#Also I grew up in the early 2000s so you can imagine what kind of clothes I'm talking about

[shy-forceghost]

I just realised that maybe me buying t-shirts and socks from the kids section is the counterpart of my mom lending me her (grown woman) clothes when I was nine.

#I was nine y.o. dressing like 30 #and now I think about it and realised I grew up too fast in that aspect as well #i understand the reasons she had -mostly economic- but at the same time I think I didn't have time to be and dress as a girl #Also I grew up in the early 2000s so you can imagine what kind of clothes I'm talking about #anyway dinosaurs and space-themed tshirts and hoodies rock!

[fandomsniper]

so this is my take on human Caine

keep in mind that this is all my headcanons and imagination, and I'm going with the theory that he is an AI and he wasn't a human before

(again it's my hc!) also minor tw for drvg mention

so going with that logic, man is an AI, for his whole life all he was, was lines of numerical codes and suddenly he's thrown into this world and becomes a human, as we all are aware a human body needs to comply to the laws of physics, biology, etc., it has needs that need to be taken care of for it to function right which an AI in a digital world doesn't need to do so imo all of that had to mess with his head a lot, I think that there is a high possibility that he would experience some kind of body dysphoria, he would feel that this isn't HIS body, that something isn't right, something doesn't fit etc., that would be pretty logical

complete change of how his brain operates (idk what he had as an AI but let's also call it a brain lol), human body operates on five basic senses, which is something that he didn't have to submit to, the list of "senses" he had as an AI in a digital world is probably long as fuck and now he has to lean on only five basic ones? that gotta suck and be absolutely difficult (which should be obvious, imagine suddenly becoming blind or deaf, now you need to learn to operate with even less senses than you had, fucking sucks), back in the digital world he could do practically everything with little effort and now? he is limited by this human body/world and all the laws it needs to obey

still on those senses, I think they are all over the place because of the sudden change so he would be prone to sensory overloads or something like that

he literally needs to learn all social rules, written and unwritten, and overall the basis our world works on, which we had YEARS to learn about as we grew up, and yeah as an AI he had some info about humans and our world 'cause he had direct contact with us back in the digital world but it wouldn't be even close to enough to live here among us (heh) completely out of nowhere

because of all of this, I think that he would be a total train wreck and he would be very prone to fall into some unhealthy habits, like for example imo he could easily get addicted to drugs (idk what kind tho), he takes some pills and he can "get back" to his old life at least for a moment? sign him up! for that short period of time, he could feel "right" again, he could have control again [I'm also leaning towards the idea that he could develop some kind of control issues considering who he was back in the digital world as an AI], drugs give you a high which on you can imagine/hallucinate/feel a lot of things so yeah, he could easily get addicted to those, especially if his trips would revolve around him being back in his digital world, his home

and nope, it's not me projecting onto my fav character yet again, not at all (I'm a big liar)

but fr tho, I think it would make sense if he actually was an AI who was never a human and somehow he got out of the digital world with all circus crew

and I made a visual of him in a picrew! (if anyone will want it, I will drop the link to it)

I made some small adjustments in ibis paint lol, like the eye color and the roughly drawn Glasgow smile scars (for some reason it just fits him??? cause he was literally all teeth and it connected in my brain??? idk but my mental imagine of him as a human has those scars, can't do anything about it) + a bit longer lines under his eyes

he would look like he's in his really late 20's or early 30's

bonus, cause I found that t-shirt in the maker lol, Jax gave it to him

a playlist I made and some footnotes with fun hcs

he would love the movie "The Greatest Showman", can't tell me otherwise

I think he wouldn't have a specific music taste, no specific genre etc. but I think he would enjoy music from 80's and 2000's

he cried watching Bambi

his fav candy is Skittles

for the first two weeks the only thing he would eat was any variation of buttered bread, breakfast? toast with butter, dinner? buttered bread with salt, supper? toast with butter but this time with no crust, he would have continued this if Ragatha didn't step in and practically force feed him scrambled eggs one morning and then continued to do so with other foods until he stopped eating just bread

he likes Lady Gaga

he's not allowed caffeine, under any circumstances, never again, the circus gang decided that as a group

surprisingly, he enjoys horror movies

Jax showed him that one video of car driving through the hills (iykyk), he fell out of his chair

his room is very cluttered, messy but in this artsy-homey way

he picks on his skin a lot, especially when he's nervous and because of that his hands are covered in band-aids

he once saw Zooble smoke and asked if he can try, now he joins Zooble on "smoke breaks" because he picked on the habbit, Zooble kinda feels bad about it

#tadc caine #the amazing digital circus #tadc #tadc theory #human caine #headcanon #my hcs #playlist #the amazing digital circus Caine #tadc zooble #tadc jax #tadc characters #long reads #long post #picrew #footnotes #theory #headcanon time #Spotify

[laithraihan]

Hey I really love your art - I wanted to ask if you use references from anywhere specific.

Also, have you considered the idea of Reigan becoming Minori's Guardian Ad Litem? I agree that Reigans not exactly the kind of person to make the most responsible father (at least where we leave him in the show) but I could totally imagine him becoming her guardian for some legal reason.

He's really the only adult she'd know to trust outside her father.

I can imagine they're put a whole court case together with Reigan as her guardian just for legal reasons and they win, and then Minori's like. "Oh shit where do I go? Guess your my guardian for real now." And Reigan is like.

What?

Thank you 🫶💜 hmm well for pose references including clothing etc I just get them from google stock images, I generally try to avoid making the pose too similar to the images I see so I sometimes draw in different angles (honestly most of the time I struggle looking up references because I cant find a picture in a specific angle I want, so I go with my intuition even if it's wrong), honestly google is probably the place I rely on the most for this. Like if I forget what a shoe looks like then I'll just google it.

If you're talking about where I got inspiration for my art style (or what I look to get ideas for my art etc) I'd say the major ones for me are ONE's sketches on twitter (especially his shaky lineart and how he draws eyes), early episodes of Detective Conan (clothing folds, color choices sometimes, body proportions like the chest being pointed etc), Revolutionary Girl Utena (also clothing and body proportions), FLCL (I have no idea what parts of it influenced my art but I feel like it's an obligation to list it here)

Uhh for the fun drawings that require more effort I'd say music is inevitably the most important part of it. 99% of the time my drawings that arent plain sketches are modeled after a specific song I listen to (primarily from ZARD but other artists too although not as often) even then I think my sketches are still influenced by ZARD somehow. Wait I completely forgot to mention I also look up images of ZARD on Pinterest for poses or just... to draw anything honestly. Theres a good number of pictures of her in various angles (I remember one of her photographers said she was very photogenic so most of her pictures are very casual as if a camera wasn't present) I think it's good to look at them if you are looking for something natural. Just looking up "Izumi Sakai" there will give you results.

For text placement/colors/vibe/whatever I like to look at old media I grew up with like MADs, shitty websites made in the 90s/2000s, old anime subtitled in Arabic (I have plenty of DVDs with anime dubbed/subbed in Arabic that I have no idea where we got them from, I assume it's all pirated. Anime openings/endings in Arabic also have very poor aesthetics when it comes to logo placement/text color/text animation/etc but that's exactly why I like them) I also have a Pinterest board with outdated ZARD edits that I look at often while drawing. For image textures or backgrounds I use this website. If I struggle with art block or don't know how to draw a specific thing I also look at everything I previously listed and reference from there. Anyways I talked a Lot but hopefully I could help with that.

As for Reigen being a guardian .... I never considered it seriously but I think he could pull it off. He'll definitely make mistakes but he could succeed if he had a daughter. I just have to kill off Minori's real dad or something and it'll work. The only problem would be that Minori has to live with the fact that her new father is broke and unable to spend thousands of dollars for her every week.

#asks

[sivavakkiyar]

What do you think of video game jazz? I’m getting into jazz right now and it’s how I got it into it but it feels kind of cringe to admit that

Ahhh tbh this is one of those things I’d want to give a more in-depth answer to. By which I mean I fantasize about having the talent and ability to do a 4 hour Folding Ideas style video essay about the entirety of ‘video game music is real music’ as a phenomenon. The most relevant backdrop to this is that I think people forget that the early 2000’s, when this discourse (in the West) started picking up steam was reactionary, by which I also mean probably not inline with the aesthetics by which we love video game music now. I mean ‘it’s not just beeps and boops!’ was the rallying cry: Anamanaguchi and chip tune stuff, even the fetish for those old hardware sounds wasn’t particularly widespread. So they loved the melodies they grew up with in games, but also thought of them as being ‘hobbled’ by the hardware, as opposed to sounds in their own right. So they were arguing that the music was legitimate now—-by which they very explicitly meant ‘performed on real instruments, often the instruments of the Western Orchestra.’ And I’m not saying ‘Western’ as a kneejerk thing either: a lot of those early attempts are embarassing because they take music obviously based around Japanese timbres and apply them to Western instrumentation in a way no one would be happy with today. So we no longer share that aesthetic—-we recognize that the moon theme from Ducktales on the NES is gorgeous, not in a ‘imagine what it could be!’ way, but specifically in and of itself. The orchestrated version of Mother’s Fallin Love is somehow not as intensely moving as the NES original, etc, and even if tastes differ we can agree on the possibility of that.

So I’d argue that this is kind of an important backdrop to the cultural phenomenon of what ‘video game jazz’ is, and has a lasting influence on it’s appeal: a legitimization for melodies and pieces we love. Jazz traditionalists and gatekeepers might occasionally dismiss it as ‘not real jazz’, but that involves a whole host of other assumptions. It obviously is jazz—-but what kind? overwhelmingly, it’s either tightly performed big band medleys or smooth jazz—-closer to the infamously Kenny G.

And that, to be honest, is kind of the point! People attend video game jazz shows to hear those melodies, that’s the point—-they’re not interested in jazz as such. Normally the argument for it’s potential legitimacy is ‘jazz has always used popular music of the day’, and I agree! But that’s clearly not the singular draw of the stuff, and I’ll give this example:

Mahanthappa is objectively one of the major figures of contemporary jazz. This was his arrangement of the New Horizons theme, recorded shortly “after COVID” (you know what I mean, god save us). It was relevant, popular, and significant, and made no headways in the video game jazz scene. How is this possible? Because the assumptions are different, and a good amount of the video game jazz specific audience didn’t respond to it: this is Mahanthappa bringing that music into jazz, as opposed to what amounts to an arranged revue. And so in a weird way there’s actually something like mutual disinterest, and reason why people tend to think of them as like fundamentally different.

