#it is the shiny rocks of the internet age

[marimoscorner]

Consumerism & Witchcraft

Written by Marimo (he/they)🌿

I’ve seen a turn for the better in some witchy spaces regarding consumerism in the past few years, but overall it still tends to be an issue for us as a community. I’ve decided to try and breakdown the pitfalls I’ve noticed in my own journey, in the hopes that it will inspire and assist others. I’ve also provided alternatives and ideas on how to make small changes in our practice to help us better protect the Earth, stick it to the failing system and still acquire our bits and bobs we love so dearly.

As always, I am no authority on any subject nor am I perfect—but we’re all learning as we go, so let’s dive right in 🌿

A Preface

There are some things that should be made entirely clear before we begin:

You are not a bad person for wanting an aesthetic

You are not a bad person for unknowingly falling into pitfalls. Only if you continue to purposefully do so after knowing better

You are not a bad person for consuming content/objects or for not always making the most sustainable decisions. At the end of the day, we can only control our small part of environmental impact, while the rest is left up to the major corporations that make more pollution than any of us ever will

You are only human. Show yourself some grace and understanding that the internet so lacks.

My Experience in Consumerist Hell

I have fallen victim many times to consumerism in witchcraft. Starting my journey at the ripe age of about ten years old and heavily in the broom closet, I was quickly drawn in by the shiny rocks, the brand new candles and scents, the promise of new tarot decks and pendulums and other fancy, shiny new equipment. I was consuming an online aesthetic along with my ideals, and it distracted me from starting my journey by learning well.

I began to spend my birthday and holiday money on the aesthetic of things. While, granted, I still did buy a few literary resources now and again from my local secondhand bookstore—I was stubbornly ignoring the sage advice to learn and understand first before diving in headfirst.

I purchased statues, crystals, too many tarot decks to use. I purchased osteomancy bones I later returned to the earth, for I had not done enough research to know that that animal was mine to practice with. I had a tankard full of incense sticks, and even a growing pile of books that would not be read. While I liked to consider myself crafty with my homemade Maypole and various hand-bound Grimoires, something was becoming apparent: this was all a distraction.

The aesthetic I was partaking in was providing me with a false sense of progress and practicality.

When I’d go to do a tarot reading, I’d become far too overwhelmed with choosing a deck to read in the first place. When making an offering to a deity, I’d feel pressured to also bolster the altars of all the other deities I’d set up, and with my wide pool, the connections felt muddy. Often times I’d be off-put on a project or spell because I knew I needed to film it and it needed to look nice.

In the long term, I don’t have many of these items today. I’ve sold and donated a vast breadth of them. Feeling overwhelmed costed me a few years retreat from my craft to recuperate. However, what has stuck with me is the knowledge I picked up along the way.

So, What’s the Issue? TL;DR

I’ve noticed a few issues here in making these mistakes myself.

Consumerism absolutely distracts you from learning and your craft

Overconsumption leads to environmental damage. If everyone hoarded supplies, there would not be enough to go around. And with what gets thrown away every year…it paints an ugly wound on the Earth

We damage our learning abilities by not allowing ourselves to be anything less than perfect

The need for aesthetic creates barriers to entry within the community and creates a divide of haves and have-nots

You won’t be able to truly follow your individual path if you are only consuming and not creating for yourself

Consumerist culture promotes appropriation. Metaphysical stores carry items from closed practices (such as white sage and palo santo, or coyote bones) because someone is buying them. Don’t be that person, and find alternatives relating to your own culture instead

Consumerism can influence your spiritual decisions based upon monetary inclinations (where some may sacrifice a quality ingredient over a higher quantity of a lower quality ingredient)

So, what can we do?

Firstly, I want to clarify that I am not against collecting, nor am I against maximalism or the beautiful visual aesthetic we carry as a community.

I am an artist a very visual person and understand the longing for a beautiful home and workspace. However, this aesthetic shouldn’t come at the cost of irresponsibly harming the Earth or another community.

Thus, I’ve compiled a list of small things that I will be incorporating into my practice to make it more mindful and sustainable. I hope that you’ll join me in a few of them.

Minimize Supplies. While I used to have a huge selection of stationary for my Grimoire, I now limit myself to a simple pencil and watercolor set if I’m feeling artistic. This helps me actually use my Grimoire for study, rather than to keep perfect. It’s also friendlier on my wallet!

Thrift Supplies. There are plenty of perfectly good items that get donated daily. You can get high-quality candles and holders, old crystal bowls for altar offerings, spare crafting supplies, fabric for alter cloths and even clothing if you so wish—all for a fraction of the cost new and while saving the planet just a little bit more. Hell, you can sometimes even find good silver!

Share Supplies with your Community. You can create a sort of barter system with other witches in your area. Perhaps you create a sigil for them, and they provide you with a candle spell. Play to your strengths and grow together!

Look for Creative Outlets. Do you really need to go buy an altar statue that’s been mass-produced? Or can you give your deity the personal gift of a drawing, painting or even hand-modeled or hand-carved rendition? This will also deepen your connection to your craft and your magic, and make it more meaningful and stronger. If you really like something, though, go for it!

If you aren’t the artistic sort, consider supporting an artist before going to a large company. While I haven’t purchased from them myself, Blagowood on Etsy has beautiful deity statues carved from wood by their small team in Ukraine for a comparable cost to the standard mass produced metal statues. I consider this extra labor of love going into these pieces and those of similar small companies to be much better energy for my practice. I myself may put out some art prints and other handmade supplies in the future, but I will likely spread them around my community first.

Try Secondhand Books. While not available in every area and further still not as available for witchcraft and occult books, you may strike luck! Not only are secondhand books less expensive, but you’ll be supporting a local business. That’s not to say you can’t buy firsthand books, but some searching around may be beneficial to the earth and to your wallet in the long run.

Be mindful of where you source supplies and decor. If you are a fan of taxidermy decor, make sure that you source cruelty free. Bats can practically never be sourced without cruelty, so if a shop carries them, I’d be mindful of their other specimens. The same goes for if a shop decides to forgo a culture’s wishes and carry supplies sacred to them, such as white sage or dreamcatchers. Supporting folks who turn a profit off of others’ suffering is not something many would wish to include energetically in their craft.

Search the Wild for Tools. Find sticks, flowers and other plants out in the forest. Learn how to rockhound in your area for crystals. Your craft will be more powerful the more connected it is to the land you are surrounded by. Be sure to reference guides for safety and legality!

Get Creative with Purposes. If you are having difficulty finding exactly what you need by thrifting or searching, make another tool multipurpose if it would do the job good enough. Find supplies that are easy to source and work as substitutes for other ingredients (ex. Quartz as a stand in for other stones)

Spend more time Doing. Go out into the woods (safely) and advance your connection to the earth instead of worrying over the perfect item for your collection. Your craft will benefit

At the end of the day, all of this is your decision. Take what you like, and leave what you don’t. Even if we don’t agree, I thank you for your time and open mind. I will continue updating about how I incorporate these steps, and I will also hopefully post more on witchy crafting in the future.

I wish you well, and hope you’ll decide to follow along on our journey!

#pagan #pagan witch #paganism #witchblr #witchcraft #marimo writes🌿

[itsbansheebitch]

Gen Zer's (2005) Predictions for Gen Alpha (They aren't Doomed)

I have some cousins that are Gen Alpha and they're turning out well. I really think all the "they're so doomed" messaging is from a loud minority, mostly on tiktok. I disagree, so I plan to make predictions for the vague & soupy (time) generation of Gen Alpha.

This list will focus on American Gen Alpha since there WILL be a stark contrast, especially regarding school shootings.

Average to EXTREME skill with tech depending on the kids (hope STEM is ready to welcome a new wave of newcomers)

Difficulties with history knowledge due to rewritten history books, (Please be kind while they learn, they don't know the full scope of what's going on yet)

Desensitized to violence (Due to usual kid stuff, school shootings being treated as normal, and an increase in hate crimes)

A new passion for social justice (I don't mean to be a "but I have black friends" kind of person, but believe it or not, having friends in minority groups and realizing they're in danger makes you want to fist fight whoever is at fault)

TONS of memes about the "Alpha" phrasing, which trust me, will get old QUICKLY. (A bigger stretch is saying the term for a shitty Gen Alpha kid will be Omega/Beta instead of Boomer)

Unusually violent jokes & memes

Extremely dark humor

A long list of child neglect lawsuits

An increase in accents homogeneity due to watching YouTubers at a young age (I'm not joking, this has happened to me and I only started watching YT in 2nd Grade. I have the weirdest Irish, British, and midwestern, but not the state I currently live in, accents on only CERTAIN words and phrases. There definitely will be studies on this.)

A new wave of kids fighting gerymandering

Brand New Shiny Raw LinesTM from the KiddosTM that they'll probably use to roast lawmakers until they start decomosing on the spot

Kids who are NOT afraid to fight you

New unseen levels of compassion

This is a stretch, but somehow they'll manage to bring back the avocado toast jokes, either as a banter thing or as a new "Boomer" type thing.

KiddosTM will probably joke about how Millennials ruined every industry from fabric softener to identity theft to robberies. This will be (hopefully) fully joking manner and used in a [Post kiddosTM disagree with] [Reply: Well, you ruined the fabric softener industry, so you don't have a leg to stand on] type format.

Will either share you their Social Security Number or will be a brick wall online. No in between.

A increase in reading (specifically fanfiction & audio books, but will NOT be void of physical copies) but a decrease in literacy & media literacy. We are already seeing this happening.

A "you didn't fix this/you fucked it up" attitude towards older people. This isn't necessarily negative since it means they won't take ANY shit from lawmakers and will probably not have as many hangups regarding rioting.

An absolute HATRED for family channels. I waiting for these kids to break the van life kids out in a bizarre scheme of epic proportions lmao

The most indecipherable controversies you've ever seen in your life. I'm thinking at least 5 levels of knowledge and joining a subreddit will be needed to even have an idea of what's happening.

(Hopefully) a new level of understanding when it comes to accountability, people changing, and knowing what you should expect from a person when they get cancelled.

Brand new political cartoons (now made for the internet)

A new passion for the environment and recognizing one's place in it.

A new level of hatred for colonialism and mass killings

Probably at least one assassination lmao (they'll be the barista from the tiktok about the barista killing CEOs with metal straws as darts)

A polarizing divide between anti-capitalism and ancap ideas that we haven't seen since 2008 (and not as publicly in 2008, so get ready for your shit to get rocked).

Some of the best and worst takes that humanity has ever bore witness to.

New acceptance (even better than now) regarding hair (dyes and styles), tattoos, piercings, etc.

A major crackdown on systematic issues (criticism when they're young, major law & education changes when they're older)

That's all for now. REMEMBER! Do NOT treat these kids like you were treated (LOOKING AT YOU, Ms. AVOCADO TOAST and Ms. DOWNFALL OF HUMANITY GAY-MER).

Side Note: People are always surprised when I tell them I was born in 2005 and have already graduated high school (no, I did not skip grades, I was actually very young for my grade) so I'm going to apologize ahead of time for turning all the Millennials reading this into dust. Sorry, ya'll.

#i got handed the dodgeball #Apollo give me strength #for the love of god #lmao #gen z #millenials #gen alpha #predictions #lgbt #lgbtqia #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #queer #trans rights #politics #us politics #world politics #youtube #art #tiktok #twitter #tumblr #discussion

[princessfbi]

Oversharing on the Internet

agged By: @mistmarauder @mellaithwen and @firemedicdiaz

ONE: Are you named after anyone?

My middle name is like my great grandmother's or something?

TWO: When was the last time you cried?

Ummmmmm probably in therapy.

THREE: Do you have kids?

No.

FOUR: Do you use sarcasm a lot?

So much so.

FIVE: What sports have you played/do you play?

I did a lot of sports. I was a competitive swimmer, basketball, karate, tennis, dance, gymnastic, and a little bit cheerleading.

SIX: What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their teeth.

SEVEN: What's your eye colour?

Hazel!

EIGHT: Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. Life is already so morbid. I need the happy endings.

NINE: Any special talents?

I can do that three leaf clover thing with my tongue and I can crochet.

TEN: Where were you born?

In a hospital!

ELEVEN: What are your hobbies?

Writing, reading trashy romance novels, junk journaling, traveling, and spending money on shiny rocks.

TWELVE: Do you have any pets?

I have a fish and a part time puppy.

THIRTEEN: How tall are you?

5'3"

FOURTEEN: Favourite subject in school?

Probably English or history.

FIFTEEN: Dream job

Published author!

I'm going to tag @genderqueerbuck @bigfootsmom @homerforsure @queerbuckleys @rogerzsteven @renecdote and @djdangerlove

#tag game

[rabbitcruiser]

National Collect Rocks Day

Be a geologist for a day and see what interesting rocks you can find. Pick up a book on local rocks or hop on the internet to identify what you find.

Why not live out a childhood dream and be a geologist for the day in celebration of Collect Rocks Day? If you’re the type of person who can’t resist picking up a pebble or two at the beach, or is always on the lookout for shiny minerals when they dig the garden, then this is a chance to make time for finding attractive stones and crystals. People of all ages can use Collect Rock Day as a chance to search for precious and beautiful rocks.

History of Collect Rocks Day

The study of rocks and earth, otherwise known as geology, has been around since at least the 4th century. In Ancient Greece, Aristotle made some important observations about geological changes and the work in the field of geology continued on from there. As the Romans needed certain rocks to build their empire, they became particularly adept at studying, mining and acquiring various types of rocks.

While some folks might simply overlook the importance of rocks, others have a keen eye and can see the unique ways that the planet expresses itself through different kinds of rocks! Collect Rocks Day was established to show honor and appreciation for this interesting activity of looking for, gathering and maintaining a collection of stones and rocks.

How to Celebrate Collect Rocks Day

Get into the groove of Collect Rocks Day by joining up with some friends and participating in some events and activities. Start with some of these ideas for celebrating the day:

Collect Rocks with School Kids

On Collect Rocks Day, school teachers may wish to combine rock collecting with some learning around different rock types and how they are formed. Perhaps it would be fun to head out to a park or forest area, or even just the backyard, for kids to search for unique and interesting rocks or stones that they can collect and learn more about. Teachers could encourage students to check out books from the library that are centered around the theme of geology and rock collecting.

Once the kids in the class have been outdoors and have collected their rocks, it might be great to build a lesson around the concepts of geology. And don’t forget to create a display so that the rock collection can be viewed by other classes or even the whole school!

Visit a Rock Museum

One way to show appreciation for Collect Rocks Day would be to visit a museum that houses a professional array of collected rocks. The United States offers a wide array of geology museums within a short distance of most cities and towns. Check out one of these geology museums in celebration of the day:

Rutgers Geology Museum located in New Brunswick, New Jersey

University of Wisconsin Geology Museum in Madison, Wisconsin

Mines Museum of Earth Science in Golden, Colorado

Yavapai Geology Museum located in Grand Canyon Village, Arizona

Take a Rock Collecting Trip

For adults, Collect Rocks Day is the perfect opportunity for a trip to a fossil-filled beach in search of rocky treasures. Or why not experience something a little different and try panning for gold in a little stream or river? There could be an endless number of exciting possibilities for celebrating Collect Rocks Day in a memorable way for those who just want to get a bit creative with it!

Create a Collect Rocks Day Playlist

A superb way to celebrate any day is to be sure to have the correctly themed soundtrack to play in the background! Collect Rocks Day offers a wide array of songs that can be placed on a playlist through Spotify, Apple music or another platform and then played just for fun.

Try adding some of these rock themed songs to a playlist for the day:

Rock You Like a Hurricane by Scorpions (1984)

We Will Rock You by Queen (1977)

Rock with You by Michael Jackson (1979)

Crocodile Rock by Elton John (1972)

Source

#Vancouver #Whistler #Eddontenajon Lake #Boulder Canyon #Coast Mountains #Grande Cache #Okanagan Lake #Newberry National Volcanic Monument #Oregon #USA #Canada #summer 2023 #travel #vacation #tourist attraction #landmark #landscape #countryside #Pacific Ocean #geology #Collect Rocks Day #NationalCollectRocksDay #National Collect Rocks Day #16 September

[sidhewrites]

posessed by a spirit of writing part 2: how did this happen i've written 6k words in the past 2 days

Project Info

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

tag list: @adaughterofathena @ambreeskyewriting @carnelianflames @halfbloodlycan @vigilantdesert @nadunacreates

The usual muffled weekend noise came through the thin walls of my apartment as I showered off, then decided that I didn't want to deal with the fact that Josie's things were still sitting in boxes on my kitchen table. A set of dowsing rods, cat treats, a few shirts and necklaces, and at least a few crystals. 

