artista del año 2014' by 89decibeles on facebook. clips here and here of Bavaria working with the band. 'Patterns caminará sin la voz de Michelle González' and 'Patterns ya tiene nueva voz: Estefani Brolo, cantante guatemalteca', articles in nacion.com

#curated by hatto: the music #indie #independent #music #alternative #rock #tea #pop #dance #costa rica #space #patterns #synthpop #synth #80s #80s nostalgia

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andrebearakovsky · 6 years

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this one is for you

and you

and for you

to all the guys who have been important members of the caps family over the years who have come and gone: we couldn’t win it with you, but this win is for you guys, too. you’re family, and you’ll never truly be gone. you’re caps forever in our hearts, and this is for you.

#i wanted to do it with all the members of my family #but unfortunately that is not possible #so to compensate here's my nostalgia post #brooks laich #michael latta #justin williams #joel ward #jason chimera #nate schmidt #alex semin #karl alzner #marcus johansson #mike green #washington capitals #i hope this makes u cry cause i cried making it #original post #my stuff

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jadevalentine-writes · 2 years

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Coming Soon - MXTX Big Bang Fic - Farfalle di Carta

Hello all!

I am pleased to announce that the reveal date for my long awaited MXTX Big Bang fic is Saturday, December 11th. Based on the current reveal trend, I believe the fic will be revealed at 8 PM EST. As soon as it's available, I'll post a link on here and reblog the post for a few days to advertise. :)

I did want to reveal the summary though in order to get people amped up. I'm incredibly proud to be a part of this challenge and really enjoyed getting this story down. I'm so excited to be able to showcase the art done by sofinch_wwx. A big thank you, as always, to my glorious beta @subtlybrilliant who not only wrangled my commas but also helped me with many roadblocks with this story.

Without further ado, the summary!

Xie Lian never judged a book’s contents by its cover. He had read plenty of good books over the years that had plain or uninteresting covers. Usually the title or summary compensated for the plain exterior and would be the reason Xie Lian pulled the book off of the shelf. Sometimes he’d take a book out of sheer curiosity, even if nothing drew his attention. Those were often the books where he would be pleasantly surprised. Underneath plain dust jackets could be hidden intricate gold leaf designs. Some may have folded maps in the back cover. Or, on rare occasions, Xie Lian would find the pages edged in gold, a feature that could not be seen until the book was pulled off the shelf to shimmer under the light.

One day while perusing the stacks at the library, he finds a book shelved apart from the others, as though peerless. The plain dust jacket was in taters, revealing the faded red cloth of the hardcover underneath.

And it was filled with paper butterflies.

OR a 90s nostalgia modern AU where Xie Lian randomly meets Hua Cheng over a poetry anthology and they fall in love (slowly) and get up to shenanigans with their friends.

#mxtx big bang #mxtx big bang 2021 #mxtx big bang teaser #progress update #farfalle di carta #hualian #xie lian #hua cheng

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madmensideblog · 3 years

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MAD MEN BOOK RECS

Happy pride/Don Draper’s fake birthday ❤️ Below the cut, I’ve listed info on my favorite Mad Men related books and a couple I haven’t read yet but I’m really looking forward to. Let me know if you check any of these out, or if you have any other recommendations! ❤️

Mad Men Carousel: The Complete Critical Companion by Matt Zoller Seitz

“Mad Men Carousel is an episode-by-episode guide to all seven seasons of AMC's Mad Men. This book collects TV and movie critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s celebrated Mad Men recaps—as featured on New York magazine's Vulture blog—for the first time, including never-before-published essays on the show’s first three seasons. Seitz’s writing digs deep into the show’s themes, performances, and filmmaking, examining complex and sometimes confounding aspects of the series. The complete series—all seven seasons and ninety-two episodes—is covered.

Each episode review also includes brief explanations of locations, events, consumer products, and scientific advancements that are important to the characters, such as P.J. Clarke’s restaurant and the old Penn Station; the inventions of the birth control pill, the Xerox machine, and the Apollo Lunar Module; the release of the Beatles’ Revolver and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds; and all the wars, protests, assassinations, and murders that cast a bloody pall over a chaotic decade.

Mad Men Carousel is named after an iconic moment from the show’s first-season finale, “The Wheel,” wherein Don delivers an unforgettable pitch for a new slide projector that’s centered on the idea of nostalgia: “the pain from an old wound.” This book will soothe the most ardent Mad Men fan’s nostalgia for the show. New viewers, who will want to binge-watch their way through one of the most popular TV shows in recent memory, will discover a spoiler-friendly companion to one of the most multilayered and mercurial TV shows of all time.”

A classic episode-by-episode look at the series from reviewer Matt Zoller Seitz.

The Legacy of Mad Men — Cultural History, Intermediality and American Television (Edited by Karen McNally, Jane Marcellus, Teresa Forde, and Kirsty Fairclough)

“For seven seasons, viewers worldwide watched as ad man Don Draper moved from adultery to self-discovery, secretary Peggy Olson became a take-no-prisoners businesswoman, object-of-the-gaze Joan Holloway developed a feminist consciousness, executive Roger Sterling tripped on LSD, and smarmy Pete Campbell became a surprisingly nice guy. Mad Men defined a pivotal moment for television, earning an enduring place in the medium’s history.

This edited collection examines the enduringly popular television series as Mad Men still captivates audiences and scholars in its nuanced depiction of a complex decade. This is the first book to offer an analysis of Mad Men in its entirety, exploring the cyclical and episodic structure of the long form series and investigating issues of representation, power and social change. The collection establishes the show’s legacy in televisual terms, and brings it up to date through an examination of its cultural importance in the Trump era. Aimed at scholars and interested general readers, the book illustrates the ways in which Mad Men has become a cultural marker for reflecting upon contemporary television and politics.”

This is a really beautiful collection. It was published in 2019. It’s rather expensive. (I found a used copy for much cheaper.) If you can afford it, I really, really recommend buying it. There is a pdf floating around if you know where to look though. But like I said, it’s really amazing work and the women who curated it deserve high praise and compensation.

A few favorite essays of mine include “Don Draper and the Enduring Appeal of Antonioni’s La Notte” by Emily Hoffman, “Mad Men’s Mid-Century Modern Times” by Zak Roman, “Mad Men and the Staging of Literature via Ken Cosgrove and His Problems” by Aaron Shapiro, and “What Jungian Psychology Can Tell Us About Don Draper’s Unexpected Embrace of Leonard in Mad Men’s Finale” by Marisa Carroll.

Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It Seems (Edited by William Irwin, James B. South, and Rod Carveth)

“With its swirling cigarette smoke, martini lunches, skinny ties, and tight pencil skirts, Mad Men is unquestionably one of the most stylish, sexy, and irresistible shows on television. But the series becomes even more absorbing once you dig deeper into its portrayal of the changing social and political mores of 1960s America and explore the philosophical complexities of its key characters and themes. From Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to John Kenneth Galbraith, Milton Friedman, and Ayn Rand, Mad Men and Philosophy brings the thinking of some of history's most powerful minds to bear on the world of Don Draper and the Sterling Cooper ad agency. You'll gain insights into a host of compelling Mad Men questions and issues, including happiness, freedom, authenticity, feminism, Don Draper's identity, and more.”

This collection was published just a month before the start of season 4, so it only concerns the first three seasons of the show. As such, it includes some assumptions that are proven false and a few strange misreadings that I’m sure would’ve been cleared up had they had the rest of the show at their disposal. But there are some great philosophical insights and analysis.

I haven’t yet read the whole collection, but my favorite essay of what I’ve read so far was “Pete, Peggy, Don, and the Dialectic of Remembering and Forgetting” by John Fritz.

The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men (by costume designer Janie Bryant)

From Joanie's Marilyn Monroe-esque pencil skirts to Betty's classic Grace Kelly cupcake dresses, the clothes worn by the characters of the phenomenal Mad Men have captivated fans everywhere. Now, women are trading in their khakis for couture and their pumas for pumps. Finally, it's hip to dress well again. Emmy-Award winning costume designer Janie Bryant offers readers a peek into the dressing room of Mad Men, revealing the design process behind the various characters' looks and showing every woman how to find her own leading lady style--whether it's vintage, modern, or bohemian. Bryant's book will peek into the dressing room of Mad Men and reveal the design process behind the various characters' looks. But it will also help women learn how fashion can help convey their personality. She will help them cultivate their style, including all the details that make a big difference. Bryant offers advice to ensure that a woman's clothes convey her personality. She covers everything from where to find incredible vintage clothing and accessories to how to pair those authentic pieces with modern shoes and jeans. Readers will learn how to find their perfect bra size, use color to convey a mood, and invest in the ten essentials every woman should own. And just so the ladies don't leave their men behind, there's even a section on making them look a little more Don Draper-dashing.

