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#like making good lemonade isnt that hard to the point that having good lemonade isnt really an accomplishment
ultimateinferno · 11 months
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There's a certain tragedy regarding the simplicity of lemonade and the frequency of people fucking it up.
#hyperbole but w/e#like making good lemonade isnt that hard to the point that having good lemonade isnt really an accomplishment#however the amount of bad lemonades out there in the world makes the lemon lover in me cry.#anyways: how to improve your lemonade. 1st taste along the way. 2nd instead of adding sugar directly to water instead make simple syrup#simple syrup is 1 part sugar to 1 part water. boiling the water speeds up the solution.#2:1 sugar:water makes it shelf stable if you want to use the syrup for cocktails#anyways after you dissolve the sugar and heat the water turn off the stove and put the zest from your lemons youre using in the syrup#this will steep and draw out the oils (which have a lot of lemon flavor). this lets you strengthen the taste of your lemonade w/o the sour#but still use the juice for the tartness because tart lemonades are great#in fact you can actually throw other stuff into the syrup to steep if theres a lot of flavor in the oil#i sometimes put chopped mint and green chilies. thats makes good lemonades#you can also do ginger; cardamom; anise; honestly any spice#just fucking treat the hot syrup like it was tea. hell put tea in the syrup#as long as you strain the solids out of the syrup you just use it in place of the sugar when combining it and the juice and water#How To Drink youtube channel has a vid all about making syrups; both conventional and not#you can also make more fruity syrups by throwing fruits in a pot like strawberries with a bit of water; heat it; and just smash the bastards#strain the solids once again; reduce and you have syrups that you can then add to your lemonade#add sugar too to your fruit syrups theres not enough natural sugars to make the quantity you want#if you keep these syrups in little bottles you can honestly mix and match for all kinds of drinks#like club soda + these syrups and this is just normal soda but with funky flavors#you want to drink a god damn black pepper soda you cam#i think this escaped me#the power of syrups is potent
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marygodwin-bsd · 1 year
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Rating members of the Port Mafia based on nothing but my own vibes (I haven't seen all of season 3)
This is a part 2. ill post a part 3 with the guild if i wannaaaa and maybe even a pt 4 for some stragglers
Akutagawa Ryunosuke
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3/10 for that lung capacity bro ok real talk his design is alright i give it 7/10 I wish atsushi had kept his black streak so they could be more yin/yan but whatever- he kinda looks like he's trying too hard. I shall throw him a 8/10 for that trauma he's holding onto and how desperate he is for dazai's attention that he THROWS HIMSELF OFF A BRIDGE THING anyways voice fits him so 8/10, the ninja suit thing he wears of rashouman when he's fighting Fitzgerald is 10/10 top tier i ENJOY VERY MUCH thank you overall he gets 7/10
Higuchi Ichiyo
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oh girl. oh GIRL. 5/10 on her thing with akutagawa because idk if it was me but i couldnt tell she was in love with him like at all... anyways her whole look is basic but effective and does the job so 7/10 on that, 10/10 on her loyalty i like that and also her being basic-looking but that plays into why shes so good at her job??? ok overall 8/10
Chuuya Nakahara
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10/10 on looks, we know that, he's not the one I simp for (my heart belongs to Kunikida) but out of all the port mafia dudes this one is a good pic. COOL BACKSTORY 9/10. 8/10 for looks bc he actually looks like a mafia dude who watches mafia movies and despite the weird hair I am kinda into it all the colors go really well im sorry for the abuse from dazai i would throw him a bone but hes already high sooo overall 9/10 because I like the hair but objectively its a weird half mullet
Kōyo Ozaki
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9/10 for how much she wants to protect Kyouka. Love her fit, 10/10, gives the perfect vibes and she's probably difficult to animate and I have a lot of respect for it,the umbrella is great. 5/10 for the atsushi abuse. I don't have much to say at this point other than that overall, 7/10
Motojiro Kajii
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Ok looks are 4/10 he looks like melanie martinez's ex idk his name but also his vibes are like VECTOR from despicable me???? so 6/10 for that its amusing ANYWAYS. The fact that lemons and grenades make lemonade is a 10/10. the sass he gave Nathaniel Hawthorne was 7/10. the way he talked to Yosano gets him 4/10 overall, 7/10 on average and hes ok I don't dislike him
Rando
I cannot find a gif.
He is fantastic and gorgeous and i love him 10/10 on both how COOL his ability looks and how PRETTY he is. love him. but 4/10 for the chuuya abuse. overall 7/10 we dont know a lot about him
Kyusaku Yumeno
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Looks are........ 7/10. very effective and cool but looks like HELL to draw and i don't really like that. the optimal thing would be black and white, but atsushi and akutagawa are black and white, so they gave them brown and purple???? and a weird hat to denote femininity??? I know the point is that no one can tell their gender I'm just saying the hat is unnecesary. Ability is so 9/10 and the resilience is 10/10 because COOL. Tbh i don't actually like how they act so 5/10 on personality i guess but overall 8/10 for coolness
Elise
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MY BABY GIRL 10/10 for the SASS she gives- I know she doesnt TECHNICALLY count bc shes the result of an ability but I love her and i need her to STAB MO- this isnt about mori im sorry anyways moving on. design is 10/10 effective easy to draw and aesthetically pleasing with colors. dress is relatively conservative and she stands out against everyone else bc to my knowledge shes the only blond besides Higuchi. 10/10 because i love her and i need more elise content of her being rude to mori bc he deserves every roast and i need her to hit him
Gin Akutagawa
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Giiiiiiin baby is 8/10 with the design both ways are effective, she looks great either way. I know very little about her but shes a badass and 7/10 for being the less intense sibling I don't know much about her but she gets an overall 7/10
Michizo Tachihara
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10/10 for having the same english voice actor as Ban from SDS. 6/10 for his design, i'm sorry, it doesn't stand out and at first glance I was shocked because i thought he was Junchiro double crossing the ADA.... on his own he's okay but his design doesn't really... tell us anything? although to be FAIR, he basically never shows up so he doesnt have to tell us anything. 4/10 for never being there even though he's super cool overall 6/10 because "I hate to say it i really hate to say it idk who this man is"
Ryuro Hirotsu
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Okay... 9/10 for that design, I like it, good old rich guy persona. 4/10 for the fact every time he snaps it bothers me because he's wearing gloves and that doesnt work that way. 7/10 for the voice its aight. 6/10 for how few times i've seen him so far? but hes around more than Tachihara so points for that. 8/10 and y'all know why
Mori Ogai
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ugh, gods... THIS DUDE..... 0/10 for his taste in women. 8/10 for his design because he looks like he's copying dracula to try and gain control but its not working so its effective. 3/10 for the dazai abuse. 2/10 for the yosano abuse ive heard about but not seen. 7/10 for his real life counterpart having a daughter and that daughter invented yaoi and im not into yaoi but thats pretty cool?? overall 4/10 because his whole..... everything sucks? but at least he looks okay and he has a character and hes not 1 dimensional.
pt 1 here pt 3 here pt 4 here
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tomdiddlyumptious · 3 years
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Hey I would absolutely love if you could write something romantic with Evan peters. I am big fan girl. Could you name the girl Faseeha? I am sensitive, shy, funny, introverted and sometimes very awkward. Thanks!
of course!
