#Featured Vlogger of the Week

[rebelliousmuse]

Crush - C.S.

Warning: use of y/n, unprotected p in v (don’t you dare).

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

A jaunty pop melody announced a new text, pulling your attention from the mirror. Nick's message read "Hey girl, we're heading to your place. Be ready."

Maybe they'd edit out the drooling part, you thought with a grimace, remembering you agreed to film the video for part of their new Friday vlog. You zipped up the back of your favourite overalls. A pale pink off-the-shoulder top peeked out from under.

A cloud of sweet, floral Carolina Herrera engulfed you as you spritzed yourself twice. A knot of nerves tightened in your stomach, but you forced a smile. Today was wisdom teeth removal day.

You grabbed your phone and purse, practically skipping down the hallway. The rumble of a familiar engine vibrated through the house. You peeked out the window and saw the triplets' minivan pull into the driveway.

Throwing the door open, you were met with Nick's warm smile in the back seat as you sat next to him. "Heeey," they said, you returned the greeting, Matt and Chris were already setting the camera to tell the viewers what was about to happen.

Chris launched into his commentary, voice a touch higher than usual. "Alright guys! Today's a big day for y/n. Wisdom teeth removal! Prepare yourselves for some hilarious anaesthesia antics!".

You couldn't help but smile. Though a tiny voice in your head piped up, 'Please don't let me confess my undying love for him after surgery.'

Nick reached over and squeezed your hand. "Don't worry, y/n. Mine went smoothly. Just be prepared to live off ice cream for a week straight." He winked.

---

The sterile scent of disinfectant hit you as you stepped out of the van, a contrast to the fresh scent of Matt's car freshener. You gripped the strap of your purse tighter, a nervous laugh escaping your lips.

The Doctor’s waiting room was a mixture of sterile white and the nervous hum of anticipation. You twisted your rings around your finger. Matt scrolled through his phone with a frown etched on his brow. Meanwhile, Nick, continued his pep talk as you and Chris listened. "Honestly, it's like a nap with bonus drool! You'll be fine."

Dr. Gabe, a tall man with kind eyes, appeared at the doorway. "Ready, y/n?" he asked gently.

The sterile smell of disinfectant intensified as you were ushered into the operating room. The crinkle of paper scrubs and the rhythmic whir of equipment filled the air. The boys followed close behind, cameras rolling. After a few questions from the doctor and a series of pinpricks from the anaesthesia needle, the surgery began. You felt a wave of drowsiness wash over you, pulling you into the welcoming oblivion of unconsciousness.

---

The surgery was over. Dr. Gabe, his surgical mask now dangling around his neck, spoke to the boys. “She'll be groggy for a while. Keep an eye on her until the anaesthesia wears off.”

The triplets, ever the vloggers, saw this as their golden opportunity. Cameras rolled as they bombarded you with nonsensical questions like they did to Nick, hoping to capture some hilarious 'anaesthesia antics.'

After a few questions, Nick, got sidetracked by a text notification from their best friend, Nathan, his and Matt’s attention momentarily diverted. This left Chris standing beside you. He looked down at you, a hesitant smile playing on his lips.

“Hey,” he said softly, “Would you mind taking a picture with me? Just to remember this moment”. Heat flooded your cheeks. You lifted your head slightly, “Sure,” you slurred.

Chris scrambled to find a good angle. After he took the pic, you saw him looking at the picture on the camera screen, a genuine smile gracing his features.

"You have such a pretty smile," you mumbled, the words stretched and slow. Chris's smile widened, "Really? You like my smile?" You managed a sluggish nod, unable to tear your gaze away from him. "It reminds me of... of Prince Charming," you slurred, the words tumbling out in a nonsensical jumble.

Chris let out a soft laugh. He seemed to find your comment endearing. As you continued to babble, weaving a fantastical story about rescuing damsels in distress with a smile that could melt hearts, Nick and Matt materialized beside you.

"Woah, woah, woah," Nick said, his voice laced with amusement as he held up the camera and started recording again. "Looks like someone's got a crush on Prince Charming here!"

Matt joined in, "Did you hear that, guys? Looks like we have a Disney princess on our hands!"

The anaesthesia might have loosened your inhibitions, but the warmth blooming in your cheeks was all too real. Suddenly, the prospect of the entire internet seeing your delirious Disney-fuelled confessions was slightly terrifying, but also strangely exhilarating. As the boys continued to film, capturing your goofy grin and nonsensical ramblings, you couldn't help but steal a glance at Chris.

Suddenly, the doctor reappeared. He launched into a flurry of instructions directed at the boys as they absorbed his words. Chris, however, seemed oblivious. His gaze was locked on yours.

A small, curious smile played on your lips. You reached out a hand searching for his face. Your fingers brushed against the warmth of his cheek, then drifted up towards his eyes.

"Why are your eyes so blue?" you whispered. Chris's lips curved into a wider smile. His gaze dipped down to your hand, hovering just inches from his face. "I want them," you continued as you stretched your fingers further, almost comically trying to grasp the colour blue itself. "They are sooo pretty," you slurred.

A soft chuckle escaped Chris's lips. He leaned closer, "Well, you can't just take them off me, you'd hurt me," he whispered.

A frown creased your forehead for a fleeting moment. "Ow," you mumbled, a hint of sadness lacing your voice. "But can my kids have them?" you blurted out.

Chris's eyebrows shot up in surprise. A burst of laughter bubbled up from his chest, momentarily breaking his eye contact as he looked away. "I'll think about it," he managed, his voice laced with laughter. The corners of your mouth lifted in a triumphant grin. "Okay," you chirped.

"Alright, sleepyhead," Nick said, as him and Matt got back next to you. "The doc says it's time for your big test. We're going to throw some random words at you, and if you remember them, you get to leave."

Matt pulled out the camera, "Alright, guys," he announced, "Let's see if y/n can remember her way back to reality!"

The first few words were a blur. "Banana" Matt tried; his face tinged with disappointment when your brow furrowed in confusion after they asked for the ‘password’ a few minutes later. "Butterfly" Nick followed, receiving the same blank stare minutes later.

After a few more attempts, Nick gave you a new word ‘Zookeeper’. But since they started arguing on whose turn was to tell you a new word, you forgot it. And after what felt like an hour, just as you started to worry you might be stuck there forever, a spark ignited in your mind as they asked for the ‘password’ once again. "Zookeeper!" you exclaimed, the word bursting from your lips with surprising clarity.

A collective cheer swept through the room. The doctor, with a gentle pat on your arm, cleared you to leave.

Exhaustion pulled at your limbs as you shuffled towards the van, Chris offering you a steady arm for support.

Nick slid into the backseat, "So, y/n, we're heading back to our place. Remember, you're stuck with us until the pain decides to leave you alone."

You mumbled a weak agreement, sinking back into the soft seat. The familiar scent of Matt’s van filled your senses.

The engine rumbled to life as Matt took the wheel. Chris leaned towards you. "Hey," he said softly, "what kind of music are you in the mood for?"

A smile spread across your face. "Hmm," you mumbled, "Madison Beer" The name tumbled out.

The drive to their house was a blur of familiar streets, random comments from you, the boy’s laughter, and soft melodies. As they pulled into the driveway, Matt hopped out first. He opened your door, offering a hand to help you out.

"Easy there," he said kindly.

"Thanks, Matt," you mumbled. Nick followed close behind, camera clutched in one hand and his backpack slung over the other shoulder.

"Gotta pee!" Chris announced, dashing towards the bathroom with urgency. With a sigh of relief, you sank onto the familiar comfort of their couch.

"Anything you need?" Nick asked.

"Just some ice cream, maybe?" you mumbled as you took the gauze out of your mouth to throw in the bin.

Nick and Matt exchanged a glance, "Ice cream it is," Nick declared with a grin. "Matt, grocery run? We should probably stock up while we're out."

Matt readily agreed, grabbing his keys. "Sounds good. We'll grab some pain meds too."

These guys, they really were the best. As the front door closed with a soft thud, leaving you and Chris alone, a comfortable silence settled over the room. You stole a glance at Chris, who had just emerged from the bathroom with a playful grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

"So..." he began, "Do you remember anything you said earlier?"

Your breath caught in your throat. "Oh no," you thought, a wave of panic washing over you. "Please don't tell me I confessed my undying love, or I swear I'm crawling into the next hole I see." You forced a nonchalant shrug.

"No, why?" you managed to say with your voice sounding far too squeaky for your liking.

Chris's smile widened. "You said some really... interesting things," he teased.

"Really? Like what?" you squeaked.

He leaned back slightly. "Oh, you know, just that you like my smile," he said with a hint of cockiness in his voice. Relief flooded you so intense it felt like a physical wave. Thank goodness, it wasn't anything worse!

"Oh, well, the three of you have good smiles honestly," you replied, forcing a casual tone. Internally, you breathed a sigh of relief.

"And that you want your kids to have my eyes," he continued. He didn't break eye contact. Your breath hitched, and a blush crept up your neck, warming your cheeks to an embarrassing shade of crimson. Your heart kicked into overdrive, pounding a frantic rhythm against your ribs.

"What?" you stammered.

"You also compared me to Prince Charming," he added, a playful smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

A nervous laugh escaped your lips, high-pitched and breathy. "Oh well, Nick did say that anaesthesia does that kind of things," you said, desperately trying to deflect his attention and hoping he wouldn't press the issue any further.

"I guess, but damn, I thought you would ask me to marry you or something," Chris said jokingly.

"Oh, shut up, Chris," you replied, fidgeting with your rings nervously, avoiding his gaze as you felt his eyes fixed on you. His teasing was making you blush.

You sensed Chris moving closer. He started speaking in a high-pitched tone, mimicking your earlier words, "Oh Chris, your smile is so pretty!" He clasped his hands together dramatically, feigning a loving gaze.

"Stop," you pleaded, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks.

"Oh my God, your eyes are so blue!" Chris continued.

"Stoppp!" you protested with embarrassment.

"Please have my children!" Chris exclaimed dramatically, moving even closer as he playfully mocked your anaesthesia-induced confessions.

Enough was enough. You didn't know what came over you, but suddenly you couldn't resist the urge any longer. You looked into Chris's eyes and kissed him passionately. His initial gasp of surprise was quickly replaced by reciprocation as he kissed you back, one hand finding its place behind your neck while the other held your waist tenderly.

As you pulled away, a rush of conflicting emotions swept through you. Your heart raced with both excitement and apprehension, and you couldn't help but cover your face with your hands. Regret gnawed at you as you worried about the implications of your impulsive action, fearing it might jeopardize your friendship with Chris.

Suddenly, you felt Chris's hands gently grasp yours, pulling them away from your face with a reassuring touch. His voice broke through your thoughts. "About damn time," he murmured. One of his hands tenderly lifted your chin, guiding your gaze back to his, as Chris's lips met yours once more. The air between you crackled with electricity as desire flared anew, quickly heating up the already charged atmosphere. He picked you up, starting to walk towards his room, closing the door behind him.