I recently ordered a used copy of this book and haven’t yet received it, but I’m very much looking forward to it. Like Mad Men and Philosophy listed above, it was published between season 3 and 4, so unfortunately does not cover the whole show. It sounds like it might just cover the women’s costume design, though I’m not sure. Janie Bryant is such a meticulous, genius costume designer that I can’t wait to read it. Relatedly, you should follow her incredible costume design instagram where she posts lots of her work from Mad Men and other shows with fascinating insight into her process.

The Universe is Indifferent: Theology, Philosophy, and Mad Men (Edited by Ann W. Duncan and Jacob L. Goodson)

Centered on the lives of the employees at a Manhattan advertising firm, the television series Mad Men touches on the advertising world's unique interests in consumerist culture, materialistic desire, and the role of deception in Western capitalism. While this essay collection has a decidedly socio-historical focus, the authors use this as the starting point for philosophical, religious, and theological reflection, showing how Mad Men reveals deep truths concerning the social trends of the 1960s and deserves a significant amount of scholarly consideration. Going beyond mere reflection, the authors make deeper inquiries into what these trends say about American cultural habits, the business world within Western capitalism, and the rapid social changes that occurred during this period. From the staid and conventional early seasons to the war, assassinations, riots, and counterculture of later seasons, The Universe is Indifferent shows how social change underpins the interpersonal dramas of the characters in Mad Men.

I only just found out about this collection, but I’m very interested in finding a copy. This was published in 2016. You can see the table of contents here. EDIT: This book is available to read on Scribd. They offer a 30 day free trial.

#mad men #books

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codenamed-bananafish · 3 years

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I wrote the beginnings of this vaguely sci-fi asheiji story, way back in 2018, but never got around to posting it anywhere. I was going through my drafts this evening, and thought I might as well release it into the void :') the fandom is probably dead by now, and I doubt if anyone's even gonna read it, but still.

My idea for this was : a parallel timeline exists, in which, Ash (currently in the anime timeline, in the late 2010s) finds a diary which used to belong to the old Ash from the 1980s, in a way, think of it as history repeating itself. In the 1990s, older Eiji, now 27, still has Ash's diary with him, it's only sometime in the future that he slips it into the NYPL, and years later, the present Ash, 14 years old, finds it. Past Eiji and future Ash communicate with the diary, and Eiji desperately tries to help this Ash, as a friend and guide, so that this Ash can successfully defeat the present Dino, and reunite with his Eiji. The events of Banana Fish would've been the same, but with older Eiji subtly changing the crucial moments thru his advice, and Ash can finally get his victory over Dino in the present.

On hindsight, the plot was probably too ambitious for me lol....and it definitely sounds too confusing now that I write it out here, but I guess my enthusiasm then more than compensated for this long winded unfinished story ahaha 😂 Anyway....I'm posting it here just so I can let it go, and for the sake of nostalgia :')

#banana fish #my stuff #writing #ash lynx #eiji okumura #asheiji

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lonelyreputation · 4 years

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“Cuts!” (Dad!Shawn)

A/N: Well…After mobile decided to just do away with this whole fic…Here it is! Again!! Woot! Gotta love google docs though! Also! Thank you, thank you THANK YOU for all your kind words with Chameleon! It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written, so your kind word have made me 🥺

But I figured some fluff is in need after it soooo…Here’s some Dad!Shawn🥳

Summary: Your kid runs on stage in the midst of Shawn performing

MASTERLIST | LET’S CHAT 🥂

Warnings: absolutely none😌

WC: 3.1K // Fluff

You’d never forget the feeling the first time Shawn asked you to watch one of his shows side stage. You were just nineteen, hopelessly enamored with the boy who played guitar, that looked back at you after every song. And to reassure him, you always gave him a thumbs up.

And you’d never forget the day where you first watched a show with his family and friends. You were twenty-one, not knowing how it took you this long to watch a show with his family and friends, but then again, a relationship between an international pop-star and a university student was a bit challenging. You sang with his mom, kept your voice low as you talked with his dad about how proud both of you were of him, and held Aaliyah’s hand as the two of you danced around.

Then later on in your relationship, you eventually invited your friends and family to see Shawn perform. And soon after that, it was both of your families watching Shawn from the side stage. And even after years of watching him, he still looked back at you after every song, and you still gave him a reassuring thumbs up.

And now with being married to Shawn…It was time to take your son––Jake––to his father’s shows and watch from the side stage.

It was a very hot and muggy summer night as Shawn played an amphitheater somewhere in the United States. While you and Shawn wanted to have your kid live a normal life as much as possible, that meant not traveling around with Shawn for the entirety of tour. Jake was five and had his own little world of sports, making friends, and summer camps in Toronto.

You always thought standing side stage was the best view. With the crew members rushing by, Cez off to the side mumbling into his headset, and Andrew typing on his phone while glancing up every once in a while…It made you feel like you were nineteen again.

Caught up in your own nostalgia of when you first dated Shawn, you almost didn’t feel the tug on your shorts.

Looking down, you smiled at your son who was an exact replica of his dad with his straight brown hair––that you knew would curl as he got older––and a smile that you would do anything for.

You bent down to his height and smiled, “Yeah?”

“Hungry!” He shouted at you while pointing to his stomach. With the protective headphones you and Shawn made him wear, he was compensating for not being able to hear his voice loud enough, which made you chuckle.

You nodded your head, placed your hands on your knees before standing up, and reached a hand out for him to take. He gripped his little hand around yours and you felt your heart swell up because how on earth did you and Shawn make an absolute perfect person.

Walking back to the dressing room for the snacks, Jake would either enthusiastically high-five or fist bump every crew member he saw. The smile on his face when they reciprocated his high-five made your heart swell even more. Jake was just like your husband in that sense, always loving the attention he got from people.

Once you made it to Shawn’s dressing room, Jake pointed at his protective headphones, “Mommy! Can I take these off!”

With a soft laugh, you nodded your head as you walked over, taking them off for him. Once his headphones were off, he made a dash to the table in the back.

It warmed your heart to see animal crackers and fruit snacks on the table with juice boxes in the mini-fridge. Whenever Shawn knew you and Jake were coming out to see him on the road, he always added Jake’s favorite snacks to his rider so that they would be in his dressing before they arrived.

The first time Shawn did it melted your heart, and he continued to have Jake’s favorite snacks on demand. Sometimes he would even request some rice krispy treats or chocolate brownies. That would earn him a glare from you, but he always said he wanted to give his son something special when he came and visited his dad.

And then the eye roll you gave your husband would always turn into soft eyes.

“Jake,” You said his name, and he looked up at you with wide eyes, as he stuck his whole hand into his mouth to put one snack in his mouth, “We don’t want to miss the show, come on.”

He nodded his head and grabbed a red box of animal crackers as he scurried over to you, “Is daddy done soon?”

You nodded your head, “He’ll be done in a little bit,” you said as you made sure his protective headphones were snug in place on his head.

“Can I sleep in the tiny bed on daddy’s bus again!” Jake was now back to his yelling, “It’s like a fort!”

Before you left the room, you picked him up so you could walk to the stage faster, and answered his question, raising your voice just a tad so he could hear you, “We might be in a hotel tonight, but you can ask him.”

“Okay!” He yelled in your face.

Once you were back in your designated spot on the side stage, Jake pointed up at Cez’s large headset that he used to communicate with the rest of the crew, “Uncle C has phones just like me!”

Just barely hearing the comment, Cez turned around, offered your son a fist bump and smirked at Andrew, “I think I’m the favorite uncle.”

You didn’t hear the rest of their bickering, as you moved a bit closer to the edge of the back stage, still behind the curtain, wanting to get the best view of your husband. Setting Jake down on the ground, he instantly plopped down as he shouted, “Criss-cross applesauce!” before sitting down in that exact position.

“Mommy!” Jake looked up at you with wide eyes as he yelled up at you.

You bent down, setting the plate you brought from the dressing room on the ground, as you opened up the box animal crackers, “Yes, sweetie?”

“Can daddy have applesauce in the next room?!”

And like when he asked you about sleeping in one of the tour bunks, you said, “If you ask him nicely, maybe he’ll get it.” You pressed a kiss to his forehead as you dumped out the animal crackers on the plate.

A song had just finished, and like every time since you were nineteen, Shawn looked back at you, but the only difference was now he also looked at your son. You threw both of your thumbs up, and when you looked down at your son, he was playing with the giraffe and elephant, making animal noises.

With a shrug and a roll of your eyes, you blew Shawn an overdramatic kiss and he laughed.

Shawn was in the midst of giving an introductory speech to one of his songs when you heard the unmistakable mommy shout from your son.

Like routine; you bent down, hands on your knees, and smiled at your son, “Yeah?”

He took a sip of his juice box, sipping up all the contents until his cheeks were hollow and a slurping sound was made, signaling an empty drink. He set the justice box down and let out an ah, “Is it hard to do what Daddy does?”