Today is a new day for you,  working in the set of Wandavision. They are all really nice but this is...wandavision, like the best show ever. you were worried you might mess it up. so you decided tosit still until someone decided to tell you what to do or talk to you. some people passed by you, waving hello and you waved back, a warm welcome smile on your face as you watched them pass.
some minutes moved along and someone took a seat next to you, you didn't mind but you wondered who it was, that's when a soft hello perked your ears. it made you turn to see even “oh- hi!” you said, putting your hands into your lap with a smile on your face. “how are you? i know its your first day on the job” he smiled, making your mouth open “evan peters nows about me! I'm doing wonderful!” he chuckled at your excitement, he thought maybe you'd be more of a “meh” person considering you sat alone. “and your name is, Faseeha, correct?” he asked, you only nodded, the eye contact hard until you looked away, thinking It was awkward. Evan heard his name being called on set so he got up and softly put his hand on your thigh “good luck, Faseeha” he did a tight smile before walking off to set. You innocently bit your lip with a smile on your face, “whats got you all excited?” a co-worker asked with a bright smile. “I-i talked to evan” you stuttered, making her chuckle. “What! It isnt funny. Hes nice” “oh course he is, he isnt supposed to be a dickhead is he?” you playfully rolled your eyes at her words. “Just let me have my moment please” she saluted you before walking off, leaving you to watch evan work on set.
--
As work was over you couldnt believe you accidentally parked next to evan, so when he saw you  he said “hey Faseeha!” you turned and saw him wave softly with a childish smile on his face that you couldnt help but return. “Wanna see my ducks?” “thats random?” you said, crossing your arms. “I have cute ducks” he shrugged, “are they baby ducks?” you smiled leaning back onto your car. “Youd have to come and find out” “i dont know, you might try to kill me” 
His mouth dropped at you, making you laugh. “You think id kill you?!” “hey i dont know if you have ducks or not” you said, suddenly it was silent between the both of you, he looked at you while you did the same. “U-uh, i could buy you something along the way...like a date?” “oh” you said, shocked of his words. “You dont have to come if you dont wanna-” “NO-no” you giggled “ill come” you nodded at him, you came over to his car and went in the passenger seat, he smiled at you when you got in. “so you ready to meet my ducks?” he asked, you only chuckled. 
--
His house was bright, and open to nature, which was quite surprising for some reason. Evan walked infront of you, leading you to his backyard. “These ducks love me” he said with a confident smile, “just you wait Faseeha” he opened the gate, met immediately with different roses and plants, “so your a plant daddy?” you looked back at him, he shrugged at you before closing the gate behind him. You looked around and saw a small box, well it looked like it. You smiled and let out an “awww!” when you saw the ducks, “see?!” he said childishly, giggling when you touched one and looked at him with wide and excited eyes. You took your hand out and it was evans turn, ducking his hands in and touching the ducks soft hair, you cooed. “They do love you! I wish i had little things to care about me” you said jokingly, until he looked at you with a side smile, “i could care about you, if you wanted” you bit your lip softly, looking at the ducks. “You think so?” “would you give me a chance?” “if you want one…” you touched your arm, he softly took his hands out of the water, “ill make us some lemonade, theres a table over there” he pointed at his wooden table and you nod “can i bring the ducks?” “of course”
So there you sat, in the middle of the table with the ducks running around, almost giving you anxiety that they might try and jump off. But he came out with the lemonade, it made you smile and laugh when you saw he almost fell, “shush” he laughed and set down the lemonades. “Soo is this a date?” you asked, crossing your legs and taking a drink while the one of the ducks stuck by your side, pecking your hand with its beak. “Yes, yes it is” he grinned. “You didnt even get me a rose!” you said, making him laugh “well you have a whole bunch around you, i can get you one when we are done” 
So you both talked, laughs and huge smiles all over your faces, some comfortable silence until he reached for your single hand, but the small duck didnt like that so they bit, more so tried to, evan, making you both laugh more. But soon enough it was time to go, which he of course had to drive you back to work to get your car. “I enjoyed my time with you, im pretty sure my ducks did too” he laughed, before you exited the gate he told you to wait a second, bending down infront of his rose bush and grabbing pliers, cutting off a rose just for you. “Care to...go on a second date with me, Faseeha?”
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iridescentides · 4 years
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hi again dia! happy first day of december ❤️💚 i wanted to ask you what, in your opinion, are the 5 most underrated dcoms? i remember you saying before that you've watched all of them so i'd love to hear your opinions 😊 - 🎅🎁🎄
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH secret santa you are so good! asking me all the best questions 💜
okay so i literally had to make a list of all the dcoms i consider underrated and then narrow down a top 5. theres lots of dcoms that i love, but that i think got the right amount of attention and care (like lemonade mouth and the teen beach movies, for example), so this list just focuses on ones that deserved more hype for their quality level.
5. The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008)
okay so even as i type this i feel like a hypocrite. i have only watched this movie one time. BUT i can acknowledge that its one of the most criminally underrated dcoms ever, tons of people didnt watch it simply because raven wasnt in it. thats why i avoided it as a child, and i didnt get around to watching it until i did my big dcom binge in 2016. and it was so good. theres a really long post floating somewhere around tumblr full of specifics on why its actually the best cheetah girls movie (my favorite is the second one purely out of nostalgia), so to paraphrase some points from that post:
its a solid example of cultural appreciation, rather than appropriation, as the girls go and learn about bollywood and indian culture together
the indian characters arent treated like props or unimportant sides, they get their own agency and storylines that are important
the songs are good!!!
basically this movie was overlooked and slept on even though in terms of role modeling and social value, and just like the first two cheetah girls movies it was important and impactful.
4. Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011)
okay so as someone whos very neutral and occasionally negative-leaning towards the hsm franchise (mostly bc its overhyped and not really representative of all dcoms), i was pleasantly surprised by sharpays fabulous adventure. this is another one that i know lots of people skipped right over and dont hold with as much esteem as the main hsm franchise, and that doesnt sit right with me.
i do not agree with the “uwu sharpay was the real victim in hsm” arguments bc in their efforts to look galaxy brained the people who say that overlook the fact that she was a rich white woman who used her power and status to exercise control over opportunities that should have been fairly and freely available for all; they were not “making a mockery of her theater” in the first movie, they were literally just kids who wanted to try out a new school activity that everyone was supposed to be allowed to participate in; and despite allegedly learning her lesson and singing we’re all in this together with everyone at the end of the first movie, she literally showed no growth in the second movie as she fostered an openly hostile environment and favored troy so heavily that it literally cost him his friends, all as part of yet another jealous plan to take things away from people who already have less than her. she was NOT the victim in the main franchise, and she did not seem to exhibit any growth or introspection either.
and that!!! is why sharpays fabulous adventure was so important. in focusing on sharpay as the main character, they finally had to make her likeable. they did this by showing actual real growth and putting her outside of her sphere of influence and control. we saw true vulnerability from her, instead of the basic ass “mean girl is sad bc shes actually just super insecure” trope (cough cough radio rebel), and this opened us up to finally learn about and care about her character. throughout the movie we see her learn, from her love interests example, how to care for others and be considerate. she faces actual adversity and works through it, asking herself what she truly wants and what shes capable of. and in the end, when she finally has her big moment, we’re happy for her bc she worked hard to get there. she becomes a star through her own merit and determination, rather than through money and connections. this movie is not perfect by any means, but it is severely underrated for the amount of substance it adds to sharpays character.