I have no clue why she believes in spiritualism like that, considering she's the one who taught me the origins of the west's understanding of eastern mysticism like chakras, third eyes and whatever. Make no mistake, I like shiny rocks as much as the next guy, but the idea that different colors of quartz could make you happier or more sexually active or ward off evil was as stupid as avoiding walking under ladders to avoid bad luck instead of just following basic common sense when it came to physical safety.

I know I sound like an asshole. Josie had told me hundreds of times.

It was still stupid.

Instead of dealing with her things, I carried my sorry ass down to the corner store for a pint of ice cream, bleach, and hair dye. My side-shave was due for a touch-up anyway, so it wasn't purely out of the spirit of emotional devastation and existential crisis that made me go from my typical black to hot pink. Admittedly, it was mostly because of an emotional crisis, but it wasn't the only reason, so I'm counting that as a win.

As the dye set, I put some music on and settled in on the bench by the window. By now, the rain was starting to recede, which meant people were no longer rushing to get from place. My apartment was just across the street from the graveyard, so I had a good view of the college campus, and I could spy on Mr. Ngo when he tried to do something a man his age shouldn't, like kneeling to weed the plants when his arthritis was acting up.

There wasn't much going on today. A few people walking across the grounds, either from the apartments to campus or vice versa, a few of the usual picnickers determined to enjoy an afternoon with their late loved ones despite the mud, or just get some time outside as the sun slowly started to emerge.

But there was someone else in the graveyard today. The small film crew had far better gear than the usual stuff Sutter College loaned out to its students. Even from a distance, their professionalism and organization was easy to see, and their mic operator looked very official -- not to mention a good twenty years older than students tended to be. I couldn't see their faces clearly, nor could I hear what they were saying, but it was all too easy to figure out exactly what they were doing, standing in the overgrown grass and pointing out significant historical graves.

Ghost hunters.

Like I said, the graveyard is old. Lots of people die in 150 years, and we have no shortage of local legends and folklore. The Barhop in [Old Towne Brewery.] Ms. Lark in the old public library. And the town's most famous, Lucille Bloom. According to history, she married the love of her life at nineteen, and lost him two years later in a freak logging accident. They weren't able to recover his body. She died of pneumonia and grief only six days after that, before the funeral had even been properly arranged.

According to legend, her spirit haunts the graveyard, waiting for her husband to be buried next to her as they'd always planned. She's allegedly -- allegedly -- an active spirit that can be spoken to, and often appears as a full-body apparition.

Look, just because I don't believe in Josie's ghost stories doesn't mean I didn't sit up watching documentaries and video essays with her as she went down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. I knew about the town's ghost stories, and I knew about the various teams of hunters and internet personalities who'd done videos on it. I'd even been contacted by them once, though they conveniently left out the fact that I'd never seen a single ghost in all my nights working in the graveyard when the video eventually came out.

If Josie knew they were here, she'd skip work entirely, watching them work and offering suggestions on how to do their jobs. Use this tool, don't put the camera there. She'd be having a blast.

The thing is, though, is that it's stupid. All of it is stupid. It would be to stand there with a radio, or even just a phone, and mess with their EMF readings, or whisper ominously behind the tree while their microphones picked up on sounds that could be anything from the wind to a bird flapping its wings. I could just go down there any time I wanted and mess with them.

I won't, though.

I'm not a child.

I have ice cream to eat, and misery to wallow in, and the hair dye has another ten minutes before I can wash it out. I’m not petty, and I won’t mess with innocent people just because I’m mad at Josie. I don’t even have to get groceries today, so there’s no reason for me to leave the apartment until tomorrow.

My phone buzzes, and my stomach drops. I'm still trying to unsubscribe to all the people Josie followed on my various social media accounts, but I'm still getting notifications one way or another.

New Announcement by the Haunted Archives Team -- [Town Name] Cemetery and the history of Lucille Bloom coming this week! Make sure to tune in next Saturday at 8pm EST for a live Q&A after the video drops.

The post featured a photo of the crew in a graveyard. My graveyard.

So that's who they were.I grit my teeth, and glare at the Haunted Archivists across the street. Josie loves these guys -- a pair of paranormal investigators that pride themselves on emphasizing fact over sensationalism, and using a variety of tools to find ghosts and blah blah blah.

For half a second, I feel bad for Josie. She’s got double shifts all week, so she won’t be able to get online in time. And then I think, Good. She deserves to miss it. I still have her dowsing rods and pendulum in my kitchen just waiting to be picked up, and reminding me of her every time I go to get a drink.

But that’s Josie. These people are just doing their jobs, minding their own business in a place that just so happens to be right across the street from me. I’m not going to go mess with people just because I’m angry and hurt and a skeptic who lives next to the graveyard.

I don’t need to leave my apartment.

I eat my ice cream, watching them putter around down there among the headstones.

I don’t need to go to the graveyard tonight.

#writeblr #wip #graveyard lesbians #gl chapter #writing #writers on tumblr #wlw fiction #lgbtq fiction #supernatural romance

[rainydawgradioblog]

Rainy Dawg's Favorite Smash Hits

Our tireless Blawg team recently put their heads together and parsed out their favorite radio smash hits ever.

DJ Willem Dafoe and Chat GPT 

Katy Perry - “California Gurls”

In the trenches of the great recession, Katy Perry knew what she had to do when she dropped California Gurls off her album Teenage Dream. With 84,000 downloads and 14.9 million plays on American radio, she single handedly stimulated the American economy back to greatness. The catchy chorus, integral Snoop Dogg feature, and shiny synthetic wig changed the course of pop stardom. 

California Gurls is pop at its finest. Right off the bat, Katy shines with her vocals. The whole song is so iconic from start to finish that in her 2016 Super Bowl performance she goes “I know a place..SING IT” and the audience sings back “Where the grass is really greener.” Who else can command a crowd like that???? There is no other time and song where there would be shark mascots dancing offbeat. Left shark, I will never forget about you. Katy has such mastery over creating catchy songs and summer vibes. The song captures the essence of summer with its lyrics about California, beaches, sunshine, and carefree fun. It evokes a sense of warmth, relaxation, and freedom, making it a popular choice for summer playlists. The Snoop Dogg verse also elevates the song to great heights. His line “toned, tan, fit, and ready. Turn it up 'cause it's gettin' heavy.” Those are my nightly prayers I recite before bed to be honest. Katy Kat Forever!

Other considerations why California Gurls is The Mega Hit of All Time. 

I ordered a sex on the beach at the bar because of this song and it was pretty good. 

The Glee Cast Performance 

The Candy Land visuals 

Kira

“Jessie’s Girl” - Rick Springfield

There are quite a few things I have inherited from my father, among them: light hair, affinity for chocolate, and a love of 80s music. One of my earliest memories of music was downloading the song “Jessie’s Girl” on the iPod classic my parents let me use at the tender age of 5. While my other musical escapades at the time were limited to the pop songs on the radio, “Jessie’s Girl” introduced me to the rock genre and its powerful guitar riffs and infectious drum rhythms. The dog on the album cover was a plus too. Though this song and its stellar reception was probably a nightmare for poor Jessie, it will always sound sweet and youthful to me. This song will always remind me of my dad jamming in the late evening while washing dishes. Also as a society we need to bring back little guitar solo bridges.  

Steven

Sade - “Smooth Operator"

After 3 bars of the most memorable percussive intro you have ever heard in your entire life, it is mandatory to audibly sing the bass fill going into the intro saxophone riff. Sade’s voice immediately swells and fills absolutely so much space over the simplistic and smooth bossa-nova-esque beat, with backup secondary backing harmonies filling even more space. The first verse finally cuts into a beat of silence before going back into the initial groove  of the song with the song’s hook. This song is an absolute song-writing clinic. “License to love, insurance to hold” is an insane line to throw into a song. My favorite part about the music video was the intermittent cutting between the main antagonist cheating on the protagonist (Sade) and a dude ripping a saxophone solo.

Ben

Snoop Dogg, Pharell Williams - “Drop It Like It’s Hot"

It is the summer of 2015 and you and your brother have recently been given a PS4 and a copy of 2K15. The soundtrack has been curated by Pharell. It is the peak of his power hat phase. You will spend countless hours being blown out by those using Steph Curry and wired internet connections. You will grip the controllers so tightly that you can still smell the sweat on them (sorry). “Drop It Like It’s Hot” will come up on the shuffle more often than any other song and you and your brother will end up memorizing the lyrics through pure rote exposure. You will imitate the instrumental with tongue clicks and lackluster hand drumming. And watch the music video many many times. You will lose to Steph Curry again. 

Emi

Blondie - “One Way Or Another” off Parallel Lines (1978) 

I’ve had this Blondie poster hanging in my room since my freshman year of high school; its moved with me through about 4 bedrooms. Moms everywhere love Blondie and mine is no exception. She was still pissed when I bleached my hair to copy Debbie Harry, though. 

I think Debbie Harry is one of my favorite icons ever. So I kind of have to pick one of my favorite Blondie signs for this post. “One Way Or Another'' is about an ex-boyfriend-turned-stalker that Debbie Harry had while living in New Jersey, reaching number 24 in 1978 on the Billboard Hot 100. While most all of Blondie songs are fun, this one seems especially whacky, with its guitar and bass doing weird riffs going down by half-steps and threatening vocals that’ll make anyone wish Debbie Harry would stalk them. I want to sing this song so badly right now really really loud but I can’t, so I’m going to leave and go somewhere else where I can. You should do the same!

Zola

Nelly Furtado, Timbaland - "Promiscuous"

There's a clip of Timbaland in the studio playing Jay Z the beat for what would become ‘Dirt off your shoulder”, where you can just tell Timbaland knows he has a hit on his hands. He’s got a gallon of water, and a smash hit. Timbaland ran the music industry in the 2000’s like nobody else. Cranking out hit after hit. The songs he had a hand in making would go on to become huge successes. Think Sexyback, Cry me a river, Apologize . In 2006, Nelly Furtado, and Timbaland came together to create promiscuous. The song which features a back and forth between two individuals’ both insisting on the promiscuity of the other. The song would go on to be a smash hit. In the United States, it went 7x platinum, and hit #1 on the Billboard hot 100, where it stayed for six weeks, until it was eventually dethroned by Fergie’s “London Bridge”. The song even inspired a line in the song “Give it to me”, another Timbaland song, featuring both Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake, in which Furtado takes a swing at Fergie (I seen you to try switch it up, but girl, you ain't that dope), after a line in Fergalicious that she interpreted as a diss towards her (Fergalicious (So delicious) But, I ain't promiscuous) (I'm pretty sure Fergie just needed a word that would rhyme with fergalicious). Promiscuous continues to stay relevant, various remixes and sections of the song continue to trend on tiktok. I continue to listen to it weekly. It continues to be played at 70% of the parties I attend. Might be one of the best songs ever cooked up by Timbaland, which is saying alot, considering hes also responsible for Big pimpin’ and 4 minutes.

Sofia

Dexys Midnight Runners - “Come On Eileen," Too Rye Ay I mean, has there ever been a better song to dance to! Kevin Rowland’s desperate vocals with the violin and accordion that were far from the norm at the time plus the slow-to-fast chant give this song its folksy charm. This song had the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the U.S. during a week in April 1983, and it was Britain’s best-selling single of 1982; despite all that acclaim, hardly anyone knows who the artist is or that this song is about Rowland’s feelings of Catholic guilt and shame about feeling “dirty” after growing up religious. This song’s been following me my whole life, and nothing beats hearing “Come On Eileen” at a party and forcing your friends to get up.

Thank you for reading. Check back for more Official Rainy Dawg Blawg Posts™.

#rainy dawg radio #seattle #spotify #college radio #smash hits

[so-true-overdue]

The Mind-Blowing World of Lapidary: Unveiling the Unbelievable Truth

Hey, you! Yeah, you, sitting there scrolling through the never-ending void that is the internet. I've got a mind-blowing revelation for you. Brace yourself because it's about to get real. You know those seemingly mundane rocks and gemstones that people collect and turn into shiny jewelry? Well, hold onto your seat because the truth is far from ordinary. Lapidary, the art of cutting and polishing stones, is not just a hobby; it's an ancient, mystical ritual passed down through generations. Yeah, you heard me right. Those innocent-looking rocks hold secret powers, or so the legends say. Who would have thought that the key to ultimate enlightenment is literally under our feet? It's like we've been living in the dark ages, oblivious to the true potential of these gemstones. But fear not, my fellow truth-seekers, for I shall dive deeper into this enigmatic world and unearth the unbelievable truth about lapidary. Stay tuned for the mind-bending journey ahead! Until then, keep looking at those rocks with a whole new level of awe and wonder.

#Unbelievable #Truth #Facts #Trust #Worship #Religion #Belief #Unbiased #Skeptic #Smart

[yanawildstar]

It's all about ME, ME, ME!

My fave music

Well for those who still haven't know me, obviously Avril Lavigne is my ultimate no 1 Favourite! I've love her as long as i can remember. She's my IDOL. And I've learned a lot from her.  Im damn proud and happy for her huge comeback this year. She's AMAZING. Let them know she still Rock N Roll!!!  I also do love Taylor Swift. Can't believe She's rules the music world era for years, and she the same age as me. The other music I listen to and really enjoy include Pink, Simple Plan, Billie Ellis, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, the Black Eyed Peas, Jason Derulo, Shawn Mendes. 

My fave book

I  really love Bloom by Estee Lalonde. Been rereading her book so often. Such an inspiring book for me. Always sth that motivate me to do better in life. I also do book from Tanya Burr, Love Tanya, Girl Online by Zoe Sugg, La Candy a novel, series by Lauren Conrad, and also anything by Rainbow Rowell and Sophie Kinsella. Basically, I simply love anything girly, chic flick novels.

My fave two makeup product

Well Honestly I actually only wear this two makeup whenever I'm going out. Simply cant be bothered with the others. First my fave lipgloss,the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer. Its super cute, and I love the shiny light pink shade. It have shea butter enriches from within. Wearing it sure makes my lips look instantly fuller, with a non-sticky formula that’s super shiny and has an addictive peach-vanilla scent I just can’t get enough of. I loves smoky eye and light lip look. One can never forget my fave signature smoky, kohl-rimmed eyes.So yeah my second fave makeup will be my black eyeliner esp MAC Eye Kohl Eyeliner. Been using this since my early teens! I'd always LOVES those black eyes when I was younger, in fact, I still do now too actually. I still will use whatever I could get my hands on. It was so hard to find a black eyeliner that had pigment. Everything i put on was gray. So It was a lot of smudging with eyeliner. 

My List of The World Hottest Guys:

My HUSBAND! of coz, dhuh!

My Dad!

Adam Levine

Andrew Garfield

Ryan Reynolds

Eminem

The Yana Diet on how to maintain my body figure!

Lol! Firstly, damn. Im not afraid to eat fast food as often as I can. From McDonald to KFC, to Dominos I always order the largest portion of Fries or Pizza.otherwise, I tend to just want more. Hehe. 

I eat pasta as often as I can too. I cook the best tuna mayo fussili pasta at home. Fast and easy recipe that I come up with one rainy day! My own creations! So telll me again, who says I can't and dunno how to cook? Just because I don't post about my cooking that often over on the internet doesn't mean I can't surprise my hubby by cooking dinner once awhile. Alhamdulliah, my hubby LOVES it. not because he suppose to, but because he genuinely think it really taste marvellous. He often request me to make dem!

I loves eating sushi, esp salmon sashimi. Yums!The combination of fresh fish, rice and seasonings makes sushi a perfect healthy meal, at least for me! 

I do eat as much chocolate as I can. For me, chocolate seems sinful, and therefore they never fails to makes me happy. My favourite will always be Kinder Buneo!

One thing for sure,I NEVER take any diet/Vitamin pills ever. Simply said I don't do drugs.

Generally,I do what I want, eat what I want, whenever I want. Life too short not to enjoy it. 