You ran your fingers through his hair, “You have to be good in front of a lot of people.”

“Like…” Jake looked down and started counting on his hands, eyes growing wide as he shoved all ten of his fingers in your face, “Ten people?!”

You threw your head back in laughter, but then controlled yourself when you saw your son’s eyes wide with worry, “A lot more than ten,” you smiled, “There’s a lot a lot of people out there watching daddy now.”

“A lot…” His voice trailed off, not truly understanding the figurative concept of a lot of people. He was silent as he stared at Shawn, strumming his guitar and singing into the microphone, before looking back at you, “I think I wanna do what daddy does.”

You always thought that you were prepared to answer any one of Jake’s outrageous questions or statements. You’d gotten questions about why tigers had stripes, why was the sky the same color as the pool water, and even the dreaded––where do I come from, mommy––question. Never had you once entertained the idea of Jake wanting to be a performer.

You let out a nervous laugh because there was a lot more to Shawn’s job than just singing in front of people. And it was way too complicated to explain to your son now. So you went with a simple skill that was needed to be a performer, “You have to be able to play an instrument.”

“Like the pino daddy plays at home?”

Another genuine laugh escaped your lips, but your son was all serious as he looked straight into your eyes. You cleared your throat before answering him, “It’s pronounced piano,” you softly corrected him, “And yeah…Something like that. Or play the guitar––like the one daddy is playing now,” Jake’s head whipped around to see his father, “Just talk to him about it and I’m sure he’ll teach you.”

“Okay,” Jake nodded his head as he went back to eating his animal crackers, “I wanna be like daddy.”

Your heart melted at how determined he sounded. Most little kids wanted to be like their parents when they grew up. And hearing Jake say those words gave you an indication that you and Shawn were doing something right with parenting.

But what happened next caught you off guard.

One second Jake was sitting next to you, playing with his animal cracker, and then the next second…He’s up and running towards Shawn on stage. You tried yelling out for your son to come back, but he couldn’t hear you with his protective headphones on.

You looked at Cez with wild eyes and he nodded his head, saying something into his headset along the lines of––Shawn, you got a visitor––and you saw Shawn’s posture straighten up as he stopped singing into the microphone.

Both you and Shawn were caught off guard by the intensified shrieks of the crowd when your son came into view on stage. Shawn would occasionally post about his son on social media, but the two of you agreed it would be best to keep him off for the most part.

It didn’t take long for Shawn to look back at you to notice that his son was missing because he saw Jake running across the stage.

Shawn took the microphone off the stand and nervously laughed into it, “Just a second, guys.”

When Jake finally reached his dad, Shawn gently slung the guitar so it was resting on his back and bent down, “What’s up, bud?” While he wasn’t purposefully speaking into the microphone, the machine still picked up his voice and broadcasted it to the audience, “Mommy’s over there on the side.”

There was a mix of screams and aw’s from the audience as Shawn pointed toward you. But Jake shook his head. He took after his father in being stubborn, although Shawn was convinced that he got the stubbornness from you.

Like his father, Jake wanted to be the center of attention.

Jake grabbed the microphone out of his hands, which caused both your eyes and Shawn’s eyes to widen in surprise, as he spoke rather loudly into the microphone, not knowing that he could just speak in his regular voice.

“I wanna be like you, daddy!” Shawn’s face lit up with a smile as he tilted his head back in laughter, “I wanna––I wanna sing and play pino and gitar––”

You didn’t think the screams could get any louder, but you were highly mistaken. While you would’ve gladly gone out on stage to carry your son off of it, you were quite the opposite of your husband and Jake when it came to attention.

Shawn placed a hand on his son’s shoulders, a prideful smile on his face, “You want to sing?”

Jake nodded his head as he gripped onto the microphone with two hands, “Mommy said––Mommy said,” he mumbled with his mouth directly on top of the microphone, “That I–That I need to talk to you, and play the pino, and and…”

Jake looked over off to the side at you, and you could see that he was getting shy in front of everyone with how his hold around the microphone tightened up and how he tucked his chin down into his chest. Your heart melted, and just like how you would encourage your husband, you gave your son two thumbs up.

And it seemed like that was what he needed before he went on, “And she said I––Mommy said I need to be good in front of a lot of people.” He looked at Shawn with wide eyes as he whispered into the microphone, “More than ten.”

Shawn let out another loud laugh as you heard the audience laugh along with him as well.

“Being in front of more than ten people is a good start,” Shawn controlled his laughter and looked behind his son’s shoulder and sent a small smile your way, “Mommy said some good things.”

“So can I sing?”

Shawn reached his hand out for the microphone and Jake gave it to his father. He stood up, taking Jake’s small hand in his and spoke into the microphone as they walked to the center of the stage, “Can we get a chair? Like a stool if there’s one backstage?” He was looking backstage at Cez who was mumbling into his headpiece, “And another microphone, please?”

You let out a soft laugh as you heard the audience’s screams grew louder.

In no time, Shawn’s request for a stool and an extra microphone was granted. Someone in all black ran out a stool and handed a microphone to Shawn. ��They rushed off stage, but not before your son yelled out an enthusiastic thank you!

Shawn placed his hands under Jake’s arms, lifting him up to sit on the stool, and in your head you could hear Shawn saying “up you go” like everytime he lifted Jake onto something.

Once Shawn made sure Jake was all settled on the stool with his microphone, he brought his guitar back around and started to slightly strum it, “What do you want to sing?”

There was a loud muffled hm into the microphone as Jake thought, but once he thought of what he wanted to sing, his eyes brightened as he looked up at his dad, “Cuts!”

You let a laugh out at the same time as Shawn. His eyes immediately found yours backstage and he shook his head in amusement before looking down back at your son, “We’ll sing cuts.”

Shawn then turned to the audience, letting out a few more laughs, “Okay, just a little backstory here,” you rolled your eyes knowing exactly what was to come, “The first time I was really away for an extended period of time from this little man,” Shawn ruffled Jake’s hair, “Y/n would play my songs around the house.”

You let out a chuckle at the bittersweet memory. Because the first time Shawn was really away from home when you had Jake was hard. When Jake was born, Shawn did radio tours and a few spurts of shows here and there, because he didn’t want to miss Jake growing up. But when Jake was three, Shawn had to get back on the road to tour. It was hard––for both of you––but you made up for it by playing Shawn’s music everywhere.

“So when I came back home,” Shawn briefly made eye contact with you and you gave him two thumbs up. He turned back to the crowd with an infectious smile on his face, “Jake ran to the front door and kept asking me to sing cuts for him.”

“And I was thinking to myself; do I not know one of my songs?” He let out a small laugh, “So a few minutes later Y/n comes down and tells me what song he’s referring to.” He stopped talking to take a dramatic pause before softly laughing again, “Apparently Jake kept asking what stitches were.”

And in reference to the song that sent Shawn into mainstream pop, the audience erupted in ear shattering screams.

“And Y/n told me that she told him that stitches helped heal really bad cuts,” he said as he looked down at his son with a beaming smile. Jake was looking up at his dad with a nervous smile, but his eyes wide with admiration for his dad.

Shawn started strumming the opening chords softly as he leaned into his microphone, eyes not leaving his son, “So here’s Stitches, also known as…” he let his words trail off as Jake finished his sentence.

“Cuts!” Jake shouted into the microphone with a little giggle following.

“You’ll sing the first part?” Shawn asked your son who nodded his head eagerly.

At five-years-old, of course your son was singing off key, but it only made the moment more endearing. And if you were being honest with yourself, you preferred this version to the one Shawn recorded when he was fifteen.

You didn’t want to miss this moment, and while you were sure you could find a whole clip of Shawn’s monologue on YouTube or Instagram later, you wanted to have a piece of it from the side stage. And you were sure Karen and your mother would want to see the video right away.

While there were times Jake mumbled into the microphone, trying to cover up not fully knowing some of the lyrics, you could feel yourself getting choked up at the moment.

When the chorus came around, Shawn leaned into the microphone to sing, but he never took his eyes off his son. Jake’s eyes were either trained on the ground, or they looked up at his dad for a split second for some reassurance. And Shawn would nod his head with the biggest smile on his face as he tried to keep singing along.

There was no better feeling in the world than supporting your child, and you never felt more proud of raising a child with Shawn as you did in this moment. Jake was only five, he had his whole life ahead of him, but you knew that you and Shawn would support him in whatever he wanted to do.

And when the two were finished their duet, you swore you never heard a crowd cheer that loud in your entire life.

And just like when you were nineteen, watching your then-boyfriend sing the exact same song, both Shawn and your son turned their heads to the side to look at you.

