#I HAVE NO WAY TO LISTEN TO MUSIC ON A USB

[chartreuxcatz]

No…. NOOOOOOOOOO.

MOST OF THE 3RD ANNIVERSARY OST ALBUM IS ON A FUCKING USB???? NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOO THE CDS ARE THE COOL PART!!!! I WANTED TO LISTEN TO THE GOLDEN CHEESE KINGDOM SOUNDTRACK IN MY CAR.

[motionpicturesforcarrie]

impulsively ordered an audio interface last friday so i could record better instead of just using a guitar to usb cord. then i regretted it the next day, but it was too late to cancel the order. i have it now, and i just played my guitar for the first time since well last friday.. so if i have it…. i might as well just try it out

[mysticfics0]

Emo college  discord mod Nanami!!!

Synopsis: College is stressful and what other way to relax then to go home and call his Kitten? (I know it was supposed to be highschool I just don’t wanna write about minors in that way sry!) Fem reader <3

Warnings: Daddy X kitten relationship, masturbation, breeding kink, cockwarming.

MINORS DNI!!!

Finally…professor Yaga had finished his lecture and even 10 minutes early. Nanami had always been smart, always paying attention and good grades throughout elementary, middle school, high school, and university.

To everyone he just seemed quiet, sure he was kind of known as the emo kid. But no one really found him too odd. Oh only if they knew the true freak he was. 

Each day after his classes he’d head back to his dorm and start up discord. He’d had many kittens over the years a couple in high school even. But none of them were like you. He called you his Angel because to him you might as well have been one. 

You’d do whatever he asked, so quick to obey. He wanted you top less? You’d do it. Lingerie? You’d get one to match his hair colour. Come over? You only lived an hour away and you were over each weekend. Cock warm him while he games? Gladly, maybe next time you should suck him off under the desk! But he can’t blame you if you get sensitive and needy! 

Anyways it was essentially an Alpha X Omega relationship. Though he preferred the term Daddy X Kitten!!! With you listening to his every wish and him demanding he couldn’t be happier!!!

He had a box full of Polaroids of you during sex! He just couldn’t help it! You looked so adorable with his Cum spilling out your cute little cunt! He had them as digital versions too, on his phone in an album and on his computer in a usb stick. 

No matter where you were you could be halfway across the world and he’d still have a piece of you to help him cum!!! (And believe me he’s a whimperer)

And no matter what happened you’d always be his kitten >:3

He’d gotten you into My chemical romance too! He’d never felt so proud then the time you almost didn’t hear him at the door because you were blasting music so loud! (He’d fucked you so good that night after that)

On this day in particular he’d head home and you’d been in his bed! Luckily for him this week you had school off! So he got you all to himself! His balls had never been so empty! Pumping you full to the brim of his cum each night! Good thing you were on birth control though he wouldn’t mind seeing you as a momma…maybe after university…

Inspiration for this fic comes from @mommymilkers676!!!

[6ix9inewiturmom]

Broken Melodies- Christopher Sturniolo (blurb)

Summary: In which in this story Chris is a singer but fame get to him and he looses the one thing he loves the most

Warnings: none that I know of..

A/N: I was gonna write a Matt fic but this came to my mind and I HAD to write it :) please remember in this story Chris isn’t a social media influencer he is a singer :)

Y/N sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the empty space where Chris used to lie. The room was filled with an eerie silence, punctuated only by the faint hum of the city outside. It had been a week since Chris left, a week since their last argument, a week since her heart had been shattered.

Christopher Sturniolo was the love of her life, but fame had changed him. His music career had taken off, and with it came late nights, endless parties, and a distance that grew with every passing day. Y/N had tried to hold on, tried to support him, but the man she fell in love with was slipping away.

Their last fight played on a loop in her mind. She had begged him to stay, to talk, to let her in, but Chris had just stared at her with those haunted eyes, full of sorrow and something she couldn't quite name. "I'm sorry, Y/N," he had whispered before walking out the door, leaving her in a suffocating silence.

Now, the apartment was a graveyard of memories. Y/N wandered through the rooms, touching the places where their laughter used to echo. She found his guitar, the strings untouched, gathering dust. The sight of it made her chest tighten. Music had brought them together, but now it felt like it was tearing them apart.

Days turned into nights, and Y/N found herself sinking deeper into a void of loneliness. She tried to paint, to pour her emotions onto the canvas, but every stroke felt hollow. Her art, once a source of solace, now mirrored her desolation.

One evening, as she sat in their living room, Y/N heard a faint knock on the door. Her heart leapt, hoping it was Chris. She opened the door to find a small package on the doorstep, addressed to her in Chris’ handwriting. With trembling hands, she brought it inside and tore it open. Inside was a letter and a USB drive.

Y/N unfolded the letter, her eyes scanning Christopher's familiar scrawl.

"Y/N,

I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I need you to understand. I was lost, drowning in a world I couldn't navigate. The fame, the pressure, it was too much. I felt like I was losing myself, and in the process, I lost you. I'm so sorry. I wrote something for you. It's on the USB. I hope it helps you understand how much you mean to me, even if I couldn't show it the way you deserved.

Love always,

Chris"

With tears streaming down her face, Y/N plugged the USB into her laptop. A single audio file popped up, titled "For Y/N." She clicked play, and Chris' voice filled the room, raw and filled with emotion.

The song was a haunting melody, a beautiful yet heartbreaking confession of his struggles, his love for her, and his regret. As Y/N listened, she felt a mix of pain and love swell within her. Each note was a piece of his soul, laid bare for her to see.

By the time the song ended, Y/N was sobbing. She knew Chris was battling demons she couldn't fully understand, but this song, this final gift, was a glimpse into his tortured heart. It was a reminder of the love they shared, even in their darkest moments.

Y/N clutched the letter to her chest, whispering to the empty room, "I forgive you, Christopher. I love you."

She didn't know if he would ever come back, but she hoped he found peace. And as the last notes of his song echoed in her mind, she felt a spark of hope. Maybe, just maybe, they could find their way back to each other, one broken melody at a time.

A/N P2: idk if anyone wants a part 2, i definitely have ideas for part 2, but if you DOOOO then you should def comment on this :)

Xoxo

💋

Gabs

[magentas-dystopia]

Something I really lament is the move towards digital media. Slowly we start to never own the things we like. Even if we "buy" a digital game, or movie or show. It's locked behind a certain platform or service. Once it shuts down we lose it forever.

(me when big booby anime girl explosion Is taken off of Netflix)

I also feel like there's a certain charm to owning physical media, like things you can hold and the satisfaction from pressing a clicky button or putting a disc or cassette in and seeing it work.