It is stupid though. I have an old OneUps CD.

Sorry that coulda been shorter lol

#long post #silistens #wait no it couldn’t it would have had to be longer

[minevn]

Spotify Playlists

So I'll probably end up releasing the spotify playlist's before the covers are done and before the playlists themselves are done, but I do want to get them out sometime before the year ends. Anyways I'll be taking song recommendations for the characters! The way the playlists will be set up will be "songs they listen to"-"Songs that represent them and their past/present"-"songs that represent their relationship with you" I imagine the Past/present to be the songs that are hardest to find mainly, partly because I've left their past in some kind of mystery, I haven't gone into each and every single detail because you'll figure that out in the story, but also I'm just having a hard time finding songs that represent some of their pasts(surprisingly its not common to hear songs about parents putting their children in a dog house/j) But if you have any idea's send them to me with your explanation, I'd love to hear it! Anyways I'll explain what kind of music they listen to and kind of a simple explanation of your relationship

Minato: So Minato listens to a lot of older music, like "The Beatles" and "Michael Jackson" Songs your grandparents would listen to, which makes sense for Minato considering he grew up with that music due to his grandparents raising him. He's pretty protective of you, he wants to protect you and keep you safe, I think romantic songs that could be interpreted with yandere undertones would fit. though there also doesn't need to be yandere undertones, for example I have "Big Jet Plane" by Angus and Julia Stone on his playlist rn.

Haruto: Haruto also listens to older music, but not exactly like Minato's older music, more like early 2000's music, I don't think he'd have a preference for upbeat or slower songs. Also I say early 2000's music cause that's the music I grew up with and is most nostalgic for but also it depends on what music you grew up with! So you can just send any song you grew up with. Other then that he probably listens to songs that would help him focus, so classical. I thinks songs about childhood friends(to lovers) would fit for songs his relationship with you section

Jun: Jun listens to probably pop music, just upbeat music in general, as well as like super cute music. So songs like "Cute" by Prod by Rose or "Macaron Moon" by YUC'e give a kind of Jun vibe. Songs about being clingy would probably go really well in Jun's relationship segment with you, as well as songs about liking someone for a really long time. Cute love songs as well.

Hoshi: Ah yes the only person who actually has a song that represents their past. Anyways I feel like Hoshi would listen to songs like "Singular" by Sanity Falls like metal, but also Mindless Self Indulgence songs(I do like some msi songs but I don't like the artist nor do I support them and Hoshi's the same) I'd rather NOT put someone like MSI on my playlists though so if anyone knows an artist who makes music kind of like msi without being an awful person please let me know! I feel like he'd also like more sad music though, songs you could dissociate to like "Blvd. Nights" by Team Sleep. Like not those slow kind of sad songs but like screaming in pain sad. Songs where the person singing isn't really sure how to show their romantic emotions, like "Despair" by leo. Those would fit well in your guys relationship segment, but also songs that would show his real feelings like without filter would be so cute, like just pure loves songs that like worship their partner.

Habiki: Habiki likes listening to classical songs. If he has to listen to songs with lyrics though, it would probably be the same kind of sad music that Hoshi likes listening to. But they mostly like listening to classical music. I kind of think that Habiki's relationship with you segment would be similar to Hoshi's, maybe more gentler though?? Like "Come Inside Of My Heart" by IV of Spades. Like Despair is really trying to push those feeling away and deny them and come inside of my heart is like Ok I have these feelings, let me embrace it but not be overbearing, I hope they realize my feelings.

Kage: Kage's just like me in the sense that he probably just listens to whatever he likes. If he likes it he likes it. Happy songs he likes, it makes him feel happy and calms him down. sad songs? He likes those too, sometimes it's nice to just cry. Video game music? Yes he loves gaming. I think songs about stalking would fit really well in their relationship with you. But also any songs about being too shy to talk to the person of their affections would fit.

Kei: Probably also listens to Classical music a lot. Something he can play in the background and especially while he's watching you, there's no words to cover up your voice or distract him. I really think like pure love songs would fit really well, songs where the singer is so very clearly in love with their significant other, like its so fluffy. Like "Baby I'm Yours" by Arctic Monkeys.

Yani: Probably listens to the type of music that would describe your relationship honestly. I think Hyperpop would be good, same with like weirdcore music(Preferably instrumental) But yeah mainly hyperpop though. Just pure yandere songs fit really well. I've also said it before as well but songs like "I'm so crazy for youuuu </3" by Rebzyyx is what Yani was inspired by(That song is fr the biggest inspo for early Yani) Maybe even songs about wanting to be someone different for someone else, like "I/me/myself" by Will Wood(WILL WOOD!! HES MY ILLNESS/j/pos)

Aki: I think Aki would probably listen to very similar music as Haruto, songs from your childhood. Honestly I imagine her to have a very similar music taste as my sister. I think she'd listen to Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Deftones, roar, Beach House, Alex G, etc(You'll see others when I add to her playlist) but my favorite idea for who she listens to would be enon!! I lose my mind listening to enon, I love them so much, totally normal about them and not frothing at the mouth. Songs that describe your relationship? I think childhood friends(To lovers) would fit as well, and I'll probably also put Girl in Red songs as well, Ik it's like wlw music but I think it could fit your and Aki's relationship no matter what pronouns you go by.

Other then Aki I would love yandere type songs for each of the characters! I don't really want a lot of duplicates though, so while "Yandere" by Jazmin Bean would be perfect for everyone I'd rather limit it down to like one or two people. Anyways feel free to request with any song as long as it's on Spotify :3 Just write the song, who it's by, which character you think it fits, whish section it should go in(Songs they listen to, etc, I don't feel like writing all that), and maybe a little explanation as to why you think it fits :3

#💝-minevn #visual novel #yandere vn #🐠-Minato #📙-Haruto #🎀-Jun #🍽️-Hoshi #🎻-Habiki #👤-Kage #💻-Kei #💕-Yani #🐍-Aki

[vital-information]

It’s past time for Uptown Girls, almost universally panned when it first hit theaters 20 years ago, to be widely reconsidered and celebrated as a Y2K New York City fairy tale. Sure, the plot is far-fetched, and the ending in particular is wrapped up in a nice, convenient little bow, but Uptown Girls is a unique story about what young women can learn from each other.

Uptown Girls goes to darker emotional places than most other light hearted “chick flicks” of the early 2000s, and features career-best performances from Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning, as well as cameos from aughts superstars Mark McGrath and Nas. Uptown Girls was shot by legendary New York City cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, who has also photographed the city for heavyweights like Martin Scorsese and Mike Nichols. In his 3-star 2003 review, Roger Ebert defended the film against its haters, dismissing “all cavils about the movie’s logic and plausibility as beside the point,” asserting that “this is not a movie about plot but about personalities.” Ebert was able to see and hear Molly and Ray as vastly different, but equally emotionally complex characters, in a way that his peers were blind to at the time.

…

Molly’s unflagging brightness and Ray’s grim cynicism are both completely earnest reactions to having been pushed into a position where they must parent themselves throughout childhood, and into young adulthood, in Molly’s case. Molly has chosen to never grow up, postponing adulthood for as long as possible, whereas Ray grew up too fast. What makes Uptown Girls so compelling is watching Molly parent her own inner child through parenting Ray, which comes to a head in the infamous Coney Island spinning teacups scene.

…

While not the only contemporary critic to be positive on the film, Ebert was able to see beyond the glitzy surface, bravely standing apart in his refusal to rely on gender bias to express disapproval of a film. Maybe the most significant thing Ebert praised about Uptown Girls was its performances; specifically, he compared Murphy’s comedic talents to those of Lucille Ball. “Molly Gunn is a comic original, vulnerable and helpless, well-meaning and inept, innocent and guileless…Murphy’s performance has a kind of ineffable mischievous innocence about it.”

Indeed, one could imagine a scene in I Love Lucy where Lucy attempts to get a job at a luxury bedding store, and consequently falls asleep on one of the beds, as Molly does in Uptown Girls. Murphy’s face is pure Ball as she realizes (too late) that she’s about to get smacked in the face with a swinging door, in a moment where she needed to look particularly dignified. Thankfully, Ebert was able to recognize that an actress’ performance should not be judged solely on “likability,” but on its more palpable merits, such as comedic timing and vulnerability. Ebert was also more favorable than most critics toward Fanning’s performance. He wrote that “Ray does seem prematurely old…in the case of Dakota Fanning, I think we are looking at good acting.”

...

Uptown Girls might still not be taken seriously today by the larger community of serious film critics and historians, but the film has found its audience of lonely young women trying to find their place in the world. If you search “Uptown Girls” on social media, you’ll find a sea of girls posting about their emotional connection to the film, and of course, their love of Murphy’s performance. Some of this could very well be written off as 2000s nostalgia, but a lot of love for Uptown Girls comes from a place of deep sadness, both for the girls that we once were and the girls we could have been.

— Katarina Docalovich, “Uptown Girls Reminds Us to Connect with Our Inner Child, 20 Years”

#uptown girls #brittany murphy #dakota fanning #film criticism #roger ebert

[cherrymoonxx]

Feedback: My favorite feel good movies are anything that’s a romcom from the early 2000s. Like “She’s the Man” with Amanda Bynes. I also like to watch Disney channel original movies that we grew up on like the cheetah girls, and high school musical. I like anything that reminds me of simpler times.