Wiping a tear from the corner of your eye you gave them both a thumbs up.

tag list (add / remove yourself!): @adelaidestreets, @alilovesshawn, @alina--jpeg, @fallinallincurls, @lights-on-mendes, @mendesficsxbombay, @now-that-i-saw-u, @particularnarry, @shawnmendez, @shawnsreputation, @turtoix, @vinylmendes, @5-seconds-of-mendes, @pupsandducks @musicalkeys, @madatmendes @im-salt-but-not-salty @sunkisseddreamer, @crossedties @fortheloveoftheaussies, @illuminatepotter , @par_r

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unsettlingconclusions · 3 years

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Conversation over pizza

Pairing: Ayna Seth x F!MC (Kennedy) Genre: Fluff Rating: T Word Count: 3k+ Notes: I got inspired by @samanthadalton and @iamsimpforpoppy talking about pizza and food one day. I know this might not be a pairing of your particular interest, but I tagged you to show my appreciation for the inspiration (if you’d like me to remove it, please just let me know!). Story is not reviewed because if I stop to review I’d never post anything. Enjoy.

“So, I decided what we can do as your introduction to fine cuisine. Pizza!”

The sound of Ayna’s excitement came all the way from the kitchen to find Kennedy comfortably nestled against the cushions in Ayna’s couch. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and for once Ayna wasn’t swamped in deadlines or planning for classes, so they had been spending the past few hours curled up cuddling and watching cheesy romcoms. It was the perfect setting for peace and relaxation, and Kennedy would have voted to glue herself to the couch and to her girlfriend had it not been for the sound of grumbling stomachs. They were only human, afterall, and humans do need to eat.

“Pizza? Ayna, thank you for believing in me, but there’s no way I can get making pizza from scratch right.” Kennedy moved to the kitchen counter, voice a little less enthusiastic than her girlfriend’s.

But Ayna wasn’t to be deterred. “This one you can,” she replied, showcasing a package of frosted premade pizza dough. “Making it from scratch can be a challenge, I’ll admit. That’s why we’re gonna skip the make your own dough step.”

“But then it won’t be ‘fine cuisine’. It will just be like making a sandwich.”

“Ok, one, don’t talk like you even make sandwiches. And two, try to have some faith in me. Let’s make our own fresh tomato sauce. It makes a world of difference.”

It was a few weeks back when Ayna promised to teach Kennedy how to cook, starting with something easy, of course. This deal was brought by after a nice surprise romantic dinner Ayna had prepared for them in celebration of going public and finally being free to properly date.

“I thought you didn’t cook.”

“Usually I don’t, but I can make an exception if I feel the circumstances are special enough.”

“No, I mean, you said sometimes coffee is all you have.”

Ayna chuckles lightheartedly. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can’t cook, it means I unfortunately don’t have much time for it.”

“So, does that mean I’m special?” Kennedy can't help the fluttering of her heart and the wide grin from reaching her face at the thought of Ayna dedicating so much to their date.

“You’re the most special of circumstances," resting her hands on Kennedy's shoulders, Ayna gently coaxes the younger woman towards the dinner table. "Now come, before the food gets cold. I hope you enjoy it.”

Kennedy was surprised by how rich and flavorful it all tasted, and as the thick and sweet aroma filling the air lured her into a deep sense of comfort, she was amazed to keep discovering all these layers to her girlfriend.

She learned that cooking was soothing for Ayna, as it reminded the woman of her daadi, who used to say there could be no warmth of heart with an empty stomach. Kennedy was wooed through and through that night, and if cooking was an activity Ayna enjoyed, she wanted to be able to enjoy it with her. But the truth was she couldn't cook if her life dependend on it, so by the end of the night she made Ayna agree to teach her something someday.

"Why pizza? I thought we were going for something Indian."

"You're the one who said you wanted to start easy. Let's hold on the spices for now."

"Fine, I'll trust you. Teach me like I'm one of your French girls." Kennedy grinned, doing as close to a Kate Winslet impersonation as she managed.

"Preferably not naked, though," Ayna teased as she approached Kennedy with an apron, motioning for Kennedy to pass her head through it. "Tomato sauce sometimes gets a little explosive and I don't want you to get burned", she continued as she circled around Kennedy to fasten the straps behind her back.

As expected, Ayna was no less of a teacher in the kitchen than she was in the classroom. She calmly explained everything they were doing and why, from why they needed to boil water to peel off and seed the tomatoes, to how to properly cut them and remove their stem and core to make the process easier.

“We’ll just cook them for little while so the skin comes off easier.”

Once the tomatoes had been set in the boiling water, they moved onto all the other steps. "No respectable sauce lacks onion," Ayna explained, "but chopping them can be tricky. If you get too uncomfortable, tell me and I can do it by myself."

"No way, I'm having the full experience." Kennedy replied, although her eyes did make her almost regret her choice.

When the tomatoes cooked to the right point and they shocked them in iced water, Kennedy was almost amazed by how easily the skin came off.

“Nice trick,” she remarked, as she quickly took care of her task.

“Yeah it is. And it works with potatoes too.”

“You mean I don’t have to spend an hour peeling potatoes?”

“You mean you have peeled potatoes before?” Ayna raised her eyebrows in genuine curiosity.

“Mom tried taking cooking classes once and got me into it too. It didn’t go very well,” Kennedy grinned sheepishly.

“And how is it going now?”

“A lot better. It turns out I just had the wrong teacher,” this time Kennedy offered Ayna a wink and a huge smile, being then rewarded with a peck on the lips.

“Here, let’s sievel the seeds and dice them.”

When it came to dicing the tomatoes, Kennedy felt like she finally could use a more hands-on approach to compensate the fact she was losing some precious cuddling time, so she made sure Ayna would notice she was doing it the wrong way.

“You’re cutting them too big.”

"Oh no, silly me. Can you come over here and show me how to do it? I might do it better if you guide my hand,” Kennedy stated, feigning as much innocence as she could.

"You’re just baiting me."

"Is it working?"

"Yes."

Ayna came closer from behind and wrapped her arms around Kennedy, resting her hands atop the younger woman’s, guiding her movements gently. Kennedy took advantage of the moment as she could, leaning back and sinking further into Ayna’s embrace. She would definitely sign up for more cooking sessions if it involved this kind of teaching.

After many demonstrations more than it was actually necessary, Ayna rested her hands on Kennedy’s waist and moved her head to the side so her lips could softly brush against Kennedy’s ear, “Do you think you can get it right now?” She whispered.

“Y-yeah, I think,” Kennedy stuttered, tilting her head to the side to expose more of her neck.

Ayna nuzzled her nose into Kennedy’s neck for a few seconds before saying “Good, let’s finish this.”

“Buzzkill.”

“Try hungry.”

With the ingredients now all set to go, they moved the chopped onions to a pot and let them fry for a little while. As Kennedy stirs the pot to keep the onions from burning, the sound of them sizzling mixed with its heavenly smell set such a mood of domesticity, Kennedy felt a weird sense of nostalgia for something she never really had.

“Hey, thank you for teaching me. This feels nice.”

“Of course,” Ayna smiled broadly, brushing a loose lock of Kennedy’s hair behind her ear fondly, because the truth was there was little Kennedy could ask of her that she wouldn’t give. “Here comes the tomatoes.”

A few minutes of simmering later and the sauce was ready and good to go, its bright red color contrasting with the paleness of the dough.

With Ayna’s guidance, Kennedy assembled the pizza with their homemade sauce, lots of cheese (the true secret was to use good cheese, Ayna had said) and fresh basil leaves for extra flavor, and they set it to the oven. All they had to do now was wait.

“Have you thought about what you’re gonna do now?” Ayna asked as she setted up the oven timer.

“Hmm, wait for it to bake so we can eat?”

“I mean about Vancross. You came to help your mom with the Summit, didn’t you? To make allies?” She clarified, moving to help Kennedy out of her apron and taking her own off as well.

“Not just that. I came to study really.”

Once both were free of their aprons, Ayna started going about the kitchen, storing back everything they haven’t used. “Didn’t you tell me once you weren’t sure if going into politics was really what you wanted?”

“You remember that?” Kennedy asked surprised, the memory kind of distant. It was the first time they talked outside of the classroom.

“I remember everything about you.”

“Sappy.” It really was and Kennedy wouldn’t not remark on it, but on the inside she was very much melting. Ayna only smiled in return and raised her eyebrows, challenging Kennedy to not deviate from the subject. "But you're right. I came mostly because she wanted me to."

"Well, you seemed to thrive here, so I’m just curious as to how you feel about continuing your studies."

"I haven’t thought about it yet." Kennedy replied honestly, now sitting on a high stool by the kitchen counter, eyes fixed on Ayna, watching her move around.

"I think it suits you."

"You see me as a politician?"

"Not just in the sense you’re thinking. There’s a lot to this world that doesn’t involve you actually being a candidate and running for office." With a bottle of wine in each hand, Ayna showed both to Kennedy at the same time. "Red or white?"

"Hmm, white." To Kennedy's answer, Ayna just nodded and went for a corckscrew to open it.

"You know, I’ve been listening for so long how I should follow in my mom's footsteps that I guess I never really contemplated anything else."

