#still absolutely love that I'M WITH THE BAND sticker

[sweetheartsaku]

—love and deepspace rafayel ; like a song ive never listened to but i know every lyric

a/n ; [fem!reader] @oracleofstars DAY 3 PROMPT AND FIRST LND POST WOOHOO doing this one bc im in band huhuhuhu :3c

larkspur !

concerts have always felt like a fever dream.

and the absolute tingle down your spine when you managed to swiftly choose and buy front-row tickets to THE 3VOLS concert?? your heart was basically beating out of your chest. to make your heart even tighter, a little pop-up had appeared on your laptop screen basically screaming at you: "DON'T LEAVE AFTER THE CONCERT ♡" in rafayel's iconic handwriting, with its own messy yet neat flare to it. one of your favourite members.

you wonder what a singer like him could possibly be doing after a concert as big as this. especially for a smaller artist like him, maybe he wanted to get to know what his fans are like? a social experime-

the cold breeze of your open window kisses your cheek causing you to snap out of your daze. your cream curtain had been blowing fresh air, it made you feel more alive, especially having it slightly open in the early mornings. the sunlight would bleed into the curtains onto your sheets and the early bustling of the beautiful city would awaken.

a small blue jay chirps outside, and your phone chimes reminding you to bring your purse.

you slot your gentle lip tint and wallet, your phone's little dangling charms clinking with all the other knick-knacks in your purse. and for the final touch, the little rafayel chibi keychain attached with a beaded charm you had bought by impulse (listener like artist?).

you connect your white headphones sprinkled in stickers, playing his latest track. one of your favourites from their most recent single, Tip Toe.

"even better to be experienced live" you smiled, as you tap on your bus card. you take a seat nearest in-between the back and the middle, claiming your seat closest to the window.

you had always been drawn to the more charismatic, charming and... magnetic members. that one, being rafayel.

before you even knew it, you had already arrived at the bar it was set, a very cozy and warm atmosphere fills the air. there were people on the stage, setting up xavier's iconic deep red bass and zayne's pearly keytar. the stage was littered in little bits of glitter, and warm fairy lights.

a shiver of your heart knew this was going to be a magical experience.

placing your headphones around the strap of our bag, you stand in awe at the centre of the audience area, eyes shimmering. bejewelled.

suddenly a dark, veronica lilac shade came into sight.

rafayel.

"RAFAYEL?????" your mind was running laps, taken aback by the sudden sight of the man of your dreams in front of you, setting up his own mic still looking back backstage presumably talking to staff.

he was dressed in an unbuttoned white polo with a loose black tie on top, paired with worn out denim jorts and a pair of thick socks with leathery brown dress shoes.

ohmygoodness.

they weren't wrong when they said he was prettier in real life. to make it even worse, you were one of the only people in that standing area.

"oh? you must be early. we still have an hour or so till' the show starts." he tilts his head towards you, looking back down at his mic

"e-eh?! you're talking to... me?!" you lock your eyes with his lilac ones, and gain composure.

"i mean... well yeah. i prefer to get to events early!!" you smile.

he looks back up, impressed by her gentle demeanour finding her cute being so shocked he was talking to her.

"well, that's good. and don't worry. i'm not some big celeb, just a guy who loves his band and has the eye for the arts, if i do say so myself. no need to be shy.", he chuckles.

oh wow. he's so much more charismatic in real life too. your ears become warm, thinking this is all a daze.

"well, i hope to see you in the crowd, hm?"

"yep! i'll be in the front row... chookas?"

"thank you. hope to see ya' after the show."

something about her... was different.

she was alluring. her soul... it was... beyond description. would he really believe in love at first sight after every other soul he's fallen for?

stealing glances at you throughout the concert, he notices your passionate aura and your shouts of the lyrics from the latest single, Tip Toe.

xavier finds himself noticing rafayel's eyes on you, he felt captivated, enchanted if you will, as he saw you sing to his music. xavier smiles to himself as he gets fired up for his solo part in the following 3 bars.

he had 3 songs left till he could finally interact with you again.

after the concert, 3VOLS bow and grin, feeling accomplished playing their latest single flawlessly. now, he just had to see if people payed attention to the pop up on the ticket site.

the small maintenance crew had efficiently set up the little tables filled with boxes, revealing little pouches containing little trinkets and freebies organised by the boys to express their gratitude for supporting and attending their concert and simply just enjoying their music. each little bag was organised by member, letting the people who had noticed the little pop up choose their favourite member's freebies.

you managed to get a early spot in the small crowd of people. peering over a shoulder, it seemed like they were having a small meet and greet.

ohmygoodness.

WERE TALKING TO THEM PERSONALLY AGAIN??? this cannot be real. PLEASE LET ME GET A TURN WITH RAFAYEL!!

the little crowd was progressively moving, now the time awaits on you to be able to have the opportunity to greet the first debuted member, xavier. he held hands with you, smiling as he directed his eyes towards rafayel.

DOES HE KNOW MY FAVOURITE IS RAFAYEL??

"oh, i noticed your little raf' keychain. its cute." he gleams. in reality, he knows rafayel has had an eye on you. little did you know, his eyes were still on you as you held hands with xavier.

you giggle, thanking him and interacting with zayne. you reach rafayel at the end of the table, and he automatically hands you the pouch of trinkets filled with little freebies chosen by rafayel himself.

"honestly, my eye for the arts makes my pouch one of the best decorated here." he playfully chuckles.

"hm... maybe. we'll see when i open it!"

"can't wait. did you enjoy the show?"

"oh my gosh of course!! my favourite had to be Tip toe. or Saturn, or WDYS... i can't choose!! oh and Over 85 was also re- oops. i just enjoyed the entire show! you did so well!!"

"i'm happy to hear that. the experience was magical for me too." he says as they exchange closed eye smiles.

you extend your hand and he laces his hands with yours, slightly cold fingertips sending a pang through your heart. you bid your goodbyes and thank you's, heart warm and mind at ease.

you exit the bar, taking in the deep night city air.

oh gosh. well that just happened.

you untie the little purple ribbon that embraced the little pouch. what came to your surprise, a little piece of paper had fallen out.

hm? what's thi-

you're cute. heres my number, ⌝

XXXX-XXX-XXX

i think i wanna get to know ya'.

⌞ xoxo, rafayel. ᡣ𐭩

larkspur, representing first love and sweet disposition.

your voice , ⌝

like a song i've never listened to

⌞ but i know every lyric.

#oracleofstars #mics : dear rafayel #rafayel #rafayel x reader #rafayel x you #rafayel fluff #rafayel prompt #love and deepspace #love and deepspace fanfiction #love and deepspace fluff #rafayel love and deepspace #love and deepspace x reader #l&ds x reader #love and deepspace rafayel

[cjkie22]

A non-exhaustive list of why you should listen to hit dirtbag boyband Bears in Trees:

their music is really amazing. you'll love it.

especially if your Spotify wrapped was on the pov: indie side of things

and even if it wasn't.

songs for every emotion

absolutely beautiful lyrics

sometimes these lyrics make sense. sometimes they don't. that's part of the fun.

songs about platonic love !!!!!

songs for the queers! the aros! the aces! the enbies! the trans community!

my dad likes them. doesn't sound like a lot, but it's an achievement.

(more underneath the break)

iain (bass/vox/lyrics) has "ginger" tattooed on the back of their head. if that isn't iconic I don't know what is.

on the note of iain, they were the first person i was aware of that used they as a pronoun, and that changed my life

they have a discord server! it's a really lovely community. i am not biased in the slightest. (discord.gg/sandbox) (https://discord.com/invite/thesandbox) (i will personally send you an invite i don't actually know what the link is)

they should DEFINITELY be on the heartstopper soundtrack

if I'm remembering correctly in the tiktok where they said they should be on the heartstopper soundtrack, they also said 3 out of 4 of them were in some way queer. seems like a good thing to me.

they opened for you me at six earlier this year. it was my first time seeing them live. and WOW.