Aww, you really painted the picture so romantically on how my person will know he’s in love with me. A dinner date on a boat sounds so romantic. I really love the water. I like that he’ll automatically tell his feelings instead of playing mind games. It’s good that he’s so transparent. I’m big on communication, so it’s comforting to know that he’s a good conversationalist. I’ve always wanted to travel so I’m happy that he likes to travel and will like to do it together. It’s also good that he’s big on reassurance. I tend to overthink things a lot, and come up with not the best scenarios. It’s crazy that you said he wants to reassure me in some way because I do feel lonely, and I worry if I will ever find someone to spend the rest of my life with. So, I definitely needed the reassurance/sign that I will have that person. I’m happy that you feel that he has good energy. He seems kind and caring. thank you for including the song. I don’t speak Spanish so I’ve never heard it before, but it sounds nice. I went to look up the translated lyrics. And the lyrics are even more beautiful than I could ever hope for. It really added to this reading and made me feel so special. I hope he feels the way that the song describes. Thank you so much for this reading. You’re so talented, I definitely enjoyed it. Everything was so detailed and I know it must of took a lot of time and energy. I’m so grateful 🩷. Happy love month again!!! I hope it’s a beautiful and lovely time for you♥️

Hello again! Omg thank you so much for the detailed feedback!

I also grew up watching those kinds of movies. There’s so many good ones! She’s the Man is such a good movie!

And yes! Your future spouse has a really great energy! I feel like I barely had to ask any questions because they were just so open about everything which was super nice. They were very big on reassurance too which was really sweet. Almost like they knew you could use some comfort right now and so they wanted to relay that message.

I totally can relate to feeling lonely at times. It can be hard to imagine that good things will come to you in the future when things in the present are not so great. But this reading was definitely a sign that you will have that connection you desire in the future, so no worries! I think the best thing to do now is focus on your own growth. Find new hobbies, work on self love and embracing the parts of yourself that you may not like. Try new things! Try to put yourself out there a bit more, little by little.

And awww I’m so glad you liked the song! That’s a Latin group that I also grew up listening to and they have some really great songs. That song was replaying in my mind while doing your reading so I think that energy is reflective of what the relationship between you and your spouse will be.

Thank you again for your detailed feedback and your kind words! I truly appreciate it 🤍🤍

Happy love month, I wish you all the best🩷

#feedback #nl107 #valentine’s day reading

[samueljkim]

Kindness

Artwork by Perry Jue.

Why did you call it “Kindness”?

The album was originally a three song EP that I released at the height of the pandemic. Everything all around the world and in my life was so heavy and languishing so I wanted to create a sonic reminder that we're going to have to be kind to get through this. A couple of years later, we've moved from a pandemic to an endemic of sorts but we're still dealing with the fallout and the things that were kicked up during that crisis. As I thought about my own ongoing struggles and the struggles I see all around me I think there's a pressure to be, "I'm fine now. Let's all act like everything is ok!" but it's not true. We can go to unhealthy extremes of trying to prove we're moving on when we still need time to process, mourn, and be confused. That journey requires a kind patience with ourself and the world around us. In the past year, I've been randomly releasing singles with no particular direction but as I put them together in a personal playlist, it began to feel like it was telling me something. I thought of the earlier Kindness EP and the newer songs I was working on and it felt like that together the songs gave a more full picture of what I wanted that original "Kindness" EP to be about.

Sounds a bit pop?

Yes, I grew up in a place where everyone listened to rock and I just latched on to synth pop. I loved it so much and I was ridiculed for it at times because I was so unlike the people around me. I felt awkward and embarrassed. I'm annoyed that I allowed myself to feel that way. I catch myself at times wanting to prove I'm a "true artist" by listening to experimental and "challenging" music. I actually sincerely love that as well, but I love sound and music so much I try not to limit my explorations to any genre barriers. I don't have to fit in to any particular box. In this new world of unlimited streaming we have so much access to so many different worlds of sound and I think artists should lean in to that. An older generation perspective of artistic vision pressures you to "Choose your one voice! Choose your one sound!" While it could make sense for some marketing purposes it really stunts our development as creatives. One wise person I met many years ago said, "You have to be suspicious of anyone who has no 'cheese' in their life." Indeed. Let’s stop wasting our time by limiting ourselves to arbitrary genres of taste.

Let's be awkward! Let's be free! Let's do what we want! Don’t honor the tastemakers because they don’t honor us!

The next couple of projects are probably going to be much darker and bringing the experimental guitar work back.

Or maybe I won’t!

Maybe I’ll go deeper into the synths and the sound generators.

Probably some form of both. Let’s just see where it goes.

I don’t want to sit still while I can still run.

But who are you really?

I don't think you were listening.

What inspired you in making these songs?

Well, it's funny. When I was young, jazz music really captured my imagination but also interestingly... electronic dance music. It was something about the sounds, the rhythms, the repetitions that felt just as meaningful and engaging as the intricacies of jazz. I love music that is surprising and challenging but I also love the discipline and craft of a good pop song. Some may look down on its supposed banality, but you try it: not so easy. I remember growing up and listening to the Pet Shop Boys and New Order and being so impressed with how they crafted their songs. The synth pop of the 80s was so flamboyant and unrestrained. I would get annoyed by its naiveté at times, but I appreciate its desire to not over think things and just be free. I think that's very compelling. Also, I loved the melodic and playful sensibility of the electronic Indie pop songs of The Notwist and artists from Morr Records in the early 2000s like Lali Puna, Styrofoam, Ms. John Soda, etc. Their blending of guitars and electronics is something I try to emulate to this day.

What are you trying to say in this album?

I wanted people to think about being bravely kind. As a jaded Gen X, I can get skeptical and harsh towards the world and myself. I get trapped in circles believing that the darkness is so present and we are so steeped in our selfishness. We have a lot of evidence for this negativity, but we also need those moments to pause and remember we're all on a long journey of learning. Sometimes I learn fast and sometimes I learn slow. Often, I need multiple lessons to change and I can't change exactly how I'd like. I would like to be good in every way but realistically I’m falling short of standards everywhere. All of that is true for others too. I don't want to say that accountability is not required because you need that to change and transform, but that process is hard, painful and sometimes lonely. It doesn't help to condemn yourself when you're already trying so hard to figure things out and be better.

Allow yourself to graciously heed the simple aphorisms:

Be kind.

Forgive yourself.

Stop hating yourself.

Be awkward. It's ok.

Believe in hope.

Find a moment to dance even when it is awful.

Trust something beautiful could happen in all of the messiness.

Just try something.

Get up.

Let yourself get better.

You don't have to stay hurt.

Believe that the light can come in.

Sometimes just waiting is ok. Don't hate yourself for not having the strength to do more than that.

Get some rest.

Thank you.

Thank you.

#newmusic #q and a time

[yesterdanereviews]

Bong of the living Dead (2017)

Film review #541

Director: Max Groah

SYNOPSIS: a group of friends obsessed with zombies and getting high find their fantasies have come true and the zombie apocalypse is here. Unfortunately, their fantasy about fighting in the zombie apocalypse falls short of their expectations...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Bong of the Living Dead is a 2017 zombie film, and is not related to the previously reviewed 2010 Bong of the Dead (there just happens to be a “budding” market for films about zombies and weed apparently). The film mostly centres on a group of childhood friends who grew up imagining what to do in the zombie apocalypse, and have now grown up to smoke weed and talk about the zombie apocalypse. The group finally gets their wish though, as zombies start appearing and they can start preparing their plan for survival...or just get high. I don’t know. The film tries to do quite a lot in terms of it’s story and genre: it’s a stoner comedy film, but also a meta-zombie apocalypse film that riffs on the tropes of the genre, but also takes a dark and dramatic turn for the last twenty minutes when the reality of the situation catches up to the cast. A such, it feels like it’s trying to do too many things at once, and there’s no core around which the film coheres. A lot of the film does involve the characters just getting high, which I guess would be the dominant theme, but the comedy just isn’t there to make it a simple stoner flick: as mentioned, it tries to go for a meta-take on the zombie apocalypse, but this commentary is loosely scattered through the film, and doesn’t take root. It feels like it wants to do a Shaun of the Dead-esque approach in this regard, but also a bunch of other things too.

The characters each have their own personalities and set themselves apart, but most of them don’t really come across a likable. The wobbly acting is perhaps intentional for the most part as it attempts to in-part parody low-budget zombie movies, but the actors do a decent job of handling the more emotional and dramatic scenes at the end; however, it is still a bit jarring when you have spent the film not taking them seriously. I’m not quite sure about the setting of the film: one of the main characters runs a DVD rental store, which doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would actually exist in 2017, and there’s no mobile phones anywhere, which makes me think that maybe it’s set in the early 2000s, but there’s no reference to the timeframe, so again, it’s another element that seems a bit unclear. This is certainly an indie film, but definitely not a one-man show created nearly entirely by one person: this has a full crew attached, as evidenced by the near-full credits that roll about twenty minutes in with the title card. I’m not opposed to the idea of having credits at the start of a film (this is the way they were originally presented), but to have them show up as the first act of the film ends and bring it to a stand still for nearly five minutes is pretty disruptive for the film’s pacing.

In terms of the film’s production, there’s a decent amount of competence with regards to how it’s filmed; nothing too special, but it works. The makeup on the zombies looks good, and there’s a decent amount of gore when there needs to be, but the film seems to refuse to capture anything violent on film, and any physical violence on the zombies cuts away just as it happens, or is partially obscured. I’m guessing this is either to do with trying to secure the film’s rating, or having no way of making it look convincing without hurting the actors. Either way, it is a noticeable hole in the film. Overall, it feels like Bong of the Living Dead wants to both be a stoner zombie movie, while also being a commentary on the stoner movie...while also adding a serious side to the stoner zombie movie. You’ve got a lot of sitting around smoking weed, some nudity, and some zombie whacking, while the plot point about the characters being zombie movie buffs setting up a meta-narrative doesn’t really go anywhere. The last act switching to a much darker tone as the events of the film start to take their toll on the cast does have some emotional weight to it eventually, but when you’ve been watching these people just smoke weed and base their personality on one-dimensional comedy traits, then trying to make you care for them in the last twenty minutes is a huge uphill climb that the film makes for itself, made worse by the way some of these characters act just makes them downright unlikeable. Credit to the film for trying to do something a little different, it just tries to do too many things a little different...

#movie #movie review #bong of the living dead #zombies #film #film review #2017 film

[mythoughtsxxblog]

Just finished watching The O.C.....