3. The Swap (2016)
okay i know im gonna get shit for this but thats why its on this list!!! just like sharpays fabulous adventure, its not perfect and definitely misses the mark sometimes, but it deserves more attention and love for all the things it did get right!
the swap follows two kids who accidentally switch bodies because of their emotional attachment to their dead/absent parents’ phones. and while i normally HATE the tv/movie trope of a dead parent being the only thing that builds quick sympathy for a young character, they definitely expanded well enough to where we could root for these kids even without the tragedy aspect. we see them go through their daily struggles and get a feel for their motivations as characters pretty well. as a body switching movie, we expect it to be all goofy and wacky and lighthearted, but it moves beyond that in unexpected ways.
the reason the swap is on this list is for its surprisingly thoughtful commentary on gender roles. its by no means a feminist masterpiece, and its not going to radicalize kids who watch it, but it conveys a subtle, heartfelt message that deserves more appreciation. the characters struggle with the concept of gender in a very accurate way for their age, making off-base comments and feeling trapped by the weight of expectations they cant quite put their finger on. we watch them feel both at odds with and relieved by the gender roles they are expected and allowed to perform in each others bodies, and one of the most interesting parts of the movie to me is their interactions with the other kids around them. as a result of their feeling out of place in each others environments, the kids inadvertently change each others friendships for the better by introducing new communication styles and brave authenticity. 
the value of this movie is the subtle, but genuine way it shows the characters growing through being given the space to act in conflicting ways to their expected norms. ellie realizes that relationships dont have to be complex, confusing, and painful, and that its okay to not live up to appearances and images. jack learns that emotional expression is good, healthy, and especially essential to the grieving process. one of the most powerful scenes in the movie comes at the end where, after ellie confronts jacks dad in his body, jack returns as himself to a very heartfelt apology from his father for being too hard on him; the explicit message (”boys can cry”) is paired with an open expression of love and appreciation for his kids that he didnt feel comfortable displaying until his son set an example through honest communication. this is such an empowering scene and overall an empowering movie for kids who may feel stuck in their expected roles, as it sets a positive example for having the courage to break the restrictive societal mold. for its overall message of the importance of introspection and emotional intelligence, the swap is extremely underrated.
2. Freaky Friday (2018)
this is my favorite dcom, and probably my favorite movie at this point. ive always assigned a lot of personal value to this movie (and i love every freaky friday in general), for the message of selfless familial love and understanding. i know i can get carried away talking about this topic; i got an anon ask MONTHS ago asking me about the freaky friday movies and i wrote a super super long detailed response that i never posted bc i didnt quite finish talking about the 2018 movie. and thats bc on a personal level, i cant adequately convey all the love i have for this movie. so i will try to keep this short.
first lets state the obvious: the reason people dont like this movie is bc its not the lindsay lohan version. and i get that, to an extent, bc i also love the 2003 version and its one of my ultimate comfort movies, and grew up watching it and ive seen it a billion times. i even watched it a couple days ago. but the nostalgia goggles that people have on from the early 2000s severely clouds their judgement of the wonderful 2018 remake.
yes, the 2018 version is dorky, overly simplistic plot wise, a bit stiff at times, and super cheesy like any dcom. the writing isnt 100% all the time. the narrative takes a couple confusing turns. the song biology probably shouldnt have been included. i understand this. but at the heart of it all, this movies value is love. and its edge over all the other freaky friday movies is the songs.
on a personal level, the movie speaks heavily to me. i cried very early into my first viewing of the movie bc i got to see dara renee, a dark-skinned, non-skinny actress, playing the mean popular girl on disney channel. that has never happened before. growing up, i saw the sharpays and all the other super thin white women get to be the “popular” girls on tv, and ultimately they were taken down in the end for being mean, but that doesnt change the fact that they were given power and status in the first place for being conventionally beautiful. so, watching dara renee strut around confidently and sing about being the queen bee at this high school got to me immediately. and in general, the supporting cast members of color really mean a lot to me in this movie. we get to see adam, an asian male love interest for the main character. we have a second interracial relationship in the movie with katherines marriage to mike. ellies best friend karl is hispanic. and we see these characters have depth and plot significance, we see them show love, care, and passion for the things they value. the brown faces in this movie are comforting to me personally. additionally, the loving, blended family dynamic is important to me as someone in a close-knit, affectionate step-family.
but on a more general level, this movie is underrated for its skillful musical storytelling and the way it conveys all kinds of love and appreciation. in true freaky friday fashion, we watch ellie and katherine stumble and misstep in their attempts to act like each other. its goofy and fun. but through it all, the music always captures the characters’ intimate thoughts and feelings. the opening song gives us a meaningful view into ellie and katherines relationship and the fundamental misunderstandings that play a role in straining their connection. ellie sings about how she thinks her mom wants her to be perfect, and her katherine sings about all the wonderful traits she sees in her daughter and how she wants her to be more open and self assured. this is meaningful bc even as theyre mad at each other, the love comes through. the songs continue to bring on the emotional weight of the story, as ellie sings to her little brother about her feelings of hurt and abandonment in her fathers absence. the song “go” and its accompanying hunt scene always make me cry bc of the childlike wonder and sense of adventure that it brings. for the kids, its a coming of age, introspective song. for katherine who gets to participate in ellies body, its a reminder of youth and the rich, full life her daughter has ahead of her. she is overcome with excitement, both from getting to be a teenager again for a day, and from the realization that her daughter has a support network and passions that are all her own. today and ev’ry day, the second to last song, is the culmination of the lessons learned throughout the movie, a mother and daughters tearful commitment to each other to love, protect, and understand one another. the line “if today is every day, i will hold you and protect you, i wont let this thing affect you” gets to me every time. even when things are hard and dont go according to plan, they still agree, in this moment, to be there for each other. and thats what all freaky friday stories are ultimately about.
freaky friday 2018 is a beautiful, inclusive, subversive display of familial love, sacrifice, and selflessness, and it is underrated and overlooked because of its more popular predecessor.
1. Let It Shine (2012)
this is another one of my favorite dcoms and movies in the whole world. unlike the other movies on this list, it is not the viewers themselves that contribute to the underrated-ness of this movie. disney severely under-promoted and under-hyped this movie in comparison to its other big musical franchises, and i will give you five guesses as to why, but youll only need one!
let it shine is the most beautifully, unapologetically black dcom in the whole collection. (i would put jump in! at a notable second in this category, but that one wasnt underrated). this movie was clearly crafted with care and consideration. little black kids got to see an entire dcom cast that represented them. the vernacular used in the script is still tailored mostly to white-favoring audiences, but with some relevant slang thrown in there. in short, the writers got away with the most blackness they were allowed to inject into a disney channel project.
the story centers on rap music and its underground community in atlanta, georgia. it portrays misconceptions surrounding rap, using a church setting as a catalyst for a very real debate surrounding a generational, mutlicultural conflict. this was not a “safe” movie for disney, given its emphasis on religious clashes with contemporary values. it lightly touches on issues of image policing within the black community (cyrus’s father talking about how “our boys” are running around with sagging pants and “our girls” are straying away from god), which is a very real and pressing problem for black kids who feel the pressure (from all sides) of representing their whole race with their actions. its a fun, adorable story about being yourself and staying true to your art, but also a skillful representation of struggles unique to black and brown kids and children from religious backgrounds.
on top of crafting a fun, wholesome, thoughtful narrative and likeable protagonists, let it shine brought us what is in my opinion the BEST dcom soundtrack of all time. every single song is a bop. theyre fast, fun, and lyrically engaging. “me and you” is my favorite disney channel song of all time due to its narrative significance; i will never forget my first time watching the movie and seeing that big reveal unfold onstage, as a conversation and a plot summary all wrapped into a song. the amount of thought and care that went into the music of this movie should have been rewarded with a level of attention on par with that of other musical dcoms.
if disney channel had simply cared about let it shine more, it couldve spanned franchises and sold songs the way that other musical dcoms have drawn in success. i would have loved for a sequel that explored and fleshed out cyrus’s neighborhood a little bit more, and maybe dipped into that underground scene they caught a glimpse of. i wanted a follow up on the changed church community once cyrus’s father started supporting his sons vision. i want so much more for these characters and this world than disney gave them in just one movie.
for its bold, unabashed representation of blackness and religion, subtle, nuanced presentation of race-specific issues, strong, likeable characters, and complex, thoughtful songs, let it shine is the most underrated dcom.
and because i made a full list before i started writing this post, here are some honorable mentions:
going to the mat (2004)
gotta kick it up! (2002)
tru confessions (2002)
dont look under the bed (1999)
invisible sister (2015)
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blue0mess · 4 years
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Alice had never really liked the girl next door. The girl was in the same grade, but Jenny had always seemed a little more... childish than most girls her age. Despite being an 18 year old senior in high school, she often played pretend, played with dolls, and played children's games. Yes. Played. So when Alice's mom told her to go over to Jenny's house because 'the poor girl has no friends' Alice was a little apprehensive.