"You do have a knack for making people feel at ease, and I’ve seen you do great at solving issues and leaving everyone involved satisfied. And you did great at avoiding conflict too." Ayna said as she approached with two glasses of wine, offering one to Kennedy. "Watching your debate was nice, it felt like you were in your element."

Kennedy took the offered glass and spent a few seconds twirling the wine around it before sipping. "Yeah, I thought I’d be going through a minefield with that assignment, but working with Blaine was surprisingly easy and not that conflituous,” she said, reaching for and pulling Ayna closer to her, scooting backwards and giving Ayna more space to settle in the space between her legs.

“Hmpf, I’d rather not think of how exactly you avoided conflict with him.” Ayna retorted, gulping down a very big sip of her own glass of wine.

"What? You don’t like picturing me charming Blaine off?"

"Uh, no?" Ayna moved away swiftly, her demeanor challenging, as if saying “did you really just ask me that?”

“You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“Is that why you love pushing my buttons?” Ayna asked narrowing her eyes.

“I mean, it can get pretty intense sometimes. Jealous you is hot,” Kennedy replied teasingly.

“So you really do just do it to get a rise out of me.” Annoyed, Ayna took a step back and started to fully distance herself from Kennedy’s reach.

“Hey, I’m sorry, ok?” Kennedy hurried to apologize, realizing she missed the mark on this one. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” she added, drawing Ayna back to her. To her relief, Ayna offered no resistance, and Kennedy took advantage of it wrapping her into her arms, guiding Ayna’s head to rest on her shoulder. “It was dumb of me, I’m sorry.”

“No, I am sorry. I’m not usually jealous like this, I just— oof,” Ayna shaked her head, sighing dramatically before settling back into the comfort of her girlfriend’s arms, “I’m not used to this feeling.”

“If it makes you feel better, I promise when we were working on that debate, we were really just working on the debate.”

“Really?” Ayna lifted her head up to look at Kennedy, her own eyes holding such a look of childlike hope Kennedy just found it damn adorable.

“Yes, I swear. By then, I was already completely charmed off by a certain TA. Getting you out of my head was no easy task.”

Ayna flashed a bright smile, cheeks flushing slightly as she lowered her gaze, feeling shy all of a sudden.

“See? You can’t smile like that and expect me to not think about that all day.” Kennedy exclaimed, gently lifting Ayna’s head back again and leaning in for a kiss.

It was supposed to be a quick reaffirming kiss only, but Kennedy decided she had spent far too long of today already not kissing her girlfriend, so she jumped off the stool to be able do it properly. She placed one hand on Ayna’s lower back and the other at the back of her head, entangling her fingers into Ayna’s locks and bringing their bodies as close as possible.

“We’re digressing,” Ayna grinned through the kiss.

“I like this subject better.” Kennedy replied quickly, just as quickly diving in for another kiss, only to be met with a smirking and uncooperative Ayna. “Nice try, but I’m not about to let our pizza burn. And I know where this will lead us."

“Would that be so bad?”

“It would if we end up setting the apartment on fire.”

Kennedy was ready to retort, or whine, to be more specific, when the oven timer set off. “Saved by the bell.”

To follow on the theme of having the full experience, Kennedy was the one to take the pizza out, with Ayna hovering around her fearful she would burn herself.

“Relax, I got this. Go sit by the table and let me pamper you for a little bit.”

Ayna complied, albeit reluctantly, and Kennedy did the best she could cutting and serving the pizza (it shouldn’t be that difficult, right?). The looks and smell of it were incredibly promising of a good meal. The bright yellow mixed with the few golden spots of over baked cheese coupled with the contrast given by the green leaves against the red sauce certainly provided a sight for hungry eyes, and the heavenly smell of any fresh off the oven pizza certainly didn’t hurt either.

“Whoa, this turned out to be really good,” Kennedy exclaimed in between bites, munching excitedly and occasionaly closing her eyes to further appreciate it, letting out satisfied little grunts. She would never have guessed pre made frozen dough could actually turn into a perfect crunchy crust.

With a hint of amusement at Kennedy's eagerness over pizza, Ayna teased, “You sound surprised."

“Well, yeah, it had me involved."

“Hey, don’t ditch your sous chef.” Ayna said, feigning indignation. Kennedy bends over in Ayna's direction, placing a quick chaste kiss on her cheek. "You're a really great cook. Thank you for this."

The rest of the dinner went by much in the same manner. Kennedy was reveling in the fact her audience wouldn't berate her for not being the image of the prim and proper lady, and at some point she may even have indulged in foregoing the silverware and going straight for the kill with her hands. Truth be told, Ayna was delighted by the sight, and vowed to always make sure Kennedy could be whoever she wanted to be with her.

Once they were belly filled and satisfied, they moved back to the living room, glasses of wine in hand, a recently new opened bottle resting on the coffee table. The reality of it was that none wished for their night to end just yet, and they talked about as many meaningless and trivial subjects as they could think of, conversation flowing freely. But by the time their second bottle was nearly done with, Kennedy noticed Ayna was getting more and more quiet, almost as if lost in thought.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She inquired softly, nudging Ayna lightly, trying to prompt the woman to share what had her suddenly silent.

"I was just thinking about what we were talking earlier."

"We talked about many things," Kennedy replied, leaving both their glasses on the coffee table and moving back to the couch. She sprawled herself on the lenght of it, resting her head on Ayna's lap. "What has gotten you so pensive?"

"You", Ayna stated matter of factly, adjusting herself so Kennedy could fit in better. She brought both her hands to Kennedy's hair, caressing it tenderly, before continuing. “And your mom. You don’t have to antagonize her to follow your own path but you don’t need to follow in her footsteps either."

Kennedy remained silent. She didn't know exactly what to answer to that, for one, and she was sure Ayna would have more to say. She limited herself to closing her eyes, enjoying the soothing feeling of Ayna's hands on her hair.

Taking Kennedy's silence as encouragement (or at least not discouragement), Ayna added, "Sure, you’ll always face some level of scrutiny and expectations, even when she steps down from office, but you can still make choices of your own. I’m sure your mom would be supportive and proud of you.”

“You sure about that? I doubt it sometimes.”

“She may come off as distant and nonchalant, but I think it’s just because she’s really busy. She really cares about you.”

“Yeah, I know this whole mess brought us closer, but sometimes I wonder why we drifted apart in the first place. I miss her.”

"You don’t have to miss her, she’s right there. And you don’t have to hinder your future because you decided to stick yourself with the rebel role. There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind."

“I love you so much, you know that?" Kennedy inquired, a glint of admiration in her eyes as she sits herself back up to place a kiss on Ayna's lips. She then moved to take one of Ayna's hand on hers, squeezing tightly. "You say the greatest things. And you’re right. I thought at some point about leaving just so I could go against her, but truth is I kind of enjoyed this year here”.

As Kennedy was about to drop Ayna's hand, the older woman just incresead her own hold, not letting Kennedy go. “Whatever you choose, I’m sure you’re gonna do great. You’re hard working and focused, you could make anything work. And I’ll be rooting for you every step of the way.”

“Even if it means I leave Vancross?” Kennedy tilted her head to the side, an expression of incredulity and maybe disbelief on her face.

“Why not? I want you to be happy. If you realize that’s what you want, go for it. I like believing we're strong enough to survive us not being so close together all the time.”

“I like believing that too.”

“In any case, I don't think I wish Vancross to be my endgame anymore.”

“No? But you love teaching?”

“I do. But Vancross is not the only educational institution in the world. I could finish my thesis here and leave, or I could leave and finish it somewhere else. Assuming I can have a nice recommendation from here that is.”

Kennedy's expression softened considerably after that, now holding as many emotions as the number of beats per minute her racing heart is doing. It was hope, delight, caring, love. "What are you really saying?"

"I'm saying I'll go wherever you will if you'll have me."

Goddamn. With that sentence Ayna managed to increase Kennedy’s heart rate by tenfold and the younger woman loved it. She realized she hasn’t been this excited and hopeful for the future in the longest while, and she was eager to show Ayna just how much. Smiling widely she wasted no time in straddling the TA’s lap, moving her hips against Ayna’s, just to make sure her point would come across perfectly. When she felt Ayna bringing her hands against her back, letting out a low, quiet moan, Kennedy leaned in.

"Can we go back to digressing now? There’s no more pizza left to burn."

#foreign affairs #ayna seth #ayna x mc #ayna seth x mc #mc x ayna

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vivithefolle · 3 years

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I'm a bit confused. You said in one post that you thoroughly dislike Hermione and that you had no respect for her at all. Yet ... you like Romione? idk, it seems contradictory tbh. I like when Romione shippers acknowledge her flaws and messed up moments but when someone that dislike and even hate her character that much ships Romione and I see them posting about them and calling them "cute" just seems weird

I’ll share with you my whole thought process so you can understand where I’m coming from:

Itty-bitty Vivi who read Harry Potter for the first time (at 13/14, so not so itty-bitty I guess, oops): Woaaah Hermione and Ron yaay!!! They're awesome I love them! They're my OTP always and forever!! Best thing to happen in Harry Potter!! JKR is a genius!