And I have a few thoughts and opinions about the characters and storylines

Ryan Atwood

Not gonna lie, I didn't really care for him the first season, but as the series went on I truly grew to love him. He is beyond loyal and is a damn precious angel. And he is funny despite what anyone says lol. His dry humor and sarcasm >>>> I know most think he's just this brooding character that's meant to save all the women in his life, but he's more than that. He's a great friend to Seth (their relationship was the best one on the show lol). And I know this is an unpopular opinion but he was so great with Taylor. I believe his true self was showcased in their relationship and I loved every bit of it. I have a thing for troubled male characters that deserve better. He fits this category perfectly lol. Also him in season 4 😍

Seth Cohen

Love this character and all his flaws with all my heart. I can admit, he was lowkey self absorbed and selfish at times. To the point where I wanted to punch my screen 💀 but overall, this character has a special place in my heart. He reminds me so much of Stiles Stilinski. Pretty sure he was the blueprint for Stiles lol. Also Adam Brody is so fucking good. This man knows how to play an awkward, sarcastic idiot so perfectly. And I mean idiot in the best way possible lol

Marissa Cooper

I am very indifferent on her tbh. At times I thought she was overly dramatic, but then other times I understood why she was like that. Her friendship with Johnny was very cute. I'm kind of mad they ended it so soon (*cardi b voice* WHAT WAS THE REASON?!!). They would've been a cute pair. Her relationship with Ryan, although very cute at times, was exhausting to watch. I really hate watching the back and forth, breaking up, getting back together storylines. It reminded me of Pacey/Joey. Pacey and Joey, although cute, was exhausting to watch. Her death was so damn unnecessary. They could've easily had her go with her dad and end her story arc there. But I guess the writers needed a way to have Ryan live without her. They're so uncreative.

Summer Roberts

She lowkey reminded me of Brooke Davis. Hard exterior, warm and welcoming interior. Didn't like her at first, but grew to love her. Her and Seth are adorable and aren't your stereotypical popular girl/nerdy boy trope. Like sure, Summer is popular and Seth not so much, but they balanced eachother so well. The upside down Spiderman scene is still iconic.

Taylor Townsend

LOVE. HER. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion, but she is hilarious. She brought out the best in Ryan and I love her for that. She is awkward, weird, and crazy. The best combination tbh.

The Parents

The Cohens - Although messy at times, I enjoyed their story arcs. Minus that bitch that came back and tried to get with Sandy. Their marriage wasn't this picture perfect story and I appreciated it. The way they took Ryan in >>

Julie Cooper - I fucking despised this woman at first. That storyline with Luke was unnecessary and disgusting. Wtf was with the shows in the early 2000s making adults sleep with underage children. Enough! By season 4 I grew to tolerate her and she was lowkey funny at times.

Other thoughts:

- Chris Pratt made guest appearances and I almost threw up

- I wanted a redemption arc for Trey Atwood so bad when he got out of jail. Like why tf did the writers ruin it by having him attack Marissa. I wanted a damn love triangle and we got that tragic shit 💀

- Johnny deserved better!!!!! This poor boy got shit thrown at him left and right.

- There was a brief moment where I lowkey wanted Theresa's kid to be Ryan's. Imagine Ryan with a kid 😭

- Taylor/Ryan > Marissa/Ryan

- "You saved me"

- BE RUNNING UP THAT ROAD, BE RUNNING UP THAT HILL, BE RUNNING UP THAT BUILDING 🎶

- Death Cab, that is all.

- They couldn't cast someone ugly to play Volchok??????

And I will end with this.....

#the oc #ryan atwood #seth cohen #summer roberts #marissa cooper #taylor townsend #Spotify

[marathoning-barbie]

The Barbie Diaries (2006)

Oh man, I’ve had such a blast with the marathon for now. Sure, there were some lower points, but nothing that was truly bad. And hey, here’s the only one of the truly old movies that I’ve never watched as a child. How exciti–

Oh Jesus fucking Christ.

What– what is that? What happened here? What are my eyes looking at?

Listen. I’ve said back during Nutcracker that bad animation was somewhat expected in the early 2000s with the available budget. But this? This is too horrendous for me not to comment on.

This is going to be a really short review again. I won’t give a plot summary like the usual ones, and I have barely anything to say about this movie because my brain just refuses to think about it. If you genuinely like it, then I’m sorry, but I’m gonna be very mean to it.

Have you ever watched a single teen high school drama movie? Imagine that movie, only probably worse and also looking like… this.

A lot of people call this Mean Girls but Barbie, but frankly, Mean Girls at least was kind of a parody of this genre of movie. This is just a very sincere attempt at it.

Barbie (the actual Barbie this time around) is kind of an introvert in high school. She has a crush on the dumb jock and wants to be popular. She’s bullied in that unrealistic teen movie way by her crush’s girlfriend, Raquelle (#notmyraquelle) and her squad. She lies to become popular. It backfires and her friends get angry at her. She notices the asshole jock is an asshole jock and dates her niceguy best friend instead. The moral is to not lie to become popular like every single one of these movies ever. Now marvel at the worst sins of early 2000s fashion rendered in hideous CGI.

Listen, I know a lot of people like those teen drama movies, but apart from like… the first two High School Musical movies, I just can’t get into it. I hate most of the ones I’ve seen. And apart from the Barbie branding, this one doesn’t really add anything new. I don't even have the same kind of nostalgia a lot of people currently feel for the early 2000s because I sincerely don't like the aesthetic. I’ll admit that there are some funny lines (“Please, she sounds like deodorant”) and some of the bizarre animation gags are kinda commendable and creative.

But man, I hate both of the love interests so, so much, and the other characters aren’t much better. Dumb jock guy (I think his name is Todd, and I could look this up, but you know what? No) is just every single character of this type you’ve ever seen. The actual love interest, Kevin, is a fucking niceguy creep who, if this took place in the 2010s instead, would definitely spend all his time online calling Elliot Rodgers “based” and complaining about how all the femoids are friendzoning him or some shit. Fuck you, Kevin. Barbie’s two friends… sure do exist and Raquelle is also just the worst rendition of the mean girl stereotype you can imagine. There is nothing new she brings to the table, and the way she bullies Barbie and her friends is the dumbest shit ever.

Life in the Dreamhouse Raquelle is my queen and I will not stand for this.

Is it the worst movie? Absolutely not. I separated my preliminary rankings into six sections, and this one sits right in-between the fifth and sixth one. I get why other people like it more, especially if they grew up with similar movies. But as someone who doesn’t like the genre in the first place? Having to see it in this animation style was hell.

Really the only thing it’s remarkable for is that it features Barbie herself in high school. None of the other movies are like this, and it’d take until Fashion Fairytale to get another Barbie-as-Barbie movie. And Fashion Fairytale is meta as hell while this one just seems to unironically be about Barbie as a teenager. That’s kinda intriguing, but also really it.

Fuck this movie.

#barbie #barbie movies #barbie diaries #the barbie diaries #barbie movie review

[citrina-posts]

Avatar: Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation?

I love Avatar: the Last Airbender. Obviously I do, because I run a fan blog on it. But make no mistake: it is a show built upon cultural appropriation. And you know what? For the longest time, as an Asian-American kid, I never saw it that way.

There are plenty of reasons why I never realized this as a kid, but I’ve narrowed it down to a few reasons. One is that I was desperate to watch a show with characters that looked like me in it that wasn’t anime (nothing wrong with anime, it’s just not my thing). Another is that I am East Asian (I have Taiwanese and Korean ancestry) and in general, despite being the outward “bad guys”, the East Asian cultural aspects of Avatar are respected far more than South Asian, Middle Eastern, and other influences. A third is that it’s easy to dismiss the negative parts of a show you really like, so I kind of ignored the issue for a while. I’m going to explain my own perspective on these reasons, and why I think we need to have a nuanced discussion about it. This is pretty long, so if you want to keep reading, it’s under the cut.

Obviously, the leadership behind ATLA was mostly white. We all know the co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino (colloquially known as Bryke) are white. So were most of the other episodic directors and writers, like Aaron Ehasz, Lauren Montgomery, and Joaquim Dos Santos. This does not mean they were unable to treat Asian cultures with respect, and I honestly do believe that they tried their best! But it does mean they have certain blinders, certain perceptions of what is interesting and enjoyable to watch. Avatar was applauded in its time for being based mostly on Asian and Native American cultures, but one has to wonder: how much of that choice was based on actual respect for these people, and how much was based on what they considered to be “interesting”, “quirky”, or “exotic”?

The aesthetic of the show, with its bending styles based on various martial arts forms, written language all in Chinese text, and characters all decked out in the latest Han dynasty fashions, is obviously directly derivative of Asian cultures. Fine. That’s great! They hired real martial artists to copy the bending styles accurately, had an actual Chinese calligrapher do all the lettering, and clearly did their research on what clothing, hair, and makeup looked like. The animation studios were in South Korea, so Korean animators were the ones who did the work. Overall, this is looking more like appreciation for a beautiful culture, and that’s exactly what we want in a rapidly diversifying world of media.

But there’s always going to be some cherry-picking, because it’s inevitable. What’s easy to animate, what appeals to modern American audiences, and what is practical for the world all come to mind as reasons. It’s just that… they kinda lump cultures together weirdly. Song from Book 2 (that girl whose ostrich-horse Zuko steals) wears a hanbok, a traditionally Korean outfit. It’s immediately recognizable as a hanbok, and these dresses are exclusive to Korea. Are we meant to assume that this little corner of the mostly Chinese Earth Kingdom is Korea? Because otherwise, it’s just treated as another little corner of the Earth Kingdom. Korea isn’t part of China. It’s its own country with its own culture, history, and language. Other aspects of Korean culture are ignored, possibly because there wasn’t time for it, but also probably because the creators thought the hanbok was cute and therefore they could just stick it in somewhere. But this is a pretty minor issue in the grand scheme of things (super minor, compared to some other things which I will discuss later on).

It’s not the lack of research that’s the issue. It’s not even the lack of consideration. But any Asian-American can tell you: it’s all too easy for the Asian kids to get lumped together, to become pan-Asian. To become the equivalent of the Earth Kingdom, a mass of Asians without specific borders or national identities. It’s just sort of uncomfortable for someone with that experience to watch a show that does that and then gets praised for being so sensitive about it. I don’t want you to think I’m from China or Vietnam or Japan; not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because I’m not! How would a French person like to be called British? It would really piss them off. Yet this happens all the time to Asian-Americans and we are expected to go along with it. And… we kind of do, because we’ve been taught to.

