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#a real pop masterpiece
sirfrogsworth · 7 months
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Do you remember that Aussie sword guy who used to talk about medieval weapons?
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And, like, he seemed pretty good at talking about swords and shit. He seemed to have a good grasp of the history and tactics. He'd analyze movie weapons for their realism and that was fun. He did demonstrations with real weapons. For a time I really looked forward to his videos popping up in my feed.
He seemed like a harmless sword-fighting aficionado.
But then I guess he wanted to spread his wings. So he started down an anti-woke path. Giving questionable critiques about media and feminism. He started defending boob armor by showing historical examples even though most of those were decorative and not battle ready like in the games.
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Then he admitted he was a fan of The Daily Wire.
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And that was disappointing.
I missed him nerding out about swords, ya know?
Well, Shad decided to spread his wings again.
He has become...
*bad French accent* An artiste.
You see, he types words into a little box. Then a little robot does a google image search and steals a bunch of art. Then that robot reconfigures that art to be nearly indistinguishable from the source material. Well... aside from the occasional artist watermark.
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Whoops!
A.I. art is very difficult. Sometimes when you type words into the box you get a woman with 5 lopsided anime tiddies. Or 20 fingers on one hand. It takes time and effort and experience to type in the perfect magic words so that you get something close to your imagination that doesn't belong in some sort of Lovecraftian horror ripoff.
For example, check out this cool "pirate hat" I asked A.I. to place on my head.
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Clearly, I am not skilled enough at typing words into a box to get a proper pirate hat.
It. Is. Not. Easy.
I heard someone say you have to type things in a box for 10,000 hours before you start getting truly masterful generations.
I mean, you can't type "marathon runners" and expect that to actually work.
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THIS REQUIRES SKILL, PEOPLE.
And I am a lowly amateur. I can only dream of becoming the box-typist Shad has honed himself into.
The thing is... Shad is very upset.
He is upset that you don't like his "art" and he is ready to die on this hill.
So... before he croaks on a mound of bullshit, he has something to show you. He has created something truly brilliant and when you see it, he is convinced you will validate his considerable efforts.
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Before I show you his "Not. Easy." artistic masterpiece I'd like you to sit with what he has said for a second.
Ruminate in the verbiage.
Process the ideas and points of view presented.
Digest his plea for you to accept and love his hard won battle after typing words into a box to manifest his imaginings.
.
.
.
.
.
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.
.
Have you sat?
Ruminated?
Processed?
Digested?
Okay, here it is...
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7K notes · View notes
dollfacefantasy · 8 months
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Hold My Calls
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pairing: leon kennedy x fem!reader
summary: you teasing leon about his flip phone leads to some fun
cw: nsfw (18+), smut, p in v, oral (f receiving), fucking during a phone call, age gap, daddy kink, praise/degradation, over-stimulation
word count: 2.9k
a/n: hey everyone school is kicking my ass rn, but i am back with another one. thank you so much for the support on my last post that meant the world to me. i don't care if this is not technologically accurate or whatever just let me be delusional in peace. as always comments and reblogs are appreciated and i will give you special smooches in return <3 also thank you too my loves @tosuckmyweenis @kaitkatme @chasingkennedy @explorevenus @sleepyluxe @death-paint @petitecolibri for helping me come up with ideas for this one and/or beta reading - ily all sm :)
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When you started dating Leon Kennedy, obviously you knew there was an age gap. You figured it wasn’t a big deal. He’s only thirty-six. That isn’t that much older. And for the most part, that was true. The difference in years never seemed to play a huge part in how you loved each other. But there was one thing that reminded you of this man’s age.
He had a fucking flip phone.
Honestly, it didn’t even say much about his age. It highlighted his stubbornness. He was not incompetent. His job had him working with all kinds of shit that you didn’t even try to understand, so it’s not like he can’t work a smartphone. He just doesn’t want to.
It didn’t really matter. If anything, it was kind of cute. The way he fumbled with the buttons that were too small for his fingers. The loud chiming ringtone that he would grumble about yet never turn down. The sight of him trying to find the right distance to hold the phone away from his face so he could read the font. You had heart eyes on your first date when this man popped in a CD because he couldn’t use the aux with his flip phone. They were simple quirks, but they were just so endearing to you. You’d tease him about being outdated, and he’d put up with it cause it was you.
“Why do I need anything more? This thing can call you, and that’s all I really need,” he’d say with a teasing expression when you’d crack a joke.
You’d roll your eyes at the excessive charm, but you couldn’t help smiling. “Yeah, but-”
And he’d cut you off with a kiss. “Trust me. I like it. It’s simple. Plus it’s like indestructible. But if I ever want an upgrade, you’ll be the first to know.”
The only time Leon ever considered ditching his trusty flip phone and upgrading to something more advanced was when you would send him nudes. Seeing the masterpiece that is your body reduced to a handful of pixels on the tiny screen drove him fucking wild. Upon hearing the chime of his phone and seeing the small image of you gracing his screen, he’d find a moment alone to try and see the details. He’d hold the phone two inches away from his face trying to make out every last curve. Days when he got those pictures ended with nights where you got fucked on every surface in the house.
He’d come home from work, his eyes full of lust before he even saw you. You’d glide into the room with a knowing smile on your face. You wanted him just as bad as he wanted you.
“Hi, baby. How was work?” you ask, feigning innocence. You close the distance between the two of you and wrap your arms around him.
“Oh, you care about my work now, huh?” he asks, a smirk creeping onto his face as his arms return your embrace, “Doesn’t seem like it when you send me those cute pictures during the day, distracting me, making me think about you when I should be focused.”
Your lips part and your eyebrows raise in mock offense. “I only send those to help you, motivate you,” you tease as your fingers coast along his biceps, “Maybe if you had a real phone they wouldn’t bother you so much. You’d be able to see everything clearly and not be left imagining.”
“I don’t need to stress about pictures though when I got the real thing waiting at home for me every night,” he purrs as he leans in and starts kissing you.
You return the kiss with the same level of passion, lips moving with his as the two of you stumble over to the couch. You fall back onto the cushions with Leon on top of you. His hands already roam your body and begin removing articles of clothing. He wasn’t in the mood to take his time after having that grainy image of you gnawing at his mind all day.
“Fuck, baby. Every time… I can never get enough,” he grunts as he yanks your top over your head and tosses it to the side. His hands rub up and down your sides, the rough pads of his fingers dragging over your sensitive skin and making you squirm. In no time though, they’re on your breasts. He kneads the plump flesh as his lips trail down to your neck and collarbone, leaving a trail of saliva-coated skin in their wake.
He’s all over you all at once it seems. It’s overwhelming in the best way. You’re moaning and writhing on the couch, nearly trying to hump his leg while one of your hands tugs at his hair. You bite your lip and whimper as his lips move down over the swell of your chest.
He grabs your hips firmly and presses them down to the couch. His half-lidded eyes look up at you momentarily. “Quit squirming,” he breathes. He gives your chest a few more kisses while keeping his eyes locked with yours. “Need time with my pretty girl after I’ve been aching for her all day.”
You give a weak nod and focus on controlling your movements as he tugs your shorts off and drops them.
“Good girl,” he mutters before attaching his lips to one of your nipples and swirling his tongue around the peak. He hums in satisfaction as he feels the bud in his mouth. His fingers lazily stroke up and down your folds over your panties. He disconnects his mouth momentarily and looks up at you again with a smirk on his face.
“So wet already?” he teases, now being his turn to look smug, “You want me just as bad, don’t you? That’s why you send those pictures right? You’re missing Daddy while he’s at work?”
“Mhm, miss you so bad. It drives me crazy,” you say. A whimper escapes you as his fingers apply more pressure and his movements more strategically target your clit.
“I can tell. Makes you act like a little slut, huh?” he asks before he kisses down your stomach to the hem of your panties.
You feel your face getting hot at his comment, but you nod anyway. You bite your lip and keep your eyes locked with his.
He chuckles at your timid confirmation. “That’s ok, honey. Daddy’s here now. I’m gonna make sure you get all the attention you need. Can’t have my girl left wanting,” he says, pulling down your panties and putting them with your other discarded clothes.
He loops his arms around your thighs and pulls you closer so that you’re angled in a way he can reach you from his position on his knees. Your back is flat on the couch, and your legs are held over his shoulders. He doesn’t waste time, licking a stripe up your cunt and then delving his tongue inside of you.
Your head falls back onto the cushion in response. A moan escapes your throat at the sensation. Your sounds only increase in frequency and volume as he grips you tighter and fucks his tongue in and out of you. He watches you, relishing how he can pleasure you with so few touches. His tongue laps up your wetness and his mouth finds your clit again, sucking and flicking against the bundle of nerves just how you like.
His name and a variety of expletives leave your mouth while your hand slides into his hair and holds the blonde locks. Your hips twitch from the rising feelings of ecstasy in your tummy, but Leon’s hands keep you firmly in place. He devours you like a starved man, the hours of torture that little picture inflicted on him all paying off right now.
He’s skillfully swirling patterns onto your clit and occasionally exploring your insides. He knows you’re close because he can feel the way you’re pulsing and hear the way your moans and whines reach that slightly higher pitch. It only makes him work with more dedication.
“That’s right, sweetheart. C’mon, give it to Daddy. Let me taste it,” he grunts as he continues working you to the edge.
You cry out, your thighs quivering and your hips bucking as you succumb to release. You’re moaning with abandon, fingers clutching his hair as tight as possible. He groans into you from the sight in front of him.
You ride the high and he continues with his mouth throughout. When you reach the seeming conclusion, your chest is heaving and your limbs feel heavy, but Leon doesn’t stop. He continues on as if you were still on the way to your climax instead of coming down.
“Too much,” you whimper as your hips jerk and your hands make a weak attempt to push his head away, “Daddy, please.”
“Daddy, please?” he mocks with a laugh, “But this is what you wanted, babydoll. You wanted my attention, didn’t you?”
You whine, hips still squirming as your retort dies in your throat. It felt euphoric, it was just so much. This was what you wanted though.
“That’s what I thought,” he says before burying his face between your thighs again.
He continues eating you out until you’re an absolute mess. Your eyes are rolling back, nonstop whimpers fall from your lips, and your twitching thighs are clamped around Leon’s head. It was what he’d been wanting to see since he’d heard that chime in his back pocket.
“I’m gonna cum,” you slur. Your head felt cloudy from the numerous orgasms he’d brought you. A strangled cry tears through you as your body moves like it’s possessed. You convulse on the couch while his mouth makes you see stars for the umpteenth time.
Tears prick at your eyes from the intensity of your release, and finally, he starts easing off of you. He pulls your thighs off of his head and leans back. He wipes his chin that’s coated in your slick and licks his fingers. Seeing that alone has you clench around nothing which in turn spreads a smirk on his face.
“Good girl, baby,” he coos, planting a kiss on your inner thigh, “You did so well. I’m proud of you.”
He stands up from his knees, grunting as he gets to his feet and taking a moment to stretch. You can tell the extended amount of time in the position put some strain on him. Your lips curl into a small smile while adoration fills your hazy eyes.
“Your joints locking up on you, old man?” you tease with a quiet laugh.
“Don’t start,” he says, trying to sound stern, but you can see him suppressing his own smile, “Especially since I know you want more.”
That shuts you up because he’s right. He shakes his head and makes a mock sound of disappointment.
“I know you, baby. My dirty girl. Made you cum how many times, and you still want more,” he says. He begins stripping off his clothes into a pile next to yours. “My little whore would never turn down a chance to take my cock.”
Once his clothes are off, he languidly strokes himself a few times and climbs on top of you. He peppers some kisses on your face and starts to slide inside you. You were more than ready but still sensitive from the recent series of highs.
“Don’t worry, sweet girl. I’ll get you full of my cum in no time. Fuck all that neediness right out,” he murmurs into your ear, his breath on you sending chills down your spine.
You mewl and tighten around him in more ways than one. Your arms cling to his torso that hovers above you while your walls squeeze around him to take him deeper. He grunts and his head falls forward a little as he feels sparks of pleasure in his abdomen.
“There you go, angel. Taking me so perfect. My pretty girl. Made for me,” he says into your ear as he sinks into you completely.
You nod mindlessly, your head fogging up again as he fills you. He presses sloppy kisses to your neck as he starts pumping in and out. You’re both breathing heavily and allowing the pleasure to take over. One of your hands slides to his hair to rub his head while his hips snap against you.
He’s falling into the perfect rhythm with you, one that’s driving you both toward the goal line, when suddenly you hear a muffled guitar strum coming from the floor. Leon groans and you burst into laughter as you hear the ringtone you had set for him as a joke.
His movements get weaker as his focus is drawn elsewhere, but he doesn’t stop rocking his hips. He reaches down to the floor where his phone is ringing in the pocket of his crumpled pants. He fishes it out and shifts so he’s kneeling while drilling into you.
He holds the phone up and squints to read the tiny caller ID on the flip phone which makes you laugh harder through moans. He smirks at your laughter and clamps a hand over your mouth. “Shut up, I gotta take this,” he says teasingly.
He whips open the phone, the maneuver causing you to moan and squeeze around him again. He winces at the sensation, nearly unable to restrain himself from giving into his carnal urges to groan and slam into you harder.
Your eyes widen as he brings the phone to his ear without stopping his hips and in the most monotonous voice says “Kennedy here.”