"But Mom! She's... weird!" Alice blurted.
"I don't care. I want you to go over there and try and make a new friend. And bring these!" Her mom forced a box of assorted muffins into Alice's hands.
"... Fine. Whatever." She surrendered.
Alice headed down the street. She was wearing some jean shorts and a white crop top. Underneath were a pair of hot pink bikini cut panties. No bra, since it was warm outside that morning. She gets to Jenny's house, and goes to knock on the door when Jenny spots her from the back yard and yells for her to come over to the privacy fence.
"Hey Alice!" Jenny exclaimed, smile beaming on her face.
"Hey Jenny." Alice was underenthused to say the least.
"What's up?!" Jenny was excited to possibly make a new friend. Most people her age thought she was incredibly childish, so they stayed away from her. She was fully capable of speaking and acting like a normal adult and having normal adult interests, but she preferred being childish. This caused her to have very few friends, so she was always excited to have a new person to talk to.
"Come on back here! I've got some lemonade, and some plates for the snacks you brought!" Jenny gestured for Alice to come through the gate.
Alice headed reluctantly into the backyard and set down the muffins. They started eating, drinking, and chatting. After a few hours of just talking Alice realized that her and Jenny may have more in common than she had originally thought, and had even warmed up to her so much she had played a few games with Jenny. It was now late in the afternoon and since she had drank multiple glasses of lemonade and eaten multiple muffins, she had to use the restroom.
"Hey Jenny, where's your restoom at?" Jenny asked.
"Oh, will you actually play one more game with me?" Alice asked.
"Umm.. yeah. But then I've really gotta use the bathroom after this." Jenny didn't wanna let onto her desperation.
"Yay!! Let me go get the supplies!" Alice hurried into the house, and came back witb two bath towels and a glass of lemonade for each of them.
"Okay, so for this game, we stuff a towel in each of our shorts, and then chug the lemonade. We pee on the towels, and whoever leaks first loses and the winner decides their fate." Alice proposed this game as though every 18 year old girl regularly peed themself.
"Um...? We pee ourselves?" Alice asked.
"Yeah! And whoever wins gets to make the loser do something! Like a dare." Jenny responded.
"O...kay. I guess we can play." Jenny was skeptical, but her mom would be mad if she came back before the day was over.
The girls shoved the towels into their shorts as best they could, causing the top buttons to be undoable. They took their seats in the grass under a tree. Then, Jenny shoved a glass of lemonade into Alice's hand.
"3...2...1... chug!"
The girls began drinking their large glasses of lemonade. Alice's bladder (and bowels) were already bursting, so she felt like she had a severe disadvantage, but knew she was a grown adult who could control her bladder.
Then, the girls began to slowly release their pee. Jenny was able to start peeing first, as she did this regularly and it felt normal for her to pee her pants. Alice thought to hersef that she must almost enjoying it from the look on her face. Alice had to really focus and concentrate on releasing, because despite her extremely full bladder, her body was telling her it was wrong to pee in her pants. She finally was able to release the first drop of warm, light yellow piss. Once she had released though, she quickly realized she couldnt stop. It was as if she had released flood gates due to how much lemonade she had drank. The pee was gushing out of her, and within a couple seconds, Jenny exclaimed "If you don't stop, you're gonna lose Alice!"
But at this point, Alice didn't care. It felt so good to release all of the pressure on her bladder that she was pushing it out on purpose now. It felt so good and warm and she never wanted to stop. Until she felt the pee seeping onto her upper thighs. She quickly tried to stop peeing, but it was too late. She had lost.
"Looks like you lost. We can take these (gesturing to the towels) out now" They began to remove their pee-soaked towels. Since she had peed so much, Alice's panties and shorts were still very soaked.
"Um... what do I do about this?" Alice gestured to her very wet shorts.
"Don't worry about it." Jenny turned around to show Alice could see her equally soaked shorts. "We both lost technically. You just lost first!"
Alice was surprised Jenny had lost too. "So do I get to give you a dare too?!"
"I guess so. But I get to go first!" Alice exclaimed.
"Okay. That's fair" Jenny said.
"I dare you to poop your pants right now." Jenny said.
"Um... what?" Alice was shocked.
"I dare you to poop your pants. You just peed yourself so what's the big deal? Also it seems like you kind of enjoyed peeing yourself." Jenny stated.
"I-... I'll only do it if you do it." Alice was intrigued and her bowles were bursting, but she was also shy.
"Gladly" Jenny said.
Alice sat up on her feet and slowly started pushing , and realized pooping would take much less effort than peeing, as she had to go so bad. She felt the long warm turd slowly stretching her hole out. It felt almost good, because of how hard she had been holding it in. She allowed herself to keep pushing, forcing the poop into the seat of her pants. She couldnt believe she was really pooping her panties.
"Oh my god I'm doing it!" Alice exclaimed in shock.
"Me *grunt* too" Jenny pushed out.
Alice had a tennis ball sized lump of hard logs in her pants. She didn't feel the need to go anymore, but she wanted the feeling of completely emptying her bowels into her pants. With another push, she stretched her hole again and 3 large banana sized logs pushed into her pants and panties. She stopped with a large softball sized bulge in the back of her pants, forcing them down a bit. She couldnt believe she really just completely emptied her bowels into her pants - on purpose - and liked it.
Jenny slowly felt back at her poop, trying to feel how big it was. Alice did the same, because Jenny seemed like she was really enjoying herslef. Alice felt her bulge, realizing it took up her entire hand, and was very heavy and bulky.
"Wow... that was a lot of fun.... if you need to change I have clothes" Jenny offered.
"Um... I kinda wanna stay in these for a little longer if that's okay?" Alice shyly asked
"Sure! You can throw one of my skirts over your shorts so the bulge isnt noticible" Jenny offered.
The girls went into the house up to Jenny's room.
"Here" Jenny offered over a flowy, knee length skirt to hide the bulge"
"Thanks." Alice was surprised that despite both girls having very large loads in their pants and panties, there was hardly any smell.
"Well, i guess i should get home now" Alice was excited at the idea of walking home with a huge load in her pants.
"Sure. I'll see you later!" Jenny hoped she had made a new friend.
Alice walked next door to get back to her house, the whole time being very aware of her very wet and very messy shorts. The mess getting squished a little bit with each step.
She tried to slowly open the door so as to not alert her mom, but failed.
"So how'd it go?" Her mom questioned at the door? "... What's that smell?" She began sniffing the air.
"Oh, I stepped in Jenny's dog's poop, and I need to go get it off my shoe." Alice swiftly and smoothly lied.
"Okay. Well do it quickly before it stinks up the house." Alice's mom said.