I met some of my best friends through this band. I'm not joking; big shout out to the mojo dojo castle house, I'll never forget that weekend.

they're hilarious on the internet

you might cry at several of their songs for a million different reasons

BearBerry records

they have a tumblr blog @/bearsintreesofficial (iirc). I'm not gonna tag them but

BiT gigs are a safe space. I may have almost fainted at my last one (new cross inn, August 2023) but I've never met so many kind strangers and genuinely lovely people

merch is super comfy and really cute.

it gives stardew valley and animal crossing (trust me I'm right)

after the new cross gig (sweatiest gig in the world), despite surely being exhausted, callum (uke/keys/vox) took my bereal and i got my mini lesbian flag signed by them all

I turned out not to be a lesbian, which possibly makes it funnier, but the flag is stuck on my wall still

cryptids would LOVE their band

dash.

there's also a community minecraft server for discord members

BiT postcards !!!!

gosh and the bit stickers

they covered stick season on an Instagram live

they also do the funniest twitch streams

iain and the mountain

the raccoon email address

george (drums/production) is elite. the drum fills in doing this again? iconic. also has a specific really cool shirt I want to steal

wedding. dress. tiktok.

callum doesn't wear shoes on stage. apparently this was common knowledge but it sure surprised me at new cross.

the austrian soft drinks advert

iain make up looks

callum plays the flute. I want to say classically trained flautist but i may be wrong.

none of them have EVER bribed any members of law enforcement

their songs are very tattooable

talking of tattoos, nick (lyrics/guitar/saw him play the uke on stage once) has L + R tattooed on his forearms (iirc). absolute genius and I am stealing it when I get more of my patchwork sleeve done

iain releases solo music to under the name pet yeti. it's ethereal. callum also plays flute on one of them.

trumpet joe

the four of them never look like they are dressed for the same event

someone once edited the bears in trees wiki page to say that Ryan Ross was in their band

silly geese

that time we got singing? poetry? performance art? of THAT harry potter fanfiction

according to tiktok, iain and nick once had to sneak into their own show because they were underage

nurby

I have a video in the depths of my camera roll of them covering Mama by My Chemical Romance on a twitch stream

sonick

all of them give me gender envy at different times

their newest single (bart's bike) features banjo

patreon content

yelling it gets better with a room full of people was a healing experience.

tilly

modern baseball and fall out boy adjacent in my brain

if you like bears in trees you're automatically hot and really cool

they did a song with noahfinnce and its really super good

callum also featured on a myriad song which is also really super good

bit songs feel like coming home. they feel like hot chocolate and a blanket on a cold night. they feel like a warm hug. they feel like surviving and falling in love with life again and overcoming the worst things. they feel like victory, because you didn't think you'd make it to adulthood. but I'm 20 now. and I'm still here. I've almost graduated uni. and that's what bears in trees feels like.

all of their songs!!!! amazing!!!!

please feel free to add to this list. I'm taking suggestions.

#bears in trees #dirtbag boyband #music #bit #bearsintrees #bears in trees core #LISTEN TO THEM #i'm begging you #i love my friends #they make me feel alive again #indie #pov: indie #i'm alive #and thats wonderful

[leopardom]

✨ sappy post incoming ✨

(and a little trigger warrning for the vague mention of suicide)

i’m not gonna do any gig reports for now because last week still feels like a fever dream and i can’t really put my thoughts in an order that makes sense. but i just wanted to stop by to say how much i love the vibes and creativity of this fandom and how happy everyone was when it came to meeting and trading/giving out their creations while queueing for the gigs or even when they were over

in Munich, Milan and Padova i got to meet so many people from here. with some of them i chatted more and with some others less. but in any case it absolutely warmed my heart to finally see all those people i see on tumblr but like, in real life! i got to trade my stickers for bracelets/stickers/art/fan stuff, got to see everyone have a good laugh because of my stuff and also got to complement people for their crafts. and i'm telling you i really meant every single word because as i already mentioned, i love the creativity of this fandom 💕

last weekend i began my trip with pretty much nothing on me and now i'm back home with a bag full of bracelets, a folder full of art and a heart so full i wanna cry. i mean look at that:

1) idek where to begin with the tags of the artists, i’m still confusion but i’ll try to come back to this post again later with a clearer mind

2) “big juicy” bracelet you will always be famous @greensolsikke <3

this last week was a tiring experience with many ups and downs but at the same time it was probably the best week of my life so far

i'm getting especially emotional about it all because this whole frenzy concided with my birthday (on the 29th of March). this may sound cringe or what, but on the actual day of my birthday and when everything was over, i was sitting alone on my hotel bed in Milan and was thinking how this last year of my life started in the worst way possible and how it was only escallating towards the worst every single day. during my 26 i reached a new level of low, a bottom lower than the one i had reached when i was 20-21 (and that was a bad bad time). and yes, there were a few times when i was close to ending it all because it was too much. my 26 was pretty much like hell

but now i'm glad i didn't give up and pushed through all the struggles. because if i hadn't, i wouldn't be able to experience last week. i wouldn't be able to see some of my dearest friends again, to meet all the amazing people from here and from twitter, to see one of my favourite bands perform for three nights in-a-row and to listen to all my fave songs of theirs live and even cry my eyes out to some of them (Barve Oceana in Munich, Padam in Milan and Metulji in Padova really were an Experience). can safely say that my 26 ended with a bang and it was a very good one 😌

i'm feeling sad that this is over but at the same time i'm so warm inside and so happy that it happened. and i would do it all over again, especially if it meant meeting you all again or meeting even more of you from in here. i have never felt so welcome by people who technically only knew me as a tumblr user and i never thought this would happen, considering how awkward i am when it comes to interacting with people online and in real life

anyway i think i've talked too much and i'm slowly loosing my train of thought because the thoughts and emotions are so many right now. i just wanna thank each and every single one of you for making the past week so special and one of the best weeks of my life. i'm beyond gratefull 💖

sincerely, the curly head with the meme stickers 🫶

#okay this is long but i had to do it #i needed to do it #i miss last week so much already :( #this is emma speaking #joker out

[the-90s-music-colosseum]

Round 4 Match 13

propaganda below the cut!

John Frusciante:

"He is literally John Frusciante. A guitar god, looks good in any of his 1000 different hairstyles, always cute and beautiful and sweet. I feel so lucky just to walk the same earth as him."

"i would do literally anything just for the chance to be even a string on his guitar"

"If John Frusciante has a million fans, I am one of them. If John Frusciante has one fan, I am that person. If John Frusciante has no fans, I don't exist. If the world is against John Frusciante, I am against the world. Vote for my beautiful guy John or I will be in your nightmares tonight"

"You know in that one interview from 1994 where he looks like a corpse and just generaly really unwell, well somehow he still looked insanely hot to me. Healthy or not the guy was always hot, he's just got the cutest nose and amazing cheek bones. He's also kind of cursed (so is the rest of red hot tbh, must be a requirement to be in the band probably) and I just think cursed people are great. So there was my propaganda for one of my favorit cursed boy."

Tori Amos:

"I first met the girl I'm now engaged to on a forum in 2006. She introduced me to Tori Amos. She dyes her hair red and leaves it messy to look like Tori. We drive around in her beat-up old car with a bumper sticker that says "I'd rather be at a Tori Amos concert," which gives away the fact that we're absolutely gay. We've seen her in concert 4 times. I'll never be able to separate Tori from my wife to be, therefore she is my 90s wife forever. Vote Tori if you believe in love!"

"Tori's coy smile, piano prowess and otherworldly voice are enchanting. She is my Björk. You must understand the POWER of this statement."

"google "tori amos 90s" the first image. you see her. vote for her there is no other option!"

#most attractive 90s musician #poll #polls #90s music #tournament #john frusciante #red hot chili peppers #tori amos

[angxliquel]

Random Hcs I have of the main four (this applies to the books)

Jack:

Lactose Intolerant

Has a small gap between his front teeth

Would be the kind of guy to wear dino slippers in the morning

Knows the first half of three different songs on the piano (Just the first half)

Can wiggle his ears?? somehow??

Would go on shopping trips with Rover and come back with like a gazillion different squeaky toys, mainly cause Rover tore through each of them in a minute

Can rollerskate but can't iceskate for shit

I know he was picked up by the hoodie by King Wretch in book three, but I imagine that if he'd been picked up by the shoulders, he'd have some claw marks there.