[clancystallings04]

Valentino Replica Purses

Just like women’s garments, we replace lots of new styles each season. How can we get a fashion versatile and practical massive bag this year? For instance, this mannequin, with a simple shape and a large capability purse, with rivet decoration, trend sense immediately went. And this one is very appropriate for OL, take you as a robust woman within the gasoline area. valentino bags replica Our Valentino faux purses are classier copies of the unique model with the same luxurious really feel, texture and look of natural and wealthy leather. They match like a glove in all your outing ventures completely, be it for normal use or for special evenings and, evening outs. The rivet part also makes use of the Micro Stud, with a very beautiful red colour, giving a cool feeling of robust and rock. Gift Dior this holiday season with the Sauvage scent that’s riveting, incredibly woody and earthy and all-natural for every day. If you’re on the lookout for a “safe” scent that nearly any man would love, Giorgio Armani’s Acqua Di Gio is your greatest bet. I advocate it to everybody IRL, my brother loves it and it makes a nice show with the designer label. From YSL to Prada, you’ll get pleasure from deep discounts with Sephora’s Fragrance for All Event, where dozens of scents aren’t upwards of tons of of dollars any more because of the magical code, FRAGRANCE20. In truth, like the handsome gown said she loves all black wrinkled pores and skin that part, and her day is “black swan” feeling a black ride! wikipedia handbags Meet the final, she shock appeared, and Song together for everyone to indicate Spike totally different again, Fan Ye love Valentino, she mentioned she favored Rockstud Spike has a gentle side, but also a cool twin character. I all the time really feel that town of his household continues to be so bad that I need to lose it. It was just a hit, and it was taken with out hesitation. This bag is tremendous lovely, but be careful and be careful, as a outcome of it is not very wearable for lambskin. Our "Internet-Only" method enables us to chop the overhead cost and offer you brand new purple bottom on the lowest costs you'll ever see. Even although the tags won't be seen while sporting footwear, it is considered one of the most essential particulars to try whereas authenticating an merchandise. The colour of the strings has been mismatched by the replica factories, as they are alleged to be darker as shown on the authentic mannequin. Very very first thing that must be mentioned is the black shiny leather-based used for the pumps. While it must be very shiny, it mustn't go excessive, which will make it look cheap-looking which is the exact case in the proper image. It should mirror mild as properly as it is shown on the genuine mannequin. She also began learning at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy and graduated a couple of years after her flight. The group spent several months in primary training and, after they completed their training and passed an examination, Kamanin supplied them the option to be commissioned as common Air Force officers. With advice from the male cosmonauts, they chose to just accept Kamanin's provide, as it would make it harder for this system to do away with them after the first flight. All 5 ladies became junior lieutenants in the Air Force in December 1962. ; born 6 March 1937) is an engineer, member of the Russian State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut. The guidelines required that the potential cosmonaut be a parachutist under 30 years of age, less than one hundred seventy cm in peak, no more than 70 kg in weight. By January 1962, the All-Union Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy had selected 400 candidates for consideration. After the preliminary screening, fifty eight of these candidates met the requirements, which Kamanin lowered to 23. On 16 February 1962, Tereshkova was selected together with 4 different candidates to hitch the female cosmonaut corps. Replica Valentino Handbags Rockstud Spike Small quilted leather-based purse Red handbag is the brand new work of creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, which ends up in the brand’s new artistic direction. The handbag has a classic rectangular define, the leather material is beneficiant, the floor is crafted by the craftsman’s delicate quilting technique, and the rivets are inlaid to create a punk dot sample. However, the straps are too thick for the buckle, and getting the buckles on takes some effort. The pleather can additionally be stiff and the ends sticks out after buckling. Our Valentino replicas are available in calfskin leather-based too and, in numerous delicate and daring shades of purple, blue, animal prints and pastel colors. The purse is leather-based made and has leather-based trimmings, polished brass studs alongside the borders, leather trimmings and engraved emblem. If you qualify for a campaign based on your demographics, you will obtain an invite (the utility – email #1). Then, should you utilized on time, we send a second e mail (address affirmation – email #2). She obtained "congratulatory telegrams and letters... from all over the world." These telegrams express the influence that Tereshkova had on different nations, outside the Soviet Union. Women were notably enthusiastic about her flight. For instance, in New Delhi, Tereshkova was a "feminist commonplace bearer bringing a message of hope for 'enslaved' Indian womanhood." Rockstud Spike still follows the brand’s iconic pyramid rivets, however the dimension is smaller than before, and it has a matte effect. It seems very blingbling from a distance, and it still has rivets within the near future. It turned out to be this bag of Replica Valentino Bags! Very slightly thicker heel than KP’s, but it’s exhausting to inform. Annie and Kaitlyn Pan don’t sell size eight footwear although, as dimension 8 is a half size (39.5 CN) in China. You can inform IMMEDIATELY after putting them on that they don't seem to be snug — I feel like I’m putting my feet into foot-shaped plastic cups. Not versatile and not very comfortable, and definitely artificial. Most comfy, however not a lot distinction from Annie’s. It's a cool twist and adds a chilly pull to the otherwise warm perfume, creating a nice balance all through wear. I own several pairs of the KP RS flats because they're extra comfy than the originals because of further padding. For kitten heels, the original RS are more snug than the KP ones primarily because I assume the patent leather-based is a bit softer. Her again on the day of the Rockstud Spike is a normal small sheepskin black models, the above rivets are Replica Valentino Bags regular champagne.

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[welsh98groth]

Genuine Valentino Bare Rockstud Slingback Black Replica Buy Luxury Objects,get Further Coupons Now!

No one can inform the AAA purses purses are actually replica Valentino luggage. There is nothing phony, faux or faux about them, they are a mirror image of the original purses. So inexpensive, you should buy a number of for the price of one designer unique. In a big selection of fashion forward kinds and colours. This type of design feels superb to feel, and it makes individuals feel satisfied! Our "Internet-Only" approach allows us to chop the overhead price and give you brand new pink bottom at the lowest prices you will ever see. Even though the tags may not be visible while sporting footwear, it is one of the most important particulars to take a look at whereas authenticating an item. The color of the strings has been mismatched by the replica factories, as they're imagined to be darker as shown on the authentic mannequin. Very very first thing that has to be mentioned is the black shiny leather-based used for the pumps. While it needs to be very shiny, it mustn't go over the top, which is in a position to make it look cheap-looking which is the precise case in the right picture. It should reflect light as nicely as it's shown on the genuine model. The rivet part additionally makes use of the Micro Stud, with a really lovely purple color, giving a cool feeling of robust and rock. Gift Dior this holiday season with the Sauvage scent that’s riveting, extremely woody and earthy and all-natural for daily. wikipedia handbags If you’re looking for a “safe” scent that nearly any man would love, Giorgio Armani’s Acqua Di Gio is your finest wager. I advocate it to everyone IRL, my brother loves it and it makes a nice show with the designer label. From YSL to Prada, you’ll take pleasure in deep discounts with Sephora’s Fragrance for All Event, where dozens of scents aren’t upwards of hundreds of dollars any extra due to the magical code, FRAGRANCE20. Available in elegant white, the dense black and the audacious red, C-Rockee Fringe Valentino replicas ought to show heads when you walk on. Tote baggage are a delight to hold during shopping escapades, given the straightforward search and find drill in these bags. Valentino tote fakes come with a couple of mannequin options that make them almost undetectable from the unique. Very barely thicker heel than KP’s, but it’s onerous to tell. Annie and Kaitlyn Pan don’t promote dimension 8 shoes though, as dimension eight is a half measurement (39.5 CN) in China. You can inform IMMEDIATELY after putting them on that they are not comfortable — I feel like I’m putting my feet into foot-shaped plastic cups. Not versatile and never very snug, and undoubtedly artificial. Most comfortable, however not a lot distinction from Annie’s. Just like women’s clothes, we replace plenty of new kinds every season. How can we get a trend versatile and sensible huge bag this year? For instance, this mannequin, with a simple form and a large capacity handbag, with rivet ornament, fashion sense immediately went. And this one could be very suitable for OL, take you as a robust woman in the fuel area. Our Valentino faux purses are classier copies of the original model with the same luxurious really feel, texture and look of natural and wealthy leather-based. They fit like a glove in all of your outing ventures perfectly, be it for regular use or for special evenings and, evening outs. The guidelines required that the potential cosmonaut be a parachutist under 30 years of age, less than one hundred seventy cm in top, not extra than 70 kg in weight. By January 1962, the All-Union Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy had selected 400 candidates for consideration. After the preliminary screening, fifty eight of these candidates met the requirements, which Kamanin reduced to 23. On sixteen February 1962, Tereshkova was selected along with four different candidates to hitch the female cosmonaut corps. Replica Valentino Handbags Rockstud Spike Small quilted leather handbag Red purse is the new work of artistic director Pierpaolo Piccioli, which leads to the brand’s new artistic course. The handbag has a classic rectangular define, the leather materials is generous, the surface is crafted by the craftsman’s delicate quilting technique, and the rivets are inlaid to create a punk dot pattern. https://calsmedia.nl/valentino-replica.html The perfume locks itself down with skin musks, cashmere woods, and vetiver. The Nude Collection isn't filled with "pores and skin scents" however soft, light scents that put on close to your physique and, to me, are made to make you feel sensual. This perfume is a stunning, contemporary, aquatic scent. The base presents bourbon vanilla, sandalwood, and patchouli. It’s a linear scent, meaning the wear is fairly constant over time as an alternative of evolving on your skin. [newline]All the notes come at you without delay, in a giant, heat gust of vanilla, spice, and delicate woods. The supplies contained in this website online are protected by applicable copyright and commerce mark law. Valentino replica rockstud Bracelets Earrings Home Fragrance Necklaces COLOUR. I think the studs are probably not metallic — they aren’t cold to the contact like the buckle, which positively IS steel — however they're securely connected and don’t have chips. The gold shade is slightly bit lighter than the studs of the authentic Valentino, however I assume it looks prettier that method. Surprisingly MORE versatile than the Kaitlyn Pan pair, despite the fact that it’s patent! Smells like leather, slight chemical smell that rapidly dissipated. All fashions are of the kitten heel top (65 cmm/2.5 in). Especially with coloured rivets, it offers a sense of only a few girls. Moreover, this replica bag tote is greater than the earlier Valentino bag, plus a Top Handle single handle design, so the lady’s bag sort, extra strengthen this girly. Tereshkova had not held any earlier need to go to space, and it was her experience in skydiving that would contribute to her selection as a cosmonaut. After the flight of Yuri Gagarin in 1961, Nikolai Kamanin, director of cosmonaut training, read in American media that female pilots had been training to be astronauts. To increase the odds of sending a Soviet lady into house first, the women cosmonauts began their coaching before the lads. While all of their releases within the last 18 months have explored completely different components of the fragrance family—from fruity to floral—Mumbai Noise is equal parts heat, woody, and gourmand in the finest way. I gravitate towards winter scents all 12 months round—warm, spicy, candy, leathery notes are the ones that resonate most with me. That's why once the weather begins to chill down, I actually have a blast reaching for scents to keep me heat. I'll be the first to say we should not discuss fragrances like they're seasonal. You should wear whatever scent you like it would not matter what season it's, after all.

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[rushmackay0]

Dainese "valentino Replica 09" Bike Gloves

I am a low/block heel devotee (no heels larger than 3” for me, thanks) and will see myself wearing both for hours. I ordered 3 colors of Valentino Rockstud kitten heel dupes/reps from three completely different sellers, so thought I’d do a side-by-side comparability of the sneakers with the authentics here. You also can use this guide to learn to authenticate Valentino footwear your self. The hand can move via and be taken as a handbag, so the impact is cool. At the identical time, this bag can also be geared up with an adjustable length shoulder strap, so it can additionally be shoulder-back. The Replica Valentino Handbags Real Leather Small Square Shoulder Bag appears quite simple, and the male ticket is very refreshing to provide me a New Year’s Day gift. The Chloé Eau de Parfum has a buildable floral scent, one of the most cute bottles and is a delicate, light-weight perfume to put on every day. Meet the “that girl” perfume of TikTok that’s extensively well-liked for its contemporary and clean scent. If you want one fragrance that’s ideal for a morning and midday refresh, it’s this one. Trust me, it’s one of my most-used bottles on my nightstand. As one of the cherished fragrances , Gucci’s Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Eau de Parfum is a scent for lovers of all things fruity floral. Our "Internet-Only" method enables us to cut the overhead price and give you brand new pink bottom at the lowest prices you will ever see. Even though the tags may not be visible whereas wearing footwear, it is certainly one of the most necessary particulars to verify out whereas authenticating an item. The colour of the strings has been mismatched by the replica factories, as they're supposed to be darker as shown on the genuine model. Very very first thing that must be talked about is the black shiny leather-based used for the pumps. While it must be very shiny, it should not go excessive, which is able to make it look cheap-looking which is the exact case in the best image. It ought to mirror light as nicely as it is proven on the authentic model. The rivet part additionally makes use of the Micro Stud, with a really lovely purple colour, giving a cool feeling of sturdy and rock. Gift Dior this vacation season with the Sauvage scent that’s riveting, extremely woody and earthy and all-natural for daily. If you’re looking for a “safe” scent that almost any man would love, Giorgio Armani’s Acqua Di Gio is your greatest guess. I recommend it to everybody IRL, my brother loves it and it makes a pleasant present with the designer label. From YSL to Prada, you’ll enjoy deep discounts with Sephora’s Fragrance for All Event, where dozens of scents aren’t upwards of tons of of dollars any more thanks to the magical code, FRAGRANCE20. The guidelines required that the potential cosmonaut be a parachutist under 30 years of age, lower than one hundred seventy cm in peak, no extra than 70 kg in weight. By January 1962, the All-Union Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force and Navy had selected 400 candidates for consideration. After the initial screening, 58 of those candidates met the requirements, which Kamanin lowered to 23. On sixteen February 1962, Tereshkova was chosen along with 4 other candidates to affix the female cosmonaut corps. Replica Valentino Handbags Rockstud Spike Small quilted leather-based handbag Red handbag is the new work of creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, which results in the brand’s new inventive direction. The purse has a basic rectangular outline, the leather-based materials is beneficiant, the surface is crafted by the craftsman’s delicate quilting method, and the rivets are inlaid to create a punk dot sample. At the time I noticed this bag, I liked the full leather of this bag, and it was very cute! It seems to be just a plain plaid, however a closer look reveals that it has no obvious stitching, however as an alternative makes use of capitonné’s craft and fixed it with rivets to create this very full padding impact. Valentina married cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev on 3 November 1963 on the Moscow Wedding Palace with Khrushchev presiding on the marriage ceremony celebration together with high authorities and space programme leaders. The marriage was encouraged by the Soviet space authorities as a "fairy-tale message to the country". General Kamanin, head of the area program, described it as "most likely useful for politics and science". Props for taking footage of the particular product though, and not simply stealing pictures from Valentino and Photoshopping their very own model name in like Mavirs and VASHOP LOL. Valentino's unique cool-pink tackle a nude colour, you're in all probability out of luck. I've appeared by way of the WeChat moments of a lot of the trusted sellers and have not seen any actually accurate Poudre pairs. It is her fixed companion and her, fashion quotient. And, speak about Valentino’s handbags and totes, she is overwhelmed by the deluge of selections she has. However, these wishes to personal one die slowly when value tags loom large. By 1976, Tereshkova was a colonel within the Soviet Air Forces. In April 1977, she earned a doctorate in aeronautical engineering and underwent the medical examinations to qualify for spaceflight when selection of a model new class of ladies cosmonauts was announced in 1978. Although she did not go to area again, she remained an teacher at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Replica Valentino purses are all the craze, after people see the true deal hanging from superstar arms. Recreated in perfect detail, meticulously reproduced, utilizing the finest leather, hardware and materials. Only AAA purses manufacturers “Very Best” replica Valentino purses. They look, really feel and odor exactly like Valentino’s unique designer purses. https://phoenet.tw/valentino-replica.html Just like women’s clothes, we replace lots of new kinds every season. How can we get a trend versatile and practical huge bag this year? For instance, this model, with a easy shape and a large capacity handbag, with rivet ornament, trend sense immediately went. And this one is very suitable for OL, take you as a robust lady within the gas subject. Our Valentino faux purses are classier copies of the original model with the same luxurious feel, texture and look of natural and rich leather-based. wikipedia handbags They fit like a glove in all of your outing ventures perfectly, be it for normal use or for special evenings and, evening outs.

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[all-my-love-for-harry]

Delicate. — Part 2.

word count: 2.8k

a/n: Part 2, let’s gooo. as always, feedback is very much appreciated! Let me know what you think or what you would like to see next. thank you for reading!

catch up here!

"Stupid cheesecake recipe."

"Over baking wasn't exactly on the recipe, J." 

"Oh, shut up. Yours is dry as fuck."

Y/n opened her mouth, pretending to be offended. The pair was currently having a little baking competition that clearly went wrong since none of them can bake. Now, Y/n was pretty good at cooking in general, but for some reason baking just wasn't her thing. And obviously, it wasn't Jensen's thing either. 