(oooh so classy so retro so.. expensive in the modern day)

More people should try to make copies of what they own digitally, or try to buy physical media before it's lost from streaming services and digital storefronts forever. Like the case with certain games like Godzilla 2014 and Transformers War for Cybertron. They don't exist digitally anymore. Only hard copies exist outside of emulation and at insane resell prices like... INSANE ones for a mediocre Godzilla game

So yea. Buy some more CDs of those albums you have on replay! Buy a DVD of that niche obscure anime you like! And most importantly PLEASE PLEASE START MAKING HARD BACKUPS OF SHOWS YOU LIKE THAT YOU PIRATE!!! media preservation is important!

(me downloading every episode of Daredevil onto my hard drive to burn to a DVD later so I can give it to all my friends)

This is now going to be a Comprehensive guide on how to rip a CD

POLL TIME!

Burning and Ripping Disc's❤️❤️💕💕🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

STEP ONE:

BUY A CHEAP BLU-RAY/DVD DRIVE FOR YOUR WINDOWS COMPUTER

here are some I recommend!!!

i personally use this pioneer one :)))

DVD drives in general are relatively cheap from 30-20 smackeroos, but Blu-ray drives are around 80-100 bucks depending on the manufacturer but offer better support for copying HD video such as on a Blu-ray.

STEP TWO:

FIND A PIECE OF MEDIA YOU ENJOY.

in this case its gonna be a CD!!

i really enjoy Vespertine by Bjork, but i wanna have it on my computer just in case anything happens to my CD. SO. ill open Windows Media Player

(she hasn't changed since 2011 <3333 be urself girl)

NEXT

ill insert the disc into the player. and it'll start playing!

Pause the disc and go into Rip settings

NEXT!! select the format!

if you want to conserve space and don't mind sacrificing audio quality select MP3! if you want to hear the same level of audio quality as preserved on the CD, select a format labelled LOSSLESS. I recommend .WAV files as they'll work with most devices including an android phone or iTunes on PC (more on that later ;3 )

NEXT!

create a folder on whatever u wanna save ur music to! (u can call it whatever u want the world is your oyster bestie)

THEN!!! FINALLY

go into more options on the Rip Settings menu!

select ur folder and press Rip CD!!!!

the fun thing of this now, is that you can pull these files on your computer and put it onto your Android device so you can listen to your hearts content without lugging around your CD in a player at high quality without any subscription service with free reign of who you can give your download to!

But Magenta! what if i have an iPhone?

ohohoo fear not bestie because iTunes on PC has an even EASIER way to do it

because simply putting in a disc with iTunes downloaded prompts THIS

(oooo so new age)

and if you have apple music on your iPhone this will sync to your phone if you logged into iTunes on PC!!

thank you for coming to my TED talk

[edledamianfan]

Ride homes late at night sure is a feeling, especially on a high way going at a fast speed on the way home. Looking at the window and u see the whole city below you. The lights and everything, it's just a feeling, fleeting moment that last with u for a lifetime.

I wonder that's what dick felt when he was Robin on the Batmobile. Every single night on the same roads, highways, going out, going back back after fighting crimes.

But there is something missing here.

Having music playing would've been nicer.

It would distract him from his thoughts.

Bats doesn't really do music ... but it doesn't hurt to ask. Well he did say no at first but after dick mentioning his thoughts about his parents and stuff. He reconsidered and ends up approving it.

Spooky decides picks the music until he realised he know nothing about today's music. So it look him a while until he found a playlist he seemed to find nice.

So the next time they're in the Batmobile, when the coast is clear and the night is saved and all they gotta do now is head home. Bats plugs in the USB for the songs and plays them.

Dick knows some of these songs. It's pretty popular in his time and there are some songs that he's not familiar with. But it gets him away from his thoughts so it's somewhat worked. He'll have to listen to it as this now their daily playlist.

The USB then stays there for a while even when dick is no longer here with Bruce, out doing his own thing. He didn't want to remove it.

And then a new Robin comes along. Jason asking what is that USB and Bats offers him if he wants to hear the playlist. He said yeah ofc.

1 min in he's thought to himself that Bats listens to popular songs, although these are kind of old. I guess he's somewhat the same like everyone.

And then Jason died.

USB was not touched again for a while until tim came along. Batman was pretty much on edge during this time, although curious about the USB Tim decides not to pry on it - directly to the man. Instead he sneak in back to the Batmobile during bed time just to see what's the USB is about. And then caught by Bruce himself.

Well he was mad at first but after realizing he was just curious what is in the plugged USB. Bruce decides to just show it for himself what it is about. Tim was definitely not expecting it to be a playlist. Bruce then asks if he wants to play this playlist. Tim just rolls with it.

Then Stephanie came along. She was pretty much straightforward asking what was in the USB. But Bruce was real defensive about it for some reason so Stephanie just shrinked back. He then realized his mistake and offers if she wants to hear the playlist. She happily accepts.

This time Bruce died.

Dick is now stuck with a kid he is not sure on how to handle. Stuck back in Gotham. Stuck in the costume he was trying to get away from.

He wasn't sure on how to do anything but he needs to do so anyways because he's the only one who can do it. This that happens and so the new dynamic duo was formed.

They then got in the Batmobile. And there Grayson is greeted again by that familiar USB. He thought he forgot, Bruce had changed Batmobiles a couple of time and with all that is happening he didn't think that he would remember to bring the inessential USB playlist into the new ride everytime.

He felt his warm all the same again.

Maybe a bit emotional.

But it maybe the inessential USB playlist gave him all the motivation and courage he needed at that moment.

He then stepped on the gas, drive out of the cave.

Into the night.

End note:

This was my playlist I was thinking about. U can check it out if u want! These are most of the songs I remembered that used to be on the car USB. Uhhh this ended up being longer than I thought I was gonna do like a short silly idea but hi if u reached the end 😅

[who-knew-a-sheep-can-write]

Police Dog: Bigby Wolf x Fem!Cop!Reader - Chapter 1

Welcome to the rewrite :)

I made a reference to another game series, lmk if you guys spot it ;))

You stared at your monitor, the dim screen barely reflecting back into your near-lifeless eyes as you mindlessly scrolled and robotically clicked through the usual files only to have to actually go into another file to really make any work at your mind-numbing task. Why were you even given this bullshit to begin with? You leaned back in your horribly worn chair, the spine and back cushion creaking eerily as the wheels squeeked against the “polished” stone floor. You picked up the paper cup filled with coffee to take a sip, only to sneer and place the flimsy cup back down. Your coffee had grown to be ice cold, there was a strange grittiness to the brew and it tasted like someone had replaced the coffee with ink.