Quint:

Used to collect scratch and sniff stickers

Sleeps so god damn still you'd think he's dead. I'm talking arms crossed over his chest and everything

Allergic to strawberries

Has a few not-too-serious burn scars up and down his arms, thanks to some experiments gone wrong

Played the flute in Varsity Band before the Apocalypse. He'll bring it out every once in a while on the gang's karaoke nights.

Good at sketching monsters and other things because he used to do it with animals before the apocalypse

Knows bird calls

June:

HATES chocolate

Grew up on Nancy Drew

Her hair is actually slightly curly, she just straightened it before the apocalypse, and now she doesn't

Her stares can kill (mostly likely)

One time, the fabric lining within Blasty somehow ripped, causing the metal to scrape against the top of her hand. She has a pretty big scar there now. Her hands are really fucked up 😭 her palms are absolutely littered with cuts from gone wrong spear sharpening sessions

Can do the splits

Writes songs, but mostly ends up scrapping them

Dirk:

His pupils are slightly dilated, and his eyes are a little grey due to being half zombie

Actually has a lot of freckles that come out in the sun

VERY prone to sunburns

Loves the Mall Cop Movies

The mowhalk was an impulsive choice in sixth grade. Probably saw some guy in a magazine with it and thought it looked cool. (I know Book Six says otherwise but hush)

Coin collector

The gang decorated his helmet with all kinds of stuff. He appreciates it a lot

Undefeated bowling champ

On a totally unrelated note, I'm trying to do a voice headcannons thing for the main four in the books (cause I imagine they have different voices than in the shows) but MY LORD. I can't find a voice that suits Dirk anywhere 💀

#Angst? Never heard of her #the last kids on earth #tlkoe #jack sullivan #june del toro #dirk savage #quint baker

[mirukosbitchywife]

mina ashido, tenya iida, kyoka jirou, sero hanta, and momo yaoyorozu x reader obsessed with jjba!

part one to a four part series!

i loved this request! i really love jjba as well so this was fun to do! i hope you enjoy it! some of these were harder than others

mina ashido:

•mina definitely watched the anime up to stone ocean. probably reads the manga too. favorite jojo is jolyne and favorite jobro is okuyasu/foo fighters

•she cosplays from it, especially the pink characters like reimi sugimoto, trish una, and yasuho hirose

•still.. when she sees your obsession she's like Wow. not in a bad way tho. very supportive of it, loves seeing you so passionate about something, but is a little shocked by how much merchandise you have. absolutely will compare you to izuku. not so secretly actually loves your little trinkets and such.

•will do jojo poses with you for pictures, tiktoks, literally whenever you two see each other. very fun

•buys you lots of little things related to ur favorite characters 🥺 like those necklaces, stickers, keychains, plushies, anything. even if you have something similar she will still get you something if you don't have it

tenya iida:

•i really went back and forth on this but i'm going to settle on he has not watched it and does not know what it is.

•will watch it with you if you ask. is absolutely flabbergasted by what's going on. it's nothing like he expected. his favorite jojo tho is jonathan and favorite jobro is probably kakyoin

•is also probably a bit surprised by your collection of merch but doesn't say anything. is very supportive of your hobby as long as it doesn't interfere with your work.

•will complain if you do jojo poses for important pictures but otherwise doesn't mind, you might even be able to convince him to do some of them with you

•might not really understand the whole simping for characters thing but is cool about it. will also buy you things related to your favorite characters just to see you light up

kyoka jirou:

•for sure watches jjba. horror anime lover for sure, is really into the magic stuff. favorite jojo is jolyne, favorite jobro is maybe naracia?

•absolutely loves the music reference, may or may not be what drew her to the series, has a whole playlist full of songs/bands that have been referenced in it

•is impressed by your collection of merch. has no room to talk bc i just know she hoards instruments and music stuff in her room. likes looking through all the stuff you have

•could mayhaps be convinced to jojo pose with you if she gets to pick the pose. otherwise doesn't mind you jojo posing in pictures really, it makes her smile

•she would probably make playlist inspired by ur fav characters/maybe even make a song inspired by them for you if you'd enjoy that. if not will totally get you other themed stuff, will also send you memes of your fav characters

sero hanta:

•knows what jjba is, currently is reading the manga, is probably rlly far into it too like part 7 or 8. fav jojo is maybe josuke? probably finds him relatable. fav jobro is okuyasu or mista/naracia (they come as a two pack btw)

•might also have some merch in his room, like manga and posters and stuff, but not nearly as much as you have. doesn't react at all to your collection, nothing can surprise him with the friends he has. gives you lots of compliments on the things you have.

•will ABSOLUTELY ask to borrow ur manga volumes and takes very good care of them. might even ask you to read them together 🥺

•finds it really fun that you always do jojo poses, will start doing them without you without being asked. will photobomb ur pictures of u doing the poses too

•will absolutely send you memes of your favorite characters to make you squeal in happiness!! also sends you any fanart he sees, might even commission your favorite character to be drawn/painted for you

momo yaoyorozu:

•does NOT know what jojos bizarre adventures is whatsoever. never heard of it once. probably hasn't seen many shows in general. favorite jojo would be jonathan and her favorite jobro(or jomom ig) would be lisa lisa

•will watch it with you if you ask but is genuinely SHOCKED with everything that happens. is so confused when the murder and magic stuff starts. out of all the thing she expected from the title it was not this

•doesn't really understand why you do jojo poses in pictures but doesn't mind it, will do one with you but it would have to be a simple one and you'd have to show her how to do it

•will not make you merch for it(can actually in fact be convinced if it's something you realllyyyy want and nothing exists of it specifically. plus the puppy dog eyes. it was really the puppy dog eyes.)

•absolutely buys you so much jojos merch. insane amounts. any holiday or birthday you get everything you could ever want and then some. she's got money to burn

#my hero acedamia #mina ashido x reader #mina ashido x you #mina ashido x y/n #iida x y/n #iida x reader #tenya x y/n #tenya iida x reader #jirou x reader #jirou kyoka x reader #jiro x reader #sero hanta x you #sero hanta x reader #hanta x reader #sero x reader #momo x reader #momo yaoyozoru #momo yaoyorozu x reader #mina ashido #momo yaoyorozu #yaomomo #sero hanta #iida tenya #tenya lida #ashido mina #sero x you #yaoyorozu x reader #tenya x reader #mina x reader #bnha x reader

[yourbookcouldbegayer]

heya! i'm planning to write my characters (queers and allies) going to a pride parade, but i have never been to one so i'm wondering if you can help me describe the atmosphere and how people interact with each other during the parade? or are there any resources i can look into about pride parades?

tysm!

I highly encourage you to go to one if you are able, but I know it's not something everyone can just do. My experience under the cut

First, it's my impression that they vary vased on how accepting the setting is. I live in the US in a very liberal area, and that influences my experience a lot, given that a) it's 80% either organizations or buisnesses of some kind showing support, and b) I don't encounter a smidgen of hate/counterprotest.

So my Pride starts as a parade down the street and into the park, where it settles and becomes a festival. I personally enjoy the festival far more.

Most people going , who aren't part of the parade, wear something with a flag on it, the rainbow being the most common. But more and more you'll see flags you don't recognize. People give out stickers-- either rainbow flags in different iterations or hearts with several of the most common flags. Wearing pride flags is very common.

There are usually a couple people with shopping carts so full of flags, boards displaying stuffed animals, large pins, and other things for sale. They start going around the parade area early on. This if good is you want a flag before the parade, but I usually avoid them-- usually these are not queer sellers, and are simply reselling products they bought elsewhere. That said, it was the only place last year I found a 7 stripe sunset lesbian flag.

People there are generally freindly, complimenting pride themed outfits and stuff. There are families with kids there as well as young adults.

The parade, for me, is mainly organizations supporting us-- the grocery store, churches, local politicians, the police (🙄🙄🙄 I went stony silent for them), ect. Groups that I loved tto see though was the local POC Queer group, Planned Parenthood, and my absolute favorite, a local social liberation group. I loved that last one so much because someone was shouting protest chants and there were signs calling for change in trans rights and stuff-- 90% of pride is a parade, not a protest, and feeling the protest energy made me so so happy.