"I hope you clean this mess after you're done." The truth was, Louise wasn't surprised by the mess her children had made and didn't mind it either. The age difference between both of them was big, so growing up there wasn't much they could do to bond. Right now, however, they were so much closer than they were before, and Jensen and Y/n had more things in common and more options of activities they could do together, like baking. 

Even if they were bad at it. 

"I invited Harry and Sarah tonight. They're having dinner with us." Louise spoke again, grabbing a rag and starting to wipe off the flour on the kitchen island. 

"Who's Sarah?" Y/n asked, cleaning the flour on her left cheek. She tried to ignore the growing butterflies in her stomach at the mention of Harry. She'd be lying if she said she hasn't thought about him since their last encounter, even went as far as trying to look for him on the internet but she got nothing. But the mention of another woman made her feel confused. Was he married or something? Don't blame her, the guy wears a lot of rings.  

"The owner of that cat café I took you to the other day. She's great, don't worry." 

Jensen nudged her playfully, and she rolled her eyes in return. "I'll take a shower." She announced before marching out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her old room. She wanted to clean herself up before Harry arrived, although she didn't know why. Looking through the clothes she kept at her mother's house, she settled in a plain, long blue dress with spaghetti straps and a pair of sandals. She didn't want to look overdressed but also didn't want to just wear a pair of sweatpants like she's been wearing all afternoon. 

"Do you remember when mom tried to set me up with that girl who worked at the restaurant on the other side of town?" Jensen entered the room without knocking, running his fingers through his hair. He was also fresh out of the shower. 

"Madison?" Jensen hummed in response. "She was nice. Why did you stop going out with her?"

"Because mom only did it because she thought I was lonely.?"

"What's your point?" She looked at him after grabbing a hairbrush from the vanity. 

"That she's doing the same now with Harry? Duh."

"Woah, I've met the man once. And I've tried going out with people she sets me up with, and we never click."

//

Y/n tried to play it cool when she heard the gates open, busying herself with whatever as the doorbell rang and Louise hurried towards the door. Harry and a gorgeous brunette stepped into the house, smiling widely at the middle-aged woman. 

"Come on in! I'm so glad you could make it."

"You have a lovely home, Louise." Harry's deep voice along with that accent of his sent shivers down Y/n's spine. She had a weak spot for British people and she didn't know why. 

"I'm sorry Mitch couldn't make it." The woman beside Harry said. 

"Oh, it's okay. There's always next time."

The three of them walked into the living room where everyone else was sitting. Jensen stood up and high-fived Harry before giving Sarah a side hug. A smirk appeared on Harry's face as Y/n came into his view. "Hello again, love."

"Hi, Harry." Y/n returned his little salute. "Azaleas are doing great, by the way." She jokingly said. 

"Knew you would keep them alive." He gave her a little wink before giving her a quick hug. 

Sarah introduced herself and Y/n did the same, accepting her hand to shake. Y/n had to admit, she was really pretty. Along with her brown hair, she had a pair of blue eyes and an inviting smile. If Harry was really dating Sarah, then he was a lucky man. 

Throughout the dinner, Y/n didn't say much. She'd occasionally steal little glazes at Harry and admired how gorgeous he looked tonight. It was funny, Y/n had this feeling in her tummy every time she's seen him, which by the way has only been twice, and she grew nervous out of nowhere. It was almost like she was too shy to speak to him, which was weird considering she was a pro at holding conversations as she's been trained to do so. Sometimes she'd stare for too long and Harry would notice and smile her way. Y/n felt like a teenager with a highschool crush. She tried to convince herself she didn't like him that way and she was just taken back at how pretty he was. 

Dinner was over and Harry insisted on helping with the dishes despite Louise's protests. So now it was just Y/n and Harry in the kitchen putting everything in the dishwasher while sipping on white wine. 

"How can you put ice on it?" Harry asked, nodding at her glass filled with wine and ice. "When the ice melts it just tastes like water."

"I like it really cold but I don't like keeping the bottles in the freezer." She explained, taking a sip from her glass. "So how do you know Sarah?" 

"She was the first friend I made when I came here. She's also British so we became fast friends. Plus, he's dating my best friend and co-worker."

"Oh." She said, processing the information. Perhaps that Mitch guy Sarah mentioned was her boyfriend and not Harry. Suddenly, she felt a wave of relief but then again, why?

"Can I say something without sounding creepy?"

"S-sure?" 

"My sister is a massive fan of yours. When we still lived with my mum, you were all she listened to."

"I'm sorry." She joked and he breathed a laugh. "Well, tell her I say hi, please."

"Will do."

"So..." She dragged the word. "You knew who I was?"

"Obviously I don't live under a rock." He rolled his eyes playfully. "I'm just not invested in that whole world as other people, you know? I don't even own an Instagram account or anything." Harry shrugged.

So that's why she couldn't find him anywhere, she thought. A feeling of excitement ran through her veins. Harry knew who she was, but he didn't care. Being treated like a normal person was a luxury Y/n didn't have anymore, so it was safe to say she felt happy knowing he'd treat her like one. 

They finished the task in silence, but Y/n couldn't contain the little smile forming on her face and honestly, Harry couldn't either. 

She was curious about him. What was he doing in her hometown if he was from the other side of the world? What did he do in his free time? Where did he get so many cool rings? Did he always want to be a florist? Why was he a florist? She had a million questions she wanted to ask, feeling genuinely intrigued by him. Harry could easily come off as an intimidating man, but what she has noticed from him was completely different. 

Harry was shy, incredibly so. But he was also cheeky, and silly and had a boyish smile that he could change into an intense look in a matter of seconds if he wanted to. His green eyes were always shiny, like stars in a black sky. He also appeared to be always happy, although she couldn't be certain on that one. 

The things she was feeling right now were things she's never experienced before and that was both exciting and terrifying. 

//

"I never trust a narcissist." Y/n tasted the new lyrics she's been thinking about with a random melody on the piano. She sat in front of the instrument in her living room and this time she didn't have to squeeze her brain for one decent melody, because this time she was able to come up with one smoothly. 

Pandora was casually laying down on the floor close to Y/n while Lizzie was chilling around the house as she didn't like the sound of the piano that much. This was one of those nights when inspiration came to Y/n from nowhere, having to drag herself out of the comfiness of her bed before she forgot what her brain had come up with. She continued adding lyrics, making sure her phone was still recording everything she was doing. 

It had been a few days since she's seen her family or had any kind of human interaction and now that she was thinking about it, she kind of missed it. Now, she loved her family to pieces and would do absolutely anything for them but she missed her friends, her real friends who were thousands of miles away from her right now. She was craving that more than anything right now and that's probably why she found herself in front of The Blossom House the morning after, debating whether or not entering the shop. 

Deciding to suck it up, she opened the door of the building and stepped in, feeling the overwhelming smell of flowers hit her nostrils immediately. There were a few people in the shop, a young boy buying a bouquet of red roses and two middle-aged women that looked like they came together. Y/n tried to go unnoticed as she stepped deeper into the store. The truth was, she didn't know what she was doing there. She didn't need more flowers, that's for sure. 

She looked through her sunglasses a bouquet of daisies her mother would absolutely die for, so she decided to grab it for her. 

"Oop, sorry. That one's not done yet." Someone said from behind. She turned around and saw a man with long hair tied in a low bun and a mustache on his face. "It's a commission, actually. But I can make another one for you."

"Oh, it's fine. I'll just pick something else." She gave him a polite smile. The name on the tag read Mitch, so he must be Sarah's boyfriend. "Uh... weird question but, is Harry around?"

"Yeah, he's in the back. Want me to get him for you?" He offered but she declined. 

"It's okay. Thank you." Giving him one last smile she walked away to the other side of the room, this time looking at the roses. The white ones were her favorites and she loved looking at them. 

"Hey, stranger."  Taking advantage of the fact he couldn't see her, she smiled widely at the sound of his voice. "Fancy seeing you here." As soon as she turned around she saw the goofy dimpled smile on his face. 

"Likewise, do you work here by any means?" She smirked as he giggled, deciding to play along. 

"Darling, I own the place."

"An entrepreneur, oh my god." She pretended to fan herself with the palm of her hand and Harry let out a big laugh. 

"What brings you here? More flowers?" Something tells her he knew she wasn't here for the flowers, and it was true, as much as she wanted to tell herself she wanted a new bouquet for her mom. In reality, she wanted to see him. "Has something caught your eye so far?"

"There was this bouquet of daisies but a man told me it was for a commission?" Her words came off more like a question. 

"Oh, yes. Mitch's been working on that for a few hours now. I can tell him to make you one like that if you want. Could be done in a couple of hours."

"That would be great. I could swing by in a while to get it."

"Orrrrr, we could wait for it over a cup of coffee?"

She observed him for a while and how the dimples never disappeared from his face as he waited for her answer. He seemed confident and she really liked that. "Sounds fun." She shrugged before a smile appeared on her face, matching his. 

"Let me tell Mitch and we'll go." He said before rushing to the back of the store and returning shortly after without his apron. "Would you prefer to go to Sarah's? Because there's this one, half block away that serves good coffee."

"Let's try that one." Honestly, she'd walk whatever blocks if that meant they'd spend more time together. "As much as I loved going to Sarah's, seeing all those kittens at once makes me cry."

"I feel the same. I always take my mum there when she comes to visit, last time she came she adopted one." He mentioned. A car passed at low speed, making Y/n nervous. She tried to cover her face as much as she could with her hair and fixing her sunglasses. "Is everything okay?" Harry asked, noticing her change of behavior. 

"Uh? Oh, yes. I thought someone was watching from that car." She said in a low voice. What happened next, she would've never expected. Harry pushed her gently to the other side of the sidewalk, changing places with her so his much taller frame would cover hers.

She blushed, looking up at him but he acted like it wasn't a big deal, like it was a natural thing to do although they didn't even know each other that well. She thought he'd tell her she was being paranoid or something but instead, he chose to do something he thought would make her feel more at ease. And it worked. 

Harry held the door open for her when they arrived, guiding her to a table away from the windows and pulled out the chair for her to sit, being an absolute gentleman with her. And although Y/n insisted, Harry went for their coffees and paid for them as well, saying he was the one who invited her hence he'd be the one who pays. 

Once they were settled with their own cups of coffee, they started talking. Mostly about Harry, Y/n still didn't feel comfortable enough to talk about herself and he understood so he let her ask him anything she desired. 

"Do you go to England often?"

"Not as much as I'd like to. I try to go during summer and for the holidays, of course. Although for birthdays and such, I'm not always able to fly there." 

"You must miss your family a lot." From what she's gathered about him, he was a family guy, so being away from his must be tough. She knew it was for her. 

"I do. But I also love it here."

"Do you see yourself going back?"

"To London? Probably not. I have gotten used to being in the states so if I ever move back there full time I'd feel out of place."

She nodded along, listening to him carefully. Harry had a beautiful voice and he spoke slowly so it made it even more soothing than it already was. She swore this man could read her a bedtime story and she'd be out in the first minutes. 

They talked for some more and bought another cup of coffee for the walk back to the flower shop. They were having a great time, and although they wouldn't say it out loud, none of them wanted it to end. So it was safe to say they both felt a little sad once they arrived at The Blossom House. 

"Let me get the bouquet for you." Harry told her after they entered. He came back with a replica of the bouquet of daisies she saw earlier and she smiled. "It's on the house, tell Louise I say hi."

"You don't have to gift me flowers every time I come, you know that right?" She chuckled but grabbed the bouquet regardless. 

"I know I don't have to but who says I don't want to?" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, grinning at her. 

"Thank you, Harry. For the coffee and the flowers."

"You're very welcome. I, uh, I had a great time today." He said, blushing a little.

"Me too."

"Do you think we could do it again some other time?" He asked hesitantly. 

"I'd love to, honestly." Y/n admitted, starting to blush as well. 

"So can I have your number or I'd have to wait until you come again?" He asked teasingly. "Swear I'll not sell it on e-bay."

"Can you even sell a telephone number on e-bay?" She asked, laughing as she took her phone out of her bag, handing it to him. "Feel free to text yourself so you could have mine too."

"I'll use it wisely, I promise."

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps not only for coffee but for a nice dinner."

Yeah, she definitely hoped he'd do that.

//

Tag list: @reverse-hxlland​ @cronias13

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[love-takes-work]

Steven Universe: End of an Era: Outline & Review

I wrote this review in October but never got around to posting it here

Steven Universe: End of an Era is far more than an art book–it’s also a collection of behind-the-scenes material, stories about the experience of working on the show, planning documents and associated background info, and both older versions of developed concepts AND concepts that never made it into the show. It's a huge fusion of all those elements, and it's definitely an experience!

Some low-quality images are included with my review just to give you an idea of what’s there--it’s not a good substitute for getting your own copy, but here’s a tour!

Like the previous concept art book, Art and Origins, I'll be giving you a description of the structure and overview, while also collecting notable information for fans. Obviously just about everything is "notable" once again, but I'll aim for unique insight or perspective on the main source material, keeping the screaming about everything new to a minimum so you can also enjoy something for yourself if you pick it up. My low-quality photos should prevent people from feeling like I'm reproducing the book in any capacity. Please grab one while you can and have your own experience!

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

OVERVIEW

The book is titled "End of an Era" for a couple reasons--obviously because it is released after the show has wrapped, but also because Gem history recently ended its "Era 2" and began Era 3--an age of prosperity and peace. The author--the person in charge of adapting all of this information into this slick, readable package--is Chris McDonnell, whose work was previously applied on the Art and Origins book.

The foreword is by N.K. Jemisin, a well-known science fiction author who's a huge fan of the show (and wrote a really excellent series that also has a weird geological connection, by the way).

And the cover, like its predecessor, is shiny and decorated with a beach scene featuring minimalistic characters--this time it's the Gems at night in front of the Temple, and on the back cover is a big pink leg ship in a cross-legged pose.

The interior covers are decorated with tons of amazing sketches of Steven and Connie on the front, and a bunch of Gem sketches on the back. Every interior page that most would leave blank is highlighted with some kind of sketch art or character exercise--it's so much to look at, so much to absorb.

The book is dedicated "For Eddie."

Its organization is different from the previous book in that it shares applicable work in chunks associated with groups of episodes rather than pertaining to different aspects of building the show.

FOREWORD

N.K. Jemisin gives us such a great introduction to the book--apparently understanding very well that the audience of this book is full of animation enthusiasts and adult fans more than it is full of kids, and explaining that bewildering journey some adults had from blowing this show off as a silly kid thing to falling in love with it hard and fast.

The important thing, Jemisin says, is being able to trust a storyteller with your heart. And it was clear to her that Rebecca Sugar knew what she was talking about and was saying important things about identity and the radical power that comes with accepting it and demanding respect.

Important also is how we handle heroes and who gets to be one in fantasy. That's part of the reason Steven Universe speaks to so many--because we see ourselves here, and know stories can be about us. Acknowledging the power we all have to MAKE THINGS BETTER with what we fight for is so important--especially if we're going to speaking to the next generation about it.

Highlighting Rose Quartz as a "born leader" who failed and Steven as a relatable scamp who did what she couldn't, Jemisin asserts that we can save the world.

1. END OF AN ERA

We start with an appeal to the audience to think about identity and the formative parts of our childhood--and how different it is if who you are and who you become is restricted, mocked, erased, or Not Allowed. Most people, if not ALL people, can relate to this, but for those of us with a special relationship with Steven Universe because of queer identity, this hits hard.

But it doesn't have to be anything grand to be something we respect--this show's authenticity comes largely from how personal everything is, drawn from real-life experiences and incidental truths from each artist's perspective, leaning hard on childhood and formative experiences.

Rebecca Sugar offers some interview bits to discuss writing philosophy and why "writing female characters" was difficult for a nonbinary person who'd been socialized as a girl and a woman. Rebecca has spoken before about how frustrating it is that marketing for cartoons was SO gendered when she was growing up (and to some extent still is).

The Gems in the story are all "she/her," but on their planet they're defined by their work, not by emotion or relationships (unlike women in our society), so having them be socialized opposite to how she was and be able to claim those emotions through choice and NOT as just an expectation "as women" was revolutionary. Rebecca wants her show to tell all marginalized people that they don't deserve to be in the margins.

Weighing in on other aspects of the show were Ian Jones-Quartey, Joe Johnston, and Miki Brewster. Ian describes feeling like at first doing SU was a thrill ride that meant they'd finally get to do all the cool stuff, but it quickly became a responsibility that he took very seriously--the need to tell a good story now that he'd been given a megaphone.