You heard the constant rushing of other officers in the background, whatever your cubicle really allowed you to hear past the tall wood and styrofoam walls really. Mindless chatter, the bubbling of the water cooler, some cop banging the shit out a vending machine, that horrible fucking fax machine you wished the captain would put out of its misery. You were going to hear those grating sounds in your nightmares for the rest of your mundane life.

At least it wasn’t too bad, today. Normally, the oh so “charming” lifestyle New York City made things pretty ridiculous sometimes. The main office was pretty quiet today, so much so you could hear the very faint classical music playing overhead you normally couldn’t hear over the rambunctiousness of your fellow officers.

That was, until the bullpen was let out.

Just hearing that door slam open and the cops inside spilling out almost made you knock over your nasty ass coffee onto your keyboard. You slouched in your chair, leaning back as you finished your work finally after doing this boring nonsense all week. You took out the usb drive with a content sigh, toying with it in your hands as you listened in on what the others were saying. Something about a shoot out somewhere in the South Bronx caught your ear when you saw a reflection move past on your monitor screen when it stopped behind you. Turning, you quickly saw the tall and brawny figure of one of the sergeants who was casually leaning at the entrance to your cubicle.

“The captain’ll have your knees for leaning,” you turned back to your monitor. You were about to mindlessly pretend to look through stuff just to get him to go away, but he didn’t seem to get the hint. Turning back around after a few minutes, you noticed the stupid smirk on his face that you wanted to smack off so badly. “What?”

“He’s been havin’ ya on paperwork for the past two weeks. Don’tcha think somethin’s up?” his thick accent teased.

“Considering I’m the only one who knows how to do things the way he likes them, not really.”

The sergeant gave you a pointed look before shrugging.

“Whatever you say, rookie.”

“I’m not a rookie, I’ve been in this department for almost a year now.”

He ignored you and sauntered off, definitely eyeing one of the female cops that would bat their lashes at him to get out of work for the day. Just as you started fiddling with the usb drive, your stationary phone started to ring. You picked up the phone, noting how you needed to fix the coiled cord as it somehow became tangled yet again.

“(L/n),” you greeted with your last name.

“Officer (Y/n),” the captain’s smooth voice greeted you from the other end of the line.

“I finished all the paperwork, sir, I have the usb dr-”

“I know you have, you always get the job done. Please bring the drive to my office, and hurry. I have another assignment for you.”

The phone cut off with a monotone buzz. Placing the cradle back into the receiver, you stood from your squeaky chair and started for the captain’s private office which was past the bullpen that still had some cops. The few that remained inside eyed you as you neared the captain’s door, their voices hushed as they started bickering about what it was you could’ve done.

You didn’t need to worry.

You knew that if you had fucked up, the captain wouldn’t have hesitated to call your ass out from over the intercom and demand to come to his office louder than any military drill sergeant.

His door was closed and the blinds were drawn shut which was a bit odd unless he was speaking to someone important. You stopped before the door and knocked promptly, eyeing his placard with his name written in dark ink across the golden plate.

“Come in, Officer (L/n),” the captain called out.

“Are you sure that-” As you opened the door, the conversation that was just going on had cut off.

Aside from your captain who was in his seat behind his grand desk, there stood another man. Tall and broad but fairly thin, he was imposing for sure. Dark, slicked back hair. A tan tailcoat hiding the strength you knew this man had. And when he turned to you, you couldn’t help but feel a little threatened under his intense gaze. His eyes looked as though he’s seen some fucked up shit, he looked fucking tired too, like he hadn’t slept in days. His grown out stubble also showed that as well. He eyed you up and down, not saying anything, his face was hard to read.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but here’s the flash drive,” you spoke up, offering out the usb drive to your captain.

You captain stood from his desk and beckoned you to sit in one of the chairs provided, but not before accepting the drive from you. Your captain sat back down at the same time as you, but the other man in the room just stood. He moved away from the desk a little bit, his chest to you but he was now looking back at your captain.

“Excellent work, like always.” Your captain turned towards the stranger, giving him a look you really couldn’t read either. “I promise you, Sheriff, she is the right officer for the job.” Sheriff? He didn’t look like the sheriff from the boroughs, and especially not any deputy. Was he maybe from upstate?

“I’m still not sure about this.”

His voice was deep and gravelly, like something out of an edgy comic book turned into media.

“Nonsense, Sheriff Wolf.” There it was again. Your captain turned towards you once again. “Officer (L/n), I’ve asked you here to see if you were willing and able to help Sheriff Wolf here with… a delicate situation.” You eyed the two back and forth slowly, confusion painted obviously all over your face. “You can back out at any moment if you wish to do so, but I must iterate the importance of keeping something this delicate between you and yourself alone. Nobody else must know.”

You eyed the “sheriff” warily once again. There’s no way your captain would do something stupid like leading you off with this guy. There has to be a reason.

“Okay?” You cocked your head in question. “What delicate thing are we talking about?”

You saw the stranger pull something from his pocket but you couldn’t tell what it was as it rested in his hand.

“Are you aware of what societies live along with us?”

“You mean cults?” you cocked a brow.

Your captain laughed, the stranger stayed quiet and unmoving.

“No, but that was a good one.” He regained his composure. “Let me rephrase this: Do you believe in the supernatural? The unknown?” You eyed your captain as though he were just some crazy loon. “There lives another society among us, a good portion of said society live right here in New York City across the five boroughs. Sheriff Wolf here is the- uh, peacekeeper for said group. You were the first officer to come to mind for this position.”

“What kind of secret society are we talking about?”

“Fairy tale creatures.”

A part of you never stopped believing in that kind of stuff, especially with some of the weird things that have popped up on the news recently. Photos of creatures that can’t be explained, videos that weren’t ever proven to be edited, miracles that just seemed to pop out of nowhere.

You eyed the stranger again before nodding to your captain.

“Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll help.”

Your captain’s shoulders slouched a bit in relief before he smiled at you.

“Thank you, Officer (L/n).” He motioned to the Sheriff as he stood. “You’ll be reporting to Sheriff Wolf here until this situation is done. He will give you all of the details.”

Sheriff Wolf pocketed the item - which, now that you got a good look at it - looked to be a perfume bottle? He walked towards the door and opened it, waiting for you to get up and pass through before he followed soon after. You uttered a soft ‘thank you’ before you both walked together towards the elevator.

You both stood in silence as the metal shaft rolled down. You stared at the numbers ticking down, wondering to yourself about what you possibly could have just gotten yourself into. You worried at the inside of your cheek and figeted with your hands until the doors swing open at the chime. You both started off for the front door of the station.

“So-”

“Not here,” he cut you off. He flinched at his own words. He stuck his hand out to hail a taxi. “Not here, there’s too many people. I’ll explain it all when we get there.”