Most people marching are in tshirts associated with theor organization that say something about pride. But you also see a lot of people with pride flags, rainbow butterfly wings. There is usually at least 1 float full of, plus a few other, drag queens. There's the gay bar's float with mostly men dressed in very little. There's giant bubbles or bubble guns. People in the parade will toss out candy, flags, support bracelets, ect to the audience-- also condoms, but I didn’t see any this year. But that might've been because I was near a lot of kids.

At the festival you have:

All those organizations have a booth. There is usually free stuff and sometimes spin to win (pay to spin)

However, you also have local small businesses! There's a good amount that make queer stuff, usually a metaphysical booth, jewelry, pins (fun pronoun pins), flags, umbrellas, fans, pretty much anything you can think of that can have a pride flag, including homemade stuff

The shopping carts are around still

There's a whole bunch of food, like food trucks and stuff. Usually these have nothing to do with pride, theyre just not actually homophobic, and are there to sell food. But there was a local cafe these 6 trans owned and operated that I was super happy to see bc I've been meaning to go.

STD testing somewhere

A stage with a band. I think a drag queen from ru paul came to ours (I go to a big one in a state capital). It's very loud so I don't usually linger here but a lot of people go and enjoy the music and whatever else performance happens.

Ours had rides! A swing ride (so popular I skipped it even though that's one of my favorites) and a carousel. Also face painting. We didn't even have those at the biggest local festival of the year

Free Mom Hugs! I learned recently that this is a group and not just shorrts that are worn, but mother+ aged women wear tshirts saying Free Mom Hugs (or Dad hugs, therre are men too).

As for the people... my pride is crowded. People are usually drressed pretty lightly-- gentials are covered but that's about the only rule. Think rave rules-- boobs usually have their nipple covered. Being covered up is just as common though. No matter what the no-kink-at-pride people claim, this largely isn't sexual. It's queer, it's body positivity and acceptance, it's just being yourself. Also it's usually hot out. People are generally freindly, will compliment especially rarer sexuality representation or cool slogans on shorts. You'll see people in drag, a lot of androgeny, mixing feminine and masculine, ect. And there are plenty of people dressed more normally, too.

People don't necessarily act like everyone there is family or are that much more freindly/familiar with each otther than anywhere else. But mostt people there will respond positively to compliments, most people know far more flags than the average person. People assume pronouns slightly less, definitely still do (my enby gf, wearing all trans colors, no pronoun pin, was misgendered a few times) but it's a much safer environment to correct or ask for one's pronouns or respect ones they see.

Only other pride I've been to is in Provincetown, an extremely gay place. From what I remember, this was much more the common folk, much more an assortment of people marching and cheering and not as directly associated with an organization wanting support. I also went to a leather march there, also basically pride, except mainly... y'know. Leather.

There's a post on heere somewhere of someone watching someone on the bus after pride (idk if ot was a freind or stranger) who lookeed so happy and like themselves, theen having to peel off the stickers, hide the rainbows, ect., as they returned home. This will be an experience that still happens for likely a very long time.

That's about all I can think of. I welcome anyone else to share their experiences! I feel like I talked more about the festival than the parade but I like the festival better.

Unlike what people claim, there is no gatekeeping. The idea of people feeling like they aren't allowed is so weird to me because like. There's so many straight people giving support. There's so many people who you don't know theor sexuality. No one is at pride judging anyone for not belonging. If you look like a bunch of straight people there to party, maybe people will think that and move on. But for the most part no one would notice. You don't know someone's sexuality unless they have a flag, or if someone is there with a same-gender partner or not unless you see them kissing. And no one is performing sex scenes, that picture used in the no-kink-at-pride discourse wasn't at pride, no one does that. Did a freind once tie a bdsm knot on a ripe over my shirt at pride once? Yeah. So what? People there show some pride for their sexaulity, that's different.

Good luck with your story!

Mod Emma

#pride #pride parade #pride festival #disclaimer: this blog is inactive due to mod inactivity #sometimes I answer questions anyway #mod emma #long post

[idfk-im-bad-at-names]

I'm finally back and can catch up on the happenings but my brain is still at the concert so uh... probably won't be vodblogging as much. Also like... I need to gush about the concert and this is the safest place for me to let my thoughts go wild without feeling like I'm being a menace, so that's under the cut for those interested fuajvkeh

So the band I talk about the most on this blog? Yeah, saw them last night. Fuck. Shit. They were so much better live this second time now that they were the headliner of the show. I saw them open for Badflower and really dug their music. I left that concert listening to Des Rocs music more than I did Badflower and they were all I listened to for weeks.

Then they released the Dream Machine album. Fucking phenomenal. Love that shit. They announce the Dream Machine tour and they're coming back to my state! I buy the ticket without taking a second to debate it. Now the part of the city this venue is... well it's sketchy as hell but a safe and good place. Smaller than the last show, but that's to be expected.

Backtrack to a few weeks ago. I designed a sticker that's their logo. I made the color white gold in honor of their song of the same title, with claw marks across it to represent the line, "Hey, paper tiger." The night before the concert, I decide to print out the sticker and make copies for each member of the band and I'll toss it on stage. I write a message on it for them.

Now back at the venue, with the help of some women in front of me, the stickers were tossed on stage during White Gold. After they finished the song, the singer fucking read it and the women made sure he was aware they're from me. I was absolutely embarrassed but glad he liked them. I've never done anything like this before at a concert and it still makes me so happy.

Later in the concert, he had a heart to heart with the crowd. And this is why I enjoy smaller concerts over the big arena ones. LIKE FUCK, MAN. It all feels so much more personal.

I left last night feeling so amazing. It's been 16 hours since the concert ended and I still can't stop thinking about it and how much I loved it. I wanna go back there so bad.

#qsmp #des rocs

[arianaisms]

meet ariana!

ariana was born on june 26, 1993

she has a brother named frankie

she's an actress, musician, music producer, and owns her own makeup line called r.e.m. beauty

has a little boy named milo franklin with pete davidson. he was born march 25, 2019. ariana and pete share custody of milo and have a pretty healthy co-parenting lifestyle and they do things as a family frequently so milo has the experience of having two parents vs. mom one week and dad the next

is hypoglycemic

loves with her entire soul

doesn't label her sexuality, but if she had to pinpoint, she'd say she's probably pansexual/romantic

will make a joke about anything, but knows boundaries

has a morbid / macabre sense of humor and personality

obsessed with broadway, goldfish crackers, anything that has pretty lights and stickers

her purse is full of snacks, lip balm, perfume, and lotion. you'll never catch her not smelling good

has a ridiculously large collection of coloring books and coloring materials (most of it's for herself, not her son)

is known to smoke weed, but not around the tiny human

also known to vape, but also not around the tiny human, and it's always 0mg - she doesn't need the nic, she just likes the flavor and the fun clouds

has several collections. various unique water bottles, stickers, themed tarot cards, crystals, really cool lighters, themed band-aids, lots of harry potter stuff, anything that reminds her of milo, and a lot of wizard of oz / wicked / galinda specific items

can never find her keys

can never find her glasses (usually on her head)

makes friends pretty quickly and is easy to get along with as long as you're not rude to her

has gotten lost in her own house several times

you'll never catch her without her nails at least painted. she prefers acrylics or gels, but if she hasn't had an appointment in a while, she'll just paint them herself. she doesn't like the look of her bare nail. her go-to color when indecisive is purple

can't stand the texture of boba

her queen is betty white, god rest her soul

keeps a pack of toilet paper in her trunk because "you never know if you'll break down in the woods, what are you gonna use, poison ivy leaves? fuck that, i'm prepared"

milo is the love of her life. she'll do anything for him. she'll make a whole fool out of herself to make him laugh, whether it's making funny faces or noises, or dancing like a fool in public to get a smile on his face. he's the only guy that has her heart forever

will probably never lay a hand on anyone, but will absolutely destroy someone with words if they pick a fight with her

has hooked up with a lot of people and still does and is probably known for it and disliked for it

is freshly divorced, but has a good friendship with her ex husband. they ended their marriage on mutual terms, and since he was around milo since he was a baby, he's still involved in his life

loves all things fantasy and mythical, specifically unicorns and mermaids

obsessed with space

still plays wizard101 and league of legends on a regular basis. she's a gamer at heart

[eternal-armin]

they're cheap (i'm free).

jinx and vi meet up in your garage to practice a few songs and celebrate reader's new guitar. [band au/love triangle au] the performance is the song mentioned in the title because it's a bop and everyone should listen to it. reader: male. [neutral version soon] also there's a lot more slang in this for some reason? idk what's gotten over me lol. i really feel like i've been too subtle in this chapter but the second one will be a little more fluff instead of exposition.

new guitar day!

why were you so nervous? or maybe it was just an overflow of excitement. yeah, definitely an overflow of excitement.

pressing your lips together in an attempt to bide the anticipation, you gave the strings a good strum.

hot damn- there was no way you could hide your bright smile at the loud, clear note that ripped out from the amp. this sound was a little something you liked to call, absolutely perfect. you bit your lip, fighting back a proud, surely childish, laugh.