The clothes slipped away from your bodies, as Chris's hands fumbled with the button and zipper of his jeans. His warm breath tickled your ear as he murmured endearments. His lips trailed down your neck, nipping gently at the sensitive skin, eliciting a gasp from your lips. A soft moan escaped you as your fingers ran through his hair. As you two got rid of your panties and his boxers, he positioned himself at your entrance, which was already soaked from the kisses, touch and sweet words from Chris.

He started fucking you slowly, with deliberate movements, each thrust sending shivers dancing across your skin. As your hips met, your breath hitched in your throat, a gasp escaping your lips. His eyes, dark with desire, devoured yours, never leaving sight as his movements showed an increasing urgency. Your nails dug deep into his back, leaving red marks all over it. A low growl rumbled in his chest as he rasped, "You feel so good, babe." The sound of slapping skin sent a jolt through you, and a strangled moan tore from your lips. You met his lips with equal fervour, tasting the victory in his smirk before you broke away. "Fu-ck, Chris, j-just like that, my God-d," you pleaded, the words tumbling out in a breathless rush. A slow, knowing smile played on his lips as he leaned in, growling, "That's right, baby. I'm your God, worship me."

As Chris' movements became a blur of frantic energy, a warm knot formed in your stomach. Your breath hitched in your throat, and a whimper escaped your lips. Embraced by the rising heat, you maintained contact with Chris' gaze, “C-Chri-s, I need t-to” you breathed out. "I know, babe, do it, cum for me," he rasped. The knot in your stomach twisted tighter. Then, with a final surge of effort, a gasp escaping your lips, you came. A wave of warmth washed over you, leaving your legs trembling and weak as your juices dripped down Chris’ cock and your thighs. Chris followed mere moments later, a satisfied groan rumbling in his chest as he rode both of your highs.

The drowsiness pulled your eyelids down slowly. A faint smile played on your lips as Chris tucked a stray strand behind your ear. "Sleep, love," he murmured, leaving a kiss on your forehead. You barely registered him getting up but felt the gentle tug of the covers before sleep fully claimed you.

Chris, already dressed, padded softly across the kitchen. Reaching for a glass, he heard the front door open and hushed voices. "Where's y/n?" Nick asked, followed by the clinking of bags. Chris smiled, "Sleeping, I offered my bed for her to rest," he answered. "Okay" Nick said, the murmur of conversation and the quiet clinking of groceries filling the air as the triplets started putting the purchases in the cupboards.

[iww-gnv]

After Illinois passed the country’s first law protecting child influencers last week, a feeling of optimism swept over Sarah Adams. For years, she and other advocates against child exploitation have warned about the dangers of sharing children’s lives on social media for profit. The law would ensure financial compensation for minors, defined as children under 16 years old, who are featured in vlogs, or video blogs. While Adams is not based in the U.S., she and other activists who spoke with NBC News said they are excited by the news. They believe the legislation marks a precedent that could encourage similar action in states across the country. “There is a lot of excitement that these conversations are not only being had, but that legislation is being enacted to protect the income that these kids are generating,” said Adams, a 38-year-old mother of two from Vancouver who calls out child exploitation online with her platform of more than 270,000 TikTok followers. “Because we need to be realistic: It’s the children that are generating the income for these families.” Ethical concerns around “sharenting” have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years as family vloggers and parenting influencers continue to build massive followings online. Advocates have called out the harms of invading children's privacy and compromising their digital safety for clout or monetary gain, especially without informed consent.

[Read the rest]

[iamsweden]

WE GET POSSESSED? | Ghost Hunting with Friends! Pt. 1 Before the Hunt

Summary: 

While filming what should be a routine “ghost hunting” urban exploration video with her friends, Tressa uncovers old secrets that should have stayed hidden.

A/N:

Celebrate Halloween with me by reading this obscure Octopath Ghost Hunting Youtuber parody AU?

This is really just a fun little thing I wanted to do, so I’ll posting chapters as soon as I finish them! That means minimal editing, so I apologize for any errors! I just want to get as much done as possible before Halloween hits tomorrow :)

I’m also cross-posting this fic on AO3 but without the extra formatting. Click HERE to read! 

All chapters will be tagged with #ghosthuntingwfriends if you'd like to follow along!

Enjoy!

WE GET POSSESSED? | Ghost Hunting with Friends!

515,962 views | Oct 31, 2024

For this week’s treasure hunt, I take my friends on a Spooky Halloween Adventure to the HAUNTED Old Royal Academy in Atlasdam! 

Featuring: 

Ophilia (@AskSisterOphilia)

Cyrus (@historywithcyrus)

Therion & Alfyn (@GrabBagGames, @DontTalkToMe, @thatherbguy)

Primrose (@primroseazelhart)

Olberic

H’aanit & Linde

Follow me!

IG and X: @TressaColzione

Edited by Noa (@wyndyseagull)

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Before the hunt

3:30 - FIRST FLOOR

8:50 - SECOND FLOOR

19:51 - THIRD FLOOR

25:02 - HEADMASTER’S OFFICE

33:28 - TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

38:02 - History Lesson Break

46:57 - THE H4TCH

48:36 - B4SEM3N+

66:66:66 - F4LL1NG IN+0 +H3 A8Y5S

1:19:58 - CALLING THE EXORCIST

1:24:20 - NVM WE’RE GOOD

1:36:21 - REFLECTION

—

BEFORE THE HUNT

Since diving headfirst into her steller youtube career, Tressa has learned several valuable lessons: avoid drama, thoroughly vet and research any potential sponsorships, create backups of all her files and videos, etc. You know, the stuff anyone in the business will tell you to watch out for. And even though Tressa hasn’t been on the scene very long, at least compared to some of her peers, she really feels as though she’s gotten the hang of this youtube vlogger thing.

So when she rolls up to the looming, imposing facade of the abandoned Old Royal Academy in northern Atlasdam, Tressa doesn’t have a worry in the world. Tonight is gonna go off without a hitch. Once all of her friends get here, she’s sure they’ll be having too much fun exploring the old place to get scared.

Tressa can’t think of anyone else she’d want to guest star in her next big video than these guys. Even if they all make different kinds of content (or no content at all, in Olberic and H’aanit’s cases), everyone is guaranteed to come out of this venture with a special video of their own.

Cyrus and Olberic are here first, of course. They live in Atlasdam for one, and Cyrus specifically helped her nab permission to shoot on the premises tonight. His set up is frighteningly simple and devastatingly slapstick: a cheap video camera and likely even cheaper clip-on microphone. Olberic holds the camera steady with the fortitude of a statue. Cyrus barely pauses his agonizing ramble about the history of the college to wave at her in greeting.

“...thereby earning itself the new descriptor ‘old’ in 1847. However, the Old Royal Academy’s doors would remain open for several years yet, producing such austere minds as esteemed poet and playwright Simeon Ventus and Atlasdam native Yvon Baudelaire, who earned the title of second president of the (new) Royal Academy in 1864. Shortly after his inauguration, his alma mater would mysteriously catch fire, destroying a large part of the northern part of campus and compromising the structural integrity of the building as a whole. Regrettably, the fire claimed the lives of forty-eight students, teachers, and staff. The school closed, never to open again. As you can clearly see behind me, however, the Atlasdam Historical Society restored the building with the intent of transforming it into a protected historical landmark. While repairs were completed in 1962, a series of logistical mishaps stagnated the effort, leading to the project’s abandonment in 1970.”

With his very interesting and not at all boring monologue finished (for now), Cyrus claps his hands and spins on his heel towards Tressa, donning a mighty grin. “And here is our intrepid adventurer now, come to lead us on a journey through this stunning piece of history! How have you been, my dear?”

“Good!” she says, dragging her last duffle bag out of the back of her car. She brought more than enough gadgets and gizmos for everyone to use tonight. 

Tressa has REM pods. EVPs. A bunch of different radios. This weird little teddy bear that talks to ghosts and records spooky sounds. A deck of tarot cards–though they’re mostly for show instead of, like, actual use in studying the paranormal. If there are ghosts and ghouls and demons lurking in that old spooky place, Tressa will find them.

And if not, because, let’s be real, ghosts aren’t real, she’ll have a ton of stuff she can use to edit spooks and scares in post! Her editor Noa always knows how to turn a boring video into something wild and interesting.

While Cyrus paws through her gear, critically examining each piece of probable junk, Olberic hums. “And these… items are supposed to help you do what, exactly?” he asks.

Tressa counts on her fingers: “Pick up weird ghost noises, talk to ghosts, catch apparitions, detect temperature fluctuations–oh, and this thing senses movement!”

“Ghosts are said to manifest as fluctuating energy,” Cyrus explains, holding the Boo Buddy teddy bear out at length. He pokes at its button nose. Then Cyrus hands the bear to his husband, who gingerly accepts it. “Paranormal investigators use sensitive equipment to measure that energy. I read through the wikipedia article last night.”

“I see,” Olberic evenly says.

Yes, their first real skeptic of the night! Cyrus is going to take this investigation so seriously, but she’s really counting on Olberic to keep realistic expectations! It’ll create a nice narrative for the evening, especially when everyone else gets here.

And speaking of the rest of their friends–

Next pulls up a real rust bucket of a truck, the back of which is covered in faded bumper stickers. Most of the decals are meme-y stickers from their own store, but there’s more than a couple hippy environmental messages thrown into the mix. The second the truck clunks into park, Therion tears out of his seat, indignantly hissing, “We’re fucking over.”

“Huh?” Tressa asks right as Alfyn calls through the still open door, “He broke up with me because my swag is–”

Therion slams the door shut.

“I’m done,” he reiterates, daring anyone to challenge him.

Tressa rolls her eyes. They’ll be back together within the hour. 

Or so she thinks, until Alfyn joins the group, proudly standing before them while looking like an absolute idiot. Tressa doesn’t know what’s more egregious, the hat that says Paranormal Investigator or the shirt that says, This is my Ghost Hunting Buddy! with a big arrow pointed to the left. Presumably the shirt is half of a matching set. If Therion didn’t set fire to his shirt, it probably got thrown out the window to rot in a ditch somewhere.

(At least that’s what he’ll likely tell them–Tressa wouldn’t be surprised if he’s wearing it right now, kept hidden by his stupid hoodie.)

Tressa reminds herself that she loves Alfyn and Therion and values their friendship. She really does. She really, really does.

“I’m gonna text Prim and see where they’re at,” Tressa mutters, abandoning Cyrus and Olberic to deal with whatever that is.