1. Growing Up Asian-American

I grew up in the early to mid-2000s, the era of High School Musical and Hannah Montana and iCarly, the era of Spongebob and The Amazing World of Gumball and Fairly Odd Parents. So I didn’t really see a ton of Asian characters onscreen in popular shows (not anime) that I could talk about with my white friends at school. One exception I recall was London from Suite Life, who was hardly a role model and was mostly played up for laughs more than actual nuance. Shows for adults weren’t exactly up to par back then either, with characters like the painfully stereotypical Raj from Big Bang Theory being one of the era that comes to mind.

So I was so grateful, so happy, to see characters that looked like me in Avatar when I first watched it. Look! I could dress up as Azula for Halloween and not Mulan for the third time! Nice! I didn’t question it. These were Asian characters who actually looked Asian and did cool stuff like shoot fireballs and throw knives and were allowed to have depth and character development. This was the first reason why I never questioned this cultural appropriation. I was simply happy to get any representation at all. This is not the same for others, though.

2. My Own Biases

Obviously, one can only truly speak for what they experience in their own life. I am East Asian and that is arguably the only culture that is treated with great depth in Avatar.

I don’t speak for South Asians, but I’ve certainly seen many people criticize Guru Pathik, the only character who is explicitly South Asian (and rightly so. He’s a stereotype played up for laughs and the whole thing with chakras is in my opinion one of the biggest plotholes in the show). They’ve also discussed how Avatar: The Last Airbender lifts heavily from Hinduism (with chakras, the word Avatar itself, and the Eye of Shiva used by Combustion Man to blow things up). Others have expressed how they feel the sandbenders, who are portrayed as immoral thieves who deviously kidnap Appa for money, are a direct insult to Middle Eastern and North African cultures. People have noted that it makes no sense that a culture based on Inuit and other Native groups like the Water Tribe would become industrialized as they did in the North & South comics, since these are people that historically (and in modern day!) opposed extreme industrialization. The Air Nomads, based on the Tibetan people, are weirdly homogeneous in their Buddhist-inspired orange robes and hyperspiritual lifestyle. So too have Southeast Asians commented on the Foggy Swamp characters, whose lifestyles are made fun of as being dirty and somehow inferior. The list goes on.

These things, unlike the elaborate and highly researched elements of East Asian culture, were not treated with respect and are therefore cultural appropriation. As a kid, I had the privilege of not noticing these things. Now I do.

White privilege is real, but every person has privileges of some kind, and in this case, I was in the wrong for not realizing that. Yes, I was a kid; but it took a long time for me to see that not everyone’s culture was respected the way mine was. They weren’t considered *aesthetic* enough, and therefore weren’t worth researching and accurately portraying to the creators. It’s easy for a lot of East Asians to argue, “No! I’ve experienced racism! I’m not privileged!” News flash: I’ve experienced racism too. But I’ve also experienced privilege. If white people can take their privilege for granted, so too can other races. Shocking, I know. And I know now how my privilege blinded me to the fact that not everybody felt the same euphoria I did seeing characters that looked like them onscreen. Not if they were a narrow and offensive portrayal of their race. There are enough good-guy Asian characters that Fire Lord Ozai is allowed to be evil; but can you imagine if he was the only one?

3. What It Does Right

This is sounding really down on Avatar, which I don’t want to do. It’s a great show with a lot of fantastic themes that don’t show up a lot in kids’ media. It isn’t superficial or sugarcoating in its portrayal of the impacts of war, imperialism, colonialism, disability, and sexism, just to name a few. There are characters like Katara, a brown girl allowed to get angry but is not defined by it. There are characters like Aang, who is the complete opposite of toxic masculinity. There are characters like Toph, who is widely known as a great example of how to write a disabled character.

But all of these good things sort of masked the issues with the show. It’s easy to sweep an issue under the rug when there’s so many great things to stack on top and keep it down. Alternatively, one little problem in a show seems to make-or-break media for some people. Cancel culture is the most obvious example of this gone too far. Celebrity says one ignorant thing? Boom, cancelled. But… kind of not really, and also, they’re now terrified of saying anything at all because their apologies are mocked and their future decisions are scrutinized. It encourages a closed system of creators writing only what they know for fear of straying too far out of their lane. Avatar does do a lot of great things, and I think it would be silly and immature to say that its cultural appropriation invalidates all of these things. At the same time, this issue is an issue that should be addressed. Criticizing one part of the show doesn’t mean that the other parts of it aren’t good, or that you shouldn’t be a fan.

If Avatar’s cultural appropriation does make you uncomfortable enough to stop watching, go for it. Stop watching. No single show appeals to every single person. At the same time, if you’re a massive fan, take a sec (honestly, if you’ve made it this far, you’ve taken many secs) to check your own privilege, and think about how the blurred line between cultural appreciation (of East Asia) and appropriation (basically everybody else) formed. Is it because we as viewers were also captivated by the aesthetic and overall story, and so forgive the more problematic aspects? Is it because we’ve been conditioned so fully into never expecting rep that when we get it, we cling to it?

I’m no media critic or expert on race, cultural appropriation, or anything of the sort. I’m just an Asian-American teenager who hopes that her own opinion can be put out there into the world, and maybe resonate with someone else. I hope that it’s given you new insight into why Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show with both cultural appropriation and appreciation, and why these things coexist. Thank you for reading!

#this deleted idk why #so here is me reposting it #atla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #cultural appropriation #meta #atla meta #racism

[aggravatetheaxe]

PLS POST MORE ABOUT JEN/HANNAH (Jen specifically cause ive seen a lot about her but NOT ENOUGH) who are they, what are they like, what’s their relationship to the boys?? Are they free next Saturday????

[FOAMING AT THE MOUTH]

okay Jen I know a lot more about than Hannah so I'll do her first. but PLEASE do send another ask about hannah.

jen jen jen jen jen

(jen and bo by @billydraw)

playlist

tag

quick facts about jen:

jennifer "jen" nicole fournier

identical twins with giovanni fournier, her brother (gio is a trans man) (he's also @waxhouse/@vonclosen's oc)

born in 1975, would be thirty in 2005. again i'm not sure of her sign but she'd have to share it with gio (gemini? is that too cliche? leo? aquarius?)

5'7", rectangle body shape with a fuller bust (gains weight after being with Bo for a while, having some kids), wavy light gold hair that she likes to wear in braids or cut chin-length, hazel eyes and those thin-ass eyebrows that were popular in the early 2000s. pierced ears and a small stud in her nose, but she's not really attached to the stud so she'd probably let it go once she was in ambrose

american of french and scandinavian descent

agnostic; raised vaguely catholic

heterosexual, one of my few het characters (she's one of the good ones bois); i can see her being on the aromantic spectrum because of trauma reasons, though. she has a hard time opening up to romantic/sexual partners.

born and raised in the suburbs of detroit, MI. her and gio's mom is a prosecutor for a small firm and their dad is an orchestral cellist.

their parents were life-long democrats, progressives, and patrons of the arts, but they weren't the best parents. they tended to be overbearing and perfectionist, putting a lot of pressure on their kids to succeed. especially their father, whose talent didn't necessarily match his ambitions and who was insecure about making less than his wife. jen's sibling took to this pressure a lot better than jen did, you could say

jen and her identical twin (born tiffany) grew up very close to one another. because of their closeness, jen was able to defend "tiffany" from bullies, though the job became a lot more difficult when "tiffany" came out as trans and started going by giovanni. it was 1990, so you can imagine the bullshit he went through

their parents were so laser-focused on keeping gio safe through all that bullshit (good) that their care of jen totally fell to the wayside (bad) - unless she was failing a class, of course, then they had time to scold her

jen and gio were 15 at that point, and while gio was getting attention, jen's life kind of spiraled out of control. she started failing in school, which only made her home life worse, which made her school life worse - a vicious cycle. she ended up making some really shitty decisions and by the time she was 16, she was dating a 19 yr old college student, scott fowler

scott was a piece of shit. he drank a lot, and tended to coax jen into doing dangerous shit with him, like going to parties and getting in the car when he was drunk, etc... he made her feel special and mature and the attention he gave her (even the negative attention) made her feel important. plus, he was physically intimidating and was constantly picking fights over her, which, after a lifetime of being The Protector, made jen feel small and nice for once

unfortunately he was also abusive. it started out as emotional abuse, but escalated to verbal abuse and then physical abuse as he became dependent on alcohol. he eventually started doing things like taking her money and fighting with her family and friends

he didn't like how close she was to her "freak dyke sister" - jen began to fear for gio's safety, and once scott became really bad with the physical abuse, her own. eventually the situation became untenable and during a particularly heated fight, she struck him on the side of the head with a metal bat, causing his death

she was arrested for the crime. since scott had not been threatening deadly force but she had used deadly force against him, she was tried (as a juvenile) and convicted of second degree murder. she was sentenced to 5 years in a juvenile prison but only served 2, walking free at age nineteen.

at this point, giovanni was already going to college. as jen likes to say "he went to julliard ... i went to juvie." after her probation period was over, not wanting to face the shame of her parents anymore, she followed him to NYC and started living with him. the twins were very happy to be united long-term!

she tried to go to school herself for a little bit, but she didn't get as much financial or personal support from her parents and guides as gio did. her major was history with a minor in english. however, it didn't take long for her to give up and drop out.

she went on to work as a waitress, and occasional seasonal/part-timer at various retail places

personality wise, she's pragmatic and very much a get-it-done type but has a tendency to be pessimistic. once you're close to her, she's surprisingly warm, but she has a lot of trouble sticking up for her personal boundaries. she values her alone time but just as much values the time she gets to spend with her brother, with whom she's still extremely close.

she loves history, specifically war history, and especially the world wars. more than anything, she's interested in vintage vehicles - jeeps, motorcycles, tanks, planes. she could rattle off the make and model, or at least take an educated guess, of any wartime land or air machine from 1910-1970. sea vessels she's a little shakier on.