"ho-ly, that sounds sick!" jinx cheered, voice sounding almost quiet compared to the pure power you'd played. but her approval made your heart race.

"i know, right?! so worth the money!" as if she'd given you permission, you let yourself laugh through your words, bouncing and shifting your weight from side to side. you would've loved to jump a few times, but there was no way in hell you were gonna risk ruining the new instrument just yet. even though the strap to it was already snug and resting on your shoulder.

"i'm so excited, i didn't think something could sound better than my oldie," you grinned, still reeling at the combination of excitement and relief.

"i can't wait to hear you play with that bad boy! you better decorate it too, the color looks great but i'm really gonna miss the decorations blue had." as exaggerated as her hand and head movements were, jinx's gentle gaze was glued to your eyes.

the fact that nickname still stuck... "what, because you made the stickers?" you replied, cheeky as ever, tilting your head at her.

"well, yeah! i mean, they looked super sweet! y'can't deny it, pretty boy. some of my best work by far," jinx shrugged. you playfully rolled your eyes.

"it is kinda'a shame that those stickers were permanent," you muttered, kicking the air. you admired all of jinx's pieces- musical and artistic- but those stickers, you loved a lot more. maybe because she made them specifically for you. or because they fit your vibe perfectly. or they were just simply... gorgeous. if there was anyone you trusted to make stickers that encapsulated you in entirety, it was certainly jinx.

"oh, where's vi, by the way? did she forget we had practice?" you had been excited to show both of them your new electric guitar. steadily, sour disappointment clouded your childlike excitement.

"like i'd know, she tells me jack-all! i bet she did forget. wouldn't be the first time, would it?" jinx twirled her drumsticks in her fingers, playing a beat in the air. she looked at you with a small half-smile, a look in her eyes you couldn't quite describe. perhaps somewhere between admiring and annoyed. it was quite a look.

"i mean, like, no, it wouldn't, but she promised she wouldn't miss another," you trailed off, confident voice turning into little more than a mumble.

as if on perfect cue, the jammed garage door was forced open, making you jump in surprise, cursing under your breath.

"i'm sorry i'm late! cait needed my help with something," vi chuckled nervously, giving you both a sheepish smile. "but i'm here. i'm here." she forced the door shut behind her, before turning to you and jinx. "woah. nice ax, [y/n]. that new?" she was eager to change the subject. you didn't mind, and you went along. you returned her smile, though out of the corner of your eye, jinx didn't seem too impressed with her sister's continued late appearances.

"yeah. just got it! sounds like a dream." your giddiness at the new toy seeped right back into your voice.

"really? how much did it cost?" the more vi spoke, the more she regained her breath and steadied her voice. the thought of her hauling ass here was honestly... hilarious. you felt bad that you were biting back laughter.

"i don't... wanna admit that," you giggled, rubbing the back of your neck. well over 1,000 big ones, that's for sure. "was definitely worth the price, though."

"give us a note, then. i'd love to hear it."

"he already played one, vi, y'missed it! we got practice anyway, remember?" jinx interjected, sitting down on her drum throne. the slightly pouty tone in her voice confused you for a moment. you couldn't really recall her ever speaking like that before, unless you just forgot it.

vi glanced at you, and you pressed your lips together again, looking away. "right, right," vi nodded after a moment, taking her bass out of its case. there were a few seconds of awkward silence as everyone set up their respective instruments and microphone stands.

"you guys ready to blow the doors off the neighborhood again?" you looked back at the two with a little grin, supporting the guitar with one hand and holding the mic with the other.

"yeah."

"let's beat it, toots!"

jinx tapped her sticks to the beat. one. two. one, two, three, four.

your voice harmonized with vi's bassline. "you're all incorporated, so. y'don't get investigated." the rest of the line sounded like a dream, your voice combined with vi's strumming and jinx's playing. you could feel her prying eyes on you as always.

"i'm not abbreviated or deflated. i'm tryin' to be appreciated."

on your new angel, you joined the two, playing along to the chords implanted in your head. it was just tingles all up and down your spine at the sound- it was so hard not to giggle into the mic. the smile you bore didn't fit the song at all, but the excitement was just so much.

jinx joined you for the next line. her voice went so well with yours, you couldn't help wanting to listen to that alone. "you know what i know, son don't lie, you know what i know. you know what i know,"

"son don't lie."

"son don't hide all your sinners, flaunt 'em like a winner, like a creep!" with a kick, the music from your guitar got louder, electrifying the air with almost-discordant notes. you threw your head back from the mic, screaming for a few counts.

laughing proudly, you had gained the confidence to jump with your angel now that you'd played with it. "holy shit! that was great!" you rubbed your throat, wincing just slightly. but that pain was oh-so easily outweighed by the glee of such a great few songs. looking back at your bandmates, they were both just as excited.

"that new baby sounds nice as hell!" jinx whooped, laughing, spinning on her chair. "that was one of the best rehearsals yet- you are incredible, toots!"

"that was really awesome. you did great too, jinx," vi shot her a smile, and jinx returned it with the ever-professional finger guns. vi sounding so nonchalant when she looked like a kid in a candy store, it would never cease to make you smile.

"don't forget about yourself, vi! i swear, you play like a god. oh- 'scuze me, goddess." you giggled quietly, trying to ignore the intense glare jinx so graciously gave vi, practically like a beam of red-hot light.

vi's cheeks dusted pink at your compliment. which somehow took her by surprise, despite it being pretty much a ritual. "if i'm a goddess, you must be a god," she responded, soon after regaining her relaxed smile.

innocently, you shook your head. "psh, nah. i've got a long way to go. but- but thanks." you smiled softly at vi, before turning the same smile to jinx. "c'mon and join the diviners, huh, o goddess of the drums?"

breaking into a proud smile at your attention, jinx jumped at the opportunity, joining you and vi in the little group. she slung an arm over your shoulder, grinning. all three of you were quickly becoming tired, which meant crashing down on the couch with a pile of snacks and soft drinks, plugging in a show, and most likely falling asleep until vi realizes she has to go home. you and jinx would usually continue the event from there.

"speaking of diviners- that's a hella good name for our band! diviners, picture it now!" jinx splayed her hands out as if gesturing to a broad sign. you couldn't help but giggle.

"strong pitch. i like it. how 'bout you, vi?" both you and jinx looked at her- she didn't have much of a choice.

looking only at you, vi smiled. "it's perfect."

#vi arcane #arcane jinx #arcane netflix #arcane #arcane x you #arcane x y/n #arcane x reader #arcane x male reader #jinx x reader #jinx x y/n #jinx x you #jinx x male reader #vi x y/n #vi x you #vi x reader #vi x male reader

[writeouswriter]

Hi! I saw your post about wanting to be tagged in the loot box tag game (that's probably not at all what it's called, but bear with me here, you know what I'm getting at) and whilst I cannot seem to find it atm and my data is nearly gone, I would like to tag you anyway in it, since you seemed so enthusiastic about it. So this is you getting tagged in it. :) If it's one with options, pick your favourite, if it's not, that's also cool, I really want to see what you wanted to share. :)

(Sorry for being such an idiot, I just saw your post and I wanted to know more and make your day a little brighter (hopefully)).