Once she was alone upstairs in the bathroom, Alice began stripping, trying to carefully remove the panties because the mess inside them. She jumped in the shower, and once she was cleaned up put on some clean pajamas and panties. Once she was in bed she realized her bowels had filled slightly. She decided to just turn on her side and push, filling her panties with another big, warm load of shit. She'd deal with it in a bit, but wanted to just enjoy it for now.
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crimson-airin · 4 years
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Jezebel’s interview
I saw @aiixen​ ‘s interview and was tempted to make one for my oc ahaha. Here’s jezebel!
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Name?   ➸  “Jezebel..Jezie . The last name isnt needed as it is just for show anyway”
Are you single?   ➸ “Hm, maybe i am ...maybe i am not“  *Grin* “Why? want to try?”
Are you happy?   ➸ “ Right now? Not really especially with the constant nag from Papa Luci there” *Pointing finger to Lucifer*
Are you angry?   ➸ “Ahaha...More likely no.”
Are your parents still married?   ➸ “Who knows?”
NINE FACTS
Birthplace? ➸ “I’m born in Paris. Apparently my mom has a business vacation there.Quite lucky i must say but not really”
Hair color? ➸ “Originally? Let not ask. But it’s purple with pink tip now”
Eye color?  ➸ “Can you guess if this is a lens or real eyes? If you can i’ll tell you” *Snickers* “I am joking. It’s purple-pink”
Mood? ➸ “I am currently bored however Lucifer say if i did this . He will give me a 1 day free of nagging pass”
Gender?  ➸ “Female. You can check out if you don’t believe me but a warning. I’ll scratch your face off”
Summer or Winter? ➸ “Both. I can find excuses to wear less clothes on summer and i can find excuse to sneak out more on winter”
Morning or Afternoon? ➸ “Morning. It pleasant”
EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE
Are you in love? ➸ “Am i? I do admire but love is quite a question...”
Do you believe in love at first sight? ➸ “No. Those kind of thing can be quite dangerous and unreliable”
Who ended your last relationship? ➸ “Obviously me”
Have you ever broken someone’s heart? ➸ “Maybe...? haha i don’t really know or want to notice so yeah”
Are you afraid of commitments? ➸ “Indeed i am.”
Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➸ “Yeah. I occasionally give free hug too. Afterall, you never know who might needed a hug.”
Have you ever had a secret admirer? ➸ “It is called a secret afterall. So ofc i don’t know”
have you ever broken your own heart? ➸ “Never”
SIX CHOICES
Love or Lust? ➸  “Both , Darling. Afterall, Lust comes with Love as Love appear with Lust”
Lemonade or Iced tea? ➸  “Coca cola.”
Cats or Dogs? ➸ “Cats but... hey all fluffy animal deserve love”
A few best friends or many regular friends? ➸ “Depending on the situations but generally i’d prefer a company of few besties”
Wild night out or romantic night in? ➸ “That depend on who the company is.”
Day or Night? ➸ “Night. Cold night breeze and a dangerous path makes me excited”
FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS
Been caught sneaking out? ➸ “No. How many times have i use the window to sneak out without Lucifer catching me?“ *Laughs* “Aha, see he’s frowning”
Fallen down/up the stairs? ➸ “Uh i don’t know. i seldom falling down” *Wink* “i make mens fell though”
Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➸ “Yes.Longing and wanting is part of human’s nature afterall”
Wanted to disappear? ➸ “I wish to fly freely but never disappear”
FOUR PREFERENCES
Smile or Eyes? ➸ “Eyes. But a charming smile is a big bonus.”
Shorter or Taller?   ➸ “Taller.”
Intelligence or Attraction? ➸ “Well.. of course both as it will add the spice.”
Hook-up or Relationship ➸ “Relationship. However ,  the idea of Hook-up is quite interesting eventhough i never and never will try it . Do you [Censored]  with some man and get [Censored]  for a sheer fun or is it [Censored] for benefit? i could never understand it.”
FAMILY
Do you and your family get along? ➸ “ [Censored] ...We do not have any ties”
Would you say you have a “messed up life”? ➸ “Ha, i rather not describe it as such nor think of it”
Have you ever ran away from home? ➸ “Never”
Have you ever gotten kicked out? ➸ “Indeed i do, once however they couldn’t do it again as it will hurt their reputation”
FRIENDS
Do you secretly hate one of your friends? ➸ “I’m very open with my feeling so if i do . You’ll know it.”
Who is your best friend? ➸"At the human world? I have my little brother as my best friend however here i don’t know ...yet.” 
Who knows everything about you? ➸ “If you look hard enough with a good intent of wishing to understand me. I’m sure a yes but so far there isn’t one”   “Alright since we’re done . I’m heading to Lord Diavolo’s castle to paint some wall since Lucifer say he wont scold me ha ha a”
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tumblunni · 6 years
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Also HELL YES FOR CASUAL PLAYER LOVE
Im so happy to hear that Let's Go is indeed INTENTIONALLY designed to be "more casual" and everything these super anti-casual conpetitive players are complaining about was intentionalky put in there cos the developers legit think its better. THANK YOU!
i dunno man it just seems like we NEVER heae about the developers doing anything for the fans unless its enablibg competitive play or iv breeding or whatever. Like those are the only definitions of "fans" that interviewers seem to care about. And Its hard to know what the developers really think when the questions that are asked leave out a huge componant of the fanbase, yknow?
And uhh.. I mean its just good to specificially know that theyre okay with casual fans existing, like not just "its for kids" but "hey you are not bad if you are an adult who also enjoys the game for its intended appeal points and not for a huge mega complicated mathematical metagame people made up to be 'more mature'". I was really surprised to see that written interview with masuda specifically mentioning IV breeding as the place where conpetitive goes too far and makes the game not fun anymore. "Pokemon wasn't meant to be a game about hatching eggs and nothing else." Like.. Playing competitively itself is not bad, i dont wanna sound like i hate hardcore fans and im a big ol jerk. I admire the dedication because it all seems so super unattainable and mathematically magical to me! Im not into that stuff but i can admire that you have to be a damn genius to achieve all that stuff. BUT i also get what he's saying. Because it sucks when you HAVE to be a damn genius to EVEN START PLAYING! Whenever high level competitive strats become the goddamn baseline it makes competitive completely inaccessable to everyone except the most hardcore of the hardcore, and its like damn man how do you even become that if you have no way to start practising? Iv breeding is so INSANE in retrospect! Like when you think about it, its wild that people even cracked the code for how to game the system and get the highest possible randomized stats for every ridiculously minor thing. Like how the fuck did they even figure out any of this?? And then all the further madness into figuring out how to attain it and how to raise odds of shinys and hidden abilities and how they keep figuring out new ways to do it with every new system each game brings out. And then people will spend friggin LITERAL DAYS OF REAL TIME running up and down the same road in the game, hatching thousands of eggs just to get the one mathematically superior pokemon from a confluence of random events. And this is treated as fuckin REQUIRED to play the game! You can't touch competitive if you dont do it. And these bad sorts of competitive players will try and force this requirement onto other non-competitive parts of the game, and shame casual players for not doing it even though its literally not what they want to play the game for.
Seriously, man! Individual values were just designed to make individual pokemon more random, so the play experience would seem more unique to each run. It was literally invented for a "casual" reason! It just really sucks that they implimented it in a way that had an objective "best" value to get, so people ignored the whole point of "adding personality" and just wanted that one. Tho i mean at least they patched out the early issue where gender and shinyness were linked to these values so you couldnt get certain types of pokemon as the "best" version and it was even more limiting. Glad that GSC didnt have online metagame yet, lol! (Tho it makes it possible for people to more easily predict which pokenon will become Shiny when transferred from rby to gsc, which is neat.)