She quickly rounds the corner, using her phone as a light. The academy rises high into the sky, blocking out the moon from this side and bathing the street in stolid darkness. Dead leaves sweep across the broken sidewalk and crunch underfoot. The gothic metal fence lining the property is painted a chipped black. The Halloween vibes are off the chart out here. If she hadn’t come out earlier to shoot some B-roll, this would be the perfect time.

the girlssssss 4 people Thursday 8:07 PM tressa Whats you guys’s ETA Alf and therion just got here Therions already throwing a fit prim we’re about 6 mins out. phili Oh no! What happened? tressa they broke up bc Alf looks stupid. prim I swear to sealctige. Sorry Phili. phili I’m sure he looks fine :) tressa He really doesn’t tho. prim well we’ll be there soon. hold fast soldier. tressa o7

Before Tressa heads back to the guys, she pauses for a moment. The air is cool but not uncomfortably so, yet a shiver still snakes its way up her spine. She zips up her vest and tugs the cuffs of her sweater over her fingers.

It’s pretty out here, sure, but it is genuinely pretty creepy, too. There are no street lights around the academy–save a large spotlight out front, illuminating the main front gate. The fence isn’t that high either. Even if it’s topped with ornate spikes, that wouldn’t be enough to stop any ne'er do wells from entering. Yet when Tressa was here earlier to film, she didn’t see any graffiti on the walls or trash strewn about the yard. The academy is in tiptop shape. Well, as in-shape as any old, abandoned building can be.

But it’s still weird that it’s so abandoned, right? Like, there’s not a lot of security around the building either. The front gate is padlocked shut, with the key held solely by some up and up from the (new) Royal Academy.

Tressa warily eyes the dark facade, half expecting to see something looking back at her from one of the windows.

But the place is as empty and lifeless as ever.

She’s psyching herself out for no reason. Ghosts aren’t real, and they’re not in any kind of danger. If they do happen to run into someone unsavory inside, they’ll surely turn tail and run at the sight of Olberic and H’aanit.

Tressa shakes her head. Prim, H’aanit, and Phili will be here soon. She needs to head back out front and–

Darkness swoops in as her phone’s flashlight turns off. Tressa flails in surprise, nearly throwing her phone–but self preservation keeps her fingers locked tight around it. She taps on the screen to turn it back on, but it’s like frozen or something, stuck on the background image of her, Ali, and Noa at the fair this summer. The time reads 8:88.

Wait. What? She looks closer, squinting at the dimmed brightness. Okay, yeah, she just misread it. It’s 8:14. 

That’s still… weird, though. It wasn’t that late before when she texted Primrose and Ophilia, right? Is her phone on the fritz? Damn Apple, making crappy, overpriced products. Tressa smacks the side of it, clicking the buttons over and over, trying to force it to restart.

Eventually, it unfreezes and the screen goes black. She keeps holding the buttons, waiting for that stupid little apple to pop up and show it’s restarting, but it never shows. Instead, her lock screen flashes back on. It shows a couple missed calls and new texts:

dumdum did you fall in a manhole or smthn — phili Hello? Where are you? Are you okay? — Missed Call from alf — alf Everything ok? where’d you go for real tress we’re gettin worried — dumdum shortstack where did you go if ur doing a prank video i’ll kill you i’ll seriously do it. — Missed Call from alf Missed Call from phili

Before Tressa can respond or even figure out what everyone’s talking about, a blurred, unflattering picture of Therion fills the screen. Her ringtone blares, cutting through the silence like a jagged knife. She answers. “Hey–”

“It’s about damn time!” he interrupts, sounding breathless. “Where the hell did you go? Did you get kidnapped?”

“I’m like twenty feet away from you, just around the corner of the building,” she snaps, marching back down the sidewalk towards the main gate. “I stepped away to text Prim.”

“Yeah, like ten minutes ago! They’ve been asking us where you are.”

Ten minutes? But that’s….

Tressa rounds the corner, stepping back into the buzzing fluorescent light. Cyrus and Olberic still stand by the gate next to her ghost hunting equipment, but now they’re joined by Primrose, trying to convince them that this isn’t something we need to call the cops over, calm down.

“Perhaps she took a wronge turn and lost her way,” H’aanit suggests, though her brow pinches in concern as she scans the street–and then finds Tressa.

“Okay, well, bye,” Tressa mutters before hanging up on Therion. To the rest of her friends, she says, “I had some phone trouble and I think I zoned out for a bit! I’m good though!”

Everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief. Primrose’s thumbs fly across her phone screen as she texts Alfyn and Therion–missing from the group–that Tressa is back.

Tressa becomes a broken record as she assures her friends she’s fine, that she just lost track of time, that nothing happened. No, she didn’t get lost. Yes, she’s really okay. No, she didn’t see Alfyn or Therion–

“I don’t see how you didn’t,” Primrose says, giving her a thorough scan for–what, any injuries Tressa may be hiding from them? “They both went looking for you. You’re sure you just walked around the corner? Kept to the sidewalk?”

Tressa nods. “Yeah, I stood beside the fence the whole time. I don’t know what else to say. I didn’t go anywhere, I swear.”

“What matters is that you’re safe,” Ophilia decides, descending upon the interrogation with all the grace of a saint. She wears a beatific smile that completely unravels the tension. “Let’s head inside. When Alfyn and Therion rejoin us, we can begin filming.”

[cornley-amateur-drama-society]

Chris, Sandra, Robert, and Vanessa as YouTubers

(because the idea was living in my neurons and firing them constantly)

Chris is so one of those guys who acts out his favourite scenes from plays and movies and TV shows.

But, more importantly,

He is watching stage performances and ripping into them with a zest that scares new viewers.

(There is a drinking game floating around with older viewers based on what Chris says or does, such as pinching the bridge of his nose at least three times in the span of two minutes or if he starts a sentence off like, “Hm, right, well then.”)

He's talking about Shakespeare, he's talking about Wilde, he's looking at off-Broadway and off-West End up-and-coming shows

He's looking at what's promising (u&c shows), what's timeless (older, well-known shows), and what he appreciates about them or what he thinks is outdated or sucked in execution (all).

Once a month, he'll perform a scene from a play he wrote himself.

There are several plays he's penned from which he chooses each month, performing scenes that are disjointed, so his ideas cannot be potentially stolen.

He does have a Patreon, the patrons dubbed “The Screen Beans.”

One of the things he does every other week is a live Q&A while he does mundane things like cleaning his office or making a meal or holds yarn for someone off-screen.

There are fancams in the #ScreenBeans tags across social media of his lives due to Chris' much more laid-back personality.

(Laid-back is a relative term here. He is still very conscious of what he says and does, however he wears his glasses or forgets to shave a few days before the lives or is wearing cosy-looking handmade jumpers.)

His Instagram account is active, and he posts at least thrice a week. Each post is something specific for the day, like #HoratioMondays, #WednesdayViewings, and #SaturdayShots.

Horatio is a beloved feature of his channel. A nearly completely black cat with white spots on the end of his tail, over one eye, and on one paw, the little guy is missing half of one of his ears. He has brilliant green eyes, though, that look like emeralds when the light hits him right.

Chris had, in his late-teens one night walking to his flat, stumbled across Horatio as a small, weak, and thin kitten. He instantly picked him up and took him back to his flat. Though there were two other roommates there, Chris was positive that they would be fine with it.

(This was in part due to having seen Kevin's family cat in the family pictures around the flat, and also knowing the Patels since he and Kev were in Primary. Their other roommate was a friend of a friend named Max Bennett, and he was surprisingly easy-going and adored animals.)

Horatio Mondays are of the now almost twelve-year-old cat going about his life.

Sometimes they're videos of him staring at a bug on the window or of him dropping one of his toys into his mini water fountain and then releasing the most pitiful and cooked yowl for Chris to rescue it.

Other times they're pictures of him curled up on the little bed Chris has for him in his office, slightly messy selfies of the two of them together, or pictures of Horatio dressed up for whatever holiday or event is approaching.

Wednesday Viewings are sneak peaks into what his video on Friday will be about. Sometimes it's a shot of the title card of the movie or TV show. Others it's an artfully done picture of a book of a play open with several pens and sticky notes scattered in and around it.

Saturday Shots are just pictures of anything particularly interesting Chris did during the week, or pictures and videos taken during a stroll in the park near his flat, or pictures with his friends at cafés or theatres.

Many people are surprised by who Chris is friends with, not expecting to see the Sandra Wilkinson, the Robert Grove, and the Vanessa Wilcock-Wynn-Carroway with him.

Well, okay, Sandra and Robert make sense given that both of them are well-known acting vloggers, too. But it always throws new viewers off to find out that Chris and Vanessa are engaged.

The two of them are very good at keeping their accounts separate and compartmentalized.

Once they announce their engagement on both of their channels, however, the divide they had slowly erodes away and Vanessa can be seen occasionally in his lives, sometimes even joining in for a few minutes. She also starts to feature more heavily on his Instagram page, along with her cat Othello.

(Screen Beans are shook to find out that Chris had been hiding an entire whole ass cat from them for years. Especially one as fluffy as Othello. When asked about it in a live Q&A that he did on Instagram after his engagement announcement video went up, he chalked the lack of Othello up to the fact that he can close his office door while he films. And that Othello likes to sleep most of the time on his and Vanessa's bed or hang out with her while she works on a new pattern or design or challenge.)

Chris posts his videos every Friday, and they range between three minutes long to over an hour and a half if he's dissecting a film/TV show/play.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 08/06/2024 (Eminem's "Houdini", Fred again../Anderson .Paak/CHIKA, Chappell Roan)

It’s been over two decades for Eminem and his new lead single is still debuting at #1 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his 11th overall. It’s stupid as all Hell, but it might be worth to have some lightening up in the rap world after, well, you know. As for whatever else is charting… well, welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, death, gay sex, uncomfortable age gaps, The Real Slim Shady, transphobia, cancel culture, 70s Italian cinema, RuPaul

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts - songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to some rap as “Malicious Intentions” by Poser drops out - a shame it couldn’t last or reach the top 40 since I do really like that as a follow-up - as well as Future and Metro Boomin’s work naturally dampening off with “Type Shit” featuring Travis Scott and Playboi Carti, and “Like That” featuring Kendrick Lamar. Our three other notable dropouts, unless I’m missing anything, are older pop hits: “Teenage Dreams” by Katy Perry, “Tears Dry on Their Own” by the late Amy Winehouse and finally, “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac. Again.

As for our notable gains and returns, we see the resurgence of “Without Me” by Eminem, as his newest single actually landed his biggest first-week sales since that track hit #1 back in 2002, according to the Official Charts Company’s article about “Houdini”… and looking at the top 10 it spent one week on top of, yeah, I’m happy Em took that one. That is a rough week, imagine if I was doing this show in 2002. The new song of course makes reference to and interpolates “Without Me”, yet another one of his goofy lead singles that tend to be really fun highlights of any of his albums, but the original is back at #38. Notably, it spent some time at the very bottom of the chart in 2004 and 2022. Oh, and Becky Hill’s #3 album gave “Outside of Love” the chance to re-enter at #73 though none of the deep cuts ended up debuting, which is a bit of a shame.

