❝ JESS ❞

Hey Jess ❤️ this is kinda random but do you have discord by any chance? 

After months, I am FINALLY getting caught up on all the comic series I follow, but gosh, the price of them all... it's easy to pretend I'm not spending so much on comics when it's only ~5-10$ a week, but it certainly adds up after a while, and my bank account is not happy...

Started my new job a few days ago (I'm an assistant at a garden shop, very fanfiction-y haha!) and it, plus the process of applying, waiting to hear back, and then going through all the onboarding and training when I did finally hear back, has been rough. I don't think a retail job has ever left me feeling quite so exhausted as this one does!
          
          These plants weigh anywhere between 5-6ish lbs when dry to 10-11ish lbs when wet depending on if they're a hanging plant, a pre-potted plant, or one of the smaller bundles, and that alone would be fine if I wasn't essentially lifting them around all day long. I might as well be doing curls, ammo can lifts, and farmer's carry my whole shift, because that's certainly what it seems like, just with a significantly floral scent keeping me company.
          
          It's satisfying work, don't get me wrong, and it's relaxing when I can just focus on watering, but I think the last time I felt this tired on a daily basis was back when I was preparing for the Marines!
          
          Either way, any writing that I have been doing is over on Tumblr. I've been trying my hand over there, and it's going pretty well, so I figured I'd shamelessly self-advertise what I'm working on over there. You can find me as @/f1byjessie for my Formula 1 works, @/stonesian for my soon to come football/soccer works, and @/beecossi for my normal blog!

One of my favorite things to do with my writing is to include small details that have deeper symbolical meanings━ the "blue drapes symbology" people used to make fun of their English teachers for making them do in school.
          
          The one downside is that I get so giddy thinking up every little thing, and how cool it is that Thing A is mirrored in Thing B as a physical representation of the metaphorical, or something or other in that same vein, but because it's such a small detail and because deeper analysis of literature has faded from prominence, nobody ever really notices unless I point it out by gushing about how cool I think it is in an author's note.
          
          On the other hand, this is fanfiction, and nobody really analyzes fanfiction unless it's one of those ultra-popular stories on AO3 that gains a cult following (i.e. All the Young Dudes, Crimson Rivers, and Manacled to name a few of the more notorious ones).
          
          But it does make me a bit sad to see that even a lot of traditionally published literature has lost a lot of the subtle symbolism. Any deeper meaning is explained at face value. The symbology is in your face like the author is force-feeding it to you. "This character wears a lion broach because he's strong and dominant," rather than "this character exhibits habits and behavioral tendencies that are similar to what's been observed of lions in the wild as a way of hinting at his animalistic qualities and the similarities he shares with traditional perceptions of lions." There's no real depth anymore, and maybe this is just a geeky little literature nerd thing, but I really miss looking for that hidden symbolism and finding parallels actually written into the stories rather than what people have headcanoned online.

Part of me wishes I would've been old enough to really partake in and enjoy the height of the 2010s 1D and 5SOS fangirl era because they don't make boybands like they used to.
          
          Obviously, K-pop is very much a thing, but there's still a substantial distinction between the two of them. The Korean music industry doesn't try to hide how deeply intertwined it is with consumerism culture, and because of that, it seems to advertise the boy groups a lot more to adult women since they are the only ones who can afford the merchandise, with the singular exception of older teenage girls in international countries due to labor regulations a lot of Korean high schools have in place that prevents their students from working part-time jobs.
          
          This isn't to say that Western boybands aren't also capitalizing off of concert merch, posters, T-shirts, etc. but I think there's something to say about the differences in how they market things.
          
          The physical albums Korean artists release are full of collectibles that are exclusive to their physical albums and are often a gamble in regards to member photocards, polaroids, etc., which supports a necessity of sorts to buy multiple copies for the chance of getting your favorite member. Similarly, there are usually multiple versions of the same album━ a version A, B, C, a re-release A, B, and C, and more. Depending on the artist, exclusivity, version, or age of the album, they can run anywhere between $20-$40 so it's not uncommon for more serious collectors to spend hundreds of dollars on one comeback, just on albums alone.
          
          Whereas Western artists typically don't include the same extent of collectibles in their physical albums and tend to follow a CD-only format that usually runs anywhere between $6-$10 with usually just one version.
          
          Western boybands like 1D and 5SOS were generally marketed more towards young girls because of this and were something preteens and younger teen girls could unashamedly take part in along with older teens.

Alas! It's here!
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/362222395

I'm totally losing my shit— my friend, who is genuinely the other half of my soul and who I love more than anything else, bought us both Hozier tickets because it's been our dream concert for YEARS and he's FINALLY coming to our city WHICH NEVER HAPPENS WITH ANY ARTIST. I have never cried such happy tears before y'all, she said "there's no one else I'd rather go with" and I cannot handle how big my heart feels right now

I know I haven't updated my Lando Norris fic since posting it, but I was rewatching The Society today, fell in love with Jack Mulhern again, and now I desperately need him in another teen-centric apocalypse-esque survival story so mayhaps that's something that'll be coming soon~

i love your theme! thank you for the follow < 3

I'm so ready for it to not be winter anymore. I used to love it when I was younger, because snow days meant no school and for a number of other reasons, but I'm so over it now. I haven't been able to get out of my house in two weeks because the roads in my neighborhood don't get plowed, so it's genuinely just too dangerous to leave for something that isn't an emergency or absolutely 100% necessary. I going stir crazy and it sucks.
          
          And to make it worse, just when things start melting and it's looking like it'll clear up, we get hit with another wave of snow that sets us back to the start. This past Wednesday was our hottest day of the month at 20F, and then Thursday we had a mini blizzard come through that refroze everything.
          
          I need spring to be here already...