Promotional art, planning documents, character sketches, and concept art from the lighthearted to the stone serious is included, along with some very cool (sort of famous) timeline charts that track major characters' developments. It's emphasized by Rebecca that the developmental materials ARE NOT CANON (and especially are not MORE canon) compared the final show.

There are concept sketches alongside final art for Aquamarine and Topaz in "Wanted" (with Topaz labeled "Imperial Topaz"), the Zircons in "The Trial," Blue and Yellow Diamond, and the Off Colors (including Pink Lars).

And there's also a spread of "the two sides of Steven's life: Gem Magic and Rock N Roll" featuring Sadie Killer and the Suspects (referred to as "Buck's band")--as well as a cool "Crew Cameos" key and some concepts for short-haired Connie.

And then there's some more "finished" art with stills alongside concepts, including some background art, revision, and really cool "fairytale" art from some of the shadowplay storytelling bits. We get "Lars of the Stars," "Jungle Moon," and "Can't Go Back."

2. THE BEGINNING OF THE END: A SINGLE PALE ROSE

In discussing the huge reveals and Gem mysteries in the show, the pacing is examined, and emphasis is put on the intended "slow burn." One of the most difficult things in the show was to strategize so that every piece that was needed to support another piece in the future was placed properly to seed what it was supposed to.

Some of the ideas they developed were more of a group effort and were fit together collaboratively (like Amethyst's being younger than the other Gems and Jasper being from Earth), while others were intended from the beginning based on Rebecca's vision (the fundamental idea of Pink Diamond's true identity, for instance, as well as Obsidian's design and sword and our Pearl not being Pink's first).

The writing process gets a great deep dive here, including fun tidbits like how the orb in the moon base was inserted by Joe Johnston and they literally had no idea what it was for when they wrote the episode. They repurposed it when they figured out what they needed.

Rebecca credits her detailed timelines for helping keep the order straight, and discusses how other artists are sometimes flabbergasted that a storyboard-driven show can have this much detail and continuity and yet not get wrecked by the free non-scripted boarding process. But Rebecca and the Crew valued that approach and loved the way fresh eyes would handle an idea, making it come back alive, entertaining, vivid.

Several Crew members weigh in on the writing process. Lauren Hecht refers to making lots of incorrect guesses despite being on the inside. Joe Johnston recalled getting briefed on his first day and getting so excited to start working on this massive project.

Miki Brewster remembered being told Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond and being shocked--and also confused about why Ruby and Sapphire would need to be married if they're already basically married. Drew Green talks about being brought in late and getting to watch unaired episodes and a rough of the movie while eating cereal.

Ian Jones-Quartey complains about Pink Diamond's real jester-like form being leaked to the internet through a Hot Topic shirt. Rebecca piggybacks on that and says it was upsetting that the wedding was leaked because of toy fair keychains featuring Ruby and Sapphire in wedding attire. They'd always be worried about leaks, and sometimes Rebecca struggled not to talk about the reality of Pink Diamond before the reveal because she knew it would make so much more sense once the truth was out. And everything associated with Rose makes more sense once you know she's Pink--especially what happened with Bismuth, considering what we know about how Pink Diamond has a habit of treating anyone who no longer serves her interests.

When it comes to visual cues, Rebecca also talks about intentional designs to create a feeling of unity between concepts, like the flower shapes on Pink Diamond's palanquin lining up with the poofs of Steven's hair and the star imagery of the series. Steven Sugar and Mary Nash discuss how the Human Zoo incorporated this imagery, trying to look like Homeworld with a Pink Diamond touch.

Steven Sugar, as a game nerd, liked to throw in video game references from old and modern stuff to feel like he's inserting what he's enjoying and who he is from moment to moment, while Mary Nash, who related to Sadie as a basement-dwelling young person with cult interests, liked to include stuff from MST3K and cult movies. Pearl's hand gestures get a spotlight too--her reflex to cover her mouth when Pink Diamond was being discussed was analyzed here.

A "Top Secret Visual Timeline" from 2016 is included which tells us some Diamond history. It has an earlier version of Pink Pearl's fate and does not include Spinel since the movie hadn't been greenlit. The timeline includes the birth of the Diamonds, the emergence and major story beats for each major character, and some philosophy of the driving force behind each.

We're told that Pink Diamond straightened up, behavior-wise, after she lost her first Pearl, and that Yellow and Blue wanted to give her a planet but White only agreed to it to prove she would fail at managing a colony. Pearl, meanwhile, is so confused to have a Diamond who keeps asking her what she thinks when she doesn't believe she should have opinions.

And when Pink moonlighted as Rose to start conflict, she found herself leading an army to fight Pink's troops--then Yellow's, and eventually Blue's too. Lapis is said to be waiting for the conflict to end on Earth so she can terraform, but she gets trapped instead.

Pearl's love story with Rose is described as "an endless honeymoon" where she's free to love her, while Rose's is more like "I'm now the head of the family and I'm going to give everyone what they never had, so everyone is super special!"

Jasper is described as "adopted" into Yellow's army as the only successful Beta Quartz. And White Diamond knew that Pink Diamond was not dead--she thought she was just running away from home like a brat and would eventually be back.

3. THE HEART OF THE CRYSTAL GEMS

Now we discuss Rose Quartz--the original Pink Diamond. How she was selfish and selfless, never enough and always too much, and how Greg was her first partner who "challenged her" to be an equal. Rebecca describes Rose as being delighted by the idea that both she and Greg reinvented themselves, but when that leads her to want to share her past, Greg isn't interested--he only wants to know who she is now, and doesn't consider the old her to be her.

Rebecca likes Carl Jung's concept of "enantiodromia," which is the idea that extremes lead to their extreme opposite. This is demonstrated in all of the Diamonds. This narrative is interspersed with drawings of Greg and Rose being cute.

But another "heart" of the Crystal Gems is its relationships--particularly, Garnet, the fairy tale romance embodied. More psychological theories are discussed with regard to differentiation in a relationship making the relationship stronger, and how they made sure that happened for Garnet during the appropriate arc. Rebecca has struggled with the idea that she, like Ruby, went straight from a "family" group to a living-with-others situation and never lived by herself. But she also learned that you can in fact develop as a person in the context of a relationship--you don't have to be alone to do it. Ruby learned that too, and chose on her own terms to be with Sapphire.

The wedding made so much sense to Rebecca and the crew that they couldn't imagine a wholesome couple like Ruby and Sapphire not having a wedding episode. They wanted it for years: The wedding concepts always included the tuxedo for Sapphire and the wedding dress for Ruby.

But pushback (often blamed on the conservative standards of the international market) led to negotiations trying to keep Ruby and Sapphire's relationship from being explicit. Rebecca and the Crew were very tired of this double standard, and they were especially irritated by attempts to claim a wedding wouldn't be well received by a core demographic or wouldn't make sense for Steven's character. But other shows had done weddings and Steven had been established to love weddings already.

Rebecca kept adding more elements to the wedding episode to answer all the concerns, but she didn't want to back down from explicit marriage between these characters. They deserved it. And the audience deserved to see this as wholesome, like any other cartoon wedding. Eventually they got their way and were allowed to have the wedding. But the ordered episodes were also coming to a close without promise of more, so Rebecca had to request more episodes to be able to wrap up the storyline!

And of course, there is Steven, the true heart of the team. A very interesting aside discusses Garnet's leadership and how the network pushed the Crewniverse to acknowledge Steven as the leader. This was successfully resisted throughout as well--because Garnet is the leader (unless she's incapacitated, of course). It's fantastic that this concept was preserved because too often a young male chosen one is elevated above people with more experience and knowledge because of that chosen one tradition, so it's really nice to have a show acknowledge that team leadership is more appropriate for an adult.

4. ERA 3

Beginning with a discussion of the Diamonds, this chapter deconstructs the dysfunctional "family" of the Diamonds (who are said to be based on tropes about evil stepmothers and stepsisters), with the thread of dysfunction originating with White Diamond.

Yellow is physical, Blue is emotional, White is judgmental, and Pink is impulsive. Some philosophy on why Pink is naturally manipulative and why she clashes so much with White is offered.

White believes her identity is to be imposed on all because she is the pinnacle of what should be--and therefore, she has the right to make decisions and statements about and on behalf of everyone. But her secret is that she can't do what the others do--act or feel or want. In trying to be everyone, she is no one.

And this becomes very important when she confronts Steven about his identity and turns out to be wrong. The triumph of Steven being totally, fully himself is a beautiful, simple revelation that's described as far more satisfying than the theories about Pink living inside him or Rose returning from his Gem.

Also discussed is Gem architecture. A lot went into this idea, and Steven Sugar weighs in to say he had to think of what it would mean for a world to have buildings but serve no human needs. That's why it's mostly focused on transport and storage. Even the broken planet is meant to indicate a place stripped for its resources, and everything serves a function that is meant to avoid looking like the human equivalents.

And there's another layer, too: a difference between Era 1 and Era 2. Era 2 became more functional to hide Era 1's broken bits, and older Homeworld buildings still have some "ornate and ancient" feel to them. And the fact that props, tools, and even walls and doors could be living was taken from a concept Rebecca thought was horrible from old Busby Berkeley movies, where people were inanimate objects and it was portrayed as lovely. Tom Herpich helped conceptualize these living objects.

Steven dealing with "princess tropes" is discussed here too. The Pebbles (worked on with Pendleton Ward) were sort of his Cinderella's mice, and all the locked-in-a-tower, having supportive tiny friends help you, getting princess clothes made, attending a ball, having to mind your manners stuff was intentionally related to fairy tales.

The point of doing that (besides fun) was to easily invoke the feeling that Steven was being made to be someone he's not, and that he was being treated like THIS is who he really is when it isn't. White Diamond as the "evil stepmother" is discussed with regard to her detailed features and massive scale. They generally didn't put fingernails and eyelashes on characters (especially not to indicate that they were women or girls!), but they decided White would get all of these feminine markers for tradition's sake.

Rebecca also invokes several other references that were included and describes the princess tropes as "chipping away at his integrity" setting him up for the final challenge with White.

There is again tons of concept art: Homeworld architecture, Pebbles, Diamond diagrams, background Jades and Lemon Jade Fusion, Comby, Diamond extraction chambers, and White Diamond.

5. CHANGE YOUR MIND

Now we finally begin to discuss Steven's identity. The "Perfect Steven," discussed in several interviews before this book's release, was an idea back in 2013; the "ultimate Steven," beefed up and shonen-looking, was far from perfect because OUR Steven is perfect, while this alpha hero Steven idea (used in Steven Universe Future) didn't belong being idolized in such a show.

They thought about having Steven fall apart into organic half and Gem half early in the show (during "Giant Woman" after a successful fusion and unfusion, even!), but they didn't try the concept until the last episode. They didn't want the "Pink" Steven to be portrayed as "better" even though he would be more powerful, so they decided he isn't whole without his organic self and he's just as much of a shell as the organic half. They absolutely did not want any ending that required Rose to be inside him or waiting to come back. But the debates were fierce--what DOES it mean to have Rose's Gem?

Ian Jones-Quartey brings in an anecdote about his own family to emphasize some of the immigrant themes that inspired aspects of the show. He had a brother who reinvented himself elsewhere away from family without resolving issues, and all the ramifications of that were explored in the show through Rose Quartz. (He is careful to say he doesn't think his immigrant experience is like being from another planet!) But he did say you can hurt your old family even if they were toxic or didn't know the real you, and you can hurt your new family by hiding your past. The Pizza family of course was also a more direct reference to Ian's Ghanaian family.

In talking about the new Fusions from this episode, Sunstone is largely described by Miki, who also got to board the Sunstone section. Sunstone was described as a cool 1990s character and the evolution just continued into making them a fourth-wall-breaking PSA dispenser. Obsidian is also discussed, with their sword being an early concept. Steven Sugar said they totally knew it would be forged in action. Obsidian being similar to the Temple design is of course another very early detail.

The story of how James Baxter got involved with one of the final scenes (Organic Steven and Pink Steven fusing in front of White Diamond) was shared. His family was fans of the show and Rebecca Sugar took the time to drive to a birthday party for his daughter and give her a drawing. He then owed her a favor, and this was it.

Concept art is again included, this time with sample boards, promo images, a Diamond fight concept, costume design changes for the Gems, new Fusions, the so-called "Mega Diamond" ship conglomerate, some scenes from the White Diamond confrontation, Pink Steven, multiple pages of James Baxter animation, corrupted Gems and their healed selves, and photos from the "Change Your Mind" premiere and some awards. The show has won one design-related Emmy, a Peabody Award, and a GLAAD award.

6. STEVEN UNIVERSE FUTURE

The book doesn't cover the movie because it got its own book, but dives right into Future. Ian Jones-Quartey emphasizes that the movie and Future are separate and different from the original show, which ENDED. After all, after that, Steven has a neck!

Some new names are invoked now: new writers Kate Tsang, Jack Pendarvis, and Taneka Stotts. They were excited to have Steven make HIS OWN mistakes instead of trying to clean up someone else's! Now, instead of doing the usual shonen anime thing and having the final battle be a big physical rumble, Steven has to make peace with himself and take an active role in coping with what all the fighting has done to him and what effect it's had on who he is (and who he wants to be). There is no sudden "I love myself!" answer, either. It's always a process.

Drew Green and Maya Petersen, who came on board as storyboarders officially in Future, also weighed in on writing for a "mature" show, how to deal with Steven being a "moral compass" while being sort of unreliable, and what they learned as Crew that they didn't know as fans. Drew didn't know Garnet never asks questions. Jack didn't realize the show never deviated from Steven's point of view. Taneka was nervous but excited to collaborate. Kate was worried about how established the show was and what to do as a new writer to contribute appropriately.

Maya was on the old Crew but not as a storyboarder, so felt like some of the "old" ideas ended up not being appropriate for the "new" Future in an embarrassing way--and dreaded the idea of dealing with Steven's emotional problems when they were similar to stuff she'd been through. She also was personally behind the idea of Steven wanting to dump his problems by becoming Stevonnie, and got to work with Etienne Guignard on inventing the Pearl creation backstory with Volleyball.

There's some discussion of "depression hobbies," stress, and the show's pacing. And they say Etienne was entertaining at pitches. There's even some discussion of how Greg is taken off a bit of a pedestal because his terrible restrictive life in the suburbs sounded wholesome to Steven and Greg presented it negatively.

And then there is some information about how the Crew felt behind the scenes due to fan reactions and negative press. Ian discusses feeling offended when the Black characters are described as bad examples, as if their cartoonized but realistic-in-context features are automatically caricatures.

Rebecca Sugar felt beaten down by some of these narratives and began to access mental health services, inspiring some of the content of "Mindful Education." A long reflection from Rebecca discusses people's infighting about her show and what she had a responsibility to show or not show in the story. She learned a lot about bullying from Cartoon Network's anti-bullying program and learned that bullies thrive on whatever attention you give them--unless it is made clear to them by a peer group that no one is impressed by their cruel actions. Also, not all negative feedback is bullying. Constructive criticism is different. Self-awareness can help you avoid internalizing what bullies might do or say to you.

Segueing from the discussion of how people are affected by and connect with the show, we then discuss how they chose as a team what should be covered as the show came to a close. They didn't have time to do quite a few stories they wanted time for, like a Rhodonite story, a Lars side story, and Diamond "prehistory" and religion; all of it was put aside for the main arc with Steven.

They thought people would find those stories about Homeworld and Off Color history very interesting, but so much of the show had been about Steven's Gem adventures, so keeping him mostly on Earth seemed appropriate. The acknowledgment of his battle damage, of his trauma, was necessary and real, and helpful in an important way to the core audience.

Oh, and there was some stuff about a cheeseburger tree. Don't ask.

In discussing the "reverse escapism" of the original show (Gem aliens are intrigued by everyday human culture, and realism is necessary), Rebecca says her views have changed on escapism and gets why some people want a soothing feel-better show. She acknowledged also that her own escapist dreams-come-true fulfilled in the show didn't feel like escapism because they were givens to the majority of mainstream culture, but were never guaranteed to marginalized people.

Rebecca ties in her several-times-told story about "Love Like You" and how the middle bit was when she didn't feel she was worth looking up to, and the realizations she had to tie the beginning to the end. Feeling like someone will like you less if they know you more is terrible. So sometimes a show like this can be helpful in telling people that they belong when their fantasies are things like "I want to be loved" and "I want to know I exist."