It’s good that his hand is over your mouth to keep you quiet. The contrast of his movements and that voice have the sparks of pleasure igniting into flames in your belly. Seeing how he handles his dumbass flip phone so smoothly has your arousal nearly pooling on the couch.
He listens to the call while grinning at you struggling to keep yourself somewhat under control. “Uh-huh. Yeah. Sounds about right,” he drones as the person on the other end goes on and on.
His strokes are just as deep as before, nudging you in the perfect spots repeatedly. Your eyes roll back as you feel yourself getting near the peak. A soft whimper escapes you, loud enough to pierce the barrier of Leon’s hand. His hips sputter at the noise and his face contorts. He lets out a quiet grunt but quickly catches himself before losing it further.
“What? Yeah, I’m listening,” he says, his tone growing a little impatient, “Look, I’m just wrapped up in something right now. Could you not have just told me this before I left?”
You know he’s getting closer himself and struggling to hold back. You can tell from the way his jaw is clenched and his eyes are projecting his rising frustration he has for the person who made this call.
“Yes, I understand. I’ll deal with it tomorrow,” he says, effectively ending the conversation. 
Then, to hang up, he doesn’t press a button. Instead, he flicks his wrist and shuts the flip phone with a clack.
You throw your head back against the couch cushion and a loud moan rips through your throat. You shudder as a wave of pleasure courses through you after witnessing something so unexplainably hot.
His eyebrows raise in amusement, noticing how much you enjoyed that. “Hmm, I’m not hearing any complaints about the phone now,” he says. He’s trying to tease, but his voice is husky with arousal. He maintains his grin as he drops the phone to the floor again and returns to his previous position which was closer to you.
“Careful, you’re gonna break it,” you whimper.
“Nah baby, I told you that thing is indestructible,” he breathes and starts pounding you into the couch mercilessly.
You bite your lip and resume clinging to him, your fingers digging into his back. You both are panting, expressions going lax as you focus on chasing the high.
“Daddy, ‘m gonna cum,” you mewl, unable to contain yourself for much longer.
“Go ahead, sweetheart,” he says into your ear, his voice taking on more of a growl, “Daddy’s right there with you. You deserve it for being so good for me. Being nice and quiet while I was on the phone.”
As soon as you have permission, you give into another release. Your legs shake and your arms cling to him tighter as the euphoria shoots through you. You’re gasping for air and whining while squirming beneath him. Soon it’s just too much for Leon. He tightens his grip on you and slams deep before groaning and draining himself inside of you.
He rocks in and out a few more times before slowly pulling out. He then sits up on the couch and sinks back into the cushions. You follow by sitting up as well and curling up against his side. He pulls you into his lap, stroking your hair away from your face and kissing your forehead. The two of you sit in comfortable silence for a while until he gazes down at you with a smug look in his eyes.
“I knew the flip phone was a turn-on,” he says, clearly pleased with himself.
You scoff. “It is not. It was just… it was the situation,” you defend.
“Sure, but you were tightest when I was messing with the phone,” he says knowingly.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
He laughs at your stubbornness and gives you another kiss. “You can admit it, baby. I won’t judge. Really, if you like it that much, maybe I’ll show you how strong it can vibrate later.”
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renthony · 1 month
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In Defense of Shitty Queer Art
Queer art has a long history of being censored and sidelined. In 1895, Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray was used as evidence in the author’s sodomy trials. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the American Hays Code prohibited depictions of queerness in film, defining it as “sex perversion.” In 2020, the book Steven Universe: End of an Era by Chris McDonnell confirmed that Rebecca Sugar’s insistence on including a sapphic wedding in the show is what triggered its cancellation by Cartoon Network. According to the American Library Association, of the top ten most challenged books in 2023, seven were targeted for their queer content. Across time, place, and medium, queer art has been ruthlessly targeted by censors and protesters, and at times it seems there might be no end in sight.
So why, then, are queer spaces so viciously critical of queer art?
Name any piece of moderately-well-known queer media, and you can find immense, vitriolic discourse surrounding it. Audiences debate whether queer media is good representation, bad representation, or whether it’s otherwise too problematic to engage with. Artists are picked apart under a microscope to make sure their morals are pure enough and their identities queer enough. Every minor fault—real or perceived—is compiled in discourse dossiers and spread around online. Lines are drawn, and callout posts are made against those who get too close to “problematic art.”
Modern examples abound, such as the TV show Steven Universe, the video game Dream Daddy, or the webcomic Boyfriends, but it’s far from a new phenomenon. In his book Hi Honey, I’m Homo!, queer pop culture analyst Matt Baume writes about an example from the 1970s, where the ABC sitcom titled Soap was protested by homophobes and queer audiences alike—before a single episode of the show ever aired. Audiences didn’t wait to actually watch the show before passing judgment and writing protest letters.
After so many years starved for positive representation, it’s understandable for queer audiences to crave depictions where we’re treated well. It’s exhausting to only ever see the same tired gay tropes and subtext, and queer audiences deserve more. Yet the way to more, better, varied representation is not to insist on perfection. The pursuit of perfection is poison in art, and it’s no different when that art happens to be queer.
When the pool of queer art is so limited, it feels horrible when a piece of queer art doesn’t live up to expectations. Even if the representation is technically good, it’s disappointing to get excited for a queer story only for that story to underwhelm and frustrate you.
But the world needs that disappointing art. It needs mediocre art. It even needs the bad art. The world needs to reach a point where queer artists can fearlessly make a mess, because if queer artists can only strive for perfection, the less art they can make. They may eventually produce a masterpiece, but a single masterpiece is still a drop in the bucket compared to the oceans of censorship. The only way to drown out bigotry and offensive stereotypes created by bigots is to allow queer artists the ability to experiment, learn through making mistakes, and represent their queer truth even if it clashes with someone else’s.
If queer artists aren’t allowed to make garbage, we can never make those masterpieces everyone craves. If queer artists are terrified at all times that their art will be targeted both by bigots and their own queer communities, queer art cannot thrive.
Let queer artists make shitty art. Let allies to queer people try their hand at representation, even if they miss the mark. Let queer art be messy, and let the artists screw up without fear of overblown retribution.
It’s the only way we’ll ever get more queer art.
_
Like this essay? Tip me on Ko-Fi, pledge to my Patreon, or commission an essay on the topic of your choice!
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arkhammaid · 2 months
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— ˚₊‧⁺˖ DEFINITIONS OF MUSIC.
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fandom. formula one
pairing. charles leclerc x professional pianist fem!reader (fc: none)
about. y/n y/l/n is one of the celebreties who has gone viral during lockdown. when she publishes her first album, she raises a few eyebrows with a featured artist
content warnings. social media au, not edited/proofread
notes. this is a very self-indulgent fic... so you all better love it or else 🫵
YOURUSERNAME AND 3 OTHERS
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liked by zendaya, hanszimmer and 14'083'874 others
yourusername and 3 others we're proud to announce the album DEFINITIONS. each of the 26 original composed pieces embrace the title itself, the feeling of these words. they're defined by our language and passion, a gift from us to you.
yourusername so happy our baby is finally out, thank you adrian, charles and jamie, for this partnership. i couldn't have done this without you!
hanszimmer This is music.
charles_leclerc And it's finally here! I had so much fun working on this, thank you @/yourusername for allowing me to be part of your project🥰
jamieduffyy absolutely incredible!! stream definitions now!!!
zendaya I'm sobbing over the whole alphabeth, who would've thought... this is 🤯🤯
user holyyyyy shittttttt
user 26 SONGS??? AND MOST OF THEM ARE OVER 4 MINS LONG WE'RE GETTING SPOILED FR
haileybieber listening this on repeat and still getting shivers, this is incredible work 💗
user the butterfly effect is so real here...
⤷ user if you told me i'd follow this one tiktoker because she went viral with her piano only to become a fan of men who drive in fancy circles...
⤷ user SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO'S NOW AN F1 FAN??
user sobbing over nepenthe on repeat
user CHARLES WITH LEMAN?? HELLO??? AND THEN ALSO PHILOCALY??? MY MAN STAND UP AND STOP WRITING LOVE LETTERS
⤷ user what.
⤷ user for the love of god, please look up what the words mean... charles really thought he was slick with this one
⤷ user oh my god.
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Y/N Y/L/N SHOCKS MUSIC WORLD WITH CLASSICAL ALBUM AND FEATURED ARTISTS! FIVE PIECES OF THE 26-PIECE ALBUM ARE IN THE INTERNATIONAL CHARTS. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 'DEFINITIONS'.
From Viral TikToker to Record Holder, Y/n brings Classical Music back in Trend.
By Sara Ristan | Published February 24, 2024
If you know anything about music, you know the current trends. Pop and Rap is what the current generation likes, with a few outliners. From the very beginning, Y/n seemed to be one of them as well. Her first release, 'A Sailor's Wish', has been trending along with 'Solas', by her fellow artist Jamie Duffy for many weeks.
Her other composed pieces never hit the same numbers, that was until she released a full album. 'Definitions' has 26 original composed pieces, mixed with piano and full orchestra. It's an album full of masterpieces, fully deserving the high praise it has been receiving the past few days.
Every piece in the Album is named after a rare word, each one of them beginning with a letter of the Alphabet. Most of them were composed by Y/n herself, her signature moves regognizable, if you're familiar with her music. If you wish to read a full analysis of the whole album, click here.
Notable, besides the mindblowing compositions, are also the featured artists. We have Adrian Berenguer, Charles Leclerc and Jamie Duffy- each of them well known in their niche. What has raised eyebrows however, is that unlike Adrian and Jamie, Charles himself. He's an athlete, a Formula One driver in fact and very well known. While his fans knew about his releases, singles and even an album with Sofiane Pamart, no one was prepared for the partnership with Y/n.
Especially the titles of the pieces, two of them speaking about love, one is even titled as 'Leman', which means lover. Are these two trying to give us hints?
Beside that, five of the 26 pieces are currently in the charts, having already gathered millions of streams within days. Absolutely mindblowing!
click to read more
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CHARLES_LECLERC
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liked by yourusername, zendaya and 3'099'738 others
charles_leclerc P1 in Driver Championship Standings, P1 in International Charts, P1 in your heart... I love you, mon amour
yourusername ugh, ugly sobbing crying rn, no one talk to me
yourusername i love you too you sap
⤷ charles_leclerc Guilty hehe
⤷ charles_leclerc Doesn't stop me from loving you, cherié
⤷ yourusername i never told you to stop
jamieduffy fucking finally
zendaya @/tomholland2013 why don't you write you love songs for me??
⤷ tomholland2013 you're the one who sings?
user WE WON!!! Y/N NATION WE FUCKING WON
user if you squint you can see me fucking dead BECAUSE WTF IS THIS THEYRE ACTUALLY TOGETHER I CAN NOT IM DEAD OH MYGOOODDDDDD
⤷ user lmao felt
user now we know how charles even agreed to y/n asking for a collab... he has always been down bad for her
⤷ yourusername you're so right
⤷ user OH MY GOD???
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taglist. @keyz-writes , @obsidianjewel , @aimixx , @themercyverse , @lem-hhn , @lupicalbestwolf , @akiraquote , @lpap , @lilypadlover , @adorablezhui , @peqch-pie , @namgification
DO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE TAGLIST? please send a non-anon ask to be added to the taglist. taglist can be general taglist (all fandoms and all works), fandom taglist (all works within the fandom), series (all works for specific series) or nsfw taglist (all nsfw works and all fandoms).
crossed off tags mean i can't tag you!
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ARKHAM MAID 2024
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imawholeassmood · 6 days
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Read Between the Lines
read it on ao3
Lena reads the review, rubs her temples a few times, then reads it again. There is no way Super_Girl has rated this book five stars and then wrote multiple paragraphs waxing poetic about how fantastic it was. Lena already submitted her own one-star review which included her breakdown of the writing, the characters, and the plot, of which this book had none.
For months, Lena has been seeing Super_Girl reviews pop up on the same books Lena recently finished. She wondered at this point if Super_Girl might be doing this on purpose – reading the same books just so she could rate the book the opposite of whatever Lena did. At first, it was simple - “Loved it!” or “Couldn’t get into this one,” but as of late, the reviews had gotten longer and more descriptive.
Lena herself always used the same formula for reviewing books: overall star rating with a breakdown of her thoughts on the characters, the plot, and the writing. Books, like most things in life, are easy to rate when you understand the evaluation system. Books follow formulas and rules for a reason – it’s what makes them good. A romance novel, for instance, requires a “happily ever after.” Without it, it cannot be considered a romance, and it certainly wouldn’t be a good one.
So, as Lena reads the latest review by Super_Girl, Lena can’t help but leave a comment. Maybe this person simply needs an education on the book rating system.
“What criteria do you use when rating a book?”
It’s a good starting place for this conversation. Lena has amassed quite the following with people interested in her book reviews and the last thing she wants to do is stir up internet drama to damage her good reputation. She knows how easy it is for people to take something out of context.
The reply comes almost immediately.
“Vibes!”
Lena blinks a few times, then closes the browser and leaves her laptop for the night.
**
Super_Girl does it again with another five-star rating for a book that made Lena seriously consider contacting the literary award agencies to complain about their selection. The book sounded like it was AI generated and had zero plot. And the characters? Don’t even get her started.
“How can you consider this a masterpiece?” she writes under the review. “There is zero substance in this book. It’s just a bunch of flowery words that mean nothing and make no sense. If this is your idea of romance, then I’d hate to be your girlfriend.”