A taxi driver finally caught sight of the sheriff and quickly pulled up to the curb. You were about to start for the other side when he opened the door for you once again. You couldn’t help the little flutter in your stomach at just a normal gesture as you quickly climbed in.

The Woodlands. You glanced at the seemingly solid gold plate slapped onto the stone pillar as you wait for Sheriff Wolf to pay for the taxi. You peered through the wrought iron fencing at the towering building. It looked as though they were luxury apartments and nothing more. It could use a good powerwashing, though. Other than that, from what he barely told you in the taxi, this would be where you were going to stay for a little while if you wanted. You honestly wouldn’t mind it; No crazy traffic, not getting wet when it pours, you get to stay in bed longer.

“So you’re all, um, fairy tale creatures?” you tried to strike up a conversation.

“Yeah.” Something told you he wasn’t exactly the type for small talk, but the silence between you both was suffocating. The sheriff opened the gate for you as you both walked towards the front doors to the apartment. “Gonna stop by the Business Office. Snow will wanna meet you if she’s still there.”

You beat him to the entrance this time, holding the door open for him to which he gave you a semi-amused look. As you stepped inside, it really was a shock at how dated the lobby was. Hell, it even had a security guard asleep at the front desk, slumped over the desktop, hat covering his bald spot as he drooled on his tie. The carpet was so discolored from packed on dirt, the wallpaper was stained from years of neglect, the chandelier in the center had a few bulbs that were that spiders had claimed to be their new homes.

Maybe you wouldn’t stay here…

“Snow? As in Snow White?” you asked as he called in an elevator.

How bad would that be if the lobby looked like this? Did you just sign your death certificate?

The sheriff hummed in agreement as he pulled out a carton of cigarettes, a brand you’ve never seen before: Huff n’ Puffs. He tapped the bottom so only one cigarette popped out the top and he took it with his teeth. He fished out his lighter but stopped before he could light the flame, eyeing you.

“You good if I smoke?” he asked you rather politely.

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

He lit the cigarette and pocketed his metal-plated lighter, making sure to blow the cigarette smoke away from you. You could smell that the cigarette was stale and a little old, but the way he scrunched his nose a bit drove it home.

‘What fairy tale creature was he?’ you couldn’t help but think.

 He didn’t look like any you’d recognize.

“Are you also a- uh- fairy tale person or…?”

He eyed you, throwing his brows up before puffing out another plume of smoke.

“Yeah.”

The elevator finally opened up, allowing you both to enter. You watched as he hit a button and the doors closed with an eerie creak before it jutted back to life. You were lying to yourself if you said you weren’t afraid of the thing collapsing underneath you and plummet into the basement.

“We never properly introduced ourselves.” You wanted to smack yourself across the face. Really? You bring that up now? He looked at you out of the corner of his eye, puffing out another plume away from you. “I’m (Y/n).” You stuck your hand out for him to shake. “You don’t have to say the whole Officer (L/n) schpiel, just (Y/n) is fine.”

He eyed your hand before he took it, and holy shit, his hand was big.

It was big and warm and calloused, and very strong. You could tell he was being gentle when he shook your hand.

“Bigby Wolf.”

Bigby? You never heard of a fairy tale character named Bigby Wo-

“Oh! You’re the big bad wolf?” you blurted out as your hands parted.

You felt like an idiot for not getting it earlier. Wow, just looking at him now, it kind of makes sense. But how was he… human?

“You got it right,” he gave an airy chuckle. “It took your captain a minute to get it.”

The elevator came to a direct stop, nearly toppling you over as the doors swung open. You quickly exited the damn thing, telling yourself you’ll take the stairs from now on as you followed Bigby down the halls.

“So - if you don’t mind me asking - how are you… human? Is that correct?”

“Normally, Fables that aren’t human need something called a glamour to make ‘em look human - to fit into the Mundy world.” He stopped and looked at you. “Mundies are people like you; Human.” He continued down the hall. “I didn’t need one after what Snow did to me before we all came here.” You briefly wondered what she did, but he filled in the blank for you. “She stabbed me with a special blade covered in werewolf blood.”

So he’s a werewolf? Like, a big, tall, hairy wolf man werewolf? Does he go crazy on full moons? Is that something you have to worry about now?

“Oh,” was all you could say. Your eyes briefly went to down to his coat pocket to see the faint outline of the perfume bottle. “Do you mind if I ask you another question?” He looked at you, stopping before a door and putting his hand on the door knob. “You had like a perfume bottle in your hand back in the captain’s office. What was that for?”

“It’s some magic shit the witches on the thirteenth floor concoted. It’s supposed to knock whoever out for a few minutes and make them forget about Fables. I would’ve used it on you if you said no.” He turned towards the door, looking at you barely over one of his broad shoulders. “Brace yourself, this isn’t shit you see everyday.”

What could he mean by that?

He opened the door and your jaw dropped. The place was fucking massive. Not only was it large enough to fit an entire circus in, it was also towering! You swore your entire station could fit in here with room to spare. You walked in, passing Bigby who was looking at you amused with his arms crossed. Your eyes scanned the towering bookshelves of books magically moving around and sorting themselves, spying the magical trinkets and statues that lined the carve outs of the wall. And the fucking ship. You watched as a fucking pirate ship lazily floated on by, the wood softly creaking as it turned in the air like it had down for so long.

“Holy shit,” you whispered. “This is your office?” you gawked as you looked back at Bigby.

The sheriff laughed. He actually laughed, the cigarette nearly falling from his mouth.

“Fuck no. My office is basically a glorified broom closet,” he walked past you. He eyed the three empty desks in the middle of the floor with a short frown. He sighed through his nose and took out the now near-burnt out cigarette before he snuffed it out on the heel of his dress shoe. “Stay here,” he looked at you, “I’m gonna go see if Snow’s still here.” You nodded silently, quickly wondering why he looked up at the ceiling as he walked away. “And don’t be scared if a green monkey with wings falls from the rafters, he’s just drunk.”

Your eyes widened as you watched him disappear behind a bookcase. You turned around, looking at all of the magical items that littered the room in awe.

You understood why something like this had to be kept a secret, but holy shit, this was wonderful.

You spied something out of the corner of your eye and slowly walked towards it. Stashed in between two rows of bookshelves laid a large mirror with a very intricately wound golden frame. It looked to be freshly dusted unlike most of the other items in the room. As you approached it, you quickly found yourself slightly dizzy as the mirror swirled to life with hazy green swirls. A theater mask appeared before you, no face or body attached. It blinked at you and smiled softly as the mirror hummed with life.