In Future, Steven has to connect to who he is and love that person--and understand that person enough to finally feel that even if he's not fixing their problems or saving their world right this second, Steven deserves his family's love and support, and they WANT to give it to him.

There's a huge amount of supplemental material in this section so there's no way I could name it all. The charts for Future's timeline are pretty straightforward, though a few episodes like "A Very Special Episode," "Why So Blue," "In Dreams," and "Bismuth Casual" aren't specifically represented and a couple are in a different order ("Prickly Pair" was conceived as happening after "Fragments" and "Homeworld Bound").

Steven feeling like a monster, having intrusive thoughts, having not forgiven the Diamonds, and getting help/moving on--it's all there.

We have keys, color scripts, and boards for the new opening and some various backgrounds and storyboard art from episodes. Model sheets for Shep, Nice Lapis and Mean Lapis, Jasper, Steven Tag Gems, Pink Steven Powers, Monster Steven. New house concepts, Era 3 Homeworld concept art for the Diamond environments, and background art for the Reef.

New Connie and Greg designs. Concepts for Mega Pearl, the Rose Quartzes, Bluebird, and Morganite (who didn't get used). And there are some photos from recording and the conference room. There are even some extras from "Crossover Nexus," the crossover with OK K.O.!--including an unused cut scene that included Ruby and Sapphire fighting. The rest of the book is a bunch of adorable Crewniverse art--extras, blog drawings, promos, and gifts to each other.

NOTABLE

1.

The first timeline chart in the book features a cool sketch of the original Off Colors, which at the time this planning document was drafted included unused Off Colors Flint and Chert.

We knew of their existence already because of an episode of the podcast, but these two unexpectedly appeared as incidental characters in the Steven Universe Future episode "Homeworld Bound," identified only in the credits. Sad to think that instead of banding with the Off Colors, these two were probably shattered for their crime (being Quartzes who don't want to fight) and that's why we see them being repaired in this episode. Later, there's some brainstorming for types of Off Colors and "a Ruby that wants to wear limb enhancers" is mentioned as well.

2. 

It looks like there was also originally more juice to the story of tracking down the events of the war culminating in Pink Diamond's assassination.

One of the timelines talks about Steven thinking it makes sense that Pearl can't talk about her involvement because she might have been a double agent, explaining why Rose Quartz always knew what Pink Diamond was doing. It seems like that bit was supposed to be included in Garnet's version of the story she believed in "Your Mother and Mine." Seems like they originally conceived Garnet's story to inspire the Off Colors to become pirates and freedom fighters, though in the show's canon this storytelling happened after Lars had already reinvented himself the way he did.

Sadie was also supposed to be sending letters to Lars via Steven, which is funny since the "Letters to Lars" episode is just a montage Steven letter. And of course it's specified that Steven was supposed to get Pink Diamond flashbacks by going to the Palace on Homeworld.

3. 

The second chart in the book makes references to Sadie's reinvention of herself as a parallel to Lars, Greg, and Pink Diamond all doing the same thing, and how positive it is to embrace such a thing--a version of yourself that YOU create.

I love that Yellow Diamond's arm ship arm-wrestling the Cluster was always part of the plan.

There's some more explicit direction to have Connie help Steven understand the Diamonds as "strict parents," and a lot more emphasis on everyone realizing Rose had been inspired by THEM rather than them all following her.

White Diamond is presented here as if she thinks of Pink Diamond as a "daughter" (whom she now understands she has "lost"). There are notes on how the Diamonds have a responsibility to their children and should attend to it before just continuing to make more.

4.

One of the concept art images for the Off Colors features Rhodonite crouching by Padparadscha saying "Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." It's very interesting because she DOES seem to protect Padparadscha in the show, but doesn't seem confident about it in her final version, even though it does seem like she'd be "programmed" to guard aristocratic Gems because of her Ruby and Pearl makeup. Cool.

5.

A "Crew Cameos" spread was included, which is of great interest to some of us who loved seeing the Crew insert themselves into the show. Not every SU Crew person who's been represented in a crowd was there, but this crowd included Amish Kumar, Kat Morris, Amanda Winterstein, Angie Wang, Lamar Abrams, Emily Walus, Mary Nash, Joe Johnston, Christy Cohen, Danny Cragg, Hilary Florido, Danny Hynes, Matt Burnett, Ben Levin, Elle Michalka.

6.

The official national flower of South Korea, Hibiscus syriacus, is the name of Pink Diamond's flower.

7.

One of Steven Sugar's comments about the silhouette difference between humans and Gems points out that humans have ears. This seems to be pretty good confirmation that they are not supposed to have ears, despite that sometimes we'll see ears drawn on them in some frames.

8.

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond is characterized in this book as "self-hating" in a really interesting way, saying that because she believed she was not capable of compassion, she practically worshiped those who demonstrated that ability and thought they were so much better than her--which is described as "intoxicating" and resulted in others being drawn to her. How interesting is that!

9.

Timelines reveal that early plans for Pink Diamond's first Pearl originally had her getting destroyed by Pink during  a game, and then her destruction was rewritten as a punishment from the Diamonds after Pink Pearl defended Pink Diamond to the other Diamonds. They went back to the idea of her getting hurt by Pink for the final version, though the cracked face and control by White Diamond was not on the agenda until they started writing "Change Your Mind."

10.

The approximate ages of the major characters, based on emergence, are revealed on these timelines. It begins with a cracked-planet-looking graphic depicting four tiny Diamonds emerging at 20,000 years ago. Some suspicious "blacked out" redacting surrounds a long timeline tail that goes back before that, which may mean there are secrets they still don't want to reveal. But the dates go like this:

20,000 years ago: The Diamonds emerge.

11,000 years ago: Pearl is custom-made for Pink Diamond.

8,000 years ago: Sapphire emerges (on Homeworld).

6,000 years ago: Ruby emerges (on a colony).

5,750 years ago: Garnet is formed.

5,600 years ago: Lapis is poofed and put in the mirror.

5,200 years ago: Jasper emerges (on Earth).

5,050 years ago: The Cluster is planted.

5,000 years ago: Amethyst emerges (on Earth).

4,500 years ago: The Crystal Gems found Amethyst.

3,000 years ago: Peridot emerges (on Homeworld).

40 years ago: Pearl found Lapis's mirror at the Galaxy Warp.

And of course we know 14 years ago Steven is born!

11.

Originally the Diamonds were based on a quartet of themes: Love, Fear, Pride, and Sorrow. It got too complicated to keep and it was abandoned, with Pink's identification of "love" being described as "particularly outdated."

12.

Notes on a sketch say that Pearl was inspired to become bold and unashamed because Pink's questions drove her to have opinions, and it's said that Rose "fell in love" with her boldness.

13.

Rebecca tells the story of driving off a ridge and getting stuck in the desert, comparing this to Ruby's tumble during her Wild West adventure and using it as inspiration. She's told this story before but here it is in print. She also included the story about using the flowers from a friend's wedding to put in Ruby's hair.

14.

Rebecca describes having to "fight" notes she was given when it had to do with Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. One she describes as NOT fighting was for a signing card depicting Ruby and Sapphire dancing. It was called "too romantic" and she decided not to worry about it since it wasn't the actual show content.

She was also scolded over her book The Answer because the powers that be expected her to downplay that relationship. She always argued that queer youth deserved these things.

15.

Tom Herpich describes being inspired to name Blue Diamond's comb "Comby" because he was watching the news about Comey getting fired from the FBI. It's also a mineral-related term and I always assumed that reference was intentional, but maybe it's not and this is the only intended significance to Comby's name?

16.

Rainbow Quartz 2.0's design is not discussed, though the other two new Fusions from "Change Your Mind" (Sunstone and Obsidian) were. RQ2 has some sketches included, but no accompanying narrative in the text.

17.

A sheet of corrupted Gems and their healed selves is offered, though it doesn't appear to be final. The obelisk in "Serious Steven" is labeled Albite. The unnamed Worm Monster, Desert Glass, and Watermelon Tourmaline are included. An unnamed birdlike Gem represents the Big Bird monster from "Giant Woman." The crab monster from "Arcade Mania" is labeled Blue Chalcedony. The Tongue Monster is drawn uncorrupted but not named. The Flower Monster from "Back to the Kindergarten" is labeled Grossular Diopside or Titanite. The invisible monster from "Island Adventure" is labeled Moonstone. The Lighthouse Gem is labeled White Topaz. A form for Larimar that was used in "Change Your Mind" but changed in Future is there. The Slinker is listed as Chrysocolla. And the Crab Monster is listed as Aventurine.

On the next page, this is changed to Bixbite (as it was in Steven Universe Future), and we then also have Lace Amethyst, Blue Lace Agate, Crazy Lace Agate (Fusion), Ocean Jasper, the Mother Centipeetle Nephrite (Facet 413 Cabochon 12) and three other Nephrites, Angel Aura Quartz, a hooded Jasper, Zebra Jasper, Biggs Jasper, Watermelon Tourmaline (labeled as Fusion of Gem * Onion--huh?), Snowflake Obsidian, "Little" Larimar, and Orange Spodumene (who was the Worm).

18.

The Rhodonite side story would have been about the love story of a Ruby and a Pearl working for Morganite. Images of Morganite and her servants, unfused, are in the book. We do not get this additional information, but Rebecca said in a panel shortly before the book's release that Rhodonite's story would have been about finding out that she had been Rejuvenated 17 times because her components kept falling in love and needing to be reset.

19.

Referring to the Diamonds on one of the charts, Steven's perspective is "I can't believe I helped these" and then there's a censor bar. Welp.

20.

Some included art by Hilary Florido features Kevin with a souped-up Koala Princess car and another where Kevin is staring at himself in the mirror in front of an altar to himself.

21.

Rebecca's sweater collection is included in the Crew art.

[SU Book and Comic Reviews]

#steven universe #steven universe end of an era #su spoilers #long post #su merch #myblog

[sunshineandcybertronians]

Buffer - Knock Out x reader

Word count: 2, 503 Warnings: none A/N: Was washing a car, decided to write this and did a TON of research.

"(Y/n), you need to wash me and buff out these scratches. Earth is fun to race on, but can be a pain when dirt gets all over my finish!" Your friend, Knockout complained while brushing himself off as he entered the medbay. "And it doesn't help that the Autobots have to scratch me whenever I'm just doing my job.”

A while ago, when you were minding your own business, simply walking on the outskirts of Jasper, you spotted a fight. But not a normal fist exchange, giant robots who you would learn were called cybertronians. Knockout was in that fight. Before the other bots could, he grabbed you, transformed into an Aston Martin, and pulled you through a green-blue, swirling portal.

When he changed back when on the Nemesis, you, being the perfectionist you were at times, pointed out a nasty scratch and that he'd need to get that buffed out. To that comment he agreed. He told you that he captured you so you wouldn't run and tell all of your human friends about him, and later when their leader, Megatron questioned keeping you alive, he also said that you would be a good bargaining chip if the Autobots had something they wanted. Now you weren't a hostage. You helped Knockout with injured Decepticons, which you noted that he was actually a fairly good teacher. And, of course, you aided him with his cosmetic needs.

You smiled upon seeing him again, but it faded to a look of concern when he came closer and you could see the marks. The worst spot was above his right headlight. It had several small, horizontal cuts where the pain had been stripped off as if someone had taken a rock and swiped while dug it into that area.

"You're right." Then you remembered your act. "But I just buffed you two days ago," but even as you stated it, you were already getting out the wash mitts and buckets. The truth was, you loved Knockout's appearance and his paintjob, and would do anything to keep it looking as shiny and clean as Knockout always kept it. Plus, he was your friend. Even so, you would often pretend to resist because if he knew how willing you were to help him, he would have you doing it every three hours.

"Three days," he corrected. "And you're my assistant, thus you help me when I need it. Plus you never seem to mind once you're doing it."

You rolled your eyes playfully and made your way down to the floor, using the makeshift human sized stairs, holding a bucket of soup and water. "I think you forgot to mention that I'm your friend," you didn't even pretend to be upset in anyway.

"I didn't think I needed to." He lifted an optic ridge slightly and gave you a look that made your face faintly warm up.

"Okay, transform now so I can actually wash you," you set down the buckets and loosely cross your arms.

He complied and you got to work. Letting the blue, soft wash mitt around your hand soak into the soupy water, your thoughts wandered to when you got it.

You were standing at the counter with a wash mitt that had soft tassels covering it, along with soup and various other objects.

"That's a lot of stuff for washing a car," the balding middle aged man in the store's uniform commented. "It's going to look like you have a furry paw with this thing on," he joked, holding up the mitt before setting it down again.

"Maybe, but it's very absorbent and has chenille microfibers, making cleaning more efficient and will not scratch like a sponge or cloth would. Plus, wearing it will make it easier to move and get the correct motion," you blurted out a fragment of what you learned while googling the best materials to make Knock look even more perfect.

The man whistled and shook his head. "Wow. That's a lot of research. You must really love your car."

You thought about it for a second and nodded with a smile, "Yes, I do."

Now, you focused on the present, wiping the mitt full of soup smoothing over Knockout's hood. It was a task you always poured yourself into, being sure to clean every part of him aside from the undercarriage. You took care and extra time on the scratched area, absent mindedly admiring the paint that was still flawless, soup suds now adorning it.

"Is that good enough?" you asked, slipping off the wet wash mitt and setting it into the bucket. Although you were fairly certain you had done well enough, you wanted his opinion. The hand mirror that was sitting nearby was picked up by you and you held it up so Knockout could observe your work.

He hummed in approval. "Not bad, but I think I'll judge after you rinse and dry me."

"Will do," you agreed. You quickly grabbed the hose. Water spouted from the nozzle poured over him, washing the bits of white soup off of him and onto the floor. Once the bits of white disappeared, you twisted the hose until no more water leaked out of it. You stared at the paint intently to make sure you didn't accidentally leave microscopic scratches when cleaning him. The result satisfied you. Without any further delay, you whipped out a towel. Not just any towel, you couldn't use a normal one for drying off a car, especially not Knockout. It was a microfiber waffle weave towel. You began blotting off the water like you always would. Wiping could result in picked up dirt and scraping it along the paint, which was the last thing you or the medic wanted.

As soon as the rest of the water was picked up, you draped the towel on your arm and said, "Finished with the washing." Your mind was already making a list of what you needed next to buff him out.

He transformed back into bot form to inspect your work while you spun around to get the rotary buffer and other supplies."Not bad. Like always." He turned his arm over to check the door with its gray pattern. "And to think I once thought a human could never do something like this."

"Well I had to learn. I can't do a mediocre job on the great Knockout," you added with a playful smile.

"Where did you learn all of this? You certainly didn't know at first."

A lot of time on the internet, you were tempted to say. And you meant A LOT of time on the internet. Instead you settled for with a shrug, "I just picked it up."

His optics caught the area where the paint was torn off from the battle and he scowled. "But now it's time to get rid of THAT."

"On it," you carried the buffer, compound bottle, and bucket of paint as best you could. "Now that it's clean, I can reapply the paint."

Since Knockout would have to face the possibility of his paint getting ripped off whenever he encountered an Autobot, he had tons of his paint, so you wouldn't have to jump through hoops to find the right color and make sure it was made out of the right material so it wouldn't react badly with the rest of the paint.

You began to mask the headlight below the area you would repaint, as to not get anything on it that wasn't supposed to be there. There was no scratches in the primer, so you didn't need to add primer. With Knockout always keeping himself in prime condition, you didn't need to remove any rust since there was none. That removed two possible steps. You applied the wax and grease remover to the gray area before using a 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the area for the paint to stick.

While doing this, you heard Knockout grunt from the slight pain caused by the sandpaper. "Sorry, are you alright? Should I be more gentle?" you asked with concern.

"Yeah. It's just a little uncomfortable. I'll be okay, just keep on doing that," he answered as his lights flickered at his words.

You nodded. Once you were done sliding the sandpaper back and forth, you washed that spot again to remove any debris. Next was the actual painting. The can hissed from the seal being broken as you slowly and delicately opened it. After mixing it, you painted on several thin layers. While waiting for each layer to dry, you would either talk to Knockout or he would transform to get some work done if it was semi dry.

When that was done, you pulled out three pieces of sandpaper to even the new paint that stuck up a little. Starting with the 1,000 grit sandpaper to get off the majority, then moving to 2,000 and after 3,000 as you got close to the level of the rest of the paint and needed more fine sandpaper. The next step was to add top coat, which was easier then the previous step.