Her phone rings and Lena spends the next hour talking with her assistant, Jess, about the priorities for the week and when they can finalize some presentations. Later, as she lays in bed scrolling on her phone, Lena thinks to check her goodreads account. There, under her latest comment, is a reply from Super_Girl.
“Amidst the turmoil of the crumbling world around them, two people take the time to write love letters to each other. What’s more romantic than that?
I want to meet you in every place I have loved.
I want to be in contact with you.
Swoon.”
Speaking of taking things out of context.
While Lena can see Super_Girl’s point, that’s not enough to change her mind about the book. Especially not in the context of it being a sci-fi fantasy that relegated war to a backdrop in much the same way Hollywood did with Pearl Harbor. Don’t get her started. She types out a response before closing the webpage and going to sleep.
“Relationships develop over time. Even if I agreed with your assessment, this book still lacked any real narrative and there’s zero reason to believe these two people would fall in love. They don’t know anything about each other except that they can write a decent letter.”
**
Oh, no, Lena thinks. Her latest read has her questioning her entire belief system about books. She liked the book. Not because it had a great plot. Not because she was rooting for the characters. She liked the book because…it gave her good vibes. She genuinely had a good time reading it, despite it being a complete shitshow. This never happened to her before.
She opens her goodreads page to leave her review and finds that Super_Girl hasn’t read this one yet. She feels the slightest pang of disappointment but pushes through to her review. At the end of her standard format, she adds a new category: vibes.
It takes a few days, and Lena finds herself checking her account every few hours. She’s sitting at her desk and scrolling on her phone when she gets a notification that Super_Girl commented on her review.
“Vibes?!?! I’m SUPER proud of you! And we agree the characters were awful and the plot was weak, but it was well-written.”
She doesn’t even realize she’s smiling until Jess comments about it.
“Oh, nothing,” she says and waves her hand. “Just a literary rival.”
Jess looks at her. “You’re smiling because of…a rival?”
Is that what they were? The word didn’t really feel like a good fit, but Lena goes with it.
“Agreed with me on a point. Can we please stay focused?”
And they do. Lena and Jess go over the latest reports and prepare for an upcoming meeting with one of their international partners. Lena doesn’t think about Super_Girl again until she’s lying in bed and that damn smile creeps backs onto her face.
**
Her next review is not a good one. It makes Lena question the romance genre as a whole. Has the world become so used to being treated like garbage, people can’t even tell the difference between healthy and toxic love?
She’s barely hit submit when Super_Girl comments on her review.
“They were flirting the whole time!”
Lena is still sour enough she doesn’t bother to hold back on her response.
“Flirting where? Being in each other’s orbit is not flirting. Why can’t people just say, ‘I like you and I’d like to go on a date with you?’ instead of whatever BS was happening in this book. Honestly, I’m worried for your love life if you think this is a healthy way to approach communication.”
Super_Girl goes silent for a long while after that.
Lena worries something may have happened and questions whether she should reach out. They haven’t gone this long without a reciprocal review since they started this little dance of theirs almost a year ago. She finds herself rereading their reviews and wondering about who Super_Girl might be behind the screen name. There’s no profile photo, no personal information at all. Just a single word.
Golly.
Lena smiles at that. In fact, she smiles at everything Super_Girl has written. While they may not agree on books, Lena can’t deny that whoever is behind the reviews is a wordsmith who comes across as the sweetest human on the planet.
It surprises her when she receives a notification that she has been selected to read a new release ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review. Lena doesn’t usually agree because she doesn’t want to give people any reason to think her reviews are biased or influenced in any way. She’s about to deny the request, but the cover art depicts two women, one blonde, the other brunette, and Lena never turns down a sapphic story. She accepts the request without another thought.
**
When Lena finishes The Write Stuff, she starts it over and reads it again, cover to cover. The writing, the pacing, and the storytelling are superb. It’s as if the author has studied every article about how a romance novel should be written. The characters are so well written, she has clear images of who each of these women are. She understands their desires, their fears, and their motives. Not only does she care about these people as a couple, but she also cares about them individually in a way she hasn’t cared about a character in a long time. As for the plot itself? It’s perfectly cheesy and still somehow realistic enough to be believable that it could happen in real life.
Lena hasn’t felt this…satisfied by a book since well, since she can’t remember.
So, that’s exactly what she writes in her review.
“I especially loved this line:
I would rewrite history if it meant a chance for a happy future with you.”
When she’s done, she looks up the author and finds that she’s written one other book.
Lena doesn’t recall reading it, but when she clicks on the title, she finds her review posted with a few hundred likes and several dozen comments. One star and zero positive things to say about it. Lena can’t help but think how far the author has come from this first book to the most recent one. It’s an impressive improvement, and Lena Luthor isn’t easily impressed.
Supergirl leaves a comment on her review a few days later.
“It looks like the author has been paying attention to your feedback.”
**
The following week, Lena is staring at the meeting invitation with furrowed brows and a healthy dose of confusion. She presses the call button on the speaker on her desk.
“Yes, Miss Luthor?” Jess says.
“Jess, why do I have a meeting with Supergirl on my calendar?”
Jess is quiet for a moment. She’s quiet so long, in fact, that Lena’s door opens and a blond woman with thick-rimmed glasses wearing chinos and a tucked-in button down steps just inside. She has a nervous smile and fidgets with her glasses.
Lena recognizes her from the photo bio she still has pulled up on her web browser and stands to greet her.
“Miss Danvers,” she says, “please, come in. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Kara Danvers, author of The Write Stuff, who Lena has been internet stalking for the past week shifts in the doorway. Lena comes around the front of her desk. They stare at each other in silence for a moment before Lena hears a faint “go” from Jess in the reception area. That makes Kara shake out of her stupor.
She brings her hand out from behind her back and holds her arm at full length with a bouquet of…plumerias. Lena can’t believe what she’s seeing. Her favorite flowers which represent love and new beginnings are being offered to her by this stunning woman who wrote one of her favorite books of the year. Lena looks from the flowers back to Kara’s face.
“I like you, Lena Reads” Kara says, “and I would like to go on a date with you.”
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sim0nril3y · 6 months
Note
Hi Grace! Really love your Ghost × Civilian, it's a real masterpiece!! Have already read several times)) your version of Simon is truly amazing!
We've seen jealous Simon, but what about his girl? Like they're out in a pub or something and there's someone trying to hit on him? Really interested in your vision on this one)
Have a nice day!!
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Note: ahhhhhh, you're so cuuuuuuute, tytyty, I'm so glad that you are enjoying series, ily and I loooooove your request, I hope it is everything you were hoping it would be. Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Civilian!Reader Warnings: No mask Simon (It's my personal headcanon in his regular life he probably wouldn't wear it), established relationship, drinking, jealousy, canon-typical swearing.
It was a Friday night. It was supposed to be like every other Friday night. The two of you tucked into a cosy corner of your local pub, few drinks, conversation about any plans for the weekend. However, this Friday was different and rudely interrupted by a rowdy group of women.
It was a group of 10 of them, each time the door opened another seemed to join the flock. They were crowding the bar, happily chirping about pre-drinks before they were going to head out onto a pub crawl or maybe even to a couple clubs. Each of them were dressed up in killer heels and contorted into tight outfits, proudly wearing sashes to announce that they were part of a bridal party and the bride-to-be was wearing a plastic tiara on her updo.
With a wince Simon leaned towards you and asked. “What was that, babe?” In front of the fireplace was usually quiet, but now with the cackles that were coming from the group it was almost impossible to hear you. “I said…” You raised your voice a little, moving on the sofa to be a little closer to him. “I said, I’m going to pop to the loo quick. Will you get me another drink?”
With a hum Simon finished the dregs of his beer and nodded. “Same again?” He quizzed, standing along with you. As you headed across the room you gifted him a head nod, then blew him a kiss. Simon approached the bar, placing down the empty glasses and waiting for the bartender to get around to him. It seemed like the poor lad was being pushed to his limit with all the demands from the bridal party, they were giggling, swaying to music, excitedly talking about the wild night that they were about to have.
As he leaned there Simon couldn’t help but feel eyes watching him, sensing that he was being observed he turned his head to the side and saw a small portion of the women looking at him, then giggling, turning back to each other. “Bloody hell-” The bartender approached him then, looking flushed and flustered before asking. “Same again, Simon?” He simply nodded, tapping his fingers against the bar and saying. “Make it quick. Yeah?”
“Go. Go.” A sweet voice urged and a second later one of the women sidled up to him, standing there twirling some hair around her finger. “Hi there…” She began, gifting him a bright and slightly tipsy smile. “I, uh… I don’t come in here often, but… but if you come here then I might start having to…” Simon rolled his eyes and kept his eyes firmly plastered on the bartender who was finishing pouring your drink into a glass and then bringing it to place in front of him.
“Thanks.” Simon paid him quickly, but the woman placed a hand on his wrist. “That drink for me?” She purred in a breathy voice and before Simon could set her straight you stepped forward, breaking the strangers contact from his arm and gifting her a tight smile. “Actually, it’s mine.” He could tell that you were claiming more than just the drink in his hand. Your eyes casually dragged up and down her form with disdain and then you gave her a tight smile as you muttered. “Maybe one day you’ll have your own drink…” Then adding in a false happy tone. “Have fun~”
A moment later you were dragging Simon back across the room to the original sofa in front of the roaring fireplace. It was peaceful. It was easy to let the rowdy room around you melt away. Leaning back Simon was surprised at the feel of your mouth pressed to a moment later. It was a passionate and searing kiss with underlining possession and just a touch of jealousy. It was a kiss to claim him. It was on that made a statement.
“Babe…” Simon tugged away and looked around with his cheeks pink, public affection wasn't something he was overly fond of, but seeing you so possessive was certainly ticking a box for him. “What?” You smirked, tilting your head as if oblivious. “You know what…” He muttered. “What’s your plan next? Gonna ride me in front of the whole pub and show everyone who I belong to?” Quirking a brow, he watched your smirk burst into a bright smile. “No. That is not an option.” He stated sternly.
“Spoilsport.” You giggled and leaned into his side, your eyes flittering over to the group of women, looking for a moment longer before they all seemed to turn away and return to their conversations. “I don’t think that will be needed; I think they got the message.” Simon smirked and pressed a gentle kiss to your temple before muttering. "Brat." Then wrapping an arm around your shoulder. "Wait until I get you home, the whole bloody country is going to know who you belong to..."
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Masterlist | Ask | 07-12-2023
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14dayswithyou · 4 days
Note
Meowdy Saint! ^^ lolol hello hello o/ hope you are doing good!!
So this masterpiece of a game has been invading my mind with ZERO chill lately which directly translated to me coming up with a TON of questions orz I really didn't realize how many I ended up compiling lol
If you don't feel like answering this many please feel absolutely free to ignore this ask or only answer the ones you like the most, the last thing I want is for you to feel overwhelmed! ^^
ALRIGHT LET'S-A GO
-do Rendacted's memories remain intact when he resets the day or do his wipe too with everyone else's? Also is there an in-universe answer for why he has these glitchy powers or is he just Built Different™?
-if angel made it VERY clear that they would be mad asf and prolly even start hating and leave Ren/[REDACTED] if he were to hurt their friends(or killing people bc this man needs to chill fr), would he listen to them? Bc I know that if he touches Violet, Elanor, Kiara or god forbid Moth I'm personally deleting his kneecaps 🥰
-since it seems to me that Ren/[REDACTED] is only kinda meh at cooking I was wondering if he actually made the not burnt pancakes in day 3 or if he had some store bought ones that he passed off as his own lol
-does he know how to give massages? :00
-during day 1, how did Ren come up with a book on the local flora?? It seems like such a random topic to pick when put on the spot without already having a genuine interest in it lmao
-if I understood correctly Maple should be Jae's dog right?? Did you have a specific breed or age in mind when creating her? I got curious because in my head she automatically popped up as a young australian shepherd to match with Jae's hyperactive dumbass energy lol❀⸜(˶´ ˘ `˶)⸝❀
-staying on the dog topic lol, in day 1 when angel gets up from the couch to get Ren the inflatable mattress(iirc) and he follows right behind them i immediately thought he acted like a puppy lmao. So would he mind being called 'puppy' as a pet name?
(I am not sure if this⬇️ questions falls under character deaths, if it does I really apologize and absolutely feel free to ignore it ^^)
-from an ask from last year it seems [REDACTED] would ultimately kill angel if there was ultimately not way to enter in their life?? Gotta say I was very taken aback by this, would this still be the case after a year of building more to his character? (Ok I went back to check the ask again but I can't for the life of me find it anymore maybe I dreamt it up idk😭😭 im really sorry if that is the case jdkslajdl)
-uuhh I know there is already a lot in this ask(im seriously sorry orz), but I was wondering if we will eventually get an SFW alphabet for Ren/[REDACTED] for the folks who don't care about the nasty 👉👈
-THIS IS THE LAST THING I PROMISE 👹 will there be a guide to get all the endings? I'm not sure if there is one already and in that case I missed it 100%
Also I find it ironic how the fandom is trying to find out every single aspect of Ren/[REDACTED]'s character the same way he must do with angel lmao
ALRIGHT THATS ALL IM SO SORRY FOR ASKING SO MUCH THE REN BRAINROT HOURS ARE SO REAL IM LOSING BRAINCELLS orz Remember to take care of yourself drink water and take breaks!! ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
(Also sorry if some phrases don't make sense, english isn't my first language as I am 🤌 lolol)
✦゜ANSWERED: Under da cut because this got long >:3
-do Rendacted's memories remain intact when he resets the day or do his wipe too with everyone else's? Also is there an in-universe answer for why he has these glitchy powers or is he just Built Different™? Ren's memories remain intact!! I mean... He remembers each time you get a bad end and sometimes says something different... >:3 There is also an in-universe reason as to why he has his abilities — I won't spoil anything, but his real name (along with River's and one other character) have a reeeeally big tell. But what this tell is is for me to know and you to find out >:3
-if angel made it VERY clear that they would be mad asf and prolly even start hating and leave Ren/[REDACTED] if he were to hurt their friends(or killing people bc this man needs to chill fr), would he listen to them? Bc I know that if he touches Violet, Elanor, Kiara or god forbid Moth I'm personally deleting his kneecaps 🥰 Ren (and by extension [REDACTED]) knows not to harm anyone if he knows you won't like it — and even then — he won't actively show that murderous side of him in the first place. To Angel, Ren is just a timid, normal guy.