she's also a fan of muscle cars, but that's an expensive hobby to get into, so she always just admires from afar. sometimes she'll go to those car shows just to look

growing up around detroit, her dream job when she was little was to work in one of the automotive factories. when she was a baby she used to tell everyone and embarrass her classist parents.

she wants to write a book about WWI and WWII land vehicles, maybe several books, but she doesn't really have the time, resources, or knowledge to do so while she's in NYC. she pretty much has to be working and taking free time where she can get it.

having been incarcerated and then living in new york city, she's pretty clever or "street smart," i guess. she has a will of iron when it comes to emotional and physical pain. she follows her gut instincts and uses what's at her disposal to get herself out of sticky situations. she's used to wearing emotional armor and burying her feelings deep inside, unlike gio, who very much wears his heart on his sleeve and has a tendency to explode with messy emotions

she has mixed emotions about killing scott. on the one hand, he was a total douchebag and shouldn't have been treating her that way. on the other hand, she feels remorse for having ended someone's life; she never meant to kill him, and has no delusions that she should be anyone's judge, jury, and executioner. on the other-other hand, the person she feels most terribly for is her younger self. the trauma of being abused, the trauma of killing someone and the subsequent trial, and the trauma of being incarcerated isn't something any child should have to go through, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't fuck her up bigtime

she and gio were never raised with dogs but she's always wanted one. the loyalty aspect of them fascinates her.

has some breathing problems from living in NYC post-9/11, just a little cough and occasional shortness of breath. gio was smart and masked up, worked very hard to preserve his lung health, etc., since he's an opera singer, but jen didn't

she likes to read, but mostly prefers non-fiction or stories that are heavily inspired by real people/real events. same goes for movies. she LOOOOVES documentaries, seriously, just put her in front of a documentary

her music taste is typical of a woman her age in NYC during the mid-90s: alanis morissette, ani difranco, tori amos, suzanne vega, fiona apple, as well as grunge/alt bands like nirvana, stone temple pilots, pearl jam, hole, the smashing pumpkins, NIN, etc. etc. etc...

facts about her and bo:

she and gio end up in louisiana during a road trip. gio is about to work abroad in paris and jen can't really take the chance to go with him, so they decide to do one last hurrah road trip up and down the coast

they end up taking backroads, etc, and avoiding the interstate because they want to take in more of the scenery. roll into ambrose following signs and hoping for gas.

(cont. below for length)

they split up looking for signs of life in the town; gio goes to the house of wax while jen goes in and out of a few shops, finds a bathroom, and generally wanders around confused. while she's doing this, bo emerges and clips their fanbelt - tried and true way of keeping people where he wants them. for good measure, he punctures their fuel injectors

jen comes back, tries to start the car. eventually runs into bo and thinks it's awful convenient that her car broke down just as a mechanic shows up. he tows her car and chats with her a while, but she's suspicious

meanwhile, giovanni is making friends in the house of wax. he sings and plays piano and vincent is transfixed. vincent can be just as vicious as bo, but he's still human, he's lonely. he decides to track down bo and talk about keeping this one, something he's never done before.

he and bo come to an agreement and carry out their plan, trapping the twins instead of murdering them right away. gio forms a quick emotional connection with vincent and begs for jen's life - at this point, he hasn't seen her since they split up. he doesn't know if she's even still alive. vincent takes it into consideration and tells bo

meanwhile, jen has been getting acquainted with the torture room. her treatment is light because he doesn't have her down there for very long before vincent chats with him, passing on gio's suggestion that the twins help out around the house and help keep the town going. it's getting hard to manage it all with 3 people, and lester works a lot

with some convincing, bo acquiesces and brings jen up to the house. she and gio are still not allowed to see each other at this point. she uses her brain and tries to subtly gain control of the situation, eventually manipulating bo into having sex with her. he has a lot of complicated, messy feelings about this and treats her like crap for a while

it isn't long until she confides in him (probably while he's threatening her) that he's not the only murderer between them. after her story, he gains a level of respect for her and eventually treats her better

jen and gio are eventually allowed to be reunited and jen eventually comes to care for bo

she doesn't want him to murder people. she has nothing against the people who come through town, and honestly, the whole wax things really disturbs her. bo is obviously super fucked up batshit crazy and deluded beyond anything she could ever fix, so she's not out to fix him, she's just out to make their relationship work

maybe that makes her evil, but that's none of her business. she's not getting in his way

that being said, she would probably try to get him to stop in little ways. at least get him to agree to making a wax town without all the bodies inside, or promise to stop after the town was full.

however that turns out, jen and bo have two sons: bowie (faceclaim: young rob lowe), then about five years later, vic (faceclaim: jonny devaney/@jauncydev from tiktok)

aside from the murder, ambrose just pisses jen off. it's not like the cities she's used to, and while a little country living is nice in moderation, she can't stand how far away everything is or the fact that there's no people. it's boring.

she spends most of her days cleaning up around the house and town, but once that's done, what better to do with all the time in the world than try and write that book she always wanted to write? bo even gets her a laptop when the typewriter pisses her off

she knows he prefers fiction, but every time she finishes a chapter, she prints it off and he reads it. he takes it surprisingly seriously and thinks she's a stellar writer, though he rarely compliments anyone verbally. he also likes feeling special, being the first one to read what she wrote... even if it never actually gets published

still, ambrose is boring. jen doesn't want to/can't leave bo, though, so when she's really worked up she vents her displeasure by working on a long-term project: building a 1:1 model of a M4A3 sherman tank. if bo sees her working on that tank, he knows he's gotta drive her into the city for a couple days or somethin'

they have a few differences in music taste but she comes to love bo's dad music, and he kinda sorta tries to understand her weird lesbo feminist music. they bond more on the alternative, grunge, and industrial. he's always trying to get her to sing, but she's uncharacteristically shy about it - gio's the singer, not her... she has a very nice voice, though

omg just imagine their books together. his small, torn, wrinkled and cracked to shit thriller/sci fi/horror paperbacks and her BIG ASS HARDCOVER tomes called stuff like "NAZIS ON SPEED: HITLER'S DRUG FUELED THIRD REICH" and "THE LAST LION: WINSTON CHURCHILL, DEFENDER OF THE REALM" .... i love them so much...

#jen #jen fournier #bo sinclair x jen fournier #bo sinclair x oc #bo sinclair x s/o #bo sinclair #slasher x oc #slasher oc

[comicaurora]

What was the original idea for the comic? The 'spark' that started it? And what has been the biggest (non-spoilerific) change you've made to the original concept/characters?

Ooooh boy. I’m not even sure I can really answer this question, because the “original” idea for the comic was literally as unoriginal as it can get. I was ten, bored out of my skull, and I’d just read Diana Wynn Jones’s “Tough Guide To Fantasyland”, a proto-TVtropes sendup of the Stock Fantasy Setting popular in the decades leading up to the 2000s. My little ten-year-old brain thought “this place sounds like a fucking party” and went from there. The seedling that would later become Aurora was my stimulation-starved baby brain demanding an infusion of generic fantasy shenanigans stat.

Aurora evolved pretty quickly, of course. I like generic tropes a lot, but I don’t like being bored, so that baseline concept of “stock fantasy” was abandoned pretty quickly. I realized what I actually liked about the fantasy setting was the vibrant and creative environments, the character drama and dynamics, and the feeling that the world was a living, breathing thing you could imagine being in. There was a healthy dose of escapism in those first few daydreams that later became Aurora.

The world also changed a lot as I grew up and went through phases. Ten-year-old Red was surprisingly edgy and also figuring some shit out about who she was versus who she was expected to be, so there were a lot of frankly unnecessarily dark and brooding angles in those early drafts. (Also, I was still a good seven years out from figuring out my sexuality was No Thanks, so without thinking critically about it I’d imported some pretty wack tropes wholesale from the hornier side of the Generic Fantasy Tropespace under the assumption that they were just How These Things Were Done. It was a huge relief when I figured myself out enough to realize the weird horny shit was actually entirely unnecessary to the story I wanted to tell and that I would lose nothing by abandoning the uncomfortably creepy tropes that Fantasyland was such a fan of.) Then, of course, there was the anime phase, which introduced a whole new side of the Fantasy genre to my young and uncritical brain.

Those early drafts are really, really rough - the kind of rough you get when a preteen sublimates her every uncontrolled emotion, unprocessed grievance and barely-understood favorite tropes into one giant self-indulgent mess. Aurora as it is now is entirely unrecognizable as that original concept. The story I’m currently writing was painstakingly built, stone by stone, and frequently unbuilt and rebuilt when I would regularly realize that something I’d thought was foundational was actually just some chunk of unprocessed teenage angst that had no place in the narrative anymore. I’ve torn down and rebuilt this world probably a good half-dozen times now, and while some core character elements have been preserved in the main cast, nothing has remained unchanged from that initial concept.

As for the biggest change, everyone’s a lot less angsty and a lot more nice. Believe it or not, in Kendal’s earliest draft, he was a grumpy, aggressive fighter-type. He also had a vest, which might’ve been the more heinous character assassination.

#aurora #asks

[juniorgman187]

The Bones (Reid Series) Part 2

Summary: After doing an even deeper dive on Valerie’s past, Spencer finally meets her, but his invasiveness isn’t the worst part ... the worst part is he might actually like her. 

Playlist: “The Bones” by Maren Morris & Hozier  (BONUS: song includes major foreshadowing) Category: Series, Fluff, Soft Angst, Eventual smut and *NSFW content Pairing: Spencer Reid POV x Fem!OC - Valerie Content Warning: invasion of privacy, allusions to Maeve’s death, arrhythmia Word Count: 3.4k

Part 1 |

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

After firmly deciding not to weave Penelope into my tangled web, I was met with the arduous burden of conducting my own research. 

Firstly, I would need a computer - yeah ... a computer. That’s how far I was willing to go for this pursuit. I once vowed never to fall victim to modern technology’s clutches, and yet here I was, doing my research on a public library’s computer. To my credit, I hadn’t gone out and bought one, I was merely using my resources.

With the need for a device out of the way, all that was left was the knowledge of what to look for. But that didn’t pose a problem either.