In other words the whole thing was a long, tedious process. You understood completely why Knockout got so irritated whenever his paint was scratched. Especially since you were the one to fix it most of the time. Plus, you knew it made Knockout upset and you wanted him to look his best.

"Okay." You wiped off your forehead with your wrist. "Now time to get to the actual buffing. Would you like to do this part?" You sincerely hoped he said yes, because no matter how much you wanted to help him, you were getting tired.

"Mmm, I think I'll let you do it," his smooth voice answered. You could tell by his voice he didn't need time to think about it at all.

Sighing, you shook your head with a smile. "Of course. I'm just glad most of the time I'm polishing you and, less frequently, washing you."

"I'm sure you want my paint to look perfect just as much as I do, considering how much effort you put in."

"Maybe," you replied, tongue in cheek.

Now you needed to cover the windows and anything you didn't want compound on. Choosing the appropriate buffing pad and compound, you got right to it. You got the soft circular piece wet and squirted the cream onto it. Slowly and carefully rubbing the spinning pad in circles, making sure you got every spot. It took little effort for you to keep the pressure constant, considering how many times you had done it. The only time you had to think about it was when you reached an edge.

It was beautiful the way it made light swirls at first and make it disappear to reveal shiny paint. You absent mindedly tuned out the whirring of the motor as your brain wandered. Mostly thinking about Knockout, his finish, and how great he looked.

When that was over, you sighed and bent over with your hands on your knees, knowing you had to rinse and wash him all over again. If it weren't for the fact that there were lots of times you had to wait a certain amount of time after a step, you would have been completely winded.

"You're doing a great job, doll," he softly encouraged. "After you wash me off again, I can dry myself."

"Really?" you looked up and smiled at his kind offer that was much appreciated.

"Yep. Although, you'll need to get the parts that are difficult to reach."

"Deal," you almost laughed and felt your smile grow and energy returning.

You practically skipped to the hose. Once you finished spraying the crystal clear water onto him, wiping suds onto him, and rinsing him off all over again, you began to walk over to the corner to relax. A sharp, cool object touched your shoulder and you turned around to see Knockout with his helm tilted.

"I believe I need something." A smirk adorned his handsome face.

You remembered the towel. "Oh." You rushed to get it and bolted back over to him.

He held out his servo for the waffle weave towel. You smiled and nearly fell into a daydream as you stared up at him and handed it to him. Your heart skipped a beat when the edge of your hand brushed against the cool metal of his servo. After a few seconds, you managed to snap yourself out of it before he noticed. You turned, paced over, and flopped into your chair.

Sitting down in the bean bag chair, you bit your lip while you admired Knockout reaching all around his frame to dry himself off. You wished that you could wash and buff him while he was in bot mode, but then you wouldn't be able to reach very far with how small you were.

The daydream and staring session only ended when Knockout tossed the towel to you. It softly hit you in the face and dropped into your lap, leaving a shocked expression on your face.

"Now it's your turn." Knockout winked and shifted back into an Aston Martin.

A low laugh vibrated in your throat, but never left your mouth. You quickly inspected him and got any spot he missed. After that was completed, you got another pad and wax. You set it on low speed and smeared and smoothed the wax onto him. It took a good amount of time, but it seemed faster with you spacing out. As a final touch, you wiped him down with a microfiber cloth to take off any extra wax that didn't need to be there.

When you were finally, completely done, he looked absolutely gorgeous. His paint was a thing of beauty. You had gotten a lot of practice at that kind of thing by being around Knockout, and it showed. You could see your reflection on him. He seemed even more attractive and shiny after transforming.

He whistled while admiring your handy work. "You're a master at this."

"Why would I give you any less except my best?" You threw your extra hand into the air as you used the other to put the rotary buffer away.

His optics looked it over another time. "This is nice. Can you do this again another time?

You let out a laugh before you could stop yourself. "No. I just did it." part of you was exhausted and never wanted to do it again, but another part was completely okay with it because, well, he was Knockout.

"C'mon, you know you love me." He set a servo on his shining hip, showing off his signature, amazing grin.

A smirk crept onto your lips. "Yes, I do."

Extended ending: "Argh!" you heard Starscream's voice from behind the door after Knockout walked out. "Your finish is so bright, it's hurting my optics! Did you make (Y/n) buff you again?!"

You gently held your hand over your mouth and giggled.

#TFP #Knockout x reader #Knock Out x reader #Knockout #Transformers Prime #tfp x reader

[dazedandlucid]

pls elaborate more on the manic pixie trope i like hearing u talk

anon i am hijacking your message to answer other anon(s) as well i hope that is okay!

first, we must look at what a manic pixie dream character (yes this doesn’t apply only to girl characters so if it’s a dude, manic pixie dream boy, keep going from there) even is! girl or boy or non-binary, etc, a mpdc was a trope identifier coined in the ancient year of 2005 in a film review of cameron crowe’s ‘elizabethtown’. the criticism was basicaly that this type of character isn’t their own character at all and a very specific one at that. they are whimsical. quirky. they’re not like other girls/boys/nb’s. usually they are childish, bright and optimistic about life. they have cool obscure music taste. sometimes weirdly colored hair. but the biggest tell is that this character has no goals or wants of their own. they don’t want anything independently of the main character. they are there to show the, usually very drab plain boring miserable stuck in a rut protagonist, a new fresh bright way of life. they are there to “save” so to say the main character not through any heroic action but by their mere shiny oh so special ~existence~. it was originally a criticism of the way male writers wrote these, usually, female characters, with zero agency or purpose other than being a receptacle for the male character to project all his boring bullshit onto. this is a valid criticism. characters like kirsten dunst’s in ‘elizabethtown’, natalie portman’s in ‘garden state’, to a debatable extent the movie version of ramona in ‘scott pilgrim’. for male characters there’s the dude in ‘the fault in our stars’, the dude in ‘pitchperfect’. these characters are by and large thinly written vehicles for the plot, for someone else’s growth and not much else. they do not have their own journey of growth as well. but then, as people are known to do, we lost any and all nuance.

basically every sorta alterna-ish female love interest was deemed a mpdg in the mid late 00’s. even ones that either clearly were not (ie clementine in ‘eternal sunshine’) or ones that were meant to serve as a deconstruction of the trope (summer in ‘500 days of summer’) or worse ones that were a critique and deconstruction of the lazy criticism of the trope itself (ruby in ‘ruby sparks’). why are none of these characters mpdg if they surface level fit the bill? because all of these characters have agency. they want things that have nothing to do with their love interest. they actively are in opposition to the idealization of who the male main character wants them to be. (especially in ruby sparks’ case, the main character descends into insanity when the female character from his book comes to life and, try as he might, he cannot control her. she develops her own consciousness/identity completely independent of him. that’s the point.) but what does any of this have to do with rwcbmt, taekook, and who is or isn’t the mpdc? i’ll get to that, but first: we need to talk about penny lane.

i’ve talked about her at (relative) length before, so i’ll get to the point. penny lane is the main female character in cameron crowe’s (yep same cameron, see a pattern?) 2000 film ‘almost famous’. the jist of the film is a coming of age tale set in the 1970’s where the main character at 15 years old gets sent to cover a rising rock band in the last hoorah in rock’n’rolls last golden dying age. he meets penny lane, the leader of a group of “actualized” groupies, self monikered as band-aids, who takes him under her wing and is pretty much his guru in all things rockstar. af came out a good 5-7 years before mpdg internet insanity became a thing TM, and was retroactively shoved under the umbrella term (as was annie hall, katherine hepburn in ‘bringing up baby’). now, penny lane is definitely whimsical. she has a different outlook on life. she is mysterious. she is a muse. and she very much is a supporting character who helps william, 15 year old wunderkind, on his merry way. but reducing her to a mpdg completely rips her of who she is as a character. as much as penny lane is a muse, as much as william is in love with her and wants to possess her, as much as russell (our shaggy haired rock boy band lead guitarist) lusts after her and wants to posses her, penny lane is not a possession. even when she makes decisions because of men, these are her decisions. she has desires and wants beyond these men. she course corrects her life when she decides she no longer wants anything to do with either of them. she causes action in the film. she is, in fact, the catalyst of the resolution. now, you could say this makes her a character in service of the story, but all characters either serve or direct the plot in some way. and this story is william’s story. everyone is here to lead to his growth in some way, from his mother to his mentor to the band to his sister. but penny lane has her own growth, her own journey. her personal resolution has nothing to do with anyone else except herself and what she wants. if anyone wants to sit around and still argue that no penny lane is a mpdg, then i’m going to have to sit around and argue back that there’s a bigger case that if anyone is the mpdc in this movie, it’s actually russell, our shaggy haired lead guitarist idol god turned almost bff turned antagonist turned just a guy really. but i digress.

depending on when you got into bts, you may have been introduced to taehyung as “the 4-d member” which is kpop lingo for “the weird one” as in so weird they are privy to a whole entire other dimension the rest of us just aren’t. a little out there. not normal. bizarro. not like the other k-girls/boys/nb’s. and sure while he talked about pink bunnies on the moon (which is actually based on a sk folk story but w/e), spoke in a colorful language, had an outside of the box thinking style, it wasn’t all he was. the idea in itself is reductive. but it was sort of everywhere. and a huge part of the mdgc is the concept of the muse. in essence that’s what they are. they are inspiration in whatever way that is for a comparatively “grey” character. they bring the color. so when i thought up the idea of rwcbmt, i was thinking about taehyung, and i was thinking about how often jungkook is often depicted as the polar opposite of “the muse”, but i was also thinking about the mpdc trope but mostly how deeply flawed it is as a trope but also as a character critique. badly written characters should be critiqued, especially female ones for how one dimensionally they are often written, but sometimes the critique itself is derivative and trite for how it leads to the generalizations of certain archetypes. and, beyond this, the way a lot of romance is written, the love interest, not always but often enough, tends to be what the originator of mpdg was criticizing: a fantasy, a plot device for the main character, someone exciting who saves an otherwise mundane character of their own mundanity.

so in terms of rwcbmt, who is the mpdc re/deconstruction? both of them. but also, neither of them. taehyung is in some ways the “grey” character. he’s in a standstill in his life. he’s the less exciting one. he’s not the one who leads them on their adventures, argues that life is so much ~more~. but one of the first things jk asks him is something along the lines of “are you fucking real?”. he’s not like most “other guys”. an entire universe lives in his head. he does have this very wondrous rosy view of life at times. he’s very q-word and very very w-word. but he also has a very grey view of life. he’s not all that whimsical and his optimism is not rooted in the belief that life is ultimately good, but that, as a human person, it’s your responsibility to make it so. jungkook, as the non pov character, takes on the role of the object of desire. the muse. the one who is desired. he pushes taehyung’s comfort levels, makes him reassess what he thinks he knows about almost everything. but he’s in direct opposition to what the mpdc traditionally looks and acts like. there is nothing whimsical or openly childish about him, he’s not a heart on your sleeve optimist on paper. he looks and acts like the “bad boy”. but as the story unfolds, all of that is partly a facade, not because he’s secretly the archatype all along, but because characters should have the space to be multidimensional. tbh, the main reason neither is the mpdc, is because, in the end, they both have agency. they both want things beyond each other. regardless of them ending up together, the thing i’m trying to show with these characters, the thing they in essence show each other, is that no one saves you. not acknowledging that the person who “saves” you is you is removing your own agency. it’s pushing pressure and idealization onto another human person who’s kinda busy with their own shit. i harp on this a lot but my rejection of not only the mpdc trope + critique but how a lot of romantic love is depicted is because i’m trying to posit the idea that love is in essence respect, and viewing your romanic partner as their own separate person completely removed from your own wants and desires, is one of the most important but underlooked aspects of love. to love someone is, again in essence, to respect them for who they are completely beyond you.

and you know fiction is fiction and romance can be just that. idealized versions of characters/relationships/people in fiction are not some grand evil. but they do tend to be the norm so i think there should also be space for attempts of the opposite.

#ask #anon #not @ me forgetting jason lee is the singer twice #ah yo where you at jason lee?

[quicksilversquared]

A Very Jagged Take-Down Ch 3: The Last Lie

Marinette knows Jagged Stone, everyone knows that. She’s his favorite niece, never mind the fact that they aren’t actually related. And Jagged Stone is really famous, the exact kind of person that Lila loves claiming connections to.

That was never going to end the way Lila wanted it to.

(a collection of one-shots)

links in the reblog

Marinette had spent the past month getting everything absolutely perfect for Penny's birthday gift for Jagged Stone.

Shiny aluminum dragon scale beads shimmered and caught the light from between more muted scale-textured fabric on the slim-cut jacket. Uneven netting made the illusion of yet more scales, each texture carefully placed to make sure that it wouldn't impede Jagged Stone's guitar or piano playing. Marinette had gotten the idea from the Game of Thrones wardrobe and added her own spin, and she couldn't deny that both it and the pants that she had made- with the same fabric scaling texture wrapping around in uneven patches and lines- were absolute works of art.

(There had been so many hours spent frustrated as she worked at the texture, trying to get it to come out right, and then the actual pieces had taken ages, but- well, it was all worth it, both for her portfolio and for the check that she had gotten to cover the commission from Penny,)

And now- in only a couple of hours- Jagged Stone would have his birthday party and get to open his presents. The party wasn't in Paris- Jagged Stone's tour had him enjoying lovely summer weather in New Zealand while Paris shivered under a layer of snow and ice- and so obviously Marinette couldn't attend, but Penny had promised to send a video of Jagged Stone's reaction to his presents.

(Marinette was so glad that she- or rather, Penny- had paid for express shipping. Even with it, the package had only managed to arrive the day before, which was cutting it far closer than Marinette had wanted.)

"Are you going to make a piece for yourself that uses some of the dragon scale mail stuff?" Tikki wanted to know as Marinette anxiously waited for the text from Penny. "Or that texture? It turned out really cool."

"I think I'm going to give my fingers a break first," Marinette admitted with a laugh. "There was so much hand sewing on those pieces, my fingertips are pricked to bits. And it took up so much time- I haven't gone on any outings with my friends in forever, because I was trying to get that done. So I want to hang out with them a few times first, before everyone decides that I'm just flaking completely out on them, and then- yeah, I want to come up with some design to play around with."

"They wouldn't think that you're a flake if you hadn't decided to keep the commission and your gift for Jagged Stone a secret," Tikki pointed out. "I can understand why you wouldn't show anyone pieces in progress, so that the design wouldn't get leaked, but you could have told them that you had a commission for Jagged Stone, at least."

"And then everyone would be bugging me wanting to see it. No thanks." Marinette had considered it at first- after all, it would be a reminder to their class that she did know Jagged Stone, thank-you-very-much, and maybe if she said that one of Lila's stories about Jagged was a lie, people should actually consider listening- but then the cons had sunk in.

The pestering. The attempts to steal ("borrow") her sketchbook in hopes of getting a glimpse of the design. The snooping around her room- which would be a big problem now that she was also hiding the Miracle Box- to try to get a sneak peek at the piece. If she was especially unlucky, Lila or Chloe stealing or destroying her sketchbook out of jealousy.

It would be easy enough to admit to the commission after Jagged Stone had already gotten his present. That way, there would be no chances of sabotage. Then she could admit the reason why she hadn't been hanging out all month, everyone would stop complaining about her absence, and things would go back to normal.

(She had told Chat Noir, after her partner had dropped by her balcony while she was working on the texturing for the fabric scales, but he had been sworn to secrecy in return for a few pain au chocolat. Hopefully the rest of Paris never found out how incredibly easy he was to bribe.)

It was hard to do her homework with so much anticipation swirling around her gut, but Marinette forced herself through it. After all, as a superhero, she didn't exactly have time to spend just sitting around not getting her homework done, and there had been some projects that had been pushed aside towards the end of her present-sewing spree that Marinette had to get caught up on.

At least she had practice with shoving aside everything else in her life to focus on homework. Marinette had had to play catch-up after akuma attacks a few too many times for her to not know how to do that.

Two hours later, her email beeped with a new message. Marinette shoved aside her Chemistry practice problems at once, reaching for her computer mouse and opening the email from Penny.

Jagged LOVES his pants and jacket! the message read. They're absolutely gorgeous! He's gone to change into them right away because he just couldn't wait to wear them, so don't be surprised if you see a picture or two floating around on the Internet before long! Thank you so much for all of your hard work- I knew it was a fantastic idea to commission you!

Marinette had to laugh as she clicked on the video link and it started to play. That was so very Jagged, to be too excited about his new outfit to be able to wait.