-since it seems to me that Ren/[REDACTED] is only kinda meh at cooking I was wondering if he actually made the not burnt pancakes in day 3 or if he had some store bought ones that he passed off as his own lol Ren is actually good at cooking, he's just a bit out of touch since he doesn't normally cook for himself! It's normally microwave meals or takeout for him... ^^; And yes, Ren did burn and burn the pancakes in Day 3 — he was distracted by something on his phone :3
Bonus cut Day 3 content: I took out the scene where Ren started to profusely apologise for burning the pancake because he often had to cook when he was younger. Given the dynamic of his family and the environment he grew up in, Ren didn't have much room to make mistakes ;n; I cut this scene out because I felt bad ksgskd So y'all get to have flustered, happy Ren instead!!
-does he know how to give massages? :00 If that was one of Angel's interests or desires, then sure!! ^^
-during day 1, how did Ren come up with a book on the local flora?? It seems like such a random topic to pick when put on the spot without already having a genuine interest in it lmao Someone else likes flora too, and it sure would be funny if Ren (eventually) starts to mimic certain traits and interests of the person you have the highest affinity/relationship points with in order to make himself look more appealing… >:3c
-if I understood correctly Maple should be Jae's dog right?? Did you have a specific breed or age in mind when creating her? I got curious because in my head she automatically popped up as a young australian shepherd to match with Jae's hyperactive dumbass energy lol❀⸜(˶´ ˘ `˶)⸝❀ It was mentioned in Jae's lore post (I'll link it here once I find it), but Maple is a Labrador! (Leon would be Jae's Australian Shepherd hehe) In my mind, Maple is only 2 or 3 years old, but that wouldn't really fit the official timeframe... ^^; Jae adopted Maple during high school so he wouldn't feel lonely at home, and it's been over 6+ years since then.... hgdshjg
-staying on the dog topic lol, in day 1 when angel gets up from the couch to get Ren the inflatable mattress(iirc) and he follows right behind them i immediately thought he acted like a puppy lmao. So would he mind being called 'puppy' as a pet name? Angel affectionately calls Ren a puppy during the scene in Day 1 where they meet up after work, so that nickname definitely could work!
-from an ask from last year it seems [REDACTED] would ultimately kill angel if there was ultimately not way to enter in their life?? Gotta say I was very taken aback by this, would this still be the case after a year of building more to his character? (Ok I went back to check the ask again but I can't for the life of me find it anymore maybe I dreamt it up idk😭😭 im really sorry if that is the case jdkslajdl) aaa I think you might be mistaking that ask for something else? ;v; [REDACTED] would NEVER harm Angel in any capacity, and they're a very patient person. Even if it took decades for Angel to fall in love with him, they'll wait.
-uuhh I know there is already a lot in this ask(im seriously sorry orz), but I was wondering if we will eventually get an SFW alphabet for Ren/[REDACTED] for the folks who don't care about the nasty 👉👈 You're fine!! And I'm open to doing that! I'll add it to my list hehe
-THIS IS THE LAST THING I PROMISE 👹 will there be a guide to get all the endings? I'm not sure if there is one already and in that case I missed it 100% I've shared a spreadsheet that lists all the available choices, the points you earn from each of them, and the endings you can get — however it's only available on Discord and I don't really want to share it outside of the server and potentially put it in the hands of minors. Sorry!!
Also I find it ironic how the fandom is trying to find out every single aspect of Ren/[REDACTED]'s character the same way he must do with angel lmao Hehe >:3 There's a loooot of lore that won't ever be mentioned in the game (since it doesn't seem fitting/I don't see a reason to), so I'm happy to provide it here!
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lev1hei1chou · 3 months
Text
Makeup Artists
Gojo x reader, Nanami x reader and Toji x reader (individual) Genre: fluff, comedy idk Words: 1.1k Synopsis: The trio attempt to do your makeup Masterlist
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Life with the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer was always an adventure. Today, however, was a different kind of adventure – Gojo had insisted on doing your makeup.
"You know, babe, I'm not sure about this," you chuckled nervously as you sat in front of the vanity mirror, Gojo rummaging through your makeup bag like a kid in a candy store.
"Don't worry, it's just a little fun. I'm practically a pro at everything, including makeup," he grinned confidently, while examining a tube of lipstick.
"You're a pro at everything, huh?" you teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course! Now close your eyes and trust me," Gojo said with a wink, and you complied, suppressing a laugh.
He started with foundation, and surprisingly, he wasn't doing a bad job. His fingers moved with surprising precision, blending the makeup perfectly into your skin. You couldn't help but admit that his touch was gentle, even though his usual antics were far from it.
"See, I told you I'm great at this," he gloated, admiring his handiwork.
"Yeah, yeah. But the real challenge is the eyeshadow," you challenged, handing him a palette.
Gojo eyed the colors, looking as if he was about to perform a complex Jujutsu technique. After a moment of contemplation, he dipped the brush into a shimmery gold shade and carefully applied it to your eyelids.
"Looking good so far," you encouraged him, trying not to laugh.
As he continued, Gojo became more engrossed in the process. He even attempted to recreate the infamous blindfold pattern that adorned his eyes on your lids. It was obviously a bold move, but surprisingly, it didn't look half bad.
"Voila! The Gojo touch," he proudly declared, leaning back to admire his masterpiece.
You opened your eyes, examining the finished look in the mirror. Surprisingly, you were impressed. Satoru had managed to create a unique, bold makeup look that somehow suited you.
"You know what? I think I like it," you admitted, giving him a playful smile.
"Of course, you do. I'm Gojo Satoru, after all," he replied, smirking.
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It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and you found yourself at home with Kento Nanami, your boyfriend. As you lounged on the couch, an idea popped into your head.
"Kento, do you want to try something fun?" you asked, a playful glint in your eyes.
He looked at you, raising an eyebrow. "Define 'fun.'"
"I was thinking you could do my makeup," you suggested with a teasing smile.
Nanami's stoic expression remained unchanged, but a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. "Makeup?"
"Yeah! Just for fun. I think it'll be interesting," you said, getting up to get your makeup bag.
Nanami sighed, but there was a hint of amusement in his gaze. "Fine. But don't blame me if it turns out poorly."
You handed him the makeup bag, and he examined its contents with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. As you sat in front of him, Nanami took a deep breath, preparing himself for this unexpected challenge.
He had battled curses, dealt with demanding people at work but doing someone's makeup? That was a new task.
"Let's start with foundation," you instructed, handing him the bottle.
Nanami carefully applied the foundation, his movements unsurprisingly careful. Despite his initial reluctance, he seemed to be getting into the task. As he continued, you couldn't help but appreciate the focused expression on his face.
"Okay, now for eyeshadow," you said, presenting the palette.
Nanami inspected the colors, selecting a neutral shade. With a gentle touch, he applied it to your eyelids, blending it expertly. You were impressed by his skill and concentration.
"See? I told you I could do it," he smiled, a faint hint of pride in his voice.
As he moved on to the eyeliner and mascara, you couldn't contain your laughter at the sight of Nanami, the serious salaryman, fully engrossed in the art of makeup application. Despite his initial hesitation, he seemed to be enjoying the unexpected bonding experience.
Finally, he finished the look with a subtle lip color. Nanami stepped back to admire his handiwork, and you turned to the mirror, genuinely surprised at the results. The makeup was tasteful, well-blended, and highlighted your features without being overly dramatic.
"You know, Nanami, you might have missed your calling as a makeup artist," you teased, giving him a playful wink.
He rolled his eyes but couldn't hide the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Let's not get carried away."
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One random day, you found yourself in the company of Toji Fushiguro. As you sat at your vanity, surrounded by an array of makeup products, a thought crossed your mind. One that you probably should have ignored.
"Toji, do you mind doing my makeup for me?" you asked with a playful grin.
Toji glanced at you, a mix of surprise and skepticism on his face. "Makeup? Really?"
"Yeah, just for fun! It'll be interesting to see what you come up with," you replied, handing him a makeup brush.
Toji sighed, but there was a small smirk playing on his lips. "Fine. But if it looks terrible, I'm not to blame."
As Toji dipped the brush into the foundation, you couldn't help but suppress a giggle at the serious expression on his face. He applied the foundation with a level of intensity that was comically out of place for a makeup session.
"Easy, Toji, easy. You're not exorcising a curse," you teased, trying not to burst into laughter.
He shot you a deadpan look before moving on to the eyeshadow. Toji examined the palette, selecting bold and contrasting colors that made you raise an eyebrow. As he applied the vibrant shades to your eyelids, you couldn't help but wonder if he was aiming for a cursed technique-inspired look.
"Uh, Toji, maybe a bit less on the eyeshadow?" you suggested, trying to salvage the situation.
Ignoring your advice, Toji continued with determination, creating a look that could only be described as avant-garde – a unique blend of vibrant hues that clashed in the most spectacular way.
"Now, the eyeliner," he mumbled, holding up the pencil like a seasoned warrior ready for battle.
You winced as Toji attempted to draw precise lines, resulting in a series of squiggles and zigzags that resembled a cursed seal more than a makeup technique.
"Okay, I think that's enough," you said, struggling to contain your laughter.
Toji stepped back, admiring his masterpiece with a proud grin. The mirror reflected a chaotic blend of colors and lines that left you in stitches.
"Toji, I appreciate the effort, but I might need a little touch-up here," you chuckled, reaching for a makeup wipe.
He shrugged, an amused glint in his eyes. "I tried my best."
He really did attempt to navigate the world of makeup with all the finesse of a bull in a china shop.
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Hi,
I am very much not american so I must admit that my first impulse when seeing all the rap/racism discourse was something like "do I really need to consume more american culture, it's fucking everywhere already". Idk but to me it feels like american/english-speaking culture absolutely dominates a lot of the world, sometimes at the cost of out own cultures and languages, if something is in English it is "good", if it is in own own languages it is "bad". Musicians often start singing in English and more american-like after a while to get bigger. We value American culture and music, they mock our accents (and languages sometimes) and best case scenario see us as funny and silly.
Then I started thinking. Do you think that americans kind of see rap kind of like foreign music still? Like low-brow unexotic foreign music.
I don't know this is a really fresh thought and I'm not sure if I am explaining it very well.
hey first off I just want to say -
you are entirely correct in your reaction that people outside of America/the English-speaking world do not need more American culture thrust upon them! this discussion is extremely centered on Americans, the reception and reaction to rap within America, and excuses that white American use to avoid interacting meaningfully with Black culture, art, and ideas. while anti-Blackness as an issue obviously extends far outside of America, this particular conversation is deeply tied to American culture. I appreciate you pointing that out!
I also think you're point about rap, and by extension other Black artforms, being Othered in American pop culture. certainly in terms of language, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), which is utilized by many rappers, is still heavily disputed in its validity as a "real" language, with many dismissing it as a bastardized version of "proper" English and associating it heavily with those who are lower-class and uneducated. in a similar way to many international artists having to work in English to gain wider recognition and validation, many Black Americans are proficient in "code switching," the practice of switching between AAVE that they likely grew up speaking and an English dialect that is considered more "professional."
similarly, I think your use of the term "low-brow" is very apt. Black music has always been met with distrust and disdain by white audiences. there's a reason that so many people feel the need to bring up sex, drugs, and violence when they talk about rap; to many white cultural gatekeepers that was all rap was. (and, like, we should very much talk about why that is in and of itself a bad thing, when white crime is so often glorified in pop culture. why is the Godfather a classic masterpiece but Black men making art about their own experiences with racism, violence, poverty, and survival don't deserve serious consideration?) and that didn't start with rap! in the early 20th century jazz, also a Black creation, was seen as dangerous for promoting promiscuity among nice white teens. no matter what Black people make, white cultural gatekeepers will find a way to start a moral panic about it.
the reverse also happens as well, with Black people being treated as foreigners even in music genres that they helped pioneer. Black Americans were hugely formative in the early days of country, but are met with hostility in the contemporary country scene. Lil Nas X's Old Town Road was one of the biggest songs of the year it was released and undeniably country but was largely snubbed by country music community, and Beyoncé's new country album, Cowboy Carter, is a direct response to her hostile reception at the Country Music Awards in 2016.
the point being, yes, I don't think it's off-base to say that, to many Americans, rap and Black music and art generally are like... very optional and avoidable parts of pop culture in the way that more white-dominated genres are not, similarly to a lot of international and especially non-English art.