Funny enough, with as many rules and restrictions as there are regarding patient privacy and confidentiality, all it took was matching dates of news stories with hospital records to complete my research. I was fairly certain I was only scratching the surface of information about Valerie as opposed to the sea of things I could’ve uncovered if I asked for Garcia’s help, but there are only so many lines a person can cross in one week. 

This was my limit.

Call me naive, but I was actually quite surprised with just how expansive the internet is. To an almost relentless degree, I would open an article and it would lead me to ten more about the same topic. It was this never ending rabbit hole that seemed to spiral on forever. I kept digging deeper and deeper until I could no longer dig. 

I’d officially hit rock bottom. 

It took me a grand total of just two hours to unearth all the ‘dirt’ I could on a young Valerie Bishop. 

Local 16-year-old Wins Nevada’s Statewide Art Contest! Published by Henderson Press. 

Valerie, just a sophomore in high school at the time, was donning what any experimental teen girl would’ve worn in the early 2000s - bootcut jeans and a sequin blouse over top of a plain camisole. And if I zoomed in close enough, I could spot the evidence of a sparkly blue shadow coating her eyelids. Surprisingly, though, that wasn’t the first thing I noticed. 

It was that smile. That tooth-achingly sweet smile. 

Though I never got the chance to see Maeve truly smile, that’s what I imagined it would look like. 

The photographer must’ve caught her midway through a laugh, at least that’s what the image of her slightly open-mouthed grin told me. Meanwhile, her two tiny hands were clenching her overbearingly large trophy while her artwork stood behind her as the background.

It didn’t take me long to figure out why her painting won. Simply put, there was no need to see anyone else’s art to know that they couldn’t possibly compete with hers. 

Hers was an abstract rendition of what I believe to be a forest of some sort. The detail is what I was most drawn to. It would’ve been unbelievable on its own but the fact that she was 16 when she painted it? That’s what was unbelievable to me. 

If that’s how talented she was at that age, I could only imagine how much more talented she became with time. However, I lost the chance to investigate the current state of her skill before a related article from The Cleveland Gazette about Valerie succeeded this one. 

From Award-Winning Artist to Henderson’s Hero

Read my interview with 17-year-old Valerie Bishop to find out more about her struggle with arrhythmia and how she turned her pain into a project! 

By Kelli Gallagher from the Cleveland Gazette. 

Gallagher: Thank you so much for letting me interview you, Valerie. 

Bishop: Of course! I’m happy to. 

Gallagher: You’ve become somewhat of a hero in Henderson, Nevada, haven’t you?

Bishop: I wouldn’t call myself a hero ... but if everyone else wants to - I’m fine with that. (laughs)

Gallagher: Don’t be so modest! I mean, what you’ve done is so incredible, and you’re only what? Seventeen?

Bishop: Yes, ma’am. I just turned seventeen this past August. 

Gallagher: Wow, I can’t believe how young you are and yet you’ve already accomplished so much. I saw that you won a statewide art contest last year. Tell me more about that. 

Bishop: That’s a funny story actually. My Grandma Sheila was the one who entered me in that contest. I didn’t even know about it until I won it. She’s always surprising me, though. In fact, she’s the one that surprised me with my first ever art supplies, when I was about eight or so. They were these super expensive oil paints, and I knew she couldn’t afford them, so I told her we should return them and get something cheaper, but she said, “Nonsense. When the bones are good the rest don’t matter. A house don’t fall when the bones are good.” That was kind of her saying. 

A house don’t fall when the bones are good. 

The bones. 

Gallagher: I’m interested to know more about your relationship with your grandma. If I’m remembering correctly, she was also diagnosed with arrhythmia a while back too, right?

Bishop: Yes, she was, but that’s never slowed her down. And as for our relationship, my grandma and I have always been close, but arrhythmia, in a weird way, has brought us even closer. She has always been my biggest supporter and the fact that we’re both on this journey together makes her my biggest supporter even more so. 

Gallagher: Absolutely. Now, I also heard that you’ve started a fundraising program to possibly start a gallery and studio in Virginia Beach. If you don’t mind me asking, why Virginia Beach? Is there any special significance? 

Bishop: Actually, that’s where my grandma met my grandpa, and they got married and started a family there, too. So if Grandma Sheila hadn’t been there to meet him, she wouldn’t have had my mom, and that would mean I wouldn’t have been here either. I like to think Virginia Beach is where it all started. In a way, it’s where my bones are. That solid foundation in Virginia gave me everything I have today.

Gallagher: That is just incredible. I’m so glad to see your fundraising project is thriving, but I can’t imagine any of this has been particularly easy for you. You were diagnosed right around the time your senior year was starting right?

Bishop: Yes ma’am. 

Gallagher: So what brought you from Henderson to Cleveland?

Bishop: Well, actually, I didn’t want to move, especially not before I graduated, but Cleveland has the best cardiovascular hospital in the country and my health is far more important than graduating in the same state I grew up in. So when my parents were willing to move me and my sister out here, I saw it as a privilege rather than something to be sad about. 

Gallagher: I am so inspired by you, Valerie.

Bishop: (laughs) Really, why?

Gallagher: Despite everything that’d been thrown at you, you are still so grateful. I hope you never lose that. 

Bishop: I promise you I won’t.

Gallagher: So one last thing before I go, what is one hope you have for your future self?

Bishop: I hope, future self, that your ‘bones’ are still strong.

Gallagher: Beautiful. Thank you so much again for doing this, Valerie. I sincerely hope you reach your goal and you get to open up that gallery and studio in Virginia Beach. 

At the bottom of the article, there was a footnote from Kelli Gallagher. 

Exactly 10 years later, Bishop was able to move to Virginia Beach and open up her gallery and studio. 

By the end of the article, I felt a genuine sense of pride for Valerie, and I know I had virtually no right to know these things about her, but I could still be proud of her for them right?

I would never fully get my answer to this question before I crossed the final boundary. 

After exhausting all that I could gather from the internet without Penelope’s assistance, the only thing left for me to do was actually meet her in person. However, this would prove to be a bigger obstacle that it seemed. I decided to delay the daunting task until the next day. A decision partially influenced by the phrase, ‘sleep on it.’ I prayed I’d gain clarity on what to do when I woke up the next morning, but even with a night’s rest, I was still undecided as I drove to Virginia Beach once more.

To sit in my car that was conveniently parked right in front of the gallery was a poor choice. Because with every passing second, the temptation to walk in grew, but the fear of regret dampened those impulses. The more I thought about it, the more I psyched myself out. Between my two choices, to freeze or to fight, I should’ve taken the third - to flee. But I was here now and I couldn’t leave empty-handed for a second time. 

After a moment’s indecision, adrenaline coursed through my veins to give me the courage to get out of my car. When I felt an outdoor breeze blow over me, I knew there was no going back now. Right when I walked in, the little bell above the door rang, solidifying that I was officially crossing the threshold, and whether I liked it or not, she was going to see me after hearing me walk in.

“I’ll be right with you!” A small voice called out from somewhere in the back. She was hidden from my immediate sight, and somehow that made it so much worse. It was now I that was waiting for her, instead of her unknowingly waiting for me. 

As though I were prey getting ready to escape a predator, I stayed put by the door. It gave me a full view of the entire place anyway. 

Scoping out my surroundings, I spotted the paintings that were carefully measured and placed on the walls, almost to perfection. I had no time to notice anything more before the person in the back walked out. 

Immediately when I saw her, I knew.

“You’re … not Valerie.” I couldn’t help sounding so disappointed but luckily, the woman that came out took no offense to my observation. 

“No, I’m not,” She laughed. “But I can get her for you-”

“No wait!” I uselessly leapt forward to stop her from saying, “Vee! There’s someone out here to see you!” But that’s precisely what she did anyway. Evidently oblivious of my previous protests, she politely smiled back at me. “She’ll be right out.” 

For the second time that day, I waited with bated breath, anxiously anticipating the arrival of Valerie. And I was almost too focused on subduing the pounding of my heart to realize that she was actually walking out of the back right now. 

“Hi, sorry about that!” A new voice chirped. 

Valerie. 

The moment I laid eyes on her, it became clear to me that the pictures in her files hardly did her justice. Nothing could compare to the real sight of her. I was only able to catch the profile of her face when I saw her in the cafe, but in her entirety, I began to wax nostalgic. Though her face and hair and body had transformed into that of a grown woman’s features, I could still identify the same tooth-achingly sweet smile that a younger Valerie once wore on the front page of the Henderson Press. She was no beast to conquer, she was just a girl, smiling at me in that same gentle way. 

Her expression just as well showed no indication of recognition, not that she would recognize me, considering my letter was anonymous and unless she pulled the same stunt I did, she wouldn’t ever recognize who I was. 

“I’m Val,” She made her greeting to me while untying her dirtied waist apron, and it was merely the action that caused my gaze to fall to her hips, but when she shed the apron, I was still staring. There was something sort of mesmerizing about the way they swayed as she approached. It wasn’t until they stopped swaying completely that I realized they did so because there was no more distance to advance - she was already right there in front of me, patiently watching me stare. 

“Val?” I blinked hard to revert my gaze while also playing into the part that I had no idea who she was. 

“Mhm. Short for Valerie,” She confirmed happily. “Like the Amy Winehouse song.” 

This time, I genuinely didn’t know what she was referring to, and my confused countenance prompted her to clarify, “You don’t know that song?” 

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she began to playfully sing, “Well, sometimes I go out by myself and I look across the water ...” 

While she watched my face and waited for the recitation of the song to jog my memory, I was just as much studying her face. I could tell she was only kidding when she sang, evidenced by the laugh that followed her rendition, but it sounded so unironically good that I had to question what other talents she possessed. 

“Um, I was actually thinking more like Valerie, the martyred medieval saint, whose name stood for strength and health.” No sooner than the words spilled from my mouth did I recognize the freudian slip - the simultaneous coincidence and confession. The coincidence was that, now, with Maeve’s heart beating in her chest, she lived up to her name - she was newly strong and healthy. But I worried, she would see the correlation I drew between her name and her successful transplant and would realize that I knew more about her than I let on. Did I just give away too much?

“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name earlier. What was it?” Her casual dismissiveness of my previous statement did nothing to ease my worries. Was she beginning to piece everything together?