Onscreen, Jagged Stone was opening a few presents, probably from his family and staff considering that they had been brought along on tour and weren't just waiting for Jagged Stone at his home studio. Marinette could tell the moment that Jagged spotted her present to him, because he lunged across the remainder of the pile to pounce on it at once. The wrapping paper- courtesy of Penny, because it was just more convenient to ship without extra packaging- went flying at once, the box was opened, and Jagged Stone crowed in delight as he pulled out the pants. A hand- Penney's by the look of it- slid another present to Jagged before he could run off and change into the pants. He opened that one eagerly, too- Marinette could just hear Penny over the music of the party telling him that she had commissioned her- and positively rocketed out of his seat with glee at the sight of the jacket.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Jagged Stone exclaimed, He waved the pants and jacket at the camera. "I'm gonna go change! These are too amazing to not be wearing this very instant!"

Marinette laughed again as the video cut off. She closed the window, only to spot a new email from Penny, with a series of photos. Jagged Stone was wearing his new outfit, posing in it with the world's largest grin on his face.

She could breathe a sigh of relief, at least- everything fit just like it was supposed to. The jacket sat correctly, and the pants were a perfect fit, slim-cut but with enough room for him to move around and rock out. With one more grin, Marinette emailed Penny back, asking her to wish Jagged a happy birthday from her. With the email sent, Marinette could only beam up at the ceiling.

Mission complete. She could breathe easier now, knowing for sure that Jagged loved the pieces she made for him.

She couldn't wait to tell Alya.

  "I can't believe you know the designer that did all of the Game of Thrones costumes, Lila! That's so cool!"

"Oh, what now," Marinette grumbled as she recognized Alya's voice. Couldn't she go one morning without hearing another new lie from Lila? Just once? "And why is she trying to claim a connection to a costume designer? I'm the only one that would be really interested in something like that."

Tikki was frowning as she peered out of Marinette's purse. "Marinette, she mentioned Game of Thrones. Isn't that the TV show where you got the idea for the dragon-scale patterning from?"

Marinette's stomach dropped. In a heartbeat, she knew exactly what Lila must be trying to claim. How dare she try to take credit for getting Jagged the jacket and pants that Marinette had spent hours slaving over, stealing Marinette's accomplishment away-

-but wait. There was no way that would stand. Maybe the paparazzi and the world had gotten a glimpse of Jagged Stone's birthday gift outfit already, but he probably hadn't felt like answering press questions on his birthday. If she knew Jagged Stone like she thought she did, he would no doubt gush to the press where, exactly, he had gotten the pieces, and who had made them, probably within the next day.

Marinette grinned. Lila had picked the wrong lie to tell for sure this time.

"Marinette, guess what?" Alya exclaimed as soon as Marinette stepped through the door to the classroom. Just as Marinette had suspected, everyone was clustered around Lila at the front of the room. Even Adrien, for once, but he seemed far more interested in the pictures that were being shown than he was in Lila's story. "Guess who Lila knows? She knows this really amazing costume designer who did a whole bunch of the Game of Thrones costumes, and she commissioned this really awesome jacket and pants combo from that designer for Jagged Stone for his birthday!"

"He clearly loves it if he ran off to change into it before the end of the party," Rose gushed. She beamed at Lila. "That was a really great idea for a gift, Lila!"

"Yes, well, it was a bit pricey even with my connections, since of course I wouldn't ask my friend to work for free, but since he and I are friends, I wanted to get a nice gift for him," Lila told them. "And since he has Fang, well- crocodile scales and dragon scales are pretty similar, right?"

Alya nudged Marinette. "Isn't it cool that she knows such a fantastic designer?" The implied be nice, maybe she can introduce you hung heavy in the air. "That jacket- it's incredible. I bet she has a lot of tricks and tips about design and sewing!"

Lila nodded, her hair bouncing. "Yeah, she's super talented! And I was lucky enough to actually get to help her with the jacket when she came through Paris a couple weeks back! I didn't do a lot, of course, because I didn't have the time, but it was super cool to see how the scales were made." Her eyes slid sideways to Marinette, a silent challenge that she was so sure that Marinette wouldn't take. "If you wanted, Marinette, I could maybe teach you some of the things that she taught me."

…yeah, okay, Marinette was not going to stand here and pretend to play nice with Lila, not even for the few hours it would no doubt take for Jagged Stone to tell the press who, exactly, had made the pants and jacket for him. Not when Lila was actively claiming credit like this, claiming that she had made part of the outfit when it was all Marinette's work.

Whelp. Time for her to step off of the high road and for the gloves to come off.

"That would be so nice, Lila," Marinette crooned, keeping her eyes on Lila's surprised face. Then her eyes narrowed. "Except for the fact that it's all complete bullshit."

There were gasps at that, and Marinette could feel Alya's hand tighten around her arm in a silent reprimand. Lila gasped, pressing a hand to her chest as though deeply offended. "Marinette! I was just trying to be nice, and this is how you-"

"Oh, save me the sob story." Marinette's eyes slid around the group and caught on Max and Markov, who was out and clearly listening. A conversation from a couple weeks back tickled at the back of her mind, and Marinette went for it. "Markov, you record video of things you see to review later, right?"

"I do!" Markov chirped, clearly pleased that she remembered. "And I usually retain the footage for one to five hours, depending on how common or uncommon a social interaction was."

"Can you retain the story Lila just told for a bit longer?" Marinette asked, ignoring how Alya's hold was getting tighter and tighter. "For a day, maybe."

"Of course!"

"Marinette," Alya hissed through gritted teeth. "Cut it out, Lila is trying to be-"

"After all, Jagged Stone is never quiet about the gifts that he likes or about giving credit where credit is due," Marinette continued, brushing Alya's hand off of her arm without sparing it a glance. "So I'm sure he'll tell the press about who actually gave him those gifts within twenty-four hours. So I'd like to have the footage of right now to make sure that your story doesn't magically change between now and then."

Lila blanched, then pasted her usual expression back on before anyone else could notice. "Actually, I asked him to keep it on the down-low right away- after all, I didn't want people flooding my other friend with requests, because she's starting work on wardrobe for a new movie soon. Besides, I don't need any public thank-yous. I know that he likes my gift, and that's enough."

Marinette didn't even bother hiding her eye roll that time. "Sure. And I'm the Queen of France." Brushing past the group, she headed over to her desk, ignoring the stares of her classmates.

She couldn't be surprised about that, really. After all, while Marinette had called out Lila's lies on a fairly regular basis before, it had always been more of a one-off comment, not- well, not her clearly calling Lila a baldfaced liar.

"That is not okay, Marinette," Alya hissed as she passed Marinette's seat. Apparently she was headed up to sit with Lila instead for the day. "I know you don't like Lila, but-"

"I'll accept 'sorry I didn't listen to you, Marinette' apologies in the form of fabric store gift cards once you realize that I'm right," Marinette told her instead of listening to Alya's scolding again. Alya scoffed.

"Well, when Lila is proved right you can apologize to her for not listening and to us for having to deal with this nonsense by taking us all out to lunch!" Alya shot back. "Lila loves this little seafood place a couple blocks away. I'm feeling hungry for their salmon bake already!"

"Don't hold your breath for it," Marinette muttered, but Alya had already flounced off, clearly entirely convinced that she was right.

Well. Marinette had more or less been kidding about the gift cards- after all, her allowance plus the money that she got from babysitting and commissions meant that Marinette wasn't exactly scrounging for money to buy the materials that she wanted for her projects- but if Alya was going to counter her joking suggestion with a completely serious response, then Marinette would gladly welcome a little extra fabric money.

Marinette turned back to the front, ignoring the looks that she was getting from the others around the room. Oddly enough, Chloe and Sabrina weren't sneering at her- in fact, they seemed to be hunched over Sabrina's tablet, which had the pictures of Jagged Stone pulled up on it. Chloe was tracing part of the picture, saying something quietly to Sabrina, and Marinette had to wonder what they were talking about. It wasn't as though the jacket was Chloe's style at all, so why were they finding it so interesting?

And then Marinette's gaze slid further around, and she practically had a heart attack when she saw Adrien turned around to face her, his chin propped up on his arms on top of her desk and his eyes sparkling.

"Hi, Marinette!" Adrien chirped, sounding incredibly cheerful and not at all bothered by Marinette abandoning the (incredibly ineffective) high road in favor of- well, calling out the bad guys. He grabbed his tablet, nudging it onto her desk. "I was looking at the picture of Jagged Stone's new jacket and- well, maybe it's not the highest-resolution photo in the world, but I thought I noticed your signature on it, like you did on the hat. Was Jagged Stone's outfit something you made?"

Next to him, Nino startled, glancing up from his notebook and back at Marinette.

"Yeah, I made it," Marinette told him, unable to hide her grin. Adrien had noticed her signature! He had looked closely enough at the jacket to notice it threaded in amongst all of the other patterns and textures going on. "Penny commissioned me for the jacket, and then I made the pants as a gift to go along with it. And I was going to tell people about it today, since I didn't want the news getting out early and spoiling the surprise, but Little Miss Lies-A-Lot decided to throw a wrench in that plan, apparently."

Adrien winced, then reached out to pat her hand comfortingly. "Well, at least you know that that lie isn't going to last long."

"Yeah," Marinette agreed. It was the light at the end of the tunnel, at long last. "Thank goodness."

  Marinette headed back to school after lunch feeling much less excited about going there than she had that morning.

Maybe every passing hour brought her closer to the time when Jagged Stone would mention to the press where his gift had come from, but ugh were those hours ever dragging. Maybe Adrien knew the truth- and Nino did now too, since he had overheard her and Adrien talking about the pieces and the work that had gone into them and other possible applications of the dragon-scale patterning- but the rest of her classmates were apparently convinced that she was being unnecessarily mean to Lila and were acting accordingly.

(Marinette really liked the idea of scaled boots. She would have to poke through thrift shops for a base shoe, probably, but when they were finished? It would be killer.)

"Cheer up, Marinette, maybe Jagged Stone has said something already!" Tikki chirped when Marinette sighed again, her footsteps still absolutely dragging. "You know it's possible, since you were too busy helping in the bakery for the last part of lunch break to be able to check!"

"But it's not likely," Marinette pointed out. "I did check at the start of break, after all. Add in the time zone differences and the fact that Jagged is probably moving to a new place for his tour, and what are the chances?" She sighed. "And now I'll have to deal with Lila's new conspiracy theory about why I got so ticked off about the pants and jacket for the rest of the afternoon."

Lila's conspiracy theory, which Marinette had overheard Lila telling their classmates just before lunch and which was possibly one of the most maddening things about this whole mess, the thing that had made her go from being willing to wait the whole thing out to being more than a little impatient. Lila had told them that she thought that Marinette had probably wanted to claim for the credit for the jacket, because she was jealous of Lila's connection to Jagged Stone and wanted the attention for once. The tantrum-throwing, Lila had continued loftily, was probably just because Lila had told the truth before she could start spreading her lie.

Ugh.

Tikki giggled at that. "Yes, but just imagine the look on Lila's face when she realizes that you were actually the one to make the pieces! She'll be so shocked!"

Marinette certainly hoped so. It had taken everything in her not to turn around, march up to Lila, and inform her that actually, I DID make that outfit, and I have the receipts and progress photos to prove it!

She could have. But Lila would shove right back, and Marinette really hadn't felt like getting into another argument, not when she would get proven right without wasting her breath.

At least Marinette had Adrien to keep her sane. He knew the truth, just like Marinette, and understood why that particular story had been the straw to break the camel's back. He had wanted to know all about the process of making the jacket, and Marinette had been happy to comply. She even had in-progress shots, which meant that by the time classes let out, Nino had been convinced, too. He had been furious on her behalf, but had agreed that maybe it would be best to wait for Jagged to make some sort of comment instead of trying to argue with everyone else.

(After all- well, Marinette didn't want to risk seeing doubt in her friends' eyes if she tried to tell the truth and told them that she made the pieces. That- that would just hurt.)

With one last sigh- ugh, an akuma right now wouldn't be so bad, at least then she wouldn't have to listen to Lila 'answering' questions about what getting an on-set peek of TV shows was like- Marinette headed into school and up to the classroom.

Oddly enough, despite the fact that class was about to start, there were a lot of people missing. Alya wasn't back yet, or a lot of the other girls. Lila was there, though, and she smirked at Marinette as she came through the door. Clearly she was still riding the high of having gotten a reaction out of Marinette earlier.

Marinette smirked right back as she slid into her seat, Tikki's words coming back to her. Lila could gloat all she wanted, but that didn't change the fact that Marinette had made those pieces and the truth would come out. Even if it was taking longer than Marinette would have liked.

She was just being impatient, honestly. After sitting through months of Lila's nonsense, one day more was really nothing.

The afternoon bell rang, and Adrien twisted around in his seat to give Marinette a questioning look, glancing around at the empty seats before quirking an eyebrow. Marinette could only shrug in return.

After all, she didn't know where everybody was, either. Normally, she would have guessed that people had gotten distracted by a Lila-story in the cafeteria, but considering that Lila actually was in class, that clearly couldn't be it. She would suggest that Adrien ask Nino since Alya was his girlfriend, except Nino wasn't back yet, either.

...odd.

Before Marinette could spare much more of a thought to wonder where in the world everyone was, the door burst open and their missing classmates tumbled in. They practically swarmed Marinette's desk, pushing Alya to the front to drop a gift card in front of her.

Marinette blinked.

"Wait, what's going on?" Lila demanded, her voice shrill. "Why- why are you giving her a gift card?"

"Because, Lila," Alya started, her voice absolutely dripping ice, "Marinette was the one that made Jagged Stone's new outfit. The jacket was commissioned from her by Penny Rolling, and the pants were a gift directly from her."

"But- no, I already told you guys that she would claim that," Lila said with a titter. All of it came out too pinched, too high-pitched, too fake. "I knew Marinette would claim-"

"Jagged Stone told the press who it was from himself. Marinette never claimed anything." Alya cast a disparaging look at Lila. "Now I have to wonder how much of what you've told us is a lie. All of it, probably. Did you even leave Paris when you tried to claim that you were out traveling around the world?"

"The packages must have gotten mixed up," Lila tried, her voice climbing higher yet. Their other classmates were sending her dirty looks now, too. "The tags on them, I'm sure that they must have been switched-"

Chloe scoffed from her seat. "Right, and Marinette's signature just magically managed to jump from the pieces she made and onto your gifts, right? What a lame little liar."

…okay, Marinette was officially going to count herself impressed that Chloe had actually noticed her signature, because she had hidden it pretty well. That must have been what she and Sabrina had been looking at in the pictures earlier.

Maybe it wasn't that big of a surprise after all. Chloe had seemed annoyed by Lila's grand claims as of late, and Marinette wouldn't be surprised to hear that Chloe had wanted to discredit Lila and have her spot as the most connected person in the class back.

For once, Lila fell silent. Her face had gone pale. Alya spared her one more glance before rounding the desk and sitting in her regular seat.

"We all chipped in the price of what we would have ordered at the cafe," Alya explained as the rest of the students dispersed to their seats and Ms. Bustier headed up to the back to collect Lila, probably to march her straight to the office. "Food and drinks, and then- well, I at least threw in a bit extra, because we've been giving you a lot of grief about the whole Lila thing."

Marinette grinned, picking up the gift card. An amount was scrawled on the back, and- wow, it was not a small amount. Marinette was willing to bet that more people than just Alya had put in extra. Either that, or people had very expensive tastes. "Thank you."

"It's our apology to you. We should have listened to you earlier." Alya looked sheepish. "I was just too excited about all of the potential scoops that I could get from Lila, I didn't stop to fact-check and really think about what she was saying. I'll do better in the future, I promise."

Marinette could only beam. This was what she had been waiting for.

"So…" Alya started, leaning forward with her eyes alight. Marinette quirked an eyebrow back at her. "You dressed Jagged Stone and made the coolest jacket and pants that I've ever seen! What was that like? Nino says that you have progress photos- can I see them before Ms. Bustier gets back from the office? I want to hear all about it!"

With a laugh, Marinette pulled out her phone and swiped to the photos that she had taken. "Of course! So a couple months ago, Penny approached me about designing something…"

Maybe it would take a couple weeks for them to really get past all of this and for their friendship to fully recover, but Marinette was confident that they could. Alya had no doubt learned a few lessons about listening to Marinette, and something told Marinette that Lila was going to get in no small amount of trouble, potentially even getting kicked out of their school. Even if she didn't, Lila's power was gone. No one would believe her now.

And that was how it was meant to be.

#Miraculous Ladybug #my writing #A Very Jagged Take-Down #Jagged Stone #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste