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marvelous-llama · 8 months

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EXO recs

<<original book

most of the mentioned works is 18+ NSFW, MINORS DNI

pls don´t hesitate to hmu, if any of mentioned links doesn´t work or you have suggestions for more fics... thank you so much for all the love and comments

one shots

Happy New Year by @cxsmicmyeon

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 5k) strangers to lovers, college AU - fluff, smut You're forced to go to your best friend's giant new year's eve party, only to hit it off with someone who equally doesn't want to be there.

Unrequired by @mybiasisexo

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 9.7k) best friends to lovers, college AU - angst, fluff Being in love with your best friend is never easy, especially when you’re positive he doesn’t feel the same

Give Him a Show by @breakyeol

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 4k) friends to lovers, college AU - angst, suggestive

chasing stars by @kyungseokie

Sehun x fem!reader [ft. Kim Jongin] (wc - 17k) soulmate AU - angst, fluff, romance, implied smut in a world of soulmates, everyone has different tokens for how they meet their person. you declare yourself an anomaly once you turn twenty-eight—with no odd hyperfixations, no unsolicited exclamations inked on your skin, and no changes in the palette of the world you see with your eyes; your best friend, Jongin, eventually steps into the same boat as you with regards to his lack of a known soulmate, so the two of you decide upon making good on your marriage-after-thirty pact—because loneliness is a bitch, because everyone else you know (who is easy on the eyes and on the heart) is already off the market, because what if you two not having a soulmate is it, you know?—and while the feeling of being the odd one out deserves all the expletives, maybe your destiny is meant to be called something even worse because the last thing you’re expecting is to meet your other half on your bachelorette trip to France.

And... Cut! by @itstheoneshot

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 2.4k) actor AU - smut Being an actress has its perks, especially when you are cast as a lead role in a drama with an insanely hot co-star.

People You May Know by @j-pping

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 8k) lovers to strangers, idol AU - angst, hurt/comfort, fluff You disappeared three years ago without telling a soul -- leaving Sehun alone and devastated in the wake of your decisions. For three years you keep your secrets: that an eagerly anticipated future came far too early and forced you to rearrange your life. But when you finally rebuild the shards your shattered soul and try to step back into a semblance of who you once were, your paths cross once again. And Sehun demands the truth.

Forbidden by @itstheoneshot

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 2.6k) friends to lovers, taboo relationship - angst(ish), fluff, smut, crack It’s the night of your mother’s wedding, you’re overwhelmed and anxious because you haven’t seen her in at least a year. You’re relieved though, on arrival as you see someone you know, but that relief doesn’t last for long.

Love Shot by @gamerwoo

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 10.1k) soulmate AU, enemies to lovers, mafia/cop AU - angst, fluff(ish) The idea of soulmates was never something you worried about because you had bigger problems to concern yourself with. But when you find yourself in a life or death situation, forcing yourself to bond with the nearest person is the only way you can truly save yourself. Now, the idea of soulmates has become your biggest problem because you don’t know if you can unbond from the sarcastic, snarky man who’s just as secretive as your past that you want nothing to do with.

don´t delete the kisses by @kyungseokie

Sehun x fem!reader (wc - 5.6) best friends to lovers, fwb to lovers - angst, fluff, smut, romance what starts as a wayward attempt at getting petty revenge on your exes becomes something much more complicated between you and your best friend, and as it turns out, it has been happening for a while.

series

Gucci Lane by @bvidzsoo

Sehun x f.reader high school!AU - angst, fluff, suggestive High school is supposed to be easy, right? Not when you are classmates with EXO. They are the typical bad boys, whipping girls off their feet with their looks. You hate bad boys ever since your step brother tricked you, you hate them with all your heart. One day Oh Sehun suddenly enters your life. You must babysit his younger sister, because he is an irresponsible bad boy. I guess there’s a thin line between love and hate...

My housemate's man by @shaalk

Sehun x fem!reader, Jongin x fem!reader cheating - angst, smut, fluff Sehun is cheating on his girlfriend with me, her housemate. He thinks we're just using each other's bodies, and so do I at first. But then my heart suddenly comes into play.

Ride or Die by @mint-yooxgi

Sehun x fem!reader friends to lovers - action, angst, fluff, mature

defying contract by @myeoning-call

Sehun x fem!reader contract marriage, chaebol!Sehun - angst, smut The very hard life of a chaebol in Korea. Oh Sehun hated the control his family had over him and how he had to have a certain profile for the public eye. The slightest mistake could mean stock crashing for his family business. He had to be a good boy. But what happens when he falls in love with someone he’s not supposed to? Was it an older married woman? A man? No one knew, but he sure was going to use your presence to his favour to create the perfect aura his family was seeking.

#exo #exo x reader #exo recs #sehun #exo sehun #oh sehun #sehun x reader

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dhaaruni · 2 months

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Hey, I just checked out American Royalty on your recommendation and loved it! Are there any similar books you’d recommend?

Omg hi, sorry this took a while. I normally read historicals so I don't have too many contemporaries for you but I'll do my best to give you books that match the vibe/tone/energy of American Royalty by Tracey Livesay even if they don't seem like a perfect match.

Nobody's Princess by Erica Ridley: a classic detective/princess (by which we mean princess knight) historical romance

The Royal We by Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks: SO bonkers and way too close to reality but actually kind of great

The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert: really good, I haven't read much Talia Hibbert lately but this was a lot of fun

Royally Not Ready by Meghan Quinn: long-lost princess meets hot bodyguard!!

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole: modern day working girl meets African prince, shenanigans ensure

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare: grumpy scarred duke meets resourceful charming albeit #damaged seamstress and they learn to love

Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks: Scottish laird has an arranged marriage with the daughter of his enemy, who happens to be deaf but knows perfectly well what's going on and she knows she wants her new husband

Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare: a duke's meddling mom demands he get married and he picks the first woman he sees, who happens to be a barmaid. There's a sex scene in this book approximately 70% of the way in that's very hot but also makes me cry and cry and cry every time I read it, 10/10 recommend it.

The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean: Basically a novel-length grovel by a man (okay, a duke) to his wife who he cheated on because he thought she trapped him into marriage for money and power. Probably my favorite MacLean along with Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart

Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt: Perfect Georgian lady Hero Batten, the sister of a duke (whose book, Duke of Midnight is my favorite of the Maiden Lane series) starts an affair ... with her boring fiancé's wayward brother who she meets while he's having sex with another woman. You think it won't work but it does and I totally loved it.

That should get you started!!

#anonymous #answered #book blogging #romance novels #book recs

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mollybecameanengineer · 1 year

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April Showers

Summary: Mrs. Scully throws a party for Mulder and Scully. Light refreshments will be served.

word count: 2957 | General | MSR | @today-in-fic

This is the fourth part in my A Second Chance series, which is AU from DeadAlive, in a universe where Mulder never leaves. The series is episodic, like the X-Files, so each piece can stand alone.

Part 1: Reentry – Mulder tries to get used to being back from the dead.

Part 2: Lots and Lots of Boxes – Mulder takes a trip down memory lane while cleaning out his storage unit.

Part 3: Immunidad – When Mulder and Scully suspect the black oil is on a drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, they realize they are the only ones who can stop it. Too bad he doesn’t work for the FBI at the moment and she’s thirty three weeks pregnant.

Read April Showers on AO3, or check out the first section below the break.

Today, Saturday

Skinner pulled up outside Scully’s apartment (or rather, Mulder and Scully’s), finding a space not half a block away. He smiled at his good luck as he leaned over to grab the six pack he’d purchased out of the passenger footwell.

Maybe this would be fun.

For all the time he’d spent with his wayward underlings, he’d never spent much time with them socially. Mulder’s funeral was probably as close as he got, and that wasn’t an occasion that he wanted to repeat.

So he’d been surprised when Scully had left a message on his home machine, saying that they were having a small gathering on Saturday, and would he like to come? He, in return, had left a message on her machine saying that he would see them then.

Without any further guidance, he’d picked up beer on the way over as a host gift. There were very few occasions where a six pack wasn’t welcome, so he figured it would work for whatever they had planned for this sunny April afternoon.

He took the stairs to her second floor apartment. While Mulder may be a pain in the ass, he was glad the man was back, especially for Scully’s sake. He’d known they were partners in more than a professional capacity since the Amber Lynn LaPierre case. That morning he’d come to Mulder’s apartment and saw Scully there, he’d known. He’d suspected before, for years if he were honest, but that morning he knew.

So when Scully had told him she was pregnant, just after Mulder was lost in Oregon, Skinner had also known Mulder was the father. And his heart ached at the idea of her having lost not only her partner in work and in life, but also the father of her child.

So, he was glad the idiot was back.

As Skinner approached the door, he could hear the tell-tale signs of festivity. He knocked, and was surprised when Scully’s mother opened the door. “Mrs. Scully,” he said.

“Mr. Skinner.” Her greeting was odd, like she didn’t really want him to be there. She glanced and the beer in his hand and gave a sigh. “Please, come in.”

He was about to apologize (although for what, he was unsure) when he caught sight of the room. It was covered in blue and pink balloons which stated that either ‘it’s a boy!’ or ‘it’s a girl!’, depending on color.

It dawned on Skinner that this wasn’t just a gathering.

This was a baby shower.

Continue April Showers on AO3

#x files fanfic

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incarnateirony · 2 years

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For those wondering about the Mark Pellegrino caps

I've been considering trying to release them again now that the heat's eased enough to avoid getting bombed, but something else is eating me.

This kicking up. Mark kicking up. And right now, Victoria is kicking up enough that my old warning post about her, TAW, etc on youtube is getting a flood of new comments thanking it for the info. Seems someone else is getting a little antsy under the skin.

TAW attacked Misha right before wayward aired and kept trying to cycle the drama to distract from wayward. When I was given the information, [Source] I passed it up to was like. Do not post this during Wayward. Legal's even afraid to move rn. Do not let them blow up Wayward.

And I'm looking at the timing beats and I'm looking at it all and yeah. Yeah, the Post It screaming and Prove Who U R screaming is bait. It makes it about them, and not The Winchesters right now, and completely undercuts early show PR and buzz because everyone will talk about their bullshit.

The people who were there, five years ago, have been commenting plenty about recognizing enough history to get it. It's people like 2P0 that just don't really know fandom history, and I don't give a fuck about proving myself to them. If they wanna tee themselves up for disappointment only for their own lane to shred them in like a year please dude just keep digging that hole.

So maybe once Winchesters is safely anchored a few episodes I may consider doing it. But Mark goddamn knows I'm still here now, you watched him fuckin yeet. You guys can always ask him the same question for the same result. Enjoy. You now have your own cans of Mark P B GoN.

But we aren't gonna turn this fandom into a month long discussion of crusty mayo and rotten pepperoni. Now is our time. Not theirs. They're all trying real, real hard to make it theirs, and it's not theirs. It's ours, whether they fucking like it or not.