Then of course, there are some more predictable boosts for songs already on the chart like “on one tonight” and “one of wun” by Gunna at #57 and #30 respectively, “Thank You (Not So Bad)” by people who should know better at #55, “Addicted” by Zerb, The Chainsmokers and Ink at #54, “360” by Charli XCX at #41 - wonder if the Yung Lean and Robyn remix has anything to do with it - “The Door” by Teddy Swims at #28 and finally, “Pink Skies” by Zach Bryan at #25. Most of these are ones I cannot really complain about, good stuff.

As for our top five, we start with pretty much seeing Billie Eilish’s single choice switch in realtime as “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” remains at #5 whilst “LUNCH” falls right below, then we have “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey at #4 - shame the album didn’t seem to have much of an impact - followed by “BAND4BAND” by Central Cee and Lil Baby at a new peak of #3, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter dropping off to #2 and of course, with over 100,000 sales, which is a pretty big deal for the UK, Slim Shady at #1 with “Houdini” which we’ll get back to after these messages.

New Entries

#69 - “Carry You Home” - Alex Warren

Produced by Adam Yaron

Okay, I’ll bite: who’s Alex Warren? Well, he’s a young singer-songwriter from California who struggled in childhood due to his parents’ troubles and having to leave home as a teenager, dealing with homelessness for a while, but has channelled that into both a music career and as an Internet personality and YouTube vlogger, which has given him some viral circulation but nothing enough to chart until this year, where after two other tracks bubbling under, he has his breakout new song, “Carry Me Home”, which sticks with me for an interesting reason.

Whilst given that it’s mentioned on his Genius, his Wikipedia and Spotify biographies, and articles by Distractify and Forbes, that his come-up, probably regarded by the more cynical as a “sob story”, is in some way integral to the public image he wishes to portray, it’s clear that it’s embedded in these lyrics as well. One could take them as generic loving platitudes, but the emphasis on a long, going-the-distance relationship that is as passionate in the future as it is in the present, feels very immersed in a guy trying to improve on the example of relationship his parents left him, or really lack thereof given his mother’s addiction and father’s untimely death due to cancer. He mentions not having a place to sleep in the second verse and the song is mostly about marriage, mentioning his mind being on his mother when he says “I do”, bringing that joy of a “traditional” relationship and wedding to a family he never really got the “perfect” version of. Lyrically, I really like these notions, yet I don’t find much to be inspired by in musical execution. The reverb-drenched vocals in the pre-chorus are distracting and he doesn’t have the most unique voice in the world, and the sequencing overall is a bit wonky: there’s very little effective build-up into the stomp-clap frolick of the sing-a-long chorus. Additionally, it just feels a bit rote in its choice of vocal melodies and musical elements, like a factorial way of constructing this kind of song, which sucks considering how personal the lyrics are to him. I’m sure this means more to long-time fans of him, but on a sonic level, I’m not really feeling it at all. Sorry.

#68 - “Red Wine Supernova” - Chappell Roan

Produced by Dan Nigro, Noah Conrad and Lixa

Whilst “Good Luck, Babe!” was the breakout hit for Chappell Roan, it was a new release that took advantage of existing hype solidied from existing releases, particularly on her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess which is an album revolving around an overexaggerated pop persona whilst also heavily including narratives surrounding her own identity as a queer woman. More LGBT-related concept albums about famous people are coming on this chart week and it’s just funny that I can say that over-specific thing happens not once but twice in these debuts... and I’m not sure she’d like the comparison. Regardless, her two songs that have been bubbling under for a long time are now in the top 75, acting as some of the strongest singles from that album - commercially, at least, I have yet to listen to it in full - that helped prep the fanbase and now general audience for the sleeper smash that was to come.

I was excited when I heard the jangly guitars mixed with Roan’s almost cabaret voice on the intro to “Red Wine Supernova”, before the synth bloops came in almost immediately and whilst the buzzing clash of the two elements later in the track is compelling, it does really disappoint me when a song crashes into synthpop pastiche like that. This is a song about particularly passionate and envigorating lesbian sex, so the dissonance of the somewhat static, distorted electro-rock groove with the point of blissful, organic euphoria in the chorus shouldn’t be that difficult of a metaphor to figure out. The cute back-and-forths in the verses are pretty funny, the pre-chorus is maddeningly catchy… but I still don’t vibe with the main momentum of the song, it feels predictable past its main trick and once you’ve heard that first chorus, her pre-empting the drums coming in during that moment with a goofy ad-lib just feels extraneous the second time, and I really don’t like how the drums mesh with it anyway, it feels too… obvious, I guess. And much like “Good Luck, Babe!”, there’s a disruptive bridge but this one isn’t narratively disrupting, going for a bit of a disco-rap pivot that is equally reminiscent of the “Shake it Off” cringe as it is the natural fall into faster and sassier vocal deliveries you can hear in a surprising amount of queercore and riot grrl punk. One of my favourite examples is the back-and-forth between the vocalists on Team Dresch’s “Yes I Am Too, But Who Am I Really?”, where the two topics of expressing yourself amidst discrimination and being submissive in the bedroom intertwine chaotically and playfully but really make you think about sex’s place in queer identity, whilst also just having a fascinating relationship between the song’s groove and where the words are placed. Chappell Roan’s bridge goes for a similar idea and is just as effective, it’s just that the surrounding sonics aren’t as dynamic or really just to my taste. I can tell the passion is there, as well as crucially, the honesty, but it might not be reflected within the flashy pop production, which is a shame because unlike “Good Luck, Babe!”, the pieces are here for me to love this.

#61 - “She’s Gone, Dance On” - Disclosure

Produced by Guy Lawrence and Howard Lawrence

There are quite a few dance tracks to get through this week, and from many familiar faces, some less familiar than others, some less frequent chart fixtures, some more respected figures, but still a good deal of EDM debuted this week, probably due to it being slower in general and we start with wonky house duo Disclosure, who I generally like. This track has a somewhat peculiar choice of sample: “Dance On” by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, from the 1978 film Così come sei, or Stay as You Are in English. A European erotic romance drama with “ravishing” performances and songs like “Dance On” as the soundtrack, which is a killer slice of slightly dissonant-feeling disco, having a falsetto chant sharing space with synth freakouts but in a call-and-response format that is both fascinating and renders the track tense and almost instrumental, this seems like the kind of film I would consider a guilty pleasure. The lead actress, Natassja Kinski, who was… 17 at the time? Doing nude scenes with a guy in his mid-50s? And she now regrets this film entirely, disapproving of her scenes and saying she wouldn’t let her daughter do it? Okay, well, firstly, I shouldn’t have expected anything less from 70s continental Europe art films, but also, abort, abort, mission abort, let’s not think about the sample’s origins any longer.

Regardless of what sketchy film it tracks its way from, it’s a song that seems built for a French house flip, especially due to its extended instrumental breaks, and Disclosure do just that, with some glading tropical guitars, a steady if predictable house groove and an emphasis on bringing some bliss and transcendency out of a vintage, maybe dated-sounding sample, which is something Disclosure have always done when working with similar samples - “Love Can be So Hard” is a brilliant example of this. The added shuffling percussiion makes the moments of synth magic even more relieving, and the level of detail in sound design is expectedly immaculate and crafted to ridiculous degrees: the little moment in the pre-drop where the synth briefly wanks out in a zig-zag style before the beat comes back in fully is such a nice, goofy touch - there’s a lot of goofiness this week - and that bridge / outro with the glitched, screechier synth that gets shut off into a murmur is great. It’s almost weird to talk about a song like this on here - it feels like one of the many future funk songs I’d find randomly on Spotify and jam to them in my own time, never really thinking about how to review them. But I’m not upset it’s here - whilst I understand that my enjoyment of this pries on very specific genre preferences, it’s outstanding in its field, this is excellent stuff.

#59 - “Set My Heart on Fire” (“I’m Alive” x “And the Beat Goes On”) - Majestic, The Jammin Kid and Céline Dion

Produced by Majestic and Lee Tyler

Wow, been a while since we had a mouthful like this on the chart because dear God, what on earth is this? Let’s start with the artists, as that should be easier. Majestic is an English DJ known mostly for his hit remix of Boney M.’s “Rasputin” that I reviewed back in 2021 and thought was just okay, whilst The Jammin Kid is new to the chart, and seemingly new to streaming services entirely as he has no other work on even SoundCloud than just this track and its remix. What he does have, however, is a TikTok following so I think his social media presence may have led to a credit on this track, especially since I tracked down the mashup idea to a TikTok of his with a couple hundred thousand likes wherein he does the typical “pretend to do anything on a mixing board” as he dances around to an obviously pre-programmed mashup of the two tracks in this medley, which is probably not enough for a track on its own so took a cosign from Majestic to get on Spotify, who also probably helped with his connections to get the sample cleared.

The original mashup, available on The Jammin Kid’s SoundCloud, is a pretty straightforward mashup with a few additional production touches but no outright reworking, pairing Canadian legend Céline Dion’s 2002 hit “I’m Alive” with the soul group The Whispers’ 1979 classic “And the Beat Goes On”, their only #1 on the US dance and R&B charts, and one of their biggest hits in general, as it peaked at #2 in the UK in 1980, behind Kenny Rogers’ “Coward of the Country”, and is an iconic, undeniable funk track. If you think you don’t recognise it, listen to those first few measures and have all the memories coming back. Once again, it makes perfect sense for a French house remix. That’s not what The Jammin Kid did though, he placed the vocals of a Céline Dion song from beyond her biggest era and one that didn’t even chart on the US Hot 100. A big worldwide hit, of course, because it’s still Céline Dion, but at least from my experience, not one nearly as remembered as the instrumental he’s being paired with. I also don’t really like the song, frankly, it’s some adult contemporary schmaltz that wastes Dion’s iconic voice. It did peak at #17 in the UK however, whilst Blazin’ Squad’s cover of the Bone Thugs classic “Crossroads” was #1. Similarly to the Whispers, it is built for sampling and actually has a history of being made more upbeat and disco-influenced. A popular remix of the time places the vocal against a soundalike of Blondie's "Heart of Glass".