“Welcome home, such as it is. This squalid office, these corrupted streets, they are yours now, and are bound to them.”

It was hypnotizing, your body relaxing in the green glow as you stared at the mask before it quickly faded away. You blinked, seeing that the mirror had returned to just that, and Bigby was now standing next to you.

“I never understand the damn thing,” he grunted and looked at you. “Snow isn’t here, probably went out for the rest of the day doing Deputy Mayor shit. I need to do some paperwork on you before we can actually start, come on.”

You were hesitant to leave the office so soon but you figured it wouldn’t be wise to make a bad impression on your first day. You followed him out and back down the office before stopping before another door similar to the Business Office. The same standard door with the same color of frosted glass for the exception of the writing of just his name.

He stilled his hand on the doorknob before looking at you sheepishly.

“I wanna start off by saying that I’m sorry for the mess. I wasn’t expecting to actually get the help I need.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You should see what some of the cubicles look like at my current station.”

“Oh, I know,” he wore a look of disgust, “I smelled the shit the second I stepped into the building.”

“My old station had worse.”

Bigby shuddered, his thoughts now running rampant at just the smells he could conjure up. That was horrifying.

He turned the knob and opened the door, still holding a little bit of embarrassment on his face as you fully saw his office.

It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t great either. The walls which probably were painted white originally were now stained yellow probably from his smoking. You spied an extra large ash tray that looked to be from the 70’s when smoking wasn’t yet linked to so many horrors filled to the brim with a tower of snuffed out cigarette butts. There were files everywhere, some opened, most were closed. The file cabinets all sat overstuffed, his desk was covered with mugs of half-drunk coffee, his metal-mesh trash can was filled with dead pens and crumbled up paper balls. His poor office didn’t even have a window to even air out the smell, just a rinky dink fan in the corner.

There was something nailed to the flimsy drywall on the back wall, a plaque in the shape of the typical shield used for law enforcement and military. A gold panel had his name scripted, and underneath commended him for-

Three centuries of service?!

How old was this guy?

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - forty-six | do you know how to do cubes?

“So where have you gotten most of your information?” Hongjoong asked after copying your music file over to the studio computer.

“Umm… I bought a couple music writing books that friends on the internet have recommended to me… and then videos I found on youtube and blog posts and stuff.”

He nodded. You didn’t know what to do so you nodded back. He clapped his hands together. 

“Okay. So on first listen I can tell you a few things:” he ticked the points off on his fingers, “you have the structure of a song, you have a melody and a harmony, and you have a pretty nice chord progression.”

“And what’s the bad news?”

“Your drum sequences are a little weird.”

“I was having some trouble with the program I have. I also-- uh--”

He looked at you.

“I didn’t want to pay for the premium version because I didn’t have a lot of money when I started this song, so I didn’t have all the features.” You rolled your eyes.

He nodded. “Okay. So that’s a thing I can definitely help with. I’ll call IT right now and ask someone to come over and set up the program for you-- do you have a laptop you?”

“Umm… I do but it’s kind of hooked up to a bunch of stuff at home…”

“We can give you a work computer.”

“Really?”

“Of course, why would Wonderland let their producers run around without the ability to produce? I think they might still have an unused desktop sitting around, so they might be able to bring it in a couple days. You can use that for a while and they’ll order a new one. I’ll call right now.”

Hongjoong picked up the desk phone and dialed the number for IT and spoke to whoever answered.

“As long as JUPiTER doesn’t fuck up their wifi again.” Maddox added from where he was sprawled out on the couch, facing in the other direction.

You snorted. “Do they do that often?”

“Enough that management started sending our IT guys to their dorm to fix it because they felt bad for this one time when it put the internet out for the whole building.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yeah, I have no idea what it is they do.”

You nodded, not that he could see you, and paused for a second. “Porn or illegal movies.”

Maddox wheezed a laugh before giggling to himself.

You laughed, satisfied by his reaction.

“Hey, do you know how to do cubes?”

“...Is that a like drug?”

Maddox held what was in his hands over his head for you to see: a rubix cube that was part way done.

“Oh. No, I don’t know how to do cubes.”

He hummed, annoyed at it, turned it a few more times before giving up and rolling it across the floor. He sighed and draped his arm over his face.

“Okay,” Hongjoong said after hanging up the phone, “They can bring a new computer tomorrow and set it up in here. I also asked them to get you on the licenses of the programs we normally use, and before you leave today, one of them will come over with the usb with the programs and the instructions on how to set it up on your computer at home.”

“Ooh, nice.”

He nodded. “It’ll have the production softwares, the samples we use, the drum machines, all that fun stuff. And I’ll start training you on them here, but you’ll have them at home so you can work on your original stuff whenever you want.”

“That’s awesome. I’m excited.”

“So, if it’s okay, I think we’ll hold off on your song until you have your own computer.”

You nodded. “Okay.”

“I also had another question for you,” Hongjoong said as he turned his chair towards you and crossed his arms. “It’s a pretty big one though.”

Your eyes widened. “What is it?”

“I let our CEO listen to a few of your mashups, the ones with groups from our company.”

“Oh god! Are you serious? What’d he say?”

“He liked them.” He smiled.

“Okay, okay, that’s good. Okay.”

Hongjoong chuckled at your reaction. You had never even met the CEO before, how could you have known that he would like the mashups you made with his groups. But that was good, he liked them. Good.

“He wants you to work with us come award show time.”

You stared at Hongjoong blankly for almost a solid minute - the sound of it bluescreening almost audible to your coworkers - before your brain restarted. “What?”

Hongjoong laughed. “I could see the buffering animation over your head for a second there.”

“Isn’t-- isn’t that too fast? I only started working here like… a couple months ago? I haven’t been here-- half a year yet!”

He nodded and moved to speak.

“Shouldn’t only the senior producers be working on award shows?”

He held his hands up to stop you. “What kinds of songs are normally used for award shows?”

“What? The… good ones? I’m confused.”

“Songs that try to put as much of an artist’s catalog from the past year into one performance so people can see it, right? You know, taking a bunch of songs and, I don’t know: mixing them together? Mashing them up?”

“Oh… yeah I guess they are.”

“He really liked your sense of music and said you’d be great for the year-end performances.”

“...Holy shit.” You covered your open mouth with your hands.

“You can give it some thought if you want. I know it’s a little fast, but you have a lot of time before we start getting ready for them anyway.”

You pulled your hands away. “I… I mean I don’t even know how to produce yet. All I know is how to chop up songs and audio files and fudge the rest so people can’t really tell that I haven’t separated the layers to use them properly.”

Hongjoong chuckled. “You did a good job of fooling me.”

“Really?”