Slightly less itty-bitty Vivi discovering the Harry Potter fandom online (thankfully years after the ship wars, else I probably wouldn't have survived): Why is there so much hate towards Ron? And why are people so opposed to Romione?? It was meant to be since the first book! Or, okay, the second book is when I realized it was gonna happen, but still! Oh well, here is a fic where Hermione berates Ron for everything and he is the only one actually working for their relationship. Cool, more Romione!

Even less itty-bitty Vivi starting her own Tumblr and going around, adding her grain of salt to debates and talking about stuff: Yeah! Ron is great! He's done bad things of course but Hermione has done her fair share of bad things too! Actually, now that I'm rereading the books, I'm reminded of this person I used to call a friend, who was quite smart and cultured but would often be very harsh to me because they claimed it was “for your own good" and “because I'm more mature than you"… I still wanted to be around them, because they were just so smart and passionate, but we often rowed and eventually they really just went too far and tried to make ME out to be the bad guy and most people believed them because they had a reputation as someone cool and logical while I was known for being emotional… wait, what the fuck, that's… that's exactly what happens in the fandom with Ron and Hermione! What the fuck, was I Ron? Admired their intelligence, praised and supported them, fell in love even but was met with scorn and open disdain?!… no, no, come on. Hermione wasn't that bad.

Vivi rereading Half-Blood Prince (and no, this wasn't about the canaries, but about what Hermione was doing after): Oh my god she was that bad.

Vivi as she ponders alternately: Wait, what about JK Rowling? What does she think about all that? What was her intention, what did she want to accomplish with the characters? I know books belong to their readers but if I want as objective an analysis as possible I must try to understand her thought process while she wrote.

Vivi learning about a staple of British literature called “literary alchemy”: The quarreling couple!! Sulfur and Mercury, the Red King and the White Queen, who must marry for the story to end happily!! And their union is represented by… a rose!! Oh my god, that is brilliant, that is so cool! Romione was ALWAYS going to happen, I knew it! Ha!

Vivi discovering the “[Ron] needed to make himself worthy of Hermione” quote: Wha… but… what? Worthy? As if Hermione was some sort of precious trophy or whatever? What the hell? Wait, Ron had to make himself worthy of her but Hermione didn't have to make herself worthy of him? Is it because Ron is the boy or some shit like that??

Vivi going through JK Rowling's interviews and finding sexism and double-standards galore: Yep, it's because he's the boy. And that bit about Hermione being based off herself when she was younger… ouch. And to top it off the scriptwriter pretty much worshipped Hermione…

Vivi rereading the books again: Is it just me, or does Ron hardly ever get any praise or acknowledgement from the adult characters? Meanwhile Harry and Hermione get stuff like “as good as Charlie Weasley" or “brightest witch of her age"! And, damn, I used to side with Hermione because I love cats, but she was completely awful in POA! She apologized but then the plot made her out to be right even then?? And I always thought her Yule Ball entrance was kinda over-the-top, but damn if that's not compensating for something! Also what the hell, I get that Harry is suffering and all but will someone PLEASE pay attention to the fact that Ron is being bullied BY A FOURTH OF THE STUDENT BODY AND NOBODY SEEMS EVEN REMOTELY CONCERNED????? Also what the hell is wrong with the sixth book, I never liked it much but it's like it's trying to make every character look bad, wtf?? And, and, holy shit I never noticed but Ron was asking legit questions during the Horcrux Hunt debate but Harry kept deflecting or mocking him but it's still Ron who had to apologize in the end??? And I've read a whole post about how Hermione punching Ron is the appropriate reaction for a very small child and not a supposedly “mature" character, and that Harry had to SHIELD RON FROM HER, oh my god?? It's… oh my god, what the fuck is wrong with JK Rowling?

Vivi, in denial: Well, Harry Potter is decidedly not a romance. It's about love, but romantic love is quite far down the priority list when it comes to it. JKR has herself confessed that she wasn't too good at writing romance, and I don't blame her because writing romance is hard. But I did enjoy Romione! When I was little I saw it coming from a mile away, granted I was already savvy in literature but that must have been because she was doing something right! And then the sixth book happened… the sixth book which… which was released after the Harry Potter movies were being filmed, wasn't it?

Vivi looking up the timelines: Oh my god. Oh my god it's even worse, the movies were being discussed before Goblet of Fire came out. Come to think of it, I always found that the Trio felt… different, after Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry and Ron especially felt like they had gotten dumber? And Hermione was suddenly explaining everything when exposition used to be split between her and Ron…

Vivi, in mourning: So that's what happened. Ron ended up being shortchanged to make Hermione look better, because Rowling was fonder of Hermione than she was of Ron, and the scriptwriter too come to think of it. Curse you, Steve Kloves!!!

Vivi, who is nothing if not what Pokémon fans call a nostalgiafag: But… but… yeah, it sucks that Ron was shortchanged, and actually yeah it's a freaking travesty and I WILL freaking spread the world about this, mark my words, but, but I still… I can't help it, when Hermione “looked up at Ron and her frostiness seemed to melt" I melt too. When Ron compliments Hermione or tries to take care of her as much as he can I… it still does something to me, I still find myself rooting for them even if I know there's the awful sixth book and the stupid post-Locket beatdown. Their kiss, for God's sake, I've just realized that Ron may have swept Hermione off her feet physically, but it's Hermione who jumped him, you could say Hermione metaphorically swept Ron off his feet!! God damn it, that's good, that's so good!

Vivi, at war with herself: No, I can't let myself be blinded by nostalgia!! The facts are that Hermione shows borderline abusive - even actually abusive - behaviour, this can't be denied! I don't want to root for an abusive relationship! I don't want to root for a relationship that relies on my favourite character being dumbed down to work!!!

Vivi, about to uncover the secrets of the universe: … wait a second. I don't have to.

Vivi, having an epiphany: Reading Solstice Muse's Romione fanfics gives me such happiness because she just gets the characters! She doesn't portray Hermione as perfect and never fucking up, and she always treats what happens to Ron with respect… Well, especially since she can't play them off as a joke since she often makes Ron the POV character. But, yeah! I can still like Romione… if it's well-written. Which, well, isn't the case in the original books… at least, isn't the case anymore after Rowling's bias got the best of her. Even though they do have their great moments.

Vivi, finding purpose in her life: I am going to spread awareness. I am going to tell the world. Fuck, just rereading the books, I've noticed how blatant the favouritism is and how unbalanced it can be. No wonder the fandom seems to collectively scoff at Ron - the books themselves do whenever it's convenient for them! The fandom plays favourites, because the author herself played favourites, and the worst part is that she didn't even realize it! Imagine you spend your life getting into traumatic situations out of love for your friends who always receive compassion and validation for their feelings about said traumas, but YOUR trauma is hardly touched upon and in the rare case it is, it's only to be mocked or used against you… Fuck! You're a piece of work, JKR! And the fandom just swallows it whole like a bunch of lobotomized snakes! Screw it! Screw it, I'm going to say it like it is, and I'm going to say it LOUDLY! People are going to hear about what Ron goes through and we'll see if Harry and Hermione look like the only ones worthy of therapy then!!

Present day Vivi, as she scrolls through the (heavily filtered) Romione tag on AO3: Ugh, another Drarry… and another… and another… oh, a Hinny-centric fic for a change, cool but I'm looking for more Romione than that, sorry. Gah, why is it that Romione appears as a secondary ship everywhere but they can't get their own stories? I've just seen a Snupin come up for God's sake! Oh, finally, a full Romione!! *clicks* … … … awww that was so sweet. Kudos! Okay back to the search… oh, another one!! *clicks* … … … it's Ron-bashing. It's Ron-bashing and it's not tagged Ron-bashing and that's why it showed up in my search AND I'M GOING TO FREAKING RIOT-

#vivi answers #ask #romione #ron weasley #hermione granger #ron weasley defense squad #ron weasley defence squad #ron x hermione #harry potter series #anti jk rowling

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infinites-chaser · 3 years

Text

val’s mementos

(or: a working masterlist of my mlqc fics created mostly for my own sanity)

everything on this list has also been posted to my ao3!

currently accepting prompts from this prompt meme~

(while i will do my very best to fill every prompt with writing that i’m proud of pls keep in mind that some may take longer than others for any amount of reasons!)