I love and value this show, this universe, and this creative crew far above my ego or proving something to some ignorant douchecanoe that's gonna get hit on the head by a series of inevitable hammers anyway.

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lesenbyan · 1 year

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'Ight, Jayden's Complete List of Books taken from my Libby app. All of these were listened to as audiobooks and thus are available as such.

Feel free to ask about them! I'll give summaries trigger warnings (that I remember) rate it and maybe tell you a fun fact I love or a favorite character

* is for a series that continues further than I read

+ is for an ongoing/incomplete series

[Explicit] is for detailed sex scenes; assume all books here swear

The Unwanteds - Lisa McMann *

Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells (x3) +

All Systems Red

Artificial Condition

Rogue Protocol

Exit Strategy

Fugitive Telemetry

Network Effect

Wayward Children - Seanan McGuire +

Every Heart a Doorway

Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Beneath the Sugar Sky

In an Absent Dream

Come Tumbling Down

Across the Green Grass Fields

Where the Drowned Girls Go

The Mercy Thompson Series - Parricia Briggs * +

Moon Called

Blood Bound

Iron Kissed

Bone Crossed

Silver Borne

River Marked

Frost Burned

The Anita Blake Series - Laurel K Hamilton * + [Explicit]

Guilty Pleasures

The Laughing Corpse

Circus of the Damned

The Lunatic Café

Bloody Bones

The Killing Dance

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Fractured Fables - Alix E Harrow

A Spindle Splintered

A Mirror Mended

Broken Earth Trilogy - N K Jemisin

Under the Whispering Door - TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune

Fifth Season

Obelisk Gate

The Stone Sky

Less - Andrew Sean Greer

One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston

Detransition, Baby - Torrey Peters

Sofi and the Bone Song - Adrienne Tooley

So This is Ever After - F. T. Lukens

Gideon the Ninth - Tasmyn Muir *

How to be Perfect - Micheal Schur

The Watchmaker's Daughter - C J Archer *

Cackle - Rachel Harrison

The Burning Girls - C J Tudor

Plain Bad Heroines - Emily M Danforth

Nettle and Bone - T Kingfisher

The Hollow Places - T Kingfisher

The Book of Tea - Judy I Lin

A Magic Steeped in Poison

A Venom Dark and Sweet

Only A Monster - Vanessa Len +

What Moves The Dead - T Kingfisher

Malice Duology - Heather Walter

Malice

Misrule

This Vicious Grace - Emily Thiede +

Once Upon a Broken Heart Series - Stephanie Garber +

Once Upon a Broken Heart

The Ballad of Never After

The Art of Memoir - Mary Karr

The Storyteller - Dave Grohl

When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi

The Princess Saves Herself in This One - Amanda Lovelace

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One - Amanda Lovelace

The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins

Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

#Jay's book list: 2022;#personal;#do note: these are only books i've completed AND completing a book/continuing a series does not inherently mean i liked it #i enjoy being a hater to a certain level some of these books you might get a gleeful Rant about #and for fox: i've told you about Malice Broken Hearts Vicious Grace Hallow Places and i think Burning Girls #maybe more but those are the ones i know for sure (Broken Heart was what i was talkong about yesterday and Malice was bad sleeping beauty)

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thebestbookrecommendations · 2 years

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The Last Town - Blake Crouch

(Wayward Pines #3/3)

Welcome to Wayward Pines, the last town. Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. Their children are taught that David Pilcher, the town’s creator, is god. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed. But Ethan has discovered the astonishing secret of what lies beyond the electrified fence that surrounds Wayward Pines and protects it from the terrifying world beyond. It is a secret that has the entire population completely under the control of a madman and his army of followers, a secret that is about to come storming through the fence to wipe out this last, fragile remnant of humanity.

Read if You Like:

Science Fiction

Thrillers

Horror

Mysteries

Dystopian Fiction

Post Apocalyptic Fiction

Suspenseful Stories

Recommended if You Enjoy:

Paul Tremblay (Survivor Song)

Hugh Howey (Wool Omnibus)

Blake Crouch (Run)

Jeremy Robert Johnson (The Loop)

Supernatural (T. V. Series, 2005)

10 Cloverfield Lane (Movie, 2016)

First Book in Series:

Previous Book in Series:

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regexkind · 2 years

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☕music?

First order approximation: Music is great and makes me happier.

Second order approximation: There is a lot of music I enjoy, but whether or not I get to control when I listen to it is everything. I tend to find music played in a public space to be very hard to handle, regardless of whether it’s acceptable (performing musicians at the farmer’s market!) or unacceptable (you have a bass-boosted system in your car! I am going to steal the bricks from your house one by one while you aren’t looking!). Music has also at various points been a mechanism of social control--there are rules about what music you’re ‘supposed to’ like or not, and whether you’re ‘good enough’ to sing out loud. I realize this sounds incredibly vacuous but a lot of what music I listened to growing up was molded by e.g. my older brother’s tastes. Deciding that I will enjoy my music unironically and unashamedly and sing whenever I’m happy has made my life so much, much better, and I wish I had done it earlier.

What follows is an obscenely long and not even necessarily comprehensive list of things I will listen to for enjoyment. Consider these higher-order terms in the approximation--If you put all of these into your Taylor series, your computer algebra system will stop dreaming of electric sheep and start dreaming about thumbscrews and waterboarding. Consider also that this is an approximation because I spent an hour writing this and I’m sure it wasn’t comprehensive at all.

- Johnny Cash: “Big Iron”, “Highwayman”, “Further On Up The Road”, “A Boy Named Sue”, “One Piece At A Time”, “Man In Black” “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Devil’s Right Hand”, “Ghost Riders In The Sky”, “Streets of Laredo”, “If I Were A Carpenter”, “Sixteen Tons”, “Hurt”

- Marty Robbins: “El Paso”, “The Strawberry Roan”

- Johnny Horton: “The Battle of New Orleans”, “North to Alaska”, “Sink The Bismark”, “Honky-Tonk Man”

- John Fogerty: “The Old Man Down The Road”

- Gordon Lightfoot: “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”

- Kenny Rogers: “The Gambler”

- Bob Seger:��“Turn The Page”

- Lavender Country: “Crying These Cocksucking Tears”

- Death Cab For Cutie: “Crooked Teeth”, “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”, “Where Soul Meets Body”, “I Will Possess Your Heart”

- Green Day: “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “Brain Stew”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, “Disappearing Boy”

- Cyndi Lauper: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”

- Radiohead: “2 + 2 = 5″, “Creep”, “Everything In Its Right Place”, “No Surprises”, “Karma Police”, “Paranoid Android”

- Queen: “Under Pressure”, “The Show Must Go On”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Killer Queen”, “Somebody To Love”, “Spread Your Wings”, “Bicycle Race”, “Fat Bottomed Girls”, “We Will Rock You”, “Another One Bites The Dust”, “We Are The Champions”, “Radio Gaga”, “I Want To Break Free”, “One Vision”

- David Bowie: “Space Oddity”, “Ashes to Ashes”, “Rebel Rebel”, “Changes”, “Let’s Dance”, “Life On Mars?”, “The Man Who Sold The World”, “Starman”

- Nirvana: “Lithium”, “Come As You Are”, “Heart-Shaped Box”, “In Bloom”

- Arcade Fire: “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”, “Mountains Beyond Mountains”, “Everything Now”

- SIAMES: “The Wolf”, “Mr. Fear”

- C2C: “Delta”

- The Beatles: “A Little Help From My Friends”, “Come Together”, “Hey Jude”, “Norwegian Wood”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Penny Lane”, “Hello, Goodbye”, “Let It Be”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, “Nowhere Man”, “I Am The Walrus”, “The Fool On The Hill”, “Magical Mystery Tour”, “Your Mother Should Know”, “Blue Jay Way”

- Utada Hikaru: “Beautiful World”

- Walk The Earth: “Shut Up and Dance”

- Harry Chapin: “Cat’s In The Cradle”

- Kansas: “Carry on Wayward Son”, “Dust In The Wind”

- Elton John: “Rocket Man”, “Tiny Dancer”, “Crocodile Rock”

- Marina And The Diamonds: “Numb”, “Oh No!”, “Are You Satisfied?”, “Primadonna”, “Starring Role”, “Fear And Loathing”, “Froot”, “Happy”, “I’m A Ruin”, “Savages”, “Immortal”, “Girls”, “Venus Fly Trap”, “Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land”, “About Love”

- Sia: “Unstoppable”, “Chandelier”, “Elastic Heart”, “The Greatest”, “Wild Ones”

- Olivia Rodrigo: “good 4 u”

- Billie Eilish: “bad guy”, “everything i wanted”, “you should see me in a crown”, “all the good girls go to hell”

- Dove Cameron: “boyfriend”

- Ava Max: “Salt”, “Sweet but Psycho”

- Cosmo Sheldrake: “Pelicans We”, “Tardigrade Song”, “The Moss”, “The Fly”, “Come Along”, “Wriggle”

- Rubblebucket: “Inner Cry”, “Donna”, “Major Roxy”, “If U C My Enemies”, “Not Cut out For This”, “Forlornification”

- Studio Killers: “Jenny”, “Eros and Apollo”, “In Tokyo”, “Ode to the Bouncer”, “Friday Night Gurus”, “Party Like It’s Your Birthday”, “All Men Are Pigs”, “Grand Finale”, “Dirty Car”, “Who Is In Your Heart Now”

- TMG: “No Children”, “This Year” (I am a fake rat because I don’t listen to too much TMG)

- Pretty much all the songs from Hamilton, but especially “The Room Where It Happens” and King George’s songs

- The entire Evita soundtrack, but especially a really fucking short song called “The Art of the Possible”

- Coldplay: “Viva La Vida”, “Politik”, “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face”, “Clocks”, “Daylight”, “A Whisper”, “A Rush of Blood to the Head”, “What If”, “Talk”, “Speed of Sound”, “Low”, “Twisted Logic”, “Lost!”, “Life in Technicolor”, “Lovers in Japan”, “Death and All His Friends”, “Yes”, “Shiver”, “Yellow”, “Don’t Panic”, “Spies”, “High Speed”

- Keane: “Somewhere Only We Know”, “Bedshaped”, “Can’t Stop Now”, “Sunshine”, “Bend And Break”, “Is It Any Wonder?”, “The Lovers Are Losing”, “Nothing In My Way”, “A Bad Dream”, “Try Again”, “Everybody’s Changing”, “Spiralling”, “Perfect Symmetry”, “Love Is The End”, “Burning Black Heart”, “Strangeland”, “Silenced By The Night”, “Disconnected”, “Neon River”, “Day Will Come”