“Oh, right!” I said dumbly. “S-Spencer. I’m Spencer.” I was such a blubbering bundle of nerves that I actually reached out to shake her hand - a stranger’s hand. 

“Nice to meet you, Spencer,” She softly laughed, which was hopefully not out of the enjoyment of seeing me squirm. “What can I do for you?” 

A loaded question, don’t you think? What can you do for me, Valerie? Well, for one thing, you could’ve answered my letter, but to say something as bold as that would require me to admit the real reason I was here, and how could I do that without mentioning how I found you in the first place?

“Um ...” Whose birthday is the soonest? “My friend Emily’s birthday is coming up and I was wondering if I could possibly buy a painting from you as a birthday present.” 

There was the faintest perceptible skepticism in her expression, but that could’ve just been my paranoia talking because in the next breath, she didn’t suggest a proclivity to my deceit. “Yeah, of course! Do you know what her favorite medium is? Or her favorite artist? Or her favorite style of art?” 

For every addition to the question, I wordlessly shook my head no. Was my lie already unraveling? Could she see right through me?

“No worries. If you want, you can walk around the gallery and tell me if you see anything you think she’d like.” She made her offer to me sweetly, then disappeared into the back room again. I tried to follow her with my eyes for as long as I could, but from where I was standing, I couldn’t see very far into it. I wandered a little further into the center of the gallery to possibly catch a glimpse of what was occupying her time back there, but when I heard the chattering of two voices, Valerie and the other woman, coming from the same general direction, I realized I was completely alone in this part of the studio.

With no one around to bear witness but these portraits, I could’ve easily slipped out and made my escape, and I might’ve even done it had it not been for the unmistakable gravitational pull forcing me to stay here and walk about the room. 

Making my way throughout the gallery, I would pause every now and then when a painting would stand out to me, which was often, considering each picture was impressive. 

But there was one painting in particular that piqued my interest. It made me feel something I’d never felt before. 

It wasn’t special by any means. By rights, I shouldn’t have even noticed it, for it wasn’t the largest painting, nor the smallest one - it wasn’t even the most average painting. But it felt exceptionally ... Valerie. I had no doubt in my mind that she painted this one - in fact, I had a good bet that she painted most of these portraits, if not all of them - but this one. There was just something about it that I couldn’t put my finger on. 

“So,” A draft was created from where Valerie swiftly and unexpectedly joined me at my side. “What do you think?” 

“Um, there’s definitely something,” I struggled to find the word. “appealing about this one.” Almost as soon as the word came out of my mouth, I knew it was only a matter of time before she called out the inadequacy of my answer. 

“Appealing?” She repeated in mockery. “That’s the best you got? Come on, you’ve been standing here for like ten minutes. There must be something about it you like.” 

“I’m not sure.” I honestly admitted with a shrug.

“There’s no wrong answer.” She assured me, but I found that hard to believe. 

“So if I said I see a grizzly bear attacking a UFO, that wouldn’t be wrong?”

“Nope,” She popped the p. “If that’s how you interpret it then that’s how you interpret it. Just because someone else sees it differently, doesn’t mean you’re wrong.” It would’ve sounded like complete bullshit or nauseatingly cheesy coming out of someone else’s mouth, but her delivery felt so genuine. It actually moved me. 

As she said this, she turned her head in my direction to look up at me, causing her shoulder to brush my upper arm, sending a wave of goosebumps all over my body. 

She was so close. 

But I was so unbothered by her proximity that I didn’t even notice exactly how close she really was. If someone else had invaded my personal space like that, I would’ve moved in the opposite direction just on instinct, but I didn’t even think to do that with Valerie. I was so comfortable with her being there. 

But was that just because a part of her was once Maeve’s? Was the entire foundation of my likening to Valerie built upon that single attribute?

Was that my bones?

“Um,” I began fidgeting with my hands to self-soothe. “I like it. I don’t know why. But I like it. How’s that for an answer?”

There was a pause before her response that compelled me to look at her, but when I did so, she was already looking at me. “I’ll take it,” She nodded. “It’s the biggest compliment to me if my art can make you feel something.”

Was it the art that made me feel something ... or you?

“I’ll tell you what,” She walked over to grab something from the front desk. She came back with a small piece of cardstock. “I’m going to an art exhibition next weekend. Why don’t you come with me and see if you can’t find something for Emily there?”

She handed me the paper, which was actually her business card. “You don’t have to have an answer for me today, but call me when you do.” She seemed to think that was the end of the conversation, but I still had more questions. 

“You’re inviting me?” was the first question that came to mind, albeit the dumbest one.

“Yeah, you can be my plus one.”

I gulped to dislodge the lump in my throat. “Like-like your date?” 

She furrowed her brows with mild confusion. “Um ... sure, if that’s what you wanna call it,” which was the last thing she said to me before vanishing within the back room again. 

I peered back down at the card and tapped it gently on the palm on my hand as though to register its presence really being there. 

For all intents and purposes, this card was meaningless. But to me, it was the formal consenting - nay, invitation - to reach out to her again. She was willingly extending this line of contact to me. 

No more public library computers. No more files. No more ‘research.’ Just her number - a way to reach her without veering off my moral compass. 

Despite this, I still had no clue whether or not I was going to accept her offer.

All that I did know was that I wanted to see her again. 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

PART 3 COMING SOON!

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#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fanfiction #the bones pt 2 #the bones #juniorgman187 #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds series #spencer reid series

[weirdcharacter]

Music - Sharing: French Edition™

I promised it to you, so here it is! Before we start, you must know that I don't listen that much to French artists (mostly because I have a hars time finding artists I really like/ match my musical style) but. The ones in this list. This is like. Good good stuff.

@m-o-o-n-s-g-o-o-n-s @loth-wolffe no pressure tags as usual 🌙🌌

@dusk-dawn-and-stars j'te tag aussi paske why not? 😂 constate la cause perdue que je suis quand je me mets à parler de musique 💀💗

First one, has to be a childhood band!

I grew up with this song and this album; I mean I could possibly still sing it all by heart today even if it's been years since I last listened to it

It feels like home in a way; I love his voice it's soothing and the duet is 👌 honestly this album got strong early 2000s vibes, like the one you listened to in highschool and I love that kind of vibes 🥰

OK so technically he's Belgian, but he sings and speaks in French so let's say it works 😂

He always has dope texts, he's an amazing lyricist because he always finds way to play with words and give double meaning to lines; in this one for ex. He says "et c'est comme ça qu'on s'aime/ comme ça consomme" and to the ear it's quite close so it helps linking the two ideas together and-

Yeah he has a way with words, and the rhythms are always super nice! This one is quite rhythmic but if you listen to "Quand C'est" for ex. it's calmer (maybe also because of the subject of the song)

So yeah, he's a great artist and I know he kinda made his way to the US a few years back before taking a break but like- deserves the recognition, 10/10 definitely recommend

This one is sooooo good like that intro gets me everytime; and his voice is sooo beautiful and soft like LISTEN TO HIM PUSHING TO THAT LIL RASPINESS WHEN HE SAYS "dors apaisé" I AM IN LOVE

He's also an amazing songwriter like. Songs full of love and emotions of all kinds, it just resonates a lot and it's still catchy

I mean let me give you some more from him just because I CAN

La bourgeoisie des sensations (great song, love triangle where a woman falls in love with a woman while being in a relationship with a man)

Conduire en Angleterre (what it is to be a left-handed person in a world imagined for right-handed people) (i relate a lot to this song 😂) (basically the album including this song is dope)

Yeah. This artist is worth the detour

Worth it!

This one is lovelyyyy it's about a man receiving a love letter and he tries to find the woman who sent it

The guitar is lovely, his voice is so soft and it's catchy, the kind of songs you listen to on the radio during a roadtrip to the countryside you know?

Les voisines is also great, he has such a soft voice in this one 🥰

LISTEN TO THAT VOICE

Listen tO IT

The lyrics. I love the lyrics, it's beautiful and it rhymes so well and it's so fluid and his voice only makes it even more beautiful

Pure poetry coming from this man 💗

Ho, Cabrel 🥰

A lot of 80s vibes because that when he was the most famous (but he's still singing!) And he's all about love and ballads, soft songs and delicate lyrics so I think you might really like him!

This one is adorable; he writes a lot of love songs about/ for his wife which I think makes it even cuter 😂💗

This one is a recent one, but the first time I heard it I just... Fell in love with it

The clip is 10/10 it's animated and the colours are sooo soft like light purple / blue and greys it's beautiful

They were very (and are still) famous in the 80s too and they have a lot of great songs! All retro vibes which I love!

Not gonna lie, I only know this song but I like it a lot so here 😂

It reminds me of like summer, probably because that's when I listened to it the most! I love their voices, the raspiness when they push the notes all all!!

I would put my family in shame if I didn't talk about Johnny. He's a monument in the French musical culture, a legend.

He's done a lot of rock songs, but he also has some ballads and calmer/ sadder songs (like this one) and even though I don't really listen to his songs, I absolutely recognise the power his voice holds like-

Wow.

THIS ONE

OMG I LOVE IT

it's sooo sensual and rock and hIS VOICE OMG

I SWEAR IT HAS SOFT BAD BOYS VIBES (the respectful kind ya know) and-

Now that I think about it. It could be a Fives' song.

But yeah they're great!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Mozart l'Opéra Rock.

It's a musical, and I would dare saying the French equivalent of Hamilton? In a way?

So here is L'Assassymphonie (a classic)

And my favorite Tatoue- Moi (a bit explicit but sooo good)

It was a biiiig thing when it came out, like- if you start singing "Je cous ménuie... " around 20y/o peeps they WILL scream the rest of the lyrics while pretending to be Mozart's nemesis

This is folkloric when it happens, we all go feral when we hear Mozart l'Opéra Rock 😂

Anyway, that was my French Edition™ I hope you liked it !

I don't know what else to add so thank you for your time and kindness I really appreciate it have a nice day/ night besties 🌊

#Spotify #kyo #stromae #calogero #renan luce #grand corps malade #francis cabrel #indochine #Eiffel #johnny hallyday #bb brunes #mozart l'opera rock #songs #songs recs #sweet ari 🌌 #soft moony 🌙 #I hope you'll like them! #ma choupette 💜