“Well, on most of your mashups. I have a more trained ear than the average listener, so I was able to pick out a few moments where it was apparent. Not apparent enough for a casual music fan though.”

“Oh. No one’s ever said anything so I guess you’re right.”

“For someone who, as you say, has been using an inferior method to make mashups, you’ve been doing an amazing job.”

You nodded slowly.

“You have plenty of time to learn the programs before then. I think that learning to use professional tools will just make your work better.”

You nodded. “Umm… So I had like, kind of a silly question.”

“No such thing. Go ahead.”

You nodded again. “The other producers all have names like… Viper, and NekoChan, and LuCee, and… like they have their own names and identities, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Could I… maybe use my name from my channel?”

“Nero Music?”

“I was thinking of just ‘NERO’, maybe? All caps.”

He thought about it for a second. “I like it. It’s interesting though… where’d you get the name from? The Roman Emperor?”

You shook your head. “The Turbo song?”

Hongjoong laughed and you heard Maddox chuckle from the couch.

“Cute.” Hongjoong nodded. “Yeah, I don’t see a problem in using it. It is who you are, after all.”

“Wonderland won’t get mad?”

“No, established producers are always a good thing. It means whatever fans you have come to the company.”

“Well… I’m not really a producer--”

“Not yet. And stop saying things like that. This is the last time. I’m training you, that means you’re a producer now.”

“I’ve heard that if you look at your mirror at 3am and whisper ‘I cannot dream big’ three times, a ghost named Kim Hongjoong will appear and slap you ten times.*” Maddox said, arm still over his face.

Hongjoong kicked the side of the couch and Maddox laughed.

“I saw someone say that on Twitter after JUPiTER posted a vlog with you in it.” ***ateezmylifeu

You laughed quietly.

“Well, they’re not wrong. But someone has to make sure all of you have dreams big enough that reaching them is worthwhile. If you don't want to bear the crown, don’t try to wear it.”

Those words seemed familiar to you, you weren’t sure why. You thought for a moment, and when you realized what it was it had reminded you of, your eyes widened and you reflexively stood.

“...Your solo work is Hearts Awakened Live Alive? You’re HALA?!”

*I got from ateezmylifeu on twitter, and they are RIGHT.

  previous | main cast | masterlist | next

Send an ask or leave a comment if you want to be added to the tag list! 🎵

luvvvx • iamthehotdemon • hrts4hanniehae • rachs-words •

[gryficowa]

God damn it, I'm going crazy, I'm planning to buy a smartphone (Not too expensive or anything), but all smartphones use cobalt, same with laptops

Not counting that one day I will have to replace the laptop, because replacing anything in it is a disaster, and the service centers usually repaired my laptops mediocrely (In short, they lived shorter than before sending them to the service centers)

I'd rather have a PC, not only is there no Intel (I use notebooks), there's also no Cobalt, but there's no money (even to assemble it myself) and no space

So I'm in a trap, because I'm planning to buy my first smartphone (Yes, I have a 23 kata this year, I didn't need it, but now it would be useful for listening to music, or to be able to send something to communicate something, it's supposed to be an old smartphone, problem in that it only works on wi-fi, and often there is no wi-fi, I need a smartphone with cellular data, MP3 or MP4 is also out of the question, because I don't have it and I would have to play all the songs, and that would be irritating, I know, a trivial problem, but I would like to be able to watch various things and give clicks for Palestine, but that won't work with MP3 and MP4 , and laptops also work on Wi-Fi, so there's a chance that I will be able to access the Internet when I am in a place without Wi-Fi is impossible)

And unfortunately, smartphones and laptops use a battery consisting of Cobalt, and notebooks still use fucking Intel

In addition, it doesn't help the fact that for some reason my notebooks have a shorter lifespan than standard laptops, because they get too hot, which is a nightmare, but I need them because I draw digitally and record gameplay, which doesn't change the fact that this feature of notebooks annoys me, because they are less durable than regular laptops, and they should be better because they are larger, therefore, they are more efficient (Or maybe it's because I live in a fucking block of flats where the apartment is warm, summer is terrible for a notebook, because I like spring and summer, unfortunately, notebooks get hotter, I use a board for cooling, but there are only two USB inputs on the laptop I use, so at the moment, when I draw in digital, I have to connect the cooling board because the notebook gets hot and I have to move it to the side because it's Lenovo and the cooling board has a fan in the fucking middle)

I know, I randomly got angry, but it's frustrating that everything necessary has to have either Cobalt or Intel, i.e. something made on human blood and that kills it

I know they say you can't live ethically in capitalism, but it still kills me because if you want to help, you have to buy a device that consists of an element or a graphics card that was obtained by harming other people

It's not fair that everything that is necessary in these times (like the ability to seek information and help people) is created this way, it all makes no sense when the price is human life that you can save with this technology that was created by taking away many others live, it became a pretext for exploiting people and colonizing, technology was supposed to bring us closer together, not to harm people who want to live

I know, my problems seem trivial, but it's just killing me

[safety-pin-punk]

Punk 101: Recording Music

To answer the question: ‘How do you record music off of a streaming service’ (for legal reasons I wont say which one I recorded off of)

Warning: it can get a bit complicated and is illegal

More Important Warning: at the end of this post there is a video with flashing lights

Also a point to make: you shouldnt do this especially for smaller bands. They make money off of streaming. They need money to survive. Support small bands

Step 1. Put the playlist together

This can be on Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, etc. You just have to be able to access it on your phone or tablet (something that takes an aux cord)

Step 2. Turn the sound to Analog

This is accomplished by running it through an aux cord. If you have a newer iphone or simply a device that has no aux output, you need to get an adapter. But the music HAS to be transferred out of a digital format otherwise you wont be able to record through any encryption (Im not a computer person please dont ask me to explain streaming encryptions)

Step 3. Turn it back into digital

Heres the thing, you can’t really record analog (well not without a HUGE quality loss in sound). This is the part where I warned it can get complicated. I’m going to show the ‘advanced’ way. But you could probably also just find a way to plug the aux into a computer as an input too.

Personally, *if* I were to record music (which I totally dont do cause its illegal) I’d run my music through two different boards

The one on the left is an old as fuck board that has amazing sound, the one on the right is a Denon, which we currently use for DJ gigs. The aux is the input into the old one, which in turn is the input into the new one.

Side note: I’d only add the old board into the mix if I can’t get the aux input loud enough on the Denon to match any pre-recorded music. That’s important for a DJ. The old board would let me give it an extra boost.

Step 4. Sound match (kind of optional, but recommended)

If you want your music to be the same volume as all the other music you have, you have to sound match with a song you already have. I like this song:

You need to record about 20 second demos and compare them with the original song while messing around with the settings until it sounds good without damaging the equipment. As you can see it might take a few tries to get the sound to match. But once it does, you dont have to change the settings for any other song you record.