- Katy Perry: “California Gurls”, “I Kissed A Girl”, “Last Friday Night”, “Firework”, “The One That Got Away”, “Teenage Dream”, “Wide Awake”, “Hot n Cold”

- Fleetwood Mac: “The Chain”, “Dreams”, “Go Your Own Way”, “Landslide”

- Hozier: “Take Me To Church”, “Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene”, “In The Woods Somewhere”

- Led Zeppelin: “Kashmir”, “Ten Years Gone”, “Misty Mountain Hop”, “Battle Of Evermore”, “Immigrant Song”, “Black Dog”

- AC/DC: “Highway to Hell”, “Dirty Deeds”, “Thunderstruck”, “Back In Black”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, “TNT”, “It’s A Long Way to the Top”

- TMBG: “Istanbul”, “Experimental Film”, “Triangle Man”

- Pretty much all the songs from Cyrano (2022) but especially “Wherever I Fall” and “Someone To Say”

- Regina Spektor: “The Call”, “Blue Lips”, “On the Radio”, “Hotel Song”, “Samson”, “Edit”, “Eet”, “Two Birds”

- Florence and the Machine: “Delilah”, “Ship To Wreck”, “Cosmic Love”, “Dog Days Are Over”

- Train: “50 Ways To Say Goodbye”, “Soul Sister”, “Drive Bye”, “Hey, Soul Sister”, “Drops of Jupiter”

- AJR: “Bang!”, “Sober Up”, “Burn The House Down”

- lovelytheband: “Broken”

- Billy Joel: “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, “Piano Man”, “Uptown Girl”, “Vienna”, “My Life”, “Movin’ Out”

- Weird Al Yankovic: lots but especially “Amish Paradise”, “Party In The C.I.A.”, “Everything You Know Is Wrong”, “White & Nerdy”, “Truck Drivin’ Song”, “The Saga Begins”, “Your Horoscope For Today”

- MGMT: “Kids”, “Time To Pretend”, “Electric Feel”, “Flash Delirium”, “Your Life Is A Lie”

- M83: “Midnight City”, “Reunion”

- Of Monsters And Men: “Little Talks”, “King And Lionheart”

- Mumford and Sons: “The Cave”, “Hopeless Wanderer”, “I Will Wait”, “Little Lion Man”

- Snow Patrol: “Chasing Cars”

- The Verve: “Bittersweet Symphony”

- The Killers: “Mr. Brightside”, “Smile Like You Mean It”, “Somebody Told Me”, “All These Things I’ve Done”, “Human”, “Read My Mind”, “When You Were Young”, “My List”

- Homestuck Tunes: “Sunslammer”, “Showtime”, “Sburban Countdown”, “Upward Movement (Dave Owns)”, “Explore”, “Gardener”, “Sburban Jungle”, “Three In The Morning”, “Black”, “Doctor”, “Homestuck Anthem”, “Skaian Skirmish”, “Savior of the Waking World”, “Aggrievance“, “Welcome To The New Extreme”, “Skaia (Incipisphere Mix)”, “Crystamanthequins”, “The Beginning Of Something Really Excellent”, “Pyrocumulus”, “Umbral Ultimatum”, “Trollcops”, “At The Price of Oblivion”, “I’m A Member Of The Midnight Crew”, “Flare”, “Crystalmethequins”, “Ascend”, “Carne Vale”, “Savior of the Dreaming Dead”, “Black Hole / Green Sun”, “Cascade”... actually just a fuckton of these tbh

- Soundtracks from Persona 3 and Persona 4, but especially: “Shadow”, “Heaven”, “Pursuing My True Self”

- The Seatbelts: “Tank!”, “Bad Dog No Biscuit”, “Autumn In Ganymede”, “Call Me Call Me”, “Fingers”, “The Real Folk Blues”

- Lil Nas X: “That’s What I Want”, “Montero”

- Foster The People: “Pumped Up Kicks”, “Sit Next To Me”, “Coming Of Age”, “Helena Beat”, “Houdini”

- Empire of the Sun: “Walking On A Dream”

- David Guetta: “The World Is Mine”

- Modest Mouse: “Float On”, “Dashboard”

- R.E.M.: “Find the River”, “Night Swimming”, “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite”, “Man On The Moon”, “Losing My Religion”, “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It”, “Everybody Hurts”, “The One I Love”, “Orange Crush”, “Shining Happy People”, “Ignoreland”

- Genesis: “Invisible Touch”

- Pogo: “Murmurs Of Middle Earth”, “Boo Bass”, “Joburg Jam”, “Data & Picard”, “Boy And Bear”, “Davyd”, “Wizard of Meh”

- Lana Del Rey: “Born To Die”, “Summertime Sadness”, “Drive”, “Video Games”, “Dark Paradise”,

- Imagine Dragons: “Believer”, “Radioactive”

- Capital Cities: “Safe And Sound”

- Caravan Palace: “Lone Digger”, “Comics”, “Aftermath, “Wonderland”, “Tattoos”, “Midnight”, “Russian”, “Human Leather Shoes for Crocodile Dandies”, “Lay Down”, “Dragons”, “Star Scat”, “Suzy”, “Brother Swing”, “Bambous”, “We Can Dance”, “Maniac”, “Rock It For Me”, “Clash”, “Dramophone”, “Beatophone”, “Miracle”, “About You”, “Moonshine”, “Melancolia”, “Plume”

- Miike Snow: “Ghengis Khan”, “Animal”, “Silvia”, “Sans Soliel”, “A Horse Is Not A Home”, “Cult Logic”, “My Trigger”, “The Heart Of Me”, “Back of the Car”, “Lonely Life”, “The Wave”, “Devil’s Work”, “Black Tin Box”, “Paddling Out”, “Billie Holiday”, “Archipelago”

- Swingrowers: “My Mood”, “The Queen of Swing”, “No Strings Attached”, “Enjoy The Moment”, “Butterfly”, “Midnight”

- Tape 5: “The Magic Slapstick”, “Step Into My Time Machine”

- Parov Stellar: “Sally’s Dance”, “Jimmy’s Gang”, “The Mojo Radio Gang”, “Booty Swing”, “Baska Brother”, “The Ride”, “Mama Talking”, “Nosferatu”, “Catgroove”, “Black Coffee”, “Soul Fever Blues”, “All Grown Up”, “The Princess”, “Step Two”, “The Burning Spider”, “Chambermaid Swing”

11 Acorn Lane: “Let’s Face It I’m Cute”

Dimaa: “Zero O’Clock”, “Out Of Time”

- JS Bach: “Air on G String”, “Crab Canon”, Goldberg Variations, including “Variation 1 a 1 Clav”, “Variation 3 a 1 Clav”, “Variation 5 a 1 overro 2 Clav”, “Variation 8 a 2 Clav”, “Variation 16 a 1 Clav”, “Toccata and Fugue in D minor”

- Mussorgsky: “Night on Bald Mountain”

- Strauss: “Also sprach Zarathustra”

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vinyldoves · 2 years

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Flu

Shelby sister

SUMMARY: When Elsie Shelby gets sick, her family decides on some new living arrangements.

WARNINGS: SICK READER (FLU), FLASHBACKS TO OTHER SICKNESSES (VERY MINOR), SWEARING, SOMEONE KICKING A DOOR DOWN. Part of the Elsie Shelby series.

WORD COUNT - 1.5 K

Elsie had always been the so called ‘runt of the litter’ amongst the Shelby siblings, being the youngest child of Rose and Arthur sr. Shelby, the smaller twin born 6 or so minutes after Finn. The girl, all through her life, had a habit of getting sick easier than the rest of them, she was shorter (although Polly just said that she was simply the only one who had gained her mothers genes in height) at 5’2, and she had an affinity for books and learning. All of this dubbed Elsie Shelby a new nickname: ‘little one’. No matter the sixteen year olds age, everyone called her the little one.

So really, truly, even though she was grown up and hadn’t got fiercely sick in quite a number of years, it should have been of no surprise that she happened to catch the particularly foul case of flu swiping through the Birmingham streets. All the same. It was.

Elsie sighed as she slipped into her old green chair at the table of the betting shop's kitchen. She had painted it green when she was eight, out of annoyance because John kept sitting in ‘her seat’ the girl smiled at the memory - and then winced at the pounding in her head. Like most days, she had a headache. Only this time it wasn’t caused by the insistent yelling of her family. In fact, the house on watery lane that she tended to stay in with Finn since Tommy brought the rest of the family their own sparkly new homes was dead silent. It was a Sunday, the shop wouldn't be open, and therefore no one would come around early to manage it, and fin had left a scrawled note on the counter stating that he had spent the night at Isiah’s, and would probably spend the rest of the day with him.

Elsie smirked as she thought of John hearing that his little sister had spent a night in watery lane all alone and decided that she would be very excited to tell him.

She hummed, drifting over to the counter to make herself a cup of tea before bringing her mug and the old battered copy of Alice’s adventures in wonderland into the sitting room, settling down on the old battered sofa. She would see her family at dinner tonight, anyway. Aunt Polls tradition so that the kids wouldn't go ‘completely wayward.” She smiled, and fell into the story.

John hissed into the cold evening air as he knocked on the watery lane home for the third time, complete with a frustrated yell of his sister's name. He was here to pick the girl up and do the duty of taking her to Arrow house, considering neither she or Finn could drive, although the latter seemed to have decided to walk up to the house with Isiah ages ago anyway. “EL!” He banged on the window, hoping he’d see her open the curtain. He cursed, and did what any rational man would do when faced with not being able to get into the house that he most definitely had keys to somewhere: he kicked the door open.

A cold and hungry sort of dread started to claim him as he walked into the house, still calling her name, and when he opened the doors to the kitchen it fully claimed him, and he felt as if, for a moment, he was being strangled. There his sister was, walking slowly to the door, a crease between her brows as she worked to walk to the front, tiring her with every step. Her eyes shot up at John, her face sweaty and tired, eyes glazed over. “I was getting there, Johnny.” She snarked.

How had no one noticed sooner?

And then something dawned on John Shelby, something frightening and guilty: No one had been at watery lane all day.

He smiled softly down at her, trying to hide the fear in his eyes and his throat, “hey little one. You feeling alright?”

Elsie simply frowned at her brother, of course she didn’t fucking feel alright. Actually, she felt like she had been run over by a bus. And a double decker one at that, if they were being specific. “No, you idiot.” She mumbled, which made John chuckle slightly. It could be worse, she still had that damn sarcasm that seemed to follow her around everywhere. “I’ll be back in a minute, okay little one? I’ll get you some stuff to help.”

She nodded in response, and he helped her sit on the sofa in the living room before rushing off. The first thing he did was pick up the phone and call Arrow house. The noise of a maid came through, too loud and happy and he cringed at the octave against his ears, “Yeah, pass me to Tom.”

“Who is it?” Tommy’s voice echoed through the line, and he waisted no time in replying. Probably not realising how blunt he was actually being.