The mashup itself is fine if kind of lacking in much more of an idea than just “this song works on this song”, which is sometimes all you need, but I definitely prefer the more intricate house remix from Majestic, which phases out its isolated instrumental elements from “And the Beat Goes On” is a very wispy way that absorbs the smoother elements of the original mashup rather than fully reimagining it in sped-up house form, which does help it go down a bit easier considering all the glitz and saccharine nature of mixing two very famous and shimmery songs together. Interestingly, The Jammin Kid is replaced as a producer by industry co-producer and writer, Lee Tyler, which goes to show just how little idea or involvement he had in developing the track any further - it’s not unrecognisable in this form, far from it, but it has such a clearer sole identity from Majestic and Tyler’s reworking. There’s a lot of swell to the gospel choir, disco strings and trickling synth cascade as well as typical French house guitar riffs but it does feel a bit like, well, exactly what it is. TikTok backing music for a guy dancing around in his living room pretending to produce. I do like that a song with this interesting of a story and rabbit hole is charting, as well as it being notable that TikTok mashups if given the right push and clearance, can be successful risks for all companies involved, from the original labels to opportunist scene-familiar DJs, and make hits in themselves. I just don’t think this thesis of a flip is particularly inspiring.

#53 - “HOT TO GO!” - Chappell Roan

Produced by Dan Nigro

I was worried when I started looking into the lyrics of this track and their meaning, because it seems to be all about high school - the chorus is a cheerleader chant, and “HOT TO GO!”’s main conceit is about her school experience, wherein her appearance was dismissed as “pretty”, but not “hot”, with the Chappell persona absorbing the overt sexuality she was never granted during those times. Now, I was worried because of the perhaps bratty nature of the song which definitely is there and I can’t personally relate to much of the teenage melodrama anymore, but this might actually be my favourite of hers so far, mostly because I love this. The blooping new rave synth bop is still less interestingly textured than it should be but its taunting sing-songy loop reflects the almost condescending nature of her treatment as an adolescent, and the twinkling shakers in the chorus bring it to an incessant, mechanical level that I find a fascinating choice. The post-chorus, which should be the moment that feels like a release given its blast of guitars, is still stiff and constricted by its limitations, with the most catharsis coming from Chappell’s vocal outbursts within the verses, which are often just comically honest. She actually got a laugh out of me when she expressed her clear ulterior motives in the second pre-chorus that she made this song so that this girl would sleep with her, connecting the otherwise perhaps disparate themes of this song, which is mostly a dance track, albeit one that ropes in the potential tedium of those genres as a plot device, with that outro being a great way to end off the track; its awkwardness and lack of mutual response from the second party is the kind of skit you see in a 90s or 2000s teen comedy. Perhaps surprisingly, this one ended up being my favourite from the three, but still, I’m not fully convinced on whether that album would be to my taste, I suppose we’ll see if we get more debuting from it or her later works in the future.

#50 - “6 in the Morning” - Flex (UK) featuring Nate Dogg

Produced by Flex (UK) and Doc Funk

Yes, (UK) is in their official Spotify name, and I say “they” because this doesn’t feel like a chart placement for this specific song but more of a phenomenon because oh, boy, there’s a rabbit hole to go on with this one. I don’t actually know where our story starts, but an obscure loosie from the late rapper Nate Dogg was circulating at least as early as 2009, where a popular, unauthorised upload still remains on YouTube. There is artwork on Discogs of this being a physical, non-label, perhaps unauthorised release, but it’s not explicitly dated as far as I can find, so this being described as “new music” in June 2009 is as far as I’m getting. It’s a catchy, twinkly R&B-rap fusion with some uncredited female vocals and a lot of richly-voiced hooks from Nate, who was just the master of those, though the song doesn’t sound fully finished considering the sheer amount of chorus, a bit of an unmoving beat and vocal mixing not as layered as it could be until its meandering outro, but also sounding slightly unfinished was kind of the norm for cheap 2000s pop rap. In 2009, Nate Dogg was suffering from having experienced two strokes the years prior and was largely retired from music as a result, with this record not seeing an official release until long after his death.

After passing in 2011, Nate Dogg naturally fell victim of the pop music indutsry’s exploitation of its deceased, but not nearly as heavily as one would expect from a death that could be placed firmly in the dying moments of rap’s bling era, as hip hop tends to treat posthumous features even less gracefully than other genres. Hell, the only reason “Gangsta Walk” probably didn’t get an immediate posthumous re-release is that it had been on the Internet for a few many years and sadly, Nate Dogg had fallen into irrelevance… until 2016, wherein a remix of his song with 50 Cent, “21 Questions”, went viral on SoundCloud. As Mixmag reports, California producer SNBRN was granted access to an unreleased acapella from Nate Dogg’s estate for him to place a warm, vaguely tropical house beat under, speeding up the track to fit the tempo and placing some nice, yet very typical and now quite dated pianos and horns that fit how this genre really sounded for quite a while there. Whilst not charting, it was a viral enough success that this became retrospectively recognised as the original song, particularly due to reporting that, in my opinion, was misleading and did not do its due diligence in explaining the leak circuit around the track that had existing for nearly a decade at this point. Nonetheless, Genius does not have a page for Nate Dogg’s original and attributes samples of that vocal to the SNBRN track “featuring” Nate Dogg.

There aren’t countless examples but are now plenty of dance tracks using that Nate Dogg vocal, and now that 2010s nostalgia is in the midst, it makes all too much sense that yet another viral hit would be made out of flipping the sample on a house beat, so here comes Flex to do just that with a pretty boring house beat that does sound like a throwback to older garage tracks due to its bass and use of an acapella that’s kind of crusty at this point, ends up having to be drowned in reverb, but that and the wonky synth paired with the vocal make this feel less like a throwback and more just a cheap, dull and frankly lazy attempt at taking what was already a successful flip and throwing it into this producer’s style. Well, as far as I know that it’s his style because he has no other Spotify presence, but I understand that streaming doesn’t reflect club mixes, and this definitely feels like the kind of remix that gets thrown into one of those and promptly forgotten the morning after. The story behind this track’s success is so much more interesting than the song itself that it’s honestly humorous.

#35 - “places to be” - Fred again.., Anderson. Paak and CHIKA

Produced by Fred again.., Skrillex and Boo

A collaboration between Fred again.., Skrillex and Anderson .Paak is like a dream to me. I’m not surprised that it exists given how collaborative all these guys here, but I’m absolutely glad it does and yes, it lives up to all expectations, this is excellent in all the ways you’d expect and then some. Bringing the breezy blue skies of “ten” to the frenetic drum and bass of “leavemealone”, this is such an organic meshing of the styles that feels second nature to Fred again.. at this point, and the overall vibe is a transcendent rush of feelings, borrowing tiny snippets from Alabama rapper CHIKA’s commandeering, kind of sexy poetry and fusing them melodically to create hooks that feel way too obvious to have been reconstructed through samples of spoken word and not just be inherently there in the sample. I don’t know which one of the three it was to form a hook out of a 2017 poetry recording from an underground rapper, probably Fred’s given he’s done it before, but it’s just as cute and catchy as it is thematically fitting to the lifting of worries that this song embodies. The clipped percussion amidst a myriad of pitched-down vocal glitches and a loveable wave of vintage synths, delightfully slightly distorted to push this into a similar vapor feeling as a lot of the other EDM tracks debuting this week, allows this song to feel homegrown despite the big names involved and the disparate sample selections. It’s impressive to have a drum and bass song with this much immediate punch and drive still feel like such an airlift, and the first time I heard it, knowing that it would be special, I was still pretty awestruck by just how beautiful I found this track.

I could swear I’ve heard the pitch-shifted “down” / “I” hook from somewhere, maybe even sampled in another EDM track, but given WhoSampled haven’t found it yet, my immediate thought is just that it’s co-writer BEAM delivering ad-libs that were then implemented as one of the song’s many hooks, alongside the main conceit of the track that CHIKA’s got places to be, and they’re next to her partner for some intimate time. It’s adorable and loving, so when .Paak comes in with his familiar pre-verse child-like shouts of “yeah!”, I knew a special verse was coming. I understand that most chart fans will be familiar with his smooth jams alongside Bruno Mars as part of Silk Sonic, or even his funk and soul solo albums, but he has a pretty storied history of rapping over wonky electronic tracks by acts like KAYTRANADA so he’s not a surprise here and he’s also just a perfect fit. Going for a faster flow than usual, embedding inklings of promising melodies within otherwise rapid bars about just having fun with this girl, .Paak oozes an effortless and carefree charisma, and is fully at home with this subject matter - if you know, you know, the guy just loves women. Same. Anyway, even the lyrical details amidst the quicker, less noticeable parts of his rhyme scheme here, add to the otherworldly atmosphere created, referencing NASA and the fact that, hey, if they put a man on the Moon, the least he can do is make that ass shake, right?

In further choruses, CHIKA’s sampled vocals are warped and flubbered in a way that .Paak’s fuller vocal mix that fill in for, both in harmony and separately, making a song that could narratively feel quite distant due to an original verse being in combination with several samples, fall brilliantly into place. The level of care put into not just the sound design but the thematic, narrative elements of the songwriting that can be involved in what may sound like rote sequencing decisions, may not be unique to Fred again.. and Skrillex but they are masters at this, and .Paak is down to let those visions into reality as he hypes up the CHIKA sample with his ad-libs as if they were recording in a studio together. They literally complete each other’s sentences, it’s gorgeous. So where does it go from that perfect second chorus? It goes through the motions, but hardly in a negative way as it continues to soar further into the skies on the cover art, with a vocal chop from someone who is definitely BEAM panning from left to right and whilst being explicitly stuttered nonsense, somehow makes complete sense when .Paak or CHIKA pre-empt it with “You got that…”. Like, yes, sometimes that loving feeling is completely indescribable, and human relationships can only be expressed in a garbled emotive response, that eventually has to slow down into a rest as the night is over and you both need some sleep. CHIKA’s lines about adjusting her speed slow down and warp into a glitch but it doesn’t feel inhuman, it just feels like the inevitable winding down, and you can tell from the lyric chosen that there’s still a great deal of mutual comfort in that.

I have gone into way too much detail about this, probably, and the next review will be just as frustratingly long, but the care put into tiny little details like a stray chipmunk soul vocal used to transition between parts, a funny YouTube clip from 2020 they picked out and placed in the bridge, it’s all just so endearing and immersive. It’s everything I love about what can be done in this genre when taken to a pop format, and even without, and effortlessly intertwines the story and character of the artists involved to its sonic design. I know it’s only been a week since release but I can confidently say that if it isn’t my favourite song of the year so far, it’s close, and I understand that this is in large part because, well, of course a song like this would be to my taste, but I hope I’ve given more than enough valid reasons for that love not to be misplaced.

#1 - “Houdini” - Eminem

Produced by Luis Resto and Eminem

I am far from the biggest Eminem fan in the world, as is probably well-documented on this blog, but I’m well-informed enough and definitely nostalgic for some of his older material when he took himself less seriously. I knew that eventually he was going to come around fully to the goofy Slim Shady persona - his last album, Music to be Murdered By, was just teeming with dad jokes and “horrorcore” lyrics - but the sheer amount of self-referential humour and surprisingly smooth integration of the character into the modern day seems like both an ambitious project to take on and a cheap take on the nostalgia circuit. Nonetheless, there seems to be a higher concept to this all being the final nail in the coffin for that persona, with this lead single featuring Slim Shady returning by travelling to interact with the modern Eminem and make his typical irreverent comments about pop culture that he would back in the day. Lyrically, whilst it’s not exactly laugh-out-loud funny, he’s really bumped up the surrealism to some of the commentary as to ensure we know that this character should probably die: just full of pointless hatred and cheap dad jokes, but still comes back to pester the game.