ANYWAY WHERE WAS I
Oh yeah! I appreciate that each generation of games lately has made it easier to see your IVs and EVs and to get them to their "best" versions, with even the FUCK YEAH feature pf being able to "fix" bad IVs on level 100 pokemon. I carried my Sneasel named Reaper since RSE and he's been completely unuseable for so long and bottlecaps fixed that! Kid me just played the game like he was my starter and i loved him. I didnt know about IVs or EVs, so i took this terribly-statted dude with a bad ability and made him fight all the wrong pokemon because he is my best friend and he needs to win every gym battle and i will buy him lemonades afterward. Also he wore the Blackglasses item forever cos i thougjt itd be cool if you could put accessories on your pokemon. So yeah i did Everything Wrong and thus all the pokemon i actually cared about were made weak and useless by my love and i had to spend 48 hours running down a stupid road to hatch and abandon 1400 new ones just to get one that was "useable". Thanks to bottlecaps, this is no more! Decade old weasel pals can be revived! Tho still it sucks that i hit level 100 before this mon's evolution came out. Alas!
BUT
Like.. Even tho now its slightly less hard to make a "perfect" pokemon its still tedious as hell and really takes you out of the moment and you have to already know beforehand that its necessary. Kids are just gonna blunder in and not even know why they keep losing due to no fault of their own. Adults are gonna also do that. Seriously this isnt a "kiddy fans vs mature fans" or "non fans versus FANS" thing, this is just "fans who have one very specific skill for memorizing a bunch of numbers and steps and enduring hours of boredom doing it vs..people who think that kinda ruins the game". And even if nintendo fully streamlined the process into sonething easy, itd still feel like an unnecessary roadblock in the way of just getting to play the damn game. We really need to add some sort of hardcore/casual or iv breeding/no iv breeding thing to league divisions, as well as the tier lists. This is why im so hyped for the current "Spooky Cup", since it actually seems like a "just for fun" multiplayer experience, and its kinda dumb that we have to rely on nintendo actually programming limitations into a tournement cos the players refuse to allow anyone to just do it normally. I did a big whoop at "no mega stones" and "everyone gets a participation prize even if they lose"! And the limitations being a random event based thing rather than a skill cap! Yay ghost types!! Reminds me of the baby pokemon only tourneys in the n64 games. That was a kind of hardcore challenge that had a bit of creativity to it!
So anyway anyway what i'm getting at...
I'm just happy that the devs are saying "yes this is a casual game with more of what casual players want, and less of those hardcore limitations" and THATS NOT MEANT TO BE A NEGATIVE!! Actual developers sitting on a couch hugging giant pikachu plushies and saying this game is for people who just want a fun game about..well, hugging pikachus! They changed the way you catch pokemon because they wanted it to be more fun. They brought back following pokemon because fun. You get all these new features for your starter because they wanted you to really feel like a kid going on their first pokemon adventure and sharing all these special moments with pikachu! They talked about how the art style was decided upon because it was the closest to "how you imagined it in your head when you played pokemon yellow", and "if it was photorealistic it just wouldnt feel right". They picked eevee for the second option because they actually paid attention to the fans and which pokemon was the second most popular and had a similar "both cute and cool" appeal with all audiences. And they put the most effort into the visuals and the cuteness and making everything just feel like a good and fun adventure that recaptures everything you wanted as a kid playing the first game.
And they just act so unapologetically HAPPY about all these parts of the game! These are their favourite parts! They're the goddamn DEVELOPERS and even they say that they prefer the story and the characters and the relaxing childlike whimsy to the concept of refining gameplay to a ridiculous hardcore perfection and throwing out everything else in pursuit of that. And man, seeing them hugging the big pika and eev plushies in EVERY PROMOTIONAL VIDEO and just enjoying playing their own game so much!! And babbling on about dressing up your pokemon!!
God its just SO GOOD to see this as a fan who's been here since the very beginnibg and is starting to feel quite self concious about being an adult fan who isnt doing it "properly". Like man the pressure of hardcore competotive being the "only right way" started even when i was just 11, like seriously THE AGE THE ACTUAL TRAINERS ARE IN THE GODDAMN GAME. Before you even hit your teens you already got stuck up older kids telling you you were too old to just enjoy a game cos you enjoyed the damn game, noooo you have to make it as unfun as possible and only derive enjoyment from defeating other people. It took me until ORAS to actually even be able to try competitive at all, i found it so overwhelming until they added other methods to EV train. And even then i still felt like the blandness of the preparation outweighed any fun of playing these "higher level" battles. Like sure maybe some people like that stuff but it felt so dissappointing after all these years of being pressured to try it...
Sometimes its just good to enjoy a game cos you legit like the world and characters. Sometimes its just really validating to see the developers talking about enjoying making those things, cos it gives you permission to be less embarrassed about it. Sometimes its good to also see them hugging a hundred dollar giant pikachu while you hug your hundred dollar giant mimikyu. Cos seriously what is the point of being an adult if youre not allowed to buy these adult sized plushies? What kid could ever afford those! Im not letting my childhood dream pass me by just because ~maturity~ when im finally able to slap a fat wad of cash on the table and yell GIVE ME THE BIGGEST CHU
I will embrace all my pure childhood love and enjoy this game of just huggins and nothing else! And i really like this concept for the series, if they continue doing Let's Go as a spinoff so we'd have a set of games appealing to each of the casual and hardcore demographics. I always feel bad complaining about hardcore when really my actual opinion on it is just "its not for me" and im actually only complaining about the rude fans who tell me im not a real fan unless i like their genre of stuff. Dude i was three years old when pokemon came out, i think ive earned my right by seniority to hug a plushie or two! So itd be awesome if hardcore doods could get their super hardcore game too, and we could just argue less cos we'd each be able to enjoy what we enjoy. Tho i mean the main series games already have a pretty clear divide between story/fun being the main game and hardcore competitive being a postgame thing. And yet we still get all this fandom fightibg over "ignore the actual 90% of the game, skip the plotline and only play competitive" apparantly being the "real" way to play it. Like man im worried that attitude is still gonna stick arpund even if they do give us separate games appealing to each side of the fandom?
EHHH WHATEVER! Im just gonna sit here in my corner of casual hugs and work on my self confidence to be able to stop feeling bad about not being someone else's idea of a "real" fan. If real fans can't have pikachu in a little hat, then that is not the life i wanna lead!
LITTLE GODDAMN HAT, MY GUY
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amazingviralinfo · 7 years
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Beyoncs new tour finds her at the height of her artistic powers. What makes her sound, her dance moves, her image and her feminism so distinctive?
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The sound: It sounds like a push to dominate all of pop
Of late, some music writers have got into the habit of referring to Beyonc as Queen Bey. It doesnt exactly imply a great deal of critical distance, but you can see why the nickname has stuck. It is hard to think of a recent album that feels more commanding and imperious than Lemonade, not just in its lyrics where defiant woman-scorned wrath meets righteous social anger but in its music. It sounds not like an R&B record, but a push to dominate all of pop. Country, alt-rock, left-field electronics, hoary Jack White blues-rock? I can do the lot. That seems to be one of its messages.
So pervasive is the Queen Bey persona that it is easy to forget that there was a time when Beyonc didnt seem to know what she wanted to be, at least musically. Her solo career never faltered commercially she continued the run of peerless pop hits that had begun with Destiny Childs No No No as if the groups dissolution were a mere formality, as if she had been the only thing that mattered about them all along but she also gave the impression of being torn between a career as an R&B diva and the desire to be an MOR entertainer.