“John. Call a doctor out to watery lane now, El’s caught that damn flu, she’s pretty out of it. Put a bloody book down and everything” He joked the last sentence, as if that could relax the rest of the Shelby’s, Tommy only hung up the phone. Forcing John and Elsie to wait.

When Tommy, Finn, Polly and the doctor entered the home an hour or so later, John relaxed ever so slightly. He’d gotten his sister sitting up, giving her a glass of water to keep drinking and a small plain oat biscuit to try and keep down. Her book was placed neatly above the fireplace (previously having been discarded onto the floor at some point) and he sat dabbing her forehead ever so often and talking gently about his day, the antics of his kids. Katy had pushed Adam down the stairs, and it left Elsie falling into a bout of laughter quickly following into a coughing fit.

“Jesus John,” Polly cursed walking in with the others, “Are you trying to kill her?”

Elsie tried a smile at Polly then, eyes strained and tired as the doctor began to look her over, “He’s jus’ trying to help aunt pol.” She then turned her head to her brothers “Hi boys.”

Finn instantly ran over, pushing her hair back, “Shit, I’m sorry Ellie, I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Finn.” Thomas cut through the air as he stood leaning on the door frame. “The doctor needs to work, he can’t do that with you bloody hovering can he? John, why the fuck has the door been kicked open?”

A laugh fell out of Elsie’s lips again, leading to another burst of coughs, which led to another one of Thomas Shelby’s very well shared-out glares, “Careful. Little one. You’re making it worse.” She didn’t miss the concern in his eyes, and she mumbled a soft sorry over to him.

John on the other hand, sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “She was pretty sick when I came in, Tom, I couldn’t get in.”

Polly, sparing a caring glance at her youngest niece, turned a deadpanned look to John. “You have the bloody keys in your car.”

“Well I panicked didn’t I?”

That led to another snort from Elsie, and a quick “Stop humouring her.” From the doctor. First man in Birmingham Elsie had met who wasn’t afraid of the leader of the peaky blinders, she mused. Sending him an approved smirk before settling further down into the cushions of the sofa.

It was a few minutes later that the doctor stood up, turning to talk to the small fraction of the Shelby/Grey family that had formed in the home. “She’ll need rest, and constant watch. But with the right medication she should make a mend just fine.”

Finn sent a grin to his sister “Hear that little one? You’re on bed rest.” She merely stuck her tongue out, muttering a hoarse “I’m only six minutes younger.” to her twin. They both didn’t notice the look Tommy, John and Polly were sharing until the head of the business spoke up. “She can stay at Arrow house, it’s closer to the doctor and I can make sure she’s under constant watch. There's enough people in the house to do that. I’ll just have to send Charlie to live with John’s lot until she gets better.”

Both twins looked at him, startled.

“But Ellie-”

“But Finn-”

“No buts.” Their aunt cut through the air crisply. “You’d fall asleep Finn, we can’t exactly expect you to stay awake till she gets better can we?” She then hardened her stare “Or for you to stay in the house.”

Her twin shrunk at that, sparing another apologetic glance to Elsie, who gave him a nod, their way of saying I forgive you, you idiot.

“So-” Tommy clapped his hands, “Who's going to help me get this one in the car?”

#shelby #arthur shelby #john shelby #thomas shelby #tommy shelby #shelby sister #shelbysisterimagine #peaky fucking blinders #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinder headcanon #peaky blinder imagine #peakyblinders #peaky blinders imagine #polly gray #polly grey #isiah jesus #finn shelby

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dotthings · 3 years

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I’m not using the spn or supernatural tags any more, as mitigation where I still can post what loved about it without contributing so much to the “all buzz is good buzz” rewarding its overall profile after the finale failed so many of us. For tagging and blacklisting purposes, i’ll be using #The15YearShow. The character tags I am most likely to use are Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel, Destiel, Wayward Sisters, Team Free Will, Saileen. Unlikely I will ever use the “mildew” tag again which I used for spn related wanks but if you want to avoid seeing any drama just in case, blacklist that tag.

A reminder that I’ve been in spn fandom for 15 seasons and I have never seen this many fans, across lanes, so hurt all at once. It’s not because spn ended. There are a host of issues with that finale, and this outcry isn’t driven by any one faction’s lenses.

The fandom was divided over Dabb era, but you could find as much love as anger. The series finale reaction otoh is more overwhelming leaning towards fans hurt by it. This had made a deep ripple effect across factions that don’t even get along with each other. The most prevailing sentiment I am seeing is fans feeling hurt, crushed, flattened, disappointed, baffled, confused, stunned, puzzled. We got a whole thesaurus up in here. Who knows what our feelings are doing. On top of processing the enormity of a show with this long a run, with this kind of emotional engagement, ending.

There’s a lot of deer in headlights for me with this finale because I loved S15 so much. I got what TPTB were doing, I supported and defended the writers room, and I’m not rescinding any of that or my character-based metas. Something, somewhere went bafflingly wrong, that finale didn’t fit the build-up all season.

The disparity between a dynamic, expansive, subversive and warmly character-driven season vs the bafflingly short-changed, oddly muted emotionally (minus Dean’s death scene), oddly paced finale is so jarring it’s making my teeth ache. The finale did harm to Sam, Dean, and Castiel’s arcs in ways that don’t fit what the season had been doing, it lodged found family down to a footnote, abandoned two crucial-to-season-plot canon love stories, rendered a disabled character portrayed by a disabled actor into a faceless anywoman for the sake of plot servicing so Sam can have a son, flung Cas, a now confirmed queer character, off screen at the last minute (with many fans refusing to believe he wouldn’t return because how would that make sense), harming his individual arc and harming Destiel, which is the second biggest focal relationship in canon after the bro bond, and was an A-plot in S15. The finale was so aggressively bathed in nostalgia, so reductive to Dean’s arc especially, so regressive, despite the rebuilt Heaven ending, it feels like the story sacrificed its own story for the sake of mourning the past instead of the sense of freedom and moving into the future that seems to be the actual intent.

Oh and covid doesn’t explain it. Because covid wouldn’t prevent them from adding more dialogue, doing some ADR, adding photographs, adding name-drops, doing other infodumps if they couldn’t get actors to set. Covid doesn’t explain Castiel’s absence. Given how crucial Cas is to the story right along, having his role in the series finale of the entire show be so expendable it could be cut out due to the needs of covid regulations, or it was never planned as necessary, is an unforgiveable story sin, plus making no sense. There was a large number of people on that bridge in the final bts group season shot and you’re telling me they couldn’t swing putting a massively beloved main character who is the third lead on this show into this series finale. No. And I wish the crew of The 15 Year Show and adjacent accounts would stop acting like covid explains it.

There’s some good things in the very end, once they get to remade heaven. Some hope and promise for the future, but that doesn’t change the string of fails as to what wasn’t on screen. Pulling out those gossamer spots of comfort is a triage.

#The15YearShow #lololol i just realized i am doing the 'not speaking to you' thing with this show #i can't just cut it out of my heart #but i will not speak its name #tell The 15 Year Show to pass the salt #The15yearshowmeta

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twigstarpikachutroll22 · 3 years

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A running list of aro and ace spec headcanons

- Elsa from Frozen is aroace.

- Moana from Moana is aroace.

- Merida from Brave is aroace.

- Elena of Avalor is aroace.

- Sofia the First is aroace.

- Belle from Beauty and the Beast is demiromantic asexual.

- Tiana and Naveen from The Princess And The Frog are both demiromantic. Tiana is also demisexual.

- Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph is aroace.

- Poppy from Trolls is demiromantic. If Trolls aren’t all inherently asexual, then Branch might be demisexual. DJ Suki might be aroace, I’m not completely sure. Fuzzbert is definitely aroace though.

- Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle from MLP are all somewhere on the aro spectrum and ace spectrum. Fluttershy is in a QPR with Discord, Pinkie Pie is in one with Cheese Sandwich, and it’s possible Rainbow Dash and Applejack are in one with each other.

- Judy Hopps and Nick Wylde from Zootopia are both somewhere on the aro spectrum and ace spectrum and they are in a QPR.

- Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King are both aroace and they are in a QPR.

- Toot and Puddle from the Toot and Puddle books are aroace.

- Spongebob Squarepants is aroace (bro, the fact that he’s canonically ace is ASDGJKLQWERTYUIOPZXCVBNM =~D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

- Entrapta and Hordak from SPOP are both demiromantic graysexual. Double Trouble is aromantic.

- Ash Ketchum from the Pokemon franchise is aroace.

- Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom from the Harry Potter series are all aroace. (I don’t care if JKR says otherwise. They are aroace and nothing will change my mind on this.)

- Red from The Angry Birds Movie is grayromantic.

- David from Camp Camp is asexual.

- Mary Poppins is aroace.

- Jesus is aroace.

- Phineas Flynn-Fletcher from Phineas and Ferb is demiromantic asexual. Also, Perry the platypus (a.k.a. Agent P) is aroace.

- Sprig Plantar from Amphibia is demiromantic asexual. Polly Plantar is aroace. Anne Boonchoy might be grayromantic graysexual. Marcy Wu is either asexual or graysexual, possibly also demiromantic.

- Agatha from the School for Good and Evil series is grayromantic graysexual. August Sader is aroace.

- Annie Bianchi from Snow Lane is aroace.

- Lynn Loud Jr. from The Loud House is aromantic graysexual.

- Luz Noceda from The Owl House is ace. Steve is ace. The Collector is aroace.

- Miss Frizzle from The Magic Schoolbus is aroace.

- Wendsday Addams is aroace.

- Glossaryck from Star vs the Forces of Evil is aroace.

- Gertrude Robinson from The Magnus Archives is aroace.

- Dewey Duck and Violet Sabrewing from the Ducktales reboot are aroace. Huey, Louie, and Webby are all ace.

- Ashling from The Secret of Kells is aroace.

- Constance Contraire from The Mysterious Benedict Society is aroace.

- Po and Tigress from Kung Fu Panda are both aroace.

- Katherine Lundy from the Wayward Children series is aroace.

- Raven Queen from Ever After High is demiromantic asexual. Madeleine Hatter is an aroace lesbian. Kitty Cheshire is aroace.

- Jean Valjean from Les Miserables is aroace. Javert is grayromantic asexual.

- the Nomad from Nomad of Nowhere is aroace.

- Ophelia from the Mirror Visitor series is demiromantic asexual.

- Anya Forger from Spy X Family is grayromantic asexual.

- Hannah Foster from Starkid’s Hatchetfield musicals is aroace.

- Molly Blyndeff, Trixie Roughhouse, and Rick Shades from Epithet Erased are all aroace.

- Will Byers from Stranger Things is aroace.

- c!Technoblade and c!Slimecicle from DSMP are aroace. c!Tommyinnit might also be aroace.