Cheers!

Hi!! And thank you so much for this ask. You're not being an idiot at all, Loot Box Tag Game absolutely is what it's called, alternatively WIP loot box or the like. It's a newer writeblr game I've seen going around lately and I just found all the ones I've seen to be really fun, giving a cool way of getting insight into some people's stories, and like, theoretically while I know I could just do the game and if you like the game, you absolutely should just go for it, receiving an actual tag or ask about it gives my personal little gremlin brain that extra little sliver of motivation/accountability to actually do it. Though now I’m going to forget every word in the English language but hey. So, here we go:

WIP Loot Box Tag Game:

Rules: make up what would be in a limited edition loot/gift box for your WIP/work in progress.

You know I gotta do one for Static House, my 80's horror project about a paranoid horror movie buff convinced he's receiving warnings through the TV static. Jack would love something like this. Top of my head, said loot box would include:

A randomized classic horror VHS tape that may or may not hold secret messages hidden at various points throughout (whether or not you actually have a VCR to play this tape in is a you problem, sorry).

A worn, signed 80's style movie poster of the book

Coupon for a 2 for 1 deal at Zhang’s Video Rental that seems to have expired in 1989

A custom Static House special edition Blockbuster style popcorn bowl

Sticker sheet of “Be Kind, Rewind” style stickers that get increasingly more ominous and bizarre as the sheet progresses.

Then we have Umbrella House Mysteries, my contemporary new adult mystery/adventure/possibly magic realism series about a young college girl forced to move to an eccentric building with an even more eccentric group of tenants. Some things the loot box would probably have would be:

A single preserved butterfly in its own little glass casing and wooden frame

An incredibly detailed anatomical painting of a beetle, with the initials N.D.R. printed in wide graceful brush strokes on the bottom right corner

A box of tarot cards, one of which is turned face up away from the others and bears a startlingly similar resemblance to you... or someone you know

A box of Isaac's colourful/cartoon bandaids

A ship in a bottle, possibly with something hidden inside, if you dare try to find it

A small decorative brass key with no discernible purpose... yet.

A custom t-shirt from Tag’s old band (yes, he was in a band)

A custom coffee mug from The Middle Café

Then lastly for now I’ll go with Alien Abduction and Other Life Goals, my WIP about a regular university student who finds himself entwined in a major government cover up when his conspiracy theorist roommate goes missing under mysterious circumstances and he’s the only one who can find him. A few possible loot box items:

A print copy of Jack’s (no relation to Static House Jack) letter to Braden, still in the envelope, with an extra secret message to decode in each one

A cassette tape with a small snippet of Jack’s audio notes and several pages of drawings and encoded text that happened to slip past the government’s sweep of his room

Jack’s university sweatshirt or Braden’s university tee

A shirt that says: Aliens Want Me, The Government Fears Me or alternatively The Government Hates Me for my Startlingly Accurate Alien Conspiracies or alternatively If Lost, Return to *illegible zivalgo text* or alternatively the 18+ edition: Sex? No thanks. I’m already getting screwed by the government.

Lil custom alien or UFO keychain

Tagging if you’d like: @writting-in-blood, @eccaiia, @karolinarodrigueswrites, @mary-is-writing, @carminasolis, @backburnerdio, @anyone who wants to do this seriously tag me as having tagged you, don’t pull a me, I want to see your loot boxes

#ask #tag game #writeblr #WIP loot box #loot box tag game #thank you <3

[callsignbaphomet]

So on the 10th we're going to see Lich King. We haven't been to any concert in years. Last band we saw was Lacuna Coil and that was while I was still working at the airport so... it's been a while lol.

There's reasons for it. When Slayer was gonna come here this producer assbag got greedy and demanded more money or some such shit. So bands sorta stopped coming. At least that's what I remember, this happened years ago. Second was that during the hurricane Maria thing Richard, C's best friend, moved to Texas and he was our only communication for all things concerts.

Recently C was on Reddit and found out that bands had been coming around again for a few years now and found a store that sells band merch AND has info on bands coming over and they sell tickets. We went there today, it's called Odin's Court btw and I love that to bits, to get tickets for Lich King.

Lady that owns the store is like around her late 40s early 50s if I had to guess. She showed us one of her battle vests she started back in 1986. It's in great condition and looked badass.

C got himself a Bathory shirt and got me a shirt, sticker, necklace and pins :3

I already had a really nicely done Thor's hammer but it's heavy and it's kind of a pain to wear it so I told C I would trade mine for one of the ones in the store so we traded. I already had this shirt from when Iron Maiden came here but it doesn't fit. I picked the right size but it absolutely was not the size it was labeled as. I like loose fitting clothes unless I'm crossdressing so I haven't used the shirt in long ass years and I wanted one I could comfortably wear.

Found an Amon Amarth shirt and got super excited but it was small 😞

The sticker and the pins were for a super dorky lame reason ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Jelani.

His code name is baphomet (points to url of main blog and art blog).

I also associate him with goats so as soon as I saw those pins I just HAD to have 'em.

All I need now is a wolf pin to go with the goat one and I'll have myself a little Jelani/Angelus kinda for lack of a better word tribute sorta thing to that couple. Wanna find one of a buck and a fox (best if sable) for Uthorim/Loke.

So yeah, that was my day. Looking forward to destroying my hearing at the concert next, next week. Also C let me dork out by letting me talk his ear off about n s f w stuff concerning Jela and Angelus because despite how short yesterday's post was I wanna keep indulging 🤭

#werewolves loose in the ao

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Monday, 17 July 2023:

Supergrass Supergrass (BMG/ Echo) (released in 1999, reissue released in 2022)

The band's third album instituted a massive rule in my Top Ten lists at the end of the year. Going into the final quarter of 1999 my choice for Best Album of the Year was Wilco's Summerteeth. I live in the US and I was a massive fan of plenty of UK bands and I endlessly imported them from the UK to the US. Supergrass would not be released in the US until 2000 and I wasn't having it. I wanted it when it came out! Released in September 1999 it arrived in my mailbox in October 1999 and immediately besotted by it, I named it Best Album of 1999. Well, it wasn't.

I've yet to decide if I wanted to show off and name it #1 so everyone who didn't care thought I was hip and named a Supergrass album that hadn't even been released in the US #1 or if I was so enamored of the band and disappointed that In It For The Money didn't get #1 that I had to name a Supergrass the best at some point. I was behaving like the Oscars. Today, I know deep, deep in my heart that the Best Album of 1999 belongs to Wilco's great, grand bizarre pop album Summerteeth. I play that far more than Supergrass. Matter of fact, when they hell have I played Supergrass recently? Probably never. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this album. It has many a jewel on it and as I indicated in my first Supergrass entry, their first four albums are all magnificent. This just ain't the best of 1999.

The dealer from whom I bought Supergrass' first two albums from on discogs offered me their third album at a steep discount. He told me the cover was severely bent and he'd sell it to me dirt cheap since I bought their first two albums. Normally I'm a stickler for pristine covers, but I have been sweating these Supergrass albums on vinyl like I used to sweat morphine, so I opted to grab it. You can't tell in the first photo how bent this cover really is, but on the second photo of the back of the album you can see how bent that top corner is. It looks even worse in real life. Still...

Below are shots of both sides of the inner sleeve. How many decades have bands been releasing inner sleeves of camera shots of them in the studio? Not that there is anything wrong with this, matter of fact, I enjoy it, but it feels like a time honored tradition. The best thing about this is seeing how many shots ended up becoming sleeves for the band's 45s.

Below are both sides of the record label. (I had completely forgotten how much I love the song Jesus Came Down From Outta Space, oh if only Mrs Echo II were home...)

This album was pressed on neon orange vinyl and you will see both shots of that color below.

Lastly, here is a close up of the hype sticker that adorns the top photo!