Lucien

dark night fireworks- my first (published) mlqc fic <333 2nd person and entirely too pretentious (rumor has it even the author doesn’t really know what she was trying to convey except. n e u r o s c i e n c e and MEMORY is cool). slight spoilers for ch.16

watch the universe expand- a long, rambly attempt to explore lucien’s character and also evolutionary biology and evols told through excessive metaphor and bedtime stories. spoilers for lucien’s childhood and ch.13. im proud of this one ^^ though there is a lot of projection involved. also lucien is an enneagram five.

to dwell on- c: lucien and homes and him and mc being soft together that’s it <3 or in more coherent language some bittersweet fluff for lucien’s bday based on moments from his mini-house and his most recent bday karma + date. in hindsight i’ve realized i didn’t use his or MC’s name at all outside of dialogue LOL

king lear and other tragedies- a prompt for the librarian ask meme linked above! im p sure anon prompted me a month before i got around to actually writing an answer hndkslgj but. here we are. shakespeare and tragedies and parallels between characters and a lot of pretentious dialogue, meant to be an extension of/missing scene after lucien’s theater date. this only rly exists bc of a single line in the date mentioning the production being put on was king lear and i took that and ran for all it was worth

Gavin

just a summer thing- a short little scenario that manifested in my head one warm summer night when i should’ve been sleeping and my first foray into domestic!gavin territory <333 i’d say it’s probably one of my lightest fics, if not the lightest ahfksldg (also heavily inspired by the way @belovedstill writes gavin/mc pst basia’s fics are to die for)

under a golden sun- high school era gavin, MC and minor! originally intended for gavin’s bday except (1) i didn’t finish on time LOL and (2) the fic never mentions his bday oops. also in 2nd person though if you asked why i couldn’t tell you it just felt more right. ft. basketball and memories and a bit of bittersweet nostalgia. simultaneously has some of what i think is my weakest writing (in terms of pacing/consistent tone imo) and some of my favorite lines i’ve ever written for a gavin fic and i’ve come to appreciate it more over time bc of that c:

today, this is the whole universe (and that’s okay)- gavin, MC, and domestic, sleepy sundays. and a long ao3 title that’s it that’s the fic (narrator: and then, she never wrote anything purely fluffy ever again). heavily inspired by gavin’s sleepy morning asmr and that one clip of his cn voice actor playing/humming his theme (aka soft soft SOFTEST) also just. i said it already but all of my domestic!gavin is inspired by and exists thanks to the breathtaking writing of @belovedstill <333

in the wind- a semi(?)exploration of gavin’s wind but also just him loving mc bc that’s what he and his evol are all about. short and bittersweet <3 (if anyone’s keeping track i think this is where my writing starts to lean more on the uhhh descriptive side and becomes less dialogue-based? or i feel there’s a diff from this writing style compared to the earlier gavin fics (besides parts of under a golden sun) which is just interesting for me to think about but not relevant to the fic itself ahfklsdf)

winter’s end- winter world!gavin and mc and a softer, more bittersweet reunion. m a j o r spoilers for ch.22 and what comes before. also gavin’s past. it hurt to write and apparently hurts to read b u t there’s a happy ending. i promise c:

sunrise to noon- a secret santa fic that ended up being less holiday related than I originally intended but like all things domestic and Gavin I think it works well as it is <3 just tender winter mornings and domesticity and the return of my fluff writing

Kiro

falling down the stairs of your smile- this was a prompt for the librarian prompt meme and doesn’t have an official title on the ask but here’s the title in all its long all-lowercase ao3 glory. basically the first few chapters from kiro’s perspective with slight spoilers from his past! kiro is such a joy to write and i love this a lot and im super glad i got the opportunity to write this (the waY i banged this out in one night when i got the ask askfsdkfksl)

[deleted by Key]- i have an idea and i’m s u p e r excited about it but no spoilers except this quote: ‘But that is how a tragedy like ours or King Lear breaks your heart— by making you believe that the ending might still be happy, until the very last minute.’- If We Were Villains, M.L. Rio.

Victor

Of Corgis and Christmas- a secret santa present for a victor stan that conjured some fluffy victor writing from my victor-less heart,,, a christmas miracle aND im lowkey proud of how it turned out but the highlights of the fic are Goldman and Cindy T-T they deserve more screentime and someday. i will write the subplot that got cut where Goldman sends Cindy embarrassing Victor stories to try to impress her and MC helps :>

spend my whole life searching- i combined 2 victor librarian asks from the librarian prompt meme above would u believe he's the only suitor I got twice 😔 this man is so popular and for what (only kidding ahdjdjs we just have a relationship of mutual disapproval dont mind me dragging him just a little i need to compensate for the appreciation I developed for him while writing this :>) this is similar to the kiro librarian fic in that it kinda gives vic's perspective on victor/MC's first in-game meeting with a healthy dose of and they were soulmates and angsty longing™ and also. victor is an enneagram one

Shaw

i started a few things a long time ago for him maybe someday i’ll finish them :’)

#val writes #mlqc #masterpost #i am allergic to capital letters and also giving proper summaries of any of my fics #i made the header instead of doing hw and it took an ungodly amount of time to look semi decent and. it still looks too yellow rn ahdjdjssk

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capricornus-rex · 4 years

Note

i live for you qUEEN! i LOVE your writing. if you have the time, could you do a fic where reader is the most reckless badass and Cal is like ‘wait don’t do THAT’ and she is just ‘im living life BABYY’. she does the most insane things that always somehow work and Cal is literally like what the F*CK’. reader is basically a GOD. please and thank you🙏🥳

Hi Queen~! Sorry if I have taken a while in writing this fic. But still, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long and I hope you enjoy this fic! 💝

“Bad Ideas Make Good Memories” | Cal Kestis x Reader

Additional tags: Rebel fleet, Rebel base

Also posted in AO3

Next: Part 2 | Masterlist

1 of ?

Imperials have targeted the small rebel base of Andaro, a planet rich in resources such as ores for metals and substances that can be converted into fuel, however, in order to get such prizes they have to fight through the rebel cell that hinders them from doing so.

“What good can a small band of insurgents do? They have no match against our forces!”

The Moff Sedho Loon barked confidently from the bridge of his Star Destroyer, the blue glow of the planet’s hologram projection highlighted the wrinkles along his once-prominent cheekbones.

The ship operators followed his order to chart a course to the planet.

“We will arrive in T-minus 15 minutes if we make the jump to hyperspace,” a cadet reported from his computer station.

“They’ll never see us coming,” the Moff sniggered. “Prepare the calculations and accelerate at will.”

“Yessir!”

Meanwhile in the planet’s surface, the Mantis crew has proved to the rebels that they’re in the same team. The Mantis backed up the base’s crude technology when it comes to communications and signals, that’s where Cere comes into the picture. You and Cal offered whatever help you can, Merrin proved herself that she can fight and quite stealthily too, and Greez offered his cooking skills to make sure the rebels don’t fight with an empty stomach.

You and Cal lounge in the hangar where the fighter ships are, they were an interesting bunch: retrofitted starfighters, gunships, and transport ships from the Republic era.

“Have you ever flown a starfighter before?” you thought out loud, directing the question to Cal.

“Well, once or twice, but I always stayed close to Master Tapal,”

“Did you…” you trailed “See some in Bracca?”

Cal recalls that one wrecked Jedi Interceptor that sat on the wing of a Venator. Unconsciously, he rubbed his fingers together, as if the grime that he stroked off from that fighter ship’s fin remained.

“Yeah, only one,”

That topic never continued, but you’re still examining the pair of Jedi Interceptors that were loaned to you. Cal saw you climbing up into the cockpit.

“Whoa hey, we’re still in clear, [y/n]!”

The astromech droids in each starfighter beeped in reaction, concurring to Cal, and you settled yourself in the pilot’s seat.

“Relax, I’m just getting a feel of it before we actually do get some action,” you shrugged.

The glass dome remained up. Your eyes panned left and right on the dashboard controls, remembering the functions of each and every switch. Trembling hands closed in on the steering wheel, you hesitate for a few moments, until your hands curled around the curved shafts and your thumbs rested above the trigger buttons.

Nostalgia overwhelmed you that you had to take a breath. Memories, both fond and sad, played in your mind—the thrill of a dogfight, the satisfaction of taking down vulture droids, and the horror of watching one of your ships go down.

“You okay in there, [y/n]?” Cal called.

“Yeah, just… Just getting a feel of things again,”

You decided to dismount the ship and the astromech droid appeared to be conversing with you using trills and beeps.

“You’ll have my back out there, won’t you R-12?”

The droid beeped in a cheery response and you smiled back in response.

“Thanks, little guy!”

Meanwhile, Cere was tinkering in the ship’s communications until a nearly-invisible blip blinking in the radar caught her eye. She leaned closer to the monitor—her suspicion had gotten the best of her—and focused on that tiny, unassuming mark. A few moments later, the blip started blinking rapidly and became more opaque on the screens by the second.

“Oh no…!” she gasped, she didn’t expect it to be within Greez’s earshot.

“What? What’s up?”

“We’re gonna have company!”

Cere sprang out of her seat and ran out of the ship. She sprinted towards the rebel leader conferring with her guerilla fighters.