- Sherlock Holmes is aroace

- the Doctor from Doctor Who is aroace

- Coraline from Coraline is aroace

- Barbie from the 2023 Barbie movie is aroace. Ken is asexual. All characters from all Barbie movies ever are asexual.

- Aguri Madoka from Doki Doki Precure is asexual and arospec in some way or other I’m not sure exactly.

- Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran Highschool Host Club is asexual.

- Nimona from Nimona is aroace.

- All the QSMP eggs are aroace.

- Ford Pines from Gravity Falls is aroace.

- Suzy Swanson from The Thing About Jellyfish is aroace.

- Bruno Madrigal from Encanto is aroace.

- Miko Iino from Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War is asexual

- Sans from Undertale is aroace.

- Kotoha Hanami from Mahou Tsukai Precure is aroace

- Ruru Amour from Hugtto Precure is aroace

- Caine from The Amazing Digital Circus is aroace

- Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (and every adaptation of it) is aroace

#aromantic headcanons #saving this #aromantic #aro #aromanticism #asexuality #asexual #ace #asexual headcanons

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gastricpierrot · 3 years

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Title: Ships in the Night

Series: Genshin Impact

Relationship: ZhongVen

Rating: T

Summary:

Barbatos had always wanted to enjoy a Ludi Harpastum with Morax, making so many empty promises with him over the years to go together one day. A festival of fun and games close to his own heart, it’s a change of pace he always thought Morax could appreciate. They finally manage this after all these centuries, yet Barbatos just had to be an idiot at the very end.

He rests his arm over his eyes, exhaling a slow breath. He's such an idiot.

Also on AO3

--------------------------

The sheer idea of festivities lasting two whole weeks sounds absolutely exhausting to Morax, yet even at the peak of the Ludi Harpastum, Mondstadt’s people do not seem like they are slowing down anytime soon.

Morax’s tugged along by the cuff of his sleeve, Barbatos in the lead as they weave their way through the packed streets. Songs and cheer fill the air, mingled with the scents of various food, flowers, and of course, the city’s beloved wine. Barbatos himself is already tipsy despite it still being rather early in the day, having downed almost every pint of free alcohol that’s offered to him by the countless vendors they come across. There's an occasional stumble in his steps, but his spirits remain high as he shows Morax around with wholehearted excitement, a bright grin across his lips, a lively blush on his cheeks.

Morax finds the myriad of sensations dizzying, too many sights and sounds and scents bombarding him all at once—and he holds on to Barbatos’ presence for balance. Barbatos, in contrast, seems to harbour no such qualms, flitting from one booth to the next with ease, only pausing to look back when he finds something he wants to recommend. The apples from this store, the handcrafted trinkets from another, the freshly made Mora Meat from yet another one. He isn’t shy when it comes to haggling—even though Morax did remember to bring his wallet for once (much to Barbatos’ exaggerated horror) and he’s certain there would be enough between them to last the day—but it seems to be a normal occurrence to the vendors. Morax watches their good-humored banters, sees how comfortable Barbatos is around these parts and in these situations.

It’s clear how much he loves Mondstadt, and how much he is loved in return.

They spend the rest of the afternoon like this, navigating the packed streets, Barbatos showing him his favorite spots, stopping only for the occasional breathers and snacks. Mondstadt’s festivals have a very different atmosphere to them compared to those back in Liyue, unique in a way Morax can’t exactly pinpoint. Rowdier, perhaps, with the people more comfortable when it comes to mingling with strangers. Morax has lost count of the number of times he’s been randomly approached to be given some sort of gift, or to be invited for meals or gatherings he politely declines. Perhaps the community here is simply tighter knit as a whole, as compared to the more family-centric people of Liyue.

Barbatos leads him to a park at some point, declaring it’ll be their last stop before he has to prepare for a performance after sunset. Morax notices how it’s mainly families and children in this area, not a single wine vendor in sight. There are booths for games instead, where players will have the chance to earn various prizes if they win. Each is packed with groups of youngsters, all vying for the best toys on offer. Shrill, excited voices cheered and jeered at one another; in a way inciting even more chaos here compared to the people crowding the market lanes.

“Why don’t you give one a try? Even adults are allowed to play, you know,” Barbatos suggests when Morax stops to watch a child’s attempt at a game of throwing hoops over cups marked with numbers. Morax glances at him, sees his wayward smile.

“I don't think it’d be fair to the young ones if I did,” he says, to which Barbatos only barks out a laugh.

“Show off,” he retorts, and even Morax cracks a smile.

“Um, excuse me.”

They’re just about to continue on their way when a voice calls out to them. Morax turns around, not seeing anyone until it occurs to him to look down. A lone young girl stares at him wide-eyed from below, a messy flower crown clutched tightly in her hands.

“Mister, please have this!” She offers the item to him, her words slightly rushed from her enthusiasm. Morax has turned down countless gifts throughout the day, but this time, at least, he knows better than to needlessly upset a child.

So he kneels down to be a little closer to eye-level with her. “It is an honor to receive your gift.”

She stretches out her arms, and Morax tips his head to let her crown him.

The child giggles in delight as she steps back. “You really are like a prince, mister! Bye-bye!”

Morax watches her run back to her parents a little way off, warmth blossoming in his chest as he waves his own farewell to her. He gets back on his feet, and finds Barbatos looking at him with an expression he’s never seen him wear.

“It suits you,” he says, like he actually means it rather than the usual sarcasm Morax’s expected he would go for. He supposes he must be quite the sight, a full-grown adult with a falling-apart flower crown perching lopsided atop his head.

“It probably suits you more, Bar—” he stops himself just in time, remembering that they’re here only as humans and nothing more, and that they should at least make a bit of effort to keep up appearances. Though, it's not like anyone within their vicinity would actually be paying attention.

“Venti,” he tries anyway, and immediately breaks into a frown. The name still feels strange on his tongue, no matter how much he’s tried to practice saying it.

“Gods, it does feel weird hearing you call me that,” Barbatos admits with a slight wince, but Morax could somewhat tell that he appreciates it, nonetheless. It's the way his features brighten at the sound of it, the way his eyes would light up ever so slightly. It is, after all, a name bestowed upon him by a beloved friend many years ago. Barbatos has not been called such for a long time. “But yeah, no, you should keep that. Have some fun, let loose a little!”

Morax doesn’t exactly see how wearing flowers in his hair contributes to “letting loose”, but he doesn’t argue.

They have time to go grab something for dinner just as dusk falls, and then Barbatos is bringing him to what he claims to be one of the main final highlights of the Ludi Harpastum: an event of all night drinking and fireworks. There are several spots around the city hosting such sessions, all offering endless streams of food and alcohol sponsored by Mondstadt’s major wineries. Barbatos will be performing in the one held at the city square—the main place, he boasts—first of the few bards invited there to further enliven the mood.

Dozens of chairs and tables are set up across the open space, most already packed with people by the time they get there. There’s a small stage at the very front, the sides of the venue lined with booths in charge of the food and drinks. Waiting staff donning bright uniforms dart from table to table, expertly weaving their way around the already half-intoxicated crowd.

It’s almost overwhelming; the energy, the pungent scent of food and strong wine, the sheer rowdiness of the people gathered around. Morax stops by a convenient tree a respectable distance away from the square, just far enough that the chances of a random drunkard stumbling over and dragging him in would be minimal.

And “I think I’ll stay here,” he says, when Barbatos turns to him with raised eyebrows.

“Don’t want to join in?” he asks, despite Morax’s answer already being obvious.

“I’m sure I can enjoy the atmosphere well enough from here.”

“Hmm, fair enough.” Barbatos shrugs after a quick gauge of the distance between them and the heart of the event. Then he smiles, hands on his hips. “Anyway. I’ll get going first, then. I’ll come find you when I’m done?”

“If I haven’t already left,” Morax says, because he genuinely does not know how much of this unbridled revelry he can tolerate. Even now, part of him wants nothing more than to walk off and find somewhere quiet to wind down for the rest of the evening.

Of course, his statement immediately gets Barbatos whining. “At least wait for me!!!”

“Just go before you’re late.” Morax shoos him off, though he doubts anyone present currently retains even the slightest sense of time.

“Fine, fine!” Barbatos relents, cheeks still puffed, “but I’m going to throw rocks at you if you really leave without me, alright?”

Morax halfheartedly assures he can throw as many rocks at him as he wants if it comes to it, then with a sudden rush of wind and a final harrumph, Barbatos turns on his heels and strides towards the stage, his people cheering his name the moment they spot him.

“Looking forward to what you have for us tonight, Venti!”

“Venti you rascal, you really made us wait this time!”

“Venti, you’re looking lovely as ever!”

Venti, Venti.

The descent of a god, unknown to his own people.

Barbatos takes his seat on the single stool placed on the stage, crossing his legs just so, his posture relaxed yet brimming with elegance. The wind carries the sounds of his lyre all the way to where Morax stands, clear and proud amidst the endless chatter of the crowd. He begins with a slow tune, a moment of calm cutting through the chaos. Demanding attention.

Quiet. Listen.

Morax too, catches himself holding his breath.

And then Barbatos strums another note and smoothly transitions into a new tune, and the crowd explodes with excitement. His next song matches more to the barely suppressed merriment around him, its melody upbeat and festive. He’s skilled at involving his audience, easily encouraging them to sing and dance along. Charming, radiant. He captivates all who behold him—even Morax, despite such genre of music never being to his tastes. It’s a rather belated realization to come to, but seeing him fully in his element like this, Morax can tell that Barbatos’ boastings indeed hold their weight, and that he truly has mastered the craft of a bard.

Barbatos leaves the stage around the middle of his fourth song, slipping into the crowd as he continues his performance. He sings and twirls and dances, one with his people—and somehow still, Morax spots him managing to down some drinks in between. His current song involves a back and forth; he sings one line, then prompting the nearest person to follow up. It seems to be a piece everyone’s wholly familiar with, all who enthusiastically join in barely stumbling on their turn.

Morax notices too, after a few minutes of observation, that it also seems to be endless; constantly looping around the chorus. He wouldn’t put it past Barbatos for doing this deliberately, for as long as it continued, he could drink.

And he does drink. He drinks so much that it’s almost impressive, since he only has a few seconds at a time to gulp down his alcohol. Morax wrinkles his nose from afar, already dreading the stench he would exude when he returns later.

Morax doesn’t see it, at first. He can pinpoint Barbatos’ general location based on the reaction of the people and when he hops onto benches and tables for some elevation, but he’s partly obscured from his sight most of the time. It’s only as Barbatos makes his way further towards the back of the crowd, closer to where Morax stands, that he notices how else some members of his audience interact with him.

People who take advantage of the general unruliness of a large-scale drinking session in a packed area, hands that touch places past normal boundaries. His thighs, his back, his neck.