The magician conceit doesn’t go very far outside of the cover art or that incessant chorus borrowed from the very prominently sampled “Abracadabra” by San Francisco group the Steve Miller Band, which fits in both the pop climate and Em’s discography as he’s sometimes been one to sample, at his leisure, cheesy choruses in incredibly obvious and corny ways. “Abracadabra” itself peaked at #2 for two weeks here behind Captain Sensible’s equally ridiculous “Happy Talk” and Irene Cara’s “Fame”, with their bigger hit, and only UK #1 being “The Joker”, an actually good song. Whilst I’ve never liked “Abracadabra”, its inclusion here is playful and almost mocking, I feel like Em doesn’t even like the song either, so there’s a snarky nodding of the head to the audience with how gratuitous its use is. As for Em’s flow and lyrics themselves, he has not sounded this smooth in a while and whilst still occasionally choppy, I think that comes from an intention to always be exactly on-beat outside of the funny, sing-songy melodic flow switches, as if you care to look back at Em’s plethora of goofy tracks, whilst a lot of them are just as choppy, he tends to take a more conversational and devil-may-care attitude towards its cadences, and that is somewhat present here but less so than when he was making tracks about shitting, pissing and cumming. I guess you could say that over time, he’s gotten less fluid.

The track even starts with a classic Paul Rosenberg skit where he finally gives up on trying to reel Em in, before he ends up taking shots at Megan Thee Stallion (no pun intended), modern technology, RuPaul, “wokeness” and even Rosenberg himself, and whilst I’m sure some people will take this at face value, not only are these kinds of anti-PC lyrics wherein you’re supposed to know he’s in the wrong Shady’s bread and butter, but they’re 1.) more clever than half of the edgelord memes you see on X nowadays and 2.) very obviously just as dedicated to dissing himself as those he mentions, and some of those people like R. Kelly might deserve the mockery. The Megan Thee Stallion joke is cheap, but part of the joke is that Eminem doesn’t have a chance of a collaboration - a “shot at a/her feat/feet” - in the first place, and when he calls Paul a male cross-dresser, he knows full well that you can look up the “My Band” video and a myriad of others and see Em doing the same. He even dedicates a lot of this song to criticising his previous drug addictions and whilst you may find that even harmless jokes about trans people would still be rough coming from a guy on Em’s level, that argument relies on the idea that anyone is taking the line “My transgender cat’s Siamese, identifies as Black but acts Chinese” as anything more than a throwaway non-sequitur poking fun at the idea that anyone can “act” like a certain race. If this is taken by any commentator from any end of the political spectrum as an attack on wokeness, they’re missing both that Eminem himself is very woke and that the song takes elements of wacky right-wing commentators, bringing them into the Slim Shady persona which would be very in-character for a character who slings around the F-slur, and by connecting them with such degeneracy as Slim, he’s absolutely parodying them. Is this line that far from how Alex Jones thinks the government is turning frogs gay using chemicals in the ocean? And plus, if we can hump dead animals and antelopes, then is there a reason that a man and another man can’t elope?

This is a certifiable entry into the now prolific standard of goofy, nonsensical Slim Shady tracks, and to nerd out a bit, this is exactly the kind of style I want from Eminem. My favourite album from his is the inexplicable and fascinating Encore and some of my favourite tracks from him like “Rain Man” or “Campaign Speech” are absolutely off the rails. A concept album about this character is really exciting to me and whilst some of the references to his catalogue are more surface-level, even in that first verse, he references deep cuts like “Evil Deeds”, implements one of the catchiest flows from “My 1st Single” - as soon as I heard that concentrated verse, I knew that he was finally back in that bizarro space I love and calculating it in a much clearer and funnier way. I’m weary to say it, but this is a hilarious, promising single and I’m genuinely really curious to where this album goes. Also, he shouted me out on the third verse. Always love a cactus bar.

Conclusion

It should be pretty evident, right? A good week, with a lot of insane rabbit holes, detailed, intricate productions and a whole lot of sampling upon sampling, just a lot to talk about overall, but if you read any of this, you’ll be able to tell that the Best of the Week goes to Fred again.., Anderson .Paak and CHIKA for “places to be”, whilst the Worst of the Week handedly falls in Flex (UK)’s hands for just a boring remix of a promising track from the late Nate Dogg in “6 in the Morning”. There’s nothing worthy of a Dishonourable Mention here so I’ll tie the Honourable Mention between Eminem’s “Houdini” and Disclosure’s “She’s Gone, Dance On” - sorry, Chappell Roan, “HOT TO GO!” was close, but it’s a lot of competition. As for what to expect from the next episode, RAYE’s on the horizon, as are Halsey, Sabrina Carpenter aiming to avenge the #1, Jung Kook of BTS and most importantly, Charli XCX has a new album. But for now, thank you for reading, long live Cola Boyy and I’ll see you next week!

[ghelgheli]

need to peruse some lit because while it's relatively easy to find general documentation of the distinctive features of "the" tehrani accent, the more I attend to the details the clearer it becomes that there is a "standard" variety spoken by e.g. news anchors or popular vloggers that is noticeably distinct from how my family talks, which is marked by vowel assimilations and consonant elisions that would not pass muster against the farsi i overheard being used on campus just last week.

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Star Wars! Nothing But Star Wars!

Happy May the Fourth! On this Star Wars day, I’d like to take a look back at some of the many ways this beloved franchise has been a part of my writing life – from blog posts, to poems and TikToks, to immersive theatre!

*

The Disney+ series The Mandalorian has inspired many of my “Thursday Thoughts” blog posts. It all started with me comparing different Mandalorian characters to the denominations of Judaism, in my December 2020 post, “Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Mandalorians.” Here’s an excerpt:

Then the pandemic hit, and I found myself furloughed, with so many empty hours on my hands and a Disney+ account still at my fingertips. I ended up watching all of Clone Wars and Rebels over the course of a few weeks, greatly expanding my Star Wars exposure.

“Huh,” I found myself thinking more than once, “there’s a lot of Mandalorians in these shows. And they keep taking their helmets off! What’s up with that?

“You know what,” I joked in a text to a friend, “I bet they’re all Reform Mandalorians, and our buddy Mando is Orthodox.”

The best part is, over time, the subtext turned into text. The Mandalorians aren’t Jewish, exactly, but they are undeniably a diaspora culture with strong parallels to my experience as an American Jew. I realized that this series is connected by a single question: what does it mean to be a Mandalorian? It’s a question that all real-world members of diaspora cultures must grapple with – without a homeland to unite us, what makes us, us?

I examined the show’s many answers to this question last month in my post, “The Mandalorian Question.” I won’t excerpt it here – it’s full of season three spoilers! – but I encourage you to give it a read if you’ve seen the show and want to learn just how deep I can dig a rabbit hole. This is the way!

*

In 2021 and 2022, I had the amazing opportunity to be a show writer for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser – the world’s first fully-immersive hotel. This two-day, two-night immersive experience casts the guest as the main character of their own Star Wars story. For me, this meant spending my days running around a spaceship, my laptop in my arms, chasing aliens!

During my time on board the Starcruiser Halcyon, I collaborated with the Immersive Experience Director team to develop the show. Together we created performance tools which allow actors to invite the guests to step forward and play in a way never before seen at a Disney park or resort. Many of this show’s scenes are “non-scripted.” This means that a character enters the scene with pre-knowledge and guiding intentions or goals. They ask questions to connect with the guests and, with the guests’ help, move the story forward. I developed and documented non-scripted scenes for every story track in the show. I also had the opportunity to create scripted character moments for media events, including a character appearance featured on Good Morning America.

While I can’t share the documentation itself, I am eternally grateful to the vloggers who have revealed the adventures of the Halcyon’s inhabitants to the world. So now, I can show you what happens when a Saja invites a guest into the Climate Simulator to learn about the Force, give you a glimpse into Sammie the mechanic’s first moments asking the guests to help him navigate the ship, and bring you along on one of my favorite plotlines – Sandro’s attempts to woo fellow musician Ouanii.

I take a lot of pride in my writing, but I freely admit that I have a difficult time putting into words just how much this project meant to me. While working on the Halcyon, I bonded with the cast and crew in a way that still resonates with me a year later. We were all truly living and breathing Star Wars, teaching each other how to make the impossible possible – and we did it. Now, this story I had a hand in creating has come to life for thousands of people. We’ve made long-time fans’ dreams come true and helped new fans take their first Star Wars steps. Sometimes I have a hard time believing it happened – but it did.

*

Being able to bring someone else’s intellectual property to life has served me well as a professional writer – but it’s always fun to go exploring through my favorite fictional worlds on my own time! I am a proud fan writer, and in high school, this meant writing fanfiction. A couple years ago, I found my way into the world of TikTok storytelling – a joyous combination of writing, cosplay, and interactive roleplay.

Star Wars fans on TikTok love to portray their favorite characters and create original characters of their own. I was inspired by these incredible creators to bring my own Star Wars character to life on my TikTok channel. Her name is Shira Alderaani Khesed; she is a poet, a mechanic, and a citizen of Alderaan, a planet literally destroyed by the titular war. Shira first appeared to me in the form of a poem written from her point of view, which you can hear me recite here. Here’s an excerpt:

What happens when a planet’s blown away? When millions of voices stop at once And millions of hearts fall silent, too…

I’ve taken Shira on a few short TikTok adventures since then, using the hashtag #shiraalderaani – including using this all-too-relatable soundbite here – and I’m excited to do more with this character!

Of course, I don’t only write poetry from a fictional character’s point of view. As we neared the opening day of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, I wrote a poem in celebration – a tribute to all who brought this incredible project to life. I shared it to Instagram at the time, but I’ll put it at the end of this blog post, too.

Thank you for coming on this journey of Star Wars introspection with me! If you’re an artist, how has Star Wars played a role in the works you create and the stories you tell? If you’re not an artist, what Star Wars content do you most enjoy? (Movies, series, books, music, fanart… anything!)

May the Fourth be with you!

*

The Halcyon may soar among the stars But no stars shine so brightly as the ones Who walk her halls and bring this ship to life - The Saja, the musicians, and the droids The heroes and the villains, scoundrels, too The soldiers, the commanders, and the crew Mechanics, humans, aliens – faces shown, And every face no passenger will see The names they’ll read on nametags, learn in blogs, And all the names our guests will never hear - Costumers, techs, directors at the helm, Assistants on whose shoulders we all ride, Those near and far who dreamed that it would be, Who gave their time, their work, their love, their lives… This writer stands among you, ever proud To share your climb, to celebrate, to rise And lift my voice in praise of Halcyon – Our Starcruiser – and all who make her fly!