“Miccah! Captain Miccah!”

The captain instantly caught the urgency of Cere’s voice. She allowed the woman to catch her breath and collect her words.

“Cere, what is it?”

“The Imperials…!” the former Jedi huffed. “They’re coming out of hyperspace!”

“Do you know how many are there?”

“I don’t know, but it’s a fleet—we can only anticipate that they’ll have fighters deployed on us!”

The fighters murmured amongst one another in the presence of their leader, anticipating for Captain Miccah to start barking orders—which she did in the next second. The captain’s jaw clenched, her grip tightened around the handle of her blaster rifle, and turned to her soldiers.

“People, man your battlestations!”

“Alright, you heard the captain!”

The rebels dispersed, spreading the captain’s word, and within a minute, everybody starts scrambling around the base—barking orders here and there, clapping their hands to coax the people to move double time, and the pilots were already donning their protective aerial assault gear.

You and Cal were still standing by the ships when Cere came running towards the captain. Neither of you heard their conversation, but you can take the hint that something’s not right. Your assumption was verified when you heard the captain start barking order and everyone scattered across the place.

“Wow, sooner than I thought,” you blurted.

Cal noted the mischievous smile on your face, you’ve been practically thirsting for action—and your brand of fun—before either of you could climb up to your ships, Cere walked up to you to relay her report to the captain.

“Imperials are approaching the planet, they’re coming out of hyperspace,”

“Does that mean we get to fly these bad boys now?”

“Yes, but!” Cere firmly emphasized the last word with a finger pointed at you. “Stay alive out there and lay low with the stunts?”

Cal turned to gaze at you, anticipating what response is going to come out of your mouth, he noticed that sly smirk curling about on your lips while having your arms crossed with one another.

You shrugged, “Sure!”

When Cere left you to return to the Mantis, Cal stopped you from jumping back into your ships.

“Oh man, I know that look. You’re planning something!”

“Am not!” you chortled.

The two of you proceeded to hop into your respective starfighters, the astromech droids have already done the initial preparations for you.

“She’s definitely planning something,” Cal whispered to his astromech droid, R-16.

“You know, you shouldn’t put your headset on while saying something I shouldn’t be hearing!” you wired through the communications.

Cal laughed as he’s caught in the act. Despite your youthful adrenaline pumping in your system, the two of you put your heads in the game—since the rebels assigned you as the vanguard of the airstrike.

“I love you,” he cooed, compensating for that comment he made seconds ago.

You smiled to yourself, but he felt it through your response, “I know.”

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tearasshouse · 3 years

Text

Vidya ramblings pt 3B

Previous list here.

Onwards and upwards to the B-tier games. I guess its a good sign that we have so much to play, and that the general bar for quality has risen so much year on year, such that B-tier games would easily slot into my A-tier list in a slower year, or C-tier games slotting into B-tier for that matter. I have to deliberately go looking for chaff these days, is what I’m saying. “B-tier games” sound worse than what they actually mean on my list: those I had very few qualms about, or their strengths were enough to compensate for their shortcomings and I generally looked forward to firing them up instead of doing so out of my completionist’s sick, demented obligation. So! Pat yourselves on the back, game devs.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (N3DS)

I’m not an FE mark by any means, but when I’m looking for something to play on a Nintendo platform (3DS is the only one I own), FE games are invariably among the scant handful of their franchises I turn towards. Awakening was my first FE, so as a latter day entrant I have to judge all future games by that metric. I wouldn’t outright call Echoes the better game, although it is a better game in many aspects. The “feet on the ground” dungeon exploration is a nice addition; the art is absolutely gorgeous, the soundtrack is stellar, and despite not having the romances or pair-up feature, the combat was solid, even if the maps and objectives are very rote and frankly dull. The cast was very enjoyable, and plot well, it’s typical dragons and destiny and royalty will save the day, blah blah vanilla FE storytelling. It was a nice distraction in the early months of the pandemic, but I might have to give the edge to Awakening here. I am looking forward to playing all 3 routes of Fates sometime this year or the next though.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)

Finally, I hear you groan, an actual 2020 release. Certainly the most lavish remake I’ve played since... RE2? I should have more nostalgia for this game, as the OG was technically my first JRPG and I’d spent an entire summer on it, with my friend’s PSX copy and his strategy guide laid out in front of me. But, I went into this with hype in check and nostalgia completely dulled, maybe because I actually am just a dried up, withered out old fart with a prune for a heart? Anyway, game is pretty good, there isn’t much to say about it that others haven’t already gushed over or criticized to death. I will say though that it’s been a while since a game’s difficulty tuning and mechanics absolutely kicked my ass. You need to learn the combat system in this or you won’t get very far, certainly not on Hard Mode anyway. I’m a bit wary about the 2nd and 3rd (possibly 4th?) entries in this project. Just how will they re-interpret the world map? How are they possibly going to tie everything up? How much of the OG game will be cut or reconfigured, and how much will be filler? Will we have to sit through more of those interminable “slide through narrow crevices to mask our shit loading times” sections? Will the environment textures actually load up properly?

Hades (EGS)

Yeah, it’s a Supergiant joint, and I’m a mark for Greek mythology, what more do you need? The only reason it’s on a lower rung here, and it’s not a fault of the game so much as what I look for in games. I’m just not much of an arcade-style, score attacker or rogue/rogue-lite player. If I wanted creative re-use of assets with super high replayability, I’ll go for a MP shooter, or an immersive sim. All that is to say that the game is rather short and repetitive (by design), and the drip-feed of story, character development, unlocks or trying out new builds and personal challenges just doesn’t do it for me. What is here is quality, through and through without a doubt and the whole 31 hours it took me to do my first clear (again, one and done - that’s all for me) were just good old fashion gaming fun.

Death Mark (PS Vita)

Vita means life! This game gets the dubious distinction of being the last physical Vita game I’ll ever buy (I was as surprised as you you must be, mhm!). The only reason it’s on the B-tier list and not the lower rung is a testament to its successfully creeping me out from beginning to end. Which is saying something, because it’s a typical horror story of urban legends manifest as hauntings and curses, done as a very low budget VN fashion. If you’re used to VNs with more QoL features like in ye olde Steins;Gates or some such, well, you’ll be quite disappointed here. No text logs, no touch controls, extreme reuse of very limited assets, etc. I understand that the dev, Experience are uhm, experienced DRPG makers, and that influence is certainly felt in the “boss battles” here, though they are somewhat clunky and use adventure game logic, which is to say not very logical or poorly explained. This is also on Steam, Switch and PS4 so... go forth and acquire.

Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4)

Unlike Tearaway Unfolded, I will say that the PS4 version is the way to go with superior controls, performance, visual fidelity, etc. You lose nothing by going to the big screen. Still one of the most charming things Sony has put out, and like it’s successor, it’s still a somewhat underbaked game. The definition of a cult classic or a B-tier perennial, simply swimming in well-earned 7s. This would rate higher (while still within the B-tier) had it not been my 3rd time going through this, but newcomers will be treated to something fresh and special. Anytime I get to shill for Gravity Rush is an opportunity I will gladly take.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)

The very definition of a B-tier game in my books! Well crafted and big budgeted enough by the task masters, technicians and actors at Naughty Dog to garner a guaranteed spot here. Again, I don’t mean to sound backhanded, but it’s really hard to truly love something this big, with this much broad appeal and craftsmanship. It really is everything that’s right (and wrong) with Sony’s (Western) first party output this past generation. I was slackjawed during the Madagascar car chase, touched during the dramatic moments between Nate and crew, the flashback sequences with Young Nathan were done really well (again, walking sim sections one and all), and UC4 reminded us about why pirate adventures are awesome (themes of obsession and seeking treasure at your own peril be damned). Crushing Mode in this one is truly diabolical (in the not satisfying, simply die-lots way), while the MP is... okay? Forgettable for the whole hour I devoted to it.

SOMA (Steam)

A downer of a sci-fi tale about post-humanism (or transhumanism?), deceptively snuck within a fairly spooky horror thriller. It’s made by the Swedes behind the Amnesia games, partly set in a curious recreation of my hometown of Toronto, about an average dude going through some pretty extraordinary circumstances, and none of it is treated with extraordinariness. It’s definitely a muted affair, and contributes to that grounded, depressing tone. Yeah the human race is long dead and the few consciousnesses left alive are going to live out the rest of their existences in virtual reality until the batteries run out, so what? Get to it, Simon. Smart and logical spatial puzzles underpin the walking sim aspect of the game, and though there’s the slight survival horror/stealth element, I played on Safe Mode cos I could only imagine how frustrating it would be to die to those things. Check it out, it’s great, but it’s not for everyone and in a pinch I wouldn’t want to play something like this, which is why it ends up here in the B-tier.

#2020 in review #vidya #gaming #tech #videogames #tl;dr #long post

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