Barbatos does not falter, either too immersed in his own performance or too intoxicated to realize and care. Or perhaps he is simply used to this, having been a bard for as long as he’d been a god. Morax does not know.

Fire flares in his stomach the longer he watches, filling his mouth with a bitter taste. It is truly an uncomfortable sight. Intoxication is not consent, nor is silence. Morax could not stand it for long, reaching for the flower crown on his head and tossing it aside before striding toward where Barbatos is lingering within the crowd.

He grabs a person by the wrist and wrenches their hand away from Barbatos, his grip hard enough to make them cry out. Barbatos must’ve heard the commotion, turning at the sound and eyes widening in surprise when he sees Morax right there behind him.

Morax glares at him—a misdirection of his anger, he admits—but he only breaks into a satisfied grin, and finally decides to move his song along. He leaps onto the nearest table, feet stepping delicately between the many glass mugs piled across its surface. His tune reaching a crescendo, his finale presented with flourish.

His audience, quite literally, erupts into cheers and applause.

Barbatos half stumbles down from the table amidst the cacophony of the reception, Morax moving to catch him just as his knees buckle beneath him and he loses his balance. He's trembling, his forehead visibly damp with sweat.

And before Morax can properly help him get back on his feet, he throws up all over his sleeve.

xXx

Barbatos supposes his age must finally be catching up to him.

Or perhaps he’d simply overestimated himself, thinking that participating in the Ludi Harpastum’s all-night drink session wouldn’t be too different from his usual gigs, only with a little more people.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have stepped off the stage in the first place, shouldn’t have danced quite so hard, and should’ve saved the drinking until after his performance ended. The lack of air, the thick haze of human odour mixed with the saccharine scent of alcohol, his own sweeping movements—Barbatos had not expected them to combine into an experience quite so nauseating, even for a god.

He vaguely remembers throwing up once more while Morax carried him somewhere, then a third time in a washroom he didn’t recognize. Then he draws a blank after that.

He stirs to find himself on a bed, his clothes replaced with a set of loose cotton pajamas and his body smelling faintly of floral soap. His head throbs with a dull ache, but he figures he’s seen worse days. More than anything, he feels dehydrated, his lips dry and throat like sandpaper. He braces his palms against the mattress, and slowly pushes himself upright.

He's in a dimly lit room, probably one in an inn not too far off from the venue of the drink fest. He hears the sounds of running water from behind the door opposite the bed; Morax is probably there cleaning up after the mess Barbatos made. There’s a jug on the bedstand, a fresh glass of water already poured out for him. Barbatos’ chest warms as he reaches for it, endeared by how fastidious Morax remains, despite everything.

He returns to lying down a little later, admittedly just a little bitter at how things have turned out. He’s had such an amazing day. He'd always wanted to enjoy a Ludi Harpastum with Morax, making so many empty promises with him over the years to go together one day. A festival of fun and games close to his own heart, it’s a change of pace he always thought Morax could appreciate, since he’s constantly at work. They finally manage this after all these centuries, yet Barbatos just had to be an idiot at the very end.

He rests his arm over his eyes, exhaling a slow breath. He's such an idiot.

The sounds of the shower eventually come to a stop, leaving a ringing sort of silence in their absence. The ruckus of the ongoing party not far off carries all the way to their window; people laughing, cheering, singing. Fireworks bursting in the sky.

He'd wanted to show Morax the fireworks too, damn it.

He lowers his arm and turns when he hears Morax stepping out of the bathroom. He’s wearing a similar set of pajamas as himself, though admittedly it looks so out of place on him that Barbatos almost lets out a snort.

“Hey,” he greets, because he’s genuinely not sure how else he should start. Morax meets his gaze from behind his damp fringe, his face betraying no particular emotion.

“Hey,” he returns, every bit as curt. Barbatos cracks a lopsided smile, and decides there’s no point trying to go around it.

“Listen, Morax, I’m so sorry things ended up like this,” he says, twisting to lie on his side facing him. Morax doesn’t respond to that immediately, and neither does Barbatos see much of a change in his expression.

“Barbatos, how many times do you think I've had to handle your drunk antics over the years?”

Barbatos winces at that. “Now you’re making me feel even worse.”

“You should,” Morax agrees, running a towel over his damp hair. “It’s about time you realize how self-centered and inconsiderate and – “

“Okay, okay, I get it!!” Barbatos interjects before his feelings are actually hurt. “I’m sorry!”

Morax only shoots him a meaningful look and says nothing else, knowing at the end of the day he’d do it all over again anyway. Barbatos supposes he can’t blame him; he’s more aware than anyone that he’s been the way he is for more than a millennium, never once giving even the slightest indication that he would change.

Maybe it’s time he considers, after all that’s happened today, but he decides he’ll mull over that some other time.

His eyes follow Morax as he steps away to hang his towel on a rack, his confusion growing when Morax proceeds to stand rooted in place, frowning slightly and arms crossed as though deep in thought. Barbatos stares at him for a solid couple of minutes before speaking up.

“What are you doing?”

“Thinking about what I should do next,” Morax answers, in all seriousness. Barbatos can’t believe this man is for real. He bursts into laughter, earning himself a puzzled look.

“You really don’t know what ‘rest’ means, do you?” he marvels, then scooting closer against the wall and patting the empty spot before him. “Come here and lie down, we’ve been up and about the entire day. Aren’t you tired?”

Morax’s frown deepens by a fraction. “But I don’t think there’s sp-”

“There’s more than enough space for the both of us!” Barbatos assures, chest light with newfound mirth. Morax really is too much of a gentleman at times. “This bed’s huge!”

Morax remains hesitant for a moment longer, but with just a little more gentle pestering, he relents in the end. “Then, if I may.”

Barbatos watches as he moves to take the space beside him, watches the way his long hair falls over his shoulders, the way the collar of his shirt shifts to reveal the hollow of his throat, a small window of his chest.

Morax fully lies down, and Barbatos realizes there really is just enough space for them to stay still like this. Huh. Has Morax always been such a big person? Or maybe the bed really isn’t that wide to begin with, and whatever alcohol lingering within his system is just messing with his perception of space. Not that it matters at this point. Morax still smells fresh from his shower, his uncharacteristically messy hair and comfortable clothes giving him an air of innocence Barbatos never expected to see on him. Unguarded, youthful. They’re a mere half-arm's length apart, close enough that Barbatos can almost feel his every exhale of breath.

“So how did you find the Ludi Harpastum?” he asks, voice barely above a whisper, perhaps part of him being rather conscious about the little distance between them. Did it live up to the expectations he set for him by constantly inviting him to one over the years, he wonders? Did Morax at least enjoy himself a little with all the festivities? Barbatos noticed he’d mostly followed his lead, trying the many things he’d recommended to him, visiting only the places he brings him. Barely making many choices for himself. It’s too late at this point, yet Barbatos still worries about being overbearing without meaning to. Could Morax really have had fun without as much as a freedom of decision?

“It was...” Morax trails off ominously, pausing to weigh his words while Barbatos braces himself for the continuation. “Different, I suppose.”

“A good different or a bad one?”

“Just different,” Morax affirms. “It certainly feels livelier than the celebrations in Liyue.”

“Then,” Barbatos perks up, a little more hopeful now with the way Morax has responded so far. “What did you like most?”

Morax hums to that, silent in a moment of contemplation. “If I were to choose, I quite enjoyed some of the places we visited.”

He goes on to recall the few locations he’d found a liking to, admiring the history and cultural significance of each that Barbatos had explained to him, the various architectural designs and artistic liberties that define Mondstadt’s trademarks. The motifs of the cobbled streets, the poems framed and hung inside windmills serving as charms for Barbatos’ blessings, even the theme of the patterns carved on many a doorplate—Morax seems to have been quite fascinated by them.

He wears a different expression when he talks about the things that strikes his fancy. A slight upturn of his lips, the faintest crinkles at the corner of his eyes. Even his voice adopts a different tone, laced with a smallest hint of excitement—perhaps even joy, because someone cares to listen.

Barbatos could listen to him like this for an eternity, if he had the chance.

“You’re staring at me,” Morax stops to say at some point, a slight knit across his brow. Barbatos supposes he must be wearing quite the expression, for him to look at him like that. But he could not help it; after all, who wouldn’t be utterly captivated by someone as quietly radiant as this god before him?

“I think I'm in love with you, Morax.”

Are the words that take form, a confession he’s surely taken long enough to make. He no longer even remembers when was the first time it’d dawned him, that his feelings for Morax had progressed into something that wasn’t platonic. How many years has it been since he started seeing him with a different sort of admiration, with the barely suppressible urge of wanting to be closer to him?

Morax blinks at him once, twice. Processing what he’s just heard; understandable, as it really had come out of nowhere.

Then he averts his gaze, reaching to cover his mouth as a wave of red creeps up his entire face.

“Why don’t you tell me that again when you’re sober?” he mumbles into his hand, and Barbatos effectively short-circuits for a moment.

“This is the most sober I’ve been all day, though???”

Morax is adamant, shifting to turn away from him as though to physically end the conversation. “That’s what a drunk person would say. Now stop talking and go back to sleep.”

“No, no, no, isn’t this a little sudden?? Morax??” Barbatos is half laughing now, seeing how desperately Morax is trying to deal with his own embarrassment. It is surprisingly contagious, though; even he’s starting to feel a little shy the longer he badgers him.

“Morax?? Heyyy, Morax? Rex Lapis?”

And yet he refuses to let it stop him. He can see how red Morax’s ears are even from behind him like this. Barbatos pokes at his back, a mix of fondness and mischief welling in his chest when the idea occurs to him.

He squirms forward, closing the little distance between them.

“Zhongli.”

Morax tenses at that, the slightest reaction that Barbatos would’ve missed if he as much as blinked. He's...really cute when he’s like this. Part of Barbatos refuses to believe that this is happening. Morax, the Geo Archon, the honourable Rex Lapis, Adepti Prime—has this absurdly adorable side to him.

“Zhongli,” Barbatos dares to say again, just to see what other sort of response he could elicit from him. “Zhongli.”

He leans out of the way just in time before Morax twists to face him once more, bracing himself for a well-deserved smack—but is instead pulled into a tight embrace.

“You’re so obnoxious,” Morax says, his exasperation obvious even in his quiet tone. Barbatos smiles as he returns the hug with just a much intensity, leaning into their contact with a sigh, a swell of his heart.

Morax is much warmer than he could’ve ever imagined.

xXx

They say that both the Geo and Anemo Archons are fond of disguising as humans, often descending from their divine residence in Celestia to mingle with the commonfolk of their respective nations.

No one knows what are their preferred appearances, as oftentimes they are indistinguishable from the everyday person. No one knows if they preferred to present as men or women or even children, or if the rumours of them taking human form even hold any truth. After all, who’s to say they wouldn’t choose to appear as an animal, a sprite, or perhaps a fragment of the elements they embody?