And I realize I do not have my Top ten Best Albums of 1999 list any longer (it's a long, complicated story) but I look at my Top 50 Most Played Albums of 1999 and I see that Summerteeth came in at #1 (absolutely no surprise there). But then I see Up by REM came in at #3 (Supergrass came in at #6) and suddenly I wonder, didn't I name Up Album of The Year in 1999? Suddenly I'm not certain about what was really my Top Album of 1999. Hmmm... Couldn't have named Up as my Album of the Year in 1999 since it came out in 1998.

[angrycowboy]

Alex Manes Week 2021 | Day Two: Tropes

#roswell new mexico #alexweek21 #alex manes #malex #roswellnmedit #alexmanesedit #malexedit #*notsogifs #well this is a disaster #still absolutely love that I'M WITH THE BAND sticker #and that you see it on the case in 2x01 #i swear that guitar better make another appearance

[themetaphorgirl]

(1/1) This is at_the_chamber_door from A03. I've got a Boarding Alternate Universe headcanon--study groups! Maybe if everyone's loaded with work, projects, or upcoming tests, they'll get together at night (preferably at a round table, ha) and work. Well, work-ish: The only people actually working the entire time are Hotch, Alex, and JJ. I'm running out of characters so I shall send another ask with a part 2!

drabbles are supposed to be short. this is about 2,000 words. oops.

I hope y’all like it though! I love these kids with my whole heart.

my writing tag | the boarding school AU

----------

JJ rifled through her piles of papers, frowning. Her biology info packet was in there somewhere, she just knew it. But maybe she could wait and work on biology later, maybe she should work on history first.

“Okay, you guys, I’m starting to freak out,” Penelope said, knocking over her stack of rainbow-colored gel pens. “How bad are midterms? Like...really. What should I expect?”

“They’re not bad, as long as you study,” Hotch said absently.

Penelope dropped the gel pens she’d started to pick up. “I’ve forgotten how to study!” she shrieked. “Oh my god! Everything in my brain has been erased!”

Spencer perked up. “Ooh! It could be lacunar amnesia!” he said. “That’s when-”

“Spencer, no,” Hotch sighed. 

“Take a breath, baby girl,” Derek said, scooping up the pens and handing them back. “You’re smart, you’ll remember stuff.”

She set the pens back into rainbow order. “You say that now,” she said. “What if I do forget? Or I forget which exam is at which time? Oh, god, what if I sleep through them!”

“You’re not going to sleep through them,” JJ reassured her. “I’ll wake you up.”

She turned back to her own piles of notes and worksheets. This was the sixth time that Penelope had freaked out in the last two hours, and doubtless she’d freak out a few more times until midterms were over. At least since they were studying together, other people could chime in and help calm her down.

They’d agree collectively to spend Sunday studying together for their respective tests. As a group they had overtaken the seventh floor common room, lounging around in their pajamas, piling up textbooks and coffee cups and snacks. Hotch, Alex, and Spencer sat at the round table while Dave sat between James and Emily on the couch; Penelope and Derek sprawled on the rug in front of the silent television. JJ had claimed a corner of the room for herself, spreading out her papers in small piles.

James pulled his binder close to his chest and frowned. “Dave, are you copying off me?” he asked.

“No, never,” Dave said. He ate another handful of pretzels. “Absolutely not. I’m copying off Emily.”

James squinted at Dave’s mostly-empty notebook page. “You are copying off me!” he accused. “Do your own work, Rossi, Jesus.”

“Okay, then I will copy off Emily,” Dave said. “And she won’t know because she’s listening to music.”

“Fuck off,” Emily said absently, her airpods still tucked in her ears.

“She’s not even in any of your classes,” James pointed out.

Dave shrugged. “Whatever, it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll get into college either way.”

Penelope dropped her sticker-covered composition book. “Oh, god! What if I don’t get into college?” she said.

“You’ll get into college, Pen,” Alex said. “Don’t look so far ahead. Focus on this week’s tests.”

Penelope huffed in frustration. “JJ, do you have your notes from biology class?” she asked.

“Uh...yeah, somewhere,” she said. She rummaged through a stack. “Hold on…”

“JJ, can you find anything in there?” James asked. “It looks like everything you own exploded.”

“I have a system,” she explained.

“You can borrow my notes!” Spencer said. He leaned forward to stretch across the table; Alex caught him before he could tip out of his chair. “Here! Do you have any questions?”

Penelope frowned. “That’s it?” she said. “A single piece of paper? And...your handwriting is completely illegible.”

He shrugged. “It makes sense to me,” he said.

“Spencer, sit down before you fall on your face,” Hotch said. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

Dave threw a pretzel at Emily. “Hey! She’s not studying!” he said. “Repeat, Emily Prentiss is not studying!”

“Narc,” she shot back, scooping pretzels off the couch and throwing them back at his face.

“Everyone!” Dave said, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Emily Prentiss is online shopping! Shopping for-” He leaned over her shoulders. “She’s bidding on a seventy-five dollar tee shirt on eBay.”

Emily slammed the lid of her macbook shut. “That tour got canceled after three stops, it’s a collector’s item!” she said.

“Emily, didn’t your mom say that she was going to cancel your credit card if you got below a C on your history midterm?” Alex asked, tapping her pen against her chin.

“Just the Amex,” Emily shrugged. “Also, that pen isn’t capped.”

“Oh! Shit.”

Spencer frowned. “Can I borrow somebody’s computer really fast?” he asked. “I don’t think this source is correct.”

“Here, munchkin,” Emily said, holding out her macbook. “Just for Miller’s satisfaction, I’ll study for my history test. You can borrow it for now.”

Hotch caught the laptop from Spencer’s small hands and set it down on the table. Spencer squinted at the keyboard. “Where’s the control key?” he asked.

“It’s a macbook, squirt, it’s a command key.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “God, see, this is why I stick to my chromebook,” she said. “Everything makes sense.”

“Your chromebook is the size of a novel.”

“I know, it’s easy to carry.”

Spencer scrunched up his face, pecking at the keyboard letter by letter with his index fingers. “Can somebody type this for me?” he asked. Hotch silently pulled the laptop closer and typed as Spencer spelled out his question.

With Emily distracted by her argument, JJ stole her pillow from the couch and propped it up with her piles of papers, getting comfortable. She bit back a yawn. Studying was exhausting work. 

“Okay, I’m done,” Spencer announced. “You can have your computer back, Emily.”

“Thank god, there’s only ten minutes left in this auction and I need this shirt,” she said. Alex rolled her eyes and put on her headphones. 

Derek pushed himself off the floor. “Pretty boy, if you’re taking a break-”

“Oh, it’s not a break, I’ve memorized everything.”

“Show off,” Dave grinned.

“Okay, since you’ve memorized everything, you wanna go down to the vending machine in the lobby and get more drinks?” Derek continued. Spencer frowned. “You can pick out something for yourself.”

“Deal!” Spencer said. Derek handed him a handful of crumpled dollar bills.

“Hold on, caro,” Dave said. He dug out his wallet and handed him several more dollars. “Get enough for everybody.”

“Thanks!” Spencer said, and he took off, his little socked feet thumping down the stairs.

“Walk, please, before you faceplant again!” Hotch called. The footsteps faded, but did not slow down. Hotch sighed.

“Derek,” Penelope said. “Derek. Derek Morgan. Chocolate thunder. Pay attention to me.”

“What?” 

She thrust a folded paper fortune teller in his face. “Pick one!” she said.

“Pick one what?”

“You have four options, pick one!”

JJ raised an eyebrow. “You’re making cootie catchers?” she said. “I thought you were worried about getting into college.”

“First of all, where I come from, we call them fortune tellers,” Penelope said. “Second of all, I’ve decided I’m not going to college, I will never be able to pass these tests, so I will never get a college degree, so I will just play my ukulele on street corners for the rest of my life.”

“You can always get a college degree and play your ukulele on street corners,” Dave pointed out.

“Derek, please, pick one,” Penelope begged.

He looked at the phrases. “Uh…koala bear, I guess,” he said.

“Now pick a number.”

“Um...three.”

Penelope unfolded the fortune. “You will fail your midterms, flunk out of school, and play the dulcimer in Penelope Garcia’s busking band,” she read. “Oh, that’ll work out nicely.” Derek shook his head. 