If you are using a board to record or boost your audio, these are lights that you want to pay attention to. You never want to ‘peak’ your boards. Its not good for them and will shorten their life span.

Step 4. Record

Newer boards often have recording functions (like the Denon). If you are on a computer, use whatever recording application you have available. Save each track. (Maybe listen to the first few to make sure you arent cutting off the very beginning or end of a song). Keep track of which song was recorded in what order if you cant name them right away.

Save the songs onto a usb or on your computer. From their you can rename the files

Step 5. Do with it as you please

Want to turn it into a cd?

Punk 101 Master List

My entire set up for recording: FLASH WARNING

[arielluva]

i got my first car today and this thing has a cd slot, a plug for the aux cable, a usb drive, and bluetooth. i feel like. idk. the avatar of ways to listen to music. why listen to the radio when i have the 4 musketeers in my vehicle

[gear-project]

Annon-Guy: Since plenty of time passed, how's Queen Dizzy in terms of story and gameplay?

Well, I've seen some decent Dizzy combos on the #GGST_DI hashtag on TwitterX.

In terms of Story, Dizzy's a hard-working mother, so that's obvious enough.

But I also think we haven't scratched the surface of Dizzy's past by any stretch of the imagination.

I am HOPING that Dual Rulers will address a lot of missing elements we haven't seen in Guilty Gear's story so far.

(By the way, I did play some Strive online recently, though I spent more time playing Slayer and trying to unlock more music. I have yet to unlock Dizzy's classic theme, among other things.

Sadly classic GGX Heavy Rock Tracks have not been added much to Strive's music library, and that in and of itself is a CRYING SHAME.

Well, that's also why I often add a bunch of fighting game music to my nearest USB stick and play tunes while I play games on my PS4 via the Media Player App.

I'm not sure how many game consoles even have the ability to play music while games run, but I think more game consoles could stand to add this feature, since not all games have the capacity to have interesting music to listen to while playing certain segments of the game (to say nothing of Legal Problems for some tracks that get excluded from classic titles, Sonic Frontiers excluding Sonic 1 music is also a WAR CRIME).

Back on topic... we've still got the patch update fixes and Team of 3 update to concern ourselves with... and I personally have yet to try that mode of the game... I'm hoping it's fun (especially since the Team of 3 mechanics seem to be adjustable based on someone's playing style).

The future is coming in drips and drabs, so we'll know soon enough if the future is brighter or darker than expected. Patience is a virtue.

[kozyndan]

"Strength In Numbers (Bunny Avalanche)" 12 x 12 inches acrylic gouache on board 2023

UPDATE: SOLD!

Kozy - We sent this painting off to be in an exhibition at COREY HELFORD GALLERY in Los Angeles. 

Bunnies have been a recurring character in our artwork since the very first year of our career working together.  Dan sketched up this illustration in December as the year of the Tiger (2022) was drawing to a close, and the year of the Rabbit (2023) was about to begin so as to commemorate this new lunar year, as well as “celebrate the power of cooperation to overcome daunting odds!” (Those are his words, I think he just wanted to draw more rabbits for all you @kozyndan rabbit fans out there!). 

This work was made using the same process as the “California Bunnywave” - Dan drew the lines and colored it just how he imagined the final art to look in Procreate and then printed that illustration for me to trace the basic lines onto a 12 x 12 inch cradled board and then paint with acrylic gouache. I got use my new toy, a little USB chargeable airbrush, again for this painting. This is now my second time using an airbrush and its been fun to explore the new tool as I used it to make the snow in this painting. I tried to stick close to what Dan imagined and just got lost in the process - figuring our how to make the snow, and then all the brush painted lifework afterwards. Its actually a quite meditative process for me - and I find myself listening to a lot of meditative sort of podcasts and music while I do this kind of painting process. It was a lovely way to finish out the year! The “Art Collector Starter Kit” exhibition opened January 28th, 2023.Happy new Year to Everyone!!! 

We are so grateful for your support!

[bryan360]

“My Review - JBL Tune 720BT (Part 1 - Unboxing, Comparison, Etc.)” Recorded: Oct. 7th, 2024

🇵🇷Me: Hello and welcome to my first 2025 topic review. It’s been a long wait since I’d really put on hold from October last year, but not now due being busy with my Inktober ideas/my friend’s secret art trades to cover first. At least I’m still trying to without forgetting my other tasks to do, especially my other recent topics I haven’t touched it as of yet. Anyways, here it is after saving last year! I got from my mom after ordered from Amazon.com that costs a bit much. In case for a refresher, here’s a link right here ➡️ Link Here

🇵🇷Me: It used to be my late birthday present gift, the JBL Tune 720BT was an interesting choice to upgrade from my older one; which I’ll get to that during this review. However, this newer one promises of its long battery life and better sound quality depending of listening through music/watching videos. What that being said, let’s get stared for the unboxing part.

(⬆️ 1st to 5th Images; started at 1:58 to 2:04 P.M.)

Like any other unboxing package for other headphone sets, it includes the book manual, the USB cable to charge up connection, and its headphone jack from a small white bag. Not bad, but more of the cover of this new JBL headphones pretty stand out at first look of myself. All I’m saying if It compared to my older JBL headphone I had in years back.

(⬆️ 6th to 10th Images; from 2:05 to 2:13 P.M.)

Now for the main item to focus on. As I’d opened from the package itself, my impression were interesting enough to give a shot. You can see the design that exactly what as the box advertised. I even place it from front to back that thankfully had its foldable features. More on that shortly, but looks good to give its design than what I had for my original JBL headphones. Its weight is kinda different where I’d hold it and yet felt the same thing? 🤷‍♂️ As for what it folds by rotating each ear cups instead all the way around. That’s a good thing anyways. I’m hoping I can have its carrying case as well in the meantime.

(⬆️ 11th to 12th Images; from 2:15 P.M.)

Now to putting on my new headphones for my ears and question if it comfy enough to wear. Well a little bit good, but I was hoping it can fully secured inside my ears than expected. Still at least the cushion material for the ear cups doesn’t hurt much.

(⬆️ 13th to 16th Images; now at 2:22 to 2:26 P.M.)

And finally put an end for now, I got two same branded headphones to comparison each other; especially with being my older JBL headphones had newer ear pads I’d replaced since 2023. ➡️ (Link Here)

Good thing that didn’t worn out a bit quickly and still felt comfortable for my ears as of today. However after examining which is different, its definitely the newer headphones I’d picked with. The bigger ear cups are the more highlights to show; isn’t it? What’s more, I can put its headphone jack as an alternative option; just in case the battery life ran out about “76 hours” or more. Wow, it does actually said on the box itself (from the right corner below) that I won’t do its battery running test. Just saying.