Not many in the nations of Liyue and Mondstadt have ever had the chance to see their respective gods, nor to realize that they’ve lain eyes upon them at all. It is something the people have accepted to simply leave up to chance, as there is no point to obsessing over the miniscule possibility of coming face to face with the deity they worship. There are enough mundane things worth paying attention to on the daily; the clarity of the skies, the specials available in the markets, the trees newly bearing fruit.

A particular sight has grown more common as well within the borders of the two neighbouring nations in recent years, one of a pair often spotted strolling together through the busy city streets, the bustling villages, and even the vast wilderness, when the weather is agreeable.

Should one have their stars aligned just right, they may just chance upon a certain bard and gentleman, both usually engrossed in jovial chatter or some lighthearted bickering no matter the location. Oddly out of place sometimes, seeming right at home the rest. Greet them if you wish, and they would usually respond warmly in return. But take heed, at times you may notice their hands linked and fingers intertwined, the pair lost in a world of their own—and that will be your sign to give space, for even gods would appreciate a little time to themselves.

#genshin impact #zhongven #venzhong #venti (genshin impact)#zhongli (genshin impact)#this was just named nghgh.docx because thats exactly how i feel about them #fanfiction

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kuramirocket · 3 years

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Whenever I visit Olvera Street, as I did a couple of weeks ago, my walk through the historic corridor is always the same.

Start at the plaza. Pass the stand where out-of-towners and politicians have donned sombreros and serapes for photos ever since the city turned this area into a tourist trap in 1930.

Look at the vendor stalls. Wonder if I need a new guayabera. Gobble up two beef taquitos bathed in avocado salsa at Cielito Lindo. Then return to my car and go home.

I’ve done this walk as a kid, and as an adult. For food crawls and quick lunches. With grad students on field trips, and with the late Anthony Bourdain for an episode of his “Parts Unknown.”

This last visit was different, though: I had my own camera crew with me.

My last chance at Hollywood fame was going to live or die on Olvera Street.

I was shooting a sizzle reel — footage that a producer will turn into a clip for television executives to determine whether I’m worthy of a show. In this case, I want to turn my 2012 book “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America” into the next “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.” Or “Somebody Feed Phil.” Or an Alton Brown ripoff. Or a TikTok series.

Anything at this point, really.

For more than a decade, I’ve tried to break into Hollywood with some success — but the experience has left me cynical. Personal experience and the historical record have taught me that studios and streamers still want Mexicans to stay in the same cinematic lane that American film has paved for more than a century. We’re forever labeled… something. Exotic. Dangerous. Weighed down with problems. Never fully developed, autonomous humans. Always “Mexican.”

Even if we’re natives of Southern California. Especially if we’re natives of Southern California.

I hope my sizzle reel will lead to something different. I doubt it will because the issue is systemic. Industry executives, producers, directors and scriptwriters can only portray the Mexicans they know — and in a perverse, self-fulfilling prophecy, they mostly only know the Mexicans their industry depicts even in a region where Latinos make up nearly half the population.

The vicious cycle even infects creators like me.

As the film crew and I left for our next location, I stopped and looked around. We were right where I began, except I now looked south on Main Street. The plaza was to my left. City Hall loomed on the horizon. The vista was the same as the opening scene of “Bordertown,” a 1935 Warner Bros. film I had seen the night before. It was the first Hollywood movie to address modern-day Mexican Americans in Los Angeles.

What I saw was more than déjà vu. It was a reminder that 86 years later, Hollywood’s Mexican problem hasn’t really progressed at all.

Birth of a stereotype

Screen misrepresentation of Mexicans isn’t just a longstanding wrong; it’s an original sin. And it has an unsurprising Adam: D.W. Griffith.

He’s most infamous for reawakening the Ku Klux Klan with his 1915 epic “The Birth of a Nation.” Far less examined is how Griffith’s earliest works also helped give American filmmakers a language with which to typecast Mexicans.

Two of his first six films were so-called “greaser” movies, one-reelers where Mexican Americans were racialized as inherently criminal and played by white people. His 1908 effort “The Greaser’s Gauntlet” is the earliest film to use the slur in its title. Griffith filmed at least eight greaser movies on the East Coast before heading to Southern California in early 1910 for better weather.

The new setting allowed Griffith to double down on his Mexican obsession. He used the San Gabriel and San Juan Capistrano missions as backdrops for melodramas embossed with the Spanish Fantasy Heritage, the white California myth that romanticized the state’s Mexican past even as it discriminated against the Mexicans of the present.

In films such as his 1910 shorts “The Thread of Destiny,” “In Old California” (the first movie shot in what would become Hollywood) and “The Two Brothers,” Griffith codified cinematic Mexican characters and themes that persist. The reprobate father. The saintly mother. The wayward son. The idea that Mexicans are forever doomed because they’re, well, Mexicans.

Griffith based his plots not on how modern-day Mexicans actually lived, but rather on how white people thought they did.

A riot nearly broke out as Latinos felt the scene mocked them. It was perhaps the earliest Latino protest against negative depictions of them on the big screen.

But the threat of angry Mexicans didn’t kill greaser movies. Griffith showed the box-office potential of the genre, and many American cinematic pioneers dabbled in them. Thomas Edison’s company shot some, as did its biggest rival, Vitagraph Studios. So did Mutual Film, an early home for Charlie Chaplin. Horror legend Lon Chaney played a greaser. The first western star, Broncho Billy Anderson, made a career out of besting them.

These films were so noxious that the Mexican government in 1922 banned studios that produced them from the country until they “retired... denigrating films from worldwide circulation,” according to a letter that Mexican President Álvaro Obregón wrote to his Secretariat of External Relations. The gambit worked: the greaser films ended. Screenwriters instead reimagined Mexicans as Latin lovers, Mexican spitfires, buffoons, peons, mere bandits and other negative stereotypes.

That’s why “Bordertown” surprised me when I finally saw it. The Warner Bros. movie, starring Paul Muni as an Eastside lawyer named Johnny Ramirez and Bette Davis as the temptress whom he spurns, was popular when released. Today, it’s almost impossible to see outside of a hard-to-find DVD and an occasional Muni marathon on Turner Classic Movies.

Based on a novel of the same name; Muni was a non-Mexican playing a Mexican. Johnny Ramirez had a fiery temper, a bad accent and repeatedly called his mother (played by Spanish actress Soledad Jiminez ) “mamacita,” who in turn calls him “Juanito.” The infamous, incredulous ending has Ramirez suddenly realizing the vacuity of his fast, fun life and returning to the Eastside “back where I belong ... with my own people.” And the film’s poster features a bug-eyed, sombrero-wearing Muni pawing a fetching Davis, even though Ramirez never made a move on Davis’ character or wore a sombrero.

These and other faux pas (like Ramirez’s friends singing “La Cucaracha” at a party) distract from a movie that didn’t try to mask the discrimination Mexicans faced in 1930s Los Angeles. Ramirez can’t find justice for his neighbor, who lost his produce truck after a drunk socialite on her way back from dinner at Las Golondrinas on Olvera Street smashed into it. That very socialite, whom Ramirez goes on to date (don’t ask), repeatedly calls him “Savage” as a term of endearment. When Ramirez tires of American bigotry and announces he’s moving south of the border to run a casino, a priest in brownface asks him to remain.

“For what?” Ramirez replies. “So those white little mugs who call themselves gentlemen and aristocrats can make a fool out of me?”

“Bordertown” sprung up from Warner Bros.’ Depression-era roster of social-problem films that served as a rough-edged alternative to the escapism offered by MGM, Disney and Paramount. But its makers committed the same error Griffith did: They fell back on tropes instead of talking to Mexicans right in front of them who might offer a better tale.

Just take the first shot of “Bordertown,” the one I inadvertently recreated on my television shoot.

Under a title that reads “Los Angeles … the Mexican Quarter,” viewers see Olvera Street’s plaza emptier than it should be. That’s because just four years earlier, immigration officials rounded up hundreds of individuals at that very spot. The move was part of a repatriation effort by the American government that saw them boot about a million Mexicans — citizens and not — from the United States during the 1930s.

Following that opening shot is a brief glimpse of a theater marquee that advertises a Mexican music trio called Los Madrugadores (“The Early Risers”). They were the most popular Spanish-language group in Southern California at the time, singing traditional corridos but also ballads about the struggles Mexicans faced in the United States. Lead singer Pedro J. González hosted a popular AM radio morning show heard as far away as Texas that mixed music and denunciations against racism.

By the time “Bordertown” was released in 1935, Gonzalez was in San Quentin, jailed by a false accusation of statutory rape pursued by an L.A. district attorney’s office happy to lock up a critic. He was freed in 1940 after the alleged victim recanted her confession, then summarily deported to Tijuana, where Gonzalez continued his career before returning to California in the 1970s.

Doesn’t Gonzalez and his times make a better movie than “Bordertown”? Warner Bros. could have offered a bold corrective to the image of Mexican Americans if they had just paid attention to their own footage! Instead, Gonzalez’s saga wouldn’t be told on film until a 1984 documentary and 1988 drama.

Both were shot in San Diego. Both received only limited screenings at theaters across the American Southwest and an airing on PBS before going on video. No streamer carries it.

How Hollywood imagines Mexicans versus how we really are turned real for me in 2013, when I became a consulting producer for a Fox cartoon about life on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The title? “Bordertown.”

It aired in 2015 and lasted one season. I enjoyed the end product. I even got to write an episode, which just so happened to be the series finale.

The gig was a dream long deferred. My bachelor’s degree from Chapman University was in film. I had visions of becoming the brown Tarantino or a Mexican Truffaut before journalism got in the way. Over the years, there was Hollywood interest in articles or columns I wrote but never anything that required I do more than a couple of meetings — or scripts by white screenwriters that went nowhere.

But “Bordertown” opened up more doors for me and inspired me to give Hollywood a go.

While I worked on the cartoon, I got another consulting producer credit on a Fusion special for comedian Al Madrigal and sold a script to ABC that same year about gentrification in Boyle Heights through the eyes of a restaurant years before the subject became a trend. Pitch meetings piled up with so much frequency that my childhood friends coined a nickname for me: Hollywood Gus.

My run wouldn’t last long. The microagressions became too annoying.

The veteran writers on “Bordertown” rolled their eyes any time I said that one of their jokes was clichéd, like the one about how eating beans gave our characters flatulent superpowers or the one about a donkey show in Tijuana. Or when they initially rejected a joke about menudo, saying no one knew what the soup was, and they weren’t happy when another Latino writer and I pointed out that you’re pretty clueless if you’ve lived in Southern California for a while and don’t know what menudo is.

The writers were so petty, in fact, that they snuck a line into the animated ��Bordertown” where the main character said, “There’s nothing worse than a Mexican with glasses” — which is now my public email to forever remind me of how clueless Hollywood is.