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gojohater101 · 2 years
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Obey Me! Older Brothers Reacting to MC making matching friendship bracelets for them (Pt.1)
A/N: hi! this is my first real post ever so i’m VERY nervous! this is only the first part - the second part is linked below the CW <3 both part’s are VERY VERY long so i really hope nobody minds that hehehe! reblogs, likes, and comments are VERY appreciated!! <33 
Pairing: Obey Me! Brothers x GN! MC
CW: Very mildly suggestive content on Satan’s part!
Part 2
LUCIFER
Lucifer isn’t too familiar with friendship bracelets. He hasn’t thought into them that much -  he hasn’t had a reason to, so why would he? 
Lucifer had just come home from a long day at RAD. He had an abnormal amount of meetings to attend, people to scold, blood vessels to be popped - he certainly wasn’t in a good mood. 
His day wasn’t over though. He still had an ungodly amount of paperwork to get through.
He went straight to his room, sat down on his desk chair, and scribbled away on those papers that never seemed to end. He sighed a long sigh, secretly hoping that he would find you knocking on his door eventually - as you always do. 
You, however, had a surprise for him. 
The day prior, you and Asmo were hanging out in your room. Asmo was ranting to you about Mammon, and you were making bracelets. Bracelets for you and Lucifer. Asmo grew curious about what you were doing as you didn’t mention it at all, so he asked you.
“By the way, MC, what are you doing? Did you just make that bracelet?” He smiled and picked up the one finished bracelet laying beside you on the floor where you guys were sitting. 
“Yeah! I’m making an identical one for Luci. Friendship bracelets.” 
Asmo blushed and squealed. “Friendship bracelets? How romantic! Why don’t you make me one as well? Pretty please, MC!
-
Lucifer’s face scrunched up when he heard a knock on his door. He figured it was Mammon who came to ask him for money again, so he was on high alert, ready to scold him. That’s when he heard your voice. “Luci? Can I come in?” You asked, knocking again. 
He sighed a sigh of relief. It was you. Thank god. 
He so desperately needed to talk to you. He was so close to snapping at everyone and everything - you are the only one who can calm him down. (Although he would never admit that.)
He opened the door, finding you with your two hands behind your back, and with an evident blush on your face.
He immediately smirked. He knew something was up. 
He welcomed you in, kissing you on the crown of your head before he asked what you did this time. 
“What are you hiding, MC?” He teased as you walked backwards to his bed, sitting down on the edge. 
“I’ll show you, just don’t laugh at me, okay?” You blushed. “I can’t promise that, sweetheart.” He stroked your hair and sat down next to you. “Then I won’t show you!” You teased him. “Okay, okay. I won’t laugh, I promise.”
You reluctantly showed him your masterpiece(s): two identical bracelets made of yarn - red, white, and black yarn in a chevron pattern.
“I made us these. I’ve always wanted to make us friendship bracelets but I’ve never had the time to. I had some free time yesterday so I stayed up to make them. Do you like them?”
You didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t friendship bracelets. He let out a laugh and took the bigger one gently from your hands. 
“I’m assuming this one is for me, yeah?” He smirked at you, putting it on. He admired it once more before stroking your hair and kissing your lips every so gently. 
“Thank you, MC. I will wear it with pride.”
“I will wear mine with pride, too.” You said, before punching him on his arm. “You laughed! You said you wouldn’t!” “I couldn’t help it. You’re too precious, sweetie.” 
He does in fact wear it with pride. Bro never EVER takes it off.
When Diavolo asked about it the next day Lucifer just smiled. 
“I see you have a new bracelet, Lucifer! It’s pretty stylish! Where’d you get it?”
“Thank you for choosing MC, Lord Diavolo.” 
“I see… I get it. You’re welcome.” Diavolo said with the biggest smile on his face. 
He will actually get so upset if he sees that you don’t have yours on. So don’t take it off, ever. 
Lucifer always catches himself admiring it when he’s doing paperwork - how did he end up with you? What did he do to deserve such an angel?
Wait… is that a blush he has on his face? 
MAMMON
Although Mammon wouldn’t say it, he has been wanting to get matching jewelry for you guys. He has never had the guts to, though. Sure, he takes you out all the time, spoils you, ETC, but matching jewelry was a big step he wasn’t sure he was ready to take. It’s such an intimate thing, you know?
Mammon swung his arm around your shoulders as you guys walked out of class together. He was talking about his big win yesterday when he was out gambling with his friends: he had won 100’000 Grimm in a game of poker, but as soon as he came home with bags full of money and his precious Goldie, Lucifer confiscated it all. Sure, he had won, but he needed to “earn money responsibly” according to Lucifer. He was gonna get it back when Mammon had earned 100′000 Grimm through hard work. Which will most likely never happen.
Mammon cursed underneath his breath. “Damn Lucifer, always takin’ my precious money away from me!” 
You smiled at him, suddenly blushing hard. 
“What’s so funny? And why’re your cheeks all red?” 
“I have a surprise for you that might cheer you up! It’s not hard earned money though - don’t get too excited.” 
Mammon raised his brow. “A surprise? Where?” 
You suddenly pulled out two matching bracelets from your pocket. They looked handmade - yellow and white yarn in a candy stripe. 
-
Yesterday, when Mammon tried to hang out with you, you told him you had bunches of homework to catch up on, which was a lie. You just wanted an excuse to be able to make the bracelets in secret.
“I have so much homework to do, sunshine. I need to get it done before tomorrow. You go and hang out with the others. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.” 
Mammon complained, like a lot, but eventually, he complied and kissed you before leaving your room. 
“You better get all that homework done today! I can’t have stupid homework gettin’ in between our time together!” He said before he walked off. 
That was when he decided to go out and gamble that night. 
-
You gave the bigger bracelet to him, and you put the smaller one on your wrist. You smiled at your work. You hoped he liked it.
You noticed that Mammon went quiet. You slowly looked up from your wrist, one brow raised. Did he... not want it? 
You were shocked to see Mammon blushing the hardest you’ve ever seen him blush. 
He was almost on the verge of TEARS. I’m telling you, this man is so deprived of love. 
He quickly snapped back to his senses when he heard you calling his name. “M-MC… ya made these?” That was the only thing he could say. 
“Yeah, I did yesterday. You know, when I told you I needed to do homework. I had no homework at all, I just wanted to do this for you.” 
Mammon was speechless. No one had ever put in this much effort to make him something like this.
“Do you like it?” You smiled. 
Mammon looked at you and then looked away quickly, blushing and pouting. “Y’know, I d-don’t appreciate that ya lied to me!” He stuttered. 
“I had to, I’m sorry! Now answer the question. Do you like it?” You smiled again. 
He was quiet for a second before he put it on and looked at you. “Ya better not do anything like this for anyone else! No one else will appreciate it as I do. You’re my human, got it?!” He ranted before he hugged you as you laughed. 
“I take it that you like it?”
“I love it.” 
He was kind of shy about wearing it at first, but that quickly passes as he five minutes later flaunts it to all of his brothers and classmates. 
He, like Lucifer, never takes it off. He has only ever taken it off once or twice: when he does some kind of physical activity that leaves the bracelet at risk of breaking. 
Truth is, he values that bracelet more than he does all the money in the world. 
LEVIATHAN
We all know that Levi is a very love-starved guy. He loved the idea of some sort of matching clothing items/jewelry but he never brought it up. ‘Who would want to match with an otaku like me?’ he always thought. 
As Levi was sitting in his gaming chair, you were fumbling with the yarn on your lap as you were laying in his bathtub, talking to him about the game he was playing. 
He was babbling passionately about the game, telling you all about it. You just couldn’t help but smile as he was explaining what it was about. 
“I love it! It’s like, so cool!” He smiled, leaning back in his chair, bringing his hands behind his head. 
“I’m happy that you love it. I know how long you’ve waited for it to arrive.” You said as sat upright, looking at him. 
He turned his head to see what you were up to. Seeing you smile at him made his heart skip a beat as he swung his head back to the screen - his cheeks red. 
“Y-yeah… it did t-take a while.” He smiled to himself. “By the way, MC, what are you even doing in the tub? Come and play with me!” He recollected himself. 
“I would love to, but I’m busy.” You smirked as you laid back once more. 
“Doing what?” He turned again. It wasn’t visible what you were doing from where he was sitting. He was as curious as ever. 
“Just give me two minutes and I’ll show you! Continue playing!” You said, still fumbling with the yarn, making the last few rows. 
Levi gave you a nod and turned back to his screen. 
You’ve always had “Make you and Levi matching bracelets” written out on your bucket list - you knew he would appreciate it deeply, so it was important to you to get it done. 
You never got the time to make them without him being present, so you just decided to tell him to look away when you walked into the room as you carried the yarn in your hands. He did. He wasn’t being persistent in knowing why. Just a simple nod and an ‘Okay.’ were heard. 
When you had finally finished, you jumped out of the tub, walked up to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. 
When he turned, he saw you - hands hidden behind your back with the biggest grin on your face. 
“What’s this about, MC? What did you do?” He looked up at you from his chair. He almost looked concerned - poor baby just hoped you didn’t do anything that would get you in trouble. 
That was when you finally revealed what was in your hands. Two identical bracelets - made of orange, royal blue, and white yarn in an arrowhead diamond pattern. 
He looked shocked, confused, even. He looked up at you once more.
“M-MC… they’re pretty. Who are they for?” 
“For us!” 
Leviathan.exe has stopped working. 
Boy was SPEECHLESS.
He blushed profusely as he looked away from you, hiding his face in his hands. 
“What? Do you not like them?” You asked, worried. Shoot... did you mess up?
“N-No! I mean y-yes! I m-mean no! I l-l-love them!” He turned back to you, scared that he had hurt your feelings. 
“B-but are you s-sure? I mean… who w-would want to m-m-match with an otaku like m-me?” He said, his eyes becoming watery. 
“Silly Levi. Who wouldn’t want to? Here, give me your wrist. I’ll tie it on for you!” You smiled at him.
He reluctantly gave you his wrist, letting you tie the bracelet on for him. He got goosebumps as he felt your hands fumbling with his. 
When you had tied it on his wrist, you put yours on. “Look! We’re finally matching!” You said, putting your wrist next to his. 
He smiled up at you, blushing as much as ever. “Th-thank you for this, MC. You’re always s-so good to me… even though I’m j-just a gross otaku.” 
You hugged him as you mumbled ‘You’re not gross…’ into his hair. 
Leviathan.exe has stopped working 2X. 
Levi was super shy about wearing the bracelet initially. Nobody had ever made something like this for him. 
Every time he gamed and his eyes fell on the bracelet he would lose focus, to the point where he died in multiple video games because of it. 
When Satan commented on your guys’ bracelets being identical Levi couldn’t control himself, and he literally passed out. He didn’t think anyone would notice them, but the fact that people could see the bracelets and know only you and him are matching made his heart skip a beat. 
As much as he was shy about it, now, he loves wearing the bracelet. Not only is it a declaration of your guys’ love, but it’s also a good way to see that you are his. It’s almost like marking his territory, and secretly, he loves that. 
He doesn’t take it off, even if it distracts him. He doesn’t have the heart to do that. He feels as if it’s disrespectful to you and your hard work if he does, so he just keeps it on. 
Even if it makes him die ten times more in video games, every time he glances at that bracelet he kisses it and hugs it close to his body. How did he manage to bag you? 
SATAN 
Satan doesn’t have the time, nor energy to think about friendship bracelets😭 Sure, he thought the concept of them is cute, but he hasn’t dug deeper into his opinion on them. 
You were in the human realm, visiting your family that you missed so dearly. 
As a result, all of the brothers, and especially Satan, felt empty.
You and Satan texted each other 24/7, but you figured that texting only wouldn’t make your absence easier on him, since you were gonna be gone for a month. Sure, you were gone for years a while back, but that was one of the hardest things that Satan has ever had to go through - you didn’t want him feeling like he did when you were gone ever again. 
So you decided to send him something. Something special.
Satan sat quietly in his room, reading the book that you had gifted him a while back for the third time that day. Gosh, he missed you. He just couldn’t help but almost cry when he thought about you. 
The calls, texts, and pictures weren’t enough. He needed to see you, feel you. He put the book down when he realized he had re-read the same sentence five times. The thought of you distracted him from every word he read. 
Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door. 
Beel walked in with a package in his hands. Beel looked at the package, then at Satan. Handing it to him. “It’s from MC.” Beel said, smiling.
Satan practically jumped up from his bed, grabbing the box from Beel's hands. 
“You’re feeling their absence, huh?” Beel’s smile dropped, looking at Satan. “Yeah. I assume you are too?” Satan said. 
“It has taken a toll on all of us. Don’t worry, they’re coming back in two weeks. Time goes by fast.” Beel smiled, walking out of Satan’s room, giving him privacy to open the box in peace. 
Satan smiled as he sat down on his bed, placing the box in front of him. 
He opened the lid carefully, seeing a letter in your handwriting. He picked up the letter, reading the message. 
“Dear Satan, How are you doing, lovely? I miss you so much. Two weeks have passed by now, yet it feels like years. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to facetime you as much as you’d like. I’m very busy with my family. They’ve missed me loads. I decided to send you this… to hopefully fill the void. I know it isn’t much, but I hope it helps. Love, MC.” 
He smiled as he closed the letter, putting it next to him on his bed. 
He looked back into the box. The first thing he saw was a book - one he had never read before. It was called ‘Pride and Prejudice’. 