My thoughts:

Hope you guys enjoying my first review I’d saved in 2025. I would’ve like to include more of my other headphones for more comparisons, but had to do with my older JBL headphones because it’ll make sense when doing this topic. Anyways, this newer one was the most excited to share as for what its worth an upgraded gift from my mom’s Amazon ordering. Do hope I’ll have much time to record its sound test for the second and final topic part soon. Until then, see ya next time. 👋

Tagged: @murumokirby360 @shadowredfeline @alexander1301 @sammirthebear2k4 @lordromulus90

[catastrophic-crow]

gods i love wired headphones. love having headphones with a headphone jack (and thus a replaceable cable) and no other way of playing music. love 10 foot long audio cables. love dedicated usb DACs. love headphones that are designed primarily for long-term listening comfort and don't need to have extra bulk in hinges or padding to make them more sturdy or flexible to accommodate being shoved in a bag when you're done with your commute. love high-quality audio with no perceptible delay and no fucking battery life and no extra mass from a bluetooth module and microprocessor and flashable ROM and a battery and charging circuit and onboard DAC and amp driving the speaker(s) weighing my head down.

[belsaas]

An ode to the iRiver iHP-120

For whatever reason, I've found myself deeply nostalgic for high school as of late. And for me, that is intractable from nostalgia for what is perhaps the peak mp3 player ever made:

The iRiver iHP-120 was released in 2003, my sophomore year of high school, and it changed my life. This thing held an astounding 10GB of music—for comparison, most mp3 players at the time were flash based, and held 128 or 256 MB of music. The only big competitor at the time was the 1st generation iPod, a mac-exclusive device that transferred data over firewire and had to be synced using the fledgling iTunes. Juxtapose that to iRiver, who took what I like to call the "we don't give a fuck" approach:

When you plugged in the iHP-120 with USB 2.0, it just showed up as an external hard drive—you could throw whatever you wanted on there. Naturally, it could read mp3 files, but this thing introduced me to the world of audio codecs and processing in a way nothing could have prepared me. WMA files worked fine (a big deal at the time because of DRM issues, during the heyday of KaZaA and Limewire). You want to play uncompressed .WAV files? No problem, put them on there. FLAC files? Absolutely, let your audiophile freak flag fly. Fucking OGG Vorbis files played on this thing. Hell, you could put text files on here and read them.

(The firmware for these was also basically open-source, and people did even crazier stuff with them. By the time I retired my player, it could do gapless playback, crossfading, 10-band equalizing, normalization and more. I think I also changed the boot screen to a picture of Sailor Moon.)

But the magic didn't end at uploading music to the iHP-120—controlling this thing was more intuitive than any other device around at the time. All of your music was displayed on the player in whatever folder structure you loaded onto the device—navigating the music was as simple as using Windows Explorer. You had your standard play/pause, skip forward/back and volume controls on the front joystick, but what are the other buttons for?

Yeah. This thing was also a portable recorder. At anytime you could just hold down the Rec button and start recording with the onboard mic, or using an external input (more on that later). On the right side, an A-B Interval control. You ever wanted to just listen to one part of a song on repeat to learn the lyrics? Just hold down the button. Lastly a hold switch to disable control inputs while it was in your pocket—no accidentally pausing the music.

Okay, back to the external input mentioned before. The top of the iHP-120 is wild.

The top I/O panel of the iRiver iHP-120, with 4 jacks.

From right to left, you have a 3.5mm headphone jack (naturally), a 2.5mm microphone jack, the remote control port (more on this in a bit), and in white you have Line In/Out jacks which you could use to record as well as just plug in a second pair of headphones for a friend—jacks which support both 3.5mm analog input, as well as 3.5mm TOSLINK optical cables.

The TOSLINK 3.5mm male plug. A plug I only ever encountered on this device and the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium, a sound card I wrote a review of in 2009 which seems to still be up at PC Gamer and reading it now I don't know how any of my writing was ever published, let alone in print.

Chances are good you've never encountered this, it's phenomenally uncommon, and TOSLINK as a whole largely died with the emergence of HDMI—but this fucking mp3 player could both record and transmit fiber optic audio in uncompressed stereo or lossy 7.1 surround sound. In high school, I would plug the iHP-120 into our home theatre and listened to Porcupine Tree's Stupid Dream on repeat (side tangent, I'm pretty sad 5.1 album recording never really caught on, but the Dolby Atmos music format is better in every way, and I'm grateful Apple is bringing it into the mainstream).

"Okay, so we have an music player/text reader/voice recorder with optical audio, and basically every codec under the sun, what else could you go on about Erika?"

-you, the person reading this

THE REMOTE

Let me take you back to 2003. I was a depressed theatre kid teenager who would listen to Rooney on repeat on my Koss UR40s while crying over a girl who wanted nothing to do with me.

The Koss UR40 Headphones I wore like a fashion accessory everyday.

The other thing I wore everyday besides those headphones? Baggy cargo pants (it was acceptable at the time, I swear). Inside the right cargo pocket was my iRiver iHP-120, and clipped to the velcro flap of that cargo pocket was the iHP-115R remote control.

The iHP-120 remote unit

Every function of the iHP-120 could be controlled from this little fucker. Play/pause and stop buttons. Volume, skip track and recording are all here on rocker switches. You could even change the fucking bitrate of playback on this little thing, all without taking the actual mp3 player out of your pocket because the LCD screen on the remote has all the same info you'd get on the main unit.

The remote itself connected to the iRiver with that big plug you can see in the picture above (shamelessly stolen from Nathan Edwards who I worked with at PC Gamer in the late 2000s and only while writing this post discovered has already written a much more professional ode to the beauty of the iHP-120 this year).

You would plug your headphones into the remote, (or in my case you could also plug in your 1988 Chevrolet 2500 suburban's tape deck adaptor and have controls at your fingertips. No more distracted driving).

An image of a 1988 Chevorlet 2500 diesel Suburban. Not super relevant but god I miss my high school suburban. We would take the rear and middle benches out and put a queen-size mattress in the back, which 9 of my friends would ride on as we went to Little Caesar's for lunch. Also, cars just looked way fucking better back then.

I think I'm about done waxing nostalgic, but I really do miss the days of discrete devices—I kind of find myself fighting back against my smartphone. I have a camera I carry around, a pen and paper planner and writing notebook, and a kindle for reading. There's something appealing about not having my phone be my access to music either—rather, having a device that I just threw my music on and it plays it really well was rad. The iHP-120 was really fucking rad.