The insults didn’t bother me so much as the insight I gained from those interactions: The only Latinos most Hollywood types know are the janitors and security guards at the studio, and nannies and gardeners at their homes. The few Latinos in the industry I met had assimilated into this worldview as well.

Could I blame them for their ignorance when it came to capturing Mexican American stories, especially those in Southern California? Of course I can.

What ended any aspirations for a full-time Hollywood career was a meeting with a television executive shortly after ABC passed on my Boyle Heights script (characters weren’t believable, per the rejection). They repeatedly asked that I think about doing a show about my father’s life, which didn’t interest me. Comedies about immigrant parents are clichéd at this point. So one day I blurted that I was more interested in telling my stories.

I never heard from the executive again.

A pair of boots

Five years later, and that Hollywood dream just won’t leave me.

I’m not leaving journalism. But at this point, I just want to prove to myself that I can help exorcise D.W. Griffith’s anti-Mexican demons from Hollywood once and for all. That I can show the Netflix honcho they were wrong for passing on a “Taco USA” series with the excuse that the topic of Mexican food in the United States was too “limited.” And the Food Network people who said they just couldn’t see a show about the subject as being as “fun” as it was. Or the bigtime Latino actor’s production company who wanted the rights to my "¡Ask a Mexican!” book, then ghosted me after I said I didn’t hold them but I did own the rights to my brain.

When this food-show sizzle reel gets cut, and I start my Hollywood jarabe anew, I’ll keep in mind a line in “Bordertown” that Johnny Ramirez said: “An American man can lift himself up by his bootstraps. All he needs is strength and a pair of boots.”

Mexicans have had the strength since forever in this town. But can Hollywood finally give us the botas?

#mexican #mexican american #chicano #chicana #usa #united states #racism #discrimination #hollywood #movies #history #california #stereotypes #latinos #latinas #ku klux klan #mexico #🇲🇽

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alexandraswriting · 4 years

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Books to Distract You During Quarantine

Fiction:

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She is Sorry by Fredrik Backman

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Lovely War by Julia Berry

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The Wayward Children Series by Seanan McGuire

The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Pride and Prejudice and Other Flavors Sonali Dev

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets to the Universe Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Warrior of the Light by Paulo Coelho

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Emma by Jane Austen (Especially if you haven’t seen the movie yet)

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

The Odyssey by Homer

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

A Moveable Fest by Ernest Hemingway

Non-Fiction:

Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza

Material Girl, Mystical World by Ruth Warrington

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

The Essence of Happiness by The Dalai Lama

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

First We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Though Anxiety by Sarah Wilson

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

For those who cannot buy books right now for whatever reason, Scribd (not sponsored) is an app I use a lot. They offer a 30 day free trial for first time users.

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rockislandadultreads · 3 years

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Asexual Characters in Fiction: a list of recommended reads

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children No Solicitations No Visitors No Quests Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter. No matter the cost.

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Kathryn Ormsbee, K.E. Ormsbee

After a shout-out from one of the Internet’s superstar vloggers, Natasha “Tash” Zelenka finds herself and her obscure, amateur web series, Unhappy Families, thrust into the limelight: She’s gone viral. Her show is a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina—written by Tash’s literary love Count Lev Nikolayevich “Leo” Tolstoy. Tash is a fan of the forty thousand new subscribers, their gushing tweets, and flashy Tumblr GIFs. Not so much the pressure to deliver the best web series ever. And when Unhappy Families is nominated for a Golden Tuba award, Tash’s cyber-flirtation with Thom Causer, a fellow award nominee, suddenly has the potential to become something IRL—if she can figure out how to tell said crush that she’s romantic asexual. Tash wants to enjoy her newfound fame, but will she lose her friends in her rise to the top? What would Tolstoy do?

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men. But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy. Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky. In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low. And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war. Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out. When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Clariel by Garth Nix

Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped within the stone city walls. And in Belisaere she is forced to follow the plans, plots and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilp. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away. It seems too that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr appear to be disintegrating. With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever, until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her - and it is herself she must question most of all.

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival’s Freak Show. But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered. Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca, and their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina’s illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all of her loved ones disappear.

Books were pulled from this list on goodreads.com

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betweentheinkk-reviews · 4 years

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Call Down The Hawk- Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 4/5

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult fiction

Summary:

Call Down The Hawk is the first book in The Dreamer Trilogy, a spin-off of The Raven Cycle. Taking place in a world where people can pull things out of their dreams but must live in secret, CDTH follows the stories of the Dreamers, their dreams and the people who have to live with them. Following The Raven Cycle’s resident bad-boy Ronan Lynch, a dreamer himself; his brother Declan, a professional liar; Jordan Hennessey, an art forger with a mysterious existence, and Carmen Farooq-Lane, a woman hired to kill dreamers in an attempt to save the world. Taking us back to Stiefvater’s fantastical Henrietta, Call Down the Hawk continues where the Raven Cycle left off and brings with it all of its predecessor’s beautiful prose, mesmerizing world-building and the complex characters that pull it all together.

Thoughts:

Maggie my love, my queen has done it again.

I’m not much of a fan of authors extending the story passed their ending because in a lot of cases there isn’t much of a need for that. But for this series, I think it is not only completely justified but entirely necessary. Ronan was always the most mysterious part of the Raven Cycle, both to the audience and even to himself, with only two books in the series that actually included chapters by his point of view and the fact that so much of what he is and his family history was still left unanswered by the end of the series, a Ronan centered spin-off seemed only inevitable.

With a series based-around people who can pull things out of their dreams you can expect CDTH to be a lot more out of this world than TRC and it definitely is. This series, although still keeping a lot of the atmosphere of the first series, is slowly taking TRC’s setting of magical realism and adding a lot more extreme elements of complete fantasy. It’s not a completely strange shift given TRC set the foundation for anything being possible in Maggie’s batshit world. It’s hard to imagine that at one point sentient forests were hard to believe now that we have dreamers, children with goat legs, shapeless monsters and people who can see the future dropped onto our lap like it’s no big deal.

But world-building put aside, if there’s one thing that really makes Stiefvater’s writing shine, it’s the incredibly well-written and complex characters so let’s get into that:

First of all: Declan, Declan, DECLAN. Ok so if you had told me while I was still reading The Raven Boys that Declan would at any point be my favorite character I would have laughed in your face. Yet here we are. Even after all the strides TRC made to explain Declan’s actions and motivations to us, even after his short story, I could never find myself sympathizing with him and I didn’t think this book would change anything. Yet here we freaking are. This book really dives into all the layers that make up Declan, he is complex and hurt and so incredibly repressed but puts himself through that pain over and over again in an attempt to protect himself and his brothers. It was fascinating to read about and understand this carefully constructed facade Declan had made for himself and how it increasingly takes its toll on him. And even more fascinating to see this act fall away and let us finally see who he is capable of being when he isn’t so determined to be “boring”. His relationship with his younger brother Mathew is adorable and really what sold me on him, Declan mentions taking his role as “substitute parent” very seriously regarding Mathew and he definitely does, his absolute love for him shines throughout every chapter and every time anything goes wrong he’s always the first person Declan thinks of. It was also interesting to see his views on the boys’ father, Nial Lynch. Anyone who has kept up with the series this long knows Declan isn’t his dad’s biggest fan but I thought it was a really interesting contrast to go from Ronan’s romanticized view of him in The Dream Thieves and all the love it radiated, to Declan’s sheer hatred and unresolved anger. It was also really funny to watch him start cursing his dad every time anything went wrong because, you know, he was a jerk so why not.

Ronan has had my heart since the Dream Thieves and this book proves he has no intention of giving it back. It was so wonderful to see how far he has come and how much he has changed since the very first TRC book and that is mainly shown through the way he handles emotions. TRC Ronan converted all uncomfortable emotions into anger because that was the only way he knew how to cope, CDTH Ronan is a Ronan that allows himself to need, to love, to ask for help and, best of all, to cry when he needs to. I really liked how his loneliness was really touched on in this book, not just loneliness as a result of all his friends leaving him, but an overall loneliness from so long being the only one like him.

Ronan and Adam’s relationship was not at all what I expected it to be. These are two boys who have spent so much of their lives repressing their emotions so I didn’t expect them to be mushy and lovey right off the bat, boy was I wrong. Watching them so openly and vulnerably love each other was amazing and a culmination of both of their character development. But, although it was so sweet to see, I kind of wish we had gotten to see a bit of how they got to that point. When we left them at the end of the Raven King they had only just started to consider the possibility of a relationship and I kind of hoped to see the transition from friends to partners and how they learned to open themselves up to each other emotionally, instead, CDTH skips all that and takes us to a point in their relationship where they have already said their I love yous and are completely comfortable with it. On one hand, I love the intimacy on the other I wish we got to see how they reached that point in the first place, I also really wanted to get to see how they broke the news of their relationship to those closest to them, the only one whose reaction we really got to see was Gansey’s. Nonetheless, the boys’ love for each other was one of the highlights of the book for me and all Adam scenes (however few) were a gift.

I kept trying to figure out a way to talk about Jordan and Hennessey’s relationship without spoiling anything and I couldn’t really come up with anything so I’m just going to say it was so interesting and I loved it, it was especially interesting to see these girls who should be exactly the same but aren’t and how Jordan developed into her own person. Not to mention I just plain loved Jordan, she is so badass but soft and caring and funny as heck. As for Hennessey, she is, in a lot of ways, basically a female version of Ronan, except a Ronan who is still volatile and self-destructive, so it was great to see Ronan take up the sort of mentor role with her that he himself never got.

Another new character was Carmen Farooq-Lane. And, honestly, I thought her presence took up a lot more pages than it should have. Did we need to know about the inner workings of the moderators? Sure. But did we need several chapters describing her dealing with all of (name-of-kid-that-I-already-forgot-because-he-was-unnecessary)’s pet peeves? Absolutely not.

Finally, my last bit of commentary for this atrociously long review is that nothing really happened? Ok, I need to rephrase that, things did happen but there was no clear plot or even an actual climax. The plot bit I shouldn’t be too surprised by because the entirety of TRC was very, very character-driven and that seems to be the case here too but even with that in mind, I felt like this book was just a series of events just sort of spontaneously happening and characters being introduced with no real goal or direction that felt like they would be leading up to something but then the climax at the end is only brought up in the last couple of pages and is settled, underwhelmingly, in only a few more. Just like I said in my Wayward Son review, I understand the need for a book to set things up for the rest of the series but I don’t think that should mean the individual book should be missing anything from it.

Tl dr: Although the climax and pacing of the book left me disappointed, overall CDTH was a wholeheartedly enjoyable book filled with well-written characters, beautiful prose and encapsulating world-building that has left me more than excited for the rest of the Dreamer Trilogy.

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