-
“How many books have you even read at this point?” You laughed as you looked up at Satan who looked down at your head on his lap. 
“You seriously expect me to keep track of that?” He smirked. 
“No, but still! If you had to guess, how many?” 
“Stop asking dumb questions.” He grinned, ruffling your hair. 
You both laughed as you wrapped your arms around his stomach. 
“Can I ask you a question?” Satan finally asked after a brief moment of silence. 
“Is it dumb?” You quickly answered, teasing him. “No!” He smiled. “Go for it.” You said as his hand stroked your hair.
“Have you read ‘Pride and Prejudice’?” He asked. 
“Oh, yes, I have! Why? Where have you heard about it?” You asked as your brow raised.
“I read about it on Devilgram. Apparently, it’s really good.” He said. 
“It is! Please read it! It’s my favorite romance novel ever! Once you read it your perspective of life will change.” You sat up, looking at him. 
“I will. I promise. I just need to get my hands on it.” He kissed your forehead. 
-
That’s where he knew it from…
Satan started getting a little emotional at that moment. You remembered that he wanted to read it. 
He noticed a little gap in the pages. Perhaps you left something in there for him? 
When he went to said pages, his face lit up. 
“You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Was highlighted in pink. Next to it, he saw a pink yarn bracelet with red hearts on it. 
He picked it up gently, inspecting it carefully. As he put it closer to his face, he smelled your perfume on it - which drove him crazy. 
He put it away from his face - he wouldn’t be able to control himself otherwise. 
He carefully put it on, admiring it. He smiled as he picked up another letter from the bottom of the box. 
“Hi again, baby! Yes, I made a matching bracelet for myself, so don’t worry. I hope you like the book. <3” 
Satan’s heart skipped a beat. You… you made a matching bracelet for yourself? 
He looked at the highlighted sentence, then at the bracelet. You had thought so carefully about this gift that he got even more emotional than he was initially. 
As his eyes began to water, he picked up his DDD, clicking on your profile on the messages app. 
“My love, you really shouldn’t have.” He wrote. “My love, I wanted to.” You replied within seconds. “The bracelet is beautiful. Since when did you know how to make these?” “Since I’ve been a child. I can make you a cat bracelet if you’d like.” “Please do. Make one for yourself as well, so we can double-match.” 
Satan, like Mammon, Lucifer, and Levi, never takes it off. He thinks it’s too pretty, too thoughtful, plus, it smells of your perfume - the perfume he gifted you. 
It only takes five minutes of him being out of his room for Beel to notice. “New book? New bracelet?” Beel smiles at Satan in the living room. “They were in the box MC sent. They put their whole heart into that box. They made a matching bracelet for themselves too.” Satan grinned. 
“What box?!” Mammon yelled. “Lemme see that!” Mammon lunged at Satan’s arm, wanting to see the bracelet. 
Safe to say, things didn’t end up well for Mammon that day. 
Satan has never cared so much for an object as he does for that book, and especially that bracelet. He takes care of them with his life. 
Satan even puts the book in a special place in his room - a cursed bookshelf, so anyone who dares steal it without his permission will get turned into an earthworm for 48 hours. How thoughtful of him <3
Satan probably read that book around thirty times in the two weeks before you arrived back. It was just as beautiful as he had imagined - just as beautiful as you had described it - just as beautiful as…
Satan closed the book. His mind was wandering off again. 
He missed you. A lot. 
ps! if this gets enough love, i’ll make a version for the dateables too <3
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rockethorse · 5 months
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Stocking Stuffer 1/5: A Bajillion Random Painting Recolours
Happy Holidays to all! While I'm proud that last year I finally managed to achieve a longtime goal of sharing a full TS2 Advent Calendar, I'm simply not gonna be able to pull it off this year. Nonetheless, the holidlay spirit has encouraged me to finish up and share a couple of things before the end of the year! I'll be sharing five little gifts over the next few arbitrary days. First up: A BUNCH of Maxis painting recolours.
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One recolour each of A/B/C Stroke (yes, I still enjoy playing with these as three separate paintings) using vintage matchbook covers designed by Saul Bass for The Ohio Match Company.
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Two recolours +frames for Abstrutionism; "Poppy Cake" by Adolf Fényes (1910), and then this edit of Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth (1948) to include Bella Goth (the original Tumblr poster has deactivated).
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A recolour of Anonymous Masterpiece with these two digital paintings by user chestnutroan featuring their farmer Sim and his two alien daughters.
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One recolour of the Arghist Soldier with "Friday Nights" by Deborah DeWit (2006), perfect for your novel-enthusiast Sims' reading nook.
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One recolour of City Skyline with a fruit & veg painting by Twitter user snail_soup (you can buy a real print of this too if you like it!)
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One recolour of the Fourth Element wall scroll with "From Stardust to Stardust - Raccoon" by user ArtOfMienda.
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Four Vegetables recoloured with four deliciously juicy tomato paintings by artist Leah Gardner.
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Geometry 101 recoloured with a beautiful palette knife painting by Lynn Boggess.
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Two recolours of Grilled Cheese (you all know what Grilled Cheese looks like, c'mon); one vintage ad for Hollywood Diet bread which I cleaned/redrew to remove text/graphics, and then "Cloud Rows" by Ivan Eyre (2004).
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In The Beginning (+frame) recoloured with "Little Thief" by Courtney / Trash Kitty Art (also available as an affordable IRL print).
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Kitten vs. Yarn (+frame) recoloured with this goache painting by user ieafy.
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"Until Tonight" by Mark Grantham (2019) slapped on Lady On Red.
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Two recolours of Living Room; "Midwestern Summer Fun" by user ink-the-artist (you may wanna zoom in for a surprise), then "Girl On A Swing" (2000) by Andrew Macara.
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One recolour of Marketing Print with the Beatles as drawn by other Beatles. I don't remember who drew who because I'm actually not much of a Beatles fan but I thought these sketches were really darling.
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In Memory of Johnny Gnome (+frame) recoloured with a piece by Emma Roulette.
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A recolour of My First Holiday with art from Twitter user heikala_art.
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On Pointed Toes (+frame) recoloured with this digital painting by Twitter user catwheezie.
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I fell in love with this Guinness ad so I tweaked it from the photo to fit on the Route 66 poster, then made an accompanying Simlish option.
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A single Scruffles recolour (+frame) with this adorable cow illustration by Twitter user poodlewool.
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Four recolours of the Sim Noir pop art print; three pieces by Al Parker I found through this Tweet (with some English removed) and then an edit of the original painting to look passingly familiar...
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Two recolours (+frames) of Snoozing Enemies; "The Cat on the Pillow" by Adolf von Becker, and "Sleeping Sasha" by Lena Rivo.
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Stiller Life (+frame) recoloured with this oil painting of McDonalds by artist Noah Verrier.
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Two recolours (+frames) of Stumped Hound; "Shadow" by Tianyi Zhou and "cat falling off table" by user anasauruss.
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The Muse recoloured with this Juxtapoz magazine cover by artist Josh Courlas.
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And lastly, three recolours of Untitled (the Bella Goth pop art painting) with works by Hiroshi Nagai.
Download All Paintings @ SFS
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scarrletmoon · 3 months
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About Powder Blue
This is going to be long. There are going to be discussions of suicide and trauma. This is going to be a bit of a jumbled mess because I can't tell a linear story to save my life. Don't feel like you need to read this, now or ever.
If you're wondering what the issues with PB were, and looking for what's next, read the indented text and skip the rest if you want!
I've had a bit of a...tumultuous relationship with the OFMD fandom. I've made close friends and lost them, made even closer friends who've very patiently reminded me of my worth when I needed that. I'm at a point where I'm still struggling, but I'm getting better. I'm still working on not being afraid. It's a bit of an uphill battle, but I'm still pushing my little boulder. I'm not alone this time, which is nice.
I entered the fandom as a nobody. I had almost 50 fics on AO3 and two had mildly popped off while I wasn't looking, but I wasn't really known for anything. I was a fandom ghost, posting my little fanfics and sharing them with the world because I just enjoyed the characters so much. Like a lot of people, I dreamed of being known for something. I thought that'd be neat.
I'm still in a state of shock and confusion that I've written anything in the past 2 years that people remember and even love. It's weird to be in a place where I never imagined myself to be. I can't stress enough how much I did not write explicit fic before this fandom; in high school, I would've welcomed a porn ban. I was afraid of my own sexuality, convinced it was some sort of monster I had to control. Convinced I was dirty. To other people my age, I was a prude, naive and childish for not being comfortable with it. So I feel for people who lash out now, who insist that attraction is actually fetishization, that if we set enough rules, maybe if we resist temptation, we'll be saved. I see you, and I feel for you. I personally don't think that's a healthy way to live, but if you'd told me that 2 years ago, I would've cussed you out. It's really a realization you have to come to (or not) on your own terms.
Anyway.
I know it's tacky to talk about your own success but it doesn't feel real. I go back and forth, reading other people's work -- and my god, there's some unbelievable talent in this fandom -- and thinking "shit, why would anyone read anything I've written? My stories are kindergarten finger paintings next to museum masterpieces". I am learning, slowly -- very slowly -- that I can't bully myself into a shape I like better. I'll never abuse myself into the kind of writer I think I want to be.
The first chapter of Powder Blue was written on a random day of the week after work. I was in a server -- the first fandom server I'd properly joined and talked in, watching a convo about how funnyt it would be for Ed to be a middle aged sugar baby -- when I pulled out my laptop and wrote for an hour and then posted that chapter to the server. I hadn't written for five years before OFMD. I had never finished a multi chapter fic. I posted that chapter and went to make dinner, and assumed the Google Docs link would get lost in that channel after a few likes.
That's not what happened.
The next few months were...a lot. My 7 year old Twitter account blew up from about 200 followers to 1000 in a matter of months. I was misinterpreted half a dozen times. Suddenly, people knew who I was and had Opinions. Some of those Opinions were Not Nice. I was told to grow a thick skin and get over it. So I figured my extreme reactions -- physical shaking, intense fear, a spiking heart rate, like I was being chased -- were just me being weak. I thought if I just sucked it up and laughed it off, it'd stop affecting me.
Turns out RSD is real and not an excuse I was using to be a baby, and it literally didn't get better until I was medicated! Wild
(This -- "I'm just overreacting and everyone else is secretly handling it better" -- has been a pretty consistent pattern my entire life, so figuring out I'm actually AuDHD has been mindblowing. If you've been wondering why you're so weak your whole life, I've got some screening tests you might be interested in).
Anyway my point is, a few things happened over the course of 2023 that brought me to a level of emotional pain I've never experienced.
At the start of the year, I was taking a self imposed internet break, after being forced to apologize for a tweet thread about Izzy, where I'd made the mistake of suggesting that fans of his should consider thinking about why they enjoy his character, but to only do this if they wanted to and ignore me if they didn't. This was taken as me being a hypocrite, and accusing Izzy fans of being terrible people. I apologized, vowed to never mention him again, and left Twitter for a month. Around the same time, a few things in a very close friend group went very wrong. I assumed it was entirely my fault for misbehaving, picked myself up, and tried to punish myself into a shape that would be acceptable for other people.
It didn't work.
Since I was now marked as an anti-Izzy bully, I couldn't say anything -- either on Twitter or in private -- that wouldn't be interpreted as me trying to start fights, as me being passive aggressive, as me trying to send covert messages for others to decipher so they could come and grovel for my forgiveness. Some of this is my fault -- it took a long time to learn than my private locked Twitter account isn't a diary. it took even longer for me to learn that maybe the people I was hanging out with weren't my people.
During all of this, I was posting Powder Blue after months of tears, pain, heartbreak, frustration and stress. I still don't understand why people write books for work or FUN. It was the most horrific experience of my life. It was valuable and so rewarding but jesus christ did writing PB take a lot out of me.
So as I felt less connected to my friends, as I was trying to hide how I felt because I thought I didn't deserve to be upset about anything (everything is always my fault, you see, and if I just behaved better, these things wouldn't happen to me), someone came to me and said they'd noticed some issues with Powder Blue. I'll refer to this person as the reader.
I was more than happy to hear them out. And it's true that I made some mistakes. The environment that I published PB in was not the one that I wrote it in. I didn't read any other sugar daddy/sex work fics as I was working on PB. PB was never a reaction to those fics. But because of those stories, which had handled things is harmful ways, there was suddenly a responsibility I'd never expected to have. I've never done sex work, I've just spent a lot of time listening to sex workers and trying to understand the legislation and environment as much as I can as a lay person. And since I don't have a personal experience with sex work, I shared my finished but rough draft with the reader, who did.
The problem, ultimately, is not something I could ever have fixed to their satisfaction. The fic doesn't involve dubious consent on a level that I think warrants an archive warning tag -- I tried to make it explicitly clear that Ed never does anything he doesn't want to, and that he's never coerced. The issue is that the nature of Ed and Stede's relationship is inherently uneven -- Stede is rich, and although he gives Ed money that's his to keep, Ed still isn't as obscenely wealthy as Stede is. Ed is poor and has been for a while. He's good at whatever he chooses to do, but he's struggling. That's a very uncomfortable spot to put Ed in. I also put Ed through some things that I've personally been through, as a way to work through my feelings and to try and better understand myself. If I was acting like Ed in real life, the reader is right that it would be concerning. But, importantly, Ed's not real. Nothing in this story is happening to a real person. Nothing in this story is an endorsement of any of his behaviours or unhealthy coping mechanisms.
I still believe the reader had good intentions -- the amount of effort they put into coming to me would be utterly bizarre for someone who was just looking to be cruel for no reason. But that also doesn't change the fact that being told I was having a trauma response and needed to stop working on the fic immediately, pushed me into the most suicidal period I've ever experienced.
That's not their fault. I'm sure that wasn't their intention. I've chosen to not try and find out who they are, or try to contact them again to respect their privacy. Some of the things people said to me, publicly dismissing the reader's pain, were so harrowing to read that it made me feel worse for ever writing PB in the first place. They were right to stay anonymous.
I'm sure the reader never meant for me to have such a massive breakdown that I took down the entire fic and left Twitter (and a few friend groups). It's been difficult to understand that just because someone didn't mean to hurt me, doesn't change the fact that I was hurt.
One silver lining is that I did go and find a new therapist. She's great! And she also thinks that how the reader tried to bring things up to me was wrong. As the reader obviously saw, I have a lot of Trauma, so I'm still not entirely convinced that I didn't deserve what happened to me. I'm not angry at them. I appreciate their concern. I just can't do what they asked of me. In the end, Powder Blue was not a story that was right for them. And that's okay.
My point in detailing all of this, is that I stayed quiet for a long time because I didn't think I deserved to tell my part of the story. I was scared that when people said they respected my choice to take down the fic, that they agreed I'd some something impossibly harmful. People trusted my judgement but I didn't trust myself. But people didn't know that I didn't trust myself.
Additionally, reader can't speak on this without revealing themself in some way. I'm terrified that they might read this and say something anyway. My biggest fear is becoming the kind of writer who sees negative criticism and pushes on anyway, or even blocks people who disagree with me. I don't want to hurt anyone the way I've been hurt.
BUT I've been holding onto this for months. I cannot write a perfect fic that will never trigger anyone. I will never write a meaningful story that won't hurt someone, no matter my intentions. There IS a way to admit you fucked up, or a way to listen and disagree, without turning into a raging asshole. I'm struggling to find that line. I'm hoping I'm making the right choice here.
And honestly, I'm just soft. I am so fucking soft. I talk a big game but I am so soft that a single person poking at my trauma caused me to break down so severely that my partner was legitimately afraid for me. I am learning that this softness doesn't mean I should become a crueler person to cope. But it's hard. There are going to be people who see this post and think I'm being a whiny crybaby looking for attention and pity. And I just have to deal with that.
Anyway. All previous chapters of PB will be up soon. Read them or don't. I will do my best to add more detailed trigger warnings. And I would personally suggest that if you're worried about any of the content in the fic, to run these worries past a friend who's read the fic, because they'll know you better than I ever will. Please don't read Powder Blue if you think it'll harm you. I would rather have fewer readers than triggered ones.
If there's anything I've missed that you think I need to address, know that my inbox is open, that anon is on, and that I'm not in the business of retaliating against people who come to me with an issue, even if they're a dick to me while they're doing it. I'm not going to dismiss someone because they weren't nice to me while they were upset. I'm a bitch but I'm not that kind of bitch.
So. Thank you for waiting for this fic. Thank you for waiting for me. We've got something like 16 chapters to go, and I can't tell you when they'll be up, or if they'll be up soon. But thank you for loving this story. I can't tell you how much that means to me, especially now.
Love,
Scarr
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vroomvroomwee · 7 months
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Goddamn all of you lovely Good Omens artists are fucking incredible do you know that? And I don't just mean the skill and talent and range you all possess in drawing cute adorable comics all the way to renaissance masterpieces because I won't be able to shut up if I start talking about that.
No, I mean who you are as PEOPLE.
You are all absolutely wonderful. Every single piece relays the refreshing and comforting views and opinions you have as well as your kindness. Drawing Aziraphale chubby and big but as well as soft and sexy and desirable and magnificently ETHEREAL. It has made me love my belly and thighs. It's made me view them as adorable and cute. The utter ADORATION you have for Crowley's nose. I went from despising mine (which is slightly crooked) to flaunting it and being PROUD of it. Because, guess what? ITS FUCKING CUTE.
As a result of all the love you all show towards these characters and the traits that society would call "unattractive", the ones that people should be ASHAMED about and try to hide, I have genuinely started to love my body. Traits that would cause me to feel inferior and pathetic are now causing me to feel giddy and affectionate towards myself. Went from "ew" and "uhhgg" to "tehe" and "eee" every time I look in the mirror.
If there's anyone that feels that their art isn't being appreciated, therefore that means they aren't good enough, I want to remind you that there's probably a person out there somewhere, too shy to like and reblog, who accidentally stumbled upon it and now has a smile on their face. There could also be another individual at a different corner of the planet who comes back to your art when they feel down and need some comfort and happiness, their confidence receiving a momentanious boost, and to be reminded how lovable and worthy they are.
And what's even more amazing is how we don't have this revelation: "My body/face is ugly, but I love it anyway." NO!! It has the "My body is a body. I'm human. There's no such thing as an ugly body. " And that's so so so so important.
People always talk about how Good Omens completely warps your view of gender and sexuality and makes you realise how abstract they both are. But it also has that effect for bodies and facial features.
Changing your opinion and feelings on something doesn't usually happen in the blink of an eye like they depict it in the movies where the characters have this memorable dramatic revelation. In real life, it happens gradually. Because we're human, and we need time to process things. So the Good Omens artists doing this to so so so many of us is incredible because they pop up these gorgeous pieces of art constantly. Over and over and over and over, and it's such a breath of fresh air and freedom from being suffocated by the media and society everywhere you go. And I say this with 100% seriousness, Good Omens has some of the most wonderful people in its fandom.
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chosetherose · 24 days
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Two Graves One Gun
So Long London continues the saga of celebrity versus soul. The only way to cure Taylor’s sadness is for her to bid farewell to bearding, and perhaps the closet.
If you can look past the red herrings in this song, you will find a deeply layered masterpiece that illuminates Taylor's battle with herself; how past plans made to maintain her celebrity have marred her soul. She doesn't want to live life like this anymore and is willing to burn her brand down to the ground to free her soul.
As always, the analysis I've written here is only one interpretation of this song. I'm not claiming it is "correct" but I encourage you to plow through (this is a very long post) and consider what I've laid out.
For context, I believe London is a metaphor for bearding. Here is some background for the new folks:
For most of her career, Taylor’s beards have been from the UK. Specifically, from 2012-2023 her beards were Harry Styles then Calvin Harris then Tom Hiddleston then Joe Alwyn.
The beginning of this stage was right around the time she started crossing over into pop music. Red is her first real leap into pop music and to do this successfully she needs to expand both domestically (to pop audiences that don't listen to country music) and internationally (her first opportunity for this since the rest of the world doesn't listen to much country music).
She started bearding with Harry Styles in late 2012, within weeks of Red's release then milks that short lived stunt for 1989 as well. What a way to capture a new pop audience made up of fans abroad and at home. Rinse and repeat until her priority changes to long-term privacy and she finds that aided by an unknown actor named Toe. Even though Taylor's current beard is American, suffice to say one can look at London as a metaphor for bearding given history.
[Intro]
So (So) long (Long), London (London) [repeated]
Pay attention to how she sings this...She breaks "London" into "Lon" and "Don".
So SO / Long LONG / Lon LON / Don DON
This is a sneakily beautiful way to emphasize: So! Long! Don(e)! ...Like "I've been bearding for so long and I'm done with it" or "So long, bearding! I'm done!" Yes, this is a reach but read the rest of this post and circle back. As this intro closes the final "Don(e)!" fades into the upticked beat.
[Verse 1]
I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist
I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift
Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away
My spine split from carrying us up the hill
Wet through my clothes, weary bones caught the chill
I stopped trying to make him laugh, stopped trying to drill the safe
Taylor seeing fairy lights through the mist sounds like she sees daylight at the end of a tunnel opaque from lavender haze. She keeps focused on this goal, carrying on with all these beards over the years. Although she's able to appear calm during these stunts, living life like this has forged a rift within herself. She beards because it's advantageous for her brand but her soul despises the ruse.
Side note: “Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster produced by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1939 in preparation for World War II.” -Wikipedia. A bit of history that I think furthers the idea that Taylor was battling to keep going.
Tayor has to balance these aspects of herself continually - Too much stunting? Her soul needs a break. Had a good break from stunting? She needs to feed the grocery line Swifties to keep them at bay. It's an idea that got me thinking about yin and yang, "an opposite but interconnected, self-perpetuating cycle." (Wiki). I am not an expert on this concept but I know I've noticed it has come up throughout conversations about TTPD. If yin and yang is relevant for this album, as I believe it is in multiple songs, in the context of this verse it feels related to Taylor's constant need to find balance between the celebrity version of herself we see on our screens and the true version of herself only she can see in the mirror.
This cycle wears on Taylor so much that her spine splits from the weight. She has been slogging through stunts, dreaming of freedom, for years. It's been storming so long her clothes are soaked and she feels the chill down in her bones.
Because of the pain she decides to change strategy. Theres no more attempts to make her situation lighter or find ways to deal with it. And think about this - if you're trying to drill the safe open it means either A) you feel like you've tried all the codes and are resorting to brute force, and/or B) you're running out of time and growing desperate. Taylor is past even those points and is giving up entirely.
[Chorus]
Thinking how much sad did you think I had
Did you think I had in me?
Oh, the tragedy
So long, London
You’ll find someone
The chorus reminds me of talking to a past version of yourself that made plans for a future you. We know Taylor must plan her life years in advance so perhaps she is asking her past self something like, “Why did you think I could handle continued bearding? Did you really think I could handle all the sadness I'm feeling today?”
Then I think the second half of this chorus is saying goodbye to bearding, symbolized by London, because she can’t bear the sadness anymore. Maybe the "you'll find someone" line is aimed at the fans a la "you should find another guiding light" like you guys will find someone else to fawn over in the tabloids.
Side note: I love the double entendre here. Because so long means goodbye but it has also been so long that she’s been bearding (largely with British men).
[Verse 2]
I didn't opt in to be your odd man out
I founded the club she's heard great things about
I left all I knew, you left me at the house by the Heath
I stopped CPR, after all, it's no use
The spirit was gone, we would never come to
And I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free
I don't have a strong opinion on the first two lines of this version. What comes to mind is she didn't opt in to be an openly LGBTQIA+ artist, she chose to closet and beard. Then other younger closeted celebrities have looked to her as a blueprint.
In the process of bearding for stardom, her soul abandoned all she knew. I think there is a red herring here as Heath could reference Hampstead Heath (which has connections to Toe) but it’s also continuing on the house theme that Taylor sings about. Here, it doesn’t sound like this house is a home. She’s not singing about chandeliers flickering inside, it’s “the” house by a heath -- “Heathland is characterized by plants such as heather, bilberry, gorse and bracken, which occur on infertile and well-drained soils. Open heaths have been highly modified by humans for centuries and are maintained by grazing or cutting.” She’s stuck somewhere that’s by drained her via death by a thousand cuts lol.
Again, it's weighed on her. So she's decided to stop trying to revive the disconnect between her soul and her celebrity, it’s no use trying anymore. She’s realized they could never fully come together.
And she’s pissed off she let her celebrity rob her of an open, free, youth where she could live truthfully. Recall that in Peace she sings, “a coming of age has come and gone” which to me means she feels she can’t explain a coming out via a youthful awakening angle. She’s at the age where people will understand she’s known this for years but hasn’t shared with the world. This will raise questions she won’t be able to answer because it’s all too tangled (NDAs, outing beards, etc.).
[Chorus]
For so long, London/ Stitches undone
Two graves, one gun
I'll find someone
For so long, she’s been bearding, stunting, hiding her true self to reach and/or maintain celebrity. It’s caused her stitches to come undone. This wording is interesting because it implies she had a wound from living this life hiding her truth, they tried to fix her up as her celebrity status soared, but it didn’t work because the sadness was too great.
Perhaps there's two graves and one gun because on the path to daylight she will kill both her celebrity and the sadness of her closeted self. Not how she switches from "you" will find someone to "I" will find someone. This is because she will destroy every version of herself that she's ever known if she comes out one day. She will rise like a Phoenix through the ashes to discover a new version of herself in the daylight.
Note that the Spotify clip for this song, from the Fortnight video, feels significant. First, Taylor looks up toward the daylight. Then, with heavy breaths and a concerned face, she rifles through her art (words written out on a typewriter). We know in the rest of this scene she is lighting her art on fire. Two graves one gun on a path to daylight.
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[Bridge Part 1]
And you say I abandoned the ship
But I was going down with it
My white-knuckle dying grip
Holding tight to your quiet resentment
I imagine these first lines of the bridge to be aimed toward those in her life, on her team, etc. that steered her toward closeting to gain/keep fame. Maybe she has plans and they are saying by coming out she is abandoning the ship (her celebrity) they've all worked hard to build. In Miss Americana we heard her team tell her that coming out as a Democrat would halve the numbers of her next tour. Can you imagine what would be said about a coming out?
But what they don’t understand is that living this life is killing her. She’s been holding on to all the subtle ways they’ve told her over the years that her career will sink if she comes out of the closet.
[Bridge Part 2]
And my friends said it isn't right to be scared
Every day of a love affair
Every breath feels like rarest air
When you're not sure if he wants to be there
When she confides with her friends about it all they tell her she shouldn’t be afraid to take steps toward the daylight because look where she is now. She’s been stunting for years (love affairs in the tabloids) and it's awful for her. So terrible that she's grasping for breaths, unsure if she can still survive in this atmosphere (thin/rare air means its not a hospitable environment for Taylor).