SAK

[oflowtides]

⸻  TIMOTHEE CHALAMET. HE/HIM / have you ever heard of ALONE IN A ROOM FULL OF PEOPLE by blackbear, well, it describes DENVER ‘DENNY’ TREMAINE to a tee! the twenty five year old, and VLOGGER/CONTENT CREATOR was spotted browsing through the stalls at portobello road market last sunday, do you know them? would you say HE is more immature or more DELIGHTFUL instead? anyway, they remind me of constant bed head, untied shoelaces, freckles and dark eye bags and an unmanageable tangle of cords, maybe you’ll bump into them soon!

time in notting hill: twelve years

Being born one of two, Denny had a built in best friend from the get go.  His parents had wanted to have more kids, but the Tremaine twins were a handful, and it was all they could do to keep up with Denny and Wendy.  Denny was always taught to express himself creatively, in whatever way he felt, as long as it wasn’t putting himself or other in danger - which meant that even from a young age, he had fairly unrestricted internet access.

Growing up with the giant spike in commentary channels and YouTube personalities, Denny aspired even from a young age to be in front of his own camera, commenting on that weeks’ hottest new music video, or even just rambling on about his own life.  While his parents didn’t spoil him, it was hard to say no to his excited eyes and wide grin.  For his seventh birthday, he was gifted a second hand camcorder, and from that moment on, Denny spent too much time documenting his life.

Despite his parents best intentions of telling him not to overshare, Denny’s favorite past time became something akin to a video dairy.  He would just ramble on about his day at school, or take his camera out in his back yard or to the local park to talk about nothing and everything, and somehow his channel kept growing.  Maybe it was because people were interested in his life - YouTube had a lot of different little niches, and daily video bloggers was one of them.  Maybe it was because he was a cute boy with soft freckles and curly hair.  Either way, the slowly growing follower count encouraged him.

Shortly after Denny and his twin sister turned twelve, both of their parents got new job opportunities overseas, and that’s what took the Tremaine family to Notting Hill.  Suddenly in a completely new environment, Denny had a bunch of new content to film, and it was here that he really blossomed.  Somehow, the UK influencer scene seemed more inviting and open, and he started collaborating with other vloggers, causing his own viewership to rise.

He couldn’t tell you how he fell in with Astrid Thorsen; maybe they had a mutual friend, maybe he liked one too many of her photos and she took the time to look at his Instagram profile.  Either way, their friendship caused his followers to explode even more, and slowly Denny felt himself putting on a mask when he filmed, turning into a caricature of himself.  As his popularity rose, so did the fake friends, and Denny was starting to lose himself in it all.

Throughout everything, at least he had Wendy.  When he felt like he was completely alone or like everyone just acted like they liked him because of his viewer count, Wendy was there to remind him that he had lots of good qualities that people liked him for outside of his social media career.  After a particularly nasty relationship and breakup, he decided to take a brief hiatus, trying to figure out where to go from there, as well as deciding that moving forward, he needed a manager to stay sane.

Denny is sweet, and outgoing, and if you listen hard enough you can tell that he’s absolutely putting on a heavier accent than he has since he spent half his life in Notting Hill, but he is also deeply insecure and is convinced that most of his friends secretly hate him and only want to hang out with him because it’s better for all of their views.  He relies heavily on Wendy for support and reassurance, and tends to feature her in most of his vlogs, as well as popping into her streams when he isn’t busy.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei 2003

"Dragostea Din Tei" (Words of Love) is a song by Moldovan pop group O-Zone, released as the second single from their third and final studio album, DiscO-Zone (2004). The song's title is Romanian for "Love from the linden tree". The song quickly reached number one on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004. It topped the single charts in France, Germany, and Austria for over three months, reached number 3 in the UK and number 72 on the US Pop 100. As late as 2006, the song was still in the lower reaches of some Eastern European singles charts. The song became the fourth best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 1.17 million units sold. Overall, the single reached number one in over 27 countries and went on to sell upwards of 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

The song was popularised in the US via the video "Numa Numa" in which vlogger Gary Brolsma dances to the song, having been published to the website Newgrounds. The video soon spread to other social media sites such as Youtube and went viral. It became so notable that it has sparked numerous parodies of the video itself in the US over the years since 2004. Brolsma was named "#1 Internet Celebrity" on VH1's 40 Greatest Internet Superstars, which aired in 2007. A remix titled "Numa Numa 2" by Dan Bălan from O-Zone featuring Marley Waters was posted on Youtube in 2018.

"Dragostea Din Tei" received a total of 87,4% yes votes!

[fmpmelissa]

Week 09: Wednesday Productin and Research

Production:

With our deadline approaching for implementing our work, I began preparing any additional information needed for the cinematic. We currently can't begin as of now as our environment artist is currently finishing up their progress on the final levels of the cinematic. My goal today is to focus on how we can approach the cinematic, including rendering in Unreal Engine 5 and applying post-processing techniques. Researching this now will save a lot of time later when trying to figure it out when we gather a group to begin implementing.

Post-processing volume is a tool within Unreal Engine 5 that adds various camera effects to the scene, enhancing its overall quality. However, we must be careful not to overdo it, as it can end up detracting from the cinematic experience. When researching them I came across a video by Royal Skies (2023) which provides a clear video breaking down each effect. Some interesting tools I found include "chromatic aberration," which creates a red, blue, and green separation—a common effect in horror. We can also add features like fog to reduce the camera's view distance, building suspense about what lurks ahead. Other more common tools, like vignette, can subtly darken the edges of the camera, which would work well with the fog. There's also bloom, but we might want to avoid using it, as it could affect the torchlight and make it too bright. Finally, adding Ambient Occlusion will provide natural shading, allowing elements in the scene to interact more naturally and giving the scene greater depth. A combination of these post-processing effects will significantly enhance our cinematic. Another feature that can improve the overall cinematic is applying subsurface scattering. I recently added this to my own work to render the spider in Blender. While these changes are very subtle, they can significantly impact the character's visuals. We can apply these changes by creating basic materials with expression nodes, allowing us to control the colour and intensity of the subsurface scattering. A very useful video we can follow is by All Is Play (2023) where he provides a simple step-by-step for adding these features.

When it comes to the cinematic, we have two options for recording. One is to use the track camera, which we’ve used before. This option provides a steady camera but goes against our "first-person vlogger" concept. We'll likely keep this as a fallback option in case other methods don't work, as Zoe has experience using this tool. However, using the first-person camera will give us easier control of the cutscene, allowing us to naturally position the character without having to animate everything by hand. To achieve this, we would need to use a separate tool in Unreal Engine called "Take Recorder." It's pretty simple to use—just activate it, and when you press play, it records the entire session until stopped. If we can get this working, we'll be able to create a much more natural cutscene for our cinematic.

Research:

Subject 1)  Today I want to explore more on environments in preparation to get a better understanding of how to set up the lighting for the cinematic. Whilst exploring the 3D scenes created in Unreal Engine, I came across a project done by Jorge Luz (2023) called "Enteral Darkness". I really appreciated his remake especially the effective use of dull yet soft lighting, which avoids strong or bright colours, creating a sombre and atmospheric mood. The point lights were placed around the scene to draw attention to key areas, guiding the viewer's gaze to points of interest. The use of grunge and dirt textures effectively enhances the scene’s sense of wear and decay, contributing to the overall feeling of neglect and age. Additionally, the vintage effect applied to the scene softens the view and helps direct focus as well. However, the scene could benefit from a broader range of colours just to add a little more depth to the scene. Also, Introducing light flickering could enhance the unsettling atmosphere and contribute to the storytelling.

Subject 2) Another scene I took inspiration from was a piece done by Chris Ramos (2023) where they created a scene inspired by FallOut in the theme of a submarine. Exploring this scene, I was struck by how the colours created a cold, unsettling atmosphere, which worked well in hand with the flickering lights that gave this sense of unease. The post-processing effects, including the vintage filter and depth of field, are well used to focus attention on key features, adding a layer of narrative depth. The fog adds an air of mystery, while the dust particles are a nice touch, subtly adding some storytelling. God rays were also used through the centre which worked particularly well for this specific setting—a crossroads in a submarine. However, the centre of the scene feels notably empty and could benefit from additional elements like dirt or a puddle to create visual balance, as the surroundings were cluttered. This became even more prominent by the god rays which suggested a focal point but wasn't there. Additionally, introducing more ambient light could help break up the single light source from above, adding necessary variation in the scene colour pallet and enhancing the overall atmosphere.

References:

All Is Play, 2023. UE5 : Materials for beginners in Unreal Engine5- 15 Subsurface scattering, Skin and Wax material. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1IBNLKlpUo [Accessed 01 August 2024].

Jorge Luz, 2023. Eternal Darkness - Roivas Mansion - Unreal 5 Remake. [Online] Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/JvRmdm [Accessed 01 August 2024].

Chris Ramos, 2023. Trapped in the Deep. [Online] Available at: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/RyYQny [Accessed 01 August 2024].

Royal Skies, 2023. Unreal 5 - Post Process VOLUME (3 MINUTES!!). [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InSXTn3QVr4&t=9s [Accessed 01 August 2024].

Gantt Chart

Light Red highlights marks the day

This is in place to keep me on track what has been or needs to be done this day of the week.

[lifeasaleowife]

7Happiness is Homemade #517

Join us for Happiness is Homemade for your chance to be featured at next week's party! You will find tons of inspiration for your own home, like recipes, decor, DIYs, & more!

Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter MeWe TikTok Welcome to Happiness is Homemade! Mel from Decor Craft Design will be choosing our features for the month of December. Before we get to this week’s features, let’s check out what’s been going on here on the blog over the past few days. On this week’s Wednesday collaboration with a few fellow bloggers and vloggers, I created an adorable…

[influencermarketingagencys-blog]

Top Fashion YouTubers in India 

Fashion has always been amongst us, changing and evolving with our time, interests, needs, and preferences, and with the growing dominance of social media, we are exposed to styles, costumes, and cultures from around the world, which have presented a slew of exciting fashion. Top fashion YouTubers in India Taking full advantage of this exposure and their activities benefit anyone - from fashion enthusiasts to brands realizing their objectives.

Indian fashion YouTubers are recognized for their informative content, combining creativity, storytelling, Real-world experiences, and trends. These individuals model and flaunt different outfit styles. Provide tutorials on accessorization, wardrobe organization, and makeup. They can also suggest a budget-inclusive fashion that fits your look and personality. The products featured in the videos help brands of all sizes. The Top Indian fashion YouTubers review their products and provide honest opinions, which help businesses receive much exposure and recognition. 