Many of the best tracks on her first two solo albums tended to point up her voices similarity to R&B singers of the 60s and 70s the raw drums and see-sawing organ of Freakum Dress, the funk-rock of Suga Mama, Crazy in Loves blaring Chi-Lites horns but they were surrounded by stuff that erred on the sickly side of perfect, as if she were quietly investing in a future that might have more to do with cabaret than clubs.
Beyonc at the BET awards in Los Angeles. Photograph: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for BET
The sense of an artist being pulled uncomfortably in two opposing directions reached its peak with 2008s wildly uneven I Am Sasha Fierce: one disc full of self-help-motto power ballads and tracks that sounded as if they were following trends (Halo was audibly made in the image of Rihannas Umbrella), and another that suggested, for the first time, a willingness to experiment the percussion battery and oddly doomy minor chords of Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), Video Phones minimal fusion of crunk rhythms, sampled groans, and needling synthesisers.
I Am Sasha Fierce sold 8m copies, but its follow-up suggested a rethink or at least a focusing of her approach. Made after she had severed ties with her manager and executive producer father, 4 built on its predecessors more experimental aspects, and introduced the I-can-do-anything musical expansiveness that you hear on Lemonade. There were influences drawn from Afrobeat, dancehall and alt-rock; thrown together with Kanye West collaborator Jeff Bhasker, the Sleepy Jacksons Luke Steele contributed the psychedelicised Philly soul of Rather Die Young.
Destinys Child had largelyshied away from the kind of ultra-futuristic R&B sound big in the late 90s and early noughties their singles were always about the chorus rather than the novelty of the production but, just at the point when the charts were awash with R&B stars making tinny pop-house tracks, Beyonce released Run the World (Girls), based on Major Lazers Pon De Floor, a battery of drums, dancehall rhythms and squealing noise. It was refined on Beyonc, the album on which she finally abandoned the last vestiges of conservatism. The sound was rooted in hip-hop, but dragged everything from chillwave to the Aphex Twins abstract electronica to doo-wop into its orbit. It was filled with tracks that stopped abruptly, as though she was impatient to move on to the next idea. There were songs that sounded like suites (Haunted, Partition), even, on No Angel, an audibly off-key vocal allowed out into the world.
A gushing profile in Vogue found her joking that she might take on jazz or even country next time. As it turned out, she wasnt joking. Alexis Petridis
The dance icon: She and her troupe move as one unit a drill team, an army
Beyonc performs at the Super Bowl in 2016. Photograph: Thearon W Henderson/Getty Images
Beyoncs music, style and message make her an untouchable ruler at the top of the pop-culture pyramid. Her dancing, however, is what makes her feel reachable.
We have watched Beyonc grow from seductive showpiece to sexually empowered woman. She has graduated from the male-gaze booty-shaking of Crazy in Love to the unapologetic, hard-hitting struts of Formation. Sure, all the action still happens in her pelvis and chest, but the execution is different, with a sway back, upturned chin and heavier step. Something about it says: This dancing is for me and no one else. Not for your eyes; not for Jay Zs.
Notice that Beyonc is rarely without her all-female squad of dancers, and that she doesnt usually deviate from their choreography. That is completely deliberate, because Beyonc can certainly carry a stage alone. Instead, she and her troupe move as one unit a drill team, an army in the name of black pride and girl power. Allow your eyes to blur and it is as if Beyonc is multiplying, until 50 of her are swarming the stage.
More from the Super Bowl show. Photograph: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Refocus your vision and she is just one woman among meticulously organised rows of dancers. She might be the point of a pyramid or centre of an X, but she is always standing with them. It helps convey the idea that Beyonc is your spokeswoman; that she is in this with you, fighting the same fight. That no matter how rich and powerful she is, she is a girls girl, the Everywoman. That she walks, spins, and grinds like each dancer behind her. Because what anchors Beyonces persona once a shiny display, and now a little more vulnerable isnt the dancing itself, but the staging. She does not underestimate the simple and persuasive power of movement in unison.
That is not to say that the actual movement that Beyonc and her team puts out is particularly inventive (though they have certainly come up with some great hairography). While Beyonc has become more radical in message, she has actually toned down the creativity of her dancing since the days of the Bob Fosse-inspired Single Ladies video. Formations punchy isolations, booty-bouncing and chest-popping are evenly set with the beat and the melody, with knees twisting in and out. At its most basic, its a heightened, polished version of something you would do in the privacy of your own living room, music blasting, two glasses of wine in a feel-good romp. Its another way to connect with her fans. For modern-day Bey, dance is no longer a main event; its there to serve her highness. And sometimes, that is all dance is supposed to do. Kristin Schwab
The brand: She doesnt release albums; she creates cultural events
Beyonc and Jay Z at the Met Gala in New York. Photograph: Mike Coppola/Getty Images
Theres the A-list, and then theres Queen Bey. Beyonc has risen to a rare level of fame where she has surpassed mere celebrity and become an archetype of achievement. When she dropped Lemonade, the world dropped everything to listen Beyonc doesnt release albums; she creates cultural events.
Beyonc has been famous for almost 20 years, but, it is only in the last eight that she has gone from phenomenal to phenomenon. This is no accident, but the result of strategic brand-building learned from Madonna and Apple.
Her metamorphosis into a brand can be seen in three key milestones. First, she married Jay Z. Then she killed Sasha Fierce. Finally, she fired her father. Strategic partnerships can be a highly effective way to build a brand and, leaving romance aside, Beyoncs 2007 marriage to Jay-Z was as strategic as you can get. Both benefited from the merger I mean marriage, gaining new fans and elevating their respective statuses.
When Beyonc married Jay Z, she was going through a period of transition. You can see this play out in the character of Sasha Fierce, an alter-ego that let Beyonc experiment with a more risqu sexual persona while maintaining her traditionally wholesome image. The 2008 album I Am Sasha Fierce reflected this tension. One side had more mainstream songs for new fans, the other was aimed more at old fans.
The I Am Sasha Fierce album cover
In 2010, she announced she didnt need to separate her persona from that of Sasha Fierce any more. Killing off Fierce signalled a Beyonc newly confident in what she stood for. This was reinforced shortly after, when Beyonc made arguably her most important move ever: she dropped her father as manager and seized control of her brand. When I decided to manage myself, it was important to me not to sign to some big company, she said. I wanted to follow in Madonnas footsteps and be a powerhouse.
Part of becoming and staying a powerhouse was exerting painstaking, Apple-like control over her brand. Its a mistake to call Beyoncs notorious attention to her image diva behaviour; its businesswoman behaviour. Beyonc understood that she couldnt let Beyonc-the-person encroach on Beyonc-the-brand. So she stopped saying much, and rarely gave interviews. In 2013, she made waves by appearing on the cover of the September issue of Vogue without deigning to give the customary interview that went with it. Her silence made her voice even more powerful, and reinforced the mythology she was creating.
A couple of months later, Beyonc really dropped the mic when she launched her fifth album, eponymously titled Beyonc, unexpectedly on iTunes. The launch broke all the conventions of music marketing and announced to the world that she only played by her own rules. The next year, she was on the cover of Time for their most influential people issue.