[Chorus]
So how much sad did you think I had
Did you think I had in me?
How much tragedy?
Just how low did you think I'd go
Before I'd self-implode?
Before I'd have to go be free?
Again, I think she’s talking to her past self here. “How could I have thought I’d survive sinking this low? How could I not realize I’d reach a point where I’d self-implode?” Which here, self-implosion is telling a similar story as I think the two graves one gun lyrics do — the result of the self implosion is being free. If she blows up her celebrity and she will be free to live her truth, curing the sadness that has been ruling her life for years.
[Verse 3]
You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues?
I died on the altar waiting for the proof
You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days
And I'm just getting color back into my face
I'm just mad as hell cause I loved this place
I imagine this verse is aimed at her fans, the grocery line Swifties who believe her beards are real boyfriends. I read “you swore that you loved me but where were the clues?” as a sarcastic jab because she’s been screaming 🌈 for whoever is willing to listen. The fans claim to love Taylor but they aren’t willing to really listen to her.
Most people here “altar” and think of a wedding but the definition is much broader, “In religion, a raised structure or place that is used for sacrifice, worship, or prayer” (Wiki). So Taylor was up on the altar, a place of worship, waiting for clues that these fans actually loved her. But what started as worship became sacrifice as these fans never found love for who Taylor really is all the while the bearding and hiding were causing Taylor deep sadness.
Despite all this, she loves her job and her fans. The sadness is too much though. She is about to self implode and feels its time to take steps toward a brighter future. It’s maddening as hell to metaphorically blow up your life just as your fame is escalating to new heights you’ve reached for your whole career.
[Chorus]
For so long, London (So long, London)
Had a good run A moment of warm sun But I'm not the one So long, London Stitches undone Two graves, one gun You'll find someone
For so long, she bearded. She had a good run, getting away with it all, reaching levels of fame she always dreamed of. But she's not the one to keep the charade going (as opposed to her heroes who unfortunately 'died' closeted). Goodbye, bearding. The wound was too big to fix. With one action, I will kill the version of myself you (the fans) know and the version of myself I know. You (the fans) will find someone else to worship.
...
I could keep tweaking this theory for weeks but these are my initial thoughts on this song about two weeks out from TTPD's release. This album is incredible complex but for me the signs we keep getting are all pointing toward significant change. There is a momentum going right now that I haven't felt since the early Lover era. No matter what happens or how long it takes, I hope our fearless Chairman gets the chance to bask in the sun shiniest daylight. She deserves the warmth.
💕 CTR
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tibbythetiger · 7 months
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Hello friendsssss! We have an official tag on AO3, we’ve all grown so much in just a few days. Amazing work all around! 
I’m just dishing out some general HCs today! Hopefully, I can actually get the time to turn my main DreamTheory meeting as coworkers at Sparky’s into a real fic soon! 
Both of them enjoy their height difference greatly. Mike usually hates feeling smaller or shorter than people, but he’s never met someone as genuine and nice as Ness so it doesn’t bother him, and makes him feel kinda safe. Ness just loves his pocket-sized boyfriend. 
I know someone else has already said this, but Ness with freckles!!!! Ness with freckles is so very important to me. I think they’re super light during most of the winter, but once it gets warmer and the sun comes out they’re fairly noticeable. Mike likes to kiss each one he can find, it always makes Ness laugh. 
I know we all agree that Ness is Conspiracy Boyfriend, and I agree! I think he particularly loves those paranormal ghost-hunting shows that were super popular back in 00’s, and he’s a HUGE Unsolved Mysteries fan. When he’s looking to get the same thrill but looking for more fictional media, he loves the Twilight Zone. 
Mike makes a mean grilled cheese and tomato soup, this is in part because it’s Abby’s favorite food and he decided if he had to make anything really well it would be this. Ness actually doesn’t like grilled cheese, but Abby talked it up so much he gave it a try and he ended up really liking it. It is one of Mike’s proudest moments. 
I think Ness is really good with kids, he seems to me the type that was the oldest cousin at parties. (This is just projection), so he’s used to having younger kids following him around and having to keep them entertained. While he’s used to it, he’s really genuine and loves doing it. He’s always overjoyed to hang out with Abby, and she adores him because of it. 
Ness and Mike cannot draw to save their lives! They are horrible at it, Abby likes to hold “drawing classes” where she tries to show them how she makes her masterpieces. Ness always tries hard, but it’s just not his strong suit. 
They are the couple that slow dances in the kitchen or living room. Mike is always reluctant about it, he’s fairly paranoid at romantic gestures, and he’s always scared someone will see them, but he always enjoys it when Ness convinces him it’s okay. Abby thinks it’s the most magical thing, so she draws the two of them as princes when they dance during a Disney movie night.  
Ness absolutely tells Mike and Abby stories to help them sleep. They both think he has the most soothing voice, Ness just loves being able to help them, sometimes he’ll even sing to them, but he’s still really shy about it. 
I think Ness really loves listening to musical soundtracks, but he’s also a pop girly through and through, like, he loves Kelly Clarkson, Paris Hilton, and Brittany Spears. Meanwhile, Mike doesn’t listen to music super often, he usually lets Abby or Ness pick. Otherwise, I feel like he’s really into grunge or early rock. He listens to Nirvana sure, but also Radio Head. (I also think he’s a very big Weezer fan) 
I think Mike is a big writer, he started journaling to help him take note of his dreams/memories of Garrett, then really leaned into it once his parents were out of the picture since he didn’t really have anyone else to turn to to vent. Sometimes he can be a little poetic, and he’ll write lil notes to Ness and leave them in his apron or pockets for him to find later. 
Ness thinks this is simply the cutest thing he’s ever seen actually, and attempts to do the same thing. He’s a little cheesier, and are usually filled with lil hearts and things doodled around them, but he sticks them on the mirror or on Mike’s alarm clock. Mike saves everyone he finds and slowly they start to cover the walls in his bedroom. 
The three of them cannot have board game nights. They are all waaaay too competitive, and the last time they played Uno and Ness won, Mike pouted so much and Abby locked herself in her room. They settle for movie nights or puzzles when they’re doing things the three of them. 
When Abby first starts dabbling in painting her nails, she practices on Ness and Mike. Eventually Ness and Abby usually just have matching nails, Ness doesn’t let the looks he gets bother him any. 
Abby absolutely knows they’re dating, Mike tries not to keep secrets from her, especially after the debacle of Freddy’s, and what happened with the Aunt. She’s too young, so she doesn’t get why people are weird about it, but she understands enough that she can’t tell anyone that Mike and Ness are dating. When she does talk about them, most people assume Ness is a girl, just because of his name. Abby just stops correcting people, the only person outside of them who knows is Abby’s therapist(?), but she supports Mike so it’s not really an issue. 
Ness loves stealing Mike’s sweaters and coats, they’re so much bulkier than the ones that Ness buys himself, so they’re so comfortable. In the winter, he’ll steal them and wear them to work or around the house. Mike grumbles and pretends he cares, but he thinks Ness looks cute in them. 
Ness has the worst road rage, Mike is both horribly amused and terrified of this when it occurs. Ness always apologizes afterward usually followed up by an “If people could just learn how to drive, I swear to GOD”  
Mike and Abby will go into Sparky’s when Ness is working just to get desert and to see him. Most of the employees at Sparky’s know there’s something going on between Ness and Mike, but they all let it remain unspoken. It seems like everyone is taking good care of each other, so no one decides to interfere.  
Well, that’s all I have for now! I’m really loving seeing everything everyone is putting out, and getting to read everyone’s work and see their art is amazing!
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somehow-a-human · 14 days
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Moonlight Serenade & Good Omens &... Lost...?
DO NOT ASK NEIL ABOUT FAN THEORY.
First off: I am a certified former band kid. I've been playing the trumpet for 17 years. I did marching band in high school & college, I served pep band march madness basketball realness, I'm a bona fide concert hall bitch, and I considered becoming a professional musician.
Because of this, the music of good omens is something I have been ACTIVELY avoiding! The risks of hyperfixating and spiraling into it are HIGH!!! I spent so much of my life deeply entrenched in music, all genres, all time periods & It's hard not to have a proclivity toward it. But I also expect it to be a huge topic and a deep hole to inevitably fall into.
But could I hold out forever? no. and something finally pushed me over the edge. Wait for it..... Lost. Yep. The fucking TV show Lost. WAIT WAIT, don't leave! STAY WITH ME!
Why Lost? And what does it have to do with Moonlight Serenade and WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH GOOD OMENS?! Well my lovelies continue under the cut with me and keep an open mind...
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Okay so... Lost. Yes, the insane 2004 mystery plane crash island adventure drama. It's a wild ride, and a masterpiece and a little bit crazy, but overall pretty damn good. I've been on a rewatch spree and wouldn't you know it... parallels between lost and Good Omens kept popping up in my brain!! I mean they are both detailed intricate mysteries so it makes a tad bit of sense but there was one little detail that *might* be a *clue* so I figured I'd make a post cause why not? I promise you don't need to know anything about Lost to follow this!!
First off, what are some of the recurring themes of Lost the TV show you might ask?
Life & Death
Timelines & Time Travel
Literary Allusions (Catch-22, The Bible, A Tale of Two Cities)
Prophecies & Premonitions
Symbolism of Black & White
Yeah okay, that tracks, but look there are 121 episodes of Lost and 12 episodes (so far) of Good Omens so there's bound to be some overlap for these two ineffable mysteries.
You'll be thinking about now, "BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH MOONLIGHT SERENADE?!" I'm getting there, shhh, lemme pet your hair gently and keep giving you background information to build it up shhhh...
If you've never seen Lost there is a very good chance you're mighty confused at this moment, so let me reassure you, you don't need to know anything about it to understand the connections I'm going to make. A brief synopsis is: Oceanic flight 815 crashes on an island. The plane crash survivors quickly discover the island is more than it seems to be and holds many secrets and mysteries. A lot of people die, most of them are murdered, it's giving Lord of the Flies. That's honestly all you need to know.
Time Travel & Alternate Timelines
Time travel is cannon in Lost. It's super confusing and I'm not even going to try to explain any of it here. It's honestly just not worth it. If you'd like to try and read about it, the abridged version is here, but I don't think the details are important. Just know it's real and confirmed and exists.
Okay so, In Lost season 2, episode 13 "The Long Con" two of the plane crash survivors are trying to find a signal on a radio they've found. While scrubbing they come across a signal playing Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. One character mentions it must be from somewhere nearby, but the other counters that this type of radio can pick up signals from anywhere in the world. There is a beat and then another character jokingly adds "Or any time. Just kidding, dude."
It's later confirmed that the Lost characters in 2004 are indeed picking up a radio signal from 1940 that is playing Moonlight Serenade, a product of time travel.
Congratulations, you've made it to the point where I'm going to bring Good Omens into the mix. In season 2, episode 4 "The Hitchhiker" we open seeing Aziraphale driving back from Edinburgh late at night/early morning. Uncomfortable with the darkness and silence he asks the Bentley to "play something that's got a bit of swing? I'm in the mood for something modern."
The Bentley obliges the angel, as she always will, and we are shown a shot of the radio specifically lighting up, so we know she's tapped into the radio to play this for Azi.
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But hold on. Aziraphale asked for "modern"? Moonlight Serenade is most certainly not modern. It was recorded in 1939! I'd say in 2023 it's anything but modern, maybe not in Aziraphale's long lived opinion, but certainly in the Bentley's opinion, given she's only a 97 year old car.
I think you can see now what I'm saying here. I think the Bentley picked up a radio signal from 1940, maybe 1941? Episode 4 is of course our 1941 blitz magic show bullet catch flashback extravaganza, so... it makes sense. I know we like to headcanon Crowley and Aziraphale listened to A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square in the bookshop in 1941 after the bullet catch, but what if they heard Moonlight Serenade on the radio instead?
What does it mean?
I think it could be a *clue*. A reference to this small moment from Lost and a nod to the first hint of the canonization of time travel in that series. We know Crowley can control time to some extent and we can see some evidence of time discontinuities and possibly time weirdness in season 2 so is it a hint that timeline funkiness IS happening? Do I want to get into the fact that the main character in The Hitchhiker, the Twilight Zone episode this episode is named after, is actually dead? No I don't, not now anyway.
SO! There it is... weird little connection that I couldn't get out of my brain. It just seemed a bit too... ineffable.
As always this is all for fun and all for fans! Don't ask Neil about these things, they're for us to have fun with. And something else that I don't think some people on here understand about meta-analysis; the goal of it is not necessarily to be correct. It can be, if that's your thing. Refuting peoples posts, theories, analysis, and headcanons because you personally don't agree with them and telling them they're wrong and stupid doesn't achieve anything. Meta-analysis is an exercise in critical thinking and creative writing. You could write meta about how Spongebob is a critique of the loss of christian values in modern society and you wouldn't be right or wrong, you'd just certainly be a person who wrote that for sure though. Just, be kind to each other, share ideas, you're allowed to disagree with someone's ideas or have different ones of your own but don't be cruel in saying so, don't call someone stupid, that's just silly.
Love you all, do something kind for yourself today <3
ps. The moment I see Michael Sheen with blonde hair come January I'm gonna bark like a dog, that's all. Thanks.
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