Spencer ran up the stairs, arms laden down with soda cans. “I’m back!” he said. He dumped them on the floor. “Maybe don’t open them right this second. The carbonation-”

“We’re cramming enough knowledge in our heads today, we don’t need an extra lesson,” Emily said, scowling at her history textbook.

Spencer’s lower lip dropped in a pout. “Don’t make that face,” Hotch warned. “We’ve talked about how sometimes it’s a bad time for facts.”

“I’m not pouting. And there’s never a bad time for facts.”

“Yes, there is,” Derek said. “Like now, when we’re all trying to study.”

“Except me, I’m going to join the circus,” Penelope informed them.

“I’m trying to study too, you guys,” JJ called from her fortress of papers and books.

James rubbed his temples. “Guys...please…” Dave threw a pretzel at him. “Goddammit, David.”

“I was just trying to explain that the carbonation-”

“No!” Emily said, tossing a pillow at Spencer. It bopped him in the face and knocked him backwards.

“Jesus, Emily!” Derek exclaimed.

Hotch buried his face in his hands. “For the love of god, you guys, stop.” he said.

“I’m sorry!” Emily said. “Spencer, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to smack you, you were just really getting on my nerves, please don’t tell Alex.”

Alex looked up from her chromebook and took out her earbuds. “Hm?” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Emily hit-”

“Penelope said-”

“David threw-”

“Oh my god,” Alex said. “Okay, okay, stop. Just...stop, everybody. One at a time, please.”

Hotch dragged his hands over his face. “I just want a little peace and quiet,” he mumbled into his palms. 

“Spence, I’m sorry, really,” Emily said earnestly. “Are you okay?”

Spencer sat up. “To quote Anne Shirley...I am well in body but distinctly rumpled in spirit,” he said, rubbing his eyes. 

“What’s the translation?” Emily asked.

He pushed himself up off the floor. “You threw a pillow at my face, and I think I’m mad about it!” he accused. “And yes, I know I’m pouting, and I don’t care!”

“Oh, now you’ve done it, Prentiss,” Dave said.

Hotch got up from the table and stomped over to them. “That’s enough,” he said. He picked up Spencer under his arms and plunked him down on Alex’s lap. “Emily, you are six years older than him. Chill.” Dave snickered. “Dave, stop making it worse.” 

“Penelope, you’re not going to busk on street corners or join the circus, if you take a second and stop freaking out you’ll realize that you know more than you think you do,” James added. 

“Yes! Thank you,” Hotch said. “Derek, you need to take this seriously. You have to keep your grades up or they’ll move you from varsity down to JV. And Wallace will get your spot.”

Derek scowled. “Fuck Wallace,” he grumbled.

“And JJ…” Hotch paused. 

“What?” she said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“No, you’re the most well-behaved, but...why are you upside down?”

JJ blinked. She hadn’t realized how she got there, but sure enough, she was lying on a scattered heap of worksheets with her heels propped up on the wall. “I don’t know, these things happen,” she said. Hotch sighed.

Emily scrambled off the couch. “Okay, okay, I know tensions are running really high right now,” she said. “And I know some of it is my fault-”

“You knocked me over like a bowling pin,” Spencer sulked.

Alex adjusted him on her lap. “I think you’ll live,” she said, and he crossed his arms. 

“Stop reminding me! Jesus, I’m trying to apologize!” Emily said. “What if I order pizza for everybody? It’s almost dinner time anyway and we’re all stressed, we should take a break. Will I finally be forgiven?”

Spencer opened his mouth to argue. “Yes,” JJ said immediately. She rolled over to sit up, shifting her papers around. “Oh my god, yes, please.”

“I’ll always vote for pizza,” Derek said.

Penelope looked down at the half-a-dozen fortune tellers scattered around her. “Maybe a break will help me focus again,” she said sadly.

Emily crouched down next to Alex’s chair. “Spencer?” she said sweetly. “Am I forgiven?” He huffed, blowing a lock of hair off his forehead. She poked him lightly. “Am I? Am? Am I?”

His mouth tilted. “Can I tell you the facts I was going to say?” he asked.

Emily sighed. “Yes,” she said. “Go ahead, Dr. Reid. Tell me everything you know about carbonation.”

“You brought this on yourself, Prentiss,” Hotch pointed out.

“I know. I know.”

#au: patron saint of lost causes #criminal minds fanfiction #caitlin writes things #spencer reid #aaron hotchner #david rossi #jennifer jareau #james blake #alex blake #emily prentiss #derek morgan #penelope garcia #these babies are so precious #spencer keeps ending up on alex's lap and I don't care #emily is a terrible role model #jj is an organizational disaster

[anyways-wonderwall]

Album of the Week #4

Bambi

(2021)

By 백현 (BAEKHYUN)

Overall Rating: 10/10

TL;DR: An album with a voice and guitar so smooth it cured my concussion.

So I know that I chose last week's album as my concussion album, but this is the one that really got me through the last few weeks. Every day I have to lay down in the nurse's office during what would be my band period to get rid of the headache from my bonked head. Every day when I am laying in that dark room I put in headphones and listen to just this album. I recovered from this concussion quicker than most do so I'm pretty sure that Byun Baekhyun's voice has actual medicinal properties.

I usually don't listen to any solo music from any kpop artist, but since EXO is one of my favorite groups of all time Baekhyun was a good first try. I won't give away too much right now but believe me when I say this is one of my favorite albums I've heard in the past year.

General Thoughts

Going into this album I did not expect it to sound like this. I've heard the solo stuff from other EXO members and members of SM groups and it all just sounds like pop that blends in. There is nothing in it that makes it unique and it doesn't feel like there is much of a connection between the artist and what they are singing (unless they wrote the song like Jonghyun, he is a beautiful exception). Baekhyun doesn't fit into this generic pop category, instead going a more R&B route which I absolutely adore.

This album is so relaxed, each track having either a piano or guitar part that makes me glad that I enjoy music. Do you ever hear an album and are glad that you have made the choices in life to get to this point? Because that's where I'm at right now. I don't know who the electric guitar player in “Bambi” and "Love Scene” is, but they deserve a raise. I know that Baekhyun isn't the one that wrote these songs, but they fit his voice perfectly. I don't think anyone will ever be able to sing these songs and come close to sounding as amazing as him.

I'm going to group “Bambi” and “Love Scene” together in this review because to me they have roughly the same energy: Smooth and cathartic. Bambi is the perfect title track, showing off his voice but not making it the biggest focus, and making it clear what the tone for the rest of the album is. The music video is absolutely flawless and just nice to look at. I honestly couldn't say how many times I've watched it. "Love Scene” isn't as well known but it should be. It's definitely my favorite on the album and really allowed me to enter another world when I was stuck in that nurse's office.

“Amusement Park” is the B-side for this album and I was obsessed with it for a solid week. I'm talking four times minimum I would play this song, trying to commit every part of it to memory. The piano at the beginning allows the song to be calm yet still have life, and you can almost hear the smile in his voice as he sings.

Which takes me to his voice. Holy crap. Holy crap. It's not that he can just sing high, he does everything so smoothly I never once thought he was towards the top of his range. He slips into falsetto notes so easily it seems totally effortless, as effortless as when he sings lower songs. I think the best showcase of his voice and his amazing ability to do runs is in “All I Got”, which is probably one of the greatest vocal performances I have ever heard. It belongs in the hall of fame alongside Onew's 40 second note and Mariah Carey. This song is more a test of how amazing his singing ability is than a song and I'm okay with that.

Final Verdict

Do you like kpop? Do you like any R&B/alternative? Do you like hearing a voice so good you question if that person even exists? Do you love hearing electric guitar with all those nice pedals that just makes you sigh in comfort? Then this album is for you. Seriously, go listen to it right now. I wouldn't blame you if you don't buy it since it's just a mini album, but at least give it a listen. It is incredible. That being said I am 100% taking the L and paying $25 for 6 songs. Honestly? I would love to have a poster and sticker so I think it's totally worth it.

#album 4 #byun baekhyun #baekhyun #Bambi #exo baekhyun #exo #album of the week #10/10 #music review #music recommendation