Today, Beyonc is more influential than ever. She has become a voice for feminism and civil rights. While this move to the left may seem to run the risk of being polarising, remember that her timing has always been flawless. She understands exactly when she can activate activism for her own benefit. Further, the sign of a strong brand is that it can evolve with culture, and weather the occasional controversy. The strength of Beyoncs brand is such that, at the moment, it seeems she can do no wrong. After all, to err is human but Beyonc is divine. Arwa Mahdawi
The feminist: She calls out to the masses to rise up
The Lemonade album cover
Its all Maya Angelou in those now iconic first 15 seconds of Beyoncs visual album masterpiece Lemonade. As the most famous pop star on the planet, golden cornrow coiffed, and supine on the back of a sports utility vehicle, comes up off the back of her ride in haunting slow motion, the spirit of legend Angelous classic 1978 poem And Still I Rise pulsates like an undercurrent: You may write me down in history/With your bitter, twisted lies/You may trod me in the very dirt/But still, like dust, Ill rise. Our heroine has taken Angelous words (that many a black girl has memorised) to heart, turning the wisdom of her lyric anthem into a long-form visual and sonic meditation. The result is a feminist breakthrough in the world of stadium pop. It is 18 million cracks in pop music cultures glass ceiling delivered by a sister wielding a baseball bat in a marigold sundress.
One of the biggest pop-culture events of the year so far, Lemonade has nonetheless weathered some high-profile handwringing from feminist scholars such as bell hooks, a notorious Beyonc hater, who conceded that the albums visual imagery shifts the gaze of white mainstream culture challeng[ing] us all to look anew, to radically revision how we see the black female body while nevertheless continuing to warn of her oppressive ties to capitalism and patriarchy. These sorts of concerns about Beyoncs brand of feminism are nothing new.
Beyonc at the Super Bowl in 2013. Photograph: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
If you are a woman whose independence depends on making money, as Yonc and her fellow children of destiny would sing about in the year 2000, can you ever really be free of the systems that have historically oppressed women and people of colour? If, in your celebration of the single life, you are still chastising your ex for not having sealed a commitment with a rock, are you more of a material girl than empowered woman warrior?
The ambivalences in Beyoncs pre-Lemonade musical repertoire have led some, such as critic Andi Zeisler in her razor-sharp new book We Were Feminists Once, to characterise the superstars relationship to the F-word as a form of marketplace feminism, a mainstream, celebrity, consumer embrace of feminism that positions it as a cool, fun, accessible identity that anyone can adopt But Zeisler is also quick to point out that we need not hate the player, but rather the game in which our reigning queen of pop is ensnared.
The difference that Lemonade makes in Beyoncs career-long, increasingly sophisticated engagement with feminist politics is that it is an album that ambitiously aims to address the game of large-scale, deeply entwined racial and gender oppression, even as it foregrounds a tale of intimate deception and duplicity. True, this is still the Bey weve come to know who extols the virtues of revenge by way of paper, when many a feminist longs to hear her say instead that best revenge is dismantling patriarchy in all facets of modern life. But Lemonade is ultimately an album that moves well beyond a focus on being black Bill Gates in the making.
Just when a series of pop starlets from Taylor Swift to Emma Watson and Chlo Grace Moretz were willing to embrace a kind of feminism that oversimplifies its meaning, that thinks in limited and sometimes twisted ways about girl squads, making womens equality welcoming for men, and gender neutrality, along comes Bey with a new album that demands that we think about feminism as a sophisticated and multilayered practice rather than a slogan. The album encourages black women, in particular, to examine the wholeness of their beings and the complexities of their identities.
Beyonc and her team of artistic collaborators turned what had been an initial embrace of feminism into an epic sonic event. It demands that mainstream popular culture reckon with the conditions of being a modern black woman in ways never before seen and felt.
Beyonc and Coldplays Chris Martin at the 2016 Super Bowl show. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
For the first time, a superstar black female musician aligned herself with intersecting racial and gender freedom struggles by way of a concept album, as well as the Super Bowl halftime routine watched the world over.
Most would be hard-pressed to recall the last time a black female pop star had enough cultural capital and sheer recording industry power to boldly weave together critiques of racial and gender inequality into a full-length recording. The go-to reference for many is still Atlantic Records-era Aretha, crowned the iconic foremother of the feminist pop anthem. Others might cite the audacity of Lauryn Hills ferociously introspective narratives of self-discovery and personal redemption, the biting lyricism and sophisticated instrumentation of Meshell Ndegeocellos or Erykah Badus finest releases, or the recent Afrofuturist liberation odysseys of Janelle Mone. But none of these artists, not even the Queen of Soul, have commanded the kind of multimedia global platform that fourth-wave Bey has been able to seize upon in this rapidly changing digital age.
And so enter Yonc with her Run-the-World army of women: an all-female dance troupe, backup singers, her celebrated Suga Mama band, and her pathbreaking alliances with diasporic black feminist intellectuals such as Warsan Shire and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. At the height of her artistic powers and political vision, she calls out to the masses to rise up, Angelou-style, and ride with her as she sits behind the wheel of a Hold Up video demolition monster truck, driving pop culture forwards and into the future with no turning back. Daphne Brooks
The celebrity: Even sneezing on stage gets her coverage
Beyonc on tour in Houston, Texas. Photograph: Larry Busacca/PW/WireImage
Pop superstars fall into two camps: the boy or girl next door, or the character who would buy the house next door, evict the family and erect a neon and diamant castle in their own honour. Britney, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift would have you believe they would pop round for a cup of sugar; Kanye, Gaga and Madonna appeal because you know they would send in the JCBs. Fans engage with all those artists with a similar intensity, but we attach ourselves to the humanity of some and the audacity of others.
Most artists stay in one lane, but during her two-decade career, Beyonc has deftly segued from sugar (early interviews show an artist with little to say maybe, we might now speculate, she simply wasnt being asked the right questions) to steamrollers: Aprils Lemonade addressed, owned and even exacerbated rumours surrounding her marriage to Jay Z in the pop equivalent of a controlled explosion, by an artist now able to unleash, control and manipulate her own celebrity on her own terms.
Tech companies pivot when their original proposition goes wrong: Beyonc did it when things were going right or, at least, before diminishing returns set in. And she did so while achieving critical and commercial success.
The shift in Beyoncs celebrity status didnt happen overnight. Her relationship with Jay Z created a celebrity whole far exceeding the sum of its parts, while the aggressive sound and styling around Run the World (Girls) put a hard edge on the broad-stroke feminism of early Destinys Child tracks. But 2013s surprise album really saw Beyonc take control. The power of instant releases shouldnt be underestimated: by stripping critics of any meaningful role in an albums release, Beyonc and others have allowed for a frictionless exchange of celebrity energy between fan and artist.
Jay Z and Beyonc in San Francisco in 2014. Photograph: Mason Poole/Invision for Parkwood Entertainment
Six months later, Beyonc topped the Forbes celebrity power list, based on mentions in print, radio, TV and online, for the first time since her initial appearance on the list a decade earlier. This reflects shifting, click-driven priorities of the global news agenda, but Google Trends echoed Beyoncs role in that shift: before 2013 there were clumps of interest around album campaigns, but in December 2013 Beyonc began prompting huge peaks in interest that wildly outstripped any that came before.
As her politically charged Super Bowl performance earlier this year showed us, Beyonc understands tentpole moments, but she also understands the smaller details, the pegs without which tentpoles wouldnt hold up. She knew this early on. Consider Question! in Independent Women, Pt 1 or I aint gonna diss you on the internet when the world was still on dial-up lyrical proto-memes that now seem like Beyonc staking her claim on the modern world of social-driven celebrity culture.
Fast-forward to 2016 and Becky With the Good Hair the woman rumoured to have been a third party in the Beyonc-Jay Z marriage is a celebrity in her own right, while restaurant chain Red Lobster reported a 33% boost in sales after being namechecked in Formation as the ideal location for a crustacean-themed post-coital lap of honour. If that is interesting in itself, interesting, too, is how widely that news was reported. But this is an era when Beyonc sneezing on stage can guarantee coverage from Time, Vanity Fair, Mail Online and the Hereford Times. That, as much as anything else, defines the meaning of celebrity in 2016. Peter Robinson
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