The best Influencer marketing company in India is analyzing the impact of Indian fashion YouTubers on the niche. The fashion YouTuber's ability to navigate the complex, real-time market forces and use them to attract delight and convert audiences makes them a valuable asset for fashion stakeholders.

Top Fashion YouTube Channels in India 

Sejal Kumar 

The first fashionista on our list is Sejal Kumar. This Diva's charming personality is only emboldened by her bright smile that can light anyone's day. Sejal has built a massive following of fashion enthusiasts who follow her every achievement. Sejal has operated into multiple sub-genres of fashion, Lifestyle, and entertainment. She was featured in several mini-dramas and music videos.

Sejal Kumar is very active on YouTube. She has many YouTube exclusive series where she conveys fashion-related information with humor and storytelling. Furthermore, she covers fashion basics, clothing hauls, fashion comparisons from different places, makeup tutorials, skincare routines, hairstyle combinations, travel diaries, celebrity style inspirations, OOTDs, and more every week. The avid traveler has adventures in multiple cities and countries and has embraced unique cultures and styles, which she flaunts on her channel.

Trisha Paul 

Trisha Paul is an Indian beauty vlogger from Kolkata who created a YouTube channel in 2016 to provide subscribers with high-quality, valuable beauty, Lifestyle, and fashion content. She has playlists organized by home decor, lookbooks, beauty, makeup tutorials, vlogs, hairstyling hacks, DIY, weight loss tips, skincare routine, etc.

Trisha Paul features products from recognized and trusted beauty brands. She tests the product before providing honest, data-backed opinions to help her audience purchase and use the right products effectively. Furthermore, as a beauty expert and specialist, Trisha can provide solutions to eliminate skin problems quickly. Trisha Paul has set herself apart in the industry with her extraordinary fashion sense and ability to pair different outfits with relevant makeup looks.

Megha Bahuguna 

We have Megha Bahuguna from Delhi, a civil engineer with a keen sense of fashion. She created her YouTube channel to share her passion with the world. Perkymegs is where you can get your favorite style, beauty, and Lifestyle content every Tuesday and Saturday. Megha Bahuguna has created two Chennai to provide value-added videos in Hindi and English.

Megha Bahugana has diversified her videos to address multiple verticals of fashion. The Diva talks about travel fashion, fashion under budget, wardrobe assembly, festive attires, Indian ethnic wear, look recreation, Hair Care, shopping haul, jewelry selection, fashion basics, etc., in detail. Megha can also recommend places and websites to get your favorite clothing and accessories that align with your interests and personality. 

Komal Pandey 

Komal Pandey is a recognized name in the Indian fashion and Lifestyle community. This young Diva started her journey with her fashion blog, The College Contour, where she began sharing her insights and experience with style. The blog was a massive hit, bringing thousands of readers every month. Eventually, she took the position of fashion coordinator for Pop XO before choosing a career as a full-time content creator.

Komal Pandey has an impressive following on all social media platforms. She uses YouTube to provide content on fashion therapy, DIY, budget shopping, style challenges, outfit selections, and fashion hacks. Komal experiments with different types of styling - from traditional Indian ethnic wear to more modern clothing choices. Moreover, Komal Pandey reviews products from recognized fashion, beauty, and Lifestyle brands. The Indian fashion YouTubers opinions are backed by personal experiences related to her audience.

Shruti Arjun Anand 

Shruti Arjun Anand has built a reputation for providing some of the best fashion, beauty, and entertainment content on YouTube and Instagram, a mix of her charming personality, quirky humor, and out-of-the-world character. She can make every minute fun and enjoyable while providing information you can apply to grow your fashion knowledge.

Shruti spent some time in the United States of America before coming back to India and pursuing a career as a full-time content producer. She has grown her YouTube channel to be one of India's best. Eventually, the fashionista created multiple companies to provide her audience sustainable, cost-efficient, high-quality products. You can find detailed skincare tutorials, makeup product hauls, hair styling tips, fashion lookbooks, DIYs, GRWM, ethnic Indian outfit selections, thrift shopping, and more on Shruti Arjun Anand's channel.

[authorstevenbirnie]

VIDEO EDITING

Subscribe to ANY OR ALL of our 5 Birnie Family YouTube Channels for loads of vids!

ABOUT THE IMAGE

So we're back from our summer break and it was all about the lorry when we returned. This is a small part of this week's Thursday video, but we couldn't resist sharing a bit of a newer version of our Man Lorry down at the Inspection Station! View our videos on our Birnie Family YouTube!

OUR SHORTENED LINKS

EBOOKS - https://lnkd.in/dHhN_9S

FORUM - https://lnkd.in/dFpSp48

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FACE - https://lnkd.in/dieFtSp

INSTA - https://lnkd.in/duMXKUa

TWITTER - http://ow.ly/yMk430rZwrp

BFF YOUTUBE FOR KIDS

If you have children, don’t forget that we have 3 YouTube channels for kids: Birnie Family Fun, BFF Shorty Shorts, and BFF Gaming featuring our kids, David and Emily! https://youtube.com/c/birniefamilyfun

TAGS

#youtuber #youtube #youtubechannel #youtubers #instagram #subscribe #love #follow #like #gamer #vlogger #gaming #instagood #explorepage #youtubevideos #influencer #video #vlog #youtubevideo

[noah200999]

Beauty Buzz: Trendsetting Events for Beauty Influencers

In the bustling world of beauty, staying up-to-date with the latest trends, products, and techniques is essential for beauty influencers. What better way to immerse yourself in the beauty industry than by attending trendsetting events specifically designed for beauty enthusiasts? In this blog post, we will explore some exciting beauty events in London that not only showcase the latest beauty innovations but also promote wellness and self-care. Get ready to discover the hottest events where beauty influencers can connect, learn, and be inspired!

London Beauty Expo: The London Beauty Expo is a flagship event that brings together beauty influencers, professionals, and industry leaders from all over the world. This multi-day event features a dazzling array of beauty products, demonstrations, workshops, and keynote speakers. From skincare breakthroughs to makeup innovations, this expo is a treasure trove of inspiration and networking opportunities. Keep an eye out for exclusive product launches and live demonstrations by renowned beauty experts.

Wellness Week London: While beauty is often associated with external appearances, true radiance starts from within. Wellness Week London is an event that embraces the holistic aspect of beauty by promoting self-care, mindfulness, and overall well-being. This event offers a variety of wellness workshops, fitness classes, nutrition talks, and spa experiences. Attendees can learn about the latest wellness trends, discover new self-care practices, and connect with like-minded individuals who prioritize their health and happiness.

Beauty Blogger Conference: The Beauty Blogger Conference is a must-attend event for beauty influences looking to enhance their knowledge and skills. This conference provides a platform for beauty bloggers, vlogger, and social media influences to share insights, tips, and experiences. Attendees can participate in panel discussions, workshops, and networking sessions with industry experts and fellow influences. From mastering photography techniques for beauty content to harnessing the power of social media, this conference covers a wide range of topics essential for success in the digital beauty space.

Beauty Trends Showcase: Curious about the hottest beauty trends? The Beauty Trends Showcase is an event that brings together beauty brands, influences, and enthusiasts to unveil the latest trends in the industry. From vibrant makeup looks to innovative skincare routines, this showcase offers a sneak peek into what's buzzing in the beauty world. Attendees can explore interactive displays, attend trend presentations, and even try out new products before they hit the shelves. It's an excellent opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and discover the next big thing in beauty.

Conclusion: For beauty influences, attending trendsetting events in London is a fantastic way to connect with industry professionals, discover new beauty innovations, and stay ahead of the curve. The London Beauty Expo, Wellness Week London, Beauty Blogger Conference, and Beauty Trends Showcase are just a few examples of events that cater to beauty influences and promote both external beauty and inner well-being. So, mark your calendars, pack your makeup bag, and get ready to immerse yourself in the exciting world of beauty events in London. Your next dose of inspiration awaits!

Keywords: Beauty events London, Wellness events London

Visit our site: https://www.thebeautytriangle.com/health-wellness-and-beauty-events-london/

[helloyoucreatives]

The Barbican launches At the Barbs - a new podcast exploring the colliding worlds of culture and art, in collaboration with The Elephant Room

The Barbican has launched At the Barbs, a new weekly podcast delving into the world of art and creativity - through the lens of culture and its influences on a younger generation. At the Barbs is hosted by Capital XTRA broadcaster Robert Bruce, and will feature a new guest each week for six weeks to discuss performances and shows at the Barbican and beyond, with the first episode going live tomorrow (9 Nov 2022).

The new podcast, developed with creative agency The Elephant Room, will provide a space to discuss theatre, film, music and art from the point-of-view of communities, rather than the traditional and established perspectives. “It’s a meeting point for where art and culture blurs lines, borders and boundaries, and shifts locations - whether they are physical or digital.” says host Robert Bruce. Alongside the podcast sits a suite of new creative assets, marketing materials and social content developed with The Elephant Room.

The podcast encourages listeners to develop their own point of view, safe in the knowledge that there’s no right or wrong answer, and invites them to experience and review art and performances from the Barbican programme. At The Barbs has been created for everyone who sees culture as unbounded, finding it anywhere, anytime and in any form. 

The first season will feature Robert Bruce in conversation with a different guest each week. Guests include radio host and presenter Swarzy Macaly reflecting on current Barbican Art Gallery exhibition Carolee Schneemann:Body Politics (Thu 8 Sep 2022—Sun 8 Jan 2023), writer and film director Koby Adam on To What End, a recent evening of short dance and live music performances developed by William Kentridge’s The Centre for the Less Good Idea in the Barbican The Pit Theatre, and musician Jelani Blackman discussing The UK Drill Project by HighRise Entertainment (Thu 3—Sat 12 Nov 2022). Other guests include Youtuber and football vlogger David Vujanic talking about Black Arsenal, an exploration of Arsenal’s historic contribution to Black sporting iconography, singer and songwriter Miraa May reflecting on internationally-renowned pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason’s recent Barbican Hall performance and A&R Manager Komali Scott–Jones discussing ‘writer of the decade’ Rupi Kaur and her recent spoken word poetry experience. Each guest will reflect on what they've seen and unpack its themes whilst discussing their own creative journeys and views on culture.

[fortheking16]

5 Minute Crafts - Featured Vlogger of the Week - August 11, 2021

5 Minute Crafts – Featured Vlogger of the Week – August 11, 2021

I chose 5 Minute Crafts: https://www.youtube.com/c/5MinuteCraftsYouTube/ as this week’s Featured Vlogger of the Week. The YouTube channel has 73.2M Subscribers; 4,796 Videos; Stats Joined Nov. 15, 2016; 20,702,010,769 views.  About page: https://www.youtube.com/user/23andMe/about Description:  Fun diy-projects, crafts, experience the joy of doing it yourself!OFFICIAL CHANNEL. Social…